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LAGOS GOVT. MOVES AGAINST SYNAGOGUE, AFTER BUILDING COLLAPSE:
The Lagos State Government has moved against the popular Synagogue Church of All Nations, Ikotun, whose one of its buildings collapsed last week killing scores of people including a 10-year-old kid with many others critically injured.

The structure, which was under construction, was initially a two-storey building before the addition of four new floors which were under construction.

As of Thursday, the death toll in the building collapse hit 80. Among the dead were 67 South Africans.

The Lagos State Building Control Agency has, therefore, marked the main building of the church, asking for relevant documents to prove its structural integrity.

The General Manager, Lagos State Building Control Agency, Mrs. Abimbola Animashaun-Odunayo, who confirmed that the building had been marked by the agency in a phone interview with Saturday PUNCH, said it had requested that the church provides some documents, adding that a structural integrity test would be carried out on all the buildings in the church complex.


She said, “X’ (the mark on the building) does not mean demolition; it is for structural integrity test to be carried out on the building and the church is expected to provide all the documents for approval and the church has three months to do this.”

Asked if the building would be demolished in case the church failed to meet the requirements within the time frame, Animashaun-Odunayo declined to make further comments.

“Look, it is still under investigation; I can’t say more than that. I don’t even know who I am talking with on the phone,” she said.

LASBCA was recently created to enforce building control regulations and implement the 2010 Physical Planning, Urban Development and Building Law in the state.

The State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr. Olutoyin Ayinde, who spoke with one of our correspondents, also described the “X” sign as a ‘stop work order.’

“It is a stop work order. it doesn’t mean the building will be demolished,” he said.

He explained the order became necessary so as to allow a structural integrity test on all the buildings in the church complex.

The commissioner said though there was an approval for the church auditorium, he was not certain that there was an approval for the additional work being done on the auditorium.

The President, Building Collapse Prevention Guild, Mr. Kunle Awobodu, also described the “X” mark as notice to stop work on the building and also to draw attention to illegal activities on it.

He said the notice could span up to seven days or more depending on the situation.

He said, “Work was ongoing on the six-storey building before it collapsed though the church said it was due to an aircraft hovering for a period of time but this aircraft could be traced and enquiry made.

“Technically speaking, the foundation of a house is the key for successive floors to sit comfortably.

“Presentation of papers such as the architectural drawings, structural drawings, soil test reports and many more would strengthen or weaken the evidence of the church.”

A former Vice-Chairman, Nigerian Institute of Architects, who is a member of the Building Collapse Prevention Guild Technical Committee on the investigation of the collapsed building at the Synagogue Church, Olufemi Shodunke, explained that the structural integrity test to be carried out on the building would involve professional judgement to determine its efficacy.

Shodunke said the professionals responsible for the construction of the collapsed guest house had yet to be identified and that the answer was important to the investigation of the committee.

An estate surveyor, Kayode Ogunji, who is also a member of the collapsed building investigation panel, said, “In the building language, when you have an ‘X’ sign labelled on a structure, it means there is a distress in that building; it means there is something wrong with the construction. It is either the building is tilting, sinking or the right materials were not used, and even before, during and after construction, if these tilts are discovered, the authority in charge will now come over there to tell the builders to stop.
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BOKO HARAM: NIGERIA SEEKS HELP FROM RUSSIA, AS UK, AND U.S FAILS.

THE emerging scenario in the fight against terror and the steps Nigeria’s government has taken would have resulted in global sensation during the cold war. The United States would fight to keep their allies.
They would never easily lose any of their  allies to then Soviet Union as now represented by  Russia which has, although, embraced free market economy. 

Nigeria, for years,  enjoyed close ties with the West and was seen as a US ally. But the seeming snub or nonchalant attitude towards it by its traditional allies has reportedly compelled Nigeria to turn to Russia and China for the training of its military as well as acquisition of military hardware to fight Boko Haram insurgents.
Highly placed military and intelligence sources in Abuja told Saturday Vanguard that the decision to turn to the other two world military powers was an interim measure to roll back the military advances made by the Boko Haram insurgents who have gained some grounds in seizing and controlling some towns and Villages in the north eastern states of Borno and Adamawa.
Already, Nigerian security personnel from the Army, Police, Department of State Services (DSS) have been dispatched to Russia for training as Special Forces to combat the Boko Haram insurgents who are mounting stiff challenge to the Nigerian security services.
According to Saturday Vanguard investigations, following the increasing sophistication of the Boko Haram terrorists, the Nigerian government approached American and British governments to procure arms for its armed forces in order to effectively counter the insurgents but the two western governments have continued to dither, a situation that may have been responsible for some of the gains recorded by terrorists in recent times.
A senior security Source told Saturday Vanguard: “the United States and Britain appear unwilling to provide arms to our armed forces. It is surprising because these are two friendly countries to Nigeria which is under threat from terrorists. We have no option but to look somewhere else for our needs pending when the issues are resolved at the diplomatic level by our government.”
This remark underscored the current lukewarm attitude of both countries to the Federal Government. The USA had said that it would not assist Nigeria with land forces and would not also share intelligence with the Nigerian military. Sources said that they did not trust the Nigerian military which was accused of lacking professionalism and which also had moles within. But Nigeria expected better assistance from USA, Britain and the like. But their support has fallen below expectation.
Saturday Vanguard gathered that one of the options was to turn to Russia which has always been willing to supply weapons and some other logistics to Nigeria when other western countries are  not  forthcoming. The Nigeria Air force has several Russian fighter jets in its fleet.
It was gathered that Nigeria has entered into contract with Russian Arms manufacturers for the supply of high calibre weapons to the Nigerian Army to combat the insurgents in the North east and has begun discussion with the Israeli government on possible supply of military hardware.
“When the Chief of Army staff said recently that the Nigerian army would soon take possession of weapons that would reverse the trend in the North east, he was referring to the deal between Nigeria and some Russian arms manufacturers. We are also in discussion with Israeli companies. We don’t want to be held ransom by our traditional allies. That is  why we are expanding our sources of supply,” the source said.
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EBOLA: SIERRA LEONE BEGINGS 3 DAYS LOCK DOWN:

A three-day curfew is under way in Sierra Leone to let health workers find and isolate cases of Ebola, in order to halt the spread of the disease.

Many people have been reluctant to seek medical treatment for Ebola, fearing that diagnosis might mean death as there is no proven cure.

A team of 30,000 people is going house-to-house to find those infected and distribute soap.

But critics say the lockdown will damage public trust in doctors.

Meanwhile in neighbouring Guinea, the bodies of eight missing health workers and journalists involved in the Ebola campaign have been found.

A government spokesman said some of the bodies had been recovered from a septic tank in the village of Wome. The team had been attacked by villagers on Tuesday.

Guinea’s prime minister said an investigation was under way, and vowed to catch the perpetrators of the “heinous murders.”

Correspondents say many villagers are suspicious of official attempts to combat the disease and the incident illustrates the difficulties health workers face.

Sierra Leone is one of the countries worst hit by West Africa’s Ebola outbreak, with more than 550 victims among the 2,600 deaths so far recorded.

In the capital, Freetown, normally bustling streets were quiet, with police guarding roadblocks.

During the curfew, 30,000 volunteers will look for people infected with Ebola, or bodies, which are especially contagious.

They will hand out bars of soap and information on preventing infection.

Officials say the teams will not enter people’s homes but will call emergency services to deal with patients or bodies.

Volunteers will mark each house with a sticker after they have visited it, reports say.

On Thursday, President Ernest Bai Koroma said: “Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures.”

He urged citizens to avoid touching each other, visiting the sick or avoid attending funerals.

Freetown resident Christiana Thomas told the BBC: “People are afraid of going to the hospital because everyone who goes there is tested for Ebola.”

Another resident in Kenema, in the east of the country, told the BBC families were struggling because the price of food had gone up.

In the hours leading up to Sierra Leone’s lockdown, there was traffic gridlock in Freetown as people stocked up on food and essentials.
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Nigerian government, Red Cross in secret talks with Boko Haram over Chibok girls.



Despite the Nigerian government’s public rejection of any prisoner swap with extremist Boko Haram sect, its officials, alongside the Red Cross, are currently in talks to trade Boko Haram militants for more than 200 Chibok schoolgirls abducted by the sect in April, the U.K. Telegraph reported Friday. The report said Red Cross officials have held secret negotiations with top Boko Haram leaders held in Nigeria’s maximum security prisons and a list of 16 senior commanders the sect wants freed in exchange for the girls, has been drawn up. Boko Haram insurgents kidnapped over 200 girls from their school dormitory in Chibok on 14 April. The abductions alarmed the world triggering massive campaign to secure their freedom with the United States, United Kingdom and France and other countries offering technical support. The efforts have remained futile more than five months after as the girls remain in captivity. Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, threatened to sell some into slavery and marry others off. The Telegraph said the Red Cross is acting as a neutral partner to ensure the Nigerian government and Boko Haram, with deep distrust for each other, honour the swap agreement. “We felt the negotiations would go better with the backing of a major international humanitarian organisation like the ICRC. There have been two or three ICRC people at each meeting – international staff rather than Nigerians – and they accompany the government security agents to the various prisons and detention centres to identify the people that Boko Haram wants released,” the Telegraph quoted Fred Eno, a civil rights activist. The newspaper said negotiations began two months ago when Red Cross officials and Nigerian activists met with a senior Boko Haram leader serving a life sentence, called Omar, at the Kuje Prison in Abuja. The report said the talks were close to being concluded at a point with the government deploying representatives to Yola to receive the girls, but things broke down after Boko haram reneged on its promise to release all the girls at once. “The insurgents wanted to release the girls on a piecemeal basis, but the government turned down that offer,” said an unnamed source quoted by the Telegraph. “There was also some opposition from some factions inside of the government to doing any kind of prisoner swap at all, as they feel the Boko Haram prisoners are hardened criminals who have committed heinous crimes,” a source was quoted as saying. Another reason the prisoner exchange still remains inconclusive has been the inability of government officials to match the names on Boko Haram’s list to insurgents held in prisons, Mr. Eno told the Telegraph. 
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Buruji Kashamu accuses U.S. Judiciary of racism, vows to fight on .



A leader of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, in Ogun State, Buruji Kashamu, has accused the United States judiciary of racism, vowing to fight on until he gets justice after a U.S. court ruled that Mr. Kashamu be prosecuted for drug trafficking. A U.S. Court of Appeal had on September 15 dismissed an appeal filed by Mr. Kashamu seeking to quash his indictment for smuggling drugs into the U.S. The court upheld an earlier ruling, in May, by a U.S. District Court which equally dismissed the motion filed by Mr. Kashamu, a close ally of President Goodluck Jonathan. “I wish to provide an update to Nigerians on my efforts to obtain justice within the U.S. judicial system in regard to the false indictment made against me in the U.S. Courts, which the British courts have cleared me from unequivocally,” Mr. Kashamu said, Thursday, in his first reaction to the appellate court’s decision. “As many may recall I had to take the battle to the U.S. authorities in their own country because, despite the British judgment and the defeats they have suffered in their attempts to place a false accusation on me they have neither attempted to extradite me again nor withdrawn the charges,” he added. Mr. Kashamu and 14 others were, in 1998, charged by a federal grand jury for their alleged involvement in an international conspiracy to smuggle heroin into the US. But the politician, a major campaigner for President Jonathan in the South West, allegedly fled to the U.K. where repeated efforts by the U.S. to extradite him failed, before he returned to Nigeria. In the decision on the appeal by Circuit Judge Posner noted that Mr. Kashamu did not want to be extradited to the U.S. to stand trial on the “very serious criminal charges” against him.’ In 2009, Mr. Kashamu had, through a local counsel in the U.S., filed a motion to quash the arrest warrant and to dismiss the indictment against him on the ground that the English court had found that he was not the one charged with smuggling drugs into the U.S. “In that application to dismiss the indictment I requested that the findings and Conclusions of District Judge Tim Workman of the Bow Street Magistrates Court in London, be given collateral estoppel status by the U.S. court and his findings and conclusions be made conclusive on the issue of whether or not I was a party to the alleged crime,” said Mr. Kashamu. “District Judge Norgle before whom the indictment was pending refused the application after ruling that I was not a fugitive from justice in the U.S.” Charles Norgle of the U.S. District Court, in his decision, last May, had held that Mr. Kashamu had done everything within his power, including document forgery as well as political pressure, to frustrate his trial in the U.S. “Kashamu’s actions in the London extradition proceeding created a paper and testimonial trail that his brother, and not himself, was the defendant charged in the instant case,” Judge Norgle had said in his 17-page ruling. “Kashamu’s ability to manipulate Nigerian officials, or at least his ability to create forged documents, was also apparent from the proceedings. This maneuvering, and the wall of protection Kashamu built around himself, made it clear that efforts to extradite Kashamu from Nigeria would be futile. “It was testimony and evidence produced by the Nigerian government which led to Kashamu’s release in England. Furthermore, Kashamu’s status as a political figure in Nigeria and his relationship with Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan likewise suggest that an extradition attempt would have been futile,” the judge had added. 

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Seized $9.3 million: Nigerian officials blame U.S. for secret South Africa arm deal



The Nigerian government opted for a discreet purchase of arms with cash as a desperate measure after the American government allegedly blocked all legitimate arms order made by the military, ‎high ranking military officers and top administration officials have told PREMIUM TIMES. The Nigerian government had on Tuesday admitted that it owned the $9.3million cash smuggled into South Africa aboard a private jet and seized by the authorities of that country. The administration also confessed that it was trying to use the money to buy arms and that it had already opened talks with the South African authorities on the matter. But multiple military and administrative officials told PREMIUM TIMES on Wednesday that the government adopted that subterranean strategy to procure arms after American officials continued to stand in the way of legitimate arms order from America, Israel and other countries. They claimed the U.S. government has blocked orders placed by Nigeria for arms and ammunition, thereby frustrating the country’s effort to defeat the extremist Boko Haram sect. “We did it in desperation,” one of the officials said of the $9.3million cash-for-arms controversy. “All our efforts to procure arms, tanks and ammunition have so far been frustrated by the U.S. It is a trying time for our country and we needed to do something to defeat this insurgency. “America has kept posturing to the world that they are helping us to fight Boko Haram. But that is far from the truth. We have money to buy all the arms we need but the U.S. has continued to stand in our way. They won’t let us buy arms and they are also discouraging other countries from selling to us. They are saying we stand accused of human rights abuses by human rights group and that we won’t be allowed to get arms.” “Just recently we placed orders for tanks and jet fighters and it was ready to be delivered. Suddenly the Americans again came in the way. So we were left with no choice than to explore ways to get arms in the best interest of our country and its people.” Another official said, “We are convinced that the U.S. is playing out a script. They are desperate to demystify Nigeria’s armed forces and make it incapable of defeating Boko Haram. And they have an international network to frustrate our effort to get arms from alternative sources. It is even possible that they were the ones who tipped off the South Africans on this failed deal. They want their prediction that Nigeria will collapse to come true.” All the sources declined to be named, saying the matter is “too diplomatically sensitive for names to be mentioned at this time”. 

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