Nigeria: Exclusive - Secret Intelligence Report Links Ex-Governor Sheriff, Chad President to Boko Haram Sponsorship

New facts showing stronger links between former governor of Borno state, Ali Modu Sheriff, and the Boko Haram sect have emerged, further fuelling suggestions the ex-governor is a major financier of the terrorist sect.
Intelligence insights obtained by PREMIUM TIMES in Maiduguri, Damaturu, and Abuja show dated communications between field officers and the velvet ranks of Nigeria's military chronicling Mr. Sheriff's involvement in promoting the growth of the sect.
The communications painted a picture of what appears to be a powerful regional support structure involving the Chadian president, Nigerian officials and Niger Republic, and spearheaded by Mr. Sheriff whom the intelligence presents as a powerful figure within this circle.
Strong evidence indicates that the Nigerian government received official actionable intelligence about Mr. Sheriff's links to Boko Haram as far back as 2011 but has, curiously, ignored all warnings and nudges to act to stop the Boko Haram call him in for interrogation.
Mr. Sheriff has long been suspected of masterminding the Boko Haram sect, but the documents sighted by this newspaper offers deeper understanding into how Mr. Sheriff allegedly finances the deadly sect and his probable motivations.
When Sheriff visits Abeche
Nourished by deep and impeccable sources from members of the Chadian Army, Nigerian intelligence experts had arrived at fairly certain conclusions that Mr. Sheriff was actively involved in the recruitment, training and deployment of Boko Haram members.
"... members of Boko Haram sect are sometimes kept in Abeche region in Chad and trained before being dispersed. This happens usually when Mr. Sheriff visits Abeche," a 2011 memo from field officers in N'djamena,the capital of Chad, read.
When Mr. Sheriff visits Abeche for these activities, he lodges in Chadian Presidential Guest House in Abeche, and is provided security by the Chadian government, the intelligence communications claim.
Mr. Sheriff is a close friend of the Chadian president, Idris Deby.
In 2011, during the Chadian presidential elections, Mr. Sheriff supported the Chadian president with 35 vehicles, for security, and is believed to have bankrolled Mr. Deby's re-election.
Nigerian defence and intelligence community members typically describe Mr. Sheriff as a gun runner in their many communications, and they often speak in conviction that his weapons find their way into Nigeria through Niger Republic into Yobe state. Yobe is Boko Haram's stronghold and has suffered heavy casualties in magnitudes only second to Borno.
Money, Politics and Power
Back in August 2011, intelligence officials were characterising Mr. Sheriff's motivations for sponsoring Boko Haram as similar to a certain "3rd generation South South governor," with the aim of covering up financial irregularities he might have committed as governor of Borno state, as well as propagate a stay-put in office strategy by suppressing the opposition.
The officials suggest that Mr. Sheriff did not create the sect but was actively using the "monster" and could be sponsoring the sect as a way of protecting himself from the sect members who were "calling for his head" at the time.
"One way of reclaiming the lost loyalty of the sect therefore, was sponsorship of their cause," intelligence officials were telling their principals.
Mr. Sheriff was not reachable for his comments. A former commissioner under his administration as governor of Borno state who also speaks for him, Inuwa Bwala, told PREMIUM TIMES Mr. Sheriff was outside the country and could not respond to enquiries.
Both the Nigerian defence headquarters and the Nigerian government also declined to comment on this intelligence. Phone calls were not answered, and text messages were not replied to.
Mr. Sheriff has been accused before of links to the terrorist group, Boko Haram. He denies any links.
An April 2, 2012 report by a Cameroonian daily, L'Oriel du Sahel, said the former governor, now a member of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, was arrested in 2012 upon entering Cameroon from Chad on his way to meeting the governor of that country's northern region.
The report said Cameroonian police authorities questioned Mr. Sheriff for hours and only released him later following pressure from senior government officials in that country.
An Ambassador Usman Galtimari Panel, set up by President Goodluck Jonathan to investigate the genesis of the insurgency in the North East, had also blamed Mr. Sheriff for the growth of Boko Haram in a report.
Chadian President Connection
An Australian negotiator, Stephen Davis, recently named Mr. Sheriff, alongside former Nigerian Army Chief, Azubuike Ihejirika, as sponsors of the Boko Haram sect, quoting the sect's leadership.
Nigeria's defence intelligence was silent on the role of Mr. Ihejirika in promoting the deadly sect whose bloody campaign have killed up to 5000 Nigerians and left many homeless, broken and internally displaced, but names the Chadian president, Mr. Deby, as a new dimension to the Boko Haram sponsorship dynamics.
In 2011, a strong Boko Haram army was also beneficial to the Chadian president, as it provided a "ready army and possible refuge" for a president that was facing growing distrust from his legitimate army, Nigerian intelligence officials claimed.
The Chadian government support for the sect was made majorly through his friendship with Mr. Sheriff and at the expense of his country's relationship with Nigeria, the report said.
Transformed sect
Violence by the Boko Haram sect, which had only religious interest in the past, is traceable to the five days of clashes in July 2009, between the group and members of the security forces in Borno, Yobe, Bauchi, and Kano states that left more than 800 people dead, including at least 30 police officers.
The police summarily executed the captured Boko Haram leader, Mohammed Yusuf, along with several dozen of his followers in front of the police headquarters in Maiduguri. Dozens of its members were also arrested.
Boko Haram frequently said its attacks on the government, especially the police, are in revenge for these killings and an attempt to set free members incarcerated by the police.
Recently, the ideology behind Boko Haram attacks got more confusing with increasing attacks on schools, media houses and almost any soft target with wide media reach. The group has gotten bolder by the day and has shown interest in capturing and occupying cities it calls its Caliphates.
The sect has overrun towns and villages, including Mubi, Michika, Bazza, Gulak, Gwoza, Bama, Gamboru and Ngala in Adamawa and Borno states. Ngala is the home place Mr. Sheriff.

Nigeria: Army Moves to Turn Tide Against Boko Haram, Kills 100 in Konduga

 
By Michael Olugbode, Senator Iroegbu and Omololu Ogunmade
Determined to turn the tide against the terrorists Boko Haram, the Nigerian Army yesterday inflicted heavy casualty on the sect fighters who attempted to capture Konduga, a strategic town just about 35km to Maiduguri, killing over 100 and halting their match to Maiduguri.
The positive report from Konduga came on a day the President of the Senate, David Mark, challenged the Nigerian armed forces to brace up against the rampaging activities of Boko Haram and reclaim the communities taken over by the terrorists in the North-east.
A statement signed by Col. Timothy Atingha for the Director of Army Public Relations (DAPR), said the terrorists' bid to overrun Konduga was met with a fierce response from Nigerian troops.
"At about 5.30am today, Boko Haram terrorists launched a massive attack on Konduga town, about 35 kilometres from Maiduguri. After about three hours of fierce fighting, Nigerian troops routed the Boko Haram killing over a 100 terrorists," Atingha said.
He added that a lot of equipment were also recovered from the terrorist: "Three Hilux and one Buffalo vehicles with mounted Anti-aircraft guns, three General Purpose Machine guns, over 30 AK 47 rifles and two global positioning systems have been recovered.
He also confirmed that four Nigerian soldiers were wounded during the battle. Atingha assured: "The morale of troops remain very high, while the entire area is still being combed for terrorists who may have escaped with bullet wounds."
He also said that the photographs taken at the scene of the battle were being expected and would be forwarded as soon as they are received.
Youth vigilante groups were also said to have helped the military to repel the attack on Konduga. A member of the local vigilante group, Kolobe Abdullahi told journalists on telephone: "We couldn't sleep yesterday as we all kept vigil in Konduga since we got hints that insurgents intend to attack us."
He said they cooperated with the military by keeping vigil while awaiting the terrorists: "People sighted them when they were coming and they were seriously dealt with. As I am talking to you, more than 100 of them were killed and several others sustained injuries."
Kolobe added: "We destroyed all their utility vehicles, some cars and motorcycles. We also seized some arms and vehicles." A military source within the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army, Maiduguri also confirmed on telephone that the insurgents were dealt heavy blow.
A resident of Konduga, Abba Ali told journalists that what could have been a sad day for the people of the town was reverted as "we are now celebrating the killing of scores of Boko Haram."
Ali added: "I think today is the happiest in my life. Boko Haram killed two of my brothers in their recent attack on Konduga but today, many of their bodies were all scattered on the streets. I salute the courage of our gallant soldiers and members of civilians JTF. We are ready for them. "Our people and the civilian JTF climbed trees and telecom mast to sight them in the morning and behold they were coming, hundreds in number, in Hilux vans and motorcycles and cars. The soldiers waited for them and when they came, they attacked them immediately. Alhamudllahi, we are so happy today."
The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) had on Thursday debunked the assertions by the Borno Elders' Forum (BEF) that Maiduguri was under siege and had been surrounded by Boko Haram terrorists, thereby causing panic amongst the residents some of whom were alleged to have fled the city.
The military also assured Nigerians that the ongoing offensive through sustained aerial bombardment and complementary ground assault had helped to halt the terrorists' advance with most of their structures and strongholds destroyed in North-east towns like Gwoza, Bama, Michika and others.
The forum had decried the horror, death, destruction and misery that had been visited on North-eastern Nigeria and particularly Borno State by Boko Haram, warning that the sect had strategised and completely surrounded the city of Maiduguri.
BEF further warned that it was apparent that the sect's imminent target was to take the city of Maiduguri, noting that almost half of the population of Borno now resides in Maiduguri. However, the Director of Defence Information (DDI), Major-General Chris Olukolade, dismissed such statements as a design to create a sense of insecurity in the city. "The statement on Maiduguri was clearly intended to cause panic in the city and the nation," Olukolade said.
He assured Nigerians that "all facets of the security arrangements for the defence of Maiduguri have been upgraded to handle any planned attack or attempt to disrupt the prevailing peace in the city and its environs".
Mark Tasks Military to Reclaim Lost Territory... Mark tasked the military on Boko Haram during the graduation ceremony of the 61 Regular Course of the Nigeria Defence Academy (NDA) in Kaduna. He said the nation was facing a critical moment in which "our peaceful and corporate existence is threatened by insurgency, terrorism and sheer criminality." The President of the Senate, according to a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Paul Mumeh, lamented that the war against terrorism was already having severe effects on the lives, finance and economy of the nation, regretting that "huge resources that would have been used for national development are now being diverted to fight insurgency and terrorism."
He added: "We will never relent in keeping this country one. Ethnic, political, sectional and religious problems have complicated issues in Nigeria. The situation demands that all hands should be on deck to tackle the problem."
Mark cautioned politicians against playing politics with the nation's security and unity, noting that "politicians irrespective of ideological or party affiliation should remember that politics can only be played when Nigeria exists as a corporate entity and in peace."
He berated those he said were fanning the embers of war and disunity, arguing, "Nigeria is not an accident. It has pleased the Almighty God to put us together as one and it is our solemn duty to nurture Nigeria to her full potentials.
"The future still holds greater promise if only we could put our differences behind us and work together as one people. With greater commitment and resolve, I have no doubt in my mind that Nigeria will be one of the world's super powers."
He was also said to have assured the gathering that the National Assembly would continue to provide necessary support for the military in the war against terrorism just as he urged Nigerians to cooperate with the Armed Forces in the protracted war.

Arab-Israeli pilgrims use temporary Jordan passports

The Jordanian government has confirmed that it issues temporary passports for Arab-Israeli passport holders so that they can enter the Kingdom to perform the Haj.
This follows the Saudi government this week rejecting reports that it would endorse Haj visas on Israeli passports if they were issued by its consulates abroad.
Every year, nearly 5,000 Arab citizens of Israel, arrive in the Kingdom to perform the pilgrimage. These citizens are holders of Israeli passports, which are not recognized by Saudi Arabia or the majority of Arab states, except for Jordan and Egypt that signed peace treaties with Israel in 1979 and 1994 respectively.
“We understand the problems Arab-Israelis are going through, therefore we try to facilitate their travel to the Kingdom as much as we can. We issue them a one-month passport upon their arrival in the Kingdom, which they use when applying for a visa at the Saudi embassy for the Haj,” Director General of the Jordanian Passport and Civil Status Department Marqan Qutaishat told Arab News on Friday.
Qutaishat said these pilgrims would then have to hand in these temporary passports to the Jordanian government after completing the Haj.

In a statement to the media this week, Saudi Ambassador to Amman Sami Al-Saleh stressed that the embassy does not accept Israeli passports. He reiterated that Arab-Israelis traveling from the occupied lands in Palestine are issued Haj visas in temporary passports issued by the Jordanian government.

 

 

This statement follows reports earlier this week that the Saudi Passport Department would allow Arabs holding Israeli passports to enter the Kingdom provided their visas were issued by a consulate abroad and approved by the Haj Ministry.
Ahmed Luhaidan, spokesman for the passports department, told Arab News on the phone that the department does not issue visas. The Saudi Foreign Ministry is mandated to do this, he said.
Earlier, the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) confirmed there are no direct flights between the airports of the Kingdom and that of Occupied Palestine for the Haj season.
Khaled Al-Khaibari, spokesman for GACA, denied reports in Israeli media saying that Saudi Arabia would allow entry to pilgrims traveling to King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah from Ben-Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.
He said Gaza pilgrims travel to Saudi Arabia for pilgrimage via Egyptian airports, while pilgrims of the West Bank do so by air or road through Jordan.

Grand mufti: Drugs more dangerous than A-bombs

The Kingdom's grand mufti and president of the Council of Senior Scholars, Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh, has called for tough action against those who smuggle, promote and sell drugs.
“Drugs are more dangerous than atomic bombs,” he said, and warned that users face ruin and loss of their morality.
Al-Asheikh said the Prophet (peace be upon him) said that those who are involved in any way with harmful substances can only bring "calamities" on themselves and others. He said Allah would also punish those who shelter or help such criminals.
Speaking during a live radio program, the grand mufti said: “Drugs of all kind destroy moral values, distort the brain and lead to the destruction of human lives. Those who promote drugs, market or use them will bear great losses.”
He said the Prophet (pbuh) was quoted as saying: “Allah cursed all those involved in wine, the one who presses it, the one who has it pressed, the one who drinks it, the one who carries it, the one who receives it, the one who serves it, the one who sells it, the one who makes a profit from selling it, the one who purchases it, and the one for whom it was purchased.”
He said drugs are highly addictive today because they have been treated with chemicals. “People become addicted to them, have their lives destroyed and eventually become a burden to society.” He said drug addicts are unproductive members of their community and are a burden to both their families and the state.
“So children of Islam, be careful and don’t ruin yourselves or your country ... drugs are more dangerous than deadly atomic bombs because they kill the heart and strip humans of all morals and values,” he said.
He praised the minister of interior and the police officers fighting this scourge, describing them as mujahideen — those who take up a struggle in defense of the oppressed, poor or exploited.
“You are the guardians of Islam, so when you uncover drugs, you prevent evil from reaching your nation. So work hard and seek the protection of God,” he said.
The Interior Ministry recently announced the arrest of 1,197 individuals, of whom 456 are Saudis, with the other 741 from 35 different countries. The criminals were involved in smuggling, transporting, receiving and promoting drugs with a market value of over SR878 million.
Meanwhile, a Saudi drug trafficker, Saad Al-Otaibi, was beheaded in Riyadh on Friday. He supplied amphetamine and hashish, according to a statement issued by the Interior Ministry.

Pakistan court orders first civilian execution in six years

ISLAMABAD: A judge in Pakistan has ordered a murderer to be hanged next week, officials said Friday, in what would be the country’s first civilian execution in six years.
The country has had a de facto moratorium on civilian hangings since 2008. Only one person has been executed since then, a soldier convicted by court martial and hanged in November 2012.
“A judge has passed an order that a murder convict be hanged,” an official at Adiyala Prison in Rawalpindi, the garrison city adjoining Islamabad, told AFP.
“Arrangements for the execution on September 18 are being made,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
Shoaib Sarwar was given the death penalty in July 1998 for murdering Awais Nawaz in January 1996. All his appeals in the high court and Supreme Court were rejected, as was a mercy petition to the president, the official said.
Sarwar is currently being held in a jail in the northwestern town of Haripur, some 25 kilometers from Islamabad, but authorities there told AFP they had not yet been informed about the execution.
The independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) said it was dismayed at the news.
“HRCP wishes to remind the government that the reasons that have caused the stay of executions since 2008 have not changed,” the group said in a statement.
“These include the well-documented deficiencies of the law, flaws in administration of justice and investigation methods and chronic corruption.”
Last June the newly elected government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif scrapped the moratorium in a bid to crack down on criminals and Islamist militants.
But two weeks later it announced a further stay of executions after an outcry from rights groups and the then-president Asif Ali Zardari.
All execution orders in Pakistan must be signed by the president.
European Union officials indicated last year that if Pakistan resumed executions, it could jeopardize a highly prized trade deal with the bloc.
An EU rights delegation warned it would be seen as a “major setback” if Pakistan restarted hangings.
Rights campaign group Amnesty International estimates that Pakistan has more than 8,000 prisoners on death row, most of whom have exhausted the appeals process.

Srinagar ‘in ruins’ after floods

SRINAGAR, India: The main city in Indian-administered Kashmir has “drowned completely” under floodwaters, a senior official said Friday, with the deadly inundation now affecting about two million people in neighboring Pakistan and threatening its all-important cotton industry.
The floods began in Kashmir after heavy monsoon rains and are now progressing downstream through Pakistan, inundating thousands of villages and large areas of important farmland in the country’s breadbasket.
More than 450 people have been killed and Pakistan’s Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said just shy of two million people have been affected by the floodwaters — a figure that includes both those stranded at home and those who fled after the floods hit.
More than 140,000 people have been evacuated from towns and villages around Punjab, Pakistan’s richest and most populous province.
Authorities have made plans to blast holes in strategic dykes to divert the turbid brown floodwaters away from Multan, a city of two million inhabitants and the nerve center of Pakistan’s cotton and textiles industry, a vital export earner.

 

 

This year’s floods in Indian Kashmir are the deadliest in the territory in 50 years and up to 100,000 people are still cut off in the mountainous terrain.
The waters are beginning to recede, revealing the extent of the devastation in Srinagar, the capital of Indian Kashmir.
“Srinagar has drowned completely, it’s unrecognizable. Almost everything is in ruins, it is just unimaginable,” Mehraj-Ud-Din Shah, State Disaster Response Force chief of Kashmir region, told AFP by phone.
He said work was “in full swing” to rescue people.
“But even now, around one lakh (100,000) people are believed to be stranded in different places,” he said.
Srinagar has also been hit by looting, leading some householders to risk their lives and stay with their homes to protect their property.
Jamal Ahmed Dar, who lives close to Srinagar’s Dal Lake, said that his neighbors had already caught two looters red-handed.
“We came across and then caught up with two young men on a boat who we didn’t recognize,” he said.
“When we searched them, we found they had cash and other belongings that they couldn’t account for. We gave them a bit of a slap, took the stuff back off them and then handed it over to the rescue coordinators.”
An AFP correspondent witnessed two men on a raft made out of a plastic water tank trying to break into a house in the upmarket Jawara Nagar neighborhood before they were chased away by locals who pursued them on a flimsy wooden boat.

Overflowing rivers
Pakistan’s Ministry of Water and Power has issued fresh flood warnings for the river Indus at Guddu and Sukkur, downriver from Multan in Sindh province.
The Sukkur area saw some of the worst of the devastating floods of 2010, the worst in Pakistan’s history, when the waters swamped 160,000 square kilometers of land — an area bigger than England — and cost the country nearly $10 billion. Around 1,800 people were killed and 20 million affected.
Analysts have said this year’s floods so far do not appear to be on the same scale, but thousands of people are still facing life in relief camps until the waters recede.
The Pakistani army, which often plays a leading role in disaster relief, said seven of its helicopters were engaged in rescue work around Multan and Jhang, upriver.
Troops have dropped more than 50 tons of rations around Punjab, the military said in a statement, and mobile medical teams are treating those affected by the floods.

3 Israeli soldiers protest ‘abuses’ against Palestinians

JERUSALEM: Forty-three reservists and former members of an elite Israeli army intelligence unit condemned alleged “abuses” against Palestinians in the occupied territories, in an open letter published on Friday.
The letter, addressed to Israel’s prime minister, armed forces chief and head of military intelligence and distributed to media, said information gathered by Unit 8200 was used by civilian intelligence agencies to coerce Palestinians uninvolved in militant activity.
The signatories of the letter said they would refuse to be party to such acts in future.
“There’s no distinction between Palestinians who are, and are not, involved in violence,” an English language copy of the letter says.
“Information that is collected and stored harms innocent people. It is used for political persecution and to create divisions within Palestinian society by recruiting collaborators and driving parts of Palestinian society against itself.”
“We cannot continue to serve this system in good conscience, denying the rights of millions of people,” the 43 soldiers and officers wrote.
The signatories gave just their ranks and first names or first initials.
“Those among us who are reservists, refuse to take part in the state’s actions against Palestinians,” the letter, seen by AFP said.

 

 

“We call for all soldiers serving in the Intelligence Corps, present and future, along with all the citizens of Israel, to speak out against these injustices and to take action to bring them to an end.”
The letter, published less than three weeks after the Israeli military’s fierce military offensive against Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, slammed the “collective punishment of inhabitants” of the coastal territory.

2,100 killed
It did not specifically mention the July-August war which took the lives of more than 2,100 Palestinians, most of them civilians, and 73 people on the Israeli side, 67 of them soldiers.
The army on Friday questioned the accuracy and motivation of the protesters’ accusations.
“The Intelligence Corps has no record that the... violations in the letter ever took place,” it said in a statement.
“Immediately turning to the press instead of their officers or relevant authorities is suspicious and raises doubts as to the seriousness of their claim.”
Members of Unit 8200, considered among Israel’s best and brightest, carry out electronic communications monitoring and surveillance, similar to work performed by the US National Security Agency and Britain’s GCHQ.
The unit is one component of the broader military intelligence corps and shares information with Israel’s civilian intelligence agencies.
A former commander of the unit, reserve Brig. Gen. Hanan Gefen, accused the letter’s authors of a grave breach of trust.
“If this is true and if I were the current unit commander, I would put them all on trial and would demand prison sentences for them, and I would remove them from the unit,” he was quoted as saying by Maariv newspaper on Friday.
“They are using information that reached them in the course of their duties to promote their political position.”
One of the signatories, speaking on condition of anonymity, told top-selling Yediot Aharonot newspaper: “I think that all of us who signed the letter did so because we understood that we are unable to sleep well at night.”
Most Israeli men perform three years of compulsory military service after school, and women two years, followed by regular spells of reserve duty for years afterwards.

Nigeria: U.S.$190 Million Frozen in UK and Switzerland in OPL 245 Bribery Case As Eni CEO Is Named As Suspect

press release

Global Witness, Re: Common and Dotun Oloko welcome the freezing of funds as part of the continuing investigation into the deal for the OPL 245 oil block in Nigeria. Italian authorities are investigating the acquisition of the Nigerian oil block OPL 245 for which subsidiaries of Eni and Royal Dutch Shell agreed to pay US$1.1billion in 2011.
Shell and ENI have claimed that they only paid the Nigerian Government. Eni has said in a statement that "Eni continues to deny any illegal conduct" and "Eni is cooperating with the Milan prosecutor's office, and is confident that the correctness of its actions will emerge during the course of the investigation."
The funds frozen today are thought to be held by Malabu and its middleman Energy Venture Partners.
"The freezing of $190m in proceeds from the OPL 245 oil deal is good news for the people of Nigeria many of whom live in poverty despite the country's oil wealth. $1.1bn was diverted from the public purse, this needs to be recovered as well as get to the bottom of the role companies and individuals played in this heist." Said Dotun Oloko, a Nigerian anti-corruption activist.
"This case shows precisely why the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the United States needs to establish a strong transparency rule for provision 1504 of the Dodd Frank Act.
This will require companies to disclose their payments for oil projects so that they don't go missing. Had an operational rule for 1504 been in place in April 2011, when the deal for OPL-245 was concluded, this would have shed crucial light on a process that was conducted hidden away behind closed doors." Said Simon Taylor, Global Witness director.
"The naming of Claudio Descalzi, ENI's new CEO, its outgoing CEO Paolo Scaroni and Roberto Casula its Chief development, operations and technology officer as suspects in the Italian bribery investigation should raise concerns in Italy about ethics standards in state owned companies.
Today's news demonstrates our concerns around Descalzi's controversial appointment and represents a further setback for the Italian government which failed to achieve reform in a vote at the company AGM. Bold action against alleged mismanagement by ENI managers is urgently needed." Said Antonio Tricarico, programme director, Re: Common
CONTACTS:
Barnaby Pace, Oil Team, Global Witness bpace@globalwitness.org +44 7525 592 738
Simon Taylor, Director, Global Witness staylor@globalwitness.org +44 7957 142 121
Antonio Tricarico, Programme Director, Re: Common atricarico@recommon.org , +39 328 84 85 448
INFOGRAHPIC:
'What Nigerians could have done with $1.1bn?' - Available here: http://www.globalwitness.org/shellagm/
NOTES TO EDITOR:
1. Shell and Eni have denied paying money to Malabu. Indeed they did pay the money to the Nigerian government. However court evidence has revealed that Shell and ENI knew that the payment was going to Malabu and had negotiated directly with former oil minister Chief Dan Etete an owner of the company who awarded Malabu the block in 1998 while in office.
2. Global Witness together with Re: Common and Nigerian anti-corruption activist Dotun Oloko has asked for action over these funds in the past and commented on the investigation, please see our previous publications for further details:
Italian authorities raid ENI in fresh investigation into billion dollar Nigerian oil scandal, 4 July 2014 http://www.globalwitness.org/library/italian-authorities-raid-eni-fresh-investigation-billion-dollar-nigerian-oil-scandal
UK Crown Prosecution Service fails to block proceeds of corrupt Nigerian oil deal, 5 June 2014, http://www.globalwitness.org/library/uk-crown-prosecution-service-fails-block-proceeds-corrupt-nigerian-oil-deal
New head of Italian oil giant Eni must explain role in corrupt Nigerian oil deal at AGM, 7 May 2014, http://www.globalwitness.org/library/new-head-italian-oil-giant-eni-must-explain-role-corrupt-nigerian-oil-deal-agm
Corrupt Nigerian oil deal loot to be distributed by UK Court, 25 March 2014, http://www.globalwitness.org/library/corrupt-nigerian-oil-deal-loot-be-distributed-uk-court
3. In the July 2013 UK High Court case of Energy Venture Partners Versus Malabu Oil and Gas, Lady Justice Gloster of the Queen's Bench Division, Commercial Court ruled, "I find as a fact that, from its incorporation and at all material times, Chief Etete had a substantial beneficial interest in Malabu", Approved Judgement, Case 2011 FOLIO-792 17 July 2013.
The Nigerian House of Representatives investigation into the case also found Dan Etete is the 30% owner of Malabu. See also Global Witness, 25 November 2013, "The Scandal of Nigerian Oil Block OPL 245", http://www.globalwitness.org/library/scandal-nigerian-oil-block-opl-245 4. ENI's statement is available at http://www.eni.com/en_IT/media/press-releases/2014/09/2014-09-11-opl-245.shtml?home_2010_en_tab=editorial

BREAKING NEWS: 65 houses razed, scores injured as PDP supporters clash in Benue

ABOUT 65 houses were razed, yesterday, rendering many homeless with others injured as People’s Democratic Party, PDP, supporters clashed in Loko, Katsina-Ala Local Government Area of Benue State.
The latest crisis in Katsina-Ala is coming on the heels of moves by the people of Loko and PDP to recall Mrs Hembadon Amena representing Katsina-Ala West constituency in Benue State House of Assembly over alleged anti-party activities.
Vanguard gathered from an eyewitness, who preferred anonymity, that crisis erupted “when a supporter of the embattled lawmaker, Mr. Shiaondo Ukor, who is chairman of Motorcycle Hirers Association at the Daudu unit, allegedly accosted one Teryange, a commercial motorcycle rider and his employee.
“Ukor asked him to hand over the keys of his motorbike to him on the ground that he (Teryange) disrespected him by joining forces with some people to unseat Mrs. Amena.
“As the two argued to a point of exchanging blows, they attracted the attention of passers-by who joined the fray and the fight escalated.”
According to the source, Mr. Ukor was alleged to have moved with his supporters to the home of the youth leader of Ugber Mr. Aondoaseer Ornguze and razed down his house after beating up his family members.
The source said: “His action sparked a reprisal attack and further escalation of the fighting and burning down of the houses of notable and vocal members of the party in the area.
“The fighting is still on with many persons injured, while over 65 houses have been razed already, as I speak to you.”
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Deputy Superintendent, DSP, Daniel Ezeala, said he had received reports on the razing of thatched houses in the affected area last night, adding that he was still waiting for full details of the crisis.
On her part, Mrs. Amena confirmed the story, saying the trouble was caused by those who wanted to recall her for no just cause.
She said the matter had been reported to the Police in Katsina-Ala and Makurdi.
READ MORE:  http://news.naij.com/55853.html