Tinubu’s plane flew Jammeh into exile – Reports

The Gambia’s sit-tight ruler, Yahya Jammeh, reportedly flew out of the country he ruled for 22 years into exile on a plane owned by the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Jammeh, who had earlier rejected the outcome of a December 1 election where he lost to Adama Barrow, reluctantly agreed to leave office after two days of talks with Guinean President Alpha Conde and his Mauritanian counterpart Mohammed Ould Abdel Aziz.

Initial reports said the Falcon jet which ferried  Jammeh out of The Gambia on Saturday to Equatorial Guinea where he is expected to settle with his family  belongs to Mauritanian president.

However, subsequent reports claimed the jet actually jet belongs to Tinubu.

“After agreeing to leave and save The Gambia from a major crisis, Jammeh was confronted by big challenge – how to fly out,” a report on The Nation said.

“The leaders, The Nation learnt, reached out to All Progressives Congress stalwart Asiwaju Bola Tinubu who authorised his private aircraft to be used to fly Jammeh out of Banjul, sources said.

“Tinubu’s VP-CBT Falcon Jet had been with President Conde, who is a close friend of the leading politician.

“Sources said Tinubu was contacted to allow the use of his jet to fly Jammeh out of Banjul.

“He reportedly gave a condition: it should only be used “if it will facilitate the quick exit of Jammeh and lead to the restoration of peace and democracy in The Gambia”.

“The plane eventually flew out with Jammeh, his wife, mother and President Conde on board.

“Senegal, it was learnt, insisted on knowing those on board before allowing it to overfly its airspace. This wish was granted. Jammeh was flown to Equatorial Guinea where he will be on exile.”

Ex-Gambia ruler Yahya Jammeh stole $11m, shipped luxury cars

 

The Gambia’s ex-ruler, Yahya Jammeh, plundered the state coffers in his final weeks in power, stealing millions of dollars and shipping out luxury vehicles by cargo plane, according to an aide to new president Adama Barrow.

Jammeh, who ruled the small West African country for 22 years, flew into exile late on Saturday to Equatorial Guinea.

He had refused to concede defeat in a December 1 election but eventually relinquished power after a delegation of West African leaders convinced him to step down, even as troops from neighbouring countries entered The Gambia.

On Sunday, hundreds of Banjul residents cheered a military force by ECOWAS, the West African regional bloc, as it entered the capital to provide security and allow Barrow, who has been in neighbouring Senegal for more than a week, to return and take power.

But amid growing controversy over the assurances offered to Jammeh to guarantee his departure, Barrow adviser Mai Fatty said the new administration had discovered that millions of dollars had recently been stolen.

“The coffers are largely empty,” he told reporters in the Senegalese capital, Dakar.

“Over two weeks, over 500m dalasi ($11 million) were withdrawn” by Jammeh, he said. “As we take over, the government of The Gambia is in financial distress.”

Fatty also said that a Chadian cargo plane had transported luxury goods out of the country on Jammeh’s behalf, in his final hours in power, including an unknown number of vehicles.

Presidency attacks Junaid Mohammed for criticising Buhari

The Presidency, on Sunday, said no sincere Nigerian could pretend not to notice the achievements so far recorded by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari in its anti-corruption war.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said this in a statement made available to journalists.

Shehu was reacting to a series of Buhari’s criticisms credited to a former House of Representatives member from Kano State, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, in the media.

He said although Mohammed was entitled to his opinion, he was not entitled to misrepresenting facts about the achievements of the Buhari administration since inception.

He listed the achievements to include what he called the crippling of the Boko Haram terrorists, saying the sect no longer had the capability to invade and occupy towns and villages unchallenged by the country’s military personnel.

The presidential spokesman said, “The fact that civil servants and political office holders are now afraid to steal with impunity is, itself, a major psychological boost for the anti-corruption crusade of the Buhari administration, which no sincere Nigerian can pretend not to notice.

“Contrary to Junaid’s claims that President Buhari doesn’t acknowledge mistakes, we wish to remind the medical doctor that the President publicly took responsibility and apologised for the dissolution of the governing councils of federal universities when it was discovered that due process was not followed.

“We must stress that taking responsibility for mistakes is one of the finest components of integrity, and that President Buhari has never failed in demonstrating this virtue in words and deeds.

“Since the coming of the Buhari administration, the country has saved billions and trillions of naira which could have been diverted to private pockets if the government wasn’t committed to transparency and accountability.”

Shehu advised Nigerians to be wary of “prejudiced and biased critics” like Mohammed, who he said, were more interested in personal publicity than respecting facts and figures about their claims.

He said if Mohammed wanted to be taken seriously, he should speak truthfully about those he frequently attacked in his interviews.

While taking further swipe at the former federal lawmaker for his incessant criticism of Buhari, the presidential spokesman said Mohammed had nurtured the habit of insulting every leader Nigeria had produced in his time with his “jaundiced and malicious attacks.”

Shehu said Mohammed had taken it upon himself to criticise Nigerian leaders from former President Shehu Shagari till date, stating that he only retreated when his life was threatened when he attempted to criticise former military dictator, the late Sani Abacha.

He added, “It must be noted that President Buhari was not the only target of Junaid’s personal vituperations as former Presidents Shehu Shagari, Ibrahim Babangida, Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan had all been victims of his jaundiced and malicious attacks.

“When it came to the late Sani Abacha, he tried it, but once he saw the prospect of elimination, he retreated.

“A cursory library search will reveal that this man has nurtured the habit of insulting every leader this country has produced in his time.

“Like a narcissist, he is just interested in grabbing the headlines. Without publicity, Dr. Junaid would probably give up on life.

“It is unfortunate that Junaid Mohammed has been using his political retirement life to engage in insulting every President to grab the newspaper headlines, in addition to taking advantage of the gullibility of uncritical readers that don’t bother to subject him to facts-check.

“It is obvious that Dr. Junaid appears to be infected with pathological cynicism and these kinds of critics are toxic to national progress because they are only primarily interested in destroying every positive effort and achievements of the government.”

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12 housemates battle as Big Brother Naija opens

 

The reality TV series Big Brother Nigeria, was on Sunday re-launched as “Big Brother Naija” with 12 contestants also known as “housemates”, after 10 years of holding its first edition.

Award-winning Nigerian singers Yemi Alade, Flavour and ‘K9’ performed live during the launch.

The host of the show, Ebuka Obi-Uchendu, a former housemate who introduced the housemates said he remains one of the biggest supporter of the show.

“Ten years ago I was a housemate, today I am one of their biggest supporters,” Obi-Uchendu said.

The Managing Director of MultiChoice Nigeria, John Ugbe, expressed delight on their choice of the host.

“We are particularly excited to have Ebuka as host of Big Brother Naija.

“This was the platform that unearthed his potentials and propelled him to stardom.

Every Sunday on the show, viewers are expected to witness an eviction of a housemate.

The winner of the 11-week contest will be given 25 million naira cash prize and a brand new Kia Sorento SUV car.

The series will run for 78 days and end on April 9.

The Big Brother Naija which was introduced in 2006, is a special Nigerian version of the continental show Big Brother Africa.

It was specially coined to suit the viewing interest of the Nigerian viewers who largely expressed displeasure over the controversial “Shower Hour” and nudity.

NAN

Power firms exploiting Nigerians with estimated billing – NLC

The Nigeria Labour Congress has said that the estimated billing of consumers by electricity distribution companies is a deliberate ploy to exploit the citizens.

The General Secretary, NLC, Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson, said that it was inconceivable for the electricity firms to bill consumers who travelled and shutdown everything in their homes as if they were around.

The NLC scribe said that the time had come for the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission to adopt measures in defence of the consumers of electricity being exploited by the Discos.

Ozo-Eson was reacting to reports that about three million households were not metered and were being given estimated bills out of over six million registered electricity users.

The NLC’s scribe called on the government to adopt a measure that would prevent the companies from billing consumers if they failed to provide meters during a specified period after payment for such.

He stressed that only such a measure would compel the companies to stop the habit of fleecing Nigerians and making them to pay for services not rendered.

He recalled that the NLC had earlier called the attention of the government to the disturbing trend during the nationwide rallies organised to protest the increase in electricity tariff last year.

Ozo-Eson noted that the situation had lingered in spite of the undertaking by the electricity firms that they would meter all consumers.

He said, “You will recollect that we have taken a position very clearly on this matter when we staged rallies against the increased tariff. We drew attention to the preponderance of customers in Nigeria still based on estimated billing. Estimated billing is just an avenue for the Discos to fleece Nigerians.

“So, this is just bringing out the fact and reinforcing that position. Because if you base everything on estimated billing, people travel and shut down everything for the period of Christmas and they come back and the bills are the same; that is part of the exploitation, which we have been drawing attention to.”

He added, “We drew attention to the problems of billing and metering, and part of the undertaking they gave was that they were going to meter. So, if they don’t meter, we call on NERC to exercise its authority on the side of consumer protection.

“The NERC should give a directive that anybody who has formally applied for a meter and within a stipulated time of three months and has not been delivered a meter should not be billed until meters are put in place. That is the way you are going to force them to put these things in place so that everybody will be charged according to consumption.”

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Christians will not sit down and allow themselves to be killed — Onaiyekan

 The Metropolitan Catholic Archbishop of Abuja Diocese, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, speaks with FRIDAY OLOKOR on the killings of Christians in Southern Kaduna and the silence of President Muhammadu Buhari on the matter

Many Nigerians across ethnic and religious divides are worried about the killing of Christians in Southern Kaduna. What is responsible for these killings?

It would have been terrible if Nigerians were not worried. If we look back, we will find out that these things (killings) have been going on for quite some time. There was a major outbreak after the 2011 election. Southern Kaduna suffered a great haemorrhage during the post-election violence. The violence recorded numerous killings that were clearly ethnic and religious. We know that at the end of it all, many people were driven into refugee status in Kaduna. Many Hausa and Muslims had to take refuge in Kaduna because they were not safe anymore in the southern part of the state. What caused that? I don’t know if it was ever fully investigated. As usual, when they investigate an issue, we don’t get the full report. What we know is that late Governor Patrick Yakowa was said to have taken some effective actions that tried to calm nerves. We know Governor Nasir el Rufai very well. We expect that he would have devised ways and means of dealing with the situation.

I have passed through Southern Kaduna in the last few months, and when I travelled from here (Abuja) to Jos through those areas, my host in Kaduna was surprised that I passed through Kafanchan. He said, “That (route) is a very dangerous area, don’t take that road anymore.” It is a pity if the President is badly informed about the reality. I open my email and I see all kinds of horrible pictures. Maybe Mr. President does not have the time to check emails. But the President of Nigeria must have somebody who is checking emails for him and whoever is doing that should have the courage to let him see what he is seeing.

Of course, those who are being killed are Christians but whether they are being killed because they are Christians is another matter. For me, whether they are Christians, Muslims or pagans, what is important is that innocent people should not be killed. When did Nigeria become a place where we take the law into our hands? You say people did something wrong to you in 2011. Let us presume, does that justify the killing of women and children six years after? That worries me because in a situation like this, you need responsible leaders. I expected that these Miyetti Allah people, who claim to be speaking on behalf of the Fulani, will be responsible people we can discuss with, who can talk to their own people and let them know that if indeed they are the ones doing this, then it is not right.

Another news we got that made me worried and which the victims in Southern Kaduna have capitalised on was the allegation that the governor of Kaduna State said that he was surprised they are still killing despite the fact that he had given them money. If he said so, then the question is, so he knows them? You gave them money, then they still went ahead to kill? Surely, he can trace them and this is no longer a situation where you stay in secrecy. Bring them out into the full view of the whole world.

The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs issued a statement about the killings in Southern Kaduna and demanded an investigation. But the statement was signed by Ustaz Christian Isa Okonkwo, an Igbo man who claimed to be the Director of Administration in NSCIA. Are you comfortable with that?

When I read his name, I said, ‘Since when has this man reached that level that he is now speaking in the name of NSCIA.’ The Secretary-General of NSCIA, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, has not spoken and this man who is an Igbo man called Christian Isa Okonkwo, is speaking. I don’t know when he became that and if he is a real Muslim, maybe he used to be called Christian and decided to retain the name just as we have Christians who used to be called Mohammed and have retained Mohammed in their name.

Some people think that it was mischief …

That is part of the problem, immediately you play into a religious matter, nobody can intervene in any serious way and that is really a pity. This is why the statement attributed to the Minister of Interior, Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau (retd.), is generating ripples. He tried to say we should not give this any religious colouring but the fact is that there is now a religious colouring and that is what he must admit and tackle. Whether it is in Southern Kaduna or in Plateau State, all these conflicts are a continuation of the tribal wars of the last century and those tribal wars have some religious connotation. After all, they are called Jihad. We are in a situation now whereby, for historical reasons, any conflict in that area takes up a religious tone which is why it becomes very difficult to handle.

A Catholic Priest in the area stated that over 800 lives have been lost. Do you see it as a religious, ethnic or political crisis?

The whole thing goes together; now, it is political, ethnic and religious. The statement of the Catholic Diocese of Kafanchan was issued more than a month ago. I read it and I even referred to it at the message I delivered at the International Christian Centre at Christmas. This is a serious allegation from the Catholic Diocese of Kafanchan. It is clear (from), concrete statistics of damage done, lives lost, homes destroyed, people displaced and I am sure they have evidence of all these allegations. For the governor and indeed the President to still say everything is okay is dangerous because it means that it is okay that people are getting killed. For me, it is better, easier, and more effective if the president simply insists that no human being should be badly treated. Any Nigerian should have the right not to be killed.

I have no reason to doubt the statistics which my colleague has put together. I believe that he just did not sit back in his house and draw up those numbers. I believe in those numbers and I am very worried about them. He sent it to all the bishops in Nigeria and we are all in one way or the other reacting to it. What exactly can we do? I don’t know besides what I have been doing all the time; talking. Here I talk to the people in Abuja and we are considering getting a bit of interfaith work on this perspective. There should be a meeting of people who are not just Christians or Muslims. I will go beyond religion, just a group of well-meaning Nigerians who can sit and say ‘no, this shouldn’t continue.’ We believe that if what is happening in Southern Kaduna is not stemmed, it can become very dangerous for the whole country.

Do you intend to take this up at the Vatican?

The Vatican is very well informed about this because they are following the news about Nigeria and the memo which the Bishop of Kafanchan has spread round has been sent to the Vatican long ago. Pope Francis will sue for peace, he will beg people to please respect human life and the Pope certainly won’t concentrate on ‘please don’t harm my Christians,’ he will not speak that way. The Pope will simply say ‘do not kill human beings who are innocent.’

How can this violence be stopped?

We must find a way where we can all put our heads together and admit that this is wrong, like the statement attributed to the NSCIA says it is wrong. We will be more able to deal with it if we are ready to deal with it from the level of human dignity. Nigerians are being killed and whatever their religion, it is not right to kill.

Going by the prolonged silence of President Muhammadu Buhari, is he sincere in dealing with the Southern Kaduna crisis?

I am afraid, he is the only one who can take responsibility for his level of sincerity because sincerity is in the heart. But we can generously give it to him that maybe he is not being properly briefed. You know how difficult it is to get to Aso Villa, so it is possible for the President to sit there looking through all kinds of papers because there are a lot of issues to deal with in Nigeria: economic, climate change, diplomatic relations, Boko Haram and then somebody brings a file on Southern Kaduna and it depends on how the person who brings it presents it and it is possible that Mr. President can sit there and not know how bad the situation is. The President doesn’t send someone to the newsstand to buy newspapers. Somebody looks at the newspapers and brings him the items that he is supposed to pay attention to.

There is no excuse for Mr. President to be kept in the dark about it and if I were Mr. President and I finally found out that all these things have been happening and I was not told, then all those who should have informed me would be fired immediately. They are destroying his work. I am saying this because it will be difficult for Mr President to know all these things and keep quiet. If he does, it means that he is happy with what is happening. Some are even suggesting that maybe he is behind it all, well if he does nothing, he cannot stop people from speculating that.

Nigerians know the Sultan is your friend, but most times he seems to be on the defensive by insisting that the people who perpetrated the killings are not Fulani herdsmen, even when there is glaring evidence.

Well, if he is my friend, that doesn’t mean I won’t tell him the truth. I heard that the Sultan said that those who are doing these things are not the Fulani herdsmen. I will like to read that in the sense that we know those Fulani herdsmen with whom we have been living with. The Sultan may be probably right when he said those who are causing these problems are not the Fulani herdsmen that are on the road carrying sticks with small children. But he cannot deny that terrible things are happening and I would have hoped that my friend, the Sultan, would also be interested in the efforts being made to identify who they are. At some point, I heard he said they were terrorists, he also suggested they were coming from foreign countries. Which foreign countries? Because at this point, we want to know who they are. Where are they coming from? We cannot allow them to continue. Maybe if we give the Sultan time and refrain from putting him too much on the spot, he may be able to make some progress. If they are not Nigerians, where are they coming from? We have the immigration department to unmask these people if they are not Nigerians.

Do you think the security agencies have done well?

They have failed because they are supposed to stop these kinds of things from happening and if by chance they didn’t stop it from happening, they are supposed to pursue and bring back those who did it. Look at what happened in Turkey just this (last) week, one lone man came with a big gun into a night club and killed 40 people and maimed over 60. Within three days, they identified him. He ran away, they put his photograph everywhere and in another three or four days, they will know who he is and when they know who he is, they will also know who sent him. This is what security agencies are supposed to do.

In this case of Southern Kaduna, it is not enough for the governor of the state to declare a state of emergency and curfew. If you declare curfew, then you must be ready to enforce the curfew. You cannot say, ‘Let nobody come out after 8 0’ clock’ and then criminals are moving about freely with nobody stopping them. The result is that innocent law-abiding citizens are imprisoned in their houses while criminals come and kill them. This is what I am hearing that is happening over there and when people there say ‘we can’t sit down at home like this and let people come and kill us,’ and people come out as vigilantes to keep watch over their villages, some of them are even arrested for breaking the curfew. This is the kind of thing that creates doubt in the minds of people. The government cannot afford to operate in a way that people no longer trust government. If people no longer trust the government, they are left on their own and you end up with the law of the jungle and we have not seen the end of the story.

If this trend continues, do you foresee a situation whereby Christians being killed will embark on revenge?

I am hoping that this trend will not continue. I am hoping that efficient actions will be taken to stem the tide and stop the activities of these groups. I am hoping that efforts will be made to actually trace those who have committed those atrocities, prosecute them openly and bring to justice whoever is behind it, no matter how highly placed. What happens is that when the security agencies are doing their investigations and then they need to interrogate a big person, they are afraid, if he is an archbishop, an imam or emir. In this matter, the security of the nation is at stake, nobody should be a sacred cow and nobody should be exempted, everybody should be ready to explain his or her actions.

I foresee a situation where those who have been badly damaged and who are being killed daily will be saying, ‘I cannot sit here and be killed’ and they will organise themselves, not because they are Christians but because they are human beings who cannot sit down and allow themselves to be killed. If we put it in Christian terms, then we are making religion responsible and religion is not responsible. If religion is made to be responsible, it means then that we bishops are organising crusades to buy guns and distribute them to the people. Everybody has a right to self-defence when they are left without any alternative. This is why we are warning the government that they should not allow people to reach a stage where they can no longer count on government to protect them and this has nothing to do with whether you are a Christian or a Muslim.

If, for example, the Christian community in Southern Kaduna has lost confidence in government, they will not respond to any invitation from Governor el-Rufai who is a Muslim and who is seen as Muslim and a Fulani, and not as their governor.

It seems your members, Catholics, are the worst hit by this crisis?

The reason is simply because the Catholic Church is very strong in the Kafanchan area.

A mobile police unit was set up in Kafanchan to curtail the killings, do you have confidence in that?

I don’t know what this mobile police force is supposed to do but I imagine that when you have a situation where mass killing is going on by individuals that are not well defined, we expect the security agencies to marshal out adequate formations, whether mobile police or armed forces in the army to patrol even villages because a group cannot just enter villages at night without passing through somewhere. This is where the police and army must be complemented by good intelligence. Somebody must know where these people are coming from and must inform the right person who will inform the right people. Everything goes together. What is happening is that it seems that the government of Kaduna State has probably been looking at this thing as not very serious.

The Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, who had earlier faulted the 800 casualty figure, has set up a panel on the incident. Do you have confidence in him and composition of the panel?

He probably cannot believe it but he should not fault it until he has his own figures. I think what he should do is to challenge the Bishop to produce his records and I am sure the Bishop will produce the records. If he sets up a panel believing that nothing serious is happening, then nothing serious will come out of the panel. But if he sets up a panel to find out what exactly is happening, let us hope that the panel will try their best to find out what is happening. But I do not think you need a big panel to know what is happening in Southern Kaduna because we have seen dead bodies all over the place, that is what is happening. We know what is happening, that the area has been left at the mercy of marauding murderers. We don’t know whoever they are, where they are coming from or who is funding and paying them, and who has invited them. But the government should know and for government to know, it must do the needful, it must put in place the right kind of intelligence gathering mechanisms because you need all that before you begin to carry guns around marching and saying you are going to counter this kind of thing.

Do you have confidence in the present leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria led by Olasupo Samson Ayokunle?

I do not know what to say about the present leadership of CAN because our (Catholic) church is not fully involved now in CAN. We were not even party to the election that brought in the new leadership of CAN. The only position that I can take now is, I sit down and watch and by their fruits, we shall know them. I have been talking, I sent a copy of my message at Christmas to the CAN President and my message for New Year too, just to let him know what I am thinking.

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Presidency dispels death rumour, says Buhari alive

 There was consternation in several quarters in Abuja and beyond over the weekend as rumours circulated that President Muhammadu Buhari had passed on at a London hospital where he was said to be receiving treatment.

As the day wore on, the rumours gained ground after a news website published a story that the President was dead. The rumour soon spread like wild fire in different parts of the country with many Nigerians making frantic phone calls to ascertain the story’s accuracy.

The presidency however said on Saturday that there was no truth in the news.

Buhari had on Thursday travelled to London, United Kingdom, after writing to the National Assembly that he would be proceeding on a vacation and that Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo would be performing the duties of the President while he was away.

“The report is hogwash,” the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, simply said when our correspondent contacted him.

Adesina also denied the report on his Twitter handle, praying for those behind it to repent.

“Best wishes to all who wish PMB well. As for those who carry evil rumours, may they receive grace to repent,” he said.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, also took to his Twitter handle to deny the report.

Shehu wrote, “He is alive and well. President Buhari is not magical. He cannot be holidaying in the UK and be in Germany, dead or alive at the same time.

“He is unlike a past president, who was at Ota with Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and attending the Trump inauguration in DC, being in two places at the same time.”

Shortly after the rumor began to spread on Saturday, our correspondent observed that    the President’s family members were unperturbed in Aso Rock.

A member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Saidu Sani-Fago, who represents Daura/Mai’Adua/Sandamu Federal Constituency of Katsina State also dismissed worries over Buhari’s health status, saying that the President was fit.”

The lawmaker spoke further, “Mr. President is fit and sound. He is taking a 10-day vacation and he wants to seize the opportunity to see his doctors.

“This is normal. He did it last year.”

Similarly, pan-northern socio-political organisation, the Arewa Consultative Forum, said President Buhari is a mortal like every other Nigerian and liable to fall ill.

According to the National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Muhammadu Ibrahim, there  is nothing wrong if the President falls ill.

The ACF spokesman said, “President Muhammadu Buhari is human. He has taken his annual leave and travelled to the United Kingdom for medical check up. ACF wishes him well. ACF calls on Nigerians to support the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.”

In the same vein, the Muslim Rights Concern has advised Nigerians not to panic. Responding to an inquiry by SUNDAY PUNCH, the MURIC Director, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, stated it was natural to feel concerned about the President’s health.

“But that is nothing to worry about. Many at his age cannot even walk properly, speak clearly or see very well. Every man’s life is in the hands of Allah, including those of presidents, governors, ministers and ordinary citizens. Allah knows those who will die soon and those who will live long.”

“So, how do we know when it is someone’s turn? Only Allah knows that. People are expressing fear about the President’s health because they have little faith. They know very little about the ways of Almighty Allah,” he said.

Akintola, who pointed out that sudden death among the young and healthy in the country was common, said, “Don’t we have Nigerians who have been sick for the past 40 years but are still alive and working? It is about management and one’s turn. It is about faith. Let’s stop the pessimism. Healthy people drop dead without explanations while people who are sick keep hanging on although we are expecting the worst.”

According to him, Buhari can only die at his apportioned time.

“He won’t live one minute longer than Allah gave him. But, mind you, neither will he die one minute earlier. No matter how many death wishes and death wish advertisements,” the Muslim scholar said.

He noted further that the President had lived a fulfilled life.

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Africa troops enter The Gambia to secure Barrow’s return

West African troops entered The Gambia Sunday to secure President Adama Barrow‘s arrival from neighbouring Senegal, as controversy erupted over the assurances offered to Yahya Jammeh to guarantee his exit.

Jammeh flew out of The Gambia on Saturday, ending 22 years at the helm of the tiny west African nation, and landed in Equatorial Guinea a few hours later where he is expected to settle with his family.

The Senegalese general leading a joint force of troops from five African nations said soldiers had nonetheless entered The Gambia to “control strategic points to ensure the safety of the population and facilitate… Barrow’s assumption of his role.”

An AFP journalist in the Gambian border town of Farafenni saw a convoy crossing the frontier on Sunday morning, which would leave them several hours to reach Banjul.

Senegalese forces had briefly crossed into the former British colony on Thursday but pulled out shortly afterwards, with Sunday’s troop movement the first by soldiers from the joint force.

Marcel Alain de Souza, a top official with the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS), which organised the deployment, said pro-Jammeh elements and mercenaries remained on the ground and had open fired as troops crossed the border.

“They were neutralised,” he said in a statement seen by AFP, without elaborating.

De Souza said the country “could not be left open” for long, however, and that Barrow must be in place “as soon as possible”.

“A country must have a government, but the security conditions required the troops we have sent to secure Banjul and other towns,” he said.

Following Barrow’s win in the December 1 election, Jammeh refused to step down, triggering weeks of uncertainty that almost ended in a full military intervention.

The longtime leader, wearing his habitual white flowing robes, waved to supporters before boarding a small, unmarked plane at Banjul airport alongside Guinea’s President Alpha Conde after two days of talks over a departure deal.

He left behind a small minority of diehard supporters, some of whom wept as his plane departed.

The choice of Equatorial Guinea for his exile had helped ease concerns that Jammeh might interfere in his nation’s politics if he stayed in Guinea, whose border is not far from The Gambia’s eastern region.

The strongman personally controlled certain sections of the security forces, and his long tenure was marked by systematic rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings, torture, and arbitrary detention.

But critics have raised concerns over the wording of a statement issued by the UN, ECOWAS and the African Union that seemed to offer Jammeh comfortable guarantees for his future.

“No legislative measures” would be taken that would infringe the “dignity, security, safety and rights” of Jammeh or his family, it said, noting that he could return when he pleased and that property “lawfully” belonging to him would not be seized.

Equatorial Guinea is not a signatory to the Rome Statute that established the International Criminal Court, meaning Jammeh would not be extradited in the event he was charged with crimes against humanity or other serious offences.

One Banjul-based diplomat described the provision for Jammeh to return to The Gambia without hindrance as ill-advised.

Experts told AFP the document was not legally binding and would be left to the interpretation of the new government.

Jammeh took power in a 1994 coup from the country’s only other president since independence from Britain, Dawda Jawara, making this The Gambia’s first democratic transition of power.

“We are going to wait for Barrow at the airport all the way to State House. Before we were scared to come out,” said security guard Babacar Jallow, describing Jammeh as “a killer.”

With Jammeh gone, all eyes will be on the Barrow administration as they make their first steps as a government of reform and development.

“The will of the people has come to be — at last,” said Isatou Touray, a key official in the government-in-waiting.

“Democracy is back, you can’t stop the people.”

The first priority will be to ensure the safe return of tens of thousands of people who have fled in recent weeks fearing a bloody end to the crisis, Touray said on Saturday.

The crisis had also sparked the exodus of thousands of foreign visitors, dealing a potentially devastating blow to a country which earns up to 20 percent of its income from tourism. (AFP)

Military air strike kills dozens in IDPs camp

Dozens of people were killed on Tuesday when an air force jet bombarded a camp for those made homeless by Boko Haram in northeast Nigeria, medical charity MSF and a local resident said.

“A military jet mistakenly bombarded Rann,” in Borno state, Abba Abiso told AFP, adding that “at least 25 people were killed and many more injured”.

MSF said its teams “have seen 120 wounded and 50 dead”.

AFP

BREAKING: Gambian president, Jammeh declares state of emergency

 

The Gambia’s President Yahya Jammeh, has declared state of emergency in the country.

Jammeh lost an election last month and has refused to accept his defeat.

Details soon