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(Nigeria) The Enugu State Police Command says has rescued two kidnapped students of the Enugu State University of Science and Technology, ESUT, from their abductors. This is contained in a statement by the command’s Spokesman, Mr Ebere Amaraizu, on Tuesday in Enugu. Amaraizu said that the students, Afamefuna Akadieze and Miss Miracle Chukwuemeka were rescued unhurt at Ufam Stream at Ituku in the Awgu Local Government Area of the state. He said the victims were rescued after an intensive confrontation between the police and the hoodlums, whom he said, had escaped with various degrees of injuries. The spokesman said, however, that a member of the gang was arrested by the police. He said that the victims were abducted at gunpoint and blindfolded when they were buying provisions at a shop near their hostel. “The hoodlums demanded N20 million ransom from the parents of the victims which they later reduced to N10 million. “Following a tip-off, the police Anti-Kidnap Squad, s

(Nigeria) The authority of the Federal Government College, Buni-Yadi, in Yobe State, on Tuesday confirmed that 29 of its students were killed by insurgents who attacked the institution on Monday. Mr Ibrahim Abdul, a Senior Master, gave the figure while receiving Governor Ibrahim Gaidam during a sympathy visit to the school. Abdul said that 11 students also sustained various gunshot wounds. He said that all the hostels and classrooms were burnt by the insurgents who attacked the college at 11.30 p.m. The attackers, who were said to have arrived at the college in several vehicles, also burnt down 40 houses. The governor described the attack as inhuman and unfortunate. Gaidam called on security operatives to evolve more proactive and intelligence approach to curb the menace of the insurgents. He announced a donation of N100 million to assist the victims. The college was the fourth educational institution attacked in the state in the last eight months.

Egypt's military-installed authorities named a former member of ousted strongman Hosni Mubarak's ruling party as prime minister Tuesday ahead of a presidential election expected to bring the army chief to power. Ibrahim Mahlab, a former state-sector construction boss, vowed to fight "terrorism" and bring back tourists as he began work on forming a new cabinet after the surprise resignation on Monday of prime minister Hazem al-Beblawi. Beblawi's government had been installed in July after the military ousted Islamist Mohamed Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected president and its first civilian one. But it resigned in the face of mounting criticism of its failure to get to grips with a floundering economy and worsening industrial unrest. Mahlab, who served as housing minister in Beblawi's cabinet, said that interim president Adly Mansour had tasked him with forming a new government "in three to four days". He promised to work hard to

(Nigeria) Stakeholders at a town hall meeting on education in Edo State, have thrown their weight behind plans by the state government to conduct a test for teachers in the state to assess their levels of competence. Participants at the town hall meeting, at the Imaguero College Hall, Benin City, Tuesday, include traditional rulers, non-governmental organisations, clergymen, civil society groups, market women and other stakeholders were of the view government’s huge investment in the rebuilding of schools would be a waste if there were no competent teachers to handle the pupils. The Onojie of Opoji, His Royal Highness, Ehidiamen 1, said the government should not compromise in sanitizing the education sector in the state. He noted that education is the fulcrum of development in any society, and urged the governor to flush out unqualified teachers from the system in the interest of the pupils, stressing that true union leaders would not support unqualified teachers. Also the

(Nigeria) Suspected Boko Haram Islamists killed 43 people on Tuesday when they attacked girls secondary school students as they slept in the latest school massacre to hit Nigeria's troubled northeast. The raid at 2 a.m., (0100 GMT) targeted the Federal Government College in the town of Buni Yadi in Yobe State and bore the hallmarks of a similar attack last September in which 40 died. The attackers reportedly hurled explosives into student residential buildings, sprayed gunfire into rooms and hacked a number students to death. A senior medical source at the Sani Abacha Specialist Hospital in Yobe's capital Damaturu said the gunmen only targeted male students and that female students were "spared". "So far, 43 bodies have been brought (from the college) and are lying at the morgue," said the source, who requested anonymity as he was not authorised to discuss death tolls. Yobe has been one of the hardest areas in Boko Haram's four-and-half ye

Red Cross said Tuesday it had collected nine more bodies in Bangui, bringing to 1,240 the number of confirmed deaths from the violence in the Central African capital since December. Among the corpses collected by Red Cross staff were two Chadian soldiers from the African Union peacekeeping force MISCA and two civilians who were killed on Sunday in clashes with militiamen on Sunday. The bodies of the other five were retrieved from several Bangui neighbourhoods, a Red Cross official told AFP on condition of anonymity. The exact time and circumstances of their death was not clear but they all had bullet or machete wounds. The Central African Red Cross had found another six bodies in Bangui between Thursday and Saturday last week. The Red Cross official said his staff had now collected a total of 1,240 bodies from the streets of Bangui since December 5, when French troops deployed in a bid to quell flaring sectarian unrest. He said the real death toll for Bangui was probably m

Outgoing housing minister Ibrahim Mahlab was appointed Tuesday as Egypt's new prime minister after the resignation of the cabinet installed by the military following last year's overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi. Mahlab, a former member of deposed president Hosni Mubarak's National Democratic Party, told reporters he had been tasked by interim president Adly Mansour with forming the new government ahead of presidential polls due to be held this spring.

Israel, bent on halting any transfer of weapons to Lebanon's Hezbollah, has bombarded a position of the powerful Shiite group on the Lebanese-Syrian border, sources say. On Monday night, "two Israeli raids hit a Hezbollah target on the border of Lebanon and Syria," a Lebanese security source told AFP. Lebanon's National News Agency confirmed the report, adding that the raids struck the countryside of the Lebanese border town of Nabi Sheet. Local residents said the raid took place inside Lebanon, and a Lebanese military source said this was "most likely" the case. Lebanon's army did not confirm there had been any strikes, but it reported violations of the country's airspace by Israel. Hezbollah is an arch-enemy of Israel, and has sent thousands of fighters across the border to aid Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime as it battles Sunni-led rebels. Syria has long provided arms and other aid to Hezbollah, and served as a key c

(Nigeria) The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, said in Abuja on Tuesday that it would take necessary measures to protect the nation from being a dumping ground for fake cell phones. The NCC Public Relations Officer, Mr Reuben Muoka, said this in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria, NAN. Muoka said the commission was conscious of the health implications of fake cell phones on the populace. He, therefore, said the commission would ensure that only certified phones and phone accessories found their way into the nation’s markets. NCC was partnering with the Nigerian Customs Services, NCS and the Phone and Allied Dealers Association of Nigeria, PADAN to that effect. ``Checks have revealed that major dealers in the Nigeria ICT market also engaged in the sale of unapproved phones. The NCC condemns this in complete terms because of its health implication and effects in the quality of services delivery. ``Worried by the ugly trend, the regulatory authority in partners

A South African Court on Tuesday authorised the partial live broadcasting of the trial of Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius, which his defence had tried to prevent. The trial of the 27-year-old Paralympic track star charged with killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp opens in Pretoria on Monday. South African news channel eNCA and the media houses MultiChoice and Eyewitness News had applied for permission to broadcast live the country's "trial of the century,’’  which would be followed around the world. Judge Dunstan Mlambo said the entire audio of the trial could be broadcast, but television coverage would be limited. Television coverage may include the opening and closing argument of the trial and evidence given by police and experts, but will exclude testimonies by witnesses and by Pistorius himself. Pistorius’ lawyers opposed the broadcasting of the trial, arguing that it could influence witnesses and alter their testimonies. Mlambo said that argument was

Pakistani fighter jets bombarded Taliban hideouts in the troubled northwest Tuesday, killing at least 30 in the fourth airstrikes since peace talks stalled, in what analysts say is a surgical operation to reassert the military's dominance. The morning attacks on hideouts in the North and South Waziristan tribal districts were the latest in a series of airstrikes by the Pakistan Air Force, PAF, since February 20 that have killed more than 100 alleged militants. Experts say the strikes are designed to give the military the upper-hand if peace talks, which were suspended last week, resume and do not believe the army is prepared to launch a full-fledged operation in the area. Independent verification of the death tolls in the strikes has not been possible since it is difficult for journalists to enter the area and civilian administrators are reluctant to comment. The focus of Tuesday's attacks, which also involved helicopter gunships, was mostly the mountainous Shawal vall

At least 10 workers died and 17 others were injured when a large concrete beam collapsed Tuesday at a construction site just outside Bangkok, police said. Television footage showed rescue workers using sniffer dogs and a digger to reach bodies stuck beneath large chunks of broken concrete and twisted metal at the sprawling site in Samut Prakan province, which borders Bangkok. Two of the injured were in a critical condition in hospital, according to provincial police. "There are 10 dead and 17 injured who are in hospital," police commander Thatchai Hongthong told AFP, revising down an earlier toll of 11 dead. Volunteer rescue teams scoured the building site for bodies but by Tuesday afternoon had stopped their search. "There were 40 workers on site at the time of the collapse, now we have stopped searching as I'm confident we have retrieved all of the bodies," said rescue worker Anyawut Pho-ampai. Labour groups have warned about lax safety standards

Israeli police Tuesday entered the sensitive Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City to disperse stone-throwing Palestinian protesters, a police spokesman said. The clashes came as parliament was to debate a bill calling for Israeli sovereignty over the compound, Islam's third-holiest site, which is currently administered by Jordan. Police used stun grenades to disperse the Palestinians, Micky Rosenfeld told AFP, adding that there was "high tension" ahead of discussions expected in the Israeli parliament later Tuesday of a plan to annex the site, known to Jews as the Temple Mount. He added that stones thrown by the Palestinians injured two policemen while three protesters were arrested. Palestinian medics said 15 protesters were injured by rubber bullets. "Police remain deployed at the Temple Mount and visits by tourists are continuing," Rosenfeld said. The Israeli Knesset, or parliament, is due to debate in the evening a bill introduced

(Nigeria) Suspected Boko Haram Islamists on Tuesday opened fire on secondary school students as they slept in a dormitory in Nigeria's troubled northeastern Yobe state, the military said. Casualty figures from the attack in the town of Buni Yadi, roughly 60 kilometres (40 miles) from the state capital Damaturu, were not immediately available but scores of students have been killed in similar attacks in the state in the last year. The military spokesman in Yobe, Lazarus Eli, said the raid occurred at 2:00 am (0100 GMT) at the town's Federal Government College, a school for students aged 11 to 18. The gunmen "opened fire on student hostels", Eli said. "Details are still sketchy due to lack of telephone access and it is still not clear how many students were affected in the attack", he added. The name Boko Haram means "Western education is forbidden" and the Islamist rebels have carried out waves of attacks at schools across the north du

(Nigeria) The Police in Sokoto State on Tuesday confirmed the murder of a 56-year-old man,  Mallami Aliyu, by his 25-year-old son on Sunday. The Spokesman of the Police Command in the state, El-Mustapha Sani, confirmed the incident to newsmen in Sokoto. Sani said that the incident happened about 2a.m on Sunday. ``The incident occurred in the early hours of Sunday at the Kofar Marke area of Sokoto city in Sokoto North Local Government Area. The 25-year-old ... allegedly killed and buried his 56-year-old father, Mallami Aliyu,’’ he said. Sani said the suspect had been arrested. ``The boy is in detention though we discovered that he was intoxicated and is not himself at the moment. We are waiting for him to regain his consciousness before further investigation," he said. Narrating the incident, the pregnant wife of the deceased and mother of the suspect, Malama Fatima Aliyu, said ``it all happened on Sunday night at about 2a.m.’’ She said the suspect ``met his father o

(Nigeria) Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State said on Tuesday said that the Southern Leaders Forum was designed to foster greater unity among the ethnic nationalities in the region. A statement by Orji’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr Charles Ajunwa, said the governor made the remark in Umuahia after his return from the two-day forum, which took place in Calabar. The governor noted that ``hitherto, the South was polarised, but this singular meeting we held has brought all the southern leaders together so that we can discuss our differences, strengths and weaknesses. ``At the end, we harmonise and take a firm stand that we all belong to this country and that we have a voice so that when we speak, our voice must be heard. ``The meeting offered an opportunity for all the various nationalities in the South to appreciate that the South can unite. And honestly, we are united right now’’, Orji said. He further explained that the meeting was convoked to harmonise the views of the lead

(Nigeria) The  Rotimi Amaechi-led Nigeria Governors Forum, NGF, on Tuesday commended the Federal Government efforts at curbing Boko Haram insurgents in the north. The forum gave the commendation at its emergency meeting which ended at the early hours of Tuesday in Abuja. While condemning the current spate of killings in the North- East, it applauded the effort of the Nigerian military and other security agencies, which were tackling the insurgents. Amaechi, who read the communiqué to newsmen, called on the Federal Government to be more responsive to the people. ``We expect that the Federal Government should wake up to its responsibility of protecting lives and property in the country, especially in the North-East,’’ he said. The forum expressed support for the call by the Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the Senate, for a forensic audit of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC account. Amaechi reiterated the forum concern on the non-conveyance

(Nigeria) By Odimegwu Onwumere The Director of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, UNESCO, in Nigeria, Professor Hassana Alidou at a recent launch of the Education For All, EFA, Global Monitoring Report, GMR, said that Nigeria has some of the worst education indicators in the world. In ‘Teaching and learning: Achieving quality for all’, an account by the UNESCO launched 29 Jan 2014, Nigeria is among the 37 countries that are losing money being spent in education, because children are not learning. UNESCO disclosed that the menace is already costing governments $129 billion a year. The report stressed that despite the money being spent, the rejuvenation of the primary education is not in the near future because of poor quality education that is failing to ensure that children learn. But speaking in Abuja as at June 2013, when he granted audience to the Director of the Bureau for the Development of Education in Africa, BREDA, an arm of UNESCO,

President Goodluck Jonathan, on Monday said  Sanusi Lamido Sanusi still remained the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN. He said while answering questions on Monday on Presidential Media Chat  Jonathan said Sanusi was only asked to step aside to allow for proper investigation into issues raised by the Financial Reporting Council on the bank's 2012 audit report. He said it would not be appropriate for Sanusi to be allowed to stay in his position because he was also the Chairman  of the Board of the CBN would. He said Sanusi could come back  ``today or tomorrow'' if he was cleared at the end of the investigations. Jonathan, however, said he had full powers to suspend Sanusi as the CBN governor. ``Yes, I have absolute power. The CBN is not well defined in the Nigerian Constitution,’’ he said. According to him, the president has oversight functions over the bank. The president explained that the suspension was delayed in view of the need to consult wi

A Cairo court on Monday upheld a government decision taken in December to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group. Since the overthrow of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi in July, the Brotherhood had been blamed for militant attacks, mainly targeting security forces. A bomb attack against a tourist bus in South Sinai last week killed four people. Conviction for terrorism-related offensives in Egypt can carry the death penalty. The Brotherhood had repeatedly denied responsibility for the attacks. The court’s decision came as Egypt's prosecutor referred 504 people, including senior Brotherhood after the security forces killed hundreds in a crackdown on pro-Morsi protest camps. They are charged with spreading chaos and attacking policemen. Earlier on Monday, another court handed down five-year jail sentences to 19 students accused of rioting during clashes between Morsi supporters and security forces in December, local media reported. The students, all

(Nigeria) President Goodluck Jonathan, on Monday, says he has no plan to send military a administrator to Borno, following the resurgence of Boko Haram attacks in the state. The President made the disclosure in a presidential media chat, saying government was still exploring options available in tackling the insurgence in the North-East of the country. According to him, the Federal Government is in contact with its Camerounian counterpart to arrest the situation, which has become rampant at the Nigeria-Cameroun border. The President said government would continue to apply different tactics in fighting the Boko Haram insurgents until victory was completely achieved. He added that ``it is not only the army that fights terror; the army is key in terms of confrontation, but the SSS, the Police the NIA and other security agencies are also working. ``Fighting terror all over the world is not so easy but I can assure you that we will get over it; all intelligent agencies and securi

(Nigeria) The police in Bayelsa State on Monday confirmed that gunmen abducted, Chief Inengite, 65, in Otuoke,  Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa. The command’s public relations Officer, Mr Alex Akhigbe, who confirmed the incident, said one person had been arrested in connection with the abduction. Akhigbe also said that the victim's vehicle used in whisking him away had also been recovered. ``Investigation is in progress to unmask the kidnappers and rescue the victim,’’ he said. Nitabai was abducted by no fewer than 10 gunmen on Sunday night. The gunmen kidnapped Nitabai  when he was returning from an outing and took him away in his vehicle to an unknown destination. A security source said that the chief's vehicle was later recovered at Onuegbum community waterfront where it was abandoned. The incident has led to heavy security presence in the community, which hosts the Federal University, Otuoke. The Deputy Commander of the Joint Task force, Operation

(Nigeria) The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, ASUP, on Monday appealed to the Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, to wade into the lingering dispute between the union and the Federal Government. The Chairman of Bida Polytechnic Chapter of the union, Comrade Mohammed Gbate, made the appeal when he led a delegation to visit the Emir in his palace in Bida. Gbate said that the union was visiting the Emir to seek his intervention in the protracted dispute, which had paralysed academic activities in the nation’s polytechnics. “It is in recognition of your central role as a respected elder statesman and a major stakeholder in our nation, that ASUP is passionately appealing for your intervention in the impasse. We want you to use your good office to ensure that this strike is resolved now to save the future of polytechnic education in the country.  “We are not so much concerned about the welfare of polytechnics staff, rather it is about addressing the inequality between the polyt

(Nigeria) The Civilian JTF in Borno on Monday appealed to the Federal Government to reconsider dialoguing with the Boko Haram to end its ongoing violent campaign in the country. The Legal Adviser of the group, Alhaji Jubrin Gunda, made the appeal at a news conference in Maiduguri. Gunda said that the action was the only way to end the ongoing carnage, especially in Borno by the sect. ``We hereby appeal to the Federal Government to consider the dialogue option with the Boko Haram sect toward ending the ongoing wanton destruction of lives and property. We are saying this because we belief that violence will not take us anywhere,’’ he said. ``So, many lives have been lost in the last few days mainly due to the violent campaign by the sect in Borno. We belief enough is enough because violence will only lead to destruction,’’ he said. He also appealed to the sect to lay down its arms and embrace dialogue with the government for peace to reign. ``We are making this call because

(Nigeria) A 37-year-old engineer, Bashir Lawal, was on Monday remanded at Federal  Prison, Idah, Kogi, by a Lokoja Senior Magistrate Court over alleged kidnap of a retired police officer, Mr Sule Amichi. Senior Magistrate Rachael Omajali gave the order in Lokoja on arraignment of Lawal, of Igala-Ogba, Idah, who was alleged to have led 11 others to kidnap the retired police officer. According to Mr Friday Shaibu, the Prosecuting Police Officer, Amichi, of behind Federal Polytechnic, Idah, on February 5, reported the matter to the Divisional Police Headquarters in Idah and the state CID, Lokoja. He said Amichi and his driver, Abraham Ocheje, were, at 11 a.m. same day, on their way from Lokoja to Idah in a Toyota Camry car. He said the duo, with the car, marked KOGI: NDG 104 AA on Anyigba-Ojodu road, were double-crossed by the accused and his alleged gang. The assailants, the police officer said, numbering about 11 and armed with dangerous weapons, including Barretta pistols, d

(Nigeria) President Goodluck Jonathan has said that the Federal Government is still open to constructive dialogue with the Boko Haram sect to end insurgency in the North East zone of the country. The president stated this in Abuja on Monday when he declared open an International seminar on the Observance of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law in Internal Security Operations. The seminar, held at the National Defence College, was co-hosted by the Offices of the Attorney-General of the Federation (A-GF) and the National Security Adviser, NSA. Jonathan called on members of the sect to lay down their arms and table their grievances, if any, before government. He, however, clarified that while waiting for the response from the sect, the military operations in the troubled areas would continue to safeguard lives and property. ``Our administration has committed tremendous resources and adopted several approaches to prosecuting the fight against terror in Nigeria. The

Provincial governor Atheel al-Nujaifi, a brother of Iraq's parliament speaker, on Monday survived the third attempt on his life this month, as violence killed 32 people, officials said. Iraq is suffering its worst unrest in years and authorities have so far failed to check daily violence targeting both civilians and security forces. There have now been at least six attempts to kill Nujaifi in less than a year, showing that even the most senior official in the northern province of Nineveh -- one of the most dangerous in Iraq -- is vulnerable to attack. Two roadside bombs exploded near Nujaifi's convoy in Nineveh's capital Mosul, wounding two provincial councillors but leaving the governor unharmed, a police major and a hospital employee said. Nujaifi, brother of parliament speaker Osama al-Nujaifi, is in his second term as governor of Nineveh, where Sunni militants have a major presence and carry out near-daily attacks. Militants are also said to extort money from

Nokia showed off Monday a new range of smartphones powered by Google's Android operating system, even as it is being taken over by Microsoft. The Finnish group unveiled three Nokia X smartphone models at the opening of the four-day World Mobile Congress in Barcelona, shunning Microsoft's Windows Phone to go with a competing Android-based system. The new smartphones use an "Android open-source platform" but are equipped with Nokia's own Lumia user interface and they point users to Microsoft services, not Google's, said Nokia France managing director Thierry Amarger. Android applications installed on the phones will work, but users will not be able to access Google's services, notably its applications store, Google Play. The devices are aimed at customers seeking a smartphone for less than 150 euros ($210), said Amarger, as the market for entry-level smartphones enjoys "a full-blown acceleration". The Nokia X range aims to capture a pr

Former United States congressman, Mel Reynolds, was deported from Zimbabwe on Sunday after he pleaded guilty to staying in the southern African country on an expired visa, a senior immigration official said on Monday. Reynolds, 62, was arrested at a Harare hotel last week and was fined by a magistrate court. But the court dismissed additional pornography charges against him on a technicality after the prosecution failed to clear the charges through the Prosecutor-General's office as required by law. ``We deported him as ordered by the court, but I am sorry that we are not in a position to discuss details of what flight or route we put him on,’’ immigration officer Francis Mabika told Reuters. Although Reynolds pleaded guilty to the visa charge, he had denied charges he was found with nude pictures and videos of women and men having sexual intercourse on his mobile phone. Possession of pornography is illegal in Zimbabwe. The state-owned Herald newspaper reported las

(Nigeria) The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Mohammed Adoke, on Monday said that more than 40 Boko Haram members had been convicted for terrorism-related crimes. Adoke made this known at the opening of an International seminar on the Observance of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law in Internal Security Operations in Abuja. The seminar declared opened by President Goodluck Jonathan was cohosted by the Office Attorney-General and the Office of the National Security Adviser, NSA. Adoke said the considerable efforts of government had been made possible through the prosecution of members of the sect under the Terrorism Prevention Act, 2011 as amended in 2013. The attorney-general commended the roles of members of the armed forces and other law enforcement agencies in containing terrorism and other related crises in the country. He said the seminar was to sensitise the participants, particularly members of the armed forces, to comply