Bayelsa to honour ex-convict, Alamieyeseigha, Abacha

An ex-convict and former governor of Bayelsa State, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, will be honoured by the state, current governor, Seriake Dickson, announced on Monday.

Mr. Alamieyeseigha, who has also been indicted of corrupt activities in England and the United States, will be acknowledged for his “commitment to the Ijaw struggle,” Mr. Dickson announced, Monday morning, during his address to mark the state’s 16th creation anniversary.

Mr. Dickson, in the announcement, broadcast on the state’s local radio station, said an auditorium in the Ijaw National Congress, INC, secretariat, built by the state, will be named after Mr. Alamieyeseigha, the first civilian governor of the state.

A Global criminal

In July 2007, Mr. Alamieyeseigha pleaded guilty to a six- count corruption charge before a Nigerian court; and was sentenced to two years in prison on each charge. He also forfeited many of his asset to the Federal Government which were subsequently returned to the Bayelsa State Government.

Before pleading guilty to the charges in Nigeria, the former governor jumped bail in the UK, in December 2005 and absconded by allegedly disguising himself as a woman. Mr. Alamieyeseigha, who is infamous for the disguise, however, denies he ever presented himself as a woman to evade arrest.

Mr. Alamieyeseigha was detained in London on charges of money laundering after Metropolitan police found about N253 million in cash in his London home at the time of his arrest. Later the police found a total of N457 million in cash and bank accounts. He also had real estate in London worth N2.538 billion.

He is still wanted in the UK and could face prosecution if he ever ventures there again.

On June 28, the United States Department of Justice announced that it had seized $401,931 in asset traceable to Mr. Alamieyeseigha.

US prosecutors had filed court papers in April 2011 targeting a Massachusetts brokerage fund and a $600,000 Maryland home, which they said were the proceeds of Mr. Alamieyeseigha’s corruption back home.

Despite Mr. Alamieyeseigha’s criminal past, the Bayelsa State Governor insists he is a “pillar” of the Ijaws; and would honour the former’s accomplishments with INC building which the former started as a governor.

Mr. Alamieyeseigha is also a close ally of President Goodluck Jonathan. Mr. Jonathan was selected by Mr. Alamieyeseigha as deputy governor to the latter in 1999, a position he held until the ex-convict was impeached from office in 2005, after which Mr. Jonathan became governor. Both men are still very close, with Mr. Alamieyeseigha playing an advisory role during Mr. Jonathan’s presidential election in 2011.

Immortalizing Abacha

It is not only an ex-convict that Bayelsa State would immortalize. The state will also immortalize a former dictator who has been indicted of looting Nigeria’s treasury and from whom several millions of dollar have been recovered.

Bayelsa will immortalise late Sani Abacha, Nigeria’s former head of state that died in office 1998 while trying to perpetuate himself in office.

Mr. Abacha, as Head of State, announced the creation of Bayelsa in 2005. To honour the former dictator, the Bayelsa Governor announced that he would name a planned 150-duplex housing estate after him.

Bayelsa state, in partnership with the INC, also named the main auditorium of the INC secretariat after the dictator.

A memorial tree would also be planted for the same purpose.

Controversial governor

This decision to honour an ex-convict and a former dictator is not the first controversial decision Mr. Dickson would be taking in his less than one year in office.

Shortly after assuming office, the governor appointed the president’s wife, Patience Jonathan, as a permanent secretary in the state. This drew the ire of citizens, criticizing the move as patronizing and seeking to curry favours from the president.

The governor has also just returned on Sunday from his trip abroad, where he allegedly went to “woo foreign investors.” This trip had fuelled speculations that he was away on failing health grounds. The governor has, however, denied that he was ill.

The governor would also, for the first time since floods inundated some communities in the state, conduct an assessment of the affected communities. He earlier said the issue of flooding is not peculiar to Bayelsa State; but a global phenomenon caused mainly by global warming and other issues related to the environment.

Cristiano Ronaldo demanding for £400,000 a week at Real Madrid

Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo wants to become the first footballer to earn £400,000 a week, according to an ESPN source.

Because of Spain’s punitive tax laws, Ronaldo would need to break through the £400,000-a-week barrier for a big pay rise to take effect.

As Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain look on with interest, negotiations to secure Ronaldo’s future at the Bernabeu have got under way.

Ronaldo has issued a public statement insisting that his remarks about his “sadness” at the club were not related to finance.

But the source said he would want to double his current salary, and this would help to convince him the club was willing to fight for his future.

The Portugal international had been the world’s best-paid player when moving to the Bernabeu on a £200,000-a-week deal in 2009, but he has since slipped down the pecking order, with the likes of Samuel Eto’o, Didier Drogba, Neymar and Wayne Rooney all earning more.

Additionally, Madrid currently own 50% of Ronaldo’s image rights, and he has overtaken David Beckham as the game’s most lucrative commercial property in terms of shirt sales.

Ronaldo remains under contract until 2015, and his buyout clause would appear prohibitive even for the likes of Manchester City, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain. A move to Russia or China would not appeal to him, ESPN understands

FBI : Dirty Pants caused Abdulmutallab bomb not to explode

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab may have failed to blow up an airliner on Christmas Day 2009 because he didn’t change his underwear.

The Nigerian man allegedly wore the explosive underwear for three weeks to make sure he was comfortable enough to get through security, only taking it off when he showered.

“We think ultimately, that probably is what caused a little bit of separation in the sequence of events in the explosion,” FBI agent Ted Peissig, who interrogated Abdulmutallab, told ABC News’ Detroit affiliate WXYZ.

Abdulmutallab pleaded guilty to attempting to blow up Northwest Flight 253 over metro Detroit, which was carrying 300 people. The device failed to detonate but the would-be bomber was given multiple life sentences.

The details were unearthed in an interview with two FBI agents who interrogated and secured a confession from Abdulmutallab after his arrest, reports the Daily Mail. 

Peissig told ABC how Abdulmutallab attempted to detonate the bomb. After returning to his seat from the restroom, Abdulmutallab reportedly told the passenger seated next to him that he wasn’t feeling well.

“And pulled a blanket almost completely concealing himself up to the chin,” Agent Peissig tells ABC.

He injected a mixture of liquids and solids into the explosive chemicals already packed into his underwear. Even though the bomb did not detonate, it caught fire and badly burned the terrorist in the groin.

Even though it’s fortunate Abdulmutallab’s dirty underwear caused the bomb to fail, Peissig told ABC that the fire was extremely dangerous.

“In speaking with the pilots collectively, there’s no greater emergency on a plane than fire,” says Peissig.

“To them, that is the worst thing that can happen. The planes themselves are no longer cable controlled, they’re wire controlled. They could lose complete control of the plane if the flame impinged on the wiring,” he explains.

- Global Post

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Nigerian firm begins oil drilling in Iraq

A Nigerian firm, Afren, said it had commenced oil exploration at the East Simrit prospect (Simrit-3 well), located in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

A statement by the firm on Friday quoted the Chairman of Afren, Mr. Egbert Imomoh, as saying, “Afren and operator, Hunt Oil Middle East, have commenced drilling of oil at the East Simrit on the Ain Sifni PSC in the region. The Simrit-3 oil well is located approximately 10 km east of the successful Simrit-2 discovery well, and is exploring the eastern extent of the large scale Simrit anticline.”

Imomoh said that Afren recently completed the drilling of Simrit-2 exploration well, which was ultimately drilled to a total measured depth of 3,800 metres and encountered 460 metres of net oil pay throughout Cretaceous, Jurassic and Triassic age reservoirs.

The company however said that no oil water contact had been established in the target reservoirs, noting that following the conclusion of drilling operations in June, a comprehensive well test programme had started and was ongoing.

It said, “The partners intend to undertake up to 12 separate drill stem tests in total, and announced in July 2012 that the first batch of three DSTs in the Triassic age Kurra Chine formation had yielded an aggregate flow rate of 13,584 bopd of 39° API gravity oil.

“The Simrit-3 exploration well is seeking to demonstrate the presence of oil within the same Cretaceous, Jurassic and Triassic reservoir intervals at the eastern extent of the Simrit anticline.”

It will be recalled that Afren has 20 per cent interest in the Ain Sifni PSC and is partnered by Hunt Oil Middle East (60 per cent) and the Kurdistan regional government 20 per cent.

Imomoh said, “The drilling and test results recorded till date, have already confirmed Ain Sifni in the Kurdistan region of Iraq to be a world-class asset.

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8 Lesbian Girls Expelled From Secondary School

Barely a week after the a Kenyan newspaper covered a story about the rising number of lesbians in Pangani Girls High School, the administration has now sent home eight girls over the matter.

The school’s principal, Pacifica Nyambong’i said that a group of eight students in Form Two, who were also jointly being investigated for arson claims, had been sent home and others readmitted after undergoing counseling and promising to change.

The principal admitted that some Form Two students confessed to being lesbians who had lovers in the school while other girls denied the allegations.

“I received a note listing some girls as suspected lesbians who also planned to burn down the school on September 10th, we embarked on investigations to unearth the truth,” Ms Nyambog’i revealed.

Those who confessed to being lesbians were forgiven, counseled and readmitted but those who denied were sent home.

The parents of those sent home have however mounted a strong defence to the allegations claiming that their girls were beaten during the interrogations in order to admit by force.

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