Thursday 26 January 2012
Mobile Number Portability starts next year By The Nation 29/12/2011
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said the main focus of its regulatory mandate in 2012 would be to ensure that telecom operators provide quality service to subscribers.
As part of measures to ensure operators improve quality of service delivery, the commission has said it will implement the Mobile Number Portability (MNP) initiative next year.
Number Portability will allow phone users to move from one network to another without losing their original numbers.
Fielding questions from reporters in Lagos, NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Mr Tony Ojobo, said with the implementation of Mobile Number Portability next year, there will be intense competition among service providers to improve quality of telecommunications service delivery.
According to him, this initiative will empower subscribers to choose service provider based on service quality.
He assured that “in 2012, we are going to see a remarkable improvement in quality of service as a result of competition and power now in the hands of the consumers because they have choice.”
In October, the commission announced the appointment of a consortium of three companies to implement the service in Nigeria.
According to the commission, the consortium made up of Interconnect, Saab and Grintek/Telecordia, will be responsible for the setting-up and implementation of MNP Clearing House in Nigeria, and provide MNP solution administration in Nigeria within six months of receiving the licence with a testing period of two months.
Intel launches first ultrabook, Aspire S3 By The Nation 12/01/2012
World’s largest chipmaker, Intel Corporation, has demonstrated its commitment to re-inventing the mobile computing experience with the introduction of a new device that delivers best-in-class performance and highly-satisfying computing experience.
The company, in collaboration with Information Technology firm, Acer, has launched a notebook laptop in thin, light design and powered by second generation Intel core processors.
According to Intel’s Vice President and General Manager of PC Client Group, Mooly Eden, the Acer Aspire S3 integrates the best features of notebook and mobile devices offering users powerful performance for digital creation in addition to ultra-fast responsiveness and interaction for content consumption, enhancing the freedom and overall computing experiences of users on-the-go.
He said the device resumes quickly, delivering a 50-day battery life, large hard drive capacity and connects to the Internet in 2.5 seconds.
“The feature of the Aspire S3 includes Instant On, Instant Connect, long battery life, in addition to its elegant slim and light design. The Aspire S3 is encased in a thin, light metal design that’s sturdy and aerodynamic.”
Speaking in the same vein, President of Personal Computer Global Operations at Acer, Campbell Kan, said the Aspire S3 is designed to meet notebook users’ needs combining essential features of the smartphone and tablet PC, such as fast startup and Internet connectivity. “Matched with its slim form, the Aspire S3 will provide a fresh experience and set a major milestone in the history of Acer’s notebook development.
“For easy-to-carry convenience, the Aspire S3 measures 1.3cm thin and weighs less than 1.4kg. It’s also equipped with a full-size Acer FineTip chiclet keyboard, designed for comfortable use and maximum productivity. The aerodynamic design of the Aspire S3 features a strong and light-weight aluminium/magnesium alloy chassis, and a lid with a fingerprint-free metal finish that feels as smooth as silk.
“With professionally-tuned Dolby Home Theatre v4, the Aspire S3 delivers vibrant, cinema-style sound and enhanced dialogue quality for premium listening experience. Users can keep in touch with friends and colleagues with high-clarity video conferences with the aid of the integrated Acer Crystal Eye 1.3megapixel camera and microphone and superior Wi-Fi connections,” he said.
Boko Haram issues new threats On January 26, 2012
KANO, (AFP) – The purported leader of Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram has issued new threats in a message posted on YouTube while also saying last week’s attacks in Kano were over the torture of its members.
“We were responsible,” a voice identified as that of suspected Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau says in audio played over a picture of him. “I ordered it and I will give that order again and again. God gave us victory.”
A purported spokesman for the group had earlier claimed responsibility for coordinated bombings and shootings on January 20 in Kano which left at least 185 people dead.
Police stations were the main targets.
The authenticity of the message could not be independently verified, but the photo matched up with previous ones said to be of Shekau and the voice was similar to earlier recordings.
He says in the message that “we attacked the security formations because our members were arrested and tortured. Our women and children have also been arrested.”
The man said to be Shekau then issued another threat: “They should know that they also have wives and children. We can also abduct them. It is not beyond our powers.
“Soldiers raided an Islamic seminary in Maiduguri and desecrated the Koran. They should bear in mind that they also have primary and secondary schools and universities, and we can also attack them.”
The purported leader of the group blamed for hundreds of deaths also accused the authorities of killing civilians in Friday’s violence.
“After we finished our war, policemen stuck around and started killing civilians and later blamed us,” he said. “We are not fighting civilians, but security forces. We only kill soldiers, policemen and their collaborators.”
Friday’s attacks were the worst yet attributed to Boko Haram and occurred in a city that serves as the economic heart of Nigeria’s mainly Muslim north and a centre of Islamic culture.
Nigerian authorities have shown little sign of being able to stop violence blamed on the group.
Another police station was attacked in Kano on Tuesday night, while an explosion also went off in the city on Thursday. A German engineer was also kidnapped on the outskirts of Kano on Thursday.
It remained unclear however who was behind both of those incidents.
Shekau was seen as Boko Haram’s second-in-command at the time of a 2009 uprising put down by a brutal military assault.
The leader at the time, Mohammed Yusuf, was captured by soldiers and handed over to police, but later killed when officers said he was trying to escape.
Boko Haram went dormant for about a year after the military assault before re-emerging in 2010 with increasingly sophisticated attacks.
It claimed responsibility for the August suicide bombing of UN headquarters in Abuja that killed at least 25 people.A video posted on YouTube earlier this month was also said to be of Shekau. In the video, the man said to be Shekau issued a message to President Goodluck Jonathan and threatened further violence.
The appearance of the man in the video appeared significantly different than earlier images said to be of the Boko Haram chief, but a Western diplomat said “we assessed it was Shekau.”
Boko Haram: Police arrest 180 Chadian mercenaries By Yusuf Alli
The Police have arrested about 200 people, mostly Cha-dian “mercenaries”, after last week’s Boko Haram attacks in Kano, a police source told AFP yesterday.
But there seems to be no respite for residents, with an explosion at a Sabon Gari bus terminal yesterday. Five people were injured and the area was evacuated, the army and the police said.
The deadliest violence to hit Kano came last Friday, when co-ordinated gun and bomb attacks by Boko Haram killed at least 185.
“Many arrests have been made since the attacks,” the police source said on condition of anonymity, referring to the Friday assaults.
“We have arrested around 200 attackers and 80 per cent of them are Chadians. They came in as mercenaries.”
Of the suspects, 180 are believed to be Chadians. There were indications they had been paid to participate in the attacks attributed to Boko Haram, the source added.
A United Nations (UN) report on regional security released on Wednesday said there was evidence suggesting the Nigerian group had Chadian members who had received training from Al-Qaeda’s North Africa affiliate.
But a Nigeria specialist with the International Crisis Group (ICG) said it was unlikely the sect had such a high number of foreigners in its ranks.
“I was shocked to hear that myself. Personally, I don’t believe it,” said Kunle Amuwo of the ICG.
Five people sustained various degrees of injuries from the explosion at the new Road Park in Sabongari, predominantly occupied by southerners.
The blast occurred around 1:pm, as frightened residents were making frantic efforts to get out of the beleaguered city.
An eyewitness, a retired naval officer, told our reporter that the explosives were packaged in three bags which the transporters at the park believed was a luggage belonging to a passenger.
The eyewitness said when nobody claimed ownership of the luggage, the attention of people around was called to the content of the bag, was later discovered to be explosives.
One of the bombs exploded, injuring five people and scaring away hundreds of passengers, most of whom were fleeing Kano because of security concern.
Two luxury buses, one belonging to “God Bless Ezenwata” with Lagos registration number xx 449 JJJ and the other owned by Gobison Motors” with Anambra registration number SJ 600 NSA were affected by the blast. Their windscreens were shattered.
A detachment of the Kano State anti-bomb squad was deployed to detonate the remaining bombs. Passengers’ luggage were searched before boarding after the incident.
Some of the victims were rushed to a nearby hospital. One of them Lawrence Nwanyi, is on admission after falling unconscious as a result of the blast.
The incident has caused an uneasy calm in the city that is already experiencing a heavy security presence.
All the buses in the park were evacuated, shops were closed and security men cordoned off the scene of the blast.
Babangida: I won’t seek elective office again By Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja
Former Military President Ibrahim Babangida Former Military President Ibrahim Babangida
Former Military President Ibrahim Babangida yesterday pledged to defend the country’s unity with his blood.
He spoke at the ninth yearly Daily Trust Dialogue in Abuja.
Babangida said he would resist anybody or group which tries to break up Nigeria.
Babangida, who was the chairman on the occasion, also said he will never seek any political office again.
He said: “There is always what you call the struggle for self determination and is quite easy for people to come out with. This same country we fought the war for almost three years for the purposes of living together. I carried a bullet in my lap. So, nobody will talk to me about cessation or breaking away. If you do, I will call a tailor, take my measurement, get back into khaki to go and fight even at age 71.
“I have always argued that there has never, and I don’t think there will be conflict in this country between a Muslim and a Christian, or there is no such phrase like Muslim North and Christian south. Wherever you go in this country, you will find in the north that Christians is as much as we have Muslims in the South.
“But I think emphasising Christian North , Christian South , Muslim North , we should not make it part of our discourse in this country and I think the media is guilty in this regard. Even if people say it, you ignore it because you know that it’s not true. So, don’t even write it.”
He went on: “Anything that touches on our sensibilities as people, anything that touches on our unity as country, I will want to suggest that those are what I’ve always referred to as a settled issue in our politics. We should not encourage those sorts of things.”
“Some people will say if anything happens to President Jonathan, forget about Nigeria, forget about whatever you want to call it. I know those saying this will say yes, we are supporters of the president, but I believe the President is a sensible person. So why waste your time to say the world will come to an end if anything happens. This is our son. Of course, he is your son, he is our President.”
On his decision not to seek political office, he said: “I can also understand that a man who has been out of public office for nearly two decades but who declares himself to be a presidential aspirant must also be ready to answer endless questions from the press not only on what he intends to do in the future, but also about some events and episodes of the past. Never mind that many of the events of the past that the media relishes in asking questions about are rumours, hearsays, conjectures, concoctions, innuendoes, not to say “the fertile imaginations” of some people.”
The Police Officer Who Released The Boko Haram Christmas Bomber: A Profile (By Okechukwu Nwanguma)
Journalists on the stables of The News, TSM and Tell were the worse hit. The publisher of the now rested TSM, Chris Anyanwu, who is now a senator, narrated how Biu physically assaulted her and practically got her eyes permanently impaired. Founder of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) Dr. Frederick Fasehun, can never forget Biu, whom he told the Oputa Panel set up by former President Olusegun Obasanjo how the embattled cop assaulted him. Senator Babafemi Ojudu, who was Managing Editor of The News, said Biu put a gun to his head, threatening to blast his brain.
The Borno-born cop is also criticised over the death of a reporter with The News, Bagauda Kaltho.Biu claims Kaltho was trying to detonate a bomb in a hotel and got killed in the process. Kaltho’s widow was also tricked by Biu to reveal information about Independent Communications Nigeria Limited (ICNL), publishers of The News on the pretext of reuniting her with her husband. It turned out he only deceived the woman, as he used the information to invade the magazine’s offices, carting away its property. Of course, he also arrested workers found on site during the raid. Biu’s deceit became clear to Mrs. Kaltho after the dreaded cop announced her husband’s death. He claimed a copy of Wole Soyinka’s book, The Man Died, was found at the scene where Kaltho was supposedly consumed by a bomb he was trying to detonate. Yet the book was not defaced by the explosion, which killed Kaltho! His remains were never released to his family.
Biu, at a press conference after Abacha’s death, said Kaltho was the “unidentified” person who died while planting a bomb which went off at Durbar Hotel, Kaduna in January 1996. He then showed the media a video recording of the scene of the blast and two photographs – one of a charred body and another of the journalist. Biu said he “strongly suspects the management of ICNL of having connection with the Durbar Hotel bombing or else James Bagauda Kaltho .”
He later said Abacha’s Chief Security Officer, Major Hamza al-Mustapha, may have been responsible for Kaltho’s fate. “I have never seen Kaltho in my life, either alive or dead and don’t know the whereabouts of Kaltho. Only the Chief Security Officer to the late Abacha, Maj. Hamza al-Mustapha, can explain what happened to Kaltho,” he said
When Biu appeared before the panel, he refused to be put on oath with the Holy Quran, because “he is not pure.” He denied all the allegations against him.
A retired Commissioner of Police Abubakar Tsav, who also appeared before the panel, debunked Biu’s claim. He said: “Everything he is saying is not true. I mean the evidence he gave in respect of Bagauda Kaltho. He said he got photographs from the wife of Bagauda Kaltho. He also said he got reports from the SSS through the Inspector-General of Police, which said the person who was killed in the bomb blast at the Durbar Hotel was Bagauda Kaltho. And he said that he never met Bagauda anywhere in his life. Then how could he come to that conclusion that the man killed was Bagauda Kaltho? He merely saw his pictures …He (Biu) should be in prison. As far as I’m concerned, he is a prisoner on parole.”
James Danbaba, a colleague of Biu, said Kaltho was “summarily executed on the orders of the Inspector-General of Police, because Kaltho was said to have seen IGP Ibrahim Coomasie suddenly collapse and was foaming in the mouth.”
Danbaba added: “ The journalist was ordered to be arrested and executed because of a disclosure that he (Coomasie) is suffering from epilepsy may jeopardise the I GP’s well preserved and seriously guarded position and ultimately lead to his untimely retirement from the police force.”
He added: “After the said journalist, Bagauda Kaltho’s summary execution, a bomb was attached to his corpse and detonated. I reliably learnt that this was directed at selling a story to the C-in-C that a NADECO journalist has died of a bomb explosion while attempting to plant a bomb, thereby finally covering their track of having killed Bagauda Kaltho and the reason for his murder.”
After the death of Abacha, his successor, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, deemed it fit to ‘dash’ Biu a national honour, a development which irked many of those who regarded him as a brute.
In his book, Trials and Triumphs: The Story of The News, Dr. wale Adebanwi, had harsh words for Biu. Adebanwi said: “Zakari Biu, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), the crude and sadistic officer in charge of the Presidential Task Force on Terrorism, was probably the best man for the operation designed as the “final solution” to the grave problem posed by the ICNL publications to the Abacha regime. Biu was an officer who represented the most grotesque face of the Nigerian Police. He saw the force as a repressive organ of an unaccountable power. And with the official bigotry that not only sustained him to the heights of the force, anything that looked like ethnocidal project excited him.”
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who was sent to jail by the Abacha regime, felt Biu was not fit for the force. He was said to have asked then Inspector-General of Police Musiliu Smith if the controversial cop was still in the force, after meeting him at a function. Not long after this, Biu was dismissed.
But, unknown to many, he was long back. Soyinka, in an interview in 2010, said he was aware Biu had been recalled. The Nobel laureate said: “Zakari Biu was dismissed from the Nigeria Police and has been recalled into the Nigeria Police Force, despite his crimes against humanity during Abacha’s dictatorial rule by torturing innocent citizens. He could be likened to Charles Taylor of Liberia. He is brute and has no concern for humanity. For his past history, he should not be trusted with any national responsibility as he is capable of causing terrorism, which could destroy the image of Nigeria.”
The Nation learnt that after Obasanjo’s exit from power, Biu petitioned the PSC. Mike Okiro was the IGP then. Biu said he was retired without getting a fair hearing. He argued that by law, only the commission could fire him. Osayande saw merit in his case and ordered his recall.
The then Public Relations Officer, Emmanuel Ojukwu, said: “Biu is back in the Force as his name had never been removed from the Police register. Biu is now an instructor at the Police Academy in Wudil, Kano State.”
Ringim’s emergence as IGP paid off for Biu, as he was entrusted with curbing terrorism, which in the country is synonymous with an insurgent group, Boko Haram, whose root is deep in Borno, Biu’s home state.
Now he may have got his fingers burnt. Only a few are weeping with him
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