Robbers kill Ogun Vigilante Services operatives

A gang of suspected armed robbers on Friday night killed five operatives of the Ogun State Vigilante Service at Onihale, Ifo in Ifo Local Government Area of the state.

The operatives were said to be part of the security personnel guarding a filling station at Onihale area, a satellite town of Ifo.

A witness, who pleaded anonymity said the robbers, numbering about 20 who operated in an unmarked lorry caught men of the vigilante services unawares.

It was learnt that some policemen attached to the State Anti-Robbery Squad arrived the scene and exchanged fire with the robbers.

Two of the dead vigilante operatives identified as Nurudeen Kasali, the leader of the team and one Akeem popularly called Omo Iya Laja had already been buried in Ifo on Saturday while the identity of their three other colleagues had yet to be revealed as at press time.

The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, confirmed the robbery attack but said only two persons were killed.

Adejobi, a deputy superintendent of police, added that the robbers escaped with varying degrees of bullet wounds which they sustained during the gun duel with policemen.

The PPRO also said items recovered from the vehicle abandoned by the fleeing robbers following included one pump action gun, two double- barrelled guns, one phoenix pistol, 34 live ammunition of the pistol, five empty magazines of AK 47 rifle, a sledge hammer as well as three cars.

Adejobi also said 250 expended shells of AK47 rifle were recovered from the scene of the robbery.

The police however appealed to all medical practitioners, both traditional and orthodox, to inform the police in case anybody approaches their hospitals to treat bullet wounds.

Maku mourns Daily Trust MD; says death a huge loss to journalism

ABUJA—Information Minister, Mr. Labaran Maku, has described the death of the Managing Editor of Daily Trust Newspaper, Mallam Suleiman Mohammed, as a huge loss to the journalism profession.
The minister stated this in Abuja when he paid a condolence visit to the management and staff of the newspaper.
He said the deceased worked hard to uplift the standard of the profession and showed exemplary character as well as uncommon commitment to journalism.
He remarked that the people of Nasarawa State, where the deceased hailed from also share from the loss, as a young state that is in need of manpower, especially in the media to complement the projection of the image of the state and its citizens.
The minister also condoled the family of the deceased and prayed God to strengthen and give them the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.

JTF nabs eight suspects over SPDC pipeline inferno

YENAGOA — The Joint Task Force, JTF, in the Niger Delta code-named Operation Pulo Shield, Sunday, said its operatives have arrested eight persons in connection with the recent fire outbreak at a Shell Petroleum Development Company, SDPC, pipeline in Bodo West, Gokana Local Government Area, Rivers State.
Also, five suspected crude oil thieves were nabbed in two separate raids in the creek of the delta.
Spokesman of the Task Force, Lt. Col Onyema Nwachukwu in a statement in Yenagoa said the arrest of the eight suspects was effected by troops of 146 Battalion of Sector 2 of the JTF.
Nwachukwu said the troops who sighted the fire at about 1.30 am on Wednesday mobilised to the scene where they found the suspects in two tug boats.
He said the suspects upon interrogation,  claimed to be employees of Steve Integrated Technical Service and Sege Marine hired by Shell Petroleum Development Company to fix broken pipelines in Bodo.
The suspects, he said, are currently in Sector 2 Headquarters for preliminary investigations, adding that they will be handed over to an appropriate prosecuting agency if found culpable at the end of the investigations.
Also, troops deployed at Sanbarth have arrested two suspects who specialized in vandalising oil pipelines along Kalamabo and Opukula communities in Akuku Toru council area of Rivers State.
The suspects, Fineface  Shedrack and Solomon Doutimiti, identified as serial pipeline vandals and illegal oil distillers, according to the JTF spokesman, were arrested by troops of 130 Battalion of Sector 2 after three nights of ambush.
According to Lt. Col Nwachukwu, the suspects were hacking into Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) pipelines located in the said community when they were nabbed.
Items including an open boat containing pipe hacking equipment were recovered from the suspects, he said.
“The Commanding Officer who conducted the operation, Lt Col Caius Baushe, has called on SPDC to conduct an assessment exercise on the pipeline, noting that the level of excavation and possible touch on the pipeline cannot be ascertained due to high tide that covered the entire area,” he said.
On its operations in the Western Delta he said, its operatives deployed in 3 Battalion of Sector 1 of the JTF also nabbed three suspects running 3 illegal oil distillery camps in Opumani Gbekebor, Beneth Island of Warri South Local Government Area of Delta state and Agbede forest in Edo state.
He said the suspects were arrested during an anti illegal oil bunkering operation with 4 metal tanks, 236 drums and 13 pumping machines at the illegal oil distillation sites.
According to him, five dug out pits used by the oil theft suspects to store stolen crude oil at the illegal distillation camps were also sealed up by the troops.
The suspects, Samson Kristo, Lawrence Pius and Powede Clerk, who are currently helping in preliminary investigations at the Headquarters 3 Battalion he said will be handed over to the appropriate prosecuting agency.
“During the operation, the troops also intercepted twenty seven open boats used by oil thieves to convey illegally distilled products along Chanomi West in Warri South Local Government Area of Delta state,” the JTF Spokesman said.

Operators assess Dangote’s leadership and market development

The Nigerian Stock market has improved  in the last one year as performance indicators, market capitalization and All Share Index moved up by about 76 per cent each.
This is coming barely one year after Alhaji Dangote Aliko, returned as President of Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
An analysis of the market as at the end of trading  Thursday last week  showed that the market capitalization closed at N11.875 trillion while the All share Index ended 36,963.77.points, while market capitalization stood at N6.56 billion.
In the period between August 5, 2010 and June 18, when there was an interim president, Mallam Ballama Manu, there was a huge sell down due to high level of investors’ apathy. The NSE All-Share Index lost 18.2 per cent, falling from 25,715.39 to close at 21,028.37.
The height of uncertainty in the market was said to have led to the sell-down observed during this period. However, the trend changed after Dangote resumed. The first three months in office saw the Index rising  by 21.6 per cent.
Global comparison
On global scale, Nigerian market topped other global indices in the green zone during the Dangote’s regime; leading the continent with  89 per cent  followed by Kenya with 56.20 per cent  of one year return.
Furthermore, African continent rode on the back of these performance to close with one year average return of 30.12 per  cent  gain. Among other continents, Asia recorded lowest one year average returns of 4.55 per cent while the advanced countries (G7) recorded one year average gain of 19.10 per cent to close second.
Shareholders’ remarks
In his own assessment, the President of Association for the Advancement of Rights of Nigerian Shareholders, Dr. Faruk Umar, said “Dangote’s ability to support the election of a first vice president, who may likely succeed him, indicates the kind of solid foundation Dangote is laying. The fact that he is the richest person in Africa and the 25th richest in the world gives international investors the confidence to invest in the Nigerian capital market.”
Similarly, the President, Proactive Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Mr. Oderinde Taiwo said the performance is worth celebrating because while the market capitalisation rose by 77 per cent, there are some other stocks that have recorded higher growth within one year that Dangote assumed office.
He added that “the growth recorded so far came from positive initiatives supported by the Council led by Dangote. These include the reconstitution of the Council members. A market segmentation exercise from 33 to 32 sectors was completed to rebrand and reposition Nigerian stock market among its counterparts. A series of new products were introduced. Among them are the SIM Capital Alliance Value Fund, the ABSA NewGold ETF and the NSE-Lotus Islamic Index.