Nigerian Times

Nigeria Secret Police: The problems in Domestic Intelligence ~ By John Egbeazien Oshodi, Ph.D. The various entities that are concerned with domestic intelligence matters the State Security Service (SSS) especially are faced with unusual challenges in today’s Nigeria. The State Secret Service and other national intelligence agencies in their collective capacity, remain as the main eyes protecting various essential blind spots in our society as they relate to the safety and wellbeing of our citizens, everyone and everything representing the government’s interest. Currently, as a people, we have become a more security-conscious society and consequently very concerned about terrorist-related crimes, and this has contributed to the increasing demand for a better output from our intelligence, security and law enforcement agents. In terms of technological weapons and equipment much progress has being made within these agencies with the arming of agents with powerful assault rifles. With the p...

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President Goodluck Jonathan plunged himself into a quagmire between the devil called "Boko Haram" and the deep blue sea of angry masses protesting the unpopular removal of the fuel subsidy on petrol since New Year's day to date. Mr. President, Public Offers and Sensitization about Oil Deregulation Came too late ~ By John Egbeazien Oshodi, Ph.D No one doubts that there could be a long-term benefits for all Nigerians from the massive oil price deregulation but the ill-timed manner by which executive decision was made showed poor management style. This leadership blunder has not only resulted in a state of economic and social confusion but it has equally received tensed response to split-minded way with which the government reached its decision. The ineffectiveness behind the fuel subsidy removal order remains clear as evidenced in the people’s painful reactions. Certainly, in an economy like Nigeria which is marked by severe economic gap and class division among the people,...

Abul Qaqa, the spokesperson of the Boko Haram says that their recent attacks prove that the so called state of emergency cannot stop them from attacking anywhere in Nigeria. "We are extending our frontiers to other places to show that the declaration of a state of emergency by the Nigerian government will not deter us. We can really go to wherever we want to go," said Abul Qaqa. He said the attacks were "part of our response to the ultimatum we gave to southerners to leave the north" and called on the government to release all Boko Haram prisoners. Source: BBC News . Who are Nigeria's Boko Haram Islamists? 29 DECEMBER 2011 , AFRICA Why can't Nigeria defeat Boko Haram? 11 NOVEMBER 2011 , AFRICA Fore...

Being extracts from In the House of Dogs (Kindle Edition) by Michael Chima Ekenyerengozi; King of Kings Books International; 1 edition; November 2011. It’s not easy to state who started it or how many died. But the horror for those affected is clear . — Craig S. Keener, June 2010. Dear Karl Maier , This house has not yet fallen, but it is shaking. Our house is full of strange bed fellows of lunatic fringe elements of the black sheep of a dysfunctional family. One is turbaned and goes round the bend bowing to the crescent moon and star suffering from a very contagious Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease of his mad cows. The other one has gone loco from sniffing too much hydrocarbons in his littoral states at the bottom of the river Niger. Imagine living in the house of nightmares, cast between the devil and the deep blue sea and caught in the snares of the sirens. Our house is like a home full of Wole Soyinka’s “Madmen and Specialists”, swimming in the whirlpool of the vicious circle of the...

23 Dec 2011 15:36 Africa/Lagos Thomson Reuters-NPR Health Poll Finds Nearly One in Four Americans Would Refuse a Full Body Scan at Airport Security 22.8 Percent Would Opt for Alternative Screening Citing Health Concerns, Privacy Violations ANN ARBOR, Mich. and WASHINGTON, Dec. 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Roughly one-quarter of Americans say they would refuse a full body scan using new airport body scanners and 14.9 percent said new airport security measures have them concerned for their health, according to the Thomson Reuters-NPR Health Poll. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090507/NY12658LOGO ) Thomson Reuters and NPR conduct a monthly poll to gauge attitudes and opinions on a wide range of health issues. The survey, which asked respondents their opinions and concerns regarding flight safety, found that the main reasons for resistance to new scanners are exposure to radiation (22.6 percent), personal privacy violations (17.1 percent) and concerns the scanners violated their 4t...

The alleged New York lone-wolf jihadist Jose Pimentel. Read more at: http://www.investigativeproject.org/3303/the-ideas-behind-the-alleged-bomber 21 Nov 2011 21:05 Africa/Lagos New York Bomber Suspect Arrest Prompts Warning: "Tune Into Your Surroundings During Thanksgiving Travel," Antiterrorism Expert Says PR Newswire BOSTON, Nov. 21, 2011 BOSTON, Nov. 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- "The recent arrest of alleged New York bomber Jose Pimenthal underscores the need for all of us to be vigilant during the Thanksgiving travel rush," warns antiterrorism expert Todd McGhee who pioneered new security measures at Logan Airport, post 9/11 and later co-founded Protecting the Homeland Innovations, LLC in Braintree, Mass. (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20111102/NE98563 ) "Warning signs of a lone-wolf terrorist include hanging back when everyone is in a rush, appearing trancelike or spouting ideology. Tune into your surroundings instead of your iPod to pick up on ou...

A Commentary Direct Talk and Psychological Accessibility to the Boko Haram Group Is worth the Trial in Nigeria It is now obvious that the nation is now fully plagued by terrorism which is so widespread and monumental that it is hard to unravel. At a time when the Nigerian air is filled with the festivities of Eid al-Adha, the feast of sacrifice, which in a supposed way should involve the slaughter sheep and cattle, and not the near-sacrifice of a son, as in Abraham’s case, but the reverse is the case.Human slaughter is in our face on a daily basis in Nigeria due to the Boko Haram wrath. Violence in Nigeria, a country of more than 150 million with an almost equal split between the Christian south and the Muslim north is affecting public safety and national security. Nothing appears to be stopping the inflammable and untamed-able torment, fear and worry across the country. There appears to be a legitimate state of distress nationally, and the cause of the state of distress is growing d...

9 Sep 2011 10:03 Africa/Lagos OHCHR press briefing note / Nigeria GENEVA, September 9, 2011/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- OHCHR press briefing note / Nigeria We are concerned about the renewed violence which has flared up in Nigeria's "Middle Belt" in recent weeks causing death, injury and destruction. Reports suggest that up to 70 people have been killed since the beginning of August, in ethnic and religious violence in the area. Ethnic and religious divisions have affected the Middle Belt region, particularly in and around Jos, for many years now and a cycle of violence has emerged in which each incident almost invariably provokes deadly reprisal attacks. The High Commissioner has previously called for a concerted effort to tackle the underlying causes of such repeated violent outbreaks. Such underlying causes include discrimination, poverty and land disputes. We encourage the authorities at national and local levels to take effective preventative measures agains...