China sentences 55 in mass trial at Xinjiang stadium

Security forces standing behind the accused wearing orange vests on trucks during a mass sentencing in Ili prefecture, northwest China’s Xinjiang region

Authorities in China’s mainly Muslim Xinjiang mounted a mass sentencing in a stadium for 55 people on offences including terrorism, state media said Wednesday, as they press a crackdown on escalating violence.

About 7,000 people and Communist Party officials in Ili prefecture attended the “mass gathering for public sentencing, public arrests and public criminal detention, punishing a group of violent terrorist criminals in accordance with the law”, said an online report by the official news agency Xinhua.

Judicial officials at the stadium issued punishments for crimes including murder, separatism and organising, leading or participating in a terrorist group, harbouring criminals and rape.

Three were sentenced to death for using hatchets and other weapons to murder a family of four last year “using extremely cruel methods”, the report said.

At the stadium, police also announced the formal arrests of 38 suspects and detained another 27.

Photos showed armed officers guarding the premises, and the accused crammed into backs of lorries wearing orange vests and bent forward as helmeted security forces stood over them.

The event was intended to demonstrate authorities’ “resolute determination crack down on the ‘three forces’ of violent terrorism”, Ili’s deputy party chief was cited as saying, referring to separatism, extremism and terrorism.

China used mass trials in the 1980s and 90s to try to combat the rise in crime driven by the social upheavals that accompanied the country’s dramatic Reform and Opening economic overhaul, but the practice later faded.

Beijing at the weekend vowed a year-long crackdown on terrorism following a string of attacks blamed on militants from Xinjiang, home to the mainly Muslim Uighur minority, with violence in recent months increasingly targeting civilians and spreading elsewhere in China.

Last week five suspects killed 39 people and wounded more than 90 at a market in the regional capital Urumqi.

On April 30, the final day of a visit by President Xi Jinping to the region, attackers killed one person and wounded 79 at an Urumqi railway station.

In March knifemen killed 29 people and wounded 143 at a railway station in the southwestern city of Kunming, an incident dubbed “China’s 9/11″ by state media.

Beijing says it faces a violent separatist movement driven by religious extremism and backed by overseas terrorist organisations.

But experts question how organised the groups in Xinjiang are, while rights groups point to cultural repression of Uighurs and economic favouritism towards an influx of the ethnic majority Han into the resource-rich region.

Dilshat Rexit, a spokesman for the exiled World Uyghur Congress, said in a statement: “The judiciary has become a means of assisting China’s crackdown against Uighurs.

“China’s provocations will spur even more despairing Uighurs to fiercer resistance.”

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Nigeria doctors issue strike warning

Dr. Jubril Abdullahi

Nigeria health sector is set for fresh crisis as the National Association of Resident Doctors(NARD) on Tuesday indicated its intention to begin a three-day warning strike.

The warning strike is expected to commence on 2 June but can be averted if the Federal Government takes concrete steps to resolve issues affecting the association.

Dr. Jibril Abdullahi, NARD National President, who revealed this in Abuja after a meeting by the association listed some of the issues in contention to include the issue of residency training and re-integration of its members into IPPIS.

He said other issues were payment of three-month salary arrears owed doctors in Federal Medical Centre Owerri.

Abdullahi said failure to implement the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) and eroding of the recent relativity restored by the latter after a distortion of over 20 years.

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Lagos to abolish charges on telecom operators

The Lagos State Government on Tuesday expressed its readiness to abolish arbitrary charges on telecommunication operators in the state.
This was disclosed by the Commissioner for Science and Technology, Adebiyi Mabadeje, at the just-concluded Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Eight Annual Business Law Conference in Lagos.
Mabadeje said this at the conference themed “Exemplary Governance: Enhancing Economic Development in Nigeria”.
He said that the state government had already partnered with the Association of Licenced Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) to develop a viable model to achieve the target.
“This model is an agreement between all telecom stakeholders and the Lagos state government to harmonise telecom infrastructure, taxes and administration,” he said.
According to the commissioner, the model would aid the development of broadband in the telecom industry.
“We went further to reduce the taxes on ground, in order to get cheaper and quality services from Operators.
“This will also eradicate poverty through the development of infrastructure. This in turn will grow our economy”.
He, however, urged telecommunication operators to work together as a team for smooth policy enhancement.

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2015 Lagos Gov Race: Ambode’s Origin Takes New Turn

The indigeneship of Akinwumi Ambode, a former Accountant General of Lagos and a governorship aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has taken a new turn. Edu Morohunfayo Olakunle, a member of the Edu family in Epe, in an exclusive interview with P.M.NEWS in Lagos, western Nigeria, on Monday said Ambode is not from Epe as he claims. The controversy comes only a week after the king of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, Eleko Of Eko, endorsed Ambode as the next governor of Lagos. The Mogaji of the Edu family had said in an interview with P.M.NEWS that allegations that Ambode is not an Edu indigene are false. The Edu family had also in a release signed by both Alhaji M. Oladeinde Edu and Alhaji T. A. Edu, and made available to some journalists on Friday stated that Ambode was an Ilaje man from Ondo State and not from Lagos State as he claims. But Adekunle, who visited P.M.NEWS office on Monday, said he decided to speak up to clear his family name. He said the Mogagi of Edu family lied. “Ambode is not from the Edu family. I am a bona fide member of the family and I know he is not and has never been from our family. Mogaji knows this and we are not happy with what he is doing,” he said. “We have a palace in Epe and Mogaji cannot say there that Abomde is from our family,” he said.

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2015 Election: ‘God Has Spoken Through Jonathan

The statement by President Goodluck Jonathan at the 2014 Democracy Day Interdenominational Church Service in Abuja on Sunday that, “after Today, the next Democracy Day will witness a new government,” has been described as a divine message from God. Reacting to the President’s statement, the Chairman of the All Progressive Congress, APC, Lagos State chapter, Otunba Henry Oladele Ajomale said, “God has spoken through President Goodluck Jonathan to personally announce the vision that APC will take over the centre in 2015. “He did not only assure us that the 2015 general elections will hold, but also gave a revelation that Nigeria will witness a new government next year. Can’t you see that God is great?” The Lagos APC boss further pointed out that the same president told the congregation at the church that the country would continue to move forward in spite of some of the setbacks we are witnessing now, saying that the imminent change that would bring APC into power would ensure rapid progress of the country. Otunba Ajomale also used the opportunity to assure party members in the state that no governorship aspirant has been endorsed by the party leadership, adding that Oba Rilwan Akiolu, the Oba of Lagos, was purely exppressing his personal opinion when he said Akinwumi Anbode should succeed Fashola in 2015. “As far as APC is concerned, every aspirant is on the same level playing ground, nobody has been endorsed because it’s too early to do that. When the time comes, they would face the party’s electoral conditions,” he said.

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Otedola: Another Good Man Is Gone!

A particular dictionary simply defines philanthropy as charitable giving to human causes on a large scale. Philanthropy must be more than just a charitable donation; it is an effort undertaken by an individual or organization based on an altruistic desire to improve human welfare. Wealthy individuals sometimes establish foundations to facilitate their philanthropic efforts. In Nigeria, we have never really fallen short of wealthy individuals with philanthropic inclinations. The late Sir Mobolaji Bank Anthony and the late Chief MKO Abiola are names that readily come to mind in this regards. Perhaps, one living example is the Ibadan-based Chief Mufutau Olanihun, whose philanthropic gestures were so unbelievable that his people nicknamed him ‘Olowo ti n fowo sanu’ (literarily meaning the wealthy man who displays mercy with his money). People may have internal or external reasons for behaving charitably. One external incentive by some people to give is to curry recognition. In our clime, people with political ambition often veer into philanthropic ventures as an end to a means. People, whose moral values are more internalised, do not need the promise of present or future recognition to be motivated to give. Real philanthropists are buoyed by their deep or inner satisfaction of impacting on the lives of their beneficiaries. Others venture into philanthropic activities because of their horrid experience with poverty. The late Chief MKO Abiola belongs to this class. He was humbled by his poor background and was, therefore, determined to help as many poor people he could to get out of the shackles of poverty which he regarded as, perhaps, the greatest enemy of mankind. For others, especially philanthropists who never experienced poverty, sheer compassion is their main motivation. They are influenced mainly by the love for mankind and the desire to give back to the society. Sir Michael Otedola, who recently passed on at the age of 88, belongs to this class. A man whose philanthropy is legendary just as his devotion to serving humanity and God was un-wavering, touched and impacted on many lives before he bid the world farewell on the 5th of May, 2014. Though born into a Muslim family at the modest Odoragushin community of Epe Area in 1926, Sir Otedola refused to be carried away by his success later in life. With his humble beginning always in his consciousness, he had since 1985, committed his resources to the Michael Otedola University Scholarship Awards Foundation for indigent students of Epe Division in particular and Lagos State in general. Since inception, over three hundred indigent students have benefited from the scheme to become Lawyers, Engineers and Doctors etc. They have now become useful to themselves and the society. Most of them would readily tell people that Sir Otedola was the angel that God sent to them to give meaning to their lives. Just think about many prospective professionals who are now wasting away in different parts of the country because they couldn’t fulfil their dreams as a result of poverty, then you will appreciate an individual who commits his resources to the training of other peoples’ children. Sir Otedola’s decision to establish the scholarship awards foundation was borne out of his determination to give back to the society that offered him the platform or springboard to achieve his goals in life. He left his native Epe very early in life for Lagos city centre in pursuit of education and due to his brilliance, he won a scholarship to study Journalism at the Regent Street Polytechnic in London and graduated in 1958. This was a remarkable turning point in Otedola’s life and might have reinforced his commitment to help other indigent students attain their lofty dreams. After his destined stint as the 2nd elected executive Governor of Lagos State between 1992 and 1993, the quintessential, unassuming Otedola quietly reverted to his private life and business, becoming even more committed to his philanthropic works. He continued to donate generously to community development projects and to various religious causes. When the challenges of ageing came calling, this illustrious benefactor was still able to ensure the sustainability of the Sir Michael Otedola University Scholarship Awards Foundation. In 2008, his billionaire businessman son, Femi Otedola, instituted a N200 million scholarship scheme as intervention in the educational sector, expected to grow over time to include infrastructure improvements and the provision of learning aids to schools in the Epe area, thereby bringing a wider impact. That year, two innovations were introduced to the scheme; the physically challenged students from the catchment area began to enjoy special advantage, and students from the Colleges of Education were incorporated into the scheme. With this gesture, Femi Otedola, like his father, has demonstrated himself to also be a very generous man whose heart is continuously flowing with abundant milk of human kindness. This, perhaps, reinforces the fact that kindness runs in the veins of the Otedolas. The lesson that we need to draw from the commitment of Sir Otedola and his like to the cause of the downtrodden is that whatever man does in life lives after him. Though Sir Otedola is no more, he will be remembered forever by the lives that he touched. He could have closed his eyes to the plight of the poor but he did not because he had a divine understanding of the true purpose of life. The true purpose of life, according to Martin Luther King, is not in the number of mansions one has but in the number of lives one is able to touch. It is this respect that one could actually say that Sir Michael Otedola came, saw and conquered. Adieu Sir Michael Otedola, the good man of Epe.

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Boko Haram kills 20 in another village raid

Suspected Boko Haram gunmen stormed a Christian village in northeastern Nigeria, killing 20 residents, a government spokesman said Monday. The heavily armed gunmen stormed Waga village in Adamawa state on Sunday and opened fire, Ahmed Soji said. “The gunmen believed to be Boko Haram insurgents in trucks and on motorcycles attacked the village where they killed 20 people and burnt several houses,” Soji said. “The whereabouts of several other people are still unknown but it is assumed they fled into the bush to escape the attack and are yet to return,” he said. A second attack by the marauding gunmen on nearby Gublak village was repelled by soldiers in the area, Soji said without saying if there were casualties in the shootout. Adamawa state, which is one of three states under emergency law along with Borno and Yobe, has seen a string of deadly Boko Haram attacks. In February, the group killed 34 people and burnt scores of homes in coordinated bombing and shooting attacks on Michika, Kirchiga and Shuwa towns near the border with Borno state. At least 24 people were killed on Sunday when Boko Haram gunmen raided Kumuta village in Borno State, where the Islamists have stepped up deadly attacks on villages in recent months. According to residents, dozens of motorcycle-riding gunmen stormed the village after sunrise as locals were heading to the weekly market, opening fire on residents. The militants, who have claimed the abduction of more than 200 girls from their school in Chibok, Borno state six weeks ago, have recently intensified their attacks in the state’s countryside, raiding villages where they kill residents, loot food supplies and set fire to homes.

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