12012020 - Northern youths disown critics of Amotekun S/W security outfit

PAGE 6—SUNDAY VANGUARD, JANUARY 12, 2020
176 DEAD: World shocked as Iran admits shooting down Ukrainian plane
By Victor ‘Tunde Oso
(with agencies report)
President Volodymyr Zelensky
of Ukraine said yesterday
that his country expects
a full investigation, a
full admission of guilt and
compensation from Iran after
the downing of a passenger
plane.
Iran had earlier said it mistakenly
shot down a plane
killing all 176 people aboard
and voiced its deep regret,
after initially denying it
brought down the aircraft in
the tense aftermath of Iranian
missile strikes on U.S. targets
in Iraq.
Zelenskiy said: “Iran has
pleaded guilty to crashing the
Ukrainian plane. But we insist
on a full admission of
guilt.”
“We expect from Iran assurances
of their readiness for a
full and open investigation,
bringing those responsible to
justice, the return of the bodies
of the dead, the payment
of compensation, official
apologies through diplomatic
channels,” he added.
Canadian Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau yesterday acknowledged
Iran’s admission,
saying his government remained
focused on closure
and justice for the families of
the victims, adding that Canadian
investigators will continue
to cooperate with Iran.
At least 63 of the victims
were Canadian.
“This is a national tragedy,
and all Canadians are
mourning together,” he said.
Swedish Prime Minister
Stefan Lofven spoke out to
condemn the downing of the
plane. 10 Swedish citizens
and a further seven people
who lived in Sweden died in
the crash.
“The fact that a plane was
shot down is terrible and horrifying.
To have a civil aircraft
shot down—whether accidentally
or not—is an act that
By Ikechukwu Odu
Amember of the Na
tional Youth Ser
vice Corps )NYSC)
serving at Girls Secondary
School, Ibagwa-Aka, Igbo-
Eze South Local Government
Area of Enugu State,
Miss Bolufemi Princess Motunrayo,
yesterday, allegedly
committed suicide over a yetto-be
identified matter.
Motunrayo, a graduate of
banking and finance from
Kogi State University, who
was a Batch C Youth Corps
member, drank two bottles of
From left: Rotarian Jide Akeredolu, District 9110 Governor; Mrs Taiwo Fagbola; Rotarian
Olumuyiwa Fagbola – President Rotary Club of Ikeja; Professor Fabamwo – Chief Medical
Director-Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja; Prince Julius Adelusi – Adeluyi
– Past District Governor/Doyen District 9110; Dr Ibrahim Mustafa – Director Clinical Services
& Training (LASUTH) and Mrs Adebola Aina – Assistant Director Nursing Services
(LASUTH), during the donation of medical equipment to the Lagos State University Teaching
Hospital (LASUTH) by Rotary Club of Ikeja on Christmas Day, 2019.
How I began using Buhari ‘s daughter’s telephone number – Anthony
By Soni Daniel, Abuja
etails of the alleged of
Dfense committed by the
man who reportedly deployed
a phone number with
the name of President’s
daughter on it to undertake
criminal activities have begun
to emerge.
And, Sunday Vanguard investigation
has also shown
that the suspect, who has since
been freed by the Department
of State Service DSS, is not a
fish farm investor as claimed
but a laborer who is paid a
pittance on pay-as-you-work
basis by the owner of the fish
farm.
Documents exclusively
sighted by Sunday Vanguard
showed that the suspect, Okolie
Ifediukwude Anthony, a
native of Umuezei Quarters
of Asaba, Delta State, was
working in a small fish farm
owned by one John Freeman
in Otuogwu and paid a daily
wage by the owner before he
was caught for using the
phone for criminal pursuits.
The document also indicates
that before he ventured
into the fish farm business,
Okolie Anthony was involved
in betting game business,
Wreckage of theUkrainian plane
must be condemned and Iran
must take full responsibility
also in relation to those affected,”
he said.
Germany urges prevention
of future re-occurrence
German Foreign Minister
Heiko Maas called on Iran
to prevent such a “catastrophe”
from happening in the
future.
“It was important that Iran
brought clarity to this issue,”
he told German media on
Saturday.
“Now Tehran needs to draw
the right consequences in the
continued appraisal of this
dreadful catastrophe, and
take measures to ensure that
something like this cannot
happen again.”
Four of the victims, among
them a recognized asylum
seeker from Afghanistan and
her two children, had been
living in Germany, though
they did not hold German citizenship.
Read more: US rolls out
new Iran sanctions after air
strikes.
NYSC member commits suicide
after ‘ parents stopped marriage’
Sniper chemical, saying “life
is not worth living” before she
died.
Eye-witnesses confirmed
that she was rushed to the
Faith Foundation Hospital
at Nsukka Local Government
Area where doctors on
duty confirmed her death on
arrival.
According to a primary
school teacher, Anthonia
Omeje, who lives close to the
corps members lodge at Ibag-
which he later gave up on the
grounds that it was not profitable.
“I did sales of recharge with
my sister now married for a
while before my uncle opened
a Betting shop for me to serve
as an agent from 2016-2018.
I later sold the shop because
the business was not moving
and was not bringing
profit,”Okolie confessed in
the document seen by Sunday
Vanguard.
“I am currently searching
for job but managing a small
fish pond with Mr. John Freeman
in his compound located
at Otuogwu, Asaba, Delta
State and paid a small
amount of money each day I
visit the farm and also help
out in doing some writing for
the owner since his age does
not allow him to hold bird
and write,” Okolie said.
On how he came about the
SIM that bears the name
Hanan Buhari, Okolie said
he bought the Subscribers
Identification Module, SIM,
from a roadside shop in Asaba
having misplaced his previous
number without knowing
that the original owner
had the name registered by
the service provider.
Okolie confessed however
UK Premier wants de-escalation
of tension
British Prime Minister
Boris Johnson described
Iran’s admission as an “important
first step” and that
“this tragic accident only reinforces
the importance of deescalating
tensions in the region.
It is vital that all leaders
now pursue a diplomatic
way forward. We will do everything
we can to support the
families of the four British
victims and ensure they get
the answers and closure they
deserve,” he added in a statement.
wa-Aka, Motunrayo’s death
was as a result of domestic
misunderstanding.
She said that the corps
member’s parents stopped
her from marrying a love of
her life which made her to
take own life.
Confirming the incident,
the spokesman for the Enugu
State Police Command,
Ebere Amaraizu, said men of
the command had commenced
investigation into
her death.
that he was shocked to discover
that each time he made
calls with the number
09035666662, the true caller
would indicate ‘Hanan
Buhari’, a situation that made
him to plan to report to MTN,
the service provider, to ‘rectify
the problem’ but he never
reported until he was arrested
Ṡunday Vanguard found
out that Okolie actually ran
into trouble with security
agencies after he started posing
as a woman and pretending
as if he was the President’s
daughter and original owner
of the SIM all in a bid to curry
favour from unsuspecting
members of the public.
Okolie, records show, began
to make brisk business
once he discovered that the
phone number he was holding
was more of a ‘goldmine’
and consequently began to
solicit financial assistance
from key Nigerians who knew
the first family’s daughter.
Findings show that one of
the personalities Okolie
called with the number and
solicited for cash assistance,
became uncomfortable with
the voice, which he suspected
was not that of a woman even
Ukraine Airlines: ‘These
were our best guys and girls’
The head of Ukraine International
Airlines, the company
that operated the doomed
jet, said Saturday that he
knew from the beginning the
crew and plane weren’t the
cause of the disaster.
“We didn’t doubt for a second
that our crew and our
plane couldn’t be the cause
for this horrible plane crash,”
said company chief Yevhenii
Dykhne in a statement on social
media.
“These were our best guys
and girls. The best.”
Eleven Ukrainians, nine of
them crew members, died in
the crash.
Iran Friday night admitted
it accidentally shot down a
Ukrainian jet-liner that it
mistook for a cruise missile,
a dramatic reversal after days
of denials that’s likely to add
to pressure on an establishment
locked in an economic
and military confrontation
with the United States.
Iran regrets disastrous
mistake
Iran’s Supreme Leader,
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,
gave his condolences over the
disaster, while President Hassan
Rouhani said the Islamic
Republic “deeply regrets the
disastrous mistake” and
vowed compensation for the
families of victims.
Ukraine International Airlines
Flight 752 was flying
close to a sensitive Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps
military site when it was
downed because of “human
error,” the army said after
though the true caller showed
the owner to be that of Hanan
Ȯkolie confessed: “I was
arrested on July 21, 2019 after
I had used the phone to
chat with an unknown number
which I asked for financial
assistance and the man
promised to assist me but I
never talked with him again
because I did not know who
the person was”.
A source close to the service
provider, who issued the
controversial SIM to Okolie,
confirmed last night that the
Fire guts shops, classrooms in Ondo
By Dayo Johnson, Akure
n early morning fire
Aoutbreak has wreaked
havoc in ldanre area of Ondo
State, yesterday, destroying
property worth millions of
naira.
According to report, some
of the property destroyed by
the early morning inferno
include a furniture factory
with equipment and some of
its finished products, textile
materials, phone shops and
also classrooms of a nursery
conducting its own investigation.
The “culprits” would be
identified and referred to judicial
authorities, it said.
The commander of the
Guards’ aerospace force,
Amir Ali Hajizadeh, blamed
a failure in communications
. The operative who first mistakenly
identified the plane
as an incoming missile failed
to get a second opinion due
to a “disturbance” and had
only 10 seconds to make a
decision, he said.
Accidental downings
The disaster adds to a list of
accidental shootings of civilian
aircraft.
In 1988, a U.S. Navy missile
cruiser, the U.S.S. Vin-
number was validly issued to
Okolie after it was duly retrieved
from the original user
having been dormant for a
long time in accordance with
industry practice in order to
keep its subscribers base
healthy.
The source said the company
was however not responsible
for the intentions to which
the subscriber deployed the
SIM and should not be held
accountable for such as its
responsibility ends with the
issuance.
and primary school were not
spared.
Sources said that the fire
incident may have been
caused by power surge in one
of the affected shops.
Narrating his ordeal, the
owner of the razed furniture
workshop, Oluwatobi Atere,
said that he had lost property
running into millions of naira.
Residents in the area lamented
that the late arrival
of officials of the state fire service
caused the huge loss.
cennes, downed an Iran Air
Airbus A300 over the Persian
Gulf, killing 290 passengers
and crew. The U.S. military
said it mistook the airliner for
an Iranian fighter jet, an account
disputed by Iran.
In July 2014, a Malaysian
Airlines plane carrying 298
people was shot down by a
Russian-made Buk surfaceto-air
missile fired from rebelcontrolled
territory in eastern
Ukraine. The region was the
site of a conflict between pro-
Russia separatists and Ukrainian
military forces, and two
military aircraft had been
downed just days earlier, an
international team concluded.
Governorship petition: Imo ex-speaker lauds group’s stand
ormer Speaker of Imo
FState House of
Assembly,Hon. Kelechi
Nwagwu,has commended
Imo indigenes in the diaspora
for their courageous
stance in urging the Supreme
Court to insist on merit and
justice, and not technicalities,
in deciding the Imo governorship
election petition.
Nwagwu was reacting to a
well publicised position of
Imolites living in the United
States, United Kingdom and
Asia, lamenting that electoral
corruption and manipulation
had made Imo the laughing
stock and called on the
apex court to correct the
anomaly by letting merit
drive its judgement in the Imo
governorship election petition.
Under the umbrella of Pan
Imo Diaspora Congress, Imo
indigenes abroad had issued
a statement regretting that
Imo had become the nation’s
absurd theater of electoral
corruption and manipulation
and prayed that the Supreme
Court should use the opportunity
of the Ihedioha/
Uzodimma case to determine
the place of electoral
manipulation and corruption
in the electoral process in the
state.
They added: “As we await
the judgement of the supreme
court Nigerians, no doubt,
from the facts of the case
should expect that either merit
or technicality will take the
day. Merit represents the case
presented by Uzodimma
while Ihedioha’s case is clearly
based on technicalities.
Denying a candidate the
addition of credible votes he
scored in an election to give
undue advantage to his opponent
is the worst from of
electoral corruption “
Nwagwu, in a statement in
Abuja at the weekend, said the
diaspora organisation deserved
the commendation of
all God-fearing citizens for
their courage in standing for
the truth and Justice.
“ For your courage to stand
up for the truth and Justice I
commend you with all my
heart. I assure you that your
names and that of your organisation
shall be written in
gold in the annals of Nigerian
history in general and that
of Imo state in particular”,
the former Speaker said.
It will be recalled that certain
groups and individuals
had recently claimed that
Okolie was about to commit
suicide having been forced to
abandon his wife and fish
farm business due to his arrest
and detention for 10
weeks, during which he sad
he was well treated by the
DSS.
Contrary to claims that he
was about to lose his wife, the
suspect submits in the document:
“I am single, Christian
and self-employed and currently
searching for job”.
Speaking on the incident,
one of the residents, Adesoji
Abiodun said that the level of
destruction would have been
minimal had the fire brigade
responded early enough.
Reacting , the Owa of
Idanre, Oba Frederick
Aroloye, has consoled the victims
of the fire incident.
The state police image
maker, Femi Joseph who
confirmed the fire outbreak
said that the fire had been put
off.