For the second week running, security concerns, arising from the spate of bombings in the twilight of the year 2010, continued to dominate newspaper headlines in Nigeria. Also reported was Thursday’s re-run governorship election in South-South Delta State in which former governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan of the ruling People Democratic Party (PDP), was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which has used the polls as a test run for its readiness to conduct a free and fair general election in the country in April.
The VANGUARD headlined its stories on security as ‘Bomb blasts: We‘re closing in on perpetrators – Police’ and ‘New security measures to gulp N6 billion’.
According to the paper, the police have said that they have uncovered clues that would lead to the arrest of perpetrators of the New Year eve bomb blast at the Mogadishu Barracks, which killed four persons, including a pregnant woman, and injured 26 others, including a five-year-old girl.
Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) in-charge of Zone 7 Command, made up of Federal Capital Territory, Kaduna and Niger States, Felix Ogbaudu, talking with journalists, said the force was making head way in the investigation, made more effective with the expertise of their foreign counterparts, particularly the FBI.
He emphasized that the clues would lead to tracking down of those responsible for the bombing as well as their sponsors.
On new security measures to stem security lapses, VANGUARD reported that Nigeria may spend a hefty sum of 6 billion naira (about US$ 40 million) over the next five years in restructuring and enhancing its physical and personal security system, with advanced technology and human capacity building in response to the embarrassing security situation facing the country in a crucial election year.
Following the recent bomb blasts across the country, President Goodluck Jonathan met with the nation’s security council on Monday to review the incidents and resolved to introduce CCTV in public places with a view to monitoring and tracking crimes and acts of terrorism.
‘FBI links Al-Qaeda to Abuja blasts’, ‘Bomb scare in Lagos’, ‘Bombings: Security Council orders inspection of armouries’, ‘Jonathan to appoint Special Adviser on Terrorism’, and ‘Atiku raises alarm over plot to frame up opponents’ were the various headlines in the INDEPENDENT newspaper in the course of the week under review.
According to the paper, the US disclosed on Tuesday that Al-Qaeda, the Islamic terrorist network, was the financier, planner and executor of the bomb blasts that killed and maimed in Abuja on New Year’s eve.
The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), probing the explosions, said in its preliminary report that local affiliated terrorist cells provided support on the ground.
FBI agents made the connection after they “conclusively found that the signature of the bomb matched other blasts by the terror network”.
According to counter-terrorism experts, every bomb – like art – has the signature of its maker or group based on funding, sophistication and objective.
Homeland Security Department officials and Pentagon sources added that based on the FBI findings, President Barack Obama has approved a request by Nigeria for a permanent FBI counter-terrorism unit in the country.
In another development on the story, the INDEPENDENT reported that President Jonathan is expected to appoint a Special Adviser on Terrorism as part of efforts to check bomb attacks up North and down South.
The PUNCH captured the same story with the headlines ‘Bomb scare in Lagos … police deploy bomb squad in airports’ and ‘Bombings: Police train 2,000 men, officers on anti-terrorism techniques.’
In a twist to the story on security concerns, the SUN ran the following headlines ‘IBB condemns attempt to link him with bombings … Says it’s blackmail’, ‘Bomb scare in Lagos: Residents warned to avoid crowded areas’ and ‘Obama condemns terrorist attacks in Egypt, Nigeria’.
The PUNCH reported that ex-military president, General Ibrahim Babangida, has condemned the attempt to link him with the spate of bomb blasts in parts of the country, describing it as cheap blackmail.
According to a statement signed by Babangida’s spokesman, Kassim Afegbua, the former leader was seriously concerned with the bombings that had claimed several lives and wanted the government to squarely address the problems through convocation of summit of stakeholders on security to identify new methods of tackling the problem.
While urging the government not to play politics with the dangerous trend, he noted that the development should be attributed to failure of governance rather than engaging in buck passing.
On Obama’s reaction, the PUNCH said that the US president had condemned the recent terrorist attacks in Egypt and Nigeria, saying perpetrators of the dastardly acts had no respect for human life and dignity. He also said perpetrators of the dastard acts must be brought to justice for their barbaric and heinous act.
And the GUARDIAN newspaper, reporting under the headline, ‘UK, others seek action against Abuja blasts perpetrators’, said the United Kingdom, Canada and Russia had expressed worry over the upsurge in violence in Nigeria, urging the Federal Government to do everything within its powers to arrest and prosecute masterminds of the New Year eve bomb blast in Abuja.
Nigerian newspapers also reported results from Thursday’s re-run governorship elections in South-South Delta State in Nigeria, used by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to rest run its readiness to conduct April’s general election.
Former Governor Uduaghan was returned winner of the election amidst strong protests from rival candidates.
But according to INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, everything went well in the polls except a few negligible hiccups.
‘Jega: We are satisfied with Delta rerun polls’, reported the DAILY TRUST’ on Saturday, which quoted Jega as saying that although there were cases of ballot box snatching, use of fake voters’ card, and even attack of INEC workers, the commission still was able to do its best.
He said the commission was also able to prove to Nigerians that in spite of challenges, a free, fair and credible election was possible in Nigeria.
According to him, the commission had to use the existing voters’ register so as to be able to meet the ruling of the Court of Appeal which ordered the conduct of a new election in Delta State within 90 days.
Jega assured Nigerians that with the experience gathered by INEC in the course of organizing the rerun election in Delta State, the commission will be able to improve and conduct a credible election in April this year.
And on a sad note, the papers reported the sudden death of former Nigerian international footballer Uche Okafor in the US.
The media reported that the former Super Eagles defender was found dead on Thursday at his home in Dallas, Texas.
He was found hanging in his home and the incident is yet to be clear if it was a suicide or not.
Some of his close friends said he was in cheerful mood early in the week after speaking with some of his former team mates, including Nigeria coach Samson Siasia, during the New Year celebrations.
Okafor was part of the victorious 1994 Nations Cup team and played a match at the 1994 World Cup, where the national team qualified for the second round in a first ever appearance at the Mundial.
Aged 43, Okafor won a total of 34 caps for the national team.