NUJ wants FG to intensify fight against kidnapping

Mr Innocent Igwe, Chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalist, in IMO state, has called on the Federal Government to intervene in checking the increasing wave of kidnapping in the state.
Igwemade the call in Owerri on Monday while reacting to the release of Mr Ndubuizu Ugorji, a journalist, who was kidnapped in Owerri on Tuesday last week by unknown gun men.
The chairman said the call had become necessary because “it appears the state government has been overwhelmed by the menace of kidnapping.
“I want the Federal Government to assist Imo State as it did to Abia State when the state was literally under the siege of kidnappers.”
The Federal Government deployed soldiers to Osisioma Ngwa area of Abia in 2011 to flush out kidnappers who terrorised the people of Abia for years.
Ugorji, an editor with the Imo Broadcasting Corporation, was abducted while driving out of the corporation’s residential quarters in Orji, Owerri.
The kidnappers had placed a N10 million ransom on him and later reduced it to N5 million before his release on Friday night.
In an interview with in Owerri on Monday, Ugorji said that he was very worried about the involvement of Nigerian youths in crime.
“I was kept in a very big forest that could have been harnessed for the economic benefit of the country but this is the forest the misguided youths have turned into a detention camp.
“From their conversations, you could see that if nothing is done urgently there is no future for our youths.
“If you listen to their world view and philosophy of life, you will not only be frightened but realise that something very drastic has to be done for this country to be safe,” he said.
Ugorjiwho declined comments on whether a ransom was paid or not before his release, thanked God for making him regain his freedom.

ANALYSIS OF PM NEWS PAPER

TheNEWS magazine, came into existence on 8 February 1993. A quality weekly magazine, it promised to stand as the epicenter of the glorious continuity between the great past and the promising future of the journalism profession, ushering the reading populace into the world of a new experience in magazine publishing. Hence its slogan; defining the present, shaping the future. Till date, it has not reneged on the fulfillment of this agenda. TheNEWS combines a vigorous political reporting with a vibrant and knowledgeable reporting of business, the arts, health, fashion, environment etc. This makes it a total news package every week. To enhance its production quality, the management recently acquired a FAST 300 web-offset machine. Right now, the magazine circulates between 40 and 50,000 copies every week. With active sales offices in the major capitals and appointed distributors across the country, TheNEWS reaches every part of Nigeria every Sunday morning in readiness for sale on Monday. It also leaves Nigeria for the international market every Sunday night. TheNEWS website:.com is very active. It has attracted millions of readers all over the world.
while pm news was Introduced in August 1994 to satisfy a yearning for a fresh, breezy and entertaining afternoon paper in Lagos and its environs, P.M.News is positioned as a paper for everyone.
We realised that  readers yearn for hot news but have little time to read a bulky publication. So the paper was designed as a small volume (16-page) publication with a strong news orientation. The entire package has the right balance, presenting regular columns on fashions, interviews with notable men and women and vibrant sports and entertainment sections, etc.
P.M.News Friday edition is a weekend package, with a bias for entertainment. It comes out in a 24-page format.

P.M.News circulates an average of 60,000 copies daily in all parts of Lagos metropolis, reaching Ikorodu, Otta and Ibadan.
TheNEWS made its entry into the crowded Nigerian news magazine market on 8 February 1993. Its arrival triggered anxiety within the military junta, then governing Nigeria.
TheNEWS was not just another magazine, it was born to crusade and it had a reputation that even predated its birth.
At the African Concord where most of its founding team departed to found TheNEWS, they had entered the black book of the ruling junta by publishing a story for which the General Ibrahim Babangida administration wanted an apology. The editors resigned their appointments instead of offering an apology. Conceived in the dying days of the Babangida regime, it was inevitable that TheNEWS could also embody some of the challenges of the period, which were the struggle for democracy, free enterprise, transparency and accountability in governance.
The fear that the junta would not allow the magazine to survive became real. Three months after TheNEWS hit the newsstands, security men impounded about 100,000 copies of the magazine at the printing press in Lagos. Then they shut down the offices of the company. But the editors defied all these setbacks and continued to publish the magazine underground. By July the same year, the authorities, not amused by the defiance of the editors, proscribed TheNEWS out of existence.
Apart from that, the editors were all declared wanted by the police.
But TheNEWS editors could not be cowed. Instead, they gave birth to a new publication called TEMPO. As a tabloid, TEMPO was an instant success. It was described as a child of circumstance by the editors when it was published. TEMPO was born as an underground paper and actually kick-started the era of guerrilla journalism in Nigeria.
After the Abacha government was installed in November 1993, TEMPO came out of its trenches. TheNEWS was also unbanned and the publishing company, Independent Communications Network Limited (ICNL) lived a normal life. But the respite was for just a short while as the Abacha regime consolidated its grip on power. As TheNEWS and TEMPO  continued the vigorous and critical reporting of the Abacha administration, the editors and journalists who worked for these publications, sooner became targets of the security agencies. The journalits were put under constant surveillance. Many were arrested and detained. By April 1998, thirteen of our staff including the Managing Editor, Mr. Babafemi Ojudu were locked up in jails across the country. The Executive Editor, Mr. Kunle Ajibade was roped into a phantom coup plot. He was  jailed for life under a charge that was novel in the history of our country. His experience has already been documented in a book entitled Jailed For Life: A Reporter’s Prison Notes.
In 1995, security men in their desperation burnt the offices of TheNEWS in Ikeja. The height of this harassment and repression came in 1998 when members of TheNEWS staff were arrested and detained by the police. All the offices of TheNEWS and TEMPO were shut down and occupied by the policemen. But there was no killing TheNEWS, TEMPO, P.M.NEWS and all other titles published by the organisation. Respite came for the organisation on 8 June 1998 when Abacha died suddenly and the General Abdusalami Abubakar government took over.
This liberal military government midwifed Nigeria’s  new democracy.
TheNEWS with the slogan defining the present, shaping the future has been repackaged to combine a vigorous and knowledgeable reporting of politics and business. Its primary targets are  the decision makers in business and politics etc. Its authoritative reporting of the arts, health, fashion, environment etc makes TheNEWS a compelling total package every week.
Less than eighteen months after TheNEWS was founded, it shone like a star in the 52-nation Commonwealth Press Union (CPU) when its Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief, Mr. Bayo Onanuga was honoured with the 1994 Lord Astor Award for commitment and exemplary courage to press freedom. It was the first time the award was bestowed on any Nigerian.
Similarly, the magazine’s erstwhile editor, Mr. Dapo Olorunyomi was named the co-winner of the prestigious International Editor of the Year Award in New York U.S.A. Other awards of excellence won by TheNEWS editors and reporters in recognition of the magazine’s investigative reporting and peerless editorials include the inaugural Canadian Journalist Free Expression (CJFE) Award given to the Editor-in-Chief, Mr. Onanuga and the Managing Editor, Mr. Babafemi Ojudu.
TheNEWS also won the international consortium of Investigative Journalists Award in year 2000 in USA. The Victor Nwankwo Book of the Year Award was also won by Mr. Kunle Ajibade.
Their branches are in Kaduna, Abuja, Jos, Kano, Jalingo, Makurdi, Enugu, Port Harcourt, Uyo, Warri, Benin, Akure, Ibadan

The Lagos State Police Command Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, has arrested eleven cult members who claimed to be students of the Lagos State University, LASU.
They were nabbed at Ijanikin, a suburb of Lagos along Lagos/Badagry Expressway, Lagos State, Southwest Nigeria.
A police source said that two members of Eiye Confraternity had hired a commercial motorcyclist (okada rider) to take them to Ijanikin where they shot a rival cultist, a member of Aiye Confraternity.
The okada rider, after the shooting, contacted SARS operatives who arrested the suspect’s accomplice identified as Wasiu.
The cultist, who fired the shot managed to escape, but Wasiu led policemen to the hideout of the cultists at Ijanikin, where other cult members were arrested, the police source revealed.
According to the source, items recovered from the suspected cultists include three locally made cut to size rifles, one black bag, one locally made pistol, one live cartridge, four axes, one cutlass, one black beret and one phone.

Those arrested include Amos Acholo, 25, an indigene of Kogi State who claimed to be a businessman but a part-time student of LASU; Ojo Ola-Oluwa, 28, from Osun State, Olupooye Foluso, 27, claimed to be a student of Political Science at LASU, Haruna Olanrewaju, 28, from Kwara State said he is not a LASU student but joined the cult because he is jobless and Ismail Alli, 24, claimed he is a businessman from Sokoto State and he dropped out of school.
Others are: a 23-year old Malian, Jiba Abdulahi who said he is into business; Adeyinka Phillips, 25, claimed to be a Lagos State indigene and a student of Computer Science at Lagos State Polytechnic; Edeh Michael said he attended Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, Ijanikin while another suspect, Irikivewe Charles told the police he is still struggling for admission.
Another member of the cult group, Udemeobong from Cross River State, said he is a 200 level student at LASU.
He confessed to the police that he was initiated into the cult last year when he visited his friend in Benin City, Edo State.
Police sources said this morning that the suspected cultists will soon be arraigned in court on charges of attempted murder.
Meanwhile, the victim who was shot by the suspects is still lying critically ill in an undisclosed hospital.
He was said to be having a swollen stomach perhaps caused by bullets lodged in his belly.

Mario Balotelli steals the headlines once again as Euro 2012 enters knockout phase

         After two influential substitute performances from Antonio Di Natale, including a goal against Spain, Cesare Prandelli opted for the Udinese frontman in place of Balotelli for Italy’s final group match with Ireland. Visibly riled by his exclusion, Balotelli was finally introduced on 74 minutes, charged with doubling Italy’s lead, and guaranteeing their passage to the knockout stages.

   He didn’t disappoint: with the ball at his feet, he demonstrated his glorious ability, shaking off a fabled muscle injury (the ‘official line’ for his exclusion); Balotelli twirled to volley past the stranded Irish keeper. The finish ensured that his and Italy’s competition will continue, at the same time consigning Ireland’s erstwhile heroes to a return to the Emerald Isle…if not retirement.
Rarely in this tournament has the ‘audio’ been such a central part of the narrative of a game. The pre-match had been swamped in whispered rumours of a Spain/Croatia collusion, whilst in-game, the canticles and hymns of the Irish dominated, a moving caveat to the tournament, which sadly ends in muted regret and reflection.

       Continuing this theme, and perpetuating his personal narrative of not letting his feet do the talking, the conceited Balotelli also had a contribution to make. Disinclined to celebrate with his team mates following his sumptuous finish, the striker instead turned his glare to the dugout, hurling abuses of total vindication towards the coach. The spectacle ended swiftly, due mainly to the quick intervention, and silencing muffle, of Leonardo Bonucci’s hand.
The first virtue is to restrain the tongue, Mario, and he who knows how to be silent, even though he is in the right, is surely approaching the gods.

Players decry NFF's cancellation of Futsal qualification match against Egypt

Kehinde Ishola, captain of the Futsal national team, is very sad that the Nigeria Football Federation cancelled the second leg of their qualifying match against Egypt that was scheduled for Saturday at the gymnasium of the National Institute of Sports in Lagos.

Though his team were outscored by the Egyptians 8-2 in the first leg, he told Goal.com that all the players had resolved to pay the Egyptians back in their own coins.

 “I am so sad. We were really preparing hard for this return leg,” Ishola said.

“You know that most of us participated in the Gulder 5-A-Side finals last weekend and we had used that tournament to be match ready but God knows best,” said the highest goal scorer at the just concluded Gulder 5-A-Side tournament.

Another player who was really looking ahead to getting revenge against the Egyptians is Kabiru Nosiru, who was voted the most valuable player at the just concluded Gulder 5-A-Side finals.

“They did not treat us well at all in Cairo,” said Nosiru. “And I was a little ill and could not give my best. They did not allow us train at the venue. They also put us in a hotel that was about two hours’ drive from the venue.

“We had resolved that since they were going to come to Nigeria for the second leg, we were going to beat them and qualify for the World Cup but unfortunately that will not happen now,” he added.