I Don't Mind Being Shot, I Will Lead The Protest To Chibok- Patience Jonathan

Oh dear, she actually said that! Words are easier said Than done sha.. First Lady Patience Jonathan has said she's ready to lead a protest to Chibok, Borno state if the kidnapped girls are not released soon, and doesn't mind being shot if that's what it will take to release the girls #yimu#. I personally think this is part of the campaign strategy for her husband's 2015 Election! Mama peace made this statement during a meeting with wives of government functionaries, female Senators and Commissioners. 
"I do not mind being shot as long as they return our girls to us safely, we are tired of the kidnapping," she said. 


According to her, First Ladies of other countries such as Cameroon, Chad, Niger and others have  being calling to ask her questions and offer assistance on the matter. 
"They intimate me of their readiness to help. They also asked me questions that I could not answer ‎and as women we are the last hope of this nation. We cannot fail our fellow women and the nation. If need be, we will call on the northern elders to help us so that our children and husbands will not die," Dame Jonathan said.‎‎ 

She said a committee would be set up at a stakeholders meeting involving wives of all the relevant bodies tomorrow May 4th. She warned that failure of any relevant agency to honour their invitation to the meeting would force her and others to make the Chibok protest a reality. 
"I cannot perpetuate hearsay and rumor; I must have facts to tell the international community. We will set up a committee to seek the truth as women. If any of those we call refuse to come, we will take the protest to Chibok" she said

US offers to help Nigeria in hunt for abducted girls

Washington - The United States said on Thursday it had offered Nigeria help in its search for around 200 girls abducted by militants.

"We have been engaged with the Nigerian government in discussions on what we might do to help support their efforts to find and free these young women," State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told a daily briefing. "We will continue to have those discussions and help in any way we can."

Suspected Boko Haram gunmen on April 14 stormed an all-girls secondary school in the village of Chibok, in Borno state, packing the teenagers onto trucks and disappearing into a remote area along the border with Cameroon.

Harf did not elaborate on the kind of assistance Washington is offering, but said: "We know Boko Haram is active in the area and we have worked very closely with the Nigerian government to build their capacity to fight this threat."

In fiscal year 2012, the United States provided over $20 million in security assistance to Nigeria, part of that to build the military, boost its capacity to investigate terrorist attacks and enhance the government's forensic capabilities, she said.

Nigerian Government Orders Closure Of All Public Schools, Offices In Abuja For World Economic Forum

A statement by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Pius Anyim, stated that the directive is to ensure free flow of traffic in the city centre.

The Federal Government has ordered the closure of all government offices and schools in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, during the period of the World Economic Forum, WEF.

The WEF on Africa is scheduled to hold from May 7 to 9.

A statement by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Pius Anyim, stated that the directive is to ensure free flow of traffic in the city centre.

“This is to inform the general public that the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck  Jonathan, GCFR, has approved, as part of arrangements for the successful hosting of the World Economic Forum Africa, that all Government Offices and Schools in the Federal Capital Territory, expect those on essential services, are to be closed from Wednesday, 7th to Friday, 9th May, 2014.  Private Organisations with large number of staff may also wish to close down.”

Observers, however, believe the closure is due to the security concerns in the Nigerian capital following two bomb explosions in three weeks, killing scores of people.

Explosion on edge of Nigerian capital kills at least 15

People who were injured during an explosion are seen on stretchers at Asokoro General Hospital in Abuja May 1, 2014. The suspected bomb exploded in the suburb of Nyanya, on the outskirts of Nigeria's capital Abuja on Thursday, killing at least nine people, a week before the city was to host a summit of leaders and business executives focused on Africa's growth prospects.

A suspected car bomb exploded on the outskirts of Nigeria’s capital Abuja on Thursday, killing at least 15 people a week before the city was to host a conference of leaders and business executives focused on Africa’s growth prospects.

The explosion hit the suburb of Nyanya, close to the site of a morning rush hour bomb attack at a bus station last month that killed at least 75 people. The April 14 attack was claimed by the radical Islamist movement Boko Haram which is waging an insurgency against President Goodluck Jonathan’s government.

Flames lit up the area around the blast, which was strewn with drying blood and contorted bodies, and sirens wailed.

“There was a loud blast then a ball of fire,” witness  told opinionvoices by telephone from Nyanya. “There were many dead bodies and ambulances were rushing there.” Kayode Adeyemi said he counted at least 15 bodies at the scene of the blast, which shook the ground next to him.

“It exploded just as commuters were waiting to board buses,” he said. “I was about 100 metres away.” National Emergency Management Agency spokesman Manzo Ezekiel said at least 9 dead and 11 critically wounded were taken to hospital. Other wounded victims were being treated at the site.

A Reuters photographer in a nearby hospital saw 11 charred bodies that medical staff said had been brought there from the place of the blast.

Another witness to Thursday’s blast, Joe Udofia, said there was a “deafening explosion, then the area near Nyanya bridge was on fire. There were many people in the vicinity.” There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Boko Haram, which is seeking to carve out an Islamist enclave in Africa’s No. 1 oil producer, had threatened further attacks after the April 14 bombing.

The latest attack is an embarrassment for Jonathan’s government, which had announced a massive security operation to protect the World Economic Forum on Africa scheduled for May 7-9 in Abuja. The forum, a regional replica of the Davos, Switzerland event, brings together international leaders, policy makers, entrepreneurs and philanthropists. 

Nigeria’s government had announced that 6,000 soldiers and police would be deployed to protect next week’s summit which is due to be attended by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, African leaders and a host of other international personalities.

The government and the military have been under intense pressure to step up security in the country following the April 14 attack and the mass abduction by suspected Boko Haram militants the same day of more than 200 teenage schoolgirls from a northeastern school. Some of the girls escaped but most are still missing.

This abduction has shocked Nigeria, triggering protests in Abuja and exposing the security forces’ inability to contain a ruthless anti-government insurgency whose targets also include Christian churches and civilians of all races and creeds.

The West African oil producer, which recently replaced South Africa as the continent’s biggest economy through a rebasing of its GDP, faces an election 10 months away which many fear will exacerbate existing political, ethnic and religious tensions.