While some Nigerians are lamenting over the economic hardship in the country, some others are acquiring private jets and other luxury cars.
Major Nigerian newspapers for Tuesday, January 31, are focused on the drama between Apostle Johnson Suleman and the Department of State Services (DSS), the interception of 661 riffles in Lagos by the Nigeria Customs Service and other issues.
Vanguard reports that the Senior Pastor of the Omega Fire Ministry (OFM), Apostle Suleman, honoured the invitation of the DSS yesterday.
Suleman was invited by the DSS for interrogation after he told his supporters at a religious crusade in Ekiti state, last week, to defend themselves if they were attacked by herdsmen.
Dressed in black suit, the cleric arrived the DSS headquarters accompanied by 30 lawyers and Christian leaders.
On arrival with his large entourage, Suleman’s appointment which was for 10am was rescheduled to 4pm. When he came back at 4pm, he once again told to return at 7pm by the DSS operatives, who did not expect such a large entourage. It was not clear whether any of his followers accompanied him to the venue when he returned the third time.
Speaking to newsmen, Apostle Suleman said his invitation by the DSS was in order, but insisted he stands by his statement which he said was based on information from a reliable source that herdsmen were coming to attack him.
The Christian Association of Nigeria has said it was behind Suleman, insisting that the allegation against him was false and premeditated.
The federal government has expressed worry over hate speeches by clergymen, saying it is capable of escalating the security challenges in many parts of the country.
In other news, a container loaded with 49 boxes of 661 pump-action rifle was intercepted by the federal operations unit, Zone A of the Nigeria Customs Service, along the Mile 2 Apapa Road of Lagos state, The Punch reports.
The Punch newspaper
The officials were said to have discovered that although the manifest said the 40-foot container had “steel doors and other merchandise goods,” boxes of the weapons were concealed deep in the container.
It was learnt that the rifles, tagged, ‘JOJEFF made in Italy,’ could take up to 10 cartridges and could wreak a lot of havoc.
The container, which was cleared at the Lagos port had other items like diapers, office cabinet, towels, mattresses, soft drinks, toiletries, among others.
The comptroller-general of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (retd.), said the container came from China, but was routed through Turkey to “cause confusion.”
He noted that three suspects, Oscar Okafor (importer), Mahmud Hassan (clearing agent) and Sadique Mustapha (escort) had been arrested.
Meanwhile, the travel ban placed by The United States President Donald Trump is causing quite a stir, The Nation reports.
The Nation newspaper
In an executive order signed by Trump, citizens of seven mainly-Muslim countries have been banned from entering the United States for 90 days while refugees have been prevented. The countries affected are Libya, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Yemen and Sudan. These countries have all denounced the order with some of them vowing retaliation.
Amid global condemnation of the ban, the White House has defended the restrictions as necessary safety measures.
Barack Obama, the former United States president yesterday gave his backing to the global protests against the travel ban by President Trump.
Business giants are also uncomfortable with the ban. In a joint statement by Ford CEO Mark Fields and Chairman Bill Ford, they strongly rebuked Trump’s travel ban.
The statement read: “Respect for all people is a core value of Ford Motor Company, and we are proud of the rich diversity of our company here at home and around the world. That is why we do not support this policy or any other that goes against our values as a company.”
On the front page of This Day is the headline, “In Reopening in 2nd Qtr, Forcados Pipeline Set to Boost Oil Exports”
This Day newspaper
The chief executive officer of Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc, Austin Avuru, has said that the Trans-Forcados pipeline, which was shut for most of 2016, is likely to be reopened around the end of the second quarter of 2017.
The pipeline which is owned by the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) and operated by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) has been attacked severally by the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA).
Before the attacks on Forcados, Seplat, which is listed on the London and Nigerian Stock Exchanges, produced 74,000 barrels per day (bpd), which were exported either via the Forcados export terminal or the Warri refinery.
Billions of dollars have been lost by the Nigerian government to the bombing of pipelines by aggrieved militants.
Courtesy: NAIJ
