10 Year Old Girl caught Wearing Explosive Device Apparatus In Katsina

A 10 year old girl strapped with an explosive belt was on Tuesday  July 29th discovered by security forces in company of two other people, a man and an 18 year old girl, while traveling along a road in Katsina state.
The DG of the National Information Center, Mr Mike Omeri said this while briefing news men at the National Information Center;
“Security forces on Tuesday, July 29, at about 10pm along Zaria Road, Tudun Wada of Funtua Metropolis, arrested three suspects believed to be members of the Boko Haram sect.

The three suspects consisted a male named Iliya Haliru, and two females – Zainab Musa, 18, and Hadiza Musa, 10.
The three suspects were arrested in a Honda CRV. When they were directed to disembark for security check, 10-year-old Hadiza was discovered to have been strapped with an explosive belt.
And immediately, Iliya and Zainab made attempt to escape with the car but were later blocked by other concerned Nigerians and subsequently arrested. The police successfully unstrapped the explosive.”
He appealed to parents to monitor their wards so they do not get initiated into such evil acts.

Pastor, Woman Nabbed After ‘Sanctified Water’ kills 2

A man, said to be a pastor, and a woman are in Police net in Asaba, the Delta State capital for allegedly killing two children with a deadly substance sold by the pastor for N1,850.
The Delta State Police Command spokesperson, DSP Celestina Kalu, in a release, said the suspects are in custody helping the police with relevant information.
According to Kalu, “on July 25, at about 4.00 am, the Police at Abraka Police Station received information that a woman, Ese Oghenevwe (25), of Urhuoka quarters, Abraka had killed her two sons namely, Prayer Clement (9 months) and Wisdom Clement ( 2 years) by giving them a liquid substance to drink.

“Based on the information, detectives arrested the said Ese Oghenevwe. The suspect revealed that the substance was given to her by one Apostle Austin Eduviere of Triumphant World International Church, Abraka for healing purposes as the Apostle claimed he had prayed over it.
“Meanwhile, the said Apostle Austine Eduviere has also been arrested and he is helping the Police in their investigation. The suspect disclosed that the said substance was a mixture of water and salt which he sold to people for N1,850.00 for healing of various sicknesses after praying for them.”

Many feared dead as female suicide bomber attacks college in Kano

Not again. Another female suicide bomber blew herself up at Aminu Kano College of Islamic Studies this afternoon July 30th around 2.45 as students were checking their results in the school.

Kano State Police Command confirmed the blast but didn't state the number of casualties.

Have you guys noticed how it's now women blowing themselves up?

Jim Iyke featured in UK Daily Mail for fleeing Liberia over Ebola scare......

For fleeing Monrovia, Liberia because of fear of the Ebola virus, actor Jim Iyke gets a feature on UK Daily Mail

Lagos LG Chairman becomes TV presenter's 6th wife

The Chairman of the Ibeji-Lekki local government area in Lagos state, Hon Semiu Kemi Surakat has picked a TV presenter with the Lagos State Television, LTV, Kemi Fahm as his 6th wife, Encomium magazine reports.

Hon Surakat got married to the TV personality at a private court wedding which held on Thursday July 17th at the Ikeja marriage registry. This will be his sixth shot at marriage while this would be the second for Ms Kemi Fahm who is a single mother with two boys.

Mrs Kemi Fahm-Sukarat is the anchor of the LTV programme, Conference 57, which is dedicated to the activities of the 57 local government councils in the state. Reports say her husband has started showering her with gifts. He is said to have just moved her to a new apartment in Lekki and bought her a new car.

New controversy!!Did GEJ give Chibok parents N100million?

 

A new controversy is brewing in Chibok village, with parents of the abducted girls alleging that they have been shortchanged by Chibok community leaders who received N100million cash gift from the Presidency, on their behalf.

Channels TV reports

Although a presidential aide denied any such gift to Chibok parents, through their leaders, one parent, Mr Abdu Halidu, told the BBC that he got only N200, 000 from the money.

Now the parents of the missing girls are saying that the amount shared to them is unacceptable. According to Mr Halidu “I got only N200, 000 out of the said N100 million. Some of us got N300,000 and some less than that. Our leaders in Abuja are using the girls to enrich themselves and this is unacceptable.” Continue...

Over 200 schoolgirls were abducted by gunmen who stormed the Government Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State, North-East Nigeria in the dead of the night of April 15, ordering all the girls out of their hostels into four lorries.

On July 22, a special presidential meeting was held with the parents of the Chibok girls in the Presidential Villa which afforded the Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan, the opportunity to empathize with the girls and their parents.

The President, after assuring the Chibok community of his Government’s determination to ensure that the abducted schoolgirls that are still in captivity are brought out alive, reassured them that everything would be done to make things easier for them especially the ones that have already escaped and the ones yet to be rescued.

President Jonathan also assured them that their education would not be allowed to suffer. The statement released by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati, after the meeting made no mention of a cash gift to the parents.

Community Leaders Deny
Meanwhile, the leadership of Kibaku community an umbrella body for the Chibok community has denied claims that money exchanged hands after the community’s meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan.

National Publicity Secretary of  the community,  Mr Allen Manase, said that they also heard from the media that monies were given to the families of the abducted girls and such a story cannot be confirmed because they do not have any knowledge of the said exchange.

He went on to say that even if monies were to exchange hands it should have been given to the leadership of the community to ensure that it gets to all affected persons.

He urged the Federal Government to instead concentrate on rescuing the girls and returning them to their families and then it can decide to help in rehabilitating them

More updates on the Ebola Virus case in Lagos

Briefing newsmen today, Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Public Health, Dr Yewande Adeshina said the Liberian man being tested for the Ebola Virus is currently at a private hospital in Obalende, Lagos. She said the man has been isolated and the hospital vicinity cordoned off and that 30 other people are also being tested for possible contact with the deadly virus.

Dr Adeshina warned residents to;

“keep personal and environmental hygiene” and urged those who notice “strange feeling or symptoms similar to those of Ebola virus, which ranges from fever, headache, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, sore throat and joint pains, which are all symptoms of other ailments, to visit competent health facilities”.

In the absence of such facilities, she said residents should call the following numbers - 08023169485, 08033086660, 08033065303, 08055281442, 08055329229.

Bishop David Oyedepo says Nigeria is on the verge of a break up !!

Speaking recently on the spate of bombings and attacks in the country, GO of the Living Faith Church aka Winners Chapel, Bishop David Oyedepo said that Nigeria is on the verge of a break up.

"I hope that we are willing to find solution to it. I would be the last person in this world to believe that government has not discovered those who are behind Boko Haram. Otherwise, we don’t have any intelligence service in our country. Are they sacred cows that cannot be brought to book? Until we cut the source of their supplies and get those who are involved, we cannot stop them. But the danger is this, and I must say it here, we are at the verge of a break up. That is the truth. It’s unfortunate. The Nigerian nation is too intelligent to claim not to have discovered those who are behind this. So, I really believe it’s all in the hands of the authorities to decide whether they want to confront the issue headlong or to keep watching it until Nigeria breaks up......All that the church can do is to pray. The church is not in power, it has no political power. And when invited, we give advice, when required or called upon. You can’t call someone and say can I advise you?" - Bishop David Oyedepo

Politicians buy human parts from me, says suspect (photo)

The Kwara state Police command yesterday July 23rd paraded two men who they said are involved in trading of human parts.

The men whose names were given as Amos Kareem and Abubakar Ladan were arrested with human head, leg and hand in Tabira village, Okuta in Baruten LGA of the state, according to a report by Vanguard.

When interviewed, one of the suspects, Abubakar Ladan said Amos Kareem promised to give him a motorcycle if he could find him human head, hand and leg. His desire to own a motorcycle made him go to a cemetery where he exhumed bodies and cut off their heads, hands and legs (pictured above).

When asked what he wanted to do with the human parts, Amos Kareem said he sold them to politicians. He however refused to disclose the identities of the politicians.

The police also paraded a man said to be an accomplice, having accommodated the suspects in Tabira village, though the man denied knowledge of the business Kareem and Ladan were involved in.

Gen. Buhari releases statement on yesterday's attack, says it was an assassination attempt

General Buhari has released a statement on today's attack on his convoy in Kaduna, describing it as a clear assassination attempt. Find the statement he signed himself below....

"I was personally involved in a clearly targeted bomb attack today along Ali Akilu Road, Kawo – Kaduna about 2:30pm on my way to Daura.

The unfortunate event, clearly an assassination attempt, came from a fast moving vehicle that made many attempts to overtake my security car but was blocked by my escort vehicle. We reached the market area of Kawo where he took advantage of our slowing down and attempted to ram my car and instantly denoted the bomb which destroyed all the three cars in our convoy. Continue...Unfortunately, when I came out of my vehicle I saw many dead bodies littered around. They were innocent people going about their daily business who became victims of mass murder.

Thank God for His mercy, I came out unhurt but with three of my security staff sustaining minor injuries – they have been treated in hospital and discharged.

Signed: General Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd) GCFR”

MTN partners With NHIS launches Mobile Health Insurance Scheme

The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), in line with its vision of bringing good & affordable health care services to Nigerians, has gone into a strategic partnership with Salt and Einstein MTS, the mobile insurance services aggregator and African leading telecommunications and ICT Company MTN, to launch first-of-its-kind mobile health insurance scheme tagged: MTN Y’ello Health. 

This new scheme was unveiled on Monday 21th of July at Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos. Continue...

L-R: Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, the Executive Chairman of Salt and Einstein MTS; The Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of NHIS, Dr. Femi Thomas and the Chief Executive Officer MTN, Michael Ikpoki, exchanging pleasantries, at the Lagos launch of MTN Y'ello Health Insurance Scheme on Monday 21st July, 2014 at Civic Centre.

Speaking at the event, the Chief Executive Officer, MTNNigeria, Michael Ikpoki, said “At MTN, we believe that health insurance contributes to removing the financial barriers to healthcare, giving people unrestricted access to good health care without having to pay out-of-pocket. More than bringing flexibility and ease to paying for health care service, health insurance is also a means of providing greater access to healthcare for larger segments of a population. Indeed we believe health insurance is imperative for closing the gap between the availability of health care service and the ability of the citizenry to access it”.

Ernest Ndukwe, the Executive Chairman of Salt and Einstein MTS, The Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of NHIS, Dr. Femi Thomas, the Chief Executive Officer MTN, Michael Ikpoki, Lai Labode, Managing Director Salt and Einstein MTS at the Lagos launch of MTN Y'ello Health Insurance Scheme on Monday 21st July, 2014 at Civic Centre.

Kola Oyeyemi (3^rdfrom left), GM, Consumer marketing, MTN, and some dignitaries at the launch

The Chief Executive officer MTN,  Michael Ikpoki, speaking on the importance of embracing the Y’ello Health Insurance Scheme

 

Mrs Aisha Buhari's reaction to husband's attack in Kaduna yesterday

 

There's been quite a number of suicide bombings in Nigeria for a while now - where hundreds of lives have been lost - but Mrs Buhari didn't believe it was happening until it hit home.

Buhari: Jonathan has declared war on Nigeria

A former Head of State, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari(retd.), on Tuesday accused President Goodluck Jonathan of waging a war against Nigeria by using the   “common wealth to subvert the system.”

Buhari made the accusation in a statement he personally signed and

made available to journalists in Kaduna.

The statement titled,   “Pull back Nigeria from the brink,” is his first formal reaction to the   removal of Murtala Nyako as Adamawa State governor and the threat of impeachment against Governor Umaru Al-Makura of Nasarawa State.

Nyako was one of the five Peoples Democratic Party governors who in November last year defected to the opposition All Progressives Congress.

Al-Makura is an APC governor in a state whose House of Assembly is dominated by PDP members.

The Presidency had since denied   Jonathan’s involvement in the development.

But Buhari, who is one of the leaders of the APC, said in the statement that whether or not Jonathan was aware of the development, what mattered most was that it was happening under his administration.

He   warned that the development which was aimed at turning the country “into a one-party state’’ did not augur well for democracy.

The former military ruler lamented   that the recourse to impeachment as a punitive measure against “out-of-favour” governors was an indication that Nigeria was gradually drifting into anarchy.

He disclosed in the statement   that he   had in his private capacity discussed the current situation with the President but regretted that nothing had been done   to check it.

Buhari explained that he   did so   because,   as   a former Nigerian leader, history would never be kind to him if he sat   back and watched   it to continue.

Describing himself as   “ a close participant and witness to Nigeria’s political history since independence in 1960,” he said, ‘‘Our country has gone through several rough patches, but never before have I seen a Nigerian President declare war on his own country as we are seeing now.

“Never before have I seen a Nigerian President deploy federal institutions in the service of partisanship as we are witnessing now. Never before have I seen a Nigerian President utilise the common wealth to subvert the system and punish the opposition, all in the name of politics.

“Our nation had suffered serious consequences in the past for egregious acts that are not even close to what we are seeing now. It is time to pull the brakes.’’

He alleged that the impeachment or threats of impeachment of ‘‘out-of-favour’’   governors     was   to decapitate the opposition.

The general also   said that impeachment or threats of impeachment had become an unwelcome distraction to the   war against   Boko Haram which has put the country on tenterhooks, “with innocent citizens being daily mowed down at the times and places of the group’s chosen and over 200 schoolgirls spending more than three months in precarious captivity.”

The statement read in part, ‘‘Whether or not President Goodluck Jonathan is behind the gale of impeachment or the utilisation of desperate tactics to suffocate the opposition and turn Nigeria into a one-party state, what cannot be denied is that they are happening under his watch, and he cannot pretend not to know, since that will be akin to hiding behind one finger.

‘‘In my capacity as a former Head of State, rather than a politician, I have spoken to President Jonathan in private over these issues, but indications are that the strategy has not yielded positive fruits.

“I cannot, just because I am an opposition politician, fail to do what is expected of me as a former Head of State to help rescue our nation in times of great trouble and palpable uncertainty. History will not be kind to me if I sit back while things turn bad, just so that no one will accuse me of partisanship.

“Yes, I am a politician. Yes, I am in the opposition. Yes, there is the tendency for my statement to be misconstrued as that of a politician rather than a statesman. But I owe it as a matter of duty and honour, and in the interest of our nation, to speak out on the dangerous trajectory that our nation is heading.

‘‘I can say, in all sincerity, that I have seen it all, as an ordinary citizen, a military officer, a state governor, a minister, a Head of State, a man who has occupied many other sensitive posts and a politician.”

He asked the President to tarry awhile and ponder the impact of recent events in the polity   and the sustenance of its democracy.

Buhari said subverting the constitution through desperate moves or deploying the institutions of state against ‘‘an out-of-favour’’ state governor   could only breed anarchy.

He warned, ‘‘The dangerous clouds are beginning to gather and the vultures are circling, and these have manifested in Nasarawa State where the ordinary people have defied guns and tanks to protest the plan to impeach Gov.   Al-Makura in a repeat of the bitter medicine forced down the throat of   Nyako.

‘‘The people’s protest in Nasarawa State is a sign of what to come if the federal authorities continue to target opposition state governors for impeachment. In the long run, the impeachment weapon will be blunted. Positions will become more hardened on both sides and Nigeria and Nigerians will become the victims of arrested governance and possible anarchy.”

He reminded Jonathan to also remember that no democracy could thrive or survive without a virile opposition.

Buhari added that a man in power must realise that he cannot always do things just because he could do them.

The former Head of state said, ‘‘I, along with many other patriotic Nigerians, fought for the unity and survival of this country. Hundreds of patriotic souls perished in the battle to keep Nigeria one. The blood of many of our compatriots helped to ensure the birth of the democracy we are practising today.

‘‘Let no one, whether the leader or the led, the high or the low, a member of the ruling or the opposition do anything to torpedo the system. Let no one, whether on the altar of personal ambition or pretension to higher patriotic tendencies, do anything that can detonate the keg of gunpowder on which the nation is sitting.

“It is time for all concerned to spare a thought for the ordinary citizens who have yet to see their hopes, dreams and aspirations come to reality, within the general context of nationhood.”

Jonathan however described the allegations by Buhari as unwarranted and totally uncharitable.

In a statement by his spokesman, Reuben Abati, the President said Buhari had sadly moved away from the patriotic and statesmanlike position he recently adopted on national security   to “unbridled political partisanship.”

Jonathan said there could be no other explanation or justification for the “completely unwarranted and very uncharitable assault” on his conduct and integrity which Buhari’s statement represented.

He said it was unfortunate that instead of working to put their house in order and resolve the leadership crises and internal contradictions in the APC, the former Head of State and his allies had resorted to blaming the President for their woes.

While describing the fate that had befallen the APC as self-inflicted, Jonathan said he had never in his acts or utterances, recommended or promoted violence as a tool of political negotiation.

The statement read in part, “Gen. Buhari talks about anarchy. He needs to be reminded that President Jonathan from his humble beginnings as a Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State to date, has never in his acts, or utterances, recommended or promoted violence as a tool of political negotiation.

“The Constitution does not give the President any power to intervene in such proceedings and President Jonathan has never arrogated such powers to himself or sought to exert any nefarious and unconstitutional influence on state assemblies in Adamawa, Nasarawa or anywhere else in other to secure undue political advantage for his party as Gen. Buhari unjustifiably alleges.

“President Jonathan remains true to his declaration that no political ambition of his is worth the life of a single Nigerian. The President has definitely not declared war on his own country or deployed federal institutions in the service of partisan interests as Gen. Buhari falsely claims. Neither has he been using the common wealth to subvert the system and punish the opposition, as the former Head of State inexcusably asserts.

“Also, President Jonathan has never at any time ordered that any Nigerian should be kidnapped or that anyone should be crated and forcefully transported in violation of decent norms of governance.

“We therefore urge Gen. Buhari to tarry a while, ponder over his own antecedents and do a reality check as to whether he has the moral right to be so carelessly sanctimonious.

“It may well be time to pull the brakes, as Gen. Buhari says in his statement, but it is he and others who have resorted to idle ‘scapegoating’ and blaming President Jonathan for their self-inflected political troubles who need to stop their inexcusable partisanship and show greater regard for the truth, democracy, constitutionalism, the rule of law, peace, security and the well-being of the nation.”

Fans slams Tonto Dikeh for calling her domestic staff a maid

Is there anything wrong in calling your maid a maid? Or is the appropriate word house-help, domestic staff? I don't have one so don't know what the right word is but apparently a maid is not it. Actress Tonto Dikeh was slammed this morning by her followers after she shared the photo above on her instagram page and said her daughter/maid was heading off to write her Post-Ume examinations in her (Tonto's) Gucci sandals...

Some people came for her for using the word maid. See what some of her them had to say...

 

 

Ebonyi State House of Assembly Speaker IMPEACHED, new speaker elected...........

The speaker of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon Chukwuma Nwazunku has been impeached. He was impeached this morning July 21st by 18 out of the 24 members of the House. He was impeached over allegations of gross misconduct, incompetence and corruption.

According to reports, the members of the House re-instated three members who were on suspension before moving to impeach the Speaker.

The member representing Ezza South state Constituency Hon. Chris Usulor moved the motion for his impeachment while the Minority Leader and member Representing Ezza North West, Hon. Enyi Enyi seconded the motion.

 

A new speaker, Hon Helen Nwaobosi was immediately elected. 

Nigerian teen arrested after hurting his mum & younger brother found dead

An 18 year old Nigerian teen has been arrested after his doctor mum was found seriously injured and his younger brother found dead beside her at their home in Dix Hill, Long Island, New York.

Their dad returned home on Saturday night July 19th to discover 15 year old Bradley Okonkwo (pictured centre) dead in their apartment, and his wife, Dr Chinwe Okonkwo (pictured left) suffering from severe head wounds. He immediately called the police who arrived the scene shortly afterwards.

Charles Okonkwo jnr (pictured right), who'd left the home shortly after the incident, was eventually arrested near the family home, and has been charged for attacking his mother. He is yet to be charged for his brother's death, though he confessed to 'hurting his mother and his brother'.

Dr Okonkwo is currently receiving treatment at Stony Brook University Hospital, but is said to be in serious condition. She sustained serious trauma including facial fractures and loss of consciousness. She had been badly beaten.

Charles Jnr is said to have a history of psychiatric issues and the family had been trying to help him before the vicious attack. I bet the brother was trying to protect his mum when he was killed. Sad!

During his arraignment yesterday, Charles kept his head down throughout and did not enter a plea.

Photo of the day: IG of Police conducting traffic in Abuja today

Inspector General of Police, MD Abubakar fully dressed in Traffic Police uniform, controlling traffic at the popular Ministry of Finance Junction in Central Abuja today July 20th.

Pics: Aircraft carrying US soldiers crash lands on Ugandan Highway

A small plane carrying 6 American soldiers today July 18th crash landed on a highway outside Uganda's capital Kampala after running out of fuel. It had to make a quick safe landing to avoid any disaster.

Reports say the plane which took off from the Entebbe airport in Uganda was heading to neighboring South Sudan when their aircraft was forced to turn back due to bad weather and then land on a highway after running out of fuel approximately 40 miles from the airport. Fortunately no on was injured. Continue...

Uganda's army spokesman, Paddy Ankunda while confirming the incident said  "Nobody was hurt. There were eight passengers including the pilot and co-pilot,".  He attributed the lack of casualties to Uganda being 'full of miracles.' "Definitely there must have been a bit of luck. A highway is not a place for aeroplanes, so they were lucky to find no vehicles," he added

Emergency teams from Entebbe International airport were quickly drafted to refuel the fixed-wing craft so that it could return to base.

Photos: Over 20 pregnant women rescued from another baby factory in Abia

Men of the Abia State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC have rescued over 20 young pregnant women in a baby factory it discovered at Umunkpeyi in Isiala Ngwa South LGA, following a tip off.

Parading the rescued women and some of the workers in the baby factory, the state commandant of NSCDC, Andy Dateer, said the baby factory is named Nma Charity and Motherless Babies’ Home,  and that the owner who is now at-large, brings in men to impregnate the girls. He said after delivery, the babies are sold, and the mothers paid peanuts.

He said three children under the age of two, who were being prepared for sale, were rescued while four ‘social workers’ and four men were arrested in the raid. See more photos...

One of the pregnant women was reportedly very ill and in a critical condition. She was immediately rushed to the hospital for medical attention.

Mr Dateer said the NSCDC will monitor the repatriation of the girls back to their respective homes.

RCCG pastor butchered in Borno, whereabout of wife & children unknown

A pastor with the Redeem Christian Church of God in Borno state, Pastor Taiwo Dokun was shot dead and butchered by Boko Haram men during the Monday July 14th attack on Dille village in Askira-Uba LGA of Borno state. The late pastor's wife and three children are feared to have been taken by the sect men who reportedly abducted some people on the day of the attack.

A resident of the village, Jacob Mamza, gave an account of how the pastor was killed to Vanguard;

"The pastor was in his house at about 6am when the insurgents attacked the village. His house was surrounded by the hoodlums and while attempting to run he was shot. Pastor Taiwo was running to a neighbour’s house and it was in the course of his fleeing that he was shot in the head and the chest and the insurgent equally came to butcher him to make sure that he was dead.” he said. Continue...

Church members say the late pastor's wife and children's whereabout is unknown as they have not been seen since the attack on Monday. They have ruled out death as their bodies are not among those they gathered after the attack and suggested they may have been taken away by the sect men who abducted some people on the day of the attack.

OMG! Malaysian passenger plane shot down in Ukraine, 295 dead

A Malaysian Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur has crashed in eastern Ukraine. There were 280 passengers and 15 crew members on board.

Ukrainian Interior Minister said all on board are dead and that the plane was shot down by Russian anti-aircraft missiles at 33,000 feet and at 500mph.

The plane, a Boeing 777, came down near the city of Donetsk, which is a border between Russia and Ukraine where a Ukrainian transport plane was shot down at 21,000 feet on Monday July 13th and a military jet shot down last week from the Russian side of the border.

The Interior Minister said pro-Russian separatists have been hunting down their planes for weeks. 6 Ukrainian military jets have been shot down in the last few months by the Russians. There's been military dispute between Ukraine and Russia for a while. And now they are shooting down passenger planes? The plane departed Amsterdam at 12.15pm and went down around 4.30pm.

Presidency hired Washington PR Firm for $1.2m? Oby Ezekwesili slams on Twitter

A Washington DC-based PR Firm named Levick today sent out a statement to the Nigerian media on the meeting with the Chibok parents and girls. It's now being reported that the PR firm was hired by persons within the Nigerian government and allegedly paid $1.2million to help fix the government’s lagging reputation in the aftermath of the Chibok crisis.

#Bringbackourgirls convener Oby Ezekwili took to twitter this morning to angrily slam the PR Firm which she says was hired by the presidency to deceive and alternate the truth for Nigerians. See more tweets, the report on the new PR contract and the statement Levick released after the cut...

Statement regarding the cancellation of meeting with parents of abducted Chibok children and five escapees.. (supposedly sent out by Levick)

“It now appears that our fight to get the girls of Chibok back is not only a fight against a terrorist insurgency, but also against a political opposition.

“It is with great regret that I announce the cancellation of the meeting with 12 parents of the abducted Chibock children, as well as five of the brave girls who escaped from the terrorist organization Boko Haram. I scheduled this meeting, which was to be open to the media for coverage by Nigerian and international press, to listen to their stories and to privately brief the parents and the girls on our efforts to rescue the abducted girls.

“My priority is not politics. My priority is the return of these girls.

“Unfortunately, political forces within the Nigerian chapter of Bring Back Our Girls have decided to take this opportunity to play politics with the situation and the grief of the parents and the girls. They should be ashamed of their actions.

“Those who would manipulate the victims of terrorism for their own benefit, are engaging in a similar kind of evil: psychological terrorism.

“I want to be clear, this government stands with complete solidarity with the girls and their parents. We are doing everything in our power to bring back our girls. Despite the shameful and disgusting games being played by the Nigerian chapter of Bring Back Our Girls, as a father of girls, I stand ready to meet with the parents of our abducted children and the truly brave girls that have escaped this nightmare through the grace of God.”

And here's the report from snddenjpic.org that Levick has taken president Jonathan on as a client..

Washington PR Firm Inks $1.2 Million Deal, Immediately Places Nigerian President’s Op-Ed In Washington Post

In an op-ed published in the Washington Post on Friday, Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan pushed back on criticisms that his efforts to find more than 200 missing schoolgirls has been ineffective. This plum placement comes, however, just days after signing a lucrative contract with a Washington PR firm to help fix the Jonathan government’s lagging reputation in the aftermath of the crisis.

“I have had to remain quiet about the continuing efforts by Nigeria’s military, police and investigators to find the girls kidnapped in April from the town of Chibok by the terrorist group Boko Haram,” Jonathan wrote in his op-ed. “I am deeply concerned, however, that my silence as we work to accomplish the task at hand is being misused by partisan critics to suggest inaction or even weakness. My silence has been necessary to avoid compromising the details of our investigation. But let me state this unequivocally: My government and our security and intelligence services have spared no resources, have not stopped and will not stop until the girls are returned home and the thugs who took them are brought to justice.”

Those critiques, as the government has so far been stumbling in its fight against Boko Haram, have been admittedly harsh at times. So harsh, in fact, that the Nigerian government has turned to outside help to shore up its international reputation. According to documents filed under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, and as first reported at The Hill, Nigeria has hired the Washington, DC public relations firm Levick to promote its image abroad and in Nigeria. Eleanor McManus, who will be working on the Nigerian case for Levick, confirmed to ThinkProgress that her firm did place today’s op-ed from Jonathan in the Washington Post.

Technically, the contract is between Levick and the News Agency of Nigeria, the country’s state-run news agency. Per the FARA documents, Levick began charging the Nigerian government at the rate of $100,000 per month over the course of the next year for its services starting on June 16. According to the contract between the firm and Nigeria, Levick will provide “government affairs and communications counsel with the primary objective of changing the international and local media narrative” on a number of issues. These include, as quoted from the contract:

The Government of Nigeria’s efforts to find and safely return the more than 200 girls abducted by the terrorist organization, Boko Haram, in the Borno State of Nigeria

Assisting the Government’s efforts to mobilize international support in fighting Boko Haram as part of the greater global war on terror.

Communicating the President Goodluck Jonathan Administration’s past, present and future priority to foster transparency, democracy, and the rule of law throughout Nigeria.

“A more comprehensive approach, using vehicles, such as public diplomacy and engaging outside experts to enact real changes, is how the advocacy industry is evolving,” Phil Elwood, a vice president at Levick, told The Hill. “A communications strategy alone is not enough to solve the complex and multifaceted problems facing some of the more controversial nations.”

In addition, Nigeria is also engaging Perseus Strategies, a law firm centered around the promotion of human rights, as a subcontract of its work with Levick to the tune of an additional $25,000 per month. Jared Genser, the lawyer at the heart of Perseus, has previously had such clients as Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and currently represents Chinese human rights activist Liu Xiaobo. This is in contrast to some of the past associations of Levick vice president Lanny Davis, who will be working on the Nigerian case along with several others, who made a name for himself around Washington for representing more repressive governments, including Equatorial Guinea’s President Teodoro Obiang and for a period Ivorian president Laurent Gbagbo.

The use of PR firms to place op-eds and other commentary from world leaders is not a rarity. Last year, the New York Times published a controversial op-ed from Russian president Vladimir Putin critiquing U.S. foreign policy and the threat of military action against Syria. As Buzzfeed reported, public relations firm Ketchum was behind the placement of the piece, as part of its broader contract with the Russian government. McManus, when speaking with ThinkProgress, would not confirm whether the Washington Post was the first outlet contacted for Jonathan’s op-ed.

As for the effect that the new PR blitz will actually have on changing the narrative, Africa hands are skeptical. Political parties in Nigeria have previously hired foreign firms to help manage their reputation in the past, both from Jonathan’s PDP and the opposition APC. But the timing is really suspect, one development professional recently returned from Nigeria told ThinkProgress, due to Wednesday’s explosion in a well-off neighborhood in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, that most observers believe Boko Haram perpetrated. “It’s just a really inopportune time, hiring a PR firm while Abuja is literally burning,” she said.

Laura Seay, an assistant professor at Colby College, also pointed to the Abuja explosion as a reason that the timing of Levick’s hiring and the Washington Post op-ed is problematic. “I don’t think any efforts that Jonathan makes in Nigeria will be effective unless there’s a significant change,” she said. The audience for Levick’s efforts aren’t Nigerians, she said, saying that “people on the ground are going to look at [Jonathan's op-ed] and laugh, they’re going to not believe it, because it’s not reflective of the reality.”

“I don’t think most Nigerians are going to be very convinced,” Seay continued, noting that the money spent on hiring Levick would be better spent equipping the forces in northern Nigeria combating Boko Haram. In the aftermath of the kidnapping two months ago, soldiers repeatedly told reporters of the lack of morale among the army in the face of the much better armed fighters in Boko Haram. “As one Nigerian told me when I was there, they hire these guys for the army, so they recruit,” the development professional said, “So they have these recruiting drives, then they send the boys up there to northern Nigeria with no bullets. How can you fight against against terrorists who have armored personnel carriers with no bullets?”

As for the declarations of Gesner and Davis that Jonathan has been taken on as a client because he, as Gesner said, “has said clearly to us that he wants results,” there’s also skepticism. “It’s not gonna change a thing,” the development professional said, adding that Nigerians on the ground are very distrustful of the government, especially when it comes to Boko Haram. Such a shift in actions from Jonathan would be a major change, Seay said, one that would certainly be a response to international pressure, particularly the #BringBackOurGirls hashtag. “But Jonathan has allowed this situation to fester for his entire term in office,” she said, noting that he hasn’t taken the concrete steps on the ground that are necessary to fix it.” This, on top of the disparity between how securely Nigerian politicians live compared to the average Nigerian who are targeted in Boko Haram’s attack, causes the idea that reforms are soon coming to “ring hollow,” Seay said.