Burkina Faso crisis: Blaise Compaore faces new protests

Anti-government protesters looted the parliament building in the capital, Ouagadougou

Protesters are gathering for a second day in the Burkina Faso capital Ouagadougou, calling on President Blaise Compaore to resign immediately.

Opposition figures used social media overnight to call for new protests.
They are angry at Mr Compaore, who responded to a day of violence by saying he would stay in power for a year under a transitional government.
He agreed not to seek another term in office after angry protesters torched government and parliament buildings.
The creation of a transitional government was announced by army chief General Honore Traore, who said it would "be put in place in consultation with all parties".
He also declared the dissolution of parliament.
"A return to the constitutional order is expected in no more than 12 months," Gen Traore added, without giving no further details.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon's special envoy for West Africa, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, is expected in Burkina Faso to try to ease the crisis, the UN said.

The defence forces have been trying to disperse the protesters

 Not our president'
Opponents of Mr Compaore were seen gathering in Ouagadougou's main square, Place de la Nation, and outside the army headquarters on Friday.
There were reports of a tense stand-off at the army HQ, with a huge crowd shouting: "Fulfil your responsibilities or we will do so ourselves."
An umbrella group of the main opposition parties is currently meeting to decide how to respond to Mr Compaore's address late on Thursday, in which he refused to step down.
The president agreed to hand over to a democratically elected government only once the transitional administration had completed its 12-month term.

Statement by army chief General Honore Traore: ''The national assembly is dissolved, the government is dissolved''

He had originally planned to seek re-election by pushing a constitutional amendment through parliament that would have lifted the limit on presidential terms.
But the move triggered Thursday's demonstrations, the most serious yet against Mr Compaore's rule.
At least one person was killed in the protests, says BBC Afrique's Yacouba Ouedraogo in the capital.
The main opposition leader, Zephirin Diabre, said dozens of protesters had been killed across the country by the security forces in a "barbaric escalation of violence".
The military fired live bullets to try to disperse protesters who had occupied parliament, our correspondent says.
Protesters also surged towards the presidential palace, and a government helicopter flying overhead fired tear gas at them, Reuters news agency reported.
Witnesses say dozens of soldiers joined the protest, including a former defence minister, Gen Kouame Lougue.
Protesters demanded his installation as president, our reporter says.
The city hall, the homes of MPs, and an upmarket hotel in Ouagadougou were also set ablaze.
Similar protests hit the south-western city of Bobo Dioulasso, and other towns in the poor West African state.
State television went off air after protesters ransacked its headquarters.

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FRom BBC.COM

Mubi Villagers Fleeing After Yesterday's Attack By Boko Haram

 these pictures are belived (un confirmed) to be pictures of people fleeing Mubi village in Nigeria before for fear of Boko Haram











pictures from Gistmania.com

Why Atiku Did Not Attend APC Special Convention

This social media post explains why Mr Atiku did not attend the last APC congress

Atiku made the disclosure via his official facebook account (Atiku Abubakar), which boast of 390,408 likes, saying that he was unable to return from a business trip abroad as earlier scheduled to make it to the convention.
“I was scheduled to return to Nigeria yesterday from a quick business trip abroad, but could not, due to last minute logistics changes.
This is why I couldn’t attend the APC Special Convention. Apologies to leaders & supporters of our great party, who were expecting me -AA,” he posted on his facebook’s wall.
The Special convention was convened to approve the party’s amended constitution and adopt its revised six point manifesto. It was also an avenue for all the other presidential aspirants to address party’s delegates.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/10/why-i-stayed-away-from-apc-special-convention-atiku/#sthash.4YVcjRbh.dpuf

As at yesterday, Mubi was like a ghost town as the entire residents have deserted it even as some edifices like the Mubi International Cattle Market, the local government secretariat as well as some private buildings were still burning.
Having taken over Mubi, the insurgents marched on to other surrounding villages and towns before storming Vimtim, the home town of the Chief of Defence Staff.
How we escaped from Mubi –Redeemed pastor
A Zonal pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG,who escaped from the insurgents in Mubi, told Vanguard that the Boko Haram sect had conquered Mubi and were fully in-charge.
Asked how he escaped, he said he was just getting to Yola, the Adamawa State Capital at press time last night, after a scary run through Mubi bushes and farm roads.
“For over two hours, we ran and crawled through bush tracks and farm roads to get to where I got a bus to Yola. I am just getting to Yola. I thank God.”
Asked what he was doing in Mubi, the pastor said he was transferred to somewhere in Borno where he stayed for several days. According to him, “there was no telecommunication network in the area, I could neither call nor receive calls. The insurgents were terrorizing the area and one of my zonal pastors at the headquarters advised that I should not stay there hence, I had to leave”.
Before he fled Mubi for Yola, he said the security problem had worsened. “However, the men and the youths said they were not going anywhere, that enough is enough. They have been killing the militants. Yesterday, they killed two. But they withdrew the soldiers and mobile policemen and yesterday the insurgents attacked. They have conquered Mubi. That is why most people are afraid.”
Adamawa Govt moves to send trapped residents to IDP camp
Meanwhile, Adamawa State Government has dispatched over hundred buses to comb Mubi and its environs for people who were trapped and stranded in buses and villages for onward transit to the Internally Displaced Persons Camp in the State capital.
Governor Bala James Ngilari gave the order yesterday afternoon, when concerned citizens of Mubi visited him to brief him on current development in the area.
Briefing the Governor, leader of the group, Mr. Joshua Atiku told him to consult with the Federal Government to persuade the Cameroonian authorities to allow fleeing people access into that country.
Atiku disclosed that hundreds of thousands of people escaping into Cameroon were stranded at the borders owing to the fact that the Cameroonian gendarmes have denied them entry.
He added that the situation was causing concern to the people, who have fled their homes due to insecurity only to run into diplomatic problems with their neighbours.
Atiku charged both state and federal governments to as a matter of urgency do everything humanly possible to evacuate people still trapped in Mubi and its environs as the insurgents continue to lay siege to the town.
What Badeh said in January
On January 20 this year when Air Marshal Alex Badeh assumed office, he expressed optimism that there would soon be an end to insurgency in some parts of the country. He said with the support and co-operation of the new service chiefs, the Boko Haram menace would be stamped out in the next three months.
He said it was mandatory for the military to eliminate the menace of Boko Haram before April to avert a constitutional problem in the polity. The CDS said it was possible to bring the insurgency in the North East to an end if the military approached its security responsibilities cohesively.
“We must bring it to a stop before April so that we will not have constitutional problems on our hands. We don’t want to go back to the Senate to start begging and lobbying. If we do our work cohesively, I can tell you, Gen. Minimah, you will finish your work in no time.
“I can say confidently that this war is already won,” he had said.
NEMA expresses shock, fears over humanitarian challenges in Adamawa, Borno
Meanwhile, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in the North East sub region yesterday, expressed “shocks and fears” over Wednesday’s multiple attacks on Mubi town in Adamawa state, as the number of displaced persons continued to rise with increased humanitarian challenges at various resettlement camps.
The North-East Zonal Information Officer of NEMA, Abdulkadir Ibrahim, who addressed newsmen on Mubi’s multiple attacks and eventual capture by Boko Haram insurgents said: “We are very much alarmed and worried by the latest attacks on Mubi and Uba towns of Adamawa and Borno states; which have sacked many residents from their houses and displaced over 8, 950 refugees from their existing camps in the two affected communities.
“It is disheartening that this is happening when a humanitarian agency like this, was doing everything possible to cushion the devastating effects of the attacks on Madagali, Michika, Gulak and other surrounding communities through intervention by providing relief materials to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) at Mubi and Uba which were also attacked by insurgents yesterday (Wednesday).
“Many victims fled into mountainous border areas of Cameroon while others fled to Yola for safety, leaving the existing camps empty”.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/10/terrorists-overrun-cds-badehs-home-town/#sthash.klDzzeqi.dpuf

NYSC Spends N800M On a Website For Collection Call Up Letters

The Director General of the NYSC (National Youth Service Corps), Brigadier-General Johnson Bamidele Olawumi disclosed last week that the Federal Government spent N800 Million ($4.8 Million) to to setup the computer registration system the NYSC is currently using for its online registration.

He said the registration equipment (which is essentially a website) will be installed at NYSC offices nationwide.

Did they really need N800 Million to develop a website which can be accessed from all the NYSC offices in the nation?!!!! Nigeria!! Who are these people deceiving?!

Prospective corps member currently have to pay N4,000 as the “online registration fee” to register and find out where they have been deployed to. However foreign trained prospective corps members are not required to make this payment.

from Gistmania.com

Chinedu wins Gulder Altimate search,the mission

Pics from Gistmania.com

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