The row over the Seth Rogan comedy intensifies after state
media claim to have evidence the Obama administration was involved in
production of the Sony film
Threat: Kim Jong Un issued a warning following the row over The Interview
North Korea has issued a threat to attack US landmarks after claiming
to have proof that the government was behind the controversial movie
The Interview.
The yet-to-be-released film, starring James Franco and Seth Rogan, has been thrust into the centre of a row between North Korea and the US after hackers attacked Sony's computer systems.
The plot of the comedy eventually sees dictator Kim Jong Un be assassinated.
Sony Pictures
The Interview: The Seth Rogen film, which includes an assassination of Kim Jong Un has been hugely controversial
A statement from the state news agency KCNA said: "Nothing is
a more serious miscalculation than guessing that just a single movie
production company is the target of this counteraction.
"Our target is all the citadels of the US imperialists who earned the bitterest grudge of all Koreans.
"The
army and people of the DPRK are fully ready to stand in confrontation
with the US in all war spaces including cyber warfare space to blow up
those citadels."
Getty
Hollywood Peition: George Clooney started a petition to
stand up to King Jong Un over terrorists threats relating to the release
of the film
The cyber attack, which North Korea still claim no responsibility for, led some cinemas in the States to withdraw from screening the movie, due to be released this week.
Sony are understood to be considering YouTube as a possible distributor for the film.
Michael Lynton, Sony Pictures' chief executive, told CNN: “We would still like the public to see this movie, absolutely.
“There are a number of options open to us. And we have considered those, and are considering them.
“We have always had every desire to have the American public see this movie."
Kano State Governor, Engineer Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso was the runner up
to General Muahmmadu Buhari(rtd) in the presidential primary of the All
Progressive Congress (APC), which took place in Lagos. Reflecting on
the experience of the primary election, Kwankwaso, in an interview in
Kano, explained that though he came second, he is fulfilled by the
outcome of the exercise. He also took time to comment on his next
political move now that the presidential aspiration is over. He tipped
General Buhari for the presidency come 2015 and held that his military
background will well guide him to deal with the Boko Haram insurgency.
Excerpts. Now that the presidential primary is over, there are
speculations that your next move is to pick the party’s ticket for Kano
Central Senatorial Zone. To what extent is this true?
A: Thank you very much. Let me welcome you to my office and let me
take this opportunity to thank you, in fact, all of you. Let me also, at
this point, congratulate our leader, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.)
for such a wonderful performance and so also the other aspirants, namely
Atiku Abubakar (Turakin Adamawa), my friend Rochas Okoracha and of
course, my friend, who is also your friend , Sam Nda Isaah. Just as we
predicted, the primary election was a family affair. It was done in such
a way that all of us are winners, and all of us pledged to support the
winner before the primary and even after the primary. I thank Almighty
God and I also want to thank the delegates and all those who have
supported us through various means to attain this result. I started
very late and up till this moment, it is not up to two months that I
joined the race. Many people felt that I was not known in the South and
other parts of this country. Despite that, we have seen the performance.
I was second after our candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari. I am happy
that I am now known across the country and that is a good story and a
good story for all our supporters in this state and across the country.
The result didn’t show only the votes from Kano, but showed votes from
across the country. You have seen or heard from the counting that you
will hear “Buhari”, “Buhari” and then “Kwankwaso” “Kwankwaso”. It means
the support is from the whole country, even from the states that we have
governors and states that have no governors, we have supporters there.
And I want to pledge that we would continue to support the party, so
that at the end of the day, APC can win the elections not only in Kano,
but across the country.
On the issue of the senatorial seat, you know that we have just
finished counting our own Kano North Senatorial Zone. The result was
announced late yesterday. As we finished the primary in Lagos, we have
to go and handle the Kano North Senatorial Zone because we had to do it
before 12 mid night yesterday. And the next thing for me now is that I
will come and consult my friends and colleagues right away to discuss
the future, that is, the political future for my humble self and of
course, the other people who are working together with us here in Kano
in the next dispensation. How do you compare the issue of internal democracy between
APC and PDP, looking at the primaries of the both parties that were
conducted yesterday?
You see the difference is very, very clear. APC is now the PDP of
those days, especially in 1999. That was how we built PDP. We allowed
aspirants to show their interests.
The party supported and encouraged those who are interested to go and
campaign. And it has a lot of advantages, especially if you look at it
from my own context. One, I had to go around the country and convince
many of my friends, those who were in APC as well as those who were in
the other parties. As a result of that, we have so many people who have
now joined APC as a party- not because they were APC or they wanted APC
ordinarily, but because they knew that my leadership would be good for
them and would be good for the country and I can assure you that now
none of them, none of the persons would go back to any other party. They
would stay in APC and support it from the bottom to the top. And so
also are other candidates and aspirants of the party who had gone out
to campaign, especially Sam Ndah Isaiah. Many people didn’t understand
the importance of those10 votes that he got. You know that you can win
or lose elections with 10 votes. In fact, not only in the election like
the one we had which used delegates, even in general elections, you can
lose or win a general election in this country with ten votes. These ten
votes could certainly bring hundreds, even not thousands of votes in
favour of the party. So, we are not talking of the votes that were
recorded for Rochas, Atiku and the ones that were secured by the winner ,
Genera Muhammadu Buhari. So if you put all these efforts together, the
efforts of five aspirants, I am sure that would go a long way. Of
course, you have seen a lot of changes in the last few months
especially as it relate to General Buhari himself. Ordinarily, General
Buhari would not have taken so much time, so much effort to go round
the country to convince people. Now, he is full-fledged politician who
has gone round to ask for support, to ask for understanding, he has
worked like any other politician in this country. And that is what we
want to see, we didn’t want to sit down in a room and look at him and
say let us dash him the ticket. Now, he has earned the ticket for
himself and that has gone a long way in strengthening the party, it has
gone a long way in deepening democracy in this country. If you look at
what he was saying yesterday and even before, he was like any other
polished and experienced politician. That is how it should be. I am
sure that when, by the grace of God, he gets to the Villa, he would be a
wiser politician who would value every delegate, who would value every
state , and who would value every religion, tribe and other differences
across the country. And I am very happy that our party decided to give
us all a level playing ground. Considering the efforts you put in place before the APC
primary and the outcome- which is known to everybody- do you feel
betrayed by the result?
When I was going into it, I felt certainly I was going to win, but I
became number two . And if you look at the quality of the people in the
race, their experiences, their wealth , I think that everybody should
congratulate me. Many people, especially my friends , I am sure they
have seen on paper that twelve of my colleagues ganged up for Buhari.
And even my former colleagues, many of them were supporting Buhari. When
I read it, when people were telling me, I was just laughing. I
remember.
So, what I believe is that everybody who voted for Buhari is a friend
and if they had known the relationship between me and him… I am sure
you must have known that he was telling the whole world, when asked if
not him who will he support?- he was telling that whole that he would
support Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso. What else do I want? Somebody of his age
and his personality in the society, passing out this information, not to
me but to the hearing of the whole world. So to me, it is as good as I
had won the primary election. Nigerians have enjoyed your role in calling government to
order. Are you will keep quiet now that there is nothing at stake?
Secondly, in the past, we have people who contested presidential
elections against the PDP- Shekarau, Ribadu- but are now with the PDP.
Sir, would you go the same way?
I think that there is a lot of difference between me and many other
people. For me, I decided to go into politics as a politician. I didn’t
go into politics just to get into positions and enjoy myself. No I am
in politics to better the lives of our people. When I left service in
1991 to join politics, I wasn’t dismissed; I did go out of the service
as a result of frustration. In fact, they have to give me two weeks to
go and think. That was after I gave them my resignation letter. And they
wanted me to stay there because they knew my worth.
I was a professional by any standard when I left service and I was
committed to it. But I felt that I would be useful to myself and the
country if I go into politics. So, I am a politician first and foremost.
If anything comes my way in terms of elected position or appointed, I
welcome it and keep on moving. And that is why over the last 20 years , I
have been in and out , in and out and I think that I am one of the very
few who have been enjoying this experience of going into different
positions and coming out. And it always good to have sucj experience-
because now I am in government, I know how sitting governors feel.
And then outside, because I was outside the government before, I know
the feelings of those who are outside government. So first and
foremost, I am a politician and I am still there and along the line, if I
had won the election yesterday- for example-it would have been a big
challenge. Now, what we have is another challenge because I am now back
to the ground to make sure that PDP is defeated in this state and across
the country. In other words, I want to deliver Kano per cent to APC.
And some of the people I met yesterday after the primary were saying
that you have to be in that Senate- saying with Buhari as the
presidential candidate and me in the senate, it would be very difficult
for anybody to mention any other party other the APC on election day
here in Kano. While the APC presidential primary was going on, there was
another bomb blast in Kano. i want your official reaction to the blast
and also, your suggestion of how to end this insurgency in the state.
I want to take this opportunity to commiserate with the family of
all those who were involved in the last bomb blast and even to all those
who had been involved in the previous killings in this state and across
the country. It is very sad, it is very unfortunate that we have to be
facing this challenges at this crucial time of our history. If you are
looking for the answer that would end the problem, I believe that the
answer is to have a committed and honest and determined president as
the Commander in Chief. Somebody who has the political will to stop the
killings, not only in Kano but across the country.
Every day, after that bombing, if it is not in Borno, it is in Yobe.
If it is not in Yobe , if it is in Adamawa. It is Bauchi, it is Kano,
Just yesterday, we learnt again of bomb in Plateau and so on. So, it is a
national issue which must be addressed by the Commander-in Chief. I
want to say that General Buhari, we are lucky, has a military background
and that would go a long way in helping him and guiding him on what to
do. And by the grace of God, whether from the house, my own house in
Kwankwaso or from Kano in Gandu Albasa, or from anywhere, we would
continue to support him by the grace of God when he becomes President to
succeed. Because that is very important, he has his version of
experience, I have my own version of experience, especially experience
in the area of security. We would rally around him to help him to
succeed.
Because his success is not only my own success, it is not only your
success. It is the success of this country and even beyond. Because even
our friends elsewhere are so worried, especially those who have
invested their money, especially those who want to invest in this
country and also those who like to respect this country. These people
are wondering what is happening in Nigeria. To answer that question is
that we need a good Commander in Chief and in my opinion, if Buhari goes
there, I see no reason why all these rubbish would not stop. From the backdrop of what you have just said about Buhari’s
military background, are you saying in earnets that military Generals
are better than politicians in tackling …?
A: No, I didn’t say that. I didn’t say that. But still- even though
it is not the best question- you see in this particular area, a
General who has gone through the system over the years , under normal
circumstance, is in a better position to handle the issue of security.
It is very important. But that is not to say that he can ……. Let me not
go into that. Next question. If, after your consultation, you were asked to go for the senate, would you accept the offer?
I am consulting and this consultation would soon end because it is
not an open ended thing. We have to take decision. I don’t want to say
anything. I don’t want to say anything that would appear in the dailies
tomorrow or on the radio today, without consulting with my friends
here and elsewhere. Because in politics. This is very important.
You may make up your mind but in politics, you have to touch your
friends and ask them what they think should be done. It is just like my
contest for the seat of the presidency, I had to consult widely and out
of that consultation, several people were committed to the project to
the extent that now you have seen the result and I think that the result
is good, in fact very good while because who came first- I told his
position – and I am number two in the contest despite the fact I am
just some entered the race about two months ago.
In what appears a direct reply to the Boko Haram leader, Shekau, the
Emir of Kano, His Royal Highness, Muhammad Sanusi II, has declared that
he remained protected against any evil attack and nothing is going to
happen to him except it is the will of Allah, the creator.
This was disclosed during a Friday special prayer session held at the
Kano City Central Mosque on Fruday. The Emir, Sanusi II, who presided
over the special prayer, reiterated his earlier call on the general
public to protect themselves against the attacks of the wicked Boko
Haram sect.
The Emir declares: “I am protected and nothing is going to happen to me.”
On Shekau’s position on attacking religious groups, Emir Sanusi urged
all Muslim faithful and the followers of Tijjaniyya, Qadiriyya and Izala
religious movement to be vigilant and continue to guard themselves and
rise against insurgent attacks.
He called on the people to be vigilant and protect their mosques, churches, markets and hospitals against any attack.
According to Emir Sanusi, it is rather unacceptable for people to
abandon their daily deals or desert places of worship because of Boko
Haram. He urged all not to succumb to fear but be their brothers’
keepers.
The Actors Guild of Nigeria President, Ibinabo Fiberesima is
getting married to her boo Uche Egbuka in her home town, Okirika in
Rivers State.
We wish her a married life ..... Congrats
A military court in Nigeria has sentenced 54 soldiers to death after they were found guilty of mutiny.
The soldiers were convicted on Wednesday in Abuja on a 2-count charge of
criminal conspiracy to commit mutiny. Represented by Femi Falana (SAN),
the brunt of the defense's case argued that the soldiers were not
guilty of mutiny as accused.
"My Lords, contrary to the general belief in military circles, protest
by soldiers does not constitute mutiny," Falana argued in his defense,
obtained by SaharaReporters. Imploring the court to uphold precedent as
established in the case Cpl Segun Oladele & 22 Ors. v Nigerian Army
supra, Falana said "Can we safely conclude that the prosecution has
proved all the ingredients in this charge of mutiny against the accused
soldiers?"
"The answer is in the negative," he said.
"In the instant case, the Prosecution did not prove that the order given
to carry out a military act followed the standard or proper procedure
of giving such an order; that the accused soldiers deliberately and by
collusion disobeyed the order; that the disobedience and the acts strike
at the foundation of discipline in the Army; that the accused persons
used violence or threat of violence; and that the acts of the convicts
'were deliberately designed to put the Nigerian Army in imminent
danger'."
Despite a thorough 48-page defense, the 54 soldiers were sentenced to death today.
Four other soldiers were acquitted.
The convicted soldiers, mostly officers involved in the fight
against the Boko Haram terrorists in Northeast Nigeria, are to die on
stakes, by firing squad.
The soldiers, attached to the 7 Division, Nigerian Army in Maiduguri
include two Corporals, Cpl, nine Lance Corporals, LCpl and 49 Private
soldiers.
The charge sheet said the soldiers conspired to commit mutiny against
the authorities of the 7 Division on August 4, at the Mulai Primary
School camp, opposite AIT Maiduguri, Borno State.
The soldiers are the second batch of Nigerian soldiers condemned to death by Nigerian Military courts for mutiny.
The trial of the soldiers began on October 15 on allegations they
disobeyed orders to join operations against the extremist group, Boko
Haram.
All the accused soldiers pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The prosecutor, J.E. Nwosu, an army Captain, alleged that the accused
soldiers had on August 4, in Maiduguri, refused to join the 111 Special
Forces Battalion troops, commanded by Timothy Opurum, a Lieutenant
Colonel for an operation.
Mr. Nwosu said the operation was meant to recapture Delwa, Bulabulin and Damboa in Borno State from the Boko Haram terrorists.
According to him, the offence is punishable under Section 52(1) (a) of
the Armed Forces Act Cap A20 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
The prosecution called the commander of the 111 Special Forces, Lt.-Col. Opurum, as one of the witnesses.
The statement of the commander was admitted by the court and marked Exhibit P1.
Mr. Opurum, in his testimony in October, said the Special Forces were
tasked with advancing to recapture Delwa to clear the way for other
battalions to pass through to recapture Babulin and Damboa from the
insurgents.
He said he took off for the operation with only four officers and 29
soldiers as “tasked” after majority of the 174 soldiers in the unit
refused to join the operation.
The witness said after he took charge of the Special Forces, he
addressed and assured them that they could achieve the task given to
them.
He, however, said the soldiers were “hesitant to partake in the operation” in spite of the assurances.
Under cross examination by Femi Falana, who represented the accused
soldiers, Mr. Opurum said 47 of the soldiers who initially refused,
later re-joined the forces for another operation.
Mr. Opurum said the 47 soldiers joined, after he called for
reinforcement, as they came under attack from terrorists, who
out-numbered them and had superior weapons.
Asked if the soldiers refused to fight or refused to join the operation
because of lack of superior weapons, he said all units in the North-East
had requested for weapons.
On the disciplinary measure taken against the 47 soldiers, who initially
refused, he said the process for that was to begin when they were
court-martialled.
Mr. Falana in an oral application asked to the court for the record of
weapons recovered from the 47 soldiers, when they initially refused to
join the operations.
As reported by Sahara Reporters, the President of the Court,
Brig.-General Mohammed Yusuf, said the application had been noted "for
action."
The General Court Martial was inaugurated on October 2 to try 97 soldiers, including 15 senior officers for mutiny.
