Borno State: How Boko Haram kills 74 in church attacks, 300 houses set ablaze

Boko Haram insurgents on Sunday evening attacked another village in Borno State, killing a soldier and 51 other persons. About 16 others, including policemen and traders, were injured while 300 houses were set ablaze by the insurgents in Kawuri, Konduga Local Government Area of the state.

Another set of the Boko Haram fighters, armed with guns and explosives, had earlier on Sunday killed 22 people at a church service in Waga Chakawa, Adamawa State.

The Kawuri village attackers were said to have planted several explosives in the community after attacking the nearby weekly market as traders were busy getting ready to close their stalls.

An eyewitness said those who sustained varying degrees of burns were rushed to the Konduga General Hospital and the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital for treatment.

Bulama Kuliri, a resident of the village, told journalists that the attack lasted for more than four hours.

He said, “I believe more than 50 people were killed in the attack because the whole village was razed by the Boko Haram people. There were loud explosions from different directions and dead bodies littered many parts of the village.”

Another eyewitness, Ari Kolomi, told the Associated Press that “no house in the village was left standing.”
“The gunmen were more than 50 and they were using explosives and heavy-sounding guns,” he added.

A soldier said two more improvised explosive devices exploded early on Monday morning, narrowly missing security personnel who were busy collecting corpses.

One of the police officers that evacuated the wounded victims, also confirmed that at least 52 people were killed and 16 injured.

The state Police Commissioner, Lawan Tanko, confirmed the attack but said he was awaiting details on casualties.

A protocol officer in the Government House told journalists that Governor Kashim Shettima was advised to cancel his “planned visit” to the community because “the military were still conducting an operation in the area.”

Shettima later met behind closed doors with military and police officers in the state over the incident.
In Waga Chakawa, witnesses told Reuters that insurgents set off bombs and fired into the congregation in the Catholic Church in a village in Adamawa State.

They said the insurgents also burnt houses and took residents hostage during the four-hour siege.
The spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Yola, Rev. Father Raymond Danbouye, said those killed were buried at a funeral on Monday.


In the last one week, over 100 persons have been killed in attacks by members of the terror group. These attacks, according to the United Nations, led to 6,000 persons fleeing to neighbouring countries like Cameroon and Niger Republic.

On January 14 for instance, a car bomb exploded in Maiduguri, killing about 70 people.

Communities like Kwaljiri, Kaya, Ngawo Fate, Limanti, Njaba, Yahuri, Mude, Wala and Alau in the Damboa, Konduga and Gwoza Local Government Areas have all been sacked by the terrorists.

El-Rufai released after 15-hour in SSS detention

The Department of State Security Services has released a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nasir El-Rufai, after detaining him for more than 15 hours. The former minister, who voluntarily walked into the agency’s headquarters at about 9 a.m on Monday, was released after midnight.

“Mallam Nasir El-Rufai left the SSS premises at 12.35a.m today after more than 15 hours,” the former minister’s media advisor, Muyiwa Adekeye, tweeted at 12.40 this morning.

It is not clear why the interrogation of the opposition All Progressive Congress chieftain took that long. Both the SSS and Mr. El-Rufai were not available for comment at the time of filing this report at 5.28 this morning.

One of the most active users of social media in Nigeria, Mr. El-Rufai is yet to update his Twitter and Facebook accounts with details of his ordeals in the hands of Nigeria’s secret police as at the time this report was posted.

Mr. El-Rufai had walked  into the SSS headquarters at about 9 a.m Monday, three days after the agency launched a manhunt for him.

He was accompanied by the Rivers State governor, Chibuike Amaechi, and a serving senator, Chris Ngige.

Mr. Amaechi, who was also allowed access into the SSS office, later left at about 12 p.m, while Mr. Ngige left two hours later.

One of Mr. El-Rufai’s wives, who accompanied him, also left subsequently as she was disallowed access to her husband, the former minister’s spokesperson had said.

“His wife left because she was just kept within the premises but not where he is,” Mr. Adekeye had told this paper.

Mr. El-Rufai’s lawyer, A. U. Mustapha, however remained with the former minister until his release.

The SSS said the former minister’s comment about possible violence in the coming elections was “provocative” and warned that those making inflammatory remarks might be prosecuted.

But Mr. El-Rufai has denied any wrongdoing, saying his position was only based on Nigeria’s electoral history.

The politician, who is one of the most vociferous critics of this administration, had gone underground Friday after the SSS launched a manhunt for him after he failed to honour an invitation from the agency in connection with his remarks at a conference in Abuja on Wednesday that there might be violence if the 2015 general elections were not credible.

The former minister declined the invitation citing his pending suit against the Service over his detention in a hotel in Awka during the Anambra state governorship election last November 16 as reason.

Mr. El-Rufai also insisted on seeing a valid warrant of arrest before he could report to the SSS office.

On Friday, operatives of the SSS stormed two properties believed to belong to Mr. El-Rufai, looking for him.

At the second property late on Friday, the SSS operatives insisted they wanted to deliver the warrant to Mr. El-Rufai personally, ignoring entreaty by his lawyer that the document should be handed over to him.

The opposition APC condemned the SSS for haunting its deputy national secretary, saying the comments attributed to the former minister were not inciting in any way.

Mr. El-Rufai himself has consistently said he would resist ploys by the SSS to silence him.

“Mallam El-Rufai will not be silenced,” the former minister had said through Mr. Adekeye, Friday.

“He will continue to do his patriotic duty of challenging INEC and the security agencies to guarantee the climate for free and fair elections in Nigeria by desisting from partisanship and the embrace of impunity.”

Premium Times

Kogi LG Chairman’s Wife, Child Abducted - Police

The wife of the Chairman of Adavi local government area of Kogi State, Salihu Adavriku and his two-year-old child have been abducted by unknown gunmen. The incident occurred at about 8:05 pm Sunday night at Kpuroko area, Ogaminana, headquarters of Adavi, the country home of the chairman.

According to the chairman, the men numbering seven entered the compound after security men at the gate had granted them access and went straight to the living room where the wife, Hashia and the daughter Safiratu were watching a television programme.

Adavriku said the heavily armed men who were not masked after forcing their way into the living room abducted his wife and daughter. He said the abductors had made contact with him and were demanding N50 million ransom.

The chairman who said he did not suspect anybody as he didn’t have problems with anyone said he had reported the matter to the police adding that the abductors who had emphasised to their victims that they were after money had also told their victims that they were not sent by anyone but were out on their own volition because these days, council chairmen seldom give money to people.

Confirming the incident, the public relations officer, of the state police command, DSP Rendegha Timpa said the police are on top of the matter to unravel the mystery surrounding the kidnap.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff helps Cuba inaugurate special development zone

Rousseff criticized the U.S.-led economic embargo against Cuba as an "unfair blockade," 

Cuban leader Raul Castro and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff Monday inaugurated the first phase of the Cuba's Special Development Zone in the port of Mariel, a project largely financed by Brazil. The first phrase of the project is the construction of a 702-meter dock at the deep-water port. According to Cuban media, equipped with four super post-panamax cranes and 1,140 outlets for refrigerated containers, the dock has been already put into operation.

"Brazil is proud to work with Cuba in this mega-port," Rousseff said at the inauguration ceremony, adding that her country "believes in and is betting on Cuba's human capital," and "wants to be a leading economic ally" of Havana.

Brazil's National Economic and Social Development Bank is the largest fund provider of the 957-U.S.-dollar whole project, lending a total of 682 million dollars as soft credit.

Rousseff said her government will contribute 290 million dollars to the second phase construction of the port, and has organized a trade mission to the Caribbean island country to boost bilateral alliance and increase trade flow.

Rousseff criticized the U.S.-led economic embargo against Cuba as an "unfair blockade," saying it has prevented many countries from doing business with the Caribbean nation and hindered its economic development since is was imposed in 1961.

Castro thanked Brazil for its "significant financing" of what he called a "transcendental project for the Cuban economy."

The port, located 45 kilometers west of Havana and with an initial annual shipping capacity of 800,000 containers, will be Cuba's main gateway for foreign imports and exports, and has the potential to become the main shipping port in the Caribbean, said Castro.

"From this moment on, the mega-port of Mariel is inserted into the Cuban and Latin American port system," said the Cuban leader.

The port will serve all cargo and container traffic passing by, while the Bay of Havana will be reserved for cruise ships, according to local media.

Ban Ki-moon praises Cuba's efforts in promoting women rights, social development

Cuba has made remarkable efforts in promoting social development and gender equality in the Caribbean nation, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said here Monday.

Ban arrived in Havana earlier in the day to attend the Second Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, or CELAC for its initials in Spanish, as a special guest and to meet with Cuban authorities and representatives of civil societies.

During a meeting at the National Center for Sex Education (Cenesex), the secretary-general praised the Cuban government's support for "Unite", a UN-backed campaign aimed at ending violence against women. He also lauded the support given by civil societies in defense of women's rights.

Ban said he was touched and inspired by each action and initiative carried out in Cuba, noting that eradicating violence against women is not a dream but a possibility.

During the meeting, Mariela Castro Espin, director of Cenesex and a deputy in parliament, presented Ban symbolic certificates from his institution to commend the UN chief's promotion of the Unite campaign.

The last UN secretary-general who had visited Cuba was Kofi Annan in 2006 for a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement.

CELAC, founded in February 2010 grouping 33 member countries, seeks to deepen political, economic, social and cultural integration in Latin America and the Caribbean.

CCTV

OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL For Tuesday 28 January 2014 "EVERYONE NEEDS A MIRACLE" BY PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL For Tuesday 28 January 2014 "EVERYONE NEEDS A MIRACLE" BY PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

Memory Verse: Psalm 55:16
As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me.


Read: Mark 5:22-23

22 And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet, 

23 And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live. 


Message

Some years ago, I was invited to be the guest speaker at a garden party in an exclusive, highbrow residential area. Because I arrived at the venue quite early, I was made to sit for a while in the house of my host. The house was an exquisite parade of wealth and splendour. I had never seen such brazen display of wealth in my life. The house contained six living rooms. I was kept in one of them. From where I was, I could see five other living rooms in ascending order of affluence. It was as if prosperity was on parade. After surveying the entire environment, I decided to change the topic of my message. Initially, I had wanted to preach on the topic: “Your miracle is around”. I concluded: “These people do not need a miracle”. 
I decided to change my topic to: “What the Lord has done for me, I cannot tell it all” or “Bless the Lord, O my soul”. While I was still thinking of changing the message, the Holy Spirit nudged me: “Son, these people need a miracle more than you could ever imagine”. With every opportunity the Lord gives me to minister to men and women of substance, I have always leant that even they need miracles. All human beings need miracles irrespective of race, status or social standing. The Bible is a complete book. There is no aspect of human life that is not addressed in God’s word. There is something in the Bible for all.

The story in today’s reading centres on an eminent personality. Jairus was a man of uncommon achievement by all standards. He was a man of whom it could be said: “he has made it in life”. In spite of his great achievements, however, he had one problem which money could not solve. His only daughter was at the verge of death. In his seemingly hopeless situation, Jairus sought help from the Lord and the Lord met him at the point of his need. The Lord will meet you at the point of your need today in Jesus’ Name. 
Like the case of Jairus, the man whose house I described above had one problem money could not solve. After the programme, the man pleaded passionately with me to pray over the case of his son who was then a drug addict. The fact that the man was respected in the society did not grant him immunity from the storms of life. Before the intervention of God, this son was busy ruining the fortunes of the family; but I thank the Lord who touched him. The good news is that he has remained responsible and sensible since he received the touch of God. If you feel you don’t need a miracle for yourself, you may need it for your family and children. It is possible that you may not need a miracle for your children but someone else who is precious to you might need a miracle. I pray that that your long-awaited miracle shall come to you today in Jesus’ Name. Only believe, and you shall see the glory of God.

Prayer Point:

Father, give me a miracle today that will turn my life around for the better in Jesus’ Name.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: HEBREWS 11 - 13 and PSALM 26

GOFAMINT VICTORY MONTH PRAYER POINTS FOR DAY 27: RENEWED VISION, GRACE AND ANOINTING UPON ALL GOFAMINT KEY-MINISTERS

THE GOSPEL FAITH MISSION INTERNATIONAL (GOFAMINT)

DAY 27: Tuesday 28th January 2014

FOCUS: RENEWED VISION, GRACE AND ANOINTING UPON ALL GOFAMINT KEY-MINISTERS

TEXT: ISAIAH 43:19-21

INSIGHT FOR EFFECTIVE PRAYING

There is a tendency for a person to get weary or tired after working for a length period. This can also happen to servants of God in the vineyard. 

Moses’ example on the mountain in Exodus chapter 17 is a good one. He raised his hands up as a spiritual back-up to ensure the victory of the army of Israel. As long as his hands were up, Israel army were on the winning side. At a time, however, his hands were wearied and he held them down and the tide turned, the enemies started prevailing. His supporters had to make an arrangement whereby his hands were held up perpetually which led to permanent victory for Israel.

We are concerned about the key-leaders of our Church today. They are humans. They can be wearied or tired. We have a responsibility to raise their hands up as Moses followers did for him. When we pray for them, there will be renewal of grace, strength and anointing. The Bible says, “He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might he increaseth strength” (Isa. 40:29). As we pray for them, God will do a new thing in their lives in Jesus name.

LET US PRAY

1.    Thank You Lord, for the increase of offices and officers at the top level of our Church because of our growth.

2.       Key-leaders in our Administrative office: Lord, lay Your hand upon all the key administrative officers and let them be operating by nothing but Your Spirit.

3.    Exco members: Let every member of the Executive Council of the Church have an encounter with You so that they can work in partnership with You while taking  decision on vital and sensitive issues affecting the life of the Church.

4.    Regional and Inspectorate Pastors: These peculiar officers are in charge of our Regions: Dear Lord, lay Your hand upon these men of God that they may operate under Your anointing not in the flesh or in their senses in the Regions.

5.      Assistant General Overseers: Help these servants of Yours not only to work closely with the General Overseer but also with the Holy Spirit that their works will have positive impact upon the Church.

6.      National Overseers: These ministers represent the General Overseer and GOFAMINT in their different nations. Dear Lord, fill them with Your fullness that their presence and ministrations in their different countries will manifest Your glory and power to the fullest.

7.      H.O.Ds: These set of ministers operate at the national level of the Mission. Help each of them Lord to make a full proof of their calling for significant achievements which will be felt all over the Mission.

8.          District/Area Pastors: Work with each of these ministers by sharing with them the formula that they need to use for the growth of their various districts/areas.

9.      National Committees: The Mission has many National Committees and Boards, saddled with the responsibilities of making the programmes and projects of the Church functional and effective Dear Lord, bless the chairmen and members of these various Committees and Boards with wisdom and other endowments to get these programmes and projects to greater heights.

10.        Dear Father, help the leaders to discern redundant officers occupying sensitive offices and the needed wisdom to replace them with capable hands.

11.    We ask for renewal of strength for all those who are weak and healing for all who have sustained one injury or the other in the battlefield in Jesus’ name.

12.    Dear Lord, let Your grace be sufficient for all our retired ministers and let the latter end of their lives be more glorious than the beginning.

13.       District Excoms: Pray that members of your District may live above board and work consciously for the progress of the District.

Sports: U.S., Russia at odds over Olympics safety

Rep. Peter King: No guarantee of security for athletes

Icy relations between United States and Russia haven’t warmed enough to ensure a safe Winter Olympics in Sochi next month, federal lawmakers said Sunday.

The former Cold War rivals are sparring over the best way to swap intelligence —  or at least how much to share —  less than two weeks before the festivities begin.

“The fact is that these are going to be very much threatened Olympics,” more so than previous games, Rep. Peter T. King, New York Republican and chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee’s subcommittee on counterterrorism, told ABC’s “This Week.”

He said he cannot give American athletes a “100 percent guarantee” that the 17-day event will be secure, and other lawmakers have said they wouldn’t want their families to attend the games.

Tensions over the competition in Sochi, a Black Sea resort town west of the restive North Caucasus region, have been exacerbated in recent months by December bombings in the southern Russian city of Volgograd and taped threats to the games by local Muslim extremists.

Meanwhile, the U.S. and Russian governments have engaged in finger-pointing over their counterterrorism efforts, even as both nations say they want to secure the games in the spirit of Olympic cooperation.

“We’ve offered, I think, to be more helpful than they’ll allow us to be,” Rep. Adam B. Schiff, California Democrat, told NBC’s “Today Show.” “And part of that is they probably don’t want to share all the threat information they have with us because of the distrust between our two intelligence agencies.”

One point of contention is whether or not the U.S. should share its secretive “jamming” technology that can disrupt signals that set off improvised explosive devices, or “IEDs,” which were common during the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The U.S. and Russia have performed a diplomatic tango for years, but the current climate has been clouded by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden’s decision to seek refuge in Moscow after leaking a trove of secret data about the government’s surveillance programs.

An April bombing at the Boston Marathon’s finish line didn’t help, either, after it became clear that the perpetrators — two brothers influenced by radical Islam — had roots in the Dagestan region of Russia.

Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Sergey Ivanovich Kislyak, rejected the idea that Sochi is in a fundamentally unsafe region.

“There is no war zone in Russia … wherever you are, you might become a target of a terrorist,” Mr. Kislyak told CNN’s “State of the Union with Candy Crowley.”

Others aren’t so sure.

“The environment, the past history, the frequency of attacks in Sochi, all of that mean that, no matter how we frame this, it is a much higher threat environment than any Olympics than we’ve had in the past ever,” Michael Leiter, former director of the U.S. government’s National Counterterrorism Center, told NBC.

But Mr. Kislyak said Russian authorities are more than capable, downplaying the threat to Sochi and reported tensions with the U.S.

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jan/26/lawmaker-says-no-guarantee-olympics-will-be-safe/#ixzz2rZfOAhYv 

OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL For Monday 27 January 2014 "WHO SHALL GO FOR US?" BY PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL For Monday 27 January 2014 "WHO SHALL GO FOR US?" BY PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

Memory Verse: Isaiah 6:8
Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.


Read: Mark 16:15-16

15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 

16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. 


Message

God needs men and women who have found the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ to go out in search of lost souls. He laid down an example for us in Genesis 3:9 where He went looking for Adam in the Garden of Eden after the fall. God is looking for people to win street boys and girls, pimps, hardened criminals, robbers, social miscreants, drug dealers, prostitutes, etc. God is looking for those who are highly anointed to bring these unreached groups into His kingdom. We must target people who are the brains behind insecurity in our societies if we really desire security of lives and property. 


God, like in the days of Isaiah the prophet, is looking for highly anointed people to send to nations that are resistant to the gospel. We need people who can minister in societies that are dominated by atheists, hard-core Muslims, secularists, humanists as well as those who are sold out to the occult. God needs missionaries who are powerfully anointed to go for Him and rescue perishing souls around the world. 
The Church needs believers who have what it takes to go out there and heal the sick, cast out demons and deliver the oppressed in the Name of Jesus Christ. God is asking passionately, “Who shall I send, who shall go for us?” Are you highly anointed? If your answer is yes, then say to Him: “Here am I, send me”. The anointing which God is bringing your way through this devotional is not meant for frivolities, it is meant to meet the needs of the assignment God has for you.

When my birthday approaches, people ask me time and again: “What do you desire as a gift for your birthday?” I have always replied: “Souls”. The greatest gift anyone can ever give me is the salvation of multitude of souls. The salvation of souls not only brings joy to me but also to my Daddy. Go all the way to win souls if you want to please God. The Bible in Ezekiel 3:18 says,

“When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.”

The implication of this scripture is that some believers may be in danger of hell, not because they directly commit the so-called popular sins, but because of the sin of omission. Failure to go all out to evangelise is a sin of omission. The Lord consistently is asking: “Who will go for us?” Let your answer be: “Here am I, send me”. You shall be mightily rewarded for it.

Action Point:

Draw out a personal soul-winning programme for yourself and better still, for your family and work out its execution without further delay.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: HEBREWS 9 - 10 and PSALM 25

GOFAMINT VICTORY MONTH PRAYER POINTS FOR DAY 26: COMMENSURATE ANOINTING FOR THE G.O. AND THE D.G.O. OF GOFAMINT

THE GOSPEL FAITH MISSION INTERNATIONAL (GOFAMINT)

Day 26: Monday 27th January 2014

FOCUS: COMMENSURATE ANOINTING FOR THE G.O.

AND THE D.G.O. OF GOFAMINT

TEXT: ACTS 13:1-12

INSIGHT FOR EFFECTIVE PRAYING

The success or otherwise of any community or organization depends largely on the leadership. That is why the Bible is unequivocal in its injunction for us to pray for our leaders. The life of our G. O. as well as his deputy is compatible with the gospel. They are the leaders that we can be proud of. Christians of other denominations as well as non-Christians in the community recognize them as exemplary Christian leaders and we are proud of that.  We are not saying that they are perfect but they are above board in the way they conduct their lives.

Like the Church in Antioch, we want to pray specially for these leaders today. The Antioch Church fasted and prayed for Paul and Barnabas for the work God had called them unto. Reading through our Bible passage today, it would be discovered that these two ministers were confronted with the power of darkness in their ministerial journey. They overcame the opposition because of the prayers that were done on their behalf by the Church. The power of God was also demonstrated in a great measure through their ministrations. We also want to pray for our leaders for the work that God has called them unto that they may also make a success of their ministries for the progress of the Church.

LET US PRAY

1.     Thank You Lord, for the lives of our leaders, for what You have done for them and through them.

2.         Thank You for guiding and leading the G.O. to lead this Church thus far.

3.     We pray for these our leaders for new grace, vision and renewed energy to lead this Church to the next level in Jesus’ name.

4.     Release upon them a fresh anointing that they may not be weary or tired in Jesus’ name.

5.     As the burden and the responsibility of the Church is increasing in proportion with the growth of the Church, let Your power increase in them to meet all the challenges in Jesus’ name.

6.      Grant unto the G.O. the seeing eyes and the hearing ears to see and to hear clearly what the Lord is saying to the Church.

7.      Grant also to the D.G.O. the vision of “men of Issachar vision” to know what the Church ought to do to move forward.

8.      We stand against all opposing forces and powers contending with their successes in Jesus’ name.

9.      Grant them insight into divine agenda for the Church and the grace and power to follow the agenda.

10.    Grant them the wisdom to untie all the knotty issues and to proffer solutions to them in Jesus’ name

11.    Meet their own needs and solve all their personal and family problems that they may serve You more with their whole heart in Jesus’ name.

12. You started with them, continue with them and perfect the great works You have been doing in their lives oh Lord.

13.    We lift Matron Felicia Abina before the throne of grace today, let the time of refreshing come upon her to make her totally whole.

14.    Help our G.O. And the D.G.O. to continue to live blameless lives in Jesus’ name.

15.    Grant them the spirit of unity and the grace to affect lives of the entire ministers of the Church for Christ.

16.    Grant the duo the very desires of their hearts in Jesus’ name.