*For attempting to ‘steal’ a Mazda car It was a shocking sight yesterday as men of the Kwara State Police Command paraded a goat as an armed robbery suspect. Join discussion...

Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mike Okiro yesterday underscored the severity of the nation’s security situation, informing the House of Representatives that only the whole national budget of N2.87 trillion was enough to effectively police the country. Contending that the allocation of N202 billion to the police in the 2009 budget was grossly the inadequate, Okiro stated emphatically: “Nigeria Police Force (NPF) would need N2.87 trillion, the entire 2009 budget of the country, to make police more effective.” “The whole budget of Nigeria would not be sufficient if the police have to be fully equipped as to be able to combat crime in the country,” the IGP stressed. Join discussion...

Nine gay men in Senegal have been sent to jail for "indecent conduct and unnatural acts". Homosexual acts are illegal in Senegal but lawyers for the men said the sentence was the harshest ever handed down to gay men in the country. Join discussion...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Wanted by the FBI: agents, language specialists, computer experts, intelligence analysts and finance experts. The FBI said on Monday it had launched one of the largest hiring blitzes in its 100-year history involving 2,100 professional staff vacancies and 850 special agents aimed at filling its most critical vacancies. The agency, which seeks to protect the United States from terrorist attack, fight crime and catch spies, among other duties, said it currently has more than 12,800 agents and about 18,400 other employees. Join discussion...

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has declared former Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai wanted. A statement by the Commission says the former minister “is wanted for abuse of office and misappropriation (of )public funds to the tune of N32 billion.” “The need to declare El- Rufai wanted became imperative following his failure to honour a simple invitation from the commission to respond to weighty allegations levelled against him in petitions being investigated by the Commission”, the statement added. It will be recalled that the Commission had written El- Rufai some weeks ago to appear before it on November 28th 2008. Instead of honouring the invitation, he wrote back through his counsel asking the EFCC to send its questions to him. He had claimed then that he was writing an examination outside the country. This prompted the Commission to grant him another three (3) weeks grace. But instead of seizing the opportunity to respond to the weighty allegations against him, he has resorted to a hide and seek game, and an appalling show of impunity on the pages of newspapers. Join discussion...

There is a mild debate by some sceptics of the prowess and resolve of Nuhu Ribadu and his real efforts at unbiasedly battling corruption during his tenure as EFCC chairman under the Obasanjo regime. Few call him just an Obasanjo bull dog. Well the evidence here from SaharaReporters proves that Nuhu Ribadu did all he could within his limited jurisdiction as an employee under a dictator regime to mete out justice fairly and impartially. SaharaReporters revealed the real list of scoundrels the EFCC submitted to the Government and how this list was doctored by the administration to remove cronies of the then President. Join discussion...

THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), yesterday, effected withdrawal the of its operatives from the offices of The Honda Place, THP, the business premises of the Vaswani Brothers, under lock and key since last Wednesday. Offices of The Honda Place in Abuja, Lagos and Kano had been sealed off by the EFCC following a petition against it by Globe Motors over alleged breach of distributorship agreement. But the attorney of the federation and minister for justice, Chief Michael Andoakaa, on December 31, 2008, directed the commission to vacate the THP offices pending the determination of issues raised by the embattled Vaswani Brothers. The letter signed by the director of public prosecution in the Federal Ministry of Justice, Mr Salihu Aliyu, as learnt, did not get to the EFCC until January 2, 2009. Join discussion...

By OLA AGBAJE The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has launched manhunt for the controversial Indian businessmen, the Vaswani brothers over alleged N4 billion fraud. The multi-billion naira fraud was alleged to have been perpetrated through forged documents on goods imported into the country. Daily Sun gathered that the anti-graft commission had been on trail of the Vaswani brothers for the past six weeks. “They have remained evasive and continued to dodge all the efforts to get them interrogated.” As a result of their refusal to honour the commission’s invitation, EFCC operatives sealed up their Lagos office, the Honda place, last week. Two offices of the notable Indian businessmen in Abuja and Kano may also be sealed up to underscore the commission’s intention to pursue the matter to a logical conclusion, it was further gathered. Spokesman for the EFCC, Femi Babafemi confirmed that the Lagos office of Vaswani brothers had been shut. He declined to give further details, saying investigations by the EFCC officials were still going on. The EFCC under Mallam Nuhu Ribadu had deported the Vaswani brother5s over alleged roles in shady deals through which the Federal Government lost several billions of naira. Specifically, their activities were alleged to be injurious and inimical to the economic well being of the nation. They were accused of engaging and perfecting the act of using fraudulent and illegal means to clear thousands of containers through which the government suffered huge revenue losses. Controversy had always trailed their business dealings in Nigeria, which spanned automobile, consumables and merchandising. Recently, an auto firm, Globe Motors sought the assistance of the EFCC to recover billions naira from Vaswani brothers over alleged fraudulent deal. Already, the EFCC has stepped into the matter. However sources close to the commission confided in Daily Sun that Vaswani brothe4rs had been stalling the investigations because of their failure to appear personally for interrogation. Join discussion...

We’re no terrorists, say Islamic clerics arrested by police By LAMBERT TYEM, Abuja Monday, December 29, 2008 The State Security Service (SSS) has set free six foreign nationals arrested recently by the police in Abuja over allegations of being Islamic terrorists. The six Zambians who were arrested by the police in Abuja on the suspicion of recruiting and training terrorists in a mosque in Kuje, Abuja, regained their freedom last week and spoke to newsmen at the weekend in Kuje, Abuja where they are currently carrying out their missionary work. They denied being terrorists and expressed gratitude to the SSS and the police, adding: “At the end, we have been vindicated by the same security agencies that arrested us.” The foreign clerics said they had forgiven the police for the travails they went through in detention. Vali Shoeb Akubar, the leader of the group said: “We are always prepared for all sorts of hardships, arrest as well as detention, because we believe that no one in such position as ours should expect less, stressing that “Even Prophet Mohammed faced greater travails and tribulations among his own people.” The Zambians further explained that they were not terrorists as the police alleged, but Muslim preachers. They explained that on arrival in the country, the State Security Service [SSS] in Kuje had cleared them after screening their documents and other details, but surprisingly, the police still accused them of terrorism and detained them. Against all explanations, the clerics lamented further that the police detectives still doubted their mission and they were eventually taken to the Inspector-General of Police on the orders of the FCT Commissioner Police. “The IGP directed that we should be handed over to SSS for further investigations, but after listening to us, they found nothing incriminating about us,” the Islamic clerics stated. The Zambians, Vali Shoeb Akubar, Abdulaziz Chadat Musa, Muhammad Ali Patel, Abdurrahaman Abbas Patel, Dawood Vali Ahmed and Muhammad Sakil Sadiq as well as their Nigerian guide, Alhaji Bala Mohammed Usman said “it is incumbent on every Muslim to spread the love, kindness, peace as well as every goodness to all nations and that formed the basis of our mission to Nigeria. “Where there is absence of peace, crisis abound and selfishness, of course, is the root cause of conflicts and war in most parts of the world. Our mission is in line with Prophet Mohammed’s command to spread the word of Islam to other Muslims.” We leave our families, dear ones, and businesses to go round the world to preach because it is incumbent on us. Zambia where we come from has less than one per cent population that are Muslims but we practice our faith without molestation,” they explained. ENDS. Join discussion...

At least eight people have died after a man dressed as Santa Claus opened fire at a Christmas Eve party in southern California. Skip related content Related photos / videos Gunman In Santa Suit Kills Eight Police said three people thought to have been at the party remain missing and they expect the death toll to rise. The gunman, believed to be 45-year-old Bruce Jeffrey Pardo, opened fire as soon as the door of the house was answered. An eight-year-old girl who ran towards him was shot in the face. Pardo continued to fire on the 30 people inside and the property, in the town of Covina, Los Angeles County, was engulfed in flames after an explosion was heard. Officers have said that Pardo used a homemade incendiary device to start the blaze. He was later found dead at a relative's house. "He died of self-inflicted wounds. We believe it was a marital dispute," said Lt Pat Buchanan of the Covina Police Department. The missing people include the couple who own the home and Pardo's ex-wife. Two people wounded by gunfire were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police lieutenant Pat Buchanan said. A third person was also admitted with a broken leg, he said. Witnesses have told police that Pardo stripped off his Santa costume after the shooting and fled in street clothes. Join discussion...