New York [RR] ABUJA–The Nigeria Customs Service on Tuesday said what evolved into a monumental fraud in the management of the funds earmarked for fuel subsidy developed its root while former President Olusegun Obasanjo was in power and Adamu Ciroma was finance minister.Testifying before a House of Representatives hearing on the management of funds allocated for fuel subsidy, customs officials said fuel importation procedures turned messy in 2002, a year to the end of Mr. Obasanjo’s first term in office, when Mr. Ciroma’s ministry directed customs to allow importers bring in fuel without documentation.Julius Ndubuisi, a deputy comptroller general of customs, who appeared before the committee, said his service was “warned” sometime in 2002, by the federal ministry of finance, in a letter, not to press for documentations for petroleum imports to “avoid crisis.”Such an arrangement, lawmakers believe, which allowed importation of undocumented petroleum products into Nigeria, triggered the era of manipulations in the payment of government subsidy.The customs boss said the situation had not changed even today.While the directive lasted, Mr. Ndubuisi said, importers had a field day as uninvoiced and undocumented refined petroleum imports were forced through Customs checkpoints at Nigerian ports.The customs official’s revelation has opened a new vista into the elaborate web of complications surrounding the importation and clearance of petroleum products annually, and government’s payment of trillions of naira in subsidy.At the center of it all is the government-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation(NNPC)

New York [RR] KANO–Multiple explosions and gunfire have rocked the Nigerian city of Kano, with residents reporting an immigration office and several police stations targeted.

A witness told Al Jazeera that he had seen at least seven dead bodies, including five immigration officers and two civilians. Authorities have not confirmed reports of casualties.

New York [RR] NBAISE–IMO-State–A colloquium on Ahiara declaration (January 16-17, 2012 ) formed one of the frontlines of activities to commemorate the life, times, tremendous courage and sacrifice of late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, leader of the then Republic of Biafra which now comprises of South Eastern and South-Southern parts of Nigeria. Ahiara declaration made by Ojukwu on June 1, 1969, two years into the Nigeria-Biafra war of 1967-1970, has been described by analysts as masterpiece political and ideological testament in which a vision of a new society was articulated in the light of the contradictions that led to the civil war and near breakup of Nigeria. It was a moral boost to the Biafran/Igbo struggle.

As Igbo prepares for the burial of her illustrious and brave son and hero, Dim Emeka Ojukwu, it becomes pertinent, not only once, to recount the declaration of unity, focus and bravery which mark the Igbo spirit – declaration made by Eze Igbo Gburugburu himself. Below is a paper presentation by Chief Charles O. Okereke, Publisher – Nigeria Masterweb (www.nigeriamasterweb.com) at the Colloquium On Ahiara Declaration held January 16-17, 2012 in Ahiara, Mbaise, Imo State, Nigeria – at the venue of the declaration by Ojukwu in 1969.

New York [RR] ABUJA–ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) – The suspected mastermind of the Christmas Day bombing of a Catholic church in Nigeria escaped custody after being arrested in the country’s capital, police acknowledged Tuesday — an embarrassment for a nation struggling to contain increasingly bloody sectarian attacks by a radical Islamist sect.

Authorities said Kabiru Sokoto planned the bombing that killed 38 people at St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla, just outside Nigeria’s capital Abuja. But his arrest at the mansion of a state governor in Abuja, and subsequent escape, raised more questions about the government’s ability to stop the radical sect, known as Boko Haram, which claimed responsibility for the church attack.

New York [RR] Niger-Delta–In reaction to the proposed strike by NLC and other groups in the country, the Niger Delta Democratic Coalition, NDDC, at the weekend, warned the leadership of the Nigeria Labor Congress, NLC, to stay far away from the Niger Delta region in its planned strike, saying that the group would “mobilize over one million youths to resist any attempt to enforce the proposed strike action in the region..”, RepublicReporters has learned.

In reaction Otitigbe Obadiah Oghoerore Alegbe, accused Hausa/Fulani Yourba Oligarchy of mischief-making stating that they feed fat on Oil-production in the region while children from Niger-Delta go bed hungry, while their parents cannot even fish any longer because of massive pollution of the region by multinational oil-producing companies.