One epaulette off Mbu’s shoulder

Addressing a press conference in Abuja, Mbu said he had information that “dangerous elements” were about to infiltrate the daily #BringBackOurGirls protests in Abuja and would detonate bombs there. Citing weekend’s bombing incident in Mubi, Adamawa State where a bomb killed many people at a bar, Mbu said, “I cannot fold my arms and watch […]

Addressing a press conference in Abuja, Mbu said he had information that “dangerous elements” were about to infiltrate the daily #BringBackOurGirls protests in Abuja and would detonate bombs there. Citing weekend’s bombing incident in Mubi, Adamawa State where a bomb killed many people at a bar, Mbu said, “I cannot fold my arms and watch this lawlessness.” He said some elements would detonate explosives “aimed at embarrassing the government.” Look Mbu, is your concern the deaths and injuries that bombs would cause or just the embarrassment they would cause to government?
The #BringBackOurGirls protesters were soon up in arms. The threatened to obtain a court order to stop Mbu. They have already had policemen blocking their access to Unity Fountain. Last week, they were also attacked by thugs of the pro-government group #ReleaseOurGirls. The police stood aloof while the attack lasted. No one is more annoyed by the protests than First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan, whose bidding Mbu loyally did when he was in Port Harcourt.
Remarkably, Police Headquarters moved yesterday to reign in Mbu. Force spokesman Frank Mbah said Inspector General Mohamed Abubakar had rescinded the ban on rallies that Mbu clamped. He later tried to soften the blow by saying the police never clamped a ban on protests, that all they did was to issue an advisory notice for the protesters to be cautious in view of possible infiltration by criminal elements.
Thank you IG but Mbu actually used the word ban. He did not say advisory notice. As a lawyer, he does not know the difference between the two? In that case, IG should yank off an epaulette or both from Mbu’s shoulders for incompetence.  

Rolling stone Femi Fani-Kayode
Even a blind man saw it coming when, as a supposed chieftain of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Femi Fani-Kayode was seen at the Presidential Villa last month holding a private meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan. Nothing wrong with that, except that FFK has been one of the fiercest critics of the Jonathan administration, no thanks to his prosecution at the courts for offences said to have been committed when he was Minister of Aviation in the Obasanjo administration.
On Monday, FFK formally announced his defection from APC back to PDP, which he joined only when Obasanjo appointed him as his Senior Special Assistant, Public Affairs. Before that, FFK had been one of the Obasanjo administration’s fiercest critics and having become an SSA, he became its most ardent defender and the harshest critic of anyone who dared to criticise any of Obasanjo’s antics.
Well, last Monday too, FFK lived up to his billing as a man who does everything excessively. In turning his back on the party that gave him refuge after his PDP allies slapped a court case against him, FFK spat venom and vitriol in his wake. He said he was leaving APC because “I am a devout and committed Christian and I cannot remain in a party where a handful of people that have sympathies for Boko Haram and that have a clear Islamic agenda are playing a leading role.”
It remains to be seen what President Jonathan and PDP offered FFK in return for such vitriolic departure from APC. In particular, whether the anti-corruption case against him will be visited with a nolle prosequi. If not, then PDP should beware. FFK’s poison bag of vitriol isn’t exhausted .