Amaechi, getting more isolated as Gov. Babangida pledge loyalty to Jonathan

Indications are emerging that embattled Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi is increasingly getting more abandoned  by other governors elected on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State and Chairman, Northern Governors Forum on Tuesday openly pledged loyalty and support to President Goodluck Jonathan. He also debunked rumours making the round that he was one of the governors planning to dump PDP because of Amaechi’s travails.
Speaking at the ground breaking ceremony of Zungeru Hydro-electric Power Project, Governor Babangida said, “Those who are thinking that there is war between the Niger state government and governor and the President should swallow their spit.
“We are one, we recognise that the people of Nigeria elected him and we respect that. If we do not respect and follow you (Mr. President), God will ask us. So we are saying, Mr. President that we are for you”.
“If you hear a lot of criticism, it is not because we do not love you (President) but because we want you to do more. Regardless of the noise, I know PDP shall make it, because we are one and we all are in one party.
“We are with you and I hereby pledge my government and peoples’ loyalty and support to you. I am saying this because in our culture and religion if you don’t respect your leader, Allah will not be happy with you”.
Pledging his continued support and loyalty to Jonathan, Aliyu explained that his criticism of the President’s policies and programmes were not a show of disloyalty but a deliberate move to attract more projects and attention to his state.
Governor Aliyu , in a press statement signed by  his Chief Press Secretary, Malam Ndaladi Ndayebo  described as false, rumours  that he was one of the governors planning to leave PDP because of the crisis precipitated by the outcome of last Friday’s Governors Forum election.
According to the statement, “The story of planned defection of Governor Aliyu is a figment of imagination of persons who are either threatened by the successes the party has made in the last 14 years or are afraid of squaring up with the party in 2015 general elections”.

Nigerian military claim to have discovered Hizbollah arms cache

Soldiers in northern Nigeria have uncovered a hidden arms cache that authorities there believe belonged to members of the Lebanese militant movement Hizbollah.

Officials showed journalists the weapons, which they said soldiers confiscated from under the master bedroom of a home in Kano, the north's largest city. The weapons had been packed into small coolers and concealed under several layers of concrete, the military said in a statement.

The arms, later shown on the state-run Nigerian Television Authority, appeared to include badly corroded rocket-propelled grenades, landmines, hand grenades, assault rifles and magazines. Some of the weapons appeared to have been charred.

The military did not explain why the men held the weapons, other than to say they were part of Hizbollah, the Lebanese Shiite Muslim political party.

"The arms and ammunition were targeted at facilities of Israel and Western interest in Nigeria, however, the security agencies are making frantic efforts to unveil the true situation," the military's statement read. "At the end of investigation, all those involved will be prosecuted."

The military did not say which targets had been chosen to be attacked. They said three Lebanese men had been arrested, including one who was caught at Kano's international airport trying to board a flight to Beirut carrying some $60,000 (£39,400) in cash.
Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation with more than 160 million residents, has a large Lebanese community that has interest in businesses across the country. However, this was the first time that Nigerian authorities have claimed that Hizbollah had an operational interest in the country.
Iran, which backs Hizbollah, has recently been implicated in two incidents in Nigeria. An Iranian and his Nigerian accomplice were sentenced to five years in prison earlier this month over trying to smuggle a weapons shipment heading to Gambia through Nigeria. U.S. authorities and the United Nations have linked the Iranian to his nation's Quds Force, part of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
In February, Nigerian authorities broke up what they described as an Iranian-backed group that was gathering intelligence about locations frequented by Americans and Israelis, as well as making lists of famous people for possible attacks. Those arrested in the operation have yet to face charges.