R ecently, there were public demonstrations for and against the continued existence of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, a dreaded anti crime unit of the Nigeria Police Force. The vexatious issue which took the front burner in national discourse resulted in the big question about how SARS came to be. There have been claims and counter-claims. One of the gallant officers of the force whose name kept on ringing bell over the issue is Simeon Danladi Midenda, a retired Commissioner of Police. He was the Nigerian Contingent Commander to United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1998. In the mission, he was appointed Deputy Chief of Operations in Mostar Region. He was Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of Criminal Investigations Department, CID, in Umuahia, Abia state,, Deputy Commissioner, CID in Federal Capital Territory and also Deputy Commissioner, Operation in the Federal Capital Territory. At Force headquarters level, he was the Commissioner of Police, Federal Operations. He finally retired as the Commissioner of Police, Borne State in March 20 12. The search for him to comment on the issue was, no doubt, herculean but rewarding at the end of the day. He spoke volumes about SARS.

DELTA State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, has given an insight into how his government has been managing the finances of the state, saying that it was very complicated when he came in, but he embarked on some shake-up that made the payments on services and payback of loans to fall from N5.2 billion to N2.5 billion monthly. 

Muslims in Indonesia have offered to guard churches and prevent any attack during the Christmas service as countries around the World tighten security ahead of the celebration.

Chief Chika Okpala, popularly known as Chief Zebrudaya Okoroigwe Nwogbo alias 4:30, is an interviewer’s delight. At least, one would expect to hear those his special grammatical expressions which got the world stuck to the tube during the days of the popular TV comedy series, the New Masquerade.

Chief Andrew Uchendu is the senator representing Rivers East Senatorial District in the National Assembly. A seasoned technocrat, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress(APC), a major stakeholder in the party and a well known grassroot politician in Rivers State, Chief Uchendu has been a recurring decimal in the political equation of Rivers State since 1999. He had served for three terms of 12 years as a member of the House of Representatives, representing Ikwerre/Emohua Federal Constituency before he was encouraged by his people to move up to the Senate. He spoke to journalists on the crisis in the Rivers State chapter of the APC and the face off between his senate colleague from Rivers State, Sen. Magnus Abe and the immediate past governor of the state and Minister of Transport, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, who is the leader of APC in the State and South-South, and the political benefactor of both senators.