MTN Files Suit Against FG, Asks Court To Quash Gargantuan Fine

ATP - MTN has filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Lagos to challenge the $3.9 billion fine imposed on it by the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC). MTN is asking the court to quash the fine.

MTN wass in October slammedwith a fine of $5.2 billion for failing to disconnect unregistered subscribers. The initial fine was later reduced by 25 per cent to $3.9 billion earlier this month, with a payment deadline set for December 31.

Biafra: Stop using MASSOB to collect money from politicians – Uwazuruike warns expelled members

ATP - Biafra proponent, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike has cautioned expelled members of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, against using the organisation to collect money from politicians.

Uwazurike, who is the founder of MASSOB, while speaking through the body’s National Director of Information, Sunny Okereafor, pledged not to compromise his leadership of the organization and the Biafra Independent Movement, BIM, noting that the two organizations have been repositioned to actualize the independent state of Biafra.

PUTIN’S WAR IN UKRAINE SLOWLY RUMBLES ON

ATP - The warning is consistent with previous ones concerning the Ukraine conflict, reflecting continued uncertainty about the fate of the fragile cease-fire, which, despite a marked reduction of fighting since September, hasn’t taken hold fully.

“There have been multiple casualties due to land mines in areas previously controlled by separatists, and separatist leaders have made statements indicating their desire to push the front line to the administrative borders of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts,” the State Department warned, referring to the two separatist-controlled territories.

The statement continued: “Individuals, including U.S. citizens, have been threatened, detained, or kidnapped for hours or days after being stopped at separatist checkpoints.”

Packed within the warning, however, is a piece of good news: The cities of Kharkiv and Odessa (Ukraine’s second and fourth largest cities, respectively) were taken off the State Department’s latest advisory. A July travel warning included the two cities.

In an emailed statement to the Daily Signal, the State Department said it had “eliminated language urging citizens to exercise extreme vigilance in Odessa and Kharkiv” after “ongoing assessments of the security situation in those areas.”

UN Security Council to meet Today on Turkish troops in Iraq

ATP - The United Nations Security Council is scheduled to meet on Dec. 18 to discuss a complaint by Iraq over Turkish troops deployed to a camp near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. 

Turkey deployed around 150 troops in the Bashiqa area this month with the stated aim of training an Iraqi militia to fight the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The Iraqi government says they are not welcome and must withdraw.

Turkey withdrew some troops this week, moving them to another base inside Iraq's Kurdistan region, but Baghdad said they should pull out completely.

In a Dec. 11 letter to the 15-member Security Council, Iraq's Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari complained that Turkey had violated his country's sovereignty and territorial unity and integrity. 

Eighty hostages freed as special forces storm Mali hotel

Malian security forces are storming the hotel and at least a dozen hostages have been freed after the attack by "two or three" assailants, a spokesman for the security ministry told AFP.

ATP - Eighty hostages held by Islamist gunmen have[H1]  been freed from a luxury hotel in Mali's capital as government special forces moved floor by floor to clear the building, Mali's state broadcaster and a security source. "The attackers are still inside. We're hearing gunfire from time to time," said a witness outside the Radisson Blu hotel.  Gunmen went on a shooting rampage at the luxury Radisson Blu hotel in Mali's capital Bamako today, seizing 170 guests and staff in an ongoing hostage-taking that has left at least three people dead.

Malian security forces are storming the hotel and at least a dozen hostages have been freed after the attack by "two or three" assailants, a spokesman for the security ministry told AFP.

Benin Republic Invades Nigeria Violating Nigerian Sovereignty ,hoists flag of annexation

The neighbouring Benin Republic has invaded sixteen villages in Okuta, the border town in Baruten local government area of Kwara state, thereby causing serious fear and palpable tension in the affected communities.

ATP - In their shrewd determination to annex the Nigerian villages, Vanguard reliably gathered that authorities of Benin Republic have gone ahead to construct Gerdarmes Office(Police station) in the affected Nigerian communities and also hoist the country flag at the affected Nigeria villages. Artic Tern  checks revealed that the development negated the boundary delimitation of 1914 between Britain and France which the two countries had respected.