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Saturday 23 July 2016

Policeman opens fire at Ohanaeze meeting in Enugu

Leaders of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the apex socio-political body of the Igbos, narrowly escaped death on Friday when a trigger happy policeman opened fire at the National Secretariat of the organisation in Enugu.
Our correspondent learnt that the incident was caused by leadership tussle between rival factions of the Ohanaeze Youth Council.
The President General of the organisation, Chief Gary Igariwey and other Ohanaeze leaders, including the National Secretary, Dr Joe Nwaorgu, were at the secretariat for a National Executive Committee meeting of the body when the incident occurred.
Leaders of the youth wing were also at the meeting.
However, trouble started when the National Publicity Secretary of the youth wing, Obinna Adibe, who belonged to the Arthur Okafor faction, came with some plain clothes policemen from the Enugu Area Command to arrest one of the youth leaders, Alex Okemiri.
Adibe had, in a petition to the Enugu Area Command, accused Okemiri, who belonged to the faction of the National President, Mazi Ikechukwu Isiguzoro, of impersonating him in text messages he circulated to summon a meeting.
As the policemen were dragging Okemiri into a waiting vehicle, some officials of Ohanaeze Ndigbo moved to intervene.
Plea by the Ohanaeze officials fell on deaf ears, as the policemen insisted on taking Okemiri away.
But the matter took a sinister turn when a policeman attached to one of the Ohanaeze officials shut at the gates of the secretariat, raised his rifle and fired into the air.
The sound of the gunshot sent the Ohanaeze leaders scampering for safety.
Afterwards, Igariwey moved to broker peace between the warring factions of the youth wing.
The policemen eventually left without Okemiri, after Igariwey pleaded with Adibe to allow the Ohanaeze leadership to resolve the crisis.
However, it was gathered that the policeman that released the bullet was reprimanded.
The meeting, which was ongoing as of the time of filing this report, was expected to deliberate on the report of a panel set up by the Ohanaeze leadership to resolve the crisis in the youth wing of the organisation.
Earlier, before the commencement of the meeting, members of the Okafor faction had attempted to stop the National President of the Ohanaeze Youth Council, Mazi Isiguzoro, from entering the venue.
When contacted, the spokesman, Enugu State Police Command, Mr. Ebere Amaraizu, said the incident was yet to be reported.
He promised to get back to our correspondent.

Unpaid salaries, pension: Over 1,300 die in states …succumb to illness, frustration, others



The grim reality of non-payment of workers’ salaries in most states of the federation is biting harder.
At least over 1,300 civil servants and retirees have died in most states of the federation as a result of hunger, sickness and frustration, among others.
Saturday PUNCH gathered that most of the workers and the retirees died because of their inability to pay for medical treatments amid other challenges.
A recent report had indicated that no fewer than 27 states had been unable to pay their workers’ salaries.
Investigation revealed that the largest number of the deaths was recorded in Osun State.
The Chairman, Nigeria Labour Congress in Osun State, Mr. Jacob Adekomi, could not give the exact number of workers who died in the state since the salary crisis started. But the Chairman, Forum of 2011/2012 Retirees in Osun State, Mr. Omoniyi Ilesanmi, told one of our correspondents on Thursday that 1,130 retirees, who were among members of the forum, had died as a result of their inability to access medical care.
He said, “We are owed nine months’ pensions now. This is pathetic because our people are hungry and many of them are sick and have no means of taking care of themselves.”
The forum’s secretary, Mr. Sola Olojede, named some of the dead as Samuel Taiwo Osewa, Amusa Adesokan, Bolanle Obadare, Senle Sunday, Gabriel Ajayi, E.O Olaniyi and Omodara Idowu.
Others, according to him, are Kosile Kehinde, Osunsanmi D.A, Fasoyin G.A, Facility,  Odediran, Mrs. Oluyemisi Adetoye (former Financial Secretary, Osun State Association of Pensioners),  Yemisi Daramola, Moses Olawuni, Adeoye and Kola Orabiyi.
No fewer than 100 workers also died in Kwara State between September, 2015 and June 30, 2016.
The Kwara State Secretary, Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees, Abayomi Afolabi, told one of our correspondents that of the 100 deaths, nine was recorded in Ilorin West Local Government Area alone.
He listed the dead workers as Mallam Ibrahim Salmon Anifowose (Admin. Dept.), Mrs. Hajarat Bola (Health Dept.), Ahmed Bakare (Health Dept.); Olarewaju Idowu (Admin. Dept.), Rasheed Warrah (Works Dept.), Nurudeen Ayinla (Agric. Dept), Binta Anafi (Health Dept.),   Muritala  Sulu (Admin. Dept), and Sulyman Jimba (Works Dept) – all from Ilorin West Local Government Area.
Others from Ilorin South Local Government Area are  Sheriff Sule (Admin. Dept), Abdulraham Ayinde (Works Dept.) and Sikirat Amuda (Finance Dept.).
The following workers died in Ilorin East: Otolorin Kehinde (Works Dept.),   Oseni Amuda (Works Dept.), Toyin Ibrahim (Works Dept.), Amuda Dauda (Works Dept.), Jimoh Akaraba (Health Dept.), Rasaq Agunbiade (Finance Dept.), Mr. Yekini Agunbiade  and Jimoh Alao (Health Dept.)
Ekiti Local Government Area in Kwara State also lost the following workers: Obafemi Abiodun (Treasury Dept), Musebu Lawrence (Treasury Dept), James Afolayan (Works Dept); Tosin Taiwo (Works Dept), Suleiaman Issa (Agric Dept), and Olasehinde Sunday (Health Dept.)
Many teaching and non-teaching staff were also said to have died in Kwara State due to hunger.
Among them was a 59-year-old gatekeeper at the Ansaru-l-Islam Primary School, Ilorin. It was learnt that two days before his death, the gatekeeper, who was simply referred to as Baba Gani, complained of hunger.
A civil servant in the state, who gave his name as Mustapha, added that a teacher died of cardiac arrest.
Mustapha said, “A woman was travelling to collect some percentage of her December salary in Asa where she was teaching when she was crushed to death by a commercial motorcyclist.”
Of the six workers who died in Ekiti State, one of them, a teacher with St. Anne’s Catholic Primary School, Isasa, Aramoko Ekiti, Mrs. Emily Odedeji, committed suicide.
A source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “Odedeji borrowed loan from a bank and also owed fellow teachers. She had hoped to pay the debts from her salary when paid. But when the January salary was paid, the bank deducted all the outstanding. She was left with nothing and that might be the reason why she decided to end her life.”
The head teacher of St Anne’s Catholic Primary School, Mrs. Anthonia Adegoye, confirmed Odedeji’s death.
The Ekiti State Chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress, Mr. Raymond Adesanmi, also confirmed the deaths of the six workers in the state.
“Their death is painful and would have been avoidable if salaries were paid,” he said.
In Edo and Imo states, 40 sick workers died because of their inability to afford the huge cost of health care.
The Secretary of NULGE in Edo State, Mr. Chukwuemeka Aguonye, said the avoidable deaths were disturbing.
Imo State NULGE boss, Ambrose Onuoha, said, “I have been attending many burial ceremonies of our members. I feel very bad about the situation. Salaries are not paid as and when due, even when they are paid, they are slashed.”
In the same vein, 17 workers in Benue and two in Kogi states were confirmed to have died of hunger and lack of medical care.
The Nigeria Labour Congress Chairman in the state, Godwin Anya, said, “Yes if you are a civil servant and you are sick and unable to access medical care, definitely you will die.
Alhaji Saliu Ya-Ndasura, a watchman with the Lokoja Local Government Education Authority, slumped and died as workers in Kogi State protested non-payment of their salaries for at least six months by the state government. A similar case was earlier reported when a middle-aged man died in Okene owing to lack of money to purchase drugs.
Though the exact figure of workers lost to hunger, frustration and others in Ondo State could not be ascertained as of the time of filing this report, the Chairman, Joint Negotiation Council of the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress in the state, Mr. Sunday Adeleye, said labour unions had lost many members to avoidable deaths.
Chairman, Trade Union Congress of Nigeria in Bayelsa State, Mr. Tari Dounana, said the congress had not recorded any death among its members, but cases of the deaths of pensioners were on the rise.
The state Chairman, Nigerian Union of Pensioners, Chief Bodi Amaran, recalled that two pensioners died and three others slumped recently during a verification of retirees at the Samson Siasia Sports Complex in Yenagoa.
The heat of the unpaid salaries was also felt by lecturers at Tai Solarin College of Education, Omu Ijebu, Ogun State.
The chairman of the college’s academic staff union, Dr. Dan Oludipe, confirmed to one of our correspondents that the institution had lost some members due to lack of funds to access good medical care when they were ill.
Oludipe said between 2014 and June 2016, the institution lost no fewer than five teaching and non-teaching staff.
He listed the dead as Mr. Simeon Mabadeje (Agric. Dept.), Dr. Biodun Apooyin (PHE Dept.), Mr. Taiwo Otenaike (English Dept.), Mrs. Kemi Olaoye (Library) and Mr. A. Adebolu.
The situation is not different in Oyo State. Just recently, a teacher at Saint Luke’s Grammar School, Molete, Nasiru Lukman, slumped in a classroom. The vice-principal of the same school, Emmanuel Olajide, also died a few days after as a result of hunger.
NLC Chairman in the state, Waheed Olojede, told one of our correspondents that the situation was due to non-payment of workers’ salaries, which he said hindered them from accessing adequate medication.
In Bauchi State, no fewer than 20 pensioners have died while undergoing verification.
Chairman of the pensioners’ union in the state, Alhaji Abu Gar, said the state government was insensitive to the workers’ plight.
It was learnt that the last time pensioners received gratuities in Cross River State was in May, 2013. Chairman of the state Union of Teachers, Mr. Eyo-Nsa Itam, told one of our correspondents that many retired teachers had died in the state without receiving their gratuities.
Governors urge patience, workers’ understanding
Governors have expressed sympathy with the workers over their plight. They urged the workers to be patient and sought their understanding over the current economic situation in the country.
The Kwara State Governor, AbdulFatah Ahmed, who spoke through his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communication, Dr. Muyideen Akorede, said he was saddened over the plight of the workers.
Akorede said, “The governor expects that the situation will be rectified in no distant time. The state government is considering taking over the funding of junior secondary education from local government administration so that the burden on the local government will be reduced.”
The Bauchi State Governor, Mohammed Abubakar, and his Benue State counterpart, Samuel Ortom, said the situation was unfortunate.
Abubakar, who spoke through his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communication, Mr. Sabo Mohammed, said, “It is unfortunate. If you look at it nationally due to the dwindling resources at the coffers of both the federal and state governments, civil servants have not been able to fare well.”
Ortom’s Special Adviser on Media and Information Communication Technology, Tarhav Agezua, said the Benue State governor regretted his inability to pay workers’ salaries as and when due.
Tarhav said, “The state government is making concerted effort to recover the N107bn looted by past administration to pay the arrears of workers’ salaries.”
Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, and his neighbouring Ondo State counterpart, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, admitted that life had been difficult for workers, while urging them to be patient.
The Chief Press Secretary to the Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Idowu Adelusi, assured the state civil servants that they would be paid their February salaries soon. Also, the Ondo State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Kayode Akinmade, appealed to the workers to bear with the government as the problem would soon be resolved.
A Consultant to the Osun State Government on Information, Mr. Sunday Akere, said the state government had paid pensions up till March 2016.
He said it might be true that some pensioners had died, but their deaths were not caused by the few months of pensions owed them.
Akere said, “When bailout was given last year, payment of pensions was not factored in, but the governor said the pensioners should also benefit from the money.

Policeman rapes girl, begs victim’s family for forgiveness



Fifteen-year-old Mary Udo has yet to recover fully after being allegedly raped by a police inspector penultimate Thursday.
However, the Divisional Police Officer, Mkpat Enin Police Division, on Wednesday, sent pastors and other police officers to the victim’s family to plead for forgiveness.
Udo was allegedly raped at gunpoint by the inspector while she was returning from church.
Udo’s uncle, Dr. Ime Stephen, who made the visit known to our correspondent, said he was surprised to see the clerics in his home who came to plead on behalf of the police inspector.
Stephen said the pastors, who described themselves as senior apostles, begged him to forgive the inspector, saying the rape case was a big shame not only to the personality of the inspector, but also to the image of the Nigeria Police Force.
Stephen said he reminded them he was not the rape victim, while adding that if the clerics and the police officers had come to see him as the guardian of the victim, he did not have any right to stop them from such visit.
He said the case was reported to the DPO and the family had expected the DPO to come personally and see the victim and apologise to the family given the seriousness of the alleged crime.
He said, “We sent a message across to the DPO as the head of that division, telling him what had happened, and as the head of that division, we had expected him to have come and apologise, or at least see the victim’s family and the victim, show some love and respect to the family because of what had happened in his jurisdiction.
“This is a very serious thing – police inspector raping a 15-year-old girl at gunpoint. This is more than robbery. He not only raped the girl, but he also ‘kidnapped’ her for three days, and collected a ransom of N10,000 as bail. What a shame!”
Stephen said the girl, apart from undergoing treatment in a hospital, also needed to be rehabilitated and undergo therapy.
Meanwhile, Udo, a Senior Secondary School 1 victim said she would never forgive the police officer for what he did to her, adding that she was still shocked by the wickedness of the police inspector.
“It was a harrowing experience. There is nothing on earth that would make me forgive the inspector,” she said.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Cordelia Nwawe, in her reaction, said she would not disclose the identity of the police inspector alleged to have raped Udo.
She said, “I would not like to give you the name of the police officer, but we are committed to duty at the headquarters through our Commissioner of Police, Mr. Murtala Mani. He has waded into the matter.
“Investigation is ongoing and I’m sure the policeman alleged to have raped the 15-year-old girl is in custody. When the investigation becomes very conclusive, we will get back to the press, hopefully by next week.”

WERE KIDS LURED TO THEIR DEATH?

Munich police probe fake Facebook ad for free food at McDonald’s where gunman began spree that left 9 dead

The 18-year-old Iranian shooter began his attack in a McDonald's before continuing his murderous rampage into a crowded shopping mall, injuring 21 and killing nine
A GUNMAN who slaughtered four adults and five children in a handgun massacre lured his victims to McDonald’s with a fake Facebook account of a pretty girl offering free food, it is feared.
The 18-year-old German-Iranian, named as Ali David Sonboly, used a profile under the alias Selina Akim to entice youngsters to the fast food branch, before starting his shooting spree at around 6.30pm in Munich last night.
A picture seeming to show the second shooter on a car park brandishing a hand gun
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Young teenagers are feared to be among the dead and children amongst the injured.
One of two bodies in the street a long from the McDonald's after a shooter struck
UNIVERSAL NEWS AND SPORT (SCOTLAND)
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One of two bodies in the street a long from the McDonald’s after a shooter struck
Munich shooting
REUTERS
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The dad of one of the nine victims killed in Munich arrives with flowers and a photo of his young son
The teen shot dead nine people – nearly all of whom were aged between 14 and 21 – before turning the gun on himself.
He has been named by German media outlets as Ali David Sonboly.
His motive remains unclear but police are probing a video taken of the attack, where the gunman complains of being “bullied for seven years”.
Many of the attacker’s victims are adolescents, with a number of children injured – sparking fears it was a revenge attack for teens who tormented him.
A status written by ‘Selina Akim’ a few hours before the shooting took place read: “Come today at 4pm to OEZ (The McDonald’s branch the attack happened at) little chickies! I can buy you something if you want, but nothing too expensive.”
The woman’s account was set up on May 11 – two months before last night’s shooting spree.
Police confirmed the Facebook ad luring teens to the McDonald’s is “one part of the comprehensive investigation we are conducting”.
Footage taken at the scene shows the attacker shouting about “f***ing foreigners” and f***ing Turks”.
He is seen screaming “I’m German” and “I was born here” as he stands armed in a car park.
Chillingly the attack came on the five-year anniversary of far-right monster Anders Breivik murdering 77 people, mostly teenagers, in Norway.
A body lies covered in the street following the shootings
AP:ASSOCIATED PRESS
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A body lies covered in the street following the shootings
Munich gunman
GETTY IMAGES
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Police officers escort people out of the Olympia Einkaufzentrum shopping centre after the killer fired shots

Kaine’s VP pick greeted by blowback from progressive groups

 Even before Sen. Timothy M. Kaine (D-Va.) was unveiled Friday as Hillary Clinton’s running mate, liberal groups were teed up to criticize the pick.
Kaine’s boosters say that Kaine, a former Virginia governor and chairman of the Democratic National Committee, is far more progressive than many of his critics realize.
But several organizations, including some with ties to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the runner-up in the Democratic primaries, sharply questioned Kaine’s liberal bona fides, pointing to Kaine’s support of trade deals and regulations favorable to big banks.
Stephanie Taylor, the co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, worried that Kaine’s support of a pending trade deal known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership could allow Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to “outflank” Clinton on trade.
Trump has been trying to reach out to Sanders supporters and blue-collar Democrats, arguing that his protectionist views are more in line with theirs than those of the presumptive Democratic nominee.
“It’s now more important than ever that Hillary Clinton run an aggressive campaign on core economic ideas like expanding Social Security, debt-free college, Wall Street reform, and yes, stopping the TPP,” Taylor said. “It’s the best way to unite the Democratic Party and stop Republicans from winning over swing voters on bread-and-butter issues.”
On Thursday, as speculation was mounting that Kaine would be Clinton’s choice, Charles Chamberlain, executive director of the activist network Democracy for America, which backed Sanders in the primaries, said that it should be “disqualifying” for any potential Democratic vice-presidential nominee to “help banks dodge consumer protection standards.”
That was based in part on a bipartisan letter that Kaine signed on Monday urging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to “carefully tailor its rulemaking” regarding community banks and credit unions so as not to “unduly burden” these institutions with regulations aimed at commercial banks.
On Friday, Norman Solomon, the coordinator of a group billing itself as the Bernie Delegates Network, called Kaine “a loyal servant of oligarchy.”
“If Clinton has reached out to Bernie supporters, it appears that she has done so to stick triangulating thumbs in their eyes,” said Solomon, whose organization claims to represent hundreds of Sanders delegates attending the convention in Philadelphia but is not coordinating with the campaign.
The group has threatened to protest during the Democratic convention with Kaine on the ticket.
Winnie Wong, an Occupy Wall Street veteran who founded the group People for Bernie, was also underwhelmed with Kaine’s pick, calling it “unsurprising and predictable.”
“It shows a woeful disregard to the progressives who fought so hard this year to create conditions for transformational change this country desperately needs,” Wong said. “Team Clinton did the math on this horse race and they are betting on Tim Kaine to court those white male moderate/Indy voters who won’t vote for her. I doubt they can be moved.”
Kaine’s selection was touted by other traditional boosters of the Democratic Party, including several labor union leaders.
Marc Perrone, president of United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, praised Kaine for a long record of having “supported hard-working families and worked to make their lives better.”
“When a plan to sell grocery stores in Virginia was announced earlier this year, threatening the livelihoods of hundreds of UFCW families, Senator Kaine stood with us as we successfully rallied the community to save local jobs.” Perrone said.
Meanwhile, Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union, called Kaine “an experienced leader with a proven track record on issues from raising wages to immigration reform and racial justice.”
In picking Kaine, Clinton passed over two Hispanic candidates who were considered, Julián Castro, the secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and Labor Secretary Thomas E. Perez.

German-Iranian gunman kills nine in Munich, then himself: police


An 18-year-old German-Iranian gunman who apparently acted alone opened fire near a busy shopping mall in Munich on Friday evening, killing at least nine people in the third attack on civilians in Western Europe in eight days.
As authorities sought to piece together the circumstances of an attack behind which they had found no immediate evidence of an Islamist motive, Munich police said they would hold a 0930 GMT (5.30 am ET) news conference.
Chancellor Angela Merkel is due to meet her chief of staff Peter Altmaier, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere and intelligence officials on Saturday to review the incident. She will make a statement at 1230 GMT, her office said.
The pistol-wielding attacker, identified by Munich police chief Hubertus Andrae as a dual national from Munich, was later found dead of a suspected self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Authorities said it was too early to say whether it was a terrorist attack but that the shooter was believed to have staged the attack alone, opening fire in a fast food restaurant before moving to the mall.
In addition to determining the motive, police will have to find out how the 18-year-old got the firearm used in the attack in a country whose gun control system is described by the U.S. Congress Library as being "among the most stringent in Europe."
The gunman, whose body was found on a side street near the mall, was not identified but Andrae said he was not previously known to police.
Police commandos, armed with night vision equipment and dogs, raided an apartment in the Munich neighborhood of Maxvorstadt early on Saturday where the German newspaper Bild said the gunman lived with his parents.
"I am shocked, what happened to the boy? Only God knows what happened," Telfije Dalpi, a 40-year-old Macedonian neighbor of the family told Reuters. "I have no idea what happened - but he was a good human being. I have no idea if he did anything bad elsewhere."

KOSOVAN VICTIMS
There was a huge police presence in the street, which lies just north of Munich's old city.
Andrae said authorities saw no links to an attack in southern Germany last Monday in which an axe-wielding 17-year-old asylum-seeker injured five people in an incident claimed by the Islamic State group.

Police said they were investigating a video in which the gunman is heard shouting "I am German" and exchanging racial slurs and profanities with another man. "We are trying to determine who said what," a police spokesman said.
Andrae said it was premature to say whether Friday's shooting was a terrorist attack, as French President Francois Hollande said, or the work of a deranged person.
U.S. intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said initial reports from their German counterparts indicated no apparent link between the shooter and Islamic State or other militant groups.
It was the third major act of violence against civilians in Europe in eight days. Previous attacks in France and Germany were claimed by Islamic State.
At least 16 people, including several children, were in hospital and three were in critical condition, Andrae said.
Kosovan media reported that three of the victims were of Kosovan origin. Naim Zabergja, the father of one of the victims wrote on Facebook: "With great sadness I want to inform you that my son Dijamant Zabergja, 21, was killed yesterday in Munich."
A second victim was named by her brother on Facebook as Armela Segashi, who he said died along with a third, Sabina Sulaj.
Friday's incident snarled traffic as authorities blocked highways, closed the main railway station, and shut down public transport.
Thousands of people had been crowding the streets and squares in Munich's city center on Friday for a beer festival.
"There were a few people who came running towards us who were screaming and in panic. But mostly it was surprisingly calm," said Elena Hakes, who had been with a friend in the Odeonsplatz square.
The incidents in Germany follow an attack in Nice, France, in which a Tunisian drove a truck into crowds celebrating Bastille Day, killing 84. Islamic State claimed responsibility.


Flowers are placed near the Olympia shopping mall, where yesterday's shooting rampage started, in Munich, Germany, July 23, 2016.

Court of Appeal upholds David Mark’s election

Photo: dailypost.ng

The Court of Appeal on Friday upheld the election of a former Senate President, David Mark, as the senator representing Benue South Senatorial District.
Mr. Mark, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, defeated the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Daniel Onjeh, in the February 20 re-run.
He had won the March 28, 2015 senatorial election but was sacked by the court which ordered the re run. Mr. Onjeh also challenged the result of the re run.
In upholding Mr. Mark’s election on Friday, the three-member panel of judges led by Justice Obande Ogbuinya, said Mr. Onjeh’s petition lacked merit, was incompetent and status barred and therefore dismissed it.
The panel, which included Oyebisi Omoleye and Ifeoma Jombo, were unanimous in their decision.
Ken Ikonne, counsel to Mr. Mark, and the counsels representing the Independent National Electoral Commission and the PDP, Johnson Usman and Chris Alechenu, respectively, had told the court that section 285 (5) of the 1999 constitution was clear on the fact the day of declaration of an election result should be included in the days allowed for the filing of a petition before a court.
They asked the court to dismiss the appeal and award cost against Mr. Onjeh.
Mr. Onjeh had approached the court after the Benue State Election Tribunal struck out his petition for lack of merit and also for filing it behind the stipulated time.
In the petition, the APC candidate alleged irregularities in the election.
Reacting to his victory, Mr. Mark said the journey to victory was tortuous but that he was glad that all avenues were exhausted to affirm it.
“I’m glad that the final verdict of the appeal court vindicates me and truly reaffirmed my victory freely given to me by the people of Benue South Senatorial zone,” he said in a statement by his media aide, Paul Mumeh.
“I’m happy that the Judiciary stood on the side of justice and respected the wishes of Benue South people.”
Mr. Mark also said he had forgiven his opponent Mr. Onjeh and all those who conspired against him during the election.
He said, “For me, I have forgiven all those especially some of my close friends who conspired against me. For to err is human, to forgive is Divine. I will continue to serve my people honestly and diligently. Whatever makes for the good of my people will always be my guide.
“I whole heartedly appreciate the support and solidarity of Idoma nation towards me. In spite of the unwarranted provocation and intimidation especially during the rerun election, you came out in large numbers to vote for me. I’m truly grateful “.
Mr. Mark called on all sons and daughters of Benue South to come on board and join hands with him in the task of developing and empowering the people of the district.

Super-hard metal 'four times tougher than titanium'



Cross-section of a titanium dental implantImage copyrightVOLKER STEGER/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
Image captionCross-section of a titanium dental implant

A super-hard metal has been made in the laboratory by melting together titanium and gold.
The alloy is the hardest known metallic substance compatible with living tissues, say US physicists.
The material is four times harder than pure titanium and has applications in making longer-lasting medical implants, they say.
Conventional knee and hip implants have to be replaced after about 10 years due to wear and tear.
Details of the new metal - an alloy of gold and titanium - are revealed in the journal,Science Advances.
Prof Emilia Morosan, of Rice University, Houston, said her team had made the discovery while working on unconventional magnets made from titanium and gold.
The new materials needed to be made into powders to check their purity, but beta-Ti3Au, as it is known, was too tough to be ground in a diamond-coated mortar and pestle.
The material "showed the highest hardness of all Ti-Au [titanium-gold] alloys and compounds, but also compared to many other engineering alloys", said Prof Morosan.
She said the hardness of the substance, together with its higher biocompatibility, made it a "next generation compound for substantively extending the lifetime of dental implants and replacement joints".
It may also have applications in the drilling industry, the sporting goods industry and many other potential fields, she added.
The gold-titanium alloy is a cubic compound with a particular arrangement of atoms found when metals are combined at high temperatures.
Titanium is one of the few metals that human bone is able to grow around firmly, allowing it to be used widely in medicine and dentistry.

Brexit: Cameron considered last-ditch appeal to Merkel


David Cameron and Angela Merkel in British Prime Minister David Cameron walks around the rose garden with German Chancellor Angela Merkel (R) during a meeting at Chequers, the Prime Minister's country residence on October 9, 2015 near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, United KingdomImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES
David Cameron made a late appeal to Germany's Angela Merkel for limits on free movement of people if the UK voted Remain, BBC Newsnight has learned.
The then-prime minister called the German leader days before the EU referendum, as opinion polls seemed to show voters moving to the Leave camp.
But he later abandoned the idea of getting her and other EU leaders to make a statement granting concessions.
No 10 decided it could be portrayed by Vote Leave as a sign of weakness.
Newsnight has learned that Mr Cameron telephoned the German chancellor to ask whether she would be willing to issue a statement with fellow EU leaders granting the UK concessions on free movement.
Under the plan, thrashed out at a meeting in Downing Street, the president of France Francois Hollande, the European Council president Donald Tusk and the European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker would all put their names to the joint statement by EU leaders.
The former prime minister approached his German counterpart after Vote Leave had dominated the campaign in the wake of the publication of official migration statistics at the end of May. These showed the government had once again failed to meet its net migration target.
The idea of a joint statement by EU leaders was eventually shelved.
Newsnight understands that at an EU summit after the EU referendum the German chancellor made it clear to Mr Cameron that there could be no compromise for EU members on rules governing the free movement of people.

'Vital issue'

The appeal by Mr Cameron to Mrs Merkel followed a discussion among senior Downing Street aides who said that the prime minister should reprise the success of "the Vow" in the Scottish independence referendum.
Mr Cameron and the other main Westminster parties had moved to shore up the pro-UK vote in the final stages of that campaign in 2014 by pledging to devolve further powers to the Scottish parliament.
The move considered by the prime minister, revealed by Newsnight in an investigation into the EU referendum campaign, shows that Downing Street came close to ripping up a key element of its strategy in the final stages.
This was to focus on the economic risks of Brexit and to avoid discussing immigration on the grounds that Vote Leave would always say that the UK could never control its borders while it remained a member of the EU.
In the end Downing Street maintained the focus of its campaign on the economy. Lord Cooper of Windrush, the Conservative peer who was the main pollster for the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign, told Newsnight that the pro-EU side's failure to address concerns about immigration had been a weakness.
He said: "The people who are very, very concerned about immigration, what they wanted was purely and simply for the UK to be able to have total control of its borders and total control of the flow of people into this country. And we didn't have an argument that could remotely compete with that.
"It meant we couldn't really engage in the campaign on that vital issue. We didn't have much option but to keep trying to pivot back to the economic risks."
One Downing Street source told Newsnight: "Fundamentally a question was put to the British public - would you be willing to be a little bit poorer to get control of immigration? We staked our chips on everyone going, 'Well, I don't want to be poorer.' They staked their chips on everyone going, 'I want to control immigration,' and they won."
Lord Cooper also told Newsnight that the pro-EU side was forced into "humanely" phasing out a claim by George Osborne that a British exit from the EU would cost the average household £4,300 because voters did not believe it.
Lord Cooper said: "The problem with that figure - the £4,300 - was firstly it sounded implausibly large to the ears of most people. Secondly it sounded strangely specific…The figure was sort of humanely phased out because we found when we tested the reaction in focus groups, we found people just rejected it. They didn't believe it."
Matthew Elliott, the chief executive of Vote Leave, said he feared that the death of the Labour MP Jo Cox a week before polling day could have ended his campaign, when news broke shortly after the UKIP leader Nigel Farage had launched a controversial poster on immigration.
But Mr Elliott said that the UKIP poster had little impact on the Vote Leave campaign because he had distanced the official Leave campaign from UKIP.
Nicholas Watt was reporting for Brexit Britain - a BBC Newsnight special one month on from the referendum result.
day of discussion and debate is being held in collaboration with Intelligence Squared at the Royal Geographical Society in London, from 13:00 BST on Saturday 23 July, followed by a special programme on BBC Two at 18:00 BST and afterwards on iPlayer.
The hashtag for the event is #BrexitBritain.