Brussels Terror Attack: 34 Confirmed Dead

Four days after Salah Abdesalam, the most wanted suspect in the November 13, Paris attacks that killed 130 persons was arrested in Brussels, Belgium, three explosions hit the country’s airport and metro station on Tuesday, killing no fewer than 34 people.

At least 230 others sustained injuries in the attacks, which the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria has claimed responsibility, according to the AMAQ News Agency.

This came as President Muhammadu Buhari and his United States counterpart, Barack Obama, called for international cooperation to fight terrorism.

The AMAQ news agency said, “Islamic State fighters carried out a series of bombings with explosive belts and devices on Tuesday, targeting the airport and the metro station in the centre of the Belgian capital Brussels.”

Belgian Prime Minister, Charles Michel, had told reporters, “We feared terrorist attacks, and that has now happened.”

Belgian federal Prosecutor, Frederic Van Leeuw, on Tuesday, also said that it was too soon to know exactly how many people died in the bombings.

According to CNN, Belgian state broadcaster, RTBF, citing emergency services, reported 20 dead at the Maelbeek metro station and 14 more killed at Brussels’ international airport.

After the explosions, Belgian authorities hit the streets looking for those responsible for the carnage and who might launch more attacks.

Reuters reports that a witness said he heard shouts in Arabic and shots shortly before two explosions struck the packed airport departure lounge.

Van Leeuw said a suicide bomber probably triggered one of the explosions.

Meanwhile, Buhari, on Tuesday, joined world leaders in condemning the attacks.

In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, the President commiserated with Prime Minister Charles Michel and Belgians over the loss of lives in the attacks.

The statement read in part, “President Buhari believes that the appalling attack on Brussels reinforces the need for greater international cooperation to effectively confront and destroy global terrorism and its perpetrators.

“The President assures the global community that under his leadership, Nigeria will continue to work with other countries to ensure that terrorism never triumphs over free, peaceful and law-abiding nations and people of the world.

“He wishes the more than 100 persons injured in the attacks a speedy recovery.”

 Also, Obama, who spoke in Cuba, said there was need for international cooperation to fight terrorism.

Obama said, “We must be together regardless of nationality or race or faith in fighting against the scourge of terrorism. We can and we will defeat those who threaten the safety and security of people all around the world.”

...Punch Newspaper

Ocholi's Auto-crash Death, A Case of Political Assassination - Family Raises Alarm, His Revelations'll Shock You

A Family member of Late James Ocholi, the Minister of State for Labour, Mr. James Ocholi (SAN); his wife, Blessing; and son, Joshua has suspected that the death of the minister may not be far from a pure case of political assassination and has called on the Federal Government to investigate his suspicions.

In this report according to Punch Newspaper, the Federal Government has promised to investigate how the driver of the Sport Utility Vehicle, in which the Minister of State for Labour, Mr. James Ocholi (SAN); his wife, Blessing; and son, Joshua, died along the Kaduna-Abuja Expressway on Sunday, was employed.

The Minister of Labour, Dr. Chris Ngige, stated this on Monday while responding to the call by the relatives of the deceased, including Ocholi’s uncle, Abdallah Aliu; another relative, Paul Audu; and the immediate younger sister to the late Blessing, who did not want her name mentioned, that the driver be investigated.

“The acting Permanent Secretary is here, she is the one in charge of human resources. We will find out and investigate it. We will do, but I can tell you that our personal drivers are known to us and we both keep our personal drivers. We will find out and investigate this,” Ngige said.

The Ocholi family is working on some theories concerning the accident.

The family members believed that the driver of a car that somersaulted several times would ordinarily be unconscious and would not take photographs of the deceased and upload them on social media.

They also contended that the driver and the orderly should have cordoned off the place and evacuated the corpses as this had been the tradition whenever a VIP was involved in an accident.

Aliu said, “Distinguished Senator Ngige, I know you very well. When James Ocholi was told to work with you, I knew he was in good hands because the last time I saw you was in Anambra State. We ate with you in your house as a governor.

“This man that just died is not a lone person. We leave this responsibility in your care. Whoever recruited the driver and posted (redeploy) him should be investigated. It can happen to anybody, it can happen to any minister. It can happen because it has happened.

“So, we want to know who recruited the driver, and at what speed (he was during the trip) to the extent that the corpse of the deceased cannot even be recognised. Can you imagine that? I am worried, it is worrisome.”

He also shed light on his allegations later during a telephone interview with The PUNCH.

Aliu added, “There was a kind of foul play in the whole exercise, which is very worrisome. Apparently, the driver who drove the car was the same person who took the photo of the dead man and sent it all over the Internet – whatsApp and others. So, the question is: how come that the driver of the vehicle in the same car was able to take the picture of the dead man?

“The side of the door, where the Honourable Minister sat, was not properly locked because after the car somersaulted, the thing flung him and so he had a terrible and fatal damage that his body was beyond recognition. There was a foul play in Ocholi’s death.

“While I was in his house, I already knew because those who conspired and plotted it (the death) became jittery because I have never been to that house and they don’t know me. But somehow, they became jittery, scared and worried.

“This thing they did is political, it is a political war and some people want to score some political points against the system somehow. The death of Ocholi is quite suspicious.

“So, I had to hurriedly leave because God has made me to know what happened and we know that they will get the people who are responsible. When you are innocent, God will always uncover how certain things happened. Ocholi’s death is a great loss to the common people of Nigeria. And the spirit of the common people of Nigeria is fighting back.

“The perpetrators want to derail the focus of this administration. They are looking for every way to put a wedge in the wheel of success. I can specifically pinpoint those who plotted these things. What they are trying to do now is to knock heads together and the earlier we get rid of them out of that place, the better.

“As we were there, they were trying to get the contacts of the ministers that came there for condolence, making phone calls and reporting back to whoever is their manipulator.

“They decided to get rid of Ocholi to derail the focus of the government. Ocholi was not smart enough to know that these things could happen. They have lost, failed and we will ask God to forgive them because they have taken a soul that they cannot create.”

Excerpted from Punch Newspaper