Monju Begum, a 40-year-old Bangladesh woman stopped an alleged rapist in
his tracks when she reportedly cut off his penis and then took it to
police as evidence.
According to police, Begam’s neighbor, Mozammel Haq Mazi, forced his way into her shanty and began sexually assaulting her.
Investigators say Begum stopped the attack by cutting off his penis She
then placed the evidence into a polythene bag and took it into police
as proof that Mazi had attempted to rape her.
Begum, a married mother of three, told police that Mazi had been
harassing her for the past six months. Mazi is reportedly also married
and has five children.
“It is quite an unusual incident. As far as I am aware, this is the
first time that a woman has brought a severed penis to the police
station as evidence,” said police spokesperson Abul Khaer.
“We will arrest him once his condition gets better,” said Khaer.
Mazi denied the allegations telling investigators that the two were having an affair.
“Recently she suggested that both of us can go settle down in Dhaka,”
said Mazi. “I refused and told her that I cannot leave my wife and
children, so she took revenge on me.”
Doctors say the man’s pénis will not be re-attached
Breaking News, Entertainment,politics, sports, bizarre news and Issues affecting our lives daily.
Thursday, 15 November 2012
CBN Cancels N100 Charge On All ATM Transactions
Users of Automated Teller Machines will no longerpay N100 on withdrawals
whenever they use banks other than theirs, the Central Bank of Nigeria
said on Tuesday.
The decision was taken at the end of a meeting inAbuja between the CBN and the Bankers Committee.
Managing directors of some banks also attended the meeting.
The Group Managing Director, First Bank Plc, Mr. Bisi Onasanya, told newsmen that the charge as well as others associated with the use of ATMs would be scrapped soon.
He said it was meant to encourage the use of ATMs.
Onasanya said the decision would help to increase the patronage of ATMs, thus deepening the financial inclusion strategy of the apex bank.
He said the modalities for the stoppage is being worked out adding that within the shortest time possible, the adjustments would be reflected in all the ATMs.
“When you use the ATM of a bank other than your bank, there is a charge of N100 which is borne by the account holder.
“We have decided that we will work out the modality and ensure that with immediate effect we would pass on this cost to the respective banks which bear the cost of providing services.
“No matter where you are withdrawing your money from, you will not be subjected to any charge for using the ATM,” he explained.
According to him, the new policy does not cover withdrawals inside the banking hall when the ATMs are off.
“But for transaction on what we call ‘not on us,’ when you are a First Bank customer and you use the ATM of a GTB bank, it is free and it will no longer bear any cost,” he added.
The decision was taken at the end of a meeting inAbuja between the CBN and the Bankers Committee.
Managing directors of some banks also attended the meeting.
The Group Managing Director, First Bank Plc, Mr. Bisi Onasanya, told newsmen that the charge as well as others associated with the use of ATMs would be scrapped soon.
He said it was meant to encourage the use of ATMs.
Onasanya said the decision would help to increase the patronage of ATMs, thus deepening the financial inclusion strategy of the apex bank.
He said the modalities for the stoppage is being worked out adding that within the shortest time possible, the adjustments would be reflected in all the ATMs.
“When you use the ATM of a bank other than your bank, there is a charge of N100 which is borne by the account holder.
“We have decided that we will work out the modality and ensure that with immediate effect we would pass on this cost to the respective banks which bear the cost of providing services.
“No matter where you are withdrawing your money from, you will not be subjected to any charge for using the ATM,” he explained.
According to him, the new policy does not cover withdrawals inside the banking hall when the ATMs are off.
“But for transaction on what we call ‘not on us,’ when you are a First Bank customer and you use the ATM of a GTB bank, it is free and it will no longer bear any cost,” he added.
Today's morning paper talk
Manchester City will make an ambitious bid of £40m-£50m to sign Liverpool striker Luis Suarez in January - VARIOUS
Meanwhile, Liverpool are preparing a £5m bid for Blackpool forward Tom Ince, a player they gave away barely a year ago - DAILY MIRROR
Manchester City and Chelsea target Falcao has indicated he would be interested in a move to the Premier League - THE SUN
England are lining up a friendly with France as part of an end-of-season mini-tour in Brazil, although they are also in discussions with Uruguay - DAILY MIRROR
Derby have placed a £4m price tag on England U21 midfielder Will Hughes - DAILY MIRROR
Sunderland are keeping tabs on Icelandic striker Kolbeinn Sigthorsson, although Lazio have also expressed an interest - DAILY MIRROR
Crystal Palace will put in a £2.5m bid for Bristol City winger Albert Adomah if they sell Wilfried Zaha in January - DAILY MIRROR
Norwich manager Chris Hughton is keen to sign a new striker in the January transfer window - DAILY MAIL
Gianni Paladini is facing a race against time to complete his takeover of Birmingham before goalkeeper Jack Butland is sold - DAILY TELEGRAPH
Portsmouth are set to re-sign former defender Ricardo Rocha - DAILY STAR
Meanwhile, Liverpool are preparing a £5m bid for Blackpool forward Tom Ince, a player they gave away barely a year ago - DAILY MIRROR
Manchester City and Chelsea target Falcao has indicated he would be interested in a move to the Premier League - THE SUN
England are lining up a friendly with France as part of an end-of-season mini-tour in Brazil, although they are also in discussions with Uruguay - DAILY MIRROR
Derby have placed a £4m price tag on England U21 midfielder Will Hughes - DAILY MIRROR
Sunderland are keeping tabs on Icelandic striker Kolbeinn Sigthorsson, although Lazio have also expressed an interest - DAILY MIRROR
Crystal Palace will put in a £2.5m bid for Bristol City winger Albert Adomah if they sell Wilfried Zaha in January - DAILY MIRROR
Norwich manager Chris Hughton is keen to sign a new striker in the January transfer window - DAILY MAIL
Gianni Paladini is facing a race against time to complete his takeover of Birmingham before goalkeeper Jack Butland is sold - DAILY TELEGRAPH
Portsmouth are set to re-sign former defender Ricardo Rocha - DAILY STAR
Wednesday, 7 November 2012
Petroleum Report: Ribadu Says Data Not Accurate
Chairman of the Petroleum Revenue Special
Task Force, PRSTF, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu has said data and information
contained in the report submitted to President Goodluck Jonathan are not
accurate and unverifiable.
Ribadu and the Secretary of the Committee, Olasupo Shasore in a letter to the Minister for petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke after submitting its report said due to time frame, the committee could not verify all the data and information contained in the report.
Former Head of Service, Chief Steve Orosanye had accused Ribadu of adopting “flawed Process” in arriving at the final reports and not abiding by the resolution of the Committee that the leaked draft of the report be jettisoned or verified for factual accuracy Ribadu fired back accusing his Deputy of not attending meetings.
Both men had a verbal exchange before a shocked President Jonathan during the submission of the Report last week.
The assertion made by the committee in its letter has further made the report unenforceable and confirmed some members argument that the submitted Report is merely a “draft” copy.
The 24-member committee were said to had tongue-lashed Ribadu over the leaked draft report, which they claim contained unverified facts and figures and as such, requested he publicly disowns it as not that of the committee A member of the committee who spoke on condition of anonymity to pointblanknews.com said the report, which was in circulation, was not a certified true copy as all the facts and figures were not verifiable.
“We were shocked to see copies of the draft report. The crux of our meeting today was on the leaked draft because most of the things in the draft are not accurate, factual and not verifiable.”
Sources hinted that after the June meeting of the group, it was agreed that they meet again before the document is put to finality but “that meeting never held, Ribadu and Shasore kept the draft and we were shocked to see it in the media through Reuters and other social media organs.
“Ribadu likes grandstanding, he has used that to win gullible members of the public to himself for too long and that is what we don’t want to see in this very important assignment we have before us,” the source said.
According to the source, we had agreed after June to meet again and harmonize, verify grey areas in the report, we agreed to continue our investigation and do a thorough job, we agreed to reconcile every part of our findings and we agreed to meet again and do the final copy after all findings and facts have been verified. That was the last, we never met, Ribadu never showed up, only for the draft to surface in the media.”
A member of the Committee and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Chief Anthony George Ikoli in a newspaper interview recently, alleged, “the committee’s assignment is factually yet to be definitively concluded.”
See Letter below
Ribadu and the Secretary of the Committee, Olasupo Shasore in a letter to the Minister for petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke after submitting its report said due to time frame, the committee could not verify all the data and information contained in the report.
Former Head of Service, Chief Steve Orosanye had accused Ribadu of adopting “flawed Process” in arriving at the final reports and not abiding by the resolution of the Committee that the leaked draft of the report be jettisoned or verified for factual accuracy Ribadu fired back accusing his Deputy of not attending meetings.
Both men had a verbal exchange before a shocked President Jonathan during the submission of the Report last week.
The assertion made by the committee in its letter has further made the report unenforceable and confirmed some members argument that the submitted Report is merely a “draft” copy.
The 24-member committee were said to had tongue-lashed Ribadu over the leaked draft report, which they claim contained unverified facts and figures and as such, requested he publicly disowns it as not that of the committee A member of the committee who spoke on condition of anonymity to pointblanknews.com said the report, which was in circulation, was not a certified true copy as all the facts and figures were not verifiable.
“We were shocked to see copies of the draft report. The crux of our meeting today was on the leaked draft because most of the things in the draft are not accurate, factual and not verifiable.”
Sources hinted that after the June meeting of the group, it was agreed that they meet again before the document is put to finality but “that meeting never held, Ribadu and Shasore kept the draft and we were shocked to see it in the media through Reuters and other social media organs.
“Ribadu likes grandstanding, he has used that to win gullible members of the public to himself for too long and that is what we don’t want to see in this very important assignment we have before us,” the source said.
According to the source, we had agreed after June to meet again and harmonize, verify grey areas in the report, we agreed to continue our investigation and do a thorough job, we agreed to reconcile every part of our findings and we agreed to meet again and do the final copy after all findings and facts have been verified. That was the last, we never met, Ribadu never showed up, only for the draft to surface in the media.”
A member of the Committee and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Chief Anthony George Ikoli in a newspaper interview recently, alleged, “the committee’s assignment is factually yet to be definitively concluded.”
See Letter below
Congrats Obama for your re election
Congratulation to Barrack Obama as he successfully take over the Presidential Sit of America for the Second Term.
Ride On, Keep the Goodwork.
Can Nigeria Election ever be as Fair as that of America?
Ride On, Keep the Goodwork.
Can Nigeria Election ever be as Fair as that of America?
Sunday, 4 November 2012
Wednesday, 31 October 2012
Reaveled:Ribadu’s Report: Presidency Blasts SNG, ANPP, Vows No Cover Up
President Goodluck Jonathan has vowed to get
to the root of those who have stolen from the Petroleum industry,
insisting that there would be no cover up in the implementation of the
Mallam Nuhu Ribadu committee’s reports when received on Friday.
In a statement issued by Dr. Doyin Okupe, Senior Special Assistant, Public Affairs, he said the accusation by the Save Nigeria Group, SNG and the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP that the Federal Government is trying to cover up the conclusion of the Ribadu’s report is baseless and unfounded.
“President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan should be commended for his personal resolve to fight institutionalized corruption in Nigeria. President Jonathan ordered the probe of the Oil Industry for the period of ten years
(2002 – 2011), which also covers the tenure of his administration. No president in our history has gone this far and this explains why the rots in our system have persisted for so long,” a statement signed by Dr. Okupe said.
Okupe stated that while it is unfair for the members of the SNG and the ANPP to have accused the Federal Government wrongly, “the president has neither seen nor received any copy of the Ribadu Committee Report.
Essentially, what appears to have been irregularly released prematurely to the Media is a draft copy, which still requires full accent of all members of the Committee and clarifications and due process from the originating Ministry before the official handing over to the Presidency.”
He said it is the determination of the President to fight corruption objectively that led to the appointment of credible members of the society, Mallam Ribadu, a well-known anti-corruption crusader and members of opposition parties.
“President Jonathan approved the appointment of a well – known Corruption Crusader, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu,who ran against him at the Presidential Poll on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN. It is also noteworthy that the Secretary of the Committee, Mr. Supo Sasore was a former Attorney General of Lagos State under an ACN Government.”
According to him, “President Jonathan’s unwavering and commendable determination to fight corruption is clearly demonstrated by his approval of the appointment of credible Nigerians, anti Corruption Crusaders and members of the opposition party in the committee.”
He noted that, “The efforts of President Jonathan has also helped in exposing the fraud in the Petroleum Subsidy regime dug up by Aig Imokhuede’s Committee. The indicted persons are currently being tried in various courts.”
The Presidential Aide maintained that, “For the purpose of clarity, President Jonathan’s resolve to fight against corruption and dig out all the rots in the system should not be misconstrued or politicized by the opposition as if it is his administration that is guilty of corruption, rather, he should be commended for taken the bold step that will ultimately sanitize the policy and the system.
He said his administration is determined to rid off the Petroleum sector of years of rots and institutionalized corruption
In a statement issued by Dr. Doyin Okupe, Senior Special Assistant, Public Affairs, he said the accusation by the Save Nigeria Group, SNG and the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP that the Federal Government is trying to cover up the conclusion of the Ribadu’s report is baseless and unfounded.
“President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan should be commended for his personal resolve to fight institutionalized corruption in Nigeria. President Jonathan ordered the probe of the Oil Industry for the period of ten years
(2002 – 2011), which also covers the tenure of his administration. No president in our history has gone this far and this explains why the rots in our system have persisted for so long,” a statement signed by Dr. Okupe said.
Okupe stated that while it is unfair for the members of the SNG and the ANPP to have accused the Federal Government wrongly, “the president has neither seen nor received any copy of the Ribadu Committee Report.
Essentially, what appears to have been irregularly released prematurely to the Media is a draft copy, which still requires full accent of all members of the Committee and clarifications and due process from the originating Ministry before the official handing over to the Presidency.”
He said it is the determination of the President to fight corruption objectively that led to the appointment of credible members of the society, Mallam Ribadu, a well-known anti-corruption crusader and members of opposition parties.
“President Jonathan approved the appointment of a well – known Corruption Crusader, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu,who ran against him at the Presidential Poll on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN. It is also noteworthy that the Secretary of the Committee, Mr. Supo Sasore was a former Attorney General of Lagos State under an ACN Government.”
According to him, “President Jonathan’s unwavering and commendable determination to fight corruption is clearly demonstrated by his approval of the appointment of credible Nigerians, anti Corruption Crusaders and members of the opposition party in the committee.”
He noted that, “The efforts of President Jonathan has also helped in exposing the fraud in the Petroleum Subsidy regime dug up by Aig Imokhuede’s Committee. The indicted persons are currently being tried in various courts.”
The Presidential Aide maintained that, “For the purpose of clarity, President Jonathan’s resolve to fight against corruption and dig out all the rots in the system should not be misconstrued or politicized by the opposition as if it is his administration that is guilty of corruption, rather, he should be commended for taken the bold step that will ultimately sanitize the policy and the system.
He said his administration is determined to rid off the Petroleum sector of years of rots and institutionalized corruption
PHOTONEWS: Recent Updates From Kaduna Bomb Blast
NEMA's update:
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) today 30th October, 2012 at about 10am embarked on rapid assessment of hospitals for the second day running to ascertain the conditions of victims of the recent Kaduna bomb attack which occurred at the St. Rita’s Catholic Church, Ungwar Yero, Malali, Kaduna.
Having carried the assignment successfully, the agency has confirmed that 7 people including the suicide bomber lost their lives while 55 victims are still on admission at seven medical centers while almost 90 victims has been discharged.
The initial death toll of 8 released by the NEMA was as a result of a corpse that was double counted; when the agency team visited Garkuwa hospital the body of the deceased was at the hospital at the time and was later deposited at the Barau Dikko Hospital morgue were the corpse was still unknowingly counted.
Among the dead persons are 18 years old Miss Laraba Sule of No 13 River Close, Ungwar Yero and 32-years old Mr. Bitrus Audu of No 6 Birnin Gwari Road, Ungwar Yero, Malali Kaduna, the two corpses and the body of the attacker were taken to the 44 Army Reference Hospital.
Information gathered from the visited clinics indicates many of the victims are likely to be discharge soon while two victims who are currently in intensive care were referred to the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH) Shika, Zaria and the National Eye Centre, Mando in Kaduna.
As of 3:35pm on Tuesday, Barau Dikko Specialist Hospital has the highest number of admitted victims with 22 people followed by 44 Army Reference and St. Gerards Catholic Hospitals each having 12 victims, Garkuwa hospital 5 victims, Yusuf Dantsoho 2 while ABUTH and Eye Centre has 1 each on admission.
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) today 30th October, 2012 at about 10am embarked on rapid assessment of hospitals for the second day running to ascertain the conditions of victims of the recent Kaduna bomb attack which occurred at the St. Rita’s Catholic Church, Ungwar Yero, Malali, Kaduna.
Having carried the assignment successfully, the agency has confirmed that 7 people including the suicide bomber lost their lives while 55 victims are still on admission at seven medical centers while almost 90 victims has been discharged.
The initial death toll of 8 released by the NEMA was as a result of a corpse that was double counted; when the agency team visited Garkuwa hospital the body of the deceased was at the hospital at the time and was later deposited at the Barau Dikko Hospital morgue were the corpse was still unknowingly counted.
Among the dead persons are 18 years old Miss Laraba Sule of No 13 River Close, Ungwar Yero and 32-years old Mr. Bitrus Audu of No 6 Birnin Gwari Road, Ungwar Yero, Malali Kaduna, the two corpses and the body of the attacker were taken to the 44 Army Reference Hospital.
Information gathered from the visited clinics indicates many of the victims are likely to be discharge soon while two victims who are currently in intensive care were referred to the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH) Shika, Zaria and the National Eye Centre, Mando in Kaduna.
As of 3:35pm on Tuesday, Barau Dikko Specialist Hospital has the highest number of admitted victims with 22 people followed by 44 Army Reference and St. Gerards Catholic Hospitals each having 12 victims, Garkuwa hospital 5 victims, Yusuf Dantsoho 2 while ABUTH and Eye Centre has 1 each on admission.
culled from Sahara reporters
Sacrificial Eid Al Adha ram butts his owner to death
After performing the Eid dawn prayers in the northeastern port of
Annaba, the man went back home, got a big knife and prepared the ram for
slaughter.
“As he prepared it for sacrifice, the ram surprisingly butted the
man, who fell on the ground and died minutes later,” the Algerian Khabar
newspaper said.
Friday, 26 October 2012
Photo of the day
Stumbled into this pics online couldn't hold my laughter
happy Ramadan Muslim clerics
happy Ramadan Muslim clerics
Governor Amaechi Buys $50 Million Bombardier Jet, Amid State's Flood Disaster
Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State has acquired a brand
new Bombardier Global 5000
(N565RS) for his exclusive use, SaharaReporters has learn.
Mr. Amaechi’s lavish new “toy” comes at a time hundreds of thousands of residents in his state are displaced by the worst flooding crisis in the state’s history.
The newly purchased jet left Montreal-Trudeau Airport in Montreal, Quebec to Dakar Yoff International Airport. And then it was delivered to the state government on October 7th 2012.
The jet was primarily purchased from Bombardier in Canada for $45.7 million through the Bank of Utah Trustee account. “This is an ungodly act,” said a Port Harcourt-based human rights campaigner.
“Why should Governor Amaechi’s priority be to acquire a jet at a time the state is experiencing the worst flooding in its history, leaving many Rivers indigenes homeless?” he added.
Last year Mr. Amaechi traded off the state’s current Embraer Legacy 600 claiming it was too expensive to maintain. There were also unconfirmed claims that the jet was struck by lightning.
The oil-rich Rivers State already owns an AW139 helicopter which it leased to Aero Contractors. The state then turned around to patronize Aero’s VIP Sikorsky S76C helicopter at a cost one critic described as “exorbitant and unjustified.”
Last year, the state government sold its Dash 8-Q200 aircraft to Cross River State for $6 million. Cross River State then leased the plane to Aero Contractors to undertake commercial flights to and from Obudu airstrip in the state.
(N565RS) for his exclusive use, SaharaReporters has learn.
Mr. Amaechi’s lavish new “toy” comes at a time hundreds of thousands of residents in his state are displaced by the worst flooding crisis in the state’s history.
The newly purchased jet left Montreal-Trudeau Airport in Montreal, Quebec to Dakar Yoff International Airport. And then it was delivered to the state government on October 7th 2012.
The jet was primarily purchased from Bombardier in Canada for $45.7 million through the Bank of Utah Trustee account. “This is an ungodly act,” said a Port Harcourt-based human rights campaigner.
“Why should Governor Amaechi’s priority be to acquire a jet at a time the state is experiencing the worst flooding in its history, leaving many Rivers indigenes homeless?” he added.
Last year Mr. Amaechi traded off the state’s current Embraer Legacy 600 claiming it was too expensive to maintain. There were also unconfirmed claims that the jet was struck by lightning.
The oil-rich Rivers State already owns an AW139 helicopter which it leased to Aero Contractors. The state then turned around to patronize Aero’s VIP Sikorsky S76C helicopter at a cost one critic described as “exorbitant and unjustified.”
Last year, the state government sold its Dash 8-Q200 aircraft to Cross River State for $6 million. Cross River State then leased the plane to Aero Contractors to undertake commercial flights to and from Obudu airstrip in the state.
Army blocks move by Boko Haram to hoist flag in Damaturu
ABUJA — Security operatives of the Joint Task Force have thwarted an
attempt by the Boko Haram Islamic sect to hoist what they said would
have been their national flag, “a yellow, white and red stripes” with
weapons of mass destruction inscribed, at the centre in Damaturu, Yobe
State capital which sources said is scheduled to be the headquarters of
the Boko Haram nation.
The disclosure was made just as security sources said indigenes of
Borno, Bauchi, Yobe and other states harbouring the sect’s ‘cells’ are
under immense pressure and fear owing to threats on them to support the
group with funds by a percentage of their salaries or profits made from
their businesses, which is said to be non negotiable.
Failure to remit such money is most times met with the killing of a loved member of that family or the family is wiped out. That is why the sources of funding for the Islamic sect have been difficult to trace, the source said.
Vanguard was told that there was a reward of N5,000 for each security personnel killed and if such a security agent killed has a rifle and the killer or killers succeed in collecting his rifle for the sect, the reward is N10, 000. Hence, the killing of security agents by members of the group is seen as a source of generating funds and acquiring arms and ammunition for the group.
According to the source, the source of arms for the sect members has also been traced to the porosity of the nation’s borders especially those of Niger, Chad and Cameroon through which most of the weapons used in the Arab Spring crises find their way to the country.
The source noted that allegation of killing of innocent indigenes, especially during crossfire with the sect by the JTF was ‘political talk’ especially since great efforts through intelligence and surveillance are carried out by the JTF before they strike.
The source added that such efforts had always yielded unquantifiable discoveries in large stockpile of IEDs, AK 47 rifles, GPMGs and hundreds of thousands of live ammunition.
Vanguard has, consequently, learnt that it was this mode of killing for financial benefits by Boko Haram adherents that has been the stumbling block to officers of security agencies, who when they are deployed to Maiduguri, Damaturu, Potiskum, Mubi, Bauchi, Jos and parts of Kaduna among others protest vehemently and embark on all sorts of lobbying to prevent their being posted to areas considered Boko Haram states.
It would be recalled that recent mass transfer of Police officers especially those from the South-East and South-South to parts of the North recently, experienced such protestations as most of the officers threatened to resign than allow themselves to be used as guinea pigs.
culled from vanguard
Failure to remit such money is most times met with the killing of a loved member of that family or the family is wiped out. That is why the sources of funding for the Islamic sect have been difficult to trace, the source said.
Why Policemen, other security agents are targets
Another mode of funding for the sect, according to the security
sources, is the daily killing of security agents particularly the
police, soldiers of the JTF, armed Customs and Immigration officials.Vanguard was told that there was a reward of N5,000 for each security personnel killed and if such a security agent killed has a rifle and the killer or killers succeed in collecting his rifle for the sect, the reward is N10, 000. Hence, the killing of security agents by members of the group is seen as a source of generating funds and acquiring arms and ammunition for the group.
According to the source, the source of arms for the sect members has also been traced to the porosity of the nation’s borders especially those of Niger, Chad and Cameroon through which most of the weapons used in the Arab Spring crises find their way to the country.
The source noted that allegation of killing of innocent indigenes, especially during crossfire with the sect by the JTF was ‘political talk’ especially since great efforts through intelligence and surveillance are carried out by the JTF before they strike.
The source added that such efforts had always yielded unquantifiable discoveries in large stockpile of IEDs, AK 47 rifles, GPMGs and hundreds of thousands of live ammunition.
Vanguard has, consequently, learnt that it was this mode of killing for financial benefits by Boko Haram adherents that has been the stumbling block to officers of security agencies, who when they are deployed to Maiduguri, Damaturu, Potiskum, Mubi, Bauchi, Jos and parts of Kaduna among others protest vehemently and embark on all sorts of lobbying to prevent their being posted to areas considered Boko Haram states.
It would be recalled that recent mass transfer of Police officers especially those from the South-East and South-South to parts of the North recently, experienced such protestations as most of the officers threatened to resign than allow themselves to be used as guinea pigs.
culled from vanguard
Plane Crash: Suntai survives, in critical condition
Contrary to earlier reports that the Taraba State governor, Danbaba Sutai died from a plane crash in Yola, Thursday, Vanguard can confirm that he is alive but in critical condition.
Secretary to the Taraba State Government, Ambassador Emmanuel Njiwah confirmed that Suntai was one of the survivors of an air crash in Yola Airport but however, said the governor was in critical condition in a specialist hospital in the Adamawa state capital.
Also, the Special Assistant to the Aviation Minister, Mr. Joe Obi, issued a terse statement on the incident claiming that nobody died in the air crash.
According to Obi, the incident involved a Cessna 208 aircraft marked 5N-BMJ with six persons on board.
The aircraft, which was piloted by the Taraba State Governor, Danbaba Suntai, reportedly left Jalingo, the Taraba State capital at about 5: 20 pm, but lost contact with the Yola Control Tower 38 miles to landing.
The spokesman said the pilot’s attempt to raise the aircraft, failed.
Obi said search and rescue was immediately activated and the site of the incident located with all the victims alive but with various degree of injuries.
How woman, 25, escaped from ritualists
•Gives chilling details of how her co-traveller was slaughtered
From PAUL ORUDE, Bauchi,
Call it a narrow escape or a close shave with death, you are not wrong in capturing the story of 25-year old Patience Bitrus who recently escaped from suspected ritualists in Bauchi State. However, her co-traveller was not as lucky as Patience painted a gory picture of how she was slaughtered like a sacrificial ram by the evil men. Narrating her ordeal, Patience recalled that she watched with trepidation, how three men pinned down the victim, a young woman of about her age, slit her throat, chopped off her breasts and plucked out her two eyes.
Recalling how the victim was dismembered, Patience told Daily Sun: “On a fateful Sunday after church service, at about 11 am, my boyfriend, Sunday Noma took me to the Central Market Motor Park in Bauchi. “I was travelling to Kangare to meet my aunt. Suddenly, a woman came on a motorcycle. The men inside a black coloured car asked about her destination and she replied that she was travelling to Kangare. “I waited beside the car, a black Opel Vectra. Five men were sitting at the backseat.
One of them stood up and asked us to enter into the car. The four men told us they were traveling too. We entered and all left” She said that when they arrived at Kangare, a distance of about 15 kilometres from Bauchi, the driver refused to stop the car. According to Patience : “The men inside the car started insulting us. They threatened that we won’t be allowed to alight from the vehicle. They quickly gagged our mouths with clothes but I stood up and gripped the steering of the car.
Turning it, I told them that they should stop or else all of us would die. One of them dragged me down and that was how they captured us. The driver kept driving until we passed Kangare and reached Bishi.” She recollected that the driver stopped the car at a spot. He and the other men in the car led them to a bush near Bishi. They were later joined by another man who led them on a bush path, beating them and urging them to walk faster. “When we arrived at a spot, we were made to sit on a rock.
They told us to make our last call. I called my boyfriend and told him what happened and he screamed. They later seized the phone from us and collected our money” Patience said that around 1pm, they started debating among themselves who would die first between I and the other woman. Eventually, they finally brought the woman who was crying for help. “She kept saying, sister, please help me! They seized her, pinned her to the ground, cut her throat, plucked out her chopped off her breasts and parts of her body.
I did not know where I was again and I urinated on my body. I started screaming that I would not die this way and one of them men started laughing.” Patience who attributed her escape to divine intervention, described how the man assigned to watch over her while the other men left with the body parts, rested his head on a stone and slept off. “When I sighted him, I sprang up and ran as fast as my legs could carry me. I ran for over five hours because I could not trace my way back to the road.
I fell into muddy water until I got to the main road. I saw a man in a car and stopped him. After I narrated my story, he took me to the police station. I took the policemen back to the spot where the woman was killed but we did not meet anybody there but we saw traces of blood.” The policemen headed to the motor park and made arrests” When contacted, the Deputy Public Relations officer of the Bauchi police command,Mr Mohammed Auyo, said he was not aware of the incident but promised to inquire and contact or correspondent as soon as he got the details.
source: Sun
Thursday, 25 October 2012
Senator Ndume told Boko Haram to threaten the Attorney General of the Federation– SSS
The State Security
Service on Wednesday told an Abuja Federal High Court that Senator Aliyu
Ndume asked a self-confessed spokesman of the violent Islamic sect,
Boko Haram, Ali Kodunga (a.ka Al-Zawahiri), to call and threaten the
Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice,Mohammed
Adoke (SAN).
Konduga has since been convicted on two
counts of criminal breach of public trust and intimidation through
anonymous communication. He is currently serving a three-year prison
term.
The SSS said it made the discovery when
Ndume’s mobile telephone call logs were analysed during investigations.
The Senator is facing terrorism charges brought against him by the
Federal Government.
On June 14, 2012, a Federal High Court
in Abuja presided by Justice Gabriel Kolawole, ruled that Ndume must
face trial on four counts of terrorism.
The court also dismissed a motion filed
by his counsel, Chief Rickey Tarfa (SAN), seeking the dissolution of the
charges against him. Ndume is accused of having links with Boko Haram
and also being involved in its activities.
When the trial resumed on Wednesday, a
chief investigative officer in the SSS, Mr. James Inneh, told the court
that Ndume gave Adoke’s phone number to Konduga.
According to Inneh, the alleged threat
by Konduga was to force the AGF to influence the outcome of the
election tribunal sitting in Borno State in favour of the Peoples
Democratic Party.
Inneh said , “Konduga, in his
confessional statement told the SSS that Ndume gave him the phone number
of the AGF to threaten him (AGF) that they would make Borno State
ungovernable if he did not ensure that the Borno State Election Petition
Tribunal gave judgment in favour of the PDP.”
The agent admitted that Ndume gave some
materials he obtained from Boko Haram to Vice-President Namadi Sambo and
the Director-General of the SSS, while he served as a member of the
Presidential Committee on Security Challenges in the North-East.
Inneh said, “We investigated his claim
by using our tradecraft. We did not have any audience with the VP but we
investigated. His (Ndume) phones were sent to experts for analysis and
after the phones were analysed, we did not tell him about our findings.
“He was not there when the analyses
were carried out. Some of the materials we took from his house were
laptops, GSM phones, an international passport and other things.”
Inneh said he could not recall if Ndume had written a letter to the Inspector-General of Police to ask for protection.
Justice Kolawole, however, adjourned the trial to November 1- 5 and December 11, 2012.
Ndume had asked the court to acquit him
of the charges, arguing that the proof of evidence filed by the
prosecution did not link him with the sect.
Ndume said his alleged relationship with
Konduga, which formed the basis of the charges against him, came as a
result of his membership of the presidential committee set up to address
the security challenges in the North-East.
Ndume told the court that before his
appointment as a member of the committee, he had no contact with Konduga
or any other member of the sect.
However, in a counter-affidavit, the
prosecution counsel, Mrs. Olufumilayo Fatunde, had asked the court to
hold that Ndume’s trial must proceed summarily in line with Section
33(2) of the Federal High Court Act.
Ruling on the matter, the court
maintained that, after studying the charges brought against the Senator,
it found that he had a case to answer.
Kolawole said, “There is a link between the accused person and the offences listed in counts one to four.
“The mere presence of a probable defense
to a criminal charge is not enough to quash the charge. The fact that
an accused person denied the charges is not enough to quash the charges.
There is a link between the accused person and some members of the Boko
Haram.”
Source: Punch
PHOTO: Married Woman Beating And Stripped For Sleeping With Another Womans Husband
The incident, which can be apparently described as a nude wrestling show, forced parents to cover the faces of children in Lusaka Zambia, Missisi Compound with their palms as the events that unfolded before them were not fit for minors.
Police confirmed the case which happened last Wednesday. The assailant, Shamiso Marovero has since been fined $10 for indecently assaulting Portia Madhuku who was only left with torn undergarments after the melee.
When the source news crew visited the scene, a sobbing Madhuku was at loss of words to explain the beatings she encountered at the hands of Marovero and eight others.
“They were nine of them and they approached me when I was selling my clothes. They beat me up, stripped me naked and left me with tattered under garments,” she said.
When asked if she had indeed snatched Marovero’s husband and was sleeping with him, Madhuku denied ever bedding him. She said her relationship to Marovero’s husband was a business one with no strings attached.
“I am not in love with her husband. I only came to know him when he sold some jackets to me on credit. I bought two jackets and paid for them and I never saw him again.
However, Marovero, was singing from a different hymn book. She accused Madhuku of being in love with the father of her children saying the affair began in June this year.
“I discovered the affair in June but I kept quiet. I couldn’t confront her because I did not have enough evidence. However, the truth came out when one of her best friends told me everything. I confronted her hence the fracas,” she said.
Marovero, however, refused ever beating Madhuku saying she only stripped naked “I did not beat her, why should I?”she boasted Madhuku pleaded with The Weekender not to publish the story saying it would break her fragile relationship with her husband, which she is trying to sort out.
“Please I don’t want you to publish the story because it will badly affect my relationship with my husband, which is on the rocks,” she said. Manicaland spokes person Inspector Enock Chishiri said Marovero and two of her accomplices who partook in stripping Madhuku have since paid $10 admission of guilty fines. He urged members of the public to desist using violent means to settle scores.
Brazilian student sells her virginity for half a million pounds
A BRAZILIAN student has reportedly sold her virginity for almost half a million pounds in an online auction.
Catarina Migliorini, 20, was one of two virgins to take part in the auction for an Australian documentary.A Japanese man bid £487,000 to be the first to take her to bed.
Catarina said she would use the money to study medicine in Argentina, according to Brazilian newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo.
“I am 20, I am responsible for my body and I am not hurting anyone,” she said.
“For me, it’s not prostitution. When someone does something once in his or her life, this is not considered a profession. If you take a picture and it comes out good, you are not a photographer because of it.”
Russian lad Alexander Stepanov also sold his virginity on the Virgins Wanted auction, receiving the winning bid of £1,876 from Brazil.
The documentary has attracted criticism on its Facebook page with several users voicing concerns over the ethics of the auction
According to the auction’s terms, Catarina will undergo a medical examination to prove she is a virgin and the consummation will take place within the next ten days.
The "rules" also ban the use of sex toys, kissing and recording, as well as stipulating a minimum time of one hour.
Each virgin will reportedly receive $20,000 as well as 90 percent of their "sale" figure.
Catarina was previously said to be taking part to raise money for the poor.
Nicki Minaj snubs Mario Balotelli for chicken dinner
Mario Balotelli probably isn't used to getting turned away so it might have come as a shock to him when US rapper Nicki Minaj refused a meeting after a concert in favour of a Nando's chicken takeaway
The Manchester City star attended the female hip-hop star's concert along with several of his team-mates at the MEN arena and was apparently eager to see the Super Bass singer.
The Italian had reportedly set up a meeting with Minaj prior to the gig but the hit-maker is said to have reneged because she was tired.
A source told The Sun newspaper: 'Mario was gutted. He’s a big fan and turned up with gifts along with his other Man City team-mates.
'But Nicki was too tired after the gig and feasted on a massive Nando’s order instead — so he went home disappointed. He’d even bought a camera especially.'
The rapper's reluctance to see the 21-year-old footballer may have been partly due to an on-stage costume mishap she had during the concert.
Minaj's top fell down and revealed the two pasties she had covering her nipples.
It would seem Balotelli and a wardrobe malfunction may have been too much to handle in one night.
Saturday, 20 October 2012
Mysterious: Corpse of 13-yeaar-old Girl Found in Freezer after being Left Home Alone at Night
In what still remains a mystery, the corpse of a 13-year old girl simply identified as Yetunde, Racheal Samuel had been, on the 5th of October, discovered in a freezer in the hitherto serene town of Isanlu, headquarters of Yagba-East Local Government of Kogi State. Yetunde was said to have decided to stay back at home on the fateful day when the rest of her family went for a wedding.
It is so far believed that Yetunde had been strangled to death by yet to be identified killers, after which her body was deposited inside a medium size freezer. The reason for this belief is that the JSS 2 student of Oluyori Comprehensive College, Isanlu was killed in the night of October 5th and neatly deposited inside a medium size freezer to create impression that she fell into the freezer and was subsequently jamlocked and frozen to death without anybody knowing; which shows that her death was pre-planned and carried out with an ulterior motive.
However, what has remained a mystery is who actually murdered her and for what. Aside that, the question on the lips of people is why was she the only one left in the house that particular day and why she was hurriedly buried in the cover of the night? Why did the parents or the guardians fail to report her mysterious death to the police before she was committed to mother earth? Only the police or perhaps, the late Yetunde herself could actually reveal who killed her and how she died.
The perpetrators of the henious crime would have gotten away with it if the police had not gotten wind of it. Maybe Yetunde’s blood is seeking for justice as no one knows how the Police heard about it. Meanwhile, the state commissioner of Police, Alh Mohammed Musa Katsina who got wind of the dastardly act, suspected foul play, arrested the guardians of the girl and ordered that the corpse be exhumed for a thorough autopsy to confirm whether the girl actually jumped inside the freezer and got frozen or she was killed.
Another sporadic shooting last night at uniport (along choba road)
It was around 11pm last night that a serious gunshot was heard around uniport jucntion
until this morning the sources I gathered was that some dare devil armed robbers was intercepted by men of the JTF and 2 of there members were feared dead and 2 escaped with bullet wounds
more gist coming up
here are photos of Blood from bullet woud from the robbers
warning viewers discretion
Shoe left behind by the suspected armed Robber
shirt left behind by the suspected armed robbers
until this morning the sources I gathered was that some dare devil armed robbers was intercepted by men of the JTF and 2 of there members were feared dead and 2 escaped with bullet wounds
more gist coming up
here are photos of Blood from bullet woud from the robbers
warning viewers discretion
Shoe left behind by the suspected armed Robber
shirt left behind by the suspected armed robbers
33 feared dead in Ogun as Coaster bus plunges into River
No fewer than 33 passengers were feared dead yesterday when a
coaster bus loaded with passengers skidded-off a dual carriage bridge
and plunged into a river at J4, Ogbere -Ijebu stretch of the Sagamu –
Ore expressway, in Ijebu East Local government area of Ogun state.
It was gathered that the bus sank immediately it plunged into the river and was reportedly swept away from the point of entry to the river.
It was learnt that, there were three survivors who include a pregnant woman who were said to have been hung between a tree branch.
Confirming the incident, the Unit Commander, Ijebu – Ode Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr Seidu Isah Osilama, said the FRSC opera-tives arrived at the scene of the accident few minutes after it occurred.
He however said that they were able to rescue the three survivors because, according to him, they fell off the bus and landed on a tree.
According to him, the rescue effort would require crane and divers to ascertain the location of the bus and the passengers inside the water.
He said no one knows the exact number of passengers in the bus or the casualty figure as they are still in the water.
The survivors have been taken to hospital in Ore in Ondo state.
The Head of Operation of the FRSC in Ogun, Mrs Cecilia Alao also, said that the accident occurred at about 12 noon when the driver of the 36-seater coastal bus slept off.
Alao said that the exact number of passengers and the registration number of the vehicle were yet to be ascertained.
She said that all the victims, apart from the driver, were women travelling from Lagos to Benin to attend a burial ceremony.
The FRSC head of operations, who described the rescue operation as difficult, said that the command engaged the services of local divers who helped to rescued three of the passengers.
‘’We also hired a crane to pull the vehicle from the driver but after trying from 12 p.m to 6 p.m, we could not find the bus and other victims apart from the three.
‘’All other efforts to locate the vehicle and the victims proved abortive, the operation will continue over the night as we are not going to relent in our efforts,” she said.
Source: Vanguard
It was gathered that the bus sank immediately it plunged into the river and was reportedly swept away from the point of entry to the river.
It was learnt that, there were three survivors who include a pregnant woman who were said to have been hung between a tree branch.
Confirming the incident, the Unit Commander, Ijebu – Ode Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr Seidu Isah Osilama, said the FRSC opera-tives arrived at the scene of the accident few minutes after it occurred.
He however said that they were able to rescue the three survivors because, according to him, they fell off the bus and landed on a tree.
According to him, the rescue effort would require crane and divers to ascertain the location of the bus and the passengers inside the water.
He said no one knows the exact number of passengers in the bus or the casualty figure as they are still in the water.
The survivors have been taken to hospital in Ore in Ondo state.
The Head of Operation of the FRSC in Ogun, Mrs Cecilia Alao also, said that the accident occurred at about 12 noon when the driver of the 36-seater coastal bus slept off.
Alao said that the exact number of passengers and the registration number of the vehicle were yet to be ascertained.
She said that all the victims, apart from the driver, were women travelling from Lagos to Benin to attend a burial ceremony.
The FRSC head of operations, who described the rescue operation as difficult, said that the command engaged the services of local divers who helped to rescued three of the passengers.
‘’We also hired a crane to pull the vehicle from the driver but after trying from 12 p.m to 6 p.m, we could not find the bus and other victims apart from the three.
‘’All other efforts to locate the vehicle and the victims proved abortive, the operation will continue over the night as we are not going to relent in our efforts,” she said.
Source: Vanguard
Friday, 19 October 2012
Breaking news: Ifeanyi Uba granted bail
Billionaire businessman and MD of Capital Oil and Gas Ltd, Mr Ifeanyi Uba was this evening released from the custody of the Special Fraud Unit after spending 10 days in their cell in Ikoyi. He was arrested on October 9th following accusations of fraud totaling N43billion from the Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede led presidential committee on verification and reconciliation of fuel subsidy payments. The committee discovered gross abuse by many marketers and reported the case to the police.
Mr Uba was released this evening after he fulfilled his bail conditions.
culled from linda ikeji's blog
Quote of the day:MKO Abiola’s death was suspicious – Kofi Annan
In a most-revealing new memoir titled, “Interventions (A Life in War and Peace)”, former United Nations Secretary General, Mr. Kofi Annan, has detailed the role he played in the aftermath of General Sani Abacha’s death in 1998 and his encounter with the late Chief M.K.O. Abiola a few days before the latter died.
He also revealed his delicate negotiations with the then Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, and Foreign Affairs Minister, Chief Tom Ikimi, as well as his impressions of Nigeria and key actors at the time.
Annan, who had met with Abiola at his detention house shortly before his dramatic death, said: “On our return journey, everything seemed set for Abiola’s release. But tragedy struck a week later when Abiola collapsed and died during a meeting with U.S. Under-Secretary of State Thomas Pickering. Despite the earnest intentions we had detected in Abubakar, the timing could only be considered suspicious.”
Annan also explained his role in the negotiations that led Nigeria to cede Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroun following the October 10, 2002 judgment of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
On the Abiola saga, Annan wrote: “Moshood Abiola had been imprisoned and in solitary confinement since 1994. Previously he had been a millionaire businessman reveling in the most extravagant of lifestyles, acquired through a long-standing and close relationship with Nigeria’s military governments.
“But in 1993, there was a short-lived attempt to introduce democracy, and Abiola entered the presidential race. When Abiola looked entirely set to win, the final and full count was never allowed by the reigning military government of President Ibrahim Babangida, even though he had set up the elections in the first place.
“Abiola backed down quietly, but the vote changed his relationship with the government. He had acquired an unprecedented swell of support from many sides of the ethnic and religious divides that criss-crossed Africa’s most populous country.
“When President Babangida was ousted from power and replaced by General Sani Abacha later that year, in the midst of Nigeria’s deepening financial crisis, the new president dissolved the institutions that had been formed to move the country toward a semblance of democracy—the parliament, the thirty state governments, and every single local council—and declared all political parties illegal.
“But in the unfolding chaos of Abacha’s rule, Abiola stepped forward in 1994 and, on the basis of the thwarted 1993 elections, announced to a huge crowd of supporters in Lagos that he was the legitimate president of Nigeria.
“He was immediately arrested and charged with treason and spent the next four years in solitary confinement. During this time, he was denied access to even radio, saw no one from his family from 1995 onward, was unable to talk to anyone else, and was shown only one newspaper article: a report on the assassination of one of his wives in 1996. The only other reading materials he had were a Bible and a Koran.
“Abacha was as illegitimate a ruler as one might have the misfortune to come across—extremely corrupt, and prone to eccentric and self-indulgent behaviour on a scale that only Nigeria’s crony-capitalist oil wealth could sustain.
“He loosely promised the return to democratic elections, including one to me personally after I became secretary-general in 1997, but persistently reneged on such pledges. Opponents and suspected opponents were arrested, and the ranks of political prisoners swelled, as did the number of victims of politically motivated murders at the hands of security forces.
“But on June 8, 1998, Abacha unexpectedly died. General Abdulsalami Abubakar was installed as his replacement the next day. I had met Abubakar previously, when he was accompanying Abacha at a summit in Lome, Togo, in January 1997. He had once served as a UN peacekeeping officer as part of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, so we had a common past in peacekeeping which I used to get us talking.
“I found him reasonable in outlook and straight speaking, in contrast to the strange, quiet character of Abacha. At one point, when the president left the room, I pressed upon Abubakar the importance of releasing political prisoners. Abacha had only sighed away my repeated calls for greater freedoms and introduction of democracy, and I hoped influencing his advisers might at least increase the pressure upon the Nigerian president.
“But now Abubakar was president, and he, as he later revealed to me, was scared. The country was entirely isolated internationally after repeatedly refusing to change its political course or release political prisoners, and could count on little outside help; it was in a terrible financial position with a crippling high debt; Abacha had antagonised the country’s power bases, which had brought growing unrest and violence onto the streets; the military (dominated by the Hausa ethnic group) was used to its privileged position in society and was not going to give this up easily; and while Abubakar recognised the necessity of democracy to ensure the country’s political sustainability, a mismanaged and sudden introduction of elections could bring even more instability.
“Abacha had disingenuously set the date of October 1, 1998, for a transition to democracy, which, everyone agreed, he fully intended to miss. But Abubakar, with his more genuine agenda, was now beholden to this deadline. One way or another, he needed a carefully managed way out of this very difficult situation.
“Part of the problem for Abubakar was how to deal with the imprisoned Abiola. If released, he could still upend the political balance in the country if he demanded the presidency as he had before. Such a move would be backed by his mainstay of supporters in the South-west of the country, but almost certainly rejected by the military…A few weeks after Abubakar came to power—on June 22, 1998, at 3.30 pm—I had one of these sessions with Nigeria’s foreign minister, Tom Ikimi.
“He conveyed Abubakar’s message: The president hoped I could help him exploit the current opportunity provided by Abacha’s death, Ikimi said, to assist his plan to move Nigeria out of its current predicament. He wanted to return Nigerian to a position of reasonable standing in the region and internationally, to end the country’s misrule, and to usher in democracy. But he also wanted to extend the timetable for elections to ease the process of change—and he wanted my public support for this.
“Ikimi’s style was unrecognisable in comparison to the one he had displayed while serving Abacha. Previously, he had lectured me and others, at length, on how the internal affairs of Nigeria were solely the government’s business. That bold front was now giving way to realism: a recognition of the truly interdependent world of which Nigeria was a part.
“My first thought concerned Abiola. He could not be a casualty of this transition, or it would not be a transition at all. He had but won the first real attempt at democratic elections, retained significant support, and his imprisonment had caused him to become a symbol for those demanding political change in the country. Continuing to imprison him would mean the antithesis of any progress toward genuine democracy and the rule of law.
“‘I’m willing to publicly give my approval for the president’s plan,’ I said, as Ikimi’s eyes visibly lit up. ‘But only if Abiola is released.’ Ikimi looked taken aback. But he replied that if I came to Abuja personally to voice my support of Abubakar’s election proposals, then Abiola could be released. I accepted the invitation to visit.
“I would play whatever small role I could to aid the end of a military dictatorship; particularly in Nigeria, which had suffered enough from military rule, after an exhausting series of coups that had ridden roughshod over the country since 1960.
“Due to my flight schedule, we flew on June 29 to Abuja from Vienna on a plane provided by the Nigerian government. They were keen for us to come, as it was a brand-new and lavishly furnished aircraft, designed for the president’s use. On arrival, I met with President Abubakar to discuss the situation. He emphasised everything Ikimi had said in New York, and I pushed him to move on his promises, to open up the political system and to bring in civil society, to build the momentum in his favour in order to keep the country on course.
“He replied positively but said the October 1 date for a transition to democracy was too soon for credible elections. I counseled him that if he postponed the date, he would have to publicly provide a new and detailed timetable and communicate clearly to everyone why this delay was necessary. I also reminded him that Abiola needed to be released if he was to obtain international goodwill—and mine.
“On this Abubakar wavered slightly. He pledged his willingness to release Abiola immediately, but under the condition that he made no attempt to reclaim the presidency. I could see the general’s concerns: if Abiola came out and demanded to be instated as president, it could cause a deep and violent split that, given the fragile conditions, could take the country to goodness knows where. Abiola’s release was necessary, but it also needed to be a calm process.
“I asked if I could see Abiola, to discuss this problem, and Abubakar said it would be arranged. It was later that night that Lamin heard the knock on his door, and we found ourselves speeding along Abuja’s dark roads to Abiola’s current holding place. We pulled up at a location near the presidential palace, and sullen guards walked us inside the guest house-like building into a simple, bare room with white walls, where I found him sitting quietly.
“After exchanging greetings, I explained that I was in discussions with the president and the junta concerning current developments in Nigeria, and I was pressing them for his release. He seemed remarkably ambivalent. I asked if he wanted to claim the presidency once he was out, which I told him I was confident would happen very soon.
“He said he was not sure, commenting that the junta would be afraid if he did. He seemed to be hedging his bets, not wanting to be drawn into a firm answer. Suddenly, he switched his interest and asked, ‘But who are you?’
“‘I’m Kofi Annan,’ I replied. ‘I’m the secretary-general of the United Nations.’
“‘What happened to the other one? The Egyptian?’ He said, surprised. I had mistakenly assumed that Abiola had been told who was coming to see him and why. All he had been told was that an ‘important person’ would visit. It was amazing the isolation in which this man had been kept—the regime was so used to keeping him in the dark, they maintained his ignorance of anything going on outside even now.
“Once he realised who I was, he became more enthusiastic. He also became more explicit regarding his plans. He said he had no intention of claiming the presidency. All he wanted was go to Mecca to pray and give thanks. But he emphasised that he would make no commitment in writing. If he did so, he felt this would destroy his reputation. But he said he was willing to give the same assurance to President Abubakar.
“I conveyed this assurance to Abubakar the next day, but he was still hesitant. I explained that a free Abiola, who had no interest in upsetting the situation, would be a calming influence on his supporters, not an agitating one. I then told him that I would be announcing in my departing speech to the press that the president had promised me he would release Abiola and the other prisoners very soon. Whether this speech reinforced his credibility or undermined it would now depend upon him.
“In the ensuing press conference, given shortly before our flight out of the country, I did as promised. But I also revealed that Abiola had, indeed, told me that he had no intention of claiming any right to the presidency, further removing any justification Abubakar held for not releasing him and also smoothing the path ahead with Abiola’s more hardline supporters. I was also trying to ease the concerns of those Nigerians who feared Abiola’s return.
“On our return journey, everything seemed set for Abiola’s release. But tragedy struck a week later when Abiola collapsed and died during a meeting with U.S. Under-Secretary of State Thomas Pickering. Despite the earnest intentions we had detected in Abubakar, the timing could only be considered suspicious.
“However, an international team of pathologists established that it was the result of heart condition, and there was no foul play—other than the fact, I thought that Abiola had been denied adequate medical care throughout his incarceration. Either way, he was yet another casualty of the systematic violations of a whole range of human rights that are inevitable under personalised and oppressive regimes.
“On leaving the country after the final press conference, we found the Nigerians had lent us a very different airplane than the one in which we arrived. It was old, run-down, and did not look entirely safe. On seeing it, Kieran Prendergast, my insightful and witty under-secretary-general for political affairs, turned to me, laughing through his beard: ‘Well, you’ve done what they needed you for. Who cares about you now?’ Indeed, within fifteen minutes of taking off, the flaps jammed in a mechanical failure, and the pilot told us that we had to return and change aircraft…”
Source: This Day
Nkem Owoh in property battle with widow
Mrs Ayogu said Nkem Owoh warned her in 2008 not to build on the land she
claims her late husband bought, registered and left to her and their
children before his death in 2004, but she went ahead and built a
bungalow, and on Sunday September 30th Nkem Owoh allegedly had the house
pulled down.
Mrs Ayogu's story when you continue...
“The property was bought same year my husband died and was registered
in his name. We started developing it until my husband took ill and
later died, about three months after we relocated from where we were
living. Some years later I discovered that the
documents to the property were missing. I searched everywhere but could
not find them. I went to the man who sold the land to us and he advised
that I report to the state Ministry of Lands. I went there and they
asked me to put up a newspaper publication on the missing document,
which I did in about three different newspapers.
“I first went to the police and obtained
police extract before the loss of document was published. I also put a
caveat on the property so that no buyer would come in case people
attempted to use it for fraud. We were living at Egwuaga Street then,
so we relocated to 9, Ikpeama Street in Trans-Ekulu, Enugu. The land
registrar gave me new documents covering the property and he advised me
to be vigilant and look after my land.
“In 2006, Nkem Owoh, popularly known as
Osuofia and some people came to ask me who I was and if I was the owner
of the property. I told him yes. They left and I didn’t see them for
some
time until one day he resurfaced claiming ownership of the land and said
I have to stop work on the
site because at that time I had started building. I tried to inform him
that I had neither sold the land nor authorized its sale to anybody but
he insisted the plot belonged to him.
Because my salary was not enough to pay our rent, school fees and our
general upkeep, I felt it was proper to construct a small house on the
land so we can could move in and begin to save what would have been our
house rent. I began constructing the house four years ago, I even had to
take loan to enable us finish the house. The building had been
practically completed. I had roofed the house and was about hanging the
doors and windows when Nkem Owoh and his agents demolished the house.”
Meanwhile Nkem Owoh is claiming he had no hand in the house being demolished. He said
Meanwhile the National Human Rights Commission has taken up the case.“This woman is going to put herself in trouble. I bought a land and the land is causing trouble between the woman and her husband’s first wife. They are struggling over the same piece of land, so why would the woman say it was me that demolished her house? Why is she trying to scandalise my name when she knows there is a family dispute over the land? I don’t know anything about the demolition. I bought the property but they are having problems there, I mean the two wives. Why wouldn’t this woman go to court and sort these things out once and for all?”
culled from Linda Ikeji's blog
More info on the shooting that happend in choba
According to eye witness report the shooting took place in rumuchakara community in choba
town which is a host community of uniport and the victims involved are a youth corper that just passed out and his girl friend report has it that he is also a student of Uniport that they went out for a drink......Baba God na ur hand we dey ooo
15 Nigerian Pilgrims Die in Saudi Arabia
Information emerging from the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) reveals that the country has lost at least 15 pilgrims participating in this year’s Hajj in Saudi Arabia. One of the pilgrims, from Lagos State, was said to have died in Mekkah on Thursday after he took ill.
NAHCON’s Commissioner in Charge of Information and Research, Dr. Okenwa Saleh told newsmen at the commission’s headquarters that 14 other pilgrims from Nigeria had died in the course of this year’s hajj. According to Okenwa, nine died in Medina, while the remaining six lost their lives in Mekkah.
In his words, “Knowing well that Allah is the giver and taker of soul, we announce that 14 pilgrims from Nigeria died at the holy cities of Medina and Mekkah.” He gave the names of those that earlier died in Mekkah as Umar Dahir and Shuaib Malami from Katsina State; Ganiyu Ayinde from Ogun State; Abdullahi Mudi and Nana Garba from Sokoto State.
The Hajj commissioner further disclosed that 82,724 pilgrims from Nigeria arrived the holy city for the hajj: “82,724 pilgrims from Nigeria are here in Saudi for this year’s pilgrimage and they have arrived safely. They all arrived through ports at the cities of Jeddah, Medina and Mekkah.”
First Picture Of Malala Yousafzai On Hospital Bed As Doctors Say She Is Able To Stand
This is the first picture of shot Pakistani schoolgirl Malala
Yousafzai in her hospital bed. The picture shows her looking at the
camera, clutching a white and pink teddy bear.
Doctors at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, in Birmingham, where the 14-year-old is being treated, have released details of her injuries after the teen consented to details of her treatment being made public.
They said she has stood up for the first time since she was shot in the head by the sniper.
Surgeons have said the schoolgirl is responding well to treatment, although added she is ‘not out of the woods yet’, after suffering brain damage and developing an infection in her throat.
-Daily Mail
Doctors at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, in Birmingham, where the 14-year-old is being treated, have released details of her injuries after the teen consented to details of her treatment being made public.
They said she has stood up for the first time since she was shot in the head by the sniper.
Surgeons have said the schoolgirl is responding well to treatment, although added she is ‘not out of the woods yet’, after suffering brain damage and developing an infection in her throat.
-Daily Mail
Strange: Man Lands in Court for Allegedly Stealing a Bible
Interestingly, the accused initially entered a “guilty” plea when the charge was read to him, but later changed to “not guilty.” Meanwhile, the prosecutor, ASP Friday Eze, said that the accused had no fixed residence but was staying at the mechanic garage on Aka Road, off Salami Street, Afromedia, Lagos.
Eze alleged that the accused committed the offence on October 9, at about 9.30 a.m., at Shop B, No. 22, Adebisi Close, Sabo Ajangbadi, Lagos. He explained that the accused had entered the shop of one Miss Blessing Awodita, the complainant, while she was asleep and removed a black purse and a Bible from her table. Akindele, he alleged, had stood in the shop for a while with the Bible in his hand, staring at the sleeping woman.
The complainant suddenly woke up to discover the stranger staring at her, with her Bible and purse in his hands. He told the court that the frightened woman shouted for help and two of her male neighbours accosted the accused. Eze said that the accused resisted but was subdued by the men who collected the items from him and took him to the police station.
He said that the offence contravened Section 285 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Lagos State. However, Following his “not guilty” plea, the magistrate, Mr. T.O Shomade, granted the accused bail in the sum of N10,000 with one surety. He adjourned the case till November 12 for mention.
Photo Of The Day: President Goodluck Jonathan Welcomes The First Lady With A Kiss
After being away for several weeks, Dame Patience Jonathan returned to Nigeria amidst singing and dancing of women and cultural groups that welcomed her.
The country’s President Goodluck Jonathan who must have found his wife’s absence at the time he faced a lot of challenges as a leader unbearable was overwhelmed with joy as he welcomed his darling wife.
Looking through the pictures taken as we welcomed Nigeria’s First Lady, someone said the president was too happy that he didn’t know where to kiss.
Come on folks, the president is free to kiss wherever he likes, even if it was the first lady’s nose he kissed in that picture. After all, ‘my husband loves me the way I am’.
Man Wins $30 Million Lottery Shortly after Being Dumped by Girlfriend
This is the true life story of Sandeep Singh, a 22-year-old Massachusetts man nicknamed “Sunny,” who has been working two jobs to help support his family and was recently dumped by his girlfriend.
Hardly able to take in reality of his situation yet, Singh continually takes deep breaths while answering questions from reporters during most of the press conferences; he acknowledged that he was feeling “overwhelmed”. He also shared the touching story of how he has worked two jobs from the age of 14 to help his mother and sister pay the bills after his father passed away.
When he found out he had won, he said: “I was in my sister’s room on the computer reading the numbers… I didn’t know what to do. I dropped the ticket.”
Asked if he had any children, spouse or girlfriend, Singh noted his girlfriend had just left him: “She broke up with me, but right now, I’m not really worried about it… I was heartbroken at first, but now I’m getting over it.”
Of what he plans to do with his winnings Singh said, “Helping my mom with the mortgage, helping my family and, like, donating some money to the community; aside from that, nothing that I want to do, really.”
Sing had initially won $4 on a lotto scratch ticket and used the winnings to purchase four quick-pick Mega Millions tickets. He’s decided to take the $30.5 million in a lump sum, which the Boston Globe says will equal about $16.1 million after taxes.
Source: news.yahoo.com
Hardly able to take in reality of his situation yet, Singh continually takes deep breaths while answering questions from reporters during most of the press conferences; he acknowledged that he was feeling “overwhelmed”. He also shared the touching story of how he has worked two jobs from the age of 14 to help his mother and sister pay the bills after his father passed away.
When he found out he had won, he said: “I was in my sister’s room on the computer reading the numbers… I didn’t know what to do. I dropped the ticket.”
Asked if he had any children, spouse or girlfriend, Singh noted his girlfriend had just left him: “She broke up with me, but right now, I’m not really worried about it… I was heartbroken at first, but now I’m getting over it.”
Of what he plans to do with his winnings Singh said, “Helping my mom with the mortgage, helping my family and, like, donating some money to the community; aside from that, nothing that I want to do, really.”
Sing had initially won $4 on a lotto scratch ticket and used the winnings to purchase four quick-pick Mega Millions tickets. He’s decided to take the $30.5 million in a lump sum, which the Boston Globe says will equal about $16.1 million after taxes.
Source: news.yahoo.com
Another Video Circulates The Internet Of Angry Mob Beating And Molesting A Girl Caught Stealing
The lady, who was accused of stealing a phone, was shamefully assaulted in the video clip, which has gone viral on the internet.
The incident took place at an upscale shopping mall in Lagos.
The mob descended on the lady, stripped her naked and beat her to a pulp.
This happened amidst cheers and jeers from onlookers who were busy videoing the detestable act.
Despite efforts to ward off the several blows rained on her, she had objects inserted into her private part by the mob.
At a point, a man successfully inserted a torchlight into her private part, while others held her legs apart to make the bestial act easy.
All efforts by the helpless lady, who was weeping profusely and pleading, to cover her nakedness with both hands, failed, as the mob tugged at various parts of her body.
Meanwhile, several reactions have trailed the disturbing video, with some describing it as an act that debased humanity.
They questioned the absence of security operatives in such an upscale shopping mall and why the internal security did not make an effort to hand over the suspect to the appropriate authority.
According to most saddened by the impunity with which the mob carried out their dastardly act, the mob action is gradually becoming an accepted behaviour, warning that it should be nipped in the bud before it gets out of hand.
They also averred that anybody accused of any crime is considered innocent except proved otherwise by the court.
No one, they stressed, has the right to take life or subject another fellow human being to dehumanizing treatment.
Unanimously, they agreed that security operatives should live up to their responsibility of securing the lives and property of citizens.
Source: Sun Newspapers
link for the video below
British engineers produce amazing 'petrol from air' technology
The technology, presented to a London engineering conference this week, removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The “petrol from air” technology involves taking sodium hydroxide and mixing it with carbon dioxide before "electrolysing" the sodium carbonate that it produces to form pure carbon dioxide. Hydrogen is then produced by electrolysing water vapour captured with a dehumidifier.
The company, Air Fuel Syndication, then uses the carbon dioxide and hydrogen to produce methanol which in turn is passed through a gasoline fuel reactor, creating petrol.
Company officials say they had produced five litres of petrol in less than three months from a small refinery in Stockton-on-Tees, Teesside.
The fuel that is produced can be used in any regular petrol tank and, if renewable energy is used to provide the electricity it could become “completely carbon neutral”.
The £1.1m project, in development for the past two years, is being funded by a group of unnamed philanthropists who believe the technology could prove to be a lucrative way of creating renewable energy.
While the technology has the backing of Britain’s Institution of Mechanical Engineers, it has yet to capture the interest of major oil companies.
But company executives hope to build a large plant, which could produce more than a tonne of petrol every day, within two years and a refinery size operation within the next 15 years.
Tonight Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) officials admitted that while the described the technology as being “too good to be true but it is true”, it could prove to be a “game-changer” in the battle against climate change.
Stephen Tetlow, the IMechE chief executive, hailed the breakthrough as “truly groundbreaking”.
“It has the potential to become a great British success story, which opens up a crucial opportunity to reduce carbon emissions,” he said.
“It also has the potential to reduce our exposure to an increasingly volatile global energy market.
“The potential to provide a variety of sustainable fuels for today’s vehicles and infrastructure is especially exciting.”
Dr Tim Fox, the organisation's head of energy and environment, added: “Air capture technology ultimately has the potential to become a game-changer in our quest to avoid dangerous climate change.”
Peter Harrison, the company’s 58 year-old chief executive, told The Daily Telegraph that he was “excited” about the technology’s potential, which “uses renewable energy in a slightly different way”.
“People do find it unusual when I tell them what we are working on and realise what it means,” said Mr Harrison, a civil engineer from Darlington, Co Durham.
“It is an opportunity for a technology to make an impact on climate change and make an impact on the energy crisis facing this country and the world.
"It looks and smells like petrol but it is much cleaner and we don't have any nasty bits."
Source: Telegraph.co.uk
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About Me
- Ejie Kurtz
- Port Harcourt, Rivers, Nigeria
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