Akwa Ibom Deputy Governor Resigns

TheWill, has reported that Akwa
Ibom State Deputy Governor,
Mr. Nsima Ekere has resigned
from office with immediate
effect. TheWill said Ekere
tendered his resignation letter
this morning after he was tipped
of an advanced plot to begin
impeachment proceedings
against him on Thursday,
following heightened tension
between himself and Governor
Godswill Akpabio over his
governorship ambition in 2015.
Political analysts in Akwa Ibom
say Akpabio is backing his
current SSG as his successor in
2015. TheWill exclusively
obtained the deputy governor's
resignation letter. See it after the
cut...

3 alleged sponsor of Boko Haram under watch, investigation – IG

The Inspector General
of Police, Mr Abubakar
Mohammed, said on
Wednesday in Abuja that the
three people alleged to be
sponsoring Boko Haram were
under watch and investigation.
They are former Gov. Ali Modu
Sheriff of Borno, Sen. Ahmed
Zanna, and Sen. Ali Ndume.
Mohammed disclosed this
while fielding questions from
newsmen shortly after
declaring open a conference of
sectional police heads – zonal
and state Criminal Investigative
Departments (CIDs).
He pleaded with the public to
cooperate with the police,
saying that they should not
hesitate to come forward with
information that could help the
police to prosecute the three
men.
“We cannot take anybody to
court without ample evidence.
Investigators need evidence to
pursue their cases. So we
need assistance. (NAN)

Tonto Dikeh Hi video

I can't stop laughing... Watch and enjoy

Watch "Tonto Dikeh - "Hi" Unofficial Video by My Backyard Crew" on YouTube

At 18 this guy is already 7 ft 4.6 inches, Meaning he is the world’s tallest teenager – See Photos

Brenden Adams, 18, at 7 ft 4.6 inches
is noted for holding the record for
being the tallest teenager in the world.
His father, Willie Adams, and mother,
Debbie Ezell, first observed his
extreme height condition when he
was two months old.
Adam’s growth curve almost mimics
that of Robert Wadlow‘s. Some
doctors estimate he would have been
over 8 feet tall (244 cm) if he kept
growing constantly.
Doors and ceilings have been built
higher at his home, friends and
neighbours raised funds to help pay
for a custom-made bed, and his
mother has spent hours trawling the
internet for affordable, over-sized
school clothes.

Ajimobi sues PM News, NewsLeak for N1 billion over report on wife

The Oyo State Governor, Senator
Abiola Ajimobi, has sued the
Independent Communications
Network Limited, publishers of
PM News for the sum of N1
billion.
This was disclosed in a release
issued by Festus Adedayo, the
governor’s Special Adviser on
Media.
The evening newspaper had on
Tuesday published a piece
entitled ‘Anxiety over Florence
Ajimobi’s alleged arrest in UK’ ,
wherein it published a story
purportedly written by an online
agency named Newsleak, which
alleged that the wife of the
governor had been arrested in
London for money laundering.
According to the release, the
government of Oyo State had
the responsibility to ensure
that the media does not
become an instrument in the
hands of blackmailers for such
acts.
“We want to state unequivocally
that this report is not only
wicked, it is the figment of the
imagination of the writers. Mrs.
Ajimobi was never arrested for
any offence whatsoever. Even
though our investigations have
shown that this is the work of
some arrowheads of the
opposition, it was done in such
an amateurish way that beats
the imagination of any
responsible reader,” the release
said.
The government said that
though it had a lot of respect for
the media, there was the need
to drag the runners of these
media to court to explain the
details of their reports to the
rest of the world.
The government decried what it
called dirty politicking by the
opposition in the state who use
the media for the propagation
of their falsehood, stating that
the courts would be able to
compel those behind this
wicked lie to provide details of
the veracity or otherwise of their
claims on the governor’s wife.

‘Our Baby is The Devil’, Say Parents Whose Child Breathes Fire

Black magic and evil spirits have captured the
soul of a new-born baby in Colombia who can
apparently already walk by himself and
produce fire, his own mother has claimed.
Ana Feria Santos gave birth to her son last month
but says her joy quickly turned to fear when she
noticed that he had ‘several abnormalities’ –
leading to fears in her community that he is the
‘devil in disguise’.
She says the boy can already stand up and walk –
quite a feat for a child of just four weeks.
Much like the 1976 horror film The Omen, the
mother-of-five says he frequently hides around
the house, cackles in an ‘adult’ way for hours on
end and has an ‘intimidating’ pair of eyes.
She told the RCN Radio station: ‘He walks like an
adult, sometimes going off and hiding
underneath the bed, in a suitcase, in the washing
machine or in the fridge.’
Her neighbours in the town of Lorica, near the
Caribbean coast, also say he is possessed by a
‘malign spirit’ and that he is capable of producing
fire.
This, they say, is because burn marks have been
found on his clothes and a sofa where he
regularly sits.
It has led to vigilante attacks on Santos and her
taxi-driver husband Óscar Palencia López’s
house, which is allegedly being pelted with
stones on a nightly-basis by frightened residents.
But the 28-year-old’s story has not been believed
by doctors, who have now launched an
investigation into the possibility that the new-
born could have been abused.
The Colombian Family Welfare Institute, the
National Police and the Catholic Church have also
all refused to assert the claims that black magic is
involved.
A team of psychologists, a social worker, a
nutritionist and a lawyer will now look into the
case, with a source saying: ‘The child shows signs
of abuse.
‘Two small burns were found on the palm of the
left hand and for that reason a restoration
measure was adopted to [safeguard] the family
environment.
‘The parents received a warning while the facts
are being clarified.’
Source: Dailymail

US East Coast prepares for Hurricane Sandy

Millions of residents prepare for what
has been reported to be the biggest
storm ever to hit the mainland United
States.
Hurricane Sandy is continuing to head
towards the US East Coast as
residents make last-minute
preparations.
Sandy could be the biggest storm to
hit the US mainland when it comes
ashore on Monday night, bringing
strong winds and dangerous flooding
to the East Coast, from the mid-
Atlantic states to New England,
forecasters said on Sunday.
The storm could have a brutal impact
on major cities in the target zone such
as Boston, New York, Washington,
Baltimore and Philadelphia, in one of
the most densely populated regions
of the country.
New York City's subway, bus and train
services were suspended on Sunday
evening, bringing the country's
financial centre to a virtual standstill.
Michael Bloomberg, New York
mayor, also ordered public schools to
close on Monday and said that areas
of the city from City Island to Coney
Island to Battery Park City were under
mandatory evacuation.
"We are ordering the evacuation for
the safety of the approximately
375,000 people who live in these
areas," he said.
The hurricane has also reportedly
forced the evacuation of tall ship HMS
Bounty, a replica of the ship famed
for the 1789 mutiny.
US Coast Guard officers told reporters
the 17-member crew of the training
ship, used in the Pirates of the
Caribbean movies, managed to get on
board two life-rafts. The Coast Guard
has dispatched aircraft to bring the
crew to safety.
The crew had reportedly decided to
abandon ship, approximately 145km
off the North Carolina coast, after
taking on water and losing
communications and propulsion. The
vessel was about 250km west of the
eye of the hurricane.

'Life-threatening' storm

Al Jazeera's Kristen Saloomey,
reporting from New York, said the
entire East Coast was preparing for
the hurricane.
"New York is expected to catch the
brunt of the flooding ... the National
Hurricane Centre has said that the
storm surge flooding could be life-
threatening."
Trading on the floor of major Wall
Street exchanges will be suspended
on Monday, but online operations will
continue, allowing business to
continue almost as usual.
The US government has estimated the
storm could affect 50 million people,
and the storm has already
been disrupting transportation
systems.
President Barack Obama said on
Sunday that Sandy was a "serious and
big storm" and called on East Coast
residents to heed the orders of state
and local officials to protect
themselves from its onslaught.
Obama, speaking after a briefing at
the federal government's storm
response centre in Washington, said
officials had assured him that they had
all the resources they needed in place.
He stressed that "it is important for us
to respond big and to respond fast"
to the hurricane's onslaught.
"We're going to cut through red tape
and we're not going to get bogged
down in a lot of rules," he said.
Obama is having to balance both his
re-election bid and his efforts to stay
on top of the storm's impact - just
nine days before election day.
More than 700 flights, both domestic
and international, were cancelled on
Sunday and nearly 2,500 more were
cancelled for Monday,
FlightAware.com said.
By 7am ET (1100GMT), more than
1,850 people had subscribed to a
special Reddit thread , set up to
share information and tips
between internet users for the best
ways to get through the storm.
Google is also hosting a live
crisismap, featuring locations and
capacities of emergency shelters,
localised weather reports and satellite
imagery.
Officials at the US Nuclear Regulatory
Commission are monitoring effects of
the storm on more than a dozen
nuclear power stations in the affected
area.
"Because of the size of it, we could
see an impact to coastal and inland
plants," an NRC spokesman told
Bloomberg News.
New Jersey's Oyster Creek nuclear
plant, the oldest operating nuclear
power plant in the United States, is in
the projected path of Hurricane
Sandy. Officials say the facility, of a
similar design to Fukushima's No.1
reactor, is currently shut down for
refuelling, but are keeping a watchful
eye for potential flooding.

Hybrid 'super storm'

Forecasters say Sandy is a rare, hybrid
"super storm" created by an Arctic jet
stream wrapping itself around a
tropical storm, possibly causing up to
30cm of rain in some areas, as well as
heavy snowfall inland.
"The size of this alone, affecting a
heavily populated area, is going to be
history making," said Jeff Masters, a
hurricane specialist who writes a blog
on Weather Underground .
Harvard University, in Cambridge,
Massachusetts, cancelled all classes in
what was understood to be the first
time in 40 years, and New Jersey
casinos were ordered to close.
New Jersey officials have shut down
the state's bus and rail systems, and
emergency officials warned of
widespread power outages that could
last for days.
On its current projected track, Sandy
is most likely to make landfall in the
New York/New Jersey area and head
inland to Philadelphia and
Pennsylvania, forecasters said.
Forecasters at the National Hurricane
Centre in Miami said the storm's
impact would be felt far from the
centre.
While Sandy's 120kph winds are not
overwhelming for a hurricane, its
width makes it exceptional. Hurricane-
force winds extend 280km from its
centre, while its lesser tropical storm-
force winds span 1,670km in
diameter.
It was not expected to strengthen, but
was expected to broaden.
At high tide, the storm could bring a
surge of seawater up to 3.4m above
normal levels to Long Island Sound
and New York Harbour.
"Given the large wind field associated
with Sandy, elevated water levels
could span multiple tide cycles,
resulting in repeated and extended
periods of coastal and bayside
flooding," the forecasters said.
Westward turn
Sandy was centred about 685km
southeast of New York City on
Monday morning.
The storm has pushed seawater up
over the barrier islands, known as the
Outer Banks, off North Carolina.
Sandy has been moving over the
Atlantic parallel to the US coast at
about 17kph, but was forecast to
make a tight westward turn towards
the US coast on Sunday night.
Tropical storm conditions were
spreading across the coast of North
Carolina on Sunday morning and
gale-force winds are forecast to begin
affecting Washington, New York and
southern New England later on
Monday.
Sandy has killed at least 66 people as
it made its way through the Caribbean
islands, including 51 in Haiti, mostly
from flash flooding and mudslides,
according to authorities.

Aljazeera

Lara George welcomes baby girl

The former Kush member gave birth to a
baby girl in the US yesterday. Big
congrats to her!

Patience Jonathan’s Secret Overseas Trip

Some Nigerians were at their
fawning best when the wife of
the President, Patience Jonathan,
returned from her
unannounced overseas trip
recently. A crowd of hangers-on
in the Presidency trooped to the
airport to receive her amid
singing and dancing. Some wore
T-shirts proclaiming their love
and solidarity for the President’s
wife.
Though Mrs. Jonathan’s well-
wishers reserve the right to
celebrate the return of a woman
who is probably their
benefactor, it is awkward and
bizarre for senior cabinet
ministers to join in such banality.
The main issue here is not about
Patience Jonathan’s health but
about misuse of public funds,
abuse of power and lack of
transparency.
In the United States where
Nigeria borrowed its presidential
system from, the Office of the
First Lady is part of the
Presidency and is maintained
with tax payer’s money. Though
unelected, Nigeria’s First Lady is
also regarded as part of the
Presidency. In the official website
of the State House, Abuja, the
Office of the First Lady comes
immediately after that of the
Vice-President and precedes the
Federal Executive Council.
According to Wikipedia, an online
encyclopedia, the Office of the
First Lady of the United States is
accountable to the First Lady to
enable her to carry out her
duties as hostess of the White
House, and is also in charge of
all social and ceremonial events
of the White House. It adds that
“The First Lady has her own staff
that includes a chief of staff,
press secretary, White House
Social Secretary, Chief Floral
Designer, etc. The Office of the
First Lady is an entity of the
White House Office, a branch of
the Executive Office of the
President.” Mrs. Jonathan enjoys
similar perquisites of office.
Some online media outlets had
reported that Mrs Jonathan was
flown to a German hospital for
an undisclosed ailment.
Speculations were rife that she
was being treated either of food
poisoning allegedly contracted in
Dubai, or appendicitis. Some
even claimed she went for a
“tummy tuck” — medical surgery
to reduce the size of the
stomach. The Presidency stoked
up this fire of rumour when it
refused to clearly disclose her
health status. Rather than make
her return a quiet affair knowing
that Nigerians were not informed
about her real reason for going
abroad, the Presidency decided
to hold a carnival-like reception
for her and there were reports
of a grand reception being
planned.
It is not as if Mrs. Jonathan’s
health condition has any critical
bearing on the running of
government. But when secrecy is
baked into the government
culture, public trust takes flight.
It is only in countries where
openness is a luxury, like North
Korea, that such things can
happen. Incidentally, the North
Korean First Lady, Ri Sol-ju, has
also disappeared from the
public for more than a month
now, fuelling speculations about
her fate. Some reports say she
may have fallen out of favour
with the ruling Communist Party
in the country; some say she
may be pregnant. But North
Korea is a totalitarian, single
party state while Nigeria is a
supposed democracy.
Nigeria has gone through this
cycle before. Former President
Umaru Yar’Adua was in a Saudi
Arabian hospital for months, but
Nigerians were kept in the dark
about his trip and illness.
Ironically, President Goodluck
Jonathan was his deputy then
and directly suffered the
consequences of the secrecy
and lies that surrounded
Yar’Adua’s absence. It took the
intervention of the National
Assembly which invoked a
“doctrine of necessity” to bring
sanity back to the country.
Like in Yar’Adua’s case, public
funds were wasted in the
inglorious trip of the Mrs.
Jonathan. A Presidential jet took
her to Germany and brought her
back. The cost of whatever
treatment she underwent in
Germany was likely borne by
Nigerian taxpayers. Shouldn’t
these taxpayers then be
informed about her condition?
As if to insult Nigerians the
more, Mrs Jonathan has denied
ever going to any German
hospital. As she put it, “I read in
the media where they said I was
in the hospital. God Almighty
knows I have never been to that
hospital…I do not have terminal
illness, or any cosmetic surgery,
much less tummy tuck. My
husband loves me as I am and I
am pleased with how God
created me.”
She missed the point here. We
do not think that any rational
person would want to contest
the love her husband has for
her. Nor are sane Nigerians
praying that she develops a
terminal illness. Being the wife of
our President and a public figure
whose welfare is taken care of
with public funds, she owes it as
a duty to Nigerians to explain
her whereabouts. If she is ill, it
only means she is human and
will elicit the sympathy of
Nigerians if she makes it public.
If she said she didn’t go to the
German hospital, then where did
she disappear to for almost two
months? And why did she say
Nigerians gathered and prayed
for her and God listened and
heard their prayers? Mrs
Jonathan’s health controversy
has entrenched the climate of
secrecy in government.
In saner countries, the
Presidency would have been
answering some penetrating
questions by now. The United
States taxpayers, for instance, do
not pay for their First Lady’s
private trips abroad. And it
would have been a return to the
Stone Age for Americans to
troop out to sing and dance for
Mrs Obama for travelling
overseas secretly and returning
with a swagger. The female
ministers and other government
functionaries who went to the
airport to sing and dance with T-
shirt-wearing aides of Mrs.
Jonathan should be ashamed of
themselves. Where in the civilised
world do senior ministers leave
their job to welcome the first
lady from a private trip?
In a democracy, it is argued, the
principle of accountability holds
that government officials —
whether elected or appointed by
those who have been elected —
are responsible to the citizenry
for their decisions and actions.
Transparency requires that the
decisions and actions of those in
government are open to public
scrutiny and that the public has
a right to access such
information. Both concepts are
central to the very idea of
democratic governance.
Nigerians should begin to
demand accountability from
their public officers. There
should be transparency in
government. A transparent
government plays a critical role
in a functioning democracy. Our
public officers should learn
some lessons from countries
that run an open and
transparent system. Earlier this
month, the Colombian
President, Juan Manuel Santos,
informed his people that he had
prostate cancer and would
undergo surgery. His people
wished him well. The Duke of
Edinburgh, Prince Philip, was
taken to the King Edward VII
hospital, London, in June this
year for a bladder infection and
that was also made public.
The world no longer operates
like a secret cult. That is the
civilised trend our leaders
should emulate.
Source: Punch Editorial Board

NYPD Officer Charged With Plan To Cook And Eat Women

An officer of the New York City Police
Department, NYPD , was on Thursday charged
with conspiring to kidnap , torture, cook and eat
women whose names he listed in his computer.
In a criminal complaint unsealed in Manhattan
federal court, 28-year-old Gilberto Valle III, of
Forest Hills, Queens, was charged with conspiring
to cross state lines to kidnap the women and
with illegally accessing a federal database.
The charges carry a maximum sentence of life in
prison.
Investigators uncovered a file on Valle ’s
computer containing the names and pictures of
at least 100 women, and the addresses and
physical descriptions of some of them, according
to the complaint. It said he had undertaken
surveillance of some of the women at their places
of employment and their homes.
Magistrate Judge Henry Pitman on Thursday
denied Valle bail, saying: “the allegations in the
complaint are profoundly disturbing. I have never
seen allegations similar to this in 16 years on the
bench.”
Valle’s court-appointed attorney, Julia Gatto, had
vigorously argued to the judge that her client, a
6-1/2 year NYPD veteran deserved to be released
on bail.
“The best this complaint alleges is talk, just idle
talk,” Gatto said. “There is no actual crossing the
line from fantasy to reality, your honor.”
In an excerpt of a July online conversation with
an unnamed co-conspirator, Valle is quoted in
the complaint as saying:
“I can just show up at her home unannounced.
It will not alert her, and I can knock her out, wait
until dark and kidnap her right out of her home.”
“I was thinking of tying her body onto some kind
of apparatus … cook her over a low heat, keep
her alive as long as possible,” he said. The
woman in question is identified only as “Victim
1.”
A Manhattan federal prosecutor, Hadassa
Waxman, told the judge on Thursday that Valle
was as “close as he could possibly come,” short
of “kidnapping a woman, drugging her, cooking
her and actually eating her.”
Federal prosecutors, in announcing the charges,
said Valle had created a document called
“Abducting and Cooking: A Blueprint.” Valle also
told an unnamed co-conspirator he would
kidnap another woman for $5,000, they said.
“This case is all the more disturbing when you
consider Valle’s position as a New York City police
officer and his sworn duty to serve and protect,”
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a
statement.
Valle, who an official said had no prior criminal
record, was not charged with carrying out any of
his suspected plans.
A law enforcement official involved in the
investigation characterized Valle’s actions as an
online “fantasy game.”
“He was titillated by it,” said the official, who is
not authorized to discuss the case publicly. “It
looks like he was having these fantasy
conversations with people he’s talking to in
foreign countries.”
Valle’s attorney, Gatto, agreed. “This was a
fantasy, a sexually deviant world where people
talk about unreal things,” she said.
Valle’s estranged wife contacted the FBI after
discovering pornography on his computer,
according to the law enforcement official, who
said the couple is separated. Valle was arrested
Wednesday by the FBI. He is due back in court on
November7.[Reuters]

Missing Person: Kidnapped Lady

The lady in the pic above, Mrs
Remilekun was kidnapped last
night at a Mobil Filling station
around Omole, Ojodu axis.
Her family and loved ones really
need our help.
So, please if you have any
information that can
help, please call 08073396179 or
report to your nearest police
station.

St. Rita's Catholic Church Bombing: NEMA Officials Escaped Mob Attack

Eyewitnesses say that
members of the National
Emergency Management
Agency (NEMA) Emergency
Response Team (ERT) which
rushed to the scene of
today’s bombing at the St.
Rita Catholic Church in
Kaduna had to fend off a
mob attack as they arrived to
help the victims.
The suicide bomber crashed
into the walls that fenced the
church centre after his
attempt to go into the main
building was denied by
security at the entrance. At
least eight people were killed
in the attack, including the
bomber, and 145 were
injured.
Parts of the church building
and some nearby houses
were badly damaged.
According to NEMA's
statement about the atta, the
ERT officials escaped being
lynched as angry youths in
the community, carrying
sticks, machetes and other
weapons attacked the
agency’s ambulances and
other response vehicles.  The
rear side glass of one of the
ambulances was destroyed.
Following the evacuation
operation carried out by
NEMA, Red Cross and other
disaster management
agencies, the injured were
taken to various medical
centers.
The Barau Dikko Specialists
Hospital has the highest
casualties with 4 deaths, as
well as close to 82 victims
receiving treatment, followed
by the 44 Army Reference
Hospital, with 3 deaths and
35 people on admission.
Garkuwa Specialists Hospital
has 1 death, as well as 15
victims on treatment; St.
Gerard Catholic Hospital has
14 patients, while Yusuf
Dantsoho Hospital admitted
2 injured victims.

Saharareporter

A warning to bloggers from K- Solo's management

K-Solo with new fiancee, Bim

Watch and Learn

Watch "another Community carries out jungle justice" on YouTube

10 dead, 145 wounded in Kaduna church bombing, attacks

A suicide
attacker drove a car bomb into
a church on Sunday, sparking
fierce reprisals that saw a
Christian mob burn a man
alive in day of a bloody of
violence that left at least 10
people dead and 145
wounded.
Christian youths took to the
streets of the northern city of
Kaduna with machetes and
sticks after the blast, targeting
those they believed to be
Muslims as anger again boiled
over due to repeated church
bombings in recent months.
Attackers beat a motorcycle
taxi driver near the church,
then put his bike on top of him
before dousing him with petrol
and setting him on fire, an AFP
correspondent who saw the
violence said. Two other
bloodied bodies apparently
killed by the mob were seen
near the church.
A rescue official on condition
of anonymity also spoke of the
man being burnt and said
rescuers could not save him
because the mob was too
violent.
The mob also attacked an
ambulance in the ensuing
violence, but there was no
indication that rescuers were
wounded.
“So far we have eight dead
and 145 injured from the
church blast,” Musa Ilallah,
regional coordinator for the
National Emergency
Management Agency, told AFP,
noting that his death toll
included the suspected
bomber.
The attacker rammed what
residents said was an SUV into
St. Rita church, shaking the
Malali neighbourhood of
Kaduna, a city that has
suffered a wave of deadly
violence blamed on Islamist
extremist group Boko Haram.
“All of a sudden it drove on
high speed and rammed into
the church wall, forcing its way
into the church premises,” said
witness Samuel Emmanuel.
“Initially I thought the driver
had lost control of the vehicle.
Suddenly there was a huge
explosion as the car reached
the church building. It was
dust, fire and smoke all over.”
A spokesman for Nigeria’s
National Emergency
Management Agency
confirmed the bomb attack
and said rescuers had been
rushed to the scene.
“A number of casualties
evacuated to hospitals,” said
Yushau Shuaib. The incident
was suspected to be triggered
by a suicide bomber in a car.”
An AFP correspondent said
mobs were yelling “why the
church?” and some were
carrying weapons, including
machetes. Local elders were
seeking to restore calm.
Residents had earlier spoken
of clashes having broken out
between Christian and Muslim
residents.
The attack came after Friday’s
Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday,
but it was not clear if there
was any link.
In June, Boko Haram claimed
responsibility for three suicide
attacks on churches in Kaduna
state, where the city of Kaduna
is located, which led to deadly
rioting. Dozens of people were
killed in the violence.
Boko Haram’s insurgency in
northern and central Nigeria
has led to more than 2,800
deaths since 2009. While
Muslims have often been its
victims, it has in recent months
also specifically targeted
churches.

APF

Pope justifies appointment of Onaiyekan, others as cardinals

Pope Benedict XVI said Saturday that
his surprise appointment of six
non-European cardinals next
month showed that the
Roman Catholic Church was
“not the Church of one
continent”.
The College of Cardinals, the
elite body that advises the
head of the Roman Catholic
Church and elects his
successor upon his death, is
currently heavily weighted in
favour of Europe.
“By convening this little
consistory (on November 24) I
wanted to complete the one
held in February in the context
of a new evangelism …
showing that the Church
belongs to all peoples, speaks
all languages,” he said.
“It is not the Church of one
continent but a universal
Church,” he added, rebuffing
some critics who claim he was
being too Eurocentric, after
naming 22 new cardinals in
February, 16 of whom are
Europeans.
While nearly half of the world’s
Catholics are in Latin America,
there was only one new
cardinal appointed from “the
Catholic continent”.
Vatican watchers had not
expected there to be another
consistory until next year and
the surprise announcement
sparked concern that the 85-
year-old pope’s health may be
worse than thought.
The consistory follows the
death of several cardinals in
recent months and will bring
the number of those eligible to
vote back up to the maximum
of 120.
Cardinals must be under 80
years old to take part in a
papal election.
The German-born Benedict
said on Wednesday he would
be appointing cardinals from
the United States, Lebanon,
India, Nigeria, Colombia and
the Philippines on November
24.
After next month’s consistory,
there will be 62 European
cardinals eligible to vote
(compared to 67 in February),
14 North Americans, 21 South
Americans, 11 Africans and 11
Asians.

Suicide bomber kills self, injures many, in Kaduna Church explosion

A bomb explosion occurred on
Sunday morning at a Catholic
Church in Kaduna State.
The explosion occurred at St
Theresa’s Catholic Church in the
Unguwa Yero, Badarawa Kwaru
area of Kaduna.
Reports indicate that a car, a
Honda CRV, broke through the
church fence into the church,
and exploded.
Witnesses say before the
explosion, may worshippers,
close by, thought the car had an
accident and rushed towards it
to help the likely victims. The
subsequent explosion caused
varying levels of injuries to the
rescuers, many of whom have
been rushed to the hospital.
Some witnesses also claim to
have seen many bodies that
were subsequently evacuated.
The driver of the car died
instantly, witnesses said.
The area of the blast has been
cordoned by security officials
and members of the Federal
Road Safety Corps.
Kaduna State Police
spokesperson, Aminu Lawal,
who confirmed the blast said
only the suicide bomber-the
driver- died. The number of
injured is yet to be ascertained.
No group has claimed
responsibility yet for the attack,
though the insurgent group,
Boko Haram, have carried out
similar attacks targeting
churches.
Premiumtimesng

Gruesome: Man beats his infant daughter to death, killed her mother with a machete, and then set their apartment on fire

A 21-year-old man allegedly beat his
month-old daughter to death and
murdered her mother with a machete
before setting their Bronx apartment
on fire, police sources said Friday.
Elgidio Lind was being grilled by
detectives after firefighters found the
bodies of his girlfriend, Louisa
Rodriguez, 32, and their baby, Angela,
stuffed under a smoldering mattress
at her Kingsbridge pad Thursday
night, the sources said.
Rodriguez, who was naked and
stabbed multiple times, appeared to
have died from a massive head
wound, sources said.
The smoke eaters then found little
Angela Rodriguez unconscious in an
empty bathtub.
The baby girl died a short time later —
despite the brave efforts of one
firefighter who tried to breathe life
into the child’s tiny lungs as he
rushed her to an ambulance,
captured in a Daily News photo.
An autopsy found Angela died of
blunt force trauma, not smoke
inhalation.
Neighbors said they often heard
Rodriguez fighting with Lind, who has
a dozen prior arrests that include
robbery and assault.
Detectives noticed cuts to Lind’s hands
when they found him hiding at a gal
pal’s home Friday morning, sources
said.
Charges were pending late Friday.
- NY Daily News

Halliburton scandal: Jonathan orders AGF Adoke to locate $26.5m plea bargain money

President Goodluck Jonathan has
ordered the attorney-general of the
federation and minister of justice,
Mohammed Bello Adoke, to locate the
whereabouts of the $26.5m plea
bargain money paid by the
construction company, Julius Berger,
and returned to the police by next
week.
It was gathered that there were
conflicting signals coming out from
Julius Berger, office of the accountant
general of the federation and the
Police investigators on the true
position and location of the said
money.
Some say the money was in the
custody of the accountant general’s
office, while other accounts indicate
the money is in safekeeping at the
AGF’s office, with the police appearing
not to have an idea of how the money
‘migrated’.
Julius Berger one of the companies
indicted in the Halliburton $180
million bribery scandal had opted for
a plea bargain in order to be spared
the prosecution process following the
conclusion of the 5-man inter-agency
investigation panel headed by the
Inspector General of Police.
Some analysts are of the view that
claims of payment of the plea-bargain
money by Julius Berger might be a
mirage after-all citing previous
experiences of similar underhand
deals between influential business
concerns and corrupt government
officials.
Of all the major suspects indicted in
the Police investigation reports, only
the former Special Assistant on
Domestic Affairs to former President
Obasanjo who admitted to collecting
$6million from former GMD of NNPC,
Chief Jackson Gaius Obaseki was
charged to court and since 2010, the
trial has been ongoing.
The case was said to have been
reopened due to the insistence of the
United States government that the
government of Nigeria must as a
matter of urgency prosecute those
found to be indicted in the alleged
bribery scandal. The US reportedly
refused to the release the balance of
the money which is said to have been
lodged in an American bank.
The US government had implied that
the Nigerian government has been
paying lip service to fighting
corruption indicating it was not
serious in its fight.
The only condition given to release
the money was the immediate
prosecution of all those top shots
including Julius Berger that were
indicted in the bribery scandal.

Ynaija

One Year Old Girl With Rare Skin Disorder That Makes Her Look Like An Old Woman

A one-year-old girl in China is suffering from a
rare skin disease that makes her look like an old
woman. Yuxin Xiaoli is thought be suffering from
cutis laxa, Latin for loose or lax skin, a rare
connective tissue disorder in which the skin
becomes inelastic and hangs loosely in folds.
The little girl’s face is covered with wrinkles, and
the skin on her cheeks hangs. The skin on her
body is even looser.
Her 23-year-old mother Yang recalls her
daughter’s skin was loose when she was born.
‘We didn’t pay much attention, as we thought all
kids were like that,’ she said.
Yuxin also has congenital heart disease,
pneumonia and asthma, and spends much of
her time at the children’s hospital in in
Zhengzhou, capital of central China’s Henan
Province.
Her hair has to be kept short so doctors can
administer drugs through an IV tube and
injections into her head. In the past year, the
family spent more than 80,000 Yuan (around
£8,000) on her treatment.
Despite her declining health, Yuxin’s family say
she is a lively child. ‘She is quite active and smart
and she imitates others’ facial expressions
quickly,’ her grandmother said.

Man Throws Wife into Pit Toilet

Residents of Agbado, in Ado-Odo Ota Local
Government Area of Ogun State have been
thrown into a state of shock when tragedy struck
in the home of a couple hitherto to be friendly
and gentle.The tragedy: a middle-aged woman
identified as Rauda Alaraba was allegedly thrown
into a pit latrine by her 46-year-old husband,
Surajudeen, in their rented house during a
domestic squabble between the two of them.
While the cause of the fight is yet unknown, the
marriage of the couple was said to have
produced some children but the husband, it was
learnt, was not gainfully employed and had to
rely on the wife, a petty trader, for sustenance.
According to Ogun State Commissioner of Police,
Mr. Ikemefuna Okoye, the suspect committed the
crime at about 7.20pm penultimate Sunday. He
said the suspect would be charged to court after
the completion of the interrogation. Disclosing
how the police got the story, Okoye said: “The
Agbado Division had a distress call that a man
had pushed his wife into a deep pit and we
quickly rushed to the scene where the victim was
met dead in the pit.
“The suspect was immediately apprehended and
we are still interrogating him, he will be charged
to court as soon as we are done with our
investigations”.
source: Vanguard

AdamawaCrash: Danbaba Suntai flown to Germany

Taraba State Governor, Danbaba
Suntai, who was involved in a Cesna
208 5N-BMJ plane crash Thursday at
the Yola Airport, was on Saturday,
flown to Germany for treatment. The
governor was moved out of the
National Hospital, Abuja, where he
was receiving treatment at about 3:30
pm today.
Vanguard gathered that injured
governor was driven in an ambulance
to the local wing of the Nnamdi
Azikiwe international Airport into a
waiting air ambulance to an
undisclosed Germany hospital for
‘’intensive treatment.’’
The governor escaped death Thursday
evening after a plane he was flying
crashed near the Nigerian National
Patrolmen Corporation, NNPC Depot
in Yola, the Adamawa State capital.
The governor, his aide-de-camp and
chief security officer, who were also in
the plane that took off from Jalingo,
the Taraba State capital, and three
others, were seriously injured. The
plane, a Cessna 208, 5N-BMJ, crashed
at about 7.45 pm is owned by the
state government.
The governor, who was brought in
unconscious, was first taken to Yola
Specialist Hospital for treatment, but
was later moved to the better-
equipped Federal Medical Centre,
Yola.
Hospital sources said the governor
sustained an injury on his arm, head
and abdomen. He was rushed into an
ambulance provided by Nyako, to the
German Medical Diagnostic Section of
the Specialist Hospital, Yola. The other
victims, including a white man, were
taken to the FMC Yola.

Vanguard Newspapers

Reduce Rice Consumption To Once A Week, Director Urges Nigerians

Mr Joe Kwanashie, the Director, Irrigation and
Drainage, Ministry of Water Resources, has
urged Nigerians to reduce their consumption
of rice to once a week.
Kwanashie said in an interview with the News
Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja
that the advice became imperative due to the
amount foreign exchange spent on rice
importation.
According to him, Nigeria spends N1 billion on
rice importation daily.
‘’ If Nigerians decide not to eat rice every day but
once a week, it will drastically reduce the
importation of the commodity.
‘’If today we decide that instead of eating rice
three times a day, we are only going to eat it
once a day or once a week, we wouldn’t need to
import all that rice.
“As a child, I know that in my house we didn’t eat
rice every day.
“Today, most households in this country eat rice
every day.
“Must we eat rice? what’s wrong with eating eba
or pounded yam that we produce locally? will
you die if you don’t eat rice? Kwanashie asked.
He said that the money spent on the importation
of the commodity would not encourage
economic growth, noting that Nigeria had so
many other food substitutes.
‘’It’s something that requires political will and
commitment and not only from the political
leaders but also from us; its small sacrifices like
this that Nigerians can make to make this country
better.
‘’Look at the damage we are doing to our
economy; one billion naira every day! do you
know how many jobs that would provide in this
country?’’ he asked.
The director, however, noted that Nigeria had the
capacity to produce rice both for local
consumption and also for export, stressing that
the human and material resources required to to
achieve it were also available.
On what the ministry is doing to combat the
effects of flooding that had ravaged most
farmlands and homes in the country, the director
said:“The solution to flooding problem is
multisectoral.”

Nurse Who's Lived With HIV for 17 Years Speaks: The Story Of My Survival

"I suffered serious emotional
and psychological trauma as a
result of the news of my HIV-
positive status. This, coupled
with the loss of my employment,
contributed to a spontaneous
miscarriage of my pregnancy.
I was further victimized, rejected,
humiliated and put at great risk
when my employer refused to
carry out evacuation of the
miscarried pregnancy which he
himself prescribed, on the
ground of my HIV-positive
status.
But thank God doctors at
another hospital eventually
carried out the evacuation
procedure for me. After that, I
thought he was stating the fact
about my having little or no time
to live and so in obedience, I
relocated to my home town and
there, I waited to die but death
never came".....
Mrs. Georgina Ahamefule, is an
indigene of Imo State who tested
positive to HIV while working as
an auxiliary nurse at a certain
Medical Centre in Lagos. At first,
due to her naivety, she found
the whole world crashing on
her, no thanks to her employer,
Dr Molokwu, the Chief Medical
Director of the Medical Centre
who terminated her
employment which began in
1989 and advised her to go back
to her village and die since she
had only a little time to live.
A lot happened to this woman,
as she shares her traumatic
experiences during a
tumultuous journey to victory.
The high point of her account is
that her fighting spirit is backed
by God and the Social and
Economic Rights Action Center
(SERAC).
She won a N7-million lawsuit
against Dr Molokwu. It was a
landmark judgment for Dr. Felix
Morka, the executive Director of
SERAC who described the
judge’s decision as representing
a major victory for Georgina and
all those living with the HIV virus
in the country.
Back to Mrs. Georgina's story:
While at the village, I ran into
someone who asked me to go to
LUTH so that I would receive
help. I also obeyed.
It was while I visited LUTH that I
ran into my god-mother, Mrs
Onyewuenyi who listened to my
ordeal and referred me to
SERAC. When I visited SERAC,
they interviewed me and
subsequently, contacted my
former employer so as to see if
he will do any form of
settlement but he ignored
SERAC, so, SERAC took the
matter to court on my behalf.
The first shocker I got was right
in the court. Unfortunately, the
unfairness I suffered did not
stop at the hands of my
employer and his hospital. On
July 14, 2000, SERAC filed the
lawsuit challenging the
termination of my employment
as an auxiliary nurse by the
Medical Centre and its Chief
Medical Director, based on my
HIV-positive status.
So, the shocker like I mentioned,
happened in 2001. Right there in
the court, the then presiding
judge in the case, barred me
from entering the courtroom
because of my HIV -positive
status.
The judge further ruled that
satisfactory expert evidence
must be presented in court to
convince her that the judge and
others would not become
infected with the HIV virus as a
result of my mere physical
presence in the courtroom. It
was a huge blow on my
devastated life.
SERAC appealed that decision
and the Court of Appeal remitted
the matter back to the High
Court for trial. Thank God I was
allowed to testify in my case
without further restrictions in the
court, in the compound, and
because I made public my status
which I am glad I did. Otherwise,
I would have died out of
ignorance.
Some illiterate and ignorant
neighbours avoided me like
plague. It would have been okay
by me if they did just that, but
they went further to humiliate
me and pass silly comments
when they see me around and in
short, they looked for one
excuse or the other to tell me
the story of my life. They fought
my niece who came on holiday,
saying she had no mother which
was why she can put up with me
in my state.
In all this, I am grateful to God
for the wonderful husband He
gave me. My husband has since
then tested negative to the virus
and you may be glad to know
that I also have a son who is also
negative. God has really used Dr
Felix Morka and in fact, workers
at SERAC who have adopted me
as a part of their family, to bless
me and give me reason to live.
Indeed, they gave me reason to
live to see my dream of being
victorious come true.
I have been getting assistance
from SERAC in terms of feeding,
transportation to Lagos each
time my case came up because I
relocated with my family to
Obigbo in Rivers State; they also
helped for hospital bills.
On the issue of court case, there
was another shocker. As my case
progressed, my employer
presented false affidavit showing
that I had died in my hometown.
As you can see, I’m alive and
very healthy. So, we discovered
that the affidavit was filed in
support of a motion seeking to
dismiss my lawsuit against my
employer and his hospital. The
false declaration was one of my
employer’s and his lawyers’
strategies to frustrate my
determination to get justice in
the matter of the wrongful
termination of my employment
and other violations.
On getting information about
their wicked plan, Dr Felix Morka
called me and asked if I was okay
to travel to Lagos, I said yes and
he asked me to take the next
flight to Lagos which I did. When
I appeared at the court, my
employer and his cohorts were
shocked.
Well, to cut the long story short,
on Thursday September 27,
2012, Honorable Justice Y.O.
Idowu the judge at the Lagos
State High Court Idowu held that
the termination of my
employment by the hospital
where I worked on the ground
of my HIV-positive status is
illegal, unlawful and actuated by
malice and extreme bad faith.
So she gave an order for 5
Million Naira for general
damages for the wrongful
termination of my employment
to be paid to me and 2 Million
Naira as compensation for
unlawful conduct of HIV testing
without my informed consent
and also for negligence.
Right now, I feel on top of the
world for my victory and in fact
that is an understatement
because I can’t explain exactly
how I feel now. This is a case
that seemed impossible and in
fact if the matter was left for me
or my family to handle, it would
have died a natural death
because I’m from a poor
background.
I appreciate every effort made by
Dr Felix Morka (of SERAC) and
his workers to see me through
this victory without collecting a
kobo from me. God will bless
them. Now I will have enough to
sponsor my son who will be in
the university next year. I can
also start a good business of my
choice or better still, as part of
my own contribution, organize a
small group that will help other
people living with HIV in my
community.
Source: Vanguard

Rapper Lil Wayne suffers two seizures in 24 hours

Lil Wayne is hospitalized after
suffering his second seizure
within twenty-four hours...
From TMZ
Lil Wayne is about to be
released from a Louisiana
hospital ... after suffering
another seizure on board
an airplane, his 2nd
seizure in 24 hours... TMZ
has learned.
Weezy was on board a
flight from Texas to LAX --
when he began to
convulse. We're told the
flight was immediately
diverted to Louisiana ...
and Wayne was admitted
to a local hospital for
treatment.
We broke the story ...
Wayne had been
hospitalized last night after
a pilot reported that the
rapper was experiencing
seizures on board his
flight.

We Have No Hand In Our Mum’s Death – Psquare React To Accusations Of Sacrificing Mum For Fame

This news is strange! Even a whiff of the rumor, I
never heard or read of anywhere. For anyone to
begin to insinuate that multi-platinum selling duo
of Peter and Paul Okoye, popularly known as
Psquare sacrificed their mother for whatever
reason, is the height of irresponsibility and
madness. As far as we know, they’ve attained the
height of success even before their mom took ill
and eventually passed away.

Here’s an excerpt of their reaction to the rumour:

How do you feel about your mum’ s death?
We feel so bad to know that our mum is no
more. But who are we to question the Almighty
God. Traditionally, we are supposed to bury her
and not the other way round. It is just that it
happened so soon.. Indeed, her death was a big
blow to us.
It was rumoured that you people knew what
happened to her?
Then, it is too bad to hear that people are
accusing us of being responsible for our mum’s
death. We are not blaming anybody. People are
free to say what they want to say. We begin to
wonder whether there is anything that will ever
make us to go for the life of our beloved mother.
Her life cannot be quantified in terms of money
or fame. So, our answer to this question is that
we have no hand in our mum’s death. We only
blame the death that snatched her away from us
if not so, people won’t be pointing accusing
fingers at us. She died after a brief illness.
Aside your mum’s death, there was another
rumour that you guys have joined Illuminati?
We are short of words. Why would anybody say
such things about us? Well, the fact remains that
we do not belong to any secret cult,  whether
Illuminati or anything you call it. We owe our
achievements and everything that is happening
to us to Almighty God.
Culled From VANGUARD

Ten Tips To Survive Without Okada

Now that Fashola has decided to ban Okada on
Lagos roads and suggested we start trekking,
here are some few tips that you use to help
you cope without our usual quick bike rides to
our daily destinations.
10. Buy shoe protectors, replace as the need
arises.
9. In relation to number 10, carry an extra pair of
foot wear (preferably slippers) in your bag (men
inclusive). That bag should also carry the
following: a small umbrella, water bottle and
small chops to go.
8. Wear casual clothes to work, change into your
official clothes at work, then change back to the
casual clothes for the journey back home. You
don’t want to look too official while trekking.
7. For the ladies, this is the time to smile from
ear to ear with that ugly male colleague who
drives a car and lives near your residence.
6. For the guys, buy a car before your girlfriend’s
colleague starts to take her home.
5. Save the money for your gym membership,
you are getting enough exercise already.
4. Start trekking groups in your office, class,
church, mosque etc. After all it is said that a trek
trekked with companion is no trek at all.
3. Learn how to entertain yourself in your own
space. Stock up on game consoles, books,
magazines, movies etc. Pay that DSTV
subscription too.
2. As the crime rate increases due to the okada
ban, buy a gun.
1. If none of the above works, pack go your
village and fulfil Fashola’s innate dream for Lagos
state .

Incredible: Man walks from Bosnian to Mecca

A Bosnian pilgrim who
left last December on pilgrimage to
Mecca on foot said that he has arrived
after passing through seven countries
including Syria. “I arrived in Mecca on
Saturday. I am not tired, these are the
best days of my life,” Senad Hadzic,
47, said when reached by phone on a
Saudi mobile number. He said that he
had covered some 5,700 km in 314
days of walking through Bosnia,
Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Syria and
Jordan to Saudi Arabia, with a
backpack weighing around 20 kg.
He charted his progress on his
Facebook page, where he posted a
picture apparently of an entry/exit
card for foreigners issued by the
Syrian Interior Ministry. “I passed
through Syria in April. I walked some
500 km in 11 days. I went through
Aleppo and Damascus and passed
dozens of check-points held by pro-
government and opposition forces
alike, but I was never detained,” the
Bosnian added.
“At a check-point held by forces the
soldier ordered me to empty my
backpack ... When I showed them the
holy Quran and explained I was
making the pilgrimage on foot, they
let me go,” he said. On his Facebook
page he said God had shown him the
way in dreams, including to go
through Syria instead of Iraq. During
the pilgrimage, Hadzic faced
temperatures ranging from minus 35
Celsius in Bulgaria to plus 44 Celsius in
Jordan and he said God helped him in
this. — AFP

Check out Kanye West in this photo

Actually for me ooooo, i don't believe in the Illuminati stuff.

Have your say on this picture.

Photo From the Taraba Governor Plane crash

Photo credit- Premiumtimesng

UPDATE: Governor Of Taraba State, Danbaba Suntai, Survives Crash, In Critical Condition

Contrary to ealier 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
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 degrees of
injuries.
-Vanguard

Female Student Sexually Assaulted, Killed by Her Fellow Students

Two students of Federal
Polytechnic, Auchi, Henry Edewo
and Emmanuel Isikhuime, have
been arrested by the Police in
Edo State for kidnapping,
molesting and murdering a
female student, one Mercy Peter,
21, also a student of the
institution.
The students were also said to
have continued to demand for
ransom from her parents after
killing her.
They were said to have buried
their victim in a shallow grave in
a forest at Ugbor village, Oredo
Local Government Area of Edo
State, after killing her.
It was gathered that the victim,
who was kidnapped on July 29,
this year, was killed four days
later after she was serially
molested by the suspects.
State Police Public Relations
Officer, Mr Anthony Airhuoyo,
however, told newsmen that the
police made a breakthrough in
the case on October 17 when
two of the suspects were
arrested.
He added that a third suspect,
whose name was given as
Charles, was still on the run.
Mr Airhuoyo disclosed that the
suspects took the police to the
spot where they buried Mercy
and her corpse was exhumed.
He said they were awaiting
autopsy report.
Source: Vanguard

Pope includes Nigerian Archbishop among newly appointed cardinals

Pope Benedict XVI named six
new cardinals yesterday
Wednesday October 24th, and
among them is a Nigerian Arch-
bishop, John Olorunfemi
Onaiyekan, who until his
promotion, was the Archbishop
of Abuja. Bishop Onaiyekan
becomes the third Nigerian
cardinal after Cardinal Francis
Arinze and Cardinal Olubumi
Okogie.
The other five newly appointed
cardinals are: Archbishop of
Bogota, Colombia, Ruben
Salazar Gomez; Archbishop of
Manila, Philippines, Luis Antonio
Tagle; Patriarch of Antioch of the
Maronites in Lebanon, Bechara
Boutros Rai; and the major
Archbishop of the Trivandrum of
the Siro-Malankaresi in India,
Baselios Cleemis Thottunkal.

Bus Drivers And Conductors In Lagos To Start Wearing Uniforms As From Next Year

Commercial bus drivers and conductors will
begin to wear uniforms and badges as from
January 2013, says the Lagos State
Government.
Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Kayode
Opeifa disclosed this at the weekend at a
sensitisation programme for transporters on the
new Road Traffic Law at the Adeyemi Bero
Auditorium, Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos.
According to Opeifa, from 1 January, all
commercial bus drivers and conductors would
begin to wear uniforms and badges in line with
the provision of the traffic law.
He explained that the state government wants to
sanitise commercial road transportation in the
state so that operators in the sector could be
proud of their job while quacks would be
eliminated.
The Attorney-General and Commissioner for
Justice, Mr. Ade Ipaye, declared that the state
Road Traffic Law was not intended to be another
source of revenue generation for the state
government, stressing that the law was rather
enacted for public good and to protect the
interest of the citizens.
Ipaye stated that the penalties for road traffic
offences were to serve as a deterrent to road
traffic offenders thereby guaranteeing safety on
the roads. He called on law enforcement agents
to always seek how they could assist road users
to comply with traffic rules rather than focusing
on arresting of people on flimsy excuses.
The commissioner enjoined members of the
public who were aggrieved by their arrest and
penalties imposed on them on account of traffic
offences could approach the Office of Public
Defender which would defend them free of
charge.
Commissioner for Information and Strategy,
Lateef Ibirogba urged them to first comply with
the law, insisting that in any civilised society there
must be rules and regulations which must be
obeyed for there to be peace and order.
Special Adviser to the State Governor on Political
and Legislative Powers, Muslim Folami, stated
that the sensitization programme was aimed at
educating members of the road transport unions
on their rights and obligations under the road
traffic law so as to facilitate compliance to the
law.

Senator Ali Ndume Gave AGF’s Phone Number To Boko Haram – Principal Witness

It was a shocking revelation yesterday at the
Federal High Court sitting in Abuja when more
sordid details regarding Ndume’s transaction with
Boko Haram emerged.
Chief investigator of the State Security Service,
SSS, Mr James Ene Izih, told the Court that a
Senator, Mohammed Ndume, gave the telephone
number of the Attorney General of the
Federation, Mohammed Adoke, to the Boko
Haram sect. It would be recalled that Mr. Ndume,
a serving Senator representing Borno South
Senatorial District, is standing trial for his alleged
ties to Boko Haram. The accused has, however,
said he established the link to facilitate peace as a
member of the Presidential Committee on
Security in the North East Zone.
Mr. Izih, who headed the Special Investigation
Panel, SIP, set up to investigate Mr. Ndume, said
that a former spokesman of Boko Haram, Ali
Konduga a.k.a Usman Alzawahiri, revealed the
information to the panel. The panel was informed
by the said Konduga that the senator provided
him with the telephone number of Mr. Adoke.
The witness allegedly told the panel that the
number was used to bargain a governorship
petition filed by the People’s Democratic Party,
PDP, in Borno state. Mr. Ineh said that the former
Boko Haram spokesman affirmed that the calls to
Mr. Adoke were threats to scare him into
influencing the Governorship Election Tribunal
members to give judgement in favour of the PDP
or risk mayhem in the State.
He further explained that the name of the
Attorney General was dragged into the panel
report submitted on November 25, 2011 on the
grounds that his GSM number was found in Mr.
Konduga’s telephone set. Mr. Izih, in his
testimony asserted that the items found in the
senator’s phone
were indicative of his close links with the dreaded
Islamist sect.
“The fact that Konduga was tried and convicted
of terrorism acts is enough to show that the
accused is also liable,’’ he concluded. The judge,
Gabriel Kolawole, adjourned the suit to
November 1, November 5 and December 11 for
further hearing.

May D dares PSquare? performs Chop my money at Felabration

May D may or may not know
what he has done; but the
tides are already heating up
and soon, there may be just
another messy war between
him and Square records barely
two months after he was
dropped by the label.
At Felabration 2012 held
recently at the New Afrika
Shrine, Akinmayokun May D
Awodumila was one of the
selected artistes to perform
and indeed he performed.
May D threw caution to the
wind and stormed the stage
with P Square’s Do as I do
which featured Tiwa Savage
and himself.
He didn’t stop there as he
went quickly into his award
winning single Soundtrack
before diving headlong into
Chop my Money. May D
wrapped up his act with his hit
single Ile Ijo.
In all of P Square’s songs
performed on this night, May
D didn’t stick to his lines,
rather, he took the entire
songs from start to finish.
The crowd, however, didn’t
seem to notice or perhaps
were not bothered as they
hollered and danced away the
entire time.
Square Records boss Jude
Engees Okoye had in a
statement issued August this
year, announced that the label
was severing ties with May D
due to irreconcilable
differences. A month later, May
D launched his own label
Confam Entertainment.
His single Soundtrack fetched
him the ‘Best R&B Single’
award at The Headies this year.