woman docked over impersonating army officer

A 25-year-old woman, Cynthia Okonkwo, was yesterday in Lagos charged with impersonating an army officer at an Ogudu Magistrates’ Court.
Okonkwo, whose address was unknown, was also charged with the theft of a Toyota Camry saloon car with registration no. KU 200 AAA, valued at N800, 000, property of Mr. Babatunde Onibire.
She, however, pleaded not guilty to the four-count charge of impersonation, unlawful possession, stealing and conspiracy.
According to Cpl. Kemi Adeniran, the prosecutor, Okonkwo falsely and unlawfully represented herself as an army officer by putting on an army cap and a jacket.
She said the accused committed the offences on Oct.16 at 2.00 p.m. at Ojota motor park, Lagos.
“The accused approached Onibire at Ojota Motor Park to take her to Adeniji Adele on Lagos Island, to buy some drugs.

Factors behind Mimiko's victory.

THE battle to dislodge Dr. Segun Mimiko as governor of Ondo State was fierce but the performance in the first four years was an unyielding tower in the time of storm for the embattled governor.
As the results of the election distill among the political class, the factors that framed the governor’s re-election are equally crystallising.
Iroko as Mimiko is popularly known in political circles, proved the cynics wrong that the he would be subsumed by the forces from the four South West governors that worked round the clock and coordinated by the Osun state governor Rauf Aregbesola to uproot him with a mere “broom”.
Mimiko: Laughs last
The result of the October 20 gubernatorial election has positioned Mimiko as the first governor of the new Ondo State to secure a second term mandate from the people of the state.
His re-election made nonsense of the campaign of the opposition A C N that the state needed to join other states in the region for proper regional economic integration, and that of the PDP that the state should join the mainstream politics by voting for its candidate

ACN leaders refuse to endorse Mimiko's victory

The national hierarchy of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, yesterday shied away from a full endorsement of the outcome of the Ondo State gubernatorial election even as the party leaders pledged to put the election behind them.
At a top level meeting of the party’s national leadership in Lagos, party leaders also vowed not to be intimidated into endorsing an election they claimed was characterized by “several irregularities and instances of thuggery and violence.”
While vowing not to be spoilsports who would rather sacrifice the nation’s democracy than lose an election, the party leaders vowed to continue a scrutinisation of the votes and processes of the election, saying a legal action would be instituted where sufficient evidence is obtained.

NNPC appoints new MDs

Abuja The management of the NNPC on Monday approved the appointment of new managing directors for the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) and Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC).
The new managing directors are Mr Ian Udoh for PHRC and Mr Paul Obelley for WRPC.
This is contained in a statement by the acting Group General Manager, Public Affairs Division of the NNPC, Mr Fidel Pepple.
He said that a number of other management staff members were also promoted while others were re-deployed.
He named those promoted to include Mr Farouk Ahmed, formerly Executive Director, Commercial, PPMC, now Managing Director NIDAS; Mr Samuel Babatunde, formerly Executive Director Operations of the Warri Refinery, now Project Director Olokola Liquefied Natural Gas Project.
Also promoted are Mr Abdullahi Dandume, formerly Executive Director Operations, Nigerian Engineering and Technical Company (NETCO), now Managing Director NETCO and Aliyu Sambo, who was General Manager, M&P, now Group General Manager, Accounts.

one killed as huricane hits jamaica

The hurricane struck the island unleashing heavy rains and winds of 125km/h (80mph).
According to BBC reports, schools and airports are closed, and a curfew has been imposed in major towns. A police officer was shot and injured by looters in the capital, Kingston.
A hurricane warning has also been issued in Cuba, where Sandy is expected to make its next landfall.
Moving at 22km/h, the hurricane struck Kingston on Wednesday evening and headed north, emerging off the island’s northern coast near the town of Port Antonio.
Sandy has prompted a hurricane watch in the Bahamas, while Florida has been placed on tropical storm watch.
“It’s a big storm and it’s going to grow in size after it leaves Cuba,” said forecaster Michael Brennan from the National Hurricane Centre (NHC) in Miami.
The NHC predicts that Sandy could dump up to 50cm (inches) of rain across parts of Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and eastern Cuba.
“These rains may produce life-threatening flash floods and mudslides, especially in areas of mountainous terrain,” the Centre warned in a statement.
More than 1,000 Jamaicans have sought refuge in shelters, with residents reporting widespread power outages, flooded streets and damages to buildings.
An elderly man was crushed to death by stones that fell from a hillside as he tried to get into his house in a rural village, authorities said.said.

Nollywood ranks third in global revenue.

Nollywood, Nigeria’s film industry, is ranked third globally in revenue, Robert Orya, managing director, Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) has said. Nollywood generated close to N126.4 billion ($800 million) revenue in the last three years

Three die as Government forces clash with militants in Russia

The shooting came after the militants were surrounded in a residential building in an operation against “especially dangerous criminals”.
Police said one of the dead militants was wearing a suicide belt.
Kazan is capital of a region with large numbers of Muslim Tatars and Bashkirs.
Officials said the militants had been planning an attack to coincide with the Kurban Bayram (Eid al-Adha) holiday, to be celebrated on Thursday (today) and Friday.
Special security operations against Islamists are relatively common in the volatile North Caucasus region but rare in Tatarstan, the BBC reports.