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.

Frsc asks motorists to take kuje exit.

Federal Road Safety Corps on Thursday morning warned travellers on Abuja-Gwagwalada Road to expect some delay as a result of the unruly behaviour of some truck drivers.
In a post on Facebook at 6.35a.m, FRSC said two trailer drivers intentionally blocked the entire expressway with their trucks, causing a traffic jam on the busy road.
It advised road users, especially those travelling home from Abuja for the Sallah holiday, to use Kuje exit to Gwagwalada.
The alert reads: “Sallah travelers -Abuja Exit Traffic Alert! Between Giri junction and towards Gwagwalada is blocked presently due to two trailers who refuse to abide by (the) rules.
“They intentionally used their trailers to cross the road. If you are still in Abuja, you are advised to use Kuje exit to Gwagwalada! FRSC officers and other law enforcers are there to restore traffic flow on the road.”

Ondo election was clean said Pastor Adeboye

THE General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye, has described the re-election of the Ondo State governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, as clean, transparent and peaceful.
The clergyman made the remark in a congratulatory message by his Special Assistant on Administration and Personnel, Pastor Johnson Odesola, to the governor and the entire people of Ondo State, yesterday.
He maintained that the re-election of Mimiko was indeed a landslide victory, saying, “So overwhelming that everyone agrees that the result was a true and accurate expression of the voters’ choice.”
Adeboye stated that the entire family of the RCCG is proud of Mimiko’s honesty, transparency, dedication and hard work in his first term in office and wishes he continues in that light and with the fear of God, with his second term,

 

Nigerian Archbishop included 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.

Two students arrested over rape, kidnap and murder of school mate

Two students of Federal Polytechnic, Auchi, Edo State, Henry Edewo, 21 and Emmanuel Isikhuime (pictured above), have been arrested by the Police for kidnapping, raping and murdering a female student, one Mercy Peter, 21, also a student of the institution.
They were alleged 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.
Vanguard gathered that the victim, who was kidnapped on July 29, this year, was killed four days later after she was serially raped by the suspects.

MI records Ashes in memory of Aluu4

 4 young men died at the hands of a lynch mob on the 5th of October 2012. Whether or not their deaths will mean anything, or fade out of our minds as just another meaningless tragedy, is up to us and what we do from here on. I hope this song captures that message. Nothing would be worse than for a death to mean nothing" - MI Abaga.

    

Lyrics

We were down a sandy beach,
All night talking to your mouth’s words.
Tell me where you would like to be.
Tonight don’t be afraid to dream.
Lean on the fire for a while.
Cause in the morning it’ll all just be ashes on the ground

Instead it be them, let it be me.
Since I will die inevitably,
Then let it be, that it be said

Victims of Flood disaster died in Rivers State

NO fewer than eight victims of the flood disaster in Ahoada East Local Government Area of Rivers State, have died at their camps.
Deputy Governor of Rivers State and Chairman of the State Flood Relief Committee, Tele Ikuru, who announced this yesterday in Port Harcourt, said the government would not hesitate to sanction any traditional ruler caught diverting relief materials meant for victims.
According to the Deputy Governor, there are reports that some traditional rulers and community leaders were diverting relief materials meant for victims in camps in their domains.
Ikuru urged traditional rulers and leaders in communities affected by the flood to work with government officials to effectively distribute the relief materials.
He said: “It is absurd for chiefs and leaders of some communities to bring their chieftaincy and communal problems to the camps, and engage in favoritism and criminal diversion of relief materials meant for the flood victims. Such acts of criminality will not be condoned henceforth, and defaulters will be made to face the full wrath of the law.”

Bakassi indigenes go to court.

They took their plight to the appellate court after Justice Gabriel Kolawole relied on technicalities and dismissed their legal action.
In a ruling he delivered, yesterday, Kolawole maintained that the plaintiffs failed to attach an affidavit to support the reliefs they sought against the Federal Government, noting that after a careful perusal of the processes before the court, he discovered that Bakassi indigenes only adduced a verifying affidavit.
The presiding judge placed reliance on the decided case-law in Agbakoba Vs SSS, to insist that the inability of the plaintiffs to file the requisite affidavit in line with the rules of the court, rendered their suit incompetent.
The judge said: “A verifying affidavit cannot be substituted for the primary affidavit upon which every other application rests. Verifying affidavit is only meant to support the main affidavit. Therefore, in the absence of the requisite affidavit, this suit is ex-facie incompetent and is doomed to be struck out.”
Besides,Kolawole said the court

Teacher flogs student to death.

A 12-year-old student of a secondary school in Awka, Anambra State, Miss Chidimma Ukachukwu, has died after she was allegedly flogged by her teacher for failing to do her homework.

A reliable source in the school told the News Agency of Nigeria in Awka on Tuesday that the girl died on Thursday last week after she was flogged. The source explained that the girl fainted after being flogged severally by a female teacher and was subsequently rushed to an undisclosed hospital, where she died.

Haven't they banned corporal punishment in Nigerian schools? Why are some teachers still flogging? WTH? Please continue...

The source also told NAN that the Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Uju Okeke, then ordered the closure of the school as a result of the incident.

Boko Haram threaten Adoke

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.

Fashola ban okada riders in Lagos State, fuel scarcity bite harder

With the restriction of okada on some routes and the worsening fuel scarcity in Lagos State, many Lagosians who were stranded trekked to their destinations on Wednesday.

Also, motorists were held up for hours following gridlock on most major roads. Lagos-Ibadan Expressway towards Seven-Up, Yaba, Iyana Ipaja, Ikorodu Road, Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, Oba Akran Avenue, Oba Ogunnusi Road in Ogba among others witnessed traffic snarl.

Findings by our correspondents showed that the gridlock was as a result of motorists struggling to buy fuel at some filling stations, ban on okada in some routes and Sallah rush.

At Oando filling station, Oba Akinjobi Way, Ikeja and at Total filling station in Ojota, where fuel was being dispensed, the queues took over a large part of the road causing gridlock.

Some motorists and commuters, who spoke with our correspondents, also attributed the situation to the Lagos State Government new traffic laws.

They said the policy was not well thought out because it had only imposed hardship on the people.

“I really don’t know the purpose of a law. Is it to make the people suffer or to provide relief? a woman, who gave her name as Janet, said in Ogba.

CAN president rejoices with muslims

The President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, has called on Muslims to use the Sallah celebration to pray for peace, unity and development of the country.
This is contained in a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja by the Special Assistant, Media and Public Affairs to the CAN President, Mr Kenny Ashaka.
“The CAN president rejoices with the Muslim ummah on this joyous occasion of the Eid-el-Kabir celebration.
“He wishes the President-General of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs and the Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Alhaji Saad Abubakar lll and indeed all Muslims a happy celebration.”
Oritsejafor said the prayers should centre on the re-establishment of the pillars of love and tolerance for which Islam is known.
He also urged the Muslim community to “shun harshness and bigotry which are attributes that are alien to Islam and use this occasion to understand the Holy Prophet Muhammad’’.
The Federal Government has declared Oct. 25 and Oct. 26 as public holidays to mark Eid-el-Kabir. (NAN)

 

Ghana’s Heated Elections

TWO issues are distracting the Ghanaian general elections that are 44 days away – the disqualification of former first lady, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, of the newly formed National Democratic Party, NDP, and electronic registration of voters that went a further step by asking prospective voters to verify their details by SMS.
Ghanaians have criticised the voting verification method as unsuitable for a population with low literacy and a telephone penetration of about 30 per cent. Another criticism of electronic verification is that the SMS cost more than regular ones.
However, concerns about registration pale significantly when compared to the disqualification of Mrs. Rawlings, who the Electoral Commission, EC, said failed to fill her nomination forms properly.
The decision is a major blow for the flamboyant grandmother whose husband, Jerry Rawlings, ruled Ghana for almost 19 years.

Whizkid is performing at the BBC Radio 1Xtra Live Concert in November

Nigerian pop sensation, Wizkid has loads of reason to smile. This year, he clinched a mega endorsement deal with Pepsi alongside Tiwa Savage as a brand ambassador for the drink company, his singles including “Dance For Me” raced to the number 1 spot on most Nigerian billboard charts at release date and just recently, on Saturday 20th October 2012, he was honored with the biggest award of the 2012 Headies as the Artiste of the Year.And now, Wizkid is once again making headlines as the only Nigerian artiste to perform alongside top international acts including Trey Songz, Kendrick Lamar, Tulisa and Angel at the BBC 1xtra Live concert set to take place on Monday 12th November 2012 at the Brixton Academy, London.