BREAKING: Boko Haram decrares ceasefire; names Buhari, four others as mediators

Reports reaching us say the fundamentalist group, Boko Haram has proposed to dialogue with the federal government and in the plan outlined by a member of the group, a ceasefire will be declared before the dialogue commences.
In what can be described as a drastic shift from the sects hard line position, the sect which has been staging insurgent attacks against the Nigerian government in northern Nigeria on Thursday offered to cease all hostilities if the federal government will arrest and prosecute the immediate past governor of Borno State, Alhaji Ali Modu Sheriff.
One Abu Mohammed Ibn Abdulaziz who claimed to be one of the leaders of the Islamic sect, made it known that the group will call for a ceasefire if the federal government arrests and prosecutes the immediate past governor of Borno State, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff.
In a telephone press conference in Maiduguri the Borno State capital today, Abdulaziz told journalists that he was speaking for the sect as he has been directed to do so by the leader of the Jama’atul Ahlis Sunna Liddaawati wal Jihad widely known as the Boko Haram.
“If this former governor is arrested, this thing will end as we are highly offended with what happened three years ago”
He claimed that Sheriff (the former Governor) while in office sent securities to arrest and kill most of their members while practising their religion, adding most of them are at the moment languishing in various prisons across the country.
He called for compensation as most of their wives and children have been killed while their properties have also been destroyed.
Saudi Arabia venue
The sect he revealed have adopted Saudi Arabia as the neutral venue for the proposed dialogue with the federal government, saying the choice of Saudi Arabia is because the federal government has failed them in the series of the negotiations.
Abdullaziz said five of its members have been mandated to liaise with five members of Borno Elders to find ways of meeting the federal Government to end the insurgency.
He listed the Nigerian mediators to include Alhaji Shettima Ali Mongonu, General Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd), Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim, Ambassador Gaji Galtimari and Barrister Aisha Wakil and her husband.
“The committee members of the dialogue he stressed include; my humble self, Abu Mohammed Abdullaziz, Sheik Abu Abas, Sheik Ibrahim Yusuf, Sheik Sani Kontagora, and Mamman Nur”
Boko Haram, formed in 2009, claims western education is sinful and proposes that interaction with the western world is forbidden and also opposed to the Muslim establishment and the federal government of Nigeria and therefore wages what the sect calls a war against them.
Since August 2011 the insurgency attacks and counter insurgency is reported to have claimed over 2,000 lives. The sect staged a number of attacks on government establishment by planting bombs and using suicide bomb attacks at strategic locations and churches across the northern region of the country.

The man who sued his wife for giving birth to an ugly baby

Apparently in China, bad genes are grounds for divorce — and six-figure fines

"Failed relationships can get ugly," says Ji Lin at the Irish Examiner, but the weird, sad tale of Jian Feng and his wife "really gives meaning to the old cliché." The story starts out conventionally enough: Feng, a resident of northern China, met and married a beautiful woman, and they had a baby girl. That's when things reportedly got, um, ugly. Feng was "so sure of his own good looks, so crushed by the wrinkly ugly mess that was handed to him in a swaddle, that he decided to sue his wife because the awful looking baby was totally her fault," says Madeline Holler at Babble. And then things went from ugly to crazy: He won. Here's what you should know:

How was the ugly baby the mom's fault?Since the baby didn't look like either parent, Feng accused his wife of infidelity — "because jumping to conclusions about your wife's faithfulness is the obvious thing to do when you have an ugly baby," says Sam Smith at Planet Ivy. After a DNA test proved that the baby is, in fact Feng's, the wife came clean on her little secret: Before they had met, she had undergone about $100,000 worth of cosmetic surgery in South Korea. And unverified before-and-after photos circulating on Western and Chinese blogs do show a marked improvement in looks after the women went under the knife.

SEE MORE: Does heavy pacifier use emotionally stunt boys?

On what grounds did he sue?False pretenses — Feng claimed that his wife misled him by not telling him about her plastic surgery before they wed. "I married my wife out of love, but as soon as we had our first daughter, we began having marital issues," he reportedly said. "Our daughter was incredibly ugly, to the point where it horrified me." A judge agreed, and ordered the wife to fork over $120,000. Ugh, says Babble's Holler. The wife "should probably file her own lawsuit for even more damages from having married Feng under the false pretense that he wasn't a shitty husband and father."

Who's the biggest loser here?Well, "it's usually the victim of court cases that you're supposed to feel sorry for," says Planet Ivy's Smith, but who wants to give emotional succor to a "man who is angry at his beautiful wife for being ugly at some point in her life." The wife obviously has to pay a huge amount of money, and got publicly humiliated in the process, but at least she's free of an obviously odious husband. So "if you're going to feel sorry for anyone, feel sorry for their child, who will forever be known as the baby that broke her parent's marriage — with her face."

Hurricane Sandy: Police officer dies after rescuing 7 people

NYPD officer Artur Kasprzak, 28. (NYPD)

An off-duty New York City police officer died in his own basement after saving seven members of his family from rising floodwaters. Officer Artur Kasprzak, who died on Monday, was 28 and had been on the NYPD for six years. Now, more details of Kasprzak's heroic actions are coming to light.

CBS New York reports that on Monday, with water pouring into his Staten Island home, Kasprzak helped move six adults and his 15-month-old nephew into his home's attic. He then went back down to the basement to look for his father. Unknown to Kasprzak, his father had already exited the house and was on his way up to the attic via a different path. Kasprzak never returned.

A family member he rescued called 911 to report him missing. A team of rescuers arrived but was unable to search the basement due to downed power lines. When it was deemed safe to search, around 11 hours later, Kasprzak's body was discovered by authorities.

In an interview with NPR, Kasprzak's sister said he loved his job. "He's always ready. Sometimes he didn't sleep, or he slept just a few hours. Every time they called him, he was there. You know, he's very devoted. We will miss him so much." Family friend Krystina Nawrot called him "a hero to the last minute, to the last second."

Yorubas set to kick ACN out of South West..... Afenifere

FOLLOWING the re-election of Governor Olusegun Mimiko of the Labour Party (LP) in the October 20 Ondo State gubernatorial election in spite of the boast of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, the Pan Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, said the outcome of the polls sign-posted the end of the ACN  in the South-West.

In a congratulatory letter to Governor Mimiko, which was signed by Chief Reuben Fasoranti (Leader) and Chief Seinde Arogbofa (Security), the group said the outcome of the election had shown that Yoruba people were tired of the ACN and would “kick them out at the appropriate time.”

The Afenifere prediction raises the bar for future elections in the zone beginning with Ekiti and Osun governorship elections en route the 2015 general polls. The question is: will ACN retain its political control of the South-West in 2015?

Reps order total closure of Kogi Assembly

The House of Representatives on Thursday ordered the full closure of the Kogi State House of Assembly pending the report of its mediation on the crisis rocking the House. The lawmakers in a letter directed the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, the Director General of the State Security Service (SSS), Ekpenyong Ita and other relevant security agencies to ensure full compliance with its order. The letter dated October 30, 2012 was signed by the Deputy Chief Whip and Chairman House of Representatives Ad-Hoc Committee to mediate in the Kogi State House of Assembly crisis, Hon Murktar Ahmed. The same letter was also addressed to all members of the Kogi State House of Assembly and the Clerk of the House. The lawmaker also directed the Clerk of the House and all other supporting staff of the Assembly not to recognize any group of members or its leadership pending the outcome of the Ad-Hoc committee’s mediation. It would be recalled that 12 members of the 25 member Kogi Assembly last month sat and impeached the Speaker of the House, Hon Abdullahi Bello and other principal officers of the House. The action of the members has been variously condemned as illegal. Analysts have said the group did not meet the mandatory two- third majority members required to carry out the impeachment.