President Goodluck Jonathan, Senate President, David Mark,
President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Ayo Oritsejafor,
Pastor Enoch Adeboye of the Redeemed Christian Church of God and Bishop
David Oyedepo of the Winners’ Chapel are among eminent Nigerians
expected in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on September 22 for this
year's National Fasting and Prayer Day.
Coordinator of the World Christian Fellowship Foundation, organisers
of the programme, Prophet Okoduwa Atorkpa, said the one-day event
include, among other things, fasting and offering prayers to God to save
Nigeria and the re-dedication of the nation to God.
Atorkpa, who spoke to journalists on Monday in Benin City, Edo State
capital, said the theme for this year, “God Save Nigeria,” was aptly
chosen by the organisers after a revelation from the Holy Spirit and
following the recent insurgency and tragedies that had befallen the
country.
According to him, for Nigeria to experience greater unity and
prosperity, the people must forsake all the things that displease God
and violate His word as God alone and not humans can save the nation
from the impending calamities.
The coordinator, however, pointed out that Nigeria would not break up
despite the myriads of problem confronting it, just as he foreclosed
the prediction of the United States intelligent report to the effect
that Nigeria might break up in 2015, saying they were words of men and
not God’s words.
Atorkpa cautioned against the nation seeking only economic security
without spiritual security, adding that, “the task of pulling down the
strongholds and the works of the devil in this country and building a
God fearing nation is the work of every Nigerian. Fasting and prayer is
the key to all of God’s action on earth.”
A Chinese man accused of
swallowing a diamond worth $13,000 (£8,200) actually ingested a fake gem
in what may have been a ruse to help the real thief escape, police in
Sri Lanka say.
Police say the gem that he passed after he was given laxatives was a fake.
They believe the real diamond was stolen by an accomplice who fled the scene in the capital, Colombo.
But the owner believes the real gem was taken earlier, saying the man only ate the fake in panic once police came.
Police say they are trying to track down the accomplice who fled the scene.
"We suspect that as habitual offenders, this group were in
the habit of swapping real stones for fake ones," police spokesman Ajith
Rohana told the BBC's Charles Haviland in Colombo.
He said that the man who swallowed the stone had another six gems in this pocket, all of which were proved to be fakes.
Police say he could have swallowed the stone in an attempt to
distract the diamond's owner, Suresh de Silva, while his accomplice
stole the real gem.
Mr de Silva told the BBC that the Chinese men had visited the
stall twice and he believed the diamond theft occurred during the first
visit and not the second one, when the man swallowed the stone.
He insisted the man was trying to swap a fake stone for the
real one and only swallowed the stone when he panicked after Mr de Silva
apprehended him and alerted police.
"When the police arrived he had no option but to swallow it," Mr de Silva said.
Sri Lanka has a thriving gem industry but it does not mine diamonds. It is well known for its blue sapphires.
Source: BBC News
African University of Science and Technology has discovered a new
drug and method for the treatment of cancer, an official said.
The President and Provost of the university, Prof. Wole
Soboyejo, stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria
on Monday in Abuja.
Soboyejo said the feat was achieved in the course of the ongoing research into cancer treatment.
He said that the results of the research were already showing reasonable conclusions of a nanotechnology-based cancer treatment.
According to him, the research is collaboration between the
university, Sheda Science and Technology Complex and Princeton
University in the United States with funding from World Bank STEP-B
Projects.
Soboyejo said to devote more time to the research, the project had been moved from the United States to Abuja, Nigeria.
He said that the treatment would utilise nanoparticles, which could
be injected into the body through the blood vessels to the capillaries
and then attach itself to the cancer cells.
The provost said the treatment would also utilise Biological
Micro-electromechanical Systems and used for detecting and treating
cancer.
Bio-MEMS refers to a special class of Micro-Electromechanical Systems
where biological matter is manipulated to analyse and measure its
activity under any class of scientific study.
Soboyejo said the research into the nanoparticles and Bio-MEMS was being anchored by experienced PhD students of the university.
“One of the things we have done is that we have moved the centre of
gravity of that research from the United States to Abuja; we currently
have two PhD. students that are working on nanoparticles.
“We also have two PhD students that are working on the bio-MEMS (biological micro-electromechanical systems) devices.
“We have now started the work to attach those particles to molecular recognition units which will attach only to cancer cells.
“That work now is at a stage where once the attachment is done, we are going to begin to do some cell and animal experiment.
“We are beginning to plan animal experiment and we are talking to
some people who are basically helping us with setting up the animal
cages to do the animal experiment.
“We are also setting up a bio-ethics committee because you know
before you can start doing animal experiment you have to follow certain
ethical procedures, so, we are in the final stages of receiving approval
from the Nigerian Bio-ethics Board,” he said.
Soboyejo said that progress had been made in the bio-MEMS research
‘’as the implantable devices had the capability of soaking up drugs
before they are implanted and squeezing them into cancer cells. ’’
He said that apart from squeezing out drug for chemotherapy, the
devices could also be used to apply heat to the region where the cancer
tumour was located.
He said that the centre of gravity of the research had also been
transferred from the United States to Abuja with two PhD students
working on the research, adding that one of them had already discovered
an alternative treatment drug.
“One of the PhD students has actually in conjunction with the
collaborator, Dr. Sola Odusoya, discovered a new cancer drug called
Prodigosene.
“And what is special about this prodigosene is that we can make it
from local bacteria and we can make it in sufficient quantities for
drugs.
“We have separated it and we have tested it and shown that it has
the same effectiveness in treating cancer as “Taxol”, which is a
well-established cancer drug.
“We have also looked at the device design and tested the device
design in terms of how it can soak up the drug and release the drug.
“Lastly, we have done experiments to show the effective killing of
cancer cells by the release of the drug from the device and we are now
ready to do the animal experiments.
“So, the animal experiments have been designed, once we receive
bio-ethics approval we would like to conduct the initial experiment for
demonstrating the shrinkage of the tumour in the last quarter of this
year,” he said.
He explained that it was not ethical to test it in humans directly,
saying it was the reason animal experiment would have to be carried out
first before using it on humans.
Soboyejo said that beyond the use of the new drug, another PhD
student was also looking at how to use a combination of heat and drug to
kill cancer cells.
He said that because the laser beams had limited penetration, it
could only be effective for near-surface tumours while the heat
generated by oscillating magnetic fields at the nanoparticles would
serve better in the treatment of bulk tumours.
He said that the university and its partners were considering the
effect heat would have on cancer cells as well as how to control and
regulate the heating while restricting it to only the area with cancer
cells.
He added, “What we are now trying to do is to put a control system in
place with some local detector that would make sure that that heat
never exceeds the level that you need for treatment.
“The student is now designing and making the system and the idea that
we have is putting in the ability to sense and also to control the
temperature to do effective heating.
“So once we do that we would then be able to use that heat to release
the drug as well as to kill the tumour and our plan is to follow the
initial experiment on drug release on animals with the experiment on
drug release and heat.
“The real reason for combining the two is you may be able to reduce
the total amount of drug you need to have a therapy take effect and
thereby reduce the side effects of the treatment.”
He said drug release must be controlled so that they would not enter
the wrong hands as it had the potency to cause intoxication.
Soboyejo spoke on the process of testing the drugs and how they could be developed for the benefit of Nigerians.
“So, we would go from cells to animals and then our hope is that if
everything looks good at this point then we would go to humans.
“The advantage of this is that: let’s say we go to humans and we have
good results then the drugs are made here; the gels are made here; and
the procedures can be developed here so at least it would benefit our
own people,” he explained.
Soboyejo said that if the research into cancer treatment in humans
was successful, studies into other drugs and treatment methods would be
embarked upon for the benefit of the world population.
He expressed gratitude to the World Bank Science Technology Education
Post-Basic projects for sponsoring the research, saying that without
the funds, there would have been no advancement in the research.
Residents
in a Seattle suburb are questioning how and why a sheet of metal the
size of a refrigerator fell from the sky and onto a heavily trafficked
street.
Witnesses say the object fell from the sky just before 7 a.m. Friday
morning, crashing down onto a residential street in Kent, Washington's
East Hill. The piece of metal skipped about 30 feet before coming to
rest on the street, KOMO reported.
The Federal Aviation Administration was soon on the scene to investigate
the incident. In a statement, the agency told ABC News the object was
"a landing gear door from a Boeing 767."
Residents in Kent are still perplexed over exactly where the landing
door came from. Just moments before the door crashed into the
neighborhood, people described what looked like a cargo jet flying
unusually low.
"It sounded like maybe a little distressed, or vibrating," Kent resident Diane Oien said.
Witnesses told KOMO that many people walk through the area each day,
including children heading to school. Luckily, no one was injured in the
incident.
Col. Stephen Ganyard, retired U.S. Marine Commander and ABC News
Consultant explained that air force on the plane may have led to the
door being stripped from the plane.
"What could have happened in this instance is, as the aircraft was
coming in to land in Seattle, the force of the air on the landing gear
door could have torn off an already weakened gear door that may have
then lead to this piece of metal going into the residential area," he
said.
This is not the first instance of plane parts being stripped from aircrafts and falling from the sky.
In May, pieces the size of cell phones from an Air Canada Boeing 777 scattered onto cars near Toronto.
Just days prior, a door from a small plane landed in the middle of a fairway on a Miami golf course.
In 2009, a dozen houses and numerous cars in Manaus, Brazil were
reported damaged when parts -- one weighing as much as 550 pounds --
fell from a cargo freighter.
"This something that happens quiet frequently, especially as airplanes get older and things tend to break," Ganyard said.
A star footballer is to go on trial accused of torturing and killing his
mistress, then feeding her dismembered body parts to his pet dogs.
Married
Bruno Fernandes de Souza, 27, a goalkeeper once tipped to play for
Brazil, is alleged to have turned model Eliza Samudio 'into a human
sacrifice' to preserve his reputation after she gave birth to his love
child.
He
is already serving a four-and-a-half-year prison sentence after being
convicted of assaulting and abducting Ms Samudio, 25, but will be tried
for her murder later this year.
Prosecutors allege that Bruno
planned Ms Samudio's kidnap and murder with eight others, including his
wife Dayane, a teenage cousin and former detective Luiz Santos, all of
whom have been charged with murder, conspiracy to murder and kidnapping.
The
goalkeeper, who played for Brazilian club Flamengo, is said to have
watched as Santos committed 'barbaric tortures' on Ms Samudio before
helping the former detective dismember her body.
Parts of the woman's body are alleged to have been fed to Bruno's dogs while the rest was buried in concrete.
Bruno
is accused of ordering his wife to tell people that his love child, who
was four months old at the time of the killing, had been adopted by
them from a poor relative.
It is also claimed that Bruno told police Ms Samudio was 'a wh*re who will not be missed by anyone'.
A
Brazilian newspaper has reported that the prosecution at the trial will
allege that Bruno attacked a supporter, smoked cannabis and attended
orgies with fellow players.
Edson Moreira, a detective who
investigated the case, told the Sunday Express: 'An idol like Bruno,
from such a major team, has turned out to be a monster.
'We have witnesses who will testify that he turned this girl into a human sacrifice merely to try to protect his reputation.'
The trial is expected to hear that Bruno met Ms Samudio at a party held by a teammate.
'Unfortunately
for her, they slept together that night and she later discovered she
was pregnant,' Mr Moreira said. 'When she approached de Souza and told
him he was the father, he became enraged.
Prosecutors will
allege that Bruno planned Ms Samudio's murder after she told him she
would take legal action to prove he was the father of her child.
In
a statement to police, his cousin claimed that, led by Santos, they
kidnapped Ms Samudio from a hotel in Rio de Janeiro on June 4, 2010.
He
said they drove her some 220 miles to a property in Belo Horizonte
which the footballer and his wife used occasionally as a weekend
retreat, where Ms Samudio was tortured.
It is claimed that Santos played loud music on the stereo to drown out the woman's screams.
Bruno,
whose contract with Flamengo has been suspended, also faces charges of
kidnapping, hiding a body and forming a criminal gang with intent to
murder.
He has maintained his innocence throughout, claiming he has a 'clear conscience'.
Fuji
musician, Bayo Akanni aka Ojuyobo has passed on. He died yesterday,
Sunday September 9, 2012 at the Lagos State University Teaching
Hospital, Ikeja after a protracted illness.
But according to the information reaching AlabamaUncut the Fuji
musician is said to have died of a heart related disease. Anyways he
will be buried today at his residence in Mowe. This was confirmed by his
manager, Mr Rafiu.
The
Lagos State Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye, said
on Monday that the state government would introduce Mandarin, or Chinese
language, in public schools’ curriculum as from next session.
Oladunjoye said this in a statement signed by the Ministry’s Public Relations Officer, Mr. Lanre Bajulaiye.
The commissioner said this after a meeting with the delegation from the Chinese Confucius Institute, University of Lagos.
She
said that learning the language in the state's public schools would be
an opportunity for the pupils and students to speak the language and be
able to adapt to the Chinese culture.
The
Director of the Institute, Prof. Caleb Orimoogunje, said the
institution was ready to assist the state with necessary logistics to
make the teaching and learning of the language easier.
Orimoogunje added that Prof. Lirong Jiang, a co-director of the institute, would help in the take-off of the programme.
Jiang
said the institute, as a representative of the Chinese culture in
Nigeria, was set up to satisfy people's need about the country’s
culture.
She
noted that the language became necessary because China had become the
new destination for economic growth and technological development.
``The
Institute is prepared to provide Chinese instructors to teach the
language and culture in the state's public schools as soon as the
Memorandum of Understanding is signed between the state and the
institute.
``The
knowledge of Chinese language will help students to further their
studies in China and carry out research in various fields of human
endeavour as China has become a success story in the world economy,``
the News Agency of Nigeria quoted Jiang as saying in the statement.
Barely
a week after a child was reportedly born with Islamic rosary, (Tesbaha)
in Sagamu, Ogun State, another amazing event was recorded in the
ancient town of Abeokuta, as a man that was believed to have died about
four decades ago was sighted at Mawuko area of Odeda local government,
Ogun State.
The appearance of late Sheikh Ibraheem Nyaas at a newly constructed
building in the area has continued to attract visitors both within and
outside the State since the unusual event occurred few days ago.
Investigation by Leadership Sunday confirmed that last week Friday,
the ghost of sheikh Ibraheem who had died for almost 37 years ago
started appearing on the walls of a building belonging to one Saubana
Fadeyi.
Expectedly, the strange happening has turned the sleepy Mawuko
village into a Mecca of sorts as people thronged the area to see another
oddity and seek the face of Allah.
The owner of the building who moved into the yet to be completed two
bedroom flat a day to the eid el fitri celebration while speaking with
LEADERSHIP SUNDAY confirmed that he started noticing a very faint
brightness on the wall of his sitting room and the figure that showed on
that wall was a replica of the portrait of Sheikh Nyass that he
engraved at the entrance of the building.
His words: “My wife first noticed it and she rushed out to inform me,
when I also saw it, I was greatly terified, wondering how such thing
could have happened”.
“My thought was that the ghost would eventually disappeaed but on the
second day, it brightenes more and started showing on all sides of the
building which made me ran to a pastor of a church near my house for
assistance”.
Collaborating the husband, Mrs Maryam Fadeyi said that when she saw
that the happening was a strange thing, I told my husband to inform
those that knows better than us, it was then we called on an Imam at a
nearby mosque after the Pastor that we invited had adviced that we seek
for help from muslim clerics to solve the misery”.
Fadeyi said that he immediately invited some Muslim clerics in the area to come and behold the strange happenings in his house”
Fadeyi said, “the shout of “Allahu Akbar” (God is Great) rented the
air as hundreds of people trooped in to behold what happened”.
Struggling
to find romance again, singer Wayne Denton tried a Ukrainian online
dating site and found himself a new wife almost half his age.
Glancing at his watch, Wayne Denton spoke slowly and carefully to the
glamorous blonde on his computer screen. Everything they said to each
other had to be painstakingly repeated by a translator – and each minute
was costing Wayne money.
Unbeknown to the dad-of-two, in just a few months this beautiful
Ukrainian stranger, who was almost half his age, would be his bride.
Since splitting up with his wife, Wayne, 55, who has two sons, Richard,
22, and Daniel, 13, had been on plenty of dates with women his own age,
but never found lasting love.
Cruise ship singer Wayne, from Oldbury, West Midlands, found fame in
the late 80s after performing on TV talent show, New Faces, which
launched stars including Victoria Wood and Lenny Henry.
“I sang Neil Diamond’s ‘Hello Again’ and one of the judges said that I had a great Neil Diamond voice.
“I got through to the final but as I sang an original song I didn’t win the show,” says Wayne.
Afterwards he forged a successful career, working on cruise ships as a
singer and agent, but as a single man in the entertainment industry he
ended up going from one girl to the next, following his divorce in 1997.
“I had a few short-lived relationships. They would move in and then move out. It wasn’t all the girls’ fault.
“I blame myself, too, especially since I was away a lot with work. I got very lonely coming back to an empty house.”
So Wayne decided to try online dating on UK websites and went on lots of dates with women his own age.
“But the spark simply wasn’t there. I am used to being around young people in my business and I am very young at heart.
“A friend then said to me ‘You’ll end up with a young Thai bride or something.’
“At first I thought ‘No, of course I wouldn’t,’ but then I thought, ‘There’s no harm in looking abroad’.”
So Wayne logged on to a website called anastasiadate.com for meeting Russian and Ukrainian women.
“Apparently, one in five of their dates ends up in relationships and
all the girls were vetted, so I felt like I was in safe hands.
“I clicked on Ukraine and saw one profile that stood out like a flashing light.
“Her name was Iuliia. She was 29, a mum of one and absolutely stunning. So I sent her an email and soon we started to converse.”
Wayne had to pay to send her a message and to read emails she sent him.
If he wanted to see any pictures she sent, he had to pay for them as well.
Wayne had a niggling doubt that it could all be a scam.
“The pictures could have been fake and there was no guarantee Iuliia was even real. It could have been a man writing to me.”
But Wayne got the proof he needed when the agency offered a video date service.
“It cost £30 for 10 minutes but I thought ‘What the heck!’ The first time we spoke online I was so excited.
“She was very beautiful, with massive blue eyes, but it was
frustrating because she didn’t speak any English and we had to use a
translator.
“The 10 minutes turned into 40 minutes, which was expensive.
“Iuliia told me she had an eight-year-old daughter, Mylana, and that she had split from the father about two years before.
“She was nervous using a dating site because there was a history of
Ukrainian women ending up as prostitutes when they met Western men.”
In fact, Wayne was the first man that Iuliia met from the site.
“I was worried at first, but my friend who worked at the agency reassured me,” says Iuliia, who now speaks fluent English.
“I’d had a lot of emails from different men, but I never met any of them.
“Wayne stood out. His photo was handsome and he had beautiful eyes.”
Wayne was smitten, but he still had his doubts.
“You can’t help thinking, ‘Why does this girl like me? Maybe she wants a passport or money’
“When I brought up the age gap between us, Iuliia reassured me that
most of the girls in the Ukraine on these sites are looking for a stable
and happy relationship, so age isn’t an issue with them.”
After two months and £500 spent talking to Iuliia online, Wayne
decided to meet her and flew to her home city of Mariupol in October
2010.
Iuliia took time off from her job as an interior designer.
“She met me at the airport and I fell in love straight away,” says Wayne.
Iuliia adds: “We spent nearly 24 hours together every day for 10 days. It was so romantic. I knew he was the one.”
Wayne set Iuliia up with a Skype account and a laptop and paid for her to have some English lessons.
He says: “It was with a heavy heart that I left her but we arranged
to meet again. My work schedule made it hard to plan, though.”
That Christmas, Wayne told Iuliia he wouldn’t be able to see her because of family commitments.
Instead, he arranged for her to be taken by friends to an expensive karaoke restaurant.
“I got the people at the restaurant to tell Iuliia there was a message from me.
“When the music started, I walked out with a bunch of roses and sang
Neil Diamond’s ‘Hello Again’. She was so emotional she cried.”
Iuliia didn’t even know who Neil Diamond was at the time.
“When I heard what I thought was a CD message I was crying already,” she says.
“Then I saw my Wayne and I couldn’t believe it. I cried a lot.”
It was at the end of that second visit that Wayne proposed and Iuliia accepted.
“I knew she was genuine and that she was in love with me and that’s all that mattered, regardless of what people thought.”
The next step was to start the visa application process, so that Iuliia could come to the UK.
But, while Wayne hadn’t kept his romance a secret from family and
friends, when he told them he was now engaged, not all of them were
delighted.
“They all thought I was bonkers meeting Iuliia, let alone marrying her.
“They all said ‘What if it doesn’t work out?’ I thought I could meet
someone in the town next to me and it might not work,” says Wayne.
In March 2011, they married in the Ukraine, surrounded by Iuliia’s friends and family and some of Wayne’s.
“We had the civil ceremony in a restaurant, which is like a registry
office, and a month later we had the reception and the celebration,”
says Wayne.
They went to Thailand for their honeymoon and because Iuliia’s wages barely stretched to anything, Wayne footed the £2,000 bill.
In July last year, Iuliia was granted a spouse visa and Mylana followed her.
“When Iuliia arrived, she couldn’t believe that there was so much countryside. She asked where all the houses were!” says Wayne.
“What struck me most was the clean, fresh air,” says Iuliia.
“Back home the air is smoggy from all the factories.
“When I saw our home, I was overwhelmed – a four-bedroomed detached house with its own garden and a collie dog.
“One of my favourite things in all the world is having coffee in our own garden with Wayne.”
Next year she will have extend her visa for 12 months. After that she can apply for citizenship.
She has no regrets about leaving the Ukraine.
“I wanted a man to grow old with,” she says. “It didn’t matter to me what country he was from.
“I wanted him to have a good heart and that is Wayne.
“Both me and Mylana have settled in now and Wayne’s like a father to her. She’s even got two older brothers to look out for her.
“I love England, the polite people and chicken tikka!
“I do get homesick, especially when Wayne is away, but I hope to become a translator and possibly do modelling.”
Wayne spent a small fortune on meeting, wooing and then marrying Iuliia.
He says: “All in all, after the website subscription, eight flights
to the Ukraine, the wedding and reception, and visas, I must have spent
about 12 grand, but I think that’s the best money I have ever spent.”
by Akan Ido
A Maiduguri-based cleric, Pastor Kallamu Musa Ali Dikwa, has named
several individuals who, according to him, are behind the activities of
the dreaded Islamic sect, Boko Haram.
Reports
say the cleric went ahead to forward the names of the alleged sponsors
of the militant Islamic sect to the Senate President, David Mark, in an
open letter with the title: “Open letter to the Senate president: My
Suggestion on how to tackle Boko Haram”.
The cleric was said to have accompanied the letter with documentary
evidence detailing the activities of the Boko Haram members in
collaboration with their sponsors, the evidence was reported to be
contained in DVD/CDs sent to the senate president.
The senate president, according to sources, referred the issue to the
appropriate senate committee with a view to conducting a thorough
investigation into the authenticity of the cleric’s allegations on
February 29 this year but nothing has since been heard of the
committee’s findings.
The DVD/CD evidence allegedly contained details of prominent Nigerians who are connected with the Boko Haram sect.
In the said letter, the cleric urged the government to do everything
within its powers to decisively tackle the terrorism menace and put a
stop to the Boko Haram sect activities.
Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, the special adviser to the Senate president
(Media), said he was not aware of the said letter but promised to get
back to the reporter after making his findings.
However, another source close to the office of the senate president
admitted that the office received the letter and passed it to the
appropriate quarters.
The source said, “It is true, a letter like that was received from a
cleric. I can’t remember his name again but the Senate president acted
on it. Maybe the investigation is still in progress, I don’t know. But
now that you are raising it [the issue], we will find out. The claims of
the cleric are nothing that can be overlooked; something will have to
be done.”
The Boko Haram Islamic sect has since 2009 conducted violent attacks
mainly in the northern part of the country targeting many people whom
it considered as been against its religious ideology.
Eight hundred miles is a long way to go to meet any man.
It’s even further when you’re a 13 year old girl driving your
brother’s car — borrowed without permission, of course — to rendezvous
with an online boyfriend whom you’ve never met in person before.
That’s how far Elizabeth Annette Robinson of Cypress, Texas, was willing to go to meet the 12-year-old guy whom she met while playing Xbox over the Internet, according to KHOU-TV.
Last Thursday, Elizabeth decided she’d rather play the game of love
for real and stole her mom’s ATM card, snuck out her bedroom window,
and hopped into her brother’s 2011 Nissan Versa, according to KRIV-TV.
Robinson drove north through Arkansas to meet the object of her affection, Dylan, in Nashville, Tenn.
Elizabeth’s mother, Tressa Robinson, started noticing some changes in the teen a little while before she made her break.
“She started staying in her bedroom more, isolating herself where she
was always with the headset, always talking,” Robinson told the TV
station. “That’s how they communicated through the Xbox.”
When Elizabeth’s dad took away the Xbox earlier this week, she
decided to make her break and run away to Hodgenville, Ky., to meet
Dylan in the flesh.
Although Dylan tried to talk her out of the road trip, Elizabeth went through with it any way.
The teenager was about 50 miles away from Nashville when local police finally apprehended her, Dep. Thomas Gilliland, spokesman for the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, told the Houston Chronicle.
He was impressed that she was able to drive for so long without
getting caught despite being three years away from getting a learner’s
permit.
“It’s amazing she was able to manipulate the roadways,” Gilliland told the paper.
Elizabeth was taken into custody until her parents arrived. Once they
retrieved her from the authorities, they decided to arrange a meeting
with Dylan so their daughter could put the thing to rest.
No charges are expected to be filed against the lovestruck teenage car thief, Gilliland told the Houston Chronicle.
Twitter
has hosted proposals and divorce announcements, so it was only a matter
of time before the site serviced an actual wedding ceremony.
On Monday, a Turkish couple made it official by tweeting ‘I Do,’ in
what’s believed to be the world’s first Twitter-hosted wedding. Actually
they wrote ‘Evet’—the Turkish word for ‘Yes’—on their iPads, and added a
few extra ‘T’s’ as is customary when expressing joy through digital
mediums.
The groom, Cengizhan Celik, is a social media editor for the news
website Ensonhaber.com, so it almost makes sense that Twitter would
serve as his best man. The bride, Candan Canik, doesn’t seem to share
the same enthusiasm for the service, considering her vow was her first
tweet. But love is all about making sacrifices, right?
In a video of the ceremony, posted on YouTube, an officiant prompts
the couple to confirm their vows and they both gaze into the faces of
their respective iPads. By that point, Celik was already deep into
live-tweeting the ceremony. Earlier, he’d kicked it off by posting the
update: “Let the fun begin.” It was an open invitation for the world to
virtually crash the party. And crash they did. The wedding received
international coverage and Celik retweeted copious congratulations with
abandon.
How Skype made one couple’s wedding dream come true
After they made it official and signed a marriage license with pen
and paper (wah-wah), the groom tweeted a photo with his new bride,
exhibiting the precise amount of web-friendly sarcasm as he held a
finger-gun to his head and made a ‘what have I done?’ expression.
That photo joined the carousel of images on Celik’s personal Twitter gallery, also home to photos of Jeff Daniels and Webster.
It’s not the first wedding ceremony to rely on technological
innovations. Skype and laptops have been integrated into ceremonies when
one-half of a couple is separated by an ocean. Servicemen stationed
oversees have been patched in virtually to make their marriages official
when they’re far from home. One couple live-streamed their vows for
guests who couldn’t catch a flight to their Dubai wedding in the
aftermath of Iceland’s volcanic eruption.
More recently, a groom-to-be tracked his proposal process on Twitter,
and celebrities like Kelsey Grammer and Ashton Kutcher have used the
social networking site to release public statements about their
divorces.
Celik’s decision to live-tweet his romantic milestone was simple. He
told a Turkish newspaper he wanted “a little surprise.” The bar was
already set pretty high with singing brides and zombie wedding photos.
But, Celik may have bumped it up a notch. If nothing else, he captured a
moment most newlyweds say flies by in an instant. Too bad so much of it
was spent looking at an iPad.
She was delivered of a set of triplet on May 4, 2012, and barely two days after the two boys and a girl arrived, her husband, Kabiru Yusuf, divorced her for giving him three babies at a time. Before giving her the red card, Yusuf beat the mother of the triplet silly. Welcome to the world of 26-year-old Zainab Siraju.
When the news of Zainab’s ordeal first broke out about four months ago, not many residents of Kaduna, Kaduna State believed the story. All efforts to trace Zainab then, also proved abortive until August 30, 2012, when she returned to the hospital to enable the triplet undergo medical treatment. In an interview with Sunday Sun at the Yusuf Dantosho Memorial Hospital, where she was delivered of her babies, Zainab vowed that even if the father of her new babies made efforts to reconcile with her, she would never go back to a man who had no pity for her.
“Two days after I put to bed and was discharged from the hospital, I received the beating of my life from my husband for giving birth to triplet. The next thing was that he issued me a divorce letter,” she said.
The embattled woman, who could not hold back tears while narrating her ordeal, accused her run-away husband of lack of care. This was even as she alleged that she was beaten up by her brother in-law for daring to make her case known to the media. However, Zainab whose marriage to Kabiru Yusuf was her second, said she had no regret having the triplet despite the rejection by their father. Zainab, who also had three boys for her first husband, would not state why her first marriage crashed. She simply said she might have been chased her out of her first marriage by fate to have her three bundles of joy for Kabiru Yusuf.
Zainag said: “Actually I was married before, but the marriage didn’t last. I had three children there who are presently with their father. I believed I left my first husband because I was destined to have triplet for Kabiru and these are my first delivery for him.
“But, since he divorced me for having triplet, I moved in with my parents in Tudun Wada here in Kaduna, where assistance have come from good people, who have been assisting me with money, food and clothes.”
The mother of six also disclosed that a few days after her return from the hospital, her husband’s younger brother also attacked her for disclosing her ordeal to the public through the media.
Asked if she would go back to her husband, Zainab said: “I will not go back to him even if he begs me because of his uncaring attitude, which I am sure he can’t stop. He didn’t take care of me despite the fact that he works at Panteka.
“He was aware before my delivery that I was carrying triplet. He was adequately informed, because we did scan and it was revealed that I was pregnant with triplet.
“I am not disturbed that I gave birth to triplet. I use this opportunity to thank God for blessing me with the triplet and I pray to God to bless them for me.”
Zainab also ruled out the possibility of getting married again, saying that all that mattered to her was how to cater for her children.
Hear her: “I’m not planning to re-marry. I want to take proper care of my children, give them good training and a sound education. So, I will welcome any job opportunity that comes my way to enable me take care of my babies.”
Also speaking to Sunday Sun, the Matron-in-charge of Paediatrics at the Yusuf Dantosho Memorial Hospital, Mrs. Ajiyana Ramatu, said: “After her delivery, her husband came here, as if he was going to do something, but did nothing. So, I had to go round my colleagues to see if there was any material assistance that we could give her.
“In the process, some people gave some cash while others brought clothes. Two days later, when she was discharged from the hospital, she was divorced for giving birth to triplet.”
Source: Sunday Sun
Son of a one-time National Organising Secretary of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Umaru Dahiru, has been shot dead by
suspected policemen in Bauchi metropolis in Bauchi State.
Sunday Sun learnt that Sulaiman Umaru Dahiru, aged 31, was allegedly
shot when he refused to stop during a stop-and-search operation by
officers and men of the Bauchi State Police Command.
Our correspondent further learnt that Suleiman was driving very close
to his father’s residence at Murtala Muhammed Road, opposite Gwallaga
Juma’at mosque in Bauchi city, when the security men on patrol allegedly
ordered him to stop for identification.
The deceased allegedly refused and was shot by the joint patrol team.
His father, Alhaji Umaru Dahiru, who was until the tragedy a staff of
the Federal Capital Development Authority, Abuja, and the Baraden
Bauchi, confirmed the killing of his son, describing it as unfortunate.
He said: “We held a wedding ceremony in my house last Friday, so the
boy was busy taking women that attended the occasion back to their
various houses.
“We couldn’t see the boy and we tried to find out his whereabouts,
but we only located his vehicle sprayed with bullets and discovered his
dead body at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Teaching Hospital riddled with
bullet wounds.”
Dahiru, one time Commissioner for Finance in the state, explained
that he was told his son was killed after he allegedly failed to stop
during a stop and search operation, saying it was unfortunate that both
criminals and innocent people were being killed.
On what the family intends to do, the PDP chieftain said there was nothing they could do, but to leave it to God to judge.
Commenting on the issue, the Chief Medical Director of the Abubakar
Tafawa Balewa Teaching Hospital, Bauchi, Dr. Mohammad Alkali, said the
police brought the deceased alive around 2 am on Saturday for treatment,
but he later died.
When contacted the state’s Police Commissioner, Mohammad Ladan, said he was not aware of the incident.
Ladan said he was hearing it for the first time from the reporter.
Source: The Sun
NO
fewer than a dozen of passengers were feared dead and three others
injured in auto crash on Odogbolu - Ososa (Ogun State) stretch of the
Lagos- Ore expressway. It
was gathered that the auto crash which involved a Toyota Hiace bus
marked XA 659DBC and which belonged to Ajetunmobi Express and a truck
numbered LG 35BBG caused major traffic gridlock on the expressway. The impact of the collision, it was gathered triggered an explosion that left the victims burnt. According
to the Public Relations Officer of the Ogun State Traffic Compliance
and Enforcement (TRACE), Mr. Ade Adebiyi, blamed the crash on over
speeding. The bodies of those that were burnt beyond recognition have been deposited at the mortuary of the General Hospital, Ijebu Ode. Commander
Adebiyi however warned motorists to desist from over said three persons
escaped unhurt and warned motorists of the dangers of over speeding
with approach of the end of the year.
NEW YORK (AP) — A police officer shot and killed a convenience store worker who plowed into him on a sidewalk while frantically fleeing an armed robbery early Friday, a sudden encounter that the police department called a tragic accident.
Three
men taken into custody at the shop after the shooting were charged with
murder, robbery and weapons possession, prosecutors said.
Dramatic
security video released by police shows the uniformed officer, his gun
drawn, positioned outside the Bronx shop's front door moments after a
911 call. In a flash, the store manager rushes out the door. Closely
behind with his head down is Renaldo Cuevas, who runs full speed into the officer, sending both men tumbling to the sidewalk.
A pool of blood appears to form on the ground the instant Cuevas lands on his back. The officer is kneeling and pointing his semiautomatic at Cuevas when the video clip ends.
Investigators
believe the impact of Cuevas running into the officer caused him to
fire one round, striking the 20-year-old victim in the left shoulder,
police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said at a news conference. Cuevas died later at a hospital.
Though
the death appeared to be an accident, the officer was placed on desk
duty pending an investigation, a routine practice for all New York
Police Department shootings. Officials refused to release the name of
the seven-year veteran of the police force.
Nigerians across the country have raised their
voice on the rate at which trucks belonging to Africa’s richest man
Aliko Dangote is killing them in their hundreds. What o
ught
to be a source of blessings to Nigerians is now turning into a curse as
the companies kills people at the slightest mistake. The instances are alarming According to CKN Nigeria record obtained from relevant traffic authorities in Nigeria is eye bulging.
Today a Dangote truck had a head on collision at Okene with a golf car
with all the occupants of the Golf car heading towards Okene still
trapped beneath the truck with virtually no rescue in sight.All the
occupants of the car died on the spot When the
Head Corporate Communications of Dangote Group, Tony Chijene was contacted, he
described the incident as unfortunate. He said his company is also
worried with the recent crashes involving Dangote truck saying that was
why the company advertised for graduate drivers (about 2000) to replace
existing ones. So far over 13,000 people have applied including about Nine Phd holders.
In his words, once we are through in three weeks’ time with the
recruitment, a new programme will be drawn and training held for them on
the best practice. Its left to be seen how long Nigerians can hold their peace before the Dangote truck monster is brought to a minimal level.
It will be recalled that Dangote trucks in the past has killed hundreds
of Nigerians in Lagos,Ogun,Kwara,Kogi and several parts of the country
The ongoing rampage by members of the dreaded Islamic sect, Boko Haram, continued on Friday in Damaturu, Yobe State, as the terrorist group set the residence of the mother of the First Lady of the state ablaze.
This came less than 24 hours after a similar treatment was visited to the communication masts of some telecoms companies in Damaturu, Bauchi, Maiduguri, Kano and Potiskum.
It was gathered that Governor Ibrahim Gaidam’s mother-in-law’s house was first attacked six months ago during which the occupants were robbed of their jewellery.
Police Commissioner Patrick Egbuniwe confirmed the incident. He told reporters that the gunmen stormed the house on Gashua Road and ordered all the occupants out before setting it ablaze.”We got a report that the house
of the mother- in-law of Governor Ibrahim Gaidam was burnt down by
unknown gunmen suspected to be members of the Boko Haram sect… everybody
was asked to come of the house before they finally set it on fire. No life was lost,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Joint Task Force (JTF) has disclosed that four persons
have been arrested in connection with the attacks on telecoms masts in
Damaturu. The suspects were arrested along Gujba Road allegedly on their
way to burning down more masts.
The JTF appealed to members of the public to give information on the activities of the sect.
LEADERS of the South-south geopolitical zone who met yesterday under the aegis of the South- South Peoples Assembly (SSPA) in Effurun, Delta State agreed to endorse President Goodluck Jonathan to run for a second term in 2015.
Nearly all the six states of the region were duly represented.
The leaders have not met since the Calabar declaration of 2004 when the region was clamouring for the Presidency to be zoned to it.
Yesterday, the speakers were unanimous about Jonathan’s re-contesting in 2015.
They therefore endorsed Jonathan to complete his eight years tenure when they echoed ‘yes’ to a call by Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark if they wanted Jonathan in 2015.
The convener, Clark said the northern political leaders were being unduly antagonistic to the south-south especially since President Jonathan assumed office in 2011.
He specifically noted that some leaders of the north, like Alhaji Lawal Kaita had threatened prior to the 2011 elections that unless a northerner emerged as president, they would make the country ungovernable and more so had recently threatened that except a northerner succeeds Jonathan, there would be “no Nigeria.”
He said that the threats by the northern leaders was fuelling the insurgency by Boko Haram, stressing that until these northern leaders rose above sectional interest and the governors lived up to the challenges of insecurity, the threat to the northern economy and peace of the country, the quest for peaceful co-existence and development would remain futile.
Clark said that the North was doing everything possible to shut down the South-South hence they were calling for the abrogation of the 2004 Act which ended the onshore/offshore dichotomy so as to cripple the South-South region.
The leaders discussed the convening of the national conference of all ethnic nationalities in the country to trash out issues of national co-existence.
At the venue, Delta State Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan urged those agitating for the abrogation of the onshore/ofshore dichotomy to abandon it, saying that would adversely affect the nation.
He said : “I’m worried when some leaders overlook the obligation placed upon them in not applying restraint in the position they take, such as on this issue of derivation.
“I say so because, the tension and crisis over derivation, in particular over on-shore/off-shore dichotomy, is too recent in our collective memory to be reopened by anyone for debate.
“The fear in many quarters is that if they succeed in reopening and reversing this settled issue, then we can be sure that before long they will ask for the reduction of 13 per cent derivation.”
Others present at the well-attended meeting were first civilian Governor of Edo State and National Chairman of the Assembly, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, erstwhile Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Diepreye Alamieyesegha, and former Inspector- General of Police, Mr. Mike Okiro.
Chief Whip, Sen. Roland Owie, Senator Lee Meiba, Senator Tara Sikibo, former Minister of Education, Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi, Senator Francis Osakwe, Senator Cairo Ojugbo, Prof. Saliba Mukoro, Senator Francis Nwajie, environmental activist, Annkio-Briggs, Mrs. Monica Akiri, Dr. Brown Adasan, SSPA National Secretary, Whiskey Ayakeme, Chief Francis Dongbonlagha, Gen. Anthony Etukudor (rtd), Chief Isaac Jemide, Prof Solomon Okobia, Brig-Gen Idada Ikponmwen (rtd), Julius Okojie, K.B Omatseye, Chief Godwin Ogbetuo, Chief Moses Odibo, Chief Lucky Esigie, Chief Samson Mamamu and Adora Giwa-Amu.
Others present were first civilian Governor of Delta State, Olorogun Felix Ibru, ex-Military Administrator, Air-Commodore Idongesit Nkanga, Senator Francis Spanner Okpozo, former Chief Whip, Mrs. Stella Omu and former Minister of Information, Prof. Sam Oyovbaire.
Source: The Guardian
THE Ebonyi State Police Command at the weekend, arrested a 10-year-old boy for allegedly trying to force open the door of a Mercedes Benz car, parked along Awka street in Abakaliki, the state capital.
Parading the suspect before newsmen at the command headquarters, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, ASP Sylvester Igbo, said that luck ran out of the suspect, when the owner of the car, on sighting the boy trying to open the vehicle door, raised an alarm resulting in the intervention of passersby and the subsequent arrest of the suspect.
According to the PPRO, the suspect, whose name was given as Toochukwu Otuu, admitted committing the crime when interrogated by investigating police officers.
ASP Igbo said: “It was when the suspect was caught in the act that he confessed that he was sent by one Mr Oluchukwu who was based in Enugu, the capital of Enugu State.
The police image maker said that the guardian of the boy disclosed that the suspect had been involved in stealing people’s property and had earlier been taken to a spiritual healing home for cleansing.
Igbo said that the command was on the trail of the suspected two-man gang, who allegedly introduced the suspect to car theft, saying that the suspect was now in police custody, and will be charged to court at the end of investigation.
