Police loot in Okene, burn shops •Nothing like that happened - PPRO

(NIGERIAN TRIBUNE) - IT has been alleged that Mobile Police men drafted to Okene in Kogi State to ensure law and order after the Monday and Tuesday killings were looting  shops and setting some ablaze.
While the soldiers  maintained peace,  embarking on stop and search, Mobile Police men allegedly engaged in  looting shops after forcefully breaking the doors and carted away goods worth several millions of naira.
An eye witness disclosed to Sunday Tribune that the Mobile Police men also assaulted innocent people, particularly commercial vehicles traveling across  the town to another state.
Sunday Tribune gathered that owners of the shops were helpless as the men shot sporadically to scare onlookers away from the scene.
Others averred that commercial  bus drivers were forced to jump, while passengers had to trek many miles before they were allowed to go.
When Sunday Tribune called on the Police Public Relations Officer of Kogi State, Police Command, Mr. Ile Simon, he said nothing like that ever happened in the state.
Meanwhile the Ohinoye of Ebira land, Alhaji Dr. Ado Ibrahim, has summoned traditional rulers in Kogi Central, asking them to find lasting solution to the security problem presently confronting the area.
Sunday Tribune reliably gathered that the Ohinoyi has mandated all the traditional rulers to cooperate with  security agents presently in the area.

How Evil Brothers kill okada rider

---

By SUNDAY ANI (nichsunny@yahoo.com)
Mathias Idoko is not a happy man right now. The 60-year-old native of Ogrute, Enugu-Ezike, in Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area of Enugu State, is mourning the violent death of his 39-year-old son, Festus Ali, who until his death eked out a living riding commercial motorcycle otherwise known as okada. He was murdered in cold blood about 10 p.m. on July 6 this year.
Before his untimely death, he was married with three children. His wife is heavy with pregnancy and is due to deliver in a matter of weeks. Festus would never set his eyes on the new baby because his supposed customer and friend brutally murdered him.
Narrating how he was killed, his father, Mathias, said: “My son was a commercial motorcyclist. He was married with three children and his wife (widow) is about eight months pregnant. We were told the man who murdered my son called him on phone to convey him home because they knew each other quite well. When he got there, the man, Ifeanyi Nwaurama, realising that it was too early in the night to carry out his evil intention, took him to a joint where they drank till late into the night before he asked my son to take him to his girlfriend’s house at Umu-Agama.
“While on his way to Umu-Agama, our kitchen went up in flames and his wife called him to inform him of the development, and that was the last conversation he had with us. After the trip to his killer’s girlfriend’s house, his killer asked him to take him to his house at Aji. My son didn’t suspect any danger; he didn’t know that Ifeanyi was hiding a hammer in a polythene bag inside his trousers pocket, covered by his shirt. So, as soon as he dropped him and turned his motorcycle to leave, Ifeanyi allegedly brought out the hammer and hit him on the head from behind. He screamed, fell down and died instantly, while Ifeanyi dragged the motorcycle to his house and his elder brother brought water and washed off  blood stains splashed all over the motorcycle.

“He had actually succeeded in his evil act without anybody seeing him, but when he went back to the scene of the murder to take the body away from the road leading to his house, members of the Aji vigilance group saw and called him by his name. He ran away. His elder brother was arrested by the vigilance group while trying to remove the number plate of the motorcycle in order to replace it with another so that nobody would recognise it. He is currently in detention over the alleged murder. Ifeanyi is still on the run.”

However, the slain Festus’ mother, Christiana Ali, in her own account, said: “After the dinner, I had gone to bed when I heard people shouting. When I came out, it was my kitchen that was on fire. I told my son’s wife to call and inform him of what was happening. When she called him, he asked her if the incident was serious and she said yes. That was probably when he was coming out of Umu-Agama to go to Aji, because he told his wife that he would soon be home.

When we didn’t see him, I asked his wife to call him again, and when she dialled his number somebody answered the phone and said her husband was being held captive somewhere. The voice told his wife that it was not time for him to speak and that when it was time he would speak to the wife. When it was 1 a.m. we called the number again and they told us he had been kidnapped and demanded a ransom. When we asked where to deposit the money, the voice said they had killed him and asked us to go to Ugwu-Aji where his body had been dropped. When we got there, we saw his body and a hammer on his chest. It was then that some people who saw what happened told us how they wanted to catch the killer but could not before he escaped.

Information came later that his killer was at Igoro and before the search party could get to the place, he had disappeared. The body is still in the mortuary pending the outcome of investigation. The suspect’s elder brother is in detention while the police continue to hunt for him,” Christiana Ali said.

For his pregnant wife and mother of three, Obioma, it was wailing and wailing and wailing. She was inconsolable. She only managed to tell our reporter that the dreaded black curtain had fallen on her eight-year-old marriage when she least expected. “Who would train the three children plus the one in my womb.” She continued to mutter as tears streamed down her cheeks. If only tears could bring back the dead, Festus would have come back to life because of his wife’s tears. When asked to narrate what happened, she broke down, her body shaking in paroxysms of grief.

Sources said the alleged killer, Ifeanyi, who claimed to be a businessman based in Onitsha, Anambra State, has about 13 motorcycles he acquired by killing the owners and taking their motorcycles to Onitsha where he gave them to people to ride on commercial basis for daily returns to him.  They alleged that he had been engaged in this evil for some time, but the killing of Festus finally exposed his source of wealth.

He is currently on the run, while the police are on his trail. His elder brother, who is now in detention, is also believed to be an accomplice in the evil act. He, it was who washed off stains of blood from the motorcycle when his brother took it home after killing Festus. He was also seen trying to remove the number plate and replace it with another so as to avoid detection when the Aji Vigilance group swooped on him.
When our reporter visited the family house of the suspects at Aji in Enugu-Ezike, the place was deserted.
Confirming the incident, Enugu State Police Public Relations Officer, Ebere Amaraizu, said investigation into the matter was ongoing. He said the police would get to the roots of the matter and prosecute whoever the culprits are.

Source: The Sun

Evil prophet exposed

---

•Book of Satan, charms, fingernails   recovered from church
•’He’s custodian of family idols’
•Patronized by top civil servants, businessmen
From DAVID ONWUCHEKWA, Nnewi
A 55-year-old prophet and founder of a popular sabbath Church in Inyaba Umudim,  Nnewi, in Anambra State, narrowly escaped a lynch  mob recently following his alleged role in the death of family members and discovery of fetish objects in his church.
On the long list of items found inside the prophet’s church were charms of various sizes and shapes, idols, human hairs, fingernails, chains and a register containing more than 30 names.
Checks by Sunday Sun revealed that it took the timely intervention of policemen to save the prophet (names withheld) from the wrath of angry youths in the community.
Village sources stated that the prophet’s journey to disgrace started when he invited a native doctor from neighbouring Umuenem Otolo,  Nnewi, to the family house  penultimate Monday, to prove his innocence following allegations that he was responsible for the death of some of his family members and some strange happenings in recent times. The latest casualty was a female member of the family who died mysteriously and was buried a few weeks ago.
The incantations of the native doctor was said to have attracted the attention of one of the prophet’s sister-in-laws whose childlessness had also been linked to him.
The woman who alleged that she was repeatedly mentioned by the native doctor, alerted her husband on phone, and on arrival, the man and some family members ordered the native doctor to leave the family compound but were ignored by the guest and his host.
It was gathered that it took threats from the youth who were attracted to the scene of the argument that ensued, to get the native doctor out of the place.
Thereafter, some of the prophet’s kinsmen who were no longer comfortable with his activities in the community decided to search his house and the church. The search party was said to have been astonished at what they found in the two places.
Sources told Sunday Sun that apart from several idols found in one of the rooms in the house of the prophet who was said to be the custodian of his family’s idols, some scary items were also discovered inside the church that he founded about 20 years ago.
They included a book of Satan, charms of various shapes and sizes, people’s photographs, fingernails and some human hairs.
Other items found by the search party were idols, chains, animal hoofs, gallons of chemicals and a register containing more that 30 names.
All the items were later set ablaze by the angry youths who later attempted to lynch the prophet but for the timely intervention of law enforcement agents.
When contacted, the spokesman of the State Police Command, Mr Ebube  Chukwuemeka,  a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), said that he was yet to receive any report  on the incident.
One of the worshipers in the prophet’s church who pleaded anonymity, told Sunday Sun that many notable civil servants and businessmen  from within and outside Anambra State, usually patronize the church for charms and prayers.

Culled from The Sun

Ex-commissioner kills wife over stew

---

By SUNDAY ANI (nichsunny@yahoo.com)
When Mathias Eze of Umu-Aji village in Umuida, and Patricia Ossai of Imufu, both in Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area of Enugu State got married, little did Patricia know that her heartthrob would end her sojourn on earth in the most gruesome manner 16 years after their marital union.
But on Saturday, July 21, 2012, Mathias, a former Commissioner in the Enugu State Independent Electoral (ENSIEC), tragically ended the union that had produced six lovely children with an alleged gunshot over his wife’s failure to prepare stewed rice for the day’s supper.
The father of the deceased, Elder Alphonsus Ossai, now a shadow of himself, told Sunday Sun the tale of his daughter’s forced death as was narrated to him by the late Patricia’s 15-year-old daughter, Uju, who witnessed the incident that night.
“On Saturday, July 21, 2012, at about 8pm, according to my grand-daughter and Patricia’s first child, because I was not there, he (Mathias) came back with a grass- cutter and asked his wife to prepare it, and left the house again. My daughter cooked the meat and when he came back again at about 10 pm and demanded for the cooked meat, she gave it to him. He asked her to give him rice and stew but my daughter told him she didn’t cook rice. What she cooked was ‘Otipiri,’ a local delicacy made from maize. “He flared up and questioned why she didn’t prepare rice and stew with the meat; but my daughter pleaded that she had started cooking the maize delicacy when he returned with the meat. He then went to his second wife who hails from Ibagwa in Igbo-Eze South Local Government Area, and asked her what she cooked for the night and that one told him that she prepared yam porridge.
“At that point, he became livid and threatened that he was going to shoot two of them if they didn’t go back to the kitchen to prepare rice and stew that night. The two women pleaded with him to understand that it was too late in the night and there was no more firewood in the house. Besides, it rained heavily that night. They thought they had placated him and tried to recharge their handsets, but he warned them not to do so since they refused to cook stewed rice for him. They didn’t take his threat seriously.
“It was at that stage that he dashed into his room, came out with a double-barrel gun and pursued them. The second wife was the first to see him with the gun and she alerted my daughter but he had already closed in on them. The other wife ran out of the compound while my daughter hid at a corner of their kitchen because at that time, the generator had been switched off, so the entire compound was enveloped in darkness. But he quickly embarked on a search mission with the first son by his first wife who had died many years ago.
“He had given up the search and was going back when his son, who had finished secondary school, spotted my daughter and alerted him. He called his father to come and see the ‘idiot,’ referring to his father’s wife, my daughter. The man came there and aimed at my daughter who was then pleading profusely with him to spare her life but all her entreaties fell on deaf ears as he fired at her killing her instantly.”
The distraught father, who fought hard to control tears rolling down his cheeks as he spoke, alleged that when Mathias who works with the Enugu Sate Post Primary School Management Board (PPSMB), saw that he had shot his wife dead, he put her inside the boot of his car and drove to a near-by hospital in Ogurute.
According to him, the suspect told the hospital workers, that armed robbers came to his house and while he was exchanging gunfire with them, stray bullet hit his wife down.
Patricia’s younger sister, Edith, and her elder brother, Johnson corroborated their father’s account of the incident and wondered why an infinitesimal issue such as failure to cook a particular meal could lead to such a dastardly act.
Edith said: “I feel terribly sad that a man could be that bestial to his own beloved wife; the bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh as the Bible tells us. It beat my imagination. It was a rude shock when I heard the news.”
Also in a fury-filled tone, Johnson said: “I feel very sad that my sister is lying cold in the mortuary. I live in Lokoja in Kogi State, but I am home because my sister’s husband shot and killed her in cold blood. My sister begged and begged that her life be spared but he adamantly shot and wasted her life just like that. She had six children for him; four boys and two girls. I am very sad because I can’t see why he should be that bloodthirsty. I feel that government should mete out appropriate punishment to him to serve as a deterrent.”
When Sunday Sun visited the country-home of the suspect at Umu-Aji in Umuida, the house was deserted.  Checks revealed that he had been taken to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), at the Police Headquarters in Enugu.
Women who live in the neighbourhood confirmed the incident and described Mathias as a very harsh man who didn’t allow his wives to relate with other people. They said his wives rarely came out adding that he was a male chauvinist who believed that women should only be seen and not be heard.
Another native who preferred anonymity, described him as, “a very wicked man who derives pleasure in inflicting pains on people.” He alleged that the suspect once threatened to drown his late first wife because she denied him sex.
Also, a young lady in the community narrated how a girl he had married, ran away and was later forced to cough out N150,000 that the suspect claimed, as expenses he incurred during the marriage ceremony.
“The girl had to take up a paid employment and started paying back until she paid to the last kobo. It’s just that the girl is now in Lagos; otherwise, I would have asked you to go to her to hear more about the man. He is wicked and people are afraid of him because he has money.”
Efforts by Sunday Sun correspondent to speak with Mr Eze drew blank as the police did not allow him to see the suspect.
But investigation revealed that Eze gave two different accounts on how he allegedly killed his wife. He was said to have told the staffers of the hospital where he took his wife’s corpse to, that he killed her in error during a gun duel with robbers that attacked his house. It was also gathered that the suspect later told the police at Ogrute that he noticed strange movement inside the bush behind his compound and because there was no light, he suspected that it could be an armed robber, and fired his gun only to discover that he had killed his wife.
When the State Police Command Public Relations Officer, Ebere Amaraizu, was contacted on phone, he confirmed the incident.
“We are aware of the incident that involved one Mathias Eze who was alleged to have shot and killed his wife. I can assure you that investigations are on-going and we shall get to the bottom of the matter. The police would do everything necessary to ensure that justice was done at the end of the day”, he said.

Culled From The Sun

JTF nabs terrorists, recovers weapons of mass destruction

Following the new tactics of operation adopted by the Joint Task Force (JTF) which is tagged “Humanitarian Line of Operation” against the deadly Boko Haram sect in Maiduguri and Jere council areas of Borno state, a raid operation was conducted within the metropolis leading to the recovery of large arms and ammunition yesterday. Briefing newsmen at the JTF Headquarters along Pompomari By- pass in Maiduguri, the Field Operations Commander, Colonel Victor Ebheleme commended the efforts of residents for cooperating with the security agencies in providing information on the hideouts of the sect members, which according to him led to the success of recovering the arms and ammunition .
Ebheleme said, some residents provided information on the hideouts of some suspected members of the sect, enabling the JTF swung into action and arrested some members and after interrogation, the suspects revealed the house of a person (now at large),
During the  JTF  search of the house 4 AK47 rifles, 1 set of GpMG, 9 RPG Bombs and 11 chargers were recovered in the house.
He added that other weapons of mass destruction recovered from the house include 1,032 rounds of ammunition, 3 AK47 Magazines and 3 Wooden Butts.
Also  the JTF Field Commander revealed that two criminals involved in sending anonymous threats through text messages to individuals requesting for money were also arrested in the state Capital, Maiduguri.
He therefore reminded members of the Public to always report such threat to security agencies early enough for prompt action, even as he enjoined them to always give information that will lead to the arrest of criminals in the state, stating that all information provided by the general public will be treaded with utmost confidentiality.
In another development, some gunmen laid ambush in Gwange ward of Maiduguri metropolis and shot dead a banker with First City Monument Bank (FCMB), injuring one of his friend, while the other escaped unhurt.
The incident it was gathered took place at about 6:45pm when the deceased along side his two friends were breaking their fast infront of  his house in Gwange, when the gunmen came and opened fire on them and escaped without being arrested.
Confirming the incident, the Police Public relations Officer, DSP Gideon Jibrin said, “information available to the Command revealed that some suspected terrorists laid ambush in Gwage ward on Thursday evening killing a banker with FCMB, and injured one”.
He said investigation has already commenced with a view to arrest the culprits.

Culled from Vanguard

Iran earthquake kills at least 87, over 400 hurt

Share on Tumblr

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A 6.2-magnitude earthquake killed at least 87 people and injured over 400 others in northwestern Iran on Saturday, state TV said.
Iran's main news channel said the quake hit the towns of Ahar, Haris and Varzaqan in East Azerbaijan province at 4:53 p.m. local time (GMT 12:23), also damaging hundreds of homes.
The TV quoted Khalil Saei, local Crisis Committee chief, as saying that 30 people were killed in Ahar, 40 in Varzaqan and 17 others in Haris.
The broadcast said at least 60 villages sustained damage ranging from 50 to 80 percent, while 4 other villages had been totally leveled to the ground.
The TV said at least three aftershocks — measuring 6.0, 4.7 and 4.1 — jolted the same area and were felt in a wide region near the Caspian Sea.
Iran is located on seismic fault lines and is prone to earthquakes. It experiences at least one earthquake every day on average, although the vast majority are so small they go unnoticed.

PPolitician’s Son Sleeps on 100 Million Naira Cash Bed: See picture here!

A son of a prominent Bauchi state Politician displaying the wealth his father must have drawn from public funds.
Yet pupils in some part of Bauchi state are still studying under the tree.

$620,000 Bribery Scandal: Farouk Lawan breaks down in tears

Farouk Lawan

Detectives at the Police headquarters investigating the $620, 000 oil subsidy bribe money collected by erstwhile chairman of the House of Representatives Subsidy Probe Panel, Hon. Farouk Lawan from oil magnate, Mr. Femi Otedola, at the weekend disclosed to Vanguard that the decision of the Police not to stand in the way of the embattled Farouk travelling out of the country on religious grounds, followed his keeping to the terms of his bail conditions.
Aside reporting to the Police Special Task Force on two times daily basis, or whenever his presence was needed to shed more light on some issues, Farouk Lawan is said to have wept in one instance when it dawned on him that he had been abandoned by his colleagues to swim alone and was neck deep in the bribery allegation and that it will take close to a miracle to escape the consequences.
When the issue of his travelling for pilgrimage ‘Umrah’ came up, the authorities studied his conduct and analyzed his willingness to cooperate with the bribery investigation. In most cases, all the addresses, information needed from him were provided and were found to be true; the only exception being that he regretted that his colleagues in the house, disappointed him when the $620, 000 which he claimed he kept in the house was not forthcoming.
It was gathered however that a specific time frame within which the embattled former chairman would perform his religious obligation and return to the country, was agreed and signed, and failure to keep to the agreement would lead to ‘certain actions’, the source said.
Vanguard was made to understand that up until when the investigation was concluded last week and the report submitted to the Attorney-General’s office for legal advice, Farouk had continued to insist that his colleagues would bring the money to him to hand over to the police.
It would be recalled that Vanguard reported last weekend that authorities of the Special Task Force investigating the $620, 000 bribery scandal concluded the investigation, had written its final report and submitted the case file to the Attorney- General’s office.
Consequently, Hon. Farouk Lawan who has been in the eye of the storm over the bribery allegation, is set to face a 15 count charge of conspiracy, bribery, corruption, and lying under oath among others.
However, contrary to the widely held belief that going by the provisions of the law, the giver and taker of bribe are liable to face criminal charges, Vanguard gathered that Chief Femi Otedola who gave the bribe might be a prosecution witness if the recommendations of the investigation report is approved by the Attorney-General.
While intimating Vanguard of a watertight case file owing to the fact that painstaking steps had been taken to plug any envisaged loophole in the report, sources disclosed that it will be difficult for the defence lawyers to arm-twist both Farouk Lawan and Boniface Emenalo the secretary of the committee from complicity in the allegation.
Vanguard gathered that among new addition to the charges included in the case file, were attachments detailing how Farouk Lawan collected and concealed the bribe monies from both the House Committee on Subsidy probe and the ploy to deceive investigators that he handed over the money to the chairman of the Financial Crimes Committee for safe keeping.
Asked if the non recovery of the hard cash of $620, 000 would not stand in the way of nailing the culprits in the scam, a source said, the Police is very optimistic that even though the $620,000 was not returned to be used as exhibit, there is overwhelming evidence to get conviction for the duo.
Recall that Hon. Lawan claimed in his statement to the Special Task Force (STF) that the $620,000 bribery money was handed over to the chairman House Committee on drugs and financial crimes, Adams Jagaba. Jagaba however rubbished the claim and challenged Lawan to prove how the money was given to him which he (Lawan) has so far failed to do.


Source: Vanguard

“Terrible scene”: 13 dead after lightning strikes mosque

When residents of Dhaka, Bangladesh gathered at a mosque in their community for evening prayers, they had no idea just how much of the wrath of mother nature they would be feeling in just a short while. Lightning struck the mosque on Friday as the worshippers gathered for a special evening taraweeh prayers conducted during Ramadan. 13 were left dead in the wake of the disaster, with 20 wounded.
The lightning hit a rooftop microphone being run on power from a car battery and killed the Imam instantly, local council member Abul Kalam told AFP by telephone, adding that  “the bodies and faces of some of the victims were burnt.”
“Multiple lightning strikes occurred during a storm when nearly 35 people gathered at a house in the village of Saraswati where they turned a tin roof shed into a makeshift mosque for the month of Ramadan as a regular mosque was far away,” Dharmapasha police chief Bayes Alam told CNN.
“It was a terrible scene,” Alam said. “Dozens were lying on the floor. Some dead, others writhing in pain.
“We took the injured in three boats and headed to hospital in Dharmapasa”, the closest big town, he said. “But it took hours to get there.”

ECWA CHURCH DONATES FOOD ITEMS TO MUSLIMS IN KADUNA

The Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA) Gospel Church, Tudun Nupawa, Kaduna, yesterday donated foodstuff to six Muslim communities in Kaduna as assistance for less privileged persons. The items include: bags of sugar, millet, maize, and beans.

Donating the items, Rev. Yunusa Nmadu, the Senior Pastor of the church, said the donation was to assist less privileged Muslims with whom they had been living together over the years.




Nmadu said the gesture was part of efforts to re-establish the long-standing relationship between the Muslim and Christian communities in the area, especially in view of the current security challenges.

Quote

``People of other communities will learn from what happened today. We grew up together without any differences, our parents taught us to live together but along the line the relationship went sour.

``We are here to let the people know that we are one people in spite of our different religions, we love everyone.

“If God wanted us to be Muslims, all of us would have been Muslims, and if God wanted us to be Christians, He would have created all us Christians.

``We are here so that the World will know that we are of different religions but are living together as a people and not as Muslims and Christians,`` the pastor said.

Receiving the items in his palace, Sarkin Dutse, Alhaji Shu’aibu Balarabe, said that the Emir of Zazzau had advised the people to live in peace with one another.

Balarabe said there was no compulsion in religion and advised his subjects to live in peace together in spite of their different faiths and to be partners in peace building.

He said it was their duty to protect all the churches and the mosques in the area.

``We have been living together in peace but unfortunately, the crises experienced in the state seem to be dividing us. We know that all the crises were not motivated by religion,`` he said.

The Imam of Tudun Nupawa Mosque, Malam Attahiru Liman, said most of the youths, who indulged in violence, neither attended church services nor observed regular Muslim daily prayers.

Fraudsters Have Cloned My Phone Number – Fashola

Fashola, yesterday raised alarm that his phone number has been hacked by some fraudsters to extort money from members of the state cabinet and permanent secretary. He said the fraudsters had opened an account in Skye Bank and used his phone number to send text messages to members of his cabinet to pay some specified amount of money into it. “I must use this opportunity to appeal to all citizens and all of those who have received text messages purportedly being sent in my name. Apparently my phone has been cloned by some internet fraudsters, they sent messages round to my commissioners and permanent secretaries asking them to come and pay money into one Skye Bank account. “Please ignore those messages, they are not from us.
It apparently shows the desperation to make money by all means.
These are the small crimes, those are the corrupt tendencies that we must all as a nation put to bed.
They are the ones that lead to the bigger crimes. If we focus our attention on the bigger crimes, we will lose the larger picture.
All of these speak to the need for increasing compliance with law and order in every state, every local government, every ward, every home.
All of us must rise up and reclaim our country back from this lawlessness.”
Fashola bemoaned the development, adding that making money through cheap means could halt the nation’s value system .

Source: National Mirror

Gunmen Burn Church in Borno, Pastor Narrowly Escapes Death While Son gets Shot

Gunmen have attacked the Ekilisiyar Yan’uwa Nigeria (EYN) Church, Gajigana, 55 kilometres North of Maiduguri, setting it ablaze, with the Pastor escaping while his son was shot in the leg. The pastor, although within the premises, escaped being hurt, but his son was not so lucky. The son has however been rushed to a hospital where he is receiving treatment.
Shortly after this attack, a banker with FCMB, in Maiduguri, Yakubu Abdullahi was also shot dead at his Sabon residence while his friend was wounded in the leg. They were breaking their Ramadan fast around 7.45pm when they were attacked.
Confirming the incidents, the Borno State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Gideon Jibrin said it was “unfortunate”, and was “saddened” about the incident.
Meanwhile, the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) has condemned in strong terms the recent killings of innocent Nigerians in a place of worship, describing it as unwarranted, provocative, criminal and horrendous as well as an infringement on the rights to life and freedom of worship of all Nigerians.

Source: Guardian

Lover plunges to death while plucking fruit for his lover in Calabar

It was a tragic end to a love story for a teacher based in Calabar, Cross River State, simply identified as Eddy, who reportedly fell from a tree while trying to pluck a pear fruit for his girlfriend.
The man, who was a teacher at the Federal Housing Estate Secondary School, Calabar, was said to have climbed a ladder in a bid to get ripe fruits for his girlfriend, Vicky, who had come visiting when the unfortunate incident happened.
Sources say, “He was at home on Wednesday afternoon since school vacated last week and Vicky, his girlfriend called that she was coming to the house. When she came, she saw that quite a number of the pear fruits were ripe and ready for plucking and she asked Eddy if he could get some for her and he obliged. But he died while doing that.”
According to the Vanguard Newspapers, the young teacher who lived with his elder brother, a serving permanent secretary with the state at House 2, J Line Federal Housing Estate, was reported to have climbed the pear tree with a ladder which slipped and sent him crashing to the ground forehead first.
He struggled to drive himself to the hospital but had to stop on the way due to dizziness.
His brother finally drove him to the General Hospital, Calabar, where he finally gave up due to brain hemorrhaging according to the doctors. His body has since been deposited in the hospital mortuary.

 Source: YNaija

Thousands gather for burial of Ghana’s President Atta Mills

Late John Atta Mills
| credits: cp-africa.com

 by Agency Reporter:

Tens of thousands of people gathered in the Ghanaian capital Accra to attend the state funeral for President John Atta Mills, who died suddenly in July.

At least 18 African heads of state, including Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan and United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton witnessed the ceremony in Accra’s Independence Square.

Mills, who had long suffered from throat cancer, died only five months before he was set to seek re-election.

A BBC reporter in Accra says his death has united Ghanaians in grief.

She says his death was seen as a test for the country’s young democracy.

Mills, who started a four-year term in January 2009, was succeeded by Vice-President John Dramani Mahama.

Ghana has won international plaudits for the swift manner in which it handled the transition in a nation known for its divisive politics.

“Today a dark cloud hangs over Ghana, over Africa and indeed over the entire world,” Mr Mahama told the thousands of mourners who were able to watch the proceedings on large television screens set up around the square.

“President Mills was the very embodiment of what has been missing from our politics – civility, humility in service, honesty,” he said.

People began gathering before dawn in and around Independence Square, dressed in the official colours of mourning – black and red.

Most of the traditional chiefs attended along with their own drummers who pounded out personal messages of grief, she says.

In front of the drummers, dancers performed – the twisting of their hands and arms all had symbolic meanings.

When the military band and cortege carrying the coffin entered the square, the drumming, praise singing and warrior songs stopped, our reporter says.

Mournful flutes played while President Mahama lit the perpetual flame of remembrance for the late president, who was often referred to as “The Prof” – a reference to his long academic career – and “Asumdwoehene”, meaning prince of peace in the Twi language.

The president’s body has been taken for burial in a bird sanctuary next to the seat of government, the 17th-century Fort Christiansborg, also known as Osu Castle, which overlooks the Atlantic Ocean.

NIMET alerts of impending heavy rains, flood

The Nigerian Meteorological Agency on Friday said there was a high prospect of intense rains between August and October and advised governments and residents of flood-prone areas to clear their drains.
A statement issued by the agency’s Director General, Dr. Anthony Anoforum, said that states to be seriously affected include Lagos, Ogun, Delta, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Bauchi and Gombe.
Others are Kano, Katsina and Jigawa, Anoforum said.
“The rains will leave in its trail devastation and destruction reminiscent of similar incidents recorded in some parts of the country some months ago,” he said.
According to him, the agency has observed wetter-than-normal soil surface moisture and groundwater conditions in some parts of the country over the past 12 months.
“As you are aware, the northern sector of the country will experience peak rainfall during the August to October season.
“The effect of the wetter-than-normal conditions observed signifies prospects of the occurrence of above-normal rainfall which may lead to surface run-off,” Anoforum said.

Fraudsters hack Fashola’s phone

Fraudsters have hacked into the phone of Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola.
The conmen used the number to send scam text messages to members of the State Executive Council.
They were asked to pay undisclosed sums of money into a Skye Bank account opened in the name of Agazie Stephen C.
Fashola confirmed the development in an SMS to Lagosians on Friday night.
He warned them to ignore any such SMS.
He did not, however, state when it happened

Source: Punch

Court jails grandmother for begging with underage children

The Lagos State Special Offences Court, Alausa, Ikeja, on Wednesday, sentenced a 52-year-old grandmother, Mrs. Jemilat Oseni, to three months imprisonment for “using five underage children to beg for alms”.

Two other women- Mrs. Rainat Ado and Mrs. Zainab Abubakar- were fined N10, 000 each for releasing their children to Oseni for the purpose of alms begging.

A prosecutor from the state’s Ministry of Justice, said the acts were “illegal and a violation of the rights of the children”.

The prosecutor, who did not give her name, said, “Four of the children were not hers.

“Two belonged to Mrs. Rainat Ado; one belonged to Mrs. Zainat Abubakar; one is her grand child. Only the last is her child.”

It was learnt that Oseni, who is from Osun State, was arrested while begging for alms with the children by officials of the state Taskforce on Environmental and Special Offences (Enforcement) Unit at Seme Border.

The children were put between nine months and 11 years old.

However, both Abubakar and Ado claimed ignorance of what Oseni did with their children.

Ado said, “Oseni told me that she wanted to use the children as cover to smuggle some goods from Benin Republic.

“She explained that the children would make custom officials at the border to pity her and allow her to go with her goods.”

She added that Oseni usually give her some quantity of rice after the trip to Seme.

It was learnt that a worker with the state Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation saw the woman and the children at Seme and promptly reported the matter to the task force officials.

The court also ruled that the five children be kept in custody of WAPA.

Source: Punch

Customer baths commercial sex worker with acid

The Enugu State Police Command on Friday said its officers had commenced an investigation in a bid to know those who bathed a female sex worker with acid in Enugu.
The command’s Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ebere Amaraizu, told the News Agency of Nigeria on Friday that the victim, who was bathed with acid on August 7, was recuperating at the Orthopaedic Hospital, Enugu.
Amaraizu said the victim, who was identified as a commercial sex worker, was reportedly hanging out around Artisan Market, Independence Layout, Enugu.
He said the incident occurred along Ozubulu Street, Independence Layout and was carried out by an unidentified man that used to patronise her as a commercial sex worker.

Source: Punch

Libyan General Hadia killed in Benghazi shooting

A Libyan army general, with a senior defence ministry role, has been shot dead in the eastern city of Benghazi.

General Mohamed Hadia al-Feitouri was returning home from Friday prayers when a group of gunmen pulled up in a car and opened fire, his son said.
In recent months, Benghazi has seen a spate of killings of security officials who, like Gen Hadia, served under former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
The incident comes a day after Libya's new interim assembly assumed power.
The historic June elections to the body - the first free vote in decades - faced boycott calls in Benghazi.
Some political groups in oil-rich eastern Libya, where the uprising that overthrew Col Gaddafi last year originated, fear domination by the capital Tripoli and the west.
Gen Hadia was one of the first military officers to defect to the rebellion, the BBC's Rana Jawad reports from Tripoli.
He was the defence ministry official responsible for ammunition and weapons.
The identity of the attackers and the motives behind the killing remain unclear, our correspondent says.
Last week, the military intelligence service's offices in Benghazi were hit by an explosion, but there were no casualties.

Source: BBC news

A year without polio: Angola celebrates victory with a vision to eradicate

LAUNDA, 10 August, 2012 – Today, Angola marks a year without a new wild poliovirus case, moving the world a step closer to the final global goal of eradicating this contagious crippling disease forever.
After a concerted effort to stop polio transmission the number of polio cases dropped from 33 in 2010 to five in 2011 and no cases registered in 2012. Laboratory results have confirmed that the last case of wild poliovirus was a 14-month-old child from Uige Province in the country's Northwest in July 2011.
In recent years, Angola has made significant progress in the fight against polio by working with partners to improve disease surveillance, strengthen the quality and coverage of mass polio vaccination campaigns, expand and improve routine immunization services as well as expand access at a household level to safe water, sanitation and hygiene.
In the last year, the country has sought to better control the circulation of the polio virus in reservoirs, particularly in Luanda and Benguela, as well as along the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo with steps including synchronizing vaccination campaigns.
"This achievement reflects the leadership and commitment of the Government, who contribute around 89 per cent of operational costs of the polio campaigns.  It also signifies the impact of our investment in strengthening access to primary health care services," said Evelize Fresta, Deputy Minister of Health.
"We deeply appreciate the commitment of local, provincial and national Government officials, civil society, international partners and the private sector and the media, who have all played a significant role in achieving this milestone." To sustain the current gains, efforts should be strengthened to improve the routine immunization coverage in the high risk provinces, he added.
The country invested in improving the quality of massive vaccination campaigns, where thousands of health workers and volunteers were deployed to ensure door to door vaccination against polio, including vaccination at crossing points, main streets, markets, water points targeting all children under the age of five.
For the first time in the country's history, 95 per cent of children targeted in these campaigns were reached, according to the post-campaign independent monitoring data from the last nationwide polio campaign from June 29 to July 1, 2012.
"This interruption of the poliovirus circulation is significant, but we cannot afford to be complaisant. These investments demonstrate the importance of building strong primary health care for all the country's children." said Koenraad Vanormelingen, UNICEF Angola Representative. "We have a duty to protect and ensure that all children are born and develop in a healthy polio-free environment, which means we cannot stop until every child is fully vaccinated."
According to the acting WHO Representative in Angola, Dr Jean-Marie Yameogo: "This success is the result of the improvement in the quality of polio campaigns round after round, the high commitment of the Government at central level, the engagement of the provincial Governors and municipal administrators as well as the implementation of the community-based strategy which brought a  much bigger  involvement of local leaders, NGOs and churches in the campaign preparation and evaluation particularly in the high-risk provinces like Luanda and Benguela.”
Dr. Yameogo also emphasized that the Angolan government took the National Immunization Polio Days over by increasing gradually its financial contribution to the polio emergency plans since 2010.
Angola, which eliminated polio from 2001 to 2004, has been plagued by the re-emergence of this crippling disease since May 2005. The disease has since spread from Angola to Namibia (2006), the Democratic Republic of Congo (2006, 2008 and 2010), and the Republic of Congo (2010).
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) is spearheaded by national governments, the World Health Organization, Rotary International, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and UNICEF, and is supported by key partners including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.  Since 1988 (the year the GPEI was launched), the incidence of polio has been reduced by more than 99 per cent. In 1988, more than 350,000 children were paralyzed each year in more than 125 endemic countries.  In 2012, 103 cases have been reported as of 1 August 2012, and only three countries remain endemic:  Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan.