Welcome to Linda Ikeji's Blog |
- Photos: President Obama and family arrive Martha's Vineyard for their final 2-week vacation as the First Family
- Alleged budget padding: Abdul Jibrin ignores APC's instruction, releases statement making more accusations against Dogara
- Pres. Buhari to leave for Chad tomorrow
- 'I wasn't told that it's the children of anger that uses twitter'- Jimoh Ibrahim fires back after receiving serious bashing on twitter
- Photos from actress Oge Okoye's daughter's birthday party
- Community Shield: Jose Mourinho and Zlatan Ibrahimovic win first trophy of Man U career after 2-1 win over Leicester (photos)
- Six Nigerians deported from Pakistan after completing their prison sentence
- Donald Trump says he's not sure of Hillary Clinton's mental state: "I don't think she's all there"
- Photos from the wedding of former Governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Attahiru Dalhatu Bafarawa's son
- Escaping the sex trade: The stories of Nigerian women forced into prostitution in Italy in pictures... Must read!
- Update:Teenager in viral video who was stripped naked and flogged by her 'father' is an orphan #Justice4Uzoamaka
- Budget Padding: 'There is no going back on this crusade' - Abdulmumin Jibrin
- NFF recommends Gernot Rohr for appointment as Super Eagles' Technical Adviser
- Graphic Photos: 11 Nigerian military personnel killed by gunmen in Niger State
- Kidnapped Lagos monarch, Obani of Iba released
- S.O...Are you ready?
- Photos: Alleged Thief gets electrocuted while trying to steal cable in Niger state
- Photos: My pastor pushed me to sell stolen car - suspect arrested by RRS confessed
- Man charged with manslaughter after forgetting his twin daughters in a hot car
- Okada riders in Bauchi protest against the introduction of ID cards by their union (photos)
- £65,000-a-week Liverpool footballer Dejan Lovren discovers his wife is having an affair with £200-a-month forestry worker
- Dino Melaye shares more photos from his vacation with his kids
- Ludacris pictured out celebrating his eldest daughter's birthday with her
- "The greatest gift I received from ABU Zaria was my beautiful wife and heartthrob, Hadiza" Bauchi Governor
- R.Kelly, 49, steps out with his 19 year old girlfriend
| Posted: 07 Aug 2016 02:12 PM PDT  President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama and their daughters have began their 7th and final two-week summer vacation as the First Family in the Massachusetts island of Martha's Vineyard. Obama will fill the next two weeks with leisurely rounds of golf, beach outings, bike rides and hikes with his wife and daughters, and dinner with Mrs. Obama and friends at some of the Massachusetts island's top restaurants....     Credit: AP |
| Posted: 07 Aug 2016 01:56 PM PDT  In a statement he released this evening, Jibrin alleged that two serving governors are working with some other politicians to give Dogara soft landing on the alleged budget padding scandal. In the statement, Jibrin says Dogara's face, cap, Agbada and even his shoes radiate corruption and abuse of office. He alleged Dogara also receives 25million naira every month. Read his statement below... It has once again become necessary for me to make some statements, clarifications and further revelations. As you are aware, my party the APC has intervened in the current crisis, following allegations of corruption, embezzlement and gross abuse of office I leveled against Speaker Yakubu Dogara, three other principal officers and 9 other members, of which none had responded to any. As I said earlier, it is only the 13 members of the House that are on trial not the House of Representative as an institution. Surprisingly, they have resorted to using every tactics to narrow the allegations to only issue of padding, which in itself is a grievous offense, ignoring tens of other criminal allegations contained in my petition to the anti-corruption agencies. In doing so, they mischievously expanded the scope of the culpability to give an impression that the entire House, Senate and even the Executive arm of government and some individuals outside NASS are on trial. This is a wicked attempt to drag many institutions and individuals into the matter to neutralize the issue, spread fear and sell the dummy that the entire country will go down if this matter is dealt with decisively. This is the biggest blackmail I have ever seen. Nigerians should know that the whole agenda of this blackmail is being coordinated by a group of five people, two serving Governors and three former members of the House. I will give their names in due course. They have been running pillar to post and I keep wondering what really do they have to hide or are afraid of since they are not Members of the House. The meeting with the party went very well and in all honesty they were very objective and showed understanding. I told the party that I will be part of any peaceful resolution EXCEPT on the criminal allegations I have raised against Speaker Dogara and 12 others. On that, I told the party there is no going back and further informed them that more revelations will be made once investigation commences. I also informed the party that I will stand as witness against them and provide every support that will help investigation and prosecution of these 13 extremely corrupt members. The party wrote and asked that Dogara and I should stop further public statements on this issue. I respected the party and stopped further statement but kept a close watch on what was going on. Of course I have my network everywhere. After three days of careful observation and receiving information from very patriotic Nigerians, I discovered a grand plan by the group of two Governors and three former members designed to provide soft-landing for Dogara and 12 others, give them time to clean up the mess on their desk, destroy whatever evidence in their possession and reach, spread money across members to buy signature of vote of confidence, try to scare and drag as many people as they can into this matter, invade the party and top government officials and influential people that have the ears of the president and try to change the media and public narrative by embarking on very expensive media campaign to discredit and attack my person with all manner of lies they can concoct. I have made it a duty to respond to all the allegations against me. The latest they brought up this weekend has already been taken care of in my soon-to-be-released memoir. But I have decided not to wait until my birthday in September to release it. I will start releasing the memoir in piecemeal any moment from now so that answers to their cheap blackmail, including the junk and lies they peddle in the media, will be provided. While I was determined to observe the ceasefire, Dogara and his group of few rogues didn't. I called Sen Lawali Shuaibu and complained on Thursday, Friday and Sunday. He promised to reach the Speaker. On Friday the Speaker spoke to the press after meeting the president on the matter, and they launched a massive attack on me on Saturday and today Sunday in the media, while the party is keeping a sealed lip. No body will blame me that I responded. Iam completely convinced that the two Governors and three former members were already at work. I know them like the palms of my hands, and I know how they operate. But Almighty God is more than them. I was shocked and dumbfounded when I saw the Speaker on television saying padding is not an offense not because of the disgraceful contradiction after clearly stating that I was "sacked" for padding but I could not believe he could have the temerity to make such reckless, insensitive, arrogant and fraudulent statement right within the sanctity of the president's Presidential Villa, a place that symbolizes zero tolerance for corruption. If you watched the Speaker on the screen talking, you can clearly see that from his face, cap, Agbada, down to his shoes, it was a radiation of corruption, dirty money, monumental fraud and abuse of office. It was irritating to see such character around the corridors of power. He didn't know that by that statement he has clearly confirmed my allegation that he and 3 others connived with some committee chairmen to insert into the budget over 2,000 items worth 284billion naira. No wonder he refused to take action despite my complaint. Now that I have provided evidence that he and 3 others masterminded the insertion of 40 billion naira into the budget, another wasteful 20billion naira and attempt to force me to insert another 30billion naira into the budget, padding is no longer an offense???! So the Speaker is saying the nine roads he inserted into the budget which he fraudulently sandwiched into 4 roads and inserted billions into that without any design or costing is not an offense? Or the water project he hijacked from the budget and took to his farm is not an offense? Or moving ten solar boreholes to a place that probably requires just two is not an offense? This has really proved that Speaker Dogara is the son, father, grand father and great grand father of padding! Nigerians are watching!!! Let me make further revelations here. In addition to the allegations I already made, the anti-corruption agencies should ask Speaker Dogara why on earth he collects 25million naira every month just to spend it the way he wants. They should also ask him to provide proof of how he is funding his farm in Nasarawa State which was just few hectares six months ago and now miraculously expands to about 100 hectares with new buildings and state-of-the-art equipment worth millions as well as the mansion he has suddenly built in Wuse II within six months. It will be unfair to drag the Senate or senators into this matter. Everybody knows that it is the House that has commanding powers over appropriation. There is nothing in the senate appropriation committee secretariat, that is why I requested for the protection of only that of the House when I heard Dogara was planning to destroy the computers and the hardware. The Senate president was too busy then to even get involved. He was always receiving what I later realized was skeletal briefing from the Speaker. It is also a strong tradition of the National Assembly that in an event of disagreement between standing committee of the Senate and the House, that of the House supersedes. That was exactly what we did on 2016 budget except that of Health, where we adopted the report of the Senate because the chairman House Committee on Health practically converted the budget to his personal estate, moving massive amount of money that made the whole exercise looked like a big joke. I heard the chairman Hon Chike Okafor talking, trying to put defence on TV, and I simply said truly looters have no shame in Nigeria. The Minister of Health Prof Adewale is alive to testify and he knows the role I played to get the health budget, atleast to an implementable shape. All government and security agencies and top government functionaries should be wary of the activities of these two governors and three former members going round trying to blackmail the Senate and the Executive arm of government in order to diffuse and neutralize the allegations that will change the history of Nigerian parliament for good. We may never have this kind of opportunity to deal decisively with corruption in the House. We may never! If you observe carefully, you will notice attempts last week to wickedly drag the Senate, DSS, SGF and others into this matter. This is all orchestrated by the group of 2 governors, 3 former members and Speaker Dogara and his corrupt cabal. Nobody is in a better position than me to know who the culprits are. The next time you see them in your offices trying to blackmail you that these allegations will bring down the whole country, report them to the police immediately. These allegations are on Speaker Dogara and 12 others and will not in anyway bring down the House, the Senate or the Executive arm of government as they are claiming in their widely spread propaganda. Part of the grand plan is also to peg the blackmail on religious line. Speaker Dogara forgot that it was me, a Muslim from North West that spearheaded his election despite all the challenges I faced. I believe Speaker Dogara, the 12 others and some vested interest within and outside the House want to kill me. I no longer feel safe. I have carefully followed their desperation to suppress what will go down in history as the biggest corruption case in Nigeria. I have prepared myself for any eventuality. I have spoken to my mum and dad extensively during the weekend. I have prepared my family. I have handed over a handwritten note and documents to a popular SAN, a man of integrity and other persons that I believe will lay it bare even if they succeed in killing me. It is a fact that all the members that signed for Dogara's vote of confidence collected money in a shameful and disgraceful exercise, and despite that the consensus remains the Speaker must step aside and face external investigation. Finally, this cabal of two governors and three former members have blocked every avenue that I can use to reach the President so that he can get a different perspective on this issue. Iam therefore left with no choice than to plead with all our former Heads of State, Gen Yakubu Gowon, Gen Olusegun Obasanjo, Alh Shehu Shagari, Gen Ibrahim Babangida, Chief Enest Shonekan, Gen Abdulsalam Abubakar and Dr Goodluck Jonathan and the diplomatic community, particularly Ambassador of the United States of America, High Commissioner of the United Kingdom, the German and French Ambassadors and all well-meaning Nigerians to join in the call on the corrupt and fraudulent Speaker Dogara and 3 others to reconvene the House immediately, step aside and allow for a thorough external investigation and also call on the anti-corruption agencies to expedite action on investigation and commencement of prosecution in line with the anti corruption stands of this government. God bless Nigeria. Hon Abdulmumin Jibrin APC-Kano Kiru-Bebeji Federal Constituency Kano |
| Pres. Buhari to leave for Chad tomorrow Posted: 07 Aug 2016 02:07 PM PDT   President Buhari will leave for Chad tomorrow to attend the inauguration of the Chadian president, Idris Deby pictured with him above.... |
| Posted: 07 Aug 2016 01:48 PM PDT    |
| Photos from actress Oge Okoye's daughter's birthday party Posted: 07 Aug 2016 01:38 PM PDT |
| Posted: 07 Aug 2016 11:55 AM PDT  A Zlatan Ibrahimovic second half goal was all that was needed to overcome a resilient Leicester City side who had equalized through Jamie Vardy after youngster Jesse Lingard scored the first goal of the game. Jose Mourinho started the match with new signing Eric Bailly and Daley Blind manning the defence while Rooney, Lingard and Superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic handled the attack. Leicester City, still basking in the euphoria of being crowned Premier League champions started with a team almost identical to their title winning team of last season with N'golo Kante, who recently signed for Chelsea the major exception, while new boy Ahmed Musa had to make do with a place on the bench. Jesse Lingard, United's FA Cup final match-winner against Crystal Palace in May, gave new boss Jose Mourinho's men a 32 minute lead with a stunning solo goal. He picked the ball up just inside Leicester's half, dribbled past four Leicester players and slotted the ball past goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel. Nigerian winger Ahmed Musa showed how much of a constant threat he could be on the wing after he was introduced at halftime alongside Demarai Gray. Leicester City hero Jamie Vardy equalised seven minutes into the second half after pouncing on Marouane Fellaini's poor back-pass and dribbling past goalkeeper David De Gea. Zlatan Ibrahimovic was standing fractionally offside when Antonio Valencia delivered a stand-up cross from the right side to which he jumped and headed into the net after shrugging off Leicester City captain Wes Morgan. It was a not too important match but in terms of a trophy, increasing fitness levels and mental preparation ahead of the premier league season which starts next weekend and Paul Pogba's imminent record breaking arrival, Jose Mourinho will be happy to have won the match. More photos.                  |
| Six Nigerians deported from Pakistan after completing their prison sentence Posted: 07 Aug 2016 11:40 AM PDT  The men were arrested by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) three years ago for drug trafficking. They were charged to court, found guilty and sentenced to three years imprisonment. The Nigerian nationals have been barred from entering Pakistan forever. Source: Pakistan Today Photo credit: Daily Ausaf |
| Donald Trump says he's not sure of Hillary Clinton's mental state: "I don't think she's all there" Posted: 07 Aug 2016 01:33 PM PDT  "She short circuited, she used the term 'short-circuited.' She took a little short circuit in the brain," Trump said. "And she's got problems, I mean, if we had real people, this would be a real problem for her, but I think that the people of this country don't want somebody that's going to short circuit up here."The billionaire business mogul continued to assert that perhaps his Democratic rival was losing her mind. "Honestly I don't think she's all there," he said, adding that she was "totally unhinged," using a word that former Republican rival Jeb Bush, once used about him.The Republican delivered his remarks in a hot high school gym. One young woman was escorted out, but Trump was undeterred. "It's hot in here folks. But that's OK. I consider this like a sweat suit," he said. "Everybody tonight, we'll lose on average 6.2 pounds, OK? Six-- I don't mind. You know, it's so hot in here, this room was not designed for this many people. It's so hot in here that I consider this to be like a workout, right"Source: ABC News |
| Photos from the wedding of former Governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Attahiru Dalhatu Bafarawa's son Posted: 07 Aug 2016 11:37 AM PDT  Dr. Buhari Bafarawa got married to Khadijah Aminu Babba, the daughter of Sarkin Dawaki Maituta Alhaji Aminu Babba Ɗan'agundi at Sarkin Dawaki Maituta's Residence Along Emir of Kano Palace Road, Kano State, over the weekend, with N500, 000 paid as bride price (Sadaq). The Wife of the President Aisha Muhammadu Buhari was represented at the wedding dinner by Kano State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Barr. Zubaida Damakka Abubakar. More photos below...          |
| Posted: 07 Aug 2016 11:31 AM PDT  "What I found was a really strong community of women who were helping each other overcome their experiences, " she saysIt's just after 9pm when the first Nigerian women start to appear on the streets of Asti, a small city near Turin in northern Italy. Some stand in groups of two or three, flagging down passing cars or checking their phones. Many are alone – solitary figures backlit by the stream of headlights moving into the city, the Guardian UK writes. Princess Inyang Okokon, a former victim of sex trafficking, slows down her car as she spots two girls standing on a corner. Even with heavy makeup they look no older than 15 or 16. "So many new faces," she says, shaking her head as she pulls her car to the side of the road and gets out to speak to them. Princess, a 42-year-old mother of four from Nigeria's southern Akwa Ibom state,(pictured) has spent the last 17 years working for Progetto Integrazione Accoglienza Migranti (PIAM), a migrant rights and anti-trafficking organisation in the city. According to her, most – if not all – of the Nigerian prostitutes working on Asti's streets tonight are victims of trafficking. "This is just one street in a small city. It is happening all over Italy and Europe and the numbers are growing and growing."Princess knows first-hand about the horrors these women are living through. In 1999 she was trafficked herself from her home in Nigeria to the streets of Turin. "When I talk to them I tell them that I know their story because it is my story too," she says.For nearly three decades, a thriving sex-trafficking industry has been operating between Nigeria and Italy. Many experts believe the trade in women started in the 1980s when Nigerians travelling to Italy on work visas to pick tomatoes realised that selling sex was far easier and more profitable than harvesting fruits or vegetables. Since then an estimated 30,000 Nigerian women have been trafficked from their home country into prostitution, finding themselves on street corners and brothels in Italy and other European states. More than 85% of these women have come from Nigeria's Edo state in the south of the country, where traffickers have historically exploited chronic poverty, discrimination, a failing education system and lack of opportunities for young women to sell false promises of prosperity in Europe. Princess was one of the first wave of women to be brought from Nigeria. Then a single mother of three young children, she was approached by a woman she knew from her workplace, who offered her a job in Italy. "We saw people come back from Europe rich and they would tell us that we could also have this life. In Nigeria there was nothing. I wanted more for my children. This woman said I could pay back the cost of my travel when I started earning. I believed her."She flew to London on a fake passport. When she arrived she called a telephone number she'd been given and a man came to pick her up and drive her to Italy. She was taken to a house in Turin full of other Nigerian women. When she told them she was going to work in a restaurant, the women laughed in her face. "They said, 'Here no Nigerian girl works in a restaurant. Whether you are a princess or a queen you are here in Europe and you must work as a prostitute'. I was distraught, I thought there must be a mistake."The next day Princess was told she had to pay back a €45,000 debt before she could leave. She was now under the control of a "madam", a Nigerian woman who worked for the trafficking rings, controlling the women and their debt. She was given high heels and makeup and driven to a street corner with another Nigerian girl. "I said 'I will not do this,'" she recalls. "I refused. I hid behind a big rubbish bin all night and cried. I said, 'God, is this the life you have brought me to?'"After that night the beatings began. Her madam attacked her so violently with the heel of a shoe that she was hospitalised. "I did not know anyone, they wouldn't let me call home. They said they would kill me if I didn't work," she says. "I realised the only way was to start this work and try and find someone who would help me."Every day and night for more than eight months, Princess worked on the streets in Turin. "Italian men, they love Nigerian girls," she says with a short laugh. "I had a queue every night."But no matter how hard she worked, her debts never got smaller. "The work was so bad, it was so dangerous. The men were so violent. I was stabbed twice, I was threatened with a gun," she says. "I was ashamed all the time. The only way I kept strong was promising myself I would leave this life."Eventually, she says, her prayers were answered. She was walking home one morning when a man called Alberto Mossino pulled over in his car and asked if he could take her to the beach. Mossino, who was living in nearby Asti but working as a DJ in nightclubs in Turin, offered to help Princess leave her madam. "At first I didn't trust him but then he helped me pay off my debts to my madam and I managed to leave that life. Since then he has been my partner in everything. Princess's life has changed since those days on the streets of Turin. She and Mossino moved to Asti, he started PIAM (she came on board later), and the couple married and had a daughter. (Of her four children, three are in Italy with her – the two oldest and Maria, her six-year-old daughter with Alberto. The other is studying in Nigeria.) She pursued her madam through the courts and eventually saw her sent to jail for four years. Yet 17 years later she says the situation for other Nigerian women has become far worse than what she lived through. All the women on the streets of Asti have debts of more than €40,000 and most will have been forced to undergo ritual "juju" ceremonies where they have been told terrible things will happen to them and their families if they don't repay what they owe. "Those who leave Nigeria are told they will need to pay back €15,000 and when they reach Italy the madam tells them their debt is €45,000," says Princess. "Or they are told they will be able to pay back the debt in three months but when they arrive they must pay rent, for their place on the street, food and other costs, so they are trapped because the debt never goes away. These traffickers use beatings and juju to fill their victims with fear," she says. "The women believe the juju so much that I have seen women leave their traffickers and then go mad because they think the curse will come true. This is how powerful a hold it has over them."Mossino, who works with refugees and asylum seekers as well as victims of trafficking, says that in the past decade the trade in Nigerian women has become a hugely profitable and ruthless criminal industry, controlled largely by Nigerian gangs that took root in Italy in the 1980s. "Every woman represents hundreds of thousands of euros to these people," he says. "In Asti we saw 10 or 15 women a year when we started. Now we come into contact with 30 or 40 a month"In the past women would have to be flown in to Europe with fake passports. Now they embark on the dangerous 2,500-mile journey overland through Africa and across Libya before making an equally hazardous crossing by sea to Italy on migrant boats. In 2014 about 1,500 Nigerian women arrived by sea in Italy. In 2015 this figure had shot up to 5,633. The UN's International Organisation for Migration (IOM) believes that 80% of these women are victims of trafficking. "What we are seeing at the moment in terms of the numbers and scale of the criminal trade in Nigerian women is unprecedented," says Simona Moscarelli, an anti-trafficking expert at the IOM. "Before, the women were exploited but there was a chance that they could pay off their debts and be free. Now these girls really are slaves and subject to terrible violence. The age of the women is getting younger, to the extent that a large percentage of those arriving now are classed as unaccompanied minors when they come off the boats."Loveth, a 21-year-old from Lagos, was only 17 when she left Nigeria. After being offered a job as a babysitter in Italy, she was instead forced to work in a brothel in Libya for three years. "Before I went I was made to swear to the gods [in a juju ceremony] and they said if I didn't pay back the money I wouldn't be able to have babies and my life would be useless. Before they took me to Libya they used two boys to break my virginity and then they took me to Libya to a house and sent many men to sleep with me. They didn't pay me, they just used me."After being sold to another madam, Loveth refused to work and was beaten and had boiling water thrown on her legs. Eventually she was put on a boat to Italy with 95 other people. "When I arrived in Italy I was very sick so they took me to the hospital and there I found out I was pregnant," she says. "That is when I knew the juju was a lie. After that I never worked as a prostitute again and PIAM has helped me get my life back."Since PIAM was founded, Princess and Mossino have helped more than 200 women leave their traffickers in Asti and gain access to legal support, employment and counselling. They have also created refuges and communities for those kept isolated by their traffickers and who are hundreds of miles from home. Princess arranges for the women to live and work together. "The trauma these women have gone through is very, very heavy," Princess says. "They need a family and a mother as well as the other things we can give them. At the weekends Princess helps organise parties and dances with the women. These traffickers take away everything from you, everything that makes you human. I want to give that back to these women and say to them, let us not rest until we have brought them all to justice."Below are photos of the former victims, their names and captions by photographer Quintina Valero.          Source: Guardian UK |
| Posted: 07 Aug 2016 11:14 AM PDT  "The people that stripped her were top politicians in my community, people who were supposed to protect and care for her, but for reasons best known to them, they thought there could shame her, funny enough the same social media they wanted to shame her with, was the same media she is getting justice from...When the first pictures and stories went viral, concerned individuals including myself raised serious alarm and seeked for justice on her behalf." said Ada Ebonyi.Another person got involved in the saga, House of Representatives member, Hon. Linus Abaa Okorie. He took these photos of the victim when he visited her yesterday, August 6, at the rehabilitation center where she is currently receiving medical attention. He said:     |
| Budget Padding: 'There is no going back on this crusade' - Abdulmumin Jibrin Posted: 07 Aug 2016 11:09 AM PDT |
| NFF recommends Gernot Rohr for appointment as Super Eagles' Technical Adviser Posted: 07 Aug 2016 10:53 AM PDT  The Technical and Development Committee of Nigeria Football Federation has recommended German - Mr. Gernot Rohr for appointment as Technical Adviser of the Super Eagles. Ahmed Yusuf Fresh, vice chairman of the committee, said the team was convinced of the former German defender's suitability for the job after a long session with him in Abuja on Saturday. "The committee was impressed with Mr. Rohr's profile and current activities for the German Football Federation (DFB), so we invited him to Nigeria for exhaustive deliberations. He was very positive, showed great interest in the job and is ready and willing to live in Nigeria. He is also willing to work with indigenous Nigerian coaches and with the committee, and believes the Super Eagles can qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, which is very important to the NFF. He swayed the committee with his calmness, good knowledge of the African terrain, focus and maturity" Ahmed Yusuf said.  According to NFF's Technical and Development Committee, Rohr has the character and confidence to take the Super Eagles to new heights of excellence. "Our job is to recommend him to the Board, which we have done. The NFF legal department is working on the final draft of the contract but we have agreed on a range of terms and conditions. The Secretariat will present the full contract to Mr. Rohr in the following days and the Executive Board will contact Mr. Rohr for the final negotiations." |
| Graphic Photos: 11 Nigerian military personnel killed by gunmen in Niger State Posted: 07 Aug 2016 11:14 AM PDT  Director of Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman, who confirmed the attack said that following covert surveillance and intelligence reports on the activities of some gun runners and armed bandits in Kopa, Dagma and Gagaw villages in Boss LGA, troops of 31 Artillery Brigade, 1 Division Nigerian Army in conjunction with Nigeria Air Force detachment on Internal Security Operation MESA went on quick cordon and search in the affected areas to recover suspected weapon cache and arrest the suspected persons and the armed bandits. The statement reads: "Contrary to statements attributed to some questionable vested interests, the troops were on legitimate official duty aimed at safeguarding lives and property of citizen in the area. While approaching and deploying to carry out their lawful duty, the troops came under simultaneous and sporadic shootings in all the three locations. They however responded as necessary in line with the rules of engagement. Sadly, an officer and 8 soldiers of the Nigerian Army and 2 Airmen of the Nigeria Air Force lost their lives in the line of national duty. Additionally, one soldier is still missing while 2 of their colleagues were seriously wounded.The suspected gun runners and armed bandits also burnt down 4 operational vehicles and vandalized 2 others. Bandits also carted away 4 AK-47 rifles and one Fabrique Nationale (FN) rifle belonging to the deceased soldiers. The troops also killed 8 of the armed bandits and arrested 57 others. They also recovered large quantity of arms and ammunition. The recovered items include; 3 AK-47 rifles,10 Local AK-47 Rifles, 9 Locally made Pistols, 6 Revolver guns, which fires 7.62mm (Special ammunition), 45 Loaded Dane guns, 10 Clubs and Cudgels, 41 Arrows, 18 Bow cases, 122 Cutlasses and Machetes as well as 20 Daggers. Other items recovered include 31 Axes, 63 rounds of 7.62 (Special) Ammunition, 10 Bajaj Motorcycles, Assorted Charms and Amulets, 2 Vehicles, 38 mobile telephone handsets, a wristwatch, 5 Identity Cards, Passport Photographs, Cash sum of N23,870.00k, 5 Japanese Yen and 35 different denominations of old Nigerian currency, 15 Catapults, 8 Torchlights, 2 Gun Powder bottles, 4 empty cases of Ammunition and 41 Cartridges. The troops also seized a military Waist Belt and a pair of military Combat Boots. It is important to stress that the nefarious activities of the gun runners and the armed bandits has direct bearing with the influx of weapons and general insecurity in some parts of the Federal Capital Territory and the North West geo-political zone of the country. The same gun runners have been confirmed to be the suppliers of arms to armed robbery gangs that were involved in series of armed robbery attacks along Minna-Bida road and the general environment. Although the situation is under control, the military will not rest on its oars until all those involved are arrested and brought to justice. The military will continue to deal with any violent threat to our national security. The Army urge all law abiding citizens to go about their lawful duties as the cordon and search operation continues in the general area and if necessary expand to other identified areas to keep our people safe. More photos...         |
| Kidnapped Lagos monarch, Obani of Iba released Posted: 07 Aug 2016 10:40 AM PDT  The monarch, who is said to be the father of a former Iba LCDA chairman, Mrs Ramota Oseni-Adeyeri was abducted from his palace by unknown men who stormed the community on Saturday, July 16. The men escaped through the waterways, leaving two people dead and one seriously injured. Police Commissioner, Fatai Owoseni confirmed the Oba's release yesterday, adding that the leader of the kidnapping gang has been arrested by his men. Source:The Nation |
| Posted: 07 Aug 2016 09:26 AM PDT  |
| Photos: Alleged Thief gets electrocuted while trying to steal cable in Niger state Posted: 07 Aug 2016 09:21 AM PDT |
| Photos: My pastor pushed me to sell stolen car - suspect arrested by RRS confessed Posted: 07 Aug 2016 09:17 AM PDT  The suspect, Olawale Olabinwonnu, working with Cherubim and Seraphim Church in Igbogbo, Ikorodu, as an administrative officer, was arrested by RRS Intelligence Team on Tuesday, August 2nd, for trying to sell a Nissan Sentra, 2015 Model, stolen at gun-point.  The original vehicle number was changed to a fake one (APP 510 DW) in order to sell it. It was recovered on Monday, August, 1st 2016 at a car park in Lekki, Lagos. The man who took the custody of the vehicle came forward to welcome before he was arrested. He assisted the police in the arrest of its marketer in Ikorodu several days later. Olawale sensed something was wrong with the vehicle, parked out of his Ikorodu residence and office along with his family to evade arrest. He was tracked on Sunday to another church in Ikorodu where he was arrested last Sunday after church service. The vehicle, which is owned by one of the first generation banks in the country, was reported stolen at gun point when robbers invaded an hotel in Iju-Ishaga area where the manager of the bank was lodging. The robbers were reported to have requested for the car key from the banker before making away with it along with other valuables. According to Olawale, "The vehicle was given to me to sell by Ahmed Abbey. I met him at Dammy Jay Hotel, Ikorodu. I went there to drink and he came to my table, bought drinks for everybody. That was how I liked him... When I was going home, I told him I was going home and he gave me N2, 000. Those were moments I was struggling and I had no job... I saw Abbey later that week to explain how he could help me get some money because I had no job. This was the time he asked me if I could help his sister ,who was travelling overseas to sell her car. And, I told him that I would try... I consulted my pastor twice on the issue of helping him sell a car. First, the pastor told me to go ahead and collect the car from him and sell it. I took the car from Abbey and began to market it but after about three weeks, I couldn't get a buyer. He took the car from me. Some weeks later, I stumbled on him with the car and he challenged me that I didn't want to help his sister sell her car... After a while, we agreed that I will help him to look for buyer. I consulted my pastor again for him to pray about it. This time, the pastor introduced me to somebody in Lekki who has a car park at a very conspicuous place, where we can put the car for sale... It was here the car was until I learnt that the car was stolen at gun-point... Since I was arrested, I have been calling Abbey to come and explain to the police that he gave me the car to sell, but most of the time, he avoided my calls, at times, he switched off his phone... Presently, he's no longer picking any call on that line." The State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, noted that the suspect is helping the Police with investigation, adding that efforts are on-going to arrest others. The suspect along with the vehicle has been transferred to Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) for further investigations. |
| Man charged with manslaughter after forgetting his twin daughters in a hot car Posted: 07 Aug 2016 08:09 AM PDT  These 16-month-old twin girls Ariel and Alaynah North (pictured) died after their 24-yr-old father Asa North left them in an extremely hot car in 90-degree temperatures outside their Georgia home. The girls were found unresponsive while strapped in their car seats in the back of his SUV. According to Police, their father had been drinking before leaving his toddlers in the car when he got home.  Neighbors said the father was frantic after the girls were discovered. He started screaming and was seen running around with the kids. When Police around, Asa along with his neighbors, were desperately trying to revive the twins in a kiddie pool with ice packs to try to get the water temperature down.   Paramedics took Ariel and Alaynah to the Tanner Medical Centre less than five minutes away where they were pronounced dead. The twin's mother was in Atlanta visiting her sister that had been injured in a car accident. She was however notified and has since arrived back. North was arrested, charged with two counts of reckless conduct, two counts of involuntary manslaughter and transported to the Carroll County Jail. Investigators are working to determine how long the girls were left in the car and a blood sample for alcohol was taken to determine his alcohol level. Authorities however report that they do not believe the deaths were intentional but believe North left the children unattended in the SUV for a certain amount of time. Autopsies were being done at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation crime lab to determine how long the girls were left in the car. |
| Okada riders in Bauchi protest against the introduction of ID cards by their union (photos) Posted: 07 Aug 2016 08:08 AM PDT |
| Posted: 07 Aug 2016 09:23 AM PDT  Liverpool and Croatian defender Dejan Lovren (pictured left with his wife) missed the Euro 2016 tournament after he found out his wife and mother of his two children was having an affair with a forestry worker, a man named Dario Torbic (pictured right with Anita Lovren), an old friend of Anitas who earns about £200-a-month...  Lovren (pictured with Anita and their son), who joined Liverpool for £20million in 2014 and earns £65,000-a-week, was said to be embarrassed when he discovered the affair but has refused to give up on his marriage. He reportedly whisked his wife away for a make or break holiday in June this year, determined to make his marriage to the mother of his two children work. According to the Sun UK, Dejan and Anita have been together since they were 16 but have recently been having issues.   Anita and Dario pictured above Below is how The Sun UK reported it ... |
| Dino Melaye shares more photos from his vacation with his kids Posted: 07 Aug 2016 04:07 AM PDT |
| Ludacris pictured out celebrating his eldest daughter's birthday with her Posted: 07 Aug 2016 04:06 AM PDT  |
| Posted: 07 Aug 2016 03:55 AM PDT  Bauchi State Governor, Barr. Mohammed Abubakar opened up about his first wife, Hadiza at a recent event. "The greatest gift I've received from ABU Zaria was my beautiful wife and heartthrob Hadiza. I met her 7 days after I've joined the University." he said.  |
| R.Kelly, 49, steps out with his 19 year old girlfriend Posted: 07 Aug 2016 03:55 AM PDT  |
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