Eight-year-old daughter of Terrrorist Anwar al-Awlaki killed in Pres. Donald Trump's First Yemen raid

An eight-year-old girl and a SEAL Team Six member have been named after they were killed in Trump's first military raid as President, in which officials have said 'almost everything went wrong.'

Nawar al-Awlaki, also known as Nora, was among the non-combats killed in the raid, which also resulted in the death of several Yemeni women. 

The only other American citizen killed was the SEAL, Chief Petty Officer William 'Ryan' Owens, a 36-year-old from Illinois. 
SEAL Team 6 is the US Navy's special forces team that gained worldwide fame for killing Osama bin Laden.

This was the president's first clandestine strike, and not one that was originally ordered by former President Obama. 

It involved 'boots on the ground' at an al Qaeda Camp near al Bayda in south central Yemen, officials confirmed in a statement to NBC news. 

The eight-year-old, Nora, was the daughter of Anwar al-Awlaki, an American al Qaeda leader, born in New Mexico, who was killed in a US strike ordered by President Obama five years ago.

why I kidnapped my boss' 8-year-old son – Apprentice

An apprentice, Chimobi Sylvester, monday confessed to the police in Lagos how he kidnapped his master’s eight-year-old son because of his refusal to pay him his settlement after working for him for four years.
The 23-year-old suspect made this confession after he was arrested and paraded at the command headquarters, Ikeja alongside his accomplice, 20-year-old Emmanuel Blessing.

He said: “I worked as a sales boy and apprentice for him but after spending four years, when it was time for him to settle me, he asked me to go back to village to do something else.
After I had spent two months in the village, I came back to Lagos to kidnap his son with the hope that through the kidnapping, I would be able to get my money back from him. I lived with him so I know he is not always at home.
I relied on that and contacted one of my friends, Emmanuel Blessing and we went to his house last week Thursday. We lured his son and took him away with ease because he knows me very well.
I took the boy to the apartment given to me by the hotel management where I worked at Oyingbo area, and locked him up in the room. While in our captivity, Blessing contacted my boss and informed him that his son had been kidnapped and we demanded for ransom of N5million.
After the man agreed to pay the N5 million ransom, I went to the bank with a friend to withdraw the money not knowing that anti-kidnapping policemen were around and we were arrested.”
The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Police Command, Mr. Fatai Owoseni, who paraded the suspects, urged businessmen who bring young boys to work or learn a trade to always fulfill their part of the bargain.
He, however, said the suspects would be charged to court after completion of investigation into the matter, adding that the boy had since been reunited with his family.

FRSC seeks nationwide ban of commercial motorcycle

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), has recommended a nationwide ban on commercial motorcycles popularly known as `Okada’ to reduce accidents on our roads.
The recommendation forms part of the October Road Traffic Crash (RTC) Report 2016, submitted by the Corps Marshal, Mr Boboye Oyeyemi, to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).

The report quotes Oyeyemi as saying that commercial motorcyclist, remained a major cause of fatal road traffic accidents across the country, hence the need for state governments to consider banning them from operating.
The RTC statistics for October 2016, shows that 230 cases or 18% of a total of 1,259 vehicles were involved in accidents within the month, majority were commercial motorcycles.
According to the report, motorcycle accidents ranked third after cars which accounted for 457 cases or 36%, followed by minibuses with 243 or 19% of the total.

Anambra governorship aspirants to pay N9m, each, before being allowed to paste their posters

The Anambra State government’s Signage and Advertisement Agency (ANSAA) yesterday said governorship aspirants in the state would pay N9m each before they could be allowed to paste their posters in any part of the state.

It warned that any aspirant who contravened the rule would be sued accordingly. The Managing Director of ANSAA, Jude Emecheta, explained that the money was needed by the agency “to clean up the mess generated by such posters” after the elections.

Nollywood actress hospitalized after soldier brutality

Jewel Infinity has cried out for help after she was left hospitalized, following a beating she received from an army officer in Rivers State. In a post on her page, she said:
"Please my good people, I'm sincerely calling out for justice against violence. I am hospitalized right now. I'm in serious pain and agony; in between life and death.I boarded a siena vehicle leaving PortHarcourt for Onitsha. We were pulled over by some soldiers.

One of them, SULAIMAN OLAMILEKAN, began to molest me. He accused me of discussing him, where I was only having a friendly debate with the lady beside me. I explained to him, but he ignored me and demanded I disembark, kneel down and apologise to him.
I told him I did nothing wrong to apologise. He started hitting me with a stick. The other soldiers confiscated and broke my phone, to prevent me from taking pictures. When I told them that I'd no longer proceed with the journey, they refused.
The driver drove off to some distance away from there, and I alighted and returned to Portharcourt and went straight to the Barracks to report him. His superiors pleaded that I shouldn't take the case any further; that he'd be remanded for one month, which i feel is not enough justice.
He was summoned and he confessed that i didn't do anything to have warranted his cruel action, that he was in a very bad mood. He begged me to forgive him and not take things seriously. Right now i am bedridden.
The doctor said I'm running temperature due to my high blood pressure. I am in serious pain and rendered partially immoveable. His facebook I.D is Sulaiman Olamilekan.
Please help me reach out to anybody in authority, who can fight this violence. Violence is indeed a cankerworm that has eaten us deep into every fabric of the Nigerian Army Force. Soldiers fight and protect their own, not to destroy the innocent civilians."

I love Nigeria, I love Buhari, says publisher of ‘Biafra Times’ after arrest by police

Police have arrested the publisher of the Biafran Times Magazine, Peter Eke (30), at Somolu area of Lagos State. He was arrested alongside staff of his publishing firm – Azeez Ayoola (30), Rafiu Qudus (25), Adewunmi Tope (22), Kunle Olushola (22) and Akeem Adebakin (49). Others are Ayodeji Gbemi (30), Akeem Bisiriyu (34) and Shakiru Folohunsho (25).
The state Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, paraded the publisher and staff of the printing company before journalists at the Command Headquarters, Ikeja yesterday. He described the publication as “seditious” which could bring disharmony and chaos in the state.

Owoseni said the command would invoke the law on anyone playing an ethnic tune and working against the unity of the country. But Eke said he did not know that publishing the Biafran Times magazine in the state was an offence.
He said: “I have published some sporting papers before because of low patronage; I decided to publish the Biafran Times because I knew Igbo people who reside in Lagos would buy it. I am only doing it to put food on my table.
I love my country and I love my president. My intention is not to fight my country; I just want to pass out information to those who have no access to the Internet. I usually go on the Internet to source for information and publish.
“I decided to specialise on Biafra Times when I discovered it is always a sell-out. We usually sell between 6,000 and 7,000 copies weekly because of the name. Each copy, according to him, goes for N100 nationwide.”
Fatai Owoseni, police commissioner, said 515 copies of the “offending” newspaper were recovered during a raid on the printing press of the organisation in the Shomolu area of Lagos.
“This is an offence punishable under the Criminal Law of Lagos state," he said. He added that the suspects would be charged to court as soon as detectives finished interrogating them.

Schools to start teaching maths, science in indigenous languages – Minister of Science and Technology

Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, has said plans are underway to ensure that primary schools in the country teach mathematics and science subjects in indigenous languages, to encourage the application of science and technology in the country.
The minister said, “The Ministry of Science and Technology is worried over the low interest in mathematics and the science subjects, so, we are working on plans to teach mathematics and sciences in indigenous languages in primary schools.

These pupils grow up with their indigenous languages at home before they start going to school, where they are now taught in foreign languages. So, we have observed that there is a challenge to understand the foreign languages first before they could even start understanding what they are being taught.
We believe that this plan will help our students to understand mathematics and the science subjects, and also promote the application of science and technology for national development.”
He added that some countries that were making advancement in science and technology, such as India, adopted a similar strategy by teaching mathematics and the science subjects in indigenous languages at the primary school level.
The minister, however, said there was a need to first develop the vocabulary of the indigenous languages before they could be used to teach the subjects effectively.
He said the Ministry of Science and Technology would collaborate with the Ministry of Education to develop the capacity of the local languages to serve as effective tools for teaching mathematics and science subjects.

Chris Brown bans his friends from driving his cars after one crashed his $500k Lamborghini

Chris Brown has put a halt to his friends driving his cars after one of them totaled his insanely expensive Lamborghini Aventador. According to TMZ the star was furious after the crash.

The driver left the scene, so cops don't know who was behind the wheel. The "friend" told Chris he was not under the influence ... he just lost control. Chris had given 7 friends permission to drive his fleet of cars -- but after the accident he told all of them to hand in the keys.

Mother-of-two commits suicide over MMM scheme

A woman in Benue State, who invested borowed money in the popular MMM scheme, lost the money, has committed suicide, Tribune reports.
Gloria Samson, 34, according to reports, had left her home in Makurdi, on 28 December, 2016 around 9 p.m leaving behind her two children both five years of age.

As she took her leave, she bided her children bye and apologised for any wrongdoing she might have committed against them and pleaded for forgiveness. The same message was reportedly sent through the children to her husband, David (pictured), a printer, who was still at work at that time.
She walked down to River Benue and drowned herself and her body was discovered by police on 2 January, 2017. It was alleged that she decided to commit suicide due to the crash of MMM, having invested a N.4million loan she procured from various places in town.
Some of those who spoke to Sunday Tribune, said Gloria was a very lively person until early December 2016, when news of the crash in MMM went viral. One of her friends, Kate, said: “She came to my stall early December, she was so moody, unlike her usual way of life.
I asked what the problem was, and she told me that she had run into deep problem. She added that she collected a sum of money and put it into MMM, but learnt that the thing had collapsed. She even threatened to run away."
Some staff of the local bank where she obtained the loan, but were oblivious of her death, also traced her to her residence, to notify her that she had defaulted in her loan payment, only to be informed that she had passed on.
Her husband, David, also said towards December, 2016, he discovered she took a loan but there was nothing in the shop to suggest that she invested the money into her business.
He explained further that he discovered that his wife became depressed around early December when the news of the crash in MMM filtered into town and asked her what the problem was, but she only told him that she was sick.

We sold his corpse for N400,000, to a rich Ogun State man – Murderers of Kwara doctor

A suspect arrested in connection with the abduction and death of a medical doctor working at the Omu-Aran General Hospital in Irepodun area of Kwara State, Dr. Tunde Abdulrahman, in July 2016 has explained that he personally shot the victim and later sold his corpse, Punchng reports.

Abdulrahman had been missing since he was abducted by three armed men, Hammed, Dayo and Yemi, who stormed his father’s house in Tanke area of Ilorin and took him away in his Toyota Corolla saloon car.

Since his abduction, the kidnappers have not contacted the family to demand a ransom, creating apprehension that he might have been killed. But now, the police said he might have indeed been killed considering confessions made by the arrested suspect, Hammed Jamiu.
Hammed is an ex-convict and the son of the long-time security guard at Abdulrahman’s family house. According to Hammed, he shot Abdulrahman because the victim saw his face and was able to identify him.
All efforts to get Hammed to divulge where he buried the doctor’s body have proved abortive as he at a point identified a rich man residing in Shagamu area of Ogun State as their accomplice.
“The rich man was the one who bought his corpse for N400,000,” he said in his statement. But the police said their investigation later revealed that he had no such dealing with the said “rich man” whose identity the police did not reveal.
He also took investigators to a forest in Kwara State, where he showed them some buried bones claiming that they were the remains of the doctor. Tests later revealed that they were that of a cow. The police have said investigation was still ongoing on the case.

Four arrested for gang raping NYSC members in Abia State

Ifeagwu Kalu, also known as Eskimo, 34; Nkeiru John Iwuoha, also known as Damage, 40; Chukwu Ogbonnaya, 26; and Onyebuchi Kalu, have been arrested for allegedly raping and terrorising women at Elughu Nkporo and its environs.

It was learnt that the suspects had taken their turn on some village women and some NYSC members, during their rape escapade. The Commissioner of Police in Abia State, Mr. Adeleye Oyebade, said the suspects have confessed to the crime and would soon be charged to court. Crdt: Punchng

LAUTECH graduate arrested for stealing 20 cement bags

The Operatives of Rapid Response Squad, RRS, of the Lagos State Police Command have arrested a 35-year-old man, Abiola Hamzat, for allegedly stealing 20 bags of cement from a brick-making company in the Agbado.

The suspect, a graduate of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, was arrested alongside his accomplice, Adebayo Kazeem, 32, after stealing the items from their work place.
Hamzat, a father of three, allegedly stole the bags of cement from the company a day after he was promoted to the post of a supervisor with a financial reward of N215,000 per month.
The suspect started work at the factory as a Contract Security from where he rose to become an operator. However, he was formally promoted three days ago to the post of a Supervisor, when the company’s management discovered that he was a university graduate.

Customs seizes two N9.7n helicopters imported by unknown people, donates them to fight Boko Haram

The Murtala Muhammed International Airport Command of the Nigerian Customs Service on Friday handed over two seized civil model Bell helicopters imported into the country by unknown persons to the Nigerian Air Force.
The NCS said the helicopters were handed over to NAF for failure by the yet -to - be-identified importers to produce end user certificate from the office of the National Security Adviser.

The NCS said this was in contravention of Section 36 ( 2) of the Customs and Excise Management Act and that the seizure was effected on November 7, 2016 in line with section 46 of CEMA.
Customs Area Controller, Frank Allanah, told journalists that the value of the two helicopters and other accessories was over N9. 7bn. He said the chopper would be useful to the Nigerian Air Force in the fight against insurgency as the chopper were specially designed for such operations.

Aluu 4: Court acquits 5 inmates facing trial . .

Five of the twelve suspected killers of four undergraduate students of the University of Port Harcourt, popularly called Aluu 4, in 2012 were on Thursday freed by a Rivers State High Court sitting in Port-Harcourt.
The freed suspects were the traditional ruler in Aluu community, Alhaji Hassan Welewa, Lawal Segun, Okoghiroh Endurance, Ozioma Abajuo and Chigozie Evans Samuel.

The trial high court judge, Justice Letan Nyordee acquitted and discharged them after it held that the prosecution failed to establish any prima facie case against them.
Meanwhile, the remaining seven accused persons area still facing trial and the matter has been adjourned to February 9. Family members of the freed suspects said it has been five years of agony.
Four undergraduate students of the University of Port Harcourt were killed in a mob action at Omuokiri village in Aluu Community, Ikwerre Local Government area of Rivers state on October 5th 2012.

Toddler left with horrific facial burns after grabbing mum's hot cup of tea

A toddler has been left with horrific facial burns after grabbing her mum's scalding cup of tea and accidentally pouring it over herself.
Libbie Patterson was left screaming in agony as the boiling hot drink splashed over her face, shoulders and back after she grabbed it from the kitchen counter.

The 16-month-old girl was raced to hospital by her frantic mum Emma where medics spent three nights treating her for burns. But medics hope Libbie's face - which has been left disfigured following the incident - will not be permanently scarred.
Now Emma has released a picture of Libbie's injuries to warn other parents about the dangers of hot drinks. The 24-year-old said: "The cup was close to the edge of the work surface and she reached up and grabbed it.
It went over her face, shoulders, stomach and back. It is amazing how making a cup of tea can have such devastating consequences. I want to make parents aware of how easily things like this can happen. We didn't have a child gate on the kitchen but I do now. I've learned all the lessons."
Scalds from hot drinks are the most common cause of burn injury for children aged under five and it takes only a second to cause a deep burn from hot water at 70 degrees Celsius.

Bailout funds scandal: Nigerian governor loses $10m to Mistress

A governor is under probe after the sum of $10 million he diverted from the bailout funds allocated to his state was hijacked by his mistress. The governor was said to have commissioned his mistress to help him launder the said sum only for the latter to refuse to remit it in the slush accounts the governor provided.

Already, the money in question has been traced to a bank in the U.S. The Nation investigation revealed that the governor resorted to using his US-based mistress to stash the funds abroad in order to avoid monitoring by security agencies.

It was gathered that the diversion of the looted $10m by the mistress created an uproar that triggered the ongoing investigation. One of the sources involved in the probe said: “A governor from an oil-producing state is in soup and under probe by some security agencies.
The governor seems to have been duped by his mistress who stays in Texas. The governor is worried after discovering that his girlfriend has defrauded him of $10 million.
What started as a love affair and promises of good faith has turned sour. Yet the governor would not want his wife or the people of the state, who will be disappointed, to know about this ugly transaction.
Investigation so far indicated that the governor allegedly diverted part of the bailout funds meant for his state to the mistress. Very soon, the details of the transaction will be revealed to Nigerians. This is why the government has decided to monitor how bailout funds and London-Paris loan refunds were spent.”
The Presidency in 2016 released the sum of N1. 266.44 trillion to 36 states within 9 months. The breakdown includes N713.70 billion special intervention funds to states and London Paris Club loan refunds of N522.74 billion.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) had said 16 states were yet to disburse about N57, 663, 185, 735 of the bailout funds approved for them by Pres Buhari. The agency also indicted some of the states for diverting the bailout funds which were meant for workers’ salaries.

28-yr-old woman abandons hubby in jail, dumps baby in orphanage, moves in with 4th husband

A 34-year-old jail returnee, Paul Jubril, had reported to the police that his wife, Blessing, killed their daughter, Ifeoma, and fled to live with another man. The couple were living together with their two kids before Paul went to jail.
Upon return from Suleja prison about two weeks ago, Paul, discovered that Blessing had fled their apartment with their two kids, Ifeoma and Peter. He later heard that Ifeoma was at an orphanage home.
Police findings show that after leaving her husband’s home, Blessing took Ifeoma to an orphanage home where she lied to them that the baby’s parents had died.

The orphanage later discovered that Ifeoma had been infected with HIV.
This prompted officials to return her to Blessing, but it was almost too late as she died soon after. “I have to report the case at Kubwa phase 4 police station Abuja. I didn’t believe that my child could die of HIV.
When I was going to prison in December 2016, my child was in good health. I don’t know why my child will die of HIV. I don’t have HIV, likewise, my seven years old son, Peter Smith. I want to know the cause of death of my child.
It is Blessing who is responsible for the death of my child”, the angry father lamented. While justifying why she had to move out of Paul’s home, she said, “Whenever I have a quarrel with my boyfriend, he used to beat me to a state of coma.
When I couldn’t bear it anymore, I packed out of the house. I didn't kill my child. It was frustration that prompted me to take the child to orphanage home. When life is so difficult for me, I have to marry another man."

FG to deal with subversive rumour mongers on President Buhari’s health

The FG says the full wrath of the law will be brought to bear on the authors of subversive messages being circulated on the health of Pres. Buhari. The government said this in a statement issued by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
“The source/sources of the fabricated messages are already being investigated and the authors should prepare to face the consequences of their actions,’’ the minister said.

According to Mohammed, the President is hale and hearty and there is no iota of truth in the subversive messages being circulated on his health.
He noted that there was no truth in the messages on the president’s health and the purported emergency meetings of state governors in Abuja or anywhere.
The minister urged Nigerians to disregard the messages being circulated via text messages and the social media, saying the fabricated messages were being orchestrated by those who felt threatened by the emerging order.
Mohammed noted that the naysayers had also resorted to the use of ethnicity and religion as tools to divide Nigerians, over-heat the polity, and cause panic among the citizenry.
“While opposition and criticism are all part of democracy, the crafting and circulation of subversive materials and scare-mongering are not.
The emerging trend of resorting to destabilisation and scare-mongering is not unexpected, considering this government’s clamp-down on the corrupt elements in the society.’’
The minister said the scare mongering was because government had blocked all financial leaks, enthroned probity and transparency and derailed the gravy train of the looters of public treasury.
Mohammed said government would neither stifle press freedom nor abridge the citizens’ right to express themselves freely through constructive criticism or protests.
He, however, warned that “the security agencies will neither allow any resort to violence nor a willful subversion of the state for whatever reason."

29-year-old Zambian lady weds 92-year-old South African businessman

Charity Mumba, 29, originally from Zambia, tied the knot with 92-year-old South African Peter Grooves, recently.

Mr Grooves, has been described as a "very rich man" after making his fortune in stocks and shares. The new Mrs Grooves moved to South Africa in search of a new life — which she found with her husband Peter.

Annoyed staff arrested for putting menstrual blood & saliva on cheeseburger before serving it

A fast food worker who became upset with a drive-thru customer was arrested on a felony charge of "selling unwholesome bread or drink" after allegedly licking the cheese and placing menstrual blood on a cheeseburger before serving it at a Jack's restaurant in early January.

18-year-old Sky Samuel turned herself in and has been released on a $5,000 bond. If convicted, she could serve up to five years in prison for the alleged crime.
City of Columbus Public Information Officer, Joe Dillon, tells KFOR-TV, "The employee didn't understand the woman's order, words were exchanged, and it went downhill from there."
The customer ate the meal, then made a complaint with Jack's for poor service. It wasn't until the woman saw a Facebook post that she called to file a complaint with Columbus police.
That Facebook post came from the mother of Samuel's teenage co-worker, who went into detail about the allegations against Samuel. Tabatha Hollins posted, "So if u went to Jack's between 10:00pm and 10:30pm on 1/7/2017 and u order the big jack with a sprite u got more then ketchup!!!"
Hollins also posted a recorded phone call between Samuel and her daughter, in which Samuel can be heard saying that security cameras "can't see right there" in the area where Samuel was standing.

4 UniAbuja students killed in auto crash

Four students of University of Abuja, have died in an accident which occurred on Tuesday night at Gwako village, on the Abuja-Lokoja road.
A witness said the accident, which happened about a kilometre to Gwagwalada occurred at about 10:12p.m. after a Peugeot 406 car coming from Zuba axis veered from its lane and collided with an oncoming trailer.

He said the Peugeot car driver ran into a deep pothole, lost control of his car and crashed head-on into the unmarked trailer, killing all its four occupants on the spot.
Reacting, the FCT sector commander of the FRSC, Sunday E.Oghenekaro, blamed the accident on excessive speeding by the Peugeot driver. Crdt: DailyTrust

65-year-old man arrested for raping two minors, aged 8 and 10

The men of the Ogun State Police Command has arrested a 65-year-old man, Alosuposo Louis, for allegedly defiling two minors, aged 10 and eight respectively, following a complaint from the mother of one of the victims.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said the complainant claimed to have noticed a strange behaviour from her daughter, which made her to interrogate the girl only for her to discover that the suspect had defiled her.
Further investigation revealed that the suspect had defiled another minor aged 8. Oyeyemi said, “The suspect has confessed to the crime, and the two victims have been taken to the Ayetoro General Hospital for treatment.”

First Bank's cashier jailed 4 years for N9.3m theft

An Igbosere Magistrates’ Court, Lagos Wednesday sentenced a bank cashier, David Anibolu, to four years’ imprisonment for stealing N9, 308,000 from a customer’s First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) Plc account.
Chief Magistrate A. O. Awogboro convicted him of stealing. Before sentencing, the convict’s counsel Philips Onyama made an allocutus for his client and pleaded for a sentence of a fine, or a lenient jail term.

“He’s a first time offender; he has no father, only a sick mother who relies on him to survive. He has been in custody since March 24, 2014 and has suffered emotional and physical torture. He is also now more sober and refined,” Onyama added.
Pronouncing judgment, Chief Magistrate Awogboro sentenced Anibolu to four years in prison. Anibolu, 26, committed the offences on March 22, 2014, at FBN Alaba 2 branch in Ojo.
He fraudulently changed a customer’s identity and mandate card which enabled him to debit the said account of the sum N9 million and transferred it into various accounts.
A forensic auditor attached to the bank, Solomon Akhanolu, was able to link the fraud to Anibolu through the password he used to change the customer’s identity and mandate card.
According to Anibolu’s confessional statement, his accomplices, who are still at large, promised him N4m as his share of the fraud, but they disappeared with the money and gave him nothing.

Picture Of $20 Million Cash Found Hidden Inside A Matress In The U.S

A new photo released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office shows the $20 million that authorities found hidden in a mattress in a Westborough apartment.
The cash was inside a box spring and police say it is connected to a pyramid scheme involving TelexFree, a Marlborough-based company that purportedly sold VOIP telephone service.

It was found earlier this month by investigators who had tailed a Brazilian man from New York. That man, Cleber Rene Rizerio Rocha, 28, was charged with conspiring to commit money laundering.
TelexFree had few customers and made most of its revenue from people buying into the company with a promise of payouts for posting online ads for it, prosecutors have said.
They were paid with money from new recruits, often friends and family of earlier investors. Almost 1 million people worldwide were swindled out of nearly $1.8 billion.

Pro-Trump Rally: 45 Pro-Biafran agitators arraigned for treason, remanded in prison

The Rivers State Police Command yesterday arraigned 45 Biafran agitators before two Chief Magistrate Courts sitting in Port Harcourt for treason over their alleged involvement in the Friday agitation in Rivers State.
The members of the IPOB and the MASSOB had on Friday, organised a solidarity rally to commemorate the swearing in of Donald Trump as the new American president.

But the security operatives in the state arrested over 65 of them and disrupted the rally, claiming that the Pro-Biafran agitators did not obtain permit before commencing the peaceful protest.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Francis Odesanya charged them to court on two counts of conspiracy to felony and treasonable felony. The matter was adjourned till January 30 and the suspects were ordered to be remanded them in prison.

History Made: FG releases N72bn for the construction of the Lagos-Ibadan modernized rail line

The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, on Monday disclosed that the Federal Government has released its counterpart fund for the construction of the Lagos-Ibadan mordernisation railway project. He put the figure at N72bn.
The minister said the counterpart funding was released in full so that there will be no delay in the project implementation. He also used the opportunity to appeal to the National Assembly to approve the $30bn foreign loan request.

He said, “The construction of Lagos-Ibadan Railway, the Minister of Finance has been kind enough to release the counterpart funding in full. I think in the history of Nigeria this is first time that we are releasing counterpart funds in full so that there will be no delay since the Chinese loan appears to have been approved.
The only thing we need to do, I thank God there is somebody from the National Assembly, is to plead with the National Assembly that the funds has been approved, then the National Assembly should please approve the $30bn loan.
If you don’t encourage the National Assembly to make that approval, then, the economy won’t be making the kind of progress we want the economy to make. So, for me here, I will enjoin to persuade the National Assembly to kindly make that approval because they are tied to projects.”

Viral genocide video: Avoid Libya or get killed, Abike Dabiri tells intending Nigerian migrants

Abike Dabiri-Erewa, senior special assistant to the president on foreign affairs and diaspora, has warned Nigerian migrants against travelling to Libya, saying the penalty, when caught, is death.
Dabiri-Erewa made the warning in a statement she issued on Monday, following the emergence of videos and photographs of Nigerians being killed in the North African country.

“The attention of the office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora has been drawn to a video and pictures being circulated on the purported killing of black immigrants in Libya,” she said.
“While the authenticity of the pictures and tapes in question cannot be verified, it is a known fact that Libya has been executing alleged black illegal immigrants for years.
“As the Chairman Committee on Diaspora in the House of Representatives in the Seventh Assembly, we intervened in the case of 24 Nigerians about to be killed in Libya.”
As at two months ago, NEMA, alongside the Nigerian Embassy in Libya, evacuated over 2000 Nigerians from Libya,” she said.
“The Nigerian embassy in Libya, working with NEMA, has relentlessly intervened in cases involving Nigerians in trouble in Libya and will continue to do so. Libyans are dealing with their own struggles as there is no recognised government in place.
The office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora hereby appeals again to Nigerian migrants to avoid Libya as penalty for illegal migration to Libya, when caught, is usually a death sentence.”

Mom refuses to breastfeed her baby born with an incurable disease

A distraught mother has refused to breastfeed her premature baby, dubbing it an 'alien' after the child was born with an extremely rare, incurable condition that causes her skin to grow seven times faster than usual.

The 28-year-old woman gave birth to the baby girl at a government-run hospital in Patna district of Bihar, India on Sunday. The young parents, who claim to be traumatised by the birth, called the child a curse and refused to accept her.
The baby has a disease called Harlequin Ichthyosis, which causes widespread and persistent thick, dry, “fish-scale” skin. It happens due to an acute case of malnutrition causing thickening of the skin and facial deformities.
Doctors believe that the girl wouldn't survive for long as none of her organs have developed properly and that the probability of survival of such cases is only one in 10 million.

21 States Spend N37.4billion On Pension For 47 Ex-Governors

Former governors are exerting pressure on the finances of state governments with pension payments and other entitlements draining billions of naira every year from developmental funds for the states. Over N37.367 billion was, according to Vanguard findings, expended on servicing 47 former governors from 21 states in pension payments and provision of houses, staff, and vehicles replaceable between three and four years.
Bauchi tops pension payouts to ex-govs Payment of pension to former governors over a four-year cycle are highest in Bauchi, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, and Lagos states with former governors drawing N23.18 billion, N2.795 billion, N2.043 billion and N1.606 billion respectively over four years.

Former governors of Bauchi State are paid the sum of N1.201,634.28 billion per annum, while former deputy governors, according to Vanguard findings, earn N1,131,345.96 billion per annum. The amount is apparently based on the monetized benefits that include personnel, vehicles, houses and other allowances.

The payments are in many cases besides provisions for medical expenses for the former chief executives which run into hundreds of millions per ex-chief executive.

The pension payments and other entitlements drawn by the governors are irrespective of the prescription of the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation, and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC providing 300 percent severance for the governors as stated in the Certain Political Office Holders and Judicial Officers Remuneration Act.

Policemen shoot two UNIOSUN students over ‘Yahoo-Yahoo’ allegation

There was tension in Osogbo, capital of Osun State on Saturday as students of Osun State (UNIOSUN) staged a protest over the shooting of 2 students of the university, Kazeem Adesola and Ibrahim Ajao by some policemen.
It was gathered that the students were playing football at a pitch off-campus around Oke-Baale when the policemen came in mufti and accused some of the students of involving in internet fraud also known as Yahoo-Yahoo (YY).

A student who was at the scene when the incident happened, said the policemen were in the habit of harassing and exploiting the students and that the attempt by the students to resist the harassment on Saturday led to the shooting.
“We were playing football when they came. They always come like that to arrest students here. They would say that we are involved in Yahoo-Yahoo and they would seize our laptops and phones.
They would collect money on the pretext of bail. But we resisted them on this last one. Within a twinkle of an eye, the policemen started shooting. When the policemen started shooting, we ran away but the bullet hit two of us and they were rushed to hospital.
The bullet hit one near his stomach and the bullet hit the second one in his mouth”. The Commissioner of police in the state, Mr Fimihan Adeoye, confirmed the incident and disclosed that the policemen have been arrested and detained and assured that they would face the full wrath of the law.
The CP said he has ordered a full scale investigation into the matter and cautioned the students of the institution not to take laws into their hands.

FG official's son jailed for life for raping and killing a Nigerian £1,800-a-night sex worker

The son of a Nigerian government official was yesterday jailed for life after raping and murdering a £1,800-a-night high-class escort. Bala Chinda killed Jessica McGraa, also a Nigerian, only a few weeks after he arrived in Scotland to study at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen.
The 37-year-old £200-an-hour sex worker's partially clothed body was found the following day in the bedroom of a flat she had rented in the city's Union Terrace. Extensive police investigations carefully pieced together the call girl's last movements following the grim discovery on February 12, 2016.
CCTV footage showed she had travelled to Chinda's student accommodation in the city's King Street with him in a taxi before they returned to her apartment a short time later, where she was found dead the following day.

Yesterday, a jury of eight women and seven men unanimously found Chinda guilty of murdering Miss McGraa, and also found him guilty of raping the mother of one and stealing her two mobile phones in an attempt to defeat the ends of justice.
Chinda was told he must serve a minimum of 18 years. The Nigerian, whose father works as the immigration attaché at the Nigerian embassy in Beijing, wept uncontrollably after he was found guilty by the jury.
The court heard that Miss McGraa died of asphyxiation and was probably smothered with a pillow and possibly strangled with her scarf. The taxi driver taking Chinda and Miss McGraa back to her apartment had heard the two discussing money.
Chinda changed his phone number after her death. Miss McGraa moved to the UK from Nigeria 11 years ago after meeting an English oil worker, Gareth McGraa, who had been working in a Nigerian complex. They married and had a son but later split.
Her double life as an escort was only exposed to her closest friends after her sudden death, with many believing she travelled round the country selling hair extensions. Instead, she travelled across the country renting city apartments for a few days where she would spend time with her clients.

Textile dealer arrested with $1.4 m worth of drugs on his way to Cambodia

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), has intercepted a textile merchant with 4.4kgs of methamphetamine worth $1.4miilion at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja on his way to Cambodia.

It is the first seizure of the year at the airport and the first consignment going to Cambodia. The 40 parcels of drugs, concealed inside foodstuff, were detected during the outward screening of passengers on an Ethiopian Airline flight.
The 47 years old suspect, Ifeka Charles Obi, from Oba Idemili South LGA of Anambra State, said he had been promised N1m payment by his “sponsors”. According to him, as textile dealer, he lost everything due to family problems and that it is first attempt at smuggling drugs.

Pictured: Director arrested in Borno for inserting electric heater into son’s anus for allegedly being gay .

A Director of Planning in one of the juicy ministries in Borno State, (names withheld) has been arrested by the state Police Command for allegedly inserting electric heater into the anus of his 10-year old son over the allegation of engaging in homosexual activities, Vanguardngr reports.

The top civil servant was said to have perpetrated the act upon hearing that his son performed the act with some politicians. While the boy had claimed to have been raped at their 1000 Government Housing Estate residence, the father was said to have dismissed his story leading to the inflicting of the bodily injuries.
It was learnt that the victim was chained before his father, who was accused of denying his children western education carried out the act. It was further gathered that the civil servant recently chained one of his daughters named Mama for insulting her stepmother in the estate.
Some residents told Vanguardngr that the estate was recording growing rate of homosexual activities.

Nigerian soldiers brutalize fitness enthusiast for wearing a fitted top to accentuate his muscle

According to the victim Olajide Nathan (@drealghettoboy), the incident happened around 9:30pm, last night, at Keffi street, off Awolowo road, close to Dordan barracks, Obalende. He said: "I was beaten up for almost two hours last nite by soldiers OP MENSA bcos Iwas wearing a black armless and red track trouser.

They asked if i was a cultist and why am i so muscular in shape? Do i build up to intimidate soldiers? I told them i work out bcos i love to be fit and i enjoy doing it.
One of the soldiers slapped me immediately and the rest started wipping me with koboko, for no reason. I copied there plate number Hilux NA1003."

Suspect reveals how they pose as sim registration agents to transfer money from people’s phones

David Lucky, Louis Ogidamen and Theophilus Oko were recently arrested by the operatives of Edo State Police Command. Lucky, 19, opened up on how they transferred money from their victims’ accounts to their own accounts, using their victims’ phones.
They had posed as registration agents for a telecoms company. It was learnt that they offered to register the SIM cards of their victims.

They were also alleged to have offered to assist their victims to enable financial transactions on their mobile phones and in the process, transferred money from the victims’ accounts to their own account.
Lucky said that the sum N210, 000 was transferred from the accounts of three of their victims on the eve of the New Year through the code of a popular commercial bank. He said, “We used to work for a telecoms company.
When we see people with big phones, we told them that they could watch satellite TV stations on their phones. We also offered to help them with their subscription. Through that process, we also transferred money from people’s accounts.
We transferred N100, 000 each from the accounts of two individuals and N10, 000 from another account.” He said one of their victims alerted the police when she discovered a deduction in her account and raised the alarm. Crdt: Punchng

I could’ve died if police didn’t arrest me — Burglar who got trapped after operation

Joseph Eke, 26, has confessed that he could have lost his life if the operatives of the Aba Central Police Station had not arrested him when he was trapped in the pool office he broke into to steal N1, 635, 675 and one plasma television.

Eke, who claimed to be a graduate of Mass Communication from Enugu State University, said he was attracted by the huge sum of money he saw the cashier attached to the pool office count when he went to play pool.
He said: “I was attracted by the huge amount of money the cashier was counting in the office that I could not resist because I have not seen that amount of money before.
I was trapped after the operation because I suspected that people were aware that somebody was robbing the office. I thank God that the police were contacted and they came and rescued me. If not, I wouldn’t have known what would have happened to me if I was caught by the mob."

Naval official allegedly beats wife to death in Lagos

An official of the Western Naval Command, Apapa, Lagos, Omojoye Ayodele, has been arrested by the Lagos State Police Command for allegedly killing his wife, Mary Egbailo, 29, Punchng reports.
Ayodele, 30, on Tuesday, allegedly beat up the victim till she gave up the ghost at their house on Eze Anthony Street, in the Igando, Alimosho. Ayodele had, reportedly, gone to bring back the wife from the Cherubim and Seraphim Church in the area, where she was said to have been since Sunday.
Shortly after they entered their room-and-parlour apartment, an argument reportedly ensued between them, which led to a fight. The Ebute Irele, Ondo State indigene, allegedly beat Mary till she became weak and died.

She was said to have been rushed to El Dunamis Hospital, where she was confirmed dead. An official of the hospital said the husband claimed she took a local insecticide, Sniper.
It was gathered that the victim would have been taken to her hometown for burial, but for the insistence of the landlady, who maintained that Egbailo did not take Sniper, but was a victim of domestic violence.
The case was reported at the Igando Police Division, leading to the arrest of Ayodele. The landlady alleged that Ayodele had been assaulting his wife since 2016. She said, “The man complained that for the past three days, his wife had been away from the house and gone to a church.
Around 10am on Tuesday, both of them entered into the house. I guess he had just gone to pick her from church. It was not up to three minutes that I started hearing noise.
I went to their apartment and asked the man what the problem was, but he pushed me away and kept hitting her until she became weak." The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, said the corpse had been deposited in a mortuary for autopsy.

Nigeria deploys 200 soldiers, fighter jets, to Gambia, to force Pres. Jammeh to hand over power

The Nigerian government has confirmed that it has deployed fighter jets and at least 200 soldiers to join their Senegalese counterparts for a Gambian mission. The spokesperson of the Nigerian Air Force, Ayodele Famuyiwa, confirmed the deployment in a statement sent to the media.

“The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has deployed to Senegal as part of Nigerian contingent of Economic Community of West African States Military Intervention in Gambia (ECOMIG) – a standby force tasked by ECOWAS Heads of State to enforce the December 1, 2016 election mandate in the The Gambia,” Mr. Famuyiwa said.
“The NAF today moved a contingent of 200 men and air assets comprising fighter jets, transport aircraft, Light Utility Helicopter as well as Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance aircraft to Dakar from where it is expected to operate into Gambia.”
ECOWAS had indicated its intention to forcefully remove President Yahya Jammeh from office should he decide to remain in power beyond Thursday, January 19, the date he is constitutionally expected to handover to President-elect Adama Barrow.
Mr. Jammeh has remained defiant, saying he would not leave office until the Supreme Court hears his petition challenging Mr. Barrow’s widely acclaimed victory.
The Supreme Court has said it cannot hear the matter as it does not have the 5 judges required to form a quorum.

Woman arrested for stabbing Ikeja Electric official

Ediale Ayodele, 35, has been arrested by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, Lagos State Command, for stabbing an official of Ikeja Electric.

Ayodele, who lives at No. 6, Ayodola Close, Akonwonjo, allegedly stabbed the official who was on a routine forecast drive in the area.
The official was said to have come to the said property to check on a disconnection carried out some weeks back when the altercation occurred.

Armed youths attack Emir’s convoy in Southern Kaduna, destroy 3 cars in his convo

Armed youths yesterday attacked the Emir of Jema’a (Kafanchan) Alhaji Muhammad Isa Muhammad II in Samarau Kataf, Zangon Kataf LGA of Kaduna State, destroying three vehicles including the pilot car in the process.

The emir was returning to Kafanchan after attending a security meeting with the state governor, Nasir El-Rufai, on issues relating to the recent Southern Kaduna killings.
The Ciroma of Jema’a Emirate, Alhaji Kabiru Tanko, who escaped by the whiskers, said that they were attacked around 8:00pm at Samaru Kataf after attending a meeting with the governor.
He said “when we reached Samaru Kataf, some armed youths surrounded us with all kind of weapons and started attacking our convoy. We immediately turned back to Kachia for our safety." Crdt: DailyTrust

He was killed over a church’s revelation that he's a wizard - Mother of boy brutalized to death

Mrs. Erueke John, the biological mother of late Joshua Zikeme, the 7-year-old boy, who was allegedly tortured to death at Akaba community in Yenagoa LGA of Bayelsa State, by his father and step-mother over allegation of witchcraft, yesterday, cried out that her son was a victim of a vicious father and not a wizard.

Mrs. John claimed that the allegation of wizardry by the suspects was based on a revelation from a church based in Yenagoa. According to her, “the church is a one room place of worship. They claimed they took my son to the place and they were told he was a wizard.”
She said her son was tied to a stake and savagely brutalised to death. The police had, Monday, arrested the deceased boy’s father, Idiesy Zikeme, and the step-mother, Eunice Zikeme, on suspicion of torturing the boy to death.
The deceased, according to security sources, was rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, FMC, dead with several bruises on his body, a development that raised the suspicion of the management, who promptly alerted the police, leading to the couple’s arrest.
Speaking yesterday, the 29-year-old biological mother of the deceased, Mrs. Erueke John, said though the boy was stubborn, he never displayed any sign of wizardry as alleged by the suspects.
She said: “They killed my son in cold blood. I was told the suspects used sharp objects to slice all parts of his body in an attempt to exorcise him. I left the father’s house while I was pregnant with the boy, because he was beating me and was also into illegal sales of hard drugs." Cc: Vanguardngr

Lagos landlord hangs tenants dog on the ceiling

According to an eyewitness who sent the photo to LIB, the incident happened at Sapade along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. According to the report, the tenant moved into the building with his dog just two weeks ago.

The landlord told the tenant that dogs were not allowed in his compound and told the tenant he should keep his dog within his rented apartment, which is not possible.
The tenant and the landlord argued about this for days and when he returned from work yesterday, he found his dog hanging from the building's ceiling. It was dead. Other tenants testified seeing the landlord around the dog owners apartment earlier in the day.

Police parade 2 teachers for raping 6 year old pupil after showing her ponography

Two teachers, Stanley Akanno and Olakunle Hassan, both teachers in a private primary school in Amuwo Odofin, were yesterday paraded by Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone 2, AIG Kayode Aderanti, for serially defiling their 6-year-old female pupil.

The teachers, he said, during extra mural classes, showed pornography on their laptop to the pupil and made her practice same on them. “The pupil has been taken to a government hospital where it was medically established that she had been deflowered. The suspects will soon be charged to court,” Aderanti said.
They were arrested following suspicion by the girl’s mother that her daughter has suddenly become sexually active. The girl’s mother, while narrating how the daughter was defiled, said: “I noticed that my daughter was kissing his brother’s penis.
I called her and interrogated her where she learnt the behaviour and she told me that her lesson teacher plays erotic films on his laptop and forced her to watch it. She added that the teacher will then defile her. We reported the case to the police and from the investigation, it showed that she was defiled.” Crdt: Theeagleonline

Guzmán, Mexican drug lord, finally extradited to the US

Drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, who became a legend in Mexico through his dramatic prison escapes and years of staying just ahead of the law, arrived late Thursday in New York after he was extradited to the U.S.

Guzman will appear Friday in a federal courtroom in Brooklyn, where he will stand trial at a later date. Stringent security measures were being put in place around the Manhattan jail where Guzman is to be held.
The Brooklyn Bridge will be closed while the drug lord is being transported to court. The extradition appears to be timed. Mexican authorities wanted to turn over Guzman, head of the Sinaloa cartel, before Friday's inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, a US official said.
Trump angered Mexico during his campaign by demanding it pay for a border wall. Six separate indictments across the U.S lay out wide-ranging cases against Guzman and others, alleging they have brought in billions in drugs to the U.S and laundered profits back to Mexico.

4-yr-old girl recovered, after being kidnapped and sold by her aunt, for N350,000

The girl who was allegedly stolen in Enugu State, by her mother’s younger sister and her boyfriend, and sold to one Florence Nwokocha for N350,000, has been recovered by police operatives in Abia State, reports Vanguardngr.

The Enugu State Police Command’s spokesman, Ebere Amaraizu, said report of the missing girl was made to the police on December 15, 2016. In the course of investigation, one Chinedu Chukwu, the immediate younger sister to the mother of the victim, was nabbed.
Her boyfriend, Osunkwo Chinonso, was also nabbed. They had, on that fateful day, conspired and proceeded to the girl’s school and allegedly tricked and whisked her away to Iho Olokoro in Umuahia, Abia State, where they sold her for N350,000, to Florence Nwokocha.
Nwokocha was arrested and she assisted the police to recover the girl on January 16, 2016, from where she was kept at Faulks Road in Aba, Abia State, awaiting another buyer with a fabulous amount of money.
The girl’s mother, Mrs Irechukwu, was, however, shocked by her immediate younger sister’s involvement, saying that she never believed that her sister could do such a thing to her.

UNIOSUN student stabbed to death while trying to separate a fight

A 300-level student of the department of Civil Engineering at the Osun State University, Osogbo, identified as Kazeem Amodu Ige has been killed in a fight that erupted among some students of the institution on Monday evening.
He was allegedly stabbed in the chest by a 400-level student of the department of Physics Electronics of the same university, Yusuf Adekunle, also known as Stone.

The pandemonium broke out around the students’ hostel at University road in Oke-Baale area of Osogbo, Osun state. on Monday evening as a result of the bloody clash by the UNIOSUN students.
The reason for the fight among the students is however still uncertain. A source said the deceased student was not among those fighting and was only trying to separate the feuding students when he was stabbed.

University of Maiduguri Bombing: Third Suicide Bomber Gunned Down

A third suicide bomber was sighted and subsequently gunned down after explosions rocked the mosque at the University of Maiduguri on Monday morning.

The young woman of about 12 years was seen with an improvised explosive device (IED) strapped to her body in Bara Karaya village behind the University of Maiduguri.
Vigilant villagers promptly alerted the military, who managed to kill her before detonating the bomb. The military’s bomb disposal personnel subsequently disarmed the IED, preventing further casualties.