FULL TEXT: President Buhari’s Independence Day Speech

Today – 1st October is a day of celebration for us Nigerians. On this day, 56 years ago our people achieved the most important of all human desires – freedom and independence. We should all therefore give thanks and pray for our founding fathers without whose efforts and toil we would not reap the bounties of today.

2. I know that uppermost in your minds today is the economic crisis. The recession for many individuals and families is real. For some It means not being able to pay school fees, for others it’s not being able to afford the high cost of food (rice and millet) or the high cost of local or international travel, and for many of our young people the recession means joblessness, sometimes after graduating from university or polytechnic.

3. I know how difficult things are, and how rough business is. All my adult life I have always earned a salary and I know what it is like when your salary simply is not enough. In every part of our nation people are making incredible sacrifices.

4. But let me say to all Nigerians today, I ran for office four times to make the point that we can rule this nation with honesty and transparency, that we can stop the stealing of Nigeria’s resources so that the resources could be used to provide jobs for our young people, security, infrastructure for commerce, education and healthcare.

5. I ran for office because I know that good government is the only way to ensure prosperity and abundance for all. I remain resolutely committed to this objective.

6. I believe that this recession will not last.

7. Temporary problems should not blind or divert us from the corrective course this government has charted for our nation. We have identified the country’s salient problems and we are working hard at lasting solutions.

8. To re-cap what I have been saying since the inception of this administration, our problems are security, corruption and the economy, especially unemployment and the alarming level of poverty.

9. On Security, we have made progress. Boko Haram was defeated by last December – only resorting to cowardly attacks on soft targets, killing innocent men, women and children.

10. Nigerians should thank our gallant men of the Armed Forces and Police for rescuing large areas of the country captured by insurgents. Now, residents in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States, as well as several neighbouring states go about their daily business in relative safety. People can go to mosques, churches, market places in reasonable safety.

11. Commuters can travel between cities, towns and villages without fear. Credit for this remarkable turn-round should go to our Armed Forces, the Police, various sponsored and private vigilante groups, the local traditional leaders. Security is a top to bottom concern and responsibility.

12. Besides Boko Haram, we are confronting other long-running security issues, namely herdsmen vs farmers, cattle rustling, kidnappings. This Administration is firmly resolved to tackle these challenges and to defeat them.

13. A new insurgency has reared up its head in the shape of blowing up gas and oil pipelines by groups of Niger Delta Militants. This Administration will not allow these mindless groups to hold the country to ransom.

A Member of the gang that kidnapped 3 Lagos landlords arrested while on a spending spree

James Kegbe alias JJ, an indigene of Ondo State, was among the gang that kidnapped three landlords and their physical trainer, near Lekki Gardens Estate, Isheri.

He was arrested by the IG of Police Intelligence Response Team, in Ondo State, where he had temporarily relocated to. A police source said Kegbe was on a spending spree in Ore.

He confessed that he was given N1.2m as his share of the total ransom of N12m ransom paid. He identified other members of his gang as Julius, Victor, Trust, Senior Man, John and Prince Efforts are on to arrest other members of the gang.

Police save 2 robbers from being burnt alive in Aba, Abia State

According to reports, 4 armed robbers stormed Oriaku street, this afternoon, stealing phones, money and shooting a man in the process, before escaping. Two of them were, however, nabbed at Umuocham road and taken back to Oriaku street. They were thoroughly beaten and were about to be set ablaze when some policemen came to their rescue.

See Inside The Palatial Bel Air Mansion Of Super Models Gigi and Bella's dad Mohamed Hadid

Gigi Hadid is certainly raking in the big bucks now that she's a successful supermodel, but the 21-year-old millionaire's still got nothing on her father.

Mohamed Hadid, 67, is positively loaded — and the proof is in his incredible Bel Air mansion, luxuriously named Le Belvédère.

Mohamad and his wife Shiva Safai gave a peek inside their 48,000-square-foot home in the new issue of Harper's Bazaar Arabia, showing off a palatial estate that would make anyone wonder why Gigi and Bella would ever move out.

Mohamed knows a thing or two about luxury. He designed Ritz-Carlton hotels and has developed other high-end properties including resorts and mansions ever since.

'The homes I have done in the Los Angeles area are a combination of neoclassical style with a very modern interior. I don’t follow trends so I make my own,' he told the magazine. 'I create homes that feel like a home — it could be a palace or a mansion — but each one has a comfortable feeling.'

They're also homes that are great for hosting. In an early episode of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Mohamed and his ex-wife Yolanda threw an Arabian Nights-themed graduation party for Gigi here.

The main level of his home includes a formal living room, a formal dining room that seats 20, offices, a music room, a bar lounge, powder rooms, a breakfast room, a main kitchen, a butlers' pantry, and staff rooms.

Man brutally murders wife for converting to Christianity

A 42-year-old man identified as Amir Darbanou, has reportedly murdered his 35-year-old wife, Nasrin Abek, for converting to Christianity in Sydney, Australia.
The suspect and his wife were originally from Iran but had been living in Australia for the past four years, the Sydney Morning Herald is reporting.

Reports say the suspect, who had been growing increasingly angry with his wife, a hairdresser, and believed she had been unfaithful religiously, stabbed her multiple times with a knife, inside their Potts Point unit apartment in St Neot Avenue on Wednesday.

Her body was however discovered at about 6:20 am on Thursday by the police after her father reportedly alerted the police.

According to the deceased’s father, hereceived a ‘disturbing’ phone call from his son-in-law, Darbanou on Wednesday telling him his daughter was dead and on Thursday morning, police visited the scene where they found Abek’s body with multiple stab wounds.

The father said he had earlier raised concerns to the police about his daughter’s welfare in her husband’s house, following her conversion, before the unfortunate incident leading to her violent death.

According to the report, there was no previous history of domestic violence between the couple, until that night when some claimed to have heard a piercing scream around the time she may have been murdered.

Meanwhile, the suspect appeared before Central Local Court on Friday, facing a one-count of murder.

A Kings Cross Police Superintendent, Michael Fitzgerald, was quoted to have said police had recovered what was possibly the weapon used to kill Ms. Abek from the tip where the rubbish from the unit block was dumped.

Fitzgerald said, “We are not looking at any other suspects in this matter. It is alleged that the son-in-law told [the father] certain things which brought the concern from the father to speak with police today.

“There was no known history of domestic violence between the pair. Any incident of violence, let alone domestic violence, is tragic and we ask anyone if they’ve got any information about any loved one or any friend who may be involved in any domestic incident to come forward, to contact us, because we need to know,” the police Superintendent stated.

The magistrate, Les Mabbott, reportedly adjourned the case till November 24.

Wife of CBN Governor, Emefiele reportedly kidnapped

A group of heavily armed kidnappers Thursday night abducted Margaret Emefiele, the wife of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mr. Godwin Emefiele.

Sahara Reporters reports that Mrs. Emefiele was kidnapped along the Benin-Agbor Road.

More to come…

Pictures Show watches, cash, phones and belt buckles of those killed trying to cross the 'death-trap' border into the US lie in a Tucson morgue

A stunning collection of photographs has documented some of the items left behind by people who died trying to cross the border into the US from Mexico.
The pictures were taken at the Pima County morgue in Tucson, Arizona, which is located near one of the deadliest and most used stretches of the border.

Plastic bags are seen scattered across metal tabletops in the photos, complete with everything from cash, cellphones, photos, a belt buckle, and other personal items.

Other harrowing pictures showed the skeletal remains of people who died trying to cross the border from Mexico.

Bodies on shelves in refrigerators were also seen, along with a man wheeling a corpse into the morgue.

Earlier this year it was revealed more than 850 unidentified bodies were being kept in the morgue, and that most of those who ended up there died of thirst.

'Most of the remains that we call undetermined are likely people that have died from exposure… who may not have water available to use,' Pima County Chief Medical Examiner Dr Gregory Hess said in August.