A 10-month old baby who has been identified as Goodness survived the deadly Nyanya bomb blast which killed over 100 and injured about 124. Goodness is said to be the daughter of a petty trader who trades at the motor park. She was found among dead bodies while rescue team were trying to separate the bodies. The only injury she has is a swollen right eye, while her mother died during the incident.
A Pakistani student, Iftikiha Arslan, who is believed to be working for a Pakistani drug cartel, has been arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for trafficking 25.4 kilogrammes of heroin.
Head of Public Affairs of NDLEA, Mr. Mitchell Ofoyeju, said the drug was discovered in the suspect’s luggage during inward screening of passengers on board Qatar airline flight. It was believed that Arslan left Lahore, Pakistan with the drugs to Abu Dhabi then to Doha from where he connected to Lagos. The estimated street value of the seized drug was said to be N228m.
President Jonathan was in Kano earlier for a PDP rally. The broom is APC's logo.
House of Reps speaker, Aminu Tambuwal and former Kwara State governor, Bukola Saraki this afternoon donated blood to victims of Nyanya bomb blasts in Abuja. People who were there said more Nigerians have been coming in to donate blood.
Against the Minister of Power’s speech over the weekend that Nigeria was facing a spiritual war and urging those who could pray like him, to pray hard. After Nyanya’s bomb blast yesterday, Professor Wole Soyinka while speaking at an event in Osogbo have said, what Nigeria needs are competent leaders and not prayers. He said for example, the nation could get help from similar countries that have survived their security challenges and learn from them.
Also speaking against a paper that quoted him to have said, prayers can solve the nation’s problems, Soyinka said;
”I have never said prayers can help resolve the security challenges facing Nigeria. I believe the situation must be tackled without partisanship and all these uninformed comments cannot help the situation. We should wake up to the reality. Nigeria is in war and only competence can solve the problem, not prayers.”
Kidnappers have abducted two children of the Speaker of Kogi State House of Assembly, Alhaji Momoh-Jimoh Lawal in his home. The children Ogirima, 7, and Hafeez, 3 were kidnapped when abductors invaded the speaker’s house at around 4a.m, after gaining access into the premises through the fence.
Aside kidnapping the children, they went away with a television set, generator, N20,000 cash and a Toyota Yaris saloon car which belongs to his wife. They are yet to contact the family.
According to reports, 103 girls were kidnapped after an attack on a Girls Secondary School located in Chibok, a town on the border of Adamawa and Borno state.
Gunmen reportedly arrived at the school in Chibok around 9pm, killed the soldier stationed to protect the students and took 103 out of the 250 girls that make up the school. The men took the girls away in four lorries.
Residents of the area say the raid which lasted from 9pm-3am saw the destruction of many houses as the men overpowered the residents who put up initial defense. Police Commissioner in Borno state, Lawan Tanko confirmed the incident to reporters in the state.
The number of illegal immigrants deported from Norway leapt 37 percent in the first three months of the year, as the country's new right-wing government brings in a more hardline policy. The country's immigration police deported 1,705 people, up from 1,248 in the same period last year. Of those deported, 157 were minors, with three sent home without their parents.
A total of 147 Nigerians were deported, followed by 138 Afghans, 102 Romanians, 92 Albanians, 84 Russians, 82 poles, 76 Lithuanians, 72 Iranians, 63 Iraqis, 60 Eritreans, 60 Syrians and 59 Somalis.
Source: The Local
*Naija topping the list as usual*
An excavator operator at recycling facility in Norway has discovered 100,000 kroner ($16,000) left behind in a safe dumped at the site.
John Erik Tveitdal, 22, said he had decided to use his machine to break open the safe as "a bit of fun" at the end of his shift.
"'Suppose there is a million in there,'" I joked to a colleague, but I never thought there would be any money in a safe someone had thrown away," he told Norway's VG newspaper.
"I put the safe on the ground and beat down on it with the arm of the excavator," he said.
Eventually he managed to rip off the front door of the safe, and immediately saw that it contained six bags of cash.
"I felt I was in heaven and I thought I must be dreaming," he told the paper. "I stood there with 117,000 kroner in my hand and thought that right there I had a holiday in the tropics and a hot tub for the wife and me, but instead I ran straight to the boss and gave him the money."
Unfortunately for Tveitdal, his company Norsk Gjenvinning Group, then tracked down the owner of the safe and passed them back the money.
The Local.no
Would you return the money if it were you?
A set of twins, Taiye and Kehinde Balogun, (pictured above) have been arrested by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad in Lagos for robbing a factory belonging to Reckitt Benckiser, Punch reports.
Police authorities said the brothers, who were welders, were hired by a robbery gang to break into the company's warehouse in May last year. The robbery gang robbed the company of soap, noodles and chemicals worth N17million.
They were arrested, after much investigation, in February 2014. How sad for their parents. Continue.
After their arrest, the 27 year old twins claimed that they were not aware that they were being hired for a robbery operation.
Kehinde said;
“Around May last year, we were called by one guy known as Yankee who lives near our workshop in Agbara. He took us to meet one Deji. Deji claimed to be a storekeeper at the factory, saying he had misplaced his key. He took us to the warehouse and said we should break the locks open. After breaking the locks, they told us to help them load the chemicals into some trucks. They said they were under instructions to transfer the cartons to another warehouse. After helping them load the goods, we were given N10,000 each.”
But the police do not believe their story. They insist that the twins were aware that it was a robbery operation. Plus other suspects arrested along with the twins said the twins had been informed of the operation beforehand.
Source: Punch
The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Dr. Andrew Pocock was among the people who donated blood to victims of Nyanya today at the National Blood Transfusion Centre, Wuse 3, Abuja.
From Premium Times
The Peoples Democratic Party has condemned as barbaric, monstrous and extremely wicked, the bomb attack which claimed the lives of innocent Nigerians in Nyanya, a suburb of Abuja on Monday.
The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, in a statement on Monday said the party was shocked and has remained grief- stricken since it received the news of the gruesome attack and killing of Nigerians pursuing their legitimate endeavours.
“The PDP weeps. We are indeed grief-stricken. Our hearts go out to the bereaved, especially those who have been orphaned and widowed and those now deprived of their bread winners by this evil act. We share in their pain, their anguish and their loss and pray that those behind their grief must not escape justice,” the party said.
Stating that the attacks cannot be justified under any guise, the PDP maintained that they are politically motivated and can be traced to the utterances and comments of desperate persons who seek to undermine and discredit the present administration and make the nation ungovernable for President Goodluck Jonathan by instituting a reign of terror against the people.
“We stand by our earlier statements that these attacks on our people are politically motivated by unpatriotic persons, especially those in the APC, who have been making utterances and comments, promoting violence and blood-letting as a means of achieving political control.
“Nigerians are also aware of utterances by certain APC governors which have been aimed at undermining our security forces and emboldening insurgents against the people.
“Those who have been promoting violence through their utterances can now see the monster they have created. They can now see the end product of their comments; a country flowing daily with the blood of the innocent.
“The question is; how do they feel when they see the mangled and blood-soaked bodies of their victims? How do they feel when they hear the voices of the dying and the injured?
“Of course they feel nothing. Their hearts have been hardened and they are embittered by the fact that they have been rejected by the people. They are bitter because the people have chosen to rally round the government they love and voted for; but must they chose the path of violence and bloodletting as a response to the wishes and aspiration of the people?” the statement queried.
Urging all well meaning Nigerians to stand up and join President Goodluck Jonathan in his untiring efforts to check terrorism in the country, the PDP cautioned those fueling the attacks to retrace their steps, rid themselves of bitterness and desperation and seek forgiveness from God.
The party, in solidarity with the people also shelved all official engagements while praying God to grant the bereaved the fortitude to bear the loss.
Some members of Jehovah's Witness have come out to condemn their church's stance against them marrying outside their faith. According to Jehovah's Witness' doctrine, members of the church are to only marry themselves and not from any other Christian faith. If they do, it's seen as an act of immorality. And people who marry outside the church are usually expelled from the church and treated as non-members.
The members say this has kept them unmarried for years and in some cases, get married to members who they are not attracted to. Continue...
Confirming the church's position to PM News, an elder in the church, Elder James Etop, says the church's position is in accordance with biblical instructions. He said that if members are allowed to marry anyhow their faith would be affected. He said the teachings from other churches are different from the ones they have and so they try to protect their members from being affected. He took the case of heaven and earth teaching as an example
"For instance, there is nothing like hell fire as propagated in many churches. Hell fire was mentioned just as an illustration by Jesus Christ when He was saying the parable of Lazarus and the rich man in the Bible. If a member marries such a person who believes in such doctrines which is against the teaching of the Witness, it will definitely affect his or her faith.” he said.
According to Etop, members are not literally compelled to marry one another but if they marry outside of the church, the church would not honor such a union or an invitation to the wedding ceremony.
Ashley Williams, 49, hit Julie Beattie, 24, over the head with a hammer before he doused her in a mixture of petrol and diesel fuel.
She managed to stagger out of her home in flames like a ‘zombie' and gasp: ‘Ashley did this to me', before collapsing. She later died of horrific injuries.
Two children aged four and five witnessed the murder and became the youngest witnesses to give evidence at a murder trial. Continue...
Her sister Lucie Beattie described arriving at their south London home to see Williams put on his coat and walk out as Ms Beattie burned, screaming, behind him.
He carried out the attack in revenge because the mother of his four children was packing her bags to live with his son Ashley jnr from a previous marriage.
He claimed that he had thought he was involved in a 'water fight' and that she had been throwing the fuel at him - but he had no idea how she actually became ignited.
But he was convicted of murder at the Old Bailey by a jury of six men and six women. He showed no emotion as the verdict was announced while the victim’s family wept and clutched each other’s hands. He was jailed for life and told he must serve minimum of 25 years before being considered for release.
Williams was married to Monica Williams and the couple had eight children together before they divorced in 1999.
He then started a relationship with Linda Beattie, the victim’s mother, before he moved on to Julie.
Ms Beattie was aged only 16 when she gave birth to their first child in 2009. The court heard that Williams became increasingly possessive and would not let his partner have a tattoo or wear revealing clothes.
Ashley Jnr, 18, moved into the flat in Walworth, in September 2012 and began a sexual relationship with his father's girlfriend four or five months later, it was said
When Williams found out, he banned his son from having anything to do with Ms Beattie and tried to exile him from London. He threatened to ‘break every bone in his body’ if he refused to leave town.
On July 18 Ms Beattie and Ashley Jnr travelled to Birmingham together.
The couple had come back to London on the day of her murder, the same day Williams had sent a number of texts, begging Ms Beattie for forgiveness. In one message he said: ‘I tried over and over with you Julie. ‘I wish you nothing but the best... I’ll always love you, I just showed it too late, please forgive me Julie.’ He also sent his children bizarre messages blaming them for the break up of the relationship. In one he stated: ‘When my life is done..mark these words of your father, my curse will begin.'
When Williams came home from work at 11am he locked her inside the house. Her sister Lucie Beattie collapsed in court as she relived the moment she saw her sister emerge from the house in flames. She said when she went to the house Ms Beattie screamed: ‘He’s going to kill us.’ When she returned minutes later she saw smoke billowing out of a window and ran in screaming: ‘Where’s Julie.’ She sobbed as she told the court: ‘I pushed open the kitchen door and a lot of smoke came out. ‘I saw Julie. She was in flames,’ she wept. The victim walked out of the house and rolled onto the floor before sitting down with her hands and legs out in front of her. Witnesses said that her clothing and some of her skin was actually on fire. Neighbours poured water on the victim and wrapped her in wet blankets while they waited for emergency services.
Williams was arrested in a park close to the home later the same day, with self inflicted injuries. In court he claimed he was not trying to kill himself because of what had happened to the victim - but because he was upset that the fire had damaged the kitchen.
Williams, of Walworth, who had denied the charge, was convicted of murder.
Culled from UK Daily Mail
Afrobeat maestro, Femi Anikulapo-Kuti, has finally opened up on his crashed marriage. The musician, who is currently in Paris, France where he is due to perform at the biggest African music festival in Europe, went down memory lane and recalled how he met, married Funke, his ex-wife and mother of his first son, Made, right down to their divorce in this new interview I found on DailySun. He also spoke about other intimate issues. It is a vintage Femi – candid, honest and brutally frank! Enjoy it. Interview seems long but it's very revealing, guys. What would you suggest as the best way to love a man like Femi?
Because of Made, maybe you and Funke see to talk about common things but we are shocked to see her sitting next to you at ‘Femi Segun’s burial?
She is the mother of my child and we are very friendly, we even call each other. At least, what I manage to do is not to let the breakup affect Made first of all, and our relationship. Human beings must fight. There must be misunderstanding sometimes. It is now left to us if we are matured enough to overcome these problems.
To some people, breakup is so bitter that they end up hating each other. I manage to take my hatred and throw it away, and still respect her as a human being and the mother of my son, and most importantly for the love of my son who needs his mother. If she too understands that he needs his father then we must get rid of our misunderstanding. He was the one at the church who said ‘please sit beside my mother’; I had to oblige him. I could have refused because I went with my girlfriend, so I told my girlfriend not to be annoyed and she understood.
Does it mean you and Funke may come back as husband and wife?
I doubt it. But you never know. You never know what God has in plan for you. What if you say never and something just happens? If they told me she would leave my house one day, I would have said it is impossible. So, if she comes back one day, you never know what can happen. One sickness can hook you down and she might be the person by your bedside, what would happen? I don’t pray for it but you never know what God has in plan for you. So, I am not the one that tempts fate. Right now, I am content, I am happy, we are friendly and my children are also happy.
Tell me your greatest memory of Funke?
Are you trying to bring us back because this question is mischievous (laughs). There are many great memories of her. I can’t say one or two because it is not possible to throw 10 years away. There are great, good and bad memories. All are memories.
How did you meet Funke?
I met her at a restaurant where I was playing jazz, at a place called ‘44’ in Ikoyi. She came with my cousin, Funmi Ransome-Kuti, they were in UNILAG together. She was so beautiful and she was looking at me, so I knew she likes me. So, I told my cousin to introduce me to her. That’s how we met.
How did you eventually propose to her?
I didn’t propose; one day, I just told her that ‘from today, we are boyfriend and girlfriend’. She said, ‘ha ha, what kind of love is this?’ I said, ‘when we have been calling ourselves everyday, are we misleading ourselves? And it was on a Christmas Eve. I said to her ‘from today you are my girlfriend, if you have a boyfriend, get rid of him now because I must not see him when I get to your house’ and she laughed. That was how we started.
I am sure you don’t want to pull that off your mind so soon?
It is off. Like I said, I have a new life. I am staying with two of the mothers of my children; we all stay in the same house. I have a very good family. They are content, but they respect Funke. If Funke comes, they will excuse us. They are very respectful of her. Don’t forget we are in Africa; this is the way we grew up, so if she comes around they give her the respect. If I go to the church and she is there, if I say ‘please I have to sit with her’, they will accord her the respect. And I am sure she has her life.
Can we ever get together? I can never say no, because something can happen that may be for good or bad and we’ll be together again.Never say never! If you ask if I am happy right now, I am very happy not just with my relationship, I am also very happy with my children who are progressing, which is really my priority. At 52, I have experienced a lot. If I die today, I cannot complain in heaven that I did not enjoy my life.
My biggest challenge is to ensure my children have a good life. I want the children to grow up very stable and that requires a lot of sacrifice on my part. I cannot use my selfish, jealous or whatever interest to disrupt their future, which is the same attitude I have with Made. He is doing very well. He is playing piano well. And probably if I use his mother’s problem as an obstacle in his life, it might just be worrying him. And you never know why children have psychological problems, but it is the parents’ duty to always protect their children. ‘Nobody send us message; we slept with each other, we born pikin, you now want to give the pikin problem.’ I don’t indulge in that. Since there is a child involved, I try my best to keep my reservations to myself by just facing the truth.
You don’t believe in monogamy?
Yes. I grew up in a polygamous home. I grew up wanting to be like my father. I grew up wanting to have many women; that was my training. I will not tell you it is right or wrong. You see my son, he believes in monogamy. He has one girlfriend that he has been following for many years, and they want to get married. I don’t pray for them to breakup. If they want to even get married in the church, I will not stop him. Whatever he wants to do I will not use my own life to rule, direct or control my children. They must have the liberty to choose because if they fail or succeed, they have to understand it is their life. I can always be a good father. I will have to teach them how to take good decisions because I love them. I am not going to discourage my son by saying ‘what if she breaks your heart, so get ready for heartbreak’, because I don’t pray for it. I can only support him. If he is successful and even if he breaks up with this girl, he might still go for another person. But for whatever reason, this is the life he has chosen for himself and I love it that he is happy.
Because of the way I was brought up, there is no way I can be faithful to a woman. I will not even try it. I wasn’t trained to do so. I didn’t grow up with that attitude. I grew up in the real house of Kalakuta where there were women and I loved it. So, I wanted the same thing for myself. Now, I don’t have the life of Kalakuta but I know that I can’t leave that dream and say I want to be faithful to one woman. I will rather be by myself; truth, I love my freedom. I don’t love the part that I owe anybody anything. Even the people with me know that I love my freedom. I like to sleep when I want to sleep, if I want to go out I love to enter my car and go on my own; I love my independence. I was brought up with total independence.
Did you give Funke a ring, that ‘with this I thee wed’?
No, she bought the ring.
And you put it in her finger?
Yes, in the registry.
That makes you a monogamist so you cannot marry another wife under the Nigerian law?
I am not a monogamist because we are divorced.
It looks like you sacrificed all when Funke was with you?
No, I didn’t. When we got married she was pregnant and I knew it was a boy. I didn’t know how I knew but I just knew. I told her ‘we will get married, but I will never be faithful to you’. She knew one of my dancers then was my girlfriend. I have been dating her long before I met Funke.
Funke’s mother and I are not good friends. When she (Funke’s mother) came back into her life, we started having problems. I don’t know if that is part of the problem or if it is Funke who is bored with the marriage or her friends were talking to her, whatever the reason, I tried my best to bring her back. I tried to even change my ways. Many things went on, those that are close to me know that I went out of my way, when I saw that I was wasting too much energy, I had to relax. Funke and I didn’t talk for a long time. It took us years to understand that there is a son in our midst.
I don’t want to open the can of worms because we have settled all these. It is something that we have left behind. I have forgiven her and I will not tell you that I was totally right, but was I sincere in my marriage? Yes be rest assured that I was. I wasn’t doing anything that she wasn’t warned of before. That I won’t have girlfriends? She knew that I was a very humble polygamist. I tried to be as discreet as possible but you know the more you are getting popular, the more people are taking your tales to your wife. She might find condoms in my car that I forgot to hide very well, who knows?
Why then did people blame your sister, Yeni, all this while…?
I will never reveal to you why our marriage broke up, but YK (Yeni) definitely was never part of it. YK and I even fought because she advised Funke to take Made along with her, and I said if she takes Made I am in trouble, because I love Made and I want him to be with me. All my life was circled around Made, so if Funke had gone with Made maybe I would have committed suicide, because everything in my life in that marriage was based on Made.
I saw Made as my inheritor; I saw him as the next Anikulapo to take the music to another level. So, my investment emotionally, financially, everything was stationed on Made. If Funke had left with Made, I didn’t have another child, and a politician had already threatened me that what if Made dies? So, I thought that was a threat from the government saying they will kill Made. I was very protective of Made, which was another reason I decided to have other children. What if I lose Made? What will I do? If you check the Anikulapo and Ransome-Kuti families, there are not many boys; everybody is just having girls. So, the only inheritor of the Kuti dynasty was Made. My cousin in America had a girl, Yeni had a girl, others also had girls, and Made was the only boy. I thought of protecting him or else the Anikulapo-Kuti clan will die. Seun also had a girl; the only person that recently had two boys was Kunle. He just had his own boys when Made was already a teenager.
We heard your father had a son in the US
He didn’t have a son in the US; it is in Australia.
Have you met him? What is his name? How did he meet you?
Yes. His name is Couney. I went to play in Sydney and he came to meet me there. That was about four or five years
Did Fela ever tell you about him or how did you know?
Fela told us about one woman that probably got pregnant for him. She told Fela she was pregnant but she disappeared with the pregnancy. Fela now came and told us the story. He (Couney) met my sister on Facebook and told her the same story. And he traced his mother because his mother put him up for adoption, so when he met his mother, she then told him that his father was Fela.
How old is he?
I am a year older than him.
So, he is part of the inheritors of Fela?
Yes, but he doesn’t want to be known. He doesn’t want anything, he just wants to meet us, and case closed.
He answers Kuti too?
Are you not inviting him to Nigeria for a visit?
He will make his decision. He doesn’t want much publicity. It was his son who wants to know the family. He has met us, if he wants to go the extra mile that is his business.
What does he do, is he into music?
He is into drawing. I don’t know much about him. We talk once in a year. I went to Australia early this month and my sister told him I was there, but he didn’t come to meet me because he was busy. Don’t forget that 50 years of our lives have passed, where do we want to start the friendship. He is a very nice person. He is probably a Fela’s son, we cannot say for sure except there is a DNA to prove it.
And to do that, would you have to bring Fela from the grave?
But from my perception he looks like Fela.
Hilarious! Charles Novia shares his Experience at President Goodluck's Daughter's Wedding Yesterday
Post written by Charles Novia, published on NewsWireNGR:
I just attended the wedding reception of President’s Jonathan’s daughter, Faith and her husband, Godswill. I am sure most of you saw it live on television but I just might write a behind-the-scene review of what happened in the hall which you could not see. I might write that later.
Let me just give a slice of it; all these big men you guys see in power and out of it are all hustlers like you and me! The rush to enter the hall, ehn? Captains of industries and Government officials were in a flux and fight to enter the hall which was barricaded by stern security men at the International Conference Centre.
The protocol is that once the President enters the hall; the doors are shut and no one gets in or out till the President leaves. So, there was a scramble to enter. Me sef shame for some people. Chai!There were rumpled and creased clothes on people after the scamble. A couple of ladies lost their headscarves and headties and gave us shocking glimpses of their ‘Abolo’ heads! Chai!
The President’s Security detail at the venue were stern but professional. They didn’t give a hoot who you were. Orders are orders. Everyone who entered; those that mattered wanted to be seen by the President or First Lady and a small line of diffident favour-seekers or friends was formed but many could not pass through the security detail to just greet Mr President.
Let me shock you guys a bit. The biggest critics of President Jonathan, the opposition parties or cliques, the rabble-rousers and all were mostly there at the wedding! I was shocked! Ehn! Politicians! That’s how they deceive you all by crying wolf and abusing the President yet they run to him to prostrate at night or in private!Those of you who follow blindly these people una go see! Be careful!
I even saw Dele Momodu, who lambasts President Jonathan every week for the past four years on Thisday backpage on Saturday, taking pictures and going round shaking hands. He shook my hands too. Egbon! Look, in politics there are no permanent friends or enemies: just permanent interests!
I must hand it to GEJ, he shielded his family from public glare. I mean; how many of us know he has three biological children and three adopted with this new bride being an adopted child he took in about 15 years ago? Very touching. The couple got gifts of over 60 brand new cars as presents from what a close source told me. ‘Bastardly rich’ Nigerians fell over themselves to give presents. Chai! There was a group of orange-scarved women who caused a stampede in the hall after the wedding rushing for gifts and stuff! Wetin? People nor get shame? The presents given to the guests were magnifique! Not anything ostentatious but just cool.
This Nigeria is great, sha! Odiegwu!
