Friday, 28 November 2014

Photos: Hausas, Yorubas Clash In Lekki, One Dead

A riot broke out this morning in Lekki around 8:00am with eyewitnesses saying it’s actually a fight between Hausa okada riders, and Yoruba Lekki Estate Shuttle drivers. According to the source, the riot which occurred this morning was as a result of an attack carried out by Hausa Okada riders on Yoruba bus drivers who drive some of the estate’s shuttle buses last night.

The eyewitness who spoke to pulse.ng this morning said;

 “It all started yesterday when the Hausa okada riders attacked the bus drivers, they shattered the windows of their buses and injured a few bus drivers. This morning, the drivers with the help of some men caught some of these okada riders and beat them to a pulp”.

The unidentified men (who spoke in Yoruba language) carried cutlasses and blocked cars from driving through Dorusimi Etti road. They burnt several motorbikes and attacked Hausa bike riders.

‘They can’t come here and attack us, we will find you and kill you’, one of the rioters shouted, wielding a cutlass. Gunshots were also fired and are believed not to be from the Nigerian Police Force.


A twitter handle also tweeted that it is indeed a black Friday as they already lost a collegue in the fracas.



Late Professor Dora Akunyili’s Daughter Wins International Award

Daughter of Late professor Akunyili, Njideka Akunyili has been announced as the 2014 winner of James DickeContemporary Artist Prize by the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

She will be the 11th winner of the $25,000 award, which recognizes an artiste below 50 who has produced a significant body of work and consistently demonstrates exceptional creativity. We say big congrats to her.

Stars step our in style for Creative Industry event with GEJ



Nigerian celebs step out in style for an evening celebrating the Creative Industry in Nigeria with President Jonathan. The event is currently going on at Eko Hotel in Lagos. See more pics after the cut



Orezi signs multmillion Naira Merrybet deal

Popular Afro hip-hop &dancehall artiste, Esegine Allen aka Orezi signs juicy multimillion naira deal with Nigeria’s foremost and most innovative bookmaker, Merrybet.

The shoki crooner “Alhaji Orezi”, who was elated at signing the deal said “Merrybet has brought a lot of appeal and sophistication to the business of sports betting and that it felt good to be associated with such an innovative brand.”

At the event which held at the company’s VGC office, the company’s Chief communications officer, Mr Lanre Odiase said “Merrybet is pleased to have Orezi as an ambassador as he has a fresh style and also a large fan base especially among the youths.”


Orezi would be travelling abroad soon for the shooting of the company’s television ads and he would also feature at various company functions to promote the brand and its products.


Top prison boss gets 7 years in prison for obtaining money by false pretense

Find the EFCC press statement below
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on  Friday 28, 2014, secured the conviction of a top prison officer as Justice J.J Majebi of the Kogi State High Court, Okene, convicted and sentenced Joseph Friday Idachaba, Deputy Controller of Prisons, to 7 years imprisonment for offences bordering on obtaining money by false pretense. 
The convict is to pay the sum of N1, 403,114.09 in restitution to Nigeria Prison Service.
Arraigned in 2012 on a three-count charge, the convict was found guilty on count three of the charge by the trial judge, who, however, acquitted him on two remaining counts.

Count three of the charge reads: "That you Joseph Friday Idachaba (m) being a deputy comptroller of Nigeria Prisons Service, and Onoja D. Ruth (IP) also a staff of Nigeria Prison Service, sometime between July, 2012 to February 2013 at Lokoja, Kogi State did with intent to defraud obtained N1,403,114.09 only from the Federal Government of Nigeria via the Nigeria Prison Service with pretence that same amount was the payment of monthly salaries from Nigeria Prison Service, which amount was credited into the UBA Plc account No 2054047736 belonging to one Opia Mohammed Ugbade (now at large), through NIGSS electronic fund transfer (NEFT) between July 2012-to February 2013, that the said Opia Mohammed Ugbade’s name found in the Nigeria Prison Service electronic payroll is not a staff of the Service which pretence you knew to be false and hereby committed an offence contrary to section 1(1) paragraphs A&B and punishable under section 1(3) of the Advance Free Fraud and Other Related Offences Act."

Nanny who battered Ugandan baby asks for forgiveness, explains why she did it

There's absolutely no reason for severely battering a helpless 18month old but the Nanny who is currently in prison awaiting trial for attempted murder of baby Arnella tries to explain why she did it and begs for forgiveness. She's due in court again on December 8th.

Speaking from Luzira prison, Jolly Tumuhiirwe told Ugandaonline.net
“My dad in Kabale was very sick and my mom did not have any money. I asked my bosses for some money to send to my dad but they told me that I hadn’t made a month yet and my father was dying, so it kept on haunting me. That is the more reason I referred the anger to the baby but I’m sorry.

"But that madam (Arnella’s mom) is not easy. She used to say that I steal money from the clothes and Eric’s wallet, I eat the babies food…and yet I can’t eat the food, I’m not a baby, those were all lies, so, I was also not happy from my heart.”
“I feel guilty..ok when I was doing it I thought I was disciplining the baby because also the mother sometimes slaps her, I also saw from the mom. The torch I used was small and it’s not hard. I think, I will never do it again”
Jolly’s experience of Prison
“It’s not good at all even my fellow prisoners don’t want to associate with me, they want to beat me up. In fact they were saying that I should join them in their rooms, nobody likes me and I’m feeling bad I will never do it again, I ask the world to forgive me and also tell the bosses who have maids to treat them well.”
(Pic above: Jolly holds up the top she was wearing when she was beaten by Arnella's father - it has blood stains. I don't think a man should ever hit a woman, but I will make an exception in this case )

Photo: Explosion rocks Central Mosque in Kano, many feared dead

There was an explosion at the Central Mosque in Kano this afternoon as Muslim faithfuls were holding their Friday Jumat service. It's the same Mosque where Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido usually leads prayers but he wasn't there this afternoon. Many are feared dead. 

Wednesday, 26 November 2014

Popular movie marketer Femi Adelakun dies

Popular Yoruba movie marketer and chairman of Zentury Pictures, Femi Adelakun, died suddenly today November 26th in his home. Adelakun, who was also a member of the Oyo State House of Assembly complained that he wasn't feeling well when he suddenly fell. He was rushed to the hospital where he was confirmed dead.

Pic: Young girl injured after police allegedly throws iron rod at danfo

A LIB reader explains what happened...
At NAFDAC Busstop, Oshodi, Lagos, I was in the bus when this police man did this to us in the bus, a public bus (danfo). We were all seated in the bus and the bus was moving, when the policeman threw an iron rod at the window, which broke and scattered on all passengers, injuring a girl seated close to the window. We reported the case to the police men who where driving past, they just told us to go and meet the policeman and drove off, left us to our fate". See the photos after the cut...
 

PDP will never rule Lagos - Oba of Lagos says

The Oba of Lagos, HRH Rilwan Akiolu, says the PDP will never win the governorship election in Lagos state. Oba Akilo said this while speaking at the autobiography launch of former President of the Court of Appeal, Mustapha Akanbi, at the Sheraton Hotel in Abuja this morning
“Recently, I told Bode George, (Musiliu) Koro and (Adeseye) Ogunlewe that “Look at me o! You will never win Lagos. God will give us another APC governor” he said (Source -Premium Times)

Meet the prisoner who got 4 female guards pregnant while in jail for attempted murder



This romeo got not one but four female prison officials pregnant while serving a 20 year jail sentence forattempted murder inside a Baltimore City Detention Centre. 

Tavon White, known as 'Kingpin' ran a vast drugs smuggling business from inside the prison, CBS Baltimore reports. Prosecutors say he made $10,000 to $20,000 a week smuggling drugs and cell phones into the prison and befriended the female guards who helped to make his business easy. He rewarded them with sex and got 4 pregnant. Two of the women even tattooed his name on their body.

Five officers of the corrupt prison, Tavon & two other inmates are now facing charges of conspiracy, drug distribution and money laundering.

Read Piers Morgan's piece on Ferguson police officer, Darren Wilson



I thought it was strange that during his ABC interview he said he felt his life was threatened by unarmed teenager Michael Brown. Asked why, officer Wilson said because Michael was big. Thing is, he's as big as the teenager so when he said he had no other choice but kill to him when Michael supposedly came charging at him, he goofed. Read what Piers wrote about it all on MailOnline
Darren Wilson is the first 6ft 4in, 210lb five-year-old in history - by Piers Morgan 
"When I grabbed him, the only way I can describe it is I felt like a five-year-old holding Hulk Hogan…that's just how big he felt and how small I felt from grasping his arm.' 
This is how Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson justified shooting black teenager Michael Brown. Reading this particular piece of evidence from the vast dump of Grand Jury documents released last night, it'd be impossible not to sympathize with Wilson. 
A lone 'small' policeman in a patrol car confronted by a gigantic Hulk. There's just one problem. Wilson, by his own admission in his police interview, is 6ft 4in tall, the exact same height as Michael Brown.

He also weighs 210lbs, which may be 80lbs lighter than Brown, but still makes him a pretty hefty unit.

Put it this way, I've never seen or heard of any 6ft 4in, 210lb five-year-old boys, have you?
Wilson paints a very detailed and vivid picture of the savage beating he took from Brown.
'I was hit right here in the side of the face with a fist,' he said. 'I think it was a full-on swing but not a full shot. I think my arm deflected some of it, but there was still a significant amount of contact that was made to my face.'

Then, allegedly, came a second punch.

'I see his hand coming back around…and he hit me with a full swing.'
Imagine being hit by two full swing punches at close quarters by a 6ft 4in guy weighing nearly 300lbs?
You would think the damage would be pretty severe, right?
Yet the photographs released last night of Wilson's injuries show what appears to be a very minor bruise on his cheek, a tiny shaving-style cut on his chin, and a bit of reddening around the back of his neck.

(By comparison, my three-year-old daughter – 38 inches high and 32lbs in weight - recently broke my wife's nose with a playful head-butt.)
Evidence presented to the Grand Jury says Wilson didn't feel the need to go to hospital, but agreed to after a conversation with his attorney. Hospital staff found no significant injury at all.
Yet Wilson says the reason he felt compelled to shoot Brown is because he feared 'another one of those punches in my face could knock me out or worse…I've already taken two to the face, the third one could be fatal if he hit me right.'

Fatal? Really? After two blows that didn't require medical treatment? 

Dig further into the weeds of Wilson’s account and you learn that Brown was supposedly carrying a bunch of cigarillos in his right hand when he delivered the first punch, then switched them to his left hand and passed them to his friend before delivering the second punch.

Yet despite all this apparently intense struggle going on inside the car, there was not a single trace of cigarillo found anywhere in the vehicle.

Wilson then claims that after the two punches, Brown made a lunge for his gun.
'I could feel his fingers try to get inside the trigger guard with my finger and I distinctly remember envisioning a bullet going into my leg.'
Hmmmm.
You're the one with the gun, you're the one who ends up doing all the shooting, yet you 'envision' a bullet going into your own leg? Sounds a very convenient thing to 'envision' when you're trying to justify shooting an unarmed teenager, no?

Wilson says he fired the gun twice but it 'just clicked'. The third time, it fired a bullet at Brown, hitting him and shattering the car window.
'He looked up at me and had the most intense, aggressive face,' said Wilson. 'It looks like a demon, that's how angry he looked.'
Well yes, Officer Wilson, you had just shot him. Most people would be pretty p***ed off at that point.

Wilson fires a second bullet at Brown, who then runs off wounded.
Wilson gives chase and says Brown stopped and turned around. 'He made a grunting, aggravated sound and he's coming back towards me.'
Wilson then fires more bullets, hitting Brown again.

'At this point, it looked like he was almost bulking up to run through the shots, like it was making him mad that I'm shooting at him,' he said.
Crazy – eh? An unarmed teenager getting mad that an armed cop is repeatedly shooting him.
Wilson keeps shooting – he fires 12 bullets in total, hitting Brown six times.
The young man dies at the scene.
There are many aspects to Michael Brown's death, and the aftermath, that trouble me:
* The disgraceful fact that he was left lying dead on the street for four hours.
* The ludicrously soft-ball Grand Jury prosecution of Officer Wilson, who wasn't even cross-examined about the many inconsistencies in his story.
* The ridiculous decision to delay announcing the Grand Jury decision for eight hours yesterday, until it was late, dark and cable news had whipped everyone up into a frenzy of anticipation about potential trouble.
* The bizarre press conference Monday night by prosecuting attorney Bob McCulloch – a man who seemed more interested in prosecuting social media than a policeman shooting dead an unarmed teenager. (In fact, not once during his entire lengthy statement did he even mention that Brown had been unarmed.)
* The disgusting looting and violence that erupted once the decision was finally announced, shaming the memory of Michael Brown.

But my real contempt is reserved for the legal system in America that allowed this to happen.
Darren Wilson's explanation for why he killed Michael Brown was eerily reminiscent of George Zimmerman's account of why he shot and killed another unarmed teenager, Trayvon Martin.

Like Wilson, Zimmerman claimed he was being savagely beaten, and that his assailant was trying to grab his gun.

And in both cases, under Florida and Missouri state law - with which they were very familiar - that assertion was enough to justify them shooting dead a young black teen.
I don't believe Darren Wilson's version of events, just as I didn't believe George Zimmerman's.

I think they're a pair of trigger-happy wannabee John Waynes who felt empowered by their guns to mete out deadly justice to a couple of black teenagers who should never have been killed.
They did so knowing the law would shield them, not their victims.

It's not so much 'the system' that failed Michael Brown, or Trayvon Martin.
As civil rights campaigner W.E.B. Du Bois once said: 'A system cannot fail those it was never built to protect.'

Tuesday, 25 November 2014

My Brother, My Twin…Bishop Oyedepo Pays Tribute To Fallen Myles Munroe



Bishop Oyedepo of Living Faith Church Worldwide has written a tribute to Myles Munroe who died alongside his wife and seven others this month in a plane crash.

Myles and I called ourselves ‘twin brothers’
Myles, my twin brother is gone up to glory
Ruth, his partner in life and death has gone to eternal rest
Faith and I miss you both!


Our moments together on this side of the Jordan were most memorable.
We stayed together on several occasions under the same roof
We lodged in same hotels time and again; we shared the platform together preaching the
good news of the Kingdom over the years.
Our friendship of over 24 years was a most enriching and adventurous one,
Our partnership in ministry was also a most profitable and rejuvenating one.

Myles, my twin brother
A bundle of inspiration
A man of spiritual depth and insight
A leader of leaders and teacher of teachers
Ruth, a bundle of joy and divine radiance
Your smiles were ever contagious,
You exhumed gentleness, love and care like a fountain
You were indeed a priceless jewel!
The two of you were swifter than eagles
You literally traversed the globe
As you taught nations the principles of the Kingdom
You were both as strong as the unicorn,
Energetic, untiring, never relenting, purposeful and focused
I could still remember, Myles and I took all the inaugural induction lectures for the pioneer
Faculty and Staff of Covenant University in August 2002.
All of Myles’ meetings on our church platform were ever inspiring and impactful.

The Living Faith Church Worldwide really misses you!

Good night Myles, my twin brother!
Good night Ruth, his partner in life and in death

Bishop David & Faith Oyedepo
President & Founder
LFCW a.k.a Winners’ Chapel International
& Chancellor, Covenant University,

Canaanland Ota-Lagos, Nigeria.

Nigerian man sentenced to death in Malaysia for drug trafficking



A 35 year old Nigerian man was sentenced to death today November 25th by a Malaysian High Court for trafficking in 251.66 gm of methapethamine.

Abuchi Ngwoke, was arrested in May 2012 at a Malaysian airport. He had swallowed the drugs.

The High court judge described Ngwoke's testimony about swallowing gemstones in Nigeria before traveling to Malaysia as absurd. A date is yet to be set for his execution.

Photo: Nine cultists arrested in Rivers state

Find the police press release below...
The Rivers State Police Command wishes to inform the public that in response to two separate distress calls, nine cultists were arrested. On 24/11/2014 at about 02:00AM a distress call indicated planned battle of supremacy between De-Well and Degbam cults groups at Okwuzi Community in Onelga.
The clash was averted by the swift action of the police where seven suspects were arrested. They are Chinazo Amaechi, Nna Chisom, Solomon Ossai, Regimus Igwelatu, Monday Jackson, Chinonso Fordima and Tony Amanya while others fled.

Items recovered from them included one pump action gun, four live cartridges, one double barrel gun, Honda jeep with registration No. IMO WER 685 FX, Toyota Camry saloon with registration No. RIVERS BER 407 AP, two laptop computers and assorted charms.

The suspects on interrogation confessed to belonging to either of the groups. In a similar response same day at about 1:30PM information received had it that some suspected cultist were sighted with arms around back gate of Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt (RSUST) initiating new members. Team of policemen Storm the area arrested and Joel Ozekume, a final year student of RSUST and Princewill Brown, a graduate of Cross River State University while others escaped. One beretta pistol and 3 rounds of .9mm ammunition were recovered from them.

The Command wishes to use this medium to warn criminals and their alike to denounce or be ready to face tough time as the Command is fully ready to take the aggressive onslaught to their enclaves. The Command equally wishes to assure people of its readiness of sustained instant response to distress calls within shortest possible time while members of the public are urged to security conscious and report any character or move capable of undermining the existing public peace and security, please.

DSP. Ahmad Kidaya Muhammad
Public Relations Officer, Rivers State Police Command.

Prof Wole Soyinka reveals he is a cancer survivor.

Literary Icon, Prof Wole Soyinka, revealed today at a press conference in Abeokuta Ogun state, that he's a cancer survivor. He said his appointment as a board member of the African Cancer Centre made him undergo a routine checkup last year which revealed he had cancer. He said he diagnosed with the disease in December 2013.
"It never occurred to me to test myself because men have their separate test like women and I have heard people who lost very dear ones, closed ones. They just told me, ‘Prof, we hope you’re having your own?’ And I told them I had one 10 years ago and he said, “No, no, do it regularly.” And by accident in December last year, I discovered that I had cancer.”.

Prof Soyinka who is cancer free now after undergoing a vigorous treatment that ended in October this year, said although he was uncomfortable speaking about his experience, he was obligated to speak about it now so as to get rid of the public perception that being diagnosed with cancer is a death sentence
"For me, this is not a decision which I like but I felt I have all obligation, being a member of African Cancer Centre, and also having even donated a performance during the festival, fund raising for cancer, I am under obligation to make it known and to also demystify cancer. Many people feel it is a death sentence. Family feel it; friends, colleagues, they begin to look at you as if you are a ghost once there is rumour you have cancer. No, cancer is not a death sentence, it is curable, I have undergone the treatment and I am able to tell you that I even have a model, that’s my certificate.” he said

Photos: Davido gifts his manager & his producer, expensive cars

Davido recently spent millions of naira on two cars for his manager Kamal Ajiboye and his producer Shizzi for contributing immensely to his success in music this year. He bought a Mercedes 450 GL for his manager and a Porsch Cayenne for his producer.