A suicide bomber dies after failed attempt to attack church.

A suicide bomber was the only one to die in a failed attempt to attack the Evangelical Church of West Africa, ECWA (pictured above), at Tudunwada in Gombe state yesterday January 1st.

According to reports, the suicide bomber arrived the church at about 8am in a motorcycle and attempted to forcefully drive into the premises which was parked full of worshipers as the church was holding its new year celebration service.

As he made to enter, the suicide bomber was stopped by members of the church's Boys Brigade stationed at the entrance of the church for security purpose. The bomb on him immediately exploded, killing him and injuring 8 others who were immediately rushed to the hospital for medical attention.

This attack came barely 24hours after two suicide bombers attempted to attack the Army barracks in Gombe state on New years eve. Reports say the suicide bombers arrived the military check point leading to the barracks at about 8pm and in the course of waiting to be searched, the bomb which was in a bag carried by one of the suicide bombers blew up, killing both of them instantly.

203 soldiers reportedly dismissed.

Premium Times reports that one of the dismissed soldier attached to the 7th division in Maiduguri Borno state, who spoke on the condition of anonymity said  that after the sect members dislodged their unit in Damboa, Borno state sometime last year,  they (the soldiers) were reconvened in Maiduguri in August to further engage in the fight against boko haram and upon their arrival, they were they were given two weeks pass and that at the expiration of their pass, they were issued new uniforms, boots and handed 30 rounds of bullets each as against the 60 rounds meant to be given to them. He said their commanding chief ordered that they move in a tipper to continue the fight to dislodge the sect members in Damboa but that some of the soldiers argued that serious weapons would be needed in the fierce battle they are expected to embark on as they have being fighting with the sect members and known the type of weapons they use.  

“So we asked for support weapons. No support weapon was provided. Our CO (Commanding Officer) said he would discuss with the GOC (General Officer Commanding) of the 7 Division at the headquarters. When he came back, he said we should stand down. We thought all was well,” our source said.

He said the next day their new CO, Mohammed A, a lieutenant colonel from 195 battalion, Agenebode, ordered them to submit their weapons and uniforms or be charged with mutiny.

“On the morning of 16 of August, after the GOC briefing, our commander started calling our names and he said anyone whose name is called should submit their uniform and weapon. He added that anyone who failed to do that would be charged for mutiny. We were surprised at what was happening. He started from the most senior soldier among us, a warrant officer who had served for almost 30 years. They asked us to go back to the barrack. It is a war zone and our weapons had been taken from us. Staying around was of no use so we left Maiduguri back home.”

The next order from the army hierarchy was for the soldiers to report to the 4th Brigade headquarters in Benin where they were detained for three months.

“They kept us in the fenced field at the officers’ mess in 4th battalion headquarters. When we first arrived at Benin they took statements from us and took it to Maiduguri. The original charge against us was for deserting but after our statements were taken they changed the charge to disobedient to particular order. They said we disobeyed the CO’s order. They seized our phones, we couldn’t communicate with our families for the 90 days we were kept in detention,” our source said.

After they were released on December 24, they were conveyed to their various units. The soldier said on getting to their units, a court martial was set up at about 11.30 p.m. where they were tried and dismissed. He said the next morning, they were evicted from the barrack with their families.

“It was dismissal without benefits. After 17 years in service. Even people that served for 30 years were dismissed without benefits. We had no legal representation.” the source said

The Nigerian military has not reacted to the report.

(Politics) NTA yanks off Funmi Iyanda's "Change A Life programme" because of Gov. Raji Fashola

January 1st, was media personality Funmi Iyanda's annual "Change in Life" TV special, an edition where she honoured Lagos state governor Babatunde Fashola in appreciation for his support for the foundation over for the past 8 years. The show was supposed to air live on NTA but the station only showed it for some time and later yanked it off. Annoying thing for the host and guests was that while on set they thought they were live on air not knowing they'd already been yanked off. NTA later said the programme was yanked off due to internal Communication Error. See the tweets after the cut...

Wizkid shows off new Bentley Convertible for the new year.

 Congrats to Wizkid...

Pastor E.A Adeboye's Prophecies For Year 2015

The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christians Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye made some Prophecies concerning Nigeria and the World at large. While stressing that he won’t say anything about the outcomes of the forthcoming elections, he went ahead to say that;

One thing… Daddy says by the end of the year, many will say “All is well, that ends well”….

Below are other Prophecies by the man of God for the World at large.

1. Daddy says scientific and medical breakthroughs will be many, particularly in the areas of lack of sleep, dreams, and brain disorders.

2. Daddy says Ebola will dry out

3. Daddy says all over the world, insurgency will be considerably weakened.
4. Father asks us to pray against massive calamities.
5. Daddy  asks us to pray against massive earthquakes, strong hurricanes and typhoons.

Gov. Mimiko Beats Woman Black And Blue

Sahara Reporters 

Akin Akinbobola, an aide to Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State, may be in serious trouble after he reportedly assaulted one of his female workers, Funmilayo Alao-Kwabe in his office in Akure, the state capital.

Mr. Akinbobola, who is the chairman of the Ondo State Football Agency (ODSFA), allegedly gave Ms. Funmilayo a brutal beating after the two had a row over salary increment at the agency. The alleged victim heads a maintenance department at the agency.

An eyewitness told a SaharaReporters correspondent that the ODSFA chair beat his subordinate so severely that he inflicted a serious neck injury on her.

Another source disclosed that the fight originated from the chairman’s sudden decision to increase junior employees’ salaries, adding that he then approved a N2000 increase for Ms. Funmilayo, increasing her salary to N42,000. The source, a staff of the agency, revealed that Ms. Funmilayo considered her pay increase too paltry. “She was infuriated and walked up to the agency chairman to demand an explanation. He got angry and began to beat her brutally,” the source said.

Another source at the agency said the workers felt that Ms. Funmilayo was poorly treated. “Our Chairman [Akinbobola] increased the salaries of the junior casual workers, who were mostly in maintenance department, to N40,000 while that of their head, Mrs. Funmilayo, was increased to N42,000, just N2000 difference. This is what caused the trouble,” he said.

Contacted by a correspondent of SaharaReporters, the alleged assault victim narrated her version of events. She said she was angry about her small increment. After the chairman refused to take her telephone call, she said she sent him a text message asking for an explanation. “He called me after reading my text message and asked for the meaning of the content in the message I sent to him and I told him the meaning. I never knew he had an agenda in mind, he invited me to come over to his office and I went there.

“I got to his office and he started embarrassing me, [asking] why did I send such a message to him. During that process a lady came inside the office and I ordered her out because I was still discussing with him. But the next thing was he slapped me and beat me up. He pulled out some of my hair and nearly snapped off my head and threatened to kill me. During the fracas, he broke my neck and ran away after I collapsed on the floor of his office. I can’t turn my neck [any more].”

Some staffers at the agency alleged that the chairman used to date the alleged victim, adding that he tried to humiliate her because she broke up with him and had spurned all efforts to restart their relationship.

Contacted by a reporter, Mr. Akinbobola denied assaulting Ms. Funmilayo, insisting that she hurt herself while struggling with him. He refused to answer any questions about his alleged romantic relationship with the woman. “It’s a personal issue,” he said, adding, “Please let us end the discussion.”

The aggrieved woman’s lawyer has petitioned the Inspector General of Police over the case.

Eagles Not Scared Of AFCON Bound CIV Says Amokachi

The Super Eagles are not scared of playing Africa Cup of Nations-bound Cote d’ Ivoire in their Abu Dhabi international friendly match stand-in coach Daniel Amokachi has said Amokachi whose home-based Super Eagles opened training camp in Abuja on Tuesday said the boys he has assembled are capable of holding their own against any side on the continent, stressing that they would not fear the Ivorians.

“We shall play Cote d’ Ivoire with respect but not fear,” the former Nigeria striker told Complete Sports. “It is going to be 11 players either side so I don’t see why they should develop cold feet because the Ivorians boast of top, top quality players. We shall give them a good game.

“All the boys need to do is to play their game and forget the names the opponents will parade. My boys will not play under any pressure because there is nothing at stake. But that is not saying that we shall fall without a fight.”

Amokachi who assisted Stephen Keshi to win the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa said the Eagles will try to shock the Ivorians to prove a point before rounding off the tour with the game against Sudan.

He said the game against Sudan will be tougher because they are made up of mostly home-based players, adding that the Eagles will try to maximise the benefit of the double header friendly matches in Abu Dhabi by playing well.

He commended the NFF for packaging the friendly games, adding that the experience and exposure from thesesgames will help in the development of the home-based Eagles.