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Somehow, the issue of creating a new state in the South-East appears to be suffering a setback apparently because of what appears to be delays in the endorsement of the idea by the National Assembly committees reviewing the 1999 Constitution. Whatever might be the case I have strong reasons to think that the project remains alive in the minds of those who should claim to accept and love the Nigerian idea. This is for several reasons. First is that issues of justice and equity are never killed. They would often resurrect, even more forcefully and fearfully. The only antidote to injustice is justice. At the moment, no serious logic has been advanced in any write-up on the subject to demonstrate that the South-East does not deserve an additional state to give it a sense of belonging within the Nigerian umbrella just like other sections of the country. The overri

The Federal Government has been advised to explore all avenues, including dialogue,  to rescue over 200 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram since April 14 from the Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State. Giving the advice in Lagos, a social critic and Niger Delta activist, Comrade Joseph Evah, warned government against foreclosing dialogue as part of efforts to rescue the girls. According to Evah, who also serves as the coordinator, Ijaw Monitoring Group, IMG, President Goodluck Jonathan should embrace all options. “Since we have allowed the Boko Haram to become monstrous, it is too late in the day to shut the door against dialogue. It will be counterproductive. At the early stages of the insurgency, we advised the president on the best ways to handle this crisis, but his advisers didn’t allow him to listen to us, but now tha

(ABUJA) President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday directed the security forces to launch a full-scale military operation to put an end to the impunity of terrorists in the country. The president gave the directive in his Democracy Day broadcast. Jonathan said that Nigeria’s unity and stability as well as the protection of lives and property were non-negotiable. He restated the determination of his administration to protect the nation’s democracy, national unity and political stability, by waging a total war against terrorism. The president said the activities of terror groups in the country had caused debilitating pains and horror on the nation particularly the abduction of schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno. “It is now 45 days since the horrifying abduction of the college girls of Chibok. I share the deep pain and anxiety of their parents and guardian

•Vows to retaliate any attack on Igbo nation The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) yesterday in Owerri, the Imo State capital demanded six new republics in the country, including Biafra Republic. Thousands of MASSOB members who thronged the Ojukwu Memorial Centre in New Owerri in the maiden edition of the commemoration of Biafran Day on May 30 when the late Igbo Leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu declared the Republic of Biafra in I967 said it was time for the Igbo to have their own republic. MASSOB leader, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike clad in the navy blue Biafran uniform with the other members of his group urged the Federal Government to do the will of God and let their people go. Uwazuruike who addressed the large followers of the group with two representatives of MASSOB in the United Kingdom, Mrs Francese Jose

PHOTO: Nigeria Army Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters, on Friday night in Abuja,announced that troops have rescued the Emirs earlier kidnapped by Boko Haram insurgents while travelling to Gombe for the funeral of the late Emir of Gombe, Alhaji Shehu Abubakar. A statement from the DHQ said the military responded swiftly to the information by deploying crack troops in pursuit of the attackers. Spokesman of the Defence Headquarters, Major General Chris Olukolade, who signed the statement, said the Emirs of Uba and Askira have been successfully rescued and escorted to safety while the body of the Emir of Gwoza, Alhaji Idrisa Timta, who died in the attack, had been recovered. He said troops were promptly deployed to the scene although soldiers located at Garkida, who were alerted about the attack, responded immediately by embarking on hot pursuit of the terrorists. “Troops are currently on aggressive patrol along the entire route with a view to apprehending the perpet

Veteran actress, Taiwo Ajayi-Lycett who recently revealed that young men still disturb her for s é x at the age of 73 has said old age doesn't matter when it comes to s é x. She made this known while promoting her stage play, Hear Word, where she plays a s é xually active old woman. According to her: "I am an old woman in the play and in real life. I am 73. The society doesn't think older women exist anymore, nobody thinks they feel anything. The people around old women never realize they are going through a turmoil, nobody cares about them. So what I am trying to portray is that it's not over until it is over. That an old woman is still alive in more ways than one, they still have s é xual urg é s, people forget an old woman is human. An old woman enjoys her s é xual life more when she no longer thinks about children's school fees, when the children have all gone to their husband's houses or in some cases the boys have married and it remains

Striking Lagos State University lecturers might be fired, said the state governor's special adviser on education Otunba Fatai Olukoga. The official also claimed that if the protest continued, they might be forced to close the Lagos State University. Responding to the demand of LASU lecturers, who want 70 to be the retirement age, Olukoga was quoted saying by PM News it was not possible noting that lecturers cannot become Metuselahs in the system:  "If you are a good lecturer and you retire at 60, you would be reappointed by the government and be given more money than what you are getting before, that was the challenge we throw at them but they are not ready for that." The governor's adviser also explained that early retirement would enable employment for young people. Olukoga criticized the strikers over their unwillingness to grow professionally, to do research work and publish books to justify their demands for promotion and longer years o

Twenty-four-year-old Sherifat Bakare and four other members of her gang, were apprehended on Wednesday, May 21, 2014 by the men of Ogun State SARS, who had been on their trail after receiving a tip-off about the gang’s plan.She told Punch,It all began a few weeks ago when another member of the gang, Bola Onasile, (also in SARS custody) had approached her boyfriend about the availability of N70m in a wealthy man’s house in Joju area of Sango, Ogun State. I am from Idofian in Kwara State. My father is late but my mother lives in Ibadan. She has no idea I do this kind of job and she does not even know I am in police custody.I was living with a security guard in a house at Osborne in Ikoyi. The landlord of the house was out of the country. I was going from there to ‘hustle’ in Lekki every night.Raji was a good helper to me. That was why I decided to leave prostitution when he begged me. When he introduced me to armed robbery, I asked him if there would be no problem

Last month, Oprah Winfrey's step-mum Barbara Winfrey, 66, granted an interview where she alluded there is more to Oprah's relationship with best friend Gayle King. She also said Oprah is controlling and different from who we see on TV....She even said she and her husband were treated like second class citizens. At a gala at Oprah's palatial home in Santa Barbara, they were seated far away from celebrities in attendance and told not to socialize with them. Well, she is learning the hard way as Oprah has thrown her out of the $1.4 million mansion she lived in with Oprah's dad for 14 years.This is after a vicious 18-month divorce battle with Oprah's father,Vernon Winfrey.Babara who is now homeless told Mailonline ‘That woman has set out to ruin me, destroy me.
 To take this house away is petty, this has been my home for 14 years.
Oprah’s a billionaire three times over, her help live better than this. She said publicly that she offered t

Three made-in-Nigeria Nissan vehicles; Nissan Patrol SUV, Nissan Almera (Sunny) saloon car and a Nissan NP 300 Pick-Up were unveiled by President Goodluck Jonathan on Democracy Day; May 29, 2014 at the International Conference Centre, Abuja. Also present at the unveiling were The First lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, Vice President Namadi Sambo who took the front passenger's seat after the President sat on the driver's seat of one of them. The vehicles were produced at the Stallion Nissan Motors Plant at the Lagos-Badagry Expressway. The facility which was established following the signing of the agreement between Nissan Motor Company and West African conglomerate of the Stallion Group on October 9, 2013 also aims to produce 45,000 vehicles annually. The Chairman of Stallion Group, Mr. Sunil Vaswani affirmed that the vehicles were of global standards technologically. He also described the government's automotive policy as a historic step towards industrial a

Two teenage girls, a 14 year old and her 15 year old cousin were gang-molested by five Indian men and then hanged them from a tree in a village in the northern stateo f Uttar Pradesh, police said today. According to Reuters, the two girls who were from a low-caste Dalit community went missing from their village home when they went out to go to the toilet on Tuesday evening, May 27th. The following morning, villagers found the bodies of the two teenagers hanging from a mango tree in a nearby orchard. Indian police have arrested one man and are looking for four other suspects. The police said a post-mortem confirmed the two minors were molested and died from the hanging. DNA samples have also been taken to help identity the perpetrators, the police told reporters. *Graphic content after the cut* The victim's families allege that local police were shielding the attackers as they refused to take action when the girls were first reported missing. It was only after angry

Four secondary school students have been arrested by the police in Ondo over their alleged involvement in Cultism. The suspects identified as Lawal Lateef, 18, Felix Victor, 17, Nsoani Stephen, 18 and Festus Francis, 18 were caught by a patrol team of the Anti-robbery Squad of the Command arrested the students on Akure-Owo road, near the Emure-Ile junction, shortly after their initiation rites with dangerous weapons and charms for initiations recovered from them. The PPRO, Wole Ogodo who confirmed their arrest revealed that the teenage students took a membership oath, including licking each other’s blood and drinking different concoctions, before they recited and learned membership greeting codes. It was gathered that the arrested students attend St. Francis High School on Oke Aro road in Akure, the state capital. According to Mr. Ogodo, a fetish axe on a rope and a reddish piece of cloth were recovered from the students along with a small calabash in which the concoctio

Prof Ishaq Akintola, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), Director and Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the Lagos State University (LASU), on Thursday condemned an attempt by some Christians of Baptist Church in Ikonifin, Osun State, to launch a disguised Boko Haram attack on a church by its members. *People running for safety Speaking in Lagos on the incident, Akintola said, the action which reportedly caused pandemonium in the church was carried out through the use of bangers, which were thrown at worshippers. The Islamic group said the incident led to the injuries of several worshippers. MURIC further revealed that the assailants were masked in order to conceal their identification. The don pointed out that this was the time for all Nigerians to join hands together to curb the menace of terrorism instead of some evil spirited persons among Christians to be faking a Boko Haram attack. The Islamic scholar reiterated that the Muslim organisations, Sultan of Sokoto, the Presid

23 year old Precious Chineme Nwoko (pictured above) has been sentenced to 27 years imprisonment by a Cambodian Court for drug trafficking in Cambodia. Police sources say Nwoko was a ringleader in a heroin smuggling cartel in Cambodia. He was arrested last month for handing a backpack containing 2.2 kilos (4.8 pounds) of heroin to two women, 41year old Australian Yoshe Ann Taylor and 19 year old French Charlene Savarino, for onward transportation to an unidentified man in Australia. Both women were however caught and arrested. At their trial last month, it was discovered that 19 year old Savarino was Nwoko's girlfriend and they worked closely in smuggling heroin. 41 year old Taylor had also previously helped to smuggle heroin using the backpack. Judge Kor Vandy at Phnom Penh Municipal Court who presided over their case today said Nwoko and the two women were guilty of 'cross-border smuggling of illegal drugs and thereafter sentenced Nwoko's 19year old girlfr

Twenty six lesbians have been arrested by the Police in Asaba, Delta State after uncovering their hideout around Awai road Asaba area of the state. The PPRO of the state, DSP Celestina Kalu who confirmed the arrest of the suspects, said they were arrested naked while allegedly having sex with one another at their hideout. DSP Celestina Kalu further who said one of the suspects confessed to the crime saying it their means of livelihood said the hideout is a den where various criminal activities take place. Kalu further said the suspects would be charged to court on completion of investigation. It was gathered that the hideout is operated as a pub to ward off suspicion by the public and operators of the spot who have been making brisk business in the last two years, employ thugs who stand sentry at the gate and collect fees from those willing to be exposed to the illicit sexual activities at the hideout. Teenage girls from neighbouring communities and states reportedly tro

Ifeanyichukwu Eric Abakporo, a Pastor of the Deeper Life Bible Church, has been sentenced to six years imprisonment by a federal court in New York. The former Brooklyn-based civil attorney will be spending time in a United States prison in a case of defrauding banks, mortgage lenders, property owners, and property buyers. Mr. Abakporo was sentenced on Wednesday, May 28 along with his co-defendant, Latanya Pierce, who received a lighter, 30-month sentence. They were both found guilty of the federal charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and bank transfer fraud, involving at least two mortgage property lenders. Abakporo will most likely be deported to Nigeria after he is done serving his sentence, with the likelihood of a three-year supervisory probation release waved. The presiding judge in the federal case, US District Judge Shira A. Scheindlin immediately remanded the accused into custody. His wife and two children wept openly in the

Before you read this, a source at the Nigerian Presidency has denied this story. But all the same, local media reports have quoted the Minister of Youth Development, Mr. Boni Haruna, on Thursday as saying that President Goodluck Jonathan has announced amnesty for members of the Boko Haram sect as parts of his administration’s youths-friendly programmes and policies. Haruna reportedly disclosed this at a special event tagged “A day with young leaders of Nigeria” to mark the nation’s Democracy Day in Abuja. The minister said:  “President Goodluck Jonathan has also declared amnesty for members of the Boko Haram sect. Series of integration programmes have been lined up for the members of the sect who would surrender their arms and embrace peace. Let me use this opportunity on behalf of the Federal Government, to call on the members of the Boko Haram sect to embrace the government’s gesture and key into the amnesty programme.” But journalist Fidelis says he spoke to a source

Amid global outrage over the kidnapping of more than 200 female students from the dormitories of the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State, the United Kingdom are sending specialist teams and soldiers to Nigeria. Nigeria's Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal Alex Badeh, that the country's military had found the location of more than 200 missing schoolgirls Nigeria's Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal Alex Badeh, claims that the country's military had found the location of more than 200 missing Chibok schoolgirls Earlier at least 7 countries agreed to send experts and troops to Nigeria to assist in the search for the students, among them are USA, UK, France, China, Canada, Iran and Israel. Following claims by Nigeria's Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal Alex Badeh, that the country's military had found the location of more than 200 missing schoolgirls, the British soldiers were send to join the local forces in Nigeria to hel

An anti-riot squad of the Nigeria Police Force brutally dispersed a students’ protest in Lagos on May 28, 2014. The protesters, who represented various Nigerian polytechnics, gathered in protest the lingering strike by the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP). Most of them have been out of schools for about nine months. The protesters blamed Jonathan’s Administration for its inability to reach the agreements with striking polytechnic lecturers. However, the police prevented the street action, attacked and tear-gassed the youths as they were moving from Yaba College of Technology in the Yaba area of Lagos towards Lagos Island. According to SaharaReporters, over 100 people, including students and journalists, were arrested around Adekunle bus stop area. Many of them got beaten and thrown into prison vehicles, called ‘Black Maria’. These cells of wheels were parked at the entrance to the Third Mainland Bridge, Adekunle area in Yaba, Lagos. After several hours, the po

Twenty-four hours after convicted Boko Haram member, Kabiru Umar, popularly known as Kabiru Sokoto, appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan for mercy, it has been revealed why he asked for such favour. According to a latest report, the self-confessed terrorist is promising to assist the federal government to end the Boko Haram menace. It could be recalled that Umar was sentenced to life imprisonment on December 20,2013 after he was found guilty of the December 25, 2011 bombing of St Theresa’s Catholic Church, Madala, Niger State. * Photo from scene of bomb blast in Jos In a letter he wrote to president Jonathan, written on his behalf by his lawyer, Sheriff Okoh, Umar stated that he was innocent. The letter obtained by Punch to the president reads: *Convicted Kabiru Umar     “Your Excellency Sir, an innocent man was convicted by the court on the date aforementioned. It is for this singular reason that we are applying to you for presidential pardon in the circumstances, pur

DELEGATES at the on- going National Conference  Tuesday voted that henceforth, Churches and Mosques will be paying tax to the federal government, just as they also agreed that Federal and state governments should no longer fund Christian and Muslim pilgrimages to the Holy  lands. These were part of the resolutions reached yesterday during discussions of report of Religion Committee. The decision to make religious bodies pay taxes came up when a delegate representing Civil Organisations, Mallam Naseer Kura during his contribution on the report had raised it that religious leaders were making much money and should be taxed. Also in his contribution, a delegate representing the Nigeria Guild of Editors, Isaac Ighure however frowned at the situation where pastors and heads of churches make too much money with some of them owning private jets, just as he stressed that they should be made to pay taxes and the elite class must stop abusing the little ones in the society, “some

A Muslim man was sentenced to life imprisonment for strangling his wife to death, Forest Gate, London, UK. Mohammed Badiuzzaman had forced Sabeen Thandi into a Muslim marriage and killed her when she was pregnant Their family life was abusive from the very start as Mohammed Badiuzzaman had forced Sabeen Thandi into a Muslim marriage. They started living together after 2 months of dating in 2012. The 34-year-old man was described as tyrant who controlled all spheres of his wife's life, he forced her to throw away ‘revealing’ clothes and instead wear a hijab because otherwise she would ‘feel his wrath’. He even tried to sell her house pretending he owned the property. When the poor woman was no longer able to endure humiliation she filed for a divorce in 2013. Mohammed was not allowed to enter Mrs Thandi's home as she was feared for her children’s safety. When Mohammed discovered that Mrs Thandi fell in love with a Pakistan man whom she had met on Facebook the n

Immediate past Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, is presently in India on a visit to see former Minister of Information and Communications, Prof. Dora Akunyili, who is receiving treatment in the country. Mr. Obi left for India yesterday in company of his media aide, Mr. Valentine Obienyem. The two men confirmed in a message from India that Prof. Akunyili is responding to treatment and that her situation is nothing near the scary picture being painted by rumour mongers. Prof. Dora Akunyili’s husband, Dr. Chike Akunyili, confirmed to me on phone this morning that Messrs Obi and Obienyem are with them in the hospital. “We are very happy to see them. We are even happier that they have volunteered to spend the entire day with us before returning home to Nigeria,” Dr. Akunyili said. He also expressed appreciation to Nigerians, saying: “We can never thank Nigerians enough; their prayers are working.” The attached photo shows Ex-Governor Obi discussing with the doctors