Gunmen kill 19 at Deeper Life Church during service

Okene, Kogi State - Unknown gunmen stormed a Deeper Life Bible Church opposite the Federal College of Education (FCE) and opened fire on worshippers, killing no fewer than 19. Many were injured. The gunmen, who were said to be bearing sophisticated weapons, stormed the church during the Bible Study, a Monday programme, at about 7p.m., shooting indiscriminately. The gunmen reportedly took the worshippers by surprise. They blocked all entrances into the church, preventing people from escaping as they fired indiscriminately at the worshippers.

A source said at least15 worshippers died on the spot; others died in the hospital. Among the dead was the local government area Pastor, according to a source who spoke in Lagos where news of the incident sent members into a shock. One of the injured is the Dean of Student Affairs of the FCE. The attack came two weeks after an account officer with FCE was abducted from his home and murdered. An attack on the Living Faith Church on Lagos Road in Okene was last month repelled by security operatives who stopped an explosive-laden vehicle parked by road side. It could not be immediately ascertained how many worshipers were in the church at the time of the attack.

Related developments

Gunmen believed to be members of Boko Haram struck again in Sokoto State yesterday.

They bombed a police station in Shagari Village about 70 kilometres to Sokoto, the state capital.

Shagari is the home town of Second Republic President Shehu Shagari. The police station that was attacked is a few metres away from his home.

A police source said the attackers came on a motorbike and tossed dynamites at the police outpost while firing at the policemen on duty.

Sokoto, the seat of the Caliphate, was attacked last week.

Boko Haram, the violent Islamist sect, yesterday claimed responsibility for Sunday’s killing of six soldiers and two civilians in Damturu, the Yobe State capital.

The group said it was responsible for other weekend attacks in the Northeast.

Also on Sunday night, four people were killed in their homes by suspected Boko Haram members in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, as the Joint Task Force (JTF) alerted the public to an impending series of suicide bombings in the city.

In an email statement attributed to a Boko Haram (Wester Education is a sin) spokesman and obtained by The Associated Press yesterday, the group said “One of (their) fighters” caused an explosion Sunday in Damaturu.

Police say six soldiers and two civilians were killed in the blast.

The statement also claimed responsibility for two other attacks in two other northeast cities. It was not immediately clear which attacks it was referring to.

The statement comes after an Internet video featuring the sect’s leader was posted on YouTube on Saturday.

Boko Haram is held responsible for more than 660 deaths this year alone according to international media count.

Apart from Sunday’s attack in Damaturu, the Emir of Fika was attacked on Friday in a suicide bid but he escaped. His orderly died

A former Commissioner for the Environment in Borno State Alhaji Abdulkadir Kaasa, was shot dead in his home in Maiduguri on Sunday.

Two of the victims of Sunday night killings in Maiduguri were residents of Lawan Bukar, where Alhaji Fannami Gubio, the original candidate of the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) in the governorship election in 2011 was killed.

Another victim was killed in the Railway Quarters, where the headquarters of the sect was located before the 2009 clampdown. It was there that its leader Mohammed Yusuf was killed by security operatives alongside dozens of his followers.

One other person was killed at Gamboru Ward. The killing caused apprehension among residents of the town.

Though there was no official confirmation at press time, a military source who spoke anonymously told reporters that the military had intensified efforts at getting the culprits.

The JTF yesterday alerted the public to the plan of the sect to undertake massive snatching of vehicles in Maiduguri and environs which they will later use for suicide missions.

The vehicles, according to the task force, would be laden with explosives and used to bomb strategic locations and cause breach of the peace in the town. The statement signed by the task force field operations officer, Col. Victor Ebhaleme reads: “The JTF wishes to alert members of the public of the desperate moves by Boko Haram terrorists to steal/ snatch vehicles for suicide bombings.”

He urged those whose vehicles have been stolen to immediately report the theft to the nearest police station or to the JTF. He warned that anyone who failed to report and his vehicle is used as a courier of bombs would be treated as an accomplice of the sect.

 source: Nigeria Forum

BEWARE! LAGOS MOTORISTS: ROAD TRAPS THAT MAY LEAD TO JAIL

A recent report in The Guardian says the controversial new traffic bill prescribing three years jail term for one-way traffic violators in Lagos State will be signed into law today by Governor Babatunde Fashola. However, due to recent developments, the jail term has been reduced to one year for first time violators of one-way traffic in Lagos.Trying to be my brother’s keeper, I would like to share with you some roads in Lagos that can take you directly to jail as from Friday. 

Since a new Shopping Mall accommodating Shoprite was launched in Alausa, Ikeja, the road that passes directly behind it is now a one-way street. Policemen have been feeding fat on people who had used that road for ages and are unaware of this new development. When the bill becomes law, heading in the wrong direction on the road will send you to jail for three years.

To new motorists or those visiting Lagos, Somolu is filled with booby-traps that can send you to jail. One-way streets there are numerous. But the ones that quickly come to mind include Oyebajo Street. If you’re coming from Morocco Road, going to Ikorodu Road, Oyebajo Street is to the right. With no visible signs, this street is a one-way ticket to jail.

Again, when coming from Ikorodu Road, heading to Igbobi College, there is another one-way traffic street by Fadeyi Bus Stop via Kalejaiye Street. It is the right turning before the National Orthopaedic Hospital. Officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority will usually not stay at the entry point to warn you, but in the middle to apprehend you. You will regain your freedom in three years!

Then, the popular bridge linking Dopemu to Egbeda is one-way traffic at a designated time of each day. From 5am to 11.59am, you can cross from Dopemu side to the Egbeda side and vice versa without any trouble. But by noon, if you cross from Egbeda side to Dopemu, LASTMA and the police will be waiting for you with a Black Maria. Kiss your freedom goodbye.

On the Yaba/Akoka section, there are a few booby-traps, apart from the clear one-way traffic roads with concrete medians. The one that leaps to mind now is the major road from University Junction that leads directly to the UNILAG Gate. This road is 95 per cent two-way traffic. But there is a 5 per cent one-way traffic, where you have to detour inside the community and burst out a little further down the road. There is an old, faded ‘No Entry’ sign, to warn motorists, but many first timers miss it. They are joking with three years jail term. 

The service lane at Oshodi coming from Mile Two is presumably two-way traffic up to a little after NAFDAC. The road forks into two, the right links CAPPA/Mushin, while the left links Oshodi Oke. Motorists who want to drop passengers at Oshodi, but are too law-abiding to do it on the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, usually enter the service lane, drop their passengers, drive past NAFDAC and at the fork, bear left to link Oshodi Oke, onward to Oworonsoki or Maryland, as the case maybe.

But any day some LASTMA officials are broke, they usually stay on top of Oshodi Oke bridge and  monitor those climbing the bridge at the fork. They then pounce on them, accusing them of one-way traffic violation. If you are unlucky to pass that route on one of such days, you will be writing a prison memoir soon, or you offer to pay for the school fees of the children of the ‘hardworking’ LASTMA officials who apprehend you.  Which would it be?

Then, from the past few months, motorists coming from Toll Gate by 7Up, and attempting to link Oregun can no longer drive straight into Ikosi Road by Union Bank. Entry has been barred even though there is no single sign to that effect yet. In lieu of that, there are traffic cones placed there to guide motorists. In all fairness, there are sometimes some honest LASTMA guys at the intersection to guide confused motorists how they can access Ikosi via Unilever.

But often times, on duty are the crooked ones who see an opportunity to make money. When a Lagos State Waste Management Authority truck or other government vehicles exempted from traffic laws blow these cones away, motorists coming afterwards inadvertently drive into Ikosi at the intersection and are slammed by LASTMA and gun-toting policemen. You are in serious trouble.

There are many more, I’m sure. If there are some roads you know that are not included, be your brothers’ keeper and share. Wish you a jail-free motoring.

Culled from John Awe Online

Domestic Violence: Wife Murdered in UK

A Nigerian Man identified as Shola Adebiyi has been arrested for the brutal murder of his wife, Esther Arogundade in the UK.

Late Esther Arogundade

Esther was found stabbed to death at her residence in Cumbrae Gardens, Salford on the 26th of June, 2012. The 32-yr old mother of one was later pronounced dead at the hospital after suffering multiple stab wounds.

Man Murders Girlfriend in Ghana
A 26-year-old Nigerian man, Nathaniel Udama Edu, is being held by the Mile 7 Police at Achimota in Accra, for the suspected murder of his girlfriend, Matilda Asante, 19, a senior high school graduate at South Afankor in the early hours of Monday.

The body of the deceased was found in the neighborhood, wrapped in a bed sheet and her legs tied, while her head was covered in a black polythene bag.

Narrating the incident in Accra, the Crime Officer of the Mile 7 Police Station, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Mr Henry Agbeve, said around 7:30am last Monday the body of the deceased was found on the compound of an adjoining house in the Ga West municipality, lying in a supine position.

According to him preliminary investigations conducted indicated that the body was ‘thrown’ into that house after the act with the legs tied, the head covered with a polythene bag and the rest of her body wrapped in a bedsheet.

The Motive

It had started with the blazing fire of new-found lovers. Consumed by their passion, and determined to share love and emotional affinity, neither Esther Arogundade, 32, nor Shola Adebiyi, both Nigerians, cared a hoot about their religious differences. They found love between themselves, and religion was not going to be a barrier. Or so they thought. While Arogundade was a devout Christian, Adebiyi was a committed Muslim.

Between them, they could handle their religious differences. But a third member, their daughter, soon joined to change their calculation. The faith to be practised by the two-year-old daughter became an issue.   Should she be allowed to be a Muslim like the father or should she, like the mother,  be a Christian? Neither parent accepted to bulge. And that began to generate tension and create rift between the erstwhile lovers.

The disagreement between them strained their relationship and that drove Arogundade into the arms of another man.

Unable to stand being ditched by her, Adebiyi plotted his revenge. One day, Adebiyi, a kitchen porter, attacked Arogundade, a worker with KFC, with a kitchen knife in her home and stabbed her 13 times.

He also drank oven cleaner in an attempt to kill himself and phoned Arogundade's new lover to say he would never see her again before confessing to the killing to a friend.

Police broke into the mother-of-two's home in Salford, Greater Manchester, and found Arogundade lying dead on the kitchen floor with multiple stab wounds to her back and front.

Adebiyi was jailed at Manchester Crown Court for a minimum of 20-and-a-half years after admitting killing her.

The court heard how Arogundade began dating Adebiyi in 2007 and that they later had a daughter now aged two but split up last year after a series of rows.

Rob Hall prosecuting said: 'These arguments were ignited by differences of opinion over the religion of their daughter - the defendant wanted her to convert from Christian to Islam, but Esther was a church goer.
'There were arguments about expenses, bills and childcare.'
Last March, Arogundade who also had a nine-year-old daughter living in Nigeria from a previous relationship, began a friendship with another man named in court as Mr. Alabi.

While visiting family in Africa, Alabi received a sinister phone call from Adebiyi, claiming he would be killed if he returned to the UK.
  Alabi told Arogundade about the call and she spoke to Adebiyi but he initially denied it.

Hall added: 'Mr. Alabi returned to the UK and the relationship took the next step and it turned into a sexual relationship.

'They spent a great deal of time talking and texting on their mobile phones - it may well be that it came to the attention of the defendant.'
On June 26, Adebiyi cleared out his locker at work at a conference centre in Manchester then left armed with a large kitchen knife and waited for Arogundade and their daughter to come home.

Throughout that evening, there were phone calls between Alabi and Arogundade and also a child minder who was booked for the next day.
But the following morning, Adebiyi was said to have made 'frantic arrangements' to get child care for his daughter and handed her over at 9.50 am along with her birth certificate and left in her push chair.

He then called Alabi, who asked about the whereabouts and welfare of Arogundade only to be told he would never see her again.
He then called a friend and confessed he had killed her, claiming it had happened during a fight.

The friend went to the house and saw Adebiyi come out wearing a blood-stained T-shirt and holding a large black-handled knife.
He saw him throw the knife into nearby bushes.

In mitigation, defence counsel, Michael Lavery, said his client had made a 'very genuine' attempt to take his own life by drinking oven cleaner.
He added: “He took the knife to kill himself and his partner. He's lost his daughter as well as a consequence of his own actions.

“Many men and women have to endure the discovery that the husband, wife or partner is no longer content with the relationship they have. What the law cannot permit is the use of violence, which is what you used.
“It is tragic for the victim of this murder and a tragedy for the daughter and for the father too. It is his own fault, I know, but that is not going to make it easier for her.”

Passing sentence, Judge Andrew Gilbart QC told Adebiyi it was not clear exactly when he had killed Arogundade.

He added: “Your relationship had come to an end with frequent disagreements and rows between the two of you.
“She formed a relationship with another man. You resented it, and tried to warn him off with threats.

“She let you know that she no longer wanted to be with you and wanted to pursue a relationship with another man.
“You were most upset at that prospect. She sought friendship elsewhere, including in an affair with another man. You were understandably upset but let me be clear about this.

“Many men and women have to endure the discovery that the husband, wife or partner is no longer content with the relationship they have.
“Many are jealous or unhappy. But what the law cannot and will not permit is the use of violence, which is what you used.

“I am prepared to accept that you were very upset - and indeed distraught - at what was happening to your relationship.
“'When you acted as you did you were under considerable emotional strain.”
After the case, Senior Investigator Andrew Tattersall of Greater Manchester Police said: “The biggest tragedy here is that a young girl has now been deprived of both her parents.

“Her mother was taken from her in a vengeful, violent attack and no sentence today can bring her back.”

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Nigeria: 23 Oil Marketers to be prosecuted for Fraud

Abuja - In keeping with the Federal Government’s promise to prosecute those that were alleged to have abused the fuel subsidy scheme, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) will finally set the stage for the arraignment of oil-marketing firms and their directors at the Lagos High Court today.

The EFCC Tuesday named the suspects to include seven oil companies and 12 individuals who have been indicted during investigations into the management of the fuel subsidy scheme and would be arraigned before judges of the Lagos State judiciary. Some of the suspects are scions of chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and party supporters.

The suspects, comprising seven oil companies and 12 individuals, are: Nasaman Oil Services; Eterna Oil and Gas Plc; Ontario Oil and Gas Plc; Nadabo Energy Limited; Pacific Silver Line Limited, Axenergy Limited and Fago Petroleum and Gas Limited.

The 12 individuals involved in the scam are: Mamman Nasir Ali, Christian Taylor, Mahmud Tukur, Ochonogor Alex, Walter Wagbatsoma, Adaoha Ugo-Ngadi, Fakuade Babafemi Ebenezer, Ezekiel Olaleye Ejidele, Abubakar Ali Peters, Jude Agube Abalaka, Abdullahi Alao and Oluwaseun Ogunbanbo.

Mamman Nasir Ali, who runs Nasaman Oil Services, is the son of former PDP National Chairman, Col. Ahmadu Ali (rtd), who was also the chairman of the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulating Agency (PPPRA) board.

Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission-EFCC; Mr. Ibrahim Larmode

Mahmud Tukur, who runs Eterna Oil and Gas Plc, is the son of the current PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, while Abdullahi Alao of Axenergy Limited is the son of popular Ibadan-based tycoon, Alhaji Abdulazeez Arisekola-Alao. Ugo-Ngadi, on her part, is the Managing Director of Ontario Oil and Gas Plc, where its founder, Wagbatsoma, is the executive vice-chairman. 

But whilst the individuals were identified as directors of the oil-marketing firms, Ejidele is a director of the accounting firm, Akintola Williams Deloitte, while Ebenezer is a member of staff of PPPRA.
Also, some of the suspects such as Alao may be tried twice for allegedly conniving with different companies to defraud the government.

According to a statement from EFCC spokesman Wilson Uwujaren, Nasaman Oil Services; Ali and Taylor are to face charges bordering on obtaining N4,460,130,797.94 from the Federal Government under false pretences. The sum was alleged to have been fraudulently obtained as subsidy payments from the Petroleum Support Fund (PSF) for the purported importation of 30.5 million litres of petrol from SEATAC Petroleum Limited of British Virgin Islands. Also, Alao and Axenergy Limited will be tried for allegedly obtaining by fraud N2,640,141,707.75 from the government, being payments received from the PSF for the purported importation of 33.3 million litres of petrol.

Others, including Tukur, Alex, Alao and Eterna Oil and Gas Plc, will be arraigned for fraudulently obtaining N1,899,238,946.02 from the PSF for the purported importation of 80.3 million litres of petrol.

Also, Nadabo Energy Limited, Peters, Abalaka and Pacific Silver Line Limited are to be prosecuted for allegedly obtaining N1,464,961,978.24, being payments fraudulently received from the PSF for the purported importation of 19.4 million litres of petrol.

Wagbatsoma, Ugo-Ngadi, Ebenezer, Ejidele and Ontario Oil and Gas Nigeria Limited will be arraigned for fraudulently obtaining N1,959,377,542.63 from the PSF for the purported importation of 39.2 million litres of petrol. On their part, Fago Petroleum and Gas Limited and Ogunbanbo are to be arraigned for fraudulently obtaining N979,653,110.20 from the PSF for the purported importation of 33,627,840 litres of petrol.

Those to be arraigned before Onigbanjo on a nine-count charge bordering on conspiracy, obtaining money by false pretence, forgery and use of false documents are Tukur, Alex, Alao and Eterna Oil and Gas Ltd.

The company and the individuals were alleged to have on April 28, 2011, in Lagos, fraudulently obtained N676.9 million from the Federal Government purporting same to be payment accruing to Eterna Oil under the PSF.

They are also accused of falsifying claims to have purchased 33,288,388 litres of petrol from Mercury Energy Trading AS and imported to Nigeria through Ex-MT Fulmer, Ex-MT Emirates Star and Ex-MT Panther. Those to appear before Justice Abiru are Wagbatsoma, Ugo-Ngadi, Ebenezer, Ejide and Ontario Oil and Gas Nig. Ltd.

The second case before Justice Abiru also involves Alao and his Axenergy Oil. Alao, who is also to be charged before Justice Onigbanjo will face another nine-count charge bordering on obtaining by false pretence, forgery and use of false documents before Justice Abiru.

He is accused of fraudulently obtaining N2.5 billion in December 2010 from the Federal Government as subsidy payments for supplying13,364,284 and 20,014,627 litres of petrol from Ex-MT Gavros and Ex-MT Nippon Princess. The accused persons before Justice Abiru are facing a nine-count charge for conspiracy, obtaining money under false pretence, forgery and use of false documents. They are accused of fraudulently obtaining over N1.9 billion from the Federal Government under the PSF from July to December 2010.

All the accused persons were also alleged to have forged bills of lading and other vital documents, which they allegedly used in perpetrating the fraud.

The EFCC said their alleged offences contravened Sections 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act of 2006 and Sections 467 and 468 of the Criminal Code Laws of Lagos State 2003. Part of the charges preferred against Wagbatsoma and his co-accused, includes conspiracy for obtaining N1.9 billion under false pretence, contrary to Section 8, punishable under Section 107 of Advance Fee Fraud & other related offences.

They are also accused by the government of altering and forging documents contrary to Section 468 and 467 of the Criminal Code Cap. C17, Vol. 2, Laws of Lagos of State of Nigeria, 2006, respectively.

The charge read in part: “That you, Walter Wagbatsoma, Adaoha-Ugo-Ngadi, Fakuade Babafemi Ebenezer, Ezekiel Olajide Ejide and Ontario Oil and Gas Nig. Ltd. did conspire to obtain property by false pretence contrary to Section 8 punishable under Section 1 of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Related Offences on 7th July, 2010, within the jurisdiction of this court, conspired to commit an offence to wit: obtaining the sum of N340,178,111.231 from the Federal Government of Nigeria, purporting to be Petroleum Support Fund, which sum was in excess of the actual value of the product imported into Nigeria by Ontario Oil and Gas Ltd.”

They were also said to have collected N340,015,198, being “Excess of the value of the actual product (12,070,706 litres) delivered by Mt. Union Brave to Integrated Oil and Gas Ltd on your behalf as against  19,681,731 litres you falsely  claimed to have discharged”. The suspects are among over 140 individuals and organisations involved in the ongoing investigations into the subsidy payments by the EFCC.

“More suspects will be arraigned periodically as the investigation progresses,” the EFCC said in its statement.

Meanwhile, the EFCC yesterday filed a separate suit before Justice Samuel Candide-Johnson of the Lagos High Court against Durosola Omogbenigun, Peter Mba, Integrated Resources Limited and Pinnacle Oil and Gas. It was gathered that all the four defendants are to appear in court tomorrow for arraignment.

They were alleged to have conspired to obtain money under false pretences punishable under Section 1 of the Advance Free Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, 2006.

They were also alleged to have on February 4, 2011 obtained from the Federal Government N986,154,970.41 purported to be subsidy payable to Integrated Resources Limited for the importation of 19,347,753 litres of petrol which they claimed from NIMEX Petroleum Limited of Gibraltar.

They will also, among others, be charged with the intent to defraud the Federal Government, for obtaining N343,182,230.20 on or about September 15, 2011, purporting to be subsidy payable to Integrated Resources Limited for  4,115,951 litres of petrol which they claimed to have purchased from Alcamo Integrated Limited/Vitol SA Geneva and allegedly imported to Nigeria through the mother vessel MT Box and MT Althea Ex MT Sea Power as the daughter vessels.

Indicted Oil Firms

Nasaman Oil Services

Eterna Oil and Gas Plc

Ontario Oil and Gas Plc
Nadabo Energy Limited
Pacific Silver Line Limited
Axenergy Limited
Fago Petroleum & Gas Ltd
Integrated Resources Ltd
Pinnacle Oil and Gas

Indicted Persons
Mamman Nasir Ali
Christian Taylor
Mahmud Tukur
Ochonogor Alex
Walter Wagbatsoma
Adaoha Ugo-Ngadi
Fakuade B. Ebenezer
Ezekiel Olaleye Ejidele

Abubakar Ali Peters
Jude Agube Abalaka
Abdullahi Alao
Oluwaseun Ogunbanbo
Durosola Omogbenigun
Peter Mba

source: thisday newspaper

Five Nigerians die in New York Auto Crash

Three women and two children were killed early Sunday morning when a Mercedes Benz GL sport-utility vehicle they were travelling in crashed. The victims were returning from a festival in Queens celebrating a two-day annual convention of the Arondizuogu Patriotic Union National Congress of North America at the Golden Terrace banquet hall, on Atlantic Avenue less than a mile from the accident site. Three others survived.

The vehicle struck a concrete pillar, flipped and hit a tree. Three adult passengers, all women, were declared dead at the scene, as were an 8-year-old girl and a 9-year-old boy. The driver, a 45-year-old woman, is in stable condition at Jamaica Hospital, along with a 26-year old male and a 7-year-old boy.

“The convention was supposed to bring us together — not end in tragedy,” said Anthony Nwankwo, 49, from Houston. The convention draws about 200 people from across the United States. One of the victims is identified as Michigan woman, Nnenna Obioha, who was in her 50s or older.

According to reports, the driver swerved to avoid a car coming through the intersection at Atlantic Avenue and the Van Wyck service road. The SUV climbed onto the sidewalk, struck a pillar supporting the tracks for the AirTrain to Kennedy International Airport and flipped onto its passenger side and then came to a rest when its roof struck a tree.

Surveillance video from a nearby gas station shows a fast-moving black SUV travel through an intersection. A moment later, a startled customer suddenly scurries toward the street.

Chief Stephen Browne of the Fire Department of New York called it the worst single car accident he had seen in his 26-year career. "To see this much human life devastation in a single-car accident on a side street is not normal," he told the News.

Source: NYtimes

Six women rape man to death in Benue State, Nigeria

His fame and financial breakthrough pushed him into having up to six wives. His love for sex equally contributed to his patronage of the most beautiful girls in Ugbugbu Owukpa, Ogbadibo Local government area of Benue State where a man who was identified as Uroko Onoja was allegedly raped to death by his 6 jealous wives in the early hour of Tuesday.

Trouble started on Tuesday morning, precisely 3 am when Uroko returned from Ochanja, a popular joint in the small community of Ugbugbu and headed to the room of his youngest wife. The other wives who according to the youngest wife, Odachi had a meeting before Uroko returned home invaded her room with knives and sticks, demanding that their husband have sex with all of them at once. Uroko who resisted their attack was overpowered by the women who ordered that the sex march begin with the youngest wife and to continue in that order to the top.

Our correspondent reported that Uroko stopped breathing when the fifth woman was making her way to the bed. “Suddenly, my husband stopped breathing, and they all ran out, still laughing, but when they saw that I could not resuscitate him, they all ran into the forest.

Uroko whose body has been deposited in a nearby Mortuary was until his death one of the famous persons in the village.  According to most young people in the community, he was a philanthropist who had contributed positively to the growth of the community.

When contacted, the village head, Mr. Okpe Odoh affirmed that the matter had been reported to the police and investigation was ongoing even as the youth of the community are helping the police in search of the escaped wives.

source: naijanews

Nigeria Imports Diesel from Niger

Nigeria, Africa's largest oil producer, has begun to import refined diesel fuel from Niger, its northern neighbour, oil market traders and truck drivers said recently. Fuel stations in the northern city of Katsina on the border with Niger stock diesel imported from Niger's Soraz refinery in Zinder, 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the border with Nigeria.

"We have imported 90 trucks of diesel from Niger in the past four months in three batches of 30 trucks each, Lawal Dahiru Mangal, a fuel market trader in Katsina said.

"We secured import license from the (Nigerian) government for the importation of diesel from the Soraz refinery in Niger which we supply fuel stations in Katsina and neighboring towns", said Mangal of MD Mangal petroleum company.

Nigeria, world's eighth largest oil producer, relies on fuel imports from some foreign countries to meet domestic demands as its four refineries, with a combined installed capacity of 445,000 barrels per day, are underperforming.

They have been grounded for years due largely to corruption and mismanagement. It produces about 2.2 million barrels of crude per day which it exports and imports refined fuel. Niger-refined diesel is cheaper than the one Nigeria imports from other countries, Mangal said.

A litre of Niger-imported diesel sells at 160 naira (one dollar) in Katsina compared to 170 naira it sells in other parts of the country.

"We source diesel from Mangal petroleum which imports its consignment from Niger," Abddullahi Maikaita, a fuel attendant at a filling station in Katsina said.

In 2000 Nigeria removed its subsidy on diesel.

Last November, Niger opened its first refinery in Zinder following the discovery of oil in Agadem, 700 kilometres east of its capital Niamey with a daily production capacity of 20,000 bpd.

Source: AFP

Prodigal Wife Returns after 20 years; seeks home

TWENTY years after separating from her husband, Bukola suddenly reappeared in his apartment at Oshodi. She is now in her late fifties. Her husband, Adeagbo Busari, had since married another woman and had kids. Bukola herself had tried her luck with another man and got a child too.

But fate had not been kind to Bukola. Her second husband died, leaving her virtually destitute with a child of fifteen. Now she desperately needed a home to call her own. She therefore decided to return to the husband of her youth (oko aaro in Yoruba). After all, she probably thought, she had four children for Busari: Akeem (M) 37, Muritala (M) 35, Samsondeen (M) 32 and Moshood (M) 27.

Adeagbo is however uncomfortable with the development. He therefore headed to the customary court (Igbeyinadun) in the Oshodi. He is seeking the dissolution of the marriage he contracted with the respondent in 1975 under the Native Laws and Customs, on the grounds that;

*They had been separated for over 20 years

* That  Bukola has returned to his house to threaten his life and that of the children.

*That there is no more love to sustain the marriage.

The petitioner was however absent in court but was represented by his counsel while the responded, who was accompanied by one of her children, Samsondeen, was present.

In court, Bukola did not look too well. Asked if she had secured another apartment, she answered in the affirmative, but when asked the address of her new apartment, she mentioned No 24, Olatunbosun Street, Ewutuntun, Oshodi, the very same residence from which the petitioner, Adeagbo’s is seeking her ejection.

Samsodeen, who was asked how they have been coping with her, said, “My father owns the three bedroom apartment. He has a room to himself, his second wife occupied the second room, while my brothers and I with the three children of the second wife, making seven of us altogether, occupy the third room. We all slept together in that room, until my mother came in.

“But because we felt my mother needed rest because of her state of health, we all vacated the room for her, and have since been sleeping in the sitting room,” he said.

The acting president of the court, Mrs. Iyabode Adetola, advised Samsondeen, that his mother, bukola, needed more care, both by her children, and her former husband, Adeagbo, because of her state of health. She also suggested that the respondent be given adequate medical attention, and that her children should plead with their father, who wants her out of the house, to give them more time, to get another apartment for her.

What are your thoughts?

Source: guardian

Nigeria, a rugged road to high returns

LAGOS - Bomb blasts, gun attacks, airline crashes, kidnappings, industrial-scale oil theft, armed robberies and fraud costing billions of dollars.

Such things might give pause to anyone thinking of opening a business. In Nigeria, they happen with alarming frequency, and yet investors just keep coming.

The reasons are many: alluring returns in this high-risk frontier market; a huge and growing population with latent potential for a consumer boom; light crude oil ideal for making motor fuel; and sophisticated financial markets.

"We know it's not risk free," says Charles Robertson, global Chief Economist at Renaissance Capital. "But look around the world and find another economy with 160 million people growing at 7 percent with such potential. It's a struggle to find them."

Nigeria can look like it's teetering on the cusp of chaos, but it is also Africa's second biggest economy and top oil producer.

"Nigeria is the best kept secret in the world. Anybody who doesn't invest in Nigeria only has himself to blame, going forward, if he misses out," industrialist Aliko Dangote told Reuters in an interview at his Lagos office.

"I don't really know of any place where you can make as much money as you make in Nigeria."

As Africa's richest man, he should know. Last year, the cement tycoon's Nigeria investments boosted his personal fortune more than fivefold - a bigger rise than anyone else on the Forbes list of world billionaires - to $13.8 billion.

Dangote is from northern Nigeria, where Islamist insurgents of the Boko Haram movement have killed hundreds in daily gun and bomb attacks this year in a bloody anti-establishment offensive.

Dangote, whose interests are mostly in the south, with some exposure to the north, does not let the violence affect his business decisions.

"Boko Haram have not destroyed any business here. They have not gone to any factory and planted a bomb," he said.

"Because of drugs barons fighting with the Mexican government, does it mean no one will go and invest in Mexico? No. People are rushing there."

"DEMOGRAPHIC DIVIDEND" TRUMPS INSTABILITY?

Still, if you want an example of how violence and political instability in Nigeria can slice millions of dollars off your profit margin, look no further than PZ Cussons.

The soap maker announced two profit warnings in the first quarter of this year, blaming a hit to sales from social unrest in Nigeria, its biggest market, where it makes a third of its revenue.

The country erupted into strikes and protests in January when President Goodluck Jonathan's government made an abortive attempt to end a popular fuel subsidy. The strikes lasted only a week, but the central bank said they cost $617 million a day.

The violence in the north also worsened around that time.

"Insurgency in the north clearly had a detrimental impact on PZ's business, and on (food maker) UACN, which has distribution hubs there," Matthew Pearson, Standard Bank's head of African Equity Product, told Reuters on a visit toLagos.

But in the longer term, both firms are betting Nigeria's big population will turn into a massive consumer market.

"The demographic dividend is colossal," Pearson said.

A failure to recognize such long-term opportunities in emerging markets astounds Stephen Jennings, CEO of investment bank Renaissance Group.

"Whether we are talking about political evolution in Russia, or economic development in Africa, there remains a clear overemphasis on current difficulties and constraints, and an under-appreciation of the pace and magnitude of modernization and structural change," he told an investor conference this week.

Some clearly appreciate it. The CEO of South Africa's Shoprite, Whitey Basson, said in February he saw scope for 700 stores in Nigeria, up from two now, arguing that even if 60 percent live in poverty, the other 40 percent still outnumber South Africans.

And oil companies like Shell are making enormous profits in Nigeria - and renewing onshore licenses - despite the fact that armed gangs steal a growing portion of their oil.

Foreign direct investment into Nigeria has hovered between $6 billion and $8.5 billion since 2007, World Bank figures show, apparently unresponsive to its various crises.

FEAR OF OFFICIALDOM

Business people say the risk from such insecurity pales compared with that of government interference.

Jonathan's administration says it is working to remove impediments such as corrupt officials and onerous bureaucracy, but they admit it is a huge task.

"Look at the port. That's a bigger investor concern than bomb blasts or plane crashes," said Tony Elumelu, chairman of Lagos-based Heirs Holdings, a fund that invests across Africa.

Corrupt officials at Lagos port - one of the busiest in Africa - slow down deliveries to extort money from importers, a bottleneck to growth and cause of Nigeria's high living costs.

"For many businesses, the difficulty of getting goods cleared ... is their biggest complaint," Elumelu said. "The good news is the government is now taking action to improve it."

Such "official risk" is what oligarchs like Dangote can use political ties to mitigate. Not everyone has such connections, but players with dominant positions in markets that don't require much government cooperation can still fare well.

"If you look at Nigeria Breweries, short of expropriation, it's going to continue to effectively print money, because of the size of the market ... irrespective of the management of the country," said Fola Fagbule, Vice President of Origination and Coverage at Africa Finance Corporation.

Other sectors, such as infrastructure, face daunting hurdles from obstructive officials. Telecoms firms need licenses. They need land to put up masts. They need permits to set up base stations.

All complain of extortion by officials to keep stations open.

The downside was enough to persuade Vodacom to pass up investing in Vmobil - now owned by Bharti Airtel - in 2005, citing an "inappropriate level of risk".

Yet telecoms is now one Nigeria's most profitable sectors, and Nigeria is Bharti's most profitable African market.

In his last year as Vodacom CEO in 2008, Alan Knott-Craig said he regretted the decision not to set up shop in Nigeria. Vodacom is now making moves to come back.

Rival MTN had no such qualms, and today it is Nigeria's leading operator.

Among the risks it faces are "poor infrastructure, lack of security, vandalism, multiple taxation, over-regulation ... unlawful interference with telco infrastructure by government agencies and ... prejudicial court judgments," says Funmilayo Omogbenigun, MTN Nigeria's corporate affairs manager.

Despite that discouraging litany, Nigeria remains MTN's biggest cash cow, making $2.5 billion in core profit in 2010 and again in 2011.

The telecoms success has raised hopes for Nigeria's moribund power sector, if the government gets round to privatizing it.

"Nigeria's often surprised on the upside, and telecoms is a classic example. People are looking at power in the same way," Fagbole said.

"It looks messy, it looks difficult, but if you sit on the sidelines and it turns out to be this massive honey pot, you'll live to regret it."

Source: yahoo.com (Tim Cocks | Reuters)

EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program: Cash for Citizenship

Thousands of wealthy foreigners are lining up for VISA’s, enabling them to invest in the USA while putting them on a path to citizenship in the process. The State Department expects to issue over 6,000 "investor visas" in the current fiscal year, which would be an all-time record.

Under the government's EB-5 Immigrant Investor program, foreign investors can get conditional visas that allow them and their families to live, work and attend school in the U.S. To qualify for the visa, they must invest at least $1 million in a new or recently created business, or $500,000 for businesses in rural or high-unemployment areas.

The investment must be demonstrated to have created or preserved at least 10 full-time jobs for U.S. workers within two years. Assuming this condition is met, investors and their families graduate to permanent resident status, and can apply for full citizenship three years later.

While the EB-5 program has been around since 1990, demand has been surging as of late, fueled in large part by China's growing elite, who accounted for 70% of the roughly 3,500 investor visas issued last year. State Department officials expect the program's quota of 10,000 visas per year, which includes visas given to the spouses and children of investors, to be filled for the first time ever within the next year or two.

Some critics of the U.S. program question the fairness of letting wealthy immigrants pay for special treatment, while others say investments and job creation claims need stricter vetting. Immigrants who arrive via the program have no guarantee of recovering their investments, and may face deportation if they don't produce the required number of jobs.

Of the roughly 12,000 immigrants who've arrived on the EB-5 investor visa, just 39% have earned permanent residency, according to USCIS data. There's also the lengthy application and approval process. The program's reputation for red tape had dampened interest among foreigners in the preceding years.

Whatever the program's problems, interest has been growing in recent years, and meanwhile, the U.S. has faced increasing competition from other countries trying to woo well-heeled foreigners with the promise of residency or citizenship.

In the U.S., the immigrant investor program has been responsible for at least 46,810 jobs and more than $2.3 billion in investments since its inception in 1990, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. That's a small fraction of overall foreign investment in the U.S., but it comes at no cost to the government. Were the EB-5 program to meet its 10,000-visa quota, it would contribute more than $4.4 billion to GDP and create or preserve nearly 75,000 jobs annually, according to a 2010 report prepared for the government by consulting firm ICF International.

The EB-5 program is up for renewal in the fall, and while USCIS says it has "no indication" that the initiative will be allowed to expire, some supporters are more wary.

Source: yahoo news

Donna Summer Remembered (1948-2012)

Boston City Councillor Charles C. Yancey today reminisced growing up with singer, actress, and five-time Grammy Award winner, Donna Summer, who succumbed to cancer today in Florida at the age of 63.

Summer, whose older sister married one of Councillor Yancey’s brothers in the 1960s, was a close friend of the Yancey family.

Summer, who was born as LaDonna Adrian Gaines to Andrew and Mary Gaines on December 31, 1948 in Boston, graduated from the Jeremiah E. Burke High School in Dorchester. She perfected her vocal talent by singing gospel music at the Grant African Methodist Episcopal Church in Boston.

Summer relocated to Europe in 1968 and took part in the German productions of several musicals, including Haare, Porgy and Bess, and Godspell. Summer, in 1975, recorded "Love To Love You Baby", which transformed her into an international star and earned her the titleQueen of Disco. She went on to score four number one singles, fourteen top ten hits, three platinum albums, five Grammy awards, and twelve other Grammy nominations.

Summer won Best R&B Vocal Performance Female for Last Dance in 1978, Best Rock Vocal Performance Female for Hot Stuffin 1979, Best Inspirational Performance for He's A Rebel in 1983, Best Inspirational Performance for Forgive Me in 1984 and Best Dance Recording for Carry On in 1997. She also picked up 3 American Music Awards in 1979, the NAACP Image Award in 1980, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1992.

Councillor Yancey, on July 12, 2008, presented Summer with a City Council resolution commending her successful career and her generosity to humanitarian needs. Summer contributed much of her time and money to such organizations as UNICEF, Music Cares, The Gay Men's Health Crisis, Race to Erase MS, the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, and the National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance.

“We’re very proud of her international presence and her philanthropy. She was down to earth in spite of her fame and wealth,” Yancey said.

Summer, who has appeared in eight movies, was the first female artist to have three number one solo singles in one year, the first female artist to use synthesizers, and the first artist to create an extended play song for use in dance clubs.

“Donna Summer will be solely missed by my family and the entire City of Boston. We are proud of the fact that she was a daughter of Boston,” Yancey said.

A Trendy Africa USA Report

THISDAY NEWSPAPER OFFICES BOMBED IN KADUNA AND ABUJA

ABUJA, Nigeria — A suicide bomber detonated a car loaded with explosives Thursday at the office of a major Nigerian newspaper in the country's capital and another man threw a bomb near another newspaper office in Kaduna, killing at least six people in the attacks, witnesses said.

The attack in Abuja struck the offices of ThisDay, an influential daily newspaper. The bombing in Kaduna struck a building housing offices for ThisDay, The Moment and The Daily Sun newspapers, witnesses said.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, though they mirrored others previously carried out by a radical Islamist sect responsible for hundreds of deaths in Nigeria this year alone. In Abuja, the suicide bomber rammed his car through the gates of the ThisDay office and drove into the reception area before the explosion, said Nwakpa O. Nwakpa, a spokesman for the Nigerian Red Cross. The blast killed at least three people and wounded others, Nwakpa said.

Soldiers and police officers quickly surrounded the building, which had part of its roof torn away and all its windows blown out by the force of the explosion. The attack in Kaduna also included a car loaded with explosives, though people at the newspaper office quickly surrounded the car, witnesses said. The driver then began shouting that there was a bomb inside the car, witness Jemilu Abdullahi said.

Those there allowed the man to open the trunk of the car and he pulled out an object and threw it at the crowd, which exploded, Abdullahi said. Abdullahi said at least three people died in that blast. It is unclear why bombers targeted ThisDay, a newspaper owned by the politically connected media mogul Nduka Obaigbena. In 2002, rioting over an article published by ThisDay suggesting the Prophet Muhammad would have married a Miss World pageant contestant killed dozens in Kaduna.

The attack comes as the radical Islamist sect known as Boko Haram continues its violent campaign against Nigeria's weak central government. The sect is blamed for killed more than 440 people this year alone, according to an Associated Press count.

Source: AP

LAND RUSSLE: Gbenga Daniel May Exhume Dad's Corpse for Re-burial

The last may not have been heard about Abrahams Tabernacle built on plots of land owned by others. Event surrounding the construction of the controversial Abrahams Tabernacle has taken a new turn as the Aina's family pledged to ensure that Abrahams Tabernacle built by the embattled former Governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, is removed from their family land. This may mean that Otunba Gbenga Daniel may have to exhume his father's remains for re-burial.

The land on which the church is on was owned by the late Dr Aina. The deceased bought the land through Surveyor Aina and obtained all the necessary documentation from the Ogun State government. But when Daniel needed some plots in Sagamu GRA, he approached the late Dr Aina through his brother Surveyor Aina. Dr Aina refused to sell. He later fell sick and died mysteriously.

Otunba Daniel renewed his interest in the Sagamu GRA plots of land. In order to discourage Daniel from trying to force a sale, the children and other family members decided to bury the deceased on the plots of land.

In January 2010, Daniel renewed his interest in the land. He needed to build a church in honor of his father. The late Dr Aina's land would serve his purpose as the land was facing the dual carriageway. The former Governor issued a C of O to his family and sent in the bulldozers. He stationed armed police officers to guard plots 1 to 10 grabbed from their owners. He forgot to revoke the late Dr Aina's title. 

The family protested and begged OGD that their late father Dr Aina was buried on one of the plots of land over-looking the main road. OGD's friend Surveyor Aina pleaded with Daniel to no avail. All the constructions on the different plots of land were leveled. Daniel built a fence to secure all the plots grabbed from their owners. 

The Abrahams Tabernacle today is built on the grave of Dr Aina. Angry family members are insisting that they won't sell the land to Daniel as their father was buried on the land. Daniel has approached his friend Surveyor Aina to plead with other family members to save him from the humiliation of having to demolish the church and also exhume's Pa Daniel's remains from the land. But defiant family members told Daniel to remove the church as he knowingly built it on their father's grave. They insisted that they will not sell the plot of land on which Pa Daniel was buried.

Without the church buying the land from the owners, it may not be possible for Abrahams Tabernacle to obtain a C of O as directed by the Ogun State White Paper on the report of the Justice Akinyemi judicial Commission on Lands and Acquisitions.Sources in Sagamu said Daniel was frustrated by the refusal of the late Dr Aina's family to sell the land. Hence he has solicited the support of Chief Adebisi Adesanya and the Akarigbo of Remoland to pressure the family to sell the plots.

Otunba Gbenga Daniel became a friend of Surveyor Aina shortly after clinching the PDP gubernatorial ticket for Ogun State. He was introduced to Surv Aina by Age Omo Lemomu widely believed to be working for Adamu Ciroma at that time. The former Chairman of Sagamu LG, Akintan, was also in attendance. Daniel wore a blue guinea brocade on the day he visited Surveyor Aina in his Sagamu GRA house. He knew the late Dr Aina through his brother. Both Age Omo Lemomu and Dr Aina died mysteriously. 

Source: Naijanews