Omotola Jalade, Genevieve Nnaji fight dirty again

In most spheres of life, rivalry is a common phenomenon, which cannot be ruled out for anything. Talk about sports, business, and every other sector, it abounds everywhere.

But when envy starts to creep in, that is when it becomes deadly and unhealthy.

In the world of soccer today, it is an obvious truth that Lionel Messi and Christano Ronaldo are rivals, who also play for rival clubs in Spain.

As some pundits say, one of them must have been questioning God why he created the other in his own generation. But to lovers of the football game, the rivalry between the two soccer stars has made the game very interesting today.

Both of them try to outshine the other when they are both on the field of play. This is evident in the records each of them tries to break, especially if the other person is the holder of the record.

When it comes to mobile technology, it is no doubt that Samsung has given Apple a run for its money. Even Tecno, which hitherto was seen by Nigerians as a new kid in bloc, and fondly mocked as ‘China Phone’, is now rubbing shoulders with the big guys in the mobile phone business, especially with their smart phones.

In Nollywood, one of the rivalries that have stayed for a very long time is that between Omotola Ekeinde and Genevieve Nnaji.

For a long time, these two screen divas never saw eyeball-to-eyeball until recently, when the President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Ibinabo Fiberesima intervened and brought them together again.

You will recall that it was reported how Ibinabo strived hard to bring these two important personalities in the movie industry in Nigeria together.

Those who were aware of the cold war between Omotola and Genevieve before Ibinabo’s peace move would confirm that Genevieve always avoided any event or function Omotola is invited into.

In fact, both parties always asked organisers of shows if the other person would also be coming and if the answer was in the affirmative, the person concerned would avoid the event.

When both of them featured in the award-winning film, ‘Ije’, the producer of the movie talked about how difficult it was for her to work with the two stars.

Those who knew about the production of the film said that Omotola and Genevieve almost practically avoided each other and that after they play their respective roles in the film, they did not talk to each other and that they left the set immediately.

So, it was good news for fans of both Omotola and Genevieve when they heard that the two pretty actresses had sheathed the sword and had embraced peace.

Shortly after that, both of them were spotted together at events, and they were seeing talking and smiling at each other.

In fact, things were going on smoothly between the two talented actresses until recently, when the media was reliably informed that the actresses have started avoiding each other again.

A source close to Omotola and Genevieve informed us that both movie stars have resumed their rivalries.

“Genevieve now asks if Omotola is invited to any function she is invited to and if the answer is in affirmative, she would just tell you she would not be available,” the source, who craved for anonymity told the media.

We also learnt that Omotola does the same thing whenever she is invited for an event that she feels might involve her ‘arch rival’.

The reason for the renewed hostility might not be unconnected with the fact that the rivalry has favoured both Omotola and Genevieve.

We gathered that their past rivalry helped in attracting more fans to them.

However, few friends of both Omotola and Genevieve who spoke with us said that the perceived rivalry between the two film icons in Africa was caused by the media and their fans.

“There is nothing between Omotola and Genevieve, they are still good friends, you guys (journalists) are the ones who create imaginary fights among stars just to cause unnecessary confusion.” Another thing is that the two of them are being mindful of their business, which is a normal thing among ladies,” one of them said.

Credit: NigeriaFilms.com

Nigerian Military kills Boko Haram Commader, finds foreign currencies on him

Military Repels Attack on Mafa Town
Thousands of Euro currency was found on the body of a terrorist commander after troops successfully repelled a terrorist on Mafa towards the border.

The terrorist, who is also an Amir by status and believed to be of foreign descent, is among about 30 terrorist fighters who died in the encounter while many others fled with wounds.

The terrorists also lost number weapons and equipment including the captured 13 rifles, a machine gun, and rocket propelled grenade tubes and several other assorted ammunition.

A Toyota Bufallo vehicle was also recovered from the terrorists. Two of their armoured vehicles were also destroyed in the battle. The only casualty on the side of owns troops were damaged equipment.

Mopping up operations is ongoing in the general area. Meanwhile, the offensive on all terrorists’ hideouts is continuing in many fronts.

Credit: prnigeria.com

The Nigerian girls who’ve become Boko Haram’s best killers

The infamous terror group, Boko Haram, is using female suicide bombers in growing numbers. Are the Chibok girls among them.

Aisha, nine years old, and her elder sister, Falmata, 13, were both abducted from their home in Damasak, in Nigeria’s northeastern Borno state, during a raid by Boko Haram militants in March. Their much older brother, Bukkar, isn’t sure they’ll ever return. He believes they might have been drafted into the insurgents’ growing army of female suicide bombers. Indeed, he has every reason to think so.

When militants invaded Damasak, they burned down houses and demanded children be handed over to them. Parents who objected were killed, and eventually hundreds of children—girls in particular—were taken by force.

“They set our house on fire and walked through the streets kidnapping children who were under 15 years of age and killing those who were above that age,” Bukkar remembers. “They were most interested in little girls, whom they plan to use as suicide bombers.”

Boko Haram has become notorious for using young female suicide bombers. The majority of those recognized have been adolescent girls, with some as young as 10. Other young women are forced to become soldiers and sex slaves.

“Militants feel it is easier to intimidate and brainwash young girls than adult women. Besides, these girls come cheap, and most of them are extremely loyal,” says Yusuf Mohammed, who works with young people affected by trauma in Maiduguri, the birth place of Boko Haram.

The use of these young women began not long after more than 200 young women were kidnapped from their school in Chibok last year, an incident that provoked global outrage and the #BringBackOurGirls campaign that, so far, has proved fruitless.

The corresponding time frame and the age of the suicide bombers killed and captured since then have prompted speculation that Boko Haram has enlisted some of the kidnapped girls from Chibok in its jihad. The alleged bomber in a July 2014 attack at a university in Kano bore a marked resemblance to one of the abducted schoolgirls.

There’s a strong possibility that after more than a year in captivity, some of the Chibok girls could have been indoctrinated by their kidnappers to carry out suicide attacks, but there’s no clear evidence that this is the case. The government believes the Chibok girls are still more or less together and being held by the terrorists in a secret location.

Meanwhile Boko Haram has abducted hundreds of young women and girls in other towns and villages in Nigeria’s northeastern region.

According to local sources, Boko Haram currently operates suicide bombing training camps in Kirenuwa town in Marte, 112 kilometers north of Maiduguri, and in Kala Balge area in northern Borno. Those are in addition to parts of the deadly Sambisa forest, where the Nigerian military is currently carrying out an offensive against the insurgents.

These same local sources say that when women are abducted by the militants the “young and smart” girls are separated from the older ones and trained on how to handle heavy weapons or carry out suicide attacks, or both.

Earlier this month, soldiers who spoke with The Daily Beast on condition of anonymity said they were shocked when women opened fire on troops who had come to rescue them in Sambisa forest. The women, they said, killed seven soldiers. A dozen women died in the firefight.

Indoctrinated female bombers are persuaded to seek martyrdom for fighting God’s cause.

“They repeatedly told us that the best jihad is the one in which your horse is slain and your blood is spilled,” said Rukaya, 13, who was rescued by Niger’s armed forces from a Boko Haram camp in Bosso, in southeastern Niger along the border with Nigeria, then taken to a camp for displaced persons in Diffa, deeper in Niger’s territory. (She spoke to The Daily Beast via her older brother.)

In the past, Boko Haram gave financial incentives to its bombers. In its first-ever suicide attack—a 2011 bombing at the police headquarters in the national capital of Abuja—Boko Haram was reported to have offered the male suicide bomber the equivalent of $24,870 dollars for the operation, which he bequeathed to his four children.

It is doubtful that the rising number of female bombers or their families received any such largesse.

Over the past 13 months, there has been a huge rise in female suicide bombings and huge increase in casualties as well. The attacks have claimed up to 78 victims. Boko Haram’s first female bomber was a woman believed to be in her early twenties who rode a motorcycle into military barracks and blew herself up at a checkpoint in the northeastern city of Gombe last June. In its latest suicide attack, at least seven people were killed and 33 others seriously wounded when a female bomber, believed to be 10 years, old blew herself up at a bus station on May 16 in Damaturu, the capital of Nigeria’s northeastern Yobe State.

Last week, the Borno State deputy governor said Boko Haram had deployed more than 600 women throughout Maiduguri, with the goal of carrying out suicide bombings in the metropolis. While this number is completely unfeasible, female terrorists have had the advantage that, previously at least, they attracted less attention from authorities and could move about largely unquestioned: the long hijab, or covering, worn by Muslim women can easily hide bombs, and strict standards of morality make it hard for male security officers to search female suspects. Last November, two women dressed in full hijabs, which covered everything but their faces, entered a busy Maiduguri market and detonated explosives, killing more than 40 people. A 20-year-old woman, who was one of the suicide bombers, had a bomb tied firmly to her back in the same manner used by many women to carry their children in northern Nigeria.

More recently, as vigilance in the region has increased, some women—particularly teenage girls—have given up the full-length covering for fear they’ll be mistaken for terrorists. They still wear hijab, but the veils are shorter and lighter, or mere head coverings along with simple dresses, so that anyone can see there are no explosives on them.

Meanwhile, the government says the search for the Chibok girls goes on, and continues to heap skepticism on suggestions that they may have been pressed into the ranks of Boko Haram’s women bombers. In an interview on Nigeria’s African Independent Television in March, President Goodluck Jonathan, who lost his reelection bid, argued that Boko Haram would have been only too happy to display the corpses of the Chibok girls for propaganda purposes if they had been killed.

“They are still alive, because when terrorists kill they display,” Jonathan said. “But we can’t just move in with artilleries and clear the place because they may use them as shields, so we are working with the global best practices.”

Kashim Shettima, who is the governor of Borno, said the abducted girls have been kept in bunkers, inside Sambisa forest. “We are suspecting that the Chibok girls are living with the insurgents in bunkers,” Shettima said in a statement presented at a conference on security last week, I think the military must carry out their operations beneath the surface of the earth.” He said Boko Haram is also “known to have dug tunnels to enable them to move from house to house. So, having been left unchallenged for such a long time, such possibilities cannot be ruled out, which poses serious obstacles within the forest.”

With many theories suggesting that the Chibok girls are currently been kept in the deadly forest, only a complete and effective elimination of the terrorists there can ascertain whether or not the now-famous girls are dead or alive.

Philip Obaji Jr. is the founder of 1 GAME, an advocacy and campaigning organization that fights for the right to education for disadvantaged children in Nigeria, especially in northeastern Nigeria, where Boko Haram forbids western education.  Follow him @PhilipObaji

Credit: The Daily Beast

Tinubu, Fayemi fight gets messier and dirty

National leader of the All progressives Congress, APC, Bola Ahmed Tinubu is said to be at war with former Ekiti State Governor Fayemi Kayode, this is as Tinubu has branded Fayemi as a touted technocrat that cannot truly represent Ekiti People because he had no electoral value across the entire Yoruba land.

The former Lagos Governor through a public commentator, Dr. Adamoleku expressed his dismay over Fayemi, the commentator in a write up titled;

"Buhari: Beware of Ekiti failure", which was published by the Nation Newspaper also asked the  President-elect Muhammadu Buhari to note that the Fayemi destroyed the APC in Ekiti State, even as the writer said that APC which actually brought him to power without him (Fayemi) delivering the State.

Read the full the article below:

Buhari: Beware of Ekiti failure!

On this season of power transition from one government to another, it is not unusual for all sorts of characters, including ones with no iota of electoral value to mill round the new political leader so as to gain underserved access to the corridors of power under the guise of wanting to render ‘selfless service’ to the nation. Following from this premise, this writer could not but quickly seize the moment to admonish General Mohammadu Buhari, president-elect, to beware of the so-called ‘technocrats’ with no electoral value when their gaunt democratic pedigree is subjected to the klieg light.

Permit me to state before going further that the writer is a freeborn indigene of Ekiti State. And consequently, in view of the blustery politics that is currently going on in that state between the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress(APC) lawmakers, it would amount to being unjust to one’s ancestors to remain apolitical as a crucial stakeholder from that state. It is from this prism that this writer takes his pen to share his view with the public about how the state gets to this sorry pass. And except some drastic political steps are taken, it could take a long while before the avoidable storm could subside.

Let me start by stating that the inspiration to write this article came from the issue-based article written by one Hakeem Adisa about the unrealistic politics of idealism that Fayemi came to play during his sojourn as governor of Ekiti. It becomes so unfortunate that he abandoned the politics of realism that brought him to power because of his disastrous miserly approach to politics that made him to make pecuniary profit from his own electoral failure while those people that are required to nurture the party that brought him to power wallowed in abject poverty.

This writer has taken sufficient time to read through the piece: ‘What does Kayode Fayemi want?’ and the counter one: Hakeem Adisa: ‘A masqurade’s needless rant against Fayemi’ by one Olayinka Oyebode, who describes himself as Fayemi’s Chief Press Secretary. The two articles were published in The Sun newspaper of Monday, May11 and 12 respectively.

The rejoinder refers to ‘sterling personality and democratic credentials of Dr Fayemi.’ And erroneously believes that it aims to ‘sow a seed of discord among some prominent leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and also pitch the National Leader of the party and former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, against some leaders of the party through a deliberate but senseless attempt to demonize them.’ This could not be true since to this writer that article merely exposes the ingrained but avoidable political guile of Fayemi and his proclivity for erroneously thinking himself to be vaingloriously superior to benevolent political partners that is gradually preparing his ground for political perdition.

For example, his spokesperson in his rejoinder gleefully stated that Adisa ‘bared his fangs against Fayemi, heaped up every imaginable distortion of facts of history to demonize him and make him unworthy in the congregation of right thinking men and women.’ The piece he describes as ‘at best a long rehash of unfounded allegations and fabricated reports garnished with questionable sources and innuendoes.’ Yet he unsuccessfully and convincingly could not convince the educated and politically discernible in Ekiti State and observers across the country that issues raised by that man called Adisa such as Fayemi’s needless political garrulity, contempt for political party, its leadership and party members that brought him to power, disloyalty to his benefactor through surreptitious undermining of benefactor’s interests, consistent hypocritical attitude, his unreliability on matters of sanctity of promise, his hypocritically being miserly that became his undoing when others know what he is benefitting from the same government and his deliberate isolation of party loyalists in a political climate that is all about the people, amongst others.

Oyebode went ahead to confirm that Fayemi had a dalliance with Obasanjo even if such is ad-hoc as ‘a participant in Africa Leadership Forum’s CSSDCA initiative and its security and demilitarization series. He was also involved in several committees set up by President Obasanjo purely on a technocratic basis. For example, he served on the Presidential Implementation Committees on NEPAD, on the MDGS and on Security Sector Reform and Conflict Management. He was also the main Technical Adviser to the Oputa Panel set up by President Obasanjo to investigate human rights violations.” But this Fayemi spokesman forgot to tell Nigerians how much of public fund was expended on these projects and the degree of positive impact they had on the wellbeing of the populace. Could participation in projects that have not positively impacted on the lives of the people be altruistically described as nationalistic or rather, an ingenious means of creating money for the boys for their un-nationalistic ‘loyalty.’

The question of who brought Fayemi closer to Tinubu was not faithfully answered. It is trite that during the apogee of the NADECO struggles abroad when Tinubu led the pack, Fayemi, like several others might had, on few occasions, met with the Jagaban Borgu for help in the United Kingdom and the United States. It is also true that Fayemi had frequently expressed his contempt for Tinubu, in private conversations with friends including a renowned professor known more for his column writing prowess and mastery of the Queen’s language that was also on exile during the same period. Fayemi should tell the world what level of cordiality existed between him and Tinubu since 1994 and 2005 before someone brought him to Tinubu’s office as a sitting governor. Ekiti people and others across the nation want him to tell them who that ‘someone’ was. Or did he just walk straight into the Alausa Governor’s Office without appointment? If he got an appointment, who scheduled the appointment with then Lagos governor, if not Opeyemi Bamidele that he also subsequently betrayed? His spokesperson also mischievously omitted his response on how he got money with which he funded his election as governor, how much it cost his benefactor and whether it was true that a powerful commissioner in Lagos gave him the first tranch or not. The same funding he miserly could not provide during his re-election as would be proved later.

As a bona fide Ekiti indigene, it is confounding to note the observation that ‘Fayemi’s achievements in the four years he served as governor of Ekiti State are well documented in the hearts of the people and has become a standard through which the incumbent administration and future administrations would be measured.’ It is quite deluding for Fayemi to be alluding to his conspicuous public consumption as achievements.
Could it be the pointless billion naira worth of Government House that he built in a state that reeks of poverty that he calls an achievement? Could it be the un-used stadium he built when an old newly refurbished one is in place? Or could it be his abandoned costly entertainment centre in a state known for undying craving and pursuits for educational excellence? These, amongst others, are conduit pipes through which billions of naira were wasted in Ekiti under Fayemi that prompted the people to truly vote him out of power, the Ekiti-gate notwithstanding because the people would have revolted if the result had not reflected their true wishes in the 16 local government areas of the state.

To dispute the fact that Fayemi is a ‘political neophyte’ is to deny the obvious. The fact that he deprived incumbent Ekiti Governor, Ayodele Fayose, the senatorial ticket in 2011 is just a manifestation of his treachery against a man that really helped him prosecute the Ido-Osi election re-run that catapulted him to office. His betrayal of Fayose has been the hallmark of his relationship with his political benefactors, which is why Buhari must be careful with Fayemi’s sly personality.

As an indigene of Ekiti, this writer knew what transpired during the governorship election that threw Fayemi out of office. His haughty behavior at that time sent many of his staunch party faithful away from him. It was at that time that this writer felt for Tinubu for committing his resources and time on this ingrate and for especially the entire Ekiti people that have always been on the side of progressive politics. We all saw power slipping away from Fayemi’s hands but he stayed away from notable people that could help him, including Tinubu, the shrewd political strategist whom he told everything was in order when he was asked how far with his preparation for his re-election bid. Fayemi relied solely on the current governor of Lagos State to give him the magic want to win his re-election. Unfortunately the strategy that Governor Babatunde Fashola gave Fayemi failed him and even in the 2015 elections, Fashola’s political strategy could not save him from losing his ward and even Surulere Local Government. What a lesson for other over ambitious political ‘technocrats’! Let us ask Fayemi whether it is part of the political strategy of a technocrat during electioneering to give his commissioner paltry N150 and SSAs miserly N50, 000 to be used to galvanize support at the local level during his election when his own promoter spent billions before he assumed office? What hypocrisy! This is why it becomes laughable whenever Fayemi goes around parading himself as Head of the Directorate for Policy, Research and Strategy of the APC Presidential Campaign. For goodness sake, what correct policy, research and warped strategy can this failed Ekiti former governor that was mercilessly beaten by Fayose come up with?

Finally, he destroyed any goodwill in his touted victory concession speech when in an interview conducted by one Dapo Thomas and published by two national newspapers, not long after his failed re-election bid, where he said that he did not concede defeat but that the public misconstrues his semantics. Publications don’t lie. How can Fayemi now be comparing his ambivalent concession with that of President Goodluck’s unambiguous victory concession phone call to President-elect Buhari, even before the final result was announced?

President-elect Buhari must note that Fayemi, as a touted technocrat, cannot truly represent Ekiti because he has no electoral value whether in that state or across the entire Yoruba land. The president-elect must also note that the party he destroyed in Ekiti actually brought him to power without Fayemi delivering the state. Let Buhari start thinking beyond 2015 by realizing the importance of taking serious people that truly can be considered as technocrats and genuine beneficial politicians. Fayemi, a failed politician and ilk could not sincerely be counted among this class.

–Dr Adamolekun is an educationist residing in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State.

Credit: www.universalreporters.com

APOSTLE MADUBUKO WELCOMES NEW BABY

There is so much joy and happiness in the household of the General Overseer of Revival Assembly Church, Apostle Anselm Madubuko, as his eldest daughter, Velma Williams, who got married in 2012 to Charles Williams, welcomed a daughter few days ago in the United States of America (USA).

This new development has made the popular man of God a first time granddad.

Apostle Madubuko, who said he is beyond elated, says he has since named his new grandchild Deborah. The man of God remarried few years ago after the death of his wife.

MAN KILLS LOVER OVER BRIDE PRICE

Out of frustration and his inability to pay the bride price of his baby mama’s family, an ex-vigilante boss, Uche has allegedly killed her and abandoned the woman he once claimed to love dearly.

Trouble started when the suspect was refused custody of his child without paying the requested money to the deceased’s family.

An embittered Uche claimed the amount was too much and that he was not going to pay such to formalize his relationship with his long time girlfriend.

Prior to the ugly incident, the suspect had observed that the parents of the girl were not at home, he then stormed their house and attempted to forcefully take his child from his late girlfriend, who resisted.

He then reportedly set ablaze clothes belonging to the lady and their child before leaving.

But two days later, he visited again and asked the girl to come for a discussion in the compound. As they were walking towards the gate, he turned round and allegedly brought out a gun, shot the girl in the chest and bolted.

It was the sound of the gunshot that attracted neighbours to the scene of the incident, but the suspect had already fled while the lifeless body of the lady remained on the ground.

It was reported that Uche was a security guard in GRA area of Onitsha, Anambra State before he met and fell in love with the deceased. He reportedly lost his job in December 2014.

HOW I DIDN’T TAKE MY BATH ON MY WEDDING DAY—FIDELIS DUKER

On May 23, 2015, the marriage of prolific filmmaker, Fidelis Duker, clocked 17. He had walked his wife, Temitope, down the aisle on May 23, 1998 at a church in Lagos.

Since their union, the couple has grown stronger and the lovers have come to be there for each other through the years.

But Fidelis said not many knew that he never took his bath to the wedding ceremony that day because he was already late for the event.

Recalling how they all started, the respected filmmaker said, "You have been there when there was nothing, when we slept on the bare floor with our 2nd baby and celebrated the purchase of a mattress.

"Many never knew I had to rush to that wedding without taking my bath that Saturday as I had forgotten to pick up my wedding suit from the tailor until that morning.

"However, we became one and have remained so these 17 years and shall remain the bone of my bone, my other rib, my confidant, friend, treasure, angel, business partner, dependable wife and mother of my three lovely children. You are God's gift to me."

MERCY AIGBE LOSES FATHER-IN-LAW

Nollywod actress, Mercy Aigbe Gentry, is presently in a sober mood after she received news of the death of her father-in-law.

The father of her husband, Lanre Gentry, Pa Johnson Adedeji Gentry, passed away on May 25, 2015. The deceased was aged 77.

Pa Gentry is survived by many children and grand children, including Mercy's husband, who is the proud owner of Laveronquie Hotel in Oregun area of Ikeja, Lagos.

From Nigeriafilms.com, we say may his gentle soul rest in perfect peace, Amen.

His burial will hold later in September 2015 in Ilesha, Osun State.

Haliru Bello emerges acting PDP BoT chairman

A former Minister of Defence, Dr. Haliru Bello, on Monday emerged the acting Chairman, Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party.

Bello, who was also a former acting national chairman of the party, replaces Chief Tony Anenih who resigned from office last week.

The decision to make Bello the acting chairman of the PDP BOT was taken at a meeting held inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

He was said to be the only nomination made at the meeting.

The meeting which started at about 9.05pm and presided over by President Goodluck Jonathan had Vice President Namadi Sambo; President of the Senate, David Mark; and his Deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, in attendance.

Other members who were in attendance at the time the meeting started included the BoT secretary, Walide Jubril; Mrs. Josephine Anenih, Dr. Haliru Bello, Prof. Tunde Adeniran, Ibrahim Mantu, Prof. Jerry Gana, and Senator Hope Uzodinma among others.

Although Anenih was sighted at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, venue of the meeting, before it started, he was not inside the hall at the time Jonathan declared it opened.

Credit: The PUNCH

TOOLZ FINALLY ENGAGED BY BOYFRIEND, TUNDE DEMUREN

On Air Personality (OAP), Tolu Oniru, better known as Toolz, has been proposed marriage to by the man she has been dating for a while now, Tunde Demuren.

The young man is the son of a former Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) Director-General, Harold Olusegun Demuren and also an executive at EME Music, which has popular singer, Banky W as an executive too.

The lovers have been on a vacation and Tunde popped up the ‘will you marry me’ question, which the hour glass-shaped Toolz excitedly replied ‘Yes’.

With this, the Beat FM big girl is now off the single market and her fans will be expecting an announcement of their wedding date.

Soldiers take over Capital Oil, load drums with fuel

Officials of the Nigerian Army on Monday took over the Ojodu Berger outlet of Capital Oil, buying petroleum products in drums, after scaring away thousands of consumers.

The armed personnel came in the guise of maintaining peace and order, but they soon abandoned their primary responsibility for fuel racket. They shoved, maltreated and sent away those who were on queue to be attended to, thereby gaining access to have their drums loaded with fuel.

As of press time, the unregistered white Isuzu truck they use for the ‘deal’ had visited the filling station for the fourth time.

The fourth truck was being loaded as of 8:50pm.

The vehicle, on each visit, left with at least 14 drums and dozens of gallons filled with fuel.

The helpless consumers, some of who slept at the filling station, suspected the soldiers were feeding the growing Lagos black market with the product.

The military officials who were fully dressed had taken over the only two pumps that dispensed the Premium Motor Spirit.

Those who protested the act were beaten and given scares on their bodies.

Meanwhile, consumers, who had spent the entire Monday at the filling station without getting the product to buy, had described the announcement by Ifeanyi Uba as a publicity stunt.

By 9pm on Monday, not more than a hundred cars left the station with fuel.

Besides the military, officials of the Nigeria Police Force and black market dealers took over the show while thousands of motorists who had crowded the place since 5am were abandoned.

Credit: The Punch

38 killed as fire guts home for elderly in China

A fire has swept through a nursing home in central Chinese province of Henan killing at least 38 people, officials have said.

The fire broke out on Monday evening in an apartment building at a privately owned home for the elderly in Pingdingshan city, the state news agency Xinhua said on Tuesday.

Two out of the six injured were in critical condition in a hospital, the work safety bureau of the Henan province said in a statement on its website.

Al Jazeera’s Adrian Brown, reporting from Beijing, said that about 44 people were rescued from the blaze.

“But this old people’s home had 168 residents, so by the middle of Tuesday morning it was fair to assume that many of them did not make it,” he added.

He also said that the “ferocious” fire likely occurred while the residents were asleep and would have had almost no chance of escape.

Search and rescue operations were continuing, Xinhua said, and the cause of the fire remained unclear.

Credit: Al Jazeera

$8.8m fraud: Lagos DPP to request Briton extradition

The Lagos State Directorate of Public Prosecutions may soon be filing a request for the extradition of a British citizen, Deepak Khilnani, to face criminal charges in Nigeria.

Khilnani, an Indian-Briton chartered accountant, was said to have, along with one  Dr. Sushil Chandra, duped his Nigerian partner, Green Fuels Limited, to the tune of $8.8m in 2008.

The DPP, last week Thursday, filed a  charge marked ID/1544c/15 before the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja against the suspects.

The charge contains  four counts bordering on conspiracy, cheating, stealing and false representation.

It was learnt that Khilnani had since last year absconded to the United Kingdom after he was granted an administrative bail by the Nigerian police.

In one of the counts, the prosecution alleged that the suspects “fraudulently tricked Green Fuels Limited to pay greater sum for machinery purchased from Gentec Limited than it would have paid for such machinery.”

They were also accused of making false statement to the Corporate Affairs Commission “knowing same to be false, with intent to defraud the shareholders and members of Green Fuels Limited.”

The offences, according to the prosecution, contravened sections 390(6), 421, 422 and 436 of the Criminal Code Law, Cap C17, Vol.2, Laws of Lagos State, 2003.

Khilnani, it was learnt, is an ex-convict in the UK.

A conviction certificate dated November 13, 1998, issued by the  British Crown Court at Blackfriars indicated that Khilnani was jailed for 18 months after being convicted for “trading with intent to defraud creditors, false accounting and making false statement to auditors.”

The UK court document marked T19970811 and signed by J. Jordan stated that Khilnani was disqualified for six years under Section 2, Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986.

He was also ordered by the court to pay the prosecution cost of  £15,000.

Credit: The Punch

You can’t choose Ministers for me, Buhari tells Gov

An early minute brow between President-Elect, General Muhammadu Buhari and governors elected on the platform on the All Progressives Congress may be in the offing as Buhari has asked the governors to steer clear of his ministerial list.

Vanguard gathered that Buhari is contemplating a system operated in the second republic during the era of National Party of Nigeria, NPN, where appointment of ministers was done by the national secretariat of the party and not by the governors.

A source at the National Headquarters of the APC Monday said that Buhari had directed the leadership of the party to pass the message of non interference to the governors.

Credit: Vanguard

Where Jonathan and I disagreed —Amaechi

Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State explained yesterday that the refusal of President Goodluck Jonathan to repay over N105 billion spent by the state government on the repairs of federal roads in the state was the major cause of their disagreement.

Ameachi spoke in Abuja after the presentation of a documentary titled:  Dynamic of Change, which chronicled the achievements of his administration in the last eight years.
He said that even with three days to the expiration of the life of the present regime, the money was yet to be refunded.

He also hinted that his quarrel with President Jonathan escalated following the unnecessary interference of the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, in the affairs of Rivers State.

According to him, his resistance to the unsolicited actions of Mrs. Jonathan whom he accused of unleashing Police, military and other security agencies on the state to achieve her aim, fueled their disagreement.

Amaechi expressed gratitude to God for seeing him through his tenure as the governor of the state despite many efforts to remove him from office.

On his achievements in the state, the governor stated that the projects were executed in an attempt to bequeath people-oriented legacies to the people of the state, adding that he engaged 13, 200 of the 91,000 teachers required to boost education in state.

He, however, hinted that the state’s financial earnings from oil proceeds which used to be N20 billion had reduced to N6 billion due to the dwindling oil prices.

The occasion attracted the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ghali Umar Na’Abba, his former deputy, Chibudom Nwuche, Senator Magnus Abe and other officials of Rivers State Government.