Sunday, September 30, 2012

Kajola Terrace Apartments for completion in 18 months



Kajola Investment Plc and Animasaun Group are set to deliver the Kajola Terrace Apartments, which comprises 12 units of four-bedroom flats in Ikeja, GRA in the next 18 months.

The project is a joint venture between Kajola Investment which provided the land and the Animasaun Group brings its expertise into play in the area of funds mobilisation and construction.

The Chairman, Kajola Investment Plc, Prof. Wale Omole, said during the turning of the sod of the luxury terrace apartments on Tuesday in Lagos that the partners have equal stakes in the project.

According to him, the Kajola Terrace Apartments come with unique features that stand each of the units out.

He said each unit would have four bedrooms and a servant quarter, adding that “the target of the project is top executives and high profile individuals with luxury taste, as well as expatriates and corporate institutions.”

“In designing the estate, careful attention has been given to parking facilities, setbacks, airspaces, height regulations, space control, safety regulations, landscaping, recreation area and waste management system, among others,” Omole said.

He described the apartments as a test case, following which the company would move into the low income housing segment in some parts of Lagos, and later, Abuja.

On his part, the Managing Director, Animasaun Group, Dr. Dapo Animasaun, said the indigenous firm of developers decided to go into the partnership because of its belief in the viability of the project.

According to him, the serene location of the project will make it an easy attraction for upwardly mobile executives, who desire good life and value good taste and choice.

He was, however, silent on the amount to be expended on the project and the price at which each unit would be sold.

Animasaun said his firm would complete the project within 15 months, following which Kajola Investment would begin the sale of the own units.

He said his company saw it as “a delightful joint venture project” because of the calibre of people behind Kajola Investment.

“These are people who have seen it all and do not feel threatened by our ideas. On our part, we see this partnership as an opportunity to align our vibrant ideas with the experience of the promoters of Kajola Investment,” he said.

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An estate in Abuja

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Woman killed for driving into border patrol agent



Authorities are investigating the fatal shooting of a 32-year-old woman in the suburban San Diego area after she allegedly hit a Border Patrol agent with her car, ABC News reports.

Investigators said Valeria Alvarado ran down the agent with her car as border patrol agents were in a Chula Vista neighborhood to serve a felony warrant on Friday.

The agent said he had no choice but to defend himself and fired at Alvarado get her to stop the car.

Alvarado was hit by five bullets.

According to eye witnesses, the shooting left the mother of five with bullet holes in her face, arms, and chest.

“She literally ran our agent down, the agent actually was impacted, was hit by the vehicle and carried several hundred yards on the hood before fearing for his life did discharge his weapon to get the vehicle to stop,” said Border Patrol Deputy Chief Rodney Scott.

Alvarado’s husband, Gilbert Alvarado said he wants the shooting investigated.

“I want justice. Yes. Whoever shot my wife, that guy whoever that is, that guy needs to get shot,” he said.

Alvarado’s family called the killing senseless.

“Where’s the evidence that my wife threatened a trained officer? You know? He’s a trained officer to use lethal force, shoot my wife like that and just not even call an ambulance?” said Gilbert Alvarado.

The FBI and Chula Vista Police are investigating the shooting. Officials have not released the name of the agent involved in the incident.

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Blatter accuses S’Africa of poor World Cup preparation



FIFA President, Sepp Blatter

FIFA President, Sepp Blatter
| credits: File copy

Sepp Blatter has accused South Africa of being too busy dancing to properly organise the 2010 World Cup.

The Fifa supremo was speaking about the past failings of countries who have held the prestigious tournament, which is next being hosted in Brazil in 2014.

Blatter has revealed that the world footballing governing body had to push South Africa to persuade them to get to work on the World Cup.

“When we came to Africa, the Africans – they got the World Cup in May 2004 – they were dancing during one year,” he told reporters. “They were just dancing because they got the World Cup.

“Then we had to call them and say, ‘Please, start to work!’ and we had to push a little bit to start to work.”

Eight years earlier, South Korea and Japan had co-hosted the 2002 iteration of the tournament and, although he praised their enthusiasm, Blatter has admitted his disappointment at the vast array of unused stadiums in the East Asian nations.

He added: “In South Korea and Japan they were so eager to organise the World Cup that they could have done two!

“Because they were ready with so many stadiums in Korea and the same number in Japan, in my opinion it was overdone.

“And now, in one of the countries at least, they have some stadiums which are white elephants – this is not the aim of the World Cup.”

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Cristiano Ronaldo
Yakubu Aiyegbeni

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Four-year-old girl kidnapped in Ebonyi



A four-year-old girl, Faith Okorie, was on Saturday kidnapped by gunmen in Okposi, Ohaozara Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.

An eyewitness, who wished to be identified as Ijeoma, said, “It was like lightening; the young men numbering about five drove into the compound of the girls’ father, Mr. Chukwuka Okorie, with sophisticated guns.

“Before anybody could ask what the problem was, the criminals collected the phones of all members of the family at gunpoint. After collecting the phones, they snatched Faith and drove away with her.”

Ijeoma said the incident was reported at the Police Divisional Headquarters, Obiozara.

A family member, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the kidnappers had contacted the family.

 “The kidnappers have established contacts with the family and they are demanding N5m ransom before releasing the girl,” he said.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Sylvester Igbo, said he had yet to be fully briefed by the DPO of Ohaozara.

He, however, said the criminals would be apprehended and brought to book very soon.

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Fire
Scene of the plane crash
Mgbemeje (3rd from left) with others during the campaign

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Judiciary since Independence




Nigeria's first female Chief Justice, Mariam Aloma Mukhtar
| credits: pmnewsnigeria.com
ADE ADESOMOJU, in this piece, writes  on  the prominent features of the nation’s judiciary since it became independent of English Privy Council in 1963.
Nigeria attains its 52nd year of independence today, but the independence of its judiciary only coincides with the period the nation became a republic in 1963.  The Nigerian judiciary had no independence until 1963 when the country finally proclaimed itself a republic. Prior to 1963, decisions from the Federal Supreme Court of Nigeria were not final as final appeals still had to be laid before the jurisdiction of the Privy Council of the House of Lords in England. That meant that final decisions of Nigerian courts were still subject to judicial views handed down from England- through the Privy Council. A case that changed that was the Akintola v. Adegbenro case in which the Privy Council gave a decision at variance with that which the Nigerian Federal Supreme Court gave. After that decision, Nigeria became a Republic and the independence of the Nigeria judiciary from Britain’s Privy Council was effected.

 The personnel of the Nigerian judiciary, including the Chief Justices and Judges, were reflective of the colonial past until the appointment of  the late Justice Adetokunbo Ademola as the nation’s first indigenous Chief Justice. That gradually paved way for the weeding out of foreign influences from the personnel of the Nigerian judiciary until what is today a judiciary peopled by largely Nigerians.
Also, prior to becoming a Republic, decisions and cases decided in England were largely binding on Nigerian courts by virtue of the influence of the Privy Council on the Nigerian judicial heirachy system. However, since 1963 and over the years, the Nigerian courts are no longer bound by decisions made in English courts or any foreign court for that matter. At best, decisions made in English or other foreign courts can only be cited in Nigerian courts for persuasive effect. They are not binding on Nigerian courts.
In the areas of jurisprudence and the espousal of legal principles, Nigerian courts have taken advantage of opportunities offered by some Nigerian cases to propound legal theories to suit our localised dynamics. For instance, the issue of ‘local standi’ now have Nigerian cases, such as Fawehinmi v. Akilu, Abraham Adesanya v. President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Fawehinmi v. President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,  etc; decided on the applicability of the doctrine in Nigeria; as against the former practice of relying on British cases and foreign jurists’ opinion on such matters.  Also, on the issue of judicial integrity and bias, the practice before independence was to rely on the views of English jurists, especially Lord Denning’s view in such cases like that of Metropolitan Properties Co. ltd v. Lannon (1963) 3 All ER 304 at 310. However, today, Nigerian jurisprudence has evolved and cases such as Adigun v. A.G. Oyo State (1987) 1 NWLR (Pt.53) 678 at 719 – 720, L.P.D.C v Fawehinmi (1985) 2 NWLR (pt.7) 300 at 346-347, have had Nigerian judges propounding brilliant theories on the subject of judicial bias and integrity such that recourse to English jurisprudence on the subject is now often dispensed with.
Generally, the question of the competence and integrity of judges was hardly in doubt as at the time of independence but it appears that as the system declined, the judiciary also commenced its downward slope into corruption.

Some factors have been argued to have contributed to the decline in both competence and integrity on the Nigerian bench since independence. One of such is the process of appointment of judicial officers. At independence, merit was considered more important than place of origin. It was such that renowned academics such as Dr. Taslim Elias, who was Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Lagos, got appointed to the Supreme Court and even went to the World Court as Nigeria’s representative on the International Court of Justice’ Bench. Today, appointments in the judiciary has been afflicted by the turn-by-turn syndrome of a decaying bureaucracy.

The country is being administered as a fragment of ethnic nationalities so its appointments to the judicial arm of government have witnessed an unhealthy rise of the primordial sentimental considerations which have caused a steady decline in the quality of judgments and the society is the worse for it.
Over the years, military rule also contributed to the corruption of the judiciary. The military decrees many times attempted to abrogate and oust the jurisdiction of the courts. The military largely turned the courts to toothless bull-dogs and even where judgments were handed down against arbitrary government actions, they were hardly obeyed thus contributing to the peoples’ apathy towards the capacity of courts to do effectual justice.
Nigeria’s judiciary has rendered capacity-building assistance to fellow African countries such as Liberia, Gambia, Sierra-Leone etc. For instance, the Late Justice Akinola Aguda was once the Chief Justice of The Gambia. Similarly, the incumbent CJN, Justice Aloma Mukthar, would have been the Chief Judge of another African country, but for the fact that she declined and otherwise preferred to continue to render her services to the Nigerian judiciary.

Petrova wins Pan Pacific




Russia’s Nadia Petrova beat defending champion Agnieska Radwanska 6-0, 1-6, 6-3 on Saturday to be successful on Pan Pacific Open.

Radwanska double faulted twice from the eighth game from the last set when Petrova broke her to go ahead 5-3 before winning the match in the following live game with a smash to the corner.

Petrova won her 12th title and for the 1st time in her career beat three best-10 gamers in the full week: No. 7 Sara Errani, No. 9 Samantha Stosur and No. 3  Radwanska.

The 17th-seeded Russian acquired a sore back again at the start of the tournament but got stronger & stronger with each win.

‘’Being straightforward with you, I don’t know exactly where I found the power and the willpower to combat in the third set,’’ Petrova claimed. ‘’This could be the main tournament I’ve previously won. That is an excellent accomplishment.’’

Radwanska was bidding to turn out to be the initial player right here to win back-to-back titles given that Lindsay Davenport in 2003-04.

Petrova acquired away to an excellent commence, breaking Radwanska in the initial game of the match following being down 30-love. She would break her opponent two a lot more occasions from the 1st arranged and appeared collection for a simple win.

But Radwanska bounced again in the second collection, successful the initial 5 video game titles though breaking Petrova twice.

The two gamers traded video games from the ultimate collection just before Radwanska’s serving difficulties inside eighth game led on the only break of the set.

‘’I believe I was just trying to do too much,’’ Radwanska claimed. ‘’For confident, I shouldn’t try this at that point within the match but there may be very little I can do about it now. ‘’

It was Petrova’s 2nd title of the season. She won a title earlier this 12 months at ‘s-Hertogenbosch in Netherlands.

Greek government in ‘basic agreement’ on cuts



Greek finance minister Yannis Stournaras says the three parties in the country’s governing coalition have reached a “basic agreement” on the austerity package for 2013-14, British Broadcasting Corporation reported.

The measures are likely to be presented to Greece’s international lenders on Monday before going before parliament.

The cuts are necessary if Greece is to continue receiving bailout funds.

Earlier, Greece announced plans to sell most of its 34 per cent stake in the gaming monopoly Opap.

Stournaras said there were “very few details left to work out” on the austerity package.

The deal comes the day after 50,000 anti-austerity protesters took to the streets of Athens.

The spending cuts are reported to be worth at least ¤11.5bn ($14.8bn; £9.1bn) and are a condition for Greece to receive the next ¤31bn instalment of its international loans.

 

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Army foils Independence Day attacks



The Nigerian Army on Sunday said it foiled a plan by the Boko Haram sect to carry out massive suicide bomb attacks on Zaria, Kaduna and Suleja.

The army spoke in reaction to the killing of two suspected Boko Haram operatives in Gaskiya Layout of Tukur-Tukur, Zaria on Sunday morning by a joint team of State Security Service agents and soldiers.

The National Emergency Management Agency said two suspected extremists were killed while the injured were rushed to hospital.

Several people, including a woman, were arrested during the operation and the troops seized and destroyed a building which was heavily loaded with explosives, online medium, Saharareporters reports.

A statement signed by the Army Public Relations Officer, Cap. Ibrahim Abdullahi, said the gunfight took place in the early hours of Sunday when the militants engaged the joint team in a fierce gun battle in Gaskiya Layout.

Abdullahi said the engagement followed a tip-off that Boko Haram was planning a major suicide mission in Zaria, Kaduna and Suleija to coincide with Monday’s Independence Day celebrations.

A joint operation was then launched on a residential building in Gaskiya Layout to flush out the extremists.

The statement did not say whether any innocent people were killed, or whether the militants were the only residents of the building.

Abdullahi said the IEDs were intended for the various operations the sect was to carry out, and to inflict maximum casualty on army troops.

“As a result, a controlled detonation was carried out by Army Engineers so as to save other law abiding residents of the area and to stop further planning and execution of the nefarious, destructive, criminal and deadly activities of the sect,” the statement said.  

Investigations will determine the extent of the involvement of the individuals who were arrested during the operation.

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UK builder unveils management services company



Leading United Kingdom builder, Barratt, has announced that it is to launch an in-house management services company for London developments.
Called Barratt Residential Asset Management, the firm said it aims to ensure Barratt’s customer service is extended through the life of the company’s developments.
Barratt London is the first developer outside the retirement sector to launch an in-house management company and this builds on the company’s commitment to customer service which already includes Barratt’s unique five year warranty, according to propertywire.com.
The objective will be to give the company a competitive edge in large leasehold developments where the management of common areas and service charges can become an issue. It is structured not to be profitable in its own right.

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Energy fuels euro inflation



Euro zone inflation accelerated in September as energy costs soared but core prices stayed low, likely leaving the European Central Bank on track to cut interest rates soon, Reuters reported.

Consumer prices in the 17 countries sharing the euro rose 2.7 per cent year-on-year, the European Union’s statistics office Eurostat said on Friday in a first estimate that marked a rise from 2.6 per cent in August.

Markets had expected inflation to ease to 2.5 per cent.

Energy prices jumped 9.2 per cent after a 8.9 per cent rise the previous month.

Core inflation, excluding both energy and unprocessed foods, fell to its lowest level in a year of 1.7 per cent in August, the latest month for which the data has been published.

Together with recent data indicating that the euro zone economy entered a recession in the third quarter, Friday’s inflation reading kept intact expectations that the ECB will not wait long before delivering a growth-boosting rate cut.

“It seems highly likely that the ECB will take interest rates down from 0.75 per cent to 0.50 per cent in the fourth quarter,” said Howard Archer, economist at IHS Global Insight.

“While the ECB could act as soon as its October meeting next Thursday, we lean towards the view that they will probably hold off to November.”

Just 14 of 73 economists polled by Reuters this week expect the ECB to cut rates when it meets next Thursday but a majority expect the bank to have lopped off 25 basis points by the end of the year.

The ECB kept its main interest rate unchanged at a record low of 0.75 per cent at its meeting earlier this month, taking another policy-easing route by agreeing to launch a new and potentially unlimited bond-buying programme.

More Stories in International Business

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

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Judiciary since Independence



Nigeria's first female Chief Justice, Mariam Aloma Mukhtar

Nigeria's first female Chief Justice, Mariam Aloma Mukhtar
| credits: pmnewsnigeria.com

ADE ADESOMOJU, in this piece, writes  on  the prominent features of the nation’s judiciary since it became independent of English Privy Council in 1963.

Nigeria attains its 52nd year of independence today, but the independence of its judiciary only coincides with the period the nation became a republic in 1963.  The Nigerian judiciary had no independence until 1963 when the country finally proclaimed itself a republic. Prior to 1963, decisions from the Federal Supreme Court of Nigeria were not final as final appeals still had to be laid before the jurisdiction of the Privy Council of the House of Lords in England. That meant that final decisions of Nigerian courts were still subject to judicial views handed down from England- through the Privy Council. A case that changed that was the Akintola v. Adegbenro case in which the Privy Council gave a decision at variance with that which the Nigerian Federal Supreme Court gave. After that decision, Nigeria became a Republic and the independence of the Nigeria judiciary from Britain’s Privy Council was effected.

 The personnel of the Nigerian judiciary, including the Chief Justices and Judges, were reflective of the colonial past until the appointment of  the late Justice Adetokunbo Ademola as the nation’s first indigenous Chief Justice. That gradually paved way for the weeding out of foreign influences from the personnel of the Nigerian judiciary until what is today a judiciary peopled by largely Nigerians.

Also, prior to becoming a Republic, decisions and cases decided in England were largely binding on Nigerian courts by virtue of the influence of the Privy Council on the Nigerian judicial heirachy system. However, since 1963 and over the years, the Nigerian courts are no longer bound by decisions made in English courts or any foreign court for that matter. At best, decisions made in English or other foreign courts can only be cited in Nigerian courts for persuasive effect. They are not binding on Nigerian courts.

In the areas of jurisprudence and the espousal of legal principles, Nigerian courts have taken advantage of opportunities offered by some Nigerian cases to propound legal theories to suit our localised dynamics. For instance, the issue of ‘local standi’ now have Nigerian cases, such as Fawehinmi v. Akilu, Abraham Adesanya v. President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Fawehinmi v. President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,  etc; decided on the applicability of the doctrine in Nigeria; as against the former practice of relying on British cases and foreign jurists’ opinion on such matters.  Also, on the issue of judicial integrity and bias, the practice before independence was to rely on the views of English jurists, especially Lord Denning’s view in such cases like that of Metropolitan Properties Co. ltd v. Lannon (1963) 3 All ER 304 at 310. However, today, Nigerian jurisprudence has evolved and cases such as Adigun v. A.G. Oyo State (1987) 1 NWLR (Pt.53) 678 at 719 – 720, L.P.D.C v Fawehinmi (1985) 2 NWLR (pt.7) 300 at 346-347, have had Nigerian judges propounding brilliant theories on the subject of judicial bias and integrity such that recourse to English jurisprudence on the subject is now often dispensed with.

Generally, the question of the competence and integrity of judges was hardly in doubt as at the time of independence but it appears that as the system declined, the judiciary also commenced its downward slope into corruption.

Some factors have been argued to have contributed to the decline in both competence and integrity on the Nigerian bench since independence. One of such is the process of appointment of judicial officers. At independence, merit was considered more important than place of origin. It was such that renowned academics such as Dr. Taslim Elias, who was Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Lagos, got appointed to the Supreme Court and even went to the World Court as Nigeria’s representative on the International Court of Justice’ Bench. Today, appointments in the judiciary has been afflicted by the turn-by-turn syndrome of a decaying bureaucracy.

The country is being administered as a fragment of ethnic nationalities so its appointments to the judicial arm of government have witnessed an unhealthy rise of the primordial sentimental considerations which have caused a steady decline in the quality of judgments and the society is the worse for it.

Over the years, military rule also contributed to the corruption of the judiciary. The military decrees many times attempted to abrogate and oust the jurisdiction of the courts. The military largely turned the courts to toothless bull-dogs and even where judgments were handed down against arbitrary government actions, they were hardly obeyed thus contributing to the peoples’ apathy towards the capacity of courts to do effectual justice.

Nigeria’s judiciary has rendered capacity-building assistance to fellow African countries such as Liberia, Gambia, Sierra-Leone etc. For instance, the Late Justice Akinola Aguda was once the Chief Justice of The Gambia. Similarly, the incumbent CJN, Justice Aloma Mukthar, would have been the Chief Judge of another African country, but for the fact that she declined and otherwise preferred to continue to render her services to the Nigerian judiciary.

 

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Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Ayotunde Philips.
Femi-Falana_-2-jpg

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Jonathan to address Nigerians on Independence Day



Nigeria @ 52: President Goodluck Jonathan tis expected to make a national broadcast on Monday, October 1 at 7a.m, as part of Nigeria’s 52nd Independence Day celebration.

There will also be a ceremonial Change of Guards by the Nigerian Army at 9.30a.m at the State House.

On Sunday, Jonathan attended an interdenominational service in Abuja, where he declared that God would see Nigeria through its current challenges.

More details later.

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EFCC advises travellers not to exceed $10000 forex limit



Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Sunday advised persons travelling out of Nigeria not to exceed the statutory $10,000 foreign exchange limit.

EFCC Secretary, Mr. Emmanuel Akomaye, who gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja, said any traveller carrying any amount above the limit should be prepared to declare it to Customs.

Akomaye blamed Nigeria’s fraud, terrorism, money laundering and drug vulnerability on its cash-based economy and commended the National Assemby for showing commitment to strengthening Nigeria’s anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism laws.

The commission on Thursday arrested a 24 year-old Nigerian, Abubakar Tijani Sheriff, for allegedly attempting to travel out with the sum of $7 million (N1,120,000 billion).

He was arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos as he was trying to travel to Dubai aboard a United Arab Emirates flight.

After his arrest, he said that he had a total sum of $4.5million.

But when he was thouroughly searched, he was found to have $7,049,444 on him.

He later confessed that he was a courier for 20 individuals who hired him to take the money for them to Dubai.

Authorities said they were working on the theory that he was a money laundering courier.

He has reportedly named 20 individuals who sent him on the errand.

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US greets Nigeria at 52



United States has sent a message of congratulations to Nigeria on its 52nd Independence anniversary.

The message was delivered by US Secretary of State, Hillay Clinton, and made available to PUNCH in a statement issued by the Department of State.

Nigeria marks its 52nd anniversary on Monday.

The message reads,

“I am delighted to send best wishes to the people of Nigeria as you celebrate your Independence Day this October 1.

“The strong ties between Nigeria and the United States are grounded in our shared values and mutual interest in fostering good governance, increasing economic growth, and promoting regional stability. We value this partnership and remain dedicated to working together to meet the challenges of the future.

“On the 52nd anniversary of your independence, I wish all Nigerians a peaceful and prosperous year.

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Nine-year-old boy killed, three others injured as terrorists attack church in Kenya



A nine-year-old boy was killed and three other children wounded when a hand grenade was thrown into a Sunday school session in a church in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, police and medical staff said.

Kenya has suffered a series of grenade attacks since it sent troops across the border into Somalia last October in pursuit of Islamist al Shabaab militants who it blamed for kidnapping its security personnel and Western tourists.

The attack on the church came days after Kenyan troops launched a surprise offensive on the southern Somali port of Kismayu, the last stronghold of the al Shabaab, forcing the rebels to flee, Reuters reports.

Police said attackers threw the grenade into the Sunday school service in St. Polycarp’s church on Nairobi’s Juja Road.

The grenade exploded, spraying the children with shrapnel and fatally injuring the boy.

“We suspect this blast might have been carried out by sympathisers of al Shabaab,” said deputy police spokesman Charles Owino.

“These are the kicks of a dying horse since, of late, Kenyan police have arrested several suspects in connection with grenades,” he added.

Masked assailants launched simultaneous gun and grenade raids on two churches in the northern town of Garissa in July, killing at least 17 people.

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