Boko Haram: Seven explosions rock Borno hours after Jonathan’s visit

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Terrorists were back in ‘business’ in Maiduguri yesterday just five hours after President Goodluck Jonathan rounded off his two-day visit to  Borno and Yobe states to try to galvanize support for his battle against Islamist insurgents.

  Seven loud explosions shook the city at about 6pm.

The explosions happened within minutes of each other, suggesting the kind of co-ordinated strike that used to be the hallmark of the Islamist sect, Boko Haram, before a military campaign weakened them.

There was no immediate report of any casualty.

NNPC Manager Arraigned Over N285.2 Million Fraud

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A former depot supervisor of Total Nigeria Plc, Emmanuel Abulude, was Friday arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, before an Ikeja high court for allegedly stealing petroleum products worth N285.2 million.

The former oil company official was charged  on a one-count charge of stealing by fraudulent conversion before Justice Lateefa Okunnu with his company, Emmanbyink Ventures Limited.

Abulude was alleged to have obtained the sum of N285.2 million representing the proceeds of 92 trucks of petroleum products  between September 2011 and January 2012 .

Improvement As NECO Releases Nov/Dec Results. Check out those who Top Exams Malpractice List

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The National Examination Council (NECO) on Wednesday released the November/December 2012 Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) with Kano and Lagos states respectively topping the list of states with high incidence of exams malpractice

Giving a breakdown, Registrar of the council, Professor Promise Okpala told newsmen in Minna that 21, 274 cases of exams malpractice was recorded across the country with Kano having the highest incidences of malpractice with 649 candidates, representing 13.96 percent out of 4,646 while Lagos state came second with 238 cases out of 6, 508 candidates – this was in sharp contrast with the FCT which had the lowest incidence with only five cases out of 1,322 candidates that sat for the exams.

Blame IBB for imbalance in award of oil bocks

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Former Petroleum Resources Minister, Prof. Tam David-West, yesterday blamed former military president, Gen. Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (rtd) for the lopsidedness in the award of oil blocks in favour of Northerners.

David-West, who spoke to The Nation in Ibadan on the heels of the revelations that 83 per cent of oil blocks are owned by Northerners, described the situation as “unacceptable and politically explosive.”

He recalled that as minister under Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, no oil block was awarded without following due process. He also emphasised that none of the highlighted oil blocks was awarded during Buhari’s tenure.

The professor of Virology said strict rules were set aside during Babangida’s regime in awarding the blocks, adding that his successor in office, Prof. Jubril Aminu, even awarded an oil bloc without reference to Babangida who was the Head of State then.

Where Are The Convicted Drug Dealers

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The sundry abuses of our country’s criminal justice system need to be confronted by all stakeholders. Unfortunately, governments at the federal and state levels are the chief culprits because of their lackadaisical attitudes to the responsibilities of the state in the process. Matters are not helped by some officials in the criminal justice system who collude with criminals to ridicule the system. These include investigators, prosecutors and custodians of accused persons and convicts.

Recently, rights activist, Femi Falana, SAN, raised an incredulous alarm that 197 persons convicted for drug trafficking offences, are not serving their prison terms. But, as unbelievable as the report seemed, the allegation was substantiated by a committee set up by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, headed by Justice Gilbert Obayan, in 2006. According to the committee, ‘out of 143 drug convicts for the year 2006, 96 of them were never brought to prison. Similarly, another 101 drug convicts for the year 2005 were never brought to the prison, bringing the total convict evading jail to 197 within this period’.

17-year-old raped to death in U.S. prison

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As more U.S. prisons become privatized and for profit, the U.S. prison population keeps increasing and now stands among the highest in the world. Each week "Just Detention International" or JDI receives some 30 letters from prisoners who say they have been sexually assaulted in prisons across the United States. Over a quarter of those letters come from one state: Texas.

JDI has three core objectives for its work: To ensure government accountability for prisoner rape, to transform ill-informed public attitudes about sexual violence in detention and to promote access to resources for those who have survived this form of abuse.

Five of the 10 prisons with the highest rates of sexual abuse in the country are in Texas. That includes the first two, Estelle Unit and Clements Unit where Rodney Hulin, 17, was raped until he hanged himself.

‘Nigerian Police has no clue on Maina’s whereabouts’

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The Nigeria Police has no clue yet on the whereabouts of the absconded Chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team PRTT, Dr Abdulrasheed Maina, Saturday Mirror has learnt. Saturday Mirror also learnt that the Force may have not contacted the Interpol as there are feelers that Mr Maina has yet to flee the country.

A security source who said his colleague was a member of the Task Team but who pleaded anonymity however said since Mr Maina was a close friend of the Police and the Department of State Service, it is difficult to believe that the police do not know his whereabouts.

WORRISONE: 10-year-old girl charged with murder of 3-month-old baby

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A 10-year-old girl from Fairfield Maine, was charged with manslaughter for the death of a 3-month-old baby named Brooklyn Foss-Greenaway.

Nicole Greenaway asked her co worker Amanda Huard of 330 Center Road in Fairfield to babysit her three-month-old daughter, Brooklyn, for the night. Her co-worker gladly agreed. The two women work at Elmwood Primary Care in Waterville. But things took a tragic turn when Huard allowed her 10-year-old daughter to be in charge of baby Brooklyn.

Ashley Tenney, 20, who lives in the family’s basement, told what she saw that tragic night.

Teacher Fired For Bringing Her Own Blood To School And Allowing Students To Taste It!

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A Norwegian kindergarten teacher was fired this week after she brought a vial of her own blood to class and allowed children to touch and taste it, the head teacher of the kindergarten said on Friday. The teacher in Sola, on Norway’s western coast, brought in a blood sample that was taken earlier in the day and poured it on a plate for the children, aged between 3 and 6, to see.  “The children asked if they could touch it and she allowed them,” Inger Lise Soemme Andersen told Reuters. “Then they asked ‘how do we get it off?’ so she put her finger in her mouth and the children followed suit. “The parents are mortified, shaken and shocked.” Soemme Andersen added that the teacher, a temporary employee, had been tested for AIDS and Hepatitis B following the incident. Results of the tests are not yet in, but authorities consider the risk of transmitting any infection very low.

Conclave 2013: Sex abuse victims’ network names Dirty Dozen would-be popes

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Who will be next Pope?—Cardinals likely to succeed Pope
Benedict XVI. Top row from left: Argentine Archbishop
Jorge Mario Bergoglio; Mexican Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera; Brazilian Joao Braz de Aviz;
Philippines’ Luis Antonio Tagle; Ghanaian Peter Turkson.
Bottom row from left: Italian Angelo Scola; Canadian Marc Ouellet; Nigerian Francis Arinze; Nigerian John Onaiyekan, and USA’s Timothy Dolan. AFP PHOTO.

By Sam Eyoboka with Agency reports

AS Catholic cardinals begin the process to elect a new Pope who will succeed Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, a sex abuse victims’ network has named a “Dirty Dozen” of cardinals who are contenders for the role of next pope.

The list, compiled by Survivors’ Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) and based on each individual’s actions and statements re-child abuse and a Church cover-up in the church, includes some frontrunners for the position.

Sign agreement on no more killings, I will withdraw JTF, Jonathan to Borno elders

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President Goodluck Jonathan (l) with Gov Kashim
Shettima of Borno State during a meeting between the
President and the State Executive Council in Maiduguri on Friday

PRESIDENT Goodluck  Jonathan yesterday in Maiduguri, accused Borno State Elders of playing to the gallary over the activities of Boko Haram Islamic sect insurgency in the state, describing the situation as unfortunate.

Jonathan spoke during an interactive session with Borno State stakeholders at the Multi-Purpose Hall, Government House Maiduguri, in continuation of his two- day working visit to Borno and Yobe States, the epicentres of Boko Haram.

Ibadan To Witness Weird Rainfall

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The South-West Zonal Coordinator of the agency, Mr Iyiola Akande,said this in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Thursday in Ibadan. He said the prediction by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) was made available to NEMA to help it prepare for disaster mitigation.  Akande said the rainfall pattern in most parts of the country was likely to be similar to that of 2012, although Saki’s rainfall could be about 283mm above that of last year.

83% Oil Blocs To Northerners Unsettles Niger Delta, Group

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A group in the Niger Delta, the Niger Delta Indigenous Movement for Radical Change (NDIMRC) on Friday threatened a total show down with the Federal Government over claims that northerners owns 83 percent of oil blocs  in the country.

The group threatened that it will resume hostilities in the Niger Delta if President Goodluck Jonathan and the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Allison Madueke, fail to revoke and re-allocate the controversial oil blocs.

Heinz CEO To Get $56 Million Golden Parachute If Fired

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Manufacturers of a wide array of condiments including the world famous ketchup Heinz was acquired by Warren Buffet’s Bershire Hathaway and 3G Capital for $23.3 billion last month. 3G Capital is notorious for making major budget cuts, and so William Johnson, Chairman, President and CEO of Heinz may be one of the cuts.

Oh, to be wise like Johnson! He has a line of financial plans that entitle him to a whopping total of $212.7 million, should he be fired. In addition to his golden parachute worth $56 million, Johnson would also walk away from the company with vested stock and deferred compensation benefits.

Puzzle over Fed. Govt N3bn grant to Nollywood

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By Benjamin Njoku

Jubilation has continued to greet the decision of the federal government to create  a N3bn grant for the entertainment industry sub-sector, despite expression of fear by some stakeholders over the accessibility of the grant.

Last Saturday,  President Goodluck Jonathan announced a N3 bn grant to support the nation’s motion picture  industry. He also launched a programme known as “Project Nollywood,”  which he said will help  to support the key components of the industry’s value chain through a dedicated grant.

How Nigerian Police Tortured, Killed My Son – Mother

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Mrs Florence Fasere, mother of the 28-year-old, 400-level student of Ekiti State University, EKSU, Seyi Fasere, that was allegedly mistaken for an armed robber last week at Oye Ekiti, yesterday, narrated the circumstances that led to the untimely death of her son.

According to her, Seyi who was at home in Ilupeju Ekiti for few days, was returning to school in Ado-Ekiti to take one of his papers after collecting N100,000 school fee on the fateful day.

Mrs Fasere further disclosed that the deceased later proceeded to Oye Ekiti, a neighbouring town to take a cab back to his base when the vehicle ran into a robbery scene.

R.I.P:Graduate Dies On Her Way To NYSC Orientation Camp

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Bose Adebayo Died On Her Way To NYSC Orientation Camp.

This Young Lady Who just Received her NYSC Call- Up Letter Died in a Fatal Road Accident on Wed 6th of March 2013 on her way to NYSC orientation camp in Imo state.

Bose we were told, attended OLCOM High school in Akure, Ondo state and graduated from University of Ado Ekiti(UNAD), Microbiology Department.

..May Bose’s soul rest in peace!

How widows, children, suffer hardship in the name of tradition

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By Ebun  Sessou  & Florence Amagiya

Inspite of the touch of civilization in the lives of many villagers, tradition and customs still remain intact.  While some remain passionate about it, some show a lot of disregard to it just as others especially the human rights activists consider some aspects of it as infringement on the rights of individuals.  But what is the gain of any tradition or custom which is inimical to the life of individual.

For families who lost their loved ones, life could be miserable. They are exposed to a world of pain, anguish, frustration and untold hardship everyday of their lives.

I Won’t Tolerate Killings Of Security Agents Again - President Jonathan

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President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday warned that his administration would no longer tolerate a situation where security operatives are killed at will in any part of the country.

 He also vowed not to withdraw soldiers attached to the Joint Task Force deployed in troubled parts of the country until normalcy returns to the affected areas.

 

Jonathan spoke at a town hall meeting  in Maiduguri as he concluded his working visit to Borno State which has remained in the centre of activities of members of the fundamental Islamic sect, Boko Haram, that have been responsible for bombing campaigns in the northern part of the country.

Nigerian Police Nab Alleged Mushin Gang Leader

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A suspected Mushin robbery gang leader, Shakiru Sanni, 31, a.k.a. Osama bin Laden,  has been arrested by the operatives at the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad, FSARS, at Adeniji Adele Road, Lagos Island, southwest Nigeria.

According to the police, Sanni, who has been arraigned in court and remanded in prison custody,  has been on the run since 2009 after he allegedly led others now in prison custody to rob and kill four persons.

The suspect was arraigned before an Igbosere magistrate’s court on a 6-count charge of felony to wit, armed robbery, murder, terrorising victims and unlawful possession of firearms.