POPE MAKES 1ST PUBLIC APPEARANCE SINCE BOMBSHELL

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VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI is making his first public appearance since his bombshell announcement of his resignation, presiding over his weekly general audience and Ash Wednesday services.  Thousands of people are expected to fill the Vatican audience hall on Wednesday morning for the audience, which will be his second to last public audience before stepping down Feb. 28.

‘Jonathan has today to sign 2013 budget’ — Femi Falana

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Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, has said  President  Goodluck Jonathan has only today (Wednesday) to assent the 2013 Appropriation Bill sent to him by the National Assemby on January 14.

The lawyer said in a statement on Tuesday that  signing the budget   after today would amount to the President violating Section 58(4) of the Constitution, which makes it mandatory for him to assent to it within 30 days of receiving it.

He said, “The only option available to the President if he  fails to sign the budget today is for him to request the Supreme Court to determine the extent of the powers of the National Assembly to rewrite the budget”.

Court Orders Taxi Driver To Pay Housewife N55,000

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An Abuja Area Court sitting in Lugbe has ordered a 28-year-old driver, Stanley Oliver of Lugbe Zone 7, to pay N55,000 to a housewife, Mrs. Habiba Timothy. Delivering judgment in the case, the Judge, Haruna Masanawa, said the court passed judgment in favour of the plaintiff after hearing both sides of the matter. Masanawa ordered Oliver to pay the plaintiff in two installments, the first of which must be on or before February 28, and the second payment must be settled by March 31.

He also granted the plaintiff’s prayer for N5,000 cost of action against the defendant and ordered the defendant to pay the cost of action on the same day with the payment of the first installment.

29-yr-old guard jailed 2 months over ATM theft

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LAGOS — A 29-year-old security guard, Benjamin Nyiynogo, was yesterday, sentenced to two months imprisonment by an Ikeja Magistrate Court, for stealing N76,000 through an Automated Teller Machine, ATM.

According to the magistrate, Mrs Dan Oni, “you are hereby sentenced to a two-month imprisonment with hard labour and without an option of fine for pleading guilty to the charge against you.

“You are to pay the N76,000 to the complainant upon your return from prison.”

The Police  Prosecutor Edet Okoi had told the court that the defendant stole the money belonging to one Mr Jimoh Aliu, his supervisor at work.

I sacked more than 100 University lecturers - Chiarman

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The Chairman of the Federal Character Commission (FCC), Professor Shuaibu Oba AbdulRaheem, and some commissioners from the commission were guests of the Editorial Board of Blueprint roundtable penultimate week where he answered questions on issues of recruitment in various government organisations. The chairman said that until now, the military did not comply with the rules of recruitments and promotions as quoted in the guideline principles of the FCC. ENE OSANG recounts the highlights of the session in this concluding part of the interaction

How come in Kwara, the state character is filled with politics because the school of Offa operates basically from a political angle?

13 Killed, 30 Injured in Car Accidents Yesterday

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Nine persons were yesterday confirmed dead and 19 others seriously injured after two commercial vehicles collided yesterday along Maiduguri-Kano road.

According to officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), the accident occurred after one of the buses got a tyre burst that forced it to swerve into the opposite lane where it ran into an oncoming vehicle.

Eyewitnesses said nine of the passengers in the two buses died on the spot, while 19 others who sustained clinical injuries were rushed, by FRSC rescue team, to Maiduguri University Teaching Hospital about 60km away.

Human error caused Dana crash.. Pilot is To Be Blamed

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he Dana plane crash that killed all 153 people aboard in Lagos in June 2012 was likely caused by a pilot’s failure to turn on certain fuel pumps or valves, The Wall Street Journal reported, quoting people familiar with the joint investigation by U.S. and Nigerian officials.

The McDonnell Douglas MD-83, operated by Nigeria’s Dana Air, lost power from both engines while approaching the airport in Lagos last June and slammed into an apartment building, killing at least six more people on the ground.

The most likely cause of the accident was the crew’s failure to properly monitor fuel flow and turn on certain fuel pumps, according to industry and government safety experts familiar with the investigation.

Hmnn: Ghana Closes 40 Nigerian Shops

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Ghanaian authorities have renewed the siege against foreign traders, as the Ministry of Trade and Industry, at the weekend clamped down over 40 shops belonging to Nigerians.

The shops located at Akanshie, about 200 meters away from the Mokola International Market were occupied by Nigerians, who traded in bicycle spare parts and other accessories.

According to one of the affected traders, Mr. Damien Uduba, their shops were stormed by some officials of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, who compelled them to pack their goods and thereafter had the shops under lock and key. The officials were reported to have secured the shops with their own padlocks, thereby making them inaccessible to the owners.

Sick Cross River State Governor Liyel Imoke may return next weekend

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Cross River State Governor Liyel Imoke, who embarked on a foreign trip months ago, is now hale and hearty and may return to the country this weekend. Acting Governor, Effiok Cobang said this yesterday in Calabar at a town hall meeting which marked the end of the National Good Governance Tour in Cross River State.  There have been speculations on whether Imoke’s long absence meant his health had further deteriorated and if he was returning to Nigeria anytime soon.

17-Year-Old Girl Gang-Raped, Butchered And Left To Die (Photos)

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The brutal murder of a 17-year-old girl, who was gang-raped, horrifically mutilated and left to die on a building site, has sparked a national outcry in South Africa.

Anene Booysen was discovered by security guards on the site in the sleepy town of Bredasdorp, 80 miles east of Cape Town. According to a Health Department spokesman, her injuries were so severe that her family asked authorities not to release the details.

 

However it was later revealed that her stomach had been slit open down to her genitals and that she had died from her injuries in hospital. She managed to identify one of her attackers before her death and two men have appeared in court charged with rape and murder.

Nothing Wrong With Polio Vaccination – Sheikh Gumi

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A renowned Islamic scholar and a doctor by profession, Sheikh Ahmad Mahmud Gumi, has told the BBC Hausa Service that there is nothing suspicious about the polio vaccine, and that the eradication of polio is very essential in making a healthy society.

He said those opposing the exercise should know that it was not made just for Nigerians alone; rather, it is for the whole world by the assembly of world doctors for the consumption of all.

EXCLUSIVE: Hardship Hits Nigerian Troops In Mali As Officers Solicit Food From Locals

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The condition of Nigerian troops in Mali is quickly sliding from bad to worse as inadequate supply of provision is forcing the contingent to solicit food from locals, PREMIUM TIMES can exclusively report.

According to a reliable defence source who asked not to be named, the Nigerian contingent solicits food and handouts under the guise of “courtesy calls” to community leaders in Mali. After one of such courtesy calls on Monday, the troops received a handout of a cow and 50 bags of rice from the Prefect of Tuban in Banamba region. “Our officers and men have resorted to begging locals for cows and rice for survival,” said the official.

“This is done by way of courtesy calls. They invite the prefects of the locals to our camp for visits. The prefect of Tuban (Banamba Region) visited today (Feb 11) with a cow and 50 bags of rice.”

Six Policemen, LASTMA Official Arrested

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In a bid to curb the excesses of policemen in the Lagos State Police Command, six policemen were, weekend, arrested by operatives of the Commissioner of Police X Squad for extortion.

Also arrested were two impersonators who wore Police uniform to escort a lorry and an official of the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency, LASTMA for allegedly extorting money from a motorist. Vanguard gathered that the policemen were arrested at Oyingbo and Gbagada areas of the state while allegedly extorting money from motorcycle and commercial bus operators.

Police sources who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the operatives who were ordered by the state Commissioner of Police, Umar Manko, to rid the state of corrupt policemen, stormed Oyingbo, where they caught two Traffic Wardens and a conventional policeman attached to Area ‘C’ Command, at Oyingbo Bus-Stop, extorting money from commercial buses and lorry operators.

PHOTO: Fake Doctor Injected Woman with ‘Fix-A-Flat’

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A woman accused of being a phony doctor has been charged with a crime, police say, after injecting a brew of Fix-A-Flat, cement, mineral oil and Super Glue into the body of a woman who wanted a larger derriere.

The self-described doctor’s ”own butt is the size of a truck tire,” according to a report in The Miami Herald, which stated: ”Investigators suspect she is part of an underground network of scam artists who have been offering ‘pumping parties’ and home buttocks augmentations across South Florida for years.”

Parents Report Son To Police After He Raped Housemaid

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A teenage boy allegedly raped a maid after his parents had gone to church for an all-night prayer.

It is alleged that the 17-year-old boy raped the 20-year-old maid. It is the State's case that the maid was washing plates while the teenager was watching television. He later retired to his room and slept for a while. The maid finished washing the plates and started watching television in the lounge.

Prosecutor told the court that the boy came to the lounge and sat beside the maid before asking her what she usually does with her boyfriend.

Three Journalists Arrested for Polio Vaccine Killings

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Three Nigerian journalists have been arrested for allegedly inciting violence against polio workers, Reuters reported. On Friday, gunmen in Kano State killed nine people, who had been giving patients the polio vaccine. The arrested journalists are accused of inspiring the attacks. The journalists had said on Wazobia FM on Wednesday that immunisation against polio was anti-Islam and part of a Western conspiracy to cause infertility, Kano Police Chief Ibrahim Idris, told Reuters.  The killing of the vaccinators is a major setback in Nigeria’s fight against polio. “The killing of polio vaccinators in Kano State is a dastardly act that must be condemned by all,” he told All Africa

Source: Punch

14 Year old boy beats 7-month-old sister and suffocates her to death

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A Washington, D.C.-area teenager is being charged as an adult with first-degree murder for beating and suffocating his baby sister to death, police said Monday. Johnathan Aguiluc, 14, of White Oak, Md., appeared in court Monday, where a judge denied him bond. Police say Gloria Yanes, 39, left her 11640 Lockwood Drive apartment about 10:30 p.m. Thursday to go to work, leaving Aguiluc to babysit his two sisters, 7-month-old Larissa Yanes and a 3-year-old whose name was not released.

Aguiluc confessed to police that he beat his infant sister and then covered her nose and mouth when she would not stop crying. "He admitted to causing those injuries and also placing his hands over her mouth and nose as she was crying," said Montgomery County Police Captain Paul Starks to local ABC affiliate WJLA-TV.

Headless Fodies Found, Man Named Yusuf Ibrahim Arrested

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Police say they've nabbed a New Jersey man who fatally shot two men before beheading them, chopping off their hands and burying their remains in the woods of south Jersey.

Cops arrested Yusuf Ibrahim, 28, of Jersey City on Sunday after detectives found the bodies of the two men, aged 25 and 27, behind a home in Buena Vista Township, according to a press release. Their severed heads and hands were discovered at a separate burial site.

The investigation into the grisly murder began Thursday following reports of suspicious activity at the Buena Vista home. Cadaver dogs located the bodies, which both suffered a single gunshot wound to their chests.  

President Goodluck Jonathan’s Convoy Involved In Auto Accident In Paris

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President Goodluck Jonathan‘s vehicle convoy was yesterday involved in an accident in Paris, France. The accident reportedly occurred as President Jonathan was traveling with his aides to a meeting with the French President Francois Gerard Hollande.

According to SaharaReporters, a French Police source disclosed that the accident occurred 15 minutes away from the Elysee Palace, the venue of the official meeting with the French leader. The car involved in the accident was the fifth car behind that of President Jonathan.

Father Sets House Ablaze And Kills His 6 Children As He Frames Ex-Girlfriend

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A father accused of killing his six children in a house fire started the blaze as part of a 'plan' to frame his ex-girlfriend after becoming locked in a custody battle with her, a court has heard.

Mick Philpott, along with his wife Mairead, allegedly started the fire at their semi-detached home after making reports to the police that his former partner, Lisa Willis, had been threatening him and his family.

There were emotional scenes during their manslaughter trial at Nottingham Crown Court today as the 999 call made by the couple as the fire took hold was played to the jury.