$-ex, drugs, and bribes – the only ways to get visas in US Embassy, Guyana

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US State Department acknowledged that one of its officials has now become a target of an investigation over “allegations of improprieties relating to a Consular Officer formerly assigned to Georgetown, Guyana”. The Daily Caller reports that Department officer is being accused of selling visas for sex and money.

The great affray started when Guyana’s executives and tourists began to complain that their visa applications were being held up, and local media reported few times that a visa official was demanding bribes and sex in exchange for visas.

Local media are also claiming the official, whose activities have recently been frozen until the completion of an official investigation, was a close associate of local drug lords who played an integral role in his visa scam.

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Photo: Bare-breasted activist: France grants asylum to local Femen leader

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Paris has granted political asylum to the leader of the notorious feminist movement Femen in France, Le Figaro reports.

The Ukrainian citizen Inna Shevchenko, who now lives in France, told journalists she has recently had her asylum plea supported by the French government. The request is reportedly dated February 2013.

The French leader of bare-breasted activists for women’s rights said the move to ask for France’s protection was “strategic.”

“To extend our reach we need a country that would act as our base,” she explained.

Paris has not yet commented on asylum for Ms Shevchenko, saying it did not wish to expand on confidential data.

See Another Photo After The Break

FG’s ultimatum to Dana Airline

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The Federal Government’s recent intervention meant to fast-track the payment of claims to the families left behind by victims of Dana Airline’s June 3, 2012 plane crash in Iju, Lagos, is yet another reminder of the tragic air mishap that claimed the lives of 153 passengers and crew members and many others on ground. More than a year after the fatal incident, however, many of the families of the victims are yet to be compensated.

The Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah, indicated last week that the airline had paid up to 60 percent of the claims, but that the delay being experienced by Dana Airline’s management in concluding the settlement was due to double claims that needed to be clarified. She said the airline had up to six months (between now and December this year) to complete the payment of compensation to all affected families or face sanctions. The aviation ministry had at the first anniversary of the tragic air mishap and unveiling of the memorial cenotaph built to immortalise the dead in Lagos early last month, announced that the FG was working with the airline’s management to ensure that all compensation disagreements were amicably resolved.

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NGF CRISIS: Between Ameachi And Jang

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The presidency through Dr Gulak Ahmed has made series of denials regarding his boss non involvement in the crisis of the NGF. Unfortunately, the more Gulak denies the more the involvement of the presidency.


In reminiscence, Gov. Amaechi has taken some tough stand on some national and sensitive issues viz-a-viz fraud in the fuel subsidy payment, ceeding of oil wells to Cross River and Bayelsa states hence his travails. Gov.Amaechi voice is being heard so loudly simply because he is the chairman of the NGF and this forum is perceived as a powerful one that controls or rather dictates what is going on  in the political arena of Nigeria. NGF has a way of arm-twisting the presidency to  drive home their point.

The pressure was becoming unbearable for the presidency owing to the recalcitrant nature of Gov. Amaechi style of NGF leadership hence something has to be done. The presidency decided to make a move to stop Gov. Amaechi from getting the ticket for his second term bid as the NGF chairman hence the formation of PDP NGF paving way for the emergence of Gov. Akpabio has its chairman.

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LUTH Acquires Scanner that detects death in few Seconds

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Lagos University Teaching Hospital LUTH said they have acquired a CT scan equipment that has the capacity to run a check on all organs of the body, from head to toe in less than 10 seconds and fish out a patients death points for immediate treatment. The machine, called the 128-slice Aquillon CT scanner is the first of it's kind in West Africa.

Speaking on the machine, the Chief Medical Director, LUTH, Professor Akin Osibogun told Nigerian Tribune:  "The Aquillon CT scanner is a 128-scanner and the main advantage it has over other CT scanners of earlier generations is its ability to penetrate deeper into the tissues and organs to show clearly the state of those tissues and organs. Of course the CT scanner is an imaging device and because it is able to provide images of tissues and organs inside the body. We are able to see the state in which those tissues and organs are and we are able to make diagnosis that help us to provide appropriate treatment for the patients.

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No apology on Fayemi’s 2nd term endorsement – Tinubu

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ACN leader, Bola Tinubu and some ACN governors

NATIONAL leader of Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, and former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, weekend, said he has no apology to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in exercising his democratic rights as a citizen and party leader to endorse Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, as the party’s governorship nominee to seek a second term come the 2014 election.

Reacting to PDP outburst through Mr. Tony Okeke, its Acting National Publicity Secretary, Asiwaju Tinubu, insisted, however, that he was neither  disturbed nor surprised at the level to which PDP could descend to attack perceived enemies or tormentors.

Okeke complained against what he called venom in the PDP’s statement and downright gutter language employed in attacking the remarks by Asiwaju Tinubu.

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Inhuman: Man slaughters friend to death and poured acid on him over Okada

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A middle aged man, Deji Yussuf, has been arrested by the Police in Ondo State for allegedly axing his friend, Tope Ezekiel, to death and thereafter poured acid on him over argument on arises from commercial motor bike popularly called Okada.  The family of the deceased said their son owned the Okada and was keeping the proceeds with the suspect on daily basis with intention of utilizing it later to get another Okada.  However, police source said the story is another way round, that the suspect owned the motor bike.

Investigations indicated that the suspect and the deceased who have been buddies have been residing in a room apartment at God's Glory Layout, Eyin Akpata in Akure metropolis for four years ahead of the ugly incident.The police said on the ill-fated day, one Owonifari came to report any particular one Deji Yusuf said he heard the grand mother of the deceased shouting for help and when he got there, he met him in his pool of blood.

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How student, MTN staff were killed by vigilante

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Tragedy struck in Abeokuta, yesterday,  when  men of the Vigilante Service of Ogun State, VSO, reportedly  shot dead  a student of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, Moruf Raji, 29, and a staff of a telecommunication company, MTN Nigeria,  Akeem Usman, 32, while chasing suspected robbers.

The  incident occurred at Adigbe, at about 1.00 a.m  when  a team  of the vigilance service allegedly ordered residents of 18A, Sorinola Avenue, Oriyanrin, to open their gate for them to arrest  suspected robbers believed to be hiding in the building. An eye witness told Vanguard that some of the  residents  who were mostly students refused to open  the gate, suspecting the vigilante men to be  robbers  trying to play smart.

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Egypt Army Says 'Armed Terrorists' Tried To Storm HQ

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Egypt's armed forces said Monday that "armed terrorists" had tried to storm the headquarters of the elite Republican Guard, leaving one security officer dead, in a statement quoted by the website of state-owned daily Al-Ahram.

"At dawn, an armed terrorist group tried to storm the Republican Guard (building)..., attacking army troops and police, which led to the death of one officer and left several conscripts injured, including six in critical condition," the statement said.

The Muslim Brotherhood, which had been protesting outside the Republican Guard HQ said 16 Islamist protesters had been shot dead.

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Bayelsa State Special Adviser On Power Abducted In Rivers State

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The Special Adviser to the Bayelsa state governor on power; Mr Olice Kemenanabo has been kidnapped in Rivers state, Nigeria’s south west region.

Mr Kemenanabo was abducted this afternoon around the D-line area of the capital, Port Harcourt by unknown gunmen.As at the time of this report no one could ascertain his mission in the city. Before his appointed as special adviser on power in May 2012, Mr Kemenanabo was the chairman of a committee set up by the state government to oversee power generation.

Rotary International Club, District 9110 To Focus On maternal, child health - Rotary gov

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The new District Governor, Rotary International Club, District 9110, Mr. Olugbemiga Olowu, has said the club will focus on maternal and child health in 2013/2014 rotary year. He said the club would spend about N200m to drive this and other projects lined up by the club.

Olowu said this in an interview shortly after he was installed as the District Governor in Lagos on Saturday.

He said, “I am focussing on maternal and child health, water and sanitation, disease control and prevention.

“I have been working with partners and you can see today, I called up people of USAID and some medical personnel who are my partners. They are already on ground.

“It is going to cost about N200m to do what we have planned to do. But the goal is achievable because we have our partners; rotary foundation and Rotarians to contribute their quota to the projects.”

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Heartless: Yobe killings barbaric, wicked – Jonathan

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President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday described the killing of 29 pupils of Government Secondary School, Mamudo, Potiskum, Yobe State, as wicked and barbaric and vowed to flush our perpetrators of violence out of the country. “The killing is barbaric, completely wicked. Anybody who will target innocent children for any kind of grief will certainly go to hell,” the President said in a statement by his spokesman, Reuben Abati.

The presidential condemnation came on the heels of the closure of secondary schools in Yobe as a result of the killings of the school pupils in Mamudo.

Governor Ibrahim Gaidam who described the killing as “cold-blooded murder”  when he visited the attacked school on Sunday ordered all secondary schools in the state shut until the beginning of next academic session in September. The pupils and one of their teachers were murdered by suspected members of the violent Islamic sect, Boko Haram whom the security forces had been waging war against since the declaration of state of emergency in Yobe, Adamawa and Borno states on May 14 this year.

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30 relocate to hospital after eating delicacy

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The joy of a family, residing in Graceland Housing Estate, Egbeada, Owerri, almost turned sour as no fewer than 30 of their guests ended up in hospital after eating a suspected poisoned Igbo delicacy, Ugba.

Vanguard gathered that the family (names withheld), invited their friends and relations to the Christening ceremony of their child and they all retired to their Graceland Estate residence after service.Ugba (Oil Bean Seed) is native to Eastern Nigeria, Ugba undergoes extensive fermentation before it is considered edible.A reliable source close to the family informed Vanguard that the delicacy was purchased from the Owerri main market.“The local delicacy was served to all the guests, numbering over 30. All of them enjoyed it but oblivious of the danger lurking around the corner,” 
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UPDATE: Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood Claims 34 of its supporters killed

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A spokesman for Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood said 34 of its supporters were killed on Monday when they were fired upon at a sit-in outside the military facility where toppled President Mohamed Morsi is being held.

Murad Ali of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party said that shooting broke out in the early morning while Islamists staged a sit-in outside the Republican Guard barracks.

Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad says hundreds of critically wounded are being taken to hospitals.

Locals on the ground say no warning shots fired before the security forces attacked. Ambulances are at the scene.

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‘Terrorists are not Muslims, but tribalists" - Prophet Kayode

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General Evangelist of the Christ Apostolic Church, Prophet Kayode Abiara, has dissociated Islam from the insecurity and terrorism bedevilling the country. He spoke at a press conference in Lagos on Saturday in the wake of recent terror attacks that claimed the lives of no fewer than 29 pupils in Yobe and 10 Ibadan traders killed in Mongunu, Borno State last week. Abiara said there were many “good, accommodating and charitable Muslims”, both from the northern and southern parts of Nigeria.

He said, “Based on my friendly relationship with them, I refuse to acknowledge that Islam breeds terrorists. It is a religion that preaches peace, charity and tolerance. I admonish Nigerians not to blame the insecurity in the country on Muslims indiscriminately.” Abiara blamed the attacks on the sect, who he said, were tribalistic rather than religious. He said, “Maybe they killed the traders because they don’t like Yoruba people.”

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Lagos Govt restates commitment to developing LASU

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Lagos State Government has restated its commitment to significantly improving infrastructure within the Lagos State University. The government added that such infrastructural development would serve as a launch pad for LASU’s  transformation into a world-class institution.

Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, said this while delivering a paper titled, ‘The place of Infrastructural Development in the Transformation of Tertiary Education’ at the 3rd International Conference of Faculty of Education, according to a statement on Sunday.

The commissioner explained that the government was desirous of leveraging on the relationship between “human capital, public infrastructure and structural transformation” to achieve its goals for the institution.

He added that the Babatunde Fashola administration believed that tertiary education was the driving force behind growth.

PDP convention: Atiku’s name missing on delegates’ list

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Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar will not vote in the Peoples Democratic Party forthcoming national convention as his name is not on the list of delegates submitted to the party from his home state, Adamawa.

 The party has tentatively slated August 20 for the special mini convention. Sources, however, said the date “is not sacrosanct.” The list signed by the party’s factional chairman in the state, Mr. Joel Madaki, an ally of the National Chairman of the PDP, Dr. Bamanga Tukur, was sighted by our correspondent in Abuja on Sunday.

Though Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State does not belong to the Madaki faction, his name appears on the list.

Former Information Minister and Chairman PDP Convention Planning Committee, Prof. Jerry Gana, had said only those that voted at the 2012 convention, where the members of the party’s National Working Committee were elected, would vote at the mini convention.

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Seven Nigerians shot dead in S’Africa

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Seven people believed to be Nigerians were shot dead at different times within the last one week in South Africa, media reports have said.  South African police spokesman, Tim Masilela, said four Nigerians were killed when a group of men opened fire on them in Benoni on the East Rand. According to reports, the four were in a Volkswagen Golf alongside one other when a car stopped in front of them.

A group of men got out of the car and opened fire, killing two of the men in the Golf instantly. A third passenger tried to run away, but collapsed and died a few metres from the scene. A fourth man died later in hospital. The fifth man in the car was not hurt.  “The motive behind the shooting is unknown. Police are still investigating,” Masilela said. Last Saturday, three Nigerians were killed in a cell phone shop in Voortrekker Street, Benoni.

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I regret drinking alcohol as a young man — 80-year-old Biafran soldier

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Former Biafran soldier, Cletus Asolukanwsu, 80, talks to MOTUNRAYO JOEL about his view of the late Emeka Odumegwu - Ojukwu as well as his war - time experience.

  What significant event can you link with the time of your birth?

Children who were born during my time were baptised within two months after birth. I was born in Ihiagba, Owerri, Imo State and was baptised at a Catholic Church a few weeks after. My baptismal certificate still helps me to remember my birthday.

Where did you have your primary school education?

I attended St. Michael’s Catholic School, Ihiagba before I was later transferred to Christ’s Kings School in Aba. After my primary education, I got a job as a bar man in a hotel but it linked me with better employment. I met the General Manager of a British Company at the hotel, who noticed how hard I worked. Clients who patronised the hotel always commended me. I was around 20 years old at the time. I even had an opportunity to travel to America from a relationship I established with someone at the hotel, but I couldn’t leave my parents all alone in Nigeria.

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How I Carried Amaechi Into Abuja In The Night and Made Him Governor – Nyesom Wike Speaks

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For Governor Chibuike Amaechi and his former boy, Minister of State for Education Nyesom Wike, the die is cast at last. It is time to bare all and go for the kill. As Wike spoke to Saturday Sun, he spared no word or effort in his vitriolic attack on his political boss who he has been in a running battle with him in the past months.

You and Amaechi had been allies, how and when did things get this bad between you?

I had wanted and avoided in the past to comment on the matter between His Excellency, Governor Chibuike Amaechi and I. I never wanted to make it a press matter. But I have held on for long to the extent that facts are now twisted out of shape.

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