T.B. Joshua to be arraigned today over death of 116 persons in church building collapse

Pastor T.B Joshua along with some engineers will be arraigned today November 30th before a Lagos State High Court in Ikeja over the death of 116 people in the Synagogue Church of all Nations building collapse which occurred in September 2014. 

Joshua and his engineers are expected to be arraigned before Justice Lawal Akapo according to a statement by the Deputy Director, Public Affairs of the Lagos State Ministry of Justice, Bola Akingbade.

The engineers, Oladele Ogundeji and Akinbela Fatiregun, had last year filed a suit asking a court to stop the police from inviting, arresting or prosecuting them over the death of the 116 victims but a Coroner Inquest set up by the Lagos state government indicted the engineers and recommended them for investigation and prosecution for criminal negligence.

Boko Haram kills 7 people including a soldier in fresh Borno attacks

In two separate Boko Haram attacks, seven people including a soldier, were killed in both Bam and Gajigana villages of Biu and Magumeri Local Government Areas of Borno State, while an unspecified number of teenage girls were abducted in Bam Village. Several more people were injured in Gajigana village after insurgents set ablaze shops and houses without confrontation.

A resident of the area who fled to Miringa town for safety, Mallam Ali Bam, said that the insurgents went to the village at about 3:30 am on the weekend and set the whole village ablaze.

He said:

"Boko Haram terrorists after separating a lot of teenage girls from married women in Bam, set ablaze the whole village and fled with the girls unchallenged, as the attack lasted for some hours before they fled. I called on General Buratai to do something as we have been telling the soldiers that the Boko Haram were so close to the village, but they only went to Mangari village which is few kilometers away from Buratai and shot into the air and left. The soldiers don’t want to confront the terrorists, Buratai should better do something before they start attacking and sacking villages, as they were doing before.”

Then they attacked and burnt down Gajiganna village killing three persons including a soldier before stealing lots of foodstuff.
An eyewitness said that the insurgents who came at 8:30pm on Friday started shooting sporadically into the air to scare people, but they ended up killing one man, one woman and a soldier.
He said:

“I believe it was a revenge mission, because recently, we arrested over 17 Boko Haram insurgents in the community and handed them over to the military. I am calling on the Federal government and the military authorities to do something about the pockets of insurgents in the bushes and villagers before they regroup and start attacking big towns and villages,”.

He said that the attack on Gajigana could have been avoided if soldiers acted on the information that they were given rather when the insurgents came the soldiers took to their heels without fighting them.



Vanguard

Man arrested for shooting a 7-month-old boy

Authorities have arrested a central New York man who claims a loaded shotgun he was holding discharged accidentally when he tried to stand up, striking and killing a 7-month-old boy.
Rome police say 18-year-old Henry Bartle faces a charge of criminally negligent homicide. He was arrested early Sunday.

Authorities say Bartle was in his apartment on Saturday with his girlfriend, who's the baby's mother, and another man, and was cleaning the 12-gauge shotgun in the living room. Police say he then loaded the gun and had it in his lap pointing in the direction of the child.
The baby was struck in the upper body when the gun went off.



Source: AP

Mum who was told she couldn't have any more kids gives birth to a baby boy

A mum, 36 year old Emma Bromfield, who was told she could never have any more children was shocked after she gave birth to a baby boy - just two days after she found out she was pregnant.
Emma and her husband Jason, 38, had not planned on adding to their family after already defying the odds to have Millie, seven, Molly, six, and 15-month-old George.

But after missing her period last month, Emma did a pregnancy test on Tuesday and was stunned when she realised she was expecting.
She went to her GP on Thursday morning after passing blood and was sent for an early pregnancy scan at the Queen's Hospital in Burton-upon-Trent, Staffs.

Her doctor told her there was a heartbeat and that she was around nine weeks pregnant but could be having a miscarriage.

But Emma had the shock of her life when a midwife at the hospital told her she was actually 35 weeks pregnant.
Incredibly, the mum-of-four was taken to the maternity ward to be examined at 3.30pm where they realised she had dilated 5cm and was already in labour.

Emma then delivered a healthy baby boy Frankie, who weighed 6lb 1oz, just 40 minutes later at 4.10pm.

Sunday, Emma, who lives with her husband-of-nine years Jason in Newhall, Derbyshire, said she didn't gain any weight or have any pregnancy symptoms.
She added:

"The nurse who was doing the scan said: 'I don't know what to say, this scan shows you are 35 weeks gone'. "I was in total shock. "I am not new to the signs of pregnancy and I had not had any of the morning sickness I had had with the other three.

"With George I was waddling around and couldn't even do up my coat. "With this one I hadn't put on any weight and I was still in my everyday jeans. "Amazingly, I've actually lost weight now and I've had to buy loads of new clothes.

"It was the best pregnancy ever. "I had read about this in magazines and always thought: 'how could you go that long without knowing?' And then it happened to me."

Emma, who works as a lunchtime supervisor at a school, said everything happened so quickly that the sex of their new baby was a complete surprise.

Emma's Husband who is a security officer said:

"I was only 15 minutes away from the hospital and probably drove through three or four red lights. "I called work to tell them I wasn't coming in because my wife was in labour. "They said: 'we didn't even know your wife was pregnant ' and I said: 'neither did I'.

"I got to the hospital ten minutes after Emma gave birth. "She did everything in a day instead of nine months. "We really have defied the odds. "It's unbelievable.

"We are still in shock, but it was a nice early Christmas present for us."

The surprise birth was made all the sweeter because when she was younger Emma had problems with her ovaries and was told she couldn't have children.

Dad Jason added: "When I met her, we had two girls and then Emma suffered two miscarriages both at five weeks.

"She was then told she probably couldn't have a baby boy and amazingly we've now had two."

Emma added: "Our other children have taken to him really well, although Molly thought we had bought Frankie from the hospital shop and asked if it had run out of girls.

Nigeria defeat Mali to top group

Nigeria’s Dream Team VI began their quest at the
African U23 Championship in Senegal on a very good
note as the team defeated Mali 3 – 2.
A superb back-heel by Junior Ajayi had put Nigerians
ahead in the 16th minute before Usman Mohammed
made it two in the 34th minute.
Junior Ajayi made it three from a rebound at the stroke
of half-time as both teams went into the break with
Nigeria leading 3 – 0; sending the Dream Team to
‘cloud-nine’.

Mali returned from the break firing from all cylinders
and their efforts paid-off when Adama Niane converted
from the spot after he was brought-down in the danger-
area.

Wasteful Mali lost a couple of chances as they
continued to navigate into the Nigerian area. However,
substitute Souleymane Sissoko made it 3 – 2 when
latched onto a ‘delicious’ through-ball to reduce
Nigeria’s lead with a low-drive past goalkeeper Daniel,
setting-up a very pulsating final 25 minutes.
Mali continued to pile the pressure to get the equalizer,
but Siasia’s men held on as they repelled subsequent
moves by the Malians. It ended Nigeria 3 – 2 Mali.
Nigeria will play Egypt on Wednesday December 2. The
Egyptians played 1 – 1 with Algeria in the other game of
the group.

Saudi Arabia allows women to participate in elections for the first time

Saudi women began their first ever campaigns for public office on Sunday, in a step forward for women’s rights in the conservative kingdom’s slow reform process.
More than 900 women are standing in the December 12th municipal elections, which will also mark the first time women are allowed to vote in Saudi Arabia.


Ruled by King Salman, the oil-rich state has no elected legislature but has faced intense western scrutiny over its human rights record.

The country’s first municipal elections were held in 2005, followed by another vote in 2011, but in both cases only men were allowed to participate.

“We will vote for the women even though we don’t know anything about them,” Um Fawaz, a teacher in her 20s, said in Hafr al-Batin city. “It’s enough that they are women.”

 The absolute monarchy, which applies its strict interpretation of Islam, has faced widespread criticism for its lack of equal rights. Saudi Arabia is the only country where women are not allowed to drive. They must also cover themselves in black from head to toe in public and require permission from male family members to travel, work or marry.

The late King Abdullah introduced the elections in 2005 and said women would participate in this year’s vote. In 2013, he also appointed women to the Shura council, which advises the cabinet. Abdullah died in January and was succeeded by Salman, who stuck to the election timetable.

About 7,000 people are vying for seats on 284 municipal councils in the vote, the Saudi electoral commission said. Only about 131,000 women have signed up to vote, compared with more than 1.35 million men, out of a native Saudi population of almost 21 million.

Aside from transport problems, women say registration to vote was hindered by bureaucratic obstacles and a lack of awareness of the process and its significance.

There is also disappointment at the performance of local councils and their limited powers – restricted to streets, public gardens and rubbish disposal.

Although the voting age has been lowered to 18 from 21 and the proportion of elected council members has increased to two-thirds, winning a seat remains a challenge for women in an electorate where male voters vastly outnumber them.

Nassima al-Sadah, a candidate in the Gulf coast city of Qatif, said officials told her late on Saturday that her name had been removed from the list. “I don’t know why,” she told Agence France-Presse. Her campaign was on hold as she tried to obtain clarification.

Al-Sadah was planning to be a particularly active candidate, she said, with a social media onslaught supported by traditional banners and brochures, none of which would be allowed to carry her picture – a restriction that also applies to male candidates.

In Hafr al-Batin, in the east of the country, an official poster promoting the elections and containing a drawing of a man and a woman had been defaced, with the woman’s face slashed out.

Because of the kingdom’s strict separation of sexes – which applies to election facilities as it does elsewhere in public – candidates wishing to meet directly with voters will have to meet women one day and men the next, with a male spokesman addressing the men.

Saud al-Shammry, a 43-year-old Riyadh resident, said it was time for a new approach. “We strive for development and real change, free from tribal or family biases,” he said.

He said there was “a big possibility” he could vote for a woman, if her platform was convincing.

Ahmed, a government worker in Hafr al-Batin, saw no problem with having women candidates but said:

“Why not? They are just there to decorate the government anyway,” he said.

Source: Agence France-Presse

Dangote to construct a 500 Megawatt power plant in Kano, Jigawa, others

In a deliberate attempt to support local economy and wealth creation, Aliko Dangote has promised to construct a 500 megawatt power plant for Kano, Jigawa, Kaduna and Katsina States. The Chairman and CEO of Dangote Group of Companies made the pledge through his representative, Engineer Mansur Ahmed, the executive director stakeholders management, at the 36th Kano Trade Fair held in Kano. In his address, Engr. Ahmed noted that without power industries and commerce will cripple and businesses seriously decline as has been the situation in Kano State.

He further revealed that they were currently discussing with the Kano State government on the megawatt power supply and final agreement will be signed soon. Engr. Ahmed made it known that Dangote has built over a hundred borehole across the state and the theatre health facility at Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital which was posponed due to discrepancies and would soon take off in the next few weeks.

Dangote group has done quite a lot of intervention across the federation,he added, sighting the example of Ebola case were the group spent over a billion naira to control it's spread and another billion naira support to Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, especially in the north east. Engr. Ahmed also disclosed that the nutrition program of Dangote Group is aimed at ensuring that Nigerian children grow up vibrant and intelligent.

Two Iranians planning to launch terror attack on Nairobi arrested by Kenya security agencies

Kenyan Police have arrested two men on suspicion of terror and espionage on behalf of the Iranian State Intelligence. The men, Abubakar Sadiq Louw,69, and Mojtaba Ghanbarian aka "Parsa" targeted key spots in Kenya, including hotels frequently used by Western tourists, businessmen and diplomats.

 

Louw, a senior figure in Nairobi Shiite Community was arrested on October 29 after a long intensive police investigation. He admitted recruiting young Kenyans to spy and mount terror attacks in Nairobi. Louw was working on behalf of the Qods Force, the clandestine overseas military wing of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which carries out the terror activities worldwide.
One of Louw's recruit was 25 year old Yassin Sambai Juma, a student from Nairobi

Sadiq Louw further disclosed to the investigators that he arranged for Juma to travel to Iran and introduced him to the Qods Force contact, nicknamed “Parsa”.
“Parsa” subsequently gave Juma a set of tasks and Western targets for future terror attacks in Nairobi.  Juma was subsequently arrested by the police on the 19th of November, upon his return to Nairobi after having undertaken some military training in Iraq.

Louw also admitted that he was approached by Iranian government officials in 2012 to serve the country’s military intelligence organization. He was tasked then to identify suitable Kenyan students aged 20-30 who would become spies and carry out attacks on Western interests in Kenya. According to Citizen Digital, Louw has recruited a pool of local young Muslim men to serve as secret operatives for Qods Force in the past one year. Louw’s recruits were enticed with the promise of receiving “a scholarship for Islamic Studies ” and military training in Iran. 

When Juma travelled to Iran in April, he used the guise of going for Islamic training on scholarship hence did not raise any suspicion from the immigration.
An extensive investigation by the Kenyan Security Services, which included reaching out to other services in Africa, has enabled investigations to determine that “Parsa” has visited several countries in the continent in the past and that
his real name is Mojtaba Ghanbarian.

Ghanbarian and Juma met in Karbala, Iraq in October, 2015 during which Juma was introduced to a special training. This training session was scheduled when the two first met in Iran in April. This was also a good time for Ghanbarian to pay Juma thousands of dollars to fund his and Abubakar Sadiq Louw’s terror activity in Kenya.

While in Iraq, “Parsa” introduced Juma to Iranian experts who trained him on tactical fieldwork, methods for withstanding interrogation and how to disguise his true identity. In Karbala, Juma met with an Iranian espionage expert nick-named “the Professor “. The Iranian professor taught Juma techniques of how to move from place to place while avoiding detection or being followed by security agencies. To assess Juma abilities in what he had been introduced to, he was subjected to a practical in which he was sent on an exercise that was used as a dry run for his real mission back home in Kenya.

The task was to gather discretely information on a hotel in Karbala, a simulation of the actual mission that was given to him later on by the Qods contact “Parsa” to gather operational intelligence on prominent hotels in Nairobi. The extent of the training Juma received in Iran and Iraq is not yet known, but it is assessed that he was due to go for further training, such as handling explosive materials and electronic components, using encrypted communications and more.
Juma has admitted that “Parsa” had arranged to meet him in Tanzania in the Spring, for further instructions and training. “Parsa” had also told Juma that in the future he would have to recommend other locals suitable for recruitment as terror operatives.

 

 

Louw, who recruited Juma, has all this time maintained close relationship and communication with “Parsa” via coded email messages. Louw has used this method to inform “Parsa” about his recruits and other Iranian interests. Louw visited Iran for the first time in the early 1980s shortly after the Iranian revolution.
Over the past few years, he was summoned to Iran several times, with his flights and accommodation sponsored by the Iranian government. It was during these visits that Louw met with his Qods Force contact “Parsa”. He has also disclosed that other operatives flew with him for meetings in Iran.

Counter-terror police are currently searching for these individuals and all other Kenyans Louw recruited, including students form Rasoul El-Akram School in Barsol. Some of these students visited Iran for Islamic studies with Louw’s assistance.
Louw’s and Juma’s arrest came after months of secret intensive work by Kenyan Police, in cooperation with the other law enforcement agencies in Africa. The Iranian Qods Force has been trying to operate in Kenya for years to recruit young Muslims and train them to smuggle explosives in the country. However they are encountering rigorous efforts by Kenya Police and law enforcement agencies to foil terror activity in the country. The police are working closely with the local Shiite Muslim community to determine threats and locate anyone who may be working for the Iranian government against Kenyan interests. These people are being monitored and will be dealt with at the discretion of the police and in accordance with the law.

Sources: Kenya Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government

             :Citizen Digital

Nigeria Agip Oil company honoured at the 2015 Garden City Advancement Awards & Summits

According to the principal partner of Gaca Awards, Mr. Robinson Koyoyo, the Garden City Advancement Awards is aimed at celebrating virtues of excellence. This year, the theme was ' Attaining Industrialization Through Good Governance.'

Amongst the list of recipients was the prestigious and reputable NIGERIA AGIP OIL COMPANY(NAOC) which was honored at the Garden City Advancement Awards & Summit as an Organization Making a Difference in the MULTINATIONAL COMPANY OF THE YEAR award category was presented to Paolo Carnevale GMD NAOC JV . This award is in recognition of NAOC tremendous contributions in the promotion of Local Content, Community Development Project, Value Chain and Local Communities Relations with the aim of supporting SMEs/entrepreneurship. The award was also given for their involvement in socio-economic activities , the high level of professionalism and excellent leadership role demonstrated over the years in the oil and gas industry having over 90% of her staff strength as Nigerian Industries with great percentage (90%) of indigenous contractors is worthy of emulation.

The event which took place at the Hotel Presidential, Port Harcourt on the 31st Oct 2015 was highly successful and was hosted by Mr Benson Uwheru a corporate governance expert. In attendance was CP Musa Kimo Commissioner of Police, Rivers State who spoke on Peace and Security: A Panacea to Economic Development. Also in attendance was Mrs Titi Horsfall an Oil & Gas Expert and Novelist, who delivered a mind blowing keynote speech on mentoring the Youth for Strategic Leadership: Issues and the way forward.

Other award recipients at the ceremony included Sir Mike Elechi ,Dr (Mrs) Ngeri Benebo , Bro Felix Obuah, Mrs Titi Horsfall, Mr Elvis Donkemezuo, Sir Wilcox Abereton, EPEANAL Group, El-Totuama International Services LTD, Jephthah Comprehensive Sec. Sch. Ph, VIP Express Tourism LTD,AIT Port Harcourt, VIEW POINT-Rhythm 93.7 Ph and Family Love FM Ph, Cosmo Lounge, Community Initiative For amongst others. HERITAGE-PLUS official organizer of the event sincerely appreciate Amano Image, EZ Comm Resources LTD, Orange Magazine & MTN for their support to make the event a reality.

Looted fund is being returned through CBN- Femi Adesina

According to Punch, public funds that have been returned by some past government officials who looted the treasury while in power are currently with the Central Bank of Nigeria.

President Muhammadu Buhari during an interactive session he had with members of the Nigerian community in the Islamic Republic of Iran had previously said that some past government officials who stole public funds had started returning parts of their loot voluntarily.
However, he did not disclose the identities of the former government officials who have so far returned parts of the looted fund or the amount returned to the public treasury.

 

Punch however, revealed that the returned loot is with the CBN, although the amount could not be immediately ascertained at the time of filing their report.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, confirmed that the looted fund was being returned to government coffers through the CBN.

He said:

“The looted fund is being returned through CBN. Only the bank can speak on the procedure, and how much has been returned so far.”

“The President has not made a declaration on whether those who returned money voluntarily would still be prosecuted or not.”

The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, told journalists at Friday’s Federation Accounts Allocation Committee meeting in Abuja that the govt hasn't specified how much has been returned. She said:

“There is no figure on the funds being returned yet. The process is ongoing. When it is completed and the accounts are available, they would be returned to where they were stolen from. We haven’t come to that yet.”

Tyson Fury is the new heavyweight champion of the world after defeating Wladimir Klitschko

Englishman Tyson Fury beat Wladimir Klitschko by unanimous points decision on a sensational night in Germany

The 27-year-old shone throughout the WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight title bout in Dusseldorf on Saturday night
Fury didn't allow Klitschko to settle and the Ukrainian looked rattled, refusing to throw his right hand properly.

The Mancunian – a 4/1 underdog – baffled Klitschko with a measured fight in which he utilised his height and youth
For Fury there is now the prospect of a huge unification bout with American holder of the WBC title, Deontay Wilder

 

Tyson Fury ended the decade-long reign of the great Wladimir Klitschko with a display of astonishing nerve and virtuosity – just as he said he would.

The 27-year-old Mancunian giant made the near-40-year-old Klitschko look slow and old with elusive daring, his impudent taunting and, above all, with his quickness of hand and foot.

DSS warns citizens of planned Boko Haram attacks in Abuja

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Department of State Security 'Service' (DSS) has warned of impeding terror attacks in Abuja through a memo by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) about possible Boko Haram attacks.

Copies of the letter titled: “Forwarding of Intelligence” which was addressed to the National Presidents of Jaamatu Nasril Islam (JNI), Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the General Manager of the Abuja Markets Management Limited (AMML) were sent to several people in Abuja  Friday night/early Saturday morning.

The letter reads: “Intelligence reaching this office revealed that insurgents are planning to attack the Federal Capital Territory.

“Their main targets are worship centres and markets with the use of young girls as members of groups to carry out their planned attacks.

“It is in view of the foregoing, I am directed to inform you to communicate the content of this letter to all mosques, churches and markets across the FCT for extra-vigilance, particularly unknown persons dressing as aid workers loitering around the worship areas and markets.

“The Nigerian Police had made available, contact numbers to report any suspicious persons or movement. These are: 09063872207, 09053872208 and 09053872209.

“Please give the content of this letter the widest and fastest circulation to enable our worshippers to be vigilant and curb the menace of insurgency in the territory and beyond,”

Alhaji Adamu Gwari, the Deputy Director of Federal Capital Territory Authority’s Security Services Department said the letter was “based on intelligence that the  Boko Haram sect have new methods of operation.
He said:

“We are informing members of the public that the method of the operation is based on intelligence received that they would be targeting worship places and markets.

“So, we decided to inform the most important bodies, that is, the two religious bodies and the General Manager of Abuja Market Management Limited so that they can give the content of the letter the widest circulation.

Photo: Amosun offers automatic employment to 12 first class graduates

Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, today offered automatic employment to 12 first class graduates of the Tai Solarin University of Education, TASUED at the 6th and 7th Convocation and 10th anniversary ceremony of the school in Ijagun, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State.

The graduates cut across various departments in the school. 5,970 graduands were conferred with First degrees, out of which, twelve (12) graduated with First class Honours Also at the convocation ceremony, former President Olusegun Obasanjo was honored with a doctorate degree...

Boko Haram claims responsibility for Kano bomb blast, share photo of the male suicide bomber

Boko Haram has released a statement claiming responsibility for the Kano bomb blast that killed 21 Muslims during a procession yesterday November 27th. The terror group also released a photo of the suicide bomber. His picture above. See graphic picture of his body after the cut...