A middle-aged mother of four, simply called Maggie, was said to have slumped and died just hours before her traditional marriage in the Ugbeide area of Mosogar, Delta State.

Maggie’s partner had decided to pay the bride price after years of being together. A source, who simply identified herself as Ofua, told Vanguard that the marriage was slated for February 15 and 16, and that they had even slaughtered a cow that will be used for the ceremony, when the bride suddenly clutched her chest and screamed.

Ofua said: “We were rushing her to the hospital when the car ran out of fuel and before we could get fuel, she gave up the ghost.” Those who knew the late woman, described her as a nice person, who was fond of saying nice words to everyone she met.

“She would greet you and ask of everybody including your husband and even your dog; we will miss her,” said a woman who refused to disclose her name.

In a related issue, a 42-year-old transporter, simply called Monday, was killed in Oghara, Ethiope West Local Government Area of Delta State.

Vanguard learned that Mr. Monday and some persons from Mosogar in Ethiope West had gone to attend a burial in Oghara. According to a source, Monday had decided to head home at about 2a.m. on Saturday morning, when, just after the bridge along Warri-Sapele high-way, a car intercepted the bus he was travelling in. Some men, after identifying Monday, dragged him out and butchered him with an axe, while the rest passengers were allowed to go.

Prof Ishaq Oloyede, Registrar, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), has slammed Nigerians that have been making jokes out of the missing N36m from the board’s office in Makurdi, Benue State.

The JAMB boss was reacting to the recent claim by Philomena Chieshe, a sales clerk in JAMB office, Makurdi that her housemaid connived with another JAMB staff, Joan Asen, to “spiritually” swallow N36m from the vault in her office.

In her confessional statement while being interrogated by a team of auditors, she said that Joan Asen and her accomplices confessed that they had been stealing the money “spiritually” through a mysterious snake that always sneaked into the office to swallow the money from the vault.

Oloyede, who appeared in Focus, a morning programmed monitored by DAILY POST on AIT, said it is quite unfortunate that Nigerians have decided to turn the incident into a joke, thereby celebrating mediocrity.

According to him, “That is Nigerians for you, making jokes out of serious issue. I didn’t find it funny since the story broke out because I think as a nation with a future, rather than celebrating those achieving success, we are busy celebrating people who should be caned.

“You turned serious issue into to a national or an international joke. There are many snakes in other establishment but because those overseeing them are also snakes, that is why they could not be able to identify those snakes.

“Rather than creating an impression that JAMB is extraordinarily bad, they should give us a lesson to check where we went wrong.”

Source: Dailypost

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday visited Yola where he insisted that he had fulfilled major promises made to electorate during his political campaign.

Buhari, who paid homage to Lamido of Adamawa, Alhaji Muhammadu Barkindo at his palace, said that the fight against corruption and maintaining peace and security were among the priorities of his administration.

“We appreciate security progress in the North East and the country at large.

He explained also that economic development has improved, especially in the area of agriculture.

“We are lucky that for the past two years farmers across the country experienced excellent harvests,” Buhari said.

He said that Federal ministry of agriculture and Central Bank of Nigeria would continue to support famers in years to come in order to sustain sufficient national food production and economy growth.

He said he was aware of the abandoned Chochi water and irrigation project in Yola South local government area and explained that no one should be blamed for it.

Barkindo had advised Buhari not to listen to the call by some “empty barrel Nigerian elite’’ that he should not seek for a second term.

“I am calling you to remain focus, stand firm and don’t listen to the empty barrels Nigerian elites who are calling you not to re-contest for 2019 Presidential election.

“They are burying their heads in shame and telling people that Buhari’s led Government has done nothing,” Barkindo noted.

He noted that the elite had forgotten that Buhari introduced Treasury Single Account where Tens of Trillions of naira belonging to Nigerian people was saved.

He listed some of the visible achievements of Buhari to include security, economy and fight against corruption.

He appealed to the Federal Government to look into the Chochi water and rice irrigation project which he said was abandoned for over 20 years .

The monarch appealed to the president to intervene and reconsider the upgrading of Moddibo Adama University of Technology, Yola into full pledge conventional university with schools of management, Information Technology, Health among others.

(NAN)

Former Archbishop of the Catholic Church in Lagos, Olubunmi Cardinal Okogie, has asked President Buhari to admit he has failed Nigerians. In a statement released today February 20th, Okogie said Nigerians are no longer happy with this administration.

The truth is: Nigerians are not happy; Nigerians are hungry and angry. They are not happy because their lives and their belongings are not safe. They work so hard while the value of the money they earn cannot make them enjoy basic things of life. Nigerians are unhappy because the economy has been so mismanaged that some cannot pay the school fees of their children. Nigerians are unhappy because they have not got jobs. Nigerians are unhappy because, instead of hope, they are offered propaganda and insults by the president’s men. Nigerians are angry because their loved ones are butchered by herdsmen while the response of government is woeful. The issue at hand is more serious than getting re-elected. It cannot be resolved by way of a facile intra-party reconciliation. Before it can succeed, this government must admit it has failed. Before it can retrace its steps, this government must admit that it has strayed from the path of keeping the promises it made, promises that made Nigerians to vote as they did in 2015. Apart from seeking intra-party reconciliation, this government must first reconcile with Nigerians by treating them with respect.”

Going historical, Okogie said the late football commentator, Ernest Okonkwo, was fond of using an Igbo proverb while giving a minute-by-minute description of football matches on the radio.

“Anytime there was an infringement that escaped the attention of the referee, he would ask his colleagues, Sebastian Ofurum or Tolu Fatoyinbo, if they too saw the infringement. If they confirmed what he saw, he would say in Igbo, ‘What two persons have seen and confirmed to be a boa must not be mistaken for a piece of diamond. One may apply that maxim to the situation in our country right now. There is anger in the land. Many voices are echoing it. These voices of anger are so deafening that it can no longer be denied. The level of discontent in Nigeria at this point in time is like the proverbial boa sighted by even more than two persons. It would be unwise to mistake it for a piece of diamond. It has been sighted by retired Generals Olusegun Obasanjo and Ibrahim Babangida, who have spoken of the anger in the land in clear and unmistaken terms. It has been sighted by traditional rulers, who have called the attention of government to it. It has been sighted by the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria when the bishops went to the corridors of power to speak to power in the way Biblical prophets directly confronted kings in Israel. This can no longer be treated as the cry of wailers. Even leading members of the party ruling at the centre have demonstrated commendable candour by openly acknowledging that the hopes of 2015 have been shattered by the disappointment of 2019.”

The clergyman criticised President Buhari’s aides for always attacking anyone who speaks out against the government

By their own reckoning, anyone who raises doubts as to the rightness of government policies, actions and statements is an enemy of government. He or she is ridiculed as speaking because there is no more access to ill-gotten wealth. A police officer, appointed to his office, demonstrated unspeakable insolence on television, calling an elected state governor a ‘drowning man.’ In other climes, he would lose his job. In Nigeria, he keeps it.”

He blasted the Kogi state governor, Yahaya Bello, for his comment about Catholics and Tithe paying christians. Few weeks ago, the Catholic Bishops in Nigeria paid a visit to President Buhari where they told him that he is losing goodwill amongst Nigerians. Bello in replying the Bishops, said those who are angry with President Buhari are looters who no longer have money to pay tithes in church.

Replying the governor, Cardinal Okogie said;

“The bishops did the same thing a few days ago, calling the attention of the president to the anger and disappointment in the land. At the end of their friendly exchange with the president, some of his aides and friends resorted to name calling and gratuitous accusations. Anyone who has a faint idea of how the Catholic Church is run would know that the Catholic Church does not run on tithes. It has never taught that God’s blessings depend on tithes. No Catholic bishop in this country has a private jet. Not even the Pope has one. But an uninformed state governor, notorious for being insolent, described the bishop’s intervention as the wailing of religious leaders who no longer have access to tithes because of this government’s anti-corruption fight. True friends tell each other the truth. There cannot be sincere friendship where there is no truth. Those who are telling our president the truth are his true friends. Those who are shielding him from the truth, while insulting those who tell him the truth, are his real enemies. By insulting well-meaning Nigerians who happen to disagree with policies of government, they are not winning friends for the president. They are in fact helping to grow the rank and file of the angry. Whoever loves this President would want him to succeed. Whoever wants him to succeed must tell him the truth. For if he fails, Nigeria fails.”

Lagos State Police Command has arrested a 6 – man syndicate that specialised in robbing Lagosians of their mobile phones and turning over its SIM cards to hackers who get hold of the account details of its owners and transfer its balances to their accounts.

Parading the group today, the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Imohimi Edgal disclosed that the syndicate comprised of three splinter groups visiting choice locations in the state to rob members of the public of their phones.

He stated that six suspects have been arrested by the Decoy Team of Rapid Response Squad of the command in relation to the fraud.

He noted that the group handed over the SIMs to another set of people that would through special computer apps get the bank account details of the owners and thereafter get the account balances.

Edgal added that the balance of the account is now transferred into different accounts sourced by another set of suspects.

According to the Commissioner, Nwanze Ifeanyi (27), Martins Achi (27) and Solomon Dike (31) rob people of their phones and fled the scene on motor cycle.

He stated that Muritala Mohammed (28) a.k.a Swallow through computer apps retrieved the names, bank details of the original owner of the SIM including BVN, adding that the recovered details are used to determine the account balance.

“Moneys in the account are transferred into different accounts sourced by the third group involving Shamson Mustapha (25) and Ali Hassan (27)”, Edgal added.

He revealed that the activities of the group were brought to the attention of the Decoy Team of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) when they stole the phone of one Yinka at a birthday party in Egbeda area.

He added that he worked on the phone’s SIM card and transferred N1, 153,000:00 from her FCMB account into the following accounts:

FCMB – Account number 1888032010 belonging to Ikechukwu Enyadike; Diamond Bank – Account number 00706675464 belonging to Oyinuro Victor and UBA – Account number 2096578968 belonging to Joseph Blessing Benita.

The owner of the account only got to know of the transactions when she inserted the replaced SIM into a new phone.

He further disclosed that further investigations into the activities of the group revealed that the gang also transferred N120, 000:00 from the Diamond account 2000050986 belonging to one Chima Mbakwe of No.3, BM Anyawu Close, Iba New Site.

According to Muritala Muhammed, an SS 2 drop out of Ojo High Secondary School, Lagos, he started hacking into bank accounts of people in June 2017.

“My first hit was N20, 000:00 and the banks accounts that I hack are UBA, GTB and Access bank. All the SIMs that I have worked on should be up to 47”, he added.

Exhibits recovered from the gang included two laptops, 10 SIM cards among other things.

According to Daily Mail UK, a student was electrocuted while playing on her phone as it charged, leaving her with the headphones ‘melted in her ears’.

Luiza Pinheiro, from Riacho Frio in Brazil, was rushed to hospital on Sunday but doctors were unable to revive her.

The 17-year-old’s lifeless body was found on the floor by a relative at about 5pm, the Mirror reported.

A ‘huge electric charge’ had destroyed her phone, which was plugged into a charger.

‘The girl’s grandmother told the doctor that they found her granddaughter unconscious, lying on the floor and with headphones in her ears,’ a hospital spokesman told local media.

‘They said they believe that the young woman had an electric shock because the cell phone was charging and the phone was melted.’

He added: ‘It is stated in the medical record that the girl was admitted to the hospital one hour after the electric shock.

‘The relatives said that the girl had received a shock, but the causes of death will still be confirmed.’

He said it was not raining at the time but there was a lightning storm.

It is not clear exactly how the teenager was electrocuted and the cause of the shock is still under investigation.

During a Live TV Program in Ghana, a guest on the show, a Ghanaian boxer, punched a co-guest, a comedian, Baba Spirit, and tried to beat him up on Live TV, after the latter decided to make a joke out of the boxer’s hairstyle.

The boxer, Ayittey Powers showed up to the studio as a guest on the show for an interview alongside Baba Spirit…but all of a sudden Ayittey Powers became angry, got up and started beating the comedian.

The boxer started his fight with a warning saying: “If I knew you were going to invite this boy here, I wouldn’t have come in the first place.”

He then launched a fierce attack on Baba Spirit who was still sitting helplessly. This got the host of the show, Sokoohemaa, very frightened and alarmed that she started screaming for help.

But the for timely intervention of the camera men and others who heard the cry for help, Baba Spirit would have been in a dangerous health condition by now.

Watch the video:

https://youtu.be/RWo7QnM93SU

The Federal government has declared hate speech as an act of terrorism and warned that it will, henceforth, prosecute those who indulge in the practice. Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said henceforth, offenders of dangerous comments would be treated in accordance with the 2011 terrorism Act.

The minister who spoke yesterday at the second National Conference of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Kano reminded that government directive from National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to sanction any broadcast station who allows its airwave to be used as medium for promotion of hate speeches, is still in place.

According to Mohammed, the Federal Government has continued to promote ethical standard and the core responsibility of the Journalism profession, but an attempt to circumvent its rightful position in the society could be inimical to the national cohesion.He said the media as moulder of public view has huge responsibility of preserving national unity, public values and peaceful co-existence.

“As gatekeeper, the media is expected in high hope to build responsible and lead vibrant societal development devoid of dangerous and hate speeches. The Federal Government will continue to promote and uphold ethical standard.”

Besides, a member representing Gumel, Gagarawa Megatiri federal constituency at the House of Representatives, Mohammad Sani Soro advocated legislative intervention on social media to check the devastating act of hate speeches on the platform.

Represented by the permanent secretary in the ministry, Grace Ita-Gekpe, the minister posited that as postulated by provisions of the constitution, freedom of expression and speeches privilege should not be abused. Declaring the conference open, Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje said national discuss on hate speeches cannot be considered more appropriate given the multiple challenges bedeviling the country’s unity and values. Ganduje applauded the union’s foresight and the choice of Kano to hold the national conference.

NUJ President Abdulwaheed Odusile cautioned members while exercising their powers on desks to be mindful of national interest.“ As journalists and editors, we have the responsibility to keep out all manners of hate speeches and filter any traces inimical to our peaceful coexistence as a nation. ‘’

Meanwhile, Kano State Government has said that the viral video of underage voters was shot during the 2015 election and belongs to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).The Commissioner for information, Mallam Mohammad Garba said, “the viral video contained scenes where INEC card readers was deployed, and nothing of such was used in the last council poll in Kano.”

Garba maintained that beyond any orchestrated attempt to rubbish the poll, the last election was adjudged best in the history of council election in the state.
Garba said “the council poll in Kano was adjudged the freest in the history of council poll in Nigeria by both local and international observers, and I made bold to say that the controversial video belongs to INEC.Consequent upon rains of criticism, Chairman of INEC Professor Yakubu last week constituted panel of inquiry to unravel the mystery behind the underage voting in Kano.