The Federal Government is to subsidise this year’s Hajj pilgrims with a maximum of N7.9 billion (N7,944,508,970) as against N2. 4 billion (N2,442,000,000) of the previous year, representing a growth of 225.3 per cent.
Vanguard’s investigations revealed that with total Hajj pilgrims of 65,167 for the year 2016 as published by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN and a maximum of $1000.00 per pilgrim, the total foreign exchange entitled to the pilgrims amounted to sixty five million, one hundred and sixty seven thousand dollars ($65,167,000).
Therefore, when $ 65,167,000 is multiplied with the difference between the Foreign Exchange, (Forex) market (N318.9 per dollar ) and the concessionary exchange rate of ( N197 per dollar), that is N121.91 per dollar, it would amount to N7.9 billion (N7,944,508,970) , while with a minimum of $750 per dollar for each pilgrim, it would amount to N5.9 billion ( N5, 958,381,727).
Further findings on the 2016 pilgrims for the top ten states showed that Kano state with total pilgrims of 5,808 had the highest entitlement with subsidy of N708,053 million followed by Kaduna state with 5,649 pilgrims with subsidy of N688.6 million.
They are to purchase a minimum of $750.00 and a maximum of $ 1,000.00 as Purchase of Pilgrims Travelling Allowance, PTA. The CBN in a circular issued on Thursday to all Authorised Dealers and General public, sistated that the Federal Government has approved that intending pilgrims are to be sold the PTA at a concessionary exchange rate of N197.00 to the US dollar.
According to the circular:
“No commission shall be charged by the banks for the sale of PTA to the intending pilgrims; The CBN shall sale the PTA to the designated banks in Lagos and Abuja and the accounts of the respective banks shall be debited as soon as the funds are disbursed.”
The debonair looking singer looks every bit of a classic man as he has the Friday funk in his traditional attire.
D’Banj stepped out looking dope yesterday for an event – the singer was styled by celebrity stylist, Swanky Jerry, who made the singer look dope in a black trad and leopard spots shoes.
I wonder why he has two wristwatches on though… Maybe each has different time zones… hpmh!
Some Teammates from the USA basketball team, ended up in a brothel in Rio, Brazil – claiming that they mistook it for a spa.
TMZ reports that the basketball players numbering about 6, went out on the town Wednesday night in Rio and strolled into Termas Monte Carlo … which Rolling Stone called “one of the high end brothels in Rio.“.
It has been learnt that, when you call the place, they’ll tell you it’s a spa that plays music … and it’s just for male customers.
A source close to the team said the players got the standard line, so they assumed it was kosher. The source said, “They realized it wasn’t the right place for them and immediately left.”
While inside, the players were only seen hanging at the bar. Multiple sources say they bought booze … nothing more.
I have been off the dating scene for a while so you’d understand what happens to a Nigerian guy after more than a month of no sex. I’ve had Intimate dreams and near wanking experiences but ever since I pledged to swear off the vaselines and joy soaps of the world, wanking had become a no no.
But I was not prepared for what I saw yesterday morning on Facebook. Facebook quickly threw up a suggestion, asking me to add this girl as friend. The thumbnail I saw quickly attracted me and I diligently clicked. Her profile opened quickly and I went straight to her photos. The first picture I saw stunned me.
Now, it was not that she was so beautiful. She was just pretty. But a combination of sexual hunger and her sensually provocative attire and posing dealt with me instantly. For such a young Nigerian girl, she was fully formed. She was exactly the kind of woman I’d go for. She had full hips, a sizable backside and big, obviously firm breasts. To top it off, she wore skin tight bum shorts and a body hugging top that made me instantly dream of all night romps between the sheets. My 28 year old joystick instantly shot up.
Now before you criticize, understand that at that point I didn’t know her age. Sure, she had a low cut and looked young, but I’ve dated many adults on low cut that could pass for 18. I had guessed that she would not be less than 18.
I instantly added her. Within minutes she accepted and I wasted no time to visit her message center. I said hello. She replied and the conversation began. My heart was racing, my joystick was throbbing and I had an insane urge to grab any soap, even Dettol soap or Tetmosol, and self-service off my frustrations. Thankfully I resisted the urge.
After brief niceties, I wasted no time asking about her. She politely answered my questions, told me she was about to enter SS3. That was when the alarm bells started ringing but I was already trapped. I asked her age but she declined, saying she didn’t feel comfortable discussing that. That was when I went direct. I told her the reason I wanted to know her age was because I had feelings for her and wanted to be sure she was not a teenager. She asked me what feelings.
I told her that I wanted to be close to her, that I wanted us to meet and become instant lovers. That I was seriously attracted to her and needed her so bad that I could not control myself for a minute. All these while, my hard, throbbing joystick had not cooled down. The girl calmly asked me my age. When I told her, she replied me that I was too old for her. I almost screamed, with all these assets? I again asked her age and her reply shocked me.
She said she was 15 years old! 15 years old and you look like a woman?! I stopped chatting for ten minutes to ponder what I had just learned and what I was feeling. In all my life, I had never dated someone less than 19 years old, even while I was a teenager, I had always been with the older girls. I ridiculed the guys that chased after teenagers, called them weak and unmanly. But now i felt trapped. The hardness of my dick refused to go down. What I felt for this 15 year old Nigerian girl was so strong that I couldn’t escape it. At that moment, I understood that even at the risk of statutory rape, I would gladly make love to this girl over and over if I met her. At that moment I became even more determined to be her lover.
I went back to facebook chat and told her so. I told that I had never felt for someone I had not seen the way I felt for her. While reminding myself that I couldn’t be worse than R Kelly, I wrote a love epistle that was guaranteed to win the heart of any teenager. The waiting began. It took her hours to respond. While I waited I fantasized and fantasized until I lost all control and pulled my boxers. I rushed to the bathroom. There was a quick explosion of joy seconds later. It felt so good for once and I was finally relieved.
When I returned to my phone, a series of messages were waiting for me. The girl politely told me that I was too old to be running after teenagers. That I should date adults and see her as a kid sister. That she had no interest in dating adults and for now, wanted to concentrate on her education. That she was happy to be my facebook friend but I should remove all thoughts of love making from my head. She advised me to get married and build a home with a woman instead of lusting after girls. Then she apologized if I felt insulted.
I had no reply for that. I read it over and over. That was when the hunger in me died down. I realized that what she said was true; I had no business developing a sexual interest in teenagers. Teenagers should be encouraged to be serious with their education not lured into sexual affairs. And it’s an adult’s duty to control himself, however tempted. A real man doesn’t lust after girls; a real man goes after women.
I thanked the girl quickly and left the chat in shame. But I would never forget her lesson. In one day, this girl had taught me to be a better person and I’d never forget her.
We may be looking towards Christmas and the new year but Easter still seems to be in the mind of Beyonce as she shared these lovely photos on her website of her visit with her family to the White House Easter Egg roll.
The “Sorry” singer’s mum, step dad and Solange‘s son joined her, her hussy and daughter.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has reportedly seized four houses worth N872 million from a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Sen. Bala Mohammed, and his son, Shamsudeen Bala.
The ex-minister is said to be under investigation on alleged fictitious contracts of about N1billion, allocation of 12 choice plots worth billions of naira and 37 other commercial plots of land worth about N8 billion to his suspected front named Tariq Hammoud as well as the controversial N1 trillion Abuja land swap.
More than 16 companies linked with fictitious contracts awarded by Bala had been under surveillance and their owners grilled by EFCC.
The anti-graft agency quizzed Shamsudeen, Hammoud and top directors of the Federal Capital Territory administration, including that of Treasury, Ibrahim Bomoi; Land, Babayo Mainasara, and Abuja Geographical Information Service (AGIS), Ms Jamila Tangaza.
Tangaza, who had been in detention in the past one week, was battling for bail as at press time. She has, however, been linked to N800 million questionable contracts to her personal firm apart from benefiting from plots of land from the ex-minister.
According to investigations, the ongoing probe of the ex-minister followed petitions against him, including complaints pending since 2013.
It was gathered that following preliminary findings, EFCC obtained an interim forfeiture order to confiscate a N650 million house at 1 and 3, Mariam Mukhtar Street, Asokoro.
The same forfeiture order was secured to seize the ex-minister’s son three duplexes costing about N222 million in the Apo Area of
Abuja.
A top source in EFCC, who spoke in confidence, said:
“We are probing the immediate past Minister of FCT on many allegations against him, including award of N1 billion fictitious contracts; abuse of office by allocating 12 choice plots to his son and 37 other commercial plots worth about N8 billion to Hammoud, who is suspected to be his front; land swap, among others.
“Some of the petitions against Bala Mohammed had been pending since 2013. Initial findings showed that the ex-minister used fictitious companies to award contracts worth N1 billion in FCT. In one instance, a man with three companies was allowed to bid for one slot.
“About 16 companies used for fictitious contracts are under investigation because they did not supply items credited to them.
“We have also uncovered how Bala allocated plots of land to his friends, business partners. For examples, he allocated 12 plots of land to his son, Shamsudeen, and 37 commercial plots of land to his business front called Tariq Hammoud.
“Some of those quizzed so far confessed that Bala used unconventional methods in raking illicit funds and laundering same. Each time the ex-minister allocated a plot of land, he would find out the market value and ask you to pay half of the amount to him in cash.
“For instance if a plot of land was N2 billion, Bala would ask for N1 billion cash from the prospective buyer. He was smart in collecting cash.
“But the EFCC has traced allocation of 37 commercial plots to Hammoud and how N8billion was made from it. In fact, we saw a proposal by Tariq Hammoud to sell some of the plots.
“So far, our operatives have arrested, detained and quizzed Shamsudeen. He is presently on administrative bail. We have also interrogated Hammoud.”
Responding to a question, the source said:
“Based on substantial findings, we approached the court to obtain an interim forfeiture order to seize a N650million from the ex-FCT Minister.
“What happened was that the former minister allocated some plots of land to Aso Savings and they bought the N650 million house for him at Nos. 1 and 3, Mariam Mukhtar Street, Asokoro District.
“The EFCC has confiscated three duplexes totalling N222million which were acquired by the ex-minister’s son.
On the fate of the ex-minister, the source said:
“We are investigating him, we are yet to invite him for questioning. Certainly, we are closing in on him.”
The source added that EFCC had grilled top directors of the FCT administration. “As for Ms Jamila Tangaza, we arrested and detained her because she was connected with the land scam and abuse of office.
“The ex-minister asked her to resign her appointment with BBC and appointed her as a Senior Special Assistant on Media and Information. But Bala allocated some plots of land to her to sell in order to acquire a mansion in Asokoro District too. Her house was allegedly worth N158million.
“Also, Jamila allegedly abused her office by awarding N800million contracts to her company which is called Songbird Multimedia.
“Her case was interesting. When she registered the company with the Corporate Affairs Commission, she used a fictitious name as the CEO of the company but she is the sole signatory to the company’s account and her phone number is the point of contact with the firm.
“We have sent her signature on CAC document and other specimen signatures collected from her to a forensic laboratory. Following a court order, we detained her in the past few days but as at Friday, she was pleading that we should grant her bail. We are looking into her request.”
The top source denied insinuations that the ex-BBC correspondent was handcuffed when she was taken to her office for a search.
The source added:
“You can verify from her what transpired. From custody in EFCC, we went with her to her office to recover some documents. We used the EFCC bus but along the way, she begged us to park the bus away from the vicinity of AGIS where she is a director. She did not want her staff and others to notice that she was brought to the office by EFCC team.
“We obliged her request by parking outside AGIS. We also didn’t allow policemen in uniform to follow her to the office. We assigned plain-clothe operatives and even asked her if she wanted the only lady in our team to follow her so that Jamila can blend with the crowd in AGIS without anyone suspecting anything.
“She said all plain clothe operatives can follow her. We did not put her in handcuffs. This is the extent we went based on her request to protect her reputation and integrity. The story of Jamila being handcuffed was rubbish.”
It’s Saturday! Which means it’s time for another video from us.
Here’s a brand new skit which promises to make your day! I’m sure you all should be able to relate to this…We’ve been mischievous at one point in time in our lives. Lol
Detectives attached to the Delta State Police Command, Asaba, on Thursday arrested the General Overseer of a church (name withheld) for allegedly raping a seven-year-old daughter of his member.
The police spokesperson in the state, Mrs. Celestina Kalu, said the suspect’s church was along Ibusa Road, Koka, Asaba.
She said the victim was allegedly lured into the church office with the intention of praying for her.
It was in the course of prayers that she was raped.
It was gathered that the victim could not keep the incident to herself, hence she cried to her parents on the matter.
Her parents were said to have taken her to the Federal Medical Centre in Asaba, where it was confirmed that she had been raped after discovery of bruises in her private parts.
Kalu said the matter was reported at the police headquarters, where detectives were assigned to investigate the matter, adding that upon investigation, the suspect was arrested and he confessed to the crime.
Saturday, July 23, 2016, was one day that will always give 18-year-old Praise Adelakin nightmares. That day, a journey from Ile-Ife, Osun State, to Ibadan, Oyo State, that was supposed to take her about two hours only, almost turned out to be a journey of no return.
A 300 Level Law student of Obafemi Awolowo University, Praise had gone to the school in the morning of that day to check whether her things were still intact in her hostel before resumption after some weeks of strike by lecturers in the institution.
Around 4pm, when she ensured she had put everything in place, she left for the Mayfair Motor Park in the town to board a bus going to Ibadan, where her family resides.
All things being equal, she should have been back in Ibadan by around 6pm on the same day, but by 12 midnight of the following day, she found herself in Ilorin, Kwara State.
Narrating the incident to our correspondent in Ibadan on Tuesday, she said, “We’ve been on strike for some weeks. Meanwhile, freshers had resumed three weeks before the strike, but due to the action, they were also sent back home. On July 23, I decided to go to school to check if my things were still intact and probably whether they had allocated my space (at Moremi Hall) to someone else. I got there and saw that my things had been scattered; my mattress had also been taken away with my buckets and other things, so I had to go round the rooms to gather them together. When I did that, I put them in my locker and locked them up.
“When I finished all that, I decided to return home and that was around 4pm. I had arrived in school by 11am.
So I went to the Mayfair Motor Park in Ife to get a bus back to Ibadan. It’s a popular motor park in the town because it’s a public one. When I got there, there were only two passengers in the bus and the driver was hanging around somewhere. All the same, I entered the bus to wait until we had enough passengers to take off. As of 7pm, we were only nine in the 18-seater white Mazda bus. It was getting dark, so everyone started complaining. We begged the driver to take off and told him that while on the way, it was possible he would get more passengers. He agreed and we took off.”
Praise and other passengers were happy the driver heeded their pleas. Nothing in the driver’s appearance or the look of the bus suggested anything sinister. After all, they boarded the bus in a motor park, Praise thought.
The journey proceeded normally until the driver swerved off the major road. He told them it was a short-cut to Ibadan. But the path turned out to be a ‘long-cut.’
She continued, “There is a university outside Ife town called Oduduwa University. A few minutes drive past it, our driver said he wanted to pass through a short-cut. He said because it was weekend, there was traffic in front. So he took us through the route. When we turned to pass through the so-called short-cut, we saw a bus in front of us and there was another bus behind us. It was a bushy path, but we were not so afraid because of the other two buses which were also taking the route. We thought it was a route which would take us to Ibadan faster.
“As we were going through the path, we got to a junction where we saw that the bus which was in front of us was already parked. The passengers had disembarked. As we got there, we were also flagged down by a group of about five men; our driver stopped and he himself ordered us to get down. Everyone was shocked and we wondered what was happening, but nobody talked. We were all just looking. The bus behind us was also stopped and all of us passengers in the three buses were up to 40. They asked us to lie face down. At that point, I became afraid as I knew something was wrong. As I lay down, I quickly sent a message on my phone to my dad, reading, ‘Dad, I am held hostage and I don’t even know where we are.
I think I am in danger. Please pray for me.’ I could use my phone to send the message because when they ordered us to lie down, the men went for a meeting at a nearby bush, together with our driver. My dad called me back after a few minutes, but I couldn’t pick it. The phone rang out. When they heard that my phone rang, they came back and collected my phone and others’. After collecting our phones, they went back to their meeting.
“After a while, they returned and surprisingly, they asked the passengers in my driver’s bus to get back in. They instructed our driver to go and ‘dismiss’ us off. I was afraid. I thought ‘dismissing us’ meant ‘killing us.’ Our driver looked disappointed, so he shouted at us to get in; he was now holding a gun.
Everybody kept quiet. Then he drove away inside the bush till it was really dark. When it was around 10pm, he started dropping us one by one. He would drive for about 10 minutes, drop a passenger and give him or her their phone and bag, then drive for another 10 minutes, drop another passenger, and on and on like that. He would spread the phones out and ask the person to pick their phone. It finally got to my turn and I think I was the sixth passenger to be dropped, I can’t remember full well because at that point, I had become so confused.”
When Praise got out of the bus, it was then that it dawned on her that she was in another world, in the middle of a forest and the screech of insects. By then, tt was around 11pm.
“He stopped me at a T-junction and gave me my phones, but they were already dead, so I couldn’t contact anyone. When he dropped me, he told me I was at Share (Kwara State). I didn’t know where Share was then. It was very dark, around 11pm. The village was quiet. Anywhere I turned to, it was forest all around me. I got to know later that Share was very close to Niger State. It’s a border town between Kwara and Niger states,” she said.
Suddenly, in the midst of the the forest and darkness, she heard the sound of a motorcycle coming towards her direction.
She continued, “I flagged down the rider and he stopped. I asked him, ‘I was told this is Share. Please, where is the nearest town or somewhere where I can get help from?’ The man simply said, ‘Ilorin.’ I know Ilorin quite well because my grandparents stay there, I once schooled there and my aunt still lives there. I got on the motorcycle and he took me from the jungle to Ilorin. When he dropped me, I could recognise the area and found out that the place was actually close to my aunt’s house, around Basin area.
“I asked him how much I should pay him. He just nodded his head and zoomed off. He didn’t utter a word or ask for money. Meanwhile, I was lucky my phone came up again, so I quickly called my dad that I was in Ilorin and that I was near my aunt’s place. He quickly notified my aunt that I was coming.
“I was dumbfounded. From where the motorcyclist dropped me, I trekked to my aunt’s house for some minutes and when I got to the door, around 12 am on Sunday, I knocked. She was a bit scared because she was expecting no one. She asked who was knocking. I replied, ‘It’s me, Praise.’ She retorted, ‘Which Praise?’ I said, ‘Praise Adelakin.’ She asked again, ‘Praise Adelakin from where?’ We often talk and so she recognised my voice. She then said someone should open the gate for me. She just didn’t know what to do when she saw me in the middle of the night.”
In the morning of that Sunday, Praise’s parents came for her in Ilorin to take her back home. But up till now, she has yet to recover from the incident.
She said, “I wouldn’t know what happened to the other passengers in the two other buses. I’m still trying to get over it because I’m still scared of boarding buses right now. I used to enter any bus as long as I see people inside it, but my experience has taught me to be more conscious. I am still amazed. It was not the first time I would board a bus from the park, and it is even a public park. It wasn’t a lift.
“My parents came over to Ilorin to pick me up on Sunday to return to Ibadan. They said they immediately started praying for me when I sent them the message. They also told me they went to the police station in Ibadan and contacted another one in Ife to report the incident, but the police said they couldn’t do anything about it.
“The police said they should go to MTN office to track my phone to know where I was. MTN said they needed a police report, which the police couldn’t give because they didn’t know about the incident. Everything was complicated. They said they had to resort to prayers throughout the night. I just thank God I am still alive to tell this story. I don’t know what would have happened to the passengers in the two other buses. I will be back to school this weekend as the strike has been called off.”
Could she describe the driver, his conversation with his fellow suspected ritualists and the area they were taken to?
Praise said, “I didn’t hear their conversation because they really went far away, but they could still monitor us. They talked in low tones. I can’t really describe the area but I know it’s a few minutes’ drive after passing the Oduduwa University that he branched into the bush.
“Our driver was wearing an ankara dress that day; he has an average height and dark-complexioned. Except one old man, almost all other passengers were students. I suspect that the drivers of the other two buses too belong to the gang because they all held the meeting together.”
Praise’s father, Timothy Adelakin, who is a pastor, said when he received his daughter’s message that she was in danger that day, his heart jumped out.
He said, “I just thank God for how He acted in the situation. When she was about leaving Ife that day, she called to say she was returning home and I thought she should be home two hours later. We were attending a prayer meeting in the church; we were rounding off when her message came in that I should pray for her. She said they were held hostage and she didn’t know where they were.
“When I got her text, I told the church members what had happened. I called other pastor colleagues to pray for us. We prayed again till 11pm. Around midnight, her aunt called me and said, ‘Speak to Praise.’ The next voice I heard was hers. I was filled with joy.
“I would like the authorities to investigate this incident because it is surprising that a driver from a public park could do this. They must have been doing it before. Praise told me the passengers of their bus and the two other buses were mostly students, so I am worried what would have happened to her colleagues.
I have already instructed her never to board private cars and she doesn’t do it. But with something like this happening in a public park, it is worrisome.”
Meanwhile, Saturday PUNCH learned that the Mayfair motor park closes by 4pm and vehicles no longer load passengers from the park after this time.
The Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, Ife 1 Branch, Mr. Gbadegesin Asiyanbi, when visited at the park, said Praise could not have boarded the bus from inside the park at the time she got there.
Asiyanbi said activities at the park close by 4pm, after which any driver is allowed to pick passengers on the road irrespective of where they come from.
He said, “There are no kidnappers in our motor park. I have never heard of anything like that. There is no way such thing can happen, we know ourselves, our members are true drivers.
“We lower our flag by 4pm and as you can see for yourself now (around 5:30pm when Saturday PUNCH visited on Thursday), there are no vehicles on queue, so anybody who boarded a vehicle between 6pm and 7pm here and is claiming they boarded it from our park is either ignorant or telling lies.”
They all wore mournful looks in the line-up, but no one would have readily known that three of the armed robbery suspects being paraded by the police that day used to be policemen.
Emmanuel Audu, James Momoh, Sunday Onuh and two former policemen; Sgt.Ochigbo Gabriel and Sgt. Francis Onuh hung their heads, trying their best to show remorse.
The former policemen among the suspects had been dismissed from the force for different offences. They later took up the tools of armed robbery.
Audu, 33, said he joined the Nigeria Police in 2003 but was dismissed as a constable in 2009 over his involvement in some illegal activities in Warri, Delta State.
Audu told journalists that shortly after he lost his job, he relocated to Lagos and became a dispatch rider until December last year when he was looking for a job and met Peter Owocho, another member of the gang who introduced him to the gang.
He said he partook in all the operations carried out by the gang, and that he used his share of their loot to took his family and pay his children’s school fees.
“I live at Ikorodu with my family. I took part in all the operations, but I was arrested on June 7, 2016 by the police,” he said.
A police source told journalists that before members of the gang were arrested by operatives of the Inspector-General Police Special Intelligence Response Team, the suspects specialised in robbing Chinese nationals in different parts of Lagos State.
The source said before they met their waterloo during an operation at the homes of four Chinese nationals in Gbagada, the suspects had carried out no fewer than 10 robberies between December 2015 and June 2016.
The source said, “The dismissed policemen normally gain access into the homes of the Chinese men under the pretence of conducting routine checks, or that they had information that they (the Chinese) were involved in drugs and currency counterfeiting.
“When they are allowed into their homes, the dismissed policemen would ransack the apartments and cart away all valuables including cash and electronic gadgets.”
As the suspects, who all hailed from Benue State reeled out their confessions, it left no doubt that they were a gang of notorious robbers.
Individually, they stated that bad association and their inability to get good jobs led them into the crime.
In his confession, Onuh, 33, said he had National Diploma in Business Administration and he used to work with a private security firm before he lost the job. Shortly before his marriage, he said he met a member of the gang, known as Jack, who introduced him to their operations.
He said, “He told me he would introduce me to a business. That was when I learnt that it involved robbing Chinese expatriates. He said we would go to the houses of some Chinese people and pretend to be engineers and that if they allowed us in, we would rob them. He said if they were not at home, we would break in.”
Sunday said he went to two operations at Omole Estate and Gbagada.
He continued, “Three of us went for the operation at Omole and we opened the door with a metal cutter since there was no one in the house. We stole phones, laptops and cash. I wouldn’t know how much we got but I was given N500,000 cash.
“At the operation in Gbagada, we wore coveralls and told the expatriates we wanted to repair electricity cables and they opened their doors for us. We went in and robbed them of their phones, laptop and money. I got N45,000 as my share after that operation.”
He said the locally-made 9mm revolver pistol they used belonged to Jack, and he was able to buy a car for taxi before he was arrested, after policemen traced one of the phones they stole at Gbagada to him.
Meanwhile, Owocho, 30, narrated how he met other members of the gang, saying his first operation with them was at Olusosun in Ojota.
“When we knocked, they opened the gate when they saw policemen. The (fake) policemen told them they suspected that they were involved in drugs. They allowed us into their apartment. We searched and we found three laptops, four phones and the sum of N700,000 and $770,” he said.
Owocho noted that after the operation, they herded all the Chinese and their family members into a room and locked them in before leaving.
He said they shared the money equally and that he got N110,000 and $100.
During their second operation at Medina Estate, Gbagada, Owocho said they used the same operation technique and they were able to get two laptops, one iPad and each of them got N50,000.
“The third operation was at Lekki and each of us got N25,000. On June 7, 2016, James Momoh and I were apprehended. My brother called me and I was arrested.”
Thirty-five-year-old Francis, a father of three, was also a sergeant in the police before he lost his job. He said his late friend, Cpl. Justin Igba, introduced him to some of the gang members. He regretted that his action had brought disgrace to himself and his family.
Even though he had no gun during their first operation together, he said he made use of his plastic pistol, jack knife and tear gas and that he usually stood outside while the rest went in and searched the apartments.
“Getting myself involved in crime is a disgrace to my family,” he concluded.
The police have said the suspects would be soon be charged to court as soon as the investigation was complete.
Ketchup is finally out with the much anticipated visuals of his trending single Baby Oh featuring DMW Boss Davido. The video which has appearances by JFEM, Viktor YBNL, Mr 2Kay, YCee and a host of others was shot by fast rising Video Director Stanz Visuals.
Uche Ogbodo has said she is used to negative comments and do now care about what people think. The actress and mother of one had earlier in the week posted a photo of herself with a ‘funny’ makeup, but said she had no say in the makeup because she did it for a runway and that was what the organizers wanted.
But fans who didn’t really know the motive of the makeup went in on her and called her all sorts of unprintable names. Uche however says, the life she lives puts food on her table, and she cares less about what fans think if they don’t understand her job. Below is what she told Saturday Beats.
“I am aware of all the negative comments people posted on my wall after I uploaded a picture some days back. That picture and the make-up were done for a designer that contacted me for a celebrity runway gig. The make-up artist felt that was the look that would work for them. I am an artiste and that work puts food on my table. In my past interviews, I have always said that I can do anything for my job. I don’t care what people think or say about me. It does not affect me in anyway and it is not going to make me cry neither would it make me feel bad about myself because I am a very confident woman.
“I began losing weight because after I had my baby, some people said that I was too fat while others felt I was not looking okay so I had to go to the gym to work on my body. I am a very busy girl and I work round the clock. If I am working on my body, it is because of the love I have for myself and my job so anybody who does not like it should know that I don’t care. If you don’t like the make-up applied on my face, then that is your business.
“Last week, I was filming in Abuja and I played the part of a tomboy so I needed to cut my hair to look the part. I have a full hair and I always cut my hair. It is my job and I will do anything I have for it. When the director told me to cut my hair to fit the role better, I did not think twice about it and that was why I did the Mohawk style. Right now, I am producing my movie and I am going to play the part of a blind girl. I will do anything to get into character. I don’t care what people say about my looks. I get bored with one particular look and if you know me well, I change my looks from time to time and if you do not like it that is your business. I don’t care about what anybody says; I wore the dress that the designer made and the make-up artist worked on my face to sell the product. When I got on the runway, people liked it and they took pictures. That was why I decided to upload it on my Instagram page so that my followers would have a feel of what I did over the weekend.
“Instead of applause, I got comments that I look like a masquerade or I am very dark. I am tired of insulting people on my page. I have a very sharp tongue and if I start to talk, people would say I am rude and I would later have to apologise for it. What I have learnt about being a celebrity is that you can never satisfy everyone. My career demands that I look different at all times. I am going to post a picture of me as a blind girl and I don’t care what people say,” Ogbodo said.
Patoranking has cleared the air about his rumoured arrest in Uganda a few days ago which made headlines.
Speaking to The NETng this afternoon, the reggae-dancehall singer stated that he was never arrested or detained at the Entebbe Airport in Uganda.
According to Patoranking, he had only experienced some delay at the airport which was resolved quickly. “What happened to me in Uganda has happened to the biggest musicians in the world. I was not arrested or detained” he said.
Patoranking was reportedly held for 7 hours by Ugandan authorities for failing to comply with their rules and also being rude in the process. You can read about it here.
Patoranking is currently on tour to promote his new album God Over Everything (GOE).
The Ministry of Education has denied harmonizing the degrees and higher national diploma awarded by universities and polytechnics.
A spokesperson for the ministry denied recent reports that the dichotomy between Bachelors and HNDs had been abolished, saying HND holders must meet new requirements to attain the Bachelors level.
Speaking to PREMIUM TIMES on Friday, Benjamin Goong, said the ministry lacked the power to end the inequality.
He however said the government had taken steps to bridge the gap to ensure HND holders are treated fairly when seeking for jobs.
“Two weeks ago, the ministry sent a memo to the National Council of Establishments (NCE) to institute a bridging program for the HND holders and the proposal was approved.
“The bridging program is for HND holders who can either attend the National Teachers Institute (NTI) or any institution offering post-graduate diploma programs, before they can attain the level graduates can attain in the public sector.
“As per the approved memo, after the bridging program, HND holders will now be offered jobs from grade level 8 and finish at grade level 17 like graduates. Before now, HND holders were only allowed grade level 7 and finish at grade level 14.
“That is as far as it goes for now regarding the B.Sc and HND dichotomy. Both are still very different from each other,” he said.
An education analyst, Dorothy Oseni, said creation of jobs for both B.Sc and HND holders was the surest way of bridging the gap between both classes of educated people.
“When the government, industries and companies no longer discriminate against HND holders in the labour market, the dichotomy will die a natural death,” she said
After the release of his record titled “Smile” EME signed artiste, Shaydee thrills once more with this new record titled “Pon Da Floor” which was produced by Maleek Berry.
So are you considering dating or perhaps, getting married to a single mother?! an American author named Shawn James has this week wrote a controversial essay titled ‘Why Real Men Avoid Single Mothers’ – giving 15 solid reasons why men should not date single mothers.
The essay has really caused a stir on Social media and we were thoughtful to share it with you guys.
WARNING: Single moms are at this point, warned that they’re not going to like the below essay. They should also note that the opinion was not written but was shared by the author of YBL.
1. Never Available. A single Mother’s schedule is never open.
Single mothers are the kind of women to always cancel dates at the last minute. Something always gets in the way of a man spending time with her. It’s hard to have a relationship with her because she’s never there.
2. YOU are NOT a priority.
Usually in a relationship the man winds up DEAD LAST. Behind, her kids, her job, the car, the kitchen sink, the stopped up toilet. Even the dog gets more attention and affection than a man involved with a single mother. Any man who gets involved with a single mother winds up a fifth stringer in a relationship. And he rarely ever gets called up to play.
3. Thinks the world revolves around HER and ONLY HER.
A single mother is one of the biggest narcissists on the dating scene. She often thinks that a man has to drop everything in his life to be part of hers and her kids. They’re so selfish they don’t think a man has needs, wants or a life of his own. He’s just supposed to be there to give her everything she wants in life.
4. Emotionally Unavailable
Most Single mothers cannot form an intimate connection with a man because her feelings are invested in other people. Usually her primary focus is on her children.
In addition to dedicating herself to her children, most single mothers have given their hearts to someone else- their children’s father. And those feelings she still has for him will always prevent her from getting closer to you. There will always be some distance between a single mother and the new man in her life.
Standing just 34.8in tall, Paulo Gabriel da Silva Barros, popped the question to 35.2in girlfriend Katyucia Hoshino in front of their closest friends at a sushi restaurant in their hometown of Itupeva, Brazil.
The 30-year-old has diastrophic dysplasia dwarfism while 26-year-old Katyucia has achondroplasia dwarfism.
But while the pair are short of stature, they say their love for one another grows bigger by the day. Speaking at the proposal dinner, Paulo said:
“Everything I researched, everything I planned on saying, I am going to forget it. I am going to do what my heart tells me. Everything is going to be improvised.
“As everyone knows, we’ve been together for eight years between living together and dating.
“And we haven’t got married yet. And since you are friends that have accompanied our journey for a long time, I wanted to share this with you and ask her to marry me.”
Katyucia, 26, who could not quite believe the offer, needed reassurance several times before saying yes.
She said: “Are you serious babe? Are you okay? Do you have a fever?”
The couple from Brazil now hope their engagement can lead to their official recognition as the world’s shortest couple.
“Once we get married we will try to be recognised as the world’s smallest couple through the Guinness World Records,” Paulo said.
They first started speaking on MSN messenger 10 years ago, but things did not originally go to plan for Paulo as Katyucia blocked him for being annoying.
She said: “The first time I started talking to Paulo, he was very annoying. He had cheap chat-up lines.”
But luckily enough for Paulo, Katyucia randomly decided to press the unblock button a year and a half later, allowing him to start again in his pursuit.
He said:
“She thought I was trying to flirt but I was just being nice. According to her I was a really boring guy.
“When she unblocked me, it didn’t take me more than a minute to say hello. we started speaking and she said I was more civilised.”
The happy couple are now planning their eagerly anticipated wedding day, with Katyucia searching for her perfect dress.
“This is the best part of getting married,” she said.
“After the marriage proposal I still feel shocked.
“The most important thing for me today is the pursuit of happiness. I think it’s about love and gratitude, always.”
Before becoming a welder, she’d been a worker in a company producing hair relaxer and air freshener – Miss Ozoalor shares her inspiring story of how she became what she is today and how she’s finding it handy.
The lady who bags a secondary school certificate says she was inspired to take on the welding job when she saw some welders close to her house, doing the job about five years ago – she says she acquired the skill for two years before she completed her training.
Ozoalor had pressure from her family folks not to take the job but thanks to her zeal and determination, she stuck to her heart desire, not putting to mind the financial allurement that may come from anywhere.
The lovely lady also shares her thought to NAIJ on women in the society whose hustles are not honorary and pleasing to the ears.
According to her:
“Selling their bodies will take away their respect from them. A woman can do anything in this world; there is nothing that a man can do that a woman cannot do.
“As far as your mind is on it, you can do it. Running up and down and sleeping with men will not help you. Anything a woman puts her mind to do, she can do it as far as she has interest in it. A woman can climb a tree and do anything. She can climb storey buildings and follow men up just as men do it. No man can do anything better than a woman as far as the woman’s mind is on it.
“The thing is in the mind, not in the physical appearance. They should release their mind and do something reasonable. A woman can do anything that a man can do on mother earth as far as I’m concerned. Prostitution is shameful and disgraceful, no good and decent woman should go into it. “Because they don’t even know who they are sleeping with, but this work, you know what you are doing, there is no fear in you of what may happen to you. But when you are going to the man, you don’t know whether he has disease that can infect you. So, nobody should encourage such lifestyle. It pays to be hardworking and there is a reward for every labour on earth”, she noted
We first caught a glimpse of the fan’s art after that of Simi was shared on Twitter – well, ladies and gentlemen, we bring to you more amazing photos of this fan’s art of his favourite Nigerian celebrities.
He should certainly make an art gallery – his works are pure! More below:
The dance hall artiste looked debonair as he donned a pink suit, promoting his new album ”God Over Everything’ on air with the beautiful OAP earlier today.
The both of them sure looked classic for a Friday outfit – by the way, can’t you see how perfectly well the singer rocked his pink suit, not many guys are able to rock pink though… but he did… Like a “Classic Man”.
Two Nollywood icons, Zack Orji and Jide Kosoko, have given us that lovely smile with this photo of them with beautiful actresses, Ayo Adesanya and Lady Vanani.
The actors are photoed here together on the set of a new movie – which we know of course, for the fact that the icons are featured in it, it’s gonna be a classic one!
A 55-year-old man has been arrested after he allegedly married a girl who was just six years old – in return for a goat.
Seyed Abdolkarim was taken in by officers after police were told he had married the child, named only as Gharibgol, in a religious ceremony.
The child was reportedly sold by her father who was also arrested by police after they claimed he exchanged her for the goat, along with rice, tea, sugar, and cooking oil.
He said he had been struggling to look after the family, and that exchanging his daughter meant he gained food and lost a mouth to feed.
The footage above was taken by Fawad Ahmady working for The Observers , and shows the arrest of Gharibgol’s father in his village as local women attacked him and beat him up.
He said that Abdolkarim had promised he wouldn’t sleep with Gharibgol until she was 18.
Following the marriage, the respected imam Abdolkarim was said to have taken his new wife to a relative’s house in Firozkoh, in Ghor province, as his daughter.
But they became concerned when they realised “he was undressing her at night” according to the report.
Mr Ahmady writes: “So he asked the mullah, ‘she’s not your daughter?’
“The mullah replied, ‘no, she’s my wife; her father gave her to me’. The host told a friend, who called the local women rights bureau for Ghor province.”
Tests carried out by the hospital in Ghor show that “there was no sexual intercourse”.
The child is currently being housed in a safe location with her mother.
Daniel Edet Inyang is currently receiving treatment in Atan Ete Mbakara village in Odukpani local government area of Cross River State, for second degree burns sustained from hot water.
According to CrossRiverWatch, the matter was reported to the Odukpani division of the Nigeria Police Force but no action has being taken till date.
Exclusive photos obtained by CRW shows Daniel is obviously not responding well to treatment as his body which is covered in Gentian Violet (GV) still show burns with blood clots. Moreover, he now moves around mostly naked.
“I had the privilege of sighting the photos of the injuries on the young lad; they are horrible and unpleasant to behold” says Barrister Eno Iyamba of Basic Rights Counsel, Calabar.
“The action of the so called landlord is a demonstration of the height of man’s inhumanity to his fellow man. This is a clear case of attempted murder. It is however unfortunate that the police in Odukpani where the case is said to have been incidented, simply glossed over it and did nothing. The police and other security agencies in the State have a fundamental duty to make the State children friendly.
“They must come to terms with the fact that there is a law known as the Child’s Rights Law of Cross River State,
2009. Children have a right to adequate protection and care, and not to be abused on flimsy and unsubstantiated grounds. I call on the police in the State to immediately arrest the perpetrator of this wicked and inhuman act to answer for his crime. Assuming the young boy indeed stole as alleged, it is criminal on the part of the landlord to take laws into his hands. There is absolutely no justification for this gruesome act” Iyamba said
On July 14, one Mr Aniettie, the landlord of the compound where the little boy’s guardian Obong Ette, had accused Daniel of stealing his phone and poured hot water on him.
Neighbours of Christopher Harrold found him hanging in the corner of his bedroom after being absent for several days in Redland, Bristol, England.
The 26-year-old had reportedly pleasured himself and strangled himself as a way of ireasing sexual excitement by restricting oxygen flow to the brain. According to police reports, a laptop and mobile phone was found near his body in his room.
Although no further details about his death were given a coroner believed that the young man didn’t plan to hurt or kill himself. Post mortem examination as well as the circumstances around the death pointed at auto-Intimate asphixation as the cause of death.
Days before tragedy Mr Harrold moved into his new house which he shared with his three close friends and was in good spirits, according to his family. That’s why his neighbours noticed his absence only two days after his bizarre unintentional suicide.
One more odd death was reported by foreign media about a 20-year-old woman who passed away minutes after kissing her boyfriend.
So there have been well dressed presidents, over time, but in recent memory, President Buhari seems to have taken the trophy for ‘Best Dressed Nigerian President’.
Almost every time a picture has been released, either by the official photographer, Bayo Omoboriowo or just by the press, the president has been very well dressed. Here are 10 times, he was so well dressed, he could have taken your girlfriend from you:
1. When he was on his James Bond swag with this perfect bow-tie:
‘Hey baby, My name is Buhari, Muhammadu Buhari.’
2. When Buhari was looking like the Godfather in this suit:
He was looking like he would make your girlfriend an offer she couldn’t refuse.
3. When he was Muhammadu ‘Okechukwu’ Buhari, with that signature red cap and beads
‘Nne, wassup, come, let me help your life’.
4. When he totally slayed this Agbada, ‘Yoruba-demon’ style
This Agbada is the Agbada all other Agbadas look up to.
5. When he totally rocked this Rivers traditional attire
Looking like a typical Ikwerre man with houses to rent and millions to spend.
6. Every woman loves a man with great taste in shoes, and you see those shoes in the picture below? They are of the best quality
Bow mere mortals! Bow!
7. Have you seen the Mac look better in anyone else’s laps? The swag in this picture is blinding.
He is probably listening to Wizkid’s verse on ‘One Dance’. who knows?
8. Who doesn’t love a man in uniform? Can you see the way it seats so well on him too?
Meanwhile that open teeth is definitely one reason the first lady fell for him, that open teeth is goals!
9. Agility at his age is definitely attractive. His pose here is to die for too
Just look at how he outshines Fashola in this picture. Baba is old age goals.
10. Just look at the amount of beauty, male and female in one picture?
Ketchup is finally out with the much anticipated visuals of his trending single Baby Oh featuring DMW Boss Davido. The video which has appearances by JFEM, Viktor YBNL, Mr 2Kay, YCee and a host of others was shot by fast rising Video Director Stanz Visuals.
X3m music presents this new Oscar produced record titled “Outta My Head” which features label mates, Simi & Praiz.
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