Blog by XANTAPLUS: May 2015

Sunday, 31 May 2015

TRAGEDY IN ONITSHA AS SEVERAL PEOPLE WERE BURNT TO DEATH IN GHASTLY ACCIDENT.

No fewer than 69 persons burnt to death Sunday evening when a trailer loaded with Premium Motor Spirit otherwise known as petrol that was descending from Army barracks side of Onitsha Enugu express way lost control and rammed into the Asaba Motor Park at Upper Iwekas Onitsha and exploded.

Eleven vehicles mostly commuter buses and two motorcycles inside the Asaba Park Onitsha including the 40 foot tanker laden with petrol burnt beyond repairs inside the park.

Governor Willie Obiano and the Anambra State Commissioner wept on seeing the number casualties when they visited the scene of the accident, the Governor told the relations of the victims to take heart and promised that the state will help in ensuring that the living victims are well taken care of in their respective hospitals

Gory picture after the cut.

CHINA EXECUTES TEACHER WHO RAPED 26 STUDENTS SOME AS YOUNG AS 4 YRS OLD. #SAYNOTORAPE.

A former Chinese elementary school teacher has been executed for molesting or raping 26 students, some as young as 4, in a case underscoring the vulnerability of rural children left behind by parents seeking jobs in cities.

The intermediate People's Court in the impoverished western province of Gansu said it carried out the sentence against Li Jishun on Thursday after it was upheld by the nation's Supreme People's Court. Li committed his assaults in the classroom, dormitories and surrounding forest areas in 2011-2012.

In its ruling, the Supreme Court said all of Li's victims were girls younger than 12 who attended his village boarding school and "were his responsibility to educate and protect."

READ PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI'S INAUGURAL SPEECH.

I am immensely grateful to God Who Has preserved us to witness this day and this occasion. Today marks a triumph for Nigeria and an occasion to celebrate her freedom and cherish her democracy. Nigerians have shown their commitment to democracy and are determined to entrench its culture. Our journey has not been easy but thanks to the determination of our people and strong support from friends abroad we have today a truly democratically elected government in place.

Sepp Blatter won FIFA presidential re-election for an unprecedented fifth term as challenger, Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan, conceded after failing to win by a two-third majority in the first round of voting on Friday.

At FIFA’s 65th Congress in Zurich, the 209 member nations cast their votes and the 79-year-old Blatter garnered 133 votes to Prince Ali’s 73 of the 206 valid votes cast, but failed to win the two-third majority on the initial vote (more than 139 out of 209).

At that point, Prince Ali addressed the voting members and conceded.

Since the telephone call you made, you have changed the course of Nigeria’s political history and for that you have earned yourself a place in our history, for stabilising multi-party democratic system and you have earned the respect of not only Nigerians but world leaders”.

These words from the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari to out-going President Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday, summed up the mood at the council chambers of the Presidential Villa as President Jonathan presented hand-over notes to his successor, Buhari, who will be sworn in today.Buhari-tasks

Speaking at the Presidential Villa after receiving the hand-over notes as well as the report of the National Conference from President Jonathan, Buhari said by the singular phone call that Jonathan made to him conceding defeat, he has changed the course of the nation’s political history.

Nigeria’s outgoing agriculture minister Akinwumi Adesina has risen from humble origins to become the head of the African Development Bank at a time of economic transformation on the continent.

The son of a poor farmer earning 10 US cents per day in Ogun state, southwest Nigeria, 55-year-old Adesina gradually climbed the social ladder, according to friends.

He earned a first-class honours degree in agricultural economics from the southwestern University of Ife and a doctorate in the same subject at Purdue in the US midwest in 1988.

With his largely poor score, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan is retiring to his village, Otuoke, in Bayelsa State. Now is time for President Muhammadu Buhari to do what his predecessors, especially Jonathan could not do to re-engineer the country. CHARLES ABAH looks at the key areas that will shape the tenure of the soldier-turned politician

Fuel subsidy

After the recent strike by oil marketers that almost crippled economic activities in many parts of the country, it is clear that the incoming government must do something urgent to prevent a recurrence of the event in the future. Investigations show that many Nigerians, still smarting from the effects of the strike, are willing to back any move by the new government to remove the contentious fuel subsidy once. Yet, outright removal of the subsidy will amount to robbing Nigerians of what looks like the only thing they now enjoy from the government. Besides, millions of Nigerians are already burdened by poverty.

President Muhammadu Buhari took the oath of office as the fourth democratically elected President of Nigeria after the country’s return to democratic rule in 1999. Finance analysts, who spoke to IFEANYI ONUBA, were of the view that he must within 90 days come up with pragmatic policies to reposition the nation’s economy

To say that Muhammadu Buhari will be taking over the realms of affairs of the country at a time when both the global and domestic economies are in dire need of help is stating the obvious.

The world is currently experiencing weaker-than-expected growth in major economies.

Global attention shifts to the world’s most populous black nation on the planet, Nigeria, where the country’s fifth democratically elected president, Muhammadu Buhari, will be inaugurated on Friday (today).

Contrary to speculations, indications emerged on Thursday that the outgoing President, Goodluck Jonathan, will attend the historic occasion which would mark the first time a sitting president would hand over power to a victorious challenger.

The event expected to be witnessed by many world leaders will take place at the Eagle Square, Abuja, the nation’s hilly capital city.

Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has accused the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of gross mismanagement of the nation’s economy in the last four years and feeding Nigerians with half-truths.

According to the governor, in an article reviewing the nation’s economy in the last four years, he alleged Okonjo-Iweala ran the Excess Crude Account (ECA) as if she was running a one-man show, saying her recent outcry that oil marketers were falsifying subsidy claims might have been done out of fear of the incoming administration led by Major-General Muhammadu Buhari.

In the article, the governor said: “As the country transits from one democratic dispensation to another, there is no gainsaying that the state of the nation’s economy is the focal point, especially with the unending fuel scarcity which is gradually grinding the nation to a halt.

As the world awaits the inauguration of Muhammadu Buhari as the President of Nigeria, controversy over the contentious fuel subsidy claims has taken a centre stage following the fuel scarcity that almost brought the country to its knees.

This is coming as the Federal Government is said to have spent more than N6 trillion from 2006 to 2014 on fuel subsidies. Vanguard can now reveal the amount spent on subsidy since 2006. The table below shows the amount spent on subsidy from 2006:

As the Coaster bus tried to meander through the surging crowd and the sea of human heads, chanting “Sai Baba”, Mr. Muhammadu Buhari tapped his running mate, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, by the shoulder, pointed in the direction of the vehicle’s window and asked: “Look at that man; what can you see from his face?”

Osinbajo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, who was then apparently just adjusting to life as a politician, replied: “I can see real excitement on his face. Like many others here, the man is obviously very happy to see us.”

Evidently not satisfied with the response he got, Buhari asked Osinbajo to look at the man again. When the former Attorney General of Lagos State returned the same answer, Buhari decided to lecture him: “That man you are looking at believes that if we win this coming election, all his problems will be solved within 24 hours after we take over.”

IF YOU PROBE ME THEN YOU MUST PROBE OBASANJO, ABDULSALAMI, SHONEKAN & BABANGIDA - JONATHAN SAYS TO BUHARI.

President Goodluck Jonathan has advised the incoming president, Muhammadu Buhari, not to single his administration out for probe.

He said if Mr. Buhari must investigate him and his administration, he should do the same for the past governments.

A probe centred only on the Jonathan administration will amount to a “witch hunt”, the president said Wednesday at a valedictory cabinet meeting attended by ministers ahead of his handing over to Mr. Buhari on Friday.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has said that it will obey the decision of the court of “competent jurisdiction” on the ongoing case involving Senator-elect, Buruji Kashamu.

In a statement by Mitchell Ofoyeju, its Spokesperson, Wednesday, the NDLEA said that as a government agency and a law enforcement institution, it has respect for the rule of law.

A Federal High Court in Lagos had on Tuesday ordered NDLEA operatives, who had laid a siege around Mr. Kashamu’s home since Saturday, to vacate the Senator-elect’s house.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed an appeal filed by Iyiola Omisore, challenging the Court of Appeal’s judgment, which affirmed Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s election victory in Osun.

Mr. Omisore, the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the election held on August 9, 2014, had challenged Mr. Aregbesola’s victory at the Election Petition Tribunal, and lost.

He appealed against the tribunal’s judgement at the Appeal Court but lost again as the court upheld the tribunal verdict.

Not satisfied, Mr. Omisore approached the Supreme Court to set aside the Appeal Court’s judgement, claiming that there was miscarriage of justice in the process.

Six Fifa officials, including vice-president Jeffrey Webb, have been arrested on suspicion of corruption in dawn raids at a Zurich hotel ahead of Friday's presidential election.

The members of the world governing body were held by Swiss police at the US Department of Justice's request. They are suspected of having received bribes totalling millions of US dollars, the Swiss authorities said.

The FBI and US Department of Justice will hold a news conference later.

Out-going Rivers State governor, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, has challenged the state governor-elect, Mr Nyesom Wike, that he (Amaechi) was not afraid of his administration being probed.

Speaking at his 50th birthday public lecture in Port Harcourt, Amaechi said “Listening to the governor-elect, Wike, I am trying not to respond to him because he has been accusing me of corruption, forgetting that he was the Chief of Staff to this government and knows well how this government is being run. So, how can he turn back and accuse me of corruption? Then he must be part of the corruption himself.”

Meanwhile, Amaechi at Government House during the inauguration of the 22 local government chairmen, elected at Saturday’s council elections, said that Wike cannot dissolve the 22 councils elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, as such power only lies with the court.

Last week, the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, told the nation in an interview with a national newspaper that he gets confused when Nigerians talk about subsidy.

He said: “One of the problems I have, other than the military, is the petroleum industry where I served for three and a half years under General Olusegun Obasanjo. When people start talking about subsidy I honestly get confused. I will tell you this, and I hope it will answer what you want to know.

Back then we had a refinery in Port Harcourt, which was refining 30,000 barrels a day of Nigerian crude.

“Later, it was upgraded to refine 100,000 barrels a day. Another refinery was built in Port Harcourt to refine 150,000 barrels per day of Nigerian crude. So, Port Harcourt alone had the capacity to refine 250,000 barrels per day of Nigerian crude.

Boko Haram militants have killed at least 43 people in a five-hour assault on the town of Gubio in Borno State, witnesses told Reuters on Tuesday.

Thousands of people have been killed and several millions displaced in a six-year Boko Haram insurgency that once saw the group control an area the size of Belgium. But the Islamist insurgents have since lost most of their gains to military counter-offensives.

The latest attack, which a military source said involved a convoy of around 50 Boko Haram members storming Gubio, lasted for around five hours on Saturday afternoon and ended about 9.30 p.m., local resident Mallam Yusuf Mohammed said.

First impressions, they say, are everything. Not the same for anyone who is president of a country like Nigeria. With Nigerians, last impressions are just as important as first impressions. Goodluck Jonathan’s last week as President has seen Nigeria shut down due to power cuts and fuel scarcity. Lives have been lost, airlines cancelled flights, media houses and banks closing early, telecom companies declaring their services would be hampered by the scarcity of diesel. One could argue, despite the turmoil that characterised his tenure, that this has been Jonathan’s worst week as President. In the midst of what has looked increasingly like a national security issue, the government has offered nothing in terms of explanations or an attempt to offer the way forward.

FEMALE CORPS MEMBER FOUND DEAD ON THE STREET IN ILORIN. #NYSC

The death of a female corps member has been reported in Ilorin, the capital of Kwara state.

According to Vanguard, tragedy struck in Ilorin, Kwara State capital, on Sunday night as a member of National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, serving in the state, Miss Yetunde Shukurat Idowu, was found on the street, dead.

It was reliably gathered that her last visit before she was found dead was to the popular shopping mall, Shoprite, located along Fate Road.

NDLEA insist that its officials will not leave the premises of Buruji Kashamu who is wanted in the USA for drug offences.

It said this in reaction to an order from a Federal High Court in Lagos today directing officials of the agency to vacate the premises of Kashamu.

In a statement signed by its spokesperson, Mitchell Ofoyeju, NDLEA said it has not received the reported court injunction and that the siege is within the law.

Read the statement after the cut...

Nigeria and Liverpool forward Asisat Oshoala has been named as the BBC Women's Footballer of the Year.

The 20-year-old forward is the first player to win the new award from the BBC World Service, voted for by football fans around the world.

She beat Spain's Veronica Boquete, German Nadine Kessler, Scot Kim Little and Brazilian Marta to the honour.

"I would like to say thank you to the BBC, to my fans around the world and to everyone who voted," she said. The award is the first of its kind hosted by a global broadcaster.

Popular BeatFM OAP "Tolu Oniru" (TOOLZ) got engaged to her boyfriend Captain Demuren in the Dominican Republic where they are both on holiday... She is officially off the market.

Congrats TOOLZ...

See more pictures after the cut.

The UI management urged the students to immediately vacate the institution premises, NAN reports.

Muhammed Oladejo, the director of communication, said the alumni were asked to proceed on a two-week mid-semester break.

A UI official, who pleaded for anonymity confirmed the recent development:

Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, yesterday, said Nigerians should not expect miracles from the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, saying, he will not be able to repair eight years bad governance overnight. He, however, warned the President-elect against cover up,urging him not to take Nigerians for granted when he assumes office as the president from May 29.

Obasanjo said this while addressing a delegation of South West women leaders under the leadership of the Iyalode of Yorubaland, Chief Alaba Lawson, who paid him a visit in his Abeokuta country home.

The South-West women leaders which include Iyaloja General of Lagos, Folashade Tinubu-Ojo; Iyalode Otan-Ayegbaju; Stella Olubunmi among others, begged Obasanjo not to abandon the President-elect when he assumes office.

Real Madrid fired their coach Carlo Ancelotti on Monday, club president Florentino Perez said, making the popular Italian pay for a disappointing season without a major trophy.

“The board of directors has taken the decision this afternoon to relieve Carlo Ancelotti of his duties as coach of Real Madrid,” Perez told a news conference at the club’s Santiago Bernabeu stadium.

“It has been a very hard decision… but Real Madrid is extremely demanding and we believe it is time to give a new impulse” to the club.

A Boko Haram survivor, James Yaduma, has given a graphic and detailed account of how he lost almost all the members of his family to the violent terrorist group, Boko Haram.

Yaduma, a native of Zha, Hong Local Local Government Area of Adamawa State, who currently resides in Mararaba Gurku near Abuja, in his account narratwd to Mohammed Ismail of Leadership Newspaper, revealed how members of his family were burnt alive by the Boko haram insurgents when they attacked Zha.

Yaduma, who said his life will never remain the same, said he witnessed how his aged father, mother and other relatives were burnt alive by the insurgents.

The real reasons the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) Tuesday night, sealed completely the business outlet of a popular elite and confectionary company, Chocolat Royal has emerged, The City Reporters can exclusively report.

Apart from the importation, storage and use of fake, unregistered and expired/unwholesome food products to produce consumables for customers, we can authoritatively report that Chocolat Royal was sealed by NAFDAC on discovery of six illegal 40ft cold rooms fully stocked with contaminated food products built on top of sewages (suck away pit) and in front of toilets.

Not only that majority of these food products discovered, have expired since 2004, (11- years ago) and the least 2013, the most worrisome aspect of it all was the discovery to the consternation of NAFDAC officials that the management of Chocolat Royal had revalidated the expiring dates of almost all the food products, while 90 % of them were not even written in English language and therefore not registered.

THE FAILED GENIUS.

In one of her last face-saving measures, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Coordinationg Minister for the Economy, CME, “directed the immediate termination of the partnership between the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme and Forcecom Networks Limited on the Graduate Internship Scheme.”

Even before reading the story to the end, something told me that it was another contract given to one of “our brothers” which now threatens to put everybody in trouble when the new government takes office in June.

And sure (pardon the pun) enough, the Managing Director of Forcecom Networks turned out to be one Paul Okafor, who allegedly “coerced the interns to sign an undertaking to pay N7,500 out of their monthly stipend for training with the Lekki Business School.”

IFEANYI UBAH'S CAPITAL OIL SET TO RELEASE 13 MILLION LITRES OF FUEL TO EASE SCARCITY.

Capital Oil and Gas Industries Limited, said it is releasing about 13 million litres, approximately 400 trucks of petroleum products including premium motor spirit, popularly called petrol, to ease the scourge of the endemic fuel scarcity that Nigeria had been plunged into.

The move has therefore, broken the ranks of oil marketers and depot operators, who have refused to import any more products until their outstanding subsidy claims of over N200billion is paid by the Federal Government.

Read full statement after the cut.........

Our dear President, please permit me to write my last epistle to you as our leader and Commander-in-Chief. By this time next week, I expect you to have flown back to Yenagoa via Port Harcourt. How I wish I could have the opportunity of being on that last trip, not to mock you but to capture your swinging moods in those few moments of realising that the end has come eventually. I would love to know how many of your big friends would take the pain to follow you or if most would abandon you to your fate and move on pronto to the new brides. Even as a writer with what I believe is vivid imagination, I’m not able to paint a picture of the sort of life or future that awaits you in Otuoke, Yenagoa, Abuja, Chad, Germany, Dubai or wherever you decide to hibernate in the short or long run.

BREAKING NEWS!!!!!! PDP NATIONAL CHAIRMAN ADAMU MUAZU (@MUAZUAA) FORCED TO RESIGN.

Embattled National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, on Wednesday resigned from his position as previously predicted on this blog. The Deputy National Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Uche Secondus, has taken over as the acting National Chairman of the party.

This followed the resignation of the party Chairman, Adamu Muazu, who threw in the towel on Wednesday on health grounds.

The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, who confirmed this to journalists at the Wadata Plaza secretariat of the party, commended Muazu for his services to the PDP and love for the nation.

A married British woman has died only days after travelling to India to meet her younger lover.

Angela Slinn, 45, of Crewe, Cheshire, allegedly did not tell her estranged husband that she was flying to see Jaspal Singh, 30, whom she met on Facebook.

But the mother-of-three died on Sunday after being taken to hospital with pneumonia about a week after landing in the country on May 4.

Mrs Slinn, who worked as a nurse, had spoken of the trip to her children, aged 15 to 24 – but did not mention it to her husband Stephen, 48, according to The Sun.

Her mother-in-law Doreen Slinn said: ‘I don’t understand how a healthy woman can suddenly die like that. She went to India because she thought she’d found love - but it turned into tragedy.’

If I decide to bring out the Part 3 today, it is because my brother @Kola Adebayor and my other siblings have decided to talk about our family issues on social medias, through letters to my club, radios…I could write an autobiography and sell it but I decided to share with you here.

25 years ago, my big older brother Kola went to Germany and he became the hope of our family. We all thought he could change the way we were living. Years after he left Togo, we still had no electricity and no phones. If he wanted to talk to us, he would call the Atlantic Hotel that was very close to our house. We would then run to the hotel reception and talk to him.

When I got the opportunity to go play football in France for the first time, we needed money to for the flight tickets and other expenses. My brother was nowhere to be found. Only God knows what he was doing in Germany.

Super Eagles captain, Vincent Enyeama, has been ranked the 18th best goalkeeper in the world in 2015 by United Kingdom newspaper, The Telegraph.

In a poll conducted by the media outfit on its website, votes were cast to determine who the best keeper in the world was and the Lille goalkeeper made the list of top 20 goalkeepers in the world.

Bayern Munich’s Manuel Neuer is in first place followed by Manchester United’s David De Gea and Chelsea’s Thibaut Courtois. Joe Hart of Manchester City is fourth while Gianluigi Buffon of Juventus came fifth.

Media mogul and senator-elect, Ben Murray Bruce has stated that he is fighting the elite because they consume the resources of the country at the expense of the poor.

Bruce, who is known to champion the cause of the masses, noted that it is absurd that a few elected officers monopolise the resources of the country, living a champagne life while majority of Nigerians live below a dollar a day.

“I am fighting against the elite. Definitely, I am fighting them. When they drink that champagne that can educate a child, they should know that I am fighting them. You don’t fly a first class in government while in your private life, you fly economy. I am totally against their lifestyles,” he said in an interview with Vanguard.

Twitter is reportedly planning to ban up to 10 MILLION accounts from its service in an attempt to clamp down on the amount of porn and adult content shared on the service.

A report from a Wall Street analyst has pointed to a network-wide purge targeting those that break the company's terms of service. No user is permitted to have pornographic or violent imagery as a profile picture or background image.

But explicit material can currently be tweeted on the network and is labelled as "containing sensitive content". Several porn stars have already spoken out against the possibility of being booted off Twitter.

Though yet to be officially announced, Thisday gathered that all formalities for Adeshina’s appointment as Buhari's spokesman have already been concluded. Adeshina, is the Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of The Sun newspaper. He is also the President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE).

The Sun Newspaper, it was gathered, is already concluding plans to re-jig its management structure following Adesina’s imminent departure.

With this appointment, Adesina becomes the second person to be appointed while serving as the president of the NGE. The first person was the late Mrs. Remi Oyo, who was appointed by former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

The impeachment plot against the Niger State Governor, Aliyu Babangida, may have been stalled as the members of the state House of Assembly pushing for the governor’s removal have been paid N17m each.

Our correspondent gathered that the lawmakers after receiving the N17m each were also promised by the state government that their other demands would soon be met.

Consequently, the lawmakers have decided to stop the impeachment move against the governor.

Following the impasse that has left Rivers State without a substantive Chief Judge for long, the Federal Government, yesterday, directed the Chief Judge of Bayelsa State to swear in the governor-elect of Rivers State, Chief Nyesom Wike, on May 29.

Meanwhile, lawyers have reacted, expressing divergent views on the development.

The directive for the Bayelsa CJ to administer the Oath of Allegiance and Oath of Office on Wike was contained in a statement by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke, SAN.

MEET SENATOR-ELECT DINO MELAYE'S LAMBOUGHINI. Lol....

Senator-elect Dino Melaye posted this on his facebook page before it was taken down.

In the caption for the Lamborghini, the senator-elect says ‘No Vex, Na God’. And we can deduce he was talking to his haters................

BUHARI IDENTIFIES 3 KEY AREAS HIS ADMINISTRATION WILL FOCUS ON.

President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, has identified insecurity, the economy/unemployment and corruption as the focal areas that would define his administration.

The incoming President disclosed this in Kaduna yesterday while playing host to the national executive council of the Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, where he promised that his administration will not tolerate people living above their means.

“My administration will concentrate on three major areas on assumption of office; that is insecurity, the economy/unemployment and corruption. We will ensure we nip insecurity in bud,” he said.

Former NFL and Temple University football player Adrian Robinson committed suicide by hanging, the Philadelphia medical examiner’s office told the Denver Post on Monday.

Robinson had recently signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League, and the team announced his death on Sunday. Robinson was 25.

The former NFL linebacker played 12 games for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2012 and then spent time with three different teams — the Broncos, Chargers and Washington — in 2013.

“Adrian was a beloved father, son, brother, friend and teammate,” the Symmetry agency, which represented Robinson, said on Facebook. The agency also started a GoFundMe campaign for Robinson’s daughter, Avery Marie.

Robinson compiled 22.5 sacks over his four years playing for Temple, and he received the 2009 MAC Defensive Player of the Year award.

NIGERIAN AIR FORCE MEN BEAT FAAN OFFICIAL TO COMA.

An official of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, was yesterday beaten unconscious by two Nigerian Air Force officers in charge of traffic control at the departure section of the international terminal wing of Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos.

The FAAN staff, Mohammed Shuaibu, who works at the protocol and passages of the agency, had told his friend to pick him at the airport but when he arrived, the airmen attempted to remove the number plates of his car.Shuaibu was said to have begged the Air Force men not to take away the number plates.

According to eyewitnesses, Shuaibu, dressed in FAAN staff uniform, introduced himself and showed his identity card, but an argument reportedly ensued and the Air Force men descended on him.

He was beaten by the airmen until he collapsed, with blood gushing out of his nostrils.

Saudi Arabia advertised vacancies for eight executioners Tuesday after beheading nearly as many people since the start of the year as it did in the whole of 2014.

Why Saudi Arabia is poised to behead a dissident cleric and publicly display his corpse Vox.com

The civil service ministry said that no qualifications were necessary and that applicants would be exempted from the usual entrance exams.

It said that as well as beheadings, the successful candidates would be expected to carry out amputations ordered by the courts under the kingdom's strict version of Islamic sharia law.

Alhaji Mohammed Shehu, an aide to President-elect Muhammadu Buhari has advised youths to pray instead of trekking for the incoming leader’s administration.

Shehu gave this advice during interview in Abuja on Monday. According to him, the incoming administration acknowledges the excitement of youths over Buhari’s election but would prefer that they channel their energies towards praying than embarking on, sometimes dangerous, journeys.

`It’s kind of overwhelming. Last week, I told youths to stay where they are, stop trekking, and pray for the incoming administration instead.

Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza has dismissed his defence and foreign ministers after last week’s failed military coup, according to a presidential spokesperson.

Emmanuel Ntahonvukiye, a civilian, was named on Monday to replace Pontian Gaciyubwenge, the defence minister, while Alain Aime Nyamitwe was appointed foreign minister to succeed Laurent Kavakure, the spokesperson said.

Al Jazeera’s Haru Mutasa, reporting from the capital Bujumbura, said Nkurunziza was “under a lot of pressure” not to stand for a controversial third term and perhaps he had put trusted allies in those positions “who won’t try to stab him in the back”.

President Goodluck Jonathan has signed the 2015 Appropriation Bill into law. Investigation by correspondent on Monday revealed that Jonathan decided to sign the budget into law a couple of days back without fanfare.

As of the time of filing this report, it could not be confirmed why the President had kept the development away from public knowledge.

The Senate had passed the 2015 budget on April 28, following the passage of the same bill by the House of Representatives on April 23, with an expenditure outlay of N4.493tn, up from the N4.425tn proposed by the Executive.

Sunday, 31 May 2015

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Wednesday, 27 May 2015

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Wednesday, 20 May 2015

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