CHECKING FURTHER SPREAD OF TERROR IN NIGERIA.

On the front burner of national discourse today are the incendiary activities of Boko Haram, the Islamist terror group that was initiated in 2002 in Bauchi and Borno states.  But the disclosure of the identities of five persons arrested in connection with the April 14, 2014 bomb blast at Nyanya in Abuja by the Department of State Service should provoke a new approach to checking the spread of terrorism in the country.

The profiles of the paraded suspects, including that of a military deserter who had served in the intelligence unit of the Nigerian Army and a son of a top retired army officer, coupled with their frightening confessions, especially the plans to launch “mass attacks against the Nigerian state,” clearly confirm the entrenchment of terrorism in the land.

VILLAGERS TOOK THEIR FATE IN THEIR OWN HANDS AS THEY ROUTED BOKO HARAM MILITANTS IN BORNO.

Reports from Borno indicates that a vigilante group made up of residents of Kalabalge, a town in Borno North, today mounted a fierce resistance to a siege by members of Boko Haram, inflicting severe casualties on militants from the fringe Islamist sect according to Sahara Reporters.

“We killed many of them [Boko Haram members] today,” one of the residents of the town who took part in the battle told a correspondents

Several other residents disclosed that the members of the community had received advance information that Boko Haram’s death squads were on their way to wreak havoc in the community. “Once we got the information, we gathered many of our young men and positioned ourselves in surrounding bushes and forests. We were armed with bows and arrows, Dane guns and pump action rifles,” said one source.

WHO WILL REPLACE THE OUTGOING INSPECTOR-GENERAL OF POLICE????

The Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, is expected to proceed on terminal leave any moment from now, having spent the mandatory number of years in service.

Abubakar, from Zamfara State, enlisted into the Nigeria Police Force on July 30, 1979 and is due for retirement on July 30, 2014, based on the mandatory retirement age.

Findings indicated that the replacement for Abubakar who became the acting IG on January 25, 2012, might be announced early next month by the government.

77 OF THE ABDUCTED CHIBOK GIRLS HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED BY PARENTS - #BRINGBACKOURGIRLS.

Seventy-seven of the more than 200 schoolgirls abducted from Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State by Boko Haram terrorists, a month ago, have been identified from the video released Monday by the sect. This came as the United States disclosed that it is flying manned surveillance missions over Nigeria in an effort to pinpoint the location of the abducted schoolgirls.

The International Criminal Court, ICC, on its part described the abduction of the schoolgirls as a crime against humanity. The alleged conversion of the schoolgirls into Islam by the sect has also been condemned by Islamic groups and the All Progressives Congress, APC describing it as unacceptable. The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) said the forceful conversion is a call for war.

Following release of the video by sect leader, Mallam Abubakar Shekau showing scores of the girls wearing hijabs and reciting the Holy Q’uran, Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima ordered mass production of the video to be shown to the parents of the abducted girls for identification.

WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT BOKO HARAM LEADER ABUBAKAR SHEKAU.

In a field already crowded with bloodthirsty braggarts, the leader of Boko Haram has achieved the dubious distinction of becoming arguably the most menacing figure ever to appear in a jihadist video.

Vicious and sneering in equal measure, Abubakar Shekau’s cackling laughter and rambling manner give him more of the air of a psychopath than a militant. By comparison, the late Osama bin Laden comes across as almost measured. And as Nigeria has learned the hard way in the last five years, his terrifying on-screen persona is no act. Shekau is considered the group’s most ruthless commander by far, and has played a key role in taking it down the path of all-out war on the rest of Nigeria. While it is the kidnapping of the schoolgirls that has earned him world notoriety, his group is already believed to have murdered up 5,000 people in the last five years, many of them innocent villagers.

PHOTOS OF THE FIRST NYANYA BOMBERS.....

The Department of State Service has arrested five  persons  in connection with the April 14, 2014 bomb blast at the El-Rufai Motor Park, Nyanya  in Abuja.

The   suspects  are  Ahmad Abubakar (aka Abu Ibrahim/Maiturare), Mohammed Ishaq,   Yau Saidu (aka Kotar Rama), Anas Isah and Adamu Yusuf.

The  DSS Deputy Director, Public Relations, Marilyn Ogar,  who paraded the suspects in Abuja  on Monday,  said the masterminds of the blast, Rufai Tsiga (aka Dr. Tsiga), and a military deserter, Aminu Ogwuche, had been declared wanted.

Ogar  announced a cash reward of N25m  for information that could lead to their arrest.

VIDEO OF ABDUCTED CHIBOK SCHOOL GIRLS - #BRINGBACKOURGIRLS

ABDUCTED GIRLS

A new video released by Islamist militants Boko Haram claims to show around 100 girls kidnapped from the Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State on April 14, 2014.

The group’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, said they would be held until all imprisoned militants had been freed.

He said the girls had converted to Islam. The video, released on Monday, claims to show them praying.

Boko Haram abducted more than 200 girls from northern Nigeria on April 14 and threatened to sell them.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD VIDEO.

(VIDEO) - Solange Knowles attacks her sister's husband - Jay Z In Elevator.

SOLANGE KNOWLES ATTACKS JAYZ

A new video obtained by TMZ allegedly shows Solange Knowles beating her sister's husband,Jay Z, in an elevator.

According to their source, the brawl took place at the Standard Hotel in NYC during a Met Gala after party. 

In the video, Solange is seen entering into an elevator followed by Beyonce, Jay Z and a body guard. Solange immediately gets in Hov’s face and has to be restrained by the body guard. 

At this point, Solange gets heated and begins employing all types of wild martial art shit, causing Hov to throw up the Roc sign with one hand, on some “You better chill the fuck out before stepping to the god.” It looks like he’s about to swing on her but restrains himself.

Beyoncé barely reacts at first, and only tries to jump in once Solange starts with the Liu Kang kicks. 

The video has no audio so the conversation that took place remains unknown.

FOUR NIGERIANS AND AN HUNGARIAN JAILED FOR ARRANGING SHAM MARRIAGES IN THE UK

Azuka Izegbune

Four fake brides and an ex-security guard fixer involved in an eight-month sham marriage scam have been jailed.

Azuha Izegbune, 38, was the mastermind of the visa con - which saw fake weddings staged at registry offices in Birmingham, Stoke and Glasgow.

The former security guard from Birmingham, West Midlands, was paid to arrange fake weddings between Hungarian and Nigerian nationals so they could remain in the UK. The weddings were arranged so both brides and grooms could secure European Area Residence Cards.

Some of the grooms were flown in to the UK just hours before the fake ceremonies took place. Following a Home Office probe, the scam was exposed - and those involved have now been sentenced to a total of nine years in jail at Birmingham Crown Court.

OPPOSITION PARTY APC HOLDS WORLD PRESS CONFERENCE ON STATE OF THE NATION.

The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Bisi Akande, on Sunday addressed a World Press Conference organized by the party to deliberate on the State of the Nation, particularly on the issue of terrorism.

In his address, Mr Akande said the occasion had become necessary to search for answers to the nation’s security challenges which had led to the death and displacement of many citizens, especially in the northern region.

According to him, the conference was not staged “to apportion blame, but to take a critical and non-partisan look at the situation we are in and also to offer suggestions on the way out of what has now become a quagmire.”

Akande who gave a detailed timeline of the major activities of the Boko Haram sect since the UN Building bombing in Abuja in 2011, decried government’s “tepid statements commiserating with the victims and their families, vowing to hunt down the culprits and bring them to justice, and then telling a bewildered nation: ‘We are on top of the situation’.|”

Describing the government’s constant reassurances as “empty rhetoric”, Akande stated that the emboldened acts of the insurgents were credited to the opposition, which he decried.

Find the full text of the address after the cut:

DORA AKUNYILI TO BE FLOWN ABROAD AS HER HEALTH DETERIORATES.

The former Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control and ex-Minister of Information, Dora Akunyili, was to be flown abroad for medical treatment on Saturday.

Akunyili, a delegate at the ongoing National Conference had said she was recovering from a life-threatening ailment.

Information revealed that around 9p.m on Saturday night, Akunyili’s condition had deteriorated and any further delay in getting medical attention would have been detrimental.

MANCHESTER CITY CROWNED CHAMPIONS PLUS ROUND-UP OF FINAL GAMES.

There was no call for last-gasp heroics as Manchester City claimed the Premier League with a comfortable 2-0 victory over West Ham United at the Etihad Stadium.

City had famously relied on two injury-time goals when beating Manchester United to the title on goal difference in 2012, but this time around Samir Nasri broke the deadlock six minutes before the break before Vincent Kompany settled the nerves on 49 minutes.

City had gone into the game knowing a draw was almost certainly enough to secure the title as a result of their goal difference.

UNIBEN LOSES BRILLIANT 19-YR-OLD LAW STUDENT TO CEREBRAL ABCESS.

Late Ceasar Ekeoba

The death has been announced of Ceasar Augustus Ekeoba, a brilliant 19 year old 400L Law student of University of Benin.

He died on May 6th 2014, after suffering from CEREBRAL ABCESS. Until his death, he was class representative, loved by lecturers and adored by students, this is according to his friends. 

He and some students had just returned from the US where they represented Nigeria at the Jessup Moot Court Competition in Washington DC, before his shocking demise.

A procession was held for him yesterday at the University of Benin Campus. 

May his soul rest in peace, amen. 

See more photos after the cut.............

15 million teenage girls give birth annually after being sexually assaulted – UNICEF

Given global increase in cases of rape and sex assault, more than 15 million teenage girls between the ages of  15 and 19 are reported to give birth every year. 

In a statement issued yesterday by the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, ‘A Field office’, which was made available to journalists in Makurdi, many of the pregnancies result from non-consensual sex.

According to the world body, despite advances in the last 20 years to checkmate such cases, there had been too little progress in preventing adolescent pregnancies, abortions, maternal deaths, sexually-transmitted infections and HIV.

ABORTION GONE WRONG - POLICE ARREST FOUR OVER DEATH OF 23-YR OLD PREGNANT LADY IN BAUCHI.

The Police in Bauchi have arrested four people in connection with the death of a 23 years pregnant lady whose corpse was  abandoned in  Guru village in the outskirts of Bauchi metropolis along Bauchi Jos road. 

This was contained in a press statement signed by the Bauchi state police Command Public Relations Officer, DSP Haruna Mohammed and made available to newsmen yesterday in Bauchi.

According to the statement, the police  received a report that a female corpse was dumped along Guru village along old Jos road, Bauchi by an unknown person.

Five Saudi men sentenced to 32 years imprisonment and 4,500 lashes for holding a Valentine’s Day party.

Five Saudi men have been sentenced to 32 years in prison and 4,500 lashes by a criminal court in Saudi Arabia - for holding a Valentine's Day party. 

The law breaking men were caught at a rented rest house in the Al-Farouq area of Buraidah Qassim province and accused of holding a party with women who were unrelated to them, drinking and dancing.

Police from the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (CPVPV) rounded up the men with the help of security patrols for their offences along with six women on February 14.

The men have all admitted to the charges, which include illicit seclusion with unrelated women, dancing and drinking. 

WHAT TOP NAIJA HIP-HOP ACTS EARN PER SHOW....

Long gone are the days when entertainers are seen as lackeys who have to sleep at people’s doorsteps for their rations in life. Now, they are not only running the show, they are also smiling to the banks in a big way. They now own the most fashionable cars, most luxurious houses and even get to have the ‘girls’ long ahead of many in the queue.

Just as their fortunes have changed, their lives too have taken a dive right up to the top because they are getting paid! Here is just a peek at what the top crooners earn per show, which the running time is never more than 2-3 hours a day!

Read the details after the cut.......

MASTERMINDS OF THE 2ND NYANYA BOMBING HAVE BEEN ARRESTED - PRESIDENT JONATHAN

President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday revealed that the masterminds of the two deadly bomb blasts that rocked Nyanya, a suburb of the Federal Capital Territory have been arrested and are currently helping the security agencies in their efforts to unmask their financiers.

Jonathan spoke while fielding questions from journalists at the end of the 24th World Economic Forum for Africa, WEFA, held in Abuja which ended yesterday.

He also said that the Federal Government had earmarked $10 million as matching grant to the efforts by the international community to rescue the 230 abducted female students of the Government Girls Secondary School, GGSS, Chibok in Borno State.

THE MILITARY IGNORED ADVANCED WARNING ON CHIBOK ATTACK 4 HOURS BEFORE THE ABDUCTION OF SCHOOL GIRLS. #BRINGBACKOURGIRLS

Amnesty International on Friday said the Nigerian military ignored advanced warnings on plan by the Boko Haram Islamic sect to carry out armed raid on Government Secondary School, Chibok in Borno State.

The group spoke as one of the victims’ father told CNN that the insurgents were usually supplied by helicopters. Speaking with CNN correspondent, Isha Sesay, in Abuja on Friday, he said the matter was reported to the soldiers but nothing came out of it.

Amnesty international called on the Federal Government to provide adequate information to families of the abducted girls on its current efforts to ensure their safe release.

It also suggested that “the families – and the abducted girls, once they are freed – must be provided with adequate medical and psychological support.”

I can’t sleep with my two eyes closed again – President Jonathan speaks on abducted girls in Borno

President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday admitted that he no longer sleep with his two eyes closed since the April 14 abduction of the schoolgirls from Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, adding that the situation will remain so until the girls regain their freedom.

He expressed the belief that the over 200 schoolgirls were still being kept within the country by the Boko Haram sect.

The President also ruled out the possibility that the girls could have been moved out of the country by their abductor, saying they may still be holed up inside Sambisa Forest.

Jonathan spoke while addressing a world press conference at the end of the three-day World Economic Forum for Africa held in Abuja.

He also denied media reports that the nation’s security agencies were slow  in responding to the abduction.

The President also told the world that most of those who were responsible for the recent bomb explosion in Nyanya, a satellite town of Abuja, have been arrested.

He said the visitors would have seen for themselves that although the country was facing challenges, Nigeria was moving on.

He said with the commitments and concerns raised by the international community, the abductors of the girl had no choice than to free them because they no longer have a hiding place.

He said, “Let me also use this unique opportunity to thank all of you who have shown commitment and concern those of you in Nigeria and those of you outside this country to continue to press on that these terrorists must bring back our girls.

“And they have no choice because I am quite pleased that the whole world is signing the same message that they must bring back our girls.

“And there is no where they will take this girls to, they have no hiding place, we must work with the global community that is quite keen to make sure that we bring back this girls.

“We plead with the parents as a father and the President of this country, I feel pained and I don’t sleep with my two eyes closed and I will not sleep with my two eyes closed until these girls are brought safely back to their parents.

“I thank you for all the concern, for all the sentiments, communications you are putting across to the rest of the world about what we are doing and of course where the world wants to support us.”

Jonathan disclosed that he is regularly in touch with heads of governments across the globe on the need for them to assist Nigeria in rescuing the girls.

He said security personnel of a number of the countries were already in Nigeria.

“I’m in touch with a number of Presidents. Of course,you are aware of my conversation with the American President and the United States government, French Government, the Chinese Government and other countries, willing to assist us.

“I have been talking to all the Presidents around Nigeria-Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Benin and I am going beyond that also because the crisis we have in Nigeria cuts across Africa. It goes up to Central Africa, it goes up to North Africa.

“So I’m discussing with the leaders within the region and of course the world leaders that will support us.

“A number of the countries already their personnel have arrived Nigeria to assist us to find the girls. Collectively we must find these girls,” he said.

When asked about the current location of the girls and their abductors, Jonathan said they were still in Sambisa Forest in Borno State.

He said there was no way the abductors could have moved such a number of girls to Cameroon without people seeing them.

He said,  “The attackers are in a part of Borno State described as Sambisa Forest. It is a forest area and we are working with the experts that will use remote sensor to see that wherever they are, we will see.

“So the best we can say is that they are within the Sambisa Forest area. Of course, I agree that they are stories that they have been moved outside the country, but if they move that number of girls to Cameroon, people will see. So I believe that they are still within Nigeria.”

The President described the report that there was a slow response on the part of security agencies and the government to the abduction as a misconception.

He said, “There is no slow response at all, no no. It is a misconception. The response is not slow. I have explained this. Borno State can be described as the headquarters of the terrorists, Boko Haram, they are more in Borno State, then followed by Yobe and then Adamawa.

“Immediately this happened, they have been following it – both the Army and the Air Force, they have been combing.”

 The only thing we did not do because we felt it was not necessary then was to video the aircraft moving, the military people moving and the fighter helicopters.”

“We did not do the video to show because the people were on ground because of the state of emergency because of these terrorists. That is why people thought it was slow, no it was not.

“We started work immediately. It was not slow the Nigerian government responded immediately. If somebody gives you the impression that government is slow, that is not correct.”