IG PROMISES TO ARREST JOS BOMBERS.

The Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, has promised that the Nigerian Police will arrest culprits of Tuesday’s twin bomb explosions in Jos.

The Police chief gave the assurance at the premises of the Jos University Teaching Hospital on Wednesday, when he visited victims at the hospitals.

Jos was thrown into pandemonium on Tuesday when two bombs went off in quick succession killing about 200 persons according to body counts by emergency and health officials. Mr. Abubakar said the police have commenced investigations into the incident, with the intention of arresting the culprits.

REIGN OF TERROR - A CHALLENGE TO STATE GOVERNMENTS.

In a show of criminal defiance, about 60 armed robbers recently raided eight streets in one night in Mushin, Lagos State, Nigeria’s commercial capital. By the time the felons exited, they had vandalised most of the houses, raped several women and destroyed 30 cars parked overnight on streets such as Ereko, Coker Lane, New Balogun and Ayonuga.

In the new uptick of violent crime in the state, the hoodlums operated for about six hours, till dawn, robbing in the community unchallenged by security men. In a state that has become renowned for its relative safety amidst the huge security challenges facing the Nigerian state, this is a misnomer. A witness said, “Around 1am, they started going from house to house, robbing the occupants. They stole phones, money and everything they saw. People were crying throughout the night. It was terrible.” Where were the police and the task force operatives when the hoodlums were on the loose? It is inconceivable that some of the residents of the area did not alert the police through telephone calls and text messages.

BOKO HARAM SET TO HIT LAGOS - PROPHET SOUL E

Musician turned Prophet "Soul E" has warned of an impending terror attack on Lagos by the dreaded Boko haram sect..

Recall that the American Consulate also warned on a planned attack on some hotels in Lagos. The security agencies must be on toes to ensure this is averted if the words of the prophet are true..

Read his statement below.

LAGOS POLICE SAVE 80-YR BIRD WOMAN FROM DEADLY MOB.

An elderly woman escaped lynching on Wednesday after being accused of being a bird and witch in the Ajegunle area of Lagos State.

According to residents of Ojo Road, where the purported transformation took place, the woman was a black bird before suddenly turning into a human being.

Hundreds of residents were said to have gathered around the woman to lynch her.

An eyewitness, Chike, said he was sitting in front of a compound with his girlfriend when they saw three black birds flying.

Yaaya Toure is very bitter over birthday snub.

Midfielder Yaya Toure is upset with Manchester City after an apparent birthday snub and could leave the club, his agent said on Tuesday.

According to Dimitri Seluk, who represents the Ivory Coast international, Toure was dismayed that, despite the club giving him a 31st birthday cake, the owners did not personally congratulate him at a post-season party in Abu Dhabi.

Former Barcelona powerhouse Toure, whose goals were instrumental in City’s second title in three seasons, could even leave the club, Seluk said.

BOKO HARAM MAY RELEASE MORE THAN 100 GIRLS NEXT WEEK.

Reports indicates that Boko Haram, the terrorist group that abducted over 200 schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno State, may have abandoned its prisoner swap for Chibok girls position, as it plans to begin the release of the girls from next week.

According to Telegraph, a United Kingdom (UK) newspaper, it was claimed that the sect was willing to conduct a “gradual” release of its hostages, in return for the release of Boko Haram prisoners in Nigerian jails.

In a significant concession, the group, it was learnt, had abandoned demands for its top commanders to be released, seemingly aware that this would be politically impossible for the Nigerian government.

The reported details of Boko Haram’s offer of an imminent prisoner exchange was published last week, when

HOW MASTERMIND OF NYANYA BOMBING WAS ARRESTED.

The arrest of Sadiq Aminu Ogwuche, mastermind of Nyanya bomb blast, was made possible through on-going collaboration of Nigeria and Sudan’s intelligence community, Sudanese High Commissioner to Nigeria, Dr. Tagelsir Mahgoub Ali, revealed to Vanguard, weekend. 

Ambassador Ali, who spoke about the role of his country’s security agencies in the arrest of Ogwuche in Sudan, in an exclusive interview in Abuja, also revealed that Nigerian visa applicants were now required to come with verifiable references as proof of not having any connection with extremists or terrorists organisations.

Ogwuche, fingered as the mastermind of Nyanya blasts that claimed over 70 lives, was declared wanted alongside one other, with a bounty of N25million placed on his head by Nigerian security forces.

ABOUT SEVEN FEARED DEAD INTO PORT-HARCOURT REFINERY EXPLOSION.

At least, seven persons were feared dead on Sunday when an explosion rocked the Port Harcourt Refinery Jetty in Okrika Local Government Area of Rivers State.

It was gathered that several persons were seriously injured as a result of the explosion, which was allegedly triggered by the activities of pipeline vandals and oil thieves.

It was learnt that suspected oil thieves had tampered with one of the pipelines close to the refinery with the intention of stealing petroleum products.

A source explained that the action of the oil thieves had ignited a deafening noise and a huge fire around the jetty, leaving not less than seven persons dead.

BOMB BLAST HITS SABON-GARI IN KANO, DOZENS FEARED DEAD

A blast hit Kano on Sunday, in a street with many bars and night spots.

Scores were feared dead in the explosion which witnesses quoted by the AFP news agency said was caused by a suspected car bomb.

The blast took place in an area mostly inhabited by Christians from southern Nigeria, the Reuters news agency reports. The militant Islamist group Boko Haram has carried out attacks in Kano State.

Witnesses quoted by AFP said that the blast could be heard from several miles away and happened on a busy road lined with bars in the predominantly Christian area of Sabon Gari.

GOODBYE NIGERIA, WELCOME ODUDUWA REPUBLIC - FANI KAYODE

“If they ever tell my story let them say I walked with giants, men rise and fall like the Winter wheat but these names will never die… Let them say I lived in the time of Hector, tamer of horses…let them say I lived in the time of Achilles”- the Iliyad, Homer.

The words of Odysseus in Homer’s epic and ancient poem titled ”The Iliyad” (which in my view is the greatest poem that was ever written and which was quoted in the opening and last scene of the famous Hollywood blockbuster film titled ”Troy”) have always moved me. Those words are deep and profound: they stir my soul and rekindle my spirit.

They speak of and reflect the essence of Ancient Greece with its rich and exciting history, its extraordinary heroes and heroines and its all-powerful and all-knowing gods, titans and immortals. How I wish that I could conjure up such great and powerful words about the history of my nation Nigeria and her heroes past.

BOKO HARAM STRIKES IN ANOTHER BORNO VILLAGE, LEAVES 40 DEAD.

At least 40 villagers were killed and several others injured on Saturday as gunmen believed to be Boko Haram members attacked Dalwa-Masuba Village in Damboa Local Government Area of Borno State, security sources and a witness said.

The gunmen who stormed the village in large numbers also burnt down virtually all buildings in the village as well as three pickup vans carrying woods to Damboa.

A member of the vigilante in Dalwa-Masuba, who spoke to journalists in Maiduguri on phone, said no security personnel had reached the attacked town at the time he was speaking.

Premium times reports.....

IMPERATIVES OF SAFE SCHOOLS INITIATIVE IN THE NORTH.

After five years of facing frequent murderous attacks from Boko Haram, students in Northern Nigeria will soon get some measure of relief. The United Nations has corralled some of our business leaders to set aside a $10 million fund that will be used to make the schools safe. 

The World Economic Forum for Africa, which ended last Friday in Abuja, provided a platform for the initiative. A total of 500 schools, mostly located in the North-East zone, will benefit from this initial intervention, in response to challenges posed by the April 14 abduction of 276 Chibok schoolgirls. The outrage and outpouring of sympathy from the international community have been torrential.

The Safe Schools Initiative is highly commendable and it came at the instance of the UN Special Envoy for Education, Gordon Brown.  Typical of leadership in Nigeria, neither the state governors in the North, nor the Federal Government, had thought about this necessity, despite the fact that what Boko Haram stands for —Western education is forbidden – ought to have alerted them to the need to guarantee the safety of the pupils, who, by going to school, seem to have dared these mindless, rabid Islamists.

EXPLORING SOLID MINERALS POTENTIAL

It is mind-blowing to see a country such as Nigeria wallowing in abject poverty and having a comatose industrial sector due to inadequate attention and political will to transform the abundant minerals and metals endowed by God across the country.

The dependence on oil had become worrisome as the economy of the country had not recorded significant diversifications, particularly in the minerals and metals sector. Those in government are not keen in developing and expanding the solid minerals sector as they are yet to realise that in global trade the world has gone beyond oil, whereby the nation’s prosperity is measured.

Every state and local government in Nigeria is blessed with various minerals and metals in commercial quantities. There is no gainsaying that the government and investors are yet to key into the money spinning sector, because it had become a world attraction in global trade.

MAN DIES MYSTERIOUSLY WHILE ATTEMPTING TO STEAL SKULL FROM A GRAVE.

Despite the increase in cases of jungle justice being meted out to suspected kidnappers and ritualists lately, most especially in Oyo, Ogun, Osun and other states, some desperate ritualists are still not deterred by these horrible deaths, as an unidentified young man in Ilobu community, in the Irepodun Local Government Area of Osun State, met his Waterloo in the early hours of Wednesday while attempting to cut off the head of a corpse, buried in Tonto compound in the area.

The suspect’s accomplices fled in terror after seeing half his body get stuck mysteriously in the grave. His death has generated concern among the terrified residents of the Ilobu community.

Saturday Tribune reports that the victim and his partners in crime allegedly came to Tonto compound in the early hours of Wednesday with a plot to exhume the corpse of an aged woman and sever her decomposed head, allegedly for ritual purposes.

A credible source in the community, who did not want to be named, told Saturday Tribune that “this particular corpse was buried five years ago and the suspected ritualist attended the burial in Ilobu.”

CRITICISM AND THE UNMISTAKABLE SIGNS OF A SOCIETY IN DECLINE.

In the fight against corruption where he could have made a good impression, the President’s achievement is far below average.

As I argued sometime ago, the presidential pardon granted Diepriye Alamieyeseigha, former Bayelsa State governor, who was impeached for embezzlement of public funds and under whom he served as deputy governor is a ringing testimony that Jonathan lacks the will to checkmate corruption where it matters most – at the highest echelons of governance.

Again, the slow response of our security forces to the Nyanya carnage and abduction of hundreds of secondary school girls in Chibok by evil-minded misanthropes under the aegis of Boko Haram underscores the growing inability of government to provide security for ordinary Nigerians.

WHO KILLED AISHA FALODE'S SON??????

Seven months ago, in October last year, when 19-year-old Toba Falode left Nigeria for Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, his mother, Aisha Falode had high hopes for him.

Toba was admitted to study Audio Production at the SAE Institute, Dubai. Fondly known as “Tyler Hendrix Fray,” he is described by friends as a young, talented and inspirational musician, who was a gift to his family and friends.

Sadly, on February 15, that gift was snatched away from a family and his mother’s embrace by the cold hands of death in faraway Dubai. The official cause of death reportedly stated that Toba died as a result of ‘a fall from a great height and the impact from the fall.’

Until his death, Toba lived on the 17th floor (Apartment 1703) in Manchester Towers, Dubai Marina, Dubai.

BOKO HARAM WRITES SCHOOL INFORMING THEM OF IMPENDING ATTACK.

Thirty-four days after the fundamentalist Islamic sect, Boko Haram, abducted over 200 schoolgirls from Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, it has threatened to kidnap more pupils.

The United States of America, France, Britain, Israel and Canada are among the foreign countries that have pledged to help Nigeria find the schoolgirls that were kidnapped by Boko Haram on April 14.

The pupils were kidnapped in the night and their hostels were burnt. However, while Boko Haram transported them in trucks to its Sambisa Forest stronghold, over 50 of the schoolgirls escaped from the sect.

MY VISIT TO CHIBOK WILL NOT BRING BACK THE MISSING GIRLS - PRESIDENT JONATHAN

President Goodluck Jonathan on Saturday said his physical presence in Chibok, Borno State, where over 200 schoolgirls were abducted on April 14, would not solve the problem.

He said since the abducted girls were not being held in the school, the major challenge before him and his government now was to locate and rescue them.

Jonathan spoke while answering a question during a press conference held to announce the conclusion of a regional summit on security in Nigeria held in Paris, France.

The President had not visited the community since the incident happened over a month ago.

(VIDEO) ATLETICO MADRID WINS LA LIGA IN GRAND STYLE AS THEY HELD BARCELONA TO A 1-1 AT THE NOU CAMP.

BARCELONA 1 ATLETICO MADRID 1

Atletico Madrid ground out a 1-1 draw at the Nou Camp to claim their first Primera Division title since 1996.

It was not always pretty, but Diego Godin's headed equaliser early in the second half was enough to deny Barca in a tense title decider.

The hosts had taken the lead with a stunning strike from Alexis Sanchez but it was a rare sight of goal for the hosts, with Lionel Messi cutting a frustrated figure and Atletico's defence standing firm.

Gerardo Martino sprung a surprise in his team selection with Barca's most decorated player Xavi Hernandez left out as Cesc Fabregas and Sergio Busquets started alongside Andres Iniesta, while Pedro Rodriguez was preferred to record signing Neymar.

(FULL VIDEO) HOW ARSENAL'S NINE YEARS DROUGHT ENDED IN MAGICAL STYLE.. (ARS 3 HULL CITY 2)

ARS 3 HULL CITY 2

Arsenal came from 2-0 down to win a dramatic FA Cup final 3-2 with a goal from Aaron Ramsey in extra-time to end their nine-year wait for a trophy.

Hull had ealier stunned the Gunners at a sun-baked Wembley as they went 2-0 up inside eight minutes through James Chester and captain Curtis Davies, who both capitalised on some poor defending from balls into the penalty area.

Arsenal, though, rallied and reduced the deficit through a superb 30-yard free-kick from Santi Cazorla.

After several Arsenal penalty claims, notably a pull by Tom Huddlestone on Olivier Giroud, were turned down by referee Lee Probert, the equaliser evetually came on 71 minutes when Laurent Koscielny knocked the ball into the net from a corner before being clattered by Allan McGregor.