MANHUNT BEGINS FOR BANGKOK BOMBER WHO CAREFULLY DROPPED RUCKSACK KILLED 22 PEOPLE.

Thai police today confirmed that a man seen in CCTV wearing a yellow T-shirt and carrying a backpack was the bomber who killed at least 22 people  at a central Bangkok shrine.

Chilling footage shows the bespectacled terrorist calmly placing the bag next to the the Erawan Shrine minutes before the blast ripped through a crowd of worshippers. 

'The yellow shirt guy is not just the suspect. He is the bomber,' Police Lt Gen Prawut Thavornsiri said. 

Prawut earlier said the man 'is a suspect' and had released several photos of him, with and without the backpack, on a social media platform.

GABON PRESIDENT PROMISES TO GIVE OUT HIS SHARE OF HIS FATHER'S INHERITANCE TO GABONESE YOUTHS.

PRESIDENT ALI BONGO ONDIMBA

Gabon President Ali Bongo Ondimba said late Monday he would give "all his share of the inheritance" from his long-ruling father Omar Bongo Ondimba to "the Gabonese youth" in a speech marking the 55th anniversary of independence.

"I've decided with the full agreement of my wife Sylvia Bongo Ondimba and my children that my share of the inheritance will be shared with all Gabonese youth because in my eyes we are all heirs of Omar Bongo Ondimba," he said, after saying "no Gabonese must be left by the side of the road".

"All income from my part of the inheritance will be donated to a foundation for the youth and education," he said.

SOLDIERS RAMPAGE OVER A YOUNG LADY IN BENUE MUST NOT GO UNPUNISHED.

Acts of indiscipline among bad eggs of the Nigerian armed forces emerged, once again, last week when soldiers of the Nigerian Army School of Military Engineering (NASME) in Makurdi, Benue State, were reported in the media as taking the law into their  hands, invading a suburb of the city and allegedly committing various acts of heinous crimes.

According to reports, no less than 200 enraged soldiers allegedly angry that a young lady that one of them was courting was given out in marriage to another man, took to vandalizing cars and houses, stealing phone handsets, TV, radio and other personal effects of residents. The rampaging soldiers who were reported to have raped some women, also brutalised a Divisional Police Officer identified as Samuel Attah, destroying his vehicle in the process.

This outrageous, stranger-than-fiction story was confirmed when the Governor of Benue State, Mr Samuel Ortom, after visiting the damaged community, pledged to ensure that no soldier who participated in the rampage would go unpunished.

MANDELA'S GRANDSON APPEARS IN COURT OVER RAPE CHARGE. #SAYNOTORAPE.

A grandson of former South African president Nelson Mandela appeared in court on Monday on charges of raping a 15-year-old female in Johannesburg, the country’s police service said.

Mbuso Mandela, 24, “was read his charges in court and now he will be given an opportunity for a formal bail hearing on Friday,” Mashadi Selepe, a spokesman for the police, said by phone Tuesday.

Nelson Mandela, who became South Africa’s first democratic president in 1994, was jailed for 27 years for fighting against white minority rule under apartheid. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for promoting reconciliation between blacks and whites in South Africa and became the nation’s first black president a year later. He died on Dec. 5, 2013, at the age of 95.

WE WILL NOT GIVE UP ON THE WAR AGAINST CORRUPTION DESPITE PRESSURE FROM MANY QUARTERS. - PRESIDENT BUHARI.

President Muhammadu Buhari has assured Nigerians that no amount of pressure will make him give up the war against corruption in the country.

The president stated this to a group of Nigerians, who marched to the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Monday, to pledge their full support for his administration’s anti-corruption campaign.

Represented by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, Buhari promised a relentless prosecution of the war against corruption with due regards for the rule of law.

TINUBU VS FASHOLA - APPREHENSION HEIGHTENS AS FASHOLA IS SET TO LAUNCH 3 BOOKS.

Apprehension yesterday gripped political stakeholders in Lagos State ahead of today’s launch of three books chronicling the stewardship of Mr. Babatunde Fashola as governor of Lagos State between 2007 and 2015.

The apprehension follows the perceived political rivalry between the camp of Fashola and his erstwhile political godfather, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, himself, also a former governor of the state. The political unease was compounded upon last week’s assertion by Fashola that he would not allow himself to be dragged into the mud by those who want to fight like pigs.

However, a third force within the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC it was gathered yesterday has pushed the leadership of the party to convene an emergency state caucus meeting tomorrow where the unfolding issue between the camps of the two former governors is expected to be discussed.

NERC DEFIES SENATE'S ORDER ON REMOVAL OF FIXED, INSISTS THE CHARGE IS LEGAL.

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, yesterday, defied the directive by the Senate to abolish the Fixed Charges, FC, introduced by the commission, noting that there is nothing illegal about the charges. 

Chairman of NERC, Dr. Sam Amadi, who spoke against the background of the motion by members of the red chamber, maintained that the electricity fixed charges are legal and cannot be abolished.

It will be recalled that the Senate had, last Tuesday, directed the commission to abolish the monthly fixed charges being collected from electricity consumers by the Distribution Companies, DISCOs.

POLICE ARREST TAILOR WHO RAPED AND SEIZED CLOTHES OF HIS 16-YR-OLD VICTIM IN LAGOS. #SAYNOTORAPE.

A 45-year-old tailor, identified only as Fasasi, has allegedly seized the underwear and clothes of a 16-year-old girl after raping her in the Agege area of Lagos.

It was learnt that the teenager, Comfort (pseudonym), who was a Secondary School Class 1 pupil, was allegedly raped by Fasasi when she ran an errand for her mother.

Fasasi, who had been arrested by the police, reportedly called the girl and asked her to also buy food for him while she ran the errand for her mother.

DOUBTFUL AGENDA OF NATIONAL PEACE COMMITTEE.

An ad hoc group of influential Nigerians, known as the National Peace Committee, has been parading the corridors of power of late, scheming to exploit its connections at the highest level of government to advance a suspicious agenda. Led by a former head of state, Abdulsalami Abubakar, the NCP contingent met with President Muhammadu Buhari last week to “update him on the activities of the committee and how members could help nurture peace in the country.” The intention about peace is apparently noble, but the agenda of the committee is nebulous and its real motive is unclear and questionable.

Their mission, which was to emerge after the meeting, is to advise Buhari to tread with caution in his iron-cast resolve to rid the country of corruption and culture of impunity. In its sanctimonious arrogance, the self-appointed group purportedly lectured Buhari: “This is no longer a military regime and under our existing laws everybody is innocent until proven guilty,” Matthew Kukah, a Catholic priest and their spokesman, said. Although investigations are ongoing, the group jumped to the conclusion that the rule of law had not been followed.

FG SET TO RECRUIT 10,000 OFFICERS INTO NIGERIA POLICE FORCE.

Two years after the last recruitment by the Nigeria Police Force, President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday unveiled Federal Government’s plans to recruit fresh 10,000 policemen.

Buhari, who spoke at the National Security Summit on Community Partnership Approach to Internal Security and Crime Management, organised by the police in Abuja, said the government would also establish a well-trained and equipped anti-terrorism and multi-agency based task force to address the challenge of insurgency in a sustainable manner.

The last recruitment by the force was in 2013 because the Force lacked funds.

COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF CUSTOMS PROCEEDS ON VOLUNTARY RETIREMENT.

President Muhammadu Buhari has accepted the resignation of the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Alhaji Dikko Abdullahi.

With the acceptance, Abdullahi is expected to proceed on voluntary retirement from Tuesday (today).

He had earlier written a letter dated August 3 to the President in which he notified Buhari of his desire to proceed on voluntary retirement from Tuesday.

THE $1BN RAIL PROJECT LOAN - MY HANDS ARE CLEAN - OKONJO IWEALA.

The immediate past Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has denied that the China-EximBank loan for the rehabilitation of the Lagos-Kano rail line was diverted as alleged by the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Transport, Alhaji Muhanned Bashar. 

Alhaji Bashar had told President Muhammadu Buhari during the ministry’s briefing session, last week, that only $400 million of the $ 1 billion China-EximBank loan meant for the project was spent, creating the impression that over $600 million was diverted by the last administration.

According to him, only $400 million was released by the Ministry of Finance for the project.

YABATECH EXPELS 73 STUDENTS FOR FORGERY.

The Academic Board of Yaba College of Technology, Yaba, Lagos, has expelled 73 students for presenting suspected forged results.

A statement by the college made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday said the affected students were part-time pursuing National Diploma and Higher National Diploma programmes.

Signed by the Deputy Registrar, Mrs Titilayo Obadimu, the statement said the affected students registered for the 2013/2014 academic session.

JONATHAN & HIS MEN LOOTED ABOUT N11TN IN 6 YEARS (SEE DETAILS) - APC

The All Progressives Congress on Sunday alleged that about $56bn (N11.02tn) was looted during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan and that the Buhari government needed to recover the funds to fulfill the change promised by the APC.

In the breakdown by the ruling party, it said $6bn (1.2tn, at the rate of N197 to dollar) was stolen by some of Jonathan’s ministers and that 160 million barrels of crude worth $13.9bn (N2.74tn) were lost between 2009 and 2012 while $13bn (N2.56tn) in NLNG dividends was mostly unaccounted for.

The National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said this in a statement on Sunday.

PRESIDENT BUHARI SET TO RECOVER GOVERNMENT HOUSES, VEHICLES & OTHER PROPERTIES FROM JONATHAN;S MEN.

President Muhammadu Buhari has concluded plans to recover all government property still in possession of government officials who served under former President Goodluck Jonathan.

The Federal Government’s assets including vehicles, buildings, generator sets and others were said to still be in the possession of the former government officials weeks after they had left office.

Irked by the development, Buhari was said to have set up a committee made up of civil servants and security agencies to identify and recover the unreturned public assets from the former political appointees.

POLICE NABS 78-YR-OLD MAN FOR RAPING 11-YR-OLD GIRL IN LAGOS. #SAYNOTORAPE.

The police in Lagos have arrested a 78-year-old man, Alhaji Dauda Adebowale, for allegedly raping an 11-year-old girl, Remilekun (pseudonym).

The incident was said to have happened in Pen Cinema, in the Agege area of the state.

It was learnt that sometime in June 2015, Remilekun was passing by a shop where the old man, who hails from Abeokuta, Ogun State, lived when he called to send her on an errand.

POLICE ARREST BOYFRIEND OF MORGAN FREEMAN;S STEP-GRANDDAUGHTER WHO STABBED HER TO DEATH 16 TIMES.

The rapper boyfriend of Morgan Freeman's step-granddaughter has been arrested after she was stabbed to death on a Manhattan sidewalk in an apparent cocaine-fuelled exorcism.

Lamar Davenport, 30, allegedly killed E'Dena Hines, 33, near her New York home in Washington Heights on Sunday morning. 

George Hudacko, 65, who saw the 3am attack from his window and called 911 said Davenport was stabbing her and screaming: 'Get out, devils. In the name of Jesus Christ, I cast you out’.

I CANNOT BE INTIMIDATED BY PRESIDENT BUHARI - GOV AYO FAYOSE SPEAKS.

The Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to tread cautiously and be mindful of the body language of those hailing him today.

The governor, who said he was aware of sinister plots to destabilise his government because of his strong and truthful stands on national issues, vowed to “continue to speak the truth no matter whose ox is gored.”

Reminding the President that he is not heading a military regime, Fayose added that he could not be cowed by threats from any quarters.

WAR ON CORRUPTION - ICPC SEIZE 24 PROPERTIES FROM 3 SUPER RICH CIVIL SERVANTS.

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offences Tribunal has commenced a clampdown on very wealthy civil servants.

Already, the agency has seized 24 property and several cars from three civil servants with one of them having 18 property.

A document obtained from the Office of the Chairman of the ICPC, Mr. Ekpo Nta, with the title ‘Notice of Seizure of Movable and Immovable Properties Pursuant to Section 45 (4) a – (b) of the Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Ac 2000, revealed that the commission seized the property from three officials of the Ministry of Niger Delta.

REFINERIES WILL START MAKING PROFIT - NNPC.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, yesterday, stated that its ongoing restructuring was designed to reposition its operations and refineries to profit-making ventures. - See more at: 

This was even as the NNPC denied claims that it was pursuing an ethnic agenda in the ongoing restructuring of the corporation.

The NNPC, in a statement issued after an interactive session with the top management of the Corporation in Abuja, disclosed that it is poised to ensure that all its refineries are run efficiently and profitably to meet the energy needs of the country.