No fewer than 18 persons, including a Methodist Church priest, were fatally shot by rampaging gunmen suspected to be herdsmen in four villages in Ebonyi State.
The incident which occurred late Monday only came to public knowledge on Tuesday.
Peoples Gazette learnt that the gunmen stormed the communities and started shooting sporadically in different directions. The communities attacked were Egedegede, Obegu, and Amuzu communities in Ishielu Council Area of the state, leading to a high number of casualties.
Goods and properties were also set ablaze.
A survivor told the Guardian that the incident occurred late Monday and has caused serious panic in the communities.
Some passers-by from Anambra State, en route Nkalagu-Obeagu, Eha-Amufu-Ikem, and Ubolafor road were also killed, the news outlet reported.
Some gory images shared on social media showed some victims gruesomely murdered on the roads and in vehicles.
The state police spokesperson, Loveth Odah however says only six persons were murdered.
Ghanaian referee, Charles Bulu, collapsed while officiating the African Cup of Nations qualifier between Ivory Coast and Ethiopia on Tuesday in Abidjan.
The referee collapsed in the 80th minute of the encounter forcing the game to be called off with the home side leading 3-1.
The game descended into chaos on Tuesday as footage showed Bulu being helped by players having seemingly felt unwell.
Bulu is seen in the video being slowly walked by the players towards medical staff before closing his eyes and falling to the ground.
The ref received medical attention on the pitch before being stretchered off, and taken to a local hospital for examination and proper treatment.
Bulu was called in to officiate the match after the referee who was originally assigned to manage the game tested positive for COVID-19.
However, the fourth official who took Bulu’s place was unable to take charge for the remainder of the match because he is Ivorian – and could have been accused of bias towards the hosts.
Following the 0-0 draw played out by Madagascar and Niger Republic in the group’s other game, both Ivory Coast and Ethiopia qualified for the finals next January.
Ofcom has imposed a financial penalty of £125,000 on Loveworld Limited after a programme broadcast on its religious service Loveworld Television Network featured inaccurate and potentially harmful claims about the Coronavirus without providing adequate protection for viewers.
This was the second time in a year that the broadcaster breached our rules on accuracy in news, and harm in its coverage of the Coronavirus. Ofcom considered these breaches to be serious, repeated and reckless, warranting the imposition of a statutory sanction beyond the direction to broadcast a statement of our findings that Ofcom issued in its Decision published 15 January 2021.
Ofcom’s investigation found that the 29-hour programme, Global Day of Prayer, included statements claiming that the pandemic is a “planned” event created by the “deep state” for nefarious purposes, and that the vaccine is a “sinister” means of administering “nanochips” to control and harm people.
Some statements claimed that “fraudulent” testing had been carried out to deceive the public about the existence of the virus and the scale of the pandemic. Others linked the cause of Covid-19 to the roll out of 5G technology.
Ofcom stresses that legitimate debate about the official response to the Coronavirus pandemic is fundamental to holding public authorities to account during a global health crisis - particularly when public freedoms are curtailed and complex policy decisions are being taken.
However, the inaccurate and potentially harmful claims made during this programme were unsupported by any factual evidence and went entirely without challenge.”
Ofcom was particularly concerned that this breach followed previous, similar breaches in 2020 during the investigation of which, Loveworld Limited gave Ofcom a number of assurances as to how it would improve its compliance procedures.
A photographer has captured the moment a mother broke down in tears has her only daughter tied the knot.
It shows the moment the mother and daughter were crying profusely at her wedding which held in Maiduguri, Borno State.
An Instagram page, BigHwedding shared the photos and spoke about the admirable bond they share.
"Aisha & her mom have a very admirable bond.More than family, they are friends.
The moment I found out that Aisha was an only child and the beautiful relationship she shares with her mother, I wanted to photograph the wedding with the hope that we’d be able to capture the raw emotions between them," the photographer wrote.
"It was truly fulfilling and wholesome being able to capture those pure moments as seen in these images. A popular saying goes “a mother’s love is the greatest love.” - I couldn’t agree more", the handle stated.
A mum has issued a desperate appeal to find her missing teenage son who hasn’t been seen for nine days by pleading: “Please come home. We love you and miss you very much.”
Richard Okorogheye, 19, vanished after telling his mum he was "struggling to cope" with lockdown and had been shielding due to a sickle cell disease.
The teen said he was going out on March 22 and was last seen walking in Kensington, West London, at around 8.40pm.
Cops have today released new CCTV images from the evening of his disappearance in a desperate bid to find him.
A host of celebrities including Peter Andre, Aisling Bea and Laura Whitmore have also shared appeals to track him down.
His mum Evidence Joel has issued a new appeal for information to find her son - with police saying they are "increasingly concerned".
She said today: “Richard we love you and miss you very much, please can you come home. We aren’t angry at you. We just want to know that you’re okay.
"PLEASE COME HOME"
“For anyone reading this, we are desperately missing our son. If you know anything or know where he might be, please come forward and speak to the police.”
Ms Joel previously told Sky News: “All he said to me was 'mummy, I'm going to see my friend'.
“I trusted him, I had no doubt or no reason to ask him further questions.
"It's my baby, it's my treasure. He's my oxygen, he's my crown. He's everything to me, he's the reason why I live, the reason I exist.
"Right now I'm empty, there is nothing to look forward to. He's taken my breath away from me."
Popular actor, producer, and director, Charles Inojie has built and donated a borehole to the Ohordua community in Edo state, where he hails from.
Inojie, who as a little boy would walk three kilometers to the Utor river situated at the border end of a neighbouring community to fetch water twice in the morning before going to school is grateful to the Almighty for using him to change the narrative in his village after many years of leaving the village.
Through the Charles Inojie Foundation, in partnership with the Latter-Day Saints Charity, a befitting borehole has been built in the community where the actor grew up.
“Needless to say that this project is for the entire community. I pray they own it, protect it and guard it jealously so that the intended benefits can be fully derived,” the actor said.
One of the sons of Kaduna state governor, Bashir El-Rufai has taken to his Twitter handle to gush over his wife, Nwakaego.
He said he is glad he married someone who is a lot smarter than he is. According to him, she is the greatest thing that has happened in his life.
He wrote;
''My wife is the greatest thing that has happened in my life. Everyday I'm glad I married somebody a lot smarter than I am, upon all my big head. Men may not say it enough, but our women optimize our focus & many times they never get the positive outcomes of the focus provided.''
Fashion stylist, Toyin Lawani, has fired back at critics of her raunchy nun outfit.
The fashionista sparked outrage over her controversial dress for the premiere of ‘Prophetess‘, a movie by Niyi Akinmolayan.
Many critics who took to social media, described the outfit as an insult to Christianity while some others carpeted her for promoting immortality.
In several photos shared on her Instagram page, Lawani could be seen clad in an all-white attire with a sign of the cross inscribed on it.
Although she was partly unclad as her thighs could be visibly seen while she also accompanied the photos with religious-inclined captions.
Reacting in a lengthy Instagram post, the entrepreneur described her critics as “hypocrites”.
Lawani further stated she won’t apologise over her raunchy nun outfit.
“This message is to tell you all that you no get sense not an explanation. Honestly Nigerians have refused to be liberated when it comes to fashion and depicting themes.
“When will you get it into your empty skulls that costumes can carry crucifix and doesn’t mean its a sign of disrespect?
“People dress like sexy nuns all day, for all sorts of events and halloween… yet, you’re all on my page crying and wailing like I killed someone in your family just because I’m Nigerian but if It’s Kim or your RiRi or Beyoncé now, you will be hearing ‘awwn, so hot, my role model.
“Bloody hypocrites but behind closed door you’re all disgusting and doing nasty shit. Even you pastors who come on here to preach, na una f**k your ushers and church members pass…most of you are so way back.”
Lawani noted many Nigerians have been “blindfolded” by religious inclinations and lack of exposure that they can’t recognise works of art.
“Your lack of exposure is really disturbing you lots, you don’t even know what art is when you see it. I learnt fashion internationally, break fashion boundaries and I’m a risk taker.
“You will never be able to understand me cause I will always stay true to what I love and will never do anything to please anyone but myself,”
“If you are expecting that apology you are preaching on my page from me you will be waiting till eternity, take your frustrations to the blogs, but when you come to my page, I will give you your size.
“By now I felt your brains should have told you that I’m not your basic fellow Nigerian and I do not follow the rules of your society.
“I make my own rules, doesn’t mean any of you are holier than I am or better human beings than me.
“All the parasites infesting Nigeria and spoiling the youths currently, you haven’t done anything about that it’s my outfit that’s your headache yet you promote those nasty acts daily.”
Auditors could not trace the addresses of contractors that received about N1.7bn from the Muazu Babangida Aliyu government in Niger in 2014.
The startling disclosure was made today by a witness in the money laundering trial of Babangida Aliyu and two others, Tanko Beji and Umar Muhammad Nasko
The witness, Muhammad Ndawuye Nmadu, auditor general of the state from 2007 to 2020, who was led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Faruk Abdullah, told the Court that his responsibility as auditor general was to audit the account of the State.
“We have the responsibility to visit all Ministries, Departments and Agencies, including Courts, House of Assembly to ascertain the true nature of expenditure of the state.
“At the end of the year, we submit the report to the State House of Assembly.”
The witness said that in the course of auditing the accounts of the State for the year 2014, they discovered that about N1.7billion which was received by the Ministry of Environment in the State was split and paid to three contractors.
“2014 was not initially exceptional; the normal audit was conducted except that during the audit, the sum of N1.7billion was received by the Ministry of Environment and the same amount was split and paid to three contractors”, he said.
The witness further revealed that the documentation for the contracts were incomplete especially with the absence of Certificate of No Objection from the Bureau of Public Procurement.
“We also sent someone to the addresses of the contractors, (someone here means a member of the audit team that visited the area) and we could not locate the addresses of the contractors”.
According to the PW1, the 2014 report which is in a booklet form, covers the report of the Auditor-General and the Account of Niger State for the year ended.
Prosecution counsel, Faruk Abdullah sought to tender the report of the Auditor-General on the accounts of Niger State government for the year ended December 31, 2014.
While counsel to Aliyu and his co-accused objected, their objection was overruled by the trial judge.
The Court accepted the document in evidence, marked as Exhibit ‘A’.
Furthermore, the PW1 also told the court that the audit team observed that payment vouchers were not checked by Internal Audit.
He said payments were made without budgetary provisions.
Justice Mikail Aliyu adjourned the matter at the instance of Aliyu till April 19 and 20, 2021 for cross-examination of PW1.
Aliyu, Nasko and Beji are being prosecuted on amended seven-count charge of money laundering and criminal breach of trust to the tune of about N2billion before Justice Aliyu of the Niger State High Court.
Nollywood actor, Afeez Eniola took to his Instagram page to celebrate his wife and colleague, Esther Kalejaye on her birthday.
He penned sweet words to her on her special day assuring her of his love.
He wrote;
''My love just added another year to her year today 💃💃 my bestie, my gist partner, my mother , my wife ❤😍 thank you Almighty Allah 🙏, I pray to Almighty Allah to fulfill the rest of your heart desire 🙏 may God give you long life and prosperity to enjoy the rest of your life🙏 bcos you don husstle❤ everything you lay your hands shall prosper🙏🙏🙏🙏 I pray today dat may the love and peace of the almighty never leaves u 🙏🙏🙏 from the bottom of my heart I am grateful to God that directed our paths to each other😍😍sickness will not be your portion Lagbara Olorun........ wadagba wa darugbo lagbara olorun oba🙏 I love you baby💋 Ewa Na Beans @esther_kale''
Daredevil armed robbers on Tuesday afternoon invaded a new generation bank in Aniocha North Local Government Area of Delta state and carted away some amounts of money yet to be ascertained.
The robbers were armed to the teeth, Sahara reporters correspondent gathered.
They unleashed mayhem on the bank, destroying properties as workers and customers scampered to safety.
As at the time of filing in this report, details of the robbery were still sketchy.
The Archbishop of Canterbury has denied he secretly married Meghan Markle and Prince Harry three days before their royal wedding.
The Most Reverend Justin Welby revealed he had numerous meetings with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex ahead of their extravagant nuptials at St George's Chapel in Windsor, but confirmed the legal wedding was on May 19 2018. Meghan claimed during her and Harry's interview with Oprah Winfrey, which aired earlier this month, that they secretly tied the knot in their "backyard" before their big day.
Mr Welby told Italian newspaper La Repubblica: "If any of you ever talk to a priest, you expect them to keep that talk confidential.
"It doesn't matter who I'm talking to.
"I had a number of private and pastoral meetings with the Duke and Duchess before the wedding.
"The legal wedding was on the Saturday.
"I signed the wedding certificate, which is a legal document, and I would have committed a serious criminal offence if I signed it knowing it was false.
"So you can make what you like about.
"But the legal wedding was on the Saturday.
"But I won't say what happened at any other meetings."
During the Sussexes' bombshell TV interview, which aired earlier this month, Meghan claimed they had a secret ceremony ahead of their royal wedding.
The former actress told Winfrey: "You know, three days before our wedding, we got married.
"No one knows that.
"We called the Archbishop and we just said, 'Look, this thing, this spectacle is for the world but we want our union between us'.
"So, like, the vows that we have framed in our room are just the two of us in our backyard with the Archbishop of Canterbury."
Harry added: "Just the three of us."
A spokesperson for the Sussexes was later forced to clarify this was in fact an informal exchange of vows.
Meghan's claim to Winfrey had raised questions as a legal ceremony requires witnesses and a registered venue.
It was just one revelation in the controversial interview, which plunged the Royal Family into crisis.
Meghan and Harry are living in America after quitting royal duties less than two years after their wedding.
The couple, who are expecting their second child, are living in a mansion in California with their young son Archie.
Kate Middleton's uncle has defended his niece from claims she made Meghan Markle cry, saying "it's simply not in her nature".
Gary Goldsmith, the brother of Kate's mum Carole, said he doesn't "believe a word" of the allegations made by Meghan during her explosive interview with Oprah.
Speaking for the first time since the interview aired, Gary, 55, told The Mail on Sunday: "I’ve known Kate since she was born and she doesn’t have a mean bone in her body. It’s just simply not in her nature.
"She’s even lovelier on the inside than on the outside. If anyone had a hissy fit, it must have been Meghan."
He added: "Kate would have been trying to make the peace. I would fight for Kate’s honour until the day I die. She is the most spectacular person I’ve ever met."
In November 2018, it was reported "Meghan left Kate in tears" over her demands for Princess Charlotte's bridesmaids dress during a "stressful" fitting.
It was then subsequently claimed that the "rift" began when Kate said the bridesmaids should follow royal protocol by wearing tights which Meghan disagreed with.
Another source told the The Telegraph that the Duchesses fell out after Princess Charlotte's bridesmaid dress didn't fit - which meant they had to schedule more fittings ahead of the big day.
But when asked by Oprah during her bombshell interview, if it was true she made Kate cry, Meghan replied: "No, no, the reverse happened.
"I don’t say that to be disparaging to anyone. She was upset about something, she owned it, she brought me flowers and brought a note apologising.
"She did what I would do if I hurt someone."
The Duchess said the confrontation had "really hurt my feelings."
But Mr Goldsmith said he "doesn’t believe a word" that Meghan said.
"When Meghan first entered the Royal Family, I was made up for Harry," he said.
"Like the rest of the country, it seemed she was the real deal and it was a marriage made in heaven. But what has happened is heartbreaking.
"I don’t blame Meghan – she’s a Hollywood starlet. You can’t blame a tiger for biting the head off a sheep. But I don’t believe a word that comes out of her mouth. She’s an actress and knows how to manipulate her audience."
During her interview with Oprah - which Harry was also involved in - Meghan said she had gone into the Royal Family "naively" because she "didn't grow up knowing much about the royal family".
Of her comments, Mr Goldsmith said: "I don’t believe for a second she had to Google the words to the National Anthem. Harry has been singing it since the age of five."
He also criticised Harry’s openness during the chat, in which it was revealed there had been conversations with a family member about the skin colour of Meghan and Harry's son Archie.
Mr Goldsmith told the Mail: "You don’t ask for anonymity and take a step back from public life to then throw your family and your grandmother under a bus on TV.
"Why would you do that? The Royal Family is not racist, it’s not sexist, it’s not ageist. They are a moral compass."
Veteran Nollywood actress, Patience Ozokwor has narrated how she was married off at a young age by her parents.
The actress revealed this in an interview with Bolanle Olukanni on Rubbin Minds which aired on Channels Television.
According to her, her parents made the decision after being told she cannot wait for the person she loved.
Ozokwor who described the experience as horrible, said she endured because she didn’t want to disappoint her father who loved her so much.
The actress noted that she comes from a polygamous family in which one does not leave their marriage, and from a Christian background in which divorce is not an option.
She also revealed that she looked for ways to take care of her children after discovering that her husband had a terminal disease.
Ozokwor also recounted how her husband who woke from coma, expressed surprise of her still sticking with him in spite of his sickness.
Bobrisky has shaded celebrity stylist, Toyin Lawani, who was facing backlash for posing with provocative nun outfits.
The fashion stylist and entrepreneur had posted photos of her wearing nun outfits to a movie premiere, which did not sit well with many Nigerians who described it as highly provocative and utterly distasteful.
Condemning it to, Bobrisky took to his Instagram page to subtly bash her even without mentioning her name directly.
Bobrisky who referred to the fashionista as “sister”, advised her to find another source of income as she is no longer relevant on the internet space.
He wrote: “Catch your sub. Sister go find another hustle. Your market don expire. You were completely naked on IG, you no still famous, you try to break the internet, internet get coconut head e no break. My sister find another hustle.”
Toyin and Bobrisky had clashed many times in the past, the last was in August 2020 over Big Brother Naija star Nengi.
Wikipedia editors have locked the profile page showing details about the life of Bola Tinubu, a leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), for “persistent vandalism”.
Tinubu celebrated his birthday on March 29, 2021, and as it is his custom, a colloquium was hosted to mark the day. According to his public records, Tinubu turned 69.
Many Nigerians believe he is older, and there have been numerous reports in the media that the Jagaban of Borgu is much older than he claims. There is an article online attributed to Yinka Odumakin, the spokesperson for Yoruba group known as Afenifere, which claims that Tinubu could not be as young as he claims.
Following doubts about Tinubu’s age, numerous accounts took to Wikipedia to edit Tinubu’s age from 69 to 79.
As many tweets continued to go viral about Tinubu’s age, many attempts were made to correct the “error” on Wikipedia, leading to multiple conflicting edits.
Manchester United boss, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has revealed that he had turned down signing a football star for Manchester United because of the player’s haircut.
The Norwegian gaffer says he pays just as much attention to the player’s mentality, character and background.
Solskjaer said that he cut short the scouting mission on one of the players he wanted to sign for United because of the player’s Mohican hairstyle.
“I once went to see a player and as he walked out of the dressing room through the tunnel he had a Mohican (hairstyle),’ Solskjaer told Sky Sports.
“I said to my scout: ‘Nah let’s go home, not interested.’ That was a very short scouting trip.”
Solskjaer has signed over 20 players for Manchester United, including Harry Maguire, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Bruno Fernandes, Donny van de Beek, Amad Diallo, Daniel James, Alex Telles, Odion Ighalo, Cavani, among others.
A 55-year old man, Abdulraheem Jimoh, has been arrested for allegedly defiling a 12-year old girl at Mayegun area of Alagbado, Ilorin.
The suspect was arrested by the Kwara Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC).
NSCDC Public Relations Officer, Babawale Zaid, while parading the suspect on Tuesday at the state command, said Jimoh lured the minor into his shop with N100 and had carnal knowledge of her.
The 55-year-old then threatened to kill her if she revealed what happened to anyone.
Zaid regretted that such an incident had been on the rise across the states of the federation.
The spokesman told reporters that the suspect would be charged to court soon
The Federal Government is set to meet with the leadership of the National Association of Resident Doctors to avoid the looming strike the medical professionals are set to embark upon.
Medical doctors in the country have previously threatened to begin strike action on Thursday, as FG plans to halt the plan ahead of then.
The doctors called the strike “a total and indefinite strike” as the government continues to refuse its demands.
Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige and the spokesman for the ministry, Mr. Charles Akpan, disclosed this in separate interviews.
Ahead of the planned meeting between the FG and the NARD, previous meeting has been held between the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Labour and Employment and members of the Committee of Chief Medical Directors and a team of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria to avert the strike.
“I was in a meeting with the government’s side, the Ministry of Health, the Committee of CMDs and the Registrar of Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria. Ngige said.
“We are meeting with NARD leadership Wednesday. A lot of things have been put in motion to address their concerns.
NARD President, Dr. Uyilawa Okhuaihesuyi, on the other hand, said “NARD and her members had at each time in the spirit of patriotism, shown uncommon understanding and extreme patience in the face of poor working conditions.
He disclosed that they have received letters of invitation from the Senate Committee on Health chairman and the Honourable Minister for Labour.
Dr. Okhuaihesuyi said, “NARD would be attending this scheduled meeting on finding a way forward.”
As part of efforts towards actualising their agitation for the acclaimed Oduduwa Republic, a security outfit has been launched in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
The security outfit named Oduduwa Nation Security Force, was code-named “Operation Paramole’.
Daily Post reports that a set of Yoruba nation agitators suddenly appeared in Abeokuta on Tuesday for a rally.
With branded vehicles, T-shirts and banners, they marched to the palace of the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo.
However, the monarch was said to have travelled out of the State for a presentation at the Senate in Abuja.
Nigeria’s Senate President Ahmad Lawan has accused the United States of blocking life-saving Covod-19 vaccines from getting to the country, urging President Muhammadu Buhari to provide resources for local scientists to develop something ingenious.
“The U.S. is not allowing vaccines to go out of U.S. The EU is not allowing the AstraZeneca vaccine produced in the UK to be sent out of the EU. India is not allowing the AstraZeneca vaccine they produced to be exported,” Mr Lawan complained on Monday while speaking to journalists.
The senate president said he wanted Nigerian scientists to collaborate with other scientists worldwide to develop a local but effective Covid-19 vaccine.
“As for Covid-19, I believe that our country, Nigeria, should have some resources for our scientists to collaborate with other scientists across the globe, to also have our own vaccine,” said Mr Lawan.
Displeased with what he regarded as a blockade from the U.S. EU, UK and India, he asked, “So where do we go from here?”
Insisting that Nigeria should develop the Covid-19 vaccine locally, urged Mr Buhari to headhunt Nigerian talents abroad to return to the country to develop the vaccine.
Mr Lawan explained, “We have many Nigerians outside Nigeria, who are also helping developing the vaccines in other countries.
Nigerians have reacted hilariously as three masquerades were seen in viral photos being prayed for by a Pastor.
It is not clear if the masquerades asked to be prayed for or the pastor saw them and accosted them and preached to them. But in the photos the masquerades were seen surrendering as they knelt for prayers.
Since the photos found its way to the internet, it has generated mixed reactions from Nigerians with many mocking the masquerades.
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