A nine-year-old girl has allegedly died by suicide in Makurdi, Benue State capital.
The incident occurred off Bem Hotel Road, Ankpa Quarters area of the capital city.
Punch learnt from the area, that the young girl was staying with a prophetess of a Pentecostal church alongside her children.
The body of the girl was said to have been found in the early hours of the day on the floor of their bathroom with a wrapper tied around her neck suggesting that she might have used the wrapper to carry out the suicide.
When the premises which also houses a church allegedly being run by the prophetess was visited, she was said to have gone to the police headquarters in connection with the case.
A neighbour, who did not want his name mentioned said that the death of the little girl remains a mystery.
Efforts to speak with the woman’s children found at home were not successful as they declined to comment.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Catherine Anene confirmed the report.
She said that the matter was reported to the Police around 11:30 a.m. on Thursday.
Anene said the corpse had been deposited at the morgue of St. Theresa’s Hospital in Makurdi while the case is still under investigation.
Three men were jailed Friday for an IS-inspired terror plot to cause mass casualties in Australia’s second largest city Melbourne during the 2016 Christmas period.
Hamza Abbas, 24, Ahmed Mohamed, 27 and Abdullah Chaarani, 29, were found guilty last year of plotting to use machetes and homemade bombs to target major sites -- including a train station and a church in a December attack.
In handing down the sentences judge Christopher Beale said the men had been accessing online material “supportive of Islamic State and violent jihad” in the lead-up to their arrest.
Beale said the men came to believe their planned “mass slaughter of innocent civilians” would be a “glorious act”.
“The stupidity of that belief was only matched by its malevolence,” Beale said.
Abbas was sentenced for 22 years, while Mohamed and Chaarani, who were facing their second terror charge, were jailed for 38 years.
Police uncovered the plot after monitoring the Australian-born men’s phone conversations, text messages and emails, and all four were arrested on December 22, 2016.
Then-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull called their plans “one of the most substantial terrorist plots that have been disrupted over the last several years”.
No fewer than 600 female farmers on Thursday protested in Anambra State, demanding gender-friendly farm implements.
The protesters, under the agies of Smallholder Women Farmers in Nigeria, said women were not put into consideration in the construction of certain agriculture machinery.
Drawn from the 21 local government areas of the state, the women said they represented “priority needs of 10,253 smallholder women farmers in the state.
The national coordinator of the group, Omaboyowa Roberts, said the protest was to draw government’s attention to the plight of women farmers who constituted greater number of farmers in the state.
She said, “We want to inform government that over 70 per cent of farmers are women who are into primary production and value chain addition.
“There’s need to increase agriculture budget for the state to meet the demands of the women.
“Since last year, we commenced a project of holding government accountable to support smallholder women farmers in the state.”
He added, “We’re also asking for gender-friendly machineries, especially power tillers and hand planters to help in our production as well as increase our well-being as families and communities.”
Four persons have reportedly died while scores have been hospitalised as a result of a cholera outbreak in some parts of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
Punch exclusively gathered that the worst-hit areas in Abeokuta included Abule-Otun in Lafenwa, Kuto, Idi-Aba and Oke-Ijeun.
It was gathered that a woman and her child were the first casualties of the outbreak.
The two were reportedly rushed to a private hospital which later referred them to the state hospital.
Further findings showed that the cholera outbreak had started since November 4 and claimed the life of a woman at Abule-Otun, Lafenwa while her child was hospitalised.
Some other people were reported to have lost their lives due to the outbreak.
When Punch visited Abule-Otun and Isale-Odo where the outbreak started, it was gathered that many residents of the area were down with cholera.
One of the residents, Adeola Adeniyi, told Punch that some residents were defecating and vomiting.
He said some of them had been taken to the Federal Medical Centre, Idi-Aba, Abeokuta, while others were rushed to the state hospital.
Punch observed that most houses in the area had no toilet facilities as the residents defecate in bags and throw it into the river behind the community.
The Christian Association of Nigeria has kicked against the proposed social media and hate speech bills, describing them as ploys to gag Nigerians.
The CAN President, Dr Samson Ayokunle called on the National Assembly to drop the bills and focus on legislation that could address insecurity, deplorable infrastructural amenities and the general welfare of the people.
This was contained in a statement by the National Director, Legal and Public Affairs, CAN, Evang. Samuel Kwamkur in Abuja on Thursday.
It said, “These two bills have generated misgivings and criticisms that they have led to uncommon tension and fears among citizens.
“Having looked at all sides to the debate, CAN is calling on the National Assembly, particularly the President of the Senate and all distinguished Senators to discountenance the two bills and put off completely any contemplation to pass them into Acts of the National Assembly as sincere lovers of the nation.”
While acknowledging that individuals and organizations had taken advantage of social media to cause tremendous damage to individuals and institutions, the Christian body described this as “unfortunate developments in the use of technology.”
The association argued that there were adequate laws to check the excesses of individuals and organizations that were misusing the social media and propagating hate speeches.
“The Penal Code, Criminal Code, Cyber Crime Act and other legal provisions on crimes that deal with hate speeches, defamation, libel and similar offences are clear and strong enough,” it noted.
CAN said it was concerned that Nigerians were distracted from discussing topical issues that had a direct bearing on their survival and wellbeing such as poverty, corruption, and the provision of good health facilities.
Ayokunle stated, “In this wise, we desire that governments at all levels and indeed members of the National Assembly pay greater attention to the issues of insecurity, economic hardship, poverty, bad roads, poor education and the dearth of infrastructure.”
After spending more than 1,000 years in Rome, a wooden fragment valued by Catholics as part of the crib in which Jesus was born will be welcomed back to the Holy Land today (Friday).
The fragment, part of a relic stored in the Italian capital’s Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, was described by the Custody of the Holy Land, run by Franciscan friars, as a “gift” from Pope Francis.
“It has contributed for centuries to marking the religiousness of the faithful in Rome and from elsewhere,” the custodians wrote, saying that large numbers of pilgrims from around the world went there to worship it.
The fragment will first stop in Jerusalem on Friday morning, where celebrations including a Mass and procession are planned.
It will then move to Bethlehem, traditionally known as Jesus’ birthplace, on Saturday, ahead of the start of the Advent season.
The so-called Holy Crib relic will be put on permanent display in the Franciscan Church of St Catherine, next to the Basilica of the Nativity, for pilgrims coming to the Palestinian city to worship.
Blackface has spoken on settling out of court with Tuface Idibia. Disclosing this on Instagram and promising he is not a trouble maker, he disclosed Tuface and his manager have apologized for using his material without his consent and promised to make an amendment.
Speaking about the new development, Blackface wrote;
“No be say i too talk my people but I’m just trying to inspire somebody or ‘trying to make common sense’ like Mr Ben Bruce would say My people “Don’t sleep on your rights” and users of peoples works make sure the writers and contributors are credited properly When you speak out, things happen and that’s why I said I will be done with this issues this year 2019 and behold here we are…
I can say that the 50 Million defamation suit filed against me by Mr Innocent Idibia aka 2face and his manager Mr Efe Omorogbe has been settled out of court as they both have withdrawn their case filed against me It’s true that they sang my song without permission and truly it pissed me off, but that doesn’t legally make them thieves as the lawyers made me to understand Sometimes the words we use matter, that’s why I apologised for using that word when my lawyers advised me…
Finally they admitted they made mistakes with my songwriters and publishers rights which they should have informed me before but they never did ,they have promised to rectify them so we wait and I hope they honour this this time and furnish me details to that effect.
To all my fans, friends, family ,followers and #BFNNation Thank you all for your support I O U guys a big concert #BFNLIC1 Can we now go back to the music ?The #album #risingsun soon be available''
The General Officer Commanding (GOC) the 82 Division Nigerian Army, Enugu, Major General Lasisi Adegboye on Thursday paraded two suspected criminals arrested through the efforts of Exercise Atilogwu Udo 1 flagged off on November 1 2019 at Nsulu, Abia State.
The two suspected criminals arrested included a fake soldier who gave his name as Madukwe Obinna and Ifeanyi Agbaraenyi, said to specialise in vandalising electrical cables.
Obinna, the fake soldier and a resident of Ogbor Hill, Aba, was arrested at Nsukka, Enugu state by soldiers while impersonating a serving soldier.
According to the GOC, the suspect was in a vehicle conveying egg plants from Abuja to Abia and he was given a lift by the driver of the vehicle he boarded because he claimed to be a soldier.
Items recovered from the suspect include Nigerian Army Identity Card, a desert camouflage T-shirt, two camouflage T-shirts, a pair of camouflage shorts, one mobile phone and the sum of N40,000.
Other items found in his possession include fake N1000 notes, one Japanese Yen, a toy pistol, fake Nigerian police identity card, 26 Nigerian Army vehicle stickers, 23 Army emblems, one pair of desert boots, two engineer cap badges, a name tag bearing Madukwe O.I. and a jackknife.
General Adegboye said: “It was also revealed during investigation that the suspect obtained a National Diploma in Computer engineering from the Nigerian Institute of Technology and Environmental Studies, Makurdi.
“It was further revealed during his confessional statement that he was on his way from Abuja to Aba for the purpose of committing robbery and he produces some of the military accessories found on him.”
Adegboye disclosed that troops of sector 5 on patrol on Wednesday at Opi near Nsukka were tipped off by locals of 3 criminals suspected to be involved in the act of stealing cables in the town.
“A pursuit by our troops led to the arrest of one of the criminals Ifeanyi Agbaraenyi, while the other two fled on sighting our troops,” the GOC disclosed.
He said preliminary investigation revealed that the criminal came from Udi, Onitsha and Enugu.
“However, his attempt to bribe the soldiers with the sum of N700, 000 was stiffly resisted by the soldiers,” Adegboye posited.
The suspects were later handed over to the police for further investigation and prosecution.
Popular Nigerian pastor, Tony Rapu has shared a video online in which he talked about plastic surgery. According to the preacher, the Bible is silent about plastic surgery and he sees nothing wrong in it.
He however pointed out that if plastic surgery is done solely with the aim of becoming more sexually appealing, then there is a problem with the person psychologically. Here is an excerpt from the video below... and ofcourse the video too.
“The bible is silent about plastic surgery and there is really nothing in it that tells us it is wrong, so there has to be other considerations.
If a person If a person is concious of a deformity or physical aspect of his or her body that is causing them some emotional discomfort, then cosmetic surgery is certainly an option.
There are women who have had mastectomies and have had to have breast implants and we know many people who have benefited from surgeries, especially when the surgery is non-invasive and the side effects are minimal.
There really is nothing wrong with enhancing the quality of a person’s life by surgery especially when the person is able to breathe better, walk better, or talk better and especially when psychological health is improved.
The challenge is when surgery begins to be an attempt to meet an emotional void in a physical way or to attract unnecessary attention to a person, or to seek approval from other people. In some of these cases, we are then beginning to deal with psychological issues or deep-seated insecurities in a person.
If surgery is for sexual attractiveness, simply because you want to be found more sexually attractive, then perhaps you are dealing with a deeper issue in terms of esteem.
So if surgery is for enhancing a vanity, then we are dealing with issues internally that surgery would probaby never be able to satisfy.”
Comedian AY and his wife are today celebrating their 11th wedding anniversary. The happy man took to IG to share a family photo (above) and praised his wife writing;
''You have been my beloved friend and sister in the last 16 years, my lovely wife, soulmate and mother in the last 11 years. So let us continue to grow old together @midas_interiors. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY''
In another photo he shared, he also wrote;
''It's 11 years of marriage from a friendship of 16 years, and we are still counting. We thank God for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Happy anniversary @midas_interiors''
Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter and Square, tweeted his farewell to Africa on Wednesday, but announced that he would return and temporarily move to the continent for at least three months in 2020.
Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter and mobile payments company Square, suggested that he may move to Africa for at least three months next year.
"Sad to be leaving the continent for now," Dorsey tweeted on Wednesday. "Africa will define the future (especially the bitcoin one!). Not sure where yet, but I'll be living here for 3-6 months mid 2020."
The bearded, 43-year-old tech exec was in Ethiopia this week, as part of a month-long tour across the continent.
A junior secondary school pupil has shocked a gathering of educationists in Alausa with a revelation.
The boy told the audience how fellow pupils drugged their teachers to cheat during examinations.
A parent also said she was severely distressed by her neighbour’s child drug abuse.
These were the revelation at the seminar organised by the Conference of Private Schools Associations in Lagos State (COPSAIL).
The event held at the Adeyemi Bero auditorium, Alausa on Monday.
Its theme was “Danger of Illicit Use of Hard Drugs Among our Youths.”
During the questions and answers session, the courageous boy stepped out to ask a question.
He said: “How do we solve a situation whereby fellow pupils drugged our teacher in order to cheat during examinations?”
The boy said once they add the substance in the drink, the teacher, after taking it, will sleep off all through the exams period and the pupils will be able to cheat.
He appealed to the state government to look into the matter.
Immediately after the boy’s expose, a parent took the microphone to narrate how her neighbour’s child’s drug abuse distressed her.
According to her, the child’s parent did not know that he was abusing drugs.
“I don’t know how to inform the child’s mother. She is my neighbour. We live in Ikorodu. She is the type that goes out in the morning and returns at night. The boy has friends who indulge in this illicit act,” she said.
Responding, Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Education Mrs Abosede Adelaja said parents and teachers need to pay close attention to children.
She described the drugged teacher as careless.
Mrs Adelaja said moral decadence is on the increase in the society.
She said: “I’ll not dispute that because if the children have not seen it or heard of it here, they won’t say it. We all need to go back and take care of our responsibility on these children be it parents, teachers or guardians. The kids are our future.
“If we see any negative behaviour or some changes in these children, we quickly find out what could be the cause. Most of the times parents are too busy looking for money for the children’s upkeep and the children use the opportunity to engage in so many social vices. To keep them busy, I’ll suggest more attention be paid to children.”
The Senate on Thursday urged President Muhammadu Buhari to initiate the process of computerising the nation’s oil sector.
This, according to the Senate, is to curb the multifaceted challenges associated with the oil and gas production, transportation, and sales business in the country.
It also mandated its joint committee on petroleum up stream, downstream and gas resources to convene a public hearing to ascertain the quantity of oil and gas produced daily and the quality control mechanism engaged by NNPC.
Other task for the committee is to determine the amount of waste of petroleum products through pilfering, pipeline vandalisation and leakages, and international best practices of computerized oil and gas business management, including pipeline protection and quantity and quality control.
The resolutions were reached after the Senate adopted a motion sponsored by Senator George Sekibo (PDP, Rivers East) and 29 others on the “need to install computerized oil facilities management gadgets for Nigerian crude oil businesses.”
Presenting the motion, Sekibo said it was of concern that while other countries in the same business venture have gone digital for the past 50 years, Nigeria is still using analogue technology in doing its petroleum technology.
“We still use human beings (4 persons) to monitor a kilometer of pipeline, giving undue opportunities to oil pilfered, giving rise to unnecessary pipeline explosion, causing deaths and unquantifiable loss of products and other human valuables,” he said.
He regretted that Nigeria with over 61 years in oil business could not give account of total amount of products produced, sold, wasted and lost through pilfering, or pipeline vandalization.
He said petroleum products business should have been given priority attention in terms of protection, expansion, quantity and total quality control especially with oil as the mainstay of Nigeria’s income and foreign reserves.
He said Nigeria is the biggest oil producer in Africa with maximum capacity of of about 2.5 million per barrel, but noted that, “this meager quantity is always under attack through pipeline vandalism and oil platform theft which has reduced quantity produced”.
Sekibo said, “one key area of fighting corruption is through effective management of resource itself, that is the source of revenue just as this administration emphasizes on the fight against revenue pilfering by the operators”.
“The computerization of oil management system assist in the pipeline protection, trigger off alarms when any section of the pipeline is disturbed for whatever reason. The system detects if there is a weak section, captures suspected intruders on the pipeline, and are equipped with fire fighting gadgets in the event of fire outbreak”.
Ahead of tomorrow’s Kogi West supplementary and Ajaokuta Federal Constituency rerun, the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC), on Thursday began the distribution of election materials to affected areas.
The materials, which were stored at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in Lokoja, the state capital, were delivered in the presence of INEC officials.
They included the National Commissioner for Kogi, Kwara and Nasarawa states, Mohammed Haruna; the state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Prof. James Apam; representatives of concerned political parties, security agencies personnel and reporters.
Haruna said the materials were for onward distribution to the affected areas in the supplementary poll in Kogi West and Ajaokuta Federal Constituency.
“We are taking the materials for the 53 polling units in Kogi West Senatorial District and Ajaokuta Federal Constituency.
“We are ready. All the materials are here, and we are set to set to receive them from the CBN.
“The charge is that the people should come out to cast their votes and conduct themselves in a peaceful manner, and for the politicians to be mindful of their conduct.
“We were prepared for the election on November 16. So, it’s just a continuation. We have charged our personnel to conduct themselves in a free and fair manner and the electorate to conduct themselves in a peaceful manner too,” he said.
Apam said the commission was more than ready for the election, as all the logistics and funding had been provided.
The Kogi West Senatorial District supplementary will hold across 53 polling units while the Ajaokuta Federal Constituency rerun will hold in 22 polling units.
A woman who saved a homeless man from the streets after she discovered him rifling through her bins has been left devastated by his death.
Joan Neininger married Ken Selway 40 years after she spotted him outside her house.
They were dubbed the real life Lady and the Tramp when they got hitched in 2017 after finding him looking for food in Gloucester.
Ken, 92, died of pneumonia last week - three weeks after he was admitted to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.
But despite being distraught at her loss, Joan says she is grateful for nearly three years of married bliss which followed their wedding at Cinderford Registry Office in the Forest of Dean in February 2017.
"I miss him terribly," said grieving Joan.
"When we first met I never dreamed we would end up together in the way we did so in a way we did have our happy ending.
"I loved him. He was a lovely man and we just suited each other. I will miss the companionship and the laughter. He could be such good fun at times."
When she first noticed a young Ken roaming around Gloucester, Joan presumed he was staying in a B&B and just had nowhere to go out in the day.
But then she saw him rummaging through the bins for food and realised he was homeless.
Ken refused to accept offers of help so with the blessing of her family Joan started leaving wrapped sandwiches for him to find.
Although her husband Norman also tried to help Ken he struggled with the schizophrenia and for a time it did put a strain on their marriage.
But the mum-of-three persuaded Ken to take medication for his mental health problems and eventually all three lived together happily in a cottage which which Joan described as "like a little paradise".
She says the men were like brothers until Norman died in 1983, leaving Ken and Joan in the cottage until he needed extra care and was moved to supported housing.
Joan went to live with her daughter but they pined for each other so during the 2016 leap year Joan proposed and they married on her 88th birthday, four days after Valentine's Day.
The Londoner, who was evacuated to Wales where he became a Bevin Boy, was on a mission to find relatives when he ended up sleeping in a derelict house near Joan's book shop in Gloucester.
The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, has advised the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Mohammed Bello, to develop satellite towns in order to decongest the city centre.
Abubakar III, who is also the President-General, Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), gave the advice when he led a delegation of religious and traditional leaders on a visit to the minister.
The monarch said if the satellite towns were well developed, there would be less demand on infrastructures at the city centre.
The Sultan urged Bello to be fair and just to all and sundry and discharge his responsibilities effectively with the fear of Allah.
“Since you have the opportunity to occupy the office of the FCT Minister, please see how you can develop the satellite towns so that you decongest the city centre.
“This will ensure that many people, if they finish their work, they will go out of the city centre so that there will be less demand on infrastructure at the capital here.
“I think it is very important that we look at such. This is our little advice to you,” he said.
The monarch said the purpose of the visit was to show solidarity, respect and commitment to further strengthen the strong ties that had been existing between the NSCIA and all administrations in the country.
The minister restated his commitment to work assiduously to develop infrastructures in the territory with a view to making the city one of the best in the world.
Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, South Africa’s Minister of Tourism, on Thursday called on Nigerians to continue visiting the country as the rainbow nation remained open for visitors from across the globe.
Kubayi-Ngubane made the call during an engagement session with Nigerian tourism stakeholders in Lagos against the backdrop of the recent xenophobic attacks in South Africa.
She said that there was a great need to advance bilateral relations between Nigeria and South Africa in the creative industry to achieve remarkable success for the two nations and the African continent.
The minister said South Africa regretted the situation, acknowledging that such attacks had happened in the past and the authorities had taken steps to ensure it was not repeated.
“I want you all to know that South Africa is open for visitors from Nigeria and other parts of the world as against insinuations by many that the country is repelling visitors.
“Friendship between South Africa and Nigeria precedes South Africa’s democracy. We didn’t achieve our democracy on our own; we stood on the shoulders of many African nations who fought with us to achieve the democracy we enjoy today.
“To ensure this does not reoccur, the President has appointed a former President of Tanzania and Mozambique as part of the people to find lasting solutions to the problem,” she said.
Kingston police, near Ontario in Canada have confirmed that seven people have died, including two minors, after a small aircraft crashed in the town’s wood.
Khou.com said the pilot of the plane, Obatek Oblokulov, died, along with his wife and three of his children, a three-year-old son, an 11-year-old daughter, and a 15-year-old son.
Also dead was a young Canadian couple that was also on board.
FAA records show Obatek Oblokulov was a registered pilot and operated a Piper PA-32. His address is in Missouri City, Texas.
A friend of the pilot said he was being expected for a brief stopover in Kingston before heading to Quebec City.
Police were made aware of a missing small US registered airplane around 5 p.m. on Wednesday, which prompted a search of a wooded area in Kingston’s west end.
Kingston Police tweeted Thursday that police, investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) and coroner’s office are on the scene and asked motorists to avoid the area.
TSB said the plane had taken off from Buttonville Municipal Airport, in Markham, north of Toronto, early Wednesday and had been heading for Kingston Airport.
The plane was later reported missing, and police sent to search for it.
Former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone has died at the age of 101.
Nakasone was Japan’s prime minister from November 1982 to November 1987.
According to Xinhua news, sources informed that Nakasone, a politician known for his support of expanding Japan’s defense provisions, passed away at a hospital in Tokyo just after 7:00 a.m. local time Friday.
Widely regarded as a strong figure in politics, the former Japanese leader, in terms of diplomacy, was also known to have a close, first name-basis relationship with former U.S. President Ronald Reagan during the 1980s.
Media personality Binta Badmus has died allegedly due to a medical error.
The media girl who first worked at Smooth FM as a radio presenter later joined Channels TV, before her unfortunate death.
Those in the know online are saying she had an ailment that was not life-threatening but a she was injected with a wrong injection that eventually took her life. Continue to see some of the tributes to her on social media.
