Thursday 20 December 2012

Nkiru Slyvanus: Police Arrest 16 Suspects

Imo State Police Command yesterday said it has arrested 16 suspects in connection with the kidnapping of Nollywood actress and Special Assistant to the State Governor on Public Affairs, Nkiru Sylvanus.


The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Vitalis Onugu (DSP), disclosed that the suspects were arrested in a raid of suspected kidnappers’ dens in the forest, adding that they were already assisting the police in its investigation.
Meanwhile, the state government has directed security agencies to arrest any unauthorised person found using siren and vehicles with tinted glasses. Rising from a security council meeting, the state Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, said the renewed war against unauthorised use of siren and tinted glasses was part of the stringent measures adopted by the council to checkmate crime in the state, especially during the Yuletide.
Also, members of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Southeast Zone, demanded the immediate release of the actress. Members of the actors’ body, led by its National Vice President, Southeast, Ikechukwu Ezenagu, a legal practitioner, barricaded the entrance of Government House displaying placards with various inscriptions which include, “Southeast governors give Nollywood actors security,” “Insecurity is the bane of investment in the Southeast,” “Turn away from kidnapping and join Nollywood,” among others.

Wednesday 12 December 2012

“I Bless All Of You From My Heart” – Pope Posts First Ever Tweet

The Head of the Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI, today tweeted his very first message on his official handle – @Pontifex.

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The respected Christian leader in the tweet told his current 680, 000 followers that: “Dear Friends, I am pleased to get in touch with you through Twitter. Thank you for your generous response. I bless all of you from my heart”.
The Vatican had last month revealed that the Pope would start using the social medium on December 12, 2012.
It is expected that His Holiness will hit millions of followership within weeks, as he his adored by many people all across the continents. In addition, the Church has an estimated 1 billion faithfuls worldwide.
Born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger in Marktl, Bavaria, Germany on April 16, 1927, he is the 265th Pope. He was elected on April 19, 2005 at the age of 78; the oldest person to have been elected Pope since Pope Clement XII (1730–40).

Kamene Okonjo: Kidnappers Demand N200m Ransom

Negotiations have begun in earnest with the kidnappers of Prof. Kamene Okonjo, mother of the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who was kidnapped on Sunday in Delta State.


The kidnappers allegedly contacted the family on phone Monday afternoon and initially demanded to speak with the minister but were not allowed to do so. Instead, they were made to speak with the eldest son of the victim, Onyema, who relocated to Ogwashi-Uku on Monday to coordinate the safe release of his mother.
The minister, who was ready to travel down to Ogwashi-Uku was advised against the move by the security agents and the Delta state governor just as we learnt the abductors first demanded the resignation of the minister as a pre-condition for her mother’s release.
Onyema, it was learnt, insisted on speaking with his mother to ascertain the state of her health and to be sure that he was not dealing with impostors before he could negotiate with the abductors.
It was after he had spoken to his mother whom we gathered is in high spirits despite her traumatic ordeal, that the kidnappers changed their demand by asking that the minister of finance to bring the money the FG recovered from oil marketers who allegedly defrauded the country under the fuel subsidy regime.
Further negotiations with the kidnappers made them reduce the ransom from N1 billion to N200 million, it was learnt.

news.naij.com

Wednesday 5 December 2012

Nollywood veteran actor, Enebeli Elebuwa is dead. The actor, as we learnt, died last night at his Indian hospital.

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Elebuwa, who died on Tuesday night, had been battling the effects of a stroke for sometime and undergone treatment at some hospitals in Nigeria before being moved abroad.
The illness had kept him bedridden for sometime.

Elebuwa was well known for the role he played as Andrew in a campaign by the Federal Government in the 80s to discourage Nigerians from fleeing the country.
The immediate President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, Mr. Segun Arinze, confirmed Elebuwa’s death on the telephone.
He said, “He fought gallantly. He was a great actor. We all called him Andrew but unfortunately, he has checked out.
“We thank the Delta State Government which stood by him. We also thank the Delta State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Richard Mofe-Damijo, for his efforts.”
Other Nollywood personalities who have died in the last few months include Sam Loco Efe, Geraldine Ekeocha, Ahmed Alasari, Akin Ogungbe, Ashley Nwosu, Dento, Taiwo Bello and Pete Eneh.
More details later.

read more....

Tuesday 4 December 2012

Bishop Oyedepo Asked To Pay N2 Billion Over Death Of 3-Year-Old

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The presiding Bishop and general overseer of living faith churches worldwide, Bishop David Oyedepo has been asked to pay N2 billion over the death of a 3 year old girl Imienfan Omokaro who got drowned at Kingdom Heritage Model School operated by Winners Chapel in Benin.

Imienfan was said to have drowned in a drum of water placed in the school toilet on November 1,2012 in Benin. A letter written by Omokaro’s Counsel, Prince Peter E. Uwadiae-Igbinigie and, dated November 28, 2012 and made available to journalists in Benin, explained that the amount was “for the callous and senseless killing of our client’s daughter, Miss Imienfan Omokaro.”

Mr. Omokaro’s lawyers want Kingdom Heritage Model School to tender unreserved apology in three national newspapers, warning that if the demands were not met within 14 days, “we have the irrevocable instructions of our client to commence legal action against the school (Kingdom Heritage Model School) and Church (Winners Chapel) without any further correspondence from this Chambers.”

The little girl was a KG 1 student, sources say that the school authorities did not inform the mother of the girl about the death until late in the evening. A source who pleaded anonymity stated that the school authorities had kept the girl for over an hour praying for her, before finally taking her to Irowa Hospital in Benin, where she was confirmed dead.

Mom puts baby up for adoption–without telling dad


Terry Achane and his daughter (Terry Achane
A father will be reunited with his daughter whose wife had given her up for adoption without hisknowledge or consent.

The ruling was made by a Utah judge, who said he was "astonished and deeply troubled" by a Utah adoption agency's deliberate move to circumvent the rights of a married man, Terry Achane, an Army drill instructor.
The biological father had been working away from home when the baby was born. The 31-year-old said he and his wife were having marital problems and that she had suggested adoption or abortion, fearing she would be a single mother.
He had encouraged her to keep the baby, but when she gave birth prematurely, she signed away her baby to the Utah family with five kids of their own.
"I was like, 'Utah? Where is Utah?' I'd never been to Utah. She's never been to Utah,'" Achane toldThe Salt Lake Tribune.
The judge gave the adoptive parents, Jared and Kristi Frei, 60 days to return Achane's daughter. After a two-year legal battle, the girl, whom Achane named Teleah but has only met twice, is supposed to head back to South Carolina.
The Utah parents vow to put up a fight and plan to appeal the judge's ruling. On a blog that tells the story of the baby they call Leah, they write, "We have, as a family, come to know that this dream was a righteous desire blessed to fruition by God, and that Leah would be that child—and yet, little did we know the challenges and trials that awaited us in finding and fighting for this little girl."