Beyoncé's publicist has asked news websites to take down photos from Beyonce's Superbowl performance after deeming them 'unflattering'.
Friday, 8 February 2013
Gunmen attack oil ship in Nigeria's delta, three killed!
NIGERIA:
Gunmen ambushed an Indian-owned oil barge on Tuesday as it was being escorted by the military through Nigeria's Niger Delta region, killing two soldiers and one crew member on the ship, a security forces spokesman said.
The ship belonging to Sterling Global Oil Resources, part of the Sandesara Group conglomerate, was fired on in the Angiama area of the delta, according to Onyema Nwachukwu, spokesman for mixed military and police brigades in the Niger Delta region.
He added that the gunmen were repelled by return fire.
"Our troops were escorting the Sterling Global Oil barge ... when they ran into an ambush. Two soldiers and one civilian were killed," he said, and three civilians on the boat were wounded. "Troops have been deployed to the area because some of the gunmen fled wounded."
There was no immediate comment from Sterling.
The swampy Niger Delta is plagued by violence of assorted militants, criminal gangs, pirates and oil thieves seeking to grab a share of the two million barrels of oil a day produced by Africa's most lucrative energy industry.
Pirates usually attack ships offshore, while oil thieves steal from pipelines in the delta's labyrinthine creeks, although with so many armed gangs riding around on speedboats, the distinction is sometimes blurred.
Many gangs are offshoots of militant groups that attacked the oil industry ostensibly for political reasons during a decade of unrest in the delta, before a 2009 government amnesty.
The amnesty formally ended the conflict, but criminal networks continue to operate.
Suspected Nigerian pirates have hijacked a French-owned Luxembourg-flagged tanker along with its 17-member crew off Ivory Coast, Ivorian officials and the International Maritime Bureau said on Monday.
Word for the Day: “Great occasions do not make heroes or cowards; they simply unveil them to the eyes of men. Silently and perceptibly, as we wake or sleep, we grow strong or weak; and last some crisis shows what we have become. ” ― Brooke Foss Westcott
Unknown Gunmen Shoot Dead Lagos White Cap Chief!
LAGOS:
Unknown gunmen in the early hours of yesterday morning have shot dead a Lagos white cap chief, Chief Kayode Adeshina, the Onimole of Lagos at his home located at Iga Idugaran Street, Isale-Eko, Lagos Island, Lagos.
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| late Chief Kayode Adeshina |
The 73-year-old chief was said to have been killed around 3am yesterday in his palace at House No. 5, Onimole Palace, Iga Idugaran Street, Lagos Island.
Children and relatives who were with the deceased when the unidentified gunmen struck said they were scared, as they could not do anything to help the old until he gave up the ghost.
According to one of his children, Oyinlola Ikuforiji, “the gunmen stormed the palace around 3a.m and made straight to the chief’s room where they found him sleeping. He was rudely woke up from sleep and a gun was pointed at his forehead.
He pleaded with them to spare his life but they in turn demanded that he gave them money. But, he told them that he had no money on him and was afterwards shot at, until he passed on few minutes later”.
It was gathered that immediately after shooting him, the killers started ransacking the palace, as they locked up the entire house, including the room where the old man was shot.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Lagos State Command, Ngozi Braide confirmed the incident, saying police had commenced investigations into the matter, as she assured that the perpetrators of the heinous crime would soon be and brought to book.
Word for the Day:“In an age of hope men looked up at the night sky and saw “the heavens." In an age of hopelessness they call it simply “space.” ― Peter Kreeft
Word for the Day:“In an age of hope men looked up at the night sky and saw “the heavens." In an age of hopelessness they call it simply “space.” ― Peter Kreeft
Thames torso boy was victim voodoo killing!
Pioneering scientific police work has confirmed that an African boy whose torso was found in the Thames in 2001, was the victim of a voodoo-style ritual killing.
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And ground-breaking forensic work has even narrowed the location to one of three areas of the West African nation.
Now a senior detective and a Government forensic scientist have travelled to Nigeria to gather further evidence which they hope will not only lead them to the boy's home village but also to his identity.
Last night a Scotland Yard spokeswoman said: 'The main thrust of the investigation is to try and identify who murdered Adam, and to do this we need to establish who he really is.'
It is the first time that the examination of radioactive isotopes has been used in a British criminal investigation. Isotope levels in bone reflect the geology of the area where someone has grown up.
The extraordinary forensic work also involved the detailed analysis of a sinister substance in the boy's stomach which has now been positively identified as a 'black magic' potion.
Scientists also made a microscopic examination of pollen found in his lungs and intestine which proved he had been in the London area for at least 72 hours before his death.
Detectives think he was brought to Britain specifically for a human sacrifice.
Speculation that the killing involved witchcraft has been rife since the black boy's body - without head, arms or legs - was found in the Thames near London's Globe Theatre on September 21, 2001 by a man walking across Tower Bridge.
Police frogmen also recovered a set of candles wrapped in a cotton sheet. Daubed in felt tip on the sheet was a West African name - Adekoyejo Fola Adeoye. Part of the name was also on the candles.
A post-mortem revealed another potentially vital clue. In the boy's stomach was a concoction of minerals and vegetable matter, which police suspected was fed to him as part of the ritual killing.
Forensic tests revealed that 'Adam, was a five or six-year-old boy from Nigeria who had been poisoned 48 hours before his death and was paralysed but conscious when he was killed.
Officers believe his death was a ritualistic killing and he had been poisoned with an extract from the carabar bean.
The potion included tiny clay pellets containing small particles of pure gold, a clear indication that Adam was Britain's first-known victim of a Muti ritual killing, prevalent in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa.
Muti murders are carried out in the belief that the body parts of children are sacred. They command large sums for use in medicines said to provide good luck, virility and business success. The bodies are often disposed of in flowing water.
Much of the scientific analysis-in the Adam case has been conducted by Professor Ken Pye, head of the forensic geoscience unit at Royal Holloway University of London, who also worked on the Sarah Payne murder inquiry.
The only clothing on Adam was a pair of orange shorts, exclusively sold in Woolworths in Germany and Austria.
Det Insp Will O'Reilly, who is leading the investigation and who earlier this year travelled to Johannesburg in South Africa in the hunt for clues, has been liaising with his counterparts in Germany and Belgium over two similar child deaths.
A black teenager was found dead from an apparent ritual killing in Frankfurt while the mutilated torso of a white child was found in Belgium.
A 31- year- old asylum seeker of West African origin, was questioned was arrested in connection with his death in July 2002,after clothes in her Glasgow tower-block flat were found to have come from the same shop as Adam's shorts. but she was deported to Nigeria months later.
Mrs Asaguede came to police attention after social workers became increasingly alarmed at her boasts about knowledge of human sacrifice.
DNA tests have since established that Mrs Asaguede is not Adam's natural mother but detectives are still anxious to trace her husband and to establish the whereabouts of their own young son.
The couple, who also have two daughters, aged six and seven, had lived in South London but are also known to have connections in Germany. Mrs Asaguede is on police bail pending further inquiries.
In December 2001 a £50,000 reward was offered for any information leading to the successful conviction of those responsible, and in April 2002 Nelson Mandela made a global appeal for information about the murder.
Ten years on Det Ch Insp Dunn said they would continue to do all they could to bring Adam's killers to justice.
"This is a case which is hugely important for the people of London and the people of Nigeria that we successfully conclude this investigation.
"We must not have any further cases of people being brought into the country for criminal slaughter."
"If you do bring trafficked people and those people come to harm, then we will leave no stone unturned in seeking you out," he warned.
Word for the day;“The greatness of humanity is not in being human, but in being humane.” ― Mahatma Gandhi
Wednesday, 6 February 2013
“What Nigeria and the Super Bowl have in Common”-Christiane Amanpour!
Nigeria’s persistent power cuts was recently compared to the black out which occurred at the largest sporting events in the United States, the Super Bowl by CNN’sChristiane Amanpour.
On Sunday 3rd February 2013, there was a 35 minutes black out at the event watched by over a hundred million people in 180 countries. This launched a blizzard of tweets, with many coming from Nigerians who were amused to know they are not the only ones with electricity challenges.
Amanpour parodies the epileptic power situation in Nigeria and its connection with the black out at the Super Bowl, noting some of the tweets from Nigerians:
“Power outage at the Super Bowl on Sunday. Suddenly, Nigeria doesn’t look as dark anymore.”
“If they had the Super Bowl in Nigeria, the power coming back on would be the real surprise.”
Amanpour recalled the interview she recently had with President Goodluck Jonathan where he said Nigerians were pleased with the government’s commitment to improve power and that there was considerable improvement in electricity supply in Nigeria.
This interview was followed by several tweets from Nigerians who denied the President’s claim.
CNN interviewed some Nigerians who complained about the epileptic power supply in Nigeria and their growing dependence on the use of generators.
Amanpour concluded her report with this funny tweet from a Nigerian
“Nigeria should bid to host the next SuperBowl. At least we have standby generators.
Word for the Day: Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes- Peter Drucker
Mali Conflict Deaths!
French forces have killed several hundred Islamist militants in Mali in a month-long conflict, French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has said.
The militants were killed in air strikes and direct combat with French troops, he said.
France says it intends to start pulling out of Mali in March, and has stressed the importance of African Union forces in ensuring security.
Air attacks and sporadic clashes are continuing in several parts of Mali.
France has deployed about 4,000 troops, and thousands more from the African Union are also there.
'Significant number'
Mr Le Drian said the militants died in air strikes on vehicles carrying fighters and materials, or in ground fighting in the town of Konna at the start of the campaign and later in the town of Gao.
He said French troops had inflicted "great damage on the jihadist terrorist groups", saying "several hundred, a significant number" of Islamist fighters had been killed.
The BBC's Thomas Fessy in Mali says it is unclear how the French made their assessment of the numbers of dead.
France has suffered only one fatality, a helicopter pilot killed at the beginning of the operation.
French experts had earlier suggested the Islamist alliance could probably muster about 3,000 fighters overall.
Mr Le Drian said Malian forces had also taken prisoners including high-ranking militants who would "have to answer to Malian courts and international justice".
French forces are continuing to carry out air strikes in mountains north of Kidal where Islamists have taken refuge.
Earlier, the French military said some 1,800 soldiers from Chad had entered Kidal.
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| Chadian soldiers |
Mr Le Drian said the town was now under the control of French forces with "the support of African and in particular Chadian forces".
Meanwhile, pro-autonomy Tuareg rebels said they had occupied the north-eastern town of Menaka, but their claim could not be verified.
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| Tuareg rebels |
Analysts say the Tuareg fighters, who initially joined forces with the Islamist rebels, are seeking to maximise their territorial claim on the region.
Mali's future
The French intervened in Mali in January, fearing that al-Qaeda-linked militants who had controlled Mali's vast north since April 2012 were about to advance on the capital, Bamako.
In an interview published on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said French soldiers could start leaving Mali in March.
| Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius |
"We will continue to act in the north where some terrorist havens remain,".
"I think that starting in March, if all goes as planned, the number of French troops could be reduced."
Meanwhile, officials from the UN, EU, African Union, the World Bank and dozens of nations met in Brussels to discuss Mali's future.
They are considering how elections can be held in July, as well as the financing of an international military force and humanitarian assistance.
Word for the Day: “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” ― Aristotle,
Jonathan leads 5 former presidents to centenary celebration
Nigeria:
President Goodluck Jonathan led five former Presidents and Heads of State on Monday evening to inaugurate the nation's centenary anniversary celebration.
Former military Heads of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (rtd), Gen. Mohammadu Buhari, Gen. Abdusalami Abubakar, former Presidents Shehu Shagari and Olusegun Obasanjo also graced the occasion held at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa.
The anniversary will hold on Jan. 1, 2014.
The British colonial administration amalgamated the Southern and Northern Protectorates which make up the Nigerian nation on Jan. 1, 2014.
The Senate President, Sen. David Mark, his Deputy Sen. Ike Ekweremadu, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, his Deputy, Chief Emeka Ihedioha and the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloma Mukhtar also attended the event.
| Senate President: David Mrak |
State Governors, Ministers, Presidential aides, captains of Industry, members of Diplomatic Corps were present at the occasion.
Speaking at the occasion, Jonathan said that the amalgamation of 1914 was not a mistake but an act of God. He said that the amalgamation created ``a unique entity of the globe called Nigeria; a beautiful country richly blessed and which had turned out innovative people across the world.’’
The president said that beyond the endowed natural resources, ``Nigeria is blessed with unique collection of people specially created by God.’’
``The one Nigeria consciousness which has kept the nation together must be safeguarded.’’
The president said that it was a unique act of God that the country had survived a civil war and several other daunting challenges.
``The unity of Nigeria is indivisible and non-negotiable, we must remain the forward looking people that we are".
``I see a united, powerful and prosperous nation that will make the generation yet unborn very proud.``Arise, we shall and prosper we will,’’ he said.
Jonathan, Buhari, a 120 year-old man from Zungeru in Niger state who witnessed the 1914 amalgamation and two children, representing the younger generation lit the centenary torch.
In a welcome address, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Sen.
Anyim pius Anyim said that in line with the directive of the President, the celebration would involve all Nigerians and its sponsorship would be wholly private sector driven.
He said that he was amazed at the response of Nigeria to support the celebration and make it strong, colourful and fascinating.
Anyim said that the centenary celebration would be used to replace pessimism with optimism to make the country rise above its challenges.
He said that the celebration would generate over 15,000 direct and indirect jobs.
Gowon described Nigeria as ``a unique nation, a nation of diverse, strong and hard working people.’’
He said that not many nations could survive 100 years of cohesiveness in-spite of the diverse nature of the nation and several challenges Nigeria had faced.
Unveiling the centenary logo, he declared: "May the emblem symbolise a rallying point for the unity of the nation, ``May it be a reminder of our, entity, unity and oneness of the nation which in not negotiable and serve as a symbol of peace, unity and prosperity.’’
Obasanjo recalled his 2003 national broadcast where he asked ``If you cannot love Nigeria and be positive about it and make contributions to its progress, then I should ask you what sort of Nigerian are you?’’.
He tasked Nigerian to remain focused in the quest for making Nigeria a ``humane, just and progressive’’ nation.
Obasanjo after the remarks presented the centenary theme: ``One Nigeria, Great Promise’’.
Speaking in same vein, Abubakar said that Nigeria was in the league of countries like, India, China, Egypt, Ethiopia and Amenia for surviving 100 years and more of co-existence in spite of daunting challenges.
He said that the nation should use the opportunity of the centenary celebrations to lay the foundation of a new nation.
``There is every reason to celebrate in songs and dances.
``One nation, indivisible Nigeria has come to stay,’’ he said.
Abubakar thereafter presented a centenary theme song titled: ``This Land, Celebrating 100 years of Nigeria" which was subsequently performed by a theme of notable Nigerian musicians led by Onyeka Onwenu.
News Agency of Nigeria reports that Tambuwal launched the centenary web portal – ``www.nigeriacentenary.com.ng’’ while the Senate President launched the centenary lottery.
On the other hand, A human rights activist, Ms Ann-Kio Briggs, Bishop Mathew Kukah and former president of Botswana, Mr Festus Mogae, yesterday disagreed over the planned centenary celebrations slated for January next year.
The Federal Government is planning to mark the 100th anniversary of the amalgamation of Northern and Southern protectorates in 1914.
The trio spoke yesterday at the 10th Daily Trust Dialogue in Abuja. While Briggs opined that there was no reason for the country to celebrate the event, Kukah and Mogae disagreed, saying there were cogent reasons for the celebration.
Briggs described the amalgamation as a forced union saying God did not put Nigeria together but that colonial masters forced Nigerians together.
She also attributed mutual distrust among various ethnic groups and structural imbalance as the creation of colonial masters and responsible for the poor state of Nigeria.
| Ms Ann-Kio Briggs |
However, Kukah said though Nigeria has its own challenges, it has achieved some developments. He said not all Nigerian leaders were bad and called on critics not only to look at minuses over the years. He said the most important thing was for Nigerians to seek ways to address the challenges and move on.
| Bishop Mathew Kukah |
Mogae, who was the chairman of the dialogue, said Nigeria has every reason to celebrate its 100 years of existence. He said if there were no reasons to celebrate, he wouldn't have visited Nigeria.
He said even though Nigeria has not achieved its full potentials, it has recorded some developments that even a blind man can see.
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| former president of Botswana, Mr Festus Mogae |
Word for the Day: But to practice leadership, you need to accept that you are in the business of generating chaos, confusion, and conflict-Ronald Heifetz
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