Three Female Undergraduates Beaten to Coma for Stealing Ladies Pants in Asaba!

Nigeria:

Three female undergraduates of the Delta State University (Abraka) were reported to have been beaten to a state of coma on Thursday by angry market women who sell wares at the popular Ogbegonogo market in Asaba, Delta State Nigeria.



Offense committed  by the three undergraduate student was that they allegedly stole various pants at the boutique line. Some eyewitnesses said that the suspects were caught with the pants after they had pretended to be customers and paid for two different under wares ones selected from the hangers.

It was also gathered that the three female undergraduates were said to be regular visitors to the market. 

But the trust the traders have in them as regular customers evaporated when one of them, a 200 level mass communication student (names withheld) sought to be accompanied to where they could buy good pants and the suspects paid for two packets of mixed coloured pants and in the process allegedly removed three other packets alongside the ones they bought.

Luck however ran out on them as the trader suddenly noticed the removal of some packets from where they were displayed.

They were said to have been beaten severely by the angry market women who raced to the scene of the incident. Police authorities at the ‘A’ Division Asaba confirmed the incident.

Kenya mourns Westgate siege victims!

Kenya has begun three days of national mourning following the end of the four-day siege by Islamist militants on Nairobi's Westgate shopping centre.

In a televised address, President Uhuru Kenyatta said six members of the security forces were among 67 people who had died.

Declaring the siege over, he said five militants had been killed and 11 other suspects arrested, reports the BBC.

As the clearing of the mall continues, the number of dead is expected to rise.

Several bodies, including those of some attackers, are thought to be trapped under rubble after three floors of the building collapsed following a blaze.

Kenya's Standard newspaper reported that tens of bodies were removed from the building on Tuesday evening.

Correspondents say the shopping centre lay largely silent overnight and light smoke was still drifting from the building.

Journalists and onlookers were kept behind a security cordon but police let some people retrieve cars from the scene.

In his address, the president praised the response of ordinary Kenyans, calling it exemplary and overwhelming.

"We have ashamed and defeated our attackers," he said. "Kenya has stared down evil and triumphed."

He did not confirm earlier reports that some of the attackers were US and British.

"Intelligence reports had suggested that a British woman and two or three American citizens may have been involved in the attack," said Kenyatta.

"We cannot confirm the details at present. Forensic experts are working to ascertain the nationalities of the terrorists."

He added: "These cowards will meet justice, as will their accomplices and patrons, wherever they are."

At least 18 foreigners are among the dead. They include six Britons as well as citizens from France, Canada, the Netherlands, Australia, Peru, India, Ghana, South Africa and China.

About 175 people were wounded including 62 who remain in hospital.

Somali Islamist group al-Shabab said it had carried out the attack in retaliation for Kenyan army operations in Somalia.

The militants stormed the Westgate centre on Saturday, throwing grenades and firing indiscriminately on shoppers and staff.

"Now it is for the forensic and criminal experts," said police spokesman Masoud Mwinyi.

A Twitter post from al-Shabab on Tuesday dismissed claims that women were involved in the attack.

The group said: "We have an adequate number of young men who are fully committed and we do not employ our sisters in such military operations."

Al-Shabab, which is linked to al-Qaeda, has repeatedly threatened attacks on Kenyan soil if Nairobi did not pull its troops out of Somalia.

There are about 4,000 Kenyan troops in the south of Somalia as part of an African Union force supporting Somali government forces.

Al-Shabab is fighting to create an Islamic state in Somalia.

Despite being pushed out of key cities in the past two years, it remains in control of smaller towns and large swathes of the countryside.

UN special representative for Somalia Nicholas Kay called on Tuesday for a fresh surge in African troops to Somalia to counter an estimated 5,000 al-Shabab fighters.

pastor caught while trying to bury 2-year-old girl in lagos!

A pastor of a new generation Pentecostal church located in the Egbeda area of Lagos State is reportedly trying to talk his way out of the allegation that he murdered a two-year-old girl.

Front gate of the church

It was gathered that Police detectives alleged the man of God was attempting to bury the remains of the yet-to-be-identified child when police operatives from Idimu Police Station swooped on him.

The Church, known as Christ Gospel Apostolic Church, is located at 32/34 Karimu Ilaka Street in Egbeda area of Lagos State.

The pastor, identified as Dare Adewole, was reportedly initially detained at Idimu Police Station but had since been transferred to the Homicide Section of the State Criminal Investigative Department of the Lagos State Police Command in Panti, Yaba.

According to Police source, the suspect was arrested after a tip-off by neighbors of the pastor, who had reportedly been monitoring him when they noticed his movements.

Some his neighbors said they had always been suspicious of the pastor.
One of them said: “People had always doubted his sincerity of being a man of God due to the way he behaves.”

Lagos Police Commissioner: Umar Manko

Roving informant gathered that the acting image maker in charge of the state Police Command, Damasus Ozoani, confirmed the incident.

Ozoani added: “It is true the police have made arrests but I cannot tell you the number of arrests.
“The case is beyond what the division can handle.
“It has been transferred to the State CID, Panti.”

Ozoani further stated that the Police is yet to identify the two-year-old girl.

Fate of remaining hostages uncertain as standoff at Kenya mall continues after attack that killed 68 people!

 Helicopters circling overhead, Kenya's military launched a major operation Sunday at an upscale Nairobi mall and said it had rescued "most" of the hostages being held captive by al-Qaida-linked militants during a two-day standoff that killed at least 68 people and injured 175.

The military assault began shortly before sundown, with one helicopter skimming very close to the roof of the shopping complex as a loud explosion rang out, far larger than any previous grenade blast or gunfire volley.

Kenyan police said on Twitter that security forces had launched a "MAJOR" assault to end the bloody siege.

"This will end tonight. Our forces will prevail. Kenyans are standing firm against aggression, and we will win," Kenya's National Disaster Operation Centre said on Twitter.

The Kenya Defense Forces later said it had rescued "most" hostages and had taken control of most of the mall, though it did not provide details.

Many of the rescued hostages – mostly adults – were suffering from dehydration, Col. Cyrus Oguna, a military spokesman, told The Associated Press. He refused to say how many hostages were rescued or how many were still being held. He said some of the attackers had "most probably" been killed in the operation.

The assault came about 30 hours after 10 to 15 al-Shabab extremists stormed the mall Saturday from two sides, throwing grenades and firing on civilians.

Loud exchanges of gunfire rang out from inside the four-story mall throughout Sunday. 

Kenyan troops were seen carrying in at least two rocket-propelled grenades. Al-Shabab militants reacted angrily to the helicopters on Twitter and warned that the Kenyan military action was endangering hostages.

Kenyan authorities said they would do their utmost to save hostages' lives, but no officials could say precisely how many people were being held captive. Kenya's Red Cross said in a statement, citing police, that 49 people had been reported missing. Officials did not make an explicit link but that number could give an indication of the number of people held captive.

Fire Raze Isakaba Community In Lekki!

Fire razed over twenty shanty buildings at Isakaba- Base community, Ikota-  Housing estate, at the Lekki area of Lagos State.  

According to eye witness accounts,  fire broke out  around 8 pm on Thursday, 19th of September, 2013, when an unidentified woman locked her children inside her house, leaving a candle on for them to see through the darkness, and reportedly  went out.

Telling his story, a victim of the fire outbreak identified as Emmanuel Igaba a truck assistance from Obodo in Cross River State, Nigeria, said he was confronted with the outbreak on arrival from a business trip to the Northern part of the country only to see his belongings destroyed in the fire.  "I returned from a trip to Kano, when I saw the whole area on fire, my house inclusive. As you see me here, it is only the clothes I had on me, that is all I can account for now". He said. 

Another eye witness who preferred not to mention her name, said it took the gallant efforts of some men, women and children in the neighborhood to put out the fire since there was no presence of fire fighters any where near the scene., despite the fact that there is a State Fire Service office in the neighbourhood.  It was not confirmed however if any calls was put across to the fire service office. 


Her story: "We had to go all the way to the bore-hole to fetch water to quench the fire, I was particularly moved to tears when I saw children fetching water all the way from the bore hole, the whole Isakaba Community was filled with people, some kids who were affected roamed around as there was no where for them to stay, and their parents were busy trying to put out the fire.  A lot of people lost everything they had except the clothes they wore. The unfortunate thing was that some young men, instead of helping out, were busy taking pictures and videos of the calamity, some of them also engaged in looting the little properties that the victims tried to salvage". "In all, we thank God no life was lost, a little child was saved from being consumed by the inferno, but we didn't record any casualties". She stated. 

Below: Part of Isakaba Community before the inferno

1992 MURDER FUGITIVE ARRESTED A DECADE LATER!

 Twenty years after he allegedly gunned down his wife's friend in a Philadelphia restaurant, a fugitive "spiritualist" who sold religious artifacts around the world is in custody after visiting the U.S. embassy in the Philippines.

Santiago Pedroso, 71, applied for an emergency passport in Manila on Sept. 6, prompting a routine criminal check. The 1992 murder charge soon popped up, leading the FBI to compare an old file photo with one submitted to the embassy.

"Just looking at the two photographs, we knew immediately it was him," said FBI Special Agent David E. Carter of Philadelphia, one of two agents who greeted Pedroso on Wednesday when he returned to U.S. soil in Los Angeles.

The murder warrant charges Pedroso in the June 1992 death of 41-year-old Delores Alvarez.

His estranged wife had recently moved in with Alvarez when he ran into them at a restaurant on Father's Day, according to newspaper reports at the time. He allegedly shot Alvarez five times just after she ordered dinner, as his teenage daughter begged him to stop, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported at the time.

"Pop, no, Pop, no," the daughter, Raquel, screamed as he fired the first four bullets into the woman's head, the article said. Other diners tipped over tables to seek cover.

Pedroso walked out of the restaurant and disappeared, investigators said.

Authorities in Manila arrested him outside the embassy on Sept. 9. He is now in custody in Philadelphia, where he was arraigned Friday on charges that include murder, illegal possession of a firearm and reckless endangerment.

The 1992 Inquirer article described Pedroso as a "spiritualist" who ran a religious bookstore. Alvarez had recently moved to Philadelphia from Newport Beach, Calif., where she had been a well-liked employee for Hughes Aircraft Corp., according to news reports.

Detectives said Pedroso was enraged by the friendship between Alvarez and his estranged wife, 44-year-old Maria Gomez, when he opened fire.

A naturalized U.S. citizen from Cuba, Pedroso traveled widely after that, selling religious wares around the world, the FBI said Friday.

Agents followed leads to Hong Kong, Spain, Malaysia, Guatemala, Portugal and elsewhere. The FBI now believes Pedroso was in the Philippines by 1996, perhaps landing there as a cruise ship stowaway, according to Special Agent John Kitzinger, head of the fugitive task force in Philadelphia.

Pedroso is due in court on Oct. 9 for a preliminary hearing. He does not yet have a lawyer listed in court files.

Ethel Anderson, Teacher Guilty Of Sex With Student, Claims She Sent Racy Texts As 'Sexual Therapy'!

A former teacher of the year who was accused of having sex with a 12-year-old boy told a Florida court that she sent him pornographic text messages as "sexual therapy" to motivate him to be a better student.

"That was my purpose, to gain his attention. And yes, I did it in an inappropriate way," Ethel Anderson, who was 29 at the time the abuse began, said in court Tuesday.

According to Bay News 9, prosecutors obtained more than 230 pages of sexually explicit text messages between the teacher and student.

It was reported s that Anderson was found guilty on Wednesday of molestation, battery, and sex with the 12-year-old student.

Previously:
Anderson, a former teacher of the year at Mango Elementary School in Seffner, Fla., faces nine felony counts of lewd and lascivious molestation. Although she admitted sending the texts, she denied any contact occurred, and claimed the victim threatened to turn her in.

The victim, now 14, also testified about the alleged abuse on Tuesday.

"We sat on the couch and we started doing sexual stuff. At first I told her to stop... she was rubbing on my leg, but then it just led to more," the victim told the court, according to ABC Tampa Bay. "She would say she wanted me so bad and she wanted me to go farther [sic]...I just did not want to lose my virginity  to a teacher."

WTSP reports that the abuse occurred during math tutoring sessions at Anderson's home between December 2011 and February 2012.

In testimony, the victim told the court that at the time, he thought he was "living a guy's dream... [of] dating a teacher," but that he didn't tell anyone because he "knew she'd get in trouble," according to Bay News 9.

Detectives arrested Anderson in February 2012 following an investigation. According to a separate WTSP report, police began an investigation of Anderson after the victim's mother approached police concerned that her son was having a sexual relationship with his tutor.

Closing arguments in the case are scheduled for Wednesday. If convicted, Anderson faces up to 30 years in prison.