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.

Ladies beware: This 45 year old man was arrested for conning a lady of her hard earned money!

This 45 year old man identified as Ndubuisi Henry Udi was recently arrested by the Police at the Lagos Trade fair complex for conning a lady of the sum totaling to  N790,000. 

The suspect: Ndubuisi henry Udi arraigned at the Lagos trade fair Police station 

It was gathered that after he proposed to the lady who was introduced to him through a mutual elderly friend,  he told her he was some big contractor based in Abuja, and currently won the bid to execute a contract worth N300,000,000, which unfortunately he could not execute due to lack of funds. He managed to coax her to loan him some money to start off with the 'contract execution', that she should see it as an investment, after all, they were going to get married soon.

FACE OF A SERIAL CON ARTIST

 Information further revealed  that after a sham marriage introduction ceremony, he gave her a plan for the wedding ceremony, again she spent her money on the wedding gown, groom's outfit, hall rental, and all that was needed. 

It was alledged that when ever she called him, he would say he was in the church praying, this was what cemented his victim's trust in him, as she though she had finally found a 'God fearing' man. He painted to her, the picture of a sincere man.

Few days to the wedding, he played a fast one on her, he came up with a story that he needed some money to travel; as usual, she gave him some money, only for him to call after a while that he was robbed of all he had on him, except his phone which he used to call her. when she questioned his sincerity, he switched off his phone and that was the last she and her family heard of him. 

He was arrested in a hotel where he lodged around Ejigbo area of Lagos; when he tried playing another game with a friend of the lady he duped.  

During interrogation, it was revealed that he got married about 10 years ago, and has kids, he also proposed to another lady whom he swindled and did not show up on the wedding day in January 2013. 


Right now, information gathered that he is threatening the victim not to go to the press with this story or he would deal with her.


Well, the story somehow got into my hands......!
 

Paul Okoye proposes to his longtime girlfriend, Anita Isama!

A few weeks after Peter Okoye proposed to his longtime girlfriend, Lola Omotayo, his twin brother has followed suit. 

 
A few hours after he returned from his US/Canada tour, (this morning) Paul Okoye proposed to his longtime girlfriend and baby mama, Anita Atokwu-Isama. He proposed to her this afternoon  in front of family and friend. 




Congratz to the love birds....

2 cars containing 6bodies that sank a decade apart are found in a lake after 40 years!

They had lain undiscovered under an Oklahoma lake for fifty years. And now the discovery of two rusting vintage cars containing five bodies has reignited the mystery of how three teenagers and one man and his friends vanished more than four decades ago. One of the cases is believed to be connected to the disappearance of Jimmy Allen Williams (top right), Thomas Michael Rios, (top left), and Leah Gail Johnson, (bottom right), all went missing after going for a drive in Jimmy's blue 1969 Camaro on November 20, 1970. 

 

 

Dive teams were at Foss Lake conducting training with sonar when they came upon the vehicles last week. They went back and did a scheduled dive yesterday and when they pulled the cars out of the water, they found human bones.

 

The discovery of two rusting vintage cars containing six bodies has reignited the mystery of how three teenagers and three other people vanished more than four decades ago. 

Highway patrol officers testing their sonar equipment Foss Lake near Elk City, Oklahoma on Friday stumbled upon the rusting 1969 Camaro and a Chevrolet dating back to the 1950s. 

Inside the Camaro were three bodies believed to be of local teenagers who vanished after going out for a drive in 1970. Inside the Chevrolet were three more bodies – thought to be a 69-year-old man and his two friends who went missing in the state in the late 1950s or early 1960s.

Police say the Camaro matches the vehicle associated with the three missing teenagers who disappeared on November 10 1970. They say they have confirmed the identity of at least one of the victims however details are yet to be released.

Authorities have not formally identified all of the remains belong to but the local paper has made a clear connection between the discovered Camaro and the teens.
 

Jimmy Williams poses next to his then brand-new Camaro as a 16-year-old in 1970

The latest reports by local station KFOR states that one of the victims in the car thought to have belonged to the teenager has been identified but they are waiting to notify all of the relatives of the victims involved before releasing any names. 

Jimmy Allen Williams 16, Thomas Michael Rios, 18, and Leah Gail Johnson, 18, all went missing after going for a drive in Jimmy’s blue 1969 Camaro on November 20, 1970. 


They are still listed as missing persons and were thought to have been headed to a football game in nearby Elk City but also could have detoured to go hunting at Foss Lake.
 Local woman Kim Carmichael was a friend of the Camaro's owner, 16-year-old Jimmy Williams.
She told Oklahoma's Newsnine.com: 'I just remember how devastated everybody was
'We lived in a little town ... Nothing like that ever happened in Sayre.

At the time of the disappearance, Ms Carmichael's father was the undersheriff in nearby Beckham County where the teens were last seen.  He died in 2003 never knowing what happened.
 
Ms Carmichael added: 'He said there was nothing ... There were no leads, no nothing. He said it was just like they vanished into thin air.'I can't imagine what [Williams'] family was going through if I could see what my dad was going through.'

Oklahoma Highway Patrol said they are hoping the discovery will offer some relief to families who may have gone decades wondering where a missing loved one was