My wonderful girlfriend has supported me all the way – John Mikel Obi says


Nigerian midfielder John Mikel Obi has heaped praise on his girlfriend Olga Diyachenko saying she has supported him all the way. He also said him winning a Bronze medal at Rio 2016 is a wonderful achievement for him and his family.

Mikel started dating Olga in 2013 and they have twin girls together. Speaking to UK Standard on Monday he said;

‘I was obviously very clear before travelling to Brazil that my target was the gold medal. But to get the bronze is still an amazing achievement.

‘There was a celebration at the hotel afterwards, we were all jumping around. Everyone was so excited. I went to sleep last night with my medal beside me; I couldn’t and didn’t want to let it out of my sight.’

‘It really is a dream come true for me, for my family, my two little angels – my twin baby girls – my wonderful girlfriend, who has supported me all: the way.’

‘First off all I want to celebrate with my family, put it around my daughters’ neck, take pictures and make sure they get to see what daddy achieved.’



Mercy Johnson blasts critics, says she will have baby number 4


Renowned Nollywood actress, Mercy Johnson-Okojie has blasted critics who threw shades at her for not spacing the birth of her children.

The mother of three who was reported to be pregnant for her fourth child, said those criticizing her have nothing to do with their lives.

In a chat with Vanguard, the busty thespian said her fans should expect baby number four soon, since most of them had nothing better to do than to watch her stomach.

She said, “I feel that when you haven’t gone through life and you don’t have a bearing in life, that’s when you see certain decisions as unreasonable. Most of these people who make these statements have not even realized what they want to do with their lives yet. They should expect baby number four from me.

“I had planned my life right from when I was growing up. I arranged my life the way I wanted it to go. And that is why even when I was at the peak of my career and marriage came, I grabbed it because I know age keeps going and time waits for no one.

“It means that I can have all of my four kids and then still get back to shape and come back to what I love to do. So I am not going to say things like, ‘I don’t want to have kids yet’ or ‘I am not going to get married and I want to keep acting because the young shall always grow’, you are not going to be number one forever. That is why when it is time for you to do something, you do it.

“Yoruba will always say in their prayers that when the time for a child to talk has come, by the grace of God, she will talk. When it’s time to go to school, he will go to school. That’s what I’m trying to do. I want to define my life in a way my daughter will want to define her own life,” the comic actress said, noting that criticisms don’t get to her.



Actor Okechukwu Joseph says his relationship with Genevieve was a disaster


Popular Nollywood actor, Okechukwu Joseph, has recounted his aborted romance with legendary actress, Genevieve Nnaji.

Joseph said his relationship with Ms. Nnaji was very short, although he never disclosed this to the media.

The ‘Karishika’ actor further told the Sun that his relationship with the star actress was a disaster.

Joseph said, “My very short relationship with Genevieve was such a disaster. This is the first time I am admitting this publicly.

“Genny and I met and became friends on the set of Mark of the Beast. Of course in her very early days. It was as though we were in some type of experiment. But I learned a lot about her within that short period.

“Two unforgettable moments- the day she introduced her little brother to me and the day she told me literally everything about herself. She trusted me that much. My mind was racing like crazy and I kept wondering how so little people knew about this young Amazon who was out to play the Esther for her family and did she? She felt like family to me. She is my kind of woman – classy, clean and confident.

“Unfortunately, we couldn’t go further because of my funny little ‘virgin’ secret. Not that she solicited or asked for anything but of course, my body language was downright repulsive to that effect and it didn’t take anything for any woman with brains to figure it out. She was so full of pragmatic energy and so on-the-go- like woman on a mission. Never ready to play around with stuff she couldn’t put up with. I hope she’s still that way. She has got an incredible story to her glory.”

On if he would take things to the ‘next level’ if he had another opportunity with Genevieve, Joseph said, “I don’t know what you mean by ‘the next level.’ But I would love to play by my rules book at this moment. However, there is not going to be any such opportunity. The young woman has moved on ever so predictably and I’m the happiest for her.”

The actor said he had difficulties in getting along with his colleagues, especially females because he was a virgin.

He said, “I had no difficulty mingling. What I had issues with was entangling- copulating. And like I said earlier, I wasn’t ready because I was a virgin and I didn’t want to tell anybody. I was always making excuses about why I couldn’t ‘get down.’”

He went further to say some of his female colleagues solicit sex from him during shooting.

He said, “Truth is a lot of people didn’t know that all that while that I was shooting movies everywhere I was still a virgin! I didn’t know how to explain this to ladies especially. People thought I had other strange feelings.

“One of my directors even confronted me at some point wanting to know if I was hiding some ailment. It was on the set of this director that two young women attempted to rape me in my hotel room. I will never forget this. It was Singapore Hotel, Ikeja, where we lodged. The movie was Karishika 2. We had returned from a shoot so I left my door open. They came in, stripped themselves halfway and pounced on me. I fought with them for nearly 25 minutes. They gave up when I threatened to stab them. I lied that I had a knife. That was probably the third time that I had had that kind of experience.

“They were upcoming artistes. They were also part of that movie. Everybody else was fair game, but I was ‘forming superman’ so I could understand their frustration. And they were a crazy bunch. You don’t come across girls like that every day, whether in Nollywood or elsewhere. It was something else,” he added.



NBET, CBN negotiate new N180bn stimulus for power sector


The acting Managing Director, Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET), Mr. Waziri Bintube has confirmed that the NBET and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) are currently negotiating a new financial stimulus worth N180 billion to support electricity operators in Nigeria’s power sector.

Bintube in an interview, said that the CBN had in addition to the N213 billion it approved in its Nigerian Electricity Market Stabilisation Facility (NEMSF) for disbursement to operators at a concessionary term, agreed to put another N180 billion into the facility. He also said NBET had not touched its $350 million capitalization fund under the Euro bond facility and that while the CBN expects to wrap up its first N213 billion to the market, the new N180 billion would immediately kick in.

He added: “If the power plants work, the manufacturers will have lesser problems, the banks will get paid for their products and then there will be less need for foreign products to come in and that reduces the request for foreign exchange. Just imagine that if our refineries are working, we will not need to depend on importation which takes away a lot from us including profits and jobs.”



Fake miracle syndicate nabbed, says pastor hired them


Members of a syndicate, which specialised in confirming fake prophecies for pastors, have been arrested by the police in Enugu State.

It was gathered that the group also faked healings for some men of God, who contracted and paid them for their services.

The suspected fraudsters were identified as Obi Ejike from Ubaho Okija in Anambra State; Mary Kuku from Ijebu Ode, Ogun State; Joy Oluwakemi from Ojo, Lagos State; Nwosu Chizoba from Umunze, Anambra State; and Peter Uchechi from Ebonyi State.

They were reportedly apprehended while on their way to Abakiliki, Ebonyi State, where they were contracted to stage phoney miracles and healings for an unnamed pastor in the state.

It was learnt that the suspects were apprehended on Friday during an argument while waiting to board a vehicle at Holy Ghost Park, Enugu.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Enugu State Police Command, Mr. Ebere Amaraizu, who confirmed the development on Sunday, explained that the argument among the fraudsters drew the attention of some policemen within the premises of the park, who interrogated them.

Amaraizu said two members of the syndicate, Ejike and Oluwakemi, opened up on the group’s activities.

Revelations made by the duo led to the arrest of other members of the group at P and T bus stop, Enugu, on Saturday, where they had assembled to board a bus to Abakiliki, the venue of a church service.

A member of the group, Uchechi, said they were usually recruited in large numbers and kept in a house from where they would shuttle to confirm fake prophecies and stage-manage miracles for pastors.

Uchechi said they were usually paid through a coordinator, who acted as a middleman between the syndicate and the pastors.

Upon their arrival in the church, a man, who works for the pastor, would instruct the syndicate on the nature of the assignment.

Uchechi explained that before the scheduled church service, they would list their names and the fake ailments they had, which would be given to the pastor while ministering to the congregation.

During the ‘prophetic hour’ session of the service, members of the syndicate, who were already known to the pastor, would come out when people who had problems were summoned to the altar.

Subsequently, members of the syndicate would announce before the congregation that they had received healing following the pastor’s ministrations.

In other cases, according to Uchechi, members of the syndicate would come out to ‘confirm’ a prophecy, which would be made by the pastor in the course of the service, based on the information they provided before the session.

She added that the members of their group usually fell under the ‘influence’ of the pastor’s anointing, during worship sessions.

“Some pastors use us to grow their churches and ministries and we are paid later through our coordinator, depending on our roles,” Uchechi said.

Ejike, who explained that he worked with the coordinator, admitted that he was in charge of the Abakiliki job, which the group was going for when they were apprehended.

He said he decided to go into the fake prophecy business after his business collapsed in Lagos.

Ejike added that he was mostly involved in the recruitment of personnel for various assignments.

Another member of the group, Chizoba, said she started the ‘business’ in Abuja, after finding it difficult to fend for her baby, who she had out of wedlock.

According to her, she eventually relocated to Onitsha, Anambra State, to team up with the syndicate.

Two other members of the syndicate, Oluwakemi and Kuku, claimed to be widows with four children each, adding that hardship pushed them into the crime.

The police spokesperson, Amaraizu, said investigations were ongoing.





How kidnappers forced Activist to drop case of 15-year-old rape victim


An activist, Dr. Ime Stephen, who escaped from the Kidnappers den on Saturday, has narrated how he was forced to drop the case involving a 15-year-old Mary Udo, who was allegedly raped at gunpoint by a police inspector in Akwa Ibom State.

Stephen told journalists on Saturday that he had dropped Udo’s case, including other cases he intended to bring against the Nigeria Police for human rights abuses.

He said, “I can’t really say or speculate the people behind my kidnapping. Investigation is already on and I leave that one for the security operatives. There was a rape case of a 15-year old girl, Mary Udo, who was allegedly defiled by a police inspector that I have been following up. And since then, a lot of things have been happening to me

“My abductors clearly asked me to leave all the cases I have been handling. I have dropped all these cases for the sake of my life and my family. All these things are happening to me because I committed myself to the defence of the defenceless.

“One of the kidnappers spoke in Ijaw language and blended it with English but they didn’t know I could hear them as they thought the injection I was given was still active.

“I heard one of them saying that I should not be killed because it will be a problem for them as some people have seen them already. This brought argument among them and one of them shot the other and he died on the spot. Although I was blindfolded I knew that was what happened.

“I want to still call on the Inspector General of Police, the DSS and relevant security operatives to wade into this matter and launch an intensive investigation. I have been shouting and crying all these while that my life is in danger but nothing was done about it. Several assassination attempts have been made on my life before I was eventually kidnapped.”

On his escape from the abductors, he said, “I will say it is God’s grace. They were transferring me from one place to the other. And then they took me to one uncompleted building in Nsit Ubium along Oron Road. The place is called Akai and it is slightly isolated because houses are not close to one another.

“They tied me up, both legs and hands, and left me in order to come for me later. Sometimes they go out to smoke and do some other things before returning. I was then fortunate that the sedation cleared from my eyes a little and I began to shout for help with my last strength.

“A cyclist heard my voice and came to my rescue. He managed to lose my legs but couldn’t lose my hands that were tied behind my back. It was in the night and he then took me to the police post in the area before I was handed over to the highway patrol team.

“It was at the police post that my hands were untied. The boy who rescued me was also frightened as he was taking me to the police post so that we don’t run into the kidnappers who dumped me there,” he said.




Man studying in Malaysia killed in Kaduna


It was gathered that Rabiu, a student, who just returned from studies in Malaysia, was shot and killed in Kaduna.

Jafar Ibrahim Ali, a close friend that witnessed the incident, narrated that Rabiu was shot in his car after driving from Abuja to Kaduna

According to him, they drove straight to see one of Rabiu’s friends in his house along Lugard Hall but were told he had gone out.

Ali, who survived the incident said, they requested for his number, ”We were waiting to be given the number before a tricycle parked near us and three men alighted from it and made straight to where we parked and demanded we hand over our phones.

“Initially, we thought they were policemen because they were pointing guns at us, ‎but the next thing I heard was a gun shot,”he narrated.

He further narrated that the gunman that stood by Rabiu’s window and was pointing the gun at him shot.

“The men kept firing as they opened the doors of the car pushing us out as they entered the car and drove away with it.

“All these happened in less than 2 minutes, as I struggled with them, they kept firing but somehow the bullets from the locally made guns missed me, but they shot my friend.

“It was when they left that we got a car from the house, which took him to the hospital, but he was confirmed dead in less than an hour after the incident,” he explained.

Though he said the matter was reported to the police, who came and conducted preliminary investigation, it was yet to be established whether it was a case of robbery or assassination.

Family sources disclosed that Rabiu came back to Nigeria on the completion of his studies in Malaysia. He was buried according to Islamic rite.