₦airaland Forum

A major split has hit the Presidency over the
decision of President Jonathan to appoint
High Chief Rayond Dokpesi as his new Chief
of Staff.
Vanguard learnt from competent sources
that the President has been confused by
close political allies and aides, who have
spoken in favour and against the idea of
bringing on board the DAAR
Communications chief was a member of his
kitchen cabinet.
It was learnt that although it was Jonathan,
who actually tabbed on Dokpesi to bring on
his wealth of experience to bear on his
administration and actually mobilised him to
reach out to perceived northern political
blocks, some well-placed aides and
politicians in the ruling party, have asked
him to jettison the idea.
The antagonists of Dokpesi, it was learnt,
have tried to impress upon the President
that it would be better for him to run the
race to the end with the current CoS, Chief
Mike Oghiadomhe, who was also a deputy
governor like Jonathan and had shown
uncommon loyalty and support to him.
The pro-Oghiadomhe group is also reported
to have said that it would better for
Jonathan to sink or swim with the Edo State
politician than to bring in a new hand that
might come with his own challenges, thus
adding to the president’s political problems.
But a source close to Dokpesi told Vanguard
that it was not clear whether the High Chief
was still keen on taking the presidential
offer, given the seeming politics that was
fast playing out.
The source explained that close aides and
associates of Dokpesi had a tough time in
convincing him to accept the offer by the
President with a view to contributing his
quota to the development of the country.
“The truth of the matter is that it is the
Presidency that needs Dokpesi more. We
had to take time to convince him to take the
job so as the bring in his vast wealth of
experience to the administration. It would
therefore not bother the chief is some
people are confusing the President about
him”.
“But we know that the President knows
what he wants and cannot be distracted by
narrow-minded interests,” the source said.
www.vanguardngr.com/2013/11/presidency-divided-dokpesis-choice-chief-staff/

Delta State Chairman of National Association of Nigerian Students, Prince Koyoyo
Uhrorho, has condemned the leadership of the Delta State House of Assembly for
wasting N1.2 billion on capacity building in the United States of America.
Prince Uhrorho, who condemned the amount of money spent on the exercise, said it
would have been better if the money was utilised to solve the problems facing
Deltans and the state’s infrastructure.
He also called on the striking university lecturers and Federal Government to
urgently resolve the impasse between them in the interest of the Nigerian students.

www.vanguardngr.com/2013/08/students-union-leader-condemns-delta-house-over-us-tour/

GUSAU—Senator Kabir Marafa, representing Zamfara Central Zone, named by a
national daily as one of the 24 Senators allegedly collecting N35 million as salaries
monthly, has threatened to resign if it is proven that he actually collects such
amount.
Marafa, who spoke in a chat with newsmen, wondered why the said newspapers
could publish such a fabricated story to cause trouble.
According to him, even if senators were collecting what the paper had claimed, he
saw nothing bad in it, because none of them had requested for it and were not
paying themselves or asked how much they
should be earning.
The senator who was in Gusau to celebrate the Sallah, also noted that it was better
for the media house to talk about the increasing corruption bedeviling the country,
instead of such mischievous publication against the senators, describing it “as
baseless, un-true and an attempt to tarnish the image of the senate.”
On the issue of the controversial early marriage, the lawmaker said: “We have
different cultures and religions and we live peacefully with one another and you
cannot compel me to do things the way you do, or force me to either be a Muslim or
a Christian.”
www.vanguardngr.com/2013/08/n35m-salary-senator-vows-to-resign-if/

By Emma Amaize
WARRI—THE most wanted kidnapper in Delta
State, Kelvin, who fled his hometown, Kokori in
Ethiope-East Local Government Area of the state
in the wake of the manhunt for him by the police,
some months ago, has reinforced and returned to
Kokori, it was gathered.
Vanguard learnt that notwithstanding the chase for
him, the kidnap kingpin, whose family house in
Kokori had been set ablaze, returned to Kokori, in
the last few weeks, armed to the teeth.
He reportedly, abducted a military officer and held
him incommunicado in his stronghold, prompting
the military to deploy a team of military
personnel, led by a Captain to Kokori, on a rescue
mission.
Our source said that the military team discovered
to their chagrin that Kelvin was under the
protection of over 200 youth and could do nothing
but to request for the release of the abducted
officer.
www.vanguardngr.com/2013/08/runaway-kidnap-kingpin-resurfaces-in-hometown/

ABA— The Aba Police Area Command has arrested a 40-year-old Prophet/Pastor, Benjamin Ndubuisi,for having unlawful carnal knowledge of a 23-year-old man.
Investigations revealed that the prophet whose church is located at 89 Ukaegbu Road, Ogbor Hill has been involved in the unholy act with the victim since he engaged him as a worker in his church. Trouble started for the prophet when his victim who gave his name as Ndukwe took ill two weeks ago and worried by his continued deteriorating health condition, confessed to his family about the secret love affairs between him and the gay
prophet. Residents of the area hinted that Ndubuisi, who is a prophet in one of the white garment churches in Ogbor Hill, engaged his victim as a worker in the
church as a ploy to always have him around to satisfy his sexual urge.
The gay prophet is alleged to have administered oath to Ndukwe to stop him from divulging the details of the love affair between them to his relatives and members of the church. Worried by the shocking revelation, Ndukwe’s parents alerted policemen leading to the arrest of
the homosexual prophet. The Prosecutor, Cpl. Galadima Rubies, told the court that the accused committed the offence at
Ogbor Hill in Aba on July 28. According to him, Benjamin had a carnal knowledge of a man’s son through the anus. Rubies said the offence contravened Section 214
(1) of the Criminal Code, Laws of Abia 2005. When the suspect was arraigned in court, he pleaded not guilty to the charge and was granted bail in the sum of N200, 000 with a surety in like sum. Magistrate K. I. Udo said the surety should be
resident within the court’s jurisdiction as part of the bail conditions. The accused may be sentenced to 14 years imprisonment on conviction. The case was adjourned to September 9 for further
hearing.
Source: www.vanguardngr.com/2013/08/police-nab-gay-pastor-in-aba/

Detectives attached to the homicide unit
of the Adamawa State police command have commenced investigations to unravel the circumstance that led a 24-year-old man to behead his five-year-old son. The dastardly act occurred last Wednesday in Ganji suburb of Gombi Local Government of Adamawa State, when Baffa Alti, 24, a cattle rearer, lured his biological son, Buba, to the farm and beheaded him. The father of the beheaded child, Baffa Alti (left) and Alhaji Sange Hassan, the accomplice.Adamawa State police command where the suspect alongside his accomplice were paraded gave a vivid account of how the suspects were arrested.The command’s Public Relations Officer, PPRO,Ibrahim Mohammed, a DSP, told newsmen that the father of the prime suspect, Alhaji Guza, had earlier reported to the police in Gombi that his grandson was missing.
Guza also told the police that the boy went to the farm with his father, only for the father to return home without him.
According to the police, when Alhaji Guza
accosted his son, asking for the whereabouts of his grandson, he told his father that he left him behind in the farm and that he would return later. Days rolled by and the boy did not return from the farm which made Guza to lodge a complaint at the Gombi divisional police station where a search party was commissioned. The search led to the discovery of the beheaded decomposing body of Buba under a tree in the farm covered with leaves. The suspect was later arrested and on interrogation, he said one Alhaji Sange Hassan, 63, told him to bring a human head for N1 million.
Baffa Datti confessed to committing the act,saying he intended using the money to raise the status of his father, mother and his family. Alhaji Sange Hassan who is now cooling his heels in the cell of the state CID with Baffa Alti however,denied ever telling him to bring a human head.
The suspects, according to the police, will soon be charged to court after investigation.
Source: www.vanguardngr.com/2013/08/how-father-beheads-5-yr-old-son-for-n1m-in-adamawa/

A TEENAGE paedophile is facing a life sentence today for raping an 11-year-old girl in a park as she made her way home from school.

Opemipo Jaji, 18, subjected her to a three-hour ordeal and threatened to stab her after she tried to run away.

He was found guilty of rape at the Old Bailey after the brave youngster gave evidence against him.

Jaji, of Edmonton, north London, had denied the offence despite traces of the girl’s blood being found on his clothes.

He had two previous convictions since the age of 16 involving an attack on a 12-year-old and for making indecent pictures of girls.

In November, he dragged the schoolgirl into Jubilee Park in Enfield, north London.

He had spotted her in her school uniform as she joked and laughed with a friend on a bus. He followed her as she made her way home and attacked her in the park.

One of the girl’s gloves was stuffed in her mouth as Jaji launched his horrific attack.

She ran home after she was allowed to dress. Her parents were distraught when she turned up dirty and dishevelled, the court heard.

They had called police when she failed to arrive home by 5.30pm. The child was taken to hospital and underwent an operation for an injury.

She said: “He kept saying, ’Stop moving or I will stab you’. I tried to run away but then he grabbed me when I got to the pavement of the park entrance.

“I kept on saying ’stop’ because it was hurting me and he kept saying ’shut up’ to me. He was just saying it every time I spoke.

“When I was on the floor, he said he would film me and send it into my school. I was saying ’Get off me, get off me, stop’.”

Det Ch Insp Adam Lowe, of the Met’s Sapphire sex crime unit, said: “Jaji posed a great danger to young girls and despite the great weight of evidence against him, refused to accept his guilt and forced the victim to give evidence in court.

“This was a particularly brutal but unusual attack on an innocent 11-year-old schoolgirl who will no doubt continue to suffer the emotional scars of what happened to her for a very long time.

“I would like to take this opportunity to praise the bravery of the victim and her family.”


http://thesun.mobi/;s=hxKA1GxqgENXduBLtB56V26;cookieEnabled=0/sol/homepage/news/4893258/teen-paedo-facing-life-sentence-for-raping-11-year-old-schoolgirl.html?mob=1

Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas has become a dad. The 25-year-old's girlfriend Daniella Semaan, 37, gave birth to their first child, daughter Lia, on Wednesday as he helped Barcelona knock Paris St Germain out of the Champions League.


http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/gossip

Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim has topped Forbes magazine's list of the world's richest billionaires for a fourth year.
The magazine estimates that Mr Slim, whose business interests range from telecommunications to construction, is worth $73bn (£49bn).
He is followed by Microsoft founder Bill Gates on $67bn.

Famed investor Warren Buffett has dropped back to fourth place, with third spot going to Amancio Ortega, the founder of the Zara fashion chain.
Record profits, and a resulting surge in the share price of the holding company Inditex that he owns, has propelled Mr Ortega from fifth place, leapfrogging Mr Buffett.

In contrast, the "Sage of Omaha" admitted last week that his Berkshire Hathaway investment company had a "sub-par" year in 2012, underperforming the S&P 500 index of US share prices for only the ninth time in its 48-year history.

Mr Buffett, 82, was one of seven over-70s in the 10 wealthiest people on the list, with the average age of the top 10 reaching 74 this year.

Besides Mr Ortega, another fast riser has been Larry Ellison, the Oracle tycoon, whose software firm has risen 20% on the stock market over the last year.
There have been mixed fortunes in the French luxuries sector. Bernard Arnault, the man behind Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey, saw his stock fall last year, dragging him down from fourth spot to 10th.
That put him one place behind 90-year-old L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, whose estimated $30bn fortune has been put under the custody of her daughter after a long legal battle.

The two Koch Brothers, who own a giant US industrial conglomerate and have helped bankroll the radical right-wing Tea Party movement, came in joint sixth place, with $34bn apiece.

Li Ka-Shing has held onto the eighth position and remains the highest-placed Asian, with $31bn. The Hong Kong-based owner of Hutchison Whampoa and Cheung Kong Holdings is the world's biggest operator of container terminals.

You wear engagement ring for five years, wetin self you be lord of the rings....

(CNN) -- The Maldives government has said its hands are tied in the case of a 15-year-old girl sentenced to 100 lashes and eight months house arrest for engaging in premarital sex.

The registrar for the Juvenile Court confirmed Wednesday that the sentence had been imposed Tuesday, after the girl confessed during a court hearing to the charge of fornication.

"She's staying in a children's home now so we have ordered her to remain in a children's home," registrar Zaima Nasheed Aboobakur told CNN.

"We have explained to her how if she wants to receive the punishment (the lashings) right now she can ... or it can be postponed until she turns 18," she added.

Amnesty International told CNN the same girl was the alleged victim of sexual abuse by her stepfather.

The Juvenile Court registrar said she had no information on reported charges against the girl's stepfather, as that case was being dealt with by the Criminal Court, but she said that the teenager's fornication charge was unrelated to the stepfather's case.

The prosecutor general told Amnesty International on Wednesday that it couldn't elaborate on the circumstances of the premarital sex other than that the girl had confessed to the offense, punishable under the Islamic country's Sharia laws, said Abbas Faiz, a researcher with the group.

In not releasing further information to the group, the prosecutor general also cited protecting the minor's identity, Faiz told CNN. Maldives, a tourist destination, is an Indian Ocean archipelago of about 1,200 small islands, 200 of which are inhabited and typically have small populations.

Neither the stepfather's name nor the girl's has been released to the public.
She has been sexually abused and at the same time she has been charged with an offense... We are really outraged at this punishment
Abbas Faiz, Amnesty International

CNN, meanwhile, has contacted the prosecutor's office about the specifics of the case against the girl and the allegations against her stepfather. In an e-mail response, the deputy prosecutor general said the office is, "restricted by laws in relation to the amount we can share with (the) public when it involves a minor." The prosecutor's office did promise to provide "as much information as we can," but has not yet responded to CNN's follow-up e-mail.

Faiz objected to how authorities used a confession from a sexually abused minor. The girl should have first received legal guidance and protection, he said.

"Confession from a child who has really gone through some damaging experiences cannot be taken as evidence," he said. "If she had said no, then the only case that would have gone forward would have been the charge of sexually abusing a minor against the stepfather."

Authorities began their investigation after a dead baby was discovered, and investigators questioned the girl, who later confessed to consensual premarital sex, Faiz said. Amnesty International's sources close to the island where the sexual abuse had taken place provided this account, Faiz said.

The investigation then led to a charge against the stepfather, Faiz said.

Authorities haven't indicated to Amnesty International whether charges have been filed in the baby's death, Faiz said. The parents of the baby haven't been disclosed, he added.

A spokesman for the President's Office, Masood Imad, told CNN the government considered the teenager to be a victim who should not be flogged but said the government was unable to intervene in the judicial process.

"We cannot just send a memo to the judiciary and say, 'Don't lash anybody hereafter.' It doesn't happen that way any more. We have to talk with them, get them to understand, get them to initiate the laws or we initiate the laws together and then pass it to the legislature," Imad said.

He said the Ministry of Gender and Family was leading talks with the Ministry of Islamic Affairs to try to convince the judiciary that the law needs changing. "We have to engage with the judiciary and we've got to suggest to them that we need to change these laws to better identify victims and perpetrators," Imad said.

The circumstances surrounding the fornication charge against the girl are not known. The case attracted the attention of rights groups last month, when Amnesty International issued a statement urging the Maldivian authorities to drop all charges.

"She has been sexually abused, and at the same time, she has been charged with an offense that carries a punishment of flogging. We are really outraged at this punishment," Faiz told CNN on Wednesday.

Human Rights Watch condemned the girl's punishment and urged the government to change the law. "The Maldives should urgently reform its laws to ensure maximum protection for children instead of engaging in further punishing a child that they failed to protect," said Meenakshi Ganguly, Human Rights Watch director for South Asia.
They just pretend she's been lashed. It's not a painful process... It's just a token exercise
Masood Imad, Maldivian president's spokesman

Even as he condemned the sentencing, the president's spokesman, Imad, played down the physical effects of the lashing, referring to the punishment as "ceremonial."

"They just pretend she's been lashed. It's not a painful process. She is taken to one side and she is patted on her backside with this lashing. It's not used hard. It's just a token, a token exercise. It's a belief," Imad said.

Aboobakur also said, "the lashes are not given that hard." She said she had witnessed floggings and that most people "just keep quiet and still until it finishes."

She said floggings were carried out in a public area for adults, while the punishment was administered to juveniles in a separate area nearby. The recipient was not required to wear any specific clothing, she said, adding that the lashes were delivered to the upper thighs and buttocks.

While Imad said the punishment didn't hurt, he acknowledged that the psychological impact of a flogging was undeniable.

"There are psychological consequences ... I understand this. I wouldn't want anybody, even with the talk of lashing, going through this process. But this is the hard reality and we're trying to change it."

However, Amnesty's Faiz said the government wasn't trying hard enough.

"It is for the government to actually initiate a change and send a bill to parliament and then if at that level they don't win, they can say we tried. But they haven't at this stage even tried," Faiz said.

"They are not interested, they don't show any interest in this," he added. "Every time we talk about the judicial flaws that exist in the judicial system of the country they say we have nothing to do with that because we're separate from the judiciary. Of course you're separate to the judiciary but you're the government," he added.

The Maldives is in a state of political flux after the resignation last year of the country's first democratically elected president, Mohamed Nasheed, who is facing charges of abuse of power -- charges he has denied.

The charges leveled against the former president have focused attention on the country's legal system, which was most recently criticized by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers. After an eight-day visit to the country in February, Gabriela Knaul said she was, "struck to hear how little trust the public has in the justice system in the Maldives."

After leaving the court after the girl's sentencing, registrar Aboobakur said the teenager seemed "fine." She said she didn't think the girl would appeal the sentence.

Faiz said official claims that the floggings were "not hard" and only "ceremonial" were difficult to verify as those sentenced to the punishment were reluctant to speak about it.

"It is very difficult, to get any of these victims to come and talk about their experience," he said. "Why is that? Because they feel ashamed, they feel there is a huge stigma in the country against that. It is a humiliating experience."

A dog may be man's best friend, but we're guessing that Gregory Dale Lanier might take issue with that sentiment after his pooch shot him with a loaded gun.

According to Highlands Today, Lanier was driving around Sebring, Fla., with his dog riding shotgun (pun not intended). The dog—unnamed, but we'll call him Clint—accidentally kicked the weapon, which Lanier had thought was unloaded. It wasn't.

The gun went off, and Lanier saw smoke coming from it as well as a newly acquired hole in his leg. The report from Highlands Today explains that Sebring police "did not arrest the dog." An investigation is ongoing.

While incredibly rare, this sort of incident has happened before. In 2012, a hunter in France was shot by his dog when the pooch jumped up to give the man a hug. The dog's paw hit the trigger and shot the man's hand, which had to be amputated. Still, the hunter had no hard feelings. "It’s not the dog’s fault," he said.

ABEOKUTA — Members of the outlawed Odua Peoples Congress, OPC, in Abeokuta, yesterday, arrested a Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, pastor for allegedly raping a 12-year old housemaid.

Vanguard gathered that the pastor, who was an interpreter with the church committed the crime in his home at 6, Shamusideen, Oke-Sokori area of the town while his wife was away.

Luck, however, ran against the randy pastor when the girl reported the incident to her parents, which prompted his arrest.

Vanguard also gathered that the victim’s mother who could not stomach the incident informed the Ogbe unit of OPC and subsequently effected his arrest.

The embattled pastor, who is also a commercial photographer, confessed to the crime, saying he was influenced by devil.

When contacted, the Zonal Coordinator of OPC, Akeem Bakenne, confirmed the arrest of the suspect, adding that investigation has commenced. He said they would hand over the suspect to the police.

Explaining how he committed the offence,the alleged rapist said he used cloth to cover the victim’s mouth before he could have carnal knowlege of the girl. He further confessed that after the act, he warned her against revealing the secret while he gave her pain killer tablets.

Reacting to the incident, the mother of the victim said: “My daughter came home crying and telling me she was no more interested in staying with daddy Favour.”

The woman said she reported the case to her husband, who decided that the alleged rapist must be arrested and face prosecution.

However, at press time, the church was said t be making moves to cover up the crime as emmisaries were said to have been sent to the victim’s parents and OPC.

It was leant that the victim had been taken to a private hospital located at Totoro area of the town for medication, while a laboratory investigation was also conducted at a private diagnosis laboratory in Ogbe.

POLICE in Delta State barricaded a three-man kidnap gang, which abducted the wife and daughter of the chairman, Finance and Appropriation Committee of Delta State House of Assembly, Hon. Daniel Mayuku, Saturday morning, at Effurun, Uvwie Local Government, and shot dead one of kidnappers in a gunfight.

Wife of the lawmaker, Mrs. Oritsejsemaye Mayuku, was shot on her right leg, but doctors extracted the pellets, yesterday. She was driving with her 10 –year-old daughter, Moshe Mayuku, in a KIA SUV, registration number, AJ 749 KRK, when they were seized at Delta Steel Company, DSC, roundabout, Effurun, along the East-West Road at about 7.30 am.

Commissioner of Police, Delta State, Mr. Ikechukwu Aduba, gave the name of the kidnapper killed on the spot as Emeka Akumu, adding, “The police were combing the surrounding bush for the fleeing members”.

The Area Commander, Warri, ACP Hussain Rabiu, who also spoke to Saturday Vanguard said that acting on intelligence information, police officers attached to the Quick Response Unit, Warri, engaged the kidnappers in a shootout and rescued the victims.

Emphasising that the kidnap was abortive, Commissioner Aduba asserted, “Response to distress calls in the state is within five minutes or I roast the team. We have never failed the public and we will not fail them as long as they call the police”.

Saturday Vanguard, however, gathered that the kidnappers were trying to escape with the victims through Otokutu, but ran into a heavy traffic gridlock, where the police accosted them. Two fled with bullet injuries.

Mrs. Mayuku was supposedly taking her daughter to school when the incident occurred. Her husband, Hon. Mayuku, who spoke to Saturday Vanguard reporters, yesterday, thanked God for saving the life of his wife and daughter.

He admitted that pellets were removed from his wife’s body she was in stable condition as the time of this report.

Mr Coleman, 51, serves as an independent on Barnet Council in North London, and used to be the borough's mayor.

He is a former Conservative, but was suspended by the party after he was arrested for allegedly assaulting a woman who tried to photograph him.

As a member of the London Assembly who was chairman of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, Mr Coleman was paid £130,000, more than any other local official in the country. His unusual claim about his sex life came in a blog post last week about Barnet FC's plans to move stadiums.

Mr Coleman, who is openly gay, wrote: 'For someone who has little interest in Football, although I did attend Barnet v Port Vale at Underhill a couple of years ago, and once slept with an Arsenal striker, I am not fussed if Barnet survive in the Football League or bothered where they play.'

It is unclear when the incident allegedly took place, or who the footballer was.

When contacted today, the councillor refused to reveal the identity of the player.

Homosexuality in football is currently a hot topic due to the very small number of openly gay players - only three professionals are believed to have come out during their careers.

Mr Coleman previously made headlines with a claim that former Prime Minister Ted Heath was told off as a junior MP for 'cottaging' for anonymous gay sex.

Despite the revelation about his sporty former lover, the Councillor has previously insisted that he 'does not discuss his private life with anybody'.

https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/02/21/article-2282239-182C8B7A000005DC-106_634x381.jpg
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2282239/Brian-Coleman-mayor-Barnet-claims-I-slept-Arsenal-striker.html

A few weeks ago, The Huffington Post ran a story about Tonik, a dog with a human-like face, whose adorably strange mug won the Internet.

In response to that story, a reader sent us a photo of Chuchi, a Peekapoo (Pekingese and poodle mix) that looks and acts like a "grumpy old man," according to Jane Pierantozzi, director of Faithful Friends Animal Society, the no-kill Delaware shelter that took care of the pup.

SCROLL FOR PHOTOS

According to Pierantozzi, Faithful Friends cared for Chuchi for eight months in 2012 before his foster family adopted him. Apparently, the Peekapoo was rather particular about whom he liked.

"[Chuchi] is a bit temperamental and only likes the few people that he wants to like -- just like some people," Pierantozzi wrote HuffPost in an email. "If you irritate Chuchi, he lets you know. He reminds us of an old man who can be grumpy at times."

In an epic feat of journalism, HuffPost reached out to the Internet to find out who Chuchi's celebrity doppelganger might be.

Celebrity Picadillo, a site designed for that expressed purpose, concluded the loveable Peekapoo was a 61 percent match with Bill Clinton, Anthony Hopkins, John Lithgow, Robert Duvall, Nick Nolte and Bruce Willis. Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit was a close runner-up with a 60 percent match.

That failed experiment suggested that humans (and dogs, and human-faced dogs) shouldn't fear technological singularity (when artificial intelligence trumps human brain power) just yet, because computers are still too stupid to see the obvious: