BREAKING: Dora Akunyili’s husband, Dr Chike feared killed By Unknown Gunmen
Dr. Chike Akunyili, husband to late former Information Minister, Prof. Dora Akunyili, has reportedly been murdered by unknown gunmen.
The late Chike was killed at Umuoji in Idemili North LGA of Anambra State on Tuesday evening.
According to Nation, a source disclosed; “God, pls render the devil and his agents powerless and useless.”
“I was with this man yesterday same yesterday at Sharon Hall, All Saints Cathedral, Onitsha. It was an occasion of University of Nigeria Nsukka Alumni Association (UNAA), Onitsha branch event where they honoured late Dora Akunyili.”
“He spoke glowingly about Dora and made a donation of 500k to the association. He was there with his son ,Obum now working with Anambra state government.”
“We saw them off to the car and it was emotional when Obum hugged him tight as both of them separated to join their respective vehicles.”
Nigeria Army’s First Female General, Aderonke Kale Drags Obasanjo, Ezekwesili, Others For Book Launch
It was a high octane event the other day at the prestigious Agip Recital hall, The Muson Centre, Lagos as top military brass led by former President, Chief Olusegun Mathew Aremu Okikiolu Obasanjo GCFR honoured Nigeria Army’s first ever female general, Maj. Gen. Aderonke Kale.
The night was the occasion for the launch of anthology of tributes written by revered Professor of Oral History, Prof. Bolanle Awe to celebrate the impressive track records of the woman who’s holding the record as the first ever female general and Corps Commander of the Nigeria Army, Gen. Aderonke Kale, CFR mni.
Other military top shots who attended the high flying event were Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd.) GCFR, the Chief Launcher who was ably represented by the former Oyo State Military Administrator, Col. Oladayo Popoola among others.
Also as one of the guests of honour at the Gen. Kale Book Launch was popular economic policy expert, activist and erstwhile Education Minister, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili CFR who reviewed the book.
In his words, the Chairman of the occasion, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo GCFR extolled the virtues of the first female general of the Nigerian Army for her undaunted effort to get to the top, “today, we’re celebrating somebody that’s worthy of being celebrated. I must say that, our society, especially the institution called the Nigeria Army is a male dominated and chauvinistic environment, and for Gen. Kale, she didn’t say because she was a female, and got laid back, she stood the test of time, compete, fought and remained resolute until she got to the top, I think that, in itself is a great commendation”, Chief Obasanjo said.
The book, Major Gen. Aderonke Kale (retd.) CFR mni-The First Nigerian Female General written by the Professor of Oral History, Prof. Bolanle Awe is on shelves at major bookshops across the country and can be made available on request via 08099000753
BREAKING: President Buhari approves creation of 159 New TV, Radio Stations
President Muhammadu Buhari has granted approval to 159 companies, communities and institutions of higher learning to operate radio and television stations.
Director-General, National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Malam Balarabe Ilelah, made the disclosure in a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday.
“Following the approval granted by the president, NBC has released the list of 159 licenses granted to companies, communities and institutions of higher learning.
“The commission was established by the NBC ACT, Cap. N11, Laws of the Federation 2004 with the mandate to regulate and control broadcasting in Nigeria.
“Today, there are a total of 625 functional broadcast stations in Nigeria,’’ Ilelah stated.
The D-G said that the newly-approved licenses were the Federal Polytechnic Ilaro (Radio), Prospective Union of Reno People (Radio), Smile Community Radio Initiative and International Institute of Tropical Agriculture Radio.
He said others are Dudu African Broadcasting Communications Ltd., Independent Television, Prince Media Network, Jamkat Integrity Investment Ltd., Hikima Media Services, and Galaxy Television Radio.
“Others are H-i Fidelity Communications, B360 Nigeria Ltd., Communication Faculties Ltd., Godfrey Okoye University Radio, Art Broadcasting Company, Hamdana Media, Sunshine Radio, Blue Print Newspapers Ltd., NV Broadcasting Company Ltd. and others
(Video) Shocking! Pregnant Woman Dies After Falling Off Delivery Bed In Delta
A Pregnant woman in Labour has died after she allegedly fell off a delivery bed in the General Hospital in Ogwashi-Uku community in Delta state.
According to reports, the deceased identified as Ann Nwabunor, was rushed to the hospital late at night to welcome her first child but the nurses on duty allegedly slept off after the lady’s caregiver went home to pick some delivery items. The caregiver returned to the hospital only to find the woman dead on the floor while the nurses were sleeping.
A video recording of the incident which has gone viral shows a light-skinned woman lying lifeless while the person behind the camera lamented over the ”lackadaisical” attitude of personnel at Ogwashi-Uku General Hospital.
The state government is yet to react to this development.
Ogun Governor, Dapo Abiodun Reportedly ‘Relocates’ To London Over Undisclosed Ailment
Panic this week gripped residents of Ogun after the three highest positions of civil authority were left vacant for several days.
Concerns have flared across the state that Governor Dapo Abiodun, Deputy Governor Noimot Salako-Oyedele and House Speaker Olakunle Oluomo have all left the state to run without requisite constitutional authorities as they tour different countries in Europe and America.
Peoples Gazette heard that Mr Abiodun was last seen two weeks ago when he reportedly departed for London and it was unclear when he planned to return to the state he was eventually elected to govern in 2019 after multiple attempts.
Multiple sources close to the governor informed The Gazette under anonymity that Messrs Abiodun, Salako-Oyedele and Oluomo still lingered abroad as of Monday night. The deputy governor is reportedly hibernating in London after a surgery; while the Speaker claimed to be running the state’s business in the United States.
Sources said Mr Abiodun was the first to travel and he asked Secretary to the State Government Tokunbo Talabi to run the state in his deputy’s stead. The governor’s action irked his deputy, who also “angrily travelled out of the country,” per a source familiar with the matter.
An official said Mr Abiodun appeared to be suffering from an ailment about which he had been reluctant to publicly admit. The governor reportedly flew in doctors from abroad without disclosing how much was spent from state coffers to settle the bill.
Mrs Salako-Oyedele was also partly in London for a surgical operation and scheduled medical check-ups. The Gazette has not been able to independently corroborate claims about the medical conditions of Messrs Abiodun and Salako-Oyedele.
All our sources are state employees and sought exclusion of their identities from this story — which was granted in line with our editorial policy on anonymous sources.
The apparent vacuum was reported over the weekend by Ogun News Express and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party followed with a statement that condemned the development as illegal, dangerous and unprecedented.
“What Dapo Abidoun and his deputy have done is an embarrassment to the office and an insult to the people of Ogun,” rights activist Festus Ogun said in a message to The Gazette. “Their administration is setting a dangerous political precedent that seeks to outlaw the constitution and should be challenged.”
Mr Abiodun’s spokesmen did not return calls and messages seeking comments about their principal’s disappearance from Ogun, one of Nigeria’s most viable federating units with about six million people.
A judicial workers’ industrial action crippled the state in September. Widespread protests have also enveloped the state over the deplorable state of the roads and the general decay of infrastructure.
On September 23, retirees and pensioners shut down the governor’s office seeking resolution on 10 years’ unpaid gratuities said to be accruing at N10 billion. Mr Abiodun was seen in a photo-op with ruling APC bigwig Bola Tinubu in London at the time of the protests.
Let us Join Hands in shutting down Nigeria on October 1 – IPOB begs Oduduwa agitators, others
The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, on Tuesday, urged other ethnic nationalities in Nigeria to join in shutting down the country on October 1.
IPOB said other ethnic nationalities should join in rejecting Nigeria’s Independence Day celebration.
Spokesman of IPOB, Emma Powerful, urged those agitating for Oduduwa Republic and Middle Belt to join in shutting down Nigeria on October 1.
A statement by Powerful reads: “Following our earlier declaration of October 1st sit at home order issued by the leadership of the Indigenous people of Biafra (IPOB), all Nigeria oppressed tribes should reject the Nigerian government’s evil agenda against the indeginous peoples.
“We, the global family of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), request our brothers and sisters in Oduduwa republic and Middle Belt who suffer similar fate with us to join hands in sympathy protest.
“All lovers of freedom including Christian communities in the North and other parts of Nigeria, who receive humiliation, intimidation and killings from Fulani terrorists, bandits and murderous herdsmen should understand that time has come for all victims of Fulani impunity and atrocities to unite together for resistance.
“We need to put our differences behind us and rise as one people to defend our ancestral land and heritage against our common enemy.
“We advise all oppressed people in Nigeria to know that we are all victims of Fulani evil agenda which the federal government of Nigeria has been encouraging and supporting them to eliminate indigenous tribes and take over their ancestral lands.
“Our objective is to deliver all indeginous nationalities, so everybody must reject Nigeria with their impunity if we want to be free from Fulani subjugation. Nigeria is not worth celebrating and our children must be saved from the evil that is Nigeria. Our freedom is due and ready for us to take it.”
BREAKING: Gunmen abduct Nigerian Air Force General in Lagos
Masked gunmen have abducted Air Vice Marshal Sikiru Smith (retd.), in the Ajah area of Lagos State.
Smith is a cousin to a former Inspector-General of Police and current Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Musiliu Smith.
It was learnt that the retired general, who is currently the Chairman of Double Wealth Ventures Limited – a dredging and engineering firm – was supervising work on a site in the Ajah area of Lagos State on Monday when masked gunmen invaded the place and shot sporadically.
The gunmen were said to have whisked the retired general away in a waiting speedboat and sped away.
According to an SOS voice note shared by his driver, Corporal Odiji, the retired AVM engaged in a struggle with the gunmen before he was subdued.
Odiji stated, according to Punch, “This is an emergency. I am Corporal Odiji attached to Air Vice Marshal Smith. They just abducted him from the site where we were working. Some gunmen who were wearing masks just came and snatched my boss now. They shot everywhere. I was near where I was fixing my boss’ vehicle.
“As I was coming, I saw them leaving in a boat but I wasn’t armed so I just ran to the site and I saw his glasses and where he struggled with them. Please pass this information. It is an emergency.”
Popular R&B Singer, R. Kelly found guilty in sex-trafficking trial
R. Kelly was found guilty of all charges preferred against him bordering on sex trafficking and related crimes
R. Kelly was convicted by a federal jury on Monday in his sex trafficking trial, where prosecutors accused the R&B singer of exploiting his stardom over a quarter-century to lure women and underage girls into his orbit for sex.
Jurors in Brooklyn federal court deliberated for a little more than one day before voting to convict the 54-year-old Kelly on all nine counts he faced, after a 5-1/2 week trial.
Kelly had been charged with one count of racketeering and eight counts of violating the Mann Act, which prohibits transporting people across state lines for prostitution.
Prosecutors said Kelly took advantage of his fame and charisma to recruit victims, including some plucked from crowds at his concerts, with the aid of people in his entourage.
Witnesses said some victims had hoped Kelly could jumpstart their careers, only to find he demanded their strict obedience and would punish them if they failed.
Trial testimony from government witnesses portrayed, often in graphic detail, an unseemly side to Kelly’s 30-year music career, whose highlights include the 1996 Grammy-winning smash “I Believe I Can Fly.”
The singer, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, is one of the most prominent people tried on sex charges during the #MeToo movement, which amplified accusations that had dogged him since the early 2000s.
Like Kelly, many of his accusers were Black, differentiating the case from recent #MeToo convictions of comedian Bill Cosby and movie producer Harvey Weinstein. Cosby’s conviction was overturned in June.
Kelly’s alleged victims included the late singer Aaliyah, who Kelly briefly and illegally married in 1994 when she was 15. Aaliyah died in a 2001 plane crash.
Many accusations against Kelly were included in the January 2019 Lifetime documentary “Surviving R. Kelly.”
Several witnesses testified that Kelly instilled fear if his victims did not fulfill his every need, sexual and otherwise.
Jurors heard how Kelly would compel victims to follow “Rob’s rules,” including that they call him “Daddy” and get permission to eat or go to the bathroom.
One witness hoping to interview him for a radio station said he locked her up for at least two days without food or water before assaulting her.
Witnesses also said Kelly pressed accusers to write “apology letters” to potentially absolve him of wrongdoing, and concealed before intercourse that he had contracted herpes.
The racketeering charge gave prosecutors leeway to offer evidence that might otherwise be too old to prosecute.
Kelly did not testify in his defense, which lasted about two days.
His lawyers sought, including during cross-examinations of several witnesses, to portray Kelly’s accusers as former fans who felt jilted when they fell from his favor, and that their sex with Kelly was consensual.
They also tried to show how some accusers stayed with Kelly long after the alleged abuses began, and questioned why they failed to go to the police or waited years to come forward.
On top of the conviction, Kelly still faces federal charges in Chicago on child pornography and obstruction, and state charges in Illinois and Minnesota.
VIDEO: Again! French President Macron Assaulted In Public As Man Throws Egg At Him
Emmanuel Macron, the French President, on a visit to an international food trade fair was hit on the shoulder with an egg thrown at him by a man.
In the video that has gone viral, Macron was seen walking through the crowd when an egg bounced off him without breaking.
This is coming barely four months after the president was slapped.
Two bodyguards can be seen immediately getting closer to the president.
The video also shows a man being taken away from the scene by other bodyguards.
Reporters heard Macron saying “If he has something to tell me, then he can come.”
No details have been released by authorities on the man’s identity or possible motivation.
Recall, a bystander identified as Damien Tarel slapped French President, Emmanuel Macron across the face during a trip to southeast France on the second stop of a nationwide tour.
Taliban ban barbers from shaving, trimming beards in Afghanistan
The Taliban have banned hairdressers in Afghanistan’s Helmand province from shaving or trimming beards, saying it breaches their interpretation of Islamic law.
Anyone violating the rule will be punished, Taliban religious police say.
Some barbers in the capital Kabul have said they also received similar orders.
The instructions suggest a return to the strict rulings of the group’s past tenure in power, despite promises of a milder form of government.
Since taking power last month, the Taliban have carried out harsh punishments on opponents. On Saturday, the group’s fighters shot dead four alleged kidnappers and their bodies were hung in the streets of the western city of Herat.
In a notice posted on salons in southern Helmand province, Taliban officers warned that hairdressers must follow Sharia law for haircuts and beards.
“No one has a right to complain,” the notice, which was seen by the BBC, read.
“The fighters keep coming and ordering us to stop trimming beards,” one barber in Kabul said. “One of them told me they can send undercover inspectors to catch us.”
Another hairdresser, who runs one of the city’s biggest salons, said he received a call from someone claiming to be a government official. They instructed him to “stop following American styles” and not to shave or trim anyone’s beard.
During the Taliban’s first stint in power from 1996 to 2001, the hardline Islamists banned flamboyant hairstyles and insisted that men grow beards.
But since then, clean-shaven looks have become popular and many Afghan men have gone to salons for fashionable cuts.
Many Afghan barbers say their business has dried up
But the barbers, who have not been named to protect their safety, say the new rules are making it hard for them to make a living.
“For many years my salon was somewhere for young people to shave as their wish and look trendy,” one told the BBC. “There is no point continuing this business.”
“Fashion salons and barbers are becoming forbidden businesses,” another said. “This was my job for 15 years and I don’t think I can continue.”
Another barber in Herat said that although he had not received an official order, he had stopped offering beard trims.
“Customers don’t shave their beards [because] they don’t want to be targeted by the Taliban fighters in the streets. They want to blend in and look like them.”
Despite slashing his prices for a cut, his business has dried up. “Nobody cares about their style or hair fashion,” he said.
