Nanny who kidnapped 3Orekoy kids arrested.

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Kayode Aderanti, has said the police have arrested Mary Akinloye, the 23-year-old nanny, an indigene of Ibadan, Oyo State, who allegedly kidnapped three children in the Surulere area of Lagos State, western Nigeria.Aderanti spoke on Thursday morning on a live Channels TV programme, Sunrise Daily.
The three missing children, Ademola, 6, Adedamola, 4, and Aderomola, 11 months old, of the Orekoya family were allegedly kidnapped by their nanny in Lagos State.

Akinloye was said to have been hired through an online trading portal OLX.

In an interview with Channels Television, police sources revealed that the kidnappers, faced by immense pressure the incident had generated, abandoned the children in Shasha Area of Lagos State.

The children were immediately taken to an anonymous hospital for observation and they are now re-united with their parents.

The kids were abducted by the housemaid on 8 April, a day into her job as the family maid.

She, as well as her accomplices, contacted the children’s parents and demanded a N15 m ransom.

The police at Shasha Division rescued the three kids, now famously known as the Orekoya kids,

The police led by the DPO, Obiorah Okonkwo, rescued the kids at 4, Fatai Street, Shasha in Egbeda area of Lagos by 9 p.m. on Tuesday where they were dumped by the abductors in a sack.

It was not certain whether the parents of the victims, Mr. and Mrs. Adeleke Orekoya, paid any ransom as demanded by the abductors.

Before the children were rescued, the parents were begging for fund online to pay the ransom demanded by their abductors.

The Lagos State Police Command Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Ken Nwosu who confirmed the rescue, said no ransom was paid for their release.

P.M.NEWS gathered from a police source that the police got information that they were dumped at the house and a rescue team went to the place and took the victims to the station.

When our correspondent visited the house where the victims were found, one of the tenants, Mr William Abiodun, said the whole scenario unfolded at about 7 p.m. on Tuesday when they were outside because there was not electricity.

He said when they heard a baby crying in the compound, he went there and saw three children. He said he asked them what they were doing there and where they came from. Abiodun said the eldest child, Ademola introduced himself and the younger brother, Damola.

Abiodun said he immediately raised the alarm which attracted other neighbours because he heard about their disappearance in the news.

He said with the help of other neighbours they contacted the police who came to take them to the station. The children said they were fed with jollof rice and plantain by their kidnappers.

When our reporter visited Afonka Police Station, the DPO referred him to the State Command where the were transferred to.

Lagosians were shocked follwing the disappearance of the three children. Mary Akinloye, whose real name is Funmilayo Adeyemi, carried out the act barely 24 hours after she was hired by tricking the children’s eldest brother, Michael, that she was taking them to buy biscuit for them.

Pm news

Pre-Apartheid South Africa now engages in Xenophobic attacks

Save Us From Xenophobic Attacks, Nigerians In South Africa Tell FG
By Christiana Nwaogu
April 16, 2015

Following recent reports of attacks on non-indigenes residing in South Africa, especially Nigerians, the Nigerian Youths Congress (NYC) has called on the South African authorities to immediately halt the ongoing xenophobic attacks in their territories or have their nationals in Nigeria subjected to similar treatment.

The warning by NYC is in response to disheartening videos making the rounds which showed South African locals attacking and burning foreigners (Nigerians inclusive) alive, and in some instances, looting their shops.

Reacting to the incident, the president, NYC, Comrade Yakubu Shendam, who expressed dismay at the heinous act, regretted that South African authorities are silent on such callous acts perpetrated against a people who have contributed largely to their economic growth.

He said it was ingratitude and sheer act of wickedness for any South African national to contemplate harming foreigners, particularly Nigerians who stood behind them during their trying moments.

He said, “South African citizens are scattered around Nigeria excelling in various businesses and are being protected by the government. In telecommunications alone, what South Africans make from Nigeria is unimaginable.

“If the Nigerian government and people can provide the enabling environment for South Africans to thrive and in turn, her citizens are being maimed and killed for being foreigners, Nigerian youths may be compelled to mete out similar treatment to South Africans operating in the country”.

Commenting on the bilateral relations between the two countries, the youth leader said the sin against human right to life perpetrated against Nigerians devastatingly betrayed the love Nigeria demonstrated in her efforts towards ending the apartheid regime.

“Nigerian youths cannot continue to sit and watch South Africans thrive in their various endeavours while Nigerians who are out there in South Africa pursuing legitimate businesses are being hunted down everyday”, he stated.

The IYC president said henceforth, any report of xenophobia or any maltreatment further meted out to Nigerians in South Africa will be retaliated against their nationals operating in Nigeria. “Enough is enough; if South African government cannot call its youths to order, we will be left with no alternative but to prove to them that they do not have monopoly of violence,” he added.

Culled from Leadership Onlinr Newspaper

For Jonathan, the Noble Peace Prize beckons

Imagine if Nigeria had an egocentric, greedy and myopic person as President on March 28, 2015 when the presidential election was held. A couple of things would have happened. From the beginning, the electoral umpire would have been made loyal to the President and his party only and antagonistic to the opposition parties. Therefore, the President’s party would have won the elections, no matter the voting wishes of the electorate. If the opposition did not like the results, it should go to court.

Secondly, if by any shred of luck the electoral umpire had announced that the opposition had won the election, the President would have countered it by announcing his own result showing that he won the election.

Thirdly, a crisis would have broken out across the country, leading to killings and arson. Businesses would have closed shop. Many Nigerians and expatriates would have fled the country. Some investors and would-be investors would have been scared away. The international community would have concluded that Nigeria had behaved like most African countries: Always eager to cling to power.

But fortunately, on March 28, our President was a certain Goodluck Jonathan, a man with a different attitude to power.

Just read some statements he has been making since the 2011 elections when he contested the presidency for the first time and see that he has consistently been emphasising that he is peace-loving and not power-hungry:

“If I lose this election, of course, I will go back to my village. The country is not my father’s estate.”

“My ambition is not worth the blood of any Nigerian.”

“Let nobody rig for me.”

“Yes, nothing will really ruffle me because I am willing and ready to serve but I am not desperate to serve. That is what keeps me going.”

“All of us who want to hold offices from the least: a counsellor of a ward or a chairman of a council, a member of the state House of Assembly or member of House of Representatives, Senate, Governor or the President – if all of us are always ready and willing to serve our people but we are not desperate in that our mission, then of course, Nigeria will be a better place for all of us.”

In the same vein, his concession speech was all about the peace and stability of Nigeria, not about his ambition. Here are excerpts from that speech:

“I promised the country free and fair elections. I have kept my word. I have also expanded the space for Nigerians to participate in the democratic process. That is one legacy I will like to see endure.

“Although some people have expressed mixed feelings about the results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission, I urge those who may feel aggrieved to follow due process based on our constitution and our electoral laws, in seeking redress.

“As I have always affirmed, nobody’s ambition is worth the blood of any Nigerian. The unity, stability and progress of our dear country are more important than anything else.”

Since the 2010 Anambra State governorship election, which Jonathan supervised when President Umaru Yar’Adua was hosptalised in Saudi Arabia, Nigeria’s elections have consistently been experiencing a boost in transparency and credibility. Interestingly, that 2010 Anambra election was conducted by Prof Maurice Iwu as the Chairman of the same INEC, which had been seriously criticised for conducting flawed elections, especially from 2003 to 2009. In addition to the much criticised 2007 elections Iwu organised when Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was still the President, he had also organised the much-condemned Ekiti State re-run election in April 2009 while Yar’Adua was hale and hearty. Therefore, the obvious improvement in the conduct of the Anambra State governorship election in February 2010 when Jonathan was in charge was not a happenstance. It proved that the low standard of elections is caused by the meddlesomeness of whoever is the president of the country. If the President does not interfere in the electoral process or does not put undue pressure on the electoral umpire, the electoral body can be fair to all the political parties and allow the wishes of the electorate to stand.

That was what the coming of Jonathan has done to the country’s electoral process. He has truly allowed the “Independent” in the name of INEC to be true. And Nigeria has been the better for it. Also, in all the state elections conducted under his watch, he promptly congratulated the winner, even when his party’s candidate lost or was still protesting the outcome of the election. It was, therefore, not out of character for him to have congratulated Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress. Doing so even while the results of the March 28 election were still being collated was just a matter of adding some icing on the cake.

It seems so distant when the cocksure era of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party lasted. It was the era when the Chairman of the PDP, Chief Vincent Ogbulafor, boasted that the party would rule Nigeria for 60 years. Ogbulafor knew that however the people voted, the results would be announced to favour its party. It was not surprising that within that period, the court upturned electoral victories in Anambra, Rivers, Ondo, Edo, Ekiti, and Osun states.

However, since Jonathan took over as Acting President in 2010 till today, there have become fewer electoral court cases. And courts no longer upturn election results because they have become more transparent and credible.

In addition, unlike in the recent past when top political figures were assassinated, Jonathan’s tenure has been devoid of such assassinations in spite of Obasanjo’s allegation in December 2013 that Jonathan was “training snipers and other armed personnel secretly” to take out political opponents. Ironically, it was during Obasanjo’s tenure that political figures like Chief Bola Ige, Chief Funsho Williams, Chief Harry Marshal, etc, were killed without their killers found till today. It is obvious that the allegation against Jonathan was part of the grand design to demonise him and get him out as president, a plot which went according to plan.

It is gratifying to see that this Jonathan example is being imitated by other politicians. The prompt way politicians like Jimi Agbaje and Nuhu Ribadu of Lagos and Adamawa states respectively conceded defeat on Sunday immediately the governorship results of their states were announced was soul-lifting. This was also how Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State conceded defeat last June, even though some other controversies trailed that bold and commendable act.

By May 29, 2015 when the tenure of Jonathan will have elapsed, he will have spent five years and three months as the commander-in-chief of the nation, having been made the Acting President on February 9, 2010. He has recorded some positives and some negatives. His chief albatross is the Boko Haram insurgency, especially the kidnapping of the Chibok girls. The other point is the issue of corruption, which was hyped in the media as worse than before, but Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index actually shows that Nigeria has been less corrupt under the Presidency of Jonathan than in the years of 1999 to 2007.

The exit of Jonathan will usher in Buhari and a new era. As President, Buhari will seek to make a difference. That is the prayer of anyone who loves Nigeria. But one snag is that he and his party have over-promised, and expectations are sky-high and maybe difficult to meet. The urge for change after 16 years of the PDP made many to refuse to acknowledge any achievement of Jonathan for the simple reason that such an acknowledgement could make him popular and easier to re-elect. But by the time the euphoria over the change in government ebbs, there will be a more dispassionate assessment of Jonathan’s era, especially in comparative terms.

Therefore, this is no prophecy. By May 29, 2016, when Buhari will have been in office for one year, many of Jonathan’s harsh critics will have changed their views about him. There will be nostalgic feeling about Jonathan with comments like: “If it were during Jonathan’s tenure.”

Given the crisis and bloodshed Jonathan has saved Nigeria by refusing to act like other power-hungry African presidents, it will not be surprising if the organisers of awards like Nobel Peace Prize and the Mo Ibrahim Prize come looking for the man from Otuoke who went to school as a child without shoes.

—Twitter @BrandAzuka
Culled from Punch of April 13, 2015

Peter Okoye is building an empire but Paul Okoye is the HERO

The Psquare twins have been giving off a lot of vibe about the possibility of all not being well with them.

While Peter appears to be building an empire, Paul is claiming bragging rights over the group’s success.

Peter, the active social media super star who is happily married with two kids, is apparently moving on without his twin brother, Paul.
He is currently building a multi-million naira beverage and bottling company in Lagos.

Bayo Adetu, P-Square’s Publicist, says the company, located on one acre of land somewhere on the Island, will be producing bottle water and assorted fruit juice and is expected to be launched before the end of this year.

“Peter has invested so much into it, the company will launch this year” he confirmed.
Only last year, Peter was made an ambassador for Olympic Milk  without ‘Paul”.
When he was criticised by fans for the move, he simply said: “Music is like football. For example, if I play for Barcelona and I get endorsed by Nike, it doesn’t mean the whole Barcelona team has been endorsed. This is about me and not me and Paul.”

“Among thousands or perhaps millions of people in the entertainment industry, I felt honoured to be chosen as the brand ambassador. The deal means a lot, not just to me but also to my fans. If a brand isn’t worth it I have nothing to do with such a brand.” Peter stated when he got the deal.

Let’s further refresh your memory- Late last year, Peter also floated his own record label.

He kicked off the record label called P-Classic Record, a subsidiary of his company P-Classic Group in November and unveiled his handsome cousin – Malcolm Obinna Clint Onyeyiri, aka Malcoholic Obinna as the first artist signed to his management.
All this he single-handedly accomplished!
Well, just in case you are wondering what’s up with the other twin, Paul- we’ve got you covered.
He has just taken to his Instagram page to blow his trumpet and list out his accomplishment – he has revealed that all the hit tracks ever released by them (Psquare) was written, composed and produced by him.
He says he is the BRAIN behind the 40 best songs of Psquare.

By Anike Joseph
Culled from YNaija

Go to Tribunal, INEC tells aggrieved politicians

The Independent National Electoral Commission has asked aggrieved politicians to take their grievances to the election petition tribunals.The commission said that though some pockets of violent incidents were recorded during Saturday’s governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections, it still maintained that the exercise recorded a pass mark.The electoral body stated this in a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday.

It said that INEC’s records showed that there were 66 reports of violent incidents targeted at polling units, the commission’s officials, voters and election materials.

The elections were held in 29 states, while the state Houses of Assembly elections were held in 36 states.

No election took place in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

It said its general assessment showed that the elections went well across the country.

The commission said that preliminary reports it got showed that 88.9 per cent of polling units opened for accreditation between 8am and 10am across the country and that only 5.2 per cent had yet to open as of 1 pm.

Also, it claimed that 73 per cent of the polling units had commenced voting by 2.30 pm.

The commission said, “The process of accreditation with Smart Card Readers was also successful in a majority of the polling units.

“Initial challenges were recorded in Edo and Abia states, but the technical teams deployed to support the states were able to resolve the issues in a timely manner.”

Overall, it said that many parts of the country remained relatively peaceful during the elections, but claimed that some states, however, recorded a significant number of violent incidents.

It listed states that were mostly affected as Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Ebonyi and Ondo states.

The electoral body said, “INEC’s records show that there were 66 reports of violent incidents targeted at polling units, the commission’s officials, voters and election materials.

“These were in Rivers State (16 incidents), Ondo (eight), Cross River and Ebonyi (six each), Akwa Ibom (five) Bayelsa (four), Lagos and Kaduna (three each), Jigawa, Enugu, Ekiti and Osun (two each), Katsina, Plateau, Kogi, Abia, Imo, Kano and Ogun (one each).

“The commission is investigating these incidents and will do everything within its powers to bring the culprits to justice.”

INEC commended Nigerians for once again demonstrating their resolve and commitment to participate in the electoral process and by doing so, contributing to deepening democracy in our country.

The commission called on every citizen to maintain the peace “as the results of the governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections are being processed, and to accept the official outcomes.

“It would like to emphasize that winners can only emerge after collation of the official results and on the basis of the requirements prescribed by the legal framework.

“Any aggrieved persons or groups are encouraged to seek redress at the tribunals.”

INEC reminded all stakeholders that the process was not yet completed and urged restraint in their comments, as it strived to bring the process to an orderly, peaceful and credible conclusion.

source:Punch

Afikpo Chic Blog: MUST READ: Nigerians, it is time to decide the terms of our coexistence!! by Etcetera

Afikpo Chic Blog: MUST READ: Nigerians, it is time to decide the terms of our coexistence!! by Etcetera

I will congratulate whoever wins if I loose - Gov. Okorocha

Governor Rochas Okorocha has said that if defeated in Saturday’s governorship election in Imo State, he will congratulate whoever emerges the winner.He stated this while speaking with journalists after casting his vote at Ogboko Ward 2 in Ideato South Local Government Area of the state.
“I will congratulate whoever wins the election. Why not? But, first, let us do things properly,” Okorocha said.The governor, who claimed that the card reader failed to capture his fingerprints during the accreditation process, commended the state branch of the Independent National Electoral Commission for the smooth conduct of the election.

He said, “So far, the election has been quite peaceful, especially in Ogboko Ward 2 where I voted. As we would expect, this is a violence-free area in the history of Imo State politics. There has never been any record of violence here. But this cannot be said about places that are notorious for election violence, such as Mbutu in Aboh-Mbaise LGA.

“I have heard about political thugs hired by some politicians to cause mayhem in some polling units. The same thing is going on at places like Ohaji-Egbema, Oguta, Ezinihite and Ngo-Okpala, to mention a few. We must condemn election violence in all ramifications.”

The governor called for a judicial panel to look into the causes of election crises in some parts of the state.

He also commended the security agencies for their role in the elections.

“I learnt that some people in fake military and police uniforms, as well as a man found with AK47 rifles, were arrested by security men. If such arrests had happened during the last Presidential and National Assembly elections, things would have been much better.”

source;Punch

#NnewiDecides 2015

Information reaching us indicates that Amala Anazodo, candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance in the Anambra State House of Assembly race for Nnewi North has won. More details to come later.