Monday 19 August 2013
Tiwa savage wedding day update
Cameroon's president orders closure of over 100 Pentecostal churches
But Pentecostal pastors said the move is evidence of Biya's insecurity about the churches' criticism of the government.
Biya is using the military to permanently shut down all Pentecostal church denominations in the nation's capital, Yaounde, and the North West Regional capital, Bamenda, which have the largest Christian populations in Cameroon.
More than 50 churches have now been closed, with the government targeting nearly 100 in eight other regions.
"We will get rid of all the so-called Christian Pentecostal pastors who misuse the name of Jesus Christ to fake miracles and kill citizens in their churches. They have outstretched their liberty," Mbu Anthony Lang, a government official in Bamenda, told CNN Wednesday.
Nearly 500 Pentecostal churches operate in Cameroon, but fewer than 50 are legal, he added.
On Sunday, a 9-year-old Christian girl collapsed and died during a prayer session in Winners' Chapel, a Pentecostal church in Bamenda. The girl's mother, Mih Theresa, told CNN Wednesday that the pastor intended to cast out the numerous demons that were in control of her daughter's life.
"I want the government to stop these pastors who use mysterious powers to pull Christians and kill then for more powers. All my children have ran away from the Catholic Church in search for miracles, signs and wonders," she told CNN while holding back tears.
Another Christian, Mveng Thomas, said his marriage ended abruptly when a Pentecostal pastor ordered his wife to dissolve their union. He said the pastor described him as "an unrepentant devil."
Pastors marched against the government's decision Wednesday in Bamenda and Douala. Pastors said the Biya government sees the mass proliferation of churches as a threat.
Boniface Tum, a bishop of the Christian Church of God in Yaounde, said that Biya, who has been president since 1982, is becoming insecure about the freedom of speech within these churches.
"Authorizing only the Catholic, Presbyterian, Baptist, Muslim, and a few other churches, is a strict violation of the right to religion," Tum added.
Targeted Pentecostal Christians in Bamenda are transforming their private homes into churches.
North West Regional governor Adolphe Lele L'Afrique said Wednesday that police had discovered the abduction of 30 children under age 18 by a pastor in Bamenda. The pastor said he wanted to remove the children from a bad society, Lele added.
Government officials also say that some pastors convince congregants that they do not need professional medical treatment for their ailments.
"How can a pastor say the sick needs no medical doctor? We need sanity in our Christian lives," Nyang Blaise, a youth leader for Biya's ruling party, CPDM, told CNN.
One woman said her mother was refusing cancer treatments because of her pastor.
"My mother's condition is worsening after doctors confirmed she had cancer. She is dying silently, and yet we cannot persuade her to see a doctor for proper treatment, against her pastor's wish," Deborah Tanyi said.
UK citizens visiting Nigeria to pay £5000 visa bond
This is in retaliation to the new but controversial immigration policy of the UK scheduled to commence in November 2013.
The Home Office of the United Kingdom, recently classified Nigeria, India, as "high risk" and placed a £3,000 bond on every Nigerian visiting Britain.
The bond will be forfeited to the British government if an immigrant overstays his permit.
More than two million Nigerians are residing in the UK.
Uproar had greeted the immigration policy described as "discriminatory" since its announcement in June.
Nigeria is one of the countries put on the British "high-risk-list". Others are India, Ghana, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
The countries are slated for the pilot scheme of the new immigration policy to check immigration abuses.
A reliable source at the Nigerian High Commission in London told National Mirror that the refusal of the British Government to backpedal on the visa bond compelled Nigeria to fight back.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru, had earlier assured that Nigeria would react appropriately if the policy was eventually implemented.
The source, who is a senior officer of the High Commission but did not want his name mentioned, told our correspondent in London that Nigeria had officially protested to the British government over the policy.
He, however, said that there was no sign that the British would rescind the decision.
"As a responsible country, we have protested officially against the discriminatory policy to the British government. But from all indications there is no going back on the policy. We have tried to make them see reasons on the need to review the new immigration policy, but it is like a done deal.
"Don't forget that Nigeria has threatened to retaliate if the policy is implemented. So, we are only waiting for the implementation and the modalities of the new British immigration policy. But I can assure you that the Nigerian government won't fold its hands. We would even raise the stake beyond the £3,000 they are asking Nigerians to pay as bond. We are looking at £5,000 as visa bond for UK citizens visiting Nigeria. This is our plan, which is subject to the approval of the Federal Government," the source told National Mirror yesterday.
This stand is bound to strain the diplomatic relations between Britain and its former colony, Nigeria.
Early this year, British Prime Minister David Cameron chided Nigeria for passing anti-gay bill and threatened to cut aid to the country.
Also, Cameron recently berated Nigerian leaders for the mismanagement of the country's huge natural resources.
But the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' spokesman, Ogbole Amedu Odeh, denied knowledge of the £5,000 visa bond.
"I'm just hearing that from you. I'm not aware of any £5,000 visa bond for British citizens," Odeh told National Mirror on phone yesterday.
"Nigeria has not got official correspondence from the British government. Anytime Nigeria gets official communication on the policy, we will react appropriately."
Meanwhile, Nigerians in the UK under the umbrella of the Central Association of Nigerians in the United Kingdom, CANUK, have said that if this bond is implemented, wrong people will be targeted.
In an interview with National Mirror in London, CANUK Chairman, Bimbo Folayan, said: "On the visa bond, we've expressed our feelings that this is not a right policy. We feel that the wrong people are being targeted. We believe that this will be counter-productive and we think this is more political, more economical than immigration related.
"We have protested to the Commonwealth Office, they have listened to us and they promised to get back to us.
"Because of the present situation of British economy, it is probably another way for the Home Office to make money. But that will be to the detriment of genuine travellers. The £3,000 bond will only swell the purse of the British government."
They, however, opposed the planned retaliation of the British immigration policy by the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Folayan added: "Our position is that two wrongs cannot make a right. I believe that Nigerian government should not retaliate wrongly. Three times this year, I have gone to Nigeria with British investors. So, it means if I'm going to Nigeria, I will have to look for £5,000 visa bond for each of the visitors.
"So, this can only hurt Nigeria. This can hurt investment inflow in Nigeria. We do not support the £5,000 proposed visa bond. Either way, from the British government or Nigerian government, we do not support the policy.
"Policies are made and can be changed. If this is injurious to the economy of the UK, they have to change the policy. I don't see anything cast in stone on the matter."
The group, however, said that there was no basis for Nigerians to come to UK illegally.
"The region of the world that is enjoying growth is Africa and that is where the focus is. In UK, we are not recording so much growth and the economic forecast is not too promising.
"So, everybody is feeling the pain. There are not many jobs in the UK any more. There is actually no basis for any youth to leave Nigeria and live in UK illegally because, one, there are no jobs. Two, if you come illegally, that is even worse because you cannot get a job without relevant papers like work permit whereas there are opportunities in Nigeria," Folayan said.
Nigerians also decried their being labelled as "high risks". "Nigeria is not high risk. The vast majority of Nigerians living in UK are students, workers and those born in the country. That is not to say that there are no illegal immigrants.
"We strongly feel that Nigeria is not a high risk country regardless of the statistics they might have gathered. We object to targeting a few countries, calling them 'high risk'.
"We do not support illegal immigrants. We actually encourage Nigerians in the UK to regularise their papers. We're also in the forefront of encouraging Nigerians living in UK illegally to embrace the opportunity that have been provided by the International Organisation of Migration, IOM, for them to go back home and live more meaningfully than staying in UK without getting a job because of lack of regular papers."
The group noted that the £3,000 bond would only embolden desperate people rather than serve as deterrent.
49 year old man wakes up After three days in mortuary
Excerpts of the interview:
Journey from Gboko to mortuary
On that fateful day, that was April 11, 2013, I was travelling from Gboko to Kano to see my younger brother, Jide Sotunde, a soldier serving in Kano. We had agreed on the journey which we had thought would afford us to discuss important issues, including the possibilities of getting another job that would not be too far from where I had my wife. I retired from the Nigerian Army, (Supply and Transport), Apapa Lagos where I served for 30 years, during which I also participated in many peace keeping force assignments outside Nigeria. After retirement, I got a job as a security guard at the Dangote Cement, Gboko, Benue State from where I also resigned because of the distance of my workplace and where my family was based in Osogbo.
The ill-fated vehicle was an 18-seater passenger bus, which I boarded in Gboko en-route Kano. We were barely two hours into the journey when a passenger asked us to pray. Since it was a normal thing for a passenger to offer to pray on such a long journey, I did not heed his call. I was just playing with my mobile phone set. Aside from that, I didn't believe in the prayer since I didn't know anything about Jesus Christ. I was a freethinker who neither went to church nor worshipped any idol. We were making progress on the journey when suddenly there was a bang. That was all I could recollect about the journey until I woke up three days after in the mortuary of the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Kano where I was told that I died in an accident and my corpse along with other 17 passengers were deposited there.
Even though the hospital authorities told me that I was in their morgue for three days as a dead man, I actually spent more days there before I could regain my senses.
I was to be buried in Kano
I was told that before I returned from the land of the dead, my family had instructed my younger brother who I was visiting in Kano before the accident to bury me in Kano since they could not afford the N150,000, which was said to have been requested by transporters to take my corpse from Kano to Abeokuta. My elder sister, Moradeke Sotunde played a prominent role in this regard. I was also told that it was at the point that my corpse was being prepared for interment that suddenly I returned to the land of the living after my corpse was taken out of the mortuary for prayers by Islamic clerics who were said to have sprinkled water on my corpse preparatory to my burial. I was also told that my hair was also shaved as demanded by the clerics. I was told that my corpse was taken out of the mortuary after they had dug my grave and organised some clerics to offer the funeral prayers.
They wanted to bury me in Kano because my family members couldn't afford N150,000 demanded for carrying my corpse to Abeokuta for burial. The initial plan was to move my corpse back home to Abeokuta, where a grave had been dug but for the transportation cost.
Life in the land of the dead
My brother, truly, there is life after death. I can also tell you that there is a living God. You may not believe me, but I am a living witness to this. I may not be able to describe Heaven or Hell, but there is another life after this one that we are living. This place I am talking about is full of snow. I may not have been to America, but I have heard about snow. Where we were was full of snow, with plenty of something that I can describe as alum stones; whitish in colour with something I can describe as granite in this physical world. In spite of the terrible cold, there was no day that we felt cold and it was never harmful to us. All of us were there without knowing whether we are male or female. We couldn't see our eyes, mouth and nose. We had no leg; we had no arm, but we floated in the air without our bodies touching the ground. We were flying around what I will describe as another planet.
On the third day of my arrival on the strange planet, they gave me a message that we were expecting one big prophet. After the message was delivered, they nominated ushers among us to welcome the prophet. And seconds later, people started trooping in, jubilating as if a goal was just scored in a football match. On that planet, there were many stars which were not stable in one place, like we have in the sky in this world. I noticed that on a daily basis, people kept on increasing, even though we don't know from where they came. I was in this mood until they (I don't know them) told me that I should go back home to work for the Lord. According to them, there were many people in the world who are not only in bondage, but are also afflicted with human pains. They also instructed that I should work for the Lord and heel people. I was even arguing, putting up some resistance that I could not do it. This was the condition I found myself until I opened my eyes and saw Jide, my younger brother in this part of the world again.
In God's vineyard
Since the Lord has directed me to work for Him, I will surely do so because 'to be forewarned, is to be forearmed.' It was because of this that I went to do my thanksgiving service at the Mountain of Fire and Miracle, in Lagos with the General Overseer, Pastor Olukoya. The Lord has started performing miracles in other people's lives through me. I don't want to sound boastful, but God has started using me. I do pray for people now and they usually return to tell me that their problems have been solved. It is the Lord's doing. I have already prayed for a woman who has married been for 14 years without a child that God will give her the fruit of the womb. The person who lives in Ikorodu spoke to me through the telephone and I believe Lord will answer her prayers and request. I have accepted to work in God's vineyard till I return to Him.
Day I returned to Abeokuta
I caused a stir in this area when I returned alive to Abeokuta because people including my family members, except my brother who was with me when I rose from the dead, did not know I had risen from the dead. On arrival in Abeokuta, we played pranks on my people as they did not know that I was returning to home alive that day. When we got nearer home, the person that accompanied me decided to call Kemi, my mother's last born that we were already in Abeokuta. When my sister saw me, she fainted and was later revived. She was shivering when she woke up. We later told her to return home to tell others that I had risen from the dead. On my way, I saw people mourning me, wearing black attire. I trekked a distance of about 800 metres to my father's house. There, a grave had also been dug beside my late father's before the family decided to bury my corpse in Kano.
I waved as people were expressing shock and disbelief at seeing me alive. When I attempted to move closer to a woman in her shop, she ran away, thinking I was a ghost and pleading that she had no hands in my death. My sister, Moradeke who lives in Lagos was also wearing a black attire, mourning along with others until I returned home. I returned to Abeokuta on the very day I was to be buried. I even met many of the mourners, wearing black (including my sisters) who had gathered in my father's house here, (Sabo Abeokuta). There was also a particular woman who threw away the beans meal she was eating and ran away from her shop when she sighted me. I kept on saying that I was not dead, but she found it difficult to believe me.
Health challenges
Although I have returned from the land of the dead, I have not fully regained my health as I am talking to you. I have both chest and body pains. In fact, medically speaking, I am not alright. I usually run strange temperature. That was why I visited the Federal Medical Centre, Idi Aba for medical treatment. I vomit blood each time I cough. I can't engage in any hard labour. Besides, a lot of strange things have started happening to me. Sometimes, I feel as if I am still in the mortuary. I will be seeing a lot of heads. My sight is not normal, it sometimes fails me. I have also started giving messages to people about things that they don't know about their family. I started revealing to them what had happened in the past to their astonishment. This has made many people to run away from me with some describing me as a demon. To be sure that I am not a ghost, I tried to relate with my friends as well as eat with them. Despite this a few of my friends still avoid to shake hands with me, thinking that I am a ghost.
I am homeless
You ask where I live? To answer straight, I am homeless, because I am currently squatting with my younger sister, causing her and her family inconveniences. Even though she is not complaining, I know that I am inconveniencing her. I have been given quit notice in Osogbo after my landlord heard of the incident. According to him, he could not live with Akudaaya (ghost). I stayed at No 1, Rasco Hall, Oke Fia, Osun State, Osogbo, It was the ejection that informed my living with my sister here (Abeokuta). I need serious financial assistance from well-meaning Nigerians to take care of my health and sustenance. Survival is difficult for me. That is why I appeal to Nigerians to come to my aid. I want to stop being a burden to my sister and her nuclear family. I want individuals as well as corporate bodies and churches to help me financially. God will surely replenish their purses in abundance in Jesus name.
I had a broken home some years back and I remarried two years ago, but when the incident happened, the woman abandoned me and ran away from Osogbo. I want to appeal to Nigerians and other people that there is God. I want them to believe that there is life after death; so we should do good to our fellow beings. Heaven and Hell are real. Where we want to go is an option for us to decide. I want people to know that it is just a matter of seconds between life and death.
Wednesday 14 August 2013
"FG can't meet ASUU's N92b demand' -Minister of Finance
"At present, ASUU wants the Federal Government to pay N92 billion in extra allowances, when the resources are not there, and when we are working to integrate past increases in pensions. We need to make choices in this country as we are getting to the stage where recurrent expenditures take the bulk of our resources and people get paid but can do no work. Since I assumed office, the share of recurrent expenditure in our total budgets had increased astronomically. In fact, recurrent expenditure accounted for about 77.2 per cent of the federal budget and we are now working to re-balance this ratio.
The country is still suffering from the effect of the 2010 increase in salary. Do we want to get to a stage in this country that all the money we earn is used to pay salaries and allowances? If the demands of the university lecturers are met and we continue to pay them salaries and allowances, we will not be able to provide infrastructure in the universities."
Fake Prophet exposed & arrested in Ghana
Prophet Boateng was alleged to have contracted and paid two young ladies to make appearance at his healing revival at the Grace and Light Chapel at Awoshie A-Lang in Accra where he was invited to minister at a week-long revival programme.
According to information available to Today, the two ladies claimed to have been cured after the man of God prayed for them.
The two- Regina George and Fatima- acting on the dictates of their verbal contract with Prophet Boateng, dramatised that they were sick at the Grace and Light Chapel.
Luck however eluded them when they attempted to collect the balance from the prophet but mistakenly asked the host pastor for the money.
After interrogation by the host pastor, Rev. William Budu Tetteh, the two ladies and prophet Boateng were arrested by the police.
An in-law to the host pastor, Mrs. Helena Ocloo, who had invited the prophet, told this paper that the prophet Boateng was invited to the five-day revival based on an appeal made by the latter's wife, Irene Okwaisie, adding that it was during the revival that prophet Boateng's 'ungodly' ways of winning people to his church were exposed.
She continued that on the final day of the revival, Regina and Fatima were seated amongst the congregation when Prophet Boateng called the latter (Fatima) and revealed to her that her husband had deserted her and her 9-month-old baby.
The prophet then added that the same person had been given poisoned bread by a friend who wished to see her dead within the next few days.
And after producing from her bag a loaf of bread with pins in them right in front of the congregation, the prophet was said to have prayed for her.
For her part, Regina pretended to have a leg problem of which she was healed by prophet Boateng.
According to Mrs. Ocloo, though they all suspected there was something suspicious about what the prophet Boateng did, the lack of proof caused them to be quiet and instead wait on God to expose his diabolic acts.
She told Today that prophet Boateng's secret was discovered when Fatima and Regina returned to the church on the morning of Friday, August 2, 2013 to demand the balance for the service they had rendered.
They thought prophet Boateng was the head pastor of Grace and Light Chapel, so they had gone there for their balance but were not lucky as Helena made them out and questioned them.
After threatening to get them arrested if they do not disclose the secret behind their confessions at the church during the previous meeting, Fatima and Regina confessed that prophet Boateng paid them to lie in order to win trust and souls to his church.
The culprits are still in the custody of the police and would be prepared for court.
Monday 12 August 2013
Spoken Word Unveil
Poverty is like a disease
that make you never believe
even if you live to see
they become gods,
hiden you from the light
take you right
keep you on a wrong site
as you try to see a brighter side,
poverty,is a disease
that make you feel inferior
even if you have the potential to be superior,
so pick those gears while you work to reach
as to become rich,
to every each day
you will sing melodies to your melodies of hardwork.
To poverty i write,
to atest
even if i rest
never exepct
any guest 'POVERTY'.
WRITTEN BY ROLAND EKEZIE a.k.a ICE
for comments and observation:e-mail icednice1@yahoo.com or call 08101966561
Wednesday 7 August 2013
Hotel Where Human Meats Are Sold Discovered In Onitsha Anambra State
The Police following tip off from residents in the area gained access to the hotel and discovered two human heads in a cellophane bag, two AK47 rifles, two army caps. 40 rounds of ammunition and many cell phones.
"Each time I came to market, because the hotel is very close to the market, I always noticed funny movements in and out of the hotel; dirty people with dirty characters always come into the hotel. So, I was not surprised when the police made this discovery in the early hours of yesterday," said a vegetable seller in
the area
Fraudster In EFCC Net Over N5m Bank Alert Scam
Man With 30 ATM Cards,8 Signed Cheques arrested by the EFCC
At the point of arrest, 30 ATM cards of different banks with which he allegedly withdrew a total sum of five hundred and fifty thousand naira (N550, 000) were found in his possession. Eight signed UBA cheques belonging to sundry persons were also found on him.
Kingsley Mudi, who claimed to be a Disc Jockey and an operator of a barbing salon, has volunteered useful information.
He will be charged to court as soon as investigation is concluded.
Jealous BF Sets Female Corpers Ablaze
The incident was first reported on July 19. Reports by serving corp members in the area said the two corps members who are both females were locked in after he had poured fuel in their room and then set the room on fire. One of the victims, named Amarachi Okey Winifred, is a batch C corps member while the other whose name could not be ascertained as at time of this report is a fresh batch B corps member who just left camp and reported at the PPA few weeks ago. At first, the attackers were thought to be some PPA (Place of Primary Assignment) community boys and students from Winnie's PPA, but the story turned out differently.
Peter Okoye of P-square Engages the Mother of his kids
Thursday 1 August 2013
I Will Rather Go To Hell than Worship A God That Discriminates Against Homosexuals .... Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu
Archbishop Tutu, 81, is a long-standing campaigner for gay rights.
"I would refuse to go to a homophobic heaven. No, I would say sorry, I mean I would much rather go to the other place," Archbishop Tutu said at the launch of the Free and Equal campaign in Cape Town.
"I would not worship a God who is homophobic and that is how deeply I feel about this."
Archbishop Tutu said the campaign against homophobia was similar to the campaign waged against racism in South Africa.
"I am as passionate about this campaign as I ever was about apartheid. For me, it is at the same level," he added.
List of Real Oil Block Owners in Nigeria
1 Alfred James Petroleum OPL 302 1991 Adewunmi Sijuade, Goke Sijuade, Adedeji Sijuade, Olayinka Sijude, Adeyemi Osiyemi and Femisola Awosika, with A.O Adeyinka as Chairman
2 Soglas Nigeria Limited OPL 226 1991 Oscar P. Udoji, P.E Udoji, E.E. Nwosu, with J.O. Udoji as Chairman
...
3 NorthEast Petroleum OPL 215, 840 &902 1991 Kommer Complex Limited, Nwokema Ngozi Mbu, Abubakar Jubril and Ashiru B. Aliu, A. Ayankoya with Saleh Jambo as Chairman
4 Optimum Petroleum OPL 310 1992 R.D. Adelu, Yusuf N'jie and O.A. Aremu with Ibrahim Bunu as Chairman
5 Sunlink Petroleum OPL 238 & OPL 311 1993 Olaniyi Olumide, Hayford Alile, Samuel Bolarinde, Richard Adelu, Martins Olisa, John Brunner and Emmanuel Ojei
I predicted the death of Patient Jonathan's Mum-pst Okafor
He has also advised Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to beware because some of his strong opponent have vowed to ensure that he will not see May 29, 2015.
Lastly, this one is for the people of Anambra State. Senator Chris Ngige is going to rule you again, the Pastor said.
Nurse Sets 11-Year-Old Ablaze For Stealing Meat
Doctors at the General Hospital, Gbagada, Lagos, southwest Nigeria, are seriously battling to save the life of an 11-year old girl, Ita Bassey-Eno, who was allegedly set ablaze by the woman she lives with, Mrs Nkese Iroakazi, a nurse at a hospital in Surulere.
Iroakazi was alleged to have poured kerosene on Bassey-Eno before lighting a match stick to set her ablaze after the girl was said to have stolen a piece of meat from the pot.
Witnesses said the girl ran out of their apartment at 7, Adeniran Ogunsanya Street, Surulere, unto to the main road with fire all over her body as she cried for help from passers-by to rescue her.It was gathered that someone quickly stopped his vehicle and used his fire extinguisher to put out the flame on her body.The incident, which occurred last Saturday, was immediately reported at the Bode Thomas Police Station and the police from the station arrested Mrs. Nkese.The little girl was rushed to the Burns and Trauma Centre, an annex of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital at the General Hospital, Gbagada, for urgent attention as the doctors in the hospital said she had suffered 95 percent burns and would take a miracle for her to survive.
PDP congratulates APC on Successful Registration
The party, in a statement signed by its Acting National Publicity Secretary, Barr. Tony Caesar Okeke however said the registration of the new party poses no threat to the PDP. The statement said the ruling party still maintains its pre-eminent position and enjoys the widest popularity and acceptance among Nigerians across the country.
The PDP said with the registration of the APC, Nigerians now expect the leaders of the opposition party to eschew all forms of bitterness and desperation and desist from politics of propaganda which characterized their former parties.