B’Haram attacks wedding convoy, kills groom, 29 others

Gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram members  have ambushed a convoy of vehicles conveying  people returning from a wedding ceremony, killing scores of  them, including the groom in  Bulakuri village, Borno State.
The fate of  the bride and her family members was  unknown as of Sunday when Adamawa State Government Spokesman, Ahmad Sajoh, confirmed the incident to the Associated Press.
Although Sajoh  said the wedding fatiha, the official Muslim ceremony, took  place in Firgi village in   Borno State, the Agence France Presse reported that it  held in  Michika, Adamawa State.
The two news agencies however  put the    casualty figure at  30 but  an Army spokesman, Captain Muhammed, said  it was five.
"The  report received from our troops indicated that some terrorists attacked a bus at Bulakuri village and killed five persons ," Dole said in a statement on Sunday evening, adding that the  bodies were taken to  a mortuary in Bama.
According to some of the survivors, they were attacked  along   the   Bama-Banki Road.
That road runs alongside a forest that is a known hideout of   Boko Haram terrorists.
A driver, Kyari Buba,  who   told the AFP  that he was in the middle of the convoy of about five vehicles when the gunmen struck, added  that he saw more than 30 dead bodies on the side of the road.
He  said,"  I was in the middle of the convoy when the gunmen attacked and I was able to stop my  vehicle on time to open the door and run into the bush along with the people I was with.
"When we returned long after the gunmen were gone, we met a gory scene  with more than 30 people shot dead or slaughtered.
"All the victims were brutally murdered by the attackers."
Another  survivor and friend of the groom, Japhet Haruna, recounted his escape from the assailants.
He said, "I wonder how I and few other people survived the onslaught because it was well-coordinated. I was in the fifth vehicle in the convoy and when I realised that the attackers were out to kill, I ran into the bush.
"I believe it is God that saved me and (a) few others from their bullets. They targeted everybody in the convoy -  Muslims, Christians and children."
Haruna said there were about 50 people in the convoy and that he suspected Boko Haram to have carried out the attack.
 The AP also quoted a  minibus taxi driver  as saying, "We saw a lot of dead bodies killed by gunshots and some by the roadside that appeared to have been slaughtered" with their throats slit.
The  driver, who asked to be identified only as Shaibu, told  journalists in    Maiduguri on Sunday,   that  his terrified passengers wanted him to turn back.

PHOTO:white harmless SNAKE

Have you seen a white beautiful snake before? This Leucistic Texas Rat Snake is a lovely lady in white. She gets her coloring and the "leucistic" element of her name from a condition that results in a lack of all pigmentation, rather than just melanin which appears in albinism. This is why her eyes are of normal color. Texas Rat Snakes are (obviously) found in Texas as well as in Arizona and Louisiana. They are non venomous so a bite will give you little more than a sore leg.

PHOTO:Boy, 14, rapes nine-year-old girl to death

The police in Lagos State have commenced investigation into how a nine-year-old girl died, after sustaining injuries caused by alleged consistent rape.
According to police authorities, the deceased was raped over five times, by a 14-year-old student, Onyi Adimabua, in the Ikorodu area of the state.
The father of the deceased, Simeon Jigo, told PUNCH Metro that Onyi is the son of the proprietor of the school his daughter attended.
He said his daughter opened up about the rape when she started having medical problems.
The 77-year-old man said his daughter died on October 3, 2013.
He said, "Up until my daughter's death, she was a pupil of Fulfilled Greenland School, Ikorodu, and she was in primary three. One day, she came home and started complaining of pains around her vagina, stomach area. We rushed her to Ikorodu General Hospital.
"A doctor checked her and after conducting some tests on her, told us that my daughter had sustained medical complications due to forced sexual intercourse. I was alarmed by this; so, I had a private discussion with my daughter.
"She told me that it was her school proprietor's son, Onyi, that had been raping her. The boy had threatened to kill her if she ever told anyone about it."
The indigene of Ondo State told PUNCH Metro that after initial treatments, he took his daughter to Arogbo in Ondo State to be taken care of but her condition continued to deteriorate.
A few days after the troubled father travelled to Ondo State, Onyi, accompanied by his parents, also travelled to Ondo State, to apologise to Jigo's family. The girl, however, was said to have died that very day.
 "On getting to the house where my daughter was, we discovered that she was dead. Onyi confessed that he had been raping my daughter prior to her death,' Jigo said.
PUNCH Metro learnt that after the girl's demise, irate youths in the area attempted to lynch the 14-year-old boy.
The bereaved father was said to have intervened and reported the matter to a nearby police station, where the teenager was held for safe keeping. The next morning, Onyi and his parents travelled back to Lagos.
The alleged rapist's parents, in company with a chief in Ikorodu, reportedly visited Jigo when he returned to Lagos. The group were said to have pleaded that the bereaved father should not pursue the case but he refused.
Jigo said, "I went to the Ikorodu Police station to report the case but was surprised when the policemen on duty said I should not write any statement.  They only told me to write down my telephone number and said they would call me later.
"After waiting for many days without any call, I wrote a petition and the matter was transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Yaba."
It was however learnt that Onyi had been taken to his father's hometown in Delta State thereby stalling police investigation.
The teenager's parents,  however described the incident as the handiwork of the devil.
The 14-year-old boy's father, Andrew Adimabua, said, "I trained that boy in the way of the Lord and expected so much from him. He has confessed to the act; there is nothing to hide. He told me that he learnt about sex by watching blue (pornographic) films.
"We are not hiding him and we will cooperate with the police. On the day the little girl died, he was beaten up and made to stay in the rain for hours. As a result, he contracted pneumonia so we sent him home for treatment. When he recovers, he'll be taken to the police for questioning."
Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, who confirmed the incident to our correspondent on the telephone, expressed shock at the development.
Braide said Onyi would be re-arrested in the course of investigation.
"It is appalling that a teenager could indulge in such act. The matter is under investigation and the culprit will be re-arrested."

President Jonathan Working Hard To Shield Aviation Minister,Both Share Same Hotel In Jerusalem

By SaharaReporters, New York

Contrary to the impression created by President Goodluck Jonathan that he plans to 'probe' the Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah over the fraudulent purchase of two BMW armored cars, Saharareporters can authoritatively report that the President and his team are working very hard to shield the Minister.
SaharaReporters investigations show that Mrs. Oduah was listed as one of the 54 officials that traveled within the inner circle of the President to Israel.  President Jonathan however gave her the permission to travel ahead of the delegation 24 hours early under the guise that she would be signing the Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) between Nigeria and Israel.  As it turns out, the BASA agreement is not due for signing until October 29, following which Mr. Jonathan will depart for Nigeria.

Mrs. Oduah is also one of the ministers listed to follow the President to a meeting with President Mahmoud Abbas in the Occupied Palestinian territory, also on October 29.

Since arriving in Israel, Mr. Jonathan and several officials, including Mrs. Oduah, have occupied the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, and she has had direct access and regular meetings with the President.

Our reporters have seen her many times at meetings.  An attempt by a student journalist to interview her was rebuffed as Mrs. Oduah claimed the student was a SaharaReporters journalist seeking to put her into more trouble.

Since arriving Israel, President Goodluck Jonathan has employed the services of Senator Emmanuel Paulker from his home state of Bayelsa to reach out to lawmakers to chill the ongoing investigations.

The Nigerian Senate is reportedly in alignment but the House of Representatives is seen to be a bit more aggressive, which was the reason Mr. Jonathan decided to set up a "probe panel" that would slow down the situation so that Mrs. Oduah can keep her job.

A Presidency source told SaharaReporters that President Jonathan has little regard for the probe going on at the House of Representatives, calling them "hungry people."  The implication is that they can easily be bought with money. The source said Mrs. Oduah would most likely ignore the House aviation committee  subpoena for Tuesday next week

In all, the Nigeria delegation in Israel is said to be over 800 officials, which means it is considerably larger than the delegates that travelled with Mr. Jonathan to the 68th United Nations General Assembly last month, as was reported by SaharaReporters.

Among them our reporters stated that there are at least 11 governors, 8 deputy governors and 14 Ministers.

The governors include Gabriel Suswam of Benue state, Godswill Akapbio of Akwa Ibom, Liyel Imoke of Cross Rivers, Martin Elechi of Ebonyi, Theodore Orji of Abia State, Peter Obi of Anambra, Jonah Jang of Plateau and Emmanuel uduaghan of Delta State. The Bayelsa State governor whose whereabouts has been mystery is expected to join the train later tonight.

In addition to Mrs. Oduah, the Ministers are Jumoke Akinjide, (minister of state for FCT), Godsday Orube (Niger Delta), Olubolade (Police Affairs), Nyeson Wike (Education), Labaran Maku (Minister of information), the minister of Trade and investment and Fiancnae minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala are also expected to join later.

It would be recalled that the presidency announcement of the visit by spokesman Reuben Abati last Tuesday listed only Senator Paulker; the Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Akinwunmi Adesina; the Minister of Water Resources, Mrs. Sarah Ochekpe; the Minister of Works, Mike Onolememen; the Minister of State (Foreign Affairs), Prof Viola Onwuliri; and the National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki as the officials accompanying President Jonathan.

I have not seen Stella since 2011. Chief Chris Ogiemwonyi, Stella Oduah's ex husband

Ex-Minister of State for Works, Chief Chris Ogiemwonyi, is the former husband to embattled Aviation Minister, Princess Stella Oduah.  When they went their separate ways a couple of years ago, having Ogiemwonyi removed as part of her surname became an issue between them. To date, her names could still be gleaned in some publications as Stella Oduah-Ogiemwonyi.
When Saturday PUNCH got across to the former junior minister on the telephone on Wednesday in Benin, he said he had not seen his former wife since 2011. He also said he had nothing new to add to what is already in the public domain about the car scandal.
He however did not offer any opinion regarding the action of NCAA and his former wife's likely role in the country's show of profligacy, saying both had not seen since she became minister.
The former minister for state said Nigerians know of what has been happening and that he had nothing to say or add. He however empathised with her.
Said Ogiemwonyi, "What concerns me about her? We have been separated and since she became minister, we have not seen. You know the time when the issue of dropping my name came up. We have not seen since then. We all read comments in the papers, everybody is listening and even the National Assembly, on the blogs; they are all full. But all I can tell you is that I last saw Stella in May 2011; that was when I saw her last. Since she became minister, I haven't seen her. All I can say is that I wish her well, but there is nothing more I can say."
Asked whether he was not bothered about the controversy generated by the minister's predicament, he said that was the least of his problems.
Both Ogiemwonyi and Oduah were said to and become friends when they were working for the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation. While the former husband was a young engineer, Oduah was with the account department of the oil corporation. Their friendship blossomed and they later became husband and wife.
A blue-blood, Stella Oduah is the daughter of Igwe D. O. Oduah, Akili Ozizo of Ogbaru in Anambra State. She was born on January 5, 1962.

President Jonathan sets up committee to probe Oduah car scandal

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Reuben Abati,says President GoodluckJonathan has set up a three-man panel to investigate the N225million armoured car scandal involving aviation minister, Stella Oduah.

Mr Abati said the panel will be chaired by the immediate past Head of Service, Sali Bello and will include the National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki, and Air Vice Marshal Dik Iruenebere. The panel is to find out why the cars were bought and whether the procurement of the cars followed due process or not. Stella Oduah was conspicuously absent at today's Federal Executive Council meeting.

US Sen. Claims Nigerian email scammers have been hired to run the Obamacare website

Monday, October 21st, US Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz insulted Nigerians in a bid to mock Obamacare website glitch. He told a rally of his fellow activists in Houston that Nigerian email scammers have been hired to run the Obamacare website.

Senator Cruz said:
"You may have noticed that all the Nigerian email scammers have become a lot less active lately. They all have been hired to run the Obamacare website."

Kanye and Kim are Officialy engaged. See Kim's 15-carat diamond engagement ring

It's official. Kim and Kanye are engaged! Kanye West proposed to his babymama Kim K on her 33rd birthday last night October 21 at San Francisco's AT&T Park where the family was celebrating her day. Kanye, who had first asked Kris Jenner for permission to marry her daughter and gotten her approval, surprised the birthday girl by getting down on one knee in front of her family and friends and proposed with a flawless 15-carat diamond ring designed by jeweler, Lorraine Schwartz.

Kanye also used the field's jumbo screen to flash a "Pleease Marry Meee!!!" sign. It was a romantic evening as an orchestra played afterwards, with fireworks and roman candles exploding into the night sky. The stadium, which is home to the San Francisco Giants, was completely empty except for Kardashian close friends and family members (Hopefully it was captured for Keeping Up With The Kardashia

Movie Director, Jeta Amata & Wife Part Ways After Almost 10 Years Together

Popular movie director, Jeta Amata and his beautiful actress wife of five years have parted ways.
photo
Their separation which happened months ago was not based on a fight but they decided amicably to part ways.
According to reports, the marriage crashed on Mbong's insistence over her acting career.
Jeta met Mbong when she was only 16 years old in Calabar in 2001 during a movie audition. He waited for her to mature and they started dating when she turned 18 two years later. In 2008, they welcomed a daughter, that same year, Jeta married Mbong. They later moved from their base in Abuja to Los Angeles so Jeta could work on his movie projects.
Confirming the separation to popular blogger, Linda Ikeji the offspring of the Amata clan in Nollywood, confessed to have stolen his wife's youth and did not let her live her dream.

According to Jeta, "Mbong is an amazing mother, an incredible wife…all the time we were together she would never let any other person cook my food…she was faithful and good to me and gave me the best gift in the world, our beautiful daughter. If I didn't cage her so much maybe we would still be together. I stole her youth and didn't let her live her dream so it was better to let her go and find new adventures. She's happy and so am I. Despite the fact that we are no longer together, we are still good friends. She even lives close to me here in LA. Things are great between us and I'm happy to see her happy."
Since the separation Mbong has featured in two Nollywood movies, one of them is Forgetting June produced by Emem Isong, which she came back to Nigeria to shoot.
Meanwhile Jeta seem to have moved on as he is said to be dating an Australian actress, Viva Bianca, best known for her role as Ilithyia in Spartacus.
Viva is starring in Jeta's new movie project - Road to Redemption, which also features Ghanaian actress, Yvonne Nelson and pop star, Akon.
Jeta and Viva have been dating for many months now and were even spotted in Las Vegas recently. Although he refused to talk about his relationship when asked

Why We Bought 2 Armoured BMW Cars for Aviation Minister

The minister of aviation, Stella Oduah, has explained that threats to her life over reforms in the aviation sector and the general insecurity in the country prompted the purchase the two armoured BMW cars worth N127. 575 million each.

The online news portal, saharareporters, had claimed that it obtained documents which showed the paper trail of the transaction involving Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), First Bank and Coscharis Motors. The cars were purchased by NCAA from Coscharis Motors, paying through accounts with First Bank.

But speaking with LEADERSHIP yesterday, the special assistant on media to the aviation minister, Mr. Joe Obi, said that when the minister came on board with her reforms, which included reversing some concessions and agreements that were not in the interest of the people and government of Nigeria, "a lot of entrenched interests felt that they had been dislocated from the sector. The minister began to receive series of threats to her life, but because of the general lack of security in the land, she did not want to raise an alarm but kept it quiet and then decided to protect herself. So those vehicles were purchased in response to the general state of security in the land and the personal threats to her life because of the giant steps she has taken to reposition the sector."

He said that the minister had been trailed several times and that there were clear and present dangers to her life which were averted or neutralised.

On why N127.575 million for each of the car, Obi said they were special purpose vehicles, even as he explained that the utility vehicles were bought in the name of the Minister of Aviation and not in the name of Stella Oduah.

"Normally, you don't buy one utility vehicle but you buy two at a time because you must have a back-up for public officials. The level of exposure which came with her job warranted the purchase of the vehicles. As a private citizen, she never had these vehicles," he added.

However, the general manager, Public Affairs of NCAA, Mr Fan Ndubuoke, said he was unaware that such vehicles were purchased for the minister.

 "I cannot comment on something I know nothing about," he insisted.

When contacted, the coordinating general manager, Aviation Agencies, Mr. Yakubu Dati, corroborated Obi's response - that threats to the minister safety prompted the purchases-  and said that he had nothing more to add.

Efforts to contact Coscharis Motors were unsuccessful as its officials failed to pick their calls and refused to answer a text message sent over the issue.

The aviation minister, Stella Oduah,  has come under fire for a number of air crashes and near misses in the last one year that have cost about 200 lives. Many aviation analysts have accused her of high-handedness in managing the ministry because of her closeness to the Presidency.

According to the documents obtained by saharareporters, the transaction for the purchase of the two BMW vehicles began in June 2013 but the request for their delivery and payment were hurriedly done between August 13 and 15, 2013.

The two black BMW Li HSS vehicles had chassis numbers WBAHP41050DW68032 and WBAHP41010DW68044 respectively and were delivered to NCAA on August 13, 2013.

Wizkid shows off son

First pic of Wizkid with his 2 year old son, Boluwatife? Sweet

UK to pay 1million pounds for transfer of 534 Nigerian prisoners

Hundreds of Nigerian criminals will be sent home to serve out prison sentences under a deal set to be struck by ministers within weeks, according to a report by UK Daily Mail
Talks are continuing into reaching a compulsory prisoner transfer agreement, which could see more than half of the 500 criminals from Nigeria currently in UK jails repatriated.
Prisons minister Jeremy Wright told MailOnline how 'more foreign prisoners must serve their sentences in their own countries'.
Ministers have been ordered to step up efforts to end the scandal of more than one in eight prisoners being from overseas. David Cameron vowed to end the practice of the British taxpayer picking up the bill for criminals with no business in the UK.

UK Prime Minister said in 2010 that he would 'personally intervene' to send more foreign criminals home.

Britain has even made clear it would pay to build new prisons in countries like Nigeria to speed up the process of sending foreign criminals home. Up to £1million has been promised to upgrade Nigerian jails, including a new wing at Kirikiri Prison in Lagos.

Securing an agreement with Nigeria would be seen as a much more significant breakthrough. Latest figures show there were 534 Nigerian nationals in British jails, 485 men and 49 women.
 Nigerians account for one in 20 of all foreign prisoners, putting the country fifth in the league table of nations whose citizens have been jailed in the UK.
Justice Minister Mr Wright said: 'I am clear that more foreign prisoners must serve their sentences in their own countries. 

'That is why we are currently working with the Nigerian Government on a compulsory prisoner transfer agreement to increase the number of prisoners who are transferred.

'Legislation allowing Nigeria to enter such an arrangement was passed earlier this year by the Nigerian Parliament. We are now working with them on the text of a final agreement.'
Overflowing jails abroad have made it increasingly difficult to deport prisoners to their own country.

It is argued that by paying for building new jails or making existing ones more 'comfortable' so they approach British standards, will be repatriated.

FCT Minister Seals Adamawa State Government Lodge

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, Senator Bala Mohammed, has explained that he sealed off the Adamawa State Governor's Lodge in the Maitama District, Abuja  because of what he termed abuse of the master plan.
A statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the Minister, Muhammad Hazat Sule, read, "the FCT Administration has sealed-off the Adamawa State Governor's Lodge in the Maitama District of the Federal Capital City for abuse of the Abuja Master Plan.
"All the Governor's Lodges in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja are enshrined in the Abuja Master Plan to be for residential purposes but not for political party secretariat as Adamawa State Governor's Lodge is currently being used.
"The Governor's Lodge, as it is today, is being used as a political party office thereby negating the spirit of urban planning and causing nuisance and disturbance on the residents dwelling in that area of the
city as well as inflicting undue pressure on the infrastructure and services therein, contrary to the principles of the Abuja Master Plan".
"The FCT Administration will not rest on its oars until the entire 250 square kilometers of the Federal Capital City is rid of all illegal structures and/or illegal change of Land Use"

Peter of Psquare fix wedding date

few months after he proposed to his baby mama,Lola Omotayo, Peter Okoye, one of the singing sensational duo, Psquare  has taken a step further by picking a date for their traditional marriage.
A source close to the couple disclosed that their traditional marriage is billed to hold on Sunday, November 17, at Arc Events Center on the Lagos island. The date for the white wedding  is yet to be fixed.

File: Peter and Lola shortly after he proposed
Confirming the development, Psquare publicist, Bayo Adetu said, "It's true, Peter Okoye and Lola Omotayo will be having their traditional marriage ceremony on the 17th of November, 2013."
However, with this development, Peter has joined the long list of celebrities who wedded this year. Meanwhile, arrangements are on top gear as Peter is leaving no stone unturned to make the day a memorable one.
It would be recalled that Peter Okye proposed to his girlfriend, Lola in a grand style, presenting her with a brand new Range Rover Evoque, bouquet of flowers, a hand written sign and a stunning diamond ring

Photo of The Day-Boko Haram leader Shekua in Hospital

The question of whether Nigeria's number one enemy, Ibrahim Shekau, the leader of the dreaded sect Boko Haram, is alive or dead still remains unanswered.
According to security report, they said he may have died as a result of wounds he sustained during a shoot-out with security agents sometime in july. He was almost captured, but his aides managed to evacuate him across the border to cameroun.
They said Shekau didn't make it but there was no evidence to prove it, until recently when this picture surfaced, showing him on hospital bed and looking lifeless.

Security agents have maintained that the boko haram leader may have died.
However, in a recent development, security agents have claimed that Shekau has been cloned.
The security statement in abuja says the person who purported to be shekau in the most recent video of his is a clone as they have scrutinized the vidoe and found some irregularities.
Therefore, the conclusion of the security agencies for now is that-lets wait and see, but the cautious optimism is that this picture you are seeing is that of shekau on his dying bed.

Julius Agwu and wife welcome son

Comedian Julius Agwu's wife, Ibiere, gave birth to a baby boy last night October 7th. Ibiere gave birth to the little bundle of joy in a hospital in the US. The new addition to the family has been named Zadok Chibuike Julius Agwu. Julius and Ibiere already have a 4 year old daughter, Zahra Agwu. Congrats to them.

JayZ and Beyonce no.1 power couple in US

Vanity Fair has named Jay Z and Beyonce the No.1 power couple in America, beating the Obama's to the top position. According to Vanity Fair's 'New Establishment' for 2013, Jay Z and Beyonce, who were ranked number 8 last year, are the most important powers that be in the U.S this year.

Helping them nab the top honor was Jay Z's new album, Magna Carter Holy Grail, which went double platinum and Beyonce's Super Bowl halftime performance, plus selling out her world tour and releasing a documentary about her life on HBO.

Below is Vanity Fair's top 25 New Establishment ranking for 2013


1. Jay Z & Beyonce, musicians 
2. Michael Bloomberg, New York City mayor 
3. Brian Roberts & Steve Burke, Comcast 
4. Bob Iger, The Walt Disney Company 
5. Rupert Murdoch, 21st Century Fox 
6. Jimmy Iovine & Dr Dre, Beats Electronics 
7. David Zaslav, Discovery Communications 
8. Jill Abramson, editor of The New York Times 
9. Jenna Lyons, J. Crew creative director 
10. Harvey & Bob Weinstein, The Weinstein Company 
11. Jon Stewart & Stephen Colbert, Comedy Central 
12. Robert Thomson, News Corp 
13. JJ Abrams, Filmmaker 
14. Lionel Barber, Financial Times 
15. Matt Drudge, Drudge Report  
16. Michael Kors, Michael Kors Holdings 
17. Len Blavatnik, Access Industries  
18. Laurene Powell Jobs, Emerson Collective 
19. Tory Burch, designer 
20. Jon Feltheimer, Lionsgate 
21. Peter Chernin, The Chernin Group  
22. Trey Parker & Matt Stone, Important Studios 
23. Mike Allen, Politico 
24. Ben Affleck, actor and director 
25. Tim Armstrong & Ariana Huffington, AOL