CRIME: AM INTO ARMED ROBBERY BECAUSE IT WAS VERY LUCRATIVE....CHIEF JUDE DIKE

‘Armed Robbers? Hmmmm. They are heartless. Reminiscing on my encounter with them a couple of months ago. I don't even wish my enemies such an encounter. Lai lai’ that was a comment of an armed robbery victim.

Chief Jude Dike (pictured above) 55, who police say is the sponsor and leader of a 7-man gang (Joel Eghon, 38, Solomon Igwe, 32, Ifeanyi Onwuegbuchi, 34, Emmanuel Ifeanyi, 34, Ejike Emegwo, 31, and Leonard Afoaku, 39. ) were paraded at the Lagos state police headquarters Ikeja.yesterday, September 23rd

  

According to PM news, Chief Dike, a resident of Ajegunle, confessed to being the sponsor of the robbers by providing them with weapons for their operation and facilitating the sales of whatever they steal from any of their operations.

Speaking on how they were arrested, the State Commissioner of Police, Cornelius Aderanti said on September 20th, information got to him that some armed robbers who had earlier snatched a Toyota Hiace bus around Ebute Metta were planning another operation. He immediately instructed men of the State Anti Robbery Squad, SARS, to chase after the robbers. They were arrested and the stolen Toyota car ,Barretta pistol with serial number P17531 and ammunition were recovered from them.

When interrogated, 55 year old Dike confessed to the crime saying he got into the business by accident and continued because it was very lucrative. The suspects will soon be charged to court, according to the police.... 

YEA...TONY TETUILA 'TINUBU U DON HIT MY CAR FAME' 4 KWARA HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY

Tony Tetuila,‘Tinubu u don hit my car ’was one of the hottest music stars in Nigeria about 10 years ago.This singer turns politician has just declared his intention to run for Kwara State House of Assembly, Irepodun Local Government.

Yea, politics is the in thing in Nija at the moment,’ Ibi ti obe wa niyen nsisiyi’  However,with this mass exodus of these people from entertainment industry into politics, If they all leave, who will entertain us? 

GUMSU SANI ABACHA BIRTHDAY :SISTERLY KISS FROM YOUNGER SISTER

Gumsu Sani Abacha (left), was a year older yesterday. She got a sisterly love kiss from her younger sister Zainab Abacha Danmarke (right), truly blood is thicker than water. Beautiful kiss.
A poem was composed by one of her friend read thus: ‘This is life. A long journey without a defined Destination.
A journey where thy will meet Many people, the ugly, beautiful, and not so Ugly,
This journey brought me close to someone who keeps getting younger with age.
She looks 25, no she looks 23.
A beautiful princess.
With all the qualities of a Real woman.
A beautiful face with a Glittering Smile.
A rich woman distinct among the women.
A diamond which will never lose its value.
Happy birthday Queen. It is your Day, keep the fire burning. Make it count.’

ADAMS OSHIOMHOLE TO CONTEST FOR PRESIDENT COMES 2015

Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, has submitted a letter of intent to the national leadership of the All Progressives Congress, APC, ahead the 2015 presidential election, Vanguard has gathered.

It was gathered that his former governorship campaign office will serve as his presidential campaign office in Edo State and that majority of the APC governors may soon endorse him as their candidate due to the belief that his popularity cuts across the country

However, the Special Adviser to the governor, Mr Kaseem Afegbua, noted that the governor has the pedigree to run for the highest position in the country, therefore, people should not be surprised if he decides to join the race.

“I don’t know why it appears strange that Adams Oshiomhole is running for president? Does he not have the pedigree to do so or some people are just trying to be cynical about his ambition? Or the PDP is jittery, knowing fully well that Oshiomhole enjoys national support and a greater appeal than some of those presently eyeing the plum position.

“Since the news broke, we have been inundated with several telephone calls which also suggests that a lot of Nigerians across socio-political divides welcome the idea. Some of those highly placed Nigerians that spoke to us concede to the fact that he is eminently qualified to run for the nation’s highest office.”

OPEN ADVERTISEMENT: I WANT A SUGAR BOY.....COSSY ORJIAKOR

This is an open advertisement; Cossy Orjiakor controversial actress turned singer is in search of Sugar Boy. This mean that what is good for goose is also good for gander!  That is to say, if you are desperately in search of a sugar mummy, then search no more as; Cossy Orjiakor has come to your rescue.

On that note, these are some criterion for consideration’ if you must be my sugar boy there is need for you to be a good cook, a good house boy and a driver.

She went further to say that: ‘I asked some of them to send a picture of themselves cooking in the kitchen and what they are preparing. But they weren’t sending the picture I want.

At the moment, none of them is qualified to be my sugar boy. If they had qualified, I would have employed at least three of them and placed them on salary, she said.

WHY I PUBLISHED TB JOSHUA AUDIO RECORDING OFFERING 50K TO JOURNALIST FOR FAVOURABLE COVERAGE

Nicholas Ibekwe is the journalist who published the audio recording of T.B Joshua offering N50k to journalist to give his church favourable coverage . He explained why he did it. The story bellow unedited:

The last 72 hours were probably the most intense in my life. The love, kind words and support I’ve received in that period from, mostly, total strangers have been overwhelming. I want to thank everybody who saw the good in what I did. Though, to be honest, I think it was a little stupid. What was I thinking putting my life and probably my career on the line in an attempt to change something so entrenched it seems unchangeable?  But really I’m not fazed by the trash talk from those allergic to the truth.

It’s a long time coming and someone has to put the Big Ben on the fat cat, I guess.
During the same period I’ve also been insulted like never before. I’ve been called the most uncomplimentary names and all the curses in Deuteronomy hurled towards me. They should be ashamed that the brushed ego of their spiritual Godfather meant more to them than the over 90 lives that perished under the rubble.

I can deal with the trash talk and name-calling. But I’m also not naïve. I’ve made plans to evacuate my family to safety at the shortest notice in case things escalate. I hope they don’t. But one can never be so sure with these fundamentalists.

They said I’m an attention freak; that I published the audio clip because I yearned to be a social media celebrity (whatever that means). Well, I won’t lie; I enjoyed the 15 minutes of fame. I loved the thrill of being in the eye of the storm. In case my accusers are reading this, I got over 2,000 followers on twitter within the period. I don’t know what to make of that yet. I’m not so sure about this Twitter thing but if there’s a way I can convert that to money, that would be something. Gbenga Olorunpomi, how much does one twitter follower exchange for a dollar these days?
So why did I publish the audio?

I had recorded the audio six days before posting it on Twitter. To be sincere, I didn’t think much of it until Saturday morning (I’d explain later). I was intently watching the way the collapsed building was being played out in the media after the rather disappointing way Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, dodged reporters through a back door after his private meeting with TB Joshua on September 14. I observed that Nigerian media were being too gentle on TB Joshua despite the glaring irregularities surrounding the collapse. I read more reports about the “hovering craft” and how Boko Haram could’ve sabotaged the building and other poppycock the televangelist wanted the world to believe.

Very little was reported about the structural defects of the building. Not much was written about the fact that the building originally had 2 floors and was being illegally refurbished with 4 additional floors when it collapsed. We didn’t come hard on the Synagogue Church goons who attacked first responders. We didn’t highlight the fact that many of those that perished could have been saved if NEMA officials weren’t barred from the site for almost three days! We didn’t make an issue of the fact that our colleagues who had gone to report the collapsed building were molested on Saturday.
So when I woke up last Saturday morning and saw the picture of Jonathan shaking hands with a grinning TB Joshua with headlines like “Jonathan consoles TB Joshua,” I said damn it! I couldn’t stomach this blatant impunity.

TB Joshua is perhaps the most powerful preacher in Africa and politicians all over the continent fawn at him. But as watchdogs, journalists must hold entrenched powers to account. If Nigerian politicians didn’t realise that more than 90 lives had just perished underneath a building without requisite permit and that those responsible should be held accountable, then the responsibility falls on journalists to force them to do the right thing.

Journalists shouldn’t be seen or heard telling the prime suspect they would write “just like you said” after he offered to buy their consciences with N50,000.

Some of the reporters who collected the N50,000 have called me after the audio went viral to complain. They told me they have been getting calls from colleagues and family members who recognised their voices in the recording. One even accused me of a breach of trust. I told him I didn’t sign a pact of silence with anybody. For me the decision was between covering the ethical shortcomings of my colleagues or doing that which is right to make sure those who died and their families get justice. The decision was easy.

Why didn’t I publish the audio the same day I recorded it? Nigerian journalists habitually ask for gratification at press conferences and corporate events that it has unfortunately become a norm. Reporters actually think you’re a fool if you turned down what they call “brown envelope”. There are several excuses to justify it: “We’re poorly paid,” “We have not been paid for months,” etc. Honestly, it’s hard to dismiss some of these excuses sometimes. Nigerian Journalists are perhaps among the worst paid in the world. This is where the Nigerian Union of Journalist should do more. Its officials should stop paying courtesy calls to politicians (of course, we know what exchanges hands during these visits) and do more to force Jet-flying owners of media organisations to pay reporters more and on time. We deserve it.

Journalists should also explore other related and legitimate means of making money like researching, writing and editing reports for NGOs, writing and editing of brochures and reports, working as fixers to foreign journalists, blogging (I recently met a Nigerian television reporter that make quite some money monthly from his blog), etc.

Like everything in Nigeria, this “brown envelope” thing has been stretched beyond the limit of ridiculousness. I’d give some examples: On August 15, 2010 a truck belonging to Dangote Sugar Refinery caused an inferno at the Ojodu Bridge outside Otedola Estate in Lagos. More that 50 lives perished in the fire. An inquest was initiated by a non-governmental organisation, Access to Justice and Human Rights lawyer, Femi Falana. Please take a deep breath before reading the next sentence. During the inquest, officials of Dangote Industries distributed cartons of Spaghetti (and some money, probably to buy ingredients) to court reporters at the Ikeja High Court to probably skew their account of the hearing. In case you missed it let me repeat. Some Nigerian Journalists collected packs of Spaghetti as bribes! Are we that hungry? Some reporters got as little as 12 packs of spaghetti. My friend, Ben Ezeamalu, was almost beaten up for speaking against it.

In fact, they erected a wall of hostility around themselves whenever he came around. According to him, a very senior journalist pulled him aside and told him it was easy for him to turn down the brown envelope because he wasn’t married and had no school fees to pay.
Ben said his curiosity was aroused while he was researching for material on the internet for an article he was writing days before the coroner’s verdict on the inquest. To his surprise, there was very little material for an inquest that involved Africa’s richest man and had lasted 19 months! After the coroner delivered his verdict, in which he indicted Dangote’s company as well as the Nigeria Police, the (short) article was tucked away in a remote corner in almost all the newspapers the next day. The fact that the coroner indicted Dangote was also carefully left out in the articles.

Other journalists have tagged Ben “a spy” for consistently refusing to collect “brown envelopes”.
Nigerian journalists no longer know where to draw the line. A father that lost his son during last Dana plane crash was forced to pay journalists during his son’s wake-keep before it was reported. There are more puke-inducing instances but I’d stop here.

For those of you saying N50,000 ($300) was too little to entice Nigerian reporters, I’ve seen reporters scuffle over N2,000 ($12) during a press conference.

During last year’s gubernatorial election in Ondo State, reporters literally came to blows at Governor Mimiko’s home after the latter released “appreciation money” for journalists who covered his polling unit. The sharing formula was N10,000 per head, until the cash ran low and the formula switched to N7,000. Cue bedlam. The governor’s PA, looking on with contempt, threatened to evict them from his employer’s residence if they failed to conduct themselves with decorum. One fellow even started arranging for another group of journalists to go meet the governor for another “appreciation money.”
Editors should also monitor their reporters too, but we all know that some editors get theirs through subtler manner (Bank transfers).  I’m a Nigerian journalist I want to change things the only way I know how to – going public with it. I’m not saying anything new here, everybody who has one thing or the other to do with journalists knows that these things happen. Maybe I’m the first journalist to go public with it in such a manner.

Corporate organisations and individuals should also stop offering these bribes (I still insist that they are bribes and nothing else). Journalist will report your events whether they like it or not. They want to stay in business. My heart skips anytime I get a call from my editor or receive that email with a subject that reads: “Pending stories”. I know I’m required to deliver. I don’t need that “brown envelope” to turn around that copy. I know in the Punch for instance, reporters are required to fill a certain number of pages every week. They can’t sit around waiting for “money to fuel your cars” to write stories to fill those pages. The threat of losing one of the most lucrative jobs in the industry is enough “inducement”. But the truth is most pressers aren’t news worthy so PR officials feel they need to induce reporters to write about them.

And for the fundamentalist followers of TB Joshua, this isn’t about your spiritual Godfather. I would still have gone public with this if the Pope was involved. I can’t say I’m sorry that his ego was bruised. He clearly meant for the money to influence the reporting of the event. “So what are you going to write?” He had asked. That makes it a bribe. Simple. I can’t help you if you couldn’t decipher that. I’m a reporter not a brain surgeon.

This is the last I’m going to say on this issue unless something drastic happens. Let the personal attacks continue.

ASAMOAH GYAN IN HUMAN SACRIFICE RITUAL SCANDAL

Gyan(left) and Castro

Ghanaian star and former Sunderland striker Asamoah Gyan has been alleged of having a hand in the death of his friend, Ghanaian rapper Castro. Ghanaians are accusing Gyan of using Castro for human sacrifice ritual.

It would be recalled that in July, Theophilus Tagoe, popularly known as Castro, went missing while on holiday with Gyan and other friends. The musician was presumed to have drowned in a Jet Ski accident, but his body was never found which led to the allegations against the striker. The footballer star (pictured left) announced on his website today that he will be holding a press conference to finally address and bring some clarity to the matter

"The Gyan Family will hold a press conference on Wednesday to address recent issues of public interest including the disappearance of musical icon Theophilus Tagoe (aka Castro)."
"It will be recalled that Theophilus Tagoe (aka Castro) and Janet Bandu went missing while on a holiday hangout with Family and Friends of the Gyans at a resort in Ada back in July. Relentless efforts are still being made to find the missing duo.
"The opportunity will also be used to officially respond to some allegations and untruths bundled about in the media over the role of Asamoah Gyan in the duos disappearance," the statement read.