PHOTO: NIGERIAN HAJI STAMPEDE FEMALE VICTIM @ SAUDI HOSPITAL

Unidentified Haji stampede victim from Kwara State in critical condition at King Abdul'aziz hospital, Saudi Arabia. A lot of Nigerians are missing relatives. Anyone knows who this woman is?

MUST READ STORY: WOMAN ARRESTED FOR ATTEPTING TO USE HER FRIEND'S TWINS FOR FRAUD

A woman simply identified as Victoria, was on Sunday September 27tth, arrested by police in Lagos for allegedly attempting to use the four-month old twins of Mrs Ruth Uche, whose husband fled after she gave birth to them, to defraud a retired police commissioner.

According to reports, Victoria who is a wife and mother of two is an acquaintance of the Uches and had asked that they "lend" her their twins so she could feature them in a movie. Unknown to the Uches, Victoria wanted to use their twins to extort money from the police chief who is the father of her ex lover. 

Mrs Uche and Victoria arrived at the ex police chief's house at College Road Estate in Lagos. The man was so excited to see his "grandchildren" but when Victoria could not correctly state the sex of the babies, he became suspicious. Mrs Uche who also suspected foul play immediately owned up that they were her babies and provided facts regarding their age and when they were born

“I did not understand what was going on. I do not even know the place we went to. She has been pleading with us that she wanted to use the twins (youngest set) in a film. My husband initially denied but later since she said it was to act film; I begged my husband and he agreed on the condition that I go with the woman. So, around 11:30am on Sunday, we all left the house and came to Agege. She took us to one big man’s house, I do not know the place and she told me to sit down that it is she and the kids that will act the film. But when I sat down, I heard the man asking her whether my children are two boys and how old they are. She said two months and that they are boys but I told the man that they are a boy and a girl, and that they are four months old. 

The man asked whose children they were and I told him they are my children and that the woman said she wanted to act film with them. That was when the man started shouting and saying that she told him that my children are his grandchildren. That she has sent their picture before and that she told him his son impregnated her before travelling abroad. The man now said that we were in it together and that I knew about it. I told him I do not know anything that the only thing she told us was that she wanted to act film with my babies. Before she did not want to talk, but when people threatened her, she now told them that I am innocent. That she wanted to get money from the man. That woman is a criminal,” Mrs Uche said.

When interrogated, the suspect said she wanted to use the twins to get money from the retired officer for her children’s school fees.

“Please I am sorry, have mercy on me. I am a poor widow and I have two children. I begged their parents that I wanted to act film with the twins and the twins’ father told his wife to follow me. I wanted to use them to collect money from the man because I used to date his son after I lost my husband. Before he travelled abroad last year, I got pregnant for him but I aborted the baby. So, because I needed money, I decided to use the twins and show his father so that I can get money from him and pay my children’s school fees. I did not plan to sell them and I did not know that things will turn out this way,” she said.

Contacted, the command spokesman, Joseph Offor, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), confirmed the woman’s arrest.

'WE ARE NOT GAYS'...MUGABE TELLS WORLD LEADERS @ UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, yesterday took his anti-gay campaign to the ongoing UN General Assembly where he bluntly told world leaders  that Africans are not gays and totally reject attempts to prescribe new  gay rights in Africa. Mugabe said:

"We equally reject attempts to prescribe "new rights" that are contrary to our values, norms, traditions, and beliefs. We are not gays! Cooperation and respect for each other will advance the cause of human rights worldwide. Confrontation, vilification, and double-standards will not." he said. Watch the video after the cut...

VIDEO HERE

BREAKING NEWS : GAMALIEL ONOSODE DIES AT 82

Renowned technocrat Gamaliel Onosode has died.According to a statement by the family, Onosode died in early hours of today September 29th. . He was aged 82.

Onosode was born 22 May 1933. He chaired several private and public sector businesses and initiatives. He was the Chairman of Dunlop Nigeria Plc, a former chairman of Cadbury Nigeria Plc, the Presidential Commission on Parastatals (1981), Nigeria LNG Working Committee. He was also the Chairman of Zain Nigeria. May his soul rest in peace Amen.

INHUMAN POLICE OFFCER SENTENCED TO DEATH BY HANGING FOR KILLING A SACHET WATER DEALER

A man identified as Samuel Timothy, a Police Inspector was today sentenced to death by hanging by a Rivers state High Court for shooting and killing a sachet water dealer, Onyekachi Nwasouba at No. 34, Old Aba Road, Port Harcourt on November 10th 2010.

According to court documents, the deceased who is a graduate of Industrial Chemistry was wrongfully shot at and killed by a team of police officers led by Inspector Timothy after they wrongfully branded the deceased an armed robber.

In a three hours ruling, the trial judge, Justice Adolphus Enebeli, said that the convict (Timothy) demonstrated an act of inhumanity through his action. He said the testimonies given by witnesses at the scene of the incident, pointed to the fact that Timothy was an “Inhuman, trigger-happy policeman, who engages in murder; a hater of humankind and a merciless killer.”

“According to Section 319 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I do not have the power to reduce your sentence. That, you, Inspector Timothy Sampson be hanged on your neck until you are dead,” he said. Timothy who had served in the Nigeria Police for 33 years was due for retirement in the next two years when this incident happened.

OGUN POLICE CONFIRMS THE ARREST OF BLOGGER FALSE PUBLICATION AGAINST GOVERNOR'S WIFE

The Ogun state police command has confirmed the arrest of SF Emmanuel Ojo, a blogger, for allegedly publishing a Facebook post ( at the moment his fb account is down) where he accused Mrs Oufunsho Amosun, wife of the Governor of allegedly laundering $300,000 in London. Ojo did a story a while back, alleging that the wife of the Ogun State governor was quizzed in London for money laundering, a story the state government has described as false.

 Muyiwa Adejobi,  Ogun state police command public relations officer  said the police command received a complaint from the state government over what they termed a false publication.

He said Emmanuel is currently being detained at the command’s headquarters, Eleweran, Abeokuta, for questioning.
“We received a complaint from the state government on the suspect, and he was arrested. Presently he is with us at Eleweran, we are still conducting our investigations. If he is found wanting he will be charged to court accordingly.” he told Vanguard.

Meanwhile the Secretary to the State government, Taiwo Adeoluwa, confirmed that the state government indeed lodged a complaint to the police against the blogger but however claimed the governor was not involved.

TRUE STORY : HOW I RE-GAIN MY FREEDOM FROM MY ABDUCTORS....CHIEF OLU FALAE

Chief Olu Falae, former Secretary to the Federal Government, who was kidnapped on Monday September 21st by suspected fulani herdsmen and released on Thursday September 24th, has confirmed that a ransom was paid by his family members for his release. 

Speaking to journalists at his home in Akure, Ondo state today Sept. 28th, Falae said his abductors threatened to kill him on Wednesday September 23rd at about 3pm if the ransom was not paid but thankfully 20 minutes to 3pm, his abductors came to him and told him "the money don complete". 

"There were six of them with three or four guns and every half an hour or so they will say, ‘Baba we are going to kill you, if you don’t give us money we are going to kill you. On Wednesday, one of them came and said ‘look we are going to leave here on Thursday morning. Since we cannot leave you here alone, if we don’t get what we want we are going to kill you. And they said they gave me until 3pm and if at 3pm they don’t get the money they would execute me. I thank God that at 21 minutes to 3pm, one of them came and said, ‘the money don complete’.”he said

Narrating how he was kidnapped, Falae said “When the hoodlums came, they slashed me with their cutlasses, they said I was not cooperating. And they dragged me barefooted into the bush. After dragging me around for about two hours, they stopped somewhere for us to rest and there they asked me to phone my wife and tell her that I have been kidnapped and taken out of Ondo State by car which was a lie. It was about 2.30pm on Monday, We started walking with very few stops until 2am the following morning. I suspect that I must have covered a minimum of 15km.

That morning I did not take anything. So all day I had no food, no water and I walked close to 15km. How I survived I cannot really remember. I had no food in my stomach, I had no shoes, my clothes were torn to shreds. At some point one of them gave me a rubber slippers. We walked until about 2am. At some point they called for an Okada. At about 2.30am the Okada man took me way down I had no clue where we were going. Finally they dumped me somewhere, where I was until I was released on Thursday. In that place we all slept on the floor on leaves, unfortunately the rain came in the night and I was thoroughly drenched where I was lying down. One of them brought a small umbrella to cover my head, my head was covered, but the rest of my body was not covered. They offered me bread, but I told them I could not eat it. I demanded for a bottle of coke, which was what I drank every day to have the requisite strength to survive and to continue on the march, because they were permanently moving.

They were changing locations at two to three times a day. I suspect because they did not want the police to succeed in tracing them. So the following morning they said I should go. One of them took ropes to stitch my buba which was already in tatters, so that it could at least stay on me and I would not look like a lunatic while leaving that place. So when I came out of the bush, I was able to find an Okada, a man riding bike, who gave me a lift to Owo. The place was about 10km from Owo town. The place was between Owo and Ifon. And I walked most of the distances between my farm to that place and as the farrow flies, that is about 25km that we had to trek.

 As I said miraculously I was not tired, I was not hungry and I was not afraid of them at all. Each time they said, ‘Baba we will kill you,’ I will tell them, ‘no, insha Allah, you will not kill me’. I did not break down, but I want to tell you that when I got back home I became completely exhausted. But I am now 80 per cent fit and I know in the next few days I will be up again.”he said 

He decried the level of insecurity in the country

“It is not because of me. As for me, I am a very humble person, but by virtue of what God has made me and the status God has given me, it is an insult to our race that a man like me could be abducted by a bunch of hoodlums. By the way, one of them told me, he said, ‘Baba, if after you leave us you talk nonsense I will come and catch you again’. That is the kind of insult I received. Only two of them could speak some English. They were between the ages of 25 and 35. They were Fulani, they spoke Hausa.”he said

According to Falae, his kidnap is not unconnected with a clash with some Fulani herdsmen who consistently grazed at his farm.

“The cattle rearers have been giving me a hard time for the past two or three years. Because I have a dam on the farm, so they like to bring their cattle there to drink water, then they eat other people’s crops. This time they ate up my maize farm, two hectares. We took pictures, and it was videoed, the police went there. They were asked to pay compensation, they begged and paid half of what we claimed and we accepted it. That was about two months ago. Whether it was one of them who went to bring his brothers to come and deal ‘with this wicked man’, I don’t know. It is plausible. Absolutely plausible. My view is that this is my home. I have not gone to farm in any other person’s territory. This is my home where I was born. I have every right to farm here and live in peace here. So, this is totally unacceptable. I once told the Commissioner of Police that if he cannot protect us and protect my farm, that I will protect myself. There will be self-help if government fails to protect its citizens. It would have been unfortunate if that were to happen.

The IG met me and gave me assurances that they will give us protection. I hope that we as a community in Ondo State and in Yoruba land as a whole must go into consultation to ensure that we enhance our protection. We cannot be slaves in our own territory. These fellows were permanently on the move. Day and night they were walking" he said