Kumuyi – ONE RELIGION CAN NOT BE IMPOSED ON NIGERIANS

Pastor William Kumuyi, General Superintendent of Deeper Christian Life Ministry, has said that imposing one religion on a country will take a long process and as such, nobody can Islalmise  or Christianise Nigeria.

Pastor Kumuyi, who is in Calabar, Cross River State, for a crusade, told Vanguard   at the Margaret Ekpo International Airport,  that no religion advocates the killing of others,  so the  reported killings of Christians  in some parts of the country have to be investigated before reaching a conclusion on the motive behind the killings. He said: “It is not easy for a person to impose his will on the rest of the country because to do so will take a process which cannot easily be achieved in a country with divergent religious practices like Nigeria.”

He said that the current economic recession in the country was a passing phase that will lead to better times in the near future. “We are passing through a stage though  this is one of the worst recession in the country  and we cannot put the blame on one thing or person as the cause because different things contributed at different times to the situation,” Kumuyi said.

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Policeman Shot Escaping With Stolen Fuel

An Assistant Superintendent of Police attached to the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Adeniji Adele, Lagos State, Charles Achidika, and two other suspected oil thieves are currently battling for their lives at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital.

It was learnt that Achidika and his accomplices, who have yet to be identified, were shot on the Badagry waterways around 2am on December 2, during a gun duel with men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Lagos State Command.

The officer and other suspects had reportedly attempted to transport 12,400 litres of petrol, said to have been stolen from a vandalised pipeline, to Seme, a Lagos border town.

REPORT gathered that Achidika allegedly opened fire on officials of the corps when the boat conveying the fuel was flagged down. He was later overpowered and arrested.

The two injured accomplices were still unconscious when our correspondent visited LASUTH.

Five others – Bendran Isaac, Kobla Fashawo, Jimoh Olusegun, Akapo Joseph, and Amos Bakom – were also arrested in the operation.

It was gathered that an AK-47 rifle with the Nigeria Police Force inscribed on it and a pistol were recovered from them.

However, the ASP who managed to speak to journalists, denied being complicit in the illegal oil business, saying the boat operators were carrying him to where he wanted to apprehend some robbers when he was shot.

He said, “I am the Officer-in-Charge of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad attached to Badagry.

“We went for an anti-robbery operation. During the operation, officers of the NSCDC shot me. I didn’t go there to steal fuel. I don’t have the strength to talk.”

Thirty-year-old Olusegun said he, Fashawo and Bakom were taking the ASP for the operation on the sea when they observed that the NSCDC officials had arrested Isaac and Joseph with a fuel-laden boat.

He added that Achidika had wanted to free them when the gun duel began.

He said, “Officer Charles (Achidika) said he wanted to arrest some suspects on the sea, that we should take him there. On our way back, we saw a big boat and some persons with some NSCDC officers. We told the policeman to let us go since the people seemed to be in NSCDC custody, but he didn’t listen to us. It was the police officer that shot first before the NSCDC officials responded. We were not caught with fuel.”

Isaac, a 31-year-old Togolese, said a man called Champion had engaged him and six other fishermen to take the fuel to Seme, adding that he never met the cop prior to the fateful day.

He said, “I am a fisherman. A man called Champion came to me and said I would always help him to transport some fuel to Seme. We were taking the fuel to Seme when we were arrested on the waterways. They brought us to the shore and anchored our boat. The policeman came and asked who put us there and I told him it was the NSCDC.

“He ordered me to move the boat. I didn’t know him before. I started the engine and when we got to the middle of the sea, he shot in the air. The NSCDC men responded and there was a gun battle. This is my first time of carrying fuel. I am just the driver.”

The Lagos State Commandant of the corps, Gabriel Abafi, said six of the suspects escaped while the crossfire lasted. He added that the command swung into action after receiving a tip-off.

He said, “The suspects were caught around Gberefu community in Badagry after a tip-off. On getting there, we saw a fishing boat filled with pirates and arrested them. They shot at our men. Among them was a police officer. The police officer and two others were wounded. About 496 of 25litres of fuel, an AK-47 rifle and a pistol were recovered. Investigation is on.”

The spokesperson for FSARS, Mr. Lekan Ogundare, said he did not have the details of the incident and promised to get back to our correspondent on Monday (today).

He said, “I am on election duty now. I don’t have details of that incident. I will get back to you tomorrow (Monday).”

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Children Exchanged For Bags Of Rice

An unidentified middle-aged man, Wednesday, abducted two siblings, who were returning from extra-moral class in Satellite area of Lagos. Thereafter, he exchanged them for two bags of rice in a shop at 63, Marwa Road, near Chemist Bus Stop.

The children are aged eight and 13. It was gathered that at the shop, the abductor told the sales girl that he would like to take two bags of rice to the mother of the children, whom he claimed owned a restaurant close-by, to ascertain whether the rice was the brand she needed. Speaking with Vanguard last night, owner of the shop, Mrs Silverline, explained that “he (the abductor) told my sales girl that the mother of

the children needed Indian rice, but my sales girl told him that what we had was Brazilian rice and that it was good. “Thereafter, he made a phone call to someone he claimed was the mother of the children and at the end said he would like to take the bags of rice to the woman. But my girl insisted on following him to collect the money for the bags (N40,000) should the woman agree to buy them.

“The stranger said he would ride on a motorcycle with the bags of rice, while my girl followed with the children on foot. But on reaching the purported restaurant, the owner said she never saw any one with bags of rice, neither did she admit knowing the children. “They walked to Ijegun end of Satellite without

any sight of the abductor. When we asked the children about him, they said that the abductor was not their father.” An eyewitness, Ifeoma John, said that immediately the abductor left with the bags of rice, a man who claimed to be the biological father of the children, arrived, alleging that his children could have been hypnotised by the abductor. He contacted policemen from Satellite Division, who took everyone involved to the station, from where the children were released to their parents.

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50 years old man commits suicide, blames it on Nigeria economy

man commits suicide, blames it on economy

It was a gory sight as the body of a 50-year-old man, identified as Chief Ekanem Edet, dangled from a rope tied to the roof of his room at Mbiabong Itam in Itu Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.

Vanguard learned that Ekanem Edet, former Secretary of the Mbiabong Village Council, popularly called Jolly Boy, waited until his wife and two sons went out before taking his life, allegedly leaving a suicide note in which he blamed his action on harsh economic condition. According to a close family source, the deceased, in the suicide note, blamed government for inflicting unbearable pains and hardship on Nigerians. A close associate of the deceased, Mr. Okon Effiong, told newsmen that Ekanem Edet was discovered dead by his friend, who went to visit him.

He added that Edet was immediately buried after some traditional rites of passage were performed. He said: “He was a very sociable man and always shared his thoughts on issues. I do not know why he should consider suicide as the last option to escape from these hard times.” Vanguard further learned that few days to his death, the deceased complained bitterly about the current economic crunch. According to a family source, “Edet took his life, blaming his action on the prevailing hardship.”

The source added that the deceased, who deals on Ogogoro, cigarettes and other stimulants, decided to take his life when it appeared that he could no longer run his small family with the meagre earnings from his trade. A pastor at the local church recalled: “He used to complain that his petty business was no longer fetching him and his family basic needs such as food, clothing and fees for the children’s education. “He was always blaming government for the economic policies that do not allow him afford basic commodities such as gari, bread, yam, rice, beans, oil, kerosene and other essential goods.” According to him, the family was reluctant to call in the police because of the suicide note.

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Man slays wife’s lover on matrimonial bed

A 32-year-old businessman, Ezekiel Igbokwe, has been arrested by the Ogun State Police Command for allegedly killing his wife’s lover, Victor Olatundun.

Igbokwe was said to have killed Olatundun after he caught him having sex with his wife at their matrimonial home.

The suspect allegedly committed the offence at about 12am at Peace Lodge on Itura Street, Awa Ijebu, Ijebu-North Local Government Area of Ogun State.

The suspect, who committed the crime on Wednesday, July 27, was arrested by the police the following day.

Igbokwe and his 28-year-old wife were among the 23 suspects paraded at the Ogun State Police Command headquarters, Eleweran, Abeokuta, on Thursday, for various offences ranging from murder to illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.

Igbokwe, who said he was a businessman, explained that he had returned from his trip to Onitsha and met Victor on top of his wife on their matrimonial bed.

He said he picked a machete in the toilet and cut the victim in the neck and hand.

Olatundun reportedly died on the way to the hospital.

Igbokwe, who deals in electronics, said he was born in Ago Iwoye, Ogun State.

He said, “I travelled to Onitsha on July 25, and when I came back on July 27, I met a man inside my room making love to my wife. Then we started fighting. The man was stronger than me. When I saw he could overpower me, I got a cutlass in my toilet and dealt him blows in the hand and neck. On the way to the hospital, the fuel in the car finished and he died.”

Igbokwe said he committed the crime due to anger, adding that he never meant to kill the victim.

He claimed that he had never met Olatundun before, saying he also never suspected that his wife was having an extra-marital affair with anyone.

PUNCH Metro learnt that Igbokwe and his wife, Juliet, have three children aged nine, seven and five.

Juliet, who sobbed intermittently, said her alleged lover had been pressurising her for a relationship for some time.

She explained that she had always told him she was married, but the victim never gave up until he ended up at their matrimonial home on that night.

Juliet, who said she sold snuff, said Victor was her supplier and he pestered her for six months before she finally gave in.

She said she suspected that the deceased used a charm on her, as she could not explain how it all happened.

She said, “He had been disturbing me that he wanted to marry me, but I said I was married.

“On the day of the incident, I really can’t say if he used a charm on me. All I know is that he called me that he wanted to see me and I told him not to come; he knew my house and when he came, I didn’t know what happened.

“He used to come and deliver snuff to me in the house. On the day of the incident, he told me he was coming from somewhere and that it was already late. He wanted to sleep in our place till the next day. He didn’t know that my husband was away. He tried to sleep with me, but later he didn’t.”

Juliet, who claimed that she got married to her husband in 2005, said the husband did not take good care of her and the children.

She said their marriage had been turbulent and fraught with fights and quarrels.

The mother of three said each time there was a fight, her husband would leave the house for months.

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#English MP – Jo Cox killed in gun, knife attack

A British MP has died after she was shot and stabbed during an attack in her constituency, police have said.

Jo Cox, 41, Labour MP for Batley and Spen, was left bleeding on the ground by her attacker. A 77-year-old man also suffered slight injuries.

A 52-year-old man was arrested near Market Street, Birstall. The MP held a weekly advice surgery nearby.
Her husband Brendan Cox said she would want people “to unite to fight against the hatred that killed her”.

Vote Leave and Remain have both suspended campaigning in the EU referendum in light of the attack.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the country would be “in shock at the horrific murder”, describing the MP as a “much loved colleague”.

He added: “Jo died doing her public duty at the heart of our democracy, listening to and representing the people she was elected to serve.

“In the coming days, there will be questions to answer about how and why she died.

“But for now all our thoughts are with Jo’s husband Brendan and their two young children. They will grow up without their mum, but can be immensely proud of what she did, what she achieved and what she stood for.”

Cafe owner Clarke Rothwell, who witnessed the attack, said he heard a “loud popping noise that sounded like a balloon burst – a loud balloon”.

“When I looked round there’s a man stood there in his 50s with a white baseball cap on and a jacket with a gun, an old fashioned looking gun in his hand,” he said.

“He shot this lady once and then he shot her again, he fell to the floor, leant over shot her once more in the face area.

“Somebody tried to grab him, wrestling with him and then he wielded a knife, like a hunting knife, just started lunging at her with a knife half a dozen times. People were screaming and running from the area”.

Eyewitness Hithem Ben Abdallah, said the mother of two was left lying and bleeding on the pavement after the incident.

Mr Abdallah, 56, was in a cafe next door to the library shortly after 13:00 BST when he heard screaming and went outside.

“There was a guy who was being very brave and another guy with a white baseball cap who he was trying to control and the man in the baseball cap suddenly pulled a gun from his bag”.

After a brief scuffle, he said the man stepped back and the MP became involved.

Mr Abdallah said the weapon had “looked handmade” and a man who had been wrestling with the gunman continued even after seeing the gun.

He said: “The man stepped back with the gun and fired it and then he fired a second shot, as he was firing he was looking down at the ground.”

“He was kicking her as she was lying on the floor”, he said.

Her husband, Brendan, has since tweeted a picture of his wife standing by the side of the River Thames in London.

David Cameron also tweeted to express his condolences.

Leeds North East MP Fabian Hamilton said he had known Jo Cox since before she became an MP.

Mr Hamilton said: “And I’m just completely devastated, I know Birstall reasonably well, and I think we’re all totally shocked.”

Huddersfield MP Barry Sheerman said he was “absolutely stunned”.

“I was a mentor to her,” he said.

“She was the same age as my daughter. She was one of the real talents in parliament, people loved her in the constituency.”

Ms Cox, who was born in Batley, was elected in 2015.

She was educated at Heckmondwike Grammar School and graduated from Cambridge University in 1995.

A former head of policy for Oxfam, she also worked as an adviser to Sarah Brown and Baroness Kinnock.

Mark Goldring, Oxfam’s chief executive, said: ” Oxfam is deeply shocked to hear the news. Our thoughts and sympathies are with Jo and her family at this difficult time.”

Most MPs hold surgeries in their constituency to give people an opportunity to meet them and discuss matters of concern.

They are usually held once a week and advertised locally or online. An MP may take up an issue on a constituent’s behalf.

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#NEWS: Libya repatriates 162 Nigerians

About 162 Nigerians who entered Libya illegally were yesterday brought back to the country.

The returnees comprised 132 males, 27 females, two female children and one male child and they came aboard a Chadames Air aircraft marked 5A WAT and they arrived at the international wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport around 2.50pm.

Daily Sun learnt that they had voluntarily opted to return back to Nigeria having been stranded for possibly months in Libya without any form of accommodation and access to any job.

“They were stranded in the North African country and voluntarily sought to return to Nigeria and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in collaboration with the Nigerian Embassy in Libya did everything possible to assist bring them back,” said a source at the Lagos airport.

“In fact three of the returnees were very sick when they came back. one of them had burns all over his body and was writhing in pains. Two of them were brought back in a stretcher and they had to be wheeled into an ambulance for urgent medical attention,” the source added.

On hand to receive them were officials from the Port Health Services, Nigeria Police Force, Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), and National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and Other Related Matters (NAPTIP).

According to IOM’s operations assistant, Mr. Juma Ben Hassan, one of the men had a motor accident while the one that who had burns stayed in a house that was gutted by fire.

He said all the six occupants except the Nigerian died.

He said the man who was first hospitalized in Libya later requested to return to the country.

Hassan said it was the second time IOM would assist Nigerians to return home adding that in a few months’ time, another batch of returnees would be brought back.

The returnees first had to be profiled by NEMA officials to ascertain that they were Nigerians before being allowed into the country .

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President Buhari Returns From 10days Trip

Barring any last minute changes in plan, President Muhammadu Buhari is expected back in the country on Thursday (today) from London.

Buhari had penultimate Monday commenced a 10-day holiday and proceeded to London on the same day.

The Presidency had, in a statement, indicated that the President would during the visit to the United Kingdom, see an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist for a persistent ear infection.

The 10-day holiday ended on Wednesday.

A source in the Presidency, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The PUNCH on Wednesday that arrangements had been put in place to receive the President, who is due back in the country on Thursday.

“He is expected back on Thursday (today). We are in touch with him. As of today (Wednesday), we have not been told that there is any change in arrangement,” the source said.

The Presidency had, on Monday, released photographs of the visit of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Most Revd, Justin Welby, to Buhari in London.

Welby, who presented a souvenir to the President, was in company with Nigeria-born Secretary-General of Anglican Communion Worldwide, Most Revd. Idowu Fearon.

Buhari had so far embarked on holiday twice this year.

The President had earlier embarked on a six-day holiday between February 5 and 10, 2016.

Like the case of the second visit, Buhari remained in London throughout the first holiday.

He had earlier granted an interview where he said the doctors he had been consulting since the 1970s were based in London.

Buhari had, before leaving the country, written to the National Assembly to inform the federal lawmakers of his medical trip.

He had indicated in the letter that Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo would perform the duties of the President while he would be away.

Meanwhile, the Presidency on Wednesday commended the House of Representatives for giving prompt action to two executive bills that scaled through second reading.

This was contained in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja by the Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (House of Reps), Alhaji Suleiman Kawu.

“We wish to thank the House of Representatives, under the leadership of Speaker Yakubu Dogara, for passing two of our bills today, June 15, 2016,” Kawu said in the statement.

“One is a Bill for an Act to Provide for the Domestication and Enforcement in Nigeria of the Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreement between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Kingdom of Spain.

“The other is a Bill for an Act to Provide for the Domestication and Enforcement in Nigeria of the Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreement between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Republic of South Korea and for Other Related Matters.”

According to the statement, the action has shown that the House is solidly behind the executive on its numerous policies aimed at making Nigeria better.

“We hope you will also pass our other bills that are currently before the House with the same zeal that you passed these two,” the Presidency stated.

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#Disney resort: Boy killed by Alligator

A United States family’s desperate search for their toddler son, who was snatched by an alligator off the shore of a lake at a Disney resort, ended Wednesday when divers found the two-year-old’s body in murky water.

The nightmare at the Disney World complex is the latest horror to hit the central Florida vacation town of Orlando reeling from Sunday’s massacre at a gay nightclub in which 49 people were killed the deadliest mass shooting in American history.

Walt Disney World said it has shut down all of its Florida resort beaches and marinas out of precaution after the incident – the first such death in its 45-year history.

The boy’s father tried frantically to save him after the attack Tuesday night at a lakeside beach at the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa, but could not pry the toddler from the gator’s grasp.

“His body was completely intact… The body has now been turned over to the Orange County medical office for an autopsy,” Sheriff Jerry Demings told reporters.

He said the toddler most likely drowned. The body was found just 10 or 15 yards (meters) from where he was taken, in murky water about six feet (1.8 meters) deep, the sheriff said.

The two-year-old victim was identified as Lane Graves of Elkhorn, Nebraska – a suburb of Omaha. His parents are Matt and Melissa Graves, Demings said.

“Of course, the family was distraught but also, I believe, somewhat relieved that we were able to find their son with his body intact,” Demings said.

The gator struck at around 9:00 pm Tuesday (0100 GMT Wednesday) as the child was playing in roughly a foot of water at the Seven Seas Lagoon outside the Grand Floridian, which is right across the lake from the Magic Kingdom.

The lagoon is man-made but connected to a natural lake. And alligators – common to Florida – can travel over land. Both help explain why there were gators in the body of water.

The boy’s father fought the alligator – estimated to be between four and seven feet (1.2-2.1 meters) long, according to reports – but the animal and child disappeared underwater, officials said.

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#EFCC: Ali Modu Sheriff in EFCC custody

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Wednesday grilled the embattled Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Ali Modu Sheriff, from 10am to about 5.30pm.

It was learnt that Sheriff was interrogated at the Maiduguri office of the EFCC for his alleged role in the sharing of the $115m (N23bn) which emanated from a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke.

During the build-up to the presidential election, N450m was said to have been sent to Borno State and it was received by a former Minister of Power, Mohammed Wakil.

About N40m was said to have been given to Sheriff through Alhaji Mohammed Kumaila, a PDP chieftain in the state.

An impeccable source at the anti-graft agency told our correspondent that Sheriff, who is a former governor of Borno State, was released on an administrative bail and asked to return at a later date.

“Sheriff honoured the EFCC invitation and arrived around 10am. We released him on an administrative bail at 5.30pm. He has been asked to return at a later date.”

Sheriff is one among several PDP leaders in the state who have been grilled by the anti-graft agency.

Last week, Senator Saidu Kumo, who is the Special Adviser, Political Matters, to Sheriff, returned N2m from his share of the money.

Sheriff’s spokesman, Inuwa Bwala, refused to comment on the case when asked to react to the allegations levelled against his principal.

The embattled PDP chairman is still being investigated for alleged embezzlement of public funds during his eight years as governor of Borno State.

His government was said to have received over N300bn from the Federation Account between 2003 and 2011.

The money was said to have been mismanaged by Sheriff.

Sheriff was subsequently detained from June 3 to June 4, 2015 and released on administrative bail without being charged to court.

Meanwhile, a former governor of Gombe State, Danjuma Goje, illegally awarded a N1bn contract for the supply of dictionaries to secondary schools while he was governor of the state, according to the EFCC.

A prosecution witness, Salisu Abaji, said this before a Federal High Court in Jos where Goje is being tried for alleged fraud, the spokesman for the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, said in a statement.

According to the witness, the ex-governor awarded a contract for the supply of dictionaries for over N1bn to Gombe State Universal Basic Education Board without following procurement process.

Furthermore, he was alleged to have paid 85 per cent of the contract sum upfront to the supplier, Real and Integrated Hospitality Company, as against the prescribed 15 per cent as contained in the UBEB guideline when he was the governor.

The prosecution witness, who is a former Secretary to UBEB, gave this testimony against his former boss.

He further submitted that one Aliyu el-Naffty, a former UBEB chairman, also an accused person standing trial along with Goje, awarded the contract the same day and ordered the advance payment based on the directive of the ex-governor.

Another prosecution witness and a former storekeeper at the Gombe State Government House, Mr. Mohammed Aliyu, concluded his testimony by tendering receipts of all payments made to the food contractor to the government during the eight-year administration of Goje from 2003 and 2011.

However, Abaji admitted he played a role in the award and payment of the said amount as upfront to the contractor. This, he did, under cross-examination by the defence counsel, Mr. Adeniyi Akintola.

The trial has been adjourned till October 4 and 5, 2016 by Justice Quadri.

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