Entertainment: Naija Gangnam Style

The Gangnam style dance move from South Korean rapper Park Jae-sang is now full time in Nigeria, but not only as a result of the vibrations this hit song sent across the globe; rather, it’s because a Nigerian artist has done a replica of the song.
Enter Mo’ Eazy

Mo’Eazy is not a green horn in the Nigerian entertainment business. His first single “Kosoro” threw a good number radio listeners in dance fits every time it was aired and you could tell right from the first second, this was talent singing in your ears and that someday, he would be a big name in the industry.

*Mo’Eazy

News: Boko Haram Have Committed Crimes Against Humanity Says ICC

The International Criminal Court’s prosecutor has a “reasonable basis” to believe Boko Haram Islamists have committed crimes against humanity in Nigeria, her office said Monday.
Nigerian authorities should prosecute acts of murder and persecution attributed to the radical group that have claimed more than 1,200 lives since mid-2009 or the ICC could step in, the prosecutor said in a report seen by AFP.
“There is a reasonable basis to believe that since July 2009, Boko Haram has committed the following acts constituting crimes against humanity,” namely murder and persecution, the report said.
The report also cited a “reasonable basis” to believe that Boko Haram has “launched a widespread and systematic attack that has resulted in the killings of more than 1,200 Christians and Muslims.”
The group is pursuing a policy of “imposing an exclusive Islamic system of government in northern Nigeria at the expense of Christians specifically,” the report said.
The prosecutor’s office noted that Nigerian security forces may also have carried out human rights violations in its operations against the group, but said it had no indication that this was part of a “state or organisational policy to attack the civilian population.”
The prosecutor’s office said it would assess whether Nigerian authorities “are conducting genuine proceedings in relation to those who appear to bear the greatest responsibility for such crimes”.
Under the ICC’s complementarity principle, the court can step in only if national authorities are unwilling or unable to prosecute the crimes in question.

News: Police Arraign 7 Over Attempted To Rape And Murder

Seven men, who allegedly attempted to rape a 16-year-old lady, were on Monday charged before an Ebute Meta Magistrates’ Court in Lagos.
The defendants are:- Seyi Lajuwomi, 25; Opeoluwa Okedairo, 30; Pius Okwuada,  29; Dada Sheriff Jimoh, 23; Gbenga Olaewe, 23; Monday Augustine, 26; and Sunday Oladapo, 36.
The men are facing a six-count charge of conspiracy, breach of peace, willful damage to property, attempt to rape and attempt to kill.
The prosecutor, Sgt. Cousin Adams, told the court that the defendants allegedly committed the crime on Nov. 12 at about 2a.m. at their residence on Ogunsami Street, Itire in Lagos,
According to the prosecutor, the incident occurred during a street carnival in the Itire-Ijesha area of the metropolis.

News: Attack On SARS In Abuja Two Killed, 30 Detainees Escaped

Gunmen attacked a Nigerian police unit believed to be holding suspected Islamist extremists in the capital Abuja on Monday, killing two officers and leading to the escape of 30 detainees.
Authorities however claimed to have re-arrested 25 of the 30 escapees and said no one being held on “terror-related charges” was freed.
The attack on the Special Anti-Robbery Squad compound in the pre-dawn hours resulted in a gun battle, with police claiming to have repelled the assailants and arrested two of them.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack. The raid was similar to others carried out by Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, but criminal gangs have also committed violence under the guise of the group.

Technology: Acura RLX Concept

Acura's RL finally gets a long-awaited makeover, having been overshadowed by the mid-range TL sedan. No, this isn't the RWD V-8 flagship you've been waiting for. Like its predecessor, it features a V-6 engine, which makes 310 horsepower. Its Sport Hybrid SH-AWD, however, differs from the last generation, and is similar to the system featured in the NSX concept. In spite of its hybrid and AWD tech, Acura promises the RLX will weigh "well under 4,000 pounds," hopefully making its driving dynamics more engaging than its derivative aesthetics. Acura's flagship is still conservatively styled, with a kinked C-pillar treatment similar to the ILX, the polarizing power plenum grill and a healthy front overhang courtesy of its FWD architecture.

Entertainment: Superheroes Put Magic In NZ Film Industry

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A crate full of sushi arrives. Workers wearing wetsuit shirts or in bare feet bustle past with slim laptops. With days to go, a buzzing intensity fills the once-dilapidated warehouses where Peter Jackson's visual-effects studio is rushing to finish the opening film in "The Hobbit" trilogy.

News: PDP Accuses Fayemi Of Profligacy

The South-West Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has accused the Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi of spending over N250 million belonging to the state on legal fees, protests and media campaign on the pending Supreme Court case challenging the Appeal Court judgment that made him governor.
The party, which backed up its claim with documents with which the governor approved N133 million on a flimsy agric project, said Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, should beam its searchlights on the state.

News: Crisis In Ojukwu’s Family

THE  silent war between Ambassador Bianca Ojukwu, widow of the late Ikemba Nnewi, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, and Directors of Ojukwu Transport Limited, OTL, who are brothers of her late spouse, has blown open as both parties have dragged themselves before High Courts of Lagos state to determine who controls the landed property belonging to the company.
This came even as the family had concluded plans to mark the first anniversary of Ojukwu’s death at Nnewi today.  The former Biafran warlord died on November 26, 2011 at aLondonhospital at the age of 78.

Late Odumegwu Ojukwu

Sports: Chelsea Play Draw With Man City

Rafael Benitez was given a toxic welcome by Chelsea supporters as his first match as manager ended in a 0-0 draw at home to Premier League champions Manchester City on Sunday.
The Spaniard became a hate figure at Stamford Bridge in the previous decade when he was in charge of Liverpool, where he made a number of comments about Chelsea that were deemed unforgivable by a section of the Blues support.

News: Suicide Bomber Rammed A Bus Into A Church

A suicide bomber rammed a bus into a church at a military barracks in restive northern Nigeria on Sunday and another detonated his explosives-packed car minutes later, killing 11 people and wounding dozens more.
The first bomb attack struck minutes after Sunday mass in the town of Jaji, the latest such attack against Christians in the west African nation where the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram has waged a deadly campaign.
A military officer said the first explosion did not cause any casualties, but drew people who were leaving church to the area ahead of the second blast. Those killed included soldiers, but it was not clear how many, a military spokesman said.

News: Couple And Kid Killed In Kano By Gunmen

Two motorcycle-riding gunmen killed a Christian couple and their child as they were on their way to church on Sunday in Kano, police and residents said.
“Two gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on the car, killing the woman and her child on the spot while her husband died later in hospital,” Kano State police spokesman Magaji Majia told AFP.
He said the couple’s other child escaped unhurt in the shooting in the Kwanar Masallachi neighbourhood on the outskirts of the city.
Residents said the victims were Christians on their way to church for the Sunday service.
On November 17, gunmen on a motorcycle shot dead a lawmaker at a meeting spot in the same area, prompting a dusk-to-dawn curfew to stem the wave of similar attacks.
Boko Haram carried its deadliest ever attack in Kano in January, killing at least 185 people, and has been blamed for scores of drive-by killings in the city.

News: Church Explosions At Jaji, 11 Killed And Many Injured

The Nigerian army said two blasts that hit a church in a military barracks in restive Kaduna on Sunday were suicide attacks.
The twin explosions that rocked the St. Andrew Military Protestant Church has lead to the death of 11 people and injuring 30 others, the army confirmed.
“There were twin suicide bombings today at St Andrew Military Protestant Church (in the town of Jaji),” army spokesman Brigadier General Bola Koleosho told AFP, saying the attacks were just 10 minutes apart.
One of the explosions ripped through the church in the barracks in restive Kaduna on Sunday, the army said, with reports that a number of people had been wounded and eleven worshipers killed.
“There were blasts today in a church inside the military barracks in Jaji (in Kaduna state). It happened after the church service,” a military spokesman in Kaduna, Colonel Sani Usman, told AFP.
A military officer who did not want to be named said the Protestant church was hit by two explosions.
“The first blast caused no casualties and curious worshippers gathered around the scene looking at the debris… and that was when the second blast happened,” he said.
“Many people were injured but I have not received reports of any deaths at the moment.”
Jaji lies some 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the state capital Kaduna city which has been hit in the past by deadly attacks blamed on the Islamist sect Boko Haram.
The group has often targeted churches in its bloody insurgency, as well as police and other symbols of the establishment in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country which is divided between a mainly Muslim north and a predominantly Christian south.
The state-run National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said “rescuers have been alerted to an explosion at a military formation in Kaduna state today and likely at a worship centre”
Although no group has claimed responsibility for Sunday’s church blast, the incident was similar to previous attacks blamed on the Islamist extremist group.
Last month, at least 10 people were killed and 145 wounded in a suicide church bombing and reprisal violence in Kaduna.

News: Three Blood Brothers Says"Robbery Has Been Sustaining Us".

Three blood brothers, recently in Lagos, made startling revelations when they confessed that they earn their livelihood through armed robbery. In fact, the eldest of the brothers confessed that they used their younger brother to get vital information on their victims.
Their robbery exploits were blown open recently after members of Lagos State neighborhood watch arrested them in Otto-Awori Local Development Council. The three brothers identified as Kabiru Sesan,25, Toheed Sesan, 23, and Femi Sesan, 19, were alleged to have robbed one Mr. Chude at gun point who reportedly just arrived the country from a trip overseas.
One locally-made pistol was said to have been recovered from the suspects while they were sharing their loot in an uncompleted building at Etigbi Community in the area. Sources said the suspects got information about the arrival of Mr Chude through his female house help (name withheld) who happened to be the girlfriend to one of the suspects, Femi.

*The 3 armed robbery brothers

Their eldest brother, kabiru boldly told Crime Guard when he was cornered at the office of the vigilante group that robbery has kept food on their table since the death of their parents. He also confessed that they were the brains behind the incessant robbery attacks within Etigbi community stating that he asked his younger brother to go into a relationship with their victim’s house help because they knew he is based in United States of America and normally come back with a lot of money.
The younger brother, Femi, however told Crime Guard that he did not know that his brothers had evil intention when they asked him to go into relationship with the housemaid. According to him,”I was surprised when my brothers told me to go into that relationship with the maid,and I never had the knowledge that my brothers were armed robbers.
I was so surprised, even when I asked my brother why? he said that I should just do it. There was a day my brothers told me to get information on when Mr Chude will return back to the country. I was confused but I did as they said. That was all I knew until I got a call from an anonymous person to come to Shibiri round about within the community, on getting there, I was handcuffed by the vigilante group.”
The leader of the vigilante group, Alhaji Saka Owoyami, narrated how they rounded up the three brothers to Crime Guard. “We got a call from an unidentified person who said he heard a gun shot from a flat nearby. We quickly went into action but before we got to the place, they had disappeared after shooting one of the residents.
We started combing the area and ended up fishing them out in an uncompleted building where they were busy sharing their loot. After interrogations, we were shocked to discover that they were blood brothers. They named their younger brother as their source o f information. We swiftly went into action and arrested him and after interrogation, we handed them over to the police at Hausa-Ihemba division for further investigation and possible prosecution.

Sport: South Africa Budgets N8bn To Host Africa.

Since after the crash of Apartheid in South Africa and the country first hosted an international event in 1996, the African Cup of Nations, the country has continued to strive in the area of hosting major football events.
The biggest of such opportunities came in 2010 when it became the first country in Africa to host the FIFA World Cup which turned out to be one of the best since FIFA started the event in Uruguay in 1930.
Again from January 19 to February 10, 2013, South Africa will play host to Africa when it hosts the first Nations Cup in odd number years for which it has budgeted US$53.3 million  (about N8.5 billion) to cover various hosting costs excluding construction of stadia.
According to Phumi Dhlomo,  SA Tourism Regional Director for African markets, “The fact that South Africa built stadiums for the FIFA 2010 World Cup makes hosting AFCON that bit easier,” as he disclosed that over 50 per cent of the entire budget will go into areas like security, protocol and migration services.
“Of the US$53.3 million, US$37 million will go to South African national departments to cover costs associated with hosting (including security, protocol and migration services).
A further US$2 million will be used by the provinces and another US$14 million will be used by the five host cities to cover various hosting costs,” he said.
Dhlomo said because SA Tourism sees tourism as a major boost for the South African economy, it has worked out plans to ensure that the country benefits further as visitors who troop into the country for the Nations Cup are expected to contribute about US$154 million to the economy.
“AFCON gives us another opportunity to welcome African tourists to South Africa and show them a great time. It gives us an opportunity again to showcase our destination, our welcoming people, our capability and infrastructure not only to the continent, but also to the world.

News: Obasanjo Woos North With N350m Mosque, Arabic School

Ahead of 2015 general election, former President Olusegun Obasanjo  on Friday wooed northerners  especially Muslims as he laid  the foundation of N350,000000 (three hundred and fifty million naira)  ultra modern central mosque  and arabic school within the premises of his Presidential Library in Oke-Mosan Abeokuta.
We reliably gathered that, Obasanjo decided  to construct a mosque within the premises of the controversial Presidential Library so as to make the place look international and as well erase the impression that, he hates notherners  and their religion which is Islam.
An insider at the Obasanjo hiltop building hinted that, the four governors in the north held a closed door meeting with Obasanjo before the event where the 2015 election top the agenda and how President Goodluck Jonathan would  be  either convinced or stopped from re-contesting to pave way for  Northerner as the next President.
Eminent peronalties  who were  at  the foundation laying and fund raising of  Olusegun Obasanjo Baytus Salam central Mosque were   four governors from the North. They are  Kebbi,Usman Dakingari, Kano State, Rabi Kwakwanso, Sokoto, Aliyu Wamakko, Katsina state governor, Sheu-Shemma  Shetima who  was  represented by  his deputy.All of them donated N20 million each  for the construction of the mosque.
Among those that contributed to the Obasanjo’s  mosque  and arabic school  were the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal who pledged N2 million, Chairman of Damngote group of companies ,Alhaji  Aliko  Dangote who  also promised  N25 million, former governor of  Kebbi State,Senator  Adamu Aleru  who also pledged N10 million.
Ex-governor of Kwara State,  Senator Bukola Saraki   also pledged N2 million while   former vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar  also sent   a sum of five million naira pledge towards the construction of the mosque.
Also  the governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Mallam Lamido Sanusi who was in his traditional attire donated N5 million.
Other States that contributed to the construction of the mosque were Adamawa, Niger, Kaduna, Katsina Zamfara Kogi, Kwara and  Ogun  States which all  sent their pleges of  N20 million each  through the Sokoto state governor.
Addressing the people at the gathering, Obasanjo  who counseled religious people to be tolerant and accommodating said  “ I  believe that the more you know your God, the better you will be able to serve him .
I believe that, if you are at the fear of a particular religion, you must be educated in the destiny of that religion .And in any case if you are a good religious man, you will bea  good citizen.

News: 10 Injured, 4 Die in Ogun auto crash

Four people  yesterday were reportedly killed while 10 sustained various degrees of  injury  in an auto crash that occured on Abeokuta-Lagos road in Onihale village in Ifo local government area of Ogun State.
According to an eye-witness, the accident involved a Lagos-bound bus with registration number Lagos XY178 LSR which skided off the road  and summersaulted while coming from Abeokuta.
The source however said that,the driver and the conductor of the ill-fated bus and two others died on the spot,while others sustained variuos degrees of injury and have been taken to a nearby hospital.
Confirming the incident,the Itori Sector Commander of Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, Mr. Fatai Bakare said the bus carried 14 passengers before the accident.
He said that out of the 14 passengers,four have been confirmed dead while the remaining 10 sustained injury.
According to Bakare, the bus was coming from Abeokuta but later  veered off the road and then summersaulted.
Four passengers who were all  male died in the accident and the others have been taken to Ota general hospital.

News: Collapsed LSDPC

INCIDENTS of collapsed buildings have become daily items in the news. It has long been established that most buildings, especially multi-floor and high-rise ones, collapse as a result of poor adherence to safety regulations for modern edifices.
Developers of such buildings often cut corners, avoid the employment of qualified building professionals and connive with regulatory authorities to subvert the law. Most collapsed buildings were either not certified by relevant government agencies or fraudulently approved.
What does one say of government-erected buildings collapsing? That was exactly the tragic incident in Jakande Estate, in Ejigbo, Lagos. A two-storey house built by the Lagos State Development and Property Company, LSDPC, collapsed on Wednesday, killing (as at press time) three people, injuring many others and extensively damaging private property.

News: Boko Haram Has Continued To Terrorise Us, Why?

Former Minister of Information, Dr. Walter Ofonagoro, has said that the successive growth of the Islamic sect,  Boko Haram, was a result of the fundamental issues that had not been addressed since the 60’s.
Speaking at the Peace Poster Contest of Lions Clubs Multiple District 404, with theme: ‘Imagine Peace’ in Lagos, he  said the failure to issue a peace treaty after the end of the Nigerian civil war was also a factor that had disturbed peace in the country.

News: Bakassi Again UN Suspends Nigeria, Cameroon Maritime Boundary Demarcation

FOLLOWING protests embarked upon by the displaced people of Bakassi on Wednesday and Thursday, the Joint Technical Team, comprising the United Nations, Nigerian and Cameroonian officials, have announced the suspension of the demarcation of the maritime boundary between Nigeria and Cameroon.
Meanwhile, the presence of three ships with Cameroonian gendarmes at the Ikang beach, which falls into Nigerian territory, caused a stir as some of the Bakassi youths were said to have come out to confront them before their leaders told them to watch out events first.

News: Cars Plunge Into River In Lagos While Many killed in Kano, Plateau, Borno

Armed soldiers, yesterday, took over security in Bichi town near Kano, following a sectarian violence that rocked the town, leading to the death of no fewer than five persons, just as reports said that 16 people were altogether killed in Kano, Plateau and Borno states.
In Lagos State, two vehicles, a commercial bus and a Toyota Camry car, plunged into the Majidun River, along Lagos-Ikorodu Road. However, the number of casualties were yet to be ascertained at press time.
In Borno and Plateau states, 11 people, including three children aged between five and 12, were allegedly killed by some unidentified gunmen in separate incidents.
The children, out of the eight people in Maiduguri, Borno State capital, were killed in the presence of their mother in Sulimanti ward of the metropolis, when their father, Aduju Zubairu, an SSS personnel could not be located.