Nigerian And World News

Friday, September 1

Governor Ambode Donates N5m To Widow Of Man Killed For Exposing Kidnappers’ Operation [Photo]

The Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, has donated N5 million to the widow and children of Osaze Omorogbe, a community leader killed and burnt by kidnappers for leading security agents to foil their operation.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Community and Communications, Kehinde Bamigbetan, who presented the cheque to the family on behalf of the governor at a ceremony at the family’s residence in Isawo, Ikorodu, praised the deceased for his heroic role.

Mr. Bamigbetan was received by the Chairman of the Community Development Association, Ahmed
Yusuf.

Reading the condolence message personally signed by the governor, the Special Adviser said the late Mr. Omoregbe paid the supreme sacrifice while responding to the government’s charge to community development associations to support its effort to rid the state of kidnappers.

Part of the condolence message read, “It is with deep grief that I share your sorrow on the unfortunate death of your father, husband and breadwinner, Mr. Osaze Omoregbe.

“At a time our administration is consolidating partnership with our communities and their courageous and committed leaders, your benefactor stood up to be counted. He supported the forces of light seeking to crush the notorious kidnappers who had turned your neighbourhood into a jungle of death.

In that patriotic response to our call to join hands and collectively secure our communities, he paid the supreme price.”

Receiving the cheque, the widow, Omodunni Omoregbe, who was short of words, broke into tears.

Speaking on behalf of the LCDA, the chairperson, Jumoke Ademehin-Jumbo, thanked the Lagos State Government for coming to the rescue of the family.

Mohamed Al-Fayed has been pictured on his luxury yacht in St Tropez as he prepares to mark the 20th anniversary of his son's death.

The 88-year-old looked deep in thought as he relaxed on the deck of Sakara, his 112ft-long boat.

It comes as the former Harrods owner looks set to mark 20 years since Dodi Fayed and Princess Diana were killed in a car accident in Paris.

Al-Fayed has said he still mourns the death of his son twenty years after they died and claims they
were killed because they planned to marry.

He claims to spend 300 days a year sitting beside his son's body, which has been interred at a mausoleum in the grounds of his mansion near Oxted in Surrey.

He also has left Dodi's Park Lane flat, where he took Diana during the summer of 1997 before the pair died in a car crash, untouched as a shrine to his son.

The billionaire believes they were killed by security services on the order of Prince Philip to prevent her from marrying a Muslim, even though he has no evidence.

One month after the claims were made by Mr Fayed in 2000, Harrods was stripped of its 44-year-old royal warrant, which was granted by the Duke of Edinburgh.

A spokesperson at Buckingham Palace said at the time it was due to a 'significant decline in the trading relationship' and refused to comment on the matter further.

A close friend told The Sun: 'Mohamed believes they were in love and were going to announce their engagement in London the day after the tragedy. He will never get over the death of his son, or that of the Princess — because of the love he had for both.'

Another source told the paper: 'Mohamed remains confident that information will emerge confirming his belief that Dodi and Diana were deliberately killed by the security services.

'He always says, "My son was slaughtered", and he believes that was because the Establishment would not allow a Muslim to be married to the woman who would be the mother of the future king.'

Despite his claims of a murder plot, an inquest held into the deaths of Dodi and Diana ruled the pair died because of the 'grossly negligent' driving of Henri Paul and the paparazzi in pursuit of their car.

Jurors blamed the 'unlawful killing' on driver Henri Paul and the group of paparazzi photographers who were following his Mercedes.

Like the earlier French and British police investigations, the panel concluded Mr Paul had been drinking and was speeding when the car hit a pillar in the Alma underpass in Paris in August 1997.

They also singled out the paparazzi's speed and the way they were driving as contributory factors, but concluded the couple could have survived the accident had they been wearing seatbelts.

A Buckingham Palace source said: 'The inquest verdict speaks for itself.'

The son of South Africa's President Jacob Zuma has denied involvement in alleged corruption despite his links with controversial businessmen.

Duduzane Zuma told the BBC there was "nothing untoward" about his business partnership with the Gupta family.

Leaked emails about links between President Zuma's family and the Guptas have resulted in an investigation into possible political influence.

President Zuma and the Gupta family have repeatedly denied wrongdoing.
In an exclusive interview with the BBC's Milton Nkosi, Duduzane Zuma said his ties with the wealthy Gupta family were down to nothing more than him being "a likeable guy".

"I don't think they wanted anything from me," he said, adding: "They liked me. As I liked them."

Duduzane Zuma, who is one of the South African president's 21 children, insisted that he was "not corrupt".

"I've not involved myself in any corrupt practice, in any corrupt business," he said.

Members of the Gupta family are accused of using their connections with the president to try to influence political decisions.

They say the email leaks were "politically inspired".

More than 110,000 persons in 24 communities, including Makurdi, have been displaced by a flood in Benue state.

The Executive Secretary of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Mr. Boniface Ortese, who disclosed the this on Wednesday said over 2,769 households were also affected.

He explained that places affected included Achusa, Idye, Wurukum Market, Genabe, Industrial Layout, Demekpe, Wadata Market, Katungu, behind the Civil Service Commission, Agboughul-
Wadata among others in Makurdi.

“In Achusa, 200 houses were affected with 5,125 persons displaced. In Idye, 217 houses with 5,200 persons displaced. Also, behind the Civil Service Commission, 200 houses were submerged in flood and 5,777 persons were displaced."

At Genabe, 200 houses were affected with 5,021 persons displaced, 218 houses around the Wurukum Market were affected with 1,000 persons displaced, and at Wadata Market, 150 houses were affected and 4,300 persons were displaced."

"Similarly at Industrial Layout, 69 houses were flooded and 4,310 persons displaced; Demekpe 111 houses were affected while 7,820 persons displaced,’’ the official said.

Mr. Ortese further said that 137 houses were flooded in Katungu, with 6,031 persons displaced, while at Agboughul-Wadata, 201 houses were affected and 5,728 persons displaced.

32-year-old rape suspect, Ayuba Salihu, on Thursday told the Niger State Child Right Protection Agency how he lured and raped an eight-year-old pupil with N100.

Salihu, a tailor and resident of New Market, near Gwari Market in Chanchaga Local Government, admitted he had carnal knowledge of the minor.

“I saw her in front of my shop crying that she misplaced N100 out of the money she sold from pure water and I gave her the N100.

“The following time I saw her hawking, I called her to buy water but the devil lured me into the act.

“I am sorry to have engaged in such an act with a little girl, I promise never to repeat such act again, please forgive me,” Salihu pleaded with the agency.

In her narration, the victim’s grandmother told the agency that the victim was sent to buy N50 pepper in the morning of Aug. 26, but did not return home till 9 p.m.

“I became worried when she did not return home early.

“I called my stepson and we both went round looking for her because we thought she had been kidnapped.

“It was during the search that we saw her walking to the house at night.

“I asked where she had been and she did not respond until my stepson started beating her that she told us where she was.

“She confessed that a man, who is a tailor in the market, has been having sexual intercourse with her anytime she passes the area.”

According to the grandmother, the girls said the man lure her to a corner and raped her.

The grandmother said that she reported the matter to officials of Drug and Crime is Haram who arrested the suspect and brought him to the agency.

Narrating her ordeal, the victim said that the suspect lured her into his shop while hawking pure water and forcefully dragged her to a deserted area and raped her.

“He called me that he wanted to buy pure water, after buying the water, he held my hand and told me that we should go and flirt.

“I told him no, but he forcefully dragged me to a lonely area and brought out his male organ and penetrate me.

“He has had carnal knowledge of me five times and after the act, sometimes he would give me N10, N50, and N100 and warned me not to tell anyone or else, he would deal with me,” the girl said.

The Director-General of the agency, Mrs. Mairam Kolo, said that the suspect would be handed over to the police for further investigation.

Kolo who decried the rate at which children were being sexually abused at a tender age, noted that the agency would embark on vigorous awareness campaign against allowing children to hawk.

According to her, street begging and hawking expose children to all forms of social vices and advised parents to desist from the act.

NAN

Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo state, today, banned the tricycle operators from the state capital.
The governor disclosed this through a release issued to newsmen in Owerri, by the Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Sam Onwuemeodo.

President Muhammadu Buhari has given his Sallah message to Nigerians especially as the Muslim faithful celebrate Sallah.

President Buhari thanked both Muslims and Christians for the prayers of recovery and good health they said for him while he was in London for medical treatments.

Buhari urged Nigerians to embrace peace, love and live like brothers and sisters because ‘‘a family tie is like a tree, it can bend but it cannot break.”

According to him, “Fellow Compatriots, I felicitate with you all, particularly the Muslim faithful, on
the celebration of this year’s Eid-El-Kabir.

“I congratulate our Muslim brothers and sisters who are currently in Saudi Arabia to participate in the rites of the Hajj.

“From the outset, I want to use this opportunity to thank all Nigerians who prayed for my recovery and have continued to extend their goodwill and support after my return to the country.”

“Indeed your fervent and sincere prayers, which cut across religion, political and ethnic divides, has energised me to re-dedicate myself and this administration to the task of building a great Nigeria.

“On the joyous occasion of this year’s Eid-El-Kabir celebration, I appeal to all Nigerians to rise against the odds, keep our prejudices aside and strengthen the bonds of friendship and unity to keep our country together.

“For Muslims all over the world, this celebration is to commemorate the trials and triumph of Prophet (Abraham) Ibrahim.

“As we celebrate, I sincerely believe that our nation can make rapid progress on all fronts if we re-enact the exemplary virtues, typified by Prophet (Abraham) Ibrahim, through his sacrifice, patience, steadfastness, generosity and obedience to Allah’s command and constituted authority.

“We must learn to see ourselves as brothers and sisters from the same heritage, who must come to terms with the African proverb that ‘‘a family tie is like a tree, it can bend but it cannot break.

“Once again, I assure you that this administration, which has made the security, economic well-being and prosperity of all Nigerians its priority, will not rest on its oars until we see the Nigeria of our dream. “I wish everyone happy Sallah celebrations,” the statement read.

North Korea’s Central Court has sentenced two South Korean journalists and two media executives to death for reviewing a book that outlines a sprawling underground capitalist economy in the secretive Communist state.

In an article on North Korean state media outlet KCNA, a spokesperson for the court said that the book originally published in English and since translated into Korean “insulted the dignity” of North Korea.

It declared that journalists Son Hyo Rim and Yang Ji Ho who work for South Korean newspapers
Dong-A Ilbo and Chosun Ilbo and Kim Jae Ho and Pang Sang Hun, who serve as director general of the two titles respectively, had received a death sentence by the Central Court of the DPRK.

"The criminals hold no right to appeal and the execution will be carried out any moment and at any place without going through any additional procedures as soon as the objects are confirmed," the spokesperson said.

While North Korea singled out the conservative Dong-A and Chosun newspapers, they weren’t the only publications that reviewed the book, which was released in South Korea earlier this month.

The Association of Resident Doctors at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) says it will embark on a total indefinite strike from Monday, September 4.

This follows the breakdown of negotiations with the Federal Government over the demand that resident doctors be included in the Integrated Personnel Information System (IPIS).

The President ARD, UBTH, Dr Eustace Oseghale, made the announcement today in Benin, Edo
State.

According to the veteran Policeman;
With my Brother Engr Bukar aka Atom today, At the Venue of Stoning the Devil. We are about to Finish our Pilgrimage By GOD's Grace.