Man beats son to death for stealing N1,000.

By Kingsley Ndimele and Ifunaya Okafor

Shock and disbelief could best describe the expression on the faces of residents of Omitola street in Agege area of Lagos, when Saturday Vanguard visited Thursday , to ascertain the circumstance that led to the death of a 12-year-old boy.

The guardians of the boy allegedly beat him to death just as a man in Oregun, Ikeja, was also alleged to have beaten the son to death for stealing N1,000.

The 12-year old boy who was identified as Onyedikachi Mbanozo, was reportedly brought from the village by Mr and Mrs Paul Obiefule, last year, with a promise to send him to school.

The couple reportedly kept to their promise by enrolling him in Holy Trinity Primary School, Agege,where he started from primary one.Information gathered from residents revealed that Mbanozo was allegedly often beaten at the slightest provocation by his guardians. He was said to have told some residents that he would leave for the village when he finished his primary school education. He never lived to see his dream come true. Life was snuffed out of him Tuesday,after one of the routine batterings.

Mbanozo

Ironically , he died on a day children all over the world were being celebrated.

He was hungry and sought to eat at about 1pm. It was to be his first meal of the day. His guardians allegedly pounced on him in the process of which he slumped and died.

Residents told Saturday Vanguard during the visit that when the couple discovered that Mbanozo was dead, they hid his corpse under the bed. Sensing danger that all was not well , curious neighbours were said

to have asked after Mbanozo.

A resident who spoke on condition of anonymity told Saturday Vanguard that: “At first , the woman told us that the boy fainted and was rushed to the hospital. Later she said he had been discharged and was inside. When we insisted on seeing him , they said he was sleeping. Some people suspected all was not well with the boy when the the couple still insisted that the boy was still sleeping the following day. It was when we insisted on seeing the boy that she opened up, disclosing that Mbanozo was dead and that her husband had gone to get a car that would take the corpse to the village. While we were waiting for her husband to return, he called his wife on the phone and told her to pack her things out of their apartment and leave with their three children. We stopped her from packing and followed her to a beer parlour where her husband was waiting for her and contacted the police.

Confirming the arrest, spokes person for the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide said:“ At about 2.30pm on Tuesday, the Divisional Police Officer in-charge of Pen- Cinema Division , while on patrol with his policemen, received an anonymous  call that a man by name Paul Obiefule ‘m’ of No.22, Omitola Street, Agege Lagos and his wife had beaten a boy living with them named Onyedikachi Mbanozo ‘m’ aged 12years to death. On receipt of the information police patrol vehicles moved to the scene and brought the suspects and the deceased to the station for a detailed investigation. Case is currently under investigation at Pen Cinema Division’

In a similar incident on Monday at about 4 am, one Bright whose surname was unknown and who resided at No. 6 Olarewaju Street, Oregun, Ikeja was allegedly hit with iron belt by his father for stealing N1,000. The boy was rushed to Divine Private Hospital on Lawal Street Oregun where he was confirmed dead. The body has been deposited at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital mortuary where autopsy would be carried out.

Don’t grant amnesty to Boko Haram, Lawmaker tells FG

By Marie-Therese Nanlong.
The Member representing Jos South/Jos East in the House of Representatives, Hon. Bitrus Kaze has described as a step in the wrong direction, the reported efforts being made by the Federal Government to offer amnesty to Boko Haram terrorist sect despite its continued bombings and killings of innocent citizens.

In a statement issued in Jos yesterday, Kaze stressed that such effort, coming at a time the international community has declared to support Nigeria to stamp out terrorism, will boomerang.

His words, “I do not subscribe to any form of dialogue with terrorists; we will not grow weary of making the point resoundingly clear that no country the world over has succeeded in curbing the menace that way.

“Motivated by the tension, anxiety and sense of fear permeating the nation as a result of terrorism, those who canvass this awkward idea cannot be right. This should explain exactly why the Alhaji Kabiru Turaki dialogue committee was and will continue to be a perpetual failure”.

He recalled that Boko Haram members earlier rebuffed the attempt made by President Jonathan to offer amnesty to them in April 2013 adding, “the terrorists categorically declined and instead offered amnesty to Mr. President”.

This amnesty “coming shortly after securing a reluctant approval from both Houses of the National Assembly, and when global outrage against the abduction of about 200 school girls from Chibok gingered foreign collaboration, the renewed offer of amnesty to the Boko Haram can’t be a step in the right tinued bombings and killings en mass, cannot be a step in the right direction”.

Stop insulting Jonathan, others who ended N/D militancy – Kuku warns MEND

By Soni Daniel, Abuja
The Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, Mr. Kingsley Kuku, has warned the controversial Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) to desist from distorting the history of the Niger Delta struggle for its selfish interest.

In particular, Kuku, who claimed to have played a prominent role in ending the Niger Delta crisis, also warned the shadowy group not to drag the name of President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Patience, into the mud because of its pecuniary interest. Kuku told journalists in Abuja that he could not understand what MEND wanted to gain by trying desperately to change the history of the Niger Delta struggle and denigrate the persons of Jonathan and his wife, who also risked their lives to bring about peace in the region.

MEND at the weekend criticised Kuku over his comments in a televised interview on Boko Haram’s insurgency in the North-East and the role of some individuals in the Niger Delta agitation prior to the Federal Government’s offer of amnesty to former militants as a way of ending the restiveness in the region.

Kuku, who is also chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), spoke to journalists in Abuja, flanked by a Niger Delta leader, Elder Timi Ogoriba.

He wondered when MEND became Boko Haram’s mouthpiece as to know the real reason the terrorist’s group spurned the government’s offer for dialogue.

“I have no apologies to offer MEND for my comments on Boko Haram and the commendable and patriotic role of the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, since the Chibok schoolgirls’ abduction saga commenced. If it angers MEND, then I wonder whose interest they are fighting for,” he said.

He particularly upbraided the shadowy militant group for trying to write a negative and skewed history of the Niger Delta agitation in order to discredit some individuals, particularly President Goodluck Jonathan, Chief Government Ekpemupolo (aka Tompolo) and Mujahid Dokubo-Asari.

Kuku said: “Some of us who played significant roles in ending the agitation in the Niger Delta cannot be silent when some persons try to foist a skewed history of the crisis on us.

“The persons that claim to be behind MEND are in no position to write the history of the Niger Delta agitation. I challenge whoever is claiming to be MEND now to controvert the fact that President Goodluck Jonathan, at the time he was Vice President, played a significant role in ending the insurgency in the Niger Delta.

“Where were those behind MEND now when our late beloved President Umaru Yar’Adua, who because of his concern for the peace of the region, sought to end the conflict and destruction of oil facilities, the kidnapping of expatriates on the Niger Delta waterways and the proliferation of arms, then dispatched his Vice, Dr. Jonathan, to Tompolo’s Camp 5 in Gbaramatu Kingdom in Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State?”

Kuku said in furtherance of this, Dr. Jonathan on June 28, 2007 held a meeting with Tompolo at Okerenkoko, after which he (Tompolo) was invited to Abuja. But rather than Tompolo going alone, he called a meeting of Ijaw leaders and stakeholders, who converged on Gbaramatu. A 10-man team was then put together to dialogue with the Federal Government on the way forward.

NEW CONDOM INVENTED

An American has invented a new condom which he says is stronger, safer and enables better sensitivity.

The Galatic Cap Pregnancy Prevention device sits on the very tip of the penis, leaving the shaft exposed. 

It was developed by LA-based Charles Powell after a friend of his contracted HIV. 

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He believes his product is 'easier to use, safer and more secure - and vastly more pleasurable - giving a sex sensation the way nature intended.'

The condom comprises two parts - a U-shape polyurethane adhesive film that wraps around the penis - like a plaster around a finger - and a cap that sticks to it to firmly trap semen. 

Mr Powell claims the polyurethane part is like a second skin - and can be put on hours or days in advance as it can be worn while urinating and washing.

When a man wants to have sex, he peels off the paper backing on the cap and sticks it to the polyurethane to securely bond the two and trap semen. 

He insists the device, which is transparent, will stay on for the duration. 

Mr Powell believes his product provides a solution to three common issues with condoms: a lack of sensitivity, problems getting into the packaging and applying the condom.

He also maintains that traditional products have a failure rate of up to 18 per cent due tto breakage or improper usage. 

'The reservoir cap is thicker and stronger than a traditional condom and is less likely to break or fail.'

But critics have pointed out that the device will not provide protection from STIs such as herpes, which can be transmitted through direct skin-to-skin contact.

When a man wants to have sex, he peels off the paper backing on the cap and sticks it to the polyurethane to securely bond the two and trap semen

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Developer Charles Powell believes the device addresses three common issues with condoms: a lack of sensitivity, problems getting into the packaging and applying the condom, and breakage

Jason Warriner, clinical director of the sexual health charity Terence Higgins Trust, told MailOnline: 'This will not prevent the spread of conditions such as HIV or herpes as the whole penis is not covered.

'It may be suitable for a couple in a long-term relationship but not as a barrier to STIs.

'There is also the risk that the cap may leak, exposing semen.'

As of June 1, the company will be crowdfunding to raise funds for development and FDA approval.

Some have even hailed as it as condom solution for the porn industry as it leaves much of the shaft uncovered. 

It's estimated that in 2012, 18.5 billion condoms were sold worldwide. This is expected to increase to 27 billion units by next year, with the market worth $6bn. 

Man arrested for allegedly killing 92yr old grandmother

By Evelyn Usman
“I woke up that night, rushed to her room and started beating her with a broom . When she tried to stop me, I pushed her and she hit her head on the wall and she slumped. The next thing I heard was that she was dead”.

These were the exact words of Ngofaka Iyo, a fisherman from Okrika in Ogu/Bolo local government area of Rivers state who allegedly killed his 92 year-old maternal grandmother .

Reason? The suspect accused his grandmother identified as Mrs Amachree , of being a witch, alleging that she had on several occasions attempted to take his life through witchcraft.

The suspect, a primary school drop-out ,lives in the same compound with his mother, siblings and grandmother. He was said to have, on several occasions explained to his mother and siblings of always having night mares.

According to his statement to the Police, Ngofaka explained that he had on several occasion been oppressed in the dream, and he usually saw grandma’s face in the dream whenever he had the experience. He also said his, one Fanny and his brother’s wifehad the same experience.

He said: “Each time I confronted her, she would plead with me to forgive her that she won’t repeat it. This has been going on for a while and I have been enduring it. But the high point of the experience was in April this year. That night, I was being stranguled in the dream . I tried to shout for help but could not. At a point I started foaming in the mouth . As life was going out of me, I saw my grand mother standing over me and saying I must die. Somehow, I managed to overcome the oppression . Immediately I regained consciousness, I rushed to her room and pointed a torch at her. To my shock she was awake! She started raining curses on me, asking why I refused to die. That was when I picked a broom and stared hitting her . She tried to take the broom from me and in the process, I pushed her and she hit her head on the wall and her ankle on an iron burglary protector. She   sustained injuries on her head, hand and leg from which she bled and died”, he stated .

He lied- suspect’s sister

However, Ngofaka’s account was discredited by one of the deceased’s children, Augusta Agienboye, 52. Agienboye told operatives that after the act, the suspect’s girl friend ran to her, informing her that Ngofaka had inflicted machete cuts to his grandmother.

Augusta was said to have reported the matter to the Joint Task Force,JTF station in Bolo, following which Ngofaka was apprehended and taken to the JTF check point,where he managed to escape.

But on May 14, 2014, Agienboye said she received a call at about 5pm, where the caller informed that Ngofaka had been rearrested at a diesel dump site in Bolo town b y policemen attached to Ogu/Bolo Police..

At the station his statement reportedly contradicted his earlier claim of using a broom on his grandmother. Family sources told Sunday vanguard that : “ When he realised that the law had caught up with him, he began to reconstruct his earlier statement by adding that he also threatened mama with a stick but didn’t hit her. He also added that he tried to revive the deceased after listening to the counsel of his girlfriend when he saw her in the pool of blood and took her to a treatment centre but didn’t have 5,000 Naira demanded at the centre. To ascertain   his claim, operatives from the Homicide section reportedly visited the scene of the murder . But they were said to have not found the supposed killer stick . Commenting on the arrest, the Rivers State Commissioner of Police,Mr Tunde Ogunsakin, said the command would conduct a post moterm test to verify the suspect’s statement and if found culpable at the end of investigation, he would be charged to court.

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/05/man-arrested-allegedly-killing-92yr-old-grandmother/#sthash.q68hVFNA.dpuf

Kidnappers hide N1m ransom in riverbank

ASABA—A five-man kidnap gang, which abducted the wife of a former local government chairman in Delta State,   stowed away the N1 million ransom extorted from the family in the bank of a river to blindfold the  police.

Vanguard gathered  that the police closed in and arrested a member of the gang before the ransom collected  from the former chairman could be shared.

Commissioner of Police, Delta State, Mr. Ikechukwu Aduba, who confirmed the arrest to Saturday Vanguard said: “The gang kidnapped one Mrs. Patience Anigala at Owa-Abbi in Ukwuani Local Government Area of the state and obtained N1 million by threat from her husband after stealing N200,000 from the family on the day of the incident.”

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/05/kidnappers-hide-n1m-ransom-riverbank/#sthash.VMOsPkbq.dpuf

11 killed in Kenyan ethnic clashes

TVC NEWS [NAIROBI]- No fewer than 11 people have been killed and several others wounded in fighting between rival clans in Wajir in Kenya's remote northeast, police said on Friday.

TVC NEWS Correspondent gives an eyewitness accounts saying the fighting broke out on Thursday when the attackers raided a settlement of the local Degodia clan.

Also, Kenyan media reports said the attack was believed to have been carried out by a militia from the rival Garre clan.

"We are told the attackers raided the village and they started shooting randomly. They also torched several houses. I can confirm 11 people dead and seven wounded," police spokesperson Zipporah Mboroki disclosed this to newsmen.

"Some of the victims were thrown into a trench and burnt to death," she added.

Reports said the attack was as revenge for the deaths of three men killed by bandits believed to be from the rival Degodia clan, and local
media put the death toll at as high as 18.

Meanwhile, officials said security has been tightened in the area, one of Kenya's poorest regions. The region is situated close to the border with war-torn Somalia and awash with guns.

Egypt revokes 52 Mursi-era pardons -State media

TVC NEWS [CAIRO]-- Egypt's interim president has repealed amnesties for 52 people pardoned by ousted president Mohamed Mursi, state media reported, including Islamists affiliated with the banned Muslim Brotherhood.

Mursi, Egypt's first freely elected president, pardoned a number of Islamists during his one-year rule, many of whom had been imprisoned since the 1990s.

He was overthrown in July last year by former army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi following mass protests against his rule. Sisi was elected president by a landslide this week, according to preliminary results.

Since Mursi's fall, the Egyptian government has cracked down hard on the Brotherhood, which was the country's dominant force in elections after the 2011 uprising that brought down autocratic President Hosni Mubarak.

Security forces shot dead hundreds of Brotherhood supporters during protests last summer, authorities have imprisoned most of the group's leadership, and the movement's head, Mohamed Badie, has been sentenced to death along with hundreds of others. Mursi is also on trial.

The state news agency MENA said the amnesties cancelled by interim President Adly Mansour had been granted in 2012 and 2013.

Security sources said those whose amnesties were cancelled included a Saudi Arabian preacher and several figures affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood's international movement. Saudi Arabia has also banned the Brotherhood and assisted Egypt with billions of dollars worth of aid since Mursi's overthrow.

The MENA report did not specify whose pardons were cancelled but said that some were "implicated in crimes of killing and terrorising innocent citizens".

The cancellation came after the original pardons "sparked social controversy," MENA said, including "doubt as to their intended purposes".

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• TVC NEWS-Morsi amnesty revoked

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Nigeria: 13 die in Sokoto auto crash

TVC NEWS [SOKOTO]- At least 13 persons, including women and children, were burnt to ashes in a Thursday night road crash at Tudun-Dukiya village near Dogon Karfe, about 10 kms to Illela town in Sokoto state, an eyewitness said.

TVC NEWS gathered that the accident was said to have occurred at about 9 p.m.

According to our source, it involved a Peaugeot J-5 bus travelling from Jos to Illela and a Toyota Starlet car travelling from Illela to Sokoto.

The Sector Commander of the Federal Roads Safety Commission (FRSC) in Sokoto state, Umar Gummi, confirmed the report to News Agency of Nigeria in Sokoto on Friday.

Gummi said that the two vehicles caught fire after a head-on collision.

The commander also said that 14 other victims were injured.

Gummi said that some of them were seriously injured with some having first degree burns.

He said that some of the injured persons were receiving treatment at the Illela General Hospital, while others were referred to the Uthmanu
Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto.

“As for the deceased persons, they were burnt to ashes and it is too difficult to recognise them,” Gummi explained.

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• TVC NEWS-Sokoto crash

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OSUN SHUNS DEMOCRACY DAY

From BAMIGBOLA GBOLAGUNTE, Osogbo

Osun State Government yesterday failed to organise any event to mark this year’s Democracy Day, which was declared by the Federal Government.
The administration had since its inauguration in November 2010 failed to recognize May 29 as Democracy Day, but rather celebrated Democracy Day on June 12.
Although the state government also honoured the public holiday declared by the Federal Government as all categories of workers in the state stayed off their duty posts for the day.
However, there was no event in the state marking Democracy Day unlike the situation during the administration of former Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola.
Investigations by Daily Sun revealed that many people including students used the opportunity of the public holiday to stay at home throughout the day as all major intra city roads in Osogbo, the state capital, were devoid of the usual traffic congestion.
However, the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Sunday Akere while commenting on the development said the event of June 12, 1993 paved the way for the handing over of May 29, 1999.
He said, “the present administration in the state believes that there would never be May 29 if there was no June 12, hence, the decision to give recognition to June 12.”
He added that the state Governor, Mr Rauf Aregbesola is committed to the course of democracy and remains a true believer in democracy, stressing that the state would continue to promote democracy.

Why I celebrate Children’s Day – Rufai

Former Nigeria international Peter Rufai yesterday marked the 2014 Children’s Day with scores of school pupils from primary schools around Surulere.

The event which was backed by the Lagos State Government, the National Sports Commission, Procter & Gamble Nigeria (P & G), among others witnessed the kids play various games including football, sack race, etc.

After speeches by the organiser, Peter Rufai, Francis Gbiri who represented the Director-General of the National Sports Commission, Honou-rable Gbenga Elegbeleye and Olatomiwa Akande, the Company communications Manager for P&G.

Rufai explained that he felt ever indebted to the country that provided him a platform upon which he became what he is today.

“The Dodo Mayana Children’s Day celebration 2014 is a vision conceptualised to create a platform where children can be celebrated. It is my own modest way of saying thank you to a country that has been so kind to me from when I was a youth to date,” Rufai said.

On their part, P&G is pleased to have joined Staruf limited – as a proud sponsor of the event – in celebrating the Nigerian child.

Akande said, “ With programs such as this, P&G is contributing in our own small way to Youth sports in Nigeria with the goal of helping the future Nigerian athletes develop their skills and the competitiveness needed to excel on the world stage.”