You must have heard of the rumour that Psquare has split or are fighting.This was after Jude Okoye tweeted "After 10 years of hard work,it's over.I'm done"..Well, not everyone is falling for it ..Charles Novia thinks it's a PR stunt..Who agrees.........
Fani Kayode has replied a man called Usman Jimeta who wrote a very disturbing article against the president.He accused GEJ & CAN(Christianassociation of Nigeria)of being behind Boko Haram in their attempt to wipe out the Fulani's.
Surprisingly, Pres. Jonathan's major critic Fani Kayode replied him..Read both below
Former US President Bill Clinton's daughter with wife, former
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton, is pregnant. The
excited mum to be announced the news during the Girls: A No Ceilings
Conversation event in NYC on Thursday, April. 17. Addressing the crowd,
Chelsea said:
"Mark and I are very excited that we have our first child arriving
later this year. I certainly feel all the better whether it's a girl or a
boy that they'll grow up in a world with so many strong female leaders.
I just hope that I'll be as good to my child as my mom was to me."
The former president's only child wedded her husband in 2010. Big congrats to them.
UK based celebrity DJ and music producer, Ife Otedola popularly known
as DJ Cuppy, was today dressed as a tourism ambassador for the Federal
Republic of Nigeria in Abuja. And the excited 21 year old took to
Instagram to share the news and pictures. Big congrats to her.
Reacting to Alibaba's position on the advantages of Nigerian celebrities
showing off their possessions online, Etcetera said he doesn't agree
with the practice.
Speaking with Punch, the singer said celebs who do this are asking for trouble.
"I think that artistes who are in the habit of posting
expensive items on social media should tread carefully because of the
present situation in the country. If they continue to do this, they
might be asking for trouble. Also, artistes, who prefer to have their
names on the license plates of their cars, had better watch it. If their
colleagues in the United States do these things, it doesn’t mean it is
okay to do so in Nigeria.”
The actor took to Twitter to make the announcement about an hour ago. He
and his girlfriend Niyana Garth welcomed a son, Winston Elba, yesterday
April 17th. This is his 2nd child. Congrats to them.
A Chinese blogger Qin Zhihui, 30,who was accused
of spreading rumours about the government and celebrities has become
the first blogger to be jailed since the government decided to crackdown
on online bloggers .He was slammed with a 3 year jail sentence for 'rumour mongering'.
According to China Post,they claim Qin & his 3 colleagues spread
false reports that a foreign victim of the 2011 train crash received a
£24million in compensation while denying equal payment to Chinese
families.
The post was reposted more than 11,000 times with over 3,000 comments all lashing out at the government.
They also claim he sensationalized his headlines to drive traffic to websites,targeting public figures, such as retired major general Luo Yan, television personality Yang Lan , and Zhang Haidi, an advocate for the disabled.During his final judgement, he said
"I don't want to defend myself .I just want to say that I hope my experience is a lesson to other microbloggers."
I know so many celebs will wish this happened in Nigeria. lol
I've been hearing a few stories about Peter and Paul Okoye of P-Square
having issues for a while now. I hear they disagree on everything
now...songs, videos, ideas etc...but because they are twin brothers, I
figured well, they will sort things out...so I didn't write.
On Wednesday April 16th, I gathered exclusively from industry sources
that the brothers fought each other physically during rehearsals. They
had to be separated by their dancers. This is fact! But I decided to
leave the story alone because which sibling doesn't disagree sometimes,
right? But now their older brother, Jude Okoye, who is also their
manager, just tweeted that after ten years he's done.
I hear one of the wives is causing some of the problems between the
brothers. *sigh* Dear P-Square, don't even think of breaking up. You
will break the hearts of millions of people...including myself. Please
stay together.
Police in Nyeri have arrested a house help who allegedly ‘stole’ a baby from his parents in
Monicah Gathari with her husband Antony Ngugi after they were reunited
with their lost baby in Labura Sub-Location, Mweiga in Nyeri County. The
baby had been reported stolen by their house help on Tuesday from their
Nakuru home. The suspected will be arraigned in court Thursday.
Police in Nyeri have arrested a house help who allegedly ‘stole’ a baby from his parents in Nakuru.
The
11-month old baby boy was reportedly stolen from Pangani Estate in
Nakuru town Wednesday and later found in Mweiga, Nyeri County.
The
house help identified as Sheryl Saula Nyangero, 19 is said to have been
left with the baby together with two other children aged six and four
when she disappeared with the younger one on Tuesday.
According
to the area OCPD Kipruto Kemboi, the baby’s mother Monicah Gathari
reported about the baby’s disappearance at Bondeni police station,
Nakuru.
An intensive search for the baby was then launched.
“The
mother reported that when she returned home from work on Tuesday to
breastfeed her baby she only found her other two children.
Upon inquiry she was told that the house help was seen with her little one boarding a boda boda.
Alarmed, she reported at Bondeni and gave out the suspect’s phone number which was then tracked.
PHONE SIGNAL TRACKED
“By
yesterday evening her last phone signal was tracked in Nyahururu and
around noon today (Wednesday) the signal was located at Labura
Sub-Location, Mweiga and so we surrounded the place and got her in a
house,” said Mr Kemboi.
Mr Kemboi said they later
established that the maid had just arrived at her alleged husband’s home
who works as a caretaker at a farm in the area.
Upon
questioning, the OCPD said, the suspect claimed to have liked the baby
and she was “just taking a walk with him” and that she was planning to
go back to her employer.
“We found her with the baby in
what we learnt that was her husband’s house in his employer’s compound.
She claimed that she had an attachment to the baby and she was just
taking a walk with him,” said the police boss.
The OCPD
said they called the baby’s parents to identify the child and after
which the house help together with her said husband were arrested and
are being held at Mweiga Police Station and would be arraigned in court
Thursday.
A giant offshore crane arrives near to the buoys installed to mark the postion of the...
Rescue divers are still unable to
get inside a South Korean ferry that capsized two days ago as
authorities said the captain wasn’t on the bridge. A teacher
who was rescued from the ship was found hanged today.
More than 600 divers have been hampered in their attempts
to enter the sunken vessel due to strong currents and bad
visibility. Even after the ferry’s cargo cabin door was finally
prised open, divers have been unable to enter, the coast guard
said, correcting an earlier security ministry statement that
divers were already inside. The chance of finding survivors is
“slim,” the coast guard said.
Of the 475 people on board, 28 are known to have died and
179 rescued, leaving 268 people - mostly students on a high
school excursion - unaccounted for. There have been no survivors
found since the day of the sinking, which occurred off the
southwest corner of the Korean peninsula on April 16.
Most of the missing passengers are from a group of 325
students and 14 teachers from Danwon High School, who were on an
excursion to Jeju island, according to the school’s website. The
school was closed yesterday and today, while hundreds of parents
whose children remain unaccounted for are packed into a
gymnasium on Jindo island, near the site of the sinking.
The school’s vice principal Kang Min Kyu, who was on the
ferry but survived, was found hanged behind the gymnasium today,
police official Lee Sung Hun told reporters. Lee didn’t say it
was a suicide, and no note was found at the scene.
The ferry’s captain Lee Joon Seok, 69, wasn’t on the bridge
at the time of the sinking and he had assigned the third
navigation officer to steer the vessel, prosecutor Park Jae Uck
told reporters in Mokpo, where police and coast guard officials
are interviewing crew members including the captain. “He may
have returned to the wheelhouse as the ferry began tilting.”
Investigation
Investigators are probing whether the ferry turned too
quickly or abnormally. They declined to say what announcements
were made as the ferry sank, or whether passengers were told to
stay in their cabins.
About 10 crew including the ferry’s captain are under
investigation over the cause of the ferry’s sinking, Kim Su
Hyeon, Commissioner of the Korea Coast Guard’s West Regional
Headquarters in Mokpo, said in a statement distributed by the
security ministry. The probe will focus on whether the crew made
any mistakes, if they broke any rules related to cargo, and if
the ship had any faults, according to the statement.
“It’s not as though we didn’t want to help,” crew member
Oh Young Seok, 57, said in an interview at a hospital in Mokpo,
during a break from police questioning. “We know the rule. The
rule is to help the old and the weak, pregnant women, then other
passengers, and then we should leave when it appears all have
left, and the captain should abandon ship last. But the vessel
was tilting so fast we couldn’t reach any lifeboats.”
Announcements
Two announcements were given at around 8:30 a.m. and 9 a.m.
calling on passengers to don life jackets and stay in their
current location because the ferry was tilting, Oh said. The
ferry first contacted authorities at 8:55 a.m. on April 16 to
request coast guard assistance, according to a an audio clip of
the exchange issued by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.
“Ship has listed a lot. Can’t move. Please come quick,”
the ferry told the Vessel Traffic Services in Jeju, its
destination.
The coast guard received the accident alert from the ferry
at 8:58 a.m., the security ministry said.
“I did hear the announcement that we should stay put but I
couldn’t,” Choi Chan Yeol, a 57-year-old chef, said in an
interview today at a hospital in Mokpo. Choi managed to escape
by gripping a cord and pulling himself to the door of the
restaurant hall. “It was scary as the ferry was tilting and
water was filling up.”
‘Terrible Sin’
Kim Han Shik, the 72-year-old chief executive officer of
the ship’s owner and operator Chonghaejin Marine Co., said his
company has committed a “terrible sin.” Kim was speaking at a
press briefing at Incheon port late yesterday that was broadcast
on MBN TV.
The ferry, named Sewol, or “time and tide” in Korean,
listed and capsized in an area of the ocean as shallow as 20
meters (66 feet) in some parts, based on readings from a coast
guard vessel used in the rescue operation. The ship was en route
from Incheon to Jeju island, popular with tourists.
Bodies found overnight and today all had life jackets on
and weren’t discovered inside the ferry. They may have been
trapped under the vessel, the coast guard said.
“Divers are groping their way because visibility is so
poor, 20-30 centimeters at best,” coast guard official Ko Myung
Suk told reporters.
Floating Cranes
The number of divers conducting operations increases every
six hours as the current off Korea’s southwest coast slows,
according to notice boards at the situation room at Jindo county
office. Each slowdown lasts about an hour. Floating cranes have
also arrived at the site.
“Pulling the ferry up isn’t going to be easy or smooth,”
Kim Jae In, a press officer at the West Regional Headquarters of
Korea Coast Guard said in Mokpo. “It’s completely upside down
so if we move it wrong, it may tilt or sink further into the
mud. This is something we cannot afford as lifesaving is our top
priority, although we’re holding onto a slim chance.”
Authorities are considering using an oil tanker to attempt
to slow down the current. Rescuers also pumping air into the
ferry to “increase the odds of survival,” the security
ministry said in a statement.
In addition to the coast guard, 400 personnel from South
Korea’s navy, air force and army have been sent to the area to
aid the search and rescue. Altogether, 632 divers are working in
turns, with 173 ships and 29 helicopters and other aircraft
supporting, the security ministry said.
Angry Parents
South Korean President Park Geun Hye was met with angry
shouts, shrieks and wailing when she visited parents of the
missing students yesterday.
“We will make every effort to rescue up to the last
person,” Park said as she stood on the gymnasium stage, flanked
by officials at a meeting shown on YTN TV. Some people yelled
insults, while others demanded a live broadcast of rescue
operations, a full list of people who were on board, and an
increase in the number of divers assigned to the search.
The government has enabled live footage of the rescue
process for families in Jindo, while the police are taking steps
to prevent rumors spreading through social media sites, the
security ministry said in a statement, amid Korean media reports
that hoax messages purporting to be from people trapped on the
ferry have been posted on the Internet.
The accident may be Korea’s worst since 1970, when the
sinking of the ‘Namyoung’ ferry killed 323 people, according to
the General Insurance Association of Korea. The ‘Seohae’ ferry
sank in 1993, killing 292, according to the Korea Maritime
University.
They're not known to be friends, but it appears Brandy Norwood may have been rummaging through Katy Perry's cast-offs.
The I Wanna Be Down crooner, 35, was captured gracing the red carpet for the premiere of A Haunted House
2 in Los Angeles on Tuesday, wearing a pink and blue dress that was
identical to Katy Perry's ensemble worn at Roc Nation's Pre-Grammy
Brunch in 2012.
Norwood appeared the none the wiser
while flashing a wide smile at the film premiere, happily posing amidst
her resounding lapse in fashion judgement.
Who wore it better? Brandy Norwood (L) smiled
while at the A Haunted House 2 premiere in Los Angeles on Tuesday night,
in the exact same ensemble Katy Perry wore to a Grammy party in Los
Angeles in 2012
Save for the footwear and a fun floral bangle Perry, 29, had donned, Norwood's look was identical to her musical peer's. The
stars are both slim but curvy and so the colourful frock, with its
billowing long sleeves, tight skirt and cinched in waist, was a perfect
fit for the two of them. The Cinderella actress seemed to be
enjoying her night in the spotlight, and accentuated her athletic pins
with a pair of leopard-print heels - a stark difference from Perry's
piano-themed pumps.
Photograph by David Doubilet and Jennifer Hayes, National Geographic
Born on the ice, a harp seal pup peers underwater
near Quebec’s Madeleine Islands. The islands are among the hosts of
wildlife—including fish, birds, and marine mammals—in and around the
Gulf of St. Lawrence.
... ... ... THE (SCIENTIFIC) DEATH OF JESUS
At the age of 33, Jesus was condemned to death .
At that time,crucifixion was the "worst" death. Only the worst
criminals were condemned to be crucified; yet it was even more dreadful
for Jesus. Unlike other criminals condemned to death by
crucifixion,Jesus was to be nailed to the cross by His hands and feet.
Each nail was 6 to 8 inches long,the nails were driven into His wrist. Not into His palms as it's commonly portrayed.
There's a tendon in the wrist that extends to the shoulder. The Roman
guards knew that when the nails were being hammered into the wrist,that
tendon would tear and break; forcing Jesus to use His back Muscles to support himself so that He could breath.
Both of His feet were nailed together. Thus,He was forced to support
Himself on the single nail that impaled His feet to the cross. Jesus
could not support himself with His legs because of the pain;so He was
forced to alternate between arching His back then using his legs so as
to continue to breath.
Imagine the struggle, the pain, the suffering and the courage. Jesus endured this reality for over 3 hours.
Yes,Over 3 hours! Can you imagine this kind of suffering? Few minutes before He died,He stopped bleeding. He was simply pouring water from his wounds.
From common images,we see wounds to His hands and feet and even the
spear wound to His side... But do we realize His wounds were actually
made in His body? A hammer driving large nails through the wrist, the
feet overlapped and an even larger nail hammered through the arches,
then a Roman guard piercing His side with a spear.
But before
the nails and the spear,Jesus was whipped and beaten. The whipping was
so severe that it tore the flesh from His body. The beating so horrific
that His face was torn and his beard ripped from His face. The crown of
thorns cut deeply into His scalp. (Most men would not have survived this torture)
He had no more blood to bleed out, only water poured from His wounds. The human adult body contains about 3.5 liters (just less than a gallon) of blood.
Jesus poured all 3.5 liters of His blood; He had three nails hammered
into His members; a crown of thorns on His head and beyond that, a Roman
soldier who stabbed a spear through His ribs..
All these without
mentioning the humiliation He suffered after carrying His own cross for
almost 2 kilometers, while the crowd spat in His face and threw stones
(the cross was almost 30 kg of weight,only for its higher part, where
His hands were nailed).
Jesus had to endure this experience to open the Gates of Heaven so that you can have free access to God.
So that your sins could be "washed" away. All of them, with no exception! Don't ignore this situation.
JESUS CHRIST DIED FOR YOU!
He died for you!
God has plans for you, show all your friends what He experienced to save you. Now think about this! May God bless you
All you have to do is:
Simply follow Jesus' instructions.
He said (Matthew 10:32 & 33): "Everyone therefore who acknowledges
me before others, I also will acknowledge before My Father in heaven;
but who so ever denies Me before others, I will deny before my Father in
heaven.
In
2002, Whoopi Goldberg became one of a very elite group of artists who
have won the Grammy (“Whoopi Goldberg,” 1985), the Academy Award
(“Ghost,” 1991), the Golden Globe (“The Color...
"I took a sip. It was beautiful. And my pen and I have been together ever since."
My vape pen
and I maintain a mostly private relationship. Sure, I’ll sometimes show
my pen to a friend or share her with a close confidant. But mostly it’s
just she and I working through my pain. And her ability to help me live
comfortably with glaucoma makes her one of the more important figures
in my day to day.
When I show her to a friend, the reaction 99 percent of the time is:
“Holy shit, where did you get this and how can I get me one?” They’re
seriously that blown away by my vape pen. And they should be. She’s that
amazing.
As I write my debut column for The Cannabist, talking about this newly legal weed and admiring the states that have had the foresight to legalize medical marijuana,
I’m most tempted to extol the virtues of the vape pen. I didn’t
anticipate this first column to be such a love story, some sort of
semi-romantic comedy. But it works, and it’s true, and so here we go. The vape pen has changed my life. No, I’m not exaggerating. In fact,
her name is Sippy. Yes, she’s a she. And yes, I named her Sippy because I
take tiny, little sips — sassy sips, even — from her. And with each sip
comes relief — from pressure, pain, stress, discomfort. But I’m getting
ahead of myself.
Maybe two years ago once I stopped smoking cigarettes, I really tried
to smoke a joint. I had to “really try” because I was having a hard
time with it. Suddenly I had virginal lungs, and I was feeling quite
annoyed about it all.
“I think I have something you might like,” my daughter said after I
told her about my difficulty with the joint. Four days later, she showed
up and brought me this giant thing in a box. It had a big tube and a
sturdy base and it was fairly large, and as soon as I saw it I knew I
couldn’t do whatever it required of me.
“It’s a vaporizer,” my daughter told me. But I knew it was too much.
She said, “Here, you can slowly inhale as much as you want. And it’s
vapor, not smoke.” When she was with me on the East Coast, I knew I
could work that desktop vaporizer. But as soon as she left it was too
complicated.
Seven weeks later my daughter was saying it again: “I think I have
something you might like.” She was coming back, and I said, “No way.”
She said, “Just take a sip.” And that’s what I did.
I took a sip. It was beautiful. And my pen and I have been together ever since. I love my Sippy, it’s true. And now there are so many different kinds of vape pens
— some with coils, some you have to clean out, some you don’t have to
clean. I like the simple pens with cartridges of THC oil because, if
you’re not a smoker or you can’t inhale deeply, it’s a wonderful way of
ingesting cannabis. What kind of kush is in my vape pen at the moment? The indica-dominant Platinum OG, of course.
These pens are light, compact and portable. The vapor is inoffensive
and subtle. And for me a lot of the new pot is too strong — and when I take edibles I rarely come out of the room.
With the vape pen, you have more control over how much THC you ingest.
If my headache is just starting, I know a short sip will take care of
it. If the pressure inside my head is pounding, then two or three sips
is a better prescription.
These glaucoma-induced headaches come on like freight trains — like, BOOM,
my head starts hurting, my eyes start bugging, my whole body starts to
tense up. But then I find her, and it relaxes everything and calms
everything. It helps my head stop hurting, and with glaucoma your eyes
ache, and she takes the ache out. It’s wonderful.
The high is different, too. It feels like a gentle, warm breeze at
the beach. It’s like someone undoing a vise grip, very slowly. It’s not
overpowering — and I’m certainly not looking for that high high. I’m looking for relief. I used to take Advil by the handful for this very reason, and I don’t
take Advil anymore — not for my eye. You’re not supposed to eat Advil
every day, and I was eating them every day, these man-made things. But I
can do this without hurting myself. It helps that I know when to do it.
I have a day job where I need to be clear. But if I need it after the
show, she’s there. And if I don’t feel any pain, she stays in my purse.
I take Sippy everywhere I go. And I’m respectful when I’m in a city
that may not understand what I have, so I don’t flaunt her. She plugs
into my computer to charge. She stays charged for a long time. She’s
easy and discreet to use, and for folks like myself who use marijuana
medicinally, it’s ideal for a number of reasons. In fact, I’ve
recommended her to a lot of folks I know who are going through chemo.
And when those friends try my Sippy for the first time and ask me
where they can get one for themselves, I tell them, “It’s not legal
here. But if you’re going west, this is what you want.” And some of them
do go west where they pick up a Sippy of their own. And for this I
couldn’t be happier, because it‘s important for people to know that
there are alternatives out there to pain management, and this one is
particularly magical.
Actress Whoopi Goldberg has become a contributor for a marijuana blog – the Cannabist.
In
her first post – entitled My vape pen and I, a love story - the
58-year-old reveals how she ‘fell in love’ with her vape pen – a product
which helps her inhale the drug easily.
She writes in the blog which is part of The Denver Post: ‘As I write my debut column for The Cannabist,
talking about this newly legal weed and admiring the states that have
had the foresight to legalize medical marijuana, I’m most tempted to
extol the virtues of the vape pen.’
Blogged: Whoopi Goldberg has revealed that she uses marijuana to ease pain of glaucoma- related headaches
Whoopi
lives in New Jersey which does not have the same laws on marijuana as
Colorado, where recreational use is legal and The Denver Post is based.
Residents of New Jersey do have the right to possess and use medical marijuana under certain circumstances.
The
Sister Act star reveals that she uses marijuana to help ease the pain
of the headaches she suffers with glaucoma – an eye condition which can
affect your vision.
First one: Whoopi will be be a regular contributor to the blog which is part of The Denver Post
In her inaugural post she writes that she started using it after she tried and struggled to smoke joints.
It
was her daughter who introduced her to the vaporizers and after a few
attempts to master it, she quickly fell for it’s benefits.
She
admits: ‘The vape pen has changed my life. No, I’m not exaggerating. In
fact, her name is Sippy. Yes, she’s a she. And yes, I named her Sippy
because I take tiny, little sips — sassy sips, even — from her. And with
each sip comes relief — from pressure, pain, stress, discomfort.’
Whoopi,
who has had a long and illustrious career in film, describes the pain
she suffers with her eye condition and how she deals with it.
Changed her life: Whoopi reveals how much the pen has helped her live with her condition
‘These
glaucoma-induced headaches come on like freight trains — like, BOOM, my
head starts hurting, my eyes start bugging, my whole body starts to
tense up. But then I find her, and it relaxes everything and calms
everything. It helps my head stop hurting, and with glaucoma your eyes
ache, and she takes the ache out. It’s wonderful,’ she continued.
The View host is planning on writing a column every two months and will focus on her own experiences with Cannabis.
In
Colorado, where The Denver Post is based, the recreational use of
marijuana was approved by a November 2012 ballot measure - it came into
force at the start of this year.
Last
month the Union County State Senator Nicholas Scutari announced he
would be making the case to legalize marijuana – modelled on the bill in
both Colorado and Washington.
However
the current Governor Chris Christie is opposed to the idea due to the
fact he believes it sends out the wrong message to children, so the law
looks unlikely to be passed any time soon.
A spokesperson for Whoopi has been contacted for comment.
Out and about: On Thursday evening chatted to
Karolina Kurkova at the For the Love of Cinema dinner hosted by IWC
Schaffhausen and Tribeca Film Festival at Urban Zen in New York
It's kind of amazing that practically no details about her wedding to Kanye West have leaked thus far, but as it turns out, Kim Kardashian's latest travel outfit may be a clue as to what type of wedding dress she's going to wear.
Supposedly she's been "dropping hints" about the designers she has her eye on by wearing other pieces from their collections. And if what she wore to fly from Miami back to Los Angeles is any indication, then we can add Balmain into the mix.
She's wearing a Balmain blazer here, along with a pair of their skinny jeans.
And before we go any farther, let's go ahead and point out that she
looks way more put together and polished than most moms do when getting
ready to board a transcontinental flight. (Applause, please.)
Ok, back to the designer in question. It would make sense for her to
wear a French gown since she's tying the knot in Paris. And you know
whatever she chooses will be as custom as it gets -- so odds are good it
will not be from a designer who is famous for wedding collections.
And while we know she wants something "sexy," I'm guessing the dress
will also be a lot more classic and understated than what we'd initially
expect Kanye's queen to wear. Meaning not a lot of beading or
embellishment -- because that will so obviously take the focus away from
her svelte yet voluptuous bod.
I guess the good news is we only have a little over a month to
finally find out what this thing is going to look like. (On pins and
needles over here.) Do you think Kim has chosen Balmain as her wedding gown designer?
The
authorities of the West African Examinations Council on Thursday in
Lagos paraded a suspected fraudulent website operator, Mr. Raheem
Abiodun, who hacked into the council’s website.
The WAEC Director of Administration, Mr.
Stephen Taiwo, who paraded the suspect before journalists, said his
arrest took place at Badagry on Wednesday as he tried to withdraw money
paid into his account via an ATM.
Twenty-year-old Abiodun, he said,
operated a fake website where he allegedly fleeced unsuspecting WAEC
candidates of their money.
Speaking on the occasion also, the
Council’s Deputy Registrar, Schools Examinations, Mr. Olajide Adebayo,
explained that the council noticed the fake website last February on the
Internet and had since then been monitoring its activities.
According to him, the suspect alongside
his accomplice used the platform to extort the unsuspecting candidates
with a promise to providing them with examination solutions.
Such candidates, he said, paid N4, 000 into a First Bank account.
Following proper monitoring, Adebayo said
the council alerted the bank and security agencies on the development
and arranged to pay some money into the account.
The strategy, he added, worked on Wednesday as Abiodun fell into the trap at Badagry.
Narrating his mode of operations, the suspect, said he worked in liaison with one Mr. Sola, who is on the run.
The Ede, Osun State-born suspect, who
claimed he did not have any knowledge of computers, noted that it was
Sola, who operated and provided the examination solution questions for
the candidates.
The OND 1 student of Osun State
Polytechnic said the unsuspecting candidates paid between N2, 000 and
N4, 000 for these WAEC answers, which he remitted to Sola through
recharge cards or banking transaction.
Already, the Council has
handed over the suspect to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
for further investigation and prosecution.
Young people in Akure, Ondo State took to the street to protest
cancelation of their annual festival by Governor Olusegun Mimiko over
what they described as flimsy excuses by the governor.
The rioting started after heavily armed anti-riot police chased the
youth from two venues where they had converged for the carnival.
"I am a believer. I had a dream
in which my son told me that he was at peace and in a good place...
After that, all my relatives, even my mother, put pressure on me to
pardon the killer," Alinejad told Shargh. "The murderer was crying,
asking for forgiveness. I slapped him in the face. That slap helped to
calm me down," she said. "Now that I've forgiven him, I feel relieved."
Tehran (AFP) - The young Iranian man who escaped a hangman's
noose with just seconds to spare when his victim's mother intervened was
the beneficiary of a high-profile campaign to save his life.
In a case that has provoked surprise in Iran and
across the world, the killer, known only as Balal, was saved
dramatically on Tuesday, as a crowd looked on, awaiting his execution.
He
survived despite the mother of the man he murdered in a street fight
seven years ago refusing an offer of so-called blood money until the
very last moment at the gallows.
As the blindfolded convict
awaited his fate, a grieving Samereh Alinejad, who lost another son in a
motorbike accident four years ago, emotionally asked out loud if those
watching the spectacle unfold knew "how difficult it is to live in an
empty house?"
Instead of participating in "qisas" -- in which
under the sharia law of retribution relatives can push away the chair on
which the condemned man stands -- Alinejad pardoned the killer,
imparting only a slap on his face as punishment.
According to the United Nations, more than 170 people have been executed in Iran since the beginning of 2014.
But
under the country's interpretation of Islamic laws in force since the
1979 revolution, a victim's family has the right to spare a convict's
life in return for financial payment.
- Blood money was raised -
Film
director Mostafa Kiaei told AFP that other relatives of Abdollah
Hosseinzadeh, whom Balal stabbed to death in 2007, favoured taking the
blood money he and others had raised, but the family had not been
unanimous.
Iran's Shargh newspaper said police officers had led
Balal, black-hooded, to the execution site in the northern city of
Nowshahr.
Widely published photographs captured the drama, with the killer gritting his teeth, seemingly ready for death.
But
after slapping him, Alinejad removed the hangman's rope with the help
of her husband, Abdolghani Hosseinzadeh, a former professional
footballer.
"I am a believer. I had a dream in which my son told
me that he was at peace and in a good place," Alinejad was quoted as
saying. "After that, all my relatives, even my mother, put pressure on
me to pardon the killer."
The "slap was the space between revenge and forgiveness", she added. "Now that I've forgiven him, I feel relieved."
Murder and several other crimes are punishable by death in Iran.
The
campaign to save Balal was launched last month by Kiaei and celebrities
including Adel Ferdosipour, a football commentator and TV show host,
and Ali Daei, a former international footballer, asking the family to
forgive the killer.
- Cash from ticket sales -
"This convict was the same person that we raised money for him to pay the blood money," Kiaei told AFP.
The
cash came from ticket sales to a special screening of the director's
latest film, "Special Line", with the proceeds being paid into a special
account.
"The father of the victim wants to spend the money on
building a gym under his son's name in their city," Kiaei said. "Even a
few days after the show people were still depositing money."
Asked
if he felt the public appeal had been decisive, Kiaei added:
"Considering the shortage of a presence of NGOs in our country, I think
those people who have tools, like us whose tool was the film or Adel
Ferdosipour whose TV show has a big audience... can encourage people to
do good things."
Meanwhile, it was reported Thursday that a group of Iranian artists has launched an appeal against a woman's execution.
Reyhaneh
Jabbari, 26, was sentenced to death for the murder of a former
government intelligence official, and it has been suggested that her
punishment could be imminent.
Her lawyer Abdolsamad Khoramshahi, however, told AFP on Thursday that no sentencing date had been set.
