The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has explained how it intercepted and seized a massive weapons haul of 661 brand new pump-action rifles in Lagos state.
In a press statement delivered by the Comptroller-General of NCS Hameed Ali at a briefing in Lagos on Monday, January 30, the outfit said the guns were intercepted on Sunday, January 22.
The statement read: “On Sunday 22nd January 2017, the Roving Team of the NCS Federal Operations Unit while on information patrol intercepted a Mack truck with registration number BDG 265 XG conveying a 1x40ft Container with Number: PONU/825914/3along Mile 2 Apapa road.
“The truck was immediately taken to the premises of FOU Zone A,Ikeja where Physical examination revealed 49 boxes containing a total number of 661 pieces of pump action rifles concealed with steal doors and other merchandize goods.”
The Customs clarified that the actions of the importer contravened the provisions of the Nigerian laws and it is even more so given the fragile level of security in the country at the moment.
It added: “These Rifles are under absolute prohibition; therefore its importation is illegal. Such deadly contravention of the law is even more unacceptable considering the fragile security situation in some parts of the country.”
The Customs confirmed the arrest of three people in connection with the importation of the large arms. They suspects’ names were given as: Oscan Okafor (Importer) age 51, Mahmud Hassan (Clearing Agent) age 56 and Sadique Mustapha (who accompanied the consignment to its destination) age 28.
Hameed Ali says more arrests could still be made as an investigation has been opened into the matter.
He said: “Investigation has already commenced and I have directed that the drag net should be wide enough to fish out all persons involved in the importation and clearing of the consignment. Already, the Officers involved in the clearance of this container are with the Comptroller FOU Zone ‘A’Ikeja.”
Boy rescued after being thrown away for being a “witch” starts school
The story of Nsidibe Orok went viral after he was rescued by a Dutch woman, Anja Ringgren Lovén, who clothed and fed the little boy rejected by his own people in Akwa Ibom for allegedly being a witch.
May God bless this Dutch woman’s heart of gold, and deliver my people from Akwa Ibom from ignorance and stark illiteracy
Melania Trump will become the second First Lady since 1825 to have been born outside the U.S, and her hometown in Slovenia’s ready to party it up in her honor.
The mayor in Melania’s hometown of Sevnica, a small town of about 5,000 people, is so fired up the entire town’s getting in on the festivities.
The Italian police in Bologna have arrested Desmond Newthing, a Nigerian asylum seeker, on suspicion of killing Lanfranco Chiarini, a 76-year-old entrepreneur.
Chiarini was found dead on January 3 in his villa on the hills of Castel San Pietro.
According to reports by local media, it would seem that Chiarini died as a result of about thirty stab wounds inflicted by Newthing.
The autopsy results confirmed that the death occurred after Chiarini had received several stabs on the neck.
No one knows the motive that prompted the alleged perpetrator to kill the employer, but it is possible that before the crime there was a sexual relationship.
A Facebook user, Senior Rita, shared part of the story. She wrote:
“Because of a hundred thousand euro this Nigeria guy called Desmond newthing killed the Italia woman he was dating in her own country , he is the course of the whole arrest so far in Italy he forgot that there were camera.”
In another post, she wrote,
“This is the picture of the basterd how killed the Italian woman he was dating in bologna Italy ,he is the cause of the arrest of the innocent blacks in italy.”
After Nigerian male barbie, Bobrisky became a viral sensation, and we thought we have seen it all, one is out"Bobrisky remix"! Yes I mean remix, he is a man ooo, with the name Jay Bugatti. He makes up like a female, dresses like a female and even walk like a female. See more photos after the cut...
Controversial Ghanaian bishop, Daniel Obinim bought himself a $168k customized Range Rover Vogue to add to his fleet of cars. He reportedly already has 8 Range Rovers, 5 Infinity, SUVs and 3 Chryslers.
In November 2016, the Leader of International God's Way Church made headlines after flogging two members of his church for fornicating and attempting abortion. An act that later got him arrested and charged to court.
Determined to ensure that Federal Government’s business oriented regulatory agencies become facilitators for Micro, Small, & Medium Scale Enterprises, MSMES, the Buhari presidency would do all within its ability to support them and ensure they become thriving businesses.
This assurance was given earlier yesterday by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, during a visit to Aba, Abia State, where he participated in the First MSMES Clinics after the media launch in Abuja on Tuesday.
Using as an analogy, the story President Muhammadu Buhari once told him about the importance of taking care of people “who do the things that make us comfortable, the Vice President observed “it is important to pay attention to MSMES.
“We will spend time to ensure that we give those who produce locally all the support that we can give, and that is why we are doing this clinics.”
The Office of the Special Adviser on Economic Matters in the Presidency devised the idea of a Clinic to bridge the gap between medium and small scale businesses and government agencies such as Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC; Standards Organisation of Nigeria, SON; National Agency for Food & Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC; Bank of Industry, BOI; Federal Inland Revenue Services, FIRS; Nigerian Export Promotion Council, NEPC; and others.
The Clinic is meant to bring together all those agencies in one spot and at appointed times across the country to attend to the needs, questions and requests of people doing business. It was launched on Tuesday by Prof. Osinbajo and the first Clinic outside Abuja was today in Aba.
Subsequently, such clinics would be held in two different cities every month and those government agencies would be on hand to solve problems of business enterprises, take enquiries, explain government initiatives and educate the public about regulatory issues regarding MSMES in Nigeria.
Having launched in Abuja, the Vice President decided to personally attend the Clinic in Aba, today noting that “you can’t do much for manufacturing without coming to Aba,” and adding that Aba traders, artisans, tailors, shoemakers and others “are the bedrock of our economy.”
He urged those relevant FG agencies to see themselves as facilitators of the businesses and remove bottlenecks that are often reported when enterprises have something to do with the agencies.
The Vice President went round the stands of all the agencies at the Aba MSMES Clinic and also those of several businesses and local manufacturers, all of whom were obviously elated at the Federal Government’s gesture to re-orient the relationship between them and the agencies.
Commenting at the Clinic, the Abia State Governor, Dr. Okpezie Ikpeazu, who accompanied the Vice President said “with the visit of the Acting President to Abia today, the story of Aba traders will change. The visit of the Acting President is a testimony that something new is happening here.”
Prof. Osinbajo who has since returned to Abuja, was also accompanied by the Industry, Trade and Investment Minister, Dr. Okey Enelamah, among several other senior government officials.
Actress Angela Okorie and journalist Kemi Olunloyo are still blasting each other over Bobrisky. Yesterday, Angela Okorie blasted her yet again, she took to her Instagram handle to make series of posts about Angela, claiming she is dating Gambian dictator and former president, Yahya Jammeh. Angela is back for her. Read what she wrote below...
"Kemi omololu olunloyo i am aware am dealing with a criminal, and i also know you were jailed for drug trafficking in Tiny caribbean island nation of jamaica and attempted murder in canada where you shot one of your boyfriends years back in Toronto canada 2007, you have four children from four different Men, and to think that your own father former Oyo governor Disowned you due to your attitude and shame you brought to your family, i have been waiting patiently for you to release proof of your allegation towards me, but Rather you kept on ranting like a lunatic that you are, plz fellow Nigerias could you kindly tell this criminal Kemi Omololu Olunloye to openly present to my fans, nigerians the money transaction as she claimed,and may i remind you that there is a law passed in nigeria against false information about people, i see this is the only launguage you understand, the fact that you have resided for nearly three decades and was denied permanent residence Status because of your serial criminal acts. does not give you the right to pass wrong information about Me.KEMI OMOLOLU OLUNLOYO I DARE YOU TO OPENLY PRESENT PROOF OF YOUR ALLEGATION, WE NIGERIANS ARE PATIENTLY WAITING. THANK YOU"
A car mechanic, Tunde Onakoya has published photos of a highly-priced Ferrari car running into about $2.5 million rotting away at a mechanic’s workshop at Agodi, Ibadan, Oyo State.
The coveted Ferrari F50 in its sorry state
This is an abandoned Ferrari F50, somewhere in Ibadan, rotting away. Successor to the F40 and only 349 units were built.
It was created to celebrate 50th Anniversary of Ferrari and unveiled in 1995. Simply described as the last F1 engined road car. It had a 4.7 Litre V12 mounted at 65°.
The worth of the luxury car with the current exchange rate runs into a whooping sum of N793,750,000.00. Its owned by one mysterious big man named Babatunde Iyiola aka Shef.
He was one of the big Ibadan boys back then and he had a friend called Nero.
Their whereabout are unknown but some they are rotting away in jail but only Nigerian police may have a clue about them
A social media commenter said he had seen the car in this state at the Agodi/ Total Garden area in 2013.
The problem of the Ferrari model remains unknown. The mechanic expressed hopes of reviving the car but said it would cost thousands of dollars to fix it.
A federal judge in New York has issued an emergency stay temporarily halting the removal of individuals detained after President Trump issued an order to ban immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S.
The move appears to mark the first successful legal challenge to the Trump administration and affects those who have arrived in the U.S. with previously approved refugee applications or were in transit with valid visas.
U.S. District Court Judge Ann Donnelly ruled in favor of a habeas corpus petition filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of two Iraqi men who were detained at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Friday after Trump signed his order.
Donnelly, who was nominated by former PresidentBarack Obama and confirmed to her judgeship in 2015,ruled in the Eastern District of New York that “there is imminent danger that, absent the stay of removal, there will be substantial and irreparable injury to refugees, visa-holders, and other individuals from nations subject” to Trump’s order.
“This ruling preserves the status quo and ensures that people who have been granted permission to be in this country are not illegally removed off U.S. soil,” said Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project.
The ruling deals with a portion of Trump’s order handed down Friday, which bars Syrian refugees indefinitely and halts the resettlement of all refugees for four months as the administration reviews the vetting process.
The order also denies entry for 90 days for individuals from seven predominantly Muslims countries: Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Libya and Yemen.
“Clearly the judge understood the possibility for irreparable harm to hundreds of immigrants and lawful visitors to this country,” ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero said in a statement.
“Our courts today worked as they should as bulwarks against government abuse or unconstitutional policies and orders. On week one, Donald Trump suffered his first loss in court.”
The order Saturday evening capped off a chaotic first day following Trump’s directive, as the administration moved to implement his order, with reports emerging of individuals being detained at a number of airports across the country.
The Department of Homeland Security said Trump’s order would apply to green card holders from the seven impacted countries.
“President Trump and his administration are right to be concerned about national security, but it’s unacceptable when even legal permanent residents are being detained or turned away at airports and ports of entry,” Republican Sen. Jeff Flake (Ariz.) said in a statement.
Laura Ikeji and Ogbonnaya Nwankwo is getting married traditional today in her hometown Nkwerre Imo state. Laura is a younger sister to Nigeria celebrity blogger Linda Ikeji, while her heartthrob Ogbonnaya Nwankwo is the younger brother to Nigerian former legendary footballer, Kanu Nwankwo. See more pics after the cut.
Serena Williams beat sister Venus in straight sets to win her seventh Australian Open and an Open-era record 23rd Grand Slam singles title.
Serena, 35, won 6-4 6-4 to pass Steffi Graf in the all-time list of major winners since the Grand Slams accepted professional players in 1968.
The American regains the number one ranking from German Angelique Kerber.
Australia’s Margaret Court, with 24, is the only player still ahead of Serena in terms of Grand Slam singles titles.
“Congratulations Serena on number 23,” said Venus, who at 36 is the oldest Australian Open finalist in the Open era.
“I have been right there with you, some of them I lost right there against you. It’s been an awesome win.
“I’m enormously proud of you, you mean the world to me. I, God willing, would love to come back. Thank you for all the love.”
Serena paid tribute to her sister, who was playing her first major final for eight years, saying: “There’s no way I would be at 23 without her. There’s no way I’d be at one without her. She’s my inspiration.
“She’s the only reason I’m standing here today. She’s the only reason the Williams sisters exist. Thank you for inspiring me. Every time you won this week, I felt like I got a win too.”
Serena Williams won her first Australian Open title 14 years ago
What could have led a 28-year-old lady to abandon her husband’s home, dumped her two-year-old daughter in an orphanage only to move in with her fourth husband? This and more are the questions the police in Abuja are working on to find answers to, after a 34-year-old jail returnee, Paul Jubril reported that his wife, Blessing Ochonogor killed their daughter Ifeoma and fled to live with another man.
Saturday Sun gathered that the live-in-lovers were living on Jaja Street, Kubwa area of Abuja, with their two kids before Paul went to jail for an unknown offence. Upon return from Suleja prison about two weeks ago, Paul, from Etsako LGA, Edo State, discovered that Blessing who hails from Benue state had fled their apartment with their two kids.
Speaking to Saturday Sun at the police station, Paul said, “I went to Suleja prison. When I came back in January 2017, I couldn’t find my wife and two kids. It was later I heard that my daughter Ifeoma was at an orphanage home at Arab Road, Kubwa Abuja.” While trying to consider what could have led Blessing to do what she did, Paul said, “I remember we had a misunderstanding in 2015 but I didn’t know she would pack out of the house with our two children, Peter Smith who is seven years old and Ifeoma who is two years and three months.”
Police findings show that after leaving her husband’s home, Blessing who had had two kids for two men before moving in with Paul, took her baby to an orphanage home where she lied to them that the baby’s parents had died. After dropping the baby at the orphanage, she was said to have moved in with another of her suitors as her fourth husband.
It was not long before the baby began to grow lean and sick. Efforts by the orphanage to treat the baby led to the discovery that she had been infected with HIV. This prompted officials to search for ‘the good Samaritan’ who brought the baby. When the baby was eventually returned to her, it was almost too late as she died soon after.
Deceased Ifeoma
“I have to report the case at Kubwa phase 4 police station Abuja. I didn’t believe that my child could die of HIV. When I was going to prison in December 2016, my child was in good health. I don’t know why my child will die of HIV. I don’t have HIV, likewise, my seven years old son, Peter Smith. I want to know the cause of death of my child.
“My child is now at the mortuary at Kubwa General Hospital. Before I bury my child, I am still insisting to know what killed her. It is my girlfriend who is responsible for the death of my child”, the angry father lamented.
In her own account, Blessing Ochonogor told Saturday Sun that she was not legally married to Paul, adding, “myself and Paul Jubril merely had boyfriend and girlfriend relationship.” According to her, “Suddenly, I discovered I have got two children for him.” While justifying why she had to move out of Paul’s home, she said, “Whenever I have a quarrel with my boyfriend, he used to beat me to a state of coma. When I couldn’t bear it anymore, I have to pack out from the house to sleep in an uncompleted building for three days.”
“When I could not bear it, I took my child Ifeoma to the orphanage home at Arab Road, Kubwa Abuja. I deceived them that the parents of the child are dead. It’s true, I didn’t go there to check my child, and I went only once. Later, I went to marry another man.
“Suddenly, the orphanage home called me that the child I brought to them was ill. I refused to go there initially but later I went and took the child to Gwarimpa General Hospital and they diagnosed her of HIV and we were referred to the National Hospital but in the process the baby died on December 2016”, she added.
Pleading innocence on the death of the baby, the Benue State-born mother of four added that, “I never killed my child. It was frustration that prompted me to take the child to orphanage home. My Father and Mother are not living together. There is nobody I can handover my child to when I was in predicament. Since I am no longer with my boyfriend, he has threatened to kill me. Since the death of my child, my boyfriend has been accusing me of killing our child with HIV.”
“It is not possible to kill my own daughter. When life is so difficult for me, I have to marry another man. My boyfriend didn’t give us rest of mind since he came back from prison. My boyfriend has frustrated my life and I am not going back to his house again”, she stated.
When contacted, the FCT Police Commissioner, Mr. Mohammed Mustapha told Saturday Sun that his Command would encourage the duo of Paul and Blessing to settle their differences and burry the baby abandoned in the morgue.
Donald Trump’s executive order to close America’s borders to refugees and immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries has been swiftly enforced. The order blocks to the US from citizens from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya for 90 days and as well as indefinitely suspending admission of Syrian refugees.
The 45th president of the US also had a big day as he took phone calls from major world leaders including the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile Theresa May has met with the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and a joint press conference was held.
Here’s a roundup of the key events so far:
Criticism of his “muslim ban” came in from all quarters including Madeline Albright, the former US secretary of state, Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani campaigner for girls’ education and Facebook’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg.
We received the first reports of arrivals blocked at US airports.
The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) described the executive order as worse than a draft form that had been leaked earlier in the week.
Twelve nobel laureates are among thousands of signatories to a petition calling on Trump to renounce the order.
A legal challenge has been filed against Donald Trump’s executive order by lawyers representing two Iraqi refugees.
Theresa May and the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, have signed a £100m commitment to build new fighter jets.
May refused to condemn Trump’s refugee ban when pressed on the issue by journalists at a joint press conference.
People holding so-called green cards, making them legal permanent US residents, are included in the executive action.
Iran vowed to take reciprocal action.
Trump spoke to Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, and the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
The Department of State Services (DSS) has summoned Apostle Johnson Suleiman of the Omega Fire Ministries World wide after an earlier attempt to arrest him was foiled by Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti state.
Apostle Suleiman is expected to appear at the DSS office on Monday
He is expected to be at the DSS office in Abuja by 10am on Monday, January 30.
A statement from one Barr A Tareri said: “URGENT!!! The DSS has invited Apostle Johnson Suleman to appear before the Abuja office for interrogation by 10 am on Monday 30/1/17.
“Let every Christian come out in a procession to accompany Apostle Suleiman to the DSS office.
“He spoke for us all. We stand against the shameful silence of Nigerian government over killing of Christians in Nigeria; intimidation/harassment of the church with state security agencies and the Islamic agenda of this regime.
“United we stand and Together we will win this battle. Christians awake!!!!! Pls forward this invitation to every contact and God will fight your battles in Jesus name.”
Apostle Suleiman had revealed that there was a plan to use the Fulani herdsmen to attack him and his church.
While condemning the do-nothing approach adopted by the government as the Fulani herdsmen continue to kill people and destroy properties in the country, Suleiman, in a video, told his church members to kill any of such attackers who either came for him or his church.
While many Nigerians commended him for speaking out against the persecution of Christians in the country, some demanded for his arrest.
The Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar, also called for the arrest of clerics who encourage violence through reprisal, adding: “I have never picked up the microphone to insult any Christian leader. We should be tolerant of one another and work towards achieving peace in this country.
“I have never lost hope in this country as far as the search for peace of this country is concerned. No matter what happens, those championing peace will succeed at the end of the day.
“There is friction between Christians and Muslims which is caused by preachers of hate. While we pray for peace and dialogue, preachers of hate must be reported to the security agencies.
“I will not hesitate to add here that no outsider can bring peace to us. The outsiders can only help us. we must work hard for peace and leave in peace.”
