Omotola Jalade – With A Backside That Would Make Many Men Drool, I’d Boss Boys Around

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The Queen of Nollywood, Omotola Jalade In a recent interview she granted a UK-based newspaper, Telegraph, the star actress stated that she had two younger brothers and that rubbed off on her making her a tomboy and she used to scare boys when she was much younger. Omosexy said her mother used to make jokes that she would not find a husband, ironically she met her husband when she was 16 years old.

She said, “I have two younger brothers and was a tomboy, fiercely independent. I used to scare boys from a very young age. They found me too much, because I knew what I wanted and I’d boss them around. In those days my mother would joke that I would never find a husband.”

Video: Hilarious! Kevin Hart Dancing Azontov

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Kevin Hart was in the UK not too long ago and while he was on Choice FM’s Morning Radio Show he showed out and decided to jump in on Fuse ODG’s Azonto.

Turn down maka gini! LOL>

Check it out!

Ice Prince Set To Perform Alongside Meek Mill, Rick Ross & Machine Gun Kelly In Philly

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Ice Prince Zamani and his crew are set to hit the stage up at the Dream Chasers Sports and Entertainment summit which will be held today and is put together by MMG act, Meek Mill.

The summit

‘@Iceprincezamani gonna hit da stage at #DCSUMMIT!!! its #levels #learnlife dreamchaserssummit.com‘. That’s what Philly based rapper, Meek Mill boldly announced via his twitter handle a few days ago.

The summit is intended to ‘bring together some of the biggest names in both sports and entertainment to discuss everything from chasing dreams successfully to what it takes to make it in the industry as an athlete, musician, entrepreneur and business executive’ will features performances from Rick Ross, Sean ‘The Pen’ Garrett, Master P,and a host of others.

Police Officer Killed In Egypt’s Sinai

Violence continues in Egypt as gunmen,
Friday, killed a police officer in Egypt’s restive
Sinai peninsula, according to the Interior
Ministry. The riot police officer was shot in the chest on
Friday while on patrol in the city of El-Arish,
the ministry said in a statement released on
Saturday. Attacks against security forces on the
peninsula have increased since a July 3
military coup deposed President Mohamed
Morsi. Since then, his supporters have been
organising regular protests calling for his
return. Meanwhile, the Health Ministry raised the toll
in Friday’s violence to eight people killed and
221 injured, most of them in clashes between
Morsi supporters and local residents. Those killed included two police officers shot
in a drive-by shooting which targeted their
police station in Cairo. Violence in Egypt peaked on August 14 when
police, backed by snipers and bulldozers,
attacked two Muslim Brotherhood-led sit-ins
in the capital. The move caused days of nationwide violence
that has killed hundreds of people, most of
them Morsi’s supporters. Many retaliated by attacking police stations,
torching churches and setting government
buildings on fire. Supporters of the deposed president have
shown their commitment to their cause, but
the government will continue on the
‘restoration’ path it has mapped out for Egypt. Egypt’s ambassador to Nigeria, Ashraf Salama,
Friday said, fresh elections that would usher in
a post Mohammed Morsi era will hold in March
2014, adding that, with the removal of Morsi,
the country is ready for a constitutional
amendment that would lead to fresh democratic elections. Speaking on the new road map to democratic
elections, the Egyptian envoy said, “a panel of
10 jurists have finished working on the
proposed amendments to the constitution. A
50-member committee representing
Egyptians from all walks of life will be formed in the next few days to discuss and review
those amendments and then present them in
a referendum which is due to be held after 60
days from the date of the formation of the
committee.” He added that the amendment process will
pave the way for the election of a new
parliament followed by presidential elections
in march next year. The envoy also accused Muslim Brotherhood
of not responding to the roadmap put in place
by the interim government to return Egypt to
democratic governance. ”Despite the continuous effort by the
government and other regional and
international mediators to convince the
Muslim Brotherhood to evacuate the sit-ins
peacefully and join the political process
outlined by the roadmap for the good of the nation, the leadership of the Brotherhood
refused to respond positively to those efforts
counting on violence as its winning card to
achieve political gains,” Salama said.

UN Chemical Weapons Inspectors Leave Syria

UN chemical weapons inspectors, in Syria to
probe an alleged poison gas attack that killed
hundreds, have left Damascus for Beirut,
having completed four days of site visits and
evidence-gathering, witnesses and officials
say. The experts departed their hotel in the Syrian
capital on Saturday morning, after having
carried out a final day of inspections on Friday.
The inspectors are seeking to determine what
exactly happened in an alleged chemical
weapons strike that killed hundreds in the Damascus suburbs on August 21. The 13 inspectors, led by Ake Sellstrom, were
seen loading their luggage into seven UN
vehicles before setting off from their hotel, an
AFP correspondent said. The departure of the UN experts has
heightened expectations of a possible
international military strike against
government forces. UN officials say it may take weeks to analyse
the samples gathered and to present
conclusions, and UN spokesperson Martin
Nesirky said that the inspectors would return
to the country to investigate several other
alleged chemical weapons attacks that have taken place during the country’s two-and-a-
half year uprising against President Bashar al-
Assad. Saturday’s pullout comes as Washington
suggested that the UN investigation would
have no bearing on its decision about whether
to attack Syria in retaliation for the alleged
poison gas attack on civilians. “The samples that have been collected will be
taken to be analysed in designated
laboratories, and the intention of course is to
expedite the analysis of that sampling that’s
been taken,” Nesirky said. He offered no timeline for when that analysis
would be completed, but said all samples
would need to be fully analysed. “This is not an electoral process, where you
have exit polls and preliminary results,” he
said. “This is a scientific process. The only result
that counts is the result of the analysis in
laboratories and the analysis of the evidence
that’s been collected through witness
statements and so on.” Nesirky was addressing reporters while UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was meeting
with delegates from the five permanent UN
Security Council members – Britain, China,
France, Russia and the US – to update them on
the UN investigation in Syria. But two diplomats told the Reuters news
agency that Ban informed the five delegations
that analysis of the samples could take up to
two weeks. Ban cut short a visit to Europe amid concerns
that Western powers are preparing military
strikes against Syria to punish the government
of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for the
alleged chemical attack. On Friday, Angela Kane, the UN disarmament
envoy who had visited Syria with the UN
experts, also left Damascus for Lebanon, and
she is expected to brief Ban in New York later
on Saturday. France said on Friday it still backed military
action to punish Assad’s government, and
Washington pushed ahead with plans for a
response despite a British parliamentary vote
against a military strike. An unclassified report by US intelligence
agencies released on Friday said the attack
killed 1,429 Syrian civilians, including 426
children.

Man beheads 13 year-old-girl in Benue

A middle aged man, Terseer Angyo,
has been arrested by the Benue state Police
command for allegedly beheading a 13 year old
girl, Mnyorhan Asase, at Aliade in Gwer local
government area of the state. Vanguard gathered from a sourcesthat the 13 year
old girl was slaughtered by her assailant in a
forest area in Aliade while on her way back from a
local community market in a nearby village. More details soon

54 killed, 36 missing in Brono Boko Haram attacks

Atleast 54 people including 24 vigilante youths
(Civilian JTF), 14 Shuwa Arab herdsmen and 16
civilians were killed by suspected Boko Haram
terrorists in three different Local Government
Areas of Monguno, Damboa and Nganzai in Borno state. Details later pls.

How Naija Students Are Selling Their Sperm In Lagos

People get married for different reasons. While some seek companionship in marriage, many go into it for the purpose of procreation. For couples who look forward to having children immediately after marriage, being declared ‘infertile’ by experts is like a death sentence. It is generally agreed that it takes two to have a baby and every couple is expected to be in optimum health to have babies, medical experts claim men are having more fertility challenge now. Sperm concentration in men is said to have decreased by a third since 1990s while sperm count is said to have decreased by half over the past 50 years. Studies are also showing genetic abnormalities in sperm particularly in older men. For men therefore, quantity, quality and motility of spermatozoa are seen as important factors in fertility. Since the male factor is a prominent cause of infertility in couples, sperm donation has become vital in assisted conception treatment. A study by the Society for the Study of Male Reproduction stated that “a male factor is solely responsible in about 20 per cent of infertile couples and contributory in another 30 to 40 per cent.” According to experts, even when sperm numbers are great, a high proportion of men may have DNA damage that significantly impairs the chances of natural conception. Besides, male sperm deteriorates with age the same way it does for women. Studies have also shown that if a man has poor health, smokes, drinks too much or has a bad diet, it’s very likely his sperms are also going to be unhealthy. Indeed, investigation by PUNCH showed that sperm has become a commodity in high demand in Lagos. The Chief Consultant and Head, Obstetrician and Fertility Department, Eko Hospitals, Dr. Adegbite Ogunmokun, said fertility problem, based on recent experience, had tilted more towards the male factor. He said, “If 10 couples come in, there will be problem with the male in six of them, using our parameter of 20 million sperm per millimetre. But 10 to 15 years ago, maybe about four out of 10 men would have problem.” PUNCH correspondents, who visited some fertility centres in Lagos, learnt that more men are having low sperm count, thus necessitating the need for more volunteer donors. But because donors are scare, fertility clinics offer as much as N50,000 to men who are interested in selling their sperm. They also pay more when sellers have special features that the beneficiaries are looking for. Like blood sellers, investigations show that many people in Lagos, especially students, now sell their sperms anytime they need money. A student of the University of Lagos, who identified himself as John, said he had sold sperm to a few fertility centres in Lagos. John said he had been funding his education for the past two years with what he earned from selling his sperm. John said he was introduced to the programme by a friend and that he had in turn brought in two other friends to ‘business’. “I’ve sold to a number of fertility centres. The money has really helped me to stay in school. It takes care of my tuition and some other personal needs,” John said, with a measure of satisfaction. “It’s cool money, really and I’m also doing a service to mankind by helping out some people in need. Even friends that I introduced to it have not turned back since then.” An employee in a Lagos fertility clinic, who identified himself as Olufunsho, told PUNCH that some women would pay any amount to get a sperm seller with the features they want. He said, “We pay N50,000 here but there are times when women come in and request that, at all cost, they must get a tall man. The person can earn more when they make such requests, especially if we don’t have any that fits the profile in our bank. “There was a time a woman came and requested that we get a tall man for her at all cost. I showed her the samples we had, but she did not like the profile. She said she was not satisfied with the heights. And we were unable to get what she wanted from the sellers that came at the time. “The sellers that came then were either AS, or positive with hepatitis B or had low sperm count. We had up to twelve sellers that came and we were unable to get anybody. In such cases, we could offer a lot more when we find the right person. Sometimes, such people are also in a position to negotiate for what they want.” However, subsequent drops attract lesser amounts of money for the same seller. To sell sperm, the person, according to Olufunsho, must stay off sex for five days. He undergoes some tests to confirm that he is not HIV positive and that he also has healthy sperm among others. He said, “If the same person is still interested and we still need him, he would repeat the screening process again. We pay N10, 000 per ejaculation for other subsequent ones. With my own discretion, if the quality of the sperm is good and we have somebody who needs something that matches perfectly with that seller, we may reduce the probation period, but the sperm must be very good. “Although that is the protocol, it could always be amended when there is nothing wrong with the person. Even if someone ejaculates the first time and in twenty minutes time, he does the same, it is still going to be good, but not as good as the first one.” At the various fertility centres where our correspondents posed as potential sperm seller, the clinic workers made keen attempts to have them start the process immediately, by leaving blood samples for tests. On one occasion, a clinic worker told one of our correspondents that he was willing to waive the two to five days’ probation period of abstinence, after our correspondent said he wished to “sleep over it.” The worker said, “What is there to think about? After all, you already said you’re not married. You can leave your blood sample for testing while you go ahead and think over it.” Investigation showed that fertility centres want sellers between 18 and 45 years of age and expect them to abstain from sex, two to five days before giving sperm sample, depending on the centre. Other conditions to be met by potential sperm sellers include testing negative to HIV, syphilis, hepatitis B and C, sickle cell and some other sexually transmitted diseases. Tests are also carried out to determine the count, morphology (shape) and motility of the sperm cells. In addition, fertility centres claim to also place a high premium on average intelligence, education and lifestyle. Although PUNCH learnt that such claims are not always true as more emphases are actually placed on height and other physical attributes. “It is not immediately that we pay. We prefer AA genotype because it can be given to anybody, unlike AS that cannot be given to just anybody,” Olufunsho added. However, an employee in another fertility clinic in Lagos, Akin, said sperm sellers could get paid within a week of starting the process. This is possible only if they satisfy the conditions. He said, “If the motility is good, the count is good and you’re okay, then, you can produce for us. If everything is okay, within a week, you can get your money.” A 2012 study into the reproductive health of 26,600 men in France, warned of a sperm crisis worldwide. It said that sperm concentration has decreased by a third since the 1990s. The study found a continuous 32.2 per cent decrease in sperm concentration over a period of 17 years. During the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology annual conference in London in July 2013, some experts, critical of the study’s validity, said it did not completely represent the situation in certain areas, particularly the developing world. However, a fertility expert at Mother’s World Care, Ikeja, Lagos, Dr. Margaret Olusegun, said the situation is similar in Nigeria. She said, “A man should have a good count, up to 40 to 50 million sperm per millimetre of semen upward. But you find that these days, men have more challenges with fertility than women. “Although, I don’t have the statistics, men are the ones with more challenges now, even though they are the ones who drive out their wives if they can’t bear children.” Olusegun explained that good sperm should have “at least 50 per cent motility (activeness) because sperm cells can be active, sluggish or dead.” “For morphology (shape) too, which could be normal or abnormal, sperm should have upward of 50 per cent normal cells. And there should not be bacteria growth,” she added. Ogunmokun described low concentration of sperm as “Oligospermia.” He, however, said a sperm count with a minimum lower limit of 20 million sperm per millimetre of semen would still be considered normal. But he added that any sperm concentration of less than 20 million per millimetre of semen could be categorised as mild, moderate or severe oligospermia, depending on the count. Ogunmokun said fertility problems could be with the man, the woman or the two of them. PUNCH learnt that the demand for sperm has made the fertility business a lucrative one. Many of the fertility centres in Lagos have facilities for sperm preservation, where it’s freezing costs about N50, 000 per quarter. Ogunmokun said, “After collection, the semen is processed and seminal fluid and all other things are removed. The sperm is put in little bottles and placed in special containers called dewars, connected to a power source. It is stored at very low temperature and there must be an indicator for monitoring should there be a change in the condition.” He, however, added that there must be a standby generator in a place like Nigeria, where power supply is unstable, as sperm can be frozen for decades. “Although, there are many other reasons why people freeze sperm, someone living far away from his wife can decide to freeze his sperm for the wife’s use while he’s away. Also, someone going for cancer treatment can freeze his sperm before starting the treatment since such treatments affect sperm production,” he added. Ogunmokun said fertility centres focus more on university undergraduates to ensure that sperm donors have a certain degree of intelligence. He said, “The current practice is to actually recruit sperm donors and the focus is on undergraduates. The focus is on students because they should be able to provide their ID cards so that background checks can be done.” According to Ogunmokun, the perceived increase in the number of men with low sperm count is as a result of infection and lifestyle habits like sitting for too long and wearing of tight underwear. He said, “The testes are not supposed to be too close to the body because of the higher body temperature. The testes are naturally colder, so people who travel long distances or sit in traffic for long can be prone to infertility.” Ogunmokun advised that men should “exercise appropriately, take good nutrition, avoid tight underwear, premarital sex, cigarette and alcohol to try to prevent low sperm count.” However, Olusegun identified good hygiene as key to the prevention of low sperm count, saying, “Our environment is too contaminated."

Sean Kingston Sued For Alleged Gang Rape

Sean Kingston and his bodyguard gang raped a drunk teenager in the singer’s hotel room back in 2010, according to a new lawsuit — but Sean has denied the accusation Carissa Capeloto now 22 claims she was forced to have sex with Sean, his bodyguard and a member of Sean’s band at a Seattle hotel in July, 2010, after she had smoked pot and downed 7-10 shots of vodka. Capeloto — who has sued all 3 men — alleges she’d been invited to Kingston’s hotel room for a meet-and-greet following a Bieber concert — where Kingston had also performed — but when she showed up … Kingston was waiting naked on his bed. Capeloto claims the bodyguard picked her up and placed her on top of Kingston, and all three of the men proceeded to gang rape her while she was “obviously intoxicated, incapable of consent.” Capeloto says her friend later entered the room and rescued her. The police were called and Capeloto was taken to the hospital where she says she was treated for physical injuries consistent with rape. She says her life has been ruined and she can barely sleep, has mood swings and panic attacks. Capeloto wants $5 mil minimum. Between criminal charges against Kingston were dropped in 2010 after cops concluded Capeloto wasn’t credible enough for a legit case. Kingston has filed legal docs insisting the sex was 100% consensual. 

Privacy Policy Change: Facebook Wants to Know Your Face

It’s that time again — time for some changes to Facebook’s privacy policy. Yes, that’s what that email you received from Facebook is all about.

The social network announced on Thursday a new set of proposed privacy policy adjustments that will go into effect sometime in September.

In general, the new changes map out more clearly what Facebook does with your information and how it uses that data to make money — that is, if you can sift through pages and pages of privacy jargon located here.

But buried in there is one change that you should be specifically aware of so you can decide if you’d like to change some privacy settings you have control over. Facebook may start reading your face more.

The company may start using facial recognition with your profile photo to better allow your friends to tag your photos.

That means Facebook will use software to recognize whether you are in new photos on Facebook by using your profile photo in addition to other photos you have on Facebook.

“We are able to suggest that your friend tag you in a picture by scanning and comparing your friend’s pictures to information we’ve put together from your profile pictures and the other photos in which you’ve been tagged,” the new policy reads.

Previously, it had just scanned other photos you were tagged in, not your profile photo.

The change to the “How We Use the Information We Receive” section was first reported by All Thing D’s Mike Isaac.

A spokesperson did say that the “Tag Suggest is a tool that helps Facebook users tag their friends in photographs more quickly and easily — something people love to do on Facebook.”

However, security experts say that whether or not this feature is implemented, it means Facebook users must be more vigilant about adjusting their privacy settings, even if they are hard to find.

“The privacy issue here is that you now have terabytes of computing power looking for every instance in which you appear.

You are letting a whole new technology identify you in places you might not want to be identified,” John Sileo, author of “Privacy Means Profit” and an identity theft expert said.

“It is imperative that people go change their tagging settings now.” Facebook currently allows you to turn off the tag suggestions feature, even though it is automatically enabled.

To turn this off, go into the settings menu, select the “Timeline and Tagging” option and then navigate to the area that says “Who sees tag suggestions when photos that look like you are uploaded?” There, you can toggle it from “friends” to “no one.”

While you are at it, you might want turn on the setting that requires you to confirm a tag.

That means every time someone tags a photo of you, you can decide whether or not you want that tag to be applied.

To do that, head back to that “Timeline and Tagging” option and then navigate to the area that says “review tags people add to your posts before the tags appear on Facebook” and select “enable.”

Ultimately, if Facebook does add the profile photo into the facial recognition mix it will just be adding more photos to the collection it already uses to identity you in other photos, but it does bring to light why looking over and understanding privacy settings is so important.

“What they are doing is a logical next step for them, but they are taking advantage of our apathy,” Sileo said.

“They know they can push the privacy envelope and that likely we won’t respond. It is our responsibility to understand and change settings we can control — we are choosing to put our information on this network.”

SHOCKING: Lagos Orphanage: Owner Stuck In Kirikiri Prison

The last has not been heard on the story of a controversial orphanage run by Mrs. Rose Nwachukwu. Saturday PUNCH broke the story on August 17, 2013. Nwachukwu, the operator of St. Stephen Charity Foundation, Egbeda, Lagos State is currently standing trial before a Juvenile Court on a charge of running an illegal orphanage. The offence is punishable under section 183 of the Child Rights Law of Lagos State Nigeria 2007. The case was heard on Monday in a family court within the Ikeja Chief Magistrate’s, Court, Lagos. The Magistrate, Mrs. E. B. Dawodu remanded Nwachukwu in prison until her bail terms were satisfied. However, a source close to the court told our correspondent that Nwachukwu was stuck in the Kirikiri Female Prison for four days despite provisions made to secure her bail as the magistrate would not have audience with her counsel. The source, who craved anonymity, alleged that Dawodu’s refusal to attend to the bail procedure may be deliberate. He said, “That is what Lagos State does usually if they have interest in a case. I learnt that the idea is to move the case away as much as possible from public glare to make her suffer for the story your paper published two weeks ago relating to the state deputy governor. “Contrary to her order on Monday on bail option, the magistrate has refused to have audience with the sureties including an old man. “They were on hand on the same day just as an amount of N100,000 was paid via transfer same day. “Keeping the woman in Kirikiri is as if she has already been prosecuted.” The case was transferred from an Ikeja Chief Magistrates’ Court on Friday to a Juvenile Court. By its mode of operation, journalists are barred from witnessing proceedings in the juvenile court. Meanwhile, when our correspondent spoke to an official of the court on telephone, she said she was not empowered to speak on the matter. “This is a family court, we don’t make issues public. “On Monday, their paper was not complete. On Tuesday and Wednesday it was not complete and on Thursday, the magistrate asked them to come back on Friday. I don’t know how you got my number and I don’t know what you want to publish.” Going by bail procedures, which requires verification of sureties’ addresses, Nwachukwu will have to spend the weekend in Kirikiri. 

Boko Haram: Shettima Breaks Down In Tears As He Laments FG’s Neglect Of Borno

State Governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima yesterday broke down in tears over the federal government’s perceived indifference to the plight of the people of the state since the insurgency began.

Shettima, while presenting KYAN machines to 40 teachers trained in India at the Government House, Maiduguri, noted that the federal government gave N25 billion to communities affected by oil spillage in Cross Rivers, N3 billion to the Nollywood and Borno, seriously affected by the activities of Boko Haram over the last four years, was given a paltry N200 million as assistance.

He said the money paled to insignificance when put side-by-side the magnitude of killings and destruction of both public and private properties worth billions of naira by terrorists

Insurgency, he explained, is worse than the Niger Delta crisis, oil spillage that affected only crops and farm lands as against deaths arising from bombings, burning of properties as experienced in the state in the last four years.

In tears, Shettima said: “Power belongs to God and he gives it to whoever He wants. Nobody is interested in assisting Borno. We have spent billions in trying to bring peace to the state and the federal government gave just a meagre N200million and this is the same government that gave N25 billion to Cross River State and N3 billion to Nollywood.”

40-Years-Old Mother Set To Marry Own Son-In Zimbabwe (See Photo Of Them Kissing)

A 40-year-old mother is set to marry her own son.  The woman and her son claim to be in love with each other.  And now they want to take their relationship to the next level and get married considering that the mother, Betty Mbereko (from Mwenezi in Masvingo) is now six months pregnant and expecting her son’s child and her grand child.

 Mbereko, 40,  has been a widow for the past 12 years and has been living with her 23-years-old son  Farai Mbereko.

 She confirms that she is six month pregnant and that she has decided it is better to “marry” her son because she does not want to marry her late husband’s young brothers, whom she says are coveting her.

 Betty stunned a village court last week when she said the affair with her son had begun three years earlier.

 She said after spending a lot of money sending Farai to school following the death of her husband, she felt she had a right to his money and no other woman was entitled to it.

 “Look, I strove alone to send my son to school and no one helped me. Now you see that my son is working and you accuse me of doing something wrong.

 “Let me enjoy the products of my sweat,” she told the village court council.

 Farai said he was more than prepared to marry his mother and would pay off the ilobola balance his father had left unpaid to his grandparents.

 “I know my father died before he finished paying the bride price and I am prepared to pay it off,” he said. “It is better to publicise what is happening because people should know that I am the one who made my mother pregnant.

 Otherwise they will accuse her of promiscuity.” But local headman Nathan Muputirwa says: “We cannot allow this to happen in our village, mashura chaiwo aya, (This is a bad omen indeed). In the past they would have to be killed but today we cannot do it because we are afraid of the police.”

 He warned them to immediately break off their marriage or leave his village. They chose the latter and have  since left the village for an undisclosed  destination.

Water-Tight Security As IG Assures PDP, Delegates Of Safe And Conducive Atmosphere

The Inspector-General of Police, Mr Mohammed Abubakar, has assured delegates to the PDP Special Convention slated for Saturday that the police will provide adequate security in and around the venue of the event.

Towards this, Abubakar said he had issued an operational order to the Commissioner of Police in the FCT, Mr Femi Ogunbayode, directing him to ensure “tactical and well coordinated deployment of personnel and equipment”.

This is contained in a statement issued by CSP Frank Mba, the Force Public Relations Officer on Thursday.

The statement said that the deployment was to provide safe and conducive atmosphere for the convention.

“He has equally directed the deployment of personnel of the Police Mobile Force (PMF), Counter-Terrorist Unit (CTU), Anti-Bomb Squad and the Police Air Wing for aerial patrol.

“In addition, personnel of the Canine section and special operatives of the FIB are to be deployed for the operation.

“The AIG Zone 7 has been directed to personally take charge of the entire operation to guarantee a seamless command and control of the exercise,” it said.

It said that all roads leading to Eagle Square, venue of the convention would be barricaded and traffic diverted with effect from 4.00pm on Friday, Aug. 30.

The statement listed the roads as: Ahmadu Bello Way Fly-over; Benue Plaza; Ministry of Finance junction; Bullet junction; Bayelsa House junction; and Ministry of Foreign Affairs Fly-over.

It advised motorists to utilise alternate routes during the convention.

The statement advised persons not participating in the convention to avoid the venue as police operatives had been instructed to restrain all intruders irrespective of status.

It urged the public to cooperate with the Police and other security agencies in ensuring a hitch-free convention. (NAN)

Shocking! 14-Year-Old Macheted To Death In Ondo

14-year-old son of the National President of the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees, Comrade Solomon Adelegan has been murdered in cold blood by yet to be identified killers.

Oluwaseyi Adelegan was said to have been murdered at his father’s residence in Aduralere quarters, Ijoka areas of Akure in the early hours of Thursday.

Oluwaseyi, a student of SS 1, who was home alone was macheted by the killers and was left to die there, but reports said he managed to crawl from the room to the sitting room but had no more strength to crawl further to the front door in order to raise alarm.

His siblings were reported to have found his dead body lying in the pool of his blood when they returned from the holiday lesson they were supposed to go for together, out of which the deceased opted for unknown reasons. They raised the alarm, attracting neighbours who could not render any assistance as he was said to be dead already.

The matter has been reported to men of the Ondo State Police Command, with investigations said to have started and the police vowing to bring killers of the innocent boy too book.

Assassins murder union leader’s 14-year-old son in Akure

A teenager, Oluwaseyi Adelegan, 14, was
on Friday murdered by unknown assailants at his
father’s house in Akure. The deceased is the son of Chief Solomon
Adelegan, the National President, Amalgamated
Union of Public Corporation, Civil Service Technical
and Recreational Services. The Police Public Relation Officer (PPRO) in Ondo
State, Mr Wole Ogodo, confirmed the incident the
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). “It is obvious the young boy was killed while
trying to move out of his bedroom to the sitting
room before he eventually gave up,’’ Ogodo said. Ogodo, who said that no arrest had been made,
said that the case had been transferred to the
Criminal Investigation Department (CID). According to him, the information surrounding
the death of the young boy is still sketchy, but I
assure you that police will get to the root of the
crime. NAN gathered that a group of suspected assassins
invaded the home of the Adelegans located at
Aduralere Quarters in Ijoka Area of Akure and
macheted the boy to death. According to a source, who spoke on condition of
anonymity, Oluwaseyi was found in a pool of his
blood in his parents’ house. The source said that deceased was hale and
hearty when his siblings left for holiday coaching
in the morning and he was the only person left in
the house. “The siblings were surprised to find the dead
body of their brother in the sitting room when
they returned from school. “The children raised alarm when they saw their
brother, but the young boy was stone dead before
their arrival,’’ the source added. Scores of sympathisers thronged the residence of
Adelegan to condole with him on the death of his
son. Efforts by NAN correspondent to speak with the
bereaved parents were not successful as they
were in shock over the mysteries surrounding the
death of their son. (NAN)

Suspects Arrested In Border Killing As Customs Tighten Security

The Seme Customs Command has tightened
security around the border, following the
killing of a senior customs officer by a mob on
Friday, to avenge the shooting of a smuggler
by Customs Officers, with the Police said to
have made a number of arrests in connection with the incident. Speaking to Vanguard about the situation at
the border, Public Relations Officer of the
Command, Ernest Olottah, said “We are doing
what we were doing, there is no unusual
action. We have always taken security at the
border post very seriously.” Olottah refused to comment on whether the
deceased Customs officer has been buried,
and the condition of the smuggler shot
yesterday. He however noted that after the incident, the
police have taken over and are involved in the
investigation, adding that some arrests have
been made in connection with the killing of
the officer.



“It is worth noting that the intensification of
our anti-smuggling operation which has led
to the making of over 686 seizures since
January 2013 has placed us on the danger of
attacks like this from criminals who are being
prevented from using the border for anti- economic and other nefarious activities,” a
statement signed by Olottah yesterday said. “Our operatives, due to their uncompromising
stance against smuggling and protecting the
nation’s economy have come under series of
attacks by smugglers and some unpatriotic
elements who see smuggling as their right. In
some cases, attempts made at disarming some of our operatives in the recent past were
rebuffed,” the statement concluded.

Mandela Discharged From Hospital

Former South African President and anti-
apartheid hero, Nelson Mandela has reportedly
returned to his home in Johannesburg after a
long stay in hospital in Pretoria. The BBC online says the 95-year-old had
recovered well enough from an infection to
leave the hospital where he has been for three
months to return to his home to be cared for
by his family. He had been admitted with a recurring lung
infection on June 8. His condition was last week described as
“critical but stable”, and there has been no
official update on his health since then. There has not yet been other confirmation of
Mandela’s discharge. CNN and Sky News have also reported
Mandela’s release. CNN says two sources close
to Mandela had confirmed his release, while
Sky says his daughter has confirmed the
report. But South African president Jacob
Zuma says the reports are incorrect. “Madiba is still in hospital in Pretoria, and
remains in a critical but stable condition. At
times his condition becomes unstable, but he
responds to medical interventions,” the
presidency said in a statement on its website.

Controversy continues to trail demolition of Onitsha hotel where human heads were found

On August 1, 2013, an unprecedented crowd
gathered in front of Upper Class Hotel, 8 Market
road, Onitsha , Anambra State, to witness its
demolition, following the discovery of two human
heads and ammunitions by operatives of the Anambra State Police Command. Consequently, proprietor of the hotel, Mr
Bonaventure Mokwe, alongside 13 of his staff
were reportedly arrested. Controversy has however begun to trail the
demolition action allegedly on the directive of the
Anambra State Government and the continued
detention of the suspects. Although the hotel proprietor’s wife, Mrs Nkiru
Mokwe, had earlier cried foul over the demolition
of her husband’s hotel, even as she had raised
alarm that her husband’s life was in danger. Throwing its weight behind Mrs Mokwe’s cry of
injustice, the Network on Police Reform in Nigeria,
NOPRIN, comprising 46 civil society organisations
spread across the country,with the aim of
promoting police accountability and respect for
human rights has described the continuous detention of the suspects without trail as
unconstitutional.


Gov Obi supervising the demolition…

Taking a swipe on the state government, NOPRIN
also accused operatives of the state command’s
Special Anti-Robbery Squad,SARS for working for
the interest of politicians, rather than the Nigeria
Police Force. It therefore, called on the Inspector-
General of Police, Mr Mohammed Abubakar to re- organise SARS with a view to insulating them
from abuse of office. Asserting that there was more to the demolition
of the hotel than the alleged discovery of human
heads, NOPRIN’s Programme and Advocacy
Coordinator, Mr Okechukwu Nwanguma , while
briefing newsmen on the development, stated
that : “ the Anambra State Government ‘s policy of extralegal demolition of properties of persons
accused of crime in the state is condemnable. The
state government’s rationalisation that such
clearly illegal and primitive action is in line with
its policy to sustain the fight against crime and
criminality , is preposterous and unfounded in logic and law. While violent crime plagues Anambra State as
most other states in Nigeria and daily assuming a
n alarming proportion, nothing whatsoever can
justify any crime fighting policy or measure that is
contrary to the fundamental law of the country
that violates human rights, subverts due process and observance of the rule of law.. “ Among the hallmarks and cardinal principles of
democracy include respect for human rights,
principle compliance with the due process and
observance of the rule of law . Any law
enforcement or crime fighting approach that
compromises or falls foul of any of these basic democratic principles, will not only be unlawful
and criminal but will be counter productive.
Democracy is protected by the rule of law. The
absence of it will be anarchy which is a threat to
democracy. “The prevailing situation in Anambra State,
whereby the state government demolishes
property of any person accused of a crime,
without any judicial process or valid order of court
amounts to lawlessness. It is a policy that
promotes self help. It is susceptible to abuse and creates room for the persecution or witch hunting
of political opponents or personal vendetta. Illegal arrest “Mr. Mokwe and 13 of his workers
arrested along with him,including a Doctorate
Degree student at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University,
who works part time in the hotel to pay for his
studies have remained in detention at SARS
Awkuzu till date without any indication from the police as to what next step they want to take. “Following complaints received by NOPRIN on
August 4, that Mr. Mokwe was detained, chained
and being tortured, with fears that he may be
extra judicially killed in custody, we called and
inquired directly from the OC SARS, CSP Nwafor on
the condition of Mr. Mokwe in police custody. He only confirmed to us that Mr. Mokwe was still in
their custody and alive. He however, refused to
state how soon the police will charge him to court
or free him. Since then, we were informed, he had
been unchained and his wife and counsel allowed
to see him some times of the day.


*The ‘hotel …Before the bulldozer moved in

The police violated Mr. Mokwe’s rights to due
process and presumption of innocence by
detaining him indefinitely. Mr. Mokwe’s family
insists that he was framed up by business rivals
and enemies who had earlier threatened to plant
incriminating objects and use the police to deal with him. They contend that the demolished hotel
was a commercial property that was accessible to
anyone who could pay for room rental and could
implant human skulls there. Conflicting report“The Mokwe’s family said that
although the Police claimed to have recovered
fresh human heads dripping with blood from the
hotel, what they actually displayed to the media
were two dried skulls. NOPRIN believes that if the police have credible
evidence to prosecute the accused persons, they
should not delay to charge and arraign them
before a competent court of jurisdiction. His
continued detention in SARS cell without trial is
illegal, unconstitutional and condemnable. NOPRIN has already petitioned the Inspector-
General of Police on this matter. The Nigerian Constitution guarantees, among
others: rights to life, liberty, fair hearing and due
process. It prohibits torture,cruel, inhuman and
other degrading treatment, and gives victims of
human rights violations a right to seek redress in
court. The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights {Ratification and Enforcement) Act, which
makes the African Charter part of Nigeria’s
domestic law, reinforces these human rights
guarantees which are essential for effective
policing. Indicts operatives of SARS
“We have received information about an unholy
alliance between the Anambra State Government
and the authorities at SARS in Awkuzu whose
operatives operate as if they are above the law
and accountability. The use of SARS to provide security for illegal demolition of people’s property
appear to underscore this unholy alliance. SARS is under police Force Criminal Investigation
Department specifically charged to combat armed
robbery and other heinous crimes nationwide. But
SARS in all parts of Nigeria has gained
embarrassing notoriety , tainting the image of the
Nigerian Police locally and internationally, and should either be scrapped or comprehensively
reformed to conform to modern standards of
policing or human rights compliant policing. “SARS operatives are known for arresting people
for all manner of alleged offences, torturing,and
executing suspects, and detainees in their custody
are secretly ill- treated. They also dabble into civil
disputes. We therefore, call on Anambra State government
to discharge its governance responsibilities
lawfully and put a stop to all illegal, barbaric
policies and actions,” Nwanguma stated.

No headway as ASUU battles govt over extra allowances, funding

When the Academic Staff Union of Universities,
ASUU, embarked on a national strike on July 1,
2013 due to the refusal of Federal Government to
implement the 2009 agreement it signed with the
union which had several components, including
adequate funding of education sector, Nigerians feared another long winter for their children
forced to return home. Strike by lecturers in public universities has
become a normal trend every two years. The
nation is accustomed to disrupted academic
sessions that at times linger on for about six
months. To have an uninterrupted academic calendar in
the university system is abnormal. So the strike
factor is usually built into the calendar. An
academic programme scheduled for three or four
years, could last for seven years. The blame for this can rightly be placed at the
door step of the Federal Government, fond of
breaching negotiated agreements reached with
ASUU. There is the question of failed leadership,
corruption, show of insincerity and lack of
commitment to agreements; knowing that any breach would lead to shutting down of the
universities by a frustrated union which feels
government is unwilling to develop education in
the country. The government is yet to understand
that any refusal to honour agreement freely
signed without duress tantamounts to a breach of contract, actionable in law. Already, the public university system is in
decadence in all ramifications. Most of the over 30
Federal and 36 State universities are in bad
condition. Physical infrastructure for teaching and
learning are grossly inadequate, dilapidated and
over stretched. The laboratories and workshops are obsolete, poor furnishings, poor power and
water supply, outdated equipment, crowded
hostels and unhygienic living conditions. Many of the universities don’t have video
conferencing facility, only a fraction have or use
interactive white boards. Many are without public
address systems in their lecture rooms, while
none of the universities had fully automated
library resources.


Education Minister, Prof. Ruqayattu Ahmed and
ASUU President, Nasir Issa-Fagee

Apart from all these inadequacies, it has been
found in a Federal Ministry of Education Report,
that many of the universities are grossly
understaffed, relying mainly on part-time and
visiting lecturers, with several under-qualified
academic staff, lacking effective staff development programmes. Recently, the National
Universities Commission (NUC) came out with a
directive that all university lecturers must possess
Ph. D degrees within a given time or lose their
appointments. Only about 43% of academic staff
in the university system have doctorate degrees, the remaining 57% don’t. According to the report, there are 37,504 lecturers
in public universities, but only 28,128 (about 75%
) are engaged on full time basis, the rest 25% are
either part-time, visiting, on sabbatical or on
contract. Against this sordid scenario, one can understand
the struggle of ASUU to reform and transform
public universities to meet with the standards
obtainable in other climes. Our leaders are not ready to embark of this
transformation because they are not committed
to proper and adequate funding of education of
which UNESCO recommended 26% of national
budget. But Nigeria allocates less than 10% of her
budget to education which is even among the lowest in Africa. Yet this nation can do better. People in government and politicians are quick to
send their children to UK, USA, Canada, Australia,
Ukrain, Russia, and even nearby Ghana, Togo,
Benin for university education. Because of their ill-
gotten wealth, they can patronise expensive
private institutions, rather than increase funding to upgrade public schools at home. Dr. Nasir Fagge, ASUU National President, had
explained that the strike was not just to reposition
the education sector, particularly the university
system, but to salvage our country. He said ASUU
was determined to prosecute the strike to its
logical conclusion, and that the implementation of the agreement was a cardinal issue that must
be accomplished by the union as this would
transform the country’s university system.
Government offered a paltry N100 billion for
infrastructure, and N30 billion for earned
allowances, a far cry from N87 billion demanded. On accepting the offer of N30 billion and going
back to class while reaching agreement on when
the next installments will be paid, Fagge rejected
this, saying, “We had made that mistake before
whereby only the salary component of the
agreement was singled out and so we can not afford to make such a mistake again. Until the
whole agreement is fully implemented, we are
not going to call off this strike.” Over N500 billion is needed for infrastructure
upgrade. President Goodluck Jonathan and other eminent
Nigerians had appealed to ASUU to take the N30
billion offer by government and return to
classroom. The union had demanded for N87 billion (not
N92 billion) in extra allowances translated as
excess work load, high carriage of students per
lecturer, responsibility allowance which included
supervision of academic projects for final-year
students, Masters, Ph.D theses, course advice, administrative duties as heads of departments,
deans of faculties, hall masters, etc.



Because of inadequate staffing, the work load
had been heavy with one lecturer to 200, or even
300 students. Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, in
stating the government position had said the
money – N92 billion according to her, which ASUU
was demanding (but refuted by the union to be
actually N87bn) was not only unrealistic, but also
not within the reach of the Federal Government. Her words at a 2-day conference of
Commissioners of Finance and Accountants-
General of States Ministries of Finance held in
Minna, Niger State. “At present, ASUU wants the
government to pay N92 billion in extra allowances
when resources are not there and when we are working to integrate past increases in pensions.
We need to make choices in this country as we
are getting to the stage where recurrent
expenditures take the bulk of our resources and
people get paid but can do no work.” Series of deadlock had characterised meetings
between ASUU leaders and the Federal
Government Team lead by Governor Suswam of
Benue State to resolve the crisis and pave way for
lecturers to return back to work. Mr. James Bidemi, a Senior Management staff in a
public university, commended the ASUU action
which seemed good and appropriate, but
cautioned if the dispute is not resolved, it could
destroy university education in the country. He
called for state of emergency on education. “Government should meet at least 50% to 60% of
ASUU demand, and people will support
government in the appeal for the strike to be
called off. It’s about an agreement which
government was bound to implement and also
endeavour to tackle the decaying infrastructure in the university system.” A university teacher, in his
reaction, wondered why the Minister of Education
failed to capture these earned allowances owed
to lecturers by the 2009 agreement in the 2013
budget. If they were legislators, the funds will be
available. Meanwhile, the strike is biting hard as students
have been roaming the streets, lured into
criminality and social vices like prostitution, drug
trafficking, kidnapping and political thuggery. Chief Joshua Nwosu, a businessman with three
children in the university now at home blamed
bad and insensitive leaders for the horrible
condition of the education system.“The
government just refused to allocate sufficient
fund to education despite the abundant financial resources available. Millions of our youths are
jobless, yet government is not willing to provide
adequate money for educational development.
Something drastic must be done to save our
education from total collapse. President Jonathan
should act fast and be patriotic.”

Female passenger causes panic aboard Aero flight

Passengers were Friday thrown into confusion
aboard an Aero Contractors aircraft scheduled to
take-off from Lagos to Benin as one of the female
passengers started screaming on top of her voice
that she was no longer travelling, thus causing
panic onboard. The passenger’s strange behaviour is coming
barely one week after a teenage boy, Daniel
Ohikena caused scare at the airport when he
stowed away on Arik Air plane from Benin to
Lagos. The female passenger whose identity could not
be ascertained at press time was said to have
been ignored by members of cabin crew and
passengers alike but her persistence led to
suspicion among the passengers. An eye-witness who confided in Saturday
Vanguard said that the female passenger after
boarding the flight screamed on top of her voice
that she was no longer willing to travel with the
plane. The strange behaviour, however led to the delay
of the Benin- bound aircraft for two hours as all
the passengers were asked to disembark while
the plane was screened again. Saturday Vanguard further gathered that all the
checked-in luggage were also off-loaded for
proper screening by both Aero and Aviation
Security, AVSEC, of the Federal Airports authority of
Nigeria, FAAN. But despite the re-screening of the already
checked in passengers and their luggage, nothing
suspicious was found on board. It was also learnt that the passenger was handed
over to security agents by AVSEC while the other
passengers proceeded on the journey to Benin. According to the source, “All passengers were
already onboard and the pilot was preparing to
take off before the woman started the strange
behaviour. “At first, no one took her seriously, but when the
shouting and soliloquy continued, the passengers
became apprehensive and ordered the pilot to
abort the flight. ”The situation was not funny at all. In fact, the
woman was speaking in a language which no
one understood. But I can tell you authoritatively
that all the passengers have been taken to Benin
with the same aircraft and they landed in the
airport safely. ”This was not the first time such an incident
would be happening. In fact, it is common
among first time travellers but no one knows the
motive behind this act. However, I believe the
security agents will do their work and reveal what
led to the strange behaviour.”

Six killed in fresh Plateau violence

Six persons have been killed in Bisichi village along Foron Road in Barkin Ladi Local
Government of Plateau State in the early hours of
Friday. Saturday Independent gathered from the affected
community that among those killed was a
pregnant woman and five men who were
returning from Bukuru, the headquarters of Jos,
South LGC to Foron district in neighbouring Barkin
Ladi local government council. The Chairman of Barkin Ladi Local Government
Hon. Emmanuel Loman, when contacted
confirmed the attack, disclosing that the six
people were ambush on their way to Foron and
Fan villages and the incident took place around
7:30a.m. on Friday. Loman said two of the victims were from Bwara,
while one was from Kakpwis in Foron district, and
the other three including the pregnant woman
were from Fan district of his local government
council. He described the attack as barbaric and sad,
coming at a time that peace has fully returned to
the local government.
He however called on the people of the locality to
remain calm as security agencies are putting
effort to make sure that the suspects are brought to book.

PDP convention: Aspirants scramble for Jonathan’s endorsement

The last 24 hours have witnessed intensive lobbying for President Goodluck Jonathan’s
endorsement by aspirants jostling for the vacant
National Working Committee (NWC) positions of
the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for which
elections are to be held at the Eagles Square,
Abuja today. Impeccable sources at the party secretariat told
Saturday Independent in confidence that while
some groups within the party who felt their
chances were being dimmed by the reported
adoption of some candidates for certain offices in
the NWC, and had hired some persons who had been holding protests at the party secretariat at
different times in the last fours days, some others
who felt that their chances can be brightened by
presidential endorsement have continued
intensifying the efforts at getting it. However, it is expected that a total of 77 aspirants
will slug it out at the Eagle Square today for the
vacant 17 offices within the NWC as none of the
aspirants have agreed to step down from the race
despite intense pressure mounted on them in the
last three days by various interests within the party. With the offices allocated to zones for occupation,
the zonal executives of the party in the zone had
also held meetings with stakeholders where the
offices were re-allocated to states within the
zones based on certain criteria. The South East zone was the last to carry out the
re-allocation which has even generated
controversies within the party. Adoption of candidates for the specific offices has
also torn the South South zone apart as some of
the candidates vying for the post of the Deputy
National Chairman are kicking against the said
adoption of Jonathan’s candidate, Prince Uche
Secondus. Sources at the party secretariat confided in
Saturday Independent that sponsors of
candidates as well as the candidates themselves,
who had the feeling that presidential
endorsement will do their candidature well, were
said to have mounted pressures on some presidential aides towards having the ears of the
President even as late as Friday. The most likely contentious position up for grab
at the convention might be the office of the
Deputy National Chairman and that of the National
Publicity Secretary for which aspirants who are not
from the states to which the positions have been
re-zoned are refusing to give up. Aside from Secondus, others in the race for the
position of Deputy National Chairman are Mrs.
Stella Omu, Dr Sam Sam Jaja and Ambassador
Peter Dongo Isibor. The opposition to Secondus is quite tough as the
rest of the aspirants are spoiling for war over his
unilateral adoption for the position by some
stalwarts of the party from the zone led by the
PDP Board of Trustees Chairman, Chief Tony
Anenih, and the Zonal Vice-Chairman, Dr Steve Oruh. The “group of elders” had last weekend in
Calabar, the Cross Rivers State capital adopted
Secondus as the candidate for the office of deputy
national chairman. Checks revealed that the former National
Organising secretary of the party was Jonathan’s
candidate for the position at the 2012 convention
but lost out to power play between the President
and Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi’s
anointed candidate for the same position, Jaja. However, the race might be quite tough for Jaja
too who was pronounced expelled from the PDP
by the Felix Obuah-led executive of the party in
River State last week. He was “expelled” alongside 14 other members
of the party who are perceived to be Amaechi’s
loyalists. The same tight fight is expected for the office of
the National Publicity Secretary as other
candidates who are not from Anambra State are
refusing to throw in the towel. The South East zonal leadership re-zoned the
office to Anambra on Wednesday with a view to
giving Olisa Metuh an advantage but other
contestants from other South East states are
having none of it, as they have all vowed to go to
the poll today irrespective of whatever decisions have been taken by the zonal leaders. In the light of the refusal to bow to the wish of
some “elders” a total of 77 aspirants who have
showed interest in the 17 offices due to be
contested are expected to slug it out today. The offices include the Deputy National Chairman,
Deputy National Secretary, National Organising
Secretary, Deputy National Organising Secretary,
National Publicity Secretary, Deputy National
Publicity Secretary, National Treasurer, Deputy
National Treasurer, National Legal Adviser and Deputy National Legal Adviser. Others are National Woman Leader, Deputy
National Woman Leader, National Youth Leader,
Deputy National Youth leader, Deputy National
Youth Leader, Deputy Financial Secretary, Deputy
National Auditor and Ex-officio members. Giving an update on preparations for today’s
convention, Chairman of the Convention Planning
Committee, Professor Jerry Gana, told journalists
that the office of National Secretary of the party
would not be contested for in view of subsisting
litigations over it. The party had been restrained from declaring the
office vacant, following a restraining order in a
suit instituted by former National Secretary of the
party, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola. Gana however assured aspirants who picked
nomination forms for the office that their money
would be refunded.

Lagos Wants Fresh Census In 14 LGAs

Lagos State Government has called on the
National Population Commission to honour the
recent Judgment the National Census Tribunal and
conduct a fresh census in 14 affected local
government areas in the state. The state Attorney General and Commissioner for
Justice, Mr. Ade Ipaye, who briefed journalist on
Friday in Alausa, said the judgment nullified the
figures released by NPC and ordered a recount of
the affected local councils. Ipaye’s counterparts in Ministries of Information
and Works and Infrastructure Mr. Lateef Ibirogba
and Obafemi Hamzat attended the briefing. He explained that the tribunal nullified the census
figures released by the NPC in 14 local councils in
the state on the ground that the counting was
illegal and did not give the accurate censors
figures of the state. He said, “In the final analysis, the official national
census results for 14 old local government areas
(now 40 LGAs and LCDAs) in Lagos State have been
nullified. This vindicates the resolve of the state
government to base its physical and economic
plans on a projected population of 17,553,924 in
2006 and over 21,000,000 currently. We now expect that the National Population
Commission will urgently announce plans for a
recount as ordered by the tribunal.”