An MTN office at Bodija in the capital city of Oyo State, Ibadan was set on fire last night on the heels of the protest which ensued after Nigerians in South Africa were subjected to xenophobic attacks.
A video of the MTN office which was set on fire by angry protesters has long gone viral on social media.
Watch the video below;
https://www.instagram.com/p/B1_K3GzgHZg/?igshid=1l7aehyosik73
The Kogi State PDP governorship primary election ended abruptly in the early hours of today when gunmen invaded the venue of the election, Lokoja Confluence Stadium.
According to reports, voting had ended and the sorting of votes was going on when the gunmen came to the venue at about 1:45 am and started shooting from different directions. Votes in eight out of the 10 ballot boxes have already been counted and sorted out before the disruption by the gunmen.
Aspirants, delegates, and others scampered for safety while the number of casualties has yet to be ascertained. Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa, the Chairman of the Electoral Committee was also said to have narrowly escaped the bullets of the gunmen.
Apart from the xenophobic attacks going on in South Africa, the country is also battling with gender-based violence that has seen countless women and children raped in the past couple of months.
According to a tweeter user @uYesuKrestu a man’s penis was chopped off for raping a 5-year-old child.
See the full photo below…
Operatives of the Uyo Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Monday, September 2, 2019, arrested six suspected internet fraudsters, who specialize in hacking into Facebook accounts and defrauding innocent persons on the contact list of such accounts.
The suspects were arrested in a two-bedroom apartment, located on 54 Church Road, off Calabar Itu Express Way, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, following an intelligence report on their nefarious activities in the town.
The suspects, who are all males, within the ages of 22 and 29 are; Lawrence Nnamdi-Mba Ebesike, Prince E. Udeh, Chijioke Victor, Promise Odimba, Ugbor Ifeanyi and Prince Anthony.
During interrogation, the suspects said the apartment they occupied was rented by the kingpin, Ebesike, for the purpose of training facebook hackers. The suspects also admitted to have made over $4,000 (Four thousand United States Dollars) through cyber fraud.
While interrogating Ebesike who claimed to be a musician with the stage name ‘Lawre Blue’, he confessed to the crime and gave a detailed account of how they carried out their operations on Facebook.
“I am into internet fraud. Part of how I operate is, I edit Facebook accounts, go to google and search for pictures of United State military personnel. I download some of these pictures and put them on the newly created facebook accounts.
After doing that, I target foreigners, mostly old white women who are in need of men. I stay online all day trying to befriend them. After convincing them, I will make them apply for my leave so that I can see them”, Ebesike confessed.
According to Ebesike, they have a pickup person in the US by name Benjamin Best, whom he said provides them with the pickup account where their victims make payments into.
“After convincing my victims, Benjamin will provide an account for me to give them to pay the money into. He usually takes his commission before sending mine to me via my First bank account” he said.
Another suspect, Ifeanyi who is an undergraduate of Abia State University, said he was introduced to Ebesike by one of the suspects, Udeh. Ifeanyi also narrated his own procedure which was quite similar to that of the kingpin. “After hacking a facebook account, I edit it to a white military man’s account and start adding many white women and gradually make them fall in love with me. After two weeks, I tell them to apply for a vacation for me so I can leave the camp and visit them. I also make them send me money. I have hacked one Abdullahi Harifat’s account and impersonated one Tochi Jesus” he said.
Prince E. Udeh, Chijioke Victor, Promise Odimba and Prince Anthony equally gave similar stories and how they were also trained by Ebesike to hack facebook accounts. At the time of their arrest, one of the suspects, Ugbor Ifeanyi, was caught hiding in a wardrobe with his laptop, while Anthony was equally caught trying to hide his laptop in the water cistern of their toilet.
Items recovered from them are; 6 laptops, 12 sophisticated mobile phones, 1 International Passport, 4 Airtel Sim Packs, 3 MTN Sim Packs, 2 Glo Sim Packs, a Smile Router and 2 browsing modems. They will be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded.
German authorities have raided the home of former Real Madrid defender Christoph Metzelder over suspicions of spreading child pornography’
Prosecutors in Hamburg confirmed to newspaper Bild that there is an ongoing investigation into the 38-year-old German, who played for his country and Real Madrid including Borussia Dortmund.
Before the raid, investigators confiscated his mobile phone and accompanied him back to his house in Dusseldorf before searching the property.
According to Bild, at least one computer was taken and it is still being searched by police.
A spokesperson for Hamburg’s prosecutors said ‘a 38-year-old German’ was suspected of spreading child pornography, which included ‘digital image recordings’.
Bild reported that the raid came after information was provided to police by a woman from Hamburg who Metzelder allegedly had a relationship with. She showed 15 images of child pornography to the police that had been sent to her through messaging software WhatsApp.
Metzelder, who plans to be a top coach is currently taking part in a coaching course at the famous Hennef sports school in the Rhine.
The Federal Government has appealed to Nigerians not to attack South African companies operating in Nigeria in retaliation for the ongoing xenophobic attacks against Nigerians in South Africa.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, described as deeply disturbing the reports that some Nigerians, angered by the xenophobic attacks in South Africa, have started attacking South African companies in Nigeria.
He said that targeting South African companies in Nigeria for attack is, for Nigerians, a classic case of cutting off your nose to spite your face, because the investors in such companies, especially MTN and Shoprite, are Nigerians.
Mohammed said majority of the workers in the South African companies operating in Nigeria are also Nigerians, meaning that its Nigerian workers who would be hardest hit if such companies were forced to shut down for fear of attacks.
He assured Nigerians that the Federal Government was already taking decisive measures to put an end to the persistent xenophobic attacks against Nigerians in South Africa.
“President Muhammadu Buhari has dispatched a Special Envoy to convey to his South African counterpart, President Cyril Ramaphosa, his concerns and also interact with his South African counterpart on the æasituation.
”Also, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama, acting on the instruction of Mr. President, has summoned the South African High Commissioner to Nigeria to get a brief on the situation; express Nigeria’s displeasure over the treatment of her citizens; and secure assurance of the safety of their lives and property,” the Minister said.
Ghanaian marriage and relationship counselor, Cyril George Carstensen Lutterodt has again dropped a controversial claim of women rocking their natural hair being depressed.
Though some black millenials rock their natural hair as a way of boosting their confidence and promoting the black race, the controversial Ghanaian relationship counselor said it all ends up being unkempt.
“There is nothing called Natural hair, it is depression, anybody you see in natural hair is depressed, they are going through psychological deficiency.
“There is nothing like African or blackness when your hair is unkempt because if you check the Egyptians they started stretching their hair first and that is where Africanism started” he said.
Lutterodt further added that the woman who wiped the feet of Jesus Christ with her hair had a stretched hair.
“In far back in 1982, we had a heat comb that you use in a coal pot and use to stretch the hair, because there is some particular romantic sensation, there is a nerve that connects the scalp of the head to your hair so there is a portion of the hair that when it is stretched in a certain way you feel very romantic” he noted.
Watch video below;
Chigozie Obioma is among the six authors shortlisted for the 2019 Booker Prize for Fiction.
Margaret Atwood, Lucy Ellmann , Bernardine Evaristo, Salman Rushdie and Elif Shafak are also up for the prize.
The shortlist was announced on Tuesday, September 3 by the 2019 Chair of Judges Peter Florence, at a press conference at London’s British Library.
He said, “Like all great literature, these books teem with life, with profound and celebratory humanity”.
The shortlist was selected from 151 submitted books. It offers an insight into different worlds from the dystopian setting of Gilead, the monologue of an Ohio housewife and the tragicomic tale of a travelling salesman in America; to mostly female, mostly Black, British lives across generations, the trials of a young Nigerian man on a quest to improve his prospects and true allegiances within the brothels of Istanbul.
The 2019 Booker Prize for Fiction is open to writers of any nationality, writing in English and published in the UK or Ireland between 1 October 2018 and 30 September 2019.
2019 shortlist are:
Margaret Atwood (Canada), The Testaments (Chatto & Windus)
Lucy Ellmann (UK/USA), Ducks, Newburyport (Galley Beggar Press)
Bernardine Evaristo (UK), Girl, Woman, Other (Hamish Hamilton)
Chigozie Obioma (Nigeria), An Orchestra of Minorities (Little Brown)
Salman Rushdie (UK/India), Quichotte (Jonathan Cape)
Elif Shafak (Turkey/UK), 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World
(Viking)
The 2019 winner will be announced on Monday 14 October at an awards ceremony at London’s Guildhall. An event with the winner, presented in partnership with New Statesman, is scheduled to take place at Foyles, Charing Cross on Thursday 17 October.
The shortlisted authors each receive £2,500 and a specially bound edition of their book. The winner will receive a further £50,000 and can expect instant international recognition.
Alhaji Manir Gidanjaja, a former Zamfara lawmaker who retraced his step back to the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the weekend, after defecting to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) three weeks ago, was pictured bowing before ex Governor of Zamfara state, Abdulaziz Yari, as he begged for forgiveness.
See another photo of Gidanjaja crying below.
Popular South African performer Zodwa Wabantu, has called out citizens of her country for the xenophobic attack on African Nationals living in their country.
The dancer, in a video, said the recent attack on African Nationals and Nigerians living in South Africa isn’t xenophobia but about poverty. According to her, lazy South Africans are “taking things from people who are really doing something about their lives.”
She called out the South Africans destroying and looting businesses owned by African nationals and said the attack has to stop.
Watch her video below;
https://www.instagram.com/p/B18wItbHUbI/?igshid=40uv27p12skz
Some angry Nigerians launched a retaliation attack at an MTN office in Uyo, Akwa Ibom state’s capital earlier today September 3.
The attack which came on the heels of the xenophobic attack currently witnessed in South Africa, saw properties belonging to the telecommunication company being vandalized.
Here are photos and a video from the scene of the incident below;
https://twitter.com/CzideV/status/1168886677634473985?s=19
26-year-old Grammy award-winning recording artist, Ariana Grande, has filed a lawsuit against Forever 21, an American fast fashion retailer for $10 million dollars for stealing her name and fame to influence consumers. The beauty company allegedly hired a “look-alike” model who was styled in Ariana’s likeness for an ad campaign.
Ariana accuses Forever 21 and Riley Rose of publishing over 30 images and videos pilfering her name, image, likeness and music to confuse consumers into thinking she supported the beauty products. This followed the breakdown of talks for a joint marketing campaign because Forever 21 refused to pay for “a celebrity of Ms Grande’s stature,” whose longer-term endorsements generate millions of dollars in fees.
Today, the complaint filed in California federal court claims Forever 21 contacted Grande’s representatives in anticipation of her latest album — thank u, next — for the purpose of an endorsement deal. “Notably, the endorsement deal Forever 21 sought with Ms Grande centered around social media marketing, including, but not limited to, Twitter posts, Instagram posts, and Instagram stories,” states the complaint. However, an agreement was not reached between the two parties.
Grande’s lawsuit in Los Angeles federal court seeks damages for copyright and trademark infringement, false endorsement, and violating her right of publicity.
Juliet Ibrahim lashed out at Daddy Freeze over his comment of Nigerian celebrities being hypocrites for ignoring the ongoing xenophobic attacks in South Africa.
Daddy Freeze had recalled how Nigerian celebrities stood up for Busola Dakolo when her rape allegation against COZA founder Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo, saturated news platforms even without any glaring evidence. Affirming that he has always known many celebrities are hypocrites, the Cool FM media personality added that regular people and not those in power are hypocrites.
Juliet Ibrahim who reacted to the post accused Daddy Freeze of also being a hypocrite. The Ghanaian actress stated that the people attacking other Africans in South Africa are not on his Instagram page, neither will they watch his YouTube channel or videos.
Urging Daddy Freeze to change his mentality, Juliet stated that his Instagram post shows he is ‘just like those barbaric people killing and attacking their fellow Africans because of inferiority complex’.
She wrote;
@marvyenterprise ?? maybe because he thinks posting Instagram videos and photos will solve the problems! @daddyfreezeyou are a hypocrite as well. The people attacking other Africans living in SA are not on your Instagram page! Wake up! TheSe people wont come and watch your YouTube channel or videos! They don’t know who you are! Instead of ranting on Instagram please use your wisdom and start within your own capable means to first of all stop practicing the same xenophobic behavior against your fellow celebrities! With this your post you have just proven to be just like those barbaric people killing and attacking their fellow Africans because of inferiority complex!
You are no different from them when you choose to attack celebrities instead of going about it peacefully! This is all you people know; trending hashtags with no actions! What about daddy freeze gathering all celebrities and the general public to protest or march to each African country presidential villa first to ask governments to do something about this ongoing issue? Why don’t you start instead of attacking ur own colleagues? Africans are Africa’s problems!
Change your mentality! Stop waiting around for someone else to start or lead before you get up and fight for your rights or yourself! Be a leader not a trend setter or a follower! Stop looking for who to blame for your problems! Celebrities are not your problem! African leaders that have ignored and played blind to the situation are and should be our targets and any form of rants because your hashtags on Instagram doesn’t make any damn difference. Wake up and go out there with your free sheeple community and start the protest or walk needed to gain recognition from the right people that will stand up for all Africans being attacked in South Africa.
Elizabeth Akinola Babalola, the woman who allegedly beat her four-year-old daughter, Testimony, to death on August 21st, was today remanded in prison custody following her arraignment before a Chief Magistrates’ Court sitting in Akure, Ondo state.
It was reported that Felix Babalola, who is currently on the run, and his wife Elizabeth beat their daughter to death over claims that she is an evil child. Elizabeth rushed her daughter to the hospital after she slumped and escaped with her corpse after she was informed by the doctors that the little girl had died.
After a detailed search was launched by the police, Elizabeth was fished out from her hiding and arrested. She was arraigned in court today. The police say efforts are being made to get her husband arrested.
Tuface Idibia is still pouring out his mind in reaction to the xenophobia in South Africa, where Nigerians and other African Nationals are getting killed and their businesses destroyed.
The singer addressed those calling out celebrities for not speaking up. He reminded them that they need not be celebrities in order to speak up and ask if Nelson Mandela was a celebrity before he started fighting for his people, this is coming after he got a backlash on Hushpuppi’s page.
See below;
He also called out the government of Nigeria for their inaction in the face of the xenophobic attack on Nigerians living in South Africa.
See his posts below.
Three of the victims were found dead at the scene, a house in Elkmont, Alabama, and the other two died later after being airlifted to a regional hospital.
“The 14-year old caller was interviewed and confessed to shooting all five members of his family in the residence,” Limestone County sheriff said on Twitter.
“He is currently assisting investigators in locating the weapon, a 9mm handgun that he said he tossed nearby,” it said.
The shootings occurred late Monday.
The boy in custody was not identified, and there was no immediate word on a possible motive for the murders.
A Nigerian woman this morning staged a solo peaceful protest at Shoprite in Surulere, Lagos State over the recent xenophobic attacks on Nigerians in South Africa. Shoprite is owned by South Africans.
Watch video;
https://www.instagram.com/p/B184wvuBh7O/?igshid=1n18v3291a9n2
President Muhammadu Buhari has instructed the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, to summon the South African High Commissioner to Nigeria, Bobby Monroe and get a brief on reported attacks on Nigerians living in the country.
The presidency in a statement signed by Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity said the president who is sad about the situation expressed Nigeria’s displeasure over the treatment of her citizens; and assurance of the safety of their lives and property.
According to the statement, the president has noted with deep concern, reported attacks on Nigerian citizens and property in South Africa since August 29, 2019, and has also despatched a Special Envoy to convey to President Cyril Ramaphosa his concerns and also interact with his South African counterpart on the situation.
The National Council for Women Society (NCWS) has commended the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, for spearheading the campaign against moral decadence in the country by disrupting Bobrisky’s 28th birthday party in Lagos this weekend.
The society also applauded Olusegun Runsewe, the Director General, National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), for exposing the unbecoming conducts of Nigerian transgender celebrity, “Bobrisky”.
President of NCWS, Dr Laraba Shoda, in a statement in Lagos issued through Runsewe’s media aide, Frank Meke decried the erosion of nation’s cultural values and the importation of alien cultures such as indecent exposure and open sexual activities on electronic media.
She lamented that the wanton show of cross gender activities was projecting a negative image to Nigerian youths as Bobrisky’s activities were not representative of nation’s culture.
According to her, the Nigerian culture and law recognised the clear distinction between men and women, reiterating that anything to the contrary was absurd, unacceptable and should be resisted.
”It is regrettable and strange for Bobrisky to publicly declare that he has 24 boy friends in high places as he stated on his Instagram handle. he is as an evil man who must be stopped.” she said.
Shoda called on Nigerian government and all well-meaning citizens to rise up and stop the evil before it would have adverse effects on children and the future of the nation. ”The protection of our noble cultural heritage and national image is of paramount importance to us all,” she said.
