Saturday, 29 November 2014

Up to 13,000 working as slaves in UK

Government launches strategy to end slavery as number of victims found to be up to four times higher than thought

A young Lithuanian woman who was a victim of trafficking and forced into prostitution in the UK. Photograph: Karen Robinson for the Guardian

Between 10,000 and 13,000 people in Britain are victims of slavery, up to four times the number previously thought, analysis for the government has found.

The figure for 2013 is the first time the government has made an official estimate of the scale of modern slavery in the UK, and includes women forced into prostitution, domestic staff, and workers in fields, factories and fishing.

Chinedu, Ikedieze, aka Aki

How do you feel each time ‘MFR’ is added to your name?

I don’t know how to explain it. I feel awesome. It is a special feeling. I feel so special. I am not only a citizen of Nigeria but also a special citizen. I feel like the special one.

I put off having a baby for six years because of my career- Lara George

Since going solo after her musical group, KUSH, broke up, Lara George has proved her mettle as a talented singer. With many hits to her credit, she has become a diva sought after both at home and abroad.

Lara-George

But things have not always been rosy for the easy-going, ever-smiling mother of two who stormed Vanguard’s corporate office on Monday, accompanied by her husband, Gbenga.

Agony of a widow beaten, stabbed and driven away from home

Nothing could be more harrowing than losing one’s husband, and being driven out of the matrimonial home. But the ensuing drama was even more gruesome than she had imagined.

Alhaja Adejoke Orenaike, a widow at 36, was at the center of the whole issue in a polygamous home. Eight days after her husband died, her co-wife and step son sent her out of her matrimonial home. As if that was not enough, her sister in-law attacked her with a knife. She managed to shove her off and she ran out of the house with her 8-year-old daughter who was screaming for help. According to her, all her husband estates, properties, chains of businesses have been seized by her step son who has also threatened to kill her if she lay claim to any property.

“My husband died on the 5th of May, 2013 after a protracted illness. Before his death, there were insinuations and revelations, according to my husband that my co-wife was plotting to kill him. My husband asked her but she denied. But after his death, events began to unfold which gave credence to the earlier suspicion. On the 8th day prayer rite, two members of the family came to the house with some hoodlums and sent me and my daughter out of the house. I was severely beaten and stabbed with a kitchen knife when I visited my husband’s house to celebrate the Muslim festival, Ileya.”

Attack on Jonathan: Obasanjo bent on destroying Nigeria—Ozehkome -

Senior Advocate of Nigeria and Human Right Activist, Chief Mike Ozehkome has accused former President Olusegun Obasanjo of working toward the disintegration of Nigeria.

Ozehkome in a telephone interview with Saturday Vanguard, insisted that it was ex-President Obasanjo that institutionalized corruption in the country, saying he ought not be recognized or addressed as an elder statesman.

The constitutional lawyer who made these allegations while reacting to Obasanjo’s attack on President Goodluck Jonathan over his alleged ignorance and poor understanding of the operations of the Boko Haram sect, maintained that the former president acted wrongly, saying his action was a calculated attempt to heat up the polity ahead of the 2015 general elections.

He described the timing of the allegation which Obasanjo made at the public presentation of a book by the former President of the Court of Appeal and ex-Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, Justice Mustapha Akanbi, in Abuja on Wednesday, as “highly suspicious”.

Ozehkome said: “I think that Obasanjo is a spoiler who does not want to sit in podium of great and revered political leaders across the world. Such action as he has taken do not behold well of a man who is suppose to be an elder statesman.

Prosecutors allege Wasila Tasi'u laced husband's food with rat poison
She is also accused of the murder of three others with the same meal
Court heard from a girl aged seven who says she was sent to buy poison
Judge Mohammed Yahaya entered a plea of not guilty for Tasi'u

Wasila Tasi'u, 14, is on trial for allegedly murdering her husband, 35, with poison

A 14-year-old Nigerian child bride is facing the death penalty for allegedly murdering her 35-year-old husband with rat poison.

Hunk and actor, Yemi Black, hit Nollywood in 2005 and today has carved a niche for himself. Happily married to Remi Ibinola Olatunji, Yemi is a trained thespian known both for his stage plays and movies. In this interview with CHRISTIAN AGADIBE, the Theatre Arts graduate from the University of Benin opens up on his career among other interesting issues.

Excerpts:

I Am A Committed Church Member - Armed Robber

A suspected armed robber, Felix Odion, arrested by the Lagos State Police Command has claimed he is a committed church member.

and Odi

Anthony and Odion
| credits: Olaleye Aluko

The suspect, 23-year-old Odion, who was arrested by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad along with his partner, Titus Anthony, on November 22 arrested by the police for allegedly snatching expensive vehicles in different parts of Lagos.

On November 1, 2014, Sunday Orochendu, a truck driver received a distress call from his wife, Ndidi. He was told that their neighbour had assaulted his family members. Determined to play the role of a man who should be known for standing for his family, Orochendu raced home. Unfortunately, what was supposed to be a warning resulted in the death of Mr Ralph Okey Mgbodile who he alleged assaulted his wife.

[Photo: www.cknnigeria.com]

Friday defied a judge’s directive to take his plea over a $9 million (about N1.5 billion) fraud case instituted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

injured in multiple bomb attacks at the Central Mosque in Kano on Friday, witnesses say.

The exact number of deaths are still unclear as police have not issued a figure yet.

A spokesperson for the Kano Command of the Nigeria Police Force, Mustapha Abubakar, said police were “still taking stock of the actual persons that have died” and could not give clear figures as of yet.

God created angels to be extremely intelligent. Some of the angels went rogue and pursued

immorality and disobedience. Not a very smart choice on their part.

Some of history's most brutal dictators have had a high IQ. They were "smart" about discovering new ways to control and dominate people. Intelligence can provide you with influence and status, but only morality will assure that you use your authority wisely.

Boko Haram bombs Kano Central Mosque

the Emir of Kano, Muhammed Sanusi 11 worships.

The explosions occurred as worshippers gathered worshippers gathered for weekly prayers, witnesses said.

“Two bombs exploded, one after the other, in the premises of the Grand Mosque seconds after the prayers had started,” Aminu Abdullahi said, adding that a third went off nearby.

The Emir, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, was said to be inside the mosque at the time, with the explosions happening in an outdoor courtyard, and there was no immediate word on casualties.

Abdullahi and another witness, Hajara Tukur, who said she lives nearby, said the police began firing weapons in the chaos that followed the blasts, as worshippers began scrambling for safety.

Preaching at Kano’s Grand Mosque last week, the emir urged northerners to take up arms against Islamist group Boko Haram and cast doubt on the military’s ability to protect civilians and end the insurgency.

The Emir of Kano is a hugely influential figure in Nigeria, which is home to more than 80 million Muslims, most of whom live in the north.

Emir of Kano, Muhammed Sanusi II

First picture of young Brits who died after 'snorting heroin theythought was cocaine' in Amsterdam

Shaun Brotherston, 20, and Bradley Price, 21, were celebrating a 21st birthday bash in the Dutch city

Tragic: Shaun Brotherston and Bradley Price died during a trip in Amsterdam

British men killed after snorting heroin in Amsterdam.

become a mom at 22 with new boyfriend Patrick Schwarzenegger.

A source indicated that Miley Cyrus found out she is pregnant close to a month ago, though she has kept the news as private as possible.

(SCREENSHOT: FOUSEYTUBE/YOUTUBE)

Olusegun Obasanjo Senate says ex-President is lying over corruptionallegations

Obasanjo had said at a book launch in Abuja on Wednesday, November 26, that the National Assembly was nothing but a gathering of thieves and looters.

Nigeria's former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo

The Senate has responded to allegations of corruption levelled against the National Assembly

by former President, Olusegun Obasanjo.

Obasanjo had said at a book launch in Abuja on Wednesday, November 26, that the National Assembly was nothing but a gathering of thieves and looters.

Femi Kuti Afrobeat legend involved in paternity scandal

The Afrobeat legend, who is a father of five, discovered after a DNA test that two children he has raised as his own are not really his afterall.

Femi Kuti

(BBC)

Femi Kuti has opened up on a recent revelation he made concerning the paternity of two of his children.

Thirty-five people, including five soldiers and a local hunter, were feared killed in a bomb explosion at the Maraba–Mubi area of Adamawa state on Thursday, witnesses and security sources said.

The area is about 18 kilometre from Mubi town.

A witness told journalists in Yola, the state capital, that a combined team of the military and local hunters, who gained entrance into Mubi, was on a routine patrol of the area when the bomb detonated.

Why Yoruba Ladies Have the Biggest Butts in Nigeria - Charles Novia

Nollywood filmmaker and self-proclaimed culture critic Charles Novia says there should be no fuss about international stars who have big butts, because African women are naturally endowed will theirs are usually artificial. He explains that Nicki Minaj, Kim Kardashian and Jennifer Lopez should be jealous of Mercy Johnson, Yvonne Okoro and a lot African women-especially Yoruba women.

The Nigeria Police have denied responsibility for the bungled prosecution of Aminu Ogwuche, a suspected Boko Haram member accused by the government of coordinating a deadly bomb attack in Nyanya, a suburb of Abuja, in April.

Musiliu Obanikoro

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirant, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, from participating in the party’s forthcoming primaries in Lagos State.
The ex-parte application which was brought by three PDP members, Babaunde Ogun, Suleiman Saheed and Wasiu Adeniyi Odusan, was struck out by Justice Kazeem Alogba.

Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State

Chairman Committee of Akuku Toru local Government Council said that no fewer than 100 members of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party decamped to the ruling All Progressive Congress in Akuku Toru Local Government Area of Rivers state.

In this Sept. 1, 2013 file photo, a Siberian tiger prowls at the Federal Center for rehabilitation of rare species of animals in the village of Alexeyevka in the Russian Far East during Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit. (AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Alexei Nikolsky, Presidential Press Service, File) (Alexei Nikolsky)

Evil Men In Disguise 3 men attempt to remove baby from 8-monthspregnant woman's womb

Thee friends who were sleeping with the same woman tried to force her baby out of her tummy.

How could three men try to force a baby out of a pregnant woman?

(Total Media Koncept)

The long arm of the law has caught up with three friends, Adamu Usman Barma, Fawas Bala and Buhari Ahmed, who allegedly attempted to forcefully pull out the baby from the womb of an 8-months pregnant woman at Gusau quarters in Gumel local government area of Jigawa State.

A Red Cross volunteer carries a child at Ierapetra, Greece.

(Petros Giannakouris, AP)

Ierapetra - More than 700 people, mostly refugees from Syria, began disembarking on Thursday on the Greek island of Crete after a harrowing journey on a smuggling ship that broke down in gale-force winds while trying to reach Europe.

At least 13 Venezuelan inmates died this week after allegedly ingesting a cocktail of prescription drugs and grain alcohol, with a rights group putting the death toll higher and highlighting inhumane conditions in the nation’s prisons.

5, dies after gang of men set fire to her in revenge for fighting offtheir attempt to molest her outside her home in India Girl was draggedinto her home after she objected to gang's lewd gestures Four menarrested after the teenager was doused in petrol and set alight

A week after a gang of men set her on fire in revenge for resisting their attempts to molest her.

The horrific killing is the latest in India where sex attacks on women continue to occur on an almost daily basis despite an international outcry over the fatal gang-rape of a student in 2012.

In the latest case, police have arrested four men over the attack which occurred after the 15-year-old girl stepped outside her home in Uttar Pradesh state on November 16.

A teenage girl has died in northern India one week after a gang of men set her on fire in revenge for resisting their attempts to molest her in the state of Uttar Pradesh (above)

Too Old To serve Time but Too Young To Conned. EFCC drags 77-year-oldwoman to court over N65m fraud

An old woman aged 77, has been dragged to court by the EFCC for fraud.

This old woman shows she can still play some fast one.

(EFCC)

The saying that age is nothing but mere numbers has played itself to be true after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, dragged a 77-year-old septuagenarian who could barely walk, Alhaja Mulikat Shonekan, before a Lagos High Court in Ikeja for allegedly stealing and fraudulently converting N65 million entrusted in her care for the purchase of 90 acres of land in Ogun State.

FILE - This handout file photo taken Sept. 2, 2014, provided by National Institute of Allergy and In …

WASHINGTON (AP) — An experimental Ebola vaccine appears safe and triggered signs of immune protection in the first 20 volunteers to test it, U.S. researchers reported Wednesday.

The vaccine is designed to spur the immune system's production of anti-Ebola antibodies, and people developed them within four weeks of getting the shots at the National Institutes of Health. Half of the test group received a higher-dose shot, and those people produced more antibodies, said the study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Some people also developed a different set of virus-fighting immune cells, named T cells, the study found. That may be important in fending off Ebola, as prior research found that monkeys protected by the vaccine also had that combination response.

Stimulating both types of immune response is "a promising factor," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, whose employees led the work.

The researchers reported no serious side effects. But two people who received the higher-dose vaccine briefly spiked fevers — one above 103 degrees — which disappeared within a day.

Earlier this month, Fauci told Congress this first-stage testing was promising enough that the U.S. planned much larger studies in West Africa, starting in Liberia in early January, to try to prove whether the vaccine really works.

to develop ways to prevent or treat the virus that has killed more than 5,600 people in West Africa, most of them in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Wednesday's publication offered scientific details about the initial testing of the vaccine candidate furthest along, one being developed by NIH and GlaxoSmithKline. Additional safety studies are underway here and abroad. A different Canadian-made vaccine also has begun small safety studies.

Many questions remain as larger studies are being designed, including the best dose and how soon protection may begin, cautioned Dr. Daniel Bausch, a Tulane University Ebola specialist who wasn't involved in the study. Plus, monkey research suggests a booster shot will be needed for long-term protection.

"The road is still long and there are many challenges but we are nevertheless one step closer to a solution," he wrote in an accompanying editorial.

Victor Moses ruled out until 2015

after hurting his thigh while playing for Stoke City in the Premier League.

Moses, who is on loan at the Britannia Stadium from Chelsea, is facing “at least six weeks on the sidelines” after picking up the injury in the 2-1 loss to Burnley on Saturday, according to the club’s official website.

“He has a significant thigh injury which is likely to keep him out for several weeks,” assistant manager Mark Bowen added.

Nigeria missed out on qualifying for the African Nations Cup that will be held in Equatorial Guinea in January and February.

US announces new visa processing for Nigeria

THE United States (US) Embassy in Nigeria, on Tuesday, announced opening of its new DHL Document Collection Centre in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, saying applicants who are interviewed in Lagos or Abuja can now choose to pick up their passports in Port Harcourt, in addition to existing facilities in Abuja and Lagos.

Similarly, applicants can submit their passports to the Port Harcourt collection centre as part of the U.S. Mission to Nigeria’s drop box renewal programme.

The embassy informed that passport collection via the centre in Port Harcourt will take one additional day, disclosing that individuals whose visa applications are approved can expect their passports within four days while drop box applicants can expect their passports within 7-10 days.

Also, effective December 1, 2014, the U.S. Mission to Nigeria said it would require that the DS-160 non-immigrant visa application confirmation number used to schedule visa interviews match the application confirmation page that is brought to the interview.

It warned that applicants who do not meet the criterion will not be interviewed and will have to purchase a new fee receipt to book another appointment.

scannewsnigeria

Chicago Church Gives $500 to Each Member to In Turn Bless Others; Pastor Discusses What They Did

"Our naija Pastors no fit tryam" limousine and Private Jet don close shops? Or family vacations to choice Cities around the world...

The Chicago skyline is seen beyond the arctic sea smoke rising off Lake Michigan in Chicago, Illinois, January 6, 2014.

Members of a Chicago church who were given $500 each made possible from a real estate deal the church received are using their share to help various programs and initiatives around the city.

LaSalle Church, handed out $500 to each of its congregants back in September and urged them to use the money to bless someone else. According to their pastor, Laura Truax, that's exactly what they have done.

Truax says she learned the concept in the part of the Gospel where Jesus teaches that wherever people's hearts are, that's where they will spend their money.

"Those things are so connected," said Truax to The Christian Post. "Heart and money are completely connected. And I feel like I get a front row seat on that."

She shared various testimonies, revealing what some of the people have done with the money.

Married couple Janet and Jim Milkovich donated their portion to a health food program called Breakthrough Urban Food Ministries that helps to provide healthy meals to many people throughout the city including older people with its Fresh Market Pantry initiative.

"It was wonderful," Janet Milkovich told CP. "The manager of the Fresh Market Pantry said that there are a lot of senior citizens on the west side of Chicago that depend on the fresh market and are so appreciative of produce and they were going to make sure that they were able to get healthy food."

One of the church's members Betty Mickel and her husband used the money to fund a Chicago after-school program named By The Hand. The couple combined their two $500 checks to make it a $1000 dollar donation, added $1000 of their own money and gave it to By The Hand which is currently having a donor match so their contribution ended up being around $4000 altogether.

"Their $500 investment now doubled because they doubled it, and joined forces together," said Truax. [They have] now given $4000 to By The Hand."

Truax also discussed a single mom in her church that's currently modeling for her 9-year-old what it's like to be generous. Part of this demonstration included the two going to Goodwill stores and purchasing used kid books which they cleaned up and donated to various libraries and pre-schools in low income areas. They are also hosting an ice cream Sunday night this Wednesday for all of the homeless people in the area.

"We have a food program every Wednesday night, so we already have a lot of people coming through the door," she said. "But as her 9-year-old said, when do these people ever get to eat ice cream. They'll be serving to about 150 homeless guys."

One of the church's members took to overseas to extend the blessing to someone. LaSalle attendee Eric Larson contributed his money to a missionary friend in the Ivory Coast to use it for a woman who had been cast out by her family. Her leg needed to be amputated due to an infection. Eric found out that she needed a prosthetic leg and he was shocked at how much it would cost them.

"What he was struck by was the amount that was needed which was exactly $500," she said. "So Eric's money went to this woman in the Ivory Coast who needed a prosthetic leg. This is just the way God does it though, right?"

LaSalle was able to give the $500 gifts to its congregation members when it received $1.6 million from a real estate deal. After receiving the money, they decided to distribute 10 percent of it to the congregation for them to use it to bless someone.

Truax says the decision to distribute the money was inspired by Jesus' parable of the talents.

"I was so struck by this being a gift to the church and the church needing to do something that was about God's business with it. So the 10 percent, it wasn't my idea. I was praying about it and I was reading that parable and I just felt like a place of faith would be for all the congregation to have skin in the game with this."

LaSalle still has not decided what it will do with the other $1.4 million, however, Truax says keeping it is not an attractive option.

"That's the economy of God, we weren't created to be tight fisted people, we were created to be open handed people," she said. "To move past our fear. That's what's going on."

Lifeway Study: Almost a Quarter of American Families Have Turned to Church Food Pantries for Help

(PHOTO: REUTERS/SHANNON STAPLETON)

The U.S. House of Representatives voted 217-200 this week to cut billion from the food stamps program over the next 10 years.

A September Lifeway Research survey reveals that nearly a quarter of Americans have received food from a church-run food pantry. Minorities and churchgoers commonly benefit from church pantries, according to the survey.

The Nashville-based Christian research firm polled 1,158 respondents about church food pantries and found that 22 percent said they have relied on a church program to feed their families. Of those who have received food from a church pantry, 26 percent were churchgoers. Over a third identified as evangelical.

More than one in three church pantry users (37 percent) were African Americans, 25 percent were Hispanic while 19 percent of the pantry users were Caucasian.

Scott McConnell, vice president of LifeWay Research, said of the survey's results, "There is an abundance of food in the U.S., but plenty of people still go hungry."

Some 50 million Americans struggle to put food on the table, according to national food bank network Feeding America.

By comparison, 43 percent of the people they feed are white, 26 percent are African American and 20 percent are Hispanic.

Over 60 percent of Feeding America's 200-member food banks are faith-based organizations. Together, Feed America banks provide food assistance to 46.5 million Americans annually.

McConnell said of church pantries, "Many churches respond by faithfully following the biblical principle of being open handed to the poor and needy by maintaining well-stocked food pantries to share."

Nigeria to distribute over a million Clean Cook Stoves free to citizens

distribution of 750, 000 Clean Cook Stoves and 18,000 Wonder bags to Nigerians, in a bid to stop the depletion of forest resources caused by indiscriminate felling of trees.

The approval followed a memo presented by the Minister of Environment, Laurentia Mallam, at the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting the Federal Government.

The stoves and wonder bags, meant for women in the rural areas, would be distributed under the National Clean Cooking Scheme, NCCS, which seeks to stem the use of solid fossils like firewood and

charcoal for cooking.

Wonderbag is a non-electric slow cooker invented by Sarah Collins, a South African eco-entrepreneur. She came up with the idea six years ago during a power cut, when she decided to keep her dinner cooking by surrounding the pan with cushions.

According to scientists, each Wonderbag can prevent the emission of half a ton of carbon dioxide a year, and could save a poor family a tenth of their income by cutting fuel costs.

The principle is simple: heat your food to boiling point.

In five years, the NCCS aims to distribute at least four million clean cook stoves in each of the six geo-political zone and provide 20 million clean cook stoves through-out the country.

The scheme also seeks to reduce the persistent felling of trees which exposes the country to ecological problems including desertification.

For a few minutes on the stove in a normal saucepan, pop on its lid, then transfer to the bag.

A United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, research shows that Nigeria tops the list of countries where women suffer various ailments resulting from the use of firewood.

The Minister of Environment said that in distributing the stoves and wonderbags, women

who register and buy fertiliser through the e-wallet system will be considered first. She said about two million women are currently on that database and the stoves will be distributed in batches to them.

The minister added that all women groups in the country will be involved in the distribution to ensure that there is equitable distribution.

After deliberations, members of FEC approved that the stoves be locally assembled so as to provide jobs for Nigerians amongst other benefits.

The council also unanimously ratified the President’s anticipatory approval for the contract in favours of Messrs Integra Renewable Energy Services Limited in the sum of nine billion, eighty seven million, two hundred and fifty thousand naira only (N9, 287,250,000.00) inclusive of VAT, with a delivery period of 12 weeks.

Council also approved N60 billion for the award of the contract to provide engineering infrastructure to Kyami District, Zone C, Abuja.

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Bala Mohammed, while briefing journalists alongside the Supervising Minister of Information, Nurudeen Mohammed, said this is in line with the

statutory responsibility of the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, of providing engineering infrastructure to the Abuja.

This is one of the residential districts located in Phase V of the city with a land area or 942.56 hectares.

He said the FCT was looking for opportunities to float bonds that will help open up more districts.

Council approved the award of the contract to Messrs. Mangrovetech Construction and Engineering Nigeria Limited (KaKatar CE Limited) in the sum of sixty billion, eight hundred and eighty seven million, four hundred and ninety two thousand, six hundred and fifty six thousand naira, sixty five kobo. (N60, 887,492,656.65) with the completion period of 60 months.

Saturday, 29 November 2014

Friday, 28 November 2014

Shaun Brotherston, 20, and Bradley Price, 21, were celebrating a 21st birthday bash in the Dutch city

Thursday, 27 November 2014

At least 13 Venezuelan inmates died this week after allegedly ingesting a cocktail of prescription drugs and grain alcohol, with a rights group putting the death toll higher and highlighting inhumane conditions in the nation’s prisons.

US announces new visa processing for Nigeria