80 out of the 100 schools Girls Abducted by Boko Haram have been rescued by Soldiers,Vigilante Group

80 out of over 100 school girls of the Government Girls’ Secondary School in Chibok Local Government Area of Borno State, abducted by the Boko Haram insurgents on Monday were reportedly rescued on Tuesday and Wednesday morning by solders with the aids of a group of vigilante and local hunters in the area. The team joined in pursuing the Boko Haram and tracing their routes to where there school girls were rescued. Meanwhile luck ran out of the abductors when the driver of the tipper vehicle carrying the students got struck in a tick bush when trying to cross through muddy area boundry between Chibok and Askira/ Uba. An eye witness and one of the…

Jonathan Vs Kwankwaso over 250Bn Naira Grants for Kano LGAs

President Goodluck Jonathan took the political combat yesterday when he visited Kano State Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, summoning that the Governor gives account of over 250Bn Naira grants of Kano 44 Local Government Areas since year 2011. President Jonathan while speaking at a unity rally organized by the PDP to welcome to their fold from APC the erstwhile governor, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, maintained that his party the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are poised to clinch Kano from Kwankwaso and his All Progressive Congress Party – APC. Meanwhile, the PDP rally took place at the popular Polo Ground in the city of the state, graced by multitudes of PDP party faithful and supports of Mallam Shakarau…

Boko Haram Islamists kidnapped more than 100 school girls

Maiduguri (AFP) – Heavily armed Boko Haram Islamists kidnapped more than 100 girls from a school in northeast Nigeria, sparking a search by soldiers to track down the attackers, a security source and witnesses said Tuesday. The unprecedented mass abduction in Borno state came hours after a bomb blast ripped through a crowded bus station on the outskirts of Abuja, killing 75 people, the deadliest attack ever in Nigeria’s capital. The violence underscored the serious threat the Islamists pose to Africa’s most populous country, with the group capable of carrying out large-scale attacks in remote areas and massive bombings in major urban centres. Gunmen stormed the Government Girls Secondary School in the Chibok area of…

Soyinka speaks on the recent security threats in Nigeria, says Nigeria needs competent leaders

Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka disclosed that Nigeria needed competent leaders to man the affairs and face the security challenges of the country. He said this in Osogbo on Monday 14th April at a colloquium by Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding – CBCIU where he was a guest speaker on Fundamental Imperatives of Cohabitation, Faith and Secularism organized by the group.   Soyinka maintained that the security challenges of Nigeria could not be solved by prayers but by effective leadership by strong leaders who deal with situations like insecurity without partisanship. He continued that Boko Haram insurgency should not be mistaken for a religious war.   In his speech, Soyinka said: ”I have…

Nyanya – Abuja Bomb Blast claimed 80 lives

It was yet another bombing explosion in the heart of the capital Abuja. This time around, it happened at the crowded bus station early morning on Monday 14th April, 2014 at a suburb of Nigeria’s capital – Nyanya where a car bomb planted in a Volkswagen Golf car exploded amidst vehicles loaded with passengers traveling to the various -places around and outside Abuja. No claims by any terrorist group has been alleged but meanwhile, the People’s Democratic Party has accused the All Progressive Congress of being behind the ugly mayhem. No fewer than 80 people lost their lives while more than a 100 people are being hospitalised at the designated hospitals in the Abuja FCT.

Bees sting 83-year-old woman to death in Imo

An 83-year-old woman, Mrs. Nwanyiaro Orji of Nchoko Amiri in the Oru East LGA of Imo State has been stung to death by bees. Information reaching our News Desk say that on that fateful day, March 30, 2014, Mrs. Orji had gone to make use of a pit  latrine which was outside her house, when  all of a sudden, there was a loud sound, people around thought that a ripe pod of the bread fruit tree nearby had dropped. , Little did they know that it was the hive on top of the big bread fruit tree that fell. The angry bees began to fly around, stinging people including the deceased step-son who was in…

POPE FRANCIS REAFFIRMS IMPORTANCE OF VATICAN BANK’S MISSION

The Institute for Religious Works, or ‘Vatican Bank’.  Pope Francis approved a proposal Monday on the future of the Institute for Religious Works, commonly known as the “Vatican bank,” affirming its importance for the good of the Church. “The IOR will continue to serve with prudence and provide specialized financial services to the Catholic Church worldwide,” read a statement from the Holy See press office released April 7. “The valuable services that can be offered by the Institute assist the Holy Father in his mission as universal pastor and also aid those institutions and individuals who collaborate with him in his ministry.” The proposal has not been detailed, but seems to deal with the insertion…

National Confab: Imo position

The Imo State delegates at the ongoing National Conference have declared the position of the State. In a six-point provisional agenda made available to THE LEADER, the delegates called for a federation of six regions, consistent with the existing six zones, creation of two more states for the South-East, devolution of powers, fiscal federalism, rotation of presidency and regional/state police. In taking the position, the five-man delegation said they were guided by some principles, including consistency with the position of the South-East delegates and promotion of the interest of the people of Imo State. On Regionalism, the delegates said: “Nigeria should be a federation of six (6) regions consistent with the six (6) zones which…

9-Month-Old Baby Charged With Attempted Murder In Pakistan

A 9-month-old Pakistani boy has been charged along with the rest of his family with attempted murder, according to reports. Musa Khan was photographed last week crying as his grandfather held him for fingerprinting. He was with his family during a protest in a Lahore slum that turned violent in February. Police say the boy, who was 7 months old at the time, threw stones at them. “Slum residents threw stones at gas company workers who had tried to disconnect households that failed to pay their bills, leading the police to charge an entire family with attempted murder, including Musa. “The absurdity of the case became apparent last Thursday when the screaming child was produced…

On 20th anniversary of Rwandan genocide, pope urges reconciliation

Just days before Rwanda was to begin a weeklong period of official mourning to mark the 20th anniversary of its genocide, Pope Francis urged the country’s bishops to be resolute in continuing the work of healing and reconciliation. “Twenty years after those tragic events,” when as many as 1 million people were murdered in savage acts of ethnic violence, Pope Francis said, “reconciliation and the healing of wounds must remain the priority of the church in Rwanda.” Meeting the country’s bishops April 3 during their “ad limina” visits to the Vatican, the pope offered his prayers for all Rwandans “without distinction of religion, ethnicity or politics.” Forgiveness for what happened and “authentic reconciliation can seem…

Ritualists behead church warden in Imo – Family tasks police to fish out killers

Fear reigns in the entire community of Ibiasoegbe, near Mgbidi, headquarters of Oru-East Local Government Area following the gruesome murder of a 66-year-old woman, Mrs. Josephine Okorie in her farm at about 9am on Monday, March 31. The attackers apparently laid ambush and matcheted the woman at the back of the neck. They were about collecting the decapitated head when they heard the voice of another woman, who was coming along the path.  They ran away, leaving the head and body. Mr. Monday Okorie, son of the deceased, said it was the woman, who raised the alarm which attracted other farmers.  Unfortunately the suspects had escaped.  He said that his mother was a warden at…

Nursing mothers go into hiding in Imo – As kidnappers target babies, shoot parents of victims

Families with new born babies in Imo State now live in fear, as the incidence of abduction of such babies and shooting of parents continues to rise. The latest incident was that of five-month-old Chidiogu, daughter of Mr. Kingsley Igwegbe and Mrs. Ugochi Igwegbu of Umuzike Orlu, who was snatched at gun point from her mother, as the woman was about to enter the family house.  They had shot Mrs. Igwegbe on the thigh.  Consequently, she is now lying critically ill at the Imo State University Teaching Hospital  IMSUTH Orlu while the whereabouts of the abducted baby remains unknown. It would be recalled that a similar incident took place at Durukwu Umuebele in Okporo Orlu…

Students’ Cohabitation, Church raises Alarm

It is simply unacceptable!  Male and female undergraduate students are living together and sharing rooms in privately owned University accommodations. Many observers say it is not a problem of shortage of hostels but perhaps a fast increasing sense of a permissive culture that is destroying the moral fabric of our society. Living on the same floor of the same building and using the same toilets and bathrooms surely stokes the embers of sexual immorality. Information that this ugly situation is occurring at different private accommodations built for Imo State University students and their peers in other tertiary institutions, has filtered into the ears of the church. His Grace, the Archbishop of Owerri, Most Rev. Anthony…

Pope removes extravagant Bishop

The Vatican has accepted the resignation of a German bishop who was at the centre of controversy over expenditures for spending $42 million on the renovation of his residence reports the Catholic News Service. Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-Van Elst is known as “Bling Bishop” because of his extravagant life style. Following a diocesan investigation, the Vatican’s Congregation for Bishops studied the audit’s findings and accepted the resignation of Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst of Limburg. Auxiliary Bishop Manfred Grothe of Paderborn was appointed to serve as apostolic administrator of Limburg in the meantime, the Vatican announced yesterday. Bishop Tebartz-van Elst would be assigned ‘at a suitable moment’ another unspecified assignment, the Vatican statement said. It said the…

Jonathan, Obama Visit Pope

It was a busy time for His Holiness Pope Francis following the visits of two heads of state recently. First to storm the Vatican was Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan who was accompanied by his wife Patience and other top government officials. That was on Saturday, March 22. On Thursday, March 27, President Barak Obama of the United States of America took his turn. Both heads of State were visiting Pope Francis for the first time. Reports say President Jonathan and‎ Pope Francis held extensive discussion on Nigeria’s position on same-sex marriage which was recently outlawed in the country. The  Executive Secretary of Nigeria Christian Pilgrims Commission, Kennedy Opara, disclosed this to journalists at the Holy…

Missing Malaysia Jet crashed in Indian Ocean – Prime Minister

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak this week confirmed Flight MH370 had crashed in the southern Indian Ocean, citing satellite-data analysis by British firm Inmarsat . Recovery of wreckage could unlock clues about why and how the plane had diverted so far off course in one of aviation’s most puzzling mysteries. The United States has sent an undersea Navy drone and a high-tech black box detector which will be fitted to an Australian ship due in Perth in the coming days. The so-called black boxes – the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder – record what happens during flight, but time is running out to pick up their locator beacons, which stop about a month…

Pope Francis‎ discuss extensively on same-sex marriage with President Jonathan As Nigeria, Vatican partner in education, health

President Goodluck Jonathan and‎ Pope Francis ‎yesterday held extensive discussion on Nigeria’s position on same-sex marriage law recently passed in the country. The Executive Secretary of Nigeria Christian Pilgrims Commission, Kennedy Opara, disclosed this to newsmen yesterday at the Holy Sea after President Jonathan’s audience with the Pope as well as his tour of the Vatican City. Opara said the President used the opportunity to state Nigeria’s position on same sex-marriage while the Pope commended Jonathan’s effort in tackling the various challenges facing the country. The Pilgrims from Anambra, Kaduna and the Federal Capital Territory, were part of President  Jonathan’s delegation to Vatican City in Rome, Italy but remained at the courtyard while the audience…

David Mark’s Convoy Attacked by Gun Men in Imo

Senate President, David Mark last Thursday escaped death as his convoy was allegedly attacked by yet to be identified gunmen in Orlu, Imo State. According to a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Senate President, Paul Mumeh Friday night, the attack occurred in Orlu Senatorial Zone of the state. The incident happened when the Senate Present went to Nkwere, Imo state to attend the burial ceremony of late business mogul, Sir John Richard Anyaehie. Mark lamented that the attack happened a moment when a great philanthropist like Anyaehie was being buried, adding that it was not what should be expected in a senatorial district like Orlu. He described late Anyaehie as a truthful…

National Confab: Delegates request allowance for their aides, drivers

Some delegates of the newly inaugurated National Conference which had its first session Tuesday  in Abuja have asked for financial allowances to be made available to their aides who they say would help ease the burden of the task before them. Each delegate is to collect N12million as incentive for participating in the confab which is expected to last for  three months..but that money is not enough, they also want their PAs and drivers to be paid “We need to know the number of aides we are to employ,” One of the delegates, Senator Mohammed Jibrin enquired from the leaders. I see! However the secretary of the Conference, Mrs. Valeria Azinge, said there was no…

Jonathan cancels Immigration recruitment offers Automatic jobs for injured, victims’ relations

President Goodluck Jonathan has ordered total cancellation of Saturday’s messy recruitment exercise of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS). The president also gave automatic employment to injured applicants and 3 relations of each of the applicants who lost their lives. The Information Minister Labaran Maku who disclosed this to State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting  Wednesday said the council devoted the meeting to express grief over the death of applicants who lost their lives to stampedes during the exercise. Maku said the council regretted the incident and expressed condolences to the families of the victims and sympathised with the injured. According to him, the president announced automatic employment for three relations of…