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A divorce-seeking wife has accused her husband of employing an Islamic preacher to have sex with her for money-making ritual purposes. The woman, Musilimotu Olashuyi, 48, claimed that she introduced her husband, Gbenga Olashuyi, 55, to the unnamed Alfa because she used to frequent his mosque for prayers. She said at some point, the Alfa noticed that Olashuyi’s business wasn’t going well, a situation that made her to introduce the Alfa to him. However, Musilimotu said, the Alfa ended up committing adultery with her, allegedly on the instruction of her husband. She made the allegations at the Igando Customary Court in Lagos on Wednesday. “It was with my husband’s consent that the Alfa slept with me for three days,’’ Musilimotu disclosed, while praying the court to dissolve the marriage. She alleged that her husband had also conspired with the Alfa to use her for money ritual. She narrated to the court, “Actually, my husband got to know the Alfa through me because I al...

Despite opposition by governors, Houses of Assembly have voted for financial autonomy for the legislature at the state level. They also endorsed an amendment to the 1999 Constitution, which will grant the National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly autonomy. But the Houses rejected proposals for Local Government autonomy and abrogation of the State-Local Government Joint Account. By the development, states will still be interfering with statutory funds allocated to the 774 local government areas from the Federation Account. Also rejected is a proposal for independent candidature. But governors were said to have initiated last-minute moves to reject financial autonomy for Houses of Assembly. The Speakers of the 36 Houses of Assembly will today submit their resolutions on constitution amendments to the Chairman of the National Assembly, Dr. Bukola Saraki, who is also the President of the Senate. According to the highlights of the decisions and votes by the Houses of As...

Nigerian Police on patrol The abductors of the wife and son of a Nigerian journalist have asked for a N12 million ransom for their release. Nasiru Yakubu, a journalist with Voice of America, Hausa Service, posted on his Facebook wall Wednesday morning that kidnappers stormed his house at Birnin Yero, a small community in Kaduna State, at about 1:30 a.m. and took away his wife and son. A source close to the family told PREMIUM TIMES Wednesday evening that they were still negotiating to rescue the captives. “They called him (Mr. Yakubu) this afternoon demanding N12 million ransom,” said the source who declined to be named because he was not authorised to speak with journalists on the matter. “The money is too much for the family but we are negotiating to see how the wife and child will return home safely,” he said. The source declined to make further comments so as not to jeopardise the safety of the victims. “We don’t know who is listening. That is why we are being careful...

*Concoction is to battle depression- Akponana, consumer *They‘re joking with kidney failure, blindness – Sideso, pharmacist YOUTHS  at Ughelli and environs in Delta State have resorted to blending methylated spirit and other chemicals with soft drinks to “get high.” Methylated spirit, also called denatured alcohol or denatured rectified spirit, is ethanol that has additives to make it poisonous, bad tasting, foul smelling or nauseating, to discourage recreational consumption. In some cases it is also dyed. Finding by  NDV  revealed that getting high, which is elevating one’s state of mind and altering the state of mind or consciousness is a deadly drug consumption habit that has turned into a hobby for youths at several parts of the country.    Scientifically the drug/chemical alters the cells throughout your body. It’s a low-cost way to fight depression – Doro, consumer They claim that quaffing the unholy mixture of herbal and pharmaceutical drugs...

Saudi Arabia has sacked its top military commanders, including the chief of staff, in a series of late-night royal decrees. Saudi King Salman also replaced the heads of the ground forces and air defences. The news was published by the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA), but no reason for the sackings was given. They come as the war in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition is fighting rebels, is nearing the end of its third year. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is also the defence minister, is believed to be behind various recent shake-ups in the country. Last year dozens of prominent Saudi figures, including princes, ministers and billionaires, were locked up in Riyadh's five-star Ritz-Carlton hotel as  the prince led a drive against corruption and abuse of power . Sweeping change By Sebastian Usher, BBC Arab Affairs Editor This is another sweeping overhaul of Saudi institutions that has become the hallmark of the reign of King Salman, although the driving fo...

Edo State All Progressives Congress As the Edo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) wraps its aggressive campaigns for next Saturday’s local council polls, over 10,000 decampees from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), have expressed their readiness to join the APC and support the developmental strides of the Godwin Obaseki-led administration. The state APC chairman, Barr. Anselm Ojezua, said that more PDP members, whose hearts have been won by the purposeful leadership of Governor Obaseki, will join the APC in the coming days. “The governor’s leadership style has endeared him to former political foes. Despite the challenges that the economic recession foisted on us, we have come out stronger and allocating scarce resources to areas where the need is greatest. “Road projects are ongoing in all parts of the state, security is improving and our development partners from Asia and elsewhere are working on the industrial park and the Gelegele seaport. Th...

Former Chief of Army Staff Gen. Kenneth Minimah (retd) has refunded about N1.7billion to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC),  The Nation  learnt at the weekend. Besides, there were indications that another former Chief of Army Staff and some ex-military officers might be arraigned in court for alleged corrupt practices relating to “phoney” arms contracts. The legal unit of the EFCC is fine-tuning charges against the suspects. But a status report on Gen. Minimah, who was the Army Chief from January 2014 to July 2015, indicates that he has returned some cash to the EFCC. The refund followed extensive investigation by the anti-graft agency on the report and recommendations of the Presidential Committee on Audit of Defence Equipment Procurement (CADEP). CADEP had uncovered “irregularities” in the procurement and award of contracts in the Army   and suspicious transactions in the accounts of the Defence Industry Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) ...

A 47-year-old man,   Edwin Ojinnaka Nnodiogo, last saturday in Awada layout, Obosi, Idemili North Local Government of Anambra State killed his four children, sister and committed suicide. The incident occurred about 8:50pm. The Nation  learnt that Edwin was from Isu Njaba in Imo State. His 32-year-wife, who is  in police protection, was not around when the incident happened. The victims are Ogechi Ukonu, 16; Mmesoma Nnodiogo, 10; Chimaobi Nnodiogo, 8; Chima Nnodiogo, 4 and Chidiogo Nnodiogo, 2. It was gathered that Edwin just returned from overseas. An eyewitness said Edwin, who had been manifesting signs of mental instability, allegedly stabbed his four children to death while the wife was not at home. “He was on top of the maid, who was screaming, and this drew the wife’s and neighbour’s attention,” he said. It was learnt that Edwin sent one of their maids to get drugs and water for him. Policemen have been deployed in the area...

The Mugabes with Moussa Faki Mahamat Former Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe has revealed that his wife, Grace cries daily, over the harassment she receives, especially over her bogus doctorate degree. It was the first time that the former Zimbabwe leader would speak on the emotional torment of his wife, three months after he was forced to step down by the military, according to a report by South Africa’s News 24. Mugabe reportedly gave this insight into the former first family at a meeting with African Union chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat during a courtesy call he made to the Mugabes at their Blue Roof Harare mansion. The former leader also told Mahamat that he doesn’t feel safe and that his pension has not been paid by President Emmerson Mnangagwa. “They told you I was safe, but how can I be in this environment?,” Mugabe reportedly told Faki at the meeting on 19 February. “My wife is crying daily. They are persecuting her… What am I without my wife and family? We are no...

A newly married man and his grandmother were killed in India when a wedding gift they were opening exploded. The man's wife was critically injured in the blast on Friday in the eastern state of Odisha, police said. Soumya Sekhar and Reema Sahu got married on the 18 February and they received the "gift" at their wedding reception a few days later. It was actually a parcel bomb and did not have the sender's address of it, police said. The parcel exploded as soon as it was unwrapped, relatives told local media. Mr Sehu and his 85-year-old grandmother, Jemamani Sahu, died from their injuries in a hospital. The motive for the attack is not clear, police said, however they suspect it was carried out by someone in the area. BBC

Patrick Edet Patrick Edet, the Nigerian priest, who a year ago announced on radio his resignation from the Catholic Church, is set to marry. Mr. Edet has been running his own church, the Grace Family, since he left the Catholic fold in July 2017. He had been a Catholic priest for more than 11 years. A source close to the clergy told PREMIUM TIMES that Mr. Edet has fixed March 17 as his wedding date. The clergy broke the news in the church, Tuesday, about his planned wedding, this newspaper was told. “They (are) have engaged already,” the source said. The name of the bride-to-be is Inyene, said to be from Itam in Itu Local Government Area of the state. She was teaching in a private nursery/primary school along Oron Road, Uyo, before the priest withdrew her from work, this newspaper learnt. Information about Mr. Edet’s engagement has once again put him in the spotlight, especially in Akwa Ibom where he comes from. “I really think we should learn to mind our business. S...

Bollywood superstar Sridevi Kapoor has died of a heart attack, her family says. She was 54. The actress known simply as Sridevi passed away in Dubai, where she was attending a family wedding. Over five decades, she starred in more than 150 films, including classics like Mr India, Chandni, ChaalBaaz and Sadma. She was considered one of the very few Indian female superstars capable of huge box office success without the support of a male hero. From the age of four, she had worked in films in the Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi languages. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted that he was "saddened by the untimely demise of noted actor Sridevi", while Indian President Ram Nath Kovind wrote that he was "shocked to hear of passing of movie star Sridevi". The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, paid tribute to the late star, writing on Twitter: "Really enjoyed meeting Bollywood icon Sri Devi on my recent trip to India. "So sad to he...

Two car-bomb attacks have killed at least 38 people in the Somali capital Mogadishu, officials say. The first took place outside the presidential palace late on Friday. The second hit a nearby hotel. Dozens of people were wounded. The Islamist militant group al-Shabab, which has been trying to oust Somalia's government, says it was behind both. A gun battle followed the attack near the presidential palace in which five militants were killed, officials say. Friday's bombings are the latest in a series of attacks attributed to al-Shabab, which once controlled Mogadishu before being forced out by African Union troops in 2011. Last October, more than 500 people were killed by a truck bomb in the city. Officials blamed al-Shabab but the group never said it was behind that attack. The latest incident began when a vehicle failed to stop at a checkpoint outside the presidential palace before being blown up, state media say. This was followed by an exchange of fire bet...

The employers of a Filipina maid found dead in a freezer in Kuwait have been arrested in the Syrian capital Damascus after a manhunt lasting several weeks. Joanna Demafelis, 29, was found frozen in her employers' apartment more than a year after she was reported missing. Both Nader Essam Assaf and his Syrian wife Mona are being held on suspicion of murder, officials said on Saturday. Mr Assaf, who is a Lebanese national, was transferred to Beirut but his wife remains in custody in Damascus. On Saturday, a Lebanese judicial official said the couple had left Kuwait and made a "very brief stopover" in Lebanon before travelling on the neighbouring Syria. "Lebanon has asked Kuwait to pass on [Mr Assaf's] police record," the official added. Ms Demafelis's death prompted outrage in the Philippines and a ban on Filipinos travelling to work in Kuwait. Both suspects became the subject of an international manhunt aided by Interpol. Philippines f...

Signpost of GGSTC Dapchi Parents of schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram in Dapchi secondary school in Yobe state have released the names of 105 girls missing by Saturday. The parents said they were the only source of credible data, dismissing figures provided by the state government as false. The parents, who have created a group to collate names of the missing girls, advised the governor of Yobe state to stop listening to “fake data” given to him by security operatives. “Governor Ibrahim Gaidam must call us to a meeting so that we can give him a firsthand data on the number of our daughters that have gone missing since the attack on Monday,” said Mr. Bashir Manzo, who acts as the chairman of the Forum of Missing Dapchi Schoolgirls Parents. The governor had on Friday, while hosting governor of Kano state, Abdullahi Ganduje, said 86 girls were missing after the attack on Monday. Mr. Manzo, who spoke with PREMIUM TIMES by phone, said they created a forum to check such “misrep...

An armed officer who was at the Florida school where a gunman killed 17 people last week stood outside the building during the shooting and did not intervene, the local sheriff says. The school resource officer has resigned after being suspended, Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel said. "I am devastated. Sick to my stomach. He never went in," Sheriff Israel said. Earlier this week President Trump said arming school teachers could prevent school shootings. The proposal has long been championed by the powerful National Rifle Association (NRA) gun lobby. On Thursday, in the NRA's first comments since the massacre, its head accused Democrats and media of "exploiting" the attack. Wayne LaPierre said "opportunists" were using the tragedy to expand gun control and abolish US gun rights. What did the officer do? Sheriff Israel said Officer Scot Peterson was on campus, armed and in uniform when the shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High...

Bill Gates The world’s second richest man, Bill Gates, has revealed the two “craziest” decisions he ever made in terms of buying stuff. Gates is the founder of Microsoft and co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and is the world’s second-richest person with an estimated fortune of $91.8bn, according to Bloomberg’s index. Gates officially became a billionaire when he was 31 — the youngest billionaire in history, at the time. But the boost to his bank account didn’t send him on a spending spree, Gates said during a media interview. “I don’t have many things that are extravagant taste, so it didn’t change too much,” Gates said, adding that his primary concern at the time was being able to pay his employees, many of whom had families to care for. “So, you didn’t say ‘Oh I’m going to buy a Porsche?'” he was asked. “I did — that I did,” Gates said. “That was an indulgence, and then eventually for my travel, I got a plane, which is a huge indulgence, so tho...

*Ahmed Oyesiji A security guard at Oko Agbon, Iwaya, Yaba area of Lagos, has been detained at the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for allegedly killing his colleague, Ahmed Oyesiji. The suspect, Moshood Adigun, reportedly stabbed Oyesiji in the neck with a broken bottle and the victim bled to death at the spot. Adigun was said to have borrowed N4,000 from the deceased sometime ago and had yet to repay it. PUNCH Metro  learnt that the relationship between the guards turned sour around 8am on Monday over the sharing of N1,000 gift a passerby gave them at their duty post. The money was reportedly kept by Oyesiji who was on night duty. As he wanted to close from work in the morning, it was gathered that Adigun asked him for a N500 share. But Oyesiji allegedly declined, saying he had converted Adigun’s share to the part payment of the N4,000 debt. A resident, who gave his name simply as Mayowa, said the ensuing argument between the duo led to a fi...

Queendaline Ekezie The family of Queendaline Ekezie, a 15-year-old pupil of Army Day Secondary School, Obinze, Owerri, Imo State, are inconsolable after two soldiers in the school allegedly snuffed life out of her during a rigorous punishment. The soldiers were reported to have asked her to frogmarch after she arrived at school late on Thursday. The victim, who became exhausted after repeating the exercise several times, was said to have collapsed. She was reportedly rushed to an army hospital where she died. Her father, Hyginus, on hearing the news, passed out and was rushed to a hospital  in the community for treatment. PUNCH Metro  learnt that Queendaline, who was in Junior Secondary School 3, was with a colleague, Delight Aguocha, a JSS 2 pupil, when the incident happened. Aguocha told our correspondent that the rigour of the punishment killed her friend. She said, “On that day, we had set out at 7am. We waited for a motorcycle to take us to school till it...

Five police officers and a soldier have been shot dead during a raid on their station in South Africa's Eastern Cape province. In a statement, the South African Government News Agency said three officers were killed instantly. The off-duty soldier was shot as the assailants fled, taking two other officers hostage. Their bodies were found 6km (4 miles) down the road. A government statement said both men had been shot "execution style". The unknown group of armed robbers burst into the police station near Mthatha, and opened fire early on Wednesday morning. Police do not yet know the motive for the attack. The suspects are believed to have robbed a cash machine shortly before. They took 10 firearms and a police van from the station. Gen Khehla John Sitole, National Commissioner of the South African Police Service, has vowed to find the killers,  saying he was "appalled and deeply saddened  by the cold and callous attack". People on social media ha...

US evangelist Billy Graham - one of the most influential preachers of the 20th Century - has died aged 99. Graham became one of the best-known promoters of Christianity, beginning his worldwide mission in large arenas in London in 1954. He died at his home in Montreat, North Carolina, a spokesman for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association said. In a 60-year career, he is estimated to have preached to hundreds of millions of people. Graham reached millions of them through TV - the first to use the medium to convey the Christian message on that scale. Young preacher to worldwide phenomenon Born in 1918 and raised on his family's dairy farm in Charlotte, North Carolina, Billy Graham became a committed Christian at the age of 16 after hearing a travelling evangelist. He was ordained a minister in 1939, aged 21. Graham's public profile was raised in the United States when he held a two-month ministry in a giant tent in Los Angeles in 1949. His global missio...

•Nigeria’s Seun Adigun (left) and Akuoma Omeoga after their race at the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games at the Olympic Sliding Centre in Pyeongchang, South Korea…on Tuesday. Photo: AFP Nigeria’s  Akuoma Omeoga and  Seun Adigun made history on Tuesday  as the  first Africans to  feature  in  bobsleigh  at the Winter Games. The duo finished in 52.21 seconds  and 52.55 seconds to place  20th  (the bottom of the hill)  in  women’s  heats 1 and 2  at the 2018   Pyeongchang  Winter Games in South Korea. But the  American-born  athletes  have reason to celebrate as their  timing was an improvement  on the one  from their  training heats on Sunday – 52.96 and 53.60. In heat 1, United States’ Elana Taylor and Lauren Gibbs finished in 50.52  seconds to win Tuesday’s race, followed by Germany’s  Mariana Jamaka and Lisa Buckwitz, who ran 50.54 seconds...