Fears As Brazil Legend Pele Hospitalised After Collapse In Homeland

Brazil legend Pele will remain in hospital and is being monitored by doctors in his homeland after collapsing in the early hours of Thursday morning.

The world football icon, 77, had been due in London this weekend, at the Football Writers' Association Tribute Night on Sunday evening at The Savoy, where he was set to be honoured.

But he will instead remain on fluids in hospital as he seeks to recover from severe exhaustion.

An FWA statement read: "In the early hours of Thursday morning, Pele collapsed and was taken to hospital in Brazil where he has undergone a series of tests which appear to point to severe exhaustion.


"He remains on fluids while doctors monitor his recovery.

"Thankfully, there is no suggestion of anything more serious than exhaustion and everybody at the Football Writers' Association wishes Pele a swift and full recovery.

"Understandably, his medical situation prevents him from travelling to London for the Football Writers' Association Tribute Night on Sunday evening at The Savoy.

Man Die WHile Trying To Testify To Murder Case In Kano State

There was a bit of confusion at the Kano High Court on Friday when father of a bride convicted of killing her husband collapsed and had to be rushed to hospital.

Hussaini Isiyaku, who was called to testify on the age of his daughter, slumped and started shouting, “I will die, I can’t stand this ugly trend.”

The court, presided by Justice Rabiu Sadiq, had convicted Rahama Hussaini for stabbing her husband to death in 2015.

Mr. Sadiq found Rahama guilty of all the charges slammed on her for killing her husband with a knife.

Rahama had pleaded guilty to the charges. 

The incident occurred at the Darmanawa village of Tarauni Local Government Area of Kano state when the husband tried to consummate their wedding by haing s*xual intercourse with Rahama.

The judge had summoned her father, Mr. Isiyaku, to testify on her actual age on the date of the killing.

Reports had it that Rahama was 15 years old when she was taken to her husband’s house.

After the father collapsed at Friday sitting of the court, the Judge adjourned the case to January 25 to deliver the sentence on Rahama.

Putin Strips Down To Marks Baptism Of Jesus Christ

Vladimir Putin has bared his chest again after stripping down to his bathing trunks and going for a dip in a freezing lake.

The half-naked Russian president marked the baptism of Jesus Christ when he bathed in the icy waters in -6C weather.

Putin, 65, marched onto the frozen lake and removed his thick sheepskin coat and felt boots for the cameras.

He then climbed down a set of wooden steps into a hole in the ice, crossed himself and dipped his head under the water as he observed the Orthodox Christian ritual marking the feast of Epiphany.

Putin, who is often seen topless or taking part in 'manly' activities, took part in the ritual at Lake Seliger, about 250 miles north of Moscow, late on Thursday.


Orthodox believers dunk themselves in rivers and lakes every year on Epiphany to commemorate the baptism of Jesus Christ in the River Jordan.

Open displays of religion were considered taboo when Putin was growing up under Communist rule in the Soviet Union.

Police Arrest Three For Stealing, Selling Three-Year-Old Boy For N75,000

The Police Command in Nassarawa State has arrested three suspects for allegedly stealing a three-year-old boy in Angwan Masachin, Jam’a Keffi, Keffi Local Government Area of the state.

The command’s spokesman, DSP Kennedy Idirisu, on Friday in Lafia said that the suspects were arrested on January 16.

Idirisu said the arrest followed a report by one Mr. Daniel Abu at the Keffi Police Station over the disappearance of his son.

The Police Public Relations Officer said that two of the suspects were arrested by detectives from the division for allegedly conspiring and kidnapping the boy. He said that during interrogation, the suspects confessed to stealing the child and selling same to a woman in Masaka, Karu Local Government Area of the state for N75,000.


According to the PPRO, the woman was arrested and six other children suspected to have been stolen were recovered from her custody.

He said that the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department had taken over the investigation.

Idirisu said the investigation would unravel whether the suspects belonged to the syndicate that specialised in child theft and trafficking around Karu local government area.

“This has become necessary following the rising number of complaints from parents and guardian on the disappearance of their children and wards.

“The command is using this medium to caution parents and guardians in the state against abdicating their responsibilities of care and custody of their children and wards,” he said.

The spokesman said parents and wards should take steps to prevent criminal-minded persons from taking advantage of their vulnerability.

Tanzanian Government Bans Celebrities From Posting Raunchy Pictures On Social Media

                           

Through Music Regulatory Board, Popular Known as BASATA, the Tanzanian Government has banned all celebrities from posting nudes photos on social media while in their line of work.

According to the Executive secretary of the Board, those affected by the ban will not be allowed to do music for a period of six months.

Actress Susan Michael aka Pretty Kind was the first one to be summoned by the Magufuli's government for posting nude photos on Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat.

Pretty Kind apologised to the government and is now serving her ‘sentence’.


In 2017 the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) proposed the Electronic and Postal Communications (Online Content) Regulations, 2017, draft.

This meant that users would be held liable for posting content deemed "indecent, obscene, hate speech, extreme violence or material that will offend or incite others, cause annoyance, threaten, or encourage or incite crime, or lead to public disorder, per the law."

Online radio, TV, bloggers and other digital platforms are required to register with the TCRA.

New Zealand Prime Minister Pregnant With First Child

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Friday that she and her partner, Clarke Gayford, are expecting their first child in June.

"Clarke and I are really excited that in June our team will expand from two to three, and that we'll be joining the many parents out there who wear two hats," she said in a Facebook post.

"I'll be Prime Minister AND a mum, and Clarke will be 'first man of fishing' and stay-at-home dad."

Speaking to reporters outside her home on Friday morning, Ardern said she would be taking six weeks leave following the baby's birth.


"I am not the first woman to multi-task, I'm not the first woman to work and have a baby, I know these are special circumstances but there will be many women who will have done this well before I have," she said.

Ardern said she learned she was pregnant in October during negotiations to form a minority New Zealand government, "but as many couples do in the early stages, we kept it to ourselves," she said.

Zimbabwe Opposition Leader Roy Bennett Killed In Helicopter Crash Alongside Wife

The Zimbabwean politician Roy Bennett who had two spells in prison under President Robert Mugabe has been killed alongside his wife in a helicopter crash.

The 60-year-old was reportedly killed with wife Heather after the helicopter came down in a mountainous area of New Mexico.

Mr Bennett spent years campaigning against Mugabe and was famously jailed in 2009 while trying to negotiate a power-sharing government with the dictator.

Following his release and fearing further charges against him he fled to South Africa.

Former Zimbabwe government minister David Coltart wrote on Facebook, “I have just confirmed from three separate reliable sources that Roy and Heather Bennett have been tragically killed in a helicopter accident in North America.

“I am devastated- they were two of Zimbabwe’s greatest patriots. My condolences are extended to their family & friends.”

Bennett lived in South Africa on political asylum, which was first granted in 2007, and fled again after he was jailed on his return.

The politician was former treasurer general of the Movement for Democratic Change Tsvangirai (MDC - T) which is currently Zimbabwe's main opposition party.

MDC-T vice-president Nelson Chamisa has alsom mourned his death.

Police in New Mexico confirmed the crash and says it occured in a rural area of the state.

12 Osun State University Pupil Collapse in Class

                                         

It has been revealed that no fewer than 12 students of the Osun State University, Osogbo campus slumped inside a lecture room on Thursday as a result of leakage of a poisonous substance.

According to Punch Metro, some students of the university, who pleaded anonymity told our correspondent that some 300-level students were receiving lecture when the leakage occurred.

Some of the students said the gas leaked from one of the laboratories while others said they did not know the source of the chemical.

But they said that no fewer than 12 students slumped as a result of the leaked chemical and the affected students were rushed to some hospitals outside the campus for treatment.

The student said, ” Some 300 level students were receiving a lecture in Anatomy Department this afternoon when the incident happened. The lecture room was overcrowded and some of the students had to squat while one of them sat on an industrial fire extinguisher inside the room 

” I think the student sat on it for about one hour or thereabout and, unknown to him, his weight had exacted pressure on the extinguisher, causing the container to release a heavy concentration of carbon dioxide inside the already stuffy lecture room.

” The students inhaled the leaked carbon dioxide and some of them collapsed and were taken to hospitals outside the campus when the situation was becoming very serious. Some of them were taken to Our Lady of Fatima Hospital at Jaleyemi area.

” Some of the students were placed on oxygen but their conditions were stable. One of the affected students, Basirat, has nobody here in Nigeria. Her parents are in Côte d’Ivoire and we have been praying that nothing bad should happen to any of them.”

The Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Labo Popoola, when contacted, confirmed the incident.

He said, ” Some students of our College of Health Sciences, Osogbo campus, sat on a cylinder of a fire extinguisher around a classroom. They tampered with the nozzle of the cylinder, which later exploded.

“In the stampede that occurred while the students numbering about 200 were escaping to safety, some were injured, while about 20 of them who inhaled the poisonous gas were evacuated to our health centre and other hospitals by our staff.

“They were revived, and are all in stable condition. No casualty was recorded”

Husband Beats Pregnant Wife To Death

A  37-year-old, identified as Mathew Ankyoor, has been charged with homicide by a High Court in Maitama, Abuja for allegedly killing  his wife.

The Judge who presided over the case, Justice Peter Affen, said it was necessary to ascertain the veracity of the statements made by the accused.

Ankyoor is standing trial for allegedly beating his wife to death with a three-count hanging around his neck.

The accused, who was first arraigned on October 24, 2017, had pleaded not guilty.

At the resumed hearing of the case on Thursday, the Prosecuting Counsel, Mr. Donatus Abah, called the first prosecution witness (PW1), Insp. Raymond Isama of the Homicide Section of the FCT Police Command.

The witness told the court that the case was transferred from the Lugbe Division of the command to the homicide section and was assigned to him to investigate.

He said Ankyoor had written the statement without coercion, adding that he (Isama) took both the accused and the statement to a superior officer where the document was signed and countered-signed.

The witness added that the accused voluntarily signed the statement before the superior officer, while he (Isama) countered-signed.

Isama had also informed the court that he visited the scene of the crime as well as Wuse General Hospital, where a pathologist removed the baby inside the womb of the deceased, Mrs. Doosuur Ankyoor.

He said that he took the photographs of the baby, who also died in the process of being removed from its dead mother’s womb.

The photographs were admitted as exhibits as the defence counsel did not object to its admissibility.

There was a mild drama as an argument ensued between the two counsels when Abah sought to tender the accused’s statement as exhibit before the judge.

The Defendant’s Counsel, Mr. John Godwin, had objected to its admissibility on the grounds that it was contrary to Section 29 of the Evidence Act.

Godwin said the statement was not voluntarily made by the accused, adding that he was “tortured, coerced and intimidated into writing the statement”.

Arguing on point of law, the prosecuting counsel, insisted that the statement was admissible, adding that the defence counsel’s objection was only a ploy to delay the trial.

The judge, after entertaining the witness’ submission and arguments from both counsel, ordered a trial-within-trial to ascertain the veracity of Ankyoor’s claim.

He case was adjourned until February 19.

Benue Killing: Resident Protest Outside National Assembly

Benue State Indigenes on Thursday stormed the National Assembly Complex in Abuja to protest against the killings of their people by herdsmen.

The protesters, who were made up of Igede, Tiv, Idoma and other ethnic groups in Benue, got to the gate at about 10am. They were said to have moved from Makurdi, the state capital, to the Federal Capital Territory in the morning for the protest.

They first assembled at the Unity Fountain, from where they proceeded to the National Assembly and other parts of the nation’s capital.

Security personnel manning the gate prevented them from gaining entrance into the premises.

by Taboola  had on their placards inscriptions that read, ‘Atomic weapons in Benue,’ ‘Where are the soldiers,?’ ‘Wake up,!’ ‘Where is UN,?’ ‘We want peace,’ ‘Genocide in Benue,’ ‘Tiv women mourn their husbands, wives, daughters and sons murdered by Fulani terrorists on Tuesday 2/1/2018’ and ‘No land or cattle colony in Benue.’

Leading the protest, a former member of the Benue State House of Assembly and ex-commissioner in the state, Mrs. Rebecca Apezan, alleged that President Muhammadu Buhari had abandoned the Benue people, while condoning criminal activities by the herdsmen.

Source: ( Punch Newspaper )

Dad Hire Stripper To Perform AT Son 12 Years Old Birthday

A yet to be identified man has come under fire for hiring strippers to perform at his 12-year-old son’s birthday.

Video footage of the birthday party, which reportedly took place in the United States, show several exotic dancers performing for the boy.

In one short segment, the boy appears uncomfortable while two strippers dance for him and rub their br**sts against his face.

Several Spanish-language news outlets have reported on the video, but it is not known exactly where it was filmed or the nationality of the family.

The father of the boy is reported to be a ‘millionaire’ by LaVanguardia.com

The video shows the boy sitting on a chair while two female exotic dancers perform.

One of them is sitting in the boy’s lap and another is standing behind them.

Another clip shows the boy with his top off, dancing with one of the lingerie-clad women by a stripper’s pole.

The father can be seen smiling broadly and encouraging his son.

The video was shared widely on YouTube where users have questioned the father’s parenting abilities.

Commentators have called the father’s ‘birthday gift’ inappropriate, saying a pre-pubescent boy should not be sexualised in this way, with some even calling it s*xual abuse of a child.

It is not known where the party took place. According to Estrella TV, a Spanish-speaking TV channel in the US, the father hoped to turn his son into a man.

But instead the boy appears to be uncomfortable in the video. It was condemned by commenters, with some pointing out how different the situation would be if it was a 12-year-old girl with male strippers.

In the comment section of the video, there was mixed reaction.

Marco Scodorbes felt the father “deserves a medal

Another commentator, Gomera, failed to see the funny side, saying: “Would it be the same reaction if it were a 12-year-old girl with male strippers?”

And Alan Ancuna had similar thoughts, he said: “What would happen if we would turn the situation around? A 12-year-old girl with two half-unclad men dancing, would it not be wrong?

 

Nigerian Politicians Are More Concerned About The Next Election Than Ongoing Bloodshed, Shehu Sani Again

The Senator representing Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani, yesterday accused Nigerian leaders of being insensitive to the killings and bloodshed in many parts of the country.

Sani said political office holders are concerned about the next general elections, adding that instead of them to take decisive steps towards tackling the nation’s problems, they are busy strategizing on how to secure re-election in 2019.

The Senator spoke in Abeokuta, Ogun State, at a national conference organised by the Freelance and Independent Broadcasters Association of Nigeria (FIBAN). He said;

“All is not well with this country. This is the wrong time to shed blood in Nigeria. If you think that people in power will stop the problem in the country, you are in for a fool’s ride. The attention of people is how to win elections and not how they can end senseless killings and bloodshed.


“It would require a mass, peaceful march in the streets from Nigerians to recharge the conscience of people in power.

“Nigerians are dying in hundreds and in thousands and some people felt what is important is INEC timetable, when is elections and when is primaries.

 “It is difficult to hear any public office holder speak the truth because of political calculations. Anybody who says we are not in crisis now is deceiving himself.

“We are only differentiated by names. The PDP came into existence because there is a need to have a national party that will take over from the military. The APC came into power to de-establish the PDP and drive Jonathan out of power and in the process, we have all sorts of people.”

Yobe State Governor Approve Monthly Salary For Doctors

                               

Governor Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe State on Thursday has  approved the placement of additional 110 medical students on monthly salary of Grade Level 07.

Information on the approval is in a statement by Abdullahi Bego, Director-General, Press Affairs to the governor.

Mr. Bego stated that “the Yobe Government would spend a total of N41, 392, 560 per annum to pay the additional 110 medical students being enrolled in the government’s payroll.”

He noted that the newly approved 110 student doctors were addition to 389 others already placed on the government’s payroll and had been enjoying the monthly salary.

The director general stated that the placement of the students on monthly salary was to serve as incentive to medical students.

He added that “the establishment of Medical College and a Teaching Hospital at the Yobe State University would cultivate home-grown corps of medical manpower to provide efficient services across the state.”

Man Sneaks In To Rape Girl With Down Syndrome As Parents Catch Him In The Act

An herbalist, Tajudeen Akintoye, is cooling his heels in a cell at the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Eleweran, Abeokuta, for taking advantage of a woman with Down’s syndrome, Rachael, in Itele, in the Ado Odo Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State.

Punch Metro learnt that Akintoye, a popular herbalist in the community, sneaked into the victim’s parents’ house while her parents had gone to the farm.

He was said to have undressed Rachael and was sleeping with her when her parents arrived and caught him in the act.

The matter was reported at the Itele Police Station as the 23-year-old Anambra State indigene was taken to a hospital for tests.


Rachael’s father, Leonard Onuzulike, said the incident happened around 11am on Monday.

He said, “She developed the problem about 22 years ago when she was an infant. She had gone into convulsion and we took her to a hospital where the doctors said she had the problem. She cannot walk on her own and her speech drawls. But when we talk to her, she understands and responds, though not coherently.

“So, on Monday, my wife and I left her at home to go to the farm. The farm is just a stone’s throw to the house. And within 30 minutes, we were done.

“But on getting home, I was shocked to see him on top of my daughter. He was stark naked and he had removed her dress as well. We apprehended and handed him over to the police, who detained him.”

Onuzulike said his daughter was taken to a medical centre where she was examined before a doctor confirmed that there was penetration.

He, however, lamented that on Wednesday, the police gave him a form to take to the Ota General Hospital for another round of tests.

“When we got to the hospital, the doctor did not conduct any examination. He just asked her some questions and filled in her responses. He didn’t perform any test like the first hospital and I hope it is not a ploy to destroy the case,” he added.

While wondering the reason for the delay in the prosecution of the suspect, Racheal’s father alleged that the police at the Itele division asked him to provide a vehicle to convey the suspect from the station to the command headquarters at Abeokuta.

Onuzulike alleged that the officers threatened to release the suspect if he didn’t make the arrangement on time, saying they feared he could die in custody.

A police source at the Itele division said 60-year-old Akintoye, during interrogation, confessed to the crime, blaming his uncontrollable libido.

“He said he didn’t know what came over him and that he just couldn’t control his sexual urge which pushed him to enter the house and sleep with the girl. I wondered why he couldn’t go to a brothel and why it had to be such a helpless girl.

He is a wretched man and the police have been feeding him for the three days he had spent in the cell,” the source said.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said the police had received the result of the test, adding that the matter had been transferred to the SCIID.

He said, “A case of rape was reported and the suspect was arrested by our men at the Itele division. The victim was taken to a hospital for medical test because we need a doctor’s report to prosecute the suspect. The case is not what can be handled at the divisional level. They had to transfer it to the SCIID and they cannot do that without getting the medical report. That was what the DPO was waiting for yesterday (Wednesday). They got it this morning and the matter has been transferred to the SCIID.

“The incident happened in the interior of Ota. They could have a challenge of getting vehicles to transport them to Abeokuta. But that does not mean they will kill the case over issues of transportation. The police cannot prosecute the case without the complainant being present when it is being transferred because he needs to know where the matter is being transferred to.”