GistMASTERS

By Evelyn Usman & Monsur Olowopejo Tragedy struck, Tuesday, at Ojodu Berger area of Lagos State, after a three-storey building under construction caved in and trapped a yet-to-be ascertained number of persons. At the time of this report, only one body, believed to be one of the construction workers, had been recovered. The incident, as gathered, occurred at 3.50pm at 24 Bashiru Street. The uncompleted building as gathered was owned by an unnamed church. A resident, who identified himself as Jamiu, told Vanguard that they (residents) were jolted by a deafening sound before the building caved in. Although nobody could tell how many construction workers were on site at the time of the incident, there were indications that some of the workers were still trapped under the debris as telephone calls reportedly made to one of the them, identified as Musilu, revealed that he was pleading passionately for urgent help. At 5.10pm, National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA; Lag...

Maiduguri — The Joint Task Force, JTF, on Operation Restore Order ORO, said  yesterday that it had arrested suspected killers of war veteran, Maj.-Gen. Mohammadu Shuwa, in Maiduguri, Borno State. JTF Spokesman, Lt.-Col. Sagir Musa, who stated this in a statement in Maiduguri, said the arrest followed series of investigations by the task force. “It will be recalled that an elder statesman, retired Maj.-Gen. Mohammadu Shuwa, was shot dead by gunmen in front of his house in Gwange, Maiduguri on November 12, 2012. “Preliminary investigation by the JTF has identified two key suspected Boko Haram terrorists: Mohammed Ibn Saleh and Abdulkareem Ibrahim, as the masterminds of the killing,” Musa said. The suspected killers of Major-General Shuwa paraded by the JTF in Maiduguri, Borno State, Monday. Photo: NAN. He added that a special operation was carried out by the JTF to get the suspected killers. “Consequently, a special operation was conducted on November 15, 2012 by th...

LAGOS — Controversy currently trails the parenthood of  five-month-old twins who were presented at the United States of America’s embassy by their supposed parents for the procurement of visa. This follows result of a DNA test ordered by the embassy which reports showed that the couple were not the biological parents of the twins as claimed. Consequently, the couple have been arrested and are being interrogated at the Special Fraud Unit, SFU Milverton, for alleged child-trafficking. Although investigation, according to the unit, had not been concluded, there were indication that the children could have been bought for N1.8 million somewhere in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Following the discovery, the passport of the supposed father, Mr Adenuga Shoyibo, a Nigerian based in America has been seized pending the outcome of the investigation. But Soyibo, who claimed to be a USA citizen, maintained that the children were theirs, disclosing  that the twins came at a tr...

By Samuel Oyadongha Yenagoa — Emotions ran high, yesterday, at the Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa Bayelsa State, as the remains of 11 out of the 12 policemen killed last Friday were deposited at the hospital’s morgue. The combined team of  soldiers drawn from the Joint Task Force, JTF, and operatives of the Nigeria Police, yesterday, recovered the burnt and decomposed bodies of the slain policemen along the creeks of Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the state. Some of the recovered bodies were reportedly burnt and mutilated by their killers who also stripped them of their uniforms and rifles during the attack. Security sources identified some of the victims as Senior Inspector Joseph Ofujuni, Constable Ebebi Lucky, aged 31 and an indigene of Isama in Delta State and one simply identified as Sgt Jack from Rivers State. The identities of others could not be obtained at press time. One of the three survivors was identified as Sgt Clinton Ambayi. The senior in...

Jos – Ritual  killers on Monday struck in Jos, killing and removing the eyes and tongue of a young lady in Twanchit Village at Tudun Wada in the Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau. The police in Jos confirmed the incident but said they had no details yet. Residents who woke up to the ugly sight, said that the crime took place around 1:00 a.m. and that the victim could not be identified. They said, however, that the area had a lot of drinking spots that operated late into the night and that the assailants could have hidden under that to carryout the crime. The corpse had no visible mark or injury an indication that the assailants had strangled her before plucking out her eyes and tongue. The corpse, dumped by the riverside was neatly dressed in a blue jean trousers and T-shirt at the time of discovery before security operatives took it away at about 8:45 a.m. The murder threw Twanchit residents into pensive mood as most of the people who trooped to the sce...

BY AUSTIN OGWUDA ASABA — A syndicate which specializes in luring pregnant teenage girls eager to deliver their babies under cover and thereafter selling the newborns to ritualists and childless couples has been smashed in Asaba, Delta State capital. Already, a middle-aged woman (names withheld) who hails from one of the eastern states of the country alleged to be running an illegal maternity centre at a camp in Oduke, in the outskirts of the town, has been arrested, while a nurse and a medical doctor attached to the home are presently on the run. Vanguard gathered that police have intensified manhunt for the runaway medical doctor and nurse involved in the deal. It was also gathered that upon delivery of such babies depending on the sex of the child, they are sold for between N400,000 and N500,000 each. Police sources confirmed the story, saying the suspect would be arraigned in court. Thunder kills 2 traders, 3 goats in Asaba market Also two traders and no fewer ...

BY PETER OKUTU ABAKALIKI-A corps member, Emmanuel Oyelara serving in Ohaozara Local government area of the state was weekend, stabbed in his left eye by one of his girl friends for allegedly having an affair with another lady within the area of his place of primary assignment. Oyelara who is now lying in a critical condition at the Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, FETHA, because of the injuries he sustained might never see again as it was reported that before the unfortunate incident his right eye were already defective. It was gathered that a fight broke-out when one Happiness and Maria, whom the lover boy” Corps member was said to have been dating, eventually met in his house on the faithful day. Investigation revealed that the fight was the fourth time the ladies were fighting in Corper Oyelara’s house over who would take over the “lover boy” corps member. It was learnt that Happiness who hailed from Umuchima in Uburu ...

SEOUL (AFP) – North Korea said Tuesday the Korean peninsula was headed for “thermo-nuclear” war and advised foreigners to consider leaving South Korea, as the UN chief warned of a potentially “uncontrollable” situation. Tuesday’s advisory — greeted largely with indifference — followed a similar one last week to foreign embassies in Pyongyang, to consider evacuating by April 10 on the grounds war may break out. “The situation on the Korean Peninsula is inching close to a thermo-nuclear war,” the Asia-Pacific Peace Committee said in a statement carried by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency. Saying it did not want to see foreigners in South Korea “fall victim”, the statement requested all foreign institutions, enterprises and tourists “to take measures for shelter and evacuation”. The committee blamed the heightened war risk on the “warmongering US” and its South Korean “puppets” who were intent on invasion. A truck with South Korean army soliders moves towards ...

By Samuel Oyadongha Yenagoa—Following the killing of 12 policemen by gunmen at Azuzuama community in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, weekend, Governor Seriake Dickson, has vowed to collaborate with security agencies to ensure the arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators of the dastardly act. Dickson, in a statement in Yenagoa, said his government would do everything possible to bring the culprits to book, adding that steps were already being taken to comb all parts of the state to apprehend them. Similarly, the Inspector General of Police, has ordered a massive manhunt for the killers, noting that the Nigerian Police Force will stop at nothing to ensure  that the killers were not only found, but brought to book. Force Spokesman, Mr. Frank Mba, said the IG described as “most unfortunate, the unprovoked killing of the 12 police officers, who were murdered while on legitimate assignment,” regretting that “the death of these gallant officers is yet a...

President Goodluck Jonathan has joined other world leaders in mourning the death of former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher describing her as one of the world’s greatest leaders. In a condolence message signed by the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati, he said  “having already attained a legendary status in her lifetime after positively transforming Britain forever in her eleven and half years as Prime Minister, Baroness Thatcher will, with her passage today formally take her place in history as one the greatest world leaders of our time”. He noted that “Baroness Thatcher will be eternally honoured for serving her country with immense passion and strong-willed determination as well as for the great transformation that resulted from her economic and social policies which laid the solid basis for the remarkable economic growth that was witnessed in Britain under the Conservative Government that she led. Prof. Bolaji ...

Thepolice command says it has commenced a fullscale investigation into the death of one Ugwu Peter Chima, who died as a result of acid bath he received in his lover’s house. In a statement made available to DailyPost on Sunday, the police spokesman in the state, Mr. Ebere Amaraizu disclosed that the deceased had gone to see his lover at Old Army Barracks Nsukka in Enugu state when the incident happened. “He was attacked with accid by a group of six armed men yet to be identified thereby leaving him with serious injuries on his body. “He was, however, rushed to theTrenz Ituku Ozalla Enugu for medical attention, where he was subsequently confirmed dead”, Amaraizu stated.

  Nigerian controversial entertainer, Charly Boy recently revealed why he sometimes sleep in a casket. Read his reasons, including responses to his fans’ criticisms below. Sleeping in a Coffin? Point of correction, I do not sleep in a casket, I sleep on my bed, it’s big and comfy, I only lay in my “casket”when I do my meditation because it helps me to be focused, it tells me more about the imminence of death. My casket is a reminder. It wakes me up from slumber. It tells me, “guy, you have got little or no time left, wake up, be creative and work”. Of course, when I read some of the comments of my people, I know a good number of us are ill-informed about quite a number of things. I think it is more of what the casket represents that shocks my people and they start reading meanings into it, depending on their level of understanding. But one question is, what if the same wood that was used to build the casket was used to make a sofa chair? May be, all the hullabaloo about...

  Nigerian controversial entertainer, Charly Boy recently revealed why he sometimes sleep in a casket. Read his reasons, including responses to his fans’ criticisms below. Sleeping in a Coffin? Point of correction, I do not sleep in a casket, I sleep on my bed, it’s big and comfy, I only lay in my “casket”when I do my meditation because it helps me to be focused, it tells me more about the imminence of death. My casket is a reminder. It wakes me up from slumber. It tells me, “guy, you have got little or no time left, wake up, be creative and work”. Of course, when I read some of the comments of my people, I know a good number of us are ill-informed about quite a number of things. I think it is more of what the casket represents that shocks my people and they start reading meanings into it, depending on their level of understanding. But one question is, what if the same wood that was used to build the casket was used to make a sofa chair? May be, all the hullabaloo about...

By   RUSS BYNUM   |   Associated Press   BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — A pair of teenagers was arrested Friday and accused of fatally shooting a 13-month-old baby in the face and wounding his mother during their morning stroll through a leafy, historic neighborhood. Sherry West  had just been to the post office a few blocks from her apartment Thursday morning and was pushing her son, Antonio, in his stroller while they walked past gnarled oak trees and blooming azaleas in the coastal city of Brunswick. West said a tall, skinny teenager, accompanied by a smaller boy, asked her for money. "He asked me for money and I said I didn't have it," she told The Associated Press Friday from her apartment, which was scattered with her son's toys and movies. "When you have a baby, you spend all your money on babies. They're expensive. And he kept asking and I just said 'I don't have it.' And he said, 'Do you want me to kill your baby?' And I said, ...

The picture shows a baby delivered by cesarean section at a facility at Genyi, Yandev near Gboko on Friday 21 September, 2012. Careful study of the picture shows a well-developed normal baby. The only problem is exenteration. The intestines are also well developed. There is evidence of trauma and subserosal bleeding in parts of the ileum. Despite the blood staining of the skin seen on the right side of the body, the general colour of the baby suggests it was born alive and breathed, as all the visible blood seems to be well oxygenated. The inevitable conclusion is that the ‘surgeon’ must have accidentally cut open the baby’s anterior abdominal wall during the stage of incising the uterus. Had this clumsy, careless, and extremely stupid accident happen in a proper environment for practicing medicine, the baby would have been immediately transferred to a qualified surgeon for proper care. This was not to be. The practitioner left this baby to die of these injuries rather th...

The picture shows a baby delivered by cesarean section at a facility at Genyi, Yandev near Gboko on Friday 21 September, 2012. Careful study of the picture shows a well-developed normal baby. The only problem is exenteration. The intestines are also well developed. There is evidence of trauma and subserosal bleeding in parts of the ileum. Despite the blood staining of the skin seen on the right side of the body, the general colour of the baby suggests it was born alive and breathed, as all the visible blood seems to be well oxygenated. The inevitable conclusion is that the ‘surgeon’ must have accidentally cut open the baby’s anterior abdominal wall during the stage of incising the uterus. Had this clumsy, careless, and extremely stupid accident happen in a proper environment for practicing medicine, the baby would have been immediately transferred to a qualified surgeon for proper care. This was not to be. The practitioner left this baby to die of these injuries rather than ex...

The picture shows a baby delivered by cesarean section at a facility at Genyi, Yandev near Gboko on Friday 21 September, 2012. Careful study of the picture shows a well-developed normal baby. The only problem is exenteration. The intestines are also well developed. There is evidence of trauma and subserosal bleeding in parts of the ileum. Despite the blood staining of the skin seen on the right side of the body, the general colour of the baby suggests it was born alive and breathed, as all the visible blood seems to be well oxygenated. The inevitable conclusion is that the ‘surgeon’ must have accidentally cut open the baby’s anterior abdominal wall during the stage of incising the uterus. Had this clumsy, careless, and extremely stupid accident happen in a proper environment for practicing medicine, the baby would have been immediately transferred to a qualified surgeon for proper care. This was not to be. The practitioner left this baby to die of these injuries rather tha...

BY ANAYO OKOLI UMUAHIA — THE Police in Rivers State, yesterday, said they had unravelled the celebrated gang-rape case which allegedly took place at the Abia State University, ABSU, Uturu. According to the police the incident actually took place in Obite town in Etche Council Area of Rivers State. The victim was also found to be married  while the suspects are her husband’s cousins. The investigation was prompted by a social media record of an incident where four men gang-raped a girl allegedly at ABSU. According to the Police, three of the suspects have been charged to Magistrate Court 9, Port Harcourt. The information was contained in the Nigeria Police newspaper, The Dawn, of March 11-24, 2013 edition. According to the report, detectives from the Rivers State Criminal Investigation Department, working on intelligence report on September 7, 2012, traced the husband of the victim code-named Mr. S from Obite t...

LAGOS—There were indications, yesterday, that the Boko Haram sect might have infiltrated Lagos State, following raid of a building in Ijora Badia area of Lagos, suspected to have been used as a hideout by the suspected terrorists. This came as the Islamist group holding the French family of seven in Nigeria has warned against any attempt to use force to free their hostages who were  kidnapped in northern Cameroon last month. Arrested in the Lagos building were two persons; a Chadian simply identified as Aminu and another man from the northern part of the country whose identity could not be ascertained. TERROR ABODE—Residents at the building used as hideout by the suspects at Ijora, Lagos. Recovered at the end of the raid carried out by a combined team of  Operation Messa, OP MESSA and personnel of the Department of State Security, DSS were AK 47 riffles and some explosives said to have been hidden  inside the c...

LAGOS—There were indications, yesterday, that the Boko Haram sect might have infiltrated Lagos State, following raid of a building in Ijora Badia area of Lagos, suspected to have been used as a hideout by the suspected terrorists. This came as the Islamist group holding the French family of seven in Nigeria has warned against any attempt to use force to free their hostages who were  kidnapped in northern Cameroon last month. Arrested in the Lagos building were two persons; a Chadian simply identified as Aminu and another man from the northern part of the country whose identity could not be ascertained. TERROR ABODE—Residents at the building used as hideout by the suspects at Ijora, Lagos. Recovered at the end of the raid carried out by a combined team of  Operation Messa, OP MESSA and personnel of the Department of State Security, DSS were AK 47 riffles and some explosives said to have been hidden  in...