Gist Arena

The highly influential Economist magazine has accused President Goodluck Jonathan's government of incompetence, callousness and corruption. In addition, the publication blamed the festering scourge of terrorist activities by the Islamist group, Boko Haram, largely on Mr. Jonathan's inaction and indifference. In its current edition, the magazine criticized the Jonathan administration for its reluctance to accept foreign help in the past in order to battle Boko Haram insurgents rampaging in the northeast of Nigeria. The publication also berated the president's wife, Patience Jonathan, for ordering the arrest and detention of protesters demanding action by the Federal Government to rescue the abducted schoolgirls. The full statement by the Economist is reproduced below: Kidnappings In Nigeria -A clueless government  FOR the past few years President Goodluck Jonathan has publicly shrugged off the deaths of thousands of people, mainly in the north-east of his country, p...

Communities in the Birnin-Gwari Local Government area of Kaduna State said the Nigerian Military committed genocide on their areas in a recent clampdown on armed gangs that the military spokesperson had announced was “huge success” during the week. The communities of Kwalakwangi, Maikyasuwa, and Dokan-ruwa were over a four-day span, from Monday to Thursday of this week, under siege by the military, residents of the area told us. The Nigerian military was deployed in the area to uproot a series of armed bandit ‘safe heavens’ and safe houses, under the military tactics called, "Operation Restore Peace." According an eyewitness from the Kwalakwangi village, the military had burnt down the village, and killed all the able-bodied men caught in the cross hairs of their guns. Several of the people shot were not connected to any of the gangs military officials sought.   At least 43 people were buried in Kwalakwangi village on Friday, including the chief imam, and the distric...

According  to what linda ikeji said, she watched Genevieve Nnaji on CNN a few minutes ago talking about the missing Chibok girls, and she was very articulate. Some of what she said below... "As celebrities, we thought it was our responsibility to shed light and bring to the forefront this inhumane act." "For me I think it will be unfair to say they (the federal govt) were slow to react because nobody knew whether they reacted or not. The thing is we we weren't told, we didn't know if they were aware of the situation or not. The major problem we had was the lack of communication. We just wanted them to react to us. Now we can see things being put in place, now we can see effort being made and that will be credited to the noise that's been made, the campaigning that's been made around the world. We are grateful for all the attention." Continue... CNN: Does she welcome foreign support? "This has been going on way too long and there's n...

It's Kimye's version of a Golden Ticket! As one of the most famous couples in the world,  Kim Kardashian  and  Kanye West  know literally thousands of people who would love to attend their much-anticipated Paris wedding on May 24. Of those thousands, approximately 100 were given spots on the guest list. Invitations were dispatched to the elite group in mid-April -- and  Us Weekly  has an exclusive look at the coveted memento. The invitations feature a simple design: gold lettering on a neutral background. Information is scarce; all that's included are a few lines about the date and dress code for the ceremony and rehearsal dinner. As  Us Weekly  previously reported in April, the happy couple are keeping most details under wraps until their friends and family arrive in France. "Guests won't know the venue until they get to Paris," a source shared last month. "[Kim] hasn't even told her sisters." Engaged since Kardashian's 33rd birt...

The singer feels all the protests should stop...and also mentioned that she was the one who sent out messages to US celebs to tweet support for the campaign... .

I have been getting reports from multiple sources saying that some school children were kidnapped around 1pm t oday  May 9th at Baruwa Primary school, Itire-Ijeshatedo, Surulere. News got to parents, guardians, who rushed to the school to remove their children. There was a lot of chaos in the area for about two hours this afternoon I personally can't verify that school kids were kidnapped...but something definitely happened to cause panic. See more photos below

An unidentified man suspected to be a kidnapper reportedly died Thursday after he was pelted with stones by a mob in Iyana Ipaja arera of Lagos Western Nigeria. The suspect allegedly kidnapped a 4-year old girl at Lagger Street, Alimosho bus stop, Iyana Ipaja. He was brutally beaten and stoned before the police at Gowon Estate Division intervened. P.M.NEWS learnt that the police rushed him to Igando General Hospital where he reportedly died because of the injuries he sustained. According to a resident, as the suspect was taking the victim away, he was accosted by the residents who knew the girl and asked him where he was taking her to. The witness said when the suspect did not give a satisfactory answer, he was searched and four phone sim cards were found on him and a jackknife. The angry mob suspected him to be a kidnapper and desended on him. A team of policemen who raced to the scene to rescue the suspect was also attacked and injured. A resident who watched while the mo...

LAGOS (AFP) – Nigeria’s military had advanced warning of the April 14 attack by Boko Haram that led to the kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls but failed to take immediate action, Amnesty International said Friday. “Damning testimonies gathered by Amnesty International reveal that Nigerian security forces failed to act on advance warnings about Boko Haram’s armed raid on the state-run boarding school in Chibok which led to the abduction,” the rights group said. Amnesty said it had verified the information about the abduction with “credible sources”. “Amnesty International has confirmed… that Nigeria’s military headquarters in Maiduguri was aware of the impending attack soon after 7:00 PM (1800 GMT) on 14 April, close to four hours before Boko Haram began their assault on the town,” the group said. The military however could not assemble the troops needed to suppress the attack, “due to poor resources and a reported fear of engaging with the often better-equipped” Islamists,...

Mrs. Hillary Clinton, the former US Secretary of State, has lambasted President Goodluck Jonathan over corruption in Nigeria and the reckless squandering of the nation’s oil wealth. While speaking in separate events in New York City, Hillary said the Nigerian government under President Jonathan, squandered its oil resources, and indirectly helps corruption to fester in the country. Clinton, who also expressed her anger over the abducted schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno State, spoke with ABC-TV’s Robin Roberts on American national television, and also at a public function organised by the International Crisis Group. Later, the former Senator and First Lady made other critical remarks concerning Nigeria at a philanthropy parley, as she was widely quoted by several American media outlets, including CNN. Clinton stated the following position in the New York events she attended, challenging the credibility and quality of the country’s leadership under President Jonathan’s watch. “The s...

Popular Nollywood actor, Bob-Manuel Udokwu has been appointed Senior Special Adviser on Entertainment by Anambra State Governor, Willie Obiano. He made the announcement via a BB message yesterday. The message read: “The governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano has appointed me Bob-Manuel Udokwu (FCAI) his Senior Special Assistant(SSA) on the Movie/Entertainment Industry with immediate effect” Bob-Manuel was also the former Special Adviser on Entertainment to the immediate past Governor of Anambra state, Peter Obi. This new governor retained him. Congrats to him.

READ FROM BOTTOM TO TOP 1:56 pm You can read the letter Rolf Harris wrote to the father of one of his alleged victim's  in full here. The letter, written in March 1997, denies the girl's claims that the entertainer started abusing her when she was just 13, instead claiming that "nothing physical took place" until she was 18 in the early 1980s. He says he believed that "everything that had taken place had progressed from a feeling of love and friendship", and there was "no rape, no physical forcing". But he begs the girl's father for forgiveness, and expresses regret following a confrontation with the girl - by then an adult - when she said she had always been scared of him. 1:09 pm Rolf Harris' daughter Bindi told the girl she suspected her father was having a fling with the housekeeper. When the Jimmy Savile probe began in 2012 the alleged victim told police and gave them the letter to her dad. Harris was ...

This is the chilling moment a man appears to try to abduct a toddler in a busy shopping centre. Police have released the shocking footage following the incident, which happened at Derby's Intu shopping centre at 10.30am on Thursday, May 8. A woman was walking into the Boots store with her 22-month-old son when a man walked up behind her, took the boy by the hand and appeared to lead him away in the opposite direction. His mother then noticed what was going on, turned and challenged the man, who apologised and walked away. Detectives described the incident as 'suspicious' and 'extremely unusual' before releasing the footage in a bid to find the man shown. Police said he is white, aged about 60 and wore a dark coat and a flat cap. Detective Chief Inspector Nick Lamb said: “This was a very isolated and extremely unusual incident and we are very keen to speak to the person shown in the images. “Although we do not know the intentions of the man involved, ...

Apple is set to buy headphone maker Beats Electronics for $3.2bn (£1.9bn), it has been reported. The Financial Times says the deal could be announced as early as next week, marking Apple's largest ever acquisition. Founded by rapper and music producer Dr Dre and fellow music producer Jimmy Iovine in 2008, the firm produces 'Beats by Dr Dre' headphones and also runs a music streaming service. Beats Electronics received $500m (£295m) investment from Carlyle Group last September, valuing the company at more than $1bn. It has been reported that Apple is contemplating a Spotify-like on-demand music service. Some technology analysts have speculated that the purchase plans are motivated by acquiring Beats' streaming arm rather than the headphones division. Apple is sitting on a $133bn (£78bn) cash pile, and chief executive Tim Cook has said the firm has "no problem" with spending large sums of money to acquire top companies. Apple and Beats have not c...

A report on CNN says US and UK intelligence believe the missing Chibok girls may have been trafficked to Chad, Niger and Cameroon and shared into smaller groups to facilitate easy trafficking. Meanwhile 7 US anti-terrorism agents have arrived Nigeria today to help in the process of rescuing the missing girls.  A spokesman for the Foreign Office said the team, which includes officials from the Ministry of Defence, would now "advise and support" the Nigerian government. "The team will be considering not just the recent incidents but also longer-term counter-terrorism solutions to prevent such attacks in the future and defeat Boko Haram," he added. The British team's arrival comes after a US group of military and intelligence experts touched down in Nigeria, more than three weeks after Islamist militants struck at a boarding school in the village of Chibok. US Secretary of State John Kerry said: "Our inter-agency team is ... going to be working in c...