Gist Arena

In an interview with  Punch  published today, Port Harcourt first son, Duncan Mighty, called some of his colleagues out, saying a lot of them lead fake lives and lie about their acquisition... “A lot of Nigerian artistes’ lead fake lives. They claim to be what they are not, just because they want to meet up their peers and fellow artistes. I live in my own house (it has a swimming pool, lounge and studio) and I make bold to say I didn’t buy it. I built it from the scratch. But a lot of these artistes will claim they bought a house for N300m or N400m. But I didn’t spend up to that amount to build my house. If you have that amount, say N500m, you don’t go and buy one property. There are many things to do with money. They claim they have state-of-the-art cars, but that is not my priority. I have choice cars, but it takes a lot of money to maintain such cars.”

Members of a vigilante group in Madagali, a town in Adamawa State, have killed more than 70 Boko Haram members and and handed over seven captured militants to the police. The vigilantes acted after they were tipped off by a local food vendor that the militants were coming to get food before heading out for a major operation to raid villages in the area, usually carried out at night. The vigilant group mobilized, laid ambush and waited patiently for the militants, a source in the village disclosed. The source added that as soon as the Islamist insurgents numbering more than 100 showed up in the village to pick up their favorite meals, the vigilantes attacked them, killing most of them in a hail of bullets. Today's attack is the second time this week that local vigilantes would defeat the rampaging militants. The first time was two days ago when well-armed vigilantes in Kalabalge, Borno State, ambushed a squad of Boko Haram militants. A security source told SaharaReporters ...

The car is said to be worth over N25m. She's had it for a while though. (Pic source - Maestromedia)

Senior Special Assistant to the president on Public Affairs, Mr. Doyin Okupe, fired shots at former minister and a frontliner in the #Bringbackourgirls campaign, Mrs Oby Ezekwesili, in a series of tweets this afternoon. According to him, her efforts with the campaign is just her trying to profit from a national calamity.

    CNN, Reuters and many news agencies yesterday reported that GEJ would be visiting Chibok today...but now his media spokesperson Reuben Abati says he never made such plans. The president is being criticized for choosing to go to Paris today for a security summit instead of visiting Chibok.

The people of Ilobu, headquarters of Irepodun Local Government Area of Osun State, yesterday woke up to be confronted by a bizarre development as the body of a young man, simply identified as Abdullahi, was found in a grave where he was allegedly attempting to cut off and exhume the skull of a corpse buried not long ago. The incident, which happened around Imam Aroun Compound in the nascent town, was said to have drawn a lot of crowd from the nearby Olobu market. According to an eyewitness account, Abdullahi, described by a resident of the community who preferred anonymity as a member of a notorious youth gang in the community, was said to have been spotted along Palace Road the night before, while fighting a lady for a yet to be identified reason. The 20-year-old Abdullahi, who was said to also hail from the Tooto Compound in the same town, was said to have dug a hole around the grave in the middle of the night on Tuesday to gain access to the corpse since the concrete used o...

Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan has called off a visit the town where more than 200 schoolgirls were abducted, officials say. Sources had told the BBC he would stop in Chibok, in the north-east, on his way to a conference in France on the threat from Boko Haram militants. But the visit was called off for security reasons, the officials said. The president - under pressure over his government's failure to rescue the girls - will fly direct to Paris. The BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse in Nigeria says the cancellation of this visit underlines just how fragile the security situation is in the north-east. On Thursday, relatives of the girls called for their unconditional release by Boko Haram. Mr Jonathan is said to have ruled out negotiations over a possible release of prisoners. UK Africa Minister Mark Simmonds said Mr Jonathan had "made it very clear that there will be no negotiation" at a meeting on Wednesday. Meanwhile, US officials on Thursday cr...

The Governor of Borno state, Kashim Shettima has asked President Jonathan to negotiate with Boko Haram men if that is what it will take to release the abducted Chibok girls. Governor Shettima made this remark during an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour last night. "The issue of not negotiation with the terrorists – it’s out of the question. If it means talking to the devil, it means the devil can come down, we can get back our girls. The group that kidnapped the girls are a bunch of raving lunatics. "Do we have any other option? If I have to talk to the devil to secure the release of the girls, I will do so. President Jonathan did not act on time and did not talk to me over the kidnappings until 19 days after.’’ He also said for the first three weeks after the girls were abducted, the whole thing was politicized.    Also speaking, a woman leader of the All Progressive Party Sharon Ikeazor said the situation could have been salvaged on time if the Pres...

Beyoncé has made her first public statement since the  leaked elevator security footage  of husband and sister fighting came out this week. This is also the first that has been heard from Solange and Jay Z, as the family trio issued  this joint statement  to  The Associated Press :  "As a result of the public release of the elevator security footage from Monday, May 5th, there has been a great deal of speculation about what triggered the unfortunate incident. But the most important thing is that our family has worked through it. Jay and Solange each assume their share of responsibility for what has occurred. They both acknowledge their role in this private matter that has played out in the public. They both have apologized to each other and we have moved forward as a united family. The reports of Solange being intoxicated or displaying erratic behavior throughout that evening are simply false. At the end of the day families have problems and we're...

A Federal High Court sitting in Yenegoa, Balyesa State, has sentenced three Indian nationals to 15 years imprisonment for oil theft. The convicts­­­ ─ the owner of the vessel, Ajay Bhatiya; the Captain of the vessel, Sailesh Kumar Singh and Chadrashekar Sharma ─ were among 12 suspected oil thieves arrested aboard a vessel, MT Akshay. They were arrested by men of the Joint Task Force, Central Naval Command, Yenegoa, Bayelsa State, sometime in November, 2012 and handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for further investigation and prosecution. The EFCC spokesman, Wison Uwujaren, said the suspects, which included eight other Indians, one Ghanaian and a Nigerian, were arraigned on two counts on January 22, 2013 before Justice Lambo Akanbi. The charges against the suspects read in part, “That you,  Sailesh Singh, Chadrashekar Sharma, Dharmaraj Kumar, Ajay Kumar, Nimesh Parambil, Ashraf Ali, Sanjeev Kumar, Sarbjot Singh, Arvind Bhaedwaj, Gagan Kumar, Dele Ol...

The Federal Government on Thursday announced plans for the massive roll out of made-in Nigeria vehicles from next month. The Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Samuel Ortom, stated this when a delegation from Automobile Peugeot, France led by its Vice President, Mr. Yves Moulin, visited him at the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja. Ortom said following the commencement of the new auto policy, the Federal Government had received a lot of interest from vehicle manufacturers. This, according to him, is a demonstration of the confidence that investors have about the new auto policy. As a way of sustaining the policy, he said the Federal Government would be reviewing it periodically to make it more effective. The minister said, “The automotive policy is derived from the National Industrial Revolution Plan, and we are happy with the response we have been getting from the automotive industry worldwide; and with your coming, it shows that this policy is worki...

The Department of State Security Services has detained the father of the alleged mastermind of the April 14 blast in Nyanya, Abuja, Aminu Sadiq Ogwuche. Deputy Director in charge of Public Relations of the service, Marylyn Ogar, disclosed this at the National Information Centre, chaired by the Director-General of the National Orientation Agency, Mr. Mike Omeri, in Abuja on Thursday. Ogar said the suspect’s father, Agene Ogwuche, a retired colonel in the Nigerian Army, was being detained for his failure to produce his son when requested to do so in accordance with the bail term granted to Sadiq in 2011 when he was arrested on suspicion of terrorism. The father then took his son on bail. The secret service spokeswoman said, “It might interest you to know also that the father who took on bail the first time is a Nigerian. Somebody asked the question what has happened to him. The day we could not get him to give us Ogwuche, he was taken in.” Shedding more light on this, the Nig...

A lecturer in the Department of Business Management, University of Calabar, Mr. Okon Effiong Ekpenyong, has lost four teeth after he was allegedly brutalised by some officials of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Cross River State command, for traffic offence. According to  PUNCH Metro Ekpenyong, who narrated his ordeal  on Thursday, said his vehicle developed a minor fault on Bassey Oqua Street in Calabar, near the NIS headquarters. He said after fixing it, he was leaving the area when the officials accosted and assaulted him, saying he made a U-turn at an unauthorised point. According to Ekpenyong, who says he has been residing on Ekong Bassey Close, near the NIS headquarters, for the past 10 years, the incident happened on his way home at about 5pm on May 6, 2014. He explained that after the incident, which took place in the presence of his two sons, he lost four teeth and over N50, 000 which was in his pocket. He said, “After the car developed a fault, I called ...

It beats me how someone will kill his fellow human being and still sleep comfortable at night. Oh dear! If not for the men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad in Lagos, socialite and businessman, Victor Adelakun popularly known as Ade Lexus would have been killed allegedly by his own friend. Four men allegedly hired by his friend, Adebayo Orekoya known as Bobby Ibadan, an Ibadan based hotelier were apprehended by the police at a night club in Ikeja when they came to Lagos to carry out the dirty job. A SARS informant overheard their discussion at the club and quickly alerted police who swung into action and apprehended three out of the four men.  A picture of their victim, Ade Lexus and guns were found in their possession... Upon interrogation, they confessed Bobby sent them. The police used one of the men’s phone to reach Bobby, and as soon as he picked the call, he told them he wanted the job done that day without any delay. " Go to the club he hangs out, if you don...

This is really sad and who ever did this is a wicked soul. Pure man's inhumanity to man. The Owerri residence of the immediate past governor of Imo state, Chief Ikedi Ohakim was almost reduced to ashes on Thursday with suspected highly explosive device allegedly planted by those believed to be his political detractors. The former governor who was still weeping profusely, said:  “ This is the only building I have in this state , I built it in 1992 when I was a commissioner, now I have to knock at people’s door to have a place to sleep.” Ohakim said he got a call from some security details in the area at about 1:30am on Thursday informing him of the incident. It is believed some roofs were opened from outside the lobby before they threw in the bomb.

So the Boko Haram sect is still all out perpetrating its nefarious activities, in spite of global condemnation? From what multiple sources have confirmed, no fewer than 60 suspected members of the deadly Boko Haram sect have been confirmed dead, during a fierce gun battle between them and members of the Joint Military Task Force, JTF, on Wednesday night in Jigawa State. The incident reportedly took place at the Lamba Forest in Gwaram Local Government Area of the state. A resident of the village, Mallam Bukar Mustapha who spoke on the attack said that the gunmen numbering 12 and using four motorcycles, with each carrying three persons, invaded the area at about 9pm on Wednesday and opened fire on residents. "As I am talking to you today some of our people are still missing. Some of us ran into the bush for our safety but unfortunately, the security agencies are yet to be deployed to the scene, not to talk of making any arrest." Said another source, who added that the...

I sincerely think it's time for Muslims the world over to call for a review of their mode of worship and the level of tolerance in their religion. My own dad was a Muslim for about 50 years but he's now a Christian. I wonder what could have happened to my dad if he was from areas controlled by Islamic fundamentalists. As you read this, a Sudanese court has sentenced a woman to death by hanging for apostasy after she left Islam and married a Christian man. Sudan has a majority Muslim population, which is governed by Islamic law. It rules that apostasy – the abandonment of one’s religious faith – is a crime. The judge also sentenced the woman to 100 lashes after convicting her of adultery – because her marriage to a Christian man was not valid under Islamic law. In the words of the Islamic judge:  “We gave you three days to recant but you insist on not returning to Islam. I sentence you to be hanged to death.” AFP reports that Western embassies and rights groups had urged th...

A joint team of riot policemen and other security agencies attached to the Lagos Business District (CBD) yesterday  arrested a foreign national said to be a Sudanese for planting bombs to unleash terror in Lagos State bus terminal. Our correspondent learnt that three substances suspected to be bomb explosives were discovered in the heart of Lagos Island in the early hours of yesterday by the Police. As the residents increasingly become uncomfortable with insecurity and predictions of bomb attacks, the security operatives revealed that the bombs found in Lagos have been programmed to explode around 1pm when passengers throng LAGBUS terminals to board buses to their respective destinations. The three explosives were immediately taken away by the Police bomb squad from Ikeja Police command. Witnesses said the grenades planted in front of the Union Homes Company gate along Nnamdi Azikwe road, Tom Jones area, opposite Access Bank branch and LSDPC house was discovered by one of...