Gist Arena

Meriam Ibrahim, the Sudanese woman who was freed yesterday June 23rd after months of being in detention for marrying a Christian and denouncing her Muslim faith has been re-arrested by security officials at the Khartoum Airport in Sudan.   CNN reports Meriam's  lawyer said she was arrested along with her husband and children as they were trying to leave Sudan. Reason for her re-arrest has not yet been stated. More later...

A former employee of Keystone Bank, Uguru Onyike, on Tuesday said he was coerced to make false allegations of forgery against Francis Atuche, a former Managing Director of Bank PHB Plc. Mr. Onyike made the claim while testifying before Justice Lateefat Okunnu of an Ikeja High Court at the resumed trial of Mr. Atuche in Lagos. Mr. Atuche and his wife, Elizabeth, are standing trial for allegedly stealing N25.7 billion belonging to Bank PHB (now Keystone Bank). They were charged to court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, alongside a former Chief Financial Officer of the bank, Ugo Anyanwu. Led in evidence by Mr. Atuche’s counsel, Tayo Oyetibo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, the witness said he was a former head of operations of the bank’s Central Shared Services, CSS, Centre in Victoria Island, Lagos. Mr. Onyike said that on March 4, 2013, one of his staff members, Joachim Nnosiri, brought to his attention three documents which were earlier subpoenaed by Justice...

The United States says the Nigerian government should be held responsible for the seeming lack of progress in rescuing the over 200 kidnapped teenage girls. The over 270 girls were kidnapped from the dormitory of the Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, on April 14, by the Boko Haram. Over 50 of them escaped and reunited with their family while 219 are believed to still be with the insurgents. The U.S. is among several Western countries assisting Nigeria is the search for the girls and the battle against the insurgent Boko Haram, which has killed over 12,000 people since its insurgency began in 2009. Reacting to questions about how useful the collaboration has been, Ambassador Phillip Carter of the U.S. African Command (AFRICOM) said the U.S. government is only assisting the Nigerian government on the kidnap that has sparked protests across the globe. “Fundamentally, the question of what this is achieving, that is a question you should pose to the Nigerian governme...

The plane had only the American pilot on board. A four-seater plane flying from Nigeria to Gabon via Cameroon has disappeared, Cameroon aviation sources said on Tuesday. The plane, owned by the U.S. company Global Aviation, took off from Kano in northern Nigeria at 1800 hours on Monday en route Libreville in Gabon, where it was scheduled to arrive at 2300 hours, after a‎ stopover in Douala, Cameroon. However, the station said that the plane, with only the American pilot on board, did not make it to Douala. It said the last contact the plane had with the control tower took place in Mongo, which is two hours flight from the Cameroonian economic capital. Report says that search and rescue operations led by Cameroon’s civil aviation authorities have not yielded any positive results. (PANA/NAN)

The police in Lagos have arrested a teenage male who allegedly broke into a woman’s house and attempted to rapé her. 19-year-old Abdulazeez Adam is said to have stolen some valuables from the married identified as Mrs. Nkechi Onuoha in the Ejigbo area of the state. After collecting valuables from the woman, Adam then decided to rapé her but the woman told him that she is under a curse placed on her by her husband who took her to a shrine where the curse was placed on her that any man who slept with her would die. Angered by the revelation, the guy was said to have brought out a knife and slit her neck because he can’t have her, leaving her for dead… The police, however, arrived at the scene of the incident on time and took the victim to a hospital for treatment. It was learnt that Adam made away with 3 ATM cards, Nokia Lumia, Samsung Note and Samsung Galaxy Tab phones all valued N145,000, a wrist watch and cash sum of N174,000. In a statement made available to the court, Onuoh...

The crisis in the Edo State House of Assembly, yesterday, Monday, 23rd of June, 2014 took another turn when four lawmakers were served their suspension notice by a court bailiff.  Instead of them yielding to what they have been served, they insisted in still taking part at the sitting yesterday. Some of their colleagues, who felt they were breaking the law, resisted them physically and it became a free for all fight. The police commissioner was immediately invited and he suggested they would be screened before getting in, but the suspended lawmakers immediately opposed him and another fight ensued. In the video a man could be heard saying, who wan shoot me make he shoot me, repeatedly.   Such a drama! Watch!!

According to a Lagos-based journalist with Nigerian evening newspaper PM News, Prophet T.B. Joshua had predicted the outcome of the Ekiti controversial election, stating that PDP’s Ayo Fayose would win. The journalist, Simon Ateba, writing on his blog, sensationally stated that TB Joshua, who is well known for his prophecies, had revealed this in a personal discussion. “Last Sunday, at our editorial meeting in Lagos, western Nigeria, I informed the editors and correspondents in attendance:  Maybe APC should forget about the Ekiti election because Prophet T.B. Joshua has predicted that the party will lose ,” Ateba stated.  His comments sparked mirth within the meeting. “We all laughed over it and one editor even predicted that T.B. Joshua would be finally disgraced in an APC-controlled state. The man will be demystified, he said.” According to Ateba, he “met the man in the Synagogue a few days earlier” and “heard from him the challenge ahead in Ekiti”. At...

The Sudanese woman sentenced to death for Apostasy was released yesterday June 23rd after a Sudanese Supreme Court ordered her immediate release. A happy Meriam Ibrahim is seen in the picture flanked on her right by her husband, Daniel Wani,  their 21month old son Martin who was in prison with her, their newly born daughter Maya and her legal team. Meriam is currently being kept in a secret place.

LAGOS— EmotionS ran high, yesterday, at the Lagos State Police Command, Ikeja, following the startling confession of a 64-year‑old herbalist, on how he buried a 68-year‑old retired Customs officer and her 10-year‑old adopted daughter alive in a shallow grave behind his shrine in Ajuwon, Ogun State.  The suspect identified as Alhaji Olatunji Azeez, who was paraded by the command’s boss, Umar Manko, showed no sign of remorse as he said he committed the act in order to prevent the victim from demanding N9 million he used to prepare concoction for her. Trouble started for the retired Customs officer, one Mrs Angela Kerry, who resided at New Oko‑Oba area of Lagos, following her inability to give birth. In her search for possible solution, she was reportedly introduced to the suspect who confessed to have carried out series of rituals and also prepared concoctions for her to no avail. Apparently disappointed, Kerry was said to have demanded the refund of N9 million earlier co...

Super Eagles rave of the moment, Osaze Odemwingie has returned to his tweeting best. This time, he is causing laughter and bringing joy to many instead of his initial arrows that were fired and caught him in the web of missing the World Cup. In tweeting yesterday, Osaze went the way of his Edo-born brother and politician Festus Obahiagbon. Commenting on events at the on-going World Cup where his goal against Bosnia has brightened the way for Eagles progression in the tournament, Osaze wrote; ‘’ “The draw against Iran was the foreset origo that caused some crinkum crankum to be directed at us that was caught in the Bermuda Triangle.” Another one reads: “The state of OGaM ogam was rejected by the eagles with a higi haga style to avoid a calamitous end that brings odoriferous Saga.” On the Eagles’ journey to Porto Alegre, he wrote: “We are about to fly to Porto Alegre to prepare 4 the game vs Argentina. Hope the flight time will not be longer than a period of Ayonai .” Many for...

Maiduguri—At least 91 persons, were said to have been abducted by suspected Islamic militants between Thursday and Sunday from the Kumanza,Yaga and Dagu, Damboa and Dagu, Damboa and Askira Uba Local Government Areas of Borno State, local vigilante officials said yesterday night. Four other villagers were killed while attempting to escape from their abductors, said Aji Khalil, Chairman, Sector 5 of the local vigilante group in Borno State. Khalil who spoke on the telephone said: “More than 60 women were among the villagers abducted by Boko Haram terrorists. “Some suspected Boko Haram members invaded Kumanza, Yaga and Dagu villages and kidnapped 91 persons. “More than 60 married women and young girls as well as children and young men were forcefully taken away by Boko Haram terrorits. Four villagers, who tried to escape were shot dead on the spot”, Khalil said on telephone yesterday night. Another source said: ”They went from one village to the other, killed about 30 people and ...