Gist Arena

Is it illegal to encrypt the data on your phone? Most would say the answer is a clear no, but Apple's recent announcement that the company won't be able to decrypt user data in iOS 8 apparently has a lot of law enforcement figures spooked. Today at FBI headquarters, director James Comey told reporters he was concerned by the move. "I like and believe very much that we should have to obtain a warrant from an independent judge to be able to take the content of anyone's closet or their smart phone," Comey said. "The notion that someone would market a closet that could never be opened — even if it involves a case involving a child kidnapper and a court order — to me does not make any sense." If this fight sounds familiar, it's because much of the 90s was spent on exactly this legal question, a fight that's now known as the Crypto Wars. PGP founder Phil Zimmermann almost went to jail over it. Of course, because it was the 90s, the fight ...

Boko Haram militants have returned to Konduga today, the site of much fighting between them and the Nigerian army. A source confirmed that the militant sect regrouped and returned to the site in an attempt to seize Maiduguri in Borno State. Militants are also fighting with the Nigerian army in Benisheik, Borno State. SR

The FBI has identified the ISIS executioner who appears in the beheading videos of US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and British aid worker John Haines. Agency director James Comey told reporters today that he knew who the militant was but would not be releasing his identity or nationality to the media. The executioner, who has a British accent and has been dubbed Jihadi John, is one of four British jihadis known as the 'Beatles' holding hostages in Syria. He appears in the group’s execution videos wielding a knife – and taunts President Obama before carrying out the killings Today British officials would not say if the identity had been shared with the authorities on London, and would not be drawn on whether any arrests are imminent. A Home Office spokeswoman said: 'We won't be commenting on matters of security at this stage.'   Comey said the FBI believes that ISIS is 'looking to try to do something in the U.S.,' but added h...

Two South Africans who lost relatives when a church hostel in Lagos collapsed have told the BBC they intend to sue Nigerian evangelist TB Joshua. The two men, who both lost sisters in the collapse, are appealing for more families to come together in bringing a case against the preacher. At least 115 people, including 84 South Africans, died when the multi-storey building fell down earlier this month. The authorities say it had more floors than its foundation could hold. 'No news' On Sunday, Mr Joshua, who is one of Nigeria's best-known evangelists and is popular across Africa, announced plans to travel to South Africa to visit the families of the deceased. Emergency workers allege they were prevented from participating in the rescue, only gaining full access to the site on Sunday afternoon - accusations denied by Pastor Joshua's Synagogue, Church of All Nations (SCOAN). Thanduxolo Doro and Mpho Molebatsi waited at Johannesburg's OR Tambo airpor...

The United Arab Emirate's first female pilot led a mission this week against ISIS in Syria, according to the UAE ambassador to the United States. Major Mariam Al Mansouri, 35, was the first woman to join the Emirati Air Force. The UAE this week joined the United States, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar and Bahrain in implementing airstrikes against ISIS. Born in Abu Dhabi, Mansouri is one of eight children. She told Deraa Al Watan magazine recently that her family supported her career goals, but she had to overcome gender stereotypes along the way. It likely helped that she graduated from high school with a 93 percent grade average. She attended UAE University, the first of the three government-sponsored universities in the country, and received a degree in English literature. She graduated from Zayed Air College in 2007 and is an operations pilot who works with F-16 Block 60 aircraft, according to Abu Dhabi's English language news outlet, The National. The UAE Amb...

While we are still celebrating the miraculous release of one of the Chibok girls, it has just been discovered that the terrorists men might have let her go after discovering that they’ve impregnated her. Chairman of Chibok Community in Abuja, Tsambido Hosea Abana told Daily Trust on Thursday. The teenage Chibok girl found dumped near a police station in the Mubi area of Adamawa state is 4 months pregnant and she is seriously suffering from psychological trauma. “She is actually one of our daughters abducted from Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok. She was found in Mubi where her abductors dumped her and was later taken to Yola, the girl is four months pregnant.” A police source confirmed that the abducted girl was dumped there by insurgents. The girl has been moved to Adamawa State Police Headquarters in Yola. Mr Abana said the girl is suffering from trauma and there are signs of physical abuses on her body, saying he believed the insurgents subjected their c...

Contrary to the denials of Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), details have surfaced confirming he was involved in the movement of $9.3 million cash to South Africa, purportedly for the purchase of arms. A security source revealed to SaharaReporters that along with the pastor, President Goodluck Jonathan and the National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, coordinated the movement of the cash, and that its original destination was Cyprus, not South Africa. It would be recalled that the story and documents emanating from the Nigeria government are to the effect that the officials were going to use the money to buy arms from Tier One in South Africa. It turned out Tier One is not registered in that country to sell arms, and that it was going to buy them, somehow, from the ESD International Group Ltd in Cypr...

Controversial   South African Pastor Daniel Lesego of the Rabboni Centre who once made his church members eat grass is in the news again. This time, he reportedly asked his congregants to drink petrol. A video circulating online shows the man of God praying for a bottle which according to him contained petrol, to be turned to pineapple juice. He then offered it to his congregants to drink. Some of them were exclaiming how ‘sweet’ and ‘nice’ it tastes, some said it tasted like the blood while some others begged for more. The video shows the pastor demonstrating his “miraculous” power in front of the congregation,  with spectators shouting hallelujah. Some of the followers are seen collapsing after drinking from the bottle of petrol turned into juice. You can watch video below: Pastor Lesego Daniel of Rabboni Centre Ministries made headlines around the world when he commanded his church members to eat grass in January 2014. In June, in June 201...

Shaffa town in Hawul local government area of Borno state has come under attack by the Islamic sect, Boko Haram about 48 hours after security operative raided the town and arrested seven suspected members of the sect, who were said to be indigenes of the area. DailyPost in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital learnt that, no fewer than 21 persons were allegedly killed in the attack, which began around 10:00pm on Wednesday till around 12:00 noon on Thursday. According to reports from the area, the attack on Shaffa town was led by some of the youths in the village who joined the Islamic sect, Boko Haram and vow to eliminate Christianity in the Christian dominated town of Shaffa. DailyPost also gathered that, all churches in the town of Shaffa were burnt down by the insurgents as well as houses belonging to prominent sons and daughters of the area who are of Christian faith. “They started attacking Shindiffu village before coming down to Shaffa. When they came, they were c...

 Law enforcement officers of the New York Police Department reportedly dispersed clashing groups of hired supporters of President Goodluck Jonathan who stormed the venue of a book launch at the Pier Hotel in the Manhattan area. Several witnesses at the event told Sahara Reporters that a group of homeless men hired from the streets of Newark, New Jersey, clashed with another pro-Jonathan group made up of Nigerians from the New York area. A fracas broke out when some of the homeless hirelings feared that members of the Nigerian group were planning to hijack the payment of $50 per person the organizers promised to pay them. As a melee ensued, the police stepped in and arrested some of the pro-Jonathan hirelings fighting over the sharing of booty.  Investigation revealed that the trouble began when the group of homeless supporters rented by the organizers demanded their payment shortly after arriving at the venue. As they were pressing for payment, they noticed that a...

The Nigeria Police has announced the release of one of the remaining 219 girls abducted by Boko Haram insurgents in a secondary school in Chibok, Borno state. Force Public Relations Officer, Emmanuel Ojukwu, told a press conference at the National Information Centre routine briefing in Abuja that the girl was dropped off by the insurgents along Mubi Road in Borno State at about 5pm on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the government says it has also commenced a process of de-radicalizing the 135 Boko Haram members who surrendered their weapons within the last two weeks. The Coordinator of the National Information Center, Mr Mike Omeri said the process is to re-integrate them into the society.

There were reports earlier today that controversial former House of Reps member, Dino Melaye got married for the third time to a lady named Christy who is from Owerri, Imo state. Dino went on twitter this afternoon to rubbish the reports. He separated from his first wife last year and separated from his second wife a few months ago

There's currently panic, fear and confusion in two villages in Nimba County in Liberia after reports that two female Ebola victims have risen from the dead. According to local reports, 44 year old Dorris Quoi who lived in Hope Village Community and a 67 year old woman identified as Ma Kebeh, died of the Ebola virus and were about to be taken for burial when they resurrected and are now walking among the living. According to reports in a local newspaper, New Dawn, Ma Kebeh had been indoors for two nights without food and medication before her death, while Dorris had suffered for several weeks before she died alone in her family home. This is the first report of dead Ebola victims resurrecting. Despite some people's reservations about the story being true, it hasn't stopped them from panicking

The Senate has approved the $1billion (N165bn) loan requested by President Jonathan in July to help in the fight against terrorism and tackle insecurity in the country. The loan would be used for the purchase of military equipment and the training of military personnel. The loan approved will be in addition to the N968.127bn voted for Defence in the 2014 budget by the federal government.

There was confusion at the premises of the Ekiti State High Court on Thursday morning as thugs believed to be loyal to the state Governor-elect, Ayodele Fayose, allegedly beat up a judge, Justice John Adeyeye, for being allegedly rude to Mr. Fayose. The pandemonium that ensued scuttled the Ekiti State Governorship Election petition Tribunal sitting billed to hold today at the High court, Ado-Ekiti, as judicial workers abandoned their duty post and ran for safety. Witnesses said the pro-Fayose thugs had besieged the court premises as early as 6a.m., while a detachment of policemen from the police headquarters were also seen on major streets and around the court. Justice Adeyeye of High Court 3, who was miffed by the huge number of the thugs as they surged towards the court premises had approached Mr. Fayose and urged him to prevail on “his supporters” to keep a safe distance from the court premises, the witnesses said. An enraged Mr. Fayose was said to have shouted the ju...

Why did the high level negotiations between the Nigerian government team and Boko Haram insurgents, led by a former Minister of Information, Edwin Clark, to secure the release of 220 Chibok girls, crumble shortly before the Muslim Sallah holidays in Yola last July? Knowledgeable sources to the negotiations, speaking to PREMIUM TIMES in Abuja, Yola, and Geneva, have offered rare insights into talks that have come closest yet to secure freedom for the abducted girls, and relieve President Goodluck Jonathan of perhaps the worst nightmares of his administration. But the government bungled the process with its unnecessary exuberant display of enthusiasm and excessive show of force, insiders in the talks say. Parties to the talks have refrained thus far from sharing thoughts on their negotiations because as some of them told this newspaper, “we all agreed to maintain a code of silence as a way of helping push the difficult process to a fruitful resolution and helping this countr...

The Edo State Police Command yesterday paraded 46 suspected armed robbers, cultists and child defilers, including a 60-year-old man who defiled a 13-year-old girl. The State Police Commissioner, Funso Adebanjo disclosed that some of the items recovered from the suspects included 20 guns, 192 live cartridges, 9 cars and 12 cutlasses. “Early this month, we paraded 68 suspected criminals and today we are parading 46 suspected criminals made up of armed robbers, kidnappers and people involved in rape, defilement of minors and people waging war against communities. “These people were rounded up from different parts of the state. The command remains grateful to the people of the state for their support so far. We all must collaborate with the police and I am happy Edo is the safest state in the South-South. But we are worried about old men defiling little children, we must kick against that in our society. “Honestly, the situation is worrisome and those of them who are invol...

The management of Egypt Air, which was accused of maltreatment and wrongful deportation of a Nigerian medical student, Joshua Kunle Abdul-Azeez, studying in Ukraine and tearing his Nigerian international passport has admitted making a mistake and offered to compensate the student This followed an intervention by the House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora. Having received a complaint filed against Egypt Air, the committee, led by Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa yesterday met with representatives of the Airline on circumstances surrounding the alleged negligence, harassment and deportation of the complainant back to Nigeria aboard EgyptAir. It will be recalled that Saturday Vanguard had exclusively reported how Mr Abdulazeez was detained two Saturdays ago, starved for four days and his passport torn to shreds. According to Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa (APC, Lagos), “the error of not ascertaining the final destination of the complainant from his ticket was that of Egypt Air.’’ ‘’I...

ABUJA—For the second time this week, pandemonium reigned in the House of Representatives, yesterday, following allegations of a $50,000 bribe to members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to suppress a house inquest into the alleged $9.3 million cash seized by the South African Government. The House went into a near riot following the admission by a member of the House, Rep. Ali Madaki, APC, Kano to the leakage of the story of the alleged bribe to the PDP members. Madaki, however, confessed that the bribe amount was $20,000.00 and not the $50,000 as reported by a national newspaper, yesterday. The PDP deputy leader in the House, Rep. Leo Ogor, however, yesterday, described the allegation as an embarrassment, unparliamentary and an act of blackmail. The House nevertheless directed its committee to investigate the fresh scam allegation and report within two weeks. The controversy Controversy started at the resumed plenary of the House, yesterday, when chairman of the Comm...

Members of the Lagos State House of Assembly moved a motion yesterday September 24th asking the state Governor, Babatunde Fashola to rename the Infectious Disease Hospital, IDH, where Ebola disease patients were recently treated, after Doctor Stella Adadevoh. The motion for her to be immortalized was moved by Hon Adefunmilayo Tejuoso and seconded by Hon Muyiwa Jimoh. The lawmakers said Dr. Adadevoh's act of stopping Sawyer from leaving the First Consultant hospital after she found out he was infected with the deadly virus, saved many lives The Speaker of the House of Assembly, Adeyemi Ikuforiji directed the clerk of the House, Segun Abiru to communicate the decision to the state Governor. If approved by the Governor, the hospital will be known as the Stella Adadevoh Infectious Disease Hospital. Hope he approves..

This photo shows the incredible moment a terrified woman named Melora Rivera hid from an intruder on the roof of her home in Venice, Los Angeles last week, only for him to appear behind her. The scary photo which was taken by her neighbour and later shared online shows Melora hiding from the man, later identified as 29 year old vagrant Christian Hicks, who had broken into her home as she slept. She hid on the roof and quickly called police but as she was there waiting for help, the intruder showed up on the roof with a knife looking for her. See the dramatic pictures after the cut... Fortunately, the police arrived at her home just in time to rescue her. And they also manged to coax the intruder down too The part time actress later told CBS LA of her ordeal; "Once I saw him in the house, I knew that we both couldn’t be there. I knew that I didn’t want to have a confrontation with him of any sort, you know, not knowing what his intention was. My biggest fear was th...