Gist Arena

Reports from across the country so far, have indicated that the Christmas has been celebrated without any ugly incidents, the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Suleiman Abba, has said. Abba, who spoke to newsmen on Thursday at the Jabi Lake Resort after he patrolled round the FCT, expressed delight for the incident free celebration. The I-G also confirmed that security agencies had continued to receive reports of intended attacks by insurgents, but added that the plans had been nip in the bud. “But the police, as well as other agencies involved in law enforcement and security activities have beefed up operations to make sure that people enjoy the festivities. “This is to make sure that people celebrate with some sense of safety in them. I am happy that quite a number of people are relaxed, enjoying themselves. “We are out to make sure that the places the people are likely to visit, including the roads they use in getting to those places are well secured’’, he said. ...

Single again  Amber Rose  and  Nick Cannon are not doing a good job of making people to believe that the two of them are just friends. Nick Cannon hosted the   People Magazine Awards a few days ago and his date for the evening was Amber Rose. The two have been reported to be going out with each other since they separated from their different spouses. The duo has however shut down those reports insisting that they just have a working relationship-Nick Cannon is the manager of Amber Rose. According to Amber Rose during her red carpet interview, Nick Cannon didn't decide on who he would take as his date until a few hours prior to the show. She said Nick Cannon called her two hours before the show and invited her. “ I think he’s gonna do great. That’s my manager, I love him He’s one of my best friends, so I’m excited to see how he does ,” the former stripper told  People Magazine .  “ Nick called me like two hours ago and told me, so ...

The Commanding Officer of the 103 Battalion, Lt. Col Anthony Wende was dissociated from a “Why We Couldn’t Defeat Boko Haram” letter supposedly written to President Goodluck Jonathan, on why the counter insurgency operations in the North-East had not yielded the desired results. It was reported recently that the commanding officer appealed Jonathan, where claim of corruption was said to have been the reason for the continued battle against the insurgents. The letter to the president also said that the army did not have the necessary arms to protect the existing counter insurgency war against Boko Haram terrorists. The Deputy Director, Army Public Relations of the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army in Maiduguri, Col. Sani Usman at a press-conference said the Nigerian military had investigated the petition and disclosed that the officer was not the author of the letter. He said: “ The petition was carefully studied and investigated by the Nigerian Army and as part...

#meetosinbajo pic.twitter.com/HV982G6NA2 — Prof Yemi Osinbajo (@ProfOsinbajo) December 24, 2014 Less than 48 hours after the Vice-Presidential candidate of the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, Yemi Osinbajo, criticised President Goodluck Jonathan on his official Twitter handle, the presidency has responded to the criticism. According to Osinbajo, who is an ordained pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, the incumbent President Jonathan is running a “visionless” government that causes Nigerians more pains than good. In an attempt to respond to Osinbajo’s comments, the Special Assistant to President Jonathan on New Media, Reno Omokri, on Thursday, December 25, 2014, took to his official Twitter handle and condemned the running mate of General Muhammadu Buhari for criticising President Jonathan out of a desire for personal gain. According to Omokri, Osinbajo’s words of condemnation on Twitter does not befit an ordained pastor T...

Rihanna stepped out in this mechanic inspired jeans ..The severely dirty jeans trend may not work in Naija because many people will presume you are actually dirty lol...Would you rock it?

Jude Okoye who welcomed his baby girl earlier this month showed her off this morning. This is so beautiful

The Kardashian ladies were all dressed to kill as their mum Kris hosted guests at her annual Christmas Eve party. No sign of Kim and Kourtney who just gave birth. ...

Rush Limbaugh has admitted to being 'racist' following comments he made about actor Idris Elba. The eternally outspoken host decided to address news out of the Sony hack that Elba was being eyed to play James Bond once Daniel Craig exited the franchise, declaring it unacceptable for a black actor to even be considered for the iconic role of 007. He then took it a step further by saying the idea of casting Elba as Bond, a fictional storybook spy created by author Ian Fleming, was as ridiculous as a white actor playing a black historical figure. 'James Bond is a total concept put together by Ian Fleming. He was white and Scottish. Period. That is who James Bond is, was,' said Limbaugh as he began his diatribe. 'But now [they are] suggesting that the next James Bond should be Idris Elba, a black Briton, rather than a white from Scotland.'  The polarizing pundit then acknowledged that he was being racist, seemingly unfazed by the realizati...

Aww this is so cute.The actress/producer posed with her 3 sons for Christmas...

Armed men, suspected to be pirates, have reportedly struck again on the waterways of Bayelsa State, killing soldiers attached to the Joint Task Force, JTF, in the Niger Delta, code-named Operation Pulo Shield. Also, the driver of the civilian boat conveying the soldiers was not spared by the hoodlums. The soldiers, it was learned, were killed Tuesday, few days after three others lost their lives in similar attack along Santa Barbara, a notorious river in Nembe, Nembe Local Government Area of the state. In the previous attack, along Santa Barbara on Sunday evening, the hoodlums were said to have hijacked a military gunboat used by the victims to escort items from Port Harcourt, Rivers State, to Brass terminal owned by the Nigerian Agip Oil Company, NAOC. It was learned that before the JTF’s search-and-rescue team could recover the bodies of the Brass-bound soldiers, gunmen launched a fresh attack on soldiers, this time at Azagbene in Ekeremor Local G...

A gang of suspected armed robbers, who were arrested by the police in Lagos, have explained how they made use of toy guns to rob motorists and passengers during their operations. Our correspondent learnt that the police accused the suspects– Okeke Christian, Paul Igwe and Akazue Nwakonuche– of robbing motorists and passengers in commercial buses and tricycles in several parts of the state. It was gathered that the suspected robbers were nabbed by the Ikotun Police Division on December 11 in the Ikotun area of Lagos shortly before an operation. They were arrested at about 9.30pm, and afterwards handed over to the state Special Anti-Robbery Squad for further investigation. PUNCH Metro learnt that while the three suspects had been arrested by the police, a fourth member of the gang, identified simply as Nwankpa, was still at large. Speaking with PUNCH Metro, 26-year-old Nwakonuche from Anambra State, said the gang started to threaten their victims with toy gun...

The ancient city of Kano was thrown into shock yesterday following the confession of a 13 years old suicide bomber arrested by the police at the wake of twin bombblast that rocked the city textile market over how she was conscripted as suicide bomber by his biological father. The suicide bomber who identified herself as Zaharau Babangida told a bewildered city dwellers that ‘it began one day when my father took my mum and I to a forest in Bauchi where we met people claiming to be working for God”. In her confession, the frail looking Zaharau said “in the Bauchi forest I met some other girls who I guessed were my age mate and their leader told us to give our lives to God and enjoy the bounties of heaven’. I was not moved by the soul searching preaching of bounties in the heaven and it was at this point, their leader resorted to threat and intimidation to obtain my consent. We were shown a deep hole where the leader of the group threatened to bury us alive at a point if...

A male suicide bomber was killed yesterday December 23rd after he rammed his IED laden Honda car into a military checkpoint in Baroja, Gombe state. Find the military press statement below... A suicide bomber who rammed into a military check point in Bajoga, Gombe State yesterday, failed to achieve his mission. His attempt to escape also failed as he was brought down by vigilant soldiers when he tried to flee after hitting a military Amoured Personnel Carrier with his IED laden Honda car. The explosives which failed to detonate have been evacuated and handed to the police. Also in Kano, security forces have raided the terrorists’ hideout in Nasarawa Local Government Area leading to the arrest of bomb making experts who are already helping in the investigation into activities of bombers lately. Officers believe that the efforts will yield useful clues. Troops deployed in all locations of the counter terrorism campaign have been directed to sustain the tempo of ...

Chelsea could not at present consider signing Barcelona and Argentina star Lionel Messi, according to manager José Mourinho, speaking in an interview on the TV channel BT Sport, Marca reports. “We have no chance because now there is financial fair play, and in accordance with that we have to follow certain norms and keep within certain figures,” Mourinho said in the interview, which will be broadcast on Christmas Day or Boxing Day. “We are in no position to purchase an incredible player at a stratospheric price,” Mourinho went on. Financial fair play was a measure introduced by FIFA in recent years to control spending by European clubs. There has been a fair amount of speculation in the media in the past few months about the possible departure of Messi from Barcelona after them not winning any trophies last season. Cesc Fábregas, who was Messi’s teammate at Barcelona before signing for Chelsea at the start of the season, recently told Radio Marca, “I’...

The Independent National Electoral Commission has   said that only security agencies can investigate any party, person or company that violates any part of the country’s Electoral Act. The commission which however admitted that it had the power to prosecute violators of the Act, explained that before it could do so, it must have concrete evidence before it. INEC’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Mr. Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, stated this following an enquiry by The PUNCH on whether the commission would investigate and prosecute the Peoples Democratic Party, companies and individuals who donated over N21.27bn to President Goodluck Jonathan’s electioneering. Osaze-Uzzi said, “Before you prosecute, won’t you investigate? Before you prosecute somebody, the person has to be investigated. If a person shoots another man on the street, the police cannot just charge him to court. They will have to follow a process. “Don’t forget that INEC has no powers to in...

Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has expressed shock at the contents of former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s controversial autobiography titled, My Watch. Soyinka, in a piece titled, ‘Watch And Pray, Watch And Prey’,   described Obasanjo as an expert in telling lies and   a shameless man. Soyinka is one of the personalities the former President slammed in the three-volume controversial book which an Abuja court ordered security agencies to confiscate wherever it is being sold. He described the literary icon as a misfit, a better wine connoisseur and a guinea fowl hunter  in the book. “For Wole, no one can be good, nor can anything be spot-on politically except that which emanates from him or is ordained by him. His friends and loved ones will always be right and correct no matter what they do or fail to do. He is surely a better wine connoisseur and a more successful aparo (guinea fowl) hunter than a political critic, ” Obasanjo wrote. ...