Gist Arena

A woman has revealed that she is planning to marry her dog following the death of her former husband, who was a cat. Dominique Lesbirel, 41, from Holland, married her pet cat Doerack eight years ago but sadly, the animal had to be put down after suffering kidney failure aged 19. Determined to move on Dominique has revealed she now plans to marry her dog Travis. She explains that losing her cat was heartbreaking: 'Putting Doerack to sleep was horrible, I've had him since he was three, but I feel lucky to have had 16 lovely years with him.''It sounds strange but I wouldn't marry Travis just yet,' she said. 'It's still too soon after the death of Doerack.' 'I've had Travis for years. He was a stray I rescued when I lived in Greece. 'He would come down to the beach I swam at every day and eat from the bins or scrabble in the sand for old bits of crab.. 'I'd leave him food and water so he didn'...

Earlier this evening, there were reports that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had told members of the National Economic Council that intelligence reports indicates that Boko Haram were planning to attack his home. The VP has denied making this statement. What he said is contained in a statement signed by Laolu Akande, Snr Special Assistant-Media&Publicity to Osinbajo Media reports that there was a plan by terrorists to bomb the house of the Vice President is completely false with no iota of truth. An unendorsed press briefing note circulated today by some officials of the National Planning Commission contains a flat-out wrong claim.   That part of the note should read The Vice President disclosed- security reports that scavengers are now being prepared by insurgents.… to dump refuse laden with bombs in the houses of VIPs in the Northeast. The note erroneously said “in the house of the Vice President. During the NEC meeting earlier today, the Vice President had ment...

The Presidency, yesterday, said President Muhammadu Buhari will limit his probe to the immediate past government of Dr Goodluck Jonathan. President Buhari had vowed, Wednesday, to arrest and prosecute former ministers and government officials who looted funds and stole Nigeria’s crude oil. Buhari, who said the suspected officials stashed the funds in foreign bank accounts, spoke during his three-day visit to the United States. The Presidency which said yesterday that there were trails of monumental fraud everywhere that would be too difficult to ignore, however, explained that it will be a distraction to exceed Jonathan’s regime. Before leaving office, former president Jonathan had said any probe by the new government would be seen as a “witch-hunt” if it fails to go beyond his administration. The Presidency, however, argued that it was not a witch-hunt. Speaking in an exclusive telephone chat, yesterday, Special Adviser to the President on Media & Publici...

This survey chart was released by Guardian reporter, Mark Anderson, while the source for the data used in the research was from Kar and Cartwright-Smith (2010).

EFCC Press statement below... The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has arraigned 10 persons and a vessel, MV Peace for their alleged involvement in illegal oil bunkering before Justice Muhammad B. Idris of the Federal High Court, Lagos on a three count charge bordering on conspiracy and illegal dealing in petroleum products. MV Peace and its crew members - James Abatan, Wasiu Abdul Owonikoko, Patrick Ameh, Johnson Ademola, Felix Otto, Chigozie Oguike, Olu Salisu, Jomo Gadagbe, Kunle Oba Saheed and Rasheed Adio were intercepted about five nautical miles off Lagos Fairway Buoy by the Nigerian Navy Ship Ikot-Abasi on the 4th of April 2015 on suspicion of illegal dealing in petroleum products.  Count one and two of the charge reads: Count 1: “MV Peace, James Abatan, Wasiu Abdul Owonikoko, Patrick Amen, Johnson Ademola, Felix Otto, Chigozie Oguike, Olu Salisu, Jomo Gadagbe, Kunle Oba Saheed and Rasheed Adio on or about the 4th day of April, 2015 in La...

Mr Olisa Metu, National Publicity Secretary of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Thursday urged the Federal Government to probe every corrupt politician and not be selective in the exercise. “We expect the President Muhammadu Buhari’s government not to embark on selective probing of public office holders found wanting before or during his government’’, he said. Metu made the call during the State Congress of PDP in Lokoja. He urged the PDP members in the state to ensure that they were free of corruption in their dealings. “If your hands are clean, you will not be afraid of any probe’’, he said. The publicity scribe described corruption as a crime against the common will of Nigerians. “Corruption is a crime against the people, the nation and our Constitution’’, he said. He said every legitimate means should be deployed to fight public corruption and that the approach to eradicating corruption in Nigeria must be just. The PDP spokesman urged the would-b...

Montel Ajayi, 18, Christopher Nzeh, 18, and Isacc Owen-Brady, 18, have been charged with the murder of 28 year old Nigerian fitness model and teaching assistant, Michael Adegbite who was killed in Enfield on Sunday evening as he tried to sell his laptop. The boys appeared at Highbury Corner Magistrates court today charged with robbery and murder. Michael had met the trio to sell a laptop to one of them but they attempted to rob him. He and his friend snatched back the laptop and left. Only to return with another friend to confront the boys. A fight ensued and Michael was stabbed to death. Sad!

He shared the photo on Twitter and wrote "My son". That lil man is cute for days!

Unfortunately he did say this during a Q&A in the US yesterday. Asked by a white journalist how he intended to deal with issues in the Niger Delta, particularly Amnesty, bunkering and inclusive development, president Buhari said;  "(Going by election results), constituencies that gave me 97% can not in all honesty be treated, on some issues, with constituencies that gave me 5%. I think these are political realities. While, certainly there will be justice for everybody but the people who voted, and made their votes count, they must feel the government has appreciated the effort they put in putting the government in place. I think this is really fair." Watch the video below

UNKNOWN gunmen operating in a tricycle, popularly known as Keke Napep last Saturday at about 7pm shot dead a 52-year old trader, Obiora Ibe, in his shop on Club Road Umuahia. The gunmen were also said to have collected Ibe’s, undisclosed amount of money, being the sales of the day, his phone and that of his wife, after shooting him. The victim, Obiorah Ibe was said to have told his wife, Mrs. Azuka Ibe that they should close and go home, shortly before the incident, as there were no more customers for the day. According to Mrs. Ibe, while they were packing, a young boy that she put his age at less than twenty years entered their shop, pretending to have come to buy something only for him to pull out a steel gun and ordered her to give him the money and phone, which she willing did. Mrs. Ibe narrated that it was at that point that her husband who was coming out from the shop saw the boy going away with the apron that was containing money and phone and shouted. ...

SaharaReporters has learned that President Muhammadu Buhari’s meeting on Monday with the United States Attorney General, Loretta Lynch, focused on a strategy to prosecute Nigeria’s immediate past Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, for her role in several billion dollar corrupt deals in the oil industry. Mr. Buhari’s meeting also touched on fighting terrorism as well as strategies for identifying and purging corrupt judges from the Nigerian judicial system. The Nigerian president went to the Monday meeting with a delegation that included Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State.  High on the agenda was to discuss American support for a vast investigation of racketeering schemes spearheaded by Ms. Alison-Madueke and several of her cohorts in the oil sector who conspired to deprive the Nigerian treasury of billions of dollars that went to private interests. A source with authoritative information on the meeting told SaharaReporters that the US...

According to sources close to the CEO of Oando, Wale Tinubu, he was not dissed by Pres. Buhari at the Corporate Council of Africa dinner in Washington DC this week contrary to reports in the media that he was. In the video from the dinner that has since been released, President Buhari expressed his lack of surprise at seeing Wale Tinubu. What the president said below.. "I’m not surprised to meet the Chief Executive of Oando here. He is a very close friend of my big friend, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. I’m talking about the Chief Executive of Oando, Wale Tinubu who is here. I am not surprised to meet him. But I was surprised to meet the Chief Executive of Zenith Bank; maybe he was brought by the Governor of the Central Bank.” Click here to watch video below...

Kenyans are not happy about being described as a terrorist hotbed and have been hitting CNN all day. Meanwhile Kenya's Interior Minister, Joseph Nkaisserry has asked CNN to apologize for the comment. He said this during a press briefing this morning "Kenya like any other country in the world is at the risk of terror attacks, the attacks do not turn it into a hotbed. Kenya is not a terror hotbed as portrayed by CNN. I urge Kenyans to treat the CNN report with the contempt it deserves. If CNN is civilized enough, they should apologise" he said

A 17-year-old teenager, identified as Tobi George, is currently being investigated by the police at Alakara Division, Lagos, for allegedly defiling a minor on Ogunfunmi Street, Surulere. It was learned that the act, which had become a recurrence, started sometime ago, after the victim and her younger sister began to stay in the suspect’s house on return from school. Vanguard gathered that trouble started on July 13, when the victim’s younger sister innocently revealed to her class teacher, during a lesson on sex education, that their neighbour’s son, Tobi, did to her sister what she was teaching her and her classmates. Startled by the revelation, the teacher invited the victim’s parents to school and informed them of what their daughter had said. The victim, thereafter, told her parents that the suspect threatened to kill her if she ever told anyone what he was doing to her. It was learned that the suspect took advantage of the victim, who normally stayed in h...

A British agency, Charity Commission, has absolved Winners Chapel International of complicity in the alleged misappropriation of N3.4bn charity funds. In a report published recently, the agency said Winners Chapel International, also known as World Mission Agency, demonstrated “good financial controls” for an organisation of its size. While maintaining that the “employment of an individual who was related to the founder” generated a potential conflict, the United Kingdom-based agency said it was satisfied with the decision of the trustees in respect of the employment. “Our review of the charity’s financial information identified minor discrepancies. However, the trustees were able to explain and resolve these. We found no evidence that N3.4bn or any other amount had been misappropriated. “We were satisfied the charity could demonstrate good financial controls appropriate for a large and expanding charity,” said the report. The agency said, investigations in...

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has said that the national cut off point for screening of candidates for admission remained the minimum expectation that each candidate desirous of university admission should have. This is contained in a statement issued by the Public Relations Officer of the board, Dr Fabian Benjamin, made available to newsmen on Wednesday in Lagos. According to the statement, the attention of the board has been drawn to the challenge experienced by some candidates who could not access the University of Lagos site to register for the Post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). The statement said that the board sincerely sympathised with their frustration. “We want to seize this opportunity to state that our attention has been drawn to the agitation by some parents and students who turned out for the registration for the post JAMB screening exercise for the candidates. “We sympathise with them but wish to state categoric...

There was concern in military circles in the Niger Delta region on Thursday following the planned meeting of leaders of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND). The meeting, slated for Izon House in Yenagoa, Bayelsa, is being convened by MEND leader, Chief Government Ekpemupolo. A terse invitation, a copy of which was made available to our reporter, reads: “My dearly beloved Commanders and Leaders of various wings of the Movement of the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), I greet you all. “It is my pleasure to humbly invite you to a very crucial and urgent meeting as follows: Venue: Izon House, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State. “Date (of the meeting is) Saturday, July 25th, 2015. Time (is) 2pm Prompt,” concluded the letter, which was signed with Tompolo signing off with his traditional title – Izon Ibe-Ebidouwei of Izon nation. Contacted, Tompolo said the meeting was to deliberate on recent developments in Nigeria as well as the fate of the Nig...

The Presidency is probing three banks for short-changing the Federal Government in the management of the N50 billion escrow accounts interest yield for seven Electric Power Generation Companies (EPGC). The row over the escrow accounts was referred to President Muhammadu Buhari following the loss of over N10 billion interest yielded in the last two years. The companies are: Afam Power Plc; Egbin Power Plc; Geregu Power Plc; Kainji Hydro-Electric Plc; Sapele Power Plc; Shiroro Hydro-Electric Plc; and Ughelli Power Plc. Each of the generation companies (sellers), pursuant to the provisions of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act No. 6 of 2005, were mandated to take over generation and related businesses of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). Safety escrow accounts were established to protect the stake of private investors in the seven generation firms. The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) in 2013 e...

President Muhammadu Buhari was on Tuesday, July 21, interviewed by correspondent Peter Clottey of another respected US media, Voice of America. During the conversation the Nigerian leader said that Boko Haram would be up and running by the end of July when the joint anti-Boko Haram force becomes operational. “We have killed the commanders. Certain troops have been trained and the multinational joint task force, comprising of troops from Chad, Niger, Nigeria, Benin Republic, are being heard in the theater of operations, so really this is the practical and the realistic way the problem can be fixed.” And as far as the operations start is concerned, presidential spokesman Femi Adesina said earlier that “July 21 has been picked as a date for that force to swing into action.” Recall that speaking with CNN correspondent Christiane Amanpour Buhari, described the steps being taken to ensure security, without providing, however, details about when the terrorism could be p...

THERE is confusion in Enugu State following the claim by the National Broadcasting Commission [NBC] that it had successfully blocked the illegal Radio Biafra from operating and consequent seizure of its transmission equipment in some parts of South-East zone as well as some arrests made. Although police authorities in Enugu State claimed ignorance of any arrest, it was reliably gathered that an engineer working for the station based in Enugu had been picked up by men of the Department of State Security DSS and taken to Abuja. Residents in the State are however confused because some of the ardent listeners to the station claimed that the station was still operating in skeletal form. State police command’s spokesman Mr. Ebere Amaraizu told our reporter last night “I am not aware of the arrest and parading of the Radio Biafra suspects. Not to my knowledge”, he stated. NBC’s Director General, Emeka Mba had said in Abuja last week that “we are working with s...

President Buhari says that the US is 'aiding and abetting' terror group Boko Haram by refusing to supply arms to Nigeria. A US law called the Leahy Law prevents the US government from selling arms to countries which fail to tackle human rights abuses. President Buhari made the accusation while addressing members of the US Institute of Peace yesterday July 22nd "In our efforts at combating the activities of Boko Haram, the new Government has sought and obtained the support of not only our neighbours other international friends and partners. Regrettably, the blanket application of the Leahy Law by the United States on the grounds of unproven allegations of human rights violations levelled against our forces has denied us access to appropriate strategic weapons to prosecute the war against the insurgents.  Our forces have remained largely impotent because they do not possess the appropriate weapons and technology which they could have had, had the so-called hu...

Says he knelt to beg Akande for Buhari as ACN/CPC flagbearer in 2011 Immediate past National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki (retd), has sworn that he never maltreated nor took part in maltreating President Muhammadu Buhari when he, as military Head of State, was removed in a 1985 coup, as being erroneously alleged. He said: “I always respect and dignify my seniors and those in positions of authority whether in service or after. Though a young officer, I was reluctant to be among those that arrested him. And I was not. “I only met him afterward at Bonny Camp with Lawal Rafindadi. There is no way I could have maltreated him as being alleged in some quarters. I am glad most of the actors are still alive.” The former NSA made the disclosure even as he stated that he knelt down begging Baba Bisi Akande, who was then Chairman of Action Congress Nigeria, ACN, to accept then General Buhari because “General Buhari is a man to be trusted.” Dasuki, who spoke ...

Sympathisers wept profusely in Arepo area of Ogun State yesterday as no fewer than 110 suspected petroleum pipeline vandals were roasted to death. The incident occurred along the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) pipeline. According to LEADERSHIP ,the vandals were scooping fuel when it ignited the fire, which raged for several hours.When this reporter visited the scene, some survivors and other people were seen trying to put out the inferno.  Some people could not identify the corpses of their family members and friends, while those who recogised their relatives moved the bodies in canoes. The management of NNPC was said to have called the policemen attached to the Inspector General of Police Special Task Force on Anti-Pipeline Vandalism.Some policemen were stranded because of the swamp, and could not reach the scene where corpses were being removed.  One police officer said,  “The vandals attacked members of OPC. We were, however, ...