Gist Arena

Two Nigerian men identified as Joseph Uyamadu, 43, and Emanuel Umiano, 33 were on Monday September 7th arrested by Thailand security officials for allegedly producing cocaine at their rented house in a rubber plantation in Ban Khai district of Rayong province. Arrested along with them was their Peruvian accomplice. A search carried out by the police revealed a large portion of cocaine thrown into a flush tank, a bag containing black and sticky substance similar to raw opium, black sheets of substance, corrosive acid, electric grinder, a microwave oven, kerosene, and two cars.

Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State today donated N500,000 and a new Okada to a crippled cobbler named Iseoluwa  Adelabu ,   whose shop and working equipment got burnt in Ikoro, Ekiti recently. More photos after the cut...

People who are loyal to you or people who can do the job? Just asking, what do I know? President Buhari yesterday broke his silence on the recent appointments he made which has been described as lopsided. In an interview with BBC Hausa which was translated by Daily Trust , President Buahri said he chose people that have been loyal and steadfast with him right from his days in APP, CPC and then APC. "This is the nature of Nigerian politics. If they will do justice to me, as an elected Nigerian president, let them look at the Constitution a Nigerian president works with, there are people who will closely work with me that don’t need to be taken to the Senate. If I select people whom I know quite well in my political party, whom we came all the way right from the APP, CPC and APC, and have remained together in good or bad situation, the people I have confidence in and I can trust them with any post, will that amount to anything wrong? I have been with them th...

Photos above show the state of the substation 1 transformer located at Jesus Save road in Asaba, the Delta state capital. Heavy downpour, which has been experienced in the state for over three weeks, coupled with lack of proper drainage system has resulted in the partial flooding of the transformer unit. Residents of the street say they now live in fear as they can be electrocuted if nothing is urgently done to address the very dangerous situation. More photos after the cut...

No fewer than seven people sustained injuries after a popular hotel, the Mekaval hotel situated in Effurun-Warri in Delta state collapsed at about 2am today September 9th. The injured were mostly indigenes of neighboring state who had come to the state in search of a miracle at the Christ Mercy Land Church, headed by one Pastor Jeremiah Fufeyin, popularly referred to as ‘Ijaw TB Joshua’. Delta state deputy Governor Kingsley Otuaro, who visited the scene of the incident attributed the cause of the collapse to structural defect.

Governor of Ekiti state Ayo Fayose writes below... (must read) President Mohammadu Buhari’s government is now 100 days and even though I align with most Nigerians, who opined that 100 days is too short in the life of a government, it is important to make some clarifications as regarding the administration. This is more so that the All Progressives Congress (APC) and some political jobbers that are looking for appointments are praising the President, citing imaginary achievements.

A young lady named, Kelechi Uche was paraded by the state Police Commissioner, Joshak Habila, in Umuahia, for trying to sell a baby. Uche was arrested by some members of the public at Osusu Aku, where she went to look for buyers. According to the police boss,a man simply identified as Uchenna and four other suspects, still at large, stole a four month old boy at gunpoint on August 21, at Ntigha Uzo in the Obingwa Local Government Area of the state. Then he gave the baby to his gf, Kelechi Uche to sell. Habila explained that Kelechi drew the suspicion of some members of the public on August 26 when the baby started crying uncontrollably, but she could not breastfeed him.

128 suspected members of the Boko Haram sect were today released to the Borno state government after investigations by the Nigerian army showed they had no ties with the sect. Presenting the released suspects comprising of 109 men, seven women, 11 boys and one unattached teenager, to the state governor, Kashim Shettima, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai said;

The PDP has refused to hang the official portrait of President Muhammadu Buhari at the party’s national secretariat, Wadata House national secretariat, located at Zone 5, Abuja, despite the fact that it has removed that of former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. ADVERTISEMENT The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Olisa Metuh on Tuesday said: “We will never hang his portrait in this office, because President Buhari is not known to our party. He is not a leader of our party and therefore we will never put his portrait here. We are a political party, very partisan and therefore, we are not going to hide that,"

Nigerian sprinter and Commonwealth queen of tracks, Blessing Okagbare-Ighoteguonor, has been banned by the National Sports Commission (NSC) and the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), following her appearance at the Zurich Diamond League on Thursday, a few days after she failed to run for Nigeria in the 200m event at the just concluded IAAF World Championship in Beijing, China. Guardian reports that Okagbare was Team Nigeria’s medal hope at the IAAF Championship in Beijing but she fumbled in the 100m final, finishing last, and also failed to show up for the 200m event four days later, despite appearing in the warm up area. She claimed injury and while some Nigerians were yet to come to terms on what transpired in Beijing, there was a shocker a few days ago, when Okagbare announced she will not be representing Team Nigeria for the 11th All Africa Games in Congo, an action which AFN and NSC finds unpatriotic.

Troops of 3 Division Nigerian Army have intercepted and arrested some kingpins of Boko Haram. The men were found with hard drugs and other stimulants. A statement by the spokesperson of the Nigerian army, Sani Usman, said the men were arrested at Geidam local government in Borno state. The statement in part reads; "You will recall that sometimes ago we reported that ironically most of the Boko Haram terrorists captured by Nigerian military cannot read the Holy Qur’an, some of them cannot even recite the first chapter- Suratuh Al-Fatiha and yet they claimed they wanted to establish an ‘Islamic State’.  When the Nigerian military captured their bases and training camps, they never found Qur’an or other Islamic books, what were mostly found were ammunition, local charms, condoms and all sorts of drugs, including sex enhancing ones in their enclaves. The arrest of these drug suppliers has reinforced that fact, more so as they have been making very useful statements. The Nigerian...

A female University of Lagos student was electrocuted yesterday Sept. 8th after a high tension cable fell on her in front of the Sodeinde hall of residence in the campus. According to reports, the young lady was immediately rushed to the Lagos state Teaching Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival. Sad! May her soul rest in peace, Amen.

A man in Oakland County was stabbed after he discovered his wife in bed with her own father. The 25-year-old victim came home to find his wife and his father-in-law lying naked in bed together. He woke his father-in-law up, and the two got into an argument that continued outside. The older man, Henry Allen Michael of Detroit, then allegedly stabbed his son-in-law in the back with a knife and drove away in the victim’s vehicle. The victim was taken to the hospital and treated for a non-life threatening stab wound that may have perforated his right lung. As for the victim’s wife, she said that she did not know anything had happened until her husband woke her up. She and her father had been out drinking, and she said that she passed out when they returned home. When she was questioned, she said that she had reason to believe she was sexually assaulted and was examined by hospital staff. At the time of the stabbing, Michael was staying ...

A British Airways plane caught fire yesterday at Las Vegas airport as the plane prepared to take off. According to reports, the Boeing 777 which was bound for London's Gatwick Airport,was getting ready to take off when passengers heard a loud sound. After a minute, the pilot told the passengers that there was an emergency and they needed to evacuate. Thankfully no one was seriously injured. The only minor injuries was sustained as passengers slid down the inflatable chutes to evacuate the plane. The cause of the fire has not yet been stated.