Gist Arena

Franca Asemota, accused of trafficking at least 40 children and young adults into Europe A 38-year-old Nigerian woman, Franca Asemota, known to her victims as Auntie Franca, reportedly used Heathrow airport as a hub to traffic at least 40 teenage children and young adults into Europe. Dailymail UK  reported that a jury was today that the female trafficking boss used witchcraft to round up and terrify dozens of teenage orphans from Nigeria before selling them into prostitution in Europe The woman who is accused of luring mainly orphans from remote Nigerian villages with the promise of jobs and education, uses witchcraft, threats, and s*xual violence to ensure they did as they were told before being sold to the s*x industry in Europe. Franca's notorious trafficking first came to light when Border Agency officials stopped two groups, one in September and one in November 2011, travelling on false passports. Although she was not arrested at the time, Asemota's ti...

Dino Melaye, the senator representing Kogi west constituency at the national assembly, says no Nigerian – including the president and governors – should have immunity. A lot of judicial drama has been going on since the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) froze the Zenith Bank accounts of Ayo Fayose, governor of Ekiti state, with Femi Falana, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), saying governors can be arrested . The senate has also put forward claims for immunity of senators, but Melaye, who weighed in on the issue while speaking to Osasu Igbinedion on The Osasu Show , has a different outlook. “As an individual, speaking as Dino Melaye, I do not support immunity for any Nigerian irrespective of status or office. I am one of those actually propagating that the immunity clause be completely deleted in our constitution,” he said. “The president should not have immunity, the vice president should not have immunity, the governors should not have immu...

Theresa May, home secretary of the United Kingdom, has won the first round of elections to replace David Cameron as prime minister. May,  who was tipped to be the second female prime minister of the UK, polled 165 votes, ahead of Andrea Leadsom, Michael Gove, Stephen Crabb, who polled 66, 48 and 34 votes respectively. Liam Fox polled 16 votes, and was therefore eliminated from the race. With Fox out of the race, and four candidates left, a secret ballot will be held on Thursday, where one more candidate will be dropped, leaving three candidates to contest for party leadership. On Tuesday, July 12, the remaining three candidates will contest at a secret ballot, where the two leading candidates will be chosen for  a vote by the entire conservative party. The winner of that vote will become the new Conservative leader and prime minister of the United Kingdom. The winner is expected to be officially named in September. May, who was agains...

U.S president Barack Obama wished his first daughter Malia a happy 18th birthday on Monday, 4th of July, the same day America celebrated its independence. Obama, flanked by rapper Kendrick Lamar, belted out a croaky version of happy birthday song to his daughter, while the crowd at the annual Fourth of July party at the White House cheered on. Malia, who will begin her studies at Harvard in 2017 after graduating from high school in June, embraced Kendrick Lamar and Janelle Monae on stage after her father sang Happy Birthday to her. 'Because it's a job of fathers to embarrass their daughters, I've got one last job,' Obama joked as the audience began to applaud. 'It just so happens we celebrate our country's birthday on the same day as my oldest daughter's birthday, so just a quick Happy Birthday for Malia,' Obama added before breaking into song. More photos below.

One person was arrested today, Tuesday July 5, in connection with the incident where a woman was thrown from the third floor of a building at Kothanoor Dinne, Bengaluru, India. Although, earlier report said the 22-year-old victim identified as Fouzia Fathima, also a Nigerian, was thrown down because she refused the suspects' sexual advances. New reports emerging today said she was brought to India by her friends with promises of a job only for them to try to force her into prostitution.  The arrested Nigerian is identified as Victoria alias Vicky. According to police, the accused was arrested in an apartment at Kempapura. Further investigations are on. Fathima, who had come to India on a tourist visa, was staying with her friends for the past one year. It is reported that when she refused to concede to her friends' demand, they pushed her down from the building. She suffered multiple injuries and was admitted to a private hospital where she is ...

A businessman strangulated his wife, a Congolese national, (the stunning lady pictured above) cut the body into pieces and set them ablaze, police said on Tuesday, July 5. Rupesh Kumar Mohanani, 36, was caught by people in Madanpally village in Shamshabad on the outskirts of Hyderabad, India after they found him pouring petrol on a bag containing the body pieces and burning it. The deceased has been identified as Cynthia Vechel, 30, a club dancer in Congo. She had been living with her husband in Hyderabad since 2012. According to police, Mohanani and his wife were having frequent quarrels over financial matters as he had suffered losses in stock market. He was also suspicious that she was cheating on him, claiming she frequently chatted with her male friends through Facebook. They had a fight in the early hours of Sunday July 4th in their flat in Gachibowli. "In a fit of rage he throttled her neck and killed her brutally. With an intent to screen out th...

Mayokun Akpoterabor, the woman who alleged that her son, Medad Akpoterabor, was expelled from his school hostel because he advised a junior female student to report a case of sexual molestation, (read  here ) gave an update on the matter. Please read after the cut... Paid a visit to my son's school this morning in the company of just 3 out of several other concerned friends, fathers, mothers, aunties and uncles, who called and expressed their intention to follow me down here to clarify issues. The 3 are - Dr Dokun Adedeji Mr. Olusola Egberedu and Pastor Ajayi Keji We got to speak first with the Director of studies, Mr Solomon Ashiegbu. Even the strong will shudder at his explanation and responses, the weak will simply pass out. I was dangling between the two ends, it took God's grace to stay sane and calm! He noted that my son Medad Akpoterabor was suspended because they presume he wanted to get the child in question suspended! Is intention to expel...

Press statement from the presidency President Buhari has condemned the suicide bombing in Madinah, which occurred on Monday in Islam's second holiest city. Condoling with Saudi authorities over the reprehensible attack, President Buhari said the development was a desecration of all that was sacred and holy, as it took place near the Prophet's Mosque, and on one of the holy days of Ramadan. "The merchants of evil have once again shown that there is nothing religious in their mindless acts, by striking near the Prophet's Mosque. It validates the claim that terrorism really has nothing to do with Islam. Purveyors of terror are simply agents of the devil," President Buhari said. The fact that the Madinah bombing came the same day as a suicide bomber struck near the US Consulate in Jeddah, also in Saudi Arabia, shows that it was an orchestrated plan to foul up the Eid-el-Fitr celebration, President Buhari asserted, and urges nations to remain vigilant, ...

Jose Mourinho was officially unveiled today at Manchester United as its new manager. In the candid interview after the unveiling, Jose revealed he promoted youth players and he didn't chase away club legend Ryan Giggs but he rather left due to the club not offering him the manager's position. Mourinho also said he will make the club great again and aims to replicate Sir Alex Ferguson's legacy at the club. Watch the video below

Mayokun Akpoterabor, pictured, has accused her son's school, Cayley College on Celestial Church Street, off Amaraolu street, Agidingbi, Lagos, of expelling him from the hostel because he advised a junior female student to report a case of sexual molestation from another female student to a teacher. Read what she shared on her Facebook wall below What should I do? My son got expelled from the hostel in the middle of his NECO exams for....(wait for it)....advising a junior student (girl), who reported a case of molestation by another student (girl) to him, to go tell a teacher she is comfortable with. The school says he shouldn't have advised, but to hush....keep quiet...stay mum....gbenudake! (sounds weird huh?). I've been calm in the past two weeks since it happened, only my few friends (3) knew the heavy burden I've borne. I have been giving support to my son through this period. He was too shocked to believe he is being punished for what he thought was...

OUT OF THE BLUE, a group calling itself the Niger Delta Avengers, NDA sprouts. They kill soldiers and policemen. They kidnap and kill oil company workers. Piracy on the high seas. They asked oil companies to stop operations and pack out of the Niger Delta region. They blow up oil pipelines, power and other infrastructure. They attack and kill prominent individuals, ransacking homes up and down the coastal areas, including lately, Lagos and Ogun states. All these for what? It is still unclear what they want. From the diverse, if vague and inchoate voices of the militants, some say they want to take control of the oil resources in the region. Sometimes when the rhetoric gets uglier, they call for the breakup of Nigeria as a country! The scariest part of what is happening is that the media, in their appetite for sensational stories are egging them on to make a great display of seditious, anti-national sentiment. In the last stages before her government's defeat of the Iri...

The Nigerian government has released the statement below extending the Eid-el-Fitri holiday in the country by one day. “Following the directive by the President General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Sa’ad Abubakar III, the Sultan of Sokoto, to the effect that the Ramadan fast continues today (Tuesday) as a result of the non-sighting of the moon, the Federal Government of Nigeria has declared Wednesday 6th and Thursday 7th July, 2016 as Public Holiday. “In making the declaration on behalf of the Government, the Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau, urged Nigerians to use the period for sober reflections to ensure harmony, unity and peaceful co-existence, while giving full support to the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari in his sustained effort to pursue socio-economic and political growth of the nation. “A statement signed by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Bassey Akpanyung said the Minister wishes Nigerians a peacefu...

The rate at which Nigerian youths get bold to show off their sizzling affairs with their lovers on social these days is getting out hands. Some really don't have home training. A young girl whose boyfriend made the above post for on social media, stating how he misses her irrespective of the way he cheats on her, has been slammed by angry commenters after she took to her Facebook page to reply her lover in the most irresponsible way.

Fuel scarcity looms in Nigeria as the leadership of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN has instructed its members around the country to abandon their duty posts from Thursday July 7th and proceed on strike action. In a statement signed by its acting general secretary, Lumumba Okugbawa, PENGASSAN blamed the proposed strike on the Federal Government’s inability to honor their agreement contained in a May 12, 2016 communiqué. PENGASSAN had on June 19th condemned the sack of some of its workers in some oil corporations in Nigeria and had given the Federal government a 7-day ultimatum to intervene and failure to do so would result in a full scale strike action. The seven-day ultimatum lapsed on last Wednesday, June 27th.

Women who shave their vaginas thinking it is more hygienic are actually putting themselves at greater risk of infection, according to experts. Not only does the hair stop viruses and bacteria reaching genitalia, it also acts as a cushion for the sensitive labia and vagina. Dr Vanessa Mackay, from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, told  The Independent :  "Pubic hair offers a natural barrier to keep things clean, to decrease contact with viruses and bacteria, and to protect the tender skin of the area.  "While protecting against diseases and skin problems, pubic hair prevents foreign particles like dust and pathogenic bacteria from entering the body.Pubic hair also helps to control the moisture of the area which decreases the chances of yeast infections." The study by JAMA Dermatology also found that women not only groom for 'social events' but also break out the razor when visiting a health care professio...