Gist Arena

Police today, August 24th, released an e-fit of mugger who attacked a Nigerian woman while she was in labour. The suspect punched her in the face and stole her phone as she tried to call her family. On  June 26th , Patience Chukwu, 40, had left her home in north London to take a bus to hospital and was having contractions when the man swiped her Samsung Galaxy from her hands. "I took out my phone to call my sister and tell her I was on the way to the hospital when the boy came up to me. He stood in front of me and I thought he was about to ask for directions. He was standing there staring at me and then he snatched the phone from me. As he grabbed it, I grabbed him by the hood. I was trying to recover the phone. He just hit me. He went to hit me in the stomach, so I bent double and the blow hit me in the face." The attacker got on his BMX to flee but Ms Chukwu grabbed him. "He was dragging me and I was screaming," she said.  "Then...

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has deleted the United Bank for Africa (UBA) from the list of nine deposit money banks (DMBs) banned from the foreign exchange market, for hiding over $2 billion belonging to Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) from the Treasury Single Account (TSA). ‘Tokunbo Martins, director, banking supervision of CBN, made the announcement on Wednesday night, saying: “Further to the directive of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to all Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) to return all outstanding unremitted NNPC/NLNG foreign currency, this is to confirm that the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has remitted all outstanding NNPC/NLNG deposits in its possession to NNPC’s Treasury Single Account (TSA) at the CBN. “Accordingly, the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has been re-admitted into the Foreign Exchange Market effective Thursday, August 25, 2016.” Before the ban was reported on Tuesday, President Muhammadu Buhari had been briefed...

Read his piece below... Mr. John Kerry, the American Secretary of State, President Barack Obama's confidante and Mrs. Hilary Clinton's successor in office, came to Nigeria the other day. The first meeting that he had was with the Sultan of Sokoto, who is the supreme leader of the Fulani Caliphate, the spiritual leader of all the Muslims of the north and the man who said, only last week, that "Christians commit wicked acts and crimes against humanity" and that "the wearing of the hijab is the right of every Muslim". The second was with the the 19 northern governors, 16 of whom are Muslims. The third was our Muslim-fanatic and sharia-loving President who has refused to call his kinsmen, the Fulani herdsmen and militants, to order or to arrest and prosecute even one of them for mass murder and genocide. On the very same day that all this was happening the Islamic Development Bank visited the President and opened their first office in ...

Rochas Okorocha Governor of Imo state has come out to dismiss reports making rounds on social media that he is was slapped by a ghost and now mentally unstable. The governor was speaking on Tuesday, August, 23, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja, after returning from a two-week vacation to the United States of America to see his grandson. Rochas ,however said he was healthy and relaxed as ever. He said “No, I have never been sick at all, I have never been sick. I am always healthy. I am not in a hurry to go (laughs). I am very healthy and I have never been to any hospital. I am fine and strong. I don’t know where the rumour comes from but it is nothing to write home about. “I have never been to hospital, I’m fine, I’m healthy and as you can see, I’m more relaxed than ever. “I did two weeks plus, I know, they are not used to me going out. They are not used to me travelling and they saw this, I don’t blame them. But everything is okay and I...

Controversial Catholic priest and pro-Buhari pundit, Father Mbaka has a message for his religious followers and essentially, the rest of us. Below are 10 points from his message we think you should pay attention to: 1 . “Our past leaders succeeded in removing the liver, kidneys and cardiovascular systems of this country, and paralysed the neurological organs and handed over to Buhari… Nigeria right now, economically and security wise, is in the intensive care unit. If the oxygen is removed, Nigeria will go.” Shall we all say a prayer that Nigeria will not go? Where is she going? 2.  “God has told us that Buhari is a prayer answered. President Buhari is an answered prayer. Whether you hate him or whether you like him, Buhari is a prayer answered.” What a spiritual confusion! 3.  “President Buhari is a man for all, he means good for this country, and we owe him support; unalloyed support, consistent support, perennial support, unstoppab...

Jady Duarte, the girl who shared snaps of Usain Bolt cuddling and kissing her in bed while in Rio during his birthday celebrations has now revealed that the Olympic champion wooed her after flashing his toned muscles and six packs but that 'down there' he's not really as endowed as everyone thinks. Jady also revealed that he doesn't speak Portuguese, so he had to use google translate to communicate with her and whisked her into his hotel room in the games village using a team bus. According to her, they allegedly made love in a small single bed, while listening to Rihanna's 'Work work' and the sex reportedly lasted over two one-hour sessions. According to Jady they met in Rio's upmarket club All In, and Bolt made his way over to her group of friends, before he flashed his impressive six-pack. "He was stood in front of us and suddenly he pulled up his shirt and showed us his six pack," Jady, Mother of two told Mai...

A faction of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, identified as The Re-branded Indigenous People of Biafra, TRIOPOB, has broken out of the main group over alleged inflexible and defeatist position of IPOB led by Nnamdi Kanu, currently in detention. Spokesperson of the splinter group, Chima Phillip Effiong Osuji, said the decision to break away as taken at an emergency meeting convened by some disaffected members of IPOB on Monday, August 22, 2016 in Aba, Abia state,.” “It was resolved that due to the rigid and fatalistic position of the Nnamdi Kanu- led IPOB, several of us with like minds shall breakaway and form The Rebranded Indigenous People of Biafra, TRIPOB,” he stated.  The new group said that Biafra would not be a reality and on October, 1, 2016, would set ablaze the Biafra flag in Abuja, recite the national anthem and pledge to Nigeria, while the spirit and intent of Biafra will be pursued inside the Nigerian nation. “TRIPOB now sees the ...

Man counting Nigerian's currency (Photo: Suzanne Plunkett/Bloomberg News) More than two months after Nigeria allowed its currency to devalue, the country is starting to reap some dividends. In the past two weeks, Exotix Partners LLP and Standard Bank Group Ltd. have told clients, most of whom fled after the country started imposing capital controls from late 2014, that they should start buying naira assets again. The worst-performing currency this year among more than 150 globally has depreciated 37 percent against the dollar since the central bank abandoned its peg on June 20, while bond yields have jumped to more than 20 percent. The naira strengthened 4.6 percent to 315 per dollar on Tuesday after falling to a record 350.25 on Aug. 19. “The cheap naira is attracting foreign investors,” said Lutz Roehmeyer, a money manager at Landesbank Berlin Investment, which oversees about $12 billion of assets. “At 325 per dollar, the naira is too weak” and Lan...

Read the press statement below... Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose has condemned the Tuesday’s invasion and seal off of the residence of former Kano State Governor, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso by armed policemen to prevent a mass wedding programme, reiterating his earlier warning that the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its supporters have built dictatorship round President Buhari by not joining other Nigerians to condemn his undemocratic acts. The governor, who said he was more concerned about the rape of democracy and the rule law under the APC government of President Buhari, added that; “The fact that Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso is of the ruling APC should worry well-meaning Nigerians because it appears no one will be spared by this anti-democracy agents that have taking over Nigeria.” In a statement issued in Ado-Ekiti on Wednesday, by the Special Assistant to governor on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Governor Fayose wondered wher...

  Femi Otedola is considered to be one of Nigeria's richest men. Otedola, a businessman and entrepreneur philanthropist is the chairman of Forte Oil Plc which is an importer of fuel products. He is thought to be one of the most successful businessmen in Africa. However, with all of his success, it seems the billionaire is not taken away with the glitz of modern day technology. The man was seen using phones that were manufactured in the very early days of mobile technology. The photo was shared by his daughter Temi via Snapchat. Social media users have expressed surprise at the revelation.

Emir of Kano, Sanusi Muhammad II, says President Buhari could end up the way the Goodluck Jonathan administration ended up if he continues in the manner he is presently managing the country. He said this while delivering a lecture at the ongoing 15th meetings of the joint planning board and national council on development planning in Kano, titled ‘Nigeria in search of new growth model’ today August 24th. “If we do not expand the economy through wise investment, we can end up in classical Malthusian situation. If this government continues to behave the way the past government behaved, we will end up where Jonathan ended.” Sanusi who was former CBN governor, said to get out of this present economic recession, the FG must set the foreign exchange rate to incentivise capital inflows, catalyse Foreign Direct Investment and Foreign Direct Investment Funding.

Members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) protested in front of the United Nations building in South Africa, yesterday, August 23rd. More photos below

This video of a marathon runner, who was staggering and almost falling down on the track, while the race is still on going, will motivate you, and also you will learn from it never to give up in life or any task you find yourself in, make sure you add little effort, never give up, you will get there.

This is the video showing the suspected militants who brutally murdered four soldiers in Nembe, Bayelsa State . They were paraded by the Joint Task Force Operation Delta Safe. The suspects confessed to the crime while speaking to journalists on Monday, August 23. The suspects were arrested at Olugbobiri community in Southern Ijaw LGA by the special security outfit "Bayelsa Waterways Security Taskforce" led by ex-militant leader, Africanus Ukparasia.  Watch video below:

Many people were killed and about 4 houses razed after a petrol tanker exploded at Upper Mission junction along the Benin-Auchi express road in Edo state this morning.

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that religious violence would not be tolerated by his administration. The President said this on Tuesday, while condemning the killing of eight people in Zamfara State on Monday. A mob had set the house of a man ablaze for rescuing an undergraduate, who was accused of blasphemy, resulting in their deaths and those of six others. However, on his Twitter handle on Tuesday, President Muhammadu Buhari condemned the violence. “I received news of the mob killings in Zamfara with great dismay. It is barbaric and unacceptable,” he said. “I assure Nigerians that the law will take its course. Under my watch, we will work to ensure that there is no place for violence in the name of religion, ethnicity, or in any guise whatsoever.”