Manager arrested for robbery in own bank

Asaba—AN Operations Manager with a first generation bank in Agbor, Delta State has been arrested by the police for allegedly conniving with an armed robbery gang that raided the bank, weekend.

The gang had in a commando style operation, succeeded in carting away millions of naira in both local and foreign currencies on Friday, while some bank customers and passers-by were wounded in the process.

Delta State Police command’s spokesman, Mr. Lucky Uyabeme, said that “the arrested Operations Manager of the bank is helping the police in its investigation. The command will not leave any stone unturned in ensuring that all the hoodlums involved are brought to book.

“Preliminary investigation revealed an insider connection in the bank robbery as the two keys to the strong room that were supposed to be kept by two different senior staff were left with the Operations Manager, who in turn left the strong room open.

“The four bullet proof doors were not tampered with. One of the senior staff of the bank who was supposed to be with one of the keys to the strong room purported to be sick, handed over the keys to the Operations Manager,” Uyabeme  said.

President’s Respect For Elders

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan is unhappy with Nigerians. He is in no doubt they have lost moral values, including respect for elders.

The President asked the church to redeem the situation when he flagged off the National Christian Campaign on Social Transformation.

The campaign is important enough to cut across religious lines, if it is to have an impact that would ameliorate a pervasive national condition. Can we do something about it?

 “Our priorities are misplaced. We have trained our children to insult elders, parents fight teachers who discipline their children and so we have been reproducing badly behaved children, who come under peers influences. 

The church itself has not always done what it should do, some of the teachings in some of our churches have turned the bible upside down, the bible is meant to teach us  which is right and helps us to do righteous things.” he added.

Nigerians, he continued, have lost the values for hard work, respect for their elders, truthfulness, honesty, contentment, humility, patience and all moral virtues.

The situation is worse than the President elaborated. The bankruptcy of the Nigerian is almost comprehensive. Few Nigerians are exempt from the President’s accusations; fewer Nigerian settings are bereft of the picture he painted. The causes and solutions are not as simple as the President’s analysis.

What should really worry Nigerians is that the authorities believe that their roles begin and end with speeches in a complainingly accusatory delivery which suggests that the causes of and solutions to our national woes lie elsewhere. They should not distance themselves from challenges.

Are we interested in solutions or blame sharing? Who would provide the solutions? What does the President mean by respect for elders? How do we insult our elders?

Our cultures make respect for elders mandatory. Respect is not only about greeting elders. The respect we give people reflects in how we treat them. We agree with the President that we do not treat our elders well; it is to be noted too that our country has remarkable disregard for people, whether they are children, the poor, the sick, or the physically challenged.

Is it possible to be more practical in respecting elders? We can and it is a shame that we have neglected them all these years.

The hundreds of thousands who die waiting for the pittance that passes for their pension are elders. Some, like retired railway workers, have gone for six years without pension. Their pathetic survival stories elicit indifference from the authorities. If we respected elders we would have treated pensioners better.

The biggest insult to elders, these days, do not come from unruly children, but well-behaved adults.

PDP elections: S-West, S-East kick off campaign

…S-West still burdened by ongoing legal cases

LAGOS— Campaign for the eight vacancies in the National Working Committee, NWC, of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has kicked off in earnest with a number of the ousted officers mobilising key stakeholders in their zones to win back their seats.

While the South-East party stakeholders are understood to be pushing for the return of its officers that were forced to resign, the South-West caucus, it was learnt, was still split on the issue and the process of filling the key offices allocated to the zone.

A meeting of South-West stakeholders to determine how to share the three top positions of National Vice Chairman, National Secretary and National Auditor, it was learnt, has been fixed for next week.

The meeting and the plan, however, could be derailed by the ongoing legal issues arising from the last zonal congress that are still in court.

The South-East, Vanguard learnt, is also to meet next week on the same issues on the position of National Publicity Secretary and National Women’s Leader that are shared to the zone, now vacant.

Metuh may return

Yesterday, it was, however, learnt that Chief Olisa Metuh could be riding his way back to office upon the recommendation of his performance in that office between March 2012 and his resignation last Thursday.

It was also learnt that the influential South-East caucus in the National Assembly and elements from the zone appreciative of Chief Metuh’s work as the party’s chief publicist were already drumming for his return with strategic meetings being held with others concerned.

However, a definitive pronouncement on an automatic return for Metuh, it was learnt, would be made next week at a South-East caucus of the PDP being arranged for Enugu.

S-West still burdened by legal cases

The South-West, it was learnt, is however, being burdened by the two issues of zoning and the court action instigated by disaffected party members over the original election of last year.

The former National Vice Chairman, Engr. Segun Oni, sacked by the court upon the process instigated by disaffected party members over the conduct of the zonal congress, it was learnt, was yet to decide whether to seek for a fresh term.

“We are still waiting on key stakeholders on how the zoning would be decided,” a key associate of the former governor told Vanguard yesterday.

He was hopeful that Oni would make a categorical decision on the issue before the stakeholders’ meeting.

However, another party official from one of the South-West states was pessimistic about the zone fielding replacements for the empty positions given what he alluded to the ongoing cases in the courts against the conduct of last year’s convention and congresses.

“Unless the cases are withdrawn, the prospects of the South-West meeting the deadlines for the election of the officers would be very difficult,” the party official said yesterday on the condition of anonymity.

Eight of the members of the NWC members and their deputies resigned last Thursday following the recommendation of a committee constituted by President Goodluck Jonathan. The recommendation was partly on the basis of the report of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC which affirmed that the process for the election of the national officers violated the guidelines of the party.

The national convention to elect a new set of national officers has been slated for July 20.

1,500 Nigerian refugees flee to Cameroon – ENVOY

ABUJA—The state of emergency declared in the North-Eastern states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa by President Goodluck Jonathan has forced about 1,500 refugees into the northern part of Cameroon, Nigeria’s ambassador to that country has said.

Speaking with newsmen on Presidential delegation to the summit on Regional Security in Yaounde, Cameroun, the Nigerian Ambassador to Cameroon, Ambassador Hadiza Mustapha, said the figure which had been confirmed by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees was no where near the 3,000 reported in the media.

According to him, the bilateral cooperation between Nigeria and Cameroun in the areas of security has checked activities of Boko Haram terrorists.

According to the envoy, the Cameroonian government has granted the refugees unlimited stay until the situation normalises in their respective states.

Mustapha said: “There is a saying that you cannot choose your neighbours but you share both the good and the bad with your neighbours. It is true that we have seen not only with the Boko Haram insurgency but with the declaration of State of Emergency, a few refugees who have come into the Cameroon.

“This is what happens, as long as you cannot choose your neigbour but you can choose how you live with your neigbour, that is why peace is very important. And since I have been here 10 months and we have put the Bakassi issue behind us, there has been a lot of improvement in our relationship. And with that improvement and with that peace, a lot of cooperation is now possible.

”In the area of terrorism, there is a lot of cooperation between our security agencies and that of the Cameroonian in terms of exchange of information even in joint operations. They have also given us quite a lot of support, sometimes we have even had exchange of suspected persons.

“Like you rightly noted, this is possible because of the peace that now exist between us. A lot of things is possible because both countries security agencies are co-operating very well”.

Nigerians to pay £3,000 to enter Britain

LONDON (AFP) – Britain is planning to force visitors from India, Pakistan, Nigeria and other countries whose nationals are deemed to pose a “high risk” of immigration abuse to provide a cash bond before they can enter the country, a report said Sunday.

The Sunday Times newspaper said that from November, a pilot scheme would target visitors from those three countries plus Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Ghana.

Visitors aged 18 and over would be forced to hand over £3,000 ($4,600, 3,500 euros) from November for a six-month visit visa.

They will forfeit the money if they overstay in Britain after their visa has expired.

Initially the scheme will target hundreds of visitors, but the plan is to extend it to several thousand, according to the broadsheet’s front-page report.

The weekly paper said the move by Home Secretary Theresa May is designed to show that Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservative Party is serious about cutting immigration and abuses of the system.

The populist United Kingdom Independence Party has been encroaching on the Conservatives’ traditional core vote in recent months.

Cameron wants annual net migration down below 100,000 by 2015.

“This is the next step in making sure our immigration system is more selective, bringing down net migration from the hundreds of thousands to the tens of thousands while still welcoming the brightest and the best to Britain,” May was quoted as saying.

“In the long run we’re interested in a system of bonds that deters overstaying and recovers costs if a foreign national has used our public services.”

A Home Office official said the six countries highlighted were those with “the most significant risk of abuse”.

Last year 296,000 people granted six-month visas were from India, 101,000 from Nigeria, 53,000 from Pakistan and 14,000 each were from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh

Mandela in critical condition – Jacob Zuma

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) – Nelson Mandela is in a critical condition in hospital, the South African presidency said Sunday, 16 days after as the anti-apartheid icon was admitted with a recurrent lung infection.

“The condition of former president Nelson Mandela, who is still in hospital in Pretoria, has become critical,” Mac Maharaj, presidential spokesman, said in a statement.

The condition of 94-year-old who entered the hospital on June 8 was said to have deteriorated over the weekend.

Nelson Mandela AFP

President Jacob Zuma broke the news after visiting Mandela Sunday evening and was told by doctors “that the former president’s condition had become critical over the past 24 hours.”

Mandela, who became South Africa’s first black president in 1994, is due to celebrate his 95th birthday on July 18.

He has been hospitalised four times since December, mostly for the pulmonary condition that has plagued him for years.

Zuma moved to assure the country that medics were doing all they could to save his life.

“The doctors are doing everything possible to get his condition to improve and are ensuring that Madiba is well-looked after and is comfortable. He is in good hands,” Zuma said, using the revered leader’s clan name.

“The doctors also dismissed the media reports that Madiba suffered cardiac arrest. There is no truth at all in that report,” said Zuma.

Zuma was accompanied to the hospital by the ruling ANC deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa.

The two also met with Mandela’s wife Graca Machel at the hospital and discussed the condition of the Nobel Peace laureate.

Zuma appealed to South Africans and people worldwide to pray for Mandela, his family and the medics attending to him “during this difficult time.”

With the latest hospitalisation, many South Africans have come to terms with the much-loved hero’s fragility.

The announcement come after unconfirmed media reports that Mandela’s condition was worse than what authorities and relatives had been saying in recent days.

US news channel CBS had at the weekend given details of failing organs and said that Mandela was “unresponsive” and “has not opened his eyes for days”.

But authorities had refused to comment on the speculation.

It also emerged that the military intensive care ambulance that rushed Mandela to hospital in the early hours of June 8 developed engine trouble, resulting in a 40-minute delay until a replacement ambulance arrived.

The presidency said that Mandela suffered no harm during the wait for another ambulance to take him from his Johannesburg home to a specialist heart clinic in Pretoria 55 kilometres (30 miles) away.

“There were seven doctors in the convoy who were in full control of the situation throughout the period. He had expert medical care,” said Zuma.

The African National Congress said it “has noted with concern” that Mandela’s condition had worsened.

“The African National Congress joins The Presidency in calling upon all of us to keep President Mandela, his family and his medical team in our thoughts and prayers during this trying time.”

Aregbesola denies slapping deputy

OSOGBO — Osun State Governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola has denied ever  slapping his deputy, Mrs. Grace Tomori, stressing that the rumor was aimed at causing disaffection capable of destabilising the state.

The governor said a cordial relationship exists between the two of them.

He added that “I have never beaten anybody in my life. In fact, I don’t beat my children, let alone beating any other person. More so, the Deputy Governor is older than me, so how do I beat an elderly person.”

Governor Aregbesola, who spoke during a seven hour live programme tagged ‘Ogbeni till day break,’ weekend, maintained: “I don’t have any quarrel with my Deputy, and I can’t have any with her because I intentionally chose her and no one choose her for me.

“I think I can work with her and that is why I chose her. So, no differences exist between us.”

The deputy governor who was also present at the programme confirmed the claims of the governor when she was asked to respond to the allegation that the governor once slapped her.

The deputy governor stressed that a cordial relationship exists between her and the governor,, adding that she would remain loyal to the governor.

On the crisis rocking the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF), Governor  Aregbesola said: “Let the NGF take care of itself. The forum is a voluntary one and it is not compulsory that every Governor is a member.”

He also denied insinuation that the debt profile of the state has risen to N300 billion, saying that the opposition was only making the allegation to destabilise the progress of the state and cause confusion.

…lauded by Okonjo-Iweala, World Bank, over good governance

The Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala,  has observed that Osun State governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, through his programmes, has demonstrated that good governance is possible.

Also, the World Bank confirmed that the Federal Government’s Youth Employment and Social Support Operation (YESSO) was replicated from the Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (OYES) started by Aregbesola.

In the same breath, the governor said that the nation would be great economically only if its people became very productive.

MTN replaces 285 expatriates with Nigerian workers

MTN

Leading digital mobile operator, MTN Nigeria Communications Limited, has replaced 285 expatriates with Nigerian workers in a move to save costs and also encourage local content in the company.

The Corporate Service Executive, MTN, Mr. Wale Goodluck, disclosed this at MTN Leadership Forum in Abuja, where leading management author, Dr. Ram Charan, spoke on the imperatives of growing the Nigerian economy.

Goodluck said at the time MTN entered Nigeria in 2001, the company had expatriate staff of 300, but added that the burden of catering for the large expatriate workers was heavy, thereby informing the decision to replace them with Nigerians.

He said MTN was able to replace the expatriates through the twin policy of poaching Nigerians in the Diaspora and investing in the training of local engineers.

Goodluck added that the investment of the company in training of Nigerian engineers had paid off, with MTN now sending them to work in other countries.

Delivering the lecture, which was attended by key persons in government, including the Chief Economic Adviser to the President, Prof. Nwanze Okidegbe, Charan said it was important for the Federal Government to focus on a few things in order to attract quality Foreign Direct Investments.

Charan said it was difficult for any nation to make it without sufficient FDIs, adding that Nigeria did not need to eliminate corruption before jump-starting the economy.

Positing that corruption was inherent in all countries, he said while Nigeria could put some energy into fighting it, the most important thing to do was to pick a few things to focus on and create the large picture in the minds of the people.

In a similar development, the Director-General, National Information Technology Development Agency, Prof. Cleopas Angaye, emphasised the need to raise the human capital to ensure the transformation of the nation.

Angaye, who spoke at the opening of an ICT capacity-building workshop for senators in Abuja on Thursday, said NITDA had embarked on massive investment in ICT capacity-building.

“The development of requisite ICT human capital will enhance the capacities of individuals and working teams, whilst improving organisation systems and process as well as fostering national development, economic growth and global competitiveness,” he said.

The NITDA boss added that well-developed human capital would enhance productivity and provide additional source of foreign exchange for the country.

Arrest Buhari now! - CAN

ABUJA—The Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Tuesday, called for the arrest of the former Head of State and presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, General (rtd) Muhammadu Buhari, following his frequent provocative statements.

The President of CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, in a statement by his Media Assistant, Kenny Ashaka, said “Buhari, having on various occasions justified the action of the sect, strongly suggests that he is their leader, therefore, he stands a big security threat to the country’s corporate existence”.

Oritsejafor maintained that it was unfortunate that when every Nigerian was praying for successful military onslaught on the insurgence, Buhari rather than sharing the same feeling with well-meaning Nigerians was busy indulging in careless statements, without regards for victims of the sect’s violence who were mostly Christians.

The statement read, “The retired General was widely reported by several National Dailies, who monitored the Liberty Radio programme “Guest of the week”, to have questioned the “special treatment” given to the Niger-Delta militants by the Federal Government while the Boko Haram members were being killed and their houses destroyed by government.

“They (the Niger-Delta militants) were trained in some skills and were given employment, but the ones in the north were being killed and their houses were being demolished. They are different issues. What brought this? It is injustice”, the former Head of State was quoted to have said.

“I cannot wish away the outburst of harshly critical statements, especially as some of them are directly related to the defence of the Boko Haram sect whose members have continued to kill, maim Christians and burn Churches. I feel the pain inflicted on Christians living in the north is too deep for us in CAN to ignore any unsavoury statement that tends to portray innocent Christians who have been killed by the sect members as the aggressors.

• CPC Presidential candidate, Gen. Buhari

 “It is shocking that at a time well-meaning Nigerians are praying for the success of our soldiers, Buhari, rather than reflect the mood of the nation in his statements and conducts is indulging in careless statements without regards for victims of the sect’s violence who are mostly Christians.

“I have, several times been vindicated that Boko Haram is not inspired by pecuniary motives, the latest of which is the statement by Robert Fowler, the released former United Nations’ envoy to Niger Republic who said in a BBC programme, “Hard Talk”, aired on Tuesday, June 4, 2013, that his captors never talked of poverty, but islamisation of Africa.

“Spent and defeated politicians with outburst of temper and elders like Buhari who take delight in inflaming religious and ethnic passions should, therefore, be arrested and made to explain some of the issues raised by them. This is why I call for the arrest of Buhari now. Buhari is a big security risk to Nigeria’s corporate existence.

“It is laughable that Buhari, an ex-Head of State, a General in the Nigerian Army who has served this country in different capacities would support Islamists who are confronting those in his constituency who are fighting to keep the nation from dismemberment.

“For Buhari who has led a brigade of troops in 1982 to repel invading Chadian troops from the same north-eastern borders of Nigeria, the first major foreign invasion, to oppose a state of emergency when some parts of Borno and Yobe states had been occupied and the Nigerian flag replaced with theirs, burnt churches, schools, government institutions, killed innocent Christians, attacked traditional rulers and others not sympathetic to their cause, speaks volume.

“The retired General’s sad commentary has not portrayed him as a national leader. As a retired General, he should have known that fights against terrorists are not mere child’s play. They are much more difficult than conventional war which he fought in 1982. If Buhari is a national leader, he should have been more concerned about the killings of innocent ones by the sect members and the success of the troops and not that of terrorists as he has been doing.

“Therefore, Buhari’s comments, coming at a time Nigerians have been quite appreciative of the bold steps taken by President Goodluck Jonathan to rid the north of Nigeria’s enemies can only mean that the retired General is a fanatic.

Buhari, a security risk to Nigeria — CAN
“He is, therefore, the prime leader of this religious and blood thirsty sect called Boko Haram, a movement that is based on a warped interpretation of a strict adherence to force people of other religions into Islam. This kind of fundamentalism is the driving force behind his failure of each election in the country.

“I intensely dislike to believe that Buhari is making these distasteful and unacceptable comments only as a way of escaping from the wrath of the sect members after their attack on his native Daura town. It is not enough to oppose positions that have been applauded by majority of Nigerians. Constructive criticism dictates that alternative solutions are given.

“Having explored all the windows of opportunity and commitments in its search for peace in the north-east, what I expect from Buhari is a suggestion as to the way forward and not comments that are divisive. Buhari should know that no injustice can justify the wanton destruction of churches and the widespread massacre of innocent Christians. Why are Christians more of the victims of this orgy of terror unleashed by the Boko Haram sect?

“Buhari and others of that ilk should rather than exacerbating the problem at hand aim to convince the sect members of the wrongfulness of their islamisation plot. If the retired General is now crying out that the Boko Haram members are being killed, it can only mean that the boys he intended to use to spill the blood of monkeys and baboons on the land are being decimated by the gallant Special Forces.

“For now, Buhari should be told that the time to grandstand for 2015 is not now. I, therefore, call on him and his fellow travelers to remember that we are all Nigerians, our religion and regional leanings notwithstanding”.

Keshi hails teamwork, targets three points in Windhoek

Coach Stephen Keshi has praised his Super Eagles for excellent teamwork after a 1-0 win over Kenya that earned them three precious points in a crucial 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying match in Nairobi on Wednesday.

Ahmed Musa’s delightful chip over goalkeeper Duncan Ochieng with nine minutes to go, and Malawi’s failure to win against Namibia in Blantyre same day, means the African champions will reach the final qualifying fixture of the 2014 showpiece should they beat Namibia in Windhoek and Kenya hold Malawi in Blantyre on Wednesday next week.

“I will not single out any player for praise. This is a sweet victory for us and it was only possible by teamwork. Everyone played his part and at the end, we are happy to have the three points.

“However, our focus is now on the match against Namibia in Windhoek next Wednesday. We have to pick maximum points from that match as well, to make sure of our progress in the race, even ahead of the last matches in the group,” Keshi said at the post-match parley.

 Team departs for Namibia Friday

The Eagles’ delegation will fly out of Nairobi to Windhoek, via Johannesburg, on Friday.

After the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier in Windhoek on Wednesday, the delegation will then fly into South Africa on June 13 and connect to Sao Paulo, Brazil for the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup tournament.

They will on June 14 arrive in Belo Horizonte, venue of their opening match against Tahiti on June 17.

Keshi will qualify Eagles for World Cup – Okoku

Ex-international, Paul Okoku has said that Coach Stephen Keshi was going to qualify the Super Eagles for the World Cup in Brazil.

Okoku made this assertion following Eagles 1-0 victory over the Harambee Stars of Kenya in Nairobi on Wednesday, a result that sees Nigeria extending their lead on Group F to eight points, two more than their closest rivals, Malawi, with two matches to play in the penultimate round for the 2014 soccer showpiece.

Nigeria travels to Windhoek to play Namibia on June 12, where another on the road victory would see them guarantee their top place finish in the round before their final match at home against Malawi in September.

Reacting to the giant strides of the African champions, Okoku,  a 1984 Nations Cup silver medal winner, said that Keshi has overtime shown that he was the messiah that Nigerian football has been yearning for in a long time.

• Okoku

The Mexico 1983 Flying Eagles star, said that he was not surprised that Keshi has completely turned around the Eagles to a solid  and effective team capable of grinding out results in difficult terrains.

“I have known Keshi for a very long time. We both attended the same Primary School and he is like a brother to me and when I see the giant strides that he is achieving with the Super Eagles, I am not surprised because he has always been a go-getter, whose biggest strength is ability to manage men.

“Nigeria is lucky to have someone like Keshi as coach. He is surely going to qualify the Eagles for the World Cup. He is very close to achieving this target  and all he needs is our support. We all need to rally round him so that he can take our football to the next level”, Okoku added over the phone from USA.

Why I borrowed N25bn – Amosun

ABEOKUTA — Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State, yesterday, explained that he obtained a N25 billion loan from the capital market to fund some road projects to save the state from collapsing through infrastructure decay.

Amosun, who stated this while inspecting some ongoing projects in Ogun West Senatorial District, pledged that his administration would, before the end of this year, offset N15 to N18 billion of the N25 billion loan obtained during his first two years in office.

He said: “When we came, what we met on ground discouraged us then, but we had to take the bull by the horn. We knew it was our cross, we had to face it and that is why we are borrowing short and spending long.

“Again, it is hard, it is tortuous but that is the part that we met. There is nothing we can do; otherwise the government would have collapsed. That is what they think will happen because they believed there was no way out.

“Somehow, the benevolence of the almighty God, support of the good people of Ogun State and our professional calling have stood us in good stead. And that is why in this year alone, we are going to pay about 15 or 18 billion naira back.

“If I borrowed N25 billion the first year and we pay about 12 out of the 18 billion, then how much we are owing? Maybe six.”

“Every month we are paying back. It is difficult, it is tough. That is what we are doing and thank God we would finish.”

Daughter accuses Dad, 57, of having sex with her

LAGOS — Emotion ran high, Monday, at the Bar Beach Police Division, following revelation by a Primary 5 pupil of how  her 57-year-old  father had been having carnal knowledge of her  in the last three months.

The primary school pupil during interrogation said her mother brought her to her father after years of separation, adding that since the sacrilegious act began, her father had been giving her N200  as pocket money to school.

Unsure of who to confide in, she said she told her mother during one of her visits only for the father to  dismiss the claim, stating that he could not bring himself that low as to having carnal knowledge of his biological daughter.

But the bubble burst after she summoned courage to tell her head teacher, who invited the police.

According to the pupil, “ when I was reunited with my father, I was happy because I was living with an aunt in the village since my parents separated. He usually told me that I would take the place of my mother in his life since my mother had divorced him. I did not know what he meant until he started having carnal knowledge of me at night.

“At a point, I got tired and insulted him. Then, he started beating me and changed his loving nature. He would beat me and strip me naked and have his way whenever he wanted.

When I attempted to scream, he would  hit me harder and cover my mouth. He later apologized, telling me he would buy me a car. All I want at the moment is for my father to be punished for what he did to me.”

But her 57-year-old father, Nwafor Iko, described his daughter’s claim as mere allegation. Ikoro said he only beat his daughter after he discovered she was in an amorous relationship with an unnamed man.

The matter, according to Police sources, was immediately charged  to the Igbosere Magistrate Court, from  where Ikoro was remanded in prison custody until his application bail would be considered.

5 NYSC members die in Jigawa – Coordinator

Dutse – Five members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) died in Jigawa in the last 12 months, the state Coordinator of the corps, Mr Ishaya Dede, said on Thursday.

Dede told reporters in Dutse that four of them died in separate auto accidents while one from illness.

He said that the service year of six, out of 1,232 members deployed to the state, had been extended by 12 months.

He said the corps members were penalised for allegedly absconding from their places of primary assignment.

Dede urged employers to furnish the corps authorities with vital information on corps members to enable them to monitor their movement.

The coordinator also appealed to the state government to provide additional hostels at the Yakubu Gowon NYSC Orientation camp.

Dede said the call was imperative to address the accommodation problem being experienced by members at the camp.

“Additional male hostels should be constructed at the camp to meet the growing number of members deployed to the state.

“There is also the need to complete the shopping mall at the camp to stimulate trade and improve the well being of the corps members,” he added.

The Jigawa Government constructed an ultra-modern orientation camp to enhance the scheme operations in the state.

The camp was inaugurated by Preisdent Goodluck Jonathan in November 2012. (NAN)

AGAIN: PDP suspends another governor

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP has suspended Governor Aliyu Wamakko from the party, citing serial disobedience to party orders and contempt for authorities of the PDP.

The suspension of the governor was effected by the National Working Committee, NWC at its 338th meeting yesterday, a statement issued by the  National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh stated.

Governor Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto State

Wamakko is the second governor to be suspended in two weeks by the ruling party following penultimate Monday’s suspension of Governor Rotimi Amaechi of RiversState. Wamakko is a strong ally of Governor Amaechi and had recently been touted as Amaechi’s political soul.

PDP sources said, yesterday, that Wamakko had serially flouted party orders and instructions and had continuously flouted invitations issued by the NWC the latest being an invitation to attend yesterday’s meeting.

However, sources disclosed yesterday that Governor Wamakko travelled out of the country on Tuesday, a day before the NWC meeting. A PDP source, however, pooh-poohed that excuse saying that the governor travelled out of the country after he got the invitation from the NWC. “We have evidence of the receipt of the summons so, who does he think he is deceiving?” a senior party source in Abuja told Vanguard yesterday.

The party statement issued at the end of the NWC meeting stated thus: “The National Working Committee (NWC) at its 338th meeting held on Wednesday, June 5, 2013, extensively discussed the state of the Party across the nation and its members as well as the repeated breaches and disregard to the Party’s Constitution by his Excellency, Dr. Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, the Executive Governor of Sokoto State.

“The NWC notes that on several occasions, Governor Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko had ignored invitations and lawful directives of the NWC in this regard and has continued to show complete apathy to the affairs of the party and contempt to an organ of the Party.

“Consequent upon the refusal of the Governor to honour yet another invitation by the NWC to appear before it today, Wednesday, June 5, 2013 without any reason, the Committee, in exercise of the powers conferred by Articles 57 (3), 57 (7), 58. 1(c ),(h), (f) and 59 (1),(2), hereby suspends the Executive Governor of SokotoState, Dr. Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko as a member of the party and refers the matter to the appropriate disciplinary committee of the Party.”

“This is in furtherance of the determination of the leadership of the Party to enforce discipline at all levels within the Party.” SOURCE: www.vanguardngr.com

Man discovers he’s a woman after 66 years

Imagine living your whole life as a man for 66 years only to discover that you were actually a woman all along?

This was exactly what happened to a 66-year-old who lived his whole life as a man until he was given a surprising diagnosis after visiting the doctor in Hong Kong with a swollen abdomen – he was a woman.

Doctors realised the patient was female after they found the swelling came from a large cyst on an ovary, according to a report in the Hong Kong Medical Journal.

The condition was the result of two rare genetic disorders.

The subject had Turner syndrome, which affects girls and women and results from a problem with the chromosomes, with characteristics including infertility and short stature.

But he also had congenital adrenal hyperplasia, increasing male
hormones and making the patient, who had a beard and a “micropenis”,
appear like a man.

“Were it not due to the huge ovarian cyst, his intriguing medical condition might never have been exposed,” seven doctors from two of the city’s hospitals wrote in the study.

The 1.37 metres tall patient, who grew up as an orphan, was found to
have no testes, a history of urinary leakage since childhood, and
stopped growing after puberty at the age of 10.

The doctors said there have been only six cases where both genetic disorders have been reported in medical literature. Turner Syndrome on its own affects only one in 2500 to 3000 females.

The Vietnam-born Chinese patient decided to continue “perceiving
himself as having a male gender with the possible need of testosterone
replacement”, according to the journal.

Most men have a X and a Y chromosome and most women have a pair of X
chromosomes. But people with Turner Syndrome tend to have only one X
chromosome or are missing part of their second X chromosome.