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Emmanuel Macron today invited Theresa May to his holiday home in the south of France in a fresh attempt to end the Brexit deadlock.  The French President's surprise invitation emerged just hours after Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt held talks on Brexit in Paris. An Elysee Palace source said Mr Macron and Mrs May would meet at Fort Bregancon near Toulon on Friday evening. The meeting will be followed by a private dinner between Macron and his wife Brigitte and May and her husband Philip. Downing Street sources told MailOnline the meeting followed similar talks with other EU leaders in recent weeks, including with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz. The leaders will focus on Mrs May's Brexit blueprint agreed by the Cabinet at Chequers earlier this month. The controversial plan almost brought down her Government as Boris Johnson and David Davis both resigned in protest.

A renowned gay rights activist has finally denounced what she called a “sin of same sex” after years of defending the same rights. Ms Val Kalende said she took the decision on Sunday after a year of taking cautious steps and denounced homosexuality, concluding that she had ‘seen light’. “One year ago, It’s just that I’ve taken very cautious steps. By the time I went public about it yesterday (Sunday), I was ready. I wanted to take time to do the important work on myself before making a public confession,” she said the Uganda national. In a post to her Facebook page, she said: “Not sure how to do this or if I have to. It’s draining. But I know people have questions and they mean well. I’d be glad to respond to questions concerning what I have learned about the sin of same-sex attraction and the mystery that surrounds the homosexual lifestyle, especially for Christians, parents and people with family members or friends who struggle with same-sex attractions.”

Iraq Airways has suspended two of its pilots who fought over food while flying 157 passengers from Iran to the capital city of Baghdad. The incident took place on Wednesday while the plane they were flying was 37,000ft above putting the passengers and cabin crew in danger. Multiple news agencies have reported that the astonishing cockpit brawl erupted when the co-pilot was trying to get a meal tray from an air hostess. The pilot stopped him saying meals weren’t allowed in the cockpit without his consent, and as such his assistant hadn’t asked for his permission. The pilot went on to take his meal and eat it before insulting and hitting the co-pilot, according to the reports.

A 55-year-old man has died after chopping off his manhood in Ngerwe village, Kibugu area, Embu county. Mr Dominic Mugo, a farmer, severed his manhood with a pair of scissors early Monday morning and died due to excessive bleeding as he was being rushed to hospital. Shocked villagers said they heard loud cries coming from the deceased’s home only to find him unconscious, lying in a pool of blood while clutching on a pair of scissors. Embu North Deputy County Commissioner, Jeremiah Tumo said the villagers quickly summoned a car to rush Mr Mugo to the Embu Level Five hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival. He said they suspect the man, who was a habitual bhang smoker, did the shocking act due to a mental problem associated with the drug use. Mr Mugo’s body has since been moved to Gakwegori Mortuary.

Laikipia Woman Representative Catherine Waruguru has stunned Kenyans after telling women to consider getting married as second wives to avoid being single mothers. Speaking on KTN’s Morning Express, Waruguru told women they can only consider a man their husband when he is in their house. “Somebody else’s husband is their husband within the confines of their homes. The moment you left your home, Mike Gitonga, you’re here as a servant who is serving KTN. You’re here because you’re serving Kenyans,” charged Ms Waruguru. “Mzee ni wako kwa boma, akishatoka, you take care of yourself. And you choose what you want. And the constitution allows even president Uhuru Kenyatta and assented to the Marriage Bill (allowing polygamy).” Ms Waruguru encouraged women to find husbands at all costs. “I’d encourage majority of Kenyan women who are single and they’ve found a man who they think can be a good friend and a husband, moving forward, and they love their children. We do not have to raise our chil...

Nigerians should be ready for hike in power and petrol prices immediately after the 2019 general elections, economists and investors in the power and petroleum sectors have warned. In a chat with New Telegraph in Lagos, they insisted that the expedient hike in prices of electric power and Premium Motor Spirit (PMS); two utility products in Nigeria, will wait till immediately after the general elections. Speaking with this newspaper last night, CEO of Financial Derivatives, Mr. Bismarck Rewane, a frontline economist, said nothing would happen on both power tariff and petrol price until after the election.

A Taxify driver, John Otuechere, has accused operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Lagos State Police Command of wrongful arrest and torture. The driver, who demanded justice for the violation of his rights, added that he was arrested, detained and tortured for allegedly stealing the bag of one Mrs Alice Isah. Isah who came back into the country from training in Dubai on Sunday, July 15, had called the Taxify driver to pick her up from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport and drop her off at her residence on Lekki Gardens Estate, Lagos State. Otuechere said while they were on the way, his car developed a fault which prompted him to park to examine the vehicle. He said, “We were on the Third Mainland Bridge when my car started making an unusual sound. I did not stop because it was dangerous; so I managed it until we left the bridge. “I eventually parked beside a RRS Patrol vehicle to examine the car. While examining the car, a guy crossed over from the other side o...

The Peoples Democratic Party has accused the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, and others, which it did not name, of allegedly exploiting the fragile health of President Muhammadu Buhari to spite Nigerians. The party was responding to a claim by the former governor of Rivers State that even if Buhari contested from a sickbed in 2019, he would win in some core northern states. The opposition party said Amaechi and others in government “actually know that the President is sick” and that Buhari did not possess the mental ability to lead the country. The National Chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus, who spoke to our correspondent, asked Nigerians to insist on a healthy president in 2019.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has described the defection of some National Assembly members from the ruling All Progressives Congress as “the removal of stones from (the party’s) rice” and sieving of “sand from [its] gari (cassava meal).” He added that the defection to opposition parties had “exposed the faces of traitors.” Mohammed spoke in his country home of Oro, Kwara State, on Sunday when members and supporters of the party welcomed him at the playground of Muslim Community Primary School, Oro. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the minister told the party’s supporters, in their thousands, that the defection of the lawmakers in the National Assembly had exposed the “faces of traitors” in the party’s fold.

Jacob Dare Attempt by a suspected kidnapper, who disguised as a mad man to abduct a four-year-old girl from Christ Anointed Church, in Ayobo area of Lagos, during church service, has been foiled leading to his arrest. The suspect, identified simply Jacob Dare, according to the father of the girl, Mr Ebhoboghe Rufus, attempted to lure his child with N50. He said: “He wanted to lure her to follow him with N50. When the alarm was raised by some members of the church,   he attempted to flee the scene but was apprehended.” 

Electricity distribution companies said on Tuesday that the country would not be able to achieve uninterrupted electricity supply in the next five years if the challenges hampering the progress of the power sector were not addressed. The Discos stated this through the Executive Director, Research and Advocacy, Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors, Mr Sunday Oduntan, at a press conference in Lagos. Oduntan described the liquidity crisis in the sector as a major issue, stressing the need for the government to put in place a cost-reflective tariff. He said, “There is a need for collaboration among stakeholders in the sector to proffer solutions to the problems. So, we are willing any day; if we are called today for discussions, we will be there because we know that our businesses are at risk. This is very important for all of us to note: if the Discos collapse today, many Nigerian banks will collapse too. “In case you don’t know, when they were selling the entities, only o...

In order to make indigenous airlines viable, the Federal Government on Tuesday announced that it had commenced moves that would compel any public servant travelling on a ticket bought with public funds to travel on a Nigerian carrier. According to the Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika, the government is making moves to have the National Assembly pass a ‘Fly Nigeria Act’ in order to achieve this target. The minister also declared that it was false to state that Nigeria Air lacked a domain name, adding that those who wanted to steal the airline’s domain name would not get a kobo from the Federal Government. In his response to social media questions, which was made available to our correspondent in Abuja on Tuesday, the minister said, “As part of efforts to make airlines viable in Nigeria, the ministry is making moves to have the National Assembly pass a fly Nigeria Act. “This Act will require that anybody travelling on a ticket bought with public funds must travel on a Nigerian...

A septuagenarian, Adekunle Akinsemoyin, has been jailed for demolishing the toilet and removing the roof of his tenants’ rooms.  On June14, 2015, around 6am, Akinsemoyin illegally removed the roofing sheet covering the rooms of his tenants, Wasiu Ramon and Fatai Andoyin, and demolished their toilet. Akinsemoyin and one Musa Kalamu were arrested and subsequently arraigned on July 7, 2015, before Igbosere Magistrates’ Court on three counts of conspiracy, malicious damage, breach of public peace and unlawful demolition. They pleaded not guilty to the charges. The offence committed was said to be punishable under sections 409, 166 (d), 338, Law of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2011.   

A retired judge of the Osun State High Court, Justice Folahanmi Oloyede, on Wednesday led hundreds of retirees in protest against the non-payment of their gratuities and pensions by Governor Rauf Aregbesola-led administration. The protesters marched through some streets in Osogbo, the state capital, demanding the payment of the money owed them by the government. The pensioners started a three-day protest on Tuesday and they gathered again on Wednesday in continuation of the agitation for payment of their entitlements, which they claimed the state government had not been paying. Oloyede had written a petition against Aregbesola’s administration in 2015, detailing the alleged failure of the government in many areas, including non-payment of workers’ salaries and pensions. She was eventually recommended for a compulsory retirement by the National Judicial Council.

A married woman who was planning to divorce her husband and marry her 33-year-old lover has stabbed the new man to death. Reports say 31-year-old Jacqueline Souza killed her fiancé, Brandon Watkins, on the suspicion that he was cheating on her with several women. She was also quoted to have said that Brandon died while they were arguing about who to invite for their upcoming wedding.  Jacqueline was reportedly in the process of divorcing her husband to enable her marry her fiancé, Brandon Watkins.

Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi on Thursday denied ever saying that the All Progressives Congress, APC, national Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole was a bad luck to the party. This is as some Ministers have frowned at the comment made by the APC national Chairman where he had threatened to expel cabinet members who disobeyed his directives from the party. But the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has said that any misgivings between the party and cabinet members will be resolved amicably. Meantime, Comrade Oshiomhole was at the Presidential Villa, to see the President after the weekly Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting at the Council Chamber. Presidency sources revealed that President Buhari was not happy with the comment by his party’s national chairman where he said that if the President was condoning indiscipline from his cabinet he was not going to condone it. The President was not happy with the comment of the APC Chairman because it ...

The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, has said that after an initial slowdown, due to circumstances beyond its control, the President Muhammadu Buhari administration has eventually hit the performance mode, delivering on its programmes. Speaking on ARISE TV, monitored by our correspondent in Abuja, Fashola explained that with the ministers and other senior officials of the government settling into their offices, they had become more equipped to increase the pace of performance at their duty posts. Comparing them to a football team, Fashola said they needed time to understand the business of governance and what was expected of them. He, however, said that as soon as they found their rhythm, they have now become unstoppable and committed to live by their electoral promises to Nigerians.

A 19-year-old girl, Divine Giwa, who allegedly administered sleeping substance on her friend via tea, which made her sleep from 7a.m. till 10p.m., during which she ransacked her room, stole money and properties valued at N918,000, was arraigned before an Igbosere Magistrate’s Court in Lagos, yesterday. Giwa, according to prosecuting counsel, Ehizoba Godspower, committed the offence in September 2017. He said she stole three bags containing clothes valued at N200,000; 30 pieces of shoes, N150,000; jewelries, N100,000; make-up kit, N50,000 and three pieces of human hair wigs, N250,000. Others included eye glasses valued N20,000, one phone valued N100,000 and N48,000, totalling N918,000; properties of Chioma Daniels. Godspower said: “The defendant deliberately drugged the complainant to enable her steal her money and properties,” adding that the offence is punishable under Section 287 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2015. Giwa pleaded not guilty to the charge.

A 38 years old mother of three has been allegedly killed in Benin by her lover after he found male condoms inside her hand bag. The dastardly act was said to have occurred at 13, Ehiyoboy Street, Off Aifuwa Street, Off Upper Sokponba road, Benin City, few hours after she left her lover’s residence where she passed the night. Vanguard learnt that the victim identified as Gladys Okoh who had parted ways with husband, was stabbed with a kitchen knife thrice in her stomach inside her aged mother’s room by her lover, one Osaremwinda Omobude Idumwonyi, 46. It was also gathered that the alleged discovery of condoms fuelled the man’s suspicion that she was embroiled in sizzling romantic relationships with other men. A visit to the area revealed that the scene of the attack and the suspect’s residence are nearby buildings. The suspect, now cooling off his heels at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Benin City was said to have left his residence to commit the act. He was fu...

The current Secretary to Osun State Government, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti, has finally dumped the All Progressives Congress for the Action Democratic Party. Adeoti had on Friday withdrew at the last minute from participating in the primary election of the APC over allegation of manipulation to favour the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola. The aggrieved APC chieftain stormed the secretariat of the ADP located two buildings away from the secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party in Osogbo on Monday with hundreds of his supporters.

PDP members protesting alleged robbery of Dr. Akin Ogunbiyi at the party's governorship primary election in Osogbo on Monday. Supporters of a Peoples Democratic Party’s governorship aspirant in Osun State, Dr. Akin Ogunbiyi, are currently protesting the alleged manipulation of the Saturday primary election of the party in favour of Senator Ademola Adeleke. Scores of protesters armed with placards with various inscriptions in support of Ogunbiyi claimed that he was the winner of the primary election but the result was manipulated to favour Adeleke.

The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has condemned the statement credited to Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, Alhaji Abubakar Mallami, SAN over the refusal of the federal government to obey multiple court orders to release both Sheikh El-Zakzaki and former National Security Adviser, NSA) Col. Sambo Dasuki from extra judicial detention. In a statement signed by spokesman, Emma Powerful, IPOB stated: ‘’The most recent ruling by Hon. Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court Abuja admitting Dasuki on bail has once again been ignored, so has numerous pronouncements by the courts to set Sheik El-Zakzaki free.

On the 14th of August, 2015, almost 3 years ago, I wrote the following advisory piece. It has become prophetic. What was suggested there has largely come to pass. The APC has towed the paths suggested therein only a tad too late maybe. Meanwhile, kindly read it again and make your own judgments. Happy reading: Bukola Saraki’s Senate The 8th Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria took off to a raucous start on the 9th of June 2015 with the contentious election of Senator Bukola Saraki as Senate President much to the chagrin of the National Leadership of the ruling APC who had earlier endorsed Senator Ahmed Lawan from Yobe State. As is to be expected in such cases, stiff opposition came from the party leadership and the Presidency which had earlier distanced itself from the politics of who-got-what in the National Assembly. The matter took a turn for the worse on the 21st June when other Principal Offices were to be filled. Again, the party’s candidates lost out in the Senate as the B...

The Chairman of Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc, Dr Akin Ogunbiyi, has rejected the result of the Osun State Peoples Democratic Party’s governorship primary election held on Saturday. Ogunbiyi, who rejected the outcome of the exercise at a press conference he addressed at Ileogbo, his hometown on Sunday, vowed to use the internal mechanism of the party to reclaim the “stolen mandate” from Senator Ademola Adeleke, who was announced as the eventual winner of the contest. Adeleke, who is the Senator representing the Osun West Senatorial District, won the primary election by polling 1,569 while Ogunbiyi came second with 1,562. The Electoral Panel headed by Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State had announced that Ogunbiyi scored 1,559 votes but his agents ( Ogunbiyi) insisted that the ballot must be recounted.

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board said on Sunday that it had remitted N7.8bn revenue it generated from the 2018 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination to the coffers of the Federal Government. JAMB said the remittance was its projection for 2018, noting that the Federal Government, however, returned about N2bn to the board to use for capital projects, since no money had been given for such. JAMB Head of Information, Dr Fabian Benjamin, stated this in an interview with our correspondent on Sunday, adding that after the government’s allocation for the board’s projects, it was still left with N5.6bn. Benjamin said, “JAMB has returned N7.8bn to the Federal Government. By way of the law, what we returned was N7.8bn, but the government gave us over N2bn to use for capital projects. So, the balance with them is N5.6bn.

The Reformed-All Progressives Congress on Sunday said it was too late for President Muhammadu Buhari to start dangling juicy carrots before its members in order to stop their defection from the ruling APC. The R-APC, which stated this in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kassim Afegbua, took a swipe at the President and the APC. The APC faction stated that the Buhari government was not a promise keeper because it had not fulfilled what it promised Nigerians during the electioneering in 2014 and 2015. In the last one week, Buhari and the APC had intensified efforts to prevent the defection of the R-APC members. Our correspondent had exclusively reported that the APC had in a last-ditch effort to stop the defection of the R-APC senators and members of the House of Representatives, offered the lawmakers automatic tickets to contest the 2019 elections.

A man identified only as Haruna has allegedly punched his colleague to death during a brawl over N100 in Abaji.  A witness, Ismaila Bala, said the incident happened on Thursday at about 2pm near the cattle market in the town. The accused was stabbed several times by a mob when it was discovered his colleague, Gaddafi, was dead. The accused was rescued by police officers. Bala said the deceased and the accused had helped catch a runaway cow that was about to be sold. The owner of the cow then took out N100 from his purse to give to the person that caught the cow. He said the attempt by both of them to claim the money led to a heated argument. “Both of them claimed to have ran after the cow and caught it. So the owner brought out N100 and ask who caught the cow. That was when argument started and before we realized what was happening, one of them dealt the other a blow and he fell down,” he said.

Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture, has warned Nigerians abroad to be wary of news about the country found on social media, saying 80 percent of them are fake. NAN reports that Lai made the remark on the sideline of a meeting with Sylvanus Nsofor, Nigerian ambassador to the US, in Washington on Saturday. The minister said fake news on social media could create the impression that the country is at war, thereby causing ethnic and religious crisis. “Fake news and misinformation when mixed with hate speech threaten the peace, unity, security and corporate existence of Nigerians,” he said. “Many people in the diaspora depend a lot on Social media for news about Nigeria. However, 80 percent of what you read on social media is fake. “Please, we implore you to visit our website fgnnformation.iapp where you can find information that is genuine about Nigeria.

Babatunde Fashola, minister of power, works and housing, has reacted to claims by electricity distribution companies (DisCos) that he misled Nigerians on power generation capacity. Sunday Oduntan, executive director, Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED), the umbrella body of DisCos, had said the federal government lied about an improvement in power generation. In a statement on Friday, Fashola said Nigerians can testify to the upswing in electricity in the past few years. The minister said he does not recognise Oduntan or ANED, adding that if DisCos connect with consumers, they would realise that service delivery is poor. The statement read in part: “Before fiction becomes fact for lack of a response, I feel obliged to respond to some, not all of the allegations credited to one Sunday Oduntan who presents himself as executive director, research and advocacy of the Association of Electricity Distributors (ANED), which he made in response to my directives to NERC ...

Four policemen attached to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in the Lagos State Command have been dismissed for alleged professional misconduct, corrupt practices and discreditable conduct. The names of the dismissed officers were given as Adeoye Adekunle, Adeniran Adebowale, Agbi Lucky and Odighe Hehosa. It was gathered that the men were charged to court on offences of armed robbery, kidnapping, unlawful detention, intimidation and threatening violence against one Mr Chukwudi Odionye, aka Bishop. The Police Public Relations Officer, Zone 2 Police Command, CSP Dolapo Badmus, in a statement said the command received a petition by Odionye against the four officers. Odionye, in the petition, was said to have alleged that on June 4, 2017, he was in his house in the Alagbado area of Lagos when the four armed officers allegedly stormed his house to arrest him on the allegation of performing fake miracles.

A former lawmaker, Grace Bent, who represented the Adamawa Southern Senatorial District in the Senate between 2007 and 2011, says Nigerians have lost confidence in the ability of President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure the security of lives and property. Despite claims of performance by Buhari and his security chiefs, Bent lamented that insecurity remained a major concern for Nigerians in general. The former lawmaker spoke on Saturday on the sidelines of a mega rally organised by the Adamawa State Peoples Democratic Party to welcome ex-Vice-President Atiku Abubakar back into the party. Bent said, “The insecurity in the country is of major concern to Nigerians. We have reached a point where Nigerians have become helpless as far as insecurity is concerned because they could not bank on the government to secure them. “If you don’t hear of killings caused by farmers/herders conflict, you will hear of kidnappings and killings for ransoms and rituals and other unfathomable disasters from b...

Ahead of tomorrow’s governorship election in Ekiti, the US Consular General, F. John Bray paid a visit to the Ekiti state governor, Ayodele Fayose, Bray is also an observer to see that things go down well, during the election...... 

A Nigerian soldier deployed to fight Boko Haram insurgents that has threatened the sovereignty of the nation, has accused SARS of torturing his cousin to death while he was out fighting for the peace of the nation. In his tweets @jassjegs, narrated that, the SARS officers who arrested his cousin alleged that he was a yahoo boy, only to change the story by accusing the deceased of a being a cultist. However after the mother of the deceased couldn’t pay the 60K bail for the release of her child, the soldier alleged that his cousin was tortured to death.

Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, has said policemen deployed in the state for the Saturday governorship election stormed the pavilion where the Peoples Democratic Party was holding their rally and harassed him. The governor, who emerged with a neck brace narrated his ordeal and asked supporters of the party to remain resolute and vote for his deputy, who is also the governorship candidate of the PDP, Prof. Olusola Kolapo. Fayose,who burst into tears while speaking with journalists said he was slapped, kicked and shot at by the policemen and said the Inspector General of Police should be held responsible if anything happened to him. “My people, the Lord will fight this battle. The COMPOL MOPOL of Nigeria Police and the AIG ordered that the governor should be killed. I was slapped by a policeman and shot at. Facebook photos 

President Muhammadu Buhari has joined operators in the power sector to call on international customers who receive electricity from Nigeria to either pay their bills or be disconnected. Nigeria sells power to the Republics of Togo, Niger and Benin, and classifies the West African countries as international customers. Officials at the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, told our correspondent in Abuja on Tuesday that the international customers, who pay for the power they receive from Nigeria in dollars, owed the country, a development that had increased the financial indebtedness to the power generation companies. This was confirmed by the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, who, however, revealed that Buhari was working hard to ensure that the electricity debts by the country’s neighbours were cleared.

The All Progressives Congress, APC, has affirmed that no gang-up directed against the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration would work as it yesterday called on all those with grievances against the party to retrace their steps while the windows for reconciliation are still open. The party’s assertion, nonetheless, two of its members in the House of Representatives, yesterday, formally announced their defection to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP-led alliance of opposition political parties. The defection of the two members came in the wake of apprehension in the House over the leadership direction of the House, with members taking varied positions on the development. However, that momentum was deflated yesterday as 2019 presidential aspirant, Prof. Kingsley Moghalu and Second Republic governor of old Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, rebuffed the agenda of the alliance. Civil society activists, including president of Transition Monitoring Group, TMG, Dr. Abiola Afolabi-Akiyode, and...

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar yesterday described the President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government as incompetent, corrupt and disunited in handling the affairs of country and welfare of Nigerians at large. The former Vice President who stated this during an enlarged Peoples Democratic Party, PDP meeting in Abakaliki emphasized that the present federal government was more corrupt than any government since the emergence of civil rule in the country. According to him: “I am here to introduce myself to the people of Ebonyi state to seek your support and that of our party so that we can throw out Muhammadu Buhari from Aso Rock. Yesterday, 40 political parties came together to meet themselves to present one candidate for presidential election. The coalition is going to have one candidate for presidential election, one candidate for governor, one candidate for senator, one candidate for House of Reps, one candidate for House of Assembly, one candidate for party chairman. ...

A woman, Christiana Eze, has been arrested by the police for pouring hot water on her maid, Beauty Uwagie, on July 4, 2018, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The 13-year-old had been living with the woman for some time and had been sleeping on bare floor. Beauty had allegedly fallen asleep on the couch while doing her chores, an action that angered her guardian. It was gathered that in anger, the woman poured hot water on her and flogged her. Uwagie’s condition was reportedly noticed by her teacher in the school and she called the attention of the school management. The case was reported to the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), Rivers State branch, which in turn reported the woman to the police, and took custody of the girl.

A 26-year-old woman, Mrs Bunmi Adebayo, says desperation to have a baby after 10 years of a childless marriage made her to steal a three-week-old baby in Modakeke, Osun State. She allegedly stole the baby, Oluwaseun David, on Sunday, July 1, 2018. The suspect, who resided in Magboro, in the Obafemi/Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State, was arrested on Saturday at Orile Imo village by the men of the state police command, where she had fled with David. The state Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Iliyasu, on Tuesday said the suspect took her desperation too far. He said the suspect had lied to her husband, who used to visit her at her abode at intervals, that she was pregnant.

The family of 17-year-old Blessing Udoye has condemned the alleged wedding between her and a man they called, ‘stranger’; which was officiated by a pastor of Fishers of Men Charismatic Church, Isiokpo, Imo State. The family alleged that the pastor ordered Blessing not to notify her family members of the wedding until after the marriage. The wedding took place at the church’s auditorium on Sunday without any of her family members in attendance. Blessing’s brother, Raphael Udoye, who spoke to our correspondent on the telephone, said he got information about the wedding two weeks ago through his sister’s friend, adding that he discarded it.

The Ogun State Police Command says it has arrested a landlord in Onipanu, Ota, in the Ado Odo/Ota Local Government Area of the state, Sunday Omosule, for alleged killing a son of one of his tenants with a pestle. The deceased was four-year-old Joseph Akpan. The landlord had allegedly gone berserk and started chasing his tenants with the pestle until he caught up victim’s mother. The state Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said as he caught with the mother who was carrying the boy, he hit the mother in the hand and hit the baby on the head with the pestle.

A 60-year-old married man, Salisu Nuhu on Tuesday dragged his girlfriend to court over her refusal to marry him. The complainant told the Magajin Gari Sharia Court II in Kaduna that the girl, Janet Baru had professed love to him and promised to convert to Islam so that they could get married, but later denied him after collecting a huge amount of money from him. He added that the defendant connived with her friend, Juliet to dupe him of N30, 000 after making him believe that she would marry him.  “I have been dating Janet for four years now and each time I visit her, I normally give her N1,000 or N2,000, and I have never touched her.

A former deputy governor of Ondo State, Alhaji Lasisi Oluboyo, has said his daughter, Khadijat, was used for ritual. The lifeless body of Khadijat, a student at the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State, was found in the room of her boyfriend, Adeyemi Alao, on Sunday. A source explained that Alao who is based in Abuja and Khadijat, had been dating since their secondary school days but met recently and rekindled their love affairs. But the former deputy governor alleged that the suspect killed and buried his daughter in his room and put his mattress on the grave. Late Khadijat

Thirty-nine political parties met in Abuja on Monday where they signed a Memorandum of Understanding to field a single presidential candidate in 2019. The parties also agreed to work together in all elections that would come up in 2019. The MoU, signed by the Peoples Democratic Party, the Reformed-All Progressives Congress, Social democratic Party and 36 others, states that the “parties shall promote a positive reaction to the above failures of the present regime and to give hope to all our people.” The MoU added, “The parties shall ensure that the coalition is committed to working together in support of the single presidential candidate to contest the 2019 Presidential election in order to successfully enthrone a true democrat who will salvage the nation from the misrule of the APC government.

In his speech, the National Chairman of the R-APC, Alhaji Buba Galadima, said that the MoU would send shivers down the spine of the ruling party. He said that since he led a splinter group out of the APC, the R-APC members had been receiving death threat messages and messages of solidarity from across the world. Galadima said that President Buhari “is destined to lose the 2019 election and lose his deposit.” The former ally to the President, who claimed that he knew Buhari so well, said that if the President knew what awaited him, it would have been better for him not to go into electoral contest as a candidate in 2019.

Mr.Friday Chukwu an indigene of Azuitumo, Oshiegbe in Ezza North LGA, has allegedly murdered Mrs Ngozi Peter a widow for refusing him sexual intercourse. A resident of the area and eyewitness said the man’s sexual advances began shortly after the death of the woman’s husband, five years ago but following the victim’s resolution to keep to herself she then outrightly rejected the move until the fateful morning when she was trailed to her farm and killed by the assailant. He further disclosed that after the dastardly act, the suspect who seemed not to know what he was doing again went to his brother in law place where he opened up and confessed to the crime.

Babatunde Fashola, minister of power, works and housing, says there is no point for electricity distribution companies (DisCos) to raise tariff when many Nigerians have not been metered. At a briefing on Monday in Abuja, the minister said if electricity consumers are not given meters, they will be unable to measure actual consumption, hence the prevalence of estimated billing. He directed the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to closely monitor the DisCos to improve their networks and provide meters to consumers. At the event attended by James Momoh, NERC chairman, the minister said the directive was in tandem with section 32 of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act (EPSRA), 2005.

Gambo Gujungu, national president of the Arewa Youth Forum (AYF), says the north has enough capable presidential aspirants other than President Muhammadu Buhari.  Gujungu said this in reaction to the endorsement of Buhari for a second term by north-west lawmakers of the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Jibril Barau, senator representing Kano north; Adamu Aliero senator representing Kebbi central and Alhassan Ado Doguwa, chief whip of the house of representatives, were among the lawmakers present at the event which took place on Sunday. But the Arewa youth leader said on Monday that allowing Buhari to come back as president in 2019 would spell doom for the country.

A 40-year-old man has been admitted to the hospital after his wife allegedly castrated him while he was sleeping on Monday, police in Chonburi province of Thailand said. The Cambodian woman, who works in Thailand, reportedly attacked her husband out of jealousy after finding out he had been sleeping with multiple women, said Capt. Somkid Boonloy, an officer in charge of the case, reports Thai’s Khaosod. “We arrested her right away in the morning. She confessed,” Somkid said. “She said she regrets what she did, and that she shouldn’t have done it. She said she did it because the man was having affairs.”