Friday, June 24, 2016

Father who sent images of unborn baby jailed over 'vile' child sex abuse


A Brisbane man arrested after sending an ultrasound of his unborn child to an undercover FBI agent posing as a paedophile was later found with more than 6,000 child abuse images in his possession. Ashley David Hill appeared in Brisbane district court on Thursday and pleaded guilty to five charges, including using a carriage service to access child sexual abuse material.


The one-time chef was arrested by the Australian federal police in January 2015, having come to the attention of an undercover FBI agent in the US posing as a paedophile after sending an ultrasound of his unborn child online. The 25-year-old was subsequently charged with the offences, which do not relate to his own child, and was found to have possessed 6,435 child abuse images and accessed thousands more.

Judge David Reid said the case was one of the worst cases of child exploitation material he had ever encountered. Commonwealth prosecutor Aimee Sanderson described the material, which included cartoons, as depraved, and estimated there were thousands of actual children depicted in Hill’s material.

Read more.

Monday, June 20, 2016

Femi Adeshina Reveals President Buhari's Life Secrets, Family And Nigerian Politics



Nigeria's President, Mohammadu Buhari returnedreturned to the country on Sunday, June 19, after an extended 10-day Medical trip to London. He was reportedly flown abroad to see an ENT specialist for his ear infection. He arrived the Abuja airport at around 5:30 pm with arousing welcome from members of his cabinet. Buhari told journalists that he is hale and hearty, and ready to wrestle with anyone. On arrival, his media aide, Femi Adeshina spoke to journalists reflecting on Buhari's one year in office, his personal life, party and being Nigeria's president.





When asked on Buhari's fight against 'inherited' corruption, Adeshina said:

“I remember in the UK about two weeks ago, one foreign media asked the president – did you know it was this bad? He confessed that he knew it was bad but he didn’t know it was that bad. It has turned out very, very bad. But it is also something that the government is tackling and the president is determined to leave a saner and cleaner Nigeria in terms of accountability and probity by the way he is going. No matter what anybody says about this corruption war, no friend no foe, no retreat, no surrender. Anybody, irrespective of who he is, if he has questions to answer on corruption, he will have to answer. I hear people say that it is selective. They need to prove. He who alleges must also prove. The anti-corruption war is going on and going on very well and it has earned Nigeria a lot of respect in the international community. The third promise he made was to revive the economy.

So, I will say so far so good, the government is on course. I have used this illustration before, and I will use it again. Nigeria is like a plane that has taken off and is gaining altitude, with its nose in the air. As long as its nose is in the air, it is climbing. If the nose is down it is a danger signal.”

Aside the economy, are there some things the president discovered that you will want to tell us?

“The president has promised that the May 29 broadcast will be quite revealing and I can tell you it will be quite revealing. You also know that apart from the economy, even the inter-ethnic relationship in the country was an issue. The president met a country that had been badly divided, more than at any time in the history of this country. Because in the last days of the last administration, all the things that divided us were emphasised because they wanted to win the election at all cost. They used religion, used ethnicity, used language, used where you came from, threw everything into it. He inherited a country that was almost breaking apart. It is gradual process to put the country together. We are not there yet. We know that there are still some agitations in some parts of the country. Those are still fallout of the things he inherited.”

Is the president bothered about the trial of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, who is the number three citizen of this country?

“The president answered this question sometime in the US. I was there. The question had been – what is his relationship with Saraki vis-a-vis the trial? And what will his relationship be after the trial? The president said the outcome of the trial will determine what his relationship will be. So the president knows what is going on, he is aware of his environment, he keeps tab, naturally he is not touching the issue in any way either influencing it positively or negatively. The president will not do that. Even in the choice of the leadership of the National Assembly you know he didn’t do that. So like he said, his relationship with the senate president will be determined by the outcome of that trial.”

What about his relationship with his party?

“The president recognises that the platform that brought him is the party. No president has legitimacy without a platform and the APC is his platform. From time to time he meets with the party, meets with the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party and twice in the life of this administration he has gone to attend meetings at the party secretariat. That already shows you the importance he places on the party.”

But there are stories that he does not help the party in terms of funding?

“How do you expect a government to fund a party with government’s money? Part of the problem the last party in government had was that it took official money to campaign. And that is why they all answering in court today. Knowing President Buhari, he will never do that. There are many ways to fund a political party but he will not dip hands into the coffers of government to fund a political party. He won’t do it. Don’t forget that when he came in 1983, a lot of politicians went to jail for using official money to enrich political parties. How do you think a man like that will then come and do the same thing? Not this president.”

Does running Nigeria negatively affect his relationship with his family?

“If you know the president and how organised he is then you will know it won’t affect the family much. No doubt it is a demanding job. It will mean that there is demand on his time more than it used to be but because he is so organised I am sure he still has a lot of time to spend with his family. One thing you need to know about the president is his respect for time. On the dot of the hour when he has anything to do, he is there. If he should finish, he finishes. That therefore makes it easy for him to plan his schedule when he starts in the morning till evening. You need to get to his house in the evenings. When I need to see him even about official things I go to the house in the evening. You need to see the place.

One day I went to see him after the 8 ‘o’ clock prayers, just two of us were waiting to see him. The second person was a top person in government before and he told me ‘look at this vast place and only two of us are waiting to see the president.’ He said in one dispensation that I will not mention, come to this place at 2am or 3am it is still like a market place. When any government runs like that, you know it is not good. You know it is either they are wheeling and dealing or cutting deals and when a president is still up by 2am or 5am when he will still get to work the next day, how effective will he be in the office and all that. Not this president. By the time he has his dinner, he meets just a few people that have been scheduled to see him and he goes to bed.”

How does he spend his weekends? “Because he is president of a country of 170 million people, work is not restricted just to the office. There are things he treats at home. He has an office at home where he continues his work. But you will be surprised that on weekends his grandchildren jump on him, they climb all over him just like a typical grandfather.”

Source: Nigerian Bulletin



    


Ekiti State University Commences 2016/17 Post UTME Registration in Disguise

Ekiti State University, EKSU commences Admission screening/post UTME registration for the 2016/2017 academic session. Management calls it admission screening.


The management of Ekiti State University (EKSU) announced some days ago that in compliance with directive of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), that they are no longer conducting post UTME, but yet, admission seekers are required to buy admission screening application form. An applicant who spoke to me said he paid N5,600 including bank charges for the screening.

Even though there is no examination to be taken, the collection of money from candidates still continues on the guise of screening.



Friday, June 10, 2016

Canada’s Supreme Court Legalizes Some Sex Acts with Animals


Canada’s highest court has just ruled that some sex acts between humans and animals are legal. In a quixotic ruling, the country’s high court ruled that a man who was on trial for raping and sexually exploiting his own daughters wasn’t guilty of “bestiality.” The man reportedly, “smeared peanut butter on the genitals of his victims and had the family dog lick it off while he videotaped the act.”




According to breitbart.com, the convicted man took his case to the Canadian Supreme Court, demanding that the bestiality charge be nullified. In the end, the court agreed. As a result of the rape case, the court ruled 7 to 1 that humans having sexual contact with animals is OK if there is no “penetration” involved in the act.

In its ruling, the court decided that the legislature had not clearly defined the terms in the country’s bestiality laws and the way the statute is written should be read to only outlaw animal penetration, whether that penetration is animal to human or vice versa.

“Although bestiality was often subsumed in terms such as sodomy or buggery, penetration was the essence — ‘the defining act’ — of the offense,” the court’s ruling states. The high court’s lone dissenter, though, said the ruling would mean open season for the sexual exploitation of animals. “Acts with animals that have a sexual purpose are inherently exploitative whether or not penetration occurs,” Justice Rosalie Abella wrote in her dissent.

Animal rights activist Camille Labchuk agreed with Justice Abella. “As of today, Canadian law gives animal abusers license to use animals for their own sexual gratification,” she told the paper. “This is completely unacceptable, contrary to societal expectations, and cannot be allowed to continue.” The question is a troublesome one here in the U.S. as well, dividing liberals and serving as a watchword to conservatives.


Nigeria faces 'almost impossible' fight against 'Niger Delta Avengers'


Nigeria has vowed to rein in the militants who are relentlessly bombing the country's oil infrastructure and have slashed its crude output, cnbc.com reports. But experts say the government of President Muhammadu Buhari lacks the military capacity and institutions to tackle the threat — and military action could make things much worse anyway.




Little is certain about the motives of the Niger Delta Avengers. But the group claims through its website and Twitter feed that it wants a bigger share of the Niger Delta's resource wealth to go to the region's people, and it wants some sort of environmental remediation after decades of rampant oil and gas pollution.

What is certain is that the Avengers are effective. Nigeria's oil production has fallen from 2.2 million barrels per day to roughly 1.6 million after a spate of attacks, which come as the country was already in crisis mode thanks to a rout in global oil prices.

Nigeria has deployed more troops to the delta and begun talks with state and local leaders to address their grievances. This week, Nigerian Oil Minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu called on the Avengers to "sheath their weapons and embrace dialogue with the government." The Avengers responded in their Twitter feed: "We're not negotiating with any committee. If Fed Govt is discussing with any group they're doing that on their own."

The Nigerian military has slim hopes of finding and defeating the militant group in the delta's swampy network of creeks, say experts. The terrain confounded soldiers during a prior, yearslong campaign against oil militants, who stopped bombing oil installations only after the government began paying them as part of a 2009 amnesty program.

"I think it would be very difficult to tackle this issue using essentially police methods," said John Campbell, former U.S. ambassador to Nigeria. "The delta doesn't lend itself to military or police action, and in fact, it failed the last time there was an insurrection there." The military, which Buhari is trying to remake into a more professional fighting force, also has little support among delta residents, and its presence could make matters worse, according to Campbell.

Abuse of civilians at the hands of the military in northern Nigeria provided a potent recruitment tool for Boko Haram, Campbell said. That group has gone on to become one of the world's most deadly terrorist organizations. If similar abuses were repeated in the delta, more militants would likely emerge, he said.

This week, the federal government said it would withdraw troops from villages after complaints of heavy-handed tactics. Meanwhile, the Avengers have at least tacit support from some locals in the delta. Members are viewed as part bandit and part Al Capone, but they are also seen as part Robin Hood, said Gerald McLoughlin, an independent analyst and former U.S. foreign service officer with experience in Nigeria. That sympathy, coupled with a lack of economic opportunity in the delta, make the group extremely difficult to combat.

"Quite frankly, it's almost impossible. It's not like an insurgency in the classic sense," he told CNBC. "If they find these guys and hunt them down and shoot them, there will be another group the next day. What else can you do if you live there?" he said.


U.S. researcher contracts Zika


A U.S. researcher who contracted Zika virus after pricking herself with a needle during an experiment last month, has returned to work, the University of Pittsburgh said on Friday, The Nation reports. There is no vaccine or treatment for Zika, which is a close cousin of diseases, including dengue and chikungunya, and causes mild fever, rash and red eyes.



“The unidentified researcher accidentally stuck herself on May 23 and showed fever and other possible symptoms on June 1. “She returned to work on June 6 when she no longer had a fever.

“ On Wednesday, the university was informed that a blood sample from the researcher tested positive for a Zika infection,” the spokesperson for the university, Joe Miksch, said. The Director of Health Department, Karen Hacker, said in a statement that the incident was the fourth confirmed case of Zika virus in the Allegheny County, but declined to give details.

“In spite of this rare incident, there is still no current risk of contracting Zika from mosquitoes in the university,’’ it said. U.S. health officials have concluded that Zika infections in pregnant women can cause microcephaly, a birth defect marked by small head size that can lead to severe developmental problems in babies.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) had said that there was strong scientific consensus that Zika could also cause Guillain-Barre, a rare neurological syndrome that caused temporary paralysis in adults. The connection between Zika and microcephaly first came to light last fall in Brazil, which has now confirmed more than 1,400 cases of microcephaly that it considers to be related to Zika infections in mothers.

To reduce the chance of virus transmission, the Pittsburgh researcher is using insect repellent to avoid mosquito bites, besides wearing pants and garments with long sleeves.

Saturday, June 4, 2016

Topless Cristiano Ronaldo gets VERY close to mystery bikini-clad beauty in Ibiza


The beauty wore a very skimpy black bikini while she got up close and personal to the footballer as they enjoyed some fun in the sun. Splash Cristiano Ronaldo enjoys the sun the ocean and the company of some female friends.

Cristiano Ronaldo enjoys the sun the ocean with a mystery beauty. Cristiano Ronaldo has found the perfect way to unwind just six days ahead of Euro 2016 . The 31-year-old is currently sunning himself in Ibiza and enjoyed the company of a bikini-clad beauty.



Earlier in the day the footballer hunk had surrounded himself with a gaggle of stunning girls but this time he only had eyes for one. Flashed his rippling six-pack while aboard the luxury boat, Cristiano wrapped his arm around the girl who was wearing the skimpy black outfit.




He made sure to grip tight onto the boat with one hand while it traversed the choppy waters while using his free hand to pull the stunner close.


See more photos here.

Avengers, other militant groups disagree on missile launch


There was discordant tunes within the militant groups operating in the Niger Delta region following a threat by some militants to launch six missiles in the region, The Nation reports. The militant group, Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), which had claimed responsibilities for ongoing onslaughts against oil installations, Saturday, disassociated itself from threats to launch missiles in the region.




It rather asked persons behind the threat to sheathe their swords and key into its motive of crippling the country’s oil production without bloodshed. A consolidated group of militants under the aegis of Joint Niger Delta Liberation Force (JNDLF), which claimed NDA was its member, threatened to launch six missiles in the Niger Delta region.

The group said it would commence the testing of its six missiles which would last for three days on June 7. Though it did not disclose the nature of the missiles, it warned that no airplanes should fly in and out of the country within the period claiming that the weapons were capable of hitting any object despite its size.

It said its fighters trained for that purpose had already arrived the region with its foreign partners through what it described as the country’s porous borders. The group in an electronic statement said it took the decision to further wreck havoc in the region in a meeting attended in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State by its commanders.

The militant group said Bayelsa State not Delta State is the command base of the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) and warned the Commissioner of Information and Orientation in Bayelsa, Mr. Jonathan Obuebite to stop criticizing NDA. The group in the statement which repeatedly referred to President Muhammadu Buhari as Pharoh, said the highest organ of JNDLF, the Joint Revolutionary Council (JRC) concluded that the launching of the missiles would signal its readiness for the final breakup of the country.

Persons who endorsed the statement for the group identified themselves as ‘General’ Torunanaowei Latei (Creek Network Coordinator); ‘General’ Agbakakuro Owei-Tauro (Pipeline Bleeding Expert); ‘General’ Akotebe Darikoro (Commander, General Duties) and ‘General’ Pulokiri Ebikade (Intelligence Bureau).

But NDA in an electronic statement signed by its Spokesman, Murdock Agbinibo, warned other groups to desist from an act capable of causing bloodshed in the region. Agbinibo said there was no need to launch missiles or take life of any person since the military warplanes had not struck in the region.

He said: “The military warplanes hovering round our towns and villages have not strike a soul or destroy any property, so those groups with anti aircraft missiles should dry their gunpowder. “When it is time to engage the military in combat the whole world will know they started the war not the Avengers. The Niger delta avengers high command will pass the message round that its time to engage on gun battle when it is time.

“So far, we have not engaged the Nigeria military in combat; despite the heavy presence of military on the pipelines. we still find way to carry out our actions without attacking soldiers. The avengers will deal with any group that refuses and attack military.


Sex robots to become a reality


Robots designed to satisfy sexual desires are close to transcending fantasy to become reality thanks to rapid advancements in artificial intelligence, computing that allows machines to mimic human affects and high-tech sensors and materials. The technology has so far yet to cross the “uncanny valley” — the wide gulf from creepy to sexy sparked by almost-but-not-quite real humanoid robots.



But sex robots are already raising ethical, legal and moral questions of consent, sexism, human biases and what our desire for them says about human psychology. The debate over them highlights one of the more controversial aspects of the increasingly social nature of our interactions with robots as they move from factories into our homes and someday, our bedrooms.

“How we treat robots — it’s a mirror of our own psychology in a way,” said Kate Darling, an expert in robot ethics at MIT’s Media Lab. Darling is fascinated by our strange desire to anthropomorphize, or attribute human agency to machines, and engage with them in a social way. She studies human empathy for robots through the lens of violence toward them.

She cites the outpouring of sympathy for Hitchbot, a hitchhiking robot that was vandalized (or “killed” according to Twitter reactions), and calls to PETA about a four-legged Boston Dynamics robot who was kicked in a promotional video as examples of how our treatment of robots offer insights into the human psyche.

“The interesting thing is not the robots, it’s how robots reveal things about our own behaviour and psychology that we’re only just learning — including the question of whether sex robots are going to be a healthy thing or unhealthy thing for people.”

The questions being raised about sex robots are similar to the conversations about the link between violence in video games or pornography. However, the physicality of a robot brings such questions to a new level as the line between fantasy or reality becomes even more muddled in the subconscious, Darling said.

And even though we know they are machines, it doesn’t take much for us to treat robots as if they are people. Participants in one study even reported becoming more aroused by touching the “private parts” region of a humanoid robot, than when touching, say, the machine’s hand or eye. Others felt uncomfortable touching the machine in that way, a recent study by Stanford University found.

With an increasing amount of money being pumped into artificial intelligence and robotics and our growing comfort levels with robot interaction, it’s only a matter of time before we will love, marry and have sex with robots, believes David Levy, an artificial intelligence expert. Human-robot intercourse is the next sexual revolution and will be normalized by 2050, Levy predicted in his 2007 book Love and Sex with Robots.

“Once they move and speak and they feel warm, I don’t think there will be any problem for people to relate to them,” he said. “I think once one or two companies are actually producing these, I think the field will suddenly become very full.”

Read more here.

Bishops face sack for mishandling abuse

Pope Francis

Pope Francis has approved measures to sack bishops who mishandle child sexual abuse cases, a papal decree has said. Bishops who are “negligent” in dealing with priests committing abuse will be removed under the new legal procedures, the BBC reports.




The decree comes in response to long-running demands by abuse victims and their supporters to hold bishops accountable if they fail to protect their flocks from paedophiles. Existing laws relating to abuse cases would be tightened, the Pope said.

He acknowledged that canon law already allows for a bishop to be removed for negligence but said he wants a more precise definition of the “grave reasons” that could lead to dismissal. “I intend to specify that among these so-called ‘serious reasons’ is the negligence of bishops in the exercise of their functions, especially in cases of sexual abuse of minors or vulnerable adults,” Pope Francis wrote.

Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying that the pontiff had also established a group of lawyers to help him make decisions that could result in the dismissal of a bishop.


Wizkid in FRESH SCANDAL WITH UK ENTERTAINMENT FIRM

Wizkid

SUPERSTAR singer, Ayodeji Balogun, popularly known as Wizkid seems to be enmeshed in another controversy, not long after the last one with a celebrity blogger. The Nation reports that the Ojuelegba crooner has drawn the ire of a UK based entertainment company for failing to honour performance agreements. The company; Humble Entertainment expressed displeasure at Wizkid’s failure to show up at their recent The SafariNight3, even though he was booked and paid to perform at the event which has played host to the likes of Davido, Wande Coal and Dr. SID.




The Humble Entertainment management in a letter of May 26, 2016 claimed that Wizkid failed to honour their agreement even though he had been booked, and paid, in addition to meeting all other requirements. Excerpts of the company’s letter state “Humble Entertainments first and foremost would like to express our sincere apologies for any inconvenience and disappointment caused by Wizkid being unable to attend our event.

Continuing, the Entertainment Company expressed their apologies to all disappointed attendees and any inconveniences caused by the entertainer’s failure to attend the show. They said, “We worked tirelessly to rectify this issue but unfortunately it was beyond our control. Despite going through all the necessary procedures to book Wizkid, which included signing a contract and paying the required fee, we have been let down by the booking/ management parties.”


Friday, June 3, 2016

Scientists say Zika may be transmitted by oral sex, kissing


Amid growing concern over an increasing number of Zika cases in the Americas, scientists are now cautioning that the usually mosquito-borne virus may be transmitted not only by vaginal sex, but also by oral sex and kissing, foxnews.com reports.




In a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine, a peer-reviewed medical journal, scientists detailed one such case in France. A 46-year-old French man reportedly stayed in Brazil, a Zika hotspot,  from Dec. 11, 2015 to Feb. 9, 2016, and unknowingly contracted the virus during his visit. Thereafter, he returned to Paris and had seven sexual encounters with his healthy 24-year-old female partner, who developed Zika symptoms on Feb. 20, 2016. According to scientists’ letter, she had not been taking medication or receiving blood transfusions. She also had not traveled to a Zika-afflicted region in recent months. The Aedes aegypti and A. albopictus mosquitoes, the main vectors of Zika, do not reside in Paris.

The couple was not using condoms during sex, but the male partner ejaculated only during oral sex as a form of birth control, according to the letter. Scientists wrote in the letter that they could not “rule out the possibility that transmission occurred not through semen but through other biologic fluids, such as pre-ejaculate secretions or saliva exchanged through deep kissing.” They noted that the male partner’s saliva tested negative for Zika after he began exhibiting symptoms, but it was not tested earlier.

In an interview with The New York Times,  Dr. William Schaffner, head of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical School, and an author of the letter, said it’s possible the couple in France had imperfect recollections, despite being interviewed separately with matching accounts. Dr. John T. Brooks, an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told The Times it’s not out of the question that Zika could be transmitted by oral sex. But Brooks, who is studying sexual transmission of Zika, said he thought it was unlikely that the virus could be transmitted through kissing.

“Casual kissing has got to be safe because, if it weren’t, don’t you think we’d see a lot more Zika? Every mom who kissed her baby would pass it on,” Brooks told The Times. “To be sure, we’d have to look for deep kissing in the absence of sexual contact, and that’s hard to find.” Scientists in the letter said, to their knowledge, no definite cases of Zika transmission by saliva have been reported.


Thursday, June 2, 2016

Texas teacher 'who got pregnant after sex with 13-year-old pupil' turns herself in

Alexandria Vera

A teacher in Texas accused of getting pregnant during an alleged sexual relationship with a 13-year-old pupil has been arrested after turning herself in to police. Telegraph.co.uk reports that Alexandria Vera, a 24-year-old English teacher in the Aldine School District, allegedly told school district officials that she met the boy during summer school last year and began a sexual relationship with him in September.




She became pregnant with his child in January, according to police. When she told the boy's parents, they were "very supportive and excited", she told a school district investigator, court documents show. Ms Vera, who was removed from her job in April, reportedly became nervous and got an abortion after Child Protective Services questioned her and the student in February, according to court documents.

The teacher, who went missing before police could arrest her, turned herself in to Montgomery County police on Wednesday. Brady Fitzgerald, Sheriff's spokesman, said she posted a $100,000 bond and was released. She is charged with continuous sexual abuse of a child.


‘No part of Nigeria can be better without the other’- Oshiomohle


Nigerians need to accept that they need each other as no part of the country can do without the other, Edo state governor, Adams Oshiomohle said Wednesday. This is even as he appealed to the South-South region of the country to work together to end militancy and create a peaceful environment for investors, businessdayonline.com reports.




 Emerging from a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, the governor said states in the South-South region must not yield to the blackmail of agitators as the unity of Nigeria was not negotiable. The region is currently witnessing renewed agitation of militants under the aegis of a group, The Niger Delta Avengers, that has gone on rampage in the oil rich Niger Delta blowing up oil and gas installations in the region.




“I appeal to all of us in the South-South, we need to wake up, it is for our own self interest that we make the region the most  investor friendly that even challenges that we face, the assets being destroyed is not just national assets, it is our own assets. It is what makes the south-south the hub of the Nigerian economy.

“So if somebody for whatever reasons decides to destroy pipelines and thereby compounds the problem of pollution, the cost of cleaning up that area, making it attractive either for fishing, farming or other business is a huge cost. Cost not just naira and kobo, cost in terms of time and in terms of human lives.

“What I can say is that this President deserves the support of everyone. For me, I believe in Nigeria, I believe no part can do without the other, I believe our unity is not negotiable, I believe the responsibility of the political elite is to strengthen the bridge of unity, to discourage preaching hatred, amplify weak points rather work to strengthen those points.

“The sooner we accept this reality the better for all of us. The days of ethnic champions and imaginary divides will not help anyone. We don’t need to be security experts to accept the universal truth that wherever there is insecurity there will be no investment because no investor will go to where is unsafe. And where there is no investment poverty will be endemic because there will be no job for our people” the governor said.
He said compounding the problem by breaking pipelines, stealing crude oil and destroying farmlands, destroying water ways, despite all of government’s intervention in the region would not benefit anyone.

CCT fixes June 30 for judgment in Orubebe’s trial


I sold my land to pay rent – Orubebe

The Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) has scheduled judgment for June 30 in the trial of former Niger Delta Minister, Godsays Orubebe. According to The Nation, the tribunal chose the date on Thursday after Orubebe concluded his defence having called two witnesses, including himself.




Orubebe was earlier in November 8, 2015 arraigned on a four-count charge of false asset declaration and bribery by the office of the Attorney General of the Federation. The prosecution, on March 8 this year, announced an amendment to the charge, reducing the court to one. He pleaded not guilty to the amended charge of false asset declaration on March 8 when he was re-arraigned.

The charge was amended was re arraigned  before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) on an amended charge of one count. The single count  reads: “That you, Godsday Peter Orubebe on or about June 29, 2011 while being a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in charge of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs in Abuja within the jurisdiction of this honourable tribunal, did make a false declaration of assets to the Code of Conduct Bureau when you failed to declare Plot 2057, Asokoro District, Abuja on assumption of office on September 26, 2007 and on leaving office (at the end of your tenure) on June 29, 2011 and you hereby commit an offence contrary to section 15 of Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act Cap 15 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and punishable under section 23(2) of the same Act.”

While testifying as the second defence witness on Thursday, Orubebe explained that he failed to declare the plot of land in 2011 because he had sold it to his landlord before he made the last asset declaration while leaving office. Led in evidence by his lawyer, Selekowei Larry (SAN), Orubebe, who said he sold the barren plot of land at N10million, explained that he also did not declare it when he assumed office in 2007 because it was not allocated to him then.




Militants threaten to launch six missiles in Niger Delta


A consolidated group of militants under the aegis of Joint Niger Delta Liberation Force (JNDLF) on Thursday threatened to launch six missiles in the Niger Delta region, The Nation reports. The group said it would commence the testing of its six missiles which would last for three days on June 7.




Though it did not disclose the nature of the missiles, it warned that no airplanes should fly in and out of the country within the period, claiming that the weapons were capable of hitting any object despite its size. It said its fighters trained for that purpose had already arrived the region with its foreign partners through what it described as the country’s porous borders.

The group in an electronic statement said it took the decision to further wreck havoc in the region in a meeting attended in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, by its commanders. The militant group said Bayelsa State not Delta State is the command base of the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) and warned the Commissioner of Information and Orientation in Bayelsa, Mr. Jonathan Obuebite to stop criticizing NDA.

The group in the statement which repeatedly referred to President Muhammadu Buhari as “Pharoh”, said the highest organ of JNDLF, the Joint Revolutionary Council (JRC) concluded that the launching of the missiles would signal its readiness for the final breakup of the country.


Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Niger Delta Avengers Threatened Buhari With Death Warrant Ahead Of Visit To Oil Region


A rebel group has threatened to kill Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari if he follows through on a planned trip to the oil-rich Niger Delta region. The Niger Delta Avengers warned in a statement Wednesday that they would kill Buhari or any of his representatives if the trip goes as scheduled after the Nigerian military reportedly killed some of their members, International Business Times reports




The revolt in southern Nigeria has gained ground as the military has been busy fighting the Islamic extremist insurgency by Boko Haram in the northeast. Buhari is expected to visit the Delta Thursday, weeks after the Avengers blew up a major Chevron-operated offshore oil platform in the region. The attack partially halted oil production, forcing Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell to shut down at least two plants that produce more than 35,000 barrels per day.

"This is Niger Delta Avengers. ... The army will hear from us, you are all monsters but you must pay," said a statement the group released Wednesday. "Buhari do not step your foot in our land because we heard you want to visit Ogoni land. Before coming, you should sign your death warrant because we will kill you. If you don’t come and decide to send representatives, you should also sign their death warrant. Any Niger Delta elder working against our people should also sign their death warrant."

The Niger Delta Avengers are supporters and former rebels of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, which was known for attacking pipelines and facilities in Nigeria’s oil-rich southern swampland until a peace deal in 2009. Buhari reportedly upset the rebels after taking office a year ago by ending generous pipeline protection contracts.

“The Avengers may not be a defined group of people, except for a core of maybe 100-150 people or so,” Dirk Steffen, from the Denmark-based Risk Intelligence firm, told Agence France-Presse.

Read more here.




Supporter of OBJ's 3rd-term agenda, Sen. Hambagda is dead


Omar Hambagda‎, an ex-senator from Borno south senatorial district, has died, the Nigerian Senate has confirmed. Ali Ndume, Senate leader, had raised a point of order today, June 1, to announce the passing of Hambagda, who was in the fifth and sixth Senate. Senator Omar Hambagda, a staunch supporter of former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s third-term agenda, died on Democracy Day, May 29, at age 67.




Born July 28, 1949, Hambagda chaired a subcommittee of the National Assembly constitution review panel in 2005-2006, that initiated the third term clause, which would have given former president Olusegun Obasanjo a chance to run for a third term in 2007.

The deceased was survived by a wife and 16 children. Meanwhile, Senate President Bukola Saraki has said that the Senate would work out an internal mechanism of aiding ex-members. Saraki’s remarks comes after a complain from James Manager, the senator representing Delta South Senatorial District at the National Assembly that the Late Omar Hambagda was not well taken care of after he left the Senate.


Women are more interested in sex than you think, studies show


Rarely are researchers’ findings so satisfying. Women may want more sex than their husbands or partners think.




New research by psychologists at the University of Toronto and the University of Western Ontario, published earlier this month in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, found that men in long-term relationships often underestimate how often their wives or girlfriends want to be intimate.

The research consists of three studies, following a total of 229 long-term couples, most of whom are heterosexual. (The sample of homosexual couples was too small to be statistically significant, the researchers say.) Participants ranged in age from 18 to 68 years old; the couples had been together six years on average, and they reported they had sex an average of one to two times a week.

In study one, 44 couples kept a diary for three weeks: Partners reported on their own level of sexual desire each day, as well as their perception of their partner’s level of desire and their level of relationship satisfaction. In study two, 84 couples came into the laboratory once and reported on the general levels of their desire, their perception of their partner’s desire and their happiness in the relationship. And in study three, 101 couples kept a diary for three weeks, reporting on the same three issues. They were also asked to report how motivated they were each day to avoid sexual rejection.

According to ‘The Social Organization of Sexuality: Sexual Practices in the United States,’ a 1994 University of Chicago study considered the most comprehensive in the field:

  •     Almost 80% of married couples have sex a few times a month or more.
  •     Thirty-two percent of married couples report having sex two to three times a week.
  •     Forty-seven percent of married couples report having sex a few times a month.
  •     Less than 10% of married people say their last sexual event lasted an hour or more.
Read more here.


Reversal Of Electricity Tariff Will Cost N575bn – FG


The Federal Government says that it will not go back on the 45 per cent increase in electricity tariff, adding that a reversal will cost over N575 billion. According to nta.ng, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, stated this in Abuja on Tuesday when he briefed the Senate Committees on Labour and Power during a public hearing on the new electricity tariff.




The Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission ( NERC) announced a 45 per cent increment in electricity tariff earlier in January. The Senate after considering a motion at plenary in January, directed that the tariff be reversed to enable the Senate to conclude hearing on the case.

However, the minister explained that the new tariff could not be reversed as it was necessary for the market to survive. He said that a number of indices, such as borrowing rate for investors, exchange rate , availability and cost of gas, among others also contributed to the hike.

The minister pointed out that one of the reasons why the tariff had to go up was that a major component, a significant number of power plants depend on gas and that out of about 26 power plants, only about three are hydro. “We were heavily dependent on gas, people were exporting gas because gas was selling outside the country at four dollars and it was selling for domestic use at one dollar,” he said.

The minister said that even with the recent hike in electricity tariff, Nigeria was still among countries with the lowest electricity tariffs in Africa and the world. Fashola added that since 2005 when the power privatization process started till 2013 when it was concluded, every segment of government was involved and would share the blame if there was any failure.

“Enabling laws for the process were passed by the National Assembly in 2005 , the process completed by the Executive in 2013: if the process was bad, where was oversight?’’ he asked. Fashola, however, pleaded with the lawmakers and Nigerians to be more patient with government and investors on the process as three years was not enough to judge its success or failure.

Explaining the non-implementation of the directive by Senate to reverse the tariff, Mr Anthony Akah, Acting Chairman, NERC, said that the directive would have created avoidable setbacks in the sector. He said if the directive was implemented, a market gap of about N575 billion would have been created which would have compounded the initial market gap of N187 billion the take-off tariff put on investors.

He said that NERC was also hindered by a court order, obtained by six generating and distribution companies. He said that the commission could also not easily reverse the tariff as the process was in compliance with section 76 (8) of the law guiding the operations of the commission. But the joint committee insisted that it was unacceptable for Nigerians to be paying so much but have limited power supply. The committee adjourned the public hearing to Wednesday.


Ahead Buhari`s visit: Avengers blow up Chevron oil wells


The Niger Delta Avengers early Wednesday morning blew up two oil wells located in Warri South West of Delta State belonging to Chevron Nigeria Limited nigeriamasterweb.com reports. The militant group claimed responsibility for the attack  of the RMP 24 and RMP 23 which are Chevron Swamp's highest producing Wells.




“With the heavy presence of 100 gunboats, 4 warships and jet bombers, NDA blew up Chevron Oil Well RMP 23 and RMP 24, 3:44AM this morning.”It said via its Twitter handle @NDAvengers on Wednesday morning, “This is to show the whole world that the Nigeria military is good in harassing innocent Nigerians.” the group said.

The latest attack comes as President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to visit the Niger Delta region on Thursday for the first time since taking office a year ago. Buhari will visit Ogoniland to launch a cleanup of areas heavily polluted by oil spills.

The Niger Delta Avengers militant group, which has claimed a string of recent attacks, issued a warning to oil firms in the southern region that their "facilities and personnel will bear the brunt of our fury," according to a statement. Buhari said on Sunday that the  government would hold talks with leaders in Nigeria's main oil-producing region to address their grievances in a bid to stop a surge in pipeline attacks.



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