Housewife: How I escaped Boat Tragedy

A survivor of the Ikorodu boat mishap, Mrs. Abimbola Bunmi, has narrated to P.M.NEWS how she was saved by fishermen during the accident that claimed 9 lives recently.

P.M.NEWS spoke with her on Sunday where she went to give thanks at Christ Apostolic Church, Kingdom In Glory Parish at Elepe, on the outskirts of Lagos state, southwest Nigeria.

The 26-year old indigene of Osun State explained that the boat left Ebute-Ero around 5.34pm with 25 passengers on board instead of 20 passengers, adding that the boat was over speeding before the driver lost control as a result of the violent sea wave that occurred after they started the journey.
“Myself and two other men were rescued by fishermen who took us to another boat. I lost all my goods and the N350,000 my husband gave me to rent a shop in Ikorodu as well as the sales proceeds for that day,” she said.

She said the three of them who were rescued waved their handkerchiefs frantically as they were about to drown before the fishermen came to their rescue.
Bunmi, however, appealed to the Lagos state Government and individuals to come to her aid to enable her start a new life.

The pastor of the church, Pastor Friday Anderson, described Bunmi as a woman of faith, adding that it was her faith that saved her on that fateful day.
The boat was conveying passengers from Ebute-Ero to Majidu in Ikorodu area of Lagos state, southwest Nigeria, when it capsized, killing nine persons while 12 others were rescued.
PM News

Nine die in Ogun bus accident

Nine passengers were burnt beyond recognition after fire gutted a Lagos-bound commercial bus on Warewa Long Bridge on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Ogun State on Saturday.PUNCH Metro learnt that nine others sustained injuries in the accident which occurred around 4pm. Although police sources said six persons had lost their lives, the Federal Road Safety Corps said nine passengers were killed. It was learnt that the yellow Mazda bus was filled to capacity when the accident occurred.

Military commanders aiding B’Haram, soldier alleges

A soldier has claimed that he witnessed incidents that suggested some military   commanders work  with Boko Haram insurgents in the North-East.

The soldier told the Voice of America Hausa Service  how his military unit in Borno State was ambushed by Boko Haram members.

He  said the commander of a nearby military unit in Bama recently sought assistance from his unit in carrying out a raid.

The soldier, who did not give his  name, said when the two military units joined up, they were given different uniforms. The Bama unit commander, according to him, gave his own troops green uniforms while his   unit received tan “desert camouflage” uniforms.

When the troops reached the battle area, the soldier said the commander of the better-equipped Bama unit suddenly withdrew his forces, leaving the remaining troops to fend for themselves against Boko Haram fighters.

Recount gives Nigeria biggest GDP in Africa

Nigerian economy worth $510bn, far more than previous estimate of $292bn and surpassing South Africa's $353bn

Officials say Nigeria's recalculated economy is worth $510bn (£307bn), by far the biggest in Africa, easily surpassing that of the previous continental titleholder, South Africa, at $353bn.

The figures are the result of the first recount since 1990 of the GDP of Africa's biggest oil producer.

The International Monetary Fund had used the 1990 base to estimate Nigeria's GDP in 2013 at $292bn. But that did not take into account new industries like telecommunications, information technology, music, airlines, burgeoning online retail outlets and Nollywood film production.

In 1990 there were 300,000 landlines; today Nigeria has 100 million mobile phone users.

The Guardian

I cut her neck with cutlass for sacking me –Killer houseboy of Ogun retired magistrate

Sixty-five-year-old retired Chief Magistrate, Funmilayo Timeyin, would have hoped to live out her days off the bench in peace and relaxation. With no young child around the house, as all her children are grown up, she employed 21-year-old David Idah, a Benue State indigene, as housekeeper.
But from the moment she signed on the young man, a judgement seemed to have been passed on the magistrate's fate.
With three cutlass blows to the neck around 6pm on Friday, March 28, 2014, the young man ended the life of the retired chief magistrate at a gated bungalow at Laderin Estate, Abeokuta, Ogun State.
Our correspondent paid a visit to the Department of Criminal Investigation, where Idah was being held on Tuesday, and the young man gave surreal details of how he came to work as Timeyin's house help and ended up killing her.
Idah, who said he dropped out of school in Primary Six when he was living with a relation in Osogbo, Osun State, had bloodshot eyes when he was brought out of the cell by the investigating police officer attached to the case.

Anglican leader fears Nigeria gay marriage backlash

Justin Welby, head of the Anglican Communion worldwide has warned that if the Church of England accepted gay marriage worldwide, it could prove "catastrophic" for Christians in Nigeria and other African countries.
On his four-nation tour of Africa earlier this year, the former oil executive wrote to the presidents of Nigeria and Uganda warning against the "victimisation or diminishment" of homosexuals.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, who is the spiritual head of all Anglicans said encouraging gay marriage in Africa could potentially lead to massacres of Christians.
Gay marriage became legal in England and Wales on 29 March although the Church of England, the state church, is barred from performing same-sex marriages to provide it with an additional layer of legal protection.
"What we say here is heard around the world," Welby told LBC radio. "Why can't we just do it now? Because the impact of that on Christians in countries far from here, like South Sudan, like Pakistan, Nigeria and other places, would be absolutely catastrophic, and we have to love them as much as we love the people who are here."

Nigeria 2015: El-Rufai disagrees with Fani-Kayode, says religion shouldn’t factor in APC’s choice of presidential ticket

A former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and member of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Nasir El-Rufai, has insisted that the party’s choice of presidential candidate would not be dictated by religion.“Politics and governance are not to be mixed or dictated to by any religion,” Mr. El-Rufai said.

Mr. El-Rufai, in a statement on Tuesday, stated that the party’s candidates for the 2015 presidential poll should be picked on individual competence rather than religious affiliation.

“APC will present an integrity-competence ticket not religion. Politics and governance are not to be mixed or dictated to by any religion,” Mr. El-Rufai said.

Scores killed as soldiers attack Fulani herdsmen in Nasarawa

Scores of people were on Thursday killed in a Fulani settlement near Keana, in Keana Local Government Area of Nasarawa State in a gun duel between soldiers and suspected Fulani cattle breeders.
Many were also said to have been wounded during the incident which occurred barely 24 hours after the military deployed troops in Benue and Nasarawa states to curtail the rising attacks on communities by cattle rustlers.
It was learnt that the soldiers allegedly attacked the herdsmen at a funeral.

Youths uncover baby factory in Ogun, set building ablaze

There was pandemonium in the Akinremi Estate, Adigbe, Abeokuta, Ogun State, on Thursday after some youths discovered a baby factory around Vulcaniser Bus Stop.

The incident comes barely two weeks after eight women were rescued from a baby factory in the Akute area of the state.

Eyewitnesses told PUNCH Metro that the youths, who thought the building was a ritual killers’ den broke into the compound.

In a fit of rage, the youths were said to have set two vehicles ablaze as well as the one-storey building.

A traffic official, who witnessed the incident, said the youths were able to recover a blood-filled basin, coffin, mortar, calabash, effigy, assorted charms, clothes, live scorpion and other suspected fetish items.

BMW Bulletproof Car Scam : At last, EFCC Quizzes Stella Oduah - PUNCH

Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Wednesday  quizzed a former Minister of Aviation, Ms. Stella Oduah, for over five hours at their  Idiagbon House headquarters   in  Abuja.

Investigation revealed that Oduah  arrived at Idiagbon House around 10am and left at 3.30pm after being granted a provisional bail.

An EFCC   source said   the former minister was   asked questions and thereafter asked to   make  a statement that could aid the  commission’s ongoing investigation into the purchase of two BMW bulletproof cars by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority at a controversial sum of N255m.