Nigeria: Kidnapped German Killed During Raid on Suspected Terrorists

Kidnappers stabbed a captive German engineer to death on Thursday as soldiers unaware of the hostage’s presence raided a home in northern Nigeria, officials said, five months after the man’s abduction by members of a group linked to Al Qaeda. Soldiers initiated the raid on Thursday morning in Kano, the northern city where gunmen abducted the German, Edgar Fritz Raupach, on Jan. 26. A military spokesman, Lt. Iweah Ikedichi, said soldiers attacked a home where “senior commanders of the terrorist element” were believed to be meeting. The soldiers killed five people suspected of being terrorists in a firefight, Lieutenant Ikedichi said. Soldiers later discovered Mr. Raupach’s handcuffed body while searching the house, he said. A security official said the kidnappers stabbed Mr. Raupach before trying to escape.

Court dismisses suit against Salami's reinstatement

An Abuja Federal High Court on Wednesday dismissed a suit, challenging the planned reinstatement of the suspended President of the Court of Appeal (PCA), Justice Isa Ayo Salami, for lacking in merit. A lawyer, Noah Ajare, had sued the National Judicial Council (NJC) and the Judicial Stakeholders Review Committee chaired by former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Mohammed Uwais. He was aggrieved over the recommendation of the Uwais committee to the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Dahiru Musdapher to reinstate Justice Salami. He asked the court to restrain the NJC from deliberating on the said recommendation. He also prayed for an order of interim injunction restraining the council and the panel from holding further meetings, discussion and all recommendations for the reinstatement of Salami pending the hearing of the substantive matter. But, at the end of its meeting in Abuja on May 10, the council recommended to President Goodluck Jonathan to approve the reinstatement of Justice Salami.

A few days later, Ajare who claimed he had no personal interest in the whole saga rushed to the court again to file another suit to restrain Jonathan from approving the recommendation. That suit is pending before Justice Adamu Bello. Ruling on the suit against the NJC and the Uwais committee on Wednesday, Justice Abdul Kafarati said the Plaintiff has no locus standi to initiate the action. Ajare had relied on his membership of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to file the suit. But the Judge held that "with due respect, that alone cannot confer locus standi on him. He can only have locus standi if he can show special interest over and above others or show that his interest will be adversely affected." Describing the Plaintiff as a busy-body, the court held that the NJC needs no interference of his to resolve its issues. "The issue of reinstatement of Justice Salami can be decided without the presence of the Plaintiff. To me, the Plaintiff has no work to do; he has no work to do." "The second Defendant (Uwais Reform Committee) is not a legal person. The committee having been dissolved and not being a creation of the law, the name is hereby struck out from the suit. The case has no merit; it is accordingly dismissed," the judge ruled.

UK: Nigerians to be screened for Tuberculosis

Nigerians travelling to the United Kingdom will require pre-entry tuberculosis screening with effect from 2013, the spokesman of the British High Commission, Mr. Hooman Nouruzi, has said. Nouruzi told the News Agency of Nigeria on Wednesday in Abuja that the policy affected 67 countries listed as `tuberculosis endemic’ by the World Health Organisation. He said that under the new scheme, travellers to the UK would be tested for tuberculosis as part of the visa procedure. ``The UK Border Agency carries out pre-entry screening for TB for non-EEA migrants who are resident in 15 countries entering the UK for six months or more. ``We are proposing to extend pre-entry screening of applicants to an additional 67 countries, which have been identified using WHO data, as having a high incidence of TB,’’ Nouruzi said. NAN reports that the 15 nations currently being screened for TB include Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Togo, Niger, Kenya, Eritrea, Somalia, Pakistan, Sudan, Tanzania, Thailand and Laos. Although Nouruzi was not definite on when in 2013 they will start screening Nigerians travelling to the UK, he said some hospitals would be designated for the exercise. ``We will implement the changes in phases and complete the roll out to all on the WHO high incidence list by the end of 2013,’’ he said. NAN reports that no fewer than 10,000 UK visas are issued monthly in Nigeria, a figure which rises during the summer months of June, July and August.

No going back on renaming of UNILAG - FG

There is no going back on the renaming of University of Lagos after Chief Moshood Abiola, the Federal Government said on Wednesday. Government said the decision was taken in the interest of the country. Information Minister, Mr. Labaran Maku, who was responding to questions from newsmen on the protest that greeted President Goodluck Joanthan gesture, noted that Nigerians should not allow the protest to overshadow the national significance of what the president has done. Maku stated that the president only showed that he truly appreciates late Abiola’s contribution to the political development of the country. President Jonathan had in his nationwide broadcast on Tuesday renamed the university in honour of the billionaire politician who died in prison over a decade ago.

Abiola was the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election which was controversially annulled by former military president Ibrahim Babangida. Jonathan said Abiola’s presumed victory in the presidential election, and death, while in custody, proved to be the catalyst for the people’s pro-democracy uprising; saying, “after very careful consideration, and in honour of Chief M.K.O Abiola’s accomplishments and heroism, on this Democracy Day, the University of Lagos, is renamed by the Federal Government of Nigeria, Moshood Abiola University, Lagos. “The Federal Government will also establish an Institute of Democratic Studies and Governance in the University,” he added. But that did not go down well with the students of the university who went on the street to protest the federal government’s decision. The minister said, “For those of us who have been part of this country for long and who have been adults that lived through the history of Nigeria, particularly in the last two decades if there is any figure that symbolizes sacrifice of self for this nation, that figure is Chief M.K.O Abiola who clearly won the June12 1992 Presidential election and died in captivity because he stood for principle. “He stood to defend the principle of democracy, and for anyone that is familiar with the development of our politics in the last two decades, there is no event in the political history of our country that touches the hearts of quiet a significant number of citizens like the June 12, 1993 presidential election, “he added.

'Men In Black 3' Plot: 6 Things I Still Don't Understand

Now that you've seen Men in Black 3 (or perhaps you didn't -- it's not humanly possible for me to keep tabs on all of you), I have a few questions. Look, I like to pretend that I have at least the intelligence of an average human being (I graduated from a Big 12 school, so I realize even that may be a stretch), but there are quite a few things in the Men in Black 3 plot that confused me. I get it: perhaps Men in Black 3 isn't supposed to be one of those movies you think about too hard. And I did enjoy it more than I probably should have, considering how much it's making me fret. But, alas, as I sit here on my birthday, of all days, I just can't help it. Maybe we can all work though this together? (Spoiler alert, obviously.) 1. When J is fighting Boris at Cape Canaveral, why did the time machine reverse time? OK, so, Boris (Jemaine Clement) uses a time machine to travel back to 1969 in an effort to kill K (Tommy Lee Jones/Josh Brolin) -- the man responsible for (A) the imprisonment of Boris and (B) the loss of Boris' arm. This creates two Borises in 1969: The young version who is supposed to be in 1969 and the 2012 version who just traveled back. OK, fine. Now, J (Will Smith) uses a similar device to also go back in time -- using the speed created from jumping off of the Chrysler Building as an accelerant -- arriving before either Boris has yet had the opportunity to kill K. As we learn at the end of the film, there are also two Js. So far, still fine. In the climatic scene at Cape Canaveral, locked in battle, both J and Boris fall from the launch pad. J activates the time machine in an order to avoid death, reversing time just a few moments. Not only does J survive, he also now knows every single one of Boris' tactics because he has seen them before. This makes zero sense. First, if the time machine works as we've seen it work up until that point in the movie, it would have created a second J, who would have witnessed J and Boris fall from the launching pad, not reversed time -- a la Superman in the original Superman film -- so that J essentially gets a "do over." And even if it had reversed time, wouldn't Boris, too, know what was coming? 2. How did the time machine activate after falling from a Saturn V launching pad? J has very little room to spare, mere inches, for him to activate the time machine after a fall from the Chrysler Building. But, as it's explained, he wouldn't reach the speed needed to activate the machine until he was just a few inches from the ground. Again, fine. But when J and Boris fall from the aforementioned launching pad of a Saturn V missile -- which launched Apollo 11 - there is enough height to activate the machine. A Saturn V missile is 363 feet tall. The Chrysler Building is 1,046 feet tall. To be fair, J didn't jump from the very top of the Chrysler building, but he didn't fall from the very top of the Saturn V missile, either. 3. Why didn't J lose his memory of K post-1969 like everyone else? Most frustrating about this: J even asks, but is never given a real answer. Oh, sure, we're given a fancy sounding term -- temporal displacement, or something like that -- but no real reason why it happened to J. Yes, as J is about to jump off of the Chrysler Building, the fellow who supplied the time machine tells J, "That means you were there." What does that mean? Because it's never explained again. Is that fellow referring to the interaction between young K and a young J? Is he referring to the fact that J met his father? Why would this at all have anything to do with J's memory? Even more frustrating: a side effect -- J's new affinity for chocolate milk - is explained, but not the actual reason. 4. How is J still a member of Men in Black? After Boris kills K in the past, I was fully expecting J to walk into MIB headquarters and have no one recognize him. In the first Men in Black, K is the one who recruits J. So it seems preposterous that J would become a member of MIB in a world where K can't recruit him because he's dead. (Even more preposterous: that I'm writing about any of this on my birthday.) And, as we learn, K has been keeping an eye on J since J was a child -- so J was always destined to be a member of MIB with K around. But, if K is dead, how did J still become a member? (I suppose one could argue, "J is just that good, so he would always become a member," but ... really? To the point that J even lives in the same apartment? C'mon. 5. How old is J? Admittedly, this is a minor quibble: But, honestly, how old is J supposed to be in the Men in Black series? I cannot find an age for Cayen Martin, the actor who played young J. But let's assume he's five or six. Will Smith was born in 1968 and would have been less than a year old when Apollo 11 was launched. Smith today is 43, which sounds about right for J. But, since we clearly see that J is not less than a year old when he meets K in 1969, this means that J is pushing 50 in 2012. I mean, sure? I guess? It just doesn't seem to fit the character. 6. Why did K's demeanor "change" so drastically? Throughout the film, we keep hearing about something that happened to K at Cape Canaveral -- something so terrible that he was never the same again. We also learn that K had a relationship with O (Emma Thompson/Alice Eve) before this "event" happened -- but was so affected by whatever this was that he became the crusty, ornery cuss we meet in the first Men in Black. OK, so what exactly changed him? I assume it was watching J's father die and meeting young J. I guess? I mean, why would the death of a man that K met, literally, an hour or two earlier have such a profound effect on K's demeanor? Look, perhaps if that happened to you or me, sure. But doesn't K see stuff like this happen on an almost daily basis? Why would this event "change him forever"? I'd almost be willing to buy this one if at least some sort of explanation was given. I'm not saying these plot holes, if you will, ruin the fun of "Men in Black 3." But they did kind of mess up my birthday, and I'm guessing I'm not the only one who still wants some answers. Mike Ryan is senior entertainment writer for The Huffington Post. He likes Star Wars a lot. You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

A range of salts said to have been collected from human tears has gone on sale in London. Hoxton Street Monster Supplies says the salts come from crying humans experiencing a range of emotions. The £7 range includes salts harvested from tears of sorrow, tears shed while sneezing, tears shed while chopping onions, tears of laughter, and tears of anger. A spokesman for the company said that each salt had a distinctly different flavour. "Salt Made From Tears combines centuries-old craft with the freshest human tears which are gently boiled, released into shallow crystallisation tanks, then harvested by hand and finally rinsed in brine," he said.

I’m Still A Christian – Funke Akindele Cries Out

Following her marriage to an Alhaji yesterday, Nollywood actress, Funke Akindele has finally opened up on her controversial marriage. Funke, now with an adopted Islamic name, Khadijat, married Alhaji Almaroof Oloyede in Lagos yesterday amidst outburst by some of her fans, who frowned at her being a christian marrying an already married muslim.

In an early tweet today, Sunday May 27, Funke told a fan she was still in Christ despite marrying a muslim. The fan tweeted at Funke; “my sis. Funke Akindele, hope u r still in CHRIST?” In a response to this tweet by one of her twitter followers, Funke replied; “Always in Christ!! He’s my strength & Shield. Tnx” Her marriage to Almaroof has generated harsh reactions. Most of her fans kicked against her being a second wife. She went ahead to perform a Nikkai on Thursday May 24 before proceeding to do a Christian wedding. Source : Daily Post

Maneta is a Big Brother stayer

BIG Brother Africa lass Maneta Mazanhi rode a campaign of hate to stay in the M-Net TV show on Sunday. The big-chested Bulawayo beauty was up for eviction with Namibia’s Lady May and Zambia’s Mampi – who was kicked out of the show with the least number of votes. Maneta’s chances of survival on Sunday were made worse by the fact that her compatriot housemate Roki – real name Rockford Josphats – nominated her for eviction, in the process deeply dividing Zimbabweans.

A sick campaign was launched on social networks by Roki fans to get Maneta off the show – even as the singer apologised to her hours before eviction night for putting her head on the chopping block. Maneta, who survived eviction in the first week, tailed Lady May on votes but had enough in the bag to edge the Zambian. Presenter IK Osakioduwa first announced that Lady May was safe – making for tense TV as Maneta and Mampi waited to learn their fates. “Only one of the other two is going to survive this eviction,” IK went on, “and I am sorry to say that Maneta you’re not going anywhere, you still have sometime in the house. Mampi, you’ve been evicted from the Big Brother house please leave the house.” Maneta, who had bonded with the evicted Zambian – the second and last of Roki’s nominations – got emotional as her partner-in-gossip walked out to leave. Shameless Roki – who cried early last week as he admitted his nomination shame to Mampi – was also there to see her out. Earlier in the Diary Room, Big Brother asked Maneta what was on her mind, to which she replied: “On my mind? Well, I’m thinking that this is the second time, they are gonna save me again. But it's in a space of three weeks, so it’s like too fast too everything. That’s what’s on my mind. I can’t wait to see what happens tonight.” Maneta also told housemates how Roki – whose romantic advances she repelled – had apologised to her. She told Ghanaian comedian DKB and Sierra Leone’s Zainab: “Yesterday he came to say that I’m sorry I nominated you. He was trying to comfort me to say that if anything goes wrong, he’s gonna feel bad because he’s the one who did it. He was trying to ease his conscience.” DKB told her he “always want (sic) us to reconnect when we finish up”. Nominations for next week were picked at random by machine and Ghana’s housemates in Downville Keitta and Mildred, along with Botswana’s Edith and Eve, were selected.

My Fans Vote For Me To Win BET-Sarkodie

BET Awards nominee and 2011 Ghana Music Awards Artiste of the year, Sarkodie says God is the source of the power that drives his success and appeals to his fans to rally behind him to win this year’s BET award. In an interview with Kwame Poku (DJ Scientific) on Focus fm, few hours before the High Skuul Shower Pool Party in Kumasi, Sarkodie noted that God has kept him going and added that, he does not have any other spiritual backing.

Basically, I pray, I fast and I have a good background; my family, they are religious. So I just have to do the work, that is, I go to the studio, I work hard and I know God will help me,” he stated. Sarkodie has been nominated for this year’s Best International Act (Africa) Award and will be counting on his fans to support him by voting for him to make that dream a reality. He said with his new ‘Rapperholic’ album, he is very confident that he stands the chance of winning the award. I know with my Azonto cribs and others, I stand the chance of winning. I hope that my fans will keep supporting me .They supported me in the first place .That is why Sarkodie was nominated. So I hope they will go to the next level by voting for me or by any means that they can to make Sarkodie win. It is going to be my fans, so I look up to them. They should help Sarkodie like they always do.” Sarkodie says he is looking forward to playing more shows outside Ghana. He opined that, he will be going to Nigeria to have a program soon as the ‘U go kill me’ track on the ‘Rapperholic’ album is a big hit there. Source : Oppong Marfo Edward, Focus fm, KNUST, Kumasi

"We are not prostitutes,We only entertain our clients and customers"- Strip Dancer in Nigeria

Last week, men of the Lagos State Environmental and Special Offences Task Force raided strip/nude club in Lagos, arresting managers, patrons and the dancers. Encomium Weekly writer, Sunday Adebayo, tracked down one of the strippers and had an interview with her. An eye-opener. Read it below What are the requirements for recruiting dancers? Stripper "The major requirements are: you must be at least 18 years old. You must have a very good shape and have to be able to carry yourself well. Your breasts must be intact. They won't employ you when you have sagged breasts and you must be clean up to your private area. And you must be a good dancer." Do they employ you full time or you do freelance? "At Ocean Blue where I work, we are employed, but we are not on salaries. You have to be very good and have to canvass for people very well, so that you will get enough money for yourself." How then do you girls get your money? "Normally we do lap dance, and three tracks of music will make a session of a lap dance. It's N1, 000 per session. If you are very sexy and have men who like you, you may be very lucky to get up to 20 people to lap dance for in just one day. The lap dance in the VIP section is more expensive. You pay N3, 000. At timew when we want to do it, we still charge some people more, and some below the price." What makes the VIP section different from the regular? "In the VIP, it's a private closet where we can do anything. So once the customer has paid, you can do anything for him. You can help masturbate him or even insert his manhood into your mouth to make him happy. But you can't have sex in the club."

What if the customer wants sex and is willing to pay for it? "We don't do it at the club. But if anyone among the girls likes the person or can do it, you may go with him to a hotel to do whatever he wants to do." How much do you charge them for that? "It depends. At times we charge up to N10, 000 for the fun, depending on how the person approaches us." Then can we call this a more professional prostitution? "We are not prostitutes. We only entertain our clients and customers" Like how many people come into the club on a daily basis? "Most times, the space doesn't even take people, especially at weekends. From Thursday night through Sunday night. But on average, not less than 200-250 people daily." Is any of your family aware of the kind of business you do? "They don't need to know, because I give them what they want at the right time. So, no problems." Now that the State Govt has closed down the clubs, how do you girls hope to survive? "Life goes on. We will get something doing. And besides they will soon re-open the clubs. This is not the first time they are closing us down. We shall wait for what happens next"

No misinterpretation, I was just copying instructor: Depp

Actor Johnny Depp, who has been slammed by experts for misinterpreting key words in Paul McCartney's video " My Valentine", says he was just following the instructions.

The critics were unhappy with Depp's sign-language skills in the video that he recorded with Natalie Portman. "I had to learn sign language and I was only copying what the guy showed me, so track him down," thesun.co.uk quoted the 48-year-old as saying.

Why we bought private jet -P Square

Jude Okoye has stated the reason why his brothers, Peter and Paul Okoye, P Square, recently acquired a private jet : It is to travel around in style and to meet up with our busy schedules.

In a brief phone chat with R from Johannesburg, Jude said the duo had been busy shooting commercials and working hard on their next album. “We shall be here till next month. As already tweeted, we thank our fans for being there for us.” One of their tweets recently gave the duo out about their new acquisition. “Jetting privately....thanks to God and the fans. You all made it possible. Baba God done settle us...I no go lie. Just included on our list...that very list......shhhhhh,” Peter tweeted few hours ago. According to information, the award winning twins recently paid an Arabian several millions of dollars to pick this private airbus. P-Square top the list of privileged few of Nigeria’s new generation of musicians who are making money from music. With landed properties in Jos, Port Harcourt and their newly built Lagos mansion, it’s no doubt that the dynamic duo are living large.