Police Arrest Three Teenagers For Cultism In Ogun

Posted by: usman on January 26, 2013 in Nigerian News Leave a comment

The Ogun State Police Command said yesterday that it had arrested three teenagers in Apeti area of Agbara for cultism.

In a statement sent to journalists in Abeokuta, the Ogun State, the Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi said the command’s anti-crime team led by the Divisional Police Officer Ayo Sonubi arrested the cultists.

According to Adejobi, 16-year-old Sodiq Akeem, a Senior Secondary School 1of Agbara High School, Adeniyi Clement, 14, a vulcaniser and Rilwan Aina, 14, an apprentice tailor were caught with a locally made pistol and cartridges where they were holding a meeting in preparation for an operation.

“These young boys who are so deep in cultism have confessed to be members of Eiye confraternity,” Adejobi said.

The Commissioner of Police, Okoye Ikemefuna has therefore ordered a thorough investigation into the matter to ensure their other members are arrested as well.

He advised parents and guardians to warn their children or wards against cultism.

CBN Pegs New Deposit Limit For Account Holders

Posted by: usman on January 25, 2013 in Nigerian News 7 Comments

 

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday set new deposit limits for all categories of account holders and introduced three-tier Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements for banks.

With the new policy, bank customers have now been categorised into Low Value Accounts (Level One); Medium Value Accounts (Level two) and High Value Accounts (Level three).

For Low Value Account holders, the policy pegs a maximum single deposit amount of N20,000 and maximum cumulative balance of N200,000 at any point in time.  For Medium Value Account holders, a maximum single deposit of N50,000 and a maximum cumulative balance of N400,000. However for the High Value Account, no limit is placed on cumulative balance.

A circular to all banks and other financial institutions (OFIs) signed by CBN Director, Financial Policy and Regulation, Chris Chukwu, explained that the policy became necessary after the CBN recognised that access to basic banking facilities and other financial services is crucial in achieving the policy on financial inclusion. He advised banks to adopt the new KYC requirement adding that the proposed deposit limits is meant to reduce the risk of money laundering and financing of terrorism.

He said the Low Value Accounts are subject to close monitoring by the financial institutions and less scrutiny by bank examiners.

The CBN director said the accounts could be opened at branches of banks by a prospective customer or through banking agents and no amount is required for its opening. However, such accounts prohibit international funds transfer.

According to him, the Medium Value Accounts can be opened face to face at any branch of a bank by agents for enterprises or by the account holder but, the accounts are strictly savings with no amount required for its opening. Also, where cross-checking of client’s identity cards information is not completed at the point of account opening, withdrawal would be declined.

Chukwu added that for the High-Value Accounts, banks are required to obtain, verify and maintain copies of all the required documents for accounts opening. Account is to be opened at the bank branches by physical presence of the prospective customer and the accounts could be both savings and current.

However, for mobile banking products, the account attracts a maximum transaction limit of N100, 000 and daily limit of N1 million however, such services are subject to the CBN Regulatory Framework for Mobile Payments Services in Nigeria.

He said that banks are required to have robust, effective and efficient anti-money laundering /combating the financial terrorism (AML/CFT) solutions with screening tools in place that will monitor the various thresholds. “All accounts, no matter how low the transaction or the risks, must be subjected to continuous suspicious transactions monitoring by financial institutions which will determine when incremental KYC requirements need to be provided by the customers,” he said.

He said the CBN will ensure the establishment of appropriate processes and procedures for the purpose of monitoring compliance with the regulatory framework. He added that non-compliant financial institutions would be sanctioned in line with the provisions of extant laws and regulations. He said 64.1 per cent representing 56.3 million adult Nigerians do not have access to financial services, hence the policy is also meant to bridge the gap.

First Photo Of Shakira’s Baby Hits The Internet

Posted by: usman on January 25, 2013 in Entertainment 2 Comments

Shakira has finally revealed a glimpse of her new baby boy. And the kid’s got custom kicks already. How old is he? 3 days?

Can you see ‘Milan’ on the shoe?

The Latina songstress whose ‘hips don’t lie’ gave birth to a healthy baby boy on Jan. 22 in Spain with Barcelona Football club star, Gerard Piqué, who took the liberty of tweeting a photo of the child before the paparazzo. Although the flick only shows the baby’s tiny feet rocking Nikes with his name Milan etched in them, it’s a start.

“The name Milan means dear, loving and gracious in Slavic; in Ancient Roman, eager and laborious; and in Sanskrit, unification,” Shakira said in a press release after her baby was born.

On the morning after the birth, Piqué attended his regular soccer training with his teammates at Barca where he received congratulations and praise from his teammates. He revealed that the happy parents both cried when they first saw their son, and that Milan’s mouth resembled his own.

Man Grows New Nose In His Arm

Posted by: usman on January 25, 2013 in  1 Comment

A businessman who lost his nose to skin cancer is having a new one grown in his arm using stem cells, in a pioneering procedure.

Experts at University College London say the new nose will look exactly the same as the man’s original one, and hope it will even have a sense of smell.

The trial marks the first time a full nose has been grown from scratch, and could in future be used as a therapy for patients such as soldiers and car crash victims, the Daily Mail reported.

The first stage of the process was to create a glass mould of the unnamed man’s nose, and to spray it with a honeycomb-like material to form a biological scaffold for new cells to attach themselves to.

Once the scaffold had been built, the glass mould was removed and the biological frame was coated with millions of stem cells which can be coaxed into forming cartilage using chemicals.

At the same time, researchers inserted a small balloon beneath the surface of the man’s arm and gradually inflated it to stretch the skin, making it loose enough to accommodate the new nose.

Professor Alex Seifalian, who is leading the experiment, said the man’s nose has been designed to look exactly like the original – slightly crooked.

He told BBC Focus magazine: “His nose was a little bit bent to the left and we asked if he wanted it straight but he said no, he wanted it exactly the same.”

Police Arrest 2 Kidnap Suspects, Rescue Victim In Imo

Posted by: unilag on January 25, 2013 in Nigerian News Leave a comment

Men of the Imo State Police Command last Wednesday arrested two suspected kidnappers and freed a woman they abducted from Igwuruta, Rivers State, Vanguard reports.

Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, DSP Vitalis Onugu, while confirming this to newsmen yesterday said that “in the early hours of last Wednesday, four armed men stormed the home of Mrs Linus Okechi situated along Farm Road, Igwuruta, Rivers State, when she was about taking her children to school”.

Onugu said the armed hoodlums quickly ordered her into her Honda CRV RAV4 vehicle and took her away.

“They drove from Igwuruta to Imo and on getting to Ihiagwa, Owerri West local government area, policemen on stop and search flagged them down but they refused to stop. Sensing that something was amiss, the policemen pursued them,” the PPRO recounted.

Speaking further, Onugu said that the hoodlums ran into a traffic gridlock and on realizing that the police was closing in on them, jumped out of the vehicle and ran into a nearby bush.

“The police still defied odds and ran after the fleeing gangsters. Their effort paid off as two of the four fleeing kidnappers were arrested,” Onugu said.

“The woman was rescued alive and unhurt, while the two suspects have been transferred to Rivers State Police Command for further investigation and possible prosecution.”

Onugu gave the names of the arrested suspects as Josiah Michael, a motor mechanic, and native of Etche, Rivers State, and Ifeanyi Ezeala from Umuowa, Orlu, Imo State.

Following the arrests, the Commissioner of Police, Mr Baba Adisa Bolanta has appealed to youths to resist every temptation that would lure them into crime, as he warned that the police would not hesitate to deal with anybody or group of persons that preferred to take to crime instead of being useful to themselves and society.

Singer, Goldie Becomes Preacher, Preaches On “Seven Deadly Sins”

Posted by: usman on January 25, 2013 in Entertainment Leave a comment

Singer, Susan Oluwabimpe Harvey popularly called Goldie who was rumoured to be dating Prezzo late last year has turned born again.

According to her, she woke up and a particular nagging though wouldn’t leave her head and she has decided to pour it out.

Read her write up below

“I woke up this morning and this thought wouldn’t leave my head The 7 deadly Sins”.

I don’t know why it kept ringing in my head as I hadn’t watched a movie or even read anything similar to the subject before I went to bed or even in recent times.

However, never being one to ignore the signs, I decided to do a little research and read up on “The 7 deadly sins” and it definitely was an eye opener.

The Seven Deadly Sins: Proverbs 6:16-19. “There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him:

Haughty eyes, (Pride), A lying tongue,(A Liar), Hands that shed innocent blood,(Murderer), A heart that devises wicked schemes, Feet that are quick to rush into evil, A false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community”(Gossip).

The real 7 sins however are; Lust. Gluttony. Greed. Sloth. Wrath. Envy. Pride.

Lust: Doesn’t relate to just anything s*xual, but relates to an obsession with pleasure. A disordered desire for inordinate physical enjoyment. Anyone who can’t get enough of a “good” thing so much that it turns bad is lustful.

Gluttony: Gluttony isn’t just about excessive eating, it pertains to wanting anything in excessive amounts even when you have no use for it. Anyone who wants more than they need or can make use of at any point in time is a glutton.

Greed: Pertains to an obsessive desire for material wealth and Power. A desire to amass any and everything the world has to offer. Anyone who revels in the attainment of wealth and power in order to be better than and/or have control over others is greedy.

Sloth: Sloth is a kind of spiritual laziness as opposed to mere physical fatigue. It means not making it a priority to do what we should, or change what we should in ourselves. Some people might call it apathy, which means a lack of feeling. An example of sloth is someone avoiding to do the right thing due to a lack of personal motivation.

Wrath: Wrath or anger is an emotion that makes us want do hostile things to each other. It isn’t the “anger” itself that is the sin, but the actions it leads us to should we allow it to. An example of an action anger can cause is vengeance.

Envy: Envy is the love of what other people possess, rather than what is Good, Beautiful and True. Anyone who covets what people around him/her have and wishes it was theirs is envious.

Pride: Pride is actually at the root of all sin. That is why it is listed first and that’s why I’m talking about it last. This is because pride is first and foremost inherent in all sin. Proud people are those that look condescendingly on others. They look at others as inferior in an arrogant way and see themselves as better than everyone else.
It is pride that makes you envious. It is pride that makes you angry. It is pride that makes you greedy. Pride is the root cause of lust! Of gluttony! and if you look closely, of sloth too. Laziness comes out of believing,you’re too good to do something or an action is beneath you, therefore you do nothing.
In conclusion, after my research I believe that if we all let go of pride, a lot of wrongs in the world would turn right.

CNN Interview: Jonathan Lacks Understanding – Sani

Posted by: usman on January 25, 2013 in Nigerian News 1 Comment

President Goodluck Jonathan’s recent interview with the Cable News Network’s Christiane  Amanpour, Wednesday night, has continued to generate reactions from all and sundry particularly, his comment that Boko Haram was not caused by poverty or years of misrule.

Jonathan was quoted as saying, “The sect was not born out of misrule, definitely not; sometimes people feel it is a result of poverty, but no. Boko Haram is a local terror group and that is why we call on the rest of the World to help us.”

In his reaction, the Executive Director of Civil Rights Congress, Mallam Shehu Sani, faulted Jonathan’s assertion that the Boko Haram insurgency was not a product of misrule and poverty.

Sani said the President’s assertion demonstrated his lack of understanding of the issue.

Sani in a telephone interview said, “What we should understand clearly is that the President is completely lacking in knowledge and grasp of the situation on the ground.

“And one comment after another, he has completely exposed his ignorance about the root causes and solution to the Boko Haram violence.

“The emergence and sustenance of the Boko Haram violence is remotely connected to the years of destruction, injustice and iniquity in the northern part of Nigeria.

“The major foot soldiers of the group are clearly people who are from the lower ladder of the society.

“It is not possible to find people who are economically comfortable engaging in violence.”

When asked about the privileged background of the underwear bomber, Abdulmutallab, Sani said, “That is Mutallab as an individual but this is a group. Mutallab acted as an individual; he acted alone.

“He enjoyed privileges and got connected to a foreign terrorist group, what we are talking about is a homegrown terrorist group.

“I am sure those who are being arrested are foot soldiers only; you don’t see people from the middle class or the upper class.”