Saturday 21 July 2012

VICTIMS OF COLORADO BATMAN PREMIERE SHOOTING MOURNED

A candlelit vigil has been held in Aurora, Colorado,
as the US begins to mourn the people killed by a
gunman at a showing of the new Batman film, the
Dark Knight Rises.
US President Barack Obama ordered flags flown at
half mast.
A gunman wearing a full
suit of tactical body
armor, a helmet and a
gas mask opened fire at
a packed midnight
showing of the Dark
Knight Rises in a Denver
suburb on Friday, killing
12 people after setting
off two smoke bombs in
the dark theater.
Armed with an assault
rifle, a shotgun and a
pistol, the black-clad
gunman wounded 58
others in the shooting rampage at at a mall in
Aurora, turning the movie screening into a chaotic
scene of dead or bleeding victims, horrified
screams and pleas for help, witnesses said.
Officers who arrived on scene within 90 seconds of
the first emergency calls quickly took
suspect James Eagan Holmes, 24, into custody in a
parking lot behind the cinema, where he
surrendered without a fight, Aurora Police Chief
Dan Oates said.
He will appear at Arapahoe County District Court,
in nearby Centennial, Colorado, on Monday at
09:30 local time (15:30 GMT).
Hundreds of mourners gathered in Aurora for the
vigil.
Candles and flowers were left on the lawn. One
letter read: "To all the innocent souls… This is for
you. We will never forget. This is Aurora."
At the Queen of Peace Roman Catholic church,
Denver Archbishop Samuel Aquila told mourners:
"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be
comforted. The heart of our Father is stronger than
the bullets that killed 12 people."
In a briefing at the end of the day in Colorado, an
emotional Governor John Hickenlooper confirmed
that the casualty figure had been revised down
one, to 70 people killed or injured.
Thirty people remained in hospital, Mr
Hickenlooper said, with 11 of those in a critical
condition.
"It's an act that defies description. Everyone I've
talked to all day is filled with an anger that can't
find focus," he said.








-BBC

MRI SCAN SHOCKING REVELATION

Eighteen members of the Nigerian U-17 team have
failed the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) test
conducted to verify their ages.
The affected players were screened out during the
Grade 1 test ordered by FIFA for all the countries that
will participate in CAF/FIFA age grade football
competitions.
The Media Officer of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF)
, Demola Olajire, confirmed the development on
Friday, adding that the over-age players had been
ordered out of the camp.
"The NFF conducted MRI tests for the players
presented to us by the coaches as U-17. The players
failed our MRI test and they are out of the Golden
Eaglets team," he said.
"So, we are looking for new players now, but
Nigerians should note that we are not the parents of
these players."
It will be recalled that Nigeria has, in the past, faced
many accusations of fielding over-age players in age-
grade competitions.
Reacting to the latest scandal, former coach of the
Flying Eagles, Tunde Disu, advised Coach Manu
Garba and his assistants to go back to schools to
select new players ahead of their Africa U-17
qualifying series, which kicks off in September.
"I don't see this incident as a disgrace; rather it's a
wake-up call. Nigeria still has time to amend the
situation," he said.
"Let the coaches go to the academies and schools to
scout for players who are within the age limit. I think
the MRI test introduced by FIFA will force Nigeria and
other African countries to go back to the grassroots
to pick true U-17 players."











DailyPost

Thursday 19 July 2012

Suspended Universities to Continue Operation but can't Admit New Students- NUC

The National University Commission (NUC)
has claimed that the seven suspended
private institutions will continue operations,
but have been banned from admitting new
students.
The deputy executive secretary of
the commission, Mr Akinbode Agbaoye made the
clarification in reaction to a petition filed by Lead
City University at the hearing called by House of
Representatives on Wednesday.
At the resumed public hearing of the House
Committee on Public Petitions, Mr Agbaoye
explained that the NUC has cleared two of the
suspended universities after they produced the
required documents.
He added that the NUC will embark on forensic
audit of the remaining institutions on the 19th of
July.
The body regulating the activities of tertiary
institutions in Nigeria, suspended the operational
licenses of seven private universities for allegedly
violating its guidelines in physical facilities and
academic programmes.
In the charged atmosphere during the hearing, the
chairman of the House Committee on Public
Petitions, Representative Uzo Azubuike sought to
know why the regulatory body did not embark on
the forensic audit to resolve issues, before
announcing a full suspension of the schools
operational licence.
The NUC official explained that announcing the
suspension of the seven private universities did
not imply that the schools would be shut down.
The petitioner, Lead City University however was
far from satisfied with the explanation especially
with the de-accreditation of the law faculty of the
private institution.
Mr Agbaoye however responded that the school's
law faculty remain unaccredited as he explained
that the initial accreditation was erroneously
approved.
The NUC noted that it is not interested in killing
any university but described the petitioners as
recalcitrant and a serial offender.
It also accused Lead City University of running post
graduate programmes without approval.
As the House of Representatives has lined-up the
issue to be debated, students of the affected
universities are hoping that the dispute will be
quickly resolved by the federal lawmakers.













Channels

Wednesday 18 July 2012

GOV FASHOLA APPREHENDS TWO MILITARY OFFICERS ON BRT LANE



Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, Tuesday arrested two top military officers who drove on the dedicated Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lane, expressing dismay that those who should show the highest form of discipline and professionalism were the ones violating the BRT regulation.

The two military officers, who were accosted on the BRT lane at the Outer Marina in Central Lagos, are Colonel Ki Yusuf who drove in an Army Green Peugeot 406 with registration number BO1 – 150 NA and Staff Sergeant Adeomi A.J. who drove in a black Toyota Camry.

Realizing that the game was up, Colonel Yusuf came down from his car, saluted severally and kept muttering “I am sorry, very, very sorry”, with the Governor enquiring why, as a senior military officer, Yusuf would choose to break the law instead of preserving it.

The arrest drew the attention of commuters and other passers-by who commended the Governor for showing good leadership and expressed joy that the senior military officers got caught in the act at last.

Fielding questions from newsmen after the incident, Governor Fashola described as very unfortunate the fact that those who ought to stand behind in defence of the democratic values of the nation are the ones violating the law.

Governor Fashola, who noted that the highest levels of the Military Command have expressed continuously their commitment to supporting democracy and to subjecting themselves and their officers to the laws of the country, declared, “those officers that I caught today are a very bad example for the military.”

The Governor said he had already made a representation to the superiors of the culprits, expressing optimism that they would be sanctioned appropriately.

He, however, added: “but it signifies my commitment and the commitment of the Lagos State Government that all those who will not comply with our laws should leave our state. We will not back down.

“There is a zero tolerance for lawlessness. There is zero tolerance for breach of our regulations and we are going to do more of this. We are going to take control over our traffic. We cannot build our way out of traffic congestion; our responsibility is to manage traffic and manage congestion.”

Insisting that people must behave themselves, Governor Fashola declared: “I don’t use the BRT lane, I sit down in traffic and I expect everyone who wants to drive his car to do the same. The alternative is to use the bus.

“The bus is for those who cannot afford to buy cars. They have the right also to use the road and we cannot encroach on that lane which we have reserved for them. This is democratisation of the road and I will defend it.”













PMNews

MARRIED OLYMPIC COUPLE CANT STAY IN SAME ROOM



Marriage has its ups and its downs, but the downs don’t usually include being unable to sleep together.
Sunday, Nick Green, chef de mission of the Australian Olympic Committee, told Australian Olympic shooters Russell and Lauryn Mark via email that they would not be able to room together in the Olympic Village during this month’s London Games.
The husband and wife Olympians are calling the mandate stupid and believe it was set off by Russell’s pro-sleeping pill stance and Lauryn’s provocative photo shoot in the latest issue of The Zoo, an Australian magazine geared towards the fellows.









Vanguard

Monday 16 July 2012

ARIK AIR LOSES WING!

Two days after Arik's Aircraft was
involved in a near mishap on a flight from Enugu-
Abuja, another incident involving one of the fleet's
aircraft has occured in Jos, Plateau State. The aircraft
with registration number 5NMJI on a routine flight to
Lagos,Sunday, brushed the wing of a
stationary Nigerian Air Force C-130 (NAF 917) at the
Yakubu Gowon Airport, Heipang Jos.
This was made known by Wing Commander A.
Makun, who signed a release on behalf of the
Director of Public Relations and Information of the
Nigerian Airforce, said the incident happened at
about 1345hrs.
"The accident occurred when the Arik aircraft was
taxiing at the airport tarmac in preparation for take-
off. The tank 1 wing tip of the NAF C-130 was
damaged while the wing of the Arik aircraft was
dismembered and hung on the NAF aircraft.
"There was no casualty recorded during the incident,
however, the 2 aircraft had to abort their missions.
The NAF C-130 was in Jos to airlift students of the Air
Force Military School and Air Force Girls Military
School," he said.
According to him, a joint investigation by the
Nigerian Air Force and Arik Airline management has
commenced.
Both incident are coming on the heels of the release
of the preliminary investigations by Accident
Investigation Bureau AIB into the crash of Dana Air at
Iju Ishaga Lagos State -which linked the crash of the
aircraft to the failure of two engines as it approached
runway.










CitizensPlatform

Sunday 15 July 2012

ACN'S OSHIOMOLE TO BE DECLARED WINNER OF EDO GUBERNATORIAL ELECTION

As Nigerians await the announcement of the
yesterday Edo State Governorship election result,
there were indications that the incumbent Governor,
Adams Oshiomhole may retain his seat.
Previous results counted at various polling units
shown that the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN)
governorship candidate is leading with wide
merging.
Not only this, most of his opposition party chieftains
were reported to have been floor at their various
polling units by Oshimohole.
For instance, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and
its candidate, Major General Charles Airhiavbere (rtd)
appeared to have lost not only overall, he was
trounced in his senatorial district of Edo South –
where Oshiomhole got a total of 1230 votes as
against the paltry 158 for the retired army officer in
results announced by the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) for one of the polling
units.
As at midnight, the PDP appeared to be doing well in
two local governments in Edo Central senatorial
district – namely Esan North East and Esan West –
where the party was trailing slightly behind the ACN.
Emerging trends point to a close finish in tne two
areas.
In two of the local governments where INEC had
declared official results, ACN coasted home to victory
with huge margins. In Egor LGA, the party recorded
50,794 votes as against, 3,536 for PDP and 282 votes
for the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in figures
certified by the collation officer, Dr. Tony Monye-
Emina.
Similarly, in Etsako Central LGA, Oshiomhole's ACN
polled in 16,834 votes compared to the PDP's 5,113
and 42 votes for ANPP in results announced by the
Collation Officer, Prof. Mike Orherua.
The pattern was the same in the 14 other local
governments namely – Akoko Edo, Esan Central,
Esan South-East, Etsako East, Etsako West, Igueben,
Ikpoba-Okha, Oredo, Orhiomwon, Ovia North-East,
Ovia South-West, Owan East, Owan West and
Uhunwode.
Airhiavbere's main backers – Chief TonyAnenih, Chief
Mike Oghiadomhe (Chief of Staff to the President),
and Chief Gabriel Igbinedion – fared no better in their
hitherto secured backyards. They could not deliver
their wards.
Father of former Governor of Edo State, Chief Gabriel
Igbinedion, the Esama of Benin voted at polling unit
1 in Ward 2 in Oredo but the PDP could only muster
36 votes in units 1 and 2while the ACN got 319.
Some other results are: Oredo Ward 2, Unit 28- ACN
220, PDP 43; Unit 4- ACN 107, PDP 19;Unit 23 -ACN
96, PDP 17; Unit 19- ACN 189, PDP 23; Unit 15- ACN
136 , PDP 23;Ward12, Oredo Units 1- 10- ACN 1446,
PDP 217.
Reports from Uromi, home town of Chief Anenih said
the PDP performed woefully there. A PDP stalwart
was almost lynched by angry voters at former George
Idah Primary School, Oredo 2 for allegedly smuggling
into the area a stuffed ballot box.
The ACN also did well in Uselu Ward 1, Unit 10, in
Egor Local Government Area (LGA), polling 65 votes
as against PDP's 6.
In EtsakoEast LGA, ACN polled 400 votes in Unit 01,
Ward 10, while PDP got 29. In Unit 02, ACN polled
358 votes as against PDP's 45. In Unit 03, ACN got
381, trailed by PDP, which 14.
In Unit04, ACN polled 98 votes as against PDP's 12.
In Unit 05, ACN won with 394 votes as against PDP's
24.
In Unit06, ACN scored 197; PDP got 11 votes. In Unit
07, ACN scored 157 while PDP got20. In Unit 08, ACN
scored 392 votes while PDP got 24.
Despite initial problems of late accreditation and
delayed arrival of electoral materials at polling
stations, voting was peaceful in most parts of the
state.
The Esama of Benin Kingdom, Chief Gabriel
Igbinedion, who voted at 12.49pm at the Staff
Training Centre, Ward 12, GRA, Benin expressed
"satisfaction" with the exercise.









DailyPost

 
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