BlackBox Nigeria

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Results coming in from across the country has it that House of Representatives Speaker, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal has emerged as the guber candidate of the party in the state. He reportedly polled 3,466 votes to be declared winner of the primaries.

In neighbouring Kaduna state, reports say counting has started while Mallam Nasir El-rufai is expected to dust off all opposition to emerge winner.

In Ogun and Oyo states, incumbent Governors Ibikunle Amosu and Abiola Ajimobi also emerged as the APC candidates for next year election respectively. While Amosu went unopposed, Ajimobi had to contend with other aspirants including Dr. Ayobami Lam-Adesina who is the son of former Governor Lam Adesina.

In Rivers, it was also a walk over for the consensus candidate Hon. Perterside.

The Lagos result is expected to be known in the early hours of tomorrow but reports say Akinwunmi Ambode has an early lead while Kadiri Hamzat trails behind!
More coming soon...

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The winner of the prestigious Most Beautiful Girl in Lasu has just been announced. She is Idowu Tomisin, a 200 level student of History and International Relations in the Faculty of Arts.

She was crowned moments ago after she emerged top of the other contestants.

More details coming later

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There was pandemonium Tuesday night in Amukoko area of Lagos State, as hoodlums battling for supremacy engaged themselves in a bloody clash, which left two people dead.

Vanguard gathered that the fracas, which broke out few hours after the All Progressives Congress, APC, primaries for House of Representatives, held at the Ajeromi Ifelodun Local Council Development Area, Constituency I, left several others with severe injuries.
An eyewitness said that some vehicles parked on Mosajo Street, Alaba-Oro Road and Ijora areas were damaged as the gun-toting hoodlums, who were members of Apasa Boys and Alaba Boys, shot indiscriminately.

According to sources, the latest clash between the gangs had been brewing for a while.
It was gathered that the heavy presence of security men at the primaries forced the combatants to put the fight on hold till night time, when they noticed less police presence on the streets and launched the attack against each other.
Repeated clashes between the gangs have left scores killed, many others injured, with property worth millions destroyed.

Meanwhile, women from various parts of Amukoko, Ijora and Ajegunle areas, yesterday, took to the street naked to protest the continuous violence that have rocked the areas in recent times.
They barricaded roads linking to Mosajo and Ijora areas, demanding a stop to the activities of the rampaging hoodlums.‎

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The police in Lagos are battling to find a 13-year-old girl, Chikwuo Ezennia, who reportedly fled her house with a yet-to-be-identified man, suspected to be her lover.

PUNCH Metro learnt that Ezennia, who is in Basic 4, had come to Lagos from Nneni village in the Anaocha Local Government Area of Anambra State to spend her holiday with her relatives.

Our correspondent gathered that the girl, however, fled her relatives' apartment on Ishola Bello Close, Iyalla Street, Alausa, Lagos, in the afternoon of Thursday, November 20, when the family had gone out.

It was gathered that when the girl's aunt, Mrs. Ambrose Okolo, and her husband returned from work at about 6pm, Ezennia was nowhere to be found.

Our correspondent gathered that during the initial search for her, some neighbours told the Okolos that they saw the teenager walking away with a man in the afternoon.

Ezennia was said to have told the neighbours that her aunt maltreated her and had travelled away for a week. Hence, she would be staying with a friend during that period.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the family reported the matter at the Alausa Police Division the following day. It was gathered that the police invited some persons, who allegedly saw the girl, for interrogation.

Our correspondent gathered that Ezennia, who speaks only Igbo fluently, was supposed to return to her village by the end of December. It was further learnt that Ezennia had a record of fleeing home to stay with men when she was in the village in Anambra.

When PUNCH Metro visited the apartment on Tuesday, Okolo, who is a self-employed chartered accountant, said the family was anxious to know the supposed lover, who had been shielding the girl, adding that all efforts to locate her had proved unsuccessful.

She said, "Ezennia is just 13, but she looks big enough to be called a man's wife. If you see her, you will think she is a lady. She just came from the village to spend some time with us and she is supposed to go back this December. But since that Thursday, we have yet to find her.

"The reason I suspect she may be with a lover is because of some recent developments. Just a week before that incident, I travelled to Benue for a programme, and she was alone with my children in the house. There is a phone that my children use which contains only my number and my husband's.

"But when she fled home and we started the search, I picked up the phone and to my surprise, I saw a string of strange numbers.

"The children said Ezennia used the phone when I travelled.

"I wondered who she might have been calling since she is new in Lagos."

PUNCH Metro learnt that calls and text messages sent to the numbers by the family since the day of the incident had not been replied to.

Efforts by our correspondent to obtain Ezennia's photograph were unsuccessful as the teenager had yet to take any since she arrived in Lagos.

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Kenneth Nwosu, confirmed the incident.

He said Ezennia was still on the police's list of missing persons.

"If seen, the public should contact Alausa Police Station," he added.‎

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An American school teacher was stabbed to death in a public restroom at a mall by a suspect wearing the traditional black robe, full-face veil and gloves commonly worn by local women throughout the Arab Gulf region, local police said Tuesday.

According to CBS News, a statement posted on the Abu Dhabi Interior Ministry's website said the victim was stabbed on Monday with a sharp tool that has been confiscated by police. The statement said the American woman was 37 years old. Her name has not been made public.

The victim had 11-year-old twins who are now in the custody of police until their father, who is the victim's ex-husband, arrives from abroad.

Col. Rashid Borshid, head of the Criminal Investigation Department, said the attacker remains at large. He said police are investigating possible motives and the gender of the attacker.

He said a fight broke out between the victim and the attacker in the women's restroom just before the stabbing, which took place on the upscale Reem Island in Abu Dhabi.

"The Abu Dhabi Police will spare no effort in order to unveil this heinous crime and bring the culprit to justice," he was quoted as saying in the statement.

The US Embassy in the United Arab Emirates said they are aware of the incident that took place on December 1 and are in contact with Emirati authorities. The embassy said it stands ready to offer all possible consular services.

The UAE is a Western-allied, seven-state federation that includes the glitzy commercial hub of Dubai and the oil-rich capital of Abu Dhabi. It is home to a sizable Western population where foreigners outnumber Emirati citizens.

The UAE prides itself on being a safe haven in the turbulent Middle East. It is part of the US-led coalition conducting airstrikes against Islamic State of Iraq and Syria fighters in Iraq and Syria.

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At least, nine persons were feared dead and scores injured as gunmen, suspected to be Fulani insurgents, on Tuesday evening launched an attack on Ashige community of Lafia East Development Area of Nasarawa State.

The incident, according to eyewitness' account, occurred at 5pm when the AK 47-wielding Fulani gunmen attacked farmers who were returning home after laying ambush for them around River Ashangwa.

Speaking to our correspondent in Lafia, one of those who conveyed the corpses of their kinsmen to the Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital, Lafia, Mr. Gimba Audu, explained that his younger brother was one of those attacked by the gunmen.

He said he was currently receiving treatment in an undisclosed hospital in Lafia, after sustaining a gunshot injury on the head during the attack.

Also speaking, one of the survivors, Mr. Michael Danladi, said,"Fulani men attacked us on our way back from the farm at about 5pm, shooting at us sporadically. They killed nine instantly."

According to him, nine other people sustained varying degrees of injury and have been taken to private hospitals in Lafia and Ashige for treatment. He added that five persons were still unaccounted for.

He said that the invasion took place four kilometres from Ashige town. He therefore called on Governor Tanko Al-Makura to provide security in the area, particularly as it presently played host to internally displaced persons from Alawagana, Assakio and other adjoining villages ravaged by the recent attacks in the state.

The councillor representing Ashige/Ugah Ward in the Lafia Local Government Area, Juliana Dauda, who hails from the area, told our correspondent that she was alerted to the unfortunate incident on Wednesday morning and upon visiting DASH, counted nine dead bodies.

She said, "After I was informed this morning, I went to the specialist hospital and counted nine dead bodies. As I am talking to you, the matter has been reported to the Police who told us they are on top of the situation."

Confirming the incident to our correspondent in Lafia, the Police Public Relations Officer, Nasarawa State Command, DSP Ugochukwu Theodore, stated that the information regarding the incident was still sketchy as of the time of filing this report.

He assured the people that the police would find out the cause of the incident.‎

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The Nigerian Prison Service (NPS) yesterday said it has recaptured 193 prisoners that escaped during the Ekiti prison break of last week, even as the incidence is attributed to paucity of equipment to quell such invasion.

A statement from the NPS Public Relations Officer Ope Fatinikun said the joint efforts by the Police, other security agencies and the service have resulted in the capture of 193 inmates out of the 435 inmates that were locked up.

In an appeal to the neighbouring states, Fatinikun said "especially nearest communities and neighbouring states of Ekiti, Ondo, Edo, Osun, Kogi and Kwara states to be vigilant and watch out for suspicious individuals and report them to the nearest Prisons or Police stations".

A source said with the approach of the Yuletide season, there is every likelihood that some of the escapee prisoners yet to be recaptured, would be hiding around these communities, so it is important that Nigerian living around these paces should know that some criminals are on the prowl and perhaps habitating in their communities, so the message is for people to watch out for such suspicious character," he said.‎

A MIXED bag of surprises, suggestive of crisis and lost of confidence in the process, may herald today's governorship primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos.
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  First, 11 of the aspirants, under the aegis of Lagos Governorship Aspirants 2014, want a postponement of the primaries billed to commence at the Onikan Stadium by 9.00am even as the party Headquarters noted that the scheduled primary would go on as planned.

  Among the concerns raised is that the "conceived indirect primaries (as constituted) could lead to agitation, tension and litigation and may ultimately deprive the party from presenting a valid candidate for the gubernatorial election in 2015."

  They also referred to a suit filed on Tuesday by two party members in Lagos against the party, the INEC and all the governorship aspirants.

  Instead, they canvassed direct primaries and consensus-building before the primaries could hold within the stipulated timeframe.

  The aspirants at the meeting, who also appended their signatures to the letter, include: Olanrewaju Ope, Ganiyu Olanrewaju Solomon, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, Tayo Akinmade Ayinde, Dr. Leke Pitan and Kadri Obafemi Hamzat.

  Others are: Dr. Tola Kasali, Olasupo Shasore, Adekunle Disu, Adetokunbo Tobun Agbesanwa and Adetokunbo Williams.

  Conspicuously absent from the meeting was Akinwunmi Ambode.

  Their letter was addressed to the APC National Chairman, the National Legal Adviser, National Secretary, National Organising Secretary, the National Leader and the Chairman of the APC in Lagos State. (See text of the letter below)

  However, the APC has decided to go ahead with the primary election.

  Second, the aspirants are protesting  that the electors should come only from 20 local government council areas recognised by the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

  However, there are 37 other councils, designated development area councils, created via an enactment of the State House of Assembly.

  Thus, there are technically 57 local government councils, where votes had taken place during the last local government elections in the state, and elected council chairmen and councilors are in place.

  Third, the aggrieved members of the party have gone to court, to stop the primaries being held in the said additional 37 local government development area councils.

  The applicants want the request to be heard expeditiously, but this may not happen until after the primaries.

  Fourth, there is alleged threat of boycott of the primaries by the aggrieved aspirants and their supporters.

  If this happens, the boycotters would have unwittingly left the field for probably only one aspirant —  Ambode, who did not attend the meeting of the aspirants, to pick the coveted party ticket.

  Fifth, there is palpable fear, based on alleged intelligence report, that violence may mar the primaries, on the instigation of some of the aspirants, "who are bent on stopping the group of the grandmaster of Lagos politics."

  The fingered aspirants are alleged to be from parts of the state that are prone to perennial breach of public peace and order.

  A foretaste of what could happen was enacted on Tuesday at the Assembly primaries in Arena in the Ebute-Metta, Lagos Mainland Constituency I and Ojokoro in Ifako/Ijaiye Constituency.

  Several lives were reportedly lost following the announcement of results of the exercise.

  The protests were allegedly triggered "by the way and manner the exercise was conducted by party officials."

  However, today's primaries organisers are not leaving anything to chance, as security is fully mobilised for the primaries that will take place at the Onikan Stadium.

  According to the state APC chairman, Chief Henry Oladele Ajomale, the primaries ordinarily would hold at the party headquarters, going by the guidelines, but  the Lagos chapter applied to the national secretariat for a change of venue for convenience sake.

  In granting the waiver, "the National Secretariat, in a letter dated  December 1, 2014, wrote inter-alia: 'We refer to your letter dated  November 28,  2014 in respect of the above mentioned subject and wish to convey approval for the use of Onikan Stadium, as the venue of the governorship primaries,'" Ajomale said yesterday in a statement.

  Consequently, the leadership of the party informed the delegates that accreditation would start by 9.00am while voting would kick off by noon.

  Over 3,000 delegates are expected at the venue for the exercise, with "all logistics put in place, "including adequate security and traffic management for a hitch-free exercise," Ajomale said.

  In the interim, investigation reveals that the primaries may be a one-way affair, as the national leader of the APC and former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, "has thrown his full weight behind the candidature of Ambode," an insider said yesterday .

 The  source stated that the contest was "a battle between the camp that has stature (reference to Governor Fashola's group) and a bloc that has stature and structure (indicative of the Tinubu circle)."

  It was gathered that the Tinubu camp had wrapped up over 80 per cent of the primary voters as at yesterday, with the possibility of the number moving up to 95 per cent at the stroke of voting today.

  The results of the House of Assembly primaries held on Tuesday are indicative of the outcome of the governorship primaries.

  Some incumbent members of the House of Assembly lost the chance to return to office, losing to wards of stalwarts and loyalists of Tinubu.

  For example, Mr. Oladimeji Ajomale, son of the Lagos APC chairman, Chief Ajomale, defeated a sitting lawmaker, Mrs. Omowunmi Olatunji-Edet to pick the ticket for the Oshodi/Isolo Constituency.

  In Ikeja Constituency II, currently represented by the House Speaker, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, Mr. Folajinmi Jubril, son of the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, defeated a hip-hop artiste, Kenny St. Brown and two others to become the party candidate. 

  Some high-profile incumbent lawmakers that lost their seats are: the House Majority Leader, Adebayo Adeyeye and the Chief Whip, Razak Balogun; Ipoola Omisoro; and Kabiru Lawal, who was defeated by Nollywood artiste, Desmond Elliot.

 The aggrieved aspirants' letter

   In the letter written to the APC's National Chairman, John Odigie  -Oyegun, the aspirants disclosed that they affirmed the supremacy of the party and its constitution.

  However, they brought attention to the "need for the party to be gravely concerned and reserve further action with respect to the recently released guidelines for the upcoming party primaries in Lagos State and the legality of the indirect primaries, as it relates to Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) regulations 2014, the Electoral Act 2010, as amended and APC constitution."

  The aspirants evaluated the ward congress held earlier based on the 20 local government areas and 37 local council development areas (LCDAs), noting that the party constitution states that, "the local governments shall be defined as listed in the 1999 Constitution, which for Lagos was listed as 20."

  They raised concerns that the "conceived indirect primaries, as constituted, could lead to agitation, tension and litigation and may ultimately deprive the party from presenting a valid candidate for the gubernatorial election in 2015."

  They reflected on the suit filed on Tuesday by two party members in Lagos against the party, INEC and all the governorship aspirants.

 They posited that both the direct primaries and consensus-building could be concluded within the stipulated INEC timetable frame.

  However, the Publicity Secretary of the party in the state, Mr. Joe Igbokwe, told The Guardian yesterday that, "we are going ahead as planned."

  According to him: "The indirect election will take place at Onikan, as scheduled.

 Everything has been put in place to ensure a hitch-free exercise. I do not think it is fair for some aspirants to want the party to change the rules when the exercise is only hours away.

 They ought to have been busy, looking for delegates rather than come up with these excuses."

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A 27-year-old man, Austin Okonkwo, has been remanded in prison custody by an Evboriaria Chief Magistrate's Court sitting in Ikpoba-Okha, Edo State, for allegedly raping an 11-year-old Down Syndrome girl.
The accused, who was described with publishable words when his victim was presented in the court, pleaded not guilty to the one-count charge preferred against him.
Police Prosecutor, Aigbedion Obakpolor, informed the court that the offence was committed on November 29.

When the case was mentioned, Chief Magistrate Frank Idiake, who refused the bail application, said rape cases were on the increase.
A relative of the victim, who pleaded anonymity after the court sitting, said the accused took the girl to his room where the act was committed.
The relative said the victim cried of pains in her private part, which led to the arrest of the accused.
The case was adjourned to January 21, 2015 for continuation of trial.

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PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday told senators behind the Jonathan-Must-Go impeachment project that there were issues of national importance that needed their attention rather than the plot against him.

Jonathan's advice was contained in a reaction by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, who fired back at the senators said to be compiling signatures and impeachable offences against the President.

"It is our view that there are at present, serious fundamental issues of national importance such as winning the war against terrorism and stabilising the economy in the face of dwindling oil revenue which require the full attention, commitment and swift action of distinguished members of the Senate," Okupe said.

Arrowheads of the impeachment plot against Jonathan in the Senate on Tuesday told journalists in Abuja that 65 senators had already signed to remove the President and that they would formally present a request to commence the impeachment proceedings on December 16.

The senators said they would have tabled their request this week but for the adjournment in the Senate. The upper federal legislative chamber had suspended plenary till December 16 for members to participate in the ongoing primaries of the parties.‎