Ekiti Stands Still As Governor Fayemi, Others Launch APC

Ado-Ekiti, the capital of Ekiti State, stood still for several hours yesterday, as party faithful, interest groups and members of the public welcomed the newly registered mega- party, the All Progressives Congress, APC.

The flag of the new party was launched and hoisted amidst pomp and pageantry with the Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, calling on Nigerians to embrace the APC, which he said was put together to rescue the country from bad governance, brigandage and systemic failure, which he said the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, represents.

Dr. Fayemi lowered the flag of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN and hoisted that of the APC at the Governor’s Office and later at the headquarters of his campaign office in Ado-Ekiti.
The state APC chairman, Chief Olajide Awe, performed the same ritual at the state secretariat of the party at Ajilosun area of Ado-Ekiti shortly after Governor Fayemi arrived from his office to the warm embrace of enthusiastic party members.

Ekiti State governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, assured that the newly registered APC would not discriminate against new comers who are ready to embrace the party.
Meantime, as the new party was inaugurated in the state, members of Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, a party in the alliance, stayed off from the rally.
Members of the CPC, led by its chairman, Mr. Ajayi Babatunde, were at their Basiri office while the rally was on.

Speaking with newsmen over the refusal of his members to join in the rally, Babatunde said leadership of the defunct ACN refused to carry them along.

The CPC said officials of the ACN had frustrated several moves for them to meet where they were expected to put a final seal to their merger in the state.

Pastor Who Operates With A Herbalist Caught In The Act

Ajuwa, a town in Ikenne local government area of Ogun State is known for its agrarian nature. But some of the people seem to have, lately, abandoned agriculture for the more "lucrative" business.

And it is all about pipeline vandalisation. They burst the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation's (NNPC) pipelines passing through their village to steal fuel which they sell.

Vanguard gathered that, apart from Arepo village in Obafemi-Owode local government area of Ogun State, where some vandals lost their lives while scooping fuel, the next hot spot for black market Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, is Ajuwa.

Before security men raided the NNPC right of way in the village, vandalisation was said to have been a thriving activity in the area. Ajuwa is two kilometers away from the old Ogere toll gate on Lagos-Ibadan expressway and sandwiched by Ogere Water Corporation and the popular Siun market .

The well organised vandals built a wooden bridge across the river in the bush through which they get to the 'depot' to steal fuel. Hundreds of Jerry cans filled with stolen fuel and cars loaded with Jerry cans were seen along the road when Vanguard visited the village. There was a police check point nearby.

Many travellers expressed shock when news filtered in that the vandals made use of the police 'parking space' in the night in the process of carrying out their operations.

It was gathered that pipeline vandalisation had been on going in the area for a long time before security men raided the village and arrested 28 suspected oil thieves who were mostly youths and artisans.

A popular pastor, his herbalist accomplice, and a young woman who claimed to have just been divorced by her former husband were among the suspects. The raid, executed by men of Nigerian Army from 35 Artillery Brigade, Alamala, Abeokuta and those of Nigerian Security and Civil Defence in Ogun State, followed a tip-off by some of the villagers.

28 persons were arrested while seven assorted vehicles, 363 Jerry cans, a hose as well as some substances believed to be charms were part of the items recovered.

Meanwhile, some of the suspects caused a stir when they mentioned one Sergeant Adamu, believed to be attached to a police station in Ogere, as one of their sponsors. A suspects who gave his name as Monday Bitrus, 20, from Katsina State, said at least five vandals were working for Adamu. He claimed to have joined the business two months ago.

Another suspect, Ibrahim Wasiu, 22, said, "Before my arrest, I could count five to six policemen who were working with us".

From what OluFamous.Com gathered, the pastor is very popular in the area and his action is now the talk of the town, especially among his loyal members versus those who weren't attending his church.

"I can never marry an actor..thats not possible"-Tonto Dikeh

Are you too strong to fall in love?

I am not too strong to fall in love; I am human and I have feelings too. I don't think there is any woman on earth that has not experienced love in one form or the other.
Is it possible for you to marry an actor?
That's not possible; I can never be caught doing that. I can't marry an actor.
Do you consider yourself a good role model?
I am a roe model to those who see me as one; I am sure Nigerians out there see and read all these things and they laugh. I am sure there are people out there who appreciate what I do as an actress and hope to someday achieve what I have achieved as a thespian.
For how long will your career continue to thrive on controversy?
My career thrives on everything; my career thrives on all the ups and downs that I have been faced with. But most especially, the controversies have made me stronger and wiser.
What's your take on the fact that most people believe that you are weird and wild?
I don't care about them because they don't care about me; everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion. I live my life the way I want to. People should also remember that I am human and no one is perfect.
Culled from The Nation

‘Dead’ Man Wakes Up, Grabs Bottle Of Water At Own Funeral In China

Onlookers were shocked when a man, who was said to be dead, suddenly got up and grabbed a bottle of water.

The soft drink vendor in China faked his own death in order to sue the government after an altercation with government employees.

But his cover was blown when he became too hot in the Hubei Province, in central China. The heat was too much for him to bear.

The incident occurred around 4:00 pm, when more than 10 men held the "corpse" on a gurney covered with a white sheet near the Jianghan Road subway station in the provincial capital of Wuhan.

The men protested and claimed that the government workers had beaten the vendor to death and they demanded tens of thousands of yuan in compensation.

More than 300 people gathered at the scene, and 80 police officers were sent to the scene to maintain order.

After two hours of protest, the "dead" man suddenly stood up, grabbed a bottle of water and drank it before saying: "It's too hot. I cannot take it anymore."

According to Human Rights Watch, many Chinese cities employ non-criminal law enforcement personnel called chengguan who work independently from police. Their job is to monitor citizens compliance with sanitation, traffic, and environmental laws.

The group is not very popular with the Chinese public after a series of high-profile violent incidents involving chengguan members. In the latest incident, six chengguan members were detained after a fruit seller in Hunan died after the group hit him on the head amid an altercation.

The "dead" man, whose surname is Han, along with two others have, been arrested for disorderly conduct. After being detained, Han told police that chengguan members clashed with vendors early in the day after claiming that their carts were blocking traffic. They told the vendors to leave before confiscating

I am not as rich as Don Jazzy - Ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar admits

Former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, via social media platform, Twitter, has admitted that he is not as rich as we all think he is!

He stated this when a fan asked him why he has not been sharing recharge cards on twitter like Don Jazzy - he replied saying, 'I am not as rich as Don Jazzy'.

Well,  Don Jazzy has surprisingly responded to the tweet! He initially tweeted at Atiku's daughter (meenaabu) to confirm if the account was real or fake and when she confirmed that it was his real account.

Don Jazzy gave him a shout out.

See some of the tweets below.

Cotonou Doctor offers to share $35 million with Yvonne Nelson

lol! So Ghanian actress and model, Yvonne Nelson got this funny mail today from a certain Cotonou Dr. It's obviously a spammed message...see snapshot below:

So you ask, how is this news? Lol.  It is simply a #BeCarefulPost, you all should be careful, so you wouldn't fall for such tricks or spams, I get many of such annoying mails all the time...

Man Burnt To Death For Impregnation Mother, Daughter In Enugu

The university town of Nsukka in Enugu State has witnessed yet another brutal death as a tipper driver who allegedly impregnated a widow and her daughter has reportedly been burnt to death by son of the widow, Sunday Ugwoke.

We gathered that the tipper driver, Sylvester Ezema, attached to Ferguson Nig. Limited hailed from Akpa Edem, Nsukka Local Government Area, Enugu State and shared a common fence boundary with his widowed lover, Mrs. Ugwoke.

Report said he had been having amorous dealings with the woman's daughter too unknown to the widow before he died a few days ago.

According to report, Sylvester was allegedly burnt to death by Sunday, who had warned him to leave his mother alone and stop making love with her in his late father's bedroom, which is adjacent to his room, a warning the deceased allegedly turned down and continue with his amorous act.

We gathered that Sylvester defied all the warnings by Sunday, saying the widow was a family friend and as such nobody would suspect them.

Having defied his warning, Sunday, armed with grind pepper and petrol ambushed the lover boy. As Sylvester stepped out of the house, Sunday poured the grind pepper and petrol on Sylvester and set him ablaze. -Vanguard

UK Fines GTBank £525,000 For Inadequate Money Laundering Checks

The United Kingdom-based Financial Conduct Authority has fined the UK subsidiary of the Guaranty Trust Bank over £500,000 for failing to do thorough anti-money laundering checks on its potential clients from high-risk countries.

The FCA said on Friday that between May 2008 and July 2010, the bank had failed to assess potential money-laundering risks, screen customers against sanction lists, establish the purpose of the accounts being opened in their London branch or review the activity of "high risk" accounts, Reuters' report said.

Guaranty Trust Bank opened a UK office in 2008 offering retail and wholesale banking to private and corporate clients, according to the regulator.

Specifically, the FCA said in a statement that it had levied a £525,000 fine on the UK subsidiary of the bank after it looked at the bank's systems as part of a wider review into anti-money laundering controls among banks.

A similar report by the Financial Times quoted the regulator as saying that the bank was not rigorous enough in pressing potential customers on their sources of wealth.

This, it added, included not pressing a client, who was a so-called politically exposed person "wanted by the UK authorities in connection with laundering millions of dollars of embezzled public funds", on the ultimate source of a cheque for £500,000 that he deposited from an offshore account, according to the regulator's final investigative report.

The regulator, however, declined to identify the individual, the report stated.

The Nigerian authorities in 2007 named GTB's parent bank, the first African bank to list in London, as one of two banks used by the former Governor of Delta State, James Ibori, in their money laundering investigation of him, in which he was acquitted.

Ibori was found guilty of money-laundering and fraud worth £50m last year at Southwark Crown Court and sentenced to 13 years, following a separate investigation and prosecution by the UK authorities.

The UK regulator and its predecessor, the Financial Services Authority, have made anti-money laundering controls a priority over the past two years as tighter directives from Europe and new UK anti-bribery legislation have taken effect.

Reacting to the fine, Bloomberg quoted the Managing Director of GTB's UK unit, Mr. Ade Adebiyi, as saying, "We have fully co-operated with the FCA in its investigation and we have accepted the findings."

Adebiyi, in an e-mailed statement, however said, "The FCA found no evidence that GTB UK did in fact handle any proceeds of crime."

He said the lapses occurred early in its set up in Britain and had since been addressed.