27.9.12

Update on Cynthia Osokogu’s Facebook Murder case: Judge grants Bail to suspects

On their first appearance in court on Wednesday, a Yaba Chief Magistrate’s Court granted bail to two out of the three suspects.

But  the driver who was accused of driving the prime suspect to Cosmilla Hotel, FESTAC, was remanded in prison custody.

Those granted bail were – Nonso Ezike (22), the younger brother to Olisaeloka, one of the alleged killers, and Ezeaka Chinonso (27). Both of them were arrested by policemen at Area E for receiving and selling Cynthia’s BlackBerry phone.

Lawyer to 22-year old Nonso, J. C Ngobili, told the court that the accused was a student of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri. He asked court to grant bail in liberal terms.

The Magistrate, P.A. Adekomaya, admitted that although the offences were bailable, he pointed out that the bail condition ought not to be too liberal in view of the circumstances surrounding Cynthia’s murder.

He granted Nonso and Ezeaka bail in the sum of N500,000 each with two sureties in like sum, adding that the sureties must not be teachers or local government employees. He added that the sureties could be bank tellers.

He said, “The court observes that the matter at hand is a bailable offence but in order to deter the defendants from flight, I hereby subject them to bail of N500, 000 each with two sureties in like sum.”

The third accused person, Gideon Okechukwu, a driver, was however charged with eight counts of murder, rape, robbery, conspiracy, administering a harmful substance to the deceased among others.

The charge reads in part, “That you, Gideon Okechukwu, and others charged to court, on the same dates, time and place, in the aforesaid Magisterial district, did unlawfully kill one Cynthia Osokogu (25) by administering her with obnoxious substance known as Rohypnol Flunitrazepam tablets via a Ribena drink, binding her with padlock and cellotaped her legs, neck and mouth, giving her fist blows all over her body, giving her several human bites, tortured and strangled her to death and thereby committed an offence, punishable under Section 221 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.”

Okechukwu’s lawyer, Bello, prayed the court to also grant the accused bail, adding that he had been held at the State Criminal Investigation Department.

The magistrate, who quickly interjected, explained that it wasn’t within the jurisdiction of the court to grant bail for such offences.

Rapists and Ritualist with Human Skull Arrested -Police

 Ogun state  police   said that it had arrested two teenagers for allegedly  raping a palm oil hawker, along Secretariat Road, Imeko Local Government Area.

The two suspects, Tosin Adebayo,25, and Opeyemi Adebayo, 19 were paraded  along with three other accomplices who were said to have forcefully dragged the victim to a corner and had a carnal knowledge of her.

A suspected ritualist, Jimoh Olorunwa,34, was also  paraded after being arrested   at a cemetery in Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State with a chunk of human flesh and skull.

The ritualist was arrested at the Christians Cemetery in Ago-Iwoye following a report by one Otunba Adekoya, the Chairman of the Christian Committee of Ago-Iwoye in charge of the cemetery located at Ago-Mo Iyalaje area of the town. It was later discovered at Ago-Iwoye Division that some graves had been broken  by some ritualists.

26.9.12

Save Bakassi Group Storm Abuja as Bakassi indigenes reject Cameroun

Aggrieved natives of Bakassi Peninsula yesterday stormed Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory in a bid to convince the Federal Government to take necessary steps to review the International Court of Justice ruling that ceded the oil-rich area to Cameroun 10 years ago.

But neither President Goodluck Jonathan nor the Attorney General of the Federation, Mr. Mohammed Adoke, was in Abuja to listen to the embattled Bakassi indigenes, who claimed to have been armed with new incontrovertible facts to aid the government in pressing for the reversal of the ICJ judgement in Nigeria’s favour.

A historian, who is very familiar with the Bakassi history, Mr. Emmanuel Doh, said the AGF had no reason to hesitate in approaching the ICJ for the immediate review of the 2002 judgement given the weight of evidence now at his disposal.

Doh pointed out that Cameroun even committed a serious blunder by the way and manner it adjusted the boundary between it and Southern Cameroon encompassing Bakassi, after the African Union had asked all countries to respect their boundaries with other nations.

Doh said Cameroun’s  fraudulent boundary adjustment coupled with numerous actions, which the UN and the ICJ were not aware of at the time of the ruling in 2002, were enough to swing judgment in Nigeria’s favour, if a review was sought.

A member of the House of Representatives from Cross River State, Ambassador Nkoyo Toyo, warned yesterday that it was in the interest of the government of Nigeria to take urgent legal steps to reclaim Bakassi, as the people of the area would never surrender their fate to another country.

Toyo, who is a former Nigeria’s envoy to Ethiopia, said the Bakassi people would continue to fight for the territory until their rights were restored.

The lawmaker maintained that the people were hit below the belt when the AGF declared recently that Nigeria was not going to ask for a review of the ICJ judgment, a development, she claimed smacks of insensitivity on the part of the government.

She noted, “The people of Bakassi have always been demanding a review of the judgment. But unfortunately, former President Olusegun Obasanjo adopted a unilateral approach towards it.

“You will recall that Obasanjo did not bring up the matter to the National Assembly, the National Boundary Commission has not adjusted the boundary despite the ruling, the Bakassi Local Government is still in Cross River State and it is still being paid monthly subvention by the Federal Government.

“So there are many illegal things still going on as far as the issue of Bakassi is concerned. But the Bakassi people have never had a chance to decide for themselves where they want to go and how they want to be administered,” the lawmaker said.

It could not be established last night whether the government would accept the new evidence being claimed by the Bakassi natives and use it to press for a review of the judgment before the expiration of the deadline on October 10.

Woman Steals Baby inside the Church during Night Vigil

One 28-year-old lady, Ms Kemi Adeoye, has been handed over to the policemen for stealing a baby in a church during a vigil service on Friday September 7, 2012.

The lady, according to police sources, had attended a church service on the fateful day and had picked a baby where she had been laid while her mother was praying in front of the altar.

After picking the baby, the lady had reportedly left for one of the chalets within the church premises and locked herself in, after she had put the baby on her back.

The mother had raised an alarm when she got back to her seat and beheld an empty bed without her baby on it, a situation which caused members who were at the vigil to halt the service while they trooped out in search of the missing baby.

Simultaneously, a drama had ensued at the chalet area where one of the church workers had noticed that there was an occupant in a chalet which he had not allocated to anyone.

Curious to know the occupant and how he or she got the key, the workers was said to have knocked on the door.

To his surprise, a voice from inside the room replied his enquiry on the identity of the occupant with another question, asking who the man was.

The door was said to have been forced open and a woman with a baby on her back was discovered in the room. It was at that time that members of the church searching for the baby got to where the chalets were, only for the baby’s mother to see that it was her baby the woman was putting on her back.

The suspect was said to have been taken to the police station

Man remanded in prison for defiling 6-year-old girl

A 20-year-old man, Rafiu Tijani, was on Monday remanded in prison custody by an Oyo Magistrates’ Court, over the defilement of a minor.

The prosecution said the accused on Sept. 21, about 5 p.m. at Opapa area, Oyo, state had unlawful carnal knowledge of a six-year-old girl.

Police prosecutor, Sgt. Musa Raji, stated that the offence was contrary to section 34(1) and punishable under section 34(2) of Child Rights Law of Oyo State of Nigeria 2006.

The plea of the accused was not taken but the magistrate Mr Jejelola Ogunbona, ordered the accused to be remanded in prison custody pending the duplication of the case file for the office of Director of Public prosecution.(NAN

24.9.12

DISCOVERY: BANANA CAN PREVENT HIV INFECTION



According to The Gazette (Montreal) newspaper, a new study has found that chemicals commonly found in bananas are as potent in preventing HIV as two synthetic anti-HIV drugs.

Researchers say the findings could lead to a cheap new component for applied microbicides that prevent intimate transmission of HIV.

The miracle substance in bananas is called BanLec, a type of lectin, which are the sugar-binding proteins found in a variety of plants. Scientists have long been interested in lectins because of their ability to halt the chain reaction that leads to certain viral infections. In the case of BanLec, it works by binding naturally to the sugar-rich envelope that encases the HIV virus, thus blocking its entry into the body.

"The problem with some HIV drugs is that the virus can mutate and become resistant, but that's much harder to do in the presence of lectins," said lead author Michael D. Swanson. "Lectins can bind to the sugars found on different spots of the HIV-1 envelope, and presumably it will take multiple mutations for the virus to get around them."