Beaumont, Texas | An employee of the Jefferson County morgue died this morning after being accidentally cremated by one of his coworkers.

According to the Beaumont Police Department, 48-year old Henri Paul Johnson decided to take a nap on a stretcher after working for sixteen hours straight.

While he was sleeping, another employee mistook him for the corpse of a 52-year-old car accident victim and carried him to the crematory.

Before anyone could notice the mistake, he had already been exposed to temperatures ranging between 1400 to 1800 degrees Fahrenheit and reduced to ashes.

Jenna Davis, one of Henri Johnson’s coworkers, says she heard him scream for about 15 seconds after the crematory was activated.

“At first, we didn’t understand where the sound was coming from. When we realised what was happening, it was too late. We shut down the heating system, but he was already dead.”

Ms. Davis claims that the young coworker who caused the accident was a new employee and had forgotten to check for the toe tag to make sure he had the right body.

Jenna Davis says she heard the victim scream in agony as the crematory was reducing him to ashes.

The police have opened an investigation to determine the exact circumstances surrounding Mr. Johnson’s death.

Investigators have not ruled out the possibility of filing criminal charges against the employee who caused his death.

The young man could possibly be accused of criminal negligence causing death.

Columbus, Ohio | An 83-year old woman was arrested this morning and accused of training dozens of cats to steal jewelry and other valuables from her neighbors.

The Columbus Police Department opened an investigation on Ruth Gregson and her 65 cats in October after several neighbors reported small objects being stolen from their homes.

Several victims reported being visited by Ms. Gregson’s cats before noticing the disappearance of several shiny objects, like valuable cutlery and pieces of jewelry.

Despite their skepticism, investigators began a surveillance operation and were amazed by what they discovered.

According to Columbus Police Chief Kim Jacobs, dozens of cats were constantly coming and going, bringing home “anything that shined”.

“She was like Fagin in Oliver Twist, but she was using cats as thieves instead of children. In less than three hours of surveillance, the detectives saw the cats bring home more than a hundred objects.”

Upon searching Ms. Gregson’s house, investigators found $650,000 worth of jewelry and precious metal among piles of worthless shiny baubles.

A total of 65 adult cats and 17 kittens were found on the site and entrusted to the Columbus Humane Society.

Chief Jacobs says the elderly woman confessed to training her cats to steal, saying the felines had to “earn their meals”.

“She would only feed the animals if they brought home valuables, so the animals had to steal every day in order to survive. Most were voluntarily malnurished so they would easily gain the neighbors’ pity and be allowed inside their houses.”

According to the Columbus Police, Ms. Gregson’s animals could have stolen from more than 5,000 houses and apartment in the area, and investigators invite possible victims to contact them.

Columbus Police Chief Kim Jacobs told reporters that the number of charges filed against Ms. Gregson could reach over five thousand.

While Ms. Gregson is the first person in American history to be accused of training cats to steal, this isn’t the first time that animals are trained to commit crimes.

In 2009, a surveillance that caught a monkey stealing hundreds of dollars worth of plants from a Texas nursery.

At the time, the police and store owners had hypothesized that the monkey had been trained to take the plants and hand them over a fence to a waiting human accomplice.

In 2013, a Chicago court sentenced a man to five years in prison for training ferrets to steal cell phones from people on the street and on public buses.

Tuscaloosa, AL | A well-known naturopath and former LGBT militant claims to have “cured himself” of his homosexuality by drinking two glasses of sperm per day for a few months.

61-year old Brian Franklin was for several decades militant and leader of several organizations working for the promotion of LGBT rights.

He says despite his activism, he’s always felt uneasy about being gay and always hoped he could be cured.

The professional naturopath said he spent years studying the nature of homosexuality and the chemical properties of thousands of substances.

After several unsuccessful attempts with various herbs, he turned his attention to a substance which turned out to have an almost perfect chemical and hormonal properties: human semen.

He created a solution composed of 95% pure human semen, in which a mix of vitamin and hormones is added.

Some preliminary tests with rats produced some very promising results, so Mr. Franklin decided to test it himself.

Over the last year, he ingested two glasses (600 ml) of this treatment every day and he says the results are conclusive.

“Only a month after I started the treatment, I began feeling less attracted to men. After six months, I was almost totally straight and I found women hot for the first time in my life!”

Mr. Franklin is convinced that this new scientific breakthrough could help millions of homosexuals around the world.

“I just drink one glass of semen in the morning and one in the evening, and I can live like a normal person. I think it’s totally worth it!”

According to the preliminary studies, the effects of this new semen treatment are reversible and showed that the subjects reverted to their homosexual ways in less than a month if they stop the treatment.

Like every claim concerning a possible cure for homosexuality, Mr. Franklin’s treatment was greeted with a lot of skepticism by the scientific community.

Several experts have dismissed the treatment as “ridiculous” or as a “quackery”, and many insist that homosexuality isn’t a disease and cannot be cured.

Many LGBT organizations have also publicly denounced Brian Franklin, calling him a “fraud”, a “homophobe” and a “traitor to all gays”.

Despite all these critics, the 61-year old man is convinced that his treatment will be a marketing success once the FDA approves it and says he’s impatient to begin production.

A man who had his own brain replaced by a woman’s brain in September during a groundbreaking medical procedure had five car accidents in less than two weeks since he was released from the hospital.

53-year old Phil Robertson from Scranton in Pennsylvania was miraculously saved from a brain cancer a few months ago by undergoing a successful brain transplant.

He received the brain of a 37-year old woman who had died in a car accident and the operation had unforeseen consequences for the poor man.

After several weeks of re-education, he was finally released from the hospital two weeks ago and returned to work. But the truck driver who had never had an accident in his life says he literally forgot how to drive.

“It’s strange because I’m able to speak, walk and do everything normally, but for some reason, driving is simply impossible. I had five accidents in less than two weeks. I use to drive semi trucks without problems, but now even parallel parking beyond my abilities.”

Mr. Robertson says the surgery has also totally changed his personality and his outlook on life.

“Since the surgery, I feel like complaining all the time. I even surprised myself thinking that I looked fat when I looked at myself in the mirror. This surgery turned me into a woman.”

Dr. James Ford who performed the transplant says that minor changes in the patient’s skills or personality are normal after such a major surgery, but should gradually resorb over time.

According to the doctor who treated Mr. Robertson, he should regain his lost abilities and his old personality over the next few months, but they admit that there is a small risk that some of these changes could be permanent.

Dr. Ford says there is approximately a 5% chance that Mr. Robertson will be unable to “overwrite” the brain’s former knowledge, but that he normally should be able to adapt and recover over time.

He estimates that this adaptation process could take between six and 18 months before he is totally back to his former self.

Toronto police have opened an official investigation after the administrators of a Canadian sperm bank have accused a former employee of replacing hundreds of sperm donors’ specimens with his own.

Robert Casgrain, 58, who has worked as a janitor at the Toronto-based fertility clinic since 1996, is suspected by administrators of switching hundreds of semen specimens with his own sperm over a 20 year period.

Administrators claim in the official police report that they estimate Casgrain could potentially be the father to over 22,000 children over a period stretching two decades.

Although Robert Casgrain’s motives for replacing the sperm donors’ samples with his own are not clear at the moment, legal experts believe these revelations could unleash a potential class-action lawsuit against the former janitor.

“We cannot confirm precisely how many births have resulted from Robert Casgrain’s manipulations with registered sperm donor specimens before proper DNA analysis is performed” warned Detective Sergeant Rod Patterson of the Toronto Police Service.

Detective Sergeant Rod Patterson of the Toronto Police Service warned that “even though the precise numbers are not known”, Robert Casgrain’s sperm “may have given birth to thousands of children over a 20 year period” he said during a press conference.

“He kept bragging that half of the clinic’s babies were his,” one former coworker told reporters when reached by phone.

Administrators at the fertility clinic were warned by employees of Casgrain’s erratic behavior and installed hidden cameras in the embryology laboratory last month before eventually contacting the police.

According to one employee who witnessed the surveillance footage, Casgrain is seen emptying the vials of semen into a sink and filling one up with his own sperm while masturbating to pornographic material.

Although it is impossible at the moment to know how many births resulted of Robert Casgrain’s manipulations at the embryology laboratory, DNA tests performed on clinical samples over the next year should authenticate which specimens are from Casgrain.

Legal experts believe Casgrain could face a sentence as low as 18 months and up to three to five years in prison according to current Canadian laws.

Newark, NJ | A woman that was expelled from a New Jersey McDonald’s for allegedly breastfeeding her 6-week-old puppy is suing the fast food restaurant chain for $1.1 million dollars.

Although the manager says she was expelled because McDonald’s has a no animal policy, Adele Albright, 32, claims the restaurant manager specifically expelled her because she was breastfeeding in public, an inalienable right in the state of New Jersey explained her lawyer, John O’Keefe.

“Forty-nine states, the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands have laws that specifically allow women to breastfeed in any public or private location,” said her lawyer.

“The law clearly specifies that a mother shall be entitled to breast feed in any location of a place of public accommodation, resort or amusement wherein the mother is otherwise permitted,” he told reporters.

“Whether she is breastfeeding her 8-month-old son, a horse or a chimpanzee is irrelevant,” he added.

The manager of the McDonald’s says he was only applying normal McDonald policy and that no animals are allowed inside the restaurant except for the visually impaired

Although Miss Albright says she covered herself and sat far away from other customers, owner Steve Owens claims many of his customers have complained and were indisposed by the scene.

“One old lady passed out and had to leave in an ambulance,” said one eyewitness to reporters.

“When I realized it wasn’t a baby but a puppy that was sucking on her tits, I started puking all over myself,” explained another customer.

Although animals are allowed inside all McDonald franchises according to the Americans with Disabilities Act, which allows the use of a service dog by a person with a disability inside any public space, New Jersey state law also allows women to breast feed in any public place as well and the judgment could create a legal precedent admit legal experts.

A young Saudi man was sentenced to death for blasphemy and idol worshipping this morning in Jeddah, after confessing on social media that he had undergone a series of plastic surgeries “in order to look like Prophet Muhammad”.

23-year old Abdulaziz Sudairi from the city of Najran near the Yemeni border has been sentenced to an extremely violent death: suffer 200 lashes before being beheaded with a sword.

The young man, well-known as an Instagram model throughout the Arab peninsula, traveled to Israël several times over the last two years to undergo a total of 23 plastic surgeries to modify his chin, cheekbones, ears, eyelids, nose, even his skin color.

He had problems with Saudi authorities several times in the past, but a comment he posted on his Instagram account in June made him a target of the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, the Saudi Islamic police.

Mr. Sudairi posted a picture of himself after his last surgery, adding an extremely controversial comment:

“Only two or three more operations and I will be the living image of Muhammad. InshAllah.”

He was arrested three days later by the religious police and was imprisoned and interrogated for several weeks before the beginning of his trial.

According to the judgment of the Shariah court, by attempting to look like the Prophet, Abdulaziz Sudairi committed blasphemy, and idol worshipping, two crimes punishable by death according to Sharia law.

“It is anti-Islamic to represent the Prophet. It is an insult to the Prophet and to Islam to consider oneself worthy of looking like him. Such a sin deserves exemplary punishment.”

The Sharia court of Jeddah declared Mr. Sudairi’s intention to look like the Prophet “a heinous blasphemy”, saying it was their duty to “behead the snake before it bit the kingdom”.

The Saudi legal system is known to be extremely harsh and to include a large array of corporal punishments and controversial execution methods.

Several violations of the Sharia law lead to sentences including amputations and floggings, or executions by beheading with a sword, stoning or even crucifixion.

Several Human Rights organizations have denounced Mr. Sudairi’s sentence as “unjustified and unnecessarily cruel” but such critics are rarely taken seriously by the Saudi government.

Between 3,000 and 5,000 people were executed last year in the kingdom according to Human Rights Watch.

A New Jersey brother and sister have won the right to marry after a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States.

In a 5-to-4 ruling, five judges unanimously granted the appeal by James Banes, 41, and Victoria Banes, 38, today after a ten-year-long battle.

The overjoyed pair said they did it for the ‘millions of Americans who have consensual incestuous relationships and who are living in fear’ and blasted the Government for wasting taxpayers’ money fighting their challenge.

"Incest has been practiced by humans since the dawn of time. If Adam and Eve hadn’t done it, the human race would not be here today,” James Banes told reporters after his historic victory."

The Banes family lawyer, Julianne Grey, argued that criminalizing incestuous marriage while first-cousin marriage was legal in the state of New Jersey was a nonsensical and discriminatory measure.

“Why am I allowed to bang my cousin but not my sister? It just doesn’t make any sense,” James Banes criticized outside of court.

The couple that was currently facing up to 15 years in jail said that they were now planning to start a large family and enjoy their newly found freedom.

“We’ve always dreamed of having a big family, now this dream will become a reality” added Victoria Banes, who also told reporters she is pregnant and expecting twins.

Previously, New Jersey state laws only allowed first-cousin marriages but since the landmark ruling, New Jersey is now the only state in the country to also allow incestuous marriages.

Harare | The Zimbabwean authorities have confirmed that 5 men were killed and 3 others were severely injured when attacked by a pride of lions in the Hwange National Park, in the Matabeleland North province.
The victims are local poachers who were illegally hunting for elephants inside the boundaries the national park, when they were surprised by a group of almost twenty adult Southwest African lions, the same species as Cecil the Lion, who died a few kilometers from the site in July 215.

The felines’ attack was so sudden and violent, that five of the ten men were killed, three severely injured and two were only lightly injured, while the animals were mostly unhurt.

“The men were visibly traumatized by the attack,” said Commissioner-General Chihuri, “and after seeing their injuries and the remains of their dead comrades, I can see why. These guys tough criminals carrying ak-47s, but they were literally shred to pieces and devoured by the lions. I have never seen an animal attack reach this level of violence, and I have seen a lot!”

The survivors abandoned their dead comrades on the site and hurried back to a nearby village for medical care, where they were rapidly arrested.

Zimbabwe Republic Police Commissioner-General, Augustine Chihuri, told reporters that the poachers were visibly terrified by their experience and he hopes this incident serves as a lesson to other poachers.

The surviving poachers will now face a wide array of criminal charges if they survive their injuries. The charges brought by prosecutors include illegal-hunting, possession of illegal weapons and contravening the Parks and Wildlife Act.

Their first appearance in court is expected to take place on April 4th, when they will be facing sentences of up to 25 years in jail and fines of up to US$100 000.

“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”, they say, but what if ‘Jack’ could work his brain and have some fun while at it? Wouldn’t such an exercise or avenue inspire him to take up some daunting tasks with passion in the nearest future? Well, we may never be able to tell for every Jack but it has been well established that children learn more by doing and since report has it that 90% of the entire brain development takes place at the age of 5 years old, it is wise that parents take their wards through the paces as early as possible. Based on this, I shall delve into the discourse for today which is to shed light on five different games that can boost the cognitive prowess of children.

• Puzzles: Having your child put some pieces together to make a whole object is a very good activity that can help improve his/her logical reasoning - as he/she tries to merge different combinations of objects. Additionally, puzzles enhance hand-eye coordination, and the feeling of eureka that accompanies the successful completion of a particular puzzle challenge could go a long way in fine-tuning your child’s confidence level. In this regard, you should aim to get your wards play games such as jigsaw puzzles, logic puzzles, sliding puzzles, spot the difference and so on.

• Mazes: Mazes involve interconnected networks with only one pathway being the right one to take. So, as your little ones aim to figure out this (right) pathway, their problem-solving skills become sharpened to an appreciable extent. Another advantage of solving is that it aids the development of the child’s visual motor skill; this is so because the child gets to scan the pattern to decipher the way to go - this is yet beneficial for developing reading and writing skills.

• Lego: Creativity and imagination, as well as the recognition of shapes and colours are highlighted when using Legos [as building blocks] to create different objects or structures. A kid who likes to have fun with them would most certainly have his/her mind stimulated at a considerable rate - right from early age.

• Guessing games: Guesses are not meant to be always right, but a little indulgence in a guessing game could be of benefit to the brain. For one, it can help your child gain some new knowledge and/or recall things without much difficulty. More so, a guessing game may be vital in boosting the listening skill of your young ones as they attempt to provide answer(s)n to whatever you throw at them. Viewing it from another perspective, this could impact their thinking/reasoning prowess a great deal. So, you should consider incorporating the “I am something…what am I?” game or any other educative guessing game into their fun-time and also be committed to playing the game with them.

• Memory games: Memory games come in varieties but the overriding theme is similar - recollection whether short-term or long-term. They also help one to concentrate better; impacting the way your child gives attention to details. Some examples of good memory games you can play with your wards include total recall, number string, mismatch memory game and card recall to mention but a few.

There are definitely other games that can be very useful for improving the intellectual prowess of your child - you can even create some simple ones by yourself. Notwithstanding, you should be careful to set time aside to inculcate reading habit into your child from the early years.

By Ismaila Chafe

Nigeria has recalled its High Commissioner to South Africa, Ambassador Kabiru Bala and also pulled out of World Economic Summit holding in Cape Town on Wednesday.

A presidential source told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that Nigeria also demanded for full compensation for the loss of life and property of Nigerians affected by the xenophobic attack.

He also disclosed that Nigeria has pulled out of World Economic Forum on Africa billed for Capetown, South Africa, from September 4-6 over the xenophobic attacks.

Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo was to represent Nigeria at the forum.

Earlier, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Malawi pulled out of the event.

Presidents Paul Kagame (Rwanda), Felix Tshisekedi (DRC) and Peter Mutharika (Malawi) have all withdrawn from the event.

The source said that Nigeria has also demanded for full compensation for the victims of the attacks.

According to the source, this is the outcome of President Muhammadu Buhari, Osinbajo and Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, brainstorming session on the raging Xenophobic attacks of Nigeria in South Africa.

Onyeama had on Tuesday during at a joint news briefing with the South African High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Bobby Moroe, insisted: In the first place, we must address the issue of compensation. There has to be accountability and there has to be responsibility for compensating all those Nigerians that have suffered loss and we are going to absolutely push forward.

Source: NAN

By Stephen Adeleye

The governorship primary election ended abruptly in the early hours of Wednesday when gunmen invaded the venue of the election, Lokoja Confluence Stadium.

A correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that voting had ended and sorting of votes were going on when the gunmen came to the venue at about 1:45a.m. and started shooting from different directions.

According to report, votes in eight out of the 10 ballot balloxes have already been counted and sorted out before the disruption by the gunmen.

Aspirants, delegates and others scampered for safety while the number of casualty has yet to be ascertained as at the time of filing this report.

NAN correspondent said that Gov. Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa, the Chairman of the Electoral Committee escaped the bullets of the gunmen.

Source: NAN

Source: NAN

Zambias football association has called off its friendly match against South Africa due to xenophobic attacks.

Chipolopolo andBafana Bafanawere scheduled to square off on Saturday in Zambia.

In a statement released on Tuesday evening, the Football Association of Zambia wrote: The Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) regrets to inform members of the public that the international friendly match between Zambia and South Africa that was scheduled for National Heroes Stadium on Saturday, 7 September 2019 has been called off in view of the prevailing security concerns in South Africa.

FAZ General Secretary Adrian Kashala has relayed the message to the South African Football Association (SAFA) about the decision.

The South African Football Association is now looking for a replacement for Saturdays match.

Source: NAN

By Ezra Musa

The Kaduna State Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources has embarked on evacuation of communal dumpsites across the state.

Mallam Ibrahim Hussaini, the Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources of the ministry made this known on Wednesday in Kaduna.

Hussaini said the exercise, which was in collaboration with the Kaduna Environmental Protection Authority (KEPA), would be conducted in Kaduna, Zaria and Kafanchan.

He said that Gov. Nasir El-Rufai had approved the clean-up and evacuation of the dumpsites to ensure a healthy environment.

He expressed dismay over the indiscriminate dumping of waste on rail tracks and called on market associations to caution their members against the habit.

A good number of the waste emanate from the markets, especially Sheik Abubakar Gumi, Chechenia and Bakin Dogo markets, he said.

Hussaini said that the recent clean-up was a short term solution to the menace, emphasising that a medium and long term would be put in place to ensure that an integrated waste management approach was employed.

The commissioner said that waste generated and efficiently evacuated for disposal would be sorted from points of generation into biodegradable metals, plastics and other recyclable materials.

He said that plans were on the way for government to go into partnership with investors to establish an integrated solid waste management facility.

Mallam Yahaya Salisu, the Senior Officer of the Nigerian Railway Corporation, expressed appreciation for the effort put in place by the state government to evacuate the dump that had overtaken the rail tracks.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that some of the dumpsites identified are within public school premises and cemeteries.

Source: NAN

By Fortune Abang

Amb. Kabiru Bala, the Nigeria High Commissioner to South Africa, says the mission never shut its door against Nigerians who came to register their grievances over xenophobic attack in that country.

Bala said this in a telephone conversation with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) from Pretoria, South Africa on Wednesday.

The high commissioner debunked the claims in some quarters that the mission in Pretoria was attacked by Nigerians in South Africa because it did not give them attention.

Bala, who said story was appalling and wicked, added, the two missions were never closed. Two groups of Nigerians came to the high commission last week Thursday. They were received by the Acting High Commissioner while I was away.

They came around 9 p.m. and were received and assured of safety and security. So it was not true that they were turned back.

Let those who came and were either turned back or found the embassy closed give specific date and time.

He said that the Nigerian High Commission in Pretoria and Nigerian Consulate in Johannesburghad offered immense assistance to the affected Nigerians in the crisis.

Bala said that the mission had started to compile a list of Nigerians affected for engagement with the South African government and other stakeholders.

According to him, all Nigerian victims of the current attacks are requested to come forward to report their situation to the High Commission and the Consulate.

The two missions will continue to be home to all Nigerians in these trying times and in the future.

Since the outbreak of the attacks last week, the two missions have remained open and continued to render normal services to Nigerians and other customers without hindrance.

We appeal to Nigerians to remain calm and avoid any action that may jeopardise efforts to engage the South African government through diplomatic channels to bring situation under control and restore normalcy.

The two missions are currently working alongside all relevant authorities in South Africa, including the police to address the unfortunate situation, he said.

Mr Ben Okoli, the President of Nigerian Citizens Association in South Africa (NICASA), who corroborated the high commissioner claim, stressed that the report was not true.

The missions gate has never been shut against Nigerians; it has always kept its door open.

What happened is that after the crisis in Pretoria where South Africans have destroyed Nigerian business and property, those whose property were destroyed had gone to the mission out of frustration and anger.

So, I understand the situation; though it is not easy for somebody to lose his property and just be watching, but the mission gate was not shut against them, he said.

According to him, they were received and invited by the minister of consular affairs who went as far as organising food for them and drinks to make sure that they are comfortable.

So they were attended to and nobody would say that the gate was shut against them.

The mission allowed them even though they came in by forced and destroyed part of the entrance, the mission provided food for them and gave them some drinks and that is it.

And, they were encouraged to go and calculate their losses and bring back the report through the organisation. So, we are actually collaborating with people, who have lost their property.

We are collecting inventories of what our people have lost which I will make available to the high commissioner in due time, Okoli said.

Source: NAN

By Lucy Ogalue

The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Mr Hassan Bello, said the safety, quality, cost and efficiency of transport services influenced the trading environment of a country.

Bello, who disclosed this during the ground breaking ceremony of the Ultra Modern Truck Transit Park (TTP) in Potiskum on Wednesday, said this also determined the competitiveness of exported and imported goods.

According to him, transport is a critical determinant in the conduct of domestic and international trade with great impacts on national economic growth and development.

Road transportation is the dominant mode of transportation owing to challenges in our rail system, restricted waterways and expensive air travel.

Road transport accounts for about 90 per cent of freight movement. Therefore, the safety of cargo on the highway must be given a priority, Bello said.

According to Bello, TTP is a Modern road transport infrastructure designed for the safety of cargo and standardisation of truck driving.

The NSC boss said it ensured truck operators obtained some measure of safety and comfort while in transit and reduced the rate of road traffic crashes.

While reiterating other benefits of TTP, Bello said the need to enhance the transport value chain in the country necessitated NSCs involvement in the project.

Potiskum is known as a mega hub of heavy truck business especially in the North East region of Nigeria.

It has a vibrant cattle market which is the largest in sub-saharan Africa and it is a major gate to Cameroon, Chad and Niger Republic.

Therefore, the prospects of the project are very bright, he said.

Bello, however, urged indigenous investors, multilateral lending institutions and other investors across the globe to invest in the project.

The Executive Chairman, Potiskum Local Government Council, Salisu Muktari, expressed gratitude to President Muhammadu Buhari for his administrative policies which the state had benefited from.

Muktari added that Buharis decision for a TTP in the locality was a wise decision in the right direction.

He further commended the Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi in his efforts toward improving rail transport in the country and the NSC boss for collaborating in the TTP project.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Yobe State Government and NSC are partnering under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement to construct the transportation hub.

The project falls under the States Ministry of Trade, Commerce and Industry and the State government had provided 50 hectares of land as site for the park. (NAN)

Source: NAN

By Franca Ofili

The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), Federal Capital Territory (FCT) branch, has called on Nigerians to access their mortgage products through National Housing Fund (NHF) scheme.

Mrs Felicia Aningo, FMBN FCT Coordinator, made the disclosure during an awareness campaign in Abuja on Wednesday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the FMBN took the awareness campaign to markets, shopping malls and motor-parts within the FCT.

Aningo said that the bank was established to provide affordable mortgages to drive home ownership among Nigerians, particularly low and medium income earners through NHF.

According to her, Nigerian workers contribute 2.5 per cent of their monthly income to the NHF scheme.

She said a prospective home beneficiary was expected to make annual or monthly contribution over 15 years.

Aningo said that at the end of the contribution, if the applicant was not able to achieve his goal, the bank would pay back the money with interest.

She said that the move was imperative as government continued to make plans to help Nigerians own their own homes and also reduce housing deficit.

The bank is working towards ensuring the fulfilment of the law, Act NO.3 of 1992, that stipulates that All Nigerians in employment, weather self-employed or paid employment are required to contribute 2.5 per cent of their basic income to the fund, Aningo said

According to her, the scheme is under a simple procedure of registration, deduction of contributions at source.

Aningo said that cooperatives could also organise and access loans from the bank to provide affordable houses for members.

The products are NHF Mortgage Loan, Rent to Own, Home Renovation Loan, construction of homes, Estate Development Loan and many more.

In August the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, admonished FMBN to create more awareness on its several products aimed at ensuring affordable houses for Nigerians.

He said that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari would focus on housing and consumer credit as a way of ensuring that Nigerians have affordable houses. (NAN)

Source: NAN

Mr David Lyon of the All Progressive Congress (APC) has emerged the winner of the just concluded primary in Bayelsa.

He scored 42,138 votes to win its closet rval, Mrs Diseye Nsirim, who scored 1,533 votes.

Others are Heineken yLokpobiri, who scored 571 votes, while Preye Aganaba, scored 354 votes and MrAmgbare scored 633 votes, while Prof. Maureen Etebu scored 564 votes.

The Chief Coalition Officer, Sen. Dangana Emmanuel, announced the result in Yenagoa.

He said the mode was direct primary as agreed by Bayelsa stakeholders, and confirmed by the national working committee.

The Returning Officer for the Bauyrlsa APC Primaries is Gov. Mai-Mala Buni of Yobe,

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the APC adopted the direct primaries mode to select the candidate to fly its flag in the Nov. 16 governorship election in Bayelsa.(NAN)

Source: NAN

By Emmanuel Acha

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says it has obtained orders for the interim forfeiture of assets traced to a former Imo governor, Rochas Okorocha, and his wife.

The Head, Enugu Zonal Office of the commission, Mr Usman Imam, disclosed this on Wednesday in Enugu while briefing newsmen on the activities of the commission in the last eight months.

Imam saidthat the commission also obtained similar order on a property traced to a former aide to Okorocha, Mr Paschal Obi, and the former governors daughter.

He saidthat the commission had established prima facie cases against the suspects which they would answer to.

Imam said that the commission would like to know how the Rochas Foundation andother accomplices acquired and or converted some of the property for personal use.

He listed some of the property to include a 16-block cum 96 flats and an eight-bungalow multimillion naira estate, hotel, two schools, shopping plaza, supermarket, hospital and four vehicles.

The EFCC chief said that while the hospital was traced to Obi, the remaining property were traced to the former governor and his family, including his wife and daughter.

We hope to get permanent forfeiture orders on the property in order to return them to the people of the state, he said.

Imam saidthat all the facilities, including the schools, would remain functional as the commission would not like to shut them down for the sake of the students and other users.

Other recoveries were made and are awaiting forfeiture, but for the court vacation. They include a twin three-storey building with a three bedroom bungalow and a duplex, both in Enugu.

The property were recovered from cyber fraudsters, he said.

Imam said that the commission, within the period, recovered N213.85 million and 10, 600 US dollars.

In one of such recoveries, one Augustine Ejimokor, who defrauded his victim of the sum of 5,000 US dollars and used it to acquire a Mercedez Benz C300 was ordered to forfeit the vehicle.

So far, the zone has arrested 88 suspected fraudsters since 2015, with 70 of them in 2019. This underscores the efforts of the present zonal head in conformity with the acting chairmans directives, he said.

Imam said that the zone also obtained 59 convictions out of whom were the 51 arrested and prosecuted in 2019. (NAN)

Source: NAN