Some Nigerians have expressed mixed reactions to the success of superhero flick, ‘Black Panther’, especially as the film hits a box office record of 1 billion dollars.

The Marvel-Disney film crossed the 1 billion dollars mark worldwide after debuting in China, which contributed 66.5 million dollars to a strong 100 million dollars international weekend.

Some respondents praised the movie and told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Tuesday, that it gave black people the chance to tell a story the way it suited them.

They also said that the featuring of African (especially Nigerian) artefacts such as the ‘Bronze heads’ from Benin gave a sense of inclusion; rewriting the stale, poor stereotypes of the African continent.

A lawyer, Kingsley Obade told NAN that he had seen the movie about four times, adding that he was almost addicted to the beauty of the almost all-black cast.

He said, “This is a different kind of Marvel or super hero film. This is one that holds so many lessons that we can teach our children and make them adore their colour and continent.

“The western world has portrayed us poorly for so long and it is only fair that we celebrate this film that has changed the narrative.”

A Chef, Chinwe Orji, said she did not feel the movie was over-hyped as speculated in some quarters, adding that the movie deserved to earn more than the current record breaking hit.

Orji said, “Everything in the movie, from the acting to the costume and the message speaks volumes. The movie deserves to make more money.”

Meanwhile, some other respondents told NAN that the producers of ‘Black Panther’ were acting on the ‘black sentiments to make more money.

They queried the fact that the producers were ‘whites’ who based the marketing on making blacks feel represented, knowing that it would make them rush to watch the film.

A copywriter, Rita Enemona, said the movie was over rated and was ‘doused in the colour of a black cast’ to make it look appealing.

“I was not too pleased with the trailer but decided to watch it because all my friends were pushing me to do so.

“To say the least, the movie did not meet my heightened expectations, it does not have the power to grip you, save the costumes and arts,” Enemona said.

A web developer, Osato Imariagbe, said the movie would have made more sense if real African scenarios were used, apart from the Chibok girls’ rescue.

“The movie wanted to paint a positive image of Africa and blacks in general, it would have used real life examples of how Africans have the upper hand, that way the inclusion will be legitimate.

“I don’t understand the hype as it is a Marvel comic that has existed for years, the story was only revised a bit for the film. There is nothing too special,” he said.

Black Panther, which is showing in cinemas, made its Nigerian debut on February 13, with an ‘African Royalty’ themed premiere.

The premiere featured celebrities and other cinema goers gracing the red carpet with African prints and attire.

It stars Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, and Andy Serkis.

The movie featured Black Panther (Boseman), who on his return home as king of Wakanda, a fictional country found his sovereignty challenged by a long-time adversary thereby setting in conflict of global consequences.

It received praise for the screenplay, characters, direction, costume design, action sequences, soundtrack, and performances.

‘Black Panther’ has been referred to as one of the best films set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), noting its cultural significance.

Source: NAN

The Catholic Church in the Democratic Republic of Congo is mobilising the to force President Joseph Kabila to organise elections and relinquish power.

The Church is also upping the ante against Kabila for continuing to stay put despite the expiry in December 2016 of his second term.

The huge rally is also to remember those killed in last months protest.

In a statement, the church said the Catholic church in Kinshasa is spearheading what it hopes would be a huge rally on March 16 at Notre Dame du Congo Cathedral as a focal point for the struggle against Kabilas prolonged presidency.

According to the new constitution adopted in 2006, Kabilas presidency was supposed to expire on December 20, 2016, ten years after he was elected for his first five-year term in office.

The electoral authority in DRC had announced in September 2016 that elections would not be held until early 2018.

Since then talks have focused on building a census over the handling of the elections which the constitution disqualifies Kabila from contesting.

We have our heroes for democracy. They have a name, a face, an age. They are dead, they are alive. They will continue to demand a rigorous and active citizen participation to avoid falling back into a new dictatorship that will cost human lives, a statement by the church said.

The church is referring to people who died on February 25 during a mass demonstration, including young Rossy Kadima who was killed in Lemba district in Kinshasa.

The church also urged the public to continue with their civil disobedience by ringing bells in parishes across the country at 9pm every Thursday, with others encouraged to use whistles, car horns and saucepans.

In addition to their campaign of non-violence, the church also undertook to launch diplomatic overtures targeting DRCs partners through the Congolese Diaspora, to ratchet up pressure on Kabila.

At the end of three huge marches between December 31, 2017 and February 25, 2018, the church claimed a series of victories from its civil disobedience aimed at unmasking a dictatorship hiding behind democracy.

The church also claimed it has conquered its own fear, transferring it to our political and military leaders, the police and other security operatives.

Another victory it is claiming is the moral authority it commands from its congregations, a trait admired by the rest of the world.

The decision to bring further pressure to bear on the government by the church comes after Bishop Fridolin Ambongo was inducted in his position as Coadjutor Archbishop of Kinshasa.

Bishop Ambongo replaces the retired Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo as head of the Catholic church in Kinshasa.

Source:

Source: NAN

The House of Representatives has lifted the suspension placed on the former Chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, Rep. Abdulmumin Jibrin (Kano-APC).

This followed a letter of apology signed by Jibrin which was presented by the Speaker of the House, Mr Yakubu Dogara, at the plenary on Tuesday.

Jibrin was suspended in 2017 for 180 legislative days, for allegedly exposing budget padding scandal in the legislative arm of government.

While presenting the letter, Dogara said that the suspended legislator had met all the conditions necessary for him to resume his duties.

Dogara said that the lawmaker was free to resume his legislative duties whenever he so wished.

Source: NAN

An FCT High Court, Maitama on Tuesday ordered the police to pay N3 million to one Kingsley Efobi, for violation of his fundamental right to personal liberty.

Efobi had on May 10, 2017, filed a suit against the Nigeria Police Force, the Inspector-General of Police and the Commissioner of Police, FCT Command, for violating his fundamental right.

Justice Jude Okeke, delivering judgment in the suit filed by Efobi, held that there was no basis for the court to disbelieve the evidence of the applicant, which was not contradicted by the respondents.

He held that in order to ensure that the applicant was protected from further violation of his fundamental right to personal liberty, in facts of this matter, the court would be minded in line with the provision of 46 (1) of the Constitution.

Accordingly, an order of perpetual injunction is granted, restraining the respondents, their agents or servants from harassing the applicant on account of the subject matter of this suit.

The respondents jointly and severally are ordered to pay to the applicant a sum of N2 million damages for breaking his right to personal liberty.

N1million for violating his right not to be subjected to inhuman treatment, the judge held.

Okeke also ordered that the respondents jointly and severally return to the applicant a sum of N16, 500 being the money extorted from him by the officers of the respondent.

He also ordered that the respondent pay the applicant N50,000 for emerging successful from the suit.

Okeke held that the order by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) to the applicant, to remove his sandals, sit on a bare floor, seized his handset was violation of his right to dignity of his person, even his arrest and detention.

Efobi noted that he was forced to write an undertaking for the payment of the debts he owed.

There is no evidence by the respondents showing that they arrested and detained the applicant upon a reasonable suspicion of having committed criminal offence.

It is unconstitutional and, therefore, unlawful, the judge said.

Okeke said that the applicant and two others were traders at Wuse Modern Market and deal in bedspread and allied materials.

The applicant noted that the bedspread dealers bought in large quantities on debt from one Madam Normal, who supplied them from Aba.

It was the dealer who reported the applicant to the police sometimes in May 2015, for debts he owed her. (NAN)

Source: NAN

The University of Abuja (UniAbuja) branch of the Joint Action Committee comprising Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), National Association Academic Technologists (NAAT) and the Non Academic Staff Union (NASU) has suspended its four month old strike.

The unions downed tools on Dec. 4, 2017 over Federal Governments failure to pay their earned allowances.

Addressing newsmen on behalf of others, at the end of their congress meeting in Abuja, the Chairman of SSANU, UniAbuja, Malam Hassan Shallangwa, said there were positive signs from the government.

He said that governments posture might eventually lead to the final negotiated resolution of the issues that led to the action in the first place; hence the decision to suspend strike.

So far, there is a good negotiation that has been taking place. It has been intensified by the government; that is why they have been making effort to see that everything is being settled.

I assure all of you that we have fought the good fight; our effort will not be in vain; you will see our effort very soon by the special grace of God.

In view of that, the happenings in our campus which we all testify, our children have been suffering since they resumed this session; you can see that most of the things in the university have totally collapsed.

Based on the meetings held on March 6 and March 8, we were meant to understand that government are to release the sum of N8billion to JAC, including some academic staff of University of Ilorin(UniIlorin) and University of Nigeria, Nsukka(UNN).

The strike is hereby suspended to allow for full resolution of the matter, he said.

The agreement which led to the suspension of the strike was signed by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige; Minister of State for Education, Prof. Anthony Anwukah; SSANU President, Samson Ugokwe; NAAT President, Sani Suleiman and NASU General Secretary, Peters Adeyemi.

An excerpt from the agreement reads, Government is to source for N8billion within five weeks to pay JAC of SSANU, NAAT and NASU members and members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in UNN and UniIlorin, who did not get paid in the last disbursement exercise.

Source: NAN

President Muhammadu Buhari has rejected the Amended Electoral Bill sent for his signature by the National Assembly.

The bill provides for the Presidential election to come last after National Assembly and Governorship elections.

Buhari notified the Senate about his action in a letter dated March 3, 2018, which was read by the President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki during plenary.

The president said he withheld his assent to the bill because the amendment to the sequence of the elections in Section 25 of the Principal Act might infringe upon the constitutionally guaranteed discretion of INEC.

He stated that the section guaranteed the INEC to organise, undertake and supervise all the elections as provided in Section 15 (a) of the Third Schedule to the Constitution.

The amendment to Section 138 of the Principal Act to delete two crucial grounds upon which an election may be challenged by candidates, unduly limits rights of candidates in elections to a free and fair electoral review process.

The amendment to section 152 (325) of the Principal Act may raise constitutional issues over the competence of the National Assembly to legislate over Local Government elections.

Please accept Mr SenatePresident the assurances of my highest consideration, the president stated.

While the Independent National Electoral Commission put the presidential election as the first to be held during the general election, the National Assembly wants it held last.

Source: NAN

Federal Government says it has supplied two trucks of assorted food to victims of the recent Mambilla plateau communal conflict in Sardauna Local Government Area of Taraba.

Mr Abbani Imam, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) head of operations in charge of Adamawa and Taraba, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Yola on Tuesday.

Imam said that the food intervention was part of governments effort to ease the suffering of the affected persons.

Among the food items include; 600 bags of rice and 300 bags of maize and millet each.

The intervention is part of governments responsibility toward bringing succour to victims affected by conflict in any part of the country, he said.

He said that the agency was still compiling the data of people affected and property lost.

Source: NAN

US President Donald Trump has sacked Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and immediately replaced him with the director of the CIA, Mike Pompeo.

Thanking Mr Tillerson for his service on Twitter, Mr Trump said the new state secretary would do a fantastic job.

Mr Tillerson, a former chief executive of ExxonMobil, was only appointed to the job just over a year ago.

The president also nominated Gina Haspel to become the first woman director of the CIA.

Tillerson had barely touched down in the USA after a six-nation tour of Africa, in which he pledged US support for nations, such as Nigeria and Chad, fighting terrorism.

His sack is also being linked to his recent criticism of Russia.

Source: NAN

Venus Williams has ended Serena Williams’ return to tournament tennis as she ousted her early today in the third round of Indian Wells BNP Paribas Open in two straight sets 6-3, 6-4.

Venus closed out the 29th career meeting between the two on her second match point as Serena sailed a forehand long to end the third round match.

The 10th seeded Venus moves on to the round of 16 where she will face either Anastasija Sevastova or 12th seeded Julia Georges.

It was the first meeting between the two sisters since they clashed in the final of the 2017 Australian Open, which Serena won before taking a 15-month hiatus due to her pregnancy.

It is rare for the Williams sisters to play this early in a tournament. It is the earliest they have faced each other since their first encounter at the Australian Open in 1998.

The sisters arrived outside the stadium together on a golf cart then walked through the tunnel with Serena entering the court first with many in the crowd standing and cheering.

Venus blasted six aces but had eight double faults in the one hour 26 minutes main stadium match.

Serena is still shaking off the rust after the long layoff as she hit four aces but had her serve broken four times.

This was their first encounter with Venus as an aunt and Serena as a new mother after giving birth to her baby daughter, Alexis Olympia, on September 1.

Venus’s victory also comes 17 years after an ugly booing incident led to a 14-year boycott of the tournament by the sisters.

But for some it brought closure to the once testy relationship between Indian Wells and the sisters who hail from the Los Angeles suburb of Compton.

Said Serena Williams at the end of Monday night’s match: “There’s a silver lining always for me. I have to look forward to the next match and the next time.”

Serena said she is still easing her way back into match fitness.

“It wasn’t very easy, obviously,” she said. “It was good to play and try to get in the rhythm and get into the swing again.

“I can’t really replicate the situation no matter how much I do in practice. I make those shots 10 times out of 10 in practice.

“It’s just the nerves, the anticipation you feel naturally. It’s a little bit of everything that comes in a match that just doesn’t normally happen.”

And sister Venus complemented her: “Her level was super high. It was really difficult to close out the match. She’s going to be winning tournaments sooner than later”

Source: NAN

A match between two Greek Superleague teams, PAOK Salonika and AEK Athens, was suspended on Sunday when the president and owner of PAOK Salonika, Ivan Savvidis, stalked onto the pitch while armed with a gun.

According to Reuters, the gun was holstered around Savvides waist, and he was surrounded by bodyguards.

Savvidis is one of Greece’s richest men, and a former member of the Russian Parliament. He came onto the pitch near the end of the game, after a PAOK Salonika goal was disallowed in the 89th minute. The gun was visible, but he never drew it as he complained to the referee about the goal.

It was actually the second time Savvidis had invaded the pitch during the match.

The first time he was wearing an overcoat, and AEK Athens officials claimed that Savvidis threatened a referee.

The second time the overcoat was gone, which revealed a holstered gun around his waist.

Not surprisingly, this caused a bit of a hubbub.

Savvidis had already ordered his team to leave the pitch, and everyone else was ordered to disperse once the gun was identified and the game was suspended.

Greek soccer has been beset by violence both on and off the pitch.

A match between PAOK Salonika and Olympiakos Piraeus was called off in February after the Olympiakos coach was struck by a “roll of paper” thrown from the stands. After this latest incident, Greek Deputy Culture and Sports Minister Georgios Vassiliadis stood by the suspension. From Reuters:

“We have decided to interrupt the championship … It won’t start again unless there is a clear framework, agreed by all, to move forward with conditions and rules.”
Vassiliadis also said the suspension will be indefinite until everyone involved agrees to “much tighter rules on issues of security.”

Despite the firearm, PAOK Salonika was eventually declared the winner of the match two hours after the suspension when the referee reversed his decision.

Hopefully the gun played no role in that.

Source: NAN

Zambia is waging a fierce campaign against sex dolls, threatening offenders with heavy jail terms over the dolls which, it says, are “very unnatural”.

“No one sells them openly, no one admits to owning one, and no one has been arrested,’’ report said.

The government launched the crackdown on the sex toys last month.

The action has propelled the issue of sex dolls to the top of the news agenda and made them a hot topic of conversation and debate on social media, dividing opinion in the largely conservative southern African country.

“Being a Christian nation, obviously we are anchored in Christian principles and one of the values is morality and ethics,” Minister of National Guidance and Religious Affairs Godfridah Sumaili , said.

Selling or using a sex doll is against Zambian law, she said, vowing to ensure they are not bought on the internet and imported.

“The use of sex dolls is definitely in contradiction to our natural heritage and our principles,” Sumaili added.

“The law actually forbids anybody to trade (in) and to use such objects — and so this is why we are saying for Zambians that this is a very unnatural thing.”

The minister said the ban was necessary after media reports emerged of sex dolls being imported into Zambia, apparently from Asia. Police are investigating, she added.

In recent months, Zambia’s independent and semi-official press have devoted many column inches to reports of sex shops popping up around the capital Lusaka selling sex dolls, as well as chronicling the backlash.

“God created man and woman for sexual satisfaction — but for a man or woman to use a lifeless object is immoral,” Sumaili said.

“Let’s not import foreign beliefs and experiences. Let us just believe in what we are.”

The manufacture of sex dolls has become increasingly sophisticated, with China developing custom-made “smart” dolls that can talk, play music and turn on dishwashers.

Sex dolls’ inventors say they can cure loneliness and help elderly men who lack female companionship.

In Zambia, the dolls made of silicone were reportedly in a variety of shapes and shades, but could not be found in any shops.

A suspected mentally challenged man on Monday hacked to death two pupils of Saint Johns Anglican Primary School in Agodo, Ogun Waterside Local Government Area of Ogun.

It was gathered that the assailant entered the school premises from a nearby bush and inflicted machete cuts on the children who were observing lunch break with their colleagues.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that the assailant fled the scene at about 11 :15 am after the incident.

It was learnt that the deep machete cuts inflicted on the victims left them in the pool of their blood.

Sources said while the school has a perimeter fence it has no gates.

When the parents and guardians thronged to the school after the incident to withdraw their wards while security agents have commenced investigation.

Mr Abimbola Oyeyemi, the State Police Public Relations Officer, confirmed the incident to newsmen in Abeokuta.

Oyeyemi gave the names of the two victims as Mubarak Kalesowo and Sunday Obituyi , both aged four and in Kindergarten class.

The incident happened at 11:30 a.m. during lunch break. The children were on the field playing. The guy just emerged from the bush and hacked two of them to death and immediately he did it, he ran away.

Those who know him (suspect) said he is a madman and also an indigene of that place. But we are not relying on that.

We are on his trail, we want to get him arrested.

It is only a medical expert that would confirm whether he is a mad person or not.

Our ultimate aim is to get him arrested. As Im talking to you now, the Area Commander and the DPO Abigi are at the scene. We have set machinery in motion to get him arrested, he said.

Source: NAN

President Muhammadu Buhari told a town hall meeting in Makurdi today that Inspector-general of Police, Idris Ibrahim has some query to answer as to why he violated his order to relocate to Benue state, following the killings of 73 villagers by herdsmen.

The killings happened on New Years Day and amidst national outrage President Buhari on 9 January, ordered Idris to relocate to Benue state.

Today, President Buhari was told by Governor Ortom that Idris did not spend 24 hours in the state, as he moved to neighbouring Nasarawa state, thus violating President Buharis order.

President Buhari was surprised that Idris breached his order.

He said he would ask Idris to explain why he observed the order in the breach, on his return to Abuja.

What I did was to call him and give him (a) directive. And I didnt know he moved here (Benue State) and didnt spend (time) and then move to Nasarawa. Its only now that I am knowing that. But I know I dispatched him here, the President said.

At every level, you have to be loyal to people below you. Whether that person is loyal to you or not is totally a different thing, President Buhari said.

The easiest thing for me was to go on air and accuse the IGP of being too slow and not using the intelligence and resources available to him to foresee the action of the cattle rearers and so on. People would believe me, but I will be disloyal if I do that.

Source: NAN

Porn actress Stormy Daniels on Monday offered to return the $130,000 she received from President Trumps attorney Michael Cohen, in an effort to fully void the 2016 hush agreement that has prevented her from speaking publicly about her alleged 2006 sexual tryst with Trump.

In a letter addressed to Cohen, which was obtained by The New York Times, Daniels lawyer Michael Avenatti wrote that she would wire the money into an account of Mr. Trumps choosing by Friday in exchange of nullifying the agreement of silence Daniels took.

Avenatti outlined that if the offer was accepted, Daniels could (a) speak openly and freely about her prior relationship with the president and the attempts to silence her and (b) use or publish any text messages, photos and/or videos relating to the president that she may have in her possession, all without fear of retribution and legal liability for damages.

The deal also stipulated that, if accepted, the 60 Minutes interview Daniels taped last week with Anderson Cooper would be allowed to air without blocking efforts from the Trump camp.

With a noon Tuesday deadline, the letter will essentially bait Cohen into a choice between letting Daniels talk freely about her alleged Trump affair; or publicly confirm that a silencing campaign had been in effect.

Avenatti told The Daily Beast that he has yet to hear from Cohen or anyone from the Trump legal team.

*Reported by

Source: NAN

The Independent National Electoral Commission is considering burning unclaimedPermanent Voter Cards (PVCs) before next years general elections.

Dr Rufus Akeju, the new Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Ondo Statetold newsmen on Monday in Akure that INEC is considering the option, since all attempts had been made in vain by the commission thorough sensitisation campaign to reach out to the affected voters to collect their PVCs.

He said the commission was making efforts almost on daily basis for voters to get their PVCs, adding that the commission may be compelled to resort to burning of the cards or destroying them to check being used to manipulate elections.

The REC said that the burning process would be made public for all Nigerians to witness.

Akeju said in Ondo state, 1,659,186 people have been registered as eligible voters and 1,288,722 cards had been distributed so far, adding that 370,464 PVCs are unclaimed.

He also said the commission was doing everything possible to ensure a credible election that would meet with global best practices.

We now have new and improve data capturing for moderate and effective capturing.

We have introduced additional card readers in case one is malfunctioning in a particular unit, he said.

The REC solicited the support of all journalists in the state, saying they remain major stakeholders in educating the general public.

He, however, urged journalists to report accurately stories they gather from INEC offices in the state without bias.

The Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the state, Mr James Sowole, promised that the union would continue to support the commission in its activities.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Akeju was the immediate past REC in Osun before his posting to Ondo State.

Source: NAN

Prince Uche Secondus, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Chairman claimed that the government of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has failed because it couldnt fulfil its promises to the people.

Secondus made this claim while addressing members of the PDP during his working tour to Dutse, capital of Jigawa on Monday.

He said that the APC made a lot of promises to the people during the electioneering campaigns but it has failed to fulfil the promises.

APC said if they win, they will revive the economy, they will address the problem of insecurity and corruption

Sen. Dino Maleye said before the floor of the house recently that in the 16 years of PDP government they collected a loan of only N6 trillion but APC government in just three years collected N11 trillion. These figures, bandied by Melaye and Pastor Tunde Bakare have been discredited as wild guesses.

According to data provided by Debt Management Office,the Federal Government borrowed N6.76 trillion since June 2015. When state debts are added, what has been borrowed is N8.3 trillion still significantly lower than the N11 trillion being touted.

In contrast, the PDP in 16 years borrowed N9.25 trillion, higher than Bakare and Melayes claim.

Corruption has pervaded the APC government from the top to bottom, APC government is more corrupt than PDPs own, claimed Secondus.

There is insecurity in the country, you cannot sleep with your two eyes closed, there is poverty and hunger in all the houses in Nigeria, therefore APC is a government of deception

I therefore urge us to come out en masse and vote for PDP so that we could fight hunger, poverty and the insecurity.

The PDP Chairman said that APC has come to divide the country while PDP is out to unite the country.

APC should therefore prepare to hand over to PDP as we also handed over to them

The Governor of Gombe State, Alhaji Hassan Dankwambo, who is nurturing a presidential ambition, said that since the PDP left government in Jigawa, he has not seen any changes under the present APC administration in the state.

Dankwambo urged the people to support PDP, which he said would win the 2019 election, by the power of God.

Alhaji Ahmed Makarfi, immediate Caretaker Chairman of the Party said the party has put all the the necessary machinery in place to wrest power from the APC.

Alhaji Sule Lamido, former governor of Jigawa and also a presidential aspirant, charged the people to protect their votes on election day.

The PDP National Chairman was accompanied on the tour by prominent Party stalwarts like former governor of Kano state Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, former Senate House Leader Alhaji Abdul Ningi, Amb. Aminu Wali, first civilian governor of Jigawa, Alh Ali Saad Birninkudu, former Governor Kaduna, Alhaji Ahmad Muhammad, who was the immediate past chairman of the PDP and many others.

Source: NAN

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says US will assist Nigeria with latest security equipment and intelligence sharing in its efforts toward the safe return of the abducted Dapchi schoolgirls.

Tillerson stated this when he briefed newsmen alongside Nigerias Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, after a closed door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari.

According to him, the US government will also offer special training for security personnel to enable them engage in special operations towards the rescue the girls as well as the remaining Chibok schoolgirls in captivity.

He, however, expressed the hope that both the Chibok and Dapchi schoolgirls would return home.

First, we respect the responsibilities of the government of Nigeria and the territorial integrity of Nigeria.

But the way we support is in providing them capability capacity with equipment and also training of the personnel of special operations and sharing intelligence to ensure that they have all the information available to carry out the recovery effort.

But I think it is also important to put this in a broad regional context as well. Boko Haram is a threat to other regions and this has been the subject of my meetings elsewhere and in Africa as well.

In my discussion with President Derby in Chad earlier today, we spoke about the threat of Boko Haram and I think it is important and its really been powerful.

The collaboration between the joint task force which Nigeria is a part and Chad is a part, to respond to this threat of terrorism which Boko Haram is one of the organizations, there are other threats that the leadership of this country has to deal with.

So the United States is ready to engage and coordinate efforts as well. But we have been supporting, equipping, training and when we can provide information.

I think that is the best way we have been helping the government of Nigeria secure the release of the girls, which we hope, will be done in a peaceful manner. We hope that something can be worked out and they can secure the release of these girls quickly, he said.

On his recent warning to African countries against doing business with China, Tillerson said the warning was not meant to stop Chinese investments from flowing to countries that needed such investments.

He, however, cautioned that such countries should be careful with the level of debts they might accumulate as a result of such business dealings.

But what we are cautioning countries is to look carefully, that the implications of the level of debts, the terms of the debts, and whether the arrangements around the local financing are intact creating jobs, local capacity or the projects being carried out by foreign labour being brought to your country.

Is the structure of the financing such that you will always be in control of your infrastructure?

Are there mechanisms to deal with the faults so that you do not loss ownership of your own assets? These are national assets whether they are ports, railways, or major highways.

We have seen this occurred in other countries that were not so careful and has result they got themselves in situation where they awfully lost control of their infrastructure, lost the ownership, the operationalization of it.

And that is the precaution that we are talking about. That there are international rules and norms and financial structure to deal with unforeseen circumstances and I think we are just cautioning countries to look carefully.

We have seen many around the world that did not work out so well and we are just saying as friends, be careful, he said.

According to the top U.S. diplomat, the American government is creating other alternative financing mechanisms that are available for African nations, saying we are developing mechanism that will also create alternative opportunities financing offer.

Tillerson also stressed the need to increase the volume of trade between the U.S. and Nigeria which he said stood at nine billion dollars.

In his contribution, Nigerias Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, said Nigeria had succeeded in degrading Boko Haram, contrary to reports in the social media.

Fighting terrorism is a new challenge globally. When we talked of having degraded Boko Haram, we were referring specifically to the situation that we were confronted with when the government took over.

That was a situation where you have a classical military confrontation and Boko Haram were capturing territory, holding unto territory and hoisting flags. So as a conventional military threat, Boko Haram has been completely degraded.

He, however, acknowledged a challenge with regards to sporadic suicides and bombings as well as kidnapping of the girls. (NAN)

Source: NAN

The Nigerian Peace Corps has reacted to recent reports which implied that President Muhammadu Buhari has rejected the Peace Corps Bill.

In a statement issued on Saturday by the Public Relations Office of the Corps, Millicent Umoru, the NPC described the report as misleading and a voyage of interpretation of the Constitution.

The report had insinuated that by not signing the Bill 30 working days after it was transmitted in December 2017, the President had denied accent to the bill.

However, Umoru insisted that some of the bills that were sent to the President along with the Peace Corps bill had been rejected as the president expressly wrote the National Assembly to convey the reasons why those bills were rejected.

The corps stressed that the Peace Corps Bill was not part of the rejected ones and as such it was wrong for the medium to have published such a report.

Read the full text of the statement below:

RE: BUHARI REJECTS NIGERIAN PEACE CORPS BILL.

Whenourattention was drawn tothe aforementioned report in the Vanguard Newspaper of Saturday, February 17, 2018, which was written by Mr.SoniDaniel, the Northern Regional Editor of the Newspaper and Mr.EmmanOvuakkporie,ourinitial reaction wasthat of disbelief.

But after reading the entire report, it suddenlydawned on usthat the authors deliberately elected to sensationalize the caption with a view to selling the Newspaper and on that note;wewish to assuretheteeming members of thePeace Corps of Nigeria andmillions ofourwell-wishers nationwide that thewriters merely embarked on a voyage ofinterpretation of the Constitution.

The truth of the matteris that out of about nine Billsthat were transmitted to the President together with that of the Nigerian Peace Corps, the President rejected three and returned same to the National Assembly(NASS), stating reasons why he rejected them. And of course, the Nigerian Peace Corps Bill was not part of the rejected ones.

We are not unaware of the grand conspiracy by some security agencies againstthe Peace Corps,especially the Police, Department of State Services (DSS) and CivilDefencein theiradversarial memos to the Presidency to thwart assent to the Bill. Thisconspiracy, whichwasalsomanifested in form of opposition during the Public Hearings conducted by both chambers of the NASS on the Bill, was roundly defeated by superior arguments of over 500 Oral and written Memoranda submitted during the Public Hearings in the NASS.

The major plank of this conspiracy is that the functions of the NigerianPeaceCorps (NPC)Bill overlap that of the Nigerian Police and Nigerian Security and CivilDefenceCorps (NSCDC), which is far from the truth. (Nigerians should watch out for ourfull pageadvertorial on this issue inThe Nation, The Sun, Daily Trust and TribuneNewspaperson Monday, 19thFebruary, 2018). The advertorial clearly articulates the statutory functions of the Police, CivilDefenceand that of the Nigerian Peace Corps.

We wish tocorrect the erroneous impression created by this report, whose contents are just the authors interpretation ofthe provisions of the law,PresidentMuhammaduBuhariGCFR,has notassented to or rejected the NPC Bill.And ifeventhe President rejectsthe Bill, he will communicate same to the NASS, stating reason(s) for doing so.

Moreover, the Spokespersons of both chambers of the NASS, SenatorSabiAbdullahi(Senate) and Hon.AbdulrazakNamdas(House of Representatives) have clarified the issuesas far as the law on this matter is concerned.

The authors also questioned the legal status of the Peace Corps, a position that smacks of mischief. For purposeof clarity, Peace Corps of Nigeria was dulyincorporated bythe Corporate Affairs Commission under the Companies and Allied Matters Act Cap1990, Part CasNigerianLeadership and MarshalCorps, but changed to Peace Corps of Nigeria in 2002 in accordance with theCompanies and Allied Matters Act.So, its legality has never been called to question and even if the Bill is not assented to, that will not stop it from functioning as an entity.The Bill isessentiallytogivestatutory backingto the Corps.

That this report is coming out a few days after the House Committee on Public Petition gave the Corps directive to take-over itsHeadquarters that has been under lock and key by the Policesince February 2017, a directive thatwasalmost executed before the intervention of the FCT Commissioner of Police, is suspicious.How sad!

Sadder still is that in spite ofseveralCourt judgments pronouncing Peace Corps as a legal entity, including recent verdicts by two different Federal High Courtsjudges,the antagonists of the Corps have continued to disregard these valid Ordersby refusing to unsealthe Peace Corpsoffice.Somuch forthe Rule ofLaw!

In conclusion, we request all PCN Stakeholders and indeed the entire Nigerian youth to disregard any erroneous, malicious and none-evidence based information against the NPC Bill.

Patriot MillicentUmoru

Corps Public Relations Officer

Source: NAN

A video of a two year, 11 month-old pupil of Chrisland School, Lekki, Lagos portraying her alleged serial defilement by the schools supervisor was played today at the Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court.

The video was played during the testimony of Miss Olive Ogedengbe at the trial of Adegboyega Adenekan, 47, a Supervisor at Chrisland School over defilement of a child.

Proceedings lasted from 11a.m. to 3.03 p.m.

Ogedengbe, a clinical psychologist, is an expert in sexual and reproductive health behaviour in children and adolescents. She has over 10 years work experience with children and adolescents, the court heard.

The video recording (Exhibit A1), depicted the child, named Child X, in the clinical psychologists office on Nov. 28, 2016 answering questions about the alleged defilement from Ogedengbe and her colleague.

In the recording, Child X was given a sheet of paper and asked to draw the private part of Adenekan, which she did as well as another image with the ensuing questions.

Child X, referring to the other image said:that is the hand he used to put in my wee wee.

Ogedengbe: Where is Mr Adenekans wee wee?Child X in response, pointed to her private area.

Ogedengbe: Does he put his wee wee in your wee wee?Child X: Yes.

Child X in the recording, using a teddy bear as a puppet, also showed how the supervisor allegedly sexually abused her friend (name withheld).

Kissing the private region of the teddy bear, the child can be heard saying in the video recording Your bum bum is delicious, your bum bum is sweet, I will eat your bum bum.

Ogedengbe, before the video recording was played in the courtroom, in her testimony while being led by Mr Jide Boye, the Chief State Counsel, narrated to the court what had previously transpired during her interaction with the child.

She said:the mother came into my office with a referral letter from the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team (DSVRT) and narrated the story and she started crying.

She (the mother) said she did not know the reason why this was happening to her.

She said she was usually over protective of her children and follows them everywhere except school.

She said somebody in her church handed her a book on sexual education for children which she read and decided to practice it on her child.

That was when the child disclosed that she has been defiled.

She told her mother that Mr Adenekan comes to take her out of the class and shows her some videos that are sexually stimulating.

She pleaded with us to help to correct the psyche of her child.

I carried out an independent psychological evaluation on the child. I asked the mother to sit at the corner of the room and myself and my colleague interacted with the child.

We did not directly start interrogating the child as that was against the ethics of our profession.

We started an initial interaction with the child to make her relax and gain her trust.

When our trust was gained by the child and she was in a happy frame of mind, I asked the child:who touched your wee wee? and the child repeated on several times `Mr Adenekan.

I was shocked because I did not expect it from a child her age. I brought out my assessment sheet and I told the child to draw any person that comes to her mind.

She restlessly started jumping around Mr Adenekan is on my mind we got her back to being settled but she continued talking without yet drawing.

She (Child X) said Mr Adenekan said it is good for a child to put her wee wee in Mr Adenekans wee wee at that point in time we decided to do a recording to ensure her story remains consistent.

We asked her how does Mr Adenekans wee wee look like and she demonstrated playfully by pointing her finger upwards stating sharpener.

We asked sharpener or pencil? She stated `sharpener.

We told her to draw Mr Adenekans wee wee. We want to see what it looks like.

To my greatest shock and surprise, for a two-year-old child, she drew a picture which symbolises a reproductive organ of a man in the form of a penis.

I then asked her, show me your wee wee, she pointed at her private part. I asked her to show me where Mr Adenekans wee wee is and she pointed at the lower region of her private part.

By then the child was again getting very restless and she ran to her mother who was at the corner of the room.

We still wanted to hear more but she was playfully running around and her mother started probing her: Is it only you he comes around to take out of the class and she replied no.

The child said it was herself and her friend (name withheld) so her mother asked her to show us what he normally does with her friend.The child said he kisses her bum bum and he licks her bum bum, the child demonstrated by using a puppy in the room.

That was the end of the first interview with the child.

Ogedengbe during her lengthy testimony said from her evaluation, the mother and Child X needed psychological help.

She said:Afterwards, I decided to confirm from the mother if the child was exhibiting any symptom of psychological abuse.

I asked the mother if she observed any strange behaviour in the child and the mother said yes.

I had asked because I noticed in the course of interacting with the child that the child was occasionally aggressive.

The mother confirmed this and also stated that the child had sleep problems and had been having nightmares.She also complained of sexual inappropriate behaviour from the child and that after the incident the child became curious to see naked bodies of people.

From my findings I found the child exhibited aggressive behaviour, inappropriate sexual behaviour, sleeping problems and fear.

After the interaction, myself and my colleague realised that the child and mother needed help.

The mother also exhibited signs of post-traumatic stress disorder.

We decided to do an intervention and we held two more sessions of psycho-social intervention for the mother and the mother was counselled on how to help and assist the child.

While being cross-examined by Mr Olatunde Adejuyigbe (SAN), Ogedengbe said that Child X was not tutored on what to say during the interview by either her or Child Xs mother.

We used projective techniques in which a client projects their subconscious minds on paper.

The clinical psychologist revealed to Adejuyigbe that she visited the mother of Child Xs friend who was also allegedly sexually assaulted by Adenekan.

We saw the mother of the childs friend but she was not willing to get involved in the case because of stigma, she said.

Ogedengbe also added that she did not interview the staff of Chrisland School, Child Xs father and her older sister.The clinical psychologist also insisted that the child was of above average intelligence.

Children 0-5 years, are usually not able to form full sentences, the child could string meaningful sentences.

In drawing a picture, most children her age do not draw meaningful drawings but she did.

I have worked with children her age from diverse sections of society and she is of above average intelligence, she said.

On re-examination by Boye, the prosecutor, Ogedengbe insisted that the child was not tutored.

If a child is being brainwashed or tutored, the child wont be consistent in answering several questions.

You will see it in her non-verbal behaviour that she was tutored, there would be no flow of conversation, this child was not tutored, the clinical psychologist said.

Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011 prescribes a life sentence for the offence of defilement of a child.

Justice Sybil Nwaka adjourned the case till March 21 for continuation of trial.

Source: NAN

At least two persons died late Sunday when the helicopter they were riding in crashed into Manhattans East River in New York, officials said.

The red chopper, owned by tourism group Liberty and carrying six people including the pilot, fell into the river near the upscale Upper East Side neighborhood around 90th Street shortly after 7:00 pm (2300 GMT) at the end of a sunny day.

The pilot freed himself, the other five did not, Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro told reporters during a brief press conference.

We are told the five people were all tied tightly in harnesses that had to be cut and removed.

Divers rushed to the scene and freed the passengers, two of whom were pronounced dead, amid strong currents and frigid temperatures, Nigro added.

The other three were taken to hospital in critical condition.

Liberty organises aerial tours of Americas financial capital. Police chief James ONeill said the aircraft had been leased by photographers.

New York 1 television, citing police sources, reported that five of the six people flying in the helicopter had died, with only the pilot surviving.

The cause of the accident was not immediately clear, but local media indicated the pilot had sent a distress signal that mentioned an engine problem shortly before the crash.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident.

Source: NAN