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UYO—AN unprecedented flood in the history of Akwa Ibom State has sweptthrough Itak Abasi fishing community in Ibeno Local Government Area ofthe state leaving in its trail six persons dead and 17 others missing.

No fewer than 40 fishingboats were also swept into the Atlantic Ocean by the flood. The villagers who described the incident as atsunami, said the flood swept more than three quarters of their oncelively community into the ocean.

Governor Akpabio who visited the island, weekend, expressed sadness over the disaster, assuring that he would take care of the victims andensure that they were relocated in a safe settlement.

The governor also directed the Local Government Council to gazette names of all victims affected and to forward the list to his office.

Akpabio who was touched by the plight of the victims, asked the council Chairman to arrange a make shift shelter for the people who hadbeen suddenly rendered homeless as the agony of those who lost theirloved ones lingered.

However, Vanguard learnt that Akwa Ibom State Government might not be able to address what appeared to be its worst flood disaster alone,except the Federal Government and the other agencies collaborated withit.

Executive Director, Projects, of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Arc. Esoetok Etteh who hails from the area toldVanguard that the 15, 000 strong citizens of the settlement needed helpas the flood had wrecked havoc on them.

Some of the residents told Vanguard that they were worried because the flood had washed away nearly all their fishing materials and hadtaken over their only primary school and health centre.

Vanguard was told that the attention of ExxonMobil, a U.S. international oil company was drawn to the impending danger, but thatthe company was allegedly insensitive to their plight. Vanguard alsolearnt that in 2002, Hon. Nduese Essien, the current Minister, Housingand Urban Development had advised the people of Ibeno to channel thematter to NDDC and the National Assembly through him.

In 2008, the Senate Committee on Environment visited the area with Secretary to the Akwa Ibom State Government, Mr. Umana Okon Umana, andrecommended what should have been done in the area.

Vanguard investigation revealed that NDDC had allegedly awarded the contract to reclaim the land, said to be receding at about four metresyearly to a certain firm at the contract value of N6 billion, but threeyears after, nothing had been done even when the said firm had loadedshoreline protection equipment that had long been rotting at Upenkangvillage in Ibeno.

Councilor representing Ward II of the local council, Patrick Usenekong, who was evacuating some of the people trapped by the flood,told Vanguard that some of the people trapped by the flood now lived ontop of their houses or on roof tops.
Usenekong said: “We haven’t seen anything like this in a decade. The last this happened was 25 years ago.”

At press time NDDC had donated relief materials worth about N500,000 comprising 700 tubers of yam, 60 bags of rice, 60 gallons of groundnutoil and other food items.
NEMA also donated materials worth N5 million including 300 mattresses,300 bags of rice, 300 buckets for carrying water, 30 bags of beans,while ExxonMobil was said to have only made promises of support.

BY OLA AJAYI, IBADAN

The Oyo State Police Command has arrested some armed robbery suspects who allegedly specialize in robbing cattle rearers.

About 10 stolen cows were said to have been recovered from them during their arrest on Oke-Ogun area of the state.

The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Baba Adisa Bolanta, while parading the suspects with others said one Saliu, 50yrs old, Abdulahi Umaru, 25yrs and Buba Bello, 30yrs, from Ijio town via Iwere – Ile were nabbed after a gun duel with the police dispatched to the robbery scene.

He said, that the command also recovered seven exotic vehicles stolen by robbers outside the state.

According to him, the cars included black Toyota Camry, with registration number ES 981 APP, Toyota Camry marked AL 428 KJA, Nissan Maxima, EF 211 SMK, and another black Toyota Camry 1997 model, with number plate EJ 857 SMK, and two other cars with no registration numbers.

Speaking further on how the police were able to recovered the cars, Bolanta said, “a distress call was received from Lagos State that a black Toyota Camry was robbed at gun point somewhere in Lagos and that it had been tracked to somewhere in Alakia Adelubi area of Ibadan” .

“Based on the receipt of the information, my personnel at Alakia Adelubi Divisional Police headquarters sighted the vehicle around Olorisa Oko, Wakajaiye area of Ibadan where the vehicle was given a hot chase and traced to a fenced compound where the seven vehicles were found.

Other items recovered from the suspects include three pairs of damaged number plates, One locally fabricated master key, five pairs of undamaged number plates, Eight vehicles head lights, Eight wheel covers, Seven windscreen with different engraved registration numbers.

With more than 500 million people now on Facebook, it's inevitable that you'll be friended by someone you know, but with whom you don'twant to share your online life. Once you've accepted them as a friend,how do you avoid them without the awkwardness of unfriending them?

Facebook has made it easy to hide other members' status updates. Place yourmouse over an update from, say, Charlie, and a light blue X appears tothe upper right corner of the update. Click the X, and Facebook willpresent you with three buttons from which to choose: Hide Charlie, Markas Spam and Cancel. If you click Hide Charlie, you'll never seeCharlie's updates again. (Click Spam and the message disappears and anotice gets sent to Facebook's servers and analyzed by spam filteringsoftware.)

But how do you keep Charlie from reading your updates? Skirting your way around someone you've accepted as a Facebook friend istrickier. When you write a status update of your own, look for thelock-shaped icon below and to the right of the text input box. Click onthe lock, and Facebook will pop up a menu. Click the bottom option,Customize. That will pop up a dialog box labeled Custom Privacy thatlets you filter who will see your update.

There are two ways to exclude people. The quick and easy way is to type their names into thebox labeled "Hide this from these people" at the bottom of the dialogbox. To hide all future updates from these folks, click the checkbox atthe very bottom that says "Make this my default setting." Then click thebig blue Save Setting button. From now on, evil Charlie won't get yourupdates.The more sophisticated solution is to replace this blacklistwith a list of people you do like. That way you can accept any number ofnew friends without having to accidentally share your updates withthem..

To do this, click on Friends in the left margin of Facebook's interface. You'll see a button at the top of the Friends pagelabeled "+ Create a List". Click that and use the dialog box that popsup to make a list of the friends you want to share with. Call it, say,True Friends.

Next time you post an update, follow the instructions above to bring up the Customize dialog box. But instead oftyping into the "Hide this" field, click the menu at the top labeled"Make this visible to these people." Select the option Specific People. Atext input box will appear. Type the name of your new list, TrueFriends, into this field. Click "Make this my default setting" and thenSave Setting. From now on, only your True Friends list will see yourupdates. Complicated and annoying, yes, but probably much less so thanit was going to high school with Charlie.

The police have issued a warning for harassment against an airport worker after he allegedly took a photo of a female colleague as she went through a full-body scanner at Heathrow airport.

The incident, which occurred at terminal 5 on 10 March, is believed to be the first time an airport worker has been formally disciplined for misusing the scanners..

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "Police received an allegation regarding an incident that happened at Heathrow Terminal 5 on March 10. A first-instance harassment warning has been issued to a 25-year-old male."

BAA said: "We treat any allegations of inappropriate behaviour or misuse of security equipment very seriously and these claims are being investigated thoroughly," a BAA spokesman said. "If found to be substantiated we will take appropriate action."

The incident is likely to reignite privacy concerns over the scanners by civil liberty groups. The Equality and Human Rights Commission last month warned that the government needed to take action to bring its policy for body-scanning passengers at UK airports within the law.

The commission said it had concerns about the apparent absence of safeguards to ensure the scanners were operated in a lawful, fair and non-discriminatory manner. It raised doubts as to whether the decision to install them at all UK airports was legal.

The scanners were introduced at Manchester and Heathrow last month after the Christmas Day bombing attempt over Detroit in the US. The £80,000 Rapiscan machines show a clear body outline and have been described by critics as the equivalent of "virtual strip searching".

While American transport authorities offer passengers a choice between going through the full-body scanner or going through a metal-arch scanner and a physical search, the British government has said that a refusal to go through the body scanner would bar passengers from boarding aircraft.

Earlier this month two women, one a Muslim, became the first people to be barred from boarding a flight at Manchester airport because they refused to go through a full-body scanner. The women, who were booked to fly to Islamabad with Pakistan International Airlines, were told they could not get on the plane after they refused to be scanned for medical and religious reasons.

A House of Commons home affairs committee report on airport securitytoday welcomed the scanners' deployment and said it should have come sooner.

"Having witnessed these full-body scanners working at first-hand, we are confident that the privacy concerns that have been expressed in relation to these devices are overstated and that full-body scanners are no more an invasion of privacy than manual "pat-downs" or searches of bags," the committee said.

"Air passengers already tolerate a large invasion of their privacy and we do not feel that full-body scanners add greatly to this situation. Privacy concerns should not prevent the deployment of scanners."

• This article was amended on 11 June 2010 to remove information about a BAA employee, along with a quote, reported from another media source, that has since been contested

An HIV-positive German pop singer went on trial on Monday accused of failing to tell sexual partners about her condition, causing one of them to become infected.

Nadja Benaissa, 28, former singer in the girl band No Angels, is charged with causing grevious bodily harm and attempted bodily harm, a court spokesman told CNN.

Benaissa had unprotected sex on five occasions between 2000 and 2004 with three people and did not tell them she was infected, Agence France-Presse reported the charge sheet as saying. She had allegedly known her status since 1999.

Benaissa admitted not telling sexual partners she was HIV-positive but denied intending to infect anyone, according to AFP. "I am sorry from the heart," she told the court, according to media reports.

One of the three men Benaissa allegedly slept with has since been confirmed as having HIV, prosecutors told an earlier hearing, AFP reported.

German newspaper Bild reported that Benaissa's attorney read a statement in which she said she believed there was little chance of her passing on the virus and did not want it made public because of the harm it might cause her daughter and the band.

Bild also reported that one of Benaissa's alleged victims told the court he had unprotected sex with Benaissa on about three occasions. He said he went to the doctor after learning of Benaissa's condition from her aunt, and discovered he had contracted the virus.

He told Benaissa: "You have borne so much suffering in the world," according to the newspaper.

No Angels became Germany's most successful all-female group after being formed on the international television show "Popstars" in 2000.

The band reformed in 2007 and competed in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest.

Benaissa is appearing in youth court because she was 17 at the time of the first alleged offence.

The fact that Benaissa was HIV-positive was not made public until her arrest in April last year, AFP reported. She spent 10 days in custody after her arrest before being released on bail.

The trial is expected to last five days and hear from witnesses including fellow members of No Angels.

The Nigeria Police made a total of N20.35 billion between January last year and June this year from extorting money from motorists at illegal checkpoints, a report by the global organisation, Human Rights Watch has revealed.

Emeka Umeagbalasi, the chairman of the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law presented the report in Lagos said checkpoints in the South East yielded the highest sums. Giving a breakdown of what is made from the different regions, Mr. Umeagbalasi said N9.35 billion was realised from the South East, South-South brought in N4 billion, while the South-West nets the police N4 billion. In the North Central, which includes Abuja, N2 billion was made, while the North East and North West brought in N500 million each..

"Of course that shows that the extortion is highly concentrated in the southern part of the country," said Mr Umeagbalasi.

Yesterday, the Nigeria Police dismissed the report as "embellished innuendoes and suggestive graphics aimed at reaching a preconceived conclusion". A statement by Emeka Ojukwu, Force spokesman, said the report lacked merit and should not be relied upon.

The report titled, ‘Everyone's in on the Game: Corruption and Human Rights Abuses by the Nigeria Police Force,' said, "one civil society group in Anambra State estimated that in 2008 the police collected approximately N540 million ($4.5million) in illegal ‘tolls' from some 70 police checkpoints along the state's roadways." Eric Guttschuss, a researcher at the Human Rights Watch, called on the appropriate authority to ensure that legislations are put in place to end the extortions. The group said the sum did not include the "wetin you carry" money, the pre-trial bail fees, and commercialisation of criminal enquiry, but concentrated on just the N20 illegal toll, so the figures do not represent the entire extortion sum.

"What the Human Right Watch is saying is that yes we know that police is corrupt and killing outside the law, now, what are the factors that make them corrupt and kill outside the law? This is where corruption comes in. The situation is if you are able to pay you will be released and if not you will die, the situation is that worse," Mr. Umeagbalasi said.

Corruption unlimited

The report observes that corruption in the force ranges from armed officers extorting money at checkpoints to top officials embezzling police funds, thereby depriving people from living in a more secured environment.

The Network on Police Reform in Nigeria claims yesterday that 34,000 individuals have been killed outside the law, "in the last 11 years, over 13,000 people have been killed within the context of ethno religious crisis in Nigeria, and then we now say that outside this about 10,000 might have died over police related unlawful killings. I am sure you know police can kill, but there is a legal stipulation, otherwise we say unlawful killing. Then another 10,000 died as a result of vigilante killing."

The 102-page report said there was lack of political will to reform the force and the impunity in the system means Nigerians are more likely to encounter police threatening them and demanding bribes than enforcing law.

"Good policing is the bedrock for the rule of law and public safety," said Corinne Dufka, senior West Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. "The long-term failure of the Nigerian authorities to address police bribery, extortion, and wholesale embezzlement threatens the basic rights of all Nigerians." The report is part of the group's findings from a field research conducted in Lagos, Anambra, Abuja and Kaduna; and telephone interviews in Rivers and Ebonyi states, all representing different geo-political zones in the country.

The report revealed that in major Nigerian cities, armed police set up checkpoints every evening ostensibly to control high levels of crime, including armed robbery and kidnapping, but the checkpoints are in reality tolls at which officers attempt to force motorists to pay money by all means, using familiar slangs that are familiar with commercial motorists.

A long way

Mr. Ojukwu, said he believes that the Nigeria Police have come a long way from "its colonial era of oppression and has survived many years of neglect and under-funding." He said that the force has faced enormous challenges in meeting its obligations of ensuring safety and security.

He said in its efforts to sanitise the system, the force has in the last one year sanctioned 764 senior officers and 8,831 junior officers for various acts of indiscipline.

Nigerians in Johannesburg on Tuesday staged a 90-minute march across the city to protest the killing of one of them and to demand better treatment from the police.

Theophilus Anielefo, a real estate agent, was allegedly killed by South African police on July 31, in questionable circumstances.

A large number of Nigerians carrying placards and singing protest songs, marched through the streets, escorted by South African Police and traffic officers, as they aired their grievances.

The protesters marched from Rossetinville Road to Booysons Police station, a distance of about 12km, where they submitted a protest letter to the authorities.

The widow of the deceased, Cynthia Aneliefo, and her mother participated in the protest march.

Speaking at the Booysons Police Station, President of Nigerian Union in South Africa, Jason Osuafor, said the peaceful demonstration was to show disaffection with the killing of Mr. Aneliefo and other cases of maltreatment of Nigerians..

"We are your brothers and are law abiding, contributing our quota to the development of the economy," Mr. Osuafor said and urged the Police to put a stop to such extra judicial killings.

He said the murder of Aneliefo was unfortunate and charged the authorities to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to book.

Mr. Osuafor said the harmonious relations between both Nigeria and South Africa displayed at governmental levels should also be seen among the people.

He noted that there were many inter-marriages between citizens of both countries and stressed the need for brotherliness.

Shadrack Khoza, an colonel and military officer who received the protest letter, assured them that their grievances would be forwarded to the appropriate authorities for necessary action.

Nigeria's High Commissioner to South Africa, Buba Marwa, in a visit to the home of the deceased on Sunday, promised to take up the issue with the appropriate authority.

"We are not taking this issue lying low," Mr. Marwa said, and urged the widow to take heart.

Mr. Marwa described the killing of Aneliefo as a "grave injustice" and assured Nigerians living in Souh Africa of the mission's determination to ensure that their rights were protected.

He said the mission had sought audience with the South African National Police Commissioner,

Bheki Cele to make a formal protest over maltreatment of Nigerians.

Complete Fashion is a new magazine focused on the very best of commercial Nigerian fashion and celebrating the stylish looks of Nigerian fashionistas.
The magazine is lead by General Editor Franka Asindi and the new issue of the magazine features a double cover with Nigerian actress Dakore Egbuson on one cover and designer Ohimai Atafo of MAI on the other cover.
Dakore looks absolutely dazzling is three dresses by MAI. On the cover, she rocks a black monosleeve dress with a dramatic jewel detailed neckline by MAI. The dress is paired with red platform sandals and a black fascinator. Inside the magazine, we see Dakore in a gorgeous floor-length red gown with a multi-coloured brouch also. by MAI. Her final look is a swinging knee-length yellow dress with a delicate black lace overlay. The dress was paired with pearls and black and gold platforms.

Ohimai looked dapper as always in a blue blazer paired with a striped shirt and white trousers.

In her interview, Dakore talks about her personal style (vivacious and playful), her famous locs (she calls them ‘locs’ because they are “not dreadful” and she is “not locked” – so she took out the “dread” and the “k”) and style addictions (Louboutins). She also discussed her projects including The Dakore Show.

In his interview, MAI opened up and detailed his journey into the world of fashion (he started out buying waistcoats for his friends who were getting married). Ohimai also had words of encouragement for up and coming designers and finally he discussed the future plans for his label.

We are totally loving the concept of the double cover and photoshoot! Kudos to Complete Fashion and the team behind the shoot.
For more information on the magazine, check out www.completefashiononline.com

MONTREAL - Although a Montreal nightclub is distancing itself from an invitation on its Facebook page that specified "NO FAT GIRLSALLOWED!!!!!!!!!!" people familiar with the local party scene say clubsregularly -if not so overtly -discriminate based on looks.

"Everybody knows. (Clubs) are selective," said Stefano Apostolakos, owner of SMAN Productions, a Montreal promotions company.

A nightclub that wants to attract a certain kind of crowd will neveropenly turn people away based on weight, he said, but if people don'tfit in with the club's look, a bouncer can still find some excuse toturn them away -whether it's a long wait time, an expensive bottleservice fee or claiming the club is at capacity.

"(Discrimination) comes with the right to refuse entrance," Apostolakos said in an interview.

Nightclubs can openly turn people away based on age or dress by setting age minimums or dress codes, he explained.

The invitation was posted last week on the Facebook page of Muzique, aposh nightclub on St. Laurent Blvd., and included the ban on "fatgirls," followed by the emoticon of a winking smiley face..

The party was to celebrate the birthday of one of the club's partners onSaturday. The invitation was taken down on the weekend.

"When I saw it, I freaked out. I was livid," said one plus-size woman whoreceived the message as a member of Muzique's Facebook group.

Speaking on condition that her name not be used, the woman said her weight hasnever stopped her from going out -but she won't be visiting Muzique ifit discriminates against people who are overweight.

The management at Muzique said the comment was an accident and they are thinking of posting an apology.

"We didn't even realize (the comment) was there until a couple of daysago, and it was too late to retract it because the event had alreadyhappened," said John Jay, who oversees communication and marketing forMuzique.

Jay says it was the party planners who posted the event invitation, not himself or the owners.

He added that a friend of the club's partner thought it would be funny toadd the line to the event invitation as "an inside joke."

"It was taken down as soon as we found out about it," Jay said. "It was notan intentional thing. It was actually an accident. It was someonethinking he was funny.

"We don't think it's funny at all."

After the invitation went up, a handful of Facebook users expressed theirdisapproval. One user copied and emailed the event listing and thecomments to The Gazette before they were taken off the Internet.

"I found it immature and ridiculous," Joanelle Dufresne told the Gazettein an email. She posted a reaction to the invitation on Saturday.

Another Facebook user wrote: "Is there going to be a weight scale at theentrance? What's the maximum weight to get in? Frankly, I thought I hadseen everything until now."

Shant Kojakian, who owns the Montreal promotions company Look Kool, said weight is not much of an issue at nightclubs.

Race tends to be more of a factor when it comes to selecting people at theentrance, Kojakian said, adding that he's never seen a bouncer tell apotential customer he or she was too fat to get in.

Of course, nightclubs want to attract a certain kind of clientele -people who arewell-dressed and will spend money inside, Apostolakos and Kojakiansaid.

"They'll never tell you you can't come in because of your looks," Apostolakos said.

"But at the end of the day, that's what it comes down to, usually. ... It's the sad truth."

What are the best approaches to contacting women online? Here I discuss some things to watch out for.

Men, once you have joined one of the leading subscription dating services online you may be wondering what is the best approach to contact women. The first point to understand is that it is perfectly OK to contact several women at the same time. At this stage you are simply trying to make new friends and are still a long way off from concentrating upon one single woman.

However, when you have selected the women you would like to contact from their photo personal ads, it is important not to overstretch yourself and try to contact too many women at once. For example, if you were to send the same e-mail to a number of different women it would be clear to most if not all of them that what you have sent was a generalized e-mail not intended for someone specifically as an individual.

Nothing could be more offputting -- this kind of e-mailing amounts to a sort of spam. In order to contact somebody correctly it is important that you read their profile carefully and pick up on the individual things they say about themselves, such as their hobbies and what interests them. After all, it is their personalities as expressed in their personal ads that has made you want to e-mail them in the first place, isn't it?

A particular woman's photo may have been the very first thing that attracted you, but if you do not like the sound of that woman as a person there is no point in trying to begin any kind of relationship. Also, watch out for the fact that some less than sincere members of dating services may use photos of models to in effect lie about their own appearance.

So, you need to get writing individual e-mails to your chosen female contacts. A good approach is to begin by treating each one as if they were a new colleague at your place of work. So, be friendly but not overfamiliar.

Don't make the initial e-mail too long, and make sure that you show an interest in what the woman you are writing to has expressed as her own hobbies and interests. If these match your own, you could briefly mention your own activities in this context. Most of all, ask some questions to give her a good reason to e-mail you back and continue the conversation.

Avoid trying to "sell" yourself to the other person in your e-mail. You are striking up a new friendship, not undertaking a job interview. Be brief and to the point, friendly and interested in the other person, but not too personal. When you ask questions do not begin to sound as if you are interrogating.

If you haven't had a reply to your initial e-mail after a few days, then try again using a slightly different approach. Before you write this second e-mail go back and re-read your first -- was there anything in it that might have put somebody off? If you don't get a reply to your second e-mail cross this woman off your list and move on to the next.

If she does reply try to respond to her e-mail quickly, as nobody likes to be kept waiting, especially when contacting people for the first time. In your first few e-mails try not to say anything that would embarrass you later if you were to meet her friends. Women sometimes share the early e-mails of a new online relationship with their friends, and this is perfectly normal. But you do not want to be in the position of wishing that you had not said something, later on when you meet those friends.

Finally, as with any online contact who you do not know very well, do not believe everything that you are told and keep in mind the matter of online safety. Never give out your personal details until you know somebody well offline, as well as online.

For more interesting articles, check my site on www.mynetcompany.blogspot.com">www.mynetcompany.blogspot.com

The new Miss Black USA is none other than Miss Connecticut USA, Osas Ighodaro. Ms. Ighodaro is a professionally trained actress, and she performed her winning talent, “What If I Am a Black Woman” in four
dialects. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Broadcast Journalism
from Pennsylvania State University. She is also a Master of Fine Arts
degree candidate for Pace University.Upon winning the title, Osas said:

“It’s an honor to be crowned where President Barack Obama and the First Lady Michelle Obama resides. It would be my dream to meet the First Lady,” stated Ms. Ighodaro during the post pageant
press conference at Ben’s Next Door.”

Ms. Ighodaro will serve as the celebrity advocate for the pageant’s national partnership with the Heart Truth® campaign to increase awareness of heart disease..

Shawnta Watson Walcott, former Miss Black Missouri 1993 and champion for social justice, accepted the first ever Miss Black USA® Legacy Award.

Miss Talented Teen® Arizona, Raven Green, was crowned Miss Black Talented Teen® USA 2010 at the Gaylord National Resort in Prince George's County, MD.

The Miss Black USA® $20,000 prize package includes: a walk-on role on Tyler Perry's "Meet the Browns", 2-page spread inHeart & Soul magazine, a trip to Africa, and a scholarship to the prestigious New York School for Dramatic Arts.

Official sponsors included Tyler Perry Studios, Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, F&L Construction, New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts, and Heart & Soul magazine.

ABOUT MISS BLACK USA:

The Miss Black USA Pageant and Scholarship Foundation® has been revolutionizing pageantry as the preeminent pageant for women of color ages 18-27 since 1986. Founded by Karen Arrington, the pageant provides scholarships to deserving young women. MBUSA is a non-profit 501(c) 3 corporation. Ms. Arrington will release her book, "First Ladies, Be the Leading Lady of Your Life", this fall.

1.MY ADVICE TURN OFF INTERNET BANKING ON YOUR ACCOUNT !

2.ATM Withdrawals Have one account for only Daily transactions of minimal amounts

Customers have expressed dissatisfaction in the manner in which some banks have been handling reported fraud cases on internet banking and Automated Teller Machines (ATM).

Tochukwu Onyiuke, a lawyer at Punuka Attorneys & Solicitors, said of the over 1,000 internet banking fraud and ATM scam cases his firm is handling, “none of the banks involved has shown genuine interest in rendering assistance to the victims.”

Mr. Onyiuke said many of these victims are customers of Intercontinental Bank, Bank PHB, and Union Bank.

Moses Adeogun, a postgraduate student in a university in the United Kingdom and an Intercontinental customer, recently narrated how he lost all his savings of N429, 000 in the bank to online fraud.

“On Tuesday, 27 July, I just discovered that all my savings at Intercontinental Bank to the tune of N429, 000 had been stolen through internet banking,” said Mr. Adeogun.

“I have two accounts at the bank, one is current and the other is savings. I have been using these two accounts since 2008. I activated internet banking on both of them so that I can have access to my accounts while I am away for studies,” Mr. Adeogun said.

He said, “It happened that I was trying to log into my account on 27 June; a Sunday night, but I couldn’t. So I kept on trying until the account was locked. I then sent a mail to the internet banking office that my access has been locked.. The following day, I got a message from the office that my account has been unlocked. That was on Monday, 28th of June.”

However, he said that on 4 July, somebody transferred N100, 000 from his account to another person’s account named Olufunmi Olusanya. Two days later, another N100, 000 was removed. It went on until the last N29, 000 was removed on the July 14.

Mr. Adeogun said while all these was happening, he didn’t receive any alert from the bank as he usually do on any transaction. He said he didn’t touch his account after it was unlocked until July 27 when he tried to confirm his statement of account after transferring money into it that he discovered all his money had gone. “I have mailed the bank severally since it happened but all I get from them is we are investigating. I was hoping that the matter would be resolved on time so that I can use my money. But as it stands, the bank is only dragging the issue,” he said.

Pushing blames

Experts say the perpetrator must have had access to Mr. Adeogun’s username, password and transaction code -the three details needed in internet banking -before money could be successfully transferred from his account.

Meanwhile, the victim said he never disclosed any of those information to anyone as “all these details are only known by me and the internet banking office.”

Findings revealed that the Olufunmi Olusanya’s account belongs to a female youth corps member. A transaction was made from Mr. Adeogun’s account to hers and she later withdrew the money through an ATM.

However, Mr. Onyiuke said how fraudsters managed to get into people’s accounts through internet banking is a question banks should answer since the position of law says “banks have a mandatory duty to protect customer’s fund.”

The legal practitioner said banks are to protect their customers’ money by ensuring that there is no manipulation on customers’ account or unauthorised withdrawal. “In the event that customer losses money, or occasions that the bank fails to protect the fund, the customer can bring a legal action of a breach of contract against the bank,” he said.

“Banks in Nigeria are fond of pushing blames to the customers even before investigating. Banks always claim that the customers compromised their passwords. But most times, we have discovered through investigations, that the claims were false,” said Mr. Onyiuke

Contacted over Mr Adeogun’s allegation, after several phone calls and electronic mails to the Intercontinental Bank went unreturned, Bridget Chinasa, a receptionist at the bank front office who tried to cover her name tag, said a reporter cannot speak to any official in the bank’s Corporate Communication office since no appointment was made. “Just keep trying the office number to book an appointment,” Ms. Chinasa said.

Suspicious move

Meanwhile, Mr. Adeogun said he suspects insider abuse. “I really believe that she (Ms. Olusanya) colluded with someone at the Internet banking office to get into my account for the reasons being that the person who unlocked my access on the 28th of June failed to attach his or her name,” he said, adding that “most times when I receive messages from the bank, there is usually the name of the sender attached to the message. But the message I got after unlocking my access just read: Good day, your account has been unlocked now. Thanks. Internet Banking Unit, Web Services/I-Mobile Dept., Intercontinental Bank Plc... Happy Customer Happy Bank.”

Another suspicious act, according to Mr. Adeogun, was that the perpetrator disabled the alert on his transaction so that he won’t get any message while the theft was going on. “All these can only be done by an insider with priority access,” he said.

Last October, at a consumer advocacy forum, Akeem Awe, a business man and a customer of Zenith Bank, also shared his experience on how he lost his savings of v1. 06 million to an ATM fraudster in less than 20 minutes, and how the bank failed to fully investigate the matter.

Rumours are that He was asked to testify in a fraud case so they killed him. Who will ever have the nerve to do the right things . RIP. Mike Ajari. Brunnel Energy.

Mike Ajari, a sleepy street in Sabo area of Ojodu, Lagos on Tuesday witnessed a gory killing that shook the entire area.

After the close of work on the fateful day, the victim, Felix Adebayo, an accountant with Brunnel Energy, a foreign human resources and consultancy firm based in Victoria Island, Lagos, had returned to his residence at No 7, Mike Ajari Street, where neighbours said he had lived for close to six years.

As he approached the gates in his official car, however, he was oblivious of the danger that lurked in the corner. Unknown to him, a man had laid an ambush for him at the entrance to the house where he lived.

A neighbour who pleaded not to be named for security reasons, said as he came down from the Nissan car and proceeded to open the gate, the stranger walked up to him, pretending to have something to discuss with him. Then suddenly, he pulled a pistol and shot him in the neck.

A co-resident, who also pleaded anonymity for the same reason, said, “We were in the house and preparing to sleep around 9.45 pm when we heard the sound of a gunshot. We all rushed out to see what was happening, only to get to the gate and found Mr Adebayo struggling in a pool of blood.”

It was gathered that as soon as he was shot, his attacker entered Adebayo‘s car and zoomed off. And since then, all the efforts to retrieve the car have been abortive.

Neighbours rushed out only to find Adebayo gasping. “We kept shouting his name but there was no response. He continued to bleed profusely,” a resident said.

Confusion was said to have ensued as neighbours and passers-by made frantic efforts to save his life. Unfortunately, he he gave up the ghost there and then.

The attention of the policemen at Grammar School Police Station, Ojodu was drawn to the dastardly act. The policemen were said to have responded promptly and took the corpse to the morgue of Isolo General Hospital, Lagos.

”We had to take the body to Isolo General Hospital mortuary due to our inability to raise some money required to keep the body at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital mortuary. But later, the body was moved back to the Ikeja mortuary and the autopsy had already been done,” a family source said. It was a tragic end to the promising career of the 43-year-old employee of the oil and gas company, who only three months ago marked the christening of his youngest child with pump and circumstance. “His eldest child is two years old and he did the naming of his youngest child three months ago,” said a resident who identified himself simply as Olu.

A resident of the area told Saturday Punch that a few hours before the incident, three strange men in black cloths were seen surveying the area. Some people said they saw them making calls on their mobile phones.

Associates of the late accountant described him as an easy-going fellow who would not hurt a fly.

He was survived by his wife, with two children and an aged mother. ”The death has thrown the family into mourning because he was the breadwinner of the family. Three of his younger ones are still in school,” a source close to the family said.

His younger brother, Gbenga Adebayo who described the death as ‘shocking’ said that family members were learning to accept their fate. “He was the breadwinner of the family and we believe he had acted well his own part. What can we do? It is only God that can avenge for someone,” he said.

His wife, Mrs Tayo Adebayo, who was surrounded by sympathisers on Thursday was speechless. “What can I say? She asked rather rhetorically. “I have handed everything over to God. It is only God that can judge,” she said.

His co-tenants told our correspondent that he started living in the house as a bachelor.

“He was here before he got married. After marriage, he continued to live here. We are like one family and we are all touched by his death,” the landlord of the house, who simply identified herself as Adesuwa said. As learnt, Adebayo chose to live in Lagos because of his job, leaving his wife and children in Ibadan, Oyo State. “He goes to Ibadan to see his family every weekend,” said a co-tenant who did not want his name in print.

The news of his death was said

to have been broken to the

members of his family as well

as his employers the

following day. His wife, who is nursing a three-month-old baby, was said to have collapsed like a pack of cards, while his siblings also cried uncontrollably. Sorrow was also said to have enveloped the office when the news of his assassination was broken to his employers.

The office, where he was said to have occupied a strategic position before his death, was said to be helping the police to unravel the mystery beside his assassination.

When our correspondent called at he office on Tuesday, efforts to speak with some of his colleagues yielded no fruit. A foreigner and director of the company who pleaded not to be named, said the company would not want to comment on the tragic incident untl the police had concluded their investigations. He said, “Brunel Energy is unable comment at this stage because the matter is in the hands of the police.”

The director also said they had their lawyer’s instruction not to say anything so as not to jeopardise the investigations being carried out by the police. “We do not want anything to affect police findings,” the director said. He also would not volunteer a comment on the rumour that Adebayo uncovered a major fraud in the company shortly before he was killed.

It was also rumoured that while those who allegedly perpetrated the fraud had been nailed and arrested, Adebayo was about being used as the prosecution witness anytime the perpetrators of the fraud were made to face the wrath of the law. ”He has a lot of facts and documents and I want to believe he was to be used as a key prosecution witness. But before they could do that, he was cleared out of the way,” the source who sought anonymity said.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Frank Mba said he was not aware of the killing when Saturday Punch contacted him on Wednesday. He promised to contact the appropriate police division for necessary information relating to the incident. However, several calls made to his telephone on Thursday were not answered.

It was gathered that arrangements were being made to bury the slain accountant at his residence in Ibadan.

The last few weeks have been a nightmare for President Obama, in a summer of discontent in the United States which has deeply unsettled the ruling liberal elites, so much so that even the Left has begun to turn against the White House. While the anti-establishment Tea Party movement has gained significant ground and is now a rising and powerful political force to be reckoned with, many of the president’s own supporters as well as independents are rapidly losing faith in Barack Obama, with open warfare breaking out between the White House and the left-wing of the Democratic Party. While conservatism in America grows stronger by the day, the forces of liberalism are growing increasingly weaker and divided.

Against this backdrop, the president’s approval ratings have been sliding dramatically all summer, with the latest Rasmussen Daily Presidential Tracking Poll of US voters dropping to minus 22 points, the lowest point so far for Barack Obama since taking office. While just 24 per cent of American voters strongly approve of the president’s job performance, almost twice that number, 46 per cent, strongly disapprove. According to Rasmussen, 65 per cent of voters believe the United States is going down the wrong track, including 70 per cent of independents.

The RealClearPolitics average of polls now has President Obama at over 50 per cent disapproval, a remarkably high figure for a president just 18 months into his first term. Strikingly, the latest USA Today/Gallup survey has the President on just 41 per cent approval, with 53 per cent disapproving.

Related link: The Obama presidency increasingly resembles a modern-day Ancien Régime

There are an array of reasons behind the stunning decline and political fall of President Obama, chief among them fears over the current state of the US economy, with widespread concern over high levels of unemployment, the unstable housing market, and above all the towering budget deficit. Americans are increasingly rejecting President Obama’s big government solutions to America’s economic woes, which many fear will lead to the United States sharing the same fate as Greece.

Growing disillusionment with the Obama administration’s handling of the economy as well as health care and immigration has gone hand in hand with mounting unhappiness with the President’s aloof and imperial style of leadership, and a growing perception that he is out of touch with ordinary Americans, especially at a time of significant economic pain. Barack Obama’s striking absence of natural leadership ability (and blatant lack of experience) has played a big part in undermining his credibility with the US public, with his lacklustre handling of the Gulf oil spill coming under particularly intense fire.

On the national security and foreign policy front, President Obama has not fared any better. His leadership on the war in Afghanistan has been confused and at times lacking in conviction, and seemingly dictated by domestic political priorities rather than military and strategic goals. His overall foreign policy has been an appalling mess, with his flawed strategy of engagement of hostile regimes spectacularly backfiring. And as for the War on Terror, his administration has not even acknowledged it is fighting one.

Can it get any worse for President Obama? Undoubtedly yes. Here are 10 key reasons why the Obama presidency is in serious trouble, and why its prospects are unlikely to improve between now and the November mid-terms.

1. The Obama presidency is out of touch with the American people

In a previous post I noted how the Obama presidency increasingly resembles a modern-day Ancien Régime, extravagant, decaying and out of touch with ordinary Americans. The First Lady’s ill-conceived trip to Spain at a time of widespread economic hardship was symbolic of a White House that barely gives a second thought to public opinion on many issues, and frequently projects a distinctly elitist image. The “let them eat cake” approach didn’t play well over two centuries ago, and it won’t succeed today.

2. Most Americans don’t have confidence in the president’s leadership

This deficit of trust in Obama’s leadership is central to his decline. According to a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll, “nearly six in ten voters say they lack faith in the president to make the right decisions for the country”, and two thirds “say they are disillusioned with or angry about the way the federal government is working.” The poll showed that a staggering 58 per cent of Americans say they do not have confidence in the president’s decision-making, with just 42 per cent saying they do.

3. Obama fails to inspire

In contrast to the soaring rhetoric of his 2004 Convention speech in Boston which succeeded in impressing millions of television viewers at the time, America is no longer inspired by Barack Obama’s flat, monotonous and often dull presidential speeches and statements delivered via teleprompter. From his extraordinarily uninspiring Afghanistan speech at West Point to his flat State of the Union address, President Obama has failed to touch the heart of America. Even Jimmy Carter was more moving.

4. The United States is drowning in debt

The Congressional Budget Office Long-Term Budget Outlook offers a frightening picture of the scale of America’s national debt. Under its alternative fiscal scenario, the CBO projects that US debt could rise to 87 percent of GDP by 2020, 109 percent by 2025, and 185 percent in 2035. While much of Europe, led by Britain and Germany, are aggressively cutting their deficits, the Obama administration is actively growing America’s debt, and has no plan in place to avert a looming Greek-style financial crisis.

5. Obama’s Big Government message is falling flat

The relentless emphasis on bailouts and stimulus spending has done little to spur economic growth or create jobs, but has greatly advanced the power of the federal government in America. This is not an approach that is proving popular with the American public, and even most European governments have long ditched this tax and spend approach to saving their own economies.

6. Obama’s support for socialised health care is a huge political mistake

In an extraordinary act of political Harakiri, President Obama leant his full support to the hugely controversial, unpopular and divisive health care reform bill, with a monstrous price tag of $940 billion, whose repeal is now supported by 55 per cent of likely US voters. As I wrote at the time of its passing, the legislation is “a great leap forward by the United States towards a European-style vision of universal health care, which will only lead to soaring costs, higher taxes, and a surge in red tape for small businesses. This reckless legislation dramatically expands the power of the state over the lives of individuals, and could not be further from the vision of America’s founding fathers.”

7. Obama’s handling of the Gulf oil spill has been weak-kneed and indecisive

While much of the spilled oil in the Gulf has now been thankfully cleared up, the political damage for the White House will be long-lasting. Instead of showing real leadership on the matter by acing decisively and drawing upon offers of international support, the Obama administration settled on a more convenient strategy of relentlessly bashing an Anglo-American company while largely sitting on its hands. Significantly, a poll of Louisiana voters gave George W. Bush higher marks for his handling of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, with 62 percent disapproving of Obama’s performance on the Gulf oil spill.

8. US foreign policy is an embarrassing mess under the Obama administration

It is hard to think of a single foreign policy success for the Obama administration, but there have been plenty of missteps which have weakened American global power as well as the standing of the United States. The surrender to Moscow on Third Site missile defence, the failure to aggressively stand up to Iran’s nuclear programme, the decision to side with ousted Marxists in Honduras, the slap in the face for Great Britain over the Falklands, have all contributed to the image of a US administration completely out of its depth in international affairs. The Obama administration’s high risk strategy of appeasing America’s enemies while kicking traditional US allies has only succeeded in weakening the United States while strengthening her adversaries.

9. President Obama is muddled and confused on national security

From the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to the War on Terror, President Obama’s leadership has often been muddled and confused. On Afghanistan he rightly sent tens of thousands of additional troops to the battlefield. At the same time however he bizarrely announced a timetable for the withdrawal of US forces beginning in July 2011, handing the initiative to the Taliban. On Iraq he has announced an end to combat operations and the withdrawal of all but 50,000 troops despite a recent upsurge in terrorist violence and political instability, and without the Iraqi military and police ready to take over. In addition he has ditched the concept of a War on Terror, replacing it with an Overseas Contingency Operation, hardly the right message to send in the midst of a long-war against Al-Qaeda...

10. Obama doesn’t believe in American greatness

Barack Obama has made it clear that he doesn’t believe in American exceptionalism, and has made apologising for his country into an art form. In a speech to the United Nations last September he stated that “no one nation can or should try to dominate another nation. No world order that elevates one nation or group of people over another will succeed. No balance of power among nations will hold.” It is difficult to see how a US president who holds these views and does not even accept America’s greatness in history can actually lead the world’s only superpower with force and conviction.

There is a distinctly Titanic-like feel to the Obama presidency and it’s not hard to see why. The most left-wing president in modern American history has tried to force a highly interventionist, government-driven agenda that runs counter to the principles of free enterprise, individual freedom, and limited government that have made the United States the greatest power in the world, and the freest nation on earth.

This, combined with weak leadership both at home and abroad against the backdrop of tremendous economic uncertainty in an increasingly dangerous world, has contributed to a spectacular political collapse for a president once thought to be invincible. America at its core remains a deeply conservative nation, which cherishes its traditions and founding principles. President Obama is increasingly out of step with the American people, by advancing policies that undermine the United States as a global power, while undercutting America’s deep-seated love for freedom.

If the findings from this research are true then men who are still in the business of baby making are in trouble. Scientists say that men who keep cell phones in trouser pocket in the talk mode while using a Bluetooth device may have problem in fathering a child.

Since the gadget became part of the everyday life of a majority of people in the world, a lot of studies had been carried out on the effects of the gadget on health. For instance, there had been research findings linking the radiation from it to brain cancer.

Though most of the researches were inconclusive, findings suggest that danger may be lurking around and as such we should be cautious in the way we use some of these modern gadgets.

”We found increased oxidative stress and a decrease in sperm motility,” said investigator, Dr. Ashok Agarwal, Director of Reproductive Research at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, United States.

But the President, National Association of Telecoms Subscribers, Mr. Deolu Ogubanjo said there is no cause for alarm since the World Health Organisation had maintained that cell phone radiation had not been found injurious.

Agarwal and his colleagues conducted a prospective, controlled trial looking at the effects of Bluetooth technology on male fertility. Presenting the findings at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine annual meeting late 2009, Agarwal said keeping a cell phone in a trouser pocket while talking on a Bluetooth device may expose the human testes to high-power radiofrequency electromagnetic waves.

According to a report in Renal & Urology News, the researchers found an increased production of free radicals or reactive oxygen species in semen after exposing semen to RF-EMW emitted by a cell phone. The team realised, however, that it was difficult to estimate the accurate amount of radiofrequency electromagnetic waves exposure to human testes because testes are separated by scrotal layers from the cell phone.

They used a computer biomodeling program to calculate the distance in an in vitro experiment. The experiment was designed to mimic the RF-EMW exposure while a cell phone was kept in the trouser pocket (in the talk mode).

For their new investigation, the researchers examined the effect of RF-EMW exposure on sperm parameters at a specific distance and identified the type of free radicals produced by human sperm.

After investigation, the researchers found RF-EMW exposed semen samples showed significantly lower sperm motility and viability. The exposed samples also showed an 18 per cent increased production of extracellular seminal, RSOS, compared with the non-exposed semen samples. The investigators concluded that the significant decline in sperm quality in specimens exposed to RF-EMW may be mediated by increased ROS production.

They hypothesised that when a man talks on a Bluetooth and the cell phone is on talk mode in the pocket or attached to a belt, it might be dangerous and could cause infertility. Agarwal told Renal & Urology News, that ”we do feel further studies are needed. At this time I would say excessive use should be avoided. However, there is a need for new studies to prove our in vitro findings in an in vivo condition.”

The Cleveland Clinic had in the past four years done studies that showed the harmful effects of cell phone-generated electromagnetic radiation on semen quality. In recent years more than a dozen studies have been published by other groups supporting Cleveland Clinic‘s findings.

In a study published in the January 2008 issue of the Fertility and Sterility journal, Agarwal and his team discovered that sperm counts were inversely proportional to cell phone usage - that is men who used the phone for a few minutes a day had higher counts than men who used cell phones for hours.

Agarwal had done an earlier study in 2006, with 364 men, where he found sperm counts decreased from 86 million per milliliter to 66 million per multimeter for men who didn‘t use a cell phone to men who used phones more than four hours a day.

However, Ogubanjo said that since the World Health Organisation had maintained that cell phone radiation had not been found injurious, people should not panic.

He said, ”Until WHO says that cell phone radiation has adverse effect, people should not panic unnecessarily. These are researches that have not been approved by WHO, which is the recognised authority on health matters in the world.

”Besides, cell phone radiation is non-ionising and is not very dangerous. There are more dangerous ones like the radiation from the Power Holding Company of Nigeria masts which is ionising. These researchers are just crying foul over nothing as who has not approved their findings.

He, however, acknowledged that there was need for moderation in the use of cell phone. ”Of course, everything that is not moderated can have adverse effect. So, there is need for moderation. It is better we prevent the hazards from not just cell phone radiation, but every form of moderation,” he said.

All, indeed, does not seem to be well. So caution is the word. To prevent some of these hazards, Dr. Reeja Tharu, writing on www.medindia.com, recommends that we should avoid keeping cell phones in our trouser pockets. He says, ”The hip produces 80 per cent of the body‘s red blood cells and is especially vulnerable to EMR damage. Close proximity may also affect fertility.”