Portuguese air stewardess Vera Silva was caught off guard when her boyfriend proposed during a flight from Lisbon to Barcelona, after booking himself a seat on the plane...
Joao Vieira told his girlfriend he was taking a business trip and planned the romantic gesture with the help of the crew, but it was a pleasant surprise for the passengers who cheered on the happy couple...
Thank God it was not on Aero Contractors or Arik !
Portuguese air stewardess Vera Silva was caught off guard when her boyfriend proposed during a flight from Lisbon to Barcelona, after booking himself a seat on the plane...
Joao Vieira told his girlfriend he was taking a business trip and planned the romantic gesture with the help of the crew, but it was a pleasant surprise for the passengers who cheered on the happy couple.
Thank God it was not on Aero Contractors or Arik !
Thugs stripped a female commissioner in Zamfara State, (name withheld) naked during the just-concluded House of Assembly by-election in Anka, which took place at the weekend.
An eyewitness told the Nigerian Tribune that the commissioner, who is a card-carrying member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was seen by some thugs distributing wrappers and detergents to some women on the day of the election.
According to the source, “the situation didn’t go down well with these youths whose loyalty is with the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).”
When the thugs accosted her and asked her why she was campaigning for PDP while campaign had closed, she was said to be adamant.
Source confided in the Nigerian Tribune that this enraged the youth who pounced on her, tore her cloths and stripped her naked.
The pandemonium that followed this attracted by-passers who rushed to the scene of the incident and rescued the embattled commissioner from the hoodlums.
When contacted, the commissioner confirmed the incident but was quick to add that any politician worth his salt would not be bothered by such experience.
She maintained that she did not regret her action and would do the same if the opportunity came again.
It will be recalled that the by-election for the House of Assembly took place at Anka following the demise of a member of the House of Assembly, Saidu Bagega, in October, 2010....
A 24-year-old man committed suicide live on the internet, Japanese police said Friday.
Some online chat forum users egged on the man after he posted that he was considering suicide, local media reported. Some chatters urged him not to, while others said he was lying, local media said.
The man started live-streaming his own hanging. Viewers called police.
The suicide was reported to police in the northern Japanese city of Sendai about 6:30 a.m. Tuesday, said the vice chief of the Sendai North Police.
Officers found the man at his home, after he had hanged himself. They determined his address with help from internet chat sites.
Police released no further information, citing privacy protections in cases of suicide.
An image has been floating around cyberspace, showing a person hanging from what looks like a fabric belt, looped across a horizontal pole or rod.
The streaming service Ustream said the image was not doctored and that it shows the man who killed himself....
Ustream removed the image after users flagged it, said spokesman Fumihiro Ito.
The company planned to beef up monitoring of user content following the suicide, Ito said.
Yet another dialogue between the presidency and leaders
of the Nige..rian Labour Congress (NLC), to forestall a planned nationwide strike today, has been deadlocked.
President Goodluck Jonathan who rushed down from Lagos yesterday to lead a high level delegation of government officials to meet with the leaders of the NLC could however not convince the congressmen to abandon their planned agenda of embarking on a three day working strike, starting today.
The N.igeria Labour Congress (NLC) had threatened to embark on a three-day warning industrial action, starting from November 10, demanding an increment in their minimum wage.
According to the acting president of the NLC, Promise Adewusi, the strike action will still continue, while the body holds consultation with the respective organs involved in the congress.
“We have heard the message of Mr. President, we are going to go back to our organ and the only thing we can say now is that the strike is on until called off by the organ that instituted it” Mr Adewusi told eagerly waiting pressmen.
He added that the congress will meet with its body at 3pm today to convey the presidents’ message.
With talks scheduled for yesterday night between Goodluck Jonathan and labour officials, uncertainty seems to reign supreme in the financial sector, with bankers saying they will close shop if the strike went ahead today...
The Nigeri..an Labour Congress had issued a three-day ultimatum to go on a warning strike today over the federal government’s refusal to secure legislative backing for a new minimum wage for workers in the public service.
“The bank workers are union members and their unions are also members of the participating unions in the planned strike,” said Sunday Salako, assistant national president, Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions.
Bankers are, however, of the opinion that though there may be skeletal operations to keep ATMs and other things running, banks, customers, and the economy would be affected.
A banker at Intercontinental Bank said security is a strong issue that would put bank staff off, if the strike commenced.
“What would happen if they are attacked, who would take responsibility for that? That is why a lot people would keep away, though there has been no formal declaration. We would probably have to wait till 11:59 for confirmation,” he said.
A banker at First Bank said, “If the strike is real, then banks wouldn’t open for security reasons, but there would be skeletal activities. For instance, ATMs would work, and other minor activities,” he said.
Financial cost
The Intercontinental banker said he could not estimate the monetary loss to the banks during the strike.
“I can’t really say what this would cost the banking industry specifically or its corresponding effect on the economy, because in effect, it’s not as if the banks don’t want to render their services,” he added.
“There is no way it won’t hurt both banks and customers alike. For instance, taking only cheques as an example. No one would be able to drop cheques. You know, there are duties and charges for transactions, which would not be carried out if the strike actually begins,” he further said.
There was, however, no unusual surge of customers at banks randomly visited yesterday. Some customers said they do not believe that the strike would hold, while others said though they were aware, they have to make withdrawals. It is also risky for them to make large withdrawals in anticipation of the strike, because of the security state of the nation.
Setback on the economy
Akinbamidele Akintola, a research analyst at Renaissance Capital, an investment firm, said it is expected that the president would resolve the issue in due time.
“This is not positive, as it would cripple the entire system if we assume it would affect the banking sector, ports, airports, schools, oil and gas segment, transport, and a couple of other segments. We expect the government of President Jonathan to resolve the issue promptly with labour congress, as election campaigns and political activity pick up ahead of next 2011 elections.
Worried by the extra-judicial killings allegedly carried out by officers of the Nigeria Police during the Boko Haram crisis, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Adetokunbo Kayode, has summoned the Inspector General of Police and the police leadership to discuss the issue.
Mr. Kayode said, over the past few weeks, documentary and photographic evidence of extra-judicial killings by Nigeria’s police has dominated national and international discourse.
“Specifically, I am refereeing to the Aljazeera documentary on the Boko Haram unrest and Amnesty International’s report alleging extra-judicial killings by the Nigerian Police,” he said.
The Minister, who briefed the press after his meeting with the National Committee on Torture, said he decided to convene the meeting because of the growing unease about Nigeria’s commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights, and specifically to the government’s position on torture and extra-judicial killings.
He instructed the committee to put administrative measures in place to investigate the documentary on the killings, stating that those who appear on the video clip would be identified and made to face the wrath of the law.
He said the visuals undermine our image as a nation of laws that is committed to the human rights provisions in its constitution as well as its international human rights obligations.
“A democracy as resilient as ours must reject the false choice between our security and fundamental freedoms and this is why we cannot tolerate impunity disguised under the cloak of security or any other guise,” he said.
Furthermore, he said policemen who were involved in the alleged killings are now facing orderly room trial and will be brought to justice.
“Over 600 people, including police officers, have been indicted by the investigating committee set up by the Federal Government to investigate the Boko Haram incident,” he said.
Ignored crimes
Mr. Kayode also said the impression is that extra-judicial execution and other unlawful killings in Nigeria are widespread and go largely uninvestigated and unpunished.PHOTO:Baba Fugu Mohammed's family says he was among those killed
“My judgment on this is a matter of record. In one of my very first speeches as the Attorney General (of the Federation) and Minister of Justice of the Federation, I did state categorically that the Federal Government of Nigeria unequivocally condemns all extra-judicial executions and other unlawful killings,” he said. “Going forward, it is my strong believe that the Federal Government of Nigeria has a solemn duty to criminalise torture and make extra-judicial executions punishable by sanctions commensurate with the gravity of the practice. This is an extraordinarily important responsibility of the office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, and it is one that will be carried out assertively irrespective of any political concern.”
excerpts :
Nigerian police and military units carried out extra-judicial killings last year in the aftermath of clashes with members of a Muslim group in the north of the country, footage obtained by Al Jazeera appears to confirm.
An estimated 1,000 people were killed as Nigerian government forces fought Boko Haram in Borno, Yobe, Kano and Bauchi states in July and August of 2009.
But the footage obtained by Al Jazeera shows that many of the deaths occurred only after the fighting was over.
Elements of the security forces staged a follow-up operation in which house-to-house searches were conducted and individuals were apparently selected at random and taken to a police station.
'Shoot him in the chest'
In the video, a number of unarmed men are seen being made to lie down in the road outside a building before they are shot.
As one man is brought out to face death, one of the officers can be heard urging his colleague to "shoot him in the chest not the head - I want his hat".
As the executions continue another man is told: "Sit properly we want to take your picture."
The shootings continue as a crowd gathers further up the street in front of the police station.
Voices can be heard saying: "No mercy, no mercy."
Two officers seen in the video can be clearly identified by the name tags on their chests.
The family of Baba Fugu Mohammed, a respected community leader, told Al Jazeera that he was among those put to death outside the police station.
"He was killed, he was killed, that's what we believe. He was shot by the police," one relative said.
Fugu Mohammed was the father-in-law of Mohammed Yusuf, the Boko Haram leader whose group had battled the police, but the two had become estranged.
His family said that he had come to help police restore order, but was shot.
