Kids (14)

12166298085?profile=originalThe Pope says children should be given truly Christian names. But why have some saints and biblical figures inspired baby names, but not others?

Our playgrounds are blessed with a multitude of Daniels, Sarahs and Adams, but not quite so many Amminadabs, Zipporahs or Habakkuks.

The names of saints Andrew, Catherine and Frances might echo down the ages, but the phone book is not exactly bursting with Abbos, Etheidwithas and Leocritas.

But could these holy, if inexplicably unfashionable, titles be due a comeback?

In a speech, Pope Benedict XVI urged parents to name their offspring in the Christian tradition, and bequeath "an unmistakable sign that the Holy Spirit will allow the person to blossom in the bosom of the Church".

In doing so, the pontiff has reiterated the Catholic Church's canon law, which cautions against baptising children in a manner "foreign to Christian sensibility".

He has also surely tapped into a growing public backlash against celebrities burdening their progeny with such profane appellations as Brooklyn, Peaches and Princess Tiaamii.

Should the British public choose to follow his Holiness's advice, there are plenty of names of saints and from the Bible's Old and New Testaments from which to choose - but, for whatever reason, some have proved more enduring than others...

Here are 10 rarely-adopted names from this Judeo-Christian tradition.

1. The name of Jezebel, the Queen of Israel, later became shorthand for a fallen woman. "This is a case of a name attracting a degree of notoriety," says social psychologist Dr Martin Skinner of Warwick University. "No-one is going to give their child a name that has taken on negative associations - in this case, with a certain type of woman. To most people, this is better known than the fact that Jezebel was, in the Old Testament, like Eve, Ruth or Naomi."

_50790346_51246825.jpg?width=224 King Nebuchadnezzar II

2. Nebuchadnezzar was king of the Babylonian empire. His exploits, which are recounted in the books of Daniel and Jeremiah, were praised by Saddam Hussein, to whom he was a hero. Mr Skinner believes in this case there is also the phonetic difficulty that puts people off. "It sounds very harsh with all those zeds. It's not very easy to pronounce, either."

3. Dorcas was a faithful female disciple "full of good deeds" whose death prompted much weeping, according to the Book of Acts in the New Testament. She is also known as Tabitha, a name that is much more commonly heard.

4. Saint Philemon was the recipient of an epistle from Saint Paul in the New Testament. But whereas the name Solomon, from the wise king, is often heard, Philemon rarely is.

5. Gomer was the wife of the prophet Hosea. "To Anglo Saxon ears, there's a sort of masculinity about the sound of Gomer," says Mr Skinner. "Feminine names tend to be lighter - Nicola, Pamela and so on. Men's names tend to be sharper, like John, Jack or Sid."

6. The oldest person named in the Bible, Methuselah, is said to have lived until he was 969. "If we know one thing about him, it's that he was ancient - we use the phrase 'as old as Methulselah' and so on. When you have a baby boy, you aren't going to picture him as a Methuselah. It also sounds quite Dickensian to modern ears, as do a lot of Old Testament names which were popular in the Victorian period like Ebenezer and Ezekiel."

7. Achsah was the daughter of Caleb, who offered her in marriage to Othniel in the Old Testament.

8. According to a story dating back to the 14th Century, Saint Wilgefortis took a vow of virginity when she was promised in marriage by her father. Following her prayers for help, she grew a beard and moustache.

9. Zipporah, wife of Moses and daughter of Jethro, was mentioned in the Book of Exodus.

10. Radbod, or Radboud, was Bishop of Utrecht around 900 AD. "This is another Anglo Saxon-sounding name that you might expect to catch on," says Mr Skinner. "Maybe it just sounded too familiar. When you have a diversity of names, people sometimes pick sounds and concept they've never picked before. These days, this process has become a celebrity phenomenon."

 

 

what is in a name ? King of Kings, Lord of Lords,Counsellor,El Giboah (The Mighty One) Wonderful One !  




A tik u now understand how a name can kaiterize your whole life ambition and turn you into an ewu meringue.
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Donations flowed freely from passersby into the coffers of a destitute with six children begging for alms at Ikeja area of Lagos State Southwest Nigeria.

Twin-448x336.jpg

The woman with her six children

The woman, Mrs. Aisha Ibrahim, 30, from Kano State, it was gathered, gave birth to quadruplets in 2008 and a set of twins in June 2010 in her village in Kano and came to Lagos to beg for alms when she and her husband could not cope with the feeding of the children.

The woman was seen on Awolowo Way, Ikeja where a crowd gathered around her and six children (three boys and three girls).

Many passersby pitied her and gave her money freely. They called on the Lagos State Government to come to her aid by providing for the children.

Speaking , Aisha said she left Kano for Lagos when the suffering became unbearable and there was nobody to run to.


She gave the age of the quadruplets as two years old while the twins are six months old.

She described her husband, Ibrahim, as a peasant farmer who cannot cope with the upkeep of the children...

Aisha was accompanied by a woman and her sister, who help to carry some of the children while she begs for alms.

She received money ranging from N10 to N500 and even more from passersby.

Aisha who stays at the Lagos Central Mosque, Lagos Island, appealed to Governor Babatunde Fashola to come to her aid by providing her accommodation and job to take care of her children.

She also appealed to Nigerians to assist her take care of her malnourished children who are living on the benevolence of the public.

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The 15 kids of Abayi International School, Aba, who were kidnapped on Monday regained their freedom on the early hours of Friday morning after a military task force stormed the hideout of their abductors to flush them out.

The children were later taken to the state government house in a military bus belonging to the task force, "'Operation Restore Hope" They were still in the school uniform they wore when they were kidnapped five days ago.

State governor Theodore Orji told the leader of the military force, Johnson A. O Ochaga, a brigadier, that he was happy to receive the 15 kids who have been subjected to untold ordeal alive and in good shape . He said they would be given appropriate medical attention.

The children were rescued by the Force at Ngwaiyiekwe, a community where the kidnappers had taken them to after they were abducted

on their way to school. The Force on Thusday stormed Ugwati and Ogwe primary schools, both in Ukwa west local government, which the kidnappers had converted to their camp for their nefarious activities. The kidnappers had sacked the people of the communities, who abandoned their houses which the hoodlums then occupy to keep their victims..

Mr Ochaga said the force's next task is to work to encourage the fleeing residents to return to their homes.

He said his force were in the state to assist the police, stressing that the operation was continuous exercise that will continue until the kidnappers were flushed out.

‘My day is made," Mr Orji said. "I was wondering how I would have been standing at the podium in the stadium taking the anniversary salute when my children were under the kidnappers custody.'

He who thanked the president, Goodluck Jonathan and the chief of Army Staff for sending the military on the rescue mission to Abia state to effect the release of the kids. He also said his wife had already cancelled the children's party that would have been part of the golden jubilee celebration.

He said the kidnappers were not human beings and must receive the reward of their evil act in this world.

"God will surely visit them with evil for keeping this children in the bush and denying the warmth of their homes and parental care."

Mr Orji warned the criminals to leave the state as there is no more hiding place for them to operate, even as he warned those sponsoring them that their names were being compiled and that they must at the appropriate time face the wrath of the law. He revealed that the abandoned Army barracks at Ohafia have been reactivated and taken over again by soldiers . He also said the state government has prepared Asa High School, in the centre of the kidnapping prone areas, as a camp for soldiers.

Big relief

Commending the presence of the military, he said they have made the difference in the long battle against kidnapping in the state and promised that the state would sustain the peace and appealed to those that had fled Aba and the environ to return and continue their life.

The Proprietor of the school, Chidi Ikonne, a professor of English at the University of Port Harcourt, said the rescue of the pupils was a very big relief as he had been under trauma since the hostage drama started. "We thank all those who made their release possible," he said.

Mr Ikonne said he established the school to help the poor, stating that about 40 % of the population of the school are on scholarship as part of his desire effort help the poor.

One of the parents of the kids, who said four of her children were among those rescued, thanked God for an end to her nightmares. "The five days have been hell on earth," she said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The children who looked frail, worn out and unkempt, drew tears from the eyes of many people who came to the government house to see them

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Next NewsPapers Say it is now 350,000Naira Daily Sun says It is now 40million all Accounts are from the ever efficient and buck passing Nigerian Police .who now say the Kidnappers are Actually Robbers ! nice to know our Criminals now have choice of vocation

Kidnappers of the 15 pupils of Abayi International School, Aba, had reduced their ransom to N350,000, an indication that they are willing to release the toddlers from a tortuous ordeal which has drawn worldwide condemnation.

It was further gathered that the failure to release the kids on Wednesday was as a result of multiple negotiations which the criminals were taking advantage of, possibly to make more money.
Photo:Policemen looking for the kidnappers what about the Corpers kidnapped last week ?
According to our source, a hamonised negotiation has been adopted, which may lead to the early release of the school children.

The Abia State commissioner of police, Jonathan Johnson, also said yesterday in Umuahia that final negotiations were going on with the abductors of the children to effect their release and save them from further mental and emotional torture that they have been subjected to since Monday, when they were snatched on their way to school.

He confirmed that the children would have been released yesterday, but for some minor hitches in the negotiations with the kidnappers, even as he appealed to Abia residents to remain calm as the children would be released soon..

The police boss said the kidnapping of the kids was his greatest challenge and one which has given him sleepless nights.

Police sources said their non confrontational negotiation with the kidnappers was the best option, so as to save the children from possible harm hurt during a shoot out, adding that if the victims were grown ups, the police would have adopted a confrontational stand.

Robbers turned kidnappers

The commissioner, who said it was difficult for him to understand why anybody could abduct kids of between three and 10 years, added that the police and the government were working together to ensure the early release of the children.

Throwing more light on how the children were kidnapped, another source said the kidnappers were not initially out to abduct them, but had used them to escape from the police who had attacked them as they were trying to rob a jeep.

According to the source, when the police swooped on them, they ran into the bush and when they saw the school bus conveying the children to school, they hijacked it to make good their escape, but might have changed their mind later after escaping with the kids.

The Abia State government has condemned the abduction and called on the kidnappers to release the kids forthwith.

The commissioner for information and strategy, ACB Agbazuere, said in Umuahia that the action was condemnable, and appealed to the hoodlums to embrace the amnesty programme and quit criminality.


Daily Sun


Kidnapped school kids: Ransom now N40m ...Parents besiege school
From OKEY SAMPSON, Aba, Taiwo Amodu, Abuja


Outrage trailed the abduction of 15 pupils of Abayi International School in Aba, Abia State yesterday, but the kidnappers upped the ante by increasing the ransom demanded on the school children to N40 million from N20 million. Contrary to the speculation on Monday evening that the school kids were abandoned in a bush path near a village in Isiala Ngwa North Local Government Area few hours after their kidnap on the way to school on Monday, investigations showed that they were still held captive.



When Daily Sun visited the school at about 2.45 p.m yesterday, none of the principal officers was around. They were said to have gone out with some policemen in search of the pupils, aged between three and 10.

A staff member who preferred anonymity confided in Daily Sun that the kids had not been freed and that frantic efforts were being made towards their release.

Some parents of the kidnapped school children were seen trooping into the compound perhaps to discuss with the school officials on the way forward.

When contacted, the spokesman, Abia State Police, ASP Geoffrey Ogbonna, said the command had been unable to establish contact with the school authorities. However, a senior police officer in Aba, on condition of anonymity, claimed they visited the school yesterday morning but could not get any concrete information.

According to him, “we went to the school this morning (Tuesday) to get information about the children from the authorities, but all they told us was that God was in control. Please, my brother, if you have information concerning the whereabouts of the children, give us so that we can work on it,” he said.

There were, however, moves yesterday indicating the children would be freed as the authorities of the school, with the parents, intensified moves towards this direction but how soon that could be remained unknown.

In a related development, the National Chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, yesterday, reacted angrily to the kidnap of the 15 pupils by unknown gunmen in Osisioma near Aba in Abia State describing it as callous and unacceptable.

Nwodo, in a statement by his media aide, Ike Abonyi, described the action of the hijackers of the children, most of them in nursery and primary level, as wicked and challenged relevant security agencies to fish them out and save the children, their families and the nation the trauma.

The PDP national chairman said such wicked action by anybody at a time the nation was in the celebration mood and many foreign dignitaries already in the country for the nation’s golden jubilee was not only callous but distracting.

He said the issue of kidnapping in the South-east, especially Abia, had become a huge embarrassment to the nation and should be condemned by all reasonable persons.

The last high profile kidnap in the same area involved three Lagos-based journalists returning to Lagos after attending a conference of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital.

In addition, the UN Children’s Education Fund (UNICEF) has joined the array of those crying out against the kidnap of the 15 school children in Abia on Monday describing it as craven.

“Under no circumstances should children be the target of violence,’’ said the Representative of UNICEF in Nigeria, Dr. Suomi Sakai, in a statement yesterday in Abuja.

“Kidnapping children for financial gain is simply heinous,’’ the statement noted.

The children’s fund, which advocates everywhere for the inviolability of schools, hoped the law enforcement agencies would be able to find and bring the children to safety quickly.

“In all its work, UNICEF stresses the need for families, communities and civil society to work in partnership to protect the rights and well-being of children,” the statement added.

“Communities in which children are safe and well, are communities in which everyone is safe and well,” the statement added.
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Fifteen students of Abayi International School, Aba, were on Monday morning abducted in their school bus in Abia State.

jpeg&STREAMOID=2SdHRlyi_M8mFFUvvVrYoC6SYeqqxXXqBcOgKOfTXxSlnw2OQg2NArDBBdFZpc8HnW_PgxgftuECOcfJwS6Jtlp$r8Fy$6AAZ9zyPuHJ25T7a9GKDSxsGxtpmxP0VAUyHL6IDcZHtmM2t7xO$FHdJG95dFi6y2Uma3vSsvPpVyo-The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the driver of the bus had picked the children at designated points and was on the way to school when the suspected kidnappers struck. NAN learnt that a Toyota Camry saloon car blocked the bus and the occupants, and men brandishing guns alighted and ordered it to stop.

"As the driver came down, the hoodlums collected his cell phone and ordered him to lie face down while they drove off with the pupils towards Etche in Rivers (State)," an eyewitness told NAN.
Most of the abducted students are said to be mostly nursery and primary school pupils.

Geoffrey Ogbonna, the Abia State Police Command spokesperson, told NAN that he was yet to get any report on the incidence as at press time..
The kidnappers are said to be demanding N20 million as ransom.

The Abia State Government, last week, gave kidnappers in the State two weeks ultimatum to surrender their weapons and be rehabilitated by in an amnesty programme.

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A really Strange Tale indeed Read On !
By WOLE BALOGUN

Sunday, July 11, 2010
Marriage is a common cultural institution. In Nigeria, it comes in variants, according to the culture group. But it is not known of any ethnic group where it is allowed that a woman would marry two husbands at the same time.

But that pattern of marriage would not have happened until some 16 years ago when a set of twins in Kogi State introduced a strange dimension to marriage by taking one wife and having children from her.

While brothers and close friends kill each other over a woman and for encroaching on each other’s territory, these strange ones scored a weird first in standing the culture of their people on the head. Because this was not acceptable in their world, their father fought the arrangement for as long as he lived. When his pestering became so unbearable, the first known woman to have married two husbands same time, same day and lived and had children for them had to dump the relationship.

Wags in the community have put their finger to the conviction that the strange twins eventually died after their peculiar marriage arrangement was forcefully severed. Yes, they accepted, to do their father’s bidding, but could not contract any other marriage as separate individuals, as demanded by family, until they both died mysteriously.

A peculiar world

The villagers of Ayetoro-Gbede and Ayekunle-Gbede, Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi State witnessed the unusual two young men, who were born about 40 years ago and died the same year four years back. They carried on like they had their private world oblivious of what the tenets of culture taxed them to do. That defiance made them step outside defined lines to take one wife and had children from her.

They were simply known as Taiwo (Towo) and Kehinde (Koido), the general accolade for twins in Yoruba. But they called each other Oba, short for their surname - Obadero. Like an oba (king) even as they called each other, they carried like institutions to themselves and died as mysteriously as they lived.

Saturday Sun had to find out the truth in the story in Kogi State that the two were more than enigmatic. They had everything in common and did everything together. They said the same words, when speaking and joined their buttocks when defecating.

What was responsible for this unusual act was explained by their stepmother and aunt, Awawu Obadero and Racheal Ologe. “The reason for that unusual closeness and attachment was because they came with one placenta at birth and against our tradition of dividing it into two before burial, theirs was not divided. Thus, naturally, they began acting as an individual.”

Because the twins are late as well as their parents, the family home looked deserted when our reporter visited. But their stepmother, elder sister and son are the few inhabitants left. When asked to tell the story of the twins, the old woman, Awawu Obadero, excused herself and went to call the twins’ elder sister from a nearby market. They came back and the story began.

Reliable tale

“The twins’ mother had died when they were barely four years old”, their sister started. “Right from their infancy, they did things in common. They had left home to fend for themselves at about 10. Later, they settled in Ayetoro-Gbede doing bricklaying, farming and other odd jobs. It was there they met their wife, Toyin (not real name), who they shared, in defiance to everyone’s objection. She bore two children for my brothers - Kulu, a female and Ibrahim, a male. Kulu is now married, while Ibrahim stays here in the family house. It was at the time our father insisted that they got married separately that strange and tragic things began happening to them.”

Wife of two

Saturday Sun spoke to the twins’ wife, Toyin, who now lives in Ayetoro-Gbede. She pleaded that her picture should not be published because she has just moved on with another man after the double take.

She said: “I knew Taiwo and Kehinde (her late twin husbands) since adolescence. We met when we were laying bricks in Ayetoro. They were both strange and adorable to me because they did and had everything in common. Both had approached me the same time. They used to say the same word at the same time. Strange even to me, I did not accept or reject their advances. I soon became inseparable from them anywhere they went. I must have been carried away by the way they did everything in common. They felt hunger, urge to urinate and others, the same time. They even expressed love the same manner and time. They were very interesting lovers. So I could not resist them. Even the villagers used to say that only I understood their weird ways.”

The strange wife of two husbands had fondness for the two and possibly would have loved them dearly and equally as they did her. “I called one Iye-Oho, and the other Oba-Oho,” she revealed.

The special woman never held anything back about the affection she had for the duo. It would have been a sizzling double take for her as she revealed that her two late husbands had sexual urge the same time and expressed love, sex and romance the same way. You might be going too far to inquire if any of them was particularly better in bed than the other or if one of them gave her better deal.

Putting asunder

After giving birth to Ibrahim, the second child, father of the weird twins, Eleha Obadero, began putting pressure on them to marraige separate women, in line with customs and tradition. “They did not like that because they had grown so attached to me. I did not also like the idea and so I withdrew from them. It was then they relocated to Ayegunle-Gbede, their hometown. But they never married another woman. Though I was told they tried several women, it never worked out. I had to join them later, hoping things would be better, but their father gave no chance for this re-union till they died in strange circumstances. Then I left with my daughter, Kulu and returned here,” the woman of history narrated.

One child, two dads

Fourteen-year old Ibrahim, the only son of the twins, also confirmed that his granddad at a time pestered his late fathers to get married separately and it was not long after this that tragedy struck. He said: “It is true that my grandfather wanted my fathers to get married to different women. But it wasn’t long after this that strange things began to happen to them. He used to also say that Taiwo was more likely my father, as I behaved more like him.”

But the handsome teen knows, without any doubt, that he has peculiar identity, as, perhaps, the only young man in his world who could be excused to fill a form stating double paternity instead of one, like others. And as a young child growing up, he would not have lacked paternal care, not with two fathers ever present with him.

Strange deaths

Four years ago, after the twins had accepted to toe the line of custom and accept to marry the prescribed way, they died.

Their stepmother, Awawu Obadero said: “ Kehinde was smitten by snake in his farm one day and unusual of him, he did not reveal it until late in the night when it was too late to remove the venom. He died shortly after. After his death, Taiwo immediately became a shadow of his former self and was always saying he would join his brother. In less than a year later, he fell ill and died.

Okilo, the village ballad, told Saturday Sun: ‘If you asked one of them a question, the two will answer at once, saying the same word. They urinate on the same spot. They were very identical and so you cannot differentiate them. They had only one wife whom they were always going out with. They loved her so much. They reigned as strange twins in this village and died the same year.
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Concerned parents in Nigeria have called on the Actors Guild of Nigeria, AGN, Association of Movie Producers, AMP and other stakeholders in the film industry to call popular pint-sized actors, Chinedu ‘Aki’ Ikedieze and Osita ‘Pawpaw’ Iheme to order.
The actors, who joined the movie industry almost at the same time, are giving parents concern over the roles they play in movies.

Their argument is that the actors should play a consistent role in movies; they either take the role of kids or that of adults.

The parents said that since they [Akin & Pawpaw] started as kids in their first movie, a lot of kids at home see them as peers and as a result imitate most of the things they do in movies.

But now that the actors take romantic roles and other adult roles that children shouldn’t emulate, the parents want the authorities concerned to call them to order before the situation gets out of hand.

“This attitude of theirs is becoming a threat to us because children don’t want to believe that they are adults. The advertisement they also did with sweet meant for children has also made the children believe absolutely that the two actors are children like them and they are ready to do anything they see them do.

“ This has become a great concern that it is becoming a topic of discussion among parents, especially in the buses and market places,” one of the parents said.

According to Mrs. Okafor, she was stunned when one of her sons, after watching one of Aki & Pawpaw’s films, told her that “mummy I want to kiss you the way Aki and Pawpaw kissed that girl in that film.”

Another parent, Mrs. Kunle also said that her sons now do everything to imitate Aki & Pawpaw; her sons now dance like them, imitate the way they talk and walk.

She, however, said she now keeps a close watch on her children to ensure that they don’t watch movies in which the actors play romantic roles.

Children are what they view and have the tendency of practising whatever they watch on television.

Though another parent said that the actors are talented to play the roles of kids well, she maintained that for the fact that they came to the industry with the impression that they are children, they should maintain that role in order not to have negative influence on children.

Sometime last year, the Actors’ Guild of Nigeria Board of Trustees headed by Prince Ifeanyi Dike made a move to ban the actors from taking adult roles, but they were later pardoned when their fans from home and abroad pleaded with the board.
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Naval Ratings have been known to descend heavily on our Citizens at the drop of a hat .The case of Uzoma Okere and Rear Admiral Harry Olufemi Arogundade where Okere, daughter of the sergeant at arms at the National Assembly Colonel Emmanuel Okere (rtd), was beaten black and blue by Dirty Harry Arogundade's minions of destruction,The Naval ratings of The Naija Navy.
It was once thought that the fear of Lasma was the beginning of wisdom but it is looking to be the Fear of Naija Naval Ratings is the ending of this wise saying lagosians are known to chant. Read on this pathetic story of oppression in high places on powerless citizens.

Main Article:
Stern-looking military men recently stormed the Trinity Anglican Primary School, Gwagwalada, a suburb of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in a commando style, abducted two pupils and fled. Panic seized teachers and pupils of the school when they sighted the unfriendly visitors, all naval officers, who were said to have demanded for the head teacher screaming, “who is the headmaster/mistress here?”

Photo:Mrs. Paulyn Midalah

The five armed men, according to eye-witnesse accounts, proceeded to whisk away Favour and Marvel Steve Midalah, both pupils of the school, in the full glare of the shell-shocked teachers and other pupils.

An eyewitness recounted: “A well-fed" woman was directing the officers on what to do. When our headmistress confronted them, the woman told her to ask the parents to come to police station in Gwagwalada and meet the children there.”

Mother of the abducted kids, Mrs. Paulyn Midalah alleged that the abduction of her children was carried out on the order of the wife of a retired top naval officer. She said the woman also gave order to the police to arrest her and detain her along with her children until her husband would come for them.

She said her children had left home for school in the morning of Tuesday, April 28, 2010: “Around 10.30am that day, I received a telephone call from my children’s headmaster that a certain woman had come to the school with armed naval officers to pick my children from school.

“I immediately put a call through to my son, Favour, and he picked it and said ‘Hello Mummy.’ Soon after, I guess someone had collected the phone from my child. “After that, all attempts to reach him on that phone proved abortive as my phone kept telling me the number was switched off. I became very worried and rushed to the school and met the headmaster who confirmed that a certain woman came with armed naval officers to pick my children from school and bundled their bicycles into her vehicle.

“The headmaster couldn’t remember the name of the woman that came to the school to whisk my kids away. I rushed to the school gate but couldn’t find anyone to give me proper briefing. I rushed back to the house and the kids were not home, I was more confused. and started running up and down our Estate at.

“Somewhere in our estate, Phase 1, Gwagwalada, I sighted a white bus carrying the children’s bicycles. I later learnt that it was the wife of a top naval chief (name witheld) who came to my children’s school with armed naval officers to whisk my children away.

“My husband had worked for her before, but he left them three years ago after my family had a motor accident on March 17, 2007. He sustained compound fracture and even lost his left elbow. My son Favour’s face was so badly battered by glasses that we had to take him for plastic surgery. She abandoned us to our fate and my husband had to sell the house he had just built then to raise the money for surgery on his badly fractured left hand.

“My husband still has about 15 iron screws in his left hand up till today. My son’s face, where surgeons removed glasses from three months, six months and even one year after the accident, is still there as proof of man’s inhumanity to man.

“When I saw them, I confronted them. They said I needed to go with them to the Gwagwalada Police Station, which I did. On arrival at the police station, the woman started making some allegations against my husband and me. She told the police to detain us and never to release me until my husband surfaced. That she had an unsettled issue with my husband. I told her that I didn’t work with her so what was my offence?

“She kept raining abuses on me and said that I must sleep at the police station. We eventually slept at the Gwagwalada Police Station.

“The following morning my family, friends and well wishers prevailed on the police to release the children. Before my children could be released, the Inspector Crime at the station had to call the naval chief’s wife and obtained her permission.

“All attempts by our family, friends and well wishers including that of a lawyer to bail me proved abortive. Police vehemently refused to grant me bail saying I must get clearance from the woman or my husband had to come. I told them that my husband was out of town on a business trip but they would not listen.

“In the police cell I was subjected to the most dehumanizing experience of my life. I had to lie on bare floor that had been contaminated with urine and human excretment, with maggots scattered all over the room. I spent three days at Gwagwalada Police Station.

“By afternoon on Friday, April 30, 2010, the Inspector, Crimes at the station instructed a junior police officer to bring me from the cell. When I was brought out he said the woman wanted to speak with me.

“She said since I had refused to tell them the whereabouts of my husband she has instructed the police to transfer my case to Kuje where I would be jailed. Not too long after we spoke, I was taken to Kuje Police Station and detained for another four days.

“All attempts to bail me were denied because according to the Divisional Crime Officer (DCO), besides that the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) was not around, the woman had not given them the go ahead.

“It was not until the fifth day when my family members threatened to bring my children back to the police station that the DCO agreed that my family should bring someone with landed property at Kuje to bail me. When my family eventually brought someone with landed property, the old story of the DPO that the woman was not reachable at the moment continued.

“On Tuesday, May 4, 2010, my brother came to the police station and told me that they had contacted the press. Later, the Inspector Crime from Gwagwalada Police Station came to Kuje Police Station. My brother informed me that surprisingly the man who strongly opposed my release on bail at Gwagwalada Police Station was now canvassing that I be released. He said the woman had communicated to them that she got a call from a journalist and that I should be released to avoid the press. I was released and asked to come with my husband in a week’s time. I spent seven days in police custody

“In the same manner two years ago, she used naval ratings and abducted two of my husband’s younger brothers. They beat them mercilessly and took them to her house where she kept them in custody for one week.

“I hereby appeal to all human rights agencies to come to the aid of my family and stop this injustice against us where some animals are more equal than others. Where a woman would use her husband’s position as a to abduct people’s children from school and use money and influence to deny me bail from police custody for seven days.”

However, all efforts to reach the retired naval chief’s wife on her cell phones proved abortive. She constantly evaded calls placed on her two phone lines. At other times, she picked her calls but once she heard the voice she cut the line and switched off immediately. FCT police spokesman, Jimoh Moshood, said he is not aware of the development. He promised to find out and later intimate the reporter but he never did.
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A boy steps boldly into the night traffic and waves a gun to bring the cars to a halt, clearing a path for a motorcycle which screeches into the intersection. Riding pillion is another boy, brandishing a machinegun.

Later two teenagers, also riding pillion on motorbikes, flash their guns at other motorists; nearby, a boy can be seen taking aim with a rifle equipped with a telescopic sight. Other youths wander the street smoking crack.

For residents, the junction between the busy Dom Helder Câmara and dos










Democráticos, in North Rio de Janeiro, has become known as the Corner of Fear — and video footage of daily life there has shocked a nation already familiar with guns and violence.



PHOTOS:Youths flaunt guns on the streets of Rio de Janeiro


The latest images, captured by undercover journalists from the Rio tabloid Extra, have exposed the city’s criminal youth culture in a manner that echoes the journalistic investigation featured in the film City of God.

The age of the criminals — one pistol-toting boy is 12 — is obvious cause for alarm, but so is the seeming impunity with which they act.



The video footage has provided a glimpse into the city’s underworld that hardly touches Rio’s wealthier citizens.

Local newspapers rarely show at first hand the violence that permeates the city’s slums (favelas). Since the brutal torture and murder of the journalist Tim Lopes — who was caught filming secretly in the Vila Cruzeiro favela in 2002 — Brazilian reporters have been reluctant to take their cameras into slum areas. Any reports that are filed tend to come from correspondents talking from inside armoured cars, or are images showing the aftermath of a shooting.

“What is shocking is this parallel power, the fact that they are very young,” said André Cabral De Almeida Cardoso, 41, a teacher. “They are so brazen about it.”

Valera dos Santos, 34, a maid who lives in a favela in São Paulo, said: “My God, I’ve never seen pictures like this. It’s absurd, they’re just boys.” Rio_1__690618a.jpg

The journalists who captured the images were also taken aback. “Even knowing the reality of what could happen, you are still shocked by the glamour that these weapons represent in the arms of minors,” said Fernando Torres, 27, one of a team of three who spent four nights undercover at the Corner of Fear.

“These images are desolate,” said Lucy Petroucic, 56, a translator. “These boys have become little Taleban who think they have nothing to lose.”

Within hours, police arrested one of a group of bandits shown in the video and promised that changes were on the way. Luiz Fernando Pezão, Rio’s Deputy Governor, told reporters that a new police base would open nearby in May. Rio_2__690599a.jpg

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Grammys 2010 : Jackson kids steal show

Los Angeles, California (CNN) -- The most memorable moment of the 52nd annual Grammy Awards on Sunday may be the onstage appearance of Michael Jackson's two eldest children to accept their father's lifetime achievement award."To all his songs, his message was simple, love," 12-year-old Prince Michael said. "We will continue to spread his message and help the world."With a voice that sounded more mature than his age, he then thanked "God for watching over us these last seven months and our grandma and grandpa for their love and support."Paris, 11, then spoke: "Daddy was supposed to be here. Daddy was going to perform last year. Thank you. We love you Daddy."Prince Michael and Paris, along with several cousins, wore black suits with red stripes on their pants, and red armbands.The children appeared after a rousing performance of Michael Jackson's "Earth Song," with a recording of Jackson accompanied by live performances from Celine Dion, Usher, Carrie Underwood, Smokey Robinson and Jennifer Hudson.Grammy producers used the head-to-head competition between Beyonce and Taylor Swift to lure viewers to stay tuned through the three-and-a-half hour telecast.List: Major Grammy winnersSwift got the biggest Grammy of the night, album of the year, for "Fearless.""I just hope that you know how much this means to me," she said in her acceptance speech. "Our families are freaking out in their living rooms."Swift also won best country album. She won four Grammys overall.Beyonce won a pair of Grammys over Swift, including for best female pop vocal performance.Beyonce carried home six Grammys, including one in the major category of song of the year. That honor, a songwriters' award, was given to Beyonce for co-writing "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)."For the best female pop honor, won for "Halo," the nervous singer thanked her family, "including my husband -- I love you." Beyonce is married to hip-hop star Jay-Z.Gallery: Red-carpet arrivalsAlternative rock band Kings of Leon upset favorites Beyonce and Swift to win the record of the year Grammy for "Use Somebody."The win gave the Kings of Leon three Grammys out of four nominations this year, all thanks to last year's "Only by the Night" album. The same album gave them three nominations last year, one of which they won."Use Somebody" lost out earlier in the show to Beyonce's "Single Ladies" for song of the year."The best thing about winning Grammys is really it's the first time our family gets to see the success we're having," Kings lead singer Caleb Followill said backstage. "We're getting my mom wasted."Other triple Grammy winners were The Black Eyed Peas and Jay-Z.Winners also included Stephen Colbert, the Zac Brown Band and Green Day.The Zac Brown Band won best new artist. Lady Gaga, considered by many to be this year's biggest breakout act, was ruled ineligible because she had a song released and nominated last year.Behind-the-scenes: Our Marquee blogStephen Colbert won best comedy album for "A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!" Rap/sung collaboration went to Jay-Z, Rihanna and Kanye West.Green Day won best rock album."Now I'm going to do shots with Kings of Leon," Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong said.Lady Gaga, whose performance opened the show, won two Grammys presented in the pre-telecast. Her single "Poker Face" beat out songs by the Black Eyed Peas, Madonna and Britney Spears in the best dance recording category. Her CD "The Fame" also won a Grammy for best electronic/dance.
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Michael Jackson's Kids Will Speak at the Grammys The King of Pop's progeny will be represented at the Grammy Awards.A source close to the Jackson family exclusively tells E! News that, as of late Friday evening, Michael Jackson's three children will not only attend the Grammys on Sunday, but will take the stage during the planned tribute to the pop icon to "read some sort of speech" about him.As we reported before, several other members of the Jackson family are already planning to be in the audience at Los Angeles' Staples Center, as well.Céline Dion, Carrie Underwood and Usher are among the current chart-toppers who will be participating in the Jackson tribute.Janet Jackson presided over a muscial tribute to her older brother, who died last June, at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.Gay Groups to Grammys: Denounce "Hateful" Reggae Nominee Now!Media watchdog group GLAAD and the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center protested the nomination as soon as it was announced, because Banton's song, "Boom, Bye Bye," includes lyrics about killing gay men by shooting or burning them.And just today, GLAAD and the L.A. Gay & lesbian Center bought a full-page ad in Hollywood tradepaper Variety in the form of an open letter to Recording Academy president Neil Portnow. "This type of music has fueled anti-gay violence here and especially in Banton's home country of Jamaica, where hate crimes against gay men and lesbians—including murder—are common and sometimes celebrated," the letter reads.In early December, the Recording Academy issued a statement defending the nomination on the basis of freedom of speech and creative expression."Artists of a variety of political or cultural perspectives have been nominated or featured on the telecast, despite protests and backlash," the statement read, in part.GLAAD and the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center's ad, cosigned by more than 20 gay rights groups, blasts the reasoning because "performers who glorify the murder of gay people through their music aren't reflecting a 'political or cultural perspective' or 'politics,' they're reflecting their hatred and promoting brutal and illegal violence against a group of innocent people."A copy of the ad, which also asks the academy to denounce violence of any sort during awards show live telecast on Sunday, was delivered to Portnoy's office yesterday, according to reps for GLAAD and the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center. They have yet to get a response.Banton will not be at this year's show because he is currently in a Florida jail awaiting trial on cocaine-related charges. Rihanna Flying Solo to Grammys—Where's the BF?It's Grammy time again, folks, and this year we're happy to report Rihanna will be in attendance at the awards show, rather than in admittance to the hospital like she was last year.Thankfully, Ri-Ri has moved on from that hideous woman-attacker Chris Brown, and despite the fact the pop princess claims she's single, we can swear she's still very much dating muscle-tat man Dodger Matt Kemp.However, E! can also confirm that her new boy will not be attending the Grammy Awards with her on Sunday.Yikes, trouble in paradise already?
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A Nigerian mother, who worked for asylum seekers in Britain, has been stabbed to death in her London home in front of her own children. The victim, who was named as Ayodele Akinsiku, was found a few metres from her front door where she had bled to death after trying to escape from her killer. It is understood that her three young children were inside the home when the murder took place. The body of a man, who was thought to be the killer, was also found at the scene in Deptford. Police said they were treating the death of the civil servant as murder. The man’s death was officially described as “unexplained.” Detectives on Friday working on the theory that he had stabbed Mrs. Akinsiku first before turning the knife on himself. Neighbours of Akinsiku, who lived in a tower block in Evelyn Street, said she was a Christian with three children, aged eight, five and two, and served as a parent governor at Grinling Gibbons Primary School. Friend, Annette Reid, 34, said Akinsiku dealt with appeals at the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal, and her husband, who was thought to have been out at the time of the killing, had just finished a master’s degree. Mrs Reid said: “Apparently, there was an altercation the previous night and from what I’ve been told, the man stabbed her and then killed himself. “She tried to get out of the door but collapsed on the landing. You could see the paramedics trying to resuscitate her. The children saw everything and are very traumatised. That’s what her husband told my husband.” Mrs. Reid said her friend had previously argued with a man who had been living with the family after moving from Nigeria. Scotland Yard said the man and woman were pronounced dead at the scene at about 8:00 a.m. on Friday.Nigerian Woman Killed In London.
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i am tired of how Nigerian women do not take care of their physical appearance, we leave ourselves, by the way the men also apply, but am talking about women nowwhat is wrong with having a facials to get rid of pimples, just spending 30mins once a week to steam the face can help remove pores and dirtgoing to the gym or just doing 30mins cardio at home 3times a week can do alot,I am not going to lie, Nigerian women are really beautiful, the only thing lacking is the zeal to make oneself attractive WITH a little efforti dont care how beautiful your cloth looks or how much you spent, its notting if you cant take care of your bodyNow about Omotola Jalade(NOT SURE ABT MY SPELLING), the excuse that most nigerian women use now is that just because you have children you should be fat and not care for yourselves again, that is complete crap Angry, having children does'nt mean its the end of the world, u could still take 5mins out of you time daily to do a little cardio and not forgetting eating healthy
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A MUM of six has ditched her kids and run off with her son’s 18-YEAR-OLD best pal. Debbie Mallinson, 36, fled her council semi after telling her shocked children: “I can’t help who I fall in love with.” She then moved in with baby-faced toyboy Adam Caban in Falmouth, Cornwall. Mallinson’s eldest sons, aged 15 and ten, are now living with relatives. Her other kids — a girl of eight, a boy of six, a boy of five and a girl aged three — are in foster care. And an ex-partner of the runaway mum branded her a “disgrace” last night — and sneered: “She falls in love more often than she gives birth.” The man, who fathered three of the brunette’s six children, hit out after she deserted her young family. Mallinson fled her council home after climbing out of a window and sprinting down the front path into a waiting cab. advertisement here ask9ja.com free classifieds ! Her 15-year-old eldest son had earlier caught her on the phone telling Adam, his best friend, that she loved him. Before she left, Mallinson told her children: “I can’t help who I fall in love with.” But her disgusted ex said: “It breaks my heart — she doesn’t give a stuff about anyone but her.” Mallinson, whose children were fathered by FOUR dads, is living with baby-faced Adam at his sister’s home in Falmouth, Cornwall. Before walking out two weeks ago, she phoned social services saying she couldn’t cope and was going off to live with her lover. Her furious former partner said last night: “This woman is an absolute disgrace as a mother. “First she has an affair with her son’s best friend, then she dumps her kids to move in with him. “She’s now living with him while her youngest children and my kids are staying with strangers. It breaks my heart and makes my blood boil in equal measure. “She’s told social services she wants the kids back eventually and wants to bring them up with her new boyfriend. “But they are living with his sister and don’t have any money. “Anyway, she can’t just turn up and be a mum when she likes. It is just not fair on the children.” Mallinson — whose youngsters cannot be identified — stormed out of her three-bed semi after a blazing row with her teenage son. He and his eldest brother, who is ten, are now living with their grandparents and father respectively. But the lads’ four siblings — a girl aged eight, a boy of six, a boy aged five, and a three-year-old girl — have been put in to foster care. advertisement here ask9ja.com free classifieds ! Mallinson’s former partner added: “The first I knew about it was when my mum called me. “At first I thought it was a wind-up — but I wouldn’t put anything past her. “Her eldest son found out something was going on when he overheard his mum on the phone telling his best mate she loved him. “He is now living with his grandparents in another part of the country — but he has lost his best friend and his mum. “Through no fault of his own, his life has been completely turned upside down. “I’ve known this woman for a long time and she falls in love more often than she gives birth. The sad thing is that it will never last — but it could scar the kids for life.” Mallinson was unavailable for comment. And her 18-year-old lover cowered behind his mum when The Sun visited his family’s address. The dumbstruck teenager stood in the hallway as his mum said: “He’s 18 and can do what he likes. They’re just friends anyway.” Another family member said: “They are moving from house to house at the moment, so we’re just trying to help out by giving them somewhere to stay.advertisement here ask9ja.com free classifieds !
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