Five persons have been reportedly killed at the weekend while several others were seriously injured in a bloody clash in three different locations between two rival cult groups, the Eiye and Black Axe in Benin, the Edo State capital.

Daily Sun gathered that the victims were killed during a quarrel, as one of the groups was sharing money allegedly given to them by politicians during the conduct of primaries by one of the political parties in the state.

It was learnt that two men riding on a motorcycle, suspected to be members of the Eiye confraternity shot a member of a rival Black Axe cult group whose name was identified as Tony Idemudia at Uwelu, near Ogida area of the city. As soon as this happened, the Black Axe members were said to have stormed the Texiles Mill Road area apparently on a reprisal mission and swooped on two rival members killing them in the process.

Not satisfied, members of the Black Axe confraternity were said to have retreated and launched another attack on their opponents at the Second East Circular junction also in the state capital, where they shot two persons to death. One of the victims of the onslaught was identified as Osas.
The bloody scenes had left the residents of the affected areas scampering for safety. When contacted , the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mr. Peter Ogboi failed to confirm the incident..

However, Edo State Commissioner of Police, Mr. David Omojola said nine persons had been arrested in connection with the incident. He attributed the killings to rival cult gangs and promised that those involved in the killings would be prosecuted, adding that investigations were on to unravel the circumstances surrounding the clash.

The corpses of the cult members have been taken to the morgue of the Central Hospital, Benin by policemen from the state command.

Previously in May 2010

The relative peace in Edo State was disrupted when cult groups clashed in Benin City, leaving 11 persons dead.

Gov. Adams Oshiomhole, Edo State Governor.

The clash was between two rival groups, the Eiye and Black Axe confraternities.

P.M.NEWS gathered yesterday that the battle, which took place last weekend, was a spill over from College of Education, Ekiadolor, near Benin City where cult rivalry claimed two lives recently.

Police sources confirmed the death of eight persons and six persons on danger list at different hospitals in Benin City.

Investigation revealed that Ogida and Useh quarters were the worse hit, recording a death toll of seven within six hours last Thursday.

Eye witnesses said that the cultists attacked their victims as soon as they dropped off the vehicles that brought them. It was further revealed that they pursued some of the victims to their family houses, killing some even in the presence of their parents.

One of the victims is called Erokpadamwen Asemota who was shot dead along with others at Useh quarters.

Bewildered residents who could no longer endure the war decided to appeal to security agencies and relevant bodies to intervene as lives and economic activities have been endangered in the area.

The hitmen and their victims are said to be in their twenties and some were alleged to be students of College of Education, Ekiadolor.

Describing the incident as unfortunate, the spokesman of Edo State Police command, ASP Peter Ogboi, stated that they intervened in good time to arrest the situation .

A bloody cult war between Black Axe and Maphite Confraternity reportedly claimed over 15 lives last March in Benin City.

—Yomi Obaditan/Benin

Our view: Today, the nation commemorates the greatest leader of its civil rights struggle, a man who changed history with the power of his words and dignity.

Today is the 25th anniversary of the nation's commemoration of Rev. Martin Luther King's birthday as a national holiday. At a time when an act of violence has focused the nation's attention on the rancorous nature of political discourse, we remember the most famous oration of a man who brought change through peace. This is the text of the "I have a dream" speech, delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington on Aug. 28, 1963.

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

Moves to pacify and unite aggrieved stakeholders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) following the bitterness and divide over the party’s Presidential ticket has begun, according to the Special Adviser to the President on Media and publicity, Mr. Ima Niboro.

The aide, during a chat with State House Correspondents said President Jonathan would use the meeting with Presidential opponents and stakeholders of the PDP as a step towards unifying the party ahead of April’s general elections.

Coincidentally, all the aspirants are from the Northern region.  They are: Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Mrs. Sarah Jibril, former military dictator, General Ibrahim Babangida; former National Security Adviser, General Aliyu Mohammed Gusau and Kwara State Governor, Dr. Bukola Saraki.

Recall that Babangida, Gusau and Saraki withdrew from the race for Atiku as part of a northern consensus agreement of the (NPLF).

“The president’s immediate pre-occupation now is to heal every perceived political wounds and injuries inflicted or sustained preparatory to the primaries, as part of his promise to unite the PDP and Nigeria. The process of healing has begun already. The President is reaching out, aiming to bind wounds from the sometimes-bruising campaign for the primaries.

“Of course there will be a series of meetings, and we hope that at the end of it all, we would have united everyone for the contest ahead,” Niboro said.

“For us, there is no victor, no vanquished,” he added...

For some strange reason the average Nigerian Kitchen is often the most unhygienic section of the home.Most illnesses can be gotten from the kitchen if proper care and hygiene are not taken into consideration.

Chief of all illnesses that can be gotten from an unclean kitchen is Staphylococcus.Most people think that Staph is limited to sexual transmission.It is not so.It's just one of the ways of contacting the infection. Cockroaches carry the staph bacteria among other bacteria and parasites.Ever wondered why your staph treatment never seems to work? It's dangerous to have insects and rodents in your kitchen.They are carriers of disease.They can crawl over your food,pots and utensils,infecting them and making you very sick-sometimes to the point of death.So get rid of the pests.

Leaving food to rot and decay in your refrigerator can be a major source of food poisoning.They can contaminate other contents in the refrigerator and give you major health problems.Be sure to get rid of fresh foods before they start decaying and clean your refrigerator regularly with Milton or Jik bleach.

Never leave your food open and unattended to.Flies that perch on your food may not be as harmless as they look.Flies often perch on decayed material or faeces before finally perching on your food.You don't want to eat food spiced with faeces do you? Needless to say what that can lead to.
One issue that is often overlooked is the condition of the water outlets.Broken taps or pipes are often left unrepaired.This can be another source of infection as algae and dirt can gather around the broken area and pests like flies and cockroaches can gain entry.This could poison your water and give you health problems.

It's often the practice to leave frying oil in the frying pan uncovered overnight for future use.You may just as well have built a swimming pool for pests and rodents.Need I say more?
Another attribute of the average Nigerian kitchen is the thick black cobwebs that often hang over the stove like a Christmas decoration.They harbour dust and possibly other contaminants that might fall into the food while cooking.All it takes is a long broom or vacuum cleaner and you wont have to wonder if witches from your village are attacking your family.

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The 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."

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 !  

Kia has pulled the covers off of its all-new Picanto and it is radically different from the one that you and I know. With its sportier and more confident design, it will take the fight straight to Chevrolet’s new Spark in the “I’m trying to be funky” city car fight club.

Kia Picanto

The new Kia will be revealed in the flesh at the Geneva Motor Show in March this year, and by then we should have more pictures and more detailed information on the new car, which will also be offered as a three-door variant on the European market. This Picanto’s newfound maturity is not just at face value, the completely redesigned and re-engineered car has grown both in wheelbase and overall length, a move that Kia reckons will give it a far more competitive edge in the A-segment...

It also features four all-new engines, ranging between 1.0- and 1.2-litres in displacement and all are said to boast class-leading CO2 emissions levels. While the standard engines will be petrol powered, certain markets will also get LPG, bio-fuel and fuel-flex variations.

The exact timing of the Nigerian launch has yet to be confirmed, but Kia would do well to get it here before this year is out – it sure looks like a winner in the making, feelers coming from Kia lovers were an all-time happy state. Adeyemi, a businessman in Ogba has this to say “I’ve thought of buying a Kia for a long time. But because the previous model had been around for some time I thought I’d wait – and that suited my pocket as well! This new Kia is a beauty. Can’t wait to see it real appearance” while Miss Ogechi Duruocha, a beautician said this is impressive! Well done Kia – please release at a fair price. Wow.

Rappers have been known to influence interest in fashion trends, alcohol brands, and luxury automobiles. This week hip-hop mogul 50 Cent added the stock exchange to the list.

In just one day, 50 Cent's promotion of the publicly traded H&H Imports, Inc. raised the company's stock price from .10 to .39 per share.

The G-Unit head urged his 3.8 million Twitter followers to invest in the company. "TVG's stock went from 5 cent to 10 in one day," 50 wrote about the subsidiary of H&H. "You can double your money right now. Just get what you can afford."

50's fans responded immediately, purchasing $50 million worth of the penny stocks. The New York rapper made $8.7 million from those exchanges.

Last October, 50 Cent received 30 million H&H shares in a private placement, the New York Post reported. Just days before encouraging his followers to purchase the stock, he premiered a joint effort with TV Goods, Inc., a set of headphones called Sleek By 50.

Using his influence to generate so much activity for a company in which he owned stock prompted some experts to speculate whether or not he may have violated insider trader laws.

Jonathan Macey, a professor of securities at Yale Law School, does not believe 50 Cent did anything wrong. "How can they call it a take if he didn't sell his stock?" Macey said in an interview with Esquire. "All he said was that it's a great company."

Let's hope Macey is right. But to be safe, 50 has since deleted from his Twitter page all of the messages...

Jay-Z, another one of hip-hop's most successful entrepreneurs, also revealed new business venture this week. The "Empire State Of Mind" rapper invested in Buffalo Boss, a chicken-wing restaurant co-owned by his cousin, Jamar White. Located in Brooklyn, the eatery specializes in the organic and spicy appetizers.

News wasn't so good this week in several other music related news stories. After a six day pretrial hearing, a Los Angeles Superior judge has determined that Michael Jackson's cardiologist Conrad Murray will stand trial for involuntary manslaughter. Rockers Drowning Pool insisted upon clearing the air about their song "Bodies" and its connection to Arizona shooting suspect Jared Loughner who featured the track on his YouTube channel. The video used their song as the background music for an unpatriotic act. And the excitement over Britney Spear's return was nearly eclipsed by accusations that her new song borrowed, without permission, lyrics from a 1979 country song.

Wow. We must say, this is, hands down, the most impactful week in music all year. Let's hope new week will be able to live up to the hype. See you then.

Mohammed the Brit

Goodbye Jack Smith, hello Mohammed Malik, model British subject. Mohammed, in its various spellings, is now the favourite name for newborn boys in the United Kingdom, edging out Oliver. Those named for the Prophet of Islam ride the Clapham omnibus.

Churn is a wondrous thing, grease in the wheels of vital societies able to adjust their self-images over time. But what to think of the Mohammedization of this murky isle?

Say Luton or Bradford, and the vision that leaps is that of the alienated Muslim radicalized by jihadist teaching and ready — like the Luton-incubated Stockholm bomber Taimour Abdulwahab al-Abdaly — to blow himself up to kill the Western infidel. The London bombers of July 7, 2005, also set out from Luton.

These are potent images. Exclusion exists; its other face is danger. But so does a particular British elasticity that registers Mohammed and shrugs...

Having lived in France and Germany, I’m struck on returning to Britain after 30 years not by the hard lines hiving off immigrant Muslim communities as in those countries but by the relative fluidity that produces Faisal Islam, economic editor of the influential Channel 4 News, or Sajid Javid, a bus driver’s son and Tory MP...

British identity has proved more capacious than French or German, perhaps because, even before the legacy of empire, it had to absorb the English, the Scottish and the Welsh (as well as fail to absorb the majority of the Irish.) The variegated texture of London — projects full of immigrants hard by upscale housing — stands in stark contrast to ghettoized Paris.

I’ve been listening to a BBC Radio 4 series — how polarized America would benefit from a national broadcaster of this quality! — called “Five Guys named Mohammed,” conceived to mark the name’s first-place surge. The programs are a good antidote to the simplistic caricature that conflates Muslim with threat, and a useful barometer of an integration that is uneven, certainly, but ongoing.

There was Mohammed Yahya, Mozambique-born rapper and creator of a Muslim-Jewish band. Or Mohammed Anwar, of purring Scottish brogue, the manager of a Glasgow Muslim day care center, waxing lyrical about Damson Jam and the crush he once had on actress Diana Rigg (who didn’t?) and his 21-year-old daughter, who could do big things if she was not “so laid-back, it’s just unbelievable.” And there she was, more Scottish even than he, laughing over his premature hunt for a husband for her.

Or Muhammad Hasan, a bubbly Birmingham real-estate dealer in his mid-30s, explaining his Islamic investment theory: Because under Islam you cannot charge or pay interest, Muslim investors in his property deals have to take equity rather than lend money — and that spurs motivation.

Bent on business, Hasan has had little time to look for a wife who, in his mother’s view, “has to be a Muslim and from Pakistan and a Princess Diana clone!” He’s now sipping tea with potential spouses while his binocular-armed Mom observes.

Overall, these Mohammeds see themselves as British citizens, not Muslims in the United Kingdom. Their universes may be distinct, as in attitudes to marriage, but distinct in a way that, at best, complements rather than confronts. “There’s an upward mobility and optimism that is much higher than in continental Europe,” said Muddassar Ahmed, a 27-year-old college dropout and chief executive of Unitas, a public relations firm.

Ahmed is involved in the drafting of a letter by 50 British Muslim scholars denouncing Malik Mumtaz Qadri, the 26-year-old killer of Salman Taseer, the Punjab governor assassinated this month for denouncing Pakistan’s draconian blasphemy laws that prescribe the death sentence for anyone insulting Islam. Qadri, self-described “slave of the Prophet,” has been feted in Islamabad.

In this context, the readiness of European Muslims, many bearing the Prophet’s name, to stand up for values of free speech assumes bridge-building importance. It reflects the experience of faith as practiced within a modern secular society.

Those bridges do not come easily. Britain has been riled in recent weeks by the conviction of Mohammed Liaqat, 28, and Abid Saddique, 27, the ringleaders of a gang that raped and sexually abused several white girls aged between 12 and 18 in Derby.

The reaction of Jack Straw, the former foreign secretary, was to say a problem exists with “Pakistani heritage men thinking it is O.K. to target white girls in this way.” He said they were “popping with testosterone, they want some outlet for that, but Pakistani heritage girls are off limits and they are expected to marry a Pakistani girl from Pakistan, typically” — so they seek the “easy meat” of white girls.

It was a neat — and explosive — argument. Vigorous debate has ensued. Racial slur? Courageous frankness? I don’t think Straw’s argument stands up to scrutiny of overall sex-crime patterns, but I do think Britain’s Muslim community needs to take a hard look at repressive attitudes toward women. The debate is salutary.

There’s a Mohammed — in fact there are many — in Britain’s future. Oliver’s prospects look more dubious given the ties between the name’s popularity and the heady success of the chef Jamie Oliver — but that’s another story of positive British change.

New York Red Bulls said they never expected John Rooney, the brother of Manchester United star Wayne, to still be available when it came time for them to pick in the second round of the Thursday's MLS entry draft.

Red Bulls head coach Hans Backe said they were surprised the younger brother of the England striker went unpicked through the first round because the Red Bulls had him rated as one of the top three midfielders in the draft.

"He's a box to box player, he has a good understanding of the game and he's an excellent passer of the ball," Backe said of Rooney who spent most of his career in the English lower leagues. "I rated him very highly."

Rooney had featured for unheralded English third division side Macclesfield Town but now the 20-year-old attacker will play in America's MLS alongside French star Thierry Henry.

Rooney described himself Thursday as a "goal-scoring midfielder".

"I?m quick, I?m crafty and I can put the ball in the back of the net," Rooney said. "Hopefully I can do that for them."

He travelled to Baltimore Thursday with family members for the draft.

Rooney said he has never been to New York but is looking forward to showcasing his skills in the Big Apple for Red Bull fans.

The 2011 MLS season starts in March.

The police prosecutor, ASP Eyo Owai, docked the accused on a three-count charge of felony, stealing and obtaining money under false pretence, contrary to Sections 526, 390, 419 of the Criminal Code, Cap. C17, Vol. II, Laws of Lagos State of Nigeria, 200According to the charge sheet, the suspect was arrested recently at Aminu Street, Alapere, Lagos. Tokunbo Bewaji allegedly collected N650,000 from Oba Olamilakan Ifayemi on the pretence of obtaining a visa for his pregnant wife to deliver in the United States of America but he could not get the visa or refund the money. When the charges were read to him, he pleaded not guilty and the trial magistrate, Mrs. Y. O. Aje Afumiwa, admitted him to bail in N60,000 with two sureties who must produce evidence of tax payment to the Lagos State government. The case has been adjourned till 2 January, 2011

By Kingsley Omonobi
ABUJA — Following the determination of the current Police administration to restructure the Mobile Police Force, PMF, the Police hierarchy has concluded plans to withdraw all Mobile Policemen from banks, cooperate organisations and individuals...

Consequently, the Police authorities have directed all banks, corporate organisations and individuals, who hitherto have been making use of mobile policemen, to seek other means of security arrangement for their organisations.

Towards this end, only few conventional policemen that are armed will be deployed to such banks and organisations to oversee the operations of other security agencies that they might engage to provide security for their business operations.

Inspector General of Police, Mr Hafiz Ringim, had written to banks through the DIG Operations, Audu Abubakar, directing the banks on the new decision of the Police hierarchy.

Following the development, Chief Security Officers of all banks in the country on Wednesday held a four-hour closed door meeting with the DIG Operations at the Force Headquarters to fashion out ways on how the banks could provide their own alternative security.

Though the outcome of the meeting was not made public, but an inside source said the banks were not disposed to the new arrangement, and were still pleading  with the Inspector General of Police to rescind the decision as such directive will likely alter their operations and also jeopardize the security of customers.

The Police recently embarked on mass demobilization of mobile police officers, but the IGP said was his style to imbibe the culture of professionalism in the Nigeria Police Force.

According to him, the Mobile Police force is a specialized outfit,  a specialized agency in the police. It is the striking unit of the PMF; they cannot have control over our internal security problems if they lose the purpose of their establishment. It was established in the early 60s in other to contain definite threat to internal security.

The IGP , regretted that over the years people have turned the PMF into something like an ornament, while every body want to be seen going around with Mobile police.

He added that his intention is to have the PMF in the barracks and to train them for deployment in order to help the nation contain its internal security problems.