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Three persons were killed in central Nigeria on Monday when soldiers opened fire to quell a fight between Christian and Muslim youth over voter registration for April elections, police and witnesses said.

Soldiers opened fire at a secondary school being used as a voter registration centre in the city of Jos after a group of Christian youth tried to prevent Muslim electoral commission officials from delivering voting materials, witnesses said.

Schools across Nigeria have been closed for the voter registration exercise, which began on Saturday, and there were no children at the venue at the time.

“We tried to pacify them but they grew wild,” Plateau State police commissioner, Abdulrahman Akano told reporters..

“They started stoning the soldiers and the soldiers had no choice than to open fire on them in self-defence,” he said, adding that two of the youth were killed by the gunfire.

One electoral official was lynched and burned, bringing the death toll to three, while two soldiers were wounded, a spokesman for a joint military and police taskforce said.

Plateau State, of which Jos is the capital, lies in the Middle Belt where the mostly Muslim north meets the largely Christian south. It has seen years of ethnic tensions and is a major potential flashpoint ahead of the April elections.

The latest unrest brings the death toll in and around Jos to more than 100 since Christmas, when there were a series of bomb blasts and subsequent clashes in the city.

Some members of the Christian community have accused the security forces of backing the mostly Muslims Hausa-Fulani ethnic group during the unrest. The rank-and-file of the army are from both religions but senior officers stationed in the region are predominantly Muslim, they say. The military denies the accusations.

Hundreds of people died in fighting between Muslim and Christian mobs in the Middle Belt a year ago and there have been frequent outbreaks of violence since then.

The tension is rooted in decades of resentment between indigenous groups, mostly Christian or animist, who are vying for control of fertile farmlands and for economic and political power with migrants and settlers from the north.

President Goodluck Jonathan, who is from the southern Niger Delta, won the ruling party primary last week and is considered the frontrunner in the presidential race on April 9. But his candidacy is controversial because of an agreement in the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) that power should rotate between the north and the south every two terms, a rhythm which his victory would interrupt.

His main election rivals are all northerners and there are fears that the national debate could become polarised around north-south rivalries, potentially leading to further election-related violence in the Middle Belt and other areas.

REUTERS

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has demanded the extradition of a 26-year old Nigerian, Olaniyi Makinde, in connection with e-mail scams currently valued at about USD800,000.

A source at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said the FBI is particularly interested in Mr. Makinde, who is currently standing trial in Ondo State, because of the peculiarity of the scam method which involved remotely breaking into the accounts system of an online payroll company in California, Intuit Inc.

When contacted, the spokesperson of the EFCC, Femi Babafemi, declined to speak in details about the case but our source also said that the EFCC and the FBI have been working together on this case since last year adding that while the FBI would like to try Mr. Makinde in the US, the EFCC want him tried in Nigeria...

Amongs other charges in the 23-count charge brought against the 26-year old, the EFCC said that Mr. Makinde managed to manipulate the American online payroll system to deposit cash in his Intercontinental and Ecobank accounts in Nigeria.

“He installed malicious codes in several victims’ personal computers with which he fraudulently stole their bank information to steal $600, 000,” an official document obtained by NEXT said.

“Because of that boy, three FBI agents came to Nigeria in October. They wanted to see the person that could carry out this deal offshore,” our source at the EFCC said.

The accused, Mr. Makinde, who also goes by the aliases Olaniyi James and Andrea Bradley, recently graduated from the University of Ado Ekiti with a degree in Economics and is scheduled to take part in the compulsory National Youth Service scheme.

He however remains in the custody of Nigeria’s anti-graft agency which said that if convicted of the over 20 count charges brought against him, Mr. Makinde could serve as much as 60 years in jail.

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 !