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A balancing act says Judge .An Eye for An Eye.

The court heard that trouble started when Ajikere, his brother and two girls boarded an unpainted taxi cab operated by Fabiyi, who was in plainclothes. The group had to alight from the cab following disagreement on the fare charged by the driver.

Fabiyi was angered by the group’s decision to abandon his taxi in preference for another and made his resentment known to the group, following an exchange of uncomplimentary words between both parties.

Bent on getting his pound of flesh, Fabiyi trailed the group to a mobile police check-point close to a five-star hotel along GRA and hurriedly lied to the policemen that the occupants of the other cab were criminals and should be dealt with.

Testifying at the trial, the younger brother of murdered Ajikere said the group was ordered out of the cab and frog-jumped, beaten black and blue and ordered to lay face-down on the tarred road. This was even as the policemen refused to listen to their own side of the story.

Photo:instance of police brutality

Unable to bear the torture any longer, he said, Ajikere tried to stand up and was shot at point-blank range by Cpl. Aminu. His life could not be saved as he was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital that said Ajikere died of excessive bleeding.

Delivering judgment after sentencing the men to death by hanging, Monday, Justice Boma Diepreyi said the sentence would serve as a deterrent to other uniformed men “whose stock-in-trade is to kill innocent citizens under the guise of accidental discharge.”

Diepreyi said it would be unfair to take the plea of both Fabiyi and Aminu for mercy, adding: “In as much as I sympathize with them, there is the blood of the young Nnamdi Ajikere, the deceased 20 year-old final year student of University of Port Harcourt crying for vengeance.

“Justice is a balancing act and the only way to a balanced justice in this case is to make the accused persons face the consequences of their reckless act and hope that this will serve as a deterrent to those who may want to emulate their terrible example.”

Meantime, in preparation for the 2011 elections, the Nigeria Police Force has warned its officers to steer clear of inducements by politicians or their agents during the elections stressing that officers found culpable may be dismissed from service and jailed.

The Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of Operations, Mr. John Hamza Ahmadu, who gave the warning, Tuesday, while addressing the officers at the state command headquarters in Ilorin, also announced that N2billion has been released for the housing projects for officers nationwide.

Ahmadu charged the officers not to compromise their professional ethics and destroy their career because of what he described as chicken fees from politicians assured them that all their allowances would be paid before the elections.

He also urged politicians to warn their supporters to restrict their campaigns to their manifestos and play the game according to the rules adding that those who foment trouble will be dealth with.

Military medics hope the experiments on Prahlad Jani can help soldiers develop their survival strategies.

The long-haired and bearded yogi is under 24-hour observation by a team of 30 doctors during three weeks of tests at a hospital in the western city of Ahmedabad.

Two cameras have been set up in his room, while a mobile camera films him when he goes outside, guaranteeing round-the-clock observation.

His body will be scanned and his brain and heart activity measured with electrodes.

"The observation from this study may throw light on human survival without food and water," said Dr G. Ilavazahagan, who is directing the research.

"This may help in working out strategies for survival during natural calamities, extreme stressful conditions and extra-terrestrial explorations like future missions to the Moon and Mars by the human race."

Since the experiment began on April 22, Jani has neither eaten nor drunk and has not been to the toilet.

"The exercise of taking this yogi under the medical scanner is to understand what energy supports his existence," Dr Ilavazahagan added.

"Jani says he meditates to get energy. Our soldiers will not be able to meditate, but we would still like to find out more about the man and his body."

Jani, who dresses in red and wears a nose ring, grew up in Charod village in the Mehsana district in Gujarat.

He claims to have been blessed by a goddess when he was aged eight, which has enabled him to survive without sustenance.

(CNN) -- At least 28 children were injured when a man with a knife attacked a kindergarten in east China on Thursday morning, state media said.

Most of the victims were four-year-olds, the state-run Xinhua news agency said. Three of the children were in critical condition.

Police said they have arrested a 47-year-old suspect.

The incident happened in Taixing city in Jiangsu province.

It comes a day after a man attacked 18 students and a teacher with a knife at a primary school in southern China's Guangdong province, Xinhua said.

It was not immediately known how many people were injured or whether there were any fatalities Wednesday. The man, described as being in his 40s, entered Leicheng First Primary School Wednesday afternoon and committed the attack before he was seized by police, Xinhua reported.

A man who stabbed eight children to death and wounded five others at an elementary school in eastern China last month was executed Wednesday, Xinhua said. Zheng Minsheng, 42, was shot in Nanping City for the March 23 attack..

Authorities said he carried out the attack because he was frustrated at "failures in his romantic life," Xinhua said.

The five-year reign of Maurice Iwu as the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission came to a sudden end yesterday when the Acting president, Goodluck Jonathan, ordered him to proceed on a pre-disengagement leave, with immediate effect.

Mr Jonathan’s directive was given in a terse statement signed by his spokesman, Ima Niboro and released to journalists in Abuja. “The Acting President’s directive is in consonance with Section 155(1) (c), which stipulates that the Chairman and members of the Independent Electoral Commission shall hold office for a period of five years,” the statement said.

“He has also been directed to hand over to the most senior National Commissioner, who shall oversee the activities of the commission pending the appointment of a substantive chairman”.

Mr Iwu’s tenure expires on 13th June, 2010 and he had actively lobbied for an extension of his service. But most Nigerians blame him for the controversial general election held in 2007 which produced the incumbent administration, and one of the early promises of the Yar’Adua administration was that it would reform the electoral process.

Many local and international agencies and governments have specifically asked Mr Jonathan to sack Mr Iwu if he desired a credible election next year. The acting president demurred from making any categorical statement regarding the fate of Mr Iwu until yesterday..

Wishing him success

Three weeks ago, Mr Jonathan was pointedly asked by Christianne Amanpour on a CNN programme if he was going to retain Mr Iwu. He said recent elections in Anambra and Abuja have shown that the man could organise credible polls if given the right tools.

Some civil society groups, including the Save Nigeria Group, have also organized rallies to press for the removal of Mr Iwu, although counter rallies were also organized in his favour -including a well reported one led by maverick artiste, Charles Oputa, also known as Charley Boy.

A number of senior positions will soon be vacant at the electoral commission and this gives Mr Jonathan the opportunity to nominate a new crop of Nigerians into the commission, as he told an audience in the US during his last trip.

The Acting President, in the letter announcing Mr Iwu’s disengagement, thanked the outgoing chairman for his service to the nation and wished him success in his future endeavours.

From Microsoft line of communication devices are the all new Microsoft Kin One and Two phones. The dual phones have been designed specifically to enable people actively engage and navigate their social lives..

The KIN has been designed as the phone to provide an ultimate and never before social web experience and excitement with sites like facebook,Twitter, YouTube etc.

“We built KIN for people who live to be connected, share, express and relate to their friends and family. This social generation wants and needs more from their phone. KIN is the one place to get the stuff you care about to the people you care about most.” said Robbie Bach, president of the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft.

The home screen of the KIN (called the Loop) has been designed such that it always keeps users informed with events within their social world via notifications and beeps. It also automatically collates feeds from social sites like facebook, Twitter, MySpace etc, making it easier to always stay connected 24 hours.

Design

The KIN One and the KIN Two phones both come in different designs and also both have a fun and simple interface. Social networking has been built as the core platform for the Microsoft KIN phones.

The KIN one and Two phones both feature capacitive touch screen, with slide-out keyboard style. The KIN One is compact and smaller in size to the KIN Two. The Two features a larger screen size with higher resolution. It also records high definition video.

The KIN one phone has a screen size of 2.6 inch and 320 x 240 pixel resolutions while the KIN Two has a screen size of 3.4 inch with a resolution screen of 480 x320.

Both phones feature single silver home buttons with glossy black bezel and have tactile QWERTY keyboards.

Specifications

The two major features on the KIN phones are the Spot and Loop. With the Loop, social contents (facebook, twitter etc) are collated in an order of priority by how they are sorted. The Spot which works more like an attach button, enables users drag and share different contents like maps, images, videos, status updates and share among friends.

Both devices are powered by 600 MHz processors and packs 256 MB RAM. The KIN One and KIN Two have 4GB and 8GB internal storage respectively .They also both come with rear facing cameras,a 5 megapixel camera in the KIN One and an 8 megapixel Camera in the KIN Two. The Camera has metallic shutter buttons and LED flash.

The phones also integrate with the Zune experience- providing music, FM radio, podcast playback and video, which can all be accessed on online store via a Zune Pass subscription from Zune Marketplace.

The devices come with a 3.5 mm headphone jack, Micro USB port, Wi-Fi and 2.1 Bluetooth. Both phones also come with a tiny 5V USB adaptor and have batteries of 1240mAh and 1390mAh respectively for the KIN One and KIN Two phones.

Price

Pricing of the phones have not yet been disclosed, but they would be available as from May 2010.

CNN) -- If you plan on going to Kure Beach, North Carolina, bring your sunscreen and shades, but please leave your thong behind.

The seaside community has adopted a zero tolerance policy on anyone wearing the barely-there bikini by the shore on their part of North Carolina's Pleasure Island, just south of Wilmington.

"You can do what you want to in your own space," said Mayor Dean Lambeth, "but for public decency, keep it off the public beach."

Lambeth told CNN he and the town supervisors last week unanimously approved the ordinance banning the skimpy bathing wear.

"Everything we do is family oriented. We like the small town atmosphere," he said..

The decision to forbid thongs was triggered by a couple's recent inquiry about spending their honeymoon in Kure Beach, Lambeth said.

According to the mayor, the couple wanted to know if they could wear thongs. The man thought the town's policy on the matter was ambiguous, Lambeth said. After consulting with the police chief, he determined the ordinance should be amended to better address the issue.

Section 12-32 of the Code of the Town of Kure Beach, which was adopted on April 22, makes it illegal "for any person being naked or insufficiently clothed ... to bathe or swim in the Atlantic Ocean" or any other area within the town's jurisdiction. Sun-bathing "naked or insufficiently clothed" is also banned.

"Thong bathing suits or similar attire are specifically prohibited," the code says.

Anyone wearing a thong on the beach will be fined $25.

Lambeth said reaction to the no-thong policy has been overwhelmingly positive.

"I have gotten probably 100 e-mails from all over the U.S. supporting our stance," he told CNN. "I'm getting calls from New York, California that they are glad somebody is finally taking a stand for public decency."

Lambeth, who said Kure Beach's population swells from 2,500 to 11,000 in the summer, described the town as "nice, slow-mo and conservative."

"We're just a small southern community, and that's how we're going to keep it," he said.

He also suspected the decision on the thongs could end up in court and blamed liberals for that.

"You can file a suit -- the way this country is leaning so far left, it wouldn't surprise me," he said. "They want to challenge it? They want to spend the money? Go for it."

Lambeth said people can wear thongs in their homes and backyards. And with his policy in place, he told CNN he's content.

"I'm sitting out here looking at the ocean and don't see a damn thong in sight.

A lot of websites are claiming that Whitney Houston’s ex-husband, singerBobby Brown, has died of lung cancer. News Provider has checked this rumor and tells you that the singer is very much alive.

The rumor about Bobby Brown’s death has surfaced on microblogging site Twitter, where most rumors take shape these days. For a few hours, everybody started looking around the internet to see if there is any truth to it. Bobby Brown was claimed to have died of lung cancer. The rumors seemed believable especially since the singer has had numerous drug problems in the past, during his marriage to singer Whitney Houston (that had drug problems of her own for many years) and after. He was also reportedly late on child support payments some time ago.

Still, nothing like that happened, since the singer is on tour with his band Heads of State. According to their MySpace page, their last show was on April 24 at the Paradise Theatre in Bronx, NY, and they are set to play the 2010 Funk Fest in Jacksonville Florida on May 7 and the Summerjam 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia on June 26.

The Heads of State includes, alongside Bobby Brown, former New Edition Johnny Gill and Ralph Tresvant.

Now that would have been a hoot dead president !

Oceanic Bank Plc has frozen Aero Contractors’ account with it over an estimated debt of $200m (about N30bn), an authoritative source at the airline told our correspondent on Monday.

According to the source, a six-month old controversy over the status of the alleged debt led to the freezing of the airline’s account by the bank on Friday.

However, a spokesman for Oceanic, Ms. Nonye Ugwujide, said in a telephone conversation with our correspondent on Friday that she had not been briefed and, therefore, could not comment on the development.

But, Aero, which confirmed the development in a statement on Monday, said it might soon stop operations because of the unilateral action by Oceanic on Friday.

The airline said the decision by Oceanic had stopped it from paying its suppliers.

The airline said it had approached the Minister of Aviation, Mrs. Fidelia Njeze; National Security Adviser, Lt. Gen. (rtd) Aliyu Muhammed; and the Director-General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Dr. Harold Demuren, to intervene.

The statement by Aero’s Managing Director, Mr. Shaf Syed, which was obtained through email, read in part, “Aero has been locked in discussions with its bankers for some months now and it has now reached a point where it is difficult for Aero to operate on these terms.

“The dilemma centres on the allocation of historical debt. The management teams at Oceanic Bank and Aero have been in constant dialogue about this matter for the previous six months; however, they have been unable to agree on a resolution that will allow Aero to continue trading as a going concern. ..

“Regrettably, Oceanic took unilateral decisions on the morning of Friday April 23, 2010, which have effectively prevented Aero from paying her suppliers and lessors (including the Canadian Helicopter Company).

“Aero has approached the Minister of Aviation, Mrs. Fidelia Njeze; the National Security Adviser, Lt. Gen. (rtd) Aliyu Mohammed; and the Director-General of NCAA, Dr. Harold Demuren, in the belief that they will intervene as an arbitrating party between Aero and Oceanic.

“Aero, for its part, needs to complete the full cycle of turn-around that was started last year. The company has new management with a new vision, and is in the process of bearing the fruits of financial success.”

Syed added, “Despite the difficult situation that Aero finds itself in today, I am sure the strategic importance of Aero Contractors to the national economy will be appreciated and good sense will prevail all around.

“We have every confidence that Aero will be able to set itself on a good platform and we look forward to a bright future, serving a third of the Nigerian oil and gas industry and 1.5 million passengers each year.”