Hours after court orders Tompolo's arrest, militants blow up oil facilities in Delta state

Hours after a court ordered the arrest of a former Niger Delta warlord, Government Ekpemupolo aka Tompolo, some Niger Delta militants this morning blew up strategic oil pipelines in Warri South West local government area in Delta state.

The militants in other coordinated attacks, blew up oil pipelines between Ikpokpo and Odidi flow stations, mostly in Gbaramatu kingdom. Residents of the area say the attacks started shortly before midnight and lasted till the early hours of Friday morning. Most of them have fled their homes for fear of a gun battle between the militants and the military.

Strange figure spotted walking above clouds by plane passenger

This is eerie...an image photographed from a passenger plane by Nick O'Donoghue was posted on Reddit. It shows a distinct figure walking among the clouds. Nick said it was taken en-route to Cork in Ireland aboard an Easyjet flight. He told Irish lifestyle website Joe.ie that he had been heading home for Christmas via Gatwick airport.

The picture sparked speculation as to what had caused the mysterious formation. Some Reddit commenters said the figure looked like the children's character the Iron Giant. Mmm...

M’boma admits bad blood with former Cameroon teammate Wome

Patrick M’boma, former two time CAF Africa player of the year, has admitted that there’s still some bad blood between him and his former teammate Pierre Wome.

M’boma, a celebrated Cameroon international who guided his country to win gold in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, is alleged to have defrauded Wome of approximately 600,000 Euros to help set up a microfinance business.

He was eventually arrested at Yaounde International Airport on his way to France by Cameroon Authorities in April 2013.

M’boma was speaking in Nairobi, Kenya, where he is expected to grace the country’s most prestigious sports awards ceremony – SOYA Awards.

When asked about his relationship with his once Indomitable Lions teammate, a clearly upset M’boma admitted that he harbours no good memories of the former Cameroon defender, Wome.

“Our relationship is bad but I don’t think that should be mentioned here,” said M’boma.

“This is an awards ceremony. I don’t see why you should be talking about my personal relationship with Wome. Our relationship is very bad,” he added.

He however hinted of taking up a coaching role some day while dining with Kenya’s sports media but he did not spare Cameroon’s FA for the dwindling standards of football in the once Africa’s football powerhouse.

AfricaNews 

South Africa: Granny, 66, Gets Matric Certificate So She Can Start Crèche

A 66-year-old grandmother from Durban has just received her matric certificate, passing with great aplomb to boot so she can open up her own crèche facility.

Blossom Msibi was part of the class of 2015 to successfully receive a school-leaving qualification from the Fezisifiso Adult Centre, south of Durban, The Daily Sun reported.

Her motivation? She wants to start a crèche one day and needs a matric certificate to do so.

She had to leave school in Grade 7 due to family problems, the newspaper reported.

She achieved 79% for both Maths and Science, and scored an average of 69% for her remaining subjects.

Her teachers have applied for funds on her behalf to help her open her crèche.

Top matric pupil gets R150 000 car

Mpumalanga's top performing matric pupil meanwhile received the surprise of her life, being presented with a brand new car worth R150 000 for her achievements sponsored by Imperial Toyota Nelspruit, News24 reported.

Sumaiya Jeewa, 18, who wrote her matric at the Middelburg Muslim School, got six distinctions - for Mathematics, Physical Science, Accounting, Life Science, English and Afrikaans.

She thanked her parents and her maths teacher for encouraging her to work hard.

"I did not expect this. I feel overwhelmed, excited, very blessed and humble to receive this award. I thank God for blessing me and my family," she told a News24 correspondent on Thursday morning.

"It proves that if you work hard you can achieve anything and here I am today."

She said she will use the car to travel to the University of Pretoria, where she'll be studying.

How a principal beat the blackboard jungle

And a principal in Durban has inspired the nation's teachers with an innovative way to teach in rural areas, News24 reported.

He beat a serial rapist, overcame a tiny government subsidy, a scarcity of textbooks and no laboratory at his rural KwaZulu-Natal school to produce a matric class that beat the odds, including one pupil with nine distinctions.

Principal Nhlanhla Dube's day starts at 03:30, when he embarks on a two-and-a-half hour drive from Pinetown to his Amangwane High School in Bergville in the foothills of the Drakensberg mountains to get to school before the school bell rings.

"I am really proud of him because this was the first time in the history of the school that we had a child get straight As."

In a bid to produce quality matriculants Dube came up with a programme called the 6-4-6 turnaround strategy.

Source: News24

5 Signs You Are No Longer In Love with Your Partner

When you have been with someone long enough, it sometimes starts to feel like you no longer have feelings for them.

Sign of a ‘cracked relationship’.

While this could be possible, you should also avoid throwing away your relationship simply because you no longer feel the spark. So, it is pertinent that you know when the love is really gone, or when you simply just need a little bit of fire to ignite your relationship.
Below are signs that you are no longer in love with your partner.

1. Their happiness is no longer a priority: Once you fall out of love with someone, you suddenly have way more important things to think about or do than worrying about their happiness. You do not care either ways, and you will find it difficult to muster the right concern if they express their unhappiness to you.

2. You zone out: Just because you are physically still in a relationship, does not mean you are emotionally in it. A lot of people might keep up appearances as a couple, but you will be surprise how many of them have partners that no longer cares about the union. When you find that all you think about is your life outside your relationship, it might be a sign that you are done in your mind.

3. More fantasies about others: Usually, it is not uncommon for people in a relationship to fantasize about other people. This does not necessarily mean they want out. But when your fantasies become such that you are thinking and daydreaming about a whole other future with someone else every single moment, then this is because the love is gone.

4. They REALLY annoy you: It is normal to find yourself annoyed with your partner sometimes, but when every single thing they do irritates you and make your skin crawl, then you no longer have feelings for them. Feeling this way about anyone means your hate and disgust has run a little too deep.

5. Indifference: This is usually how the stages of falling out of love go; You go from anger, to resentment, to hatred, and then to indifference. Indifference is worse because at this point, you do not even care if your partner is sad or happy, sick or healthy, and sometimes, dead or alive. Their existence is completely useless to you. Hopefully you would have done something about your relationship, or broken up with you partner before this stage. Because feeling indifferent towards someone you once love not only ruins your relationship, but is unhealthy for your own mind.

10 Acts That Lead Some Young Guys To Early Grave

1. s*x
My evidence and research have shown that, kitty-cat has devastating effects in the lives of many unmarried dudes which has been leading many of them to early grave. Now that we are in an era where s*x seems to be the most discussed topic on the internet, newspapers and magazines; therefore, nearly every dude wants to show his bedmatics skills to any lady that comes his way. Some dudes even go to the extreme by using all sorts of harmful substances just to show to a lady who falls prey to their gimmicks that are very skillful and a veteran bleeper, and you will begin to wonder if it’s a sort of competition which will bring forth a trophy or something. Funny enough, some will even get laid with another man’s wife, and in that process, they will have epileptic and wave goodbye to the earth.

2. Money
Next in rank, money follows suite after kitty-cat. To a broader view, money can solve virtual every problem in our every day life and yet, the desperate chase of money has a series of terrific and unintended consequences. In recent time, you will see acclaimed men of God Bible quoting verses wrong and using the name of God to fulfill their selfish desire. And let’s not forget the ones who condition the tithes and offering of the church into their pockets and will be riding new generation cars; yahoo guys who seek herbalists for maga to pay; politicians who embezzle public funds and so on. These aforementioned categories of people always end their lives in misery and calamity. They don’t even need to go to heaven to receive their judgment, their punishment is right on earth

3. Alcohol/weed
Alcoholism and regular smoking of weed have also been leading many young dudes to early grave. This is because we Nigerians barely take precautions and do things without moderation even though we know the terrific consequences. After being drunk to stupor, some will drive carelessly and unconsciously ride themselves to out of this earth. I have even witnessed a scene when a dude boasted to his friends that he would drink three two bottles of Aromatic Schnapps. Of course he was able to drink it but guess what? He landed in hell fire few hours later.

4. Gambling
Gambling can become a problematic behavior causing many difficulties. It is typically a progressive addiction that can have many negative psychological, physical and social repercussions. People dealing with this addiction can suffer from depression, migraine, distress, intestinal disorders and other anxiety related problems. Ultimately, gambling can lead to violence and in some cases, suicide. A typical example is Bet9ja, especially when you want to win 10 million Naira, and you gave Chelsea straight win against Leicester City. You are likely to die of hypertension.

5. Cultism
Many students form different anti social groups for friendship, acceptance, validation, to protect and boost the morale of the members but I can tell you that the purpose is seemingly to become tangled up in criminal activities and terrorism. When they are caught in red handed, they are going to be given jungle justice

6. Thuggery
I don’t know what people stand to benefit from thuggery, especially those APC/PDP tyrants who display a degree of thuggery just help accomplish the desires of some politicians after they have been offered a little cash. These people may even lose their lives in the course of thuggery display.

7. Laziness
The Bible says that “No FOOD FOR A LADY MAN” but reverse is the case for some people. They are very lazy yet want to attain a great height in life. (Dem no dey use ear hear money cheesy ). They are so lazy to work, hence, looking for a shortcut to success or become rich. However, they are always looking for sugar mommy that will offer them N100, 000 for a night stand and will swap their destiny with 10 million naira

8. Robbery
In Nigeria, when thieves are caught, people don’t even wait for the Law Enforcement Agents to take charge of the situation. Jungle justice is done immediately. Whether you steal a cube of sugar or a packet of gold circle condom, for all they care. Robbers are likely to end up in early grave

9. Fighting over a Woman
Guys who are caught in this act are nothing but dumb scull in my personal opinion. Why would a dude hear that his girlfriend is having a secret affair with another dude, and he will engage in a physical combat what that dude, without concrete evidence. Some of them will break bottles and will be ready to lay down their lives, all because they don’t want a dude to have a secret affairs with their girlfriends

10. Feel free to add the last one…

Oyibo man explains why he married a Nigerian woman..(photos)

Battabox on Facebook asked its readers why they would marry outside their race and this man named David Lynch, who is married to a Nigerian woman, gave a classic answer. Very interesting. Read it and see more photos after the cut..

Davido Gets Interrogated By Igbo Chief (Photos)

HKN star, Davido getting interrogated by an igbo Journalist played by comedian, Whale Mouth on the set of Osinachi remix video shoot.

See more photos below:-

Video of TB Joshua's meeting with 'Lucifer' goes viral (photos)

This article was written by freelance journalist, Ihechukwu Njoku. Read below...

A YouTube clip showing controversial Nigerian Pastor T.B. Joshua’s dramatic encounter with ‘Lucifer’ has gone viral, amassing over 500,000 views in just one month since its release online. The video titled ‘Face To Face With Lucifer’ shows a peculiar scenario that unfolded in Joshua’s church when a self-professed ‘occult wizard’ came to seek prayers at The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations (SCOAN) in Lagos, Nigeria.

In the clip, an eerily looking man with a menacing black beard introduces himself as Professor Chukwudi Okakpu, an alleged ‘Grand Llama of Science Beyond Material’. Amidst his extraordinary claims, the Satanist professed to have had face to face encounters with ‘Lucifer’ and to have endorsed ‘anti-Christs’ globally. “I can stay here and appear in any part of Europe,” Okakpu, dressed in a flowing white suit, calmly stated, adding that he ‘operates like a spirit’. “If you are such a person that patronises shrines or herbalists, I am the ultimate,” he sensationally claimed.

The video shows Joshua praying for Okakpu who sways uneasily several times before eventually falling to the floor. Several of his ‘followers’ proceed to come out from the crowd and are also prayed for, after which the ‘professor’ renounces his devilish past. Okakpu proceeds to return the following week with some of his ‘occultic’ garments to testify to the changes in his life after ‘accepting Jesus Christ’.

“This is a video satan does not want you to watch,” Emmanuel TV states in its introduction of the clip on YouTube. “A satanic ‘general’ renounces his covenants with devilry and witchcraft in a church service that made hell and its minions quiver!” As with most of Joshua’s videos, the contents have elicited controversy with opposing views as to its authenticity.

Several online commentators insisted Joshua’s deliverance services are nothing more than a scam involving arranged actors while others argue they are genuine and godly. Joshua’s YouTube channel Emmanuel TV, where the clip was uploaded, is the third most subscribed channel in Nigeria with nearly 300,000 subscribers and 110,000,000 views.

Youtube video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He9H500yGZA

Pregnant Draya Michele and Orlando Scandrick call it quits..again!

Looks like its off for now for the off/on couple. In a post on her instagram page yesterday, the former reality star celebrated her six month pregnancy mark and sadly noted that she was celebrating alone. What she wrote after the cut..

'I want them to rot in jail'- Father of Brooklyn gang rape victim speaks out

The 39-year-old father and his teenage daughter told police they were drinking beer at the Osborn Playground in Brownsville last Thursday night when they were accosted by the five youths, between the ages of 14 and 17, who then proceeded to rape the 18-year-old after threatening the father with a gun.

Following the teens' arrests earlier this week, however, two of the boys offered a different version of events, insisting that they had consensual sex with the 18-year-old. 

They also claimed to have witnessed the young woman having sex with her father in the park before the man staggered away from the scene, leaving his daughter alone with the teens.

'They're just trying to get out of the thing they did,' the unnamed father told the New York Post Thursday on his way to a deli to buy beer. 'I want them to rot in jail.'

Meanwhile, it merged yesterday afternoon that all five of the five suspects - Onandi Brown and Travis Beckford, both 17, Denzel Murray, 14, Shaquelle Cooper and Ethan Phillip, both 15 – will be released from jail later Thursday.  

 

All five teens have been charged as adults with rape, criminal sex act, sexual abuse and other charges. They deny the allegations.

 

At a press conference today, NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton talked about a video that has been retrieved from the cellphone of one of the teenage suspects, calling it a 'significant piece of evidence.'  

Bratton did not specify what was in the video, only saying that it was 'nine to 11 seconds' long.

 

The commissioner then added cryptically: 'The first story is never the last story. I think in this case that's certainly the case or will prove to be the case.' 

 

On Wednesday, attorney Spencer Leeds, who represents Onandi Brown, dismissed the alleged victim's allegations as a total lie, claiming that the girl and her father failed to pick any of the first four suspects from a police lineup.

New Ebola case emerges in Sierra Leone

Health officials in Sierra Leone have confirmed a death from Ebola, hours after the World Health Organization declared the West Africa outbreak over.
The country was declared free of the virus on 7 November, and the region as a whole cleared when Liberia was pronounced Ebola-free on Thursday.

But two tests conducted on a boy who died in northern Sierra Leone proved positive for the virus, a health ministry spokesman told the BBC.

It is not clear when the boy died.

Health ministry spokesman Sidi Yahya Tunis told the BBC that the boy had died in the northern Tonkolili district. The tests were conducted by British health experts.
Close to 4,000 people died of Ebola in Sierra Leone, and 11,000 people across the region, since December 2013.

In declaring West Africa clear after the recent outbreak on Thursday, the WHO warned that the area was susceptible to small flare-ups of the virus.

Liberia was the last country to see the end of active transmission of Ebola. But it had been declared clear twice before, only for the infection to re-emerge.

A country is considered free of human-to-human transmission once two 21-day incubation periods have passed since the last known case tested negative for a second time

Nigerian-born son of a New Jersey minister kicked out of school for alleged rape reinstated

They both played football for Temple University and got accused of raping women they met on campus, but that’s where the similarities between Praise Martin-Oguike and Bill Cosby end.
Martin-Oguike, a Nigerian-born son of a New Jersey minister, was kicked off the team and out of school in 2012 after a woman accused him of assaulting her in a dorm room.
Evidence  that the encounter was anything but consensual was so lacking that a prosecutor later dropped charges, but Martin-Oguike found that counted for little at the Philadelphia school.

“I was just trying to prove my innocence,” Martin-Oguike, who missed the 2012 and 2013 seasons as be fought to clear his name, told FoxNews.com. “There were times where people were negative, trying to give me different scenarios and how I could be sent to jail for a long time. And being black, the odds were against me."

Martin-Oguike, a 6-foot, 2-inch, 255-pound defensive lineman, rejoined his Owls teammates for the 2014 season, and just completed a 10-3 season that culminated in a bowl game. Some believe Martin-Oguike even has a shot at the NFL, a dream that if realized, would be testament to his tenacity.

Martin-Oguike's nightmare began in May of 2012 when he was arrested after a senior at Temple accused him of raping her inside his dorm room. Martin-Oguike, who grew up in Woodbridge, N.J., and had never been in trouble with the law, claimed the sex was consensual.

But the school moved quickly, revoking his scholarship and expelling him. He missed the 2012 season, moved back home and wondered if the clock had run out on his future. The next season, while his former teammates were laboring toward a brutal 2-10 record, Martin-Oguike was preparing to stand trial and facing prison time.

As jury selection was about to begin in October 2013, the Philadelphia district attorney's office suddenly announced it was dropping charges due to a lack of evidence.

"Upon further investigation, it was determined there wasn't enough evidence to proceed to trial," Tasha Jamerson, a spokeswoman for the district attorney, said at the time.

But the jury was still out on Martin-Oguike's future at Temple. He was forced to plead his case for reinstatement before a board comprised of students and faculty, and his accuser, who was well known on campus, remained adamant that she had been raped.

“The student conduct process is an internal university administrative process that is independent of the criminal process,” a spokesman for Temple University said in a written statement. “The resolution of a criminal matter does not resolve a student conduct matter.”

Martin-Oguike prevailed, and insists he harbors no ill-will toward the school.

“They did not know me as a person and they had a process. They were just doing what they had to,” he said.

As he approaches his final season next year, Martin-Oguike said he has heard of potential interest from various NFL teams for the 2017 draft.

“I’d like to go to whoever pays the most,” he joked when asked where he would like to play before giving his real choice.

“I would like to play for the [New York] Jets,” he said. “They are close to home and have a lot of connections to Temple.”

Say what? This person says it's not okay to call babies he or she

So this American female took to her social media page to say it's not ok to call babies he or she because they can't speak, hence can't say their preferred gender, lol. Well the post went viral and people had their 2 cents to contribute to her 'opinion'.

Weed disguised as Carrots busted at U.S. Border

Drug smugglers trying to sneak thousands of pounds of weed disguised as carrots into the United States were sniffed out by authorities this weekend—though they demonstrated "creativity" in the attempted smuggling, officials said.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection intercepted 2,493 pounds of “alleged marijuana,” which was found hidden among a commercial shipment of fresh carrots in a tractor-trailer traveling from Mexico. The shipment was discovered during a search at the Pharr International Bridge cargo facility, located near the U.S. border with Mexico in southeastern Texas—around 250 miles south of San Antonio.

A close-up of the weed hidden in packages made to resemble carrots. The packages were contained in a shipment of actual carrots from Mexico. U.S. Customs and Border Protection                          

“Once again, drug smuggling organizations have demonstrated their creativity in attempting to smuggle large quantities of narcotics across the U.S.-Mexico border,” said Efrain Solis Jr., port director of the Hidalgo/Pharr/Anzalduas Port of Entry. “Our officers are always ready to meet those challenges and remain vigilant toward any type of illicit activities.”

Source: Newsweek