18 Passengers Burnt To Death In Auto Crash Along Benin-Lagos Expressway

A Toyota Hiace bus and a truck loaded with gravel were involved in a head-on collusion, killing 18 passengers along the Benin-Lagos express road.

The incident which occurred near Okada, Ovia North-East Local Government Area of Edo State, led to a serious gridlock as passengers and drivers made frantic effort to save the life of the victims.

Confirming the accident, Edo State Sector Commander of Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, Mr. Kenneth Nwaegbe, said 18 persons were roasted alive, while two other children survived the accident.

Among the dead were said to be 15 adults and two kids. The driver of the truck also died in the accident, according to a source.

The FRSC sector commander said the commercial bus belonging to Peace Mass Transit left Onitsha in Anambra State for Lagos via Benin when an oncoming truck had a head-on collision on a side of the road under construction.

“What happened was that the Mark truck was carrying gravel and was coming from Ore to Benin when one of its tyres burst and it lost control.

“The Toyota bus was going from Benin to Lagos when the two collided. The dead were removed from the wreckage with axes through the assistance of a team of rescue operation.

“The team was made up of officials of FRSC from the Tollgate Unit Command, policemen drafted from Okada town and sympathisers some of who were passengers travelling either from Lagos to the Eastern part of the country or those going to Lagos and other parts of the Western part,” Nwaegbe said.

PASTOR’S DAUGHTER CONVERTS TO ISLAM

The girl at the centre of the controversy is 24 years old Miss Charity Raymond Uzoechina, daughter of Pastor Raymond Uzoechina of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG). Her name has been changed to Aisha and she is presently in the custody of the traditional ruler of the Nupe people of Niger State in North-West Nigeria. Charity, according to the Bida Emirate, approached the Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, for protection on February 15, 2013 following her decision to convert to Islam against the wish of her father.

Yesterday, the Northern Christian Youth Solidarity and Emancipation Movement for Justice and Self-Determination (NCYSEM) raised the alarm over alleged abduction and forceful marriage of Charity. The group claimed that Charity’s case is not an exception and appealed for the Federal Government’s intervention.
Said the group in a statement signed by its Director of Publicity, Mr. James Gani, and released yesterday in Abuja, the Nigerian capital:
“For the benefit of those who are not aware or conversant with the facts of the matter, Miss Charity Raymond Uzoechina is a Nigerian and a daughter of Pastor Raymond Uzoechina of RCCG who was forcefully abducted by some Muslim fanatics and since then has been kept out of the reach of her parents under the so called ‘Protective custody’ of Etsu Nupe.
“We would like to call on the Federal Government to take a critical look at the issue of abducting Christian girls into forceful Islamic Marriages with impunity by some influential Muslims, particularly in the North with a view to invoking the relevant laws that deal with crimes of this nature on them. This case should be seriously viewed as such.
“Why should an Emir of the status of Etsu Nupe be as insensitive to his responsibility as a Royal Father to the extent of abducting and keeping someone under a “protective custody”? Does he have such powers? Against whom is he protecting the lady?”
NCYSEM condemned the utterances of the acting Director of Publicity of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Muhammed Kabir Kassim, who had asked the Federal Government to call CAN President, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, to order for criticising the action of Etsu Nupe. According to the statement:
“Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor stands for and represents the Church and the less-privileged in Nigeria. To us, Ayo’s utterances and actions since becoming the President of CAN in Nigeria are what Nigeria needs to survive as a nation today.”
Continuing, NCYSEM said: “Whereas, we appreciate the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999 as amended) that provides for the freedom of worship and choice of religion, we do not believe and cannot be deceived that the case under reference has to do with choice of religion and or willful conversion.
“Everyone knows that Christians are lovers and makers of peace; if it were not so, the story would have by now been different in the face of this outright and senseless provocation on the Church. We want to categorically state that in this matter, the Emir is an abductor and if the story credited to Ayo in this respect is true, then Pastor Ayo is right as ever and therefore needs no one to call him to order.”
Source News Express

Governor Rochas Okorocha Sacks Nkiru Sylvanus

 Actress Nkiru Sylvester has been relieved from her job at the cabinet of Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State.

She served as the Special Assistant on Lagos Affairs for the Imo State Government. She was sacked following a cabinet dissolution which affected all commissioners, special advisers, senior special assistants and special assistants in the cabinet.

A statement from the government of the state explains that the ‘the dissolution was necessary to give room for more capable hands into the system in order to fully actualize the rescue mission agenda of the State Government.’
A lot of eyebrows were raised when Okorocha appointed the Abia State-born ‘Final Tussle’ star as Special Assistant on Lagos Matters in July 2011.

Genevieve Nnaji Set To Wed Mathew Mensah?

This has been on social media for days now, well not sure of  the authenticity, but when it was rumoured then that the screen goddess, Genevieve Nnaji was neck-deep in love with D’banj, not many people took it so serious since the two parties involved have denied it on different occasions. And fans of the renowned thespian know that their delectable actress will not hide her love from the public glare.

Recently, the mother of one seems to have found something of interest in the Ghana based half caste, Mathew Mensah and she seems to be happy with it, people in the know informed us.

Rumours are flying here and there that Genny, as Genevieve is often called, is having something amorous to do with the handsome Mathew as they both have become an item in recent times.

Genevieve, according to a reliable source, was said to have confessed that the dude is a special friend but people who see them together informed this office that, there is more to their friendship than what they both reflect to the public.

Mathew, a source told us, has become the only topic Genny discusses on daily basis and also, they say, her last 33rd birthday was put together by the businessman who has strong passion for entertainment and is ready to invest in it now that he’s set to have one as a spouse.

“There is a high possibility that Genevieve may end up in Mathew Mensah’s house before the end of this year, possibly, December” a close source revealed!

Patience Jonathan’s mother dies in car crash in

According to punch,the first lady's mother  Mrs Iwari-Oba was on her way to Bayelsa State when the accident occurred along Elele Road in Rivers State yesterday Monday July 22nd around 4pm. 

RIP.