Texas Plant Explosion: 12 Bodies Recovered

                                                         Texas Plant Explosion: 12 Bodies Recovered





A law enforcement official says 12 bodies have been recovered following a massive explosion that levelled a fertiliser plant and destroyed dozens of homes.

Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt Jason Reyes said it was "with a heavy heart" that he confirmed the bodies had been pulled from the area of the plant explosion.

Even before investigators released a confirmed number of fatalities, the names of the dead were becoming known in the town of 2,800.

A small group of firefighters and others who may have rushed toward the factory to battle a pre-explosion blaze are believed to be among the dead. Sgt Reyes said he could not confirm how many of those killed were first responders.

Search and rescue crews continue to sift through the still-smouldering remains for survivors.

Authorities say there is no indication that the blast

Kidnappers may release Bamigbetan, Lagos council boss today

LAGOS — Strong indications emerged, yesterday, of the possibility of the abducted Chairman of Ejigbo Local Council Development Area, LCDA, Mr Kehinde Bamigbetan re-gaining his freedom, as the kidnappers promised to let go their captive this morning at an unnamed location.

According to a source, who preferred anonymity, the kidnappers got in touch with the family negotiator and assured them to be prepared to receive Bamigbetan at an undisclosed location this morning.

“As we talk, the kidnappers are getting in touch with the family which has kept hope alive for the family and well wishers of Bamigbetan but we pray and sincerely hope that

40% of deaths on highways caused by tanker, trailer drivers – FRSC

…Plans clampdown on defaulting transport companies …
ABUJA—THE Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, has reiterated its commitment to shut down all transport companies operating in the country which failed to comply with the minimum safety standards as set out in the Road Transport Safety Standardisation Scheme, RTSSS, strategy.

Besides, the Corps has concluded arrangements to send 40 of its staff to France for a training programme.

The Corps Marshal and Chief Executive of FRSC, Mr. Osita Chidoka, who made the vow while receiving a delegation of top management staff of Total Africa, led by its

Fake Ghanaian medical doctor arrested in Lagos

LAGOS — The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria and the Health Facility Monitoring Agent, HEFAMA, Lagos State, has arrested a 28-year-old Ghanaian, Michael Akorful, for parading himself as a medical practitioner when he is not.

The suspect has been practising as a medical practitioner in a private hospital in Festac Town, Lagos until nemesis caught up with him last Wednesday after he gave wrong prescription to a patient.

According to Akorful, “I was in school in Ukraine but could not graduate and I ran away from the school because I was to be arrested for being a witness to a crime.

“One day, I went out to a joint with my friends where a fight broke out and somebody died in the process. The Police arrested the guy and was looking for me, so I ran away.”

On how he started practising, he said:

Controversy: Posing semi-nude for a New York based magazine: Adokiye opens up

Until early this year when she posed semi-nude for a New York based magazine, Adokiye Kyrian Yvonne a.k.a Adokiye is relatively unknown in the nation’s music scene. But immediately after that controversial posture, the sexy singer has become one of the hottest rising female singers in the country. Our reporter caught up with her recently in Lagos, where she speaks on the raunchy photo spread among other issues.

How did you delve into music ?
During my university days, I was a member of a minor musical group called the “MASE” comprising of four young talents. We used the first alphabet of their names to coin out the name, “MASE”. My exploits with the group helped to expose me as well as sharpen my musical skills to a great extent.

Music for me is something I’ve always wanted to do. I just wanted the right time to get into it and I believe this is the right time.

Early this year, you posed semi-nude in a New York based magazine. What was the attraction?
It actually got leaked. I did some modelling jobs while I was in New York and at that point in time, some pictures leaked while the process was still

Most Nigerian roads’ll be motorable by 2015 – Jonathan

                                              Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan has said that most Nigerian roads will be in good conditions in the next two years.

Speaking during the inauguration of the WEMPCO cold steel plant in Magboro, Ogun State on Thursday, the President acknowledged that most Nigerian roads had been abandoned for a long time.

He, however, gave an assurance that most of the roads would be in good shape by 2015.

He said, “We assure Nigerians that we are

ACN holds last convention, adopts APC as new party

LAGOS – APPROXIMATELY 4671 delegates of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, Thursday in Lagos unanimously adopted the All Progressive Congress, APC, as its new political party.

Also, the party ratified the expulsion of some members approval of merger with other political parties and groups, approval of new name All Progressive Congress with acronym APC and approvals of new Constitution, manifesto, flag, logo and slogan.

There’s urgent need for change – Akande

In his opening address,

NAFDAC raids outlets, seizes expired drugs in Benue

The National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) said it seized some substandard drugs during a raid at some drug outlets at Gboko in Benue.

It said the exercise was in response to report of Adverse Drug Reactions and irrational use of medicines that caused deaths in the area.

A statement issued by Mr Abubakar Jimoh, NAFDC’s Acting Director, Special Duties, said on Friday that the operation was carried out to take the substandard and expired drugs out of circulation.

The statement said that the exercise which lasted

Obtaining tinted glass permit is free, says IG

Abuja – The Inspector General of Police (IG), Mr Mohammed Abubakar, says that obtaining police permit for the use of vehicles with tinted glasses “is free of charge and does not attract any charge”.

Abubakar made the clarification on Friday while speaking at a meeting with Assistant Inspectors-General of Police in charge of the 12 zonal commands in Nigeria.

He said that the meeting was to review security challenges, including terrorism, kidnapping, cultism and communal clashes in parts of the country in order to strategise on how to address the challenges.

The IG said: “obtaining tinted glass permit is

Lagos sentences 1,154 offenders to community service

No fewer than 1,154 offenders have been sentenced to various terms of community service across the 12 magisterial districts of Lagos State, in the last seven years.

Mr Ade Ipaye, Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, disclosed this on Friday in Ikeja at a news conference to mark Gov. Babatunde Fashola`s sixth year in office.

According to him, the offenders, aged between 20 and 40, were mostly male, adding that they would have been otherwise incarcerated in prisons with the

Teachers threaten strike in 18 states

Nigeria Union of Teachers has directed teachers in 18 states that have defaulted in the implementation of the 27.5 per cent salary increment to begin a stay-at-home strike from June 1.

The union also urged the Federal Government to embrace peace and dialogue with Boko Haram in order to address the security problems in the country.

This was contained in a communique signed by its President, Michael Olukoya; the Secretary-General, Obong I. J. Obong and National Publicity

Why APC must take over – Party leaders

LAGOS—AMIDST a wave of enthusiasm, the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, yesterday, resolved to collapse into the proposed mega opposition political party – All Progressive Congress, APC.

The resolution adopted at the national convention of the country’s leading opposition party in Lagos came as major opposition politicians from within and outside the outgoing party, denounced activities of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

The convention in which 4,671 delegates were accredited was witnessed by thousands of other party members and prominent figures in the three other parties forming the APC- ACN, ANPP and CPC. The Onikan Stadium venue of the convention in central Lagos, was packed to capacity with a strong contingent of security men manning all entrances to the stadium and the nearby State House annex that normally houses President Goodluck Jonathan and his family while in Lagos.

The convention was witnessed by the National Leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu; the National Chairman of the party, Chief Bisi Akande; three of the six governors belonging to the party, Babatunde Fashola of Lagos;

Tonto Dikeh Will Represent Nigeria At The Next Big Brother

Nollywood actress and musician, Tonto Dikeh aka Poko, will be representing Nigeria in the on coming Big Brother show.

Since the early hours of Saturday when the good news got to Dikeh, the controversial actress has been receiving congratulatory messages from her friends.

Among those who have congratulated Dikeh are Denrele Edun and Julius Agwu.

This 8th edition of the star game show will kick

Man arraigned for raping nursing mother

A 28-year-old man, Morufu Rasheed, was on Wednesday arraigned before an Ebute Meta Chief Magistrate’s Court for conspiracy, rape and theft.

Rasheed and two others at large were accused of raping a 27-year-old nursing mother (name withheld) at Palm grove end of Ikorodu Road, Lagos, while she was waiting to board a bus.

The charge read in part, “That you Morufu Rasheed and others at large on the April 13 about 10pm at Palm grove Bus Stop, Lagos in the Somolu Magisterial District

Mertesacker admits Anichebe fear

                                                  Victor Anichebe

Per Mertesacker has hailed Arsenal’s defensive resilience after they subdued Everton’s in-form striker Victor Anichebe.

In the build-up to Tuesday night’s 0-0 draw at Emirates Stadium, David Moyes had challenged Anichebe to continue his improvement after a series of powerful displays.

Anichebe, 24, bullied Tottenham’s rearguard as Everton earned a hard-fought point at White Hart Lane before scoring his sixth goal in 13 Premier League starts with a fine hooked volley in last weekend’s 2-0 win over Queens Park

Boston shut down in hunt for bomb suspect

WATERTOWN, Massachusetts (AFP) – Thousands of heavily armed police went door-to-door through a Massachusetts town on Friday in an unprecedented massive hunt for the remaining Boston marathon bombing fugitive.

Authorities halted all public bus and train services in the Boston region and told hundreds of thousands of people in several towns around Watertown to stay home in a bid to isolate the suspect.

Fleets of buses were sent to Watertown to ferry out nervous inhabitants. Those who stay were ordered to remain in their homes and only answer the door if they were

CCECC worker drowns in Ikorodu river

                                         Balogun

The body of a 33-year-old worker with China Civil Engineering and Construction Company, Asher Balogun, was discovered on Wednesday night, two days after he drowned in a river under the Asolo Bridge, Ikorodu, Lagos State.

Balogun drowned on Monday evening at the site of a construction project his company was working on. He was employed as a steel fitter.

The victim, who had been a worker with CCECC since 2010 and was on a wage of N650 per day, had worked for 10 hours like his colleagues on that day before he met his

Dead bombing suspect identified asTamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, second suspect is Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19

Boston police have now named the suspect that authorities have been seeking this morning. “Suspect identified as 19 year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev of Cambridge. Suspect considered armed & dangerous,” Boston police said on Tweet

Nigeria needs more vocational centres, not varsities – Okonkwo

The Founder, The Redeemed Evangelical Mission, Bishop Mike Okonkwo, in this interview with some journalists, argues that government is only paying lip service to education. SEGUN OLUGBILE was there

The Founder, The Redeemed Evangelical Mission, Bishop Mike Okonkwo, is an education enthusiast. But much as he loves education, he says neither he nor TREM will set up a university as other faith-based institutions are doing.

The major challenge facing the country, according to him, is unemployment. And to reduce the scourge, Okonkwo believes that investment in vocational education and youth empowerment is key to reversing the trend and consequently enhance the nation’s development.

“As a church, we have primary and secondary schools, but my interest, really, in terms of higher institution, is building a vocational centre. I do not have a dream to establish a conventional university. What informed this is that we have many universities now and many more are

More States’ll be created – NASS

ABUJA— SENATE President, David Mark, said yesterday, that to douse tension in the country, agitation or feeling of marginalization by some minority groups in the country, zoning or rotation of top political offices should be inserted in the constitution.

This came on a day the House of Representatives made public the much expected Constitution Review Peoples Public Sessions Report, which highlighted Nigerians’ clamour for state creation, though with divergent views on number of states to be created

Alhaji Aliko Dangote to build $8bn oil refinery in Nigeria

Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, plans to invest up to $8bn to build a Nigerian oil refinery with a capacity of around 400,000 barrels a day by late 2016, the tycoon told Reuters on Tuesday.
This will almost double Nigeria’s current refining capacity.
“This will really help not only Nigeria but sub-Saharan Africa. There has not been a new refinery for a long time in sub-Saharan Africa,” Dangote said in a telephone interview.

Saudi Arabia deports three men because “they are too handsome”

The delegates from the United Arab Emirates were in attendance at the Jenadrivah Heritage & Culture Festival in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, when religious police officers stormed the stand and evicted the men because “they are too handsome,” according to the Arabic language newspaper, Elaph.

“A festival official said the three Emiratis were taken out on the grounds they are too handsome and that the Commission [for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vices] members feared female visitors could fall for them,” Elaph reported.

The UAE released an official

MIT Graduate Student Chidube Ezeozue Devotes Energy To Fellow Nigerians

Chidube Ezeozue checks solar panel mountings and connections on a rooftop.

Like many Nigerians, MIT graduate student Chidube Ezeozue grew up frustrated by his nation's erratic electrical grid.

"Electrical outages are a huge problem in Nigeria," says Ezeozue, who is pursuing dual master's degrees in MIT's Technology and Policy Program and in electrical engineering and computer science. "The outages really interrupt everyday life."

Nigeria's supply of electricity is severely limited, resulting in rolling outages: Power is cut off every few hours and redirected to neighborhoods that were previously in the dark. While Nigerians know to expect these power cuts, they rarely know when the outages will happen, or how long they will last.

Boston Marathon bombing: One suspect dead, another on the run

 Two men suspected in the Boston Marathon bombing that killed three people this week terrorized the area overnight. One is dead, but the other is on the loose, police say, and he’s armed and dangerous.

Police pursued two men early Friday who shot a police officer to death, stole a vehicle and threw explosives at law officers pursuing them. Authorities believe they are the same two men sought in the marathon attacks.

One died of injuries suffered while battling police early Friday, and the other is on the run in a nearby suburb, authorities said.

Lagos Government declares Third Mainland Bridge safe

LAGOS State Government, yesterday, declared the Third Mainland Bridge safe for public use following apprehension raised in some quarters over the bridge’s condition.

The government, however, stressed the need for regular maintenance programme by Federal Government.

This came as Lagos appealed to Federal Government to make good its promise by refunding the N51 billion it spent over the years for the rehabilitation of Federal Roads in the state.

Isaac Ajisegiri, Husband in Lagos allegedly slits wife's throat in their home

Endurance Ajisegiri's family got a call on Sunday April 14th from her husband, Isaac Ajisegiri, informing them that she had died at their home in the Shasha area of Lagos the previous day and he had taken her corpse to the mortuary. Endurance's family immediately called the police.

So here's what happened according to friends of the late woman. Endurance (pictured above) and Isaac were married for four years and had one child together. They also ran a business together, an education consulting firm. Sometime last year, Endurance

AMAA: Rita Dominic as the last girl standing

With British actor, Dudley O’Shaughnessy, as star guest, Nigerian film practitioners chase laurels at the African Movie Academy Awards holding in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State on Saturday

There is something peculiar with the African Movie Academy Awards that will be decided on Saturday. Unlike in the past when Nollywood big babes such as Stephanie Okereke, Mercy Johnson and Funke Akindele dominated some major categories, the outlook shows that divas from other generations and countries are also consolidating their positions.

Jim Iyke Unscripted debuts on AfricaMagic

Love or loathe him, Jim Iyke is a superstar. Now, for the first time ever, he invites DStv audiences into his world to get to know the man behind the headlines, thanks to his new reality TV series Jim Iyke Unscripted.

The show debuted Thursday on AfricaMagic Entertainment amid applause from viewers. For the actor, the show remains an exclusive probe into his glamorous yet, controversial lifestyle. Welcome to Jim’s world as he promotes his latest movies while delving into

What does Obasanjo want?

You couldn’t miss the headline. I am referring to the conclave of gerontocrats that took place earlier in the week. It centred on a former president, Olusegun Obasanjo.

“Anenih in secret meeting with Obasanjo”, was how The Guardian headlined the event. If there was any doubt about the purpose of the meeting, Anthony Anenih, chair of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party and successor to Obasanjo in the very lucrative post of BoT chairman, dispelled it when he told reporters, “In 2015 we (PDP) will do what we know how to do best”. Of course, we all know what the PDP knows how to do best. And we have

No plan to scrap NECO, UTME, Minister tells Senate

ABUJA—THE Federal Government,Thursday, said there were no plans to scrap the University Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UMTE) and National Examination Council (NECO) as being speculated, stressing that mischief makers were out to pitch the government against the people.

Speaking, yesterday, when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Education, led by Senator Uche Chukwumerije, PDP, Abia North, Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike, said in politics, it was possible for people who might have issues with government to come up with how government will be seen as unpopular, adding that critics of government had

Boko Haram: Amnesty plan suffers another setback

                                         Members of the boko haram sect

Federal Government’s amnesty plan for Boko Haram members suffered another setback on Thursday as the President of the Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria, Dr. Datti Ahmed,rejected membership of the newly constituted Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North.

His action came less than 24 hours after the Executive Director of the Civil Rights Congress, Mallam Shehu Sani, turned down his membership of the committee on the grounds that he was neither consulted nor informed by the Presidency.

Ahmed, a medical doctor, said he rejected membership of the committee because of the bitter experience he had with the government when he voluntarily tried to mediate between the authorities and members of the violent Islamic sect, Boko Haram, last year.

Omotola makes Time’s world most influential list

                                         Omotola

Nollywood actress, Omotola Jolaade-Ekeinde, has made the list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

The TIME Magazine, in its 2013 edition of TIME 100, released on Thursday, which encompasses world leaders, pioneers, artistes and other titanic figures, listed Omotola on its Icon List.

It includes the likes of United States First Lady, Michelle Obama; Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton; Myanmar opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi; 15-year-old Pakistani activist shot by the Taliban, Malala Yousafzai; and Beyonce.

Explaining how Omotola made the list, TIME’s movie critic, Richard Corliss, on the TIME’s website, described her as “the Queen of Nollywood.”