Couple divorce after 83 days of marriage in Ibadan

The marriage between a 70-year-old Surveyor, Pa Owolabi Alowonle and his wife, Idia, will surely go down in history as one of the shortest after a Mapo Customary Court sitting in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State, annulled the union owing to irreconcilable differences.

Vanguard reports that the marriage which lasted just 83 days, was nullified by the court presided over by Magistrate Hentic Agbaje, after efforts made by family members and the court to reconcile the couple, could not yield any result.

It was gathered that Pa Alowonle was a widower when he married Idia, equally a widow but they could not sustain the love that led them into deciding to stay as husband and wife.

In delivering his judgement, Agbaje held that both Alowonle and Idia based their rush into marriage on infatuation and the urge to satisfy their selfish ambitions and as such, they failed to find out if they were compatible.

 “I don’t exactly understand why two elderly persons who are already widow and widower, should carelessly rush into a marriage without proper knowledge of one another.

Well, I only wish both of you good as you have both accepted dissolution of the union. Therefore, in the interest of peaceful coexistence, the 83-day-old union between Alowonle and Idia has ceased to be henceforth.”

Agbaje, however, directed Alowonle to provide a cash of N12,000 for Idia’s accommodation and another N2,000 for the movement of her belongings within seven days.

In his petition, Alowonle had told the court that his wife was causing disharmony in his house as well as being a threat to his life.

 “My lord, ever since Idia got to my home on May 18 this year, she has been doing everything possible to put an end to my life by not giving me rest of mind.

She has been causing serious disharmony among my tenants who were peaceful before she married me. She and her daughter from time to time, fight and gossip around the house, giving unfounded information of one tenant to the other.

As if that is not enough, Idia incited her daughter against me to abuse and break the long existing regulations I imposed on the house for peaceful coexistence of the tenants and my family.

I barred any form of singing of religious songs which I know could cause problems among Muslim and Christian tenants. However, the daughter she brought from her late husband deliberately started singing in the house.

In fact, Idia and her daughter have no respect for me.”

In accepting the divorce, Idia said:

 “It will be a big relief for me to exit his house, the house of trouble. My lord, when he met me as a widow, Alowonle promised to take good care of me, assuring that he had no wife since he lost his last wife.

However, just seven days after I moved into his home as a wife, he brought in another wife and started treating me like dustbin. Ever since then, he asked me to leave the shop he established for me with N25,000 and has even asked me to leave his house altogether. It is a thing of joy for me to be free again from his unfaithfulness."

Driver arrested for cloning boss' credit card, stealing N2.9m in 3 days

A private driver identified as Mayowa Adenuga, has been arrested has been arrested by the Lagos State Police Command for allegedly cloning the ATM card of his employer, and stealing the sum of  N2.9 million from his accounts within three days.

The 18-year-old Adenuga told the police that he stole the credit card when he was washing the boss' car and ran the ATM through a software, Credit Card Revealer (CCR), from where he cloned it and went on his stealing spree.

After cloning the card, Adenuga reportedly generated a new pin for it before handing it over to his syndicates, Opeyemi Adewale, 18, and Jeremaiah Titoye, 29, who used it to shop at Mega Plaza and Shoprite as well as withdrawing the monies from the accounts.

In his confession during his parade at the State Command headquarters in Ikeja, Adenuga said:

“Before I started driving my Oga, I used to be a fraudster. I went to a computer institute and so, I developed the device which we used to clone credit cards.

Honestly, my boss has been very good to me. It’s not up to a year that I started working for him but he has always treated me kindly. I know I should have returned the card to him when I saw it but I just wanted to test the software whether it will work.

And when I tried it and it worked, I knew that I could not use it myself because of the surveillance cameras at the ATM points.

So, I sent them and asked them to withdraw N200, 000 which they did. The following day, I told them to go to Mega Plaza and buy Apple laptop, phones, wristwatches and I also told them to go to Shoprite on Victoria Island and the one at Ikeja for shopping.

Everything they bought amounted to N2.7 million. I did not work with any telecommunication company to bar my boss’ calls and text messages. I blocked his calls and SMS on his phone when I had access to it."

"That way, he was not able to make calls or send SMS for about three days, until he went to the subscriber to complain.

I feel bad and I regret my actions. I am willing to pay back all that I stole from my boss. I am very sorry about my action,” Adenuga pleaded.

25-yr-old man docked for attempting to rape a pregnant woman

A 25-year-old man, Ismail Akorede, has been arraigned at an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court sitting in Lagos State, for allegedly attempting to rape a pregnant woman, Busayo Olamide, on Monday, August 8, 2016, at Masaka Street, Oko-Oba, Agege area of the state.

Akorede who is facing a one-count charge of attempted rape, according to the police prosecutor, Inspector George Nwosu, had sneaked into Olamide's apartment at about 8pm and when he found her sleeping, he attempted to have sexual intercourse with her.

“The accused sneaked into the room of the complainant with intent to have carnal knowledge of her while she was sleeping.

According to the complainant, he unzipped his trouser, removed the complainant’s wrapper and was about to penetrate when she suddenly woke up and raised alarm. All the residents of the compound rushed out to rescue the complainant.

The accused was arrested when he wanted to escape and handed over to the police.”

When the charge was read to him, Akorode pleaded not guilty and the presiding judge, Magistrate A.A Adesanya, granted him N200,000 bail with two sureties in the like sum, while adjourning the case till September 5.

Over 801 persons have been displaced by flood in Maru town, Zamfara state.

Alhaji Sanusi Mohammed, the executive secretary, State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Zamafara state said the affected persons included 180 women and 621 children.

Mohammed told NAN that 52 houses and farmlands were also destroyed during the disaster which occurred on July 29, 2015.

He said: "NEMA and SEMA have visited the affected town and conducted a joint assessment of the disaster. We will forward such assessment to our respective agencies for immediate assistance."

Mohammad called on residents of the state to avoid blocking drainages or constructing structures on waterways to avoid similar disasters.

The Nigeria Meteorological Agency had recently warned people along major rivers in parts of the country to vacate their houses to prevent loss of lives and property due to anticipated flooding the rivers.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) hasadvised communities along the River Niger to evacuateimmediately to safer ground.

The agency warned in a statement it issued in Abuja on Saturday, August 6, 2016 that flooding might occur at any moment following intense rainfall and rises in water level.

'People are killed in your country weekly,' Minister replies US

Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammedhas condemned a United States report which declared 20 Nigerian states "unsafe" and completely no go area,’’ saying the US is not better.

Speaking in Abuja on Thursday, August 11, when he received a delegation from the Association of Tourism Practitioners of Nigeria (ATPN), Mohammed urged the media to desist from propagating negative news about the country, stressing that it would discourage investors and be counter productive to tourism growth.

He said: "Recently, all the newspapers carried the negative story that 20 states in Nigeria are not safe, according to a U.S. report.

"We are in Nigeria, how can we believe the claim that 20 states in Nigeria are not safe.

"That is not correct. There is no state in Nigeria that is not safe today.

"Is there any week they are not killing people in the U.S. by either shooting in schools or driveways or people committing suicide or mass bombing.

"How many of these stories do their media celebrate?

"If they want to tell their people not to come to Nigeria, it is not for us to help them propagate it.’’

The minister urged the media and members of the association to complement efforts of government to reposition the tourism sector.

He noted that tourism is driven by perception rather than reality, adding that every Nigerian must invest in perception management for the country.

The minister also urged leaders in the public and private sectors to help promote local tourism by spending their vacations and holidays at tourist sites within the country.

He said that the ministry will soon embark on visitation of major tourist sites in the country to assess their potential for development.

We have re-arrested 6 escaped prisoners – Prisons Controller

Aug. 11, 2016 (NAN) Mr Isaiah Amariri, the Enugu State Controller of Nigeria Prisons Service, said on Thursday that six of the inmates that escaped from Nsukka Prisons on Tuesday night, have been re-arrested.

Amariri, who gave the figure to newsmen in Nsukka, however declined to give the exact number of inmates that escaped from the prison.

He said the prison service was liaising with security agents and community groups to apprehend the remaining escaped prisoners.

"There was a jail break in Nsukka prisons on Tuesday night between 12pm and 3am, in which many inmates escaped, though six of them have been re-arrested.

"I cannot give the exact figure for now as investigations are still on.

"We will send our findings to the Controller General of Prisons who will make public the exact number and cause of Nsukka prisons jail break.

"The service is liaising with security agents and community vigilante groups to know the hideout of those still on the run in order to re-arrest them,” he said.

He assured that any official indicted the course of the investigation would be punished.

"After investigations on the jail break, any person in the service found to have been involved or aided the Tuesday jail break will be arrested and prosecuted no matter his or her position.

"Security has been beefed up in and around Nsukka prisons with serious surveillance on the prisons facilities, inmates and staff.

"The prisons authorities are on top of the situation and will put measures in place to avoid a repeat of what happened on Tuesday night in Nsukka,“ he said.

The controller solicited the help of the general public who might have information on the whereabouts of the fleeing inmates, to report to relevant security agencies.

"We solicit for help from the general public who may have information about the fleeing inmates to feel free and call prisons authorities or security agents to enable them re-arrest the escapees.

"We promise that such information will be given the confidentiality it deserves and source identity will be fully protected, “ he said.

On the condition of the Nsukka prisons, Amariri said it was established a hundred years ago with the original capacity of 168 inmates, but currently harbours 264 prisoners.

‘Nigeria is a poor country,’ President says

According to President Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria is now a poor country due to the drop in global oil prices.

Buhari made the comment on Thursday, August 11, 2016, while meeting with the Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNPF), Professor Babatunde Osotimehinat the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

According to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, the President said:

“It has been a very difficult year for Nigeria. Before we came to office, petroleum sold for about $100 per barrel. Then it crashed to $37, and now oscillates between $40 and $45 per barrel.”

“Suddenly, we’re a poor country, but commitment to transparency and accountability is not making people know that there is severe shortage.”

President Buhari has been blamed for the economic crisis in the country with members of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) accusing him of brining negative change.

Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) are believed to have won the 2015 elections due to their promise to bring change to the country.