As part of her corporate social responsibilities, Louis Valentino Food and Beverages, manufacturers of Popcy Potato crisp and Popcy Flavored drinks recently visited one of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP)camps in Kunchingoro area of Abuja FCT which host people from different states in the northern region faced with challenges of insurgency and donated food items. 

Yesterday August 2nd, I published a story about a 4 year old boy who died after inhaling cinnamon powder. (read here) A LIB dad read the story and what follows next gladdens my heart. Read his emails to me to understand the story. I have his permission to share this so other parents can learn...

Hello Linda, my name is Olaniyi Olalemi, I work for one of the Banks in Lagos. I'm one of you ardent readers and it wasn't a coincidence that I read the sad story below on your blog. Reading the story I could relate with it as I have three boys of ages 2, 5 and 7 who had been in contact with kitchen cabinet substance during the past week and one of them who's five years old was taken to Budo Specialist Hospital Ajah, Lagos in the early hours of Saturday, August 1st, as he was coughing endlessly and I felt it wasn't normal.

Investigation at the hospital showed that he was having difficulty in breathing as a result of exposure to dust or something similar since he's not asthmatic and so they gave him injections and some drugs to take home after using nebuliser on him as shown in the picture. Apparently, I took the picture and sent to my wife who's currently out of the Country. 

The seven years old had also complained of breath seizure during the night of 30th July but told me he was fine in the morning of 31st July, but he's beginning to show some signs his younger brother manifested earlier, but I am not leaving anything to chances as we are on our way to the hospital already to properly the two and the seven years as they have started coughing as well. They all had contact with the dry pepper like substance, 'Pure Ground Cinnamon'. I never knew something I'm holding right now was in my kitchen, anyway I guessed I'm not supposed to know.

Coincidentally, the kitchen cabinet substance my nephew told me my three children were playing with during last week that he had to collect from them was this same Cinnamon powder which we all did not realise until we read the sad story below.

Thank God they did not eat it and only inhaled it probably. Please let Parents get their kitchen rid of this killer substance or keep them out of reach of Children if you must have them at home.

Image 1. The 5 years old picture during his birthday on July 5th.

Image 2. The 5 years old picture at the hospital yesterday morning 

Image 3. 'The Pure Ground Cinnamon Powder they had contact with.

Then he sends me an update

Linda! Thank God I read this today. Investigation at the hospital just confirmed that they are already reacting to the cinnamon powder o. I can't believe this, it was the victim's story you published that made me bring the other two boys to the hospital same hospital right now,  I took their coughs for granted. They are about nebulizing them now.

God forbid, we would have lost three children just like that to carelessness.

The 7, 5 and 2 years old are Kola Benjamin Olalemi, Korede Reuben Olalemi and Kayode Curtis Olalemi respectively.

Thank you for prompting me yesterday. The two attached images are of Kola and Kayode receiving treatment at the hospital yesterday. The three boys are recuperating


So happy about this story. So happy for this family!

The Major Oil Markers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) has assured the public of adequate supply of the Premium Motor Spirit to reduce queues witnessed in fuel stations in the country. Mr Femi Olawore, Executive Secretary of the association, gave the assurance on Monday in Abuja after a meeting with the Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

You all recall that there were some issues about movement of products to the retail outlets, following the release of the last payment. The owners of the trucks have agreed to allow their trucks to start loading. As we speak, there have been loading. Those of you can call your friends in Lagos; they will all confirm that Lagos is getting better by the hour but because of the distance between Lagos and Abuja, it will take sometimes before Abuja gets to the normal position,’’ he said.

According to him, in a couple of days, Abuja will also have the relief of the situation. He said that the marketers had discussed with the minister and resolved some issues and would continue to talk with government. On the outstanding payment, he said marketers always calculated up to date as business people, attributing it to difference in the figures between marketers and government.


Responding, Okonjo-Iweala said that government had appealed to the group and it had agreed that following the payment of the N154 billion, the members would make the products available. “We really welcomed the news that has been announced by the marketers and we thank them, especially with the discussion that makes the truck owners to move the products. “On our own side, we are looking at issues they have on the table; government is a continuum and I think that you found that whatever the issues are, it would be resolved so that Nigerians will not suffer,’’ she said.

The minister corrected that N154 billion had already been paid, instead of the N156 billion early reported. “When the amount paid is actually looked at, it comes to actually N154 billion; so its N2 billion down; it is still within the calculation of the standard deviation,’’ she added.

Commenting on the outstanding payments, she said “what I want you to understand is that this is a rolling business and that is what we actually discussed toady. “There is no one definite figure; even as we speak, by the time we leave, the executive of PPPRA may have cleared some more Sovereign Debt Notes (SDN) and the figures will change.”

She added that as at last week when N154 billion was paid, N98 billion was outstanding but presently, more SDN had been cleared. According to her, the amount to be paid as outstanding is never a fixed sum for the total year. The minister said that government throughout the year had been paying, including the ones in the years before.

She said that there would not be need to be fixed on the argument of whether the outstanding was N98 billion or N200 billion. “As long as they continue to supply fuel to Nigerians, there will always be something to be paid. “When this administration took over, monies were owed and we paid; this will continue and it rolls on everyday and you clear the money as you go. “Like we said, government is a continuum and the marketers have accepted that,’’ she said
(NAN)

 

According to AFP, the Nigerian Army says it has rescued about 160 more hostages from Sambisa Forest.

"We are still trying to compute the actual number of those rescued. But tentatively there are about 60 women of various ages and around 100 children," Army spokesman Sani Usman told AFP.

He also said one woman was killed in the fighting and eight other rescued hostages were injured. A soldier was also killed and four others wounded.

South African women married to Nigerian men have narrated the discrimination they face for marrying men outside their country. Seeing the disaffection their kinsmen show them after finding love in the hands of Nigerian men, the women decided to form an association, the United Nigerian Wives in South Africa (UNWISA) club about two years ago where they give support and succor to each other.

42 year old Lindwela Uche who serves as the chairwoman of the group told AFP that they saw the xenophobic attacks coming and alerted their husbands but they did not take their warning seriously "We saw this thing coming and that’s why we formed this association. If only they (the authorities) had listened to us… they would have known that there’s a fire burning slowly and they would have seen how to tackle it.”she said

One of the members of the association,“Lufunu Orji who is married to a Nigerian resource consultant, Ogbonnaya Orji, says being married to a foreigner is very challenging

"Being married to a foreigner is very challenging. You often spend your time defending yourself and then you defend your foreign husband for being himself. Just before I got wed to my husband, I lost two very best friends of mine. They thought I was out of my mind" she said

Another member of the group who gave her name as Uche, said her 13-year-old daughter returned from school a while ago, complaining that her teacher had told her “not to bring that Nigerian mentality here” after she and classmates were noisy in class.

“We need to be protected, we need our children to be protected… and our husbands to be treated with dignity,” Uche said

37 year old Thelma Okoro, says the attitude towards them “are negative everywhere we go,”. According to her, wearing traditional Nigerian dress on the street can attract bad comments. She spoke of how her eight-year-old daughter gets mocked by schoolmates over her name “Ngozi” which means “blessing” in Igbo but literally translates to “danger” in Zulu.

Read the press statement from the Ekiti state governor's office below...

Ekiti State governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose has described the exit of the former President of Nigeria, General Olusegun Obasanjo from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as a good omen to the party, saying; "Obasanjo's exit is good riddance to bad rubbish. His departure is inglorious, we will never miss him.

Governor Fayose, who said Obasanjo's tearing of his PDP membership card was a vindication of his stand that the former president should have been shown a red card by the PDP a long time ago, noted that; "Now the PDP can sleep with two eyes closed because the lion among our brethren, the tormentor of Nigeria just departed from our party to join the All Progressives Congress (APC)."

The governor, who reacted to Obasanjo's tearing of his PDP membership card through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Idowu Adelusi, said the former president was "a man without honour" who has been the major problem of the PDP and that "tearing his membership card was to save
him from imminent expulsion."

"Obasanjo shouldn't just tear his PDP membership card; he should relinquish the ownership of Bell University, Obasanjo Farms, Obasanjo Presidential Library, and other financial benefits he got during his eight years as president," Fayose said.

Speaking further, Fayose said; "Obasanjo's formal exit from the PDP at this time will further enhance the chance of the party in the presidential election because Nigerians will now see that eight out of
the 16 years that the APC claimed was a waste was spent by the party because Obasanjo and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who ruled Nigeria from 1999 to 2007 are now members of APC.

"If there is anything negative about PDP, Obasanjo contributed 50 percent. His eight years tenure is part of the 16 years that the APC people claim is a waste. And now that Obasanjo and Atiku are members of APC, it can be said that APC ruled Nigeria from 1999 to 2007 and the party should be ready to accept the liabilities of Obasanjo and Atiku's government.

"Therefore, Obasanjo's exit from the PDP is a confirmation that there is victory ahead for our party and mark my words, President Jonathan will be re-elected, Nigeria will have a clean departure from its sordid past, which Obasanjo and Buhari represent and take a giant leap into a promising future."

After over 2 weeks of being admitted at St Nicholas Hospital following a vehicle accident, Owolabi Akindujoye has finally reunited with his mother. The mum showed up today and St Nicholas Hospital says they will not be asking for any payment of medical bills. How kind. Continue ..

St Nicholas posted the full story on their Facebook page this afternoon. Read below...

A member of SNH staff went to Oshodi area last week Thursday in search of Owolabi's family. After a long and difficult search, he was able to locate a relative of Mrs Akindujoye. Ms Adeola contacted Owolabi's mum and informed her of his recent accident and confirmed that he's being treated at St Nicholas Hospital, Lagos. Mrs Akindujoye also heard about her son on the radio after her relative's contact.

Owolabi Akindujoye whose mum lives in Ibadan, left home on the 4th of January, 2015 to go to Ilesha in search of work to pay for his WAEC exams. Unknown to his mum, he came to Lagos and ended up at Oshodi where he was working as a bus conductor.

The mother visited the hospital this morning accompanied by Ms Adeola. The family has reunited with Owolabi.

The hospital will not be asking for his family to pay any medical bills.

Intense...!

Here's a photo of Boko Haram militants as they entered Gombe state yesterday. The attack in Gombe was repelled...many of them killed by Nigerian troops. Another photo after the cut...

She shared this info on twitter yesterday. But why?

You know how they say the truth is stranger than fiction? Well, this is one of those true life strange stories. The man pictured above, 54 year old Tilfert Vaughn, was arrested this past Sunday Feb. 8th after breaking into the Phoenix home of a woman he’d seen at a bar and raped her at knifepoint while her boyfriend lay next to her 'frozen in fear,” according to a report by AZ Central

Police said the 27-year-old-woman woke up about 4 a.m. on Nov. 5 in her apartment near Glendale and 27th avenues when she noticed the bathroom light was on. After she asked her friend who was in there, reports show, the bathroom light shut off.

Police said the woman got out of bed and noticed someone behind the bathroom door, and when she opened the door further, she saw 54-year-old Tilfert D. Vaughn standing naked and holding a large serrated break knife, according to court records.

Vaughn made the woman lie down in the bed, and raped her while holding the knife to her throat, according to court documents.

The woman's 30-year-old friend woke up when Vaughn got in bed, and as the man struggled, his fingers came into contact with Vaughn's knife, causing deep wounds, reports show.

Investigators said the knife wounds on the man were deep enough to require surgery to repair the nerve damage he suffered.

Police said both victims feared Vaughn would kill them if they did not obey him.
After raping the woman, according to the documents, Vaughn told her, "Now you have a baby. Bless it and take care of it."

Vaughn then put his clothes on and left the apartment, according to reports.
Investigators also believe that Vaughn took several items from the couple's apartment, including sunglasses, toiletries, beer and food, and placed them in an empty apartment nearby before returning to assault the victims, according to court documents.

Investigators compiled information from the woman's forensic exam and surveillance videos from the apartment and a nearby bar before they were able to confirm Vaughn's identity through an anonymous source, according to court records. Police also requested a court order for Vaughn's DNA and matched it with physical evidence taken from the victim's forensic exam, according to court records.

Vaughn admitted to police of being in the area that night, but denied having sexual relations and contact with the victims, according to police reports.

Vaughn is scheduled to have a preliminary hearing next week. His court documents show he does not have a bail set because of the sexual-assault allegations

Full report from The Breaking Times below

Former Minister of State for Defence, Sen. Musiliu Obanikoro has gone to court to seek redress over a case of defamation of character by online newspapers Sahara Reporters and Premium Times. Joined in the suit are Punch Newspapers Ltd., Omoyele Sowore, Publisher of Sahara Reporters and Festus Owete, General Editor at Premium Times.

The defendants had published an audio recording of Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, purportedly in a conversation with other individuals to rig the Ekiti State gubernatorial elections, an allegation Senator Obanikoro and the others have since disclaimed.

In a suit filed at the Lagos State High Court Ikeja on Tuesday, 10th February 2015, Senator Obanikoro is suing the defendants for damages to the tune of N1 billion. According to the suit filed on his behalf by Dr. Yemi Oke of MJS Partners, Senator Obanikoro is seeking “1.) An order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants from publishing or causing to be published either directly or indirectly, defamatory, damaging, offensive or degrading statements, articles and/or materials against the claimant, 2.) An order directing the defendant to jointly or severally pay to the claimant the sum of N1 billion being damages for harm caused to his political, professional, business, social and institutional reputation as a result of the defamation by willful and scandalous publication of false statements by the defendants, 3.) An order directing the defendants to retract the false and damaging publication by a letter of apology directed to claimant and published on the same media through which the defamatory publication was circulated and 4.) An order of court for the cost of this suit against the defendants.”

Meanwhile, in a similar development, Senator Obanikoro has hired Tacopina & Seigel one of New York’s top law firms reputed for their groundbreaking defense of celebrity baseball player, Alex Rodriguez in his case against the 211-game doping suspension slammed on him by Major League Baseball (MLB). Tacopina & Seigel is handling Senator Obanikoro’s case against Sahara Reporters in New York, United States of America.
The defendants have 42 days to prepare their defense and make an appearance in court to defend themselves in the Lagos suit.

Choi! Wahala dey! According to @BTBreakingTimes, former Minister of State for Defense, Musiliu Obanikoro sues Sahara Reporters, Premium Times, Punch Newspapers, Omoyele Sowore, owner of Sahara Reporters and Festus Owete for N1billion for that story about Ekiti election fraud. Hmmm!! Details later...

PDP Chairman Adamu Muazu says that INEC was never prepared for the earlier proposed date of February 14th for the general elections.

In a related development, the Chairman of the PDP Presidential campaign organization, Sen. Ahmodu Ali, at a press conference in Abuja yesterday, said the electoral body was never prepared for the elections hence the shift in the dates to save itself from monumental embarrassment...

"From all indications, INEC is not fully prepared for the elections. These are issues with the PVCs. Almost 30 million people are yet to get their PVCs despite the fact that the date of distribution was extended. Will it be possible to have a credible election when millions of Nigerians are disenfranchised because of lack of permanent voter cards? There are also reports that the PVC readers are not fully distributed and tested. How can INEC handle cases of faulty card readers? Do they have a credible plan B in situations where voters are lined up and the card readers refuse to work? Ballot boxes are reportedly inadequate. Adequate training of staff for the election had not been concluded and there are other problems facing INEC. Quite clearly, the shift in election dates is meant to save INEC from monumental embarrassment. I would like to reiterate that the PDP is ready for the election any day. We are querying the INEC for some aberrations in the distribution of PVCs. How can Borno State which is under siege register more PVC collections than Lagos State? The INEC might have allowed the distribution of its cards to be tampered with. We hope that INEC will now use the extra time it has given itself to perfect its methodology; for example the card readers need to be tried and tested during the training of its operators”. he said.

As shared on Facebook this morning...

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau vowed in a new video released on Monday that the group would defeat a regional force fighting the extremists in Nigeria’s far northeast, Niger and Cameroon.

“Your alliance will not achieve anything. Amass all your weapons and face us. We welcome you,” he said in a 28-minute speech, one of three videos posted by the Islamists on YouTube.

Troops from Nigeria have been backed by soldiers from Chad, Cameroon and Niger in recent weeks because of increased concerns about Boko Haram’s threat to regional security.

In the second of the latest videos, images of the leader of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, are shown along with archive footage and a voiceover recalling a battle between British colonial soldiers and fighters from the Sokoto Caliphate in northern Nigeria.

Shekau has namechecked al-Baghdadi before but appears to be positioning Boko Haram in a wider jihadi context by showing the Sokoto Caliphate, which was dismantled by the British in the early 20th century.

“We never rose up to fight Africa. We rose up to fight the world,” he said.

“We are going to fight the world on the principle that whoever doesn’t obey Allah and the Prophet to either obey or die or become a slave.”

On Sunday, Boko Haram militants waged twin attacks in the town of Diffa in southeast Niger, opening a new front in its offensive after repeated attacks in Cameroon’s far northern region.

The six-year uprising has become a regional crisis and on Saturday, Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Benin agreed to muster 8,700 troops, police and civilians to fight the group.

But Shekau dismissed the size of the force, which had previously been set at about 7,500.

“You send 7,000 troops? Why don’t you send 70 million? This is small. Only 7,000? By Allah, it is small. We can seize them one-by-one. We can seize them one-by-one,” he said in Arabic.

Shekau also directly threatened Chad’s President Idriss Deby, whose forces have attacked Boko Haram in the northeast Nigerian towns of Gamboru and Malam Fatori in recent days.

Shekau’s challenge comes after the United States said on Friday that Boko Haram could face a stronger test against more capable regional forces.

Washington estimates that Boko Haram has a core of between 4,000 and 6,000 fighters but is well-equipped after raiding Nigerian Army positions.

CREDIT TO VANGUARD

Tamunoemi David-West, a professor and former minister of petroleum and energy, has suggested that President Goodluck Jonathan does not have a doctorate degree from the University of Port Harcourt as widely believed.

Read More: thecable.ng

He made the stunning revelation on Sunday at a press conference held at the National Headquarters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja where he gave reasons for his defection and of hundreds of others from the PDP in Bayelsa to the APC.

Akpoebi served as Commissioner of Health in Jonathan’s administration during his governorship. A founding member of the PDP in Bayelsa, he was also a Federal Commissioner in the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission. He called on Bayelsans to ask Jonathan to refund the money before he can ask for their votes again.