Zaaki Azzay remarries two years after first marriage packed up

 Torch carrying popular 90s singer Zaaki Azzay has remarried two years after his first wife & mother of his three children, Hadiza Yadoo, left her marriage claiming domestic violence.

Zaaki quietly married his new wife, 24 year old Hembadoon Ugema (pictured right) at the bride's family home in Ushongo in Makurdi, Benue state this past Saturday May 10th.

According to people in the know, Zaaki's new wife is kinda related to his ex-wife. Hembadoon's mum is married to Hadiza's father's younger brother (Hadiza's uncle) and this family drama forced the girl's family to suspend the wedding, which was supposed to hold in April, until it was resolved. Congrats to them.

Dora Akunyili's health worsens, to be flown abroad

Former NAFDAC Director General and one-time Minister of Information Mrs Dora Akunyili's health has deteriorated according to new reports. Mrs Akunyili, who is a delegate at the on-going national confab (though she hasn't made an appearance for several weeks), was admitted at an undisclosed hospital in Abuja a few days ago after her condition worsened. She became even worse last night and was reportedly instructed by her doctors to seek immediate medical attention abroad. There are reports that she will most likely be flown abroad in the coming days.

Dora Akunyili was recently in the news when she appeared at the National Confab as a delegate looking very pale and a shadow of her old self. She revealed that she had been ill with a life threatening illness but survived it and was declared fit by her doctors to resume her normal life.

According to people close to her, Mrs. Akunyili was diagnosed with cancer a few years ago and had spent several months in the US receiving treatment. Please say a prayer for her.

Four Nigerians jailed in the UK for involvement in fake marriages

Found this report on UK Daily Mail. Four Nigerians, a man and three women have been jailed in the UK for their involvement in many fake weddings in the country. Read full report below...

Four fake brides and an ex-security guard fixer involved in an eight-month sham marriage scam have been jailed.

Azuha Izegbune, 38 (pictured left), was the mastermind of the visa con - which saw fake weddings staged at registry offices in Birmingham, Stoke and Glasgow.

The former security guard from Birmingham, West Midlands, was paid to arrange fake weddings between Hungarian and Nigerian nationals so they could remain in the UK.

The weddings were arranged so both brides and grooms could secure European Area Residence Cards.

Nwanunwanne Eze, left, was jailed for 17 months for her attempted sham marriage in Glasgow - which was raided by investigators. Hellen Adejumo-Dani, right, was jailed for 22 months

Some of the grooms were flown in to the UK just hours before the fake ceremonies took place.
Following a Home Office probe, the scam was exposed - and those involved have now been sentenced to a total of nine years in jail at Birmingham Crown Court.
Sentencing, Judge Elizabeth Stacey said Izegbune had undermined the UK’s border controls and described him as 'the lynch-pin, the organiser and the fixer' of an eight-month conspiracy between December 2012 and September 2013.

She said: 'You met registrars, bought plane tickets, acted as witness and interpreter and recruited Ivett Szanto to help you find Hungarian grooms and brides.

'I have read the wonderful testimonies about you. It’s just desperately sad that you have used your considerable charm and skills to take part in these activities.'

Izegbune is himself married to a Hungarian and has lived legally in the UK since 2009 with dual Nigerian and Hungarian nationality.

The father-of-two was jailed for 31 months after pleading guilty to five counts of conspiracy to facilitate a breach of UK immigration law.

Adejumo-Dani during her wedding to a Hungarian man - whose number was saved as 'babe' in her phone

Meanwhile, Hungarian national Ivett Szanto, 31, admitted taking part in one fake marriage with a Nigerian man who was also seeking a visa.
She had conspired with Nigerian-born ringleader Izegbune to help set up two further marriages with men she knew from her native Budapest.
Szanto had her sham marriage stopped mid-ceremony on May 30, 2013, in Stoke, Staffordshire, the court heard.
Sentencing her to 20 months, Judge Stacey said: 'Your role in this was much more peripheral. You were a small cog in the wheel. It was Izegbune who was directing you.'

The Nigerian national poses in bed with her husband. She is due to give birth in October

The court heard the fake brides handed over an unknown amount of cash in a bid to win the residence cards - which would have given them the legal right to remain in the UK and Europe.
But two of the weddings were stopped halfway through and a price list for a £7,500 ceremony was later recovered.

It showed just a £20 budget was allocated for the wedding dress, rings and shoes.
One of the fake brides, pregnant Nigerian Hellen Adedjumo-Dani, 31, took photos of herself with her fake partner outside McDonald's restaurants across Birmingham to try and make her relationship appear real, the court heard.

She had images of herself in a dressing gown on her bed and even saved her fake groom as 'Babe' on her phone. 

She married her groom at a registry office in Birmingham in June 2013.
Adedjumo-Dani, who is due to give birth in October, was found guilty after a separate two-day trial in March of this year and was jailed for 22 months.

Nigerian women Nwabunwanne Eze, 35, and Chioma Nwangwu, 28, both from Birmingham, were all jailed for taking part in their own fake marriages.

Nwangu married her groom Birmingham registry office in June 2013.
Eze attempted to marry at Glasgow registry office in August 2013 - but the ceremony was raided by investigators.
She and Nwangwu pleaded guilty to one charge of breaching immigration law and were jailed for 16 months and 17 months respectively.

Hellen Adejumo poses with her Hungarian 'husband' in a McDonald's restaurant in a picture taken to convince people they were a legitimate couple

The court heard that four members of Eze’s close family, including her own mother, were murdered on their farm in Nigeria in 2009.
She had studied Health and Social Care at South Birmingham College after arriving legitimately on a student visa in 2010.

She exhausted all the appeals to stay in the country and took part in the sham marriage just before she would have been forced to leave the country. She has since lodged an application seeking asylum.

Nwangwu worked in a bank in Nigeria before arriving in Birmingham to study at Birmingham City University in 2011.

She returned home, but came back on a six-month visitor visa and wanted to stay in the UK after that expired to be with her genuine partner - a Nigerian who is legally in the country.

The Nigerian women were all warned they would face possible deportation once they complete their prison sentences.

 

Ivett Szanto, left, was jailed for taking part in one marriage and conspiring with Izegbune to arrange two others. Chioma Nwangwu, right, married her groom in a Birmingham in June 2013 and was jailed for 16 months

A Proceeds of Crime Act hearing is scheduled for Izegbune to be heard in September.
Speaking after sentencing Andy Radcliffe, from the Home Office’s Criminal and Financial Investigations Team, said: 'Izegbune thought he could profit from abusing the marriage system and the UK’s immigration laws.

'He was seen by the other individuals as their ticket to either stay in the UK, or gain financially. But all five are now behind bars.

'We will continue to work with registrars to tackle this issue. The message to anyone involved in this sort of criminality is clear. 'The Home Office has the resource and expertise to catch up with you and bring you to justice.'

Northern Nigeria Christian Association alleges conspiracy in Chibok Abduction

The Northern Nigeria Chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) yesterday released a statement expressing reservations and alleging conspiracy in the Chibok schoolgirls abduction.

The chapter said they believe the kidnapping is a conspiracy involving the governor of the state, Kashim Shettima, the principal of the school, the chief security officer of Borno & the commissioner for Education. In the statement, they asked how 300+ girls can disappear into air without any trace and where the daughters of the principal, vice principal & CSO of the state were when the kidnapping took place, and why no single photograph of the Chibok girls has been made public by school authorities. Find their press statement after the cut...


CHIBOK: PRESS STATEMENT BY NORTHERN CAN

Abducted female students of Chibok: CAN gives 6 posers to Borno Governor
...says there's conspiracy between Shettima, school authorities

The position of Northern CAN on the abduction of female students in Chibok

Since the abduction of some female students in Chibok Local Government Area of Borno State, Northern CAN has decided to be silent for some reasons. We have decided that we will make statements when we have all the facts of the matter. It may interest Nigerians to know that we have fundamental questions which demand one million answers:
1.    Since the abduction of these girls over two weeks ago, has Borno State Governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, constituted any panel of investigation with a view to making its report public?

2.    How did the 353 female students disappear from the school into the thin air?

3.    Why did the Borno State Commissioner for Education, Principal, Vice Principal and Chief Security Officer, all Muslims, ignore the valid advice of WAEC on the security implication of writing exams in the school and the need to have a centre where the children’s life will be secured?

4.    How did Boko Haram carry over 200 students and their food stolen by these criminals from the school? Was it carried with trailer?

5.    Why is it that since this issue came up, no single photograph of the abducted children was made public by the school authorities? After all, they were preparing for exams and may have submitted their photographs.

6.    Where were the daughters of the Principal, Vice Principal and Chief Security Officer when the abduction took place?

We hope that this is not a political gimmick to carry out a political conspiracy against these daughters of Nigerians, future mothers of Nigeria and citizens who are wants to be leaders of tomorrow.
So these are the questions; we have done our investigations, we are begging the international community, we are begging the Federal Government of Nigeria and the press to ask these legitimate questions from the Governor, Commissioner for Education, Principal and CSO of the school because Chibok is a predominantly Christian area. What we are after is the safety and future of these children, whether they are Christians or Muslims or our enemies doesn't matter. They are Nigerians, first and foremost.

Our positions are as follows:
1. The Governor and government of Borno State should and must as a matter of urgency stop playing politics with the lives of the children of other people. They should produce those children without delay because they know their whereabouts.

2. We demand an explanation from the Governor, Commissioner for Education, Principal and CSO of the school on what they did and what they did not do that led to the ferrying away of these innocent children who went to sit for an examination for the betterment of their tomorrow.

3. How come that the parents of these children have not been able to come out and say anything? Are they saying that these children are orphans and do not have parents? We demand an explanation because from our investigation, parents of these children are facing intimidation and threats from the government of Borno State. That is why they could not come out to speak; but they are nursing their pains in silence.

4. We also demand that the Federal Government and the international community should help us beg the Governor of Borno State to do everything within his powers to produce these children.

5. We also reject a situation where they will turn our daughters to be sex slaves of these criminals called Boko Haram members. We have it on good authority that some of these children are being raped 15 times a day. Some of these children are being compelled to be wives of these criminals. If you want to marry somebody's daughter, you must seek the consent of her parents and not to ferry under-aged children and perpetrate a lot of havoc on them.

The abduction of these girls seems a resurrection of what the Christian communities in Northern Nigeria have been suffering for centuries in the hands of the Emirs and Imams regarding forceful conversion and abduction of Christian girls. Borno State government should be reminded that the fundamental human rights of these people should be respected and protected.

The Governor should provide immediate explanation because we know that some people want to sacrifice these children on the altar of politics. There is a limit to which Christians would tolerate all these abnormalities. We suspect a conspiracy among all of these characters including the Governor, Commissioner for Education, Principal and CSO since non of the daughters of the teachers and Principal were abducted; there is more to it and this is the position of Northern CAN.

SIGN:
Wednesday May 7 2014
Prof. Daniel Babayi
Secretary-General
Sunday Oibe
Public Relations Officer

Soldiers Recover Ammunitions In Benue, Plateau, Kaduna

Chris Olukolade, Director of Defence Information in the Nigerian Army, on Wednesday said its officials has recovered different kinds of ammunition in Benue, Plateau and Kaduna States.

Olukolade, who said the ammunition was recovered by troops operating in the North Central and North Western parts of Nigeria, added that the troops seized a cache of arms run by a young member of an armed gang during a cordon and search operation in Anyibe, Logo Local Government Area of Benue State.

According to him, two rifles, three locally fabricated pistols and 61 rounds of special ammunition were recovered during the operation while the arrested gang member is currently being interrogated.

He further revealed that a cordon and search operation in two chiefdoms in Plateau State, led to the recovery of five guns, three locally fabricated pistols and two revolvers from the hideouts of armed gangs at Hukke and Reweinko.

Olukolade listed other items to include; some IED making materials, 45 live cartridges, various calibres of ammunition, bows and arrows, cutlasses, axes and diggers.

The spokesman, who said that the troops in Kaduna State encountered armed gangs and bandits at Kwandaga, noted that the operation recorded casualties although lots of arms and ammunition were recovered.

Olukolade reiterated that the 'Operation Restore Peace' which is geared towards ridding the North Central and North West parts of the country of armed gangs is still in progress in various locations.

Queen of Pop Madonna Joins #BringBackOurGirls Campaign

 

Madonna has added her name to the growing number of people in the world who are demanding to rescue the abducted Chibok schoolgirls in Borno.

The queen of pop Madonna shared this pic of Malala, the Pakistani schoolgirl who stood up to the Taliban and defended her right to an education, on Instagram and wrote, “223 Teenage girls being held captive in Nigeria by Religious fundamentalists who believe it is a sin to educate girls! They are being sold as brides in the market place. This insanity has to stop! What is the US government doing about this? #bringourgirls back. #revolutionoflove”.

While there were some initial reports that the girls were being forced to marry against their will, there was some debate on how accurate that is. Now Abubakar Shekau, the leader of the terrorist group Boko Haram that kidnapped the girls, has released a video. He made his sexist views on women more than clear, demanding that girls just get married and releasing alarming threats about the kidnapped girls.

“I abducted your girls. I will sell them in the market,” he says in the video. “There is a market for selling humans…I will sell women. I sell women.”

In the past few days more Nigerian girls have been kidnapped. The United States has put a $7 million bounty on Shekau and they are part of the international community demanding that Shekau be stopped and the schoolgirls returned safely. Meanwhile, people around the world gather together to protest the abduction of hundreds of GGSS Chibok female students in Borno.

How we jumped out of Boko Haram truck' - girls who escaped speak

Punch interviews two of the girls who jumped out of the truck they were being transported in by Boko Haram men after the men stormed their school and kidnapped over 250 girls. Interview below

What is your name?

Sawok: My name is Amina Sawok.

Walse: My name is Thabita Walse.

Can you describe the attack on your school?

Sawok: We were in the hostel. One of the men dressed in military camouflage asked us where our dining hall was. From our hostels, they took us to the dining hall and from there, we were moved into the waiting vehicles and they headed towards Damboa town. The incident happened around 11pm.

Walse: It is a long story. They came to our school and deceived us into believing they were soldiers. They were dressed in military uniform and made us believe they were about rescuing us only for us to later find out that they were insurgents. When we discovered, it was already too late and there was little we could do. Continue...

At what point did you know they were not real soldiers but insurgents?

Sawok: They were shouting and rude. That was when it became clear to us that they were insurgents, then they started shooting and set our school on fire. They even shot the security men guarding the school.

How did you escape?

Sawok: I jumped out of the vehicle that looked like a truck.

Walse: Our vehicle developed a problem and they were forced to stop. I took the opportunity with some girls to run into a dark bush.

What gave you the courage to jump out of the vehicle?

Sawok: I have heard a lot about Boko Haram, the bad things they do and how they have killed many people in the state. I was afraid and I became desperate. I felt getting to their camp could be dangerous for me and it would be better if I escaped.  That gave me the courage to jump out.  I believed that I would only get injured since it was dark and they may not know how to look for me in the bush.

Did all the girls that escaped plan it?

Sawok: No, I believe the same thing was running through our minds. Immediately one of us jumped out, the rest of us just started following her.

Do you have any injury?

Sawok: No, I am very fine.

How do you feel about the others that were not able to escape?

Sawok: I would have loved all of us to escape.  I can’t celebrate my escape because some of my friends and classmates are still in the hands of the insurgents and I don’t know what they are facing. It is my prayer that they should be freed.

Walse: I have no problem, I am okay and very strong physically. The only problem I have is that some of my friends are still held hostage by terrorists.

Photo: Check out Beyonce's Ankara print shoes...

Nice right? would you rock it?

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Adorable pics of 2face and Annie Idibia's 4month old daughter, Olivia

She looks so much like her older sister, Isabella Idibia. She's soooo cute!

International stars lend their voices to #bringbackourgirls campaign

Chris Brown, Scandal creator Shonda Rhimes, media/music mogul Russell Simmons, singer Keri Hilson, and actress Keke Palmer have all learnt their voices and are calling for the release of the 234 schoolgirls kidnapped at their school in Chibok over two weeks ago. More when you continue...

Waje, Seun Kuti take #BringBackOurGirls campaign to the streets

Waje and Seun Kuti have taken their #BringBackOurGirls campaign from the streets of Twitter to the streets of Lagos. The stars both took placards in hand to go against the kidnap of 234 young Nigerian girls two weeks ago. Earlier the group were reportedly tear-gassed by the police, they continue to March though.

Other celebs noted in the march include Kathleen Ndongmo, Cameronian activist, Debola Williams of The Future Project & designer Ugonna Omeruo amongst others. See more pics after the cut