Collapsed Buliding: Coroner orders T.B. Joshua to appear November 5

•Building collapse not result of explosion –Fire Service

By Temidayo Akinsuyi / Snr. Correspondent, Lagos

The coroner investigating the collapse of a guest house at the Synagogue Church of All Nations on September 12, on Friday, ordered that the founder and General Overseer of the church, Prophet Temitope Joshua, should appear before it on November 5, 2014.

He is to appear alongside the contractor handling the six-storey building before its collapse on September 12.

Over 115 people died in the incident while several others sustained various degrees of injuries.

The coroner, Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe, stated that the appearance of the church’s founder was important to the assignment of the court.

Arguments by the church’s counsel, Jude Nnadi (SAN), that the appearance of the pastor would not be necessary because he was not an eyewitness, did not dissuade the magistrate as he insisted that Joshua would have to appear.

The magistrate, who said he had heard that Joshua had addressed the press at various times, said the pastor must also appear before the court to give evidence.

“We have heard that he has been addressing the press at various times. Let him come and address the court. The court has summoned him; let him come and tell us what he knows. He cannot sit over there and be sending words to us that he cannot come. The court has said that for the purpose of what we are doing that he should come over,” Komolafe said.

In his testimony, a Chief Operational Officer, Lagos State Fire Service, Musiliu Adebayo, told the court that his observation revealed that the building did not collapse as a result of an explosion.

Adebayo, who said he had 34 years of experience in rescue operation, insisted that there was nothing to suggest that the accident occurred as a result of an explosion.

According to him, “All the bodies recovered were whole and not dismembered or burnt. Also there were no scattered bricks. The floors and pillars were also not shattered rather the building had collapsed on top of each other. The collapsed building did not depict any sign of explosion or implosion.”

The coroner’s sitting was adjourned till Tuesday 28 for further hearing

War At Old Trafford: Terry, Drogba Wary Of Man United

Chelsea captain,John Terry and striker,Didier Drogba are wary of the threat Manchester United pose ahead of their Sunday showdown. Terry believes Jose Mourinho’s men will have to be at their best on Sunday.
The Blues head to Old Trafford with a healthy five-point lead at the top of the Premier League after claiming seven wins in their first eight matches.
Louis van Gaal’s side are 10 points adrift of Chelsea following their 2-2 draw at West Brom on Monday.
And despite the patchy form of the Manchester giants, Terry is wary of the threat posed by their star-studded attack.
“They’re still a very good side with world-class players in their team,” he said.
“Results haven’t really gone their way so far but we’re still aware at Old Trafford it’s a hostile atmosphere and they’ve got great support behind them.
“We’ll go there expecting them to be very good.”
Drogba concurs:”They are a threat. We know to go there with our belief and our strength, but we also have to know that they’re a good team.

I am alive’, says Boko Haram’s Shekau in new video

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau dismissed Nigerian military claims of his death in a new video obtained by AFP on Thursday and said the militants had implemented strict Islamic law in captured towns.

“Here I am, alive. I will only die the day Allah takes my breath,” Shekau said, adding that his group was “running our… Islamic caliphate” and administering strict sharia punishments.

Nigeria’s military said last week that Shekau was dead and that a man who had been posing as the group’s leader in the videos had been killed after fighting with troops in the far northeast.

Security analysts and the United States questioned the credibility of the military’s claim.

The new 36-minute video showed Shekau, in combat fatigues and black rubber boots, standing on the back of a pick-up truck and firing an anti-aircraft gun into the air.

Standing in front of three camouflaged vans and flanked by four heavily armed, masked fighters, he then speaks for 16 minutes in Arabic and the Hausa language widely spoken in northern Nigeria.

There was no indication of where or when the video was shot.

The heavily bearded Shekau, who appeared to be the same as those in previous clips, said the military’s claim that he was dead was propaganda.

“Nothing will kill me until my days are over… I’m still alive. Some people asked you if Shekau has two souls. No, I have one soul, by Allah,” he said, apparently reading from a script.

“It is propaganda that is prevalent. I have one soul. I’m an Islamic student.

“I’m the Islamic student whose seminary you burnt… I’m not dead,” he added, apparently referring to the destruction of the group’s mosque in the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, in 2009.

There have been two previous claims by Nigeria’s security forces that Shekau was dead — once in 2009 during unrest in Maiduguri — and again in 2013.

Following each previous claim Boko Haram has issued denials in video messages.

Elsewhere in the new video, the militant leader said the group had implemented strict Islamic law in the towns that it had captured in recent weeks.

“We are running our caliphate, our Islamic caliphate. We follow the Koran… We now practise the injunctions of the Koran in the land of Allah,” he said.

The group also claimed to have shot down a Nigerian air force jet that went missing nearly three weeks ago.

An air force spokesman said the jet was missing.

“For any group to claim they shot it down is mere propaganda and rubbish,” Air Commodore Dele Alonge told AFP

FIFA threatens to ban Nigeria , if….

World football governing body, FIFA has threatened to ban Nigeria from all football activities if the newly elected board of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is not allowed to function.

Chris Giwa led faction of the NFF is believed to have gotten a Jos High Court injunction asking him to resume on Thursday at the Glass House in Abuja.

But FIFA in a letter dated October 02, 2014 and signed by its General Secretary, Jerome Valcke, warned of the grave consequences if the new board was not allowed to function properly.

“We now expect the NFF and its new leadership to carry out its activities without any hindrance in order to avoid having to again refer the case to the appropriate FIFA bodies for an automatic suspension as stated in our previous correspondence,” Thursday’s letter read in part.

“We would like to congratulate the members of the new board on their election and are confident they are committed to continuing the development of football in Nigeria.

FIFA also commended the NFF for the successful completion of the elections with a special mention for NFF general secretary Musa Amadu.

“We would also take this opportunity to praise the NFF and especially you (Amadu) on what has been achieved in recent weeks despite the various difficulties,” FIFA stated.

On Wednesday, FIFA President Sepp Blatter sent a letter of congratulations to the new NFF President Amaju Pinnick, saying that he (Blatter) is looking forward to meeting with him and supporting him and his new board towards ensuring stable development of the beautiful game in Nigeria.

BOKO HARAM ATACK MICHIKA

For the umpteenth time, reports say members of the Islamist sect, Boko Haram, have attacked Michika Local Government Area in Adamawa state, northern Nigeria.
According to a report published by Punch, quoting a resident of Garta, one of the villages raided by the sect members, the insurgents attacked border villages in Michika around 6pm on Thursday.
The resident, Joseph, said “They burnt most of the shops and houses after looting them, as most people had to climb the nearby mountains to save their lives.
“For now I can’t say the number of casualty as we are still in the bush and we learn that they attackers just left the village this morning.”

File photo of a recent Boko Haram attack.

Another source informed that the terrorists attacked Kuburshosho village where they burnt the family house of former Governor of the state and current Minister of Youth Development, Boni Haruna

FG’s N30b on free textbook, wasteful –

The Federal Government has been urged to stop the huge sum of money expended annually on supply of textbooks to students at the basic education level.
A group, Education Rights Initiative (ERI), on Thursday in Abuja, described the supply of textbooks to primary and secondary schools by the Federal Government through the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) as a waste of public fund.
ERI National Coordinator, Dickson Itodo, said in Abuja on Thursday that over N30 billion has been spent by the Federal Government through UBEC on the supply of books to schools in the last three years without any serious impact.
He said: “This waste of public funds should not have happened in the first place or should it have been allowed to go on for so long with over N30 billion down the drain”.
Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike, had recently disclosed that since the Federal Government commenced the Free Textbook Initiative in 2010, a total of N52 billion has been expended.
He, however, said this included supply of supplementary library and reading materials to primary and secondary schools.
Wike said a total of 126, 179, 329 textbooks have so far been distributed to schools, saying this has enabled government to achieve 1:1 pupil-textbook ratio as opposed to previous 1:4 ratio.
But Itodo insisted that investigation by the group revealed that some of the textbooks were diverted and never got to some schools as stated by the government.
He said expert findings have revealed that this “huge amount would have been enough to equip most of our schools with science equipment that could serve the schools for several years when compared to the free textbooks whose rate of attrition is so high that less than 5 per cent of it survives after one year”.
He said: “Government should go a step further by instituting a probe on why the UBEC Instructional Material Fund, which is meant for the equipment of public schools with science equipment, was diverted to the supply of free textbooks that parents were already providing for their children”

Iheanacho Turns 18, Set For Man City Pro Contract

By Izuchukwu Okosi:
Flying Eagles midfielder Kelechi Iheanacho who is on the books of Manchester City but yet to be granted a work permit because he has not clocked 18 and yet to be handed a work permit could now be in line for a professional contract as he turns 18-years-old todat, Friday, 3 October 2014.
Iheanacho was voted the Most Valueable Player of the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup where he helped Nigeria win a record fourth title at the Cadet World Cup.
Recently, Super Eagles coach Stephen Keshi revealed that he will NOT invite Iheanacho alongside MLS September Player of the Month winner, Seattle Sounders’ Obafemi Martins, to the national team because he has not played much games for the Citizens though he was in promising form during the English champions’ pre season friendlies.
Iheanacho’s dream of playing for Nigeria’s senior national team may wait until after he plays for the Flying Eagles in the African U-20 Youth Championship early 2015 in Senegal and hopefully at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand.
However, should there be a change of guard in the Super Eagles coaching crew, fans of the three-time African champions may see the prodigiously talented star strut his skills for the Super Eagles sooner than expected.
Manchester City also have in their youth team Iheanacho’s U-17 World Cup teammate, Chidiebere Nwakali who was one of the best midfielders of the U-17 World Cup in the UAE.