The Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General of Rivers State, Emmanuel Chinwenwo Aguma SAN, is dead.
Impeccable sources said the senior advocate died of an undisclosed ailment abroad.
However, as at the time of filing this report, the Rivers State Government is yet to issue an official statement on the Attorney General’s passing.
Details later…
Rick Genest aka “Zombie Boy,” was found dead in his home on Wednesday following what was suspected to be a suicide. His troubled family believes his death was accidental.
According to Rick Genest’s manager, Karim Leduc, on the day of his death, Genest was reportedly with his girlfriend in her apartment and he told her, ‘I’m gonna go on the balcony and have a cigarette.’
“After he was gone an unusually long time, she went to check up on him and she saw him on the ground at the bottom. She’s the one that ran up to him. She’s in a complete state of shock at the hospital now,” Leduc explained.
He also revealed that the 32-year-old actor who appeared in Lady Gaga’s Born this Way music video, died after falling off a balcony in Montreal.
“The balcony from which he fell on the third floor was a very dangerous balcony,” Leduc added. “Just three weeks ago, I visited that balcony with him and was on it with him smoking a cigarette, as well.
“It’s a balcony that has very small rails/guards — an emergency/fire escape balcony – and he was leaning his back towards it like sitting on the ledge of the rail, and he fell from his backside onto the floor,” he added.
Leduc later said that the balcony was located “on the backside of the building,” and was not available solely for Rick Genest’s personal use.
Yahoo News reports that the Canadian authorities and Lady Gaga have stated that the death was a suicide, but Leduc claimed Genest “didn’t jump from the third floor like they’re making it seem,” adding that the 32-year-old model and actor “didn’t leave any notes” and had “actually made plans for a couple things that week.”
“For us, the family and close entourage, we feel there’s too many inconsistencies around his death to rule it as a suicide, and for people to jump to conclusions that rapidly was disappointing,” Leduc said.
Genest’s manager also said that on Wednesday morning, he received a “beautiful” Facebook message from Genest, “saying that he appreciated our relationship.”
“I responded to his message at 10:30 in the morning, but he didn’t have his phone on him that day, I guess, and didn’t see my responses, and then it happened around 5 o’clock that evening,” he said.
The death has been announced of the Chairman, former Inspector General of Police and the chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Alhaji Ibrahim Coomassie.
Alhaji Dahiru Coomassie, a younger brother to the deceased, confirmed the death on Thursday in Katsina.
He said that Coomassie died in this evening after a protracted illness at Amadi Rimi Specialist Hospital, Katsina.
He died at the age of 76.
Coomasie will be buried in Katsina on Friday after Juma’at prayers.
Renowned South African musician, Ali Katt is dead. He passed on at the age of 60 after an elongated illness.
Family spokesperson Jacky Mathala said the singer’s heath had deteriorated since he suffered a stroke about four years ago.
“He was an active person until he was hit by the stroke. That was when he started slowing down,” Mathala said.
Ali Katt (was born in the Johannesburg township of Alexandra. He started preforming in the 1970s and in 1979 began singing for The Minerals. He later met singer Godfrey Nzuza who helped him launch his solo career.
He made a name for himself with ‘Let the Good Times Roll’ which featured on his 1987 debut album Have Mercy. In 1988 he released Killer, a tribute to the conjoined Mathibela twins. The album featured the hit ‘Liar’.
After taking a long break from making music, he made a comeback with Ali Katt and Biggs duet and the album Township Boy. The singer’s memorial service will be held in Tembisa, Johannesburg, on Thursday while his funeral is planned for Saturday. The musician is survived by his sister and two children.
His memorial service will take place on Thursday at Sam Hlalele Hall in Tembisa .His funeral service will be at the same venue on Saturday at 9am, from where everyone will proceed to the cemetery.
Many people were feared killed following a night attack on five predominantly Fulani communities in southern part of Adamawa state, residents and security sources have said.
According to sources, the villages attacked include Bidda, Wubaka, Kaurami Ngengle and Wuro Jauro of Mayo Belwa and Demsa local government areas.
Confirming the attack, Mohammed Bako, the chairman of Mayo-Belwa local government, said he could not give the casualty figure. But he said over 100 houses were razed down by the attackers.
“Yes, there were attacks in some Fulani communities in my local government area by suspected ethnic militias that were said to have crossed over.
“Though, only security can tell the casualty figures, but houses were burnt and domestic animals rustled,’’ Mr Bako noted.
He said that armed police had earlier moved into the area but because of the difficult terrains of the areas, they stopped half way without reaching the attacked villages.
When contacted, the police spokesperson in the state, Othman Abubakar, said police and soldiers had been deployed to the area.
“We are on the top of the situation,” he said. “More anti-riot police and soldiers were deployed to restore peace and normalcy.
“I am yet to get the exact casualty figures but I can assure you that normalcy is being restored,” he said.
Dennis Bali, a youth leader of the Bile ethic group, denied that kinsmen were involved in the attack.
“Well, I am not sure who launched the attack but count our people (Bile) out. Though it could be irate youths from other tribes who were in a pursuit of people (suspected Fulanis) that initially attacked their communities few days ago,” he said.
Another youth in the area, James David, said the attack “purely a reprisal attack.”
“Aggrieved people of Bali followed armed Fulani for a payback attack who had yesterday, attacked their community, destroyed houses and many people were killed,” he said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has described the death of Nigerian ambassador to Sao Tome and Principe, Queen Imaria Worlu, as unfortunate.
The Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Olukunle Bamgbose, stated this in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Abuja, on Wednesday, saying that the ministry received the sad news of her death with pains.
“The death of the ambassador is quite painful,” Bamgbose said.
Mrs Worlu, a career diplomat was said to have died at her duty post in Sao Tome and Principe on Monday July 9.
The late ambassador, who was married to Sam Worlu, a former Director General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON) joined the Nigerian Foreign Service in 1987.
She was nominated by President Muhammadu Buhari as an ambassador in 2017 and she has served in various capacities in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs including as Nigeria High Commissioner to India.
Mrs Worlu, also served as Consular Officer in Nigerian Embassy in Lisbon, Portugal, and has actively participated in United Nations Peace Keeping conferences and Workshops in Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga on Tuesday said floods in Japan, caused by heavy rains, left 134 people dead, while 88 are missing.
As of Monday night, 126 people were considered dead; over 60 were believed to be missing.
“As far as we know, 134 people have died.
“Ten people are officially listed as missing. At the same time, it has been impossible to confirm the security and location of 78 others,’’ Suga told a news conference.
According to the cabinet secretary, the authorities have received about 100 alerts from witnesses who said they saw floodwater washing away a car with people inside.
“To aid the damaged areas, two billion yen (about 18 million dollars) has been allocated,’’ Suga added.
Heavy rain poured down on the southwest and center of Japan earlier this month, causing flooding and landslides.
About 1,800 people were evacuated from the affected areas by Monday night, over 11,000 people were staying in special shelters. Power was cut in over 20,000 households.
(Sputnik/NAN)
Elder statesman and former Minister of Finance Malam Adamu Ciroma is dead.
He was 84 years old. Family sources said the elder statesman died in an Abuja hospital on Thursday after a protracted illness.
The deceased, a founding member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), was finance minister under President Olusegun Obasanjo administration from 1999 to 2003.
He was also minister of agriculture and managing director of New Nigerian newspapers.
Details later…
The Supreme Court on Friday ordered that the name of Late Brig.Gen. James Abdullahi be replaced with his wife, Elizabeth, in an appeal the deceased earlier brought against the Nigerian Army.
The other respondents are listed as Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Defence Staff and the Minister of Defence.
Justice Kumai Akaas while reading the ruling written by Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, held that the decision was novel as it was guided by other considerations.
According to him, an action summarily would come to an end when an applicant in the matter dies, but that the prevailing circumstance surrounding the case warranted this intervention.
Akaas said the unanimous decision stemmed from the simple reasoning that all objections raised in the notice of appeal by the original applicant should still be considered on their merit.
He said there was merit in the application by the deceased’s widow to be substituted as the new appellant.
Elizabeth brought the application fundamentally under the powers conferred upon the court by Section 6 (6) (a) of the 1999 Constitution.
She filed the application on April 27, 2015 following the death of her husband on October 22, 2014.
Elizabeth had prayed for an order substituting Abdullahi’s name for the purpose of continuing the prosecution.
She also prayed for an order granting her the leave to amend the notice of appeal filed by her late husband on May 22, 2009.
She said there was obvious challenge to the judgment of the court of appeal affirming the deceased applicant conviction.
Abdullahi was convicted to 10 years by General Court Martial on September 30, 2005 for offences of stealing various sums of money totaling N33.5m being property of the Nigerian Armed Forces.
The court also convicted him for a conduct prejudicial to good service and discipline.
The judgment, which purportedly affirmed the decision of the General Court Martial as confirmed by the Army Council, directed the forfeiture of the deceased landed property by way of restitution.
Meanwhile, the General Court Martial as confirmed by the Army Council had directed the deceased to refund N33.5m within 90 days or the property be confiscated to recover the amount.
The appellant had argued that the property, which the respondents purportedly confiscated to recover the said amount only was valued since January 20, 2005 at N83.1m.
The appellant had argued that the General Court Martial might have ordered the forfeiture of the property but that the decision of the confirming authority was for the properly to be confiscated to recover N33.5m.
Elizabeth, therefore, averred that the error noticed in the judgment had adversely affected her and the five children the marriage with Abdullahi produced.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that no date has been fixed for the hearing of the appeal.
There was pandemonium on Saturday (today) at the Agege Local Government Area in Lagos as a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was shot dead during the party’s local council congress.
The member, identified as Nurudeen Olanose, was allegedly shot at Central School, Dopemu, during a fracas that ensued after voting had ended on Saturday.
Two others are in critical condition while nine people have been arrested and taken to Area G Police Division in Agege.
When contacted, Chike Oti, the Spokesperson of the Lagos State Police Command, said “I’ll get back to you.”
However, there are different accounts of what led to the shooting at the congress venue in Agege.
A witness said violence broke out after Mudashiru Obasa, the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, visited the venue.
“Obasa came to the venue at Dopemu, from nowhere a gunshot killed one of the party members. As he was going, his security men just dragged the guy that was shot, they dropped him on the other side of the road in order for him to pass and run away,” said the witness, who declined to be named for “political reasons”.
“Not quite 10 minutes later, another person was shot (dead) by Obasa’s boys again, and one other person was shot by the leg.”
Musibau Razak, the spokesperson for the Lagos Speaker, said his principal did not attend the congress at Dopemu.
“It is a lie,” Razak said when questioned.
“From my investigation, it is the APC local government congress in Agege and those who were supposed to be at the congress venue were there, they did their congress and left. But you know in politics, there will always be disgruntled elements, I think that was what happened.
“What happened at Dopemo had nothing to do with my boss.
“Of course, as a member of APC and a Speaker, if anything happens he will be contacted and he will make necessary arrangement for peace to reign. Policemen were there, SSS were there, the INEC was there, so nobody should link that thing to the Speaker. The Speaker’s effort is to maintain peace.”
Rotimi Sulyman, Media Adviser to Ganiyu Egunjobi, the Chairman of Agege local government, said one person died from the violence.
He also said that Mr Obasa was “nowhere near” the congress venue.
“After the election has been concluded, some people who felt they are fast losing the grip of the party, they started fomenting trouble and in the course of it one of the persons loyal to our camp died,” he said.