TheNewsGuru

Tag: Family

  • Photo: Father, mother, eleven children test positive for coronavirus

    Photo: Father, mother, eleven children test positive for coronavirus

    An entire Spanish family including eleven children have contracted the Coronavirus.

    According to DailyMail UK, the Cebrian Gervas family from Valladolid in north-west Spain have all been forced to go under strict isolation in their home after every single one of them was diagnosed with the virus.

    Mother, Irene Gervas was the first family to test positive for COVID-19, before her husband, Jose Maria Cebrian and their eleven children, Carmen (15), Fernando (14), Luiz (12), Juan Pablo (11), twins Miguel and Manuel (10), Alvaro (8), Irene (5), Alicia (4), Helena (3), and Jose Maria (1) were all diagnosed with the disease.

    Father Jose Maria Cebrian told local media: “The children fell one by one. Some of them got over it better and some of them a bit worse. As the virus takes five or six days to show up when you feel bad you start to recall and then you think ‘ok!”

    “In our case, they (the children) are sick one day, they have a headache, they vomit and after vomiting, they feel better. The day after they don’t even remember.”

    Since testing positive on March 14, the family is under a strict lockdown as they could infect others due to the high number of family members under the same roof.

    Cebrian added: “The doctor told us that we will have to stay at least two more weeks on an absolute lockdown because of the viral load that we have. If we go out and take it out we could start a source in Valladolid.

    Their son is only allowed to go out to the pharmacy so long as he wears a face mask and gloves.

    Cebrian also said: “He is the only one who goes out a bit. I take out the rubbish and he is the messenger. When we get our groceries delivered they leave it in the garage and my son goes down to pick it up.”

    The family said they are keeping their children entertained using technical devices like laptops and mobile phones and are homeschooling them from Monday to Friday.

    Jose Maria said: “It is important they do not have the feeling that this is chaos, so they have classes from Monday to Friday.”

    Spain has recorded more than 117,000 coronavirus cases and nearly 11,000 deaths.

  • Marriage goes with humility – Francis Ewherido

    By Francis Ewherido

    An-about-to-get-married young man overstepped his bounds recently. He was told to apologise, but he bluntly refused due to ego. He would rather cut his nose to spite his face than say, “I’m sorry.”

    As I thought over his case, I felt pity for him and even more pity for the fiancée. A potential spouse, who does not know how to apologise when he is wrong, is a monster movie in the making. For his marriage to work, it needs to be lopsided so that the wife will apologise when she is wrong and behave as if nothing happened or also apologise to him when he is wrong. It is not workable on the long run. It will never work in this age.

    It might have worked some 50 years ago when many marriages were tilted in favour of the man. Even then, these lopsided marriages were not happy marriages. I knew some while growing up. At least two of the women in such marriages died suddenly. There were no proper diagnosis then, but you know what causes sudden death in such situations: heart attack, heart failure or stroke.

    The young man is immature. Quite often, wherever pride dwells, its neighbours are usually immaturity, inferiority complex and insecurity. I have said it all in my book, Life Lessons from Mudipapa, “Humility is a virtue that many purpose-driven people have… Purpose-driven people have undergone a journey of self-discovery and are self-assured and very secure…They have so much to brag about, but simply stay humble…Many arrogant people are insecure and their arrogance is armour to protect their vulnerable low self-esteem. Wealth, power and positions do not cure insecurity; self-discovery, truly accepting who you are and inner peace are the cure for insecurity.”

    This young man probably suffers from low self-esteem and insecurity. He is not ready for marriage. Marriage is for people who are physically, psychologically and emotionally mature. Each party coming into marriage should be self-assured and comfortable with himself/herself. As the late Steven Covey said, there should be self-mastery and victory over self, ‘private victories must precede public victories’ and only independent people should go into marriage because interdependence (that marriage is) is a decision only independent people can make.”

    The problem with many marriages today is that too many dependent (immature and insecure) people went into an interdependent relationship that a marriage is. Any slight storm, their pride gets in the way of finding solutions; sometimes they run to friends or family for solutions that are within. If the people they ran to are Ahithophels, they give ruinous counsel and before you know it, the marriage is over.

    Forgiveness is often touted as a virtue necessary for the success of any marriage. That is very true, but forgiveness goes with a concomitant responsibility. We call it a contrite heart, which flows from a humble disposition. Even God demands a contrite heart from us to receive forgiveness. There is no way you will continue to offend your spouse without apologizing and he or she will continue forgiving you. Maybe you are reading too much of Matthew 18:21, where Peter asked Jesus how many times he should forgive his brother who wronged him and Jesus said 70 times seven, which means always.

    May be you should now read Matthew 5: 23-24, where Jesus preached about reconciliation: “Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” How about also reading Matt 18:15-18, where Jesus, just before issuing the statement on unlimited forgiveness to Peter, also said that an unrepentant person may be cast out of the community after three tries to get him to say he is sorry? Only the humble seek reconciliation.

    Communication is another ingredient that is often mentioned when talking about successful marriages. It is not just communication, but empathic communication. Covey says empathic communication means first to listen to your spouse, empathise with him/her to know and understand where he/she is coming from. It is after you have understood him/her that you can respond, based on your understanding of where he/she is coming from. The other bit of empathic communication is that you do not necessarily have to agree with the views or position of your spouse, but it helps to know and understand why he/she reasons that way. That way, you can respect your spouses’ contrary views even if you do not share them. Will a proud spouse go through this length? Not likely. Only his/her ways are likely to be right. Only humble people engage in empathic communication.

    Mutual respect is another very important ingredient for a successful marriage. Marriage works better when the spouses respect each other. “Respect begets respect,” so they say. I do not see how a marriage can work where instead of respect, the other spouse gets insults, gets put down, gets humiliation privately and publicly; the marriage will not survive. There are a few of such marriages where the couples are still under in the same roof, but what you have is a walking corpse, not a marriage.

    The couples should not only respect each other but extend the respect each other’s extended families. One of the valuable pieces of advice my elder brother, Fr. Tony, gave us while we were preparing for marriage is that we must respect each other’s family. After over 20 years in marriage, I fully understand and appreciate the advice. If you hear some of the cases of divorce today, the main reason is that he/she “does not respect my family.” When a man leaves his parents and joins his wife, they start a new family (nuclear family). That does not obliterate the love for the families they came from. People remember the owner of the breasts they sucked as infants, the man who toiled to give them the life they live today and the siblings they shared the earlier parts of their lives with. Do not toy with your spouse’s extended family. But can a proud husband or wife understand this? I doubt.

    I have seen husbands/wives treat their spouses’ families like filth.
    Frequent arguments are also likely to happen in a marriage where one or both parties are arrogant. The falcon will not hear the falconer and things will fall apart. Abuse is not far away in such cases. Abuse can be mental, sexual, emotional and physical. Once abuse creeps into marriage, it must stop or the marriage should end. My belief in the indissolubility of marriage does not include abusive marriages.

    Our young man and his sorts have their work cut out. They need to grow up fast. As far as I am concerned, they should put marriage on hold and grow up first. Why marry today and jump out tomorrow?

  • Leah Sharibu’s family reacts as daughter delivers baby in Boko Haram custody

    Leah Sharibu’s family reacts as daughter delivers baby in Boko Haram custody

    The family of abducted schoolgirl by Boko Haram terrorists in 2018, Leah Sharibu, has described reports that she had a baby boy in captivity as a rumour.

    It has been gathered she was married off to a top Boko Haram commander who lives outside Nigeria.

    A senior lecturer at the Department of Political Science, University of Jos, Dr. Gloria Puldu, who speaks for the family, said that all they wanted was to have Leah home alive, with or without a baby.

     

    Some media reports had earlier reported that Leah had a baby for a Boko Haram commander in Niger Republic and that she would have been released some months ago but for her pregnancy.

    According to Punch, Puldu said, “I have seen reports that Leah had a baby boy. That is just a rumour as far as we are concerned. What we even desire is to see a proof of life so that we see Leah by ourselves. If they are able to have Leah safe, we will understand.

    “The most important thing is that we want her to be alive. And if she is alive, we will praise God for that. They should release her, despite whatever condition she is in. That is all; it doesn’t matter whether she is pregnant or with a baby. Is it not better to have your child alive? So, it doesn’t matter, all we are interested in is her life and safety.”

    Puldu also noted that they had unconfirmed information that Leah was still alive.

    She said, “I spoke with Jennifer, who was in Boko Haram captivity, last Monday or Tuesday. I was able to speak with her one-on-one and she told us that she did not see Leah in captivity, but she was with Alison Gada, who informed her that Leah was alive, healthy and not dead.”

    Incidentally, President of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (Church of the Brethren), Rev Joel Billi, told one of our correspondents that a journalist who has access to Boko Haram, Ahmad Salkida, told him Leah had become a mother.

    The cleric said he got the call from Salkida on the same day the journalist announced the execution of the Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Michika Local Government Area of Adamawa State, Rev Lawan Andimi, by Boko Haram.

    He said he had known Salkida as a young boy while he was a pastor in Biu.

    Billi said, “Ahmed Salkida, whom I knew as a young boy when I was a pastor in Biu, called me to inform me that Andimi had been gruesomely murdered.

    “I was also told by Ahmad Salkida that Leah Sharibu had given birth to a baby. I was devastated. I was staggering and almost fell down because I was shocked to hear that. I couldn’t absorb the shock because Leah Sharibu had become a symbol of the Christian faith. I consider her Christian faith stronger than even that of many church leaders. When I heard that Leah Sharibu was now a mother, I had to ask more than three times just to be sure. Ahmad Salkida said, ‘Leah Sharibu is now a mother.’”

  • Olamide shares Christmas themed family pictures

    Nigerian rapper and singer, Olamide a.k.a Baddo in the spirit of Christmas shared a beautiful family photo featuring his two sons, Batife and Tunrepin, and his fiancée, Bukunmi.

     

    The rapper has been nominated for several awards to recognize his role in advancing Nigeria’s hip hop culture.

    He made the headlines recently after a group of Nigerians took to social media platforms to rate Rema, a newly signed young artiste under Mavin Records, Don Jazzy’s label imprint, above him.

    Olamide had also dominated talks on social media after he was alleged to have impregnated Maria Okan, a Nigerian OAP, shortly after he had welcomed a second child with Adebukumi Aisha, his fiance who resides in the United States.

     

  • Fatal accident kills 28 members of same family

    Fatal accident kills 28 members of same family

    A ghastly accident on the Bauchi-Ningi federal highway has killed at least 28 members of the same family.

    They were reportedly burnt beyond recognition. They were travelling to Yola from Dutsinma, Katsina state, to visit relations, following harvest.

    A relation of the victims, Abdullahi Yamadi, who is the Secretary, North-West Zone of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, confirmed the accident, describing it as sad.

    “They were 29 in the vehicle and all of them died except the driver, who survived.

    “This is a very sad news and very pathetic for 28 people from the same family to die in an accident in one day”, Yamadi said.

  • 27-year-old graduate commits suicide to to escape disturbances from family, landlord

    27-year-old graduate commits suicide to to escape disturbances from family, landlord

    A 27-year-old graduate, Nsisong Okon Etim, has committed suicide at Efiat Ikot Edo community in Uyo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.
    He was said to have killed himself on Tuesday over alleged frequent disturbances by his mother, step-brother and landlord.
    The deceased, a graduate, disclosed the reasons for taking his life in a suicide note he dropped before hanging himself.
    In the note, the late Nsisong said: “I am ending my miserable life to escape from constant worries and disturbances by my mother, step-brother and the landlord, whose shop I rented to sell cooking gas.”
    The suicide has continued to shock residents of Ukpong Edet Street in the Effiat Ikot Edo Offot community where the deceased lived with his mother.
    Family sources said the deceased completed the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme last year and went into the business of selling cooking gas on the Old Ring Road, Uyo, “because of inability to get a job.”
    The deceased, one of the sons of the late village head of the community, Chief Etim Eton, according to her sister, Miss Edidiong Okon Etim, “was very discreet and always kept to himself.”
    “He rarely ate our mother’s food. He usually cooked for himself.”
    It was gathered that the deceased, after returning from shop in the evening, locked himself in his room, removed his clothes and wore boxer shorts. He broke the ceiling, tied a rope to the rafters and strangled himself.”
    His mother, Mrs. Patience Eton, who was in tears on Wednesday morning when his remains were being lowered from the rafters for ritual and burial, was too shock to speak.
    The youth leader (Obong Effak) of Umoebet\Esuene streets, Comrade Godwin Okon Sunday, expressed sadness about what he described as “an unfortunate incident.”
    “I saw him recently. He was an introvert.
    “I think based on the content of his suicide note, he was frustrated following the hardship in the country,” the youth leader said.
    He urged the government to create what he called “economic windows and social security palliatives, to cushion the effect of the prevailing harsh economic realities caused by high unemployment rate in the country.”

  • Police arrest man who set ex-girlfriend’s family ablaze in Ondo

    Police arrest man who set ex-girlfriend’s family ablaze in Ondo

    The Ondo State Police Command have arrested, Deji Adenuga, the suspected murderer who set ablaze nine members of his estranged girlfriend’s family in Igbodigo, in Okitipupa Local Government Area of the State.

    The Public Relations Officer of the command, SP Femi Joseph confirmed the arrest on Monday in Akure.

    Joseph said the suspect was arrested under a bridge, along Lagos/Benin Expressway in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State.

    According to him, Adenuga was said to be one of the inmates who escaped from the Olokuta Prison in Akure, Ondo State during the prison break that occurred in 2013.

    Joseph said the suspect had been arrested and would be paraded on Tuesday at the command’s headquarters, Akure, the state capital.

  • Hold IG, APC responsible should anything happen to me, my family – Saraki tells Nigerians

    Hold IG, APC responsible should anything happen to me, my family – Saraki tells Nigerians

    Senate President Bukola Saraki has raised the alarm, alleging threat to his safety and that of the members of his immediate family in his home state, Kwara.

    The Senate President noted that if anything happens to him or that of the members of his family, the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris should be held responsible.

    Addressing reporters in Abuja on Friday, Saraki also fingered thugs allegedly sponsored by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the police as instigators.

    Saraki, who is the Director General of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Organisation, described the alleged conspiracy against him by the thugs and the police as sinister, uncivilised and unfortunate.

    He said: “I call you today to bring to your attention the sad development in my home state, Kwara State, and the role of the security agencies in giving cover to people who are unleashing violence on our people because they are surprised and cannot understand how and why the people continue to give massive and overwhelming support to the PDP across the state.

    “Also Yesterday (Thursday), these same APC thugs shielded by policemen went to my family quarters in Agbaji in Ilorin and vandalized houses, shops and inflicted wounds with matchete on three people.

    “All these destructions took place in the presence of policemen who came with them but watched without any care, as the APC thugs and supporters unleashed violence on our people.

    “For me, personally, I believe the decision to attack people and properties in my family ancestral compound is a direct affront and attack on my person.

    “And whatever signals these APC elements with support from the police believe they are sending is definitely sinister, uncivilized and unfortunate”.

    He expressed regrets that the police have continued to show undisguised hostility toward him and his supporters in the state.

    According to him, this latest round of violence was part of efforts to jeopardise and undermine his personal security and that of his immediate and larger family members.

    Narrating his ordeals further, Saraki said: “Three incidents will illustrate what I am saying to you. Yesterday, after the APC concluded their campaigns in Ilorin, some of their supporters and thugs moved around town and in areas like Adewole/Adeta, Ile Otan and Ubandawaki/Pakata where they saw our people gathered holding their weekly ward meetings.

    “They disrupted the meetings by shouting their party slogan and when our people responded by mentioning our own slogan, they fired gunshots into their midst in Adewole/Adeta.

    “They also inflicted matchete cuts on some of them. As a result of this attack, two people suffered bullet wounds”.

    The former Kwara State Governor said reports of the attacks were filed in relevant police stations in Ilorin but expressed doubts that anything tangible and constructive would come out of the reports.

    He stated further that as part of the plot, the police, under the directive of the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, had, on Thursday, commenced the transfer of Divisional Police Officers (DPOs) out of Kwara State.

    Saraki called on Nigerians and the entire world to hold the IGP responsible if anything untoward happens to him and members of his family.

    “While the police are free to take decisions on the deployment of their personnel, we found the postings in Kwara State strange and more than a mere coincidence.

    “It should also be noted that IGP has posted three different Commissioners of Police to Kwara State in the last six months.

    “In fact, the previous and current Commissioner of Police in the state got strict instructions from the IGP not to relate or engage with the Senate President,” Saraki added.

    According to him, the usual practice has been that the Commissioner of Police personally ensures the security of the Senate President whenever he visits his home state.

    He said all his predecessors were accorded that security cover whenever they visited their home states and that he also enjoyed it in his first year in office from 2015 to 2016.

    Saraki expressed apprehensions over his personal safety as the ward to ward electioneering campaign is about to begin across the state.

    According to him: “We need to make it clear to the entire world that now that ward to ward campaign is about to begin in the state and I am set to participate in that grassroots campaign, as I have always done, nobody is sure what instructions Mr. Idris has given to the police command in the state.

    “Thus, the entire world should hold the IGP responsible if anything untoward happens to members of my family and myself.”

    Deploring the role of the IGP in the entire plot, Saraki continued, “Do not forget that before now, this same IGP has tried several tricks to implicate me in some criminal charges.

    “First, he arrested some cultists and was about to compel them to claim they worked for me. We exposed the trick early enough and the media also pointed out holes in his story. He quickly withdrew that.

    “Later, he went on to the Offa robbery case and politicised the investigation in order to rope me.

    “In the process of forcing suspects to implicate me, the principal suspect died in their custody.

    “He has also not succeeded with that plot. Who knows what else he may have planned.

    “Now, that full campaign is on, which requires my going round, I want the world to hold him personally responsible if anything happens to me.”

  • Family announces burial arrangements for late Anenih

    The body of a former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Chief Tony Anenih will be buried on Saturday, December 1, in his mausoleum, located in his country home, Uzenema-Arue, Uromi in Edo State.

    According to a statement signed and released on Tuesday by his first son, Tony Anenih Jr, the decision was arrived at by the family and the Edo State Government.

    There will be funeral wakes in Abuja and Benin City that will culminate in his interment in Uromi.

    The statement said there will be vigil mass and a session of tributes at the Ecumenical Centre, Abuja on Tuesday, November 27, at 5pm.

    “This will be followed on Friday, November 30, 2018, at the University of Benin Sports Complex, Ugbowo, Edo State by lying-in-state from 1pm, with Requiem Mass at 4pm while tribute session starts at 5pm.

    “On Saturday, December 1, 2018, the body will leave for a funeral requiem at St. Anthony Catholic Cathedral, Uromi, at 12 noon, to be followed immediately by interment in the Mausoleum and reception at Ahojie Stadium, Uromi.

    “The Anenih Family recognises and appreciates the expression of commitment of Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State to accord Chief Anthony Akhakon Anenih a state burial as well as the involvement in the funeral, by the Governments of Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta and Rivers states,” the statement added.

    Recall that Anenih, who held the traditional title of Iyasele of Esanland, died on Sunday, October 28 in Abuja.

     

  • Four family members die after consuming `Amala’ in Ilorin

    Four members of a family in Ilorin were feared dead after the consumption of `Amala’ meal, suspected to be poisonous.

    lt was reported that four others who took from the meal, had also been hospitalised at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH).

    The incident happened at Magaji-Ogo community behind Kwara State College of Arabic and Islamic Legal Studies, in Ilorin West Local Government Area.

    A source said the victims took the meal on Sunday night before three of them were found dead the following morning.

    According to him, the fourth casualty, who was the head of the family, died on Wednesday.

    “Those feared dead are the family head, his sister and two children, while those recuperating in the hospital are the mother and three other children.

    “The corpses of the deceased had been buried in accordance with Islamic rite. They were eight that took the meal.

    “Though we are not sure yet of the cause of death, the meal was taken alongside amphibian and there is a suspicion that they died of poisoning.

    “Officials from the state Ministry of Health were in the community to take samples of the meal for test but nothing was yet to be said of the findings,’’ the source said.

    The family, it was learnt is an extension of the District Head of Adewole, popularly known as Alangua Adewole in Ilorin.

    Meanwhile, Dr Oluwatosin Fakayode, Di rector, Public Health and Disease Control in the state Ministry of Health, confirmed the incident.

    He, however, said that the ministry was yet to identify the cause of the “ugly and unfortunate occurrence.”

    Fakayode told our reporter that samples from the meal were taken for laboratory investigation, which would be out within the next 24 hours.

    “As it stands, it is difficult to say the cause until the result is out.

    “However, we are definite that it is food poison because of the symptoms, but we are not sure of the food item that is culpable.

    “We learnt they took these amphibian that they hawk around with it. So we are not sure if it is the source of the death because some of them are poisonous.

    “Though we have not identified the culprit in terms of whether it is organism or chemical, definitely, it is a symptom of food poison.

    “But our suspicion is the amphibian. It could be preservatives that were used on the items that were used for the meal,’’ he said.