OPINION: Why Dino Melaye should run for President

             

Editor's note: Bonaventure Melah is an Abuja based Media Entrepreneur and Public/Political Analyst. In this article he speaks on Dino Melaye and the 2019 presidential elections. It is quite ironic to hear that Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello is alleged to be the person sponsoring efforts to recall one of the brightest and obviously the most out-spoken and audacious Senator in Nigeria’s recent history, Dino Melaye. In serious societies, those who should be preparing to contest the 2019 presidential election should be the likes of Senator Dino Melaye, former governor of Cross River Donald Duke, Governor of Kaduna State Nasir El- Rufai, former Central Bank Governor Chukwuma Soludo, Governor of Gombe State Ibrahim Dankwambo, Founder of Heirs Holding, Tony Elumelu, the former Agriculture Minister Akinwumi Adesina and Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala. There are many other Nigerians that are fit to make this list. But this is Nigeria where leaders emerge on the basis of the religious, ethnic and other mundane considerations, instead of merit and track record of achievements. And so, in making political permutations and calculations, we disqualify our best eleven, due largely because it is not the turn of their geopolitical zones to produce president. Or that we cannot have a Muslim-Muslim or Christian-Christian ticket; and all sorts of retrogressive excuses. Placed side by side with his colleagues in the current Eight Assembly and others in recent times, even the worst political enemies of Dino Melaye would agree that he has done well as a lawmaker. The only thing they can say in a muffled voice is that “The man talks too much,” or that “Dino is an irritant,” or that “He is so flamboyant;”all such balderdash. How do well meaning members of the society rate a lawmaker and decide whether or not he or she has done well or is doing well? The generally acceptable measure is in active representation which can be seen from how many bills and motions the representative initiated or co-sponsored; how active and articulate he is during debates at plenary; how much the representative has influenced his colleagues or ministers to attract developmental projects to his constituency and at the national level, how such a representative has contributed to making quality laws. There is no Nigerian therefore that would say that Dino is a dull Senator. No one can count him among the bench warmers who sit all days without saying either ‘aye’ or ‘nay’. I don’t think anybody has caught Dino on camera sleeping while debate is going on. Rather, Dino has helped to place Kogi West Senatorial District on national consciousness. From the House of Representatives where graduating to the red chambers, (the Senate), Dino has always been visible at plenary, raising motions, debating, arguing, sometimes dramatising. Apart from actively representing his constituency, Dino has been a voice for the voiceless, standing against injustice and obnoxious, anti-people state policies as well as shouting to expose corruption, all these without fear of whose egg would be broken. It was Dino, more than any other Senator that resisted the introduction of an offensive policy asking car owners to go and pay for Duties which was purely a responsibility of dealers and importers. Although the Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service insisted not to appear before the Senate in uniform, but the organisation was compelled by the Senate through a debate led by Dino, to suspend the implementation of that policy, indefinitely. How better then can a lawmaker perform before he is awarded medal of honour by his fellow countrymen and women? Yes, Dino fought on the floor of the House when he was a Representative. His clothes were torn in the process. But that is not an abomination for a lawmaker. Lawmakers fight and throw chairs and tear clothes, all over the world. In November 2010, Argentine lawmakers fought physically following disagreements over budget after opposition MP Graciela Camano slapped another member Carlos Kunkelo in the face. In October 1997, members of parliament in the Uttar Pradesh State used microphone stands as spears on themselves during a violent dispute. So, lawmakers fight, on the basis of principle, in defence of the interest of their constituencies and political parties among other reasons. Although there is no specific constitutional provision on reasons why a lawmaker can be recalled, responsible citizens are expected to append their signatures on any paper seeking to recall their representatives on the basis of poor performance which includes non-sponsorship of motions, repeated incidences of sleeping while debates are going on, inability to attract government attention and projects to your constituency, unacceptable number of absence from plenary sessions, being convicted for criminal offences and similar acts. But in this case, there are allegations that money is being used to induce people to sign the recall register even as reports have emerged that ghosts, spirits, dead bodies, foreigners and unidentifiable objects (UFOs) are among the names in the register submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), all in order to recall the man who has made Nigerian youths proud due to his audacity and fearlessness in the face of many political tigers in the country. Up until now, we have not been told in clear terms what allegations are contained in the petition written against Dino Melaye and for which reason(s) the plot to recall him is hinged. Should an active representative of the people be recalled just because he is having frosty political relationship with his state government as alleged? This is especially when such a government has been owing workers in the state for months in spite of the billions of Naira collected from Federal Government as the State’s share of the Paris Club refund windfall. Is it not ironic that such a government that has been severally accused of poor performance by many stakeholders in the state both in human and capital development is reportedly spending money to recall one of Nigeria’s best lawmaker while the people wallow in poverty and its attendant sufferings?

source:naij.com

Saraki: FG to send CCT records to Appeal Court this week

Government to validate its notice of appeal filed against the CCT’s judgment, which recently discharged and acquitted Saraki of all the 18 charges of false assets declaration.

According to legal experts, the Court of Appeal only assigns an appeal number to a case after receiving the “records of appeal” transmitted to it from the lower court.

The records transmission will set the stage for exchange of briefs between the parties involved in the case before a date for hearing of the appeal can be fixed by the Court of Appeal.

Ahead of the records transmission, which our correspondent gathered would likely take place this week, it was learnt that the legal team of the Federal Government and Saraki’s lawyers had, last week, participated in a “settlement of records” exercise.

During the records settlement exercise, the two parties agreed on the records of the trial before the CCT that would be sent to the Court of Appeal.

Our correspondent learnt from credible sources involved in the case that the document, which the appellant (the Federal Government) and the respondent (Saraki) settled on, were over 3,000 pages.

SUNDAY PUNCH also gathered that neither of the parties is foreclosed from seeking additional documents to be transmitted along with the already settled documents.

The record of the proceedings, which started in September 2015 and ended on June 14, 2016, when the Danladi Umar-led CCT dismissed the 18 counts preferred against Saraki, was said to have formed the bulk of the documents to be transferred to the Court of Appeal.

The documents agreed upon by parties to the appeal for transmission to the Court of Appeal were said to include the application to prefer charge; the first (original) charge; the amended charge; and the further amended charge.

The records also comprised Saraki’s motion on notice dated March 4, 2016, which sought the dismissal of the case on among other grounds that he was not invited to make a statement before he was charged.

Also to be included in the file are, prosecution’s counter-affidavit to the said motion; the prosecution’s further counter-affidavit to the said motion; the defendant’s further affidavit to the motion and a copy of the CCT’s delivered on March 24, 2016 dismissing the motion, among others.

Our correspondent learnt that the parties would return to the CCT within the week for the “compilation of records” during which they would both witness the sorting out of the various documents and include them in file to be transferred to the Court of Appeal.

After the records compilation, the file would be sent for transmission to the Court of Appeal.

The Head, Press and Public Relations of the CCT, Mr. Ibraheem Al-Hassan, confirmed that the records settlement took place last week.

He also said he did not know the volume of the records to be transmitted, because he did not participate in the records settlement exercise.

Al-Hassan said, “The parties involved in the case met last week to settle the records of appeal. I cannot confirm the documents that were agreed on.

“I also do not know the volume because I did not participate in the exercise of settlement but the two parties have agreed on a date for the transmission of the records.”

Saraki, who was charged before the tribunal in September 2015, was on June 14, 2017 discharged and acquitted by the Danladi Umar-led CCT.

The two-man panel of the CCT, in its unanimous judgment upheld Saraki’s no-case submission and exonerated him of all the 18 amended charges.

The judgment of the CCT was anchored on the grounds that the prosecution, after calling four witnesses and tendering 48 documentary exhibits, was unable to establish any prima facie case against the Senate President.

But the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, through its private prosecutor, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), on June 20, 2017, filed an 11-ground notice of appeal against the CCT’s judgment.

The charges instituted against Saraki before the CCT related to the alleged breaches of the code of conduct for public officers, acts which were said to be punishable under the Constitution and the CCB/CCT Act.

He allegedly committed the breaches by making false declaration of his assets while Governor of Kwara State between 2003 and 2007 for his first term and between 2007 and 2011 for his second term and from 2011 to 2015 as senator.
Source:punchng

UNILAG invents new method of diagnosing malaria

University of Lagos (UNILAG) said it invented a new method of diagnosing malaria, following intensive research by its Department of Medical Micro Biology and Parasitology.

Prof. Wellington Oyibo, the Director, Research and Innovation of the institution, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos.

Oyibo, a lecturer in the department, said the university’s research on malaria testing without the use of blood was validated in 2016.

He said that by this feat, the institution was fast becoming a clinical trial site for diagnosis in the country.

According to him, the institution has provided a platform and an enabling environment for researchers that have been providing solutions to life challenges.

The Professor of Medical Parasitology noted that having worked in the malaria space, he discovered that malaria was a major health challenge in the country.

He added that “one of the major challenges in managing the menace has to do with case management, as there are assumptions that all fevers are malaria.

“This leads to excessive diagnosis and over treatment.”

He recalled that the policy that malaria test should be done before treatment was approved since 2010, noting however, that “in spite of this policy, people are still not doing tests.

“So, one way by which we can encourage diagnosis is by introducing tests that will
not require blood from patients.

Under the new test formula, medicine retailers will be able to carry out diagnosis before dispensing drugs.

“If we keep selling drugs for a disease that does not exist, it will amount to waste of resources and patients will be suffering.’’

The lecturer said that the research was conducted in collaboration with a group of researchers in Baltimore, U.S., adding that the outcome was to diagnose malaria using urine.

He explained that “the first urine malaria test’’ has been validated.

According to him, the urine malaria test is the first clinical and global trial to be done in the world.

He said the test had been registered by both the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration Control (NAFDAC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA).

He noted that the development was remarkable and groundbreaking, considering the fact that one could carry out malaria test without taking blood.

He appealed to the Federal Government to create easy access for people to test for malaria through the new approach.

This, he said, is possible by establishing testing centres in various parts of the country.

“This achievement shows that UNILAG is becoming a clinical trial site for diagnosis.

“In the past, trial test are conducted in India and Bangladesh or somewhere in Asia for Nigerians.

“But now, we are conducting tests for Nigerian patients and we are providing data and that is quite remarkable.’’

Oyibo further said that the new research breakthrough would improve malaria diagnosis and treatment.

Source: the nation

Tuition fees hike a rumour – FUT Minna

The Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology (FUT), Minna, Prof. Musibau Akanji, has described as baseless rumour, the proposed hike in tuition fees by 38 federal universities.

Akanji said there is no plan to hike the tuition fees of federal universities in the country.

He said that the university management condemned the allegation in all its totality, stating that the rumour was meant to cause panic and confusion.

In a statement signed by the university Deputy Director of Information, Mrs. Lydia Legbo and made available to The Nation, the vice chancellor reiterated that the management of FUT Minna does not collect tuition fees from its students, adding that what the students pay are minimal fees charged for other services.

He added that the fees have not been reviewed in the last two years.

“Note that the review of fees/charges is solely the responsibility of the university Senate and there has not been any meeting of such in recent time where fees increment was contemplated, discussed or announced.

“Normally, such reviews are done at the beginning of a new academic session and the university is currently in the middle of the second semester of the 2016/2017 academic session and has no intention to increase fees,” the statement said.

Source: the nation

Osun student is best medicine graduate in Ukraine

Dr.Lateefat Abiola, the best graduating medical student at V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University in Ukraine, was on top of the world 30 June as she delivered the valedictory speech.

Abiola, an ex-student of Osun State University, was sponsored to the Ukrainian university by the state government to complete her studies.

She scored 95.6 per cent to emerge the best not just at her university where she beat 564 other students but overall in Ukraine.

The announcement that her score was the best in the entire Ukraine was made at a Pre-Convocation meeting by the President of the university, Prof Vil S. Bakirov.

Kharkiv University is the only university in Ukraine that has produced three Nobel Prize laureates.

There were 49 other students from Osun state, in her set, sponsored to the school by the Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s administration.

They all passed their exams.

In all, the government sponsored 87 stranded medical students.

Abiola was one of the 85 medical students of the Osun State University (UNIOSUN) left stranded after the National Universities Commission (NUC) in 2012 refused to accredit the course for lack of a medical school.

Source: the nation

Ex-VP Sambo: Security agents want to frame me

•ICPC declines comment

‘My unoccupied house searched four times in six months’

Former Vice-President Namadi Sambo has alleged that security agencies were in desperate moves to rope him for a criminal offence.

He made the allegation over what he said were the repeated raids of his 1, Alimi Road, GRA, Kaduna by security agencies.

The house, though unoccupied, was raided for the fourth time in six months last Wednesday, Sambo said yesterday.

He said in a statement that the security agents were on a “fault-finding mission”.

His spokesman, Umar Sani, who signed the statement said none of the raids was scheduled and the reasons were not “specifically stated.”

Nothing incriminating was found during the four raids but he is “apprehensive” that an incriminating object may be planted in his residence at some point “in order to wilfully and deliberately incriminate him.”

According to Sani, “In the late afternoon of Wednesday, the 28th of June 2017, the Alimi Road, Kaduna un-occupied residence of the former Vice President Arc Mohammed Namadi Sambo was invaded by security operatives armed with a search warrant, who conducted a forensic search of the entire residence.

“Initially, we were at a loss as to their identity but later discovered that they were operatives from the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC). This raid brings to four the number of times the residence was searched within a period of six months and on each occasion valuable fittings were deliberately destroyed.

It is worthy of note to state that no such brazen attempts were made at any point, either at his Link Road Kaduna residence, or his Abuja apartment, which he presently occupy.

“As the visit of the operatives was unscheduled, the reasons for the search were not specifically stated.

“However, the outcome of the search was made known. At the end of the whole exercise, the officers, who carried out the search were satisfied that nothing incriminating was found.

“As a law-abiding citizen, the former Vice-President did not raise any alarm in the previous invasions in view of the fact that he has nothing to hide.

“The recent desperation exhibited by some security agencies in carrying out a raid on an unoccupied residence blocking all entry and exit points, in a commando-style and coming along with a bullion van speaks volumes of the clandestine intention of the security operatives.

“It is therefore worrisome to note that the consistency with which the searches occurred and the intervals between them portrays a desire of a fault-finding mission.

“We are apprehensive that a repeat of such episode will not be surprising if an incriminating object is planted in his residence in order to wilfully and deliberately incriminate him.

“It is against this background that we wish to draw the attention of the unsuspecting members of the public to this phenomenon.

“The desperation of some of the security agencies is glaring by the number of times such searches were conducted and still counting. We hope it is not a way to try to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it.”

However, when contacted the ICPC, which carried out the latest raid said it would not comment on the allegation. According to Mrs. Rasheedat Okoduwa, the ICPC spokesperson, ” We don’t have any comment yet. When we are ready we would issue a statement.”

The former vice president recently visited Acting President Yemi Osinbajo.

Source:the nation

Recall: INEC receives Melaye’s court papers

                                

The Independent National Electoral Commission says it has received court papers in a case filed by Senator Dino Melaye to stop it from verifying the signatures of members of his constituency who are asking the Senate to sack him.

The commission said that the court papers were served on it in Abuja on Wednesday.

“We have received the court papers. The commission was served on Wednesday. We are going to study the papers before knowing what to do. The papers do not mean that we are going to stop what we are doing now. However, we need to study them before knowing what we are going to do,” he said.The Director of Publicity and Voter Education at the commission, Mr. Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, who spoke with our correspondent on the telephone, said the commission would study the court papers before taking a position on it.

It will be recalled that the commission had last Saturday told our correspondent that it merely read the story on the suit filed by Melaye in the media, adding that it would not rely on newspaper publications to do its job.

The commission, therefore, said it would proceed with the programmes it had lined up for the verification of signatures of the voters who asked the senator to return home.

But Melaye’s lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), told our correspondent that the case was actually filed last week Friday.

He said the court might not have been able to serve the commission earlier because “Friday is usually observed as half-working day in Abuja and in other government agencies.

“This is because the workers go for prayers and probably go home from there. So, if the commission said we didn’t serve it earlier, it might be correct.”

The commission, after reviewing the case filed by Melaye, is expected to make a pronouncement if the exercise will commence on July 3, when it is expected to release the timetable for the verification of the signatures.

Melaye had in his suit marked, FHC/ABJ/CS/587/2017, filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja, described the recall petitions as fictitious.

INEC had on Thursday last week written a letter to Melaye to inform him about the demand by the people of his constituency to recall him from the Senate.

Kogi West, which Melaye represents in the Senate, has seven local governments areas.

Signatures and petitions from each of the local government areas were packaged in seven bags, which were tagged according to the names of the local governments, and submitted to the commission.

The local governments and the percentage of voters who signed the recall petition showed that Yagba West had the highest number of voters asking Melaye to return home from the Senate.

The breakdown, as shown in the petition is: Yagba West, 55.7 per cent; Lokoja, 54.8 per cent ; Kogi, 52.77 per cent; Yagba East, 52 per cent; Ijumu (Melaye’s local government), 51.8 per cent; Mopa/Moro, 50.4 per cent  and Kabba/ Bunu, 46.7 per cent.

Surrender or meet deadly end, Ikorodu traditionalists tell Badoo cult

As law enforcement agencies remain helpless in putting a stop to killings in Ikorodu, Lagos, carried out by suspected members of a cult group known as Badoo, traditionalists in the community have taken matters into their hands in a war against the dreaded group.

The cult group is known for wiping out whole families and using objects such as pestles and rocks to smash their victims’ heads.

On Wednesday, about a hundred native doctors garbed in white attire gathered at the palace of the Ayangburen of Ikorodu, Oba Kabiru Shotobi, to express their readiness to combat the group.

Many of them were armed with fetish objects like cow horns tied with red ribbons, chanting war songs.

To kickstart this phase of the “war”, the palace carried out some rituals while residents were advised to stay indoors between 11.30pm on Thursday, June 29 to 5.30am on June 30.

The Oluwo Osugbo of Ikorodu, Chief Adegboyega Adeyeri, who is one of the leaders of the traditionalists in the town, told Saturday PUNCH that they have kick-started the defeat of the Badoo group.

Even though he did not reveal specifics of measures taken, Adeyeri called on all members of the Badoo group to give themselves up as soon as possible.

He said, “We will not give a specific ultimatum to them like our fore-fathers did in the past but there are no two ways about it, all the evil doers would be caught.

“If the spirit of our fore-fathers are still with us, every member of the group or any other person responsible for killings in Ikorodu would all meet a deadly end soon unless they surrender.

“The steps we have taken would ensure that none of them escapes. When things become as worse as this, the steps we have taken become necessary.

“The killers have done their part by carrying out the killings, now we have taken our own steps and it is time for them to start feeling the sting.”

According to Adeyeri, the members of the group have taken oaths of secrecy, which was why those caught never confessed.

“Part of what we have done is to ensure that anytime one of them is caught, the suspect would surely confess by the power of our fore-fathers. All traditionalists have come together as one on this and this alone is an assurance that we cannot fail. No matter how smart or how devilish they are, we will catch them all,” Adeyeri said.

Meanwhile, the Lagos chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria, on the other hand, said it was holding prayer sessions over the matter even though it had not publicised it.

The Lagos Chairman of CAN, Apostle Alexander Bamgbola, told Saturday PUNCH, “We are praying and we are always praying even though we don’t have to publicise the matter. Anything that prayers cannot handle is not an issue.

“We are also praying for the state generally and our nation. And that is all I can say about the matter at this moment.”

One of the leaders of the vigilance groups in Ikorodu, Chief Kamorudeen Bombata, told Saturday PUNCH that vigilantes across Ikorodu now embark on patrol side by side with policemen.

“Nobody is happy about what is going on in Ikorodu at this time. This is why we no longer sleep because of constant patrol in the night,” he said.  This is coming on the heels of the latest killing suspected to have been carried out by the group when a couple – Ike David, 50 and Margret David, 28; and two of their three children Ike David (Jnr.), 5 and Matthew David, 4 – were killed at Olopomeji, Odogunyan around 1am on Wednesday.

The traditional ruler of Igbogbo, one of the suburbs of Ikorodu, Oba Semiu Kasali, told Saturday PUNCH that there had been series of meetings with community development associations, security agencies and vigilance organisations in the community, adding that religious houses have also been involved to ensure prayers are offered to help combat the Badoo cult.

He said, “We have already tasked our traditionalists to do the needful in terms of appeasements needed to forestall more violence. We have also continued to sensitise our people to be vigilant. Last week, we saw an evidence of this when a suspect was caught and was nearly lynched on allegations that he belonged to the Badoo group. The divisional police officer and some of his men were almost attacked. We had to call the Army to prevent the suspect from being lynched and also helped to safeguard the police officers.

“We will continue to sensitise our people not to take the laws into their hands. But the police have a lot to do too because we have realised they are not adequately prepared to handle this situation. We urge the government to give the police formation around here the necessary support to do their job well.

However, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Olarinde Famous-Cole, said the police are currently working with the military and private security outfits to ensure the safety of residents of Ikorodu and apprehend the criminals behind the killings.

source: punchng

Football star Messi weds childhood sweetheart

Argentine football star Lionel Messi and bride Antonella Roccuzzo pose for photographers just after their wedding at the City Centre Complex in Rosario, Santa Fe province, Argentina on June 30, 2017. Footballers and celebrities including pop singer Shakira gathered Friday for the "wedding of the century" in Lionel Messi's Argentine hometown as the Barcelona superstar prepared to marry his childhood sweetheart Antonella Roccuzzo. 

Lionel Messi said “I do” to childhood sweetheart and mother of their two children Antonella Roccuzzo on Friday in his Argentine hometown Rosario, where footballers and celebrities gathered for the “wedding of the century.”

Following the private ceremony, the couple appeared happy and relaxed as they walked a red carpet before hundreds of journalists at a hotel and casino complex, Roccuzzo donning a tight, mermaid-style gown by Spanish designer Rosa Clara.

The couple’s children Thiago, four, and Mateo, one, had front seats at the ceremony attended by some 260 guests, including Shakira and her husband, Messi’s teammate Gerard Pique, and numerous footballers such as Messi’s Barcelona strike partners Neymar and Luis Suarez.

Argentine media called it the “wedding of the century” for Rosario, the gritty northern port city where Messi, 30, and his bride, 29, met when the player was nine years old.

Former Barca and current Chelsea star Cesc Fabregas was in attendance, along with Argentina and Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero.

The party was to be a respite for Messi from his legal woes. A Spanish court last month rejected his appeal against a tax fraud conviction.

Brunette bride Roccuzzo wore a white, curve-hugging dress with a deep sweetheart neckline and embroidered straps by Rosa Clara — a Spanish designer who has dressed actress Eva Longoria and Spain’s Queen Letizia.

The wedding was held at 2200 GMT in the City Center casino, which stands right next to a crime-ridden slum run by drug gangs.

The civil wedding ceremony and party were all slated to take place inside the venue, and the guests will be lodged there too.

The feast will reportedly feature Argentine delicacies such as roast gizzards.

Uruguayan pop bands Rombai and Marama plus singer Karina, Aguero’s wife, will perform at the reception.

There were also rumours that there would be singing by Shakira, the Colombian diva famous for “Hips Don’t Lie” and “Whenever, Wherever.”

Shakira had recently denied rumours that she would miss the wedding due to a quarrel with Roccuzzo.

Messi and Roccuzzo live in Barcelona where he plays but still returns regularly to Rosario for vacations.

He moved to Spain when he was 13 to join FC Barcelona, but the couple kept in touch.

Messi has gone on to win the top Ballon d’Or award five times and is widely regarded as the world’s best footballer.

But various old friends of the couple in their home city said the bride and groom are humble folk who have never forgotten where they come from.

“They are the love of each other’s lives,” Messi’s childhood friend Diego Vallejos told AFP.

Instead of wedding presents, they have asked for donations to a children’s charity.

– ‘Leo and Anto’ –

The couple have reportedly spent the past two weeks in Rosario with family, but have kept out of sight of the reporters who have invaded the city.

Rumours circulated of bachelor and bachelorette parties, but the only evidence that emerged was a photo, posted by ex-Barca goalkeeper Jose Pinto, of Messi enjoying a barbeque with a few friends.

Some friends of Roccuzzo have shared pictures of her relaxing with relatives.

On the eve of the wedding, a festive atmosphere reigned in the Las Heras neighbourhood where Messi grew up.

“We will celebrate,” said Damian Lugoni, 27, a local sausage sandwich vendor.

“I wish good luck to Leo and Anto, who is just as simple and nice as him.”

“We are all happy for them,” said Lisandro Urteaga, an artist who was called in to paint a mural of Messi in the neighbourhood for the occasion.

“Let him celebrate the way someone like him deserves. He is a real example as a human being — although when he plays football he doesn’t seem to be from this planet.”

source: punchng

Kidnap kingpin, Evans, sues police, demands release or arraignmen

him immediately.

Joined as respondents in the said suit marked FHC/L/CS/1012/2017 are the Nigeria Police Force, Commissioner of Police, Lagos State and the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Lagos State Police Command,      in the suit filed on his behalf by a Lagos-based lawyer, Olukoya Ogungbeje, the suspected kidnapper is seeking a court order directing the respondents to immediately charge him to court if they had any case against him in accordance with sections 35 (1) (c) (3) (4) (5) (a) (b) and 36 of the Constitution.

He is on the alternative seeking for an order compelling the respondents to immediately release him unconditionally in the absence of any offence that will warrant his being charged to court.

accordance with the provisions of sections 35 and 36 of the Constitution.

He further argued that the alleged offence committed by Evans were correspondingly intertwined with the constitutional safeguards as provided under sections 35 and 36 of the Constitution.

In a 27-paragraph affidavit in support of the motion deposed to by Evan’s father, Stephen Onwuamadike, it was averred that the applicant had been subjected to media trial without any court’s order by the respondents.

ought to have charged Evans to court in accordance with the provisions of sections 35 and 36 of the Constitution.

He further argued that the alleged offence committed by Evans were correspondingly intertwined with the constitutional safeguards as provided under sections 35 and 36 of the Constitution.

In a 27-paragraph affidavit in support of the motion deposed to by Evan’s father, Stephen Onwuamadike, it was averred that the applicant had been subjected to media trial without any court’s order by the respondents

Source: punchng