VikiGist

No fewer than 20 persons were killed on Monday in an early morning crash around Irepeni, along Abuja-Lokoja-Okene highway. About 25 cows were also killed in the incident. Vanguard gathered that the accident was caused by a road block mounted by armed robbers along Irepeni axis of the highway. The robbers were said to have fled the scene afterwards. An eyewitness said a luxury bus with number plates KRD 799 LC, which was heading to Abuja from Lagos, suddenly ran into the road block mounted by armed bandits. As the bus was trying to avoid the blockade, a truck, with number plates KTN 711 YZ, loaded with cows, reportedly rammed into it, killing several people on the spot. The eyewitness said the impact of the accident caused the truck to separate from the trailer and compressed the front section of the bus with passengers and driver inside the wreckage. He said scores of corpses and mangled bodies of some of the victims littered the road before men of the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, ...

When Brandi McGlathery held her newborn son for the first time, she saw a perfect baby, "..he had five fingers on each hand and five toes on his tiny feet, nothing was missing, except for his nose." Although he struggled a bit, Eli took to breathing through his month naturally even while breastfeeding. Eli was born on March 4, 2015 and was immediately taken to USA Children's and Women's Hospital in Mobile, Alabama, so doctors could give him a tracheotomy to help him eat without struggling for breath. McGlathery says everyday she and her boyfriend, Eli's dad, Troy Thompson are sure to clean his tracheotomy and keep it infection free. They're hoping in the future he can get reconstruction surgery to build a nose. Tessa Evans is now-18 months-old, and her parents are sharing their experiences with congenital arhinia due to medical misinformation that says children born with it have poor mental and physical abilities. "That statement is false on so many leve...

A Yaba Chief Magistrates’ Court in Lagos on Tuesday remanded a man, David Praise-Diri, who impersonated a pastor of Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministry (MFM) at Ikoyi Prisons. The Chief Magistrate, Mrs Bola Folarin-Williams, gave the ruling after the accused pleaded guilty to the offences. The accused, Praise-Diri, whose address is not provided, is facing a three-count charge of impersonation, obtaining money under false pretences and stealing. The prosecutor, Sgt. Benedict Aigbokhim told the court that the accused committed the offences on June 3 at Toyin Street, Ikeja. He said the accused approached the complainant, Miss Itohan along Toyin Street, and introduced himself as a pastor of MFM. “The accused said he got a revelation from God for her and collected N13,000 from the complainant on the pretext of praying and fasting on her behalf for a possible solution to her problem. “She became uncomfortable when the accused told her to come for a vigil and decided...

The Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, on Monday reviewed his tenure as the boss of the electoral body and concluded that his only regret was his inability to create a separate salary structure for INEC workers. Jega spoke in Abuja during a retreat organised for the electoral officers of the commission where the report of the 2015 elections was reviewed. Jega also said that members of staff of the commission were subjected to difficult circumstances during the 2015 elections. He said apart from the special salary issue, the commission under his leadership performed well. But he regretted that despite the undertaking he said he made when he assumed office on the need to create a special salary structure for the members of staff of the commission, he was unable to accomplish that up till now. He said, “We have done our best as a commission under very difficult circumstances and the major regret as I have always acknowledged is that a maj...

A team of over-zealous policemen yesterday attacked a driver attached to LEADERSHIP Newspapers Group, Mr. Sunday Oguji, at Rumuokoro in Obio/Akpor local government area of Rivers State. Oguji, who was on his way to Port Harcourt from Asaba, the Delta State capital, to deliver yesterday’s edition of LEADERSHIP, was beaten up and tear-gassed by the policemen, who accused him of contributing to the traffic jam witnessed on daily basis around the Rumuokoro roundabout. It was learnt that the policemen abandoned their victim with a swollen and bloodied eye and bruises as it took the pleas of bystanders for the assailants to let him go. Narrating his ordeal to LEADERSHIP, Oguji said, “I was coming from Owerri, and as I got to the Port Harcourt gateway, near the market, I noticed a hold-up. There was a vehicle in my front which refused to start, as the traffic started moving slowly, I was about to start my vehicle to move and from nowhere, a mobile policeman showed up and started...

There was confusion in Kaduna on Monday as an unidentified soldier shot a truck driver, Abdul Saminu, for allegedly refusing to part with N200.The driver was said to be conveying potatoes from Zaria to Kaduna. The development made other truck drivers to use their vehicles to block both sides of the Zaria-Kaduna Expressway to protest against the shooting of their colleague. This led to several hours of gridlock at Tudun Wada Dankande, near the old toll gate, where the incident occurred around midnight. According to an eyewitness trouble started when the truck driver, on reaching the military checkpoint at the toll gate, was asked to dole out N200 by the soldiers. The driver, it was gathered, initially refused, but later changed his mind and gave one of the soldiers N100. It was learnt that the soldier refused to collect the N100. At this juncture, the driver refused, incurring the wrath of the angry soldier, who pulled the trigger and shot the driver. The eyewitness further added...