Global Naija Info

Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom-Emmanuel Reports have revealed that Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom was inside the Reigners Bible Church International building in Uyo when it collapsed during a worship session on Saturday. The governor who was the special guest of honour at the consecration service of the Founder of the church, Apostle Akan Weeks, as a bishop, however, escaped unhurt’. The Reigners Bible Church International building, situated on Uyo Village Road, was still under construction when it collapsed. Its iron rafters caved in as the service was ongoing. A witness disclosed that the building collapsed 30 minutes after the governor arrived. ”When we were about taking offering, 30 minutes after the governor came in, the building caved in. Security operatives took him away,’’ he said. A visit to the scene revealed that security operatives had cordoned off the entire building while trying to rescue those trapped in the debris. Another witness, Miss Uduak Effiong, said...

Adama Barrow, left, accused Mr Jammeh of damaging democracy Gambian President Yahya Jammeh must hand over power after defeat in elections, The UN Security Council has said. President Jammeh initially conceded to Adama Barrow in last week’s vote but has since refused to accept the end of his 22-year rule. Mr Barrow said he was sure the military supported him as the country’s new leader. The UN added that a handover should come without condition or delay. President Jammeh initially appeared to concede after results showed he had lost, but on Friday said he “totally” rejected the result. His statement was condemned by The African Union (AU), who described it as “null and void”. President Jammeh’s reluctance to accept the result has also been criticised by the US and neighbouring Senegal. A heavy military presence has been reported in the Gambian capital, Banju, but the streets have remained calm. The BBC’s West Africa correspondent, Thomas Fessy, says the main question now is wh...

Explosion in Istanbul stadium At least one explosion has been heard outside Istanbul’s Besiktas sports stadium, Turkish media and witnesses say. There are reports of several people wounded, in what appears to have been an attack on riot police. Ambulances and police were seen rushing to the scene, and TV footage showed a fire burning outside the stadium. Turkey has seen a recent spate of militant attacks in major cities that have left dozens of people dead. The blast on Saturday happened two hours after a football match between Besiktas and Bursaspor, two of Turkey’s top teams, ended. Local media reported that fans had already dispersed. Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said at least 20 people had been injured.

Jamie Vardy scored his first hat-trick since his three goals for Fleetwood against Ebbsfleet on 21 February 2012 Jamie Vardy scored a hat-trick as Leicester City pulled off a stunning victory over an out-of-sorts Manchester City. The Foxes were 2-0 up in five minutes as Vardy ended his 10-game run without a Premier League goal by slotting home, and Andy King curled in moments later. It was 3-0 within 20 minutes as Vardy added another after skipping past visiting keeper Claudio Bravo, and he completed his hat-trick by intercepting a misplaced John Stones pass and finishing from a narrow angle. Aleksandar Kolarov, with a free-kick, and Nolito scored late consolation goals for the away side. They have now lost back-to-back league games for the first time since Pep Guardiola took over in the summer, and are four points adrift of leaders Arsenal. For defending champions Leicester, victory ended a five-game run without a league win and moved them up to 14th. Man City pay for chaotic ...

Lionel Messi (right) scored twice to take his season’s total to 22 goals Lionel Messi scored twice as Barcelona reduced the gap to La Liga leaders Real Madrid with a dominant win against bottom side Osasuna. Luis Suarez hit the post as the Catalan team dominated the first half but could not find a breakthrough. Home forward Sergio Leon chipped against the Barca crossbar before Suarez broke Osasuna’s resistance by tapping in Jordi Alba’s low cross. Left-back Alba also provided the second, cutting back from the left byeline for Messi to clip into the far corner. And the Argentina forward sealed a routine victory with a fine individual goal, dancing into space inside the home penalty area before drilling in. Real, who started the weekend with a six-point lead over Barca, host struggling Deportivo La Coruna later on Saturday (19:45 GMT). Barcelona’s bid for a third successive La Liga title has faltered in recent weeks, with a trio of frustrating draws enabling rivals Real Madrid to...

Stefano Okaka’s previous Premier League goal was in May 2010 for Fulham Stefano Okaka scored his first goals for Watford as they came from behind to beat out-of-form Everton in the Premier League. Okaka, signed from Anderlecht in the summer, flicked in a superb backheeled effort in the first half, before heading home following a corner after the break. In between, Sebastian Prodl powerfully nodded in from Jose Holebas’ whipped cross. Everton had gone ahead on 17 minutes as Romelu Lukaku slotted in from Gareth Barry’s inch-perfect, first-time pass, and the Belgian headed in a late consolation. The Hornets had lost three of their past four league games, and looked like stretching that sequence when they fell behind early on. But they drew inspiration from striker Okaka’s stunning opener, the Italian’s first goal in the Premier League since scoring for Fulham in May 2010. His second was helped by slack Everton defending, which allowed him to head in at the near post. Despite thei...

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State being checked by the card reader The prevailing peaceful atmosphere in the ongoing rerun election in Rivers State has been shattered with the reported killing of a man in Bodo, Gokana LGA, by armed men suspected to be operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). The operatives stormed the Saint Pius College at about 11.45am, ordered everybody to lie down, and began to shoot sporadically before carting away some election materials. The man shot was identified as Meebara Kormaga, a 25-year-old that came out to vote. More later.

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State being checked by the card reader Voters in Ward 8, Unit 1, Rumuomasi, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area have defied an afternoon downpour to perform their civil responsibility. The rain which started at 2.10pm drenched some voters who came for the re-run legislative election. The unit was situated at the state Primary School, Rumuomasi and has been one of the volatile areas during election. The security agents, in the efforts to avert any unpalatable situation, only opened one of the gates into the school where they conducted No Voters Card No Entry. This made many youths to hang around streets outside the school fences where gun shots were heard occasionally as the rain was on. Security agents’ organisation of the unit made the eligible voters to be coming in one after the other even while it was the raining. One of the security men who did not want his name mentioned, said that the way the voters were organised was the only way to avert und...

Nana Akufo-Addo, Ghana’s president-elect President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated the candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Nana Akufo-Addo, on his historic win of the Ghana presidential election. President Buhari also felicitated with the Government and people of Ghana, the National Electoral Commission, and candidates of political parties, for the decorum, maturity and peaceful conduct of the election. The president made the congratulation in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, on Saturday in Abuja. Buhari noted that the Dec. 7 presidential election produced a winner from an opposition party, who was contesting for the third time. According to Buhari, president-elect Akufo-Addo is widely experienced and skilled in leadership; a development he said would make him to build on the legacies of President John Dramani Mahama. The Nigerian leader also extolled the statesmanship and great leadership qualities of Mahama. He n...

Orji Uzor Kalu, failed to stop corruption trial against him Former Governor Orji Kalu of Abia says it is more beneficial for the South-East to join the All Progressives Congress (APC), in order to benefit from being in the mainstream national politics. Kalu said this during an interaction with journalists at his `Camp Neya’ country home at Igbere in Bende Local Government Area of the state. He said that the victories recorded by APC in the Edo and Ondo general elections proved that the APC had become acceptable to Nigerians. He, therefore, argued that the people of the South-East would benefit more if they quit the opposition camp and stood with the decision makers in the ruling party. “Ndigbo should join APC to enable them to sit where other Nigerians are seated to decide on how to move the nation forward. “The APC electoral victories in Edo and Ondo clearly showed the popularity of the party. “So, I did not make mistake in taking the Igbos into the national politics, where ot...

A church building has collapsed in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, with many feared dead. The Reigners Bible Church, located along Village Road, was filled to capacity because its pastor was being consecrated as a Bishop, when the tragedy occurred, witnesses said. “Pastor Akan Week was being consecrated today so the programme was holding inside the Church when suddenly, the whole building collapsed,” one witness said. The witness said the Church was being renovated and upgraded because of the expected high number of guests on Saturday. “Many people are buried under the debris as emergency workers continue rescue exercise,” he said. Governor Udom Emmanuel was expected to attend the occasion, but, sources said he was not at the church when it collapsed. “The governor has gone to the scene and is presently there helping with the rescue,” a witness said. Our sources said many victims have been taken to various hospitals and mortuaries in the town. A source at one of the hospitals, Premier Ho...

Yahya Jammeh The African Union on Saturday called a statement by Gambia’s President Yahya Jammeh rejecting his loss in December 1 polls “null and void” since he had already conceded defeat. “The Chairperson of the Commission strongly urges President Yahya Jammeh to facilitate a peaceful and orderly transition and transfer of power,” said Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma who also called on Gambia’s security forces to remain neutral. Reuters

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State being checked by the card reader Voting did not begin early in various wards and units in Gokanna and Eleme council areas in Rivers. This situation was due to the delayed arrival of voting materials, as voting eventually started between 11.50 and 12 noon in the areas. Reports showed that voting in Gokana had been peaceful and orderly, as only registered individuals with voter cards were allowed access into voting centres by security agents. The polling units in Ogale, Alesa and Aledo in Eleme council areas also witnessed late arrival of voting materials, which affected early commencement of balloting. Our correspondent, however, reports that voting had been stalled in ward 9, unit 3, of Ogu/Bolo, following the activities of suspected hoodlums, who allegedly carted away some polling materials. It was also gathered that the election officials posted to the area, had since been moved to the nearest police station for safety. Meanwhile, the Inde...

Voters and polling agents awaiting arrival of voting materials at Ogu/Bolo local government area this morning. Some political party supporters in Ahoada-West council area on Saturday protested against alleged bias by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the conduct of the legislative rerun elections in Rivers. The supporters claimed that the election materials sent to polling units were fake and would not be allowed to be used for the exercise. A News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent reports that the party faithful chanted slogans such as “we no gree’’, no result sheet, no election’’, “our votes must count.’’ The supporters said they had lost confidence on INEC’s ability to conduct a free, fair and credible election in the area. The protest caused many voters to leave the polling units for fear of molestation. Some voters, however, stood several metres away from the voting centres, awaiting any commencement of voting. Meanwhile, INEC Deputy Director of V...

Voters and polling agents awaiting arrival of voting materials at Ogu/Bolo local government area this morning. The Rivers legislative rerun election has commenced peacefully in the state with a massive turnout of voters in Gokana Local Government Area of the state. The exercise in being conducted in the three Senatorial districts for senatorial seats. The rerun is also held in eight Federal Constituencies for the House of Representatives seats and 10 State Constituencies for state assembly seats. In Bera Ward 16, Gokana LGA, the turnout was early and massive while the election materials arrived at 8.30 a.m. Card readers are working well in all the 16 polling units of Bera Ward 16 in local government area visited. The accreditation and voting started simultaneously at exactly 9.11a.m in all the units of Bera Ward 16. All the polling units in the local government were organised in the Community Secondary School, Bera. Voters were coordinated but under the heavy presence of the s...

Joe Boy and Prince square up to each other at the radio station Near-mortal ring rivals, Oto “Joe Boy” Joseph and Nurudeen “Prince” Fatai, had to be pulled apart, following a near-clash during an interview at the Metro FM studio in Lagos on Friday. Relationship between the two boxers has been combustible since Joe Boy defeated Prince via a knockout in a challenge contest at GOtv Boxing Night 4. It got worse after their second fight when Joe Boy dethroned Prince as the national lightweight champion at GOtv Boxing Night 7. The duo is billed to clash again at GOtv Boxing Night 10, holding at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Lagos, on 26 December. Asked on Metro FM what fans should expect in their next clash, Joe Boy said his opponent, who goes by the ring name Prince, is his slave. “I have beaten him before and will beat him again. He calls himself Prince, but he is my slave. I will send him on retirement. He is due for retirement,” said Joe Boy. His response got P...

President of the Gambia, Yahya Jammeh: toppled via ballot box Gambia’s President Jammeh says on state TV that he rejects outcome of Dec. 1 election that he lost, calls for fresh vote. More to come.

Opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo won Ghana’s national election, becoming president elect at the third attempt and cementing the country’s reputation as a standard bearer of democracy in a region that has been blighted by civil wars and coups. Akufo-Addo defeated President John Mahama by 53.8 percent to 44.4 percent, electoral commissioner Charlotte Osei said late on Friday, sparking scenes of celebration in the capital Accra. “I make this solemn pledge to you tonight: I will not let you down. I will do all in my power to live up to your hopes and expectations,” Akufo-Addo told a jubilant crowd in front of his residence. Supporters of his New Patriotic Party (NPP) broke into cheers and dancing and car horns blared and fireworks erupted across the city, witnesses said, following an anxious day in which his victory had been broadly accepted but there were no official results. Akufo-Addo, 72, served as foreign minister and attorney general in the previous NPP government that ruled bet...

court-of-law Three men have been sentenced to six months imprisonment each for stealing palm fruits and pineapples in Osun State. A Magistrate court sitting in Osogbo, capital of the state on Friday passed the judgment. The convicts include a 57-year-old Azeez Olarewaju, Sarafa Olarewaju, aged 33, and Ilutoye Olayode, aged 25. The State police that prosecuted the three men accused them of conspiracy, trespass and theft. According to the Police Prosecutor, John Idoko, an Inspector of Police, the convicts committed the offence on August 4, 2008 at about 10:00am at Igbo via Ejigbo in the state. Idoko argued that the trio conspired and forced themselves into a parcel of land that was in custody of one Adeyemi Oyedemi without any justifiable reason. During hearing of the matter yesterday, Idoko said the convicts stole palm fruits and pineapples valued at N300,000. The prosecutor informed the court that the theft almost led to breach of public peace around the area but for the quick...