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Northern Ireland police arrest 2 over journalist’s murder

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Lyra McKee Police have arrested men in connection with the killing of Northern Irish journalist Lyra McKee during a riot in Londonderry on Thursday, police said, as politicians in the divided British region united to condemn the attack. McKee, an award-winning 29-year-old journalist who was writing a book on the disappearance of young people during decades of violence in Northern Ireland, was shot dead as she watched Irish nationalist youths attack police following a raid. “Major Investigation Team detectives have arrested two men, aged 18 and 19 under the Terrorism Act, in connection with the murder,” the Police Service of Northern Ireland said in a statement. Northern Ireland’s political parties, which are broadly split between Irish nationalists aspiring to unite the British region with Ireland and unionists who want it to remain British, united to condemn the attack. In a joint statement, six parties said they were “united in rejecting those responsible for this heinou...

Air Force on fact finding mission over alleged killing of innocents in Zamfara

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Nigerian Air Force Alpha jet A team of Nigerian Air Force officers, led by AVM Idi Lubo, on Friday arrived Zamfara to investigate allegations that innocent citizens were recently bombarded through air strikes by NAF personnel in the state. Addressing journalists on arrival at the 307 Quick Response Group headquarters in Gusau, the team leader, Lubo said “the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar is highly disturbed over the allegations. “As concerned Nigerians and part of those charged with the responsibility of ensuring the peace and safety of Nigerians, we are here to verify the claims made by the traditional rulers of Zamfara. “We will meet with all stakeholders in the matter, especially the state government, security chiefs and even the affected community members before filing our report.” The team had on arrival in the evening, separately met with the state Director, Department of State Security and the Secretary to the State Government behind closed door, ...

Three sentenced to death by hanging for kidnapping a deaconess in Akwa Ibom

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                  Three policemen and four others have been sentenced to death by hanging by an Akwa Ibom High Court for kidnapping a woman, Deaconess Ime Ekanem in 2012. The criminals were dragged to court by the police after being apprehended while trying to collect a ransom of N1.8 million from the victim after the crime had been committed. According to the court papers, the defendants are Cpl Emmanuel Charlie, Ekaette Moses, Fidelis Jeremiah, Cpl Bassey Sunday (377812), PC Mfon Bassey (478463), Ndu Johnny, Unyime Etukakpan, and Itohowo Akpakwa, worked closely with a friend of the victim to commit the crime. The friend gave the kidnappers the home address of her friend and her itinerary. It was learnt that the victim was dragged out of the Toyota Sienna car driven by her husband, in front of the family house at about 6.30pm and whisked away in a Volvo Wagon car to Afaha Udoeyop in Ibesikpo Asutan council area, wher...

Death sentence on 8 Nigerians by UAE is unfortunate, says Dabiri-Erewa

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Abike Dabiri-Erewa. The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa has described the death sentence passed on eight Nigerians in United Arab Emirate (UAE) as unfortunate. Eight Nigerians were sentenced to death on Wednesday in Sharjah, UAE for a string of robberies at money exchanges and cash machines (ATMs) across the emirate in December 2016. Dabiri-Erewa said this in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja The presidential aide who expressed concern over the development, however said the incident was not an actual description of personalities of people of Nigeria. ”It is an unfortunate incident, but it is not an incident that defines who we are as a people. ”If a few Nigerians have committed a crime for which they are being punished, thousands of Nigerians are doing great in that same country and are being appreciated and celebrated. ”Mr President, who meets Nigerians ever...

71-year-old man charged with 100 counts of rape involving children under 13

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                                            A 71-year-old man,  Harvey J. Fountain , who was arrested on 50 counts of first-degree rape last week has now been charged with 50 more counts. Stephen Phillips  of the  Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office  in  Louisiana  said he began the crimes in the early 1970s and continued for a decade. He said all of the assaults happened in Pineville, La., and involved children under 13. According to Phillips, the decades-old accusations came to light April 1, when one of the victims disclosed the abuse to local authorities. The individual also informed the police that there were other possible victims. “One victim came forward and was aware of others that may have been a victim of Fountain’s,” Phillips told The Washington Post. “After additional interviews, additional victims were located,” Phillips said, t...

Drone photos reveal the devastating scale of the Notre Dame Cathedral fire

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These drone photos captured by Lana Sator reveal the devastating scale of the Notre Dame Cathedral fire. The ancient Cathedral in Paris went up in flames on Monday afternoon and efforts to put the fire out continued through the night. French president, Emmanuel Macron has vowed to rebuild the cathedral within a five year period. See more photos below...

Kenyan student stabbed by her ex-boyfriend after she ended their relationship

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                        Naomi Chepkemboi, a Third Year Public Health student at Pwani University, Kenya, was stabbed in the chest and neck by her ex-boyfriend Henry Kipkoech, who is a student at Kenyatta University, Nairobi. Ms Chepkemboi says she left her boyfriend in December last year because he was “irresponsible”. The two have a 4-month old daughter together. Speaking from her hospital bed in Kilifi County, Naomi Chepkemboi said Mr Kipkoech showed up at her rented room in Kilifi early Sunday, when he meted out the ugly attack on her. “He came to my room at 6am, and knocked on my door. I peeped through the window, and saw him. I went back to bed because I did not want to open the door for him. He pleaded with me to open the door, saying he came with an aim of restoring peace between us,” Chepkemboi told Citizen Television on Monday. “After much deliberation, I let him in. When we were done talking to each other, ...