30 year old man rapes 96 year old woman

A 30 year-old-man, Lanre Aremu, has been arrested by the Police in Kogi for allegedly raping a 96-year-old grandmother, Ige Samuel in Iyara, Ijumu Local Government Area of the state.

Parading the suspect before newsmen at the state Police Command Headquarters on Friday in Lokoja, Mr Samuel Ojo, the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) in charge of Criminal Investigation, said the act was an abomination, ungodly and inhuman.

The daughter of the victim told newsmen that the incident happened on Oct. 31, when most of the residents were in Church.

She said the suspect forcefully pushed her mother into the room and raped her, adding that she was alarmed when her mother suddenly started behaving funny and speaking incoherently after the incident.

One of the sons of the old woman, who is in his 60s, said the incident happened because it was on a Sunday morning and the woman's guide had travelled to Ekiti.

He added that the suspect jumped out through the window, leaving behind his pair of slippers with the helpless old woman panting and writhing in pains when he noticed that people were returning from Church.

He said their father died a long time ago, adding that the suspect must have committed the crime for some ritual purposes.

He urged the police to compel the accused to reverse whatever he did to the woman and do everything possible to restore his mother's sanity.

The suspect, who spoke in Yoruba, denied the allegation, saying that the old woman beckoned on him through the window for assistance only for him to be accused of rape.

In a similar matter, one Promise Uche, a businessman of Olobayo Housing Estate, 200-unit, Lokoja was also paraded for allegedly raping his neighbour's 19-year-old daughter on Oct. 31.

The Police said Uche allegedly abducted the girl into his room and raped her, adding that doctors' report confirmed the act.

He said that the suspects would be arraigned after police investigation.

Vanguard

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Migrants to the UK must earn £35,000 annually to Stay

Any skilled migrant who wants to stay in Britain must earn a minimum salary of 35,000 Pounds annually, a new British government report said on Friday in London.

The number of skilled migrants allowed to settle permanently in Britain will be cut by two thirds.

According to the report, only 20,000 foreign workers in skilled jobs such as computing, university teaching and nursing would be allowed to stay on in the country along with family members after their current working visas must have expired.

The report quotes Prof. David Metcalf, Chairman of the UK government's Migration Advisory Committee as saying that there were "sound economic" reasons for the introduction of such restriction.

The proposals also applied to workers covered by "Tier2" of government's points-based immigration system.

Those included under this group are scientific researchers, financial analysts, chefs and management consultants.

More than 200,000 people are currently granted the right to settle in the UK each year.

The Government is seeking to cut net migration to under 100,000 by the end of 2015 and has also targeted foreign student visas for severe cuts.

Government has banned over 450 Colleges, 170 of them in London and the south east of England from bringing foreign students into Britain.

The new crack down on migrants nd related measures are likely to affect many Nigerian including students already in the UK and those who desire to come to the country for studies in the future.

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Stephen Keshi appointed as new Super Eagles coach

Former Super Eagles captain, Stephen Keshi has been appointed as the new coach of the Super Eagles. The Nigeria Football Federation yesterday confirmed the former Togo national team manager as replacement for Samson Siasia who was sacked last week.

The technical committee of the NFF had recommended Keshi ahead of other applicants including a host of European coaches who were ruled out due to the federation's financial constraints.

Details of the contract include that he will qualify the country for the 2013 Nations Cup and the 2014 World Cup. The mandate also includes to guide the Super Eagles to at least the quarter-finals of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Keshi has been given free hand to pick his assistants. The Contract will expire at the end of the World Cup but could be renewed upon a satisfactory performance.

Although details of his salary was not available as at press time, it was gathered that he will earn about N3million, which will be reviewed upwards to Samson Siasia's N5million only if and when his contract is eventually confirmed.

A communique from the executive committee of the NFF stated that Keshi's appointment was unanimous.

Like Siasia, Keshi will be allowed to pick his own assistants, according to the NFF. Keshi himself has insisted he would pick his own staff amid speculations that his Super Eagles teammate Sunday Oliseh will be appointed as his number two man.

'Big Boss' will also not be given the full powers that Siasia enjoyed during his 11-month reign as Eagles manager.

It was gathered that these conditions were forwarded by the technical committee of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) after their meeting Wednesday for the executive committee to ratify.

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Nollywood steals the show at Kenya International Film Festival

It was a memorable day for the Nigerian motion picture industry in Kenya, as the presence of Nollywood actress, Genevieve Nnaji, her counterparts; Ramsey Nouah, Tina Mba, Kunle Afolayan and Gideon Okeke brought thousands of their East African fans, who desired to catch a glimpse of the actors, to the Prestige Plaza, venue of the Kenya International Film Festival.

Apart from the youths who could be said to be motivated by the Nollywood stars, older Kenyans, among them, University lecturers, students of literaturte and filmmakers where on hand to interact with professor Wole Soyinka, who was the headline personality for the event tagged; Nollywood Road Show.

Organised by the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB), the event presented two of Nigeria's best movies of recent time- Kunle Afolayan's Figurine, which stars Ramsey Nouah and Mahmood Ali-Balogun's Tango with Me, which featured Genevieve Nnaji and Tima Mba. Both movies had won the selection of the NFVCB as tools of strategic marketing window for Nigeria.

The Nollywood Road Show is a part of the agency's Nigeria in the Movie (NIM) project which, Emeka Mba, Director General of NFVCB says is geared towards redefining the identity, influence, character and image of the country.

The International Road Show is therefore premised on creating further investment opportunities into the movie sector through the synergy that may arise from a network created by participating and promoting Nigeria at the KIFF for example.

The involvement of Soyinka, the pride of the black race and the only African Nobel Laurete winner only created the bond expected of the African cinema rather than the competition associated with the seeming dominance of Nollywood movies.

The Professor, who shared the podium with KIFF's Festival Director, Charles Akiba noted among other issues, the need for Africa to synergise as a film industry, same way, that effort are ongoing to create a caucus of African literature.

"There is the need to get businessmen to teach the filmmakers how to market their wealth. I have been on the film jury since the 60s and I know that Africa has a long history of filmmaking."

Soyinka who also answered to the question as to why some of his books have not been adapted into movies, said he is disposed to filmmakers who may be willing to do so as much as they have a good understanding of Africaness that his themes deal with.

He noted that one of the reasons the movie on one of his books; Kongi's Harvest was not successful was because the filmmaker, an African American did not understand well enough the African setting, culture, and mythology.

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Nigerian government moves to restrict British airways flights to Lagos

There appears to be no reprieve for British Airways yet as the Federal Government has taken steps to restrict all British Airways flights to Lagos from next week.

Although the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, cited operational reasons for the restriction, Vanguard gathered that it might be in connection with the current logjam between the Federal Government and its British counterpart over denial of slot allocations to Arik Air at Heathrow Airport in London.

The Federal Government had, Wednesday, reduced British Airways' weekly flight frequencies into the country from seven to three, citing the Bilateral Air Services Agreement, BASA, between both countries.

The British authorities said it took the decision to protect its airlines, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Airways, flying into the country.

It was learnt that the restriction was limited only to British Airways, fuelling speculations that the Federal Government's posture is in retaliation to the shabby treatment meted to Arik on its operations to Heathrow.

Arik Chairman, Sir Joseph Arumemi-Ikhide, had raised an alarm last week that he was compelled to pay for slots at London Heathrow, explaining that he had to rent landing slots from British Midland International at 14 million Pounds between 2009 and last year, a development which runs counter to the BASA between Nigeria and Britain.

Consequent upon the alarm rasied by Arik, Aviation Minister, Princess Stella Oduah, issued a statement, Wednesday, slashing British Airways' weekly frequencies to three.

But reacting to the development, yesterday, British Airways said FAAN's plan amounted to a further muzzle of its operations in Nigeria, wondering why the restriction was limited only to its operations.

he British Airways in a statement last night by

an Petrie, the airline's Regional Commercial Manager for Africa, said: "The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, has restricted British Airways flights to Lagos from next week. They have cited operational reasons for this imposition. It appears that British Airways is the only airline to be singled-out by these restrictions."

We are doing all we can to resolve this issue.

"The matter is now in the hands of the British Government which is speaking with the Nigerian authorities.

"The distribution of the slots at Heathrow is managed through an independent organisation, Airport Coordination Ltd (ACL). ACL manage slot allocation in a fair and transparent manner, where all airlines have the opportunity to be involved," British Airways said in a statement issued last night.

Ian Petrie, the airline's Regional Commercial Manager for Africa, said further: 'We remain committed to Nigeria and have had a presence in the country for over 75 years. We want to keep serving Nigeria and hope that the two governments resolve this issue with sensibility and as soon as possible.

"While we have robust contingency plans in place, any disruption will have an impact of travellers to and from Nigeria, as well as local suppliers," he said.

Stakeholders in the nation's aviation industry had always lamented Nigeria's ability to reciprocate the BASA between Nigeria and Britain on the London route, following the absence of a Nigerian carrier on the route until Arik Air emerged on the route.

The BASA gave both countries access to 21 frequencies on the route, which only the British carriers, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, had always exploited, with Nigeria receiving paltry royalties for having no carriers on the route.

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