Child bride kills 35 year old groom and three others with poison

Police say a child bride forced into marriage in Nigeria prepared a poisoned meal that has killed her groom and three of his friends.

They quote 14-year-old Wasila Umaru as saying she used rat poison in the food because she was forced to marry a man she did not love.

The couple was married last week. The 35-year-old groom had invited a dozen friends to celebrate at his village 100 kilometres from the north Nigerian city of Kano over the weekend.

Child marriage is common in Nigeria and especially in the mainly Muslim north.

Assistant police superintendent Musa Magaji Majia said Thursday that the teenage suspect is co-operating with police and probably will be charged with culpable homicide.

The Gazette

Bitcoin interest grows in Nigeria

There is an emerging market of online shoppers in Nigeria. Many entrepreneurs and investors see promise in this market, in spite of negative stereotypes held globally. The online shopping market has been valued at several billion dollars and there are currently over 300 registered e-commerce sites. The total investment, locally and abroad, in the e-commerce space was estimated at over fifteen million US dollars at the end of 2013. That figure has already been well surpassed, as investors seek new opportunities in this emerging market.

The opportunities

Nigeria’s population is expected to swell to well over four hundred million people by the year 2050; this represents a four times increase. Critical infrastructure is lacking: notably, there is no functioning postal service in the country and a lack of reliable roads makes deliveries difficult. Nigeria also lacks access to standardised banking and payment networks, such as PayPal. As a result it has been a tough market to crack for conventional online retailers like Amazon.

This is where local companies, Konga and Jumia, have seen a unique opportunity on which they are capitalising. These companies promise delivery within twenty-four hours. Both companies have been able to live up to that promise and they both boast a safe and secure online shopping experience available to all Nigerians.

Their success has not gone unnoticed. Jumia has secured over sixty million US dollars in seed and series-A funding, to-date. Its growth has been rapid, expanding from three to five hundred employees. Konga has raised similar investment capital, fostering similar growth.

Media giant Facebook is also interested in the opportunities that exist in the Nigerian market. Facebook has over twelve million registered users in the country and they recently sent a delegation to Lagos to strengthen relations with these companies.

Overcoming the limitations

Jumia and Konga are the larger operators in the local market. However, they are not the only businesses developing online shopping. More specialised entrants are also making their presence felt. Gloo.ng focuses on supermarket items. The last twelve months have seen this company grow four times in size and expand to a massive twenty thousand square foot facility.

Similar to Amazon, these companies are known to be exploring the use of drone technology in product delivery, as a means of servicing the growing population base.

The African continent, for the most part, skipped fixed line Internet and moved immediately to mobile technology for connectivity. Perhaps it will move directly to drone delivery out of necessity, bypassing conventional means of transportation.

This is real economic growth and it is exciting. While none of the above listed companies use bitcoin yet, it could certainly provide benefit going forward. However, there is one online retail start-up embracing the utility of bitcoin for its fashion design business: Minku.

Minku is based in Nigeria and Spain. The company specialises in the design, manufacture and sale of original handmade leather bags. These bags are sold both online and at high-end fashion stores in Nigeria. The founder, is a young and dynamic entrepreneur. She has worked in the fashion industries in both the United States and Europe. Minku's bags are all designed and handmade by Kunmi personally. Excited by the opportunities bitcoin represents in the Nigerian e- commerce space, Kunmi points to leading online merchants, like Overstock.com, as indicative of growing acceptance globally. She sees greater merchant acceptance in Nigeria as inevitable. In the meantime, she is content to be pioneering.

For her company, "accepting bitcoin is not just about nudging Nigerians to adopt the currency", it is also about "including Nigeria...in an interesting global conversation".

Bitcoin represents an opportunity for Minku as a company and Kinmi sees that. Her company is more focused on the international market than online retailers like Konga and Jumia. With bitcoin, Minku is able to sell product to clients in over sixteen countries. For the most part, product is delivered to Nigeria and the USA. Notably, there is a market for her products in places as far-flung as Finland and India. It is bitcoin that facilitates this extraordinary global reach.

Bitcoin’s acceptance by boutique manufacturers and designers in Nigeria is a trend that one would expect to gain momentum; it just makes sense. Conventional payment processors block Nigeria and banking infrastructure is poor. The greater promise of bitcoin to entrepreneurs in markets lacking access to conventional payment networks is often cited. It is good to see the early signs of this development in Nigeria.

Written by
Tristan Winters

Video - Nigeria's housing scarcity issue

Africa's most populous country, Nigeria says it needs billions of dollars to be able to plug a serious housing-deficit in the country. The rate of home ownership in Nigeria is still very low but a renewed effort from the government is now being made to address the problem.

Related stories: Video - Housing crisis in Abuja, Nigeria

Video - Housing shortage in Nigeria

Video - Nigeria experiencing property boom

Nigeria Super Eagles move up to 45th in FIFA rankings

 The Super Eagles have moved two places up in the monthly Fifa ranking released on Thursday morning

Nigeria have moved up to the 45th position in the latest Fifa global rankings released on Thursday.

The Super Eagles were ranked 47th in the last Fifa rankings following their goalless draw with Mexico in last month's international friendly.

Europe occupies the top three places on the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking after Portugal climbed third behind leaders Spain and Germany.

They are followed by four South American sides in Colombia, (4th, up 1), Uruguay (5th, up 1) and fierce rivals Argentina (down 3) and Brazil (up 3), who share sixth position. Just 12 points separate this quartet.

Greece return to the top ten for the first time since October 2012, while Scotland moved up 15 places to the 22nd position in the world.

Cote D'Ivoire continue to be the top-ranked African side moving up three places to 21 this month. Egypt also moved up two spots to finish in 24th position in the world and second in Africa. They are followed by Algeria in 25, Ghana 38, Cape Verde 42, Tunisia 49, Cameroon 50, Guinea51 and Mali 59 to round up the African top ten.

Nigeria's World Cup Group F opponents are ranked thus: Argentina 6, Bosnia-Herzegovina 25 and Iran 37.

The next FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be published on 8 May.

GOAL

Woman arrested attempting to traffic 686 of cocain concealed in her vagina

A Nigerian woman who allegedly inserted 686 grammes of cocaine in vagina, to beat security operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, has been arrested by officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA.

The suspect identified as Chinelo Okorom Lynnette, 36, was arrested  during  an inward screening of passengers on an Ethiopian Airline flight from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to Nigeria.
NDLEA Head of Public Affairs, Mitchell Ofoyeju, who made the disclosure, yesterday, said the suspect concealed the  drugs in a cellophane bag before inserting it into her vagina and ingested some.
He said: ”The suspect tested positive for drug ingestion and vaginal insertion. She, however, expelled a total of 686 grammes of substance that tested positive for cocaine while under observation at the airport.”

I was deceived
—Suspect
However, the suspect, reportedly told NDLEA officials at the Airport Command headed by Mr Hamza Umar that she was deceived into the illicit business out of frustration by her landlord, following  her in ability to pay her rent.
According to her, “My husband abandoned me with four children two years ago. Since then, I have been working hard to pay their  school fees and also ensure their proper upkeep. I sell food at Ajagbandi to take care of my children.
“When my rent expired, I had no money to renew it. My landlord ejected us and I had nowhere to go with the children or who to talk to. I was crying like a baby when a man came to console me.
“He told  me to wipe my tears and promised to introduce me to importation business. I felt he was God-sent when he sponsored my trip to Addis Ababa. Before leaving, he said I was to go into importation of female hand  bags.
“But when I got to Ethiopia, he told me to take cocaine to Nigeria. Initially, I disagreed but he threatened to recover his investment at all cost. I am just a victim of man’s cruelty to man.”
Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade, said the arrest was made following the eagle-eye operatives at the airport, as a result of  different antics used by drug traffickers..
He noted: ”Going to Addis Ababa to smuggle cocaine into Nigeria is one of the tricks employed by drug trafficking syndicates. Cocaine is not known to come from Addis Ababa, but we were able to detect it because of our vigilance. We are prepared to counter  activities of drug kingpins and bring them to justice. We look forward to fruitful progress in our investigation.”
He, therefore, advised members of the public to be cautious of the tricks by drug syndicates, adding that the suspect’s action is shameful.

Vanguard