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Man sets family on fire

Independence Day shocker - An independence day tragedy occurred in Enugu, capital of the south east Enugu State, on Saturday as a middle aged man burnt members of his family, including his pregnant wife and two sons, aged between two and three years, according local news reports.

The youngest son of the family, who went into coma following injuries sustained in the inferno, was later revived at the National Orthopedic Hospital, Enugu, two hours after the incident, which occurred in the afternoon, while the wife, identified as Njideka, and the first son are now on the danger list at the hospital.

The reports said the man, Alexander Ndubuisi Egeonu, who is now at large, had, on arrival at his container shop in a suburb of Enugu, where he sells musical records and Compact Discs, asked his wife to escort him to the gas station to buy fuel.

Thinking that the fuel was meant for their generator, the wife willingly complied.

But shortly after returning to the shop, Egeonu went to a neighbour’s shop and began to drag the owner (a woman) to his own shop, claiming that she was indebted to him.

The woman began to shout and attracted neighbours and passers-by, who promptly rescued her from the man, said to be very troublesome.

“Immediately the man returned to his shop, he tied the hands of his wife and poured fuel on the floor. He, thereafter, locked the wife and his two sons inside the container and set the container ablaze through the window,” the reports quoted eyewitnesses as saying.

The pregnant woman and her two sons were severely burnt before neighbours forced the container open and brought them out. They were rushed to the Eastern Nigeria Medical Centre for treatment.

The pregnant woman and her first son, said to be in critical condition, were later transferred to the National Orthopedic Hospital.

The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Ebere Amaraizu, who confirmed the incident, said the suspect took to his heels after setting his family members ablaze and has not been found.

He said that investigations had commenced to ascertain the motive of the arsonist, adding that the police would do everything possible to apprehend the suspect.

Nigeria's 51st independence anniversary witnessed low-key celebrations across the country as officials and other participants stayed away from parade grounds following the twin bomb attack threats by the Boko Haram religious sect and the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND).

Afriquejet

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Former Miss Nigeria Munachi Abii rap album coming out soon

Ex-beauty queen turned musician, Munachi Abii is warming up to come out with a new album entitled 'The Goddess, the Hustler'.

The light-skinned International Relations graduate and ex-Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria said the album will soon be out.

"I am still doing little work about the album and there are lots of things I need to put in place before it finally comes out. I don't want to bring it out without publicity. I have a lot of things in store for everyone. It will be shocking and I am looking forward to it.

"The album is entitled 'The Goddess, the Hustler'. I have recorded a lot of songs we are in the process of elimination. So, we shall settle for 10 to 12 tracks at the end of the day.

"The album is all about me; it is just a way of giving myself back to the society. This is the way to express myself to those who don't know me.

"This is the best way I can express myself because I don't like talking too much but with my music, I can tell you a lot of things. So, the album is about me.

"I am up and coming and I am happy that my career is on the right path," she said with enthausiasm.

Daily Trust

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7 arrested for the slaying of 19 people in Zamfara

Zamfara State Governor Abdul'Aziz Yari Abubakar has confirmed that the police have arrested seven suspects in connection with the Saturday attack on Lingyado village where 19 people were reportedly killed and several others injured.

The governor, who spoke to newsmen yesterday in Gusau on the 12 years of shari'ah implementation and the15th anniversary of the state, said the Commissioner of Police confirmed the arrest to him, assuring that the suspects would be moved to the state capital for prosecution. It seems they have developed their own criminal investigation schools.

He said the state might request the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Hafiz Ringim, to release a patrol helicopter to comb the forest hideout of the bandits "because tracking them with vehicles is proving unsuccessful, as they operate with motorcycles".

According to the governor, security reports have shown that the attackers are mostly from outside the state and are from countries as far as the Central African Republic.

He said reports reaching him from the Emir of Dansadau showed that the villagers were seeking refuge at neighbouring villages.

Claiming that the attackers were based in Magami area of Maradun Local Government Area, the governor said the information available to the sole administrator of the council area had indicated that the attackers planned to attack Lingyado and another village.

The governor, who regretted that the attack had occurred before government officials could communicate the information to the state capital, said security agents were, however, quickly mobilized to avert the attack on the other village.

Recounting series of attacks that had so far led to the death of over 30 people in Dansadau, the governor said "it started when some groups of Fulani men proclaimed that nobody, except them, could ever again own cattle in the area."

This, according to him, made villagers, in collaboration with vigilante groups kill suspected robbers of Fulani descent; a development he attributed to the series of reprisal attacks in the area.

If the security agencies were under his command, he claimed, the attacks would have been averted. "That is why I don't blame people agitating for state police because if you cannot hire and fire a person, you can hardly control him/her," he said.

Daily Trust

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Gunmen kill 19 villagers in Zamfara

At least 19 people have been shot or hacked to death in a brutal attack in a village in north-west Nigeria, police say.

Eyewitnesses said about 150 people raided the village of Lingyado, in Zamfara state close to the border with Niger, with guns and machetes.

A police spokesman said it appeared to be a reprisal attack in response to a similar incident in August.

Security forces have been sent to the area to restore order.

Police spokesman Sunusi Amiru said six others were wounded in the attack and were receiving medical attention.

"We are on top of the situation, we are on the trail of the suspects, we have deployed more men to the trouble spots," he told Reuters news agency.

The BBC's Nigeria correspondent Jonah Fisher says the victims were attacked as they emerged from their homes.

When the shooting began, some residents fled into nearby cornfields, the Associated Press news agency reports.

Some of the attackers shouted that they would rape any women they found, one witness, Ahmad Tsauri Lingyado, told AP.

One witness, speaking from hospital, told the BBC that his house was targeted first, and that he saw both his grand-daughter and daughter-in-law killed.

BBC

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