Graduation surprise: Entire 8th-grade class promised free college tuition in Michigan.

MUSKEGON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — Leaders from a Michigan state university made a surprise announcement Thursday night at an eighth-grade graduation ceremony.     
All the graduates of the Timberland Charter Academy will receive free tuition to Grand Valley State University as long as they graduate high school with at least a 2.8 GPA.
The announcement was made to approximately 40 students at the end of the graduation ceremony. 
The academy is the first school selected for the program in West Michigan.

Students knew a major announcement would be made, but they didn’t know what it might be.
“I kind of had a feeling it was something about college,” said student Aniyah Thomas.
Her mother, Gloria Hammond, said the news came as a relief for parents.

“It’s exciting for our children to have an opportunity to go to college if they want to go and not have to pay for it and that barrier has been broken for them,” Hammond said.
Valedictorian Jemarion Brown, who won many awards at the ceremony, was not expecting such a big announcement. His mother, Candace Cook, said the opportunity will help so many young lives. 
“This is a great school for him, and I’m extremely happy that they choose Timberland to do this. It’s a blessing,” Brown said.

Stephen Evans, the school director, said the announcement includes additional funding to help with other college expenses.
“The program offers free tuition, tutoring, also a variety of support programs. You name it. Everything that a student will need to be successful at the college level and the system that we’re going to put in at the high school level, at Timberland, to support them through high school,” Evans said.

GVSU leaders say it may take a little time for the impact of the announcement to set in for the students.
Barry Hall, the assistant director of charter through college at GVSU, was the keynote speaker and announced the surprise.

“Once they have sophomores and juniors and they have colleges talking to them, say how much it costs to go here, that whole process of getting in, they’re going to say, ‘Wow, I’ve already been accepted into a school already, and I know what this process is all about,’” Hall said.
The money for the tuition comes through the Grand Valley Pledge program. Parents are also eligible to apply for scholarships to help them with their degrees.

FRENCH OPEN – PROTESTER TIES HERSELF TO NET, DURING MEN’S SEMI-FINAL.

In an unexpected turn of events, play was temporarily halted during a French Open men’s semi-final match on Friday after a protester ran onto the court and tied herself to the net.

The woman, who was wearing a shirt that had “We have 1028 days left” printed on the front, interrupted the match between Marin Cilic and Casper Ruud at Court Philippe-Chatrier in Paris.

Unclear what exactly the woman’s motive was for interfering during the contest, but security officials moved quickly to ensure she caused no harm to the players.
Ruud was astonished at the site of the woman on the court … and he actually had to stop serving for several moments as guards worked to get her off the net.

Security ultimately carried the woman, whose identity remains a mystery at this time, off the clay so the match could finally resume.
Of course, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen a demonstrator try to have their voice heard by causing a disruption at a live sporting event.

During the Minnesota Timberwolves’ play-in game in April, a woman glued her hand to the court’s floor in protest of the team’s owner.

Gunman opens fire in Iowa church parking lot killing two young women and himself.

A gunman opened fire inside an Iowa church parking lot on Thursday evening, June 2, killing two young women before turning the gun on himself. 

The shooting took place in the parking lot of the Cornerstone Church in Ames, Iowa, shortly before 7pm as a youth ministry program was taking place inside the church. 

A statement from a representative of the church characterized the victims as being ‘young members’ of the church community, though their ages are not known. It is believed the gunman shot himself.

The representative described the shooter as an ‘adult male.’ 

Story County Sheriff Capt. Nicholas Lennie said that 911 calls reporting the shooting began to come in at 6:51pm on Thursday evening.

The shooting took place in the parking lot as people were inside the church attending the weekly Salt Company youth ministry event. 

Two young women were killed before the gunman died from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot, according to police. None of their ages or identities are known, but a representative of the youth ministry group said the victims were members of the church.   

‘We are grieving deeply,’ said Mark Vance, of the Salt Company youth ministry at the Cornerstone Church, ‘Tonight, a tragic shooting occurred involving two young members of our Cornerstone Church community. It is believed that an adult male shot these two victims and then took his own life.’

Vance declined to give further details about the incident, citing the ongoing investigation.

Churchgoers reportedly remained on the grounds and inside the church for hours after the shooting.

Photos shared online show groups of people hugging one another in tears at the scene of the shooting.

In a tweet, Iowa governor Kim Reynolds characterized the shooting as ‘senseless violence.’

‘Tonight’s act of senseless violence took the lives of two innocent victims at their place of worship. Kevin and I grieve for the families who have suffered an unfathomable loss.’ 

The shooting is another in a string of mass shootings that have plagued the US in recent weeks.

“Nigeria is a safe haven for bad IJGB cosmetic surgeons” – Mary Remmy Njoku reacts after lady died during body enhancement in Lagos hospital.

Nollywood actress and filmmaker, Mary Remmy Njoku has said that Nigeria is a safe haven for unqualified foreign-trained cosmetic surgeons. 

The actress stated this on Friday, June 3, after a lady identified as Crystabel, died from alleged complications she had during body enhancement in a Lagos clinic.

Mary further said that as long as gullible Nigerians continue to blame the victims, these bad ‘I Just Got Back, IJGB’ cosmetic surgeons will keep ”killing people. ”

“Nigeria is a safe haven for bad IJGB cos-surgeons. Small accent and you are in business,” she wrote.

“Thanks to gullible Nigerians who make sure they continue Killing people by BLAMING THE VICTIMs. SAD. To those very few doctors who come home save lives. Thank you”

Qatari princess lay dead from suspected overdose for four days guarded by her Pomeranian dog.

The former Qatari princess who died of a suspected overdose after fighting a toxic custody battle over her daughters, reportedly laid dead from suspected overdose for four days guarded by her Pomeranian dog. 

Kasia Gallanio, 45, whose billionaire ex-husband is the uncle of the current Emir of Qatar was found dead in her bed last Sunday May 29, in her luxury £2 million penthouse.

According to MailOnline, shortly before she died, she sent a video to her devoted cleaner Teodora Poma showing bags of clothes that she wanted to gift to her.

Bolivian-born. Ms. Poma, 43, now believes that her employer might have made the gesture to say farewell to her, knowing that she was possibly going to take her own life.

Ms Galliano also asked her and a colleague to come round and clean her seventh-flooroor apartment in the upmarket Spanish resort of Puerto Banus near Marbella. But when Ms Poma tried to message her back to confirm arrangements to come round on Monday this week, she got no reply.

She now believes it was because her socialite employer was already lying dead inside her home.

MailOnline also revealed that Ms. Gallanio’s devoted pet Pomeranian dog called Honey was with her when she died. The dog has now been returned to her daughters.

Ms Poma said. Ms Gallanio went to Paris in April this year to fight her ex-husband Abdelaziz bin Khalifa Al Thani, 73, for the custody of their three daughters, two twins aged 17 and a 15-year-old girl.

But a French court ruled the girls should stay in France where their billionaire father lives after reportedly hearing that. Ms Gallanio was prone to nervous breakdowns and had visited detox clinics in her battle against alcohol use.

The court heard allegations that the prince had sexually abused one of his daughters, although he fiercely denied the claims, according to reports the in French newspaper Le Parisien.

The Paris Prosecutor’s Office has opened an investigation into the claims that the girl was abused between the ages of nine and 15, and forced to sometimes share a bed with her father.

Other friends of Ms Gallanio are said to have dismissed claims that she drank or took drugs, and say that she lived a healthy lifestyle, enjoying yoga and running.

Ms. Poma was taking time off work to undergo medical treatment for a liver condition in hospital by the time her employer had returned to Spain.

Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, the heartbroken cleaner said: ‘She was giving me a lot of moral support to get me through this treatment.

‘She was a really lovely person, very loving and a real fighter for her daughters. She was always saying that she wanted to be with her daughters and she loved them very much.

‘But because the girls were with the father, she could not see them for long periods.

‘When I was in hospital, she sent me a video showing stuff she wanted to give me. It was bags of clothes. She always used to give me stuff when she cleaned a wardrobe out.

‘She might have been saying goodbye by trying to give me all this stuff.

‘Kasia told me that she was going through all this trouble with the court case. She didn’t want to share all the details and I didn’t ask.

‘She was in quite a good mood, but my colleague and I could tell she was depressed. She wasn’t right.

‘At the last minute she asked if we could come back this week to get her flat sorted and I said I would try and organise it.

‘After that, she didn’t answer. I didn’t hear from her again. I sent a message and didn’t get a reply so I imagined that she might have gone back to Paris or somewhere.

‘When she didn’t reply, I thought, “What has happened here?”, but then I thought she had gone to see her daughters.’

Ms Poma said she was shocked to be told that her friend and employer had died.

Ms Gallanio who grew up in Los Angeles was found dead after one of her daughters alerted Spanish police after trying in vain to contact her mother for four days from Paris.

A porter with access to the penthouse unlocked the door for two police officers who discovered her at around 8 am on Sunday.

Forensic tests on Ms. Gallanio’s body are said to have been hampered by her having been dead for four days in her home in the Playas del Duque complex, a minute’s walk from the Puerto Banus marina packed with multi million pound yachts.

Spanish media has reported that she is believed to have had alcohol and ‘other substances’ in her body, suggesting that she had overdosed.

A spokesperson for Marbella Police revealed her death was not being treated as suspicious, saying: ‘The police investigating this case are not looking for any other suspects.’

She added: ‘The autopsy into the death of Kasia Gallanio was opened on Tuesday.

‘So far there has been no result. Reports in the media saying that forensic personnel have found alcohol or other substances have not been substantiated by official sources.’

Ms Gallanio’s twin daughters and her French lawyer Sabrina Boesch flew from Paris on Monday to identify her body.

One of the girls was seen visiting her mother’s penthouse on Wednesday morning before leaving in tears and being driven away in a chauffeur-driven car.

Ms Boesch told Le Parisien that her client had been left ‘devastated’ by the custody proceedings and revelations in court.

She said: ‘I think that, above all, she has died of grief’.

Ms Gallanio gave an interview in April, describing her life as like living in a ‘golden cage’, saying how she wanted freedom from her ex-husband.

She told Women’s World: ‘Money is a curse because it isolates you from a lot of people. It’s a different world.’

The former princess revealed she even had to sell her own jewellery as a result of her long and bitter divorce, despite living in her luxury penthouse.

She said: ‘I get criticised that I want money but I have to take care of my kids

‘Abdelaziz likes to control me through the children which I think is not very polite and only hurts them.’

Talking about the alleged abuse of her daughter she added: ‘Power, diplomatic immunity and money shouldn’t allow you to be able to do things above the law.

‘I hope it’s not true however when my daughter says it, I do believe my daughter

‘It’s a horrible story, something that hit me very hard. It’s every mother’s nightmare.’

French media reports have claimed Abdelaziz made his daughters sleep in the servants quarters of his palatial 50,000-square-foot Parisian home in the eighth arrondissement after they visited their mother until they apologised.

Video of Tinubu saying without him Buhari wouldn’t have been president confirms his power lust. It has nothing to do with Nigeria’s progress – Media personality, Fola Folayan

Media personality and General Manager of YES FM, Fola Folayan has reacted to a video of former Governor of Lagos state, Bola Tinubu claiming that without him, Muhammadu Buhari wouldn’t have been President in 2015.

In the video, Tinubu claimed that he brought Buhari from retirement after he contested for the presidency several times and lost, and made him President. He added that it is now his turn to become President.

Reacting to the video via twitter, Fola stated that it confirms opinions about Tinubu’s presidential bid. 

Fola also claimed that Tinubu’s presidential bid is about him and power lust, and not about the progress of the country.

She tweeted; 

That video just confirmed what we’ve always known about Tinubu’s presidential bid; it’s about him and his power lust. It has nothing to do with Nigeria’s progress. That’s why all he has to say is “emi lol kan”. “It’s my turn”.

Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee: Kim Kardashian’s plea to attend rejected by Buckingham Palace.

Kim Kardashian’s dream of attending the Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee celebration has officially been dashed.

Buckingham Palace refused to issue her tickets for the Saturday evening gala, despite reaching London days before the event. 

Kardashian, 41, landed in the UK with boyfriend Pete Davidson, 28, earlier this week, and immediately sent her team out asking for tickets. However, the Daily Mail reports that the palace turned the American couple down, as did representatives at the BBC, the network which will be broadcasting the party.

A source told the Daily Mail Kardashian was determined to get tickets and didn’t even mind if they were “not VIP”.

The source said; 

 “Kim rarely gets turned down to attend any event, so this has been quite surprising, especially as she doesn’t visit the UK often. Kim and Pete love the royal family and really wanted to be a part of this special celebration.”

At the moment, it’s unclear whether the couple’s only reason for visiting London was for the jubilee celebrations. MailOnline approached Kardashian’s representatives for comment but was denied.

The Queen will attend the Derby at Epsom Downs on Saturday before the Platinum Party at Buckingham Palace. It’s unclear whether Kardashian and Davidson’s trip to London was solely for the Jubilee celebrations.

The event will feature performances by Queen, Diana Ross, and Nile Rodgers, as well as visits by Sir David Attenborough and David Beckham.

A public ballot was used to distribute 10,000 tickets, with 7,500 going to key workers, military personnel, volunteers, and charity for Saturday’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

Members of the Royal Family are expected to attend on behalf of the Queen, who will be watching on TV from Windsor Castle while “pacing herself.”

The Queen oversaw the symbolic lighting of a series of beacons around the UK on Thursday night, capping off the first day of historic national commemorations marking her 70-year reign. The monarch’s late-night appearance at Windsor Castle capped off a day of joyous festivities that began with the Queen taking to the Buckingham Palace balcony flanked by her family earlier in the day.

However, after experiencing “discomfort” during Thursday’s ceremonies, it was reported that she would miss a national thanksgiving ceremony at St Paul’s Cathedral in London on Friday. The Big Jubilee Lunch and the Platinum Jubilee Pageant will round off the four days of festivities on Sunday.

Convicted murderer who escaped from Texas prison and proceeded to kill family-of-five is killed in police shootout.

A convicted murderer who escaped from a Texas prison transport bus in May 2022 has been shot dead by cops during a shootout.

Gonzalo Lopez, 46, who had been on the run since May 12, was killed in a shootout in a residential neighborhood in Jourdanton, Texas, at about 10:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 2.

Shortly before Lopez’s death, he had been named the prime suspect in the slaying of five family members – two adults and three children – in Centerville, about 250 miles away from the scene of his fatal shootout, authorities said.

Lopez was ultimately spotted by law enforcement driving a white Chevrolet Silverado that he stole from the murder scene.

Police chased him and Lopez crashed into a tree after running over spike strips. He then exited the vehicle and began shooting at officers, who returned fire, striking and killing him, according to Jason Clark, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

No law enforcement officers were injured in the gunfight.

Clark, at a Thursday night press conference, said Lopez was armed with a rifle and handgun, which were believed to have been stolen from home of the murder victims.

The identities of the victims were not revealed on Thursday night. They were from Houston, but spent their weekends at the Centerville home, reports said.

Lopez had evaded arrest since he slipped out of his restraints on the inmate-filled bus and stabbed the driver before running off into the woods in Leon County.

The inmate, who was serving a life sentence for a 2006 murder, was being transported to Texas’ prison headquarters in Huntsville — about 50 miles north of Leon County — for a medical appointment when he made his escape, officials said.

Popular Kenyan actress arraigned for failing to pay bill after dining and drinking expensive liquor at restaurant.

A popular Kenyan actress, Diana Clara Ojenge alias Mishi Dorah was on Thursday, June 2, charged at the Kibera law courts with obtaining Sh152,550 credit by false pretenses after dining and drinking expensive liquor at a city restaurant.

Ms Ojenge was accused of incurring the bill at Golden Ice Bistro at Nextgen Mall in South C on Mombasa Road in Nairobi on the night of May 26 and the morning of May 27. 

The charge sheet further states, “Ojenge also ordered six bottles of Belaire Luxe 750ml valued at Sh75,000 and seven Hennessy VS 750ml valued at Sh70,000 which she took with a group of friends she was partying with by falsely pretending that she would pay a fact she knew to be false.”

The court heard that she ordered two chicken breasts valued at Sh3,000, one cocktail drink valued at Sh2,000, two bottles of 300ml coke valued at Sh500, a one litre bottle of mineral water valued at Sh400 and three bottles of Redbull energy drink valued at Sh1,650.

Ms Ojenge allegedly claimed that her bank card had a problem and she was unable to pay.

She requested to be escorted to her house to collect some cash but she could still not foot the bill after two of the restaurant’s officials accompanied her to her house.

She later went to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to meet an artist.

The suspect requested the management to give her until Monday May 30, to settle the bill but she did not and instead, stopped picking phone calls from the management.

She was reported at Akila police station and police traced and arrested her.

She denied the charges before principal magistrate Monicah Maroro and pleaded for lenient bail and bond terms.

The case will be mentioned on June 16. 

Keep your distance or else you go collect- Nollywood actress, Laide Bakare warns her colleagues.

Laide Bakare has taken to her IG page to issue a stern warning to her colleagues in the movie industry who she claims are going about on gossip blogs to leave trashy comments about her.

Laide has been trending after she disclosed that her 13-year-old daughter gifted her brother a Mercedes Benz on his 9th birthday. Many felt her claim is false and have taken to social media to mock her.

Read what she said to her fellow colleagues in the industry, who are in support of how she is being dragged on Instagram;

Gunman Kills Four At US Hospital In New Mass Shooting.

A gunman killed at least four people Wednesday at a hospital building in Tulsa, Oklahoma, police said — the latest mass shooting to convulse the United States as Texas families bury their dead after a school massacre nearly 10 days earlier.
The suspect, who was armed with a rifle and a handgun during his attack on the Saint Francis hospital campus, died by suicide, police said.

“Right now we have four civilians that are dead, we have one shooter that is dead, and right now we believe that is self-inflicted,” Tulsa Police Department Deputy Chief Eric Dalgleish told reporters.

He said officers responded immediately after emergency calls came in reporting that a gunman had stormed into the second floor of the Natalie Building, which houses a clinic on the Saint Francis campus.
Police “were hearing shots in the building” when they arrived, according to Dalgleish, who said officers then searched floor by floor, room by room while trying to clear the building during what authorities described as an active shooter situation.

Earlier, police Captain Richard Meulenberg said officers were treating the scene as “catastrophic,” with “several” people shot and “multiple injuries.”
It was not clear how many other people might have been injured.
Dalgleish said the entire assault — from the moment emergency calls came in, to the time officers engaged the shooter — lasted about four minutes.

Dalgleish also noted that the suspect had yet to be identified.
US President Joe Biden has been briefed on the shooting, the White House said in a statement, adding that the administration has offered support to Tulsa officials.

Elizabeth Buchner, a legal assistant who lives behind the building where the shooting occurred, said she rushed out of her house when she heard helicopters and a loud commotion coming from the direction of the hospital.
“It was the most law enforcement I’ve ever seen at one place in my entire life,” Buchner, 43, told AFP by telephone.

She said she witnessed a tactical team rush inside as part of a response that she described as “fast and strong,” with “no hesitation.”
Melissa Provenzano, an Oklahoma state legislator, also praised the swift response of the officers.

“It could have been so much worse,” she told CNN.
But she expressed frustration at how such tragedies keep happening in America.
“We deserve better than this,” she said. “These things are preventable, and it’s time to wake up and address this.”

The shooting is the latest in a string of deadly assaults by gunmen that have rocked the United States in the past month.
On May 14 a white supremacist targeting African Americans killed 10 people at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York. The shooter survived and is facing charges.

Ten days later an 18-year-old gunman armed with an AR-15 burst into an elementary school in the small Texas town of Uvalde and killed 21 people — 19 of them young children — before being shot dead by law enforcement.

On Wednesday one of the two teachers killed in that attack was laid to rest in Uvalde, a day after the first funerals for the children.
Gun regulation faces deep resistance in the United States, from most Republicans and some rural-state Democrats.

But Biden — who visited Uvalde over the weekend — vowed earlier this week to “continue to push” for reform, saying: “I think things have gotten so bad that everybody is getting more rational about it.”
Some key federal lawmakers have also voiced cautious optimism and a bipartisan group of senators worked through the weekend to pursue possible areas of compromise.

They reportedly were focusing on laws to raise the minimum age for gun purchases or to allow police to remove guns from people considered a threat to themselves or others — but not on an outright ban on high-powered rifles like the weapons used in Uvalde and Buffalo.

WATCH VIDEO BELOW:

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CeS0KRmoB8i/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Johnny Depp I’ve Got My Life Back!!! After Defamation Case Win.

Johnny Depp has a new lease on life after being awarded more than $10 million in his defamation case against Amber Heard … telling the world he’s “truly humbled” by the jury’s decision.
In a lengthy statement following his win Wednesday, Depp says, “Six years ago, my life, the life of my children, the lives of those closest to me, and also, the lives of the people who for many, many years have supported and believed in me were forever changed. All in the blink of an eye.”

He continues, “False, very serious and criminal allegations were levied at me via the media, which triggered an endless barrage of hateful content, although no charges were ever brought against me … And six years later, the jury gave me my life back. I am truly humbled.”

As reported, a jury found Heard’s op-ed titled, “I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath” defamed the actor, and awarded him $10.35M in damages. Heard was awarded $2M in compensatory damages of her own.

Depp’s statement continues, “My decision to pursue this case, knowing very well the height of the legal hurdles that I would be facing and the inevitable, worldwide spectacle into my life, was only made after considerable thought.”

He says, “From the very beginning, the goal of bringing this case was to reveal the truth, regardless of the outcome. Speaking the truth was something that I owed to my children and to all those who have remained steadfast in their support of me. I feel at peace knowing I have finally accomplished that.”

Depp also gives love to his fans, many of whom were outside the court, saying, “I am, and have been, overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and the colossal support and kindness from around the world. I hope that my quest to have the truth be told will have helped others, men or women, who have found themselves in my situation, and that those supporting them never give up. I also hope that the position will now return to innocent until proven guilty, both within the courts and in the media.”

Offering thanks to those involved in the case, “I wish to acknowledge the noble work of the Judge, the jurors, the court staff and the Sheriffs who have sacrificed their own time to get to this point, and to my diligent and unwavering legal team who did an extraordinary job in helping me to share the truth.”

Finally, he says, “The best is yet to come and a new chapter has finally begun. Veritas numquam perit. Truth never perishes.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/CeRn2s_on5h/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Anyone who chooses to go for cosmetic surgery is insecure – BBNaija’s Alex.

Big Brother Naija star, Alex has shared her thoughts about people undergoing cosmetic surgery, few hours after it was reported that a Port Harcourt big girl died while undergoing cosmetic surgery in Lagos. 
 
Alex in Snaps she shared, stated that people who choose to undergo cosmetic surgery are insecure.
 
The reality star who noted that everyone is insecure about something, added that going for surgery is no “guarantee of perfection or survival. “
 
Addressing big people, she said why “eat and add to the point where you feel surgery is your only solution”. 
 
Alex added that “people will never meet the society’s standard and it will never make them less attractive to the right people”. 
 
Read below…

Reno Omokri tackles Tinubu’s supporters kicking against President Buhari’s appeal to APC members to allow him choose his successor.

Reno Omokri has taken to his Instagram page to tackle supporters of former Lagos state governor and APC Presidential hopeful, Bola Tinubu, who according to him are complaining about President Buhari asking APC members to allow him choose his successor.
 
Recall that during President Buhari’s meeting with APC governors on Tuesday, May 31, he asked the governors to allow him to choose his successor. (Read here).  This reportedly did not go down well with some members of the party, particularly the presidential aspirants who are hoping they clinch the party’s ticket during their convention slated for June 6th to 9th.

Posting the photo above on Instagram, Reno opined that APC members should stop complaining as their principal, Tinubu, has also been the one choosing who becomes governor of Lagos state for many years now.
 
He wrote;

”I don’t understand why Bola Tinubu’s people are complaining that Buhari can’t choose who the APC candidate will be. Who chooses who becomes candidate of the APC in Lagos? Is it not solely Tinubu? Who stopped Ambode from being re-elected? Was it not solely Tinubu?
Did Ambode not pay for a form in 2019? Did the APC not collect his money and refuse to refund him after Tinubu rejected him? Did he not go and gather his brother Governors to beg Tinubu on his behalf?
Did Governor Bagudu of Kebbi not prostrate to Tinubu on Ambode’s behalf? Not that I support the imposition of candidates. However, what is good for Lagos APC is also good for national APC!
I am a student of history. I recall clearly that Samuel Doe use to cut people while they were still alive. However, when Prince Yormie Johnson arrested him on his way to seek safety with ECOMOG, Johnson gave Doe the special Doe treatment.

So, if Buhari decides to give Tinubu the special Ambode treatment, history justifies it! Tinubu cannot expect Buhari to treat him better than he, Tinubu, treated Ambode.

If Ambode was the Governor of Lagos on October 20, 2020, instead of Sanwoolu, maybe the #LekkiMassacre of peaceful, unarmed #EndSARS protesters would not have happened. But Tinubu denied him the ticket. So, Buhari can deny Tinubu just as Tinubu denied Ambode. No one will cry foul!”

Oyo Commences New C Of O Scheme, Prescribes New Fees For Residential, Commercial, Agric Landowners.

A new Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) scheme tagged, “C of O Redefined”, commences in Oyo State on Wednesday, bringing an end to the previous scheme launched in 2020 named “C of O redefined”.

The new scheme, launched by State Commissioner for Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mr Olayiwola Olusegun, at State Secretariat, Ibadan, prescribes various fees for residential, industrial land-owners, residential, commercial, and agricultural landowners.

He, however, maintained that upon payment of prescribed fees, applicants will get their C of O within 60 days.

As reeled out by Olayiwola, getting C of O for a residential range between N150,000 and N220,000; residential/commercial cost N400,000; commercial landowners will have to pay between N250,000 and N550,000; while agricultural landowners between N200,000 and N750,000.

He added that the new scheme was aimed at improving land administration and improve revenue generation in the state.

Asked about the complaints that bedeviled the last scheme, Olayiwola said the state government identified that the major challenge was the involvement of middlemen.

He added that the state did not issue some C of O due to coordinate errors on surveys submitted by some applicants.

Notwithstanding the challenge, Olayiwola said out of a total of 6,779 C of O applications received since 2020, the state government issued C of O to 4,804 applicants.

He added that prospective applicants are expected to produce the following documents: Application Form at N10,000.00, Passport Photograph (1), original Land Agreement, registered Survey Plan verified by Surveyor General office(N5,000.00,) Certificate of Incorporation of the company (if Commercial), Photograph of the subject property (if developed).

Olayiwola said: “Today, the Ministry of Lands, Housing & Urban Development (MLH&UD) on behalf of Oyo State Government (OYSG) launch a new Certificate of Occupancy Scheme called C of O Redefined and this is borne out of His Excellency’s passion to make Certificate of Occupancy accessible and affordable to all land users.

“In 2020, the State Government through the Ministry of Lands, Housing & Urban Development launched the Oyo Home Owner’s Charter (OYHOC) scheme which served as an opportunity for Prospective Home Owners to obtain their Certificate of Occupancy at an affordable price.

“While the OYHOC scheme was ongoing, the Ministry got feedback from members of the public that other land users should also be considered. That is why the Executive Governor of Oyo State, His Excellency, Engr. Oluseyi Makinde approved and directed that all land users should be considered, hence, the birth of C-of-O Redefined, which the Ministry is launching today.

“The C of O Redefined will give opportunity for industrial landowners, residential, commercial, and agricultural landowners to apply and have their Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) within 60 days and at an affordable price.

“His Excellency has approved the following fees under this new scheme and it is our sincere hope that members of the public will make use of this opportunity.

“Between 2020 and now, a total number of 6,779 Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) applications was received under the HOC scheme apart from Conventional C of O and 4,804 of these applications have been processed and issued with certificates, this is an appreciable increase to Certificate of Occupancy issued during the last administration. With C of O Redefined, we hope to achieve more than we have done with OYHOC.

“The Ministry is aware that some property owners who applied for C of O are yet to be issued the same, this is due to several reasons but majorly it borders on coordinate errors and survey issues which the ministry is looking at resolving.

“In order to apply for C of O Redefined, property owners should produce the following documents: Application Form at N10,000.00; Passport Photograph (1), original Land Agreement, registered Survey Plan verified by Surveyor General office N5,000.00, Certificate of Incorporation of the company (if Commercial), Photograph of the subject property (if developed).

“It is important to state that some properties that fall within Government Acquisition, stream set back, Circular Road, High Tension Cable, Rail Line Corridors, etc are not entitled to Certificate of Occupancy and as such are not going to be issued with any.

“However, applications will commence tomorrow, June 1, 2022. We are calling on all property owners to seize this opportunity and enjoy all the benefits of C of Redefined.”

Many abducted as bandits block highway in Kaduna, set buses on fire.

Many people have been feared kidnapped by bandits who attacked travellers along the Kaduna-Birnin-Gwari Road in Kaduna State.

Channels Television reported that the bandits blocked the highway on Tuesday May 31, and also set about eight vehicles ablaze.

They later took an unspecified number of travellers, mostly women and children, to an unknown location. It is unclear if any life was lost to the attack.

Chairman of Birnin Gwari Vanguards for Security and Good Governance, Ibrahim Nagwari, confirmed the attack in a statement.

Nagwari said the bandits blocked the Birnin-Gwari-Kaduna Highway and intercepted a convoy of motorists with security escorts between Kuriga and Manini, near Udawa where they left with an unspecified number of people into the bush.

The Chairman of Birnin Gwari Vanguards for Security and Good Governance who expressed fear of the armed men forming an alliance with the Ansaru terrorist group to declare war on the residents of Birnin-Gwari, advised the people of the area to stop travelling through the Kaduna-Birnin-Gwari Highway until when the security situation there improved.

He said; 

“We had always appreciated efforts of security personnel in their passion to curtail the security challenges bedevilling the Birnin-Gwari general area, but our people have reached a point of no return,” Nagwari said, noting that necessitated the “need for the people of Birnin-Gwari and communities along the Kaduna-Birnin-Gwari Highway to halt with immediate effect travelling on this notorious highway until the security situation improves.

“This organisation hereby advises all our citizens to exercise maximum restraint and obey all rules of the land and seclude themselves in prayers for Allah’s intervention to deal with these terrorists and their collaborators within our communities.

“Equally, we pray for the safe return of our people, mostly women and children that were abducted.”

Internet Fraudster bags jail term, forfeits property to FG.

The Lagos Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Monday, May 31, secured the conviction and sentencing of one Nuhu Zakari, who was arraigned on a one-count amended charge bordering on money laundering and internet fraud before Justice Sherifat Solebo of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos.
 

A statement released by EFCC says the convict was accused of acting as a middle man, who sourced for foreign bank accounts for other internet fraudsters. He pleaded guilty to the amended charge.

The prosecuting counsel, G.C. Akaogu, informed the court that the defendant approached the Commission seeking a plea bargain, which necessitated the amended charges
 

While giving a review of the facts, Akaogu told the Court that the defendant was arrested sometime in January, following an operation conducted by operatives of the EFCC based on intelligence reports on the activities of suspected internet fraudsters around the Ajah area of Lagos State.
 

“He was arrested along with some others and brought to the office of the EFCC for further interrogation and investigation,” he said

He also told the Court that the defendant, upon interrogation, confessed to “acting as an intermediary between two fraudsters, in which he collects bank details of foreign banks” from one party to another.
 

He further told the Court that upon his arrest, an iPhone 7, a Huawei phone and a HP laptop were recovered from him and forensically analyzed.

The prosecution counsel also told the court that fraudulent documents were printed out from the WhatsApp conversation on his phone. He, thereafter, tendered in evidence the items recovered from him along with his statement, which were admitted as exhibits against him.
 

He urged the Court to adopt the plea bargain agreement between both parties.


The defendant, in the open court, admitted the facts against him, and pleaded with the Court to temper justice with mercy.


Justice Solebo found him guilty as charged and sentenced him to six months at a custodial facility. The Judge also ordered all the items recovered from him to be forfeited to the Federal Government. The convict is also expected to enter into a bond with the EFCC never to engage in such an act again upon his release from prison.

“The last two guys I dated got engaged or married within 3-6 months of us breaking up” – RMD’s daughter says.

Nichole, the daughter of veteran Nollywood actor, RMD, has said that the last two men she dated got engaged and married few months after they broke up.

“The last two guys I dated got engaged or married within 3-6 months of us breaking up. So, if you want to get married in 2022, we are nearing the cut off for me to ruin your life and for the heartbreak to carry you to your wife. Happy June 1st” she wrote.