Kim Kardashian is "ignoring the negative backlash" over her Vogue cover

People are still banging on about Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s Vogue magazine cover.

Yep, it finally happened – Kim is on the cover of <the> ultimate fashion bible, but she doesn’t care if you don’t like it.

“Kim has wanted this for so long, she is beyond happy. She's ignoring all the negative backlash. She doesn't listen to what other people think,” a source tells Us Weekly.

Some more details from the shoot have also emerged, with sources explaining that the shoot took place in late January or early February over two days in LA, and that Kim wore a selection of different white wedding-inspired gowns.

North was also involved in the shoot and posed with her parents for a selection of images. Cute!

It was our idea

Vogue editor Anna Wintour has also publicly spoken out to put all the Kimye haterz in their place by insisting that that Kanye didn’t beg to get himself and Kim on the cover.

"Part of the pleasure of editing Vogue, one that lies in a long tradition of this magazine, is being able to feature those who define the culture at any given moment, who stir things up, whose presence in the world shapes the way it looks and influences the way we see it,

“I think we can all agree on the fact that that role is currently being played by Kim and Kanye to a T. (Or perhaps that should be to a K?),” Anna writes of the cover.

“As for the cover, my opinion is that it is both charming and touching, and it was, I should add, entirely our idea to do it; you may have read that Kanye begged me to put his fiancee on Vogue's cover. He did nothing of the sort. The gossip might make better reading, but the simple fact of the matter is that it isn't true.”

Army kills 18 Boko Haram members in Borno

The Defence Headquarters has confirmed the killing of 18 insurgents suspected to be members of the Boko Haram sect in a shootout with troops in some settlements in Bama and Ngurosoye in Borno State.

The Director of Defence Information, Maj.-Gen. Chris Olukolade, said in an electronic mail on Monday that the Special Forces also destroyed five pickup vehicles, seven gulf cars and one Toyota Hillux truck belonging to the group.


Olukolade said that the soldiers also found 16 burnt AK 47 assault rifles at the scene of the battle.

He said that the Special Forces encountered the insurgents while they were making moves to attack some communities in the area.

Olukolade said the Special Forces screened and released 75 villagers in a cordon and search operation that followed the gun battle with the insurgents.

However, the Defence spokesman said that the military had not been able to verify the reported attack on a market in the Bama area which resulted in the purported killing of 29 people.

“The purported bomb attack on a market in the vicinity as widely reported in the media is however yet to be verified,” he said.

Olukolade stated also that the troops also recovered 16 AK 47 rifles during cordon and search operation in some communities around Mandara mountains and Haraza hills.

He stated also that the Special Forces overran the insurgents in some camps in the outskirts of Gombole, Mele, Kecheri, Dufrfada, Yuwe, and other villages around Mandara mountains and Sambisa forests after fierce encounters.

He said that a soldier died and five others injured in the battle where several insurgents were said to have been killed.

Olukolade added that the Multi-National Joint Task Force had intensified its patrol of the banks of Lake Chad and surrounding communities in addition to an aerial surveillance operation put in place to smoke out terrorists from the area.

Soul E Bada defends his 'Wizkid and Davido prophecy'

Singer turned prophet Soul E Baba battles to put off a raging online fire provoked by his prophesies on Wizkid and Davido posted on NE yesterday.

He had ‘prophesied’ that Wizkid would be poisoned and that Davido would be in a fatal car crash causing an uproar amongst their fans on social media. Soul E has gone on to defend his prophesies on his Facebook page.

I have received so many phone calls about the prophecy the Lord gave to me concerning wizkid, Davido and Aso Rock. Some have said that i am seeking for attention and so many funny talks about me been a prophet of God , i want to say that as a prophet of God,i will deliver any message i receive from God. Many people did not believe my Master Jesus Christ when He was on earth and they called Him different names, that’s why i am not surprised at people calling me names too but one thing i am sure of is that i don’t speak when the Lord has not asked me to speak and i don’t speak when the Lord has not showed me. Prophet Soul E.

Missing plane lost, crashed into the Indian ocean - Malaysia PM

Malaysian Airlines says it now has to assume “beyond any reasonable doubt” that missing flight MH370 has been lost and there are no survivors.

The announcement came in a text message, seen by the BBC, that was sent to families of those on board.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, with 239 people on board, went missing after taking off from Kuala Lumpur 8 March.



The announcement came as a search effort in the southern Indian Ocean completed a fifth day of operations.

As Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak spoke, airline representatives met with family members in Beijing. "They have told us all lives are lost," one relative of a missing passenger told CNN.

The developments happened the same day as Australian officials announced they had spotted two objects in the southern Indian Ocean that could be related to the flight, which has been missing since March 8 with 239 people aboard.

One object is "a grey or green circular object," and the other is "an orange rectangular object," the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said.

The objects are the latest in a series of sightings, including "suspicious objects" reported earlier Monday by a Chinese military plane that was involved in search efforts in the same region, authorities said.

So far, nothing has been definitively linked to Flight 370.

Earlier, Hishammuddin Hussein, Malaysia's acting transportation minister, said only that "at the moment, there are new leads but nothing conclusive."

A reporter on board the Chinese plane for China's official Xinhua news agency said the search team saw "two relatively big floating objects with many white smaller ones scattered within a radius of several kilometers," the agency reported Monday.

The Chinese plane was flying at 33,000 feet on its way back to Australia's west coast when it made the sighting, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said.

But a U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon aircraft, one of the military's most sophisticated reconnaissance planes, that was tasked to investigate the objects was unable to find them, the authority said.

With the search in its third week, authorities have so far been unable to establish where exactly the missing plane is or why it flew off course from its planned journey from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

China has a particularly large stake in the search: Its citizens made up about two-thirds of the 227 passengers on the missing Boeing 777. Beijing has repeatedly called on Malaysian authorities, who are in charge of the overall search, to step up efforts to find the plane.

Malaysian and Australian authorities appeared to be more interested Monday in the two objects spotted by a Royal Australian Air Force P-3 Orion aircraft.

The Australian's navy's HMAS Success "is on scene and is attempting to locate the objects," the Australian maritime authority said.

Hishammuddin said Australian authorities had said the objects could be retrieved "within the next few hours, or by tomorrow morning at the latest."

Our ordeal in Boko Haaram's den - Female abductees

Two women abducted by Boko Haram insurgents in the North-East have given a rare account of life as captives.


While one who was held captive for 15 days, said she had a marriage proposal from one of the Islamist militants, the other said she was almost turned into a killer.

“They asked me if I am Christian or Muslim. I said I am a Christian,” said 23-year-old Liatu, as she recounted her ordeal in the hands of Boko Haram members to the British Broadcasting Corporation.

“On the 11th day (in captivity), they brought a man to me and said that he liked me and that I should convert to Islam so that he can marry me,” she added in the report published by the BBC on Monday.

Liatu claimed that in Sambisa Forest, Borno State, where she was taken to after being seized at a roadblock last year, she witnessed the killing of 50 persons by the insurgents.

According to her, the insurgents, who had earlier killed Muslims employed by the government, preferred to use knives to slit peoples’ throats than shooting them.

She said, “They were slitting people’s throats with knives. Both women and men were killed, especially the men who didn’t agree to fight for them.

“Those that tried to escape were shot but they hardly ever used their guns to kill. They usually used knives. About 50 people were killed right in front of me.”

Liatu also told the BBC that the terrorists were usually tipped off about any imminent attack by the army.

This, she claimed, allowed the militants to hide in caves and forests close to the Cameroonian border.

Liatu, who refused to eat anything during her days in captivity, added that after being told about the proposed marriage, she made an extremely risky escape.

She said, “One of the captives stood up and said, ‘You only die once. Who is ready to make a run for it?’ Six of us jumped into one of the Boko Haram vehicles in the camp – a Volkswagen Golf.

“They chased us on motorbikes, shooting at the car until we got close to Bama town. Then they left and we got out of the car to continue on foot as there was a curfew in place. It was only then that I realised the three people on the backseat had all been shot dead.”

Like, Liatu, 19-year-old Janet, said she witnessed the slaughtering of people by the militants.

“They went to Gwoza and brought five people to the camp. They started slaughtering them in front of me,” said Janet, who was in the insurgents’ den for three months.

At a point, she added, the insurgents ordered her to slit the throat of one of the captured people but she declined.

“Then they ordered me to slit one of their throats. I refused. I told them I couldn’t do it. Then the wife of the leader of the group killed him instead.” Janet said.

She said she recognised the faces of the men who held her captive as most of them came from her area.

Janet said, “I knew almost all the people in the group I was with. I knew them from my home area.

“I was really angry and when I couldn’t keep quiet any longer, I said to one of them, ‘When we were at home you would even visit me and I respected you. So why are you doing this to me?”

A teacher who survived last month’s attack on a boarding school in Yobe State also narrated to the BBC how the insurgents killed some pupils in the institution.

“I peeped through the window and saw the gunshots coming in… and there was a lot of shouting,” he said, declining to give his name.

The teacher added, “I came back silently and said, ‘Let us lock our doors and pray. If they come in, that is maybe the end of our lives.’ We kept on praying and praying and praying.

“In one house, they even met two children that had been left behind by their parents who had fled to the bush. After coming in, the insurgents saw the children sleeping on their mattress.

“They woke them up asked them to go outside. They put the mattress outside and asked them to sleep. Then they set the house ablaze.

“We cried. Some of them were slaughtered like goats. Others were shot.

“Most of them had high hopes that they would be future leaders. Some of them in class were telling us they would be lawyers and doctors. They were full of ambition.”

Egypt sentences 529 Morsi supporters to death

CAIRO: A court in southern Egypt has convicted 529 supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi, sentencing them to death on charges of murdering a policeman and attacking police.

The court in Minya issued its ruling on Monday after only two sessions in which the defendants´ lawyers complained they had no chance to present their case.

Those convicted are part of a group of 545 defendants on trial for the killing of a police officer, attempted killing of two others, attacking a police station and other acts of violence.

More than 150 suspects stood trial, the others were tried in absentia. Sixteen were acquitted.

The defendants were arrested after violent demonstrations that were a backlash for the police crackdown in August on pro-Morsi sit-ins in Cairo that killed hundreds of people. (AP)

Missing plane plunged into southern Indean Ocean

KUALA LUMPUR: A new analysis of satellite data indicates the missing Malaysia Airlines plane crashed into a remote corner of the Indian Ocean, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said Monday.

The news is a major breakthrough in the unprecedented two-week struggle to find out what happened to Flight 370, which disappeared shortly after takeoff from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew aboard on March 8.

Dressed in a black suit, Najib announced the news in a brief statement to reporters late Monday night, saying the information was based on an unprecedented analysis of satellite data from Inmarsat.He said the data indicated the plane flew "to a remote location, far from any possible landing sites."

"It is therefore with deep sadness and regret that I must inform you that, according to this new data, Flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean."

He said Malaysia Airlines has informed the families of passengers of the plane´s fate.

Selamat Omar, the father of a 29-year-old aviation engineer who was on the flight, said some members of families of other passengers broke down in tears at the news.

"We accept the news of the tragedy. It is fate," Selamat told The Associated Press in Kuala Lumpur.

Selamat said the airline hasn´t told the families yet whether they will be taken to Australia, which is coordinating the search for the plane.

He said they expect more details Tuesday.

A multinational force has searched a wide swath of Asia trying to find the plane.

AFP adds: Malaysia Airlines on Monday reportedly told relatives of the 239 people on board a missing passenger jet that it believes the plane went down in the Indian Ocean with no survivors.

"Malaysia Airlines deeply regrets that we have to assume beyond any reasonable doubt that MH370 has been lost and that none of those on board survived," it said in a text message to relatives, the BBC reported.

 

Ibadan horror: Victim recounts ordeal in forest

One of the victims that were rescued by the police at Soka forest, Ibadan, Oyo State, which is believed to be a ritual killers’ den, said she was kidnapped in September 2013.



The victim, whose name is being withheld for security purpose, is currently recuperating with seven other victims in Adeoyo Hospital, Ibadan.

No fewer than 20 decomposing bodies were discovered in the forest on Saturday, while about 23 others were rescued alive.

They were taken to different hospitals in the city, with eight of them – four men and four women – in Adeoyo Hospital.

The woman, who was still weak from her experience, told our source that she knew she left her home in September and since then could not remember anything until Saturday when she was rescued.

She said, “I remember that I left my home in Okebola and was going to Challenge. I entered a taxi and that is the only thing I can remember until police rescued us yesterday (Saturday).”

When asked whether she did not see her captors killing people and selling their parts, she said, “I think such thing happened, but it did not really register because my mind was blank.

“I can recollect seeing people falling down, I can remember that some were taken away and they never returned, but really, it did not mean anything to me until Saturday. It was as if I woke up from a slumber.”

At this point, the victim countenance changed as if she went into a trance. Many questions asked by our correspondent went unanswered.

It was also observed that other victims were yet to regain their full strength.

They muttered words that were disjointed, but the nurses said they would regain full mental and physical ability.

They said two days of treatment was not enough to cure them completely, having been chained and maltreated for a long time.

No doctor was around to attend to our correspondent, but it was gathered that two of the victims were able to give their names.

Families, youths visit forest

Families whose members had been missing on Sunday besieged the forest where captives, skulls and decomposing bodies were found with the hope of finding them there.

One of such is the Oguntade family. The family spokesman, Kehinde, said their father, Isaac Oguntade, 95, left home in the Gbongan area of Osun State on December 31, 2013, but never returned.

“He is an old man, but still strong. He was a retired teacher and he was going to a bank on Osogbo Road on the day we last saw him.

“We have searched everywhere in vain. When we heard of this discovery, we came down to see if our father could be one of the victims, but we could not find him here,” said Kehinde.

A police report, dated January 14, 2014 and signed by one Inspector Akinlade Lawrence, confirmed his claim.

Also, hundreds of angry youths visited the forest, unleashing mayhem on visitors and herdsmen who graze their cattle in the area.

Our correspondent, who visited the forest on Sunday, saw the youths slaughtering and sharing cow meat and vandalising vehicles.

One of such vehicles with Lagos number plate, MK 126 AAA, belongs to a presenter with Splash FM. He also sustained injury with a deep cut on his head.

The youth also attacked security men of a company situated close to the area of the discovery. At the junction linking the road to the narrow forest, a man had been burnt to death. Eyewitnesses said he was linked to the operators of the camp.

A large number of adult and kids clothes and shoes were at the scene, while mats and other household items were found inside some of the rooms in the building where the captives were reportedly kept.

Oyo reacts

However, a statement from the Oyo State Police Command stated that a man had been arrested in connection with the discovery, while arms and ammunition were also discovered at the scene.

It reads in part, “Incident report on murder/ unlawful possession of firearms about 1730 hrs yesterday (Saturday). Information received at tollgate division that behind the Oyo State urban mass transport yard, Soka area Ibadan, some area boys, about 100, invaded the area, searching for two missing cyclists. They discovered an uncompleted compound where two women and five men were found chained and looking unkempt.

“Some decayed corpses and skeletons were also found in a nearby bush. The scene was visited and one Abideen Akanmu was arrested. He said he was employed by one Gbadamosi, now at large, to take care of the destitute found there. Victims evacuated to hospital, while a corpse was deposited at same hospital mortuary for autopsy.

“Five security men in a nearby company were also arrested and the following items were recovered from them – three single-barrelled gun, one bow, 16 arrows, 22 cutlasses, 40 life cartridges, seven table knives, two axes, two iron files and one phone.

“Angry mob set the security post ablaze but the fire was put out. The State Criminal Investigation Department is investigating the discovery.”

Residents who spoke to our correspondent said there was enough evidence to conclude that the place was for ritual killing.

One of them, who identified himself as Comrade Rasheed, said, “We have searched the whole forest and found strange things. There are decomposing bodies of people and more than 50 skulls.

“There are houses in the forest and no one lives there. We saw a man who claimed to be a student of a university, but on close examination, we found out that he was not mentally alright. The police should not conclude that the place is where mad people were treated.”

One of the volunteers, Abiodun Olaniyi, said a man approached them with a gun, but disappeared into the forest when he saw the huge crowd.

“A woman we found there said she had given birth to children for her captives. We rescued many people who were still alive and a dead body in the septic tank.

Another resident, Kolawole Falana, said,“I was hit with the butt of a gun by the police. They did not allow us to break a slab and see if people were kept underground.”

Pastor Chris Okotie speaks on Immigration Job Tragedy

Nigerian clergyman and politician, Pastor Chris Okotie of Household of God International Ministries has released a statement about the tragic stampede at the Nigeria Immigration Service recruitment.

Okotie who went philosophical with the deaths analysed various contributing factors, and proposing solutions to the cause, posted this article on his official Facebook page.



The big news this week was the inauguration of the National Conference, but the deaths of more than 16 young applicants who died in Abuja and other venues, during the Nigerian Immigration Service, NIS recruitment exercise, overshadowed it. This tragedy mirrors the desperate situation of Nigeria.

One only hopes that this unfortunate loss of lives, coupled with the incessant Boko Haram killings and other youth-based violence, would serve as a wake-up call to the summiteers, that this country needs a new governance paradigm. If the conference cannot produce that, then the over N7 billion invested in it would amount to another colossal waste of our scarce national resources.

It is an irony that each delegate would earn a whopping N12 million for the 3-month duration of the conference. By conservative estimates, N12 million is enough to provide self-employment for 12 resourceful graduates, and N7 billion could do likewise for thousands, some of whom perished under chaotic conditions in stadia around the country, while waiting for a poorly organised aptitude test by the NIS. The young graduate job-seekers who turned out for the tests filled up many stadia around the country, as if they came to watch high-profile football matches.

These hapless chaps paid N1,000.00 (One Thousand Naira) processing fee each. So, the Nigerian Immigration Service must have made quite some money, considering that in Lagos and Abuja alone, over 125,000 applicants turned up. We may be looking at millions of Naira that this monetised recruitment exercise generated for the NIS. There was record turnout in each of the 34 states for just 45,000 slots that the NIS advertised. The alarming job application horror is a clear evidence of the inability of our public institutions to manage events, resulting in poor crowd control and avoidable deaths through stampede. This is not an isolated case, it is a regular occurrence.

When things go wrong, our leaders seldom take responsibility. The NIS has tried to duck charges of culpability, by claiming that it outsourced the recruitment exercise to a private firm which actually collected the N1,000.00 levy. As usual, a panel would be setup to investigate this incident, followed by a white paper, and then, the report may end up gathering dust in a cabinet somewhere in Abuja, while government officials focus on the more important 2015 general elections in a country where competition for political power is about resource control, not the promotion of the general good of the people.

The fact that four expectant mothers died in this incident, with about 700 others reportedly injured, is enough reason why those who organised this event should not escape appropriate sanctions. Unfortunately, the Jonathan Administration is not known to punish errant public officials, although the NIS boss and the Internal Affairs Minister have been queried. In other countries where human life is valued, the President should compensate the victims and, more importantly, prevent a future re-occurrence. But the Federal Government has other priorities.

For me, and also for the FRESH Democratic Party, which I lead, nothing else matters in our quest for a functional, self-accounting and representative democracy, than a fundamental change of the prevailing order which is responsible for our national predicament. It should be reasonably assumed that delegates to the conference would know this, but I have my fears.

Many commentators have observed that the composition of the delegates to this National Conference is skewed in favour of the old politicians, and some of those who ran this country aground. How can we expect any meaningful change from this set of people? 20th century ideas cannot solve 21st century problems. If you look critically, the composition of the participants in this conference reflects the geriatric propensity of our polity.

All the progressive nations of the world, especially those who have graduated from under-development to emerging markets, are being governed today by new sets of leaders, whose orientation reflects the new world order, and are thus able to successfully confront the challenges they encounter in their respective nations.

As this NIS recruitment tragedy shows, our meal ticket educational system is not designed to drive industrial development or produce resourceful, self-employed folks who can create opportunities, rather depend on employment. The belated introduction of entrepreneur studies in the newly remoulded college curricula is like putting the cart before the horse. While vocational studies have been introduced, there are no teachers to instruct carpenters, electricians etc.

I have long been advocating a shift in the paradigm of our educational sector, which should be anchored on Human Capital Development. Science subjects are foundation of technology. If I were the President, this would be the mantra that would drive my reform agenda because without a solid, qualitative, continuous stream of local production of graduates in the technical, or science-related courses, our dream of industrial revolution as recently articulated in a widely publicised launch by Mr. President, would be a mirage.
The secret of Asia industrial miracle is that, leaders of that continent sent their students to Europe and America. The returning Asian students, who went to learn the technological wizardry of the West, laid the foundation of the technological revolution that produced the Tigers, who now threaten the scientific dominance of Europe and America. This is a model we could learn from.

Police nab 7 suspects over discovery of skulls in Ibadan

The Oyo State Police command has arrested seven suspects in connection with discovery of skulls in an abandoned building at Soka area of Ibadan last Saturday.


According to the police, no fewer than seven suspects have been arrested.

This was disclosed by the command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Olabisi Ilobanafor yesterday, in Ibadan.
Decomposing bodies, skulls, human parts and some half-dead people believed to have been hypnotised by the ritualists were found in the bush.

Among the suspects arrested were two persons caught in the area and five security personnel working in a nearby company.
One of the rescued victims believed to have been bewitched and bound with fetters in a dungeon, in Soka, Oluyole local government area of Oyo State.

While vowing that the command would take all necessary steps to bring all culprits to book, Ilobanafor said the State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID, had swung into action that would lead to the arrest of other suspects.

Explaining further how the den was discovered, she recalled that a group of 100 area boys had invaded the Toll gate behind state urban Mass Transit Yard, located at Soka in search of two missing cyclists when they discovered an uncompleted building where two women and five women were found chained and totally unkempt.

While one Abideen Akanmu who claimed to have been employed by one Gbadamosi was arrested, the police are on the trail of the leader of the gang who is now at large.

All the suspects arrested, she added would be charged with murder and unlawful possession of fire arms. The captives rescued from the bush, she said, had been taken to hospital for treatment while corpses found were also deposited at the morgue.

Items recovered at the building were three Dane Guns, three single barrel, one bow, 16 arrows, 22 cutlasses, 40 live cartridges, seven table knives, one axe, two iron files and one handset.

Four worshippers killed in 'terrorist' attack on Kenya

Four worshippers were shot dead Sunday by two gunmen who stormed a packed church near the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa on Sunday.



Police said the assailants opened fire indiscriminately on the congregants.

At least 17 people were injured in what authorities have called a terrorist attack.

One witness told Reuters news agency how gunmen shouted in a foreign language before shooting indiscriminately at the congregation.
The Red Cross said two worshippers were killed instantly, while two more later died of their injuries.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Many suspect the attack may have come from Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group, Al Shabaab, which operates in neighbouring Somalia.

The group has threatened attacks on Kenya in retaliation for Kenya’s military campaign against them in Somalia.
Kenyan troops, which have since joined the African Union force in Somalia, are taking part in a fresh offensive launched this month against Shebab bases.

The church attack on Sunday took place in Likoni, located across a deep-water channel from Mombasa city, a major tourist hub.
Likoni’s police chief Robert Mureithi said the high number of bullet cartridges recovered for the Joy in Christ Church indicated the gunmen were armed with automatic weapons, Reuters reported.

The attackers tried to raid a second church nearby but fled when armed police on patrol in the neighborhood appeared.

Police discover baby-making factory in Ogun

The Ogun State Police Command, on Friday, paraded 10 suspects in connection with a baby making factory located at Sebanjo Crescent, Fagbunle Bus Stop at Akute area of the state.

Eight of the suspects were pregnant young women, whose ages range from 16 to 21.


NE learnt that the factory was being run by the prime suspect, Angela Chidozie, who also lived in the four-bedroom bungalow with her husband and children. Her husband was said to be currently on the run.

The Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ikemefuna Okota, said the arrest was made possible following information from the community.

He said, “I have stressed the importance of community policing. We got information yesterday that Chidozie was keeping pregnant juveniles in her house.

“After the mothers give birth, Chidozie would sell the babies for N3m or more while the mother of each child would be given a pittance. When we got to Chidozie’s house yesterday, there was no one in sight. We left and when we later returned, we discovered that five of the girls were hiding in one room.

“They were immediately taken into custody. Three more girls were later discovered to have been hiding in a wardrobe in one of the rooms by the policemen that we left behind. In fact, one of them fainted and had to be rushed to the hospital.”

Chidozie was later found in a dilapidated wooden building in the vast compound where she reportedly hid.

Okoye added, “Some syringes and herbal medications were recovered from the scene. Investigation is on to unravel Chidozie’s partners because she was definitely not working alone.”

Chidozie, an indigene of Abia state told newsmen that all the girls had come to her after they were impregnated.

She said, “I have been in this business since last year; I also combine it with herbal medicine. These girls came to me on their own to assist them sell their babies and I sell each for N100,000 to childless couples. I have sold five babies so far. I don’t have any baby making factory because the girls did not get pregnant when they were with me.”

One of the mothers, 21-year-old Vivien Princewill, who wept profusely, said she was advised by a friend to see Chidozie.

She said, “When I found out I was pregnant, I couldn’t tell my boyfriend. A friend of mine who was aware of my predicament, directed me to Chidozie’s house.”

The. Bauchi Miracle baby: Born with Muslim rosary on his neck

Muhammad Mustapha the miracle Bauchi baby who was born with a white tesbah on its neck.

KOFAR Gada is a rustic settlement that can easily be ignored. The journey to the settlement takes about 20 minutes from Wailo, which is about 65 kilometres from Bauchi, the state capital, on a bike through rough bush path. The buildings were sparsely distributed, all with thatched roofing. It is a typical rural set up.

The settlement remained quiet until recently when the birth of a baby boy changed that quietness. Since then, the settlement, located in Ganjuwa Local Government Area of Bauchi State, has seen turned into a Mecca of sort as people keep trooping in to take a look at the baby, who was born with a white Muslim rosary,  tesbah, round his neck.

The baby boy, named Muhammad Mustapha, according to his father, Isa Umar, was born on Friday, February 28, 2014 at about 11a.m. As expected in most rural setting in the country, baby Mustapha was born at home as the mother, Balki Isa, revealed that she had never attended any hospital to deliver any of her children.

Speaking with newsmen during a visit to the settlement, Umar, who said he was 40-year-old, though he looks older, stated that the baby was their ninth child, saying that he had four boys, including Mustapha, and five girls “He is the ninth child of the family. Interestingly, none of my children was born with any miraculous sign like this baby. He was born normally like the other children but the difference was that he came to this world with a white tesbah round his neck.”

Umar stated that the only inkling he had that the baby would be a miraculous child was the dream his wife had during her pregnancy, which she narrated to him and he advised that they should keep it to themselves and be prayerful about it. 

The mother’s dream eventually became a reality as people, including the village head (Sarki) of Wailo, Alhaji Iliya Musa, have since kept coming to the settlement to see the baby boy. People come as far as Kano to the settlement to see Allah’s wonder, which He blessed the family with.“When she was pregnant with the baby, there was a day my wife told me that she dreamt that she would give birth to a baby boy who would attract people, including big people and emirs to our settlement.

“On hearing this, I told her that she should not tell anyone this and that we should keep it within ourselves and be very fervent in praying to Allah and see what He would do,” Umar, who said he was a cattle rearer and farmer, told reporters.

According to Umar, revered Islamic scholar, Sheikh Usman Dahiru Bauchi on hearing of the birth of the baby sent a vehicle to the settlement to convey the family and the baby to Bauchi, where the cleric prayed for the baby and the family and shower the baby with material and cash gift.

Also speaking, Balki, who said she was 27-year-old told newsmen that save from the problem she had with her legs which made it impossible for her to walk and do house chores, she had a normal pregnancy.

But, according to her, “on the day I gave birth to the baby, I was able to do all the house chores. It was after I finished every chores I had for the day that I fell into labour. I had him inside this room (where the interview took place).”

She added that, “when I first saw the Tesbah round his neck, I was initially afraid and was asking what type of baby is this. Despite the fear, I was still very much sure that he is a human being. People around kept telling me that I should not fear anything that what I gave birth to is a miracle baby.

“They told me that I should be happy that I gave birth to such a baby. My initial fear disappeared and I became happy and grateful to Allah for blessing me with a baby who is a sign of His greatness.”

Balki informed that, like all her previous births, the birth of Mustapha never gave her any problem, saying that, “the labour went on smoothly like I used to have my babies. I had never been delivered of any baby in the hospital. I always have my babies at home.”

She declared that the birth of the baby was a blessing to the family and expressed optimism that he was going to be an important personality in the future, considering the fact that his birth had drawn the attention of people not only to the family but also to their settlement.

The father told newsmen that since the birth of the baby, people had not stopped coming to the settlement, adding that, “people who have been visiting have been giving the baby little, little cash gift like N10, N20, N100 and so on according to their capacity. But Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi gave the baby cloths and N10,000 when we visited him.”

Umar stated that he felt very happy and proud being the father of the baby, declaring that, “I really am very happy to be blessed with this miracle baby. Had it been that I have money, I would have because of him changed the thatched roof of this building to corrugated iron roof and even changed that of the mosque I built in this community.”

Asked what he wished for the baby, the father stated that he would preferred the boy stays in the city where he could have easy access to both Islamic and Western education and become an important person in life.

He added that he wished he had the wherewithal he could have bought a car for the baby, saying that, “I don’t have that kind of money but I wish all the best and good things for not only this baby but also my other children.”

According to him, “I want all my children to go to school and acquire knowledge. Unfortunately, we don’t have any school in this community. For now, they are only attending Islamiyya school.”

He solicited government’s intervention in providing school at Kofar Gada as well as constructing motorable road to link Wailo to the settlement.

An aunt to both parents, who simply identified herself as Hauwa, told Sunday Tribune that the birth of Mustapha had brought joy and happiness to every member of the family, adding that she felt proud of both the baby and the parents.

Hauwa, who said she came on a visit to the parents of the baby from Kafin Magaji as of the time journalists visited the settlement said, “when I heard that this happened in my family, I was very, very happy. I am happy that I witnessed the birth of a miracle baby in my family. I really am very proud of the baby and his parents.”

It was learnt that since the news of the birth of the baby filtered into town, commercial motorcyclists in the area had been making brisk business. This is so as the number of people going to the settlement surged up with the visit of people to the family.

According to the okada rider who took this reporter to the settlement from Wailo, who identified himself as Ibrahim, “we have been making money now unlike before. People have been visiting this place. Most of the visitors come from Bauchi, Kano and other places to come and confirm if it is true that a baby was born with Tesbah round his neck.

“The baby’s birth is not only a blessing to his family; it is also a blessing to us. It is a blessing because we witness a boom in business.”

Reacting to the incident, the National Secretary of Dawa’ah Coordinating Council of Nigeria (DCCN), Ustaz Ahmad Gumba, told Sunday Tribune that issue like this could not be disputed , adding, however, that it was not something to be celebrated but deeply reflected upon.

He stated that people needed to go back to Allah and turned sincerely in repentance to Him, submitting that they should understand that Allah could do anything He wanted without taking permission from anybody.

According to him, “Issue like this is very possible. In fact, it cannot be disputed since Allah (SWT) has told us that He will be showing us His signs so that we will know that He is indeed Almighty.

“He is capable of doing this like the boy’s birth since He created Adam with out any parent; Hauwa (Eve) without a mother and Prophet Isa (Jesus Christ) without a father, He can still do this.”

Ustaz Gumba added that, “this is, however, not an issue to celebrate. It rather calls for sober reflection by all. We all need to go back to Allah; turn to Him in sincere repentance and change our ways of life in accordance to what He wants us to do all the times,” reflected Gumba.