Benue State- 4 people crushed to death in a grisly motor accident

Three young men and a woman were crushed to death in a fatal motor accident on Christmas morning along Makurdi-Lafia road, Benue State. According to Idoma Voice, the accident involved a Honda Sedan car and a motorbike conveying the three young men and woman to church. The driver of the Honda reportedly lost control and crushed the men and woman.

"We were going to church this morning when we saw an motorbike conveying some young men and a woman, to a church in a nearby village, speed past us, " an eyewitness disclosed. "However, after a short time we heard a big bang and we saw people running and screening towards a direction, we followed suit, and on getting there we saw that a Honda car had just ran over the motorbike apparently after the driver of the vehicle lost control. The four occupants of the motorbike died instantly while the driver of the car who managed to control his vehicle in the middle of a forest, and other occupants of the car sustained injuries."

The bodies were taken to the Makurdi Federal Medical Centre, FMC by officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC.

Fire razes over 200 shops in Ibadan on Christmas day

Christmas was bad for traders in the popular Sango Market, Ibadan as fire razed over 200 shops in the plank section of the market. The fire reportedly started around 3pm, burned for several hours and as at 8pm, it still hadn't been put out. According to information gathered, planks estimated at ‎over N250m was lost in the disaster.

The Oyo State Fire Service finally responded to the inferno and was seen racing towards Eleyele Water Works for a refill when it ran out of water.

 

A trader in the market said the fire started after he left his shop.

He said:

“Shortly after I attended to a customer who called me on phone, I had the call that the shops had caught fire”.

Another trader Mr. Afolabi said several sawing machines and other logging equipment were lost in the fire.

He added:

‎“Each time the vehicle left to refill water, we lost more shops because the fire would gain more ground. Don’t forget this is the time of the year when fire incidents are rampant because we are in the dry season.

More fire service vehicles are needed to forestall possible overnight fire here. As you can see, we now pay to bring water tanker to help the fire service men.”

Vanguard

French Montana donates $1million bonus to charity

French Montana who is signed to Bad Boy Records got a huge bonus check of $1 million from Diddy as a bonus for a year's hard work and French in turn donated the money to a charity in the south Bronx he just started to help young children and schools. The recipient sent a shout out to French on social media...

Nigeria’s gas revenue drops 50%

Gas proceeds from the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas and others have dropped by 50.2 per cent from $169.728m in January, the latest data from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation have showed.

The NNPC put gas proceeds from the NLNG, Escravos Gas to Liquid, Natural Gas Liquids and NGAS in October at $84.575m.

“Export gas sales and NLNG feedstock accounted for $84.57m i.e. 18.97 per cent contribution to the Federation Account compared with 31.21 per cent contribution in September,” the corporation said in its latest monthly report.

The dip in gas revenue was partly as a result of the sustained fall in global natural gas prices since last year and increased supply in the market.

From a peak of $6 per million British thermal unit last year, the natural gas price has fallen below $2 per mmBtu this year. It was trading around $1.98 per mmBtu.

The NLNG Limited had recently warned that its revenue was being threatened at the international market amid the fall in global oil prices.

Many of the global natural gas markets are linked to oil prices, which have fallen by more than 65 per cent since June last year.

The firm expressed worry over the impact that the fall in crude prices was having on its revenue, stressing that the entry of the United States and Australia into the LNG market was “a real cause for concern.”

The NLNG stated, “The recent fall in crude oil prices from above $100 per barrel in early 2014 to below $60 per barrel in early 2015 and its impact on global LNG/gas prices as well as the demand/supply positions in both our primary and secondary markets in the Atlantic and Pacific Basins have had a significant impact on our revenues and profitability.

“The trend, which will persist till the end of 2015, and which may even worsen going into 2016 with the entry of US and Australian LNG volumes into the market, is a real cause for worry.”

The NLNG, in addition to its traditional deliveries to Europe and the United States, supplies LNG to South America, with deliveries to Mexico and Brazil; and to Asia and the Middle East, with deliveries to Japan, South Korea, India, China, Taiwan, Thailand and Kuwait.

The company, which currently has LNG production capacity of 22 million metric tonnes per annum, is owned by the Federal Government, represented by the NNPC (49 per cent), Shell Gas BV (25.6 per cent), Total LNG Nigeria Limited (15 per cent), and Eni International (10.4 per cent).

$2.1 Arms Scam: Your Utterances Are Unprofessional – Ex-Minister Tells Sagay

A legal luminary Professor Itse Sagay SAN, has come under heavy knocks by former President Good­luck Jonathan over a statement that Jonathan should confess his involvement in the deal before he is arrested.

Jonathan faulted Sagay over the statement saying that as a respected learned scholar, he should know that you don’t hang a suspect on the pages of newspaper or via social media until he or she is found guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction.

The former President in a statement issued by Dr. Abubakar Sulaiman, his former minister of National Planning, stated that, “one should expect the re­spected learned scholar to know that you don’t hang a suspect on the pages of newspaper or via social media until he or she is found guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction”.

Professor Sagay who is also chair­man of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Corruption, has ad­vised Jonathan to secretly confess all he knew about the scandalous $2.1 billion arms deal, to which his name has been linked, by President Muham­madu Buhari.

He stated during the week that if Jonathan goes by the advice, he may be accorded the respect due to him by virtue of being a former president.

Sagay, however pointed out that the case of the former president being arrested relating to the arms scandal is a “sensitive one”, adding that his concession of defeat to Buhari dur­ing the March 28 presidential election does not make Jonathan a hero, as one good action could not correct several evil deeds.

Jonathan said the statement credited to Prof Sagay on Dec 23, 2015, that tended to vilify former President Jon­athan on the ongoing arms scam is not only unfortunate but, unprofessional.

“Accordingly, even where the learned jurist feels passionate of such a sensitive but sensational issue, he should know the right route to the vil­la rather than taking such prejudicial position.

“It is high time our legal luminaries confined themselves to the noble eth­ics of their profession than toeing the path of some mischief politicians.

“And we pray that when the report of his Committee finally comes out, it will reflect and incorporate the noble principles of rule of law, fair hearing and impartiality so as to meet the ir­reducible minimum standard expected in matters of this nature. We also pray that it may not end up dashing, rather than raising the hopes of average Ni­gerian in the vintage APC fashion, as with most things these days”, he stated.

Cardinal Onaiyekan Disowns Interview Against President Buhari

A press release on Christmas day from the office of the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja has disowned the fictitious interview making rounds in the press. This shows that many of these fake blogs are out to sell false stories to gullible Nigeria.

Gov. Ambode and Sen. Remi Tinubu at Island Club 2015 Christmas Eve Dance Party

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode (middle), with Senator Oluremi Tinubu (left) and Chairman, The Island Club, Mr. Oladipo Okpeseyi, SAN (right), during the Island Club 2015 Christmas Eve Dance at the Peacock Hall, Island Club, Onikan, Lagos, on Thursday, December 24, 2015. More photos after the cut...