Tony Kanu's blog

Nigeria's former President Goodluck Jonathan has asked the Abuja Federal High Court to ignore the subpoena ordering him to appear in court as a witness to testify in defence of ex-PDP National Publicity Secretary Olisa Metuh. In the alternative, Jonathan sought an order directing Metuh to deposit with the court for and on his behalf the sum of N1bn to cover travelling expenses for himself and his security personnel from his home town, Otuoke, in Bayelsa State. An affidavit filed in support of the motion read:  “That he (Jonathan) as the then President of the Federal Republic (2010-2015), appointed ministers and different persons to carry out the day-to-day running of the government activities and such appointees are those who directly related with the President and not third parties, such as the 2nd respondent. “That he (Jonathan) knows nothing about the seven charges for which the 1st defendant/ 2nd respondent is standing trial before this court and has absolutely nothing to testi...

One of twin Indian boys who were conjoined at the head has opened his eyes four days after historic surgery to separate them, a doctor says. Two-year-old Jaga has also responded to simple commands, including moving his limbs. He is on a ventilator and needs daily dialysis due to kidney problems. His brother, Kalia, is not yet conscious and has suffered seizures. The boys were born with shared blood vessels and brain tissues and it took 16 hours of surgery to separate them. A team of 30 doctors carried out the operation  - the first of its kind in India - at a state-run hospital in the capital, Delhi. Both boys are stable and doctors are satisfied with their progress so far, Professor Deepak Gupta, who was involved in the operation, told the BBC. The twins, who are from a village in eastern Orissa state, were joined at the head - a condition known as craniopagus. Even before the operation they had defeated the odds - craniopagus occurs in one in three million births, ...

President Muhammadu Buhari has sacked the head of the Nigeria Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ayo Oke over allegations of corruption. In a statement, presidential spokesman Femi Adesina said the president had acted on the recommendation of a government panel led by his deputy Yemi Osinbajo. Mr Adesina said: “President Buhari also approved the setting up of a three-member panel to, among other things, look into the operational, technical and administrative structure of the [NIA] and make appropriate recommendations.” However, the statement did not touch on what would happen regarding the allegations of corruption levied against the former NIA. Mr Oke was suspended in April over the discovery of large amounts of foreign and local currencies in a residential apartment in Lagos' affluent Ikoyi neighbourhood, which was traced to his agency.

A Chechen man accused of plotting to kill Russian President Vladimir Putin has been injured and his wife killed in an attack near Ukraine's capital Kiev. Adam Osmayev "was wounded but will live" after a car he was in was shot at, Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Anton Herashchenko said. He said Mr Osmayev's wife Amina Okuyeva died in the attack in Hlevaha village. In 2012, Russian officials said Mr Osmayev was suspected of being part of a plot by Islamists to kill Mr Putin. Russian media reported at the time that the plotters were planning to plant mines on Kutuzovsky Avenue in Moscow, used by Mr Putin on a daily basis. Russia later asked Ukraine to hand over Mr Osmayev - but the authorities in Kiev refused to do so, saying they wanted to wait until the European Court of Human Rights considered his appeal against extradition. In June, he survived an assassination attempt in Kiev. The attacker was then shot and wounded by Mrs Okuyeva. The couple are w...

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has been declared winner of a controversial re-run of the presidential election. According to the BBC, he won 98% of the vote with turnout at just under 39% - less than half that recorded in August's vote, according to the election commission. The opposition leader, Raila Odinga, pulled out of the re-run and urged his supporters to boycott it. Mr Kenyatta was also declared the winner in the August vote, which was annulled because of "irregularities". The unprecedented decision from the Supreme Court cancelling the result did not attribute any blame to President Kenyatta's party or campaign. The re-run was suspended in 25 constituencies which are all opposition strongholds amid security fears. The election commission said those results would not affect the final outcome so it could proceed with its announcement. Commission chairman Wafula Chebukati described the latest vote as "free, fair and credible". Last week...

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said that the party has been vindicated following the sack of the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Mr Babachir Lawal. The Party's National Publicity Secretary Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi stated this yesterday in Abuja maintaining that sacking the embattled SGF means doing the needful.  It shows the President's commitment toward combating corruption at any level no matter who is involved, he stated. Also reacting, the Chairman Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-Corruption Prof. Itse Sagay, said the former SGF’s sack was overdue. On the appointment of Boss Mustapha as the substantive SGF, Sagay said he had a very long history of political activities saying that his appointment was a positive development. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that until his appointment, Mustapha, who hails from Adamawa, was the Director-General of the Nigeria Inland Waterways Authority. The former SGF was suspended ...

Explorer and photographer Marc Askat braved the hunting season to walk through the thick wooded countryside in northern France.  He was searching for a new subject for photographs and stumbled upon what is believed to be one of Adolf Hitler’s last bunkers— a place where the Nazi leader plotted the invasion of Britain. Most people know that Hitler fled to a bunker in German territory in a failed attempt to salvage his ailing war efforts, but that wasn’t the only bunker Hitler used.   According to  Askat, the doors and windows were covered with rusty shutters—designed to keep intruders out. The entrance looks like something out of an  Indian Jones   film' The name of the bunker Marc Askat found was Führerhauptquartier Wolfsschlucht II, and Adolf Hitler wasn’t the only terrifying figure who resided there.  The bunker served as the Nazis’ Western Front military command center and housed dozens of German officers and ...

A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ruled that Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker of the House of Reps, Yakubu Dogara, should account for the N500bn captured as running costs for the legislative body between 2006 and 2016.-The Guardian. It also compelled them to disclose the monthly allowances of each member. The trial judge, Justice Rilwan Aikawa, made the decision last Friday while delivering his ruling on the suits filed by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) designated FHC/L/CS/1711/16 and FHC/L/CS/1710/16. “I have looked at the papers filed by SERAP and I am satisfied that leave ought to be granted in this case for judicial review and an order of mandamus directing and compelling Saraki and Dogara to account for the spending of the running cost and disclose the monthly income and allowances of each senator and member,” he ruled.

 An out of court settlement application for a case involving the federal government and nine victims of the Nigerian civil war has been granted by t he ECOWAS court on Monday. The terms of the settlement obtained by TheCable newspaper stipulates that the federal government “undertakes to pay, without delay, compensation in the sum of N50 billion in full and final sum to the victims, their families and communities as contained in Schedule 4(1) to this terms of settlement. That FG undetakes to pay a total sum of N38 billion as contained in schedule 4(2) to this terms of settlement for the purposes of carrying out rebuilding of public buildings, mine centre activities, construction of class rooms, provision of prosthetics and all other activities enumerated thereunder. In 2012, hundreds of mine victims of the war had dragged the federal government before the ECOWAS court, asking for an order for the removal of remnants of war instruments stockpiled in 11 states of the south-eas...

National leader of the APC, Bola Tinubu  says he is not known to shy away from speaking his mind if need be. Addressing newsmen, Tinubu denied the report that his relationship with the president is no longer cordial. He said claims and insinuations that he is not in good terms with the President is nothing but a fake news. He expressed confidence in the leadership of President Buhari and  denied allegations that a cabal exists in the present administration.

A  married woman, and a man believed to be her lover were found dead in their car in Ogba, Lagos this morning. According to eyewitnesses, their unclad bodies indicated they were allegedly having sex before their deaths.  

The Cable has revealed sordid details about underground pimping businesses, involving students of the Federal Government Girls College, Langtang, where strangers can pay as little as N5,000 to sleep with them, with the connivance of the security guard.

A pair of real estate moguls are selling their condo at Trump Tower for $11.5 million—the most expensive apartment currently for sale in the building. Elias and Marcos Sacal, Mexican real estate developers and society hobnobbers, bought two one-bedroom units in 2015 at the Manhattan building where President Donald Trump keeps his permanent residence, according to property records. They combined the two apartments into a single two-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bathroom home on the 58th floor and are now selling it for $4 million more than they paid two years ago.                                                                                                                           ...

An explosion and inferno at a fireworks factory near the Indonesian capital on Thursday killed at least 47 people, most of them female workers, and injured dozens, police said. Witnesses said a huge explosion was heard from the factory at about 10 a.m. and then smaller blasts echoed across the neighborhood as orange flames jumped from the building and columns of black smoke billowed from it. Hary Kurniawan, chief of police in the Jakarta satellite city of Tangerang, said all the bodies recovered so far were found in the remains of the factory. The death toll could rise as many of those who escaped have suffered extensive Indonesian Fireworks Factory Explosion Kills Dozens Yahoo News Photo Staff burns, said Nico Afinta, general crimes director at Jakarta police. He said bodies were found piled at the rear of the building. The factory is located next to a residential area in Tangerang, a city in Banten province on the western outskirts of Jakarta. A police report said the ...

Russia just carried out a test launch of its Satan 2 nuclear missile on Thursday, which is   reportedly   capable of wiping out an entire country with a single strike. According to the country's defense ministry, the rocket, also called the RS-28 Sarmat, was fired roughly 500 miles north of Moscow from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome spaceport. Officials said the missile covered 3,600 miles before hitting a target on the Kura test range, an intercontinental ballistic missile impact area in the Russian Far East. It was also believed to be capable of carrying 12 nuclear warheads and could annihilate an entire country in one strike.  The Kremlin also said President Vladimir Putin was involved with the exercise and personally launched the rocket, in addition to test-launching three others himself,  Reuters  reported.