Monday, March 19, 2012
Sunday, March 18, 2012
French Show Promoter Losses N15M To Fake P-Square’s Manager
According to sources, the road to 'magahood' began late last year when the French promoter, eager to bring the singing sensation to France had gone to, of all places, Facebook and Twitter to launch a search for P-Square.
His search led him to phony Facebook and Twitter IDs purportedly belonging to the manager of the twins in France. Sources say the ID belonged to an Igbo guy, who claimed he had acquired the franchise to manage P-Square in France for two years.
While we are not sure whether it was 'juju' or sheer brain he used, what we are sure of is that the Frenchman, believing he was talking with the right person transferred a whopping $100, 000 USD into the account of the fake P-Square's manager.
However, it soon dawned on him that he had been swindled after the fake P-Square's manager stopped taking his calls and so he raised the alarm but it was too late, the account into which the money was wired had been cleaned out and the fake manager had popped into the blue.
Reacting to the story, an ex-PMAN president, who did not want his name in print, had lamented thus: "This is tragic! The fault lies with the artistes who wouldn't join a union. If there is a real union, things like this would not happen because the union would be the first port of call for any show promoter from any part of the world wanting to do business with Nigerian artistes.
"This kind of stuff happens all the time. It has happened to D'banj and a number of other artistes and I believe it's their fault."
Meanwhile, we hear that the French show promoter is leaving no stone unturned in fishing out the culprit and is currently making efforts to reach out to security agencies in the country.
Off the Stage will keep you posted as events unfold.
Sunonline
A Syndicate Including A Deeper Life Church Pastor' Arrested For Selling Guns And Military Uniforms To Robbers
This is just as a police corporal, Reuben Joel who is attached to the anti-terrorism unit of the Nigeria Police Force in Aba, Abia State has also been nabbed for trafficking in military and police uniforms in terrorist cells.
Nancy James and her accomplice, Haliru Jumba, said to be a pastor with Kunini Deeper Life Bible Church in Lau Local Government Area of Taraba State were caught with some cache of arms hidden inside a sack of garri at a military checkpoint in Numan Local Government Area of Adamawa State.
Military authorities said the group were heading for Gombe State where one Danjuma Luka, who is now also in police net in Taraba State was said to have waited to take delivery of the guns.
The capture of Luka by the military followed the arrest of Ms James, who the military said was making her second delivery of arms, after a previously successful operation in February.
The brigade spokesman, Lieutenant Victor Olukoya said the woman was caught with four double-barreled guns and two pistols and would have got away but for the vigilance of the soldier who suspected and accosted her.
"The weapons were hidden in that bag of garri. After searching the sack, the guns were discovered, and the men arrested," Olukoya said.
The army spokesman explained that the pastor arrested in company of the woman "is still only an accomplice" and that the police will be left to ascertain the extent of his involvement in the gun running business.
Also paraded by the army was a police corporal, Reuben Joel attached to the anti-terrorism unit of the Nigeria Police Force in Aba, Abia State.
He was accused of selling military and police uniforms to terrorist groups.
Olukoya said it was amazing that a serving corporal, attached to the anti-terrorist unit of the police command in Abia State would be involved in the illegal sale of military uniform in far away Adamawa State.
The arrest followed the arrest of two persons by the military at a checkpoint in Mubi, who were caught with 10 uniforms and 10 pairs of military boots.
Upon interrogation, the men confessed to taking supply of the military uniforms from Joel and that they were taking the consignment to Hong in Adamawa State.
Daily Times
How An Iraqi Politician Lived In A Tiny Hole For 22 Years To Hide From Saddam Hussein
With only an old rug, a few cooking utensils, a radio and a copy of the Koran, desperate Jawad al-Shammari hid in the tiny space, measuring just half a metre in width by two metres in length.
His ordeal began in 1979, when he was accused of being a member of the anti-regime Islamic Dawa Party founded by Mohammed Baqir al-Sadr, and was forced to go on the run.

After around a year moving from place to place, al-Shammari and his mother dug a hole in the ground close to the family house - neither could have guessed the tiny space would become his home for over two decades.
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As Saddam's brutal reign of terror continued, when his brother was sentenced to death by the regime and executed, he was unable to attend the funeral.
And when his mother fell ill and was unable to bring him food and water, he feared he would surely die - and the squalid hole would become his unmarked grave.
Conditions in the tiny space were so bad that his health rapidly deteriorated and after a few years all his teeth had fallen out.

It was not until 2003, following the U.S. led invasion, that he was finally able to leave the cellar for good.
He told the AFP press agency: 'My mother installed a plastic tube and hid its outer end so that I had fresh air.
'That's what allowed me to survive all those years.
'I never expected to leave that place and lead a normal life. Sometimes I felt like a dead person, everything seemed so black. The only thing that made me happy was praying, reading the Koran and listening to the news.'
Very occasionally, as they were terrified of being captured, members of his family would visit him bringing him fresh supplies.
But for most of the time his only companions were the presenters of the BBC's World Service radio programmes.
A few times he would crawl out of his underground shelter at the dead of night and wander around the surrounding countryside.

During one of these midnight rambles he bumped into his four-year-old nephew. With his long scraggly beard and dirty clothes the terrified child thought he had seen a ghost and fainted out of fright.
Now into his mid 50s, he has become something of a minor celebrity, but since emerging from the hole around nine years ago he has struggled to find work and adjust to life above ground.
Although the Iraqi government compensates political prisoners of the former regime and provides them with assistance in finding employment, al-Shammari does not qualify for any help because, technically, his imprisonment was of his own making.
'For a person to receive compensation, or to get a job, he needs proof that he was imprisoned.
'My mother is the only person who knows my story and, as such, she cannot provide sufficient evidence.'
