R&B stars record tribute song for Trayvon Martin

R&B legend Chaka Khan, Eric Benet, Kelly Price, Kenny Lattimore and other celebrities are all rallying behind the parents of slain teen Trayvon Martin.

To show their support for the fallen youth whose death has captivated the nation, more than a dozen singers, musicians, actors and TV personalities came together on Sunday to record a special tribute song in his honor.

The celebs hit the legendary Henson studios in Hollywood for eight hours to re-record Khan’s “Super Life” from her 2007 album “Funk This,” reads a statement on Khan's website.

Tinseltown stars including Angela Bassett, Terry Crews and Boris Kodjoe showed up wearing white T-shirts with the words “Super Life - Fear Kills, Love Heals” emblazoned across the front, a nod to the circumstances behind the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, who was shot and killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford, Florida.

The song contains the lyrics, "A mama's cryin' 'Cause another young man has gone and died / He's not some statistic / He's another awesome destiny denied.” Also,"We take it all so lightly / How did we get so 'climatized / On the 9 o'clock news nightly / Genocide of babies / I can't believe my eyes. ... Right or wrong / I'm gonna live a super life."

Grammy winner Khan unveiled a music video for the tribute on "Piers Morgan Tonight" Monday.

But the studio wasn’t the only place celebrities were letting their voices be heard.

They also took to the street and Twitter like thousands of others around the country, particularly in Florida, Los Angeles and New York.

Actress Tichina Arnold wrote from an L.A. march, "'Black Brown Asian White same struggle same fight!' Is what we r chanting at the rally 4 #Trayvonmartin."

R&B singer Janelle Monae tweeted that she was "moved" to see the outpouring of support in New York. "Seeing pics from the 'Million Hoodies' march in NYC for #TrayvonMartin touched. my. heart,” she said. “When we come together it's priceless."

FBI releases booking photos in rare move to be able to identify more victims in child pornography case

In a rare move, the FBI has released booking photos of a New Jersey man accused of installing hidden cameras to videotape young girls as they showered and dressed in an effort to be able to identify more victims.

49-year-old Robert Oshrin, of Budd Lake, N.J. appeared in court Monday to face child pornography charges.

The exception in this case was made "in this instance for the exclusive purpose of identifying potential victims who may be associated with this case," according to the FBI.

In February, FBI agents became aware of postings on a child pornography website which were traced to an IP address located at the home of Oshrin.

On April 5, agents spoke with Oshrin and he allegedly admitted to downloading child pornography from various websites and distributing material, according to a criminal complaint.

The Complaint alleges that Oshrin, a computer programmer, installed cameras in several locations throughout his home, including in a bathroom and bedroom and monitored the cameras when girls were present so he could make recordings of them.

“Because he installed multiple cameras in the bathroom, it allowed video production from various angles and allowed him to focus on specific areas of interest,” the complaint said.

Drug traffickers conceal hard drug in male condoms

Condom has found a new use

Drug traffickers who smuggle heroin into the country now ingest liquid cocaine poured into male condoms

Male condom does more than prevent unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.

This was disclosed by officers of the National drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) who said male condoms have become objects used by desperate drug traffickers to conceal liquid cocaine.

This revelation was made following the arrest of four suspects recently at the Murtala Mohammed Interenational Airport in Lagos.

According to the NDLEA spokesperson, Mitchel Ofoyeju, this new method by traffickers is the first in the history of the country as the anti-narcotic agency spread its dragnet on drug barons and traffickers in and around the country.

“Some of the late tricks uncovered by Nigerian anti-narcotic agents include the arrest of drug traffickers who smuggle heroin into the country from Tanzania.

In addition,drug couriers now ingest liquid cocaine poured into male condoms for the first time. These tricks were uncovered at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport(MMIA) Lagos,” Mr. Ofoyeju said.

NDLEA Commander at the airport, Hamza Umar, gave the names of the four suspected drug traffickers.

Two suspects, Ezeani Obinna, a 28 year old auto dealer at Ladipo market and Ozoemena Okoye Samuel, 27 year old dealer in electrical parts, both in Lagos, were arrested with heroin from Tanzania while two others, Egbo Innocent Oluchukwu and Ejimbe Christian Chidi allegedly ingested liquid cocaine concealed in male condoms to avoid detection.

Mr. Hamza said, “The suspects thought that scanning machine will not detect liquid cocaine but they were wrong. Even those coming from Tanzania felt that there would be no attention on them. We shall continue to do our best to prevent traffickers from using this airport."

According to Mr. Hamza, the suspects from Tanzania were detected during screening of passengers on Kenyan Airways while the others arrived from Venezuela with emergency travel certificate aboard South Africa Airline.

“This is the first case of liquid cocaine ingestion in the country. The liquid cocaine which is oily was packed inside condoms. Egbo Innocent Oluchukwu a 43-year-old trader excreted 70 wraps of the oily cocaine weighing 2kg. Ejimbe Christian Chidi, a 32-year-old teacher swallowed 54 wraps of same oily cocaine weighing 1.350kg.”

Egbo lived in Venezuela for ten years . He arrived the country with an emergency travel certificate number 00000600 as he said he was lured to traffick liquid cocaine by a Venezulan drug cartel . “The Venezuelan who gave me the drug told me that it will be difficult for machine to detect liquid cocaine that is ingested. I ingested 70 wraps of the drug using water because I was desperate. It is not that drug trafficking is a good thing but I wanted to solve my personal problem. They promised to pay me the sum of 6,000 dollars. I am married with 2 children and I need the money to cater for my family,” Egbo said.

The other suspect, Ejimbe, is from Anambra State. He teaches English at a Language School in Venezuela. He is single and claimed to have lived in Caracas, Venezuela, for eight years. “I am a 2002 graduate of the University of Maiduguri. I excreted 54 wraps and they promised to pay men N4 million. My intention was to get married and settle down."

Reacting to the arrest, the Chairman/ChiefExecutive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Ahmadu Giade urged regional anti- narcotic agencies to be deeply involved in counter narcotic operations in African.

“Heroin is usually smuggled from Pakistan, Iran and India but things are changing with the seizure of heroin coming from Tanzania. This is strange because they have turned drug trafficking into a relay race. The first set of traffickers will smuggle heroin from Pakistan to Tanzania while another set will take it from Tanzania to Nigeria. This is a new plan to evade arrest but we shall now beam our searchlight on African flights,” Mr. Giade stated.

Mr. Ofoyeju said the suspects would be charged to court after thorough investigation.

Lagos carnival showcases magnificent costumes, designs, acrobatics

The carnival has reinvented itself

Nigeria can stop importation of finished products, says Fashola

The Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, has stated that the importation of finished products is not the solution to Nigeria's challenges of industrialization.

Mr. Fashola disclosed this, Monday, at the third edition of Lagos Carnival.

The 2012 carnival tagged 'Eko for Show', a spectacular display of magnificent costumes, designs, and acrobatics; brought the week long Lagos Black Heritage Festival to a breathtaking end.

"The Lagos Carnival has grown in its three years of existence by reinventing itself and drawing more participants and spectators each year," said Mr. Fashola.

"It has become a vehicle through which the creativity of designers and resourcefulness of the young men and women of the Lagos State Skills Acquisition Centres, in which all the costumes are produced, are exhibited," he added.

With vehicular traffic restricted towards and around the Tafawa Balewa Square venue of the carnival; the morning road show by some of the participants donned in flamboyant costumes and dancing to music from loudspeakers livened up the quiet ambience of the usually boisterous Island.

Inside the venue, the 50,000 capacity Square gradually filled up with spectators, mostly young people, amidst heavy presence of armed police officers and state security agents.

"The traditional pride and dignity characteristic of Lagosians of old is back in our daily expressions and aspirations, we are expressing who we are naturally- an industrious people; full of pride and confidence," said Mr. Fashola.

Apart from a stray police horse which scared some early comers outside the venue into a near stampede as it was chased around by a horse riding police officer, and some area boys who tried to molest visitors but were promptly hounded into a waiting Black Maria; the carnival was relatively hitch free.

Dozens of secondary schools across the state as well as some local councils took their turns to parade around the Square showcasing their costumes, and in some cases, graceful dance moves and acrobatics.

Music blared from giant loudspeakers meant that the spectators, who later invaded the Square, danced along on the stands.

The state's aim of making the carnival a private sector driven event in future may have received a huge boost with an appreciable presence of corporate sponsors like MTN Telecommunications, Nigeria Breweries, amongst others.

After the parades, and the ushering in of Mr. Fashola, who arrived in the middle of the ceremony, music took over and the now uncontrollable crowd went wild.

"Today is a very fun day for me," said a LAGBus driver who identified himself simply as Mike.

"It is not everyday you have a chance to see all these things," he added.

Funke Akindele Messed Up By Bouncer At AY Show

It was a very bad day for top actress, Funke Akindele as she was disgraced at AY comedy show held at Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos yesterday night. According to an eyewitness account relayed to Nigeriafilms.com, Funke was stopped by a bouncer at the entrance for her invite, but she pulled the "do u knw who I am? Stunt Nigerian celebrities always pull when stopped for checks. We were told that it took the efforts of some people, who told the bouncer who Jenifa, as Funke is fondly called, was. Do you think the bouncer was right to have asked Funke Akindele of her pass? Or, was he just following protocols?

Naeto C weds Nicole Chukwueke (wedding Photos)

Their traditional wedding held today in Owerri. Their white wedding will hold July 21 2012. Congrats to them.

Student escapes after four days in ritual killers’ den

Adeleye on hospital bed

A student of Business Administration, Kwara State University, Malete, Mr. Rilwan Adeleye, escaped death by a whisker after four days in suspected ritual killers’captivity. Narrating his miraculous escape to our correspondent in Ilorin, Adeleye said on March 29, he boarded a taxi cab at Challenge Junction, Ilorin, Kwara State, en route to Taiwo Road, Ilorin.

He said:

I wanted to go and withdraw some money my father had sent to me. I stopped a taxi cab, which had two other passengers, and told the driver that I wanted to go to somewhere around Taiwo. On our way, the driver took a wrong route. So, I challenged the man and asked him why he wanted to pass through that way. The man said he wanted to avoid the traffic hold-up. That was all I could remember.

Adeleye said he later became unconscious, only to find himself in an uncompleted building.

He added that his captors took him to a room in the building and drew his blood with a syringe.

He said, “Later, when I started recovering, I could faintly remember that they took me to an uncompleted building. Then I found myself in a room. I was the only person inside.

“I noticed that someone came in and drew blood from my body with a syringe.”

According to him, some of his captors came later and beat him mercilessly to the extent that he sustained a fracture in his arm.

21-year-old Adeleye said it was apparent by the anger of the ritual killers that his blood was not accepted for ritual purpose.

After much beating, he said his captors took him to a roadside and dumped him there but his friends saw him and took him home.

He stated that the whole incident lasted for four days; from March 29 to April 1.

He advised people to avoid “get rich quick” mentality and stop killing and maiming innocent people for rituals.

Adeleye’s uncle, Mr. Aranse Oluwa, corroborated the survivor’s narration.

He stated that the family members were rattled when they did not see Adeleye, who had told them he was going to withdraw some money from bank.

Oluwa said it was a relief to the family when Adeleye spoke with a family member on the phone after his release.

He said they had been frantically searching for him when he did not get back home on time.

Oluwa said, “He told us three people abducted him; two in front seat of the taxi and one other person, who sat with the victim at the back seat.

“His friends saw him along the road unconscious. They had to buy cold water and poured it on him to revive him before they later took him to a hospital.”

Culled from Punch