Dana Air Inaugural Flight Lands Safely In Abuja

Passengers on board Dana Air inaugural flight on Friday clap roared in jubilation when the plane landed safely at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, the Nigerian capital.

Dana Air Flight 9J353 left the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, southwest Nigeria, few minutes after 10 am and landed in Abuja at 11.05 packed with celebrities, journalists and some passengers.

Dana Air staff at Abuja Airport on Friday

Some of the celebrities who defied fear were Comedians, Basketmouth, Buchi, musician Harrisong, Kuba crew, among others.

Among the passengers was Mrs. Adetoun Adetokunbo, a worker with the Federal Ministry of Water and Mineral resources whose husband died in a 1991 plane crash in Saudi Arabia and who survived a plane crash in Monrovia in 1994.

“Just trust in God and everything will be fine. I believe it is God that protects us,” said the 57 year old Adetokunbo 30,000 ft above sea level.

The plane was not fully booked as many passengers remain weary after the 3 June plane crash that killed more than 150 people as it approached Lagos.

Lagos Pastor Rapes 12-year-old Girl; Church Members Claim ‘He was Bewitched’

A pastor, Alasco Sobowale, in Togodo Street, Temu Town Epe, Lagos State, has been arrested for raping his 12-year-old neighbour on the 15th of December.

The victim’s aunt, Mrs. Ngozi Anjorin, disclosed that Pastor Sobowale carnally abused her after having lured her to the toilet.

“On that particular night, my children were in the room watching television but I couldn’t find my niece. I kept on shouting her name but I got no answer. I then proceeded to the toilet which is detached from the building. I knocked on the door of the toilet and the pastor immediately ran out and I saw her inside the toilet. When I inquired of her what she was doing inside the toilet with the pastor, she said he lured her into the toilet and covered her mouth with his palm so she wouldn’t scream. She said the pastor brought out his penis and forced it into her anus. She said he also put his penis in her vagina and when she discharged a particular fluid, he used a handkerchief to scoop it.”

The rape victim was rushed down to Epe General Hospital. When tests were conducted on her, it was found that the victim’s “vaginal hymen is no longer intact and bruises were observed in the anal region.”

Doctor’s report further revealed that there was sperm residue in the victim’s private part and it was concluded that she had been sexually assaulted.

Neighbors claim the Pastor fled the compound for two days but was arrested by the Epe police division after a search party was conducted.

Reacting to the incident, some of his church members accused a six-year-old girl of bewitching the pastor and had her flogged and paraded.

A few days after the incident, a six-year-old girl was branded a witch and accused of manipulating the pastor to commit the dastardly act. The poor girl was beaten up and paraded round the town. They said when the pastor was conducting deliverance for her; her spirit took over his body.” A source disclosed.

The spokesperson for the state police command, Ngozi Braide, confirmed that the girl was raped, adding that the pastor has been released on bail because courts were not in session.

“The pastor is in charge of a white garment church in the area. He will be charged with sodomy….once courts resume, he will be charged,” she said.

Mother Charged In Stabbing Death Of Her 8-Year-Old Daughter

Tameria Greene

A 26-year-old woman was charged Wednesday with felony murder in the stabbing death of her daughter at their Detroit home just days before the girl’s ninth birthday.

The mother, Semeria Greene, was also charged with one count of first-degree child abuse. Greene’s four young sons have been turned over to Child Protective Services, police spokeswoman Sgt. Eren Stephens said.

Neighbours called police to the Greene family’s apartment just east of downtown in the early hours of Sunday morning. Officers arrived to discover Tameria Greene bleeding and unresponsive on the floor. She had been stabbed in the chest with a knife and was pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital. Semeria Greene was taken into custody.

“This is only the second day of the year and we are charging a parent with a child homicide,” said Kym Worthy, county prosecutor. “This case is made even more profoundly sad because today would have been Tameria’s ninth birthday.”

State child welfare workers have known of problems with the family for at least two years and have unsuccessfully tried to take Semeria Greene’s children into protective custody, said Michigan Department of Human Services Director Maura Corrigan. She said an expedited internal review after the death showed that case workers have been trying to protect the children and act on concerns raised by family, friends and neighbours.

“Most recently, DHS petitioned the court Nov. 28, unsuccessfully, to remove Tameria and her siblings from her mother’s home,” Corrigan said in a statement. She said the department “continued to provide court-ordered counseling services to the family as well as conducting in-home visits, the last of which occurred only two days before Tameria’s death.”

“We share the grief felt by her loved ones and her community,” Corrigan said.

Corrigan’s statement didn’t include details of the removal requests and the hearings, and spokesman David Akerly said the department would not go beyond what was in the statement.

Tameria’s 7-, 4-, 2- and 1-year-old brothers now are in foster care.

Greene was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday afternoon in 36th District Court. It wasn’t immediately clear whether she had a lawyer.

A conviction on the murder charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison without parole. The child abuse charge carries a maximum 15-year prison sentence.

A motive for the stabbing was not clear. Police were not releasing details of the case Wednesday, Stephens said.

The girl’s slaying came at the end of a particularly brutal year in Detroit. By Thanksgiving, the city had surpassed the 344 homicides reported in all of 2011. As of Dec. 16, the city had recorded 375 murders. 

SINGER IYANYA MAY BE IN POLICE TROUBLE OVER OPA WILLIAM’S SHOW (COLLECTED N1.7M BUT DID NOT SHOW UP)

Not a good way to start the year…R&B singer turned Pop act Iyanya Mbuk is allegedly wanted by the Nigerian Police in Port Harcourt, Rivers State after allegedly ’defrauding’ popular show organizer Opa Williams of N1.7m being payment for the singer’s performance at two events.

According to sources Iyanya was paid the said amount to perform at two ‘Nite of a Thousand Laughs‘ events which held in Benin and Port Harcourt. The ‘Kukere‘ singer missed both shows.

The latter which was held last night on New Year’s Day featured a performance from rapper Olamide and was hosted by Bovi. Guests had waited for the singer to step on stage and thrill as the highly publicized show had promised a performance from him. Iyanya never showed up.

Interestingly, Iyanya is believed to have traveled on the same flight (allegedly paid for by the show organizers) with Olamide and Bovi.

Sources told NET the singer shunned Opa Williams’ event, performing instead, at another show in Omuma local government area, also in Port Harcourt which also featured Timaya.

‘We were all disappointed, we waited in vain. As soon as Bovi announced he was not going to show up, everybody started leaving‘, a guest who attended the event held at the open ground of the Hotel Preseidential, PH said.

Just this morning, sources say Policemen from the Nigerian Police at the Mile 3 division invited Iyanya and his manger Ubi-Franklin Ekapong to the Police station over the matter which was reported by the show organizers led by Opa Williams.

The officers could only get Ubi-Franklin to station. ‘Yes I was at the Police Station this morning, we have decided to return all money paid to us, it’s not a problem‘, Ubi-Franklin told NET reporters in a telephone conversation.

Ubi went on to explain what the whole brouhaha was all about:

We were paid to attend and perform at the Benin and Port Harcourt shows but we missed both due to reasons beyond our control. We missed the Benin gig because we were in Ghana as at that time and we arrived pretty late for the PH gig. We however had issues with initial payment from the show organizers also

Photos From Rita Dominic’s New Year Pool Party

The Actress who had a New Year pool party posted some of the photos.

In attendance were Nse Ikpe Etim, Banky W, Ebuka Obi Uchendu, Jacob’s Cross actress Kendra Etufunwa and model Ify Jones.

See more photos below

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How P-Square Blocked May-D From Performing At Calabar Carnival

May-D was billed to perform alongside Psquare and Akon at the Calabar festival. His name was on the list. And true to their words, MayD arrived at Calabar airport on the same flight with P-Square.Nigeriafilms.com

Miss Petite Nigeria smelt trouble when he looked alone and didn’t walk with them. They rode in separate cars and he was lodged in a separate hotel from them.

So, the show started and I saw J-Martins had replaced May-D and people were asking questions about his whereabouts.

According to information gathered “He wasn’t paid his balance and decided to pull out”.

So, one of Akon’s people asked where May-D was and was told the same thing “In his words,that’s not good mennn..sometimes, it really isn’t about the money you know. Akon loves that dude mennnn”.

However, another reliable source said that “When May-D was put on the list of performing artistes, the organizers didn’t know he wasn’t with Square records anymore.

So, P-square on getting to Calabar, intimated the organizers on the latest development and so they had to drop him at the last minute.

When Akon and P-square performed “chop my money”May-D’s part had been yanked off.

Fire Razes Another Building In Lagos

Two buildings on Jones Street around Ebute West area of Lagos have been razed by fire.

Eye witness account says that the fire which started around 8pm New Year’s Day may have been escalated by petrol stored in the first building built with planks and roofing sheets.

Properties belonging to occupants of both buildings were destroyed, including those of a newly-wed couple.

This comes barely a week after the famous Jankara Market was gutted by fire caused by a spark in a store filled with fire crackers which burnt about 15 adjoining buildings.