Charity Uzoechina, the daughter of Pastor Raymond Uzoechina of the Redeemed Christian Church of God who converted to the Islamic faith in Feb. 2013 will soon tie the knot, Premium times reports.
 
Her marriage announcement was made known by the Executive Director of Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, Ishaq Akintola, whose organization has kept tab on the convert for months.
 
According to reports, Charity who has since changed her name to Aishat is getting married to the Islamic lawyer, Barrister Tijani, who handled her case during her conversion.
 
Her conversion was so contentious that she sort a sharia court injunction to be accommodated in the palace of the Etsu Nupe of Bida, Niger state, for fear that her parents and her Christian fellows would attack her. Her parents at the time accused the Etsu Nupe of abducting her and forcing her to denounce her Christian faith. Aishat however stated categorically that it was a voluntary decision and was in no way forced by anyone
"I joined Islam purely on my own terms. I love the character of Muslims that I have related with, particularly the way they behave. You know Muslims believe in God,” Miss Uzoechina said at the time.

She would be getting married on Friday May 2nd.

See more HOT News and GIST HERE

A man was arrested and charged with sodomy after he was caught red handed sleeping with a 15-year-old boy, police in Nigeria said.
Bayelsa State Police said that they have arrested and charged 65-year-old Uchenna Ignatius after he was accused of molesting the boy over a long period.

The defendant, who is a commercial driver, reportedly had been having segxwal intercourse with the child since 2012. He also threatened to kill him if he told anyone about their affair.

The abuse first began when the boy came home from school. The defendant persuaded the boy to go with him to his home. The defendant also deceived the child by telling him that he was a relative of his mother.

When the boy arrived at the house, the suspect quickly locked the door and ordered the boy to undress. When the boy refused, the defendant pulled out a knife and threatened to kill him if he opened his mouth.

The suspect continued to rape the child on a regular basis. The suspect was finally caught when he decided to have sex with the boy in his parents’ home. While having sex the boy’s uncle walked in and saw the suspect and his nephew in bed together.

He immediately notified the police, who arrested the suspect. The suspected was remanded into custody until the end of his criminal proceedings.

See more HOT News and GIST HERE

Peter Okoye of P-Square just shared pics of the new 2014 Bentley GT he just acquired said to be worth over N30million.





See more HOT News and GIST HERE

Found this investigative report on Premium Times ...very interesting. Read below...
Mr. Igbinedion, who stole his state blind while he was governor, has now been scammed of billions by Venezuelan fraudsters in a classic 419 deal
Nemesis may have finally caught up with ex-convict and former Governor of Edo State, Lucky Igbinedion, as he has lost over N3.3 billion to Venezuelan fraudsters, in a deal that bears all the marks of a classic 419 scam, Premium Times can authoritatively reveal.
Court documents seen by Premium Times also suggest that Mr. Igbinedion may be insolvent, as two US-based law firms have walked away from a $600 million lawsuit he instituted against the alleged mastermind and the Venezuelan state owned oil company, Petroleos De Venezuela S.A (PDVSA), over his inability to pay retainer as low as  N627,000.00 ($3,800.00).
Mr. Igbinedion plundered Edo State treasury for the eight years he was governor. He escaped jail after he reached a controversial plea bargain agreement with the Farida Waziri-led Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, which dropped all but one of the 191 charges of corruption and money laundering against him.

In 2008, a Federal High Court in Enugu sentenced him to six months in prison with the option of a N3.5 million fine. The controversial plea bargain agreement he reached with the EFCC also required that he return N500 million and three of the houses he acquired with stolen public funds to the Federal Government.

But it’s not yet Uhuru for Mr. Igbinedion as the Court of Appeal in Benin ruled on April 9, 2014 that he has a case to answer over a fresh 66-count money laundering and financial impropriety suit brought against him by the EFCC. A Federal High Court had ruled in 2011 that it would amount to double jeopardy and abuse of court process to try him again after the plea bargain he entered with the EFCC.

He has been accused of stealing over N3 billion from Edo State’s treasury.

Classic 419-scam
In 2006, looking to cash in on the lucrative but fraud-tainted fuel importation business, the ex-governor’s front and Managing Director of Skanga Energy and Marine Limited, a company formed by Mr. Igbinedion and his brother, Bright, in 1992, Christian Imoukhuede, approached the then Venezuelan Trade Consul to Nigeria, Enrique Arrundell, about the prospect of importing petrol, aviation fuel, and diesel from the South American country.

According to documents filed with a US District Court in New York, Mr. Arrundell advised Mr. Imoukhuede that the best way to get fuel was to go through a PDVSA approved agent.
Mr. Arrundell then introduced Mr. Imoukhuede to Arevenca, a fraudulent firm owned by alleged notorious Venezuelan conman, Francisco Gonzalez.

That meeting with Mr Gonzalez marked the beginning of Mr Igbinedion’s woes.
Mr. Igbinedion and his front, Mr. Imoukhuede claimed in court that they did due diligence checks on Arevenca through the Venezuelan embassy in Abuja. They claim that embassy officials confirmed Arevenca as a reputable Venezuelan business concern and validated documents provided by Arevenca that supposedly showed a relationship with PDVSA.

But it has since turned out that Arevenca might be a complete fraud. PDVSA has since said in court that it has no records of any relationship with Arevenca.

Arevenca is a registered corporation under Venezuelan law but was most recently headquartered in Aruba. Its subsidiaries are: Arevenca AKTM, registered in British Virgin Islands; Arevenca SL, registered in Spain; and Arevenca Aruba Holding NV.

Others are Arevenca Bank, Arevenca Foundation, Fly Aruba Suriname, Arevenca Mining and Arevenca Petroleum Company registered in offshore tax haven, Suriname. There is Arevenca Finances Holding registered in Switzerland and Arevenca Ivory Coast.

Many of these subsidiaries are shell companies or exist only in names.

A Canadian-based freelance journalist, Steven Bodzin, who worked as an energy reporter in Venezuela and has written a number of exposés on Arevenca, revealed that Arevenca’s website is a repository of mind-numbing lies meant to hoodwink mostly unsuspecting international investors.
For instance, on its website, Arevenca claims to have a global refining capacity of 2.5 million barrels per day and plans to build a two million barrel per day refinery in Ivory Coast.

It also claims to have a fleet of 72 ships.

However, the company with the highest refining capacity in the world as at September 2013, Reliance Jamnagar Refinery, India, has a refining capacity of only 1.24 million barrels per day.

In fact, Arevenca is not listed among the top ten refineries in the world. The only Venezuela-based refinery in the top 10, Paraguana Refining Centre, belongs to PDVSA and has a processing capacity of just 955,000bpd.

And despite claiming to have 75 vessels, a PREMIUM TIMES search on Lloyds Ship Directories shows that Arevenca does not operate from any of Venezuelan’s 16 ports. There is also no proof that the company is building a two million barrel per day refinery in Ivory Coast as it claimed.
These are just few of the web of lies contained in Arevenca’s website. Other false claims made by the company to defraud investors can be found on Mr. Bodzin’s blog.

In October 2006, Mr. Imoukhuede, who was Mr. Igbinedion’s schoolmate, arrived at the Simon Bolivar International Airport in Caracas and was ushered into the VIP lounge of the facility and later given a luxury ride to the exquisite InterContinental Tamanaco, rated among the top three hotels in the country.
It was at Intercontinental Tamanaco that Mr. Imoukhuede had initial negotiation with Mr. Gonzalez and an unnamed Nigerian.

After the meeting, Skanga reached a tentative agreement to buy “petroleum products” from Arevenca. Arevenca also agreed to give Skanga the first right of refusal to buy its AGO (diesel), PMS (premium motor spirit) DPK (kerosene), Jet Al fuel, Bitumen and Fuel oil.
The deal was to take off with a 35,000 metric tones of AGO in the first instance and then grow into about three cargoes monthly, according to an official statement by Skanga.

Bank transfer documents show that Skanga paid $1.05 million of the $1.4 million cost of freight.
Skanga’s officials claimed during interrogation in court that their company made these payments ($580,000 and $470,000) based on the proof of certain “inducement documents which included an alleged PDVSA bill of lading.

After Skanga made these initial payments, it became trapped. The duping of the former governor and his corrupt clan began in full swing.

Igbinedion goes to Caracas
In January 2007, four months before the expiration of his governorship term, Mr. Igbinedion travelled to Caracas, ostensibly on an official visit and possibly lavishing Edo state money on the deal.  But our investigations indicate the visit was to put finishing touches to the deal earlier reached by his front three months earlier.

According to the Bolivarian News Agency (ABN), Mr. Igbinedion and his entourage were purportedly met by some of the influential “Chavista” politicians in the country, as supporters of the late Venezuelan leader, Hugo Chávez, are called: the Mayor of Central Caracas, Freddy Bernal, the Governor of Miranda, Diosdado Cabello, and Deputy Foreign Minister for Africa, Reinaldo Bolívar as well as other top Venezuelan government officials and businessmen.

It was an elaborate event accompanied by lavish photo op, expensive alcohol and dinner in the evening at the “Gran Melia Hotel, another top three luxury hotel in Venezuela, according to luxury hotel reservations website, Five Star Alliance.

Mr. Igbinedion was handed the key to the city of Caracas and announced as the “Alcaldía de Libertador”, the honorary Mayor of the central Caracas borough of Libertador. He also held a meeting with top officials of the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry at their headquarters, the Yellow House.

But the whole fanfare was a grand charade and part of a well orchestrated confidence trick put together by some of the most devious conmen in Latin America.
It later appeared that Mr. Gonzalez received an intensive course on Nigerian niceties.  Emails from Mr. Arrundell and Gonzalez to Mr. Igbinedion have that uniquely Nigerian informality. Rather than write in a formal manner as one would have expected of parties in a multi-million dollar deal, they addressed Mr. Igbinedion as “My brother Lucky” or “Dear brother Lucky.”
One letter by Mr. Gonzalez, filled with grammatical errors, reads:
Dear brother lucky
I already send the dignity signed invoice.
You know what this mean.
Nobody do this, but I always honored my word, agins all the logical and normal status.
I prefer died that do not honored my word.
This is another demonstration that I am a honor man.
That mean that the product is yours.
I trust you like a brother I hope you do not let me down.
I do not want disappoint you, I hope you do not disappoint me.
Best regards, 
You brother and friend
Francisco JAvier Gonzalez
The geniality of Mr. Gonzalez’s letters coupled with the grand reception, some would say deception, he got during his “official” visit to Caracas apparently made Mr. Igbinedion even more trusting of the Venezuelan gang.

Nigerian thief, money launderer, is scammed
After a couple of other meetings later that year, Arevenca made Skanga a deal too good to be true: a consignment of 35,000 metric tonnes of diesel will be sent to Skanga.

All it needed to do was to prepay the charges for delivery and complete the full payment for the delivery in three months.

Mr. Igbinedion could not believe his luck. Skanga promptly transferred $19.6 million more to Arevenca’s Swiss bank account as freight charges and partial payment for two consignments of Petrol and diesel aboard two vessels named “Digniti” and “Ventur.”
The vessels never arrived.
The Nigerian Port Authority said it does not have any record of “Digniti” or “Ventur” entering Nigerian waters at the time it was billed to arrive.

In fact, PREMIUM TIMES investigation reveals that there are no vessels named “Dignitii” or “Ventur”.
Searches on Lloyds directories and other ship directories show that the ship don’t exist anywhere in the world.

All efforts made to contact the Venezuelan embassy to confirm the extent to which Mr. Arrundell, who has been posted out of the country, was involved in the scam was unsuccessful.
The embassy’s phone number seems to be out of order and emails were returned as undelivered.
Mr. Imoukhuede declined to comment when contacted by PREMIUM TIMES. He explained that since the case is in court, Skanga’s lawyer was in the best position to make public comments on the matter.

“You know the case is in court. I don’t think I am at ease to talk about it. I would have to talk to the lawyer. I can’t make any comment. The Nigerian legal system is different from the American system. The best thing is to talk to Femi Salu,” he said.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The remaining parts in this series will look at courtroom intrigues; how two of Igbinedion’s American counsel abandoned the case due to his inability to pay their retainer.
A part will look at the role played by MRS Oil Nigeria Limited plus interesting revelations in court while another will take a look at the role of the Venezuelan authorities in the entire scam.

See more HOT News and GIST HERE

Football superstar Ronaldinho pictured above. See many more sports stars when they were kids after the cut...


Cristiano Ronaldo


Venus and Serena Williams


Tiger Woods


David Beckham

>Read More Nigerian entertainment gist HERE<

18-year-old Ana Rosa Mora (pictured above) has been arrested for killing her own child because the the new born looked like her ex-boyfriend. Ana wrapped her baby in a bag and left him outside to die because she feared the child looked like her ex-boyfriend and her current boyfriend would leave her.

The Chicago Tribune reports that the teen gave birth last weekend and attended school on Monday after allegedly committing the act and even showed staff members pictures of a newborn girl that she claimed she downloaded from the Internet.

But after employees noticed strange behavior - such as the girl asking if authorities could link her to the child through DNA and lying about the baby's age - they alerted authorities. Continue...

The child had been found by a construction worker a few hours after the child was left outside. The boy was born alive but died of asphyxia and possible exposure, authorities said.

The new mother said her ex-boyfriend was the father and when the child was born she feared her current boyfriend would notice and leave her, the newspaper reported. She was arrested Friday April 25th.

Mora, who was scheduled to graduate from high school in June and attend college in the fall is facing charges of first-degree murder and is now being held on $500,000 bail.


See more HOT News and GIST HERE

 Ghollywood actress Yvonne Nelson is on the latest cover of Y! Africa magazine. You like?





>Read More Nigerian entertainment gist HERE<

This policeman, Augustine Gbuchenge, Force No.400823, lived in the same compound with Amarachi’s family. But how come she ended up under the bed in his room? Here's Amarachi father's revelations:
“Last Thursday, I returned from work around 7.30pm and met my children and wife outside. There was power failure on that day so everywhere was dark. I asked after Amarachi but my wife said she was probably in our apartment sleeping.
“I was not satisfied with this explanation because my children don’t usually sleep early. When I went up, I did not see my daughter so we started asking around. Some little children in the compound then told me that Gbuchenge had called my daughter earlier to help him buy akara.
“I went to the policeman’s room to challenge him but he denied seeing my daughter so we continued looking everywhere. After sometime, the whole compound got involved in the search and all clues pointed to the policeman”...
Amarachi's father, Mr Patrick, told Punch that he and the other neighbours challenged Gbuchenge again and an argument ensued. He said Gbuchenge immediately stood up and threatened to go and tell his colleagues at the Ketu Police Division that he was being wrongly accused of abduction.

“Some moments later, I also stood up and headed for the police station to go and report the matter thinking I would meet the policeman there as well but I did not. After reporting the case, a police corporal accompanied me back to my house,” Patrick said.

When they returned to the house, policeman Gbuchenge was nowhere to be found and his room was locked.

“We were able to beam a torchlight through his window where we saw my daughter’s legs pointing out from under the bed,” Patrick said.

Neighbours were said to have rallied around and broken Gbuchenge’s door open. When the girl was pulled out from under the bed, she was bound by her hands and feet with a piece of cloth stuffed in her mouth.

The young girl, Amarachi was said to have been bleeding profusely as she had sustained a broken skull.

She was taken to Gbagada General Hospital but due to the severity, was referred to Lagos Island Hospital.

Narrating her ordeal, Amarachi said, “On that day, he (Gbuchenge) asked me to buy akara for him. After I returned, my mum asked me to go upstairs to do the dishes. As I was going, the man pulled me from behind and took me into his room.

“He then tied me up. He did not rape me. After sometime, my parents started shouting my name and calling me, the policeman used an iron to hit me in the head repeatedly and then pushed me under the bed and used clothes to cover me. Under the bed, I saw little children’s clothes.

“He then turned on his generator so that even if I tried to shout, no one would hear. After sometime, he left. I continued to hear my father’s voice and I struggled to push my leg from under the bed. That was how they saw me and rescued me.”

Amara described the policeman as a very friendly person who usually bought sweets and biscuits for children in the compound. She said she was surprised that he would do such a thing.

Surprisingly, the strange Policeman has disappeared. MOPOL 22, where he claims he works has denied ever knowing anybody with the name - Augustine Gbuchenge. Police say they are on top of the situation.


See more HOT News and GIST HERE

Popular Nigerian Prophet, T.B. Joshua, proclaimed to his congregation on Sunday 27th April, 2014, that the abducted schoolgirls in Borno State were on the verge of being released by ‘God’, adding that almost half had already escaped their kidnappers clutches and on their way to freedom already.

Amid mounting public fury and an international outcry over the fate of the over 200 kidnapped teenage girls - now missing for nearly 2weeks – TB Joshua declared: “They have to be released. That is the voice of God!”

He described a revelation he said God showed him:
“I saw a vision where some of these girls have escaped and they are trying to find their way from the forest to the town. God has spoken – these children must be released. We can’t wait to see them.”

In a message broadcast live via his widely viewed station Emmanuel TV and posted on his official Facebook page followed by close to 1,000,000 people, he counseled the girl’s parents to know that people felt their pain. “It is not your battle alone but the battle of all people of God all over the world. They are also our children.”

TB Joshua warned security forces involved in rescue efforts to be careful not to be drawn into unnecessary confrontation. “God has promised all of them will come out free, without harm and hurt. However, if there is unnecessary confrontation, it may affect them,” the pastor, whose recent YouTube clip showing a prophecy of the ill-fated MH370 plane went viral and garnered international media attention, cautioned.

“let us be prayerful and at the same time be tactical and strategic, so they will not harm our dear schoolgirls. Their captors are in a place where they cannot move forward or backwards. Confrontation is dangerous.”


See more HOT News and GIST HERE

Young couple from Pennsylvania, USA, has taken probably one of the most difficult decisions in their life: not to have their conjoined twins surgically separated because of the danger of such operation.

Barely one-month-old twins Andrew Donovan Lee and Garrett Lee Donovan Stancombe share the same heart and liver, which makes the separation surgery very risky: the possibility of death of one or both twins is high. Actually, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center, medicine has not witnessed cases where twins with hearts joined in the same way survived the operation.



Boys' mother Michelle Van Horne told CNN's affiliate WTAE:

"It would hurt us to lose one and have the other. They were born together; they can stay together."

Despite being unique babies from the medical point of view, the little boys are living an ordinary healthy baby life: sleeping, crying and eating.

The mother of two said that for her the most important thing is to know that her sons are with her and to hear them cry.


See more HOT News and GIST HERE

Dr Sid shared the pic of his fiancee, Simi Osomo's bikini body on his instagram page with the caption 'She completes me. #Lovemine #wifey...". Any man would be proud of that body. It's hot!!!

>Read More Nigerian entertainment gist HERE<

Amid the raging insurgency in the North-east, the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, says, contrary to the claim in some quarters, Christians, rather than Muslims, are the targets of the Boko Haram Islamist group. Oritsejafor lists six ways to end the insurgent attacks including northern leaders engaging Boko Haram in dialogue. The CAN leader spoke to Sunday Vanguard after the Daughters of Sarah convention, co-hosted by his World of Life Bible Church, Warri, Delta State. Excerpts:

What drives you? Why do you always want to give during every programme here?
I have asked myself that question too! Somehow I think I have lost my mind. When I sit down and think, it’s very natural to give. That’s where I am now. It didn’t start naturally but that’s where I am now. If I don’t give, I think I will be sick or something. But I think it started with understanding the scripture. Let me say this: I remember when I gave my life to Christ, I felt the urge to go into ministry and I went to a Bible school. I wanted to leave; the reason I wanted to leave was that I felt I will be unproductive to God.

So I said why waste God’s time and waste my own time. That was when I said I better leave and go and do something else with my life, because I am a realist. So when it comes to giving, what I did, just like I do in
most cases, I started studying the Bible. I started reading to understand God’s mind about giving and I discovered that giving is one of the most misunderstood subjects in the Bible. But the truth is, it is the most consistent subject in the Bible.

You find it from Genesis to Revelation; it comes in so many shapes that if you are not careful, you will miss it. I did a study all through the Bible; even a lot of young men that do all kinds of crazy things to get stuff out of people—it’s a misunderstanding that they got themselves into—because when you understand the scriptural meaning of giving, you will discover that it is more blessed to give than to receive.

You will not be straining yourself to get from people. The way the principle of giving works, it is always to give and you receive, not the other way round. Even young preachers who are trying to get from people, they think it’s when they get that they can give to people, no! That’s a wrong principle. It is always give and it shall be given unto you, sow and then you reap. It is not get and then you give. Like I said, I’ve done that study, based on that understanding, it doesn’t matter what anybody says or preaches. I will always give. It’s a way of life for me. When you get to that point, you will enjoy God beyond your expectations.

Several candidates for employment into the Nigerian Immigration Service died. How did you feel when it happened?
I’m pained! It is so unfortunate! But this is where we are today. I hope our political leaders are watching. When I’m talking of political leaders, I’m not talking of President Goodluck Jonathan because we have reached a place in Nigeria today where everything is Jonathan; as if Jonathan is the only elected official in this country. First of all, the situation where we find ourselves today, is it Jonathan that created it?

How can a man that became President three years ago be the one that created all these problems? Something is wrong. I don’t know if the media realize the damage they are doing to the psyche and the integrity of the Nigerian society; to give the impression that one man is responsible for the problems of this country that has been in existence for many years. Let’s go back and look at the history of Nigeria, look at the leadership, the political leaders.

It’s horrible. Jonathan is President; he cannot run away from being part of the blame. What about this government? State government where the House of Assembly will go and pass a budget in the governor’s house and everybody is silent, nobody is saying anything. Can you imagine, Jonathan taking all members of the National Assembly and the budget is passed within two hours in his house; will Nigeria not run down? Why is the media presenting things like this? It’s not right. Government comprises political leaders at all levels, and it’s been happening, and they are getting away with it, so to speak.

That is why I advocated last October that all political and government officials should forfeit half of their emoluments for one year. Do you know how many billions of naira that will amount to? I told them this money should be put in a dedicated account and credible Nigerians should be fetched from each of the six geo-political zones to manage that money to create jobs.

The level of unemployment in Nigeria is so high. Universities that we are trying to build must be universities that will educate people to be self employed, people who will be able to contribute to the progress of Nigeria, not just people who acquire degrees and wait for white collar jobs. That is my number one emphasis; job creation. Number two, leadership; and number three, God.

It’s a very unfortunate thing that (Immigration job tragedy) has happened. My prayer is that such a thing will not happen again. I also want to speak to the private sector, some of them have tried, but they can do more. If we love this country, we can pull Nigeria out of this situation. If we leave everything to government, I don’t know what will happen.




About 10 people who have the same mind can come together and set up medium sized businesses. We must begin to venture into areas like this. I have some ideas myself; I just pray I’m able to finance them. But it’s not right for the private sector to leave everything to government. We all have to be involved and find ways to lift people out of poverty. You saw the grinding machines we gave out, these are some ways of eliminating unemployment. The more people you can give jobs, the stronger and the better the nation will be. Political leaders should take note, past to present, God will hold them responsible, He will judge them.

The National Conference has finally taken off. What’s your agenda for the delegates?
Go there and speak the truth, speak the minds of the people you are representing, that should be the priority. One of the things that have brought Nigeria to her knees is that we lie to ourselves. We know the truth, but we deceive ourselves. We are hypocrites. We try to convince ourselves that everything is good. If you say there are differences, then you are a bad person, but if you want to be celebrated in Nigeria, just come out and say “One Nigeria”.

The moment you try to tell the truth, you are a bad person. I think all delegates should go there with the fear of God to tell the truth as it concerns those who sent them there. Let them table truth on the table, and, from there, Nigeria will be able to move forward. They may not agree on everything, but the truth should be told.

At the end of the day, I believe that it can never be a waste of time. People are always talking. They are just formalizing the talking. I just pray that whatever decisions are taken should be implemented. You will be shocked with the understanding that it will yield. It is never be a waste of time. These same people say National Conference is a waste of time but dialoguing with Boko Haram is not a waste of time. Let truth meet truth on the table, I believe it will yield good fruits.

Of late, a lot of people are saying that Boko Haram is actually not just killing Christians, but that there are more Muslim victims than Christians. How do you respond to that?
I was embarrassed by such statement. As a matter of fact, I read one piece where it was said that 98 per cent of all the people killed by Boko Haram are Muslims. It is not true. How can you say 98 per cent of those killed are Muslims? First of all, in every single statement that Shekau, the Boko Haram leader, has made, he always made it very clear that their target are Christians; their purpose is to create an Islamic state, to the ridiculous extent of telling a sitting President of a country that he needs amnesty from him (Shekau) and that his only option is that Christians can only be saved if they convert from Christianity to Islam. And you tell me that 98 per cent of those who have been killed are Muslims.

These are the things that create tension. These are the things that certain people use to make it look like we hate Muslims when we respond. You can’t turn Nigeria to a Muslim country. To think like that is to insult the sensitivity of rational people. This is very wrong. Until about six months ago, almost all the people killed were Christians. That’s the reality. In 2013, from the reports I’m getting, there were not more than five mosques that were destroyed.

In 2013 alone, from the information I have, there are not less than 300 churches that were destroyed. I don’t know how such people come up with their statistics. Are they trying to tell me now that everybody in Borno or Kano or Adamawa states are Muslims? This is not right. Let us put it on record that nothing less than 90 per cent of people who have been killed by Boko Haram are Christians. I’m the leader of Christians in Nigeria, so I put it on record and that is the truth.

Let me also add that the Muslims that have been killed, every single one of them, his life is as precious as the lives of the Christians killed; I am aware that there are two categories of Muslims that they have been killing and my heart bleeds because they are human beings. Two categories: there’s the category of Muslims who oppose what they are doing; their clerics who come out to say this is against Islam, they slaughter them. The second category belong of Muslims they kill are those they feel have betrayed them. In other words, they’ve been giving information to security agents that were used to either capture them or kill them.

From information I have, they go to mosques where preachers are against them or somebody in the congregation has spoken against them and they don’t know the exact person, they just go and blow the mosques up. These are the two categories of Muslims that have been killed so far. Killing Muslims is not their primary target. If anybody has the opportunity of interviewing Shekau today, he will say what I’m saying now.

Their primary targets are Christians. He has said it again and again that Christians are his primary target. Look at the post-election violence period, who are the people who suffered, who died like rats, killed, burnt, destroyed? There are Muslim clerics that have been killed; my heart goes out to them, but how many pastors have been killed since 2009? Who really cares? Who has taken the pains to look at it?

Some of the widows and orphans they left behind are being taken care of by me. A recent one was in Borno State where a CAN secretary was slaughtered in the presence of his family members. The latest one was in Katsina, the chairman of CAN in Katsina local government, they said they saw the corpse of a child near his house, they went into this young man’s house and they beat him unconscious. He was rescued and taken to hospital. They surrounded the hospital, dragged him out of the hospital and burnt him alive. Where is justice in all these things?

The security situation in this country has gone out of control as the Boko Haram members now go to barracks to kill soldiers. Do we need another approach to tackle terrorism?
I wouldn’t say we need a new approach. I’d just say that we need to sharpen our approach because there are basic things; just that some people don’t see it as an important area to look into. There are about six or seven things that must be done and we have no choice but to do them. One is prayer; we can’t run away from that. That is why I have said that Christians and all well-meaning Nigerians should join us every last Friday of every month to fast and pray for the peace of Nigeria. Whatever God needs to do to turn this tide, He should do it.

Two, the military should be strengthened. They must continue to bombard these people. The number of men in the military is not enough to meet the demands on ground. All I am advocating is that the number of personnel needs to be multiplied. The screening has to be done right because the insurgents themselves will try to join the military.

In fact they are inside the military as we speak. There are also members of the Boko Haram in the military. Some have been prosecuted, some are top officers. The authorities should be careful in giving out positions particularly with regards to information gathering. They have to find ways to detect such people and flush them out with no sentiments attached. The most important thing to be done is the involvement of Muslim political leaders; Muslim clerics and Muslim traditional rulers.

When our boys in the creeks were doing what they were doing, some of us went there. We engaged them, and we didn’t ask government. We engaged them because it was the right thing to do. My friend, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), is now talking. These are people who said the insurgents should be given amnesty; they should be treated like Niger Delta boys. They are now talking, but they must go beyond talking. We strategised, we talked to our boys, and they should go and talk to their boys. They say they are talking to the boys, yet they are killing. We want them to go beyond the talking; go to where these boys are, risk their lives like we did, and begin to engage them, dialogue with them.

It is not government that will dialogue with them; it is their people they will listen to. The boys respect some of the clerics that are good. Bring these boys and discuss with them from the Qur’an. This engagement must filter into the mosques. They must start teaching that Nigeria is their country; re-orient their minds so that they can think positively. All these are what must be done at all levels and done not just by Jonathan, but by governors of the affected states as well as the local people there. The talking is important, but they must go beyond the talking.

Another factor we’ve not said anything about is the menace of Fulani herdsmen…

I see that as another chapter of Boko Haram. They don’t want people like us to talk but we have to talk. What kind of Fulani herdsmen? It’s unacceptable. Is there any other tribe that can do this kind of things and get away with it in the last three years? They have terrorized Nigeria. There is no state where they don’t kill people; these same Fulani herdsmen killed somebody recently in Delta Central.

Where did these people get AK47 rifles from? Who taught them how to shoot? How is it that these people are never apprehended? I have reports that there are communities where they have destroyed crops, killed people, raped women, yet, at the end of the day, it’s the local people the police go after. Look at what is happening in Benue State! Imagine some of the leaders of the Fulani coming out to hold a press conference, accusing the government to be the cause of the crisis.

They actually admitted that they sent people to cause the crisis and police didn’t pick them up? What is the nonsense? Does it mean other tribes cannot do this? Is there monopoly of violence? Does this mean other tribes don’t know where to get arms from? Everyone is trying to build a civil and peaceful nation. As a leader of millions, should I tell these people to arm themselves? Government should take note. One tribe will hold a whole nation to ransom when in Nigeria we have over 500 tribes?

I fear for Nigeria. This issue has to be addressed. They should come out and tell the truth. What is the agenda of the Fulani herdsmen? Is it really about grazing land? They were almost passing a bill, which will never be implemented in Jesus name, that they will just take people’s land just as they like and give it to somebody else. It’s never heard of. I know of a RCCG parish in Zamfara State which they destroyed and the church was trying to rebuild it and the authorities said they shouldn’t try to rebuild.

This is 21st century; don’t people eat cows in America? Do you see people leading cows across the streets? They should go back to where they are from and create modernized way of farming and cattle rearing. These are things we should look at.

>Read More Nigerian gist HERE<

nice