Naijagossiper

Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia has expressed gratitude to God for averting bloodbath in the state, following the withdrawal of troops deployed to Abia for a one-month military exercise code-named “Operation Python Dance.” Ikpeazu made the remark on Sunday when he visited the secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Abia council to commiserate with journalists over last Tuesday’s invasion of the secretariat by soldiers. The governor noted that the presence of the troops sparked tension across the state. He said “we are grateful to God for intervening in stopping what could have been the greatest bloodbath known in the history of mankind.” He also thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for reposing confidence in Southeast Governors’ Forum, “by giving us a second chance to talk to our people on the need for us to live as one united nation.” He added that the Igbos remained the most widely travelled people in Nigeria, living and conducting businesses in every nook and cr...

Chelsea and Arsenal on Sunday played to a goalless draw in an English Premier League (EPL) encounter that saw Chelsea defender David Luiz sent off for a rough tackle on Sead Kolasinac. Luiz was sent off came in the closing minutes of the match played at the Stamford Bridge and he could have no complaints about his dismissal after lunging into a crude two-footed challenge on the Arsenal defender. It was the third sending-off for a Chelsea player in their last three meetings with Arsenal. Nigeria’s Victor Moses got his marching orders in last season’s FA Cup final, while Pedro was dismissed in the Community Shield. The Luiz flashpoint – Chelsea’s fourth red card this season – was the most memorable moment of a hard-fought London derby that was high on perspiration but low on inspiration. “We have great respect for officials, but it is strange to finish a third game in a row against Arsenal with 10 men,” Chelsea boss Antonio Conte said. “You need to see what happened be...

Jose Mourinho declared Manchester United ’s 4- 0 drubbing of Everton their best performance of the Premier League campaign so far on Sunday which proved a miserable return to the club for record goalscorer Wayne Rooney . Rooney — who had a golden opportunity to score but saw his shot saved by David de Gea in the opening minute of the second - half — was upstaged by former Everton star Romelu Lukaku who scored and set up one for United as the hosts eased away in the final 10 minutes . Victory sees United join Manchester City on top of the table on 13 points with exactly the same statistics in every regard but behind because of the alphabet . “I think the performance was very good , especially in the first 30 - 35 minute , it was probably our best performance of the season ,” Mourinho told Sky Sports. “We pressed them and they did not have a chance to get out , they did not have a shot , it was very impressive . “After that , Everton ’s good players came out and showed their quali...

The world ’s oldest person Violet Brown has died in Jamaica at the age of 117 years and 189 days old. Jamaica’ s Prime Minister Andrew Holness has expressed his condolences in a Facebook post, calling her “an inspiring woman.” The woman known as “Aunt V ” died Friday at a local hospital, where she had been treated for heart arrhythmia and dehydration . With her death, the Gerontology Research Group lists Nabi Tajima of Japan as the oldest surviving person. She was born on Aug. 4, 1900. Brown spent much of her life cutting sugar cane . She remained active in her church until recently and credited her longevity to hard work and her Christian faith . She had four sons and two daughters . Her eldest son died in April at age 97 . NAN

English Premier League table after Sunday’s 1500GMT match ( played , won , drawn ,. lost , goals for , against , points ) : Manchester City 5 4 1 0 16 2 13 Manchester Utd 5 4 1 0 16 2 13 Chelsea 5 3 1 1 8 5 10 Newcastle 5 3 0 2 6 4 9 Tottenham 5 2 2 1 7 3 8 Huddersfield 5 2 2 1 5 3 8 Burnley 5 2 2 1 6 5 8 Liverpool 5 2 2 1 9 9 8 Southampton 5 2 2 1 4 4 8 West Brom 5 2 2 1 4 4 8 Watford 5 2 2 1 7 9 8 Arsenal 5 2 1 2 7 8 7 Stoke 5 1 2 2 5 6 5 Swansea 5 1 2 2 2 5 5 Leicester 5 1 1 3 7 9 4 Brighton 5 1 1 3 4 7 4 West Ham 5 1 1 3 4 10 4 Everton 5 1 1 3 2 10 4 Bournemouth 5 1 0 4 3 9 3 Crystal Palace 5 0 0 5 0 8 0 AFP

Alwold Crescent, in Lee, was placed on lockdown after emergency services sped to the residential street amid concerns of a chemical reaction. Paramedics rushed several people to hospital after witnesses said a number of locals suffered a bad reaction to an unknown substance on Sunday morning. Taxi driver Ian Crouch, 39, told The Sun: "I could see the emergency services outside my house. "When I spoke to a policeman he said there were people complaining of irritation, who had been throwing up all morning. "They've been rushed into hospital. "He said they were investigating whether it is terror related, but told us not panic. "It sounds like we might get evacuated from our homes. "They think it's coming from the sewage system." Paramedics from London Fire Brigade (LFB) tweeted a picture of several fire engines, ambulances and police cars at the scene. They said: "We are on scene at a chemical incident in SE12 with @London...

The new Police Commissioner in Abia state , Mr Anthony Ogbizi , has said that suspected members of Indigenous People of Biafra , recently arrested , will be prosecuted for murder , arson and other related crimes . Ogbizi disclosed this during a press briefing and parade of seven suspected members of IPOB at Ariaria police station in Aba . He said following the proscription of IPOB by governors in the South East and its declaration as a terrorist group by Nigerian Army, anybody found with Biafran materials would be arrested and prosecuted . He said that they would be prosecuted under the anti -terrorism Act to ensure they were properly dealt with. Ogbizi , echoing what the army had earlier said , stressed that IPOB by their action had shown itself to be a “terrorist group ” which must be dealt with as such . He said that between Sept . 10 and Sept 14 the Ariaria police station was attacked by suspected members of IPOB who destroyed everything at the station . He said they came w...

Efforts of the police hierarchy to sanitise the force in the last couple of weeks have been yielding positive results. In the last one month, at least more than 13 policemen have been dismissed for various infractions ranging from extortion to robbery. Three policemen, Inspector Okelue Nkemeonye AP No 136005, Sergeant Braimoh Sunday F/No. 355897 and Sergeant Yusuf Olukoga, F/No 35992 were dismissed in July for extorting over N200,000 from Nigerians and forcibly using their banking facilities at gunpoint. The three policemen were attached to Area ‘N’ Command, Ijede-Ikorodu, Lagos State. The dismissed policemen, who probably had been doing that for a long time, were led by an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Bayo Obadia. They used a police vehicle and embarked on arbitrary arrest of several young Nigerians, who they tagged: ‘Yahoo boys.’ Many of them were released only after they parted with money. But they forced their victims to pay the money into the account of anothe...

Despite the efforts of the Federal Government to diversify the economy away from oil to non - oil sector , receipts from oil and gas sector still account for a huge chunk of the country ’s total exports’ earnings, an investigation has revealed . An analysis of the foreign trade statistics obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics revealed that out of the total export earnings of N 3 .1tn for the second quarter of this year , oil and gas accounted for N 2.43 tn , while the non- oil sector accounted for the balance of N 670 bn . A breakdown of the export earnings showed that petroleum oil and oil obtained from bituminous minerals generated the sum of N 2 .42 tn , representing 78 .18 per cent . This was followed by natural and liquefied gas with N412 . 49 bn or 13 . 3 per cent, other petroleum gases with 1 .16 per cent, and other liquefied petroleum gases and gaseous hydrocarbons, N19 .63 bn . A further analysis of the report showed that the country earned N 17 .81 bn from nap...

, Bill Cosby’s retrial on charges of sexual assault has been scheduled for April 2, 2018, the Pennsylvania Court said on Friday. The 80-year-old Cosby is charged with three felony counts of aggravated indecent assault for allegedly drugging and sexually assaulting accuser, Andrea Constand, at his home in 2004.  More than 50 women have come forward to publicly accuse Cosby of drugging and raping them, but the trial is focused solely on accusations from Constand, a former employee at Temple University in Philadelphia, Cosby’s alma mater.  She alleged that Cosby gave her pills and sexually assaulted her as she drifted in and out of consciousness.  Cosby already stood trial in June but Judge Steven O’Neill declared a mistrial after the jury was unable to agree on a verdict. The actor hired new lawyers for the retrial, including Tom Mesereau, who is best-known for his part in Michael Jackson’s acquittal on child molestation charges in 2005.  The retrial was ...

Chelsea striker, Alvaro Morata, has revealed he had an offer to join Manchester United, before he eventually signed for the Blues. But the 24-year-old said the presence of Antonio Conte at Stamford Bridge, made his decision to move to London over Manchester an easy one. “I had various offers this summer, not only Chelsea and Manchester United but also from different leagues,” he told the Daily Mail. “It was a good situation for me. “The most important and best conversation I had was with Conte, he wanted me to come here. “At the start of the summer, I didn’t know that Chelsea were interested in me. I thought they were in for a different player, maybe Lukaku or maybe someone else, I don’t know. I didn’t think the option of Chelsea was open. “But I spoke with Conte several times – and not only this summer. I felt in debt to him. He signed me for Juventus but left very quickly to manage Italy. “I always wanted to play for him after that. It was only two months with him bu...

A Chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, High Chief Raymond Dokpesi speaks with  OLUSOLA FABIYI  about the crisis in his party and the roles he played in the formation of the Advanced Peoples Democratic Alliance Do  you think that the crisis which almost consumed the Peoples Democratic Party was avoidable? The crisis that the PDP unfortunately went through for about 14 months was avoidable if all of us had carefully read the (Ike) Ekweremadu report that reviewed some of our failures at the 2015 general elections. This has to do with the overbearing influence of certain groups and power blocks within the party. The report also talked about creating a level-playing ground for all the contestants and stressed the need to discourage imposition.  We should have respected the rules and the constitution of the party. It was unfortunate that a group of persons, especially led by Ali Modu Sheriff, who in any case, was a new comer to the PDP then and was not convers...

240 Ed Sheeran  is following suit with  U2  ... he just cancelled his show this weekend in St. Louis amid rising protests throughout the city. The promotion company for Ed's tour put out a statement, saying his Sunday night concert at the Scottrade Center was nixed. They cited the same reason that U2 gave ... local law enforcement couldn't fully commit to providing a sufficient amount of police and other city services to protect concert goers.  The company went on to say they plan on having Ed return to St. Louis at a later date in 2018, as his schedule allows.  Ed's the 2nd major music act to cancel a show in St. Louis after violence has erupted from protests. The protests stem from the acquittal of a former police officer who was charged with first degree murder of a black motorist following a high speed chase in 2011. Cops and protesters have flooded the streets as a result.  As with U2  ... Ed's fans will receive a refund for their ticke...

The Okitipupa Local Government Area of Ondo State has said it will take care of a newborn baby of a mentally challenged woman found on the street at Ilu Tuntun . While confirming the adoption of the baby , the Chairman of the Okitipupa Council Area, Mrs . Morenike Alaka , said every child has a fundamental right to life . Alaka said , “Men should desist from putting women who are already distressed due to mental illness into the family way . It is a wicked act and a gross abuse of the victim . It is shameful. It is a sin against man and God . Every child has a fundamental right to life and we will do everything within our power to ensure that the baby lives .” The woman was found inside a bush with a baby girl some days ago . She claimed that she was delivered of twins but somebody took one of the babies away . SUNDAY PUNCH learnt that the cry of the baby drew the attention of residents , who alerted the police . The Police Public Relations Officer, Mr . Femi Joseph, said the wo...