EDO STATE GOVERNOR SURVIVES ANOTHER AUTO CRASH

The Governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, today, escaped death by inches, near Ewu village, on the Benin-Auchi highway..

A government statement said the auto crash occurred at about 9.45am today, while the Governor was heading for Benin City after a visit to Iyamho Village.

A Peugeot J5 Bus with registration number XB 355 Fugar, which was transporting plantains and tomatoes lost control while attempting to overtake an articulated vehicle, crashing into the governor’s flag car, a BMW bullet proof car, before ending in a ditch. Governor Oshimhole was unhurt.
The accident is being investigated.

The Edo State governor’s convoy was equally involved in an accident last year when a tipper  rammed into his car.

PRESIDENCY ORDERS PROBE OF ALLEGED ASSAULT OF PREGNANT WOMAN BY HER LEBANESE BOSS IN LAGOS

President Goodluck Jonathan has ordered a full scale investigation into alleged assault of a pregnant employee by her Lebanese boss.

The victim, a 34-year-old woman, Mrs. Alice Ossai, accused Lebanese employer, Kaveh Noine, of making her lose her seven-month pregnancy after he kicked her in the stomach.

DR REUBEN ABATI

Mrs. Alice Ossai, is the cleaning Unit Supervisor for the Lagos based packaging and printing company, Toppan Packaging Company Limited, located on Ladipo Oluwole area of Ikeja Industrial Estate.

She alleged that she lost her pregnancy on Friday 13th December 2013, after a physical assault by her boss, because a portion of the factory was littered, due to negligence on the part of Mrs Alice Ossai.

Worried by the report, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, said on his Twitter handle as well as Facebook page yesterday that President Jonathan has ordered thorough investigation into the matter.

Man rams car at the rear gate of Elysee Palace, the Paris residence of French President.

A man has rammed his car into the rear gate of the Elysee Palace, the Paris residence of French President Francois Hollande.  

The man was arrested as he tried to force his way through the Grille du Coq gate yesterday.

Police identified him as 67-year-old Attilio Maggiulli, a theatre director of Italian nationality.

Police officials said he was protesting against cuts in subsidies to his small theatre in Paris.

He had already been arrested on Wednesday near the Elysee Palace after pulling a Harlequin puppet from his car and setting it alight. He was later released.

The driver was slightly hurt in the collision and has been taken to a Paris hospital.

Police sources said he runs a 100-seat theatre in the Montparnasse district.

He has been arrested on suspicion of endangering the lives of others. (BBC)

PRESIDENCY ASKS NIGERIAN MEDIA TO SHUN SENSATIONALISM

The Presidency has reacted to reports in a section of the media today, quoting President Jonathan as saying at a Christmas church service on Christmas Day that that “terrorism has come to stay” in Nigeria.

Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, Dr Reuben Abati, described the reports as completely untrue and a mischievous misrepresentation of President Jonathan’s remarks.

Dr Abati said verifiable remarks at the Cathedral Church of the Advent, Life Camp Abuja were to the effect that in comparison with some other countries which have experienced the scourge of terrorism, Nigeria has made remarkable progress in dealing with the security challenges posed by terrorism and insurgency.

Abati, a statement, said “headlines such as ‘Terrorism Has Come to Stay’ and ‘Insurgency Far From Over – Jonathan’ are therefore most incongruous with the thrust of the President’s remarks and amount to taking extreme editorial liberties with his comments at the church service.

“It is apparent that in their indecent haste to cast the most sensational and negative headlines, some editors never paused to consider that it would have been most absurd for a President whose administration has done so much to reverse the tide of terrorism, to publicly assert the contrary.

“While speaking at the Church where he worshipped, along with members of his family, his aides and some Ministers, President Jonathan only pointed out that whereas terrorism remains a global challenge and a source of continuing concern in some countries, Nigeria has done comparatively better in reducing the incidence of terrorist attacks within its borders to a ‘reasonable level’.

“Interpreting those remarks, which are clearly in tandem with facts available to all objective observers of Nigeria’s war against terrorism, as an expression of defeat or helplessness, amounts to reckless scaremongering which can only serve the purpose of needlessly instigating fear among the populace and bolstering the confidence of criminal and unpatriotic elements.

“Once again, we urge the media to eschew undue negativity and join hands with the government to patriotically promote peace, national security and political stability.

“The war against terrorism is very winnable and President Jonathan’s administration is steadily winning it in Nigeria. The Federal Government, the Armed Forces and national security agencies will continue to build on the successes they have achieved so against terrorists, insurgents and their sponsors.”