“I live in a city where abortion is so common that even a Chemist store owner can perform abortion with just N2,500. These are your daughters, and this should worry you and not Yerima's private matters. So ask me again why I support early marriage and I will slap the Jinn out of your head,” he said.
Monthly Archives: July 2013
Woman dies after fall from Texas roller coaster
(CNN) — A woman died while riding a roller coaster at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington, though the circumstances behind it remain unknown.
Six Flags confirmed that a woman died while riding the Texas Giant roller coaster Friday, but did not provide details further details.
"Since the safety of our guests and employees in our number one priority, the ride has been closed pending further investigation," the theme park said in a statement.
Park medical staff and local paramedics responded immediately to the scene, the park said.
Gabe Flores said he was next in line at the amusement park.
"Me and my girlfriend were at the gates and the next ones to get on the ride … the cars came in and there was a man and a woman in the front," he said. "The man was saying, 'let me out, let me out, my mom fell off.' "
The man and woman were distraught and speaking in raised tones, said Flores, who lives in Benton, Texas.
"There's a turn that's pretty steep, and the person behind her empty seat said she fell out there—just flew out," he said.
Flores did not see her fall, but park visitors told CNN affiliate WFAA they did.
"She goes up like this," Carmen Brown told the affiliate, raising her hand up in the air. "Then when it drops to come down, that's when it released and she just tumbled."
Brown told the Dallas Morning News that the woman had expressed concern to a park employee that she was not properly secured in her seat.
"He was basically nonchalant," Brown said. "He was, like, 'As long as you heard it click, you're fine.' Hers was the only one that went down once, and she didn't feel safe. But they let her still get on the ride."
Six Flags Over Texas spokeswoman Sharon Parker said the park is committed to determining exactly what happened.
"It would be a disservice to the family to speculate regarding what transpired," she said. "When we have new information to provide, we will do so."
The Arlington Police Department did not immediately respond to a CNN request. The affiliate said police are investigating whether the woman suffered a medical emergency before the fall.
The Texas Giant was originally designed in 1990 as an all wooden roller coaster. It was redesigned with a steel track and reopened in April 2011 to mark the theme park's 50th anniversary.
At its highest point, the roller coaster is 153 feet and has a drop of 147 feet, according to the theme park.
Thousands of kids hurt yearly on amusement rides
Elsewhere, seven people suffered minor injuries in a boat-ride mishap at the Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio, park officials said.
The incident occurred Friday evening when a boat rolled backward down a lift hill on the Shoot the Rapids ride, park spokesman Bryan Edwards said in an e-mailed statement.
The seven people in the boat were evaluated and treated by Cedar Point emergency medical staff, Edwards said. One of the seven was taken to an area hospital for additional evaluation and was subsequently released, he said.
The ride will remain closed until Ohio park officials and inspectors review it.
Shocking Testimonies amidst confusion in Deeper Life
UNTIL recently members of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry, also known as Deeper Life Bible Church, appeared to be united in love and are all with one accord committed to each other. They believed the same thing, saw the same thing, spoke the same language. There was no room for divisin or strife in their midst.
But the bubble burst during the June edition of the monthly miracle/revival programme at the Deeper Life Christian Centre, DLCC, along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway when the controversial ‘worldly’ wedding of John Kumuyi, one of the two sons of founder, Pastor William Kumuyi threatened to tear the church to shreds.
The younger Kumuyi is said to have walked the aisle with former Miss Love Odih, the daughter of the national overseer of the church in charge of Jamaica, on June 15 in a ‘society’ wedding which attracted widespread condemnation.
The bride was decked in a flowing white gown—a shift from the traditional Deeper Life wedding dress—looked radiant at the wedding, her face dabbed with a touch of make-up, including a lipstick.
The church operates a strict regime on ceremonies which outlaws even video coverage during nuptials. Mr. Kumuyi and his bride cruised in a limousine and had a huge wedding cake, creating a buzz on social media with people wondering whether the church had relaxed its rather conservative rules or their leader’s son had become exempt to them.
*Wife of the General Superintendent/National Woman Leader, Deeper Life Bible Church, Sister Easter Kumuyi (l) with Sister Thersa Boyason at the 2-day seminar titled; ‘When Mountains Move’ at the Deeper Life Conference Centre, Lagos-lbadan Expressway.
The couple, realizing the embarrassment that event had caused the church, apologized “profusely” during the mid-year miracle crusade, but the leadership went ahead to sanction the twosome. Unconfirmed reports indicate that his father-in-law, Pastor Augustine Odih who joined the two in holy matrimony is being recalled, even as people are still pleading with Pastor Kumuyi to rescind his threat to resign as General Superintendent.
Its often easy to talk about others and make fun! Its always amazing how preachers of the gospel manage to preach despite the multi-dimensional crises surrounding their ministries. Imagine for a moment, a father locking up his three dead children in a room and going up the pulpit to preach. Imagine a pastor preparing to mount the pulpit and he got a call saying that his wife has just passed on. The news didn’t deter him.
Despite the ministry-threatening matrimonial palava, Pastor Kumuyi still managed to preach the gospel and led the divided congregation to lift up their voices to God with one accord with signs following.
Participants at the revival programme had every reason to express gratitude to God as it provided an opportunity for those with long-standing diverse challenges to bid bye to such problems.
The event, which doubled as mid-year celebration, had as its theme; “When Mountains Move” and a promise of ‘Jubilation Unlimited Now and Ever’ (JUNE).
The event featured seminar sessions, choir renditions, orchestra performances, concentrated preaching, prayer and moments of testimony.
Speaking on a topic titled; “The power that moves every mountain”, Pastor Kumuyi quoted copiously from the scriptures, maintaining that there is no problem that could defy the power of Jesus. He stressed that unbelief is a serious hindrance to obtaining the promise of God to move mountains, counselling that the prefix “un” in unbelief should be cancelled.
Kumuyi assured participants that if they believed the promises of God; they would receive whatever they would ask in prayer.
In his second message titled; “The ABC of moving mountains”, the holiness preacher said nothing shall be impossible to whosoever that would believe, explaining: A- Ask on the basis of His faithfulness; B- Believe with the boldness of faith; and C- Cancel all bondage from your future. He stressed the need for a different kind of boldness that belief has, which unbelief does not have.
Addressing the mammoth crowd on; “Mountain moving power of unity”, Kumuyi stressed the need for Nigerians to work in unity, pointing out that it was the only way to overcome various challenges besetting the nation. “There is power in unity, if all of us are united in this country, we will move mountains because united we stand, divided we fall.
There should be unity of faith and unity of fellowship, because if we unite our faith with faith of others, it is that unwavering, united and mighty faith that works miracles in the lives of people, one mind, one soul and one spirit. Nigerians should have one goal, one aspiration, one passion, one language, one pursuit and one future; with these, we shall move this country forward,” he said.
Opportunity was given for people to testify to the wonder working power of God: Mrs. Royal Ekpong, a resident of Gowon Estates, Lagos said she had an accident that nearly paralysed her, warranting her to be using clutches. But after prayer at the event, she felt a vibration in her body and she was healed.
Adelaja Idowu Olusegun was diagnosed with HIV positive but he was now HIV negative just as Mrs. Ngozi Ifeanyi Okoro’s son, Samuel, had his hernia healed after the prayer.
Mrs. Glory Salami, a middle-aged woman, said her husband, who was already dead was brought back to life by merely placing a pamphlet bearing Pastor Kumuyi’s picture on the dead man. The man got revived after doctors had confirmed him dead.
Jeremiah Adesuyi said he was delivered from ritualists who kidnapped him from Apapa in Lagos, but getting to the forest where they were to be sacrificed, a voice shouted from inside the hut, “No! Don’t bring Kumuyi to this place, take him back.” That was how he was delivered as he was taken back to the expressway where he made his way back home.
River State Crisis: Prominent Rivers leaders visit injured lawmaker in London hospital
Prominent leaders of Rivers State from across political and professional divides, Saturday, visited the member representing Obio/Akpor State Constituency 2, Hon. Michael Chinda, at the Bupa Comwell Hospital, London, United Kingdom (UK), where the legislator is recuperating from head and jaw surgeries.
Those who visited the injured lawmaker include the Minister of State for Education, Mr. Ezenwo Nyesom Wike; a former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Austin Opara; President of Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, Chief Okey Wali (SAN); a former Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, National Treasurer, Mr Kenneth Kobani; a former Transport Minister, Dr Abiye Sekibo; Rivers State Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chairman, Bro. Felix Obuah; and a former Commissioner in Rivers State, Mr. Bonny Iyaye.
The leaders thanked God that Chinda survived the attack during the fracas at the state House of Assembly. They condemned the assault.
Speaking after the visit, Wike called on the constituents of the lawmaker to remain calm; pointing out that justice will be done in the matter.
Opara expressed happiness that the lawmaker had been stabilized.
Sekibo, while condemning the attack on Chinda, said Nigerians must rise to condemn pre-meditated act of violence Obuah regretted the attack on the lawmaker.
Nigeria: Drama in Owerri as freed inmate refuses to leave Prison
According to CrimeFacts, instead of the usual jubilation that follow any ruling of ‘discharged and acquitted’, the inmate, Sylvester Obata (not real names); wearing a long face, headed straight for the Prison van that brought them to court, only to be intercepted by a prison guard who reminded him he was free to go home.
To the chagrin of eyewitnesses, Obata said he was going nowhere demanding to be allowed entry into the Prison Van back to prison.
The prison guard who mistook Obata’s statement for a weird joke was jolted when he tried to push him away from the prison van and was defiantly resisted by the freed inmate.
What seemed like a mild drama turned nearly absurd when the calm of the court premises was shattered by Obata’s shouts and pleas to be allowed to go back to prison and he thrashed about and struggled with several prison officials who wanted him out of the court and on his way home.
According to eyewitnesses, it took the effort of over six prison officials, court workers and policemen to get the freed inmate out of the court premises.
Obata who refused to budge even in the face of threats of brutality by security men, had to be dragged on the floor while he raised hell in the court premises.
Outside the prison, Obata sustained his raving, telling whoever cared to listen why he should be allowed to remain in jail.
According to him, setting him free was no big deal, but his plight outside prison is what the court should have also considered.
“I have no place to go or anybody to go to. I have no job or business.I want to go back to prison where I can at least be sure to eat something everyday.”
The evidently apprehensive former prison inmate, demanded to see the Chief Judge of the state to plead his case himself and explain to him why it was better to keep him in prison than outside prison.
US White House press dean dies
HELEN Thomas, the longtime dean of the White House press corps who covered US presidents from John F Kennedy to Barack Obama, has died aged 92.
Thomas "died Saturday morning at her Washington apartment after a long illness. She would have been 93 next month," the Gridiron Club said.
Thomas was a former president and first female member of the club, a Washington journalistic institution.
From her front row seat in the White House press room, Thomas was a formidable, sharp-tongued inquisitor of every US president she covered.
She was such a fixture, she had the unique privilege of a front row seat with her own name on it.
Thomas' passing triggered a torrent of tributes, including one from Obama.
"Helen was a true pioneer, opening doors and breaking down barriers for generations of women in journalism," he said in a statement.
"What made Helen the 'Dean of the White House Press Corps' was not just the length of her tenure, but her fierce belief that our democracy works best when we ask tough questions and hold our leaders to account."
Thomas began covering the White House for United Press International in the early 1960s, one of only a few women in a male-dominated Washington press corps.
The daughter of Lebanese immigrants, she had a strong interest in the Middle East and was a fierce defender of Palestinian rights.
Her blunt, fearless style made her famous but tripped her up in 2010 when controversial remarks about Israel led to her resignation from a post that she dominated for decades.
Thomas ran into trouble when an interviewer from the website rabbilive.com asked her what she thought about Israel.
"Get the hell out of Palestine," she responded. Jews, she said, should "go home, to Poland and Germany, America and everywhere else." She later apologised.
Italy: Court convicts 5 employees in deadly shipwreck
GROSSETO, Italy — An Italian court has accepted plea bargains for five Costa Crociere employees in the shipwreck that killed 32 crew and passengers, convicting all of multiple manslaughter and negligence.
The court in Grosseto on Saturday handed down the highest sentence to the crisis coordinator for Costa Crociere, Roberto Ferranini, who was sentenced to two years and 10 months. The ship's hotel director was sentenced to two years and six months while two bridge officers and a helmsman got sentences ranging from one year and eight months to one year and 11 months.
The plea bargains were handled separately from the trial of Costa Concordia captain, who is charged with manslaughter for causing the January 2012 shipwreck of the Tuscan island of Giglio and abandoning the vessel with thousands aboard.
Witness: Six Flags coaster victim concerned about seat
Investigators were trying to determine Saturday how a woman fell to her death from the tallest steel-hybrid coaster in the world Friday night at Six Flags Over Texas.
The accident happened just after 6:30 p.m. CT on Friday at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington. Park spokeswoman Sharon Parker confirmed that a woman died while riding the Texas Giant roller coaster but did not specify how she was killed. However, witnesses told local media outlets that the woman fell.
John Putman told the Star-Telegram in Fort Worth that he was in line awaiting his turn on the ride when the car from which the woman fell returned to the ground. Putman said a man and woman got out.
"They were screaming, 'My mom! My mom! Let us out, we need to go get her!' " Putman said.
Carmen Brown of Arlington was waiting in line as the victim was being secured in for the ride. She told The Dallas Morning News the woman had expressed concern to a park employee that she was not secured correctly in her seat.
"He was basically nonchalant," Brown said. "He was, like, 'As long as you heard it click, you're fine.' Hers was the only one that went down once, and she didn't feel safe. But they let her still get on the ride."
She said the victim fell out of the ride as it made a sudden maneuver.
"The lady basically tumbled over," she said. "We heard her screaming. We were, like, 'Did she just fall?'"
Hysterical passengers had to wait to disembark as the train stopped short of the platform, The Dallas Morning News reported.
Although the ride was closed, the park remained open through the evening.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends during this difficult time," a Six Flags statement said.
The Texas Giant reaches 14 stories high and has a drop of 79 degrees and a bank of 95 degrees. It can carry up to 24 riders. The ride first opened in 1990 as an all-wooden coaster but underwent a $10 million renovation in 2010 to install steel-hybrid rails before reopening in 2011.
The New Texas Giant won The Golden Ticket Award for best new ride of 2011 by Amusement Today magazine.
Friday's accident was the second ride fatality for a guest at the park since it opened in 1961.
In 1999, a 28-year-old Arkansas woman drowned and 10 other passengers were injured when a raft-like boat on the Roaring Rapids ride at Six Flags overturned in 2 to 3 feet of water about 200 feet from the end of the ride.
In another amusement park accident Friday, a boat on an Ohio thrill ride accidentally rolled backward down a hill and flipped over in water when the ride malfunctioned, injuring all seven people on it. Operators stopped the Shoot the Rapids water ride after the accident, which occurred on the ride's first hill, the Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio, said.
Prince William & Kate Wait Out Final Hours of Pregnancy at Kensington Palace
With their baby due any day now, Prince William and Kate are home in London at Kensington Palace on Saturday morning as they wait out the final hours of Kate's pregnancy.
The couple are thought to have come from the Middleton family home in Bucklebury, about 55 miles west of London, so they can be closer to the private Lindo Wing of St. Mary's hospital, where Kate expects to give birth.
Their office will not confirm the couple's whereabouts but says they will only do so when Kate, 31, has entered the hospital.
St. Mary's is just two miles from their home at Nottingham Cottage within the Kensington Palace compound.
Despite reports on Friday that the royals had left Bucklebury, police protection officers were back at the gates of the Middletons' manor house in the late evening.
But there is no visible security at the home on Saturday.
William is now using up vacation time rather than going back to North Wales for his next round of shifts as a helicopter rescue pilot. He is expected to be on parental leave once the baby is born.
Can't get enough about the royal baby? Be among the first to know the news! Sign up below for our daily newsletter to find out about the new addition and other special offers – so you'll be the first to know everything from the baby's name and sex to how the new mom and dad are adjusting to parenting.
Kanye West Is Under Police Investigation After Altercation with Videographer
New dad Kanye West may be in trouble with the law.
The Los Angeles Police Department has launched an investigation after West allegedly attacked videographer Daniel Ramos outside Los Angeles International Airport on Friday.
The altercation, caught on camera and posted on TMZ, took place after Ramos filmed the rapper and asked him questions as he walked out of the airport to a waiting car.
At one point in the video, an irritated West, 36, breaks his silence and accuses the paparazzo of trying to provoke him. "You're trying to get me in trouble so I have to pay you, like, $250,000," West says in the footage. He then appears to lunge at Ramos.
"Kanye hates when the paparazzi speaks to him," a photographer source tells PEOPLE. "He got very annoyed with the videographer and lost it."
According to police Sergeant Belinda L. Nettles, paramedics responded and transported Ramos to a local hospital for medical attention. The extent of his injuries is unknown.
"A police report was taken by the Los Angeles Police Department and the investigation is ongoing," Nettles said in a statement to PEOPLE.
Although TMZ reports that police will refer the case to the D.A. as a felony attempted robbery (a more serious charge) rather than a battery case, Officer Sara Faden tells PEOPLE, "We can confirm that our detectives are handling the case, however, we're not sure if a misdemeanor or felony charge will be filed. The charge will determine if it goes to the City Attorney or D.A.'s office."
West's rep could not be reached for comment.
Ramos is no stranger to quarreling with celebrities. In 2007 Britney Spears bashed his SUV with an umbrella after he pursued and photographed her.