Customs Seize 35,194 Bags of Rice

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has vowed to use all resources within its disposal to check the increasing rate of rice smuggling into the country.

It disclosed that a total of 35,194 bags of rice had been seized by the customs in the last two months.

Customs spokesman, Wale Adeniyi told THISDAY in an interview that the issue of rice had become critical in analysing food security in the country and warned that the service could not afford to ignore the menace of illegal importation of rice.

He said though it acknowledged that “we have a big problem but we are confronting it and we are getting results and we will continue to fine-tune our strategies as the situation demands.”

He said part of its long-term strategies in combating smuggling, particularly rice, is to acquire patrol boats to ensure that its operations are not restricted to the creeks but also take the fight to smugglers right in the sea.

Achebe’s body arrives today

The remains of celebrated writer, Chinua Achebe is expected to be flown into the country, today to kick-start a week-long burial rites. Achebe died on March 21, 2013 at 82.

Achebe’s body is expected to arrive the Ecumenical Christian Centre in Abuja today where prayers would be held for the repose of his soul.

Thereafter, the Association of Nigeria Authors (ANA) would at the same venue tomorrow appreciate Achebe’s life and times in a special session.

A reception will be held in his honour, though without the presence of his physical body, at the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN). On Wednesday, May 22, the body will arrive Awka and will lie-in-state at the Ekwueme Park in the Anambra State capital.

Meanwhile, the people of Ogidi, hometown of the literary icon, weekend said they were prepared to work with other committees set up for a befiting buril of their illustrous son. Achebe, a former president general of Ogido Town Union, belonged to the highest titled group in Ogidi known as Ndichie Une.

NEW VIDEO: Jennifer Lopez ft. Pitbull - Live It Up

Jennifer Lopez and Pitbull return with the video for their bottle-popping track "Live It Up." The duo performed the club banger earlier in the week on the American Idol season finale.

The video is directed by Jessy Terrero.

PHOTOS: MTV Base Africa All Stars Concert in Durban, South Africa

Filo: Earlier today, we promised to serve you photos from the MTV Base Africa All Stars Concert holding at the Moses Mabhida Stadium, in Durban, South Africa.

Here you go; see performances by 2face, Big Nuz, Snoop Lion, Professor Kalawa, Zahara, Camp Mulla, Fally Ipupa , and Flavour.

Enjoy!!!

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PHOTOS: Fashion Galore at the Cannes Film Festival 2013

Filo: The Cannes Film Festival 2013 kicked off on Wednesday with an exhilarating opening ceremony, which was followed by the premiere of The Great Gatsby, with stars such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan and Nicole Kidman hitting the red carpet.

The festival runs until May 26, 2013

We bring you some exclusive red carpet photos.

Enjoy!

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Thieves steal $1million worth of jewellery at Cannes Film Festival

More than $1m (£650,000; 777,000 euros) worth of jewels have been stolen from a hotel in Cannes, French police say.

The jewels were initially thought to have been loaned to stars at the annual film festival on the French Riviera.

They were taken from the hotel room of an employee of exclusive Swiss jewellers Chopard in the early hours of Friday morning.

Police say the thieves ripped the safe containing the jewels from a wall of the room at the Novotel hotel.

But a company spokeswoman, Raffaella Rossiello, insisted the value of the pieces had been exaggerated and "the jewellery stolen is not part of the collection... worn by actresses during the Cannes Film Festival".

And festival officials said the event's top award, the Palme d'Or, was not among the stolen items.

The trophy is also made by Chopard, an official sponsor of the festival.

Celebrities choosing the Swiss firm's gems for their red carpet appearances at this year's festival include Julianne Moore, Lana Del Rey and Cindy Crawford.

The theft happened a few hours after the festival was shown The Bling Ring, a new film by director Sofia Coppola.

The film is about teenagers who find out when celebrities are attending red carpet events in order to break into their homes and steal their designer clothes, bags and shoes.

Source: bbc

NEW VIDEO: Kanye West Projects "New Slaves" on Buildings around the World

Filo: Kanye West brings creativity to music by premiering his new video in a special way - he unveiled a new song, “New slaves” and video via projections on buildings across the world.

Instead of opting for YouTube or other channel for his big reveal, the enigmatic rapper/producer projected the visuals for his latest track on the sides of buildings in 66 locations around the globe.

The track will be on the follow-up to 2010's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

Kiyo: That was innovative. 

Mario Balotelli finally joins Twitter, gets about 400,000 followers in 2 days

Filo: AC Milan striker Mario Balotelli has decided to join Twitter at last - gathering close to 400,000 followers in less than 72 hours.

After years of "parody" accounts mocking the former Manchester City star's eccentric lifestyle and personality, the Italy international has officially created an account on the social networking site under the username '@finallymario'.

"How do I use this?" the striker asked, before tweeting: "don't belive [sic] anything u read unless is coming from me guys ok?"

D'Banj in Durban for MTV Africa All Stars Concert

Filo: Few hours from now, the Koko master, Dbanj would be on stage at the MTV Africa All Stars Concert in Durban, South Africa. Other artists slated for tonight’s show are Snoop Lion, Fally Ipupa & Flavour.

Watch out for photos!

VIDEO: Waje on Ndani TV’s The Juice

Filo: Watch Waje as she speaks to Toolz on her deals, music career, relationship, friends and future plans.

Enjoy!

Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez are back together

Filo: Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez are officially a pair once again - at least in their seats at the Billboard Music Awards this weekend.

Photos of the seating arrangements have surfaced on the Internet -- and you can plainly see, Justin and Selena will be seated next to each other at the award show on Sunday.

And for anyone thinking it's an accident -- celebs can easily request to sit apart from people if they really want to ... so it's obvious, neither Justin nor Selena had a problem being so close to one another.

Kiyo: They make a good pair; what do you think?

Beyoncé is pregnant with her second child

Filo: Last week, Beyoncé  revealed her desire to have more kids with husband Jay-Z and earlier this week the singer took a "sick day" from The Mrs Carter Show World Tour – these events fuelled speculations that she and Jay-Z are expecting a second child.

Well, it seems the rumours were all true; today, multiple sources have confirmed to E! News the singer is having her second child.

Goodluck to her

I Collected N4.2million from Two Women for ‘Miracle Babies’ – Midwife

The search for the fruit of the womb has driven many women to take extreme steps.

When women are unable to conceive and bear children, the huge psychological toll makes them fall prey to fraudulent people and patrons of ‘baby factories’.

Desope Cecilia, 61, and Joy Ibe, 43, were among victims of a midwife, Oby George, who promised them ‘miracle’ twins and triplets respectively.

While the midwife was being paraded before journalists at the Lagos State Police Command, Ikeja, on Friday, the victims told their stories, with faces covered for security reasons.

Cecilia said she had not been able to give her 78-year-old husband a child since they got married.

She stated, “A lady who knew I had tried to conceive without success for a long time, told me about the midwife (George). The lady gave me the phone number of the woman and I learnt her clinic is in Port Harcourt.

“When I got there in March 2012, she explained to me that she would be able to treat me with herbs and I would get pregnant. I was told to pay N1.5m, which I paid to her.

Principal impregnates student in Kogi

The Principal of Baptist High School, Ekinrin/Adde, in Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi State Mr. Ajayi Ajibulu has been accused of impregnating one of his students and trying to abort the pregnancy.

Sources from the town revealed that the girl (name withheld) was a regular caller at the Principal’s house who was a friend to her father, a retired Army officer and usually helps to deliver message from their sister who lived in Lokoja.

Saturday Vanguard gathered that the secret was exposed when a friend of the girl saw a letter written by the principal given to the girl to deliver to a doctor who will help them to abort the pregnancy.

The girl was said to have been scared of undergoing the abortion which was the third time, and therefore, refused to deliver the letter to the doctor on time before the friend saw the letter.

The friend was said to have quickly hinted the girl’s father who raised alarm that caught the attention of the town. Irate youths of the town later ambushed the principal and led him to the palace of the king.

The King, Oba Solomon Hambolu was said to have persuaded the community not to take law into their hands but allow the palace to take action on him.

PHOTOS: MTV Base Africa All Stars Concert in Durban, South Africa

Filo: We promised to serve you photos from the MTV Base Africa All Stars Concert in Durban, South Africa.

Here you go; see performances by 2face, Big Nuz, Professor Kalawa, Zahara, Camp Mulla, Snoop Lion, Fally Ipupa & Flavour.

Enjoy!!!

MORE PICS, LESS TALK

Tree Falls, Kills 26 People In Imo

About 26 people are feared dead in Umudagu Mbieri village, Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State, when a big tree was uprooted by a wind storm during a heavy rainfall on Thursday night.

The giant tree, called Uko tree, is estimated to be about 300 meters tall.

An eyewitness who spoke to Channels Television said the tree which was located at the village market was said to have fallen during the evening market activities, resulting in the deaths and destruction of the village hall.

The Uko tree is said to have existed for over three centuries as was confirmed by some residents who narrated tales from their great grandfathers.

According to them, efforts to cut down the tree by youths in the village over the years were always resisted by the elders, who argued that the tree was not harmful.

Photo of the Day: Is This Her Back or Front?

Lol!!!

Tinsel star, Chris Attoh celebrates birthday with a new Bentley

Filo: Chris Attoh is a year older today. To mark his birthday, the actor has added a Bentley to his fleet. Not forgetting the newly released Galaxy S4 at the back seat.

He posted the photos on his Instagram page with these words;

“Perfect timing...just arrived! When the year begun I kind of imagined this day differently, but sometimes plans work out differently... still we trust :-)

Thanking God for another year added to my life, looking forward to all the blessings to come. Thanks for all the crazy birthday wishes;-)

The older you get the larger the blessings....THANKS FOR ALL THE BIRTHDAY LOVE!”

Happy birthday!!!

JAMB given 7-day-ultimatum to release scripts for re-marking or face court action

A 7-day-ultimatum has been given to the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB, by an education consultant, Mr Oludotun Shodunke, who had asked the board to release the last UTME candidates’ exam scripts for remarking or face court action.

Sodunke alleged that the examination body failed many candidates because it was rumoured that the examination questions leaked.

The education guru, who led some candidates to protest the unjustified mass failure, had queried that the examination management board, led by Prof. Dibu Ojerinde failed in the conduct of the examination.

He noted that the right thing to have done after the body had learnt of the leaked papers was to cancel the exercise and fixed another day for it.

In his words, “You can not punish students with what I call monumental failure because the examination paper leaked. Leakage of examination paper cannot be blamed on the students.”

It would be recalled that the last UTME examination result released recently showed that over 80% of the total number of student who sat for the examination failed woefully.

Rihanna sues Topshop for $5million

Rihanna is suing British retail giant Topshop — chaired by billionaire Sir Philip Green — for $5 million for selling T-shirts bearing her image without her consent.

A source revealed the superstar’s team had tried to negotiate with Topshop owners Arcadia Group for eight months over the rights to her image, “but they offered her $5,000 and said they don’t care.”

Rihanna, 25, has hired international law firm Reed Smith to file the suit in London.

The source said, “Rihanna’s management asked Topshop a number of times to stop selling her image and were told, ‘We do what we want.’ They buy the pictures from a photographer, but they do not pay the artist licensing fees. Unfortunately, UK law does not protect the artist.

Policeman Dies In Shootout With Armed Robbers

A policeman with the Special Anti Robbery Squad Ikeja, Corporal Sunday Fafoluyi, was killed on Thursday in a shootout with armed robbers at Ifo, Ogun state.

Fafoluyi, in company with other members of his unit, had left Lagos for Ifo, to arrest a suspected armed robber, Morufu Aleba, at his home in Ifo. Aleba was said to have been given away by some members of his gang, who were arrested in the Alagbado area

It was gathered that Aleba was with two suspected robbers at his home, who joined him in engaging the police in the shootout.

A source said, “The incident happened about 4am on Thursday. Somehow, Aleba noticed that his home had been cordoned off by the SARS. The robbers opened fire on the team. In the process, Fafoluyi was fatally wounded; he later died from his wounds.”

Aleba was also said to have died from fatal wounds sustained in the shootout while his companions scaled the fence of his house to safety.

Fafoluyi was a recipient of the 2011 Lagos State Governor’s Gallantry award and the IGP commendation award for courage.

The Lagos Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ngozi Braide, said she did not have the detail of the incident.

Kunle Afolayan breaks into Japan film festival

Filo: Award-winning actor and movie director, Kunle Afolayan, is making another groundbreaking entry into the Asian movie market as he takes his recent works, Figurine and Phone Swap, to Tokyo, Japan.

His foray into Tokyo is on the invitation of Cinema Africa, a non-profit organisation established in 2006 to develop understanding and appreciation of Africa in Japan through African films made by African filmmakers or producers.

The film festival billed to take place between May 18 and 23 would screen Phone Swap May 17 and Figurine May 18 at the Auditorium Shibuya, Tokyo.

Also, there is an indication that the award winning filmmaker will be hosted to a dinner by the Nigerian High Commission in Tokyo on the day the festival opens.

Kiyo: Congrats!

PHOTOS: Candice Glover wins American Idol Season 12, beats Kree Harrison in Idol finale

Filo: Candice Glover was announced winner of American Idol 2013 (season 12) during the 'American Idol Grand Finale' at the Nokia Theatre on Thursday. May 16, 2013 in Los Angeles, Calif. Kree Harrison was the runner-up.

Candice, 23, is a former excursions coordinator from South Carolina. This was the R&B singer's third time auditioning for "Idol."

When asked how she felt after winning the title, Candice simply said, "Three years." She closed the finale by performing her first single, empowerment anthem "I Am Beautiful."

Enough of the story; here are the photos!

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Conjoined Twins born in Ghana won’t survive separation – Doctor

The Medical Director at the Central Regional Hospital, Dr Daniel Asare says the conjoined twins born in the Central region recently may end up worse off if attempts were made to separate them.

The twin girls, born to a 16-year old mother have two heads, two necks and share one heart.

The spines of the girls have merged together in a common torso.

They also share a common waist, sex organ and one pair of legs and arms.

Dr Daniel Asare told XYZ News that the conjoined twins could live a more fulfilling life without being separated.

He warned that any attempt to separate them could put their lives in danger.

The Doctor added that the chances of the twins’ survival, if any such separation attempts were made, would be negligible.

PHOTOS: Anti-Corruption Network Protest to American Embassy

Filo: Yesterday, we brought you info on the planned protest by Hon Dino Melaye’s Anti-Corruption Network. The peaceful protest did hold today, and it saw the group marching to the American Embassy to table their issues.

Anti-Corruption Network is asking Obama to initiate Visa Ban on Jonathan, Ministers Diezani, Adoke, And Orubebe

“We asked their properties in America be given to Nigerian govt, we listed all the properties in different part of America”, Dino said.

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