LAGOS—An Inspector attached to Area ‘F’ Command in Ikeja, Lagos State (names withheld), last weekend, got himself drunk and lost his AK-47 rifle with 30 rounds of ammunition, while on duty.

Vanguard learned that the inspector and his team were on special duty on the day of the incident.

On getting back to the office, he allegedly told his colleagues that he was going to eat and also use the opportunity to repair the vehicle, only to come back drunk without the gun and ammunition.

It was gathered that when he was asked the whereabouts of his gun, he explained that someone took it while he was sleeping inside the vehicle in the station.

Vanguard gathered that investigation by his team mates revealed that he was seen at Ipodo area of Ikeja, known as a criminal hideout, heavily drunk when the incident happened.

Another source alleged that he must have gone to sleep with one of the commercial sex workers in the area, leaving the gun inside the vehicle from where it was removed.

The inspector, who was once attached to Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, Ikeja, was said to have been transferred out of Lagos State due to unbecoming activities.

He was accused then of giving guns and ammunition as well as information to armed robbers and hoodlums, who paid him in return.
It was learned that he had since been arrested and detained at the state command, while efforts had been intensified by police authorities to recover the gun.

September 5, 2015: Okechukwu Nnodim

The Federal Government has issued supplementary import permit to oil marketers for the importation of petrol into Nigeria due to the fact that the output of the country’s refineries is still poor. It was learnt that the permit for petrol was given to marketers on Thursday by the government and they were asked to import to supplement domestic production. Impeccable sources from the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency told our correspondent that the marketers would import over 400,000 metric tons of premium motor spirit, otherwise known as petrol, to augment local production.

It was also learnt that the volume of import was this high because the country’s refineries were still not producing at optimum capacity.

An official at the petroleum resources ministry, who pleaded not to be named as he was not authorised to speak on the subject, said “The output from our refineries cannot meet national demand and that is why the government had to issue permits to marketers to make supplementary importation of petrol. Some marketers have started receiving the permit and they started getting it since yesterday (Thursday). “You know some of our refineries are performing poorly and this has its effect on the volume of locally refined petroleum products. So the permit is needed to keep the country wet with products for a given period of time.

”The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, had on Thursday issued 90-day ultimatum to the management of Warri Refining and Petrochemicals Company to commence full production at the facility. The refinery has the capacity to process 125,000 barrels of crude oil per day. Kachikwu had charged the management and staff of the company to ensure that the plant was streamed back to full and active service within the projected period. Kachikwu, in a statement from the NNPC, had reportedly said “Whatever you need to do to get your refinery back on track, please do it now because this is the time. It’s a 90-day fast-track programme and whatever you need me to do to make that happen, let me know.

”Confirming the issuance of import permits to our correspondent on Friday night, the spokesperson of the PPPRA, Mr. Lanre Oladele, said “It is true. That is all I can tell you for now.”

A top official of the State Security Service familiar with the SSS’ raid of the Akwa Ibom Government House has told PREMIUM TIMESn the Service found no arms and ammunition in the complex, but stumbled on “shocking stockpiles of U.S. dollars”.
The State Security Service (SSS) had on Thursday raided the Hilltop Mansion in a joint operation carried out by operatives from the agency’s headquarters in Abuja and a detachment from the Akwa Ibom State Command of the Service.

Some operatives had earlier told this newspaper they found arms and ammunition in one of the rooms in the complex.

But another top official of the Service said Friday night the claim by his colleagues was an exaggeration. He requested not to be named because he was not authorised to speak on the matter.

“Our men went there expecting weaponry but we didn’t find arms,” he said. “Instead, we stumbled on a room filled with stockpiles of dollars.”

The official said the SSS team however left the dollars untouched for fear of the “political backlash that might result if we evacuate it. They had no instruction to evacuate it”.

One of our sources had earlier said the operatives initially wanted to evacuate the dollar notes but received instructions from their superiors in Abuja to let the notes be.

The secret police was said to have stormed the Hilltop Mansion based on security reports that suggested arms and ammunition were stored in a room there.

After ransacking the entire residence of the governor, which is yet to be occupied by the serving Governor, Udom Emmanuel, the operatives moved to guest houses and the presidential lodge, said to be currently in use by ex-Governor Godswill Akpabio.

It was in one of the guest houses within the expansive complex, the source said, that the dollars were found locked up in a room.

The SSS could not be immediately reached to officially comment on the operation. The agency does not have a known spokesperson that could be reached for comments.

And its Director General, Lawal Daura, did not answer or return multiple calls to his telephone.
The raid has attracted harsh reactions from the leadership of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

The Acting Chairman of the party, Uche Secondus, while hosting Bayelsa State governor, Seriake Dickson, in his office Friday, described the raid as a civilian coup d’état.


Mr. Secondus said the action is part of the strategy of the ruling All Progressives Congress, and the Muhammadu Buhari-led government to forcefully take some states won by the opposition PDP.
On his part, the Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, demanded immediate sack of the Director General of the SSS, Lawal Daura, who he accused of being behind the operation.

By TUNDE THOMAS

Before he had a divine encounter which led to his conversion to Christianity, he was hooked on cocaine for several years. Not only that, at the peak of his addiction to hard drugs, he had to use his son as a collateral in order to obtain cocaine from a dealer when he didn’t have money to pay for the hard drug.
But today, Kayode Peller is a new creature. From his addiction, he has now become a preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ travelling to different parts of the world not only evangelizing but also campaigning against the use of hard drugs.

In an encounter with Saturday Sun, Peller, who is the General Overseer of Finger of God Ministries, with its headquarters at Agbado, in Lagos, spoke on the genesis of his romance with drugs and how he met Christ.
According to the cleric, who is the second son of the renowned late magician, Professor Moshood Abiola Peller, he made money early in life, but later strayed into bad company, a situation that not only almost ruined him but would have resulted in his death.
“I was born into opulence. My father, the late Professor Peller was one of the best magicians of his era. In Africa, he had no equal, while throughout the world he was the second best. He not only acquired global fame through magic, he also made a lot of money. At very early age, I started following him to circuit shows, and from there I gradually acquired magical powers. I was then referred to as Young Peller”, he stated.
Peller further revealed that he later left his father’s group to stand on his own after he felt that he had acquired enough experience and tutelage.
While adding that his own fame started spreading within few years of practice, Peller said he organised several magical shows not only in Lagos but across several states in the country.

“With the experience I acquired from the Federal School of Magic set up by my father, and London School of Magic, I became an instant success with fans. People were trooping out to watch my shows. Money now started coming. I became wealthy and married four wives. I also had about nine cars and also built five houses. It was at the height of my fame that I eventually got strayed into hard drugs which almost ruined my life.”
Narrating the genesis of his romance with cocaine and heroine, the cleric said some friends introduced the drugs to him, telling him that it would not only help to enhance his performance on the stage, but also give him energy he required to perform at his shows.
“This was how my problem started. I eventually became addicted to hard drugs. I was addicted to the extent that if I was broke, I would sell any of my belongings to satisfy my lust for cocaine. Gradually, I sold eight of my cars and four of my houses to buy cocaine and later heroine.”

However, Peller didn’t stop there as he later had to use his son, Tunji as a collateral to get cocaine from a dealer in Ibadan, Oyo State.
Recalling why he took that unusual and strange action, the cleric said: “It was on one of those occasions that I was very broke. By this time, cocaine addiction was already taking its toll on my life and magic business. I was more addicted to cocaine than to my business. I even had to leave Lagos to Ibadan tricking my son in the process that we are visiting a relation. When we eventually got to Ibadan, I went with Tunji but when I was leaving after getting the cocaine, I lied to the young boy that I will soon come back to pick him. But it was not until five months after that I returned to pick the boy.”
On how he met Christ, Peller said that things started getting from bad to worse for him and all his accumulated wealth were gone, but lost largely due to his unquenchable lust for cocaine. It was at that point that he became sick and had to be taken away from Lagos to Ibadan by his mum.

“I met Christ on my hospital bed on December 9, 1989 at Tamaria Hospital. Actually, it was the doctor that was to carry out surgical operation on me, Dr Tobi James that preached Christ to me before I was wheeled to the theatre. I came from an Islamic home, but while this doctor was preaching Christ to me, and the need for me to become a born again, something like a scale fell from my eyes, and at that point I came to my senses. I started crying when I looked at myself wearing ordinary bathroom slippers and not only that but also looking sickly, and ordinary. I wept bitterly. It was at that point that I realised I was living a sinful life. I later surrendered my life to Christ.”
While saying that, he thanked God that the operation was successful, Peller added that after recuperating, he started worshipping at the doctor’s church, Christ Believers Gospel Church, and was a member there for four years before he set up his own ministry.
On why he didn’t return to his magic practice, Peller said: “The Bible says that whosoever is in Christ is a new creature. Having found Christ, I’m now in the light, what do I have to do with darkness again? I became a preacher with Dr James’ Ministry. We later started city to city crusades where I was giving testimony about my past, and how Christ saved my life. Although some people were not comfortable that I not only dumped magic, also Islam my father’s religion, but I was not bothered – I faced persecution but Christ saw me through.”
Peller, who has also set up a rehabilitation centre for drug addicts in Ijaye area of Lagos, said he was motivated to do so in order to help addicts return to normal life.
“Drug addiction is worse than anything you can think of. It kills and destroys people’s lives. Many of young men today have been destroyed by addiction. With my own experience, I then made a vow that having found Christ, I will  also commit my life to young souls perishing as a result of drug addiction.”
Expressing his joy that he has a good testimony to share with others today, Peller said that after his conversion to Christianity, God has multiplied his blessings as he has recovered from all the losses of the past.

“Today, my joy is full. I’m very happy. Jehovah, the Living God whom I serve has increased my joy. Tunji, my son whom I used as a collateral to obtain cocaine is now a university graduate, happily married with his own family in London. I’m full of praises to God.”
Insisting that magic is evil, the cleric said any genuine child of God should not have anything to do with it, adding that it is not impossible that some ministers of God use occultic powers to perform miracles in order to attract crowd to their congregation.
“Right from the biblical era, this has been happening. You see genuine men of God, and you see some using evil spirits to perform wonders. It is only when you have a discerning spirit that you can know the difference. Jesus Christ even said it that it is not everybody that calls Him Lord that are genuine children of God. Magic is evil, anybody involved in it will go to hell. I thank God that Jesus Christ redeemed my own soul”, he added.

lalasticlala

…Relations shy to take her home as she’s now mad

From Okey Sampson, Aba

For many, Mercy (not real name) from an Edo State community had long been dead and buried by her kinsmen. But miraculously she is still very much alive.

The story of Mercy is one wrapped up in mystery. Before the mid ‘90s, the tall, dark and beautiful lady was living a normal and healthy live in a community in Edo State, where she was said to be involved in a business with which she took care of herself and members of her family.

Mercy, as was now named, was said to have at times travel to Onitsha, Anambra State to purchase some goods which she resold at home. Loved by all, she was reportedly leading a happy and fulfilled life.

But one day, according to a report by a lady relation, who pleaded anonymity and equally refused to give the name of their community for fear of in her words projecting them in bad light, Mercy got missing from her home.

According to the lady, usually comes to Aba to buy goods, there was confusion in their community as Mercy who was not used to be traveling about except on trips to Onitsha for business, which she did not embark on at that time, could not been seen for days.

Confusion then made way for apprehension. Having waited for days and yet their daughter could not be found, leaders and youths of the community set out to look for her.

First, the police in the area were alerted on the search for the lady and they swiftly spread their dragnet to see if they could get a clue of Mercy’s whereabouts, but all yielded no fruits.

Having been satisfied that finding Mercy was beyond the police, the community decided to look for her in their own way.

But the result was the same, there was no trace of their daughter anywhere and they left her case to fate, believing that one day she would come home alive on her own. But that was not to be.

In Mercy’s community tradition forbids a missing person to be presumed dead until after a stipulated time if he or she was not found.

Within this window of time allowed by tradition, there was still high hopes that Mercy would come back home alive.

But as this period elapsed without Mercy being found, the community went into mourning because their daughter had by the dictates of tradition died.

So, burial rites were reportedly performed. Although her body was not found, but as far as the community was concerned, Mercy was dead and buried and her name on the community’s register marked with red ink.

But years after, in 2014 to be precise, something happened. Mercy who had long been ‘buried’ in her community in Edo State was found roaming the streets of Aba as a mad woman.

How Mercy was found

The lady, who told Mercy’s story, was the one who found her. She said she was in Aba late last year on a business trip as usual and went to see some of her customers within the Ogbor Hill area of the commercial city when she saw somebody who resembled Mercy.

She said two things crossed her mind, either she was seeing a ghost because Mercy who had long been ‘buried’ way back in Edo years ago had not been to Aba before, or she saw someone that resembled their ‘dead’ sister.

But out of fear, the lady could not make further enquiries.

When the lady went back after that business trip and narrated to her people what she saw, opinions were divided.

While some people were of the view that she saw somebody who resembled their sister, others believed she might have seen a ghost, yet another group encouraged her to sermon courage and approach the mad woman when next she visited Aba and sees her.

So, on a recent visit to Aba, the lady again was heading towards the Federal Housing Estate along Opobo Road, Ogbor Hill to see her customers.

As fate may have it, on getting to Emelogu junction, she saw Mercy coming in the opposite direction.

Instead of dodging as she did in the first time, when Mercy approached, she called her by the name for which she was known back home.


The mad woman recognised her and stopped. Both ladies greeted themselves and engaged in a lengthy sisterly discussion to the bewilderment of onlookers.

After the discussion, the lady gave Mercy some items she bought for her and reportedly told people around that she would take her case back to their community so that her people could come and take her home.

But checks by Oriental News showed that since then, nobody as promised has come for Mercy who is now domiciled in front of a disused factory building on Opobo Road, adjacent St. Dominic’s Catholic Church, Federal Housing Estate, Ogbor Hill, Aba.

When this reporter went to take her photographs, Mercy charged at him, calling him a mad man and threatened to deal with him if he ever took her picture.

A resident of the area, John Ndudi described Mercy’s case as pathetic.

He said if her people have been looking for her all these while and she was eventually found in Aba, they would have braced all odds to reach her irrespective of her current condition of health.

For the relations of Mercy who had looked for her over the years believing she was dead and performed a mock burial for her, she is not dead and may recover from her present state of mind if proper care is extended to her, many in Aba believed.

Sex and its many associates, including masturbation and pornography, are, no doubt, increasingly becoming subjects of public discourse for the good and bad reasons. But one sexual-related activity that is currently witnessing an all-time high patronage is pornography.

It is simply defined as printed or visual materials containing the explicit description or display of sexual organs or activity, intended to stimulate sexual excitement or enhance libido.

Worthy of note, however, is that watching or looking at pornographic items is one of the ways people explore their sexual fantasies, even though it has largely been condemned by many, especially religious organisations. It is hitherto embraced by singles, married, young and old, even though most porn watchers do so in their closet.

Regardless, pornography, which has been found to be addictive, is gaining more grounds as it now dominates people’s devices, such as phones, computers and even library.


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In fact, a report released by pornhub, a website for sexual contents, in 2014 showed that the number of pornographic views on its website rose from 63.2 billion video views in 2012 to 78.9 billion views in 2013, and that phones accounted for 45 per cent of these views, while desktop was 44 per cent and views on tablets rose by 20 per cent to account for its 11 per cent.

Thus, the website declared 2014 as the year porn went mobile, with Android users in the United States being the highest viewers, followed by Canada and the United Kingdom. Monday was found to be the most popular day peopled viewed the x-rated movies.

While one in three women in the US watch porn regularly, according to statistics, 70 per cent of men aged between 18 and 24 visit porn sites at least once a month. But that is not the crux of the matter; Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya have been found to be the three most anti-gay countries that watch gay porn the most, according to a study in 2013.

These countries were found to have the highest Google search for “gay sex pics” and “anal sex pics” with Kenya leading the chart. According to the ranking index, Kenya, had 100, South Africa 72, Nigeria 56, Pakistan 46 and United States 10, among others.

But, as fast as the love of pornography is growing across the globe, cutting across age divide, a study by some Germans has found that watching pornography could have a damaging effect on the brain and that more of it could re-wire the brain and alter its structure and functions. In fact, the study stressed that it could shrink part of the brain and reduce the ability of watchers to be sexually stimulated.

According to the study, published on medicaldaily, having sex and watching pornography cause dopamine, the neurotransmitter responsible for learning, reward, emotions and pleasure, to be released in the brain.

The researchers noted that the more porn a person watches, the more the dopamine that is released, which makes the brain to be desensitised to its effects, which could reduce their decision-making capabilities. Young people who watch porn frequently were also found to have reduced likelihood or tendencies to venture into risk-taking ventures.

The leader of the researchers, Simone Kühn, noted that men who view too much porn may become lazier than others and that their research provided strong evidence that pornography might harm the brain in some ways and change its size.

About 64 healthy German men, aged between 21 and 45, participated in the study. Kuhn and her colleagues asked the participants how frequent they were watching pornography. Their brains were studied with the aid of functional magnetic resonance imaging to see how the brain reacts to pornography.

According to Kuhn, their findings showed that those who watch pornography have smaller corpus striatum, a part of the basal ganglia of the brain, comprising the caudate and lentiform nuclei, and that the more pornography people watched, the lower the activity in the reward centres in their brains.

She said, “We found that the volume of the so-called striatum, a brain region that has been associated with reward processing and motivated behaviour, was smaller the more pornography consumption the participants reported.

“We also found that gray matter volume in the right caudate of the striatum was smaller among frequent porn viewers. Men who watched more porn also showed less activity in another area of the striatum, known as the left putamen, which lit up when exposed to sexual stimuli.

“These brain changes are similar to those seen in cocaine addicts, who develop abnormalities in areas, such as the nucleus accumbens and striatum, which are responsible for learning, memory, pleasure and reward.

“Moreover, we found that another brain region, which is also part of the striatum that is active when people see sexual stimuli, shows less activation the more pornography participants consumed.

“In essence, the connectivity between the brain’s striatum and prefrontal cortex worsened with increased consumption of pornography, suggesting poorer and impaired decision-making capability. Thus, frequent pornographic consumption would surely change how the brain works, and basically, everything that people do very frequently can shape their brain structure and function.”

The researchers further warned that people who are used to watching porn tend to first think of porn instead of the actual sexual experience anytime they have sexual desires, once their brain associates the feelings given by oxytocin, vasopressin and serotonin (often released during porn or sex) to pornography. The researchers had yet to ascertain the level of impact watching porn has on the brain.

A physiologist, Gary Wilson, said the addiction from pornography creates a constant need to feel that strong stimulation to watch it some more, thereby needing more dopamine, which could wear out the brain.

He added, “Sometimes, the brain gets worn out and halts the production of dopamine, which leaves the viewer in quest for more satisfaction with the inability to reach it. This can provoke the viewer to seek out more intense porn to get high. As a result, it can give a person a reason to watch more porn, which is why addictions are difficult to break.”

Commenting on the study, a neurologist, Dr. Emmanuel Olusola, said there were convincing evidences to show that pornography could have an effect on the brain.

He said, “Prolonged and irresistible viewing of pornography definitely causes changes in the chemical, synaptic function and anatomy of neurons in the basic brain cells in certain parts of the brain, most especially the frontal lobe function.

“Basically, this addiction causes down function of brain cells like other forms of chemical addictions like alcohol, amphetamine and cocaine.”

Also, a psychologist, Prof. Oni Fagboungbe, agreed that watching pornography could affect the brain, and that it could change the conditioning of the brain.

He said, “It’s not the watching itself that would dull the brain, rather the conditioning. When somebody watches pornography over time, the person becomes engrossed and the reticular activating system in the brain would be conditioned to watch more of it at the expense of other things, which could make such people perform badly in other areas.”

He added that pornography could also make the watchers lose interest in the real sexual intercourse because they “tend to get satiated with watching it.”