Abosede, the bereaved mother of the late Nigerian singer Ilerioluwa Aloba, better known as Mohbad, has claimed that Joseph, the father, buried the late singer even before he died.

Abosede disclosed this in an exclusive interview with Saturday PUNCH titled, “Uncensored: Mohbad’s mother opens up on late son, ex-husband, Naira Marley.”

She said she was not aware of the day Mohbad died despite being in his (Joseph) house for 10 days shortly before the late singer’s demise.

“I actually did not know when my child (Mohbad) died. His father did not tell me. I was in his house for 10 days, shortly before he died. I ran back there when I heard that he had died. I was the one who called his father and siblings to inform them. I brought them all together.

“I called their father to come and see me with all the children despite all he had done to me. I did not have the strength to fight with him because I found happiness in my children, and because they are grown-up, I brought them all together. But, their father separated us.

“I believe that my son was not dead as of the time he was buried. I actually told them not to bury him, but they refused. If they had not buried him at the time he did, I believe he would have lived. Joseph is actually my problem. I believe that he buried my son before he died,” she added.

Although, Aloba gave Yoruba culture as the reason for the quick burial, explaining that it is customary not to delay the burial of a deceased person when both parents are still alive.

He mentioned that if Mohbad had passed away at an older age, the option of keeping his body in a mortuary for a later date might have been considered.

The late singer’s father further revealed that the land where his son was laid to rest belonged to Mohbad and that he had given it to him to build a church.

He clarified that the decision to bury him swiftly was in accordance with Yoruba customs.

“In Yoruba land, his corpse is not the kind to be kept when both of his parents are still alive,” he said.

“That land where Mohbad was buried is his only land, that is the only land I know him to have owned.

“Truly he gave me the land to build my church because we had both agreed to build the church there and since that’s the only land I knew him to have,” he added.

Mohbad died on September 12, 2023, at the age of 27 in Lagos State.

Following an investigation by the Lagos State Police Command to unravel the cause of his death, Mohbad’s remains were exhumed for an autopsy.

Kano State governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, has expressed displeasure over quality of food at one of the State’s Ramadan Feeding Centres in Gidan Maza, Kano Municipal local government area.

Governor Yusuf, who paid an unscheduled visit to the centre on Friday evening, described what he saw as “nonsense” despite allocation enough foodstuffs by the State government. He, therefore, ordered a review of the feeding programme and demanded an investigation into the Gidan Maza incident.

Taking to his verified X handle (formerly Twitter), Governor Yusuf wrote: “This evening, I visited Gidan Maza, one of the Ramadan feeding centers in Kano Municipal Local Government.

“The result I met during the impromptu visit was disappointing and disheartening, despite allocating ample foodstuff and resources for each center.

“I’ve already directed a comprehensive probe, and I demand an immediate change in the conduct of the program. – AKY.”

Godwin ‘Kabaka’ Opara, a pioneering figure in Igbo highlife music renowned for his songwriting and guitar skills, has died at the age of 77, his record label announced Thursday.

Opara rose to fame in the 1970s as the co-founder of The Oriental Brothers International Band, whose politically conscious lyrics made them popular across Africa. After going solo in 1976 and forming The Kabaka International Guitar Band, he released 14 albums over his prolific career.

“Derda Promotions is deeply saddened to announce the passing of our esteemed artist, Godwin Kabaka Opara, an icon who pioneered and revolutionized highlife music, on March 21st,” the label said in a statement.

Born in Owerri in 1947, Opara picked up the guitar at a young age and quickly became a talented multi-instrumentalist. He first made his mark with the Oriental Brothers, fusing highlife with Afrobeat, juju and other regional styles.

Songs like “Another Brickhouse” became anthems calling for social change in Nigeria during the military dictatorships of the 1970s and 80s. Opara continued performing and recording as a solo act until recent years.

The Federal High Court in Abuja, presided over by Justice Inyang Ekwo, has refused to grant an interim injunction restraining the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from disbursing the N3.8 trillion naira deposited into the CBN NIPOST Stamp Duty Collection Account by Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) or commercial banks.

Kasmal International Services, represented by its legal team led by Dr. Alex Izinyon SAN, had approached the court claiming a percentage in the N3.8 trillion domiciled in the Stamp Duty Collection Account. The applicant joined the CBN and the Attorney-General of the Federation as respondents in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/335/2024.

According to the applicant’s lawyer, Kasmal International Services was appointed by the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) to represent them in the collection of a 50 naira stamp duty on all receipts given by banks or financial institutions for services rendered in respect of electronic transfers and teller deposits from N1,000 and above, in compliance with the Stamp Duties Act and the Nigeria Financial Regulations 2009. The agreement between NIPOST and the plaintiff included a remuneration of N7.50 from every 50-naira deduction.

The applicant argued that if the disbursement is done without considering its percentage, it will suffer irreparable losses. However, instead of granting the interim injunction, Justice Ekwo ordered the CBN to appear before the court and explain why the applicant’s request should not be granted.

At the resumed sitting on Friday, the court was informed that the CBN’s legal team had not yet shown cause as directed. Justice Ekwo then adjourned the matter to April 16 for hearing.

The stamp duty, an indirect tax imposed on several financial transactions, has been a subject of contention. In 2023, former CBN governor Godwin Emefiele revealed that the total revenue collected as stamp duty on behalf of the Federal Government between 2016 and 2022 was N370.686 billion.

Former beauty queen, Precious Chikwendu has survived a ghastly car accident in Abuja.

Naija News reports that Precious, the wife of the former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, made this known in a lengthy Instagram post, stating that she lost an aide in the accident.

Recounting the incident, Precious said a reckless driver at the traffic light at Kur Mohammed Avenue ran into their vehicle, and she lost her aide.

She wrote, “I’ve been dealing with survivor guilt for weeks now, I am just able to begin proper communication with “humans” because I’ve been mute and going through the phase of trying to understand why I survived with minimal injuries and the person who was next to me didn’t. Feb 29th, 2024, remains a day I never got clarity about anything, but I am positive it will all make sense in no time.
My driver, aide, and I were run into by a reckless driver at the traffic light at Kur Mohammed Avenu, right in front of Taj Bank. I won’t talk about this person who hit me and all he has done since then because it is already a manslaughter case, but I would talk about God’s mercy on me and the pain of losing my best aide ever.

“God came through for me and sent me a special gift ahead of time for this season and beyond. I’ve grieved for Sanusi, I’ve looked at my cameras every day, hoping he would be out there cleaning his boots as usual. That fateful morning he was with my kids and me at the national stadium for their inter-house sports, he followed Aiden and Ragnar around like he knew he might never see them again, and the last I remember was seeing him argue the routes to take with my driver, as if he knew there was danger ahead but surrendered to fate by letting using go the opposite way. Will I continuously miss my ‘Sule’? Yes !! Everyday.

“He was one little brother that was too protective of me. Meeting his whole family coincidentally at Sahad stores in January made me see him as a family from that moment, aside from him being the most peaceful, loyal, and easy-to-learn aide I’ve ever had. I virtually camped at the hospital and prayed for the brain injuries to heal with high hopes of having him laugh again at my silly jokes whenever I’m in excellent spirits. God alone will heal us all from this pain. I’ve cried my heart out, but most importantly, I’ve learned a lot from this incident. I am grateful to be alive even though I questioned it all for many reasons, I am alive and grateful. Ekwensu ntooooor!.”

Abosede, the mother of the late Nigerian singer Ilerioluwa Aloba, popularly known as Mohbad, has alleged that singer, Azeez Fashola, also known as Naira Marley, alongside Lagos socialite, Sam Larry, frustrated her son to death.

Naija News reports that Abosede made this known in an interview with PUNCH, stating that Mohbad did not experience peace throughout his lifetime because the duo of Naira Marley and Sam Larry always got him into one problem or another.

Abosede noted that she had always been involved in Mohbad’s life and warned him over his association with Naira Marley.

She said, “Mohbad did not know peace throughout his lifetime. He was always going from one problem to another in the hands of Naira Marley and Sam Larry. His manager was Naira Marley’s brother, and I did not like him.

“Every time I went there, I always told Mohbad to stay away from him, yet he was always sleeping on Mohbad’s bed. I told Mohbad to keep away from everyone associated with Naira Marley and should not work with them anymore. I had always been involved in my son’s life. Every curse that Naira Marley rains on me will return to him.”

Speaking further, Abosede debunked the claims of Mohbad owing Sam Larry money, revealing that Naira Marley had one time beat up the late singer, and he ended up in the hospital.

She added, “Sam Larry beat Mohbad, complaining that he owed him money, but that is not true. My son confided in me.

“Naira Marley beat him up one time, and he ended up in the hospital. We had to use hot water to massage his body, and he could not talk for two days because he was seriously beaten. He even developed hypertension.

“When Mohbad recovered from the sickness, Naira did not want him back in Marlian Music. He said he was spoiling their name; and Mohbad also did not want to go back. I went with the father to plead with Naira. That was the first time I went to the house. It was Joseph that was always going there. I want justice for my son.”

Meanwhile, both Naira Marley and Sam Larry have denied involvement in Mohbad’s death.

Batik Air plane in Indonesia went off track on it’s flight path after both the pilot and the co-pilot fell asleep for nearly half an hour.

The incident, which happened in January, saw the pair in the cockpit getting some shuteye, as the aircraft drifted off it’s planned path – something that could have led to a fatal disaster for all 153 passengers on board.

It is vital for pilots to keep an aircraft on the right flight path as it is carefully mapped out by air traffic controllers to ensure the plane doesn’t cross any other aircraft’s paths.

The plane was flying from South East Sulawesi to the capital Jakarta.

It has been reported that one of the pilots had not rested adequately the night before the flight.

About half an hour after the plane took off, the captain asked permission from his second-in-command to rest for a while and he said yes.

The co-pilot took over command of the aircraft but then fell asleep himself.

A few minutes after the last recorded transmission by the co-pilot, the area control centre in Jakarta tried to contact the aircraft.

It received no answer.

Twenty-eight minutes after the last recorded transmission, the pilot woke up and realised his co-pilot was asleep and that the aircraft was not on the correct flight path.

He immediately woke his colleague up, responded to the calls from Jakarta and corrected the flight path, the report said.

The incident resulted in a series of navigation errors, but the Airbus A320’s 153 passengers and four flight attendants were unharmed during the two-hour-and-35-minute flight.

The transport ministry ‘strongly reprimands’ Batik Air over the incident, air transport director-general M. Kristi Endah Murni said, calling on airlines to pay more attention to their air crew’s rest time.

‘We will carry out an investigation and review of the night flight operation in Indonesia related with Fatigue Risk Management for Batik Air and all flight operators,’ Kristi said in a statement.

Batik Air said in a statement on Saturday that it ‘operates with adequate rest policy’ and that it was ‘committed to implement all safety recommendation’.

The pilots involved in the January 25 incident had been temporarily suspended, the statement added.

The plane landed safely after the incident.

Investigators did not identify the pilots, but said they were both Indonesians and were aged 32 and 28.

Indonesia’s transport ministry said Saturday it would open a probe into the airline.

An 81-year-old Brazilian woman died after undergoing surgery to remove a 56-year-old foetus from her abdomen.

Daniela Vera unknowingly had an ectopic pregnancy when she was younger, and complaints of stomach pain were ignored by doctors for years.

Daniela, from Aral Moreira, Brazil, went to a local health centre on March 10, where she was treated for a water infection, before being sent to another hospital where she received 3D scans.

The scans revealed lithopedion – from the Greek words meaning ‘stone’ and ‘child’ – a condition where an abdominal ectopic pregnancy calcifies around the foetus.

Despite having seven children, the condition went unnoticed until Daniela received the scans.

She went into surgery, after which she was moved into intensive care, where she died on March 15 after suffering an infection.

Dr Patrick Dezir, the head of the Ponta Pora Hospital health department, said: ‘When pregnancy occurs, it must be inside the uterus, but in some situations, pregnancy can occur outside.

‘That baby was not clinical, the patient did not have acute pain and did not have major bleeding and this diagnosis goes unnoticed and time will take care of that foreign body that was left inside the woman’s abdomen.’

Daniela’s child, Rosely Almedia, said: ‘She was old and we are indigenous, she didn’t like going to the doctor, she was afraid of the equipment to take exams.’

Daniela had complained of abdominal pain since her first pregnancy when she was a teenager, her daughter said.

Rosely added: ‘She said so it looked like a baby was moving inside her belly and sometimes she felt sick, but we never suspected that it was that.’

In 2013, a similar incident happened to an 82-year-old woman in Colombia, who had been carrying a 40 year-old stone baby in her belly.

The four-pound fetus remained in her abdomen for decades before she underwent surgery to remove it.

Lithopedion is extremely rare, occurring in only 0.0054% of all pregnancies.

Death toll higher than 8,356 wasted under Buhari, worse than Jonathan’s 2,059 all in 10 months

On March 14, 17 officers and men of the 181 Amphibious Battalion, Bomadi, were killed at Okuama community in Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State on account of the land dispute between Okuama and Okoloba communities.

The 17 soldiers including one lieutenant Colonel, two majors and a captain met their Waterloo during alleged botched peace talks in the community. The murder of the military men has led to a military siege to Okuama in which houses had been razed and no fewer than 50 people reportedly killed.

The 67 reported souls lost to the Okuama crisis are among the 6,931 people killed across the country in 10 months since President Bola Tinubu assumed power, last May.

In immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari’s first 10 months in office, May 2015 to March 2016, Nigeria lost 8,356 people to insecurity.

In former President Goodluck Jonathan’s first 10 months as elected head of state, May 2011 to March 2012, insecurity claimed 2,059 lives.

The figures under Jonathan and Buhari were got from the records of the Nigeria Security Tracker, NST, a project of the Council on Foreign Relations’ Africa programme, which documented and mapped violence in Nigeria motivated by political, economic or social grievances.

However, the death toll under Tinubu is based on media reports.

In all, the figures are conservative because some killings are under-reported or not reported.
In January 2024, troops killed 266 terrorists and bandits in operations across the country. In February 2024, troops neutralised 974 terrorists.

In the last two months, the Chairman of Benue Ethnic Leaders and President General of Mzough U Tiv, MUT, worldwide, Chief lorbee Ihagh, claimed that herdsmen militia had killed no fewer than 147 persons in various attacks on Benue communities.

As of March 21, no fewer than 432 lives had been lost to insecurity in the third month of the year Recurring bandits’ attacks in Zamfara, Niger, Kaduna, Katsina, Niger, Kebbi and many North-East and North-Central states have led the deaths and kidnap of thousands of people.

The South-East states where unknown gunmen are wreaking are not spared. So also states of South-South and parts of South-West where criminal gangs and armed herdsmen operate.

How 2,059 were killed in Jonathan’s first 10 months

May 2011 – 29
June 2011 – 59
July 2011 – 94
Aug 2011 – 131
Sept 2011 – 109
Oct 2011 -72
Nov 2011 – 254
Dec 2011 – 348
Jan 2012 – 418
Feb 2012 – 226
Mar 2012 – 319
Total———2,059

Death toll in Buhari’s first 10 months

May 2015 -767
June 2015 -808
July 2015 -1,299
Aug 2015 – 790
Sept 2015 – 514
Oct 2015 – 826
Nov 2015 – 510
Dec 2015 – 809
Jan 2016 – 484
Feb 2016 – 1,076
Mar 2016 – 468
Total ———8,356

How 6,931 persons were killed under Tinubu in 10 months

May 2023 – 587
June 2023 – 690
July 2023 – 620
Aug 2023 – 682
Sept 2023 – 527
Oct 2023- 621
Nov 2023 – 869
Dec 2023 – 837
Jan 2024 – 666
Feb 2024 – 1,374
Mar 2024- 432
Total————6,931@~£

Northern Senators kick

Senators from the 19 Northern states and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja under the aegis of Northern Senators Forum, NSF, on Wednesday decried the raging wave of killings and kidnapping in the North and urged decisive action to stop the trend.

In a statement by their Chairman, Senator Abdulaziz Yar’Adua, APC, Katsina Central, the Northern senators said they would not rest until the security situation was brought under control and the perpetrators brought to justice
The statement read in part:

“The distressing state of affairs concerning the recent wave of violence and kidnappings in the North is a major concern to the Northern Senators Forum. The series of events that have unfolded in Kaduna State, beginning with the kidnapping of 286 students and staff from a school on March 7th, the despicable attack on worshippers in a mosque on March 8th, the abduction of 61 more persons on March 12th, followed by 14 individuals on March 17th, and a staggering total of 87 individuals in Kajuru on March 18th, among others, are not only reprehensible but demand urgent and resolute action.”

Disturbed by the killings, the National Assembly has held many meetings with the security chiefs and President Tinubu had repeatedly ordered the security chiefs to halt the trend.

It is to be seen if these moves would yield desired results in terms of security of lives and property of Nigerians.

The Defence Headquarters on Friday said it has declared 97 persons wanted for terrorism, violent extremism and secessionist threats against the state.

Prominent among the wanted persons is the factional leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Simon Ekpa.

Major Gen Edwaed Buba, Director, Defence Media Operations, confirmed the names and pictures of the people declared wanted in Abuja on Friday night.

The wanted persons, terrorists/ bandits and insurgents commanders are from the North East, North West, North Central and South-East zones.

The military authorities did not place any bounty on the wanted persons.

A breakdown of the wanted persons shows that 43 were declared wanted in North West Zone plagued by banditry, and kidnapping among others.

Some bandits/terrorists leaders include: Alhaji Shingi; Malindi Yakubu; Boka ; Dogo Gide; Halilu Sububu; Ado Aliero ; Bello Turji; Dan Bokkolo; Labi Yadi ; Nagala; Saidu Idris; Kachalla Rugga and Sani Gurgu.

In the North East plagued by Boko Haram and Islamic State for West Africa Province terrorists, 33 persons were declared wanted.

Among them are terrorists commanders, Abu Zaida; Modu Sulum; Baba Data; Ahmad; Sani Teacher; Baa Sadiq; Abdul Saad; Kaka Abi; Mohammad Khalifa; Umar Tella; Abu Mutahid; Mallam Mohammad; Mallam Tahiru Baga; Uzaiya and Ali Ngule.

In the North Central and South East 21 Insurgents/militants and violent criminals were declared wanted.

They include factional IPOB leader Simon Ekpa; Chika Edoziem; Egede; Zuma, ThankGod Gentle; Flavour ; Mathew; David Ndubuisi ; High Chief Williams Agbor; Ebuka Nwaka; Friday Ojimka.

`

Others in the South East include Obiemesi Chukwudi aka Dan Chuk ; David Ezekwem Chidiebube and Amobi Chinonso Okafor aka Temple .