Sunday 28 April 2013

Arsenal 1-1 Manchester United: Van Persie penalty earns a point on his Emirates return

Arsenal was held to a 1-1 draw against Manchester United at the Emirates in a match dominated by Robin van Persie's return to this old club.
Theo Walcott gave the hosts the lead inside the second minute as Arsenal raced out of the blocks but the Gunners were pegged back at the end of the half courtesy of a van Persie penalty.
After a week's worth of speculation, van Persie started on his return to the Emirates while Lukas Podolski also made a rare start as Arsenal's central striker with Olivier Giroud missing with suspension.
The Gunners got off to the perfect start in front of their red hot home support when Walcott beat the offside trap and calmly found a way past David de Gea from a tight angle inside the second minute.
Santi Cazorla then stung the hands of the United keeper with a shot from range as Arsenal maintained their early momentum.
Van Persie's first real involvement in the game was a miscued shot which sailed high over the bar just after the 10 minute mark, much to the delight of the Gunners' supporters. Those fans then collectively held their breath moments later when the Dutchman broke down the left flank before crossing for Phil Jones who failed to find the target with a header after surging into the box.
Wenger's men lost some of that early impetus as the first half went on but were sparked back into life when Jonny Evans brought down Walcott just outside the area.
The free kick was wasted but moments later Arsenal had a glorious chance to double its lead on the counterattack. Rosicky elected to pass to Podolski, rather than the unmarked Walcott, but the German could only fire his shot from a tight angle straight at De Gea.
Arsenal then had Wojciech Szczesny to thank for keeping it ahead just before the break. The Poland international made himself big to keep out van Persie's header from point-blank range after a swift United counterattack.
But moments later van Persie made no mistake, this time from the spot, after Sagna's rash challenge on the Dutchman gave United a penalty.
The Gunners made a bright start after the break and could have gone ahead early on but Tomas Rosicky's prod with the outside of his boot whistled just past the De Gea's far post.
Sir Alex's side soon edged back into the contest and dictated the game for a period of 15 minutes. Van Persie over-hit a low cross past the onrushing Antonio Valencia before Wayne Rooney wasted a good chance with a header straight at Szczesny from close range.
Arsenal rallied for a winner in a end-to-end finale to match with the visitors still a threat on the break but neither side could fashion the clear-cut chance needed to win the game.
Cazorla came close with a powerful right-footed shot which was palmed away by De Gea with minutes left on the clock before Ryan Giggs wasted a great opportunity when found totally unmarked on the break by Rooney.

New study shows lack of sleep reduces sperm count

No more late nights abeg: New study shows lack of sleep reduces sperm count
TOO little sleep could be damaging young men’s fertility by slashing their sperm counts, new research shows.
Scientists found sperm numbers dropped by more than a quarter in men not getting a full night’s rest due to late nights, insomnia and broken sleep.
Alarmingly, it even made their testicles shrink, the study found.
Sperm numbers dropped by more than a quarter in men not getting a full night’s rest due to late nights, insomnia and broken sleep
Sleep loss has, in the past, been linked with increased risk of obesity, breast cancer and heart disease.
Experts believe the ideal amount of rest is between seven and eight hours a night.
For example, one US study showed adults getting less than six hours a night were 36 per cent more likely to suffer a heart attack and 22 per cent more at risk of a stroke than those who got a full seven or eight hours.
But the latest investigation, by researchers from the University of Southern Denmark, is believed to be the first to show insufficient rest can also affect male fertility.
Sperm counts have been tumbling in recent years amid fears that male fertility is being harmed by poor diet and lifestyle, or even ‘gender-bending’ chemicals in the environment.
But the latest research, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, suggests modern sleep patterns may also be a factor.
Scientists quizzed nearly 1,000 men in their late teens or early twenties on their sleeping routines.
They also took sperm samples to check for quality.
The results showed men who frequently went to bed late, wake a lot in the night or struggled to get to sleep in the first place, had a sperm count that was 29 per cent lower than those who had no trouble nodding off.
Tests showed their testicles were also significantly smaller.
In a report, scientists said it’s not clear why it causes sperm problems.
But they stressed men who sleep less tend to have unhealthier lifestyles. They were fatter, drank more alcohol and were more often smokers.
It’s also possible that sleep problems damage levels of testosterone, as at least one other small study has found keeping young men awake for longer reduces the body’s production of the hormone.
The Danish researchers said: ‘Men with a poor sleep score had poorer semen quality and smaller testicles.
‘This is the first study to relate sleep disturbances to semen quality. The results may have important public health implications.
‘But it remains to be seen whether improved sleeping patterns restore that quality.’
- Nigerian Tribune

“I Have 99 Problems and Now Jay-Z Is One,” – President Obama

The annual White House Correspondent’s Dinner is typically a light-hearted affair, and this year’s installment was no exception. The Dinner tends to serve as an opportunity for the President to show off his sense of humor and pop culture savvy, and with a President as charismatic as Barack Obama, these events tend to be ripe with entertaining moments.
Barack Obama
While Obama obviously poked fun at himself and at those right wing media outlets who consistently have derided him throughout his two terms in office, he made sure to offer up enough hip-hop references to have the community talking for quite some time. Prior to the President stepping to the podium, the crowd in attendance was treated to DJ Khaled’s “All I Do Is Win.” Obama clearly enjoyed the moment, even synchronizing his hand gestures to match the chorus.
“How do you like my new entrance music?” Obama jokingly asked the audience, waiting for those assembled to sit back down before going right into the rest of the speech.
Later on, Obama had the chance to take a slick jab at Jay-Z, who caused a media frenzy with his visit to Cuba and subsequent “Open Letter.” Talking about issues that he has to deal with that are out of his control, Obama said, “It’s unbelievable… I have 99 problems and now Jay-Z is one of them.” Interestingly enough, the President does not appear to be as concerned about Beyonce, who also went on the trip with her husband and created her own controversy at the recent inauguration by apparently lip-synching the National Anthem.
With the President entrenched in office for three more years at least, will the President continue to embrace hip-hop as openly as he did tonight, albeit in a joking manner? Is there any way Hov can offer up an appropriate response to Obama’s comments? More importantly, has the President discovered that Khaled’s ad-libs provide the self-confidence boost one needs to win a grueling election?
Source: Media TakeOut

Gay Black Men’ Are Responsible For HIV Increase – New York News

The gay/anti-gay discussion continues as a new generation of young Brooklyn Black males come under scrutiny. Although, gay relationship are becoming widely acceptable throughout the world, questions are still raised daily over it’s social and health implications.
nigerian_gay_church
The New York Daily News published a report discussing the rise of HIV cases among men under 30 who sleep with men. “We are seeing more young men,” Dr. Yusef Afacan, director of the AIDS Center Program at Woodull Medical Center in East Williamsburg said.
Doctors are worried that the young men, many hiding their s*xual identity, are fueling the borough’s HIV epidemic. Afacan said he has even treated boys as young as 14 who contracted HIV after sleeping with another male. “We never saw that a decade ago,” Afacan said. “Young gay men are not using protection.”
Doctors believe these men are infecting their Black female partners, who made up 79% of all new HIV cases among Brooklyn women in 2011. This is an alarming trend and advocates are zeroing in on central Brooklyn areas Bedford-Stuyvesant, Crown Heights, Williamsburg, Bushwick and East Flatbush, which are home to the city’s largest group of those living with the disease.
More than 15,000 reside in central Brooklyn, where about 3,600 identify as MSMs. Those 15,000 make up 10% of the citywide HIV/AIDS cases. The Brooklyn AIDS Task Force opened a small store-front office called Brooklyn Men Konnect on Utica Ave. in Crown Heights, which reputedly has some strong anti-gay attitudes.
With federal aid dropped from $2 million a year to $350,000—we’re hoping that you all take it upon yourselves to stay strapped (protected with a prophylactic), practice celibacy, or put your effort in meditation. Casual s*x isn’t worth losing your life.
Source: NY Daily News

Four Men, Including A Cripple Jailed For Raping 22-year-old Girl

An Oredo Chief Magistrate’s Court in Edo State, has remanded four persons, including a cripple in prison custody for allegedly molesting a 22-year-old girl.
28-year-old Saturday Enabulele; Moses Okoeki, 18; Osasumwen Enina, 17 and 20-year-old Junior Odubu allegedly molested a woman, beating and tearing her clothes, while filming the whole incident with a camera phone.
The offence was allegedly committed on April 13, at No. 9, Akugbe Street, Siluko Road, Benin.
Apart from recording the victim’s indecency and showing it to others, the prosecutor further alleged that the accused persons and others now at large, collected the victim’s mobile phone and a wallet containing the sum of N10,000.
The accused persons pleaded not guilty to the 12 counts brought against them, and were remanded in prison custody by the Chief Magistrate, Peter Edo Asemota who adjourned the case till May 7.

WAEC blacklists 113 secondary schools for Malpractise

West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has withdrawn recognition for 113 secondary schools nationwide, as punishment for examination malpractices. Also, results of 30, 654 candidates, who sat for the May/June
2012 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) have been cancelled. According to Saturday Sun findings, WAEC has also cancelled individual subject results of 83, 745 candidates, released the results of 1, 549 and barred for two years 3, 321 candidates from sitting for the council examination over misconduct during the school exam, in line with the rules and regulations guiding the conduct of the examination.

The cancelled results were among the 112, 000 results of candidates withheld for their involvement in examination malpractice out of 1, 695, 878 candidates that sat for the May/June 2012 WASSCE. Only 38.81 per cent (649, 156) of the total candidates that sat for the May/June 2012 WASSCE obtained five credits in English Language, Mathematics and three other subjects, thus were qualified for admissions into universities and polytechnics.
The Nigeria Examinations Committee (NEC) of the council took the far-reaching decisions in Lagos after it deliberated on evidences (exhibits) produced by the council, which were seized from some candidates involved in examination malpractice. Other decisions taken by NEC include recommendation for sanctions against 97 supervisors/principals/other examination personnel identified and reported to their various state ministries of education, while 21 supervisors also indicted were blacklisted.
The WAEC committee also recommended that 465 secondary schools be warned for aiding and abetting examination malpractice during the 2012 May/June WASSCE, granted clemency to eight candidates even as the certificates of 12 others were withdrawn after they asked for restitution. The NEC, which was chaired by the Director of Basic and Secondary Education), Ministry of Education, Abuja, directed that the allegations against 930 candidates be further investigated, while their results are withheld.
Also, the council withdrew the recognition of six schools and commended one staff. A breakdown of schools sanctioned nationwide revealed that majority came from the South-South, followed by those from the North, South East and South West. Government-owned schools top the list of those involved in exam fraud. The NEC recommendation shows that recognition for 21 schools were withdrawn for two years. Also, recognition for 43 others were withdrawn, along side the principals of the schools.
Newsmen learnt that the council has communicated the decisions of NEC to the state ministries of education, which is expected to take action against the schools and principals indicted by WAEC.
South west
Ogbe Community Secondary School, Ajegunle.
Adewole High School, Ajegunle, Onisere, Ore.
Peak International School, Ikenne.
African Pride International, Sagamu.
Roseville College, Meiran.
Premier College, Ode Irele.
Furah- Beh International College, Owo.
South south
Community Secondary School,Otuoke, Otuoba.
Community Secondary School, Diobu.
Government Secondary School, Asamabiri.
Community Secondary School, Peremabiri.
Community Comprehensive Secondary School, Enebele.
Community Secondary School, Arisaba.
Paiko Comprehensive College, Calabar.
Ebanimbin Comprehensive Heart Mixed School, Sapele.

JTF Kill Top Boko Haram commander in Borno State

Lt. Colonel Sagir Musa
Lt. Colonel Sagir Musa
A top Boko Haram Commander identified as Mohammed Chad, who has been on the wanted list of the Joint Task Force (JTF) has been killed in a shootout with JTF and men of the SSS at Ruwan Zafi of Maiduguri Metropolis in Borno.
Speaking in Maiduguri, JTF Spokesman Leuitenant Colonel Sagir Musa last night said, a special operation was conducted at Ruwan – Zafi area of Maiduguri metropolis by troops of the JTF Operation RESTORE ORDER and operatives of the department of State Security Service (SSS) at about 3:00 am on Friday 26 April, 2013 which “led to the death of a notorious Boko Haram terrorist a.k.a Mohammed Chad, an indigene of Marte, Borno State that has been on the wanted list of the JTF”.
Musa stated that the suspect is believed to be the successor to Ba,ana Assalafi a key Boko Haram Commander that lost his life during a shoot out with security agencies in Sokoto on 13 March 2013.
He also said intelligence indicated that Chad was involved in the planning/execution of many terror attacks in and outside Borno State. He was said to have masterminded the attack on Sanda Kyarimi Secondary Schools located at Ruwan Zafi, where a teacher was killed and injured 3 female students on 18 March 13.

Photos: See The Top 10 Billionaires That Dropped Out Of School

Our parents encourage us to finish schooling so we could have a better life in the future. This has been the pattern of heritage being passed on from generation to generation. There is no doubt that studying would help everyone to fight illiteracy, and achieve the kind of life that everyone dreams. However, according to history, there are people who never finished any degree, and even skipped classes just because they have other things that they want to pursue in life. Who would have thought that these people would one day exceed not just comfortable life, but would even be part of the top 10 school dropout billionaires in the world? Get to know the path, struggles, and success that they trudged in order to reach the state of being known, popular, and enjoying the abundance of life.



10. Puthan Neduvakkatt Chenthamaraksha Menon
10
He is commonly known as PNC Menon who founded the Sobha Developers Limited, where he also serves as Chairman Emeritus. He holds the fifth position as the richest Indian who is a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council that has a total asset of $1.25 billion. His mindset is a natural heritage that he acquired from his father who was also a businessman. Despite that he lost his father at an early age, and dropped from his college course at Sree Kerala Varma College, he sustained himself by putting an interior decoration business. He is one of the trending topics in the business world now after he expressed his desire to donate to charity, half of his wealth, but it’s innate to him to be involved in philanthropic works, and he has been donating to different charity institutions for years.

9. Subhash Chandra
9
This 62-year old media mogul in India has a total net worth of $2.9 billion. He got that title when he launched the channel Zee TV in 1992 that became the private news channel later on. He received various award in the entrepreneurship, and has been consistent in Forbes list of richest people in the world. He ceased to attend school when he was 12 years old, but at age 19, he was already in rice trading, and even managed his own vegetable oils. He experienced all the hardships and toils in life since he also grew up in a small village in India. In fact, his family had incurred huge amount of debts that put him to a situation that he had to drop from his college course and started working. After he moved to Mumbai, he established a business related to packaging unit making laminated tubes, which in turn became the world’s largest producer of tubes, which is popularly known today as Essel Propack.

8. Shahid Balwa
8
He is another billionaire from India who is included in the top 10 youngest billionaires in the world today. He dropped out from college and chose to run the hotel business of his family. His family moved to Mumbai where they established a restaurant business. This is also where the hotel business of family begun. Shahid natural passion in business opened a wonderful partnership with Vinod Goenka from the DB Realty and DB Etisalat a known telecom outfit. From that time forward, the fortune of his earnings increased in the field of real estate, which placed him to one of self-made billionaires in the world.




7. Vinod Goenka
#7
He is the partner of Shahid Balwa in the DB Realty, who is also included in this list of dropout billionaires. He became known in the real estate development, where he gets the abundance of his life, and the luxuries that he enjoys along with his family and kids. He is from Mumbai, but he chose to stop attending school and instead help his father in the small construction company that he owns. Through his efforts, this small company did expand and it has grown into a Dynamic Group that also handles dairy business. His partnership with Balwa’s Realty did boost their family’s business.

6. Gautam Adani
gautam_adani_
This is the 16th richest 50-year old billionaire from India and rank number 437 in Forbes list of Billionaires. He owns the Adani Group that focuses in coal trading, power generation, coal mining, gas distribution, oil & gas exploration, and multi-modal logistics. He has seven siblings, and the turn of events in his life took place when his family moved to Gujarat in order to find better livelihood. Within the short span of time, his father’s business has grown, but Gautam Adani moved to Mumbai, where he played his luck by opening an innings, where he humbly worked as a diamond sorter, then two years after he founded a diamond brokerage business with a trading set-up. In just a year, he earned a million, and this happened during the 80s. His successful path continued where he had other sorts of opportunities to expand and acquire businesses.
 5. Michael Dell
549302
Known to be the CEO and the very name behind Dell computers and laptops all over the world, Michael Dell has been named as the 41st richest person in the world. He even has a net worth of over $1.9 billion. Even before the days when the Dell name was famous in the computing world, he had already been selling upgrade kits being used for computers in his college days at the University of Texas in Austin, even though he is taking a pre-medical course. For someone taking up medical courses, he was even able to bag a deal of being a licensed vendor of computers, even if he did not have his own computer store. In May 1984, the Dell Computer Store was well on its way, making hundreds of thousands of dollars with PC upgrades, components, accessories, and more, with his schooling ended up hanging due to his business success.


4. Lawrence Ellison
4
Larry Ellison is the co-founder and current CEO of the worldwide enterprise software producer and networking solutions provider, Oracle Corporation. To date, he is the third richest man in the world, having a net worth of over $41 billion, already including his stocks ownership of the company. He lived a life of sorrow, being given away by his real mother to his aunt and uncle for adoption, when he was only nine months old, being sick with pneumonia. When he was in college, he was not able to finish his second year due to his adoptive mother’s death, not taking up his final exams during the said school year. During one summer after that event, he was able to attend the University of Chicago where he encountered computer design and began from there, focusing on his career instead of his education.


3. Steve Jobs
3
A celebrated innovator and genius, taking the name of Apple Inc to its prime state, Steven Paul “Steve” Jobs took the computer age in a revolution that became a benchmark of its many competitors where technologies like graphical user interfaces, the mouse, and even smartphones have been a staple in the computer world. He also became the co-founder of the famous animation studios, Pixar. It was during in his leadership in Apple that the names iMac, iPod, iPhone, the iPad, iTunes, The App Store, and even Apple Retail Stores came into light, all coming from his visionary ideals of pioneering a generation that changed the face of computing and mobile interaction forever. When he entered Reed College in Oregon, his parents Paul and Clara could not afford such expensive education. He decided to drop school due to such costs and he lived a life that depended on returning coke bottles for money, and eating free food in a temple. But who could even imagine that such a brilliant mind took toll of such challenges in life?

 2. Mark Zuckerberg
2
The name of Mark Zuckerberg is now associated with the world-famous social networking site, Facebook, although there are five of them that first discovered the site in Harvard. He is actually the current CEO and chairman of Facebook Inc, and his personal net worth of over $9.4 billion. Being excited with the results of his programming in creating the Harvard-exclusive social network called HarvardConnection.com, he dropped out of class in his quest to perfect the existing codes, and develop the mainframe of the other program into a system that is exclusively his, with Facebook.



1. Bill Gates
1
Just like Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates is also a student at Harvard University that decided to drop out of school in his desire to creating a company of his own, together with Paul Allen, knowing that their success was on the way with the successful release of the MITS Altair 8800, while working at Honeywell. The implementation of MITS only indicated that with the partnership in place, they could create their own systems and face the market with new offerings in mind. This was the time when Microsoft was created, with the promise of changing the face of computing for good. Due to his business, he was consistently named as one of the richest people in the world, even being the wealthiest for so many years since 1995.

Witness: Public Masturbator's 'Whole Body Was Shaking'

Photo - Witness: Public Masturbator's 'Whole Body Was Shaking'Elijah Slocumb, 35, is accused of fervently masturbating on Smathers Beach on Friday.
A witness told police that the man "had his penis in his hand and was making up and down motions, indicating masturbation," according to a police report sent to The Huffington Post.
During Slocumb's date with Palmela Handerson, "his whole body was shaking," the woman told cops.
Police arrested Slocumb and accused him of intentionally masturbating and exposing his genitals in a "lewd and lascivious exhibition."

Nine JAMB candidates die in horrific car accident in Aba

Nine JAMB candidates died on Friday April 27th in a fatal accident along the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway when the bus they were traveling in rammed into a stationery truck after the driver of the bus lost control of his vehicle while speeding.

There were 15 passengers in the vehicle at the time of the accident, nine of them died instantly. The bus driver and conductor also lost their lives. The six remaining seriously injured passengers who survived the accident were immediately taken to the hospital. The 15 JAMB candidates had been traveling from Port Harcourt to Aba to sit for the exam which took place yesterday.

Cristiano Ronaldo cheats on his girlfriend with Miss Bum Bum Brazil

No wonder Cristiano Ronaldo didn't play well during Real Madrid vs Borussia Dortmund match on Wednesday April 24th (Real lost 4-1 to Dortmund)...he had sex two days before...lol.

Andressa Urach (pictured above right) is claiming the star footballer, who is in a serious relationship with Russian super model, Irina Shayk, slept with her in a £12,500-a-night Villa Magna hotel on Monday April 22nd. Andressa is 2013 Miss Bum Bum Brazil queen. She told The Sun UK that Cristiano got in touch with her after seeing her photos online, and had sex with her just a day after Ronaldo was pictured leaving a restaurant with Irina (pictured left).

Andressa said she took a taxi to the hotel that Monday and waited for Ronaldo at the Lobby. Ronaldo eventually arrived in a grey Audi R3 and parked in an underground car park before taking a private lift to his room, from where he texted her his room number. The beauty queen said the sex was great.
"It was incredible, his body's perfect, like a Greek god. He went on for hours and would not stop talking about my butt.'

Nadia Buhari and Jim Ike Dating?

Is Jim Iyke dating Ghanaian actress, Nadia Buari? We all know his official girlfriend is the Jamaican babe, Kenturah Hamilton, who he has been dating on and off for the past five years, but his friendship with Nadia is beginning to make me curious. Yes, it's my business to be curious about things like this...lol. His publicist this week denied any romantic relationship between Jim and Nadia but we all know they always deny these things until we find out the truth. For two people who aren't dating, Jim and Nadia seem awfully close. Jim hasn't been spotted with Kenturah in a while, so they might be taking a break. Has he moved on to Nadia? Let's analyze these photos and see what we conclude..:-)

The first and second photo above is Jim and Nadia in Dubai in March for 2face Idibia's wedding. Heard they came together and left together. Peep them holding hands in the right photo. The photo on the left below is the friends at an award ceremony in Uganda in December 2012. The next photo is Jim and Nadia arriving together at his Unscripted premiere in Lagos on Thursday April 18th. The last photo is Jim and Nadia playing around in a desert somewhere in Africa. She posted the photo on her instagram page yesterday and said something about being really happy

The Actress Who Lost Her Husband To Stella Damasus Speaks

Many people have been waiting to hear from Doris Simeon, the estranged with of Daniel Ademinoka on the issue of losing her husband to her fellow actress, Stella Damasus. Stella Dimokokorkus was able to speak with Doris on the controversy.
 fe87c65c738100dee1e25d41f6159c7d
See details of the findings plus more below….
Beautiful Actress Doris Simeon is currently the centre of attention as her Ex hubby Daniel Ademinokan has supposedly married another controversial actress, Stella Damasus. The news went viral went it came out and though I am still doing some fact finding, I decided to call Doris to hear what she can tell me as regards everything that has happened.
I wanted to know if she and Stella were friends at all
I wanted to know when exactly the ‘snatching’ started.
I wanted to know how she felt/feels
I wanted to know why she didn’t do anything to stop what had happened when it was happening.
I asked so many questions but Doris told me in a voice which sounded full of pain that at this time she just wants to concentrate on her work and forget about what has happened because:
”It has already happened…….”
She kept saying ”No comment”……The fifth.. Doris stood her ground on not wanting to talk or exchange words with anyone and I respect her stand.
I told her ”Doris, you have a lot of support right now, why don’t you talk, your fans want to know so much….” Doris begged for privacy at this time and I understood and let her be.
Doris Simeon has a son with Daniel Ademinokan and I guess she is trying to keep it clean for her son’s sake.
When Doris and Daniel were Married I used to tell Daniel they were the best couple in town, their love was so plain to see. I don’t know what went wrong. I don’t know how or when Stella Damasus came into the picture. I don’t know how or when Stella and Daniel met and started dating but I still think Doris needs to paint the real picture of what happened to help others going through similar situation and too embarrassed to talk out…… those too ashamed to let anyone know.
I know from fact findings that Stella and Daniel are a pair and they have several investments together which suggests they plan/want to stay together.

Don’t Blame Baga Killings On Us, Blame It On Boko Haram – Army

baga_reuters
The Defence Headquarters have absolved the army of any blame, saying the army was not involved in the massacre of over 150 persons in Baga, Borno State.
The Director of Defence Information, Brig.Gen Chris Olukolade, also said on Saturday that no soldier had been arrested in connection with the incident, while he condemned attempts by some persons to blame the Baga killings on soldiers of the Multinational Joint Task Force.
He said it was absurd to blame acts committed by suspected Boko Haram members on troops of the Multinational Joint Task Force sent to keep peace in the area.
Olukolade maintained that the operations of the troops were necessary to provide security and defend the integrity of the country.
“The Defence Headquarters wishes to declare that no soldier has been arrested or detained on account of the incident that happened in Baga last week as reported in certain newspapers on Saturday.
“The report which claimed that 15 soldiers have been arrested in connection with their alleged role in what the medium referred to as ‘Borno Bloodbath’ is indeed false in its entirety.
“At no point did the DHQ or any of the services of the Nigerian Armed Forces order the arrest of any of its soldiers in connection with the incident in Baga.
“The untiring efforts by some persons and groups to unduly attribute the killings in Baga to the troops of the Multi National Joint Task Force are however assuming a very unfair and dangerous dimension indeed.
“It is surprising that the atrocities of Boko Haram terrorists are being desperately blamed on the troops even without any meaningful investigations by those promoting these allegations locally and internationally.
“This tendency is clearly in line with the orchestrated effort by a vested interest, using the press, to whip up public resentment against the necessary military operations in defence and security of the nation.”
He said further that it was the position of the DHQ that human lives were precious during operations and shouldn’t be subjected to “unneccesary sensationalism.”
Over 200 lives were lost, according to a recent count by a Senator, in a clash between gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram members and the military in Baga, Kukawa Local Government Area of Borno State, on April 20, 2013.
The Village Head, Mallam Ali, had said 185 were killed, with 2,000 houses, 62 vehicles and 486 motorcycles either burnt or vandalised, but the Presidency said it believed the figures might have been “grossly exaggerated.” Senator Maina Ma’aji Lawan, representing Borno North Senatorial District, however declared that his two-day visit to the border town revealed 228 fresh graves, 4,000 houses leveled.
Authorities of the Defence Headquarters, Abuja, had earlier put the casualty figure at 25

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