05/30/18

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Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.

The Federal Capital Territory High Court has sentenced a former governor of Taraba State, Mr Jolly Nyame, to 14 years in prison without an option of fine.

The court convicted Mr Nyame of criminal breach of trust in a case of N1.64billion fraud preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Nyame, who was Taraba State governor between 1999 and 2007, was accused of criminally misappropriating the funds while he governed the state.

Delivering a judgement that lasted more than four hours on Wednesday, Justice Adebukola Banjoko found the former governor guilty in 27 out of 41 counts he was charged with.

The judge blamed Nyame for financial recklessness and brazen display of executive power without following due process.

According to the judegment, the former governor was jailed two years for misappropriation of government funds, seven years for receiving gratification, and five years for obtaining valuable government properties without consideration.

However, the jail terms are to run concurrently.

 – No Case Submission –

In November 2016, the prosecution had closed its case against Mr Nyame after presenting 14 witnesses to testify against him in the court.

But the trial suffered a setback on the same day after the defence told the court that it was going to file a “no case submission”, arguing that there was no prima facie case established against the former governor.

Consequently, in January 2017, both the prosecution and the defence adopted their written addresses and gave oral arguments.

The defence relied on the fact that some critical elements were missing in the case and urged the court to “hold that the testimony of prosecution witnesses have been so damaged and can’t be relied on”.

But the prosecution swiftly countered the submission, stating that it had established a prima facie case against Nyame after calling 14 witnesses who testified to how they assisted him to divert the funds.

After listening to both parties, Justice Banjoko had fixed February 14, 2017, to decide whether the former governor had a case to answer or not.

At Wednesday’s proceedings, the judge found the former governor guilty of 27 out of 41 counts levelled against him and jailed him for 14 years without an option of fine.

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Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.


The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Kayode Fayemi, has announced his resignation from President Muhammadu Buhari’s cabinet.

Dr Fayemi made the announcement on Wednesday at a valedictory briefing in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory in order to pursue his governorship ambition in Ekiti State.

He had given a hint about his resignation from the President’s cabinet earlier in May during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today.

The former minister emerged as the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate for Ekiti State in the party’s rescheduled primary election which held on May 12.

He faulted the allegation that he was desperate to become the governor of the state for a second time.

Instead, Fayemi said he was contesting the election because he was unable to complete his mission in his first tenure.

“I have a sense of unfinished business; not a sense of wanting to come back for desperate reasons. I served as governor of the state for four years – whatever I’m doing is based on the record that somebody could be subjected to critical scrutiny,” he had said.

Following his victory at the primary, President Buhari congratulated Fayemi and other aspirants who took part in the exercise.

The President was optimistic that having won the party’s ticket, the former governor would leverage his track record as a reformist who has a passion for education, health and welfare, to reclaim the governorship seat when the state goes to poll on July 14.

He, had, however, asked members of the APC in Ekiti to uphold the values and philosophy of the ruling party by coming together to support the former minister.

Meanwhile, the present state governor, Ayodele Fayose, has asked the former governor to “expect to suffer worse defeat compared to that of 2014”, when they both vie for the Ekiti governorship seat.

Fayose was happy that the APC picked a candidate whom he claimed the Ekiti people would gladly vote against.
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Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.

After weeks of being away from the Senate Chambers, the Senator representing the Kogi West Senatorial Constituency, Senator Dino Melaye has resumed plenary.

Senator Melaye resumed plenary on Wednesday and asked to be moved from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) side of the chamber to the Opposition.

The Senator who resumed plenary after a battling with the police and being on admission in the hospital for a while asked Senate President Bukola Saraki for permission to leave his allotted seat and move to the opposite side of the Senate chamber.

He specifically asked that he wants to sit beside the former Senate President, David Mark.

According to Senator Melaye, his reason for wanting a change of seat is because his present seat is no longer comfortable after his ordeal with the police and his health issues.
But the lawmakers from the ruling APC kicked against the move by Senator Melaye arguing that it is against the constitution.
Meanwhile, the opposition lawmakers welcome the change of seat by Senator Dino Melaye.

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Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.
Milkweed Bugs

A South African company has begun selling what it calls “Entomilk”, a special milk made from farmed insects.
“Think of Entomilk as a sustainable, nature-friendly, nutritious, lactose free, delicious, guilt-free dairy alternative of the future,” Gourmet Grubb said on its website.
According to the company, one of the most pivotal benefits of Entomilk is that it has a high protein content and is rich in minerals such as iron, zinc and calcium.
Entomilk entered the market two years after the debut of the so-called “cockroach milk,” a milk made from the viviparous cockroach named Diploptera punctata.
This particular kind of cockroach, which is usually found on Pacific islands like Hawaii, is the only known cockroach that gives birth to their babies, as opposed to laying eggs.
Their milk is a crystal of proteins, fats and sugars, which are important for the growth of baby cockroaches.
A study carried out by Indian researchers in 2016 found that the cockroach milk is estimated to contain over three times the energy of the equivalent mass of cow milk.
However, scientists did not expect the cockroach milk to be found in supermarkets anytime soon. Besides its unappealing name, it’s also unclear if the milk is safe to consume.
“We have no evidence that it is actually safe for human consumption,” said Subramanian Ramaswamy, the lead author of the 2016 study. Xinhua/LR News
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Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.

Researchers from the University of Toronto and St. Michael’s Hospital said some supplements could pose harm to our health.
The study disclosed that niacin and antioxidants were associated with a higher risk of death by any cause, albeit a very small increase.
“We were surprised to find so few positive effects of the most common supplements that people consume,” said lead author Dr. David Jenkins in a statement.
“These findings suggest that people should be conscious of the supplements they’re taking and ensure they’re applicable to the specific vitamin or mineral deficiencies they have been advised of by their health-care provider,”  Jenkins said.
The doctor suggested that it’s most beneficial to rely on a healthy diet to get one’s fill of vitamins and minerals.
“So far, no research on supplements has shown us anything better than healthy servings of less processed plant foods including vegetables, fruits and nuts,” he added.
They further said that taking vitamin and mineral supplements may not make much a difference in one’s health.
They found out  that many popular vitamins had no advantage in the prevention of cardiovascular disease, heart attack, stroke or early death.
The vitamins the team reviewed were “A, B1, B2, B3 (niacin), B6, B9 (folic acid), C, D, and E”, as well as carotene, calcium, iron, zinc, magnesium and selenium.
The only supplement that showed any benefit among the studies was folic acid, which could lower one’s risk of heart disease and stroke. Xinhua/LR News
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Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.
Mozambique Police Officers

Police in Mozambique said 10 people were beheaded in an attack over the weekend in an area where previous Islamist attacks have been reported.
Radio Mozambique said police in the capital Maputo could not immediately give details of the attack in a village near the town of Palma, close to Mozambique’s border with Tanzania.
The area was also near one of the world’s biggest untapped offshore gas fields.
“Unknown persons killed by decapitation at least 10 people in recent days in the administrative post of Olumbi, Palma district, in the north of Cabo Delgado province,” Radio Mocambique said in a brief report.
The radio station did not provide any further details on the attack.
Portuguese news agency Lusa, quoting national broadcaster TVM, said two children were among those beheaded but this could not be independently verified.
Palma district administrator David Machimbuko told the station that authorities had moved security teams to areas where further attacks were feared.
Police spokesman Inacio Dina said officers were gathering information from a team dispatched to the north.
Local media have reported a series of attacks carried out by Islamists since October 2017, when police stations were attacked in the north, a predominantly Muslim region.
Mozambique has not been a focal point of Islamist militant activity in the past and police have been reluctant to ascribe the attacks to Islamists.
Muslims make up about 18 per cent of Mozambique’s population.
Roman Catholics form the largest single religious grouping, with about 30 per cent of its 30 million people.
The gas project is located in the Rovuma basin off the northern coast of Mozambique, an area where oil firms are exploring.
Experts say the reserves are enough to supply energy to Britain, France, Germany and Italy for over 20 years. Reuters/LR News
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Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.
Peacekeeper: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres decorates Amodu

Cdr. Olufunmilayo Amodu, serving with the UN Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), has been decorated with medal for her outstanding service.
She was decorated with the medal by the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday.
The UN will also honour three fallen Nigerian peacekeepers on June 1, at the UN headquarters in New York.
They are Lt. Col. Ali Suleiman, who served with the UN Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Others are Warrant Officer Remmy Amakwe, who was deployed with the African Union–United Nations Mission in Darfur; and Mr Kolawole Shogaolu, who served in a civilian capacity in the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali.
NAN reports that the honour is an acknowledgement of the contribution of Nigeria to UN Peacekeeping Operations to ensure global peace and security.
The decoration was part of activities to honour the service and sacrifice of peacekeepers around the world to mark the 2018 International Day of UN Peacekeepers.
Guterres also awarded a medal to appreciate the outstanding service of Maj. Mohammad Khan from Bangladesh, a military staff officer based at MINUSMA Force headquarters.
Speaking after receiving the award, Amodu said: “The medal is very important. It symbolises what it is to be a peacekeeper at MINUSMA. Receiving it from the Secretary-General is a very unique privilege.
“The terrorists are not relenting in what they are doing. And obviously, we are not backing out in what we have come to do”, she added, underscoring the worrying security situation in Mali.
She further said: “The UN is all about peace. And when there is peace, there is development.
“When there is peace, there is promotion of technology. When there is peace, every other thing works the way it should work.
“And for any person who would want to join MINUSMA, you should have at the back of your mind that when you are coming, it is to support the peace process.”
Latest Reality Metro reports that more than one million men and women have served under the UN flag, saving countless lives just as over 3,700 blue helmets have paid the ultimate price over the past seven decades.
Troops with the mission have increasingly become the target of attacks.
Meanwhile, Guterres attended a ceremony at MINUSMA’s base in Bamako where he paid tribute to fallen peacekeepers and laid a wreath at the memorial inside the camp, engraved with the names of those killed in the service of peace.
“Dear peacekeepers, you have demonstrated that you are capable of all forms of sacrifice. For many of your colleagues, this has meant the supreme sacrifice of giving their lives to protect the lives of Malian civilians.
“I want to thank you very much for this effort; these sacrifices, to pay tribute to you, and to say how proud I am to work with you.
“As peacekeepers, you are the foremost symbol of the United Nations itself”, Guterres said.
Also, Mahamat Annadif, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Mali and Head of MINUSMA, said that honouring the fallen “warms the hearts of their comrades and encourages us to continue to defend even more resolutely the values of the United Nations”.
Guterres was accompanied on his visit to Mali by Under Secretary-General for Field Support, Atul Khare, Head of UN Peacekeeping Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, and the Executive Director of UN Children’s Fund, Henrietta Fore.
He was received at the airport by Malian President Ibrahim Keita.
He was also scheduled to meet with Keita and other Malian officials as well as UN officials working in the country.
UN has declared the north-west African country as the most dangerous place in the world to be a ‘blue helmet’ as 21 troops and seven civilians serving with MINUSMA died in 2017. LR News
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