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The Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, on Saturday, said that another waterfall, set to be unveiled, had been discovered at the Ife Grand Resort, Ile-Ife.
Ogunwusi disclosed this when executives of the Nigeria Tour Operators (NATOP) visited him at his palace.
The monarch said the land on which the resort was built, was home to wild animals.
He explained that the animals had, however, been appeased and had moved further into the bush to make the area safe for operations and tourism.
According to him, in his quest to beautify the place and transform it to a world class tourist site, a waterfall that beats human imagination was discovered and remodeled.
“This is a mysterious waterfall that has just been discovered. It elicits about seven colours of water including red, blue, green and so on.
“We are still doing some work on the site, and when the project is complete, the whole world will marvel; and this is one of the things that will sell our country internationally.
“The resort has been under construction for two years now; and when we are done, there will be nothing like it in the world,” he said.
According to Ogunwusi, since he assumed the throne of his ancestors, he has made many discoveries that were beyond human imagination and beats world science.
He described the discoveries as metaphysical things which truly attested to the myth that Ife was the cradle of mankind.
”We have too many discoveries in Ife that defy science; and which will blow the minds of tourists.
“Most of these mysterious discoveries are what we need to sell to the world because we cannot continue to shroud them in secrecy, which is the reason I decided to rebrand our heritage sites in Ife.
“This is a very ancient palace of more than 10,000 years; I have buildings of 300, 400 to 500 years within the palace and they have all become monuments which many people come from around the world to see.
“As a trained real estate developer, I have blended tradition and modernity in terms of design and concept of the palace,’ he said.
The monarch called on Nigerians to stop depending on the government to groom tourism, but to rather tap into the tourism potentials at the grassroots.
He said this would create massive employment opportunities for the teeming unemployed youths and reduce crime in the society.
“We all must stop blaming government on the state of the tourism sector in Nigeria, let us take advantage of the huge tourism money spinners around us,” Ogunwusi advised. (NAN)
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A suspect facing trial for his alleged involvement in the April 5 bank robbery in Offa, Kwara State, has accused the police of forcing him to indict Senate President Bukola Saraki.
The suspect, Friday Akininibosin, was speaking at at a High Court in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, on Friday.
His testimony was reported by the Nigerian Tribune newspaper.
Mr Akininibosin who is facing trial with four others for the robbery also told the court that he had no personal knowledge of Mr Saraki before he was arrested.
According to Tribune newspaper, the suspect said that a former police officers allegedly involved in the robbery, Michael Adikwu, was killed for his inability to go with the alleged plan of the prosecutors.
The police also said a picture of one of the accused at a wedding with Mr Saraki emerged, linking the Senate president with the armed robbers.
According to the police, the suspects alleged to have worked as political thugs for Mr Saraki who allegedly supplied them with armunitions.
Mr Saraki has denied any wrongdoing and alleged victimisation.
In a dramatic twist, however, Mr Akininibosin retracted his earlier stance and accused the police of masterminding his confession which he claims was written for him by police officers.
“I told him my life is at stake here and that I wouldn’t do such. Then, he said I should do that for them and that they’ll pay me and thereafter set me free. I disagreed and was carried back to the cell on his instruction as I couldn’t walk,” it added.
Abba Kyari is the police officer who led the team that arrested the suspects. Mr Kyari has also led his team to effect the arrest of other major crime suspects across Nigeria. He and his team have however, been accused of rights abuses and corruption, charges he has denied.
The paper also quoted Mr Akininibosin as saying that the police intimidated them by killing five men in their presence and ordering them (the accused) to lie on the bodies of the dead people.
“I was shot on my two legs. I was later taken to Abba Kyari office, where he asked to know if I was ready to cooperate and I said yes and pleaded not to kill me. The next day was when Michael Adikwu was brought to identify us and say what connected us together. The dismissed officer said he didn’t know us and after much torture, he was shot dead in our presence.”
The police had confirmed Mr Adikwu’s death in its custody but said he died of natural causes.
According to the paper, the defendant said a journalist was later brought in who took his confessional statement, allegedly made under duress.
“I was panicked, thinking I was next to die. Later, a female TV journalist was brought by a police officer with a note, saying that was what they wanted me to say, and that if not, I will “travel”, meaning, I would be killed.
“That was how I agreed in the presence of the female journalist, who recorded while I was also beaten at interval.”
During cross examination however, the prosecution questioned the facts in the defendants claim, citing parts of the statements attributed to Mr Akininibosin which could only have been known by him.
According to the prosecution lawyer, the witness’ claim that the statement was written for him does not support the authenticity of personal information contained in his witness statement.
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Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, has dismissed the governorship/state Assembly election in the state as a sham and a mockery of democracy, saying that he has lost confidence in the nation’s democracy.
Okorocha, while addressing a mammoth crowd of aggrieved youths from various parts of the state who paid him a solidarity visit at the Government House, Owerri, accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of brazen complicity in the conduct of the exercise.
He warned that the sham, if allowed to prevail, would stultify the nation’s democratic system and promote injustice and iniquity to the highest crescendo.
“It is obvious that INEC in Imo is not guaranteeing us free, fair and credible election because Uche Nwosu, the governorship candidate of the Action Alliance (AA), actually won the election but INEC criminally disbanded electoral officers of the Commission and introduced people from Abia College of Agriculture who arrived in the state at midnight.
They brought people they had been training for weeks in Anambra before the election.”
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The Supreme Court has dismissed an application filed by Patience Jonathan, wife of former President Goodluck Jonathan, seeking to upturn the interim forfeiture order by a Federal High Court in Lagos placed on the sum of N2.4billion linked to her.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had traced the said sum to her and alleged that it was proceeds of illegal activities.
According to the EFCC, the N2.4billion was surreptitiously kept in the bank account of La Wari Furniture and Baths Limited, domiciled with Ecobank Plc.
Justice Mojisola Olaterogun had in 2017 ordered the interim forfeiture of the money, and held that anyone interested in it should appear before the court to show cause why it should not be finally forfeited to the Nigerian government.
Dissatisfied with the ruling, Mrs. Jonathan had approached the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, seeking to upturn the ruling of the lower court.
However, ruling on the appeal on January 12, 2018, the appellate court, in a lead judgement read by Justice Mojeed Owoade, rather upheld the interim forfeiture order.
Not satisfied with the ruling of the appellate court, Patience, through her counsel, Mike Ozekhome (SAN), again filed an appeal challenging the ruling before the Supreme Court.
However, the five-man panel of Supreme Court justices, in a unanimous ruling delivered on Friday, upheld the interim forfeiture order of the N2.4billion.
A five-man panel of Supreme Court justices had on Friday, March 8, 2019 in a unanimous judgement, also dismissed Patience’s appeal against the interim forfeiture order of a Federal High Court, Lagos, of another $8.4million traced to her by the EFCC and believed to be proceeds of illegal activities.
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Ahead of the opening of the 2019 edition of Big Brother Naija (BBNaija), organizers have announced plans to hold a reunion for its 2018 housemates.
Multichoice Nigeria made the announcement after it opened the dedicated channel of the reality TV show a few weeks back.
A short clip, posted on Instagram, from the upcoming reunion, Ifu Ennada is seen in a rage while Alex tries to calm her down and a security aide takes charge.
Also, the host for three editions, Ebuka Obi-Uchendu is seen intervening alongside security personnel.
The `Double Wahala’ season was one of the editions characterised with so much drama, love, and tactics.
Double Wahala which means double trouble lived up to its true meaning with the pairing of the housemates.
Highlights of the double Wahala included Cee-C and Tobi’s on and off relationship; fights between Alex & Cee-c; Anto and Lolu’s casual relationship.
Also, was the love tangos between TeddyA and Bambam; Miracle and Nina.
The edition was won by Miracle Igbokwe.
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