Police Shoot Sales Girl Dead, Injure 3 Others

A 20-year old sales girl identified simply as Lucy, was on Friday shot dead by policemen in the Apo area of Abuja.

The girl was hit in the chest by bullets fired into a photography shop where she worked as a sales girl.

Three other people sustained gunshot injuries when policemen from the FCT Police Command fired bullets indiscriminately in an attempt to enforce the demolition order of the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council.

The policemen had stormed the area around 7 am with officials of Development Control Department, who had come to demolish illegal structures.

But residents and indigenes, who felt that the government had no right to demolish their houses when they were yet to be resettled, resisted the operation.

They claimed that the case was still in court and that their leaders had advised them to continue to live in the area pending the determination of the suit.

Greenwich News gathered that as the policemen shot indiscriminately to control the residents, bullets penetrated into one of the shops and Lucy was hit in the chest. She was rushed to Garki Hospital, but she was confirmed dead on arrival. Her body has been deposited in the mortuary.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr. Wilson Inalegwu, met the House of Representatives representing AMAC/Bwari constituency of the FCT, Zephaniah Jisalo, at the hospital when he visited.

Inalegwu, who was in tears, assured the lawmaker that the case would be investigated.

“We are not sure what took our men there or what led to the shooting, it’s still a matter for investigation,” he said.

Emeka Ani, owner of the photo shop, where the deceased worked, said that his sales boy also sustained gunshot injuries during the incident.

He said, “From morning, the police surrounded our area. They said they came for demolition. All of a sudden, they started shooting sporadically. They shot into my shop and killed my sales girl. My boy also sustained injuries. Lucy has been with me for about one month. Her sister brought her for me from Cross River.”

The National Coordinator, Greater Gbyagi Initiative, Mr. Gimba Baiza, described the incident as wicked.

Messi Gears Argentina in a 3-0 defeat of Uruguay

Lionel Messi guided Argentina past a tough Uruguay side in the final half hour with two brilliant goals for a 3-0 win on Friday that keeps them top of South America's World Cup qualifiers.

Argentina lead the nine-nation South American group with 17 points from eight matches at the halfway stage. Colombia and Ecuador are one point behind, Uruguay and Chile five behind, reports Supersport.com.

Messi created and finished his first goal in the 66th minute, playing the ball to Angel Di Maria and racing through to tap the rebound past Fernando Muslera.

Argentina went two up nine minutes later with another move on the left, Messi again feeding Di Maria who returned the ball with his first touch where Sergio Aguero touched it into the net.

The third goal in the 80th minute came from a cheeky free kick by Messi, who deceived the Uruguay wall by sliding the ball underneath them and inside the base of the near post when they jumped expecting a shot to one of the upper corners.

It was sweet revenge for Messi, who has now scored 12 goals in his last seven internationals, and Argentina after they were eliminated by Uruguay on penalties in the 2011 Copa America and which the 2010 World Cup semi-finalists went on to win.

"Great match by the players," Argentina's coach Alejandro Sabella told reporters pitchside. "Against an experienced team who for good reason finished fourth at the (2010) World Cup."

Argentina enjoyed far more possession and territory than Uruguay in the first half but could not find a way through a well organised defence and when they did, they were caught offside.

Uruguay were a latent threat on the counter-attack with forwards of the calibre of Edinson Cavani, Luis Suarez and Diego Forlan.

Messi created a good chance for himself with a dribbling run past several defenders towards the end of the first half in Mendoza but his final, left-footed shot went over the top and hit the far stanchion.

He was also close with a free kick from the left which would have gone in if Muslera had not punched the ball over.

There was fighting among players from both sides early in the second half when Uruguay captain Diego Lugano chased a loose ball with Sergio Romero and stamped on the Argentina goalkeeper's hand as he went for it, earning a booking.

Messi's first goal came during a spell of total Argentine dominance but soon after there was a scare for Argentina with defender Pablo Zabaleta clearing off the line.

It was an expensive outing for the Uruguayans with Lugano, who came off injured, and fellow central defender Diego Godin suspended for Tuesday's visit to Bolivia after both were booked.
This victory over Uraguay may be even more significant as his archrival in the World Best Football awards, Cristino Ronald failed to score in the Russian win against his counrty Portugal yesterday.

Cleric, One Other Arrested For Alleged N9m Fraud And Forgery in C-River

TWO members of the United Nigeria Chaplaincy, and an official of a non governmental organization have been arrested and handed over to the Cross River State Police Command for alleged certificate forgery, falsification of documents and embezzlement of over N9 million.
A statement by the State Security Adviser, Mr. Rekpene Bassey gave the names of the two persons as Chaplain Sunday Enimuel and Rev. Mercy Felix Effiom who allegedly were factional state commandants of the United Nigeria Chaplaincy in the state.
The two who were allegedly disclaimed by the main body of UNC in the state for grossed misconduct which was also published in a national newspaper allegedly collected huge sums of money from about 300 unsuspected innocent people in the state.
According to the statement, “The two commandants were handed over to the police by the State Security Adviser, Mr. Rekpene Bassey. This follows series of petitions from members of the public who claimed that they paid over N30, 000 each to both suspects in order to gain job recruitment into the organization.”
It further stated that their being handed over to the police was as a result of serious offences they had allegedly committed which included embezzlement and sundry criminal activities and that the government had proscribed UNC in the state.
Reacting to the development, the Regional Commandant of UNC, Bishop Richard Eyamba said that the two arrested persons had long been expelled and that there was a disclaimer of the duo published in a national daily as a result of their suspected criminal activities.
He disclosed that the two arrested  persons had been partners in the crime and latter engaged in power tuzzle after their expulsion and had even went ahead to float a parallel group that was not recognized with its office at IBB way, while the main recognized UNC in the state has its office at No. 1 Marry Slessor Avenue, Calabar.
He said that the duo were kicked out of the organization when they allegedly started extorting money from the people and were reported to the police where two of them were arrested and afterwards released on bail.
“After their release, they started formenting  trouble in UNC and even threatened to urge the government to close UNC unless they were returned to office. After that, the two broke away and started operating at IBB Way, by Mounting of Fire Church and started recruiting people.
“They printed their own fake forms and were circulating them, we reported them to the Department of Security Service who carried out investigation and saw it was true.

AfricaMagic To Unveil Money Drop

AfricaMagic is poised to kick off the Nigerian version of the popular international game show, The Money Drop.

The managing director of M-net, Mrs. Biola Alabi, said the format of the series was simple but captivating. In each episode, two contestants will start off with a $100, 000 cash. Just eight questions stand between them and their money. But one wrong move and all that cash could disappear through a trapdoor.

Alabi looks forward to the upcoming series.  She says, “Anytime you put together the elements of risk, reward, cash and emotion, the outcome is going to be exciting and dramatic television. So, get set for great entertainment with The Money Drop. It’s a unique game show because this time round you start with the money and then play to keep it!

“We are very proud to be screening an all-Nigerian version of this series and believe that it will go a long way to keep our audiences engaged with our glamorous AfricaMagic Entertainment channel, which is already the home to Tinsel, Jacob’s Cross, 53 Extra, StarGist, Isidingo, Generations and so much more.”

PHOTO: FCT Authorities Demolish Over 300 Houses