25 Year old Student Goes Missing After Leaving Home For School

Ismail at the motorpark

When 25-year-old Ismail Balogun bade his family farewell in Lagos and set out for Abia State on November 30, 2012, it was expected that he would call his father, Musibau, on arrival at his destination.

Even though the journey was supposed to last just 10 hours, members of his family have not heard from him more than a month after he embarked on the journey.

PUNCH Metro learnt that Ismail, a 300-level student of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture , Umudike, usually travelled by road whenever he was returning to school.

According to Musibau, his son left home around 4:30pm on the fateful day and went to Maza Maza to board a night bus.

Musibau said Ismail usually took the night bus and always called to intimate him of every development as the trip progressed.

He said, “My son left our home at Ikotun and headed for Maza Maza Bus Stop around 4:30pm. Around 7pm, he called to say that he mistakenly left his laptop and some credentials at home. I told him that I would the items across to him. Around 9:50pm, I called him and he said the bus was about leaving and I bade him farewell.

“However, around 5am, I called his two phones but both were switched off. I kept on calling until 10am the following day but the numbers remained switched off. At this point, I became worried. I later called his colleagues in school but they said they had not heard from him as well.

“Around 4pm, I went to Maza Maza Bus Stop to find out if any bus had had an accident or just to know if anything went wrong. The bus operators told me that there was no problem with all the buses. I checked all the bus manifests but my son’s name was not written in any of them.”

Musibau said three days later, he went to report the matter at Ejigbo Police Division. He added that the matter was subsequently transferred to the Area E Command, FESTAC for further investigation.

The investigation however took a sudden twist when it was discovered that Ismail’s facebook account was being updated.

PUNCH Metro observed that Ismail uploaded two photographs on his facebook page.

The first picture, it was learnt, was taken at the Maza Maza Bus Park on the day the student of Animal Production and Management left Lagos while the second picture was posted a day after he left Lagos.

It was observed that the second picture supposedly posted by the victim was taken along with three other young men in a market place. In the picture, Ismail was seen without a shirt.

Musibau said he had written a petition to the Area E Commander, Mr. Damian Okoro, since December 9, 2012, but no progress had been made.

The father of eight urged the police and members of the public to help locate his son.

He said, “On checking Ismaila’s facebook page, I saw the photograph he took before leaving the park with one Mass Transit Scheme managed by Urban Development Bank of Nigeria Plc and another one with some boys while my son was topless in their midst.

“Ismaila is my fourth child but the first boy. He is a good boy and does not keep bad company. I appeal to the area commander to use his good offices to rescue my son and bring the culprits to book.”

When contacted, the spokesperson for the state police command, Ngozi Braide, said she would call back.

 

Punch

Breakup Therapy! Woman Auctions Ex's Most Prized Possession To Get Revenge

Hell hath no fury...than a woman scorned...

There is no better cure for a breakup than treating yourself to some lovely jewellery, and that is exactly what a Waikato teacher did after selling her ex-boyfriend's most prized possession.

The ex-boyfriend was a keen fisherman and had entrusted her with his secret fishing spots, but after he fled to Australia with little notice, Angela Potter got revenge.

Miss Potter was clearing out her garage when she found the GPS markings for fishing spots in the Bay of Plenty and many other areas of the North Island, so she auctioned them off on Trade Me last January and scored herself a whopping $3000.

The auction received 89,688 views, making it the 10th most viewed Trade Me auction of 2012, a surprise to Miss Potter.

"I only expected it to get 100 hits," she said.

"My ex-boyfriend is an avid and very successful fisherman who asked me to protect his collection of GPS fishing spot co-ordinates [with my life no less]. Not a problem," she wrote on the auction.

And sold secrets tend to make for an angry man - Miss Potter said her ex was less than pleased to find out they had been shared.

Miss Potter said she would never have sold the co-ordinates had it been an amicable breakup, however, the man packed his belongings into her suitcase, which had sentimental value, and fled the country.

"When he refused to return my suitcase that's when I sold his co-ordinates," she said. "I didn't list them to be vindictive. I listed them as a bit of a laugh."

Adding to the story is that Miss Potter has now hooked another fisherman, but out of respect to the people who bought the sacred fishing secrets, she is not willing to share them with him.

"I wouldn't do that. I'm fairly honourable in that respect," she said.

stuff.co.nz

Man Dies On Christmas Day, Wife Throws Party A Few Hours Later

In an extraordinary incident, a Mahatshula woman in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe hosted a party after the death of her husband.

According to sources, the party was held on Christmas Day just a few hours after the woman’s husband died. The woman, Nomasonto Zikhali is said to have lost her husband, Khumbulani Ncube, who died on Christmas day.

Zikhali reportedly invited her friends and relatives to join her in the party. Reports say Ncube’s relatives boycotted the party as they condemned the move with all the contempt it deserved.

“Surely, how can someone do such a thing? She should be taken for mental examination to ascertain whether all is still well in her brain. We are all in shock. We were about to join her in her mourning but we were left speechless after we heard music being played at a very high volume. I asked another neighbour to accompany me there and we found her dancing with some women and a few men,” said a source who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The source said Zikhali was questioned about her seemingly uncultured behaviour by other neighbours and she sent them packing. She reportedly said life should not stop because her husband had died on Christmas Day.

“That woman is crazy. Even weddings do not go on if someone close to the groom or bride dies. This whole Christmas thing is a mockery of our values. I don’t think Jesus will be happy to see people soil the values of humanity using his name,” fumed a neighbour.

The source said Zikhali’s in-laws were gathered at their rural home and had decided not to involve her in the funeral proceedings.

“Who can blame them? I would have done the same if I were in their shoes. What she did is unheard of. Maybe she is from another planet,” said the source.

Our news crew caught up with Zikhali who by no means resembled a woman in mourning.

“Let them talk. I am living my life. So are they telling me that life should not go on after the death of my husband? They are getting it wrong. I wasn’t celebrating his death, but Christmas Day like all Christians,” said Zikhali.

The widow, who was putting on a gleeful smile during the interview further said she just wanted to relieve stress.

“I would have died of stress. A wife and husband dying on the same day, what would have that been? Perhaps good news for the media. I don’t care what they say. I know what I was doing and I am not going to sit here and try to please some people who do not even care about my welfare,” said the woman who lost her husband last week.

Zikhali said she was unmoved by the irreparable damage between her in-laws and herself.

“No one knows what I am going through, so it will be best for me to try and alleviate my stress by doing what makes me happy,” she said.

informationnigeria

Nollywood Actress, Toyin Aimakhu And Tinsel Actor Adeniyi Johnson Engaged

After dating for just five months, Yoruba actress Toyin Aimakhu and Tinsel actor Adeniyi Johnson are now engaged.

It was gathered that Johnson proposed to Aimakhu on December 31, 2012 (last night) at a dinner date.
Sources say the couple intend to wed sometime in 2013.

New Year's Eve Tragedy: 61 Dead, Several Injured In Stadium Stampede

More than 60 people, most of them children aged between eight and 15, have died in a New Year's Eve stampede at a stadium in Ivory Coast.

It happened in Abidjan at around 2am local time after crowds gathered to watch a fireworks display.

Officials said 61 people had died and around 50 were injured, although some estimates of the number hurt were much higher.

Rescue co-ordinator Lieutenant Colonel Issa Sako said the number of people trying to get into the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium to watch the fireworks had caused the accident.

He said: "In the crush people were walked over and suffocated by the crowd."

One woman, Assetou Toure, said her children had been at the event and she did not know if they had survived.

"My two children came here yesterday. I told them not to come but they didn't listen," she said.

"They came when I was sleeping. What will I do?"

A Reuters correspondent said there were bloodstains and abandoned shoes outside the stadium on Tuesday morning, and rescue workers and government officials were still on the scene.

skynews