Photos: 700 Indian brides given wooden bats as weapon to fight off abusive husbands

700 new brides in the Indian state of Madya Pradesh have been empowered to defend themselves against domestic violence by state minister Gopal Bhargava. At a mass wedding organised by the government, he gave the brides long wooden paddles to use as weapons in case their husbands turn abusive after taking alcohol.

The paddles are the first of 10000 which he plans to dole out to women. On each of the paddles is a message which reads: 'For beating drunkards' and 'Police won't intervene'.

Bhargava told the brides to reason with their husbands first, adding that they should 'let the wooden paddles do the talking' if their spouses refuse to listen.

Bhargava said he wanted to draw attention to the plight of rural women who face domestic abuse from their alcoholic husbands.
He said:

'Women say whenever their husbands get drunk they become violent. Their savings are taken away and splurged on liquor.

'There is no intent to provoke women or instigate them to violence but the bat is to prevent violence.'

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Proceed on medical leave immediately- Falana, SERAP, others tell President Buhari

Worried by the falling health status of President Buhari, constitutional lawyer and human rights activist, Femi Falana and some civil society groups have called on him to immediately proceed on a medical leave. The group made the call in a joint statement signed and released yesterday.

Part of the statement which was signed by Falana, the Executive Director, SERAP, Adetokunbo Mumuni; Director, Centre for Democracy and Development, Professor Jibrin Ibrahim; and Country Director, Search for Common Ground, Chom Bagu, as well as Executive Chairman, CACOL, Debo Adeniran, reads

“As we join the Nigerian people of goodwill to pray for a speedy recovery of President Buhari, we are compelled to advise him to heed the advice of his personal physicians by taking a rest to attend to his health without any further delay. A few weeks ago, the Governor of Kaduna State, Mr. Nasir El-Rufai urged Nigerians to give President Buhari time to recover from his sickness. The plea was made after the Governor had visited and presumably assessed the state of the President at the presidential villa in Abuja. However, due to the apparent deterioration in the President’s health condition, he has neither been seen in public in the last one week nor attended the last two meetings of the Federal Executive Council. His absence at the last Jumat service in the villa has fuelled further speculations and rumours on President Buhari’s medical condition. But instead of embarking on regular briefing on the actual state of the health of President Buhari, officials of the federal government have continued to assure the Nigerian people that the is no need for apprehension over the matter".

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Femi Fani-Kayode now suing Rotimi Amaechi for defamation of character

Weeks after Rotimi Amaechi sued Femi Fani-Kayode for defamation of character for saying Amaechi owned the millions of dollars found in an apartment in Ikoyi, FFK is now returning the favour by suing Amaechi over statements he made during a Channels TV interview on April 27th..

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Lai Mohammed congratulates Anthony Joshua World Heavyweight Champion, says FG would soon invite him

The Minister of Information, Lai Moahmmed has congratulated British professional boxer of Nigerian descent Anthony Oluwafemi Joshua, who recently defeated Ukranian Wladimir Klitschko to become the unified World Heavyweight Champion.

In a statement issued in Lagos today May 2nd, Lai Mohammed, said Nigeria is proud to be associated with the new World champion, whose Nigerian heritage he has publicly acknowledged.

''My heart is in Nigeria, My heart is in Britain. I am a Nigerian man by blood, yes,'' the Minister quoted Joshua as saying in a recent interview, during which he also listed the secret of his success as pounded yam, eba and egusi - all Nigerian cuisine.

He hailed Joshua for his humility, despite his success in boxing, and his undying spirit, coming off the canvas after he was knocked down by Klitschko in the sixth round to win by a Technical Knock Out in the 11th round of their pulsating fight.

Mohammed said the government will soon invite the new World Heavyweight Champion to Nigeria, especially as he has said he is looking forward to giving something back to the country.

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MTN Nigeria dismisses 280 workers

280 staff of the South African telecoms giant, MTN, were on Friday relieved of their duties in Nigeria. The move affected about 15% of the company's entire Nigerian workforce; a number of them being long-serving staff who have worked with the company since it opened business in Nigeria in 2001.


Those affected include 200 permanent employees and about 80 contract staff across various levels, ranging from new graduates to senior managers. An informed source revealed that the sack was as a result of “the changing dynamics of the telecoms industry in recent times”. The telecoms firm plans to delve into full Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and digital operations and to achieve that, a new set of tech savvy employees capable of delivering on the new goals will be brought on board.

According to the sources, the sack did not come as a surprise as MTN had put out a notice in March for those who might wish to voluntarily disengage from the company, under its voluntary severance scheme (VSS) giving a one week window which expired on April 28.

About 200 staff voluntarily disengaged while 80 were compulsorily disengaged on Friday. Those affected were given a severance pay of 75% of their gross monthly income, multiplied by the number of years they had worked with the company.

“Those who decided to leave under the VSS were paid the equivalent of their three weeks gross salary for every year they worked with MTN. What it means is that if one worked in MTN for five years, one would be paid three weeks of the person’s gross salary times five,” the source said.

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Photo: Suspected 419ner defrauds woman of N678,000 in Makurdi

The Benue State Police Command has arrested one Moses Nyeta a suspected fraudster for defrauding one Augustina Ezende of Wadata area in Makurdi of the sum of ₦678,000.

The suspect during interrogation had confessed committing the crime with two others now at large. Suspect would be charged to court as soon as Investigation is concluded .

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200 level Uniben student drowns in River Benue during the 2017 NUGA

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  James odibo a 200 level Medical Laboratory Science student of the University of Benin student drowned in River Benue, on the closing day of Nigeria University Games Association (NUGA) hosted by the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Benue state. .
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  Omeche Onoja, chairman, NUGA games medical and sanitation sub-committee confirmed the incident. Onoja said the student had gone to the river to swim when the incident occurred. She said his corpse had been deposited at Madonna Hospital in Makurdi. .
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  “We had a distress call from some students of the situation but on reaching the river, we found his lifeless body. He was said to have participated in some games. The whole incident could have been avoided,” she said.

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