Ben Affleck & Jennifer Garner Step Out For Lunch In Los Angeles

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner stepped out for lunch in Los Angeles on Thursday before taking their two daughters for an after-school treat: frozen yogurt at Menchie's. 

At Menchie's, Garner, 43, helped Violet, 9, sample the yogurt, while Affleck, 42, helped Seraphina, 6. "Jen and Ben were focused on each kid," says a source, as the family chatted. 

The star parents have both been busy filming recently, with Garner shuttling to Montreal for the comedy Nine Lives and Affleck making Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. And superhero fans have been buzzing this week, wondering if images of Batman on the Toronto set of Suicide Squad mean the actor will appear in the film as the Caped Crusader. 

Garner, meanwhile, announced earlier this month that she is starting a new line of creative kits and projects for active kids with Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores. She was also recently cast in the upcoming Christian-focused drama Miracles from Heaven.

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Nigeria Army Repels Boko Haram As New President Starts Term

Maiduguri (Nigeria) (AFP) - Nigeria's military on Saturday repelled a Boko Haram attack on the key northeastern city of Maiduguri, hours after President Muhammadu Buhari took office vowing to crush the Islamist group.

The overnight attack on the Borno state capital saw rocket-propelled grenades fired into homes in a bombardment that reportedly lasted several hours.

The fighting was most heavily concentrated in the Dala suburb to the south of the city.

"It was a nightmare," Dala resident Malam Yusuf told AFP. He said his own home was hit and his wife's foot was "blown off."

"RPGs kept flying and falling on homes," he said.

While some residents recounted bodies being removed from targeted homes, no one was able to provide a precise death toll and emergency workers in Borno were not available to comment.

In his inaugural speech after taking the oath of office on Friday, Buhari described Nigeria's Islamist rebels as a "mindless" and "godless" group that would ultimately be destroyed.

He announced plans to reinforce Maiduguri with a new command and control centre to better coordinate the counter-insurgency effort, a move analysts said signalled his commitment to intensifying the fight.

It was not clear if Boko Haram's fresh assault on the strategically crucial city was timed to come hours after the inauguration.

But the new president will likely be tested repeatedly in the coming months by a militant group that has proved resilient over its six-year uprising.

- Midnight assault -

Shortly after midnight (2300 GMT Friday), residents in Dala woke to the sound of RPGs being fired in succession, resident Modu Karumi said, in an account supported by several others.

Witnesses said hundreds of Islamist gunmen were trying to advance on the city, which is now home to hundreds of thousands of people displaced by unrest in other parts of Borno state.

Maiduguri-based vigilante Babagana Bulunkutu said the RPGs fell on homes "while residents were sleeping."

"Five houses were destroyed," and Islamist gunmen fired indiscriminately in Dala and two neighbouring suburbs, Bulunkutu said.

An AFP reporter who lives in the area said he heard what sounded like armoured personnel carriers deploying to the southern edge of the city to face the rebel advance.

Three senior security sources in Maiduguri who were not authorised to speak publicly said the attack had been repelled.

"All is under control. There is no cause for alarm," one of those sources told AFP.

The sound of RPGs and gunfire had also eased, residents and an AFP reporter said.

Nighttime movement in Maiduguri is restricted by a 10:00 pm to 6:00 am curfew.

- New administration -

Experts doubt that Boko Haram currently has the capacity to seize Maiduguri, but a major attack inside the city would likely be disastrous for civilians.

The Islamist rebels have been flushed out of several Borno state towns they controlled in an offensive launched in February by Nigeria with backing from neighbouring Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

But there are signs of the militants regrouping, particularly in the remote parts of eastern Borno near the Cameroon border.

Buhari in his inaugural speech noted the successes of the four-nation offensive but said Boko Haram would not be defeated until operational command was shifted from the capital Abuja to Maiduguri.

"This denotes a more hands-on approach to the fight against Boko Haram," said Yan St-Pierre, head of the Modern Security Consulting Group, describing the move as "very sound."

Buhari's predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan, was heavily criticised for his performance against the militants, with the conflict killing more than 15,000 people since 2009 and forcing another 1.5 million from their homes.

Buhari indicated the uprising could have been contained in the early stages but flourished due largely to "official bungling, negligence (and) complacency."

Victims of the conflict, especially in the northeast, voted overwhelmingly for Buhari in March polls, in part because the ex-army general is seen as a strong commander-in-chief.

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Actress Uche Jombo And Her Husband Welcome Their Newly Born...

Baby Matthew.

Story Behind Mom’s Inspiring Photo of Two Little Girls With Cancer

This inspiring image of two little girls embracing each other at a children’s cancer hospital has gone viral. (Photo: Tazz Jones/Facebook)

It’s not unusual for mothers to post sweet photos of their children on social media. But one mom’s Facebook photo of her 5-year-old daughter hugging a friend is so heart-tugging, it’s gone viral since it was first posted on May 3.

STORY: 5-year-Old’s Touching Act of Kindness Toward a Homeless Man

And no wonder: the image of two little girls leaning on each other for support in front of a window at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburghsays something about friendship, love, and the instant bond between children who have been stricken with cancer.

The photo, taken and uploaded by Tazz Jones, shows the moment her 5-year-old daughter, Maliyah, met Madelina deLuca for the first time at Children’s Hospital. 

Maliyah and Madelina were both undergoing treatment there for cancer. Since 2012, Maliyah has been battling stage IV neuroblastoma, which caused a cancerous tumor to grow in her abdomen and spread to her bone marrow. And 2-year-old Madelina was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in 2014.

Immediately after meeting, the two girls became fast friends. “She and Maliyah instantly clicked as if they knew one another for some time,” Jones told ABC News. They played together for a while before taking a break to sit and look out the window, quietly embracing, recalled Jones.

“At that moment I starred [sic] in awe!” Jones told ABC. “I wondered what they were feeling; what they were thinking and how they felt.” She asked Madelina’s parents if she could snap the photo. Later, she realized that it symbolized the connection children with cancer have.

STORY: 16-Year-Old Girl Freezes Eggs Ahead of Chemo

“Through sickness and health there will always be someone by your side weather [sic] you know them or not,” wrote Jones, according to ABC News. “My heart filled with joy and hope, and I knew that I cannot just be the only person to see this.”

In her caption for the photo, she encouraged viewers to repost and share it far and wide. “So many people have been telling me to submit this picture, get it blown up, and that it touched there [sic] hearts,” she wrote on Facebook. “This is the perfect example of love.” The two girls are not out of the woods yet, but clearly they have each other to lean on for support.

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New Nigerian President Vows To Crush "godless" Boko Haram

ABUJA (Reuters) - New Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari vowed on Friday to eradicate the "mindless, godless" militant group Boko Haram and rescue hundreds of women and children held captive, including 200 girls taken from the town of Chibok a year ago.

In his inaugural address as elected leader of Africa's most populous nation and biggest crude producer, Buhari also painted a picture of an economy in crisis after this year's collapse in the price of oil, which accounts for the bulk of state revenue.

"The armed forces will be fully charged with prosecuting the fight against Boko Haram," the 72-year-old former military ruler announced in the heart of the capital. A Muslim, he said the group was "as far from Islam as one can think of".

"We cannot claim to have defeated Boko Haram without rescuing the Chibok girls and all other innocent persons held hostage," he said. "This government will do all it can to rescue them alive."

Hundreds of other Boko Haram captives have been freed by the military in recent weeks, but the Chibok girls, whose capture caused a global outcry, have still not been found.

Buhari's March election win was Nigeria's first democratic transfer of power. He inherits a host of problems from his predecessor Goodluck Jonathan, whose five-year tenure was marked by aimless security and foreign policy-making, as well as corruption scandals.

Depleted foreign reserves, vastly reduced oil revenues, corruption and the escalating cost of servicing debt had left the economy in "deep trouble", he said.

He made no mention of the naira, the currency, which economists say may be headed for another devaluation.

Importantly, he held out an olive branch to his political opponents in the oil-rich Niger Delta, saying his administration would continue to invest heavily in projects in the region that have underpinned an amnesty by militant groups there.

COME-BACK

Three decades after he first came to power in a military coup, Buhari's swearing-in marks a remarkable political turn-around from authoritarian ruler to born-again democrat following his landslide victory at the ballot box in March.

His oath was followed by the release of dozens of white doves, symbolising peace. Many of Nigeria's 170 million people also interpreted it as turning the page on five years of disappointment and frustration under Jonathan.

"Jonathan was so bad, very bad. Now the incoming president will do something for us," said Mutawali Bukar, a businessman from the northeast city of Maiduguri, the epicentre of the Boko Haram insurgency.

Thousands in Abuja's Eagle Square chanted "Sai Buhari", which means "All hail, Buhari" in the northern Hausa language.

The spirit of optimism is, however, tempered by the reality in which Nigeria finds itself, and much depends on Buhari's choice of ministers, particularly in key portfolios such as finance, internal security and oil.

"Now it's time for the heavy lifting," said Bismark Rewane, chief executive of Lagos-based consultancy Financial Derivatives. "Do you have the team that is respected by the international community, that has the pedigree and the background to deal with the management issues?"

Yemi Osinbajo, a Christian lawyer from the southwest region that includes Lagos, is vice-president, a deliberate counterpoint in the religiously mixed nation to Buhari, who is from the predominantly Muslim north.

Although his roots are in the military, not economics, Buhari served as head of the Petroleum Trust Fund under Sani Abacha, another military ruler, giving him insight into the murky world of crude oil production.

"NEW CHAPTER"

Befitting Buhari's modest style, there was little fanfare in the capital ahead of the swearing in, with security checkpoints leading to Abuja's Eagle Square and a few green and white national flags lining its main expressway.

The ceremony was attended by numerous African leaders and foreign dignitaries including U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

A senior U.S. official said Washington, which had strained ties with Jonathan's administration, was ready to expand military cooperation, including sending advisors to help train Nigeria's army against Boko Haram.

"We have every indication that we'll be able to start a new chapter," the official said.

Dozens of African countries were represented by heads of state, who stand to gain if Buhari can breathe new life into the economy and restore Abuja's diplomatic credibility and clout.

South African President Jacob Zuma was a notable guest, a sign of Pretoria's desire to improve relations with Abuja after a series of diplomatic spats, most recently over a wave of attacks on foreigners in South Africa this year.

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Nigeria's New President

The newly sworn in president of Nigeria, President Mohammadu Buhari tweets "I belong to everybody and also belong to nobody".

End Of The Road: How Police Arrested Robber On Wedding Day

Olumide Asiyanbi, a suspected notorious robber, is not new in the business of making others cry by maiming and dispossessing them of their hard-earned monies and valuables.

Having participated in more than 10 different armed robbery operations, Asiyanbi has severally left behind sorrow, tears and serious psychological fear on his various victims.

Though, he was lucky to have escaped from all those operations, the cries of his victims might have reached the high heavens as he was later caught through the high powered intelligence of the Oyo State Police command led by the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Muhammed Katsina.

Interestingly, Asiyanbi was arrested on a day he was tying a nuptial knot with his unsuspecting   and unlucky bride.

The suspect, who is a 42 year-old man, was arrested when he was at the registry to sign the marriage certificate.

According to the police, he was among a six-man-robbery gang who had variously terrorised residents of Challenge area of Ibadan.

Giving insights as to how the suspect and his colleagues were pinned down, Mr Katsina said “he was about to wed before we caught him. We laid ambush for them for more than seven days. When they decided to strike, it would have been one of the deadliest. They had wanted to attack one of the first generation banks. As they came in, we picked them one after the other. We will soon charge them to court. You can see the pistol we believe might belong to one of the law enforcement agents. Knowing that the game was up, the suspect confessed that he had been involved in 10 different robbery attacks before he was apprehended.”

For Asiyanbi, he narrated how he met his waterloo on his wedding day.

Hear him: “I am 42 year-old. I hail from Osun state, Ile-ife. I was arrested on my wedding day at the registry. We went to rob and we were caught along Challenge area.  I was arrested on my wedding day. I met the gang leader, James Agba, last year, who told me that he knew how we could be getting regular money. He then initiated me into the gang. I have taken part in at least 10 operations since I joined them.

“We are six in number. We use guns but the guns belong to James Agba and Alhaji Sulaiman.”

Asked how he got guns, James Agba, 35 years, an Urhobo man from Delta State said, “we got the guns in Abuja from my secondary school friend, Joel. When I robbed four times, I was given a laptop and a phone. I bought the pistol from Emeka in Abuja. We collected phones and laptops in our four operations.”

Also arrested with the robbery suspects was a 63-year-old Ghanaian, James Matthew, who abandoned his security job and chose the path of destruction.

According to Matthew, “I am a security man at Ajibade area, Coca-cola in Ibadan. We use guns in our operations, but I don’t know where James was buying them from. Sulaiman and Alhaji, who are also in the gang, know how the guns were bought for our operations. I have fired shots at our targets but nobody was killed.”

While parading the suspects, the CP hinted that some suspected burglars were also arrested.

He disclosed that among the robbers were those, who allegedly used tranquillising drugs to force their victims to sleep after which they rob them of their valuables.

According to the CP, after the suspects had induced their victims to sleep, they would leave them for about thirty minutes.

He said: “we also arrested house breakers and burglars who perpetrate evil by injecting sleep-induced chemicals into the houses via the windows of innocent citizens of Nigerians who open their windows at night for fresh air as a result of the heat. Thirty minutes after this unscrupulous act is done, they go and rob these people who might have been asleep almost to the point of coma”.

Items recovered from them include LCD television sets, laptops among other items.

Speaking further, Katsina said, “at times you park your vehicle in front of your house, by the time you wake up the following morning, your vehicle is gone. So, we have decided to hunt them one after the other. But, in this case, this bus was snatched at Iwo, Osun state and this one from Akure.

This is what they use in damaging the ignition key no matter the type of vehicle, look at the owners of the vehicles as we return their vehicles to them.”

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Security Tight For Nigerian Presidential Inauguration

Abuja (AFP) - Security was beefed up in and around Nigeria's capital, Abuja, on Thursday, as final preparations were made for the inauguration of Muhammadu Buhari as president.

The 72-year-old, who defeated incumbent Goodluck Jonathan in elections two months ago, will be sworn in at a ceremony from 9 am (0800 GMT) on Friday before world leaders and other dignitaries.

Among those who have confirmed attendance are South Africa's President Jacob Zuma, US Secretary of State John Kerry and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.

Soldiers were out in force on the streets, including at main entry points into the city, while there was a visible police presence at key locations such as hotels and government buildings.

Roads have been closed around the Eagle Square inauguration venue, where dozens of international flags have been hoisted alongside the Nigerian green, white and green tricolour.

Nigeria's federal police chief Solomon Arase said the measures were imposed "to ward off possible plans by insurgents to carry out widespread violence and coordinated attacks".

Boko Haram Islamists waging a bloody, six-year insurgency in Nigeria's northeast, have hit Abuja before, including twice in the space of a month last April and May, killing nearly 100 people.

On those occasions, the bombings were at a bus station on the outskirts of the city but in June last year, 21 were killed when a blast rocked a shopping mall near the city centre.

In 2010, twin car bombings claimed by militants from the oil-producing southern Delta region killed 10 people near ceremonies in Abuja to mark 50 years of independence.

Arase urged members of the public to remain vigilant and cooperate with the security services "to stamp out crimes, including (the) war against terror... to ensure (a) hitch-free inauguration".

Tourism minister Edem Duke, who is involved with the preparations, told AFP: "All the issues that will make for a successful inauguration have been validated.

"Security has been enhanced. The ceremonial elements have been firmly put in place. The registrar of the Supreme Court is working on the elements of the swearing in."

Buhari, who headed a military regime in the 1980s, takes office just days after a deal was reached to end a crippling fuel shortage that brought the country to a near standstill.

There were still long queues for petrol and diesel at filling stations, as distributors tried to clear the backlog.

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Relief, As Oil Workers, Others Suspend Strike

LAGOS—The crippling strike embarked upon by oil marketers and other industry stakeholders since May 16, was called off, yesterday, as the marketers commenced full lifting of petroleum products nationwide. While the strike lasted, socio-economic activities in the country were paralysed.

By this move, the contentious outstanding subsidy claims of over N200 billion will now be inherited by the incoming administration of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, which will form part of his briefing notes.

The development followed the intervention of the Senate, during a public hearing organised by the Joint Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream and Downstream), held yesterday, in Abuja.

While the hearing was ongoing, Capital Oil and Gas Industries Limited, which on Sunday broke ranks with marketers and depot operators by releasing 13 million litres of fuel, also promised to release additional 19 million litres to ensure that Nigerians are completely free of the pain being experienced on account of the scarcity.

At the hearing, petroleum marketers agreed to fully mobilize their members for immediate distribution of fuel across the country within six hours, promising that any of their members who remained adamant would be sanctioned.

Legislative investigation

Recall that the Senate had last week, through a motion moved by the Deputy Senate Leader, Abdul Ningi, ordered its committees on Petroleum Resources ( Upstream and Downstream), to investigate the reasons for the lingering fuel scarcity in the country over the past one month and about two months in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

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Dokpesi To Testify In Tinubu’s N150bn Libel Suit

Raymond Dokpesi

The suit instituted by a national leader of All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu challenging an alleged defamatory documentary against him by the African Independent Television (AIT) has taken a new twist as the chairman of DAAR Communication Plc, High Chief Raymond Aleogho Dokpesi has indicated his intention to testify in the matter.

Other witnesses listed to testify in defence of the libellous documentary are Namure Joy Edoimioya, Chief Medan Tenke, Ajibola Adewusi, Olumide Idowu, Chief Stanley Odidi, Engr. Nwabueze and Dr. Stanley Bassey.

Tinubu had instituted the N150 billion suit against AIT before an Ikeja High Court for peddling false accusations about his personality in the documentary titled “Lion of Bourdilion”

According to him, the documentary was politically sponsored to tarnish his reputation in the eyes of the populace.

The presiding judge, Justice Iyabo Akinkugbe had on April 1 granted an interlocutory injunction restraining the AIT from further airing the documentary, pending the determination of the libel suit.

But in a statement of defence and counter-claim filed by AIT today, DAAR Communications Plc denied all the allegations made by Tinubu.

Ashiwaju Bola Tinubu

It stated that Tinubu founded his entire claims on a non existent ground or cause of action because contrary to his (Tinubu) claim, the documentary aired by its media outfit is not titled “The Lion of Bourdillon”, but “Unmasking the Real Tinubu”.

DAAR Plc in its statement of defence also averred that the documentary, in its honest opinion, was not false and neither was aired out of malice to the person of the claimant.

It averred further that as the fourth estate of the realm, it is empowered by Section 22 of the Constitution to at all times, hold those in government accountable and responsible to the people of Nigeria.

“The defendant avers that further to paragraphs 4 and 5 above, that it is empowered by Section 22 of the Constitution as the fourth estate of the realm, to at all times, hold those in government accountable and responsible to the people of Nigeria, and to be free to uphold the fundamental objectives contained in Chapter 2 of the Constitution and uphold the responsibility and accountability of the government to the people to ensure that the economic system is not operated in such a manner as to permit the concentration of wealth or the means of production and exchange in the hands of few individuals or of a group, and that there is equal opportunity for every Nigerian to secure adequate means of livelihood and empowerment without discrimination.

“The defendant avers that the claimant is a former public office holder whose activities before, during and after leaving office are always in the public domain for proper scrutiny, in accordance with the intendment of the framers of the Nigerian Constitution.

“The defendant also avers that being in the business of information dissemination, it is aware that the contents of the said documentary are not news to many Nigerians, a fact very well known to the claimant, who took no steps to correct the information embedded in the print media and the social media platforms for years. For example, the pseudonym, “Lion of Bourdillon”, by which the claimant has come to be known, addressed and associated with, over the years, was not given to him, or coined by the defendant”, it averred.

It further stated that the said documentary, which it did not authored, was only aired for a given short period of time and was last aired on March 6, 2015, when it got wind that the defendant had filed a libel suit.

Also attached to the filed statement of defence and counter-claim was a list of documents to be relied on which comprises links to online publications.

Dokpesi in his statement on Oath also claimed that the defendant merely exercised its constitutional, statutory and social responsibility to inform, educate, entertain and provide a platform for national discourse, to all shades of opinion and political persuasion.

He said the documentary aired by the defendant under Section 22 of the Constitution merely states that the claimant (Tinubu) has breached some portions of the said fundamental objectives, and directive principles of state policy contained in Chapter 2 of the Constitution, which the defendant, amongst others, is legally mandated to ensure the observance of, and same was not maliciously or falsely made against the claimant.

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Girl, 13, Raped After Meeting Man In Kingston-Upon-Thames

The girl was attacked on a grassy area near Barge Walk in Kingston-upon-Thames

A 13-year-old girl was raped near the River Thames after agreeing to meet a man in south-west London.

The teenager was attacked at about 22:45 BST on 17 May near Barge Walk in Kingston-upon-Thames.

She had met the suspect, an Asian man in his 20s, the previous day in Camden and agreed to meet him again on the Sunday when she was attacked.

The Met said it was keen to trace a young couple who asked about the girl's welfare shortly after the incident.

Detectives said the couple were in their 20s and the girl remembered passing them as they walked in the direction of Hampton Court. The woman was about 25-years-old with fair skin, a blonde bob and a denim jacket.

Det Ch Insp Pete Condron said the couple "may hold vital information about what happened".

The suspect was described as wearing blue jeans and a dark coloured leather jacket at the time of the attack.

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Nigerian Senator-Elect To Fight US Extradition, Drug Charges

FILE - In this Sunday, Oct, 12, 2014 file photo, Buruji Kashamu attends a primary election event for Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja, Nigeria. On Saturday, May 23, 2015, drug agents surrounded the house of the senator-elect wanted by the United States in a nearly 20-year-old heroin deal that was the alleged basis for the TV hit "Orange is the New Black." (AP Photo)

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — A wanted man newly elected to Nigeria's Senate will appear in court Monday to fight his extradition to the United States on 20-year-old charges related to the TV hit "Orange is the New Black."

Senator-elect Buruji Kashamu, 56, has declared his innocence. Chicago prosecutors charge he was the kingpin of a heroin trafficking ring there in the 1990s. Kashamu has said the prosecutors really want the dead brother whom he closely resembles.

Kashamu's spokesman said he will appear Monday at the Federal High Court.

After years of inaction, the United States has requested his extradition, according to Nigeria's drug agency. The U.S. Embassy did not immediately respond to requests for confirmation.

Senators like Kashamu are to be sworn into the new legislature on Friday.

Drug agents surrounded Kashamu's home before dawn on Saturday. The drug agency says he is under house arrest. Kashamu's spokesman says it's an illegal siege and that they have no arrest warrant.

"About six fully armed, hooded and menacing-looking operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency are right inside his bedroom with his wife, children and other members of his immediate family!" Kashamu's spokesman, Austin Oniyokor, told the AP in an email Sunday night.

Kashamu is the victim of a political conspiracy, he said.

The moves follow the downfall of President Goodluck Jonathan's party, in which Kashamu was a major financier and powerful politician. Jonathan lost March elections but Kashamu was elected in balloting opponents said was rigged.

A Chicago grand jury in 1998 indicted Kashamu for conspiracy to import and distribute heroin in the U.S.

A previous request to extradite him from Britain failed in 2003. Kashamu spent five years in a British jail before he was freed over uncertainty about his identity. He was carrying $230,000 when he was arrested there.

A dozen people long ago pleaded guilty in the case, including American Piper Kerman, whose memoir was adapted for the Netflix hit "Orange is the New Black." Kerman's book never identified Kashamu by name, only citing a West African drug kingpin.

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Nigeria In Crisis As Presidential Handover Looms: Opposition

LAGOS (AFP) - Nigeria's opposition on Sunday accused outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan of leaving a country in crisis, as fuel shortages brought the nation to a standstill just days from Muhammadu Buhari's inauguration.

Buhari's All Progressives Congress (APC) highlighted record lows in electricity production, multiple strikes and billions of dollars in unpaid debts, suggesting Jonathan's government was deliberately leaving the country in a mess.

"Never in the history of our country has any government handed over to another a more distressed country," APC spokesman Lai Mohammed said in an emailed statement.

"No electricity, no fuel, workers are on strike, billions are owed to state and federal workers, $60 billion (is) owed in national debt and the economy is virtually grounded," he added.

Buhari won Nigeria's first-ever opposition victory in March 28 elections and is set to take over as head of state of Africa's most populous nation, leading economy and top oil producer this Friday.

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Boko Haram Is A Fraud – Buhari

Nigeria’s president-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari says Boko Haram will be denied a recruitment base the moment our local communities realize that its claim to being a religious group is nothing but a fraud.

In a statement issued and signed by Garba Shehu, Directorate of Media & Publicity, APC Presidential Campaign, Buhari said: “The fraud called Boko Haram can be defeated by denying it a recruitment base,” General Buhari told visiting leaders of Nassarawa State who came to congratulate him on his emergence as president-elect.

“No religion allows for the killing of children in school dormitory, in markets and places of worship. They have nothing to do with religion. They are terrorists and we are going to deal with them as they deal with terrorists anywhere,” he announced.

Buhari said he is greatly pained by the destruction of schools in Northeastern part of the country, an action he said could deny thousands of youngsters access to education and a better future unless something was done urgently to avert this tragedy.

“The worst thing anybody can do is to deny children access to education. That will be destructive to their lives and we are not going to allow that to happen,” the President-elect assured.

He announce that his government will help the states to get more money to improve infrastructure by ensuring that all federally collectible revenues are paid directly into the federation account and each tier of government given its due share.

“As at now, the government does not even know how many revenue accounts it has. We will give all the tiers what is due to them but will hold them to be accountable as we would the federal government.”

Buhari while describing Nassarawa state as his own “political laboratory”, meaning the only CPC-controlled state of the 36 others adjudged the experiment as having been a success.

“From one state, I now have 22 political laboratories.”

He commended Governor Al-Makura for surviving his many impeachment plots, saying “without Nassarawa, there would not have been an APC.”

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