Nigeria Today

Nigeria's Senate has ordered an investigation into reports that one of its members has married a 13-year-old Egyptian girl.

Ahmad Sani Yerima, 49, is alleged to have married her at the national mosque in Abuja several weeks ago.

Senators called for the investigation after receiving a petition by protesting women's groups, who believe Mr Sani has broken the law.

The senator has not spoken publicly about the reports of his marriage.

The BBC's Caroline Duffield, in Lagos, says Nigeria's human rights commission has already begun an investigation.

Some top officials of the Delta State Government are believed to have gone underground as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission continues the search for evidence that could help its investigation into an allegation of graft against former Governor James Ibori.

The officials, said an EFCC source on Wednesday, were mostly heads of some ministries and departments in the oil-rich state.

The source, who pleaded not to be named, did not give the names of the officials. But he told one of our correspondents that the operatives began the search of some ministries and departments in the state on Monday for incriminating materials against Ibori.

Portsmouth's John Utaka, FC Zurich's Onyekachi Okonkwo and Salzburg's Rabiu Afolabi have been handed Nigeria recalls by Technical Adviser Lars Lagerback.

Outside of that, there were no surprises in Lagerback's list of 44, released by the NFF on Sunday, with only three players getting first time call ups.

Advocates of more players from the domestic league would be placated after the Swede included six players from the Nigeria Premier League, led by top scorer Ahmed Musa.

But there was no place for out-of-form fullback Chibuzor Okonkwo, who has been upstaged in the home-based Super Eagles team by the impressive Terna Suswan of Lobi Stars.


Rising midfielder Rabiu Ibrahim's lack of club action also counted against him, as he was not included. But Haruna Lukman, who has locked down a place in the Monaco midfield, gets a chance to impress the new coach in camp.

The players are to report to camp in the United Kingdom from April 27 and 28.

FULL LIST:

A statement from his Media Assistant, Mr. Tony Eluemunor, quoted the former governor as saying that his legal counsel had written the EFCC over the matter, stating why Ibori would not honour the invitation that day.

The statement said: “Ibori’s counsel, Mr. J. B. Dauda wrote a letter dated 16th April, 2010, and addressed to the Chairman of the EFCC, titled “Re: your reply to our letter concerning Mr. James Ibori; report of EFCC manhunt in Nigerian dailies”, where he adduced reasons that constrained Ibori from showing up.

“Such reasons include the fact that our client has, to your knowledge and that of the Hon. Attorney-General of the Federation, filed an action seeking for enforcement of his fundamental human rights to liberty, fair

Acting President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday met behind closed doors with the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Robert Dewar, and United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Ms Robin Sanders.

Jonathan first met with Dewar at about 1pm in his official residence at Akinola Aguda House in the Presidential Villa before he had audience with Sanders in the evening.

Journalists were initially invited to cover both engagements but the Presidency later decided that they (meetings) should be “private.”

Details of what transpired at the meeting between the Acting President, Dewars and Sanders were not made known by any of the attendees.

•Ribadu, others visit Acting President

Acting President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday met with US President Barack Obama at the White House, Washington DC, to discuss issues relating to the Niger Delta, oil industry reform, electoral reform and Nigeria's role in global peace, among others.

THISDAY had, last week, exclusively reported the planned meeting between the two leaders ahead of the Nuclear Security Summit currently holding in the US, which Jonathan is attending on the invitation of the American president.
Jonathan also met with the former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, yesterday a few hours before his meeting with Obama.

Nwankwo Kanu, the man at the centre of the movie titled ‘Lion Heart: The Kanu Story’, has expressed his desire to include a reward system in the movie project for ball fans. Kanu, who expressed this desire at the unveiling of the first promotional poster for the movie during the week, explained his motive for such gestures.

“My life story will be incomplete if I do not involve the fans who truly love me.

“Imagine those fans who approach me each time at the airport just to take a photograph with me; imagine how many homes have framed my pictures either while playing football or just walking down the street. To me, this is love, and I must show them I love them too. This movie project will not be complete without

Any hope that ailing President Umaru Yar’Adua will return to office might just be forlorn after all, as an intensive care expert has advised Nigerians to perish the thought.

Following the visit of some Islamic and Christian clerics to Yar’Adua in the Aso Rock Villa, there have been claims that the President was recuperating fast and could resume duties soon.

But in an exclusive interview with Sunday Sun, a renowned cardiologist, Dr. Y. N. Eronmwon, said: “At this point in time, one can medically predict that President Umaru Yar’Adua is in what we medical professionals call a Persistent Vegetative State (PVS). This is a condition where an individual in a state of coma is alive but unable to move or respond to his or her environment.”

Lars Lagerback believes that Nigeria captain Nwankwo Kanu is a legend and has a good chance of leading the Super Eagles to the World Cup.

Opinion in Nigeria is divided as to whether the 33 year old Portsmouth striker should be in the squad to the World Cup, especially as he only managed one game during the African Nations Cup in Angola.

But Lagerback says he would like to work with the former Iwuanyanwu Nationale forward.

"I would like to work with Kanu because for me he is a kind of a legend. I can remember when I led Sweden to play against Nigeria at the 2002 World Cup, he was a fantastic player," Lagerback said in an interview with FIFA, com.

Emmanuel Adebayor has retired from international football with Togo after describing himself as “still haunted” by the terrorist attack on the team bus at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Three people were killed – the bus driver, an assistant coach and a press officer – when gunmen fired on the coach in an Angolan exclave, also maiming nine other people. The Manchester City striker described this year as the “worst of my life” and released a statement through the club to announce that the attack had persuaded him to end his international career at 26.

Suspected Fulani gangs on Sunday burned homes in the village of Kura Jenta in Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State. The Berom village of Kura Jenta has been at the centre of bosom-for-tat attacks this year which have left hundreds dead.

The suspected Fulani attackers targeted homes belonging to three top officials in Kura Jenta, according to residents.

”Apparently the attackers were on a murder mission, they wanted to use the same tactics used in Dogo Nahawa, setting homes ablaze and then waiting for people to come out to be killed,” a local cleric Raymond Gboum told AFP.