Newspaper of the Year
Interest rates reduction not now NEWS Page 53
•Bankers’ committee: it’ll be gradual •Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper
VOL. 9, NO. 2881 WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 2014
•We let ourselves down, says Eagles keeper Enyeama •Oboabona out of Bosnia tie •Onazi: Eagles’ll qualify •Belgium 2 Algeria 1 SPOR TS SPORTS Page 16 & 49 •Brazil 0 Mexico 0
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EKITI 2014
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• AND •PDP ‘thugs’ killed our member, says APC MORE ON PAGE 9 •‘Don’t be intimidated by security operatives’ •Fayemi takes to twitter•Fayose’s case for June 30
60-year old gives birth through IVF
Ekiti poll: Aircraft with suspicious cargo in Akure
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WO planes landed yesterday at the Akure Airport, bearing an unknown cargo believed to be for Saturday’s governorship election in Ekiti State. The planes arrived before noon. Among the people at the airport was a minister who watched as the cargo was offloaded into a bullion van marked BL271AGN. A source said the cargo was likely to be cash with which a political party plans to buy votes, but a political pressure group raised the alarm over an alleged rigging plan. The Ekiti Youth Emancipation Movement (EYEM) alleged in a statement by its President Taiwo Olatunji, that in the bullion van were fake thumb-printed ballot papers and result sheets which were ferried to Ado Ekiti from Akure. Also in the cargo according to the group, were fake military and police uniforms. Challenging security agents to investigate its claims, the group also alleged that some
•31 years after By Seun Akioye, Senior Correspondent
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Continued on page 59
$22.5m Safe School Fund takes shape
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From Augustine Ehikioya and Nduka Chiejina, Abuja
HE Safe School Initiative Trust Fund initiated during the World Economic Forum for Africa in Abuja has taken off with $22.5million. Finance Minister Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala explained yesterday in Abuja how the money will be spent. According to her, though a national project, the initiative will take off in the Northeast states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, which are hard hit by the Boko Haram insurgency. She spoke after a meeting convened at President Goodluck Jonathan’s instance, which Continued on page 4
•MO THER AT LAST MOTHER LAST:: Mrs. Irurhe and her baby
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I believe we should not limit God and what the doctors can do in this modern age. I believe this is the appointed time. I was very hopeful throughout the years I was childless and I remained focussed on God. We went to many hospitals but we didn’t give up
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HERE is good news for women who think age is a barrier to conception. A woman said to be 60 has just been delivered of a baby at a Lagos hospital. For 31 years, Mrs Omolara Irurhe was globetrotting — not for pleasure but in search of a child. She visited many hospitals. But in 2010, her search ended in the most unlikely hospital. She began an Invitro Fertilization (IVF) treatment at the St. Ives Hospital in Lagos. On Monday, what began as a seed of hope four years ago culminated in the delievery of a bouncing baby girl. Mrs. Irurhe becomes the oldest IVF mother in Africa. The global recognition for oldest IVF delivery goes to Rajo Deri Lohan, an Indian who in 2008 was delivered of a baby at 69. The IVF Unit at St. Ives Hospital successfully aided the conception and delivery of the baby and has now equalled the United Kingdom’s record of IVF age delivery. The team of doctors at the hospital was led by the Chief Medical Director, Dr. Tunde Continued on page 59
Wanted Boko Haram chief among 486 suspects held
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WHERE ARE THE CHIBOK GIRLS KIDNAPPED ON APRIL 15?
Detainees ‘don’t know Port Harcourt’ Security probes letters
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HE Defence Headquarters said yesterday that a wanted terror suspect was among the 486 suspects arrested in Abia State on Sunday. It also said other security agencies and para-military organisations had joined the ongoing screening of the
From Yusuf Alli, Abuja
suspects. But the military did not name the suspected Boko Haram Kingpin. The Director of Defence Information, Gen. Chris Olukolade, in a statement last night in Abuja, said: “A terror kingpin on the list of
wanted terrorists of security forces in Nigeria has been detected in the ongoing screening of the 486 suspects nabbed while travelling in over 33 Hiace Hummer buses at night along Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway last Sunday. “So far, other security agencies, in-
cluding the para-military, have joined “the screening exercise to ascertain the status of the remaining suspects. “Those identified as possible security risk or illegal immigrants are expected to be identified for further acContinued on page 4
•EXPLOSIONS ROCK YOBE SOCCER VIEWING CENTRE P4 •FIRE AT ATLAS COVE P59