Wealthy Businessman Shots Sex Worker who Denied Him Relationship

A wealthy businessman allegedly shot a sex worker after offering her £50,000 to marry him, a court heard today.Jonathan Kovacik also gave Rosalynde Pitcher £6,000 in cash towards her breast enlargement operation because he was in love with her, it was alleged.Ms Pitcher broke off her 'open' relationship with the 58-year-old after the operation, which saw her breasts increase from an A-cup to a D-cup last year. Kovacik then reportedly shot her with a pellet in the temple and struck her five times with the weapon as she knelt screaming on the floor, Portsmouth Crown Court heard. The former parish councillor denies four charges including wounding with intent, possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and having an article with a blade or point.He also denies possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear or violence towards officer PC Matthew Rumsey.During the hearing Ms Pitcher, a webcam girl, described their relationship as 'friends with benefits'. She sent text messages to Kovacik that said he should 'get her a boob job' because they were 'too small and she didn't like them'.She also claimed he offered her £50,000 to have a baby, but said if she fell pregnant it would have stopped her having a breast enlargement operation. Kovacik then visited her home in Shanklin, on the Isle of Wight, on December 21 last year after he started to fear she was 'stringing him along' for his money, prosecutors alleged.Rob Griffiths, prosecuting, said: 'He had been very good to her - he bought her a car, various presents and had given her money towards having a breast enlargement operation. 'He thought perhaps she had been stringing him along to get his money, and as he said at the end of his interview: "There's no fool like an old fool."' Ms Pitcher, a mother-of-one, told the court how she let him into her flat after knocking on the door and asking to come in, claiming he only had 'a few months to live'.She said: 'I walked to the lounge and he was behind me when I turned around and he had a gun pointing at me.'He was really quiet and wasn't saying much. He was holding the gun directly at me in his right hand and started walking towards me holding the gun at my head. 'I dropped to my knees and he put the gun directly to my head.'I was screaming, I was just screaming: "Help". He was really quiet and just looked really angry and I had never seen that face on him before.' During the confrontation Ms Pitcher said she did not realise she had been shot with a pellet but remembered hearing a 'clicking' and 'popping' noise.  She was able to escape via a flight of stairs by her back door as Kovacik ran after her trying to grab her dressing gown, the court heard.He was apprehended by police in Cowes.  The pellet from Kovacik's pistol was only discovered at hospital a week later after x-rays revealed it was lodged under the skin. Kovacik has claimed he was mentally unwell at the time of the attack and suffering from temporary insanity.He said he took a diving knife and an air gun to her home over fears Ms Pitcher's father Lee would be violent towards him. The trial ongoing. 

Linda Ikeji

FIFA Presidency, Kalu Eminently Qualified-Idah Peterside

For the many doubting Thomases who before now have questioned the qualification of the former Abia State governor, Orji Uzor Kalu to vie for the presidency of the world football ruling body, FIFA, the initiator of the campaign, Peterside Idah has shed more light on Kalu’s qualification.Speaking exclusively to Daily Sunsports on Tuesday from his base in South Africa, Idah who is a football analyst with South African based cable television outfit, Supersport, stated that he was convinced that Kalu can pull through and emerge the next FIFA President given the former’s pedigree.“For the information of those who think that this is a futile effort and that Kalu is not qualified, let me state clearly that they are wrong. Kalu is eminently qualified to run for the FIFA Presidency. He is not an outsider in the round leather game.“First, he is the owner of the OUK Football Club which has metamorphosed into the Abia Warriors of Umuahia in the Nigeria Premier League. That clearly shows that he has roots. Secondly, this is a man that single handedly took Enyimba of Aba from obscurity to the top of African football, winning the CAF Champions League in 2003 and repeating the feat in 2004. That feat broke a 39-year-old jinx for Nigerian club football.”Idah, noted further that it takes only a man of vision to get the job done and that Kalu if he decides to run will get the full backing of the 54 Africa federations.“Should Kalu decide to run, I think he stands a good chance to emerge victorious. All he needs now is the backing of the Nigeria Football Federation and the endorsement of the Confederation of Africa Football, CAF to run. With the whole of Africa backing him and given his contacts outside the continent, victory could just be his.’

Lump Turns to Unborn Twin Baby

A logistics officer and a mother-of- 2 was horrified to discover a seemingly harmless lump on her ovary was in fact the decades old remains of her unborn 'twin'.Jenny Kavanagh, 45, made the grim discovery after she went to the doctors to have a contraceptive coil implanted and medics insisted on an ultrasound of her ovaries due to her age.Scans revealed a 10cm mass growing in her left ovary and concerned medics warned it could rupture and kill her at any moment.Surgeons told her it was an undeveloped unborn twin which had grown inside her from birth - complete with face, an eye, tooth, and long black hair.She said:'I feel very lucky that they found it and removed it before it killed me.'I try not to think of it too much because I don't want to feel sad about it.'If I'm honest, I did feel sad when I first saw it, because of the size and weight of it, it had already been likened to a baby.'But I try not to feel sad about it. I try to remember that it had no heart and no brain.'And that it would have almost certainly killed me if they hadn't found it and removed it.'But in one sense there was grief, mixed with happiness.'It was like a baby, but I was still glad it was out of me.'Ms Kavanagh moved to Cyprus in 2005 with her then-husband, to escape the 'rat race'.She said she has always avoided doctors and has never visited a gynecologist, but had no problems with either of her pregnancies.But when she started to have heavy periods she worried it might be due to a coil she had fitted 15 years ago and went to get a new one.The consultant scanned her abdomen and while her right ovary was totally normal, the one on the left side had a 10cm dark mass, in May this year. Her doctor assured her it was unlikely to be a cancerous tumour - and probably a teratoma or cyst - but she said she had 'thought the worst'.She said: 'He advised me it would have to come out regardless. If it twisted or ruptured it could kill me.'After tests proved inconclusive, 11 days later she underwent a three-hour operation to remove the mass at The Mediterranean Hospital of Cyprus.Doctors agreed to take a photo of the mass on her phone and showed her it when she came around, explaining it was a mass of cells which had been inside her since birth. 

Linda Ikeji

FG ORDERS PROBE ON HOW ISIS LEADER GOT NIGERIAN VISA

The Nigerian government has ordered a full investigation into how a wanted terrorist was granted Nigerian Visa in Lebanon to visit the country.An official of the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign affairs told Vanguard in Abuja, Tuesday evening, that President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to investigate the circumstances surrounding the issuance of Visa to the wanted terrorist‎ who has been on the wanted list of several governments.It would be recalled that a radical Muslim cleric, Ahmad al-Assir was arrested by Lebanese authorities as he attempted to leave Lebanon to Nigeria via Cairo.He was said to have arrested while attempting to travel with a fake Palestinian passport with a valid Nigerian Visa‎ at the Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport early Saturday, August 15, 2015 in Lebanon.According to the official of the ministry of foreign affairs who spoke with Vanguard on the condition of anonymity, the ministry of foreign affairs has been directed to explain how the wanted terrorist was able to get Nigerian Visa.“The reported‎ arrest of the wanted terrorist is a huge embarrassment to Nigeria and the President has directed that the matter should be investigated. The embassy in Lebanon has been directed to furnish the ministry with details of how the man got the visa. The National Intelligence Agency Officer has been directed to provide details of what happened” the officer said.Details later…

KACHIKWU, NNPC BOSS TO PUBLISH FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS FROM SEPTEMBER

The financial transactions of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation will be published periodically to ensure transparency beginning from next month, the Group Managing Director, NNPC, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has said.According to Kachikwu, the move was part of his resolve to usher in a new dawn of transparency in the national oil firm, stressing that transparency must be the watchword of every staff in the new NNPC.Kachikwu, who stated this at his maiden town hall meeting with employees of the corporation at the NNPC Towers in Abuja on Tuesday, said the new NNPC will be a corporation anchored on the foundation of clearness.The Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ohi Alegbe, confirmed this to our correspondent in a telephone interview and also in an electronic mail.“I want transparency. Beginning from next month, I want to be able to publish what the company makes. I have told the President that as from next week I will be sending him weekly reports,” the new GMD reportedly told employees of the national oil firm.If implemented, this will be a departure from what used to be obtainable at the national oil firm. It will be the first time in ages that the NNPC will be publishing its financial transactions for the public to see.

BUHARI SACKS AMCON BOSS APPOINT AHMED LAWAN.

President Muhammadu Buhari has dissolved
the management team of the Assets
Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON.
The president appointed Ahmed Lawan
Kuru as new Managing Director of the
Corporation to replace Mustafa Chike-Obi.
Mr. Buhari also appointed Kola Ayeye,
Eberechukwu Uneze and Aminu Ismail as the
new executive directors of the corporation.
They will form the executive management
team of the body.
Until his appointment, Mr. Kuru was the
Group Managing Director of Enterprise Bank
Limited.
He started his banking career with the old
Habib Bank in 1985 and rose through the
ranks to become an Executive Director of
Bank PHB (now Keystone Bank) in 2005.
The president’s spokesperson, Femi Adesina,
said the appointments take effect Tuesday,
August 18.

BUHARI SACKS AMCON BOSS APPOINT AHMED LAWAN.

President Muhammadu Buhari has dissolved
the management team of the Assets
Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON.
The president appointed Ahmed Lawan
Kuru as new Managing Director of the
Corporation to replace Mustafa Chike-Obi.
Mr. Buhari also appointed Kola Ayeye,
Eberechukwu Uneze and Aminu Ismail as the
new executive directors of the corporation.
They will form the executive management
team of the body.
Until his appointment, Mr. Kuru was the
Group Managing Director of Enterprise Bank
Limited.
He started his banking career with the old
Habib Bank in 1985 and rose through the
ranks to become an Executive Director of
Bank PHB (now Keystone Bank) in 2005.
The president’s spokesperson, Femi Adesina,
said the appointments take effect Tuesday,
August 18.

BUHARI TO PERSONALLY PROBE SALE OF NITEL

President Muhammadu Buhari
has mandated the ministry of
communication to provide details
of the recent privatisation of the
Nigerian Telecommunications
(NITEL) and its mobile arm,
MTEL, to ascertain whether or
not Nigeria was short-changed.
Speaking to journalists Tuesday
after briefing the president on
the activities of the ministry of
communications, permanent
secretary Tunji Olaopa said the
president requested that a memo
detailing how the transaction
was processed be submitted
directly to him.
He said Mr. Buhari was
concerned about the possibility of
Nigeria not receiving a fair value
from the deal.
“The president was also
concerned about the liquidation
of NITEL. He is not opposed to its
privatization but he wants to
know… and he wants us to bring
a memo on how the whole
transaction was undertaken so
that he would know whether
Nigeria was short-changed,” he
said.
Mr. Olaopa said the president
was very concerned about the
whole issue of privatization that
is hindering investments in ICT
and said “that he will personally
champion this”.
“The president talked about the
potentials of the ICT sector in
generating employment,” Mr.
Olaopa said.
He said Mr. Buhari was also
concerned about the quality of
service from telecom operators in
the country.
The privatisation of the NITEL
and MTEL was completed in
December 2014 after the financial
bid was opened in October 2014
by the Goodluck Jonathan
administration.
A consortium run by Skye Bank’s
chairman, Tunde Ayeni, the
founder of Sahara Energy, Tonye
Cole, and two other companies,
received the nod from the
Nigerian government to take over
the two companies for $242.3
million (about N42.4 billion).
Their investment vehicle, NATCOM
Telecommunications, emerged the sole bidder
for the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited,
NITEL and Mtel.
NATCOM has as members NATSPACE
Telecommunication Investment Limited, PCCW
Global Limited, Prime Union Investment
Limited, Olutoyi Estate Development &
Services Limited, Legal Resources Alliance &
Co., Sahara Energy Resources Limited, and LM
Ericsson Nigeria Limited.
Of the seven firms, Mr. Ayeni, profiled as a
businessman and lawyer on Skye Bank’s
website, owns three.
He is the founder and operator of Prime
Union Investment Limited, Olutoyi Estate
Development & Services Limited, and Legal
Resources Alliance & Co. There were
suggestions that he has link with NATSPACE,
but PREMIUM TIMES could not independently
verify that claim.
In December 2014, Mr. Ayeni led NATCOM in
its acquisition of NITEL/MTEL less than two
months after he also led Skye Bank to buy
Mainstreet Bank from Assets Management
Company of Nigeria, for N120 billion.
In 2013, Mr. Ayeni was the chief promoter of
Integrated Energy Distribution and Marketing
Company Limited, a group that eventually
bought the Ibadan and Yola electricity
Distribution Companies, DISCOs.
Mr. Cole is the owner of Sahara Energy, while
LM Ericsson is a subsidiary of Swedish group,
Ericsson.
NATCOM, which merges the seven firms,
appears to be a new corporate entity created
solely for the purchase of NITEL/MTEL. Very
little is known about the consortium.
NATCOM emerged winner after NETTAG
Consortium, another little known group, was
disqualified for failing to attach a $10million
bid bond to its bid submission as stipulated in
the Request for Proposals (RFP) to prospective
bidders.
History of failed sales
Before the acquisition, four previous attempts
to sell NITEL failed.
Nigeria started the process of privatising the
national telecom groups in 2000 as part of the
government’s reform of the
telecommunications sector.
In 2001, the government tried to sell 51 per
cent equity to Investors International London
Limited (IILL) as the strategic core investor.
There was also the failed management
contract by Pentascope in 2005, the aborted
Orascom Telecoms bid in 2005, and the
strategic core investor sale through negotiated
sale strategy to Transcorp that was cancelled
in 2009.
The last effort was the strategic core investor
sale in 2011, where New Generation
Communications Limited and Omen
International emerged preferred and reserved
bidders respectively.
Following the last failed attempt, former Vice
President Namadi Sambo-led National Council
on Privatisation, adopted the guided
liquidation strategy for the sale of NITEL/
MTEL.

Anambara Sex Workers Embark On Protest and Strike

By Vincent Ujumadu
AWKA- No fewer than 200 commercial
sex workers residing at the cattle market
near the border community of Amansea in
Anambra State have gone on rampage,
destroying shanties in their vicinity after
they were rendered homeless and flushed
out by officials of the Anambra State
Urban Development Board (ASUDEB).
It was gathered that ASUDEB officials
swooped on them at about 3pm with
armed security operatives on the suspicion
that the brothels were being used by
suspected kidnappers and other hoodlums
to perpetrate crime.
Most of the prostitutes have already
relocated to the nearby Ugwuoba in Oji
River local government area of Enugu
State.
An eye witness said that after the
demolition of the houses, the visibly angry
prostitutes mobilized and set the remaining
untouched structures in the cattle market
ablaze, accusing the ASUDEP officials of
bias.
According to some of the sex workers,
government officials did not give them any
notice, accusing them of bias as they
destroyed only their homes, leaving behind
some huts, kiosks and canteens belonging
to the cattle traders.
However, the General Manager of
ASUDEB, Mr. Nathan Enemuo, who led the
operation, said the exercise was part of
Governor Willie Obiano’s resolve to rid the
state of all kinds of crime and criminal
activities in the state, adding that the
structures demolished were illegal buildings
in Amansea Garki Awka-North local
government area where prostitutes,
kidnappers and armed robbers have
allegedly made a safe home.
He said that such demolition would be
extended to the other urban towns of
Nnewi, Onitsha and other cities where sex
workers operate in illegal structures.
He also debunked the claim by the sex
workers that government did not give
them prior notice, saying that the board
gave them three weeks notice to vacate
the area, but they failed to do so.
He said: “A lot of prostitutes live around
Amansea cattle market, spoiling our
children and constituting nuisance in the
area and you know that anywhere there is
brothel, criminals and kidnappers hover
around there. In my capacity as the
ASUDEB general manager, I will ensure
that this does not exist anymore in the
state and our activities are in line with our
amiable governor’s policy on zero tolerance
to crime and kidnapping in the state.”

EBSU ATM ROBBED BY HOODLUMS

ABAKALIKI- HOODLUMS were on  Tuesday
reported to have invaded an Automated
Teller Machine (ATM) belonging to an old
generation bank in the College of
Agricultural Science, CAS, of the Ebonyi
State University, Abakaliki
Sources said the hoodlums evaded all the
security check points within the school and
proceeded to the ATM where they allegedly
carted away over N10 million which was
earlier loaded in by the bank officials.
“The robbers came into the campus in the
night and went straight into the bank.
They later carted away millions of Nigeria
which was loaded in the day time by the
bank officials.
“We learnt that up to N12million was stolen
during the incident. I can’t tell the actual
amount but all I know is that there was
robbery in this bank”, a witnessed said.
Another source claimed that the hoodlums
first sacked the security officials at the
entrance gate before entering the bank.
Contacted, the State Police Public
Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Chris
Anyanwu who confirmed the robbery
incident revealed that the actual amount
stolen by the robbers was yet to be
ascertained.
“Yes, there was robbery incident in one of
the old generation banks located in CAS
campus of Ebonyi State University.
“The robbers broke the ATM of the bank
and carted away all the money inside it.
We are hearing different figures stolen and
the bank officials have not given us the
figure of the amount carted away by the
robbers.
“Investigation has already commenced and
it is after the investigation that we will be
able to tell you a particular amount stolen”.

Reported by Peter Okotu.

NELSON MANDELA'S GRANDSON CHARGED WITH RAPING 15 YEAR OLD

Nelson Mandela’s 24-
year-old grandson, Mbuso
Mandela appeared in court on Monday on
charges of raping a 15-year-old, police said,
in a new scandal to tarnish the family of
the anti-apartheid icon.
Mbuso Mandela remains in police custody
and will return to the Johannesburg
magistrate court on Friday for a bail
hearing, police spokeswoman Mashadi
Selepe told AFP.
He is alleged to have raped the girl at a
Johannesburg restaurant over a week ago.
Another of Mandela’s grandchildren,
Mandla, the oldest of the late statesman’s
grandsons, was convicted early this year
of assaulting a 40-year-old motorist
during a road-rage incident.