Arsenal’s nine-year trophy wait nearly over after penalties victory sends Gunners to FA Cup final

Arsenal have reached the FA Cup final (Picture: EPA)

Arsenal have reached the FA Cup final after a hard-fought victory over Wigan at Wembley, with the game going all the way to penalties.
The Gunners are still on course to pick up their first silverware in nine years and will meet either Hull City or Sheffield United, who play their semi-final tomorrow.
Wigan looked as though they would manage yet another Cup upset when Jordi Gomez gave them a second-half lead from the penalty spot, after Per Mertesacker fouled Callum McManaman.
But the German defender made amends eight minutes from time when he headed home from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s wayward shot.
And it was Oxlade-Chamberlain who came closest in extra time, rattling the outstanding Scott Carson’s bar with a stinging effort from distance.

2015: Jonathan woos aggrieved APC leaders

President Goodluck Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party have launched a plan to lure prominent members of the country’s biggest opposition party, All Progressives Congress, into the ruling party, SUNDAY PUNCH has authoritatively learnt.

An investigation by our correspondent showed that loyalists to the President had been meeting with leaders of the APC known to be aggrieved with developments in the opposition party.

It was learnt that the ruling party will capitalise on, among other issues, the internal wrangling in the APC over an alleged plan to present a Muslim/Muslim presidential ticket under a consensus arrangement for the 2015 election.

SUNDAY PUNCH had exclusively reported on April 6, 2014, that Christian leaders of the APC who were aggrieved with the alleged mono-religious ticket and consensus arrangement had threatened to quit the party, if the national leaders of the party carried out their alleged plan.

Even though the party’s spokesman, Mr. Lai Mohammed, has refuted the claims, its members insist that the hierarchy of the party have concluded plans to field a former Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), and a former Governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, as the party’s presidential candidates through a consensus arrangement. Buhari and Tinubu are Muslims.

Police arrest five with human parts in Ogun

Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Ikemefuna Okoye

Five suspects have been arrested in a joint operation on Saturday by the Special Anti Robbery Squad Lagos Command and the Ogun State Police Command with human parts.

The suspects, which included a woman, were said to have been apprehended in Joju, in Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State.

A statement by the Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Muyiwa Adejobi, said the arrest was made possible following a tip-off from members of the community.

It read, “The Divisional Police Officer Otta, CSP Gabriel Idibie, led a team of operatives to assist SARS operatives from Lagos who had received first-hand information on the case to the Joju area.

“The suspects arrested include Kubura Salami Tantolorun Abimbola, Kafaya Popoola,  Wahid Ibrahim and Adamu Rafiu.”

JAMB fails to conduct UTME in Maiduguri

JAMB Registrar and Chief Executive, Prof. Dibu Ojerinde
| credits: File copy

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board could not conduct the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination in Maiduguri, Borno State.

The JAMB Registrar/Chief Executive Officer, Prof. Dibu Ojerinde, stated this while monitoring the conduct of the UTME in Abuja on Saturday.

The development came as confusion marked the exercise in some examination centres in Akwa Ibom State.

The board conducted its Dual-Based Test and Paper Pencil Test on Saturday with no fewer than 1,015,504 candidates writing the examination. The tests qualify the candidates for admission to the nation’s universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.

Another batch of 616,574 candidates from May 17, 2014, will write the Computer-Based Test.

The board had last Tuesday assured that it had made adequate arrangements to ensure a hitch-free conduct of the UMTE in all the states, including Borno, Yobe and Adamawa.

How my sister sold me with pregnancy for

 N100,000—Victim

A 23-year-old pregnant woman,  Jennifer Ogbonna, raised the emotion of people recently at Zone 2, Police Headquarters, Abeokuta, Ogun State, when she narrated how her sister tricked her into slavery and sold her off with her 7-month old pregnancy.   She was then transported from Aba to Abeokuta after a couple who allegedly specialized  in buying human beings from all  parts of the country paid N100,000 to her sister.

The Victims

My story
The lady who hails from Ebonyi State but lived and worked in Aba narrated her ugly experiences shortly after she was rescued by the Police. She said: “I was brought to Abeokuta by the woman’s husband. I don’t know that they had already paid money on my head. I only got to know in Abeokuta when I overheard the woman and her husband talking about child trafficking and I felt bad.   I decided not to eat any of their food. There is one lady

in that building, they call her Adeola, she would bring  food for me and I would not touch it to the extent that the woman’s husband  pleaded with me  to eat and still I  refused and said I am going back to Aba where she brought me from.

“When I said I was going to Aba, the man was angry and said before he would allow me to go back, I must pay back the N100,000 he paid my sister for myself and my pregnancy and the expenses he incurred so far on me. After that, his wife took me to one shrine and asked me to swear to an oath not to go back to Aba or tell anybody what happened, that  if I try to go back or tell anybody, she will make me mad; she would make me deaf and dumb.

Chelsea cruise past Stoke to return to the

 top of the Premier League

Mo Salah and Willian were both on the scoresheet (Picture: EPA)

Chelsea have gone back to the top of the Premier League as they cruised past Stoke with a 3-0 win at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues suffered a tough week, losing to both Crystal Palace and Paris Saint-Germain, but got things back on track this evening thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah, Frank Lampard and Willian.
Salah, on his full Chelsea debut, was outstanding and deservedly opened the scoring after 32 minutes.
Lampard doubled the hosts’ lead after the break, when Salah was brought down in the penalty box.
The England international had his initial spot kick saved by Asmir Begovic but put away the rebound, before Willian scored a superb solo third.
There was no goal for Fernando Torres who played the full 90 minutes, but Jose Mourinho will be pleased with the way his side dominated ahead of Tuesday’s crucial second leg against PSG.

Scores killed as soldiers attack Fulani herdsmen in Nasarawa

Director of Defence Information, Maj.-Gen Chris Olukolade.

Scores of people were on Thursday killed in a Fulani settlement near Keana, in Keana Local Government Area of Nasarawa State in a gun duel between soldiers and suspected Fulani cattle breeders.

Many were also said to have been wounded during the incident which occurred barely 24 hours after the military deployed troops in Benue and Nasarawa states to curtail the rising attacks on communities by cattle rustlers.

It was learnt that the soldiers allegedly attacked the herdsmen at a funeral.

Although the military,   said   it had no details of the killings as of 5pm on Thursday, Channels Televison put the toll at 20.

The Defence spokesman, Maj.-Gen. Chris Olukolade, according to Channels, promised an investigation of the incident to ascertain if those who carried out the attack were indeed soldiers.

Other unconfirmed reports however said the number of the dead who were mostly residents of the area was above 30. An unofficial source said that some bodies   were taken to the Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital, Lafia,  in  a police van   while about 20 others were deposited at the mortuary of the General Hospital in Keana.