CNN’S Christiane Amanpour Diagnosed With Ovarian Cancer.

CNN Journalist Christiane Amanpour announced that she has been diagnosed with ovarian cancer on Monday.

The veteran presenter took to Twitter to share a clip of the announcement, saying she decided to make public disclosure of her health condition in the interest of transparency. She further disclosed that she will undergo chemotherapy for some months as she continues to battle the disease.

https://twitter.com/camanpour/status/1404491523073392640?s=21

“…Like millions of women around the world, I’ve been diagnosed with ovarian cancer, I’ve had successful major surgery to remove it and I’m now undergoing several months of chemotherapy for the very best possible long-term prognosis and I’m confident,” Ms Amanpour said.

Ms Amanpour who have been absent from her hosting duties at CNN for the past four weeks as a result of the diagnosis said that ovarian cancer is a common disease affecting millions of women around the world.

Laying emphasis on the need for early diagnosis, Ms Amanpour urged women around the world to always pay attention to their body to ensure that your legitimate medical concerns are not dismissed or diminished.’

She also advised the female folks to constantly educate themselves on the disease, and get all regular screening and scans that they can.

COVID-19: Pope’s Doctor Dies Following Complications.

Pope Francis’ personal physician, Fabrizio Soccorsi, has died from “complications due to Covid,” the Vatican’s newspaper L’Osservatore Romano reported on Saturday.

Mr. Soccorsi, who became the Pope’s doctor in 2015, was 78 years old at the time of his demise, the outlet said.

He was previously hospitalised in Rome on December 26, a newspaper reported.

It is not immediately clear if he had a recent contact with the Pope but the pontiff in a recent interview expressed his readiness to be inoculated with COVID vaccine.

The Pope also announced that the Vatican will begin Covid-19 vaccinations next week.

Ese Oruru: Abductor, Yinusa Dahiru Gets 26 Years Prison Sentence | Scribbles Urban.

A federal high court sitting in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, has sentenced Yinusa Dahiru to 26 years imprisonment over the abduction, rape and impregnating of Ese Oruru, a teenage girl.

In 2015, 13-year-old Ese was abducted, raped and impregnated by Yunusa Dahiru, a man presumably old enough to be her father.

The man later took her away to Kano State where she was later rescued in the palace of the Emir of Kano.

The incident led to national outrage in 2015 with calls for more of forcefully married teenagers in the Northern part of the country to be freed. 

Presiding judge, Justice Jane Inyang, acquitted the accused on the first count but convicted Dahiru on the remaining four charges.

The judge ruled that the sentence will run consecutively.

Kidnapped Nigerian Seminarian Murdered.

One of four Nigerian seminarians kidnapped last month has been killed, reportedly by his abductors. The three seminarians kidnapped along with him were released in the weeks following their kidnapping.

“With a very heavy heart, I wish to inform you that our dear son, Michael was murdered by the bandits on a date we cannot confirm. He and the wife of a doctor were arbitrarily separated from the group and killed. The Rector identified the corpse this afternoon,” Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of Sokoto, Nigeria, said in a statement released Feb. 1st.

Michael Nnadi was 18 years old.

Information about the woman killed with Nnadi is not yet available.

Nnadi himself was taken by gunmen from Good Shepherd Seminary in Kaduna, around 10:30 pm on the 8th of January.

With him were Pius Kanwai, 19; Peter Umenukor, 23; and Stephen Amos, 23.  The four seminarians were at the beginning of their philosophy studies.

The gunmen, disguised in military camouflage, broke through the fence surrounding the seminarians’ living quarters and began shooting sporadically. They stole laptops and phones before kidnapping the four young men.

On Jan. 20, ACI Africa, CNA’s African news partner, reported that one of the abducted seminarians had been freed by his kidnappers after 10 days in captivity. That seminarian was dumped alongside the highway with extensive injuries, which are believed to have been sustained during the kidnapping. He is now receiving medical treatment.

On Friday, Jan. 31, an official at Good Shepherd Seminary announced that two more of the kidnapped seminarians had been released. At that time, it was reported that one seminary was still at large, and was presumed to remain in captivity. That seminarian was Nnadi.

In his Feb. 1 statement, Bishop Kukah said that he had to delay the announcement of Nnadi’s death slightly until his mother could be informed.

“We have broken the news to her and I will be with her,” Kukah said on the 1st of February.

“The Lord knows best. Let’s remain strong and pray for the repose of his soul,” Kukah added.

Nearly 270 seminarians live at Good Shepherd.

The seminary is located just off the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria Express Way. According to AFP, the area is “notorious for criminal gangs kidnapping travelers for ransom.”

Schoolgirls and staff from a boarding school located near the same highway were kidnapped in October, and were later released.

In the last year, several priests and seminarians, along with pastors from other Christian denominations, have been kidnapped in Nigeria, some for ranson, and some by Islamist militant and terrorist groups.

Church leaders have called on the government to prioritize the security of its citizens.

“The security situation in Nigeria is appalling”, Thomas Heine-Geldern, executive president of ACN International, said Jan. 13. “Criminal gangs are further exploiting the chaotic situation and making matters still worse.”

He compared the situation in Nigeria to that of Iraq prior to the Islamic State’s invasion: “Already at that stage, Christians were being abducted, robbed and murdered because there was no protection by the state. This must not be allowed to happen to the Christians of Nigeria. The government must act now, before it is too late.”

For his part, Bishop Kukah urged prayer.

“Please let us be calm. May God give him eternal rest,” he wrote.

Funeral arrangements for Nnadi have not yet been announced.

Saudi Arabia Bans Under-18 Marriage.

The Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Justice has prohibited marriage of persons under 18 years, just as it set 18 years as the minimum age for marriage.

According to a report by the Saudi Gazette, the Minister of Justice and Chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council Sheikh Dr. Walid Al-Samaani on Monday issued a circular to all courts, stressing the banning of marriage for persons under 18 years.

All such requests are to be referred to the specialized court to complete the formalities in line with the Child Protection Law and while implementing the established regulations.

Mr Al-Samaani’s directives are based on paragraph 16/3 of the executive regulations of the Child Protection Law.

The law says: “Before conducting marriage contracts one has to make sure that marrying a person under the age of 18 will not harm him or her and achieve their best interests, male or female.”

Terrorism: Borno State Govt Signs Agreement With Saudi Based Clerics To Pray For Peace.

Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State on Friday signed an agreement with 30 Saudi-based clerics who are residing in the city of Makka, the seat of Islam’s holiest mosque, to endlessly pray for the return of peace in Borno, a government statement said.

The governor, who has been in Saudi Arabia since last week, had the agreement sealed with the 30 clerics whose responsibility, henceforth is to offer prayers and perform daily tawaf (circulation) around the holy Kaaba.

Muslims believe that prayers offered in the holy mosque of Kaaba are speedily granted.

The North East state has been tormented by Boko Haram insurgency since 2009. More than 20,000 people have been killed by the terrorist group while millions have been displaced.

The Borno governor’s quest for spiritual intervention in the unending conflict came days after the Nigeria Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Butatai, declared that ending Boko Haram now more requires spiritual intervention.

Some Nigerians ridiculed the remarks, highlighting its contradiction to the government’s position that Boko Haram has been defeated.

The governor’s spokesperson, Isa Gusau, said all the 30 clerics are of Nigerian origin — from Borno, Katsina, Zamfara, Kano and parts of the northwest — and have been living in Makka for decades where they devoted themselves to prayers by spending hours at the Ka’aba.

Mr. Gusau said, “An old man amongst them is said to have remained a Ka’aba devotee in the last 40 years.”

“The Ka’aba is Islam’s holiest area located inside the grand Al-Haram mosque in Makkah,” he said.

Mr. Gusau described the governor’s action as a “critical move.”

He said the aim is ” to combine different approaches that include sustained support for the Nigerian Armed forces, aggressive mass recruitment and equipping of more counter-insurgency volunteers into the Civilian JTF, hunters, and vigilantes as well as socioeconomic approach in enhancing access to education, job opportunities and providing other means of livelihood through social protection initiatives.”

Mr Gusau, who was present during Governor Zulum’s brief interaction with the devotees on Friday evening around the Ka’aba, said “the governor was there to convey his deepest gratitude and to seek continued prayers. ”

“Rather than sending anyone, I am here to, on behalf of the good people of Borno State thank you so much for your empathy and the compassion in devoting yourselves to praying for us every day at the Ka’aba which for us as Muslims, is the most sacred place ,” Mr Zulum was quoted in the statement.

“We need these prayers more than ever before. We are handling our problems from different approaches. Prayer is key in everything that we seek. We will continue to seek prayers from many fronts. We will keep supporting our clerics of different faiths in Nigeria for the same prayers and we will seek the same from all of you that are always here around the Holy Ka’aba.

“I basically will beg that you continue to pray for us towards achieving three things: first, for us to regain peace in Borno State, all of the north and Nigeria in general. We will have to continue that prayer on a permanent basis because we need the peace that will be sustained.

“Secondly, we need prayers for us to achieve our ambitious plan for Borno state and lastly for Allah to make us remain focused and not to get carried away by the power,” Governor Zulum told the devotees.

The Governor returned to Nigeria on Saturday.

Fake Jesus Reportedly Dies Of Pneumonia.

Michael Job, a United States preacher and actor, who posed as Jesus Christ. was on Thursday reported dead moments after attending an interdenominational Christian event as a guest speaker.

Medics at Heyn Hospital have confirmed that Mr Job succumbed to pneumonia while receiving treatment.

Photos and videos showing him dressed as Jesus Christ have been widely shared on social media across Africa.

He was this week deported from Kenya while arresting pastors that invited him.

Source: KLN

Pastor Obafemi Banigbe Resigns As COZA Board Of Trustees Member.

A member of the Board of Trustees of Commonwealth of Zion Assembly (COZA), Obafemi Banigbe as tender his resignation letter with immediate effect.

Three weeks after Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo stepped down as Senior Pastor of the Commonwealth of Zion Assembly (COZA) over allegations of rape brought against him by Busola Dakolo, a board member of the Ministry has resigned.

In a letter addressed to Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo dated July 19th, Obafemi Banigbe said he was no longer interested in being a member of the COZA Board of Trustees, thus he tendered his resignation “with immediate effect and for personal reasons.”

Pastor Banigbe is the first member of the church’s board to tender a public resignation from the ministry after Pastor Fatoyinbo stepped down on a leave of absence amidst immense pressure mounted on him by Nigerians.

Channels TV Reporter Shot During Shiite Police Clash, Confirmed Dead.

A Channels TV reporter, Precious Owolabi, who was hit by a stray bullet on Monday in Abuja during a violent clash between the members of Shiite and police has been confirmed dead by the station. 

The news was confirmed during the News At 10 by the station. He was rushed to the hospital after a gunshot injury he sustained during the mayhem.

Precious, a Youth Corper, was working with Channels TV and covering the event when the unfortunate incident occurred.

RIP Precious.

Channels TV Reporter Shot As Shiite Protesters Clash With Police In Abuja.

A Channels Television Reporter has been hit by a stray bullet as members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), also known as Shiites clashed with officers of the Nigerian Police on Monday in Abuja.

The protest by the Shiites turned violent on Monday in Abuja, including the environs of the Federal Secretariat.

Policemen who cordoned off the road leading to the National Assembly and the three arms zone disrupted the protest by the Shiites, firing teargas to disperse the crowd.

The police have taken control of the area.