Ex- Governor Akpabio hospitalised in Abuja after own car disobeyed traffic light, then crashed

By Ibanga Isine

A former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, now Senate Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio, escaped death Monday morning after his car got involved in an accident along the Airport Road in Abuja.
PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the accident occurred near the Bolingo Junction close to the Ship House, Abuja.

A witness said Mr. Akpabio was moving in a convoy of vehicles towards the City Gate when his vehicle ran into another car.
“My wife and I were coming from the NNPC Mega Station and we stopped at the traffic light by Bolingo Hotel Junction. When the green light showed and we made to move, there was this siren blaring Mercedes Benz jeep that came from the town and almost crashed onto my car. I don’t know how we dodged but another that was behind the jeep hit the car behind me and tumbled on its side.
“I and my wife rushed out of our vehicle and helped the driver bring out his boss. When we brought him out, we found that it was former governor Godswill Akpabio.
“At the time we brought him out, the siren was still blaring. We put him in the other vehicle and he was rushed to the National Hospital.”
The witness said Mr. Akpabio was badly shaken and was in a traumatic condition when he was brought out of the crashed vehicle.
He said the former governor was apparently rushing out of the city when his convoy beat the traffic and crashed.
When PREMIUM TIMES arrived at the National Hospital two hours after Mr. Akpabio was admitted at the hospital, a security official said the former governor was at the National Trauma Center.
The source however noted that Mr. Akpabio was later moved to a private section of the hospital for X-ray and other investigations.
At about 10am, PREMIUM TIMES met with the driver to the former governor, simply called David who confirmed the accident.
Mr. David said his boss was in a stable condition but declined to say how the accident happened. He wore a pair of black jeans trouser with a white stripped shirt.
When contacted on the telephone, the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, J. Momoh, said he could not speak on Mr. Akpabio’s case because he had no authorisation from the family.
Mr. Momoh, who argued that it was against medical ethics to speak about a patient on admission, did not however deny that Mr. Akpabio was being treated at the facility.
“I cannot speak about a patient on admission without getting approval from his family. You should therefore excuse me,” Mr. Momoh said.
When reminded that Mr. Akpabio was a public official and Nigerian Senate Minority Leader and not a quiet family man, Mr. Momoh still insisted he could not speak on the matter.
At about 12.25p.m. Mr. Akpabio’s successor, Governor Udom Emmanuel, arrived in a three-vehicle convoy, led by a Toyota Jeep, with registration number, Yab 474 BG.
Mr. Udom was driven in a BMW salon car with the number plates covered.

Culled from PREMIUM TIMES

Photo: Umana with Bishop Akpan…. This is one photo Akpabio, Udom will never like to view

The photo was taken recently at Abuja where Bishop Samuel Akpan, governorship aspirant of Accord Party in Akwa Ibom State, was Star Witness No 1 for APC in the ongoing Akwa Ibom Governorship Election Tribunal
. Akpan testified that there was no election in Akwa Ibom State. Umana, from Nsit Ubium in Uyo Senatorial District, and Akpan, from Onna in Eket Senatorial District, were initially separated by politics. But as it is now these two powerful politicians look good to join forces against Udom Emmanuel. The game is getting more interesting by the day.

Why my marriage crashed – Ini Edo, actress

By Joy Umukoro

Popular Nollywood actress, Ini Edo, has revealed that distance, ir­reconcilable differences, and incompatibility are the factors that largely contributed to her failed marriage.

She made this known while speaking on Rubbing Minds, a show hosted by Ebuka Obi-Uchendu on Channels Televi­sion last week.
According to Edo, distance plays a very important role in a relationship. “No mat­ter the indifference or incompatibility, if you’re together in love, a lot of things can actually work out. Howbeit, you don’t get to work things out when there is no contact. When you are with someone, and you can’t agree on certain things or find a common ground, I think being together could have actually helped us to understand each other better,” she reiterated.
The actress explained further that acting makes actors and actresses vulnerable. Her words: “Most of the time, we attract wrong people, sometimes for the wrong reasons. Because when people come to you because of what they see on TV, it’s hard for them to accept you considering the fact that you are just acting because that is your job. When they find out that it’s not the real you, it becomes a problem.
“Marriage is an experi­ence which I don’t regret. My husband met me an actress. My job takes my time, because naturally there are certain roles you are not allowed to play once you are married. Even if your husband understands, his relatives might not understand. My husband is the last child, so family interference in the marriage was normal.
“Marriage has taught me a lot of lessons, it made me wiser and stronger. I think it actually made me more matured. I don’t think I married too early, maybe I was a little bit in a hurry.”
On dating Mike Godson, Edo said: “Mike is just a friend, and we get to work often. He is a friend to my siblings so we are just good friends. I have known him for a long time just like I have other friends in the industry. I could date an actor. I try not to put limits to what hasn’t happened yet. I happen to believe that anything is possible.”

Culled from The Sun newspaper

Photo: This is Nigeria! Civil servants kneeling down to beg Ekiti State governor, Ayo Fayose

Civil servants who arrived late for work at the Ekiti State Secretariat pleading with Governor Ayo Fayose on Monday.  (Photo credit: The Nation/Lere Layinka)

Methodist Church Congregation chases pastor from church for impregnating member – Punch newspaper

File photo: Pregnant woman

By Afeez Hanafi

There was commotion on Sunday at the United Methodist Church, Mafoluku, in the Oshodi area of Lagos as members of the church rejected their pastor and chased him away for allegedly impregnating his housemaid.

It was learnt that the pastor, Barkuma Andrew, was stopped from leading the church seven months ago when the housemaid, who was also a member of the church, Grace, had complications after aborting the pregnancy.

Andrew lives with his wife, children, wife’s cousin, Favour, and Grace in a three-bedroomed flat on the church premises.

PUNCH Metro gathered that the members had petitioned the Central Conference of the church in Taraba State to investigate the alleged atrocity. They, however, sought the service of another pastor three weeks ago when the district reportedly failed to probe Andrew.

Our correspondent learnt that members had come to church around 10am for Sunday service only to see that Andrew and some “unknown” people had commenced the service.

It was gathered that the development resulted in a breach of the peace as Andrew and his group were chased out of the church.

Men from the Makinde Police Division, including the DPO, were said to have intervened after the incident was reported at the station.

A member of the church and a former secretary to Andrew, Moses Sherima, told our correspondent that the pastor sent his wife to her village when he impregnated Grace.

He said, “My room is opposite pastor’s apartment and I was his secretary. When he started dating that girl (Grace), I called his wife’s cousin, Favour, on the matter. She said Grace used to tell her whenever the pastor had sex with her.

“At a point, I had to move upstairs when I could no longer bear it. The day that abortion happened, I was sleeping inside my room when I heard Grace screaming. I rushed there and saw blood coming out from her private parts. When the wife came back from one of her numerous journeys, he told her to send Favour away.”

Another church member, John Komboroh, said the church was embarrassed by Andrew’s conduct, adding that they were tired of his leadership.

He said, “The petition of adultery against the pastor had been sent to the bishop at the Central Conference. He came here, but did not do anything about it. That was why we wrote to the main body, the Southern Conference to give us another pastor. His (Andrew’s) action is an embarrassment to us. We don’t want him again.”

The new pastor of the church, Reverend James Sunday, said, “We were about to start our service this morning when we met the old pastor and some unknown people already holding the service. I calmed down my people to avoid chaos.”

Another resident and a female member, who identified herself only as Blessing, said the pastor had once made sexual advances to her.

“My husband is not always at home. The pastor would call me in the night and asked if I had slept. One day he entered my room and gave me a soft slap on my back. I had only the wrapper on me.

“I was surprised and told my neighbours.”

When contacted on the telephone around 1pm on Sunday, Andrew said he was in a meeting and promised to get back to our correspondent on the incident.

He told PUNCH Metro that he was still at the meeting when he was called back around 5pm.

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Patricia Amadin, had yet to reply to a message sent to her line as of press time.

Culled from The Punch newspaper