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Yemideborah729
Four Footballers Killed In Somalia Blast
Four local footballers in Somalia were killed when a powerful explosion ripped through their bus on Friday in what the country's president branded a "barbaric terrorist attack".Ten players from the Jubaland Chamber of Commerce and Industry club were heading off for a game at the Kismayo city stadium in southern Somalia when the blast hit."The players were riding in a bus when the explosion went off, presumably inside the vehicle. There are investigations going on but we presume the device was planted onto the bus," said police officer Mohamed Sadiq.He said four football players were killed and five others wounded in the explosion, believed to have been caused by a bomb.In a statement on Twitter, Somalia's President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed condemned the "barbaric terrorist attack that claimed the lives of innocent Somali sportspeople".Witness Ibrahim Ahmed said the blast was "huge" and set off a fire that gutted the bus."People rushed to remove the dead bodies and wounded players," he said."I saw the burning bus and three dead bodies of the players -- this was horrible because football players are not politicians," added another witness, Said Adan.There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast in Kismayo, capital of the southern state of Jubaland which borders Kenya.Jubaland was the first state to start voting this week in long-delayed national elections in Somalia that the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab jihadist group has threatened to disrupt.The extremists have been fighting to overthrow the federal government since 2007 and frequently attack the government, security, and civilian targets.
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Yemideborah729
Mastermind Of Kano Childrens Kidnap Bags 104 Years Jail Term
A Kano High Court, on Friday, sentenced Paul Owne to 104 imprisonments for masterminding the kidnap of nine children in the state.Justice Zuwaira Yusuf, who found the convict guilty of all the 38-count charges, sentenced him without an option of a fine.The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the convict pleaded guilty to the charges and was convicted accordingly.NAN also reports that the six other defendants, who were arraigned alongside Owne, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.“I find Owne guilty on counts two, eight, nine, 27 and 34. I hereby sentence him to seven years imprisonment on each of the counts without an option of fine, in addition to paying the sum of N100,000 fine.“The court also found Owne guilty on counts three, five, 10, 11, 22, 28 and 38. I sentence him to seven years in a correctional centre on each of the counts.Yusuf held that the convict was found guilty on counts four, 12, 13, 29 and 38, and sentenced him to four years in a correctional centre on each of the counts without an option of a fine.She, however, said that all the counts must run concurrently and ordered the remand of the six other defendants in a correctional centre for the continuation of trial.NAN reports that Owne and six others were first arraigned on Nov. 13, 2020, for the kidnap of nine children, who were trafficked from Kano to Anambra.The other defendants are Mercy Paul, Ebere Ogbono, Emmanuel Igwe, Loise Duru, Monica Oracha and Chinelo Ifedegwu.Earlier, the Prosecution Counsel, Mr Mahmoud Balarabe, told the court that the defendants were facing a 38-count charge, bordering on conspiracy, kidnapping and trafficking in children from Kano to Anambra, sometime in 2019.According to him, the offences contravene the provisions of Sections 97(1), 273, 277 of the Penal Code and Section 32 (5) of the Children and Young Persons Law of Kano State, 2012.While the convict pleaded guilty to all the 38-count charges, the remaining six defendants, however, pleaded not guilty, thus setting the stage for their trial.
