BREXIT: British people vote ‘Out’ of EU in history election

Britain has voted to leave the European Union, a historic decision sure to reshape the nation’s place in the world, rattle the Continent and rock political establishments throughout the West.

With all but a handful of the country’s cities and towns reporting Friday morning, the Leave campaign held a 52 percent to 48 percent lead. The BBC called the race for the Leave campaign shortly before 4:45 a.m., with 13.1 million votes having been counted in favor of leaving and 12.2 million in favor of remaining.

The value of the British pound plummeted as financial markets absorbed the news.
Despite opinion polls ahead of the referendum on Thursday that showed either side in a position to win, the outcome nonetheless stunned much of Britain, Europe and the trans-Atlantic alliance, highlighting the power of anti-elite, populist and nationalist sentiment at a time of economic and cultural dislocation.

“Dare to dream that the dawn is breaking on an independent United Kingdom,” Nigel Farage, the leader of the U.K. Independence Party, one of the primary forces behind the push for a referendum on leaving the European Union, told cheering supporters just after 4 a.m.

Britain will become the first country to leave the 28-member bloc, which has been increasingly weighed down by its failures to deal fully with a succession of crises, from the financial collapse of 2008 to a resurgent Russia and the massive influx of migrants last year.

The result left Prime Minister David Cameron, who led the charge for Britain to remain a member of the European Union, badly weakened and at risk of losing his job. It was a remarkable victory for the country’s anti-European forces, which not long ago were considered to have little chance of prevailing.

Financial markets, which had been anticipating that Britain would vote to stay in, braced for a day of losses and possible turmoil. Economists had predicted that a vote to leave the bloc could do substantial damage to the British economy.

Mr. Cameron had vowed before the vote to move quickly to begin the divorce process if Britain voted to leave. But even if he follows through — some leaders of the Leave movement have counseled moving slowly — nothing will change immediately on either side of the Channel, with existing trade and immigration rules remaining in place. The withdrawal process is expected to be complex and contentious, though under the bloc’s governing treaty it is effectively limited to two years.

For the European Union, the result is a disaster, raising questions about the direction, cohesion and future of a bloc built on liberal values and shared sovereignty that represents, with NATO, a vital component of Europe’s postwar structure.
(Source: NYTIMES)
 Culled from Daily Sun

New face of prostitution

•In guise of selling drugs, call girls solicit men’s patronage
An Abuja resident, Musa (surname withheld) closed from work on a Friday night and decided to pick some snacks at an eatery in the AYA axis of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). As soon as he pulled up his car, two girls rushed to him, one standing by the driver’s side and the other by the passenger’s side clutching some weather-beaten bottles of cough medicines.

But as he later found out, that was not their main product.  “Kindly help us buy, sir”, the girls pleaded. He could not fathom why the girls would expect anyone in his right senses to buy drugs that have outlived their shelf life and the relevant authorities did not bother to arrest them.
Just then, the girl standing by the driver’s door saw another car pull up and rushed towards it, leaving her colleague at the other side of the car.

Real product for sale
Before Musa could say a word, the girl opened the door, sat inside the car and introduced another product, which explained why they were there.
With innocent smile, she said: “Sir, we also sell manpower. Try out this one and you can have fun with a woman for four hours non-stop!”

Narrating his experience, Musa stated that in his bid not to dismiss her rudely, he told the girl that his wife was not in Abuja and so he would not buy the drug.
“As if that was what the girl waited for, she quickly replied: ‘But I am here. If you can buy this drug, you can test the efficacy on me without paying.’  It was about 9 pm and the girl insisted to go home with Musa! He refused to say what followed the unusual offer.

Daily, and in many parts of the FCT, young girls, many in their teens, hawk sex power-boosting drugs, and offering to be used to prove their efficacy.
Investigation by Abuja Metro revealed that buy-drug-for free-sex is one of the various strategies adopted by wayward and desperate girls to survive the hard times after the official ban on prostitution in Abuja in June 2013.

The girls usually position themselves strategically in busy areas in the metropolis such as AYA, Area 3 (where there is a cluster of banks), Banex Plaza, Wuse Zone 4 (near Shagalinku Hotel, and old Sahad supermarket), Area 3 and Gimbia Street in Area 11parts of the capital city.

Sexual service imbedded in drug price
One of the girls (names withheld) told Abuja Metro that she sells the ‘manpower’ drugs for between N1,000 and N2,000 depending on the bargaining power of the buyer. According to her, the fee for free sex with interested buyers is padded into the cost of the drugs.

Some men reject the offer
Another sales girl in the team said not all men jump at the weird offer. She confessed that some of their customers would simply believe the efficacy of the drugs and buy them without using them as guinea pigs, while some men pick the drugs because of the sex bonus attached to the purchases.

Efficacy of drugs in doubt
A man who simply identified himself as Haruna, told Abuja Metro that he had patronised the girls but, he doubted the efficacy of the drugs. His words: “One of those girls deceived me to buy the drug for N2,000 and lured me to a nearby guest house where I took the brownish powdery substance but I could not perform beyond my normal rounds.

“Forget those girls. They are just extorting money from unsuspecting people. The drugs do not work. But there are two deals in one. So, you can have one and lose one. At all at all na him bad”, he said in pidgin English.

Ban on prostitution
Open prostitution was banned in FCT during the tenure of Bala Mohammed as the Minister of FCT. In June 2013, Mohammed gave sex hawkers 48-hour ultimatum to leave the nation’s capital or face the wrath of the law.

The minister, who decried the steady rise in the population of prostitutes in Abuja, had stated that they constitute a nuisance because their services add no value to the beauty of the city.
Speaking through his Secretary for Social Development, Mrs. Blessing Onuh, the minister warned men who patronise the girls to desist from the filthy act or risk being treated as accomplices if caught in the act.

Consequently, he set up a special task force, which raided most of the notorious parts, including a hotel regarded as the headquarters of commercial sex workers, Zone 4, Area 11; Gimbia Street and other hotels.

Due to the daily raids and in a bid to beat the ban, some of the sex hawkers rented apartments for their illicit trade. Some of them who could not cope with the harassment, moved to neighbouring towns like Mararaba, Masaka and New Nyanya, all in Nasarawa State.
Source:Daily Sun

Naira extends losses against dollar

 The naira extended its losing run against the dollar for a second day on Tuesday.

The naira traded 1.1 percent weaker at 285 to the dollar at 11 am, with $9 million traded. It, however, traded at N280 to a dollar at 1 pm.
The naira had slumped 30 percent on Monday.

The central bank caved into pressure to effectively devalue the naira in the wake of falling prices for oil, the country’s main export, announcing last week that it would abandon its 16-month-old peg at 197 to the dollar.

On Monday, the Central Bank of Nigeria sold $3.5 billion on the forward market after it auctioned $532 million and intervened on the interbank market to clear the backlog of hard currency orders worth around $4 billion.

CBNk sold $697 million in one-month forward, $1.22 billion in the two-month contract and $1.57 billion due in three months, in order to clear a backlog of $4.02 billion of demand, market operator FMDQ Securities Exchange said.

In May, Nigeria lifted prices of petrol by 67 percent to N145 a litre to eliminate the controversial subsidy regime and ease severe fuel shortages.
The government then used an exchange rate of N285 to the dollar to calculate petrol imports, which economists believed triggered the currency reform.

Other major oil producers, including Russia, Kazakhstan, and Angola, allowed their currencies to fall much earlier after crude prices collapsed.

Source:Guardian

Again, one feared killed as 200 militants invade Lagos, Ogun communities

A woman leaving one of the communities with her children after the attack on Monday morning.

THE tension at Imushin, Elepete, Igbo Olomu and Imuti communities in Ogun and Lagos states continued on Monday, as suspected pipeline vandals, numbering over 200, reportedly killed another one person.

War looms between the Hausa community in Imushin, Elepete and the rampaging militants as the Hausa had reportedly threatened to avenge the death of their kinsmen, who were killed over at the weekend.

This is as residents of the communities started relocating from the villages, following reported threat from the vandals that they were coming back.
There was sporadic shooting early Monday as the hoodlums marched through the communities, forcing residents to remain indoors.

Parents whose children had gone to schools hurriedly went to pick their wards, forcing many of the schools to close early  while businesses were also shut down.
A resident, Silelola Fasan, who himself had relocated his family from one of the communities (Igbo Olomu), described the Monday experience as “warlike.”

Silelola added that “the Monday incident was more terrifying because they came during the day time. They came out around 8.00 a.m. and they were still patrolling these communities till after 10.00 a.m., shortly before the soldiers arrived.

“There were about 200 of them, heavily armed. They marched through Elepete and other communities, shooting seriously.”
He also said “many people have started relocating from the communities. In fact, I have relocated my wife and children from here, I just came back to observe things.”

A policeman, simply identified as Ogedengbe, was also among residents of the communities that had relocated family membersfrom Elepete as a result of the Monday crisis.
It was gathered that a detachment of soldiers drafted to the communities with three armoured personnel carriers succeeded in chasing away the millitants.

There was concern, however, by the villagers, following the disappearance of the soldiers, who reportedly only waited for less than two hours before vacating the communities.

Many residents expressed fear of a likely communal clash in the troubled communities, following reported threats by the Hausa community to confront the militants and avenge the death of their brothers.

The image maker in charge of the Lagos State police command, Dolapo Badmos, said the whole thing started when the police foiled an attempt to kidnap some residents.
“Our men received information that some suspected kidnappers have entered the community. SARS operatives were deployed to the place and they succeeded in arresting one of the suspects, who took the police to Topkatt hotel where other gang members were lodging.

“Other suspects tried to escape by firing at our policemen and the operatives responded,” she said.
The Lagos police spokesperson also said two of the gang members sustained gunshot injuries and were rushed to General  Hospital where they were confirmed dead, adding that another member is currently undergoing treatment.

At Itaoluwo community, the militants began shooting at about 1.00 a.m. till 3.00 a.m. on Monday.
Lagos Metro gathered that more people also moved out of the community at the dawn of Monday.
It was learnt that the Divisional Police Officers of Ogijo, Ijede and Odogunyan visited the community to see the residents on Monday.

A source who spoke to Lagos Metro on Monday said people were moving out of the community in droves, running for their lives.
“The militant had come back to attack just as they promised to do on Friday during their first attack. They came back around 1.00 a.m. on Monday and began to shoot till about 3.00 a.m.

“They are pipeline vandals, they robbed, they killed, they kidnapped, they are threat to Imushin community as a whole,” he said.
The community leader of Itaoluwo community, the Olumushin of Imushin, Taiwo Adebunmi Gbamgbose, appealed to the Lagos and Ogun state governments to come to their rescue.

“We need a tight security because no one can withstand the militants’ ammunition, they are powerful and fearful.
“We don’t know if they will still come back the third time. These militants don’t value human lives and we don’t know what to do concerning this whole thing,” he said.
Source:Tribune

As a section of Ogun River dries up: Thousands turn Kara to tourist’s site

• Shocked residents walk on dry riverbed
• Why rivers dry up, by experts

Yesterday at the Kara Bridge, a shouting distance from the Ojodu Berger intersection in Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State, Ade Adebiyi loitered with a few of his friends.
He was in the area to confirm the rumour that had been making the rounds: That a section of Ogun River had suddenly dried up and had become dry land.

Mystery
“I heard this news on Saturday in my house at Mowe near the Redemption Camp, but by then, it was too late. So, I waited till this morning. As soon as it was safe enough, I quickly boarded a vehicle and here am I with some of my friends. I came to see things for myself. And I can confirm to you that it is true,” he told the reporter.

Since Saturday, Kara, a popular cattle market by the Ogun River, has turned into a centre of attraction. Thousands of people from Ogun State have been trooping to the bridge to catch a glimpse of the mysterious spectacle.

The mystery, which was said to have gradually started last Friday evening, left many in shock. Till now, everyone keeps wondering what could be responsible for such an unusual situation.

Residents of the area told the reporter that before the sudden miracle occurred, no one could dare the river without the help of a local canoe. Whether in the rainy or dry season, the river, many noted, had consistently flowed at high velocity. Many had drowned in the river after the boat, ferrying them suddenly capsized.

Until Saturday, the canoe was the only means of transportation for everyone, especially traders, crossing from the other end of the river to buy cows, rams and goats from the popular Kara Meat Market.

A new Mecca
When the reporter visited the place on Sunday morning, many people, including children, were seen trooping to the scene from all directions to catch a glimpse of the situation. All that was left of the once deep river were some seaweeds, green leaves brought from unknown direction to the spot.

At the other side of the bridge, the river was still flowing freely. But then, it would quickly stop and return as soon as it got to the new dry land.

There was a gridlock on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway bridge, as several vehicles slowed down to see why the crowd gathered around the river. Men of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), consistently prevented drivers that wanted to pull their vehicles over to get details of what was happening there from doing so.

The commission’s officials worked tirelessly to ensure a free flow of traffic. Policemen were also on ground to ensure that hoodlums didn’t hijack the situation to loot traders’ wares.

Mr. James Odey, a resident of Isheri, a stone’s throw from the area, told Daily Sun that he was at home three days ago when he heard people shouting and saw them running to Kara Bridge, that something strange has happened in the area.

He said: “My neighbours told me that the river was bringing some grasses from another direction and it suddenly stopped under the bridge, separating the big Ogun river. I ran here about 5pm on Friday and saw that the water was nowhere to be found.

“As you can see (pointing to the other end of the river), this place was flowing just like the other side until that Friday. There were no leaves, nothing else, except water. Then, we could only cross the river using the canoe. For more than 30 years that I have been living here, this has never happened. I can’t explain what happened; only God can.”

Another resident, Stephen Bishop, who said he was popularly known in the area as High Pencil, said: “My wife usually crossed the river to buy meat and other things at Kara Market. But when she got here on that Friday, she noticed that the first people that boarded the canoe were stuck in the middle of the river by the grasses. As at then, the grasses were not as many as they are now.

“She couldn’t cross the river that day because the canoe couldn’t return to pick other passengers. Then she returned home.

“I doubted when she narrated the story to me. I thought maybe she was simply scared of the water. She had to show me some pictures to convince me of what she said.
“When I got here, I was shocked and confused because this had never happened.”

Seaweeds for herbal concoctions
Amidst the excitement and confusion, the reporter observed that some people were cutting the grasses and taking them home for different reasons.

When the reporter asked one of the people, a young man in his early 40s, why he plucked three different leaves from the place, he said he was taking them home to prepare some herbal concoction for his personal use.

“This is not the handiwork of man but God. When I get home, I will soak these three types of leaves in water or dry gin, and drink it. I believe it is God that brought the leaves from wherever He brought them. It is my belief and it will work for me,” he said.

But Ahmed Akin said he was only taking the leaves home to be preserved so that he wouldn’t be doubted whenever he told the story.

Timileyin Wale, who came to the place with his friend, Ahmed Akin, told the reporter that the leaves could be a harbinger of good luck, hence his decision to return home with as much seaweeds as he could pack.

A symbol of hunger
Some others, especially women and elderly men, simply stood in the middle of what used to be the Ogun River, praying that the god who performed the miracle that consumed the river should perform some great miracles in their lives.

The reporter observed that the grasses came with some strange insects. Some of the elderly people around the scene interpreted the sudden appearance of the insects as a sign of hunger in the land.
The man, who refused to reveal his name, spent some time educating the people there on what the insects connoted.

“It is not ordinary; this is a spiritual matter,” he explained to the reporter. “Those insects are symbols of hunger in the land. For this to have happened means the hunger might persist for long.

“Despite that it rained this morning, this place has remained dry. You as a journalist might not be able to see what we elders can see because you are young.”
It was gathered that the youths from Isheri neighbourhoods were planning to organise a party at the scene on Sunday to celebrate the wondrous works of God.

Meat sellers, canoe operators lament
But not everyone is happy at the sudden turn of things at the area. Those who once ferried passengers in canoes as means of livelihood have been lamenting since the incident. They used to ferry passengers across the water, charging them N50 for a trip of less than two minutes. That is history for now, as people moved freely from one side of the water to the other.

Many of the youths walked on the seaweeds that now dominated where the river was, while some even slept on the seaweeds. Some motorcycle riders rode on the sudden dry land, shouting excitedly. And the residents and passers-by cheered them and hailed their courage. Many people stood on the dry river and posed for photographs.

A panel beater under the Kara Bridge, said he had been plying his trade there for close to ten years and had never seen such ‘miracle’
His words: “Since yesterday, people have been coming from different parts of Lagos and Ogun State to see what is happening here. It is pure magic by God. God is wonderful.

“Regrettably, the river, which has been very useful for those killing and selling cattle and other animals at the market, is now gone. Those who depend on it for their business, will have to start thinking of other sources.”

Why rivers dry up
Experts have adduced many reasons to explain why a river, lake or sea might suddenly dry up. In an article in the Mother Nature Network on May 20, Shea Gunther, a writer and environmental scientist, noted that the large population of human beings, numbering over seven billion, consumes water daily at alarming proportions.

“We use water to drink, make food, create energy, manufacture products, extract raw minerals from the earth and everything else in between. The average family of four can use 400 gallons of indoor water or more everyday, to say nothing of the massive quantities of water used by businesses, farms and industry.

“All that water has to come from somewhere, and it shouldn’t be surprising to learn that there are a lot of places around the world that are literally drying up. It’s never been harder to be a large body of water. In the face of warming temperatures caused by climate change on top of increased demand, some of the world’s largest lakes, rivers and seas are growing smaller with every season.

When we use more water than is naturally put back into the system, we draw down the overall supply. That simple equation is the brutal reality.”

An environmental expert in the area warned that residents should keep off the blocked channel for the risks of it opening up unexpectedly. He said some obstruction, including the seaweeds currently on its surface, might have blocked the flow of the river. He called on the necessary authorities to visit the site and unearth the cause of the mysterious ‘disappearance’ of a section of the river.
Source:Daily Sun