Mystery Writer Sue Grafton Dies At 77

Sue Grafton, the mystery writer who penned best-selling novels with alphabet-based titles, starting with "A Is for Alibi" and ending with "Y Is for Yesterday," has died, her daughter, Jamie Clark, said Friday in a social media post. She was 77.

"I am sorry to tell you all that Sue passed away last night after a two-year battle with cancer," Clark wrote on Grafton's official Facebook page. "She was surrounded by family, including her devoted and adoring husband Steve. Although we knew this was coming, it was unexpected and fast."

Grafton died at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, California, after battling cancer of the appendix, Alexis Welby, director of publicity at her publisher, G.P. Putnam's Sons, told CNN.

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Dad Fathered 8 Kids With Own Daughter After Keeping Her As S*x Slave For 20 Years

A dad has been accused of fathering eight children with his own daughter after keeping her as a sex slave for more than 20 years - in a sick case which echoes that of Austria's Josef Fritzel.

Domingo Bulacio, 56, repeatedly raped his own daughter over two decades during which time she gave birth to multiple kids, a court in Argentina heard.

The father reportedly began raping his then 15-year-old daughter 22 years ago. There are conflicting reports about what happened to the girl's mother, with one claiming he threw her out their family home, forcing her to leave with three of their children, according to El Liberal.


Other local reports say she died, and the younger three children went to live with relatives. Evidence provided to the court revealed that a DNA test confirmed that Bulacio was the father of all eight of his daughter's children.

He was arrested in January last year after the woman took her youngest son to the doctor.

When the doctor asked who the boy's father was broke down and told him her father was also her son's dad.

Bulacio was eventually taken into custody after fleeing police and becoming a fugitive for 45 days - hiding out at a relative's home in Loreto, Santiago del Estero 30 miles away from his own.

The case is hauntingly similar to that of Fritzl's, who kept his own daughter Elisabeth captive for 24 years in his guesthouse in the town of Amstetten in the north-eastern state of Lower Austria.

He fathered seven children with her after using her as a sex slave in a soundproofed horror dungeon, where he raped her more than 3,000 times.

It was only when Kerstin, the eldest daughter fathered by Fritzl, slipped into a coma that the horror father took her to hospital, where doctors noted her malnourished condition and rotting teeth.

When Elisabeth was given permission to finally leave the cellar to visit Kerstin in hospital, she was arrested and told police about the horrific crimes her father had committed.

Fritzl, who recently changed his surname to Mayrhoff so that other prisoners might not recognise him any more, is serving life for murder and rape at Austria's most secure psychiatric prison after being jailed in 2009.

Bulacio has been charged with sex crimes and will now stand trial.

According to local reports, the victim was abandoned by her mother who was allegedly physically abused by Bulacio.

Six of the eight children are living at the boarding school of Eva Peron in Santiago del Estero, local media reported.

There is no further information about the mother whose name has not been made public.

The case, which has been adjourned until next week, continues.

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Katsina: Ex-Permanent Secretary Jailed For Advance Fee Fraud

A former Permanent Secretary in Katsina State, Sule Saulawa, was on Friday sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment without the option of fine by the state’s high court for advance fee fraud.

Justice Sanusi Tukur of the High Court slammed the sentence on Saulawa after finding him guilty of advance fee fraud charges brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

The judge said the sentence was the minimum allowed under the section which Saulawa’s offence falls.

The former Permanent Secretary was said to have falsely obtained N2.5m from one Alhaji Musa Baba, now late, in 2015 assuring him of a fertiliser contract from the state government.


Saulawa was also said to have encouraged Baba, who was Chairman of Many Agro-Allied and Chemicals Company Nigeria Limited and Diamond Fertiliser Nigeria Limited, to write a proposal seeking for the supply of the said fertiliser.

The court heard that Baba did not secure the contract neither was he able to retrieve his money from Saulawa.

Baba was said to have petitioned the EFCC over the matter. In the course of the hearing of the matter, four witnesses were called and they included Agbo Usman, Ahmed Yahaya, Kabiru Da Asali and Nasiru Rabe.

Justice Tukur, while reviewing the case before passing judgment on Friday, said Saulawa did not deny collecting the money from Baba even when he knew that the said contract was non-existent.

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Police Screen Hospital Visitors As Buhari Checks On Son Again

President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday was back at the Cedar Crest Hospital, Gudu District, Abuja, where his son, Yusuf, who was injured in a motorbike accident, was hospitalised.

But the security situation around the hospital remained tense, as policemen screened those gaining entry into the medical facility.

The President, who got there around 6pm, had on Thursday alongside his wife and Yusuf’s mother, Aisha, visited the hospital.


A guard near the hospital told a Punch correspondent that the First Lady was believed to have slept overnight till Friday.

At about 5.30pm when a Punch correspondent got to the hospital, the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, also arrived to check on Yusuf.

The Kaduna State Governor spent about 20 minutes at the hospital.

“The dignitaries have not stopped coming. We see luxury cars every 10 minutes, we see police escorts; I can’t mention everyone who has visited today.

“But the wife of the President slept in the hospital. She is still with the injured son,” the guard who pleaded anonymity, said.

It was learnt that Yusuf’s friend, Bashir Gwandu, was also at the Intensive Care Unit of the Cedar Crest Hospital, Abuja.

The President’s son had collided with Gwandu during a motorbike race on Tuesday night in Abuja.

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Family Marks Dasuki’s Two-Year Detention, Tells Buhari It’s Time To Release Him

Family members of a former National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki (Retd.), have lambasted the President Muhammadu Buhari’s government for incarcerating him despite court orders granting him bail.

The family, under the Sultan Ibrahim Dasuki Progressive Association of Dogon Daji House, Sokoto State, spoke with newsmen on Friday, noting that the Federal Government should “immediately release” Dasuki, except its intention was to kill him.

The press briefing was in commemoration of the ex-NSA’s two years in detention.

It will be recalled that Dasuki was arrested by operatives of the Department of State Services and has been in custody since December 29, 2015.


In a statement signed by Kabir Auwal, who is also Secretary of the Sultan Dasuki Association, the family said the ex-NSA had been arraigned before four federal courts which granted him bail, “while the Economic Community of West African States’ court also ordered his release and that he should be paid N15m compensation, but the Federal Government refused to obey any of the court orders.”

Auwal said, “The association on behalf of the entire Sultan Dasuki family wishes to request the Federal Government, under the leadership of Muhammadu Buhari, to respect the rule of law in the case of our son, brother, cousin and former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, and release him from detention.

“Surprisingly, in over two years that Dasuki was detained without any court order or warrant, he has been subjected to media trial, scandalised, criminalised, insulted and humiliated through the propaganda of the current administration.”

The statement added, “The FG’s sheer disregard for the rule of law in the last two years has become worrisome to the family. The disregard by the government agencies could not be without the approval of President Buhari which is most painful.

“We strongly call on the Federal Government to respect the rule of law and allow Dasuki to enjoy his bail, except if the intention of government is to kill him in detention. We therefore call on the Federal Government to release Dasuki on bail in compliance with the rulings of our competent courts while it continues with the cases in open court.”

When contacted, a Presidency official directed Saturday PUNCH to contact the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, for comment. But Malami neither answered one of our correspondents’ telephone calls nor responded to a text message seeking his comment on the matter.

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Photo: Manager Catches Customer With Charms Inside Restaurant, Calls Police

The Manager in charge of Spice 77 Restaurant and Bar along Addo/Ajah Road, Ajah, Lagos Ichukwu Clement has apprehended a customer, Ujah Jacob, 26 inside his restaurant with a box containing different types of charms which he allegedly intended to harm the Manager for progressing more than him.

Following the ugly development, Clement sent a distress calls to the Police at Langbasa Division and the Police stormed the scene to arrest the suspect and took him with the box containing the charms to the station.

During interrogation, according to the police, the suspect allegedly confessed to the crime that he intentionally travelled to his village in Benue State to prepare the charms to harm the complainant and prevent him from operating the restaurant because he was progressing more than him.

After investigation by Inspector Adisa Bello and his team, the suspect, a resident of Ajah, Lagos was arraigned before a Tinubu Magistrate Court, Lagos on a one count charge of felony to, wit, unlawful possession of charms in a wooden box with intent to harm Ichukwu Clement, the complainant to prevent him from doing his restaurant business.

Police Prosecutor, Phillip Osijale informed the Court in charge No C/23/2017 that the accused committed the offense on 15 November, 2017 at SPICE 77 Restaurant and Bar along Addo Road,Ajah, Lagos.

Osijale told the Court that the accused confessed to the police that he deliberately prepared the charms found with him at the restaurant to harm the complainant from doing his restaurant business because he was progressing more than him.

Osijale said that the offence the accused committed is punishable under section 130(c) of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State,2015.

The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the alleged crime in the open court and Magistrate,Mr L.O Kazeem granted bail to the accused in the sum of N100,000 with two sureties in like sum.

Kazeem adjourned the case till 31 January, 2018 for mention and ordered that the defendant be kept in Ikoyi Prison, Lagos till he fulfilled the bail conditions.

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Tanzania To Ban Organisations That Mix Religion With Politics

Tanzania has threatened to revoke the registration of religious organisations that mix religion with politics after a cleric criticised President John Magufuli’s leadership in a Christmas sermon.

Opposition leaders in Tanzania said tolerance for dissent had been rapidly disappearing since Magufuli took office in late 2015 and pledged to reform East Africa’s third-biggest economy and crack down on large-scale corruption.

Tanzania’s constitution protects freedom of worship, but religious organisations must register at the country’s Home Affairs Ministry to get licence to operate legally.


The Permanent Secretary in that country’s Ministry of Home Affairs, Projest Rwegasira, said “recently, some leaders of religious societies have been using their sermons to analyse political issues, which is contrary to the law.

“Any violation of the law could lead to cancellation of the registration of concerned religious society.”

The warning was issued just days after the head of a Pentecostal church in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam criticised Magufuli’s leadership, saying his government was closing democratic space.

Zachary Kakobe, self-proclaimed bishop and founder of the Full Gospel Bible Fellowship Church, accused the Tanzanian government of “quietly turning the country into a one-state rule by systematically banning political activity.”

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Shade Tinubu Becomes A Mom Through A Surrogate [Photo]

Shade Tinubu-Ojo, first daughter of the National leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has welcomed her first baby, a boy, through surrogacy.

PM News investigation revealed that the baby was born on 25 December, 2017 through surrogacy to the Tinubu-Ojo family, who have been expecting a baby several years after marriage.

Tinubu-Ojo was cited at the commissioning of the Johnson, Jakande, Tinubu, JJT Park three weeks ago not pregnant. In fact, she was the one who cut the tape for the commissioning of the project in the presence of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode.

Despite fact that the baby was born through surrogacy, there is joy in the Tinubu-Ojo’s family that at last the Iya-Oloja General is now a proud mother.


The naming ceremony of the baby has been fixed for Monday, January 1, 2018.

According to  Wikipedia, Surrogacy is a method or agreement whereby a woman agrees to carry a pregnancy for another person or persons, who will become the newborn child’s parent after birth. WE SAY BIG CONGRATS TO HER. What a nice way of starting the year!

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Photos: Veteran Actor Sadiq Daba Returns Home

Veteran actor and broadcaster, Sadiq Daba,who travelled to the United Kingdom earlier this month for medical treatment is back in the Country.Sadiq had left the country to go and treat leukaemia and prostate cancer. He returned yesterday, Friday, 29 December. While announcing his return, Sadiq wrote;

“It’s so good to be back home! Who else will be there? Who has always been there ? Yes , the indefatigable woman of esteem and high standards, sincerity, honesty ,love, care ,adoration and My Angel……Dr.Joe Odumakin! I am back stronger, healthier and well. All thanks to the goodwill and kindness of thousands and thousands of Nigerians both home and abroad…. Special mention and lots of love to Soni Irabor, who kick started it all! I am ever so grateful…”

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Buhari Signs Bill To Make Doctors Treat Gunshot Wounds Without Police Report

President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday signed six bills including the Compulsory Treatment and Care for Victims of Gunshot Act, 2017 and the Niger Delta Development Commission (Establishment) Amendment Act, 2017 into laws.

Sen. Ita Enang, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), made this known to State House correspondents in Abuja on Friday.

According to him, the Gunshot Act specifically stipulates that a person with gunshot shall be received for immediate and adequate treatment by any hospital in Nigeria with or without initial monetary deposit.

He explained that “furthermore, a person with gunshot wound shall not be subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment or torture by any person or authority, including the police and other security agencies.”

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Nine Killed As Gunmen Attack Egypt Church

A gunman today opened fire at a church in south of Cairo, killing at least nine people before policemen shot him dead, officials and state media said.

Health ministry spokesman Khaled Megahed told state television that the gunman who was shot dead had killed nine people and wounded others, including a police officer.

The gunman had tried to storm the building when police shot him dead, police officials said.
State television reported that a second assailant who escaped had been arrested.

Cellphone footage posted on social media appeared to show the bearded gunman wearing a bulky ammunition vest sprawled on a street, barely conscious, as people restrained his arms and then handcuffed him.

Police later cordoned off the crime scene as onlookers crowded around the church, while a forensics team combed the area.

Congealing blood could be seen at a guard post in front of the church.

The Daesh group’s affiliate in Egypt has killed dozens of Christians in church bombings and shootings over the past year, and has threatened further attacks against the minority.

Egypt’s Coptic Christians make up about 10 percent of the country’s 93 million people, and are the largest religious minority in the region.

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Dog Statue Resembling Trump Unveiled In China

In honor of the Lunar New Year a shopping mall in northern China has planted an enormous statue of a dog that resembles President Donald Trump.

The statue, which is displayed at Fashion Walk Mall in Taiyuan, has been installed to celebrate the coming Year of the Dog.

The huge canine figure has Trump's, 71, signature golden hairstyle, prominent eyebrows and classic gesture.

The figure has one finger extended in the air in the President's classic pose and the dog is even wearing a red scarf, representative of Trump's power ties.

Although the statue represents the coming year of the dog in the Chinese zodiac, ironically Trump's Chinese astrological sign is also the year of dog, as he was born in 1946.

However, in Chinese culture, the year of your own animal isn't expected to be your best year. They regard it as bad luck if the zodiac animal of the current year is the same as the year you were born in. But why are people so hard on Trump.

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President Buhari Congratulates George Weah

President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated George Weah on his election as the next President of Liberia. In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, the President commended Liberians for the peaceful conduct of the election. He also lauded the outgoing President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for ensuring credible election. Read the full statement after the cut.


On behalf of the government and people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari warmly congratulates George Weah on his election as the next President of the Republic of Liberia.

President Buhari also commends the Liberian people on the peaceful conduct of the historic presidential run-off election, stressing that “this is another plus on Africa’s democratic scoreboard.”

The President equally applauds the efforts of the National Election Commission of Liberia, as well as regional and international observers who have contributed immensely to the electoral process and the strengthening of post-conflict democracy in the West African country.

Describing Mr. Weah’s victory as an affirmation of the will of the Liberian people to remain united, peaceful and prosperous, President Buhari pledged Nigeria’s readiness to work with Liberia on issues of mutual interest at bilateral, regional and global levels for the benefit of citizens of both countries.

The Nigerian leader also commends outgoing President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, under whose 12-year watch Liberia had transformed from being a pariah state to a country doing remarkably well on many fronts such as, women and civil rights issue, peace building and consolidation, ECOWAS and the Mano River Union.

President Buhari also notes that President Sirleaf deserves special commendation for the statesmanship she has shown in ensuring free and fair elections that will pave the way for a peaceful transfer of political power from one democratically elected leader to another for the first time in 73 years.

Wishing President-elect Weah and Liberians a peaceful transition, he reassures them of Nigeria’s determination to sustain the current cordial relationship with Liberia.

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