We deliver the most recent information on top stories in politics, sports, current affairs, foreign news and more in this segment.
The Federal High Court on Friday 25th of January 2013 convicted an accomplice in the October 1, 2012 terror bombing in Abuja, Edmund Ebuware, to life imprisonment.
Olusola Oladimeji, the driver of the Toyota Sienna that fell off the Third Mainland Bridge into the lagoon on Saturday, has described his escape as a miracle.
Another air disaster was on Sunday the 27th of January averted by whiskers as an Abuja-bound aircraft made a dramatic return to Lagos when one of its engines developed a mechanical fault mid-air.
American financial magazine Forbes has named Isabel dos Santos, the eldest daughter of Angolan President Jose Eduardo do Santos, as Africa’s first woman billionaire.
At least 232 people have been killed in a Brazilian nightclub fire sparked by what witnesses described as a flare or firework lit by members of a band performing onstage.
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Nigerian Court Sentences Independence Day Bomb Suspect To Life
The Federal High Court on Friday 25th of January 2013 convicted an accomplice in the Oct. 1, 2012 terror bombing in Abuja, Edmund Ebuware, to life imprisonment.

Edmund Ebiware was accused of having knowledge of the planned attack beforehand and failing to report it. His sentence comes days after the alleged mastermind, Henry Okah, was convicted in South Africa on terrorism charges.
Delivering the judgment, Justice Gabriel Kolawole, held that the prosecution was able to prove the allegations against the convict beyond reasonable doubt.
He said Ebiware “had foreknowledge that Mr Henry Okah was planning an attack against the government and to strike and cause mayhem in Nigeria.”
Ebiware will be eligible for parole after 32 years in prison.
Henry Okah was accused of being a key figure in MEND, the most prominent militant group in the oil-producing Niger Delta region.
He holds permanent residence in South Africa and was tried there, with a court convicting him on Monday of 13 terrorism charges. He faces a minimum term of life in prison when the court sentences him by February 1.
Three other suspects were also charged in Nigeria over the bombing, including Henry Okah’s brother Charles Okah, who along with a third suspect are awaiting trail, while the fourth suspect died in prison.
My Escape Was A Miracle – Says Olusola Oladimeji, Driver Of Toyota Sienna That Fell Off 3rd Mainland Bridge
Olusola Oladimeji, the driver of the Toyota Sienna that fell off the Third Mainland Bridge into the lagoon on Saturday, has described his escape as a miracle.

The father of three said contrary to reports by traffic and emergency officials, he was not on high speed when the incident occurred.
He said, “I work on the island and I left home for a meeting in the early hours of Saturday. After the monthly environmental sanitation, I started driving back home.
“I was driving at the speed of 60km/hr and was on the fast lane because the road was free. At Ebute Meta bypass, I saw two vehicles that had been involved in an accident but I kept on driving. Suddenly, everything went blank, I couldn’t see anything again, and I just found myself in the water.”
Oladimeji said he did not lose consciousness in the water and as such, was able to loosen the seat belt.
He said “After falling into the water, I unfastened the seat belt and noticed that one of the doors of my car had broken off, so I swam out of the vehicle to the surface of the water even though I don’t know how to swim.
“It was while I was waving my hand that fishermen saw me and quickly came to my aid. They took me away from the scene and took me to a clinic located on the water where they administered the first aid.”

Oladimeji was later taken to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital where an X-ray scan was conducted on him.
“The doctors said that my leg was not fractured. They, however, cast my leg with Plaster of Paris because I had a sprain,” he said.
A pastor at MFM, Berkeley Parish where he worshipped, Mrs. Praise Onanuga, said the incident was an indication of the existence of God.
She said the victim had just bought the car eight days before the accident.
She said, “Brother Oladimeji is the leader of prophetic group and a house fellowship coordinator. He was supposed to have been at a vigil with us the night before but he begged to be excused because of the meeting he was to have on Saturday.
“He bought the car just eight days before the accident and we were supposed to do the dedication today (Sunday) but we thank God that we were not put to shame.”
74 Passengers Escape Air Crash, After Abuja-Bound Plane Develops Fault After Take-Off
What would have been another air disaster was on Sunday, averted by whiskers as an Abuja-bound aircraft made a dramatic return to Lagos when one of its engines developed a mechanical fault mid-air.
On board the aircraft which belongs to Med-View Airline were 73 passengers including Mr. Donald Ojogo, the newly appointed Politics Editor, Abuja, of the Independent Newspapers Limited, publishers of Daily Independent, Saturday Independent and Sunday Independent.
The Lagos-Abuja bound flight, VL2104, scheduled for 12 noon on Sunday had taken off at exactly 12.15 pm, 15 minutes behind schedule.
But at exactly 12.30, about five minutes after the seat belt signs were put off, there was a loud bang at the engine side of the aircraft forcing it to drop in altitude even as it became unstable, swerving slowly and steadily in left and right directions for about two minutes.
The development elicited instant prayers, wailings and cries from the passengers, most of whom were women with the silence of the Aircraft Crew, especially the Pilot, further heightening tension in the plane.
Forbes Names Eldest Daughter Of Angolan President Isabel Dos Santos As Africa’s First Woman Billionaire
Isabel dos Santos, the eldest daughter of Angolan President Jose Eduardo do Santos, is Africa’s first woman billionaire, according to research by American financial magazine Forbes. This report raises question about ventures Africa – an African Financial Magazine named Folorunsho Alakija as the World’s Richest Black Woman, pulling Oprah Winfrey from the position with a worth of at least $3.3 billion.

Isabel dos Santos bought shares in several Portuguese companies in recent years, including a bank and a cable television firm.
“Those stakes, combined with assets Isabel dos Santos owns in at least one bank in Angola, have pushed her net worth over the $1 billion mark … making the 40-year-old Africa’s first woman billionaire,” the magazine reported on its website late on Wednesday.
Dos Santos is the main shareholder in ZON Multimedia, Portugal’s largest cable television company. She owns 28.8 percent through two other companies, Kento and Jadeium, according to Forbes’ research.
Her 19.5-percent stake in Portuguese bank BPI, one of the largest trading on the country’s stock exchange, is worth $465 million.
Dos Santos also owns a quarter of Angolan bank BIC, estimated at $160 million, and a quarter of local telecommunications firm Unitel.
The Unitel stake alone is worth over $1billion, analysts told the magazine.
Brazil Mourns As Santa Maria Nightclub Fire Death Toll Rises To 232
At least 232 people have been killed in a Brazilian nightclub fire sparked by what witnesses described as a flare or firework lit by members of a band performing onstage.

Many of the victims died inhaling toxic fumes during the rush to escape through the venue's single exit, according to local media reports in the southern city of Santa Maria.
Police Major Cleberson Braida Bastianello said officials counted 232 bodies brought for identification to a makeshift mortuary at the city gymnasium. He lowered the death toll from the 245 earlier believed killed.
Television images showed smoke pouring out of the Kiss nightclub as shirtless, young male party goers joined firefighters in wielding axes and sledgehammers, pounding at windows and walls to break through to those trapped inside. Teenagers sprinted from the scene desperately trying to find help others carried injured and burnt friends away in their arms.
“There was so much smoke and fire, it was complete panic and it took a long time for people to get out, there were so many dead,” survivor Luana Santos Silva told the Globo TV network.
Silva added that firefighters and ambulances responded quickly after the fire broke out, but that it spread too fast inside the packed club for them to help.
Michele Pereira, another survivor, told the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper that she was near the stage and that the fire broke out after band members lit flares.
“The band that was onstage began to use flares and, suddenly, they stopped the show and pointed them upward. At that point the ceiling caught fire. It was really weak but in a matter of seconds it spread,” Pereira said.
After the fire was extinguished, bodies were ferried by truck to the gymnasium. The Globo newspaper said the first truck carried 67 bodies and the second 70.

“People started panicking and ended up treading on each other,” a fire chief, Guido de Melo, told local media.
Fire department officials will issue a detailed report after a full investigation.
Many of the dead are likely to be students because Santa Maria is a university centre for the Rio Grande do Sul region and the usual class schedule had been disrupted by strikes.
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