15-year old son of a King in Delta state who died in kidnappers den, is installed as King

The 15 year old son of Obi Akaeze Edward Ofulue III, the king of Ubulu-Uku Kingdom in Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State who was kidnapped and subsequently murdered last month by unknown gun­men, has been installed as king. Obi (King), Chukwuka Noah Akaeze I, was  Installed as king this week and presented to members of the Royal family before he was presented to the coun­cil of elders at the palace.

 The deceased king was abducted on Obior/ Igbodo Road, Delta State, on the 5th of January along with his driver. He was later found dead at Ekon in Edo state. He was 52 years old.

Pregnant woman dies aboard Arik Air flight

Olawunmi Ojo and Gbenga Adeniji

Barely 48 hours after a middle-aged female passenger was found dead in a toilet at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, another female passenger, on Friday, died aboard an Arik Air flight 749 from Port-Harcourt to Lagos.

The passenger, who was said to have been pregnant, was accompanied on the 11am flight by her husband and cousin.

A statement by Arik Air’s Public Relations and Communications Manager, Adebanji Ola, stated that the passenger was confirmed dead on arrival in Lagos by medical personnel at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Domestic Terminal 1.

 

The cause of death, according to the statement, was yet to be ascertained.

When contacted to confirm the identity and whereabouts of the corpse, Ola declined to comment, saying that there was nothing more to say than to confirm that a female passenger was confirmed dead on arrival.

The Lagos Airport Police Command also confirmed the incident.

The command’s spokesperson, Joseph Alabi, told Saturday PUNCH that the command was aware of the case and gave the name of the deceased as Ijeoma Akaegbu.

Sources at the airport had earlier identified the passenger as Ijeoma, 39, saying she allegedly developed complications while on board.

The pregnant woman was said to have been attended to by medical personnel on board the flight.

The General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Mr. Yakubu Dati, also declined to comment on the issue.

He said it was an Arik Air affair, and that the company should be allowed to handle the matter.

Dati, however, dismissed insinuations that the deceased died at the airport, saying that any report suggesting such was misleading.

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9ice to ex-wife: My ex-publicist didn’t destroy my marriage

Ademola Olonilua and Eric Dumo

As much as 9ice’s estranged wife, Toni Payne, had earlier in the week, blamed her ex husband’s former publicist, Adekunle Ayeni, for being instrumental to the break-up of their marriage, the singer doesn’t seem to agree with his ex wife.

In a recent chat with Saturday Beats, 9ice said Ayeni is not a home breaker.

“I saw the report that my ex-wife, Toni Payne, blamed my former publicist, Ayeni Adekunle, for our marriage failure. Ayeni did not break my marriage with Toni Payne. He was acting based on my instructions at the time. I don’t think he should be brought into this matter. I have since apologised to my ex-wife and the public for what transpired six years ago and I have been forgiven by all parties. I really wish this incident doesn’t linger further because I have since moved on and I beg all parties involved to do the same. I am being careful and would not want to comment much on the issue of my previous marriage so that the matter would not escalate further than this. Once again, I would really appreciate it if all parties forget the past and forge ahead as there is still so much we can achieve through peace, love and happiness,” he said.        when asked if there is any possibility of getting back with his ex-wife, the singer made it known that both parties have since moved on but they have remained friends.

“There was never a time we planned on getting back together. We had a mutual agreement to go our separate ways and we have maintained a cordial relationship ever since; most especially because of our son, Zion,” 9ice said.

9ice’s view is a complete opposite of what Payne had said earlier in the week in an interview with a Lagos-based radio station where she tagged Ayeni ‘an enemy’.

Payne, who has since relocated to the USA claimed that Ayeni was the reason behind her collapsed marriage.

She admitted that although she was having problems with her marriage at that time, a press release issued by Ayeni broke the camel’s back and led to the eventual collapse of the marriage.

“When it all started, I felt the rumour could have been killed faster with social media because that’s how it was spreading. At that point, I approached 9ice’s then publicist, Ayeni. I don’t want to call anybody my enemy, but I consider him an enemy because I see him as someone who started something and didn’t finish it. Back then, when they put out their little press release talking about me and 9ice splitting up, I warned them not to put it out and that if there’s anything happening internally, we should resolve it internally; putting it out there gives the public the right to put their mouths on it. But Ayeni convinced 9ice that he had to put it out, all because he wanted to sell a newspaper he started.

“They went ahead and put out the release behind my back anyway. I was sitting down at a restaurant with my friend when we started getting messages that I was in the news, so I called Ayeni and told him that since they started the rumours, he should please fix it. All he said was ‘madam we’ll do it.’ But he never did. I expected him to use the same enthusiasm they used in releasing the first news to also kill it. But they never did,” she said.

When Saturday Beats reached Ayeni via the telephone, he declined to comment on the issue