Nigerian league champions match called off after attack

ABUJA An opening day fixture of the new Nigeria Premier League season involving champions Kano Pillars has been postponed after armed robbers shot and wounded at least five players.

The League Management Company (LMC) announced that Saturday's match with Heartland was called off because of the attack on Thursday as Pillars travelled to the game in Owerri, eastern Nigeria.

Striker Mohammed Gambo, midfielder Eneji Otekpa and defender Reuben Ogbonnaya were among those who suffered bullet wounds when robbers opened fire after stealing cash and telephones.

"We are still in shock after the robbery," said Pillars defender Isaac Loute.

"They just opened fire at the bus and the bus stopped, the next thing they started asking us to bring out our money, which we did. They collected money and our phones.
"After which they still shot some of our players. We thank God nobody died," he added.

Cameroon prisons overcrowded with Boko Haram suspects

YAOUNDE
Cameroon officials say prisons are overcrowded with suspected Islamic extremists whose insurgency has spilled from Nigeria.

Maroua Central Prison registrar Ngeh Emmanuel said Thursday that 30,000 people have been detained in 25 prisons in Cameroon since May 2014. He says that number is up from 22,000 detained before.

Emmanuel says that more soldiers are needed to stop inmates from endless attempts to break out of jail.
Cameroon Human Rights commission chairman Che Mutta Divine Banda says prisons are crammed with six times more people than their capacity allows.

Neighboring countries increasingly have been drawn into Nigeria's 5-year Islamic uprising, which has killed thousands and driven 1.6 million people from their homes, including across borders into Cameroon, Niger and Chad.

Boko Haram has been recruiting fighters in all three countries.

Nigeria recaptures ten towns from Boko Haram, says government

Nigeria's army recaptured ten towns from Boko Haram, the government said on Thursday, gaining ground in the fight against the Islamist terrorist group.

The north-eastern towns of Gabchari, Abba Jabari, Gajigana, Gajiram, Damakar, Kumaliwa, Bosso, Wanti, Jeram and Karisungul are now back under government control, said spokesman Mike Omeri.
The military already regained control over 19 other towns in the past few weeks, according to the Omeri, whose claims could not be independently verified.

"While the Nigerian military forces are recording several victories against Boko Haram, ... efforts are being intensified by regional bodies to ensure that the scourge is permanently overcome," said Omeri.

Nigeria's army is receiving back-up in the fight against Boko Haram from a multi-national task force, made up of troops from neighbouring Chad, Niger and Cameroon.

Boko Haram, which seeks to establish a caliphate based on its very strict interpretation of Islamic law, has been controlling towns in north-eastern Nigeria spread over an area the size of Belgium.

More than 13,000 people are estimated to have been killed by the insurgents since 2009.

Indonesia moving a Nigerian, 5 other foreigners for execution

A Nigeria and seven convicted drug smugglers will be transferred to an Indonesian prison island this week for imminent execution despite international appeals for clemency, an official said on Monday.

The Nigerian is among five men from France, Brazil, Ghana and Indonesia, and a woman from the Philippines,  will face a firing squad after being moved to Nusa Kambangan prison, Attorney General's Office spokesman Tony Spontana said, without giving exact dates. Six other drug smugglers, including five foreigners, were executed in January at the same prison, located off Indonesia's main island of Java.

Australian death row prisoner Myuran Sukumaran is escorted by police while attending a review hearing in the District Court of Denpasar in Bali.

Among the eight are Andrew Chan, 31, and Myuran Sukumaran, 33, the ringleaders of a group of nine Australians arrested in 2005 for attempting to smuggle 8.3 kilograms (18.3 pounds) of heroin to Australia from the Indonesian resort island of Bali. The seven other members of the group — dubbed the "Bali Nine" by Australian media — have received prison sentences ranging from 20 years to life.

Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has rejected appeals by Australia's government for clemency for Chan and Sukumaran, and vowed not to grant mercy to any other drug offenders because Indonesia is suffering a "drug emergency."

Indonesia has extremely strict drug laws. On January 18, it executed six drug convicts by firing squad, including foreigners from Brazil, Malawi, Nigeria, the Netherlands and Vietnam, brushing aside last-minute appeals by foreign leaders.
There are 133 people on death row in Indonesia, including 57 for drug crimes and two convicted terrorists.

Spanish club Rayo Vallecano mourn ex-Nigeria goalie Agbonavbare

Rayo Vallecano's former Nigerian goalkeeper Wilfred Agbonavbare passed away on Tuesday in an hospital in the town of Alcala de Henares, close to Madrid, after a long battle against cancer.

"We are mourning. Cancer has taken our away Wilfred," read a message in Rayo's official Twitter account.

The club said there will be a minute's silence in his honour at Rayo's home game on Friday against Deportivo La Coruna.

In Rayo Vallecano's last Liga match at Vicente Calderon Stadium against Atletico Madrid on 24 January was displayed a banner that read "Fuerza Wilfred" (You Can Do It Wilfred). But the former Super Eagles goalkeeper didn't survive it. He was part of the Nigerian U-20 side at the 1983 FIFA World Youth Championship in Mexico that included Yisa Sofoluwe, Dahiri Sadi, Femi Olukanni, Tarila Okoronwanta, Humphrey Edobor, Tajudeen Disu, Ali Jeje, Amaechi Otti, Benson Edema, Christopher Anigala etc

Agbonavbare played for the then famous New Nigeria Bank of Benin (NNB) and BCC Lions, then played for Rayo Vallecano between 1990-1996 before calling it quit in his career with Spanish third division side Ecija.

He was reserve goalkeeper for Nigeria at the USA 1994 World Cup and made 15 appearances for the Super Eagles. His most recent engagement was as a porter at Madrid's Barajas airport and goalkeeping coach in a community team in Madrid.

Pharrell Williams' 'Happy' vibe wow fans in Qatar

Pharrell Williams produced magical moments and ecstasy in a musical concert to spread joy on the sidelines of the 24th Men's Handball World Championship 2015 at the magnificent Losail Multipurpose Hall with his infectious mega-hit"Happy" on Thursday night.

The hitmaker had everyone in attendance dancing to his Oscar-nominated song for an hour plus in well-lit party atmosphere.

The celebratory single was the last piece of music the artist performed after the various singles from his different albums. Expectedly it was a full house with over 6000 fans who tuned up to watch the handball game between Russia and Denmark.

Fans were already in frenzy before the singer-songwriter and producer Pharrell Williams came on stage. When he finally arrived with his energetic dancers, the atmosphere was rocking with the lighting like a clubhouse as attendants stood to cheer the US star who wore an Armani jean, white t-shirt and a brown suede bowler hat.

Pharrell in describing the atmosphere said, "I have one word to describe this place, its beautiful".

"I am thrilled about the atmosphere and I am happy to see Pharrell live in Doha," said a Danish journalist.

Explaining the atmosphere at the Losail hall, a Doha resident said, "Honestly this is the kind of atmosphere that makes one love Qatar, everybody is happy dancing."

"As you can see people are not getting tired of Happy and that's really the trick," explained Marco, an Argentinean.

On Saturday, following the match between Denmark and Poland, Gwen Stefani will perform at the Losail Multipurpose Hall.

Cathay Pacific named the world's safest airline

Cathay Pacific has been named as the world's safest airline, followed by Emirates, EVA Air of Taiwan and Air Canada.


The European airline with the best safety record is KLM, according to new data published by Hamburg-based Jet Airliner Crash Data Evaluation Centre (JACDEC).


JACDEC researchers score the world's 60 biggest airlines according to traffic versus the number of accidents and losses over the past 30 years. No UK airlines are currently in the top 12 worldwide.


It said that in 2014, the death toll from commercial passenger flights was four times higher than in 2013, making it the second worst in a decade.


The fatality rate was increased by Malaysia Airlines' twin disasters - the loss of flight MH370 with 239 people onboard and the shooting down of flight MH17, killing 298 - and the AirAsia crash on December 28 with the loss of 162 lives.


As a result, Malaysia Airlines fell from 34^th place in the safety rankings to 57^th.


About half of last year's fatalities came from the Asia-Pacific region.


JACDEC's full data for 2015 will be published at the end of this month.