Don Williams’ death breaks social media

Don Williams

In less than 24 hours, the news of the death of country music ace, 78-year-old Don Williams, has shattered the social media, recording more than 60 million tweets.

Notable among celebrities that are mourning the award winning country singer is Kenny Rogers, who tweeted: “Sending my sincere and heartfelt prayers to the families & friends of Don Williams’’.

A statement by his publicist, Mr. Kirt Webster, said he Don Williams died on Friday after a short illness.

Williams had a string of hits before retiring in 2016.

His mellow sound influenced a later generation of singers including Joe Nichols and Josh Turner and Keith Urban has said Williams drew him to country music.

Williams, nicknamed ‘the Gentle Giant,’ had a rich voice, gentle delivery and storytelling style. He toured sparingly, did few media interviews and spent much of his time on his farm west of Nashville.

“It’s one of those blessings and curses kind of things,” Williams said in an interview with The Associated Press in 1994.

Some of his hits included I Believe in You, Lord, I Hope This Day Is Good, You’re My Best Friend, Some Broken Hearts Never Mend, Till the Rivers All Run Dry and Back in My Younger Days.

At least one duet with Emmylou Harris made the charts, If I Needed You in 1981.

In his tweet, Margo Price, said: “Rest In Peace to the Gentle Giant, Don Williams. Man knew how to burn that slow groove. May have to work up ‘Tulsa Time’ this weekend.’’

Brothers Osborne: “ RIP Don Williams. 100% class and spirit. Said so much with so little. He was and will always be a blessing in country music.’’

#9jaWitches rehearsed some lines of Don Williams song:
..Some broken hearts never mind,
Some memories never end,
Some tears will never dry,
My Love for you never dies..

He ended with with “RIP icon Don William’

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Ex-Katsina Senator, Kanti Bello is dead

 Olaide Oyelude, Katsina.

A two-term senator representing Daura zone from Katsina state, Muhammad Kanti Bello died early Tuesday morning in Abuja.

Senator Kanti Bello reportedly died in his Abuja residence about 4 am this morning.

Circumstances surrounding his death were scanty by press time.

Senator Kanti  Bello was in his late seventies.

A man who claimed to be his younger brother and who gave his name as Sadauki Bello confirmed his death in Katsina.

Sources at Kanti Bello’s Katsina residence said the late senator is to be buried in Abuja, according to family arrangements.

The Katsina GRA residence was itself deserted with only few private security men seen loitering in the compound, discussing the issue.

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Two arrested for allegedly killing monkeys

Monkeys

Authorities in Central Vietnam have detained two men accused of shooting
dead four rare monkeys in a protected national park, an official said on Tuesday.

Hoang Duc Ai, 43, and an alleged accomplice, identified simply as Minh,
were arrested in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, after they were spotted
carrying two sacks out of the forest, Le Thanh Tinh, director of the park, said.

“A forest ranger detained one at the site, while one who escaped was
later detained by police,’’ Tinh said.

The police discovered four dead monkeys, 17 kilogrammes of animal bones
 and one AK-style assault rifle, a report posted on the park’s website said.

The monkeys were later identified as Ha Tinh Langurs, an endangered
 monkey from central Vietnam and Laos.

They were found shaved and dried over a fire, their brains and abdomens
 removed.

“We have sent these monkeys and the gun for examination so we have
evidence to deal with these men.

“The men were accused of using illegal military weapons and violating
 regulations protecting endangered wildlife,’’ Tinh said.

If they are found guilty, the two men could face as much as 20 years
 imprisonment.

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Nollywood actor, Obi Madubogwu is dead

Nollywood actor, Obi Madubogwu is dead.

According to Daily Post, he died Monday afternoon after battling with ‘acute diabetics foot ulcers’.

Madubogwu became well known after he played the lead role in ‘Battle of Musanga’.

Some months ago, the actor had thanked Nigerians who helped him out financially, physically and spiritually, urging them not to give up on him until he is back on his feet.

On air personality, Enoh Ogbevire also tweeted about the actors’ demise on her twitter handle.

 Follow

Enoh Ogbevire @Enigmacity

Nollywood loses another actor Obi madubuogu (battle of musanga). May his soul rest in perfect peace
Amen

6:54 PM - Aug 28, 2017

•  33 Replies
 
•  22 Retweets
 
•  22 likes

Twitter Ads info and privacy

See photos of the late actor:

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10-year old, 2 others allegedly dead after protest against demolition of Imo Market

Three people were  suspected to have died in Owerri on Saturday when some youths protested against the demolition of the main market in the capital, called Eke-ukwu Owerri Market, by the Imo Government.

Premium Times reports that a 10 year old boy Somtochukwu Ibeanusi, was allegedly shot dead by soldiers from the 34 Artillery Brigade, Obinze deployed to maintain order in the area.

The Police Public Relations Officer in Imo, Andrew Enwerem, however, said he could not confirm the deaths.

The death boy escalated the situation and subsequently two others died.

PUNCH reports that the Army public Relations officer, 34 artillery brigade,Haruna Tarwai, denied any shooting nor killing by his men.

Governor Rochas Okorocha‘s Chief Press Secretary Sam Onwuemeodo in a statement debunked claims that three people were killed during the demolition.

The state government had issued an evacuation order to the traders and advised them to relocate to a new site to make way for development at the market site.

Efforts of the government to relocate the market from the city centre to decongest the area  have  been resisted by Owerri indigenes who regard the market as their ancestral heritage.

The people had instituted a court case against the government over the matter.

However, the market was demolished in the night in spite of the resistance of the natives.

Following the protest, the state capital was heavily guarded by the military and police to forestall further breakdown of law and order.

The OurMumuDonDo group has also released a statement condemning the “flagrant abuse of power and ruthless demolition of the famed” market.

The group, in a statement signed by Adebayo Raphael, its National Publicity Secretary; and Nwadike Precious, its Imo State coordinator said:

The brazen disregard for rule of law and human lives demonstrated earlier today by hatchets of the Imo state government depicts the stark decrepitude in which our nation has been plunged into, and the patent impunity being displayed by people in positions of power.

We deeply commiserate with the victims of this unprovoked and inhumane attack including the kids who were shot dead; the journalist from Vanguard Newspaper, Alozie Chinonso who was beaten to a stupor; and the numerous people whose honest means of livelihoods have been forcefully snatched as a result of this uncanny incident.

However, we are aware that the demolition of the Eke-ukwu Owerri market was a flagrant act of insubordination to a subsisting court order restraining the state government from carrying out such heinous act as well as an utter disregard for the wishes of the people who have heretofore opposed the vicious demolition. Hence, we demand an immediate and exhaustive investigation into the incident and a swift prosecution of the perpetrators of the dastardly act.

We emphatically state that such barbaric assault and obliteration remains condemned and unacceptable in our society. And should such executive lawlessness and impunity be allowed to continue, we may not be able to save our nation from the damning consequences that may lead to the ruination of our dear nation.

In conclusion, therefore, we urge the Federal Government to exigently look into this issue and admonish the Imo State Government to exert whatever ounce of humanity left in them to halt the demolition and develop a comprehensive compensation plan for the disaffected stakeholders in order to restore peace and calm in the state.

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Death toll from South Asia flooding tops 1,000

The death toll from floods sweeping South Asia has climbed above 1,000, officials said Thursday, as rescue teams try to reach millions stranded by the region’s worst monsoon disaster in recent years.

Thousands of soldiers and emergency personnel have been deployed across India, Bangladesh and Nepal, where authorities say a total of 1,009 bodies have been recovered since August 10 when intense rainfall started falling.

Twenty-six bodies were found Wednesday in Bihar, a hard-hit state in India’s east, taking the death toll there to 367, said Anirudh Kumar, a top state disaster management official.

“We still have nearly 11 million people affected in 19 districts of the state,” he told AFP, adding 450,000 flood evacuees had taken shelter in government refuges.

  
In neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, floods have swamped nearly half the vast state of 220 million, India’s most populous.
Disaster management agency spokesman T P Gupta told AFP said 82 people had died and more than two million affected by the disaster there.

The state borders Nepal, where 146 people have died and 80,000 homes destroyed in what the United Nations is calling the worst flooding in 15 years.

Nepal’s home ministry warned the death toll could rise as relief teams reach more remote parts of the impoverished mountainous country.

In the Himalaya region in India’s northwest, landslides caused by heavy rain have claimed 54 lives, the vast majority in one huge avalanche of mud that swept two buses off a mountainside.

The situation was slowly easing in West Bengal and Assam, two states in India’s east and northeast where 223 people have died.

Floods in Assam — the second wave to hit the state in less than four months — have wrought widespread destruction, killing 71 people and swathes of native wildlife, including a Bengal tiger and 15 rare one-horned rhinos.

In the low-lying state of West Bengal, where 152 people have died, hundreds of thousands have escaped submerged villages by boats and makeshift rafts to reach government aid stations.

Across the border in Bangladesh, water levels were slowly returning to normal in the main Brahmaputra and Ganges rivers.

The government’s disaster response body said Thursday the death toll stood at 137, with more than 7.5 million affected since flooding hit the riverine nation.

Nearly 350 people died in the first wave of floods that began in mid-July in India’s western states of Gujarat and Rajasthan, and several remote northeastern states.

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Ogun: Two die, 15 injured in multiple auto crash after staging protest

Two persons reportedly died while 15 others were injured in multiple accidents involving three vehicles.

The accident involved a truck carrying granite with number plate 44F95FG, Almera car with number plate TTD 884 AA, and a commercial bus with number plate FST 435 XD.

The accident occurred at Ayedere-Obada Oko axis in Ewekoro Local Government Area, Ogun State.

The two casualties were said to be members of Movement Against Corruption and Injustice who came to the Nigeria Union of Journalists Secretariat, in Abeokuta, to protest exploitation by cable network providers, DStv and Star times.

The non-governmental organisation led by its founder, Bankole Solomon, had argued the cable networks to adopt the ‘pay per view’ method.

He also said local stations should be free on all cable networks.

He said, “We are here to register our anger and discomfort of what is happening in the system. We are here to protest against the bad policies of cable networks. The DStv, GOtv and Startimes are exploiting us. As we are speaking, our families are not at home but the card is reading even when there is no signal, when rain falls and when the decoder gets spoilt.

 “What we want is pay per view. You cannot continue to exploit us. We have been to South Africa and other European countries where they do pay per view. You pay for what you watch. We are saying enough is enough.”

 However, when they were travelling back to their homes, the bus conveying them was involved in the accident.

Confirming the accident, the Public Relations Officer of the Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps, Babatunde Akinbiyi, said the accident was caused by the truck which suffered a brake failure.

He said, “The truck caused the accident when it suffered a brake failure. It ran into an Almera car, while the Almera car ran into the commercial bus.

 “Two persons died while 15 others were injured in the multiple accidents.”

He said the corpses had been deposited at the mortuary of the Federal Medical Centre, Idi Aba, Abeokuta, while the injured were receiving treatment at a private hospital in the state.

When contacted the founder of the NGO said only one of their members died while one other person that was unconscious had been revived.

He said the incident occurred while they were going back to their homes after the protest.

He gave the name of the dead member as Comrade Johnson from Idi-Iroko axis, saying the incident devastated him and other members of the organisation.

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