Nigeria's anti-drugs agency has arrested a 114-year-old Nigerian man after discovering 100 bags of cannabis behind his house in southwest Ogun state. NDLEA Ogun state director Chinyere Obijuru said Sulaimon Adebayo who denied ownership of the illicit drug was arrested early in the week at Odeda following a tip-off.
"Imagine what could have happened if this drug had not been seized. Imagine the lives that would have been destroyed by this illicit drug," she queried.
Last November, the agency seized 30,000 kilos of cannabis contained in 5,923 bags in southern Edo state, while in June it impounded 80 tonnes of cannabis in its largest single haul yet, in the southwestern city of Ibadan. (AFP)
Protesters organise tour
A bus tour to the Connecticut homes of AIG executives was organized by a small party of activists angered by bonuses paid to staff of the bailed-out insurer last Saturday.
In the tour, dubbed "Lifestyles of the Rich and Infamous," protesters took a bus that picked up passengers in Hartford and Bridgeport for a two-and-a-half hour trip to see the swanky homes of American International Group executives in exclusive Fairfield County and to AIG's Wilton offices.
"It's been one outrage after another," said a protester. "AIG is a symptom but not the only source of the problem."
AIG has become a lightning rod for populist anger for giving out $220 million (€162 million) in bonuses, including those paid in December, to some executives after the company got a $180 billion government bailout to save it from collapse.
"The outcry stems from the idea that taxpayers are paying for bonuses for executives whose chief accomplishments ruined their company," said a protester.
Protesters trying to deliver the letters at two of the executives' homes were met by private security guards. (Reuters)
Emirates flight bomb hoax
British police yesterday arrested a man they suspect of sparking a major bomb scare that briefly caused London's Gatwick Airport to close.
Officers were called to the Gatwick, south of London, shortly before 7 a.m. after a passenger on board an Emirates flight from Dubai found a note which implied there was a suspicious device on board the plane. When the aircraft arrived in London it was taken to a secure holding area and the airport was temporarily shut as the crew and 164 passengers were taken off.
The airport reopened shortly afterwards, and although some flights were delayed there was no major disruption. Police said after a search of the plane and luggage, a man in his 20s was arrested on suspicion of involvement in a bomb hoax.
"This was potentially an extremely serious situation and we immediately mounted an emergency response," said Chief Inspector Ed Henriet. (Reuters)
World's longest toilet queue
A world record in the length of a queue to a toilet was set yesterday when 756 people lined up to a latrine in central Brussels to raise awareness for the need for clean water on World Water Day.
The event was organised by the United Nations' children's agency Unicef.
"The latrine was of the same design as we use in third world countries - a dry latrine - and we formed the longest queue this morning," Unicef spokesman Benoit Melebeck said.
Mr Melebeck added the event was to raise public awareness and eventually funds for the need for more pumps, wells, latrines hygiene education for children in third world countries where 5,000 children die every day from the lack of clean water, sanitation and hygiene education. "This means one every 20 seconds," he said.
Mr Melebeck said none of the 756 people actually used the latrine, which was only a fake. (Reuters)
Fire engulfs Kenyan volcano
Flames leapt off the summit of one of Kenya's best-known mountains yesterday as a bush fire razed the dry slopes and sent wildlife fleeing.
Residents near Mount Longonot, an extinct volcano in Kenya's Great Rift Valley, said the blaze, which began on Saturday, might have been caused by illegal charcoal-burners.
"It's the biggest fire I have ever seen here in the last 10 years," a witness said.
Zebras, buffaloes, antelopes, gazelles and giraffes fled the national park around Mount Longonot, crossing a highway and moving through residential areas to reach safety. Snakes and smaller animals inhabiting Longonot's deep crater, like rabbits and mongooses, looked certain to die as flames and smoke spread over the rim.
Park warden Peter Muthusi said rangers, dousing the flames with fire extinguishers and beating them with branches, were trying to stop the fire spreading off the mountain.
"The animals inside the crater will be affected as they have no place to escape to," he said. (Reuters)