The Nation Newspaper

Tag: rival

  • Rival groups clash over worship centre

    There was tension at the Assemblies of God Church on Mount Street, off Agbani-Road, Enugu State, as rival groups clashed over access to the church.

    The church had been locked on police orders following a disagreement on the alleged transfer of a new pastor two months ago. To avert a clash, factions were told to hold their services in the compound.

    Consequently, the compound was divided into two; the groups erected canopies and hold parallel services.

    It took the intervention of the senior pastor, Rev. Amaechi Agbo, who leads a faction, to stop angry members from disrupting the service of the other group.

    The faction has vowed not to allow “strangers” take over their place of worship. The group recognised Dr. Chidi Okoroafor, said to have been ordained the new general overseer, as their leader.

    Agbo said trouble started on July 19 “when a member, claiming to be a lawyer but championing illegality and unlawfulness, imported Nathan Udeze to overthrow me.

    “We reported to the police and went to court; the police advised us to lock the church and we did. We started worshiping outside and they sought court order to open the church.

    “They did not allow the court decide before coming last Monday and broke the school’s entrance. Today (Sunday), they broke the church’s entrance, contrary to the agreement we reached with the police to wait for the court to decide.”

    Expressing anger at the police handling of the matter, Rev. Agbo said: “I called the DPO to inform him that these people have broken into the church, he urged us to maintain peace and told me to see him by 2pm. I don’t know what he meant by that; these people broke into the school and today, into the church and the police are watching them”.

    On the claim that he had been transferred, he said: “I am still in charge of this place; I came here on April 12 , 2013 and till date, I remain the senior pastor.”

    “We are shocked at what happened today; if we had gone inside, there would have been bloodshed. I thank God that my members refused to confront them in the face of such provocation because something terrible would have happened here today.

    “We are calling on law enforcement agencies to do the needful and avert trouble,” Rev. Agbo said.

    But leader of the second faction, Rev. Paul Nathan Udeze, said he remained the authentic priest in charge of the church. He denied forcing his way into the church.

  • ODUNLADE NOT MY RIVAL –FEMI ADEBAYO

    FEMI Adebayo, son of veteran actor Adebayo Salami, popularly known as Oga Bello, has cleared the air of controversy surrounding himself and fellow actor, Odunlade Adekola.

    •Odunlade
    •Odunlade

    In a recent interview, when asked if he sees colleague Adekola as his rival in the movie industry, Femi said; “Odunlade Adekola is one of my very good friends. We don’t see ourselves as rivals. Outside our profession, we see, we talk, we relate, we rub minds; we even share ideas regarding how to live our private lives. That automatically negates the word rivalry you are talking about. We are not rivals, we are friends, and we are colleagues. We do our things, and our fans appreciate us.”

    •Femi Adebayo
    •Femi Adebayo

    The talented actor came to the limelight in the mid 90s with the movie titled Owo Blow. Since then, he has become a household name in the Yoruba sector of Nollywood. Among the long list of movies he has featured in are Jelili, and Alabi Opomulero.

  • Woman bites off rival’s ear

    A fight over a lover boy turned bloody yesterday when a woman bit off the ear of another for allegedly attempting to snatch her man at Badore, a suburb of Lagos.

    The woman, who is simply identified as Iyabo, was said to have caught the victim, Kemi, with her lover and demanded to know what she was doing with him.

    Kemi, who was also infuriated for discovering that her man was sharing her with someone else, told Iyabo off, threatening to deal with her if she saw her anywhere near her man again.

    An eyewitness said Kemi mocked Iyabo, calling her a fool who should be ashamed of herself for thinking that she could claim the sole ownership of a man she was not married to.

    The source said: “As Kemi uttered these derogatory words against Iyabo, she held her blouse and Kemi held hers too. They were both trying to strangle themselves but the man at the middle of the issue would not allow them. He made efforts to separate them, but they would not listen”.

    The man, who was simply identified as Adeyomi, told Iyabo to understand that they were only unmarried friends and so, should not create a scene over a simple matter that could be resolved amicably.

    It was gathered that when all efforts to stop Iyabo from fighting Kemi failed, Adeyomi warned her not to come closer to him again because he had found a new lover in Kemi since she would not listen to him.

    Enraged further by Adeyomi’s stance, Iyabo was said to have angrily pushed Kemi into drainage nearby.

    She was said to have jumped on Kemi inside the drainage and before passersby could intervene to separate them, she allegedly bit off her ear.

    The source also said that Iyabo’s relations who witnessed the incident, attempted to rush Kemi to a private hospital, but she refused. Adeyomi later took her to a clinic where she was treated.

    After her treatment, Kemi reported the matter to the police at Badore.

  • Kenya to rival Nigeria

    Kenya to rival Nigeria

    : DR Congo, Liberia, Zambia, Algeria table bids

    Newly crowned African Cup of Nations champons, Nigeria look set to face a stiff competition for the hosting rights of the 2019 edition of the continent’s biggest football fiesta as Kenya has confirmed its intention to bid.

    SportingLife gathered from The BBC that the East Africans – who last qualified for the tournament in 2004 – have never staged the continent’s biggest sporting event and now DR Congo, Liberia, Zambia and Algeria are in the race to host the 2019 finals.

    DR Congo announced its plans to stage the event last week.

    The Kenyans are also bidding to play host to the 2015 African Youth Championships.

    “Kenya stands top in Africa as favourites to win these bids,” Football Kenya Federation (FKF) chairman Sam Nyamweya said.

    “As a federation we are excited with the support of our parent ministry in this ambitious mission.”

    The FKF plans to use two existing stadiums in the Kenyan capital Nairobi and to upgrade venues in the port cities of Mombasa and Kisumu.

    The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has yet to formally accept bids to host the 2019 finals but is expected to do so later this year.

    The next two Nations Cups’ hosts have already been decided, with Morocco set to stage the 2015 finals and Libya organising the 2017 edition.

    The Libyans had originally been due to host this year’s finals, before it was moved to South Africa following conflict in the North African country.