DSS is yet to release El-Zakzaky - Lawyer, Femi Falana

Femi Falana, lawyer to leader of Islamic Movement of Nigeria, Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky said the man has not been released yet.



Falana was reacting to reports that the religious leader, who has been held by the DSS since December 2015, has been allowed to go, based on the Kaduna court ruling, allowing him and his wife, Zeenat to embark on a medical trip to India.


“He has not been released yet”, Falana, a senior advocate of Nigeria, said in a chat with Pmnews.

Chairman of Free Zakzaky Campaign Committee of IMN, Sheikh Abdulrahman Abubakar, also told Vanguard that the group is only aware that the DSS has been served certified true copies of the court ruling.


“The report we received a few minutes ago is that the DSS has acknowledged receipt of the Court ruling, and the security agency is currently in liaison with relevant authorities to find a way how to activate the judicial order fully. I can only tell you that we have not received Sheikh El-Zakzaky yet”.

Justice Darius Khobo, in a much awaited ruling, ordered on Monday, August 5th that the IMN leader be accompanied to India by officials of the Kaduna State government for medical treatment.



He, however, did not give any time frame as to how long they will stay in India, but he said the IMN leader must return immediately after his discharge from the hospital to face his charges. The IMN leader and his wife had applied to the court seeking to travel, following poor health while in detention.



The State Director of Public Prosecution, Dari Bayero,said the team would study the judgement to see if there were grounds for appeal. Bayero who is the respondent in El-Zazaky’s application, said the team had taken time and examined the eight medical reports by Nigerian and foreign doctors that accompanied the IMN leader’s application.


“The context of the court ruling is that Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife are granted leave to travel out for urgent medical attention. The court looked through the medical reports filed and believed Mallam is indeed in dire need of medical attention.

“This is not a bail, but a leave to travel. So as soon as his discharge from the hospital and he returns to the country , his trial will resume,” he said. Bayero said the team of lawyers would study the ruling and explore whether there is need for appeal. We have a month to go through that.”

Photo of mum and dad who died shielding their infant from gunfire in El Paso shooting

A mom and dad died shielding their infant from gunfire in the El Paso shooting which took place over the weekend.



Jordan Anchondo, 24, and Andre Anchondo, 23, had gone to Walmart after dropping off their oldest daughter, aged 5, at cheerleading practice. They pulled into the Walmart parking lot, packed with hundreds of back-to-school shoppers like them, carried their 2-month-old baby and headed inside.



The couple's daughter was having a birthday party, turning 6, so they needed to buy party decorations, too. They were expecting family and friends at their new home for the first time in just a few hours, Andre’s brother, Tito Anchondo, told The Washington Post.



Unfortunately, they didn't leave the store alive as a 21-year-old white supremacist, named Patrick Crusius, from Dallas, who had driven hundreds of miles ( 9 hours) opened fire and killed.



The first call of an active shooter went out at 10:39 a.m. local time, authorities said. Around 2 p.m., Anchondo's relatives started calling each other, saying the couple was not answering their phones, Jordan's aunt Elizabeth Terry told CNN.



Hours later, Tito Anchondo got the call he dreaded the most. It was from authorities, asking him to come to the hospital. At the hospital, it was discovered that the couple died in the El Paso mass shooting.







As the gunfire erupted, Jordan shielded the 2-month-old baby and Andre jumped in front of his wife to shield her and the baby.



Jordan’s sister, Leta Jamrowski, 19, told the Associated Press, that from the baby's injuries, it was clear Jordan died shielding him. Jordan was holding him in her arms when she died, Jamrowski said. She fell on him as she collapsed onto the floor, breaking some of his bones but keeping him alive, her sister said.







"The baby still had her blood on him. You watch these things and see these things and you never think this is going to happen to your family," Terry said. "How do parents go school shopping and then die shielding their baby from bullets?"



The baby, named Paul, suffered only broken fingers and is now at home recovering.



Sadly, Jordan Anchondo died alone at the hospital because no friends or loved ones were able to immediately find her, her aunt said.



"It took us a while to confirm and identify her throughout all the chaos," the aunt added.



Jordan and Andre, who had just celebrated their first wedding anniversary days before the shooting, leave behind their 5-year-old-daughter, a daughter aged 2, and their 2-month-old son. Jordan's daughters were from an earlier relationship.



The mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, was one of two in the United States this weekend. Another mass shooter opened fire in Dayton, Ohio, and killed nine, including his sister, in a 30-second rampage in a popular entertainment district about 1 a.m. Sunday, the Washington Post reports.



The accused Dayton gunman, Connor Betts, 24, was fatally shot by authorities. The accused El Paso gunman, Patrick Crusius, 21, was arrested and taken into custody and is expected to face the death penalty if convicted in state court.

Former England and Man.U legend Wayne Rooney set to become player-coach at Derby County

Wayne Rooney is set to make a shock return to English football as Derby County player-coach.



The former England and Manchester United captain is currently in the UK having talks with the Championship side about a deal to become a player-coach.


The 33-year-old striker is currently playing for DC United in the United States, and still has a 2-year contract with the club. But he could leave at the end of the current MLS season, which finishes in November.


Before now, Rooney spoke of his desire to go into coaching, : “I’m taking the steps to get my badges completed and when I finish playing I’ll see what opportunities come up.


“There’s already offers which have been made, but at the minute I’m still a player and I want to enjoy playing, and then I’ll see which offers are right when I do finish.”


Asked if he had been contacted by clubs from England or the United States, he added: “Yeah, both. There’s an opportunity for me to go into management straight away and when I do hang my boots up, that decision will be made on what the ambition of the club is first of all, and what my ambitions are and what’s right for both myself and that particular team.”



Wayne Rooney is England’s all-time record scorer with 53 goals and Man United’s record goalscorer with 253 goals in 559 appearances.

Three-year-old boy miraculously escapes without injuries after plunging down a manhole (Photo)

A three-year-old boy has miraculously escaped uninjured after he plunged down a manhole.



The boy was walking along a street in south-west China when he stood on the cracked cover of the manhole. The faulty manhole wasn't cordoned off and the boy was able to walk up to it without obstruction.



CCTV footage from the scene shows the boy slowly walk up to the manhole before stepping on it as his parents desperately tried to get to him before he falls. The footage showed the boy's father lean down, supported by strangers, and pull him out of the hole.



The boy escaped relatively unharmed from the ordeal but was left with a few bruises and appeared to hit his head on the way down. Authorities have since repaired the manhole cover.