Students console each other at a memorial service held Tuesday, May 27, for victims of a shooting rampage near the University of California, Santa Barbara. Elliot Rodger, 22, stabbed three people to death at his apartment before shooting and killing three more in a nearby neighborhood, sheriff’s officials said. Rodger also injured 13 others and died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said.
Editor’s note: Carol Costello anchors the 9 to 11 a.m. ET edition of CNN’s “Newsroom” each weekday. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.
(CNN) — Can you be pro-life and pro-death penalty?
It’s a question more than one person I know is asking after Oklahoma’s botched execution of Clayton Lockett. Not necessarily because of the way Oklahoma tortuously executed the convicted killer, but because of the hard-core way some reacted to Lockett’s execution.
Like Mike Christian. The pro-life Oklahoma state representative told The Associated Press, “I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don’t care if it’s by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions.”
He also threatened to impeach judges who dared delay executions for any reason.
This is from a man who is so strongly pro-life he voted for eight bills in four years to prevent women in Oklahoma from terminating their pregnancies, or, as many who oppose abortion say, “killing babies.”
Color me confused. So, Rep. Christian says it’s OK to kill, unless you’re a woman who wants to end her pregnancy?
As I told my friends during a heated debate last weekend, that smacks of hypocrisy.
The only nonhypocritical viewpoint, I argued, exists in the Catholic Church.
Catholics believe in the “Consistent Ethic of Life.” As Georgetown’s Father Thomas Reese puts it, “we are concerned about a person from womb to tomb.”
Lethal Injection: The process“Life is something that comes from God and shouldn’t be taken away by man,” Reese told me.
Put simply, the Catholic Church opposes abortion and the death penalty. Period. Except nothing in life is that simple. Especially our collective views on the death penalty and abortion.
If you ask a Southern Baptist, he or she will likely tell you the Catholic Church is wrong.
“There is no contradiction here,” R. Albert Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, told me, referring to Rep. Christian’s underlying position.
Christian’s words were “careless,” and don’t “reflect any Biblical … defense of the death penalty,” he says, but it does not defy logic if Christian is pro-life and pro-death penalty.
“It’s not an eye-for-an-eye kind of thing,” explained Mohler. “Retribution is not the same as a demand for justice. In Genesis 9, God speaks to Noah after the flood. When someone takes human life, they forfeit their own life.”
So, I asked, “Should a woman who’s had an abortion forfeit her own life?”
Mohler emphatically answered, “no.”
Lockett deserved to die, he said, because the act of murder “was taken in wanton disregard of the life taken and given the nature of the crime, this individual has forfeited his right to live.” (Lockett not only raped and shot his victim, but ordered his accomplice to bury her alive.)
Don’t get me wrong; pro-lifers could argue that pro-choice, anti-death penalty believers are inconsistent, too. How can you choose to end life, but adamantly oppose the death penalty?
Apparently, consistency is not America’s strong suit. According to a 2010 study, only about 8% of Americans oppose abortion and the death penalty under all circumstances.
James Unnever, professor of criminology at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee, co-authored the study. He expected his test results to show a consistent belief system in all kinds of premeditated death. In other words, if you believe in the sanctity of life, you would be opposed to euthanasia, the death penalty and abortion.
Turned out, that was not remotely true.
“From a religious position, the Catholic faith is the most consistent life ethic,” Unnever says. “Religion is only one factor that affects using the death penalty.” The other factor, he says, is politics. “When you get people who are against abortion and for the death penalty, that’s not as much a religious effect as a politics effect. Politics trumps any religion.”
Jacinta Gau, professor of criminal justice at the University of Central Florida, co-authored two studies on attitudes about abortion and capital punishment. She was also surprised by the inconsistency many showed toward life issues.
Of those who strongly oppose abortion, yet strongly approve of the death penalty, Gau says: “What seems to link those two attitudes together is related to fundamentalism, a literal interpretation of the Bible, and an inflexible way of viewing society in general,” Gau says. “I’m not sure they really view it as a contradiction. There’s a punitive attitude toward this — kind of like if you don’t want a child, don’t engage in risky sexual behavior; if you kill someone, you deserve death.”
And Gau says pro-choice, anti-death penalty believers also don’t see a contradiction. Those who are pro-choice don’t “see abortion as ending a life,” she says. “The death penalty becomes completely separate for the pro-choice people, because it’s about a woman’s right to choose.”
Truth told, the “Consistent Ethic of Life,” is relatively new to the Catholic Church. For centuries, the church supported capital punishment.
But passionate pro-life and death penalty foes, such as Sister Helen Prejean, convinced the church that “helping to kill a defenseless person” in any circumstance is wrong.
“What’s more innocent than an unborn baby?” Prejean told me. “It’s easy to be against that.” Then Prejean went for the jugular. The people who commit terrible crimes, “Could you kill them? If there’s a part of you who can’t say yes to that, then you can’t say yes to the death penalty.”
I must admit I was humbled by Prejean’s question. Couple that with the fact we can now lock up violent criminals for life and I, again, find myself arguing for the “Consistent Ethic of Life.”
As for Mohler, the Southern Baptist leader, he offered me this final thought: “If I had the opportunity to trade the death penalty for the affirmation of protection of the life of the unborn, I’d take it in a second.”
Let the debate rage on.
Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.
Join us on Facebook/CNNOpinion.
They belonged to different groups, but somehow for a long time, these groups had managed to have their members take part in some sorts of ‘joint venture’ heists, where such operations required multiple robbers. But like all things criminal, there is always a
day that things end disastrously. And so it was for Bola Onasile, Sina Adebowale, Sherifat Bakare, James Isiwatu and Danladi Atiku, who are now in custody of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Ogun State, after they were arrested, some with varying degrees of gunshot wounds.OLUWATOYIN MALIK was at SARS office to chat with the suspects. Below are their confessions:
Bola Onasile
I am from Ijebu, Ogun State, but I live at Cow Lane, Bamgbose, Lagos State. I worked as clearing and forwarding agent at the port in Lagos State.
I joined robbery (gang) in 2013. I was invited for robbery by one Yemi. He used to ask me to link him with boys for robbery operation and also used to assist me financially. I went to Bariga and Ajegunle to look for boys that I knew at various joints. I have been to prison once after I was arrested at Abule Oja, along with others. I was working for land grabbers. I spent three months in the prison.
When I came out, I met Yemi who informed me that there was a N70 million job. He asked me to look for boys that would go for it. I got Allen and other boys, but I was not allowed to follow them. The group took two guns for the operation, but it was not successful because Yemi did not show them the place.
Recently, Yemi called me that he had a buyer if we could get vehicles to snatch. One Raji called me to inform me that there was a vehicle on ground. I called Yemi and told him, and he said I should negotiate the price with the boys having it, after which we should bring it to Oshodi.
We were about seven in the vehicle but when we got to Oshodi, Yemi started directing me to other areas until we got to a place where we had an encounter with the police.
Sina Adebowale
I am from Ikole-Ekiti but reside at Irefin area, Ibadan, Oyo State. I was a driver before my arrest. I am married with two children. This is my first involvement in robbery. Our NURTW (National Union of Road Transport Workers) bosses used to raid those who pick passengers along the roads and some of my colleagues and I devised a means of going out before our bosses to make money. What we do is to ‘arrest’ any private car owner picking passengers, after which he would plead to settle us with some money so that we would not take him to our bosses.
On a day this month, Samson, Matthew and I went to raid as usual. We were at the Ibadan end of the Ife-Ibadan expressway where we apprehended the driver of a Toyota Sienna van picking passengers. The driver pleaded with us, saying that he would give us whatever we wanted after picking passengers. But Samson did not heed his plea, as he secretly told me that he would drive the car to Ketu, Lagos, revealing that there was a waiting buyer. We took over the vehicle with the owner and pretended as if we were taking him to our bosses.
We made a U-turn, and on getting to Brewery area, asked the driver to get down. The three of us went with the vehicle, but on getting to Ketu, the person we went to said there was no buyer. After a couple of days, Samson said we should go to Lagos Island to see his friend. We got a buyer and Samson negotiated with Bola, who said the buyer would pay N350,000. We were taking the car to the buyer when we were arrested.
Sherifat Bakare (24)
I am from Kwara State but I live at Osborne Road, Ikoyi. I am hustler (commercial sex worker). I started in 2006 and used to go to beaches and clubs at night and would return to Osborne in the morning.
I got involved in robbery through one Baba Baki, who is my boyfriend and benefactor. He took me to a hotel and told me that some boys from Bariga (Akin and Spain) brought a N70 million job. He said I should give him N20,000 to rent guns but I gave him my gold chain to use in borrowing money because I did not have the money.
I also went to Mushin to inform someone I knew of the job and he said he knew James who could do the job. He called James and I went to meet him at Agege. I was told that I would sit beside Yemi as his girlfriend so that the gate of the house we targeted would be opened once they see a female with him. At first, I surveyed the street on foot but eventually the job could not be done.
Baba Baki also called me one Tuesday and informed me that there was a vehicle and a buyer was needed for it. With the thought that I would get a share of the money, I helped in calling Bola so that he could inform Yemi of the vehicle. We were taking the car to the buyer when we had encounter with the police.
James Isiwatu (a.k.a. ‘Student’, 25)
I dropped out of SS2 but I had been learning computer repair since my primary school days. I started working as a computer engineer. I was also into hemp sale at Abattoir, Agege.
I started robbery this year. I went to prison twice over area fight at Martins area that resulted in the death of one of the members of the opposing camps; but members of my group were not the one who killed the person. When we were taken to court the second time, the judge ordered that we should leave Lagos Island. I returned to my mother’s place at Agege. That was 2005/2006.
I was back in prison the third time from 2008 till 2013. I was wrongfully arrested because a young man, my former classmate who used to come to my hemp joint to smoke, was arrested for robbery and when interrogated by the police, he claimed he knew me. Though he used to play with me and give me money, I didn’t know the job he was doing. He told them I was not part of his gang.
The case was transferred to Panti and was charged to court. I was remanded in prison but the real suspect even got a bail before me. We learnt that he was dead and we were discharged in 2013. By the time I returned, my shop had been taken by others and my motorcycles could not be seen. All my efforts to get people to help me proved abortive.
One day, I went to Fela’s Shrine at Agindigbi where I saw one Alhaji, an ex-prison inmate. He was a buyer of stolen goods. He gave me his contact and promised to help me. As I was about leaving the Shrine in the early hours of the day, I saw a guy in a drunken state inside his car. He beckoned at me to help him drive his car home as he was helpless. It was a Volkswagen Golf 4.
On the way, I noticed he was asleep. I parked, dragged him down and went away with the car, his money and phones. I spoke with a friend, Alausa, and he introduced me to a buyer, Jamiu. The man paid N80,000 out of the N120,000 he promised. The car was very neat with factory-fitted air conditioner.
I called Alhaji and he took me to Cotonou. He gave me two locally made guns, asking me to snatch vehicles and bring to him. But the guns were not functioning well. I also got a boy, Sheriff, an okada rider. Very early in the morning, we would go to bus stops and attack people waiting to board vehicles. We would collect their phones, bags, jewellery and other valuables at gunpoint. ‘Yahoo! Boys’ were our victims too as we usually laid ambush for them whenever they were coming out of cybercafé early in the morning and would collect their laptops and other valuables. I also used the gun to snatch a Toyota Sienna van at Katangwa market area, which I took to Alhaji.
There was a job I got from one guy called Samson (a.k.a. Owo) and two others but I almost got killed there. We trailed a man to his house while on two motorcycles, unknown to us that he already noticed us. He asked his gateman to allow us enter while he quickly went to take his gun.
As we were about entering, he fired at us and one of us was hit. We ran away and one of the guns we had fell. I informed Alhaji and also gave the second one to Owo. It was then he gave me two good guns. He is yet to give me money for the Sienna. Alhaji is from Ajase in Cotonou and is a powerful man there. He has a building at Ajase.
Three days after my return from Cotonou, Yemi called me for the N70 million job. Samson, Sherifat and one person came to me at about 11p.m. I went to get cartridges from Jamiu. He sold eight for me for N10,000. I took my two guns but when we got there and saw that action was not taken immediately, I left in anger because we could be arrested. Atiku used to buy stolen laptops and phones from me.
Danladi Atiku (23)
I am from Kwara State. I work as a cleric. I teach the Quran to children. I used to smoke Indian hemp before going to teach Quran because it helps me understand it well. Anytime I wanted to give lecture anywhere, I would smoke hemp and lick Tom Tom, and my performance used to be outstanding. I just got a scholarship to Saudi Arabia because of that.
I knew James was into robbery and he used to bring stolen phones and laptops to me. I used to help him take them to Computer Village at Ikeja to sell them at good prices. I had to do it because we were not treated well by our Islamic heads at Quranic school and I needed to survive.
Jamiu Rahman (41)
I am from Abeokuta, Ogun State. I am a taxi driver. I was arrested because I bought a stolen vehicle and also helped in getting bullets for James. I knew one boy called Alausa. I knew him at Ijaye, Abeokuta. He was the one who directed James to me when he brought the Volkwagen Golf. I gave N80,000 and Alausa N20,000. I sold the car for N150,000. Alausa came to me again that James needed cartridges so I got in touch with one Raji who helped me get the bullets from those selling them.
Commenting on the arrest of the suspects, the Commissioner of Police in Ogun State, Mr Ikemefuna Okoye commended the SARS operatives and their leader for a job well done, while he charged members of the public to always appreciate the police and collaborate with them in order to ensure safety of lives and property of the citizenry.
There is no allegation of wrongdoing and the probe may find none.
The probe involves stock trades made in 2011 after Icahn made an investment in Clorox (CLX, Fortune 500), according to the sources, who are not authorized to speak publicly about the case.
Icahn bought shares in Clorox and later announced a takeover bid for the company, causing shares to rise significantly.
Prior to the takeover bid, there was suspicious trading in the Clorox shares, and both Mickelson and Walters had bought shares in Clorox at about that time, according to The New York Times, citing people briefed on the investigation.
The FBI and the Securities and Exchange Commission are looking into whether Icahn told Walters about the takeover bid ahead of time, according to the Times, and also the possibility that Walters then told Mickelson. Both agencies declined to comment about the investigation.
“I have done absolutely nothing wrong,” Mickelson said in a statement provided to CNN by his agent. “I have cooperated with the government in this investigation and will continue to do so. I wish I could fully discuss this matter, but under the current circumstances it’s just not possible.”
CNN reached out to representatives for Icahn, who told the Wall Street Journal that he did not know about any investigation.
“We are always very careful to observe all legal requirements in all of our activities,” he told the paper. The suggestion that he was involved in improper trading, he said, was “inflammatory and speculative.”
Attempts by CNN to reach Walters through one of his companies were not immediately successful. But he told the Wall Street Journal, “I don’t have any comment about anything.”
–CNN’s Lex Haris and Mariano Castillo contributed to this report.
By Onyiorah Chiduluemije Paschal
If there had been any iota of doubt on the part of any person or group of persons over the nature and/or manner of the unalloyed support and the seemingly disguised protection being offered to the Boko Haram sect by a number of Northern leaders, especially those of them occupying public offices, by now such a person or persons would have begun to obliterate the vestige of such unnecessary reservation from his/their psych in the light of the memo reportedly authored and addressed to the19 state Governors of Northern Nigeria by no other person than Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa state.
Understandably, though the raging activities of the Boko Haram sect now appear like a whirlwind apparently blowing almost everybody and everything to pieces, there is no gainsaying that all the disgruntled Northern politicians whose unguarded utterances, actions and inactions did interact to give birth and vent to the prevailing security situation the country has found itself, would undoubtedly be rankling with deep regret that the original script of their political shenanigans designed to be used to destabilize the government of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan via the instrumentality of the Boko Haram sect may have been abandoned by the latter and replaced with the one of their foreign pay master – Alquada – which has invariably blown up in their faces. To be specific, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar who once reportedly threatened the country (during the countdown to 2011 presidential election) with his remark that “he who makes peaceful change impossible, makes violent change inevitable” appears nowadays to be more concerned than anybody – as if this evil remark credited to him does not with hindsight betray his possible foreknowledge of all the diabolism and machinations that were supposedly on ground for members of the Boko Haram sect at the time. Curiously, it then boggles one’s mind that this very unpatriotic statement credited to Mr. Abubakar – among sundry others of its kind blurted out by scores of Northern leaders – seemed to have eluded the short memory of Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa state while he garnered his jumbled-up canards, hate words, grave allegations, etc; and constituted them into a memo.To say the least, it is most unfortunate that a person like Governor Murtala Nyako with such military and governance pedigree in Nigeria governance “enterprise” could turn around to intensify his efforts towards holding brief for the Boko Haram sect. like a friend would put it, Nyako’s style of advocacy for the Boko Haram sect is simply “typical of the many tragedies of belied solidarity for the activities of the sect often adopted by most Muslim northern leaders.” Instructively, it smacks of no surprise that in dissecting issues relating the Boko Haram and the Federal Government of Nigeria, Gov. Nyako rather chose to adjudge the latter guilty of genocide against the people of Northern region in much the same way he accused Jonathan-led government of aiding and abetting the kidnap of “thousands of our (Northern Nigerian) girls and boys” alike. On the other hand, in an apparent romance with the Boko haram side of the facts in issue, Nyako wants it clear that he is more inclined to believe that all the havoc being wreaked every now and then in almost all the states of the Northern region are by no stretch of imagination the unlikely misdeeds of the “so-called Boko Haram” – hence his submission that “we no longer accept let alone believe that our prominent Mallams in the mosques in Kano and Zaria have been killed by ‘innocent’ Boko Haram members”. Hmm… ‘innocent Boko Haram’ members? Wonders – indeed – shall never cease.
Arguably, there exist possibilities that certain killings of “some prominent mallams in the mosques in Kano and Zaria” as well as “pastors and other worshippers in the Christ Apostolic Church in Jemita-Yola”, among many others across the different states of Northern region, may well transcend the usual attribution to the gory activities of the Boko Haram sect. Nevertheless, not a handful of Nigerians may be somewhat disposed to share in this view – at least for now. In essence, much as one is inclined to empathize with Murtala Nyako over the state of confusion the operations of the Boko Haram sect has brought to bear on his pattern of thinking, there appears to be absence of concrete evidence to rebut the claim of Nigerians who are wont to point at the members of the Islamic sect in the event of any act of killing, assassination and/or wanton destruction of properties perpetrated anywhere within North. Clearly, it is worthy to note that it is no fault of any Nigerian or anybody living in Nigeria to have had his/her mindset to be so stereotyped. For one, come to think of it, the failed attempt to take the life of the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ade Bayero, could not have born less the hallmarks of the typical Boko Harm encounter or the imprint of its usual atrocities, yet this attack was reportedly ascribed in certain quarters to the activities of unknown gunmen. Somehow, still bearing in mind that a certain well-known Nigerian from Kano state had reportedly indicated his undying interest or what some persons would prefer to call his wishful thinking to succeed the present Emir as soon as the latter kicks the bucket, will it be abnormal if someone reasons that this potential aspirant to the throne of the Emir of Kano could have plotted the failed assassination attempt on the life of Ade Bayero? Or can anybody stand out to vouch for the innocence of the Boko Haram sect on this travail of the Emir? Surely, this is one key angle to the raging insecurity in the North that Gov. Nyako did not pay attention to – either by omission or commission – while dwelling on the allegation of the so-called “genocide in Northern Nigeria”.
What is more, Nyako’s claim that the alleged attacks on his convoy and those of Benue state Governor, Mr. Gabriel Susan, and the Senate President, distinguished Senator David Mark, could not have been the handiwork of the “innocent Boko Haram” is, to say the least, risible. By his thinking, for the alleged attack on the senate President to have reportedly taken place in Imo state would not have meant anything short of part of a whole gamut of the “demonic policy of evil few in and around the administration that have advocated how Northerners, both Christians and Muslims, are to be so dealt with, ill-treated and oppressed”. No doubt, this is certainly funny. But while it must be admitted that Nyako is duly entitled to his view, it seems with hindsight extremely difficult to fault the perspective of Nigerians who did say and still maintain that the members of the Boko Haram sect can hardly be exonerated from all these alleged attacks as mentioned by Governor Murtala Nyako, for some obvious reasons. First and foremost, despite serious attempts by people like Nyako to deny the deep involvement of the Islamic terrorist group – the Boko Haram – in the cruel activities of the Fulani herdsmen across the length and breadth of the North-central geo-political zone, the emerging truth clearly points at the opposite. That the so-called Fulani herdsmen recently arrested by men of the Nigeria Army in Taraba state openly confessed to being full-fledged members of the Boko Haram sect goes to unmask the real identities of the Jihadists lurking in the bushes, forest areas and destroying farm lands across the Nigeria territory. To therefore submit that this set of Fulani herdsmen were the ones or among the ones who reportedly ambushed and attacked the convoy of the Governor of Benue state – Mr. Gabriel Susan – is by no means an exaggerated premise. Similarly, taking a cue from the historical murder of Major-General Aguiyi-Ironsi in Ibadan by the then so-called “Northern mafians” led by General T.Y Danjuma and which was initially schemed to be projected as having been perpetrated by the people of the Yoruba descent if not for the brutal murder of their own Fajuiyi in the course of that bloody activity, one can as well appreaciate that what Governor Murtala Nyako calls “attempts to assassinate the senate President (Northerner) in Imo state” was simply a well- calculated machinations of the Muslim Hausa-Fulani and their Boko Haram killing squad aimed at replicating General Ironsi scenario on Senator David Mark – with a view to blaming the fate that was to befall him (the latter) on the Igbo. Needless to emphasize that David Mark’s “sins” in this regard might not be unconnected with the fact that he professes Christianity and has so far proved himself to be an unwilling tool in the ever manipulative hands of the power-drunk Muslim Northerners. Otherwise, how does one begin to rationalize the awkward thinking within the Hausa-Fulani enclave – as was widely reported sometime – which tends to portray and at time treat the person of the Senate President as a “peripheral Northerner”? Honestly, to assert that the alleged attack on distinguished Senator David Mark in Imo state could not be anything short of the handiwork of certain Islamic fundamentalist in collaboration with their benefactors (in the persons of some of the political elements in the far North) – who have been desperately using the deadly platform provided by the Boko Haram sect in pursuing their vicious political agenda and career – can hardly be discarded in the final analysis as a wild assertion. In fact, this becomes tenable given the fact that these same blood-thirsty elements in the North seem to have succeeded so far in breeding some indigenous ‘foot soldiers’ within the Middle-Belt region. Expectedly, therefore, that the Middle-Belt region is now confronted with the harsh reality of having one of its sons in the person of Abubakar Sadiq Oguche (an Army deserter from Benue state) as one of the prime suspects in the recent bombings at Nyanya in Abuja only goes to further underscore the fact that there is clearly more suspicion flowing from the North than the South over what Governor Murtala Nyako calls “attempts to assassinate” the Senate President, himself and the Governor of Benue state.
But be that as it may, the fact is that for a man who was once the Chief of Naval Staff and the first and last Deputy-Chief of Defence Staff in the annals of Nigeria, Mr. Murtala Nyako’s seemingly questionable military experience vis-à-vis the threat to national security and unity of Nigeria as embedded in his memo to the 19 Northern state Governors is nothing but a sacrilegious defecation in the temple.
Onyiorah Chiduluemije Paschal writes from Abuja via
More than 3,000 migrants are rescued off the coast of Sicily.
This video released by the Italian Navy on Saturday shows 450 migrants after being transferred from their dilapidated boat to safety.
Authorities say most of the migrants are from Syria.
Since the drowning deaths of 366 migrants in October 2013, five Italian vessels, known as Operation Mare Nostrum, have been tasked to help rescue migrants.
So far the operation has hauled over 43,000 people from the seas.
May 31 – The Italian Navy and Coastguard say some 3,000 migrants will land in Sicily on Saturday after they were rescued at sea not far from there. Vanessa Johnston reports. ( Transcript )
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has chided the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshall Alex Badeh for engaging in public relations at the expense of the emotional stability of the parents of the abducted Chibok girls.
Speaking on television Wednesday night, President Obasanjo dismissed reports that he was launching a solitary mission to rescue the abducted Chibok girls noting that he could not have engaged on the mission without the consent of the presidency.
He spoke against the background of reports by some national newspapers (not Vanguard) two days ago.
Obasanjo who spoke in an interview with Channels television in response to a question on the comment by Badeh that the military knows where the abducted girls are, said:
“The military has got a lot of hard knocks particularly on the issue of Boko Haram and particularly the issue of the abducted girls made the military to try a little bit of public relations, maybe.”
“But this is not an issue that you will do propaganda with. It is a serious issue, it is like spear in the heart of the parents and whatever statement we make and whatever action that we take, if we cannot really deal with the issue in a way that would bring those girls safe and secure and make their families happy and will also give every Nigerian a sense of security, then such statements should not be made.”
He said that he would be pleasantly surprised if the girls are still in one place
On the intentions of the group, he said: “They have been in existence for years. When I went to Maiduguri and I asked them, how long have you been in existence, they said they were in existence even when I was in government.”
“They said that their objective is sharia and when I was in government, I was going with governance and I didn’t disturb their sharia because sharia is part of our constitution.”
Gretchen Rossi and fiance Slade Smiley of The Real Housewives of Orange County fame took their relationship from one reality show to another, appearing on Marriage Boot Camp Reality Stars. They put their romance under a microscope, while surrounded by other reality TV stars.
YourTango got the exclusive scoop from the duo about why they agreed to do the show and basically engage in couple’s therapy for the whole world to see, what they learned about each other, what the hell happened with Tanisha Thomas during the first episode, and their exciting baby plans!
More from YourTango: Trista Sutter Predicts ‘Bachelorette’ Andi Dorfman’s Final Two
YourTango: Why did you really decide to do this show? Was it more camera time or to work on your romance?
Gretchen: This isn’t our first rodeo. On Housewives, they get into relationship issues, but they don’t show things are resolved or the skills or what it takes to mend some of the issues you might have. We saw this as an opportunity to grow as a couple and learn. I’ve been married before and I want my next marriage to be forever and I did not want the lingering issues to get in the way of that. It was a great opportunity to share our story with our fans and possibly help them with what they are dealing with and to give them insight.
Slade: It was also an opportunity for fans to see us in a different light, one that a previous network was not willing to show.
YourTango: Gretchen, why did things escalate so quickly with Tanisha? She seemed to pounce on you on Day One, after you tried to break the ice!
Gretchen: It was an interesting interaction the first day, to say the least. I was nervous and I said I was ‘The White Oprah’ and then we hear the screaming and our bedroom was next door to her and Clive’s. We were nervous we would not get any sleep!
YourTango: And you’ve gotta get proper rest so you can look good on camera … seriously!
Gretchen: Exactly. And you are there to work on your relationship but you can’t think clearly since someone is screaming. But she really grew so much during the show and learned skills to cope with her anger. Thankfully, things calmed down.
YourTango: What did you learn from other couples on the show?
Slade: We learned we are not alone! Dealing with scrutiny and the opinions of outsiders can be tough. [The other couples] were wickedly funny and entertaining. You get us crying and going through hardships, but you also get the funnier side.
Gretchen: All of us learned little things from each other. Not one thing in particular stands out, but we had camaraderie and tried to help each other out. If there was an issue with one couple, we rallied around them, to give a different point of view than they had before. Our season is different since the first two seasons saw a lot of fighting. With our group, there was camaraderie. There was a level of respect.
YourTango: How are you now, coming out the other side of the show?
Gretchen: It was challenging and difficult, but we had no idea what we were getting into when we signed up for it. We thought, ‘OK, this will be good.’ Slade and I don’t have a lot of issues, so we thought, ‘We’ll address the few we do have.’ But it was a lot harder than we anticipated, both individually and as a couple. At one point, he was ready to leave the show. He was done. And there is a twist that even took me by surprise. Fans will not be disappointed and I do not regret doing this. We’re in a much better place because of it!
YourTango: What’s new with your baby-making plans?
More from YourTango: Kate Middleton Definitely Isn’t Pregnant – Here’s Proof!
Gretchen: We are excited. We are working with an amazing fertility doctor. We have met with him a few times. Hopefully, we will have some good news to report soon!
More from YourTango!
Photo: WeTV
Mark Davis/Getty Images for HBORay J had a rough start to the weekend.
The “I Hit It First” singer was busted at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. Friday night after allegedly getting into an altercation in the bar area.
According to the Beverly Hills Police Department, police officers responded to a sexual battery complaint at the hotel where it was alleged that Brandy Norwood‘s younger brother grabbed a female’s butt. It was later determined that no sexual battery had occurred and the “contact was incidental.”
Ray J subsequently agreed to leave the hotel, but when he got to the valet he allegedly “became belligerent with the valets and refused to leave,” Beverly Hills Public Information Officer Lieutenant Lincoln Hoshino told E! News in a statement.
NEWS: Kanye West disses Kim Kardashian’s ex Ray J while performing “Bound 2″ on Jimmy Fallon
Imeh Akpanudosen/Getty Images for WE TVAfter that, chaos ensued.
Police took the 33-year-old music artist into custody, put him in a police car, and he allegedly used his feet to shatter the side window of the vehicle. After police took him out of the car and restrained his feet, cops said Ray J “became combative” and spit in one of the officer’s faces.
In addition to getting arrested for trespassing, Ray J was also charged with vandalism, resisting arrest and battery on a police officer.
Ironically, Ray J’s last tweet Friday morning was “Why complicate things?! #Keepitsimple.”
His bail was set at $20,000.
PHOTOS: Ray J isn’t the only star who’s gotten into trouble. Take a peek at these mug shots.
RELATED VIDEOS:
