Eagle Eye Report Worldwide : Windell Middlebrooks Dead ...: March 2015

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Police: ‘R&B Diva’ Angie Stone knocked out daughter’s front teeth

LOCAL NEWS

Angie Stone, a Grammy-nominated singer who rose to fame with R&B hits such as “Brotha,” “No More Rain” and “Wish I Didn’t Miss You,” was arrested in DeKalb County after police say she struck her 30-year-old daughter with a metal stand and knocked out the woman’s front teeth.

According to a DeKalb County police incident report, Angie Stone said Diamond Stone hit her in the face with closed fists first. Diamond Stone and Blondy Chisolm, a family friend who witnessed the Monday night altercation, told police they were not sure who threw the first blow.

The spat, according to Diamond Stone, started when Angie Stone entered her daughter’s room, demanded that she clean it up and ordered her to control her children, who were running around the singer’s Rogers Lake Road home half naked.

Report: Angie Stone arrested for speeding while driving to church photo

“Ms. Diamond Stone then went on to state that Ms. Angie Stone started (getting) in her face, telling her she needed to leave because she is tired (of) her,” police said in the report. “Ms. Diamond Stone then stated her and Ms. Angie Stone started to argue, and that’s when a physical altercation started to occur.”

Angie Stone, 53, told police she did not know she hit her daughter with a metal stand.

“Once she realized this,” police said in the report, “she quickly put the stand down and attempted to get away from Ms. Diamond Stone. Ms. Angie Stone then stated while she tried to get away, Ms. Diamond Stone continued to come after her as if to strike her again but stated that Ms. Blondy Chisolm came to break up the fight.”

Diamond Stone’s version of the story is different. According to the report, she walked away after Angie Stone struck her in the face with the metal stand and called police. Both women were taken to DeKalb County Police Department headquarters for questioning. Diamond Stone was released with no charges. Stone is being held in the DeKalb County jail on a charge of domestic aggravated assault.

Stone most recently appeared with other singers on TV One’s popular reality show, “R&B Divas: Atlanta.” She moved to the metro area in 2008.

This is not Stone’s first brush with the law.

In March 2011, she was arrested while driving to church after being caught speeding and driving on a suspended license.

Stone, whose real name is Angela Brown, was nominated for Grammys in 2003, 2004 and 2008.

Windell Middlebrooks Dead at 36; Appeared on Body of Proof, Scrubs

Actor Windell Middlebrooks, whose TV resume included roles on Body of Proofand Scrubs, died Monday at the age of 36, TMZ reports. The cause of death is not yet known.

In addition to his series regular role on Body of Proof, where he portrayed medical examiner Curtis Brumfield for the show’s three-season run, Middlebrooks had a knack for playing security guards — first as Scrubs’ Captain Duncook, then as Kirby Morris on the Disney Channel’s The Suite Life on Deck.

Middlebrooks’ Suite Life co-star Debby Ryan tweeted a memorial message following his death:

The actor also held multiple guest-star gigs, on shows including It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Cougar Town and Parks and Recreation.

Most recently, Middlebrooks appeared as the straightforward Delivery Guy in a Miller High Life commercial campaign; one of the spots can be viewed below.

The tragically unnecessary police murder of Anthony Hill

attribution: Anthony Hill Family Photos used with permission

Anthony Hill, an Iraq War vet, killed by police in Dekalb County, Georgia. He was completely unarmed.

Twenty-seven-year-old Anthony Hill was an Air Force veteran in the Iraq War and an extremely talented musician. Beloved by his girlfriend, family, and friends, he was gunned down on Monday by police in Chamblee, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. Unlike so many cases where police officers claim to have seen their victim "reach for a gun," or strangely dig into their waistband (a thing only police ever see an unarmed black man do), none of those things can be claimed in this instance.

Anthony, who valiantly and publicly struggled with mental illness and bipolar disorder, was walking and rolling around on the ground in his apartment complex completely naked. Clearly having some type of psychotic episode, witnesses observed Anthony and called police to help him. He threatened no one.

"He was doing weird movement. He was crawling on the floor, lying down on the floor," said one witness, who asked not to be identified.
“He tells me, ‘I'm OK, I'm OK.’ That's what he was saying,” the witness said.
The witness said he told the man, identified as 27-year-old Anthony Hill, to go inside or he was going to get arrested.
"He was acting crazy but he was calm like he didn't know where he was. He was like kind of lost in his face," the witness said.

Sadly, the police did show up. And yes, you guessed it, even in one of the blackest police forces in the country, a white officer, claiming he feared for his life, shot Anthony and killed him.

Please head below the fold for more on this story.

The insanity of this is mind-blowing because I lived and worked in Dekalb County for years and cannot recall ever even seeing a white police officer there. It's not that a white police officer is incapable of being fair to a black man struggling with mental illness, but it's abundantly clear that the first instinct of this officer was to use lethal force instead of anything else that could have been used to have Anthony hospitalized like this man—with sharp knives, mind you—in front of Buckingham Palace in the UK. At a time where we are learning aboutwhite police captains and sergeants who jokingly compare African Americans to animals and celebrate black abortions for the crime they will prevent, society is left to wonder what white officers may be thinking of the African Americans they are paid to police.

The officer also wasn’t identified by Dekalb County Police Chief Alexander, but he said the officer is a seven-year veteran of the DeKalb department and is a white male.
Alexander said the officer was armed with a Taser. He declined to comment when asked if the officer should have used the stun gun instead of shooting Hill, saying “we need to wait and see what the outcome of the investigation is.” He said he doesn’t know “what measure or countermeasures the officers may have taken,” stating that more will be learned from witness statements and physical evidence taken from the scene.

What circumstance would have been more appropriate to use a Taser than this one in which you are 100 percent sure the man you are approaching is completely unarmed? It must have been obvious that Anthony was struggling through a psychotic episode of some sort. If this officer was trained to deal with those struggling with mental illness, as Dekalb County claims, what in his training did he use here? It appears nothing at all.

Sadly, we are seeing instance after instance of men and women struggling with mental illness being gunned down by police. A wounded war vet, Brian Beaird was also unarmed and nonviolent when police gunned him down on live television.

Lavall Hall, struggling with mental illness, had only a red broomstick when police shot and killed him.

James Boyd, a homeless man struggling with mental illness, was mercilessly gunned down by Albuquerque police.

Matthew Ojibade's family called the police for help because of a psychotic episode he was having and gave police his medication. He died in their custody.

Antonio Zambrano-Montes, homeless and struggling with mental illness, was throwing rocks when police gunned him down like an animal.

There's also 17-year-old Kristina Coignard, who was battling through depression when police shot and killed her.

Milton Hall was completely surrounded by police in Saginaw, Michigan. Confused and struggling with mental illness, they shot at Hall 46 times and killed him.

This list of men and women battling through mental illness but soon killed by police sadly goes on and on. Something major has to change.

Below you'll see some of the last-known footage of Anthony Hill before he was killed.

Don’t Let Jonathan Deceive You Again – Buhari

The Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari has urged Nigerians especially those in the South; not to be deceived by President Goodluck Jonathan.
Don’t Let Jonathan Deceive You Again – Buhari

Buhari spoke on Tuesday through the Media Director of the APC campaign, Mallam Garba Shehu, in Abuja.

He explained that it was important to draw the attention of well-meaning Nigerians to “the deceit, squander mania and looting associated with this administration.”

According to the campaign, the administration has been unable to deliver on its promise to construct the East-West Road on which it has spent and continues to spend billions of Naira.

He said, “It is on record that work started on the road in 2006, under former President Obasanjo but due to the activities of Niger Delta militants then, the work was stopped midway and the initial contractor Julius Berger left the site.

“In 2009, work was restarted on the road, this time to be handled by 3 construction firms to hasten its completion by 2011 as anticipated.

“It is pertinent to note that appropriations were made for the construction in 2009 and 2010, but after Yar’Adua’s death, work stopped on the road and money set aside was diverted.”

Buhari also noted that the administration was also trying to deceive the people of the South East over the Second Niger Bridge.

He said contrary to the strident efforts of the Jonathan team to assure the people of the South East that the Second Niger Bridge has been awarded and now under construction, the truth is that the PDP administration is only deceiving the people.

The Buhari campaign team recalled that President Jonathan anchored his 2011 campaign in the South East on the construction of the Second Niger Bridge, but four years since then the bridge is still at the drawing board table and may not be realised under Jonathan.

Shehu alleged that the money set aside for the project has since been channelled into the Presidential election of President Goodluck Jonathan.

“The main problem with the Second Niger Bridge and which the Jonathan administration has failed to respond to is why public private partnership should be adopted in constructing the bridge at triple the real cost, whereas government is in a position to bear the full cost, more so as the project falls under the social contract between the government and the people.” Shehu said.

Buhari also identified corruption as the bane of Nigeria’s development.

He also said the South East was handed the rough edge of the stick in the rehabilitation of the Enugu Airport because the contract was taken from a competent contractor and handed over to certain individuals under the guise of direct labour. These individuals he pointed out did a substandard job.

He said to further demonstrate that President Jonathan has serially failed the South East; it is on record that late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua had commenced and indeed reached an advanced stage in the dredging of River Niger, and construction of Onitsha seaport.

Regrettably this was again truncated by Jonathan as till today, the seaport which is expected to promote economic development in the region and beyond is yet to take off and the dredging stopped.

Shehu maintained that corruption is the major hindrance to our National Development, and General Buhari with a sterling record of fighting corruption will spare no effort in ensuring that Nigerians have value for their commonwealth.

Reacting to these allegations, the Deputy Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Abdullah Jalo dismissed claims made by the APC campaign.

He explained that the opposition has become desperate and would stop at nothing to discredit the PDP.

Jalo said, “We have become accustomed to baseless allegations by the opposition. The thing with our opposition party is that they refuse to see the good work of this administration all over the country.

“Nigerians all over can testify that the PDP remains the party of choice all over, including the South East, so they are trying to see if they can reduce our influence.”

It will be recalled that APC has dismissed the myth that Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.) would spend only one term in the office if he wins the presidential poll on March 28th.

IG: 6.5M Social Security Numbers Linked to People Aged 112 & Up

As seen on Your World with Neil Cavuto

The Social Security Administration sees dead people.

A report from the Office of the Inspector General found that there are 6.5 million active Social Security numbers on file which belong to people aged 112 and up. Meanwhile, there are only 35 people older than 112 in the world.

The Office of Inspector General believes that this could be a huge avenue for fraud and waste. For example, from 2008-2011, Social Security numbers for nearly 4,000 people over the age of 100 were run through the E-Verify system, which determines work eligibility. Recently, a man opened bank accounts for two people born in the late 1800s.

The inspector general says this is the result of the Social Security Administration poorly managing the data. Ron Johnson, chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, had a different take on the report.

“Tens of thousands of these numbers are currently being used to report wages to the Social Security Administration and to the IRS. People are fraudulently, but successfully, applying for jobs and benefits with these numbers,” Johnson said.

The Social Security Administration says it doesn’t have the resources to fix this problem and would rather focus on accurately paying benefits.

Sunday, March 8, 2015

An Awkward Visit By Buhari To Shagari In Sokoto

The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd), was in Sokoto State on Saturday to visit former president, Alhaji Shehu Shagari.

The visit was to celebrate with the Second Republic President, whose 90th birthday was on February 25, while General Buhari was away in the UK.

General Buhari seized the opportunity to explain why he missed the February 25 date.

“Your Excellency, my coming today is to felicitate with you over your 90th birthday anniversary. I have personally sent a letter to you informing you that I was in London and hope the letter was delivered to you.
“I would have loved to come with some of our colleagues who were here earlier but for my trip to London where I went to have some rest after campaigning in all the 36 states of the federation in addition to several townhall meetings.
“I pray Allah to grant you good health and more fruitful years ahead,” Buhari said.
He described Shagari as a great nationalist, lauding him for his commitment to Nigeria’s peace and unity.

The Sokoto State Governor, Aliyu Wamakko, who accompanied the APC presidential candidate to Shagari’s Sama road residence alongside other members of the APC in Sokoto, also highlighted Shagari’s virtues of discipline, humility and nationalism.

Former president Shagari was full of smiles and gratitude to his visitors. He also urged Nigerians to continually pray for the peace and stability of the country.

He wished General Buhari success in his political ambition.

Buhari overthrew Shagari during his civilian regime in a military coup on December 31, 1983.

White Princess Who Loves Nigeria

African Looters And Thieves Have Become Pan African - Brian Kagoro

Members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State were shocked Saturday as some members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) made attempts to test-run cloned Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) at various centres where the testing of the PVC readers were carried out by the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) in Rivers State.

The attempt by the PDP members Saturday was a confirmation of the very suspicion by the APC that PDP members were up to some sneaky game when they embarked on massive purchase of PVCs from unsuspecting members of the public throughout Rivers State since 2014. Where they could not out rightly buy off the cards, they copied the serial number/PIN.

However, the insidious schemes of the PDP came to light as they sent out their members to take part during Saturday’s mock accreditation. Each and every of the cloned cards were rejected by the machines. Curiously, it was not clear why the officials of INEC did not order for the arrest of those PDP members.

In view of the disastrous failure of the PDP evil agenda, it is expected that the clamour for jettisoning of the PVC in the forthcoming elections will become more virulent and persistent. We believe that the PDP will intensify its campaign with some mushroom political parties to either scuttle the use of the PVC or the election itself.

We call on the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies to investigate rejected cards and their owners to unravel what the APC believes to be part of a larger and more intricate scheme by the PDP in Rivers State to rig and subvert the electoral process in 2015. Those found to be part of the plan and their sponsors must be arrested, questioned and, if found culpable, charged to court immediately.

Chris Finebone
State Publicity Secretary

2015:APGA BOSS TELLS THOSE THREATENING BOYCOTT OF POLLS TO SHUT UP says parameters favour Jonathan warns against subtle moves to shift poll again

2015: SHUT UP, APGA BOSS TO THOSE THREATENING BOYCOTT OF POLLS
*says parameters favour Jonathan
* warns against subtle moves to shift pollagainThe national chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance(APGA), Chief VictorUmeh haslashed out on those political parties threatening to pull out of the general elections if the national chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC), ProfAttahiruJega was not removed and or if the temporary voters Cards was not allowed, and if the Card readerswere made paramount in the conduct of the coming polls.Umeh, who was reacting on the mood of the nation as the countdown on the March 28,2015 begin, said he sincerely doubt who those people who were talking really are. According to him, "... no one appears to see the possibility that things would go normal. It is inimical tothe credibility of theelection when some named candidates have already been misusing the security agencies; while some other politicians and political parties were busy openly criticizing and demonizingJega for nothing..."He therefore urged all parties and politicians to desist from scandalizing the INEC and it's officials. He also queried the identity of those he described as hirelings trying to browbeat everyone that if they fail to have their wishes the poll would not hold. "Who are their candidates, what are the names of the so-called parties that are threatening everyone?, Umeh queried.
Umeh therefore emphasized that it would be suicidal for the election to be postponed again for whatever reason. He cautioned all to eschew making further inflammatory comments and or actions that would render the election's outcome controversial. He charged the hierarchy of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) to stop acting or commenting like they have already lost the poll. He said that, "....after all the natural and man-made parameters and credentials favour President Goodluck Jonathan immensely- age, character, simplicity, desire to make the nation a model and level headed approach to issues/individuals", he noted.
The APGA boss noted with some chuckles that the All Progressives Congress(APC) has not given the electorate their blueprint on how to move the nation forward. He stated that there was no how the country would start going backwards, especially when APC was vehemently opposed to the recent national conference where all the issues bedeviling the nation's polity were openly and exhaustively discussed tirelessly by about 500 representatives broken down into 20 distinct committee.
He denounced the APC and it's supporters to be persons who supported or cared less about the mounting imperfections and injustices pervading the polity today, hence their boycott of the gathering. That the implementation of the more than 600 recommendations of that confab was the strongest reason why Jonathan should be returned in a landslide electoral victory backed by all persons of goodwill.
In Umeh's views, the implementation of the confab recommendations would enthrone a better Nigeria that would be the pride of all citizens.
From Chuks Collins, Awka

Jonathan Meets Mbeki, Sultan, Abdulsalami, Onaiyekan, Service Chiefs, Others

President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday held closed-door meeting with Nigeria’s former Head of State, Gen. Abdusalami Abubakar (rtd.) and a former South African president, Thabo Mbeki.

The meeting was held inside the president’s official residence inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Although none of the participants spoke to journalists on the subject of the meeting, our correspondent gathered that it had to do with how to ensure peace and success in the forthcoming general elections rescheduled for March 28 and April 11 this year.

LEADERSHIP recalls that Abdusalami Abubakar is the chairman of the National Peace Committee for 2015 general polls.

The former military leader had on Saturday met with the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, over the elections.

Also in attendance at the meeting were service chiefs, including the chief of defence staff, Air Vice Marshal Alex Badeh; the inspector-general of Police, Mr Suleiman Abba, as well as the leadership of the major political parties.

Others who attended the meeting were the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar III; Catholic archbishop of Abuja, John cardinal Onaiyekan ; Catholic bishop of Sokoto diocese, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah; former chief of general staff, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe; special adviser to the president on inter-party relations, Senator Ben Obi.

Mother and Daughter Give Birth 34 Minutes Apart at Florida Hospital

BY: LYNETTE HOLLOWAY

Posted: March 8 2015 10:36 AM

Florida mom Angela Patram, 37, and daughter Teranish Billups, 20, recently gave birth just minutes apart.

TAMPA GENERAL HOSPITAL

A 37-year-old Florida nurse gave birth to her fifth child 34 minutes before her 20-year-old daughter gave birth to her first grandchild at the same hospital.

In a story that will be told for generations, a mother and daughter recently gave birth just 34 minutes apart at the same hospital, according to a release from Tampa General Hospital in Tampa, Fla.

Angela Patram, 37, and Teranish Billups, 20, both gave birth on Feb. 19 at the hospital. Patram’s fifth child, Rayna Simone Patram, was born at 6:29 p.m., weighing 6 pounds, 7 ounces. And Billups delivered Jerry Michaud, Jr., via Caesarean section 34 minutes later, weighing 7 pounds, 14 ounces, the news release says.

“They’re almost twins,” joked Patram, a surgical oncology nurse at Tampa General, said in the statement. She was scheduled to be induced on February 19, while her daughter was due to have her first baby on March 6. But the night before Patram’s induction, Billups went into labor. By Feb. 19, mother and daughter were in neibhboring rooms at the hospital.

“I’ve been in this field for 29 years…I’ve seen maybe 14,000 deliveries,” Dr. Atef Zakhary, who practices at Tampa General, said in the statement. “I’ve never seen a mom and daughter deliver on the same day. And this is as close as you could get.”

Billups is a biology major at Florida A&M University and plans to transfer schools to enroll in a physician assistant program. She and the baby’s father, Jerry Michaud, Sr., plan to move to be near her family.

“I guess we have special babies,” Billups said. “We’ll be celebrating birthdays together for the rest of their lives. They’ll be very close.”

Read more at Tampa General Hospital.

Jonathan Was Never Ready, I Singlehandedly Called War On Boko Haram – Idris Deby, Chadian President

Idriss Deby, Chadian President has claimed that he single handedly called war on the extremist group, Boko Haram. The President slammed President Goodluck Jonathan, saying nothing would have been done if the war was left to him as Chad was never authorized the decision.

Nigeria’s Goodluck Jonathan had claimed that after five years of tolerating the sect that killed thousands, he finally this January embarked on the serious effort to defeat Boko Haram to increase his dwindling approval ratings and also to allow voting in occupied territory, which was cited as a reason for the postponement of the first election dates; however the Chadians have said that this real war against the terrorists was decided upon unilaterally by Deby in reaction to Boko Haram obstructing Chad’s trade routes with Nigeria and the economy of the landlocked nation.

He made quotes from Reuters saying: Officials from Chad, Niger and Cameroon say lack of cooperation from Nigeria has for months hampered efforts to put together a regional taskforce against Boko Haram. Chad was compelled to take unilateral action in January, under a deal that allows it to pursue terrorists into Nigeria, after Boko Haram violence started to choke off imports to its economy.
But for a country proud to be a major African power, it would be an embarrassment to President Goodluck Jonathan as he seeks reelection for a smaller nation to tackle Nigeria’s
security problems, diplomats say.

Chad has been ready to press deep into territory controlled by the Islamist group but Nigeria refused to let them.

We turned back because Nigeria did not authorise us to go any further,” army spokesman Colonel Azem Bermandoa said.

But the Chadians say there have been no joint operations between the two forces. Nigeria has for months hampered efforts to put together a regional taskforce against Boko
Haram.

Nigeria’s military spokesperson, General Chris Olukolade Wednesday denied the Chadian claims of Nigeria stalling Chadian aggression against the terrorists, stating that the Nigerian side has no qualms with the Chadians but leads the mission to liberate the nation.

The revelations from Chad appear to be fueling distrust, suspicion and tensions between Nigeria and its neighbors and dis-credits the leader of Africa’s most populous nation and a nation that was prior credited as having one of the best armies in Africa.

President Jonathan is yet to react to Chad’s claims of the small country having been unilaterally behind the the drive to liberate Nigeria from the grasp of Boko Haram.

After Chad engaged Boko Haram in Dikwa, Nigeria chased Chad out with the excuse that the Nigerian side planned to drop bombs on Boko Haram in Dikwa. Chad later claimed Boko Haram leader, “Abubakar Shekau” escaped at Dikwa with the Nigerian intervention, and Chad’s president personally warned Shekau that the Chadians knew where he went to and will soon get him.

At 44, She Suffered 2 Heart Attacks and Joined a Club She Didn’t Want to Belong To

BY: BREANNA EDWARDS

Posted: March 7 2015 3:00 AM

Julia Allen and her husband, Troy

COURTESY OF JULIA ALLEN

Named a 2015 national American Heart Association spokeswoman, Julia Allen is using her incredible survival story to educate other African-American women.

it was a wake-up call when Julia Allen, then only 44, sat in a hospital realizing that she had just survived, not one, but two heart attacks on the same day: April 15, 2013.

“[During the ordeal] I was thinking about all the other things that were going on. Who was going to cook dinner tonight? The boys won’t have anyone to help them with their homework,” Allen tells The Root, ticking off the thoughts she had even as she was in pain. “I got this conference call at work; who’s going to do that? I hadn’t gone to the grocery store ... all that stuff was going through my mind. If I have to go sit in the hospital for four hours and they tell me nothing’s wrong, I just wasted so much time. I just need to go home and lay down for about an hour, take some ibuprofen and I’ll be fine ... that is honestly what I was thinking.”

It was that day when she vowed to change her life—out of necessity, admittedly, more than anything. But since recovering, she has also made it her mission to educate as many women as possible—especially African-American women—so that they will not make the same mistakes she made and suffer unnecessarily.

Allen, who was born and raised in Toledo, Ohio, and now lives in Charlotte, N.C., was recentlychosen as one of nine 2015 national American Heart Association spokeswomen from across the country and is letting her story be heard. “Unfortunately it’s not a group that you want to be selected for because you have to have a heart problem to get into it,” she jokes. “[Each of us has] different heart abnormalities, from heart attacks to stroke to congenital heart defects ... [but] I’m excited to use this opportunity to help other women.”

The Allen family

COURTESY OF JULIA ALLEN

The stats are clear. According to Million Hearts, a government website managed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, heart disease is the leading cause of death for American women, killing more than 400,000 each year. African-American adults of both genders are 40 percent more likely than their white counterparts to have high blood pressure and 10 percent less likely to have this condition under control.

It’s safe to say that if you’re an African-American woman, the odds are usually stacked against you.

According to Allen, there are factors you can and cannot change. Some of those you can’t change are, obviously, your age, race and family history.

Even though she is relatively young, Allen’s family history was one that should have given her pause. Her two parents had heart disease; one of them also had diabetes, which increased the risk even further. In addition, three of her four grandparents suffered from heart disease.

Case in point: Tests on her children after her heart attack showed that her eldest son, then only 12, had high cholesterol—the same child whom she called a “picture of health,” who competed in track and field and football, among other sports. Luckily, it is something that the family is now managing through healthy eating, but still, Allen sometimes wonders ...

“Having high cholesterol at this young age, you’re going to start getting some buildup in those arteries. My son could have had a heart attack at 20. Who knows? Gone unwatched, who knows what might have happened to him?” she asks.

Julia Allen’s sons: Bryce, 11; Brock, 14; and Miles, 7

COURTESY OF JULIA ALLEN

But then there are the things you can change, little and big habits, such as stopping smoking, improving your diet and getting more exercise.

Ex Governor Bola Tinubu was a Drug Baron! Nigerian Compass.

Contrary to denials, the Nigerian Compass yesterday learnt that the United States

Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) confirmed that a former Lagos State Governor,

Mr. Bola...

Ahmed Tinubu, ran a heroin ring in the country; was convicted, though with an

option of fine; and was actually quizzed last month while entering into the country.

Documents available to the Nigerian Compass showed that the United States

Government has written the Nigerian Government, highlighting the fact that Tinubu

ran a cocaine ring in the country.

According to the document, signed by the United States Government Narcotics

Attache in its embassy in Nigeria, Andre W. Kellum, Tinubu operated an organisation

that distributed cocaine.

Kellum said that though Tinubu was not subjected to criminal prosecution, the fact

that he acceded to forfeiting funds to the United States Government was on its own

a conviction.

Kellum’s letter was a response to a petition pertaining to Tinubu’s suitability to stand

or re-election in 2003 as the governor of Lagos State.

The petitioner said that Tinubu, owing to his conviction in the United States for running

a drug cartel, was not suitable to stand for election in Nigeria.

In the letter dated April 9, 2003, addressed to the former Chairman, National Drug Law

Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Alhaji Bello Lafiaji, Kellum wrote, “After consultation with

the Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of International Affairs (OIA), this is in response

to the above referenced matter, regarding Bola Ahmed TINUBU (emphasis that of Kellum).

“Pursuant to the aforementioned request, the Lagos, Nigeria Country Office (LNCO) of the

Drug Enforcement Administration immediately contacted DOJ/OIA officials. Copies

of documents received by the LNCO from the NDLEA were forwarded to these officials

for verification.

“As such, please note that paragraphs 4, 5 and 6 of the complaint indicates that persons

named therein operated an organisation that distributed heroin and the proceeds of that

illegal distribution were in the subject acounts to be forfeited. The complaint references

U.S. (criminal) money laundering and (criminal) drug statutes as the authority under

which the forfeiture occurs. Nevertheless, note that the complaint in this civil action

identifies the funds as the defendant (Tinubu), not the account holders.

“Likewise, the Decree of Forfeiture, signed by a U.S. District Judge, identifies the

criminal statutory authority for the civil forfeiture of the funds without regard to

whether there is a corresponding criminal prosecution.

“The facts revealed in the U.S. Investigation of the funds and their source are detailed

in the affidavit filed by the Internal Revenue Service.

In the letter from the NDLEA that resulted in Kellum’s reaction, the lead anti-narcotic

agency in Nigeria said that the conclusion it could draw was that Tinubu’s drug case

was yet to be closed by the United States.

The letter, in its opinion section, noted, “Former paragraph 6 above, Governor

Ahmed Bola Tinubu was involved in Money Laundering Transactions along with

Mueez Adegboya Akande and Abiodun Agbele in the United States of America.

“Even though he was not charged to court, he had to compromise the case.

Otherwise, he would have lost the whole money.

“Arising from the case, Governor Ahmed Bola Tinubu forfeited 460,000 US

dollars to the United States Government being proceeds of narcotic trafficking

or property involved in financial transactions in violation of 18 USO 1956 and

1957 and therefore was forfeitable to the United States (emphasis that of the NDLEA).

“It is pertinent to note that the funds held by Citi bank which was released to

Governor Ahmed Bola Tinubu and the action filed against these funds held in

the said accounts was dismissed with prejudice. This in effect means the case

has not been closed (emphasis that of NDLEA) an