Photos: Cat caught with dozens of men's underwears and socks by its owner 

A kleptomaniac cat known as Brigit, has been caught stealing men's underpants and socks by her owner, Sarah Nathan. The 6-year-old Tonkinese cat has stolen 11 pairs of boxers and more than 50 pairs of socks since January. It even prefers matching socks.

Nathan has been attempting to return her neighbors' clothing by placing notes in mailboxes, to no avail. Due to her cat's increasing burglary behavior, she has taken to Reddit to notify owners so they can collect their underwears.

Nathan says that in a previous home, the cat wouldn't be particular in what she stole. Most Tonkinese cats are nocturnal hunters — but she has developed a curious taste of late.

"She was much less discerning, now she’s decided menswear is the thing, and it’s a very specific kind of underpants that she likes," Nathan said. 

"One will be at the front door and one will be at the back door - so she's obviously gone back to get the matching sock,"

Source: Mashable

Christians prepare for Palm Sunday

Christians all over the world will on Sunday, March 20, mark the feast of the Palm Sunday to celebrate the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem.

This is contained in a statement signed by the Director of Social Communications, Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, Msgr. Gabriel Osu.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Palm Sunday is the final Sunday of Lent, the beginning of Holy Week and commemorates the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem days before he was crucified.

Jesus had sat on an unbroken young donkey and slowly made his humble entrance into Jerusalem.


The people greeted him enthusiastically, waving palm branches and covering his path with palm branches.

Palm branches are widely recognised as symbol of peace and victory; the use of a donkey instead of a horse is highly symbolic as it represented the humble arrival of someone in peace.

Osu said, “Palm Sunday is one of the major feasts of our Lord and it is the day Jesus Christ entered Jerusalem as a King, riding on a foal.

“A large crowd of people in the city spread out palm and olive branches on the ground before him as a sign of his kingship; they joyfully chanted `Hosanna, Son of David.’

“On this day also, in commemoration, we will receive and worship Christ in this same manner acknowledging him as our King and Lord.”

Osu said that as the beginning of Holy Week, Palm Sunday heralds the week in which Christians celebrated the mystery of their salvation through Christ’s death and his resurrection on Easter Sunday.

“The Holy Week starts from Sunday and will run till Good Friday, March 25, 2016.

“A major hallmark of the feast is the celebration of the Holy Mass followed by a procession of the faithful carrying palm branches, representing the Jews who celebrated Christ’s entrance into Jerusalem.

“Here in the Archdiocese of Lagos, the Archbishop, His Grace Alfred Adewale Martins is expected to lead the faithful in a Palm Sunday procession through the streets of Lagos Island and environs’’, he said.

Source: punchng.com

FG offers automatic employment, scholarship to late Ocholi’s children

By Isidi Monica

Federal Government yesterday announced it would offer automatic employment at the Federal Ministry of Justice to the eldest son of the late Minister of State for Labour, Mr. James Ocholi (SAN), Aaron. Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), who made the revelation yesterday while addressing Ocholi’s family when he paid a sympathy visit to his Kado Estate residence to convey President Muhammadu Buhari’s condolence message to the family, also said the late minister’s other children would get automatic scholarship.

“I am here to convey Mr President’s condolence message and he has asked me to personally inform you that you have been given automatic employment in the Federal Ministry of Justice. The employment letter is in process and you can resume work after now. Your father was a very hardworking and conscientious member of the Federal Executive Council who was very passionate and worked hard for the realisation of the change agenda of this government. Indeed, it is a sad moment for all of us and the vacuum which his death has created is not only for the family, but the leadership as well. He was a great pillar in the struggle which brought this administration to power. He played a major role in the merger process,”.

Source: nationalmirroronline.net

Catholic Priest still not found after Yemen attack that killed 4 Nuns

Despite a lack of news and the prospect of difficult negotiations ahead, the Salesians remain hopeful that their priest kidnapped in Yemen last week will be freed.
Fr. Tom Uzhunnalil was kidnapped March 4 during an attack on a convent and nursing home run by the Missionaries of Charity in Yemen.
The attack resulted in the deaths of four Missionaries of Charity, two staff members, eight nursing home residents and a guard, according to reports.
Fr. Tom – a Salesian from Kerala, India – was praying in the chapel of the convent at the time of the attack, and was then kidnapped by the attackers.

New Delhi’s ministry of foreign affairs confirmed that Fr. Tom was taken to an unknown location, along with one of the Indian sisters in the community. Reports later indicated that the sister had been located and was safe.
Fr. Francesco Cereda, Vicar of the Rector Major for the Salesians, said that “it is difficult to see why they took Fr. Tom as prisoner” rather than killing him along with the others. 
He suggested that nationality could play a role in the kidnapping, as both Fr. Tom and the sister originally reported as kidnapped were both Indian.
Fr. Cereda stressed that “we trust there is every chance for the release” of Fr. Tom. He said that “the Central Government of India through its Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is involved in trying to ascertain the whereabouts” of the priest.
In addition, “the Chief Minister of the federal state of Kerala, the home state of Fr. Tom, has also taken personal interest in the matter and is in touch with the MEA in New Delhi.” Even “the Vatican, as well as the Catholic Bishops Conference of India are also involved” in tracing the priest’s location.
“Prayers are being offered throughout the Salesian world for his speedy release. We believe that these efforts will not be in vain,” Fr. Cereda said.

The Salesians have had a mission in Yemen since 1997. Initially, it was part of the Apostolic Vicariate of Aden, established by Pope Leo XIII in 1885.
Salesians are the only Catholic priests working in the country. They provide their services in four cities: the capital of Sana’a, Aden, Holeida and Taiz.
“Salesians were present there catering to the spiritual and sacramental requirements of the large number of Catholic migrants from India, the Philippines and everywhere else.” Fr. Cereda explained.
He added that “the presence of Salesians was also a great support to the Missionaries of Charity.”
Following the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011, the already tenuous situation in Yemen became even worse. And the tension grew further when civil war broke out in 2015, with two factions both claiming to constitute the Yemeni government. The presence of terrorist groups including Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and ISIS only added to the chaos.
But despite the ever more fragile conditions in the country, the Salesians chose to remain in Yemen.
“The Salesians were fully aware that the situation was worsening day by day,” Fr. Cedera said. “The Government of India had asked its nationals to leave the country after it had shut its embassy in Yemen and had brought back thousands of Indian nationals in 2014.”
Fr. Cereda said that Archbishop Paul Hinder, the Apostolic Vicar to Saudi Arabia, spoke in January 2015 with the Salesian province of Bangalore, India, to which the Mission of Yemen is entrusted.
“It was felt that pulling out of the mission all together would deprive it of the sole organized Catholic presence in the country,” Fr. Cereda recounted.

However, “since it was felt that no one could compel anyone to remain in the given situation, the choice was left to the individual confreres in question.”  
“Out of five members, three returned to India and two stayed, with the hope of being of assistance especially to the Missionaries of Charity who had decided to stay on, as well as the few Catholics still working with them in their centers.”
Fr. Tom was one of those who chose to stay, recognizing that his work was particularly risky, as he had to move from one community to another.
Beyond all the ‘diplomatic’ efforts underway to free Fr. Tom, prayers are being offered throughout the Salesian world for his speedy release.


Source: catholicnewsagency.com

South African pastor performs 'miracle' by pouring boiling water on congregation

South African pastor has claimed he performed a miracle after allegedly pouring hot water on members of his church.
Pastor Thamsanqa Sambulo, who is just 23-years-old, is the founder and apostle at Thy Word Kingdom Harvest Ministries...Accoring to a post on the Church's facebook page,

The apostle then told someone to go boil water in a kettle at the kitchen. One young man went there and did so... He came back with boiling water. The Son of God took the kettle and put it on himself (on his chest, he hugged it). The congregation was in shock, as they shouted: "NO!"

Some couldn't even look. He then asked; "who has faith here?"One by one, people came and did what the apostle did, and were not hurt. He re-boiled the water... as he did; ...one young woman came to him and said; "Papa I have faith, pour it on my hand as hot as it is." The Son of God first poured on Himself, then poured unto this lady. The rest of the congregation, one by one followed, as they also wanted to test their faith.

See Pics...!

Source: misspetitenaijablog.com 

by Isidi Monica











The immediate past Theater Commander Operation LAFIYA DOLE, North East, Major General Yusha'u Mahood Abubakar on Tuesday died in a ghastly auto crash along Maiduguri/ Damaturu.

The General Officer Commanding (GOC) 3 division of the Nigerian Army, Jos, Brigadier General Muhammed Aliyu, was also involved in the auto-crash but survived with serious injuries

The cause of the accident is yet to be ascertained. Both the GOC and his driver including late Yushau Mahmood were brought to the Emergency ward of the General Sani Abacha Specialist hospital Damaturu under heavy military security guard before they were conveyed back to Maiduguri to be flown to Abuja for proper medical attention.

Reports reveal that Mahmood was going to Damaturu from Abuja for the graduation of a special military force currently being trained in the troubled Buni Yadi area of Yobe State in northeast Nigeria. On his arrival, according to the report,  Mahmood was received at the Maiduguri International Airport by Aliyu, from where they embarked on the ill-fated journey.


The Deputy Governor of Yobe State, Abubakar Aliyu, in company of the Secretary to the State Government, Baba Wali, the State Police Commissioner, Zanna Ibrahim, the Head of Service of Yobe State, Dauda Yahaya, and other sympathisers have visited the Damaturu Specialist Hospital.

Source: channelstv.com

Senate charges Buhari to intensify efforts to rescue Chibok girls

by Isidi Monica

The Upper Chamber of the National Assembly has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to step up efforts to ensure the freedom of the over 200 Chibok schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram insurgents 690 days ago.

The Senate said the Federal Government should also come up with micro-economic policies that will encourage women to participate in small scale businesses.
These resolutions were sequel to a motion on International Women’s Day by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Women Affairs, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, APC, Lagos Central.

In her presentation, Senator Tinubu, who lamented the growing gender inequality in the country, in spite of several gender friendly laws, said Nigerian women had suffered several forms of discrimination, ranging from abduction, rape to male dominance on inheritance.
She said: “I am concerned that rape is on the increase in the country and this is with little prosecution. There is, therefore, a need for re-orientation on gender equality, women’s rights and adequate allocation of resources.”
On his part, Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, also expressed worries that in spite of the growing level of democracy in the country, the representation of women in all arms of government was dwindling.
He said that if not promptly addressed, the trend would lead to non-representation of women in governance, adding that such would be detrimental to the development of the country.

Making her own contribution, Deputy Minority Whip, Senator Biodun Olujinmi, PDP, Ekiti South, called for solution to child marriage and other practices that had been detrimental to the survival of the girl-child in the society. He noted that all the issues plaguing women should be placed in their proper perspectives, if Nigeria as a country must reap the benefits of having the girl-child.
She said, “Mr. President, today is our day, the International Women’s Day. I want to congratulate the chairman of the women affairs committee, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, who brought up this motion.
“We want the whole world to put on the front burner the issues of gender equality, the issues of our children, the issues of rape, the issues of abduction and the issues of child marriage. we have to put all of them on the proper perspective for the country to be able to reap from the benefits.
‘’Whichever way you want to see it, we are the salt of the earth. We make everything fine and where ever we are as women, there is always sanity, probity and there is always accountability.”
In his remarks, President of the Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki, noted that the 8th Senate would ensure that amendment of all relevant laws were carried out to involve more women in government.

Source: dailypost.ng

Unions Shut down NNPC Offices Nationwide

by Isidi Monica














Oil workers have shut down the operations of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) nationwide.

The decision followed Tuesday’s unbundling of the corporation.

The Cable reports that members of staff and management of the corporation arrived their various offices on Wednesday morning only to discover that they could not gain entrance following the total strike.
The immediate impact of the strike will be nationwide fuel scarcity as products will not be lifted by NUPENG. It is not expected to affect the crude oil export yet except the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) joins in solidarity.
It was gathered that at the end of the meeting, Group Executive Councils, GEC, sent this message to all members:
“The GEC of NUPENG & PENGASSAN at its meeting of 8th March 2016, which started at 10:00pm has extensively discussed the pronouncement of the GMD on NNPC UNBUNDLING. We observed that the GMD/HMSP totally disregarded due process and failed to engage STAKEHOLDERS. Hence, from midnight today, ALL NNPC LOCATIONS will be SHUT DOWN COMPLETELY until further notice. Further directives will be communicated accordingly.”

Source: dailypost.ng

The story behind the new saint- Elizabeth of the Trinity

Elizabeth of the Trinity

Vatican City, Mar 8, 2016 / 03:03 am - Pope Francis acknowledged a miracle worked through the intercession of Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity, a Carmelite nun of the 20th century, paving the way for her canonization likely later this year.

“The Lord has chosen to answer her prayers for us…before she died, when she was suffering with Addison's disease, she wrote that it would increase her joy in heaven if people ask for her help,” said Dr. Anthony Lilles, academic dean of St. John's Seminary in Camarillo.
Lilles earned his doctorate in spiritual theology at Rome's Angelicum writing a dissertation on Bl. Elizabeth of the Trinity.
“If her friends ask for her help it would increase her joy in heaven: so it increases Elizabeth's joy when you ask her to pray for your needs,” he said. "That's the first reason (to have devotion to her): the Church has recognized the power of her intercession."
Bl. Elizabeth of the Trinity was born in France in 1880, and grew up in Dijon close to the city's Carmelite monastery. Lilles recounted that when one time when Bl. Elizabeth visited the monastery when she was 17, “the mother superior there said, 'I just received this circular letter about the death of Therese of Lisieux, and I want you to read it.' That circular letter would later become the Story of a Soul; in fact, what she was given was really the first edition of Story of a Soul.”

...it was a lightning moment in her life, where everything kind of crystallized and she understood how to respond to what God was doing in her heart.

“Elizabeth read it and she was inclined towards contemplative prayer; she was a very pious person who worked with troubled youth and catechized them, but when she read Story of a Soul she knew she needed to become a Carmelite: it was a lightning moment in her life, where everything kind of crystallized and she understood how to respond to what God was doing in her heart.”
Elizabeth then told her mother she wanted to enter the Carmel, but she replied that she couldn't enter until she was 21, “which was good for the local Church,” Lilles explained, “because Elizabeth continued to work with troubled youth throughout that time, and do a lot of other good work in the city of Dijon before she entered.”
She entered the Carmel in Dijon in 1901, and died there in 1906 – at the age of 26 – from Addison's disease.
Elizabeth wrote several works while there, the best-known of which is her prayer “O My God, Trinity Whom I Adore.” Also particularly notable are her “Heaven in Faith,” a retreat she wrote three months before her death for her sister Guite; and the “Last Retreat,” her spiritual insights from the last annual retreat she was able to make.
Cardinal Albert Decourtray, who was Bishop of Dijon from 1974 to 1981, was cured of cancer through Bl. Elizabeth's intercession – a miracle that allowed her beatification in 1984.
The healing acknowledged by Pope Francis March 4 was that of Marie-Paul Stevens, a Belgian woman who had Sjögren's syndrome, a glandular disease.
In 2002 Stevens “had asked Bl. Elizabeth to help her manage the extreme discomforts of the pathology she had, and in thanksgiving, because she felt like she had received graces … she travelled to the Carmelite monastery just outside Dijon,” Lilles said. “And when she got to the monastery, she was completely healed.”

Lilles added that a second reason to have devotion to Bl. Elizabeth of the Trinity is because she died “believing that she had a spiritual mission to help lead souls to a deeper encounter with Christ Jesus.”
“You could call it contemplative prayer, or even mystical prayer. She said her mission was to lead souls out of themselves and into a great silence, where God could imprint himself in them, on their souls, so that they became more God-like.”
In prayer, he said, “we make space for (God) to transform us more fully into the image and likeness he intended us to become, but which sin has marred. Contemplative prayer is a means towards this transformation and Bl. Elizabeth of the Trinity believed before she died that her spiritual mission would be to help souls enter into that kind of transformative contemplative prayer, where they could become saints.”

She understood that the way she loved souls all the way was to help them find and encounter the Lord.

During her time in the Carmel of Dijon, Bl. Elizabeth found encouragement from the writings of St. Therese of Lisieux, particularly her “Offering to Merciful Love,” a prayer found in Story of a Soul, Lilles said: “You find references to the Offering to Merciful Love throughout the writings of Bl. Elizabeth of the Trinity, it was probably something she herself prayed often.”
“The second way that Elizabeth of the Trinity was influenced by Therese of Lisieux was a poem that St. Therese wrote called 'Living by Love'; in this poem Therese celebrates how the love of Jesus is the heartbeat, the deepest reality of her life, and because he lived to lay down his life for her, she wants to live to lay down her live for human love, which as the poem goes on, means loving all whom he sends her way, without reserve and all the way, giving people the generous love that we have received from Christ, sharing it with others.”
“That idea deeply, deeply influenced Elizabeth of the Trinity and in fact inspired her own way of life and her own spiritual mission to help lead souls into mystical prayer,” Lilles reflected. “She understood that the way she loved souls all the way was to help them find and encounter the Lord.”
“So, the spiritual missions of Therese of Lisieux and Elizabeth of the Trinity coincide: great theologians like Hans Urs von Balthasar recognized that. And these spiritual missions have both greatly influenced the Church in the 20th and early 21st centuries in very powerful ways.”
“I'm so glad that Elizabeth has been recognized for her part in building up the Church in the 20th century.”

Source: catholicnewsagency.com

Lagos Assembly orders relocation of Mile 12, Owode markets

by Isidi Monica

Resulting from the last week crisis in the Mile 12 market area of Lagos, the State House of Assembly yesterday told the state government to begin arrangements for the relocation of the popular foodstuff market.

The market, which is due to be moved to Parafa, in Ikorodu, according to the House, has overstayed its welcome in the area and should no longer be tolerated in the heart of the city.
Also penciled for relocation is the Owode Market on Ikorodu road and others of such market that have expanded to the highway.
Presenting the issue at Matters of Urgent Public Importance, during Monday’s plenary, member of the House, Jude Idimogu, drew attention of his colleagues to the last week mayhem in which 12 people were killed, scores of persons maimed and raped and over 15 houses razed.
Idimogu noted that such violence and tribal clashes had become one too many in the market with security agencies also fingered for taking sides with one tribe against the other.
While he commended the state government for rising to the occasion to quell the crisis, the lawmaker said that it was high time the government had relocated the market to a better site and away from residential community.
Idimogu’s colleague, representing Epe II Constituency, Abiodun Tobun, recalled that the Mile 12 market dated back several decades, was established when the area was not as developed as it is today.
Tobun said: “Not only has the area developed, the market too has enlarged with many trailers now parked on the road side to enter the market creating traffic on that corridor. Government is doing much to keep street traders off the road, but the market itself deserves to be relocated.”
Lawmaker representing Ikorodu I Constituency, Sanai Agunbiade, observed that the traffic around that corridor was due to the market that has overstayed its welcome.
Agunbiade recalled that the last administration had in fact designed a large expanse of land for regional food market in Parafa, where Mile 12 was proposed to be relocated.
But the lawmaker representing the area (Kosofe II Constituency), Tunde Buraimoh, pleaded with the House to exercise caution on such move, citing that the disagreement between trading Hausas and the Yoruba host community would be resolved and peace would soon returned.
Several of his colleagues, however, disagreed, urging the state government to put sentiments aside and use its political will to relocate “the nuisance of a market”.
Speaker of the House, Mudashiru Obasa, in his ruling, said it was high time the government had done the needful on Mile 12 and set all machineries in motion to relocate both Mile 12 and Owode market, assuring that the House would support with the needed budget for such exercise.

Source: guardian.ng