EPL: Mikel scores first goal after seven years

NIGERIAN midfielder, Mikel Obi, scored his first ever English Premier League goal on Saturday as Chelsea defeated Fulham 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.

Mikel’s first goal came after 185 EPL appearances for Chelsea since he joined the Blues in 2006 from Lyn Oslo.

Brazilian Oscar put the home side ahead in the 52nd minute but it was Mikel, who put the game beyond the hard fighting visitors with a superb finish with six minutes to regulation time, to the admiration of club owner, Roman Abramovich.

The Nigeria international seems to have realised his attacking instinct as he had scored another classical goal in the 2013 Confederations Cup against Uruguay.

“I am very happy for my goal; it’s been a long time. I also did (score) for the national team. It’s something I always want to do but I have to put myself in the right position,” Mikel said after the match.

Another Nigerian, Sone Aluko fired a spectacular late winner for Hull City as the Tigers twice came back from behind to beat Newcastle 3-2 at St James’ Park.

Loic Remy opened the scoring from close-range in the 10th minute before Robbie Brady drove the equaliser under Tim Krul just before the half-hour.

Kenya mall attack: Al-Qaeda-linked militant group based in Somalia claims responsibility

Al-Shabaab, an al Qaeda-linked militant group based in Somalia with ties to Nairobi's Eastleigh district and whose most recent attack of this scale came July 2010 in Uganda's capital, claimed responsibility for the carnage and vowed not to negotiate with Kenyan authorities. It claimed that "all Muslims" were escorted from the mall before the attack, suggesting its targets were people who didn't believe in their extreme form of Islam.

Access Bank Explains Acquisition of Intercontinental

Access Bank Plc has explained that its recent acquisition of the defunct Intercontinental Bank Plc was necessitated by the need to protect the latter’s depositors from losing their funds as well as prevent an imminent crisis in the financial market.

Jonathan’s Declaration: Presidency, PDP Plan 20 Million-man March

Apparently, to set the stage for the formal declaration of his second term bid, President Goodluck Jonathan and his ruling Peoples Democratic Party have concluded plans to hold a rally on October 19 in Abuja. Tagged a five million-man march, the event is intended as a showcase for the achievements of the president’s transformation agenda.

Mobile Payment Gaining Grounds in Nigeria, Says CBN

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said mobile payment is gaining a lot of grounds in Nigeria, and that the policy is being taken beyond cash-in-cash-out remittances and top up.

PDP CRISIS: Tukur, Amaechi lock horns again

The crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party got messier on Friday with the ruling party asking the Rivers State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, to write a formal letter to the Dr. Bamanga Tukur-led National Executive Council for his suspension to be lifted.

Amaechi, who spoke to SUNDAY PUNCH, over the weekend has, however, vowed that he would not write the letter.

The lifting of Amaechi’s suspension was one of the conditions given by a faction of the party, New PDP, for reconciliation to take place in the troubled party.

The party, which spoke through the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Abdullahi Jalo, told one of our correspondents in Abuja, on Friday that only the NEC could decide Amaechi’s fate.

Abuja killings: SSS quizzes victims on hospital beds

One of the victims at the hospital

Men of the State Security Services, on Friday evening, stormed the Emergency Department of Asokoro General Hospital in Abuja and quizzed the victims of the bloody attack on an uncompleted building at the Apo Legislative Quarters that left eight people dead.

Although the SSS claimed that those killed were members of the dreaded Boko Haram sect, eyewitnesses and survivors had denied the allegation.

Survivors alleged that the attack was masterminded by the owner of the building that was raided,  who they said had strong connections in government, adding that it was done to force them out of the premises.

But our correspondent who visited the Hospital last night was informed that some SSS operatives came on Friday evening “wielding weapons in search of Boko Haram suspects.”

Kenya's deputy president tweets after attack

William Samoei Ruto ‏@WilliamsRuto16m

I take this opportunity to commiserate with families of the bereaved & injured in the Westgate Mall from this cowardly and wicked act-wsr

From this weekend, users will no longer need to own a Blackberry device to access its BBM messaging service.

Blackberry has confirmed BBM will be available as a free download for Apple and Android devices but not for Windows phones.

The move comes as the Wall Street Journalreports that Blackberry will lay off 40% of its staff before 2014.

Widening the appeal of BBM could be a clever way for the company to reinvent itself, said experts.

"Blackberry is having a tough time, sales are down, it is losing market to Windows phones and it needs to do something to stop the rot. This is as good a move as any," said Chris Green, principal technology analyst at Davies Murphy Group Europe.

"Offering it across other platforms broadens the appeal of BBM," he added.

Davido's skelewu dance took over the floor during his UK tour

At least 20 killed when gunmen ambush Nairobi shopping mall, Red Cross says

Gunmen ambushed an upscale shopping mall in the Kenyan capital on Saturday, leading to a fierce gunbattle with police and at least 20 people killed, the Kenyan Red Cross said.

Forbes 400: Facts And Figures On America's Richest

Bill Gates is the richest American for the 20th year in a row and has reclaimed the title of world’s richest person from Mexico’s Carlos Slim with a net worth of $72 billion.Warren Buffett, again number two, was the year’s biggest dollar gainer, having added $12.5 billion to his fortune. Facebook’s hot stock pumped up Mark Zuckerberg’s fortune by $9.6 billion and put him back into the top 20 after missing the top cut last year; Carl Icahn lost his battle to stop Dell DELL +0.11%from going private but he had a great year and moves back in the top 20 for the first time since 2008. The biggest percentage gainer was Workday’s David Duffield, whose fortune more than tripled to $6.4 billion, and just behind him in terms of percentage jumps was the entrepreneur Elon Musk, now worth $6.7 billion and ranked 61st.