The children of the late Prof. Dora Akunyili have said the family is yet to get justice over the gruesome murder of their father, Dr Chike Akunyili, two years ago.
Obum Akunyili, one of the children said this when he appeared before the Anambra State Truth, Justice and Peace Commission during a public hearing on violence and violence-related deaths in Anambra, NAN reported.
Mr Obum said what was more painful was that justice had not been done on the matter since their father was murdered at Nkpo, Idemili North Local Government Area, on Sept. 28, 2023.
“My father’s death was senseless, violent and barbaric. We are still trying to come to terms with it as a family,” he said.
“We are still waiting for answers to that killing, there are rumours but no answers, there have been no trials, I don’t think anybody has gone to court to answer for that murder,” he said.
Mr. Obum said all they have got was insinuations that their father was killed by the so-called unknown gunmen but there hasn’t been any fact to back the claim.
He said the murder of their father was a great mistake and that whoever is responsible would live to regret it.
“You cannot rule out the fact that it was a politically-charged period, there were lots of killings under the umbrella of unknown gunmen, so the accusations based on social media theories will not be correct.
“I feel everybody ran from the blame because of the personality of my father, nobody wanted to be associated with his killing, and nobody wanted to be identified as the person that killed Dora Akunyili’s husband.
“It is all assumptions, none of these theories has concrete evidence that you can prosecute. Prosecution is fine with facts and knowledge, these are not what we want now
‘When my mother died, people insinuated that she was poisoned, whereas she died of cancer, we were in the hospital with her,” he said.
Mr Obum regretted that their late father and his driver bled to death as no effort was made by those around to take them to the hospital for a possible survival chance.
“My father had about 10 per cent survival chance. it was a traumatic injury that required a whole lot to save him but he did not get to the hospital before he died.
“If he had reached the hospital, we would know there was an attempt, that they did all they could to save him but nothing like that.
“There was a hospital seven minutes away, Borromew was 15 minutes away from there but no attempt
“The driver’s case was worse, he was shot and people were asking him his name, where he is from and he was bleeding to death, people were trying to make viral videos,” he said.
He described his father as a good man who lived a fulfilled life and devoted himself to philanthropy, cared for the needy and treated people for free when he could.
He thanked the Truth Commission for giving them the opportunity to tell their story and expressed hope that their inquiry would lead to a fruitful outcome for Anambra and the Southeast.
Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, Chairman of the Commission, led other members in sombre commiserations with the Akunyili family and urged them not to be discouraged by the incident but to continue to excel in their various chosen fields of endeavour.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in Kenya has arrested the prime suspect, Phyllis Nzula Mbithi, in connection with the gruesome murder of a 29-year-old hair stylist, Jennifer Mwende, in a case of suspected love triangle.
The decomposing body of Mwende was discovered in a pit latrine in the Mlolongo area on September 12, 2023, after she had gone missing for about two weeks.
Evelyne Wanza Katumbu, the wife of a man the deceased was allegedly dating, was earlier arrested alongside another suspect, Faith Nthemba, in connection with the murder.
The suspects had appeared in court and are currently being held at Machalos Prison.
A post-mortem conducted at Montezuma Monalisa Mortuary in Machakos town indicated that she died from asphyxiation, caused by manual neck compression.
DCI in a statement on Saturday. October 28, said the prime suspect, Phyllis Nzula Mbithi, was arrested on Friday night in Kitengela town as she attempted to escape to Tanzania.
According to the statement, Phyllis had threatened the deceased regarding the married man they were both seeing.
Phyllis used her neighbour, Faith Nthenya to lure Mwende to her death trap through a phone call through a phone call, indicating that some clients were seeking her services at a house.
When the deceased got to the house, the three women strangled her to death and dumped her body in a pit latrine.
“Phyllis Nzula Mbithi was arrested in a Namanga-bound matatu minutes past 9pm after weeks of relentless manhunt by crime research detectives who were actioning forensic-led intelligence,” the statement read.
“In the dreadful case of a fatal love triangle, meticulous probe into the disappearance and subsequent murder of miss Mwende brought Phyllis name to the limelight after it emerged that she (Phyllis) had on various occasions threatened Mwende regarding a married man they were both seeing
“Mwende’s fellow salonists and friends became concerned after she (Mwende) failed to show up at her workplace for days, prompting a report of her disappearance to the police
“Mwende’s brother who made the formal report at Mlolongo Police Station on August 29, 2023 told the OCS that she had been missing since August 25, after receiving a call from an unestablished person. The OCS circulated a signal of the missing lady to all station commands countrywide for search
“Reportedly, Mwende had on that day (August 25) left her salon while talking to someone over the phone, and just like that she was gone
“After days of fruitless search for her, the case was forwarded to the DCI where fresh investigations were instituted and statements recorded from various persons of interest. Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau detectives backed up by teams from the DCI National Forensic Laboratory hit the ground running
“Investigative interviewing of the caretaker where Mwende had rented a room indicated that on Aug 22 and Aug 24, some unknown women had visited Mwende’s house while she was away and enquired of her whereabouts
Forensic analysis that traced Mwende’s last moments revealed a non-coincidental disappearance but a well-orchestrated plot to end her life, one mastered by the prime suspect and aided by two other women.
Detectives unraveled that Phyllis (prime suspect) used a female neighbour identified as Faith Nthenya to lure Mwende to her death trap through a phone call, indicating that some clients were seeking her services at a house she (Mwende) would be directed to.
“In the conversation, Faith directed Mwende to Phyllis house which was the alleged house of the clients
“Once inside, Mwende was subdued by the two women before Phyllis called a third woman, Evelyne Wanza Katumbu. Wanza was the wife to the man entangled in the affair, Januaris Musau Mulwa
“Apparently, Wanza had become protective of her man and was accusing Phyllis of snatching him away. To save her skin, Phyllis plotted the luring of Mwende whom she new was her fellow paramour to Musau, and called the wife pointing fingers at the defenceless woman
After roughing her up and threatening her with death should she be seen around Musau, Phyllis and Wanza feared that Mwende would report them to police. They hence heinously strangled her with a bedsheet as Faith suffocated her with pieces of cloth to avoid any screams
“Interrogations on Wanza and Faith who had since been arrested indicated that Phyllis planned to have the body sneaked out of the compound to a forest by an unknown taxi driver, but the plan failed after lacking the key to the main gate through which the car was to enter. It was then that they resorted to dumping the body into the pit latrine
“Ever since, Phyllis who remained on police radar holed up by escaping to Mombasa and Kibwezi, before her interception and arrest last night
“The suspect’s arraignment is scheduled for Monday, October 30, where she will join her accomplices Faith and Wanza who pleaded to murder charges earlier yesterday.”
“It’s more just being kind to my body, this next couple of months.
NEW PODCAST! Michael Atkinson, Sam Worthington and Tom Decent make sense of Portugal’s historic upset of Fiji and Australia’s Rugby World Cup exit then look at some bumper quarter-finals
“And again, I wasn’t happy with my performances in some aspects, so I’m just getting that back, back to back games, back in Japan and getting the confidence to play my game again.
“And, you know, whatever the future holds.”
James Slipper and Nic White are no spring chickens but will play Super Rugby in Australia next year and appear as hungry as ever.
2) Which Wallabies may not survive a coaching change?
Lock Richie Arnold is 33 and based in France and probably didn’t do enough at the World Cup to get a call back as a Giteau Law pick.
A different coach also might have no time for Eddie Jones’ pet project Ben Donaldson, despite the playmaker showing glimpses of his potential during the pool games.
Similarly, injury plagued hooker Jordan Uelese continues to get picked on theoretical upside rather than proven performance.
Prop Zane Nonggorr has plenty to do to prove he is Test quality while fellow forwards Matt Philip and Josh Kemeny could also be in the firing line.
Wallabies Rugby World Cup player ratings: Grisly findings from Pool C post-mortem, ray of light emerges
There remains a strong possibility that Jones does indeed return to Japan, where he is a revered figure for his giant killing exploits at the 2015 World Cup.
That would be embarrassing PR for RA but perhaps a blessing in disguise after what was an unmitigated disaster of a campaign.
Jones’ record has been awful for two straight seasons and the public isn’t copping his attempts to spin some positives in terms of building for the future.
Both Jones and RA chief executive Phil Waugh have given lukewarm comments regarding him seeing out his contract through to 2027 although Jones has also said he is willing to be “the fall guy.”
Would getting sacked by RA be a convenient out for him to return to Japan?
Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh speaks to the media in Saint-Etienne. (Getty)
4) How realistic is a mooted Super Rugby restructure?
World No.1 Ireland only has four professional teams, although their population is much smaller than Australia.
Incredibly, 10 of Ireland’s starting XV that destroyed Scotland last weekend play for Leinster, giving them unrivalled cohesion.
But Waugh told reporters in Saint-Etienne that the Aussie five – Waratahs, Reds, Brumbies, Force, Rebels – were here to stay.
“Yeah, that’s our commitment,” Waugh said.
“And I think then it’s around actually how do you build the depth rather than diluting talents across the five. How do you get a little bit more creative in supporting the five Super Rugby teams? And I think that’s building real purpose and identity across those five Super Rugby teams.”
Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh during a Wallabies training session. (Getty)
5) What can we expect from RA’s review?
Waugh, in his first year in the hot seat, will be a busy man in the summer months as he tries to steer the ship back in a positive direction.
Jones expects a World Cup review to take place in November and the results of that won’t be pretty.
Waugh told WWOS that there was “a lot of evidence that we need better alignment across high performance and the focus of many unions on community.”
And former Wallaby Morgan Turinui echoed Hoiles’ opinion that another lengthy and expensive review was not required, even given the unprecedented French flop.
“Phil Waugh, here’s the keys,” Turinui said on Stan Sport’s Between Two Posts.
“This is the opportunity for Phil Waugh as CEO to continue doing what he’s already started doing, go to the states and say ‘now it’s time for unity, now it’s time for centralisation’.”
Turinui added that the “harsh reality” was that Australia would likely miss out on more quarter-finals going forward.
“The World Cup is getting more and more competitive. There’ll be bigger teams and big nations like Australia missing out on quarter-finals… I’ve heard talk of an independent review.
“We’ve had four or five independent reviews into the game in the last 20 years I would have thought and they’ve all said the same thing, which is that centralisation is the thing we must get to.
“Independent review, we’ve had them and they were never acted upon. They’re sitting there in a drawer somewhere.
“There’s got to be a review of Eddie Jones, what his plan is and is his desire to be the Wallaby coach, first off. And that’s probably directly with Phil Waugh…
“Strategy around selection, which I think we’ve all said has backfired. Gone for youth, left a lot of experience at home, didn’t balance that.”
Western Kentucky held on to beat Louisiana Tech, 35-28, on Thursday night on ESPN. Because it was on ESPN we know that a player shared a hit of oxygen with a fan and that linebacker Bryson Washington suffered what looked like a pretty bad non-contact leg injury while celebrating a tackle in the first half. Washington jumped up in the air and came down on both feet and his right leg buckled right around the knee.
This looked pretty bad, but there don’t appear to be any updates on what happened to him. He left the game with three tackles, including two solo tackles and a tackle for a loss. Washington, a senior in his sixth season with the Hilltoppers, was coming off a game where he was named the C-USA Defensive Player of the Week after he had seven tackles, two passes defensed and a one-handed interception in WKU’s 31-10 win over Middle Tennessee.
🏈 DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK 🏈 presented by Blenders Eyewear //
Hopefully, this injury looks worse than it actually was. There haven’t been any updates that we could find.. anywhere. So if you know exactly what the diagnosis was for Washington’s leg, please reach out so we can update our story.
Oprah Winfrey has candidly opened up about her brutal weight struggles and the shame she has felt about her body.
The 69-year-old media mogul hosted a panel in front of a live audience in New York City as part of Oprah Daily’s The Life You Want series.
She was joined by obesity specialists Fatima Cody Stanford and Melanie Jay as well as CEO of Weight Watchers Sima Sistani and psychologist Rachel Goldman.
The group attempted to ‘reframe the obesity and weight crisis,’ as Oprah argued: ‘I don’t know that there is another public person whose weight struggles have been exploited as much as mine.’
During the discussion, shared online on Wednesday, the experts insisted that obesity is a metabolic disease with some bodies ‘more predisposed to storing more fat’ – also known as adipose tissue.
Oprah candidly explained: ‘For those of us that are adipose storers, no matter how many times… You’ve all watched me diet and diet and diet and diet, it’s a recurring thing because my body always seems to want to go back to a certain weight.’
She added: ‘If I ate an apple pie at 11 o’clock at night, I would be two pounds heavier in the morning. I can’t eat after a certain time.’
The TV personality, who claimed she had ‘yoyoed her whole life,’ later said: ‘This is a world that has shamed people for being overweight forever, and all of us who have lived it know that people just treat you differently. They just do.
‘And I am Oprah Winfrey and I know all that comes with that and I get treated differently if I am 200 plus pounds versus under 200 pounds…
‘There is a condescension. There is a stigma.’
Oprah said that the key was to have friends and partners around you that offer support and ‘rejoiced in your victory.’
Following a more in-depth discussion of the weight-loss drugs currently available – including Ozempic and Wegovy – the media mogul said: ‘Shouldn’t we all just be more accepting of whatever body you choose to be in? That should be your choice.
‘One of the things I carried so much shame for, and even when I first started hearing about the weight-loss drugs, at the same time I was going through knee surgery and I felt, “I’ve got to do this on my own because if I take the drug, that’s the easy way out.”
‘There’s a part of me that feels – like I think a lot of people feel with bariatric surgery – that I’ve got to do it the hard way, I’ve got to keep climbing the mountains, I’ve got to keep suffering and I’ve got to do that because otherwise I somehow cheated myself.’
She concluded: ‘As a person who has been shamed for so many years [about my weight], I am just sick of it.’
Throughout her decades-long weight-loss journey, Oprah has never shied away from discussing her problems in public.
In fact, she has been fiercely honest with fans every step of the way, sharing even the most intimate details regarding her relationship with her body and ‘food addiction.’
Her issues with weight began in 1976, when she landed her first ‘big job’ at age 22.
The then 148-pound reporter said she struggled to come to terms with the immense pressure that was put on her and began to pig out on things like ‘corn dogs,’ ‘chocolate chip cookies,’ and fast food from the mall food court to suppress her emotions and ‘numb her negative feelings.’
Her weight soon soared to over 200 pounds, and she began trying ‘every diet known to womankind.’
In 1988, just two years after the launch of the Oprah Winfrey Show, the TV legend revealed during an episode of her show that she had lost 67 pounds in four months thanks to an all-liquid diet.
In reality, she later revealed that she had ‘starved herself’ and messed up her ‘metabolism,’ which ultimately resulted in her gaining it all back and then some pretty quickly.
By the early 1990s, she was at her heaviest – 237 pounds – and feeling ‘so ashamed’ to have ‘joined the ranks of the perpetually obese’ that she said she could hardly look people in the eye.
She recalled feeling like a ‘big fat failure.’ But after connecting with a personal trainer at a spa in Colorado, he helped inspire her to turn things around.
For years after that, Oprah’s weight fluctuated. With the help of her new trainer, it dropped down to 160 pounds by 2006, but within two years after that, it was back up to 200 pounds.
At the time, she said a slew of health woes were to blame for the weight gain, and admitted that she was once again feeling ‘defeated’ and was just about ready to ‘give up’ and let ‘fat win.’
Kane Cornes believes Carlton should leave star forward Harry McKay out of its preliminary final team, saying he “adds pressure” to the team due to his poor kicking.
McKay missed Carlton’s semi final win over Melbourne last week, but is expected to return to the side for its clash against Brisbane on Saturday evening after recovering from a concussion.
The 2021 Coleman Medal winner has struggled mightily in front of goal this season, kicking just 27 goals and 27 behinds in 20 appearances, and Cornes urged Carlton coach Michael Voss to leave him out.
“I can’t trust him in a final,” he told Nine’s Footy Classified.
“Michael Voss has said he would play if he’s fit, but I wouldn’t play him.
Cornes believes Harry McKay’s presence on the ground ‘adds pressure’ to his teammates (Quinn Rooney via Getty Images)
“I think they’re a better team without him just to be brutally honest. I think his issues can infiltrate the psyche of the group.
“If he’s missing goals in the first quarter from 10m out directly in front I think it’s an issue for them, and I think they’re playing pretty well without him. I think he adds pressure.”
An injury during the home and away season meant McKay was out of Carlton’s side between rounds 19 and 22, a period in which teammate Charlie Curnow booted 19 goals.
While Curnow was a dominant force during the home and away season, taking out his second straight Coleman Medal, he has kicked just two goals in two finals so far.
Charlie Curnow has kicked 80 goals this season, but just two have come in the last two weeks (AFL Photos via Getty Images)
Cornes put pressure on the 26-year-old ahead of the clash against Brisbane and star defender Harris Andrews.
“Since round 24, when he won the Coleman Medal, he’s hardly touched the footy. Not only that, his opponent has been best on ground,” he said.
“(GWS defender Jack) Buckley beat him after that moment for the rest of the three quarters, (Tom) McCartin was Sydney’s best, and (Melbourne’s Steven) May was the best on ground, so not only is he not impacting, his opponents are having too much of a say.
“So the spotlight is on him because reputations are built in finals and he’s yet to enhance his in big games.”
The Warriors will end a 15-year drought when the game kicks off in Auckland this afternoon, with the New Zealand club set for its first home final since 2008.
The Warriors have not played a home final since beating the Roosters 30-13 in a 2008 semi-final under the guidance of Ivan Cleary.
Another sell-out crowd is swarming to the Auckland venue for this afternoon’s clash with the Go Media Stadium selling out for the sixth time in 10 games this season.
More than 22,000 tickets were sold in pre-sale windows starting on Monday with the remaining seats gone in a matter of minutes yesterday.
“We’ve all waited so long to have a home final here at Go Media Stadium,” said Warriors chief executive Cameron George.
“The reaction from members and fans has been sensational all season and now they’ve responded by selling out this game in less than 24 hours. It’s brilliant. As a club we’re so proud seeing the support from the public.
“We couldn’t be happier for our fans seeing their team playing a final at home. They really deserve this after what they endured while the team was away from home the past three years.”
Australia’s Jack Jenkins suffers the first loss of his career and it’s come in gruesome circumstances against Chepe Mariscal!
The two fighters were grappling on their feet and then fell to the mat as Mariscal went for a wizard kick and Jenkins’ right elbow dislocated as he attempted to break his fall. Mariscal wins it 3:19 into the second round after a verbal submission from Jenkins.
“I came to ruin the party,” Mariscal says.
“I actually heard a pop, like something broke. I haven’t heard that since I was little when I was throwing other kids. I haven’t done that in the training room. It’s been like more than 11 years since I’ve done that move.”
“I always worry about that move. Especially when people don’t really know how to do it,” Daniel Cormier says on commentary.
“You can see when he hit the ground right away, he wasn’t even moving. They don’t really know where to land, it’s nasty.”
Daniil Medvedev has sung the praises of the “physical” Alex De Minaur, after the Australian admitted to succumbing to “fatigue” in his loss to the Russian No.3 seed at the US Open.
The last Australian standing, de Minaur, was knocked out of the fourth round, going down to Medvedev 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2, in humid conditions.
But Medvedev said the battle wasn’t easy, despite de Minaur admitting he lost his legs and focus as the match and weather conditions progressed.
“It’s great to know that someone like Alex (put in his all). For me, (he’s) top five most physical guys on tour. I’m sure he won a lot of five-setters in his life,” Medvedev said post-match.
“During the points I was like ‘wow, I do think he’s struggling a little bit to move’, so I was like ‘okay, I’m struggling, he’s struggling, let’s go’.
“I think the turning point was the second serve I managed to serve very well until the end of the match, so that gave me some air on my serve to kind of relax a little bit.
“I managed to put just a little bit more pressure on his serve, then the match turned.”
Daniil Medvedev and Alex De Minaur post match. (Getty)
De Minaur agreed that he was gassed, putting question marks over his gruelling preparation for the final grand slam of the calendar year.
“What happened out there was nothing to do with tennis … I think it was a little bit to do with physicality. I played a lot of matches this summer without rest … it seemed to have caught up with me,” De Minaur said post-match.
“It’s maybe the first time in my career that fitness let me down. It’s not something that happens.
“With all the matches that I played, my schedule, everything I go to this point. The small margins, small percentages are pretty big at this stage and level of competition.”
Conditions on court were reportedly humid, with both competitors struggling to readjust as the match stretched on.
“Brutal match, because (of) brutal conditions, so tough, so humid today,” Medvedev said.
“During the match it was tough for me. I think I’ve never changed that many shorts and that many towels.”
De Minaur agreed with Medvedev’s assessment, taking his analysis a step further and reflecting on the “million hours” he has spent playing and training with little breaks, combined with the unforgiving heat.
Watch US Open 2023 live and free on9Now. Alternatively, you can stream every match live, ad-free and on demand onStan Sport, with centre court in 4K UHD
Daniil Medvedev celebrates his victory. (Getty)
“I was definitely up for it starting, but a million hours on the court, got a bit of fatigue. It starts clouding your judgement a little bit,” De Minaur said.
But the extreme conditions, which saw Medvedev take extended breaks, raised a few eyebrows for the experts.
