Supreme Court affirms five-year sentence with hard labour for rape of minor

                                                 

The Supreme Court on Friday affirmed the five-year jail term with hard labour passed on Afor Lucky for raping a minor.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the option of N300,000 fine was also upheld by the apex court.

Delivering the judgment, Justice Sylvester Ngwuta held that it was proved beyond reasonable doubt that the convict had forceful carnal knowledge of the minor.

Ngwuta said: “The convict has successfully killed something in the psyche of the victim, leaving the poor girl devastated and with a permanent scar for life.

“The principle of inviolability of a sentence not appealed against, which I am duty bound to apply herein, most regrettably and painfully appears to give credence to the saying that the law is an ass.

“Maybe the asinine attribute is not inherent in the law but in the application of its provision as amply demonstrated in this case.

“The provision has provided for 14 years maximum jail term for rape but the trial judge decided to give Lucky five.

“In conclusion, having resolved the five issues, except one, against the convict, I therefore dismiss the appeal for want of merit.

“The judgment of the Court below which affirmed the judgment of the trial Court is hereby affirmed.”

The convict was charged with rape, punishable under Section 358 of the Criminal Code Cap C21 Vol.1 Laws of Delta State of Nigeria, 2006.

The particulars of offence held that Lucky, on or about April 7, 2007 at Oleh in Delta State, had carnal knowledge of the five-year-old girl.

Lucky was tried and convicted as charged in the High Court of Delta State.

Dissatisfied with the decision of the trial court, the convict approached the Court of Appeal, Benin City, which dismissed his appeal on November 17, 2014.

Further dissatisfied with the outcome of his appeal, Lucky sought the intervention of the apex court on six grounds of appeal.

The convict had asked the court to decide whether the Court of Appeal was right to have held that his counsel conceded that rape was committed.

He had also asked the court to say whether the Court of Appeal did not speculate when held that he (convict) had sexual intercourse with the minor.

The convict further asked that court to decide whether in the circumstances of the case, the Court of Appeal was right in holding that the defence of alibi was not open to him.

He also wanted the apex court to decide whether the evidence of the medical doctor, in the circumstances of the case, amounted to corroboration.

And finally, the convict had asked the most superior court to decide whether allocution amounts to admission of guilt.

An allocution or allocutus is a formal statement made to the court by the defendant who has been found guilty, prior to being sentenced.

Source: The eagle online

SOCIAL JUSTICE 4 Kellie

Miss Kellie Nduonofit, 30 years old, was physically assaulted on the 7th June 2016 on her way home in Gwarinpa area, when she boarded a kekenapep drop. On boarding she realised there was another young male sittng at the back, which she didn't see before, but the keke had already started moving. The male had a bottle of something that they were both drinking from and they were laughing without care. She immediately realised something was wrong and asked to alight the keke. The boys particularly the driver started taunting her with the one at the back going for her belongings - bags. The driver kept most of his attention to the back and was not paying attention to the road whilst increasing his speed. She started screaming to be let off and in the course of the struggle, was pushed off the keke. She landed directly on the left side of her face, the area leading into her left eye cut off and seriously injuring her face, hand, body and legs.

For the sake of shock, she passed out very briefly and when she came to, passerbys were gathered around her and had also apprehended the boys with their keke. Luckily a Police Patrol team came to the scene at the same time and took the boys & their keke to the police station in Gwarinpa where they were wrongly allowed to go (but later apprehended 2days after and taken into custody).  After delay in certain pharmacies refusing to administer at least, first-aid and/or antibiotics, she was taken to a Federal Staff Housing Hospital in Gwarinpa where a kind doctor whose shift had ended took pity on her and attended to her wounds.

The case was referred to Amber Alert 4 Social Justice, which is an off-shoot justice campaign from NULIA Nigeria, a joint effort in raising awareness on the need to promote human rights, peace and community justice education that address issues of Social Justice in the country.

Further diagnosis states that she must see an eye specialist for mini-surgery, hence the call on charitable minded Nigerians to please come to her aid.

Source: Donate-ng

29-year-old welder to spend 15 years in jail for rape

A Delta State High Court sitting at Warri Judicial Division has sentenced a 29 year old welder,  Obor Omodavwejie to 15 years imprisonment with hard labour for raping a 16 year old girl.

The court while expressing satisfaction that prosecution was able to prove its case against the accused, pronounced Obor Omodavwejie guilty of the one count charge of rape and sentenced him to 15 years behind bars.

The court in its verdict,  held that from the evidence adduced and after watching the demeanor of the victim,  believed her evidence as the pains on the victim’s face while testifying were obvious.

Prosecution called three witnesses including the IPO and medical doctor that examined her. Though the accused made confessional statement, he claimed that the victim consented to the sexual Intercourse.

Prosecution had told the court that on or about the 1st day of October, 2014 at Edjeba, within the Warri Judicial Division had deceived the victim (name withheld) by sending her on an errand for an undisclosed item but when she brought the said item, the accused and his friend, now at large, overpowered her and dragged her inside their apartment and had canal knowledge of her without her consent.

Source: The Nation

Man impregnates his daughter, says "'I started sleeping with my daughter out of frustration"

A 41-year-old man, Raymond Anyanwu, who reportedly raped and impregnated his 15 years old daughter, said that frustration led him into the act. Anyanwu, who committed the offence at Ajao Estate, Isolo, said:

 “I started sleeping with my 15-year-old daughter sometime around January, after I lost my job. “I am a transporter, but I took to alcohol after I lost my job and could not meet up with my responsibilities as the head of the house.”

Vanguard gathered that Raymond Anyanwu sleeps with his daughter when his wife has gone to work. However, trouble started after the victim’s aunt suspected that she was pregnant. After carrying out a test at home, they discovered she was pregnant. The victim, it was learned, revealed that her father was responsible for her pregnancy, and the mother decided to play it down as a family issue after her husband beat her up, warning her not to disclose the incident to anyone.

 Vanguard learned that Lagos State Ministry of Youth and Social Development alerted the police and the suspect was arrested last Wednesday. Meanwhile, the victim’s mother had arranged for an abortion, which had been carried out before she was rescued and taken into protective custody by the Lagos State government. 

The case, which is currently being investigated at the Gender Unit of Lagos State Police Command, will be charged to Ikeja Magistrate’s Court today.

Source: Laila's blog

Computer teacher rapes school girl severally, gives her N30 afterwards

A shameless computer teacher has been arrested by police after he allegedly raped a school girl on several occasions and gave money ranging from N30 to N100 after each rape.

According to Punch, The police in Lagos State have arrested a computer teacher, Cosmos Ubaja, for allegedly raping a 14-year-old schoolgirl in the Owutu area of Ikorodu.

It was learnt that the victim, Victoria (pseudonym), was lured by the suspect when she went to his shop to make photocopies after school hours.
They gathered that Victoria, who attends a public secondary school in Owutu, Ikorodu, had been allegedly raped by the suspect on several occasions in eight months.

It was also gathered that the victim, who is in Junior Secondary School, Class 3, was given pittances such as N50, N100 and N30, each time the suspect raped her.

It was learnt that the suspect, who owns a computer centre in the area, was contracted by the school to teach the junior pupils computer studies.

Punch was told that the suspect gave Victoria N30 after the latest rape, which occurred on Wednesday, June 1, 2016.

A police source told punch that the bubble burst when the girl complained to her mother that she had stomach pains and her menstrual cycle was affected.

She said, “Ubaja is married with a son. He is not a worker of the state government. The school just arranged with him to be teaching the pupils computer studies since he has a computer centre.

“He works on the school’s examination papers and answer sheets. The school is in a very quiet community. Pupils usually go to his centre to make photocopies and train with his computers.

“The suspect had been raping the girl for months. He gave her between N30 and N100 each time. The girl kept the secret away from her parents.

“But the last time he raped her, she complained to her mother that she was having stomach pains and her menstruation had stopped. She was then taken to a private hospital.

“That was where it was discovered that she had been raped several times. The girl confessed that it was the computer instructor who raped her and he was arrested. He has also confessed to the crime.”

The matter  was reported at the Owutu Police Division, was also reported to the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team, Alausa.

The DSVRT team took the victim for a checkup at the Mirabel Centre, Ikeja.

The group’s Coordinator, Lola Vivour-Adeniyi, said the matter had been transferred to the Gender Unit of the Lagos State Police Command.

She said, “The matter got to our attention on Monday, June 20. The 14-year-old girl was raped by her computer teacher near the school’s premises.

“The teacher and some individuals around the school initially pleaded with the girl’s parents not to report to the police. Fortunately, they rejected the plea.

“The perpetrator is in police custody and the case has been transferred from the division to the Gender Unit at the police headquarters, Ikeja. The Directorate of Public Prosecutions has also requested the duplicate case file.”

Source: Laila's bolg

Man arraigned for sexually abusing his 3 daughters

For allegedly raping his three daughters, a 48-year-old man, Micheal Ogbar, on Tuesday appeared before an Ikeja Chief Magistrates’ Court. The Chief Magistrate, Mr Tajudeen Elias, refused to hear his plea and remanded him in kirikiri prisons. 

Elias said the court had no jurisdiction over the case and therefore transferred the matter to Apapa Magistrates’ Court. The accused, who lives at Oke-Ogba St., Badagry, a suburb of Lagos, is facing a two-count charge of defilement and rape. 

The Prosecutor, Sgt. Rafael Donny, told the court that the offences were committed between January and May at the accused residence. Donny said that the accused raped his two daughters and defiled the third daughter. 

“The accused sexually abused his 24, 20 and 10 year-old daughters,” he said. The offences contravened sections 137 and 259 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.


Source: Laila's blog

Pastor Orders Man to Beat up And Throw Out Wife of 17yrs With 3 Kids (Photos)

                   
This is a very shocking and extremely sad story. All these end time pastors wrecking homes must not be allowed to continue their onslaught against innocent women.

Please brace your self because what you are about to read is heart breaking.

A senior pastor at Dayspring Assembly in Lagos (Pastor Harrison Charles) is at the root of this ugly development. The Pastor allegedly tagged an innocent woman a witch and encouraged the husband to get rid of her and even went a step further to recommend a Calabar girl as her replacement from the same church.

No woman should be left out in the cold like this. This piece was sent in by a blog reader who happens to be a sister to the victim.

The Name of The Animal of a Husband is Linus Obasi

She always called me but I was too busy.
She would cry and jumble her words and I'll listen patiently and told myself not get involved.
You denied the children you bare with her, she kept silent.
You stopped paying their school fees and other bills.
You stopped coitus with her since last year, she endured and remained faithful.
You stopped bringing money home.
Never cared about their feeding, she had a small shop which wasn't enough to cater for herself and her three children, so she started selling Zobo from school to school.
Yet she is the wife of a millionaire!
Then one day, you went to your coven in Dayspring Assembly and they gave you a Calabar girl as an emergency wife and you brought her home.
Your one and only true wife became a persona non grata to you.
They told you she was a witch, you accepted and call her a witch at your pleasure.
You called her Jezebel, Delilah and all sorts, because Harrison Charles, your devil incarnate of a pastor told you so.

Then you ganged up with your calabar midget of a whore to beat her up, after which you disappeared with your whore for months leaving her penniless to cater for your children!
Only to come back again and get even more violent with her because according to you, you have gotten her a self contained which you want her to live in with her children and she dared refuse to pack in there. But you have posh, luxurious buildings which you leased and a duplex!
When your only daughter couldn't stand the trauma of your denial of her, she attempted suicide which, God being so kind, was unsuccessful. You learnt of it and told her to drink acid instead!!

FLASHBACK!
Let me remind you of your past, miserable fool.
You married her 17 years ago without a dime!
No, you were a pauper of a classless degree! Not even a bank account to your name!
Remember then, that you lived in Mile 2, in a public yard where you queue up to use the bathroom and toilet. And she was a very beautiful, quiet woman.
Of all her numerous suitors, you were the church rat, yet she choose you.
She started selling akamu and zobo to make ends meet. Soon, she became popular because of the quality of her wares.
From there, you graduated to two rooms public yard in Mile 4.
Remember, she almost died during pregnancy and delivery of your twins who bear striking resemblance to you whom you now deny. She almost died because your stupid religion wouldn't hear of medical care.
She covered your nakedness when you were a broke ass. She broke her back to relieve you of the weight of responsibilities that you were not man enough to carry then. Her knees became scaly because she was always on them for you. She prayed success into your life!
I remember her visions of your prosperity when you lived in one room and you had no job.
She believed in you when everyone wrote you off and she honored and respected you as the husband.
You then moved to two bedroom flat and went further to build your own houses.
I lived with your family for a year and I saw her practically worship you. You could do no wrong in her eyes.
Her humility baffled me.
You had a very peaceful home, how could you destroy a good thing?
She is the type of woman men will give an arm and a leg to have.
During your years of travail, she was your queen. Now, after 17 years of suffering and building with you, she suddenly turns to a witch?
And your midget whore who cannot give account of a penny you have is now an angel??
How could you lift your hand against the wife of your youth?
A fragile, quiet, shy woman who is an embodiment of virtuousness.
You beat her so much, you broke her bone and you refuse to give her money to seek medical attention till date.
I paid her a visit yesterday.
My heart broke and I wept like a child for the first time in a very long time. I couldn't reconcile the bag of bones with a bandage on her arm to the shapey, beautiful, shy, ebony woman I used to know.
Is that what religion has turned you into?
And you tell me you're doing the work of god?
I'm not going to stand and watch you mess up a woman who harboured me and took care of me when I had no one.
You have crossed the line and you have done enough damage both to her and your children!
Tell your pastor that I have become his nemesis!
And as for you, this is just a tip of the iceberg!
Call her names again, that's all I need, then you'll understand that A is different from B!!
For touching her, you'll dance to the tune of the law. This is what you have been doing to women in your coven and they are scared to death of speaking out.
Mr Linus Obasi
You picked the wrong battle this time!
You messed with the wrong woman.
The drums are beating, get ready to dance!!
Nonsense!!

A woman who worked her ass off for 17 good years has been thrown out koboless with 3 kids to fend for. Worse is that the idiot beat her up for nothing.


Source: Laila's blog

Mother of the 'racially segregated' child in SA school speaks out. 'I was mortified'

Mother of the child allegedly “racially separated” at a creche in Centurion, South Africa has spoken out. The controversial photo said to be suggesting racism was leaked on social media last week. It shows a black child sitting alone at a table while six white classmates are having laughs around a table next to her, enjoying cupcakes. In the picture, the black child appears to be looking at them.


Thobo Wanatsha Mosinyi told Rekord she was shocked to receive a photo of her child sitting alone from his mates at Koetjies and Kalfies Kleuterskool. 

The picture was sent by Ane Muller, a teacher at the school and the daughter of owner Anel Engelbrecht.

"I was mortified," said Mosinyi. "I contacted Ane and asked her if this was what my daughter goes through on a daily basis. This broke my heart and so I rushed to the school and collected my daughter."

Mosinyi said Muller told her she had been scolded by her mother for sending the photograph.

"I yanked my daughter out of the school and thought I could at least get an apology from the school. Instead, Engelbrecht turned the tables on me, asking why I was calling her family racist."

Mosinyi said Engelbrecht’s explanation was flawed as there were seven lunch tins on the one table while her daughter was sitting alone.

"My child looked so confused, she was looking onto the other table while other children were sitting happy together enjoying cupcakes," she said.

She dismissed Engelbrecht’s claims that the school was picking the child from home in the mornings and dropping her off in the evenings, thereby helping the mother financially.

"I paid the creche R3000 a month for school fees and paid them R1000 for transport. Engelbrecht cannot lie and say that she was assisting me. I even have proof of payments made to the school on my behalf," said Mosinyi.

She said she wanted to move on now but also wished to raise the awareness of other parents.

"I’m over what happened really. For now, I just want to raise awareness to parents of Indian, Coloured and Black children not to go through what I had to go through."

She had since removed her child from the creche and said she was on the lookout for another creche which would offer the best treatment to children.

Gauteng MEC for basic education, Panyaza Lesufi visited the creche last week when the news broke on social media. He tweeted that he visited the school and found that the children were only being taught by white teachers, with the black employees working as maids. He said he had assigned a social worker to do “what is right". 

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) picketed outside the creche last Friday afternoon. Its spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi tweeted that no child should be subjected to racist education

Source: LIB

Julius Malema - ‘I Will Kill All Gays & Lesbians If I Become President’

                                 

POLOKWANE – Knives out for Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema after he recently declared that he would get rid of all gays and lesbians once he ascends to presidency during his rally in Polokwane. This comes after one of his supporters was keen to know what Julius Malema would do as a leader to prevent incidents such as one which left 49 people dead recently at a gay club in Florida,USA.

”Everybody including God hates gays and lesbians because they insult nature,animals are far much better than them because they know their sex mates”, said Julius Malema.

”God allowed that shooting because he hates gays and lesbians,if it was not a gay club God could not have sent the young man who killed 49 people.

”South Africa is in a mess because God is not on our side,the number homosexual relationships is increasing daily in our country,a big sign that more dangers are going to attack us as a nation,the best way is to get rid of all gays and lesbians,or rather giving them life in jail imprisonment”,fumed Juju.



Source: My RSA Update

Boko Haram launches FM station - terrorism FM

                           

According to the report, villagers living in the village of Tolkomari in the far north state of Cameroon said they tune to the station which spreads Boko Haram’s propaganda challenging statements from the Nigerian government claiming that it is winning the war against the world’s deadliest terrorist group.

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has, practically declared victory over Boko Haram saying, at various times, that the terrorist group is “technically defeated“, “decimated“, “unable to launch spectacular attacks“, “on the run“, and “dying of starvation“.

This week, the group launched a daring attack on a village near Chibok Town in Borno State, killed 4 people and kidnapped 3 women.

Read the report in Hausa below:

Kungiyar Boko haram sun bude wani tashar radiyo na FM, wanda suke watsa farfaganda na kalubalatar kasashen dake yaki dasu ke fadi na cewa ana samun galaba akansu, wannan gidan radiyo dai an kafa shine garin Tolkomari a jihar arewa mai nisa kan iyakar Najeriya da kasar Kamaru.

Suna watsa shirye shiryen su a zangon FM, akan mita 96.8, jama’a a garin na Tolkomari, sun ce suna kamo tashar wannan gidan radiyo.

Wannan lamari dai yan ciwa gwamnatin kasar ta Kamaru tuwo a kwarya domin gano inda ‘yan kungiyar ta Boko Haram, ke watsa shirye shiryen su, amma masu iya Magana na cewa idan aka juri zuwa kogi da tulu wata rana za’a dawo da gammo.

Source: hopefornigeriaonline.com

I can’t hold back sexual urge towards my daughter – Widower cries out

Residents of the Byazhin area of Kubwa, a satellite town in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja were in the wee hours of Sunday, thrown into shock as a certain man identified only as Matthew tried to have sex with his 20-year-old daughter, Patience (pseudonym).

According to Daily Post, Matthew, a 51-year-old civil servant lost his wife to the cold hands of death over a year ago during child birth. Sources close to the family disclosed that Matthew had bluntly refused to re-marry, saying his hands were tied as he may not be able to marry the one he loves.

When reporters got to the scene of the incident, the victim who had a towel tied round her chest said she would commit suicide if her father does not leave her alone.

Speaking on what transpired Sunday morning, Patience complained that, 

“It’s been over a year my mother died during child bearing. I have a younger sister and a younger brother, they are both in boarding schools in Kogi state. So, all the time, I am left alone in the house with my father. I have not been able to gain admission into the University because of JAMB issues. It all started two weeks after my mother died. My dad came to my room to console me while I was thinking and crying over my mother’s demise which I have not been able to come to terms with."

“It was completely different and questionable how my father started touching me, asking me to stop crying. In the midst of all that, my father started touching my breast. I jumped off the bed and he asked me why I was acting strange, that he was only consoling me. This act continued for some time and I could not tell anyone because no one may believe me since we should unexpectedly be mourning still."

“This morning, I was trying to have my shower when my dad busted open the bathroom door naked. He said he is in love with me and he can no longer hold himself. I grabbed my towel and ran out of the house screaming. He tried to stop me. Neighbours came around and questioned me and I narrated everything to them,” Patience added, sobbing.

On his part, her father, when asked to tell his own side of the story, said,

 “I can no longer deny that am in love with her. I doubt if I am her real father because ordinarily, I should not feel this way. Whenever I see her, I have this sexual urge. I am dying inside, I need help.”

Speaking further, Mathew opened up that he wishes to re-marry but whenever the thought comes to his mind, all he sees is his 20-year-old daughter.

“What can I do?" He quizzed rhetorically. "I see her in my dreams making love to me and when I wake up to try, it never works. I’m losing my mind,” Matthew added.

Meanwhile, a source in the know of the incident said all had not been well since the woman died. The source who did not want her name mentioned in print, said, “I have suspected this all the while but didn’t say or do anything about it.

“Sometimes, I hear her screaming, ‘daddy, leave me alone please, I am your daughter’.

“This is tragic. I will never kill myself over a man because the moment I die, he would not even mourn me one bit,” she said, seemingly in a personal opinion.

“The deceased will be totally disappointed at this, if only corpses could wake up,” she added in a lighter note.

A police officer in the area who identified himself as Bashir Adamu said this is not a police case. It is a family issue and should be resolved as such.

However, investigations by Daily Post revealed that Patience is 3 months pregnant for her lover, one Samuel Udo.

Speaking on this development, Patience said, “I got pregnant intentionally so my father would stop bothering me, yet he did not.”

She, however, insisted that her father had never succeeded in having sexual intercourse with her despite trying, and that her lover was responsible for her pregnancy.

She said, “When I told my father I was pregnant, he did not say a word, instead, he kept professing love to me.

“All he said was he wished he was the father of the baby as he sees his wife (my mother’s) replica in me.”

An elder brother to Matthew, when contacted, said he was in shock over the incident.

He said the family members would look into the issue and due action would be taken.

Fake soldier who extorts money from prostitutes is arrested by the police

                    

A self-professed soldier, identified only as Emeka, was on Saturday reportedly arrested for extorting money from prostitutes in a brothel in Zone 2 area of Dutse Alhaji, Abuja.

The 27-year-old man, a resident of Zone 3 in the area, was arrested at about 2.00 a.m. in the brothel fully kitted in army camouflage.

His arrest came after he went to the brothel with his accomplice where they broke into the rooms of the prostitutes and forcefully extorted some undisclosed amount of money from them.

Reports claim that the commercial sex workers who refused to give them money were beaten up by the suspects, while some that gave less than N1,000 were tied with ropes.

A police source said, “They only spared those that gave them amounts above N1,000 while those that had nothing on them were beaten up,” adding that luck ran out on them when a police crime detection and prevention patrol team stormed the area and the suspect was immediately arrested, while his accomplice escaped.

The Dutse Alhaji Divisional Police Officer, DPO, Aisha Yusuf, who confirmed the arrest, said an army uniform and some amount of money were recovered from the suspect.

“Investigation has commenced and efforts are ongoing to apprehend his fleeing accomplice,” the DPO stated.

Source: DailyPost

Photos: At least 20 dead, dozens injured in Orlando gay nightclub shooting, U.S born Afghan named as suspect

A mass shooting which took place in a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, left about 20 people dead and at least 42 wounded early today Sunday June 12, police said, adding that a SWAT team killed the shooter. The gunman wielding an assault-type rifle and a handgun took hostages and opened fire inside Pulse Night Club, killing approximately 20 people and wounding 42 before dying in a gunfight with SWAT officers.

Police Chief John Mina also said the shooter had some sort of "suspicious device". He said the suspect exchanged gunfire with an officer working at the club around 2 a.m, then went inside and took hostages.

Florida Department of Law Enforcement Special Agent in Charge Danny Banks said during a news conference that the mass shooting is being investigated as an act of terrorism. He said the authorities are looking into whether this was an act of domestic or international terror, and if the shooter was a lone wolf.

 

Law enforcement sources told CBS News they have identified the suspect as Omar Mateen, a U.S. citizen from Port St. Lucie, Florida, who was born to Afghan parents in 1986.

"At this point, this is an incident, as I can see it, we can certainly classify as a domestic terror incident," Orange County Sheriff's Office spokesman Jerry Demings told CBS.


Source: LIB

50 confirmed dead in massacre at Florida gay nightclub, suspect's father says son was "angry when he saw 2 men kissing"

A gunman killed 50 people and injured 53 in a crowded gay nightclub in the tourist hub of Orlando, Florida, early on Sunday before being shot dead by police, authorities said, in what appeared the deadliest mass shooting in American history.

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer confirmed the death toll in a statement and called for a state of emergency. 

"We are dealing with something we never imagined. Since the last update, we have gotten better access to the building, cleared the building. It is with great sadness I share that we have 50 casualties, in addition to the shooter. Because of the scale I have called Governor Scott to request a state of emergency and we are issuing a state of emergency in the City. This allows us to bring additional resources to support our efforts. Our focus in the coming hours will be identifying the victims and notifying the families. We are setting up a hotline for concerned family members – 407.246.4357. The identification process may take some time. We ask for your patience as we want to be accurate. I continue to be proud of how our community has responded." Dyer said.

The shooter was identified as Omar S. Mateen, a man that a senior FBI official said might have had leanings towards Islamic State militants. Officials described the attack as a "terrorism incident" though cautioned that the suspected Islamist connection required further investigation.

A police officer working as a security guard inside the Pulse nightclub, which has operated in downtown Orlando since 2004, exchanged fire with the suspect at about 2 a.m. (0600 GMT), police officials said.

A hostage situation quickly developed, and three hours later a squad of officers stormed the club and shot dead the gunman. It was unclear when the gunman shot the victims.

"Do we consider this an act of terrorism? Absolutely, we are investigating this from all parties' perspective as an act of terrorism," said Danny Banks, special agent in charge of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. "Whether that is domestic terrorist activity or an international one, that is something we will certainly get to the bottom of."

 

When asked if the FBI suspected the gunman might have had inclinations toward militant Islam, including a possible sympathy for Islamic State, Ronald Hopper, an assistant FBI agent in charge, told reporters: "We do have suggestions that the individual may have leanings toward that particular ideology. But right now we can't say definitively."

The FBI said it was still trying to pin down whether the mass shooting was a hate crime against gays or a terrorist act.

President Barack Obama ordered the federal government to provide any assistance needed to Florida police investigating the shooting, the White House said in a statement.

The attacker was carrying an assault rifle and a handgun, Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said. He was also carrying an unidentified "device", Orlando Police Chief John Mina said earlier.

The suspect's father tells NBC NEWS his son was not motivated by religion but was "angry" when he saw two men kissing in Miami.

"We were in Downtown Miami, Bayside, people were playing music. And he saw two men kissing each other in front of his wife and kid and he got very angry," Mir Saddique, told NBC News on Sunday. "They were kissing each other and touching each other and he said, 'Look at that. In front of my son they are doing that.' And then we were in the men's bathroom and men were kissing each other."

Source: City of Orlando-Your Government/Reuters/NBC

"He's coming. I'm going to die" Heartbreaking last text messages son sent to his mother during Orlando club massacre

A mother has recounted the last text messages she received from her terrified son after a gunman opened fire inside Pulse nightclub in Florida on Sunday. Mina Justice was outside the club trying to contact her 30-year-old son Eddie Justice, who texted her when the shooting happened and asked her to call police. He told her he ran into a bathroom with other club patrons to hide.

 

Screen captures from WFTV shows the messages between mother and son showed Eddie had sent Mina a text saying "I love you" before informing her there was a shooting taking place.

"Mommy I love you. In the club they shooting," the text reads.

"U ok," she responded before her son wrote back "trappp in bathroom."

His mother then asked which club he was in and asked him to call her.

"Call them momm. Now, I'm tell I'm bathroom. He's coming. I 'm gonna die," Eddie wrote

His mother responded: "They say stay them is anybody hurt. Which bathroom u in."

Mina Justice said she was going through hell as she stood outside the nightclub waiting to learn more information regarding the shooting.

She told WOFL her son Eddie told her he was being held hostage inside a women's bathroom and that he was going to die.

"I think it's all of them in the bathroom. I could hear a lot of people crying," she told the station as she recalled a phone conversation with her son.

The anxious mother of three said she did not know if her son was okay. At the moment, his condition is not known.

When asked how her son sounded, she said, "Bad, just afraid he's gonna die."

Mina also said at one point during her conversation with Eddie, she made him get off the phone with her and text instead while she asked him questions because he was fearful he was going to look at the shooter and get shot.

"He said, 'He has us and he's fixin to kill us. That was it'" the mother added.

The gun man who has been identified as Omar Matten shot dead at least 50 people and injured over 53 others in a crowded gay nightclub before being killed by police in what authorities described as a "domestic terrorism incident"

Source: WOFL/WFTV

First photos of some of the 50 people killed at a gay bar in Orlando Florida

These are the faces of some of the victims of the mass shooting at a crowded gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida on early Sunday morning by an alleged Islamic terrorist Omar Saddiqui Mateen. Omar opened fire at the crowd of over 320 club goers killing 50 people and injuring 53 others after he called 911 and pledged allegiance to ISIS. So far, only seven of the fifty victims have been officially identified by the city of Orlando on its website. Their names are: 

Edward Sotomayor Jr., 34; Stanley Almodovar III, 23; Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, 20; Juan Ramon Guerrero, 22; Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, 36; Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz, 22; and Luis S. Vielma, 22.

Juan Ramon Guerrero on the left pictured with his bf also died at the club



Angel Mendez showed a cell phone photo of his brother Jean C. Mendez, who he is looking for outside the hospital

Source: LIB