How Teenage Suicide Bomber Got Cold Feet, Refused To Kill

 Nigerian officials have said that a teenage girl packed with explosives by Boko Haram ripped off her vest to avoid taking part in an attack on the refugee camp in Dikwa, Borno State.

Two others with her, however, walked into the middle of hundreds of people lining up for food before they blew themselves up in an attack Tuesday that killed 58 and wounded several others, reported the Associated Press (AP) on Thursday.
Self-defence fighter Modu Awami said on Thursday that the third bomber, looking about 14, has confessed. Awami, who helped question the girl, said she was scared because she knew she would kill people.
A rescue official said the girl gave officials information about other planned bombings.

Credit: Thisday

American Clerk Who Denied Gay Couples Marriage Licenses Gets Jail Term

U.S. District Judge David Bunning is holding Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk who said she has God’s authority to deny gay people their constitutional right to get married — in contempt of court. ?She will remain in jail “until she complies or instructs staff to start issuing licenses,” reports WSAZ’s Dan Griffin.

 Three U.S. Marshals? reportedly escorted Davis away Thursday afternoon. USA Today reports that Bunning, who had ordered Davis to process marriage licenses for same-sex couples in a previous hearing, said that a fine wouldn’t be enough to force her to comply with the ruling. Davis, who believes that issuing same-sex couples marriage certificates “conflicts with God’s definition of marriage?” and violates her First Amendment rights, has become a symbol for religious freedom among right-wingers that include GOP presidential candidates Bobby Jindal and Mike Huckabee. 

Read More: cosmopolitan

Why Buhari Has Refused To Meet Saraki

President Muhammadu Buhari has refused to meet one-on-one with Senator Bukola Saraki two weeks after the latter connived with top officials of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to win the post of Senate President in a move that both stunned and angered the hierarchy of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

SaharaReporters learned that Senator Saraki had made several overtures to get a private meeting with Mr. Buhari, to no avail. One source revealed that Mr. Saraki’s latest attempt was to follow the president to his hometown of Daura in Katsina State to take in the commencement of the Islamic Ramadan period. The president reportedly rebuffed the move.

Following President Buhari’s rebuff, Mr. Saraki reportedly arranged a quiet visit to Vice President Yemi Osibanjo to apologize for an insulting remark he had made in the heat of his high-stakes maneuver to win the leadership of the Senate by striking an alliance with the PDP. Top APC officials claimed that Mr. Saraki had turned down an invitation by VP Osibanjo to discuss his contentious pursuit of the Senate Presidency by stating contemptuously that “a mere commissioner” could not summon him to a meeting. Mr. Osibanjo, a former commissioner in Lagos State, had sought to meet with Senator Saraki in order to resolve a crisis that arose from the latter’s scheme to outmaneuver his party, the APC.

Read More: saharareporters

Indonesia Convicts Sang “Amazing Grace” Before Execution, Refused Blindfold

As they walked to face the firing squad on an Indonesian prison island, eight condemned drug traffickers defiantly sang praise to God, witnesses said, while in a town across the water a group of tearful supporters was also uniting in song.

The convicts — two from Australia, one from Brazil, four from Africa and one Indonesian — made the long journey from their prison to clearings on a prison island to meet their fate early Wednesday.

But rather than bow their heads in defeat and resignation, the convicts all reportedly refused blindfolds and raised their voices in song, including a rendition of “Amazing Grace”, until the gunfire from the firing squads rang out.

The husband of Pastor Christie Buckingham, who gave spiritual guidance to one of the Australians in his final moments, said his wife told him the men conducted themselves with “dignity and strength until the end”.

“She told me the eight of them walked out onto the killing field singing songs of praise,” Rob Buckingham told 3AW radio in Australia.

Across the water in the town of Cilacap, the final crossing point for inmates destined for death on the high-security Nusakambangan island, a small band of mourners held a candlelight vigil, and also sang “Amazing Grace”.

The haunting sounds filled the night sky, drowning out the sobs of those too distressed to contemplate what was taking place in the jungle-clad hills of the prison island.

One man wailed loudly and implored Indonesian President Joko Widodo to have mercy. Another supporter read out the names of each inmate one by one.

Read More: punchng