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Tears streamed down the face of 31-year-old Blessing (not real name) as she narrated how her whirlwind romance with a 67-year-old Irish construction worker in Lagos, ended in her getting infected with HIV.

For Blessing, her pain was not just because she had got the virus but that the man, she identified simply as Jim, even intensified his sexual intercourse with her after he learnt of his status more than two years ago.

Blessing walked into the Area F Police Command, Ikeja on Thursday, inconsolable to report Jim’s alleged action.

When she faced journalists on Friday, however, things took a dramatic turn as she screamed at reporters and shielded the man she had accused from being interviewed and photographed.

“You see what you have done now? We could have settled this at home,” she was heard telling the man, who also became furious and lashed out at reporters.

“Jackass, liars. Get out of here,” the Irish man told journalists.

When the scene calmed down somewhat, Blessing launched into a narration of a romance, which she said later devastated her.

She said, “We have been dating for some years. I work as a real estate agent, while he works with a construction company.

“In January 2014, he became ill. He was always sweating and running temperature. So, I accompanied him to see his doctor in a hospital in Ikeja. He was given treatment for malaria but the hospital also ran some tests and usually, they run HIV tests without telling the patient just to be sure.

“When the result came out, we went to see the doctor. I heard the man asking him if I was his sex partner but he said no. The man also asked if he could speak with him in my presence, he said no. When we left, he was given some drugs, which he hid from me.

“Any time he wanted to take the drug, he hid it. Then one day, I caught him taking the same drug. I asked him what it was for and he said it was for a recurrent leg pain he was getting. I wrote down the name of the drug and searched for it on Google. That was when I learnt that it was anti-retroviral drug used for HIV.

“I confronted Jim and asked if he had HIV, he denied it flatly. I then told him to give me his doctor’s number so that I could confirm myself. He said no. While he was sleeping, I took his doctor’s number from his phone and called the man. The doctor told me that he could not speak on the phone and said I should come and see him. When I went there, he broke the news to me that Jim was HIV positive. He then decided to run a test on me. It confirmed that I was HIV positive. I felt like dying.

“I was so angry because he deliberately infected me. I know this because he protected his family. Around the time we went to the doctor together, he sent his wife abroad to ensure she did not contract the virus. But in my case, the sex even intensified that I was happy that he was falling in love with me more every day.”

Blessing said after the initial test, which showed she was HIV positive, the doctor recommended a second test, which again proved that she was indeed HIV positive.

According to her, she was devastated and angry at how her life had changed for the worse.

“Jim denied that he infected me and even accused me of infecting him even though the doctor said this could not have been so considering the fact that it had not manifested in my body in any way, while he had fallen sick long ago,” Blessing said.

She said despite her anger, she still did not want to report the matter to the police.

She said, “But I told Jim that he had to take care of the cost of my medication and had to make sure I was comfortable since he was the one who infected me. He then agreed to pay me N2.5m.

“But he started abusing me. He would say no man would dare marry a girl with a disease like me. I threatened to report him to the police and he said I should go ahead. He said I would become depressed and commit suicide due to stigma if I did that.

“I packed out of his house in anger. Then, one day, I went to his house and found him in bed with my best friend. He did not care. The humiliation was why I decided to finally come to report to the police.”

In Nigeria, non-disclosure of HIV status to a sexual partner and deliberate infection of a partner are criminal offences enshrined in the Sexual Offences Act 2015.

Section 24 and 39 of the law criminalises the “intentionally, knowingly and willfully” transmitting HIVand an act where a person “intentionally fails to disclose to the person in respect of whom an act which causes penetration is being committed, that he or she is infected by HIV or any other life-threatening sexual transmissible disease.”

Jim, who was furious for most part of the encounter with journalists, continued to say that Blessing infected him instead.

“She wanted money from me,” he said.

Jim said he had been in Nigeria for more than 40 years.

The Police Public Relations Officer, DolapoBadmus, said the police were still conducting investigation on the case.

She said, “At the moment, we are treating the lady as the victim and the man as the suspect. If our investigation reveals anything to the contrary, we will amend our focus on the case.

“But we are also going to look for the friend, whom the complainant said she found naked with the man to determine her status. If we find her and she requires test and treatment, we will ensure she gets that as soon as possible.”

 

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NDLEA Seizes Lipsticks Stuffed With Drugs At Lagos Airport [VIDEO]

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Officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have uncovered another batch of female lipsticks containing illegal drugs at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.

Femi Babafemi, the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, revealed this in a post shared on his X (formerly Twitter) page on Sunday.

He also urged Nigerians, particularly women, to be extremely vigilant when purchasing or accepting beauty products, especially from unfamiliar sellers or dubious online platforms.

The statement read, Ladies beware! It does appear like female lipstick is becoming attractive as an instrument for concealment and trafficking now with yet another consignment of factory fitted female lipsticks stuffed with illicit substances intercepted at MMIA barely a week after @ndlea_nigeria officers uncovered a similar cargo at a courier company in Lagos.

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JUST IN: Former President Buhari Dies In London Clinic

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Former Nigerian leader, Muhammadu Buhari, passed away on Sunday.

His longtime media aide, Garba Shehu, confirmed the news in a brief statement issued on Sunday afternoon, stating that the former president died at a clinic in London.

Shehu’s message, distributed to the media, read:
“INNA LILLAHI WA INNA ILAIHIRRAJIUUN. The family of the former president has announced the passing on of the former president, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, this afternoon in a clinic in London. May Allah accept him in Aljannatul Firdaus, Amin.”

The statement concluded with the date: July 13, 2025.

Although the cause of death was not disclosed, Buhari, who held office from 2015 to 2023, had frequently sought medical care in the United Kingdom during and after his time as president.

Buhari, a retired Major General in the Nigerian Army, first led Nigeria as a military head of state from 1983 to 1985. Decades later, he was elected president through a democratic process. He made history as the first opposition candidate to unseat a sitting president in Nigeria.

Funeral plans have not yet been made public.

 

More to come…

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No Effective Governance Without Full Local Government Autonomy — Femi Gbajabiamila

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The Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila, has stated that governance at the local government level cannot be effective without complete autonomy.

He made the remark while addressing journalists after voting in the Lagos State local government elections in Surulere on Saturday.

When asked about the progress of implementing the LG autonomy ruling by the Supreme Court one year after it was delivered, Gbajabiamila described the process as ongoing and said it would be completed with time.

Gbajabiamila said, “The ruling was welcome by everybody. It’s the execution of that ruling and the implementation of that ruling that we are still trying to dot the Is and cross the Ts.

“I believe in a matter of time, we will realise full autonomy. There cannot be effective governance without full autonomy. That’s what we are working toward.”

In July 2024, the Supreme Court granted autonomy to all 774 local government areas across the country following a case filed by the federal government through the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation. However, the ruling is yet to be fully implemented.

Following the judgement, the Senate urged state and local governments to immediately adhere to the court’s directive, especially regarding local government accounts and direct fund disbursements.

The Senate also moved to amend relevant sections of the Constitution to ensure full local government autonomy nationwide.

The announcement was made by Deputy Senate President Senator Jibrin Barau, after lawmakers emerged from a closed-door session where they discussed alleged efforts by some state governments to bypass the Supreme Court’s ruling on July 11.

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