George Floyd was killed in a homicide caused by asphyxia due to neck and back compression, an independent autopsy found

Courtesy of Philonise Floyd

• George Floyd died on May 25 of asphyxia due to compression of the neck and back, an independent autopsy found.

• A video that has sparked outrage across the nation showed a white Minneapolis police officer pinning the handcuffed 46-year-old black man's neck on the ground beneath his knee.

• The way he was restrained restricted not only "blood flow into his brain, but also airflow into his lungs," said Antonio Romanucci, an attorney working with the Floyd family.

• These findings contradict a Hennepin County Attorney's Office autopsy that found no evidence of "traumatic asphyxia or strangulation."

• The attorney Ben Crump thanked thousands of people for protesting police brutality and demanding justice on Floyd's behalf but said that "the violence is absolutely unacceptable.

George Floyd died on May 25, handcuffed and gasping for breath, pinned under the knees of three white Minneapolis police officers.

Ben Crump, an attorney representing Floyd's family, said on Monday that an independent autopsy found that the 46-year-old black was killed by asphyxia due to compression of the neck and back.

"We acknowledge that additional medical information including toxicology and further investigation are necessary for a final report," said Dr. Allecia Wilson, the director of autopsy and forensic services at the University of Michigan. "However, the evidence is consistent with mechanical asphyxia as the cause of death and homicide as the manner of death."

Antonio Romanucci, another attorney working with the family, said two "physical mechanisms" killed Floyd, calling it "the lowest level of human respect and dignity that any community should ever have to endure."

'The ambulance was his hearse'

The weight of the arresting officer Derek Chauvin's knee on Floyd's neck — as well as the knees of two other officers who pressed on Floyd's back — stopped not only "blood flow into his brain, but also airflow into his lungs," Romanucci said.

Yahoonews

Ex-Exxon Mobil engineer jailed 15 years for rape

A Lagos High Court sitting in Igbosere on Monday sentenced a former official of ExxonMobil, Mr James Onuoha, an engineer, to 15 years imprisonment for raping his tenant’s 14-year-old niece.

Justice Adedayo Akintoye sentenced him without an option of fine.

The Lagos State prosecuting counsel Mr Babatunde Sunmonu announced his appearance while Dr Victor Olowonla appeared for the defence.

Edo State Government Assures Speedy Investigation Into Benin Student's Murder

Edo State Government has assured the parents, relatives and friends of late Miss Vera Uwaila Omozuwa, as well as the student community in Edo State of thorough investigation to unravel the circumstances that led to the death of the 100 level student of the University of Benin (UNIBEN). Commissioner for Social Development and Gender Issues, Hon. Maria Edeko, gave the assurance when she addressed protesting students, who stormed Government House, Benin City, to register their displeasure over the gruesome murder of the undergraduate. 

Commissioner for Social Development and Gender Issues, Hon. Maria Edeko, gave the assurance when she addressed protesting students, who stormed Government House, Benin City, to register their displeasure over the gruesome murder of the undergraduate.

Majek Fashek: End of an Era

African reggae star Majek Fashek has died. In case you don't know much about the rainmaker. He has some profile of him. Majek has been called a prophet and a poet, and is recognized as one of Nigeria’s greatest singers and musicians. His powerful world beat sound incorporates his core influences (Bob Marley, Fela Anikulapo Kuti and Jimi Hendrix), seamlessly meshing roots, rock, reggae and Afrobeat into a unique signature sound called kpangolo. Majek describes it as “the sound of many cultures coming together.”

Majek Fashek has always sung from the soul about the political and social struggles he has faced in his long and winding road from Nigeria to the U.S. He first attracted international attention in 1987 when his song, “Send Down The Rain” seemed to coax a rainstorm that ended one of the worst droughts in Nigeria’ s history. Performing at an outdoor theater, he saw the thirsty crowd yearning for just a few drops of water. No one could imagine the possibility of a downpour, but as Majek sang the lyric “the sky looks misty and cloudy; it looks like the rain’s gonna fall today,” clouds gathered in the sky, thunder cracked and rain soaked the barren ground. Since that momentous occasion, Fashek has become one of Africa’s most revered contemporary musical performers, rivaling Afro-reggae compatriots Alpha Blondy and Lucky Dube in recognition and popularity around the world.

While he developed an early interest in Jamaican riddims, Fashek was equally drawn to the music of Indian cinema. Learning to play guitar while in secondary school, Fashek joined a band called Jah Stix and, after graduating from the New Era College’s Arts Program, he began playing in Lagos nightclubs, universities and even prisons. Fashek enjoyed a close relationship with the legendary late Nigerian musician and bandleader Fela Kuti, (he includes a Fela composition “Water No Get Enemy” on his new release Little Patience). “He’s like my big brother,” Majek has said and like Fela, he not only delivers hard-hitting rhythms, but also a forceful criticism of social and political issues.

Discography:

Prisoner Of Conscience (Tabansi/Mango, 1987)
I & I Experience ‎(CBS, 1989)
Spirit Of Love (Interscope Records, 1991)
So Long Too Long ‎(Sony Music, 1991)
Rainmaker ‎(Lightyear Entertainment, 1997)
Little Patience ‎(November Records/33rd Street, 2005)

Source: The Cable lifestyle

Legendary Nigerian Musician, Majek Fashek Dies

After battling a long time illness, Nigerian music legend and reggae king Majekodunmi Fasheke, popularly called Majek Fashek, is dead.

Majek Fashek was born on March 7, 1963 in Benin City to an Edo mother and a Yoruba father but identifies with his Benin root.

Fashek was married to Rita Fashek who inspired the song Without You; the couple had four children but has since divorced.

Some of his musical works include Prisoner of Conscience that featured multiple award-winning tracks Send Down The Rain (1988), Little Patience, Spirit of Love, I & I Experience, So long too long, Rainmaker, Weep Not Children and Rasta Ganstar.

Here are few things to know about Majek the Rainmaker:

1. Majek Fashek various translations of his name Fasheke (Ifa-Kii-she-eke) include “high priest who does not lie”, “powers of miracles” and “(system or medium of) divination does not lie”.

2. After Majek’s parents separated, Fashek remained in Benin City with his mother and joined the choir in his local Aladura Church and learned to play the trumpet and guitar whilst composing songs for the choir.

3. In the early eighties Fashek, who at the time went by the stage name Rajesh Kanal, joined the group Jastix with McRoy Gregg, and was lead singer for Black Rice. They were best known as the in-house band on the show Music Panorama on NTA Benin City.4. In 1988, shortly after Jastix disbanded Fashek, he began a solo career by releasing the album Prisoner of Conscience and became Nigeria’s top reggae artist after the song Send Down The Rain became the most popular song of the year.

5. In 1989, he won six PMAN awards, which included Song of the Year, Album of the Year, and Reggae Artist of the Year.6. After leaving Tabansi Records, he was signed to CBS Nigeria in the early 1990s and released So Long Too Long. In 1990 he was signed to Interscope Records and released the critically acclaimed album Spirit Of Love, produced by “Little Steven” Van Zandt.

7. Fashek played a supporting role in the 2000 Nollywood movie Mark of the Beast and starred in a commercial for non-alcoholic beverage Diamant.

8. In 2016, he performed in a comedy show (with more than ten thousand audiences in attendance) in Lagos, Nigeria, with a roundly power-filled and soul-lifting performance.

9. In December 2016 Fashek contributed the song “We Are Not Afraid” to a video featuring 200 celebrities to raise funds for the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Human Rights Watch (HRW).

10. During the xenophobic attacks on Nigerians, he was unhappy about the Nigeria-South Africa crisis. He recalled that he did a song Free Mandela and it helped back then.

Source: Wikipedia

The Nation

Joe Biden Calls For an End To Violence

The former vice president, Joe Biden, has called for an end to the violent riots and looting, which were sparked by major demonstrations throughout the United States over the death of George Floyd, in an emotional new statement.

The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee posted a lengthy message to his Medium page during the weekend titled “We are a nation furious at injustice”.

In it, Mr Biden suggested he supported protests against the death of Mr Floyd, a 46-year-old unarmed black man who died after a white police officer in Minneapolis restrained him for more than eight minutes by kneeling on his neck as he pleaded for air, according to charging documents.

However, the former vice president noted that “burning down communities and needless destruction” was not a “necessary” form of protest.

“These last few days have laid bare that we are a nation furious at injustice,” Mr Biden began. “Every person of conscience can understand the rawness of the trauma people of colour experience in this country, from the daily indignities to the extreme violence, like the horrific killing of George Floyd.”

Tinubu Admonishes Party Leaders To safeguard Primaries

There may be no going back on transparent and democratic primaries for the choice of governorship candidates by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo and Ondo states, it was learnt yesterday.

At a meeting with nine APC governors, National Leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu said democratic primary as a core element of internal democracy should not be jettisoned.

A source at the meeting held at the State House, Marina, Lagos, said Tinubu,  a former governor of Lagos, emphasised the importance of primary to democracy, admonishing party leaders to safeguard it in the preparation for the choice of standard bearers.

The Progressives Governors’s Forum, led by Kebbi State Governor Atiku Bagudu, unfolded plans last week to mount pressure on President Muhammadu Buhari to support their push for right of first refusal to two of their colleagues, Ondo State Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) and   Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki, for the governorship.

The polls will hold in Edo in September and Ondo in October. No fewer than 10 chieftains are competing for the ticket in Ondo APC with Akeredolu, who is seeking a second term.

In Edo, other contenders have stepped down for Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, who is challenging Obaseki at the shadow poll. The Edo governor is also seeking re-election.

Last week, National Working Committee (NWC) announced that direct primary will be adopted for the Edo APC shadow poll.

At yesterday’s two-hour parley, the following nine governors were in attendance.

The Nation