Welcome to Chidi Egesionu's blog

Fantasy sequel Insurgent has debuted at the top of the US box office, earning $54m (£36m) in its opening weekend. Starring Shailene Woodley and Theo James, it took slightly less than the first instalment, Divergent, which opened last year to $54.6m (£36.7m). Film company Lionsgate said it was "pleased" with the result, and noted there was little competition for the film's teen audience over Easter. Elsewhere, Sean Penn's action movie The Gunman fired a blank with US audiences. The star could only muster $5m (£3.3m) for the tough tale of Congo mercenaries, which he co-wrote and co-produced. It had been hoped the film would capitalise on the audience for the "geriaction" genre - popularised by Liam Neeson's Taken series, with which The Gunman shares a director, Pierre Morel. Continue...

A popular Mexican wrestling star named El Hijo Del Perro Aguayo, 35, was killed during a live show in Tijuana last night March 20th when a fighting stunt went terribly wrong in the center of the ring, TMZ reports. Aguayo was taking on former WWE star Rey Mysterio Jr. when he was performing a stunt and apparently snapped his neck or spine. Continue...

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa will be over by August, the head of the UN Ebola mission said. Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed admitted the UN had made mistakes in handling the crisis early on, sometimes acting "arrogantly". A year after the outbreak was officially declared, the virus has killed more than 10,000 people. The medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres says a "global coalition of inaction" led to tragic consequences. Looking back over the year, the charity suggests its early calls for help were ignored by local governments and the World Health Organization. Continue...

Former tennis Grand Slam champion Bob Hewitt has been found guilty by a South African court of raping underage girls. Hewitt, 75, had denied two charges of rape and a third charge of sexual assault. The attacks took place in the 1980s and 1990s, when the Australian-born former tennis star was coaching the women, then young girls, in South Africa. Hewitt won nine Grand Slam doubles and six mixed doubles titles in the 1960s and 1970s. His name was removed from the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2012, following abuse allegations. During the trial, one woman said Hewitt had told her "rape is enjoyable" as he assaulted her. Another victim said he had touched her inappropriately and forced her to perform a sex act on him when she was 12 and 13. Judge Bert Bam told the High Court sitting in Johannesburg that the evidence against Hewitt was overwhelming and consistent. He said striking similarities among the three victims' testimonies showed that Hewitt's conduct was...

Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi on Sunday wished his deputy, Tele Ikuru, “all the best,” following his shocking exit from APC. Reacting to the situation, Amaechi said via a statement by his Commissioner for Information and Communication, Ibim Semenitari: The Rivers State Governor Rt. Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has only this evening received the news of the resignation of his Deputy Governor Engr Tele Ikuru from the All Progressives Congress. Whilst the news remains unofficial at this time as the Deputy Governor is yet to notify His Excellency the Governor of this move, Governor Amaechi however wishes Engr Ikuru all the best in his future political endeavors. He however wishes to note that the reasons adduced by Engr Ikuru are shocking as Deputy Governor lkuru has consistently been the one driving political activities in his local government area of Andoni and has been the second in command driving politics and governance in Rivers state. Continue.....

                After news of their engagement emerged, there were a number of reports stating that the engagement was false with a screenshot of Lilian Esoro’s BBM update where she denied being engaged. However it looks like the lovebirds are definitely engaged as Iyanya has taken to Instagram to congratulate the soon-to-be married couple. He posted: Congrats to my Bro @ubifranklintriplemg and @lilianesoro God Bless Keep you and Yours forever. Over the weekend Ubi confirmed his relationship status by posting: This I am in for the rest of my Life Direct me in your way oh Lord. Let my Tithes and Offerings be a Backup and Foundation for this union that we are about to get into. Thanks for all the well-wishers God bless you with everything Good that will come your way. This morning, clearly in love, Ubi posted: You come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by seeing an imperfect person perfectly. Love one another and you will be ...

The Akwa Ibom State Governor, Godwill Akpabio reportedly collapsed yesterday at a function in the state and rushed to an undisclosed hospital in the United Kingdom, newspunch.org has exclusively learnt. This is following the defection of former governor of the State, Victor Obong Attah from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party to the opposition All Progressives Congress. Attah publicly endorsed the APC candidates in the State, despite being a BoT member of PDP. Since the governor’s collapse, his close aides, family members and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP has been keeping the news from the reach of the media. But, a source, close to the governor, but who pleaded anonymity confided in newspunch.org that the governor collapsed yesterday and had since be rushed to an undisclosed UK hospital.