Thursday 21 November 2013

Three women rescued from London house had been held as slaves for THIRTY YEARS

Three 'deeply traumatised' women held as 'slaves' have been rescued from a house in South London, after a desperate call to a charity they saw on a television documentary. 
The women were held captive for more than 30 years - including one who had never seen the outside world and may have been born in captivity, it was revealed today.
A couple, both 67, were arrested today at 7.30am at their home in Lambeth, south London, for keeping the alleged victims in permanent servitude for decades.
Described as 'heads of the family', they are accused of imprisoning the three women - a 69-year-old Malaysian woman, a 57-year-old Irish woman and a 30-year-old British woman.
Rescue: Detective Inspector Kevin Hyland, from the Met's human trafficking unit spoke outside Scotland Yard today and revealed three women were rescued after at least 30 years as slaves, with the youngest having never seen the outside world
Rescue: Detective Inspector Kevin Hyland, from the Met's human trafficking unit spoke outside Scotland Yard today and revealed three women were rescued after at least 30 years as slaves, with the youngest having never seen the outside world
Freedom Charity, which aims to advise and support victims of forced marriages or honour-based violence, received a call following a television documentary on forced marriages.
The three women were rescued from a house in Lambeth, south London, last month, after the 57-year-old called the support charity asking for help, it is believed.
 


    She told them she had been held against her will for more than three decades and all three were too frightened to leave.  
    What followed were secret, 'in-depth' conversations with the women, Aneeta Prem, Freedom Charity founder, told Sky News.
    Police scrambled to track down the house in the borough of Lambeth, a mixed residential neighborhood south of the River Thames. 
    Prem said the women were able to walk out of the property - with police on standby - after those repeated, tentative calls. 
    'It had to be pre-arranged when they were able to make calls to us and it had to be done very secretly, because they felt they were in massive danger,' she said.
    The youngest victim has 'had no contact with the outside world', police said this afternoon, and may have been born in captivity, with detectives admitting they had 'never seen anything of this magnitude before'.
    The victims are so traumatised that police have been unable to interview them fully, so they are unsure about key details like if they are if any are related and if they suffered sexual abuse.
    Discovery: Three female slaves, one held for more than 30 years, have been discovered in London after one contacted a chairty run by Aneeta Prem (pictured)
    Discovery: Three female slaves, one held for more than 30 years, have been discovered in London after one contacted a charity run by Aneeta Prem (pictured)
    Ms Prem said the alleged victims - who are believed to have suffered physical and mental harm - were able to walk out of the property after extensive calls with the charity.
    She said they were being held in an 'ordinary house in an ordinary street', where neighbours would have had no idea what was happening.
    'We started in-depth to talks to them when they could, it had to be pre-arranged. They gave us set times when they were able to speak to us,' she told Sky News.
    'It was planned that they would be able to walk out of the property. The police were on standby.
    Ms Prem said the two people arrested were considered the 'heads of the family', and that the women were 'absolutely terrified' of them.
    She added: 'They felt they were in massive danger.
    'I don't believe the neighbours knew anything about it at all. It was just an ordinary house in an ordinary street.
    ‘They did have rooms that they could use but they were really restricted about what they could do and could never leave the front door
    ‘They are together in a place of safety and are doing very well despite what has happened to them.
    Location: The three women were discovered in a house in the London borough of Lambeth, which runs to Waterloo, Stockwell, Brixton, Vauxhall, Streatham and Clapham areas of south London
    Location: The three women were discovered in a house in the London borough of Lambeth, which runs to Waterloo, Stockwell, Brixton, Vauxhall, Streatham and Clapham areas of south London
    ‘When we had found out that they came out of that house there were huge cheers here that they were safe. We hope they can have happy lives.
    Vineeta Thornhill, CEO at Freedom Charity
    Breakthrough: Vineeta Thornhill, CEO at Freedom Charity, answered the initial phone call from the victim
    ‘It is absolutely unbelievable that people can ever find themselves in this position. It is an amazing story.
    Asked about what help the women will be given, the charity founder said: 'They are going to be afforded all the help and support that can be. 
    'I'm so grateful they saw the news.
    'Now they will try to re-build their lives.'
    She added: 'They know they have a lot of help and support around them. 
    'And, also, they have got each other around them as well, so that's a positive. As a charity we've had no experience of this before at all. It's something that's out of all our comfort zones.'
    All three, who police described as 'highly traumatised', are together in a secret location.
    Detective Inspector Kevin Hyland, from the Met's human trafficking unit, has told the BBC that interviews with the two suspects are being carried out now, and are expected to continue into the evening. 
    Both are being held at a south London police station, after their house was searched this morning. 
    He said earlier today: ‘This morning at approximately 7.30 we arrested two people in their 60s at an address in Lambeth as part of an investigation into slavery and domestic servitude.
    ‘We were contacted in October by Freedom Charity after they had received a call from women stating they were being held at an address in London for more than 30 years.
    ‘Through further investigation, we were able to identify the house where they were being held. 
    'With the help of sensitive negotiations, conducted by the charity, three women - a 69 year old from Malaysia, a 57-year-old from Ireland a 30-year-old British woman - were all rescued.
    Shocking discovery: Scotland Yard said that one of the victims called a charity to say she was in captivity for thirty years and they then helped rescue her and two others
    Shocking discovery: Scotland Yard said that one of the victims called a charity to say she was in captivity for thirty years and they then helped rescue her and two others

    Q&A: WHAT THE POLICE KNOW ABOUT THE SLAVERY CASE

    Who are the victims: A 69-year-old Malaysian woman, a 57-year-old Irish woman and a 30-year-old British woman.
    Who has been arrested: A British couple, both 67
    Where were the arrests made: In Lambeth, south London
    Are the victims related? Police say they do not believe them to be.
    Are they in police custody? Scotland Yard say they are in another place of safety. 'They are extremely traumatised which explains the discrepancy between with the Freedom Charity were contacted and the arrests were made. We continue to work closely with the victims to gather further information,' a spokesman said.
    Was the youngest victim born in the house in Lambeth? 'We are not sure where she was born but she appears to have been in servitude for her entire life,' the spokesman said.
    Have you dealt with similar cases before? 'The Met's unit has dealt with cases of people held in servitude against their will for around 10 years. This is the first time we have come across people who have been held for such a considerable length of time,' the spokesman said.
    Has the youngest victim had contact with the outside world? The Met said: 'We believe that she, and the others, had limited freedom. We will continue to speak to the victims to ascertain what this ascertained'
    ‘All three women were highly traumatised and were taken to a place of safety, where they remain. They are in the care of a charity who deal with people who are deeply traumatised.
    ‘These are deeply traumatised people and it is essential that we works sensitively to establish the facts in this case. When we had established the facts, we conducted the arrests this morning.
    ‘We’ve established that all three women were held in this situation for at least 30 years. They did have some controlled freedom.
    ‘The human trafficking unit of the Metropolitan Police deals with many cases of servitude and forced labour. We've seen some cases where people have been held for up to 10 years, but we've never seen anything of this magnitude before.’
    A spokesman from the Met Police said were trying to establish if the woman believed to have spent her entire life in captivity had been born in the house, or taken there as a baby.
    The victims are not believed to be related to each other, and there was no evidence of sexual abuse, police said.
    The spokesman said that the victims were working very closely with Freedom Charity, and that information was being given to officers through the charity, leading to limited information being put out by the force.
    ‘The officers are getting as much as they can from the victims,’ she said.
    ‘The case at the moment is that the details are fairly sketchy, we are working with the victims via a charity so the process is slightly slower than normal.
    ‘The victims are very traumatised, it’s not something we can rush through.
    ‘Officers will interview the victims, but they will be assisted by the charity.’
    The spokesman was unable to say when further information on the case would be released.
    Borough: The three women were found in the London Borough of Lambeth, where officials at the town hall (pictured) said they were unable to comment on the case
    Borough: The three women were found in the London Borough of Lambeth, where officials at the town hall (pictured) said they were unable to comment on the case

    The documentary which sparked victim's cry for help: Call to charity made in same month that force marriage programme shown on ITV

    The phone call to Freedom Charity by one of the alleged victim's, reporting that she had been held against her will, came in October, the same month that a television documentary aired on forced marriage.
    ITV documentary series Exposure, showed clerics at 18 UK mosques agreeing to marry off a girl of 14 in an Islamic ceremony.
    Undercover reporters filmed the documentary, entitled Forced to Marry, which was broadcast on October 9, and involved two reporters posing as the mother and brother of a 14-year-old girl to be married to an older man.
    Exposure: One of the undercover reporters posed as the mother of a 14-year-old and asked clerics if they would perform a marriage ceremony for her daughter
    Exposure: One of the undercover reporters posed as the mother of a 14-year-old and asked clerics if they would perform a marriage ceremony for her daughter
    The journalists contacted 56 of mosques around the UK asking if they would perform the marriage of a 14-year-old girl.
    Around two thirds of those contacted refused to perform am Islamic marriage, known as a nikah, making it clear they were disgusted at the request.
    However, 18 of the respondents agreed, with one Iman saying ‘that’s not going to be a problem’.
    Another cleric, Shams-ul-Huda Khan Misbahi, who preaches in Heckmondwike near Leeds, was shown assuring the reporters that the marriage would be ‘real’.  Despite being told that the girl had only met her future husband once, the cleric condoned making her move in with the man against her wishes, claiming ‘everything is jaiz’, meaning lawful.
    Campaigners claim thousands of girls are forced into the illegal ceremonies every year, in a boom fuelled by the ‘moral blindness of cultural sensitivity’.
    Such weddings are not recognised by UK law.
    Marriages can only be officially registered if both parties are over 16, which is also the age of sexual consent.
    Agreed: Khan Misbahi, preacher at Jamia Masjid Kanzul Imam Mosque near Leeds agreed to marry the pair
    Agreed: Khan Misbahi, preacher at Jamia Masjid Kanzul Imam Mosque near Leeds agreed to marry the pair
    However, under Islamic or sharia law, a girl can get married as soon as she reaches puberty. 
    Official figured suggest that the vast majority of forced marriages of British children happen abroad, although the Exposure investigation revealed that girls as young as 10 are being forced into marriage in this country.
    Around 400 schoolchildren, mainly girls from South Asian communities, are forced into marriage every year in the UK.
    The programme was made with the support of Freedom Charity, and founder Anita Prem was interviewed about the show prior to its air date.
    She said: ‘I think whoever is involved in this, you are talking about child abuse and exploitation and it is something we need to stop.
    ‘People are too culturally sensitive when dealing with this, they are worried about offending particular groups. We have to say it’s immoral and illegal and stamp it out.
    ‘I think what we are hearing about is the tip of the iceberg, it is a huge problem.’
    Since 2008, courts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have been able to issue civil orders to prevent forced marriage. Breaches can result in a two-year prison sentence for contempt of court.

    Held against their will: The harrowing stories of people kept prisoner for decades by evil tormentors like Josef Fritzl and Ariel Castro

    Josef Fritzl, Ariel Castro and Phillip Garrido are three of the world's most notorious kidnappers who have held their victims captive for decades.
    In each case the women held were rescued and the stories generated headlines around the world.
    In Britain businessman Ilyas Ashar, 84, and his wife Tallat, 68, were last month jailed for holding a deaf and mute child from Pakistan in captivity in their cellar.
    Ashar sexually abused and beat the youngster who he brought to Salford, Greater Manchester, from Pakistan in June 2000 when she was aged just 10.
    Ilyas Ashar has been found guilty of 13 charges of raping a deaf and mute girl he trafficked into the UK
    Tallat Ashar, 68, was jailed for five years for two counts of trafficking a person into the UK for exploitation and four counts of furnishing false information to obtain a benefit
    Ilyas Ashar (left) and his wife Tallat Ashar (right) were jailed for holding a Pakistani girl trafficked to the UK when she was aged just 10 in captivity for 13 years
    She was also used to steal more than £30,000 in benefits. 
    The girl never went to school in Pakistan or Britain, but was taught by the Ashars to sign her name to claim benefits. 
    Ashar would routinely rape the girl in the cellar and other houses the family owned - though she would try to fight him off.
    He was jailed for 13 years, while his wife was given five years in prison.
    The most notorious kidnapper was Austrian father Josef Fritzl who was arrested five years ago after holding his daughter Elisabeth  as a sex slave in a concealed basement for 24 years.
    Elisabeth was repeatedly raped by her father and gave birth to seven of his children while in captivity.
    Fritzl, now 78, kept three of them with him and his wife Rosemarie, who was oblivious to what lay beneath her home.
    She thought the three children had been abandoned by Elisabeth after Fritzl convinced her that their daughter had ran away and the evil rapist masqueraded as the children's grandfather.
    Josef Fritzl imprisoned his daughter for 24 years and had seven children with her
    The cellar where Fritzl locked up his daughter
    Josef Fritzl, pictured left, imprisoned his daughter in a tiny cellar, pictured right, underneath their family home in Amstetten, Austria, for 24 years and had seven children with her. It has now been filled with cement 
    Natascha Kampusch, pictured in February at the premiere of 3,096 Days, the film based on her book
    Captivity: Natascha Kampusch was rescued in 2006 after being held captive for eight years. It had long been assumed she was the victim of a paedophile who murdered her 
    It was the critical illness of Elisabeth's 19-year-old incest daughter Kerstin in April 2008 which finally heralded the end of the secret cellar and its inhabitants.
    Elisabeth Fritzl was rescued in Austria emerged just two years after Natascha Kampusch escaped after being held captive for eight years.
    Miss Kampusch vanished on her way to school in Vienna in 1998 when she was ten.
    Wolfgang Priklopil carved a secret, sound-proof cellar beneath his home in a suburb of the city in which to keep her captive for eight years.
    Long considered the victim of a paedophile who had murdered her, Miss Kampusch finally escaped in August 2006.
    In the US, Ariel Castro held three women in captivity for years before they got out in May this year.
    Amanda Berry, Georgina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight, were rescued from the property in Cleveland, Ohio, after being kidnapped between 2002 and 2004.
    They were found after Berry escaped from Castro’s house with her six-year-old daughter and contacted police. Castro later admitted 937 counts of rape, kidnap and aggravated murder for intentionally causing miscarriages. He was ordered to serve his whole life in prison in July with no chance of parole but hanged himself in his cell one month later.

    At the time of their disappearances between 2002 and 2004 Amanda Berry was 16, Gina DeJesus was 14 and Miss Knight was 21.
    Also in the US, Phillip Garrido held Jaycee Lee Dugard in captivity for 18 years before she was released in 2009.
    Garrido and his wife nancy snatched 11-year-old Jaycee from a street in South Lake Tahoe in June 1991 while on her way to school.
    She was held captive in a compound behind their home in Antioch, California house where Garrido repeatedly raped and drugged her. During her captivity, Dugard gave birth to two daughters fathered by Garrido.
    Miss Dugard received $20million (£12.5million) from the state of California and Garrido was later sentenced to 431 years in prison while his wife Nancy was given 36 years.
    In Missouri, US, a man was jailed in September for imprisoning a woman in his trailer for 20 years.
    Edward Bagley, 46, and his wife Marilyn recruited the woman to live with them in ther rural trailer in 2002 and groomed her to become Bagley’s sex slave.
    Monster: Ariel Castro was found dead in his prison cell last month after apparently hanging himself
    Monster: Ariel Castro, who had been jailed for life after kidnapping three women, was found dead in prison

    Britain's first white honour killing

    Laura Wilson was just 17-years-old when she was stabbed to death next to a canal in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, in 2010.
    This wasn't a mugging gone wrong, or a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. In fact, the mother-of-one was the victim of Britain's first white honour killing. Her death was premeditated murder, plotted and committed by the boyfriend she was madly in love with.
    Laura's crime was to bring dishonour on her Muslim lover Ashtiaq Ashgar, 21, who is now serving a life sentence for the brutal murder.
    Scroll down for video
    By the time she was 15, Laura Wilson, from Rotherham, was besotted with Ashtiaq Ashgar, 16
    By the time she was 15, Laura Wilson, from Rotherham, was besotted with Ashtiaq Ashgar, 16
    In 2008, the couple began an intense relationship at school when Laura was just 15, and Ashtiaq, 16.
    Her sister, Sarah, reveals on tonight's episode of Britain's Darkest Taboos on Crime & Investigation Network: 'She loved him. She worshipped the ground he walked on, she really did. She would have done anything for him.'
    Ashtiaq came from a traditional Muslim family who were planning an arranged marriage for their son with a girl from Pakistan.
    They would have been horrified to learn he was dating a white girl so he made Laura keep their relationship a secret.
    Unbeknown to his family, he lived a double life where he drank, smoked cannabis, carried weapons and had numerous relationship with women, including Laura.
    When Laura found out that he has been seeing other girls, they broke up and she slept with this married friend, 22-year-old Ishaq 'Zac' Hussein, to make him jealous.
    Only 16, she fell pregnant as a result of the fling and had a daughter, Alicia. Zac refused to acknowledge he was the father.
    After Alicia is born, Laura and Ashtiaq rekindled their relationship but he insisted it must continue to be a secret. But while Laura was very much in love, her mother, Maggie, believes Ashtiaq was just using Laura for sex and treated her badly.
    She said: 'I heard a phone conversation between Laura and Ashtiaq, Laura telling him how much he loved him and he was just so nasty. You could hear Laura crying in the background. He was saying just how much he hated her and that he'd got another girl, and he wasn't interested in her and she's shouting back "I love ya, I love ya…". He used Laura I think at the end.'
    Ashgar comes from a very traditional Muslim family and was leading a secret life which Laura was a part of
    Ashgar comes from a very traditional Muslim family and was leading a secret life, which Laura was a part of
    The two broke up and Laura began a short relationship a married friend of his
    The two broke up and Laura began a short relationship with a married friend of his
    Laura soon became sick of being Ashtiaq secret and on October 6, 2010, fuelled by alcohol, she and her sister made the fatal mistake of revealing all to his family.
    They knocked on his mother's door and told her what was going on. 
    Sarah recalls: 'Laura told her that she wanted to marry him, but his mother got aggressive and hit her with a shoe, calling her "a dirty white b****".'
    The whole time Ashtiaq stood behind his mother 'acting sheepish'. 
    When sentenced, Ashgar 'showed no remorse', he was just upset at the amount of jail time he received
    When sentenced, Ashgar 'showed no remorse', he was just upset at the amount of jail time he received
    The public episode would have been deeply shameful and embarrassing to him.
    On a roll, Laura and Sarah also visited Zac's family to reveal how he is the father of her baby.
    Maggie recalls: 'She said "I am sick of her being a secret" as she had been told not to mention about Alicia to any of the family. So she told them but they just didn’t want to know.'
    Maggie added that Laura's relations with Ashtiaq and Zac had 'fetched shame on their family… she had to be stopped.'
    In the days following Sarah and Laura turning up at their houses, an angry Ashtiaq sent Zac a text message saying: 'I'm gonna send that b***** to Hell.'
    He also said he wanted to make 'beans on toast' of her, which is a phrase that means to spill blood.
    He asked Laura to meet him at the canal one evening and it's there that he murdered her. 
    When Laura did not return home that evening, Maggie said she 'just knew' something terrible had happened.
    Meanwhile, Ashtiaq was trying to cover his tracks by texting Laura's friend asking if she had 'seen' her. 
    Twdays later, Laura's body was found in the canal. She had more than 40 stab wounds, most of those to the head, and some were defence wounds.
    Maggie had to go identify her daughter. SHe said: 'I went over and kissed her and I put my arms around her and I just sobbed.'
    The day after Laura went missing, mother Maggie (left) 'knew' something terrible had happened
    The day after Laura went missing, mother Maggie (left) 'knew' something terrible had happened
    Sarah was overwhelmed with guilt. She said: 'If it was going to be anyone it should have been me. It was my choice to go and knock on Ashtiaq's door, it was my choice to go and knock on Zac's door. She had everything to live for.'
    Police charged Ashtiaq and Zac with murder - describing the case as Britain's first white honour based killing. 
    Both men pleaded not guilty.
    On May 2011 at Ashtiaq's trial, the court heard how after stabbing Laura, he threw her into the canal but she kept fighting for her life. A pathologist report found that the stab wounds to the head were actually done to keep her under the water.
    On June 1 Ashtiaq changed his plea to guilty in the hope of a reduced sentence, as the evidence was stacking up against him. 
    On December 21 the judge sentenced 18-year-old Ashtiaq to 17-and-a-half years imprisonment for Laura's murder.
    'He showed no remorse, just upset at the amount of time he got in jail,' says Maggie.
    Meanwhile, following a retrial Zac was acquitted of murder.
    Ashtiaq is currently serving a life sentence and will be eligible for parole in 2029 when he's 34-years-old.
    Sarah said she believed his punishment was not enough, adding: 'He's going to be out in 2029… he can still get out and get married and have kids and have a good life. My sister can't.'
    Maggie and Sarah are now raising Laura's daughter, Alicia, and this keeps them going.
    Maggie said: 'I need to keep strong for Alicia. I have got to make sure she has a good upbringing, good schooling. Keep her safe.'    


    Culled from dailymail

    Newport-female-teacher-struck-sex-pupil-16.

    A woman teacher was banned from the profession today for having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old pupil she seduced with sexy Facebook photos.
    Clare Horton, 33, of Newport, south Wales sent the teenage boy messages on the social networking site while he was on study leave for his GCSE exams.
    The teacher included sexy 'selfie' pictures of herself pouting in a lacey crop top and a little black dress with a plunging neckline.
    Selfie: Teacher Clare Horton, who had a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old pupil, according to a disciplinary hearing
    Selfie: Teacher Clare Horton, who had a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old pupil, according to a disciplinary hearing
    It was heard she sent the boy messages on Facebook with pictures of herself posing
    The boy known as Pupil A later told police he had sex with design and technology teacher Mrs Horton but didn¿t want to press charges because of his 'strict religious beliefs'
    It was heard she sent the boy messages on Facebook with pictures of herself posing
    A disciplinary hearing was told she met with the schoolboy for a revision time 'rendezvous' before driving him back to her home for sex on the sofa.
    The boy known as Pupil A later told police he had sex with design and technology teacher Mrs Horton but didn’t want to press charges because of his 'strict religious beliefs'.
     


      Presenting officer Martin Jones said: 'The relationship in question was with a male student at the school - he was 16 at the time.
      'He was in Facebook contact with Mrs Horton, then a teacher employed at the school.
      'That led to them meeting up at the end of the school year - he came to her home and slept there.
      'Mrs Horton’s behaviour clearly amounted to a significant breach in the professional boundary between her and pupil A. This constitutes misconduct.'
      Trusted: Horton was was head of year 11 at Fitzalan High School in Cardiff
      Trusted: Horton was was head of year 11 at Fitzalan High School in Cardiff
      Mother-of-two Mrs Horton had worked at Fitzalan High School in Leckwith, Cardiff, for 10 years and was head of year 11 at the time.
      A Professional Conduct Committee of the General Teaching Council of Wales heard that 'a number' of pupils had messaged her on social networking website.
      The disciplinary panel were given details of her Facebook messages including her variety of personal selfie photographs.
      The teacher, who was going through a bitter divorce at the time, claimed all she took from the him was 'the hand of friendship'
      The teacher, who was going through a bitter divorce at the time, claimed all she took from him was 'the hand of friendship'
      She agreed to meet Pupil A before near his home in Cardiff and driving him to her home 20 miles away in Newport.
      Mrs Horton was accused of having an afternoon sex session with the teenage boy.
      She then dropped him back off at his home before going to pick up her two young children.
      The teacher, who was going through a bitter divorce at the time, claimed all she took from the him was 'the hand of friendship'.
      But rumours quickly spread in the high school.
      The teacher told the school’s head mistress that she had 'slept' with the boy and handed in her notice shortly after.
      In a statement given to the disciplinary hearing in Cardiff she said she had committed 'the ultimate sin'.
      But Mrs Horton claims she simply chatted to the boy before falling asleep on the sofa for a couple of hours.
      She said: 'I was in an incredibly emotional state and sexual intercourse was the last thing on my mind.
      'All I took from Pupil A was the hand of friendship.
      'Because of what was going on at home, teaching was my only lifeline.
      'To be told I was anything other than ugly, fat, useless and worthless was a safety blanket that I foolishly used.
      'He was very kind and listened - I was just talking about what was going on with my ex-husband.
      'He made me feel better.'
      Police investigated the relationship but the Crown Prosecution Service decided to take no further action.
      But the disciplinary hearing ruled Mrs Horton was found to have had an 'inappropriate and sexual relationship' with the pupil.
      She was given a indefinite prohibition order and told she would have to wait two years before reapplying to teach.
      Panel chair Helene Mansfield said: 'Mrs Horton displayed a lack of awareness of her responsibilities as a teacher and abused a position of trust.'
      Culled from Dailymail

      List: Forbes Highest Paid Musicians for 2013


      This year billionaire popstar Madonna tops the  annual list of the top-earning musicians by a wide margin after raking in a whooping $125 million dollars for 2013, making her the highest-paid musician in the world. The bulk of Madge’s millions came from the tail end of her MDNA Tour, which grossed $305 million. She augments her income with heady merchandise sales at concerts, as well as her Material Girl clothing line and Truth or Dare fragrance.
      Gaga ranks second with $80 million; she grossed over $160 million on her latest tour before succumbing to a hip injury. Had she been able to finish, she would have likely topped $200 million. Her ARTPOP album was released after the end of our scoring period, but should give her a boost on next year’s list. She could easily reach the No. 1 spot with a successful set of concerts, the main driver for most major artists’ earnings.

      A look at the rest of the list underscores the importance of live performances in today’s music world. Bon Jovi ranks third with $79 million, most of it from the appropriately named Because We Can tour. Road warrior Toby Keith pulled in $65 million to land the No. 4 slot, while Coldplay parlayed seven-figure nightly grosses into a $64 million payday.

      A few of the musicians on the list, however, generate nearly all their income to sources other than music sales, record labels and touring. Sean “Diddy” Combs, who ranks No. 11 with $50 million (making him hip-hop’s highest-paid act), earns the bulk of his bucks from his wildly successful Ciroc vodka deal. His Revolt TV network, launched in October, should provide a big boost to future earnings.

      Diddy and fellow hip-hop moguls Jay Z (No. 18, $42 million) and Dr. Dre (No. 20, $40 million) are the genre’s lone representatives, while Keith is one of four country acts—Taylor Swift (No. 7, $55 million), Kenny Chesney (No. 9, $53 million) and Tim McGraw (No. 24, $33 million). The rest of the list is made up of pop divas and arena rockers, with the exceptions of Tiësto (No. 25, $32 million) and Calvin Harris (No. 13, $46 million), the world’s two highest-paid DJs.

      In order to form the list, Forbes looked at income from June 1st, 2012 through June 1st, 2013, using data sources including Pollstar, the RIAA, Nielsen SoundScan, managers, lawyers and many of the artists themselves. Concert ticket sales, royalties for recorded music and publishing, merchandise sales, endorsement deals and other business ventures were also taken into account.

      However only living artists are eligible for the list.Were this criterion removed, the list would have a new champion: Michael Jackson, who pulled in $160 million.


      See top 25 Below

      1. Madonna - $125 million
      2. Lady Gaga -  $80 million
      3. Bon Jovi - $79 million
       4. Toby Keith - $65 million
      5. Coldplay - $64 million.
      6.  Justin Bieber - $58 million
      7. Taylor Swift - $55 million
      8. Elton John - $54 million
      9. Kenny Chesney - $53 million
      9. Beyonce - $53 million (tie)
      11. Sean "Diddy" Combs - $50 million
      12. Sir Paul McCartney - $47 million
      13. Calvin Harris - $46 million
      14. Jennifer Lopez - $45 million
      15. Roger Waters - $44 million
      16. Muse - $43 million (tie)
      16. Rihanna - $43 million (tie)
      18. Jay Z - $42 million
      18. One Direction - $42 million (tie)
      20. Dr. Dre - $40 million
      20. Red Hot Chili Peppers ($40 million, tie)
      22. Rolling Stones - $39 million (tie)
      22. Katy Perry - $39 million (tie)
      24. Tim McGraw - $33 million (tie)
      25. Pink - $32 million (tie)
      25. Tiësto - $32 million (tie)


      Shocking: SSS Nab University Lecturer For Recruiting Boko-Haram Members


      The lecturer(left) and other suspects  being paraded by the State Security Service in Abuja.... on Wednesday
      The lecturer(left) and other suspects being paraded by the State Security Service in Abuja.... on Wednesday
      The State Security Service on Wednesday in Abuja paraded an assistant lecturer in Arabic and Islamic studies at the Kogi State University, Muhammad Yunus, for recruiting and coordinating a Boko Haram terror cell in Kogi State.
      The service said Yunus runs a terror group, which comprised Umar Musa, head of operations/ instructor; Mustapha Yusuf (aka Habib), armourer/Chief courier; Ismaila Abdulazeez, a foot soldier; and Ibrahim Isah (aka one in town), who is also a foot soldier.
      SSS Deputy Director, Media and Public Relations, Marilyn Ogar, while briefing newsmen, explained that the terror cell planned to launch attacks in Kogi State before they were apprehended.
      She explained that until his arrest, Yunus had held several preaching sessions every last Saturday and Sunday of the month at Ethnosho Secondary School, Ojiolo, Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi State where he had about 80 adherents.
      Similarly, the suspect held another session every Friday at the Kogi State University mosque, Ayingba, where he had about 120 followers, whom he taught the virtues of Jihad and the sanctity of the Sharia law as an alternative form of governance and its entrenchment in the state and beyond.

      Ogar said the lecturer, said to be a very active member of the Academic Staff Union of Universities in KSU, maintained extensive links with Boko Haram cells in Borno State where he referred some of his followers to terrorist training.

      “In March 2013, he facilitated the trip of two of his adherents to Boko Haram’s Sambisa Camp in Maiduguri, Bornu State where they received training in weapon handling. They are Mustapha Yusuf and Ismaila Abdulazeez who are now under arrest. They were able to escape and returned back to him in August 2013, following the military invasion of the camp,” she said.

      The SSS spokesperson said Yunus holds a Masters degree from the University of Jos and a Ph.D in Arabic and Islamic Studies from KSU, in 2012.

      Yunus denied being a Boko Haram member when questioned by journalists, but his claim was punctured by Yusuf, Abdulazeez and Isah who insisted that he had been teaching them about Jihad and how to exploit it to instal Sharia in Kogi State.

      Yunus, who admitted knowing his accomplices, alleged that he was set up, adding that Islam which he preached, did not endorse blood-shedding.

      “I don’t have any link with Boko Haram, in fact I preached against them, that is why they have set me up. You can go to Jos and ask for my tapes, I preached against them. Islam doesn’t support blood-shedding and I don’t support it too,” he said.

      One of the suspects, Isah said he was in company with Umar and Abdulazeez on their way to Maiduguri, Bornu State for training when they were arrested at a mosque in Zuba, near Abuja.

      Abdulazeez said he was indoctrinated by Yusuf in Nyanya, Abuja and he subsequently travelled to Ayingba to see Yunus who directed him to go with Isah to Maiduguri, but their trip was aborted by their arrest.

      Meanwhile, arraignment of a suspected Boko Haram member, Abdulmanam Abidiki, could not hold on Wednesday due to the absence of his defence lawyer.


      Punch