Pope Francis scolds person who pulled him down in Mexico

For a Pope often seen as calm and collected, the look on his face after a mishap at a Mexican stadium came as a stunner.

The Pope was greeting a crowd in the city of Morelia on Tuesday when someone apparently grabbed him by the hand and wouldn't let go.

The worshiper ended up pulling the Pope down onto a young man in a wheelchair.

Francis regained his balance with the help of a security guard. But his normally smiling face morphed into a look of anger as he apparently yelled at the person in the crowd.

Shortly afterward, an announcement came on the stadium's speakers:

"We are asking you to be careful," the announcer said. "Please contain yourself. Pope Francis wants to greet us, but if we pile up, it will be difficult to do so."

He's known for interacting closely with worshipers -- for example, opting for a car with an open top instead of the traditional bulletproof "Popemobile."

But the incident in Morelia might have his security detail on higher alert.

On Wednesday, the Pope will visit the notoriously violent city of Juarez, Mexico. Juarez, once known as the "murder capital of the world," sits just across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas.

Francis has spoken out against impenetrable international borders, calling them "monuments of exclusion" and even a "form of suicide" that closes countries in on themselves. He has also urged the United States and Mexico to protect Central American migrants, particularly children, seeking to escape poverty and violence.

"I don't think the Holy Father's trip to Juarez is political," said the Rev. Timothy Kesicki, president of the U.S.-based Jesuit Conference. "But how could it not have political overtones? It's going to be drawing a lot of attention to immigration at a time when we are having debates about it."

The moment many Catholics are most eagerly awaiting will come when the Pope approaches the U.S.-Mexico border in Juarez.

Papal aides say security and logistical barriers will prevent the Pope from making a political point by crossing the border.

Across the river and through the fences, a group of "Francis VIPs," including undocumented immigrants seeking asylum in the United States, await the Pope's blessing.

"These are the people the Pope has come to see and pray for," said Bishop Mark Seitz, the El Paso bishop who organized the event.

Francis is expected to say a prayer at the border fence and lay flowers in memory of the more than 6,000 migrants found dead on the U.S. side of the border between 1998 and 2013, according to U.S. Border Control estimates.

"The symbolism of this moment will not be missed by anyone in the border region," said Joe Boland, vice president of missions at Catholic Extension, a charity with a long history in the area. "It will be like the Pope coming to Ellis Island."

Later Wednesday the Pope will celebrate a large Mass not far from the border, where migrants and victims of drug violence will be among the 200,000 receiving Holy Communion.

With CNN

Gregoire Ahongbonon, a former mechanic from Benin, has helped thousands of West Africans affected by mental illnesses

For almost 30 years, Gregoire Ahongbonon, a former mechanic from Benin, has helped thousands of West Africans affected by mental illnesses, caring for them in residential centres run by his charity, the Saint Camille association. Above all else, he is determined to stop the practice of keeping mentally ill people in chains.

Aime has just come out of his room. He is taking tiny steps - his ankles held in leg irons.

The scene takes place in a small house in the city of Calavi, on the outskirts of Cotonou, the capital of Benin. Aime, 24, has a mental illness and his elder brother and sister have been looking after him to the best of their abilities.

"We've had to lock him up because he disturbs people and they come to our house to complain," says his brother, Rosinos.

"Sometimes he even attacks people in the street saying they've stolen something. He can't stop screaming, day or night. He can't sleep, so neither do we. I'm so overwhelmed by all this."

The family could not afford for Aime to be treated at the country's only state-run mental health institution, the Jacquot Public Hospital, where fees start at 20,000 CFA francs per month, almost half the average salary. Instead they gave him medication prescribed by the hospital - but after eight months they could no longer afford that either.

Aime had become calmer, but without treatment his illness quickly returned. Rosinos and his sister, Edmunda, were in desperation when Edmunda went to a lecture by Gregoire Ahongbonon, campaigning against the stigmatisation of mental illness.

Afterwards Edmunda asked Ahongbonon for advice, and Aime is now being taken to a centre run by the Saint Camille association in Calavi.

The association has more than a dozen centres across Ivory Coast, Benin, Togo, and Burkina Faso. They care for thousands of patients and charge very little.

Ahongbonon and his staff find homeless people, thrown out on to the street by their families, and give them a home. They also travel across West Africa on alert for reports of mentally ill people shackled or mistreated in remote villages. When they find such people they offer to take them in.

"Mental patients here are seen as possessed by the devil or victims of witchcraft," says Ahongbonon.

"That's the case in Africa in general, but in Benin it's even worse, because Benin is the home of voodoo, so it's even stronger here."

In Benin, when someone becomes ill, the family's first instinct is often to take the patient either to a traditional healer or to evangelical churches that claim they can heal the patient by praying for his soul.

When Pelagie Agossou's grandson, Judikael, became ill, friends encouraged her to take him to a church to have the "evil spirits" cast out. She rejected this advice, but tried just about everything else, including a traditional healer.

Judikael's problem was a form of schizophrenia, in which he heard voices telling him to take his clothes off and run out of the house.

"Once, after my child had run away from home yet, again a girl came and told me Judikael was wondering around the city in his underwear," says Agossou.

"So I dashed there but when he saw me he started to run… I ran after him and people started to chase him too, thinking he was a thief. And I was shouting 'No don't hurt him, he's my child.' I was so scared that the police would hurt him thinking that he was a thief."

She tried taking him to a private clinic but it was too expensive, and it was at this point that she visited a traditional healer, where she paid 80,000 CFA francs (£93) for a medicine that had no effect.

With BBC

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has justified President Muhammadu Buhari’s foreign trips

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has justified President Muhammadu Buhari’s foreign trips, describing them as good for the image of Nigeria, Channel News reported.

This was part of the outcome of the Wednesday meeting of the Council held at the Council Chambers and presided over by President Buhari.

Members of the Council were disturbed by criticisms that have trailed the President’s frequent trips abroad and the Minister of Foreign Affairs came with a memo to explain to the Council the gains from such trips, as enumerated by the Minister of Environment, Amina Mohammed, whose ministry had also been involved in some of the trips, in the report.

“The investment that we make with the President’s travel is well worth, already, the returns that we are getting from those visits.

“We hope to continue to see the President going out and advocating for this country to get investments so we can take everyone out of poverty.  That is really what is important and we see it as an investment with a return that is worthwhile,” she stressed.

After briefing reporters on the outcome of the meeting, State House correspondents wondered why the FEC sat for several hours only to discuss the President’s foreign trips.

Responding to the questions, the Minister of Information, Mr Lai Mohammed, said Nigeria was almost a ‘pariah state’ before President Buhari assumed office last May.

He claimed that no investors and investment came into the country during former President Goodluck Jonathan regime until the present administration took over power.

Foreign trips by Nigerian leaders remain one factor that has played out in every administration since the return to democracy.

Critics have never speared Nigerian leaders who frequently engage in it.

Perhaps the criticisms will stop when Nigerians begin to see concrete results, as the government tries to explain.

Ministry of Agriculture Says Youths In Agric Will Benefit From FG’s 2016 Empowerment

The Lagos State office of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) has said that youths in agriculture would benefit from the 2016 empowerment starting soon.

Mrs Abiodun James, an official of FMARD, made this known to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos.

James made the observation on the sidelines of the election of executives of the Association of Youth for Unity in Agriculture (AYUA).

She said that some of the members of the association had benefited from the FMARD’s empowerment and promised that with an updated data, other members would be contacted in the future.

Mrs. James assured that whenever the Federal Government has anything for the farmers, they will contact them because we have their data.

She said some of them have benefited from the ministry over the years, especially under the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA).

“There was a time they were given fertilisers, feeds, seeds, people in aquaculture were given juveniles and feeds and those in the poultry business sector were given feeds also” she added.

AYUA’s President-Elect, Mr Temitope Odetola, who spoke on behalf of the elected officers, said that they would do their best to serve as examples to woo other youths into agriculture.

Odetola appreciated the state and federal ministries of agriculture for their support and appealed to them to do more as agriculture was becoming the main stay of the country’s economy.

Banky W, Chidinma Feature Nollywood Stars in A New Video“All I want is you’’

Banky W and Chidinma in “All I want is you” 

Nigerian music artists Banky W and Miss Kedike have released a new video titled “All I want is you”.


Olubankole Wellington referred as Banky W and Chidinma Ekile also known as Miss kekide said that the music is a modern day Nigerian Love story.


The artist played the characters of falling for each other, despite the disapproval of her parents.


In a statement, Banky W underscored the need to fall for the right person adding that all a man need is a good wife material that can look after a home.


“It shows how far one can go to fight for the chance to love and believing that love is supreme.


In the video, Nollywood icon, Zack Orji and Onyeka Onwenu played the role of a respectable parent who didn’t want their daughter to marry due to tribalism.


Banky W said the video was shot in Lagos and was written, produced and directed by him for EME / TILT Productions.


Miss Kedike became known after she won the season three of the MTN Project Fame West Africa.


Aside from being an MTN Ambassador, she has also featured in more than 10 songs and she won the 2013 Nigeria Music Video Awards (NMVA).


She has also won the best Female West African Act in the song “Kekide” in 2012.


Aside being a musician, Banky W, established the Empire Mates Entertainment (EME) record label as a medium to get his music to his fan.


He has featured in so many nominations and awards where the bagged the best R&B singer in the male category, Best Music Video in the 2010 people Entertainment Awards.