The people of Ogu town in Ogu-Bolo local government area of Rivers state in Nigeria, recently held their annual “Iria” Ceremony in which they initiated some young virgins into womanhood. The ceremony took place on Saturday, December 2, 2023.
The Iria ceremony is an ancient ceremony that marks the transition of girls who are usually virgins into womanhood. Adorned in traditional attire, the young women participated in rituals guided by elders, showcasing their journey from adolescence to adulthood.
To pass the test, the girls between the ages of 14 and 16 must first be virgins which will be checked by women of the town, then they will be kept in a room where they will undergo training on womanhood
After passing through this process, the qualified girls will be given certificates showing that they are now adult ladies ready to marry. It’s an Okrika-Ijaw ceremony that dates back to the 17th century.
The festivities featured traditional music, dance, and regalia, attracting family, friends, and well-wishers to witness the cultural celebration.
Elders emphasized the importance of preserving purity and passing down traditions. The young women received blessings and wisdom from elders as they embraced the responsibilities of womanhood.
The event was documented through a series of photographs capturing the nature of the Iria ceremony.
See more pictures below:
During the ceremony, participants are kept out of circulation and fed with whatever they need. Traditional cosmetic is used to enhance the beauty of their skin. They usually look very attractive during this period because of maintenance, especially if the parents are financially stable. Some fortunate ones may get engaged to prospective husbands before the Iria.
In such cases, the prospective husband takes over the responsibility for the lady during the period. It’s a chance for the ones who are not yet engaged to showcase themselves, thereby informing the prospective husbands that they are ripe and ready for marriage. After Iria’s ceremony, the young women enjoy freedom as parental control is reduced.
A Nigerian man, Abodunde David Olubunmi 47, reportedly killed his wife Owoeye Taiwo Morenikeji in the UK after they recently relocated. Sources disclosed that the sad incident happened after his wife got a restraining order against him.
The incident reportedly happened on Tuesday, November 28. Police officers were called to their property after reports of a serious incident. Taiwo who was in her 40s was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to court documents, the suspect is charged with killing his wife. It is reported that David and his wife had relocated to the U.K. from Nigeria earlier in the year. A Twitter (now X) user, Tonariess, alleges that Taiwo had filed a restraining order against her husband before the tragic incident occurred.
The deceased brother, Owoeye Alex Adekunle, revealed on a Facebook post that the Suffolk police said his sister’s husband was the only suspect in her death. He added that his sister Taiwo is survived by three children who are now in the care of the UK social services.
Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first female to sit on America’s highest court and an unwavering voice of moderate conservatism, died on Friday, December 1, in Phoenix Arizona. According to a statement by the Supreme Court, O’Connor died from complications linked to advanced dementia and respiratory illness. She was 93.
She was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981, and sat on the court for more than 24 years until her retirement in 2006. O’Connor whose husband suffered from Alzheimer’s, withdrew from public life in 2018 after she was diagnosed with dementia. She announced that as her condition progressed, she was no longer able to participate in public life.
Throughout her 24-year term on the bench, O’Connor voted on some of the most belligerent issues the court has faced, including affirmative action and abortion. One of her most momentous roles was in the 5-4 vote in Bush v. Gore, as she joined justices Anthony Kennedy, William Rehnquist, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas in a decision that led to George W. Bush’s 2000 election win.
In 2009, she was awarded the ‘Presidential Medal of Freedom’ for her role in transforming the American judiciary, paving the way for women to join what had been a men-only club.
She is survived by her three sons, Scott, Brian, and Jay.
The Lagos chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Musiliu Akinsanya, popularly known as MC Oluomo, has been re-elected for a second term in office. Oluomo, along with his Deputy Chairman, Alhaji Sulyman Ojora, the Treasurer, Alhaji Mustapha Adekunle (Sego), and 28 other executive members, were elected unopposed on Thursday November 29, at the 10th Quadrennial State Delegates Conference in Lagos.
Akinsanya was re-elected unopposed on Thursday at the 10th Quadrennial State Delegates Conference held at the state union secretariat in Agege, Lagos State. The re-elected executive members were subsequently sworn in by Adejare Kembi, the principal of Excel Practitioners,
Akinsanya thanked the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and the leadership of the union’s national body for their support.
Buffalo Bills linebacker Von Miller, who’s facing an arrest warrant for a domestic violence case in Dallas, turned himself in Thursday afternoon to Glenn Heights Police in Texas. He immediately posted a $5,000 bond and was released Thursday night from DeSoto Regional Jail.
Miller’s longtime pregnant girlfriend accused him of assaulting her at their home in Dallas on Wednesday, October 29. The warrant was for a charge of assaulting a pregnant person, which is a third-degree felony.
The preliminary investigation determined that Miller and his girlfriend got into a verbal altercation and Miller assaulted the victim. Miller left the scene before officers arrived. The victim was not transported to a hospital but was treated for minor injuries, according to a police spokesperson.
The NFL may likely place Miller on the commissioner’s exempt list, which could bar him from participating in football activities amid investigations into the arrest. Miller, 34, totaled two tackles through eight games this season for the Bills. His 123.5 career sacks are the most among active players. The Bills signed Miller to a six-year, $120 million contract during the 2022 off-season.
A 70-year-old woman, Safina Namukwaya, has given birth to twins at a clinic in Kampala, the capital of the East African state. Namukwaya has given birth to twins after becoming pregnant through IVF treatment in Uganda.
The mother, Safina Namukwaya, and the babies, a boy and a girl, are in good health and are still under observation at a facility in the capital Kampala, Edward Tamale Sali said. Namukwaya who lives in rural Masaka, about 120 km west of the capital, called the birth of the twins a “miracle.”
The septuagenarian gave birth to a daughter three years ago, after being described as a “cursed woman” for not being able to have children previously.
With her first husband, who died in 1992, she had no children. Her current partner, whom she met in 1996, however, did not come to attend the birth, much to her dismay. “Maybe he is not happy that I gave birth to twins for fear of the responsibilities that come with it,” she said.
The woman became the oldest woman to give birth in Africa after she delivered a baby girl and boy on Wednesday afternoon, November 29, the Women’s Hospital International and Fertility Centre in the Ugandan capital of Kampala said. Medics at the hospital said the mother and her two babies are doing well after they were delivered via a caesarean.
In 2019, Erramatti Mangayamma, from India, gave birth to twins through IVF at the age of 74, becoming the world’s oldest mother.
Former professional wrestling manager and adult entertainer Tammy Sytch has been sentenced to 17 years in prison for her role in a deadly crash where prosecutors said she was driving drunk.
The 50-year-old star from Matawan commonly known by her ring name ‘Sunny’ during her days in the World Wrestling Federation, pleaded no contest in August to one count of DUI manslaughter, driving while her license was suspended with death, four counts of DUI with damage to person, and two counts of DUI with property damage.
Sytch was driving a sedan on March 25, 2022, which crashed into a car driven by 75-year-old Julian Lasseter who was stopped at a red light in the 100 block of North Yonge Street in Ormond Beach. His vehicle was pushed into another car and he died from his injuries.
Authorities in Volusia County Florida, said that Sytch’s blood-alcohol content was between 0.32 and 0.36 just less than an hour after the crash. That is about four times the legal limit of 0.08, at which point a person is considered legally intoxicated. She reportedly had an unsealed bottle of vodka in her vehicle and cannabis in her system at the time of her arrest.
She had faced up to more than 25 years in prison during her sentencing hearing on Monday, November 27, 2023. During the hearing, Sytch said she felt remorse and regret “deep in my soul” for killing Julian LaFrancis Lasseter of Daytona Beach. She had previously been arrested multiple times for driving under the influence in Pennsylvania, where her driver’s license had been suspended. She didn’t have a Florida driver’s license.
“The defendant’s history of drinking and driving is horrendous,” State Attorney R.J. Larizza said in a statement after the sentencing. “It was only a matter of time before her drunk driving killed an innocent and unsuspecting individual.” She added.
This wasn’t Sytch’s first driving under the influence charge. Prior to the incident, she was locked up six times for driving under the influence. She will be required to serve eight years of probation, and her driver’s license has been permanently revoked.
A 52-year-old woman, Krysta Carson who was often mistaken for her husband’s mother decided to get face filler to hide her more prominent laugh lines but was horrified when half her nose literally melted off
The woman, who is married to a man 10 years younger than her, says she was ‘terrified’ when her nostril ‘rotted away’ and detached from her face after the filler injection. She blames a “clumsy” injection using too much filler into a major blood vessel, causing her flesh to “melt off” two weeks after the procedure.
Carson’s entire nostril decomposed and turned black, and she was able to move it around like it was not properly attached to her face any longer. She added that the disfigurement made her lose the will to leave, and significantly damaged her three-decade-long career as an entertainer even though the doctor said it would be all fine within six weeks of the incident.
Krysta’s husband Redd Gill, who is 42-year-old, found a prosthetics specialist to help her. She has shared her journey on TikTok to warn others about the dangers of dermal fillers.
“I had been having Botox since the 90s and loved that and had amazing results,” she said. “My husband is 10 years younger than me and after he joined me here [in Seattle], in a period of about two weeks I got mistaken for his mother three times.”
“I don’t know if it was my neck or my cheek or what was giving away the difference in our ages, but I needed to do something about this. I sought out filler in 2015. I felt like I was really safe and in really good hands so I signed the consent form, which just had some warnings about bruising and swelling and a risk of infection. I didn’t see anything else that concerned me at all.”
In 2020, Krysta went for a routine filler session before a wedding gig – but it went horribly wrong. She was given an injection which left her permanently disfigured. “When I got home that day [October 12 2020] I started feeling a strange numbing, tingling sensation. And it [my face] started getting really swollen and I started slurring my words.”
Krysta shared her horrifying experience, saying: “It was getting progressively worse. In the morning I called the doctor’s office and they said to come in right away. The doctor examined me and then left the room and came back looking very nervous. He told me he hit a blood vessel,”
She continued: “I was terrified and confused and just did whatever they suggested and waited for more information when I would go back to the office every day. He still never told me that I could get necrosis and lose pieces of my face. He kept saying it’s going to get worse before it gets better but you’re probably going to be fine in about six weeks.”
Krysta was shocked when she saw her nostril detach from her upper lip. She said: “I was very shocked when that day came along where I was dressing the wounds with the ointment that my doctor gave me and I saw the bottom of my nostril snap and detach from my upper lip. It caused some PTSD when I witnessed my face burning and melting and falling off.”
The incident happened on Halloween 2020. Krysta recalled: “That was really terrifying. It was Halloween of 2020 the day that my entire left nostril just detached and was dangling there by a tiny piece of flesh. I was in shock and terrified. When you hit a blood vessel it blocks it and freezes it.”
She equated the injury with frostbite, saying: “It’s similar to a frostbite injury. The flesh around it just dies and falls off. I think [the doctor] was particularly clumsy and careless in his injection and because it was such a big amount and a major blood vessel, it caused an extra large amount of damage.”
Krysta Carson has been getting filler in her smile lines since 2016 ( Image: Kennedy News/@disfiguredbeauty)
Krysta was unable to open her mouth due to the swelling from her injury, which made eating difficult and led to her losing 30 lbs in just a month. “My entire left nasal passage and the inside of my mouth also looked like that and felt like it was on fire,” she added.
She sought help from a doctor who specializes in reconstruction surgery. “I went to see another doctor who specialises in reconstruction surgery. He took my bandages off and handed me a mirror and said it’s not going to grow back.”
“That was a really rude awakening. I really didn’t realize until that day that it was just gone. That was when I lost my will to live. I knew I couldn’t work. I’ve been working as a model and singer for 30 years and you can’t do a lot without a whole face.”
“I haven’t been able to go back to work full time because I have such horrible breathing and breath support issues with my missing nostril and shrivelled nasal passage. It was a great life until this happened to me. I really miss it.”
However, Krysta couldn’t afford reconstructive surgery and has been wearing a prosthetic nose for over two years. She is now saving up for better fitting prosthetics.
Krysta expressed: “I felt relieved when I saw the prosthetic for the first time. I was just so relieved and grateful that I had a face again. My prosthetics person is a genius. I’m still screwed up and scarred and have to wear a fake nostril, but I can live a normal life.”
“It’s attached to a nasal stent so it’s a breathing tube with a tiny little nostril at the end of it. When I put the prosthetic in it opens up that shrivelled, scarred nasal passage. It’s functional as a breathing device. I don’t know how I would have survived any of this without the prosthetics. They are amazing. I can’t wait for new ones.”
Krysta is now embracing her natural look, saying goodbye to Botox and fillers. “It’s really important to me that this doesn’t happen to anyone else. If I was using this for years thinking it’s totally safe, there could be people thinking the same. I just want people to know about it and choose their doctor wisely – that’s so important.” She concluded.
The ‘Let’s Get Loud’ singer was pictured with matching $40K Hermès Birkin bag and a suede boots while out with Ben Affleck and some of their children in Beverly Hills, California, on Sunday night.
The 54-year-old singer and actress donned a bohemian purple and gold flowing Burberry dress ($4,990) with a Valentino belt ($650), knee-high brown suede boots, and her signature Jennifer Fisher hoop earrings ($220).
Lopez and her blended family dined at The Ivy, a famous Beverly Hills celebrity hot spot. The family outing, which included her 15-year-old twins, Max and Emme, and Affleck’s 14-year-old child Seraphina, comes after the married couple’s trip to Las Vegas, where they attended the 2023 Eastern Congo Initiative Poker and Blackjack Tournament at The Venetian Resort.
Sheynnis Palacios of Nicaragua was crowned the 72nd 2023 Miss Universe at the culmination of the annual beauty pageant, which took place on Saturday, November 18, 2023, at the José Adolfo Pineda Arena in San Salvador, El Salvador’s capital. Antonia Porsild of Thailand placed as first runner-up, and Miss Australia, Moraya Wilson, placed third in the competition as second runner-up.
Palacios’ win marks the first time a Nicaraguan woman has won Miss Universe. She had previously represented Nicaragua in the 2017 Teen Miss Universe pageant, placing in the top 10, and in the 2021 Miss World pageant.
Beauty queens from 84 countries’ national pageants competed at this year’s Miss Universe, judged by a panel including model Halima Aden, “Queer Eye” star Carson Kressley, TikTok influencer Avani Gregg and two former Miss Universe winners, Janelle Commissiong of Trinidad & Tobago (Miss Universe 1977) and Iris Mittenaere of France (Miss Universe 2016).
Palacios was asked in the final round question who she would choose to spend a day in the life of, and she chose the 18th-century British philosopher and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, who she said broke boundaries and “allowed many women.”
“There are no limitations for women today,” she added, via a translator.
Miss Colombia, Camila Avella, and Miss Puerto Rico, Karla Guilfú, rounded out the top five, while another member of the top 10, Spain’s Athenea Pérez, was crowned the pageant’s Miss Congeniality.
Palacios, who hails from Managua, Nicaragua, is an audiovisual producer and health activist, according to Miss Universe, she was able to support herself through her college Communications program by working at her mom’s snack business. When her mom moved up north to find a better job amid the economic crisis, she became the economic and emotional support for her grandma and younger brother.
Inspired by her own struggles with anxiety, Palacios will be focusing on mental health as her cause, even starting the initiative “Understand Your Mind” where she interviews specialists on emotional care on TV.
