Author Salman Rushdie stabbed onstage, hospitalised – Newstrends
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Author Salman Rushdie stabbed onstage, hospitalised

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3 years ago

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Salman Rushdie

British author Salman Rushdie, whose writings have made him the target of Iranian death threats, was attacked and stabbed in the neck at a literary event on Friday in western New York state.

Police said that a male suspect stormed the stage and attacked Rushdie and an interviewer, with the writer suffering “an apparent stab wound to the neck.”

He was rushed by helicopter to a local hospital, police said, adding that his condition was not known.

New York governor Kathy Hochul said Rushdie was alive, and hailed him as “an individual who has spent decades speaking truth to power.”

“We condemn all violence, and we want people to be able to feel (the) freedom to speak and to write truth,” she said.

A state trooper assigned to the event at the Chautauqua Institution, where Rushdie was due to give a talk, immediately took the suspect into custody.

Police gave no details about the suspect’s identity or any probable motive.

Social media footage showed people rushing to Rushdie’s aid and administrating emergency medical care. The interviewer also suffered a head injury in the attack.

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The Chautauqua Institution — which puts on arts and literary programming in a tranquil lakeside community seventy miles (110 kilometers) south of Buffalo — said in a statement that it was coordinating with law enforcement and emergency officials.

– A decade in hiding –

Rushdie, 75, was propelled into the spotlight with his second novel “Midnight’s Children” in 1981, which won international praise and Britain’s prestigious Booker Prize for its portrayal of post-independence India.

But his 1988 book “The Satanic Verses” brought attention beyond his imagination when it sparked a fatwa, or religious decree, calling for his death by Iranian revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

The novel was considered by some Muslims as disrespectful of the Prophet Mohammed.

Rushdie, who was born in India to non-practicing Muslims and today identifies as an atheist, was forced to go underground as a bounty was put on his head — which remains today.

He was granted police protection by the government in Britain, where he was at school and where he made his home, following the murder or attempted murder of his translators and publishers.

He spent nearly a decade in hiding, moving houses repeatedly and being unable to tell his children where he lived.

Rushdie only began to emerge from his life on the run in the late 1990s after Iran in 1998 said it would not support his assassination.

Now living in New York, he is an advocate of freedom of speech, notably launching a strong defence of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo after its staff were gunned down by Islamists in Paris in 2015.

The magazine had published drawings of Mohammed that drew furious reactions from Muslims worldwide.

– An ‘essential voice’ –

Threats and boycotts continue against literary events that Rushdie attends, and his knighthood in 2007 sparked protests in Iran and Pakistan, where a government minister said the honor justified suicide bombings.

The fatwa failed to stifle Rushdie’s writing and inspired his memoirs “Joseph Anton,” named after his alias while in hiding and written in the third person.

“Midnight’s Children” — which runs to more than 600 pages — has been adapted for the stage and silver screen, and his books have been translated into more than 40 languages.

Suzanne Nossel, head of the PEN America organization, said the free speech advocacy group was “reeling from shock and horror.”

“Just hours before the attack, on Friday morning, Salman had emailed me to help with placements for Ukrainian writers in need of safe refuge from the grave perils they face,” Nossel said in a statement.

“Our thoughts and passions now lie with our dauntless Salman, wishing him a full and speedy recovery. We hope and believe fervently that his essential voice cannot and will not be silenced.”

AFP

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Boko Haram attacks military base in Adamawa

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10 hours ago

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March 22, 2025

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Boko Haram attacks military base in Adamawa

Terorist group, Boko Haram, on Friday launched a deadly attack on a military base in Waga Village, Madagali Local Government Area of Adamawa State.

According to a report by counter-insurgency expert, Zagozola Makama, troops of the Nigerian military Joint Task Force successfully repelled the attack .

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“The attack occurred around 3:30 a.m. on Friday when suspected terrorists launched an assault on the base. However, the troops swiftly responded, forcing the insurgents to retreat,” the report said.

It was also gathered that there were no casualties among security personnel or residents of the community, and normalcy has since been restored.

 

Boko Haram attacks military base in Adamawa

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Oluwo accuses Ooni of plotting to dethrone him

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10 hours ago

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March 22, 2025

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Ooni of Ife Oba Enitan Ogunwusi and Oluwo of Iwo Oba Abdulrasheed Akanbi

Oluwo accuses Ooni of plotting to dethrone him

A quiet but bruising war is raging between the Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrosheed Akanbi and the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, over alleged dethronement plots.

Oluwo, in a statement on Friday night, alleged that Oba Ogunwusi was seeking his downfall despite playing a prominent role in his emergence as the Ooni of Ife.

He stated that the link he used for Oba Ogunwusi would have been used for his elder brother, Tunji Adeyeye, who was his friend and peer at Akobo, Ibadan at a tender age.

Oluwo recalled how he arranged several meetings in Ibadan after one Akin Daodu, then a close ally of Oba Ogunwusi, begged for his intervention.

He said: “To my surprise, the same person I helped to the throne has been planning evil against me.

Oluwo recalled how he arranged several meetings in Ibadan after one Akin Daodu, then a close ally of Oba Ogunwusi, begged for his intervention.

He said: “To my surprise, the same person I helped to the throne has been planning evil against me.

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“He orchestrated my suspension from the Osun State Council of Obas meeting against the AIG who was a star witness to what transpired.

“He is using a few kings in Iwoland to destabilise my territory.

“He attacked me last month in the presence of the governor, that I am discouraging deity worship.

“He was one of those who used my former wife against me.

“He wants me to be removed as Oluwo by all means. Such is a dream that can never come true.

“No one can remove me as Oluwo. No one can kill me and no one can bring me down.

“He should keep trying. He will be the one to live to regret. His cohorts that tried it in the past failed.”

However, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Ogunwusi, speaking through his Director of Media, Otunba Moses Olafare, denied the allegations raised by Oluwo.

He said: “Oba Adeyeye has been ordained as a king from heaven, regardless of who does what. He is a king with God on his side.

“When Oluwo wanted to be king, Ooni supported him with cash and other logistics that we can’t even mention here.

“At the last Council of Oba meeting, Ooni only jokingly told Oluwo that he should not condemn any monarch for worshipping deities but should allow anyone to practice anything they feel is good for them.”

 

Oluwo accuses Ooni of plotting to dethrone him

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Lagos man stabs security guard for stopping his sex romp

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10 hours ago

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March 22, 2025

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Igbosere Magistrate’s Court

Lagos man stabs security guard for stopping his sex romp

A 33-year-old man, Otobong Enyietim Akpan, has been arrested and remanded in prison for allegedly stabbing a security guard, Adamu Muhammed, in the neck and head with a knife after being prevented from having sex with his girlfriend at a security post in Lekki, Lagos.

According to the police, the incident occurred on 2 March, 2025, when Akpan took his girlfriend to the security post at 35B, Land Bridge Avenue, Oniru Estate, Victoria Island, intending to engage in sexual activity.

However, the security guard refused, stating that the post was not a hotel.

Enraged by the rejection, Akpan reportedly threatened to kill Muhammed and left the scene, only to return moments later.

In a violent outburst, he allegedly pulled a knife from his trousers and stabbed the security man multiple times, leaving him bleeding profusely from the neck and head.

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Residents who witnessed the attack overpowered the suspect and restrained him while others rushed the injured guard to a hospital.

A distress call was placed to the Maroko Police Division, leading to Akpan’s swift arrest.

Akpan was charged before the Igbosere Magistrate’s Court, sitting at the Tinubu Magistrate’s Court, on one count of causing grievous bodily harm—a crime punishable under Section 245 of the Lagos State Criminal Law, 2015.

Police prosecutor Reuben Solomon told the court that the accused attacked the security guard with a knife after being denied access to use the post for sexual activity.

Akpan pleaded not guilty, and Magistrate N.S. Wahab granted him ₦500,000 bail with two sureties in like sum.

However, he was remanded at the Ikoyi Correctional Facility pending the fulfillment of his bail conditions.

The case has been adjourned to 28 March 2025 for mention.

 

Lagos man stabs security guard for stopping his sex romp

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