SHOCKING!!!.. Gunmen stormed Deeper Life Church and kill 16 worshipers during service.
Pastor among the dead in Kogi night attack -Four killed in Borno -Explosives fired at the Sokoto police station
IT was like a scene from a war film. A crowd of worshippers in a church — perhaps praying, their eyes shut — and suddenly the eerie sounds of guns. Pandemonium. Blood, tears and anguish.
But it was no movie. All was real last night in Okene, Kogi State where unknown gunmen stormed a church and opened fire on worshippers, killing no fewer than 16.
Killed were worshippers of Deeper Life Bible Church opposite the Federal College of Education (FCE). Many were injured.
“We are shocked. It is serious,” a Pastor told The Nation last night.
The gunmen, who were said to be bearing sophisticated weapons, stormed the church during the Bible Study, a Monday programme, at about 7p.m., shooting indiscriminately.
The gunmen reportedly took the worshippers by surprise. They blocked all entrances into the church, preventing people from escaping as they fired indiscriminately at the worshippers.
A source said 15 worshippers died on the spot; one died in the hospital.
“As I am talking to you now, we have just counted 16 bodies. No fewer than nine others have been rushed to the Okene General Hospital Okene,” the source said.
Among the dead was the local government area Pastor, according to a source who spoke in Lagos where news of the incident sent members into a shock.
One of the injured is the Dean of Student Affairs of the FCE.
The attack came two weeks after an account officer with FCE, Okene was abducted from his home and murdered. An attack on the Living Faith Church on Lagos Road in Okene was last month repelled by security operatives who stopped an explosive-laden vehicle parked by road side.
Kogi Police spokesman Simon Ile, who confirmed the incident, said he was yet to get details of the incident.
He declined to speak on the number of casualties. He said the command was awaiting reports from the divisional police officer in charge of the area.
Ile said the police would go after the perpetrators of the dastardly act and bring them to justice.
The Commander of Army Headquarters Task Force, Lt Colonel Gabriel Olorunyomi, also confirmed the incident. He said: “Unknown gunmen invaded the Deeper Life Church this night (Monday) during a worship service and opened fire at the worshippers.”
He said 15 people died instantly while the 16th person died in the hospital.
The Military Joint Task Force cordoned off the area.
It could not be immediately ascertained how many worshippers were in the church at the time of the attack.
Gunmen believed to be members of Boko Haram struck again in Sokoto State yesterday.
They bombed a police station in Shagari Village about 70 kilometres to Sokoto, the state capital.
Shagari is the home town of Second Republic President Shehu Shagari. The police station that was attacked is a few metres away from his home.
A police source said the attackers came on a motorbike and tossed dynamites at the police outpost while firing at the policemen on duty.
Sokoto, the seat of the Caliphate, was attacked last week.
Boko Haram, the violent Islamist sect, yesterday claimed responsibility for Sunday’s killing of six soldiers and two civilians in Damturu, the Yobe State capital.
The group said it was responsible for other weekend attacks in the Northeast.
Also on Sunday night, four people were killed in their homes by suspected Boko Haram members in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, as the Joint Task Force (JTF) alerted the public to an impending series of suicide bombings in the city.
In an email statement attributed to a Boko Haram (Wester Education is a sin) spokesman and obtained by The Associated Press yesterday, the group said “One of (their) fighters” caused an explosion Sunday in Damaturu.
Police say six soldiers and two civilians were killed in the blast.
The statement also claimed responsibility for two other attacks in two other northeast cities. It was not immediately clear which attacks it was referring to.
The statement comes after an Internet video featuring the sect’s leader was posted on YouTube on Saturday.
Boko Haram is held responsible for more than 660 deaths this year alone according to an AP count.
Apart from Sunday’s attack in Damaturu, the Emir of Fika was attacked on Friday in a suicide bid but he escaped. His orderly died
A former Commissioner for the Environment in Borno State Alhaji Abdulkadir Kaasa, was shot dead in his home in Maiduguri on Sunday.
Two of the victims of Sunday night killings in Maiduguri were residents of Lawan Bukar, where Alhaji Fannami Gubio, the original candidate of the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) in the governorship election in 2011 was killed.
Another victim was killed in the Railway Quarters, where the headquarters of the sect was located before the 2009 clampdown. It was there that its leader Mohammed Yusuf was killed by security operatives alongside dozens of his followers.
One other person was killed at Gamboru Ward. The killing caused apprehension among residents of the town.
Though there was no official confirmation at press time, a military source who spoke anonymously told reporters that the military had intensified efforts at getting the culprits.
The JTF yesterday alerted the public to the plan of the sect to undertake massive snatching of vehicles in Maiduguri and environs which they will later use for suicide missions.
The vehicles, according to the task force, would be laden with explosives and used to bomb strategic locations and cause breach of the peace in the town. The statement signed by the task force field operations officer, Col. Victor Ebhaleme reads: “The JTF wishes to alert members of the public of the desperate moves by Boko Haram terrorists to steal/ snatch vehicles for suicide bombings.”
He urged those whose vehicles have been stolen to immediately report the theft to the nearest police station or to the JTF. He warned that anyone who failed to report and his vehicle is used as a courier of bombs would be treated as an accomplice of the sect.
Culled: The Nation
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SSS Parades Olaitan Oyerinde's "Killers" In Abuja.
Nigerian secret police has paraded a bunch of persons suspected of assasinating Olaitan Oyerinde, the Principal Private Secreatry to Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo state. The suspects were paraded at the Abuja headquarters of the SSS earlier today.
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Dana crash: Pathologist says most victims died of smoke inhalation.
The Chief Medical Examiner of Lagos State and a consultant forensic pathologist, Prof. John Oladapo Obafunwa has informed the Coroner of Alimosho District in Lagos state, Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe, that the result of the DNA tests on the bodies of some of the crash victims will be ready next week.
Prof Obafunwa gave this information while testifying at the inquest on Wednesday.
According to him the chemical analysis of the samples and tissues taken from the bodies of the victims is almost concluded.
The witness further said, there are reasons to believe that some victims of the crash were alive in the fire. He said most of the victims had died from smoke inhalation.
“They must have been alive to inhale the smoke,” Prof Obafunwa said.
He stated that there was a remote possibility that such victims would have made it, depending on the degree of injuries sustained.
While being cross-examined in an intense, but somber session, the pathologist identified the major cause of death of the crash victims as multiple injuries.
He said that multiple injuries roughly caused about 60 percent of the deaths, and that a combination of multiple injuries and smoke inhalation was responsible for 30 percent, while the remainder “ranged from purely smoke inhalation to just occasional fractures.”
The witness further stated that at the moment, the pathology department was doing a final editing of post-mortem reports and ‘’I am expecting that the DNA results will be finalised next week.
He said ‘’I will say we have completed our job on the average 80 per cent of the job is ready.’’
Prof Obafunwa, while been led in evidence by, a counsel from the state’s Ministry of Justice, Akingbolahan Adeniran, said that when the body bags containing the remains of the victims were opened at the morgue, some of them contained only bone fragments while some still had body parts.
He also told Magistrate Komolafe that the pathology department was able to identify about 152 bodies, either complete or partially.
Prof Obafunwa pointed out that 60 per cent of the crash victims had multiple injuries while about 20 per cent had multiple injuries and smoke inhalation.
According to him, ‘’fifty bodies were fairly complete; about 100 victims were burnt while there were also charred bodies. There are bodies with recognisable heads and some their limbs are chopped off. ‘’
Prof Obafunwa, while being questioned by some lawyers suggested that the Federal Government should set up a Mass Disaster Committee comprising all the various rescue agencies in the country.
He said by so doing, the body would be able to mitigate future disasters in the country.
During the day’s proceedings an official of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Adebiyi Babatunde Razaq, told the coroner that the agency has only one rescue plane domiciled in Abuja.
Razaq, who is an Assistant Zonal Coordinator of NEMA in South-West, also informed the coroner that the large crowd, lack of easy access and the raging fire were some of the challenges the agency confronted in its efforts at rescuing the victims of the crash.
“We have challenges in getting access to the crash site. The road was narrow. We had to enter through the rail lines. The crowd and the road access were the challenges we faced. The equipment we brought could also not get to the crash site,” Razaq stated.
In his own testimony, a police detective, Obono Ubi, faulted the claim that fire fighters got to the scene of Dana plane crash on time.
Ubi, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), attached to Area G command, Ogba, Lagos, said fire fighters did not get to the crash site until two hours after the incident.
He also faulted the claim that the explosion that greeted the crash was extinguished within 15 minutes, saying it took about four hours before the fire could be doused.
Ubi, who said he got to the scene of the crash at 3.50p.m, told the coroner that the casualty figure could have been averted if the police have fire-fighting equipment as they got information on the crash earlier than any other response agency.
“For over one hour, nobody could penetrate the fire. If fire brigade was under police custody and we have fire-fighting equipment, we could have acted faster. It was not until after two hours that the fire fighters came,” Ubi said.
A mild drama was however, introduced into the inquest, as a police officer, Mr. Olusola Agoyi was reprimanded for lying on oath.
Agoyi, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) and second-in-command at the state Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti, had told the court the disposition he signed and presented to the inquest was not written by him.
The coroner had asked Agoyi to read his disposition, which contradicted his oral evidence that he was sent to the scene of the crash only to observe and not to investigate while in his disposition he said he was sent there to investigate.
“I did not write this. The lawyer did. That is the truth,” he said.
But the coroner fumed saying he had lied on oath as that was not what he disposed to before the Commissioner for Oath.
The inquest continues on Thursday July 26, 2012.
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Sun Newspaper editor, Steve Nwosu shot by bandits.
Armed bandits today in Lagos shot a newspaper editor, Steve Nwosu. Sources disclosed that Mr.Nwosu,the editor of Sun Newspapers in Nigeria was shot while coming from Zenith Bank in Maza Maza area in Lagos.It was gathered that the bandits robbed him of the money he went to withdraw from the bank this afternoon. The criminals operated on motorcycle and vanished within minutes.
Latest reports show that Nwosu survived the gun shots as he was immediately rushed to the hospital for prompt medical attention after the unfortunate incident. Nwosu has been working with The Sun for many years now.
He writes an incisive column on social and political matters. He has also won several awards for his media work.
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Twitter Works With NBC to Take on Olympic Games
Twitter is teaming with NBC to make it easier for users to take in all the tweets about the upcoming Olympic Games.
NBC Olympics , an arm of the NBC Sports Group, announced this week that Twitter
will gather tweets about the London 2012 Olympic Games from
participating athletes and their families, NBC journalists and
commenters, and fans. The aggregated tweets will be presented on a
specially designed Olympics event page on Twitter.com. ( Twitter.com/#Olympics)The Olympics page will serve as Twitter's home for news and information about the games in the U.S..
Social networks -- especially the major players like Twitter, Facebook and Google+ -- are expected to light up with traffic the moment the games begin as users post comments about the opening and closing ceremonies, cheer on their favorite athletes and teams and post photos and video. Users also are expected to turn to their favorite social networks more than ever when they want news about the games.
While NBC will promote the special Twitter page during its on-air coverage of the games, Twitter also will relaunch its NBC Olympic Twitter Tracker, a real-time visual map of the top trending topics about the Olympic games. The tracker will be set up on NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Olympics smartphone and tablet apps.
"Twitter has become the roar of the crowd during live sporting events," said Chloe Sladden, Twitter's vice president of media. "Partnering with NBC Olympics to create Twitter.com/#Olympics allows us to now shine a spotlight on the best moments within the shared experience of the Olympics and to tell the stories that capture the world's attention."
Dan Olds, an analyst with The Gabriel Consulting Group, said Twitter is smart to get in on such a popular worldwide event that should help to pull in people who may have never tried the micro-blogging site.
"I
think Twitter sees the Olympics and the NBC tie-in as a way to bring
non-Twitter users into the fold, or the Twitter.om," added Olds.
"They're hoping that folks who are highly interested in particular
competitions or athletes will tune into Twitter in order to get more and
deeper info. The hope is that once these people get involved with
Twitter, they'll find there is a thriving community of like-minded
people who are nuts for, say, rhythmic gymnastics."While it may be good marketing, the question is whether this is a move that could help Twitter bring in revenue.
"Twitter is taking a shot at adding to its active user base, which, if successful, will allow them to charge more for ads and appeal to different advertisers," Olds said.
Sharon Gaudin covers the Internet and Web 2.0, emerging technologies, and desktop and laptop chips for Computerworld
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Soldiers Go Wild In Lagos After Fashola’s ‘Humiliation’ Of Colonel
Soldiers went wild yesterday and attacked officers of the Lagos State Taskforce on Environmental and Special Offences (Enforcement) Unit at Yaba area of Lagos, Southwest Nigeria.
This might not be unconnected with the ‘humiliation’ of an Army Colonel by Governor Babatunde Fashola on Tuesday for driving on BRT lane.
The soldiers attacked the taskforce officials with bottles and stones and used knife to puncture two tyres of the Black Maria used in conveying offenders.
Trouble started on Murtala Muhammed Way, Yaba close to an Army barracks when the taskforce officials, who were on patrol to ensure smooth flow of traffic, spotted a commuter bus parked in the middle of the road and obstructing traffic.
The tasforce officials were said to have accosted the driver but a soldier who was sitting in the bus collected the key from the driver to prevent the taskforce officials from taking the bus away.
The soldier was said to have called for reinforcement from the 81 Division barracks and within minutes, several soldiers trooped out from the barracks and began to haul stones and other dangerous missiles at the taskforce officials.
Some of the soldiers were said to be making unsavoury remarks about the governor for daring to arrest and humiliate an Army Colonel on Tuesday and decided to vent their anger on the taskforce officials.
As the situation worsened, the taskforce also called for a reinforcement.
It was in the heat of the clash that the tyres of the Black Maria were torn with knife and deflated.
An eye witness said a top military officer, a Lieutenant, allegedly ordered his boys to abduct some of the taskforce officials and take them to the barracks.
Calm was restored when a senior taskforce official intervened and asked his boys to beat a retreat.
Taskforce Chairman, Bayo Sulaiman confirmed the attack on his men and described it as an affront on the state government for soldiers to vandalise government vehicle.
He said it was wrong for soldiers to attack taskforce officials on legitimate duty with stones and other dangerous weapons.
Source: PM News.
—Kazeem Ugbodaga
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Another Bomb Blast In Kaduna Kills Pregnant Woman And 9 Others.
A group suspected be islamist militants reportedly arrived the scene on motorbikes and threw bombs into the crowded spare parts market, the bombs exploded killing 10 people and injuring several others.
Human flesh and bones were seen scattered all over the bomb scene.
Pics from the scene
Police Kill Seven Alleged Kidnappers In Akwa Ibom (Nigeria)
Policemen in the Eket Division in Akwa Ibom State today shot and killed seven kidnap suspects in circumstances that remain unclear, according to our sources.
"It is shocking and cruel that the police would execute people without properly handing them over for prosecution, and then create a mindless exhibition of their bodies,” said a human rights lawyer in Akwa Ibom. He added that, unless citizens recognized the dangers of such jungle justice, the police could easily kill innocent people by tagging them kidnappers.
Battling near-freezing temperatures and darkness, rescue workers and residents in eastern Turkey early Monday scoured the wreckage wrought by the country's most-powerful earthquake in more than a decade, hoping to find survivors.
They used flashlights, shovels, heavy machinery and their hands to lift the debris, and climbed over collapsed buildings in search of victims.
At least 217 people were killed in Sunday's quake, said Turkish Interior Minister Idris Naim Sahin, the Anatolian news agency reported Monday. The previous official toll was 138.
Another 350 people were injured in the quake, which the U.S. Geological Survey said had a magnitude of 7.2.
Roughly 20 aftershocks rattled eastern Turkey in one of the nation's poorest areas. The largest had a magnitude of 6.0.
One hundred people were killed in Van, while 117 were killed in Ercis, said Sahin, the Anatolian news agency reported. It also said that schools will be closed for a week in Van.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters the death toll is likely to climb, as rescue teams work through the night to save people still trapped in the rubble.
The prime minister said 55 buildings collapsed in Ercis on the north shore of Lake Van, while the Turkish Red Crescent had said earlier that some 25 apartment buildings and a student dormitory collapsed in the town.
Local rescuers took many wounded people out of the dormitory, a Red Crescent statement said, without saying exactly how many.
A health services building also collapsed, along with part of a hospital, CNN sister network CNN Turk reported. The injured were being treated in the hospital's garden.
Rescuers assist a man trapped beneath a collapsed building minutes before his death on Sunday
She said many residents are not returning to their houses, but sleeping on rooftops or in the streets. It was not clear whether their homes were uninhabitable, or whether they were just too frightened. Electricity and natural gas were off in most of the city.
Speaking from Van, Mengu said the death toll is almost sure to rise, as rescue teams have not yet reached some of the smaller villages. Trucks carrying medical aid and food were seen driving into Van.
Official rescue efforts were also under way in Ercis, said CNN Turk reporter Sevda Incesu, but residents were conducting efforts of their own. Ambulances were having trouble getting into town because the roads were littered with debris, she said.
Video footage from the scene showed survivors freed from the rubble being loaded onto stretchers amid a crush of rescue workers and bystanders. Heavy equipment was used to sift through the wreckage, as residents gathered around small fires.
Are you there? Submit your pictures or video
The Red Crescent called for rescue workers, machinery and drinking water. A crisis center was set up by the country's Health Ministry in the Turkish capital, Ankara.
Health Minister Recep Akdag said an air ambulance and several helicopters would go to the quake zone.
Rescue teams of about 500 people were on the ground, according to the crisis center, and additional aid teams were dispatched from 29 surrounding cities. Medical helicopters were transporting the injured to hospitals in other provinces, the center said.
Two tent hospitals were being set up in Ercis, and two cargo planes were dispatched from the capital carrying medical teams and aid.
A seven-story building collapsed on Kazim Karabekir Street in the city of Van, and more buildings were reduced to rubble the village of Tabanli in Van province, the Anatolian news agency said. It was unknown how many people were trapped.
Prime Minister Erdogan and Health Minister Akdag arrived in the area Sunday, according to the Ministry of Health's crisis center.
Israel offered Turkey "any help it may require" after the earthquake, Defense Minister Ehud Barak's office said. Israel and Turkey, once close allies, saw a deterioration in relations in a dispute over an Israeli naval commando raid on the Gaza-bound ship Mavi Marmara, in which nine Turkish activists were killed.
Other nations and organizations offered condolences and assistance to Turkey.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the brave men and women who are working to bring assistance to this stricken region," U.S. President Barack Obama said in a statement. "We stand shoulder to shoulder with our Turkish ally at this difficult time, and are ready to assist the Turkish authorities." U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a similar statement.
A spokesman for the Turkish Foreign Ministry said the country, while grateful for offers of aid, is prepared to handle the disaster on its own.
Turkey is "no stranger to having these seismic events," but Sunday's quake is considered major, CNN Meteorologist Reynolds Wolf reported.
A magnitude 7.6 earthquake in Izmit, Turkey, killed more than 17,000 people in 1999, according to the USGS. A magnitude 7.2 tremor in Duzce the same year killed 894 people, the USGS reported.
Sunday's major quake hit at 1:41 p.m. local time.
It took place about 12 miles from Van, the USGS said.
The USGS reported a depth of 4.5 miles, or 7.2 kilometers; the center in Turkey said the quake was about 3 miles, or 5 kilometers, deep.
News agency DHA broadcasts dramatic video of a woman rescued from a destroyed building following an earthquake in Turkey.
THE GADDAFI THEY ARE NOT TELLING US ABOUT.............................................
The media has successfully painted Gaddafi as a hard-core dictator, tyrant whatever you want to call him. However, the media as usual has also failed to show the kind, giving Gaddafi we never heard of. Gaddafi unlike most dictators I will refrain from naming them has managed to show his humane side, the very side we dream of seeing in other dictators who just talk and talk.
I consider Libyans lucky to a certain extent and one wonders with the new democratic rule they cry for will it improve or worsen life for them. Yes, Gaddafi has spent millions of Libya`s money on personal ventures but is the average Libyan poor? We know others who take a country and destroy it until you feel like there is no hope of restoring this country… looting some prefer to call it. Did Gaddafi loot Libya in any way?
Now let us get to the unknown facts about the Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi:
1. There is no electricity bill in Libya; electricity is free for all its citizens.
2. There is no interest on loans, banks in Libya are state-owned and loans given to all its citizens at 0% interest by law.
3. Home considered a human right in Libya – Gaddafi vowed that his parents would not get a house until everyone in Libya had a home. Gaddafi’s father has died while him, his wife and his mother are still living in a tent.
4. All newlyweds in Libya receive $60,000 Dinar (US$50,000) by the government to buy their first apartment so to help start up the family.
5. Education and medical treatments are free in Libya. Before Gaddafi only 25% of Libyans are literate. Today the figure is 83%.
6. Should Libyans want to take up farming career, they would receive farming land, a farming house, equipments, seeds and livestock to kick-start their farms – all for free.
7. If Libyans cannot find the education or medical facilities they need in Libya, the government funds them to go abroad for it – not only free but they get US$2,300/mth accommodation and car allowance.8. In Libyan, if a Libyan buys a car, the government subsidized 50% of the price.
9. The price of petrol in Libya is $0.14 per liter.
10. Libya has no external debt and its reserves amount to $150 billion – now frozen globally
11. If a Libyan is unable to get employment after graduation the state would pay the average salary of the profession as if he or she is employed until employment is found.
12. A portion of Libyan oil sale is, credited directly to the bank accounts of all Libyan citizens.
13. A mother who gave birth to a child receive US$5,000
14. 40 loaves of bread in Libya costs $ 0.15
15. 25% of Libyans have a university degree
16. Gaddafi carried out the world’s largest irrigation project, known as the Great Man-Made River project, to make water readily available throughout the desert country.
Which other dictator has done much good to his people besides.
VIDEO: Gaddafi Dead Body Lies On The Streets of Sirte-Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera has acquired exclusive footage of the body of Muammar Gaddafi after he was killed in his hometown, Sirte. Abdul Hafiz Ghoga, vice chairman of Libya's National Transitional Council, confirmed that the ousted leader had been killed on October 20, 2011 near Sirte. "We announce to the world that Muammar Gaddafi has been killed at the hands of the revolutionaries," Ghoga told a news conference in Benghazi. The news came shortly after the NTC captured Sirte after weeks of fighting.
Muammar Gaddafi, who ruled Libya with an iron fist for 42 years, was killed today as rebel troops overran the last pockets of loyalist resistance in his home-town Sirte.
Gruesome images of a blood-stained man thought to be Gaddafi being dragged through the streets of Sirte were shown on Libyan television. Some of the images suggested he was alive when captured.
It is understood that his body was later moved to a mosque in the town of Misrata, scene of some of the fiercest fighting earlier in the rebellion which ousted him from power.
Gaddafi's death was announced by the Prime Minister of the country's National Transitional Council (NTC) government Mahmoud Jibril, who told a press conference in capital Tripoli: "We have been waiting for this moment for a long time. Muammar Gaddafi has been killed."
In London, David Cameron said it was a moment to remember his many victims, including those who died when Pan-Am flight 103 was blown up over Lockerbie in 1988, Wpc Yvonne Fletcher, who was gunned down outside the Libyan embassy in 1984, and those killed by the IRA using Semtex explosives supplied by Gaddafi
In a statement notably free of any hint of triumphalism, the Prime Minister said he was "proud" of the role Britain played in helping the Libyan people liberate their country.
Speaking outside 10 Downing Street minutes after Mr Jibril confirmed Gaddafi's death, Mr Cameron said: "People in Libya today have an even greater chance, after this news, of building themselves a strong and democratic future.
"I'm proud of the role that Britain has played in helping them to bring that about and I pay tribute to the bravery of the Libyans who have helped to liberate their country.
"We will help them, we will work with them, and that is what I want to say today."
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said today marked "an historic transition for Libya" and called on combatants on all sides to lay down their arms.
The European Union called for the NTC to pursue "a broad-based reconciliation process which reaches out to all Libyans and enables a democratic, peaceful and transparent transition".
NTC officials said that Gaddafi died when he was shot in the head and legs after trying to flee Sirte in a convoy which was targeted by Nato warplanes.
However the precise details of how he met his death remained shrouded in uncertainty.
There were reports that the 69-year-old, who ruled Libya as his personal fiefdom for more than four decades, may have been found cowering in a concrete pipe and begged not to be shot when found by NTC troops.
The Ministry of Defence confirmed that Nato warplanes this morning attacked a convoy fleeing Sirte, though it is not known whether Gaddafi was in any of the vehicles.
"It was targeted on the basis that this was the last of the pro-Gaddafi forces fleeing Sirte," a spokesman said.
RAF fighters were not involved in the attack, although RAF reconnaissance aircraft were in the area.
Britain has played a prominent role in the Nato-led international military effort to protect Libyan civilians under the terms of a UN resolution passed in March, following the outbreak of the uprising against Gaddafi the month before.
But Downing Street played down any suggestion of UK military involvement in the fugitive dictator's death.
There were scenes of wild jubilation in Sirte, which had been under siege for the past two months as final pockets of Gaddafi loyalists held out against the NTC forces.
The end came in a couple of hours of fierce gun battles believed to have left many Gaddafi fighters dead, possibly including the head of the former regime's armed forces, Abu Bakr Younus Jabr.
Gaddafi's son and anointed heir Saif al-Islam was reported to have escaped Sirte into the desert. Mr Jibril said a convoy believed to be carrying Saif has come under attack from NTC forces.
In London, Libyan expatriates gathered outside their country's embassy to celebrate.
Charge d'affaires Mahmud Nacua hailed "a glorious and momentous victory against the tyranny of Muammar Gaddafi, his sons and cronies".
"The Libyan freedom fighters have finally succeeded in drawing the curtain on Gaddafi crimes," said Mr Nacua.
"Their brave actions have spared Libya and the world from any further suffering of his evils. Today Libya's future begins. Gaddafi's black era has come to an end forever."
Labour leader Ed Miliband said: "I pay tribute to the Libyan people for standing up to the former regime and seeking to define their own democratic destiny. We should be proud of the support that our armed forces have given to that cause.
"Britain should stand ready to continue to help the National Transitional Council as it seeks to improve economic and social conditions, ensure order and prepare for elections.
THE UNKNOWN FACTS ABOUT THE LIBYAN DICTATOR MUAMMAR GADDAFI:
1. There is no electricity bill in Libya; electricity is free for all its citizens.
2. There is no interest on loans, banks in Libya are state-owned and loans given to all its citizens at 0% interest by law.
3. Home considered a human right in Libya – Gaddafi vowed that his parents would not get a house until everyone in Libya had a home. Gaddafi’s father has died while him, his wife and his mother are still living in a tent.
4. All newlyweds in Libya receive $60,000 Dinar (US$50,000) by the government to buy their first apartment so to help start up the family.
5. Education and medical treatments are free in Libya. Before Gaddafi only 25% of Libyans were literate. Today the figure is 83%.
6. Should Libyans want to take up farming career, they would receive farming land, a farming house, equipments, seeds and livestock to kick-start their farms – all for free.
7. If Libyans cannot find the education or medical facilities they need in Libya, the government funds them to go abroad for it – not only free but they get US$2,300/mth accommodation and car allowance.
8. In Libyan, if a Libyan buys a car, the government subsidized 50% of the price.
9. The price of petrol in Libya is $0.14 per liter.
10. Libya has no external debt and its reserves amount to $150 billion – now frozen globally.
11. If a Libyan is unable to get employment after graduation the state would pay the average salary of the profession as if he or she is employed until employment is found.
12. A portion of Libyan oil sale is, credited directly to the bank accounts of all Libyan citizens.
13. A mother who gave birth to a child receive US$5,000
14. 40 loaves of bread in Libya costs $ 0.15
15. 25% of Libyans have a university degree
16. Gaddafi carried out the world’s largest irrigation project, known as the Great Man-Made River project, to make water readily available throughout the desert country.
Which other dictator has done much good to his people?
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