How widow, five kids escape death
Call
in a miracle: A widow who is mother of five children, Mrs. Helen Ugochukwu,
yesterday recounted how the family escaped possible death from last Sunday’s
bomb blast by Boko Haram in Kaduna. No fewer than 40 people died in the early
Easter Sunday attack targetted at worshippers.
Another suvivor, Abubakari Zakari, 32, who operates commercial motocycle, popularly called Okada, told Daily Sun, how he hid behind bags of tile in front of Mrs. Ugochukwu’s life to remain alive.
Mrs. Ugochukwu sells broken tiles, about a metre a way from the scene of the blast.
She had just returned from the church on this fateful Sunday, and decided to pass through the shop, probably to check her wares. She was still inside the car she drove to the shop, receiving a phone call, when she saw a thick cloud and fire burning towards her.
Confused about the situation, the five children jumped out of the car, one after the other, leaving their mother and another small baby, both of whom could not find their way out of the car, until help came from a Good Samaritan, who rescued them. This is Mrs. Ugochukwu’s story, as told by her yesterday afternoon, when Daily Sun visited her shop.
She said that while she remained in the vehicle, her other kids who had escaped, were already wailing, shouting: “Our mother, our mother. I met them crying. Probably they thought I was dead. But when they saw me, they rushed towards me, and hugged me.
“The moment they saw me, one of my sons, shouted: “My back, my back.’ We rushed towards him, and saw blood gushing out from his back. He was already collapsing, when we rushed him to the hospital. I think he was hit by shattered glasses. But I thank God that we all survived it because as you can see, we are very close to where it happened. And several people closed to where our car was parked, did not survive it. We give thanks to God,” she said.
Also speaking, one of the Okada riders, Zakari, who watched the incident, told Daily Sun yesterday in Kaduna at the scene of the event that he survived by hiding behind the bags of broken tiles, arranged in front of Mrs. Ugochukwu’s shop.
Zakari, who spoke in Hausa said initially, he hanged around ‘mai masa (a woman who sells an Hausa delicacy, made from rice or maize),’ whom incidentally died in the blast, when he suddenly decided to join others packing bags of the broken tiles-terrazzo.
He was still there, when he heard the blast, and he quickly went behind the bags of the broken tiles. This singular action, according to him, was what saved him from being a victim of the blast.
The Okada rider, who insisted that contrary to the figure of casualties credited to one of the leaders of the union, those who died could not be up to 100, said that “if you look at the woman’s shop, nothing happened to it, unlike the shops on top of her own, and the ones beside her own, which had their doors and windows shattered. These were the bags (pointing at the bags of broken tiles) that saved me and her shop,” he added.
According to him, “government must be serious about security of lives and properties. All these bombs we are talking about, are they bringing them in through the sea, by air or land? I asked this question because every time, you see them (security operatives) on the road, searching, yet, these things happen. You journalists, please, help us ask the government, because we don’t understand any longer.”
Corroborating Zakari’s claim on the casualty figure, the Public Relations Officer, (PRO) of the Amalgamated Motorcycle Owners and Riders Association of Nigeria (ACOMORAN), Idris Mohammed, told Daily Sun in his office yesterday that although the association was still carrying out census to ascertain the actual number of those that died, it cannot be up to 100, as claimed by some people.
He insisted the number of deaths could be within the region of 20 to 30, even as he disclaimed whoever may have given the100 figure as casualties of members from the office of ACOMORAN.
From Daily Sun observation in the ACOMORAN’s office, some of the leaders of the association, who had briefed journalists on Monday, may have sexed up the number of casualties, for some ulterior gains, as one of the leaders even told this reporter, to disregard what the association’s PRO said, adding that “since the figure had gone out, there is no point contradicting it.”
Daily Sun also witnessed the PRO being challenged by some leaders of the association, for daring to give a true picture of the situation.
Earlier, Mohammed disclosed to Daily Sun that he was part of the rescue team on the day of the blast, adding that “we assisted in removing people from the scene. You know, some of them had their faces burnt beyond recognition, which was why I said, you should please, give us time, so we can give the exact figure.
“But it is a big lie, to say we lost 100 members. It is not true, and I will call all those giving that figure to please, desist. Life is sacred, therefore, we must not play politics or pranks with it, “he added.
Meanwhile, the Kaduna State Government said yesterday that it has taken measures to checkmate recurring bomb blasts.
Making an official pronouncement 72 hours after last Sunday’s blast, the Acting Governor, Alhaji Ramalan Yero, told newsmen that the measures were aimed at securing lives and property of innocent citizen.
Yero urged residents to report any strange persons, objects or suspicious groups or situations that would breach peace in the state to security agencies.
He condoled with the families of the bereaved and other victims of the blast.
The Acting Governor assured the people that the state government would settle all the medical expenses of the injured and provide palliative measures to those that lost property during the attack.
“The State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and the Ministry of Health are on top of the situation through the provision of relief materials to the victims of the blast.”
He, however, called on the people to assist security agencies towards ensuring peace and security in the state through information. He thanked the Press for its support.
Another suvivor, Abubakari Zakari, 32, who operates commercial motocycle, popularly called Okada, told Daily Sun, how he hid behind bags of tile in front of Mrs. Ugochukwu’s life to remain alive.
Mrs. Ugochukwu sells broken tiles, about a metre a way from the scene of the blast.
She had just returned from the church on this fateful Sunday, and decided to pass through the shop, probably to check her wares. She was still inside the car she drove to the shop, receiving a phone call, when she saw a thick cloud and fire burning towards her.
Confused about the situation, the five children jumped out of the car, one after the other, leaving their mother and another small baby, both of whom could not find their way out of the car, until help came from a Good Samaritan, who rescued them. This is Mrs. Ugochukwu’s story, as told by her yesterday afternoon, when Daily Sun visited her shop.
She said that while she remained in the vehicle, her other kids who had escaped, were already wailing, shouting: “Our mother, our mother. I met them crying. Probably they thought I was dead. But when they saw me, they rushed towards me, and hugged me.
“The moment they saw me, one of my sons, shouted: “My back, my back.’ We rushed towards him, and saw blood gushing out from his back. He was already collapsing, when we rushed him to the hospital. I think he was hit by shattered glasses. But I thank God that we all survived it because as you can see, we are very close to where it happened. And several people closed to where our car was parked, did not survive it. We give thanks to God,” she said.
Also speaking, one of the Okada riders, Zakari, who watched the incident, told Daily Sun yesterday in Kaduna at the scene of the event that he survived by hiding behind the bags of broken tiles, arranged in front of Mrs. Ugochukwu’s shop.
Zakari, who spoke in Hausa said initially, he hanged around ‘mai masa (a woman who sells an Hausa delicacy, made from rice or maize),’ whom incidentally died in the blast, when he suddenly decided to join others packing bags of the broken tiles-terrazzo.
He was still there, when he heard the blast, and he quickly went behind the bags of the broken tiles. This singular action, according to him, was what saved him from being a victim of the blast.
The Okada rider, who insisted that contrary to the figure of casualties credited to one of the leaders of the union, those who died could not be up to 100, said that “if you look at the woman’s shop, nothing happened to it, unlike the shops on top of her own, and the ones beside her own, which had their doors and windows shattered. These were the bags (pointing at the bags of broken tiles) that saved me and her shop,” he added.
According to him, “government must be serious about security of lives and properties. All these bombs we are talking about, are they bringing them in through the sea, by air or land? I asked this question because every time, you see them (security operatives) on the road, searching, yet, these things happen. You journalists, please, help us ask the government, because we don’t understand any longer.”
Corroborating Zakari’s claim on the casualty figure, the Public Relations Officer, (PRO) of the Amalgamated Motorcycle Owners and Riders Association of Nigeria (ACOMORAN), Idris Mohammed, told Daily Sun in his office yesterday that although the association was still carrying out census to ascertain the actual number of those that died, it cannot be up to 100, as claimed by some people.
He insisted the number of deaths could be within the region of 20 to 30, even as he disclaimed whoever may have given the100 figure as casualties of members from the office of ACOMORAN.
From Daily Sun observation in the ACOMORAN’s office, some of the leaders of the association, who had briefed journalists on Monday, may have sexed up the number of casualties, for some ulterior gains, as one of the leaders even told this reporter, to disregard what the association’s PRO said, adding that “since the figure had gone out, there is no point contradicting it.”
Daily Sun also witnessed the PRO being challenged by some leaders of the association, for daring to give a true picture of the situation.
Earlier, Mohammed disclosed to Daily Sun that he was part of the rescue team on the day of the blast, adding that “we assisted in removing people from the scene. You know, some of them had their faces burnt beyond recognition, which was why I said, you should please, give us time, so we can give the exact figure.
“But it is a big lie, to say we lost 100 members. It is not true, and I will call all those giving that figure to please, desist. Life is sacred, therefore, we must not play politics or pranks with it, “he added.
Meanwhile, the Kaduna State Government said yesterday that it has taken measures to checkmate recurring bomb blasts.
Making an official pronouncement 72 hours after last Sunday’s blast, the Acting Governor, Alhaji Ramalan Yero, told newsmen that the measures were aimed at securing lives and property of innocent citizen.
Yero urged residents to report any strange persons, objects or suspicious groups or situations that would breach peace in the state to security agencies.
He condoled with the families of the bereaved and other victims of the blast.
The Acting Governor assured the people that the state government would settle all the medical expenses of the injured and provide palliative measures to those that lost property during the attack.
“The State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and the Ministry of Health are on top of the situation through the provision of relief materials to the victims of the blast.”
He, however, called on the people to assist security agencies towards ensuring peace and security in the state through information. He thanked the Press for its support.
Eight more people have been confirmed dead by hospitals in
Kaduna metropolis following the Easter Day bomb blast that claimed scores of
lives. Five of the victims on admission at the St. Gerard Hospital were
confirmed dead by the Public Relations Officer of the hospital, Mr Sunday
Ali.
He said three of the patients had also been referred to the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Shika, leaving only two at the hospital. He said one of the remaining victims had a successful surgery on Monday night.
Officials of Barau Dikko Specialists Hospital also confirmed that three of the eight victims on admission at the hospital had lost their lives.
The figure raised the death toll to 24, after the 16 confirmed killed on the day of the incident by the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA). The Police are, however, claiming that only 11 people were killed in the explosion.
Meanwhile, the victims are still waiting for the assistance promised them by the Acting Governor of the state, Alhaji Ramalan Yero, during his visit to hospitals where the victims are receiving treatment.
Relations of some of the victims urged the state government to take over the payment of the medical bills of all those affected by the blast.
“Nobody assisted us with anything since their admittance to the hospital,’’ one of the relations, Mai Unguwa Ali said.
Ali, whose brother, Mansur Ali, a commercial motorcyclist, was a victim, said he paid for the drugs and other medical charges.
“I found it difficult to pay for the treatment due to the nature of the injury,’’ Ali said.
Another relation, Ubale Awwal, said his brother, Nura Leko, a student, sustained injuries on his leg and parts of the body during the incident.
“I need help for his treatment. I was not happy with government response to the victims’ treatment,’’ he said.
The Senior Special Assistant to the governor on Media, Mr Rueben Buhari, assured that the government would refund the medical bills incurred by the victims.
He said the government was still compiling the list of those affected and the hospitals they were admitted, for easy handling of the payments.
He said three of the patients had also been referred to the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Shika, leaving only two at the hospital. He said one of the remaining victims had a successful surgery on Monday night.
Officials of Barau Dikko Specialists Hospital also confirmed that three of the eight victims on admission at the hospital had lost their lives.
The figure raised the death toll to 24, after the 16 confirmed killed on the day of the incident by the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA). The Police are, however, claiming that only 11 people were killed in the explosion.
Meanwhile, the victims are still waiting for the assistance promised them by the Acting Governor of the state, Alhaji Ramalan Yero, during his visit to hospitals where the victims are receiving treatment.
Relations of some of the victims urged the state government to take over the payment of the medical bills of all those affected by the blast.
“Nobody assisted us with anything since their admittance to the hospital,’’ one of the relations, Mai Unguwa Ali said.
Ali, whose brother, Mansur Ali, a commercial motorcyclist, was a victim, said he paid for the drugs and other medical charges.
“I found it difficult to pay for the treatment due to the nature of the injury,’’ Ali said.
Another relation, Ubale Awwal, said his brother, Nura Leko, a student, sustained injuries on his leg and parts of the body during the incident.
“I need help for his treatment. I was not happy with government response to the victims’ treatment,’’ he said.
The Senior Special Assistant to the governor on Media, Mr Rueben Buhari, assured that the government would refund the medical bills incurred by the victims.
He said the government was still compiling the list of those affected and the hospitals they were admitted, for easy handling of the payments.
How 3rd term for Obasanjo came up, by Senator Hambagda
Senator Omar Hambagda, who chaired a
subcommittee of the National Assembly constitution review panel in 2005-2006,
yesterday gave a vivid account of how the controversial proposal for a third
presidential term came up during the work of his team and of the main committee
headed by Senator Ibrahim Mantu.
On Sunday, Mantu told Daily Trust
that Hambagda’s subcommittee initiated the third term clause, which would have
given former president Olusegun Obasanjo a chance to run for a third term in
2007.
Mantu spoke in response to
accusations that he was the brains behind the third term proposal, coming after
Obasanjo said on Channels TV that the National Assembly initiated the idea.
Speaking to Daily Trust in Abuja
yesterday, Hambagda explained the circumstances that led to the third term idea
originating from his subcommittee but said he was not responsible for the later
decision taken by the lager panel under Mantu.
He said his team made three
recommendations to the Mantu committee, namely three terms of four years, two
terms of five years and two terms of four years (status quo). He said the three
proposals were forwarded to the main committee because there was no consensus
on any of them in his subcommittee.
“The sub-committee on the executive
which I chaired comprised 15 people. And at that meeting, 12 of us where
present. We had all the items under the executive section of the constitution
on the agenda and we had to take decision on each one of them. The caveat was
that we had to be unanimous on any recommendation before we would submit that
recommendation. And so we started,” Hambagda said.
“When we came to the subject of
tenure, one member suggested maintaining the status quo, that is two terms of
four years and one person supported him. Another person suggested three terms
of four years and…six people supported him, making it 7.
“And at a point I expressed shock
and one member who supported the two terms of four years beckoned me to take it
easy, and I did. Then another member suggested two terms of five years, and one
person supported him.
“So what we had were three
recommendations. One, two terms of four years with two supporters; two, three
terms of four years with 7 supporters and two terms of five years with two
supporters. That made 11.
“I was the chairman so I didn’t
vote. So we decided that since we were not unanimous on anyone of it, our
number was too small for us to go by majority, so we decided to submit all the
three recommendations to the bigger committee that had 84 members. And also we
eventually had to go to public hearing. So that’s how the three terms came.
Three terms was only one of three recommendations from the subcommittee to the
main committee which was chaired by Senator Ibrahim Mantu.”
According to him, when the matter
reached the main committee, it ceased to be within the domain of his
subcommittee and the main committee chaired by Mantu continued to deliberate on
that.
He said no one ever approached him
over any the three recommendations. “A member made a recommendation and
democracy means that people should say their voice, no matter how bizarre you
have to attend to it, especially under the circumstances,” he said.
Hambagda denied insinuations that he
was bribed to help push through the agenda. “If nobody ever approached me, then
who paid me?” he asked. He however added that the committee did nothing wrong
because it acted in accordance with democratic principles.
Hambagda also said the tenure issue
was not recommended in a vacuum as it was recommended alongside suggested
constitutional provision for rotation, which would last 60 years, by which time
Nigeria would have become a nation where every part of the country would have
had a test of the presidency.
He blamed Mantu for wasting the
resources voted to the project when he rejected advice to prepare six draft
bills reflecting the assignments given to the six subcommittees and opted for a
single bill which was truncated because of the third term controversy.
“Now we threw out everything and we
had to go through this PDP constitution on rotation. That didn’t help the
country. It created bad blood. But if something was in the federal constitution
there would have been no question of debate,” he said.
But Hambagda said none of the three
recommendations proposed by his committee actually reflected his personal
thinking because he was more at home with a single term of either six or seven
years, which the Nigerian media had already singled out for a special
condemnation.
Hambagda said this was why he
avoided suggesting that, and allowed democracy to prevail in the
recommendations presented by other members.
When asked whether he sensed any
motive when Mantu failed to agree to the advice to prepare six bills, he said:
“No I didn’t sense any motive. The leadership of the Senate took the final
decision and I believe he must have had his reasons which he used to convince
them that one bill made more sense.”
On the latest move by the presidency
to reintroduce a bill for a single tenure, Hambagda said it would be OK
provided that the incumbent president would be ready to disqualify himself from
being a beneficiary so as to allay the fears of Nigerians.
Hambagda was served two consecutive
terms as senator from Borno South, elected on the platform of the All Nigeria
Peoples Party (ANPP), between 2003 and 2011.
Release hold on World Bank leadership, Okonjo-Iweala tells US
Nigeria’s
Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Min-ister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala, has called on the United States to relinguish long tradition of
an American always heading the World Bank.
Speaking
on Monday after a “marathon” three-and-a-half-hour interview by the World Bank
board, Okonjo-Iweala, a nominee for the bank’s presidency, said the decision on
who leads the global development institution should go to the candidate with
the best skills for the job.
Okonjo-Iweala,
during the interview with the board, said she did not ask for the support of
countries but pressed them to ensure that the selection process was open and
merit-based, according to a report by Bloomberg.
Under
an informal agreement between the United States and Europe, an American has
always headed the World Bank and a European has led the International Monetary
Fund since their inception after the World War 11.
Rising
economic powers such as China, India and Brazil have called for an end to the
longstanding tradition and are demanding more influence in global finance
institutions, Bloomberg added.
Okonjo-Iweala,
who left a top post at the World Bank last year for a second stint as Nigeria’s
finance minister, is up against former Colombian finance minister Jose Antonio
Ocampo and US nominee Korean-American health expert, Prof. Jim Yong Kim.
Ocampo
was interviewed yesterday while and Kim is set to be interviewed today.
It
is the first time that candidates from developing countries have challenged
Washington for the job and Okonjo-Iweala has gar-nered widespread support from
developing countries and leading voices in the US intelligentsia and the global
financial media.
“Somebody
has to break this agreement Okonjo-Iwea-la said at event hosted by the Centre
for Global Development and Washington Post. “Therefore, who is the leader in
this world? The US is looked on for that leadership,” she added.
According
to Bloomberg, the board is set to decide through consensus on a new
president of the World Bank on April 16. Kim is likely to succeed Robert
Zoellick as World Bank president, given the US large voting bloc and support by
European allies, who command up to 54 percent of the board’s votes.
Okonjo-Iweala
dismissed the argument by some American politicians that the United States
would stop financing the World Bank if a non-American took the reins of the
institution.
The
former Managing Director of the World Bank said she would use her “persuasive
powers” to convince the Congress to keep funds flowing to the World Bank.
“You
cannot look at global governance in the same old way and should recognise the
changing constellation of powers,” Okonjo-Iweala said. “I do not believe that
if we ignore this reality we can really have global governance that works
because these countries will not feel valued in the global system.”
Okonjo-Iweala
said her vision for leading the World Bank was influenced by her own life story
of growing up in a village in Nigeria and her experiences as an international
economist.
“It
is not good enough to say you know about poverty. You have to live it,” she
said. As head of the World Bank, Okonjo-Iweala said she would focus on job
cre-ation, a problem facing both rich and poor countries.
“Across
the globe, policy-makers are grappling with one problem, and that is the
problem of job creation,” she said. “I have yet to meet a single poor person
who did not want the dignity of a job.”
She
said her experience as finance minister and as managing director of the World
Bank gave her unique insight into the complex problems facing emerging market
and de-veloping countries in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
Okonjo-Iweala
said the World Bank should also focus more on helping developing countries
build roads, railway systems and power grids to help their economies grow, and
to invest more in education, health and gender issues.
She
said complex global problems facing developing countries required a World Bank
that could respond quickly and creatively to the needs of the poor.
“We
need a Rolodex of experts that we can call on very fast,” she said. “The bank
needs to be fast in delivering knowledge. Middle-income countries are no longer
willing to wait when they need a question answered.”
While
working at the World Bank, Okonjo-Iweala said she compiled a list of 11 issues
that frustrated her about the institu-tion, which she shared with the board
during her interview on Monday.
On
the list of frustra-tions was the lack of data to make vital decisions on
poverty reduction in low-income countries.
Meanwhile,
Okonjo-Iweala was yesterday selected by the United Nations to participate in a
worldwide effort to address child malnutrition, agency news reported.
Okonjo-Iweala
and 26 other global leaders were picked for the job by UN Secretary-General,
Ban Ki-moon.
According
to an an-nouncement from the UN’s Department of Pub-lic Information yesterday,
Ki-moon appointed 27 in-dividuals, including some heads of state and other
reputable individuals “to focus on improving nutrition as key to progress in
health and development.”
The
group is to repre-sent the many countries, organisations and sectors working to
improve nu-trition, and serve as stra-tegic guides for the global movement,
Scaling Up Nutrition, SUN, which is committed to advancing the strength and
security of nations by improving maternal and child nutrition.
SUN
is a global push for action and invest-ment to improve mater-nal and child
nutrition. “Never before have so many leaders, from so many countries and
fields, agreed to work together to improve nu-trition,” said the UN scribe, as
he explained that “the SUN movement gives all of us, including the UN, an opportunity
to support countries in their ef-forts to end hunger and malnutrition.”
Okonjo-Iweala
will be joining the lead group which includes heads of state from countries
that have prioritized efforts to scale up nutrition, as well as representatives
of the donor, civil society, business and UN system organisations that are
aligning resources to help SUN countries drive progress.
I ‘m not on the run – Sylva
Former Governor Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa
State, yesterday, said he was not on the run from justice as reported by a
section of the media.
Sylva in a statement by his media aide,
Doifie Ola, said he had remained a private citizen since his removal from office
by the Supreme Court and as such has the right to move freely wherever he
wishes.
The former governor who expressed surprise
why his whereabouts had become a subject of conjecture and controversy said he
chose to maintain a low profile as he would not want his security compromised.
The statement reads: “With respect to
insinuations in sections of the media on the whereabouts of Chief Timipre
Sylva, especially since the Abuja High Court granted the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission (EFCC) leave to paste its summons on the gate of his Abuja
residence, we wish to clarify that Sylva is not on the run.
“He is not a fugitive from justice. Since
January 27 when the Supreme Court removed him as Governor of Bayelsa State,
Sylva has been a private citizen. As a private citizen, he has the right to
move freely to wherever he wishes. It is surprising how his whereabouts had
become a subject of conjecture and controversy.
“Sylva is a firm believer in the law and
has been at the forefront of efforts to etch respect for law, rules and
regulations on the national conscience.
“To set the record straight, Sylva has
decided to keep a low profile because he does not want his security to be
compromised. The whole world has been living witness to the brazen disrespect
for our laws which those charged with the maintenance of law and order in the
land have exhibited since the outbreak of their riotous governorship adventure
in Bayelsa State. If those we all should rely on for our security could so
blatantly run riot on our laws and liberties, it is not hard to determine the
extent they can go against the one they have openly declared the target of all
their illicit manoeuvres in the state.
“The charges brought against Sylva by EFCC
are not new. They are charges for which some former and serving officials of
the Bayelsa State Government have already been standing trial since April 2010.
“What the EFCC has done is to simply add
Sylva’s name. Specifically, the suit brought against Sylva by the EFCC involves
N2.45 billion Bayelsa State funds, not N6.450 billion as a section of the media
has reported. This is because charges one, five and six refer to the same
money. This is government money used for government business. Since 2010 when
the matter went to court, no evidence has been produced by the prosecution to
support the claim of money laundering and other financial crimes against any of
the defendants.
“The last time we checked, no agency of
the law has extended any invitation to Sylva, which he did not honour. As far
as we know, he has not been declared wanted by any authority, local or
international.
“Sylva is a believer and advocate of the
rule of law. He is, as usual, undaunted and will face the current onslaught
squarely. Sylva will take the necessary legal steps to discharge the present
canards. We are happy that the Abuja High Court has fixed May 8, 2012 for Sylva
to have his day in court. Our laws are clear that any accused person is
innocent until proved guilty.”
On efforts the EFCC has made to reach the
former governor, the commission’s spokesman, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, said the
matter was already before the court and that as such, he would not comment on
it.
He explained that since the former
governor had been dragged before the court he expected the court to summon him.
Jonathan opens school for Nigeria’s Street kids
President Goodluck Jonathan Tuesday inaugurated the
Almajiri Model Primary School Sokoto, declaring that no nation can attain
greatness if its youths, who are assets of future development, are neglected.
He also stressed the need for communities to participate in government projects to guard against vandalism.
Speaking during the official opening of the first Almajiri Boarding Primary School at Gagi area of Sokoto, Jonathan said the initiative was meant to provide the almajiris with conventional modern skills that would enable them to be productive members of the society.
According to him, the project was meant to change the future of the almajiris and was tailored to be in tune with the technology and knowledge driven world.
He expressed enthusiasm that the nation was recording a milestone “because this is the first model school of its type in the country”.
Jonathan said statistics indicated that there are about 9.5 million almajiris in the country out of which the North-west alone accounts for over 5 million – about 60 per cent of the entire almajiri population.
He said: "We feel that we must modernise the almajiri system. The fact that majority of these children do not attend conventional education makes it worrisome. It was in view of that that I directed the minister of education to design an intervention programme for the Federal Government and states to address the issue," Jonathan said.
He stated that about 35 almajiri schools were being constructed in some states for orphaned and vulnerable children to access basic education.
The president said the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) would monitor the schools to ensure compliance with the minimum academic standards.
He expressed concern at the level of confrontation being faced in some communities by contractors and lauded the Sultan of Sokoto for donating his land for the school.
Jonathan complained that some communities even harass contractors when government wants to site a project there and stressed the need for communities to support programmes of government.
"Government alone cannot provide infrastructure. So, communities must play a role and guard against vandalism of projects," he added.
In his remarks, Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa'ad Abubakar III, said the way the Almajiri Model School project was conceived and executed provides succour and relief to millions who had been left out of the conventional school system.
According to him, the nation could not afford to allow the emergence of unequal societies and the adverse social consequences associated with it.
"We must endeavour to provide fair opportunities toevery child and equip our school age population, to lead productive lives and contribute their quota to national development," he said.
He noted the enormous challenges posed by the almajiri phenomenon, pointing out that the longer government tarry, the more complex the issue becomes.
Also speaking, Sokoto State Governor, Alhaji Aliyu Wamakko, said almajiris constitute a vulnerable group and pose a great challenge in the attainment of education for all and millennium development goals.
He stated that the state government set up an Almajiri Integrated Model School in the state with 800 pupils and expressed government's commitment to sustain the programme.
Wamakko directed local government councils to construct almajiri schools in their areas.
Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqqayatu Ahmed Rufa’i, said the Federal Government would provide funding for the project while state governments would maintain the facilities and pay remuneration of teachers.
She said the 35 almajiri schools under construction consist of 10 boarding schools and 25 day schools under phase one, while UBEC would provide additional 51 schools under phase two.
The Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund, Prof. Mamood Yakubu, said the almajiri school is the best model that has received support from traditional rulers in the North.
The occasion was graced by Governors of Zamfara and Kebbi States, Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari and Alhaji Usman Nasamu Dakingari, as well as former President Shehu Shagari.
Others were Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero; Emir of Zazzau, Alhaji Shehu Idris; Emir of Gwandu, Ilyasu Bashar; and over 30 emirs in the North.
The term “almajiri” usually refers to persons who beg for assistance on the streets or from house to house as a result of some deformity or disability; children who attend informal religious schools and roam the streets seeking assistance or alms; and children who engage in some form of labour to earn a living.
Indicted
Odili To Get 8 Police Security, 2 Houses, Exotic Cars
A law is underway
in Rivers that will grant huge benefits to former governors and their deputies.
Despite being in
hiding from the law by virtue of a controversial court injunction, Peter Odili,
a former Governor of Rivers State, who the EFCC says “misappropriated billions
of naira” while he was governor, is about to be made even richer through a state
legislation.
The proposed
legislation is courtesy of a bill tagged the “Rivers State Public Office
Holders (Payment of Pension) Bill 2012”, which is currently before the Rivers
State House of Assembly. It is meant for the benefit of former governors and their
deputies who completed their term in office.
Should the bill be
passed, Mr. Odili would be given two houses in any area of his choice in Abuja
and Rivers State.
Also, presuming that Mr. Odili acts like the conventional Nigerian politician, he would choose a house in the rich exclusive areas of Maitama or Guzape in Abuja, where a house can cost as much as 400million naira. A similar house in the highbrow GRA area of Port-Harcourt, where Mr. Odili can also choose, costs just under the same amount.
Also, presuming that Mr. Odili acts like the conventional Nigerian politician, he would choose a house in the rich exclusive areas of Maitama or Guzape in Abuja, where a house can cost as much as 400million naira. A similar house in the highbrow GRA area of Port-Harcourt, where Mr. Odili can also choose, costs just under the same amount.
If the
controversial bill is passed, Mr. Odili’s two houses alone, could be enough to
pay the salaries of 3300 Rivers State civil servants for a whole year at the
current minimum wage of N19, 400.
Not just Houses
It is not just
posh houses that the state legislators propose as gifts for Mr. Odili and co.
The former governor would also receive three brand new cars that would be
replaced every three years. Other material benefits include 100 per cent of the
basic salary of the incumbent governor, 300 per cent of basic salary as
furniture allowance, 20 per cent for utilities and 10 per cent for
entertainment.
Aside the
financial benefits that Mr. Odili would be getting, and despite that Nigeria is
heavily under-policed with one police officer to 800 people, Mr. Odili would
get eight police officers for personal and domestic security; another two
officers of the Nigerian secret police, the State Security Service; and
domestic staff including a steward, gardeners, cooks, and drivers to be paid
from the state account.
Hiding from
prosecution
With the fear that
he would be arrested and prosecuted for corruption by the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) after his second and last tenure as
governor, Mr. Odili, in February, 2007, approached the Federal High Court in
Abuja for an injunction restraining the anti-graft commission from arresting
him.
As governor, Mr.
Odili, who is married to a Justice of the Nigerian Supreme Court, Mary Odili,
was granted immunity from arrests or prosecution for any crime; courtesy of
Section 308 of the Nigerian constitution.
On March 23, 2007,
two months before losing his constitutional immunity, the Rivers State
politician got another injunction, this time, a court-granted immunity. Ibrahim
Buba granted Mr. Odili’s prayers, giving him a perpetual injunction from arrest
or prosecution by the EFCC.
The commission had
investigated Mr. Odili and found him culpable for large scale corruption.
According to an interim report by the EFCC, “over 100 billion Naira of Rivers
State funds have been diverted by the Governor, Dr. Odili”.
An EFCC source involved with the investigation told Premium Times that “Odili stole just as much as (James) Ibori [convicted former Governor of Delta State]; he just knows how to play his game by lying low.”
An EFCC source involved with the investigation told Premium Times that “Odili stole just as much as (James) Ibori [convicted former Governor of Delta State]; he just knows how to play his game by lying low.”
The Perpetual
Injunction
Despite the
injunction however, Mr. Odili still feared for his prosecution and so proceeded
to the court again to demand an enforcement of the injunction.
On March 5, 2008,
Mr. Buba, despite EFCC objection, again granted Mr. Odili’s wish. In a landmark
ruling, which was described as bizarre by the Human Rights watch, the court
ruled as follows: “The subsisting judgment of March 2007 by this court is
binding on all parties. Therefore there is a perpetual injunction restraining
the EFCC from arresting, detaining and arraigning Odili on the basis of his
tenure as governor based on the purported investigation.”
Status Unknown
Since that ruling,
the EFCC has been unable to prosecute Mr. Odili. Though the commission said it
would appeal the ruling after several complaints by Nigerians and the
International Community, it is not clear if the commission has done so.
Wilson Uwujaren,
the commission’s spokesman answered our reporter's call and said he would
return the call. He did not do so nor respond to subsequent text messages as at
the time of filing this report.
Speaker
defends bill
Even if Mr. Odili
is eventually convicted of stealing state funds, he would still enjoy the
largesse proposed by the state parliament.
“The bill is for
those Governors and deputy governors who served out their terms without being
impeached,” said Udede Jim-Opiki, the press secretary to the speaker of the
Rivers State House of assembly, Otelemaba Amachree.
When asked if it
was fair for any former governor who is indicted or convicted of corruption to
enjoy such benefits, Mr. Jim-Opiki said “it can be amended and somebody else
can go to court.”
The assembly
speaker’s spokesperson however emphasized repeatedly that “the essence of the
bill is to stop acts of corruption.”
“It is to help
them know that after they leave office, the state will still take care of their
welfare,” he said.
The Nigerian
constitution under Section 124, subsection 5 gives state houses of assembly the
power to make provisions for pension and gratuity of former governors and their
deputies.
It’s Amaechi’s
bill
Though Peter Odili
will be a major beneficiary of this largesse, he did not propose it. The
proposal was done by the incumbent governor, Rotimi Amaechi.
Premium Times
learnt that, Mr. Amaechi, who served as the speaker of the Assembly during the
tenure of Mr. Odili as governor, is hell bent on ensuring the passage of the
bill.
“Governor Amaechi
wants to safeguard his future, he wants to ensure that he still enjoys much of
what he is enjoying now when he leaves office,” a close ally of the governor,
who does not want his name mentioned for fear of losing political patronage,
said.
Mr. Jim -Opiki,
who confirmed that the bill was an executive bill, also stated that the bill
would prevent corruption as “they (Governors and deputies) don’t need to bother
about their hereafter after leaving office.”
Efforts to reach
Mr. Amaechi were unsuccessful as Ibim Semenitari, the state information
commissioner did not answer or return calls made to her telephone.
She also did not respond to text messages. Mrs. Semenitari's father, Gabriel Toby, a former deputy governor of the state, will also benefit from the law.
She also did not respond to text messages. Mrs. Semenitari's father, Gabriel Toby, a former deputy governor of the state, will also benefit from the law.
It is not clear if
Rufus Ada George, who was governor odf the state between 1992 and 1993, would
benefit because his tenure was truncated by the military.
Reps to probe Waziri over allegations of corruption
The
House of Representatives Committee on Drugs, Narcotic and Financial Crimes will
soon probe the tenure of former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission, EFCC, Mrs. Farida Waziri. The committee is also to investigate
compliance with its recent ultimatum to the ex-EFCC boss to return all official
perks assigned to her office. Waziri was sacked late last year in unclear
circumstances after a four-year spell that critics described as unsatisfactory,
especially in the fight against corruption.
The
Chairman of the committee, Hon. Adams Jagaba, told National Mirror in an
exclusive interview yesterday that the former Assistant Inspector-General of
Police had many petitions pending during her tenure at the commission.
Waziri’s
era at the EFCC was replete with several unresolved high profile cases with
only a few convictions, including the trial of the former Speaker of the House
of Representatives, Hon. Dimeji Bankole, and his deputy, Usman Nafada.
They
were, however, freed by the court in what Nigerians considered as a case which
showed insincerity of purpose in the agency’s fight against corruption.
According
to Jagaba: “There are many petitions against Waziri at the moment. My table is
full of all these and we shall soon conduct a public hearing for her to answer
the charges, most of which border on fi-nancial inducement and other serious
allegations of financial misconduct. We will not allow any public official,
whether serving or not, to get away with corruption.
“If
she refuses to honour our invitation, we shall order her arrest immediately. We
won’t condone any excuse from her.”
On
her compliance with the committee’s earlier directive to quit the official
quarters and re-turn all official vehicles in her possession, Jagaba told
National Mirror that although the former boss of the anti-graft agency had
vacated her official quarters, she was still in the possession of an official
bullet-proof jeep.
Jagaba
said: “She has complied with our direc-tive to quit her official quarters and
she has re-turned all vehicles in her care but I was told that she is still
holding on to bullet-proof jeep.
“I
am yet to get the explanation on why she has not. It is a government property
and she has to return it. However, I have not been able to verify this, so I
cannot comment on that, I am still inves-tigating that at the mo-ment.”
The
former EFCC spokesman, Femi Babafemi, told National Mirror that Waziri had
returned all government properties in her care.
“You
know Mrs. Waziri just returned from a trip abroad last week and she has
immediately complied with the directive. This issue was settled last week,” he
said.
However,
when asked about the allegations against the former EFCC boss, Babafemi replied
that “I don’t know any-thing about that and I can-not comment on it. You know,
I now work with a different department and cannot offer any explana-tion on
that issue.”
Oyinlola
spent N450m to pull down hotel – Osun
Osun State Government has accused the Olagunsoye Oyinlola
administration of spending N450m to pull down a state-owned hotel.
Commissioner for Finance, Budget Planning and
Implementation, Dr Wale Bolorunduro, stated this at a news conference in Osogbo
on Tuesday.
The news conference was a reaction to an allegation by the
Osun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, which said the Rauf
Aregbesola administration did not pay workers salary in March.
He said, “The Aregbesola administration is not an
irresponsible government. The people of Osun can attest to the fact that our
administration has never owed civil servants; we pay salary and meet our
obligations at the end of each month.
“It is calamitous that the Osun PDP-led administration that
spent N450m in pulling down a state-owned hotel, which was built by the Isiaka
Adeleke administration and furnished by the Theophilus Bamgboye administration,
can still talk.
“It is in the record books – the contractor who did the
pulling down, the duration of the contract and the amount spent on it. Oyinlola
and members of his cabinet should be languishing behind bars if our anti
corruption crusade is operating fully.”
Bolorunduro recalled that the Oyinlola administration
embarked on white elephant projects of building six stadia while the education,
health, transport and water sectors suffered.
He said, “It’s only a visionless PDP government like that
of Oyinlola that could go cap in hand to borrow N18.38bn and use a chunk of the
money to build stadia when a majority of the people languished in abject
poverty.”
Chairman, Osun PDP, Alhaji Gani Olaoluwa, debunked
the allegation against the Oyinlola government, saying it was high time the
Aregbesola administration concentrated on governance.
He said, “We have heard enough of accusations against
Oyinlola; time is running out on the Aregbesola government. It will be on
record that the ACN government spent four years in criticising the previous
government without achieving anything.”
US Presidency: Santorum Bows To Reality, Drops Out
Rick
Santorum suspended his bid for the presidency on Tuesday, removing the last
significant obstacle in Mitt Romney's now all-but-certain march to the
Republican presidential nomination.
"We made a decision over the weekend that while this presidential race for us is over for me, and we will suspend our campaign effective today, we are not done fighting," Santorum said at a press conference in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Tuesday afternoon.
Santorum did not endorse Romney in making his announcement Tuesday, though he did vow to fight to defeat President Obama and help Republicans win the Senate in the fall.
In a statement, Romney called Santorum "an able and worthy competitor" and congratulated his often-bitter rival for his campaign.
"He has proven himself to be an important voice in our party and in the nation," said Romney. "We both recognize that what is most important is putting the failures of the last three years behind us and setting America back on the path to prosperity."
"We made a decision over the weekend that while this presidential race for us is over for me, and we will suspend our campaign effective today, we are not done fighting," Santorum said at a press conference in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Tuesday afternoon.
Santorum did not endorse Romney in making his announcement Tuesday, though he did vow to fight to defeat President Obama and help Republicans win the Senate in the fall.
In a statement, Romney called Santorum "an able and worthy competitor" and congratulated his often-bitter rival for his campaign.
"He has proven himself to be an important voice in our party and in the nation," said Romney. "We both recognize that what is most important is putting the failures of the last three years behind us and setting America back on the path to prosperity."
John
Brabender, a senior Santorum strategist, said Santorum has spoken to Romney
about leaving the race and that Romney has requested a meeting in the
"near future."
Santorum's
campaign had insisted earlier in the day that the former Pennsylvania senator
was not leaving the race despite a last-minute decision to cancel his Tuesday
morning campaign events. Early Tuesday morning, the campaign announced that
Santorum's three-year-old daughter Bella, who suffers from a genetic condition
called Trisomy 18, had been released from the hospital after falling ill over
the weekend. The campaign said that the morning events had been cancelled so
Santorum could help his family "settle in at home."
Santorum said Tuesday afternoon that Bella had recovered after a "difficult weekend," but that the situation "did cause us to think in the role that we have as parents in her life." He said that "this was a time for prayer and thought over this past weekend," and that the decision to suspend the campaign had been made during that period.
On his Facebook page just hours before the announcement, Santorum had posted a message that he was "back on the campaign trail" in his home state. He had been set to participate in a "Faith, Family, and American Values forum" at Lancaster Bible College Tuesday evening.
Santorum Press Secretary Alice Stewart says Santorum held an all-call conference call with his staff at 1:45pm today to alert them to his decision.
An unapologetic social and fiscal conservative, Santorum spent much of the 2012 campaign cycle as an also-ran, toiling in relative obscurity while a succession of contenders - Donald Trump, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich among them - rose to the top of the Republican presidential polls before falling back to earth.
He finally began gaining traction in Iowa shortly before the January 3 caucuses, when social conservatives eager for a candidate to call their own started to coalesce around him. Santorum effectively tied Romney in Iowa before going on to win another ten states and claim the mantle of conservative alternative to the frontrunner.
Yet Romney was able to leverage his organizational and financial advantage over Santorum to build up a delegate lead and keep his rival from victories in states like Ohio and Michigan that would have signaled that Santorum held appeal outside the conservative base. And Santorum was never able to shake the perception that he could not beat President Obama in the fall, with GOP primary voters overwhelmingly citing Romney as the most electable candidate in exit poll after exit poll.
Santorum said Tuesday afternoon that Bella had recovered after a "difficult weekend," but that the situation "did cause us to think in the role that we have as parents in her life." He said that "this was a time for prayer and thought over this past weekend," and that the decision to suspend the campaign had been made during that period.
On his Facebook page just hours before the announcement, Santorum had posted a message that he was "back on the campaign trail" in his home state. He had been set to participate in a "Faith, Family, and American Values forum" at Lancaster Bible College Tuesday evening.
Santorum Press Secretary Alice Stewart says Santorum held an all-call conference call with his staff at 1:45pm today to alert them to his decision.
An unapologetic social and fiscal conservative, Santorum spent much of the 2012 campaign cycle as an also-ran, toiling in relative obscurity while a succession of contenders - Donald Trump, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich among them - rose to the top of the Republican presidential polls before falling back to earth.
He finally began gaining traction in Iowa shortly before the January 3 caucuses, when social conservatives eager for a candidate to call their own started to coalesce around him. Santorum effectively tied Romney in Iowa before going on to win another ten states and claim the mantle of conservative alternative to the frontrunner.
Yet Romney was able to leverage his organizational and financial advantage over Santorum to build up a delegate lead and keep his rival from victories in states like Ohio and Michigan that would have signaled that Santorum held appeal outside the conservative base. And Santorum was never able to shake the perception that he could not beat President Obama in the fall, with GOP primary voters overwhelmingly citing Romney as the most electable candidate in exit poll after exit poll.
Officials demand bribes to include us on payroll – Pensioners
Pensioners, whose monthly pensions had been stopped for
several months, have accused officials in the pension department of the Office
of the Head of Service of the Federation of demanding outrageous amounts as
bribes before their names can be included on the payroll.
Some of the pensioners, who spoke with our correspondent on
Monday, said they gave the officials the go-ahead to rectify their outstanding
pension problems and would pay the officials when they get all their arrears as
they had no cash to pay the bribes now.
According to them, the officials are demanding up-front
payment of at least N200,000 from each pensioner before they will attend to
their problems.
Many of the pensioners said they were broke and afraid of
reporting the errant officials because they were unsure of who could help them
fight for their rights.
They said all they wanted was for their names to be
included on the payroll so that they could start collecting their monthly
stipends and accumulated arrears.
The Nigerian Union of Pensioners had submitted a memorandum
to the Senate Committee on Pension Matters, listing some of the problems
confronting retired workers in the country.
According to the memorandum by the Ogun State chapter, NUP,
which was made available to our correspondent, prior to 2002, payment of
federal share of pension was the prerogative of the state governments before
the Federal Government decided to transfer the Federal Pension Office to the
Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.
Since then, the union stated that things had been falling
apart for the pensioners because the payment of their gratuities and pensions
had not been regular.
It stated, “Since 2002 to date, names of many pensioners
have been omitted from the pension payroll and all efforts to place such names
on the list have proved abortive.
“The federal pension system has gone haywire such that some
are being paid their gratuities without monthly payment of pension, while some
others are placed on monthly pension without the payment of gratuity.”
Pensioners, according to the memorandum, have been
subjected to a series of punitive screening without any good result.
After the 2010 validation exercise, the NUP said that many
pensioners had not been placed on the payroll, while some were paid for about
three months after which their stipends were no longer forthcoming.
“Pensioners, who were collecting their pensions through the
community banks, were asked to open new accounts with recognised commercial
banks in the country. They complied with the new instruction, but
unfortunately, such pensioners have not been paid their pensions since 2005,”
it stated.
2Face, Pero Adeniyi welcome baby boy
2Face Idibia’s ex-girlfriend and the
mother of two of his children, Pero Adeniyi has delivered her third child, a
baby boy for the pop icon.
U.S based Pero had her second son in the
early hours of Sunday, April 8, 2012 in Washington DC.
Pero Adeniyi, daughter of POATSON boss
Jide Adeniyi was pregnant and was expected to put to bed in March. Adeniyi, who
was formerly married to Tunde Borokini, already has two kids for Idibia– Rose
and Justin.
Meanwhile, 2Face who recently got engaged
to Annie Macaulay returned from the US where he spent the past few weeks with
his fiancé working on his album.
Congratulatory messages from friends and
fans of the African Queen crooner have since flooded their Tweeter accounts;
‘Big congrats to my paddy Pero and @real2faceidibia. Easter baby. It’s a boy’,
R70 boss and Idibia friend Ayo Shonaiya tweeted.
The new born is the ex-couple’s third
child together and 2Face Idibia’s sixth child.
Army to tackle Boko Haram with dog squads
Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika in Kaduna
on Tuesday said the Army would train a special squad in the art of
using dogs to fight Boko Haram.
The COAS urged soldiers combating the group in the North to
be alive to their duties.
He added that the Army would inaugurate 14 speed boats to
be used in checking militancy in Niger Delta.
Ihejirika spoke at a workshop at the One Division of the
Nigerian Army in Kaduna.
He said, “I’m glad to inform you that our second batch of
our trainees on the use of dogs in the fight against terrorism have just
completed their training and will soon be launched to join you to further make
your work easier.”
He said the target was to stop terrorism in the country.
Ihejiraka said all soldiers must be combat
ready at all times, saying that a situation where Boko Haram would
engage troops at checkpoints without much resistance was unacceptable.
The army chief, stressed the need for Commanding Officers
to be innovative in tackling the worsening state of insecurity in the country.
He, however, commended the troops the One Division of the
Nigerian Army for their efforts so far in ensuring the security of lives and
property in the North.
He said, “Let me therefore commend your efforts so
far as the North-West and North-East zones of the country are beginning
to see some respite from terrorist activities. But nearly is not good enough as
we must ensure that the citizens are more secured and safe and living
peacefully in locations of their choice. So, there is a lot of room for us to
train harder and harder to improve on our performance.”
The COAS noted that the choice of the division for
the workshop was to underscore the importance of the current operation of the
division and that of the 3rd Division in tackling the security challenges
in Kano and other parts of the North.
Ihejirika said, “It is high time for you and your men to be
in war mood to be able to deal with the current challenges. Otherwise, how do
you explain that troops at checkpoint duty would be attacked by these
decadence? And they sometimes do that and get away with it. This is an area you
must work on.
“As you are out in the field at every point in time, make
sure you are either conducting an operation or you are gathering intelligence.
You must be doing any of the two at any point in time. If your area is too
quiet, you have a reason to get worried.”
“We believe that how your troops perform is a direct
reflection of the qualities of their Commanding Officers. That is why you are
assembled here for the next four days to brainstorm on matters of service
interest in order to improve and sharpen your professional skills.”
Woman, 52, delivers baby boy after 19 years of first birth.
Prophecies
are nothing but messages that pass from the spiritual realm to the physical,
which come to fruition sooner or later. They could be positive or negative. If
they are positive, prayers are also required to be offered to quicken their
manifestation, but if they are negative, prayers are also expected to be
offered to avert them. But whether good or bad, prophecies are used to inform
man of impending events.
For Mrs Bridget Erondu, a top civil servant in Abia State and wife of a former permanent secretary in one of the ministries in the state, when the prophecy came 10 years ago, during a child dedication service in her church that she was going to have a baby, she was not excited, but only said that “God, let your will be done”.
But as years rolled by with no sign of pregnancy and baby, she forgot about the prophecy and concentrated on the things she thought were more important than child bearing. After all, she was not desperate having proved that she have the ability to reproduce as she already had a child, who had grown up and is in her third year in the university.
However, on February 20, 2012, Mrs Erondu true to that prophecy many years ago and to her utter bewilderment was delivered of a bouncing baby boy christened Nduka Kelechi Victor Erondu. Baby Erondu came on the same day and date his elder sister, Ikonna Erondu was born.
Speaking to Daily Sun, on the day of the naming ceremony of the new born baby at Umuafai area of Umuahia, in Umuahia North LGA of Abia State, Mrs Bridget Erondu, 52, said that when she started having symptoms of pregnancy she thought that it was signs of menopause.
“When I discovered symptoms of pregnancy at the age of 52 years and informed some close relations about it, they advised me to go for test, I reluctantly went and the test confirmed that I was pregnant. Pregnant at the age of 52 years!
“All my children are special, but this one is the most special, considering the circumstances of his birth. This is the result of a prophecy and you know that children like these don’t come anyhow, except if they have come to fulfill a mission. This baby came after 19 years of my last child, and at an age human beings consider impossible for a person to bear fruit. I am elated, I am very happy.
His elder brother is in third year in the university, studying Architecture. “This is the fulfillment of a 10-year-old prophecy, which came through a woman of God when I attended a dedication service. “There she singled me out and told me to go and buy dresses for a baby boy and keep and that she had seen that a baby was around the corner for my family.
I obeyed, bought them and kept them, but when it did not come after one to three years, I forgot about it and even where I kept them. I even thought that I had given them out, but when I was going through my box that period I took in, I found them and the whole prophecy came flooding back to my mind.
“When I started noticing the feelings I thought it was my menopause because it happened the first time about three months ago and I asked my younger sister who is a nurse if that is what goes with menopause.
Then it happened again and I said that it must have come to an end. I thank God for what he has done because he is the only one that knows the reason for the coming of this child. I also pray that any other one he would want o give to us should be given to those who have not gotten.”
To her husband, Chief Felix Erondu, a retired permanent secretary in the Ministry of Information, no woman is too old to conceive and bear a child because that is what God has created them for.
“She is still a young lady at 52 years going by biblical principles.
If you follow the history of the Bible you will find out that this is not the first time a woman is giving birth above the age of man. It can happen to anybody at any time, if a biblical woman could give birth at the age of 80 years, then what are we talking about? For men, it is not about age since they can still produce even at the age of 90 years.”
He advised those praying for God’s favour in child bearing to be hopeful and trust in God who answers prayers.
“When things like this happen, it is called miracle because as far as we know, miracles still happen. People should not lose hope, but should pray, have faith and believe in God.”
For Mrs Bridget Erondu, a top civil servant in Abia State and wife of a former permanent secretary in one of the ministries in the state, when the prophecy came 10 years ago, during a child dedication service in her church that she was going to have a baby, she was not excited, but only said that “God, let your will be done”.
But as years rolled by with no sign of pregnancy and baby, she forgot about the prophecy and concentrated on the things she thought were more important than child bearing. After all, she was not desperate having proved that she have the ability to reproduce as she already had a child, who had grown up and is in her third year in the university.
However, on February 20, 2012, Mrs Erondu true to that prophecy many years ago and to her utter bewilderment was delivered of a bouncing baby boy christened Nduka Kelechi Victor Erondu. Baby Erondu came on the same day and date his elder sister, Ikonna Erondu was born.
Speaking to Daily Sun, on the day of the naming ceremony of the new born baby at Umuafai area of Umuahia, in Umuahia North LGA of Abia State, Mrs Bridget Erondu, 52, said that when she started having symptoms of pregnancy she thought that it was signs of menopause.
“When I discovered symptoms of pregnancy at the age of 52 years and informed some close relations about it, they advised me to go for test, I reluctantly went and the test confirmed that I was pregnant. Pregnant at the age of 52 years!
“All my children are special, but this one is the most special, considering the circumstances of his birth. This is the result of a prophecy and you know that children like these don’t come anyhow, except if they have come to fulfill a mission. This baby came after 19 years of my last child, and at an age human beings consider impossible for a person to bear fruit. I am elated, I am very happy.
His elder brother is in third year in the university, studying Architecture. “This is the fulfillment of a 10-year-old prophecy, which came through a woman of God when I attended a dedication service. “There she singled me out and told me to go and buy dresses for a baby boy and keep and that she had seen that a baby was around the corner for my family.
I obeyed, bought them and kept them, but when it did not come after one to three years, I forgot about it and even where I kept them. I even thought that I had given them out, but when I was going through my box that period I took in, I found them and the whole prophecy came flooding back to my mind.
“When I started noticing the feelings I thought it was my menopause because it happened the first time about three months ago and I asked my younger sister who is a nurse if that is what goes with menopause.
Then it happened again and I said that it must have come to an end. I thank God for what he has done because he is the only one that knows the reason for the coming of this child. I also pray that any other one he would want o give to us should be given to those who have not gotten.”
To her husband, Chief Felix Erondu, a retired permanent secretary in the Ministry of Information, no woman is too old to conceive and bear a child because that is what God has created them for.
“She is still a young lady at 52 years going by biblical principles.
If you follow the history of the Bible you will find out that this is not the first time a woman is giving birth above the age of man. It can happen to anybody at any time, if a biblical woman could give birth at the age of 80 years, then what are we talking about? For men, it is not about age since they can still produce even at the age of 90 years.”
He advised those praying for God’s favour in child bearing to be hopeful and trust in God who answers prayers.
“When things like this happen, it is called miracle because as far as we know, miracles still happen. People should not lose hope, but should pray, have faith and believe in God.”
Man cuts
off 12-year-old boy’s manhood
It
was a day of horror. And even now, the people of Mararaba Liman Katagum in
Bauchi Local Government area of Bauchi State still shudder in utter shock and
disbelief. A resident of the area recently sliced off the manhood of Ayuba
Halilu, a 12-year-old boy. The suspect is one Tukur Illiyasu, 25.
Tukur was alleged to have cut off little Ayuba’s penis and disappeared with the organ after begging the boy to accompany him to the bush in the village to fetch firewood.
The boy, who was also slashed in the throat by Tukur, miraculously survived the ordeal after being hospitalised for nearly three months.
Now that the boy is left without a penis, Ayuba’s family is not happy with the police for what they termed as the law enforcement agency’s nonchalant attitude towards the inhuman act.
They indeed expressed concern that the police did not obtain any statement since the incident occurred on Januray 3. The family also observed that that the police are not making enough efforts to arrest Tukur who has since fled the area.
When our correspondent visited their home in Mararaban Liman Katagum, the sadness that enveloped the family was palpable. While Ayuba’ s mother wept uncontrollably, his father, Malam Halilu Liman could hardly restrain himself from getting emotional.
The sad fate that befell the Liman family is obviously shared by the entire community as they all condemned Tukur’s action and implored the police to bring Tukur to book.
They are appealing to the state governor, Isa Yuguda to intervene to ensure justice is done quickly. They are also calling on well-meaning Nigerians to come to Ayuba’s aid to save the boy’s future.
Narrating what happened, Ayuba told Daily Sun that he was at home when Tukur, a well-known person to the family, called him to accompany him to the bush to fetch firewood.
The boy said they were going quietly when something inexplicable happened to him and he went blank. According to him, when he came to, he found himself in deep pains. His penis was gone and he felt pains on his throat.
Ayuba surmounted the strength left in him and managed to run back to the village to tell his story.
His father, who travelled to Nabordo on that fateful day, continued the story.
Halilu told Daily Sun that Tukur came to the family house in Mararaba Liman Katagum where the boy was and asked him to go with him to the bush to fetch firewood.
He said: “The distance between the bush and the Mararaba Liman Katagum community is about one and a half kilometres.
“On their arrival in the bush, Ayuba stepped on a thorn and requested Tukur to remove the torn from his foot. But on approaching the boy, he removed a very sharp object and cut his throat as well as his private part.”
Ayuba who is still recuperating at home, said he started crying for help in Fulfude language, asking the older man why he had brought him to the bush in order to kill him.
Daily Sun learnt that Tukur, thinking that Ayuba might be dead, took to his heels to an unknown destination leaving the boy in the pool of his blood.
Ayuba’s cry for help were futile and due to the severity of the pain, he went into a coma for quite some time before regaining consciousness. He eventually made his way to Mararaba Liman Katagum.
The boy was sighted by some villagers who saw his terrible condition and assisted him to his father’s house. When they took Ayuba home, his father was not at home. The attention of the village head and other community leaders was drawn and the boy narrated what happened.
“That day I travelled to Nabordo and when I returned home and saw the condition of my son and what happened, I could not help crying. It was too much for me to bear,” Ayuba’s father, Halilu, said.
The father and some elders of the community reported the incident at the Yalwa police station, and the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) immediately assigned a police constable to convey Ayuba to the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, Bauchi along with some of his family members, including his father.
After the doctors treated Ayuba and examined his condition, his father was advised to take his son to the Federal Medical Centre, Gombe where he has been hospitalised since January.
Halilu said: “I have spent over N168, 000 for the treatment of my son. It has not been easy for us.”
It was learnt that the father of Tukur, the man who allegedly cut off Ayuba’s penis, has been invited by the police.
“The DPO sent for the father of Tukur who resides in Sabon Garin near Kundat village in Duguri district of Alkaleri Local Government area. His father was ordered by the DPO to bring his son since January, but up till now he has not produced his son to the police,” Halilu said.
Ayuba’s family as well as residents of Mararaban Liman Katagum have expressed their reservations with the attitude of the DPO since the incident happened.
They lamented that no policeman interviewed or obtained statement from the victim or the father since the incident.
They are also not happy that since the boy was admitted at the hospital, no policeman had visited Ayuba who was receiving treatment on his sick bed at the Federal Medical Centre, Gombe.
They expressed their grievances against the police in a petition addressed to the governor and signed by one of the residents (names withheld) who is also an aide to the governor. It was entitled REPORT OF ATTEMPTED MURDER AGAINST TUKUR ILLIYASU OF MARARABAN LIMAN KATAGUM ZUNGUR DISTRICT OF BAUCHI LOCAL GOVERNEMNT AREA. It read in part: “Your Excellency, this is a case of attempted murder which carries life imprisonment after conviction at the high court.
“This case is supposed to be transferred to the homicide section of the state CID. I suspect foul play by the DPO and the culprit’s father who is a cattle rearer. When the incident occurred, nobody from the culprit’s household visited the victim or his family.
The intervention of the office of the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice is needed to handle the matter. The Director of security and myself went to Gombe several times to see the condition of the victim and also his parents in Mararraba.”
Ayuba was discharged from the Federal Medical Centre in Gombe on March 20 and is being cared for by his parents at their home in Liman Katagum.
The family is contemplating what the future holds for their young son who has been deprived of his manhood.
Tukur was alleged to have cut off little Ayuba’s penis and disappeared with the organ after begging the boy to accompany him to the bush in the village to fetch firewood.
The boy, who was also slashed in the throat by Tukur, miraculously survived the ordeal after being hospitalised for nearly three months.
Now that the boy is left without a penis, Ayuba’s family is not happy with the police for what they termed as the law enforcement agency’s nonchalant attitude towards the inhuman act.
They indeed expressed concern that the police did not obtain any statement since the incident occurred on Januray 3. The family also observed that that the police are not making enough efforts to arrest Tukur who has since fled the area.
When our correspondent visited their home in Mararaban Liman Katagum, the sadness that enveloped the family was palpable. While Ayuba’ s mother wept uncontrollably, his father, Malam Halilu Liman could hardly restrain himself from getting emotional.
The sad fate that befell the Liman family is obviously shared by the entire community as they all condemned Tukur’s action and implored the police to bring Tukur to book.
They are appealing to the state governor, Isa Yuguda to intervene to ensure justice is done quickly. They are also calling on well-meaning Nigerians to come to Ayuba’s aid to save the boy’s future.
Narrating what happened, Ayuba told Daily Sun that he was at home when Tukur, a well-known person to the family, called him to accompany him to the bush to fetch firewood.
The boy said they were going quietly when something inexplicable happened to him and he went blank. According to him, when he came to, he found himself in deep pains. His penis was gone and he felt pains on his throat.
Ayuba surmounted the strength left in him and managed to run back to the village to tell his story.
His father, who travelled to Nabordo on that fateful day, continued the story.
Halilu told Daily Sun that Tukur came to the family house in Mararaba Liman Katagum where the boy was and asked him to go with him to the bush to fetch firewood.
He said: “The distance between the bush and the Mararaba Liman Katagum community is about one and a half kilometres.
“On their arrival in the bush, Ayuba stepped on a thorn and requested Tukur to remove the torn from his foot. But on approaching the boy, he removed a very sharp object and cut his throat as well as his private part.”
Ayuba who is still recuperating at home, said he started crying for help in Fulfude language, asking the older man why he had brought him to the bush in order to kill him.
Daily Sun learnt that Tukur, thinking that Ayuba might be dead, took to his heels to an unknown destination leaving the boy in the pool of his blood.
Ayuba’s cry for help were futile and due to the severity of the pain, he went into a coma for quite some time before regaining consciousness. He eventually made his way to Mararaba Liman Katagum.
The boy was sighted by some villagers who saw his terrible condition and assisted him to his father’s house. When they took Ayuba home, his father was not at home. The attention of the village head and other community leaders was drawn and the boy narrated what happened.
“That day I travelled to Nabordo and when I returned home and saw the condition of my son and what happened, I could not help crying. It was too much for me to bear,” Ayuba’s father, Halilu, said.
The father and some elders of the community reported the incident at the Yalwa police station, and the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) immediately assigned a police constable to convey Ayuba to the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, Bauchi along with some of his family members, including his father.
After the doctors treated Ayuba and examined his condition, his father was advised to take his son to the Federal Medical Centre, Gombe where he has been hospitalised since January.
Halilu said: “I have spent over N168, 000 for the treatment of my son. It has not been easy for us.”
It was learnt that the father of Tukur, the man who allegedly cut off Ayuba’s penis, has been invited by the police.
“The DPO sent for the father of Tukur who resides in Sabon Garin near Kundat village in Duguri district of Alkaleri Local Government area. His father was ordered by the DPO to bring his son since January, but up till now he has not produced his son to the police,” Halilu said.
Ayuba’s family as well as residents of Mararaban Liman Katagum have expressed their reservations with the attitude of the DPO since the incident happened.
They lamented that no policeman interviewed or obtained statement from the victim or the father since the incident.
They are also not happy that since the boy was admitted at the hospital, no policeman had visited Ayuba who was receiving treatment on his sick bed at the Federal Medical Centre, Gombe.
They expressed their grievances against the police in a petition addressed to the governor and signed by one of the residents (names withheld) who is also an aide to the governor. It was entitled REPORT OF ATTEMPTED MURDER AGAINST TUKUR ILLIYASU OF MARARABAN LIMAN KATAGUM ZUNGUR DISTRICT OF BAUCHI LOCAL GOVERNEMNT AREA. It read in part: “Your Excellency, this is a case of attempted murder which carries life imprisonment after conviction at the high court.
“This case is supposed to be transferred to the homicide section of the state CID. I suspect foul play by the DPO and the culprit’s father who is a cattle rearer. When the incident occurred, nobody from the culprit’s household visited the victim or his family.
The intervention of the office of the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice is needed to handle the matter. The Director of security and myself went to Gombe several times to see the condition of the victim and also his parents in Mararraba.”
Ayuba was discharged from the Federal Medical Centre in Gombe on March 20 and is being cared for by his parents at their home in Liman Katagum.
The family is contemplating what the future holds for their young son who has been deprived of his manhood.
I made millions from burglary – Suspect
Residents of Alimosho area of Lagos State
will now have to sleep with their eyes closed following the arrest of three
members of a notorious gang of buglers who have been terrorizing homes and
shops in the area for a long time.
This is because the 31 year-old leader of
the gang, Tony Emobowasa, is currently cooling off at the dreaded cell of
Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, after he was caught and mobbed by angry
residents and he confessed that he has made several millions from the illicit
trade but which he lavished on expensive cars and women.
But the other suspects, Yusuf Yisa, and
Yusuf Mohammed, told Crime Guard that they were new recruits in the trade, and
were yet to make enough money as Emobowasa. Crime Guard gathered
that Emobowasa, who was earlier arrested and charged to court four
weeks ago, returned to crime after he regained freedom and was caught by
a vigilante group.
Sources said he ran out of luck when he
and members of his gang attacked some shops at Gowon Estate area of the state.
They were apprehended while loading their loots into a Lagos coloured
commercial bus. A source at the SARS where the suspects were transferred to
after their arrest, said “sometime last year, we received several reports of
the gang’s escapades and we made several efforts to arrest them.
We learnt of their activities within Iyana
Ipaja area of the state. After some serious search, we were able to arrest
Emobowasa, the gang leader and he was charged to court thereafter. But he
got bail and regained freedom in the court.
But we were still on his trail
properly when we got another report that he had been caught again for the same
crime. This time, he and two other members of his gang were apprehended
in Gowon State area where they burgled some shops and looted what were in it.
They were arrested by an angry mob
that unleashed terror on them. They were then taken to Gowon Estate police
Station before they were transferred here. But the most
facilitating aspect of this issue is that Emobowasa case is still on in court
and last Monday was his date of hearing.
But he defiled all this and went back to
his crime. We were able to contact those who had fallen victim to his prey and
we are going to build a strong case against him,” said the source.
When Crime Guard interviewed the
suspects at SARS Headquaters, Ikeja, Lagos, Emobowasa and his colleagues
confessed to the crime but they begged for forgiveness. The fair skinned
leader of the gang said, “ I don’t know what is pushing me into
this act.
I don’t know if it is the devil or my love
for money. I have made several millions from this business since I
started three years ago. I’ve built a house with the money I made and I
drive exotic cars. But I can’t really tell what may have been pushing me
into it.
Sincerely, I was arrested last month and
was charged to court where I was granted bail. But when I came out, I realized
that I need more money to complete my building at Alimosho area, which I intend
to use as hotel. I organized my boys and we went to burgle some shops at Gowon
Estate. There I was arrested by a vigilant group which dealt with me and
members of my gang.
BUSINESS
& ECONOMY
Telecoms firms lose N488.4m revenue in one month - Investigations
Telecoms
operators in the Code Division Mul-tiple Access and fixed line segment of the
Nigerian telecommunication sector lost an estimated N488.4m in voice revenue in
February to decline in subscribers on their various networks, National Mirror
in-vestigation can reveal. The operators include as Starcomms, Multi-Links,
Visafone and Zoom Mobile, which run both CDMA and fixed line networks and other
core fixed line operators such as Intercellular, VGC/MTN, MTS 1st, 21st Century
Technol-ogies, Disc Communications, Witel, O’Net, Rainbownet Lim-ited among
others. The financial loss is esti-mated based on the current monthly Average
Revenue Per User in the country which in-dustry experts put at around N1000
multiplied by the total number lost telephone lines of by CDMA and fixed
operators in the country.
The
number of active tele-phone subscribers in Nigeria increased to 96.61 million
at the end of February, from 96.15 million at the end of January, according to
the Nigerian Com-munications Commission’s lat-est report.
National
Mirror gathered that the country recorded total active telecoms subscribers of
96.61 million in February, only the Global System for Mobile Communications
operators in-cluding MTN, Glo, Airtel and Etisalat, registered the addi-tional
465, 744 telephone lines, thereby boosting the nation’s aggregate subscriber
base to 96.61 at a growth rate of 0.48 per cent.
With
this, the overall teleden-sity in Nigeria reached 69.01at the end of February,
from 68.68 in the previous month.
However,
the CDMA opera-tors and fixed wired/warless networks recorded decline in their
network, leading to loss of huge revenue in voice services.Subscribers on CDMA
net-works fell from 4.41 million lines in January to 4.03 mil-lion in February,
thereby losing 378,321 lines on their networks during the one-month period.
Similarly,
the fixed wired and wireless operators in the country recorded a decline in
their subscriber base from 688,333 lines in January down to 578,152 lines
February. This also represents a loss of about 110, 181 lines during the
pe-riod.
With
a combined loss of 488, 5023 telephone lines on CDMA and fixed line networks,
and at an ARPU of N1000, the opera-tors lost an estimated N488.4m in February
alone.
Dangote to invest N1.1t in power project
Africa’s
richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, is planning to invest N1.1 trillion ($7
billion) in Nigeria’s power, petrochemical and mining sectors in the next four
years.
Dangote,
who disclosed this during a send-off party for Thierry Tanoh, the International
Finance Corporation (IFC) Vice-President for Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America,
Caribbean and Western Europe in Lagos, said that he would be investing in the
construction of a 2,000 megawatt power-generation facility.
“We want to
do power that will be about 2,000 megawatt, that is infrastructure,” he said
but did not disclose details about the planned mining and petrochemical
investments.
Dangote’s
largest investment is currently in cement, through his company, Dangote Cement,
which listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 2010.
He also
owns stakes in publicly-traded companies operating in sugar refining, flour
milling and salt processing.
POLITICS
Why Obasanjo visited Oshiomhole – Edo PDP
The
Edo State chap-ter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has clarified that the
visit of former President Olusegun Obasanjo to Governor Adams Oshomhole was not
an indication of support for the governor in the run up to the July 14
governorship election. The party, which made the clarification yesterday in a
statement signed by its state Publicity Secretary, Matthew Urhoghide and made
available to National Mirror, stated that the visit was to ob-serve protocol.
The
statement reads in part: “We wish to make it clear that the visit of Chief Obasanjo
to Edo State Government House must not be misconstrued as support for Gover-nor
Oshiomhole. Chief Obasanjo transited the Benin Airport en-route Delta State to
attend the birthday party of his long-time friend and colleague in the army,
Colonel Mike Okwechime.
“As
an elder statesman who is versed in official protocol, Chief Obasanjo thought
it appropriate to pay a courtesy visit on the governor of Edo State. The visit
which lasted for just about 10 minutes must not be mistaken by Edo State PDP
members and indeed the people of Edo State to mean endorsement for the
governor.”
The
statement added that Oshiomhole is well known to the former President as
two-term president of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) at the same time
Obasanjo was president between 1999 and 2007, adding that the duo have
interacted closely at various times during the period.
The
statement added: “Chief Obasanjo, from his past utterances has not been
impressed about the character of Comrade Os-hiomhole as NLC leader. We are also
aware that Chief Obasanjo has never used kind and adulating words to describe
Gover-nor Oshomhole and his administration in the past three and a half years.
This is not the time he can do so. There is not much we can say on this as
Nigerians know better.
“This
position will hopefully be made apparent when Obasanjo addresses the people of
Edo State at the grand rally to conclude the gubernatorial campaigns in the
state.
“It
is common knowledge that Governor Oshiomhole will play the visit inordinately
as he does all such visits. We recall his visit to former Governor Oserheimen
Osunbor and how he deceitfully played it to mean that Osunbor had decamped to
the ACN.”
The
PDP added that Obasanjo is not unaware of how Oshiomhole scandalised the late
President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, “even in death,” and advised its loyalists not
to lose any sleep over the visit as it bring no dividend to Oshiomhole’s
governor-ship aspiration.
PDP vows to dislodge ACN from Southwest
National Vice-Chairman (South-West) of
Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Segun Oni, yesterday, vowed that the
dominance of the ruling Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, in the zone would not
extend beyond 2015.
Oni, a former governor of Ekiti State,
said if not for the internal crises that engulfed his party, ACN could not have
had any chance in the zone, stressing that ACN was an interim government.
Oni, who spoke in Ibadan while reconciling
three main factions of the party, pleaded with the factions to forget the past
and fashion out ways the party could reclaim its influence in the geo-political
zone.
Before meeting the feuding parties at the
party’s state secretariat, he had met elders of the party at the residence of
the former Attorney- General and Minister of Justice, Chief Richard Akinjide
(SAN).
He told them that as the party’s zonal
leader, he would be happy to see a more united party where no discrimination
would be allowed to fester.
He said: ”The party I would like to lead
is an all- inclusive one, where everybody irrespective of line of divide so far
you are a PDP member, would be given voice. We are going to bring everybody
back under the same umbrella to become one united family to face our future
electoral challenges starting with the local government elections across the
zone.”
Expressing his disapproval of the
leadership style of ACN, he said ACN “is in power in the interim. But, the only
means of shortening their interim administration in the zone, is not to allow
it go beyond 2015 and for us to come together and stand like a team”.
CRIME FILE
Fashola’s convoy intercepts suspected robbers
The convoy of Governor Babatunde Fashola
of Lagos State, on Monday night, intercepted a suspected three-man armed
robbery gang on the Obalende fly-over of the city.
The Chief Security Officer, CSO, to the
governor, Mr Adesina Lawal, disclosed this on Tuesday while briefing the
Commissioner of Police, Mr Umar Manko on the incident.
Lawal said the incident occurred between 9
and 10 pm, when the governor was returning to Government House, Marina.
He said three suspects,
who were on a motorcycle, riding against traffic, abandoned the
motorcycle and took to their heels on sighting the convoy.
“The police vehicle in the front flashed
the riders. When they discovered it was a police vehicle, they jumped down
and ran away. The police escort did not want to leave the governor and pursue
the suspects.
“The governor ordered that the
unregistered motorcycle be searched. When we checked, we discovered one shot
gun, a feeding bottle, a baby shoe, pampers and a wrist watch inside a bag”.
“The governor requested that the items
must be submitted to the police for further investigation, “ Lawal said.
The state Commissioner for Information, Mr
Lateef Ibirogba, who was also present, said the state government was committed
to fighting crimes.
Receiving the items, Manko commended the
governor for his leadership, which he said had helped to foil the plans of the
suspected armed robbers.
“The action of the governor showed his
commitment to fight crime in Lagos; apart from providing logistic to security
in Lagos, he also face criminals head on.
“We on our side would ensure that the
efforts of the government are not in vain, “ Manko added.
He said the arrest of commercial
motorcyclists operating at night in prohibited areas in the state would be
conducted within the ambit .
Newborn baby found dead in waste bin at Asokoro
Residents
of the OAU quarters at Maitama Sule, Asokoro in Abuja, yesterday morning, woke
up to meet a shocker. They were confronted with a newborn baby found dead in a
waste bin in front of the quarters.
Residents of the quarters as early as 6:00am were said to have clustered around the bin, following an alert raised by street sweepers, who first saw the dead baby. The public rained abuses on the mother who was nowhere to be seen.
One of the residents made a call to Daily Sun .The man who refused to disclose his identity, also quickly reached out to the police.
When Daily Sun visited the scene, it was discovered that the baby, who might have been about a day old, was lying dead in a pool of blood, amidst stinking wastes with the intestines already coming out and other parts of the body damaged.
A 20-year old security guard, Abdulwahab Ibrahim, an employee of a security outfit attached to the quarters, was immediately approached over the incident. He told Daily Sun that it was the street cleaners who actually drew his attention to that dastardly act.
Ibrahim, who said he was employed by the security company last Monday and made to resume work at the quarters same day, said he was shocked when the street cleaners raised the alarm, inviting him to witness the gruesome discovery.
According to him, the street sweepers, who were working for a waste management company under the supervision of the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), told him that they wanted to pour the waste they had swept into the waste bin when they saw the semblance of a human body and decided to take a proper look at it, only to confirm that it was actually a dead child.
Ibrahim, who said nobody had been linked with the act, disclosed that though the waste bin was on the roadside, few meters away from the quarters, they were shocked that someone could summon courage to dump a baby dead or alive in it.
He stated that while keeping watch on the quarters through the night; they, however, did not notice any strange movements around the premises or the waste bin in question.
Ibrahim said he was depressed since he just started working with the company and on his first resumption to duty, he was witnessing such a wicked act, stressing that that was the first time in his life that he was seeing a corpse.
Stating that he felt like quitting the job immediately, Ibrahim said he quickly alerted his company and residents of the quarters, who immediately came out, wearing mournful looks and expressing shocks.
Daily Sun also saw passersby gather around the waste bin, having a look at the dead baby. Some of the women burst into tears, raining curses on the perpetrator of the act.
When contacted, the police in Asokoro told Daily Sun that they were aware of the case as a complaint had already been lodged on it, but disclosed that they did not have details, adding it was been investigated.
Residents of the quarters as early as 6:00am were said to have clustered around the bin, following an alert raised by street sweepers, who first saw the dead baby. The public rained abuses on the mother who was nowhere to be seen.
One of the residents made a call to Daily Sun .The man who refused to disclose his identity, also quickly reached out to the police.
When Daily Sun visited the scene, it was discovered that the baby, who might have been about a day old, was lying dead in a pool of blood, amidst stinking wastes with the intestines already coming out and other parts of the body damaged.
A 20-year old security guard, Abdulwahab Ibrahim, an employee of a security outfit attached to the quarters, was immediately approached over the incident. He told Daily Sun that it was the street cleaners who actually drew his attention to that dastardly act.
Ibrahim, who said he was employed by the security company last Monday and made to resume work at the quarters same day, said he was shocked when the street cleaners raised the alarm, inviting him to witness the gruesome discovery.
According to him, the street sweepers, who were working for a waste management company under the supervision of the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), told him that they wanted to pour the waste they had swept into the waste bin when they saw the semblance of a human body and decided to take a proper look at it, only to confirm that it was actually a dead child.
Ibrahim, who said nobody had been linked with the act, disclosed that though the waste bin was on the roadside, few meters away from the quarters, they were shocked that someone could summon courage to dump a baby dead or alive in it.
He stated that while keeping watch on the quarters through the night; they, however, did not notice any strange movements around the premises or the waste bin in question.
Ibrahim said he was depressed since he just started working with the company and on his first resumption to duty, he was witnessing such a wicked act, stressing that that was the first time in his life that he was seeing a corpse.
Stating that he felt like quitting the job immediately, Ibrahim said he quickly alerted his company and residents of the quarters, who immediately came out, wearing mournful looks and expressing shocks.
Daily Sun also saw passersby gather around the waste bin, having a look at the dead baby. Some of the women burst into tears, raining curses on the perpetrator of the act.
When contacted, the police in Asokoro told Daily Sun that they were aware of the case as a complaint had already been lodged on it, but disclosed that they did not have details, adding it was been investigated.
Aftermath of Easter carnival: Hoodlums stab man to death
Few
hours after the Easter carnival on Monday hoodlums stabbed a man to death at
the Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS), Lagos. A police source at Lion Building
revealed that the man identified as Saheed Babatunde was stabbed with broken bottles
and died on the spot at about 7.00pm. The source explained that the hoodlums
who came from Ijora turned Tafawa Belewa Square, which served as the Easter
carnival arena, into a battlefield.
By the time the dust settled, Babatunde who resided in Adeboye Street, Ijora was lying dead. The same source added that youths from Adeyinka Street, Ijora allegedly stabbed him to death with broken bottles.
Daily Sun gathered that in the melee that ensued, traders in the area were forced to abandon their wares and take to their heels while some hoodlums seized the opportunity to loot wares. Passersby also scampered for safety.
Another police source disclosed that detectives attached to Lion Building Police Station had arrested one of the suspected hoodlums.
A man, who identified himself simply as Adegboyega alleged that youths from Adeboye and Adeyemi streets had gone to Tafawa Balewa Square to enjoy the carnival and few hours after the end of the event they attacked one another with broken bottles.
Adegboyega alleged that the youths from both streets usually fight themselves on a daily basis in their streets. He alleged that the fight began as a result of accusation and counter-accusation over who snatched a girlfriend belonging to one of the boys.
He alleged that the fight was going on until early last month when the Divisional Police Officer of Ijora Police Division, Mr. Saleh Samaila, a superintendent of police intervened and held a meeting with stakeholders which included the police, youths, traditional rulers, local government officials, National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), among others.
A police sergeant (name withheld) attached to the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) said policemen from Lion Building Police Division, and RRS led by its Commander, Mr. Hakeem Odumosu, a Chief Superintendent of Police moved to the scene and restored normalcy.
The sergeant said when the hoodlums saw police approaching they fled the scene. He said police arrested one of the alleged killers.
By the time the dust settled, Babatunde who resided in Adeboye Street, Ijora was lying dead. The same source added that youths from Adeyinka Street, Ijora allegedly stabbed him to death with broken bottles.
Daily Sun gathered that in the melee that ensued, traders in the area were forced to abandon their wares and take to their heels while some hoodlums seized the opportunity to loot wares. Passersby also scampered for safety.
Another police source disclosed that detectives attached to Lion Building Police Station had arrested one of the suspected hoodlums.
A man, who identified himself simply as Adegboyega alleged that youths from Adeboye and Adeyemi streets had gone to Tafawa Balewa Square to enjoy the carnival and few hours after the end of the event they attacked one another with broken bottles.
Adegboyega alleged that the youths from both streets usually fight themselves on a daily basis in their streets. He alleged that the fight began as a result of accusation and counter-accusation over who snatched a girlfriend belonging to one of the boys.
He alleged that the fight was going on until early last month when the Divisional Police Officer of Ijora Police Division, Mr. Saleh Samaila, a superintendent of police intervened and held a meeting with stakeholders which included the police, youths, traditional rulers, local government officials, National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), among others.
A police sergeant (name withheld) attached to the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) said policemen from Lion Building Police Division, and RRS led by its Commander, Mr. Hakeem Odumosu, a Chief Superintendent of Police moved to the scene and restored normalcy.
The sergeant said when the hoodlums saw police approaching they fled the scene. He said police arrested one of the alleged killers.
Daily
Sun also gathered that the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Umar Manko
drafted some policemen from each of the area commands in the state and the
Rapid Response Squad (RRS) to the scene of the carnival to maintain peace and
protect lives and property during the event
It was after the crime fighters had left the scene that the incident occurred at about 7am.
Back home, rumour filtered to the ears of youths at Adeboye Street that Babatunde was killed by youths from Adeyemi Street.
The youths of Adeboye Street mobilized and moved to Adeyemi Street purposely to avenge Babatunde’s death.
A youth who claimed to reside at Adeboye Street told Daily Sun in their area that they were about mobilizing themselves to Tafawa Balewa Square to bring the corpse to the streets in Ijora.
It took the intervention of policemen from Ijora Police Station led by the Divisional Police Officer, Mr. Saleh Samaila, a Superintendent of Police, to disperse the angry youths.
Samaila had to quickly invite the stakeholders in the area and appealed to them to talk to their children and wards, adding that the police would not leave any stone unturned to arrest the perpetrators. The Divisional Police Officer appealed to the youths not to take law into their hands. He also pleaded that they should not bring the corpse to Ijora because it would increase tension in the area. He asked the stakeholders the joy anybody would derive if more lives were lost. They all agreed to maintain peace in the area.
It was after the crime fighters had left the scene that the incident occurred at about 7am.
Back home, rumour filtered to the ears of youths at Adeboye Street that Babatunde was killed by youths from Adeyemi Street.
The youths of Adeboye Street mobilized and moved to Adeyemi Street purposely to avenge Babatunde’s death.
A youth who claimed to reside at Adeboye Street told Daily Sun in their area that they were about mobilizing themselves to Tafawa Balewa Square to bring the corpse to the streets in Ijora.
It took the intervention of policemen from Ijora Police Station led by the Divisional Police Officer, Mr. Saleh Samaila, a Superintendent of Police, to disperse the angry youths.
Samaila had to quickly invite the stakeholders in the area and appealed to them to talk to their children and wards, adding that the police would not leave any stone unturned to arrest the perpetrators. The Divisional Police Officer appealed to the youths not to take law into their hands. He also pleaded that they should not bring the corpse to Ijora because it would increase tension in the area. He asked the stakeholders the joy anybody would derive if more lives were lost. They all agreed to maintain peace in the area.
Robbers beat up prosecutor in court •Escape in his car
FIVE suspected robbers, on Tuesday, escaped
from the police while being arraigned before Magistrate Court 6, Minna, the
Niger State capital, after attacking the police prosecutor attached to the
court.
The suspected armed robbers were alleged to
have been taken to court in the early hours of the day by prison officers, who
allegedly abandoned them to the police prosecutor after which they launched the
attack in the bid to evade prosecution.
Nigerian Tribune investigations further
revealed that the robbery suspects were said to have descended on the
prosecutor, said to be an inspector, inflicting serious injuries on him and
rendering him unconscious, snatched his car key and escaped from the
scene in his car.
It was further learnt that the police
prosecutor was rushed to an undisclosed hospital in Minna by some concerned
members of the public and other sympathisers who came around only after the
robbers had escaped from the court premises in a commando-like manner.
Further checks revealed that litigants were
also said to have run for dear life, while the robbers’ attack on the
police prosecutor lasted.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations
Officer (PPRO), Niger State police command, ASP Richard Oguche confirmed the
incident, insisting that it was negligence on the part of the prison warders
who allegedly abandoned the accused at the court.
In an interview with the Nigerian Tribune,
Oguche said “we have the report that about five robbery suspects attacked our
prosecutor and escaped while they were in court. This was after beating the
prosecutor into coma; they removed his car key and drove away the car to
escape,” he said.
He stressed that the command had intensified
efforts by spreading its dragnet to re-arrest the fleeing robbery suspects and
bring them to book, adding that all officers and men of the command had been
alerted to the incident with a view to pinning down the fleeing hoodlums.
SPORTS
La Liga: Barcelona Close Gap On Real
Defending champions Barcelona upped the
pressure on leaders Real Madrid Tuesday night as they moved to within a point
of their bitter rivals after a 4-0 thumping of Getafe.
Two goals from Alexis Sanchez, one from
Pedro Rodriguez and Lionel Messi’s 39th in the league this season gave Barça a
tenth consecutive league victory after another near perfect performance by the
Catalans.
Real can restore their four-point
advantage if they beat Atletico Madrid tomorrow – they have not lost to their
city rivals since 1999.
The clash between Barça and Madrid on 21
April at the Camp Nou has become increasingly important as the Catalans have
reduced the gap on Madrid from ten points to only one in less than a month.
Barcelona dominated Getafe throughout,
controlling possession with their usual passing game and goalkeeper Victor
Valdes summed up the situation on the final whistle. “Our work is done here,
lets wait and see what Madrid do tomorrow night in their game,” he said.
Andres Iniesta had the game’s first chance
when his shot was tipped over by Miguel Angel Moya in the Getafe goal on 12
minutes.
Iniesta started the move on the left for
Messi to chest the ball into the path of the Chilean Sanchez who made no
mistake from 20 yards out.
On 17 minutes the lead was almost doubled
when Xavi had appeared to finish perfectly a neat passing move only for
Argentine centre-half Cata Diaz to scoop the ball clear on the goal-line.
Barca continued to dominate, but they did
not add to their lead until just before half-time when Iniesta supplied Messi
with a delightful back flick for the Argentine to finish with a powerful shot.
On 72 minutes Alexis doubled his tally
heading home an inch perfect right-wing cross from youngster Isaac Cuenca.
Two minutes later and it was another
header from Pedro who rounded off the scoring when he was quickest to meet a
right-wing free-kick from Messi.
Barca turned on the style for the final
minutes and Messi almost scored again from an impossible angle with two minutes
remaining after a twisting run had taken him past three defenders.
Earlier on Tuesday, Raul Garcia scored two
second-half goals to help Osasuna beat Espanyol 2-0 in a battle between two
teams competing for places in next season’s UEFA Europa League. For Osasuna the
result was the perfect recovery from last weekend’s 6-0 reversal at Rayo
Vallecano, however they were helped by a card happy referee who booked players
from start to finish.
Espanyol ended the game with nine men when
Philippe Courtois and Juan Forlin were sent off in the second half for two
bookable offences each.
Osasuna stay sixth on 46 points while
Espanyol, who have not won in five matches, remain four points behind in ninth
position.
Real Betis and Real Sociedad shared a 1-1
draw to help both teams edge closer to survival. Carlos Vela put Sociedad ahead
just after half-time before Ruben Castro equalised on 69 minutes for Betis.
Earlier Imanol Agirretxe had a first-half
penalty saved by Fabricio Agosto in the Betis goal.
Balotelli avoids ban for Song tackle
Manchester City’s Mario Balotelli has escaped the prospect
of an additional six-game ban for his tackle on Alex Song in the 1-0 defeat at
Arsenal.
Referee Martin Atkinson took no action in the match, but
reported the incident had been seen, ruling out retrospective Football
Association action.
Balotelli was sent off after picking up yellow cards for
two unrelated fouls. He could have faced extra three-game bans for violent
conduct and what would have been a fourth dismissal of season.
In addition to his dismissal at Emirates Stadium, Balotelli
has previously been sent off in the 1-1 draw with Liverpool in November and was
retrospectively charged with violent conduct after he appeared to stamp on
Scott Parker in the win over Tottenham in January.
The FA insists that, while it could reevaluate the incident
involving Parker, it would not take a second look at Balotelli’s challenge on
Saturday.
“Retrospective action was introduced for off-the-ball
incidents where there was no contest for possession and could not be deemed to
be re-refereeing an incident,” it said.
“In agreement with FIFA, this is how ‘not seen’ incidents
are dealt with retrospectively in England. It is a policy that is agreed with
all football stakeholders.”
Balotelli says he will speak to the club at the end of the
season to determine his future.
After his red card on Sunday, City boss Roberto Mancini
stated he would “probably” try to sell the 21-year-old this summer.
“At the end of the season I will speak with the club and
we’ll see,” Balotelli said in a statement provided by his agent to Italian news
agency Ansa.
“I’m very sorry for what happened and for the
disappointment caused to City.”
Balotelli added that his apologies were directed
“especially to Roberto Mancini, who I admire and wish well”.
According to Ansa, Balotelli phoned Italy coach Cesare
Prandelli to apologise but the Italy coach told his player to say sorry
publicly.
Osaze foresees tough Man City challenge
West Brom striker Osaze Odemwingie says the 3-0 victory
over Blackburn Rovers on Saturday makes their journey to Manchester City on
Wednesday (today) easy, however. He warns that the match against title
contenders will be a tough one.
“It will be an interesting game because we want to continue
enjoying our season. To make our season even better it would be nice to get
some points against one of the big teams.
“I’m happy that now we can go to Man City more relaxed,
because if we hadn’t got the result on against Rovers last Saturday, it would
not have been easy travelling there, knowing how good they are.”
The Nigerian striker is also looking to use the Wednesday’s
trip as a barometer for how far Albion have progressed this term.
Odemwingie is eager to pits his wits against the Barclays
Premier League title contenders, acknowledging victory for City is vital if
they are to have any chance of closing the eight-point gap on leaders
Manchester United over the last six games.
But he also believes the Etihad Stadium encounter presents
the 13th-placed Baggies with the chance to express themselves after taking a
big stride towards safety with the Saturday’s win.
“Sometimes we play and we look like a top Premier League
side,” said Odemwingie.
“We need to do that more often. It’s an opportunity for us
to play against a top side and see where we’re at. It’s more difficult away and
they may be more desperate for points than they were on Boxing Day.
“We now have more confidence and we’re more relaxed.
Hopefully that will help us perform against City.”
Chelsea coach maintains Champions League hope
Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo says his side must win
all their remaining games in order to seal Champions League qualification.
Di Matteo’s side were held to a 1-1 draw at west London
rivals Fulham on Monday, leaving them two points away from the final Champions
League qualifying spot held by Tottenham.
And the 41-year-old Di Matteo believes his side have the
quality to ensure they have a say in the fight to make Europe’s premier club
competition.
“We are closer to 4th spot now than we were. We were always
playing catchup,” Di Matteo told reporters.
“The situation was difficult from the start.
“We have to look at it positively and we are closer now. We
have a good squad. We have a squad full of good players and we will utilise
them to sustain our challenge.
“We just have to try and win as many points as we can. When
you play catch-up the pressure is always on and we are one point closer –
that’s how I see it.”
EAGLES land safely in Dubai
THE
Nigeria national football team which departed the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport
in Abuja at about 2:20pm Nigerian time via Addis Ababa enroute Dubai,
have landed safely in the United Arab Emirates preparatory to their match on
Thursday against seven-time African Nations Cup winners; Pharaohs of Egypt.
After
a four and half hours flight the team landed in Addis Ababa at about 9:20pm
Ethiopian time, aboard an Ethiopian Airways jet. It was a relatively smooth
flight. After over an hour stop over the team boarded another flight this time
to Dubai.
The
flight took about three hours, twenty minutes to land in the magnificent and
ever busy, Dubai International Airport. It was around 3:20am, Dubai time and
and 11:20pm Nigerian time, as Dubai is three hours ahead of Nigeria.
Airport
formalities were brief and the team soon found itself in the cozy Samaya Hotels
And Resort in the heart of Dubai, where it will stay throughout the period of
its sojourn in the UAE. Dan Amokachi, who is still holding forte for Big Boss
Stephen Keshi, described the flight as quite smooth and informed players that
training commences in earnest later in the day.
Keshi
himself is expected to link up with the rest of the squad by this morning as he
has already taken off from the United States, where he has been holidaying with
his family. The team will resume training at 4:30pm Dubai time and 1:30
Nigerian time ahead of the game against Egypt. So far, there are no injury
worries and the players are in good mood and are looking forward to the
friendly on Thursday.
|
|
||||
Thanks to Dr great ODUDUWA that i melt on this site. i am WILLIAMS GEORGE
ReplyDeletefrom south Africa. i was an HIV/AIDS victim. i had on for over five
years i do visit hospital always before the virus grow from HIV to
AIDS. I was just at the point of death with shame after i have lose a
very thing in life even my love one until my close relative direct me
to this site to look for Dr great ODUDUWA for healing and cleaning. It
so amazing to see my self back to my feet with every thing i have
lost. i am very happy because Dr ODUDUWA did not only cure my sickness
but he restructure my life by bringing back my ex and every thing i
lost to the course of this sickness(HIV/AIDS). i do not really no
where start from in appreciating you Dr ODUDUWA and the authour of this
site. please my people out there do not play with you problem go out
and seeks for the help of great ODUDUWA heal me without future problem
or hidden charges. now i am free from HIV/Aids and MY wife, my joy and
happiness are back. please with out a second choice go contact great
Dr ODUDUWA for the betterment of your life. CONTACT HIM
VIA EMAIL dr-oduduwa@live.com OR 08035831826