IN (503)
A 13-year old sex slave (name withheld) has escaped from a hotel in Lagos State, Southwest Nigeria, after sleeping with at least 10 men daily for almost two months.
She was forced into prostitution by her aunt simply called Victoria, who brought her from Akwa Ibom to Lagos in December last year.
The JSS 2 student said it was while she was making effort to escape back to Akwa Ibom State after she fled from the hotel that someone saw her on the street and took her to a police station.
At the station, she told the police how she slept with at least 10 men daily, that is, about 550 men had sex with her throughout the two months she spent in the hotel.
She said each man paid her N1,000 to have sex with her. And her aunt, Victoria, usually comes around to collect the day’s proceeds.
The teenager said Victoria lied to her parents in Akwa Ibom that she was bringing her to Lagos to attend school only for her to be taken to a hotel and asked to sleep with men.
According to the girl, she gave me a room and brought mini skirt and slide dress and asked me to wear them.
“I did not understand what that meant until men started to approach me and I saw other girls going into their rooms with men,” she said.
“My aunt came to my room and coached me on how I should behave and directed that if any man comes to me I should collect N1000 and allow him to have sex with me.”
She also warned her to behave well so that they can always come back.
“That was how I started sleeping with men and at least 10 men have sex with me on daily basis and my aunt will collect the money and leave only food money for me,” she narrated.
On why she ran away from the hotel, she said that she was having severe pains in her private part and “when I complained to her, she wouldn’t hear of it and gave me oil to be robbing inside it but the pain continued until I could no longer bear it.”
Narrating how she agreed to follow her aunt to Lagos, she said that she hails from Ukuda in Akwa Ibom State and was in JSS2 when Victoria came from Lagos in December to take her here.
“She told my parents that she would like to assist them by sending me to school,” adding that since she was living in Lagos, she will take the victim along with her.
“On the day we set out from the village to Lagos, she gave my mom N500 and we left,” she narrated.
When they got to Lagos, she took her to a popular hotel in Ejigbo, New Love Hotel, situated at Lafenwa area, NNPC, Ejigbo.
On how she came to the police station, she said that when she could not bear the pain any longer, she ran away. She said she was crying and looking for a way to go back to the village because she does not know any place in Lagos.
While she was looking for a way to escape to the village a man took her to the station after listening to her plight.
Following her escape, the police have arrested the manager of the hotel identified as Johnson while Victoria was said to be on the run.
Though the manager has been granted bail, he was ordered to produce Victoria who brought the little girl to Lagos as a sex slave.On how she came to the police station, she said that when she could not bear the pain any longer, she ran away. She said she was crying and looking for a way to go back to the village because she does not know any place in Lagos.
P.M.NEWS gathered that the Area Commander Zone D, Mushin has ordered full investigation into the matter.
The matter is now being investigated by Inspector Tina in the human rights section.
Both Ejigbo Police and area Commander confirmed the incident and said that full investigation has commenced into the matter.
The girl has been handed over to her parents...
—Cyriacus Izuekwe
The Dubai-based Nigerian family reported missing while travelling from Lagos to Asaba last week has been found at last.
•The lucky kids, the doctor and the father of kids (standing). PHOTO: Emmanuel Osodi.
However, it was a tale of tragedy as three of the travellers – the mother, Edna, a Dubai-based staff of Standard Chartered Bank, her cousin, Chinyere, who had lost her only daughter last December, and the driver of the chartered Toyota Camry saloon car, Godfrey Inalegwu – were found dead in a village near Okada after their car plunged into a river, while trying to avoid a pothole. Only the three children – Loveth, 11, Precious 8 and Golden 6 – were rescued and taken to a private hospital in Ofumwegbe town, near Benin City, Edo State, Southsouth Nigeria. Their escape was simply miraculous, according to the rescuers.
P.M.NEWS in its Wednesday, 2 February 2011 edition, reported that the family was missing last week Wednesday during their trip from Lagos to Asaba in a Toyota Camry saloon car with registration number Lagos KU 108 EKY.
The husband of the Dubai banker, himself an accountant, Mr. Ugochukwu Onyeocha had told P.M.NEWS that when his family left Lagos about 10.00 a.m in the car, he communicated with his wife on phone twice, about 11 in the morning and 3 p.m.
He sensed something was wrong after he lost contact thereafter, believing that the wife was in an area where there was no phone network or that her phone was switched off. In the morning, he was awoken by a phone call from his mother-in-law that his wife and the children were yet to arrive Asaba. This prompted Onyeocha to involve the police. His report to the police at the State Criminal .Investigation Department, SCID, Panti, Yaba, Lagos however yielded no immediate clue as to the whereabouts of his family.
The police investigators told Onyeocha that the tracker in the Toyota car had shown that the car and the occupants got missing in a village called Otu Costain in Edo State.
The missing car was located at Okada, near Benin City.
It was discovered that the family had an accident and their vehicle plunged into a river. The survivors were later taken to Emiloju Medical Centre, in Ofumwegbe town, near Benin City, Edo State.
The Medical Director of the centre, Dr. Mohammed Yakubu, treated the three children.
According to him, “On 26 January, 2011 at about 7.30 p.m, these three children were brought here by kind-hearted villagers. They were unconscious. The villagers said the car in which they were travelling skidded into a river as the driver tried to manoeuvre a pothole on the road,” Mohammed said.
The doctor stated that the villagers with the help of policemen from a nearby police station were able to recover the car. But their mother, her cousin and the driver were dead. Only the three children were grasping for breath.
Dr. Mohammed said he was able to revive the three children and they were recuperating in his hospital, this morning.
The doctor added that the villagers with the help of policemen from Iguobazuwa Divisional Headquarters, Edo State, moved the three corpses to the mortuary of another hospital near the village.
As at the time of going to press, the father, Onyeocha, P.M.NEWS correspondent and Dr. Mohammed were on their way to the hospital where the corpses were kept.
The tragedy has confirmed the fears of Nigerians abroad, wary of returning home because of the epidemic of armed robbery, fraudsters, political violence and carnage on the roads.
—Oluwole Adeboye/Okada
ONE of the youth corps members engaged in the ongoing registration exercise in Delta State has drowned in the River Niger.
The corps member, whose identity was not immediately ascertained was posted as one of the ad-hoc staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to register voters at Oko, a riverine community near Asaba....
The state police command, it was learnt had engaged the services of divers to fish out his corpse. Circumstances leading to the death were still sketchy at press time, but the State Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Mr. Charles Muka, told our reporter, yesterday, that "it is true that the corps member drowned in the River Niger. He was posted to Oko community and his clothes were found on the bank of the river."
Also confirming the incident, the INEC's Chief Public Affairs Officer, Mr. Livy Unuibe, said "the Commission is aware of the tragic incident."
Meanwhile, the member representing Oshimili South constituency at the State House of Assembly, Mr. Eugene Okonji has called on the people of Asaba and Oko communities to participate actively in the ongoing registration exercise.
Okonji who provided some logistics to ease the registration process in the areas particularly emphasized that "Asaba which hosts the seat of government is key and that is why I am calling on the residents to turn out enmass and register".Three persons were killed in central Nigeria on Monday when soldiers opened fire to quell a fight between Christian and Muslim youth over voter registration for April elections, police and witnesses said.
Soldiers opened fire at a secondary school being used as a voter registration centre in the city of Jos after a group of Christian youth tried to prevent Muslim electoral commission officials from delivering voting materials, witnesses said.
Schools across Nigeria have been closed for the voter registration exercise, which began on Saturday, and there were no children at the venue at the time.
“We tried to pacify them but they grew wild,” Plateau State police commissioner, Abdulrahman Akano told reporters..
“They started stoning the soldiers and the soldiers had no choice than to open fire on them in self-defence,” he said, adding that two of the youth were killed by the gunfire.
One electoral official was lynched and burned, bringing the death toll to three, while two soldiers were wounded, a spokesman for a joint military and police taskforce said.
Plateau State, of which Jos is the capital, lies in the Middle Belt where the mostly Muslim north meets the largely Christian south. It has seen years of ethnic tensions and is a major potential flashpoint ahead of the April elections.
The latest unrest brings the death toll in and around Jos to more than 100 since Christmas, when there were a series of bomb blasts and subsequent clashes in the city.
Some members of the Christian community have accused the security forces of backing the mostly Muslims Hausa-Fulani ethnic group during the unrest. The rank-and-file of the army are from both religions but senior officers stationed in the region are predominantly Muslim, they say. The military denies the accusations.
Hundreds of people died in fighting between Muslim and Christian mobs in the Middle Belt a year ago and there have been frequent outbreaks of violence since then.
The tension is rooted in decades of resentment between indigenous groups, mostly Christian or animist, who are vying for control of fertile farmlands and for economic and political power with migrants and settlers from the north.
President Goodluck Jonathan, who is from the southern Niger Delta, won the ruling party primary last week and is considered the frontrunner in the presidential race on April 9. But his candidacy is controversial because of an agreement in the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) that power should rotate between the north and the south every two terms, a rhythm which his victory would interrupt.
His main election rivals are all northerners and there are fears that the national debate could become polarised around north-south rivalries, potentially leading to further election-related violence in the Middle Belt and other areas.
At least eight people have died at the .University of Bening Teaching Hospital following kerosene explosions that rocked communities in Delta and Edo states in the past two weeks. The deaths were as a result of the severe burns sustained by the victims from the explosion.
The kerosene explosions occurred in Oghara, Delta state and Benin city, the Edo state capital. Six children of a police officer, Hope Adeleke, who lived in Oghara, the headquarters of the Ethiope West local government area of Delta state all died as a result of the explosion while cooking with with their mother in the kitchen with a kerosene stove. The children died at the hospital due to the severe burns they sustained when a fire sparked by the explosion ravaged their home.
The mother of the six deceased children, Edna Adeleke, who was also a victim, is still receiving treatment at the Intensive Care Unit of the Accident and Emergency Ward of UBTH.
Another woman whose identity could not be ascertained also died last week at the same hospital as a result of a kerosene explosion. The woman and one of her children were rushed to UBTH from Ekehuan village near Benin city following injuries they sustained from an explosion. The child was said to have survived after receiving treatment and has since been discharged.
Over the weekend, a 12-year-old girl from Kwale, Ndokwa West local government area of Delta state also died when a kerosene explosion reportedly occurred at her home. She was rushed to UBTH where she died.
According to the director-general of Save Accident Victims of Nigeria, Eddy Ehikhamenor, the 12-year-old received 93 degrees of burns on her body. Mr. Ehikhamenor called on the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation to warn all dealers and retailers against the adulteration of kerosene.
He queried the high cost of kerosene presently selling at between N130 and N150 per litre, just as he requested the NNPC to embark on an analysis of the kerosene currently on sale to ensure that the product does not have a mixture of petrol. Kerosene, the nation's main source of cooking for most families across the nation has been scarce, leading to a price hike.
Amazing pic of Christians protesters protecting Muslims during their prayers in Egypt yesterday. Naija lets take note! Jos lets take note! We can too,
A mob on Monday razed a branch of Zenith bank at Mpape, Abuja following the shooting of a taxi driver and a lady passenger to death by a policeman attached to the bank.
The incident, which almost got out of hand also, consumed nine cars belonging to the bank and its members of staff, while the ATM machine was looted and set on fire.
The two persons were rushed to an undisclosed hospital, but unconfirmed reports said they later died of gun injuries. Trouble started when the policeman accidentally shot the taxi driver who had parked in front of the bank for his passenger to alight. The bullet also hit the female passenger, which led to her death; and this triggered the riot and attack on the bank.
Lorry load of policemen and soldiers were later brought to control the situation..
The Federal Capital Territory Commissioner of Police, John Haruna told journalists that “the policeman at the centre of the crisis has been taken into custody,” stressing that there were certain conditions that must be met before firearms could be used, but these conditions were not satisfied before the policeman fired his weapon.” The Mpape Divisional Police Officer, Imran Balarabe said he was at home when the incident happened but was informed by the Divisional Crime Officer via a phone call around 8 am. “I quickly dashed to the scene, only to see hundreds of angry people attacking the bank and attempting to break into the banking hall.” He said. The DPO said the information he had was that the gun went off when the policeman hit his rifle against the car to urge the taxi driver not to park in front of the bank, adding that the rifle may not have been cocked. However, Igwebuike Ugwueze, an artisan whose workshop is directly opposite the bank explained to NEXT that he heard a gunshot and saw the policeman speeding away as he was hotly chased by the mob.
“The policemen escaped into a bus which took off, then the people mobilised and started stoning the bank before setting it on fire. I learnt that some people suffered gunshot wounds, but I didn’t see any dead bodies,” he said.
NEXT observed money bands littering the frontage of the bank as well as expended shells on the ground.
Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa, has been admitted to the Milpark Hospital, Johannesburg. A statement from Sello Hatang, spokesperson for the Nelson Mandela Foundation, said Mr Mandela, "is in no danger and has been in good spirits after undergoing routine tests."..
Mr. Mandela who will be 93 in July served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999.
Large-scale irregularities and imposition of candidates in the recent primaries for state and national assembly contestants by the Action Congress of Nigeria in Edo state may lead to mass defection of members to other parties, especially the People's Democratic Party, a leader of party in Esan Central, Matthew Emiohe, has said.
He called on the state governor to rescue the party from the impending calamity that awaited it if the crisis that trailed the congresses was not properly looked into.
"The so-called primary that was conducted in Edo State was flawed. Actually, there was no primary but imposition of candidates," Mr Emiohe said. "This is a departure from what the governor has been preaching, the one-man-one-vote was jettisoned. The PDP primaries were very transparent. The governor's one-man-one-vote is nonsense. The way it is now, I don't think that the ACN can win any election, if care is not taken. The imposition is across the state and everybody is annoyed. If they knew they were going to do imposition why did they allow people to spend their money campaigning?"
Mr Emiohe alleged that the primaries in ward 10 of his district was especially poorly conducted, just as he alleged that the governor's men wrote results for elections that never took place.
One of the contestants, Patrick Inobemhe, accused the state government and leaders of the party of undue interference in the primaries...
Upstanding PDP
Mr. Inobemhe, who was seeking nomination to the State House of Assembly, alleged that in a bid to install their supporters as candidates for the general election, party leaders and government officials resulted to using all forms of dubious methods to edge out other contestants.
Mr Inobemhe, who spoke with journalists on Sunday, regretted that the so-called primaries in Edo State was only carried out to deceive the people into believing that the principle of one-man-one-vote was been upheld.
He subsequently called INEC to investigate alleged cases of rigging in the Edo ACN primaries and disqualify any candidate who was not the people's choice.
"The PDP we have so much maligned in the past came up with one of the best primaries in the state, we expected the ACN to even do better, but what we are seeing is far from been what we expected," he said.
An operative of the anti-graft agency told NEXT that the commission is currently carrying out the second phase of investigation into the fraudulent activities of the former minister who served in two different offices between 2004 and 2010...
photos: Lawal and Fixit Anenih Two former Works Ministers with questionable wealth
“There are currently two different phases of investigations against this man. One has been on-going for some time now, the second one has just begun. Most of the investigations border on fraudulent award of contracts to unregistered companies. Most of the contracts had to do with road contracts and the sale of federal government houses,” a source in the EFCC, who pleaded anonymity said in Abuja.
The spokesman of the anti-graft agency , Femi Babafemi, says that Mr.Lawal is currently in the custody of the commission, however he declined to speak on what possible date the accused will be arraigned. Our source however revealed that the commission is currently working to uncover and arrest other persons who might have collaborated with the former minister. The charges against the former minister are high degree of massive fraud, abuse of office, abuse of government laid down policy on due process and award of contracts to unregistered companies’.Mr. Lawal served as the Minister of Labour and Productivity from 2004 to 2007. He then served as the Minister for Works and Housing from 2008 to 2010.
All our military heads of state were largely insensitive, corrupt, almost illiterate, self-appointed tyrants who seized their stripes of honour (dishonour is probably more appropriate) through coups rather than the rigours of formal training, experience or war..
Each one of the military heads of state simply got up from bed one chosen morning, pistle on the hip, jackboots on the ready to besmear our constitution to loot our treasury to their hearts content. Of course, they soon made up on the job for their lack of proper war or soldiering experience by detaining, tear gassing, shooting and bombing citizens protesting against their high-handedness and misrule. Everyone of our coup Generals aspired to be the richest lazy fool in the world sitting like an over-fed baboon atop the tallest tree in our devastated and rotting vineyard, savouring their exploits amidst squalor, hunger and decaying corpses. General Muhammadu Buhari was one of such military heads of state.
Shagari’s regime (1979-1983), incurred Buhari’s wrath when it decided to investigate the US$2.8 billion that disappeared from the Midland Bank, London account of the Nigerian National Petroleum Cooperation, (NNPC), during General Obasanjo’s era as military head of state that preceded Shagari’s. Dr. Olusola Saraki, Turaki of Ilorin, was the majority party leader of the Senate at the time and he headed the Senate Committee set up to trace the stolen money after some three years of clamour for such an investigation by members of the civil society. The money was traced to the Midland Bank London branch fixed account of Obasanjo’s appointee as military head of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company. The Committee’s report was presented to the Senate during the tail end of Shagari’s regime in 1983, so the House decided to deal with the matter and expose the rogue military head of the NNPC soon after the 1983 general elections. The attempt at civilian-to-civilian transition provided the fillip for mayhem at the time. The elections were marred by massive rigging because incumbent political office holders were refusing to slacken their stranglehold on Nigeria Plc., mortgaged as the leaders private property.
On the 31st December, 1983, Buhari struck under the cover of the political commotion that trailed the presidential election results. Buhari generally had no agenda for leadership but vendetta against those he called critics and rabble-rousers. Buhari did not see any moral wrong in his conversion of our oil money into his personal use. Rather he railed at the press and what he described as the self-righteous sections of the country for making a big deal out of the issue. He locked up without trial, politicians and critics including Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, notorious for clamouring for the exposure of the oil money rogue. Satire saved my neck at the time. Vera Ifudu, who was an NTA reporter then, was sacked through his prodding as military ruler, for reporting what Dr. Olusola Saraki had told her in an interview about how the missing money was traced to Buhari’s account at a Midland Bank London branch. Vera eventually won her case of wrongful dismissal in court against the NTA and was financially compensated.Buhari’s ‘War Against Indiscipline’ was obviously a swathe to camouflage his moral decadence. He did not see anything wrong with the over 50 suitcases an Emir smuggled through the Murtala International Airport without routine checks. And as a master of selective justice, he refused to convict Shagari, claiming not to find direct evidence against him but making a mountain out of a molehill on the indulgencies of Shagari’s lieutenants. His regime’s masterstroke to divert attention from his moral ineptitude was exemplified by his crating of Umaru Dikko to airfreight back to Nigeria from London. Despite his moral degeneracy and his high handedness and intolerance of dissent, his regime was not a total disaster. He maintained a vibrant foreign policy with Africa as its principal focus. Nigeria was already a failed state economically when he seized government from Shagari. We had a staggering foreign debt load of US$18 billion, so Buhari stopped all further borrowing, and in defiance of the IMF and World Bank, provided a homegrown alternative to the IMF’s SAP and pegged the exchange rate of the naira at one to the US$1.50. He stopped all further borrowing from abroad; instituted counter trade for essential or desperately needed commodities and put a ceiling (or an upper limit) on the amount of foreign exchange earnings to be used in servicing foreign debts. After sorting out and rejecting all the dubious and unverifiable foreign debts in our portfolio, he paid off nearly 50% of the genuine debts by the end of his regime in 1985. Even Britain was already scheming to enter into counter trade agreement with Nigeria when Babangida was sponsored in 1986 by the West to sack Buhari in a military coup that reversed our limited economic gains.Not much is known about Buhari’s family background. Not a great deal has been heard about his educational qualifications either. As head of state, he was a recluse to the core. At least, that was the image he portrayed. His deputy, the late Gen. Idiagbon, was considered by most Nigerians to be the star of Buhari’s regime. It is to Idiagbon that any credit due to that regime is generally attributed. Idiagbon was the defacto head of state. He was honest, upright, disciplined, and like Murtala Muhammed before him, he succeeded briefly in introducing order and sanity to our lives.
After consigning the vexatious matters that brought him to power, to administrative oblivion with the help of Shinkafi, his Secret Service guru, Buhari announced his readiness to quit office. Idiagbon, as Buhari’s lieutenant, naturally insisted on taking over as head of state from his apparently prematurely retiring boss. Babangida, who was Chief of Army Staff at the time and a member of the Supreme Military Council, insisted it was his turn to rule because he had been involved in virtually every military coup up to that time. The quarrel split the Supreme Military Council members almost equally behind the two principal combatants and eventually led to the overthrow of Buhari’s regime by Babangida. America, Britain and the other leading western nations hailed Babangida’s coup and immediately sent emissaries to strategize with him. President Reagan went out of his way to send him gifts including books such as Niccolo Machiavelli’s: the Prince, advocating the destruction of civil freedom to strengthen despotism.The June 12 annulment provided Buhari with the opportunity to publicly wear a messianic toga while quietly pursuing private vendetta against someone he considered his enemy. He attended meetings at Ota to join with others to condemn Babangida’s decision and as soon as the decision was reached to ask Babangida to step down, he stopped attending further meetings. He had achieved his revenge.
Abacha rehabilitated Buhari with the chairmanship of the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) before he (Abacha) died in 1998. When Obasanjo returned to power in May 1999 as civilian president, he found that over 2.5 billion naira had not been properly accounted for in the PTF and that there was not much on the ground to show for the colossal expenditure the agency was claiming. On the day Obasanjo announced the scrapping of the PTF, a non-staff brother-in-law of the boss, allegedly serving as his conduit on some PTF projects, died suddenly from what appeared to be heart failure. Most of what he was able to achieve in the PTF, was focused in his backyard. Haruna Adamu, who was appointed by Obasanjo to investigate the PTF before finally consigning it to the dung heap, quickly pocketed one hundred million naira of PTF’s money before operating table could be set up for him, thus forcing Obasanjo to hurriedly close the place down without further investigations. Buhari has been trying desperately since to return to power, perhaps to get a chance to shred the PTF documents?
Buhari is a tribal and religious bigot. When he lost the presidential election in April 2003, he threatened the nation with mass action and refused to go to court. He organized a rally in Abuja, as one in a series of such civil acts of disobedience to protest what he described as the massive rigging of the election that brought Obasanjo to power the second time.
He almost succeeded in launching his Jihad. The alleged taped sermon of an unnamed pastor at an unidentified church in Adamawa claiming that: “Whether Muslims like it or not, Obasanjo must continue” and that “any Muslim who does not want that, can die or move to Niger” was obviously a blatant forgery. It was very likely to be the handiwork of the ‘Crater of Dikko brigade. For a start, the language of the sermon was too brash to be true, especially coming as it was claimed, from a Christian minority likely to bear the brunt of the consequences of the offensive sermon in a predominantly Muslim state. The Christian minority would have had to be mad to the last man, to call for their own annihilation in such a careless and irresponsible manner.
It is not logical that the Christian cleric would send hundreds of his suicide sermon tapes, not to Christians, but to Muslim clerics and the media around the country. Someone who desperately wanted to kill Nigeria must think we are all morons and I suggest we look for him at the backyard of our current number one Jihadist. Where else to look when Buhari was threatening he must occupy the Presidency whether he won the election or not. We begged him to go to the Electoral Tribunal to settle the matter but he insisted that he would rather clubber us to death, with religion than subject himself to the in indignity of being judged by another man. That is how badly he cares about our welfare and survival.
One is not always sure if he is truly a Nigerian because let’s face it; no true Nigerian would hate Nigeria so much as to threaten her with a Jihad. May be the problem is of a mental nature considering the gutter snipes often credited to the supposed statesman on the Hausa service of the BBC and other foreign media about his fatherland. He seems to love to speak before he thinks. There is something definitely troubling about the mind of this crater genius because it is probably not just Nigerians that he hates but life itself in its totality. In other words, we are probably all trapped in the vicious grip of a cool and calculating sadist. In fact, I am told that no one has ever seen him smile or laugh.
Sam Omatseye, writing about Buhari in the Sun newspaper at the time said: “He (Buhari) uses Sharia to justify his worldview; to justify a certain selfish view of the world that serves his interest at a particular time. He played that card in the presidential election in order to secure a base for himself. But he needed more than his northern base to become president. You must be flexible to pull non-sharia base with you and the man has no flexibility in his bones so when he tries to play the chameleon, he fails. He tries to carry a veneer of a man of principles but falls short when selfish interest is involved.”Buhari has no respect for democracy. Under his behest, the ANPP humiliated five highly respected South-Eastern Presidential aspirants at their primary for the 2003 presidential election despite having Dr. Okadigbo as Buhari’s running mate. After rigging his party’s primary to become its presidential candidate, Buhari then felt he stood on moral grounds to preach election morals to the world. Buhari ignored the South-West completely, as if it did not exist and offered the South-South, the unattractive, legally diminished constitutional option on derivation. To rob salt into injury, he threatened to swap NDDC with PTF. If he wasn’t playing with words, he betrayed his selfish ethnic agenda because we all know what happened in his PTF. It concentrated its activities in the North.
Buhari definitely was not a sellable presidential candidate across Nigeria. What happened was that the incumbent ANPP governors needed a Buhari to help them hold on to their states on religious grounds. Even in the area of public debate, Buhari was not articulate or detribalized and he lacked charisma. He ignored all entreaties to explain his programmes to the ‘bloody civilians.’ Arrogant and condescending, he was unable to climb down from his high horse as a former military dictator. Infused with the moribund myth that Nigerian leadership was the sole property of his ethnic group, he assumed he could cow the rest of us with a jihad. If that failed, some said, military coup was a possibility because a kaferi must not continue to rule. He concentrated his campaign (if it could be called that, because he said very little at every stop), in the North-East and North-West of the country. The little he said, was only in the Hausa language to titillate the warrior nerves of his jihadist gang.
With 19 states in the North, he was convinced he could, at least, force a re-run in the elections, forgetting that the North Central states are already a little weary of jihad. Even the core North itself has some 30% Christian population. Awolowo and Zik exposed the fallacy of the monolithic north by winning elections all over the place during their time. Abiola proved that religion is not the cocoon the Buharis think it is in modern Nigerian politics.
He prostitutes his political ambition by moving from party to party, with the sole aim of becoming the presidential candidate of any party he joins. He is not prepared to serve under anyone else, definitely not under a southern candidate. On seeing that he would not be able to realize his selfish ambition in the mega party he initially joined with others to form, he hurriedly formed a break away party where no one would challenge him as presidential candidate. Since there is no hope of his legitimately ever becoming the Nigerian president or head of state again, Nigerians need to be preparing now for a possible jihad led by this man in the not too distant future.
NAIWU OSAHON, Hon. Khu Mkuu (Leader) World Pan-African Movement); Ameer Spiritual (Spiritual Prince) of the African race; MSc. (Salford); Dip.M.S; G.I.P.M; Dip.I.A (Liv.); D. Inst. M; G. Inst. M; G.I.W.M; A.M.N.I.M. Poet, Author of the magnum opus: ‘The end of knowledge’. One of the world’s leading authors of children’s books; Awarded; key to the city of Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Honourary Councilmanship, Memphis City Council; Honourary Citizenship, County of Shelby; Honourary Commissionership, County of Shelby, Tennessee; and a silver shield trophy by Morehouse College, USA, for activities to unite and uplift the African race.Naiwu Osahon, renowned author, philosopher of science, mystique, leader of the world Pan-African Movement.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, last Tuesday evening, discovered four voter registration centres deep inside the Nziko forest at Nteje in Anambra State. The deputy governor of Anambra State, Emeka Sibeudu and the state resident electoral commissioner, Chukwuemeka Onukogu, led the team that made the discovery based on security reports made available to the governor, Peter Obi.
The REC said it was painful to discover four centres serving no one in the middle of a thick forest when there were not enough machines for potential voters in places like Awka, Onitsha, Nnewi, Adazi, and Agulu. The centres, located within the vicinity of a shrine, are at least a 40-minute drive from the nearest residential area. It was discovered that the registration officers, mainly National Youth Service Corps members sat idly, looking at the machines, with no one in sight to register.
The deputy governor who expressed his shock at the location of the registration centres said: “We have shortfalls in machines. But in the forest here, there are four machines lying idle. All the people we met here are not up to 10. But if you go to some other places, you will find thousands of people waiting to be registered. This, I can assure you, is part of the rascality of the past which the present government under Mr. Peter Obi is trying hard to stamp out of the state.”
According to him, these kinds of registration centres were used to commit electoral fraud.
In his reaction the resident electoral commissioner, Mr. Onukogu, said he had only heard of these types of voting centres.
“Today I have seen one,” he said. “I am sad that there are four machines wasting here, whereas there are no machines in Onitsha, Eke Awka, Ozubulu, Nnewi and parts of Anaocha where thousands of people are waiting to be registered.”
He said the four centres put together had registered only about 200 voters since the exercise started 10 days ago, when the same machines would have registered many people had they been located in densely populated areas..
“The irregular location of the centres also poses grave risks to the registration officers and the machines. How will I evacuate men and machines in the event of danger?” Mr. Onukogu asked.
He alleged that the centres must have been secured by an influential politician from the area. He said he would take away three machines and leave one behind. But he added that he would need to meet with the registration officials on the matter in his office before taking action. But Mr. Onukogu admitted that he was constrained by the fact that the “floating registration centres” deep in the forest were documented from the Abuja headquarters of INEC and assured it would be corrected.
INEC discovers registration units in forest, near shrine
THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Tuesday evening, discovered four voter registration centres in Nziko forest, at Nteje in Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra State.
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The deputy governor of the state, Mr Emeka Sibeudu and the state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Professor Chukwuemeka Onukogu, led the team that made the discovery, acting on security reports made available to the governor, Mr Peter Obi.
Professor Onukaogu said it was "painful to discover four centres serving nobody in the middle of a thick forest when there were no enough machine for potential voters in places like Awka, Onitsha, Nnewi, Adazi, Agulu and others."
The REC said "I have heard of floating/flying polling booths. Today, I have seen one. I am sad that there are four machines wasting here, whereas there are no machines in Onitsha, Eke Awka, Ozubulu, Nnewi and parts of Anaocha, where thousands of people are waiting to be registered."
The centres, which took 40 minutes drive to access from the nearest residential area in Nteje, were located within the vicinity of a shrine with the registration officers, mainly corps members, virtually doing nothing, as there were no potential voters in sight.
The four centres together had registered only about 200 voters since the exercise started 10 days ago, while the irregular location of the centres also posed a risk to the registration officers and the machines.
He said he would take away three machines and leave one behind, adding that he would need to meet with the registration officials on the matter in his office before taking action.
The deputy governor expressed shock at the discovery, saying "we have shortfalls in machines but in the forest here, there are four machines lying idle. All the people we met here are not up to 10. But if you go to some other places, you will find thousands of people waiting to be registered.
Scientists involved in the small-scale study described the results as a stark warning to people considering smoking.
Anti-smoking charity Ash described the research as "chilling" and as a warning that it is never too early to quit.
The long term impact of smoking, from heart disease to a range of cancers, are well known. This study suggests the damage begins just moments after the first cigarette is smoked.
Faster than you might think
The researchers looked at the level of chemicals linked with cancer, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), in 12 patients after smoking.
A PAH was added to the subject's cigarettes, which was then modified by the body and turned into another chemical which damages DNA and has been linked with cancer...
The research shows this process only took between 15 and 30 minutes to take place.
Professor Stephen Hecht, from the University of Minnesota, said: "This study is unique, it is the first to investigate human metabolism of a PAH specifically delivered by inhalation in cigarette smoke, without interference by other sources of exposure such as air pollution or the diet.
The results reported here should serve as a stark warning to those who are considering starting to smoke cigarettes."
Martin Dockrell, director of policy and research at Ash (Action on Smoking and Health), said: "Almost everybody knows that smoking can cause lung cancer.
"The chilling thing about this research is that it shows just how early the very first stages of that process begin - not in 30 years but within 30 minutes of a single cigarette for every subject in the study.
"The process starts early but it is never too late to quit and the sooner you quit the sooner you start to reduce the harm."
The research was funded by the US National Cancer Institute..
The accident reportedly occurred near Okada town, in Ovia North-east Local Government Area of Edo State when an on coming bus veered off its track,while trying to avoid bad spots, and rammed into the bus which burst into flames.
The bus, according to witnesses was travelling from Lagos to the eastern part of the country.
“We were watching helplessly as the bus was on fire with the occupants. There was no help in sight, there was nobody to help, there was nothing we could do,” said one of the witnesses.
At press time, a senior official of the Federal Roads Safety Commission (FRSC) at the old Benin toll gate confirmed the incident but the commission’s spokesman, Olu Olumotomi, said he was still expecting the details of the accident.
He said his men were still at the scene evacuating the victims to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH).
The FBI calls it the biggest mafia round-up in New York history. More than 100 suspected mobsters are being arrested this morning in connection with numerous federal investigations into New York area mob groups as first reported on NBCNewYork.com.
FBI agents along with NYPD and State Police officers, and US Marshals were conducting raids that began in the early morning hours. Federal charges are expected to range from gambling to racketeering to murder.
Law-enforcement officials said members and associates of all five New York mafia families - as well as New Jersey's DeCavalcante family - are among those being arrested.
The arrest operations stretch across the tri-state area with many of the suspects being processed in Brooklyn. Attorney General Eric Holder is flying up from Washington to take part in the official announcement. U.S. Attorneys Loretta Lynch, Preet Bharara along with FBI New York Director Janice Fedarcyk and NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly are expected to announce details of the federal charges at an 11 am news conference.
With more than 100 arrests expected, officials said the charges this day surpass the large 2008 mafia raids where 80-plus suspected members of organized crime were charged.
At that time, John 'Jackie the Nose' D'Amico and other reputed leaders of the Gambino crime family were targeted in the U.S. while Italian authorities conducted simultaneous raids on mafia groups there.
FBI officials have said organized crime is still active in New York's construction industry. Labor union corruption, loansharking and gambling among the other schemes run by the mob.
FBI officials did officially confirm the arrests.
"Early this morning FBI Agents along with our law enforcement partners began arresting over 100 organized crime members for various criminal charges," said Diego Rodriguez of the FBI New York office. "Additional information will be available at the U.S. Attorney's offices later today."
Officials said significant leaders and associates of the Gambino, Genovese, Lucchese, Bonanno, Colombo and DeCavalcante families among those being arrested.
Comment:
Where is the kaduna mafia of naija now ?
New York Red Bulls said they never expected John Rooney, the brother of Manchester United star Wayne, to still be available when it came time for them to pick in the second round of the Thursday's MLS entry draft.
Red Bulls head coach Hans Backe said they were surprised the younger brother of the England striker went unpicked through the first round because the Red Bulls had him rated as one of the top three midfielders in the draft.
"He's a box to box player, he has a good understanding of the game and he's an excellent passer of the ball," Backe said of Rooney who spent most of his career in the English lower leagues. "I rated him very highly."
Rooney had featured for unheralded English third division side Macclesfield Town but now the 20-year-old attacker will play in America's MLS alongside French star Thierry Henry.
Rooney described himself Thursday as a "goal-scoring midfielder".
"I?m quick, I?m crafty and I can put the ball in the back of the net," Rooney said. "Hopefully I can do that for them."
He travelled to Baltimore Thursday with family members for the draft.
Rooney said he has never been to New York but is looking forward to showcasing his skills in the Big Apple for Red Bull fans.
The 2011 MLS season starts in March.
Seven Chinese men have been arrested for oil theft by officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, at the Federal Housing Authority, Diamond Estate, Isheri area of Lagos State, South West Nigeria.
P.M.NEWS gathered that they were arrested at Road 20, block 11 of the estate after a thorough search was carried out on their apartment which led to the discovery of seven drums fill with refined fuel scooped from an oil well in the area.
The suspected culprits are Lu Di Sheng, Lu Yun Di, Guan Ping Man, Wang Dong, Cheng Chao, Li Xia Tao and Yang Zhao Ye.
The suspects were arrested around 3.00 pm on Thursday and detained at the NSCDC Headquarters, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos.
The raid and arrest of the suspects was led by the Assistant Commander General, NSCDC, Lagos Command, Mr. Samuel Onyemachi.
Public Relations Officer, NSCDC, Lagos Command, Mrs. Folashade Vera-Cruz told P.M.NEWS that the suspects would be handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, today for prosecution.
According to her, the suspected vandals were scooping fuel from the oil well in the area and had successfully fill seven drums through a hole dug in their compound where they passed a pipe to connect the oil well and then scoop the fuel.
She stated that the anti-vandal squad of the command acted on a tip off and carried out a survey on the area and discovered that an oil well was in the area.
“While our men were surveying the area, they heard that there was a well filled with PMS and our men decided to go there. On getting to the estate, they used a bowl to fetch the fuel from the well and found out that it was pure PMS.
“They decided to carry out a search in some of the apartments close to the oil well. When they got to the flat where the Chinese live, they saw that it was very dirty. Our men were made to know that the Chinese import generators and as we searched the house, we discovered seven drums filled with pure PMS which led to their arrest,” she explained.
Security Chairman of the estate, Alhaji Yusuf Abdulhadir told P.M.NEWS that he was in the house when he was informed that some Chinese men living in the estate had been arrested.
“For a very long time, we have been having fuel smelling in our estate and residents in the estate have not been able to use their boreholes because of the fuel except those who dunged very dip into the ground.
“Behind our estate is a swamp and last December, there was fire outbreak behind the estate and it took the intervention of NNPC officials and fire servicemen from the Lagos State Government to put out the fire,” he said.
According to him, “70 percent of residents of the estate could not use their boreholes because of the contamination by fuel. These Chinese men living near the swamp dig holes where they scoop fuel.
“When we approached the NNPC about the fuel problem in our estate, they told us that the vandalisation of their pipeline 15 years ago led to oil spill in the area and that it will take some time before the spillage will go,” he stated....
He said it was very common to discover fuel in the area after digging a little, adding that even while digging for gutter, fuel was always discovered.
However, one of the suspects, Yang Zhao Ye told P.M.NEWS that only four of them lived in the house and that the other three were their visitors.
He confessed that fuel was found in drums in their apartment which led to their arrest and detention.
— Kazeem Ugbodaga
President Goodluck Jonathan has accepted to engage his main opponent for the presidential ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, in a political debate.
Though he said this must be done at the instance of the party, he said he expected that the party’s flag bearer and other candidates will debate on issues based on manifestos rather than challenging each other as if to a wrestling competition.
Mr. Jonathan’s 2011 political ambition took a step forward when he was yesterday unanimously endorsed by South-South delegates to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) national convention during a meeting between the president and the south-south delegates in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State.
The delegates from the six states of the region openly endorsed the Jonathan/Sambo ticket as the best ticket. While thanking delegates for their support, Mr. Jonathan said he was ready to take up the challenge of his main opponent whenever the party deems it fit for them to meet.
“I am waiting for the party to invite me for presidential debate,” he said..
The president also assured the people of the region that he will do his best not to let them down, noting that whatever he does while in office will rub off positively or negatively on the people from the south-south region.
He further noted that he will ensure that he does nothing that will jeorpardise the chances of others from the region in the nearest future.
“If I mess up, the people will reject us (zone) completely, and this is why I have to do everything possible to ensure that we do well as a government,” he said.
Working for progress
He reassured the people that come March next year, the country will enjoy relative power stability, as all the efforts put in by the administration should have yielded tons of fruits.
The president said after considering the other aspirants from the party, he is convinced that he and his vice president present the best that will lead the nation out of the woods.
“That is why our administration is assuring Nigerians that if given another four years, we would try and make the country better,” he said.
Mr. Jonathan, who had earlier met with the chairman of Rivers State traditional ruler, King TJT Princewill JP Amachree, Amanyanbo of Kalabari Kingdom, also reiterated his plan to send to the National Assembly a bill that will recognise the traditional institutions in the country.
This he said he will do early next year. He asked the traditional rulers to contribute towards the bill when the National Assembly commences public debate on the it.
The president, who also reacted on the Jos killings, said the situation is a national embarrassment, adding that terrorism has become a global plague which the government is working hard to tackle and make a thing of the past.
