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He was said to have brought her from Egypt
Criticisms continued to trail the alleged marriage of former governor of Zamfara State, Senator Ahmed Sani to a
13-year old Egyptian girl.
The former governor reportedly paid $100,000 as bride price to the parents of the minor.
But in a statement made available to our correspondent in Lokoja on Monday,
the National Council of Women Societies condemned the action of the
senator, describing it as shameful.
Speaking through its National President, Hajia Ramatu Usman, the umbrella women’s
organisation said Sani’s action did not come to Nigerian women as a
surprise because, according to them, many northern governors had been
using religion as an excuse for not passing the Child Rights Act.
She further stated that the council had been mounting a campaign against
young girls being given out for marriage at ridiculously early ages of
12 or 13 years, adding that the action was against all reasoning.
According to Usman, “Vesico vaginal fistula has been attributed to under age
marriages due to the practice of early marriages in Nigeria, where young
girls are given out for marriage at ridiculously early ages as 12 or 13
years. They get pregnant and when they are ready to deliver, their
pelvises are so small for the babies to pass through.
“The baby gets stuck in the birth canal and in some cases dies. The baby‘s
head wears a hole between the birth canal and the bladder (VVF) or
rectum (RVF).
“So, when the dead baby is eventually delivered, the young mother is left with a dead child and she begins to
drain urine and/or stool continuously. She develops sores on her skin
and smells horribly from the constant drips of urine and stool on her
clothes.”
The body therefore advised parents to avoid giving out their under age daughters in marriage in order to check cases
of this health risk, which it said is particularly common in the
northern part of Nigeria.
The statement further said, “It is a shame that while we are seeking ways to view closely what pushes
parents into giving out their underage daughters into early marriages, a
former governor of a state is celebrating this act of child trafficking
and abuse.”
It also called on well-meaning Nigerians to mount pressure on northern governors to immediately commence work on the Child Rights Act.
Ibori's investigator attacked by gunmen
In a mafia Style take down reminiscent of the hollywood movie The Untouchables,
Solomon Yorr, an official of Nigeria's anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), is in a battle for life as medical personnel struggle to patch up his bullet ridden chest.
Mr. Yorr, in the past few weeks, has been intensely involved in the investigation of the former Delta State governor, James Ibori . He is the second-in-command of the team in charge of Mr. Ibori's investigation.
Mr. Yorr, who is attached to the Economic Governance Unit, an elite group in the commission which handles mainly cases of Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs), was attacked by gunmen on Sunday night in his home in Keffi, Nassarawa.
Femi Babafemi, the head of Media and Publicity of the EFCC, in a press statement yesterday, said that the operative is now receiving medical attention and has been installed in an Intensive Care Unit(ICU) in Abuja.
EFCC operatives, who spoke on conditions of anonymity, expressed fears that the attempt on Mr. Yorr's life was not unconnected with the high profile investigations that he has been handling.
Increased tempo and increased attacks
Mr. Babafemi of the EFCC told NEXT in Abuja yesterday, that the recent attacks on operatives of the commission was a result of the increased pace of high profile investigations undertaken by the commission, while debunking the idea that the recent attacks was indicative of a revamp in the quality of investigations being carried out by the EFCC.
"The steam has always been there. We are also raising the tempo of our activities. Some of these attacks are rooted in the desperation of some corrupt politicians to succeed in the 2011 elections. We had already alerted the public on the threats that we have been receiving," he said.
Mr. Babafemi said that between December, 2009 and March, 2010, two active operatives and one former operative of the commission had been killed. But he restated the determination of the anti- corruption agency to go ahead with its duties.
"The EFCC chairman, Mrs. Farida Waziri, has since directed that security should be beefed up around the officer, while she prays for his recovery. She has equally stressed that the various attacks against the agency and its officials will not in any way distract or deter us," Mr. Babafemi said.
Taking care of its own
A Lagos-based human rights attorney, Jiti Ogunye, however, had harsh words for the leadership of the anti-graft agency, who he says is not doing enough to safe guard the lives of its operatives.
"My observation is that the leadership of the EFCC may not be doing enough to protect its operatives," he said, adding that he feared that the continued attacks on operatives could demoralise their colleagues.
"For a law enforcement agency, it is important that perpetually, the capacity of that agency is bolstered such that it stays ahead of criminals or would-be-criminals. Part of the capacity should be its ability to protect its operatives. It is very important that a law enforcement agency must be able to do that," Mr. Ogunye stressed..
Mr. Ogunye dismissed the idea that the EFCC may be working harder than in the past, and insisted that the leadership of the EFCC must look inwards to solve its current challenge.
"There might be a self-inflicted disability on the part of the leadership of the EFCC, because once the leadership is compromised, then the operatives will no longer be safe. The commission must look inwards to find out what they have not been doing right to protect their operatives," he said.
He pretends to be a nice guy who would readily offer a free ride to a willing female. But he’s actually a criminal whose ploy is to rob his victims. Olalekan Kazeem is currently telling police detectives in Lagos why he’s been going about the city robbing women of their personal effects. He was arrested by the police after one of his victims sighted him in Lagos. He is currently cooling his heels in a police cell, awaiting his date with the law.
Khadijat Ope was one of his victims. Her ordeal happened on a hot, sunny Saturday in Ikorodu, a Lagos suburb.
That day, she had waited without success for a commercial bus to take her to Victoria Island. Just as the she was contemplating calling a cab, a private car, a Toyota Camry, stopped and the driver offered her a ride.
The young man driving the car, later identified as Olalekan Kazeem, said he too was going to the island but that he had already missed his way.
The 23-year old student, who had gone to collect her West African Examination Council (WAEC) result, promised to guide the man.
Few minutes into their journey, Kazeem pretended that the car had developed some fault and stopped.
After alighting and examining the car, Kazeem implored the girl to assist him in pushing the car. The unsuspecting girl dropped her bag inside the car and climbed out. In the bag were her handset, some money, her identity card, a WAEC certificate and two ATM cards. But as soon as she came out of the car, Kazeem started the engine and zoomed off with Ope’s belongings.
That was not all. Through the girl’s data on her birth certificate in her bag, Kazeem got the password for the girl’s ATM card and promptly cleared her account at the First Bank.
Khadijat wasn’t the only victim. Kazeem also employed the same method to rob another lady, Jennifer Chizoba, of the sum of N150, 000 and other personal effects.
Chizoba, who spoke with Daily Sun said: “When the man picked me, he stopped on the road, saying that his vehicle was bad. He begged me to assist him in pushing the car. While I was pushing the car, the man zoomed off with my bag containing N150,000 which my relatives contributed for me to set up a business.”
Many other girls have been similarly defrauded by Kazeem. But luck recently ran out on the man who has for long made life unbearable for his victims. He’s now cooling his heels in a police cell.
Kazeem, who is currently singing like a bird at the Alapere police station was arrested when one of the victims sighted him at a car wash at the Alapere area and called in the police. He was subsequently picked up.
Recovered from him were five female handbags, 28 ATM cards, 12 identity cards, four national ID cards, two voters registration card, a Joint Matriculation Examination result, and other items.
The suspect who claimed he only targeted women told Daily Sun that he decided to start robbing them because he had earlier been robbed by a woman.
He said his journey into crime began in November last year. According to him, somebody had given him the sum of N160,000 to keep on trust at the Eko Le Meridien Hotel, Lagos.
Said he: “That day, I decided to eat at the Ocean View Restaurant. As I was eating, two beautiful young girls appeared from the blues. I approached one of them and I even paid her bill of N2, 500. I also bought drinks for them.”
‘Why I rob only women’
In his words, trouble started for him when he was fondling the breasts of one of the girls. According to him, he was sucking the girl’s breast when he slept off. He regained consciousness the following day, he said, adding that the girl might have coated her breast with a sleep-inducing drug.
While he slept, he said, the girl searched his pockets and collected all the money. She was also alleged to have taken his car keys and stole the N160, 000 inside the car.
According to him, the man who gave him the money on trust did not believe the story even after he had explained what happened and ordered Kazeem detained for a week at a police station in Abeokuta, Ogun state.
“My real predicament started when my wife came to visit me at the police station and a policeman told her how I sucked a prostitute’s breast. My wife could not take the insult, so she abandoned me to my fate.”
After his release, Kazeem said he decided to avenge his humiliation on any woman he came across. “Any time I pick a woman, I derive immense pleasure in dealing with her. I regard all my victims as prostitutes because a responsible woman would not be looking for a free ride with a total stranger,” he informed.
Kazeem has a word of advice for ladies. “They should stop looking for free ride with strangers. They should try to patronize registered taxis.”
The 37-year old Abeokuta indigene begged those he had offended to forgive him but said they should thank God that he had no gun when he was perpetrating the act as he would have used it on them.
Another victim, a model, Cynthia Kodu said the man had also applied the same method to rob her of her handbag containing handsets, N18, 000, underwear and make-up.
Lagos state police spokesman, Mr. Frank Mba said preliminary investigations have shown that the man has robbed over 30 female victims.
Mba, who said the man would soon be charged to the court, warned members of the public to stop patronizing unregistered taxis. “They should go to the recognized taxi parks to board taxis,” he said.