Posted by 9jabook.com on September 29, 2009 at 11:30pm
Purpose, Passion, Peace. A Rebirth of a Nation.
There was ONE who embodied this while he was "on" earth .Is
your October Ist going to be just another Holiday or a prequel to the
3Ps .Live 80years but 3Peed 5years,5 years of purpose,passion and peace out of 80 ? what a waste !
We MUST transform ourselves from name calling and buck passing to Name Builders and Buck giving.
It is Clear Our Leaders are USELESS nincompoops hellbent on destroying what ever Sanity that is left in our Nation.I have traversed this country for two months and Have not found one "nobility" Person that readily takes or has the pride of life of Naija .I have however met many plebeians,Street people .Unknowns ! Who see Nigeria as the only solution to their problems.
Illiterate and without connections nor money to Andrew and check out of the country .These are the Real Nigerians , Who have no stakes anywhere, no hidden bank of ibori accounts abroad.Who will look at October ist and realise and say "Naija for life" .E go better syndrome is what keeps them for they know nothing else.
October ist to them might turn out to be the day President Go slow has a positive Brain Transplant or better Still RESIGNS ! and then Dancing on the Streets as the day a certain Aviator Sunglasses wearing General Baddest President for Life Sanni Abacha gave up the ghost in office .Remember that day ? There was dancing on the streets of Lagos.
When the wicked perish there are Shouts of Joy !
PURPOSE
3Ps
WE wish for a purpose in our Nation.We have been ridiculed to what they call rebranding ? How can you rebrand a brand that never was ? When the people ,The State ,The Fatherland is being run by charlatans.Our Day of joy as a Nation Birthed 49years ago will come and go amidst the pomp and pageantry and possibly The New Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia might just do another hiatus and not even be present for it.
Rebranding is not our purpose.Our Purpose should be Prosperity ,Good Roads,Running Tap Water,Electricity,Education,Health Care.What is the purpose of a country ? If not its citizens welfare ? Please, Pray tell me.what is the purpose of the Body if
not to provide the pleasures of life to its owners !
Passion
The passion of the Christ movie stems from responsibilty, It was engendered by talent and sustained through sheer determination to accomplish Purpose .The ultimate goal of any passion is to accomplish.Mel Gibson did that movie in aramaic ? He could have done it in English but then that is what passion is all about !
Have we a passion for our Nation ? As citizens , do we share a national pride in being nigerian, Artisans,Academics,Soldiers Of all the professions in this country there is "none" that shows true passion than our Armed Forces .In a nation riddled with corruption and hopelessness of the pushed to the wall and break it type.There Still exists people that would willingly give their lives to protect this country !
Willingly not conscripted.Not forced. They dont get huge bank bonuses nor offficial cars and drivers .Their salaries and living conditions are pitiful.A life of armed Robbery would be more profitable for these unfortunate souls , And yet they still do it ! They are true Soldiers What then is Nobility ? Is it by birth or class standing or is it by Character that pervades selflessness and the Joy of Purpose fuelled by this passion to serve without expecting anything in return ?
Passion for This october ist will give us all a chance to another holiday or another chance to say hmm 49years old country .
Add 1 for center u go get 4-1-9years. Life begins at 40 ... A fool at 40 might still be a fool at 80 . Someone said "we are still a young country, dont compare usto america they are 200 odd years ) .LOL (lights on Lightsaber) Let me make a daring thrust at the heart of this malaise wielding rhetoric.
If Alexander the Great barely before he was 25 in a span of less than 10years was running the show in what was The larger part of this Real EState called Earth and a host of other nations like Ghana, Malaysia who in the earSixtiesed to look up to us as big brother .Then the "Age" of a country should be measured by its leadership accomplishments .The bible always in the old testament and i often wondered at this .
"In the Reign of so and so King........" In the Reign of Obasanjo.... The king " Behold a king shall reign in righteosness and Princes shall rule in justice .Isa 32:6 He fall him own hand as OBJ he had a passion ,passion to become UN Secretary General not president.Yaradua's pasion might be to become a Saudi Prince or citizen or to get healed.He has lost the P he is a president for. He lost his passion We cant lose ours. This passion has to return back to us to the point that Our Ori E must 4kasibe naija must gongo aso and enta the place where
all the African Kings and Queens are bracketing because love is a beautiful thing.Mister naijaman that will be most definitely incredible stuff coming straight out of Naija.
As for The third P , Peace
We shall not spill our blood for the "Aristos" in power WE have done it before .He is here, many of us are not
Peace be unto You and all (Who no like peace even al qaeda want am bad well after dem don erase America off the face of the
earth )
So lets keep 3ping 3Ps to Success Which October ist are you ?
Happy October Ist
Abi John Balogun
Aka Weboga
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Posted by Eddy Etuk on September 29, 2009 at 10:30pm
National Youth Corps members serving in Borno State have been thrown into mourning following the gruesome killing of their colleague, Miss Grace Adie Ushang by unknown persons.Adie was allegedly raped to death last weekend and her body dumped beside a river at the Customs Area, Maiduguri.The late Batch B 2009 corps member reportedly left her room at the Corpers’ Lodge of the El-Kanemi College of Business Administration (ECOBA), Customs area where she was serving around 6.30 p.m in search of food. Sadly, the sudden windstorm, which made many people in Maiduguri scurry home last Saturday evening allegedly provided a cover for Grace’s assailants as she was allegedly assaulted and murdered in cold blood.The principal of El-Kanemi College, the deceased, employer, Mr Alfred Adikwe confirmed the alleged rape and death of the corper in an interview with Daily Sun. He added that the doctor’s first post mortem report revealed that she was assaulted and raped to death.“The doctor who examined her body confirmed she was assaulted and raped by unknown persons. In fact, there was a cut on her fore head and blood was discovered on her nose and mouth as at the time she was picked up at the place where her body was discovered,” he disclosed.Explaining further, he said “Grace told her colleagues at the college quarters that she was going out to buy food around 6.30 p.m on Saturday but did not return on time and that made her colleagues to get worried. Few hours later, they were informed that a lady’s body was lying near a river at the customs area. It was discovered that the trouser she wore when she went out was no longer with her. She was almost naked.”The doctor also said that the deceased’s body was discovered by some people few hours after she left the lodge in search of food. Her colleagues who spoke to Newsmen on condition of anonymity claimed she must have struggled to free herself from her assailants.Grace, 25 a graduate of Education Administration from the University of Calabar was posted to Borno in July in the wake of the Boko Haram crisis. She was later posted to the Business Administration College on August 4.When contacted, the Borno State NYSC coordinator, Mr Moshood Adebayo declined comment on the matter, adding that only the national directorate of the scheme has the authority to comment on such. Daily Sun gathered that the NYSC Director General, Brig Gen Tsiga was expected to visit the state in respect of the matter.The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Isah Azare, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, could not confirm the report in a telephone conversation as his line suddenly went off while subsequent efforts to get him proved abortive.
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Mr. President of the General Assembly,Mr. Secretary-General of the United Nations,Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations,
Presidents, Vice-Presidents, Prime Ministers, Deputy Prime Ministers, Foreign Ministers, My Royal Highnesses, Heads of Governments, Heads of Observer Missions to the United Nations, Permanent Representatives to the United Nations, First Ladies, Excellencies, My Lords Spiritual and Temporary, United Nations Employees, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
All Protocols Preserved.
It is with great respect that I have asked my Foreign Minister, Mr. Ojo Maduekwe, to come before you at this 64th General Assembly and read this important speech.I could not come to New York because of extremely important and urgent matters of state that required my personal attention.
First, I had to travel to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in response to the invitation of the King requesting my august presence at the opening of a new university. I could not in good conscience turn that down because as you all know, university education is very important. I had the benefit of a university education myself, and without doubt, it has been responsible for much of my personal success. I wanted to lend the same support to the children of Saudi Arabia.I know that many people have said there is a contradiction in this, as Nigerian universities are currently closed. I say there is no contradiction. If 50 universities are closed in Nigeria, does it mean that university education everywhere must stop? Certainly not, and that is why I went to Saudi Arabia, with apologies to nobody.
The truth is that the people of Nigeria must learn to be patient. Impatience is our biggest problem. I came into office only two years ago, but already, people are complaining that I am not doing enough. The trip to Saudi Arabia was not for me, but for the people of Nigeria, yet they complain. I have told them I will declare a state of emergency in the power sector so as to conquer the electricity problem once and for all. Still, they complain.I gave them a new Inspector-General of Police so that they will feel safer. Still, they complain.I gave them a new Central Bank Governor so that the Naira will have more value. Still, they complain. I gave them a new C-G of Customs, but they call him a certificate forger, saying he never went to school. Can you imagine that insult, my own friend a certificate-forger? This is proof that the people of Nigeria just like to complain and accuse others. Even me, they say I am a sick man. Ask Ojo, who is reading this speech to you, Am I sick? Ask Turai, the First Lady of Africa, Is her husband not performing at the peak of his powers? This is why I want to caution you, the international community, about applying the same standards to every nation. My nation is different. They are never satisfied. So when you say we must implement the Millennium Devaluation…I mean emm…Development Goals (MDGs), it is a critical mistake to include Nigeria in the list. This is because our people always complain and will still complain.
We are developing already.The problem is that the United Nations has led Nigerians to think that we must be in a hurry. How can we lower poverty in Nigeria in just five or 10 years? I mean, poverty has existed in Nigeria since time began. And you people think we can just tell poverty to leave, just like that?It is not possible. We must take these things one at a time. My People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is working hard to deal with poverty the only way that is meaningful: by creating millionaires among party members. If you look at the PDP, you will see that poverty among its members is going down. We give them access to budget allocations at the federal and state levels; we give them fat contracts; we protect any members that may be er…er…misunderstood by the law abroad or by overzealous government agencies at home. What this means is that if Nigerians want to conquer poverty, the easiest formula has nothing to do with the Millennium Depreciation…I mean, emm…Development Goals, but to join the PDP.In any event, I must be frank with all of you.
The Minimum Development Goals are not realistic at all. While I respect all of you, I do not know which of you came up with such outlandish ideas such as ending poverty and hunger. Yes, it is possible to end poverty within the PDP by spreading the national cake, because we are the party in power. But that is not the same thing as ending hunger. We do not see hunger as a problem, but as the will of God. I have never been hungry all my life, because God loves me. My children are never hungry because God loves them. Any of you that saw me in Saudi Arabia last week must have seen me with two rich men, state governors in my country. They are also my sons-in-law. I have guaranteed that my daughters and my grandchildren will never be hungry by giving them to such men in marriage. But there is something else about hunger. It is a natural order, and I do not think I should interfere with the natural order. Some people will be rich and prosperous; others will be poor and pathetic.
That gives them something to aspire to; if you wipe out hunger as the UN says, all those poor people will become just like us. I don’t think that is what God wants, for everyone to be happy and well-fed. What will be the difference between them and us? That is why this so-called battle against hunger has no priority with me, and I have told Nigerians it will not happen in my time. We cannot implement the MDGs as it relates to hunger.Mr. President, The same concern applies to such concepts as universal education, gender equality, and combating HIV & AIDS. Why should education be universal? It makes no sense. That means that there will be more Nigerians trying to assert their rights or to challenge the PDP. To me, that is a prescription for chaos, and I don’t want to have to send out soldiers or “Kill & Go” to wipe out educated militants. Education should be for those who need it, such as rich families and royalty, to enable them protect their property and tradition. Can you see all the trouble that lawyers and journalists cause? And why do we need scientists and engineers when we can always get some from Germany, the UK or Saudi Arabia?And one of the things that make me the angriest is when I am told that the United Nations wants gender equality. Equality? So men and women will enjoy the same rights? That is scandalous. Women are inferior people, and their job is to look after their husbands and children.
That is why I do not mind giving my daughters to men that already have many wives. Apart from the First Lady of Africa, my dear Turai, women are dispensable, and are worth far less than all the trouble they manufacture. Just ask Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan.And why should HIV & AIDS be my problem? I did not cause it, and I should not have to be concerned with it. I believe that health is a private matter, and anyone who contracts HIV should deal with it himself or herself. There are hospitals in Germany and Jeddah that can cure emm…emm…anything. If you are in the PDP you will get enough contracts to go there and get the best treatment on earth, but I should not be asked to face the problem as national leader. I am being frank, Mr. President, a quality that is missing here at the United Nations.
You people even went and put child health and maternal health on the Minimum Development Goals. Child health and maternal health are not problems in Nigeria. Ask Ojo: All our children and pregnant women are healthy.In any case, even if they have problems, it is the responsibility of the parents of a child or the husband of a woman to take care of them. That is why we have good hospitals in Nigeria: to take care of health problems. Why did the United Nations find it necessary to dabble in issues like this, instead of its real job?The real job of the United Nations is peace on earth…I mean, international peace and security. That is why Nigeria wants to be a permanent member of the Security Council, armed with the power of veto. As the giant of Africa, Nigeria is capable of bringing peace and security to every corner of the world.That is why I have asked Ojo to do whatever is necessary to ensure Nigeria becomes a permanent member. We have the money. We have the oil. We have peacekeepers, 27 of whom are now in jail for not being disciplined. I have been told we may even have a lot of diamonds. We have the police…I mean, political will. We have the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, who was with Ojo here last year. He is a fine lawyer. And I am ready to lead. I am healthy. Despite the rumours, I am not a weakling. You will see what I will do in the Security Council. It is equally important to remind you all that this is a wonderful time for us in Nigeria. Nigeria turns 50 this week, an excellent country that has been misunderstood for so long. One of the reasons we have been misunderstood for so long is that we permitted other people to call us names. That will not happen any more. Our Rebrand Nigeria scheme is now in motion, and our Minister for Information, a very persuasive woman, will soon be coming to as many as 150 countries to tell you what a wonderful country Nigeria is.
Did you see how we crushed Sony Corporation recently? They dared air an offensive advert, and we made them apologize. Did you see what we did with the movie “District 9”? It made us look bad, so we banished it from our borders. Actually, it was Ojo himself who announced our foreign policy thrust two years ago: you mess with Nigeria, and Nigeria will mess with you. If you say Nigeria has no water, we will buy water and pour on you. If you say Nigerians are not educated, we will show you a Nigerian that has won a Nobel Prize, or one that is a Special Representative of the Secretary General, my predecessor, the illustrious Obasanjo (not Obesanjo as they called him in “District 9.”) If you dare say a former governor of a state is guilty of corruption, we will show you that cannot be true; those former governors are my personal friend. How can a friend of the President be guilty of anything?As Nigeria celebrates its 50th year of independence this week, we remind you we are the happiest nation on earth.
I am going to make a big speech telling Nigerians to learn to be grateful and not to be impatient. Rome was not built during the day. Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen,I am not sorry that I am not personally present at the GA this year. Yes, I know you had High Level Summits Nigeria could not participate in, such as the Food Security Summit, the Climate Change Summit, and the formation of the African Leaders Malaria Alliance. What I do not understand is why people are so disappointed I was not there. Nigeria does not lack food at all (so why do we need a food summit?); our climate has not changed since independence, and we have M & B for treating malaria. In any case, last year I missed the High Level Meeting on Africa’s Development Needs and the High Level meeting on the Millennium Development Goals.
What is the big deal? These are all just Summits about development, and we should not take them too seriously. We cannot be talking about development and progress all the time. Is there nothing else? That is why, in the PDP, we avoid these subjects. For instance, Ojo that is delivering this address came to the General Assembly from Brazil. And while you have all been talking about development and change, life and liberty, he left New York for Venezuela. In between, he has planned private trips to Boston and other places. Yet he is here to deliver this address. That is the lesson we in the PDP can teach the world: government is for those that govern!Finally, I would like to invite you all to Abuja for our 50th independence on Thursday and throughout the weekend. Come to Aso Rock and see why they say Nigerians are the happiest people on earth.
You will also see that we are a very forgiving people, because some of our nation’s so-called corrupt former governors will be there. I have forgiven them. I suggest you plan for a couple of days of incredible merriment in Abuja. And then you can return to the General Assembly and let the talking continue. I assure you, the people of Nigeria will not complain. And neither will I. I will make you one promise. It is still a long way away, but next year, I will come to the General Assembly. I understand the Secretary General wants to discuss the MDGs. I will come and tell you all why the MDGs are a waste of time. In its place, I will present you all with an incredible plan, a seven-point killer plan.I thank you.
** Its a satire
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Posted by 9jabook.com on September 28, 2009 at 11:30pm
Nigerians spend about N796.4 billion on fuel to generate electric power every year, the National Electricity Regula-tory Commission (NERC) has said.
This figure is strikingly similar to the federal budget of N796.7 billion for capital expenditure for the current fiscal year. A breakdown shows that N540.9 billion is spent on diesel and N255.5 billion goes into the purchase of petrol annually for power generating sets.
These facts were contained in a document authored by Assistant General Manager, Project Monitoring Office, Ify Ikeonu. Although all the details were not available at press time, THISDAY investigations show that of the amount, industries operating under the aegis of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) spend over N350 billion to fuel their generating sets.
Early in the year, the Federal Government came under heavy criticism for budgeting N2 billion to buy, maintain and fuel generators this year. According to the details of the budget passed by the Senate in December 2008, the Presidency will spend N27 million to fuel its generators and N14.3 million to maintain them.
Other details were: the National Assembly, fuel, N233 million; National Assembly Office -fuel- N63 million; maintenance, N57.2 million; the National Assembly White House, which houses Chambers of the Senate and the House of Representatives - N58 million for fuelling and N55 million for maintenance; the National Assembly Service Commission (NASC), fuel and maintenance - N25.8 million; and Police formations nationwide - fuel and maintenance, N110 million. THISDAY did not gain access to the number of generating sets currently in use in the country as contained in the survey report.
There was also some controversy over the actual estimate of what Nigerians spend to fuel their generators because of a recent report that the entire amount was N50 billion. It has since emerged that the recently reported figure was for Aba, Abia State, alone.
THISDAY gathered that the amount concerning the monetary value of fuel used in Aba was contained in the report of a survey commissioned in 2007 by Geometric Power, Aba. The survey was conducted by National Rural Electricity Cooperative Association (NRECA) in Washington, U.S.A. Making the clarification about the amount spent by consumers in Aba in the course of THISDAY investigation, Senior Manager, Public Affairs, Geometric Power Limited, Oseloka Zikora, said:
“According to statistics, Nigerians spend about N540.9 billion on diesel and N255.5 billion on fuel (petrol) to generate power and not N50 billion as ascribed to Prof Nnaji in newspaper reports.”
According to him, “the (about) N50 billion quoted is only the share of Aba industries, commercial and residential consumers’ expenditure on fuel and diesel to generate power.”
His reference was to a newspaper report which he said quoted the Chairman of Geometric Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji, as saying Nigerians spend about N50 billion for fuel to power their electric generating sets every year. He said the former Minister had to clarify that aspect because it was understood in some quarters to mean that the figure represented what was spent around the country.
Nnaji had explained at a meeting with the Director-General of Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Dr. Christopher Anyanwu, that the expenditure pattern in fuelling generators was that residents/small commercial entities spend N14.4 billion on generator fuel while the large industries part with N43.2 billion for the same purpose. However, in the publication, the fact that the figures were limited to the expenditure in Aba was not expressly stated.
Unreliable power supply in the country has seen most households resort to the use of power generating sets as their primary means of electricity, while the state utility company, Power Holding Company of Nigeria, (PHCN), which is essentially a monopoly, hardly meets up to 20 per cent of the nation’s demand. It generates between 2,000mw and 2,500mw.This has led to a situation where power supply from PHCN is viewed as a standby source, to be used when available, while generators are seen as the principal mode of catering for power needs. To make PHCN more efficient, it was unbundled into 18 successor companies comprising 11 power generating companies, GenCos, six power distribution companies, DisCos, and one transmission company, Transmission Company of Nigeria.
The country is moving towards a situation where other means of generating power that will involve less expensive fuel, such as solar, are being explored.
Although the initial financial outlay in setting up a solar-powered plant is astronomical, it can last for 25 years without fuel other than solar energy which is captured by the solar panel.
The government also recently signed a contract with a French outfit to establish a wind-fuelled plant in Katsina as a mark of its seriousness to diversify public power supply sources from the traditional hydro and thermal to wind, solar and coal, among others.
To improve power supply however, it has been realised that the private sector must play a critical role, which has led to NERC licensing about 29 independent power producers, IPPs, which are in various stages of completion.
A gas master plan has however been put in place to make gas more readily available to fuel the over 70 per cent of power plants that depend on thermal source of energy.
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Posted by 9jabook.com on September 28, 2009 at 10:30pm
How Ribadu plotted to sack Yar’Adua, says Ibori
LAGOS — THE verbal exchange between former Governor of Delta state, Chief James Ibori and former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, is far from over, as Ibori yesterday, lashed out on Ribadu, calling him a serial liar.
Ribadu, on his part, challenged Ibori to return his alleged loot to the state coffers and make peace with God.
Chief Ibori, in a press release yesterday, said: “Ribadu engaged self-glorification in his press statement published on September 27, 2009, taking an ignoble flight of fancy instead of addressing the issues I raised in my media chat of the preceding Friday, which, by the way, did not focus solely on Ribadu. The indecorum and name-calling in his language was not surprising too, they have combined to become the Ribadu signature tune.
I never bribed Ribadu
“Yes, I maintain that I never, repeat never, bribed or attempted to bribe Ribadu, who, always loose with the facts, tried to hoodwink the public by alleging that I was speaking after two years of being investigated. Yet, the bribery allegation I reacted to publicly, was the one he made in a witness statement in London as recently as August 26th, 2009.
I had to reply to that one publicly because, as Ribadu himself knows, that allegation will not be tested by any trial, as no charge whatsoever, whether related to that bribery allegation or not, has ever been leveled against me in any court of law in the entire United Kingdom. His allegation of two years ago, which I have not publicly reacted to, is being tested in court.
“I expected Ribadu to disprove the contradictions I pointed out in his Nigerian and London statements as well as those of his Director of Operations and second-in-command at the EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, and Mr. James Garba, a Central Bank of Nigeria staff seconded to EFCC. Instead, he employed his usual rabble-rousing antics of name calling, which was the trademark of his reign as EFCC chairman.
“On my position on resource control and the driving principle behind my determination to redress the injustice done to the people of the Niger Delta, Ribadu asked “if it is in keeping with his promise that he became a billionaire overnight on behalf of the suffering masses of Delta State.” Ribadu should know that before I became Governor, my collective wealth was substantial.
Even the London Metropolitan Police admitted in their own witness statement filed in court that one of my private companies earned in excess of $5 million annually. I have been the most investigated Governor in Nigeria and the EFCC and London Metropolitan Police are in possession of my Account statements from the Bank of Austria, Merrill Lynch, Citibank (I was a CitiGold memberùa club of high net worth customers) and Barclays Bank before I became a Governor.
Both the EFCC under Ribadu and the London Metropolitan Police have dubiously refused to exhibit these Account statements to maintain their lie.
How Ribadu plotted to unseat Yar’Adua
“Second, Nuhu Ribadu must be a serial liar, to attempt to deny that he approached me to help unseat the present President. This is one of his numerous on-going attempts to recruit both local and international friends to undermine President Yar’Adua’s administration.
Chief James Ibori
The persons he approached, including me, are still alive and they have given testimonies to security agencies. Ribadu even contacted a high-ranking member of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) with complaints that a “sick Yar’Adua” should not be allowed to remain in office, and also wanted a serving judge and member of the electoral panel to convince the team of INEC officials to concur with his evil plot that the ballot papers were not serially numbered — to damage Yar’Adua’s defence. And he did this with some of his foreign friends who, to date, still wish President Yar’Adua dead.
“Thirdly, Ribadu said: “I am also open to his friendship but that will never be at the expense of my loyalty to my fatherland and commitment to transparency and honesty in public office.” Ribadu should shut up and stop boasting about having been Nigeria’s anti-corruption Czar.
He compromised himself, politicising his office, and teamed up with politicians to influence National Assembly members in the failed third-term tenure elongation gambit. He was a politician, not anti-corruption fighter.
“Ribadu should wait for the persecution by him and his London Metropolitan Police friends of my associates to break open in a full trial. Then I will enclose copious documentary evidence to substantiate every claim I have made. The opportunistic and brazen-faced Ribadu is nothing but a fraudulent “anti- corruption Czar” who operated with instruments of blackmail.
“He should tell the world who paid for his hotel accommodation at 47 Park Street, Mayfair, London where he stayed on his way from San Francisco, USA. Additionally, Ribadu went about soliciting for support from those he claimed to be investigating, towards a non-existent EFCC Football Club
He lobbied me to become IGP
“Worst of all, Ribadu denies that he lobbied me to be Inspector-General of Police, (IGP). I never expected him to admit that fact. But if he did not approach me to be IGP, at what point did he inform me of his intention to seek appointment into a narcotics control arm of the United Nations?
That day, he appealed to me to keep it away from the public, but surprisingly, former Governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, told me, a few days after, that Mr. Ribadu was indeed seeking for the office and he heard this from the former World Bank boss, Paul Wolfensohn. Of course, Ribadu also pursued Kalu everywhere in the name of investigation, while, all the time hiding evidence that Kalu had millions of dollars in foreign accounts before he became Abia State Governor.
Furthermore, that Ribadu claims to have deposited $15 million at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is not, and cannot, be proof that I gave that or any sum of money to him. Also, what greater character could there be than he, an architect of a third-term tenure for a President whose constitutional entitlement is for two terms only, and who tried to induce, harass, embarrass and humiliate National Assembly members to support the project.
“Now, Ribadu is using colonial police in London to settle petty political scores in Nigeria, and he, a lawyer, denigrates and disrespects our judicial system by constant allegation of judicial incompetence. My advice to Ribadu is that President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua has been elected the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, by the Grace of Almighty God.
Ribadu should respect the mandate Nigerians gave to Yar’Adua and stop hopping from one international capital of the world to another like a junketing gadabout, maligning the elected President of his country.
“Ribadu also ranted he would use the London Metropolitan Police to send a certain Nigerian businessman to prison for alleged money laundering because he wrote and published a damaging piece about former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
He actually tried to but only succeeded in wasting British taxpayer’s money as the businessman was discharged and acquitted on the orchestrated money laundering charges. My question is, was that businessman a public officer in Nigeria? Was it not his masters’ bidding to go after that man? May I also ask if Otunba Mike Adenuga, the eminently popular business mogul and chairman of Globacom, whom he targeted and hounded into exile, is also a public officer?
“The same Ribadu, master-minded the ex-convict plot against me. One night after a meeting of the co-conspirators to frame and denigrate me at all costs, Ribadu called the businessman to “shoot his mouth” as usual.
That same night, the benefactor phoned former Vice President Atiku Abubakar alerting him of Ribadu’s plot against me.
“Sooner Nigerians would know how Ribadu purchased by proxy the shares that he owns in his friends’ companies. Ribadu would then have to tell the world whether he bought those shares with proceeds from his salary. No wonder he has failed to declare his assets — which is tantamount to a crime.
Ribadu still my friend
Who are they kidding !
Finally, Ribadu, on our friendship, said: “Since I couldn’t see you when I visited Lagos recently why don’t you visit me in London to catch up with your other friends”? I will accept his invitation to visit London as soon as he can prove to me that the matter in London is not driven by malice and vindictiveness.
Let me remind Ribadu my friend, that by now I am too smart to be caught in a political game which himself and his collaborators in the London Metropolitan Police are playing. If he indeed believes that the trial of the women they have held hostage in London is not political, he should allow the process of the court to prove that, instead of pronouncing people guilty even before they appear in court as he usually did as EFCC chairman in Nigeria.
He is not a staff of the London Metropolitan Police. He is not a member of the Crown Prosecution Service. Neither is he a member of the jury nor the Judge in the matter.
“If you, Nuhu Ribadu, a Nigerian in London, think you have the right to invite me to London to face some trumped up charges, I, a Nigerian with all the rights as a Nigerian, invite you to Nigeria your home country, where you are a pitiable fugitive from justice”.
Ibori should return loot to Delta – Ribadu
Ribadu, however challenged Chief Ibori, to return his alleged loot to the state and make peace with God. Ribadu said Ibori was desperate and would do anything to escape justice.
According to him, “instead of wasting the money of Delta State people that he stole to pay lawyers all over the world, isn’t it better as a ‘Christian’ that he claims to be to return his loot to the people of Delta State and have peace with his God? If he fails to do so, at the appropriate time, no matter how much the Iboris of this world run from the law, they would one day be made to atone for their sundry crimes.
If they are able to bribe their way through in Nigeria and get men and women of questionable character appointed into office to shield themselves from prosecution, they cannot do the same in the United Kingdom and before God. But even in Nigeria, the protection that they enjoy today is temporary.
Ibori desperate to escape justice
“Ibori, just like the others we tried to bring to justice, is desperate and would do anything to escape justice as he has always done. Nothing emphasizes Ibori’s capacity for falsehood and felony than his claim, at the press conference, that I “framed” him for attempting to bribe me with $15 million dollars.
As he told the lie, and as I write this, the $15 million remain as an exhibit deposited with the Central Bank of Nigeria.
“It has now become fashionable for all sorts of morally-bankrupt people to try to use me to do one thing or the other. I had it on record, while in office as the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) that James Ibori was a double convict.
First, as a police officer and also as an anti-corruption campaigner who was committed to doing his part to rid Nigeria of rogues, how could I have been seeking the assistance of a convicted felon for the highest police position in the country? If I wanted to be IG, he would be the last person I will consider to help me.
IGP? Ibori lied
“Any close observer of the events in Nigeria in the last decade would agree that what we were able to achieve as founders and operators of the EFCC was of a more fundamental nature, in the context of our urgent national crisis, than becoming IGP.
It was a waste of time attempting to dignify Mr. Ibori, former governor of Delta State, with a response to the tissue of lies and cheap fabrications that he let loose,” but added that it was “important to set the records straight, particularly against one of those who perpetrated the worst heist against the treasury since Nigeria’s independence.
That Ibori is finally finding his voice after two years since his prosecution both at home and abroad started is a testimony to his desperation as the cases, particularly the ones in the United Kingdom, move toward legal resolution.
“As regards the allegation that Ibori made on the 2007 presidential election petition, let me state clearly that it is totally untrue. However, I am also aware that there is a whole industry of seeking favour from President Umaru Yar’Adua based on the legal tussle over the 2007 presidential election.
Already, many fortune and favour-seekers have imagined many plots and many plotters in their attempt to deceive the man in power that I tried to scuttle the Appeal Court case on the election. Many got offices, positions, and others and even got me out of the EFCC telling this lie to Aso Rock Villa.
“They continue to use it. If Ibori claims that I sought his support to truncate Yar’Adua’s contested victory at the Appeal Court, is he claiming to have the power to influence the judges and pervert the course of justice?” He asked.
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I wonder why an African and Naija Secret Cult would take on the guise of a group(Ku Klux Klan) that was created specifically to persecute and denigrate the Black Man.It baffles my understanding !
It had always been taken as allegation that the Akwa Ibom government may have been a main sponsor of the militant group called KKK or Viking.
Going by the report in the News Star newspaper of September 23, 2009, page 6 titled “Militants: Police investigate Akwa Ibom govt”, this cult group had been investigated six times by security agencies, with the outcome pointing to the involvement of top state official as their backer.
It also revealed that four serving commissioners in Akpabio’s cabinet were drilled by the police team that arrived Uyo on Wednesday 23rd September; one ex-commissioner who was a close ally to Akpabio (Dr. Christopher Ekong) having been quizzed in Abuja on Saturday September 19th. Few weeks back, the report alleges that N5million was given to boost the activities of the KKK group.
One frightening dimension is the mention of one Prince who is a personal assistant to the top government official who allegedly serves as link between KKK and the government and touted as arms procurer for the group. A Police wanted criminal, Joseph Udofia, who once confessed a kidnapper is said to a member of the KKK. He was once arrested and paraded as a breakthrough in crime fighting by the governor but reported later to have escaped from police custody.
The report confirmed that IGP Onovo did report the activities of this group to President Yar’Adua who expressed dismay that such a thing was happening at a time when the Federal Government is trying to stop militancy in the Niger Delta region through amnesty programme. It could then be that some State governments are paying lip service to this programme.
It should be recalled that various reports, in the past, mooted the existence of government-sponsored AKPF, ADV etc, and that in Akwa Ibom AKPF rather than PDP is in power.
American Klan Origins
Ku Klux Klan (KKK), informally known as The Klan, is the name of several past and present hate group organizations in the United States whose avowed purpose was to protect the rights of and further the interests of white Americans by violence and intimidation. The first such organizations originated in the Southern states and eventually grew to national scope. They developed iconic white costumes consisting of robes, masks, and conical hats. The KKK has a record of using terrorism,[2] violence, and lynching to murder and oppress African Americans, Jews and other minorities and to intimidate and oppose Roman Catholics and labor unions.
The first Klan was founded in 1865 by Tennessee veterans of the Confederate Army. Groups spread throughout the South. Its purpose was to restore white supremacy in the aftermath of the American Civil War. The Klan resisted Reconstruction by assaulting, murdering and intimidating freedmen and white Republicans. In 1870 and 1871 the federal government passed the Force Acts, which were used to prosecute Klan crimes. Prosecution and enforcement suppressed Klan activity. In 1874 and later, however, newly organized and openly active paramilitary organizations such as the White League and the Red Shirts started a fresh round of violence aimed at suppressing Republican voting and running Republicans out of office. These contributed to white Democrats regaining political power in the southern states.
In 1915, the second Klan was founded. It grew rapidly in a period of postwar social tensions, where industrialization in the North attracted numerous waves of immigrants from southern and eastern Europe and the Great Migration of Southern blacks and whites. In reaction, the second KKK preached racism, anti-Catholicism, anti-Communism, nativism, and anti-Semitism. Some local groups took part in lynchings, attacks on private houses, and carried out other violent activities. The Klan committed the most numerous murders and acts of violence in the South, which had a tradition of lawlessness.[3]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klan
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WHAT A LEGAL AND POLICE SYSTEM CAN THIS HAPPEN TO JAMES OHANEFE IBORI ?Film director Roman Polanski, whose turbulent life has come close to resembling the violent, perverse world of his movies, was arrested in Switzerland on a 1978 U.S. arrest warrant for unlawful sex with a 13-year-old.Polanski, 76, had been due to receive a prize for his life's work at the Zurich Film Festival on Sunday evening, opening a retrospective of his film career but was arrested on arrival at Zurich airport on Saturday night.Calling Polanski, who won Best Director Oscar for "The Pianist" in 2003, one of the greatest film directors of our time, the festival directors said they had "received this news with great consternation and shock."Polanski's Los Angeles agent and the U.S. embassy in Zurich were not immediately available for comment.Zurich Cantonal Police spokesman Stefan Oberlin said Polanski's arrest had been carried out on instructions from the Federal Justice Department in Berne.Polanski was arrested in the United States in the late 1970s and charged with giving drugs and alcohol to a 13-year-old girl and having unlawful sex with her at a photographic shoot at Jack Nicholson's Hollywood home.Maintaining the girl was sexually experienced and had consented, Polanski spent 42 days in prison undergoing psychiatric tests but fled the country before being sentenced.Considered by U.S. authorities as a fugitive from justice, Polanski, whose films include "Rosemary's Baby" and "Chinatown," has lived in France avoiding countries that have extradition treaties with the United States.Turbulent lifeFew lives have turned into the macabre public spectacle that Polanski's has, first after the gruesome murder of his pregnant wife Sharon Tate in 1969 by the Charles Manson murder gang, and again eight years later when he was arrested for the statutory rape of the 13-year-old girl.But few directors have laid bare their inner fantasies and fears like Polanski in films such as "Repulsion," "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Tenant" -- films of disturbing brutality shot through with voyeurism and dark humour.From early childhood when he escaped the Nazi holocaust in Poland, Polanski's life has appeared, like his movies, to hover precariously on the brink of tragedy.Born Raymond Polanski to Polish-Jewish parents on August 18, 1933, he spent the first three years of his life in Paris before the family returned to Poland.When the Germans sealed off the Jewish ghetto in Krakow in 1940, his father shouted to Roman to run and he escaped. His mother later died in an Auschwitz gas chamber.His first full-length feature film after graduation, "Knife in the Water," won awards and, most important for Polanski, was his ticket to the West.As his reputation grew -- first with "Repulsion," his study of a woman terrified by sex who becomes a psychotic murderer, and then with the absurdist masterpiece "Cul de Sac" -- Polanski developed a taste for the high life and beautiful women.In 1974 Polanski had another major Hollywood success with "Chinatown," a stylish thriller starring Nicholson, but his private life stayed unsettled as he drifted between Paris, Rome and Los Angeles and embarked on numerous short-lived affairs.In 2003, he won the Oscar for "The Pianist.""I am widely regarded, I know, as an evil, profligate dwarf," Polanski wrote in his autobiography. "My friends -- and the women in my life -- know better."
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Bianca Ojukwu’s brother in fraud scandal
It’s no longer a big deal in Nigeria for men of seeming honour to get entangled in dishonourable behaviour. What is wrong with you walking on your head, when there is madness in the land? This is a funny country where a good name is just a homily. The son of the former governor of the old Anambra State, the late Chief Christian Onoh, and the brother of Bianca Ojukwu, the wife of Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu, Josef, has been arrested by the police following his alleged involvement in a land scam, financial fraud, and certificate forgery.
Josef, also a former member of the Enugu State House of Assembly, the police alleged, got into trouble following many petitions over his supposed shady land deals among other various activities. He was also accused of refusing to pay a loan of N2.5 million obtained from Harvard Trust Mortgage Bank, Enugu in 2001. Josef, we heard illegally resold a plot of land earlier bought from his father, (Chief Onoh), in 2006 to three other persons despite being privy to the initial transaction.
According to the petitioner, he purchased the plot situated at Onoh quarters, GRA from Josef‘s father for N12 million. But after the death of the former governor, Josef allegedly resold the land for N20 million to three gullible
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I love it when people have confidence in me. I love when my family has confidence in me. It gives me strength and empowers me. We may not always have confidence in ourselves, but somehow, when there are people around who believe in us, we can draw from their confidence. That’s why it’s so important that we surround ourselves with the right people. When you position yourself in quality places with quality people, it’s going to bring out the best in you.
Most people are familiar with world-famous boxer, Muhammad Ali and his renowned trainer, Angelo Dundee. But many people don’t know that just before every boxing match, Dundee would write a number on a small slip of paper and place it inside Ali’s glove. That may sound like a strange thing to give a boxer right before a fight, but Dundee had a reason for what he did. The number that Dundee would write on that slip of paper was the number of the round in which he predicted that Ali would knock out his opponent. Dundee was so confident in Ali’s ability that he didn’t consider “if,” he only considered “when”—and Ali knew it!
I love that story because it shows the confidence Ali’s trainer had in him, and it shows the positive effect it had on Muhammad Ali. I believe that confidence played a tremendous part in “the champ’s” amazing success as one of the greatest boxers that ever lived.
In the same way, do you know who is certain of your ability to succeed? God is. After all, He knows what’s inside you because He placed it there. Even when you’re not certain of the outcome, God has confidence in you. Let that sink down into your heart today—the God who holds the universe in the palm of His hand has faith in you! He’s not wondering if you’re going to overcome, He has confidence in you because He knows it’s just a matter of time before those things that would try to hold you back are broken off so that you can embrace the victory He has in store for you!
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Posted by 9jabook.com on September 27, 2009 at 1:21am
In a swift move to atone for its sins and come back into the Federal Government’s good books, SONY Corporation has officially tendered “sincere apologies,” to the government and people of Nigeria for portraying the country in bad light in an advert.
Representatives of SONY, led by Managing Director, SONY Gulf- Mideast and Africa, Mr. Muira Osamo, were at the Radio House office of the Ministry of Information and Communications, to assure the Federal Government that “there was no bad intention or reason for the advert. It is a genuine mistake by our organisation.”
In a letter signed by Shiro Kambe, SONY Corporation’s, Vice President, Senior General Manager Corporate Communications and CSR, made available to THISDAY, the company noted that “it has come to our attention that a TV advertisement made by SONY Computer Entertainment America Inc. (SCEA), one of our group companies in the U.S. responsible for Play Station business in the U.S. and Canada, may have offended some members of the Nigerian community. We sincerely apologise to anyone this may have offended.”
According to them, the company took steps to remove the advert from the air, “immediately after learning that it contained statements that might have offended some individuals. By September 7, all replacement work was completed, and the original advertisement has not been aired.”
Osamo said he came on behalf of SONY Corporation to make a sincere apology to Nigerians, “to show our commitment and respect to Nigerian people and community.” Responding, Akunyili expressed dissatisfaction at the wordings of the letter. She advised SONY to “re- write the letter to reflect the real feelings of SONY. You said that you offended some members of the Nigerian community.
That is not true. In fact, you offended all Nigerians. I have a reservation on the apology. We will not take the apology seriously until you modify it.“You have taken the first step by apologising. Then re- write the apology to make it more acceptable. We are expecting clearer apology from SONY.”
The SONY Play Station- 3 advert; which according to reports, was seen by more than a billion people; broke worldwide on the first of September and contained scandalous material, depicting all Nigerians as internet- scammers.
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Universities are called the ivory tower. This is where intellect is sharpened and minds are developed. However, the country’s universities appear to have figuratively added a new course: “Sexology.” Although this infamous course does not earn anybody a
degree, it’s so popular that many female undergraduates go for it. And they are making fortunes.
Indeed, Nigeria’s institutions of higher learning have become citadels of sex, as female students run riot with their bodies for money. They have become more daring and devise new and diverse strategies to not only market themselves but also excel in an increasingly competitive trade. As a matter of fact, the sex trade among female undergraduates is booming on campuses and even extending to brothels and elsewhere.
Saturday Sun investigations revealed that the story is the same all over the country. From institutions in the fringe of the Sahara to the Atlantic coastline, female students are doing incredible ‘runs,’ a euphemism for sex-for-cash. As it were, they hawk their stuff with impunity, to the extent that those who are not involved are called “bush meat,” among other derogatory names.
It is not really difficult to identify the student sex hawkers on campus. They give themselves away with their provocative dressing. They could also be identified by their body language or general mannerisms.
The Lagos sex boom
In Lagos, the sex business among female university students is big. The most notorious in the state is University of Lagos (UNILAG), where ladies strut their stuff without a care in the world. In the university, female sex hawkers have elevated their trade to an art. They compete, like professional prostitutes, to attract the attention of men.
Saturday Sun gathered that with the strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), which has left schools almost empty, the ladies have since moved on with life, having unrestrained fun in private hostels scattered across Sabo down to Onike Iwaya axis and Bariga, all located around the university. When our correspondent visited UNILAG recently, hostels, like Moremi, Makama, New Hall, Madam Tinubu Hall (MTH) and Amina, Newest Hall were deserted. It was gathered that this is always the case in the day. In the evening, especially weekends, the female hostels begin to bubble, as exotic cars bearing randy men scouting for girls stream in. As the day gets darker, the vicinity of the hostel would start witnessing the presence of a handful of ladies looking for men to sleep with for a fee. Their patrons take some of the girls away, while some others end up with them in nearby joints.
The New Hall, in UNILAG, is arguably the hottest of the lot. The Makama and MTH are second and third in the rating of the sex spots. There are also pimps, who coordinate the sex trade, arranging girls for men at a fee. These pimps live in such places as Computer and Masaba, among others. Sources revealed that the pimps arrange for the girls to meet their patrons in hotels around the school, especially those who want short service.
Saturday Sun gathered that one of the criteria to get a girl is to own a car and enough cash to spend. In the word of one of the female students: “No car, no parole.”
Asked how a new comer can engage a girl for a ‘parole,’ she said: “ Once you have a car, it’s easy, especially if you park the car and come out where the girls will see you. As you walk towards the girls they know that you are there for business and they will give you signs.” She also said that another easy way to get girls is “to know somebody who knows somebody.”
In one of the popular joints, where the girls flock, one of the pimps told Saturday Sun that girls come in, at the pretext to groove, but end up going home with men.
He said: “As you can see, there is no activity here. Even the restaurant downstairs is empty. At the end of the groove, some of these girls go home with as much as N50, 000 and above. Some even come back with brand new cars. But it doesn’t happen all at once.”
Some of the girls have also taken their trade to a higher level. It was learnt that following constant harassment of their clients who visit at odd hours, girls prefer private hostels around the university to school hostels.One of the big girls on campus told Saturday Sun: “Aristos (wealthy men) do not come to school again to pick girl; they now camp their babes in private hostels.”
Directly opposite UNILAG gate is a twin brown three-storey building, known as Emerald Hostel. It was built for off-campus accommodation for students. However, many of the female students who live in the hostel have devised a way of making money with their bodies. The place reeks of class, as automobiles of different makes are parked there even at noon. The girls keep to their rooms in the day, but from 7pm, the place would become a beehive of activities, as they come out for the day’s market.
American Mola Hostel, which accommodates university students, is another action spot. It is notorious as abode of wild girls, who ply their sex trade at higher levels. As someone noted, “it is mainly for hardcore classy prostitutes.” In Abule Ijesha, there is also Hall 9 on Moore road as well as Blue Haven and Hall 36, which has four female hostels. Skyfield, a unisex hostel at Sabo Yaba, is also a sex haven.
Just as in UNILAG, Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, Ijanikin and Lagos State University (LASU) are also hot spots for sex trade. The female students in these institutions of higher learning serve mainly customs officers and other paramilitary officers in the Badagry axis. Also these girls service traders in Alaba International Market. The Lagos Polytechnic, Isolo and Epe campuses are also centres of sex.
Federal capital city of sexThe case of Abuja seems to be a bad one. Student sex hawkers are on the prowl, running riots in relaxation spots and highbrow hotels. For these girls, the face-off between ASUU and the FG can continue, so that they will go on with their business.
It was gathered that the female undergraduates hire rooms in major hotels, where they bring in men. Sources at these hotels say the female students contribute money to pay for the hotel rooms and, in most cases, keep the room for weeks. Operating from the hotel room, they will have access to male lodgers.
Linda, who claimed to be a final year student of the University of Abuja, told our reporter: “Some of us have nobody to take care of us and we even have our younger ones to cater for. We come to hustle in Abuja to be able to raise some funds for our families.”
She said that such places as Hilton Hotel, Sheraton, Chelsea Hotel, Agura, and many other big hotels are hang out spot for the girls. Also, they hang out in Lagos Street at Garki. In the same vein, they mill around in Gimbiya Street as well as eateries, like Mister Biggs, Chicken Republic and Southern Chicken Fries. According to her, business in these places start around 7pm, with the girls hanging around the vicinity or taking time off in the hotels’ clubs.
Apart from Abuja university students, those from Nasarawa State University, Keffi, just some 40 kilometers from the city centre, also storm hotels in Abuja.
Another tactics the female students employ, it was gathered, is to visit construction sites, banks and corporate organizations in the guise of looking for vacation jobs.
Halima, an indigene of Kaduna State and a 300-level Accounting student for Nasarawa State University, said she makes an average of N15, 000 to N20, 000 daily. According to her, level of patronage depends on weather condition. She said that more men come out to pick girls during good weather and stay indoors when it rains. She however, said that those who come out for girls when it is raining do not pay much for the services of the students because “we in this business just want to go home with anybody at whatever price when it is raining. We consider it luck to even get anybody at such weather condition”.
The Onitsha sex trade
Saturday Sun investigation revealed that higher institutions within the commercial city of Onitsha and environs, such as the Federal Government Girls College (FGGC), Nwafor Orizu College of Education, Nsugbe (NOCEN), Anambra State University, Igbariam campus, Federal Polytechnics, Oko are under the vicious grip of what could be described as a form of sexual madness. Although, authorities of these institutions are said to be fighting to control the unwholesome sexual activities of some of the students on campus, it is obvious that the war has not been won.
When Saturday Sun visited the above-mentioned institutions recently, some of the female students were hanging around looking out for men. The more desperate hang around hotels and other fun spots in town hoping to be picked by wealthy businessmen and politicians. It was gathered that politicians and government officials are the biggest patrons of the student-prostitutes in the commercial city. A source said: “When prominent politicians and government officials visit Anambra State, their pimps invade higher institutions to pick girls for them.”
It was further learnt that to take any of the girls home, for a night, costs between N5, 000 and N20, 000, depending on the man’s bargaining power and the girls’ desperation for cash. Also, female students leave their pictures and telephone numbers with hotels attendants. This practice is rampant in Awka and Oko. All it takes a lodger, who needs a woman, is to tell hotel attendants, who will, in turn contact the girls. The hotel attendants, it was gathered, also keep the pictures of the female students in the sex cartel. Male patrons look at the pictures and make their choice.
It was gathered, however, that although the practice is considered illegal by hotel managers, it is rampant. Two pimps in Awka gave Saturday Sun names and telephone numbers of female students involved in sex-for-money business. Out of the six girls contacted, two said they travelled out of Awka but introduced our correspondent to their colleagues in the business. They apologized for their non-availability and assured that those they had introduced were equally good. The other girls said they were in town and accepted to meet the reporter at an agreed location.
Investigations revealed that the girls are into networking. A student of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, who gave her name as Lizzy, said: “We stand in for each other. If you are not in town or you are doing some runs elsewhere and a new run comes up, you can call your friend to stand in for you. She can do the same for you. We call it networking.”
The Abia angle
It was gathered that sex trade is booming at the Abia State University, Uturu, University of Agriculture, Umudike and Abia State Polytechnic, Aba, among other schools in the state. According to a lecturer, it is worst with children of religious leaders, who run riot once they get out of the sight of their parents. He likened it to birds freed from the cage.
Felicia, a student at UNIAGRIC, Umudike said: “The students who do this business go out when they want and come back when they want. They form cliques and work together. They don’t attend lectures but make fantastic results at the end of the day. There are some nights when you will see girls freshening up and you will be wondering what is going on. Before you know what is happening, everyone would have left the hostel and only two or three people will be left behind. As early as 5.30 am the following day, they will all return to their rooms pretending as if nothing had happened.”
A male student of Abia Polytechnic, Aba, who spoke to Saturday Sun recounted what one of the girls told him on their escapades. He said: “She told me that some of them do it to catch fun while others do it to meet up with the financial demand of the lecturers, who would either want your money or your body. Some don’t just go into it but are lured into it by friends and get hooked to it.” He revealed that Aba-Owerri road; Ogbor Hill and Ama Hausa areas are among places these girls operate in Aba.
One of the sex queens, whose nickname is African China, said that she and her friends are having fun sleeping with men for money. According to her, the girls see men, who patronize them as mugu (fools), who have money to waste. Therefore, the girls go for the money.
The Enugu story
Enugu could pass for the town hosting the highest number of higher institutions in the country. Therefore, sex trade among female students is really big. From the Institute of Management Technology (IMT) to the Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), University of Nigeria, Nsukka and Enugu Campus (UNEC), Enugu State College of Education, Our Saviour Institute of Science and Technology (OSISATECH), Caritas University and Renaissance University, Nigeria Law School, among others, female students are running riot in prostitution. At the gates of these schools, the girls hang around in the evenings waiting for customers. Some of them are so daring or desperate that they practically woo men who get close to their school gates.
At IMT, for instance, the girls would almost pull any passing man by the hand, as they seek his attention. For them, every man is a potential customer. Sex-for-marks are also rampant in some of these schools, hence most of the female students who indulge in this have no business attending lectures.
“They have no business with lectures or assignments. All they need is to go out there, make their money, pay for a hotel room and invite the lecturer. It is in that hotel that she will earn whatever grade she wants in the examination,” a source said.
The girls also go to hotels to solicit customers. A waiter in one of the hotels in New Haven, who gave his name as Moses, claimed that some of the students drop their telephone numbers and, in some cases, photographs with hotel attendants to show intending customer. He however, revealed that display of pictures is a last option to convince a doubting Thomas that the shape, size and curves of the girls are not being exaggerated.
Our source disclosed that the point men at the hotels receive tips from the customer, while the girls also settle them at the end of the transaction.
The Edo sex business
In Edo State, there have been two particular spots noted for sex trade over the years. In these places, female students from higher institutions indulge themselves in sex-for-money. The spots are at Aviele, near Auchi on the Auchi-Benin highway and Oluku on the Benin-Lagos highway. At these spots, which serve as transit parks for haulage vehicles, female students of higher institutions are often seen at night in their numbers either waiting for drivers of the heavy duty vehicles, who are regular customers or other men looking for fun. Also, these female undergraduates operate in a network, within the campuses. There are always contact persons, who link up the girls, especially when politicians and government officials are having night social gatherings.
Owerri for show
In Owerri, the Imo State capital, the sex cartel is a booming business. Female students from Federal University of Technology, Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, Imo State University and the state university ply their trade around the Imo Concorde Hotel, where there are a legion of hotels. These girls hang around from 7pm, waiting for men to pick them up.
Bad business for pimps
Saturday Sun gathered that pimps are losing their relevance in the business. Unlike in the days past when they practically ran the show, many of the patrons now seek self-help. A retired pimp, who gave his name as Boy George, said: “The fun days for pimps are gone. Men now drive into schools and get what they want. There are no restrictions anymore. I got into this business by accident. An old student of this school asked me if I could get babes for him and his friends. As an adventurer, I asked my girlfriend if she knew how to get babes for Aristos? In fact, I used my girlfriend to get girls for them. I got up to 17 girls and we took them to a club in Ikoyi to meet with their prospective clients, who are old enough to be their fathers and grand fathers but they are rich. That day, I entered the VIP section, which ordinarily I wouldn’t have. They gave me an air-conditioned bus to ferry the girls to the club. We ate and drank and at the end, I went home alone. I lost my girlfriend to one of them. They have a clique.”
Analysing the characteristics of men who patronize the girls, he said: “Yahoo Yahoo boys do not spend on women. They don’t give a dime because they don’t work. Aristos are more like fools. Aristos can spoil you silly with money and gifts but if you asked a Yahoo boys to give you even N10, 000, they could beat you up.”He revealed that the girls he arranged for the men went home with N25, 000 each, from which each of them paid him N5, 000. “From then, I started making money from them during the weekends. I even printed call cards, where I spelt out that pimping was my line of business. I was getting calls from men and girls. As I got deeper into the business, my GP nose-dived because I was no longer concentrating in my studies. I had to change course.”
George said sex trade is not all about fun and money. According to him, it could be turbulent sometimes.
Hear him: “Some of the girls too go through pains. A particular girl came with bruises and complained that she got beaten up because her client could not get erection and wanted oral sex, which she declined. According to some of the girls, some of their clients don’t sleep with them but demand oral sex.”
Another source told Saturday Sun that even after passing out from school, some of the girls come around and engage in the business. According to him, “I still see some of the former students here. It is just like cultism. Most people who leave school will tell you that they have left it. It’s a lie. These girls have a clique. Even after school, some of them still come back here to buy bed space or stay with some of the girls they trained. Only very few leave it completely.”
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Posted by Eddy Etuk on September 25, 2009 at 3:21am
In its campaign to rid the country of fake and sub-standard drugs, the Federal Government yesterday recommended death penalty for fake drugdealers.It said the draft bill for review of the laws guiding the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), would be presented to the National Assembly for consideration within two weeks.Speaking on the theme: “Combating Drug Hawking, Counterfeit Drugs and Unwholsome Regulated Products,” at a one-day workshop organised by theNational Agency for Food, Drug and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) for 774 local government councils in the country, in Abuja, Minister of State for Health, Dr Idi Hong, said government was alarmed at the damage done to the population as aresult of activities of fake and sub-standard drug peddlers.He said government was partnering the National Assembly to ensure that maximum penalty was meted out to offenders.“We at the Ministry of Health are asking for maximum penalty for those involved in the sale, manufacture and importation of fake andsub-standard drugs.We are asking National Assembly to support us in this advocacy for maximum penalty for such offenders.“If you know that you will loose your life or spend the rest of it in jail and that you will not live to spend the money you made from such trade, you will not be involved in it,” he said.Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Michael Andoaaka, SAN, said perpetrators of such acts would not escape justice, as government was determined to end the debacle.In her speech, First Lady, Mrs Turai Yar’Adua, sought efforts to ensure that the drug war was won. She called on local government chairmen to set up NAFDAC desks in their councils, as a way of taking the campaign to the grassroots.Earlie, Director-General of NAFDAC, Dr Paul Orhii, saidthe agency was fully committed to moving to the next level in its regulatory activities that would be comparable to other international regulatory authorities.
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Posted by Eddy Etuk on September 25, 2009 at 1:39am
Nigeria made an unimpressive performance in the fight against corruption in a global report released by Transparency International.The country was ranked 121 among 180 countries investigated.The 121 position of Nigeria in the 2008 report may not be unconnected with the crisis facing the banking sector over the years.The report was particular in focusing on that sector, noting that it “has a long history of corruption.”Drawing attention to the history of corruption in the banking sector and several failed efforts to stem the tide over the years, Transparency International blamed the “lack of efficiency and effectiveness on the part of the bank regulatory authorities in the country.”The report further blamed the situation on the slowness of investigation and prosecution.“The situation is further compounded by the slowness of the investigation and prosecution process in Nigeria it said.”To buttress its conclusion, it drew attention to statements credited to the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission, Mrs Farida Waziri when in December 2008, she “lamented that the courts were frustrating the ant-corruption war in Nigeria.”While saying corruption was responsible for “the collapse of many banks in the 1990s and losses to many depositors and stakeholder,” it noted that “the failures were a result of fraud committed by bank owners and managers, who had: granted unsecured loans, resulting in high levels of bad debt and loss of liquidity; failed to maintain a strong capital base; granted unsecured loans to friends and bank owners or managers; and in some cases, embezzled funds outright.”The organization noted that the amended ‘Failed Banks (Recovery of Debts) and Financial Malpractices in Banks Decree 1994 resulted in a protracted and complex chain of events that had still not resolved by September 2008” when the report was compiled.The report cited several cases of power game among bank executives that often result to failures in the sector. Such cases mentioned include that of Mr. Adebisi Omoyemi versus Chief Samuel Adegbite at Wema Bank. It mentioned the alleged role of Omoyemi at the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) when he was accused of blocking “unfettered access to the books and record of the bank in a manner that was tantamount to obstructing their duty.”Another case cited was that between Omoyeni and former deputy governor of Central Bank, Tunde Lemo whom Omoyeni accused of “colluding with NDIC to ‘kill Wema Bank” This case was in addition to that of Triumph Bank on July 11, 2008 when the Managing Director, Francis Atoju and three others were arraigned before a Federal High Court in Lagos.
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Posted by MITCHELL on September 24, 2009 at 9:43pm
Tell your loved ones and anybody you know. APPLE IS NOW A POISONOUS FRUIT TO EAT .All the ones imported into the country currently are contaminated and have been killing people.The statistics is nation wide and increasing. This massage is from NAFDAC Its not a rumor……………pass the message.It is now on nigerian dailies. act very fast to save some lives.
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Posted by Politics X on September 24, 2009 at 7:02am
Since the inception of the Yar’adua administration, Ibori has been parading himself as thepower behind the throne, but all that is about to change, I was authoritatively told. Thehandwriting has been on the wall for some time, only Ibori is either too blind to see it, or isunintelligent enough to decode it.But that Ibori is finally reading the handwriting on the wall is signified by the heightened activityof his Man Friday, Tony Eluemunor. This fine gentleman’s media activity – both online andoffline - in defence of his pay-master has reached extraordinary proportions.As for Aondoakaa, his days as AG is said to be numbered. With ordinary Nigerians, the NigeriaBar Association, Afenifere, Conference of Nigeria Political Parties, Nigeria Labour Congressand others calling for his sack, Yar’adua is said to be planning another populist coup by gettingrid of him.The AG is already jittery, three press Statements issued in the five days since last weekdefending one incident or the other regarding him has got observers wondering what has comeover this overbearing boss that never failed to remind anyone that he is the ‘chief law officer ofthe Federation’.“Na only Ibori steal money”? NO! But na Ibori wey people wan see for court and then jail.The women they keep parading in London courts are merely tails, and we ask, where are theheads....all them thief heads...na dem all Nigerians want....sure nor be only Ibori steal money,so we wan make dem catch all them way steal money, if kirikiri nor fit enter them, take some ofthe money wey dem steal, take am build more kirikiri like place for them....how about the islandwey dem baba Obasanjo build for criminals... sotee na there baba belong too, with all himsons,...ibori, uba, igbinedion.. .all of them.......true question...' na only ibori steal money.Yes, we cannot wait to see the other thieves that the Economic and Financial CrimesCommission (EFCC) released sometime ago; 56 Nigerians that collectively removed over N243billion from the nation’s treasury.The names, some of which the EFCC Chairman, Mrs. Farida Waziri, referred to as politicallyrevered people in the international community, were contained in a list handed over to theleadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), as the EFCC and NLC commenced theirstrategic partnership to intensify the fight against corruption in the country.The list contained names of well-known politicians, former governors, ministers, permanentsecretaries, civil servants, chairmen and members of parastatal agencies, local governmentchairmen, members of the House of Representatives and senators.They include: former governors of Jigawa State, Saminu Turaki, N36 billion; Joshua Dariye(Plateau) amount not stated; Orji Uzor Kalu (Abia), N5 billion; Rasheed Ladoja (Oyo), N6 billion;Jolly Nyame (Taraba), N180 million; Chimaroke Nnamani (Enugu), N5.3 billion; Boni Haruna(Adamawa), N93 million and Michael Botmang, (acting governor, Plateau) N1. 5 billion.The EFCC also listed the cases involving a People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, ChiefBode George, N100 billion; an Indian businessman, Patrick Fernandez, N32 billion; formerManaging Director of FAAN, Roland Iyayi, N5.6 billion; former Minister of Aviation, ProfessorBabalola Borishade, N5.6 billion; an Austrian businessman, Eider George, N5.6 billion; andKenny Martins of Police Equipment Fund (PEF), N7.7 billion.Also on the list are: Tom Isegholi, Mohammed Buba, and Mike Okoli for the Transcorp Plc., N15billion; Senator Nicholas Ugbane and nine other members of the House of Representatives,N5.2 billion; Iyabo Obasanjo, N10 million; serving Chief of Staff to Rivers State Governor,Nyeson Wike, N4.7 billion; former Aviation Minister Femi-Fani-Kayode, N250 million; four seniorZenith Bank managers, N3.6 billion; Molkat Mutfwang and three others, N636 million; Dr.Ransome Owan and six others, N1.5 billion; a retired Permanent Secretary, Dr. Albert Ikomi,N43 million, and chairman, Taraba State Civil Service Commission, Dr. Yuguda Manu, N17.5million.NAMES ON THE EFCC LIST FOR TRIAL1. Bode George N100 billion2. Saminu Turaki N36 billion3. Patrick Fernandez N32 billion4. Tom Isegholi, Mohammed Bubaand Mike Okoli (for The Transcorp Plc) N15 billion5. Kenny Martins N7.7 billion6. Rasheed Ladoja N6 billion7. Roland Iyayi N5.6 billion8. Babalola Borishade N5.6 billion9. Elder George N5.6 billion10. Chimaroke Nnamani N5.3 billion11. Senator Nicholas Ugbane and nine other members of the Houseof Representatives N5.2 billion12. Orji Uzor Kalu N5 billion13. Nyeson Wike N4.7 billion14. 4 senior Zenith Bank Managers N3.6 billion15. Michael Botmang N1.5 billion16. Ransome Owan and 6 others N1.5 billion17. Molkat Mutfwang and 3 others N636 million18. Femi-Fani-Kayode N250 million19. Jolly Nyame N180 million20. Boni Haruna N93 million21. Dr. Albert Ikomi N43 million22. Dr. Yuguda Manu N17.5 million23. Senator Iyabo Obasanjo24. Joshua Dariye (amount not stated)
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twitternaija a microblog...kinikon.com a microblog..kinikon.com a microblogA world first: Vaccine helps prevent HIV infection
Doctor Kim a leading Scientist however says IT might not work in Africa .no reasons have been given for this according to Research 9jabook Reporters have done .Details of the $105 million study will be given at a vaccine conference in Paris next month.
Scientists said on Thursday in Bangkok, that they have discovered a vaccine that has reduced the chance of HIV infection in humans for the first time.
This followed a trial conducted by the U.S. Military HIV Research program and the Thai Ministry of Public Health. The trial was conducted on 16,000 volunteers in Thailand, with half of the participants receiving the combination of the two vaccines and the other half receiving dummy jabs.
The combination of two vaccines had previously failed to produce a response on their own but was observed to have reduced the risk of becoming infected with HIV by more than 31 per cent.
The vaccine is a combination of Sanofi-Pasteur's (SASY.PA) ALVAC canary pox vaccine and the failed HIV vaccine AIDSVAX, made by a San Francisco company called VaxGen and now owned by the nonprofit Global Solutions for Infectious Diseases.
"We had 74 infections in the placebo group and 51 in the vaccine group," Dr. Jerome Kim, a U.S. Army colonel at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Maryland, who helped lead the trial, said in a telephone interview with REUTERS.
The result, almost completely unexpected, puzzled researchers, who say they cannot figure out why the vaccine combination is working.
It is also a triumph for its supporters, who went ahead with the giant trial of 16,000 volunteers despite critics who said it was unethical or a waste of money because the vaccine was so widely expected to have no effect at all.
"Myself, like others, did not think there was a very high chance that this would give any degree of efficacy," said Dr. Anthony Fauci of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which helped pay for the study.
"But nonetheless, we went ahead with the trial and it was controversial to go ahead with it."
"We see no commercial vaccine available for some time yet, but the prospect has finally been raised (after 30 years of trying) that an effective vaccine is possible," Michael Leacock, analyst at ABN AMRO research said.
More extensive work is needed before a vaccine is suitable for regulatory approval, he said.
Further muddying the waters of the trial result, people who got the vaccine and who became infected anyway had just as much virus in their blood and just as much damage to their immune systems as HIV patients who went unvaccinated.
This means the vaccine helps to prevent infection but does nothing to affect the virus once it is in the body.
"Although the level of protection that we saw was clearly modest, the study is a major scientific advance," Dr. Kim said.
The scientist however said the vaccine may not work in Africa.Other Reports just Coming In
SCIENTISTS have for the first time succeeded in protecting people from HIV infection by means of a vaccine, a development that has stunned researchers worldwide and transformed prospects for combating the deadly virus.
The experimental vaccine cut the risk of becoming infected with HIV by 31 per cent, according to results released from the world's largest AIDS vaccine trial of more than 16,000 volunteers in Thailand.
Although the degree of protection is substantially less than would normally be considered enough to warrant rolling out a vaccine, the result has enthused researchers still demoralised over a succession of recent calamitous failures.
One trial of a previous vaccine even appeared to make people who were inoculated with it more, rather than less, likely to become infected with HIV, a result that dumbfounded experts and left some questioning whether an HIV vaccine would ever be possible.
Announcing the latest results yesterday, Colonel Jerome Kim, who helped lead the study for the US Army, said it was "the first evidence that we could have a safe and effective preventive vaccine".
The trial of the vaccine -- in fact, a combination of two earlier test vaccines that had each failed to protect patients when tested separately in earlier trials -- was sponsored by the US Army and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
The institute's director, Anthony Fauci, warned that this was "not the end of the road", but said he was surprised and very pleased by the outcome.
"It gives me cautious optimism about the possibility of improving this result" and developing a more effective AIDS vaccine, Dr Fauci said.
Even a marginally helpful vaccine could have a big impact. Every day, 7500 people worldwide are newly infected with HIV; two million died of AIDS in 2007, the UN agency UNAIDS estimates.
Australian experts also welcomed the development. John Kaldor, professor of epidemiology at the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research at the University of NSW, said the finding was "extremely significant".
"A 30 per cent protection rate is on the low side of efficacy that would make a vaccine helpful from a public health point of view," Professor Kaldor said.
"From a perspective of understanding the science of how to prevent HIV infection by immunological means, this must be considered to be a very important finding."
He said the trial result was "the first step along the way to showing that a vaccine strategy can work". As such, he said, it was many times more important than a recent discovery of two broadly neutralising antibodies capable of disabling HIV.
He added that more information would be required before anyone could judge whether the new vaccine deserved to be rolled out to some people, despite its low efficacy rate. That would depend on factors such as how long-lasting the protection was, what the vaccine cost and whether people given the product might negate any protection by behaving in more risky ways.
Details of the $105 million study will be given at a vaccine conference in Paris next month.
This is the third big vaccine trial since 1983. In 2007, Merck & Co stopped a study of its experimental vaccine after seeing it did not prevent HIV infection. Later analysis suggested the vaccine might even raise the risk of infection in certain men. The vaccine itself did not cause infection.
In 2003, AIDSVAX failed with two large trials.
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Posted by Oge Joy Paul on September 24, 2009 at 5:00am
Please read the mail below and use it as learning point in your B/Os such that similar issue can be prevented. I am particularly interested in the second to the last paragraph which read:”Luckily for them, the Hotel has a CCTV surveillance camera. The footages were rolled back and it was discovered that for almost two months, a particular red Toyota corolla car brings a lady to the machine to make withdrawals”Therefore, if you have not gotten CCTV in your B/O, please ensure one is obtained immediately. Its importance outweighs the cost.EFCC Smashes ATM Card Cloning SyndicateATM cloning syndicatesEFCC Smashes ATM Card Cloning SyndicateThe aggressive campaign by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC against Automated Teller Machine (ATM) fraudsters recorded a major breakthrough last week with the arrest in Lagos, of three powerful members of a crack syndicate whose specialty is the cloning of ATM cards using Magnetic Card Reader/Encoder machine.ImageFrom Left,Chris Okeke,Nicholas Egbo and Kelechi Aro with their instruments of fraud.The trio, Chris Okeke, Nicholas Egboh and Kelechi Aro were smoked out of their hide out following series of investigations which started from Kano that fingered them as the arrow heads of the deadly gang that has been defrauding depositors of various banks through the ATM. They were arrested on the last floor of a two storey building in Alaba Suru, a suburb of Lagos . Six Laptop computers, the Card reader machine, Bank documents and several credit cards and ATM cards were recovered from the suspects. Also recovered is a Gulf 3 saloon car.According to investigation, all the fraudsters needed to have access to the account of any bank depositor are the victim’s ATM and PIN numbers. Once they have that information, they would use card reader machine to print the numbers on any ATM card. Once that is done, they can use the card to withdraw money from the victim’s account without even knowing the account holder’s name.It is believed that members of this syndicate belong to the group of fraudsters that have been sending scam mails and text messages in the name of Inters witch Nigeria, urging unwary debit card holders to upgrade their ATM cards by filing online forms which requires them to disclose their pin numbers. Those who fall prey to this scam lost millions of naira to the fraudsters.During interrogation, Chris Okeke the ring leader whose father’s house was being used for the fraudulent group’s activities disclosed that the house belongs to his ailing father who had relocated to his village in Anambra State due to ill health and that all the items found in the house belonged to his accomplices. He further revealed that one Darlington, who is at large, is the owner of the machine and the Gulf car recovered from him. He claims that he was always staying in his room while Darlington and other members of the syndicate perpetrated the fraud in the living room..But, 34 year old Nicholas Egboh debunked the claims of his co-traveler in crime. According to Nicholas, Chris knew much about the scam and benefited from the proceeds of the crime. Nicholas said he used to see different people coming to the house everyday and that he had warned Chris on several occasions that he would run into trouble. He disclosed that he was a trader in Onitsha , Anambra State and, that six months ago, his business collapsed and he relocated to Lagos in preparation for a trip to Egypt . He denied being a member of the syndicate, but one of the Laptop computers recovered in the house, belongs to him.The third suspect, Kelechi Aro who wears a dreadlock also exonerated himself from the crime saying that he was a musician and a labourer. He said he relocated to the house of fraud two years ago from Ajegunle, another Lagos Suburb. But it was obvious that he was being economical with the truth as operatives caught him sending scam messages with one of the Laptop computers when he was arrested.Interestingly, the report that triggered the arrest of members of this deadly syndicate originated from kaduna . A resident of that city had lodged a complaint with the Commission’s office in Kano to the effect that some fraudsters had pulled out some money from his account in one of the banks in the city.. Investigators were able to trace the fraudsters to Surulere, Lagos through the Driver’s License used by the fraudsters to withdraw money from the said account. Consequently, Remilekun Ojolowo and Sherifat Aderomu, who have been admitted to administrative bail, were arrested. Upon interrogation they claimed to belong to a network of syndicates that specialize in ATM fraud and led operatives to the den of the fraudsters where the startling recoveries were made.This latest discovery followed a similar one in port harcourt , Rivers state where EFCC operatives unveiled a set of bank officials who duplicate customers ATM cards to defraud them of millions of naira.In the case of the Port Harcourt syndicate, one Ms. Cassandra Olaleye, a banker and her accomplice, Regal Horsefall were arrested by EFCC operatives following the discovery of the ATM fraud. The two suspects who have been working as partners since June 2008 withdrawing funds totaling about N12 million from a customer’s account, an account managed by Cassandra. Their journey to the EFCC net started when the customer gave a cheque of N4 million to someone and was told his account was already in the red. He went to the bank to verify and from his account statement, it was discovered that a lot of ATM withdrawals had been done on the account. The customer who was surprised as he has never used his ATM card before protested and the matter was reported to the EFCC Port Harcourt Zonal office.After a careful study of the bank statement, operatives discovered that the money was drawn from an ATM machine located in the premises of a Hotel in Port Harcourt almost on a daily basis since July 2008. They visited the ATM Machine to see if it has a camera, but there was none. Luckily for them, the Hotel has a CCTV surveillance camera. The footages were rolled back and it was discovered that for almost two months, a particular red Toyota corolla car brings a lady to the machine to make withdrawals.The number plate of the car was copied and a search for the vehicle began. After about two weeks of searching, the vehicle was discovered in a compound in Elekahia Housing Estate, in Rumoumasi area of Port Harcourt . Operatives went in and a lady (Regal Horsefall) who they suspected was the culprit from the CCTV footages was sighted. She was approached for questioning, but she said she has never gone to the hotel for any withdrawal. They asked her about the car and she said it belongs to her brother.The operatives then arrested her. She was taken to the EFCC office where a call was put through to the supposed brother who came immediately and said she was not his sister but his girlfriend who goes to the ATM machine located in the hotel. He took the Operatives to her house where she agreed that she made the withdrawals. She was arrested and during interrogation, she said it was Cassandra Olaleye that gave her the ATM card to do the withdrawals for her. It was discovered later that the ATM point in the hotel premises was chosen because the culprits noticed it didn’t have a camera on it.Operatives contacted Cassandra Olaleye who they discovered had moved from Port Harcourt to Calabar where she currently works with a different bank. She was subsequently arrested and brought to the EFCC Port Harcourt office where she initially denied all the allegations.To solve the riddle, the two of them were brought together because Regal insisted that Cassandra gave her the card.With the face off, what will solve the riddle was a deeper investigation. When eventually Cassandra was confronted with the heap of evidence already gathered by operatives in the course of investigation , she admitted all the allegations.
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Posted by 9jabook.com on September 23, 2009 at 10:56pm
WHEN the white Toyota Camry arrived with its six occupants and parked in front of the single storey, four-flats building painted in brown and butter colours,even curious neighbours did not notice anything to excite alarm.
Time was about 7.15 a.m. that Sunday when two children from one of the flats, ‘Lara and ‘Labake, came out to fetch water, oblivious of any lurking danger. Their mother, Blessing, had however gone to church.
The situation, however, changed when the occupants of the car disembarked and made their way for the block of flats identified as No 9, Oyeniji Street of Oduwole Estate at Akowonjo, Egbeda, Lagos.
They were led by a light complexioned, tall woman, who was dressed in a lace material.The leader of the gang was soon seen and heard dishing out instructions to the five men who were armed with guns. When the landlady of the house later came down to pick something from her shop, she was pounced upon by two members of this group.
But it soon emerged that their target was Mr. Bayo Ohu, a respected journalist with The Guardian who had been living in the building with his family for the past eight years.
Bayo, the father of Lara (15), ‘Labake (9), Moyoyin (7), Fehintola (5) and Modesola (8 months) whose apartment was close to the gate was said to be lying down on his bed and had no premonition of the tragedy that was about to befall him. Attracted by the sporadic gunshots outside, he had opened the door of his flat to find out what was amiss. That was the last action he took before he was cut down by a volley of bullets.
In spite of accomplishing their dastardly bloody assignment, the six-man gang made straight to the compound, shooting sporadically into the air after various attempts to gain entry into Bayo’s flat failed.
They laid siege for one of the children who came outside to continue fetching water. They seized the opportunity to gain entry into the apartment through the kitchen.
The child escaped and hid herself under her father’s car while others in the apartment hid themselves inside the wardrobe in one of the rooms. Bayo the main target of the attack was found in his own pool of blood at the passage of the apartment.
An eye witness who pleaded anonymity told Vanguard Metro was of the opinion that the late journalist must have had a form of contact with the gang leader during his life time. “We were at the corridor of our own house when we spotted the white car, although nobody knew their mission.
‘Lara: Witnessed Dad’s murder
They were outside for a while before they entered the compound. But suddenly, there was sporadic shootings which scared all of us. We knew something deadly was happening and I decided to peep through my window but what I saw made me to tremble.
The woman in question did not come out immediately after the operation, rather the five men rushed into the car first. She later came out of the apartment nodding her head and thumbing up for a job well done.
This shows clearly she was never a stranger to Bayo. What we do not know was if there was a business transaction or deal between both of them. From the way she dashed out of the apartment, it was obvious she was a key factor in what happened.
People should find out if he had previously had any rapport with that woman. The front seat was reserved for her and when she joined them in the car, she rejoiced before they sped off,” he said.
LARA BAYO's Eldest Daughter
Another family source said the deceased threw a birthday party for two of his children, 15- year-old ‘Lara and five-year-old Fehintola on Saturday August 29. Unfortunately that was the last family gathering this father of five girls attended before he died.
A barber who was occupying a shop in the apartment described the deceased as an easy going person. “You know all his children are girls and none of them could help to wash his car. I used to help him do this and he normally reciprocate with a token, I opened the shop today only to hear he had been killed. I shall miss him greatly,” said Damian.
When Vanguard Metro visited the apartment on Monday, there was an army of sympathisers who sat round his wife Blessing as she was lying down on a couch. She refused to utter a word. “People have been coming here to snap me, I am tired of this and nobody should snap me again,” she said after much pressure by these sympathisers.
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Popularly referred to as the princess of R&B and hip-hop, Ashanti Shequoiya Douglas, known widely as Ashanti, featured as a prominent face on the urban music scene during the early 2000s.She sold over half a million copies of her debut album within its first week of release in 2002, which still stands as the record for highest first week sales for a debuting female musician. However, recent times have seen her prominence drop, begging the question ‘what went wrong with all that promising talent?’Grand EntranceAshanti came unto the scene on the platform of Irv Gotti’s Murder INC, in 2002 with the release of the B.I.G sampled, “Foolish” and it’s subsequent remix “Unfoolish”. With the smash hit announcing her arrival, she went on to record critically acclaimed guest appearances on Fat Joe’s “What’s Love” and label mate Ja Rule’s “Always on Time”. Winning eight Billboard Awards, two American Music Awards and two BET Awards amongst many others, she was apparently everywhere in 2002.Out of the SpotlightAfter winning a Grammy in 2003 for Best Contemporary Album, she recorded sophomore album, Chapter II, another success that sold over 300,000 copies in its first week. However, a Christmas album released in November 2003, Ashanti’s Christmas, was poorly received and didn’t sell more than a hundred thousand copies in the U.S.The period also saw the label’s headline artist Ja Rule embroiled in a lyrical feud with 50 Cent, with Ashanti occasionally referenced in the beef that continued till the better part of 2005. A lot of critics believed the beef ended sourly for Murder Inc as their perceived loss rendered them redundant on the Hip-Hop scene. If the proverbial boat sinks, the fate of those who can’t swim is pretty obvious.Missing PrincessIn 2007, she started promoting her fifth album, The Declaration with the release of two singles; “Switch” featuring Nelly and “Hey Baby”. She decided to work outside of the Murder INC. circle which reportedly did not go down well with Gotti. She featured artists from other labels and worked with producers not used by the label.The album recorded her worst sales on release selling less than a hundred thousand copies in its first week and not much has been heard from her since. Gotti announced her departure from Murder INC, in March this year and former label mate Ja released a track titled “Judas” which contained disses aimed at her and rapper DMX, after Ashanti had announced that it may be inappropriate for her to be in the middle of a beef-ridden label.Although not much can be said about her plans for the future, the singer/actress who has about five movie roles to her credit was reported in July to have announced that she would begin recording a new album that month. To expect her to bounce back right now might be unfoolish but at the same time, it might be a very foolish thing to do.Sources: WIKIPEDIA, REALTALKNY.UPROXX.COM, RAPDIRT.COM, M
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