President Goodluck Jonathan has wished Ibrahim Babangida good health and long life as the former military celebrated his 69th birthday on Tuesday..

Comments: Bros GJ you for just step aside for am na !

In a letter dated August 17th, a copy of which was made available to State House Correspondents yesterday, Mr. Jonathan said: “As you celebrate this day with family, friends and numerous well wishers, it is my prayer that Almighty God continues to guide, guard and bless you with robust health and His abiding provision in many years ahead.”

The president remarked that Mr. Babangida had done so much to uplift this country and therefore deserves to be celebrated.

“I wish you a very happy sixty-nine birthday anniversary. Congratulations your Excellency and please accept the assurances of my highest consideration and esteem,” he wrote.

The President’s congratulatory message came on the heels of the presidential contest, for which Mr. Babangida has already declared his interest and which Mr. Jonathan is still to make a public declaration.

Only last week, Mr. Babangida responded to a comment by Mr. Jonathan saying that for claiming that he was serving out the joint ticket he had with late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, the president was being intellectually dishonest.

the other for their woes, and are determined to take a pound of flesh from the other.

Huhuonline.com can disclose that all is not well between the only two Nigerians who have made the Forbes list of billionaires. Truce pact reached in 2009 has irrevocably broken down.

Precisely on August 19^th 2009, the most famous duel in Nigerian corporate history, ended with what may be the most famous reconciliation. Bosom enemies; Bitter friends. As Huhuonline reported that Nigeria’s richest duo; Alhaji Aliko Dangote and Chief Femi Otedola decided to bury the hatchet, untangling the love-hate relationship between the two oligarchs that has brought their financial empires to the brink of total ruin.

The famous 2009 reconciliation, at the instance of Nduka Obaigbena, Editor-in-Chief and Chairman/CEO of This Day newspaper followed months of tortuous negotiations as friends of the two erstwhile billionaires battled desperately to reconcile the two men in the wake of a campaign of vilification and personal destruction waged by their surrogates in the media. At the reconciliation parley, both men pledged to be civil to one another and cease all hostilities.

But with this breakdown, Nigerians are about to witness a battle royale between the ex friends..

The suspected ritualists,

Joseph Dashi and Matem Ngbeme.

WE decided to try money ritual because we were not getting enough money from our work (bricklaying). While we were complaining about our situation, a man advised us to try money making ritual and a human being was one of the key materials needed. We decided to go back to the Republic of Benin to bring the victim. He was a co-tenant back home in the Republic of Benin. We lied to him that we had secured a job for him in Nigeria, so he decided to follow us.”

That was Joseph Dashi, 47, briefing Crime and Security on his journey into the crime world.

Speaking on the activities of the suspected ritualists, the Ogun State Police commissioner, Musa Daura, stated that a popular herbalist (name withheld) in the Ado Odo area of Ogun State, had informed the police of the attempts by the Benin Republic nationals to use a fellow citizen for money ritual. The police boss claimed that the arrested suspects were aiming to collect N4million from the unnamed herbalist, with the hope that the herbalist would, in turn, use the victim for money ritual.

The leader of the two-man gang, Joseph Dashi, confirmed the ritual attempt to Crime and Security. He, however, denied the allegation that they had wanted to collect N4million from the herbalist. The suspect claimed that he and his partner, Matem Ngbeme had wanted to actually use the victim for money ritual.

Dashi, a 47-year-old bricklayer in the Badagry area of Lagos State, stated that Matem and the victim, Chieme Njogaisi, were co-tenants in a building in the Republic of Benin. He also added that Matem had lied to the victim, that he was bringing him to Nigeria for job placement, as a worker with some bricklayers in Badagry area of the state. The suspect stated that they had initially gone to a herbalist, but were referred to another herbalist, who facilitated their arrest.

He claimed that the herbalist, rather than advising them against their mission, invited the police to arrest them.

Relaying how they were arrested to Crime and Security, Dashi stated that the herbalist had instructed them to write their names and that of the victim and that they were doing this when a team of policemen from Ado Odo Divisional Police Station, stormed the scene and took the three of them away.

“The herbalist deceived us. He said we should write our names and that of the victim on a paper and as we were doing this, policemen came and arrested us. He delayed us for police to come and pick us.”

He lamented that the decision to go into ritualism, arose as a result of his inability to make ends meet, despite his efforts through bricklaying jobs. The Republic of Benin national further stated that it was while he was trying to become rich and do away with bricklaying, that the idea of making money through ritual, struck his mind.

Dashi informed Crime and Security that he had initially wanted to do the ritual alone, but had to invite Matem, when he was asked to go and look for the human being that would be used for the ritual.

According to him, Matem had volunteered to bring somebody from Cotonou, in the Republic of Benin for the ritual. In his words, “When the baba told me that I would need to bring somebody for money, I called Matem in Cotonou and he agreed to bring one of his co-tenants.”

The second suspect, Matem, 28, while speaking with Crime and Security, admitted to have brought the suspect from the Benin Republic for ritual. Matem, who claimed to be resident in Cotonou, stated that Dashi actually called him and intimated him about the plan.

He said he instantly agreed to be part of the money making ritual.

Matem stated that he had to join Dashi, because, ”things were not okay for him.

He stated that he had lied to the victim, who was his neighbour, that he wanted to bring him to Nigeria and get him a job. The suspect claimed that the victim had long been pestering him with job requests.

“He had, for long, been troubling me to bring him to Nigeria and get him a job, as he was jobless in Benin Republic. He knew that I was a bricklayer and he wanted to work as a labourer, in Nigeria.”

On what he would have told their other neighbours, if the ritual attempt had been successful, he said “I would have lied to them that he had returned home after he could not get a job.“

The suspect also informed Crime and Security that he regretted his involvement in the crime and blamed it all on Dashi, whom he accused of getting him into trouble.

The victim, however, could neither speak nor understand English and only nodded in affirmation, when asked whether it was Matem that brought him to Nigeria.

Written by Olalekan Olabulo Tuesday, 10 August 2010

Wednesday, 18 August 2010

Ayomide Fowowe recovering on

the sick bed after having his arm amputated.

(Inset): Picture of the arm before the amputation.

Aside from food, clothing and shelter which are the essentials of life for man, security is another variable that is a must have. But how secure are Nigerians? Features Xtra team ponders this question in this report.

Security, an eight-letter word, is what every creature desires. Man as well as the animals in the jungle do not toy with security because the implications of doing so could be catastrophic. In the family, where the man is the head, the man will not be accorded the right respect if he fails to provide adequate security for his family.

In the government circle, the constitution of the Federal Republic confers the responsibility of the chief security officer of a local government area on the local government chairman, that of a state on the governor, and that of the nation on the president. What this implies is that these high political portfolio holders must protect the lives and

property of those in their areas of jurisdiction.

It is, however, unfortunate that many innocent Nigerians have met their untimely deaths through the nefarious activities of criminals. Many promising stars have been untimely plucked from the galaxy by the enemies of security, thus robbing the nation of the invaluable contributions of these people.

It is, therefore, not an understatement to say that Nigeria has lost too many people to the brutality of the criminals within its frontiers.

Seun Okusaga, a responsible family man resident in Abeokuta, set out in the morning of July 27, 2010, in search of daily bread for his family. Little did he know that his departure from home on that fateful morning would be his last, and that he would never be able to wrap his arms around his wife in an emotional embrace again, or have his children run up to welcome him from outings again.

He was in his car, driving to Osiele area of the city, where he had an appointment to collect money for services rendered to an organisation. He never made it to his destination as he met his death at the Eleweeran headquarters of the Nigeria Police in the state. He was trapped in a crossfire between the police and some bandits who had come from Ibadan with the intention to unleash terror on the residents of the city.

Men of the Nigeria Police at the Eleweeran police headquarters, having been alerted of the possible entry of the robbers into the city by their counterparts at the Eleyele head-quarters of the Oyo State command, laid ambush for the robbers on the road. Seun was, however, unfortunate to have appeared on the scene when the two clashed, and he was forever silenced by a stray bullet from one of the parties.

There are many Nigerians who have shared fate similar to Seun Okusaga’s own; so many have been cut down in their prime, many more have been maimed, while so many others have been made orphans, widows, and widowers through no fault of theirs.

Unarguably, these people would not have lost their lives if there had been formidable security machinery in place in Nigeria. It is this inadequacy that has given the criminal room to collaborate to terrorise innocent Nigerians as was the case on July 27, 2010, when about 30 armed men invaded the city of Ibadan to loot banks and other business concerns.

A good fight given to them by men of the Nigeria Police in Ibadan made them to head for Abeokuta to try their luck on the financial institutions therein. The robbers, however, got more than they bargained for as they were also strongly repelled in Abeokuta by men of the Nigeria Police in the state. Although they failed to achieve their original goal, their outing did not fail to produce unsavoury results as they left some death and injuries in their wake, plunging some families into sorrow.

For many residents of Ibadan, the capital city of Oyo State, Tuesday, 27 July, 2010, will forever remain indelible in their minds. Residents woke up to the news that heavily armed robbers had besieged the city. Their operation was said to have begun at the Apata end of the city.

The robbers wrought havoc in many parts of the city, notably among which were Alakere Layout on the expressway, Iwo Road and at the popular plank section of the Bodija Market. It was reported that, at Bodija Market, a man who had a large sum of money on him had been shot in the head, killing him instantly.

The man was said to have been making a call on his mobile phone, and the robbers, assuming he was alerting the police, shot him dead.

According to reports, the police were said to have given the robbers a hot chase on the express way. In their bid to escape, they sped into Alakere Layout, where they linked Wema area on New Ife Road.

During the exchange of fire with the police, a stray bullet was said to have hit a two-year-old boy strapped to his mother’s back. The baby died instantly.

The father of the child, Mr. Taiwo Adegbodu, a gospel artist, confirmed the incident to Features Xtra, but the mother was not yet in the right frame of mind to recount how the incident took place as at the time of filing this report.

Another person that got a piece of the bitter pill was a 15-year-old, Ayomide Fowowe. He was also hit by a stray bullet from the robbers. Although he did not die as the bullet hit him in his right arm, he eventually lost the arm because it was too badly damaged.

Recounting Ayomide’s ordeal to Features Xtra, Ebenezer Oyewole, a boutique operator, said the boy is an SS 2 student of St. Lawrence Grammar School, Ilesha, Osun State, and had come to spend his holiday with him. He said that the boy was assisting him at his Iwo Road shop when the stray bullet hit him.

He was rushed to Molly Specialist Hospital, Idi-Ape, for emergency treatment. He was, however, later transferred to the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan. It was at UCH that they were informed that the arm would have to be cut off to save Ayomide’s life as the damage was beyond repair.

So, on Monday, 9 August, 2010, Ayomide Fowowe had what was left of his right arm surgically removed. He is presently recuperating at the hospital pending when he would be released to go back home.

His parents, Mr. and Mrs Moses Fowowe, both illiterates, who struggle to make a living, now appeal to the general public for help for their son. They have called on the Oyo State government, the Osun State Government, parents and well meaning Nigerians to assist in getting a flexible prosthetic arm for their son so that he can write, eat and do other things that he could do before without assistance.

Mr Tunji Carroll, a businessman, was of the opinion that the high rate of crime and insecurity in the country could be traced to the high level of poverty. He observed that the nation’s wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few (politicians), while the majority are left with little or nothing.

Carroll further stated that, “our politicians have taken more than enough of our common wealth for themselves, their children and their grand children. This is the reason a single federal legislator has a two-room office with hordes of private workers who draw their salaries from the National Assembly funds, instead of their bosses’ allocations.

Ngozi Obiadi, a post-graduate student of the University of Ibadan, opined that lack of jobs for those that should be gainfully employed is the sole cause of the high rate of insecurity, adding that an idle hand is the devil’s workshop.

She contended that crime rate is low in developed countries because of the social security system which provides the jobless with something to fall back on until they get jobs.

She, therefore, enjoined the government to live up to its responsibilities by ensuring that able-bodied Nigerians had means of livelihood.

According to Dr Ayodele Jegede, a sociologist at the University of Ibadan, crime is a common phenomenon the world over, but it is higher in poor countries because of bad government that does not give issues that affect the people the priority they deserve.

He said when there is unemployment in the land, and the people, especially the youth, are not constructively engaged, they tend to rebel against the normative values of the society. This involves trying to live a life of their own, and this is usually detrimental to the society.

For those who want to assist Ayomide Fowowe financially, donations can be sent to Guaranty Trust Bank, account number: 9024461541590, the account name is Fowowe Esther Biodun.

Two police stations closest to the scene of Sunday’s accident in which 40 lives were lost and 25 vehicles were either burnt or destroyed are being probed by the Nigerian Police Force.

The two police stations closest to the scene of the accident in which the police have denied complicity are the Isheri and Ojodu stations, under the Lagos State Command.

Our correspondent gathered on Tuesday that the police authorities decided to probe the two stations in order to determine whether any of them sent its men on duty at the spot of the accident.

A senior police officer, who asked not to be quoted, told our correspondent, “We don’t have a police patrol in the area. So if policemen were there at all as been reported in the newspapers, it is either illegal or a special duty. The police divisions closest to the place of the accident were Isheri and Ojodu. We are checking the stations out.

“One of our officers passed through that place 15 minutes before the reported time of the accident and he said he did not see any patrol team blocking the highway. So, we want to know where the policemen that were supposed to be there came from.”

But the Lagos State police spokesman, Mr. Frank Mba, declined to speak to our correspondent on the state of police investigation.

“I will not tell you what we are doing. But we are seriously investigating that accident and every circumstance surrounding it. We are discreet, fast and thorough. When we finish, we will make it public,” Mba said.

Meanwhile, the Lagos Zonal Command of the Federal Road Safety Commission has said that eye witnesses account indicated that the police were responsible for the Sunday accident that occurred at Otedola Millennium Estate, along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

“From what we gathered from eye witnesses, the accident was caused by police team on patrol that day,” the FRSC Zonal Commander, Mr. Danjuma Garba told our correspondent on Tuesday.

The FRSC boss however refused to make a categorical statement on the cause of the accident given police denial of the involvement of its men.

Garba argued that since the police had denied involvement, it would not be fair to heap the blame

President Goodluck Jonathan

ABUJA— A REPORT published by an international news agency, Reuters, quoting a Presidency source as having declared that President GoodluckJonathan was considering not contesting the presidential elections duenext January may have unsettled the Presidency, yesterday, as thegovernment immediately reacted saying President Jonathan was yet tomake a commitment.

The news agency in the report quoted the Presidency source as having said that President Jonathan will, however, make his intentions knownby the end of the month.

The Presidency, however, reacted to the publication, saying the President has not declared that he would run in the presidentialelections or not.

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, had said that President Jonathan has the right to run, because he was previously Vice President on ajoint ticket with President Umaru Yar’Adua, who died mid-way throughhis first term earlier this year.

But the party also said it would uphold the principle of “zoning” and that other candidates were free to contest at its primaries,expected to be held in September.

The Presidency source was quoted as saying: “He is not likely going to run, simply because his party has retained the zoning of thepresidency to the north for the next four years. Though his party saidhe can run despite the zoning, the party said this because they didn’twant to offend him.”

The source said Jonathan would make his intentions public before the end of August. The Presidency officials who declined comment, added:“He is a man that always ensures equity and fair play, so he may allowthe North to have their remaining four-year term if that will ensurepeace and unity.”

A decision by Jonathan not to run would come as a surprise to many in the country, because never before had an incumbent leader,constitutionally allowed to seek re-election, withdrawn from apresidential race.

Scepticism

Recent announcements by Jonathan’s administration, from pledges to end chronic power shortages to the imminent passage of long-awaitedreforms to the energy sector, have looked more like campaign pledges,heightening expectations he will stand.

Abubakar Momoh, professor of politics at Lagos State University, said:”Everybody knows that groups and interests are campaigning forhim, and they are well-funded …

Nobody is deceived. I don’t believe in this idea of mobilising but then saying, ‘I’m not too sure yet.’” He added that Jonathan’s failureto declare is “impinging on his integrity.”

But sources close to the president have been saying for weeks that he was concerned about the implications of ending zoning and about hisown credibility as a candidate in polls he says he wants to make freeand fair.

Presidency reacts

The Presidency, yesterday, reacted to the publication stating: “Our attention has been drawn to a report published by Reuters today,quoting “Presidency”sources as stating that President Goodluck EbeleJonathan may have decided not to run in the 2011 presidential electionsafter all.

“Information at our disposal indicates that this is a story sponsored by interested parties. Unfortunately, the highly rated globalnews agency was misled into publishing it.

The truth is that the president has not said he will not run. Neither has he said he will.

“At different times he has given clear reasons why he considers it premature, in the interest of governance, to make any commitment bothways. At the appropriate time, the president will inform his countrymen and women of his future plans. Until then, every comment on thesubject remains mere speculation.”

Relatives relatives of the victims of the multiple auto accident which occurred near Otedola Millennium Estate along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway besieged the scene on Monday in search of clues to the whereabouts of their family members.

Mr. Biodun Abensile, was in tears as he sought to know the whereabouts of his younger brother from officials of the Lagos State Transport Management Authority, the Federal Road Safety Commission and policemen who were busy clearing burnt vehicles and other forms of debris from the scene.

Abensile said his brother, Taiwo, was billed to be in Ibadan, Oyo State, where his twin brother, Kehinde, was waiting for him.

He said, “I have been trying to get in touch with my brother, Taiwo. He was travelling to Ibadan on Sunday with his wife and his mother-in-law in a Honda saloon car. His twin brother, Kehinde, had already arrived in Ibadan and was waiting for them.

“I have made many calls to Taiwo’s telephone number; but the number has not been responding. Right now, I don’t know what has happened to them. I am finished.”

Another relative of one of the victims, who gave her name simply as Tarila, said she has not been able to reach her cousin, James, who was on his way to Benin, Edo State when the accident happened.

“As I talk to you, I can’t say where Tarila is. I have not been able to talk to him because his telephone has not been responding. I have been to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital in Ikeja and the state emergency centre by the old toll gate. I have also visited some hospitals around here (scene) and I have not had any clue.

“I came here (scene) with the hope that I may be directed to where to find him either alive or dead, but nothing positive seems to be coming from the people I have asked.”

Abensile and Tarila were not the only ones who had such stories to tell tens of others at the scene shared similar tales as they sobbed and watched the burnt vehicles and debris being loaded in batches into trucks that conveyed them to a dumpsite at Olusosun, off Kudirat Abiola Road, Ikeja, Lagos.

Unlike Sunday when the charred bodies of about 40 people that died in the accident, debris and hundreds of sympathisers were a common sight, the situation was calm on Monday as there was free flow of traffic.

Officials of Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, and the Federal Road, Safety Corps and policemen, assisted by some residents of Shangisha and the nearby Omole Estate first off loaded the industrial sugar in the burnt trailer suspected to have caused the multiple accident.

A LASTMA toll van later removed the trailer to an undisclosed location.

One of the policemen at the scene told one of our correspondents that the security officers worked all through Sunday night to ensure that many of charred bodies and burnt vehicles were cleared off the road.

“The situation was really terrible, it took the joint effort of the police, LASTMA, the FRSC and the fire service to clear the road. As you can see, traffic is now moving unlike yesterday (Sunday) when this road was impassable.”

Our correspondents reported that officials of the Lagos State Government were also at the scene to assess the clearing of the debris.

Hours after the assessment by a team led by the state Commissioner for Transportation, Bamidele Badejo, the Special Adviser to the Governor Babatunde Fashola on Transportation, Mr. Kayode Opeifa, said that no decision had been taken on the “15 burnt corpses” from the scene.

Opeifa, who told one of our correspondents that the burnt bodies had been deposited at the mortuary of LASUTH, added that 18 survivors were currently receiving treatment at the same hospital.

“Fifteen unrecognisable bodies are lying at the mortuary in LASUTH. The only way to ascertain who they were is by forensic tests. As of now, there is no decision on the burial of the charred corpses,” he said.

Opeifa also said investigations so far carried out showed that the accident had been caused by a trailer belonging to Dangote Group.

He urged Lagosians, who were yet to hear from their relatives that travelled out of Lagos on Sunday morning to report cases of missing persons to the accident and emergency centre.

However, the special adviser’s claim on the cause of the accident as well as the admission of some survivors in LASUTH differed from those of the Police and the hospital’s Chief Medical Director, Dr. Femi Olugbile.

Olugbile had told one of our correspondents on Monday that no victim had been brought to the hospital.

“The information I received was that nobody was brought here (hospital). I understand that they were taken to the state accident and emergency centre,” Olugbile said.

Ealier on Monday, the authorities of the Nigeria Police Force, had denied reports that a police checkpoint caused the Sunday accident. However, they did so with conflicting statements.

The Force Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Emmanuel Ojukwu, said that police officers who were said to have manned the checkpoint were on a legitimate duty and were not responsible for the tragedy.

Ojukwu, in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents, said that the accident was being investigated.

He blamed incident on the inability of the trailer driver to control his truck when its break failed.

The FPRO said, “The policemen were doing their legitimate duty at the checkpoint and they can’t be blamed for the accident which was caused by break failure.

“The police is investigating the accident, but not the police officers at the checkpoint because they didn’t cause the accident,” he said.

However, the Lagos State Police Command on Monday, maintained that its personnel played no part in the accident.

The Public Relations Officer of the command, Mr. Frank Mba, said in a statement that the reports that police checkpoint caused the accident was untrue.

He said, “The truth of the matter is that Lagos State Police Command has no road block mounted on our highways and none could probably have been mounted on top of the bridge where the accident occurred. If policemen were on road block duty at the time of the accident, they also would have formed part of the first victims of this carnage.

“Preliminary police investigations revealed that the accident was caused by a reckless trailer driver whose vehicle had suffered a break failure.

“The trailer driver lost control, and consequently rammed through a long line of other vehicles before eventually going up in flames.

“This position was also corroborated by the report of a Vehicle Inspectorate Officer, who examined the trailer soon after the accident.

“According to the VIO, ‘the driver of the articulated vehicle drove recklessly on high speed, thereby hitting a commercial bus which went up in flames on impact.’ This led to multiple collision, ” Mba said.

The police also reduced the number of the accident victims to 15 from the 20 given by the Area H commander, Mr. Godwin Nwobodo, on Sunday.

Mba said, “A total of 15 bodies, including that of an infant, who died as a result of the accident, were picked up by the police.

“Most of them were burnt beyond recognition. Eighteen other persons sustained injuries of various degrees and are being treated in various hospitals. In addition, 10 vehicles of different makes were burnt beyond repairs, while about ten other vehicles were damaged as a result of accident.”

Nigerians in Johannesburg on Tuesday staged a 90-minute march across the city to protest the killing of one of them and to demand better treatment from the police.

Theophilus Anielefo, a real estate agent, was allegedly killed by South African police on July 31, in questionable circumstances.

A large number of Nigerians carrying placards and singing protest songs, marched through the streets, escorted by South African Police and traffic officers, as they aired their grievances.

The protesters marched from Rossetinville Road to Booysons Police station, a distance of about 12km, where they submitted a protest letter to the authorities.

The widow of the deceased, Cynthia Aneliefo, and her mother participated in the protest march.

Speaking at the Booysons Police Station, President of Nigerian Union in South Africa, Jason Osuafor, said the peaceful demonstration was to show disaffection with the killing of Mr. Aneliefo and other cases of maltreatment of Nigerians..

"We are your brothers and are law abiding, contributing our quota to the development of the economy," Mr. Osuafor said and urged the Police to put a stop to such extra judicial killings.

He said the murder of Aneliefo was unfortunate and charged the authorities to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to book.

Mr. Osuafor said the harmonious relations between both Nigeria and South Africa displayed at governmental levels should also be seen among the people.

He noted that there were many inter-marriages between citizens of both countries and stressed the need for brotherliness.

Shadrack Khoza, an colonel and military officer who received the protest letter, assured them that their grievances would be forwarded to the appropriate authorities for necessary action.

Nigeria's High Commissioner to South Africa, Buba Marwa, in a visit to the home of the deceased on Sunday, promised to take up the issue with the appropriate authority.

"We are not taking this issue lying low," Mr. Marwa said, and urged the widow to take heart.

Mr. Marwa described the killing of Aneliefo as a "grave injustice" and assured Nigerians living in Souh Africa of the mission's determination to ensure that their rights were protected.

He said the mission had sought audience with the South African National Police Commissioner,

Bheki Cele to make a formal protest over maltreatment of Nigerians.

The Nigeria Police made a total of N20.35 billion between January last year and June this year from extorting money from motorists at illegal checkpoints, a report by the global organisation, Human Rights Watch has revealed.

Emeka Umeagbalasi, the chairman of the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law presented the report in Lagos said checkpoints in the South East yielded the highest sums. Giving a breakdown of what is made from the different regions, Mr. Umeagbalasi said N9.35 billion was realised from the South East, South-South brought in N4 billion, while the South-West nets the police N4 billion. In the North Central, which includes Abuja, N2 billion was made, while the North East and North West brought in N500 million each..

"Of course that shows that the extortion is highly concentrated in the southern part of the country," said Mr Umeagbalasi.

Yesterday, the Nigeria Police dismissed the report as "embellished innuendoes and suggestive graphics aimed at reaching a preconceived conclusion". A statement by Emeka Ojukwu, Force spokesman, said the report lacked merit and should not be relied upon.

The report titled, ‘Everyone's in on the Game: Corruption and Human Rights Abuses by the Nigeria Police Force,' said, "one civil society group in Anambra State estimated that in 2008 the police collected approximately N540 million ($4.5million) in illegal ‘tolls' from some 70 police checkpoints along the state's roadways." Eric Guttschuss, a researcher at the Human Rights Watch, called on the appropriate authority to ensure that legislations are put in place to end the extortions. The group said the sum did not include the "wetin you carry" money, the pre-trial bail fees, and commercialisation of criminal enquiry, but concentrated on just the N20 illegal toll, so the figures do not represent the entire extortion sum.

"What the Human Right Watch is saying is that yes we know that police is corrupt and killing outside the law, now, what are the factors that make them corrupt and kill outside the law? This is where corruption comes in. The situation is if you are able to pay you will be released and if not you will die, the situation is that worse," Mr. Umeagbalasi said.

Corruption unlimited

The report observes that corruption in the force ranges from armed officers extorting money at checkpoints to top officials embezzling police funds, thereby depriving people from living in a more secured environment.

The Network on Police Reform in Nigeria claims yesterday that 34,000 individuals have been killed outside the law, "in the last 11 years, over 13,000 people have been killed within the context of ethno religious crisis in Nigeria, and then we now say that outside this about 10,000 might have died over police related unlawful killings. I am sure you know police can kill, but there is a legal stipulation, otherwise we say unlawful killing. Then another 10,000 died as a result of vigilante killing."

The 102-page report said there was lack of political will to reform the force and the impunity in the system means Nigerians are more likely to encounter police threatening them and demanding bribes than enforcing law.

"Good policing is the bedrock for the rule of law and public safety," said Corinne Dufka, senior West Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. "The long-term failure of the Nigerian authorities to address police bribery, extortion, and wholesale embezzlement threatens the basic rights of all Nigerians." The report is part of the group's findings from a field research conducted in Lagos, Anambra, Abuja and Kaduna; and telephone interviews in Rivers and Ebonyi states, all representing different geo-political zones in the country.

The report revealed that in major Nigerian cities, armed police set up checkpoints every evening ostensibly to control high levels of crime, including armed robbery and kidnapping, but the checkpoints are in reality tolls at which officers attempt to force motorists to pay money by all means, using familiar slangs that are familiar with commercial motorists.

A long way

Mr. Ojukwu, said he believes that the Nigeria Police have come a long way from "its colonial era of oppression and has survived many years of neglect and under-funding." He said that the force has faced enormous challenges in meeting its obligations of ensuring safety and security.

He said in its efforts to sanitise the system, the force has in the last one year sanctioned 764 senior officers and 8,831 junior officers for various acts of indiscipline.

An HIV-positive German pop singer went on trial on Monday accused of failing to tell sexual partners about her condition, causing one of them to become infected.

Nadja Benaissa, 28, former singer in the girl band No Angels, is charged with causing grevious bodily harm and attempted bodily harm, a court spokesman told CNN.

Benaissa had unprotected sex on five occasions between 2000 and 2004 with three people and did not tell them she was infected, Agence France-Presse reported the charge sheet as saying. She had allegedly known her status since 1999.

Benaissa admitted not telling sexual partners she was HIV-positive but denied intending to infect anyone, according to AFP. "I am sorry from the heart," she told the court, according to media reports.

One of the three men Benaissa allegedly slept with has since been confirmed as having HIV, prosecutors told an earlier hearing, AFP reported.

German newspaper Bild reported that Benaissa's attorney read a statement in which she said she believed there was little chance of her passing on the virus and did not want it made public because of the harm it might cause her daughter and the band.

Bild also reported that one of Benaissa's alleged victims told the court he had unprotected sex with Benaissa on about three occasions. He said he went to the doctor after learning of Benaissa's condition from her aunt, and discovered he had contracted the virus.

He told Benaissa: "You have borne so much suffering in the world," according to the newspaper.

No Angels became Germany's most successful all-female group after being formed on the international television show "Popstars" in 2000.

The band reformed in 2007 and competed in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest.

Benaissa is appearing in youth court because she was 17 at the time of the first alleged offence.

The fact that Benaissa was HIV-positive was not made public until her arrest in April last year, AFP reported. She spent 10 days in custody after her arrest before being released on bail.

The trial is expected to last five days and hear from witnesses including fellow members of No Angels.

The police have issued a warning for harassment against an airport worker after he allegedly took a photo of a female colleague as she went through a full-body scanner at Heathrow airport.

The incident, which occurred at terminal 5 on 10 March, is believed to be the first time an airport worker has been formally disciplined for misusing the scanners..

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "Police received an allegation regarding an incident that happened at Heathrow Terminal 5 on March 10. A first-instance harassment warning has been issued to a 25-year-old male."

BAA said: "We treat any allegations of inappropriate behaviour or misuse of security equipment very seriously and these claims are being investigated thoroughly," a BAA spokesman said. "If found to be substantiated we will take appropriate action."

The incident is likely to reignite privacy concerns over the scanners by civil liberty groups. The Equality and Human Rights Commission last month warned that the government needed to take action to bring its policy for body-scanning passengers at UK airports within the law.

The commission said it had concerns about the apparent absence of safeguards to ensure the scanners were operated in a lawful, fair and non-discriminatory manner. It raised doubts as to whether the decision to install them at all UK airports was legal.

The scanners were introduced at Manchester and Heathrow last month after the Christmas Day bombing attempt over Detroit in the US. The £80,000 Rapiscan machines show a clear body outline and have been described by critics as the equivalent of "virtual strip searching".

While American transport authorities offer passengers a choice between going through the full-body scanner or going through a metal-arch scanner and a physical search, the British government has said that a refusal to go through the body scanner would bar passengers from boarding aircraft.

Earlier this month two women, one a Muslim, became the first people to be barred from boarding a flight at Manchester airport because they refused to go through a full-body scanner. The women, who were booked to fly to Islamabad with Pakistan International Airlines, were told they could not get on the plane after they refused to be scanned for medical and religious reasons.

A House of Commons home affairs committee report on airport securitytoday welcomed the scanners' deployment and said it should have come sooner.

"Having witnessed these full-body scanners working at first-hand, we are confident that the privacy concerns that have been expressed in relation to these devices are overstated and that full-body scanners are no more an invasion of privacy than manual "pat-downs" or searches of bags," the committee said.

"Air passengers already tolerate a large invasion of their privacy and we do not feel that full-body scanners add greatly to this situation. Privacy concerns should not prevent the deployment of scanners."

• This article was amended on 11 June 2010 to remove information about a BAA employee, along with a quote, reported from another media source, that has since been contested

With more than 500 million people now on Facebook, it's inevitable that you'll be friended by someone you know, but with whom you don'twant to share your online life. Once you've accepted them as a friend,how do you avoid them without the awkwardness of unfriending them?

Facebook has made it easy to hide other members' status updates. Place yourmouse over an update from, say, Charlie, and a light blue X appears tothe upper right corner of the update. Click the X, and Facebook willpresent you with three buttons from which to choose: Hide Charlie, Markas Spam and Cancel. If you click Hide Charlie, you'll never seeCharlie's updates again. (Click Spam and the message disappears and anotice gets sent to Facebook's servers and analyzed by spam filteringsoftware.)

But how do you keep Charlie from reading your updates? Skirting your way around someone you've accepted as a Facebook friend istrickier. When you write a status update of your own, look for thelock-shaped icon below and to the right of the text input box. Click onthe lock, and Facebook will pop up a menu. Click the bottom option,Customize. That will pop up a dialog box labeled Custom Privacy thatlets you filter who will see your update.

There are two ways to exclude people. The quick and easy way is to type their names into thebox labeled "Hide this from these people" at the bottom of the dialogbox. To hide all future updates from these folks, click the checkbox atthe very bottom that says "Make this my default setting." Then click thebig blue Save Setting button. From now on, evil Charlie won't get yourupdates.The more sophisticated solution is to replace this blacklistwith a list of people you do like. That way you can accept any number ofnew friends without having to accidentally share your updates withthem..

To do this, click on Friends in the left margin of Facebook's interface. You'll see a button at the top of the Friends pagelabeled "+ Create a List". Click that and use the dialog box that popsup to make a list of the friends you want to share with. Call it, say,True Friends.

Next time you post an update, follow the instructions above to bring up the Customize dialog box. But instead oftyping into the "Hide this" field, click the menu at the top labeled"Make this visible to these people." Select the option Specific People. Atext input box will appear. Type the name of your new list, TrueFriends, into this field. Click "Make this my default setting" and thenSave Setting. From now on, only your True Friends list will see yourupdates. Complicated and annoying, yes, but probably much less so thanit was going to high school with Charlie.

BY OLA AJAYI, IBADAN

The Oyo State Police Command has arrested some armed robbery suspects who allegedly specialize in robbing cattle rearers.

About 10 stolen cows were said to have been recovered from them during their arrest on Oke-Ogun area of the state.

The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Baba Adisa Bolanta, while parading the suspects with others said one Saliu, 50yrs old, Abdulahi Umaru, 25yrs and Buba Bello, 30yrs, from Ijio town via Iwere – Ile were nabbed after a gun duel with the police dispatched to the robbery scene.

He said, that the command also recovered seven exotic vehicles stolen by robbers outside the state.

According to him, the cars included black Toyota Camry, with registration number ES 981 APP, Toyota Camry marked AL 428 KJA, Nissan Maxima, EF 211 SMK, and another black Toyota Camry 1997 model, with number plate EJ 857 SMK, and two other cars with no registration numbers.

Speaking further on how the police were able to recovered the cars, Bolanta said, “a distress call was received from Lagos State that a black Toyota Camry was robbed at gun point somewhere in Lagos and that it had been tracked to somewhere in Alakia Adelubi area of Ibadan” .

“Based on the receipt of the information, my personnel at Alakia Adelubi Divisional Police headquarters sighted the vehicle around Olorisa Oko, Wakajaiye area of Ibadan where the vehicle was given a hot chase and traced to a fenced compound where the seven vehicles were found.

Other items recovered from the suspects include three pairs of damaged number plates, One locally fabricated master key, five pairs of undamaged number plates, Eight vehicles head lights, Eight wheel covers, Seven windscreen with different engraved registration numbers.