- The US advises the Buhari administration to explore possible options beyond military operations in resolving Nigeria’s internal crisis
- Thomas Hushek, acting assistant secretary, bureau of conflict and stabilisation operations, US department of state says durable peace in Nigeria will require a painstaking dialogue
- Lai Mohammed insists IPOB is a terrorist group
The United States has called on the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to explore the option of dialogue when resolving internal crisis in Nigeria.
he advice was given on Thursday, September 28, in Washington DC when the US institute of peace (USIP) convened a conference titled - Peace in Nigeria: How to build it, and America’s role. The gathering which had in attendance US officials, diplomats and Nigerian leaders, explored possible options beyond military operations in resolving Nigeria’s internal crisis, the Guardian reports. The speakers at the symposium advised the Nigerian government to strengthen the responsiveness of state institutions, address grievances and perceptions before they escalate.
Thomas Hushek, the acting assistant secretary, bureau of conflict and stabilisation operations, US department of state, said durable peace in Nigeria will require a painstaking dialogue. The diplomat stated that Nigeria is a very critical US partner on the continent, but added that the Buhari government must in its pursuit of peace first identify the options that citizens want implemented
He said: "Achieving stability or building political peace is a political endeavor." Hushek noted that the Nigerian government’s responsiveness to people’s needs would build trust and encourage durable peace in the country. Meanwhile, Lai Mohammed who is the minister of information and culture has expressed disappointment that the United States does not agree that the Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB) is a terrorist organisation. In an interview on BBC Focus Africa on Wednesday, September 27, the minister said the utterances and acts of IPOB showed they were terrorists. He said the federal government does not agree with the US stance that the separatist group was not a terrorist orgamnisation. When asked about what he thought concerning the position of the US that IPOB was not a terrorist group, Mohammed described it as unfortunate.
Friday, 29 September 2017
Thursday, 28 September 2017
Kaduna government obtains bench warrant against Arewa youths over quit notice
- The Kaduna state government says it has obtained a bench warrant from the court to arrest the members of the group that asked Igbos to vacate the northern region before October 1
- The media aide to Governor El-Rufai, Samuel Aruwan, assures residents of the state that they have nothing to fear irrespective of their tribe
- The government states that a court has directed the commissioner of police of the Kaduna state command to act on the criminal complaint against the group
The Kaduna state government has asked anybody to inform the police if they sight members of the coalition of northern youths that issued a quit notice to Igbo people residing in the north. The government said it had obtained a bench warrant from the court to arrest members of the group that asked Igbos to vacate the region before October 1, 2017
This was disclosed by Governor El-Rufai’s senior special assistant on media and publicity, Samuel Aruwan, in an address at the government house in Kaduna on Thursday, September 28, The Punch reports
The Kaduna state government also assured residents that they had nothing to fear irrespective of their tribe, adding that law enforcement and security agencies are taking necessary action to prevent any threat to peace. “The government has obtained bench warrants for their arrest, after filing a formal criminal complaint,” Aruwan said. “The Kaduna State Government notes with commendation the efforts of the residents of our diverse state to uphold peace in their communities. “The government and the security agencies are working to prevent any threat to this cherished harmony.
“Vigorous security patrols will continue as part of concrete action to reassure residents and demonstrate that bad behaviour is unwelcome and will not be tolerated. “When some elements barged into our state capital to deliver an illegal ultimatum to a section of our community, the government condemned it and ordered the arrest of those concerned. “The Kaduna State Government followed up with a formal criminal complaint to the police, and has obtained a bench warrant against them. Therefore, anybody that sights them or is aware of their location should proudly discharge the civic duty of informing the police." The government listed sections of the updated Penal Code Law of Kaduna State, 2017 which it said the coalition violated by issuing the ultimatum.
These include:
1. Inciting Disturbance: Section 78
2. Disturbing Public Peace: Section 77
3. Injurious Falsehood: Section 373
4. Unlawful Assembly: Section 66
5. Criminal Conspiracy: Section 59
The government said a court had directed the commissioner of police of the Kaduna state command to act on the criminal complaint against the group. It advised anybody contemplating unlawful action to know that such will invite strong law-enforcement response. Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, has reportedly placed officers of the organisation on red alert ahead of the October 1 quit notice given to the Igbos as fear grows over what could happen as the date draws close. Part of the plan is to flood the entire country with police officers ahead of the date and beyond it. According to The Nation, the strategy adopted by IGP Idris is to ensure that the quit notice and counter threats from the various groups in the country are not actualised.
- The media aide to Governor El-Rufai, Samuel Aruwan, assures residents of the state that they have nothing to fear irrespective of their tribe
- The government states that a court has directed the commissioner of police of the Kaduna state command to act on the criminal complaint against the group
The Kaduna state government has asked anybody to inform the police if they sight members of the coalition of northern youths that issued a quit notice to Igbo people residing in the north. The government said it had obtained a bench warrant from the court to arrest members of the group that asked Igbos to vacate the region before October 1, 2017
This was disclosed by Governor El-Rufai’s senior special assistant on media and publicity, Samuel Aruwan, in an address at the government house in Kaduna on Thursday, September 28, The Punch reports
The Kaduna state government also assured residents that they had nothing to fear irrespective of their tribe, adding that law enforcement and security agencies are taking necessary action to prevent any threat to peace. “The government has obtained bench warrants for their arrest, after filing a formal criminal complaint,” Aruwan said. “The Kaduna State Government notes with commendation the efforts of the residents of our diverse state to uphold peace in their communities. “The government and the security agencies are working to prevent any threat to this cherished harmony.
“Vigorous security patrols will continue as part of concrete action to reassure residents and demonstrate that bad behaviour is unwelcome and will not be tolerated. “When some elements barged into our state capital to deliver an illegal ultimatum to a section of our community, the government condemned it and ordered the arrest of those concerned. “The Kaduna State Government followed up with a formal criminal complaint to the police, and has obtained a bench warrant against them. Therefore, anybody that sights them or is aware of their location should proudly discharge the civic duty of informing the police." The government listed sections of the updated Penal Code Law of Kaduna State, 2017 which it said the coalition violated by issuing the ultimatum.
These include:
1. Inciting Disturbance: Section 78
2. Disturbing Public Peace: Section 77
3. Injurious Falsehood: Section 373
4. Unlawful Assembly: Section 66
5. Criminal Conspiracy: Section 59
The government said a court had directed the commissioner of police of the Kaduna state command to act on the criminal complaint against the group. It advised anybody contemplating unlawful action to know that such will invite strong law-enforcement response. Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, has reportedly placed officers of the organisation on red alert ahead of the October 1 quit notice given to the Igbos as fear grows over what could happen as the date draws close. Part of the plan is to flood the entire country with police officers ahead of the date and beyond it. According to The Nation, the strategy adopted by IGP Idris is to ensure that the quit notice and counter threats from the various groups in the country are not actualised.
Bbnaija's Gifty Reacts To Pregnancy Report
So controversial Big Brother Naija’s Gifty Powers, has reacted to reports which surfaced yesterday that she is the latest babymama in the industry..
Recall, Instablog9ja, broke this news, as sources close to Gifty’s mother claims the actress currently lives with her mother in Badagry, Lagos, away from prying eyes.
And a recent photo which got fans talking was that of a heavy looking Gifty..
According to sources who spoke to IB9ja;
Gifty and Mr. 2kay allegedly expecting their first child. What we know for now . . Last week, we got a report that ex BBNaija contestant, Gifty, is expecting a child and the pregnancy belongs to her estranged ex, Mr 2Kay. We also heard that she has been holed up at her mom's house in Badagry, Lagos. . .
Our source, who is a friend to Gifty's mom's neighbor, said she was shocked when she stumbled on Gifty at her mom's place. She, however, said she couldn't get a picture. . .
Now, the extremely controversial Gifty, who is known for her constant changing of stances as seen when she denied dating her alleged baby daddy, Mr 2kay, has reacted to the news..
She wrote;
The internet will never post one's success but if na fake news they go rush post wenti them confirm yet..
If you be human in demon's disguise, abeg tell them you did not see me..
may HOLY GHOST consume you
See below;
Well, we just have to wait, after all na 9 months, we go confirm if truly fowl lay the egg..
See more at >>> https://www.celebsnest.com.ng/bbn-gifty-reacts-pregnancy-report/
Recall, Instablog9ja, broke this news, as sources close to Gifty’s mother claims the actress currently lives with her mother in Badagry, Lagos, away from prying eyes.
And a recent photo which got fans talking was that of a heavy looking Gifty..
According to sources who spoke to IB9ja;
Gifty and Mr. 2kay allegedly expecting their first child. What we know for now . . Last week, we got a report that ex BBNaija contestant, Gifty, is expecting a child and the pregnancy belongs to her estranged ex, Mr 2Kay. We also heard that she has been holed up at her mom's house in Badagry, Lagos. . .
Our source, who is a friend to Gifty's mom's neighbor, said she was shocked when she stumbled on Gifty at her mom's place. She, however, said she couldn't get a picture. . .
Now, the extremely controversial Gifty, who is known for her constant changing of stances as seen when she denied dating her alleged baby daddy, Mr 2kay, has reacted to the news..
She wrote;
The internet will never post one's success but if na fake news they go rush post wenti them confirm yet..
If you be human in demon's disguise, abeg tell them you did not see me..
may HOLY GHOST consume you
See below;
Well, we just have to wait, after all na 9 months, we go confirm if truly fowl lay the egg..
See more at >>> https://www.celebsnest.com.ng/bbn-gifty-reacts-pregnancy-report/
Tuesday, 26 September 2017
Monday, 25 September 2017
Swaziland’s King, Mswati III, marries 19-year-old as 14th wife
King of Swaziland, Mswati the III, has married 19-year-old Siphelele Mashwama, daughter of his cabinet minister, Jabulile Mashwama, as his 14th wife.
According to sources, this is coming after many weeks of speculations, Maravi reports.
The new bride for the Swazi King has been confirmed by royal festivities overseer, Hlangabeza Mdluli.
He revealed that the new bride was also in New York where the 49-year-old King was attending the United Nations General Assembly.
Mdluli told local journalists on Sunday that the King had officially made his choice of the new wife.
Siphelele is King Mswati’s latest and youngest wife in terms of age.
Mswati became king at the age of 18, and currently has 32 children from 13 wives.
It’s a common tradition for the Swaziland King to choose a wife every year. Last year, the Sherburne-educated King chose a new bride during the well-known Reed Dance ceremony (also known as Umhlanga).
The Reed Dance is an annual Swazi and Zulu tradition held in August or September.
During the Dance, tens of thousands of unmarried and childless Swazi girls and women travel from the various chiefdoms to Ludzidzini to participate in the eight-day event, and would-be brides are publicly checked to ascertain their virginity.
Swaziland is one of the world’s last remaining absolute monarchies. It has, according to UNICEF, the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rate globally. And some 210,000 Swazis live with HIV.
Swaziland, with a population of 1.2 million, ranks 112 out of 131 on the 2016 Global Hunger Index.
About 77 per cent of the Swazi population relies on subsistence farming for their livelihood. (NAN)
One city, two worlds: The contrasting lives of Lagos’ prostitutes
Agatha Chukwuma almost flew out of her skin when she made the discovery recently. Twenty-one and in search of a better future, she was ferried to Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, six months ago by an uncle from her native Orlu in Imo State. Apart from pursuing admission into one of the nation’s higher institutions since arriving the fast-paced city, the young woman has also been learning the art of making hair at a place close to her uncle’s house at Fadeyi, a suburb of Lagos. It has been a busy period for her.
However, last week, after months of failed promises, she finally decided to pay one of her female cousins, Nneka, a visit on Victoria Island, a posh part of the city. According to tales she had heard, only wealthy people – especially those working in banks and ‘big’ companies live on VI as the area is popularly called. Going by the different cars Nneka sometimes brought while visiting them at Fadeyi, Chukwuma had equated her into one of these categories. But the trip to her cousin’s house recently opened her ‘eyes’ to things she never previously knew or imagined.
“The compound and the flat where she and two of her friends lived was very beautiful, you would have no reason to doubt that she worked in one of those big companies on VI,” the 22-year-old apprentice hair dresser told our correspondent during a friendly chat earlier in the week. “But Nneka was a big-time ‘runs’ girl with top connections,” Chukwuma added.
The word ‘runs girl’, is a term used to describe prostitutes, who rather than standing by roadsides or operating from brothels, prefer to connect and service clients either through pimps or one-on-one meetings – physical or via the social media. They are easily noticed from the crowd through their dressing, expensive hair styles and the type of smartphones they carry. For them, “if you’ve got it, flaunt it”.
While narrating how shocked she was upon finding out that the cousin she looked up to and aspired to be like in the near future was a prostitute, Chukwuma told Saturday PUNCH that the two days she spent on VI, changed her perception about many things.
“Nneka and all her friends, who are also ‘runs babes’ have their own cars,” she said. “They take good care of themselves especially their skin and hair that you would never imagine that they were into such a job. Throughout the weekend I stayed there with them, they hardly had any visitor but then, I realised that by evening, they would all dress well, drive their cars out and return at different periods.
“On one of those night outings, Nneka and another of her friends did not return home until about 9:00am the next day. She called to tell me to feel relaxed and that she would see me in the morning because she had to trash a deal with someone. It was later that she eventually opened up to me what she was really into and how it was through it that she was living well and able to establish two businesses in Lagos.
“I was really shocked when she told me everything because I never could imagine that a prostitute could live such quality life or command such money and resources. In fact, I was almost tempted to let her know I was willing to do the job going by the amount of money she controls in her account,” she revealed.
Like Nneka, Liz as friends call her, is another young woman, who appears to have found gold on the streets of Lagos Island selling her body to different men, who can afford the cost. One of the section’s biggest and well known call girls, the Ondo State-born lady, according to findings by Saturday PUNCH, lives a life many people with white-collar jobs can only dream of. Apart from boasting of two cars – a Toyota Corrolla (Sport) and a Lexus RX330 sports utility vehicle, both valued at over N4m, Elizabeth as she is originally named, lives in a three-bedroomed apartment in the Lekki Phase One area of the city where the annual rent is not less than N2m. She shares the apartment with three other friends, who are also in the business of using their ‘natural endowments’ to make way for themselves.
“The type of company I keep is not common and that is why I am not cheap,” Liz told our correspondent, who reached out to her through the help of a pimp at popular Lagos night club –Quilox. The reporter pretended to have been commissioned to arrange beautiful ladies that could provide quality company for a big Nigerian artiste based in the United Kingdom, who was coming to Lagos alongside his team to promote his new album and music videos.
“The artiste is coming with eight other guys and they are all from the UK,” our correspondent told Liz, who responded that, “Bayo had told me everything already and I had let him know what’s up. So it all depends on you, I am ready once you are set.”
For each of the four nights the ‘crew’ were to stay in Lagos, Liz demanded N150, 000 for each of her colleagues. This was after she had approved the quality of hotel the entourage was going to lodge in on Victoria Island during the period. She asked the exact date the guys would be coming into the country so that they could book them down for that period. She told the reporter that all amounts must be fully paid upfront before any action could take place. Bayo, the pimp, had assured the reporter that Liz and her gang were equal to the task and were going to give the ‘clients’ good value for money. He rolled out a list of top ‘clients’ the lady and her ‘team’ had ‘serviced’ in the past and how they keep getting referrals for a job well done.
But two days before the agreed date, our correspondent, when contacted by the young man for the deal to be finalised, pulled the plug.
“The album launch has been postponed indefinitely due to some issues with the artiste’s record label and delay in visas, I am sorry I didn’t notify you before you called,” our correspondent told a visibly enraged Bayo.“Please explain to Liz and tell her that as soon as I get words from the guys, I would get across to you,” the reporter said before the caller suddenly ended the conversation.
It was a deeper insight into the workings of most prostitutes operating on the island section of one of Africa’s most populated and busiest cities.
As well as operating through highly-connected pimps, who link them up with potential clients, prostitutes in places like VI, Lekki, Ajah and to some extent, Ikoyi, also display their ‘wares’ at popular night clubs and event centres known for hosting ‘big shots’ at different periods of the week. Living within the axis in shared flats with friends in the same line of ‘business’, many of these young women have mastered the art of drawing ‘big customers’ to themselves over the years, visiting gatherings like weddings, birthdays and other similar events to scavenge for patrons with the right type of pocket to satisfy their desires.
Findings by Saturday PUNCH reveal that the average cost of having one of these women for an entire night goes for between N30, 000 and N50, 000 depending on where or through whom the meeting occurred. The venue for the ‘match’ proper is also decided by many of these ladies due to security concerns. Even after that has been agreed, the ladies would prefer to go to such meeting place in their vehicles, for those who have cars, or through popular taxi services by calling for one via the applications on their smartphones.
“If you drive in your own car or go to an agreed hotel with a ‘client’, it gives you more worth before such person,” Bella, as one middle-aged ‘runs girl’ at Caliente, another popular night club on Victoria Island, said. “That way, they know that you are not cheap and in terms of safety, you are not at the mercy of anyone in case there is any form of distress.
“Also, if you don’t maintain your skin properly, take good care of your hair and wear classy clothes, you’ll hardly get any good client to patronise you. That is why you see ‘chics’ on the island charging reasonable amounts because there are bills to be paid, without which you could be out of the game,” she added.
Apart from meeting potential ‘clients’ through middle-men and or one-on-one efforts at night clubs, malls and other places of interests around the axis, most ‘runs girls’ operating on the island section of Lagos have also perfected the art of advertising themselves on the social media especially Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, Tinder and Instachat. Through these platforms, they take and upload several provoking photographs and videos to tantalise and attract men with unstable libidos, developing ‘friendships’ that eventually lead to patronage.
“I don’t go to clubs to look for guys. If you ever see me a club, it would mean that somebody that met me on Instagram invited me over after reaching a deal with the person,” one lady at Excape, another popular night club on Victoria Island, told our correspondent after being approached for a night of fun. “I am with someone already tonight; maybe we can do this some other time. Send me a DM on my Instagram page and let’s fix things. But mind you, I am not cheap because I know how to give value for money,” she said before walking towards a blue Mercedes car – her ‘machine’.
Findings by Saturday PUNCH revealed that most prostitutes on Lagos Island, who hustle through various social media platforms, charge between N50, 000 and N100, 000 per night depending on where their service is needed. Many of these ladies through the money they make off men, fund expensive trips to places like Dubai and other parts of the world where they sometimes also ‘service’ rich men lusting after their bodies. With exquisite bosoms, most of these ladies leave no stone unturned in their search for the next big client. For them, living and hustling on Lagos Island with their bodies has afforded them the opportunity of counting good naira mints every week.
However, on the mainland part of Lagos, it’s an entirely different story for women of easy virtue. Apart from coming nowhere near their counterparts on VI, Ikoyi, Lekki and Ajah in terms of clientele, charges and lifestyles, they are also miles behind in the choice of location picked for the action proper. While those on the island mostly prefer to attend to their ‘customers’ in posh hotels, those on the mainland don’t mind to do the same at guest houses or even apartments of ‘clients’.
For example, in places like Ikeja, Maryland, Yaba, Surulere, Ojodu and Ogudu, among the most popular places on the mainland where quality of life is still at appreciable levels, the mode of operation and fees charged by prostitutes is in stark contrast to the huge figures commanded by those on the island.
To have the complete company of any of the ladies here for an entire night falls between N5, 000 and N10, 000, depending on the mode of meeting and the bargaining power of the ‘client’. Also, while most of the ladies in this category are not picky and would readily follow a ‘customer’ home for the night, they do not also go in their cars or in private taxis but rely strictly on such persons to ferry them to the ‘agreed location’. For those willing to go for ‘quick action,’ the price ranges from between N1,500 and N2,500.
“Most of us are breadwinners of our families and so you are under pressure to take something home at the end of the day, that is why you give it to the person as their pockets can afford,” Joy, one call girl at Empire, a popular red light zone tucked between Yaba and Mushin, told our correspondent. “There are times when there won’t be customers and you have to hustle with the others for anyone who eventually comes in to the hotel. However, there are times when we are taken for the night for even N7, 000. That is how it is here,” she said before demanding that the reporter buy her a bottle of beer.
Joy, like most of the ladies at this section, has been working as a prostitute for over five years with little or nothing to show for her ‘labour’. Unlike their counterparts on the island part of Lagos, who run executive services and are free from harassment of law enforcement officers, those in Empire are easy targets for policemen and even hoodlums, who extort them at will.
“If you are unfortunate at times, the little money you make would be taken from you by the police or these bad guys who roam the area at night. Most of us have been here for over five years but nothing much for us yet. If not for the fact that we are at least getting money to feed and send some to our relatives back home, somebody like me would have stopped this job. The suffering is more than the gains here,” the young lady added.
But apart from living in brothels, the dichotomy and difference in class between prostitutes operating on Lagos Island and the mainland respectively extends further. For example, while most of the ones on VI, Lekki, Ikoyi and Ajah hook up with ‘clients’ through highly-connected pimps and or social media, the ones on the mainland mostly flaunt their ‘wares’ at popular drinking joints, street corners and sometimes club houses where most of the guys are looking for very cheap sex. Also, while many on the other side demand and collect full payments directly into their accounts via bank transfers and on few occasions cash, those on the mainland have been victims of smart and dubious ‘customers’ many times, losing their ‘office’ and material possessions like mobile phones, handbags and others to such persons. For ritualists and evil doers, prostitutes outside Lagos Island are easy targets. Dozens, over the years, have lost their lives through this means.
Originally created by God to be enjoyed by couples in marriage, sex has today crept out of matrimonial circles, perching at nearly every corner where lust meets desire. In Nigeria, it has seen to the emergence of a booming industry where millions of naira change hands every day between strangers driven by hedonism. As a result of this development, hotels and guest houses of all types are springing up all across the country with places like Lagos, a thriving commercial city, taking the lead. Even though illegal, prostitution has grown at lightning speed in recent times in Nigeria with the prospect looking even brighter especially with rising unemployment and the continued popularity of the social media among many citizens. However, for ‘runs girls’ in Lagos, especially those on the island and mainland, the job operates on two different pedestals – one that defines them in every way.
However, last week, after months of failed promises, she finally decided to pay one of her female cousins, Nneka, a visit on Victoria Island, a posh part of the city. According to tales she had heard, only wealthy people – especially those working in banks and ‘big’ companies live on VI as the area is popularly called. Going by the different cars Nneka sometimes brought while visiting them at Fadeyi, Chukwuma had equated her into one of these categories. But the trip to her cousin’s house recently opened her ‘eyes’ to things she never previously knew or imagined.
“The compound and the flat where she and two of her friends lived was very beautiful, you would have no reason to doubt that she worked in one of those big companies on VI,” the 22-year-old apprentice hair dresser told our correspondent during a friendly chat earlier in the week. “But Nneka was a big-time ‘runs’ girl with top connections,” Chukwuma added.
The word ‘runs girl’, is a term used to describe prostitutes, who rather than standing by roadsides or operating from brothels, prefer to connect and service clients either through pimps or one-on-one meetings – physical or via the social media. They are easily noticed from the crowd through their dressing, expensive hair styles and the type of smartphones they carry. For them, “if you’ve got it, flaunt it”.
While narrating how shocked she was upon finding out that the cousin she looked up to and aspired to be like in the near future was a prostitute, Chukwuma told Saturday PUNCH that the two days she spent on VI, changed her perception about many things.
“Nneka and all her friends, who are also ‘runs babes’ have their own cars,” she said. “They take good care of themselves especially their skin and hair that you would never imagine that they were into such a job. Throughout the weekend I stayed there with them, they hardly had any visitor but then, I realised that by evening, they would all dress well, drive their cars out and return at different periods.
“On one of those night outings, Nneka and another of her friends did not return home until about 9:00am the next day. She called to tell me to feel relaxed and that she would see me in the morning because she had to trash a deal with someone. It was later that she eventually opened up to me what she was really into and how it was through it that she was living well and able to establish two businesses in Lagos.
“I was really shocked when she told me everything because I never could imagine that a prostitute could live such quality life or command such money and resources. In fact, I was almost tempted to let her know I was willing to do the job going by the amount of money she controls in her account,” she revealed.
Like Nneka, Liz as friends call her, is another young woman, who appears to have found gold on the streets of Lagos Island selling her body to different men, who can afford the cost. One of the section’s biggest and well known call girls, the Ondo State-born lady, according to findings by Saturday PUNCH, lives a life many people with white-collar jobs can only dream of. Apart from boasting of two cars – a Toyota Corrolla (Sport) and a Lexus RX330 sports utility vehicle, both valued at over N4m, Elizabeth as she is originally named, lives in a three-bedroomed apartment in the Lekki Phase One area of the city where the annual rent is not less than N2m. She shares the apartment with three other friends, who are also in the business of using their ‘natural endowments’ to make way for themselves.
“The type of company I keep is not common and that is why I am not cheap,” Liz told our correspondent, who reached out to her through the help of a pimp at popular Lagos night club –Quilox. The reporter pretended to have been commissioned to arrange beautiful ladies that could provide quality company for a big Nigerian artiste based in the United Kingdom, who was coming to Lagos alongside his team to promote his new album and music videos.
“The artiste is coming with eight other guys and they are all from the UK,” our correspondent told Liz, who responded that, “Bayo had told me everything already and I had let him know what’s up. So it all depends on you, I am ready once you are set.”
For each of the four nights the ‘crew’ were to stay in Lagos, Liz demanded N150, 000 for each of her colleagues. This was after she had approved the quality of hotel the entourage was going to lodge in on Victoria Island during the period. She asked the exact date the guys would be coming into the country so that they could book them down for that period. She told the reporter that all amounts must be fully paid upfront before any action could take place. Bayo, the pimp, had assured the reporter that Liz and her gang were equal to the task and were going to give the ‘clients’ good value for money. He rolled out a list of top ‘clients’ the lady and her ‘team’ had ‘serviced’ in the past and how they keep getting referrals for a job well done.
But two days before the agreed date, our correspondent, when contacted by the young man for the deal to be finalised, pulled the plug.
“The album launch has been postponed indefinitely due to some issues with the artiste’s record label and delay in visas, I am sorry I didn’t notify you before you called,” our correspondent told a visibly enraged Bayo.“Please explain to Liz and tell her that as soon as I get words from the guys, I would get across to you,” the reporter said before the caller suddenly ended the conversation.
It was a deeper insight into the workings of most prostitutes operating on the island section of one of Africa’s most populated and busiest cities.
As well as operating through highly-connected pimps, who link them up with potential clients, prostitutes in places like VI, Lekki, Ajah and to some extent, Ikoyi, also display their ‘wares’ at popular night clubs and event centres known for hosting ‘big shots’ at different periods of the week. Living within the axis in shared flats with friends in the same line of ‘business’, many of these young women have mastered the art of drawing ‘big customers’ to themselves over the years, visiting gatherings like weddings, birthdays and other similar events to scavenge for patrons with the right type of pocket to satisfy their desires.
Findings by Saturday PUNCH reveal that the average cost of having one of these women for an entire night goes for between N30, 000 and N50, 000 depending on where or through whom the meeting occurred. The venue for the ‘match’ proper is also decided by many of these ladies due to security concerns. Even after that has been agreed, the ladies would prefer to go to such meeting place in their vehicles, for those who have cars, or through popular taxi services by calling for one via the applications on their smartphones.
“If you drive in your own car or go to an agreed hotel with a ‘client’, it gives you more worth before such person,” Bella, as one middle-aged ‘runs girl’ at Caliente, another popular night club on Victoria Island, said. “That way, they know that you are not cheap and in terms of safety, you are not at the mercy of anyone in case there is any form of distress.
“Also, if you don’t maintain your skin properly, take good care of your hair and wear classy clothes, you’ll hardly get any good client to patronise you. That is why you see ‘chics’ on the island charging reasonable amounts because there are bills to be paid, without which you could be out of the game,” she added.
Apart from meeting potential ‘clients’ through middle-men and or one-on-one efforts at night clubs, malls and other places of interests around the axis, most ‘runs girls’ operating on the island section of Lagos have also perfected the art of advertising themselves on the social media especially Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, Tinder and Instachat. Through these platforms, they take and upload several provoking photographs and videos to tantalise and attract men with unstable libidos, developing ‘friendships’ that eventually lead to patronage.
“I don’t go to clubs to look for guys. If you ever see me a club, it would mean that somebody that met me on Instagram invited me over after reaching a deal with the person,” one lady at Excape, another popular night club on Victoria Island, told our correspondent after being approached for a night of fun. “I am with someone already tonight; maybe we can do this some other time. Send me a DM on my Instagram page and let’s fix things. But mind you, I am not cheap because I know how to give value for money,” she said before walking towards a blue Mercedes car – her ‘machine’.
Findings by Saturday PUNCH revealed that most prostitutes on Lagos Island, who hustle through various social media platforms, charge between N50, 000 and N100, 000 per night depending on where their service is needed. Many of these ladies through the money they make off men, fund expensive trips to places like Dubai and other parts of the world where they sometimes also ‘service’ rich men lusting after their bodies. With exquisite bosoms, most of these ladies leave no stone unturned in their search for the next big client. For them, living and hustling on Lagos Island with their bodies has afforded them the opportunity of counting good naira mints every week.
However, on the mainland part of Lagos, it’s an entirely different story for women of easy virtue. Apart from coming nowhere near their counterparts on VI, Ikoyi, Lekki and Ajah in terms of clientele, charges and lifestyles, they are also miles behind in the choice of location picked for the action proper. While those on the island mostly prefer to attend to their ‘customers’ in posh hotels, those on the mainland don’t mind to do the same at guest houses or even apartments of ‘clients’.
For example, in places like Ikeja, Maryland, Yaba, Surulere, Ojodu and Ogudu, among the most popular places on the mainland where quality of life is still at appreciable levels, the mode of operation and fees charged by prostitutes is in stark contrast to the huge figures commanded by those on the island.
To have the complete company of any of the ladies here for an entire night falls between N5, 000 and N10, 000, depending on the mode of meeting and the bargaining power of the ‘client’. Also, while most of the ladies in this category are not picky and would readily follow a ‘customer’ home for the night, they do not also go in their cars or in private taxis but rely strictly on such persons to ferry them to the ‘agreed location’. For those willing to go for ‘quick action,’ the price ranges from between N1,500 and N2,500.
“Most of us are breadwinners of our families and so you are under pressure to take something home at the end of the day, that is why you give it to the person as their pockets can afford,” Joy, one call girl at Empire, a popular red light zone tucked between Yaba and Mushin, told our correspondent. “There are times when there won’t be customers and you have to hustle with the others for anyone who eventually comes in to the hotel. However, there are times when we are taken for the night for even N7, 000. That is how it is here,” she said before demanding that the reporter buy her a bottle of beer.
Joy, like most of the ladies at this section, has been working as a prostitute for over five years with little or nothing to show for her ‘labour’. Unlike their counterparts on the island part of Lagos, who run executive services and are free from harassment of law enforcement officers, those in Empire are easy targets for policemen and even hoodlums, who extort them at will.
“If you are unfortunate at times, the little money you make would be taken from you by the police or these bad guys who roam the area at night. Most of us have been here for over five years but nothing much for us yet. If not for the fact that we are at least getting money to feed and send some to our relatives back home, somebody like me would have stopped this job. The suffering is more than the gains here,” the young lady added.
But apart from living in brothels, the dichotomy and difference in class between prostitutes operating on Lagos Island and the mainland respectively extends further. For example, while most of the ones on VI, Lekki, Ikoyi and Ajah hook up with ‘clients’ through highly-connected pimps and or social media, the ones on the mainland mostly flaunt their ‘wares’ at popular drinking joints, street corners and sometimes club houses where most of the guys are looking for very cheap sex. Also, while many on the other side demand and collect full payments directly into their accounts via bank transfers and on few occasions cash, those on the mainland have been victims of smart and dubious ‘customers’ many times, losing their ‘office’ and material possessions like mobile phones, handbags and others to such persons. For ritualists and evil doers, prostitutes outside Lagos Island are easy targets. Dozens, over the years, have lost their lives through this means.
Originally created by God to be enjoyed by couples in marriage, sex has today crept out of matrimonial circles, perching at nearly every corner where lust meets desire. In Nigeria, it has seen to the emergence of a booming industry where millions of naira change hands every day between strangers driven by hedonism. As a result of this development, hotels and guest houses of all types are springing up all across the country with places like Lagos, a thriving commercial city, taking the lead. Even though illegal, prostitution has grown at lightning speed in recent times in Nigeria with the prospect looking even brighter especially with rising unemployment and the continued popularity of the social media among many citizens. However, for ‘runs girls’ in Lagos, especially those on the island and mainland, the job operates on two different pedestals – one that defines them in every way.
Thursday, 21 September 2017
10 Legal Cum Political Implications Of The Court Order Declaring IPOB A Terrorist Organization: A National Shoot-Yourself-In-The Foot Disease
Originally, upon reading about the court order declaring IPOB a terrorist organization, I was a little amused; but now this amusement has been replaced by sadness. I am sad that people who are horribly incompetent and who may plunge this nation into a terrible crisis we may not be able to recover from are the ones ruling us. Okay, let me explain.
riginally, upon reading about the court order declaring IPOB a terrorist organization, I was a little amused; but now this amusement has been replaced by sadness. I am sad that people who are horribly incompetent and who may plunge this nation into a terrible crisis we may not be able to recover from are the ones ruling us. Okay, let me explain.
When the Defence Headquarters made that booboo of declaring IPOB a militant terrorist organization, I immediately wrote something that explained the law and showed that the Army is not the appropriate authority to declare any group a terrorist organization. I explained in detail how it should have happened based on the provisions of the Terrorism (Prevention) Act, 2011 (as amended). I also explained that government would be ill-advised to seek to legalize the illegality by now seeking a judge to grant the order. Of course, despite my doubts that any judge worth his robe would grant such an order after this initial mess and based clearly on the fact that IPOB is not a terrorist organization as the evidence is simply not there to support such an order, we know that in Nigeria anything can happen. Now, it seems to have happened because a copy of the order from a judge is being passed around on social media and it’s dated Wednesday, 20th of September 2017, the same day it started circulating.
Now, I want you as a Nigerian to pause and digest this information. We have a government where the Vice President is a SAN and the Attorney General is a SAN, but they couldn’t simply understand that based on our laws, the Army is not the appropriate authority to declare an organization a terrorist organization. There is nothing complicated in this, the Goodluck Jonathan administration has done it in relation to Boko Haram in 2013, so there is a precedent at the presidency and the Ministry of Justice to look at and follow, yet they simply failed to follow it. Then, after failing, they have now gone to court to do what they ought to have done in the first place. Yes, they’ve done it, but as we can clearly see, they have again failed to do it appropriately.
First, there is no reason for the court order issued on Wednesday, 20th of September 2017 to be in public space on the same day before it is published in the official gazette and two national newspapers and at any other place the judge in chambers may have determined according to the requirements of the Terrorism (Prevention) Act, 2011 (as amended). Clearly, the order making the rounds in social media has no direction from the judge that it should be published in social media. Also, we know as a matter of fact that the President is still out of the country. It is his duty to sign and gazette the Proscription Order that would then immediately act as Notice to Nigerians about the new status of IPOB. It’s not something he can delegate and it’s not something he could have done in advance of the order. So, why do we have this order littering the social media before it becomes a lawful Proscription Order? Again, what all that tells us is that the people running our affairs, even at the professional level of the Ministry of Justice, are pathetically clueless.
Now, let’s consider the legal and political implications of this court order:
(1) The first thing I can say is that the Nigerian government has given IPOB its first clear-cut victory with this order. IPOB might decide to challenge the order or not. In both cases, it will come out a winner. If IPOB challenges it, the hearing, up to the Supreme Court level, will be an embarrassment to the government. I make bold to say the appellate courts will not spend much time in deliberation to reach the verdict that IPOB cannot be declared a terrorist organization.
Here is what I said in my article, “IPOB, the Armed Forces and a Coup Against Civil Authorities":
“For public policy reasons, judges will also be mindful of section 2(3)(ii) of the Terrorism (Prevention) Act 2011 (as amended), which clearly states that nobody should be treated as a terrorist because of his or her political beliefs. They would be mindful that IPOB is a political organization fighting for self-determination, which is lawful under our Constitution and international law. They would be mindful of the fact that such a declaration would endanger free speech and freedom of assembly and would threaten so many other civil society organizations in the country. It certainly would undermine our democracy greatly and no sane judge would want to be the one to do such a Judas’ job”.
(2) Now, the government has fired the first shot on the legal front, but that is only the first shot and it’s fired it leaving its flanks exposed. This is because as it is right now, IPOB is still a lawful society by virtue of the decision of the same court as the one that signed the order. As I stated in my article mentioned above, this was the decision of the Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja on Wednesday, March 1, 2017. That decision still stands and despite this order, IPOB can still rely on it until it is challenged and an appellate court declares otherwise. The mere fact that the government obtained an order declaring IPOB a terrorist organization from the same court or a court of similar, concurrent or coordinate jurisdiction does not overrule the decision of Nyako’s court. This has been settled in the Supreme Court case of Orji Kalu v Federal Republic of Nigeria and Others (SC.215/2012)[2016] NGSC 34 (18 March 2016).
(3) We now have to see, if this is challenged, how the judges and justices of the appellate courts will interpret this order. But, in the meantime, IPOB can use the process of challenge for good propaganda. It can declare that even though it does not need government recognition to operate as a lawful society, since the courts have recognized it as such, it would be challenging the order in order to protect freedom of speech and freedom of assembly under our Constitution.
In the meantime, we need to bear in mind that the government is already at war with Nigerian civil society organizations over a bill in the House of Representatives seeking to further regulate the activities of civil society groups. The bill is sponsored by Umar Buba Jibril and the civil society groups have interpreted this as an attempt to clamp down on free speech and freedom of assembly and, as we speak, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has put it in the UN system before three UN Special Rapporteurs, Ms Annalisa Ciampi, Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association; Mr Michel Forst, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders and Mr David Kaye, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression.
So, the prospect of civil society organizations joining IPOB to challenge this for fear that allowing this to stand gives the government another backdoor to take away civil liberties is simply not good for the government. This is because increasingly, the Buhari government will be effectively painted as a dictatorship - a dictatorship that wants to take away the right to free speech, the right to freedom of assembly and the right to self-determination from its people. IPOB’s credibility and goodwill can only increase under such circumstances, no matter the outcome in court.
(4) The Terrorism Prevention Act, 2011 (as amended) actually protects organizations like IPOB. Section 2(3)(ii) states clearly that “political parties should not be regarded as proscribed organizations and nobody should be treated as such because of his or her political beliefs”. Though IPOB is not a political party, the most significant thing about it is its political belief in referendum and secession. The only ‘evidence’ the government will be presenting to show that IPOB is a terrorist organization is Item (e) in the “Public Awareness on the State of Independent People of Biafra” statement made by the Defence Headquarters when declaring Boko Haram a militant terrorist organization which reads: “Militant possession and use of weapons (stones, molotov cocktails, machetes and broken bottles among others) on a military patrol on 10 September 2017”. That was the same thing that the Minister of Information, Mr Lai Mohammed was parroting in his Wednesday September 20, 2017 statement to the press when he declared that IPOB “used weapons such as machetes and Molotov cocktails and mounting roadblocks to extort money among others”. When the judges look at precedent and note that only two organizations have been declared terrorist organizations in our nation’s history and they are Boko Haram and Ansaru, when they look at the kind of things Boko Haram and Ansaru are doing and they compare these with whatever IPOB has been accused of, they would be hard-pressed to agree with the government. I’m predicting if the order is challenged, the government will fail and that would be more embarrassment.
(5) The IPOB issue is also bound to divide government because it’s obvious that not everyone in government shares the presidency’s view that IPOB is a terrorist organization. The Senate President Abubakar Bukola Saraki said as much, even if diplomatically. One can imagine many of his colleagues in both houses feeling the same. Indeed, it’s such a highly emotive matter that the division could cut across every level of government, including the civil service and several other strategic areas. I mean, with Ohanaeze Ndigbo already stating clearly that IPOB is not a terrorist organization, it’s difficult to get a majority of Ndigbo to agree with the government, irrespective of the fact that many disagree with IPOB and Kanu. Many of these Igbo people who’d feel rightly or wrongly that this is ethnic persecution are also in government in various areas.
(6) If IPOB chooses not to challenge the order, it might simply metamorphose into something else and there’s nothing the government can do. Obviously, the order prohibits IPOB from operating “under any name or platform however called or described”, but how do you determine that any new organization is IPOB? I mean, people are free to form associations and assemble in the name of such associations without fear of the law. For instance, if tomorrow we hear that there is a new group called “Biafra Peace Initiative” and Nnamdi Kanu is not a known member, what would the government do? If the organization declares its aim as “the pursuit of peace, self-determination, and development in the South East”, what would the government do? There will be no basis to ban it at all because you cannot just decide to ban an organization simply because you suspect it is another proscribed. You have to prove it. There is nothing in our laws as at today that bans the use of the name or term, Biafra. I can name my son, dog or business Biafra and that will not be unlawful.
riginally, upon reading about the court order declaring IPOB a terrorist organization, I was a little amused; but now this amusement has been replaced by sadness. I am sad that people who are horribly incompetent and who may plunge this nation into a terrible crisis we may not be able to recover from are the ones ruling us. Okay, let me explain.
When the Defence Headquarters made that booboo of declaring IPOB a militant terrorist organization, I immediately wrote something that explained the law and showed that the Army is not the appropriate authority to declare any group a terrorist organization. I explained in detail how it should have happened based on the provisions of the Terrorism (Prevention) Act, 2011 (as amended). I also explained that government would be ill-advised to seek to legalize the illegality by now seeking a judge to grant the order. Of course, despite my doubts that any judge worth his robe would grant such an order after this initial mess and based clearly on the fact that IPOB is not a terrorist organization as the evidence is simply not there to support such an order, we know that in Nigeria anything can happen. Now, it seems to have happened because a copy of the order from a judge is being passed around on social media and it’s dated Wednesday, 20th of September 2017, the same day it started circulating.
Now, I want you as a Nigerian to pause and digest this information. We have a government where the Vice President is a SAN and the Attorney General is a SAN, but they couldn’t simply understand that based on our laws, the Army is not the appropriate authority to declare an organization a terrorist organization. There is nothing complicated in this, the Goodluck Jonathan administration has done it in relation to Boko Haram in 2013, so there is a precedent at the presidency and the Ministry of Justice to look at and follow, yet they simply failed to follow it. Then, after failing, they have now gone to court to do what they ought to have done in the first place. Yes, they’ve done it, but as we can clearly see, they have again failed to do it appropriately.
First, there is no reason for the court order issued on Wednesday, 20th of September 2017 to be in public space on the same day before it is published in the official gazette and two national newspapers and at any other place the judge in chambers may have determined according to the requirements of the Terrorism (Prevention) Act, 2011 (as amended). Clearly, the order making the rounds in social media has no direction from the judge that it should be published in social media. Also, we know as a matter of fact that the President is still out of the country. It is his duty to sign and gazette the Proscription Order that would then immediately act as Notice to Nigerians about the new status of IPOB. It’s not something he can delegate and it’s not something he could have done in advance of the order. So, why do we have this order littering the social media before it becomes a lawful Proscription Order? Again, what all that tells us is that the people running our affairs, even at the professional level of the Ministry of Justice, are pathetically clueless.
Now, let’s consider the legal and political implications of this court order:
(1) The first thing I can say is that the Nigerian government has given IPOB its first clear-cut victory with this order. IPOB might decide to challenge the order or not. In both cases, it will come out a winner. If IPOB challenges it, the hearing, up to the Supreme Court level, will be an embarrassment to the government. I make bold to say the appellate courts will not spend much time in deliberation to reach the verdict that IPOB cannot be declared a terrorist organization.
Here is what I said in my article, “IPOB, the Armed Forces and a Coup Against Civil Authorities":
“For public policy reasons, judges will also be mindful of section 2(3)(ii) of the Terrorism (Prevention) Act 2011 (as amended), which clearly states that nobody should be treated as a terrorist because of his or her political beliefs. They would be mindful that IPOB is a political organization fighting for self-determination, which is lawful under our Constitution and international law. They would be mindful of the fact that such a declaration would endanger free speech and freedom of assembly and would threaten so many other civil society organizations in the country. It certainly would undermine our democracy greatly and no sane judge would want to be the one to do such a Judas’ job”.
(2) Now, the government has fired the first shot on the legal front, but that is only the first shot and it’s fired it leaving its flanks exposed. This is because as it is right now, IPOB is still a lawful society by virtue of the decision of the same court as the one that signed the order. As I stated in my article mentioned above, this was the decision of the Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja on Wednesday, March 1, 2017. That decision still stands and despite this order, IPOB can still rely on it until it is challenged and an appellate court declares otherwise. The mere fact that the government obtained an order declaring IPOB a terrorist organization from the same court or a court of similar, concurrent or coordinate jurisdiction does not overrule the decision of Nyako’s court. This has been settled in the Supreme Court case of Orji Kalu v Federal Republic of Nigeria and Others (SC.215/2012)[2016] NGSC 34 (18 March 2016).
(3) We now have to see, if this is challenged, how the judges and justices of the appellate courts will interpret this order. But, in the meantime, IPOB can use the process of challenge for good propaganda. It can declare that even though it does not need government recognition to operate as a lawful society, since the courts have recognized it as such, it would be challenging the order in order to protect freedom of speech and freedom of assembly under our Constitution.
In the meantime, we need to bear in mind that the government is already at war with Nigerian civil society organizations over a bill in the House of Representatives seeking to further regulate the activities of civil society groups. The bill is sponsored by Umar Buba Jibril and the civil society groups have interpreted this as an attempt to clamp down on free speech and freedom of assembly and, as we speak, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has put it in the UN system before three UN Special Rapporteurs, Ms Annalisa Ciampi, Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association; Mr Michel Forst, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders and Mr David Kaye, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression.
So, the prospect of civil society organizations joining IPOB to challenge this for fear that allowing this to stand gives the government another backdoor to take away civil liberties is simply not good for the government. This is because increasingly, the Buhari government will be effectively painted as a dictatorship - a dictatorship that wants to take away the right to free speech, the right to freedom of assembly and the right to self-determination from its people. IPOB’s credibility and goodwill can only increase under such circumstances, no matter the outcome in court.
(4) The Terrorism Prevention Act, 2011 (as amended) actually protects organizations like IPOB. Section 2(3)(ii) states clearly that “political parties should not be regarded as proscribed organizations and nobody should be treated as such because of his or her political beliefs”. Though IPOB is not a political party, the most significant thing about it is its political belief in referendum and secession. The only ‘evidence’ the government will be presenting to show that IPOB is a terrorist organization is Item (e) in the “Public Awareness on the State of Independent People of Biafra” statement made by the Defence Headquarters when declaring Boko Haram a militant terrorist organization which reads: “Militant possession and use of weapons (stones, molotov cocktails, machetes and broken bottles among others) on a military patrol on 10 September 2017”. That was the same thing that the Minister of Information, Mr Lai Mohammed was parroting in his Wednesday September 20, 2017 statement to the press when he declared that IPOB “used weapons such as machetes and Molotov cocktails and mounting roadblocks to extort money among others”. When the judges look at precedent and note that only two organizations have been declared terrorist organizations in our nation’s history and they are Boko Haram and Ansaru, when they look at the kind of things Boko Haram and Ansaru are doing and they compare these with whatever IPOB has been accused of, they would be hard-pressed to agree with the government. I’m predicting if the order is challenged, the government will fail and that would be more embarrassment.
(5) The IPOB issue is also bound to divide government because it’s obvious that not everyone in government shares the presidency’s view that IPOB is a terrorist organization. The Senate President Abubakar Bukola Saraki said as much, even if diplomatically. One can imagine many of his colleagues in both houses feeling the same. Indeed, it’s such a highly emotive matter that the division could cut across every level of government, including the civil service and several other strategic areas. I mean, with Ohanaeze Ndigbo already stating clearly that IPOB is not a terrorist organization, it’s difficult to get a majority of Ndigbo to agree with the government, irrespective of the fact that many disagree with IPOB and Kanu. Many of these Igbo people who’d feel rightly or wrongly that this is ethnic persecution are also in government in various areas.
(6) If IPOB chooses not to challenge the order, it might simply metamorphose into something else and there’s nothing the government can do. Obviously, the order prohibits IPOB from operating “under any name or platform however called or described”, but how do you determine that any new organization is IPOB? I mean, people are free to form associations and assemble in the name of such associations without fear of the law. For instance, if tomorrow we hear that there is a new group called “Biafra Peace Initiative” and Nnamdi Kanu is not a known member, what would the government do? If the organization declares its aim as “the pursuit of peace, self-determination, and development in the South East”, what would the government do? There will be no basis to ban it at all because you cannot just decide to ban an organization simply because you suspect it is another proscribed. You have to prove it. There is nothing in our laws as at today that bans the use of the name or term, Biafra. I can name my son, dog or business Biafra and that will not be unlawful.
Neymar vs Cavani: PSG Announces Club's Penalty Taker After Players' Fight
According to Spanish newspaper, Marca.com, French Ligue 1 giants, Paris Saint-Germain, have decided the fate of its two-star strikers, Edinson Cavani and Neymar over who should take free-kicks and penalties for the club.
This drastic decision came as a result of bells of alarms that were ringing throughout the French capital on Sunday evening as Cavani and Neymar squabbled over who should take a penalty against Olympique Lyon.
PSG had hoped the issue could be resolved between the two individuals but the story has since taken on a life of its own on social media.
The club has now been forced to make a decision of their own on the matter, after rumours of Neymar ‘unfollowing’ the former Napoli forward quickly appeared.
The Parisians have now decided that the Uruguayan International, Cavani will remain the club’s penalty taker.
Neymar’s 222 million euro arrival looked to have shifted the balance of power at the Parc des Princes.
It was gathered that on Monday, the club President, Nasser Al-Khelaifi met with both players in question to discuss the issue.
Further meetings with Unai Emery and Antero Henrique are scheduled for Wednesday.
Wednesday, 20 September 2017
Dangote Wants Oil Prices To Remain Low
Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, said at the United Nations General Assembly in New York that he was praying for the global crude oil prices to remain low for a longer period to enable resource-rich countries to turn to other sectors to grow their economies
frica’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, said at the United Nations General Assembly in New York that he was praying for the global crude oil prices to remain low for a longer period to enable resource-rich countries to turn to other sectors to grow their economies.
Mr. Dangote was speaking with investors who participated in the high-level business leaders and international diplomats meeting organized by the Corporate Council for Africa at the headquarters of global law firm, Shearman and Sterling LLC.
Mr. Dangote and Rwandan president, Paul Kagame, discussed on Africa’s opportunities and challenges, underscored the ongoing movement to diversify African economies.
For Nigeria, reputed to be Africa’s largest economy, Mr. Dangote said his prayer was for oil prices to continue to remain low.
“This helps wean us off the dependency on revenues from petroleum. We must take oil to be the icing on the cake. We already have the cake – agriculture, agriculture, agriculture. Africa will become the food basket of the world,” he said.
Besides Nigeria’s vast mineral resources and gas, he stressed the need to manufacture more goods locally for domestic consumption.
He joined President Kagame to emphasize the need for heavy investments in education, particularly for young people to be well-trained for the jobs of tomorrow.
Although the Dangote Group president predicted that “five of the 12 million jobs needed in Africa soon must be created in Nigeria,” he said this would only be realized if they were trained.
Mr. Dangote’s business fortune, which comes from cement, sugar, and other household commodities, has expanded into fertilizer and other processed high-value goods.
“Technology, of course, helps us a lot and our factories are state of the art with the use of robotics but we shouldn’t be overly tech-oriented to create wealth,” he told the investors.
Often cited as one of the most inspiring business leaders in the world today and a model for young entrepreneurs, Mr. Dangote advised Americans who tend to rely on outdated news and wrong perceptions of Africa, “not to be lazy.”
“Go there (Africa) and find out the real story for yourself. Things have changed,” he said
He noted Rwanda's success story, where he has business interests, as an example of the positive change, good governance and leadership; where corruption has been cured. Citing a personal experience of offering a $100 tip for services at the Kigali Airport to staff who refused to take money for work they were paid to do.
President Kagame was praised for delivering the environment for growth he promised. “There is nothing African about corruption,” the Rwandan president added.
The session was moderated by Rosa Whitaker, former US Trade Representative and author of the AGOA (African Growth Opportunity Act), whose business consultancy is credited for helping both African governments and US companies develop commerce.
frica’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, said at the United Nations General Assembly in New York that he was praying for the global crude oil prices to remain low for a longer period to enable resource-rich countries to turn to other sectors to grow their economies.
Mr. Dangote was speaking with investors who participated in the high-level business leaders and international diplomats meeting organized by the Corporate Council for Africa at the headquarters of global law firm, Shearman and Sterling LLC.
Mr. Dangote and Rwandan president, Paul Kagame, discussed on Africa’s opportunities and challenges, underscored the ongoing movement to diversify African economies.
For Nigeria, reputed to be Africa’s largest economy, Mr. Dangote said his prayer was for oil prices to continue to remain low.
“This helps wean us off the dependency on revenues from petroleum. We must take oil to be the icing on the cake. We already have the cake – agriculture, agriculture, agriculture. Africa will become the food basket of the world,” he said.
Besides Nigeria’s vast mineral resources and gas, he stressed the need to manufacture more goods locally for domestic consumption.
He joined President Kagame to emphasize the need for heavy investments in education, particularly for young people to be well-trained for the jobs of tomorrow.
Although the Dangote Group president predicted that “five of the 12 million jobs needed in Africa soon must be created in Nigeria,” he said this would only be realized if they were trained.
Mr. Dangote’s business fortune, which comes from cement, sugar, and other household commodities, has expanded into fertilizer and other processed high-value goods.
“Technology, of course, helps us a lot and our factories are state of the art with the use of robotics but we shouldn’t be overly tech-oriented to create wealth,” he told the investors.
Often cited as one of the most inspiring business leaders in the world today and a model for young entrepreneurs, Mr. Dangote advised Americans who tend to rely on outdated news and wrong perceptions of Africa, “not to be lazy.”
“Go there (Africa) and find out the real story for yourself. Things have changed,” he said
He noted Rwanda's success story, where he has business interests, as an example of the positive change, good governance and leadership; where corruption has been cured. Citing a personal experience of offering a $100 tip for services at the Kigali Airport to staff who refused to take money for work they were paid to do.
President Kagame was praised for delivering the environment for growth he promised. “There is nothing African about corruption,” the Rwandan president added.
The session was moderated by Rosa Whitaker, former US Trade Representative and author of the AGOA (African Growth Opportunity Act), whose business consultancy is credited for helping both African governments and US companies develop commerce.
Opinion: IPOB Terrorists, Baseless Hate For Buhari And Sentiments Of Ndị Igbo, By Chukwuemerie Uduchukwu
Today, the Nigerian Armed Forces officially labeled the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) led by Nnamdi Kanu a terrorist organization. This was after the violent secessionist group attacked soldiers on duty with dangerous instruments like stones and broken bottles, killed a police officer, burnt down a police station, destroyed Mosque, blocked roads, harassed road users. and searched for non-Igbos to kill.
Today, the Nigerian Armed Forces officially labeled the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) led by Nnamdi Kanu a terrorist organization. This was after the violent secessionist group attacked soldiers on duty with dangerous instruments like stones and broken bottles, killed a police officer, burnt down a police station, destroyed Mosque, blocked roads, harassed road users. and searched for non-Igbos to kill. Before these, the IPOB leader launched a Secret Security Service, Standing Army, Lion Squad, and even inspected what he described as Biafran Guard.
This unrepentant secessionist group leader launched those outfits despite the fact that he is being tried for treason and is also currently on an unmerited conditional bail granted to him due to his alleged bad health condition. He has also threatened that his group will burn down the country if the government rearrest him for violating his bail conditions.
While every patriotic citizen lauds the government’s efforts in maintaining law and order by acting promptly to curtail the violent and satanic activities of IPOB and its leader Nnamdi Kanu, it is unfortunate and in fact stupid that some of our Igbo brothers who should know better are already exercising their baseless hate for the person of Muhammadu Buhari by accusing him of tribalism in handling the IPOB saga.
Some of these folks claimed that Fulani herdsmen who have been killing people, were not labeled terrorists but the government was quick in labeling “defenseless agitators” terrorists. While the activities of some Fulani herdsmen are evil and condemnable, there is a wide distinction between them and IPOB.
IPOB like Boko Haram is hiding under some unrealistic demands to set the nation ablaze. How can you describe a group that declares itself superior to the existing constitutional institutions and even a sovereign state? How can you describe an organization that delights in blackmailing the state, brainwashing the young minds, and radicalizing them to the extent that most of them now take the organization’s leader as their god and thus, is ready to carry out ANY instruction he gives?
How can you describe an association that mocks the ruling of a court and threatened to kill any security officer that attempts to compel its leader to abide by the ruling of the court? Anybody that is conversant with the birth of Boko Haram will understand that there is no difference between it and IPOB.
Those who claim that IPOB is defenseless must be either ignorant of the group’s activities or are being controlled by baseless sentiments. How can you describe a group that circulates various pictures of ammunition and weapons as they're online as defenseless? How can you describe a group that constantly boasts of being in possession of dangerous weapons to destabilize a sovereign state as defenseless? How can you describe a group that with pose with matches, stones, heavy sticks and charms as defenseless?
Even if their claims of weapons possession are false, no responsible individual or government will take them as defenseless and keep silent after seeing such coupled with their activities.
Also, those who claim IPOB members are peaceful agitators should tell us how a group that sits on top of rights of others are peaceful agitators? How can one describe a group that uses threats to force innocent citizens to stay indoor as peaceful agitators? How can a group who block federal roads, harass innocent citizens who are going about their lawful businesses be described as peaceful agitators? How can a group who directed its members to attack any security officer who attempts to disperse them from blocking federal roads be described as peaceful agitators? How can a group that specializes in hate speech spread be described as peaceful agitators?
My fellow Igbo brothers should know that the deadly Boko Haram once operated with stones, broken bottles, sticks, and machetes. They should also know that brainwashing, hate speech, and radicalization which are tools of IPOB were also tools used by Boko Haram to recruit and advance.
Ndị Igbo should also avoid the mistakes of some Northern citizens who were sympathizing with Boko Haram due to their hate for former President Goodluck Jonathan and sentiments, but later realized that they were only promoting terrorism in their region. Ndị Igbo should not wait for a time when our elders will start pushing for the formation of civilian Joint Task Force (JTF) in the South-East before believing that a young Boko Haram called IPOB is at our doorstep and should be eliminated.
They should also understand that no one loves the Igbo race more than IPOB critics and instead of labeling the critics of Nnamdi Kanu’s IPOB as Efulefus (Saboteurs) or haters, they should allow wisdom to lead them instead of sentiments.
As for those who always become human rights activists any time their sentiments fail to prevail, they should know that human rights are meant to safeguard the interests of the general public and promote orderliness and not to cause anarchy or promote stupidity. They should always know that NO RIGHT is absolute and even the rule of law has its limitations.
We should always condemn acts that can cause anarchy in the state instead of defending them in the name of human rights activism or Political Correctness. We should know that lasting peace can’t be achieved under anarchy. The full respect of the state sovereignty and laws will automatically breed lasting peace.
Stop the baseless hate on the person of Muhammadu Buhari so that your reasoning can function properly. Nigeria is bigger than everybody and no individual or group should be allowed to put the nation into flames. May God bless the government and citizens of Nigeria and may he guide our security agencies as they make the supreme sacrifice to keep us safe. IPOB has proven itself as a terrorist group and should be treated as such.
• Chukwuemerie Uduchukwu writes from Awka, Anambra State.
State Of The Nation: The Aisha Buhari Testament And The Leaked Phone Chat By Ifeanyi Izeze
Those who have been married for sometime would agree that real wives not only have unparalleled knowledge of the personality of their husbands but also rare peeps into the happenings around their men. So it was not surprising that the first lady, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, was the first person to publicly alert Nigerians that her husband was kidnapped by those whose agendas center on selfishness and parochial interests.
It would have been okay to dismiss reported happenings around the Buhari Presidency as part of opposition blackmail and negative agenda setting of partisan press but for the publicly manifested interplay of the antics of the gods and demons at the seat of power.
Those who have been married for sometime would agree that real wives not only have unparalleled knowledge of the personality of their husbands but also rare peeps into the happenings around their men. So it was not surprising that the first lady, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, was the first person to publicly alert Nigerians that her husband was kidnapped by those whose agendas center on selfishness and parochial interests.
The first lady obviously knew what these people around her husband are made of and that may be the reason she checkmated them when she cried out publicly about the cabal. Interestingly, this earned her the label of “the suicide bomber from Yola” because she is obviously destroying every one of their moves and they surely despise her for that. The expose to the press is what they are using to now tag her because it was explosive and she detonated it herself to rescue her husband and probably saved the entire country from apostasy.
Mrs. Buhari further blew things up by saying that the hyenas and jackals should beware because the Lion is back. But unfortunately, the Lion King seems to be caught between disrespecting his men and obeying his wife and so the hyenas and jackals have been getting messier in their tussle for supremacy.
When SaharaReporters ran in full a leaked telephone conversation between Messrs. Mamman Daura and Dr. Mahmud Tukur, two of the most influential members of President Muhammadu Buhari’s kitchen cabinet, it was expected that as usual, the Presidency would come out to say it was another handiwork of the opposition PDP and enemies of the government but it did not and may never. This by implication is an outright authentication of the realness of the published conversation and so we can discuss it without fear.
A cursory look at the leaked conversation sure revealed so many things that made it very necessary to ask the big question: who actually benefits from this leak?
In all ramifications, the way the call began revealed so much concerning the likely power play and covert mindset of both of Mammam Daura and Mahmud Tukur.
First, the recording had started before the phone rang. Secondly, Daura was very cautious speaking and it was actually Mahmud Tukur that labelled Aisha Buhari “the suicide bomber from Yola”.
Also Mammam accuses Tukur of not picking up his calls. The question is: why was he not picking up or returning the calls? Could it be that Daura chose to record him knowing that Tukur as a journalist may likewise do the same?
Could it also be that that Tukur set up Daura for this conversation to be recorded as the questioning was very meticulous and deliberate to extract information for the purpose of being recorded? Clearly from the conversation, Tukur avoided implicating himself by only asking and not contributing much to the conversation. So between the two men and maybe an unseen hand (s), Nigerians are really waiting to see how all these would turn out at the end.
How can a Presidency that is supposed to be one indivisible unit be so polarized? Even among the so-called cabal there seem to be a mind-blowing level of polarization as confirmed by the leaks and covert campaigns from the seat of government. What kind of a country is this? How can a government that everyone is fighting or rather working against everyone achieve any tangible goal that would benefit the citizenry?
Even among the ones the ordinary citizens see as the President’s men, every day we hear of dirty infighting, backstabbing and outright mudslinging. Recall that the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) was informed that he has been suspended by the Presidency, the first question he asked was: “who is the Presidency,” thereby indicating a terribly divided Presidency. How far can we go like this? Or is it the dissonance between the Attorney General and the EFCC Acting Chairman? Or between the NNPC Group Managing Director and his supposed boss, the Minister of Petroleum or that of Transport minister and the guy supervising the Aviation sector as minister of state? Haba! Are these people not aware that time is going?
Most people who voted Buhari to power hoped he would, like in his previous government, round up, squeeze, and recover our stolen resources from those who looted the nation dry. But it has now turned out to be an exaggerated view of the democratic Buhari with the people around him not helping matters either.
Tragically, it is now certain that Buhari cannot perform and hiding under the excuses of his ill-health is an exercise in self-deception. The question is: when he was hale and hearty, what did he do? The best he did was to fill the entire Nigerian political and administrative landscape with the same people not because of any of their outstanding performance track record but because of where they come from and how they related with him in the past life thus making Nigeria look like a country populated with ‘this kind of people’ only.
Initially it was thought that President Buhari’s outsourcing of his executive functions was to provide for responsive governance while he attends to his health issues, but from the reported power play at the Presidency, though Buhari and his people may not agree, it is very clear that the dishonorable drumbeats Nigerians get from the government everyday only diminishes the hallowness of the nation’s Presidency and this caused more by the choice of players around him. God bless Nigeria!
Ifeanyi Izeze writes from Abuja. You can reach him at iizeze@yahoo.com.
Messi hit four in back rout
Lionel Messi scored four goals as La Liga leaders Barcelona maintained their 100% start to the season with a big win against Eibar.
Messi converted a penalty to give the hosts the lead before Paulinho headed in a second.
Denis Suarez then struck from a rebound but Sergi Enrich made it 3-1 with a near-post finish.
Messi scored twice within a minute before exchanging passes with Aleix Vidal for a late fourth.
The win means Barcelona are top with 15 points, five clear of second-placed Sevilla but having played a game more.
Messi is once again enjoying an impressive run of form in front goal.
The Argentina forward has scored nine goals in his past four La Liga appearances with his four on Tuesday moving him to a total of 301 at the Nou Camp in 13 years.
Meanwhile, former West Ham striker Simone Zaza scored a hat-trick inside nine minutes as Valencia beat Malaga 5-0.
After Santi Mina opened the scoring, Italy international Zaza scored between the 54th and 63rd minutes to put Valencia in control.
Substitute Rodrigo then finished from Goncalo Guedes' clever backheel to complete the win.
Valencia move up to third in La Liga, six points behind Barcelona.
Wednesday, 13 September 2017
Sex Scandals Rock Ebonyi State University
Students of Ebonyi State University, on Monday, raised the alarm over the increasing spate of sexual harassment and exploitation meted to them by some lecturers in the institution.
Some of the studentstold Daily Sun that some lecturers in the university demanded sex, and in some cases, financial gratification before they could pass their courses.
These lamentations were coming barely few days after a male lecturer in the Department of History and International Relations of the institution, (names withheld by us), was suspended by the management of the institution over alleged sexual misconduct with female students and other unethical practices.
The suspended lecturer, Daily Sun gathered, was allegedly in the habit of seeking sexual and financial gratification from students before they could pass the course handled by him.
Some students of the institution who spoke to Daily Sun lamented that the ugly trend was rapidly increasing in the institution. They said that it was now “normal among students.” They lamented that they pay between N10,000 and N30,000 or offer sex for them to pass certain courses in the school.
Some students who spoke with our reporter on the condition of anonymity accused the lecturer of demanding sex from some female students before they could scale through in his course.
When contacted on the telephone, the Vice Chancellor of the varsity, Prof. Francis Idike, confirmed the incident. He said that although the menace of sex-for-marks was rampant in the school, his administration is making spirited effort to sanitize the system.
He disclosed that already, a female lecturer was last week sacked by the varsity’s Council over the same alleged crime. The lecturer according to him was before the termination of her appointment, lecturing in the Faculty of Education in the institution.
“I know that there is a case involving this particular young man. I also know that by Friday the first report on the young man from the (disciplinary) committee came to me. I also know that I am currently studying the report at the end of which I will send it to the management for decision. The lecturer is on suspension.
“From the management, depending on their decision, it may go to council. It is only after going to Council that decision would have been reached. If the management decision is such that, because there is a kind of decision that would be reached at the management, and then it will go to Council for final decision” he explained.
Asked about the number of cases on his table, the Vice Chancellor said: “I don’t have the total number off hand, but I know there are so many of it. In fact, there was one we just decided last week based on sex for grade.”
“A female lecturer was terminated. It happened in the Faculty of Education. Just last week, the Council took a final decision on the recommendation of the committee. And that matter has already been written and it is posted on our website. I mean there are so many of them; quite a good number of them.”
Some of the studentstold Daily Sun that some lecturers in the university demanded sex, and in some cases, financial gratification before they could pass their courses.
These lamentations were coming barely few days after a male lecturer in the Department of History and International Relations of the institution, (names withheld by us), was suspended by the management of the institution over alleged sexual misconduct with female students and other unethical practices.
The suspended lecturer, Daily Sun gathered, was allegedly in the habit of seeking sexual and financial gratification from students before they could pass the course handled by him.
Some students of the institution who spoke to Daily Sun lamented that the ugly trend was rapidly increasing in the institution. They said that it was now “normal among students.” They lamented that they pay between N10,000 and N30,000 or offer sex for them to pass certain courses in the school.
Some students who spoke with our reporter on the condition of anonymity accused the lecturer of demanding sex from some female students before they could scale through in his course.
When contacted on the telephone, the Vice Chancellor of the varsity, Prof. Francis Idike, confirmed the incident. He said that although the menace of sex-for-marks was rampant in the school, his administration is making spirited effort to sanitize the system.
He disclosed that already, a female lecturer was last week sacked by the varsity’s Council over the same alleged crime. The lecturer according to him was before the termination of her appointment, lecturing in the Faculty of Education in the institution.
“I know that there is a case involving this particular young man. I also know that by Friday the first report on the young man from the (disciplinary) committee came to me. I also know that I am currently studying the report at the end of which I will send it to the management for decision. The lecturer is on suspension.
“From the management, depending on their decision, it may go to council. It is only after going to Council that decision would have been reached. If the management decision is such that, because there is a kind of decision that would be reached at the management, and then it will go to Council for final decision” he explained.
Asked about the number of cases on his table, the Vice Chancellor said: “I don’t have the total number off hand, but I know there are so many of it. In fact, there was one we just decided last week based on sex for grade.”
“A female lecturer was terminated. It happened in the Faculty of Education. Just last week, the Council took a final decision on the recommendation of the committee. And that matter has already been written and it is posted on our website. I mean there are so many of them; quite a good number of them.”
Tuesday, 12 September 2017
North Korea Slams ‘Vicious’ US-Led UN Sanctions
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (C) watching the launch of an intermediate-range strategic ballistic rocket Hwasong-12 at an undisclosed location near Pyongyang. Nuclear-armed North Korea said on August 30 that it had fired a missile over Japan the previous day, the first time it has ever acknowledged doing so. Photo: STR / KCNA VIA KNS / AFP
North Korea on Tuesday blasted “vicious” sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council over its latest and most powerful nuclear test, threatening revenge against Washington, who it blamed for leading the charge.
Yesterday the Washington regime fabricated the most vicious sanctions resolution,” Pyongyang’s ambassador in Geneva told the UN Conference on Disarmament in the first North Korean reaction to Monday’s unanimous vote.
“My delegation condemns in the strongest terms and categorically rejects the latest illegal … UN Security Council resolution,” ambassador Han Tae Song told the gathering.
“The forthcoming measures by DPRK (the Democratic Republic of Korea) will make the US suffer the greatest pain it has ever experienced in its history,” he said.
The move by the Security Council slaps a ban on textile exports and restricts shipments of oil products to punish Pyongyang for its sixth and largest nuclear test.
The US-drafted sanctions resolution passed just one month after the Security Council decided to ban exports of coal, lead and seafood in response to North Korea’s launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
The sanctions follow a series of North Korean missile tests in recent months, culminating in an intercontinental ballistic missile that appeared to bring much of the US mainland into range.
It followed up with a sixth nuclear test on September 3, its largest to date, which North Korea said was a hydrogen bomb small enough to fit onto a missile.
The United States and its allies argue that tougher sanctions will pile pressure on Kim’s regime to come to the negotiation table to discuss an end to its nuclear and missile tests.
“My hope is that the regime will hear the message loud and clear and it will choose a different path,” US ambassador Robert Wood told the Conference on Disarmament.
Pyongyang meanwhile appeared to draw a different lesson from the Security Council vote.
“Instead of making (the) right choice with rational analysis, … the Washington regime (has opted) for political, economic, and military confrontation,” Han said.
He accused the United States of being “obsessed with the wild game of reversing the DPRK’s development of nuclear force, which has already reached the completion phase.”
Italian couple and son die at Solfatara volcano crater
A boy and his parents have died after falling into a volcanic crater at Solfatara near Naples.
What happened is still unclear, but Italian reports suggest the drama unfolded when the 11-year-old walked into a prohibited area.
When his parents tried to pull him to safety, the crater's base collapsed and they fell 1.5m (5ft). It is not known if they died from the gas fumes.
Their seven-year-old son did not enter the crater and survived.
BREAKING: Tension as soldiers return to Umuahia, invade NUJ office
Tension has returned to Umuahia, the Abia State Capital, as a detachment of soldiers from the Nigerian Army has surrounded the Afaraukwu country home of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.
The soldiers arrived the community on Tuesday barely 48 hours after the clash between the Army and IPOB members on Sunday evening, which left three people injured.
The soldiers returned with about 10 Armoured Carrier Vehicles and seven Hilux vans.
The development has caused panic in the area, forcing shop owners to close immediately.
Some of the soldiers also invaded the Abia State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists on Aba Road, Umuahia, and destroyed laptops and other valuables.
According to journalists at the secretariat, the soldiers claimed they saw somebody taking photographs of them from the building.
The Chairman of Council Mr. John Emejor has confirmed the incident.
Emejor who expressed disappointment over the incidents said a National officer of the Union Ezeogo Bonny Okoro was slapped by one of the Soldiers.
He said, “Our press centre was invaded by soldiers, two Journalists lost their IPads and phones, while a national leader in the office was attacked.
“Our stand is that those involved in this attack on innocent Journalists should be fished out and punished in line with the constitution of the Country.”
When contacted the Assistant Director, Army Public Relations, 14 Brigade, Major Oyegoke Gbadamosi, confirmed the incident.
He said he had asked the chairman of the Council to send the photograph of the damaged office to him.
The soldiers arrived the community on Tuesday barely 48 hours after the clash between the Army and IPOB members on Sunday evening, which left three people injured.
The soldiers returned with about 10 Armoured Carrier Vehicles and seven Hilux vans.
The development has caused panic in the area, forcing shop owners to close immediately.
Some of the soldiers also invaded the Abia State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists on Aba Road, Umuahia, and destroyed laptops and other valuables.
According to journalists at the secretariat, the soldiers claimed they saw somebody taking photographs of them from the building.
The Chairman of Council Mr. John Emejor has confirmed the incident.
Emejor who expressed disappointment over the incidents said a National officer of the Union Ezeogo Bonny Okoro was slapped by one of the Soldiers.
He said, “Our press centre was invaded by soldiers, two Journalists lost their IPads and phones, while a national leader in the office was attacked.
“Our stand is that those involved in this attack on innocent Journalists should be fished out and punished in line with the constitution of the Country.”
When contacted the Assistant Director, Army Public Relations, 14 Brigade, Major Oyegoke Gbadamosi, confirmed the incident.
He said he had asked the chairman of the Council to send the photograph of the damaged office to him.
Dredging wreaks havoc in Lagos coastal communities (1)
Sand is fast disappearing along Lagos shorelines due to unchecked mining and dredging activities. Bukola Adebayo reports on the socio-economic and environmental impact of the business on the communities and coastlines
Thomas Ujemeji comes from a long line of fishermen on Bishop Kodji Island, a coastal settlement on the Lagos Lagoon. Customers come from far and near to buy fresh sea foods from the 50- year-old fisherman.
He has a special skill set and he knows it. His traps get the biggest catch every time.
With a smile slowly lighting up his face, Ujemeji says he honed his skills while going on fishing expeditions with his late father as a young boy. But today is not one of those days that customers besiege him with requests. When our correspondent got to his fish smoking shed, just a handful of fish rested on a local oven filled with slow-burning, yellow coals.
What the fisherman had on display was incapable of attracting a long-time customer, let alone a prospective one. Ujemeji confesses that he’s fast losing his commercial reputation. He says a new business in the waterfront community has made a mess of his trade.
According to him, he can no longer fish on the Lagoon front due to the dredging activities in the area.
“The dredging machines have chased fishes to the deeper end. The sand they are harvesting has also polluted the Lagoon and fishes can’t stay.
“The noise from the machines when they are working also disturbs them. If I don’t set traps at the deeper end of the ocean, I won’t get anything. To do that, I need an engine boat that can withstand the tides and more fuel to power it through the long hours that I will be on water.
“I don’t have the money to buy that kind of boat and it is not safe.”
While most people come to the Island to patronise fishermen, many come these days to siphon the sand along its coastline.
Indeed, a massive dredging machine was the most prominent fixture on the island the day our correspondent visited. It was planted in the middle of the Lagoon front.
While residents lament, business is booming for 32-year-old James Adelike, who operates a pay loader that conveys the sand dredged to various destinations in Lagos.
Sand miners at work in the Iyana Oworo area of Lagos.
Photo: Saheed Olugbon
He says, “The price of the sand pumped from the Lagoon is different from the one that is dug with shovels from the shoreline. We sell sharp sand that has no impurities for N42,000 per 20 tonnes if it’s to Lekki, Ajah or Badore. The one that is scooped from shoreline is about N 20,000 per 20 tonnes. You can find some impurities in those ones. I make N10,000 from every trip and many times I go at least twice a day.”
Adelike says the trade has provided funds for him to start building a two-bedroom apartment in another state where his family resides.
While truck drivers, pay loaders, excavator operators and many other service providers in the dredging value chain smile to the bank, the denizens of Bishop Kodji reek of abject poverty.
The level of squalor on the island with over 150,000 residents is disturbing. It was evident from the 25-minute boat ride that our correspondent took with schoolchildren and other artisans to the shantytown; it became clearer on alighting from the canoe in the community.
Joseph Christopher, a fisherman, says life has not been the same since dredging activities began in the slum. Christopher laments that the business which many hoped would bring development to the settlement has brought more misery to residents.
“There are many people profiting from this island. When they want to start operations, they will promise to employ us, build schools and clinics but once they start, they forget us.
“They won’t even employ us. To make matters worse, the dredgers were installed in the areas where we were fishing and they harvested the sand so much that the anchor and ropes that we use to hold the boat while we set our fishing nets can no more reach the ground. They are now too short.”
A dredging machine on the Lagoon front in Sabon Kodji Island, Lagos.
Although they are surrounded by water, Christopher says, residents must gather money to buy clean water from the city as water sources in the area have been polluted as a result of sand mining activities in the area.
“We cannot use the water from the well or the borehole. We usually contribute money to vendors who take boats to Yaba or Iwaya to bring sachet water to this island. Many of the things they destroyed cannot be reversed.”
For Christiania Gbetode, who smokes fish, the poor fish harvest has forced her to consider an unlikely alternative.
The head of the fisherwomen on the Island confides in our correspondent that not only does she buy farmed fish from local breeders in Badagry and Epe areas of the state, she also augments her supplies with imported fish.
Pointing at the fishing boats lying idle at the community’s jetty, Christiana says, “Before now, the boats used to be filled with fishes when the men come back. I used to buy at least 40 buckets; but now, you get at most two buckets of fresh sea food after toiling for hours.
“To keep the business, I buy from local farmers at twice the price and I smoke imported fish. I am losing customers because my fish is the same price as those smoking in the city.”
For Gavei Kodji, it’s a story of collapse
The word, ‘dredging’, sends shivers down Whesu Gatson’s spine. For him, it is synonymous with destruction of livelihood and properties.
According to him, many houses collapsed into the Lagoon because of the flooding incidents that occurred in Gavei Kodji, after sand mining began in the community.
The farmer-turned-boat operator says apart from the houses that caved in, some farmlands were washed into the Lagoon in the aftermath of a flooding incident aggravated by the fact that sand was being excavated from the waterfront settlement.
He says, “I used to plant maize and cassava with a lot of vegetables but once they started packing sand from the coastline, the land began to get soft and muddy. If you plant anything today, the next day, water will wash it away. The soil became weak.”
Gatson points at some tumbledown huts close to the Lagoon front as some of the homes that collapsed when mining activities became more intense in the coastal community.
“Dredgers are digging into the seabed along Third Mainland Bridge, others”
Ujemeji
Environmentalists say that unchecked mining and dredging, which weaken seabed and deplete sub soils, could increase the incidence of building and structural collapse in Lagos.
The Director-General, the Nigerian Conservation Federation, Mr. Adeniyi Karunwi, defines sand mining as the process of removing sand and gravel from a particular location, essentially for the construction of buildings and roads. He also warns that insatiable demand for fine sand poses irreversible damage to both marine lives and the environment.
He identifies coastal and soil erosion, loss of aquatic lives, formation of sinkholes, loss of bio-diversity, soil contamination resulting from leakages of chemicals into the soil as some of the adverse environmental impact of the trade.
“A study by the Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research revealed that un-coordinated activities by miners and dredgers have caused depths of almost six metres into the seabed as reflected in the Banana Island to Third Mainland Bridge axis,” Karunwi states.
The environmentalist notes that a recent biodiversity survey by a team of ornithologists along the Lagoon in the Sangotedo and Badagry areas of the state indicates an unprecedented proliferation of dredging activities, a situation, he says, thrives due to poor coordination and regulation.
The conservationist notes, “The government agencies responsible for stemming this tide should put a halt to it before it becomes a monster that will eventually consume us.
“Dredging in some places has been largely responsible for the loss of breeding habitats for sea turtles, which depend on sandy beaches for their nesting and other biodiversity.”
‘From Lagos to Dubai, sand is a highly sought after resource’
Globally, there is a huge demand for sharp sand which is dredged from the sea or mined from its shorelines for real estate purposes.
Lagos, a state in South-West Nigeria with over 50 coastal communities in Lekki and Epe, Ojo and Badagry as well as Amuwo-Odofin and Apapa areas, is a preferred destination for sand miners who must meet this need.
Fine sand, excavated from Lagos coast lines are exported to countries such as the United Arab Emirates. The waterfront business booms with an increasing need for housing for over 20 million Lagosians.
It’s been estimated that Lagos consumes an estimated 40 million cube metres of sand per annum for building and construction projects.
While the business generates great profits for urban property developers, its impact has brought despair upon residents who have had to deal with the polluted waters, collapsed houses, depleted lands and flooding that these activities leave in their wake.
As sand is taken from the coastlines to provide housing for urban dwellers – many more are rendered homeless in the affected areas.
‘And government reads the riot act’
Worried by the increasing menace of these activities, the Lagos State Government banned dredging activities in February.
This was after a communal clash in a sand-mining site in the Bariga area of Lagos reportedly led to the death of an elderly woman in the settlement.
The Commissioner for Water Front and Infrastructure, Mr. Ade Akinsanya, who relayed this directive, however, admits that the majority of the miners were operating illegally and often without the appropriate licence.
Akinsanya said, “All sand dredgers in Lagos State should stop operations immediately. The idea is to ensure adequate security of lives and property in the state. They need to renew their operational permit annually, but a majority of them have not renewed it for many years.
“The state government and the National Inland Waterways Authority are the licensing authorities to give directives on such operations on the waterways’’.
Despite the stern order from the authorities, sand miners continue their business especially in hard-to-reach areas that are far from the watchful eyes of the government.
For instance, dredgers were still operating on the Lagoon front at Ogogoro Island when our correspondent visited the community after the ban in April.
Knowing the ugly fate that had befallen their neighours, the residents alerted the authorities to ensure that the operators comply with the order.
According to a boat operator, Mr Soji Vvede, some miners did come like a thief in the night to scoop sand from the waterfront settlement. “They did not consult anybody, and we woke up to find their equipment on water. We are fishermen trying to make a decent living; nobody should come and spoil our land,” he says.
This report on sand mining and dredging was supported by The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting and Code For Africa.
FG has approved the concessioning of Lagos and Abuja International Airports - Yemi Osinbajo
- The concessioning of the Lagos and Abuja International Airports has been approved by the Federal Executive Council
- Vice President Yemi Osinbajo disclosed that the airports needed to be overhauled as they lacked basic facilities; hence, the need for better management
- According to Osinbajo, partnership with the private sector is not only a policy, it is the most sensible thing to do
The Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, on Monday, September 11, said the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the concessioning of the Lagos and Abuja International Airports for better management, NAN reports. Mr. Osinbajo said this in Abuja at the fifth Presidential Quarterly Business Forum aimed at improving the ease of doing business in Nigeria. He, however, did not name the concessionaires.
- Vice President Yemi Osinbajo disclosed that the airports needed to be overhauled as they lacked basic facilities; hence, the need for better management
- According to Osinbajo, partnership with the private sector is not only a policy, it is the most sensible thing to do
The Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, on Monday, September 11, said the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the concessioning of the Lagos and Abuja International Airports for better management, NAN reports. Mr. Osinbajo said this in Abuja at the fifth Presidential Quarterly Business Forum aimed at improving the ease of doing business in Nigeria. He, however, did not name the concessionaires.
Friday, 8 September 2017
Gunmen shoot priest in Lagos Catholic church
FILE PHOTO
A Parish Priest, Daniel Nwankwo of St Thomas Catholic Church, Onilekere, Ikeja Lagos was shot by gunmen on Friday.
Eyewitnesses said the clergyman’s assailants posed as parishioners attending the morning mass.
It was gathered that the incident occurred around 9 am.
One of the witnesses explained that the victim had just finished attending to a church member when he was attacked.
“They were three in number. The men came into the church as if they were parishioners,” a church member, simply identified as Valentine told TheCable.
“When they arrived here, father was taking confession. As he was walking away after rounding off, they approached him and told him they need N5,000 to use in paying the hospital bill of someone.
“Before you knew what was happening, they had shot him in the stomach.”
Another witness, who refused to disclose his identity, said the attackers scaled the fence after hitting their target.
Tuesday, 5 September 2017
Robbery suspect escapes from police cell in Akwa Ibom
A member of a notorious robbery gang, identified simply as Frank, has escaped from police custody.
Frank was reportedly arrested during a robbery at St. Patrick Quasi Catholic Parish, Obio Ndot, in the Oruk Anam Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.
He was said to have been beaten and later handed over to the Ikot Uboh Police Post, under the Oruk Anam Police Division, last Tuesday.
Frank was said to have escaped from the police cell on Friday through the roof.
Our correspondent gathered that the suspect’s gang had been terrorising Oruk Anam and its environs for months.
Residents of Obio Ndot village told our correspondent on Monday that St. Patrick Quasi Catholic Parish, three weeks ago, was attacked by the same robbery gang, who made away with the money realised during the harvest service.
One of the residents, Mr. Iwok Essien, said, “Last Tuesday, at about 12am, the robbers attacked the Catholic parish again. They scaled the fence from behind the church to enter the premises.
“They did not know that after the first attack, the parish beefed up its security by engaging three additional security men because there was only one security man positioned at the gate the first time the gang robbed the parish.
“When the robbers came last Tuesday, one of the security men raised the alarm.
“Frank was caught, while others managed to escape.
The suspect was almost lynched, but the church intervened. Frank was later handed over to the police.
“But last week Friday, some officers told the villagers that Frank had escaped. As I speak with you, there is controversy over the whereabouts of the suspected robber.”
However, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Zubairu Muazu, said he contacted the Divisional Police Officer of the Oruk Anam Police Division who informed him through a text message that no armed robbery suspect escaped from the station.
The DPO’s message, which the CP forwarded to journalists, read, “Good afternoon, sir, no armed robbery suspect escaped from the Oruk Anam Police Division.
“Rather, there was a case of stealing of aluminium zinc at the Ikot Uboh Police Post in which the arrested suspect was said to have escaped from custody on August 28, 2017.
“The ASP in charge did not report the incident until the station officer, who took over from him on September 1, 2017, told me. I have liaised with the locals for the re-arrest of the suspect, while those on duty have been defaulted.”
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