Category: Northern Report

It was meant to be an afternoon of fun. For it was his child’s first birthday anniversary and he was prepared to celebrate it. To give the day, October 20, the flavour it deserved, Tayo Lawal, our photo-journalist in Abuja, took his wife and A’adil, the birthday baby, to a photographic studio in the federal capital city.

A’adil had taken two shots and he was preparing to have another one with his mother when gunshots were heard outside. Tayo’s journalism instincts took the better of him; he knew there was a problem in the environment and so abandoned the photographic session and jumped out of the air-conditioned studio.

Armed with his Curve 5 BlackBerry phone, he noticed the pandemonium outside the studio. Boys were running helter-shelter while some men accompanied by armed-devil-may-care policemen provided the backing for the boys that operated like hunters after game.

First, he established that the men chasing the boys were not Boko Haram recruiting officers; they came in a convoy of five vehicles marked CT916A11, CT531A11, CT49A05, CT634A11, and CT75A06.

Satisfied that he actually had a good story on his hands, Tayo smiled when he got a vintage shot, as one of the rampaging men dealt a terrible blow on the head of a driller, working on a borehole some meters away from the studio.

Not satisfied with the first shot, Tayo attempted to take another shot when “I saw them pursuing somebody to Yahuza Suya Spot.

“I tried to take the picture of what was happening; that was when the men rushed at me. They descended on me like hungry lions, some hitting my head, one struggling to snatch my handset. The more I resisted, the more blows I got,” Tayo said.

Although they failed in their attempt to remove the camera and destroy the evidence of their overzealousness, Tayo lost his medicated glasses, yet the men were determined not to allow him leave the scene with the handset. Four of them started pushing, shoving and dragging him as he shouted for help, telling whoever cared to listen that he was a journalist.

It was his distress shout that attracted his wife. Like a sprinter, she ran towards where her husband was held hostage, shouting; “He is my husband, please don’t kill him”.

Abubakar Yaman, an Abuja resident, who witnessed it all, said he was at the studio to take a photograph when he saw the men he later claimed to be staff of Abuja Environmental Protection Board, AEPB, pummeling “a neatly dressed young man”. He tried to talk to them but they insisted they must suck his blood for taking their photographs.

“I suspect they had smoked some weed or possibly were on drug as no normal human being would pounce on a fellow being like that,” he said, adding that “they beat the man mercilessly”.

He said the alleged AEPB workers were actually trying to arrest some hawkers when he was parking his car in front of the studio.

Mallam Yaman and other on-lookers’ intervention paid off, as a man that looked like the leader of the team instructed his boys to leave “the stupid man”.

Tayo said he took some drugs prescribed by his pharmacist and was taken to a native bone specialist to take care of his fractured hand.

Has he lodged a complaint with the police? Tayo said no. His reason: the same policemen were there when the AEPB man dealt terrible blows on him and never restrained them. He said he called his boss, the Bureau Chief of the Nations Newspapers in Abuja immediately his attackers left him. Yomi Odunuga, the bureau chief, came to the scene, saw, advised him to go for medication and promised to write the federal capital territory authorities on the incident.

Contacted for comments on the incident, Mr. Joe Ukairo, AEPB’s Public Relations Officer, said the incident was not reported in the office. He promised to find out what happened and get back to the reporters. He never did.

AEPB under the new director, Isa Shuaibu, employed about 400 casual workers to help in handling cases of hawking in the territory; about 100 of the boys have had their appointments terminated. Ukairo who conceded that there could be one or two bad eggs among the boys, said they were trained at the Orientation Camp in Kubwa before their posting to the Enforcement Squad.

There have been worries over the activities of the Enforcement Squad of late. On October 3, the team reportedly invaded Karu, one of the neighbouring towns in Abuja and in a war-like mood, engaged mechanics and some traders in a free-for-all battle.

 

For President Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria should be among the top four sporting nations in the world, just as the dream of listing the country among the top 20 top economies in the world in the next eight years. Critics, though, are still wondering how the country will get there when the twin issues of corruption and lack of infrastructure are yet to be overcome.

But the Presidency seems to be undaunted as it goes ahead with its plan to improve the country’s standing in the sporting arena. So the week at the Presidency kicked off with the much talked-about retreat for all stakeholders with the single aim of coming up with an agreed implementable programme for the country. So for the whole of last Monday, the President, his vice Namadi Sambo, some state governors and other stakeholders gathered at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa to discuss ways to revamp the country’s sporting sector.

The interest to ensure a total turnaround is not unconnected with the role sport is playing in the country, especially as a unifying force.

So at the retreat, the presidency shared the thoughts of most Nigerians over the declining state of sport in the country and identified lack of proper funding and bad management as major problems confronting it in the country.

Besides, the presidency fingered the current practice where in many high density areas in the country, buildings without any space are being converted to schools as another reason for the country’s inability to produce fresh talents to represent the country in major events including the London Olympics where the country returned empty handed. To remedy the situation, a directive has been issued to the  Ministry of Education to include, sporting facilities, in the criteria for approval of public and private primary and secondary schools nationwide.

The  directive was issued at the close of a one-day Presidential Sports Sector Retreat in Abuja with the theme: Harnessing the potential of Nigeria sports sector from playground to podium.

In the area of funding, the Presidency said it would consider a review of some existing legislations, particularly the law on lottery.

On the issue of prompt release of funds towards preparation for major sporting events, the Presidency assured that government would henceforth release money in good time for any tournament to make for appropriate preparation.

Also reacting to some comments by participants that if government succeeded in wiping out polio as promised, the country may be denied the opportunity of winning laurels in future paralympics, the President said his administration will is committed to ending the scourge before leaving office.

He, however, assured that the disabled ones available are capable of doing the country proud if properly motivated and managed.  Jonathan also assured the participants that unlike previous meetings, all the recommendations at the retreat would be implemented to the latter.

Also, when many thought that the Federal Government had totally forgotten about the embarrassment of the recent Hajj saga, President Goodluck Jonathan  in the course of the week did a thorough post mortem on the incident with a view to ensuring that such dehumanising situations never cropped up again.

The President in his Sallah message to the country, assured that this would be the last time any Nigerian will experience such a treatment in the holy land.

Over 1000 Nigerian female pilgrims were detained in Saudi Arabia, while the Saudi Arabian authorities deported over 600 pilgrims on the excuse that they were not accompanied by male relations which was considered against the laid down rules of the Saudi Arabian Kingdom.

Though the issues was eventually resolved with the intervention of the Federal Government, the president noted that there was need to take a deep look into all the issues so as to guard against future occurrence.

Also, the Presidency restated the government willingness to dialogue with the Boko Haram group. It stated that the administration’s doors still remained open for engagement and dialogue with all Nigerians.

The President also assured that his administration will continue to give dedicated, committed, focused and purposeful leadership towards overcoming old and emerging challenges before the nation.

The highly celebrated Facebook murder case of Cynthia Osokogu also came to up in the week. The Presidency said it was considering which action to take on the use and sale of Rophynol  drug in the country.  It was the drug that was administered on Cynthia Osokogu by her suspected assailants.

According to Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, Minister of Health, the drug has been banned in most countries due to similar cases.

He noted that the appropriate authorities have been asked to guide the government on the position to take.

Rophynol is a powerful sedative drug that is illegal in the United States but is used elsewhere as a hypnotic and in anesthesia.

It is popularly known as the “date rape” drug because its ability to cause semi-consciousness and memory blackouts has led to its association with unwanted sexual encounters.

Also, in the week, Presidency approved the Nigeria National Pharmacovigilance Policy which aims to ensure proper management of adverse drug reactions in the country.

The policy is to assist government to monitor and deal with issues of adverse effects of drugs reactions in the country.

The policy which will be implemented by the National Pharmacological Centre, located in National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) premises, has actually been approved by the National Council on Health at it’s 55th meeting in July.

Also, Presidency approved the sum of N671million for consultancy services and engineering design for the extension of the East-West road, with a completion period of nine months. The contract is for Phase Four of the East-West Road that spans Oron, Akwa-Ibom State to Calabar, Cross River State.