The Nation Newspaper

Category: Saturday Magazine

  • IT SMELLED LIKE DEATH: How flood disaster erased Borno’s blind elderly

    IT SMELLED LIKE DEATH: How flood disaster erased Borno’s blind elderly

    • Haunting reality of Zara Aji, others amid Maiduguri’s reptilian surge

    • As waters recede, over 150 PWDs missing, presumed dead

    • How non-inclusive laws leave disabled elderly at disadvantage

    The flood stole through the streets of Gwange like a reptilian beast. Until it got to Zara Aji’s home. By the time the 83-year-old stirred in her bed, she was soaked to the pants. The Alau Dam had collapsed hours before, spilling with nature’s pent-up rage. It was 3 a.m. when the water began its slow, fearsome crawl into her abode.

    The cold splash from her feet up to her midriff startled her fully awake. Aji could hear the roar of the water outside and its chilling hum inside her room. She sat, trapped and helpless. At 83, she was blind and her body was frail.

    As the flood rose to her waist, the house listed to the weight of the water gushing in from every crack and crevice. Aji’s room became a watery tomb. And in that critical moment, salvation came in the form of her grandson, Mohammed. Having heard the chilling hiss of the flood as it surged into their compound, the teenager was up in an instant, wading through the house in search of his granny.

    A debt of love carried through cold waters

    Mohammed found Grandma Aji shivering in bed. Promptly, he lifted her onto his back and waded through the depths of the flooded house,  against the current that sought to pull them both under.

    Tears slid down Aji’s cheeks, as she clung to her grandson, the poetic resonance of the moment sinking into her heart. In that moment, he was no longer the toddler she rocked to sleep on her back, singing soft lullabies. The roles were reversed. The grandson was now the saviour and protector, bearing his grandma to safety through dangerous waters.

    Aji could feel the water splashing against the boy’s chest. She could hear him grunt as he fought to keep them moving. And in the darkness, as the deluge splashed threateningly around them, there was a strange, haunting beauty in the way love had come full circle.

    Mohammed hastened out of the house before its walls crumbled. There was no turning back. The water seemed endless, but they moved through its depths, slowly but steadily towards London Chikki. He held tightly to his grandmother as if he understood the import of his actions. In that moment, he was carrying more than just her frail body; he was bearing a lifetime of memories, love, and shared history.

    Into the shallows, but not to safety

    They sought refuge in the London Chikki area, but the flood had not spared it either. The waters were still rising, the current still swirling to pull them both under. “We walked again,” Aji recalled, her voice frail with grief and exhaustion. “We walked until we reached the main road.”

    For three days, they stayed on that road, waiting for the waters to recede, like so many others displaced by the flood. Hungry and helpless, the cold seeped into their bones. They were far from safe, but at least they had survived.

    Eventually, they sought refuge with Aji’s brother, who took them in until the waters receded. After they deluge, they hurried back to Gwange, only to meet a shell of what used to be their home. Their house was gone, reduced to a pile of broken walls. Grandma Aji’s clothes and her few prized possessions had also been swept away in the torrent, leaving her destitute.

    “The government didn’t provide anything for us,” she said. “We heard there was support, but it never came to our community.”

    Lost in the torrent: Stories of the invisible

    Aji’s experience is one among several narratives of persons with disabilities (PWDs). And they all resonate with a deafening chill. For most elderly PWDs, the flood devastated their lives and exposed their inability to survive natural disasters. As the waters rose and people fled, visually impaired PWDs who could not see the danger approaching were left behind.

    Not all were so fortunate, like Aji. On the same night that her grandson rescued her, Safinatu Bala and her friend, Seyidatu, got lost in the waters. Both widows, the duo reportedly lived beside each other in Gamboru, their lives intertwined by friendship and a shared hardship of visual impairment.

    When the flood came, they clung to each other and wailed for their neighbours to rescue them from the rising water. But in the chaos, they got separated and swept apart. By morning, neither woman could be found. No one knows if they are still alive or if they had drowned in the surge.

    On his part, Iliyasu, an 84-year-old visually impaired and internally displaced person (IDP), told his fellow PWDs and co-squatter around the Monday Market, in Maiduguri, to leave him. “I have lived through too many floods. I will survive,” he said. “But if this is to be my end, then so be it.” His words reflected the desperation of several PWDs amid the deluge.  Like Bala and Seyidatu, Iliyasu hasn’t been seen since September 10.

    For many PWDs in Maiduguri, the flood was a cruel reminder of their vulnerability. They could not see the rising waters or gauge the danger until it was too late. Volunteers and aid workers in their rush to evacuate the able-bodied, overlooked those who could not flee on their own, noted Zulfatu Adamu, a Maiduguri-based aid worker. And so, the blind and disabled were left behind.

    The collapse of Alau Dam

    The eventual collapse of the Alau Dam was the result of years of neglect and mismanagement, warnings ignored and postponed repairs. Thus on the night of September 9, 2024, after days of torrential rain, the Alau Dam finally gave way as its weakened structure crumbled under the weight of the water.

    At the dam’s collapse, Maiduguri experienced its most severe flooding since 1994. Severe flash flooding submerged the Maiduguri Metropolitan Council (MMC) and Jere Local Government Area (LGA), displacing hundreds of thousands of people, including PWDs, at the height of the agricultural lean season’s food and nutrition crisis.

    In a statement titled, “Flooding Alert for River Bank Residents,” the Commissioner for Information and Internal Security, Prof. Usman Tar, called for the immediate evacuation of affected areas, and urged residents to follow designated evacuation routes for their safety. However, a major blindspot of Borno’s rescue plan was the safe evacuation of PWDs in the flood-prone areas.

    As the waters surged, many residents panicked and rushed to evacuate what seemed like certain death. For most, it was a panicked dash through roads slick with mud, toward whatever safety they could find. The flood ravaged villages, farmlands, and human lives alike, but hidden in the narrative of loss was the deeper anguish of several elderly PWDs like visually impaired Aji, Bala, Seyidatu and Iliyasu.

    Bitter streets, bitterer shelter

    Survivors like Fatima Yagana, 74 and visually impaired, sought refuge at emergency shelters. “Before the flood, I lived with my niece. She invited me to squat in her home after her husband died. On the night that the flood destroyed our home, I couldn’t sleep easily. I woke up and everywhere smelt like death. But it was the flood, and it almost drowned me and Rekiya (one of her niece’s kids). We fled and now have to live on the streets. We depend on alms to survive,” she said.

    The 74-year-old who has been rendered homeless and destitute by the flood, now lives on the streets with her niece, Ayisatu, and the latter’s two kids, because they couldn’t stay at the Gwange 1 emergency shelter due to the unsanitary conditions.

    The crowded shelter, like so many others, offered no sanctuary. The stench of human waste clings to the air all through the squalid and congested shelter, rendering its heated expanse even more suffocating. “The toilets smelt bad,” Yagana lamented, stressing that even though she can’t see, should at least enjoy fresh air. That was why she chose the streets, preferring the rough ground and open sky to the claustrophobia of an unsanitary refuge.

    A humanitarian void

    The Borno State Government, alongside humanitarian agencies, scrambled to provide aid. Yet, amid the efforts to register and assist the displaced, the specific plight of PWDs slipped through the cracks. In total, more than 2,500 people with disabilities in the flood-prone areas were directly affected by the flood, many of them left stranded in their homes as the waters rose, with over 150 missing or presumed dead, according to the National President of the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD), Abdullahi Ali Usman.

    The figure quoted by Ali Usman is no doubt a conservative estimate. It would be recalled that precisely 3,127 PWDs comprising turned out in Maiduguri, to receive the N30,000 grant disbursed by Governor Babagana Umara Zulum, in 2019, as part of the social protection scheme of his administration.

    Going by the 2019 figure, the number of PWDs reportedly affected by the September flood, therefore, doesn’t represent the full picture.

    The affected PWDs were not invisible, but rather ignored, denied access to the evacuation routes and the dignity of urgent care. The numbers—37 deaths, 58 injured, 414,000 displaced—attest to the depth of the devastation. Beneath the statistics subsists issues of marginalisation and neglect. “Already PWDs are facing marginalisation due to their disabilities, this flood disaster is a double blow for them,” lamented Ali Usman.

    Corroborating him, Abiodun Tilawe, a social psychologist and emergency aid consultant stated, “Persons with disabilities are usually at greater risk in an emergency. More worrisome, she argued, is the fate of older PWDs with mental health conditions. “They are at a higher risk of death as the hardships experienced impact devastatingly on their mental health. Many become traumatised by the fear of losing their lives and being left behind. From experience, older PWDs find it difficult to adapt to the extreme conditions into which they are suddenly thrust. Before the disaster, they are not taught about what to do to adapt and keep themselves safe. Some of them, who were displaced from their communities by protracted conflict, lived on the streets without any caregivers. Since the flood happened, they have been unaccounted for, and nobody has bothered to look for them,” said Tilawe.

    The trauma after

    For PWDs who survived, each day in the aftermath of the flood has been an agonising reminder of their vulnerability. The disaster stripped them of autonomy. Their disability is a barrier to their mobility, access to provisions and dignity.

    For Jelani Aliyu, life as a PWD at the Gwange 3 temporary refuge, became extremely difficult. Confined to a wheelchair, the 81-year-old revealed that the damage done by the flood made accessing every basic necessity an impossible feat. According to him, the emergency shelters were not designed for PWDs. The aid distributions were chaotic, the strong elbowed out the weak, and the disabled were left to mope on the fringes. There were no ramps, accessible toilets, and accommodations made for people like him. He was invisible.

    The ongoing conflict in the region cast an even darker pall over the lives of PWDs. In 2014, in the town of Damasak, Mohamadou, a blind man of 53 years, fled from his home as Boko Haram laid siege to his community. Blind and defenceless, he clung to his wife and son as they swam across the Yobe River, ducking a volley of gunshots from the rampaging terrorists. “We swam like fish,” he recalled, though he could not see the river.

    For two years, Mohamadou lived in a refugee camp, dependent on the kindness of his son and strangers. But his disability marked him as a prey. His young son was frequently shoved aside by stronger, older men, and time after time, as he queued for provisions and other relief items. Thus he often returned empty-handed.

    “I would wait in line with my young son to get aid, but adult refugees would kick children away, including my son. We were too weak to fight back and would often lose our turn and return without getting anything from the distribution,” he said.

    Mohamadou, like so many PWDs displaced by flood and conflict, became a ghost, alive but uncared for.

    It’s a hard life for PWDs

    Nigeria was affected by the worst floods in a decade between June and November 2022, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC). The floods triggered over 2.4 million displacements, the highest disaster displacement figure in sub-Saharan Africa in 2022. Half of the displacements were reported in Bayelsa State, but Anambra and Kogi were also heavily affected. Displacement camps in the northeastern state of Borno were also flooded, forcing thousands of people already displaced by conflict and violence to flee again. By comparison, floods triggered 166,000 displacements in 2023, a figure in line with the average of the past decade. By the end of 2023, 81,000 people were still living in internal displacement due to disasters, a more than ten-fold reduction compared to the end of 2022.

    Disaster displacement, whether triggered by cyclones, wildfires, floods, or other hazards, is a growing global issue with particularly harsh consequences for PWDs, who have to endure heightened risks due to discrimination and barriers to accessing essential services.

    In 2020 and 2021, the UN noted that older PWDs may encounter unique challenges during climate-related disasters, such as the Borno flood. Similarly, a 2021 report by Women in Displacement (WID) revealed that 27% of IDPs in northeast Nigeria have a disability, a figure that has increased since the insurgency. As a result, PWDs living in camps are disproportionately affected and frequently excluded from key interventions.

    According to the WHO’s 2018 World Disability Report, many PWDs in Nigeria, are disproportionately affected in disaster, emergency, and conflict situations due to inaccessible evacuation, response, and recovery efforts. The WHO notes that they are more likely to be left behind or abandoned during evacuation in disasters and conflicts due to a lack of preparation and planning, as well as inaccessible facilities, services and transportation systems.

    During floods, older PWDs would require greater assistance and additional time to evacuate, but they receive less support. Further findings revealed that most IDP camps are not accessible and people with disabilities get turned away from the emergency shelters, oftentimes, due to a perception that they need “complex medical” services. Consequently, older PWDs find themselves at greater risk as they are more likely to suffer medical conditions, such as heart or respiratory conditions, through extreme situations, according to expert opinion. Older PWDs may also take medications that cause intolerance and impair the body’s response to cold and heat. The high death rates of people with disabilities and older people during the 2021 heatwaves in British Columbia (BC), Canada, illustrate these points: 91 per cent of those who died had a chronic medical condition or a disability and 90 per cent were older people.

    Due to the lack of accurate data, it is often unclear exactly how many people with disabilities and older people are affected by a particular disaster as indicated by the Borno flood. The lack of accurate data on the number of IDPs living with a disability and their location equally poses challenges to monitoring their needs and allocating resources. It also makes it difficult to tailor support and assess the inclusivity of responses over long-term recovery and reconstruction efforts.

    About a billion people, or 15 per cent of the globe’s population, are estimated to have a disability, of whom 80 per cent live in low- and middle-income countries, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC). The global number of people with disabilities is increasing, partly because of ageing populations and a rise in chronic health conditions. It is not known how many people with disabilities live in IDP camps associated with disasters. The IDMC estimates that 5.1 million people were still displaced as a result of disasters at the end of 2019, but this figure is highly conservative. This is because data on the number of people living in displacement after a disaster event is scarce.

    Accessibility issues, stigmatisation and variations in definitions tend to render IDPs with disabilities invisible during data collection. They are, as a result, often under-identified. For example, when Ambae Island in Vanuatu was evacuated in 2017 because of increased volcanic activity, there were concerns that a significant number of people with disabilities had not been identified among the evacuees. The International Organization for Migration’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (IOM-DTM) reported 37 people with disabilities out of 5,125 people located in one evacuation centre. This represented less than one per cent of the total displaced population. Sources vary on the prevalence of disability in Vanuatu, but 2019 data from the UN placed it at up to 12 per cent.

    Disability Bill as a paper tiger

    On January 23, 2019, Nigeria’s former President Muhammadu Buhari signed into law the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, 2018, following nine years of relentless advocacy by disability rights groups and activists.

    The law prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability and imposes sanctions including fines and prison sentences on those who contravene it. It also stipulates a five-year transitional period for modifying public buildings, structures, and automobiles to make them accessible and usable for people with disabilities.

    The law also established a National Commission for Persons with Disabilities (NCPD) in 2020. The NCPWD, tasked to guarantee PWDs access to housing, education, and healthcare, is also empowered to receive complaints of rights violations and support victims to seek legal redress amongst other duties.

    Yet, one thing the NCPWD hasn’t done is to ensure the protection of Nigerians with disabilities during a natural disaster, emergency or conflict.

    Lack of data accentuate social exclusion

    Quoting recent World Health Organisation (WHO) figures, the immediate past executive secretary of the NCPWD, James Lalu, disclosed that currently, there are over 35.1 million persons living with disabilities in Nigeria of which a paltry 4,000 are duly registered.

    Notwithstanding, his successor and incumbent executive secretary of the Commission, has reiterated the NCPWD’s commitment to ensuring inclusive policies for all clusters of PWDs in line with the Renewed Hope agenda of the incumbent administration of President Bola Tinubu.

    Gufwan made the assurance in Abuja during a parley with a delegation from the Pioneers of the Nigerian National and International Disability Civil Rights Movement and Policy Chapters, a disability advocacy Group.

    “We are open to partnering with National and International bodies to ensure that the rights and privileges of persons with disabilities are protected as stipulated by the Prohibition Act, 2018,” he said.

    Earlier, Gufwan affirmed that data remains a veritable tool for the proper planning and execution of all disability-inclusive projects in Nigeria.

    The NCPWD had previously emphasised the importance of accurate data gathering and processing as the fundamental aspect of inclusive social policies for PWDs. “We must prioritise facts and figures of various clusters in the disability community to get it right,” he said, insisting that the need to ascertain the actual number of persons with disabilities is pertinent. “Over the years, persons with disabilities are believed to be about 35.1 million in Nigeria which is of course, a staggering figure but, we must revisit this and ascertain the authenticity of this figure and update it if necessary,” he said.

    A 2018 estimate by the National Population Commission (NPC) states that there are about 19 million, that is, 9.6 per cent of the 198 population approximately, living in Nigeria.

    In Nigeria, social protection for PWDs remains weak, despite government claims of increased provisioning for them. The Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, passed only after years of advocacy, has done little to address the deep-rooted exclusion PWDs face in society. Discrimination persists, driven by negative perceptions and cultural stigmas that label disabled individuals as cursed, especially in communities lacking proper disability-inclusive governance.

    This exclusion often results in poverty, dependence on others, and health challenges. In the conflict-ridden northeast, PWDs, particularly women and children, suffer more acutely, being unable to pursue livelihoods or enjoy basic social rights.

    A report by the Grassroots Researchers Associations (GRA), authored by written by Timothy Ali Yohanna, revealed that PWDs in northeast Nigeria suffer frequent violations of their rights. These include opposition to marriages with non-disabled individuals, denial of medical care due to financial constraints, denial of access to decent shelter, and exclusion from social opportunities.

    More worrisome is the institutionalised disregard for their right to life as established before, during, and in the aftermath of the Borno flood. These discriminatory practices and lack of disability-inclusive policies rendered PWDs particularly vulnerable during the disaster, further deepening their already precarious situation.

    The need for inclusion

    Whether fleeing an extreme weather event or conflict, “disabled people are among the most vulnerable, and are more likely to be side-lined in every aspect of the humanitarian assistance process,” said Cheick Ba, Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)’s Country Director in Nigeria, in the wake of Mohamadou’s predicament.

    “They face multiple barriers in accessing aid, information, healthcare and protection. We, humanitarians, must do much better in our work. We have to systematically identify and register displaced persons with disabilities,” said Ba.

    Article 11 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in risk and humanitarian emergencies, pays particular attention to the obligation of States and parties to undertake “all necessary measures to ensure the protection and safety of persons with disabilities in situations of risk, including situations of armed conflict, humanitarian emergencies and the occurrence of natural disasters.”

    Environmental dangers and natural disasters like the Borno flood, can lead to the onset of many types of disabilities, and inaccessible environments prevent persons with disabilities from taking part in social and economic recovery. Rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts, therefore, must not only be inclusive and responsive to the needs of all people, including PWDs, but should include the latter’s participation, to ensure that their needs and rights are respected.

    Women with disabilities, Aji, are a particularly vulnerable group whose needs should be included at all stages of recovery and reconstruction efforts.

    But that is in the long run, in the short run, their survival depends on the goodwill of neighbours and family; those who dare look their way, not to scorn their ordeal or simply talk eyes to their grief.

    As the waters recede and Maiduguri takes stock of the damage, there is a sense of loss so profound it is hard to put into words. Lives have been upended, homes have been destroyed, and communities torn apart. Amid the wreckage, there is also a sense of despair as elderly PWDs are left adrift, far from the government’s reconstruction plans.

    In the absence of government support, Zara Aji, for instance, has learnt to take each day as it comes. At her last encounter with the reporter, giant houseflies buzzed lazily in the thick air around her, their tiny, winged bodies hovering around her face as if they could perceive her grief. They perched on her eyelids, cheek, and lips. Aji did not flinch. She did not swat them away. Instead, she sat stoic, with heartbreaking inertia, allowing the flies to perch as they pleased. Their buzz filled the air with a strange, haunting hum, as though they too mourned the loss she had endured.

    For the 83-year-old, there is no going back to what was. The flood had changed everything. Every sunset, she lounges on the broken veranda of what was once her home, reliving that fateful night in September, when the skies poured over Maiduguri with a fury rarely seen, collapsing the Alau Dam and submerging several homes and lives in Borno. Gwange, the neighbourhood where she had lived for years, is now a shell of itself; a landscape of mud and sorrow.

    Aji, 83 and visually impaired, cannot see the destruction around her. But she can feel it in the cold draft of the breeze, the dampness that clings to her skin, and the hollow echo of the neighbourhood’s once-familiar sounds.

    Her frail memories remain her only witness to the horror of the reptilian flood that submerged her home, almost drowning her. Until salvation arrived in the form of her grandson, in a poignant moment that affirmed a debt long owed and finally repaid.

  • Help, scrap metal scavengers have stolen our peace!

    Help, scrap metal scavengers have stolen our peace!

    • Residents lament activities of thieving waste collectors

    The scrap metal and iron collection business appears to be booming as many unemployed youths have taken to it to keep themselves busy. As good as the development may seem, many communities are groaning under the weight of the unwholesome activities of some unscrupulous elements among these scrap metal and iron collectors. GBENGA ADERANTI writes on the burden that many of them constitute to many communities where they operate.

    It was a typical Monday morning, and Mr. Adetokunbo Johnson, a resident of Akute, Ogun State, was taking his children to school in his Honda Civic car. Suddenly, he bumped into a ditch and his car got stuck, causing two of his children to sustain slight injuries. He wondered what could have been responsible for the hitch as he walked 360 degrees around the car to see what was amiss.

    After a thorough check, he discovered to his utmost shock that the makeshift iron bridge built across the drainage for easy passage of vehicles had been removed by people suspected to be scrap metal scavengers, known in street parlance as ‘condemned iron man ‘. 

    “I have been taking this route for more than three years and never suspected that anyone would remove the iron bar sustaining the bridge,” a dejected Johnson said.

    Initially thinking that it was the community’s decision to remove the iron, he threatened to sue. But his anger turned to surprise when he learnt that it was one of the scrap metal scavengers that removed the makeshift iron bridge.

    Also narrating his experience, Mr. Gbenga Adeyemi, a resident of Lambe, a suburb of Ogun State recounted how he lost his generator to scrap metal scavengers.

    Lamenting the development, he said: “I kept the generator outside my compound with the main gate of my house locked, not knowing that I was deceiving myself.

    “It was later in the night that I discovered that the generator had disappeared from my compound.”

    It was in the process of investigating how the incident occurred that one of the residents said they saw the generator with a ‘condemned iron’ man. An eyewitness said that when the scrap metal scavenger was accosted, he told the resident that it was Adeyemi who sold the generator to him because it was no longer useful.

    Unfortunately, the resident did not bother to crosscheck his claims with Adeyemi because it was not uncommon in the community for residents to sell their disused iron and metals to scavengers.

    Another resident of Lambe, Destiny Kingsley, is still lamenting his loss a year after his house was invaded by some scrap metal scavengers.

    According to him, he left his house for work on a Monday morning to return on Friday evening as usual only to find that his house had been turned upside down.

    Destiny said: “I was just too tired to take stock of things and there was no light. But the second day, I was shocked at the extent of the heist in my apartment.

    “That was when I realized that I was in big trouble. The three plasma television sets in the bedrooms and the living room had been taken away.

    “The pots and spoons in the kitchen had also all disappeared. All the window curtains had vanished and the DVD player and speakers had all gone.

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    “I suspect that it was not a job done in one day. How would a petty thief take time to pack all those things?”

    The general believe in the community was that the scrap metal scavengers and refuse collectors were responsible for the burglary. And Destiny’s suspicion that his house was burgled by either waste parkers or scrap iron scavengers was confirmed when he later saw an abandoned pair of slippers, sacks and some iron materials synonymous with ones scrap metal scavengers always carry about.

    “Many people in the community used to quarrel with me for being hostile to these undesirable elements.

    “I told them that allowing them to operate freely within the community is dangerous, but they would not listen. Am I not vindicated now?” Destiny asked.

    Most of these scrap metal scavengers are vicious and shrewd. They would damage anything to get their desired iron and metal materials. A video was recently posted on social media highlighting the activities of these iron and metal dealers in the Festac area of Lagos. In the said video, some of the materials used to build barriers on a bridge were seen to have been removed while an attempt was also made to remove some of the iron used in constructing the bridge.

    The reporter once sighted a group of these scavengers at the GRA, Ikeja, Lagos at about 11. 30 pm trying to remove some iron used to prevent plastics and other waste materials from escaping into a major drainage.

    Surprisingly, the average metal scrap dealer looks innocent and incapable of doing any harm. Beneath their facade of innocence, however, is wickedness and greed.

    While they are everywhere seemingly doing the business of buying disused metal and iron materials, those who have experienced their wicked acts would warn that you could only fall for their innocent looks at your own peril. 

    While the communities continue to suffer, losing their belongings to these scavengers, the irritating clinging of metals and irons that wake them up every morning, as a result of the activities of the metal dealers has become a source of concern to many. Resident associations appear helpless as many of their members complain bitterly about the unsolicited melody.

    “It is very irritating seeing someone wake you up as early as 6am with a cacophonic sound of metal and iron,” said Eddy Eboigbe, a resident.

    Yet the challenges are not peculiar to residents of the aforementioned Ogun and Lagos communities. Other states in Nigeria are also battling with the invasion of their communities by scrap iron and metal scavengers.

    But while people like Destiny are opposed to the activities of used metal collectors, other residents are not disposed to stopping them. This is particularly the case with housewives and children who make easy money from disposing of their unwanted metals and irons.

    The reporter also gathered that some of the children of landlords work hand in hand with the thieving scavengers. Narrating how he gets his stocks, one of the scavengers who was caught recently fingered some landlords’ children as part of the deal.

    He said: “It is the children of the landlords in the community that give us information about who and who is around and when to come.

    “And most times when we take these things during the day, we keep them in their house and come back in the night to pick them.

    “Because they know the value of what we have, they collect their share of the loot.”

    In another instance, a scrap metal scavenger arrested after stealing a burglary proof from an uncompleted building Akute, an Ogun community, confessed to buying the ‘condemned iron’ from a resident of an uncompleted building.

    The Nation learnt that the market value of the burglary proof was about N140,000 while the young man sold the material to the vendor for a paltry N10,000.

    In some communities, the fear of the scrap metal scavengers is the beginning of wisdom. The situation has become so bad that many residents have jettisoned the use of iron to cover their drainage; rather, they have resorted to concrete slabs.

    The Nation gathered that in a particular community, all the iron covers of their drainages were stolen within one week.

    A member of the Landlords’ association in one of the communities, who craved anonymity said: “We just woke up one Sunday, and we discovered that no fewer than 20 percent of the iron drainage covers had been removed.

    “Those who did the dirty job must have carried out the operation at dawn. We didn’t take it seriously until we discovered the incident had become rampant.”

    Currently, some of the houses that still have their iron drainage covers intact lock them with keys. Those who have lost theirs and cannot afford concrete slabs cover their drainages with planks.

    Communities in dilemma

    On account of the involvement of landlords’ children, many communities find it difficult to take action when thieving scavengers are caught.

    As a way of stopping the incessant burgling of houses, some landlords’ associations have restricted the number of scrap metal scavengers that could enter their communities. Others have gone a step further by registering them and giving them uniforms. But these are only possible in communities where there are gates.

    More trouble for residents

    It is also worrisome that besides the nuisance they constitute by stealing metals in the community, it is not also uncommon to see these dealers setting up shanties in open places. To worsen matters, the shanties are not accessible to outsiders except they are part of the scrap metal business.

    Only recently, the Ogun State Government demolished their shanties under the bridge being built in Akute. Unfortunately, they are gradually returning to the place.

    “I really don’t know why the government cannot do anything about these scrap metal dealers. They are a nuisance to the community.

    “To make matters worse, they set up their shanties anywhere without anyone challenging them,” said Mr Ajibola Rasheed.

    Turning waste into wealth

    One of the scavengers, Abdul Rabiu, who spoke with our correspondent, said “the business is very profitable because you don’t need money to make money. All that is needed is patience and perseverance.”

    According to him, he gets most of the scrap metals he sells from dust bins and on the road.

    “You won’t appreciate the volume of metals that I pick on the road with magnets. By the time I pack everything together and weigh them, they become money,” he said with excitement.

    He also recalled that most residents pay them to dispose of iron materials that should have been sold to them.

    The flip side is that many residents are becoming hostile because they see the average scavenger as a thief. This, Rabiu said, has really affected the business, though he told The Nation that he makes between N5,000 and N10,000 from picking disused iron materials on a daily basis.

    It was gathered that scrap metal scavengers make millions just by collecting and selling metal waste. At the rate of N800 to N1,000 per kg, a collector could make as much as N7 million from a truckload of aluminum and about N25 million from copper.

    Fortunately for these scrap metal collectors, they buy at giveaway prices and oftentimes pick freely on the road. Little wonder the number of vendors has continued to soar.

    Besides, the business is not regulated as it is an all comer affair. It is a lucrative business in Nigeria because scrap metal collectors have become a source of raw materials for companies that recycle them.  

    According to a report, Nigeria consumes almost 7 million metric tons of metal annually.  As of 2019, the global metal recycling business at large was worth $52.1 billion, and it has been projected to grow as high as $76.1 billion at a massive CAGR of 7.8% within the forecast period of 2020 and 2025.

    The USA stands tall in the metal recycling market. The country exported over 17,000 metric tons of scrap metal in 2019. The US is trailed by Japan (7,657 MT), Canada (4,369 MT), Russia (4,059 MT) and Australia (2,325 MT) in the same market year.

    On the flip side, Turkey remains the biggest importer of scrap metal, with particular attention on steel metal. The Eurasian country imported a whopping 19 million MT of scrap steel alone in 2019. This further underlines the heavy demand for scrap metal all over the world.

    The vocation has provided employment opportunities to many youths who otherwise would have remained unemployed. Irrespective of the nuisance they constitute, many Nigerians will continue to do the business as long as the status quo remains.

    According to a report, report by minesandsteel.gov.ng over 95% of the current steel production in Nigeria is from scrap metal. The scrap metals, after recycling, are a source of raw materials for manufacturing Companies that are into production of household appliances, building tools, vehicles and items as small as drinks can.

    In some communities, the fear of the scrap metal scavengers is the beginning of wisdom. The situation has become so bad that many residents have jettisoned the use of iron to cover their drainages; rather, they have resorted to concrete slabs.

  • CDS, IG hailed over rescue of journalists

    CDS, IG hailed over rescue of journalists

    Some sports writers have commended the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Gwabin Musa and Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun for rescuing some of the sports journalists kidnapped last week on Ihiala-Orlu Road, Anambra State on the eve of the Nigeria/Libya AFCON qualifying match in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital.

    In a statement, Ambassador Olatutu Oladunni, however, said Mr Kola Omoniyi, the eldest among the reporters of Afro Sports, the police officer and driver died.

    He added that those kidnapped were the media crew, and that they were made to pay ransom running into millions of naira, and that the kidnappers collected also the cash on the victims in the bush.

    However, luck ran out of the attackers when the military tracked their location and swung into action to rescue seven members of the crew after four of them had fled.

    He said the military were able to rescue the reporters and exhumed the body of Omoniyi, whom the kidnappers had buried in a shallow grave and that the team came in their ambulance to pick up those critically injured journalists. 

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    The army officers handed them over to their medical team but took the body of the deceased journalist to the mortuary.

    Oladunni also said two out of the four crew members, who ran into the bush before the arrival of the security forces during the attack, survived with the help of the military as they were able to track their location. They have since returned to Lagos.

    “The military forces have  confirmed to us that one of the journalists, Abdul Quadri Amao, is still nowhere to be found as the operations team in the Artillery Regiment and 34 Artillery Brigade confirmed that his location was about 500 radius away to their base and they have been in the lookout for him in the bush in the past two days but he is yet to be found,’ he added.

    “Our prayer is with Mr Quadri Amao that the good Lord help the military forces rescue him. We commend the Chief of Defence Staff, the Chief of Army staff, the Joint Security Forces of the Nigerian military headed by the Commander of General operations in Anambra State, Col A. K. Mohammed and team of 302 Artillery Regiment (General Support) and Commander 34 Brigade in Owerri, Nigeria Police, Lagos SWAN Executive Committee members and Arise Television for the effort to save these noble men. She added: “We want to call on Afro Sports to  do the needful by ensuring a well-deserved compensation package is released to all the media crew involved and most especially to the family of the late Kola Omoniyi who was regarded as an expertise and one of the best professional camera operators Nigeria ever produced.

    “On behalf of myself, the executive members and the Lagos SWAN members, we commiserate with the family of the deceased journalist, the police officer and driver who all lost their lives . And we thanked God for the others who were rescued.

    Lagos SWAN commended Egbetokun and his team for their role. “It is important we express gratitude to the IGP, Kayode Egbetokun, and the Nigerian Military, for the kind spirit and support they have shown in the swift response to call and rescue of the kidnapped media team,” Oladunni said.

  • Customers groan as banks cut ATM operations, fintechs hasten PoS services

    Customers groan as banks cut ATM operations, fintechs hasten PoS services

    In banking, convenience and security are crucial in securing customers’ trust and satisfaction. But, sadly, these key elements are eluding customers, as banks are phasing out Automated Teller Machine (ATM) services by restricting customers’ access to cash.  Fintech-led Point of Sale (PoS) terminals are fast replacing ATMs. Reason-ATMs are either out of service, or programmed to dispense less cash than needed. The 22,600 ATMs, as against 26.54 million registered PoS terminals nationwide clearly shows that cash services demand is swinging to PoS terminals. Assistant Business Editor, COLLINS NWEZE captures the paradigm shift from ATMs to PoS services and premium prices that cardholders pay to access cash.

    As 35-year-old lawyer Zainab Okosun pushed through the crowd at the popular Mile 12 Market in Lagos, she headed straight to the food and beverages section. It took her nearly two hours, to assemble yams, plantain bunches, pears, vegetables, tomatoes, pepper and other food items for the month. In the midst of her struggles, one question kept agitating her mind. Where do I get cash to pay for these items?

     Okosun quickly called one of the PoS operators, who had been following her asking if she needed cash. “Please, come. I need to make N80, 000 withdrawal,” she beckoned. Should I add the charges? The PoS operator enquired. “Add the charges” Okosun replied. Within five seconds, Okosun’s account was debited N82, 400 through her debit card, and N80, 000 cash was successfully handed over to her to pay the food vendors.

     Okosun, who has now learnt “how not to look for cash” narrated how she spent nearly three hours in ATM queue during her previous visit to the market a year ago. She explained: “Before now, cardholders that needed cash always ask for the nearest ATM points. That has since changed. Cardholders’ first point of call when they are in need of cash is to ask for a PoS operator, usually available at nearly every one-minute drive across major cities nationwide.”

    Findings showed that a growing number of ATMs across banks’ branches have been “temporarily unable to dispense cash” or “out of service” for months. At a number of bank branches, a few ATMs with cash are disabled late in the day and during weekends.  Unfortunately, the banks and financial sector regulators- the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC)- seem not to be doing much to reverse the trend.

    Hard times for ATM users, PoS services surge

    Overall, the ATM business in Nigeria is facing its most difficult times due to the high cost of maintenance, growing adoption of other banking channels, foreign exchange crisis, galloping inflation, insecurity, and uncertainty in the ATM policy environment, all of which are driving investors away from the market.

    However, PoS terminal operators and kiosks managers are taking over the market, stepping in to make cash available to customers at premium prices. Data from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) showed that the number of PoS terminals registered in Nigeria as of August 2024 reached 26.54 million, with transactions reaching N6.23 trillion in the first seven months of this year.

    Daily earnings from a PoS business vary depending on the location, the number of customers, and the services provided. Potential earnings range from N5, 000 to N50, 000 or more, depending on one’s business strategy and execution. With a well-planned and executed business model, the PoS operator can achieve significant daily earnings.

    Charges for the service is determined solely by PoS operators, depending on the cost of cash, where and when the cash is needed, time of request and sometimes, mood of the operator. Tinuke Adebola, a PoS Aggregator based in Lagos, said banks are no longer investing in ATMs because it is not only expensive but comes with a lot of stress.

    She said: “PoS terminals are taking over the financial landscape. Banks are not ready to absorb rising costs of maintaining ATM terminals that require power, security, cash movement; cash handling charges and so on. Banking is profit-driven and ATM terminals are no longer meeting the profit needs of banks.”

    She said: “We buy cash from business owners and then dispense to cardholders. This is one of the reasons why some PoS operators charge higher fees than others. It all depends on charges from the Fintechs that supply the machines and access to cash.”

    Another PoS Aggregator, based in Central Lagos, Oloye Adigun, said that network quality, availability of PoS machines and cost of the machines are crucial in the business. He disclosed that: “Outright PoS machine (smart version) purchase costs N110,000 while the button version costs N65,000; lease costs N45,000 for smart version, while the button brand costs N25,000.”

    He said bills payment, bank to bank  transfer, cash receipts and payment to third parties, among others are key transactions carried out with PoS machines. In the highly populated areas of Lagos, Ogun and Abuja, charges are usually moderate- usually N100 for N5, 000 and N200 for N10, 000 transactions given that operators rely on turnover for gains.

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    In areas like Olambe, Akute, area of Ogun State, for instance, customers pay as much as N300 for a N5,000 withdrawal and N500 for N10,000. However, in high-brow areas like Ikoyi and Victoria Garden City, people pay up to N500 for N5, 000 and N1, 000 for N10, 000.

    This thriving business empire is dominated by top three Fintech players- Moniepoint, Palmpay and O’Pay. National President, Association of Mobile Money & Bank Agents in Nigeria, Fassai Atanda, said PoS is execution of financial sector’s agenda on financial inclusion. He said that over 300 local governments in Nigeria are without bank branches, even as the largest transactions are happening in the informal sector. He said the PoS agents are meant to bridge the financial exclusion gap in the informal sector.

    For Atanda, the mobile money industry has created over two million jobs, with 40 per cent of that number being agent bankers- PoS merchants.

    According to Executive Director of Inlaks, the largest ATM operator in the country, Tope Dare, Nigeria requires about 60,000 ATMs to meet up with its growing population of 216 million people and a banking population of 106 million adults.

    In a report, he explained that given that there are only 22, 600 active ATMs, a deficit of about 37, 400 ATMs still exists in the country. Also, 17,200 ATMs representing 76 per cent of the total ATMs in Nigeria are deployed by eight banks. Access Bank has over 4,000 ATMs, First Bank has about 3,300, UBA has 2,150 ATMs, Zenith has 2,100 ATMs, GTBank has 1800 ATMs, FCMB has 1,350, Polaris has 1300, and Union has 1,200.

    Further data from Inlaks showed that Nigeria had 7,100 ATMs in 2010, which grew to 11,000 ATMs in 2011 after the CBN directed the removal of the offsite ATMs by banks. The offsite management role was given to independent ATM deployers. That move failed after ATM deployers complained about rising cost of running the business and declining profitability.

    The CBN restrictions on offsite ATM deployment were eventually lifted, allowing banks to invest more in the business. That prompted the number of ATMs to grow from 11,000 in 2011 to 16,000 in 2016 and 21,000 in 2019. It further grew to 22,600 in 2021, with the figure remaining at same level till date.

    According to Dare, the emergence of PoS terminals, mobile app transfers, Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), and other alternative e-payment channels has reduced investors’ interest in ATMs.

    Understanding the PoS business

    Many of the PoS operators gave insights on the mode of operation of the enterprise. Maureen Adike-Tajudeen, a PoS operator at Eleko Market, Ibeju-Lekki Lagos, said he gave one PoS machine to each of his three employees, with each employee delivering N14, 000 on weekly basis. He described the PoS business as thriving.

    “Each of my three employees gets one PoS machine, N200, 000 credit in the machine and N200, 000 cash. Each of them delivers N14, 000 weekly profits and retains the principal cash and credit, for the next week’s transactions,” she disclosed.

    According to her, profitability in the business keeps getting higher as banks gradually abandon regular loading of cash in ATMs.

    “For most cardholders, after frequent checks and no cash to withdraw from ATMs, their next option is to look for PoS terminals. Many cardholders don’t even bother to check the ATMs anymore and that means more business for us,” Adike-Tajudeen narrated.

    According to her, many cardholders only go to the ATMs to make transfers, check account balances or rectify failed e-payment transactions, adding that one will hardly find cash in those machines.

    Another PoS operator, Munsurat Abiodun, works at PGas petrol station, in Epe Lagos. Although Abiodun is not in a market environment like Adike-Tajudeen, she has turned petrol stations where she conducts the business, to a goldmine. Abiodun said the business thrives better when there are long queues in filling stations, and the petrol attendants, working with her, usually refuse to accept bank transfers or use the official PoS machines.

    “What I do is simply to move from one car to the other, and get the drivers to use the PoS machine. The feedback is always instant and positive. I debit their accounts with the cards and hand them the cash after taking my fees,” she stated. The cash with the petrol attendants is later moved back to the PoS operator, to resume new round of transactions.

    At the LIBRA Motor, God Is Good, Intercity Travels, motor parks in Ajah, Ibeju-lekki Lagos, PoS operators were seen at almost corner making cash available to travelers to pay for their trips.

    Michael Obinna, who was traveling from Lagos to Port Harcourt, lamented his experience and how he was forced to patronise the PoS operators.

    “Despite having major banks’ branches-FirstBank, Zenith Bank, FCMB, Access Bank and Fidelity Bank, among others within the vicinity, none of the banks’ ATMs were dispensing cash. My only option was to use the PoS machine. I paid N700 for N35, 000 cash needed for my trip from Lagos to Port Harcourt,” Obinna narrated.

    Continuing, he said: “This same challenge is everywhere; whether it is from Lagos to Port Harcourt, Lagos to Abuja; Enugu to Jos among others. I will still pay another N700 or even more to get cash for my return trip to Lagos.

    Other bank customers, who spoke with The Nation, said the practice of forcing customers to buy naira with naira was disturbing. Eniola Daniel, an Abuja-based student, said: “I feel commercial banks in Nigeria intentionally refuse to load ATMs with cash so that people will go to PoS operators. The banks should close the ATMs if they don’t want to load them with cash.”

    Taking to her X (formerly Twitter) handle, she lamented that banks handing over cash transaction business to PoS operators is troubling. “No money in ATM machines but PoS operators around the banks have cash and no one is talking,” she said.

    Another bank customer based in Onitsha Main Market, Anambra State, Ikenna Ahamefuna, corroborated Obinna’s experience. He said: “At the Upper Iweka in Onitsha, PoS operators are in every corner of the market.  These agents are able to provide various services from withdrawal, deposit, money transfer, electricity bill payments to checking of account balances at a fee.”

    Ahamefuna disclosed that even business owners with large cash turnover also have banner showing they also provide PoS services.

    More views from stakeholders

     President, Bank Customers Association of Nigeria, Uju Ogubunka, said banking is fast becoming what one does and not where one goes to. “Brick/mortar banking, is giving way to digital banking where transactions are completed in seconds, saving costs and providing convenience to bank customers. Consumers are looking for simple technology-driven solutions customised to meet their everyday needs,” he said.

    Technical Adviser to the President on Economic and Financial Inclusion, Nurudeen Abubakar Zauro, acknowledged the role of players in the informal space. “We can all remember during the COVID-19 lockdown and the recent currency changes, there were a lot of challenges and we saw mobile money agents come together and save the country at that point,” he said.

    Managing Director, Moniepoint Microfinance Bank, Babatunde Olofin, said operators in informal businesses show high degree of flexibility and innovation exhibited in adapting quickly to changing market conditions.

    Managing Director, PalmPay Nigeria, Chika Nwosu, emphasised the company’s commitment to financial inclusion “At PalmPay, we aim to bridge the gap in digital access. Our platform ensures seamless connectivity for our users. The company has been a key driver of financial inclusion in Nigeria, with a third of PalmPay users reporting that they opened their first-ever financial account through the platform,” he said.

    Regulatory oversight/recommendations for growth

    An Executive of the Research and Policy Department, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Kabir Katata, said, digitisation has changed financial services landscape. To him, Fintechs are latching on clear evidence that consumer behaviour and expectations of service and experience are changing.

    He said: “Multiple technologies poised to drive the next wave of financial services are converging in maturity. Fintech threatens to disrupt financial markets with the banks taking the threats like the loss of control, the emergence of a non-regulated environment, market fragmentation, and loss of revenue—very seriously.”

    Katata said while many banks have been able to retain their customers through traditional channels and digital service offerings, recent shifts are threatening the customer base of banks yet to key into it. Even long-term banking relationship at traditional banks, he added, is susceptible to disruption.

    But the CBN under its Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, says it has taken steps to increase the regulation of Fintechs and will not in any way, stifle innovation.

    The apex bank says that digital innovations ranging from self-service technologies like cell phones, online and mobile banking, Artificial Intelligence, big data, blockchain technology, distributed ledgers, among others, have greatly challenged orthodox systems and helped improve the operational efficiency of financial institutions as they respond to customer demands for more innovative services.

    Recognising the growing importance of consumer protection in an increasingly digital financial landscape, Cardoso embarked on a comprehensive review of consumer protection regulations in February 2024. This review sought to upgrade the regulatory framework to address emerging risks posed by the rapid growth of Fintech and digital banking solutions.

    The goal was to enhance customer service standards and increasing engagement with formal financial institutions, ensuring that consumers have access to reliable, efficient, and secure financial services.

    For analysts, there was need to foster greater trust between the banking sector and the Nigerian public to ensure business and economic growth.

    They believe that by strengthening the regulatory framework, the CBN is supposed to provide a more secure environment for consumers, while encouraging more Nigerians to engage with formal financial institutions, thereby promoting financial inclusion.

    For instance, the Pilot Consumer Protection Risk-Based Examination, designed to proactively identify policy gaps and improve conduct among financial institutions (FIs) should be implemented to the letter.

    This risk-based approach, unlike traditional compliance checks, will further help the CBN to highlight urgent risks that could compromise consumer protection. It will also encourage financial institutions to adopt higher standards of conduct, thereby enhancing consumer confidence.

    To reinforce these efforts, the CBN should rigorously enforce sanctions for regulatory breaches, ensuring that financial institutions adhere to ethical practices and uphold transparency. By holding institutions accountable, the CBN would underscore its commitment to protecting consumer rights and fostering trust in the banking system.

  • Nigerian teenagers trafficked to Ghana for jobs end up as prostitutes, gangsters

    Nigerian teenagers trafficked to Ghana for jobs end up as prostitutes, gangsters

    • Victims forced to take oaths, scores waiting to be rescued  

    • Four teenagers test positive to HIV

    • Ghanaian court sentences 28-year-old Nigerian woman to eight years in prison for trafficking

    Cajoled by fake promises of high-paying professional jobs in Ghana, teenage girls and young men from Nigeria have continuously fallen prey to traffickers disguising as ‘agents’. Once in Ghana, the young men find themselves trapped as criminal gang members involved in nefarious activities while teenage girls are forced to meet daily ‘prostitution’ targets, ALAO ABIODUN writes.

    When 17-year-old Precious Beatrice (not real names) left the shores of Nigeria for Ghana with the promise of enticing and alluring offers, she had no inkling she would be warming the beds of strangers for a meager fee.

    Despite the intensified efforts to curb and tackle human trafficking and most importantly, the global commitments to eliminate human trafficking by 2030, the challenge remains huge.

    For Precious, her post-recovery phase after her rescue by authorities has been plagued with emotional and physical, challenges. She’s being haunted by her terrible experience.

    Her encounter with her traffickers began two years ago when she was referred to an ‘agent’ who promised to connect her and some other girls with someone in Ghana to get her a high-paying job which could change her life and free her from her predicament.

    Precious’ story is sad but not unusual. The “enticing job offer” gimmick is a usual recruitment tactic used to traffic women for sexual exploitation.

    The events that followed the boat trip from Nigeria to Ghana through the coastline were both dreadful and tragic. Precious and other survivors said the transport experience was life-threatening with no safety for their lives, especially the absence of life jackets while on water trip.

    Precious was able to make it to the final destination, but she recounted how some victims were made to board rickety boats, encountering stormy weather conditions which constitute serious hazard to human lives.

    As Precious was going deep into her story, her voice trembled in reflection of the agony she went through. The abuse she endured is the common fate of many Nigerian girls who go to Ghana illegally, especially teenagers.

    Other survivors said they fell prey to trafficking by trusting known persons (agents). They lamented that their desperation to seek greener pastures were exploited by the traffickers who made mouth-watering promises of high-paying jobs.

    What the law says

    Twenty-one years since the Palermo Protocol was adopted as a global mobilisation tool to combat human trafficking, West Africa has long been characterised by high levels of intra and extra-regional migration.

    The West African region is recognised to produce some of the highest numbers of trafficking victims in destination countries outside Africa, especially in Europe and the Middle East.

    Nigeria, in 2015, enacted the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act, which outlawed all acts of human trafficking in the country.

    The Act prescribes five to 10 years imprisonment and a fine of N1 million for the trafficking of children, depending on the purpose of such trafficking.

    For Ghana, the government increased anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts. The 2005 Human Trafficking Act, amended in 2009, criminalised sex and labour trafficking.

    The Human Trafficking Act prescribed penalties of a minimum of five years’ imprisonment, which were sufficiently stringent and, with respect to sex trafficking, commensurate with those prescribed for other grave crimes, such as rape.

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    However, the 2015 regulations for this Act, which are non-discretionary and have the force of law, provided specific guidance on sentencing depending on the circumstances. In general, the term is not less than five years’ imprisonment and not more than 25 years. But if a parent, guardian or other persons with parental responsibilities facilitates or engages in trafficking, they are liable to a fine, five to 10 years imprisonment or both.

    Checks by our correspondent revealed that the Elubo Central Command Border Post is the main border crossing along western border of Ghana with Cote d’Ivoire. However, there are a number of unapproved routes along the border that people use to cross illegally, including a river.

    The main border post along Ghana’s eastern border is at Aflao, which is located directly across the border from Togo. There are a number of unapproved border crossings north of Aflao used by human traffickers to cross over to Togo.

    Because of the increased rate of trafficking, the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) established the Anti-Human Trafficking Desk in Accra in 2010, and recently established desks at three major border crossings – Aflao, Paga and Elubo.

    Victims recall ordeal

    “When we got to Ghana where we reached our madam’s house, she said we were going to be doing some jobs for her, but we did not know that she would take us to a prostitution house where we would be paying her daily,” said a survivor.

    According to Africa Organised Crime Index 2023, Ghana is used as a transit point for West Africans, who are often destined for sex trafficking in Europe. Major cities such as Accra, Kumasi and Takoradi, as well as border areas of Elubo, Aflao, Bawku and Bolgatanga, are hotspots for this crime.

    Ghana, being one of the more stable and economically attractive countries in the region, acts as an important transit and destination country for irregular migrants.

    Eight young Nigerian girls were recently rescued from human traffickers in Ghana by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) in collaboration with Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM). The rescued girls were trafficked to Ghana for prostitution.

    The girls, between the ages of 15 and 22, were from various states across Nigeria. They were lured to Ghana under false promises of employment but were forced into sexual exploitation. Some of these teenagers hail from various states across Nigeria, including Ebonyi, Akwa-Ibom, Imo, Plateau, and Cross River.

    Also in July 2024, 58 Nigerian women and children were rescued from human traffickers in Ghana. The trafficker, a Nigerian, receive 200 – 300 Ghana Cedis daily as proceeds from the girls’ prostitution.

    Narrating her ordeal, Precious said: “The man (Ebuka) took us to Mazamaza, that’s the place we entered a boat. The boat led us to meet one Chukwudi in Togo, and we thought the Togo was in Lagos. He even told us that if we encountered security agents (Navy) on water, we should say we were going to Togo.

    “True to his words, we met security agents and they asked us where we were going. We told them we were going to Togo, and they let us go.

    “When we crossed the water after a day and a half, we finally got to his house. When we arrived, he gave us food. The next day, he took us to a herbalist’s place.

    “We asked what we were doing there and he said we had to take an oath so that we won’t steal his money because we came to work as sales girls. So we took an oath.

    “The man’s wife came out and gave us a wrapper to tie; she also gave us a bra and pants to wear.

    “We asked what we were doing ,there and what we were doing with the pants, and the woman said we came for prostitution work. She said we had no other option. So we started crying.

    “She said we would be paying 300 Cedis everyday for good three months, and if we did not pay, we were going to die or run mad, and that we should remember that we took an oath.”

    Another survivor said: “Yes, I am 18. I wanted to come to Ghana because I was told I would work at a hair salon. But as soon as I arrived, I foun that none of it was real. The job was a lie.

    “They forced me to become a prostitute. That was the only way to pay off the debt from the journey, which they had told me before I left that I did not need to pay for.”

    Conviction

    Several persons have been convicted of trafficking across the country.

    One of the traffickers, a 28-year-old Nigerian, Favour Ugwu, was arrested and jailed for eight years by a Ghanaian court. In the judgment delivered by Her Honour Akosua Adjepong, Ugwe was also ordered to pay GH¢5,000 to her 19-year-old victim as compensation.

    According to Ghana-based news website Star FM, the court found the woman guilty of recruiting and forcing the Chadian teenager into prostitution in the West African country.

    Adjepong, before delivering the judgment, said she considered Ugwe’s lack of remorse during the trial and the prevalence of human trafficking in the country before passing her sentence.

    The convict admitted to recruiting the victim from Abuja with the help of an accomplice who paid for her transportation to Ghana.

    An electrical engineer, Ibrahim Yahaya, reported Ugwe to the anti-human trafficking unit at the CID headquarters on November 5, 2023, after the victim was stranded in the neighbourhood at Olonka behind Madina Redco Flat in Accra.

    The Chadian girl said she was recruited and transported from Nigeria to Ghana by Ugwe to work in a restaurant but was instead forced into prostitution.

    While receiving eight young Nigerian girls who were recently rescued from human traffickers in Ghana, NiDCOM Chairman/CEO Abike Dabiri-Erewa said: “We thank God some of you are back home, and that is good news. But the bad news is that there are so many people trapped there. So be happy that you are back home.

    “We are going to ensure that you’re properly rehabilitated and hopefully you will tell your stories so that other girls will not fall into the same trap.

    “One thing is consistent about the traffickers: they will lie to yu that once you take an oath, you will run mad. And that is a lie. We will collaborate with your various state governments and NAPTIP to ensure you’re properly rehabilitated.

    “They (trafficked girls) were all tested. Four who tested positive to HIV are receiving treatment and will return subsequently.”

    Their handover is to ensure they are safe pending rehabilitation and reintegration with their families.

    Dabiri-Erewa noted that there are still many more trafficked victims waiting to be rescued and thanked the Ghanaian security agencies for their cooperation.

    Trafficked males forced to join gangs

    For experts, it appears that victims of forced labour are more likely to be trafficked through official border control points while victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation are trafficked through unofficial and illegal border control points.

    Enticed by false promises of well-paid professional jobs in Ghana, a male victim (names withheld) and 10 other young men from Nigeria were scammed by e-traffickers. Once they landed in Ghana, they found themselves trapped by a criminal gang and forced to meet daily ‘cyber-crime’ targets or face the wrath of the gang leaders.

    The male victim had dreamt of becoming a software developer, but on arrival in Ghana, he realised that the “friend” he had met virtually was actually a trafficker, who handed him over to the ‘boss’; a scary and abusive man.

    After seizing his personal documents, belongings and valuables, the criminals forced the male victim to work for long hours locked in a warehouse with tight security alongside others who, like him, had fallen for the promise of a better life.

    War against traffickers

    Trafficking in West Africa often shows age and gender patterns. A recent research by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) revealed that more than 75% of trafficking victims detected in West Africa are children and teenagers.

    So far, the activities of Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission are commendable. NAPTIP on its part said it had stepped up its efforts with a 24-hour all-hands-on-deck approach to all cases of trafficking in persons.

    The cartels of human traffickers continue to change tactics and explore counter-measures to flourish in their anti-human enterprise.

    In August 2021, the Nigerian police arrested two human traffickers and rescued 10 Nigerian girls about to be airlifted from Cotonou, Republic of Benin, to the United Arab Emirates. The police got an intelligence report from a non-governmental organisation with support from the country and later handed the girls over to NAPTIP.

    The syndicate was reportedly based in Dubai, with some of its agents in Nigeria and Cotonou.

    Reintegration for survivors?

    Rehabilitation is a core component of Nigeria’s anti-trafficking policies. But sadly, only limited efforts have been made to assess these programmes and whether they strongly and positively help survivors in Nigeria back on their feet.

    Nigeria’s rehabilitation programmes target the immediate, ongoing and long-term needs of people who have been trafficked. Their goal is to facilitate physical and mental recovery, empowerment and social inclusion.

    Providing survivors with shelter, personal hygiene products, physical health care, mental health care and counselling are involved. Legal counsel, education, vocational training and employment are also part of the rehabilitation process.

    Last year, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) launched the Enhanced Reintegration for Survivors of Trafficking (ERS) project; an initiative aimed at empowering survivors of trafficking in Ghana and Nigeria through enhanced reintegration support.

    Recognising the critical need to address the long-term challenges and risks faced by survivors of trafficking, the ERS project has been developed to offer survivors of human trafficking the necessary tools and resources to foster economic security, while also providing comprehensive support across various dimensions of their reintegration journey.

    Trafficking remains a pervasive and heartbreaking issue in Nigeria. But there are efforts by non-governmental organisations to combat the menace.

    NAPTIP statistics from 2019 to 2022 indicate that 61 per cent of human trafficking in Nigeria happens internally, while 39 per cent is from cross-border.

    In most cases, internal trafficking takes the form of recruitment and transportation of children from rural areas to urban and city centres for different forms of labour under exploitative conditions.

    Conclusively, faith-based organisations play a vital role, hence they need to partner with the National Orientation Agency in the advocacy and enlightenment drive for youths and be fully involved in efforts by governments to expose the dangers of human trafficking.

  • From frying pan to fire: Cameroonian refugees in Nigeria relive horrific experience

    From frying pan to fire: Cameroonian refugees in Nigeria relive horrific experience

    •Refugees battered, banished from settlement
    •How CID officials used ATM to withdraw N250,000 from my account —Victim
    •Refugee Commission confirms banishment, SEMA dismisses allegations

    Cameroonian refugees who fled their war-torn area to seek refuge in Ogoja area of Cross River State are engaged in another battle with their host communities. At various times, the refugees have been physically attacked, harassed and detained by the authorities. To worsen matters, three of them, without the order of a court, were recently banished from a host community after a meeting attended by the National Commission for Refugees and the UNHCR. The ugly development raises questions about Nigeria’s commitment to the 1951 Convention which outlines the rights of refugees, INNOCENT DURU reports.

    Takang Clinton, a businessman, fled Cameroon after witnessing the mindless killing of people in the war ravaging his part of the Central African country. He arrived in Nigeria in the hope of enjoying a fresh air of peace.

    Of course, he did enjoy a fresh breath of air at the initial stage, making friends and socialising with his Nigerian counterparts. But the air soon became polluted, making Nigeria not too different from the toxin he fled from in Cameroon.

    Clinton told our correspondent that the crisis began on February 11, 2023, during the African Cup of Nations’ finals.

    His words: “It was very, very surprising because we as refugees had been integrating and watching football matches with the host community’s boys for about six years. We did engage in arguments about football without having issues.

    “And even more interesting is that we as oppressed English-speaking Cameroonians have lost the love for anything about Cameroon. So, when Cameroon is playing against any country, we support that country.

    “In fact, when Cameroon was playing Nigeria, even in the same tournament, we supported Nigeria.”

    On the day of the finals when Nigeria scored and everybody was jubilating, Clinton, who goes by the nickname Morlan, said “a night watchman who works with Save the Children, one of the partners with the UN, was right behind me. He said, Morlan, do you know while in another man’s country, you don’t have the right to jubilate over a goal in football? It was funny to me.

    “I turned and I told him my brother, is it not just football we are watching? That was all I told him. Another guy who was with him asked why I should answer their elder like that? Then I told him that these people playing football, we don’t even know them. Whether Nigeria wins or they don’t win, we are not even related to these people.

    “The next minute, I heard people shouting. But before I could turn, there was an attack on me with a bottle. I waved off the first person and another one came towards me. He took a bottle and broke it on his own head to prove he was strong.  When he hit the bottle on his head, his head broke and blood started coming out and he was holding the other half bottle in his hand.

    “I came forward and said my brother, what is happening? Why did you hit your head with a bottle and standing here like this? He started shivering, vowing that he would do something.”

    Along the line, Clinton said, he saw a staff member of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), who doubles as one of the traditional rulers making calls. “As soon as he was done, it did not take the next three minutes before a group of guys invaded the settlement.

    “It means these guys were already somewhere around the corner waiting for the incident.

    “As soon as I saw them entering the settlement with bottles, cutlasses and small axes, I ran and entered the store where we were watching football.

    “I could see them through the window. All I was hearing was where is  Morlan? He is causing a lot of problems to our people. Where is that Morlan?

    “When I saw that it was becoming more intense, I switched off the lights and  ran. They burned down some stores and destroyed properties. But I was not there because I ran and I called the DPO and told him this was happening in the settlement.”

    Clinton continues: “I slept outside the settlement with another friend. But surprisingly that night, a group of SEMA staff led by George Mbembe, who was then a supervisor, was moving from one hotel to another hotel looking for us. They said it was time to fight, that refugees should  come and fight.

    “Fortunately, they did not get us.”

    The next day, Clinton and his colleague went back to the settlement. “They called a meeting, inviting the UN and other partners,” he said.

    “Upon reaching the village, they wrote a purported banishment letter that was not signed or dated and was not on a letterhead. They said I and two others, Abane and Angelbert, had been banished. They gave us 24 hours to leave their community else they would attack the refugees.

    “We later had a meeting with the UN. The UN said that for the sake of peace and to avoid the unforeseen, because the threat was too much, we should just leave for the mean time so they could see how to resolve the issue.

    “That was how we left. We stayed away for about two months.

    “On the 14th of May 2023, I came to Ogoja because I wanted to have a small meeting with the UN. The purported banishment letter said that we were banished from the Adagom community. So I did not go there. I stopped at the Ogoja junction.

    “After the meeting with the UN, I was with the settlement’s chairlady, the secretary and one other friend. Suddenly, some guys surrounded us. They attacked me with bottles and sticks. I was severely beaten and abandoned.”

    Clinton alleged that the people who attacked him were mostly SEMA workers. “They work with the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Cross River State. These were the same people who destroyed the SEMA government building in the refugee settlements.”

    Clinton, however, said his banishment did not come as a surprise because “the programme manager of SEMA, Mr Hilary Agida, has been threatening to remove me from the settlement at all costs. He sent SEMA staff to tell me that he was going to relocate me.

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    “He even invited the village chiefs on one occasion to come and intimidate refugees, to make them know that they have the right to banish anybody whenever they want, because we are strangers.”

    UNHCR reneges on agreement

    After the mob attack that landed him in a hospital, Clinton said the UN paid his hospital bills. “From the day that I was banished, they told us that we should leave the community for the meantime. They assured us that we should choose wherever we thought was safe for us for the meantime and stay there; that they would take care of our upkeep and everything. That was the arrangement.

    “I stayed in Lagos when I left Cross River. I stayed in Lagos for about a month or so in a hotel and they were aware of it because I was updating them.

    “Up until this moment that I am speaking, nobody has cared about where we sleep, how we feed or what has become of us. We have been rendered internally displaced refugees in Nigeria.

    “We are law-abiding refugees in Nigeria. We deserve the protection of the federal government. We deserve the protection of the National Refugee Commission and that of the UN.

    “If all these bodies cannot protect us, let them resettle us to a third country. Nobody has heard our cry. What refugees are going through in Ogoja is not seen in any part of the world.”

    Wearing a frustrated look, Clinton said:  “Inasmuch as we appreciate the federal government for everything, we appreciate the government of Cross River, we appreciate the Adagom people for their hospitality.

    “Some individuals and some others who are in offices are making things too hard for refugees.  They are taking advantage of their offices.

    “SEMA officials are dating refugee girls. They are taking advantage of their vulnerability, and this is not in the SOP, the code of conduct that binds all the partners.

    “SEMA operates with impunity. They don’t care about anything.”

     ‘CID officials withdrew N250,000 from my account’

    Clinton recalled how before his banishment officials of the state CID used his ATM card to withdraw N250,000 from his bank account.

    He said: “I was bundled and handed over to the state CID in Calabar that I was dealing in arms. I reached the CID office at 3 am. I had never been to Calabar before then.

    “When the UN lawyer came to see me, the CID said no, I didn’t commit any crime, that they didn’t even know me.

    “The next time, they brought another story that I had a group fighting down in Cameroon, and that I had organised and buried someone alive in Cameroon. That also did not fly because even the lawyer told them that they lacked jurisdiction on that and that there was no evidence regarding it.

    “I have been here in Nigeria for six years and have never gone to Cameroon. They said I didn’t have any problem still I was kept there in the cell for two months.

    “I was frustrated, and they started giving me conditions. I felt abandoned. They took my ATM card and I gave them my password. They withdrew N250,000 on the opposite side of the state CID. I was released thereafter and I came back to Ogoja.”

    Clinton lamented, saying “I have lost everything, including a poultry farm and a fish pond. I have a workshop in the settlement where I do mentorship, employment and training for hairdressing, tailoring, shoe making, and other small things for refugees. I have lost everything.

    “As I am standing here, I am only dressed as a man, I have nothing again. I am hiding. I am living by the grace of my brothers and friends. That is the truth, and that is what all of us are passing through.

     Abane corroborates Clinton’s claims

    One of the banished refugees, Abane Tikor, corroborated Clinton’s claims as he recalled how he was also stabbed by a mob suspected to have been led by SEMA officials.

    He said: “I was stabbed in the hand by the people when they attacked Clinton. Later, they brought a letter that we had been banished. Angelbert who was in Abuja for his personal business was also banished.

    “We subsequently went to SEMA office for a meeting and  were told not to enter with our phones. They were with their phones but didn’t want us to enter with ours.

    “I initially didn’t comply but Clinton prevailed on me to drop my phone. They said they could no longer protect us. Refugees Commission officials present supported them. We had to leave and became stranded.”

    Like Clinton, Abane also alleged that the UNHCR abandoned them after they were banished.

    He said: “UNHCR did not fulfill their promise to offset the bills we incurred after the banishment. I left my family behind in the settlement after my banishment and they went to threaten them. Because I could not afford losing a member of my family, I asked them to come and meet me in the slum I am living in.

    “I am in a single room with about 11 people.  My children need to go to school. Some people I did jobs for didn’t pay but I allowed it to go because I don’t want any problem again.”

    Abane regretted that “the people who ought to be protecting me are the ones bringing me problems. I have been detained in police cells not once. I have been beaten not once. They even broke my door, destroyed everything I had and confiscated my money.

    “I wrote a petition regarding this and the Refugee Commission and the UN were copied.”  

    Angelbert dumped in prison

    Narrating his ordeal, the third banished refugee, Angelbert Nde, told of how he was kept in prison for months by his opponents. He said his problem with the people was that he he was exposing their lapses. “Since then, they have been looking for a way to destroy me. I was sort of sent to prison.”

    Angelbert said before he was sent to prison, “I spent one week in the police station. Three lawyers came for my bail but they refused me bail. And they made sure that they pushed the matter to the end of year when the courts were going to go on recess so that I had to spend about two months in prison.

    “When eventually I was released on court bail, I fell sick and my people decided that I should move to Abuja for treatment.”

    With the benefit of hindsight, he said: “One day while in Abuja, I received a call from Mr. Jonathan of UNHCR telling me that I had been banished and that the UNHCR had taken judicial notice of the banishment, and they were therefore calling to tell me that they could not guarantee my security.

    “He said I had a day to send somebody who was trustworthy to come and move all my things to Abuja where I am.  I told him, sir, I am in a hotel, and I have one day to come back to Cross River in my base.  Secondly, I have a lot of stuff.

    “I am building projects there for refugees. I have tons of stuff. Should I pack all these tons of stuff to the Abuja hotel where I am now?  Is it even possible in a space-less hotel?  So he didn’t reply me, and since then I have been in the streets in Abuja till today.”

    Asked if it was the community that banished him, Angelbert replied: “Well, it was not the community that banished me. What happened is that there was an engineering of this staged banishment.  This staged banishment was a conspiracy of local administrative and security officers who are disturbed by our work because our work is exposing a lot of evil acts that are being perpetrated against the refugees.

     “And the face of this local administrative, judicial and security officer is Mr. Agida Hillary, who is the program manager of the State Emergency Management Agency, and Mr. Jonathan, who is a UNHCR officer.

    “When I left prison, I was informed that there was a plan on the way to eject me from the settlement through banishment.  I was informed.”

    Angelbert further said the plot to nail him was solidified by an allegation of a clash between the hosts and the refugees. “I make bold here to tell you that there was no clash  between the refugees and the host community. They staged this because they wanted to use this as an excuse to banish me.

     “But little did they know that I was out of Abuja. When my banishment letter was released, they were taken aback because they discovered that they were banishing a man for orchestrating a clash in the settlement when the said man was not even in the settlement and in the state as of the time of the clash.”

    Visibly worn out by his predicament, he said: “It’s not easy to just eject somebody from his source of livelihood. Three of us were banished.  So we were ejected from our source of livelihood.

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    “And where I am now, I cannot survive because of that. I have been cut off from my source of livelihood, cut off from my family, cut off from my friends.  And I’m in the streets.”

     Refugees Commission confirms banishment

    The National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons, in a chat with our correspondent, confirmed the banishment of the refugees.

    The Director of Refugees Department, Mudakai Titus,  said:  “I am aware of this allegation. It is an allegation. I am talking to you from Abuja headquarters. We have our field officer in Ogoja.  He reported what happened to the headquarters.

    “The report we got was that  during the last AFCON finals between  Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire, the refugees were praying that Cote d’Ivoire would win the match.

    “In the process, according to the story, some Nigerians who were there were not happy. They said how can you be saying this? In our presence you are making all this noise.

    “As a result, there was an altercation and something like a fight. The authorities intervened and stopped them.

    “Some individuals were found to be behind the altercation.  These individuals, I think, are these three people.  According to information, they are seen to always make insinuations among refugees and host communities in that area.

    “They reported them to the local community which called representatives of our office, SEMA. I am sure they called UNHCR to a meeting.

    “During the meeting we were informed the authorities said that because of the character of the three people in the community, they would not like them to continue to stay among them.”

    For that reason, Titus said, “the officials who attended the meeting called these people and advised them. They told them that in their own interest, they should stay off  so that peace would reign.

    “We were told that when this happened, they left.

    “Thereafter, we got a complaint letter from the concerned refugees.

    “Before then, we called our field office to ask them to look into the issue, because we wouldn’t want any loss of life or injury to anyone. We told them that whatever it was, they should put their heads together and resolve the matter amicably.

    “After a while, I was told that one of the concerned refugees came into the settlement and was attacked.  He was beaten and I am sure there were some injuries he sustained because I saw some pictures that were sent.”

    Again, Titus said he called his field officer and asked what was happening. “I sent the picture to him and asked if he knew anything about it.  I also called a youth in the community, Elvis by name, and sent the picture to him, asking that he should look into the matter because the matter was going beyond level. 

    “I said they should involve the police and all the relevant authorities. I called on the DG of SEMA but he was not available. I still called my staff to investigate the matter and to ensure that peace reigned and whoever was involved in this kind of inhuman treatment should be brought to book and made to face the law accordingly.”

    Titus said from then up till now, he had not “heard any further complaint until now that you are talking to me. I assumed that the matter had been resolved amicably.

    “Whether the officials have succeeded in getting the community to get the people you said were banished back or they are still out of the community, frankly speaking, it is something I am not aware of.”

    Refugees’ allegations full of lies – SEMA

    Reacting to the refugees’ claims, Cross River SEMA DG, Jame Anam, in a telephone interview with our correspondent, said:  “It is all an allegation. It is false. For those that brought in cult groups and all of that in the settlement, we have officially reported to the UNHCR and their partners about the activities of most of the refugees.

    “Nobody is harassing them. They are just deceiving themselves. They want to raise some rumours that look as if they are having issues with the settlement or the government handlers. As far as I am concerned, their problem is not with SEMA.”

    He added that the SEMA staff, Hilary and George, “who I knew were having relationships with them have been suspended from work.

    “Before I became the DG of SEMA, they were having transactions together. When they have problems, they would resort to blaming one another.  That was the crux of the matter.”

    To set the records straight, the DG said, “we are about to set up an independent investigative panel. This will not be set up by SEMA to avoid bias.

    “The panel will let us know the real problem. There is a lot of falsehood peddled by the refugees. The problems they are causing are not in agreement with the promise they had made with the host community.

    “I have brought them to the commissioner of police with the other host community persons.  They know that most of these refugees are the ones causing problems, having cult groups, among other atrocities”.

    The DSS in response to our enquiry requested for additional information on the allegation made by one of the refugees.  The refugee, Clinton, told our correspondent that he was going to get details of the deduction from his bank. He was yet to get back to us as at the time of filing this report

     UNHCR yet to respond

    The UNHCR was yet to respond.

    Our calls to media officers’ contacts found on their website were not successful as they were said not to be available.

    Emails were also sent to the media officers using the addresses provided on the website. A non-media email found on the site was also copied.

    An automated response received from one of the media contacts reads:

    “Dear Sender, Thank you for your message. I am away from office – kindly contact Adeyemo@unhcr.org for assistance. Kind Regard, Edward Ogolla.”

    Adeyemo@unhcr.org was, however, yet to respond to our enquiry as at the time of filing this report.

  • BUBA MARWA’S DAUGHTER ZAINAB: Why I don’t fear for my father’s life as soldier, NDLEA boss

    BUBA MARWA’S DAUGHTER ZAINAB: Why I don’t fear for my father’s life as soldier, NDLEA boss

    Dr. Zainab Marwa-Abubakar, daughter of the Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Gen. Buba Marwa, and founder of Aspire Women Forum, a non-governmental organisation founded in 2019 with a mission to empower women to recognize their potential and contribute to Nigeria’s development, is an author, gender advocate, humanitarian, philanthropist and former Special Assistant to the Minister of Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA). She spoke with GBENGA ADERANTI about how her life was shaped by being brought up in a cross-cultural context, the kind of relationship she shares with her father, and other issues of personal and public interest.

    What was it like living in a military barracks and having a soldier as your father?

    Growing up as the daughter of a soldier was an incredibly enriching experience. Having a father who was a soldier instilled discipline and structure in our household. He had a regimented schedule, which meant we’d often eat lunch and dinner together. I always loved seeing him in his uniform. He was an officer and gentleman.

    As a proud daughter, granddaughter, and great-granddaughter of soldiers, I admired the army’s values of gallantry, sacrifice, and discipline. I enjoyed watching military parades and embracing the culture. Our frequent relocations allowed me to experience diverse cultures, attend schools in various countries and states, including the US and Nigeria, and forge lasting friendships with people from different backgrounds. Overall, being a soldier’s daughter broadened my perspective, fostered adaptability, and left me with fond memories and a deep appreciation for military service.

    Were there times you feared that something could happen to your father as a soldier, particularly when he was the military governor of Lagos State?

    Growing up, I was taught to trust in Allah’s divine protection, which instilled in me a sense of security and faith. This kind of upbringing helped me to overcome fear even when my father faced challenging situations, like surviving a motorcade bombing in Lagos State when I was 16 or 17. Instead of fear, I felt gratitude to God for safeguarding him. This unwavering faith has stayed with me, even now that my father chairs the NDLEA, an organisation that confronts dangerous individuals like drug barons. His leadership and my trust in Allah reassure me that he is protected. My upbringing has taught me to trust Allah, let go of fear, and embrace faith in His divine plan.

    How close were you to your mother and to what extent did she influence your life?

    I always say that my mother was my twin because we truly were the same person. We had the same character, mannerisms, passion, and burst of life. We were almost the same person, sharing the same name. To what extent did she influence my life? Well, is there any part of my life that she didn’t influence? She was the backbone of my existence, next to God. She shaped every decision I’ve ever taken, pushing me to excel academically and personally.

    She wanted me to reach the height of academics by getting a PhD, which unfortunately she didn’t live to see me achieve this year. We lost her on January 8, 2022, and the world has been somewhat bleak and dark ever since. Her influence has shaped the woman I am today, the mother I am to my children, and my relationship with humanity. She instilled in me a deep sense of compassion, shaping my perception of suffering and my response to helping others.

    She also profoundly impacted my relationship with God and my self-awareness, teaching me invaluable life lessons. She taught me that only you can make yourself happy, about the destructive nature of anger, and the importance of strength, boldness, and independence. She had the most profound influence on my life. I will miss her until my last breath, as she remains the queen of my heart and the best example of motherhood.

    What has being the daughter of General Marwa caused you?

    Being the daughter of General Marwa has made excellence my watchword. It has instilled in me a deep sense of responsibility to protect the family name, which my father has worked tirelessly to establish. I’m blessed with this legacy but also mindful of the expectations that come with it. As General Marwa’s daughter, I’ve been raised to live a life of caution, careful not to overstep boundaries. I strive to work extremely hard, uphold my faith, and maintain unwavering integrity. I treat others with kindness and respect, adhering to the golden rule.

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    Being part of this family has taught me the importance of living a life of purpose, integrity, and compassion. It’s a privilege to carry the Marwa name, and I’m committed to upholding the high standards set by my father. In every sense, being General Marwa’s daughter has brought me nothing but blessings upon blessings. It has given me a strong sense of direction and a good head on my shoulders.

    What is that one thing that you will never forget about your mother?

    I believe I will remember every single thing about her. She died when I was 40 years old; a full-fledged adult. But the memories remain vivid. I remember her infectious laughter, her distinctive voice, and the way she called my name. Every little detail, every aspect of her is etched in my memory. Even her scent is still recognizable, triggering memories of her warm smile and joyful presence. Her love language – constant communication and unwavering displays of affection – remains a cherished legacy.

    There isn’t a single part of her that I’ll ever forget.

    She is imprinted on my heart and mind. Her memory stays with me daily, as if I still see her. The depth of my grief and the tears I shed are testaments to the love we shared. I feel blessed to have been loved, birthed and raised by her. I pray that God Almighty continues to rest her soul.

    How do you feel when you hear your father being criticised?

    Believe it or not, I have never really heard him being criticised – or maybe I have selective deafness. Any criticism that came his way would always give him the opportunity to reflect and improve himself. My father taught me about failure; that it’s okay to fail as long as you “fail up.” He said that as long as you try and keep trying, you can never truly fail.

    So, if he were criticised, I believe it would give me the opportunity to approach him, ask what happened, and learn from his experience. He’d show me how to handle criticism with grace and use it as a chance to grow. His attitude toward failure and criticism has instilled resilience in me, and for that, I’m grateful.

    You have managed to stay out of controversy. Tell me the secret.

    The secret is that I don’t live a very controversial life. I live a simple life, guided by the values instilled in me: servitude to God, family, hard work, and kindness. I prioritise my faith, personal growth, and raising my family. I was raised to cherish and protect my name, making good decisions and upholding integrity. I strive to be independent, yet mindful of my roots. I have no interest in negativity or living a lavish lifestyle; I’m focused on being the best version of myself.

    My upbringing has shaped me into a person who avoids controversy naturally. I don’t engage in social vices or seek to draw unnecessary attention. My goal is to live a life of purpose, humility and goodness.

    You vied for the House of Representatives in Abuja in 2019. What were the lessons you learnt in the process?

    Contesting the House of Representatives election in Abuja in 2019 was a transformative experience that taught me invaluable lessons. The main takeaway was realising the importance of integrity in politics and understanding what kind of politician I don’t want to be. During my journey, I saw how some individuals prioritised success over human lives, engaging in harmful activities like violence and fear-mongering. This made me realise I never want to be someone who values political success over human well-being or uses their position for personal gains.

    Instead, I want to remain committed to serving others and staying true to my values. I learned that I can push myself past boundaries that I never imagined possible. Notably, I was eight months pregnant with my fifth child on the day of the election, yet I still went to each ward during the campaign, standing for hours talking to people, visiting homes, and holding town hall meetings to share my manifesto. This experience showed me that I didn’t know my own strength and resilience. I discovered that I am stronger and more resilient than I ever thought possible.

    Moreover, I learned that all people really want is to be seen. They want someone to understand their plight and offer help as best as they can. I firmly believe that there is innate goodness in most people. Those lessons have profoundly shaped my perspective on politics and leadership, emphasising the importance of integrity, empathy and resilience.

    In what ways has General Marwa’s name opened doors for you?

    The Marwa name has opened doors for me in numerous ways. It precedes me, conveying a sense of purpose, passion and direction. People are willing to open doors because they associate my father’s legacy with integrity and excellence.

    Some individuals open doors due to my father’s past contributions to their lives, seeking to repay kindness by extending courtesy to me, his daughter. Others recognise his legacy and believe I embody those values, adhering to the principle that ‘a lion cannot give birth to a goat.’

    However, General Marwa’s name also opens doors within me. It fuels my self-belief, abilities and commitment to self-improvement. His legacy pushes me to excel, reimagining what’s possible and achievable. In essence, his name unlocks opportunities both externally and internally, driving me to be the best version of myself.

    People have different views of your father. How would you describe him?

    I would describe him as a servant of God first; a person who even at his age of seventy-one years attends Islamia and takes his religion seriously. I would also describe him as a person who is a family man, very committed to his children, and a wonderful father. He is a person committed to his country, the development of his country and the safeguarding of its people. A hardworking, purposeful, excellence-oriented, disciplined humanitarian with an acute awareness of the power of being effective and efficient. A person that attacks every role that he has ever been given with vigor and charisma that not only calls on his intellectual abilities but also on his innate humanity, which allows him to put people first and serve people as best as he can.

    He is a problem solver, a go-getter, a result-oriented human being, somebody that has always been able to prove himself time and time again as a problem solver, a fearless man, a fierce fighter for what is right, a man that believes in justice, a man that believes in good, a man that believes in breaking down social strata and doing what is best for the people.

    General Buba Marwa is best described as being exceptional, remarkable, inspiring, selfless, compassionate, and visionary.

    Unfortunately, some Nigerians look at things from tribal points of view. When you see people like this, how does it make you feel, and what would you tell them?

    Honestly, it saddens me deeply. Growing up, Nigeria was a different story – we were united, and our diversity was strength. We didn’t emphasise tribal or religious differences. Instead, we celebrated our shared humanity. Our country was better off when we focused on common goals and values.Seeing people viewed through a tribal lens today fills me with dismay. It’s disheartening to witness how this mindset divides us, fosters mistrust and hinders progress.

    If I could speak to those who view life through this narrow prism, I would say remember our past. We were once a united people, looking beyond tribe and religion. We can be that again. Let’s focus on our shared aspirations, our common humanity, and the boundless potential of our great nation. Tribalism and division only hold us back. They blind us to the strengths and contributions of others. Let’s open our hearts and minds to the beauty of diversity.

    Imagine a Nigeria where every citizen, regardless of tribe or faith has equal opportunities, equal rights and equal dignity. That’s the Nigeria we deserve. Let’s choose unity over division, empathy over prejudice, and progress over stagnation. Together, we can rebuild the Nigeria of our dreams – a nation where every voice matters, every culture thrives, and every citizen flourishes.

    We must revive the spirit of unity that once defined us and strive for a brighter, more inclusive future.

    What is Aspire Women Forum all about, and to what extent has the NGO been able to achieve its goals?

    Aspire Women Forum is a female-centric non-governmental organisation founded in 2019 with a mission to empower women to recognise their potential and contribute to Nigeria’s development. Our focus is multifaceted:

    .Political Participation: Encouraging women to engage in politics and take leadership roles.

    .Personal Growth: Providing conferences, mentorships, and networking opportunities for women to self-actualize and find purpose.

    .Happiness and Fulfillment: Supporting women in achieving happiness and living fulfilling lives.

    .Education and Agency: Emphasizing the importance of education and empowering women to recognise their agency in shaping Nigeria’s future.

    Through our Aspire Women Network, with chapters across Nigeria, we’ve achieved significant milestones:

    .Empowering women through workshops, mentorship programmes, and conferences.

    .Fostering a community of supportive women, promoting collaboration and collective growth.

    .Inspiring women to run for public office, take leadership roles, and engage in grassroots activism.

    Our impact extends beyond numbers, as we’ve witnessed transformative stories of women breaking free from societal limitations, discovering their voices and advocating for change; becoming change-makers in their communities.Aspire Women Forum remains committed to creating a Nigeria where women are equals, empowered to drive progress and prosperity.

    How does it feel to be raised by cross-cultural parents?

    Being raised by parents from different tribes was truly wonderful. My father is from Adamawa State, specifically Michika Local Government Area, while my mother hails from Imo State, Emekuku Local Government Area. Growing up, I benefited from a unique blend of cultures.

    In my childhood, tribal differences weren’t as pronounced as they are today. Our home was a microcosm of a harmonious society where my mom’s and dad’s families merged seamlessly. We never experienced conflicts rooted in tribal or religious differences. Instead, our household was filled with love, unity and friendship. This cross-cultural upbringing broadened my perspective, allowing me to see life through various lenses. I could pick and choose the values and traditions that resonated with me, shaping my own belief system and faith. It was enlightening to experience the richness of both worlds.

    This diverse background has been a precious gift, teaching me the beauty of unity in diversity; to appreciate different viewpoints and traditions; to cultivate empathy and understanding; that tribe or ethnicity doesn’t define one’s worth or potential.

    My parents’ loving union and our harmonious home life instilled in me the importance of tolerance, open-mindedness, and acceptance. Their cross-cultural marriage showed me that love knows no bounds, and that together we can build a more inclusive and compassionate society. Overall, being raised by cross-cultural parents has been a treasured experience, enriching my life with diverse perspectives, values, and traditions.

    Would you allow any of your children to join the army?

    I hold the army in high esteem, being part of a legacy family with three generations of service. My grandfather, father, and brother have all dedicated themselves to the Nigerian army. Although my father is now retired, I’m deeply proud of our family’s heritage. If any of my children wish to join the army, I would wholeheartedly support them. As a parent, I don’t intend to dictate their career paths, as long as their chosen profession aligns with our family values and faith. The army is a noble profession, and I would be honored if any of my five children chooses to serve.

    What are your regrets in life?

    I’m always surprised when people claim to have no regrets. That’s equivalent to saying they’ve never made mistakes. As a human being, I’ve made my share of errors and have regrets, especially regarding missed opportunities, unlearned lessons, and poor decisions. I don’t have just one regret; I have several. But I’m constantly evolving, learning and growing. I anticipate making more mistakes and having more regrets. However, my parents taught me that as long as I learn from those mistakes and do better next time, it’s okay.

    I’ve come to realize that regrets can be valuable teachers. They help me refine my decisions, sharpen my intuition, and develop resilience. I’ve learned to confront my regrets head-on, extract the lessons and move forward. In the words of my parents, mistakes are inevitable, but wisdom comes from learning and growing. I’ve adopted this mindset, choosing to transform regrets into stepping stones for personal growth.

    As I look back, I’m reminded that life’s journey is about progress, not perfection. Embracing regrets as opportunities for self-improvement has freed me from the weight of what-ifs.

    To anyone struggling with regrets, I offer this: don’t be afraid to confront your mistakes. Learn from them and use that wisdom to forge a brighter path forward. Remember, every experience – joyful or painful – shapes you into the person you’re meant to be.

    Ending on a hopeful note, I leave you with this: may our regrets become catalysts for growth, and may our lessons learned illuminate the path to a wiser, more compassionate tomorrow.

  • Leveraging tax reforms to overhaul Nigeria’s revenue system

    Leveraging tax reforms to overhaul Nigeria’s revenue system

    President Bola Tinubu, on Thursday transmitted four Bills to both chambers of the National Assembly. The Bills are part of his administration’s broader effort to reshape Nigeria’s fiscal landscape and boost government revenue in an economy that has long been heavily reliant on oil. Already, deliberations on the proposed reforms have started after Senate President Godswill Akpabio read Tinubu’s letter of request on the floor of the Red Chamber. However, the proposed changes have sparked a national conversation among various stakeholders about their potential impact on businesses, consumers, and the overall economy. Assistant Editor NDUKA CHIEJINA looks at the four Bills, exploring their objectives, key provisions, and the reactions they have generated.

    The President Bola Tinubu-led administration is leaving nothing to chance in its quest to reform Nigeria’s tax regime. With the transmission of four Bills to both chambers of the National Assembly on Thursday, the President left no one in doubt of his resolve to leverage reforms to modernize the nation’s tax administration, broaden the tax base, and ensure a more equitable distribution of the tax burden among Nigerians.

    The four Bills, which are part of his administration’s broader effort to reshape Nigeria’s fiscal landscape and boost government revenue in an economy that has long been heavily reliant on oil, come as the Federal Government seeks to address a widening fiscal deficit, rising debt levels, and the need for funding critical infrastructure and social services.

    The game-changing Bills include Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) Establishment Bill, Nigeria Tax Bill, Nigeria Tax Administration Bill, and Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Bill. The Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) Establishment Bill proposed a rebranding of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), renaming it as the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS).

    According to a former staff member of the FIRS, the word “Federal” in the FIRS name gives the impression that the Service only handles federal tax and revenue matters. However, with “Nigeria” in its name, the NRS would be positioned to handle taxes and revenue collection across all tiers of government—federal, state, and local—creating a unified tax administration system across the country.

    The Bill renames the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) as the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), symbolizing a broader scope of responsibility. The NRS would be responsible for assessing, collecting, and accounting for all revenues accruing to the Nigerian Government, at both the federal and sub-national levels. This includes taxes that were previously the purview of state and local governments.

    The Service is expected to create a centralized system that integrates tax collection from multiple levels of government, reducing administrative overlap and creating more transparency in revenue management. The NRS will likely leverage modern technology, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning, to streamline tax collection, enhance compliance, and combat tax evasion more effectively.

    The Nigeria Tax Bill, on the other hand, is a sweeping piece of legislation that seeks to provide a consolidated fiscal framework for taxation in Nigeria. This Bill aims to streamline tax collection by centralizing the process under a single agency, thus reducing the fragmentation that has characterized Nigeria’s tax system for years.

    Under this framework, various revenue-generating agencies, such as the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) and others, would focus on their primary functions while relinquishing their revenue collection duties to a specialized agency equipped for this role.

    The goal is to create a more coordinated, efficient, and transparent system for revenue collection across the country. By consolidating tax administration and removing the revenue collection functions from multiple agencies, the government hopes to eliminate redundancies, minimize leakages, and improve accountability in the management of public funds.

    The third Bill in the series of President Tinubu’s tax reform proposals is the Nigeria Tax Administration Bill. This Bill is pivotal in establishing a clear and concise legal framework to ensure the fair, consistent, and efficient administration of all tax laws across the country.

    The overarching objective of this Bill is to enhance the ease of tax compliance for individuals and businesses, reduce the incidence of tax disputes, and optimize revenue collection for the government. The Bill addresses one of the long-standing issues in Nigeria’s tax system: the complexity and lack of coherence in the administration of tax laws.

    Over the years, taxpayers—especially businesses operating across different regions of the country—have often faced inconsistent enforcement of tax laws, leading to confusion, compliance challenges, and a significant number of disputes between tax authorities and taxpayers.

    The Nigeria Tax Administration Bill will remedy these problems by providing a well-defined and uniform legal framework for the administration of taxes at all levels. It proposes a standardized approach to administering all tax laws in Nigeria, including those governing corporate income tax, personal income tax, value-added tax (VAT), excise duties, and other taxes.

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    The fourth and final Bill, the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Bill, aims to establish critical institutions for the effective harmonization, coordination, and dispute resolution in Nigeria’s revenue administration system.

    This Bill is one of the most strategic in the tax reform agenda, as it seeks to address the structural issues that have long impeded the efficiency and fairness of revenue collection and tax dispute settlement in Nigeria.

    The Bill seeks to establish three pivotal bodies: The Joint Revenue Board; The Tax Appeal Tribunal and The Office of the Tax Ombudsman. Together, these institutions will play a crucial role in streamlining the processes for revenue collection, addressing disputes, and ensuring taxpayers’ grievances are heard and resolved in a timely and equitable manner.

    At the heart of this Bill is the establishment of the Joint Revenue Board (JRB), a coordinating body tasked with harmonizing tax administration across all tiers of government—federal, state, and local.

    One of the persistent challenges in Nigeria’s tax system has been the lack of synergy between the various revenue collection agencies at different levels of government. The JRB is designed to bridge this gap and foster cooperation among these entities to improve revenue mobilisation.

    The Tax Appeal Tribunal (TAT), another key institution to be established under this Bill, will serve as the primary forum for resolving tax disputes in Nigeria. Tax disputes have been a significant challenge in Nigeria’s revenue system, often leading to protracted legal battles and delayed revenue collection.

    The establishment of the TAT is intended to provide a specialized mechanism for addressing such disputes in a fair and timely manner. This will not only speed up the dispute resolution process but also ensure that taxpayers and tax authorities have a clear avenue for addressing grievances. The Tribunal will be staffed with tax experts who have a deep understanding of Nigeria’s tax laws and the complexities of tax administration.

    This specialised knowledge will allow the TAT to handle complex tax cases with greater efficiency and accuracy. The TAT will operate as an independent body, ensuring that disputes are resolved fairly and impartially. This is especially important in building trust between taxpayers and tax authorities, as the Tribunal’s rulings will be seen as objective and unbiased.

    The Office of the Tax Ombudsman is another significant innovation introduced in this Bill. The Tax Ombudsman will act as an independent intermediary between taxpayers and tax authorities. It will serve as a voice for taxpayers, ensuring that their concerns and complaints are heard and addressed by the relevant authorities.

    This office will be empowered to investigate complaints related to tax administration, such as unfair treatment by tax officials, delays in processing tax refunds, and other administrative challenges.

    In cases where disputes arise between taxpayers and tax authorities, the Ombudsman will act as a mediator, helping to resolve conflicts before they escalate into formal disputes. This mediation role is seen as a way to reduce the number of cases that end up in the Tax Appeal Tribunal or regular courts.

    The Office of the Tax Ombudsman will also play a key role in promoting transparency and accountability in the tax administration process. By providing an independent oversight mechanism, the Ombudsman will ensure that tax authorities are held accountable for their actions and that taxpayers are treated fairly.

    The Ombudsman will be required to submit an annual report to the National Assembly, outlining the nature of complaints received and how they were resolved. This report will provide valuable insights into the performance of Nigeria’s tax system and highlight areas where improvements are needed. The creation of the Office of the Tax Ombudsman is expected to build trust between taxpayers and tax authorities, as it provides an independent avenue for addressing grievances and ensuring that tax administration is carried out in a transparent and accountable manner.

    Initial reactions to the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Bill have been largely positive, with many stakeholders viewing the Bill as a necessary step in improving Nigeria’s tax administration system. Tax professionals, in particular, have praised the Bill for its focus on creating specialized institutions for dispute resolution and taxpayer advocacy, which they believe will lead to a more transparent and efficient tax system.

    However, some concerns have been raised about the capacity of the proposed institutions to carry out their mandates effectively. There are questions about the funding and staffing of the JRB, TAT, and the Office of the Tax Ombudsman, as well as the need for extensive training to ensure that these bodies are able to fulfill their roles effectively.

    In transmitting the Tax Reform Bills to the National Assembly, President Tinubu emphasised their importance in reshaping Nigeria’s fiscal framework, particularly in relation to tax administration, revenue collection, and dispute resolution.

    He reiterated that the proposed reforms are not just about renaming institutions or tweaking policies, but about creating a comprehensive and efficient tax system that can drive the nation’s economic growth.

    Tinubu explained that the reform Bills would help achieve several critical objectives: improving taxpayer compliance, strengthening Nigeria’s fiscal institutions, and fostering a more transparent and equitable fiscal regime. He noted that a well-structured tax system is the backbone of any thriving economy and is essential to unlocking Nigeria’s full economic potential.

    His words: “I am confident that the Bills, when passed, will encourage investment, boost consumer spending, and stimulate Nigeria’s economic growth.” Tinubu further pointed out that the consolidation of tax laws, simplification of tax administration, and enhanced dispute resolution mechanisms embedded in these Bills would make it easier for individuals and businesses to comply with tax obligations, which in turn would enhance revenue generation for the government.

    The President also highlighted how the Bills align with his administration’s broader goal of economic reform, particularly in light of the current challenges facing Nigeria, such as inflation, unemployment, and the need for sustainable revenue streams outside of oil.

    He described the Bills as part of a more extensive strategy to create an enabling environment for investment and reduce the burden of taxation on individuals and businesses.

    Other government officials have echoed the President’s optimism regarding the potential impact of these reforms. Finance experts within the administration, as well as the FIRS leadership, are in agreement that the harmonization of tax laws and the establishment of new institutions will not only improve efficiency in revenue collection but also significantly reduce tax evasion and corruption.

    The President’s team has described the Bills as a “game-changer” for Nigeria’s fiscal policy, offering long-term benefits that could transform Nigeria’s economy by ensuring that revenue flows are more predictable, transparent, and capable of meeting the country’s development needs.

    The reaction from the public, business community and economic experts to the proposed Tax Reform Bills has been largely positive. Many see the reforms as a much-needed intervention to streamline Nigeria’s tax system and enhance revenue generation.

    Key stakeholders have noted that for too long, Nigeria’s tax collection system has been burdened with inefficiencies, multiple taxations, and a lack of coordination between different agencies. These Bills, they argue, offer a path toward resolving these issues.

    Despite the overwhelming support, some concerns have been raised. A few critics argue that the success of these reforms will depend heavily on the government’s ability to implement them effectively. They warn that unless the new institutions are well-funded, well-staffed, and given the necessary independence to carry out their mandates, the benefits of the reforms may not be fully realised.

  • Aftermath of The Nation report: Oyo to re-arraign ‘doctor’ over death of day-old baby

    Aftermath of The Nation report: Oyo to re-arraign ‘doctor’ over death of day-old baby

    • Distraught mother goes into hiding

    The Oyo state government has moved to re-arraign the owner of a hospital who was released from prison custody without an order by the magistrate’s court where he is being prosecuted for abduction and murder of a day-old baby belonging to a Togolese lady, reports KUNLE AKINRINADE.

    The Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Oyo State, Mr. Abiodun Aikomo, has disclosed that the state government has set machinery in motion for the re-arraignment of a ‘doctor’, Oludele Olanrewaju, who was recently arrested for alleged death and disappearance of the body of a day –old baby delivered by a Togolese who resides in Moniya area of Akinyele Local Government Area, Ibadan.

    The Nation had published an exclusive story, ‘Disquiet over body of day-old baby dumped in canal by doctor‘ on January 13, 2024, about how Olanrewaju took the baby from the mother, Bose John, who had registered for antenatal care at Olanrewaju’s clinic but was delivered of a baby boy at home before she could be taken to the hospital for delivery.

    As the story goes, Olanrewaju was said to have rushed to Bose’s residence and took the new baby with the placenta and his mother away for ‘special care’ in his hospital, amid protestation by neighbours.

    Events turned dramatic after Olanrewaju declared the next day that the baby had died and that he had disposed of his body in a bush.

    Outraged neighbours and residents confronted the doctor after he failed to name the exact place where the baby’s body was buried.

    The medical doctor was dragged to the palace of a traditional ruler of Moniya, Oba James Odeniran, and was subsequently handed over to the police at Moniya divisional headquarters.

    He was said to have explained during interrogation that the corpse of the baby would emit an offensive odour if he had kept it in the hospital.

    The case was transferred from the Moniya Divisional Police Headquarters to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) of Oyo State Police Command where the embattled ‘doctor’ was detained.

    Detectives led Olanrewaju to a location in the forest where he claimed to have buried the baby but found nothing at the spot where he claimed to have interred the baby’s body.

    He was subsequently arraigned by the police before a Magistrate’s Family Court at Iyaganku, Ibadan on a three-count charge of impersonation, abduction and murder. The police prosecutor, Inspector Gbemisola Adedeji, told the court that Olanrewaju committed the offence on December 28, 2023 at His Mercy Hospital, Akinyele, Ibadan.

    Adedeji said Olanrewaju was a “fake doctor” and that he took the baby boy delivered from his mother without her consent and drowned him in a canal.

    According to the police prosecutor, the offences contravened the Criminal Codes of Oyo State (2000) and were punishable with three years imprisonment for impersonation, 14 years for abduction and death sentence for murder.

    The presiding magistrate asked that the case file be forwarded to the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) of the Oyo State Ministry of Justice for legal advice on whether the case should proceed. Magistrate Ogunkanmi adjourned the matter to March 4 for mention, while Olanrewaju was asked to be remanded in prison custody.

    The case was adjourned to April 27 but Olanrewaju was not brought to the court, fuelling speculations about his whereabouts while the case was further adjourned to May 27.

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    Revelations about the suspect’s controversial release

    Olanrewaju was later said to have been released and sighted in town. At the same time, he appeared in court on May 27 without being brought by operatives of the Correctional Centre in their vehicle.

    Subsequently, The Nation raised the alarm on June 15, 2024, in a report ‘Furore over release of murder suspect from prison without court order‘ about Olanrewaju’s release from custody of the correctional centre, while the order for his remand had not been vacated by the Magistrate’s Court where his trial was ongoing. The case was adjourned to July 8 and September 2, pending the DPP’s legal advice that had not come as at press time.

    Moved by the development, The Nation reached out to the Oyo State Police Command through the spokesman, Adewale Osifeso, a Superintendent of Police, who denied knowledge of the Police complicity in the release of the suspect.

    According to Osifeso, the Police handed off the suspect when the Magistrate’s Court ordered that he be remanded in custody at the Correctional Centre. He added that whatever transpired thereafter was no more the business of the Police, even though the matter was being prosecuted by the Police at the Magistrate’s Court.

    Checks at the Correctional Centre in Ibadan revealed that the suspect was admitted to the correctional facility for remand on January 8, 2024, and released on April 19, 2024, before the initial adjournment day on May 27 at the Magistrate’s Court.

    Further checks by The Nation revealed that Olanrewaju was granted bail by a Fiat State High Court 1, Ibadan, which led to his release from the custody of the Correctional facility on April 19, 2024. He was admitted into custody on January 8, 2024, by the order of a Chief Magistrate Court, Iyaganku.

    The magistrate’s court said it was not aware of the suspect’s release when the matter came up on September 2.

    Govt finally slams new suit against suspect

    However, Aikomo, who also read the newspaper report, told The Nation that the moves to re-arraign Olanrewaju at a superior court followed the discovery that he secured his controversial freedom through a discreet application for bail at a state High Court in Ibadan, amid his ongoing trial by the police at the Magistrate’s Court.

    Aikomo’s text message forwarded to The Nation quoted the Director of Public Prosecution as saying that a suit had been prepared and filed at the state High Court for prosecution.

    The message reads in part: “The new suit number: i/58c/2024, State vs Oludele Olanrewaju, has been filed at the court. I will bring the (case) file to you as soon as it is retrieved from the registry…” Olanrewaju’s offence, according to the new suit was contrary to Section 371 of the Criminal Code. As of press time, the case was yet to be assigned to a judge.

    Victim goes into hiding

    Meanwhile, Bose, the victim and mother of the baby, has gone into hiding after Olanrewaju’s return to the Moniya area of Akinyele Local Government Area of Ibadan, where he is still running His Mercy Hospital, amid public outcry.

    According to a close family member and chairman of the Togolese community in the area, Mr. Simare Worou Razakou, Bose has since been moved out of Moniya to safety somewhere in Oyo State.

    He explained that Bose could not stand or cope with the trauma of the incident and the shocking release of the suspect. Hence, she was relocated to an undisclosed town in the State for safety and rehabilitation.

    “The unfortunate incident has taken a toll on Bose’s health so much that she was beginning to display an unpleasant attitude and her health deteriorated.

    “Her condition worsened when news got to town that Olanrewaju had been released and she sensed that she had lost the chance to get justice and feared for her life. Thus, we had to relocate her to another community for safety.

    “Justice is key in this matter. Bose has lost her baby and her sanity and safety are at stake.

    “The only thing that could give her relative closure is justice and the state authorities should ensure that justice is served in this matter.”

    Additional report by Yinka Adeniran, Ibadan

  • How soldiers killed my husband, donated his body to varsity’s lab for experiment – 20-yr-old widow

    How soldiers killed my husband, donated his body to varsity’s lab for experiment – 20-yr-old widow

    • Demands justice against errant military officers

    • Corpse accepted for safe keeping, says varsity’s spokesman

    September 7, 2024 was a black Saturday for the family of Mr David Achinya in Taraku, a community in Gwer East Local Government Area of Benue State. It was particularly so for Mrs Doosuur Achinya, a 20-year-old widow whose husband, Terhile Timothy Achinya, was cut down in his prime.

    On that day, some soldiers attached to the security outfit Operation Whirld Stroke, in Lafia, Nasarawa State capital, tortured to death the final year student of Isa Mustapha Agwai Polytechnic (IMAP), Lafia, after he was picked up by the military around 2pm on September 6 on his way to the examination hall.

    A friend and course mate of the late student, Olagundoye Favor, had given him a ride on a motorcycle on their way to school when the military personnel picked them up for reasons that remain yet a mystery, took them to their detention facility and subjected them to serious torture in the process of which Achinya died.

    Achinya, a student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering  was billed to graduate on September 9, but his dream of becoming an engineer was aborted two days before it materialised.

    The development has ruined the life of his widow, Doosuur, and their two kids aged one and three.

    Embarrassed at the death of the student in their custody, the military officers led by one Captain Kaakara allegedly tried to deposit the corpse of the late student at Dalhatu Arab Specialist Hospital Lafia, but the authorities of the hospital rejected the corpse when the military officers could not produce a police report.

    Olagundoye Favor was however admitted at the hospital and treated for the internal wounds he sustained from the soldiers’ beating.

    Following the rejection of Achinya’s corpse at Dalhatu Arab Specialist Hospital, our correspondent gathered, the soldiers decided to take it to the laboratory of the Anatomy Department of the Federal University of Lafia (FULAFIA) where corpses are used for practicals by medical students.

    Surprisingly, the lab attendants of the University accepted the corpse for their students’ experiments without demanding to know the circumstances surrounding it. Doosuur, who has yet to come to terms with becoming a widow when she spoke with our correspondent, said she could not believe that all the hope that she and her husband had nursed about being successful in life had been dashed by his sudden death.

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    “He was left with just a paper to complete his engineering programme when the soldiers killed him,” she said.

    “He had called me in the early morning of September 6 as he was set to go for the exams.

    “He spoke to his two kids and assured them that in the next three days, he would sit his final and join them to celebrate his graduation.

    “Little did I know that I would never see him again in my life

    “Every day, his two kids ask after him, saying, ‘Mummy, when is Daddy coming back? Not knowing they will never see him again.

    “My life is ruined and there is no hope for me again. The military officers have finished me.

    “Killing my husband for no justification and leaving me behind with these little kids is too much for me to bear.

    “Life will never be the same again.”

    She said Achinya’s ambition was to complete his OND in Mechanical Engineering and proceed for his HND, but his dream of becoming an engineer was cut short by the errant soldiers.

    “We could not achieve our dreams together as death snatched him from me unannounced,” she said.

    “I wept bitterly because of the enormous things we planned to do after his graduation.

    “I am depressed. The military officers have deprived me of peace of mind at the young age of 20, and I won’t have peace of mind for the remaining period of my life.

    “The killing of my innocent husband was a devastating blow.

    “I have been waking up in the middle of the night to weep bitterly since my husband died. What is the future of his two kids?

    “Who is going to train them? Who will take care of them? I have no means of livelihood.

    “All along, our hope was that he would complete his OND and look for something doing before furthering his education.”

    The distraught widow says all she wants is justice for her late husband. “I want the soldiers who killed my husband arrested and made to face the law. He did not do any wrong thing to them,” she insisted.

    The murdered student also left behind aged parents who are also crying for justice in respect of the gruesome murder of their son.

    The father of the deceased student, David Achinya, who described the incident as unfortunate, called on the authorities to make sure that the military officers involved are made to face the law.

    FULAFIA faces public scrutiny

    Although the Federal University Lafia (FULAFIA) was not involved in the torture and death of the student, the institution faces an uphill task to exonerate itself from the entire episode for the simple reason that its Anatomy Lab accepted an unauthorised corpse without any written document.

    The Taraku community in Benue State strongly believes that the action of the lab attendant of the Anatomy Department was meant to prevent traces and create imaginary mystery.

    The late Achinya, until his gruesome murder at the hands of the soldiers was a graduating Mechanical Engineering student of Isa Agwai polytechnic, Lafia.

    The Nation investigation revealed that the deceased student was arrested on Friday September 6, tortured and killed on September 7. In a desperate move to cover up for the crime, his killers took his corps to the Dalhatu Arab Specialist Hospital Lafia where it was rejected because of their refusal to write a statement. Hence they donated the corps to the anatomy department at the Federal University of Lafia.

    Investigation revealed that the deceased was whisked away by the military personnel operating under the auspices of Operation Wild Stroke with a certain Captain Kaakara (full name withheld) on arriving the school premises on a motorcycle to sit his second to final examination alongside his friend identified as Olagundoye Favour .

    Barrister Ayiwulu Baba of the Principal Black Peak Chambers, Lafia and counsel to the victims had petitioned the Commissioner of Police in Nassarawa State over the murder of Achinya and also written to the military command alleging brutality against innocent people especially these latest victims.

    Speaking to our correspondent, the legal practitioner said: “What happened was that the military officers wanted to cover up for their actions, so they refused to take his body to a public or private mortuary. Instead, they took it to the anatomy department of the Federal University of Lafia.

    “We had to trace the corpse to the specialist hospital here in Lafia alongside his father, and it was at the specialist hospital that we got a hint that we should go to Sandaji Hospital’s mortuary. 

    “When we got there, they said nobody was brought in there. Somebody again hinted us that he heard them saying they would take it to the university and  that we should check there.

    “I was reluctant because it sounded abnormal, but we decided to take the risk to go there only for us to discover the body of Timothy Terhile Achinya at the anatomy department, and it was shocking that they were already conducting  examination (practicals) on his corpse.”

    He explained further that the military personnel actually arrsted Achinya with his friend Olagundoye on their way to the examination hall on the 6th of September 2024, and took them to their detention facility alongside five other students without any cogent reason. He said it was during the brutal torture in their detention that Achinya died.

    Because they were kept in separate detention rooms, his colleague students were not aware that one of them had died.

    Asked about the likely intention of such an unprofessional and unethical conduct, Baba said: “They did that to cover up the offence. His own friend who was arrested with him is still alive, although in the hospital.

    “They did not even tell him that Timothy Terhile Achinya was dead. It was after his death that they transferred the matter to the police station. And they did not even tell the police that one of the boys was dead.

    “It was shocking that they even marked Timothy Terhile Achinya’s corpse as an unknown person and a cultist. They did not even tag him as a student. 

    “This is somebody that was on a motorcycle going to the examination hall. They did not even deem it fit to report to the polytechnic where they picked him but went and dashed the corpse to the anatomy department of the Federal University of Lafia just because they feel he is a nobody.

    “They felt they could cover up the crime, but unfortunately for them, we have uncovered the crime.”

    Speaking on the legality of the conduct of the Federal  University of Lafia, the lawyer said:

    “Legally, the university jumped all the procedures of accepting corpses, because the body was not advertised. The university did not make any request for corpse for students of the anatomy department or any other department for whatever purpose.

    “There was no record of unclaimed bodies anywhere, so how did the Anatomy Department arrive at accepting a corpse and commencing practicals on it?

    “So, there was no legal backing to all that the university did. It is even strange that soldiers will bring corpse to the university and donate just like that. They did not have a corona order and it didn’t pass through the Court.

    “What the university did was wrong, and I think they have a case to answer. I will write to them,” the legal practitioner said.

    In his response, the Public Relations Officer of the Federal University of Lafia, Abubakar Ibrahim, said there was a corpse in the university anatomy department, but it was for safe keeping.

    Family petitions IGP, CDS

    The family members had engaged the services of a lawyer, Barrister Ayiwulu Baba Ayiwulu, who wrote a petition to the Inspector General of Police and the Chief of Defence Staff against act of culpable homicide. A copy of the petition was made available to our correspondent.

    Our correspondent further gathered that based on the petition written by the family lawyer, the Chief of Defence Staff directed the military officers on Operation Wild Stroke in the state who were involved in the killing of the late Achinya to report themselves to the State Criminal Investigation Department of the state’s police command to tell their own side of the story.

    It was gathered that the affected military officers appeared and gave their statement, following which it was resolved that an autopsy be carried out on Achinya’s lifeless body. The Autopsy was done on the September 22 by two professors of pathology and two medical doctors in the presence of the representative of the military, the police and the family lawyer.

    A letter written by the family lawyer, Barrister Ayiwulu Baba Ayiwulu, to state commissioner of police requesting for the release of the lifeless body of Achinya for burial pending the outcome of the result  was titled “Request for the released of the lifeless body of Timothy Terhile Achinya to the deceased family for burial and certified copies of related document from investigation activities”.

    It reads: “We write as counsel to Mr David Achinya of Taraku, Benue State of Nigeria herein referred to as our client.

    “We write to appreciate your good office for the aid towards tracing the body of the deceased Timothy Terhile Achinya who died in the custody of military personnel of Operation Wild Stroke in Lafia, who illegally took him on his way to examination hall into detention AND serious torturing resulting to his being murdered before carelessly depositing his lifeless body by one Captain Kaakara at the Anatomy Department Laboratory of the Federal University of Lafia.

     “We really commend the effort of your officers at the homicide department at the SCIID for the effort made in tracing the whereabouts of the deceased body on the 11th of September, 2024.

    “Sir, having identified the lifeless body of the said Timothy Terhile Achinya, our client, who is the deceased’s father, wish to have the body released to him for burial

    “Our client further request that discreet investigation should be carried out in order to bring to book the facilitation and actors in leading to the murder of his son and to further request that a corona inquest be conducted as part of your investigation and all the necessary investigation documents and pictures taken by the IPO at the homicide department to be certified and made available to us.”

     The late Achinya was buried on September 28 2024 at Oýomba Adaa, Taraku, Gwer East Local Government Area of Benue State, after the Nasarawa State Commissioner of Police granted the request to bury the deceased IMAP student.

    On September 25, 2024, a member of the House of representatives representing Gwer West/Gwer East federal constituency of Benue State, Dr Asema Achado, laid a petition on the floor of the House of Representatives against the military personnel of “Operation Whirl-Stroke” in Lafia for the culpable homicide of his constituent, Mr. Achinya, Terhile Timothy who before he was killed was a final year student of the Isa Agwai Mustapha Polytechnic, Lafia, Nasarawa State.

    While laying the petition, which prays the House to conduct a detailed investigation into the murder of Achinya, Dr Asema Achado noted that the petition became absolutely pertinent, as it will ensure justice is done as regards his late constituent’s lost life.

    “Mr. Timothy (Achinya) was allegedly and brutally murdered by personnel of the Nigerian Army attached to Operation Whirl-Stroke, Lafia Unit in Nasarawa State on September 7, 2024.

    “The petition emphasised the pivotal role of military personnel stationed at Lafia, which should be devoid of unjust brutality, killings, and unlawful treatment of citizens and instead conduct well-organised operations following military ethics to protect lives and properties.

    “The petition offered the following prayers to the Honourable House: Investigate the alleged brutality of the Nigerian Army leading to Mr. Achinya Terhile Timothy’s murder; curtail the alleged abusive excesses exhibited by some personnel to prevent future occurrences;  reinstate the Nigerian military’s important role in safeguarding citizens’ lives and properties, and  Conduct a thorough investigation to ensure justice for the deceased, Mr. Terhile Timothy Achinya.

    “The House sympathised with the deceased family and directed the committee on public petitions to investigate and report back to the house within four weeks, ” the house resolved.

    The National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS), the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), the Student Union Government (SUG) of IMAP as well as the management of the Isa Mustapha Agwai Polytechnic Lafia have all condemned the act of the military officers and called for justice to be done.