The Nation Newspaper

Tag: ALFA

  • Alfa ‘rapes’ wife’s nine-year-old niece

    The police in Lagos have arrested an Islamic cleric, Alfa Abdul-Lateef Mustapha, 38, for alleged defilement of his wife’s nine-year-old niece.

    The man was apprehended by members of the Child Protection Network (CPN) in Somolu and handed over to the Bariga Police Station on Sunday.

    He was allegedly caught in the act the previous day by neighbours.

    It was gathered that the child had complained to neighbours that she was being sexually molested by her aunt’s husband, but they did not believe her. Neighbours, however, caught the man in the act on Saturday.

    The suspect, who claimed it was the first time he slept with the minor, apologised. He was, however, challenged by the victim, who said he had raped her more than three times.

    A source, who informed our correspondent about the incident, said the suspect’s relatives wanted to cover up the incident, but his wife and two others quickly alerted the CPN unit in Somolu.

    “The family wanted to fight the wife. They wanted the matter to die down. They threatened the girl and cursed her. They attempted to attack an activist, who invited the police,” the source said.

    Confirming the incident, CPN Head in Somolu Toyin Okanlawon said the victim had been taken to the Mirable Centre for examination.

    He said: “The relations came to the station in hijab and jalamia, pleading that the alfa be released. As it stands now, the victim is not safe in that house. She and her aunt slept at the station for safety following the reaction of the suspect’s relatives.

    “We have appealed to the Juvenile Centre at Alakara, Mushin to provide shelter for the victim. She was brought from Kano last January by her aunt so that she could be looked after properly, but the woman’s husband has turned a predator.

    “I hail the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Bariga because he provided food for the victim and her aunt when he realised that they had not eaten. He also calmed the girl because she was tearful and traumatised.”

  • Alfa: Senate indulging in double standard over Kogi East

    The last may not have been heard about the battle for the Kogi East seat in the Senate, less than a year to the end of the Eighth National Assembly. Air Marshal Isaac Mohammed Alfa (retd.) is insisting that he should be sworn in as senator, based on court judgments. Atai Aidoko is asking him to wait until the Appeal Court decides the winner. In this interview with ONYEDI OJIABOR, Alfa explains why the Senate leadership should swear him in without further delay.

    THE Federal High Court has declared you as the winner of Kogi East senatorial election and asked the National Assembly to withdraw recognition from Senator Atai Aidoko. What is holding your inauguration?

    The Supreme Court judgment referred the case to the High Court and decided that the High Court should determine who the rightful person to occupy the seat is. As we speak, I have three court judgments in my favour. First, the Supreme Court judgment decided that the case should be tried afresh. The judgment went on to say emphatically that the ruling by the High Court shall determine who represents Kogi East in the Senate. The Supreme Court judgment made it clear that Kogi East had no senator in the Senate. Despite the judgment, which we forwarded to the leadership of the National Assembly, the National Assembly still allowed Aidoko to resume in the Senate.

    The second judgment of the Court of Appeal, which refused to interpret the Supreme Court judgment, not only ruled that by the judgment of the Supreme Court any Certificate of Return earlier given to Aidoko became null and void and of no effect whatsoever, but also went further to punish Aidoko for abuse of court process, by awarding N1m cost in my favour. This also reinforced the fact that Aidoko could not continue to sit in the Senate, because he had no valid Certificate of Return from anywhere. Despite sending this clear and unambiguous judgment to the National Assembly, the lawmakers decided to keep Aidoko in the Senate.

    The third and latest judgment in obedience to the Supreme Court order to try the case afresh and determine who is the rightful owner of Kogi East seat was given also in my favour in a declaratory judgment asking the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue me a certificate of return and asking the National Assembly to swear me in and asking the National Assembly to cease forthwith any perquisites accorded to Aidoko as a senator. The order was with immediate effect.

    The High Court order declaratorily said: “In the exercise of the Court’s inherent disciplinary jurisdiction, the Clerk of the National Assembly I hereby directed to forthwith withdraw all the privileges, rights and perquisites of office with the third defendant (Aidoko) hitherto enjoyed as a ‘Member of the Senate’ and shall convey to the Senate President, the decision of this Court that he should forthwith withdraw further recognition to the third defendant as a ‘Member of the 8th National Assembly’ whose purported election into the Senate is by this judgment, nullified because, he was not duly nominated by the first defendant (the Peoples Democratic Party) in the aftermath of the Kogi East senatorial district primary election held on 7/12/14, which he did not win as an ‘aspirant.”

    The court went on to declare: “That the plaintiff shall be issued by the second defendant, (INEC) with a ‘Certificate of Return’ as the duly elected Senator for Kogi East senatorial district, and the Clerk of the National Assembly shall immediately administer the Oath of Office on the plaintiff as a ‘Senator’ representing  Kogi East senatorial district of Kogi State, who shall immediately take over the seat of the third defendant in the hallowed chambers of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

    Despite all these, even when we forwarded the judgment to the National Assembly, with the consequential order and another court order refusing to stay execution, the National Assembly has, up till now, not sworn me in.

    So, what is hindering the Senate from doing the needful?

    You should ask the leadership of the Senate. In a fragrant disregard of the four court orders, the Senate still allowed Aidoko to remain in the chamber. Several people have called me and pointed out to me evidences of the National Assembly in this case indulging in double standard and based on the fact that when I was in the Senate and Aidoko brought a court judgment, I pointed it out to the Senate leadership that I had already appealed to the Court of Appeal. The Senate leadership told me clearly that they only obey court order and not notice of appeal. Now that I have a valid court order and my Certificate of Return, why are they not swearing me in, especially because precedence had been set already? Why the double standard?

    One important fact is that at the time I was in the Senate, when the leadership of the Senate decided to swear Aidoko in, I was there on an earlier judgment, that I won election and was given Certificate of Return. This time around, Aidoko does not possess any Certificate of Return, by virtue of the three judgments. Therefore, Aidoko is sitting in the Senate illegally, going by all the explanations I have given. Aidoko has nothing to stand on to appeal. The Senate cannot put something on nothing. It cannot stand, because by virtue of the three judgments, Aidoko is not in the Senate whatsoever. It is obvious that the Senate leadership has kept him there illegally.

    Since the Senate leadership is keeping Aidoko in the Senate illegally, what next?

    To my mind, the Senate is going through a lot in the public opinion of the citizens of this country right now that it cannot out of favour for personal reasons, connections, allegiance, friendship and otherwise afford to sacrifice its reputation in the interest of just one person who the various courts in the land had declared unqualified to occupy that seat.

    To continue to keep Aidoko in the Senate and to continue to refuse to swear me in, the Senate is disobeying legitimate multiple court orders and have no moral right to criticize the executive.

    But I’m hopeful that the leadership of the Senate, because of the sanctity of that institution, will eventually resolve to put justice above personal favour and loyalty and do the right thing by obeying the court orders and swear me in as quickly as possible, because the life of the 8th Senate is almost running out. Protecting the sanctity of the Senate is paramount when compared to personal loyalty consideration.

    Doing the right thing will prevent the Senate from unnecessary public attention over numerous and uncountable litigations that might follow, especially from citizens of Kogi East who feel so aggrieved that the Senate has for so long denied them of their choice of representation.

    Aidoko is insisting that the order that the Clerk should swear you in was wrong. He also said that he has a pending appeal that should be decided…

    The Clerk of the National Assembly is the administrative head of the National Assembly. The Senate President is Chairman of the National Assembly, the two chambers. At the inauguration of the Eighth Assembly, it was the Clerk that administered the oath of office to all the senators. It was after they were inaugurated that they voted to choose Bukola Saraki as Senate President. When a new senator is to be sworn in, it is the Clerk of the Senate that administers the oath of office in the presence of the Senate President. The Senate President never reads the oath nor administers the oath.

    Therefore, the judge was right in his ruling and pronouncement. The judge in his ruling even directed the Clerk to inform the Senate President accordingly that all perquisites should be withdrawn from Aidoko. The judgment is declaratory and binding on all those mentioned and it is so unfortunate that Senator Aidoko, according to some uninformed lawyers, can be exposing their absolute ignorance of the law to the public.

    What is your next line of action?

    This is the sixth time Aidoko is sitting on what does not belong to him. Previously, he had collected people’s mandates five times through the back door, by using the court without winning any election. First, he collected the mandate of Joe Agada through the court; secondly he collected that of Barrister Kabiru Usman through the court; third he collected the mandate of Hassan Enape through the court; fourth he collected the mandate of Senator Dangana Ocheja (a sitting senator) through the court and he also collected another sitting senator’s mandate (Abdulrahman Abubakar) through the court.

    In all of these, Aidoko had never won any primary. He is attempting to collect mine like he collected the others, but I am determined that he will never succeed. Aidoko had boasted that as long as the leadership of the Senate is there, we can never remove him. My belief is that power belongs to God and anybody exercising power, whether through INEC, courts or the leadership of the National Assembly, should be by the need to do justice, because God is justice.

     

  • Fake cleric arraigned for rape in Lagos

    A 42-year-old man, Wasiu Lawal, who allegedly raped a 38-year-old woman on the pretext of helping her spiritually, was on Wednesday in Lagos brought before a Surulere Magistrates’ Court.

    The accused, who lives at No.1, Adeleke Agodo St., Ikorodu in Lagos State, is facing a charge of rape.

    The prosecutor, Sgt. Christopher Okoniko told the court that the accused committed the offence at about 9.00p.m. on July 1 in Lagos.

    He said that the accused, who claimed to be a pastor, native doctor and a Muslim cleric (alfa) forcefully had a sexual intercourse with the woman under the guise of “praying” for her.

    The complainant said she did not know how she ended up sleeping in the man’s house till the next day.

    “She said the next day she narrated the story to her husband who reported the matter at Ikorodu police station which led to the arrest of the accused,” she said.

    “The accused uses one room for pastoral work, the second room to consult as herbalist and the third one for Muslim cleric (Alfa) work, “ he said.

    The offences contravened Section 258 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

    The accused, however, pleaded not guilty.

    The Magistrate, Mrs A. Dan Oni, granted the accused bail in the sum of N200,000 with two sureties.

    She said that one of them must be gainfully employed with an evidence of tax payment.

    The case was adjourned till Sept. 14 for mention. 

  • ‘I don’t believe in juju’

    Lukman Oladejo is a practising Muslim, he has driven within the country and beyond, especially to neighbouring countries such as Chad, Mali etc.

    LUKMAN Oladejo, who said he has driven petrol tankers to many West African countries, said, “I am a staunch Muslim. I went to a Koranic school by becoming Alfa. I am always armed with my Koran wherever I travel to, so I don’t joke with Allah’s words or messages as He is my guide. Many others take to magical rings, incantations and many other things all in the name of returning home safely. In fact, some would sacrifice dogs to the god of iron or ogun, while others have other means. Like my own brother, he does not do juju but has magical ring that would make the engine develop fault if danger is looming on the road. The engine would develop fault and until the danger, like armed robbers, leaves the vicinity before the engine will start again.

    It was not my plan to do the job but when I left secondary school and there was no job, I went ahead to learn how to drive trucks from my cousin, and I started driving trucks which I believe was borne out of circumstances or frustration.

    “He continued: “Driving tanker is another hell unlike driving cars, or lightweight vehicles. I spend days on the road leaving my family members behind, which is not conducive and appropriate but that is the nature of the job. I have cooking utensils like stove, food items and other belongings, for anywhere I get to has become my second home.”

    On the hazards of the job, he said, “Yes, I have faced hazards in life, accident do occur, though not intentional as nobody prays to have such. I was once shot at by armed robbers (he showed the scars on his neck to the reporter) but Allah saved me.

    “I have only one wife and don’t mess around with women. I don’t pray for my children to do the job. It’s not worth it but I cannot force them. You see, the job could make your wife become another man’s wife, for when you leave home for days and another man has to take over. No, no, it’s not a good job at all.”

    Talking about the life of a typical tanker driver, he said, “when some of the drivers are dozing off or sleeping they would be forced to use drugs like marijuana, and these people are called ‘Aloso ma su’ (pretend to be easing himself but not). Not only this, some of these drivers would take drugs such as bakwana, this is a drug used for the horses during races! It is dangerous – for one should not eat food that has pepper along with it or else your eyes would be opened but your mind gone! And you are bound to have accident, so you may drive into the bush unknowingly. Yes, some take to ogogoro or would relax and be sleeping with prostitutes.”

    He said he uses Koran for prayer. “There are some passages in the Koran known by some Muslim clerics, if recited, one would avert accident, but the day one would die one could easily forget. You have to read Inasuana, but the very day things would happen they would forget to read it, but I am always armed with my Koran.” He added, “some will observe tradition, especially those worshiping Ogun by using dog as sacrifice to avoid accident.”

    He spoke of his experience: “I have seen victims trapped in accident vehicle at night and could not be saved, that is one of the dangers of travelling at night. But I once had an encounter with armed robbers in 2001, when the day was shorter than the night, it was along Ibadan – Lagos Expressway when armed robbers shot me on the neck ( he showed the scar ).I don’t pray to have my children doing this business, it is a dirty job. The job is stressful. The risk it involves makes it dangerous, it is like a man carrying death about, for if there is any explosion it will affect them immediately.”

    On the belief that the drivers use juju, he confirmed it. “The drivers have powerful juju that would make them use their bare hands to remove the bolts and nuts from the tyres without using jack. Many have the powerful incantations, but my brother would have magical rings, incisions on his body to avoid armed robbery, then there is a talisman that would make the vehicle break down and be delayed until the mechanical fault is detected.”

  • Pomp as Akin Lewis marks four decades of acting

    Pomp as Akin Lewis marks four decades of acting

    Defying the downpour, and giving less thought to the long trip, friends, colleagues and notable personalities, last Saturday, gathered for legendary actor, Akintola Akin-Lewis, as he celebrated 40 years on the stage and screen.

    The environ of Amador Suites on the Lekki-Epe Expressway, Ajah in Lagos, showed a great merriment was in the offing, as Total Recall Media rolled out the drums for what it tagged: Akinola Akin-Lewis 40 Years As a Professional on Stage, Radio, TV & Film. The event was also used to launch the ‘Abake Lewis Foundation for the Arts’ (ALFA) and a documentary titled: Who Be Dis Akin Lewis Sef. It was a day where encomium and accolades were showered on the the screen idol.

    Among the guests at the event were Olugbenga Otenuga, commissioner for Urban and Physical Planning, Ogun State and Chief Sina Williams, the state’s special adviser on Culture and Tourism, who represented the Governor Ibikunle Amosun.

    Others were Chief Adeniran Adetoye, chairman of the occasion; Pastor and Mrs. Raphael Gbolahan; Goke Olayinka, president Rotary Club of Ikeja; Dr Gbenga Bello; Captain Akin Attah; Dr and Mrs Fasehun; Dr Sola Fosudo; Victor Olaotan and Kunle Coker of Tinsel fame, Nonso Odogwu; Victory Emueje aka Otuetue; Bukky Ogunbote; Teco Benson; Yomi Fash-Lanso; Brycee Bassey and Louisa Osu.

    Anchored by Owen Gee, with support from fellow-comedian Baba Dee Baba, who both got the guests roaring with laughter each time they came on stage, the event also had Seyi Michael, exciting with Juju music while veteran Disc Jockey, Kunle Job, filled the gap with playback tunes. There was also the popular Black Image Theatre group, whose performance at the event wowed many.

    Apparently joyous, the celebrator said the event was a challenge for him to do better. “I am overwhelmed by the love shown to me by friends and well wishers. This will only make me strive to get better and at this stage with the launch of ALFA, I intend to have more impact, train and retrain the best of Nollywood materials, who will add value to our industry.

    ‘’I want to thank the team of Total Recall Media Limited for putting this together for me and my lovely wife and my children for tolerating and supporting me throughout these years. By the grace of God, as an old wine, I pray I get better and better.”

    Adetoye, who is also chairman of the foundation, extolled the virtues of the celebrator and promised that the purpose of ALFA would not be defeated under his leadership.

    Akin-Lewis is a cross-over actor, who have interpreted roles in English, Yoruba, Bulgarian and French languages fort the stage, film and television. He is noted for challenging roles as Biko’s Inquest, directed by Wole Soyinka, Dream on Monkey Mountains, directed by Carrol Dawnes, The Night Before, directed by Bode Sowande, Wedlock of the gods by Zulu Sofola, as well as Moliere, directed by Sacho Stoyanov.

    Some of his blockbuster movies include Red Hot, Silver Lining, Madam Dearest, Were Alaso, Apere, Osomo and Apayan Eda,

    He has featured in some soaps, suh as Tinsel, Spider, The Benjamins and Two Sides of a Coin. Some of his classics are Adventures of S.K Adio the Barber, popularly known as Why Worry, Koko Close and Mind Bending.