The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Bayelsa

  • We are no longer safe in Bayelsa, Igbo traders tell police

    We are no longer safe in Bayelsa, Igbo traders tell police

    Igbo traders in Bayelsa State, yesterday, marched the streets of Yenagoa, the state capital, in protest of the continual murder of Igbo businessmen in the state capital by unknown gunmen suspected to be armed robbers and hired assassins.

     

    They were particularly angry over the gruesome murder of Agodo Martins by gunmen at his Yenagoa residence early hours of Monday.

     

    The hoodlums were said to have broken into the house of Martins, who owns a popular boutique called Omars Fashion Plaza at the Ompadec area of the Yenagoa-Mbiama Road.

     

    It was gathered that the gunmen who stormed the house of Martins located at the Punch Road area demanded money from their victim.

     

    The deceased reportedly told his assailants that there was no cash at home because shops in the capital city were shut down for about four days in honour of the late Governor of the state, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, who was buried on Saturday.

     

    After ransacking his house, the gunmen were said to have shot and killed Martin in cold blood in the presence of his new wife.

     

    The traders led by the President, Ohaneze Youth Council (OYC), Chief Chinedu Arthur-Ugwa, also lamented that Martin was killed a few days after gunmen suspected to be assassins murdered another successful Igbo businessman, Ugochukwu,  popularly called Ugo Best.

     

    It was gathered that Ugochukwu was killed along the Azikoro village on his way home after business of that day.

     

    A source who spoke in confidence said: “He was close to his house in company with his wife when gunmen operating in commercial tricycles blocked his car. They dragged him out of the car and forced into the tricycle.

     

    “His corpse was discovered the next day at the Azikoro cemetery with his hands and legs tied up. He was a successful businessman who built a big house at the Azikoro village. We are scared”.

     

    The traders also related how another businessman was gruesomely murdered at the Tombia area adding that others were being harassed and injured by arm-bearing youths.

     

    The traders assembled at the front of Omars boutique, forced shops to close down and marched with anger to the state command of the police.

     

    They were received by the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Peter Ogunyawo, and other senior police officers.

     

    Presenting their grievances, Arthur-Ugwa said: “The Igbos are no longer safe in Bayelsa. We are being killed by gunmen. One was killed at Azikoro, the other one was killed at Tombia and today another one who just got married was killed in cold blood.

     

    “We are not happy and we have closed down our business to come and tell you at the headquarters that we are not safe. If you cannot guarantee our safety, we will relocate our business and families out of the state. We are pleading for your assistance”.

     

    Ogunyawo in his response, told the grieving traders that crimes exist everywhere and were not targeted at the Igbos.

     

    He said death is one debt everybody must pay and that nobody knows how it will be paid.

     

    He said the command was doing everything possible to check the crime wave in the state and asked the traders to furnish the police with information to enable them become effective.

     

    “We can’t be effective if you don’t partner with us. Once you have feelings of any crime, let us know. You don’t need to run to anywhere because crimes exist everywhere”, he said.

  • Dickson, Bayelsa Speaker get knocks for lawmakers’, workers’ plight

    Dickson, Bayelsa Speaker get knocks for lawmakers’, workers’ plight

    The Bayelsa First Initiative (BFI) has blasted Governor Seriake Dickson and House of Assembly Speaker Kombowei Benson for failing to swear in the lawmakers elected on the platform of opposition parties.

    The alleged ill-treatment of the three opposition members drew the ire of BFI, a group of former elected and appointed political office holders.

    It accused Dickson of conspiring with the Assembly’s leadership, led by Benson, to stop the swearing-in of the three lawmakers.

    The members are: Watson Belemote, of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), representing Brass 2; Gibson Munalayefa, of the Labour Party (LP), Ogbia 2 and Gabriel Ogbara, of African Democratic Congress (ADC), Ogbia 3.

    They were declared winners two months ago by the Appeal Court, sitting in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

    But the Assembly’s leadership, dominated by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), ignored them and inaugurated their party members, who won rerun in March.

    The aggrieved members sent a protest letter to the leadership of the National Assembly and the attorney-general of the federation (AGF), urging them to stop the impunity.

    BFI’s Executive Director Chief Nathan Egba condemned the ‘’anti-democratic’’ stance of Dickson and Benson.

    The activist warned that the governor’s continued failure to prevail on the Assembly’s leadership to swear in the three minority party members signalled a danger for the state.

    He said the state was setting a bad precedent, which future Assembly could also follow.

    Egba described Dickson’s alleged directive to his Special Adviser on Treasury Matters, Mr Seipulo, to remove over 500 civil servants from the payroll for allegedly supporting the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the governorship poll, as the worst decision of any governor.

    He said most of Dickson’s policies and statements, following his controversial re-election, was dividing residents.

    Egba said: “For instance, do the governor and the Assembly leadership think the people of Brass 2 as well as Ogbia 2 and 3 will be happy with the administration for shutting them out of the legislative process for almost a year?

    “We call on rulers, non-government organisations (NGOs) and civil society organisations, lawyers, particularly the AGF, and that of Bayelsa State as well as the leadership of the National Assembly, to prevail on Governor Dickson and the leadership of the House of Assembly to do the right thing.”

  • NSCDC destroys 400 illegal mini refineries in Bayelsa

    NSCDC destroys 400 illegal mini refineries in Bayelsa

    The Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Bayelsa says it has destroyed more than 400 illegal mini refineries operated by oil thieves in the state.

    The NSCDC Commandant, Mr Desmond Agu, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Yenagoa that the illegal refineries were destroyed between January and March.

    Agu said that the command now had a gunboat to fortify its operational capacity and had intensified patrols in the coastal settlements and waterways in the state.

    He said that the intensified patrols by the command had led to the arrest of ex-militant leader and his gang, whom he said, were being prosecuted.

    Agu said that the corps had deployed its personnel to provide security to critical national assets and oil facilities across the state.

    “We are on ground to ensure safety and protection of vital oil infrastructure and property within the command.

    “The command is determined to deal with the oil thieves and end their illegal businesses.

    “We have made some arrests concerning the recent cases of vandalism at Agip’s oil fields in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the state.

    “The corps recovered the bodies of the three oil workers that died in the explosion in one of the fields on March 26. We have handed over the bodies to Agip.

    “The case has also been handed over to the Bayelsa State Police Command because it involves death and falls outside our mandate,” Agu said.

    Dr Peter Idabor, Director-General, National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), had earlier attributed the death of the oil workers to poor safety procedures at the oil field.

    Meanwhile, officials of Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC) in Bayelsa and its parent company, Eni, have declined comment on the Easter Sunday’s explosion.

    Mr Fillippo Cotalini, Media Relations Manager, Eni, has yet to respond to the request sent to him through e-mail for a reaction on the explosion.

  • Bayelsa: Police arrest man for aborting pregnancy of minor 

    Bayelsa: Police arrest man for aborting pregnancy of minor 

    The ‘quack doctor ‘ who allegedly aborted the four-month pregnancy of 12-year-old Bayelsa State girl, identified simply as Queen, has been arrested by the police.

    The minor was allegedly raped serially and impregnated by her father, Bamekpa Ademe, who is currently being held at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Bayelsa police command.

    The police later launched manhunt on the man who crudely aborted the minor’s pregnancy under the instruction of Bamekpa.

    The Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Asinim Butswat, Friday, identified the arrested quack doctor as Mr. Fredrick Osai, who is 38 years old.

    Butswat said Osai was arrested at his community in Otiokpoti, Ogbia Local Government Area, Bayelsa State.

    The abused teenager earlier said her life became more traumatic when her father commenced the process of aborting the pregnancy.

    She said the method was crude and opened a chapter of health problems in her life.

    She said: “My father after knowing I was pregnant took me to do an abortion. He took me to Elebele and handed me over to his female friend called Peace. Peace then took me to Otu-Aba. The place was an ordinary house.

    “They didn’t allow me see the process but I saw the instruments. It was very painful. After that day, I started bleeding because he didn’t abort the pregnancy completely. I was taken back to Otu-Aba on December 5 and from there we went to Otu-Asiga to flush the remaining one.

    “I discovered later that my body system had been messed up. I noticed I was no longer menstruating. It was just recently that I was taken to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) where an operation was done on me with something like a container inserted into me. They called it a minor operation. I went back to remove the container”.

    Having arrested Osai, the PPRO said the attention of the police was focused on apprehending Peace who took the minor to Osai for the abortion.

    But the teenager’s nephew David Apigi, said unknown to the police commissioner, some members of the team in charge of the case were demanding money from the victim’s family to effect the arrest.

    He said such persons even threatened to dismiss the matter and release the suspects if the victim’s family failed to give them money to conclude their investigations.

    He said: “The first time we met with the Commissioner of Police, we told him that the policemen in charge of the case were complaining of lack of logistics. He promised to make logistics available to the team.

    “I learnt that they collected money from our people before undertaking the mission to arrest the doctor. They are now asking us to bring N20, 000 to enable them go and arrest the lady. They even threatened to leave the matter and release the suspects if we failed to bring the money.

    “Now, there is a rumour in our community that the suspect has been asked to bring N400, 000 for the case to be quashed. We are asking the commissioner to monitor what some of the persons handling this matter is doing”.

    Butswat, however, said the police were fully committed in getting to the root of the matter adding that all the persons involved in the case would be arrested.

    He said: “We are still investigating and we will surely arrest the lady. The command is taking the matter seriously and we have achieved a lot within a short period. We will arrest everybody involved and charge them to court.”

    Meanwhile there is jubilation in the Imiringi community, Ogbia, following the arrest of Bamekpa. Apigi said people were happy that the alleged randy man had finally bitten more than he could chew.

    “Many people are happy that the law has finally caught up with Bamekpa. They are begging the police to diligently prosecute the matter and ensure that justice is done. They are saluting our courage because we stood our ground to challenge him.

    “We are also happy that the Inspector-General of Police and the Commissioner of Police have shown interest in the matter,” he said.

     

     

     

     

  • Kidnappers kill solider, abduct two expatriates in Bayelsa

    Gunmen suspected to be kidnappers, Tuesday, killed a soldier and abducted two expatriates along Ogbia – Nembe Road, Bayelsa State.

    It was gathered that the soldier was killed in gun duel between security operatives attached to the expatriates and the gunmen.

    The operatives were said to have tried to stop the abduction but were overpowered by the gunmen.

    The incident, which occurred at about 8am was said to have caused pandemonium on the road.

    A source who spoke in confidence said the expatriates and the security operatives ran into an ambush laid by the kidnappers.

    The security operatives were attached as security details to the expatriates working with Setraco Construction Company. They came under heavy fire from the bushes. It was an ambush but they did not notice,” he said.

    Some of the Indigenes of Nembe kingdom, who were returning to Yenagoa by road reportedly, witnessed the incident.

    A driver who identified himself simple as Monday, said: “it was a movie scene. The soldiers were shooting and the armed men were shooting. We later saw signs of blood everywhere when the soldiers removed the blood soaked colleague and some expatriates.”

    The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Asinim Butswat, could not be reached for confirmation at the time of filing the report.

     

  • Bayelsa pupils get financial literacy lessons

    Pupils are always preoccupied with learning alphabets, arithmetic, current affairs, social studies and religious knowledge. They are not always bothered with issues about money, although they spend some cash everyday to buy snacks and soft drinks. Most times, they lack knowledge of basic and core financial concepts.

    But not anymore. Things have changed. The Central Bank of Nigeria, in collaboration with the Sky Bank and the Junior Achievement Nigeria (JAN) have started a special campaign to educate pupils on money and its management.

    In a bid to catch them young, CBN and Skye Bank believe that introducing financial literacy to children will help them grow to become better managers of resources, successful entrepreneurs and in general evolve a country with an army of successful and self-sufficient individuals, myriads of profitable firms and efficient employable job seekers.

    Indeed, it was exciting how the Financial Literacy Day (FLD) turned out in Biedomo Premier School, one of the popular private schools located in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State. Pupils were selected from different classes to attend the literacy lecture spearheaded by the Sky Bank. A team of the bank relocated to the school and spent hours to interact with the children on money matters.

    To underscore the importance of the programme, the bank sent its South-South regional manager, Mr. Raphael Abiaziem to teach the children financial matters. The children were enthused when their Principal, Oluwotoyin Ebojela introduced the event that held at the school’s assembly hall. The pupils were happy that the CBN they usually hear of and a bank whose branches they had seen were in their midst.

    But they became more excited when the Head, Sustainability and Consumer Protection Unit of Sky Bank, Bolanle Adesanoye introduced Abiaziem as their teacher. In fact, Abiaziem made them happy. He used objects they were familiar with and habits they had formed over the years to teach them lessons on money.

    The lecture was very interactive. The teacher said it was time for them to begin to know how to manage money, matrix of money and sources of earnings. He said money when earned could either be saved or invested. He asked the children not to save their money in piggy bank alone but to also take it to commercial banks for safekeeping.

    He said it was wrong to invest all the money in stomach adding that such investment yields only faeces. “Investing in stomach yields nothing. It only yields faeces. It is safer to keep your money in a bank. If you save in a piggy bank, it does not yield interest”, he said.

    He said children could buy shares through their parents and gave them an experience of a child who grew to become a billionaire because his parents bought shares for him in a blue-chip company. The manager engaged the pupils on definitions of some financial concepts.

    He explained the concepts of Bank Verification Number (BVN), Account, Account Number, Cooperative, POS, Insurance and ATM to them. The children also learnt fundamentals of risk management, profit and production.

    The manager told them some of the problems with the economy. According to him, Nigeria is more of a consuming country than a producing one. He said: “Nigeria does not produce anything. We import virtually everything. But the President has insisted that we must produce the things we consume. Commodities will be cheaper when we produce”.

    In fact, Abiaziem took the lessons to some of the realities in the economy. He raised the question: do we devalue the Naira? He explained the concepts of devaluation, foreign exchange, domiciliary account and foreign currencies.

    The attentive pupils provided answers on what should be done to help the Naira become stronger. They said diversification of the economy, reduction of importation and supporting the growth of infant industries will help the Naira.

    CBN and its partners made some books on elementary financial management available to the school. Such books are, Kente the Money Wise Ant by Nneka Osili; Basic Financial Education and Management by Clearone Concept; Organising Your Future by Opume Onuoha and the Path of Fate by Fumilayo Braithwaite.

    Also, Mr. Ibironke Toba of the Sky Bank was concerned about the Sky Bank Rainbow Account. He said the account is designed for children and appealed to the pupils to ask their parents to open the accounts for them. He said it is developed to ensure their education and future growth.

    The elated principal thanked the CBN, Sky Bank and JAN for remembering a school in Bayelsa and appealed to the pupils to start the culture of saving by opening accounts with the Sky Bank. “Don’t invest all your money on soft drinks and biscuits”, she said.

  • UNICEF, EU harp on clean water, better jobs in Bayelsa

    It has always been said that water is everywhere inBayelsa state, but there is no potable water to drink. Bayelsa is, indeed, about 80 per cent water and 20 per cent land. But the residents still suffer from lack of drinkable water.

    The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and the European Union (EU) have insisted that there is no alternative to clean water. Both EU, UNICEF and the Bayelsa State Broadcasting Corporation embarked on massive campaign for clean water and the role of water in creating better jobs across the state during the 2016 World Water Day christened Better Water, Better Jobs.

    UNICEF and its partners got children especially pupils in schools involved in their clean-water campaign. The team held one of the water events at the Rev. Proctor Memorial School, Kaiama, Kolokuma-Opokuma Local Government Area.

    The venue of the event was congested with over 200 students in attendance. It was a programme that exposed the students to significance of water and the need to avoid having contacts with contaminated or polluted water.

    In his speech on water, a representative of the Bayelsa State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA), Winikime Asingbe, said everybody needs access to clean water. He said any attempt to use contaminated water will lead to water-borne diseases.

    Addressing the attentive students, he said: “We need to have access to clean water. There are many things we do with water like washing, drinking, cooking our food and others. We should always endeavor to drink clean water.

    “We should not drink dirty water from the well, from the water tunnels or gutters that carry stagnant waters and also the rain water we collect with our drums. When we drink dirty water we are exposed to water borne diseases like cholera, typhoid fever, malaria and tuberculosis.

    “So we should drink clean water everyday to avoid being sick. We should also wash our hands with clean water. We should always wash our hands. There shouldn’t be a time frame for washing of our hands.

    “We should wash our hands whenever we wake up from sleep, before we eat, after playing football, after going to the toilet, when we come back from school, before we go to sleep.

    “We should wash our hands after each activity of the day and after washing our hands we should not clean our hands with towels because our towels might be dirty rather you shake off the water or leave your hands to dry off.”

    Speaking on the theme; water and jobs, Asingbe said water has created many jobs across the world. He said many people work in water-related companies adding that water has been able to stimulate the economy.

    He said: “Water means Jobs. Water is essential building block of life. But it is more than just essential to quench thirst or protect health; water is vital for creating jobs and supporting economic, social, and human development.

    “Today half of the world’s workers – 1.5 billion people work in water related sectors. Moreover, nearly all jobs, regardless of the sector, depend directly on water.

    “Yet despite the indelible link between jobs and water, millions of people whose livelihoods depends on water often not recognized or protected by basic labour rights.”

    He said the year’s theme focused on the central role that water plays in creating and supporting good quality jobs.

  • Bayelsa gets Fed Govt’s N1.2b bailout fund

    Bayelsa gets Fed Govt’s N1.2b bailout fund

    The Bayelsa State government yesterday said it got N1.24 billion as its share of Federal Government’s bailout funds to states.

    Deputy Governor John Jonah spoke in Yenagoa, the state capital, during the government’s income and expenditure briefing for January.

    He said the money would be used to settle the backlog of salaries the eight local government areas were owing.

    Jonah said the fund was available for collection before the December 2015 governorship election.

    The deputy governor said the Federal Government refused to release the money because of the suspicion that Governor Seriake Dickson would use it for his re-election campaigns.

    He said: “Yes, the money (N1.24 billion) has been transferred to us now. It was ready before the (governorship) election. They felt that if the money was given to us, we would use it for the election.

    “Even if you pay people, it is a morale booster; so, you will gain. But they stopped it.”

  • Killer of 12 policemen to die by hanging, court rules

    One of the killers of 12 policemen who were ambushed and shot dead along the creeks of Lobia 2 community, Southern Ijaw, Bayelsa State, on April 5, 2013, has been sentenced to death by hanging.
    The Oporoma Judicial Division of the High Court sitting in Yenagoa, the state capital, slammed the capital punishment on the accused person, Jackson Feutuboba, known along the creeks and waterways as Jasper.
    The 2013 victims were deployed by the state police command, then headed by Kingsley Omire (retd) to provide security for the funeral of the late mother of an ex-militant leader, Mr. Kile Torughedi, popularly known as Young Shall Grow.

    Torughedi who was the commander of the South Wing of the Movement for Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) from 2002 till 2009 when he embraced the amnesty for repentant militants was then serving as the Senior Special Adviser to Governor Seriake Dickson on Marine Waterways Security.

    The slain policemen were escorting dignitaries to the wake of the deceased when the gunmen attacked them.

    The gunmen killed 12 out of 15 of them and held one of them hostage for ransom.

    Jasper and two others have been standing trial for their murder.

    The court ruled that the prosecution proved its case beyond every reasonable doubt and found Jasper guilty on all the 11 counts.

    He was particularly arraigned for killing one Police Inspector, Joseph Ofozini.
    The prosecution told the court that the accused person had over five cases in various courts bothering on kidnapping, sea piracy and involvement in the death of the policemen.

    The presiding Judge,  Justice M.A Ayemieye, took into consideration the nature of the offence, the passionate plea for mercy made by the defendant’s lawyer.

    But the judge concluded that the sentence for murder is death and it is mandatory.

    Justice Ayemieye ruled and sentenced the accused to death by hanging.

    The police prosecutor, Arthur Andrew Seweniowor, said if the accused failed to appeal the sentence in three months, the governor would sign his death warrant and he would be hanged.

    The accused lawyer, Efieseimokumo Bipelede earlier pleaded with the court to tamper justice with mercy saying the accused person is a family man with five children.

    He said imposing the maximum penalty would truncate the destiny of all the children whom he described as minors.

    He urged the court to convert the punishment to prison sentence.
    The court discharged and acquitted the second accused person identified as ThankGod Clinton Ezetu for lack of evidence.
    End.

  • UPDATE: Ese Oruru: court grants Yunusa bail

    Yunusa Dahiru, alias Yellow, accused of abducting and forcefully marrying a 14-year-old Ese Oruru from Bayelsa State, was on Monday granted bail by the Federal High Court sitting in Yenagoa.

    Yunusa, who hails from Kano State, is standing trial on five-count of abduction, illicit sex and unlawful canal knowledge of Ese.

    The court presided over by Justice H.A Ngajiwa resumed in Yenagoa to rule on a bail application filed by Yunusa’s five-man team of lawyers led by Mr. Kayode Olaosebikan.

    The court was congested as persons from different walks of life came to hear the matter and to catch a glimpse of the slim tall Yunusa.

    Seats were not enough as many observers especially journalists stood up while the proceeding lasted.

    Clad in white t-shirt and cream shorts, Yunusa, who was in the dock looked emaciated and bowed his head throughout the period of the proceeding.

    Ese’s parents, Charles and Rose; Chairman and members of the Civil Liberty Organisation (CLO), Chief Nengi James, Ankio Briggs, Alagoa Morris and State Coordinator, Women of Excellence, Mrs. Tariere Gita, were present in court for the matter.

    The judge ruled that the felonies committed by Yunusa were bailable and asked the suspect to provide N3million, two sureties resident within the court’s jurisdiction and write an undertaking that he would not jump bail.

    As part of the conditions for the bail, one of the sureties must be a renowned title holder and a public servant on grade level 12 who must provide first appointment and promotion letters.

    The judge further ordered that the sureties must provide their tax clearance certificates.

    Ngajiwa’s verdict was based on application deposed by the defendant and supported by a seven-paragraph affidavit in line with the rules of the court on whether or not Yunusa was entitled to bail.

    The judge said the application averred that the grounds for bail were within the discretion of the court and in exercising that discretion the court must act judicially and judiciously.

    He said that Yunusa’s lawyers in the application argued that the accused person is innocent until proven guilty adding that Yunusa had no records of criminal behaviour and was not likely to jump bail.

    The lawyers argued that since the offence was bailable and there were people who were ready to stand surety for the suspect, Yunusa was entitled to bail.

    Ngajiwa also faulted a 10-paragraph application opposing the bail filed by the prosecution.

    He said the argument of the prosecution that the accused person would not come for trial since he is not resident in the state was defective and would not stop the granting of bail.

    He cited sections 158 and 162 of the Administration of the Criminal Justice Act  and Section 36 (5) of the Nigerian Constitution, 1999 as amended, and insisted that the felonies committed by Yunusa were bailable.

    He said: “In Section 36 (5), every person charged with criminal offence is innocent until proven guilty. Investigations had been concluded and the accused person denied committing the offence. He was living in Yenagoa till August 2015. The offence is bailable and the court has discretion to grant the bail”.

    He added: “The offences charged are serious felonies but no matter how felonious, it will not stop the court from granting bail. The court will impose such conditions that will force the accused person to come for his trial.”

    Speaking after the proceedings, the Ankio Briggs who is the founder of Agape Rights Organisation (ARO) said they were doubtful the state would ensure diligent prosecution of the case.

    She said beyond rhetoric, the Delta, Bayelsa states and all the governors in the Niger Delta region had not shown commitment to the matter.

    She further said they were yet to see the team of lawyers that the Bayelsa State Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson, promised he was going to constitute to help in the prosecution of the case.

    She said: “This thing happened in the Niger Delta. It has been going on and we believe it will continue to go on. If we say that justice is for everybody then justice should be seen to be carried out so that everybody is satisfied.

    “How can somebody carry a child from Bayelsa to Kano state, keep her for eight months, impregnate her, change her region; what are they saying? Is he the father of the child?

    “Who is the father of the child? Is she going to have the baby? These are so many things that are personal. The circumstance in which she got pregnant is very offensive.

    “With all due respect, this case is a very volatile case, it is very serious case. I am not satisfied with the handling of the case by the Delta and Bayelsa state government. Maybe, because the parents are poor”.

    She further described as offensive the claims of Yunusa’s lawyers that his affairs with Ese was that of Romeo and Juliet.

    She said: “Which kind Romeo and Juliet? Ok, all these people who are calling it Romeo and Juliet, let a Keke Napep driver kidnap their 13 years old daughter and then say they are in love.

    “What type of love is that? What sort of Romeo and Juliet is that? The law say that a 13 years old girl has no right to find herself in a position of Romeo and Juliet, full stop and that is what the law says”.