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Tag: bullet

  • Bullet in the buttocks

    Bullet in the buttocks

    “Therefore, you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things,” Romans 2:1

    The Owu chief had a first life, and it was not as a soldier, a politician, or, obviously, even a head of state. In Ohi Alegbe’s interview with his first wife for African Concord decades ago, she taunted Olusegun Obasanjo as a “bush man because his favorite food is pounded yam and bush meat.” But that is not the story that often haunts me about the man. It is the picture of a soldier on the run. It was vivid in a passage in The tragedy of Victory authored by Alabi Isama – Obasanjo’s nemesis.

    During the Civil War, Obj had taken over from Benjamin Adekunle, alias Black Scorpion, as the Commander of the Third Marine Commando, and he went on an inspection in the battlefield. Biafran soldiers opened fire. Obj fled for his life but not before a bullet hit him on the buttocks. The bullet had the mercy of altitude, or the fear of height. It sailed low below his waist. Maybe because Obj looks more shrunken than tall. They say, the higher you go, the cooler it becomes. The bullet reversed the maxim. If the bullet had soared, it might have taken a fatal course. Shall we thank the Biafran soldier for his failure as a marksman? Lieutenant Colonel Iluyomade was a witness and confirmed it to me in an interview.

    Well, Obj had always lived a charmed life and benefitted where he did not labour. After all, he did not want to fight in the war. When Alani Akinrinade and others suggested to Gowon that he take over from Adekunle, he said in Yoruba, “You want them to kill me in battle?” He might have ruminated over it as the bullet made a tent of his bottom flesh. Yet, he takes credit for the victory. Even though when Biafra surrendered, he knew nothing about the firestorms in the battlefront. The guns rested, Akinrinade invited him to glory, to sign the documents on behalf of the federal army. He became a war hero.

    That was Obj the craven. He abides contradictions of the lower sort. He evinced it last week when he spoke at the Chinua Achebe Lecture at Yale University. First, the organisers gave no jewel to the bard’s memory. Achebe was no Obj fan, and, as Bayo Onanuga stated, he rejected his award while president. In his statement from his abode at Bard College, Achebe lashed out at Obj for turning “my homeland into a bankrupt and lawless fiefdom. I am appalled by the brazenness of this clique and the silence, if not connivance, of the presidency.” Obj accused President Tinubu’s era, among other things, of chaos and insecurity. Achebe ribbed him over the chaos and insecurity in the country, with special focus on Anambra State when he played godfather, unseated a constitutionally elected governor in Ngige, and reveled in its hysteria of success.

    In my column in The Sun newspaper of October 24, 2004, I wrote: “The Achebe of compromise was not the one we saw in the past week. It was the Achebe of unflinching righteous indignation, an Okonkwo abandoning Obierika and reaching for the jugular.” As I noted in my TVC Breakfast show comment, Achebe would scream in his grave to see Obj exploit a platform in his name.

    Where did Obj get the moral authority to attack the president, when he was a failure writ large for history.  He also listed other Tinubu sins; “conflict, discord, division, disunity, depression, youth restiveness, confusion, violence and underdevelopment.” He capped it by calling for the sack of INEC boss Mahmood Yakubu. The paradox is that he is more guilty of all these than any leader, perhaps except IBB. On INEC Chief, did he not anoint Iwu’s skullduggery as electoral umpire? So much so, he was renamed  Iwuruwuru. Did he fire him? a tear for OBJ.

    His long list of Tinubu sins is repetitive. But let us afford him the benefit of nuanced wisdom and accept that ‘conflict’ and ‘discord’ post subtle differences. For conflict, did he not singlehandedly remove a party chairman Audu Ogbe at his home with military-style, or Ngige-style bullying? That was in Ogbe’s home after a sumptuous pounded yam meal served by the woman of the house. For discord, where did the phrase “do or die” come from? It was 2007, and he said it in Ajegunle Lagos because he wanted to “capture” Lagos. When he lost, he told INEC not to announce the results that everyone knew Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) had won. The announcer kept the result for over 24 hours and the whole country waited with bated breath. It was security operatives, especially Nuhu Ribadu, who warned him not to overturn Lagos result or the city would burn. Hence, he yielded. The victory cemented Asiwaju’s image as “the last man standing.” We can see where the man’s malice was brewed.

    For division, can we forget how he capsized the houses of assemblies in Plateau, Bayelsa, Ekiti, and impeached governors without following the law with as few as six men? Lalong as a speaker spent 40 days and 40 nights in Lagos detention as chronicled in my book of that title. Is the Edo State House situation not his legacy of impunity? The phrase “overheating the polity” ceased after he quit office. I wonder what he meant by ‘depression?’ Did he mean sad? What would have made people sadder than most Nigerians lived on less than a dollar a day on his watch. Even at that, he spent billions of dollars to pay debts when our poor could not have one dollar. In my column for The Sun on December 5, 2004, I wrote: “That’s why he (Obasanjo) should teach the rest of the country as the baba of the land the reason his farm is fruitful and the nation cannot say so of itself.” What a genius. Or when he spent $16 billion on power but darkness persisted? That money could have restored our power infrastructure.

    Read Also: Remain peaceful, Sanwo-Olu urges residents

    Did he not call our teaching hospitals centres of excellence? Only mortuaries excelled. On youth restiveness, could he stop the Niger Delta ferment? No. It was Umar Yar’ Adua, who cast oil on their spirits. Confusion? What of his third term? He wanted to remain Nigeria’s baba till death. Can we forget the savagery of Odi and Zaki Biam? His defiance of the courts? What of the harvest of deaths and assassinations during his presidency? In the polls in Ondo and Edo, no death was recorded. In OBJ’s time, cemeteries had great appetites.  He is the patriarch in Dostoyevsky’s novel, The Brothers Karamazov, who destroys everything he touches.

    Obj has been angry for a long time. Hence, he must pull down every leader after him. He has spared none, civilian or military. Before that, he wrote My Command to diminish all the war commanders and lionise only himself as the good soldier. He was called PHD in the 1980’s, meaning Pull Him Down syndrome. He has not changed. He is guilty of what Yoruba call Kenimani. Only I should have.

    If he wanted to critique the Tinubu policies, the earthy fellow is welcome, but he did not do it. He should have analysed the economic policies, his tax policies, his job programme and his fight for local government autonomy. That is maturity. Rather, he went the same way of the Civil war, of allowing himself to be shot in the butt.

  • As Benue bites the bullet…

    After weeks of speculations and denial, the truth finally unfurled Monday as Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State dumped APC for opposition PDP, citing “red card” issued him by the ruling party. Given the seemingly unending bloodbath inflicted on the coastal state by the genocidal herders, Ortom’s move is hardly surprising.

    The “red card” he alluded to could then be interpreted as being left in a position he could no longer defend before Benue people.

    But coming barely 24 hours after APC won Ekiti, losing Benue in the North-central only meant cancelling out whatever territorial gain the ruling party had just recorded in the South-west state, thereby re-balancing the political equation ahead of the 2019 polls.

    We are thus reminded of the three means by which power exchanged hands at the state level in Nigeria’s contemporary politics: ballot, court order or decamping.

    With the general polls still eight months away, it will undoubtedly be premature yet to foreclose more of such. Since its historic victory of 2015, APC has annexed Kogi, Ondo and Ekiti. But in what signals the now familiar musical chairs ahead of every general election, Benue has slipped away.

    Speculations are rife that two more states will follow. Such reading would seem reinforced last week with the sudden raising of rhetoric by Governor Aminu Tambuwa of Sokoto State.

    While reacting to the recent mass killings in his domain last week, Tambuwa blamed squarely “the failure of leadership”.

    There is no prize for guessing for whom that innuendo was meant. Those around in 2014 ahead of “n-PDP” decamping to APC would recall it was the same insider blow Tambuwa had deployed ruthlessly then as sitting Speaker of PDP-dominated House of Reps against the commander-in-chief at the Villa.

    Aside Sokoto, another state highly speculated to be on verge of slipping from the ruling party is Kwara State where diehard senate president, Bukola Saraki, holds sway.

    So, if Sokoto and Kwara also fall alongside Benue after APC had pocketed Kogi, Ondo and Ekiti, what we then have is cynically described in the game of tennis as a deuce.

     

  • How a BULLET missed me narrowly and killed a co-student

    How a BULLET missed me narrowly and killed a co-student

    At 70, ex-General Overseer of Foursquare Church, Rev Wilson Badejo, still looks agile and very active. He walks like a soldier, stands to deliver speeches that last over an hour, mostly calm, and talks like a don. He listens and when he smiles, his soothing words convince you of his calling, a man of God who has made impact in the body of Christ. He turned 70 a few weeks ago. And from a Holy Communion Service at Yaba, to a Thanksgiving Service at the Foursquare Gospel Church, Nigerian headquarters at Yaba, Lagos, he was celebrated. The authorities named its International Conference Centre at Idimu Camp, Lagos, after him for his contributions to the growth of the church during his tenure between 1999 to 2009. Pastor Enoch Asejare Adeboye, the GO of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), delivered the sermon and the same day, a Gala Night took place at the Oriental Hotel in Lagos, where ex- President Olusegun Obasanjo was chairman and Pastor Tunde Bakare of Latter Rain Assembly, gave a keynote address. Revd Badejo also unveiled his memoir, My spiritual Odyssey,  at the event.  He spoke to PAUL UKPABIO afterwards.

    How do you feel being 70?

    I still feel strong in the Lord. It has been by His unflinching grace. I look back and I thank God for my early beginning. I thank God for my parents who were already in the Lord because that also in its way prepared me for life.

    What do you do these days?

    The foundation takes a lot of my time. The Wilson Badejo Foundation, which this year celebrates its 10th year anniversary with a lecture at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA). The Wilson Badejo Foundation (WBF), an NGO was initiated and launched at my 60th birthday anniversary celebration by my friends, associates, admirers and well-wishers, including the late Dr Tunji Braithwaite, to address the challenges faced by the poor in our society.

    At what point did it occur to you that you will be going into priesthood?

    That answer will definitely take me back to many years. When I was in the university, I was a student union leader. And during that period, I was in the Nnamdi Azikiwe hall, University of Ibadan. I think there were just about five of the federal universities at that time. I tried my hands on unionism. I became an activist and a student union leader.

    Sadly enough during that period, students were aggrandised. You could fancy us then eating chicken on Sunday afternoon. We used to have tea, eat cake; we had rooms where our beds were usually laid for us, food in the cafeteria was almost free of charge. So, we took our liberty for licence. One of those days, we went out for demonstration to protest that they were not feeding us well, amongst other things, which we wanted the administration to change.

    In that process was where one of us died. He was the first student to meet such a tragic death in a tertiary institution in Nigeria. Adepeju Adepoju was coming back from a lecture room. He met us in front of Trenchard Hall. When the demonstration lasted more than one day, the university authority got apprehensive and invited the police, at least to stay at some strategic points in case we got out of hand.

    Truly that day, we decided to march towards the gate. And the police fired at us with live bullets; one of the bullets killed Adepeju on campus. I was standing just in front of him and the bullet passed my face by inches to hit him behind me. That struck me deep. When he fell, I stopped, tried to lift him up but the tear gas was too strong for me; so I staggered away from his side. Later that evening, I learnt that he died. That shook me to my bones. I was asking myself, is that life? It set me thinking.

    But how did that lead to your conversion?

    Three months after that incident, there was a mission to the university, which was a regular thing that the Christian groups used to do to bring an awareness of God on the campus to the new students. At that time, I was a second year student pre-clinical on the campus studying Veterinary Medicine. Adepeju’s death hit me like a thunderbolt and I started reflecting about life.

    The mission to the university was organised by the Scripture Union. I attended on the last day at Trenchard Hall and sat at the last row. I was there to listen to the choir render songs and then move from there to the laboratory and then to my hostel at Azikiwe Hall. But as they sang, I was struck. When they finished singing, somehow I didn’t leave my seat. Somehow again, I wanted to know more and the preacher did a good job.

    He gave an invitation for those that would love to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their Personal Lord and saviour sincerely I was really impressed and I raised my hand slowly. And he said raise your hand very well if you really mean it and I raised it up slightly above my head. And further more raised it above my head. I moved towards the altar and went on to give my life to Christ. That started my Christian journey; it was remarkable not accidental but incidental. It was as if God had prepared that day for me. Later, I learnt more and more about the experience I had. So, I was born again  November 15, 1969.

    At that time, we had Christian groups on campus but I stayed with the Scripture Union. To me, they were more serious, biblical and evangelical. I enjoyed the bible studies and I took time to fellowship with them from time to time. That was where I started.

    But at that point, did you have it in mind that you will one day be the General Overseer of a church?

    (Shakes his head with a wry smile) It never crossed my mind.

    You were an active member of the Student Union, how did other students react to your being born again?

    The news went round very fast on the campus that one of the Student Union leaders was now born again, how could that be? The criticism stifled my faith. They sneered at me that I would soon return to join them. But God did a thorough job on me. He did not just give me the spirit of being born again, He also helped me to be wholly established in the things of God through bible studies, counselling, workshops, seminars and so on. I was well grounded. While I was on campus, I had already started going out to schools and colleges.

    After a while, the student union threw me out. That was because each time I went to meetings, I would start by telling them, let us pray and let us read the bible. I didn’t last there. I was thrown out. But that didn’t stop me. I was happy, going about praying and evangelising and distributing tracts among my fellow students. When I sat at table and I wanted to eat, I will close my eyes and pray. They will remove my meat. When I opened my eyes, they will ask me, who removed my piece of meat? I will tell them, it’s one of you. They will laugh. But that didn’t stop me.

    Didn’t being born again conflict with your academic educational learning?

    No, I saw both as being the same. Preaching and my school work to me were the same. And that continued throughout my stay on campus.

    So what happened after?

    After graduation, I went for the NYSC programme in Obudu Cattle Ranch in Cross River State, where we established a church within the service year. I started with the children, who told their parents and the parents came round on Sundays to hear me and my fellow brothers. That was how we started a full fellowship on the ranch. So, each time I had the privilege to go out of the ranch to other places, I met people of similar mind who we had fellowship together, preached, went on retreat, distributed tracts and from time to time; we had evangelical outreached. That happened well in Jos when I later moved there. There was a gentleman in Jos, He heard about me and invited me to some of his outreaches in the interior in Plateau State.

    But you later moved to Lagos

    Yes, by the time I came to Lagos, I found myself linking up with a very dynamic, evangelistic church known as Foursquare Church. It was an awesome time. And the Lord gave me good exposure to the things of God. I went to the Bible School in the USA at Los Angeles, where I had opportunity to attend conferences, symposia seminars and I also have a degree in Theology. All these were preparatory to the things that I am now into. I grew in the ranks, with various stages of acknowledgement and teachings which perhaps brought me into the pastorate, and from there, I was appointed an Associate Pastor to the then General Overseer who was called National Superintendent. I grew along the line with a privilege to be an Assisting Minister, Acting Senior Pastor of a local church and also the President of the Foursquare Men. These finally cumulatively landed me on the seat of the general overseer ship of the church, by the special grace of God.

    The history of Foursquare Church cannot be written without mentioning your role. Can you share with us, a few of the high moments you’ve had in the church?

    To the glory of the Lord, he should take all the praise. I think some of those high moments were spotlights in my Christian journey. One of such was the move of the Holy Spirit when I was on campus. It led to my baptism in the Holy Spirit. I was in bible studies and radical as I was, I said something during a discussion, which made them to be surprised at me, being that they had started accepting me to be one of them. So a brother there invited me so we can discuss further.

    There at the box room, the discussion continued and it was done intelligently; they were patient with me and they took the time to ensure that I had said all I wanted and had got a good reply. But midnight of that same day, I felt a wave of the Holy Spirit. It was like an electricity shock in the room. I felt so terrified. I turned to one of my friends in the group and asked him if  they had invited me to kill me. I wasn’t myself. He told me later that I was weeping and crying. I felt a real burning fire and I was told I spoke in a language I didn’t understand. When I got to the hostel room, I woke my roommate and told him about my experience, in case I didn’t wake up when I sleep. I told him the place they took me was electrocuted. That I didn’t know what I had experienced; I didn’t have a name for it. It was later on that I was made to understand that I had experienced the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Sincerely it was a radical turn around, the whole campus knew it.

    Another moment was at Foursquare Church. We had a gentle man we invited, he was an evangelist from the USA. He was endowed with great power. He would stand on the pulpit and with a wave of the hand from right to left he would say receive the Holy Spirit and everyone will be on the floor. He had the gift. It was during the time that I was Acting Senior Pastor of the National Headquarters of the church. He would say, there are three witches in this church, and I command you to repent and come out now and truly, three people will rise up and come forward and start weeping. That was powerful and I was his host, he took time to pray for me too.

    You are so passionate about the church. If you weren’t a minister of God, what else would you have been?

    I had from the beginning of my life to be four things. I think it was a divine revelation around the age of 12 or 13 that I had the desire to be a doctor, a priest or pastor and an engineer or a singer. I didn’t know how that will be. I loved music, all sorts; I loved Fela in those days of Lobito. But the moment he started singing fogo fogo (meaning to break bottle) I didn’t take to his music again because I really saw bottles being broken in Trenchard Hall. I wasn’t too much interested in that. So in the local church, I became a member of the church choir on campus. And till now I have a passion for music though mostly gospel music.

    Tell us about one of your greatest achievements?

    In the pastoral line, I had a passion for pioneering new churches. I saw churches planted, first in hundreds then in thousands. By the special grace of God at the time we called it Barley Harvest, it was a church planting initiative. And I saw churches in Foursquare grow. Explosive. When I started, we had probably about 450 or 500 churches. And by the special grace of God, within one year, we planted almost a hundred churches. And another fews years, 1,000 churches. To me, that was tremendous. If you ask me how it was done, I will tell you I don’t know. It was the power of the Holy Spirit that worked in us.

    But what were the challenges then?

    Challenges were many. Until then it was not something that took me unawares. That was because I had read in the scriptures that there will be tough times, tribulations, and such. They were not s overwhelming to put me off. If you read my new book, you will see that I mentioned some of the troubles.

    At 70, do you have any regrets?

    Yes, without mincing any words, the man, William Efode, who was to be my best man when I was to be married, was part of the fellowship with us back in my campus days at University of Ibadan. He had left the shores of Nigeria for Texas to further his religious knowledge. He was there for his doctoral degree. We were quite close, he was in the group we formed called World Action Team For Christ in those days, which went from city to city and village to village during our school’s long vacations to organise crusades. So he returned to the country, came back with everything that I was going to use for my wedding, including my pants. When he got here, he travelled home to Isoko where he hailed from.  He went to visit his people and he never came back. Something struck him. He was sick. He was rushed to the teaching hospital at Benin and within a period of one week, he died! That shook me to my marrows. Sincerely when I went to the hospital to see him, I saw him alive a day before he died and the following morning, I was going to travel back to Lagos. So I was to give him feedback and prepare him for the wedding. He had died and they didn’t disclose it to me. I was told he had been rushed to the theatre and will be brought out later. I told them I will wait. When they saw that I was adamant, they decided to tell me. When i was told, I’m  sure I fainted. So that was quite a challenge.

    And then the church challenge?

    Yes, there were other challenges which also did not take me unawares as such. But they were issues that I felt were out of jealousy and they were out of the spirit of acrimony. Some people just don’t like you for the way you carry yourself. And if there is anything they can do to slice you down, they will do it. Such things happened to me. I didn’t feel it was terribly abnormal except for some very caustic lies and formation of unbelievable issues that came along with it. People came, did their investigation and finally it was decided that there was nothing in it, that I should take my leave. It was a bit painful, which again is part of the challenges of life that I had to go through..

    At what point did marriage come in? How did you meet your spouse?

    (Laughs) Let me tell you what is generally not known. While I was on the campus, it was something that we all would do because at the campus, when you know that you want to pass out, the greatest and highest challenge we had was who we will be married to. Both on the male side and female side, it was something that was very important. When I became a Christian, I was a hot cake. Everybody wanted to marry me and I wanted to marry everybody. So I went to the Lord and prayed, backing it up with fasting. To the glory of God after a few days, I heard the voice of God tell me who my wife should be.

    Humanly speaking, if I was asked to go and pick a woman, perhaps I wouldn’t have picked her. She is pretty, nice though some of the standards I wanted, I didn’t see 100% of it in her, but because I was then a Christian, I believed God. We had courtship for almost six years. She knew me and I knew her, but I never opened my mouth to tell her about marriage, until one faithful evening when a friend had a bachelors eve. I went to meet her and told her, can I speak to you? She replied yes. We walked towards the chapel on campus and I made my proposal. I had made up my mind that if I told her and she replied no, I will not marry her, and if she says she would go and pray about it, then I will forget about it immediately. But God had His own way. When I told her, she looked at me and told me to bring my hands; she held my hands and prayed. After, she told me that if she said  that she didn’t know I would propose, she would be lying and if she were to tell me that she wanted to go and pray about it, she would not be speaking the truth, because God had spoken to her. That made me joyous. And that was it.

    And how has the marriage turned out?

    The Lord has kept us faithfully married for 42 years. And we are still on. Though it has not been without hiccups; but then I also remember that it was not my choice, but the voice of the Lord. And I think that is what has sustained the marriage. By the special grace of God, the marriage is blessed with six children; the oldest one has an MBA and in USA with her husband. The second one is at Oxford with her husband, and she too has a Masters degree in Economics and the rest are all doing well. The last one is also doing his Masters degree.

    Would you say that you now have time for yourself?

    Not yet. I am still as busy as I used to be. I hope that at some point I will have time to do the things that I love to do. For instance, I love playing table tennis. I still jog. But the hours I do my jogging now is late into the night. I have a stationary bicycle at home which I ride for exercise purpose. I find aerobics nice and refreshing. I will like to travel. I love to see new places and I love geography. I want to see some of the places I have read about to confirm if they are true. If I were to go back to school now, I will love to be an astronaut to see the outer world. I fancy that this beautiful world is rotating and suspended up there with no strings to hold it. Though I know scripturally it’s held by the Lord. Those are the areas of my inquisitiveness that I will like yo satisfy. I will also love to know God more. I will love to see God do some uncommon things in the midst of men. I pray that when that happens and it is through me, that I will not be swollen-headed or proud and lose my salvation. That He continues to make me humble and the servant that I ought to be all the days of my life.

    Your prayer for Nigeria at this time?

    I feel excited to be a Nigerian. I believe that God doesn’t make mistakes. The word of God in Isaiah says that He created mankind and the same blood in me flows in every other person all over the world. So I don’t feel any sense of inferiority to be a Nigerian. I’m glad the Lord made me a Nigerian. Regardless of that, I believe that what God originally had or intended has not been hopefully realised in this country and I am asking God, use me to do the little I can to make a difference. I am looking forward to tomorrow where electricity will be on 24 hours, and I turn on a tap to get clean, good water, gutters cleaned and roads smooth, children go to school in buses and are not kidnapped, hospitals will be healing places and not places to go and die, and righteousness reign in the corridors of power. I may be day-dreaming but I want those dreams to come true.

  • Judge orders removal of bullet logged in defendant’s leg

    Justice Halilu Yusuf of the FCT High Court, Jabi has ordered the Nigerian Prisons to plan for surgery to extract the bullet lodged in the leg of a defendant for trial.

    The judge gave the order on Wednesday before adjourning the case of the alleged robbery preferred against 10 men to  March 27.

    He said that this should be done before the defendants were brought to court on the next adjourned date.

    The 10 suspects are Livinus Mbagha, Uchenna Mbagha, Godwin Timothy, Onyekachi Nnamdi, Ifeanyi Oram, Raini Nludshira, Cyril Ubah, Aniekan Sunday, Chigozie Chukwu and Ikechukwu Egbo.

    According to the Judge, it is the duty of the prison authority to take care of the welfare suspect at the prison custody.

    He said that a suspect at the prison custody was still deemed innocent until the contrary was proven by the law.

    Uchenna Mbagha had told the court that there was a bullet in his leg making it difficult for him to stand.

    The prosecution had told the court at the first day of arraignment, Nov. 15, 2016 that the suspects were being arraigned for robbing the property of Lento Aluminium Company Jabi, Abuja.

    But the judge adjourned the proceedings following the absence of the prosecutor, Mrs Blessing Ezeala, at the court when the matter resumed for hearing.

    The judge said that since the court had waited up till 12:30 p.m., it had no option than to adjourn the matter to another date.

    According to the prosecution, the suspects disguised themselves as policemen between 2 a.m .and 5 a.m. on May 28, 2016, beat up and tie the security men on duty to carry out the robbery operation.

    The prosecution said that the suspects robbed the company of 10 aluminium coils worth N25 million and other valuable items.

    Ezeala said that the crime contravened the provisions of sections 1, 2, 3 and 6 of the Robbery and Firearms Special Provision Act, Law of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

  • South African police disperse anti-migrant rally with rubber bullet

    South African Police used rubber bullets and stun grenades to disperse anti-immigration demonstrators and their opponents in the country’s administrative capital of Pretoria, local media reported on Friday.

    The presidency called for calm, however, the newspaper Times Live reported that a student caught between police and protesters had been injured.

    Before the interventions, hundreds of demonstrators had been locked in a stand-off with migrants, both sides armed with rocks and sticks, broadcaster eNCA reported.

    The rally followed the reported looting of dozens of foreign-owned shops in Pretoria earlier this week.

    More than 130 people were arrested within 24 hours, police representative Khomotso Phlahlane said in a press conference broadcast live by eNCA.

    Tensions between migrants and locals have been reported in several communities, the presidency said in a statement, calling for restraint.

    “It is wrong to brandish all non-nationals as drug dealers or human traffickers. Let us isolate those who commit such crimes and work with government to have them arrested, without stereotyping and causing harm to innocent people,’’ the statement quoted President Jacob Zuma as saying.

    The Nelson Mandela Foundation criticized “the growing behaviour of `othering’ among Africans,’’ adding that the country’s late first democratic president had firmly condemned xenophobia.

    South Africa, which has an unemployment rate of about 25 per cent, has seen sporadic violence against migrants from other African countries, who are accused of taking jobs.

    Attacks against migrants claimed nine lives in April 2015.

    The regional superpower had about 2.4 million migrants in 2013, the largest number in southern Africa, according to the International Organisation for Migration. (dpa/NAN)

  • Police stray bullet kills fashion designer

    Police stray bullet kills fashion designer

    •Family demands justice

    A fashion designer, who was last Wednesday hit by stray bullets allegedly fired by a policeman attached to the Lion Building Division on Lagos Island died yesterday.

    Mr Hassan Taiwo sustained severe injuries on his hands, thighs and stomach.

    The policeman was said to have fired the shots that killed Taiwo while pursuing hoodlums around the popular Folawiyo Market on the Island.

    It was learnt that the 35-year-old victim, was performing ablution in preparation for the afternoon prayer when the corporal in company of his three colleague fired the bullet that hit him in the stomach.

    The Nation gathered that the policemen attempted to leave the victim who was bleeding profusely at the scene but were prevented by the traders.

    He was reportedly rushed to the General Hospital, Lagos Island.

    The hospital authorities demanded police reports and an initial payment of N100,000 before treatment could begin.

    Taiwo was left writhing in pains for over two hours.

    He later underwent a surgery after his colleagues at the market paid the money.

    Taiwo’s relative who declined giving his name said officers at the Lion Building Division were not bothered about saving Taiwo’s life but were only interested in supporting the policeman, while the victim suffered excruciating pain.

    The victim’s distraught wife, Rukayat, said: “I went to Palmgrove on that day and he called me, asking about my welfare and my trip. I asked him same and he said there was no problem. While returning, I went straight to his shop just to check on him. I didn’t even know what had happened. They told me he went out. A woman later told me that some policemen shot my husband while he was performing ablution. I went straight to the hospital and found him on the bed, swollen and changed.

    “Bullets penetrated his stomach, thighs and hands. Traders from the market were already there, rallying round to raise money for his treatment. He was taken to the theatre for surgery that night and thankfully, it was successful. Since he was brought to the ward, the family has been responsible for his treatment.

    “He had taken four pints of blood; my friends and his (Taiwo) elder sister’s friends had to donate blood while the hospital kept demanding more money.

    ”We didn’t see anything from those police officers. All we heard was that the police officer had been locked up and they started disturbing us to come and sign that we weren’t interested in following up the case so as to save the officer from dismissal.”

    The mother of four urged the Lagos State Government to ensure the officer face the law.

    “I have four kids and the last is one-year-old. It was my co-tenant that gave me N500 for their feeding this (Friday) morning. Government should please save us from police officers’ indiscriminate shooting. How can they storm a densely populated market and started shooting anyhow? The officer must be punished to deter others from such act.”

    A trader who raised the N100,000 for initial treatment, Shola Mogaji, said: “The government also should assist victims in emergency situation, so they don’t need to wait for people to contribute money before they are treated. They asked for a police report, we went looking for the radiologist for x-ray and they said he wasn’t around. We waited for almost two hours before the doctor came and said he was ready to do the operation without x-ray because if we allowed that victim to stay more than necessary, the reverse would have been the case.”

    A community leader and activist, Prince Apata Akinsemoyin, condemned the officers’ action, urging police authorities to ensure justice was done for the victim.

    ”This is not the first time people are being shot indiscriminately by men of the Lion Building Division. On March 29, 2014, one Rasheed Oludegun was shot dead. The Lagos State Police Command should call its men to order and ensure justice is done, Akinsemoyin said.

  • Oniba kidnap: Two victims died of bullet wounds, says pathologist

    Oniba kidnap: Two victims died of bullet wounds, says pathologist

    The two persons killed during the kidnap of the Oniba of Iba, Oba Goriola Oseni, died of bullet wounds, a Lagos High Court has been told.

    A consultant pathologist, Dr. Sunday Soyemi, told Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo that autopsy comfirmed that the palace guard, Sunday Okanlawon and a motorcyclist, Joseph Okeke, were shot dead.

    A statement by the Ministry of Justice said Soyemi spoke while being led in evidence by the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Adeniji Kazeem during the trial of Duba Furejo, Ododowo Isaiah Reuben Anthony and Yerin Fresh for the monarch’s kidnap.

    Soyemi, a senior lecturer at Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) said he performed the autopsy on the duo.

    Soyemi said Okanlawo’s body was identified by his son, Seun, and the Investigating Police Officer (IPO), Sergeant Ademo Rahim. Okeke’s body was identified by the IPO.

    He said: “The essential findings on Okanlawon were a circular hole on the shoulder at the back, a structure on the bridge of the nose, and a structural defeat on the upper part of the head”.

    The base of the skull, he said, showed fracture, adding that there was bleeding into the brain and extensive cerebral laceration.

    The autopsy report, he said, attributed Okanlawon’s death to “severe cranial cerebral injury following a penetrative injury to the skull”.

    Soyemi said Okeke’s autopsy report showed a destruction of the left femoral vessel.

    “There was an entry and exit wound and this is usually caused by bullet wound’’, he added.

    Soyemi said the wounds on both bodies were consistent with bullet wounds and gun shot.

    He said after the post-mortem, death certificates were issued to the bereaved families.

    Under cross examination by the defendants’ lawyer, Soyemi insisted that Okanlawon and Okeke died of bullet wounds.

    Sergeant Rahim said during investigation he discovered that Okanlawon was shot in the head.

    The defendants are standing trial on an eight-count charge of kidnapping the Iba monarch, conspiracy, murder, attempted murder, robbery, armed robbery and felony.

    The charge alleged that Okanlawon and Okeke were murdered by the defendants during the kidnap.

    Justice Taiwo adjourned the case to February 3, 10 and 14.

  • Two hit by bullet in restaurant at Hajj camp

    There was pandemonium at the Hajj Camp, on Airport Road, Ikeja,  at the weekend when two men were hit by a bullet.

    It was gathered that some policemen had sighted two commercial drivers fighting on the road while on their way to work.

    One of the fighters was said to have fled, prompting policeman to fire at him.

    The bullet missed him and hit two men who were eating at a restaurant in the park.

    The sight of the injured men was said to have angered others who went after the policemen.

    The policemen, it was gathered, fled and sought refuge at the Hajj Camp Police Station.

    The mob was said to have moved to the station demanding that they be brought out or it would set the station ablaze.

    It took the intervention of Nigerian Air Force (NAF) personnel to calm the crowd.

    The victims were rushed to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja.

  • The bullet pierced into my right tummy and I slumped, by Olori Ganiyat

    The bullet pierced into my right tummy and I slumped, by Olori Ganiyat

    Wife of Oba Oseni, Olori Ganiyat Abosede Oseni, who was shot by the abductors when she attempted to save her husband, shared her experience with ADEGUNLE OLUGBAMILA. She spoke in Yoruba. Excerpts:

    How do you feel now?

    I’m now healthy and very happy.

    You were shot by your husband’s abductors because you fought them. Could you recapture the experience?

    The abductors shot me right in front of the palace. I recall that the abductors initially did not recognise Kabiyesi so they were eagerly looking for him. By the time they eventually saw him, he was wearing a pair of boxers. So the abductors dragged him by his boxers but I guided him by coming in between them. That was when they shot into the roof of the living room. The gunshot got us all scared and we temporarily relinquished our hold on him. As they continued to drag him almost naked, I now ran outside the palace and panicked thinking I would see some Good Samaritans that would come to our rescue.

    To my surprise, the outside was very calm. Those selling provisions even left their goods and ran away. One of my senior wives who also had triplets had joined me (in chasing the abductors).

    Meanwhile we were looking for the gateman but it did not occur to us that he had been shot dead. So I started running upfront and that was when I felt the impact of the gunshot. The bullet pierced into my right tummy and I slumped. In my half consciousness, I opened my eyes and saw myself in a poll of blood. So my senior wife that I talked about then was calling me to get up; that was when I managed to tell her that I’d been shot. When she heard that, she ran inside the palace. That moment, I could not hear anybody again.

    That was when I started moaning and calling for help but I could not hear anybody until some commercial motorcyclists saw me and carried me to a private hospital nearby. I was still bleeding profusely when I got there, but shortly after I realise that faeces was coming out from my anus. When the doctor arrived, he told them he could not treat me that I should be taken to Igando General Hospital and from there we went to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH).

     

    What have you learned from that experience?

    I am happy that I’m alive. The lesson I’ve learned from the experience is that God has decided to reward my kindness to people. I will not stop being kind to people. Doctors and those who rescued me said with the position of the gunshot and the amount of blood that I lost, they still wondered how survived it. It is God!  it’s good to do good.”

  • Bullet lands on The Nation man’s seat

    Bullet lands on The Nation man’s seat

    A worker of The Nation, Abiola Adenekan yesterday escaped being hit by a bullet inside his office.

    Adenekan of the Sales and Distribution Department was working on a production report around 10.28am when the bullet penetrated his office from the ceiling.

    “I was getting ready for the day’s work when I felt like eating something. As I stood up to go to the canteen, I remembered the production report and started working on it. I kept asking myself why I was standing when I had a seat in front of me. Suddenly, I heard a huge sound. I ran away because I was scared,” he said.

    Adenekan, who got married six-months ago, said he was shocked when he saw something on his seat.

    He said: “As I moved closer to my seat, I saw a bullet. My lips went dry because I didn’t know who to call; I was the only one in the office at that moment. I really don’t know what would have happened if I was seated. I don’t know how my pregnant wife would have received the news because this morning (yesterday) she still talked about how we were going to celebrate my birthday which is coming up in two weeks time. I am really grateful to God. I thank the spirit that made me ask my wife not to cook for me this morning.”

    According to him, the policeman attached to the company said it was an AK-47 bullet and took it away.