The Nation Newspaper

Tag: CELL

  • Rheumatoid arthritis: Cell signaling and other likely causes (1)

    One man’s meat is another’s poison, we learned in primary school. Changing weather conditions cap it all up, for example. Nigeria’s weather has been so hot for months and predisposing some people to near sun stroke ailments that many people are earnestly praying for the rains to come pounding and cooling. Such may not be the prayer of sufferers from Seasonal Affective Discover (SAD) diseases, including arthritis and Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) which, like asthma and other breathing problems, tend to flare in the wet and cold season.

    I was not surprised, therefore, when at the onset of the warm up to the current rainy season, I began to receive enquiries about which herbs or natural protocols are best remedies for these conditions at this time. These enquiries immediately reminded me of Mr. Kevin Ejiofor, former Director-General of Radio Nigeria, whose mother beat her arthritis in the 1980s and 1990s with the combined forces of stinging Nettle and Horsetail teas.

    As an improvement on this protocol today, I would add Maria Treben’s Swedish Bitters formula. This is just one of many recipes which may stop the inflammation and pain, and even help the repair of tissue damage, in arthritic conditions.

     

    Arthritis

     

    There are between 200 and 250 and 300 degenerative joint and joint tissue conditions grouped together under the arthritis umbrella. All of them fall into one of two categories of arthritis, however, these categories are Osteo-arthritis and Rheumatoid arthritis.

    Many leading authorities say Osteo arthritis comes along with the aging process. But their observation does not go far in the light of facts that there have been exceptional people who lived up to 100 years or more without expressing the signs of Osteo -arthritis. In the light of this, something other than the aging process would have to be responsible for neo-arthritis than the other hand, Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been linked to similar culprits in neo-arthritis and to more factors, one of the most prominent being immune dysfunction. Immune dysfunction can be likened to the soldiers of a country who, for whatever reasons, abandon their professional calling of defending their country against external and internal foes and begin to kill and maim these people that are paid to protect.

    The body’s immune system represents the national army. In Rheumatoid arthritis, it suddenly turns its guns and other weapons away from germs and other foreign bodies, and begins to attack and destroy bone joints throughout the body.

    I would have liked to limit myself to Rheumatoid arthritis, but this will hardly be possible as this condition presents, also, some of the manifestations of Osteo-arthritis. When it is said that Osteo-arthritis comes with age, the picture often presented is that the over-used joint suffers depreciation over the years. The cartilage wears out, and the synovial fluid lubricant inside the joint capsule may have significantly dried up.

    These are important events in the joint capsule, because, knowing about them may enrich the knowledge of how to solve the challenges they pose.

     

    Joint capsule

     

    We know what an antibiotic capsule looks like. It comprises medicine hidden in a container. The joint capsules is likewise containerised. One bone is indirectly uniting with another with another for a number of purposes, including locomotion.  I take the thigh bone and the lower leg bone as examples. Each bone presents a rounded head for their union. These rounded heads are never to meet, touch or grind, otherwise there would be inflammation and pain from wear and tear. So, Mother Nature wisely covers each rounded head with a cartilage, which is to take any bashing and save the bones from trauma. Even the cartilages, too, are not to be overgrazed ,if  they are at all .So mother nature provides for a fluid known as the synovial fluid to stand between and  around the cartilage. The lubricants fluid is produced by a synovial membrane inside the joint capsule . Lest I forget, the synovial fluid is like the engine oil which protects the piston and rings and sleeves in an engine from wearing through contact, and thereby prevents engine knock. Osteo arthritis and  Rhematoid arthritis may be seen in this light as a joint capsule ” knock”. The structure described are held together by muscles and tendons  and covered by skin.

     

    Destructive factors

     

    Many factors are caused by a degeneration of this capsule. Germs may find their ways in, and in fact the synovial membrane .This may cause the membrane to overproduce synovial fluid, like infections in the nostrils cause the mucus membranes there to become inflamed and over produced mucus, causing running nose etc. Too much synovial fluid in the joint capsule causes such swellings in the knee, for example, which causes pain and impairs mobility to the point that doctors may have to draw out some, using a syringe. Heavy metals such as lead, cadmium or mercury may be the culprits of joints capsule damage. Dehydration is another problem. Certain enzymes, over produced by the body may be causes of troubles. Overweight cannot be over looked. Joints help to transfer pressure from one part of the body to another. The head is a lot of load. It transfers its weight to the neck bones which in turn sends the pressure to the shoulder bones. From here, the pressure and nose of the internal organs, travels through the spinal bones to the hip bones, and from there to the thigh bones and the leg bones to the heel and foot bones. Throughout the body and especially in the spine, Mother Nature provides an hydraulic system to serve as shock absorbers whether they are standing, walking, running and jumping. Our major duty to our health is to maintain our bodies, gifts of nature to us on earth, through wholesome nutrition which Mother Nature has gladly and wisely fashioned for this purpose. The manufacturer of a car tells us in the car manual what we are to do, including engine oil changes, to keep the car in the top gear. But we fail to heed Mother Nature dietary manual, always to our detriment.

     

    Maintenance

     

    When we run our cars, the tyres wear, and we maintain and change them. We cannot change our joints, but we can maintain them on a day to day basis through the diet. When we stand and walk, jump or run, the joints use up certain materials which we need to replace. Unfortunately we have departed it markedly from the diet Mother Nature provide for this purpose and imbibed man – made foods which cannot properly maintain our joints and other parts f our bodies.

    We need not only calcium, magnesium and zinc for healthy bones and joints. We need food factors such as baron, manganese, strontium, molybdenum etc, for the cartilage, we need Chondroitin and Glucosamine  and MSM (Methylsulfonylmethane) to ease pain. Not only these. The joint capsule must build local immune capacity for self defence (a sort of local police) and prevent inflammation and inflexibility. Besides, it needs proteins to reconstitute worn – out cells and energy from glucose to drive their operations. Glucosamine is nothing but Glucose and Amino acids! And amino acids are the building blocks of proteins.!

    When, dietarily, the joints are not well treated over time, such changes as we describe as Osteo arthritis occurs within them. They become inflamed and painful, rigid or immobile; the cartilage may have worn out so much that the bones are now grinding over each other; the cartilages may still offer the bones some protection, but there may not be enough synovial fluid to protect the cartilages from grinding. The Osteo- arthritis sufferer may need to lose weight if overweight is compromising joint health. In civilized societies, heavy duty vehicles are not permitted to run on light-weight bearing roads. Detoxification may become necessary. And joint health may profit from anti-inflamatories such as wheat grass, Alfalfa, Aloe Vera, Chamomile, Orange peel, Fish Oil, Flax seed oil, Hemp oil. Bones and cartilage thrive, also, on Sulphur – containing foods, among which are garlic, onion, cabbage, Asparagus. Surphur helps in the repair of cartilage and bone. These great roles are played by cartilage food supplements such as Shark cartilage, Bovine (animal) cartilage, and Bone marrow, some of which come with good amounts of cartilage. Dr. William Lane popularized shark cartilage when, as an off shoot of his studies on shark cartilage, he published his first book, SHARKS DON’T GET CANCER, and the follow-up, SHARKS STILL DON’T GET CANCER. The latter was a response to the criticisms of the first book in which he was accused of making over sweeping statements about the anti-cancer prowess of shark cartilage. Sharks do, indeed get cancer, maybe about one in a million of these, said Dr. Lane in the follow-up book which said the infinitesimal occurrence of cancer in sharks compared with humans made the book’s title appropriate.

    As for Bone marrow, especially from grass-fed cattle, the product helps the radiation or Chemotherapy damaged bone marrow back to recovery, and the many bone factors also present in it help to heal the ailing joint. The need for detoxification may warrant the use of Chlorella, and Spirulina, both antioxidants, anti-inflamatories, detoxicants and nutritive herbs. Another good anti-inflamatory is ginger, which may be used raw or in powder form in teas and food. The powder in dry form is said by many people to be more effective, maybe because the constituents are more concentrated than in the wet form.

     

    Rhematoid Arthritis (RA)

     

    I had a faint bout of it in the 1990s. it began with shoulder pains which threatened to render useless the right arm. Behind the car wheel, the right arm was more or less a decoration. I could not even wind up and down the driver side glass window or adjust the side mirror. In the end, I ended up with corticosteroids from an orthopeadic doctor which, as another doctor said, set the stage for vision challenges. Only at this stage did I realize how stupid I had been. Forever Living Products (FLP) had just been launched in Nigeria, and two of its best -selling products then where ALOE GEL and FOREVER FREEDOM. The latter combined Glucosamine, Chondroitin and MSM with Aloe Vera gel. The beauty of Aloe Vera in this matter is that it is an immune system moderator, something like the military police which checks the excesses of soldiers. Rhematoid arthritis is an auto-immune disease, it is said which the immune system is disoriented, forgetting what it is meant to do, namely to fight and destroy enemies of the body, but is on the rampage destroying the body itself, something like killing mosquitoes with bulldozers.

     

    Wrong cell signally

     

    Of the many possible causes of RA, I always appear most interested in the break-down of healthy cell signaling within the body, because many other factors hang about it. There is nothing in this great Universe which does not broadcast its existence to every other thing which exists. This is done through electromagnetic waves or emanations. We know of the various radio and television stations through their radio frequencies. The human body arose from one cell fertilizing another to become one, from which about 100 trillion cells evolved in the average adult human body. Being of the same origin, they communicate with one another on the same frequency.

    We may wish to image the police and their walkie talkie. Any-one of them whose walkie-talkie is on a different frequency from the others will be cut off from them. The same goes with the food we eat, before the body modulates its frequency. Do not forget that the body rejects transplanted organs because they are broadcasting their existence on frequencies different from the body’s. when we eat cooked food, immune cells rush into the stomach, believing such food to be foreign bodies. But they relax when they discover the content to be the good, old food. This invasion is said to be the reason one feels stressed up after a meal before they get calmer. But when we drink water or eat fruits before cooked food, we discover digestion takes place under a clamer atmosphere because the immune cells hold their fire.

    Some people swallow carbohydrate foods. They call them swallow foods. They do not appreciate the fact that many carbohydrate foods are polysaccharides which require a good mixture which with saliva to be digested or broken down into their next simplier form, disaccharides. The stomach does not digest disaccharides. It is in the intestine that disaccharides get digested into monosaccharide. It is monosaccharide which are then absorbed into the bloodstream. If, for any reason, disaccharides get through into the blood stream, they are very likely to be seen by the immune system as foreign bodies and attacked, or pursued into whichever cell, tissue or organ incorporates them into its system. We can imagine the police pursuing some law beakers. If they flee into a house, the police would follow them there. The admission of disaccharides into the blood stream is an abnormal situation causes by damage to the absorbsion sleeves in the intestine known as the Villi. We can imagine the sieve of a herbal tea drawn in a tea pot. If the sieve is damaged, not only the water extracts of the herbal leaves would pass though. Some of the leaves will end up in the tea cup as well. We may have to fish out such illegal immigrants with the tea spoon. Damage to the Villi means their mesh is leaking. And this gave rise to the idea of the leaky gut syndrome. Thus, RA-challenged people are likely to suffer from leaky gut syndrome. Large food molecules which their Villi let into tissues alter the nature of the tissues and, as the hypothesis goes, give rise to the attack of the affected tissues whose signaling broadcast frequencies, by now, had become different from that original frequency incorporated into the memory of immune cells.

  • From cell to grave

    KUNLE AKINRINADE examines the pathetic cases of Nigerians who died of torture while in the custodies of security agencies, the lack of justice for victims and the need to halt forcible extraction of confessions from suspects as requested by the international treaty to which the country is a signatory.

    THE greatest battle Moriamo Quadri fought till she breathed her last in November 2016 was not the cancer of the breast that eventually terminated her life. It was her fruitless quest for justice over the killing of her husband, Ismaila Quadri, allegedly by men of Ipaja Police Station in Alimosho area of Lagos State.

    Moriamo’s husband, Ismaila Quadri, a baker, was arrested by policemen led by one Corporal Mayowa Obaniyi a.k.a. Mayor and Waheed on September 8, 2011, on the suspicion that he was an Indian hemp smoker. Quadri, a native of Igbemo-Ekiti, Ekiti State, who ran a flourishing Olusola Bakery on 29 Andrew Kalu Crescent, Baruwa, Ipaja, where he also built a house, was dragged out of his bakery, beaten and handcuffed before he was dragged to the police station. All entreaties from other landlords in the area fell on deaf ears.

    To make him confess to the unsubstantiated allegation, he was subjected to further beating with his hands tied backward to a stationery motorcycle at the station. He was kicked, whipped and hit with hard objects by the two policemen until he fell into a coma and was untied from the stationery motorcycle.

    The errant policemen first rushed him to a private hospital in the neighbourhood, where doctors confirmed his spinal cord had broken and referred him to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, where he died.

    The then spokesman of the Lagos Police Command, Mr. Samuel Jinadu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), had told our correspondent that the late Quadri was arrested for being in possession of Indian hemp, adding that the police officers involved had been arrested and would be dealt with if found guilty.

    He said: “Well, we have arrested two policemen in connection with the case and if they are found culpable, we will take decisive action and they will be dealt with. The matter has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) Panti, Yaba, Lagos, and investigation is still ongoing.

    “I was told the policemen went on a general raiding of Indian hemp smokers in the area when they arrested the deceased but I cannot confirm to you if he was beaten or not. I couldn’t offer you my comment on the matter the last time you called because the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) (Mr. Chikezie Okezie) of the station involved had not properly briefed me about the incident but he later did,” he added.

    On April 4, 34-year-old Saheed Eyitayo was arrested by operatives of the State Security Services (SSS) at his residence on Aje Street, Pleasure area of Iyana Ipaja, Lagos, accused of being friends with a suspect involved in the cloning of Lagos State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode’s mobile phone.

    His arrest reportedly took place at about 2.30 am. He was said to have been handcuffed and taken to the Shangisha detention centre of the secret police. He was said to have been hale and hearty while he was being taken to the SSS detention facility but returned in a body bag. He was said to have been beaten to death shortly after he was taken into custody.

    Like Quadri and Eyitayo, a 400-level student of the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Benue State, Samuel Chimezie Omeagwa, met his tragic death in similar circumstances on May 16, 2016. As the story goes, Omeagwa and one of his friends, Ekene, were arrested by the operatives of Police Thunder Zone 4 Office, Old G.R.A, Makurdi, for complicity in the case of a stolen phone.

    At the station, they were allegedly laid on the bare floor with a flash-light permanently fixed to their faces as they were tortured by an officer nicknamed ‘Undertaker’. By the time he was released to his parents the following day, Omeagwa had become unconscious and had to be rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, Makurdi, where he died.

    The same fate befell a 70-year-old transporter and chieftain of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Pa Gbenga Omolo, who was allegedly tortured to death while he was being detained by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Ondo State Police Command. Omolo was reportedly tortured by police officers for several hours at the SARS office on Oda Road, Akure, the state capital. He died in their custody after he was mercilessly beaten by the minions of law. His offence, according to his union’s members who staged a protest over his death, was that he had the effrontery to question a police officer in mufti for obstructing traffic on Arakale Road in Akure on May 26, 2015.

    The former spokesman of the state Police Command, Wole Ogodo, said the policemen involved in the act have been arrested and detained at the Police Headquarters along Igbatoro road, Akure, for further investigation on the incident while the state commissioner of police had invited the family members of the deceased to his office to discuss the matter. That was the last that was heard about the case.

    The case of two suspects, Sodiq Omobowale and Waheed Kabir, who were arrested by men of Ikorodu Police Station, further exposed the fatal use of torture on suspects. Omobowale was arrested in his home on July 7, 2015 on suspicion that he was a member of a secret cult. Attempts made by his family members to secure his bail were rebuffed by policemen at the station. A few days later, he was said to have been tortured to death, while his body had not been released to his parents at press time.

    Kabir (26), a musician, was also arrested during a raid by policemen from the same station on November 20, 2015 on the suspicion that he belonged to a secret cult. His father made fruitless efforts to secure his bail. It later emerged that Kabir was tortured to death in police custody and his body was not released to his parents for burial to date.

    The immediate past spokesman of the Lagos Police Command, Mr Joe Offor, in a telephone conversation with The Nation, said: “Following the alleged abduction of Waidi Kabir and the petition sent to the Lagos State Police Command by his parents, the Commissioner of Police (CP), Mr Fatai Owoseni, questioned the DPO and asked him to provide evidence of the identity of the surety to whom the suspect was released to on bail.

    “The DPO later brought a bail bond signed by the surety following which the CP ordered him to either produce the suspect or the surety within four days. The DPO at the expiration of the ultimatum could not produce either the suspect or his surety. Hence, the CP ordered his arrest and detention at the SCID while investigation is ongoing.

    “At the end of our investigation, we shall issue a public statement on the outcome of our findings in the matter.

    But Offor said the case of Sodiq Omobowale had not been formally brought to the attention of the Lagos State Police Command for action. He said: “Unlike Waidi’s case that was reported to us, we have only read about the case of Omobowale in the media. The police can only act on complaints officially brought to our attention and necessary action shall be taken on such matter.”

    Other security agencies, including the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), are not left out of the tortured-to-death syndrome. A 38-year-old local government employee in Sokoto State, Jamilu Abdullahi, died in the custody of the State Command of NSCDC in 2015, while a fraud suspect, Desmond Nunugwo, reportedly died in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) in June 2016 during interrogation.

     

    Disregard for treaty against torture

    The Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (commonly known as the United Nations Convention Against Torture) is an international human rights treaty under the review of the United Nations, which aims to prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading acts around the world.

    Article 16 of the convention requires countries to take effective measures to prevent torture in any territory under their jurisdiction, and forbids states from transporting people to any country where there is reason to believe they will be tortured.

    The text of the convention was first adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1984 and, following its ratification by the initial signatory states, it came into force on 26 June 1987, which is also known as the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. Since the convention came into force, the absolute prohibition against torture and other acts of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment has become accepted as a principle of customary international law. About 160 countries had become signatories to the convention as at October 2016.

    Nigeria is one of the signatories to the international treaty, which prohibits the use of torture and other inhuman measures to extract confessions from suspects or detainees. The country signed the treaty on July 28, 1988, and ratified the protocol on June 28, 2001, about 13 years after it was signed. The use of torture to coerce suspects to confess or make confessional statement is also extraneous to Nigerian laws, but virtually all the law enforcement agencies in the country have turned their operational centres into torture chambers where suspects and detainees are subjected to horrific and dehumanising treatments resulting in death and permanent disability, in some cases.

    The disregard for civility during interrogation is further worsened by the lack of the political will to enact a law against the continuous use of cruelty by the Nigerian authorities. In July last year, the police announced they were reviewing the Force Orders, including Force Order 237, which allows police officers to shoot suspects and detainees who attempt to avoid arrest or escape, whether or not they pose a threat to life, but the review was not carried out as promised by the immediate past Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, till he left office, while no effort has been made by his successor towards fulfilling the promise to date.

    Also, the Anti-Torture Bill- initiated to prohibit and criminalise the use of torture passed by the National Assembly in 2015 is yet to be signed into law. The bill was introduced in 2012 and passed its final reading in June 2015, but was returned by the Presidency to the parliament for modification of certain ‘controversial’ clauses and has not seen the light of day since.

     

    Death chambers

    The mode of torture include merciless beating with iron or wooden objects, whipping with cane or belts, suffocation, choking, nail or tooth extractions, sitting on sharp objects, electric shock, suspending detainees from a rod, hitting with gun butts, spraying suspects’ face with tear gas, starvation, kicking, while some are shot in the leg during interrogation and left to bleed to death.

    Giving a chilling account of the treatment meted to her husband by men of the Ipaja Police Station, Moriamo said: ”My husband never drank alcohol nor smoke cigarette, let alone Indian hemp. He was arrested right inside his bakery while he was supervising his workers on night shift. He was beaten, kicked and handcuffed.

    “When I rushed to the scene alongside other landlords in the area, we pleaded with the policemen to take it easy with him but they refused. He was further dragged to their station and chained to a motorcycle parked there and further brutalised.

    ” The policemen used big sticks to beat him and banged his head repeatedly against hard objects during interrogation. By the time he was unchained, he could no longer stand up and had to beg people to assist him. He was then taken to a private hospital at about 2 am and later transferred to LASUTH where he died.’

    An eyewitness, who asked not to be named, reportedly narrated how Eyitayo was subjected to brutality at the point of arrest, saying: “I overheard Eyitayo telling the SSS people that the person they were looking for did not stay with him. He told them the suspect was his friend and only visited him the previous day. But his explanation did not convince them. They beat him mercilessly till blood came out of his face. We could not recognise him again.”

    Some relations who also saw his body after it was released for burial by the SSS said there were bruises and wounds on it. “If you see the corpse, you would know that he was tortured and killed in a brutal manner. He had two deep cuts in the back of his head, apparently inflicted with a machete or other sharp objects. There were cuts and bruises all over his body,” said a family member who did not want his name in print.

    Abdullahi, a graduate of the College of Agriculture, Bakura in Zamfara State, who until his death was an employee of Tureta Local Government Area, Sokoto State, was said to have died from injuries sustained from the torture inflicted on him during interrogation at the Sokoto South divisional headquarters of the NSCDC command.

    Crying for justice, his mother, Hajiya Binta Abdulahi, said: “There was a misunderstanding between him and one woman in our neighbourhood and she reported the matter to the Sokoto South Divisional Headquarters of the NSCDC whose men came around 6.30 pm and arrested him.

    ”We visited the headquarters several times to seek his release. Instead, they tortured him to coma, after which they took him to the Sokoto Specialist Hospital for medical attention because of the injuries they inflicted on him. He was later referred to the Usmanu Danfodiyo Teaching Hospital, where he died on Friday, May 29, 2015. They brought his corpse to us but we rejected it because there was no certification concerning his death from the hospital. We, therefore, insisted on knowing the cause of his death, especially when signs of torture were noticed all over his body,” she added.

     

    Damning report

    A research jointly carried out by the Prisoners’ Rehabilitation and Welfare Action (PRAWA) and Network on Police Reforms in Nigeria (NOPRIN) within the same period also indicted Nigerian security forces for alleged excessive use of torture, leading to the death of several detainees and suspects in their custody.

    The right groups in a report in March 2011 said a team of lawyers, psychologists and medical practitioners were involved in the study carried out in Enugu State. The report of the study based on sample population of 176 victims, according to the local human right groups, shows that ”victims of torture ranged between the ages of 13 to 54 years, with young people between the ages of 26 and 30 as the most frequent victims of torture in the state.

    ”Method of torture on the victims include prolonged detention in police custody, gunshot wounds, 24.71%, severe beatings with police baton and other dangerous objects, 36.21%, burning with hot objects, 8.05%, squeezing of testicles and inserting objects into the penis, insertion of nails on feet, 1.72%, electric shock, suspension on the tree in different positions, 13.22%, cutting with cutlass, 12.64% and other forms of torture.

    ”The Special Anti- Robbery Squad (SARS) have police officers who are specially designated to torture crime suspects. Such police officers have an unofficial designation like “OC Torture” (Officer In Charge of Torture), and they have special skills in inflicting various methods of torture on their victims.”

    A recent report of the global rights organisation, Amnesty International (AI), also carpeted the Nigerian security forces for alleged violation of human rights in the use of torture resulting in extra-judicial killings and cruel treatment of suspects and detainees, including children. The organisation accused the Nigerian government of condoning torture in violation of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights; United Nation Convention Against Torture and the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture.

    In the 62-page report published in 2015 and titled, “Welcome to Hell, Torture and Other Ill-Treatment in Nigeria”, presented by AI’s Senior Researcher, Nicola Duckworth, a Senior Researcher and Africa Advocacy Director, Netsanet Belay, indicted the police and military for brutal torture and extra-judicial killing of detainees and suspects, including children held in their custody.

    “Torture is a routine occurrence in Nigeria, largely to extract ‘confessions’ or as punishment for alleged crimes, and hundreds of suspects in police and military custody across the country are being subjected to a range of physical and psychological torture or other ill-treatments while security forces act in a climate of impunity,” the report said.

    Some of the torture techniques commonly used by the security forces, AI said, include “Beating, (including with whips, gun butts, machetes, batons, sticks, rods and cables); rape and sexual assault (including inserting bottles and other objects into woman’s private part); shooting people in the leg, foot or hand during investigation; extracting nails, teeth, fingerprints and toenails with pliers; suspending detainees upside down by their feet for hours. Tying detainees to a rod by their knees and elbows and suspending them as on a roasting spit; starvation; forcing people to sit, lie or roll on sharp objects such as glass or board with nails; electric shocks, including administering shocks to the genitals; choking with ropes until victims faint; ‘tabay’ – when officers tie detainees elbows are behind their backs and suspend them; and ‘water torture’ – when hot and cold water are poured on naked bodies.”

    “Amnesty International found that torture is such a routine and systemic part of policing that many police sections in various states, including the SARS and CID, use designated ‘torture chambers’: special interrogation rooms commonly used for torturing suspects. These are often known by different names such as ‘the temple’ or ‘the theatre’, and are in some cases under the charge of an officer known informally as ‘O/C Torture’ (Officer in Charge of torture).

    “Although reports of torture emanate from most police stations, several human rights defenders, lawyers and police officers told Amnesty International that torture is particularly common in the SARS police stations across Nigeria. Amnesty International was able to visit the SARS detention centre in the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja – known as the abattoir – in July 2009. Suspects were held in a disused warehouse located outside the city. Amnesty International delegates saw at least 30 empty bullet cases on the floor and chains hanging on the wall. There were visible signs of blood in the gutter. The situation was similar during a second visit in October 2012.”

    It said the abuses also violate the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance; The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights; Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women; Convention on the Rights of the Child and The Geneva Convention – common Article 3 and the Second Additional Protocol.

    In a statement by its then spokesperson, Emmanuel Ojukwu, the police, however, discountenanced the report by Amnesty, saying: “For one, it smacks of indecency and intemperate language to liken our dear nation Nigeria, to hell fire. That cannot be true. We believe that Nigeria is a growing nation, green and largely peaceful,” it said.

    “While the Nigeria Police and other operators in the criminal justice sector are undergoing systematic reforms, and aligning themselves with the demands of democracy, there is no gainsaying the fact that the Nigeria Police Force has since improved its operational efficiency and effectiveness. Since the dawn of democracy in 1999, the Nigeria Police Force has significantly improved on its human rights records, owing largely to training and re-training, community policing, attitudinal change and structural transformation.”

    Ojukwu added: “At no time in its report did Amnesty speak or interface with the Police authorities. This obviously shows their disdain and apparent lack of character where the democratic tenets of fair hearing are concerned. The report covered a seven-year period of 2007-2014. I dare say that some of the issues raised have since been dispensed with and settled.

    “However, the Police shall meticulously scan through the document and investigate any current human rights abuses linked to any officer or formation. Any identified and established case of malfeasance or misconduct shall be treated in line with the laws and regulations.”

     

    Smokescreen

    In the case of Quadri, the police tried to cover up its indiscretion by writing a letter asking the authorities of LASUTH to release Quadri’s body, which was then awaiting autopsy, for immediate burial according to Islamic rites.

    In the handwritten letter, dated September 19, 2011, the then Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of the Ipaja Police Station, Mr. Chikezie Okesie, requested LASUTH to immediately release the body for burial based on the alleged complaint of a family member called Vincent. But the request was turned down by the hospital management for reasons bordering on absence of proper autopsy on the body and duly signed inquest note by a Magistrate.

    Besides, the family of the late baker faulted the claim made by the police in the letter that the body should be released to a family member called Vincent. In a statement, a relation of the deceased, Akeem Bello, said Vincent whom the police referred to in the letter, was not known to the family, as they are mainly Muslims.

    The allegation that the deceased was tortured to death was confirmed to be true after a report issued by the Pathology Department of LASUTH on Quadris’ autopsy which indicated that he was brutalised to death while in police custody.

    A copy of the report signed by one Dr. U. V. Okeke of the Department of Pathology and Forensic Medicine, LASUTH, revealed that the deceased died as a result of “blunt force trauma and subdural haematoma.” The two conditions, according to findings, are corollary to each other and can only be caused by violent bang on the head or parts of the body, depending on circumstances. Following the revelation, the policemen involved were dismissed from service and arraigned for murder, which has not led to conviction almost five years after they were arraigned.

    Subsequently, a letter dated November 20, 2011 and signed by Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to Gov. Babatunde Fashola on Public Law, Bola Agunbiade, was forwarded to the office of the Inspector General of Police, Afiz Ringim in Abuja and that of Lagos State Police Commissioner, Mr. Yakubu Alkali.

    The letter titled “Re: Alleged murder of Quadri Olushola Ismail by police” reads in part: “The Public Advice Centre is an initiative of the Lagos State Government, a department in the Ministry of Justice saddled with the responsibility of providing residents with easy access to information and advice which will benefit and improve their lives and ensure that the rights of residents are not violated.

    “We are in receipt of a complaint from one Mrs. Moriamo Quadri of No 29 Kalu Crescent, New London, Baruwa, Ipaja, Lagos State. She alleged that she is the wife of Late Ismaila Olushola Quadri. She told us that on 7th of September 2011, a team of policemen went to Oke Oko, New London in Baruwa ,Ipaja to raid.

    “According to the complaints, the team of policemen was led by one Corporal Mayowa Obaniyi aka Mayor. Our complainants further alleged that the police officers arrested several young men in that area including her late husband Ismaila Quadri who was inside the premises of his bakery when the team of police arrived the area. We were also informed that when the deceased was arrested, the members of the landlords’ association on the day of arrest met the police officers and told ‘Mayor’ that Ismail Quadri was a man of peace and good character. Those arrested were taken away to Ipaja Police Station.

    “Mariam Quadri further told us that when her late husband was taken to the station, his hands were tied backwards and fastened to a motorbike within the premises and he was tortured and in the process he fainted. The deceased’s wife stressed that the police officers rushed her husband to Agape Hospital, Olude bus stop, Ipaja where he received treatment for about seven days and was transferred to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) Ikeja where he later died.

    “According to the death certificate which was signed by Dr. U.V Okeke of the Department of Pathology and Forensic Medicine LASUTH, the deceased died of Subdural Haematoma and blunt Force Trauma.

    “Subsequently, we seek on behalf of the family of the deceased an adequate compensation and diligent prosecution of this case. We also urge the Inspector General of Police to use his good office to ensure a thorough investigation and to ensure that the ends of justice are served.”

    It happened that the police is yet to compensate Quadri’s bereaved family to date.

    In the case of Eyitayo, the SSS initially kept mum on his whereabouts despite persistent enquiries by his family members and friends. Following the pressure mounted by his family members, the SSS, 19 days later, claimed that Eyitayo was resisting arrest on the night of the raid and had tried to jump from the moving van as he was being taken to their Shangisha office. They claimed that he died from the injuries he sustained in the process.

    The deceased’s family, however, claimed that Eyitayo was already unconscious when he was handcuffed and dragged into the waiting van. The family said it was not possible for an unconscious man in chains to overpower SSS operatives and jump to his death.

    “We had gone to the SSS office several times, and they told us, ‘come back, you cannot see him,’ until finally on the 23rd (of April), 19 days after he was killed, they told one of my brothers, Oyetunji, that he had died. Meanwhile, they had told the landlord not to tell anybody that he had died. They did that so that as the days elapsed, they would be able to manufacture lies to cover up the official criminality.

    Having exhausted all the tricks to cover up their tracks, the secret police authorities reportedly decided to compensate Eyitayo’s family and enlisted the support of a frontline Yoruba monarch, who brokered a peace deal that led to a N15 million compensation for Eyitayo’s bereaved family to shield the men responsible for Eyitayo’s death from prosecution.

    Although the DPO of Ikorodu Police Station, Remi Adesoye, initially claimed that Kabir was released to a family member called Akala, his father faulted his claim. The celebrated case led to the removal of the DPO of the station after he failed to produce Kabir or his supposed uncle to whom he was released, as directed by the state Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni.

    Although, the community leaders intervened to dissuade Kabir’s parents from taking further action on the matter, his dissatisfied elder brother, Lekan, instituted an action at a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos. In a landmark judgment, the court in October 2016 ordered the police to pay his family the sum of N200 million as compensation for Kabir’s death in custody. The ruling has since been appealed by the police at a Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos, despite not making any representation throughout the duration of the suit at the lower court.

     

    Justice delayed

    The poor criminal justice system in the country provides a shield for perpetrators of torture and denial of justice for victims. In Nigeria, confessional statements obtained from torture are mostly relied upon during trial in cases involving capital punishment and, in certain instances, minor offences like stealing or fraud.

    Victims of fatal brutality in custody hardly get justice due to the weakness of the criminal justice system, whereby cases bordering on right violation drag for too long. Delay in dispensation of justice in the country is one of the major problems confronting the administration of criminal justice as criminal trials often delay for too long, leading to perversion of justice.

    A typical example is the prosecution of the two policemen, Mayowa and Waheed, over the killing of Quadri during interrogation. The errant policemen were initially arraigned before magistrate’s court in Yaba area of Lagos on a holding charge, but the case has not made any headway since 2012, due to incessant adjournments till the late baker’s wife, Moriamo, died last month.

    “We kept going to court while the case was incessantly adjourned. At a point, the accused persons were not brought to court. For several weeks, we were told that the court was waiting for an advice from the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

    “To my greatest surprise, the case against one of the policemen who tortured my husband to death, Mayowa, was dropped and he is now roaming free. The other one (Waheed) has not been convicted to date because of unnecessary delayed trial and adjournments,” Moriamo expressed her frustration a few months before she died in November last year.

    The NSCDC authorities in Sokoto have also employed delay tactics by setting up a panel whose report is yet to be made public almost two years later, instead of bringing its operatives allegedly responsible for the death of Abdullahi to justice.

    The Sokoto State Commandant of the NSCDC, Alhaji Muhammad Musa, reportedly said they were investigating the matter and assured that justice would take its course as they would not spare the culprits. But that was all about the incident as the bereaved family were neither compensated nor the culprits prosecuted. To date, the officers responsible for the brutal killing of Omola in custody in Ondo have not been fished out let alone prosecuted. The state Police Commissioner merely engaged his family for possible amicable solution.

    The inability of the families of the victims—Quadri, Abdullahi and Omola—to get justice over the brutal killing of their patriarchs underscores the need to reform the country’s poor criminal justice system and the discontinuation of cruel extraction of confessional statements from suspects.

    Also, most of the victims of torture do not get justice because their families are ensnared by lack of money to hire lawyers and institute legal action against the culprits and their law enforcement agencies.

    “Extrajudicial executions, other unlawful killings and enforced disappearances in Nigeria are not random. In a country where bribes guarantee safety, those who cannot afford to pay are at risk of being shot or tortured to death by the police.”

    “The family of the victims often cannot afford to seek justice or redress, because they cannot pay for a lawyer or the court charges. In many cases, they cannot even afford to retrieve the body. In many cases, detainees wait for weeks or months in police custody to be charged and brought before a court,” PRAWA and NOPRIN noted.

     

    Experts speak

    A human rights lawyer, Austin Okanlawon, condemned the use of torture or other cruel methods to extract confession from suspects or detainees.

    “What the law says is that only the courts can pronounce a suspect guilty, and in this circumstance, the security forces, including the police, should always make recourse to the law. The duty of law enforcement agents is to arraign a suspect in court and provide evidence for prosecution during trial.

    “It is criminal for minions of law to beat suspects to death during interrogation because that is nothing but murder. Any policeman, SSS operative or other law enforcement agent who does that should be punished for such misconduct.”

    Chairperson of Lawyers Without Borders in Nigeria, Angela Uwandu, said the use of torture to investigate or extract confession from suspects is illegal.

    She said: ”Torture is condemnable because the role of the security agencies is to protect the people. But where the same group of people are brutalising or using torture as a means or tool of investigation, it is absolutely condemnable.

    “Torture, as we know, is illegal. However, it is in use currently in Nigeria by our security agencies. It is an action we condemn very strongly. And we are working to ensure that we promote accountability in the system to ensure that perpetrators of torture are held accountable, especially where they are state actors.

    “Because as we know, the role of the security agencies really is to protect us. But where we have the same group of people brutalising or using torture as a means or tool of investigation, we stand very strongly against that.”

    The Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP) called for quick passage of anti-torture bill by the National Assembly.

    In a statement, LEDAP’s Executive Programmes Director, Adaobi Egboka, also urged the Federal Government to investigate and prosecute perpetrators of torture in the country.

    The discontinuation of torture or cruel means of extracting confession from suspects and detainees, and prosecution of erring law enforcement agents as well as overhauling of the nation’s criminal justice system will no doubt stop or prevent loss of lives in the custody of security forces in the country.

  • Families cry out over ailing sons at police cell

    Families cry out over ailing sons at police cell

    The families of Alali God-dey Tamuno-Ene and Da Obufia Isokariari – being detained by officers of Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Rivers State – have urged the Inspector General of Police (IG) to save their sons.

    The suspects, who hailed from Buguma in Asari-Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State, were arrested at Elekiohia and Eagle Island axis of Port Harcourt in connection with some robbery cases and they have spent more than a week in police cell.

    Mrs. Inye Braide, the mother of Da Obufia Isokariari, said her son “is dying and stooling blood in police cell and is innocent of any reason for which police have arrested him”.

    She alleged that the police subjected her son to serious torture to admit to the crime he did not commit, adding that she was going to die if police continue torturing her son.

    She noted that the last time she visited his son he was very weak and in a serious pain due to the level of beating and torture police subjected him to.

    Mr. Tamuno Tonye, the sister  to Alali God-dey Tamuno-Ene, said her family would not take it lightly with the Rivers State Police Command if anything happened to her brother in police cell.

    She said:  “Already my brother is vomiting blood due to the wound he sustained from police hard torture and beating.

    “He is innocent. We are calling on the general public and the Inspector General of Police to assist us order thorough investigation into the matter.

    Their lawyer, Mr. Innocent Naador of Igweonwu Chambers, threatened a legal action against Anti-Robbery Squad officers for unlawful arrest, detention and torture.

    He said his clients informed him and their relatives that they knew nothing about the robbery or any other crime for which the police arrested them.

    Naador said: “We have visited the police station and met with the Investigating Police Officer who assured us that our clients were held and detained. They are vomiting and stooling blood from an injuries sustained from torture and beating. We want the Police to charge them to court or have us to contend with.”

    The Rivers State Police Spokesman, Ahmad Mohammad, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), confirmed the arrests but disagreed with the suspects’ lawyer and relatives that they were subjected to serious torture.

    He said the families were being economical with the truth of the circumstances surrounding the arrest of the duo, adding that the issue of torture is seriously discouraged by the force. 9

  • Sickle cell anaemia

    Sickle Cell Anaemia is a genetic disorder that is brought about right from the time the individual is being formed in the womb. It occurs in a baby who is a product of a couple that are both of the AS and/or SS Blood group.

    Sickle cell disease is a common disorder occurring exclusively in the black race. This hereditary disease causes the production of an abnormal type of haemoglobin by the bone marrow. The abnormal haemoglobin differs from the normal by a small change in the structure of the molecules.

    Red cells with this type of haemoglobin form sickle or crescent shapes (like saucers) when subjected to lowered oxygen concentrations. The cells do not pass through the same blood vessels readily, and may block the blood supply to vital areas.

    Among the symptoms to be encountered in Sickle-cell disease is sudden abdominal pain followed by the appearance of dark-coloured urine. It often begins with an inner restlessness and a feeling of general discomfort. This is followed by pains in the bones and joints which become more severe over a period of days. Some times, a swollen foot is observed. Also associated with Sickle cell disease is leg cramps, acute pain in the left side and a yellowish discoloration to the eyes (i.e. Jaundice).

    In the severest cases, slight exercise may bring on the pain. There may be severe anaemia, a huge liver, repeated fevers and recurrent bone pain. A bone in the leg may crack, which can cause a child who had been walking not to be able to walk. Sometimes, cuts that are sustained by sicklers can be quite difficult to heal, just like in diabetes. Patients with Sickle-cell disease easily succumb to other infections. The crises can be as frequent as every two months, lasting for 2 to 8 days.

     

    Prevention

    The only way of preventing this genetic problem is for couples intending to marry to ascertain each other’s blood group. If their combination will produce SS and they are not ready to go through the strain of caring for an SS child, they should not attempt to marry.

    For the management and control of Sickle Cell, a highly nutritious diet, rich in proteins and Folic acid is very essential. Folic acid is found mainly in leafy green vegetables. It is very important to adhere to natural foods, and not over-processed or denatured food like white flour products. These should be avoided. Milk, meat, soft drinks and highly proteinous foods should be cut off the diet. No sugar should be taken. Instead, honey is a very good substitute.

     

    Treatment

    The Holistic Lifecare remedies suggested for Sickle Cell Anaemia include natural extracts of local herbal plants such as Aloe vera, Morinda lucida, Zanthoxylum zanthoxyloides. Also recommended is auto-urine therapy.

    For further information and consultation on Holistic Lifecare research and services, especially on Blood Infections, Infertility, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Chronic Debilitating Conditions as well as mental and social problems, please call  on: 0803-330-3897 or visit: Mosebolatan Holistic Lifecare Centre, Adeyalo Layout, Ogbere-Tioya, Off Olorunsogo Express Bridge, Ibadan. Website: www.holisticlifecare.com. Distance is no barrier, we can send remedies by courier if need be.

  • From the cell phone

    For Olatunji Dare

     

    “2015: So you want to be President?” I may not like the Talban Minna but I appreciate people who are bold and can stand to call spade a spade especially at a moment of political uncertainty, manoeuvres, insincerity, etc. Anonymous

    I am not surprised at Governor Aliyu Babangida’s audacity. He has always shown his disdain for the South-South. Anonymous

    Governor Aliyu can be President as long as he has the endorsment of his party. We should not shy away from the truth to tell the President to honour the gentle men agreement he entered into with the governors. He is going to use EFCC to silence those who he perceives are agaist his ambition but Nigerians are not ready to elect a leader who is not consistent. He signed zoning agreement and later said no zoning, he signed one term of four years with the PDP governors and now his body language is telling us that he will not stick to it. Let the President honour the pact he had with the governors and respect himself. From Hamza Ozi Momoh, Dockyard Apapa Lagos.

    Olatunji Dare. I hail you for this master piece. I have never seen so cowardly a group of confused leaders we have like those in the leadership position of our country. EFCC, ICPC and the police are the same as the leaders. All of them are corrupt in one way or the other. They all chicken out into irrelevant issues when real issues emerge so you can see how naive those who do not want a change remain obliviously in delusion. From Ikemegbunam J. Nwafor

    We have other parties to vote for, why worrying over who PDP is fielding? In Edo State we drove the demon and it fled, why not do the same in Nigeria? Anonymous

    Sir, The ability to keep cards to the chest and hurl surprises at opponents can be a virtue in any human endeavour. In the game, victory is the ultimate goal and it can be attained quite often, through means not always governed by moral principles. It will be in order for Dr. Jonathan to use his idiosyncratic uniqueness by caging all known and unknown presidential contestants in his party. If distracted, how will PDP implode to the advantage of opposition parties? From Adegoke O.O., Ikhin, Edo State

    Oga Dare, thanks for your column tittled: So you want to be president? The Niger State Governor is not a material for the office of the president. He can talk, but certainly will not deliver. His state capital is nothing, but a glorified Local Government Area, and Talban has blatantly refused to add value to it for the years he has been piloting the affairs of the state. Well, nothing is impossible with God, but…. Anonymous

    The constitution is very clear on who can be President. Yes Talban is more than qualified to contest and be President. But why wait until now before informing us about a dubious agreement of 2011? Also the Northern Governors Forum chaired by the Talban and similar governors fora did not split the NGF but the PDP Governors Forum would do just that. Haba Talban, let us be Presidential in our talk. In the past you were a defender of Arewa and suddenly turned an emergency nationalist because of 2015. Nigerians should watch out as the journey to 2015 starts. Anonymous

    ‘So you want to be president?’, just say ‘yes, I want to be president’, get your invitation from EFCC and ICPC. When you are in doubt, ask Governor Sule Lamido. From Alhaji ADEYCorsim, Osodi, Lagos

    Why is it now that Babangida Aliyu is coming up to say there is gentleman agreement with President Jonathan over one term pact? I believe the game of politics is too early to discuss now. Why did the Governors not tell Nigerians in 2011 that there was arrangement they had with the President over one term pact? If the servant of Niger State wants to contest, the door is open for him and others who are interested in the presidential race. The electorate would decide President Jonathan’s second term in office. From Gordon Chika Nnorom. Umukabia, Abia State

    Dear Sir, Sule Lamido’s son was caught red-handed trafficking money. Should he not be prosecuted because Lamido wants to run for President? From Onyi Ukaegbu.

     

    For Tunji Adegboyega

     

    I am sure President GEJ might have been satisfied with a term ab initio but since one or two geo-political regions, more especially the north’s ACF began to heat the polity, the caucus within the Niger Delta might have compelled GEJ to damn the consequence and head for a second term. My appeal to all is to see caution and stop beating the drum of break-up. That, to me, is the conclusion in which the president is – He did not sign a one-term agreement. The same thing happened to dissuade OBJ by the same clique. We need unity and peace. From Lanre Oseni.

    Tunji, are you able to convince me that we are not a one-party state now? A country that says it is practising democracy? Are all our institutions compromised? Are Nigerians a captured people? Are we not able to articulate the advantages deriving from our very incisive debates and reviews? This must not be so in the 21st century. Tukur and Anenih are spent forces that should be ignored. If elections can be free and fair, and voters serious enough to defend their votes, the PDP will fail, even in Bayelsa State. Nigeria is in labour pains to be delivered soon. From CJ.

    The piece is interesting. It is true that this country has been in the grips of the Judases since independence; meaning that the present ruling class has no new ideas or honesty. But who will blame the rulers if the oppressed are not organised enough to take power from them? From Amos Ejimonye, Kaduna.

    Tunji, God will increase your wisdom. We need people like you. Do you know most Nigerians have forgotten that the idea of seven-year single term was proposed by the president? Kudos to you. Anonymous.

    Hello Tunji, after reading your comment, I will advise you to mobilise Nigerians to vote President Jonathan out of office than to believe Aliyu and Amaechi. From Mr Natto.

    Hi Tunji, the Nigerian constitution is clear on who can contest presidential election. And this is the way to go instead of an unconstitutional one-term agreement that is not binding on Nigerians. Can’t Governor Babangida Aliyu be tried for felony through this one-term plot? From Tony.

    When was one-term agreement signed between President Jonathan and the governors? How can 36 governors say they had a pact of one term tenure , which anyway is unacceptable to Nigerians? Why are Nigerians not aware of the gentleman’s agreement? The presidency door is open to anybody who has the zeal to deliver good governance; after all, the constitution permits people to contest for two terms. It is only God and the electorate that can decide the fate of the candidate for president. From Gordon Chika Nnorom, Umukabia, Abia State.

  • FROM THE CELL PHONE

    For Olatunji Dare

     

    Re: Omoruyi: A scholar‘s lament. The piece was precise, full of facts and comprehensive. Please, l would have loved to read Professor Omoruyi‘s book in reference. How can l get the book? Anonymous

    If you come across him, tell Omoruyi that those who ride on the back of a tiger normaly end up in the belly of a tiger. He may not know, despite his erudition. From Kola Olawuni.

    Your discourse on Prof Omoruyi’s lamentation was a master piece. I am still puzzled by the inability of the likes of the Prof who did not learn from the experience of what the junta did in Latin America. Symptomatic failed state of today’s Nigeria is the outcome! Anonymous

    Your write-up on Omoruyi has shown your objectivity. You are unpredictable, unlike some other columunists in your stable, whose articles show passionate prejudice, and the holding of inflexible positions, no matter the subject they write about. Keep it up, the doyen of colummists and master of satire. Anonymous

    Re: Omoruyi: A scholar’s lament. Omoruyi meant well for democracy in Nigeria, but he walked with Maradona who called himself President without people’s mandate. From Wale Ojo

    Prof Omoruyi’s reconciliation with his former course mate at NIPSS and boss is classic. The country is in dire need of people like Omoruyi and his virtues. From David Polang, Jos

    Professor Omo Omoruyi should have been helped with state fund. What I mean by that is that he served a public institution. It was not IBB’s CDS. Anonymous

    Omoruyi: that he found the courage to denounce what he knew or did not know is a hallmark of dignity and decency. Your writing is very instructive. Thanks for your uprightness. Anonymous

    I am an ex-flagship. I just read your piece. The sin of Azazi was his indictment of PDP in Asaba. Fajuyi died wth his friend in Ibadan July 29, 1966. What of Abiola? What of Bola Ige? Yakowa was advised to follow another Chopper but insisted to follow his friend…they killed Azazi. Anonymous

    Re: Omoruyi: A scholar’s lament. May God not put us in a situation that may lead us to seeking aid and assistance from our detractors. Local people call them, Enemies! That was the situation Professor Omo Omoruyi has found himself. Notwithstanding our situation, we must imbibe the ideology of firmness in life. Prof had ridiculed the professorial position, by thinking of aid from IBB. May God Almighty miraculously heal him – Omo Omoruyi. From Lanre Oseni

    Omoruyi used and dumped himself. He knew the truth but took sides with falsehood. After June 12, the attack he suffered, the books he wrote, he still went to falsehood. He had no choice having trained 400,000 agents of destruction and releasing them on Nigeria. The country is ruined, Omoruyi is ruined, naturally ruined by cancer. Babangida cannot save Nigeria. He lacks the moral right to give him money to treat cancer. Anonymous

    I was amused to read in your column of 18th December a reference to me squirming in my seat as IBB delivered his diatribe against campus-based Marxist/Socialists at an annual lecture of The Guardian newspaper in VI Lagos. Let me be clear: I have never attended any lecture or event organised by that publication. Consequently I could not understand why you could not compose your drama of Omoruyi’s sycophancy and IBB’s psychopathy without dragging me in as a fictive prop. I did not know until now that professional journalists were at liberty to mix fact with fiction in their formal presentations! From Segun Osoba

    Thanks for your brief of 21st December. There is a typographical error in the poem. It should read ‘Ma fowuro sere…’ but not ‘Ma fowuro sise…’ God bless you. From Ayo Fakunmoju.

     

    For Segun Gbadegesin

     

    Mr Segun, be reminded that The Nation is a national newspaper, you should restrict this crap to native journals circulating in Oyo. I am sure your kids school in UK and cannot speak your so-called rich Yoruba language. Everyone in China sends the kids to learn English and now bear English names. Anonymous

    Ise ni ogun ise. Mu ara si ise ore e mi. Ise ni a fi i di eni giga. Bi a ko ba ri eni fi eyin ti, bi ole la a ri. Bi a ko ba ri eni gbekele a te ara mo ise eni…… Mordern Yoruba orthography, sir. Anonymous

    I really enjoyed the write-up, culture is really something we all must think about. Thanks. Anonymous

    I am not against borrowing for genuine reasons of development. But not into the bags of the few rich at the expense of poor masses. It is quite unfortunate that our own elites will connive with the lender to divert the loans into private uses and in a bid to impoverish this nation. From Mr. Ogosu, Onne, Rivers State

    Re: The responsibility of citizenship. The movers of THINKOyo are commended. However we hope some will not go back and become thievery leaders when such youths are opportuned to lead. The culture, religions and the Yorubas we hope, will be made and mixed to become a produced ‘item’ that will be used to engender growth, development and progress of Yorubaland specifically and Nigeria, generally. From Lanre Oseni

    I am one of your teeming fans who have made it an article of faith to unfailingly read you every week. I have just given your newest piece “The responsibility…” a ‘second’ reading, and already yearning for more. Baba, Agba o nii tan lorile o. E bami ki awon oree yin Baba Opalaba ati eegun nla ti n je Tatalo Alamu. From Azeez Kehinde, (Akure)

    Re: Youth in Focus(1): THINKOyo is laudable if it goes beyond being a forum for intellectual masturbation and actually makes a difference. Secondly, our leaders give a lot of thought to the chance of getting caught and, most likely, they will not get caught. Also, Yoruba language, like the culture itself, is losing relevance because it is not evolving (I said “evolve” not “change”) It is not nimble enough for modern communication. By the way, I do not know any “young” person (25 – 50) who has banned the speaking of Yoruba in his or her home. Very suspicious statement. From Ade

    Dear sir, the N9,000,000,000 proposed expenditure on a new banquet hall and VP residence is nothing more than the criminally reckless way of this goverment spending. If that money alone is given as loan to jobless graduates roaming our streets to engage in agric ventures at N1,000,000 per graduate, it will gainfully employ 250 graduates in each of the 36 states of the nation. We can now think of the number of hands these ones will employ and the effects it will have on the economic activities on each local government, state and the nation. God will surely visit His judgement on all of them, their children and generation unborn in the looting spree that we are witnessing this time around. They cannot escape it. From Nathaniel Abiodun

     

  • FROM THE CELL PHONE

    FROM THE CELL PHONE

    For Gbenga Omotoso

     

    Nice write-up on Suntai and his hobby -flying. Please, is piloting an hobby? Anonymous.

    Re: A governor and his hobby: President Jonathan should realise that Governor Suntai’s life is not more precious than other victims’ lives. They all deserve to be well treated. From Kola

    Do you really think that if the others could not be treated here, they would not be flown abroad? The State can afford it. But I believe they were lucky to receive lesser injuries than the governor. Let us pray for their quick recovery instead of causing more pain to their families. From Barr. Bisi Idaomi, Abuja

    The ultimate measure of any man or woman is where he or she stands in times of conflict and controversy, not in times of comfort. Get well, come out and tell us where you stand, Suntai. From Alison, Nyanya Abuja.

    All are the children of God. All should be treated equally by the State. All of them made their allegiance to the State; and it is the duty of the State to protect life, property and ensure the fundamental rights of its citizens. In this, there is no difference between the leader and the led; and the rich and the poor. Let us not say they are equal but should be treated separately. Treat them all equally, without segregation because they are all the children of God. From DrYahaya Abubakar Muhammad, Abuja

    The government should listen to the distress call from well meaning Nigerians. I wish Governor Suntai quick recovery. From Ogwuegbu Augustine, Umuahia

    The Northerners who criticise and villify Niger Delta governors for being fiscally irresponsible are the same who maintain luxury aircraft to the detriment of their ailing state economies. It is a pity! From Ebiotu Samuel, Warri

    I enjoyed your article A governor and his hobby. Kudos, sir. From Alex Bolaji Omorodion

    As I sympathise with the Suntai over his health, I also wonder what he thought about his former deputy. Permit me to ask, can this be a reward? From Comrade Raphael O.

    It is only a jobless man that will abandon his duty post as governor in a near-moribund Taraba State to engage in flying. Our leaders live in a cave cocooned from the debilitating problems of the citizenry – hunger, disease, unemployment because they buy votes to win election. It is a pity for Nigeria! Anonymous

    I wish Suntai quick recovery, in Jesus name. From Obe Okafor, Port Harcourt

    Thanks for your article of November 1, 2012. It was too pungent as it is a clear case of man’s inhumanity to man. It is only in Nigeria that you have two types of grave yards – one for the rich and the other for the poor, forgeting that whether you are rich or poor we are all going to die and become manure. Since it is public funds that is going to be used for their treatment abroad, the authorities should not hesitate to fly Suntai’s aides abroad, for what is ‘good for the goose is also good for the gender.’ From Shehu Audu

    What is good for Governor Suntai is good for his five passengers. They should be flown overseas too because no life is more or less important than another. From Adoks .G. Akams. Abonnema.

    I wish him quick recovery but he was not elected to be a pilot. Let our leaders be more serious. A busy governor could not have cherished flying in the air. From Tayo Ogunremi, Emure, Ekiti State

     

    For Olatunji Dare

     

    Thank you for your write-up on Cardinal Onaiyekan. I am from Kabba, too. Tunji Cole is my name. It always gladdens my heart when people like you are from my home town. Thanks. Anonymous.

    Dear Dr Dare, your column today is vintage as usual. But I am texting you on some ‘biographical’ points. First, you mentioned the two secondary schools, Keffi and Okene, that I happened to have attended. When I was in Okene for Higher School Certificate (HSC), there was a junior boy who was Oniayekan, and who also happened to have been a goalkeeper! The boy, of course, is not the Cardinal, but here is my problem: I always thought our papers got the spelling of the Cardinal’s name wrong, for ‘Onaiyekan’ makes no meaning to me in Yoruba whereas ‘Oniayekan’ does, the name by which we knew that boy. Please, enlighten me. From Wole Ogundele.

    Your write up on Cardinal Onaiyekan was great. It was clear; no one can contest it. Do take care, sir. From Dr Megbelayin.

    Politicians who failed to become governors in their states are the ones agitating for more states and not the people. From Funsho Lagos.

    Good and beautiful write up on Cardinal Onaiyekan. He is, indeed, Eniti aiyekan. From Kunle James Dukiya

    I loved reading your write up on Cardinal Onaiyekan. From Ajiro Diden, Portharcourt

    Prof, thanks for the beautiful piece you did on one of my few Nigerian heroes, Dr. John Onaiyekan. Though, I dare say, i should thank the Cardinal for giving you a subject on which you could honestly write a positive comment. Dr Onaiyekan is a biographer’s delight anyday. Do have a blessed day, Sir. Best regards. From Femi Ajayi.

    Dear Dr Dare, I have just read your splendid tribute to my Catholic brother-in-Christ Cardinal Onaiyekan. I know him slightly – he expressed readiness a few years ago to write the Foreword to my book, but I did not press him knowing how busy he was. I may have written to you before now to say that you are one of the greatest journalists whose writings I have read since I first came to Nigeria in 1963. As Nigerian English says, more grease to your elbow! And best wishes. From Prof David Jowitt, UNIJOS.

    Your writ-up on Cardinal Onaiyekun is the most beautiful piece you have ever written. Uncle, God bless you. Better still, you should come for inaugural blessing by the Cardinal. Anonymous.

    Thank you for that excellent, illuminating piece on Archbishop John Onaiyekan, our Cardinal. Anonymous.

    Indeed, he is a man of God. Dear Dr Dare, neither you nor His Lordship Dr Onaiyekan knows me. I first met the Cardinal when he was invited to NIPSS to deliver a lecture by the late General Garba. Since then, I have been admiring this Man of God. The first time I met him, I saw humility and decency. After the lecture, I concluded that he is not only a Nigerian per excellent but, indeed, a patriotic one. Please, convey my best wishes to him. From Hon Takori mni.

    Cardinal Onaiyekan was predicted by TIME Magazine in 2002 to join the College of Cardinals. The publication cost him the elevation. You’ve vindicated him. Thanks for the concise expose on him. Anonymous.

    Thank you for your captivating treatise on Cardinal Onaiyekan. Indeed, he is a man of God and a peace maker. I pray the Almighty God to elevate him to the top echelon of the Catholic Church. He has endeared himself to both Muslims and Christians in Nigeria. From Shuaibu Ibrahim.

    Your write up on Cardinal Onaiyekan is indepth yet brilliantly brief. Kudos, sir! He’s a rare gem in the clerical circle; a gift not only to the Catholic Church but the entire Black race. He’s my type of a gentleman, a scholar and a saint. AVE IOHANNES. From Emmanuel Ekundayo, a product of Oro Grammar Schoool

    Your treatise on Cardinal Onaiyekun is super. I enjoyed your prose. The Cardinal – he belongs to the lost tribe of sane men that left this nation long time ago. What we have left are demons! May he end up a Pope. From Olanegan Taiwo Akure.

    Sir, Isanlu is now in Kogi State, Yagba East Local Government, some people may confuse it with Isanlu-Isin of Kwara Sstate. St Kizito is in Isanlu, Kogi State. From Dr Ekundayo

    I loved your on Cardinal Onaiyekun and I not only agree with him but corroborate his succinct description of the man, the new Cardinal. ‘Like father like son’ would aptly apply to this amiable genius. His father was a God-fearing man of impeccable character. He raised his children in the fear of God and dedicated each one to serve God in whatever human endeavour they chose. I congratulate the new Cardinal and pray that he will continue to faithfully serve the sovereign God until his life’s end. From Yetunde, Kabba

    Here in Nigeria, we have many archbishops of outstanding vocation and brilliance who would have made very good Cardinals. However, for reasons best known to the Papacy, they are not recognised until age disqualifies them. Nigeria deserves more Cardinals. I congratulate Cardinal Onaiyeikan for passing through the eyes of the needle. AD MULTOS ANNOS. From Dr Charles Uka.Owerri.

    Why not do a biography on Cardinal Onaiyekan? It will be vintage,’At Home Abroad’. Thank you, for Ave Iohannes, Cardinal Onaiyekan. From lchie Emma Ezeh,FCE,Eha-Amufu,Enugu State

     

    For Tunji Adegboyega

     

    Your write-up of November 4 titled ‘The teacher in Governor Wamakko’ refers: Frankly, Tunji, I have no stomach for your argument against the flogging of some PHCN staff in Sokoto State. Believe me, the Sokoto State PHCN staff can hold the state to ransom only because those in power today are themselves clueless. The level of corruption and wastage in public office now requires much more than the 1984 tactics of Buhari/Idiagbon to whip Nigerians back into line. Anonymous.

    Tunji your piece on the flogging of Mr Osigwe of the PHCN by His Excellency, Governor Wamakko is to me a drama of the century which looks like a fiction in movies. Honestly, two wrongs do not make a right. Many people will attest to it that he deserves the punishment meted to him. I was a victim of PHCN ineptitude; I lost so much money without anything to show for it. Other sanctions would have been preferably applied. I sympathise with Mr Osigwe. This may make him sit up next time … Anonymous.

    Haba, Governor Wamakko! A little patience would have solved the problem than flogging a mature man like that. Wamakko should know that there could be a role reversal tomorrow. His action has opened the doors to the public to do anything to PHCN officials, who then protects them? From Junaid K. Kreni.

    Tunji, I love your style, you are always hilarious the way you say the truth. His Excellency should have spared the rod and allowed the already spoilt child to get rotten. God will help us. Anonymous.

    As I am talking to you, I have not had light for three days, yet I pay a fixed amount of N4,500 every month as electricity bill. I sometimes go without light for one week; I do not support your view that Gov Wamakko should apologise to PHCN. If I had the opportunity, I would flog PHCN staff, they are very wicked people who will collect money from you and still keep you in darkness. Is that not robbery? From Charles, Abuja.

    Thanks for a thorough piece in your column of October 28. Indeed, ‘Okada’ is a menace to any civil society. The Japanese and Chinese manufacturers do not abuse them as some people do in our land where there is no rule. For me, ‘Okada’ should be banned at all levels. And politicians should stop such evil gifts as youth empowerment or death programme. Thank you. From Gift, Port Harcourt.

    Thanks for your write-up on the ‘Okada’ issue, you’ve fully aired the point I have been making to my southern brothers. From Eias.

    The ‘Okada’ wahala affects all Nigerians and that is evidence of failure of leadership/governance. May God help us. From Oduah, Ibadan.