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  • ‘If I die, I DIE!’

    ‘If I die, I DIE!’

    The late Ogunleye

    THERE were dimples on the cheeks of the soldier ‘that was beheaded’ in Baga. She had a disarming smile too. Thus even in her combat gear, Oluwatoyin Ogunleye evoked the random tribute of a cheer, until the terrorist sect, Boko Haram, invaded her base in Borno, rendering it a ghost town.

    In the heat of the attack, her disarming smile disappeared without trace. So did she. Ogunleye was abducted by Boko Haram in a whirlpool of blood and gunshots. But no shot from the buried war can kill her now. The female combatant was allegedly decapitated by her abductors, in a sadistic rite of assault against the Nigerian State.

    That hideous moment, when her neck was fed to the blade, Ogunleye probably thought of home. She probably remembered her life in time of peace. The combatant most certainly recalled the things she would never do again, the people she would not see, and the heartfelt dreams she would never realise.

    At death’s door, nobody knew her final state. Was she disconsolate? Was she defiant? Did she stick the middle finger in the face of her abductors? Nobody knows what feelings ran her mind amok but everybody remembers her as a gallant soldier, the female ‘warrior’ horridly put to death by terrorist sect, Boko Haram.

    According to Saleh Abass, who eulogised her on social media: “She was a gallant officer of the Nigerian Army. She was captured and later beheaded by Boko Haram in Baga, Borno State. She died serving our country. Please take a minute and say a prayer for her..May her soul rest in peace.”

    Like the deceased, Private Daniel Memuna Jane is also stationed in Borno. At her station in Maiduguri, the state capital, Daniel rises every day, eager to face any eventuality. She is ready to grapple with any threat, even death.

    “If death comes today, it comes. I am ready to face it. It is what I signed on for. I signed on to defend the country and protect every Nigerian with my life. So, if I die, I die,” said Daniel.

    Despite her resoluteness, Daniel’s folks are scared about her fate in Borno. They worry about her chances as a female combatant.

    “I am the first soldier in my family. Initially, my parents kicked against my decision to join the army. They never wanted me to join. But I was adamant. I persuaded them with good reasoning. I told them my mind was made up to pursue a career in the military and they later accepted my decision. So, they supported me,” she disclosed.

    But no sooner she was posted to Borno than her mother lost hope. “She was very scared. When I called my parents to tell them that I had been posted to Borno, my mother became very scared. She told me to quit the military. She begged me to resign and come home. She was very scared because of the news of random bombings and attacks she hears from this place. But I told her to let me be.

    I told her that I am a trained combatant, a gallant soldier. I told her that I signed on to protect her life and millions of other Nigerians’. Who will do the job if every daughter and son are persuaded to shun the military because they might die? We will all die eventually. So, if I die protecting my country, so be it,” said Daniel.

    Nigerian Army female combatants drill

    Of course, Daniel’s words were heartrending to her mom but the Private of the Nigerian Army felt she needed to dish out that shock treatment to loosen the leash of her mother’s apron strings.

    It was therapeutic for her too. She couldn’t afford to doubt her calling or nurse an abiding fear of death. According to Daniel, everybody dies eventually, it is the manner of dying that counts. Thus if at all she would go in her prime, she would like to go honourably, like a gallant soldier.

    If she does not die young, Daniel dreams of becoming the first female Chief of Army Staff (COAS).

    Private Zainab Diya, like Daniel, also nurtures great dreams to become an army officer. Diya was posted to Borno in 2014 soon after she joined the Nigerian Army. But unlike Daniel, she isn’t the only soldier in her family. Diya has an older sibling in the military. “She (her sister) didn’t want me to join the army. She said I should do some other work but I had always dreamt of becoming a soldier as a child,” she said.

    Thus Private Diya, led by her gut, joined the army. “I followed my heart and I know I will survive,” she said. At her station off Baga road, Diya stirs to the drill of military life every day.

    Life as a female combatant is rigorous and quite challenging. “But it is no more challenging than what it should be. I was trained to be a combatant. I know the drill, I passed the tests and I am fully equipped to engage in combat and deflect assault by the enemy. It’s not so hard. You ned to be a soldier to understand that,” said Diya.

     

    Cadet corps of the Nigerian Army

    Blessing Liman, first military combat pilot

    While the Nigerian Army is bolstered by the zeal of female combatants like Daniel and Diya, the Nigerian Air Force also enjoys positive boon by the emergence of Blessing Liman, as its first female military combatant pilot. Liman, 33, hails from Zangon Kataf in Kaduna State and she was of the SP-24A set of pilots referred to as the Knights of the Air. She was commissioned as a Combat Flying Officer alongside 126 others who finished the Direct Short Service Course 2010/2011 Cadets of the 325 Ground Training Group at the Nigerian Air Force Base, Kaduna. Present at the winging ceremony (badge decoration) was the then Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Mohammad Dikko Umar, who described her training and commissioning as a ‘very laudable achievement.’

    Before her ‘winging’ on Liman and her male colleagues went for a 12-month intensive flight training in various nations of the world: United States, Greece, Belarus, United Kingdom, Pakistan and Egypt.

    The Federal Government reportedly spent billions of naira on each trainee and the end, the team came up with 14 well-trained fighter jet pilots.

    Liman enthuses with passion and depth of a resolute and formidable combat pilot. According to her, “It is very uplifting and I feel very proud of myself though it has been very challenging. The Air Force has done a great job because it has changed our orientation. I believe that all females have equal opportunity to dignify their rights in whatever adventure they choose they can do.”

    “I am going to work, with prayers, dedication and hard work, I know I will succeed. As a first female pilot, I would want to make a mark that would encourage other females to join the military because I believe that all females have equal opportunity to exercise their rights in whatever they choose to do. I believe that all female Nigerians who choose to become pilots can do it since I have done it,” she said.

     

    Era of the female combatant

    There is no gainsaying that the Nigerian military, the army in particular, was largely dominated by men hence it was regarded as a male turf, until recently. However, in recent years, the military has witnessed an upsurge in the number of females enlisting into its rank and file. Many more women are now attracted to the military life.

    From a mere 39 recruited by the army in 1986, about 1,000 females are now recruited annually into the Nigerian Army; most of them are girls and they are eager to pull all stops to achieving their dreams of serving in Nigeria’s elite force.

    “Most of them come claiming they wish to serve and protect. They want to defend the territorial integrity of their fatherland. You will be amazed at the passion they exude. Despite the ongoing anti-terrorism war, they are not scared of being posted to troubled regions,” disclosed a senior military officer.

    Although the Nigerian military shies from releasing figures of the actual number of females in the nation’s 130, 000 strong armed forces – for national security – the army public relations office revealed recently that they run into thousands.

    Women, revealed the army authorities in a recent interview, started joining the army in the 1960s. First, they enlisted in the army medical corps, later went into supplies, transport and logistics. But recently, they have been performing combat duties.

    Besides Major-General Kale, Josephine Okwuekele Tofele, was reportedly the first female to wear the rank of an army captain in the country, she also served in the Nigerian Army’s Nursing Service, the precursor of the Medical Corps. Had she not retired in 1967, she might have emerged as the first female general.

    The second woman to be decorated with the rank of a two-star general however, is an architect. Her name is Itunu Hotonu, and she was decorated a rear admiral in December 2012. Hotonu was the first female military officer to attend the National Defence Academy (NDA) – formerly the National War College, Abuja, and she graduated as the best all round student in a class of 73. Tofele and Kale are widely respected as pioneer female military officers with formidable discipline and mental acuity, even by their male colleagues.

    •Gallant among men! A female soldier joins male peers for military operations

    It is noteworthy that five decades after independence, women were not allowed to enlist in the combatant corps, in spite of the fact that they all underwent the same rigorous military training. Hotonu who was enlisted in the navy in 1985, said in an interview with a national daily: “Training was tough and the best way I can describe it to you is to multiply what they put you through during National Youth Service Corps 20 times.”

    The year before she became a two-star general, she was in Liberia, on the invitation of the government of that country to mentor females in the Liberian Armed Forces. She leveraged on her reputation as the first female rear admiral in the sub-region.

    She said after her promotion: “I am happy about my promotion to the rank of a rear admiral in the Nigerian Navy and the fact that it is during my lifetime that females are now being recruited into the Nigerian Defence Academy to train as regular combatant officers.”

    It will be recalled that at her investiture as a general, alongside 22 of her peers, former President Goodluck Jonathan said: “So when will I see Nigerian women flying jets? We will want to start training women at the NDA to become regular combatant officers, those who are strong enough to face the rigours. In some years to come, may be the commander of the Presidential Air Fleet (PAF) can be a woman.”

    The emergence of Blessing Liman, as the first female combatant to fly a fighter jet no doubt answers the ex-president’s challenge.

    Female soldiers are serving in the Nigerian military in several capacities. In almost all states in the north where the Military Joint Task Force (MJTF) is fighting Boko Haram insurgents, female combatants are visible in patrol vehicles and among gun-wielding soldiers manning checkpoints to fend off insurgents.

    The female infantry soldiers involved in the anti-terrorism fight in the northeast codenamed: Operation Lafiya Dole, while speaking to The Nation enthused about serving in more challenging capacities. They expressed their eagerness to be sent on courses and deployed for combat experience in crucial international peace-keeping operations.

    Those with longer years of experience have been at the frontlines, facing machine gun and grenade attacks along with their male counterparts. For instance, Bashmateka Madambo, one of the longest serving female soldiers in the country, served in at least three major international operations, including the Economic Community Monitoring Group, ECOMOG, mission in Liberia and Sierra Leone. She was also part of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Darfur, Sudan, where she surpassed the expectation of her male commanders.

    Like Madambo, several female combatants of the Nigerian military have survived deadly skirmishes – whether it is deadly assault by Boko Haram, Niger Delta militants or intense assault in hostile territory during international peace-keeping operations, they emerge victorious, defiant and stronger, even if marked by scars.

     

    Why military?

    Female combatants join the army for a variety of reasons. Many were inspired by the exploits of relatives, neighbours or family friends. Some others simply fell in love with the drill and the uniform.

    Brig.-Gen. Cecelia Akagu is undoubtedly one of the country’s most respected military officers. Married to Brig.-Gen. Clifford Wanda and Akagu, a senior army officer, her desire to enlist was triggered by accident.

    “I didn’t know much about the army until 1984 when I went to Makurdi, Benue State. I went out with my uncle and I saw some people running. I asked my uncle what they were doing and he said ‘they were people who wanted to join the military.’ I picked what my uncle said and went away. During the next intake, I went there. I had a friend called Stella, a Calabar lady. She came to me and said ‘Cecelia, how do you feel being called retired Colonel Cecelia?’

    “That was how we went for the form and I went for the recruitment (exercise). I used to be very skinny and slim but when they assessed me, they knew that I was fit for the job,” she said.

     

    Love and marriage

    Female combatants on tour in Nigeria’s northeast betray little worries about love and marriage. While many of them revealed their desire to get married in some near future, some of them stressed that they have little time for romance.

    “At the moment, I am focused on my career as a soldier. There are several courses I need to do. Marriage and romance may pose a distraction. This is because not all men may have the patience to wait for an active combatant like me…I will get married though, someday. After I become an officer perhaps,” said Daniel.

    Diya and Daniel

    Higher callings for female soldiers

    Just recently, the Nigerian Army decided to deploy more female soldiers to its intelligence, signal and ordnance corps. The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, said some of the newly commissioned female officers will be deployed to the Intelligence, Signal and Ordnance Corps, where their services are needed.

    According to Buratai, “We have a situation whereby we have to bring them – female officers – on board. We have considered several options and several implications as regard our cultural sensitivities and general environment. We need to have them where they will have to play their role in the military. We need to address the issue of gender both in peace and war times”, he said.

    Buratai also said that female combatant officers were needed both in the background and fore front.

    “Look at what we are facing in the North East, majority of the Internally Displaced Persons are females, female officers have important roles to play for the IDPs, to find a way to take care of them being the same female folk in terms of cultural issues.”

    On whether army operations would be reviewed to favour the female officers, he said that Nigeria would not be an exception as other countries recruit female officers and deploy to artillery and armoured corps.

    The army chief explained that female soldiers had been in the theatre of war in the country. He added, however, that these were the first female cadets trained and commissioned as combatant officers.

    “But by and large, we are working on a policy that will address female deployment both in combatant and peace times,” he said.

    At the backdrop of the military’s review of posting and recruitment processes, more females are enlisting into the nation’s armed forces. Those in the system however, enthuse about their experiences.

    For Privates Diya, Daniel and others, joining the military was the realisation of a life-long dream. Whether driven by a love for the uniform or inspired by the exploits of a friend or close family member, they grew to find out that the army also transforms lives. Daniel revealed that since she joined the military, her life changed. The army has given her a sense of purpose.

    “It has helped me to be more focused and respectful of higher authorities. I feel more responsible too…The rigorous training and orderly routine helped me to attain self-discipline. Before, I was carefree, but today I live an orderly life. I am less given to frivolities.”

    Diya, on the other hand, revealed that she has attained greater courage and commitment to a higher cause since she joined the military. She is no longer scared of rats, snakes and even fearsome mortal enemies.

    “I have been trained to face any challenge and overcome it. Thus I am not scared of reptiles or hostile human enemies. I am fully equipped to demobilise them. I don’t see myself as an average woman. I am no ordinary woman,” she said.

    Indeed, Diya contradicts the random female stereotype. She does not fret over pimples or the state of her hair roots. “I take care of myself. I practise good hygiene. I am comfortable in my own skin. I am a combatant. My job is to eliminate threats. Real mortal threats. Not pimples and acne,” she said with the wisdom of a soldier, whose gift for solutions overwhelms the demands of being woman.

  • Apo six: Two policemen to die over 2005 killings

    Apo six: Two policemen to die over 2005 killings

    The trial of six policemen accused of killing six traders (known as Apo six) in 2005 in Abuja, ended yesterday with the conviction of two of them.

    Deputy Commissioner of Police Danjuma Ibrahim, Nicholas Zakaria, Sadiq Salami, Ezekiel Acheneje and Emmanuel Baba were  charged to court on a nine-count charge of conspiracy and culpable homicide over the death of the six traders.

    The sixth policeman, who the prosecution named in the charge,  but was said to be at large – Othman Abdulsalam – was never produced in court in the course of the trial.

    Justice Ishaq Bello, who is the Chief Judge of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), acquitted three defendants of the charge of conspiracy, but convicted Acheneje and Baba for culpable homicide and sentenced them to death.

    Justice Bello discharged and acquitted Ibrahim, Zakaria and Salami on the ground that the prosecution was incapable of effectively linking the trio with the alleged crimes.

    The prosecution, at trial, alleged that four of the deceased, said to be auto spare part dealers at Apo, Abuja –  Ifeanyi Ozo, Chinedu Meniru, Isaac Ekene and  Paul Ogbonna -were killed at a police check point on Gimbya Street, Area 11, Abuja on the night of June 7, 2005.

    Anthony Nwokike and Augustina Arebun – were said to have survived the check point encounter, but allegedly shot dead later by the defendants and buried in Gaduwa Estate, Jabi District, Abuja.

    Justifying his decision in relation to Achejene and Baba, Justice Bello said he had no option than to convict the two on account of their confessional statements, in which they admitted shooting Nwokike and Arebun on instruction from a superior officer.

    Justice Bello said  Achejene and Baba acted callously  because by law and their responsibility as policemen, they were expected to preserve the lives of innocent citizens.

    He said Achejene and Baba’s decision to kill the two traders, while being taken to the hospital, was condemnable, because there was no evidence that the two traders committed any crime or constituted threat to the policemen at the time they were killed.

    Justice Bello said the killing of Nwokike and Arebun by Achejene and Baba was particularly painful because they were arrested by members of the public alive and handed over to the policemen only for the same police to take laws into their hands by summarily executing them.

    The judge said the retraction of their written statements during their oral testimony at trial was a mere afterthought.

    Justice Bello said  being directed to commit a crime cannot serve as a valid cover or excuse for the commission of a crime.

    As it relates to the acquitted three, Justice Bello was of the view that police investigation was unable to link them with the alleged crimes.

    The judge noted that, from the totality of the evidence placed before the court, the prosecution could not establish the charge of conspiracy, because it was unable to convince the court that the defendants met and agreed to kill the deceased who were returning from a night club along Gimbiya Street in Abuja on June 7, 2005.

    On the prosecution’s claim that DCP Ibrahim  allegedly seized an AK 47 from one of the policemen at the check point and shot the traders in their Peugeot 406, the judge said the allegation collapsed in the face of contradictions from two prosecution witnesses, to the effect that Ibrahim never seized a gun or fired at the traders.

    Justice Bello said there was no dispute as to the fact that the DCP was having a service pistol on him and he never fired any shot with the service pistol.

    The judge frowned at the quality of investigation conducted by the police on the incident of June 7 and 8, 2005.

    He said if the investigators were diligent enough to have obtained DCP Ibrahim’s  finger print, the doubt over whether or not he handled the AK 47 said to have been used in killing, would have been erased.

    On the circumstance leading to the death of the four killed during the check point encounter, the judge said the issue remained ambiguous and vague because the prosecution was unable to establish those responsible for the killing.

    ”The prosecution said there was no objection by the defendants against the admission of the statements in evidence during trial.

    “I have examined the two confessional statements by both the fourth and fifth accused persons, they are in clear admission of the use of Ak47 in shooting the boy and the girl respectively.

    “I cannot therefore be in doubt that the retraction is an afterthought, a deliberate attempt to distort the facts.

    “It (was) further clearly stated by the fourth defendant that he shot the boy and so the girl by the fifth defendant.

    “At this point, I suppose to recall the wisdom exhibited by the prosecution in articulating three things for the commission of the alleged various offences as charged.

    “First at the scene of the event on June 7, 2005; secondly, Garki Police Station and thirdly Gaduwa Estate.”

    The judge added that under the Nigerian law, Acheneje and Baba’s defence that they were ordered by their superiors to shoot the two survivors was unacceptable.

    He said: “If the defendants were relying on the fact that policemen were attacked at the stop-and-search point on June 7, 2005, hence the need to respond with fire in order to protect themselves, since they were at their duty post, a position which I have to agree with in view of all that was put before the court, I’m in pain to note that in the testimony of the defendants there was nothing in form of evidence to show that the two – the boy and the girl – did anything that constituted a threat to the defendants.

    “And it was not in a situation where the defendants were pursuing the boy while running to escape.

    “The boy was found by members of the public and submitted to the defendant who then shot him, the fourth defendant.

    “This is a case of impunity of the highest order. The admission of commission of the crime by both the fourth and fifth defendants is unequivocal as submitted by the prosecution.”

    The judge held that being directed to commit a crime could never serve as a valid cover.

    He held that it was “folly” for the convicts to think they could be “discharged on the ground of ‘I am directed’.”

    He held: “What should be noted is that, it is the law that in whatever field of human endeavours there is always requirement for obedience to law superior order. Indeed, no one can hide behind directive either by the state or any superior officer to commit a crime.

    “It is folly therefore for the defendants to think that they could be absolved of any criminal act on grounds of ‘I’m directed’.

    “The prosecution has proved the charge of against the fourth and fifth accused beyond reasonable doubt in the exception of charge of conspiracy which I earlier ruled in favour of all the defendants.

    “Accordingly, the fourth and the fifth defendants each, is  hereby convicted for the offence of culpable homicide punishable by death under Section 221(a) of Penal Code.”

    The judge discharged and acquitted three other accused on the basis that police investigation failed  to link them with the alleged crimes.

    The judge noted that the case was poorly investigated with key elements such as fingerprints evidence, analysis of bullets used to kill the victims being absent in the ballistician’s report tendered by the prosecution.

    He said: “I wish to also observe that the investigation of this case leaves much to be desired.

    “To say it is deliberate cannot be out of place, after all, it is before this court by evidence, that one of the police witnesses, expressly stated that they were never allowed to investigate this case.”

    The judge rejected the allocutus (plea for mercy) made separately by lawyers to Acheneje and Baba shortly after the judgment was delivered.

    He said his hands were tied as he must impose the punishment of death provided for by the law.

  • Five die, properties gone in over 50 emergencies

    Five die, properties gone in over 50 emergencies

    Five persons were killed and properties worth millions of naira destroyed in over 50 emergencies recorded across Lagos and Ogun states at the weekend.

    Fires in Lagos alone accounted for about 40 of the cases, said the Fire Service Director, Rasaq Fadipe.

    National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Southwest spokesman Ibrahim Farinloye made this known yesterday, while reacting to the fire which razed Rida Plastic Company Oshodi-Apapa Expressway.

    He said there was a car explosion in Abeokuta, the Ogun State Capital, and wild bush fire in Ipokia in the river rine area of the state.

    He said: “Nigerians especially private sector company owners and tanker drivers are seriously implored to take safety consciousness seriously and guide against unsafe practices as the new phase of dry season is coming up. Parents and schools should educate children and the elderly to know basic unsafe actions.”

    Two of the incidents involved vehicles plunging into the Majidun River, Ikorodu, and the lagoon by Mekwen Bridge by Marina on Friday and Saturday.

    Three bodies were recovered in the Ikorodu accident; 23 were injured. A woman identified as Chinagorom Fustine drowned in the Marina crash, but the driver, Felix Aniele, of the saloon car, marked MUS38BL, swam to safety.

    The fifth death was recorded on Saturday morning after a fuel laden tanker lost control, rammed into a pedestrian and fell by Totowu riverside on Isuti Road, spilling its content into the canal.

    Fire gutted 317, Herbert Macaulay Way, Sabo; a three-storey building Rabiatu Thompson Street, Surulere; Phoenix Steel Mill in Odogunyan, Ikorodu; 5, Ibidoja Street, Alaba International and 2, Museyo Street, Eleko Beach.

    Also, emergency workers attended to fires at 33, Shittu Basiru Street, Isheri Osun, Igbogbo Sawmill, Bookshop House at CMS, a company, Samchase Nigeria Limited at 25, Isolo Industrial Estate and Gbagada General Hospital.

    There was inferno at 17, Rauf Williams Street, Lagos State Polytechnic in Ikorodu 22, Bariga Road, Bariga, Kareem Ikotun Street, Sabo, the Plank Market at Oke Afa, Isolo and a studio at 173, Moshood Olugbani Street, Victoria Island. Some shops were razed beside old NEPA office in Badagry.

    According to Fadipe, the fire service responded to 19 calls on Friday, 18 on Saturday, and five as at 4:30pm yesterday.

    He blamed the harmattan for the rising incidence, urging residents to be cautious with how they use fire and inflammable items.

    Fadipe said: “We have been very busy since Friday responding to fire calls. For the bookshop fire alone, seven trucks of 10,000 water capacities were deployed and each of them was replenished three times. We also used seven drums of chemicals used to battle oil fire. At Oshodi, six water trucks and 11 drums of chemicals were used.

    “People should endeavour to call the emergency lines once there’s an outbreak. They shouldn’t assume they can put it out on their own because the weather we are experiencing now escalates fire. While they are trying to put it out, they should also call us so that we would respond in good time.”

    Lagos State Commissioner for Special Duties and Intergovernmental Relations Mr Seye Oladejo, who was at the Oshodi plastic factory fire scene spoke in the same vein, saying: “We noticed the escalation of fires since Friday when we had a sudden change in weather as harmattan suddenly came back. Since then, we have recorded about 40 fire incidents in different parts of the state. Fire incidents are mainly caused either by accident or sheer carelessness on the part of our people.’’

  • PDP won’t die, says Umahi

    Ebonyi State Governor David Umahi has said the challenges confronting the Peoples Democratic Party (PPDP) at the national level will not lead to its death.

    Umahi spoke at the weekend during a Christmas dinner for the party’s State Working Committee (SWC) as well as the local and zonal committee members at the Government House in Abakaliki, the state capital.

    The governor, who challenged the party’s leadership to be transparent and accountable to party members and the public, said anybody believing he (Umahi) would leave the PDP for All Progressives Congress (APC) was hallucinating.

    “If anybody tells you that this man (Umahi) is going to APC, tell the person that he should wake up from sleep,” he said in a statement yesterday by his Chief Press Secretary, Emma Anya.

    Saying “APC does not win election in this state,” Umahi noted that since his PDP-led administration had “done well in the state” it would not be arm-twisted.

    He added: “There is no local government area that you will not beat your chest and say there is a road project going on. We are not building ordinary roads.  We are not doing any road without asphalt and stone base.”

    The governor told party chiefs that for them to succeed, they must avoid taking bribes and embezzling party’s funds.

    He said: “If they give you money and say it is for 10 people, tell them it is for 10 people. The worst thing in life is to eat alone the money that is supposed to go to three or four people. No man ever has enough.  What is important is contentment and godliness.”

    PDP State Chairman Onyekachi Nwebonyi promised members’ unflinching support for Umahi to justify the mandate the people gave him.

     

  • Five die, others injured in road crash

    Five die, others injured in road crash

    Five persons, including two children, were yesterday confirmed dead after a multiple accident on the Third Mainland Bridge.

    According to the State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), five others were injured and rushed to the Trauma Centre.

    It was gathered that the accident, which occurred around 6:10pm, involved three vehicles – a LAGBUS, Hilux truck belonging to Ikorodu Vigilante Group known as Oyabo and a Rover Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV).

    Among the dead were three women and two children – a boy and girl.

    It was learnt that the LAGBUS and truck drivers collided.

    The Rover SUV driver, it was learnt, was behind the vehicles and rammed into them.

    LASEMA General Manager Michael Akindele said the bodies were deposited at the Mainland Hospital Mortuary by the State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit (SEHMU) officials.

    He said: “Proper investigation would be carried out on the cause of the accident by the relevant government agencies. Motorists are advised to refrain from speeding and also adhere to all traffic rules and regulation to avoid incident such as this.”

  • Export or die

    Export or die

    •More than ever, the Export Council, NAFDAC, SON and other stakeholders must get serious about export

    One would think that Nigeria needs no diviner to convince her that she must diversify her economy hastily if she would not lapse into a failed state in a couple of years. Again, one would want to take it for granted that methodical and aggressive export stimulation is sine qua non to the country’s very survival and that this ought to be apparent to government and her agencies.

    But facts abound to prove that government and most of her agencies seem utterly inured to the reality of a looming economic debacle in Nigeria. They seem particularly lax about the urgent necessity to seek alternative revenues and diversify the economy from dependence on crude oil sales. Thus, stimulating increased export of primary commodities to earn foreign exchange ought to have been a natural alternative.

    But this is not the case as recent events show. First, the immediate past managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, (NPA) Mr. Habib Abdullahi, in reviewing the activities of the authority for 2015 noted that 90 per cent of containers bringing goods to Nigeria from other countries return empty, among other woeful reports.

    Nigeria is probably the only country with this glaring aberrant situation. According to experts, most other countries of Africa have substantial non-oil export commodities to fill out-bound containers. African countries like Cote D’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi and South Africa always have various semi-processed agric products as well as finished goods to export.

    Another pointer to Nigeria’s authorities’ lack of seriousness and will to drive her export business is the troubling report about European Union’s (EU) ban on Nigeria’s beans and some other agricultural produce. According to the report, EU Food Safety Authority had in June 2015 suspended the importation of Nigeria’s beans for one year, to allow the relevant Nigerian authorities address some quality control issues.

    Beans of Nigeria origin was found to contain between 0.03 mg to 4.6 mg of pesticide considered to be injurious to human health; as opposed to the acceptable maximum residue limit of 0.01 mg per kilogramme.

    For one year, the Nigerian authorities could not muster the will to meet the EU condition until the grace period elapsed last June. Now the EU has extended the ban by a punitive three years, depriving Nigerian beans farmers of a lucrative export business reportedly worth about $10 billion.

    Notably, agencies such as Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON); National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, (NAFDAC); Nigerian Export Promotion Council, (NEPC) and the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment reportedly collaborated to ensure that the ban was lifted but to no avail.

    Just recently, shipping companies raised cargo-handling charges astronomically, thus compounding the woes of exporters. Though the shipping companies complain of scarcity of foreign exchange which warranted their sourcing from the parallel market, exporters insist the new charges are arbitrary and unfair. Ironically, in spite of the government’s sing-song about economic diversification, exporters bemoan official aloofness on this matter.

    Yet another telling example of official nonchalance and insensitivity: last week, a large government crew made up of five ministers and a retinue of aides were on a trip termed ‘Nigeria’s investment road show in London’ ostensibly to promote Nigeria’s trade and investment. We dare say that we assumed the days of mindless jamborees like the London show were over with the last government.

    This government is still stuck in the old mode of much talk and much show and little work. As we have said so often, this government must return to the basics as far as exports and indeed the economy are concerned.

    Nigeria has huge potential in agro-commodity exports and this must be aggressively pursued. Agencies involved must be stirred from slumber and perhaps, rudely too! Our new mantra should be: “Export or die.”

  • ‘70,000 children may die of malnutrition’

    •’Over half of children in Kastina, Kebbi, Jigawa Yobe, Zamfara need treatment’

    No fewer than 70, 000 children may die of malnutrition, according to a report by the Working to improve nutrition in Northern Nigeria (WINNN).

    It said about 370,000 children with acute malnutrition in Katsina, Kebbi, Jigawa, Yobe and Zamfara states would require life-saving treatment this year.

    It said 58 per cent of children below five years in these states are suffering from stunting.

    WINNN consists of experts from federal and state governments drawn from Ministries of Heealth, development partners, civil society organisation and the academia.

    At a meeting to discuss the results of its research, the group advised that  the causes of child malnutrition be addressed to reduce the high rate of child malnutrition in the North.

    It noted that treatment for severe malnutrition remained the focus, demanding that states increased attention be given to prevention, which is critical to addressing the problem.

    The research confirmed that many mothers do not understand the importance of exclusive breastfeeding, pointing out that giving water to a baby under six months could lead to illnesses and malnutrition.

    The experts recommended increasing activities to prevent malnutrition, such as encouraging women to attend health facilities for antenatal and postnatal care, where they could be given guidance on how to best feed their children, especially the most vulnerable children who are under two years.

    The group urged husbands, families and community members, including traditional and religious leaders to support women to breastfeed exclusively and to feed children under two years old.

    Communities should be educated about problems of harmful traditional feeding practices that could reduce an infant’s growth and development, and messages on good feeding practices should be carried on the radio, the experts agreed.

    The experts recommended that more effort should be put into preventing malnutrition, involving coordination with ministries of health, agriculture, women’s affairs and social development, and water resources.

    They also called for greater training and deployment of health workers.

    Lauding the increase in state and Federal Governments’and partners’commitment to resolve the problem of child malnutrition over the past several years, as well as the more than $47.9 million investment by the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) in the WINNN programme since its inception in 2011, the participants highlighted the need for stakeholders to invest more.

    They called on the government to provide greater leadership, better coordination and increased funding to scale up the lessons learned from the WINNN programme, providing sustained action to improve the nutrition, health and future prospects of women, adolescent girls and children in northern Nigeria.

    The WINNN programme, implemented by the Federal Government with support from UNICEF, Save the Children and Action Against Hunger, is funded by DFID and works in three local government areas in each of the five states.

  • ‘His holiness’ can’t die —Church members

    ‘His holiness’ can’t die —Church members

    •Insist case was a frame-up

    •Neighbours: it’s a big relief

    •Say we went through hell while he held sway

    Members of the Rev King-led  Christian Pentecostal Assembly (CPA) woke up  yesterday in high hopes.

    They were sure that after almost 10 years incarceration, their beloved church founder would finally breath an air of freedom with the Supreme Court expected to quash the death sentence received from the lower courts.

    As early 7:00am, some female members were already in the church. They were wearing green T-shirts with black skirts and  green berets to match.

    Another group wore white T-shirts and white berets.

    They swept the floor, arranged the white plastic chairs in rows and generally tidied  up  the church, all in anticipation of holding a victory service.

    However, the planned celebration was not to be: the apex court insisted that the man his followers call “His holiness” must end on the gallows.

    By 3 pm, the church gate had been shut,the crowd thinned down, their hopes of ever seeing their G.O gone.

    On adjoining streets, some residents gathered, discussing  the conviction in low tones.

    Some were using their phones to browse through the net to confirm the authenticity of the news.

    There was not a  single member of the church around.

    But  even a  first timer would not miss the larger than life image of Rev King on the church signboard and the huge, gold colour  inscription of CPA on the black church gates.

    Some of the residents spoke to The Nation still looking over their shoulders for King’s followers who are reputed for harassing people in the area.

    The residents  described  King’s incarceration as a blessing to the street,recalling  their not too pleasant experience in the hands of the church members before his arrest and subsequent trial.

    One of the residents said: “One day his members beat up my wife.

    “I went into the church to ask them what happened. Immediately I went in, they rushed at me. They beat my wife so badly that she ran to the police station naked. At the police station, they told us to go and get a medical report from Isolo General Hospital. I went and got the report.

    “I later asked my wife why the CPA members beat her up. She said some children threw  a banger inside the church. When the members came out, they did not ask who did it, but tried to take two of our children back into the church.

    “She begged them not to take them away, but they refused. As a mother, she would not allow her children to be taken away. That was why they descended on her. I wanted to follow it up, but my uncle advised me not to go ahead with the case.He told me they were very dangerous. That was how I dropped the case.”

    Residents said passers-by used to thread the street with trepidation when King still held sway, as his supporters were always suspicious of people and ever ready to vent their aggression at the slightest provocation.

    People were routinely forced  to remove their  shoes to be allowed to walk  through the area.

    Asked if that was till the situation now, the man replied: “No, it is much better now. People have peace in the street. The street is peaceful now. The CPA members don’t molest anybody anymore. ”

    A landlord in the area said: “He who lives by the sword, will die by the sword” when told that the Supreme Court had upheld the death sentence given to King.

    Relating  his own experience with the church members,the landlord said: “I know many of them because the buy things from me.

    “I knew Ann very well before her death. Before the incident, it was harrowing for all of us staying in this area.

    “At that time,  some of the houses you see here were under construction, so some of the bricklayers would sleep in the buildings. The members of the CPA would move from house to house on Sundays and forced people to attend service.

    “They had no bathroom.It was just recently that they made provision for some.

    “The church  members would come out and bath outside in broad daylight. To us, that was an abomination. Even up till now, some of them believe he would soon come back. I have heard them boast that when Rev King comes back, they  would deal with us.

    “It is unfortunate that he has been convicted, but those who live by the sword will die by the sword.If he had been released,we would have abandoned our houses.”

    King’s followers  are confident that he would not be hanged.

    One of them who spoke with The Nation said: “His holiness cannot be killed even with the Supreme Court judgment. He said it long ago that no man is capable of touching a strand of hair on his head.

    “The whole drama is a calculated plan by some people to bring his ministry down.  It started in June 2006 when His holiness asked cult members, herbalists and other people with shady character in the church to either declare for God or leave the church.

    “After making the statement, some people who believed they were highly connected came to him and told him that they would blackmail him and make sure the ministry was brought down.

    “Thereafter, this ‘frame-up’ came up. For you to know that the case was a frame-up, did they bring the dead bodies of the seven people that were allegedly killed to the court to serve as evidence?

    “It was all a ruse. Those seven people in question are roaming about the street and we do see them here in Ajao Estate.  It was only Ann that died and it was these seven people that killed her. It wasn’t  His holiness that killed her as alleged.

    “She was going to put on the generator when they set fire on it. When she was eventually taken to the hospital, they went there and used pillow to choke her to death.  That was how those people who vowed to deal with His holiness started carrying out their plans. But the truth is that they cannot kill him.”

    Another member,  who simply identified himself as Sunny,  said though the judgment was contrary to their expectations,  they remain confident that he would come out unscathed.

    “His holiness cannot be killed. He is more than a mere human being and cannot be killed by any mortal.

    “We were waiting with high expectations that the case would be struck out. We held a vigil yesterday and went ahead to clean the church premises waiting for his return.  We didn’t have to pray for the case to be struck out at the vigil because we were convinced  that he would be released.

    “The Supreme Court judgment cannot dampen our morale because we are convinced that he would not be killed. He is not a mere mortal like the rest of us. He will come back home at the appointed time  and by then, the people behind this whole thing will bury their heads in shame.”

    Another member of the church called Obi said: “The judgment which is a human decision is not the final. A judgment that will supercede this one will come. We have total confidence in our leader and this is why we have not relented in our efforts to hold service.

    “In spite of the judgment, we are going to have service on Sunday and celebrate him.  For you to know how powerful he is, he has been providing solutions to numerous people’s problems right from the prison walls.

    “He does this using online medium. Right there in the prison, the officials don’t go close to him because of the enormity of the power he wields. If they can’t go close to him in the prison, how would it be possible for them to kill him? It is impossible.  I personally received divine healing through him before his arrest. I was having a terminal ailment and when he mounted the pulpit and pointed at my direction, the sickness vanished. This was in 2006 and till date the sickness has not come back.”

  • ‘Cancer patients need not die’

    ‘Cancer patients need not die’

    You can save a cancer patient from dying. How? It is by  donating a bone marrow.

    That gesture will guarantee that a seamless bone marrow transplantation (BMT) is performed on a patient.

    A stem cell transplantation is recommended for people with leukemia, multiple myeloma, and some types of lymphoma. It may also be used to treat some genetic diseases that involve the blood, such as sickle cell disorder (SCD).

    And that is what Miss Ronke Babalakin, Miss Babalakin, daughter of Chairman, Bi-Courtney Highways Limited, Dr.  Wale Babalakin (SAN), has developed a passion for – to recruit donors, and connect recipients to the pool site – German Registry, Die Deutsche Knochenmarkspenderdatei (DKMS) and BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc.

    Miss Babalakin explained that a  diseased bone marrow (the spongy, fatty tissue found inside larger bones) is destroyed with chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy and then replaced with highly specialised stem cells that develop into healthy bone marrow.

    “Although this procedure used to be referred to as a bone marrow transplant, today it is more commonly called a stem cell transplant because it is stem cells in the blood that are typically being transplanted, not the actual bone marrow tissue,” she said.

    As promising as this option is, Miss Babalakin said the main challenge is the dearth of donors. And that is why she has floated a non-governmental organisation Ara (Yoruba name for Wonder).

    According to her, the “scarcity of donors is depriving so many cancer patients of this novel treatment. This is of concern to many, especially those who have lost family members or friends. That is why we came up with Ara, a pan-African bone marrow and cord blood donor recruitment group to explore recruitment for bone marrow donors to save lives. The group aims to get 30,000 bone marrow donors by the end of 2018; ensure that these donors can be found through international donor searches, and educate African communities about treatments for blood cancers and sickle cell anemia. We already have a website-www.ara-africa.org, and we can be contacted via info@ara-africa.org.”

    Miss Babalakin, who has a background in finance, said she founded Ara because though she lost a friend, another recovered through the procedure.She however decried the low response to bone marrow donation. “It is not common in Nigeria, and even globally,” she said.

    She said Nigerians should not wait until somebody is in a dire strait before donors are recruited. “Bone marrow has been found to provide cure for blood cancers and sickle cell anaemia. Culture, myth and religion are some of the reasons people do not donate their bone marrow. Less than one per cent of Africans are involved in donating their bone marrow. We have found out that it is hard for African cancer patients to find donors. Why? Going by the population of this continent, there are 68, 222 potential donors in Africa. This represents a paltry 0.006 per cent of the continent’s population. There is the need to raise awareness on voluntary donation so that people can come forward to donate their bone marrow to save lives,” she added.

    “The likelihood of a black person to find a perfect match in bone marrow treatment at the time of need is slim because of dearth of donors. Our long-term goal is to provide the logistics and infrastructure to ensure the seamless recruitment of donors in cities all over Africa.

    “This is different in comparison to the United States with potential donors of 10,500,000, which represents 3.3 per cent of its population. The United Kingdom has 894,714 potential donors, which represent 1.4 per cent of its population,” she said.

    Miss Babalakin said the group has received about  $200,000 from DKMS to start the recruitment in the country. “At the moment, there are only two registries in Africa: South African Registry and Ara,” she said.

    Ara Director/Volunteer Coordinator, Miss Piriye Anga, said adults under 45 could donate, adding that it is not risky.

    She said there was the need to educate people that blood collected would not be used for rituals, but  only for surgery.”The greatest challenge is convincing people to donate their bone marrow. We need to raise awareness to reduce the stigma, which surrounds cancer in Nigeria and Africa,” she said.

    Miss Anga said the group was already enjoying the support of other NGOs in its drive to get bone marrows.

    On how to donate, Miss Babalakin said there are three ways to do so.

    “One can be a donor through peripheral blood stem cell, bone marrow or be a financial supporter.

    “Peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) donation is a simple procedure. Blood is removed through a needle on one arm and passed through a machine that separates out the blood-forming cells and the remaining blood is returned through the other arm. It is used in 70 per cent of cases. Seventy-five per cent of all PBSC donations are completed in one session, which may take up to eight hours. A donor may feel muscle aches for about five days after the procedure, but some donors have reported feeling no pain 30 minutes to an hour after the procedure,” she added.

    For bone marrow donation, “it is a surgical procedure. “Local or general anesthesia will be used, so there is no pain when the marrow is collected. It is used in 30 per cent of cases, and on children because they experience a higher success rate from marrow transplants as opposed to blood stem cell donation. Donors feel discomfort and some pains in their lower back from one or two weeks,’’ said Miss Babalakin.

  • Help before I die: Pensioner tells Sports minister

    Help before I die: Pensioner tells Sports minister

    Following 35 years of meritorious service with the Citizenship and  Leadership Training Centre, ailing octogenarian pensioner, Pa George Olayiwola Owolabi cries out over backlog of unpaid monthly stipends. He spoke to Bode Durojaiye in Oyo.

    One would think that after years of service to the government, retirees should be entitled to a certain amount of pension to live on for the rest of their lives.

    It is probably too much to ask various government agencies to pay retirees a living wage considering the low level of economic activity in Nigeria but some level of pension to retirees should be a right after they’d put in certain number of years of service.

    The monthly ritual of having frail individuals who could barely work straight without the aid of a stick, queuing up for several hours or days waiting to collect their cheques is a sickening sight for any sane person.

    Some of these pensioners endured abuses and inconducive work environment while in service, so having to go through this monthly ignominy to collect their paltry monthly due, is to say the least, unbecoming.

    The worst part is that the pension backlog sometimes runs into months and years without any sense of urgency on the part of government officials who should know better.

    To add salt to their injury, the pensioners read in the papers every day how their entitlements are embezzled by government officials who are suppose to manage it.

    Unfortunately, many of these senior citizens have had to answer the call of nature while struggling to collect their entitlement over the years.

    Pa George Olayiwola Owolabi, a university graduate of Physical and Health Education, is one of the senior citizens who, having diligently served in the public service for thirty-five unblemished years, has been encountering inhuman treatments from his employers since retiring about fifteen years ago.

    The combined rigours Pa Owolabi has had to go through, plus the lack and frustration and agony may not be unconnected with his present state of paralysis. Today, Pa Owolabi cuts a pitiable figure and begs for alms from neighbours to sustain himself. Investigation by our correspondent revealed that Pa Owolabi retired as an Assistant Director from national headquarters of the Citizenship and Leadership Training Centre, an arm of the Federal Ministry of Youth Development in the year 2000. His monthly pension stipend used to be N49, 072.80k, but the sum has been reduced by a whopping N10,000 since December 31st, 2005, without any cogent reason.

    All enquires and complaints about this development to the then Director-General of the centre, Mallam Yussuf Adamu were to no avail.

    Pa Owolabi was also denied payment of his repatriation pension benefit which ought to have been paid on his retirement. Frantic effort to find out the reason behind this action has proved abortive.

    What is more! Even the paltry remnant, which he usually collects at his Union Bank branch, has not been paid in the last six months.

    In an exclusive interview with our correspondent at his Kosobo, Oyo residence, Pa Owolabi who looked haggard and dejected wept uncontrollably, as he narrated the dehumanising and uncaring manners his employers has been treating him.

    A look around his tattered sitting room gave a glimpse of how handsome and dynamic a man he was in his hay days. He revealed how after retirement, he was framed with another deceased colleague for the offence they knew nothing about and charged to court in Lagos.

    ”There was no month since the case started that I would not travel from Oyo to Lagos twice to appear in court. I had motor accident twice and was hospitalised. I sustained serious injuries to the extent that my wife and children thought I had died. But I thank God I’m still alive today [sobs]. While this lasted my employer did not show any sympathy.”

    He recalled how as a dedicated and committed officer, he was transferred from Jos to head the training department in Lagos, a position that gave him the privilege of knowing top security brass in the country, notable politicians and executive officers of both public and private establishments.

    “I never received a query, let alone found wanting in the discharge of my duty in the 35 years I served the country. Why then am I being persecuted and victimised?” Now weeping profusely, he said “Why am I being unjustly punished? Imagine me begging for alms to survive with my condition. I wasn’t born like this; the partial paralysis was as a result of psychological trauma I’ve been wickedly subjected to by the centre’s management. In addition to begging for alms, my neighbours are also compassionate people who donate foodstuffs occasionally to me. I have children who are well read and working, but there is a limit to what they can do, because they have their own commitments and challenges as well.”

    Pa Owolabi, an indigene of Oyo town, who is living with his ailing wife and grand daughter told our correspondent that he could not afford the cost of essential drugs needed both for himself and his spouse due to non-payment of his entitlements by his employers.

    Pa Owolabi is therefore sending a Save Our Soul appeal to the minister of Sports and Youth Development, Mr Solomon Dalung to take special interest in his case and come to his rescue.