The Nation Newspaper

Tag: hell

  • From paradise to hell (III)

    They are beautiful, jovial and tough. SEUN AKIOYE, who was in Somalia, reports on the exploits of female security personnel who are at the frontline of the war against the terror group Al-Shabaab.

    SERGEANT Uduak Johnson of the Nigeria Police (Mobile Division) had just received a rather frightening order, one that would send cold shivers down the spines of tough talking guys. But for Uduak, it was a usual order that made her “feel good”. It has been part of her daily life since January 2016 when she was deployed in Somalia.

    The ‘feel good’ order had been issued by Superintendent of Police Theo Eze, who is the leader of the 140-strong mobile police unit from Nigeria also referred to as the Front Police Unit (FPU), which has the mandate to help Somalia Police Force clear out the remnants of insurgents from the federal capital Mogadishu and other yet-to-be-liberated regions of Somalia.

    “This is normal for me,” Uduak began as she caressed the riot gunner on her laps. Across from her, Corporal Ajoyemi Sunday looked at her with admiration and readjusted his AK-47 rifle, which was placed between his legs.

    Uduak and her colleagues were travelling in the Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) and had been given an order to proceed on night patrol through some of the most dangerous streets in Mogadishu. On many nights, they are engaged in stop-and-search operations where on many occasions, weapons belonging to the dreaded terror group Al-Shabaab had been discovered, with deadly operations prevented and lives saved.

    “I actually felt good when I was deployed here. Since it is a peace keeping mission, it is helping our African brothers and helping Somalia to find peace. That is why I was happy when I came here,” Uduak said with pride.

    She is a beautiful, tough lady. But Uduak behaves like a girl, a teenager perhaps, as she giggles, laughs and plays like every other woman in spite of her position as a mobile policewoman.

    Women have always been part of the fighting force of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), which has deployed thousands of troops since 2007 in the fight against Al-Shabaab. After fierce fighting, AMISOM was able to retake Mogadishu and other surrounding cities. This victory however came at a price: in coordinated attacks against AMISOM troops by Al-Shabaab, hundreds of soldiers and policemen from across Africa have paid the ultimate price.

    Uduak is one of those one can refer to as an old coaster. Somalia was not the first mission she had been to. Two years ago, she spent eight months in South Sudan as part of the rebuilding process for the war-torn country. In Somalia, she has had her low moments too, when the pressure got too hard and she felt like quitting.

    “Somalia is more terrible than Sudan because we didn’t have the issues of bomb blast and other attacks. Here in Somalia, everything is unpredictable. We have bomb blasts and serious attacks. But God is in control, so we are fine,” Uduak said.

     

    ‘If you don’t kill them, they will kill you’

    Corporal Jane Naigogo leaned against the wall of Liido Seafood Restaurant and stood at attention. Behind her, the Indian Ocean surged angrily against the walls of the restaurant as Somali children threw themselves into the blue waves.

    Liido Seafood Restaurant was quiet with only a few Somalis sitting at the lounge to enjoy the much advertised menu. Between 2012 and January 2016, Liido was the most popular restaurant in Mogadishu, a rendezvous for middle and upper class Somalis. There were seafood and exotic array of dishes on order. With choice wine and beautiful women, the Indian Ocean completes the luxury.

    The peace of Liido beach was broken on January 22, 2016. Instead of seafoods and choice wines, blood flowed in the restaurant and the Indian Ocean changed its blue rays for blood.

    As dinners gathered for the evening choice dishes, a van laden with explosives rammed into the lobby, detonating its deadly content. Al-Shabaab militants raced into the building, shooting everyone on sight. In the end, more than 20 diners and about eight of the attackers lay dead. Four months later, nothing remained of the deadly attack which claimed so many lives. The walls were washed and painted and the whole building had undergone complete makeover, with water-tight security.

    “It was hard when I first arrived in Somalia. I was deployed to the front and immediately, we came under Al-Shabaab attack. It was a terrible battle and many people died on that day,” Jane said in a voice that carried no emotion.

    Jane had spent one year on the killing fields of Somalia but did not feel that it was a sacrifice too much to bear. “We are fighting for peace in this place. Africa has to be one, and whatever we can do to make it peaceful, we must do it,” she responded to a question from the reporter with philosophical calmness.

    But preaching peace has no place on the battle field. Living with death on every deployment to the war front is a reality that can stretch the faith of an obstinate believer like Jane. “There are many times I am afraid and I think I am going to die. But then, I realise it is either you kill them or they kill you. The decision is made for you naturally.”

    Jane joined the Ugandan army in 2005 after her secondary education. According to her, she was driven by the need to help contribute to peace in the war that was ongoing in the northern region of Uganda. But her quest for peace didn’t end in her country; it would take her to anywhere her passion can meet with service.

    As one of the women at the front seat of the fight against Al-Shabaab in Somalia, Jane believes women can contribute more to global peace by taking active role in battle grounds even at the risk of their lives. “We risk everything—our family and life—to bring peace to troubled regions. It is not a small sacrifice,” she said.

    The women who have taken up arms against Al-Shabaab face numerous dangers, especially because of their gender. Working in a strict Muslim country requires them to be modestly dressed with headscarf whenever they appear in public. The women are also not immune to the various asymmetric attacks launched by the terrorists, particularly on AMISOM targets.

    The women in the war in Somalia, who are constantly in harm’s way, can be found in various fields in the country. There are those in the Front Police Unit and some are individual police experts (IPEs). In the military, there are women who are gunners and tank drivers as well as those who have risen to positions of leadership as platoon or sector commanders.

     

    ‘I’ve no fear of Al-Shabaab’

    When you see Captain Flavia Terimulungi Muhindwa of the Ugandan Army, your mind would imagine her not being in an army uniform but in a matron’s robe, quietly working among sick people, spreading hope and healing. Not deceiving yourself however, Flavia is a tough, battle-tested, tough talking Public Information Officer of the Ugandan Army in Somalia. She has been in the army for 15 years, seen action in Northern Uganda and the Congo before deployment to Mogadishu.

    The captain has been in Somalia for six months, and it is her duty to counter the propaganda which has been the major non-violent weapon of Al-Shabaab.

    ”We have the major challenge of propaganda from the terrorists. They harass the people and spread malicious propaganda against us and even harass the people who are supposed to be giving us information. We had to think out strategies to counter them. That is one of the big challenges of this job,” she said.

    But propaganda is not the real danger Flavia has to face in Somalia. She has had many encounters with Al-Shabaab and had come out unscathed.

    “I am not afraid of Al-Shabaab,” Flavia said and began to laugh. When she was reminded that the terrorist group is no laughing matter, she responded: “I am here to finish Al-Shabaab. Our target is to drive them out of Somalia. I have been going to the forward bases. I have fought against them and have been ambushed many times. We had to fight our way out of every ambush,” she said.

    But dying is not on Flavia’s mind. She went into every dangerous mission with the mind that it is not going to be her last. “I go into every battle with the mind that I will come out alive. I never entertain any fear. Moreover, I trust in God to protect me,” she declared.

     

    ‘If your death is in Somalia, God will bring you here’

    Unlike some of the other women, Christine Alala, the Deputy AMISOM Commissioner of Police in Somalia, actually applied for the job. And 11 months after she beat several male competitors to the job, she is neither afraid nor regrets.

    She said: “How can I be afraid when I applied for this job? I am a professional police officer and we were trained for this kind of work. Seriously, what is it that men can do that women cannot do? This is my second mission at leadership position. I came here because I believe I am capable,” Christine said.

    As a commissioner of police in Uganda, she is used to tough situations and she is not modest about her capacities. “I think I am a strong woman who doesn’t get scared,” she said. “Since I came here, several bombs have gone off. The shelling of mortars has been ceaseless. But we are safe. We also have the confidence that the military is all around us. There are several rings of security before you get here.”

    But the ring of security around the base camp over the years has proved not to be foolproof. There have been many coordinated attacks at the camp with corresponding casualties. On December 4, 2014, insurgents fired several mortars into the camp. Also on January 1, 2016, insurgents infiltrated the camp, killing some soldiers and injuring many others. On May 2, 2016, several mortars were fired into the camp. The only casualty in that attack happened to be a cat.

    With uncertainties around, Christine has a philosophical calmness about the whole death business: “If it is your day, you die. If your death is in Somalia, God will bring you here,” she said to the shock of the reporter.

     

    ‘I usually say my last prayers’

    But the women of war are not restricted to those who bear arms against Al-Shabaab. There are many who do not engage in warfare but are nonetheless in peril of death and war. One of such is Mrs. Toyin Adejumo, the Administration and Human Resource Officer for AMISOM. Adejumo is a very important component of AMISOM as she handles all logistics, human resources and welfare of the entire troop. It is a tedious and mostly frustrating position which Adejumo has managed to perform creditably for two years.

    Being a civilian, the sound of mortars and bullets has a peculiar impression on her. It leaves her badly shaken and nervous.

    “It is a variety of experiences. It is horrifying sometimes when I hear the sound of shelling and shooting. The whole camp is shaken. I will just kneel down and pray to God for forgiveness,” Adejumo said and burst into a prolonged laughter.

    Being a civilian in the camp has no special privileges for Adejumo. She was affected by the several curfews imposed on Mogadishu in the wake of the several horrifying attacks in the city. For instance, due to asymmetric attacks, social life in Mogadishu is non-existent. The beach which had been the only escape from boredom has been closed “because of unexpected attacks from the sea.”

    In her time in Mogadishu, Adejumo has had many close shaves with death. There was an attack which claimed the life of the former Deputy Police Commissioner who, according to several sources, was so badly injured in the bomb blast he was only recognised by his shoe lace.

    The attacks step up during Ramadan and so is the security, curtailing even the little freedom left for the soldiers and civilians. In 2015, there was an attack on the Burundi camp, leaving at least 50 soldiers dead. Insurgents stole the army uniforms and ammunition. A mini ceremony was held for the dead at the base camp.

    Adejumo recalled: “It was a horrifying experience. Hearing all these things and the pressure it piles on you can kill. One night, I was sleeping when I heard a blast around 4 am. Before I could recover myself, another blast was heard. I quickly covered my head in prayer, asking God if it was time to go,” she said.

     

    Torn between love and war

    The women of war are not concerned only about bombs and terrorists; they are also mothers and lovers, with their loved ones far away from the theatre of war. For instance, Captain Flavia is a mother of four children and a non-military husband. So how does her husband cope with her many overseas duties?

    “My husband and I understand each other,” she said, betraying emotions for the first time. “What is interesting is that he is civilian, not a soldier. But he understands me. He allows me to go, as this is state duty.

    “He is taking care of the children. He is also responsible for the kids. They belong to both of us. The first is 11 and the last was born two years ago. They miss me, but they know mummy is at work. I miss their love, but they know sometime I will come and see them. I call my husband twice a week.”

    For Adejumo, her family has been relocated to Nairobi Kenya to keep them closer to her in Somalia, and she usually visits during her official leave. However, she stays practically in control of her home, monitoring progress through the telephone.

    Christiane Alala is a widow with two boys. Her husband died in 2004 and since then, she has been responsible for the training of her children. To take her mind off her personal tragedy, she has immersed herself in her work, rising from the ranks to the position of Commissioner of Police in Uganda.

    She said: “I am a mother of two sons and a widow since 2004. I am grown now and have seen the boys grow up. The big boy is 19 and the small one is 15. I prepared the boys psychologically, especially in South Sudan where I served for two years.

    “It doesn’t mean that when you are in a mission you don’t have time for your family. It is flexible and you can make time for your family. I go home every other month,” she declared in a voice that shows she has healed.

    Uduak is lucky to have a fiancé who completely trusts her, even though she is far away for long periods. “He is happy to see me serve my country. He has no problem with my work,” she said.

    But is marriage close in the horizon? Uduak laughed. It was the sort that seems to hide an embarrassing situation. “Only God can decide that,” she confessed.

    Corporal Jane is looking for love. For many years, she has dreamt of a prince charming, who will not be coming to save her, as she can protect herself, but will love her as she is. Marriage is very important to her and at 29 years, she will be glad to settle down immediately.

    “I will like to get married, I am getting old but I am researching and preparing myself. My parents are very concerned about this. I will get married as soon as I get the right man,” she said.

    The women say they miss their home and food. Uduak misses her parents, edikaikong and afang soups. Flavia misses her own kitchen. Jane does not really miss her home as she is “not tired of Somalia.” Christine gets to see her boys every two months, cook their special dish and look forward to seeing them again.

    So how do these women cope with the men in their platoons?

    For Christine, it is a simple matter of police discipline, even though the challenge of managing a multi-national police force. “It is a challenge, not easy to handle people from different countries, but police discipline cuts across, whether it is Nigeria or Kenya or Uganda, and that makes it a little easy once there is respect for command.”

    Captain Flavia is a Company Commander comprising of three platoons. She has had no problems with the men under her command. They respect and obey her.

    She said: “At my level, I am a company commander. I have commanded a platoon of 38 men. They believe in us and we make it. We have women tank drivers, gunners. It is challenging because we are not at home, but we have made it. There are many women who have been here since platoon group one. The first battle group had three women and they go on increasing.”

    Jane said the men in her company take her as a sister. “I don’t get lonely here. My guys keep me busy and going. They respect and protect me as their sister. Once you join the army, you have to behave like a man. When they fire, we women also fire. We are one in the army.”

    For Uduak, there is no difference between her and her male colleagues. “We have a job here, especially with the women who suffer terribly from Al-Shabaab. As a woman, I am able to get across to them better than the men. So, that is another specialised job for us female officers.”

    Corporal Ajoyemi looked at Uduak and smiled. “She is a man to me. I cannot count her as a woman or she will not be beside me in battle. I can entrust my life in her hands.”

  • From paradise to hell (2)

    CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK

    ‘Somalia is complex, ambiguous and uncertain’

    The Somali National Army (SNA) has won some spectacular victories against Al-Shabaab with the help of AMISOM troops, but it is far from being a standard army by all standards. The SNA was hurriedly put together by AMISOM and it consists of former militia and clan lords. A large section of the army also consists of teenagers and young adults whose only qualification is that they are susceptible to being recruited by Al-Shabaab.

    It is not unusual to see the soldiers in tattered uniforms in an SUV, driving furiously along Mogadishu’s violent streets, rifles pointed to heaven or at any object that caught their fancy. We encountered some of them during our tour of the city and one youth wearing an army camouflage trousers under a dirty singlet caught the reporters’ attention. He was surrounded by his colleagues who wore ferocious and unfriendly looks.

    As we rushed to interview him and take his pictures, Lt. Sekito warned us. “Absolutely not!” he screamed. “Do not talk to him or take his pictures.” The boy himself had given us a look that rendered Sekito’s second warning unnecessary. We retreated into the safety of our IFV.

    We understood later that due to lack of opportunities, the government had to recruit some of these youngsters and every willing body into the army. “If you give an illiterate teenager a gun with the power to use it, you can imagine what he will do with it. But if they are not in the SNA, the other option is to be recruited by Al-Shabaab,” one of our handlers told me.

    Yet the challenges facing AMISOM is far greater than teenager soldiers. Troops who were more accustomed to peace keeping missions where a ceasefire agreement is already in place were simply unprepared for the surprise that awaited them in Somalia.

    “We didn’t come here for war. We thought it would be like the other missions, but this is real war. Many of our colleagues are dead. We are faced with land mines, suicide attacks and bomb blasts. This is not peace keeping mission,” a soldier said.

    There is the problem of rebuilding of infrastructure, especially roads which have suffered during the years of chaos. Lack of accessible roads made it difficult to move supply to soldiers fighting in the frontier. The terror group had lined up IEDs along the routes of supply.

    Gen Lakara said: “Somalia is complex, ambiguous and uncertain. When Al-Shabaab vacates an area, they destroy the water and food sources. This is to make life difficult for the people so they could long for the rule of Al-Shabaab.”

    It is a dilemma for AMISOM in newly liberated regions. The people yearn for public infrastructure which the federal government cannot provide, and humanitarian agencies which would have filled the void refused to move into the regions, describing them as unsafe and would not allow AMISOM distribute relief materials.

    There is the problem of asymmetric attacks which had left the troops very vulnerable, especially the Nigerian Mobile Force which has the responsibility of preventing such attacks. There have also been attacks on the base camp. Last year, about 50 Burundi soldiers reportedly lost their lives when eight insurgents infiltrated the camp. The insurgents also periodically fire mortars into the camp, with minimal damage however.

    Rebuilding the institutions has been a major challenge with the Federal Government lacking the resources to finance such projects. During the war, there was massive destruction of homes and government buildings. The society itself is fragmented and disunited. Schools were closed for years and just reopened in 2014. Out of the 50 universities in the country, about 10 have managed to commence academic work.

    Remoulding the young population which has known only war and strife is also a challenge, as many have either joined the terror group or are conscripted into the Somali army.

    With an insolvent Federal Government, Somali soldiers sometimes go months without salaries. Even the police recruitment is halted until a suitable funder is found for the training, equipping and paying of salaries for at least three years.

    There is also the problem of former police officers in the regime before the war who wanted to have the privileges and positions they occupied before the war restored to them in the new dispensation. “They are the most difficult to embrace change. They want things to go back to what thy were  before. They didn’t know that policing has evolved,” Police Chief Pillay said.

    Pillay believes his men are already performing wonders despite the challenges in the country.

    He said: “Everything is a challenge in Somalia. We have 95 IPOs and FPU. We have to cover a big area of Somalia, different teams in charge of different aspects.

    “With what they are doing, they are performing miracles. Funding does not restrict us from doing our work. We have knowledge we want to share, and that is what we are focused on. It is our main aim.”

    Perhaps no one carries the weight of optimism more than the Special Representative of the African Union Commission for Somalia (SRCC), Ambassador Francisco Caetano Jose Madeira, who believes that Somalia has what it takes to be the best.

    He said: “Some people try to give the impression that Mogadishu is a hopeless place. It has the potential to get better.

     

    ‘AMISOM police is very good’

    “On the military side, we are doing very well in three regions where they have pushed Al-shabaab out and maintained peace.”

    But Jose Madeira cannot deny that Somalia is a complex situation and that governance has taken a long time in coming. He accepted that the SNA has not been able to sustain the liberated cities. “Terrorists can leave the town during the day and come back in the night to assassinate people. They have only one phrase, ‘You Die’,” he said.

    But the SRCC said the intention of AMISOM is to continue to take towns from the terrorists, develop capacity to defeat the land mines and IEDs.

    “We need air surveillance to detect the movement of the enemy. We need an intelligent base approach to pursue, harass and destroy individual Al-Shabaab moving in small groups. We need humanitarian organisations to help with provisions,” he said.

     

    Lessons for Nigerian warmongers

    Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Rex Dundun, sat in his office at the Hanane base camp. The room was small but he managed to even carve out a conference space from it. Dundun serves as the Police Chief of Staff and the highest ranking Nigerian police officer in Somalia. He believes the extent of damage from the war is a lesson for all Africans, especially the elements in Nigeria who shout for war at the slightest provocation.

    “Do you know what the war has done to this country? There is no family that didn’t lose at least two people and no house in town which you won’t find bullet holes. I sometimes wish that the Nigerians shouting for war should be put in a plane and brought to Somalia. They will surely keep quiet after that,” he said.

    Dundun is the only Nigerian officer in the senior leadership team and has worked hard to preserve the reputation of the country. His experience in peace keeping and police training is huge and he believes the Nigerian contingent has done creditably well.

    “We have 140 FPU and 25 individual experts in various fields of training. We have done excellently well. When we go on international missions, we get accolades, but the dynamics and environment at home is different,” Dundun said.

    Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Akpoilih Albert is one of such experts. Trained in the United States as a bomb expert, he is one of the highly skilled officers in Somalia. Albert said as Nigerians, they have cultural differences with colleagues from East Africa.

    “We are holding our own against other nations, but we have cultural differences, especially with the East Africans. When we talk, they feel we are shouting and they just don’t understand where we got our energies from,” he said.

    Albert misses home as there is no social life in Somalia. “This is war, not peacekeeping. So we are greatly restricted even from interacting with the local population. It is from your hostel to the office. I don’t even go to the mess. I cook my own food.”

    Being Nigerians also has its disadvantages. At the Marine Market where the officers patronise, local merchants only need to know you as a Nigerian and the price would go at least five times over.

    “They always shout Nigeria is big. Nigeria has money. You can afford any price,” Albert said.

     

    Night patrol in search of Al-Shabaab

    One of the highpoints of our mission was the night patrol with the SNP and FPU of Nigeria and Uganda. The FPU has been responsible for preventing several attacks in Mogadishu. In the thick of this operation are the 140 strong Nigerian mobile policemen and women who brave the odds to prowl Mogadishu’s dangerous streets night and day. The officers are kept at the stadium camp in Yawshid District on the outskirts of the city. The camp is heavily fortified by a contingent of soldiers.

    The stadium camp has a not too sterling past as it was the recruitment and training camp for AL-Shabaab. It was also the death camp where amputations and executions took place. Before the war, it was where sporting talents were discovered and nurtured. Now it houses the FPU from Nigeria and Uganda. Not a few of my colleagues developed apprehension about our night mission, which could prove deadly for everyone involved. The fear was more pronounced as one looked at the bomb-ridden stadium camp which sent cold shivers down our spines. Images of blood and elaborate executions were hard to delete from the mind.

    We arrived at the Nigerian camp into the waiting arms of enthusiastic and friendly police officers. Hands were pumped, banter exchanged and introductions made. SP Eze welcomed us and insisted on showing a bit of Nigerian hospitality.

    The Nigerians must have sacrificed much of their supply as we were lavished with a Nigerian three course meal of pepper soup, main course and desert. Then Eze gave us a pep talk: “This night, we will go out with you to see how the FPU are performing their duties in Somalia. You will patrol some flash points and we will meet with the Ugandan FPU at the parliament.

    “We want you to observe some security tips. Our patrol team will give you covering fire as you do your jobs as journalists. Please heed their advice. Somalia is getting better, but we won’t like anything funny to happen tonight. We want your coverage to be hitch free.”

    Eze didn’t receive any applause at the end of his speech. In fact, on hearing “covering fire,” I lost taste of the food I was eating. I know what ‘covering fire’ is and it wasn’t a pretty thing at all. I certainly didn’t want ‘covering fire’.

    At 9 pm, we left in a convoy of four IFVs with heavily armed mobile policemen and headed northward. The police officers wore tense and grave countenance. Although Mogadishu had been cleared of all forms of insurgents, it is still a deadly city as members of the terror group had successfully infiltrated the population and no one is safe until you are on your bed.

    We passed through Sayidka Maka Road and all around, we could see the Somalis living their lives as quietly as possible. After about 30 minutes of bumpy ride, we arrived at the centre of Mogadishu where the seat of government was located.

    Here we met with the SPF mobile men and began an aggressive stop-and-search exercise. In the past, this has yielded much result with deadly attacks prevented. The FPU played a supervisory role here as the SPF team took charge.

    Eze said: “The mandate is to give operational support to the SPF. So we do every operations together. We mentor, advise and train them. We have conducted stop and search to check the activities of the miscreants. We have mentored the SPF, bearing in mind the fact that they must observe human rights.”

    We left after about two hours. The FPU were anxious about getting us back to safety. I was a little disappointed as we did not make any arrests. Neither did we uncover any Al-Shabaab insurgent. I must have been alone with this thought as many others were too happy to return to the safety of our bunkers.

     

    ‘Living in Somalia as a journalist is life and death’

    Mohamed Moalimuu has just been elected as the Secretary General of National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) in the first election to be held in over 20 years. Moalimuu is a former British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reporter and a cat with nine lives, having cheated death twice. In 2013, a suicide bomber jumped on his car and detonated his explosives. The car was completely burnt but Moalimuu escaped. He was again targeted by Al-Shabaab on January 27, 2016 at Liddo beach. This time, he wasn’t so lucky. He has a horrible scar on his head as evidence of how close he had been to death.

    Osman Robleh was not an ordinary student; she was one of the active female journalists in the country, a high profile producer at the state run Radio Mogadishu. She was also an active member of the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ).

    On Sunday, June 5, 2016, Osman Robleh left the gates of her university forever. Three minutes after she came out, armed men with pistols pumped several bullets into her chest, heart and head. They ensured that she did not survive. Done with their heinous occupation; they fled, leaving Osman Robleh in a pool of her blood, her beauty disfigured by the ugliness of death.  NUSOJ called it an assassination and she became a statistic, the first Somali journalist to be killed in 2016.

    Journalists in Somalia have the most dangerous jobs in the world as reporting the atrocities of Al-Shabaab earns them death sentence. For many years, journalists were unable to practise outside their clan enclave. Unionism was proscribed and those who tried to be heros ended in the funeral palour.

    “Somalia is one of the most difficult countries that journalists work. You can see the marks on my face. This is the situation in which we work. It is terrible. But we are trying to change it. Living here in Somalia as a journalist is life and death. Many have fled the country. We want a safe environment to work,” Moalimuu said.

    According to Aladala Yussuf of Somalia National News Agency (SONNA), Somalia is getting better and the media has been trying to promote good news like opening a new hospital or industry, because “people are tired of bad news.”

    He said there are correspondents in all the major cities of the country but acknowledged that safety of journalists is not 100 per cent. “It is getting better. In 2012, we lost 30 journalists and in 2013, we lost 19 reporters. This year, we haven’t lost anyone. So things are getting better.”

    As NUSOJ settled at the Jazeera Palace Hotel to hold another meeting, most of the practitioners of the pen profession are young people; many are born into the conflict. One could see the determination on their faces, one which shows they have chosen courage over fear of terror.

     

    Meeting the President

    Finally, we met the President of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud, at the Africa Day celebration which had the theme: “The Africa we want.” It was a gathering of all the top brass in Mogadishu, and as expected, security was so tight I would have preferred to stay away from the event.

    The President arrived shortly after 4 pm, looking well groomed in a blue checked suit. The event marked several song and drama presentations from troops representing the different countries. The event also reinforced hope for Somalia. And when the President spoke, he addressed the heartfelt issues every Somali faced.

    “Today,” he said, “Somalia is a much better place because of the ultimate sacrifice made by our African brothers. We are better and moving towards the polls for the election. We have realised our major objectives, and that is for elections to happen.”

    Mohamoud also expressed optimism about defeating terrorism. “Al-Shabaab has been degraded, not eliminated. We have victory within us. We will defeat them wherever they are in Africa.

    “They have degraded our humanity. They are in Somalia because large parts of Somalia were ungoverned. Today, we have a government. Yes, Al-Shabaab still controls some small parts of Somalia, but we will defeat them.”

    Then he paid tribute to the fallen AMISOM officers: “Somalia knows the sacrifice you have made. We are not ignorant of your pains. Many tears were shed. Children are orphaned, women are widowed. In many parts of the Troop Contributing Countries, we know your pains. Thank you.”

     

    Bright future for Somalia

    Nobody could be more upbeat about Somalia’s progress and future prospects than Information Minister Bekos, who believes despite the country having one of the longest conflicts, “Somalia will be a model for Africa.”

    He identified the country’s greatest problem as security, saying the people are determined to find peace and move forward.

    “We Somalis are determined to find the solution. We are building our country with the help of other Africans. Many politicians have died but we will overcome.”

    Bekos said the prospect for an indirect election in 2016 is good, but the country looks forward to an open election by 2020.

    He has a message for the rest of Africa: “We are one of the founding fathers of the African Union. We are one and we should make our policy as United States for Africa.”

    But for the officers who are daily treading the harm’s way to bring the peace to Somalia, it will require more than optimism and political talk. For General Lakara, a multi-prong approach is required, including governance, tolerance and service delivery.

    He says there must be a semblance of governance with the provisions of basic infrastructure which has been destroyed by the terror group. So the people will know that life is better without the Al-Shabaab.

    1. Kibet said Somalis are one of the most industrious people in Africa and the country has the capacity to become one of the richest on the continent. With its agricultural, livestock and marine resources, Somalia can regain the years it has lost due to the conflict and become one of the success stories on the continent.

    But that success story may not come easily. On Wednesday June 1, 2016, Al-Shabaab fighters planted a bomb at the Ambassador Hotel located on Maka al-Mukarama Road, in the centre of Mogadishu, a place we had done the patrols less than a week earlier. When the bomb exploded, the fighters seized the opportunity of the chaos to gain entry and began to shoot everyone in sight.

    The attack lasted less than an hour. And when the smoke was cleared, about 40 people were wounded. Ten others, including two members of parliament, were dead. The Medina Hospital was overcrowded. Relatives and sympathisers mingled with the wounded and the dead.

    “I was the first person to reach the scene. My brother and his son are among those injured. The hospital is overcrowded with injured people. I have never seen something like this before,” Dr. Adbulkadir Andirahman Haji Aden said.

    Somalia is calm but unpredictable, Col. Kibet had said. Once again, Mogadishu bowed its head in mourning, despite the gallant work and sacrifice of AMISOM officers like Superintendent Eze and his 140 daring mobile force, of the army commanders, the women who go to war, ACP Dundun, Lt. Sekito and other gallant officers.

    But Adouw has words for Al-Shabaab. To the leadership, he said: “Don’t go on killing people. You can’t get to heaven by doing that or by oppressing people. Come and surrender to the government.”

    To the young terrorists, he counselled: “If you are told you will have four young girls, they are here, not there in heaven. You only need to come and negotiate with them.”

  • From paradise to hell (1)

    From paradise to hell (1)

    How do you solve a problem like Somalia? With a conflict spanning 25 years, half a million casualties and several millions of displaced persons, many people have given up on the war-torn country until the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) arrived in the port city of Mogadishu to a hail of bullets and mortals. Almost 10 years later, Assistant Editor, SEUN AKIOYE, was embedded with the AMISOM troops in Somalia and he reports on the pains and victories of war.

    THERE was no ominous sign on the evening of November 9, 2014 as Nuerre Mohammed Ali, a freelance journalist with Radio Kulmiye in Mogadishu, Somalia, closed from work and began his usual drive home on Taheh Street in Hodan District along Kilometre 4. The engine of his car revved into life without a second prodding and nothing gave an indication of the tragedy that was about to change his life forever.

    The tragedy happened in a split second. Like in a movie, a bomb that had been planted inside his car exploded, sending him into a shock and a coma. Smoke and fire engulfed the vehicle and his right leg was severed from his hips. Left in excruciating pains, the first people who responded believed he was dead but Ali survived.

    “The bomb was attached to my car, and when it exploded, I lost my right leg. It was a huge shock for me, but I believe it is from Allah,” he said.

    He spent several weeks in the hospital while doctors managed to sew together whatever remained of his legs.

    “I am still in pains. I have not recovered. The doctor asked me to go for treatment abroad but there is no money to do that as no group has claimed responsibility for the bombing.” Now growing emotional, he added: “I am so sorry, dear. I can’t continue to talk about my accident. Please ask me another question.”

    Ali still practises journalism, but his life has been altered forever as he is now forced to live on crutches and endure unbearable pains with no respite in sight. He insists, however, that he has no regrets being a journalist.

    “Yes, I am still a journalist, and I have no regrets for that,” he said.

    For many people in peaceful countries, the story of Ali and thousands of others who have lived through the terror of Somalia’s Islamic militant group, Al-Shabaab, sounds like a horror script. But for the people in Somalia, it is the reality of everyday life; one which they have come to accept for 25 years of conflict, blood-letting and death.

    But Somalia has not always been in crisis. In fact, it once was one of the most beautiful countries in Africa, according to the country’s Minister of State for Information, Mohamud Abdi Bekos. The houses were painted in bright colours of pink and yellow, orchards hung around walls. Agriculture and livestock were the mainstay of the economy, making food abundant.

    The country also has the longest coastline in Africa with the Indian Ocean providing fish and other aquatic splendor. The people were industrious, often able to make everything out of nothing, and they took pride in their clan system, which dates back thousands of years.

    The country played a big brother’s role in Africa, helping to establish the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which preceded the African Union (AU), 27 years ago. It had one of the biggest and most successful airlines in Africa. To be born a Somali was to live in paradise. But in 1991, paradise took a flight and hell took its place.

     

    Descent into hell

    Mohamed Siad Barre, a former Chief of Army Staff in the Somali Armed Forces, marched to power on the blood of his boss and the country’s former President, Abdirashid Ali Shermarke, who was shot dead by one of his bodyguards on October 15, 1969.

    Barre went on to rule with iron fist. He quickly renamed the country, suspended the constitution and imposed an authoritarian rule on the people. Between 1988 and 1990, there were enough rebel groups against Barre to push the regime to the brinks. By 1991, the United Somali Congress had led other rebel groups to capture Mogadishu, forcing Barre to flee first to Kenya, where Somali dissidents campaigned against his presence, and later to Lagos, Nigeria, where he died of heart failure in 1995.

    The crisis that followed Barre’s ouster was unimaginable. Different militant factions competed for power. The central government and all state institutions eventually collapsed and the country lapsed into a bloody civil war, sending millions of Somalis into exile all over the world.

    In 1992, the United Nations Security Council Resolution 746 led to the creation of the United Nations Mission in Somalia 1 (UNOSOM). Led by the United States, troops were deployed in Mogadishu. They arrived to a hail of bullets and mortars. By March 1995, the UN troops were forced to withdraw after suffering heavy causalities.

    By 2006, a new group, The Islamic Court Union (ICU), had been formed alongside a Transitional Federal Government (TFG). Ethiopian and TFG troops were able to retake the city of Mogadishu from the ICU. By 2007, the African Union (AU) began the process of rebuilding state institutions, including the police and army. The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) was established. However, with the exit of the ICU, internal wrangling led to factional breakouts. One of such factions is the Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen, which soon shot up to the list of top terror groups in the world, killing and maiming not only in Somalia but Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. The Al-Shabaab terror group was born.

     

    Embedded in the army

    Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Kibet, the spokesperson for the AMISON armed forces in Somalia, stopped midway into his sentence, looked at the faces of his frightened audience and said: “We are safe. Somalia is calm but it is unpredictable. Here is not hell. It is normal but our movement is restricted.”

    Kibet was flanked by top army and police officers, including Captain Flavia Terimulungi Muhindwa, the spokesperson for the Ugandan contingent, Lt. K. Sekito and Chief Inspector of Police and Police contingent spokesperson, John Marete.

    After fighting to liberate more than half of Somalia’s vast regions, AMISOM command had brought in journalists from Troop Contributing Countries (TCC) to Somalia for on- the-spot assessment of the situation and report on the progress made by AMISOM. The journalists from Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Ghana and Burundi were being debriefed by Kibet and his assistants.

    “We have driven Al-Shabaab out of the town. They are now in remote villages. Their mode of operation is ambush and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). We are better now at intelligence gathering, and in the last three weeks, we have intercepted three vehicles laden with explosives in Mogadishu,” Kibet said.

    Earlier that day, we had arrived Aden Abdulle Airport in Mogadishu as the cool breeze from the Indian Ocean tilted the plane around. The landing was the next scariest thing to an actual plane crash. The airport, built with Turkish funds, was situated right by the sea shore. One could see evidence of ocean encroachment on the airport but the officials carried on like it was the most natural thing in the world.

    The airport was kept sparkling clean by hijab-wearing women, and it was gratifying that Nigerians can get a Somali visa on arrival for the nice sum of $50.

    We were driven to a hotel within Hanane Camp where the United Nations (UN) and African Union (AU) are situated and which is the most secured place in Mogadishu, perhaps in all of Somalia. Security was extremely tight. We were forbidden from taking pictures inside the hotel or venture out by ourselves. Pictures taken and posted online could serve as guide to Al-Shabaab who “had spies all over the city.”

    Kibet warned: “Do not attempt to go into Mogadishu. Whatever you want, tell us and we will do our best to get it for you.” His voice was no longer friendly; it was commanding.

    AMISOM went into Somalia in 2007 as a peace keeping/rebuilding force. The initial platoon comprised veterans of many peacekeeping missions. But Somalia was not going to be the usual mission. Unprepared for war, the soldiers were met with a barrage of attacks from various fighting groups competing for power in Mogadishu. Since then, the mission has also assumed the nature of warfare.

    Somalia posed a serious challenge to the AMISOM troops of 22,160 personnel. These include the military and police components. The military are from Burundi, Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti, while the police are from Nigeria, Ghana and Sierra Leone. The military are engaged in fierce battle against Al-Shabaab, successfully taking territories from the group.

    The police are mainly to help rebuild the Somali Police Force (SPF) and individual police experts, recruited based on their training and administrative skills, were deployed for this. However, there are the Front Police Unit (FPU), otherwise known as the Mobile Police, which is deployed to assist the SPF in maintaining peace in Mogadishu and other liberated areas of Somalia. The FPU are from Nigeria and Uganda with 140 personnel each. The commanders are Superintendents of Police (SP), Theo Eze for Nigeria and Abbedi Samuel for Uganda.

    “Somalia is calm but unpredictable,” the words of Kibet kept ringing in our ears as the convoy of two Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) roared along the streets of Mogadishu taking us for our first tour of the city. The IFV is a ‘monster’ fighting machine designed to carry infantry into battle. It has about 20-40mm caliber canon and anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM). The IFV had a trap door weighing over 200 kilogrammes and good for urban fighting.

    We were issued with protected amour gears weighing about 10kg and a helmet. It was a particularly heavy and uncomfortable uniform, but Lt. Sekito said to stay alive, we must wear it anytime we were outside. He insisted too, we must wear our helmet inside the IFV. I considered this over bearing from the amiable soldier and quietly dropped my helmet.

    As the vehicle roared into the uneven Mogadishu road, it threw us all sideways and then up into the roof, hitting my head against the iron. I never disobeyed Sekito after that.

    In order to effectively secure Somalia, the country has been divided into six sectors with Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Burundi in charge of Sectors 1-5 respectively and Kenya handling sector 6. Even though the threat of Al-Shabaab was minimal in Mogadishu, the situation can degenerate at any time.

    “The challenge here is that the terrorists have infiltrated the local population. In a house, there might be two brothers, one Al-Shabaab and the other for the government. So tracking them down in the city is a challenge,” Kibet said.

    We saw that possibility on our first tour. Nestling in our ‘safe’ IFV, we watched the streets from a safe distance. It was nothing different from any other street with everyone going about their business. But the city can erupt in violence, often without warning.

    We passed Shakira Street with bustling human and vehicular traffic. But do not expect to see the usual traffic police here. Instead, half naked, gun welding policemen control the traffic. It was a scary sight but one that Somalis have grown accustomed to.

    As we made our way southwards, our IFV bulldozed its way into the streets, drawing looks from residents until we arrived at a well garrisoned Liido Seafood restaurant, which cater to the upper class of Mogadishu. Here, one can also find expatriates who have come to enjoy excellent seafood cuisine by the cool of Liido Beach.

    We met a quiet crowd of diners at the restaurant. Somali children were seen playing in the furious waves of the Indian Ocean. All around were sentries mounted with assault rifles and machine guns.

    On January 22, 2016, instead of seafood and choice wines, blood flowed in the restaurant and the Indian Ocean exchanged its blue rays for blood. As diners gathered for the evening choice dishes, a van laden with explosives rammed into the lobby, detonating its deadly content. Al-Shabaab militants raced into the building, shooting everyone on sight. In the end, more than 20 diners and about eight of the attackers lay dead.

    Four months later, nothing remained of the deadly attack which claimed so many lives. The walls were washed and painted and the whole building had undergone complete makeover, with water tight security.

    Among the diners was Abdirahim Isse Addouw, a former spokesperson of the militant ICU, now a converted democrat. He praised AMISOM for bringing the peace that allowed children play again in the waters of the ocean.

    “The conflict was bad for a quarter of a century, damaging structures of government. Now, we have hope after the arrival of AMISOM. African solution is helping us and the people of Somalia. Life is getting better,” he said.

    But he also advocated for a strategy to win the heart and mind. “I think there should be more awareness than military campaign. The country is large and many people are rural dwellers. I think we should look at other solutions than military,” he said.

    Driving through the streets of Mogadishu, the consequences of war could be seen in the abandoned buildings, which once served as palaces for the rich and affluent. Almost all houses still standing had bullet holes in them. We could only imagine the horror that once pervaded the streets of the city.

    One of the iconic buildings in the eastern side of the city is the Jazeera Palace Hotel. It is the place for the affluent and the rich patronised by the government and foreign multinationals. Kenya, Eqypt and Qatar had their embassies or offices there too. The hotel is heavily guarded with at least four layers of security checks, a long line of at least 10 feet tall wall and hescos protected the gates, with mounted sentries armed with Ak-47, sub machine guns and mean looks.

    Jazeera has survived three suicide attacks in the last two years, the latest being on July 24, 2015 when a truck loaded with explosives rammed into the building, shattering the gates and bringing down a part of the hotel. Four guests died while several were injured.

    “Business was severely affected, but we are back to our feet now,” Mark Keville, Chief Security Manager of the hotel, said.

     

    The problem of the clans

    Somalia is perhaps the only homogeneous country in Africa. The people not only share tribe affinity but religion, culture and language. It is therefore a surprise that such a society finds it difficult to stay together. The problem as generally acknowledged is the clan system which has operated in Somalia for centuries. Every Somali belongs to the same tribe but different clans.

    There are four major clans, namely Darod, Dir, Hawiye and Isaaq. There are other lesser clans too, but they remain insignificant. In the estimation of the Somali, the clan is superior to the federal government and allegiance is to the clan first before the government. After the fall of Barre and the collapse of the government, everyone fell back to the protection of the clan. Inter-clan war ensued as struggle for the control of government intensified.

    But is Somalia a homogenous society as earlier thought? Major General Nakus James Lakara, the Deputy Force Commander, Support and Logistics, did not think so. “The Somali society is not homogenous as we thought. As you see, everyone fell back to the clan after 1991, and it has been a big problem to de-clan them.

    “The clan system has created many challenges in the development of a national army. There are some places that soldiers from other clans are rejected, even to mention the clan issue here is a taboo,” Lakara said.

    The clan is so powerful it also decides who the president is. Elections are scheduled for August 2016, but not as we know it. It will not be one man, one vote. Instead, leaders of the clans will gather to decide who becomes the President. It is a system which would make no sense in a country like Nigeria, but which can ignite a civil war in Somalia if ignored.

     

    A trip to Kismayo

    One of the success stories of AMISOM is the liberation of Kismayo, a port city South of Somalia. Formerly the headquarters of the dreaded Al-Shabaab, the city fell to the allied troops in September 2012 in an operation termed “Operation Sledge Hammer.” Since then, AMISOM has laboured to rebuild institutions, especially the police. On May 23, 2016, we flew to Kismayo to attend the passing out parade of 200 police officers.

    John Marete explained the significance: “The AMISOM mandate for the police is to train and build the institutional capacity of the police for Somalia. This set of graduates has undergone a three-month training, which is short, but AMISOM trainers would be in continuous contact for on-the-job-training.”

    We flew in a UN chartered plane Dash 8-Q400 operated by 748 Air and landed in Kismayo to a flurry of military activities. All the top brass in military and police section were there. But Kismayo International Airport is only a makeshift airstrip. A visitor cannot miss the arrival and departure tree as there is absolutely no facility to protect travellers who have to stand under the various trees while waiting to board the aircraft.

    The 200 police graduates stood at attention under the scorching sun and the blinding wind which swept red sands into the eyes of the guests. Many of the officers are former militias who carry a long history of battle with Al-Shabaab.

    Sergeant Ahmadu Sule stood in front of the parade in his impeccable uniform of the Nigeria Police and smiled. “I am the head trainer of the new officers,” Sule said proudly. The Nigeria Police contingent has a reputation in Somalia for hard work, professionalism and ethics. They have distinguished themselves in every field even as they were entrusted with the delicate work as FPU. Sergeant Sule is one of the stars of the police unit in Somalia. Nicknamed Singer, he arrived in Somalia on February 5, 2015 and has been deployed all around Somalia to train the newly formed Somali police. Sule packed years of foreign service into his resume, counting India, Italy, Jordan and Liberia.

    “I met these people as militias who fought in the capture of Kismayo. It was very difficult to bring them under police discipline, but I worked hard to do that. As a teacher, we adopt many techniques. When I use plan A and it doesn’t work, I switch to Plan B,” he said.

    One of the challenges Sule had to overcome is language barrier. “I had to learn how to command and control in Somali,” he said. After fighting guerrilla warfare for many years, submitting to authority in a disciplined manner is hard. Even the women in the police are former militia and some of the new recruits still have bullets in their bodies.

    But they didn’t show it in the demonstrations that followed. These battle-toughened recruits displayed ingenuity and dedication as the ill-wind blew red dust into the eyes and everyone ran for cover. They stood there taking all the battering. And for four hours, they stood under the sun.

    Rebuilding the Somali Police is a tough job in order to prevent Al-Shabaab elements from infiltration. To take charge of this highly sensitive job is a Nigerian police officer, Chief Superintendent of Police Saley Sumaila.

    So how has this Nigerian be able to conduct a free and fair recruitment?

    Sumaila said: “I have been here since February 2015. We are here on vetting for phase 2 recruits. Phase 1 is already graduating. It is very important that we get it right about the people we are recruiting. So we have several processes to safeguard us.

    “We have background check which is handled by a pre-vetting committee that consists of Somalis in Jubaaland here. A lot of things are considered. The District Commissioner has to sign and confirm that you have not been with the Al-Shabab or other insurgents.

    “The local politicians also have to confirm that this person is not part of the terrorists; that is part of the background checks. Then we also do the normal vetting and checks. All this we do to ensure that no insurgent finds his way into the rank of the police recruits.”

    Kismayo has just got its 200 police officers. But eventually, there will be 600 trained and equipped, according to Brigadier General Annand Pillay, AMISOM Commissioner of Police.

    The Kismayo police sector commander is also a Nigerian, Inspector Geo Hwange, formerly of the Abuja Command, who is in his sixth month in Kismayo.

    “They people are very complicated to deal with,” he said. “I have to device several ways of dealing with them.”

    His work included a lot of diplomacy, side-stepping and wisdom, as head of police in Kismayo. Hwange also had to deal with the weather, which is hot, humid and harsh with terrible wind sweeping sand into the eyes, nose and food. Living in Kismayo, it is impossible to escape the wind and the sand.

    CONTINUED NEXT WEEK

  • We saw hell in China!

    We saw hell in China!

    For how long will successive governments in Nigeria remain passive to the brutal treatments meted out to its citizens in Asian countries, particularly China? That is the question agitating the minds of many concerned citizens. It will be recalled that The Nation in 2014 reported the predicament of Nigerians in Asian countries, following which the 7th National Assembly vowed to visit China to talk its government into putting an end to the inhuman treatments meted out to Nigerians after no fewer than 25 Nigerians were said to have been cremated in the Asian country. However, the vow made by the lawmakers ended up being nothing more than a political statement. Today, emerging facts from the communist state point to the fact that the Chinese have moved from abusing the fundamental human rights of Nigerians seeking greener pastures in their land, to harvesting their vital organs for purposes that remain shrouded in controversy. Will the latest development spur the Nigerian government to take a decisive action? INNOCENT DURU explores the situation.

    In the manner that butchers slaughter cows at abattoirs and keep choice parts aside for special reasons, the harvesting of the vital organs of Nigerians in various prisons in China is believed to have become a trend. The victims, it was learnt, are sedated with a special kind of injection and made to fall into deep sleep while their bellies are ripped open to have their vital organs extracted.

    Our correspondent gathered that some Nigerian inmates have died in the process while others recover without realising the harm that had been done to them. Some of the China returnees who spoke with our correspondent said it was common to see such victims drop dead without falling sick.

    The practice, referred to as neo-colonialism by experts in the field, it was learnt, has become a major headache for Nigerian prisoners in the Asian country. Findings showed that the ugly practice is part of the burgeoning business of trafficking in human organs between China and some collaborating nations.

    The allegation is amplified by the research work published by investigative journalist Ethan Gutmann and other international media. Gutmann in his research titled The Slaughter, stated that contrary to China’s claim that the practice is illegal in the country, it is still removing the organs of its prisoners without consent, and that this is happening while detainees are still alive.  Findings showed that the illegal trade in kidneys has risen to such a level that an estimated 10,000 nocturnal transactions involving human organs now take place annually.

    The returnees who claimed to have personally witnessed the sordid practice while serving various jail terms in China said the scene is better imagined than experienced. One of them, who identified himself simply as Cruz, said he suffered serious mental challenges after watching the despicable act.

    Recalling how some fellow inmates had their organs harvested in a Chinese prison, he said: “I witnessed how they ripped open the body of two fellow Nigerian inmates and removed their hearts and kidneys on two different occasions. It was gory and capable of destroying one’s mental state forever. They never cared that we were there because they knew that there was nothing we could do. We were at their mercy, and they would even callously tell you that nobody would hear you if you said anything, and even if anyone would listen, there would be no evidence to substantiate the allegation.

    “They would inject them and make them sleep off. Thereafter, they would open them up and take whatever they wanted. Some of the victims died in the process while some others came back to life without realising the harm that had been done to them. It was common sight to see some of the victims who pulled through drop dead without previously falling sick,” he said.

    Cruz noted that he too would have fallen victim to the horrendous practice but for a telephone call he made to his brother.

    He said: “I too would have been a victim, but when I observed what they were doing, I quickly got in touch with a highly placed brother who is based in Switzerland. He flew down to China and met with some people at our embassy. When they saw that our embassy was particularly interested in my case, they left me out.

    “Each time they beat us, they also reminded us that China is their fatherland and that they had the power to do whatever they liked to us. In 2015 alone, no fewer than 88 Nigerians died in various Chinese prisons. And the moment anybody dies, they would cremate him or her. Aside the gory sight in the prisons, which has left indelible scar in my memory, I also went through hell working in the various factories located inside the prisons.”

    Recalling the incident that led to his imprisonment, Cruz said: “I spent nine years and a month in prison. I was jailed on trumped up charges of selling hard drugs to the locals. I was in detention for three years before they gave me a lawyer to stand for me in court. The judicial system is such that you cannot get a lawyer by yourself.

    “They would be the one to give you a lawyer and whatever defence you give is inconsequential. Your sentence would have been decided long before you came to court. The jail term is always with hard labour and thorough beating.

    “They organised their security operatives to give us mass beating, using baton and electric shock. They would place the electric instrument on your head and hit you mercilessly with the baton. Many of us fainted in the process.

    “At a point, I developed mental challenges partly from being hit on the head with the baton and the electric instrument and partly as a result of watching the horrific sight of my colleagues’ organs being harvested. I spent one year and three months in a military psychiatric hospital called Hujing. Eight of us, all Nigerians, had similar problems and were admitted there. The hospital is located right inside the massive prison. At a point, they asked me to call our embassy to come and take me back home, but the embassy didn’t come.”

    Corroborating Cruz’s allegations against the Chinese authorities, another former inmate, Onuora, who spent three years in prison, described his stay in Chinese prison as horrible. “They took the organs of our fellow inmates on three occasions that I am aware of. Each time they came to do that, they would chase us away so that we would not see what they were doing. But the practice was common knowledge in the whole prison. Each time they came, you would start praying that you would not be their target. I was lucky not to have been caught in that web.

    “I served a three-year jail term in Donguang. I was jailed for exceeding my stay in the country after my travel documents had expired. I was in detention for one year and nine months before I was taken to court. They asked me to get a lawyer. I did and paid the lawyer, but he was not allowed to represent me. They eventually gave me their lawyer who only did their bidding.

    “I was eventually sentenced to 15 months imprisonment with hard labour. The practice was that if you were asked to do something and for whatever reasons you failed to do it, they would add two months to your term.

    “I was not allowed to speak with my family members when I was in detention. All through this period, my family members thought I was dead.”

    Sunshine, another returnee, confessed that he was into hard drug business before he was caught and jailed.

    Reliving his experience in prison, he said: “I went to China in 2005 after I graduated from the university. I studied Computer Science. I went there to search for greener pastures when all hope of getting gainful employment here in Nigeria failed. When I got there, things didn’t work out as I thought. This made me to get involved in drug business.

    “I successfully did the business for about two years before they arrested me. I was sentenced to seven years imprisonment. To describe my experience in the prison as life in hell is an understatement. The police were always torturing us and on many occasions, you would be forced to confess to what you did not even do. We lost many people in the prison, not to talk of the ones they killed. They hated Nigerians with passion.

    “It is true that they were taking our people’s organs. It didn’t really happen in the prison where I served my sentence, but some of their citizens who were my inmates told me about it before my Nigerian colleagues confirmed it.”

    Asked what his advice would be to Nigerians who intend to travel to China, Sunshine said: “I would not advise anybody to go or not to go to China because our destinies are different. The only advice that I would give anybody planning to go there is that he or she should be very careful because the people are mean.

    “In spite of that, I would tell you that China is a beautiful country. You will always enjoy the winter and their various festivals.

    “The Chinese don’t care about your health as a black man. Our embassy is also not helping matters as they don’t represent us well. When you as a citizen of Nigeria complain about anything, they would not give you any attention. Instead of them attending to you, they prefer to give their attention to the Chinese. Our government should take time to investigate all these complaints.

    “There are so many Nigerians who committed no offence but are daily dying in their prisons. There are so many others whose offences are insignificant and do not warrant their being sentenced, but are there languishing in prisons. Many African countries have signed treaties with the Chinese authorities to enable them take their nationals from various Chinese prisons back home to serve their jail terms but our government has declined to do this.

    “Each time we complained about the hardship we were facing in the prisons, some kind-hearted Chinese officials would be wondering why our government was not interested in our predicament or making efforts to return us home.”

    Nkiruka, sister to one of the numerous Nigerians currently serving their jail terms in China, recalled amidst tears how his brother laments each time he has the opportunity of speaking with her.

    She said: “My only brother is serving in one of the Chinese prisons. He went there in 2005 to further his business interest. He was arrested there in 2007 but we didn’t get to hear from him until 2011. We knew about his arrest before then because his friends got in touch with us after he was arrested. We were told that he was arrested when the police carried out a mass arrest of black people.

    “He was in detention for more than six years before they opened his case file and later sentenced him to jail. He told me that he was given 10 years imprisonment but his friends said he was given life sentence. I guess he said that to me to stop the family from worrying.

    “My brother hinted me about the removal of the organs of Nigerian inmates by the authorities. He said that no fewer than 40 Nigerian prisoners die in various Chinese prisons every year. He calls home once in a while, and each time he talks to me about the prison conditions and what he is going through, I weep uncontrollably. I do send antibiotics to him from here because he often says that the prisons authorities don’t provide them with medical help. I do send it to his friends who look for the means of getting it across to him in the prison, using some prison officials. One of his fellow inmates who is also a Nigerian died recently because of lack of access to medical held,” she said.

     

    Responding to a text message from our correspondent, the Senior Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs and the Diaspora to President Muhammadu Buhari, Hon Abike Dabiri, said: “I am not aware of this allegation. Until I get details or hear directly from them (returnees).”

     

    Chinese embassy denies allegations

    The Chinese authority through its embassy in Nigeria has however debunked the allegations describing it as untrue and malicious.

    Responding to enquiries by our correspondent, Yang Guanda, the spokesman of the Chinese Embassy in Nigeria said: “China is an open and civilized country practising rule of law, where the foreigners residing (therein) are treated equally without discrimination. It is stipulated clearly in the Article 32 of the Chinese Constitution that China protects the lawful rights and interests of foreigners within Chinese territory and foreigners on Chinese territory must abide by the laws of China.

    “With the development of bilateral relations, more and more Nigerians travel to China for different purposes, which strongly promote the mutual cooperation and friendship between China and Nigeria. However, it is undeniable that, a few of Nigerians in China have engaged in illegal activities and therefore been arrested, prosecuted and sentenced by Chinese judicial authorities, according to Chinese laws and judicial sovereignty. The Chinese authorities treat Nigerian criminals equally and fairly, provide them with education and rehabilitation programme as well as humanitarian care.

    “Regarding the prisoners’ rights and protection, China has established and constantly improved a series of relevant legislation and system as well. According to the Constitution, Criminal Law, Criminal Procedural Law and Prison Law of China, all prisoners in Chinese prisons enjoy general rights composed of personal rights, property rights and political rights. For instance, the prisoners’ personal safety shall not be infringed upon, and they are accorded food, medical service and other material treatment necessary in daily lives to ensure their physical and mental health.”

    He added: “The allegation that the Chinese government harvests and trades in human organs is equally groundless. The fact is that trading in human organs is illegal in China and strictly forbidden. Donation of organs is encouraged, as in other countries, but voluntary consent is the prerequisite. And this applies to both the public and condemned criminals.

    The Chinese government is comprehensively advancing law-based governance. Respect and protection of human rights is enshrined in the Chinese Constitution and implemented fully as a basic constitutional principle. All aspects of human rights in China, including the right to development, rights of the person, democratic rights, right to impartial trial, rights of ethnic minorities etc., are respected and protected effectively.”

     

     

    CNN, others vindicate Nigerians’ claim

    A search conducted by our correspondent revealed that as part of efforts to bring an end to the unwholesome act, the Cable News Network (CNN) and other international media organisations have over the years carried out series of investigations on the weird practice and condemned same. In one of such reports, the CNN described the method by which human organs are harvested as cold and calculating.

    In its June 15, 2006 report titled: “Ailing Americans seek Chinese organs”, CNN reported how people in need of kidney transplant go to China to obtain it.

    Those organs, it reported may be cut from an executed death row prisoner without consent.

    It specifically examined the case of one Eric DeLeon of San Mateo, California. Eric was diagnosed with liver cancer.
    “Eric is not alone in looking to China for a new organ. We’re told that tens of thousands of foreigners are paying for transplant surgery in China. The problem is those organs may be cut from an executed death row prisoner without consent. That’s not all. Some organs are said to have been removed before the prisoner took his last breath in order to keep the organs as fresh as possible.

    “I can still hear the sounds of those people shouting when they’re having their organs harvested while they are still alive,” one former prisoner told me.

    You’re probably asking yourself by now: How is this allowed to happen?

    Well, China executes more prisoners than all other nations combined. More than 4,700 men and women were executed in the last two years, according to Amnesty International. People there can be executed even for white collar crimes like tax fraud, embezzlement and bribery.”

    “The harvesting method is cold and calculating: A single shot to the head if chest organs are needed; a shot to the body if the brain or eyes are needed. Recently, China started using “death vans” where lethal injection is administered on the road so all of the organs can be harvested.

    “China’s deputy health minister acknowledges the organs are harvested from prisoners. But he says they are only harvested from those who give consent.

    “The Chinese government refused our request for an interview, but issued a statement: “The reports about China’s random transplant of organs from executed criminals are untrue and a malicious slander against [the] Chinese Judiciary System. … In China, it is very prudent to use organs from death penalty criminals.”

    “The government promises to change its transplant law July 1 by banning the sale of organs and limiting organ transplants. Critics doubt it will change much of anything for Chinese prisoners,” the report read in part.

     

    It followed up with a report titled: Why China will struggle to end organ harvesting from executed prisoners in December, 2014.

  • What the hell is wrong with us?

    What the hell is wrong with us?

    Last week, the South African clothing company, Truworths, finally took its exit from our shores citing stringent regulation of stock imports, foreign exchange controls and rising costs as its reasons. It’s Chief Executive Officer Michael Mark would tell Bloomberg in a phone interview that “The regulations were making it extraordinarily difficult to get stock into the stores, we couldn’t get money out, so there was no point any longer…Obviously everyone gets exited about Nigeria because of its size, but I think they’ve taken an incredible strain with internal problems in the country politically and then there are the issues with their oil.”

    Earlier on in 2013, its compatriot, Woolworths similarly exited with the closure of its three stores in the country citing the same factors of high rental costs, duties and difficulties getting stock into stores. “It’s a tough market, with high rental expenses and I felt you needed to get big or get out,” Ian Moir, its chief executive officer had recalled in a chat with reporters in Johannesburg, last Tuesday. “We made the right call; we didn’t see things really changing there for the next 10 years.”

    At a time of record level unemployment, the news of yet another business drawing shutters on its operations in the country would ordinarily be a big deal. For the tribe who can’t seem to see anything good in the restrictive policies of the Central Bank as affecting the utilisation of forex, it is supposed to be another evidence of the unworkability of the foreign exchange regime that has plumbed the naira to its lowest depths ever in the so-called parallel market with the currency exchanging for N400 to the United States dollar last week.

    The truth however is that the story of the two South African retailers is somewhat illustrative of all that is wrong with us as a nation –the fetish that we have made of foreign direct investment as well as astounding inability to articulate our interests in the complex and confounding global marketplace where national interest rules.  Today, the South African cloth makers have since moved on in their global outreaches while the so-called biggest economy is stuck with debating whether or not to throw its embattled currency into the hounds.

    President Muhammadu certainly spoke my mind on the raging issue of devaluation when, in faraway Sharm El-Sheik, Egypt last week, he ruled out any official devaluation of the naira. At the Presidential Panel Roundtable on Investment and Growth Opportunities in the North African country, the President again restated his resolve: the naira won’t be devalued. He told those “who have developed taste for foreign luxury goods” to continue to pay for them rather pressure government to devalue the naira.

    He asked: “Developed countries are competing among themselves and when they devalue they compete better and manufacture and export more. But we are not competing and exporting but importing everything including toothpicks. So, why should we devalue our currency?” According to him, “We want to be more productive and self-sufficient in food and other basic things such as clothing. For our government, we like to encourage local production and efficiency…The land is there and we need machinery inputs, fertilizer and insecticides”.

    It seems to me that the President has been far more persuasive that the throng that have made a song of devaluation as a pill that we must swallow even when the so-called benefits are only known to them.

    The issues are certainly not rocket science. With foreign reserves barely sufficient to cover few months of imports, and with the price of our principal export permanently headed south, the choice before us is simply limited. Even our wards studying in foreign shores have since imbibed the wisdom of adjusting to the new reality. I recall that a month ago, my ward studying at a Canadian university actually bought the nation’s dollars at N200 with her ATM at a time the official rate was some N145. And that was long before the Bankers Committee determined that they – and our hordes of medical tourists – would no long be eligible for forex through the official channel. Today, our hordes of virtual shoppers at home and abroad have similar stories to tell of a forex market that has somehow liberalised itself! The point that must not be lost is that we do not have enough to go round. And simply because we do not have enough, the path of wisdom is to ensure that what is available is allocated in a way to deliver maximum benefits.

    At this time, we can choose to play the prodigal by  throwing our forex vaults open – hoping perhaps – that the currency will sooner find its level. It never will. That is why I cannot agree more with the reasoning by government that the luxury of waiting for the market to determine the allocation of a finite commodity like a forex in an unequal world is an unwise one! That’s why I am amazed that bodies like the Lagos Chambers of Commerce and Industries and the manufacturers’ umbrella body – the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) would dare to suggest that the naira be left to float with the tide! I ask – to whose benefits? Their foreign portfolio-investor friends ever so ready to hit the airports at the first signs of trouble?

    Let’s go back to the story of Truworths. Would the company have exited were the forex restrictions not to be in place? May be; maybe not. I understand the issue of rising costs is obviously a major factor in the decisions; it seems however unlikely that the company would have left so long as it has the window to flood the Nigerian market with South African fabrics.

    My big question remains: Why would a foreign company exist solely to sell its foreign goods in the country? Why should it seek to be entitled to unrestricted access to our forex at a time like this?

    Now, compare with our Aba cloth maker who despite the harsh environment still manages to keep by. He knows he has nowhere to go; for good or bad, he has learnt to take things in their stride. He needs forex to bring in equipment, to modernise his offering in a competitively globalising world. Above all, he knows what it means to create wealth with nothing. So, why would his government not protect him against the hordes of foreign invaders who so much love to reap where they have not sown?

     

     

     

     

  • Hell called Lagos-Ibadan Expressway

    SIR: Few people have claimed to have seen visions of the ravaging furnace called hell. The reports of such people have always been that the excruciating reality of hell is not a spectacle to behold.

    I have not been to hell. And I don’t wish to be. But, I have been to the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and I could readily affirm that with the dilapidated state of portions of the road, one does not really need any prophet to conclude that hell is not really far from us. Indeed, for those of us that pass through the road on a daily basis, hell is the Lagos-Ibadan expressway. In the past few weeks, what is being experienced on the road could at best be described as the shame of a nation.

    I am particularly referring to the failed portion of the road between the Lagos end of Magboro, Arepo and Wawa communities. One finds it quite appalling that commuters and residents along the road have been thrown into unending trauma just because of the criminal neglect of concerned authorities. Ordinarily, travelling along these three communities to Lagos shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes. But now, commuters spend distressing hours on same trip. The situation becomes more miserable when one realizes that what is responsible, for the agony being faced on the road, could at best be referred to as a routine issue. In saner climes, the issue involved could have been routinely taken care of. But then, this is Nigeria and things do happen.

    Being the main expressway, providing the primary link between Lagos, the former administrative capital and major commercial centre and other parts of Nigeria and hence, a road of primary economic and social importance to the nation, it is imperative that  urgent steps are taken to ensure that the situation of the road improves.

    With the transformation of the expressway’s axis into a vast business and residential hub, with various industrial presence as well as emerging communities such as Arepo, Magboro, Ibafo, Asese, Olowotedo, Pakuro, Mowe  among others, creative and pro-active strategies need to be evolved to redevelop the road. The time and resources that are being unnecessarily wasted due to the scandalous neglect of the road is mind-blowing. No nation desirous of economic development and growth will handle the issue of such an al important road like the Lagos-Ibadan expressway with such outrageous levity.

    Presently, our nation faces dire economic reality as a result of dwindling global price of crude oil which is the mainstay of our national economy. There have been talks on the need to diversify the economy by focusing on other sectors such as agriculture, Small Scale Enterprises, extractive industry among others. With the dearth of a well crafted intermodal transportation mode in the country, the road remains our major and most pragmatic means of transportation. With the sorry state of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, and other such vital roads in the country, our desire for the diversification of the economy might be nothing but a hallucination.

    In order to put the Nigerian economy on the lane to speedy recovery and growth, authorities concerned would have to wake up and be alive to their responsibilities. There is an urgent need to immediately embark on a strategic and result-driven action plan that would make major roads in the country a delight for all.  For the Lagos-Ibadan expressway in particular, there must be a timeframe known and acceptable to Nigerians for the completion of this road if the federal government must convince the people that we are indeed in the era of change. This is the time to put an end to the pains and stress being experienced by commuters on the road.

     

    • Tayo Ogunbiyi,

    Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja.  

     

  • Our 10-yr sojourn in hell

    Our 10-yr sojourn in hell

    WE saw fellow children, brothers and sisters roasted like animals by the enemies. Some others were gruesomely hacked to death. Their blood, which was brutally shed, is calling for justice just as we are asking that those who derailed our lives and caused sorrow for our parents be brought to judgment.”

    Those were the emotional words of 15-year-old Mehenou, one of the Togo nationals currently seeking asylum in Nigeria.

    The children and their distressed parents migrated into the country after a decade of fruitlessly seeking protection in Benin Republic. The people, according to their leader, Sogbo Maunou, fled their fatherland in 2005 after the presidential election ended in crisis, leading to political assassination of perceived enemies of the government.

    “Our predicament was as a result of our opposition to the Eyedema family’s greed for power at the expense of the well being of the people. The father ruled for 38 years and immediately after his demise, his son took over but we said no. That was why they started killing our people.

    “Those of us who survived the attacks later ran away. Some ran to Ghana while we ran to Benin Republic. Unfortunately for us, they were in alliance with the government of our country. They visited equal, if not worse horror on us than we had had in Togo. When we saw that they were bent on exterminating us, we fled and came here (Nigeria).”

    Checks revealed that a good number of their children were born during their sojourn in Benin Republic. Some of the children who spoke with The Nation relived their experiences in their refugee camp in Benin Republic, lamenting that all they had known was strife and deprivation.

    Koublanou Erika, 13, had this to say about her experience: “It was a horrible experience. I was only three years old when my parents and others ran away from our country because of the political crisis that started after the presidential elections in 2005. I didn’t know anything then, but I was old enough to see the dehumanization of our people in Benin Republic. I experienced it and was a direct victim of man’s wickedness against his fellow man, especially children.

    “On several occasions, our camps were attacked in Benin Republic. On each occasion, we had to run for dear lives. We were often not remembered by our parents in the process of scampering into safety. Consequently, we would have to run out of danger by ourselves. Many of our fellow children were either roasted or killed by the fumes coming from the fire. It was devastating to see the burnt remains of our colleagues each time we returned to camp. Those were friends and relations we had played with before the attackers unleashed terror on us. We wept profusely and for many days were gripped by fear.”

    She added: “After we left the camp and were kept in a place, the soldiers came and fired tear gas at us. They beat me and my sister mercilessly for asking why they were doing all that to us. They never cared that we were children who they were old enough to father.

    “As they were beating us, our mates became apprehensive because they feared it would get to their turn. They wailed and lamented our predicament. But the more they did so, the more the attackers hit everybody within their reach.

    “All of us who were born in Benin Republic have never seen the four walls of a classroom, but we have had enough lessons about brutalization. We have in our memory deep knowledge of dehumanization and we can give a lengthy talk about it. What many adults don’t know about violence, terror and torture, we know in detail.

    “I only heard that something like school existed but I didn’t know what it looked like or what they were doing there until we came to Nigeria. We have a teacher here in the camp who has been teaching us and I really find it interesting. Learning English language fascinates me a lot because I see it as an opportunity that would make it possible for me to interact easily with people who do not speak my language or French.”

    Fourteen-year-old Kokou Emmanuel described the sight of his roasted colleagues as gory, pleading not to be reminded of their plight in Benin Republic.

    He said: “It was gory seeing the burnt bodies of my friends. They were caught in the fire set on our camp by the enemies and were burnt beyond recognition. Their bodies looked like those of roasted goats. We didn’t get to know who they were until our parents assembled us to ascertain the identity of the victims.

    “Apart from those that were roasted, some others who were not touched by the fire were killed by the fume. I don’t like talking about it or the other cruel treatments we were subjected to in the camp back there in Benin Republic.

    “In one of the attacks, my mother clutched my younger sister, who was six weeks old, to her chest and dragged me and my brother along as we ran for our dear lives. My father also held the hands of my others siblings to run away from danger. The spate of the attacks made us to start keeping vigil every night. It was difficult to sleep, especially for our parents, because nobody knew when the evil people would attack the camp again. It was also not easy for us to sleep deeply during the day to avoid being caught unawares,” he said.

    Aside from the brutal treatment meted out to them, hunger, for Agbamassou Adjou, 14, was another bitter experience they suffered in the Benin Republic camp.

    Eating from a big bowl filled with rice and egg at the Igando Relief Camp located in Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State, the elated boy said: “Food is one thing that we lacked so much all through our days in Benin Republic. We hardly had food to eat and as a result, we looked famished. Each time we had food, we would scramble to have a good share from it because there was no certainty as to when another one would come. We scavenged for food and ate anything that looked like it to avoid dying of hunger.

    “It was always with empty stomach that we had to run away from those that were always attacking the camp. It is often difficult to run fast when you are hungry because hunger makes one to be weak and tired. I am sure that our colleagues who were roasted in the fires set to our camp couldn’t escape because they had no energy to run. They had been weakened by hunger and when danger knocked at their doors, they were too frail to run.”

    Agbamassou also spoke about his wish to be educated, adding: “We never had the opportunity of going to school in Benin Republic because they didn’t regard us as human beings. They didn’t even get teachers for us as we have here in Nigeria. They asked us to be going to school in the city when our parents didn’t have what it takes to do that. At 14, I don’t have formal education and it hurts me. I want to be a lawyer so that one day, I would seek redress for the sufferings and injustice meted out to our people.”

    Sharing Agbamassou’s line of thought, 13-year-old Agbero Koffi said: “We lacked all the basic amenities in our Benin Republic camp and nobody cared about us. We were daily crying for food but there was little or nothing our parents could do because they were also hungry. They weren’t eating let alone having food to give to us. My mother shed tears each time we cried for food and she couldn’t provide for us. If hunger kills, all of us would have died and there would be no need for anybody to attack the camp.”

    After watching her people die because they lacked access to medical help, Agbero said her desire is to be a doctor.

    “I want to be a doctor so that I can be in the position to save the lives of my people in the kind of situation we found ourselves in Benin Republic. If we had, had a medical doctor in our midst, a good number of our people wouldn’t have died. My ambition is to make sure that such a thing does not happen again.

    “But the challenge I have is that I have no hope of going to school today. My future also looks very bleak educationally because our destiny is still shrouded in darkness.”

    It was a tearful recall for 15-year-old Mehenou Ewennam as she spoke about the death of her mother and brother in Benin Republic.

    Life, she said amid sobs, has not been fair to her family and kinsmen. She asked rhetorically, “Why has peace eluded us for so long? We have gone through hell in the last 10 years that we left our country. I was five years old when the crisis began and was yet to be enrolled in school. The anguish we passed through in those years would remain ingrained in my memories forever.

    “I am most pained by the death of my mother and brother which could have been averted in a normal situation. They only fell ill but because we didn’t have access to medical facilities as we have here in Nigeria, they died. Today, my other siblings and I rue her death because she left us at tender ages. There are so many things that she should be doing for us, especially we the females, which our father cannot do.

    “Our people were only making use of herbs to treat any ailment that came up in the camp because they didn’t have the wherewithal to take us to hospital. Even if they had the means of doing that, it was risky for us as refugees to move around in Benin Republic because they would always pick you out for interrogation and battering. They did that to one of our elders and it was by luck that he survived because he was cut with machete all over his body.

    “Our future is hanging in the balance because we have been deprived of the opportunity of going to school. Most of us wish to go to school because we want to be better than our parents. We want to bring development to our world, especially our country. Unfortunately, that appears difficult, if not impossible, because there is so much uncertainty about our fate, wish and future.

    “We are here now but we don’t know where we would be tomorrow. The good thing for us right now is that we have peace of mind. We have been saved the pains of running away from people that were daily attacking us in Benin Republic.”

    Call for justice

    Unhappy with what they had gone through in the last 10 years, the children called upon the African Union, especially the Nigerian government, to intervene in their situation.

    Mehenou said: “We really thank the Nigerian government for accepting to accommodate us in the country. We want to use the opportunity to plead with them and the African Union at large to come to our aid and that of our parents. They should help us to look at the situation that drove us and parents out of our country and the brutalization and murder of our people in Benin Republic.

    “It is very unfortunate that we got such cruel treatment in Benin Republic where we had expected to get protection. They should help us to seek redress from the two leadersTogo and Benin Republic. It is our turn today, but it could be the turn of some other innocent children tomorrow. We don’t want other children to go through what we experienced. Wicked leaders in Togo and Benin Republic have derailed us and planted bitterness in our mind. The blood of our colleagues that were brutally murdered is calling for justice and so are we.”

    Lending her voice to Mehenou’s plea for justice, Koublanou, said: “Our parents once told us that President Barrack Obama at a point in time met with African leaders and urged them to respect democratic principles, but what is happening in our country is contrary to that call. We would be very happy if those that killed our parents and colleagues are duly punished. We want the international community to take keen interest in this matter and mete out the right punishment to the people that have deprived us of the peace we are supposed to be enjoying in our country.

    “It is imperative that they are brought to judgment to serve as deterrent to other African leaders who may be planning to do the same thing to remain in power. If stiff penalties are not given to these people, they would continue to waste the lives of promising African children the way they have done to our late colleagues and other loved ones.

    “Togo is our fatherland and we want to be very proud of it. But how can we be with the kind of inhuman experience we have had? The international community should help us to wrest our beloved country from the grip of blood thirsty leaders and their backers.”

    Appreciation to Lagos State Government

    Elated by the new lease of life they are currently enjoying, the embattled children applauded the Lagos State Government for its kind gesture towards them, especially in the area of education.

    Having the opportunity to be in a classroom is for 12-year-old Gbomagni Ajoma a dream come true. Before the bell is rung for the class to commence, she would have sat down waiting for others to come.

    “We are very grateful to the government for their support. They gave us shelter, the food that we lacked for a decade and medical care. Above that, they also provided a teacher to be teaching us. We didn’t have the opportunity of going to school all along. You can even see that some of our parents who had been thirsting for education are always joining us for lectures. We wish we could move up from here to attain our dreams in life. May God bless them for being so kind to us.”

    The teacher, Mr Tunde, said: “They are really participating actively in class. They are eager to learn. They are obedient and attentive in class. I am very happy teaching them because they relate with me respectfully and lovingly.”

    Security implication of refugees’ predicament

    Decrying the plight of the refuge seekers, the Executive Director of Marial Security in Texas, United States of America, Dr Hon Dipo Okeyomi, said Nigeria and the West Africa sub region by extension was lucky that terrorists did not infiltrate the camp of the group to latch onto their distress and unleash terror on the people.

    He said: “We were quite lucky that terrorists didn’t brainwash the refugees to wreak havoc on the country and the West African sub region. They were highly pliable in their sojourn, which was full of tribulation. They had lost everything and had no hope about the future. All they needed was somebody that would make some fabulous promises to them to do his bidding.

    “The saying that a man that has fallen fears no fall would come to play in that situation. They had seen death face to face and wouldn’t be scared of any danger anymore if anybody had dangled carrot before them to carry out his wish.

    “I must commend Governor Akinwumi Ambode for what I would call his timely intervention in their situation, especially now that Boko Haram kingpins were reported to have been arrested in Lagos State. His concern for them certainly saved the state and the country from imminent security challenge.

    “Many people may not realize the importance of his action, but had he ignored them, the security breach that would have arisen would have stunned everybody. He is certainly on top of his duty as the Chief Security Officer of the State and I commend him for that.”

    Dr Okeyomi also joined the children in calling for heavy sanctions against those that attacked the refugees in Togo and Benin Republic, saying, “African Union must wake up to its responsibilities on the continent by denouncing tyrannical leaders who use state resources to politically harass and kill those who oppose their desperation to perpetually remain in power. If urgent efforts are not made to check this madness, it could exacerbate the security situation on the continent.”

    Psychological effects on victims

    Analysing the psychological effects of the ordeal on the children, Dr Sunday Amosu, a consultant psychiatrist at Neuro-psychiatry Hospital, Aro, said: “Such children would certainly have psychological problems. They would likely suffer from phobia, anxiety and depression and they are prone to substance abuse. Some of them may also have sleep disorders. It is possible they develop anti-social personality and become hardened by having penchant for breaking laws without any remorse.

    “Assessment of such kids will determine what will be done to address their condition. One cannot do anything about it abstractly. They will need the combination of counselling, psychotherapy and rehabilitation.”

  • ‘This road is giving us hell’

    ‘This road is giving us hell’

    Since the rains started, residents of Owode Street, Abule Egba in Ijaiye Ojokoro Local Council Development Area (LCDA) of Lagos State have been living in pains. Going and coming have not been easy because of their deplorable road.

     “The road, despite being in the metropolis, has been neglected for many years by the local and state governments. Many residents, business owners and tenants have relocated elsewhere because of the condition of the route, while many car owners have been forced to park them,” a resident, Mrs Folu Adesiyan said.

    There are huge craters on the road, which make it even difficult for tricyclists to manoeuver.

    Our reporter was forced to park his car on a neighbouring street when he visited the place on Monday.

    Angry residents lamented how once flourishing businesses on the street crashed because of the bad road.

    No fewer than 15 shops were have been shut following their owners’ relocation to other areas.

    Workers in the three hotels on the street said sales had plummeted.

    A worker at Jydab Hotel, who identified herself as Cyntia, said it had been over three months since a new customer visited, adding that the hotel has been running on deficit.

    This, she said, has affected staff salaries and the running of the hotel.

    At DSK Hotel, one of the managers, Mr Adebisi Sosanya, said only the old and loyal customers still patronise them “out of sympathy”.

    “Despite the huge revenue being generated on the street from taxes and the great employment opportunities provided by companies, the bad state of the road has made it impossible for any business to make profit,” he said.

    A resident said: “This is really lamentable; ordinarily, this should be the work of the local government, but despite all our entreaties to the last administration, the local government refused to fix this road. We pay taxes and we contribute to the economy of the state and this is how the government has chosen to pay us back”.

    Many of the residents criticised the former council chair, Benjamin Olabinjo, saying he rebuffed all their entreaties to fix the road.

    Mrs Bisola Bello said: “When anybody gets to our street, he would wonder if really human beings are living here. This is not a village in a suburb; this is Abule Egba and this street is one of the most important ones here. There are so many business concerns here. Also, you see that this is a major link road to the Lagos/Abeokuta Expressway.”

    A community leader, Alhaji Salaudeen Tiamiyu, said the bad road has resulted in “huge economic sabotage”. “There are some things we should not even think about as it is too shameful; this road is one of them. How can you imagine seeing Owode Road in this state of utter disrepair and disregard?  It seems both the local and state governments are not interested in the people who live here, yet we are citizens. Look at the three hotels here and tell me if they can make any profit with this state of the road?” he said.

    Another resident Mrs Olaitan Olaonipekun said: “On some occasions, our children have had to stay in their homes because their school buses cannot access the street. It is that bad.”

    The residents pleaded with Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to come to their aid to prevent disaster.

    “Our governor said he wanted to make life simpler and make us happier; we are yet to feel that here. But we hope he will make good his pledge. Now, we wait for him to fix the road,” said a resident.

  • Straight from HELL! Rescued women, girls relive horrifying tales from Boko Haram’s den

    Straight from HELL! Rescued women, girls relive horrifying tales from Boko Haram’s den

    Their tales would melt even a heart of stone. As they try to settle down in the camp of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Yola, Adamawa State, the 275 girls and women rescued from the hideout of the deadly Boko Haram sect in Sambisa Forest, Borno State, have been telling the stories of their journey to hell.

    Most of them looked extremely malnourished and were even too weak to alight from the trucks that conveyed them from the notorious forest. In most cases, they had to be helped by journalists and officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). On seeing the terrible conditions of the women and their malnourished children, most people at the camp, including other IDPs who had been there before the new arrivals, could not help breaking into tears.

    Their steps were feeble as they walked towards the NEMA registration centre at the camp. Adamawa State coordinator of NEMA, Mallam Saad Bello, said that many of the Boko Haram captives had lost their lives because they had no food. Others who sustained bullet wounds had to be rushed to the Intensive Care Unit of the Federal Medical Centre, Yola.

    At the time of filing this report, no fewer than 19 of the Sambisa returnees were being treated at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Federal Medical Centre, undergoing treatment for injuries sustained from bullets and bombs. Others were admitted at the NEMA Clinic at Malkohi Camp.

    Seventeen-year-old Fatima, who was already carrying a baby, recalled that she was in her village near Damboa when gunmen believed to be members of the Boko Haram sect came and started shooting sporadically and ordered her and other girls and women in the village to go with them. She said the invaders first took them to Gwoza town before taking them to Sambisa Forest where they slept in open place for more than nine months.

    Another victim, 20-year-old Mrs. Hadiza Yusuf, an indigene of Kafin Hausa village in Madagali Local Government Area, said she was abducted by Boko Haram men who fed her and others with maize flour and water. She said: “They turned us into slaves in the forest and compelled us to be serving them on a daily basis. They killed my husband, Dauda. But we thank God now that the government has brought us here at the Malkohi Camp. We are grateful to them.”

    Miss Halima Usman (18), also from Kafin Hausa village, said she was also brutalised by the Boko Haram sect. She said she was married to a man in Madagali before Boko Haram men killed her husband and she returned to her parents’ house at Kafin Hausa. But she was also seized by the gunmen at Kafin Hausa and taken into Sambisa Forest.

    Halima said: “At the Sambisa Forest, the gunmen demanded that I married them, but I told them that I was already pregnant. They said once I was delivered of my baby, I should marry them. I agreed to do so but help later came and we were rescued.”

    Some of the rescued women who spoke with our correspondent said they had to trek for three days before they were rescued and finally arrived Yola. Reports indicated that the journey to Yola was delayed due to mopping up operations being conducted by the military’s advance rescue team, so as to evade any land mine that might have been planted by the insurgents.

    The gaunt looks of the rescued girls and women elicited sympathy from onlookers. Many of them looked hunger-stricken and their children kept wailing as a result of illness and malnutrition. Many of the women and children had to be assisted as they could not walk on their own. Many of them could not even alight from the vehicles that brought them from Sambisa as a result of exhaustion and hunger.

    One of the returnee women, 23-year-old Asabe Aliyu, a mother of four and native of Delsak village near Chibok, was seen vomiting blood as a result of an internal injury she sustained from excessive beating, which she said was the order in the Boko Haram enclave. She said the sect’s members hauled all manner of vulgar comments at them, while she was forced to marry one of the sect’s members after series of sexual molestation she suffered from different men on a daily basis. Death, she said, was the yardstick of judgment at any slightest mistake.

    Asabe said: “I was abducted from Delsak six months ago when the village was overrun by Boko Haram. First, I was taken from my village to a forest close to Cameroun. They turned me into a sex machine and ended up impregnating me. And with my condition as a pregnant woman, I had to cook for them whenever they needed food.”

    Another returnee, Lami Musa, had a three-day-old baby girl. She looked tired and haggard and had to be supported before she could walk. Amid intense tears, she said: “They adducted the whole of my family and killed my husband at Kilkasa Forest while I was four months pregnant. They took us into Sambisa Forest and we slept in open field. At times, we would go without water and food for days. Three days ago, I gave birth to this baby girl. As I am talking to you, I cannot ascertain the status of her health, as both of us have not had a bath since I gave birth.”

    Another woman from Michika Local Local Government Area of Adamawa State, Maryamu Adamu, said she saw hell in Sambisa. She said she could not say if her two children and husband were alive or dead because she had not set her eyes on them since she was captured and taken into Sambisa Forest about nine months ago. Mrs Adamu’s temperament was more of thanksgiving because she said she was lost but now found.

    She said: “I know that I was dead. My existence was just a mere shadow as nothing moved me. But now that I am here, I confirm that I am a living being. My brother, I thank God that I am saved. I really thank God.”

    It was a joyful moment for Mallam Ishaya Amos, an IDP in Malkohi Camp in Yola. He was reunited with four of his cousins and their children whom he thought were dead. They were among the 275 rescued the troops, causing Amos to shed some tears of joy.

    Most of the girls and women came from Madagali, Michika, Damboa, Kilkasa, Delsak and some of the villages surrounding Damboa.

  • He promised me paradise, but all I got was hell! (4)

    He promised me paradise, but all I got was hell! (4)

    Continued from last week…..

    Then, abruptly, he flung me against the wall and I slid to the floor. I must have fainted for when I woke up, I found myself on a hospital bed. A nurse, who was standing by the bed, looked relieved on seeing me awake.

    “Thank God, you have regained consciousness. We have been so worried about you. Let me get the doctor,” she stated, before hurrying out of the room.

    It was from the doctor I heard the horrible news, that my baby, who had arrived prematurely had died.

    “We kept him in an incubator since he was premature but it was no use. He lived for just a few hours,” he said in a sad tone. I turned my face to the wall, hot tears steaming down my face, feeling too drained and weak to even cry out.

    Just then, some of my family members came into the room, their expressions shifting from looks of joy at my regaining consciousness and sadness at my baby’s death. My Dad, stepmother and my brother Mike stood round the bed, looking down at me.

    “I’m so glad you are back with us, my daughter. You are very precious to me and I can’t afford to lose you,” said my Dad as he took my hand in his. He looked grim when I quietly narrated what had happened with my husband that had led to my being hospitalized.

    “I know it’s painful to lose your baby but though the water might have spilt, the vessel is still intact; it’s not broken. As for that husband of yours, just leave him to me. I know what to do to him. Don’t worry about him. Your health is what matters now. So, focus on getting better and everything will be alright,” he reassured me. ”

    But will it, I thought glumly after they had gone to see the doctor. Will things ever be the same again between Kel and I after what had happened. I shuddered, remembering the fight at home, the crazy look in his eyes as he held my throat so tightly. What if he had strangled me to death that night? It was a miracle that I was alive but that fact brought me little joy. All I could think about was losing my baby and I blamed Kel for that.

    I heard he had been coming to the hospital all the time I was unconscious and had been so worried about me. But I did not care; I did not want to see him and I told the nurses attending to me not to allow him near my room.

    Later, I fell into a deep sleep and woke up to the sound of loud voices outside the door of my room. I could make out my husband, Kel’s voice among them. He was telling the nurses to allow him in to see me as it was his right as my husband.

    “She’s my wife! You can’t stop me from seeing her! What kind of crazy hospital is this? I will definitely let the CMD hear about this!” he threatened.

    “Sir, we are just following instructions. It’s better you go back and return when she’s in a better frame of mind,” the nurse told him but he was not ready to budge. Though still feeling weak and with pains, I managed to get out of the bed and made for the door. I stood there silently for a while watching the argument between Kel and the nurses.

    “What have you come to do now? Finish the ‘work’ you started at home?” I queried, my voice seeping with anger.

    They all turned to me then.

    “Ah, baby, how are you feeling now? Are you alright?” he asked, a worried look on his face. One of the nurses bustled up to me and stated firmly:

    “Madam, you are not strong enough to be walking around yet. Go back to bed. It’s time to take your drugs. Lie down and Nurse Mary will attend to you.”

    “Just tell him to stay away from me. I don’t want to see him,” I said as I laid on the bed.

    ***

    About a week later, I was discharged from the hospital. Instead of heading home however, Mike drove me down to our parents’ house. I did not want to go home, at least not yet. I needed space and time to recover fully both physically and mentally, before seeing my husband again. I was to remain there for the next three months despite Kel’s pleading for forgiveness and for me to return home.

    He also sent his relatives to plead with my Dad and I. My father who was really angry with Kel at his behaviour, was even more against my going back to my husband, stating that if he had killed me that night of the fight, ‘would they be here begging for me to return to him?’

    “I gave my daughter to your son to love and care for her, not kill her for me. I lost her mother to illness some years ago. I don’t want anything to happen to her. So, warn your son! He should learn to control his temper as a man,” he told them.

    After some time though, my Dad relented. By then, my anger with my husband had subsided and I was ready for a reconciliation. Truth is, I loved my husband very much and I was ready to work on my marriage to make it succeed.

    On the eve of departure for my marital home, my Dad had a long talk with me.

    “My dear daughter, as you are going back to your husband, I want you to put what has happened behind you and forge on. Marriage is not a bed of roses; anyone that says otherwise is simply lying. It’s full of challenges, you just have to learn to weather them. Be patient with your husband and do not provoke him to anger that might result in violence like what happened the last time. Your husband has shown enough remorse and I believe there won’t be a repeat of the last incident. Be a good and loving wife to him and he will cherish you,” my father advised.

     

    ***

    Soon, I returned home and life went on as usual. The only difference was Kel, who now treated me so carefully like an egg that could break if handled roughly. He later confessed that he thought he was going to lose me when I was lying unconscious in the hospital.

    “I couldn’t sleep for days or eat. I prayed like I had never done in my life. I was so scared you might die,” he stated.

    “As you can see, I’m still alive and well,” I said, smiling.

    He laughed then made a solemn promise never to lay a finger on me again.

    “Never again, darling. I promise never to hit you or cause you pain,” he said before drawing me close and kissing me passionately.

    That promise lasted exactly six months. Then it was back to the old Kel. He would slap or hit me whenever we had any argument. With time, he grew more controlling and dictated what I could and not do.

    I work in a government parastatal and I usually closed from work officially around 5 o’clock. But sometimes, extra work would keep me in the office an hour later. I was home late on such days and it was a bone of contention between us.

    “Why can’t you be home early like other civil servants? What do you do in that office after closing? Or are you having an affair? Are you now cheating on me? Answer me!” he demanded angrily one evening on getting home later than him.

    “Kel, how can you say that? You know I will never do that! It was the traffic that made me late,” I explained. But he was still furious and kept on talking about what he termed ‘these so called sophisticated career city women who run around with other men and cheat on their husbands.’

    “If I ever catch you having an affair behind my back, I’ll kill you with my bare hands,” he warned. I kept my cool and did not say a word further to maintain the peace.

     

    The other woman…

    Then, I got pregnant again and this time, I was determined to keep this baby. Kel was happy at the news though later, that changed to anger when I stopped sleeping with him. I had taken the decision to keep my pregnancy safe, to avoid another miscarriage.

    “You do this all the time, denying me my rights! Of what use are you to me, anyway? Or your family? You and your crazy family are completely useless!” he raved. I ignored him and went to sleep in the spare room to avoid a quarrel and possibly another beating.

    He did not bother me about the issue for sometime and I thought he had agreed with me to cool off from sex for a while.

    Unknown to me, he had other plans. I came home one Saturday evening from a visit to my friend Trina to see my husband laughing and talking with a lady in the sitting room. I had never seen her before and wondered who she was.

    “Oh, here you are dear. This is Clarissa, a very good friend of mine. We knew each other back in the States; she’s in the country for a visit and she will be staying with us for a while,” he stated. I greeted her then turned to my husband and motioned for him to follow me to our bedroom.

    “Kel, what is the meaning of this? How can you just bring a guest home without informing me about it?” I queried sharply.

    “So, now I have to take permission from you before inviting my friends home?” he countered.

    “That’s not what I mean. You should have told me she was coming maybe yesterday so I can make preparations. It’s wrong for you to simply bring her home without telling me, your wife beforehand,” I replied.

    “Thank God you know your place, that you are my wife and not my mother. You have no right to question me about this issue. Instead of standing there babbling, go and get the guest room ready. She’s tired after the journey and she needs to rest,” he ordered. I was ready to argue with him on the matter but remembered my father’s words just in time and decided to keep my cool for the sake of peace.

    That was how Clarissa came into our lives. She brought with her a new set of problems to add to the ones I was already battling with. She was the lazy type who did no house chores and expected to be served everything. Even in my condition, she never offered to help with the cleaning, cooking and other chores around the house but left everything to me. All she did all day was paint her nails and face, style her long weave and wear all kinds of skimpy and provocative clothes both at home and while going out. Then, there was her drinking and smoking habits which I found particularly irritating.

    Kel did not see anything wrong with her smoking in the house and told me to stop complaining about it.

    “Stop whining, woman! She’s our guest. Learn to live with her, bad habits and all,” he said.

    I endured, praying she would leave us soon. Then, two weeks after her unexpected arrival, I came home early from work one day as I had a bad headache. The front door was unlocked and as I stepped into the house, I could hear sounds like loud moans from the direction of our bedroom.

    I opened the door and…

    To be continued

     

    Don’t miss the concluding part of Jessica’s tale next Saturday

     

    We welcome comments/suggestions from readers. All correspondence should be sent to 08023201831(sms only), psaduwa@yahoo.com or psaduwa007@gmail.com

     

    Names have been changed to protect the identity of Jessica, her husband and other individuals in the story