The Nation Newspaper

Tag: nightmares

  • ‘Our night of nightmares’

    ‘Our night of nightmares’

    • Minna neighbourhood residents recall ugly experience with suspected terrorist, security agents exchange of gunfire
    • 150 AK47 rifles, 20 rocket propellers, 3,000 live ammunition recovered from suspect’s house
    • Residents seek compensation for damaged homes

    Residents of Kolobe Unguwar, a community in Gbeganu part of Minna, Niger State capital, shuddered in the quietness of their rooms as gunshots boomed for about three hours on Monday. According to residents, the gunshots, which began at about11.30 pm and lasted till about 2.30 am on Tuesday, was heralded by an explosion which turned out the first in the series of explosions that followed.

    Some residents who spoke with The Nation said there were three explosions within the space of every 20 to 30 minutes, accompanied with gunshots in an exchange of gunfire between a suspected terrorist and some men of the Department of State Security (DSS) and the Nigerian Army.

    It was gathered that a suspected terrorist that had been on the watch list of security operatives started the shooting when he noticed the movement of the security operatives through the CCTV cameras he installed in his house. The suspect, who was said to have been on the watch list of security operatives, reportedly bought the house and moved in about two years ago. He was said to have used a rocket launcher to bring down a part of the fence of his house through which he escaped while his wife and children were arrested by security operatives.

    The suspect was reported to have started firing gunshots when he noticed the arrival of security operatives through the CCTV cameras he installed in his house. He was also said to have used a rocket launcher to bring down some part of his house to facilitate his escape, leaving his family members behind.

    Security operatives were then said to have taken away seven members of the suspected terrorist’s family. But it could not be ascertained at press time if the family members were in the custody of security agents in Minna or had been taken outside the state.

    A night guard in one of the neighbourhood houses, Mubarak Abubakar, was reportedly hit by a stray bullet and was receiving treatment at the emergency unit of the IBB Specialist Hospital in Minna. A top security source disclosed that 150 AK 47 rifles, 20 rocket propellers, and 3,000 live ammunitions were recovered from the residence of the terrorist.”

    It was gathered that agents had been monitoring the activities of the terrorist, who is said to be an indigene of Kogi State, and had discovered that he was piling up dangerous weapons in the house.

    “When the terrorist discovered that he was being overpowered by the security operatives, he brought down the back fence of his building and escaped through the bush path into an adjoining forest around Bosso area of the state,” a security source disclosed.

    Some residents who recalled their experience with the frightening incident said that they had never witnessed anything like that in their lives, with some saying they thought the world was coming to an end during the long hours during the gun battle and explosions lasted.

    Emmanuel Ikeji and other neighbours whose apartment are located opposite the house of the suspected terrorist, bore the majority of the damages caused by the explosion suspected to have been caused by the rocket launcher and other explosive elements.

    Ikeji, who has lived in the area for three years, said: “At about 11.30 pm on the 23rd, I was inside my house when I heard some people shouting. The next thing I heard was the exchange of gunfire until around 2.30 am.

    “By 3 am, we heard an explosion followed by shootings, then another explosion followed by some shootings also. The explosions occurred three times.

    “We could not come out because we did not know where the bullets were coming from or who was behind the explosions. The shootings were also too much.

    “The explosions caused our windows to break while the ceilings began to fall off. The walls in our rooms were cracking open. The impact was too much.”

     I forgot my baby out of fear, says neighbour

    Maryam Mohammed, whose window is directly beside the house of the suspected terrorist, said she was made to leave her baby inside the house while she and the other children were brought outside for the security operatives to search her house to ensure that the suspect was not hiding there.

    She said: “I was inside the house sleeping when I heard shootings and movements. I woke up and found that all my windows were broken.

    “Scared and not knowing what to do, I took my children to the other room, and we sat on the ground there.

    “Later, we heard the security people knocking and shouting that I should open the gate, but I didn’t because I was scared. So they broke down my gate.

    “When they got to my door, they shouted that if I did not open it, they would shoot us down, so I opened it.

    “They asked about my husband and I told them my husband was late. They asked who was with me in the house and I said only my children and I.

    “They told me to put my hand on my head and I obeyed. They then took me outside and made me to sit there with my children.

    “I forgot my baby inside but I was not allowed inside the house despite my pleas that my baby was inside. That was how I left my baby inside while they began their search.

    “They checked the whole room and asked if anyone had come inside in the last two hours and I said no. They checked and checked and even used a drone to check my ceilings and the surroundings.

    “Still not satisfied, they broke the ceiling and entered inside but didn’t see anything. They now came out and asked me to return inside house with my children.

    “When I entered, I saw one of them drinking a soft drink he had taken from my fridge. They removed all my curtains and in the process, tore some.”

    Speaking about the suspected terrorist who escaped the security ambush, all the residents claimed they were not familiar with the family, which they said had moved to the neighbourhood about 18 months ago. They also said they had never seen the man while his wife and children do not relate with anybody.

    The residents said the previous owner of the house sold water from his borehole but the terrorist who bought the house stopped selling the water, which other residents saw as a warning that they were not ready to mingle with anyone.

    Maryam said she only used to greet the woman she suspected to be the suspected terrorist’s wife whenever she met her outside or when she came to buy firewood from her.

    She said: “These people and I are not familiar with each other. What happens is if I met her outside, we would greet each other. I have not entered the house since they sold it to them. The only thing that makes her enter my compound is to buy firewood.”

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    Ikeji said: “I don’t know the person who lived there. I have not been to the compound. The person who sold the house was friendly with us and while he was there, I usually went there to buy water because there was a borehole with two giant tanks.

    “But when the new owners moved in, they no longer sold water to the public. Since they came, I have not brought water from them. I don’t know the person. I haven’t even seen the new person who moved in.”

     Residents demand compensation

    The residents are seeking compensation from the government and security agencies in respect of the damages the security operation caused them.

    Alhassan Ahmed, one of the landlords, said that windows of his houses were all broken, the ceilings were destroyed and the walls cracked while the fences were also broken down.

    Ahmed said: “This is so devastating as I don’t know what do immediately about my damaged property. My tenants are rendered homeless.

    “I am calling on good people of the state to come to my aid on this calamity. I hope to receive assistance on this issue.

    “I also want to be directed on next line of action as a victim of circumstance, because things are expensive these days.

    “Please let the government and security agencies come and compensate us. You can’t go to an operation, destroy people’s houses and leave them like that. Please, something needs to be done.

    “All the windows in my house are broken. The ceilings came down with somae parts cracked while all the walls have also cracked. They need to do something for us.”

    Maryam lamented that as a widow, she would not be able to take up the expenses that would arise from repairing the damages caused during the security operations, calling on the government to come to her aid.

    When the Reporter visited the place, she was told that some youths around the vicinity had destroyed the parts of the house that were still standing after the gun battle while all the pieces of furniture, appliances, and fittings in the house were pilfered away.

    The reporter met some people still carting away blocks, broken tiles, and the crumbles from the destroyed building when she visited.

    Several of the residents whose houses were affected have left their houses pending when repairs would be made as majority of them said they no longer feel safe.

    Numerous efforts made by our reporter and other journalists to get the government, Army or DSS to speak about the incident were abortive as the parties concerned chose to keep mum over the incident.

  • Nightmares in Benue schools

    • Pupils abandon SSSCE over rumours of fresh attack by herdsmen who murdered their colleagues Armed policemen guard pupils as bereaved families relive ordeal

    Two weeks ago, two young men in Olegobidu area of Agatu Local Government Area, Benue State, preparing to write the ongoing Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSSCE) were hacked down by killer herdsmen while bathing in a river. The development has haunted their peers who are writing the SSSCE as they have repeatedly abandoned the examination and run for dear lives each time they hear that herdsmen were approaching their schools. INNOCENT DURU reports.

    It is not safe to sit an examination here. There is serious anxiety. Any time we are sitting exam, we hear of problems here and there. Sometimes, before we start the exam, we would see people running about because killer herdsmen are approaching. We also run away each time we hear this, hence we hardly have the right frame of mind to do our exams. Since we started our examination on the 5th of this month (April), we haven’t had any rest of mind.”

    Those were the words of Hadizatu Bawa, the Head Girl of St. Paul Secondary School, Odugbehan, on her plight and that of her colleagues currently sitting the SSSCE. Like thieves threatened by unfamiliar sounds, the beleaguered pupils always shudder and are ever ready to flee on hearing strange voices and movements even while writing exams.

    The implication of this was obvious as Hadizatu spoke with our correspondent. “I don’t know if we would have good results at the end of the day, because sometimes we abandon the examination hall and run away. We don’t know what this (Wednesday) morning’s examination will be like,” she said.

    Their anxiety, findings showed, is heightened by the gruesome murder of their peers by killer herdsmen.

    “The herdsmen killed two of our colleagues who wanted to do the exam with us. This makes us uncomfortable. It drives fear into us and makes us very sad because we don’t even know what could happen next. The policemen we have here are few. We really need a more sophisticated security team here,” Hadizatu said.

    Hadizatu’s colleague, Zakari Salisu, said they had at various times fled the school during an examination once they heard that killer herdsmen were approaching their school. He said: “We always run to town each time we hear that killer herdsmen are approaching. When the dust has settled, the teachers would use their phones to start calling us to come back to school.

    “The development is perplexing and a serious threat to our academic ambitions. My desire is to study Law in the university, but I can’t realise that dream if I don’t get a good result from this examination. I feel very bad about it and wish that something could be done to permanently remedy the horrifying situation.”

    A teacher in the school, who identified himself simply as Mr Adu, said: “There is fear among the students. There are concerns over the results they would have at the end of the examination. As I am talking to you, two security officers are here. As teachers, we cannot run away from this exam because the centre cannot be shifted.

    “We just have to face the situation on the ground. Whenever we hear any rumour, we entertain fear and quickly call on security officers to come and safeguard the school. When the situation calms, we would call the students to come and write their exams.”

    The school’s Vice Principal in charge of administration, Mr Ngbede Sunday, said: “We applied for a team of security men and five of them were given to us. The students are quite comfortable writing the exam with security men around. The security men shuttle between our school and Methodist Secondary School.

    “We always entertain fears of possible attack. Whenever we have a serious rumour, we instruct the pupils to stay off from school. But as soon as normalcy returns, we call them back. If the herdsmen come to attack, there is no way we would tell the pupils to stay and write exams. There is no way their minds can be settled. It is the presence of the security men that is giving us hope.

    “In spite of their presence, we have put our people at strategic places so that they can alert us when they see the killer herdsmen approaching. We are doing the exams under serious tension.”

    On the likely outcome of the pupils’ result, Ngbede said: “We cannot tell if the students will do well in this kind of situation, but what do we do? We were always having good results before now. But with the situation we have found ourselves in, we are not sure of that this time around.”

    The policemen on guard in the school, according to him, don’t carry guns into the examination hall. “Their boss is always here with us wearing mufti and often put his armed men far away from the exam hall. Like I said earlier, there are teachers we have put ahead of the security men to alert the security men who in turn would alert us if the killer herdsmen are coming, so that we know where to take the children to.

    “There was an attack recently and one of our administrative buildings was set ablaze. Some of the documents and tables were burnt. Some results were soaked in water by the attackers. We reported the incident but nothing has been done about it.”

    The Head Boy of neighbouring Methodist Secondary School, Musa Aliu, told our correspondent: “We have had to run out of the examination hall on two occasions because there was information that the killer herdsmen were approaching. The situation is under control now, but we would appreciate if the security in place is beefed up to contain the hoodlums.”

    A teacher in the school, who gave his name simply as Abu, also shared Aliu’s views. He said: “The four policemen they gave the two schools are grossly inadequate. The team shuttles between our school and St. Paul. Anything could happen in the course of their moving from point A to point B. They would do well to improve the security situation.”

    District head, LG chair, police speak

    The district head of the area, Hon. Bawa Haruna, told The Nation that the problem has affected his domain seriously.

    He said: “Our children are no longer going to school. Prior to a recent attack, our children had two to three examinations to write. But when the attackers came, we vacated the community. Our people are afraid. They have nowhere to stay and do not have food to eat. They are still destroying our farms and the produce. If not for the presence of security men around us, they would have continued to kill us.”

    In spite of the presence of security men in the area, Bawa said: “We are still terrified. We can’t sleep at home. How can we wait and face hoodlums carrying AK 47 when we have no ordinary knife to peel yam? Our houses are no longer secure. Instead of sleeping at home, you would prefer to sleep under the tree in your farm for your life to be secured. People can’t go to market and we have no social life anymore. It is a very terrible situation we have found ourselves in.

    “When the killing of the two boys was reported to me, I forwarded the matter to the local government chairman here in Agatu. From there, we took the report to the Area Command in Otukpo and finally to the Divisional Police Officer’s office at Makurdi. The Deputy Governor is aware of this. He said we should deposit their remains at Ugboko General Hospital.”

    The Chairman of Agatu Local Government Area, Hon. Comfort Alhassan, confirmed that there were killings of the indigenes few weeks ago by herdsmen. She said: “The situation is a little bit better now. About two weeks ago, they killed two people. Prior to that time, they had also killed two people. This brings the total number of casualties to four people in this axis in the last four weeks.

    “The pupils did not have enough time to prepare for the exam as the area is not secure. They had no extra lesson to prepare them for the exam. They only go and write the exam. Our prayer is that they would have good results at the end. The pupils are afraid. But now, we have made an arrangement for security men to guard them all the time. The pupils should be able to concentrate with the security men on ground, because there is no alternative for now.”

    One of the senior mobile police officers guarding the area, who did not want his name in print, allayed the fears of the pupils and the teachers in a chat with our correspondent, saying: “The pupils who are sitting exam have no problem, because my boys are there watching over them. I am also with them in the exam hall.

    “We don’t go into the exam hall carrying guns because we know the psychological effect of doing so on the pupils. My problem with the indigenes is that there is too much rumour among them. I can assure you that if the community cooperates, we will be there with them until they finish their examination.”

    He said his grouse with the people was that too much rumour was flying around. “At times, when we hear a rumour and move into the area, we would see that there is nothing happening. In spite of that, I have organised my boys, and they are patrolling everywhere.”

    Prior to his team’s arrival in the area, the soft spoken officer said: “Some weeks ago, the herdsmen attacked a village and forced the people to flee. Three days after, three herdsmen returned to the village, burning houses. Unfortunately for them, some youths that were there for burial arrested one of the herdsmen. I don’t know how they did it. One of the herdsmen jumped into a river, while the third successfully crossed the river to the Nassarawa area.

    “They are always coming from the Nassarawa axis, and that is the only area where we have a problem now. There is no security in that axis at all. The Fulani herdsmen are doing whatever they like in that axis, causing problems for this area. They always cross the river from that side to this side.”

    WAEC reacts

    Deploring the plight of the pupils, an educationist, Juliana Francis, said there is no way the pupils would do well in the exams, adding: “It is a big surprise that WAEC would conduct exams in such an explosive environment. We don’t learn lessons in this country, and that is why we keep wasting the lives of innocent people. How do you want the pupils to be psychologically and emotionally stable to write the exams when danger is lurking and they are still hounded by the gory murder of their colleagues?

    “WAEC has simply endangered the pupils’ lives and wasted their time. They will have to sit another exam if they don’t pass this one, and it is obvious they would not. They have also wasted the poor parents’ money and some of them may not have the means to buy another form for the children next time. Even if the examination body decides to move the pupils today, what will happen to the exams they have already written?

    Reacting, WAEC’s spokesman, Demian Ejijiogu, said: “Before the exam started, the (WAEC) office wrote to the government of Benue State, intimating them of the security situation in Agatu vis a vis the conduct of our exams in the area. The Ministry of Education responded saying there is no threatening situation in the areas where the exams are to be conducted.

    “They said that one school that could be affected has had their candidates relocated to another place before the exams started and that they have relocated another three since the exam started, because there was a report.”

    He added: “As we speak, if we get a report from these schools you are mentioning now, we are going to move those candidates to a safer place. We have no such report that you are talking about. The police team in the school are their own private arrangement.

    “If we have a report that the centre is not safe for the candidates, we will move them instantly, even if it is to move them to the state capital. The exams will be conducted in an environment where security of lives is guaranteed. Now that this has come to our notice, we are going to take it up. We are concerned not only about the lives of the students but also about that of the personnel who are not from there.”

    Bereaved families mourn

    The names of the two young men who were cut down in their prime were given as Alhaji Daniel and Moses James. In a chat with The Nation, an uncle to the late Daniel, Issa Otume, said: “Daniel was born in 1998. He was in SS3 preparing to write his final exam. He was bathing with his friend when the herdsmen attacked and killed them.

    “They cut him down in his prime and shattered his aspiration. They didn’t allow him to realise his dream of going to the university. I was in total shock when the news got to me. How do you explain it that a child you were waiting for to come back from the river was brought back to you a dead person? There must be an urgent end to the killing of our people. Enough is enough.”

    The father of the other victim, Moses James, tearfully told The Nation that the blood thirsty herders had shattered his joy. “My late son was my joy. He meant so much to me. He told me that he was going to the river to wash and bath, but I never knew he was bidding me farewell. The satanic agents went to the river and killed him and his friend for no reason. What did I do to deserve this indelible sorrow?” he queried.

  • Our nightmares as neighbours to the dead

    Our nightmares as neighbours to the dead

    The checks our correspondent made revealed that some residents had been living in horror as a result of their daily experiences with the cemeteries. Yet, a casual visitor to the area would be alarmed at the seeming equanimity with which the residents, including school children, view the huge number of burials that are done in their neighbourhood every day.

    While mourners wore long faces as they walked slowly in groups of two, three or more, talking in low tones, school children walked past them playfully and without any sense of feeling or concern for the grim atmosphere surrounding them.

    A resident, who pleaded not to be named, expressed surprise when asked whether the huge number of burial activities the residents witness daily, particularly the children, could have an adverse effect.

    “How can the burials have any negative impact on the children?” he retorted. “You saw them playing as they walked past the mourners. This is something they see almost every day. So I don’t think it has any negative impact on them.”

    Yet, there were residents of the street who said their experiences had not been palatable since they moved into the area. Many of them said they had developed a fear for ghosts, commonly referred to as phasmophobia or spectrophobia. Consequently, their thoughts, actions and movements are hinged on the happenings around the cemetery every day.

    Alhaja Siti has lived in the area for more than six years. Her house, a bungalow, is bounded by three cemeteries, one behind the house, another one to the right and the third only a short distance away. The elderly woman believes that most residents of the community live in fear as a result of what they see on a daily basis.

    She said: “It is impossible for one not to be fear-stricken living in this kind of environment. No matter how long you have lived here, you will at one time or the other get traumatised by the large number of cemeteries encircling the area. Only somebody who has lost every sense of human feeling would see what is happening here and still have his emotions intact.

    “For me, the trauma is not about having graves all around the area. It is about the sight of bereaved families who come to bury their dead relations amidst tears, not once or twice every day. On some occasions, some people would just come and dump dead bodies in the cemetery without any attempt to put them inside a grave. Such sights leave one emotionally wrecked and that is what we see and live with everyday.”

    At night, Siti said, the fears of the residents are heightened, especially those with a phobia for ghosts. “It is almost impossible to pass through certain areas of the community at night because you will develop goose pimples as unusual breeze blows you. Presently, we have five cemeteries in the area, but it would have been six if not that the plan to create another one was resisted by the people.

    “This move, though rejected by the people, forced many tenants out of the community because they could not come to terms with how the dead could populate an area that is meant for the living.”

    Another resident, who pleaded anonymity, said: “We want the state government to come and do something about it because it is not good for us. We have our children living with us and all they see here would have a way of affecting their psyche.”

    Although it was afternoon and the sun was shining bright, Kaseem Najium could not veil his fears for ghosts in the area. Tall and dark, Najium’s phobia for ghosts is such that he does not patronise any trader he is not familiar with in the area, especially at night.

    He said: “I don’t buy what I eat or use in the house from people that I don’t know very well. I don’t mind going outside the area to buy whatever I need. If I must buy anything here, it must be from somebody I know intimately.

    “The reason is very simple: we are living in a community surrounded by cemeteries. Some of the corpses could transform to human beings and begin to sell one thing or the other. If you buy something, especially edible products, from such a person, would your life not be in crisis?”

    Najium added: “I have read and heard accounts of dead people that transformed into human beings and go on to engage in business activities until a person who used to know her ran into her. I can bet that all the people that bought and ate what she sold would never be balanced again. I don’t want to be a victim of such and as a result would do everything possible not to fall into that trap.”

    For years, Ganiu Rasheed has operated as an okada (commercial motorcycle) rider in the Morkaz area of Agege. But while he described himself as bold and willing to take risks, he said there was no amount of money that would tempt him to take a passenger to Jafojo area once it is past 7 pm.

    He said: “I won’t take anybody to Jafojo area after 7 pm, no matter the amount you offer me. It is risky and I would not put my life on the line because of money. Everything in life is not about money. When you carry a passenger to that area late in the night, you are likely to be carrying a ghost, and if it happens that the passenger is a ghost, the trip may have unpalatable consequences.

    “We have heard numerous stories like that, but they are not what one can be narrating publicly. If the passenger is not a ghost and you are to carry him or her across the numerous cemeteries in the area at night, you may run into spirits, and if you are not lucky enough, you may not return the way you went there.

    “These and several others are the reasons why many of us would not dare go near the community late in the evening. I have personally been warned against it and would not do otherwise. It is only the stubborn fly that goes to the grave with the corpse.”

    Another resident, who simply identified himself as Adewumi, said, as a bachelor, he finds it difficult wooing ladies in the area because for fear that they might be ghosts parading themselves as human beings. For him and many of his friends, an abiding code of conduct is to stay off strange girls in the neighbourhood, no matter how beautiful they are.

    “I can’t date any lady in this area, no matter how beautiful, because it is an unusual environment. The reason is borne out of the fear of taking a ghost home. We have read and heard of men who wooed and took some women home and later found that they were ghosts. It may sound like a fairy tale, but I have never treated it with kid gloves. Even if I know the lady’s parents or her house, I would not give in to wooing her.

    “I have fears about the cemeteries and as a result, I don’t stay outside the community till late in the night. If for any reason I am outside the community till late in the night, I would pass the night in any of my friends’ house. When you come into the community late at night, your whole being may suffer some psychological crisis.”

    Akpan James did not bargain for what befell him when he went out in search of an apartment. After a fruitless search, the Akwa-Ibom State-born man was overjoyed when the agent told him he had found a good place for him.

    With the fear that he might lose out once again, he quickly paid for the apartment without even bothering to ask about the location. But no sooner was he taken to the house than it dawned on him that his new apartment is surrounded by cemeteries.

    But in sspite of his fears, he has lived in the area for 10 years because he has not been able to raise enough money to rent another apartment.

    He said: “I have been living here for the past 10 years, but I never wanted to stay here in the beginning. It happened that when I was searching for accommodation, the estate agent did not give me any inkling that the building is tucked in the middle of burial grounds. He brought me here through another street and made it appear as if that was the only street leading to the area.

    “It was after I had paid and was planning to move in that I noticed the building is surrounded by cemeteries. Immediately I saw this, I went after the agent to ask for a refund because I felt it would not be psychologically healthy for me and my family to be seeing graves and people coming to bury their deceased friends and relations every time. But all my efforts to have them refund my money failed.

    “All they told me was that I should just manage and live in the house till my rent expired. I heeded their advice because it would not be possible to get the money I paid refunded in full. If they wanted to refund the money, I wouldn’t have got half of what I paid because all the middlemen involved in the business had taken their shares and gone their various ways.

    “I thought I would leave once the rent expired, but I couldn’t because of financial challenges. I have developed thick skin to the cemeteries. I have no fear whatsoever about them. In fact, back in my hometown, I sleep on my late father’s grave because he was buried in my room and I have my bed on his grave, and since I have been sleeping there, I have not had any reasons to be petrified.”

    James’ neighbour, Goodness Samuel, is eager to move out of the area. Her fears, which are often heightened whenever she is pregnant, she said, make her to have nightmares.

    She said: “I can’t wait to move out of this environment. It is horrifying for one to be seeing graves around every minute of the day.

    “My fears about the cemeteries were heightened when I was pregnant. I was scared stiff because I didn’t want to dream about it at night. I always made sure I wiped the thought away from my mind before going to bed so that it would not end up forming what I would dream about at night. One of the steps I took to achieve this was to always take a longer route that has no cemeteries around it. That was what I did all through the time I was pregnant, although it was very strenuous.

    “We are not the only people that are terrified by the cemeteries. Commercial motorcyclists also don’t come here late in the evening. When you ask them to take you to this street, they would refuse, saying that they don’t go to cemeteries. They often refer to us as cemetery tenants and that, to me, is demeaning.

    “I am prepared to move out right now if I have the wherewithal. If my landlord asks me not to pay rent anymore, I will leave if I have the means. Even if he dashes me the whole building, I will not stay. I will only sell it to buy another house elsewhere.

    “I was scared when my family newly moved into this area because I found it strange and unhealthy to live in the middle of cemeteries.”

    But Mohammed Awale, a resident of the community, is not in any way perturbed by the presence of the cemeteries. For him, cemeteries are the last home for all mortals and therefore should not be feared by humans.

    He said: “I have no reason to be afraid of the cemeteries because that is the final home of every one of us. The people in those graves were human beings like us before they transited to the world beyond.

    “I have never encountered any ghosts since I started living here eight years ago. I am a believer and I believe that we all came from Allah and unto Him we shall all return. Guided by this belief, I have no reason to be scared about the cemeteries or hounded by stories being told about ghosts. I don’t believe in all that.”

    Mohammed’s line of thought was shared by Hauwa Sule, a trader. As a business woman, she said she sells to everybody without bothering if they could be ghost.

    She said: “I don’t have any reason to be scared of the cemeteries or the corpses buried there. Why do I have to be scared in the first place? I am here today, tomorrow I may be there with them, and if I am there, I would not have any reasons to be haunting the living. If you look at it from this point of view, you will not have any reason to be worried about the burial grounds and their contents.

    “As a business woman, I also don’t have any reasons to suspect that any customer may be a ghost, as long as he or she is not patronising me from the grave or casket. Since I have been selling goods to people and collecting money from them, none of the notes has told me that it is a ghost’s money.”

    Mohammed Sanni also says he is not disturbed by the happenings in his neighbourhood even though his house is surrounded by cemeteries. This, he said, is based on his religious beliefs.

    “I have no fear of any ghost at all. I have lived here for more than five years now, and I can tell you that I have never had a single encounter with any ghost. Moreover, I am a Muslim, and with that, there is no particular reason for me to say that I fear this or that about the cemeteries,” he said.

    Sanni’s friend and popular comedian, Funky Mallam, laughed away the talk of ghosts harassing the residents. “How can somebody who is dead drive fears into me?” he asked. “That sure is not possible. The cemeteries are home for the dead and we are living. So, we have nothing in common at all.”

    Speaking on the impact that regular burial activities in the area could have on a growing child, a psychologist, Lateefat Odunuga, said it might not be pleasing for a growing child to live around cemeteries.

    She said: “From a psychological standpoint, the emotional and behavioural state of a child living around the cemetery can be signified as miserable with lots of negative symptoms.

    “Some researchers have identified associated psychosocial symptoms such as somatic distress, preoccupation with the image of the dead, sadness, anger, intensified feelings of loneliness, fear, depression, loss of established patterns of conduct. This makes some of these children try hard to read books as the environment in which they reside is extremely quiet.

    “Some developing children are faced with myriads of challenges, such as not having friends around to visit them and inability to mix with other children in the area thus bringing about peer isolation. The social expectations of a child include making friends and learning societal cultural values. This might not be so in the case of children who live around cemeteries.

    “Inferiority complex can be developed amongst these children due to the kind of environment they find themselves. Also, some of these children might not be happy with their parents for bringing them to live in such environment.

    “Children in this category might engage in some disorders that can be threatening due to the frustrations they encounter in living in such environment.”

    Odunuga narrated the experience of a young school boy to drive home her point. The boy named Hassan, she said, became tired with going to school, because he alongside his brother had to pass through a cemetery.

    “Hassan and his brother routinely had to cross a cemetery to get to school. They had no choice because it was the only route that leads to their school. The uncomfortable silence and the aura of death oozing out of the environment gave them goose bumps.

    “Seeing people gathered with such sad faces and tears, the sight of caskets and digging of graves make them sad and perturbed.

    “They see people pouring sand into the grave with tears in their eyes and sadness in their faces. Although they may not know why, they know it is not for a good reason. The problem of death concerned him very early in life as this was never a pleasant experience for him.”

  • Nigeria of nightmares or dreams; Biometrically over-captured; NEITI; NIMASA Life Jackets

    The Al Shabaab outrageous attack on the Westgate Mall, Kenya, claiming as many as 60 lives, is a duplication of what is happening daily in Nigeria with Boko Haram and the cattle/Fulani herders-wilful destruction of lives and properties- terrorism.   In addition in Nigeria, there is political devilry, death and destruction all around deconstructing the country. The fatally flawed 1999 constitution, the disastrous over-centralisation of the Federal Government and the underdevelopment arising from Corruption, Incompetence, Negligence and Selfishness, CINS, have led us to a serious crossroads- de-amalgamation and de-Nigerianisation. At last even David Mark, long-sitting senate president, has mentioned the words ‘National Conference’ without spitting but without the key word ‘Sovereign’. Nigerians need to be treated with more respect than to be thrown a political ‘bone’ when they demand their rights. The current political restlessness is consequent to an outrageously flamboyant anti-people lifestyle of politicians and top civil servants. It has unpredictable consequences. Over 40 years of political leadership failure created a desperate generation of callous cheats, killers and politicians with mostly dangerous democratic credentials- ‘Winning by buying power’.

    We suffer in ‘The Nigeria of Our Nightmares’ with governments robbing the citizens officially. Though many Nigerians of my generation have worked lifelong to help create the ‘Nigeria of Our Dreams’, it escapes us. We are urged to pay more taxes for less service. While Italian engineers are righting wronged giant Costa Concordia ships, Nigerians have deadly bumpy rides on potholed roads neglected by Nigeria’s political class.

    Nigerians are slapped and punched repeatedly by the many hands and fists of government. Nigerians have been slapped stupid by poor power supply, roads and services and greedy governance. Are we now to register and tax generators, boreholes, wells and overhead tanks – by which Nigerians ‘manage’ and survive the massive corruption and incompetence of government? This is a TAX ON SURVIVAL, A TAX ON EXISTENCE!

    Nigerians are denied simple fingerprint investigation for want of a computerised Nigerian fingerprint bank. Yet Nigerians have been ‘biometric over-captured’. We have computerised biometric data banks from ID cards x 3, INEC Voter’s Cards X 2, passport registration, phone SIM card registration X each number, bank registration, PIN number, TIN number, FRSC Driver’s Licence X2, FRSC Vehicle Plate Number 2 and the New Police Vehicle Registration?

    We are over-registered. The cost to government and citizens’ time and money, totals many billions. Billions will roll into the FRSC and Police but who will account for this money extorted ‘legally illegally’. If this is not 419, what is?  Who will unite all biometric data banks?

    Does some Nigerian actually say at a government meeting ‘Let us screw Nigerians with yet another scam? Any suggestions? The same again? Wow, how brilliant. And remember we must not share our registration data bank with any other organisations. Swear!’

    Not surprisingly, the NGO Good Governance Initiative Nigerians, GGI, confirms that Nigerians are forced to spend N2,700,000,000,000 /annum on fuelling generators. Which oil marketer will want PHCN to improve? Only a true nationalist presidential leadership will overcome corporate oil power to give us electric power, especially solar power. Rome’s Emperor Tiberius the Tyrant was followed by the even worse Emperor Caligula the Cruel. What hope for Nigeria where the leadership is self-serving? The crassness of corruption knows no bounds in Nigeria.

    But there is hope. Nigerians should send letters of encouragement to the iconic ‘People’s Lawyers’ including Femi Falana for, among other things, fighting for the rights of children to decent education and Akure-based lawyer, Morakinyo Ogele who is suing FRSC over the new number plate. They are fighting for us at their own expense.  Do something yourself like fundraising for legal battles.

    There is more hope. Under a ‘Safety at Sea Programme’, NIMASA’s distribution of life jackets Nembe Bonny Waterfront is a wonderful demonstration of ‘normal’. 25,000 still needed. The life jacket is to water what the Insecticide Treated Net, ITN, is to malaria.

    There is even more hope. A Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative, NEITI’s retrospective audit has recovered $2billion. The fear of NEITI is the beginning of wisdom. Beyond recovery, NEITI has forced industry players to play it straighter in 2013. The deterrent effect of an independent NEITI, EFCC or ICPC Desk in all top organisation will prevent much corporate and MDA corruption. Yes, it may also promote EFCC and ICPC corruption but we hope not. We need to institute awards like GCON for NEITI- type organisations.

    Stowaway boy, Daniel Oikhena was heading for America. Unlike Zik of Africa, whose ‘humble beginnings’ led him to stow away on a ship, Daniel chose a ‘ landing gear seat’ and is due for psychiatric tests. Does anyone offer psychiatric tests to those poor youth escaping Nigeria crossing the murderous Sahara and the deadly Mediterranean to camps like Lampedusa, Italy? Does anyone offer psychiatric tests to National Assembly, NASS members voting  ‘Life Salaries’ for NASS principle officers, tax exemptions, or voting themselves the highest Salaries and Perks- SAP- and corruption-ridden constitutional projects? With many unemployed psychologists we should demand psychological and psychiatric tests on government ‘uniforms’ who to go berserk daily draining Nigeria’s morale and young life-blood. How many must die to make a nation? How many farmers have been killed by Fulani in Plateau and Iseyin? And we still eat cow meat! Are we a spineless people? Ask the dead ‘Was Nigeria worth dying for?’ Politicians should stop boasting about nothing; look around the world and deliver Nigeria into the 21st Century, mentally, morally and materially!

     

  • Keshi bluffs No nightmares over Eagles’ foes

    Keshi bluffs No nightmares over Eagles’ foes

    • Keen on grabbing Sydney Sam

    Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi has stated that he is not worried about his team’s group opponents in next year’s African Cup of Nations in South Africa.

    The Big Boss in an interview on Tuesday disclosed that the only thing that occupies his mind for now is how to build a formidable team ahead of the continent’s biggest football fiesta which kicks of January 19.

    The Eagles are drawn in Group C alongside current Champions, Zambia, Burkina Faso as well as Ethiopia.

    “I only need to think about my team and my players. I don’t need to be worried about Zambia, Burkina Faso and Ethiopia. My team is more important. Let them worry about us and let me concentrate on my team,” Keshi said.

    He added: “What we need to do is to be focused and understand what we need to do on the field, that is the most important thing.”

    The former Eagles captain also reiterated his desire to have Germany-born Bayer Leverkusen midfielder, Sidney Sam and some new faces like Bright Dike in his team for African Cup of Nations.

    He said: “I think it is good to have some new faces in the team. Bright Dike came into the team a few hours before our last friendly game in Miami and he did well for somebody who had never played with any player in the national team before.

    “Sydney Sam is a kind of player you would wish to have in the national team. He is a good quality player. We will see how it goes.”