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Tag: ordeal

  • My two-week ordeal, by freed Ondo Regent

    My two-week ordeal, by freed Ondo Regent

    The abducted Regent of Akungba-Akoko in Akoko South West Local Government Area of Ondo State, Princess Toyin Omosowon, yesterday regained her freedom.

    It was learnt that her rescue followed the intervention of a combined team of soldiers and officers of the Department of State Security (DSS), who invaded the kidnappers’ den.

    Also freed were a senior official of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) and the driver of the Regent, who were both abducted with her.

    The 45-year-old regent and her aides were waylaid on June 3 on the Owo/Oba-Akoko/Akungba-Akoko Road on her way from Akure, where she attended a function at the Federal University of Technology.

    The regent, who was driven to the Government House, Alagbaka, Akure, by security personnel, had a brief meeting with Governor Olusegun Mimiko before she moved to Akungba-Akoko.

    Two of the suspected kidnappers David Ekpen (52) and Lucky Smart (35) were also seen at the Government House.

    A third suspect died during the gun battle with security personnel.

    Ekpen said he was a driver whose vehicle was hijacked by some culprits, who he later discovered were kidnappers.

    Mimiko said the princess had gone through a terrible experience, stressing that the regent’s abduction was an unfortunate incident in the state’s history.

    The governor hailed security agencies for rescuing her. He said the kidnappers would be punished in line with the existing laws of the state.

    He said the state frowns at kidnapping and other crimes.

    Narrating her ordeal, Princess Omosowon said she was driven to a forest in Ifon, headquarters of Ose Local Government Area.

    She said she was forced to sleep in a cocoa plantation for days while she refused the foods given to her.

    Her words: “When I got to the forest where they drove me to, I was told by the kidnappers that they had been paid to kill me. They told me that I prevented the people of Akungba-Akoko from having a substantive traditional ruler.

    “I told them I was made regent a few years ago and I was not the one preventing the community from having a monarch, but they insisted that I would be killed,” she added.

    Princess Omosowon recalled that the kidnappers demanded for N200 million after days of pleading with them.

    She said: “They told me that N200 million is the price for my life and when I complained that my people cannot get the money they told me to tell them to tell Governor Mimiko.”

    The regent said she was tortured and denied good food, adding that she had developed ulcer.

    The Army, in a statement by the Assistant Director, Army Public Relations, Capt O.I Adenegan, said soldiers of the 32 Artillery Brigade, Akure, led the rescue operations.

    The statement reads: “The successful rescue operation of the Regent of was led by the soldiers of 32 Artillery Brigade, Akure.

    “The joint operation was conducted with officials of the Department of State Security Service (DSS) from Ondo and Edo states.

    “The kidnapped victims were rescued in Ose Local Government, behind Ose Market. Other victims are the regent’s driver, Aliyu Abdulwalil, CSO Opute Sunday, a corps member, Miss Ijeoma Azubuike and an Indian, Mr Alex, who was kidnapped in Port Harcourt.

    “During the operation, one of the suspects was killed and two of the other suspects Mr David and Lucky were arrested.

    “This should serve as a warning to all criminals in the state, that the Brigade has zero tolerance to crime and always ready to secure lives and properties in the state.”

  • My ordeal, by rescued girl

    My ordeal, by rescued girl

    •Kidnap victim returns from Libya

    •Five held 

    One year after she was kidnapped and sold into sex-slavery in Libya, Precious Ugochi Okoro, 15, has been rescued by the police.

    She relived her ordeal yesterday when her suspected kidnappers were paraded by Lagos State Commissioner of Police Kayode Aderanti.

    The suspects are: Innocent Onyekwe, 38; Ugwu Christopher Maduabuchi, 37; Christian Mercy Chima,19; Kelvin Okorie, 27, and Ogbonna Njoku, 20.

    Precious said: “I did Junior Secondary Class ‘3’ before I became a victim. That fateful day, I left home in the evening and was going back to school. I boarded a vehicle from Ajah/Epe area moving towards Ijebu-Ode with the intention of alighting at Obalende. It was late and I could not get any vehicle going to Obalende where I alighted. After waiting for 30 minutes, I started trekking to Obalende.

    “Along the line, I saw a group of about five boys and girls and became happy because everywhere was desolate. Unfortunately, their language changed as they started wielding cutlasses, axes and other dangerous weapons claiming to be cultists. They beat me to the point of death at about 11pm because I left home at about 5pm that fateful day after collecting money from my father. They threatened to kill me if I did not join them.

    “Later I found myself in Ojota. The guy who took me to Ojota with his car promised to protect me. When he went to work, he left his phone and I used it to call my cousin, Kelvin. When Daniel, Kelvin’s friend, said he would help me to travel to Libya, Kelvin said he would help to perfect it. The next day he collected the Yellow Card. We spent four weeks to the desert where we spent five days in the desert.”

    She went on: “When we reached Libya, I rested for three days. They took me to a place they call “connection” and asked me to wait. As I was waiting, a woman came and asked me if I knew why I was there and I said I came to work and school. She got annoyed and said I did not know why I was there.

    “They started punishing me until I accepted to be paying $3000 through prostitution and $6,000 to regain my freedom. They even cut the hair in my pubic, armpit and head. They threatened to make me mad should I reveal what they were doing to me to anybody. They even collected money totalling N250,000 from my mother without letting me know.”

    Aderanti also spoke on what she went through before her rescue.

    He said: “On May 25, 2014, one Precious Ugochi Okoro of 55, Igboroko Street, Lakwe, Ajah in Lagos, who was on her way back to her school, a boarding facility in Ikenne, Ogun State, was kidnapped. The kidnappers, after two months of holding the victim against her will and all rules of decency, contacted her parents using various telephone numbers and demanded various sums of money ranging from $30,000, N200,000 and N30,000 as ransom with different account numbers as details for receiving the demanded ransom.”

    The police chief said concerted investigations began, involving the Police Divisional Headquarters, Ajah; Department of Criminal Investigation (DCI), Panti, Yaba, and theSpecial Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) using advanced tactics and technology.

    He said with the arrest of the victim’s relation simply named Kelvin, contact was established with a member of the gang in Libya, leading to the safe return of the victim to Lagos last Friday.

    Processes of rehabilitating her and re-integrating her back into society have begun.

    “It is very important that parents and guardians pay more attention to their children and wards especially those attending boarding schools. They should ensure that they personally take them to such schools and bring them back to ensure their safety. However, where probably the exigencies of duty may not permit such, they should ensure that a responsible and trusted adult does this for them,” Aderanti said.

    He said: “This criminal gang is a menace to the society. No effort will be spared in partnership with Interpol National Central Bureau, Nigeria, to round up its remaining members no matter where they may be on the face of this earth. From the victim, we have learnt that there are over a thousand teenagers of our nationality who are being held in such circumstances. We are already working to liberate them.”

    Kelvin said he was paid N10,000 to sell the girl to the guy in Libya, adding that he was with Daniel when he sold her.

    He said Daniel also connected Ogbonna, the elder brother of the guy in Libya, at Alaba Market.

    “I am a tiler. I am from Ogun State. Precious is my cousin’s sister. She came to me to rescue her but the devil made me to sell her,” added Kelvin.

    Ogbonna, who hails from Ohazala in Ebonyi State, said: “They called and asked me of my Libya-based younger brother’s phone number and I gave them. It was Daniel that I gave the number of my brother Nzubuchukwu. I can swear that Kelvin did not tell me that her parents were looking for her and I did not understand the game they were playing with my brother’s phone number until I was arrested.”

    Command’s spokesman Ken Nwosu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), said some of the suspects had been charged to court.

     

  • Orekoya and wife relive ordeal

    Orekoya and wife relive ordeal

    A day after they reunited with their children, the parents of three children kidnapped by a nanny in Lagos, Mr Adeleke Orekoya and his wife, Adebisi, relive their experience in a chat with journalists. TAJUDEEN ADEBANJO was there, 

    How has it been with the family in the last one week?

    It has not been easy over the past seven, eight days. At some point, things got out of hands that we did not even know which direction to turn to. But I thank God because the impact of the prayers was richly felt via the direction that He gave us. We want to thank everybody, friends and family members, even those we did not know that called in to say one thing or the other. They advised us on how to go about things and to even pray on our behalf. We want to thank everybody, including the media.

    Any regrets with the way things turned out?

    I do not have any regrets getting her (the nanny, Funmilayo) from OLX because I have been using OLX for more than three years now. As a matter of fact, I have had three different nannies over the past two to three years, and I got them from OLX. In fact, I must say that two nannies before this, I got them through OLX. One stayed with us for two years without any issue. The agent contacted us, we recruited her and she stayed with us for two years. When it was time for her to leave, she gave us one month and left thereafter.

    After that, we got another one who absconded without any information whatsoever. We gave her Easter break; she went and didn’t come back. She did not even call. And then we ran into this one. It can happen to anyone with a nanny, whether she has been with you for three years or one day or even 25 years. The most important thing is that prayer is the only way that can safeguard one from what we went through.

    Indeed, we had our wrong, which is that we prioritised work to a large extent over our assets, including our children. As a result, we paid dearly for it. The trauma we went through cannot be described because there were some other things that came up that we didn’t discuss with anybody. We had four instances of scammers calling us and pretending to be the kidnappers. One even called last (Wednesday) night after we have recovered our children, telling us that the kids were with him and demanding for money. You can imagine how evil some people can be.

    Are you considering instituting court action against OLX?

    There is no reason on earth for us to institute a court action against OLX. We requested for a nanny and somebody applied. That the person that applied had other motives other than that doesn’t mean that the platform on which we placed the advert is at fault. It wasn’t OLX that sent the person to us. They only allow us to place an advert for what we need. Somebody else can apply. It is our responsibility to be vigilant while recruiting the person.

    But the point I am making now is that the nanny could have been with us for three months and still do what she did.

    It didn’t make us think OLX is not a good site to use. Like I said earlier, we learnt our lesson. We made a mistake but it doesn’t mean someone that doesn’t make mistake cannot be subjected to what we went through. The people that can hit you the most are the people that are closest to you. Someone that is far away from you cannot know when you would not be at home. And whenever you have a nanny, nobody can tell me that if he has a nanny, he or she has never left home with the nanny and kids alone, except we are deceiving ourselves.

    There is no fault on OLX in what has happened. OLX provided a platform for people to advertise and to make a request for whatever they want. It is the primary responsibility of whoever has advertised or is buying anything to put all the necessary checks and balances in place.

    How do you feel reuniting with your kids?

    You know when your joy hits the roof and goes beyond the roof, that kind of feeling where you jump up for joy. We already had the information earlier in the day. It wasn’t as if it was new to us that night. We knew we were going to get the children back that day (Wednesday). The day we got the children back, we knew we were going to get them back. The only thing was that because of what we were doing, we could not let anybody know.

    Would you go for another nanny?

    In respect to that, our focus now is that our children should live safely. That there would be another nanny to be recruited later is not something I want to think about right now. The most important thing is that the one week the children have been away, I have had some differences here and there. My focus right now is to erase any psychological issue they may have had by bonding with them and making them remember the things we used to do.

     

    Mrs Adebisi Orekoya on the nanny

    She was just here for one day. I don’t know what motive she might have had but money is the root of all evils as people say. The desire for money can make anybody to do anything.

    What happened to me can happen to anyone. I believe human beings come in different forms. They can be good and they can be bad. Even this nanny can be an angel to some people, but she is an evil person in another direction. If someone does something wrong to me, I want to understand what made the person do it. I understand now that Mary is a kidnapper. That is her job and she is a professional.

    But she was like an angel when she resumed. The lady that spent one month here could not do what she did in one day. She is a very clean person and well-trained. We cannot because of that say we should be careful with everyone that acts like an angel. I don’t want to join in what everyone else has said about her. If she had continued with what she was doing and stayed on till the second day and a year, nobody would say anything bad about her. The mistake I made is that I left her with my kids.

    Seeing your kids naked at Egbeda…

    On seeing my kids, I know that they had not been taking good care of them. They left them naked. One of them said, ‘Mummy, imagine. They put us inside nylon and the heat was too much. Look at my body. They put us inside nylon and locked us in a car.’ I was thinking they even put them inside the boot. I would like to see Mary and somebody should help me do the same to her so that she would know how the children felt. It is like I am still dreaming.

    Did your children say if they were in one place or moved about?

    They only told me “our new house” whenever they referred to where they were taken to. I asked how many people were there and they said, “One guy like that like our brother’s face.” So I guess there are still some kids in their custody. They said they were only given noodles and rice. A kidnapper that is asking for money is doing business. I would have expected them to take good care of my children.

    How has it been for you?

    You’ve been here. I’ve heard some people saying I was going crazy, and it is true because if I sit, I would still be imagining, “three children”.

    What do you have to say about women who are full housewives?

    They love their children. My husband is not a politician so he cannot be pumping me with money.

    What advice do you have for fellow women?

    Prayer is the only thing that helps anyone. Looking at all that has happened and the possibilities that could have taken place, we believe it is only God’s help and prayer that can save anyone from going through what we have been through. It is not because we were not being diligent. What I can say in all this is that God’s favour and prayer is the only safeguard.

  • ‘My ordeal in hands of Civil Defence officer’

    ‘My ordeal in hands of Civil Defence officer’

    A media executive, Mr. Erasmus Ikhide has petitioned the Edo State Commissioner of Police over an alleged assault by an officer of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Eruere, Owan West Local Government area.

    In the petition, the incident occurred on April 11 as the victim was on a queue to vote in the last State House of Assembly election.

    According to his lawyer, O. A Iguodala, Ikhide was without provocation severely beaten up and threatened with a gun by an officer of the NSCDC identified as Omueti Iregbeyen Chickson. He also alleged that Ikhide was beaten up on the instructions of a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) agent identified as Wilson Ilevbaogun.

    Iguodala said:  “Our client with other voters were at Unit 2, Eruere between the hours of 3:30 and 5:pm, the above named civil defence officer came  in company of four other officers. He started asking the polling station officer and the agents if there was any problem. They answered in the negative.”

    Iguodala continued: “That as our client turned his back to look, without any provocation whatsoever, the said Mr. Omueti Iregbeyen Chickson descended on him. He started flogging him with the horsewhip in his hand, and he fell on the ground. He again followed this up with gun butt beating until one of the senior officers came to his rescue,” he said.

    The petitioner said the incident caused panic at the polling station with voters running for their lives, he however prayed the police to begin investigation into the matter.

  • Sharks: Our ordeal in Jos

    Sharks: Our ordeal in Jos

    The match between Giwa FC and Sharks FC in week 33 of the Nigeria Professional Football League was called off due to violent conduct by fans of Giwa FC, according to Sharks FC officials in a release.

    The game was goalless at half time when trouble started.

    According to Sharks FC media officer, Peter Abaje in a release made available to SportingLife: “The players and match officials were going back to their dressing rooms, when some angry Giwa fans blocked referee K.S. Akinwale  and started beating him up for not awarding a penalty to Giwa. They also gave him an ultimatum that if they do not get a penalty in the second half, he will not go unpunished. It took the intervention of two military officers to rescue the referee from the fans.

    “On resumption of play in the second half, Sharks re-started the game with their brilliant passing style which left the Giwa players searching for the ball. The Blue Angels continued to press hard thereby causing some section of the supporters to turn their allegiance to the away side because of their brilliant passing game. Just after the hour mark, the referee awarded a penalty kick to Giwa FC.

    “The penalty happened when Gabriel Olalekan of Sharks jumped to head  the ball from the Giwa half, in the process a big stone was thrown at him by a Giwa fan and while trying to gain his balance with blood all over his face, the Giwa player threw himself at Gabriel and the referee wasted no time in awarding a penalty to the homers, no thanks to the slap and death threat he received from angry home supporters during the interval. Sharks players, however, protested against the penalty, and refused to continue playing while on the field of play.

    “Our players also called for the attention of the match commissioner and security operatives to the stones that were thrown onto the pitch, and it did not take long before the centre referee went to the centre half and called off the game.  Sharks players and officials were guarded out of the stadium by security men and could not stay in Jos that night due to security concerns.

    “The match commissioner is a pastor and as a man of God he will not be diplomatic with the truth.

    “We just hope that the LMC guy clement will be sincere enough to tell his people in Abuja what he saw and what the match commissioner told him about the slaps the referee got from fans,” Abaje said in a release sent to SportingLife.

  • My airport ordeal, by Ezekwesili

    My airport ordeal, by Ezekwesili

    A former Education Minister and #BringBackOurGirls campaigner, Dr Oby Ezekwesili, has narrated her ordeal, on Monday, in the hands of security operatives at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.

    Mrs Ezekwesili was delayed for over 40 minutes by men of the Department of State Security (DSS), who said they were following “orders from above”.

    The former minister spoke on Tuesday with members of the Christian Association of Nigerian-Americans (CANAN), to whom she is a trustee.

    She gave details of what transpired between her and the security operatives as she waited to board an aircraft to London for a television programme on the BBC.

    A statement by CANAN’s Executive Director, Pastor Laolu Akande, after Ezekwesili’s visit to the group in London, revealed details of her ordeal.

    Ezekwesili said: “I arrived at the airport yesterday (Monday) to travel to London by British Airline. First, after the luggage screening section, I moved to the Customs area, sitting next to it. They were doing a thorough bag search. Rather than handle my luggage, as is the (normal) practice, there were three State Security Service (SSS) men, who rudely took over before they (Customs officials) could do so. They (SSS) ordered me to open my bag.

    “I was travelling light, with just my hand luggage, leather roll-on and my computer bag. I placed the bag for them (to see). But one was already furiously rummaging through it, when the Customs advised that a woman be allowed to do it. She was allowed, and she did it.

    “She finished, zipped up the luggage. Then they said I could proceed. But I asked that the computer bag be also searched, and they did.

    “I went to do my checking and got my boarding pass. This was swiftly done. I arrived at the Departure of the Immigration Desk at 7.15am and presented my passport and forms. The Immigration worker did the processing and handed it to the SSS official. “Usually, the process lasts no more than five to 10 minutes on a passport. As a frequent traveller through our Lagos and Abuja airports, I speak from experience and evidence. Even on the same day, the process for other travellers that I witnessed did not last more than five minutes. But on Monday, it became five, 10, 15 and 20, 25, 30, 35, 40 minutes for the Departure Desk processing my papers, without any explanation except: ‘We are acting on instruction.’”

    Ezekwesili said after 10 minutes of waiting, she asked the officer why her passport had not been handed over to her.

    Quoting the officer, she said: ‘I am not doing this personally, madam. I am simply acting on instruction. You, of all persons, should understand that.’

  • 219 Chibok girls’ ordeal, by Australian negotiator

    219 Chibok girls’ ordeal, by Australian negotiator

    •Jonathan hires foreign mediator               •Cameroun troops kill 40 Boko Haram men

    SOME of the over 200 abducted Chibok schoolgirls have painted a picture of life in Boko Haram custody.

    Referring to a video said to have been seen by it, The Mail on Sunday  yesterday claimed that eight girls spoke in the footage. The girls, dressed in their pale blue gingham school uniform, were said to have pleaded for release.

    The video, which the paper described as “heartbreaking”, was said to have been shot in a jungle clearing a month after the girls’ abduction.

    An Australian cleric, Dr. Stephen Davis, said to have been hired by President Goodluck Jonathan, is negotiating for the release of the girls, who were abducted in their school on April 15.

    Dr. Davis, described as a friend of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has been working secretly in Nigeria for almost a month now, the newspaper said.

    At the weekend, Cameroun security forces killed no fewer than 40 Boko Haram militants in clashes in the country’s far north, the state radio said yesterday.

    Describing how the girls looked on the video, The Mail on Sunday said: “They are clearly scared, upset and trying to be brave. Each of them walks in turn to a spot in front of a white sheet fixed to a crude frame between the trees.”

    Four of them, it said, could be heard clearly, in Hausa, stating that they were taking by force and that they are hungry.

    “A tall girl, aged about 18, says tearfully, ‘my family will be worried’.

    “Another speaking softly, says: ‘I never expected to suffer like this in my life’. A third says: ‘They have taken us away by force’. The fourth girl complains: ‘We are not getting enough food’.”

    The girls were said to have looked healthy and spoken bravely. Some are, however, said to have fallen ill, including one with a broken wrist.

    The video, taken by an intermediary on May 19, is said to have been shown to Dr. Jonathan to serve as “proof of life” for the girls and to encourage him to accede to Boko Haram’s demands.

    Two earlier videos showed the girls seated on the ground, dressed in hijab, reciting the Quran, and Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau declaring he would sell them into slavery, or marry them off to their kidnappers, if members of his sect were not released from prison.

    Dr. Davis, the paper said is “desperately” trying to free the girls after leaving his home in Perth, Australia, to travel to Nigeria following his recruitment by Dr. Jonathan for his hostage negotiation expertise.

    The former Canon Emeritus at Coventry Cathedral in the UK, who moved back to Australia last year, reportedly told MailOnline: “I am encouraged by the progress.”

    He was asked to come to Nigeria after previously brokering a truce between the government and Niger Delta militants in 2004.

    Along with Mr Welby, he was frequently blindfolded and held at gunpoint during his peace work.

    In an email from Nigeria, Davis revealed he has had “ongoing contact” with the groups involved in kidnappings in the North for seven years.

    “This is a long process of building trust on both sides,” he said.

    “There are several groups to deal with as the girls are held in several camps. This makes any thought of a rescue highly improbable. To attempt to rescue one group would only endanger the others.”

    Despite the difficulties of a rescue operation, Dr Davis remains hopeful that the girls will be freed.

    “Every day there is the possibility of the release of the girls,” he said.

    “This is painful for the parents and the nation. The well-being of the girls is constantly on our minds and we want to see their release as soon as possible,” he said, adding: “We must not endanger their lives any further”.

    Pressure from the international community and criticism of the President’s slow response to the kidnapping have led to a series of contradictory pronouncements from his administration.

    Ministers have declared that the government would not negotiate with Boko Haram, or consider the release of prisoners, while official spokesmen have said “the window is always open for dialogue”.

    At a Paris peace summit, several West African countries vowed to join Nigeria in an “outright war” against Boko Haram. Britain, France and America pledged their support and have sent teams of military experts and advisers to the region.

    Intelligence sources have told The Mail on Sunday of several rescue attempts, one involving the release of suspected low-level Boko Haram members detained without charges or trial.

    Two attempts were aborted at the last minute when the sect members became afraid while delivering a group of girls to a safe location.

    Last week, the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal Alex Badeh, said the government knew the location of the girls, claiming that the police and military had been “following them” since the abduction. He refused to divulge details, saying it would put the girls in further danger.

    Sources said Marshal Badeh’s remark may have been the result of government officials seeing the new, unpublished video. They may have been able to persuade Boko Haram’s intermediary to provide details of the location. It is believed the hostages have been split into at least four groups.

    “The vast majority of the Chibok girls are not being held in Nigeria,” Dr Davis said, adding: “They are in camps across the Nigerian border in Cameroon, Chad and Niger. I say the vast majority as I know a small group was confirmed to me to be in Nigeria last week when we sought to have them released.”

    He described how tough the negotiation has been.

    “One of that small group of girls is ill and we had hoped we might convince the commander of the group holding her that she should be released so we could give her medical treatment.

    “There are other girls who are not well and we have come close to having them released but their captors fear a trap in which they will be captured in the handover process.

    “One girl has what I assume is a broken wrist as they demonstrate to me how she holds her hand. I have been told that others are sick and in need of medical attention,” Davis said.

    A military source said: “This has been a race against time from the minute they were captured. As soon as the girls left Nigerian soil it was always going to be more difficult.

    “The government made no attempt at a rescue until a month after they were taken. Now the situation gets more serious by the day.

    “Any sort of attempt to get them would have to be cleared by the governments of the other nations.”

    Condemnations of the government’s failure to address the Boko Haram menace, ever since a proposed peace deal failed last August – leading to the extension of a state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states – continued worldwide last week.

    US Senator Robert Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Nigeria had been “tragically and unacceptably slow” to begin a search.

    Former anti-graft czar Nuhu Ribadu has accused the government of “total failure”.

  • Our Boko Haram ordeal, by Emir

    Our Boko Haram ordeal, by Emir

    An Emir yesterday painted a gory picture of what his people are going through as a result of the Boko Haram insurgency in Borno State.

    The Emir of Gwoza, the hilly community in the northeast state, said his 650,000 people are frustrated and ready to move out to other parts of the state or to a neigbouring country because of the activities of Boko Haram.

    Alhaji Idrissa Timta, in a statement in Maiduguri, the state capital, said economic activities had been cut off, in addition to daily invasions and killings by the sect. There is no more social life. Farms are being invaded, he added.

    The people have witnessed increased attacks with mass killings by the insurgents in the last four months, the Emir said in the statement signed on his behalf by Gwoaza Emirate Council Information Officer Ahmed Karau.

    The Emir called for a better policing of the Gwoza-Maiduguri highway to enable the people resume their normal economic lives stalled by the activities of the sect on the major highways.

    “Even the food crops cultivated by them in the last farming season have ended up with the Boko Haram as the harvests were seized by the insurgents, making life unbearable.

    “There is an urgent need for the security agents to intensify and change their tactics of operation to stop the mass killings in this area,” Alhaji Timta said.

    He said the insurgents had also killed many people by blocking major highways, and appealed to security agents to intensify patrol on these roads to prevent the attacks.

    “If care is not taken my people will completely flee the area to neighbouring states and countries for safety,’’ he said

    The emir urged the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 7 Division of the Army and other security arms to stop Boko Haram from killing people on the Gwoza – Maiduguri highway.

    Alhaji Timta said poor security has caused the death of 350 people this year in the hands of the insurgents on the 135-kilometre Gwoza-Maiduguri; and 152-kilometre Askira-Chibok-Damboa-Maiduguri Forest roads.

    In January there were “ambushing and killing” of innocent motorists and passengers daily.

    Besides the “blocking and taking over” of three roads in the chiefdom, two bridges on the Bama-Gwoza and Damboa-Gwoza roads have been blown up and destroyed completely with explosives by insurgents.

    According to the Emir, these and other life threatening activities of insurgents have prevented many traders and motorists from travelling to Maiduguri.

    “In fact and sincerely speaking, my people, including the traders and other businessmen and women, have been prevented from travelling to Maiduguri to buy industrial and household goods for sale to customers in my chiefdom with an estimated population of 655, 000 in 11 wards and other border communities with Cameroon.

    “Besides, there is no blessed day the Boko Haram gunmen have not killed between seven to 15 commuters on these three roads that they’ve taken over.

    “My people have been prevented from going to work on their farmlands since last year and even the limited cultivated farmlands with harvests, including my 350-hectre farmlands and Orchards at Jaje village, were seized by the insurgents last October.

    “How can the people of Gwoza meet their family requirements for basic needs of food, water and security? This is why my people cannot go to farm or market to survive and continue to face these challenges of insecurity to lives and property in this chiefdom, bordering Cameroon along the hill dwellers of Duhwedeh and Mafa communities.

    “I am pleading; and will continue to plead with the military, police and other security agencies to take urgent actions on the three major trunk roads which have been blocked and taken over in Gwoza council area,” he said.

    Also at the weekend, Minister of State for Power Mohammed Wakil said Federal Government projects in Borno and Yobe states would be completed on schedule in spite of the harassment of contractors by insurgents.

    Wakil spoke in Maiduguri during a visit to the site of a 33 KVA transmission substation on Damboa/Biu road.

    Wakil said the substation was almost 80 per cent completed. He said the substation was designed to support power supply to the entire Borno State, which he said has very low level of power supply.

    “I am glad to announce that despite the insurgency, power projects and other Federal projects are ongoing. Our people are undaunted in their determination to benefit from the transformation agenda of the President. I commend the project team for not bowing to terror,” he said.

    Deputy Managing Director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, said: “The implementation is progressing on schedule; the team working on the project is in high spirits despite the security challenges. On completion, the substation will ensure improvement in the power situation in Borno State.”

  • ‘My ordeal at NIS test centre in Lagos’

    ‘My ordeal at NIS test centre in Lagos’

    Ogbonna Francis, one of the applicants at the last Saturday’s Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) aptitude test, recounts his experience at the National Stadium, Lagos. Adediwura Aderibigbe reports that this incident has once again exposed the high rate of unemployment in the country.

    Ogbonna Francis was one of those who attempted the charade called aptitude test last Saturday; he never envisaged a rather bitter experience in the quest to secure a job.

    He escaped death but not without a fractured arm.

    Francis relives his ordeal at the National Stadium Lagos: “It’s actually something I would not want to remember again especially now that I still find myself jobless after all the efforts I made towards making sure that I write the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) screening test.

    “On the 14th of March 2014, I left my home for Surulere in my uncle’s place so as to meet up with time and beat the Lagos Traffic jam for the test slated for the following day. While in my uncles place I did all the necessary research I could trying to get all relevant information about the Nigeria Immigration Service.

    “Fully prepared for the test, I left home at about 5.50 am, to my utmost surprise there was already a mammoth of applicants in their white shirts and shorts. The sight rekindled the memory of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) days when we were always decked in white on white in orientation camp.

    “The crowd was so much and the so called Immigration Officials were inactive. As a result, applicants including myself had to force our way into the stadium. There were neither chairs nor tables. No protocols; all I saw were a huge number of applicants looking at us from the gallery. A female friend had nudged me doubting if the test would hold. I had to urge her to wait to see how the event unfolds, not knowing I will be a victim.

    “The gates that led to the gallery were under locks and keys so applicants had to apply some little stunts to get seated and wait for the questions to arrive. We managed to climb atop the gate. We checked on the gallery gates to see if it had been opened but no way, we had no option than to jump down which seemed more dangerous than climbing up.

    “It seemed our climbing was in vain, applicants were frustrated about the mess.   Yes, and that doom moment came, some scaled through while jumping others suffered minor injuries but my turn was a different ball game entirely. I tried my best to make it but I was not successful on trying to jump and I had a vicious fall, landing on my arm. I consequently suffered a dislocation. I felt unconscious for a while but thanks to my fellow unemployed colleagues they lifted me and tried to stretch my arms a little it looked serious but I tried to push on no matter the odds.

    “On getting down to the main bowl of the stadium, tears rolled down my eyes with what I saw. The so called Immigration Officers were flinging question papers into the air; applicants resorted to fighting each other in order to get the question paper. The struggle became intense such that security operatives fired tear gas at us; gunshots in the air. Many applicants fainted, injuries and calamities of all sorts took happened at almost the same time — it never looked like we were there to write a test at all.

    “So many thoughts were running through my mind; I was overwhelmed with regrets, with all the stress; had I known. My N1000 and all other expenses made all gone. But above all, I thank God I came back alive although I have to consult a doctor to put my bones back in order.”

    The above experience could be regarded as mild in relation to what others went through. A couple in Benin, Edo State, Mr. Timothy Omuagbon and his wife Grace were not as lucky as Francis, they sustained more serious injuries at the Ben Ogbemudia Stadium venue of the aptitude test — they are being treated at the emergency ward of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) as reported in The Nation on March 20.

    Grace suffered a broken rib and scapula during the stampede at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin City while her husband had bruises. It was reported that a can was provided to help her drain out blood from her broken rib and she was put on oxygen yesterday.

    Grace was quoted to have said: “As we were going in, people were struggling to get in, but the door was not wide enough. I fell and was revived. Immigration officials took us to the Central hospital. I could not talk and I was coughing out blood,” she said, adding: “My husband took me to one private hospital from where I was referred here. I had broken ribs and a bone in my shoulder. We were many that Immigration officers took to the hospital. One person died.

    “My husband paid the hospital bill. An iron has been fixed in my rib to enable the blood to flow. Doctors said my lungs collapsed. They should help us and give one of us a job. My husband finished from Auchi Polytechnic since 2006. I teach in a private school and earn a little salary.” The Omuagbons have three children.”

    Her husband, Timothy studied Accountancy at the Federal Polytechnic, Auchi and worked at a firm before opting to drive taxi because the salary was “little” and was being delayed.

    “I am 35 years old. At the stadium, the crowd was large. Only one gate was open for the thousands of people who came for the test. We were at the front. I held my wife so that we could be together. Both of us fell and many people fell on us. You can see the bruises all over my body.

    “Immigration officers helped me out. My wife was still being trampled when I had to call for help. She was already gone but they poured water on her. Immigration people brought their van and took us to the hospital. They left us there. I saw my wife’s condition and I took her away.

    “I have spent over N100, 000. I was doing a private job and was being paid N30, 000 but the salary was not regular. It was not helping my family, which made me to leave. I was working as a taxi driver before we heard of this recruitment. They should not allow us to die before giving us jobs. They should come to our aid. My wife is lying here at the hospital and there’s nobody to help,” he said.

    Minister of Interior, Abba Moro, blew it while reacting to the incident; he have would wished he had not uttered the statement blaming the victims for their deaths.

    The minister had said: “The applicants lost their lives due to impatience; they did not follow the laid down procedures spelt out to them before the exercise. Many of them jumped through the fences of affected centres and did not conduct themselves in an orderly manner to make the exercise a smooth one. This caused stampede and made the environment unsecured.”

  • Lagos displaced traders recount ordeal

    Lagos displaced traders recount ordeal

    The expansion of the ongoing Ikorodu road in Lagos which started a year ago has almost paralysed the popular Ikorodu market.

    Traders have become helpless; they are now limited to small spaces they created for themselves.

    Some of them spoke with The Nation shopping. Alhaja Showemimo Adigun sells pepper at the market. “My wares are perishable. If don’t manage like this, I will lose them. I don’t want to lose two things at the same time. I have lost my shop, I don’t want to lose my wares,” she lamented

    Mr Chukwuka Nwosu, who sells foodstuffs said he is happy with the road construction, but he has lost his life fortune to the demolition.

    According to the Iyaloja of Ikorodu market, Alhaja Alimo Anifowose, “We understand why some parts of our market are demolished and we are also trying to help displaced traders with some amount of money to start all over again. I believe the government would hear our cry and provide a more conducive place for us.”

    A trader Mr Kazeem Awe appealed on the government to come to their aid and provide a suitable place for his colleagues, adding that most of them cannot feed well and would not be able to rent new shops.