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Tag: returnee

  • Our ordeal in Libya, by returnee Ondo indigenes

    Our ordeal in Libya, by returnee Ondo indigenes

    Twenty-three Ondo State-born returnees from Libya yesterday narrated their ordeal in the North African country where they had hoped for a better life.

    They were received by a delegation, led by Deputy Governor Agboola Ajayi and State Director of the Department of State Services (DSS) Salami Ajege at the State Correctional Centre in Akure, the capital.

    The deportees, who landed at the Port Harcourt International Airport in Rivers State last Tuesday, comprised 10 men, 12 women and a baby girl.

    A lady, identified simply as Iyabo, said she left Nigeria last April after she was lured by a lady with a promise to get her a house-keeping job in Libya, following the death of her husband.

    Iyabo said she was four months’ pregnant when her husband, a mobile police officer, died in a gun battle with robbers on the Ipele/Ifon Expressway.

    She said: “I decided to leave Nigeria when things became so hard for me and my kids with the hope that I will return as a successful woman but my dream became shattered after I was turned to a slave.

    “On my arrival in Libya, we were sold to an Arab with the promise that we would be paid a certain amount of money. I escaped from them after they failed to fulfil the agreement.

    “Already, my children had been sent away from school when I was not able to pay their fees. After I escaped, I engaged in menial jobs to send money to my kids in Nigeria.

    “This also failed as I could not send money to them because banks in Libya were no longer working due to the North African country’s crisis.

    “At that time, I had 9,000 Dinar. So, I decided to keep it with a neighbour, who is yet to refund the money to me.”

    Another victim, Ife, who is eight months’ pregnant, said she embarked on the journey through the desert of Niger Republic.

    She said she and some others trekked hundreds of kilometre day and night.

    It was learnt that seven of the women are pregnant.

    While most of the expectant mothers returned home with their husbands, Ife’s husband is trapped in Libya.

    The soft-spoken woman expressed worry about giving birth in the next few weeks without  her husband.

    According to her, she and her husband were staying in a transit camp with other West African migrants until the place came under heavy bombardment three months ago during a face-off between two rival armed groups.

    Ife said she managed to establish communication three days ago with her husband, few hours after she landed at the Port Harcourt Airport.

    Ajayi assured the returnees of government support and reintegration into the society.

    The deputy governor thanked the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa for saving the lives of thousands of Nigerian by bringing them back from Libya.

    He said: “We won’t abandon them. They are currently being debriefed and being given medical attention. We are going to take care of them and ensure they are empowered to sustain themselves.”

    Ajayi advised those who may be nursing the dream of travelling abroad to learn from the bitter experiences of the returnees and engage in meaningful ventures here with the money they have saved for the trip.

  • Returnee Chibok girls to begin pre-degree

    Returnee Chibok girls to begin pre-degree

    Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development Senator Aisha Alhassan has said the remaining abducted Chibok school girls will be released soon.

    Alhassan, who spoke at a farewell dinner organised by the ministry in honour of the 106 released Chibok girls, after eight months rehabilitation in Abuja, said the Federal Government was negotiating for the release of the remaining abducted girls, including other people under Boko Haram’s captivity.

    “The Federal Government has never relented in the negotiation and I assure you that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

    “I appeal to their captors to come to the roundtable and negotiate, so as to see reasons to release those in captivity,’’ she said.

    The minister said the girls were fit and ready for school again, adding that the Federal Government was fulfilling its promise by ensuring they were enrolled back to schools with their bills paid and necessary items for school provided.

    She said when the girls were released, President Muhammadu Buhari told the world they had seen the worst, promising that they would be given the best.

    “The government is fulfilling that promise as we all know; the girls have been at the rehabilitation centre for a long time.

    “They are going to be in one of the best schools, the American University of Nigeria (AUN), where they will start a special foundation programme like a pre-degree.”

    Alhassan said their fees had been paid by the government and with support from UNICEF, UN Women, UNFPA and other supporters, including Afriphone and Airtel, who supported the girls in capacities.

    “Since their release, we have been giving them therapy to make them understand that challenges are a part of life and whatever happens to one in life is God’s will.”

    The Country Representative of UN Women, Ms Comfort Lamprey, hailed the efforts of the government in ensuring the well-being of Chibok girls.

    She advised the girls to be responsible ambassadors in Northeast, even as they would go to their community, saying the remaining Chibok girls would be released soon.

    The Deputy Representative of UNICEF, Mrs. Peinille Ironside, said the return of the girls to their community was a new chapter in their lives.

    The Country Representative, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Ms Diene Keita, advised the girls to remain focused on their studies, as they have a bright future.

  • The returnee (1)

    I read Laura’s story which was featured in this column last week and I could not help but sympathise with her. I understand what she is going through because I’ve experienced the same thing- ‘a rejected stone becoming the head of the corner’ kind of situation. The only difference is that mine has to do with a child: a baby I had for a man who said he loved me but left me in the lurch when I needed him most. Only for him to reappear years later to sing a different tune.

     

    My name is Erica and this is my story.

    It was one of those days when the traffic was so heavy in the city of Lagos, it was more of a ‘stand still’ than a ‘go slow’ as it’s popularly called. I glanced at my wristwatch, noticing how late it was getting. I had just thirty minutes to get to my daughter, Tessy’s summer school at Ikeja to pick her up. She hated me coming late for her like had happened the previous week when I had arrived nearly an hour late. Most of the other kids were gone and she had stood by the school gate, craning her neck and waiting anxiously for me.

    I had promised not to be late in picking her again but it seemed I would not be able to fulfil that promise going by the traffic situation that afternoon. I saw a little opening at the next lane and I quickly maneuvered there, ignoring the angry look of the driver on the line. Gradually, the traffic began to inch forward and I relaxed a little.

    Luckily, I was about twenty minutes late and my daughter was still inside the building when I arrived.

    “Mummy, you are late again o!” were the first words she accosted me with as soon as she saw me.

    I hugged her and patting her on the head stated:

    “Sorry, sweetheart, I was caught up in traffic. You know how bad the traffic is by this time of the day. Where’s your bag. Let’s go!”

    On the way home, we stopped by an eatery as Tessy wanted some ice cream. I sat sipping a soft drink and watched as she stuffed the ice cream in her mouth, at the same time, talking excitedly about her day at the summer school.

    “My Aunty said that next year, the school will be organising a trip to Disneyland in the U.S. Mummy, I’ll like to go too. Can I?” she asked.

    “Of course dear. Don’t worry, Mummy will work out something ,” I assured her, taking a napkin to wipe her lips covered with ice cream. Money was a bit tight at the moment, what with the sluggish economy and clients who were owing me for work done. Despite that, I vowed silently to raise the money so she could go for the trip when the time comes. I loved my daughter so much and I was ready to make any sacrifice to ensure she was happy and comfortable.

    Since I had Tessy eight years ago, I’ve practically raised her by myself as a single mother. The man I had her for, Kolly has never set eyes on my daughter. He has never shown interest in her wellbeing, whether she was doing well or sick was none of his business. That was however, until three months ago when he suddenly resurfaced in my life…

     

    Camp meeting

    I first met Kolly at a church programme- an annual event that usually draw millions of the faithful to the church’s expansive camp on the outskirts of the city each year. That year, I planned attending with my good friend Grace. But at the last minute, something came up and she could not make it so I had to attend alone. One afternoon, two days after I arrived at the camp, I went to one of the numerous eateries there for lunch before preparing for the evening programme.

    I was eating when a man came over to my table.

    “Mind if I join you?” he asked before sitting down.

    As we ate, he made small talk, stating that it was his first time at the programme.

    “I never knew it was this huge- I’ve never seen so many people in my life,” he said.

    It was my second year at the camp and I can still remember my shock at the number of people who had trooped into the camp for the annual event, drawn from all over the country and beyond.

    “You’ve not seen anything yet. More people are still coming. Wait till Friday when some will come for the weekend programme, then you will see real crowd,” I told him.

    I remained at the camp for another three days, leaving on Saturday morning to attend a neighbour’s wedding. Kolly and I saw regularly for that period and before leaving, we exchanged contacts.

    He seemed a nice person so when he called about a week later and asked to meet up, I agreed. He shared an apartment with a friend of his named Sam. When I arrived at his place, his flatmate was out and he was alone in the house.

    Kolly could cook well and he had prepared a delicious meal of jollof rice and chicken for my visit. We were eating when his friend Sam arrived home and Kolly did the introductions.

    “Nice meeting you. He has been talking about you, saying you made his stay at the camp less stressful,” Sam stated as he shook my hand.

    I had a nice time at his place that day. We saw regularly after that initial visit. Kolly told me from the beginning that he did not have a girlfriend much less a fiancé. I believed he was speaking the truth as I had not seen any lady in the house since I started visiting. Soon, a relationship ensued and we became a couple.

    Thinking I was dealing with a sincere person, I relaxed and threw myself into the relationship…

     

    To be continued

     

    Send comments to 08030822400 (sms only), psaduwa@yahoo.com or psaduwa007@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter @Escapades007 and you can also log onto truelifestoriesng.blogspot.com

     

    Names have been changed to protect Erica’s identity and other individuals in the story

  • Miami Ad school returnee joins Noah’s Ark

    A NEW generation advertising agency – Noah’s Ark Communications has appointed Mr. Babatunde Adebola, who recently graduated from the renowned Miami Ad School, Hamburg, Germany after the successful completion of his two-year training.

    The agency which won one Gold, four Silver and seven Bronze medals to emerge overall second on the medals table at the 2013 Lagos Advertising & Ideas Festival (LAIF), said his appointment is part of strategies to continue to deliver world class creative services to its Clients.

    The Managing Director and Executive Creative Director, Noah’s Ark Communication Limited, Mr. Lanre Adisa, noted that the addition of Babatunde Adebola would further strengthen the creative depth for which the agency is known in the last five years of its existence.

    “An agency is as strong as its creative capacity, hence any agency that is aspiring to retain and attract good businesses must make it a point of duty to continue to invest in the creative capacity of the agency by adding more experienced hands and training and retraining the creative team” he said.

    Adebola started his advertising career as a creative intern at LTC/JWT before joining Bate Cosse as a Creative Executive where he worked on leading brands, such as  Virgin Nigeria and UBA.

    He was later poached by DDB Lagos where he worked as part of the MTN Team. At DDB, he won the Young Lions Film contest in Nigeria where he represented Nigeria at the Cannes Festival of Creativity in 2009.

    Babatunde created a cheeky direct marketing campaign and got a recommendation letter to the Miami Ad School for a scholarship. This went viral and earned him the Lurzer’s Archive scholarship plus a Miami Ad School Grant at the Miami Ad School Europe under the Sir Niklass Frings-Rupp: the D&Ad tutor of 2010.

    In Germany, he worked at the country’s number one agency, Jung Von Matt, on Benz, Bild and Vodafone. He moved to Germany’s third Digital agency, THJNK, where he worked on Audi, IKEA, among others.

    Babatunde is the first Nigerian to get his ad into the Lurzer’s Archive. He is also the only Nigerian student to be nominated for the Lurzer’s Archive International Student of the Year twice: 2012/13 and 2013/14 academic sessions.

    Miami Advertising School is arguably the best advertising school in the world. It has produced some of the industry’s best creative experts in Nigeria.

  • Returnee beauty queen leads Y! Magazine

    Returnee beauty queen leads Y! Magazine

    ,OMOWUNMI Akinnifesi Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria 2005, just returned from a two-year public break, armed with a Master’s degree from King’s College, London and is already working on policy for the Lagos government. Announced as possessing beauty and brains, Y! Magazine editors have presented her as their proud alternative to the international people magazine choice for World’s Most Beautiful Woman 2013, Iron Man actress Gwyneth Paltrow.

    “The global pop-culture shock at the decision coupled with an already seething defensiveness about the audacity of deciding on the world’s most beautiful female from the comfort of the United Kingdom inspired us to take the challenge who would we choose as the World’s Most Beautiful Woman? Omowunmi Akinnifesi who, incidentally took the Nigerian version of the title eight years ago, came into the country just right in time” the editor, Chude Jideonwo, said.

  • My honeymoon is in danger, says South Africa returnee arrested for robbery

    ONE of two suspected armed robbers arrested by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Lagos State Police Command has said it is wrong to tag him an armed robber when the police did not catch him in the course of the four robbery operations he participated in before he travelled to South Africa.

    Twenty-seven-year-old Gideon Obinna Ibe says the police ought to concern themselves only with recovering a Toyota Sienna car he stole from where the owner parked it. He also confessed that he sold the car in question for N250,000 and shared the proceed with the second suspect and trailer driver, Onyeka Ude (22).

    In a chat with The Nation, Ibe, a native of Okigwe, Imo State, said he was into buying and selling of cars, buses and trailer batteries.

    He said: “I have a shop where I sell these items at 42, Akogun Street along Olodi Apapa Road, Lagos. Earlier in 2012 when the Lagos State government was constructing roads and got some shops demolished, it affected my shop. But I was not discouraged. Rather, I continued to hustle to survive in Lagos.

    “I used to hang around Trinity Market to do runs. If I saw a customer who wanted to buy a car or a car battery, bus or trailer, I assisted him and collected 10 per cent as commission. When the sum I targeted to get visa, passport and ticket to South Africa could not be realised, I organised a small gang to rob traders. We used to be three or four then, but we never killed any of our victims.

    “At times, if somebody came to buy a car, bus or trailer, we would trail him or her to the bank where he would withdraw the money. The moment he came out of the bank, we would pursue him with our motorbike, cross his car and order him at gun point to hand over the money to us or risk losing his life.

    “At times, we would go for car or bus snatching. But the problem we used to have after snatching a car or bus was that the buyers at times failed to pay us the amount they agreed to buy it. For instance, If a buyer agreed to pay N500,000 for a Toyota Avensis, he would first pay N50,000 or N100,000 and the balance would be stories. Each time you go to him to collect the balance or part of it, he would tell you that he had not sold the car or that the police had taken the car. They would tell us to be patient till only God knows when.

    “Throughout the period I robbed people and snatched their cars or buses, I was never caught. We always planned our operations very well because we believed that only a person caught by the police while carrying out an operation is a thief. The police cannot prove that I am an armed robber because I was not caught. Neither was the gun our gang was using recovered.

    “I even sold the gun we were using before I travelled to South Africa. It was the money I saved from robbery and car snatching that I used to travel to South Africa. It was in South Africa that my trouble started.

    “When I got to South Africa, I saw some of the boys I knew in Nigeria, especially those who were hustling with me then. I stayed with them so that the little money I came with would not be exhausted on hotel bills.

    “Unfortunately, I did not know that the guys were into hard drug business. In fact, they were living big, feeding me and making life more comfortable for me in South Africa until the police raided our house. Being a new person in the area, I could not run when the police came. I was the only person they arrested and they took me to the police station.

    “After two weeks in the cell, I was repatriated to Nigeria. When I landed Nigeria, I went through hell to survive.

    “Before I travelled to South Africa, I was doing battery business and I used to get as much as N50,000 a day. When I lost my shop and started doing market runs like off-loading of tyres, I used to get about N2,000 after offloading about 100 car tyres. At times, I helped people to buy a car or bus, and that fetched me a commission of N50,000 or more per car or bus.

    “But when I was repatriated to Nigeria from South Africa, life became more difficult for me. Nobody wanted to assist me because I did not tell people that I was repatriated. They thought that I had money, having travelled to South Africa and came back.

    “Fortunately, I met Onyeka, a trailer driver, and he agreed to make me his ‘motor boy’. We were managing life when the devil struck again. The trailer he was driving had mechanical fault and his boss parked the trailer and collected the keys from him. In short, he was sacked because his boss said he failed to remit the agreed returns. At a point, he was not delivering even a dime to the owner. Since he collected the vehicle, we became jobless.”

    Asked why he was arrested, he said: “People used to give me vehicles to sell for them, but I sold one and spent all the money. It was a Toyota Sienna bus. I sold it for N250,000 while the actual price they asked me to sell it was N1.2 million.

    “The buyer was a pastor with a popular pentecostal church. I also sold one Toyota Camry to the pastor at the rate of N350,000. This particular money (N350,000), I did not collect a dime from it. The pastor said he would renew the expired papers of the vehicle before he would pay any money.

    “Unfortunately, the day he asked me to come and collect money was the day I wanted to travel to South Africa. So, the pastor tactically hid himself and I could not see him where he said I should come and collect the money, knowing full well that it was the day I would travel. Hence, I travelled without seeing him.

    “It was in April last year that I started hustling again at the same Trinity Market. I was arrested in April this year on Governor’s Road, Ikotun, Alimosho Local Government Area in the morning. I was arrested as I was trying to sell another vehicle.

    “I lied to the police that the vehicle in question belonged to my elder brother who lives at Yaba Street, Ondo. It was only one Sienna bus and four Toyota Camry cars that Onyeka and I had snatched and sold before we were arrested.”

    Giving details of the process that culminated in his arrest, he said: “SARS operatives had first arrested the pastor. The police used him to track me down. Pastor called me on the phone and told me to come to Governor’s Road, Ikotun to collect the money for one vehicle we had sold to him. I did not know that SARS operatives had laid an ambush there. The moment I got there, the operatives appeared and arrested me.”

    Asked what his regrets were for being arrested for armed robbery, he said: “I am not an armed robber because I was not caught during the four armed robbery operations I led before I travelled to South Africa.

    “My only regret is my wife. I am newly married to her. Our honey moon is endangered. I don’t know when this journey will end. Will they allow my wife to be visiting me in prison yard if I am eventually jailed? I am finished! Please, help me beg them to forgive me in the name of God the Father and God the Son Jesus Christ. I will never do it again. If I do it again, kill me.”

    He admitted lying to the police in order to escape arrest, saying: “The first one is that I told the police that my father had two wives and that all the vehicles I stole belonged to my stepmother’s children. I said that Onyeka and I stole the vehicles because they did not take care of me. Even my brothers were not taken care of.

    “The second lie I told was that I was a car dealer and that I bought the vehicles from Cotonou (Benin Republic). But when the police demanded for documents to prove that the cars were bought in from Cotonou, I lied to them that the documents were in Imo State and would be produced if I was given time to go and bring them.

    “The third lie I told was that my elder brother gave me N700,000 to buy for him a bus he wanted to use for commercial services in Ondo State. But when the police saw my brother’s wife, she told them that her husband never gave me any money to buy a bus for him. Even when my brother, Emma, was asked, he equally said that he never gave me any money to buy a car for him.

    “The fourth lie was that my wife went to Ishasi Police Station and reported that her husband got missing with his Toyota Camry car. The operatives of SARS followed her to my house and saw my picture which enabled SARS men to know that I had a base here in Lagos, contrary to what I had earlier told them that I was based in the East. My wife also told the police that I had a car stand at Berger on the Apapa Expressway, and that I imported cars through Apapa Wharf. When the police met my father, he told them that he had only one wife, contrary to what I earlier told police that he had many wives.”

    Onyeka Ude (22) said: “I am from Orifite in Ekwusigo Local Government Area, Anambra State. I am a trailer driver based in Lagos and I used to scout for jobs. I used to drive from Lagos to Anambra, carrying goods.”

    Asked how he met Ibe, he said: “I knew him as a car seller. I used to see him at Berger, Apapa area where they sell vehicles. He later travelled to South Africa and before he came back, I had become a trailer driver.

    “I first met him where he was playing football at Beachland field in Apapa and I parked my trailer and went to meet him. He told me that he had not been able to secure any job since he came back from South Africa. He asked me whether I would allow him to become my conductor and I said why not?

    “I used to pay him according to how much money we made. There were days I gave him up to N5,000. Trouble started when the owner of the trailer collected it from me because of the incessant complaints that the vehicle was faulty.

    “When we exhausted the money we were managing to feed with, Gideon told me not to panic, saying he had one Sienna bus which he wanted to sell in order to get some money that we could manage with for a month.

    “When we got to Berger Cement to carry the bus, he used the master key and took it to one pastor who was waiting to buy it because he had already been told that the vehicle would be stolen and brought to him. It was even the pastor who told Gideon (Ibe) the type of bus we should snatch.

    “He bought it for N250,000. Gideon gave me N100,000 and pocketed N150,000. I later travelled to my home town in Anambra state to enjoy my money before coming back to Lagos to face hustling again. But as I was coming back to Lagos without a penny, Gideon called me on the phone and said somebody who owed him a huge sum of money had asked him to come and that I should follow him to go and collect the money. I did not know that SARS men had laid an ambush to catch me. The moment I got there, SARS men arrested me.

    “I was never involved in robbery before Gideon became my conductor. He was the one who lured me into snatching cars. My only regret is that I did not object when he brought the idea that we should go and remove a car from car park.”