The Nation Newspaper

Tag: victim

  • Patriot and victim

    Patriot and victim

    • Killing of corps member on posting to Kaduna is totally unacceptable

    The danger of being a girl-child or a woman in Nigeria seems not to be going away anytime soon. Gender-based violence seems to have increased in the last ten years, the seeming climax being the mass abduction of hundreds of Chibok school girls in April 2014. Some of the girls are still in captivity till date. And since that abduction, many other girls have been abducted from different schools from Nasarawa to Kaduna, and from Yobe to Zamfara states amongst others. Leah Sharibu of the ill-fated Dapchi school girls incident  is still in captivity.

    Abductions of female students and women from schools, homes and farms are just few of the varied forms of violence perpetrated against the female gender. More women are being killed through domestic violence and in other places outside the homes. In the last few years, cases of murdered, kidnapped or raped women have been on the increase.  However, even though many men have been killed under same circumstances, the number of women killed or made collateral victims continues to be underreported.

    The recent murder of a serving National Youth Service Corps member in Kaduna State, Miss Chalya Silas, has attracted the attention of Nigerian lawmakers in the House of Representatives and they have called on the Inspector-General of Police to ensure thorough investigation and prosecution of whoever is found to have had a hand in the murder of the young graduate of Rehabilitation Sciences of the University of Jos, Plateau State. She was allegedly murdered while jogging within her service community in Kaduna. Her case was brought up by Beni Lar, a Reps.  member from Plateau State.

    We condemn this very heinous crime against a defenseless young lady that was serving her nation, but had to meet her tragic end as she merely jogged around the area of her primary assignment. House of Representatives Speaker Tajudeen Abass has charged House committee on the police to investigate the murder and the committee on youth development to review the safety of corps members. We consider that action necessary, yet rather belated. Reports about the death and abduction of corps members have been on the increase in recent times. The late Miss Silas is not the first corps member to die during their service year, other corps members have been victims of different kinds of misfortunes. Only a few weeks ago, about eight corps members were abducted by bandits in Katsina State, and while the terrorists have released a few of them, others are still in captivity.

    Read Also: Atiku appeals to voters in Kogi, Imo, Bayelsa to vote PDP candidates

    We do not believe that deaths have to be recorded before lawmakers would be awaken to engaging the issue. The whole essence of national youth service is national integration. With corps members getting hazarded just because they decided to obey the laws of the land, it amounts to failure of the state to leave them to vagaries of communities they are posted to serve.

    As Rep. Lar who initiated the motion on Chalya Silas noted, girls and women continue to be victims of violence possibly because other cases of violence, rape and murder go uninvestigated, or investigated half-way and abandoned even after government and the police had pledged to ‘leave no stone unturned’ to locate and prosecute perpetrators of such evil acts. Increasing violence against citizens – whether male or female – shows how insecure the Nigerian society has become.

    The death of Miss Silas is one death too many, and her assailants must be fished out and prosecuted accordingly. The tragic end of such young lady must be a sad and depressing thing for her parents, who must have invested much in seeing her through school. She had her whole life ahead of her and had only submitted to serving her country when she met such tragic fate.

    We hold that it isn’t enough to condemn incidents after they occur, but rather to take concrete steps towards preventing future reoccurrence. Nigeria is grossly under-policed and it is commendable that there are plans to recruit more people into the force. Meanwhile, we hope that the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) management has functional insurance coverage for corps members, and that there is a scheme by which support could be provided for parents whose children die under such tragic circumstances. More importantly, the parents must be allowed some closure through prosecution and punishment of suspects after due investigation. That should also serve to deter other criminals.

  • Sit-at-home victim’s family begs Nwifuru for assistance

    Sit-at-home victim’s family begs Nwifuru for assistance

    The family of Mr. Henry Oko, one of the victims of December 14, 2022 attack at Nwakpu market in Ikwo Local Government of Ebonyi State, by enforcers of the sit-at-home order, yesterday cried out for help.

    They implored Governor Francis Nwifuru and other well-meaning Nigerians to assist them, as the condition of the victim has worsened.

    The victim, it was gathered, underwent multiple surgeries at the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Enugu, following bullet injuries and axe cuts and spent over four months in hospital before he was discharged.

    A family source said he was rushed back to the National Orthopaedic Hospital on October 1, 2023, following complications, “as his condition is now very critical.”

    Due to the severity of his case, the management of the National Orthopaedic Hospital referred him to the University Teaching Hospital, Enugu, “where a team of medical experts are currently battling to save his life.”

    The father of four was at Nwakpu market, Ikwo, when some masked gunmen, who claimed they were enforcing the five-day sit-at-home order declared by a foreign-based Biafran agitator, invaded the market, shot sporadically and torched vehicles.

    They set his vehicle on fire, gave him axe cuts in the head and shoulder before shooting him in both thighs, very close to his manhood.

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    He was left in a pool of blood, but was rescued by a combined team of the Army and the Police that later stormed the scene.

    Oko had a near-death experience, as his thigh bone was shattered by bullets, 17 of which were later extracted from his body.

    Speaking on behalf of the family, his immediate younger brother and Abia State correspondent of Vanguard newspapers, Mr. Steve Oko, described the situation as “miserable”.

    He said fortunes had been spent in the battle to save his brother’s life since last December, lamenting that the family had run out of resources to take care of the victim’s medical bills and other exigencies.

    The family appealed to public- spirited individuals to come to their aid.

    It said any financial assistance could be routed via the First Bank account of the victim’s wife: Angela C. Oko; 3081462002. “The family can also be reached through: 08038725600, 08102438417.”

    Oko appealed to Southeast governors and Ohanaeze Ndigbo, to, as a matter of urgency, set up a committee to identify victims of sit-at-home in the Southeast for rehabilitation.

  • Anyone can be victim of maternal mortality

    With the recent postpartum experience of tennis star, Serena Williams and close shave with death, it just might seem like every woman, irrespective of education or financial wherewithal can fall victim to maternal mortality. Medinat Kanabe reports.

    A few weeks ago, the news broke of how tennis superstar, Serena Williams almost died after child birth. Williams, who was delivered of her baby through a Caesarian Section, CS, fell ill a day after the operation and doctors found several little clots in her lungs.

    Not long after, she suffered another terrifying scare, when her C-section scar burst open and doctors found that a large haematoma (a solid swelling of clotted blood within the tissues) had flooded her abdomen.

    The tennis star had to undergo several surgeries and was unable to get out of bed for six weeks.

    Recounting her ordeal, Williams said she almost died if not for the prompt intervention of the doctors.

    Without doubt, Serena Williams is one lucky woman; as many others have died due to such careless oversight.

    Grace Thompson (not real name), a graduate of Business Administration from one of Nigeria’s prestigious universities is one of the unlucky ones. She died a few weeks after child birth. According to family source, she died from high blood pressure while some others said she bled to death.

    She had given birth and was undergoing the normal postpartum bleeding period; having an elaborate naming ceremony was therefore understandable as the bleeding was not supposed to make her handicapped. Unfortunately, the bleeding never stopped and she died of excessive blood loss.

    Another case is that of Nollywood actress, Modupe Oyekunle who died after given birth to her third child. She had been delivered of the baby, even held the child in her hands before she passed on.

    Another popular Yoruba actress who died after childbirth is 42-year-old Moji Olaiya, who passed on in Canada two months after bringing forth her baby. While it was never confirmed that her death was due to complications from childbirth, many drew their conclusion based on the time span.

    Emmanuella Harrison is another such victim. In March, 2017, she left her husband and children for the hospital to deliver her baby but never returned home.

    Mrs. Harrison, who was already a few days overdue, was driven to the hospital by her husband. She finally gave birth to a healthy child after laboring for hours but died from postpartum hemorrhage.

    According to Doctor Rufus Olawale Adewuyi of the Ilogbo Central Hospital, Ijanikin, maternal mortality is the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of delivery or termination of pregnancy irrespective of the duration of the pregnancy, which may be caused by things related to the pregnancy or the management of the pregnancy.

    “If a woman aborts a pregnancy, no matter how old the pregnancy is, and dies within 6 weeks after the termination, it is maternal mortality.”

    Adewuyi hinted that maternal mortality is a big issue in the world, saying one can assess the state of health of every country based on their maternal mortality rate. “A country with a good health condition translates to a very low maternal mortality rate. It is unfortunate that Nigeria is one of the five countries in the world with high maternal mortality rate. This shows the state of our public health and the standard of living of the people.”

    The doctor said things that are responsible for maternal mortality includes socio economic status of the people; socio cultural status of the people, their beliefs, the health consciousness of the people, how affordable their health services are, and how effective the regulatory agencies are.

    Other reasons responsible for maternal mortality according to the doctor include the fact that a sizable number of deliveries are either taken at home or handled by non trained personnel.

    Although not trying to hold brief for abortion, he said because abortion is illegal, people cannot come out to do it, hence it is being handled and managed by quacks.

    “For the socio economic status, we understand that many people cannot access good health care because of lack of money. Because of some beliefs, many people prefer to deliver at home, thereby patronising TBAs. This has remained this way because of the lack of PHCs in many rural communities, making them worst hit.

    “People in these places fall into labour and cannot get into a secondary health care facility, if urgently required. Usually, it takes so much time, which may lead to death,” he said.

    One of the ways to reduce maternal mortality, according to Adewuyi is to educate the girl child. “This will keep them in school all through childhood to about 20 years of their lives; this helps them to escape teenage pregnancy. Teenage pregnancy is known as a high risk pregnancy because when a teenager is pregnant, there is a high risk of Vesicovagina Fistula, VVF, turbulent delivery and many other issues that can lead to maternal mortality.

    “They are more informed when educated, they are placed in a better socio economic class, they know when to go to the hospital, where to go, and can plan their lives better, which in turn helps the society. They are also aware of family planning and know that the more they get pregnant and go through labour, the higher they are exposed to risks.

    “Hypertension, diabetes and hemorrhage are other major causes of maternal mortality and they require special and professional management, which is not available in many parts of our country.”

    Using the hospital where he works as an example, Adewuyi said antenatal is very important to have a healthy child and a happy mother. During this period, the women are counseled and checked on a regular basis to know those who require special care and close monitoring during pregnancy and after delivery.

    “Some are placed on classical ANC while others are placed on close monitoring. We may see some only four times throughout the pregnancy while we see some almost every week all through the pregnancy. Every pregnant woman that comes to the hospital here must see the doctor.

    “We always have an obstetrics gaenocologists on ground every time the women come; that is why our maternal mortality rate is 0 in 10. We don’t have any here except when the pregnancy was not managed by us and poorly managed or before the patient gets here the baby or the mother is already dead. Once a woman is discharged, we advise her to do exclusive breastfeeding, which we start telling them from the beginning of the pregnancy, so they are very much enlightened about the benefits.

    “We also have a congratulatory message, which we hand over to every mother and it contains things that we expect them to do when they get home and what we don’t want them to do. After we discharge them, we give them 48-hour appointment, a 72 hour appointment, an eight day and some other appointments to monitor them.”

    Asked if women that deliver through CS have higher risks than those who go through vagina delivery, Adewuyi said “For every surgery, the risks are there but CS is a surgery that can be performed by a junior doctor; so it is a very simple one but it cannot be compared to vagina delivery.

    Noting that sometimes people who deliver through the vagina have complications and those that deliver through CS don’t have any form of complications, he said “For CS, the risk is usually postpartum hemorrhage.”

    Postpartum hemorrhage, according to him, can be primary or secondary. “It is primary when it reduces after 24 hours but becomes secondary when it continues for more than one week and is heavy. After delivery, we expect the womb to contract to help contain the amount of blood loss but when the womb is not contracting, which we call lack of uterus contraction, the blood vessels, especially from the placenta bed continues to bleed.

    “Another cause is when part of the placenta is retained in the womb. The first thing she should do is to come back to the hospital. After you deliver, if you notice anything strange, don’t listen to people around you; come to the hospital and let the doctor tell you that it is nothing. Don’t wait until it gets out of hand because it will increase from one stage to another and may make it difficult for the health practitioners to handle.

    “When a woman delivers, we administer some treatment so that after the first day, the blood begins to reduce until after 6 weeks when it would have changed to spotting.

    “If after 24 hours of delivery a woman discovers that her bed is soaked with blood even with the use of pads, then she should raise alarm. She should also raise alarm if the bleeding comes with weakness.”

    In his final analysis, Dr Olawuyi concluded that child spacing does not only reduce maternal mortality but also improves the health status of the mother. “It goes a long way to help the economic status of the family. It allows the family to be able to cater for the ones they have and for the woman to be able to recover very well from the last delivery. It also helps the society, as the woman is able to stay at work, as against observing maternal leave every time.”

     

  • UNILAG urges blogger, victim to appear before panel

    Vice Chancellor University of Lagos (UNILAG) Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe has urged Joy Nwanna, a former student, and a blogger, Linda Ikeji, to appear before its Sexual Harassment Panel.

    Ogundipe, who spoke yesterday at the Senate chamber, said the duo’s appearance would help the Prof Chioma Agonmo-led panel to unravel Nwanna’s allegations of sexual harassment against Prof. Segun Awonusi of the English department. He assured them of protection, should they come forward.

    In May, Ikeji featured a post of semi-nude photographs of Awonusi sent by Nwanna, who accused him and others in the English department of sexual harassment.

    Nwanna was a student of the university between 2012/2013 and 2015/2016 sessions.

    Prof. Ogundipe said the five-member panel dug into contacts from Nwanna’s student records and tried reaching out to her and her next of kin, but met a brick wall.

    “She gave us the name of her next of kin, Samuel Nwanna. His number is 08060971976. We called, but it did not go through. Her sponsor is Idighisai Grace. The phone number is 07033543627. We got in touch, but it was another person who responded. The number with us concerning Joy Nwanna is 07035574747. It was Yakubu Idris who picked the call. This particular individual had different personalities. If she is ready to attend to the request of the panel, we will give her cover. Even Ikeji, who is an alumna, we are appealing that as a proud alumna of this university, she should assist it to get to the bottom of this issue so that the name of the university will not be ridiculed.

    “The email address she used to get across to our university man (Awonusi), we sent a mail, but got no reply.”

    The VC said Awonusi appeared before the panel twice.

    “Awonusi submitted a written report; the committee looked at the report. He submitted the email she sent to him and appeared before the panel twice,” he said.

    Ogundipe said the panel got no response from any other student regarding the sexual harassment case.

    “The panel called on other students, who had information about the case or others to come forward, but nobody responded,” he said.

    The VC said the university would not rule out using law enforcement agencies to trace Nwanna. He urged people with information about the victim to help the university in its investigation.

    Ogundipe said: “The suspected victim was identified as Miss Joy Nwanna by Prof. Awonusi in his interactions with the panel. Records of Miss Nwanna showed that she was admitted into the Department of English as a direct entry student in 2012/2013 session.

    “She graduated from the university in 2015/2016 session.

    “Attempts by the panel to contact Miss Nwanna through the phone numbers in her records and by e-mail proved abortive. The panel also attempted to contact Linda Ikeji to convince the suspected victim to come forward, but she was not forthcoming.

    “The preliminary investigations have raised certain questions and issues that need to be investigated. Investigations are on. The university is making efforts to confirm the authenticity or otherwise of the pictures released. It requires Miss Nwanna to come forward to substantiate the allegations.

    “The press and the public are urged to assist the university by impressing it on Miss Nwanna to come forward to substantiate her claim. An appeal is also made to Ikeji to convince the victim to appear before the panel and state her story.

    “The university assures Nwanna and Ikeji of protection, should they come forward.”

  • ‘Reverend Father’ defrauds me, says victim

    A young woman, Oluwatosin Olaogun yesterday said she was hypnotised and swindled by an old man, who pretended to be a priest and two of his accomplices.

    Olaogun said the incident occurred around 12pm on Wednesday at Akerele, Surulere, Lagos after they asked her for direction.

    According to the lady, the supposed priest claimed he was one of the Reverend Fathers that came to Lagos to pray for some kids who had accident and were admitted at a hospital in Bode Thomas.

    Narrating her ordeal, Olaogun said she lost her phones and money to the swindlers, who she said were aged between 53 and 70 years.

    Olaogun wrote: “I was jazzed and duped at Akerele, Surulere, around 12pm yesterday by three old men. One of them pretended to be a Reverend Father and the other pretended to be passing. The last was the cab man.

    “The supposed priest was in a cab. They asked direction from me and I told them I don’t know. As I was about leaving, I helped them call another passer-by they were trying to stop.

    “The man asked the old man in the cab if he was one of the priests that came to pray for kids that had accident and were in a hospital at Bode Thomas and he said yes.

    “He said he saw a revelation that we should be careful crossing the road and travelling. As we made to leave, the other supposed passer-by said there must be a reason for the priest to say that (at this point, I was already under their control).

    “So, we crossed over and stopped the cab. Then, we got in and prophesies started concerning us. I was adamant at first but the jazz was strong. Unfortunately, I cannot recall anything they said in the car.

    “I could not even talk. I was just looking and that’s all I could recall. The priest then asked the other man to get down and he revealed what was going on in the man’s life and asked me to write it down.

    “I did and we later went to pick the man up. Then, I was asked to drop all I had on me. I did and that was it. Now, I lost my phone and money too.

    “It was after I got down from the cab that it dawned on me that three men had defrauded me. They used a red cab.”

  • Omo-Agege as victim of high-handedness

    Delinquency, thuggery and criminality as well as self-help are metaphors for the 8th Senate. With last week’s invasion of the Senate chambers and carting away of the mace by those described as thugs and criminals allegedly sponsored by embattled Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, it was the case of those who sowed the wind reaping the whirl-wind. But this has not stopped the nation from being assailed with precipitate recriminations, denunciations and loud wailings especially by masters of political intrigues and veterans of self-help.

    Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu who finally found his voice after the hoodlums had accomplished their mission saw the assault as “an institutional infraction” while his soul mate, Bukola Saraki, the Senate President says “What happened was a disgrace.  To Aliyu Sabi-Abdullahi, chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, “The action is an act of treason.” Organised Labour on its part says the invasion was a “violation of the sanctity of the Senate”. For Femi Gbajabiamila, it was “an indication the lawmakers are a sitting duck”. And while the opposition PDP saw it as “a direct assault on the legislature”, the ruling APC saw “the invasion as an attack on democracy.” Unfortunately, the fire, fury and the wailings have in the main focused on symptoms instead of the fundamental problem of a culture of self-help, impunity and delinquency which define the 8th Senate.

    Again, it is worth repeating how waywardness of the current leadership of the Senate got us to this sorry pass.  In 2015, APC as a party duly met and conducted a straw poll and clear candidates emerged. Dissatisfied, Saraki after trading off the position of deputy senate president to the opposition outwitted his fellow 51 APC senators holding a meeting with the president in another venue and sneaked into the chambers to be pronounced senate president by acclamation after a motion by Senator Dino Melaye supported by predominantly PDP opposition senators. Prof. Itse Sagay had then described the act of treachery which propelled Saraki to power as “an act of illegality and criminality, because there is no way a Senate can be formally inaugurated without all the members present –provided they want to be present”. For him, Saraki’s perfidy was nothing but an attempted coup”.

    To consolidate the position, Senate Standing Rules were allegedly forged, a claim confirmed by the police interim report. Based on the report, Saraki’s aggrieved and outwitted colleagues dragged him and his deputy, Ekweremadu, to court. The Senate leadership quickly resorted to self-help by passing a resolution to the effect that there was no forgery. Since, courts cannot question how the Senate runs its internal affairs, the protesting senators lost out.

    Saraki, Melaye and their group celebrated their victory at the Senate executive session of July 12, 2016. It was there Senator Dino Melaye gave an order that “because already there is a resolution of the Senate that the rules of the Senate were not forged, all those who have gone to court should go and withdraw their names from court and that if at the end of the day those who refused to withdraw their names from court, we should penalise them by suspending them”.

    And if further evidence that the Senate resorted to self-help to pervert justice is needed,  the statement issued by Lagos State senators to denounce Dino Melaye’s harassment and intimidation of Senator Remi Tinubu provided just that. According to the statement, “As distinguished members of the Red Chamber, we are strongly in favour of resolving any conflict that has arisen in the course of our representation and national duty through dialogue and due process and we will not be part of any solution obtained through any form of coercion, threat, intimidation and ungentlemanly conduct of the distinguished office of a senator.”

    Unfortunately, little has changed in the way the senate is run three years down the line.

    It can also now be argued that Saraki probably deployed self-help tactics to mollify some of the protesting APC senators. The salaries of senators have been shrouded in secrecy until a few weeks back, when ‘saint’ Senator Shehu Sani told the nation that in addition to senators’ N700, 000 official monthly salary, senators also collect N13.5m monthly which they are free to spend as they like as long as they are retired with receipts. This he said was in addition to the N200m constituency project budget senators preside over. I cannot think of a more plausible explanation as to why APC senators who once pretended to be on the side of the people would choose to drown with the Senate leadership even as they got embroiled in more scandals.

    For instance, on March 18, 2017, Sahara Reporters had with a howling headline reported “Senate on Vengeance after Nigerian Customs Seized Senator Saraki’s Bulletproof Range Rover over Fake Documents”. The story was that the customs “ had on January 11, 2017, intercepted and impounded a Range Rover SUV which carried documents that claimed its chassis number was “SALGV3TF3EA190243”, valued  at  N298 million, with an alleged fake documents presented by the driver showing payment of N8m as against expected customs duty of N74 million. The Senate quickly resorted to self-help. The Senate, after adopting a motion raised by Senator Dino Melaye against Hameed Ali, the Comptroller General of Customs, was ordered to appear in the upper house. Dino Melaye insisted he must appear wearing Customs-General uniform despite Femi Falana’s argument that “Neither the constitution not the Rules of Procedure of the Senate has conferred on it the power to compel the CGC to wear customs uniform when he is not a serving customs officer.” The Senate at the end became a judge in its own case with its internal probe exonerating the Senate President while putting the blame squarely on the importer of the car.

    Finally, we can mention a few other instances when the Senate resorted to self-help to pervert the course of justice. Following newspapers’ investigations that showed some serving senators including the Senate President who were once governors were earning double salaries, the Senate through an internal probe came out to inform the public that the governor-turned senators were receiving pensions and not salaries.

    When Minister Raji Fashola in 2017 decried lawmakers’ diversion of budgetary allocations from critical projects designed to benefit the people to their controversial constituency projects, he was summoned and browbeaten while the then Acting President Osinbajo who was critical of the lawmakers action was threatened with impeachment.

    In the Sahara Reporters claim that Senator Melaye was dressing himself in borrowed robes by claiming to be alumni of some prestigious institutions around the world, instead of allowing an independent body to examine the online newspaper claim, they once again resorted to self-help by setting up an internal probe which confirmed that Dino Melaye indeed earned a third class degree certificate in Geography from ABU, Zaria.

    Omo-Agege has not denied he belongs to the Buhari Support Group. It was perhaps for this reason he alleged that because “only 36 of 360 members of the House of Representatives adopted the report on the amendment to the Electoral Act while the Senate did not form a quorum the day it passed the bill”, the whole exercise was aimed at undermining Buhari’s chances in 2019.

    Even after he had been forced to apologise for his comments, Dino Melaye the Senate ‘enforcer’ still went ahead to move a motion for his suspension for 181 days. And Saraki,  claiming to be concerned about the preservation of the integrity of the Senate  as an institution, approved Melaye’s motion but reduced the suspension to 90 legislative days’ subject to his withdrawing his case against the Senate in court.

    Even the rebellious Jews in response to Jesus Christ’s “let him without sin throw the first stone” John (8:7) simply melted away. Senator Saraki and Senator Dino Melaye seem to think Nigerians cannot see through their perfidy.

  • Anyone can be victim of maternal mortality

    With the recent postpartum experience of tennis star, Serena Williams and close shave with death, it just might seem like every woman, irrespective of education or financial wherewithal can fall victim to maternal mortality. Medinat Kanabe reports.

    A few weeks ago, the news broke of how tennis superstar, Serena Williams almost died after child birth. Williams, who was delivered of her baby through a Caesarian Section, CS, fell ill a day after the operation and doctors found several little clots in her lungs.

    Not long after, she suffered another terrifying scare, when her C-section scar burst open and doctors found that a large haematoma (a solid swelling of clotted blood within the tissues) had flooded her abdomen.

    The tennis star had to undergo several surgeries and was unable to get out of bed for six weeks.

    Recounting her ordeal, Williams said she almost died if not for the prompt intervention of the doctors.

    Without doubt, Serena Williams is one lucky woman; as many others have died due to such careless oversight.

    Grace Thompson (not real name), a graduate of Business Administration from one of Nigeria’s prestigious universities is one of the unlucky ones. She died a few weeks after child birth. According to family source, she died from high blood pressure while some others said she bled to death.

    She had given birth and was undergoing the normal postpartum bleeding period; having an elaborate naming ceremony was therefore understandable as the bleeding was not supposed to make her handicapped. Unfortunately, the bleeding never stopped and she died of excessive blood loss.

    Another case is that of Nollywood actress, Modupe Oyekunle who died after given birth to her third child. She had been delivered of the baby, even held the child in her hands before she passed on.

    Another popular Yoruba actress who died after childbirth is 42-year-old Moji Olaiya, who passed on in Canada two months after bringing forth her baby. While it was never confirmed that her death was due to complications from childbirth, many drew their conclusion based on the time span.

    Emmanuella Harrison is another such victim. In March, 2017, she left her husband and children for the hospital to deliver her baby but never returned home.

    Mrs. Harrison, who was already a few days overdue, was driven to the hospital by her husband. She finally gave birth to a healthy child after laboring for hours but died from postpartum hemorrhage.

    According to Doctor Rufus Olawale Adewuyi of the Ilogbo Central Hospital, Ijanikin, maternal mortality is the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of delivery or termination of pregnancy irrespective of the duration of the pregnancy, which may be caused by things related to the pregnancy or the management of the pregnancy.

    “If a woman aborts a pregnancy, no matter how old the pregnancy is, and dies within 6 weeks after the termination, it is maternal mortality.”

    Adewuyi hinted that maternal mortality is a big issue in the world, saying one can assess the state of health of every country based on their maternal mortality rate. “A country with a good health condition translates to a very low maternal mortality rate. It is unfortunate that Nigeria is one of the five countries in the world with high maternal mortality rate. This shows the state of our public health and the standard of living of the people.”

    The doctor said things that are responsible for maternal mortality includes socio economic status of the people; socio cultural status of the people, their beliefs, the health consciousness of the people, how affordable their health services are, and how effective the regulatory agencies are.

    Other reasons responsible for maternal mortality according to the doctor include the fact that a sizable number of deliveries are either taken at home or handled by non trained personnel.

    Although not trying to hold brief for abortion, he said because abortion is illegal, people cannot come out to do it, hence it is being handled and managed by quacks.

    “For the socio economic status, we understand that many people cannot access good health care because of lack of money. Because of some beliefs, many people prefer to deliver at home, thereby patronising TBAs. This has remained this way because of the lack of PHCs in many rural communities, making them worst hit.

    “People in these places fall into labour and cannot get into a secondary health care facility, if urgently required. Usually, it takes so much time, which may lead to death,” he said.

    One of the ways to reduce maternal mortality, according to Adewuyi is to educate the girl child. “This will keep them in school all through childhood to about 20 years of their lives; this helps them to escape teenage pregnancy. Teenage pregnancy is known as a high risk pregnancy because when a teenager is pregnant, there is a high risk of Vesicovagina Fistula, VVF, turbulent delivery and many other issues that can lead to maternal mortality.

    “They are more informed when educated, they are placed in a better socio economic class, they know when to go to the hospital, where to go, and can plan their lives better, which in turn helps the society. They are also aware of family planning and know that the more they get pregnant and go through labour, the higher they are exposed to risks.

    “Hypertension, diabetes and hemorrhage are other major causes of maternal mortality and they require special and professional management, which is not available in many parts of our country.”

    Using the hospital where he works as an example, Adewuyi said antenatal is very important to have a healthy child and a happy mother. During this period, the women are counseled and checked on a regular basis to know those who require special care and close monitoring during pregnancy and after delivery.

    “Some are placed on classical ANC while others are placed on close monitoring. We may see some only four times throughout the pregnancy while we see some almost every week all through the pregnancy. Every pregnant woman that comes to the hospital here must see the doctor.

    “We always have an obstetrics gaenocologists on ground every time the women come; that is why our maternal mortality rate is 0 in 10. We don’t have any here except when the pregnancy was not managed by us and poorly managed or before the patient gets here the baby or the mother is already dead. Once a woman is discharged, we advise her to do exclusive breastfeeding, which we start telling them from the beginning of the pregnancy, so they are very much enlightened about the benefits.

    “We also have a congratulatory message, which we hand over to every mother and it contains things that we expect them to do when they get home and what we don’t want them to do. After we discharge them, we give them 48-hour appointment, a 72 hour appointment, an eight day and some other appointments to monitor them.”

    Asked if women that deliver through CS have higher risks than those who go through vagina delivery, Adewuyi said “For every surgery, the risks are there but CS is a surgery that can be performed by a junior doctor; so it is a very simple one but it cannot be compared to vagina delivery.

    Noting that sometimes people who deliver through the vagina have complications and those that deliver through CS don’t have any form of complications, he said “For CS, the risk is usually postpartum hemorrhage.”

    Postpartum hemorrhage, according to him, can be primary or secondary. “It is primary when it reduces after 24 hours but becomes secondary when it continues for more than one week and is heavy. After delivery, we expect the womb to contract to help contain the amount of blood loss but when the womb is not contracting, which we call lack of uterus contraction, the blood vessels, especially from the placenta bed continues to bleed.

    “Another cause is when part of the placenta is retained in the womb. The first thing she should do is to come back to the hospital. After you deliver, if you notice anything strange, don’t listen to people around you; come to the hospital and let the doctor tell you that it is nothing. Don’t wait until it gets out of hand because it will increase from one stage to another and may make it difficult for the health practitioners to handle.

    “When a woman delivers, we administer some treatment so that after the first day, the blood begins to reduce until after 6 weeks when it would have changed to spotting.

    “If after 24 hours of delivery a woman discovers that her bed is soaked with blood even with the use of pads, then she should raise alarm. She should also raise alarm if the bleeding comes with weakness.”

    In his final analysis, Dr Olawuyi concluded that child spacing does not only reduce maternal mortality but also improves the health status of the mother. “It goes a long way to help the economic status of the family. It allows the family to be able to cater for the ones they have and for the woman to be able to recover very well from the last delivery. It also helps the society, as the woman is able to stay at work, as against observing maternal leave every time.”

     

  • Court orders police to pay victim N80m for illegal detention, prosecution

    The Lagos State High Court in Ikeja has ordered the Nigeria Police and a Lagos businessman, Rapheal Obi,  to pay N80 million to a clearing agent, Rapheal Okonkwo, for illegal detention, torture and malicious prosecution.

    Justice Babajide Candide-Johnson held that Okonkwo’s arrest, detention and prosecution before an Igbosere Chief Magistrate Court for alleged theft of a 40ft container, containing Topgel MC valued at N36.4 million, was unlawful and malicious.

    The court noted that the police failed to conduct any credible investigation before prosecuting Okonkwo.

    The judge held that the action of the police was “a patent and blatant abuse by the Police of the enormous powers of criminal prosecution.

    “The entire investigation by the Police, according to the court, and the evidence given in this court was the reception of a petition in respect of the case, the arrest of the accused person and the taking of his statement.

    “They did not give evidence of any investigation as to the theft of the container. Therefore, their evidence is of no use in determining the guilt or otherwise of Okonkwo”, the court held.

    Okonkwo was discharged and acquitted in charge No A/55/2004 by Chief  Magistrate Akintunde Olufemi Isaac.

    Through his lawyer, Abang Mkpandiok, he sued at the High Court, seeking among others, a declaration that his prosecution by the Police in charge A/55/2004, on the instigation of Rapheal Obi was malicious and injurious to him.

    He demanded N100million as damages.

    Justice Candide-Johnson said he believed the submission of the claimant that the attack on him was to avoid payment of a N60 million indebtedness.

    The judge also held that it was Obi who arranged the movement of Okonkwo from the detention of the Police at the Special Fraud Unit (SFU), Milverton Road, Ikoyi, Lagos  to Special anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).

    “What exactly does this case have to do with armed robbery and SARS who are specifically a squad to tackle armed robbers? I can only arrive at one inference that the movement of Okonkwo to SARS was activated by an unjustifiable intention to inflict injury on him and a desire to cause him harm.

    “On the totality of evidence before this court, I hold that Rapheal Okonkwo has credibly established and proved all the requisite ingredients of malicious  prosecution.

    “Accordingly, I enter judgement forthwith in favour of Okonkwo against Rapheal Obi, Superintendent  Ibrahim Haruna Ishaq and the Inspector General of Police that the prosecution of Okonkwo in charge No A/55/2004 on the instigation of Rapheal Obi is malicious and injurious.

    “N80 million is awarded against all the defendants jointly and severally,” Justice Candide-Johnson said.

  • Boko Haram: Child victim survives surgery, begins to walk

    Boko Haram: Child victim survives surgery, begins to walk

    A six-year old Boko Haram victim, Ali Ahmadu, has survived a corrective surgery in his spinal cord. He can now walk, after 14 days in the hospital.

    While being ferried to Dubai on September 10, all he could mutter repeatedly in Hausa was: “Ina so insake tafiya da kafana…Don Allah ataimakamu…Don Allah. Ina so in je makaranta”. (“I want to begin to walk with my legs again. For God’s sake, assist me. I want to go to school”).

    Now Ali can walk as he “miraculously” stood up from his hospital bed to the amazement of his shocked doctors. They had projected that it would take him four weeks to walk.

    The surgery at Zulekha Hospital Sharjah in Dubai, United Arab Emirates was coordinated by Dr. Nishit Bhargava.

    It was  bankrolled by the Dickens Sanomi Foundation with $48,000 (N17.5million).

    The Foundation  was established by Mr. Igho Sanomi who owns the Taleveras Group.

    Sanomi said: “Miracles do happen. For those of you who don’t believe in God, better believe in God now.

    “This is Ali Ahmadu who was run over by Boko Haram terrorists in 2014. The boy and his pregnant mother were left under a tree for three days. The boy was bleeding from mouth and nose throughout the agonising days.

    “Ali’s spinal cord was damaged and he couldn’t walk. For three years, help was needed. God made it possible after five to six hours of surgery and 48 hours in intensive care. Little Ali could walk again. This happened today to everyone’s surprise.

    “This determined six-year old boy got off his bed and decided to walk despite doctors’ expectations that he would need physiotherapy to learn to walk again at least three weeks after surgery. Today, Ali walked after just seven days.

    “This made my day and I am so proud of the Dickens Sanomi Foundation for making this surgery possible financially.”

    The  Founder of  Global Initiative for Peace, Love and Care (GIPLC), Mr. Nuhu Fulani Kwajafa, who collaborated with the Sanomi Foundation, how Ali was picked up before finally landing  in Dubai.

    He  said: “After five hours on the 17th of September and almost 48 hours in Intensive Care Unit, Ali Ahmadu had a very successful procedure.

    “It has been a divine journey starting far away in Chibok in 2014. It is the story of a little boy left to die, underneath a tree, to where (Dubai) we are today.

    “It is about a fighting spirit, a resolute charming soul and spirit beating all odds to survive and walk again.

    “It seemed unachievable but thanks to all our efforts. We have cause to rejoice. This is to say a big thank you from Ali’s family and GIPLC. Most especially our best regards goes to the President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki and his colleagues who set the ball rolling towards raising funds and awareness for the surgery.

    “Our profound gratitude goes specially to Dickens Sanomi Foundation for making it all happen and for being at the hospital with Ali..

    “This surgery was made possible by the esteemed Foundation. Thank you once again the Chairman of the Foundation, Igho Sanomi and its Board of Trustees.

    “We thank the press (print and electronic). We cannot do it without you.We are grateful. We thank Nigerians for their prayers and well-wishes. God will bless you all immensely. God has done it again.”

  • Imo to immortalise 10-year-old victim of Owerri market protest

    •Douglass Road, new project to be renamed after victim

    Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha yesterday said the famous Douglas Road, where the demolished Eke-Ukwu Owerri Market was located, as well as any other project that will be built on the plot of land, will be renamed after Somtochukwu Ibeanusi, the 10-year-old boy who was killed by a stray bullet during the demolition.

    He said the exact place the boy was killed did not matter because the government had decided to honour him, though the circumstances were confusing.

    Okorocha, who spoke at the Government House in Owerri, the state capital, when he hosted traditional rulers and leaders of Owerri, said he had been able to “liberate the people of Owerri from a wicked clique made up of one or two families that had held Owerri people in bondage”.

    He said: “Government has decided to honour Somtochukwu, although the boy’s death was confusing because an action can’t be taking place on Douglas Road and the person died on Mbaise Road.

    “No matter what happened, whatever be the case, since that boy died within that period of liberation, that boy must be honoured. This is besides the fact that Owerri leaders are mourning him, wore black, even to Catholic and Anglican churches. And if Owerri leaders can mourn a boy from Nnewi, Anambra State, that shows there is something great about that boy.

    “For every activity at Ekeukwu and on Douglas Road, the boy will be honoured. This is because he died on the day of the event. That boy is more important than any Eke or Afor, Ekeukwu or Ekenta.

    “So, Douglas Road and any project to be sited there will be named after Somtochukwu. The project will be named Somtochukwu and the road, Somtochukwu Road, in line with the way all of us are mourning that boy. I will not go back to a deity again by naming it Ekeukwu Road. Imo State has gone past that level.”

    He added: “They (political opponents) are fighting me because I have liberated our people. What do I benefit by building a township school, rebuilding Emmanuel College, Akwakuma Girls School, Government College, Government Technical College, Owerri Girls School, inland roads, ICC, trade and investment centre, two flyovers, two tunnels, heroes’ square, roads?

    “What do I benefit as Rochas Okorocha, if not for the development of Owerri? No governor has done, in the history of Owerri, what I have done for Owerri people? My crime is that I have liberated you people from bondage…”