This Day News  -  Dateline: 01/06/2002 02:59:26

Rectors Flay Discrimination Against Poly Graduates
From Amby Uneze in Enugu

The council of Heads of Polytechnics and Colleges of Technology in Nigeria (COHEADS) have expressed dismay over the continued discriminatory practices against graduates of Polytechnics in favour of those of Universities in the country.

To this effect, the body has appealed to the federal government to urgently release the white paper on Yabani Committee Report, which addresses this problem.

In a communique issued at the end of their 92nd regular meeting held at the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu between May 23 and 24, 2002, the meeting deliberated on a number of issues affecting the enhancement of Technology education in Polytechnics and Colleges of Technology in the country.

The communique which was signed by the chairman of COHEADS, Engr. Umaru Sani-Ango, was greatly concerned about the dwindling financial allocation on overhead charges to the federal and state Polytechnics and urged all proprietors to increase funding to such institutions as a matter of urgency to prevent the collapse of technical education in the country.

It also appealed to the federal government to expedite action in implementing the decisions reached at the end of the recent Higher Education Summit at Abuja to reposition Polytechnic education in Nigeria.

While appreciating the payment of 22 per cent salary increase to all staff of federal and some state Polytechnics by the various governments concerned, COHEADS also appealed to all others yet to pay to do so without further delay to ensure industrial harmony in the Polytechnic system.

The meeting commended the initiative of the United Nations Education and Scientific Commission (UNESCO) - Nigeria and the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) in revitalising Television Education (TVE) by up-dating the curricula of various subjects/programmes in the technical colleges and the Polytechnics, just as it appealed to all stakeholders to support its proper implementation.

It further noted with appreciation the interest of the Enugu State government in the proposed Polytechnic Exposition "Poly Expo 2002" coming up at Enugu in December and urged the Federal and State governments, private organisations, NGOs and industrialists to support the programme.

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Thisday News   -  Dateline: 27/05/2002 04:42:46

Robbers Raid Lagos Airport, Kill 3 Policemen, One Other

·  Airline operators, FAAN to meet on security measures
By Ndubuisi Francis


For the third time in two months, the domestic wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos yesterday played host to a four-man armed robbery gang which killed four people, including three policemen and injured three others. The robbers also reportedly carted away an unspecified amount of money belonging to one of the airlines.

The armed robbery operation coincided with the arrival of Senate President Anyim Pius Anyim to the VIP Lounge of the Airport enroute Abuja.

The robbers, who, after their operation left the entire airport community dumbfounded, were said to have arrived the car park in three different Mercedes Benz V-boot cars at different parts of the park and the adjoining roads at about 3.pm. waiting for about one hour before they struck.

The policemen who had escorted a light blue Peugeot 504 station wagon with registration number-- Lagos BK 441 MUS belonging to one of the banks which had reportedly come to carry money made from weekend sales by one of the airlines were seated in the car at the car park oblivious of the presence of the robbers.

According to eyewitnesses, when the robbers sighted the money being dropped into the boot of the Peugeot car one of them walked straight to the car where the unsuspecting policemen were seated and shot three of them with what was described as a machine gun.

The driver of the vehicle who was dressed in a blue local fabric also identified as a staff of the bank which could not be ascertained at press time was also shot dead while another policeman as well as a lady staff of the bank were also injured .

Soon after the policemen were killed, the robbers were said to have made for the boot of the Peugeot car where the money was loaded in a bag popularly known as Ghana-Must-Go and transferred it into the boot of one of the three Mercedes Benz cars they came with.

The bag reportedly fell off from the boot of the Mercedes Benz as they were driving off and one of the robbers was said to have jumped down with unencumbered confidence and carried the bag back into the car before they made good their escape unchallenged while shooting sporadically into the air.

The robbery threw the entire domestic wing of the airport, particularly the GAT, into confusion as people, including air travelers, ran for safety.
At about 5.p.m, a team of policemen from the nearby Beesam police station arrived the scene where their colleagues were killed in a truck.
One of the killed policemen, a Sergeant who was seated in-between his two colleagues whose ranks could not be ascertained had his skull shattered while the other one had his neck completeley ripped open. The third had almost one part of his head blown off.
On arrival, the team of policemen who were led by an officer in mufti examined the remains of their murdered colleagues before they drove off with the corpses at about 5,50p.m.

THISDAY later gathered that the airline affected by the robbery was Bellview and that the amount lost to the robbers was about one million naira.
Albarka Air Services was said to have transferred its money to the bank about 10 minutes before the Bellview team fell into the hands of the robbers.
Sources told THISDAY that the robbers were apparently acting on insider information, having come at a time when they knew the airlines usually move their money to the banks.    Addressing newsmen shortly after the robbery, the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, Alhaji Ibrahim Mamman, said it has become necessary for the Federal Government to allow FAAN security team at airports to carry arms.   He noted that FAAN had made cases for the arming of securitymen at airports, adding that the robbery might make the Federal Government see the need for this.   He stated that after the April 7 robbery at the Lagos Airport which left two bureaux de change operators dead, FAAN met with airline operators at the instance of the latter and it was agreed that airlines should use more secure parts of the airport to transfer their moneys to the bank, adding that the airlines had not applied for the use of these facilities.
He regretted that the robbers escaped unmolested due to the absence of communication facilities that could have made it possible for FAAN securitymen to communicate with the police.    
Armed robbers had, after a successful operation at Ajao Estate sometime in March this year killed a police officer near the Beesam Police Station, and escaped. The incident coincidentally took place with the arrival of the new Inspector General, Tafa Balogun to the airport, his first visit after his appointment. 
Barely three weeks later, precisely April 7, robbers also stormed the mosque at the domestic wing of the Lagos Airport, killing two bureaux de change operators. All the attacks, including that of yesterday happened on a Sunday.
Meanwhile, FAAN and airline operators have scheduled an emergency meeting to tackle the security situation at the airport.

 

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GUARDIAN  -  Friday, March 29, 2002.

How robbers, kidnappers entrap Lagosians

By Regina Akpabio

ONE evening last week, at the close of work at Toyota Bus Stop, along Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, a 12-seater commuter bus with the Lagos State yellow and black colour pulled by the roadside. A conductor in their usual manner, hanging by the door called, 'Oshodi, Oshodi'. An innocent passenger jumped in. And the driver of the vehicle, satisfied, pulled off with the one passenger. As the vehicle moved, the two other occupants of the vehicle descended on the lone commuter and robbed him of his money and other valuables. He is left alive, if he is lucky. If he is not, he is gagged, pushed beneath the bus seats and may never be seen alive again. If ever seen, he would have been killed and parts of his body taken away.

As the practice has become quite frequent, innocent Nigerians crying out to the authorities to do something. Many have fallen victim to the criminalss and are living testimonies. But some are not lucky enough to be alive to tell their stories, as most of the victims are killed and their bodies deposited on the roadside or in shallow pit.

Some of the popular bus stops used to perpetrate the act include Ojota, along Ikorodu Road, Toyota, Mile-2, Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, Jibowu in Yaba and Iyana Isolo.

Inside such commuter vehicles, the criminals occupy most of the seats, leaving one or two seats for the would-be victims. They operate at anytime of the day.

One of such victims, David Kalu, on returning from night duty early one morning did not suspect any danger lurking on the way, as he jumped into a vehicle to take him home.

"On Thursday, March 14 at about 7 a.m., I left the office, hail and hearty. On getting to Toyota Bus Stop, I saw a Danfo bus, painted in Lagos commercial colour calling Bolade-Oshodi. I entered and immediately, the conductor closed the door. There were about eight young men between the ages of 25-30 years in the bus.

"Before the bus moved towards the bridge connecting Oshodi and Airport Road, the boy sitting next to me stood up as if he wanted to alight at the next bus stop, but all was a ploy to push me inside the bus. As I was arguing with the boy, all I received was a blow to my face. Somebody from the back held my neck while yet another person covered my mouth. They pushed me to the floor of the vehicle. My shoes were removed, my shirt and trousers torn.

When he got to Underbridge Bus Stop, they decided to climb the flyover. One of them told the driver to watch whether the policemen were there on their routine check. One of them instructed the conductor to "Roger" the police if he saw them. As the bus slowed down, in anticipation of police check, the conductor was shouting "Oshodi, Oshodi," while the bus was still moving, passengers who were coming to board the bus could not gain entrance as the conductor did not open the door for them.

When they saw that the policemen were not on the spot they were expected to be, they zoomed off and moved towards Charity Bus Stop, from there they joined Oshodi-Apapa Expressway and sped off.

They pushed me under the seat at the back of the bus. One person was holding my neck and mouth while another person used iron to tie my two legs.

I pleaded with them not to kill me but should rather take all I had on me.

When my pleas could not yield any result, I started praying to my God to deliver me from their hands.

One of them said they are going to "mud me" but the one that looked like their leader refused. Rather, he asked me where I came from and where I am living. After telling him, he asked them to return all my belongings including my money and identity card. He asked me to put on my shirt and trouser and shoe.

He also asked me toconfirm whether all my belongings were complete.

On getting to Cele Bus Stop, he asked the driver to stop. This, he did. Then I was instructed to go down, when I alighted from the bus, they gave me N20 for my fare back home. That is how I was saved by God.

A similar incident also occurred in December, as a 12-seater bus painted in yellow and blue colour with five men inside was flagged down by Moji and Kemi at Ikeja Bus Stop. The bus was going to Iyana Ipaja, which was also their direction.

"Shortly after, a man pointed a gun at Kemi while I was asked not to raise alarm. They warned that they were ritualists. They asked us to say our last prayers," Moji said, adding, in the ensuing melee, I managed to escape with bruises as I jumped out of the moving bus while Kemi was whisked away.

"Unconscious after the 'miraculous' escape, I laid in the pool of my blood and was later taken to a nearby hospital where I regained consciousness.

Up till now, Kemi has not been found as all efforts to trace her whereabouts have proved abortive. Kemi's family has done everything within its power in search of her," but the effort has yielded no fruit either. Even the police's effort at finding her has not yielded any result as the family daily agonises over their missing daughter.

"A dead daughter is better than a missing one. A dead daughter could have been given a befitting burial than one whose corpse would not be found," Moji narrated.

Another victim, Wole Shadare narrates his experience: "Early January, this year, I was going home at about 8 p.m., I boarded a commuter bus at Toyota Bus Stop going to Mile 2'. There were 11 men already occupying various seats. They created about three seats at the back and ushered about three of us to the various seats. All the men pretended to be passengers. At Iyana Isolo, three of them pointed their guns at our back while others searched our bags and pockets to remove our money. They told us that they were policemen. They collected about N2,200 from me and dropped all of us at Ballet Bus Stop, giving us N20 as transport fares to our various homes."

A week ago, two commuters who preferred anonymity boarded a Danfo bus at Hajj Camp, International Airport Road, going to Wharf, only to be robbed us of their money, camera, handsets and identity cards.

At Ojota, the robbers target travellers who return from the eastern part of the country.

Mr. Johnson Akpan said: "I was returning from my village very early one morning. At Ojota Bus Stop, a Danfo vehicle was calling 'Oshodi, and about three of us jumped in. They continued plying Ikorodu Road instead of diverting to Oshodi. They later stopped at Anthony Bus Stop and asked us to surrender our money. We gave them everything they demanded. They dropped us at Palm Groove Bus Stop and drove away."

Another commuter who preferred anonymity said: "I was picked up at Jibowu Bus Stop at about 9 p.m., as I was returning from classes. I struggled with them in the bus as after forcibly taking my N10,000 were bent on cutting off my genitals. I was calling on Jesus to help me. At last, under the bridge at Maryland Bus Stop, they threw me out of the vehicle. Some people returning from the church service rescued me and took me to the hospital."

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This Day News  --   Dateline: 28/03/2002 00:25:44

FG Implements Ban on Used Vehicles

·  Announces new tariff measures on imported materials
By Francis Ugwoke

The Federal Government has effected the ban placed on the importation of used vehicles which were over five years from the date of manufacture.

Government also directed the Nigeria Customs Service to begin the implementation of some tariff amendments on some imported raw materials and other items for the year 2002.

In a circular to the Customs, the Ministry of Finance said apart from the ban on some categories of vehicles, importation of the items through land borders should not be allowed.

President Olusegun Obasanjo had last year said that government was going to ban the importation of vehicles above the manufature date of five years.

This decision attracted criticisms from importers of vehicles who later appealed to the National Assembly to prevail on the executive arm of the government not to implement the ban.

For over seven months many had thought that government had changed its mind on the matter until this directive to the Customs Service to implement the ban.

In the letter to the National Assembly, the President of the association of importers of used vehicles, Mr. Chris Akpoguma and the Secretary, Mr. Ayo John said that it was wrong for government to have gone ahead to place a ban on such vehicles relying on the recommendation of a Committee it had set up without seeking the views of the importers on the issue.

The assocaition also said that the Committee on Ports Decongestion did not seek the views of the importers, adding that the "narrow spectrum of investigation flaws the reports of the Committee which have regretably misled the Federal Executive Council meeting to taking a sub-optimal decision opon this matter with dire consequence for transportation in the country".

Noting that though President Olusegun Obasanjo has said that the policy was experimental and would be subsequently reviewed, the Association said its members were compelled by patriotic zeal to appeal for the urgent intervention of the lawmakers to forestall spiralling inflation that would be provoked should the policy be implemented.

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VANGUARD  -  Friday, 29th March, 2002

The local industry and the proposed import ban

By Samuel Udeala

The plans by the Federal Government to ban about 20 imported items have sometime now been an issue of public discussion. While the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has recommended to the Federal Executive such ban, the National Association of Nigerian Traders NANTS has called for caution because of implications of such policy for the Nigerian economy.

MAN in a December 1, 2001 memorandum submitted to the Federal Executive Council and signed by its Director-General, Mr. Olawale Akinpelu, requested the ban of the 20 items in order to protect the local industries from collapse.

Recommended for ban are second hand dresses, shoes, textile and garments, bottled water, fruit juice, toothpicks, canned drinks, breakfast cereals, confectionery/biscuits, cube sugar, toilet rolls/serviette, toothpaste, toothbrushes, bleaching creams, beverages, tiles, electric cables, apples, furniture and macaroni.

The Federal Executive council in its meeting early this year had set up a committee to come up with restrictive import measures to be adopted to curb excessive importation with the Minister of Commerce, Engineer Mustapha Bello, Membership was drawn from MAN and other private sector operators.

Vanguard learnt that already the committee, which was specially asked to recommend appropriate measures to curb the indiscriminate importation of foreign goods, has endorsed the recommendations of MAN for the ban of the 20 imported items.

The Minister of Commerce, Engineer Mustapha Bello, was asked to liaise with the Minister for Industry, Chief Kola Jamodu, to determine the appropriate time for the announcement of the ban as well as to put in place adequate policy measure that would protect the domestic industry from unfair competition from foreign manufacturers.

The manufacturers had complained in their memorandum to the government that the full liberalization policy had made the economy vulnerable and porous to importation of goods that could otherwise be produced locally. According to them, many factories in the sector have been closed down as a result of hostile environment of production. Hardest hit sectors include textile, toiletries, electronics, chemical engineering and many of them have shut production oweing to dumping of goods.

The Federal Government set up a technical committee on restrictive import measure with manufacturers as members to:

! Recommend appropriate measures that could curb the discriminate influx of imported goods at low landing cost into the country.

! Recommend measures that would adequately protect domestic industries from unfair competition by foreign manufacturers. Recommend measures, within the shortest time, ensure adequate adjustment and competitiveness in the economy, as well as enhance the export potentials of Nigerian products, and

! Recommend measures that would eventually produce maximum benefits to the economy.

In a reaction, the Executive Secretary of the National Association of Nigerian Traders (NANTS) Mr. Ken Ukoha in a memorandum to the government called for caution in order not to go contrary to the agreement with World Trade Organization (WTO), which specifically warns nations against banning of imports.

NANTS submitted that rather than banning importation of these items, "a more fruitful policy" would encourage local manufacturers to explore cheaper means of producing these affected items. The traders contended that the problem with most local industries was the resistance to change, which had prevented them from diversification.

In a similar reaction, the members of the European Union (EU) also raised objection to the proposed ban of importation of about 20 items, mostly imported from Europe this year. Vanguard gathered that the objection by EU member countries that met at the German Embassy in Lagos recently was based on their assumption that the proposed ban would not only reduce the volume of trade between Nigeria and their countries but also would contradict the World Trade Organization (WTO) treaty that frowns at import restrictions.

The EU members’ emergency meeting followed President Olusegun Obasanjo’s recent order during a visit to Anambra State banning the importation of rice and automobile spare parts. According to the President, continued importation of these items would not augur well for the economic development of the country, adding that businessmen should channel their resources towards the establishment of industries. Sources said that the EU members after their meeting mandated the economic desk of each embassy to prepare a report on the implication of the policy to economic development of their different countries.

Ordinarily, Nigeria ought to show concern on any news about importation. More so if the items are such that can be sourced locally. Going by the Central Bank’s statistics, a total sum of $877.3 million dollars (about 98.6 billion naira) was spent on food importation in the first nine months last year alone. Prominent on the list of imported items are rice, vegetable oil, frozen chicken and turkey, and fruit juice. When compared against the total importation generally, it represents about 13 percent. This is consistent with the pattern established in the last three years where the percentage of food importation out of total importation of goods and services averaged about 10.6 percent.

The aggregate cost of importation generally in the last three years is $38.149 billion dollars (about N4.3 trillion). Whichever way it is viewed, to spend ten percent of total import on food items that can be made available locally is senseless and reckless. We are talking of consumables with no value added. These are not items that can be fed into the productive sectors of the economy with expected multiplier effects. Consequently, about 3.8 billion dollars went out of Nigeria’s economy to provide revenue and jobs for foreign countries.

It tells a sad story about the state of our agriculture. For a nation whose agriculture in the late 1970s produced the famous groundnut pyramid, that was one of the biggest exporters of cocoa, palm oil, fruits, tubers among others, it is a total descent into abyss.

The imported vegetables oil if nothing but bleached palm oil, yet we grow palm trees plenty in Nigeria. Rice has been a staple of many communities for centuries and they are planted in abundance. Oranges grow in several communities but they rot away because we refuse to process them into juice that can be served all year round. Potential for poultry farming exists in abundance, but only few take it seriously because of lack of incentives that would have enabled hatching in commercial quantities. Even our president is quite experienced here being a poultry farmer.

The problem is not about lack of capability but a leadership failure. Years of misplaced priorities and lack of vision of economic transformation have combined to render our agriculture prostate. Only few countries are as blessed as Nigeria in terms of availability of fertile lands to grow almost any food item under the sun, but the policy makers are the least bothered. As long as easy oil money continues to flow why bother to take the big risk entailed in the development of agriculture, so is the reasoning of some. But that is the source of today’s economic disaster, which has rendered our industries and our national pride injured.

It is time we returned to the basics. We cannot revive our industries by waiting for investors alone. The availability of raw materials is very crucial. No nation develops without a linkage between agriculture and industry. Agriculture provides raw materials for the industry to make into finished goods. That is the edge those countries we import processed food from have over us.

A lot of youthful energies that could easily be redeployed to revive our agricultural sector is left unharnessed because of absence of right policies. A good agricultural programme conserves the scarce foreign exchange, saves the nation from hunger, reduces crime, eliminates hunger in the land and propels our industries into a greater height. Manufacturing becomes easier if agriculture is well placed to support it and importation of items is reduced.

There is no alternative, even nations like Israel, which are not as fertile as Nigeria have had to create good agriculture from the desert, because of its indispensability to the national survival and industrial progress. If Israel can be an industrial giant from a desert agriculture, why can’t Nigeria, more so from a well-endowed and natural setting? Let the policy makers be told the truth. Without a properly developed food and agricultural programme, the economy cannot get out of the woods and importation will continue.

Recently, the Federal Government issued a circular to all ministries, parastatals and government functionaries to start patronizing home-made goods. The fact that government functionaries are compelled by this directive to start patronizing Nigeria made goods is a manifestation of government’s desire to promote local industries through leadership by example. That the government also chose this approach rather than using trade protection instruments such as import tariffs, import quotas or outright ban to achieve its industrial goal, also shows the maturity of the government.

The thinking behind the new policy is no doubt patriotic. The government’s logic is that, patronizing local produced goods would expand the size of domestic market faced by local manufacturers and thus serve as in incentives for increased production. More over, it will check the penchant of government functionaries for imported materials to the detriment of the local industrial capacity. Purchasing home-made goods would therefore be a symbol of nationalism and patriotism. This would provide an opportunity for local manufacturers who are in relatively disadvantaged positions to compete with their foreign counterparts. However, laudable as the objectives behind this new policy are, we urge the government should take great caution in its implementation in order not to create local monopolies and reduction of quality of local goods.

In recent time, the Nigerian Labour congress has joined the manufacturers to complain about the negative effect of WTO to the Nigerian economy. For example, NLC reported that ‘not less than 500,000 jobs have been lost in recent time’ as result of trade liberalization. At a United Nations Conference on Trade and Development held last year, the adverse effect of globalization on less Developed Countries (LDCs) was also stressed by the World Bank. The World bank officials alerted participants about increasing marginalization of poor countries through globalization and insisted that globalization must have a human face and help improve the daily lives of the 1-3 billion people who live on less than a dollar a day.

There is no doubt that globalization is the core of the world new economic order. With it, the world has become a global village, resulting in goods and services to freely move across national boundaries and no government can isolate its people against the global free enterprise system.

The manufacturers have stated that they are not against globalization per se. However, global trend is already pointing to the fact that every nation takes its destiny in its own hands. No responsible government should abdicate the responsibility of protecting its economy against the forces, which may be unfair to its economy. Rather than go to sleep, government all over the world must identify their national interests and formulate policies to protect them. Despite being at the forefront of globalization, the United States has been able to protect its economy against competition from cheaper manufactured goods from the low wage new industrialized countries of the south East Asia. It also protects its textile industries and subsidizes farming activities.

Without fear of contradiction, that Nigeria’s problem within the global setting is far more complex. It goes beyond protecting the productive sectors of the economy against the adverse effects of a liberalized trading system. The country’s dilemma in view of the manufacturers is comparable to that of a toddler participating in 100-metre race with world-class athletes. The public sector is bloated, corrupt and inefficient, while the private sector is prostrate, as it remains faced with a debilitating operating environment. Agriculture production in the country has declined due to neglect, while the manufacturing sector faces extinction with less than 30 percent capacity utilization.

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VANGUARD  -  Friday, 29th March, 2002

NAGAFT boss harps on enlightment for freight forwarders

By Ifeoma Onwudinjo

THE need for adequate enlightenment of the society on governments fiscal policies, particularly on those affecting freight forwarding have been highlighted.

Chairman of National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) Chief Boniface Aniebonam said that freight forwarders should be properly educated about their expected roles in the forthcoming destination inspection regime of the Nigeria Customs Service with the view to effect speedy clearance of goods at the seaports, airports and border posts without compromising government’s revenue.

Chief Aniebonam said that the reason for the increase in Customs Licence fees was to make freight forwarders cherish the licence and prevent them from accumulating licence.

He also called on the government to licence co-operate organisations like NAGAFF and the Association of Nigerian Customs Licenced Agents to enable the young freight forwarders to affiliate instead of scaring them away because of the increase which he said will increase unemployment and promote crime.

Chief Aniebonam said that freight forwarders will not go on strike or close down the ports in protest against the increase in licensing fees by government, adding that instead dialogue, consultations and communication will be used to seek downward review of the prohibitive licensing fees.

The new increase in licensing fees Chief Aniebonam said could have a multiplier effect on the national economy by leading to increased prices for various imported items and subsequent inflation and called on National Assembly to see how they can assist on getting the executive arm of government to review the prohibitive fees downward.

He called on Federal Ministry of Finance to prevail on the Nigerian Customs Service to extend the terminal date for the payment of the new licensing fees from March 31st to July 1st 2002 and said that members of NAGAFF are at liberty to pay the new licensing fees while dialogue and negotiations continue with the appropriate authorities bearing in mind that there are provisions in government’s statute books for refund if there be eventual downward review of the contentious fees.

NAGAFF reveal that up to four hundred and seventy-two have paid including the executives of the association whom he said advise its members not to pay and challenge the young freight forwarder to form partnership in order to meet up Customs demand.

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Eve Raps Lagos to a Stand Still
Concert - Dateline: 09/05/2002 02:06:49

The delectable queen of American rap, Eve, was at her best last weekend during the Econet sponsored COJA 8th All African Games Music Fiesta, which took place at the Ikoyi Polo Club, Lagos.

Appearing on stage at about 1:00 a.m., Eve was the first to perform in a concert, which ought to have commenced seven hours earlier. She began with "Ladies", which according to her, is a track dedicated to ladies 'who's got men'. She continued with "This City", "Love Is Blind", "Wet", and "Who's That Girl?"to send the mammoth crowd wild with excitement.

Two tracks that took the crowd to the highest crescendo were "Love Is Blind" and " Who 's That Girl ? ' They threw their hands high up in the air with excitement, waving their hands, singing, and dancing at the same time to Eve's scintillating raps.

DJ Jimmy Jatt, who has already become an institution in Disc Jockeying, was readily available to supply music mixed with scratches from his Jukebox at interludes. Each time he blared out music from his turntable, the whole place was turned into a party scene and the atmosphere became upbeat. At a time many started wondering if it would not be appropriate to leave Jimmy Jatt to continue with his scratches and mixes, but the contract with live artistes performances still needed to be honoured, so DJ Jimmy Jatt's party had to be cut short to allow the artistes who had been billed to perform take over the stage.

Tony Tetuila then came in after the musical interlude by DJ Jimmy Jatt. He rendered such hit tracks as "It's Morning Time", "Omode Meta", and "My Car" with frenzy, the crowd responded "Owo repete" (lots of money), when Tony sang "You don hit my car..." As always, Tetuila was a thriller on stage.

K-Ci and JoJo, the duo of American R & B masters were the third to perform to the capacity-filled Polo turf of Ikoyi Club at the Lagos venue of the COJA 8th All African Games Music Fiesta. The duo, no doubt, stole the hearts of the audience away as the atmosphere of the venue became enveloped with love when they rendered their soul-soothing hit tracks. "Last Night ", "Wait Until Tonight " Play On ", "Thinking About you", and "Me & You" were amongst the eleven songs delivered during the event. An adaptation of Steve Wonder's "Man many wishes" sent the crowd into the widest ecstasy of the early morning as they sang and danced along.

Just like during the Star Mega Jam last December, Ras Kimono, who performed after the duo was saddled with the responsibility of maintaining the high tempo created by K-Ci and JoJo. Much as he tried to impress the crowd, it was a tall challenge for him. Idris

Abdulkarim and Sunny Nneji also performed in that order after Ras Kimono. They also tried the best they could to impress the audience. But then there was nothing like te imported stars. Probably for the fans, they knew their local stars too well that they took them for granted.

COJA 8th All African Games Music Fiesta was put together by Allianz Nigeria Limited and sponsored by Econet Wireless Nigeria. According to Lionel Naude, Chief Marketing Development Officer, Econet Wireless, the show was organized to create massive awareness campaign for the up coming event to be held in Nigeria next year

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REUTERS  -  Nigerian naira holds steady against dollar

LAGOS, May 10 (Reuters) - The Nigerian naira remained steady against the dollar in the week to Friday at both the official and parallel markets as banks were reluctant to deal after the central bank's recent sanctions against some institutions for suspect dealings, dealers said.

The dollar traded at 116.30 naira in the official market and 135 naira at the parallel market, unchanged from last week.

Wole Popoola of National Bank Ltd said banks were now more cautious about their forex dealings after 21 banks were sanctioned by the central bank for illegal transactions.

"The sanctions on some banks have kept the demand (for dollars) on the official market stable, " he said.

The planned introduction in July of additional inspections on imports by the Nigerian Customs Service also helped curb demand for the U.S. unit on the parallel market, he added.

Dealers said dollar sales worth $12.6 million by oil major Chevron Nigeria Ltd had also helped buoy the local currency.

"Sales of about $12.6 million by Chevron increased the supply side and helped stabilise rates in the market during the week," Wole Popoola said.

Parallel market operators blamed slower economic activity for the lower demand for dollars.

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NIGERIAWORLD.COM  --  Friday, May 24, 2002

Anambra State suffers unending economic strangulation -  Maduozu Lumba maduozulumba@netzero.net

For the past few months, the stories emanating from Nigeria suggests a rancous head wind into the local government elections scheduled for August this year, and the legislative and upper executive elections scheduled for early next year.

As politicians jockey for vantage positions to ensure their reelection, the masses of Eastern Nigeria and Anambra State in particular continue to suffer untold hardship brought about by a combination of dumb leadership of the executive governor, a ruthless business man in the name of Sir Emeka Offor whose deft political moves against an elected governor to ensure that he never saw the light of a reelection possibility, and a gloating President and Presidency who could not hide his ebullient joy in suffocating the Anambra State governor to momentarily forget his mission and advocacy for a Nigerian President of Igbo Origin come 2003 elections.

The stage was clearly set for the tripod titans when Chief Offor, who largely financed the election aspirations of Governor CC Mabdinuju of Anambra State in May 1999 found himself shut out of the state governments power corridor. By a stroke of the pen, our inexperienced governor contracted to reward Chief Offor by agreement to appoint Offor's nominees to sensitive State cabinet positions. To Chief Offor who boasted that he was and is never interested in the lucrative non transparent contracting practices of State government funded projects, claimed that he only intended to bring sound accounting methods to the state contract awards and expenditures.

Once the governor ascended his executive office, cracks soon appeared and before long, he sacked the Offor boys from his government, but not before he used Offor further to secure huge loans from commercial banks at exorbitant interest rates in order to take off with his capital and non capital projects all around the state. This singular act, as we shall see, have set the entire achievements of the Governor on a tailspin. The beneficiaries of these contracts did not waste any time to seek mobilization fees to start the projects largely acclaimed to have recorded insignificant success, compared to the tune of millions of the contract value. The bazaar was on. The blazing governor rode as high as he could, speaking with swagger as he targeted security and safety as his prime target. Soon, his Bakassi boys enthralled the state and nation by their brazen, crude, barbaric, yet effective crime busting techniques by openly beheading petty thieves, armed robbers, witch craft doctors, fetish doctors and sometimes political opponents. Criminals found Anambra State too hot to live in as decaying corpses littered major roads in Anambra state.

The Governor scored higher points when he was elected Chairman of South eastern governors association during which he proclaimed that the southeast must produce the next president of Nigeria, in 2003. OBJ went mad! How can this Igbo governor make such statement? In a series of harsh comments from President Obasanjo, he questioned the sanity, purity and impunity of the commentators who clamored for an Igbo President. The Governor was from henceforth marked for political liquidation. Afterall, Governor Mbadinuju did not support OBJ in Jos convention that produced Chief Obasanjo as the PDP Party flagbearer.

While the governor dogged bullets from the increasing spikes of the APF, a faction of his PDP Party sponsored by Chief Emeka Offor to wrest the machinery of the Anambra State's PDP from the Governor, the Governor further suffered migraine headaches from the massive defection from his political control, of influential Anambrarians who reckoned that the political ship of the maverick Governor may be headed for the rocks and sought shelter from alignment with the President's Federal arm and its attendant crumbs of political bread. The Abuja boys swelled in numbers. Soon, attacks from Igbo and Anambra citizens increased as the Governor found no shelter to hide from the snipers.

The commercial banks came calling for repayment of the millions they had given to the State Government in loans which had been defaulted and in accordance with the irrevocability clause of the contract signed by the Governor, the banks were directed to be paid straight out of the Federal monthly allocation due Anambra State upon default. In exercise therefore of this clause, the Federal Government had been deducting close to 600 million naira a month to pay the commercial banks. As a result, today, Anambra state had been unable to pay its teachers and workers for almost six months. The state is paralyzed! OBJ was smiling when the Anambra State Governor, who had proclaimed to fight for an Igbo President, became one of the first groups of people that went to Ota, the Presidents village, to beg him to run for a second term. Tufiakwa!!

These days, you could hardly see OBJ without ODERA close by. The governor had so much forgotten his fight for Igbo Presidency that today; he openly campaigns for OBJ's return to Aso Rock. Do you think he is really sincere? The political reality dawned on Odera that he must as well survive. To do this, he supported OBJ and in turn, so far in hushed principle, OBJ had also supported the renomination of the incumbent governors for a second term.

The people of Anambra State are desirous of a good leader, but could hardly make sense out of the political summersault of the maverick governor. Recently, the Nigeria Labor Council (NLC) in an open service/protest held a mock burial of the governor at Awka in sympathy for their fellow Anambra workers who had not been paid their salaries for months. The NLC Leader comrade Oshiomole had inadvertently targeted the effect of the non-payment, not the cause. On which legal principle does the Federal Government stand in withholding funds due to a state because of the State's default of a commercial loan?

Has the IMF seized Nigeria's oil sales/revenue because of our billions of Dollars owed? Does the Anambra State Government not realize that the withholding is illegal? Regardless of the irrevocability of the contract, would the State's Attorney General not find good legal ground to seek injunctive remedy from the courts of the land against draconian enforcement of a seemingly breach of contractual obligation? The court must be the final, if not the only arbiter to interpret the breach as it is empowered to balance the mitigating factors that caused the breach and prescribe appropriate payment plan.

The Presidency's action in withholding almost 90% of funds due a State, and thereby subjecting our citizens to undue hardship is reckless and dehumanizing. Governor Mbadinuju should employ judicial remedy to his problem rather than the new desperate alliance with OBJ and his new directive to his commissioners to raise Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) from poor Okada operators and petty traders in a veiled effort to revamp his dwindling political fortunes in the state.

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THE GUARDIAN
CONSCIENCE, NURTURED BY TRUTH
LAGOS. NIGERIA.     Thursday, May 16 2002

 

JAMB scratch card

SIR: My intention has been drawn to the recent computer technological device of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAM). The latest device termed "JAMB On line Information Service" enables candidates under JAMB to check for their examination centres and results with ease and promptness. Fine as this device may be (thanks to the Internet), we see the JAMB approach to this device as not only questionable but also fraudulent as we shall show.

What JAMB does is to instruct the candidates to buy what it terms "Scratch Card" at various banks and post offices, scattered all over the federation at the cost of N230. The candidates are asked to scratch the card, enter the PIN numbers with their registration numbers and then download their centre numbers or JAMB results.

The question is, having bought the UME forms for N1,650 and having filled the forms, enclosing the mandatory four self addressed envelopes (SAE), are the candidates not by contractual right, entitled to have their centre numbers and results sent to them? Is it not fraudulent to ask the over 800,000 candidates who have already paid for their forms to now pay N230 for the purpose of getting their exam centre numbers and results, which JAMB is under a contractual duty to release to them? Is JAMB, no more a statutory body? When has JAMB turned into a Plc? Is JAMB not by Decree No 33 of 1989 saddled with the duty of notifying candidates of their exam centres.

What this means is that JAMB would now be making an additional N184 million if 800,000 candidates buy the scratch card aside from the N1.7 billion they would be making from the sale of forms. This is unfair.

We call upon the JAMB authorities to desist forthwith from the sale of the scratch card since by contractual right, the candidates are entitled to get their centre numbers and results free without charges.

Osuagwu Ugochukwu,   Lagos.

Copyright 2002 @ The Guardian Newspapers Limited (All Right Reserved).

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THE GUARDIAN
CONSCIENCE, NURTURED BY TRUTH
LAGOS. NIGERIA.     Thursday, May 16 2002

JAMB and university admissions

AS part of its efforts towards ensuring that the nation's universities become autonomous both in deed and word, the Federal Government has sent a Bill to the National Assembly which would place admissions squarely in the hands of the universities. If the Bill passes through the Federal Legislative House, the National Universities Commission (NUC) would only serve as a clearance house, different from its present role of running and formulating policies for the nation's 40 odd universities. As for JAMB, it would only conduct matriculation examinations, leaving the more critical function of admitting students to individual universities. By this action, the government has shown that it feels the pulse of the country, particularly as it affects education. JAMB has become an indication of the adverse effect of over-centralisation in a country as diverse and big as ours.

JAMB was set up in 1978 as a central body charged with conducting concessional examinations into the nation's universities. Decree No. 2 of 1978 (amended by Decree No 33 of 1989) empowered the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board to conduct Matriculation Examination for entry into all degree awarding institutions in Nigeria; and fix suitably qualified candidates in the available places in the institutions. Hitherto, each university conducted its own examination and prescribed its minimum standards for candidates, screening them and choosing the best material into the various disciplines. JAMB conducted its first examination in 1978, placing students who had passed the examination in universities. At this time, the number of candidates was manageable. Over the years, the number of persons seeking admissions into universities has gone up astronomically, thereby over-stretching the facilities of the organisation. For example, by 1969, after 20 years of existence, the University of Ibadan had a total population of 4,000. In contrast, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, had a students' enrolment of close to 40,000 after 20 years.

There have been allegations of cheating and fraud in the qualifying process, often with the connivance of invigilators. In some centres, particularly the private ones, parents are obliged to pay a little more so that their wards would benefit from the fraudulent assistance offered by the owners of the centres. Although JAMB has taken some steps towards reducing the incidence of fraud and impersonation, the overall impression is that a lot more has to be done if the matriculation examination must be taken seriously. Some of the placed candidates have fallen short of the standard claimed in their performance. The government's initiative therefore needs to be commended. However, some questions arise from the modalities being proposed. Is it necessary for JAMB to still conduct examinations? Would it not be tidier to allow each university to set its own criteria for admissions, if we truly want to decentralise and work according to the spirit of true federalism and the principle of autonomy? Would it not be better to allow candidates apply to as many universities as possible in order to ensure a degree of flexibility?

Currently, while some universities are over-subscribed owing to their location and stability of academic calendar, others barely get enough students to fill existing vacancies. To avoid this kind of scenario, candidates should be allowed to have a wider range of choices by applying to as many universities as possible. It may be apposite to observe that autonomy carries with it a lot of responsibilities, particularly in the area of generating funds for research and emoluments. In order to make the best of autonomy, the different governing councils must use their contacts and goodwill to attract grants from interested individuals and organisations abroad and within the country. Certainly this is a clear signal for our universities to join their counterparts in the wider world to attract funding from private sources. As for fears about the government emasculating the unions in the university system, it does need reiteration that no law would be passed which would be inconsistent with the letter and spirit of the 1999 Constitution. We therefore call for a speedy passage of the bill to help alleviate the awesome problems which currently confront the nation's universities.

The surgery at OAU teaching hospital

OVER the past several decades, particularly since the second half of the century, the world has witnessed spectacular breakthroughs in medical practice - from new diagnostic techniques to organ transplants, micro-surgery, complicated reproductive procedures, genetic engineering and the discovery of 'wonder' drugs. Thus, against the backdrop of the current advancement in medical science and revolutionary surgical procedures, the recent feat of the separation of Siamese Twins by a team of doctors at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife may appear insignificant and even commonplace. The effort is however worth commending and celebrating as an expression of the latent talent that lies within the bowels of this great country. The feat equally represents an idiom of the state of health of our collective orientation towards national development.

Our propensity to mismanage resources is legendary and evident in our tattered health care delivery at all levels and particularly at the tertiary level. Our medical personnel operate under miserable working conditions with poorly maintained and often antiquated facilities, where available. This sorry state is not for want of competent medical professionals. The population of Nigerian medical professionals abroad can be counted in their tens of thousands, serving the health needs of other lands, from the United States to Saudi Arabia and from Zimbabwe to Chile. Our medical personnel, qualified and specialised in every field of medical endeavour are as knowledgeable, competent and skilful as can be found anywhere. The endowment of native intelligence is universal and not the exclusive preserve of the developed world.

The handicap of poor facilities, perhaps far more than the search for greener pastures, has been largely responsible for the brain drain that has pauperised our health sector. It is equally responsible for the exodus of the rich and privileged who frequently seek medical treatment abroad. The effect of this on the national economy is substantial. Foreign exchange that could otherwise be invested in improving and modernising our health infrastructure and the training of personnel is thus lost to the country.

A major deficiency in our health care delivery is the absence of a coherent, formidable and workable national health insurance programme. Although such a programme has been on the drawing board for over 30 years, it is yet to see the light of day. Common medical needs are thus well beyond the reach of the teeming poor in Nigeria, not to talk of the calls for specialised surgical procedures.

In the face of this daunting scenario, the separation of the Siamese Twins in Ife is worth our commendation and celebration, just as the many other bold surgical efforts made in our other health institutions, such as the recently celebrated open heart surgeries at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) at Enugu. We salute the courage and ingenuity of our medical personnel in taking up the challenges posed by our moribund health regime and achieving notable results. We call on the nation's leadership in collaboration with the private sector, to show greater commitment to developing a credible health insurance policy and to transforming the image and substance of our national health care delivery. It is well within our nation's resource capacity and professional competence so to do.

Copyright 2002 @ The Guardian Newspapers Limited (All Right Reserved).

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THE GUARDIAN
CONSCIENCE, NURTURED BY TRUTH
LAGOS. NIGERIA.     Thursday, May 16 2002

U.S. increases visa fees, others

A NEW regime of fees charged for processing visas, passports and some other services to American citizens overseas has been released by the United States (U.S).

According to the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. embassy in Lagos yesterday, the new fee for visas would take effect from June 1 while the fee charged for passport services is scheduled to come into operation on August 19.

Under the new arrangement, the fee for a non-immigrant visa (NIV) or machine readable visa fee (MRV) is pegged at $65 as against $45 which it has been for several years. The fees, which are non-refundable, are also payable in the local currency.

According to the announcement, applicants for immigrant visas (IV) will henceforth pay $335 or its naira equivalent.

Meanwhile, the embassy will be closed today for the observance of the Eid-El Maulud holiday. All immigrant and non-immigrant visa appointments scheduled for today have been postponed to June 5, the embassy said.

 

Copyright 2002 @ The Guardian Newspapers Limited (All Right Reserved).

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Worthy News - Headline News from a Christian Perspective

Nigeria's Defense Minister Says Muslims Plan to Wipe Out Christianity
Katsina State Stops Christian Religious Education
by Obed Minchakpu

ABUJA, Nigeria (Compass) -- Muslim leaders aim to eradicate Christianity in northern Nigeria, says Nigeria's Defense Minister, Lt. General Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma.   Danjuma told a gathering of the Northern (Nigeria) Christian Elders Forum (NOSCEF) on April 20 in Abuja, the federal capital, that Christians are now under severe pressure. He urged the Christian leaders assembled at the All Saints Anglican Church not to be intimidated.

"Our religion is under assault in our country. If Christians are not careful, there will be a time that the propagation of the teaching of Jesus Christ will become an offense," Danjuma said. "We know that we are minority in the north, but if we are not careful, we will be wiped out of existence in the north."

He said the only way out is for the church and its leaders to ensure that indigenous citizens of northern Nigeria are massively recruited into the pastoral ministry so that they can effectively reach their Muslim brothers with the gospel.

"We want full indigenization of the clergy in all the cities and the rural areas so that … when there is any religious crisis in such places, there will be people that can not run away because such have no second home."

He lamented that thousands of Christians had been killed in northern Nigeria in the past three years, and thousands of others were forced to relocate to the southern parts of the country for fear of being killed by Muslim fundamentalists.

"Many of our brothers and sisters have had cause to run away from Kano, Kaduna and Bauchi, to Jos and Abuja. But with the recent attack on them in Jos, those who could not go down south had resettled in Abuja," he observed.

He likened what is happening in northern Nigeria to what happened in Egypt and other North African countries, where he said Christianity flourished as a faith and was later wiped out by Islam.

Danjuma also told the NOSCEF attendees that the incessant attacks on Christians by Muslim fundamentalists and the implementation of the Islamic legal system by Muslim governors in northern Nigeria were just two of many strategies to wipe out Christianity in Nigeria.

Meanwhile, the government of Katsina state in northern Nigeria has cancelled the teaching of Christian Religious Knowledge by removing its curriculum from all public primary and secondary schools, while making the teaching of Islamic Religious Knowledge compulsory.

An official statement issued on April 30 stated, "The government's decision was in line with its policy of tailoring programs that are in tune with the Islamic system we envisaged and can bring about rapid development."

Rt. Rev. James Kwasu, the Anglican Bishop of Katsina, told Compass that the decision is a continuation of Islamization in the state.

"It is a tactful way to curtail our religious liberty, hoist Islam on us, and ensure that Christians are eliminated from Katsina state," Kwasu said. He explained that Nigeria's national policy on education provides for the curricula of both Islamic and Christian religious studies to be taught in all schools.

Katsina state, with a population of 3.7 million people, has a minority Christian population of about 30 percent. The state is one of 12 states in northern Nigeria that has adopted and is implementing Islamic law.

Copyright 2002, Compass News Direct.  Used with Permission.
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BIAFRA FOUNDATION
733 15TH ST NW, SUITE 700
WASHINGTON, DC 20005
PHONE (202) 347-2983;   FAX (202) 347-2984
E-mail: Biafrafoundation@yahoo.com
Washington, DC.  March 3, 2002 {CONTACT: BOARD OF DIRECTORS}

 PRESS RELEASE MEMORIAM TO GENERAL AGUIYI IRONSI.
General Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi Ironsi, born on March 3, 1920 would have been 82 years old today. For his vision of a truly united Nigeria, where centrifugal forces reigned to the detriment of the polity, he was murdered. General Ironsi's gruesome murder and the massacres unleashed on his fellow Igbo people and other former Eastern Nigerians by, primarily, northern Nigerians were major factors leading to the Biafra-Nigeria War. That northern army officers, including officers appointed to sensitive positions by Ironsi, and the northern elite conspired and executed the horrible deeds are unassailable facts of Nigeria's bloody history. Now, some among the northern elite are attempting a revisionism of the most shameless kind, as when Alhaji Liman Ciroma, in a paper presented at the Nigeria War College, accused the martyred general of causing the "Nigerian Civil War."
The Biafra Foundation condemns Alhaji Ciroma's provocative, tarnishing of General Ironsi's honor.
On this his 82ND birthday, were he alive, it is befitting to honor the fallen general by highlighting his exemplary military career, provided in excepts of a tribute eloquently delivered by General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu on August 2, 1986, twenty years after Ironsi's murder. Ironsi, Ojukwu stated, had "a military career studded with firsts-first Captain, first Major, first ADC to the Governor General of Nigeria, first equerry to the Queen, first Lieutenant Colonel, first battalion Commander, first Brigadier, first psc, first military attache to a Nigeria Diplomatic Mission, first Nigerian Commander of a UN battalion, first Major General.commanded the United Nations Force in the Congo. Appointed the first Nigerian General Officer commanding the Nigerian Army in 1965." General Ironsi was also a Member of the Order of the British Empire, and a Member of the Victorian Order, an honor bestowed on him by Austria for his valor in the rescue of Austrian nationals during the Congo crisis. May the soul of General JTU Aguiyi Ironsi rest in perfect peace.

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AllAfrica.com     --    Okoya's Party Mania  --  Tempo (Lagos)

May 9, 2002
Posted to the web May 8, 2002

At 62, Razak Akanni Okoya is showing no signs of slowing down. On every front, Okoya's ascent remains steep and at a high velocity.

Eleganza Industries, the umbrella of his business empire of six companies, keep the money rolling in.

In turn, the money - tonnes of it - has ensured that Okoya remains visible, influential and attractive. Attractive? Yes. And this finds an eloquent testimony in a string of wives, the latest of which is Folashade, a dishy undergraduate of the University of Lagos.

But more than his business success, parties - grand, almost garish - are what have kept Okoya regularly in the headlines.

As a matter of fact, Hollywood - America's capital of jaw-dropping parties, with its cast of immodestly opulent fun lovers - must be missing a genuine candidate.

Such is the magnitude of Okoya's parties, each of which remains a major topic of discussion until he throws another one to dislodge it. It is only another of his parties that can banish one earlier thrown by him. No one else's. It is not just the scale of the parties that amazes the public. So does the frequency.

This year alone, the Okoya household has thrown half a dozen parties and, no one who attended any of these left the venue the same: they were stupefied.

On 19 January, Okoya's daughter, Biola Okoya-Johnson, turned 36. The birthday presented a chance for the businessman to roll out the drums. Invitations went out to the celebrant's friends to converge at her father's seaside estate on Ikoyi Crescent, off Osborne Road. Those who attended knew they were in a top-tier party.

Little thatched huts were constructed to provide idyllic, almost natural backdrop. Fire works exploded ceaselessly like it was a rock concert. There was also a boat regatta to entertain guests soaked in the music of Seun Anikulapo-Kuti and Dede Mabiaku.

A week earlier, Okoya's last child, Oladimeji, had turned one on 12 January. Sure cause for a party. There was, however, a bigger cause for celebration. Okoya and his youngest son are birthday mates. A two-in-one affair beckoned.

One Okoya party is usually like ten parties rolled into one.

Two on the same day simply knocked the public out. Celebrity journals ran out of adjectives. Wacky, wild, etc. They just could not adequately capture the magnitude of the party.

It was not too difficult to know why. It wasn't like the other Okoya parties (one never is a repeat of the other anyway). The scenes from it could easily have been taken from a movie on the life of a hedonistic tycoon.

Celebrating with Okoya was an A-list cast featuring top politicians, businessmen and his friends from other walks of life. There, Okoya stunned the public, ditching the cumbersome Agbada for a sleeveless shirt atop a pair of shorts and a black bowler hat.

His dressing at that party set the tone. His youngest wife, Folashade, wore a lace-up, strapless leather dress. Okoya, obviously, was feeling like a spring chicken. Whatever Folashade's dress revealed was tame in comparison to what many of the Okoya girls wore.

They were simply cleavage-happy. The party itself was a two phase thing. The police band entertained guests in the afternoon while Afrobeat star, Femi Anikulapo-Kuti, entertained guests from sundown to sun up.

More than the characteristic munificence of his party tables, the dressing of Okoya's daughters at his birthday attracted a wide range of comments. Many watchers wondered why a father, who is also a Moslem, would be comfortable with the body-baring dressing of his daughters.

But that is the party mood, which, perhaps, apart from money, gives Okoya the greatest buzz. Those who attend the Okoya parties usually lose - literally - their minds to the unbelievable grandeur. But they get something in return.

They go home with all kinds of gifts. At Oladimeji's birthday, guest went away with wall clocks with Okoya's photograph printed on them.

Weeks after the double birthday bash, another party was thrown. Tunde Okoya, one of his sons, got married on 3 February. Again, the venue was his father's estate. This time, music was supplied by one of the best in the business, Juju maestro, King Sunny Ade (KSA). KSA had a hard time dealing with the bails of N500 notes Okoya was pasting on his forehead.

The tycoon was ably assisted by other members of his clan, who almost drowned the juju star in a flood of naira notes.

Then came April and another party was due. This time, it was Bolaji, another of Okoya's sons who was planning his marriage. Bolaji is said to have had two children from a previous liaison. The engagement began with a grand party on 25 April, at the Muson Centre, Onikan.

Two days later (last Saturday), Lagosians were treated to another of Okoya's specials. The venue was not the usual one. It moved to Ajah, the location of Okoya's new multi-million naira estate.

Everything about the wedding reeked of money. The shopping for the weeding was done abroad. The bridal gown and accessories were said to have cost about N500,000. The same also applied to the dress worn by those in the bridal train. Bolaji's suit was said to have cost about N200.000.

The wedding cake gulped N300.000. About N200.000 was expended on security.

But the opulence of the Okoya's really came to play with the way they provided food for all their guests.

Although Nigeria Foods Catering Services, headed by one Mrs. Fadipe got N1m for providing food, Astoria Foods, another catering outfit, got N1.5m.

The same amount was charged by Pieces Catering Services.

Oranges, pineapples and apples were all squeezed fresh for guests by Winnies Fresh Juice, which charged N120.000.

Drinks were in abundance, soft drinks, choice wines, bottled and canned beers were in abundance. The expensive **** domed canopies used for the wedding had red carpet aisles between them. King Sunny Ade returned to the bandstand for an appearance fee of N500.000 and a lot more through the hands of the 'sprayers'. Okoya's wives wore identical lace materials said to have been imported from Switzerland.

Bolaji and his wife, Pipolola, stood out despite being in a sea of opulence.

Their wedding was a pluralistic one, held in both Christian and Islamic ways.

The nuptial started with a Christian service conducted by the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG). The Nikkai ceremony was conducted immediately after the Christian worship. This, sources claim, was at the insistence of the groom's father who, as a Moslem, did not want to play second fiddle at his son's wedding. The third leg of the wedding followed. It was the court session, but unlike any other such weddings, it was the mountain that came to meet Mohammed, as the registry of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, was shifted temporarily to the Okoya estate.

For now, this is the last of Okoya parties. A sequel, sources say, will soon follow as the industrialist has started handing out invitations and aso oke for a party to celebrate his marriage to Folashade, his 24-year-old wife. A sequel to that shouldn't take too long in coming.

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Saturday, May 11, 2002

Nigeria sharia court sentences man to die for rape

LAGOS, May 10 (Reuters) - A sharia court in northern Nigeria has sentenced a 50-year old man to be stoned to death after he admitted raping a nine-year old girl, officials said on Friday.

They said Sarimu Mohammed, married with two children, was convicted on Wednesday by a lower sharia court in Birnuwa, a town in the northwestern Jigawa state.

He has 30 days to appeal. Should the death sentence be upheld, he would be the second person to be executed since the strict sharia law was introduced in parts of Africa's most populous country two years ago.

"Mohammed was convicted after admitting at three different court sessions that he raped the minor," a Jigawa state government official told Reuters by phone.

"The judge explained the penalty rape attracts under sharia, yet he (Mohammed) admitted committing the offence."

Presiding judge Isa Gantsa ruled that Mohammed should also pay a fine of 10,000 naira ($86) as compensation for the victim and receive 100 lashes for deflowering her, the official said.

Mohammed is the first rape convict since 2000, when more than a dozen states in predominantly Islamic northern Nigeria adopted the Muslim penal code.

Last January, Sani Rodi was hanged in northwestern Katsina state for multiple murder in the first sharia execution. An appeal by a woman sentenced to death for adultery in the same state is pending.

The adoption of sharia has polarised the volatile West African country, whose population of over 110 million is divided almost evenly between Muslims and Christians.

More than 3,000 people have died in religious riots over the past two years in traditionally secular Nigeria.

 

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Nigeriaworld News Headline

From the Bar, a dinner for the famous
Nigerian Lawyers in New York hold

first annual dinner and merit award

 

 

By Laolu Akande
New York, NY, USA

ayo Ogunlesi was the highlight of the first Annual dinner of the Nigerian Lawyers Association held in New York last Saturday evening May 4th.

And that was not because Ogunlesi himself is a Harvard trained lawyer or because this was the son of that legendary teacher Joel Ogunlesi, who for a long time was leader of the Nigerian Union of Teachers, NUT. Actually one of Pa. Joel Ogunlesi's students was also in attendance at the dinner. That was Nigeria's Ambassador to the United States, influential and notable Professor Jubril Aminu, who delivered a keynote address after the dinner.

February 20, Bayo Ogunlesi was named the head of global investment banking at Credit Suisse First Boston, one of America's top 6 Wall Street investment institutions. Ogunlesi, who also happens to have worked briefly with the Shagari administration as adviser and also working in same capacity with the current civilian administration, became a toast of the US media including the New York Times when he was named to that exalted position in the world of investment.

Ogunlesi's resume is simply outstanding. He graduated first class from Oxford University and later received his J.D. in law from Harvard and then an MBA from the same university. At the CSFB, he is a member of the firm's Executive Board and Operating Committee, and has been involved in transactions pertaining to oil and natural gas, petrochemicals, power generation, airlines, mining, natural resources and infrastructure all across the globe. He also taught at the Harvard Law School and at Yale and was once in 1981 a clerk with the US Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.

At the dinner, the story was told of once while Ogunlesi was clerking to Justice Marshall and time came to deliberate over a case, which the US Supreme Court Justice brought before his team of clerks. Everyone took one position and Ogunlesi alone took the opposing view. Even Justice Marshall opposed Ogunlesi. But Ogunlesi did not back down. However when it was time for Justice Marshall to read his opinion in the open court, to the surprise of all, what he read was Ogunlesi's version of the debate.

And so it was no herculean task for the members of the Nigerian Lawyers Association, NLA to recognize such a Nigerian who has brought immense honor to a nation that is regularly vilified in the US press. The lawyers awarded their NLA merit award to the Nigerian "star", who is by far the rave of the moment now in the US especially among the African/Black community.

" This is the first award I received since I got the CSFB job, and very much deliberately so," Ogunlesi began once he received the plaque from the leaders of the NLA. He said it was important that Nigerians here in the US should have examples to counter "much of what we read in the media about our country which is unknown to many of us."

To the thunderous applause of the audience, Ogunlesi said he can trace his success to the "terrific education" he got back in Nigeria, as he turned around asking, "there must be some people here who went to King's College, Lagos?" Certainly, as Professor Ibrahim A. Gambari, one of the prominent guests at the dinner, proudly identified himself later as a product of King's College as well. And it was as if the night was meant for KC products when the MC described Gambari, who is the UN Under Secretary General and Special Adviser for Africa, as the "number 2 man in world, after Kofi Annan." Gambari who came with his wife, promptly thanked the MC and explained that describing him as "number 2 man in the world" was such a thoughtful thing but flatly inaccurate!

Back to Ogunlesi: "A belief in oneself was one thing we got from our education and it stood me well in my career. If you believe in yourself, there is almost nothing you cannot achieve." Then he recalled the tremendous outpouring of support he has received since he was named to the top Wall Street job from all over the world including from President Olusegun Obasanjo. "People I don't know send me emails, and call me," he said with a tinge of satisfaction. He then went on to say he shared the award with "all Nigerians around the globe…Everything I do, I carry Nigeria with me and will do my best never to let Nigeria down"

Ogunlesi's international clout would perhaps have been incomplete if not for his beautiful wife who hails from Ghana. He paid tribute to his wife who also graced the occasion, telling the audience, which parked the Grand Ballroom of Crowne Plaza Hotel in New York, how his 2 sons age 16 and 12 have had to decide who to support whenever Nigeria and Ghana square up in a soccer match. "Well, now that Nigeria qualified for the World Cup it won't be difficult for them to support Nigeria," he said jokingly to an uproar of laughter among his listeners.

In delivering his speech, Professor Jubril Aminu was fair enough to insist that people should be served dinner first before he would read the speech. As he explained later in his speech, this was because "I know that there is nothing more oppressive than making an after dinner speech like having to listen to it."

Aminu waxed real whimsical in his speech surprising some that had expected the controversial politician to be all stiffened up. Listen to him talking about lawyers and the term 'bar': "The attorney is very versatile as soon as he or she is called to Bar, although I do not know exactly what "Bar" stands for, whether for cocktails or for a high jump."

He said "lawyers, through Constitution crafting and through making laws, have advanced their own profession to the position of power and authority in any country with the rule of law. Most of the leaders in modern democratic countries, like the United States of America, study law. In addition, Chief Justices and Attorneys General are powerful in every country. The lawyers have beaten even the political scientists in the game of politics and I am told that Washington DC has the highest attorney per capita status in the world."

But the ambassador who is a doctor had a consolation for his profession. "All we can do now is to wait for this power and glory to take its toll on the health of the lawyers, then we have our turn."

The president of the NLA Ms. Beatrice A. Hamza had said in her own welcome address that the lawyers association, which was formed in 1999 is made up of Nigerian lawyers and aims to "serve the needs of the Nigerian legal community as well as the Nigerian community as a whole in their understanding and access to the law" The association, she adds also supports Nigerian lawyers seeking to sit for the bar exam in the US and those trying to find their feet.

According to her the NLA "also keenly follows events in Nigeria and does not hesitate to speak out when the situation warrants." She gave an example: "when the NLA met with the late attorney general of Nigeria, Chief Bola Ige when he was in New York in November 2001, the NLA presented a letter voicing its concerns regarding certain human right violations in Nigeria."

And Hamza also recalled that the "NLA was the first professional body to make a public statement condemning the assassination" of Chief Bola Ige and also demanding for justice in the matter. She promised that a portion of the proceeds from the dinner served at $100 a plate would be "donated to victims of the blasts that occurred at an army depot in Ikeja, Lagos."

The blaring of a variety of Nigeria music oozing out from the DJ signaled the end of the formal part of the dinner and the beginning of a dance party to which the lawyers and several of their guests, including diplomats, judges, politicians, journalists, all loosened up, and gladly partook.

Dignitaries at the dinner included Ambassador and Nigeria's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Segun Apata, Consul General Taofiq Oseni, Information Attaches at the Nigerian Consulate Mrs. Odirri and Nura Ishaq, Chief Jumoke Ogunkeyede, Mr. Dan Salami, himself an attorney who said the opening prayer, among others.

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P.M. News (Lagos)   --  Robbers Rape Minister's Wife

May 7, 2002
Posted to the web May 8, 2002

Philipson Abah & Gabriel Orok
Lagos

Four dare-devil armed men recently invaded the Lagos home of a junior minister in the federal government and carted away a huge amount of money including expensive jewellries. His wife, it was gathered was also raped.

The minister (names) withheld was not in Lagos when the incident occurred.

Sources told P.M.News that the minister's wife was on the fateful day seized by the robbers at the gate of their residence located at Isheri-Berger while coming home from a party. From the gate, she was led into the apartment where the aides were held at gun point by one of the robbers while the others, with the assistance of the woman held hostage ransacked the house. The robbers removed all valuables which include some foreign currencies.

After they had removed the minister's belongings the leader of the gang was said to have raped the woman despite her pleadings.

The robbers who were said to have spent about 50 minutes in the house left unchallenged.

Criminals Give New Police Boss Sleepless Nights

Meanwhile, the newly appointed Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, Mr. Young Arebamen, is currently having sleepless nights over the rise in criminal activities in the state.

P.M.News investigations revealed that since the Edo State-born, commissioner of police assumed duty last Thursday, he has been having sleepless nights because of the daily activities of men of the underworld in the state.

Crime statistics revealed that since Arebamen took over from Mr. Mike Okiro, who was recently promoted from commissioner to Deputy Inspector General of Police, about five policemen have been killed while over seven have been wounded.

Statistics also revealed that about 10 exotic vehicles were snatched within the period, while ten people were kidnapped, with two assassinated. In response to this disturbing development, the police chief has been holding marathon security meetings with his men to map out fresh strategies to contain the operations of bandits in the state.

At his maiden press conference, Arebamen promised to implement the eight-point programme of the Inspector General of Police, Tafa Balogun to the letter. The programmes include crime fighting and anti corruption crusade in the force.

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ThisDay News  --   Dateline: 10/05/2002 02:58:20

Police Arrest Army Captain, 12 others for Robbery
Adeyeye Joseph and Yemi Akinsuyi

An Army Captain (name withheld) and 12 others were among the robbery gang arrested by the police in Lagos, Tuesday, for gun running and robbery.

Arrested with the Captain were two female members of the gang.

Police sources told THISDAY that the Army Captain who claimed to be attached to Bonny Camp, Lagos, could be the leader of an armed robbery gang responsible for some robberies in Lagos and its environs.

The army captain as a result of information supplied by some suspects already in the police custody was arrested at about 12 p.m. on Tuesday, at Maryland, Lagos. One of the female suspects arrested along with the robbers, is a trader at a point close to the Lagos State Police Command Headquarters, Ikeja.

She is believed to have provided logistic reports on the movement of the police to the gang.

Sources also said that the police discovered that the suspected Captain has been responsible for providing tactics and training for the members of the gang. And was said to have returned from peacekeeping mission recently.

At the time of the arrest, 10 sophisticated guns and several rounds of ammunition were recovered from the Army Captain.

The weapons which were discovered in a Ghana Must Go bag, included, 5 Sub Machine Guns (SMGs), 1 Pump Action rifle, 1 Ak-47, K2 Assault rifle and 2 G3 rifles.

Lagos State Police Commissioner, Mr. Young Araebamen, confirmed the arrest of the Army Captain, and added that the police is currently liaising with the army authorities at Bonny Camp to confirm his identity.

Meanwhile, Operation Fire for Fire policemen in Lagos, same day pursued an armed robbery gang from the Ketu area yesterday. Police sources told THISDAY that the robbers were all dressed army uniforms.

The gang of five were operating struck at the disused toll gate on Lagos Ibadan Expressway when the operation fire for fire men swooped on them.

The robbers who operated in a Toyota Saloon car. reportedly fled towards Ibadan on sighting the police.

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Daily Champion (Lagos)

 

May 1, 2002

Councillorship Aspirant Nabbed for Robbery
Posted to the web May 1, 2002

Val Okara

A COUNCILLORSHIP aspirant in Akwa Ibom (names withheld) and four others have been arrested by detectives from Zone II (comprising Lagos and Ogun states) for allegedly robbing a bank of over N11 million. Police said the robbery took place on March 9, this year at a popular bank in Lagos.

Parading the suspects on Monday, new Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) of the zone, Mr. Adedayo Adeoye, alleged that the suspects stormed the bank at 4.00 a.m. According to him, the gang broke into the bank premises after overpowering the security guards on duty.

He said the bandits gained access to the strongroom having drilled a hole on the wall before carting away over N11 million. When detectives visited the scene, some broken pieces of a vehicle trafficator lights suspected to have been left behind during the operation were recovered with some inscriptions which led to the arrest of one of the suspects (names withheld) in Enugu.

During interrogation, one of the suspects led detectives to Ogudu, Lagos, where a man said to be the leader of the gang was also arrested, who allegedly confessed participation in the robbery.

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P.M. News (Lagos)   -   May 3, 2002

DSP Sleeps With Cousin's Wife    [Posted to the web May 3, 2002 ]

Bamidele Ogunwusi    -    Lagos

A Deputy Superintendent of Police attached to Surulere Police Division is currently enmeshed in a sex scandal with his cousin's wife.

The Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Tafa Balogun, has already been briefed about the development and has reportedly ordered investigation into the matter. The Inspector General of Police, P.M.News gathered, intervened in the matter following the unenthusiastic attitude the Area 'C' Commander and the state Commissioner of Police have adopted towards the matter.

Trouble, according to sources, started when the wife of the junior officer, identified as Mr. Ayodele of the Lagos State Police Command confessed to a native doctor that she had several rounds of sex with her husband's brother at Ibadan.

Her confession was the aftermath of the family's loss of their 5-year old child. Spiritual consultations by a native doctor, was said to have linked the child's death to the adulterous act of the woman. Under pressure, she reportedly confessed to having had sexual intercourse with her husband's brother, DSP Michael Onifagba of Surulere Police Station.

The woman, who was identified as Mrs. Nike Ayodele, told policemen that she had sex with her husband's brother at Ibadan several times.

"I decided to confess because of the oath I took with my husband when we got married. In the oath, we sucked blood and agreed that whoever has sexual intercourse outside the marriage would die or our children would die at the age of five", she said.

Following a petition over threat of life sent to the Inspector General of Police by the junior officer, the case is now being investigated at the state CID.

"He wants to use his privileged position to suppress me after violating my wife. I will not forgive him", Ayodele remarked.

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THE GUARDIAN  -   LAGOS. NIGERIA.     Sunday, June 16 2002

Policeman Kills Pupil Over Alleged N200 Bribe
BY YINKA ADERIBIGBE

YET another citizen was yesterday in Lagos felled by police bullet.

Seventeen-year-old Miss Oluwatosin Adelugba, a student of Keke High School, Oba Ogunji Road, Agege, was reportedly fatally wounded in an "accidental discharge" by a policeman allegedly bent on extorting money from a commercial bus driver.

Oluwatosin's body and the policeman,who was severely beaten, were taken to the state governor's office, Alausa, by enraged members of the public. The governor was, however, not available as he was said to be in Abuja.

All efforts to contact the police commissioner Mr Young Arebamen and the police spokesman Victor Chilaka failed yesterday.

According to the driver of the vehicle, Mr. Emmanuel Bamigbose, the incident occured around 2 p.m. at the Cele Bus Stop, Ajuwon-Iju road in the Agege area. The deceased was seated at the back of the vehicle carrying a fellow student on her laps, when four policemen stopped the vehicle, ostensibly for a search.

Rather than conduct a search on the vehicle and its occupants, the driver said, the policemen demanded N200 "fine" as punishment for the offence of the conductor who rather than sit properly in the vehicle, was hanging at the door.

Policemen at different checkpoints in the state have been severally accused of extortion by commercial bus drivers and motorcyclistswho claim the traditional fee is N20.

Bamigbose said: "One of the policemen demanded N200 from me alleging that my conductor was hanging. But in normal circumstances, we drivers plying the road give them N20. So I gave the one closest to me N20 which he collected and demanded the balance."

The driver further claimed that he pleaded with the policeman for forgiveness and believing that he had been cleared, moved the vehicle forward. Suddenly, one of the four policemen identified as "Baba Ibadan" fired a shot from the back hitting Oluwatosin at the base of the head. She died instantly.

He continued: "When I and other passengers and sympathisers tried to challenge "Baba Ibadan", he and three other policemen started firing at us in their bid to escape. However people managed to apprehend one of them. That is why we brought the body of the girl, the culprit( policeman) and the vehicle here for Governor Bola Tinubu to see the havoc the police are still committing in the society.".

He was brought in in one of 11 commercial vehicles that stormed the Alausa secretariat.. He had been severely beaten by protesters.

The protesters, numbering about 50, demanded justice, arguing that "Baba Iabdan" was noted for his viciousness on the Iju-Ajuwon area.

The bereaved father, said to be on the staff of the Lagos State House of Assembly, was on hand to identify his daughter.

The Divisional Police Officer (DPO) at Alausa, Mr. B. Yusuf was called in to handle the case in the absence of the governor .

The police sergeant and the vehicle were taken to Alausa police station for further investigation

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Father Kills Son With Acid

Weekly Trust (Kaduna)  June 14, 2002
Musa Umar Kazaure and Jamila Nuhu

What can influence a father to feed his nine-month-old baby with battery acid without feeling any remorse or regret over his action. Could it be insanity, jealousy or satanic influence? According to psychologists, any of the above conditions could influence a man to commit such atrocity. For 42-year-old Isa Abdul, a father of seven from Manjibir town of Kano State, jealousy was the prime reason behind his pouring battery acid into the mouth of his nine-month-old son Sadiq, which subsequently led to his (Sadiq) death.

A neighbour to Mallam Isa Abdul, Mallam Abubakar Hamza told Weekly Trust Magazine at the court premises in Gyadi-Gyadi, Kano that, "He (Isa Abdul) was always teased by his friends and neighbours whenever he brought the child out that the child did not resemble him. They said Sadiq was more handsome and looked different from his other children. That probably led him to start thinking that his wife was flirting around and the boy was illegitimate." The child's mother, Hafsat Abdul, popularly known as Ladidi in Manjibir town, reported the case to the police headquarters, Bompai, Kano. She said her husband had confronted her and asked her about the paternity of the child. He told her that he suspected that the child wasn't his.

Recounting the incident to our reporters, Ladidi said she had taken her bath, performed ablution and sworn by the holy Qur'an to the effect that the baby was truly his. Still not satisfied, despite the fact that his wife had sworn by the holy Qur'an, Mallam Isa Abdul who is a battery charger came back from work one day and demanded to carry the baby. After a short while Ladidi heard the baby screaming as if in pain. She rushed to the scene and saw the baby's tongue swollen with bruises. She also saw a syringe with which acid was poured into the mouth of the baby. Ladidi and concerned relations dashed from one hospital to another while the baby battled with excruciating pain. He finally gave up at Nasarawa hospital, Kano.

With tears rolling down her checks, Ladidi said she could never stamp out the memory from her mind. She said that the baby was a special gift from almighty Allah. "I had a smooth delivery," she said. "In fact, I delivered him at home with no assistance from traditional birth attendants. I cut the umbilical cord and tied it up, tidied the room, bathe my baby and cleaned myself up before any one came."

She said people were surprised at this. "Normally when I deliver, it takes three days after the delivery for me to recover my strength. Sometimes I do not even know where I am."

Ladidi added, "After I delivered Sadiq, things started looking up for me. All the problems I had were gone. I was the happiest person around. He was a cheerful baby. He never cried much even when he was ill. He was not fretful. He was somehow a miracle baby."

Ladidi expressed wonder at the behaviour of her husband with whom she said she already had seven children. Sadiq was the eighth. She said, "He (her husband) told me that his friends told him about one married woman who had a child for another man. When he enquired from his friends who the woman was, they declined to comment on the issue. They only stated that the woman is in Kunya. He however believed that his friends were hiding some facts from him. This sowed the seed of doubt in his mind."

The grieving mother could not understand why her husband doubted her fidelity. "How can he ever believe that I can do a thing like that after having 7 children with him?" she queried. "I don't even look at men in their faces. I only relate with male persons who are our relations. Other than that, I don't know any man. And how could he even take an issue discussed with friends at a gambling joint serious? After all I went through in this marriage!"

Talking about her marriage with Isa Abdul 21 years ago, Ladidi said ever since she married him, she has had to bear one agony after another. Apart from killing little Sadiq by pouring battery acid in his mouth, another incident which remains indelible in her mind was when her husband, "poured acid on my body simply because I had asked for money to buy breakfast (kosai de koko) for the kids." Furthermore, Ladidi said, "Oftentimes, the food we eat comes from my parents home. My relations also saw to our upkeep. I did not disturb him or constitute a nuisance to him in any way."

At a point, my relations demanded that I should pack my belongings and leave but I restrained myself because of my children. Whatever humiliation I went through, I bore with a heavy heart. I never complained. Besides my relations have been good to me. I did not want to put the extra burden of looking after the children on them by moving from my husband's house."

Also, apart from Sadiq, I have only one other male child. The rest are girls. Girls need special attention from their mother. They need to be taught about life. They need to be properly guided. As for male children, they may discover life by themselves. They don't have much problems. This line of thinking made me to continue to live with my husband."

Ladidi finally moved out of Isa Abdul's house after Sadiq's death. "I can no longer condone his wicked ways and anytime I see him I get a bitter feeling in my mind. I can never forget my child. In fact, thoughts of him still have a devastating effect on my mind. As for Isa Abdul, he is going to give account of his deed to Sadiq in the hereafter. Whatever decision the court makes is not going to wipe it. He is going to be judged by the Almighty," she said. When he was arraigned before the Gyadi-Gyadi Upper Sharia Court judge, Isa Abdul admitted committing the offence. He attributed it to the devil.

The judge ordered that the accused be remanded in prison custody until the 27th of June 2002 when the case comes up for hearing

 

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Thisday News   -  Dateline: 27/05/2002 04:42:46

Robbers Raid Lagos Airport, Kill 3 Policemen, One Other

·  Airline operators, FAAN to meet on security measures
By Ndubuisi Francis


For the third time in two months, the domestic wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos yesterday played host to a four-man armed robbery gang which killed four people, including three policemen and injured three others. The robbers also reportedly carted away an unspecified amount of money belonging to one of the airlines.

The armed robbery operation coincided with the arrival of Senate President Anyim Pius Anyim to the VIP Lounge of the Airport enroute Abuja.

The robbers, who, after their operation left the entire airport community dumbfounded, were said to have arrived the car park in three different Mercedes Benz V-boot cars at different parts of the park and the adjoining roads at about 3.pm. waiting for about one hour before they struck.

The policemen who had escorted a light blue Peugeot 504 station wagon with registration number-- Lagos BK 441 MUS belonging to one of the banks which had reportedly come to carry money made from weekend sales by one of the airlines were seated in the car at the car park oblivious of the presence of the robbers.

According to eyewitnesses, when the robbers sighted the money being dropped into the boot of the Peugeot car one of them walked straight to the car where the unsuspecting policemen were seated and shot three of them with what was described as a machine gun.

The driver of the vehicle who was dressed in a blue local fabric also identified as a staff of the bank which could not be ascertained at press time was also shot dead while another policeman as well as a lady staff of the bank were also injured .

Soon after the policemen were killed, the robbers were said to have made for the boot of the Peugeot car where the money was loaded in a bag popularly known as Ghana-Must-Go and transferred it into the boot of one of the three Mercedes Benz cars they came with.

The bag reportedly fell off from the boot of the Mercedes Benz as they were driving off and one of the robbers was said to have jumped down with unencumbered confidence and carried the bag back into the car before they made good their escape unchallenged while shooting sporadically into the air.

The robbery threw the entire domestic wing of the airport, particularly the GAT, into confusion as people, including air travelers, ran for safety.
At about 5.p.m, a team of policemen from the nearby Beesam police station arrived the scene where their colleagues were killed in a truck.
One of the killed policemen, a Sergeant who was seated in-between his two colleagues whose ranks could not be ascertained had his skull shattered while the other one had his neck completeley ripped open. The third had almost one part of his head blown off.
On arrival, the team of policemen who were led by an officer in mufti examined the remains of their murdered colleagues before they drove off with the corpses at about 5,50p.m.

THISDAY later gathered that the airline affected by the robbery was Bellview and that the amount lost to the robbers was about one million naira.
Albarka Air Services was said to have transferred its money to the bank about 10 minutes before the Bellview team fell into the hands of the robbers.
Sources told THISDAY that the robbers were apparently acting on insider information, having come at a time when they knew the airlines usually move their money to the banks.    Addressing newsmen shortly after the robbery, the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, Alhaji Ibrahim Mamman, said it has become necessary for the Federal Government to allow FAAN security team at airports to carry arms.   He noted that FAAN had made cases for the arming of securitymen at airports, adding that the robbery might make the Federal Government see the need for this.   He stated that after the April 7 robbery at the Lagos Airport which left two bureaux de change operators dead, FAAN met with airline operators at the instance of the latter and it was agreed that airlines should use more secure parts of the airport to transfer their moneys to the bank, adding that the airlines had not applied for the use of these facilities.
He regretted that the robbers escaped unmolested due to the absence of communication facilities that could have made it possible for FAAN securitymen to communicate with the police.   
Armed robbers had, after a successful operation at Ajao Estate sometime in March this year killed a police officer near the Beesam Police Station, and escaped. The incident coincidentally took place with the arrival of the new Inspector General, Tafa Balogun to the airport, his first visit after his appointment. 
Barely three weeks later, precisely April 7, robbers also stormed the mosque at the domestic wing of the Lagos Airport, killing two bureaux de change operators. All the attacks, including that of yesterday happened on a Sunday.
Meanwhile, FAAN and airline operators have scheduled an emergency meeting to tackle the security situation at the airport.