Your own useless Bayelsa even has the militants on payroll?

Militants insist on monthly allowance
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KeywordsType of queryAll keywordsOne or more keywordsNone of the keywordsSearchPosted on Friday 20 March 2009 - 12:50


Tamunobarabi Gogo Ibulubo, AfricaNews reporter in Port Harcourt, Nigeria
The government of Bayelsa state in Niger Delta, Nigeria, has cried out that militants in the area have threatened to blow up oil facilities and wreck unnamed havoc if it keeps faith with the promise to rescind payment of the regular monthly allowance to them.
The Bayelsa government pays about NGN100, 000,000 (US$677,966) as servicing allowance to seven militant’s camps spread out in the state. But since the world financial crisis began to take a hard toll on Nigeria, the monthly allocation for the constitute states and local governments have dropped making the payment of salaries as well as make the execution of capital projects difficult.
With the threat from the militants the Bayelsa government has requested for more troupes of the joint military task force to be dispatched to the state

.http://www.africanews.com/site/list_message/19128?data%5Bsource%5D=rss



-

*comfort:

IF my life were to depend on telling exactly who the Bakassi Boys are, I will be dead. I do not know who they are and I am not sure that I want to know. But I do know that there is something about them that the police do not like, which is, usurping their functions. No responsible police force will welcome a situation where their relevance is being questioned because of the activities of an ubiquitous body crossing their paths and sometimes moving along parallel lines.

I[b] am a living witness to the fact that for three years before the year 2000, in my part of Imo State, life was made unbearable by the callous activities of armed bandits. They suddenly seemed to have so multiplied that anybody found outside his front door after dusk was risking his or her life. Stories of robberies, torture and car snatching filled the air. Everybody had an experience to share in these orgies. Then something intolerable happened warranting the community setting up local vigilance units. They were assigned the responsibility to stem the rise in crime, identify the criminals and involve the police at Owerri, Urualla and in Okigwe. Before the members knew it, their anonymity was compromised and they were marked for elimination. The activities of gangs of robbers confined royal fathers to their palaces following threats of their being killed for identifying with their subjects in the search for a peaceful community.

It did not take a lot of investigation to learn that the culprits were local boys and that the police collaboration was part of their strength. All information placed at the disposal of the police about suspected dare devil home based hoodlums were passed on to the men of the underworld. At this stage a voice suggested the engagement of the services of the Bakassi Boys whose successes in other communities had become remarkable. How they were reached was another dimension to their anonymity and security effectiveness. They went to work immediately with a dose of discreteness that allowed them to know their employers and be briefed in detail on who the suspects could be. Until they were perfectly ready, nothing happened. Faith and patience were running out as anxiety heightened.

Then suddenly things began to happen. Well known hoodlums who were friends of the police gradually took notice and either fled or stayed at their peril. In a short time, locking and bolting gates and doors in my village became only a matter of habit; nobody needed to. Home was becoming haven again and evening parties and outside engagements returned to the community. It was such a great relief. Asked thereafter to choose between the Bakassi Boys and the police, the village folks preferred the former. Information is perhaps the greatest help the police force needs to combat crime. The same applied to the Bakassi Boys. But whereas police informants were betrayed through the flippancy, irresponsibility and criminal intent of the bad eggs in the force, Bakassi Boys did not have that problem or gloat about their successes. They respected informants but still investigated every case reported.

I once had cause to report a burglary in my house to the police a couple of years ago. To date the investigators are making me to believe that they would have made an arrest had I induced them sufficiently. Even the paper on which I wrote my complaint was paid for by me. I paid for the investigators' trips to Kwara and Enugu States in the course of their investigations. Unwarranted visits were paid to my house in the pretense of bringing me up to date on my complaint. Each visit meant beer and kola in an envelope. I have since given up on them.

The Inspector General of Police will be lacking in candour if he denies awareness of these malpractice. Of course, he does not deny them any more. He blames them on his bad eggs. A situation where bad eggs out number the good ones suggests a characteristic that earns collective guilt. Ill equipped yes; ill clad yes; ill paid yes and ill trained yes. But there is no guarantee that given all they need the police bully mentality and aggressive orientation will change. The situation on the ground is that only criminals and potential criminals seek the friendship of the Nigerian police, not honest decent men and women. The inferiority complex every policeman wears is their greatest undoing. We will be relieved to hear that the contemplated ban of Bakassi Boys is shelved. That is not to say that the "Boys" should usurp police duties in a triumphant manner. The police should device a way of working with them. It is also up to the police to decide that the "Boys" can conversely use useful facilities of the force for the common good. To achieve maximum result, goodwill and mutual trust must be enthroned. And above all, the Bakassi Boys must see themselves as an ad hoc outfit on a special assignment and be ready to fold up when and if the police are fully prepared to assume their full responsibilities. Finally they must always act responsibly and show more common sense than zeal. [/b]

Gunmen attack Nigeria oil flow station 16 Mar 2009 17:48:46 GMT
Source: Reuters
PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria, March 16 (Reuters) - Suspected armed militants in gunboats attacked an oil flow station in the southern Niger Delta early on Monday, a military spokesman said.
Colonel Rabe Abubakar, spokesman for the military taskforce in the western Niger Delta, said the facility was attacked by gunmen in five speedboats at Nembe in Bayelsa state. It was not clear if any oil production was affected by the incident.
"The facilities remain intact, there were no casualties to our troops," he said in a statement.

It was not immediately clear which company owned the facilities. This was the second attack on an oil facility in the Niger Delta, the heart of Nigeria's oil and gas sector, in the last four days.

Chevron <CVX.N> confirmed on Monday an attack by suspected militants on its oil pipeline in Delta state on Friday, shutting down around 11,500 barrels per day of production.

Attacks on pipelines and industry installations are common in the Niger Delta. The unrest has shut down more than a fifth of Nigerian oil output over the past three years. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/ ) (Reporting by Austine Ekeinde; Writing by Randy Fabi)

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LG96629.htm

‘When the Bakassi Boys Came: Eastern Nigeria Confronts
Vigilantism’, Journal of Contemporary African Studies, 20, 2
(2002), 1-22.
Abstract
Against a background of failure by the Nigeria Police to protect citizens from
violent robberies, the Governor of Anambra State has adopted a radical solution.
He invited a private vigilante group, the Bakassi Boys, to form the basis of a state
vigilante service. Within a space of one year, armed robbery had been reduced
to a minimum. But, as the paper shows, the venture was not unproblematic.
First, it brought to the fore a power struggle between the federal and state levels
of government and between the Nigeria Police and those in the local community
concerned with security. More seriously, for all its local popularity, the group’s
use of counter-violence and their scant regard for the law or human rights has
serious implications for democracy. Locating such state vigilante services within
sociological theory is not straightforward, but a number of approaches to
explaining the phenomenon are considered in the light of the account. The paper
concludes that although it is increasingly being used as a model of internal
security across Nigeria, its lack of accountability and attitude to the rule of law
disqualify it from being a valid alternative policing strategy within a democracy.[b][/b]

*comfort:

‘When the Bakassi Boys Came: Eastern Nigeria Confronts
Vigilantism’, Journal of Contemporary African Studies, 20, 2
(2002), 1-22.
Abstract
Against a background of failure by the Nigeria Police to protect citizens from
violent robberies, the Governor of Anambra State has adopted a radical solution.
He invited a private vigilante group, the Bakassi Boys, to form the basis of a state
vigilante service. Within a space of one year, armed robbery had been reduced
to a minimum. But, as the paper shows, the venture was not unproblematic.
First, it brought to the fore a power struggle between the federal and state levels
of government and between the Nigeria Police and those in the local community
concerned with security. More seriously, for all its local popularity, the group’s
use of counter-violence and their scant regard for the law or human rights has
serious implications for democracy. Locating such state vigilante services within
sociological theory is not straightforward, but a number of approaches to
explaining the phenomenon are considered in the light of the account. The paper
concludes that although it is increasingly being used as a model of internal
security across Nigeria, its lack of accountability and attitude to the rule of law
disqualify it from being a valid alternative policing strategy within a democracy.[b][/b]

militant vs vigilante

On December 30th. 2008, Nigerian citizen Chijioke Stephen Obioha was convicted for drug trafficking in Singapore. Drug trafficking carries a mandatory death penalty in Singapore and so, Judge Woo Bih Li duly sentenced him to death by hanging. Chijioke was arrested in April 2007, some four months after another Nigerian, Tochi Amara Iwuchukwu was hanged alongside  yet another Nigerian, Nelson Okele Malachy in the same Singapore, both for drug trafficking.

There are other sad similarities.

Nelson Okele Malachy was arrested with a fake South African passport and was subsequently often referred to as stateless. However, by merely looking at his name as well as the facts of the case, he was clearly Nigerian. Chijioke has been described in several media as Ghanaian. However, also by merely looking at his name as well as the facts of the case, he is clearly Nigerian. For example, his oral evidence during trial stated  that he graduated from the University of Benin with a Bachelor's degree in Industrial Chemistry in 2003, completed his National Youth Service in 2004, worked for his elder brother (whom he named as Tochukwu Colinus Obioha) in Tochuckwu's electronics store at Alaba International market in Lagos, Nigeria until 2005 when he left for Singapore to seek a professional football career. Tochi, who was hanged in January 2007 had also allegedly gone to Singapore to seek a football career. During the Tochi/Malachy case, the South African Government naturally went to great lengths to affirm that Malachy was not a citizen of their Country, pointing out that he had a forged South African passport. It is obvious that such a situation will not  endear South Africa to Nigeria and Nigerian citizens. The image of South Africa was smeared by a Nigerian. No South African will like this. It is no surprise that Nigerians living in South Africa as well as visiting Nigerian citizens and officials are often treated shabbily in South Africa.
The Government of Ghana  will probably walk the same path concerning Chijioke who has been sentenced still fairly recently; a sentence which may yet take several months to carry out. During that time there will be a lot of negative publicity directed to Ghana. No doubt Ghana will then be forced to come out and  deny  his being a citizen of their Country, while their regard for Nigerian integrity which is already low will sink even lower.

The case  of Tochi had garnered worldwide publicity at the time due to his youth (when he was arrested in 2004, his age as stated on his passport was about 19 years), his apparent talent for football (he had represented Nigeria in some youth tournaments and had also played professionally in Senegal) and some controversy about whether he actually knew that the package he was carrying contained heroin or not. Olusegun Obasanjo, then president of Nigeria, had in fact sent a letter to the President of Singapore pleading for clemency on his behalf on the eve of his execution. It is doubtful that Chijioke will get such sympathy. For one, the excuse of not knowing the contents of a package which eventually turns out to be narcotics has already gone stale and will barely get a yawn from the appeal court judges in Singapore. Secondly, the teary story of the aspiring professional football star who does not make it and subsequently gets in trouble in foreign Countries has also worn thin. Thirdly, his stated age was 29 when he was arrested; no longer a boy, but a full grown man. Finally, there appears to be very  little doubt about his guilt as he was caught trafficking a large quantity of marijuana red handed.

Therefore, it seems more meaningful to use this situation to learn some lessons for future situations. Not that we have not learnt these same lessons before, but in Nigeria we seem to have a disease of repeating the same sad errors (must be deliberately) over and over again. So here goes.

While we should not excuse Nigerians (or anyone else for that matter) for committing crimes in whether at home or in foreign lands, we need to also examine the driving factors that lead to these things. It is becoming much too simplistic especially in view of clearly deliberate mismanagement of resources in Nigeria, to merely condemn the affected individuals without examining systemic factors.

In the case of Tochi, his evidence was that he had been playing football as a career since his early teens but got injured while playing in Senegal. After coming home to recuperate in Nigeria, he set out to continue his football career but opted this time to try his luck in Dubai. Through some unclear circumstances, he could not get a visa to Dubai but managed to get to Pakistan. He claimed he was told there was a direct train from Pakistan to Dubai. This information was false, there is no such train. Unable to get to Dubai both for lack of funds as well as lack of a visa, he got stuck in Pakistan. It was no doubt this desperate situation that eventually led him to the gallows through a series of unfortunate circumstances as well as some big mistakes on his own part of course. If Nigeria had a well organized National Football League, it is likely that Tochi may have opted to ply his trade at home instead of going on a clearly precarious trip abroad. While our Government officials are buying multi-million Naira mansions nationwide and worldwide through ill gotten gains or indulging in meaningless ego-trips, the untold other side of the story is that some of our people are being placed in tough predicaments, which when coupled with some bad luck and personal mistakes, are leading to dire consequences for them, including even ignominous deaths in strange lands.

As for Chijioke, he was arrested at age 29 after being in Singapore for about eighteen months. This implies according to his evidence that he came to try out for a football club in Singapore at about age 27. That is clearly rather late in age for a person of whom there is no evidence that he had a previous football career. It is also unclear that he had any real football talent. It is hardly a surprise that he was not selected to play for the club. It is certainly feasible that he may have anticipated this but just wanted to get out of Nigeria. Thus he found himself  in a strange land, with an expired visa as at January 2007. These factors must have played a substantial role in his being involved and eventually arrested for drug trafficking in April 2007. Yes, Chijioke did wrong, but again we need to ask why a University graduate of Industrial Chemistry (he claimed he graduated with a second class upper degree from University of Benin) would be reduced to such depths in the first place. While he bears a major share of the blame, we must also put a solid chunk of this blame squarely on a Government and a system that puts down its people and gives them very little chance to grow and develop with any dignity. When basic infrastructure such as Power supply cannot be done right despite millions of dollars spent, when housing, water and good roads are luxuries, when jobs are simply not available for the people even after they have made strenuous efforts to educate themselves under harsh conditions, it is inevitable that some bizarre situations and predicaments such as that of Chijioke will arise.

I seize this opportunity to point out to President Umaru Musa Yaradua that his sleeping on duty is not some minor infraction but in fact an act of treason, first degree murder as well as systematic genocide. There is such a thing as criminal negligence.
Governors, Ministers, and other public and not so public officials who use positions of trust to loot or otherwise mismanage the commonwealth while creating a roadblock to the smooth flow of life are also guilty of treason, premeditated  murder and genocide.

If or when the hangman pulls the lever to send Chijioke Stephen Obioha to an early death sometime later this year, you all have some of his blood on your hands. You know yourselves and while God Almighty may take His time, His judgement is inevitable.



[b][/b]

*comfort:

On December 30th. 2008, Nigerian citizen Chijioke Stephen Obioha was convicted for drug trafficking in Singapore. Drug trafficking carries a mandatory death penalty in Singapore and so, Judge Woo Bih Li duly sentenced him to death by hanging. Chijioke was arrested in April 2007, some four months after another Nigerian, Tochi Amara Iwuchukwu was hanged alongside  yet another Nigerian, Nelson Okele Malachy in the same Singapore, both for drug trafficking.

There are other sad similarities.

Nelson Okele Malachy was arrested with a fake South African passport and was subsequently often referred to as stateless. However, by merely looking at his name as well as the facts of the case, he was clearly Nigerian. Chijioke has been described in several media as Ghanaian. However, also by merely looking at his name as well as the facts of the case, he is clearly Nigerian. For example, his oral evidence during trial stated  that he graduated from the University of Benin with a Bachelor's degree in Industrial Chemistry in 2003, completed his National Youth Service in 2004, worked for his elder brother (whom he named as Tochukwu Colinus Obioha) in Tochuckwu's electronics store at Alaba International market in Lagos, Nigeria until 2005 when he left for Singapore to seek a professional football career. Tochi, who was hanged in January 2007 had also allegedly gone to Singapore to seek a football career. During the Tochi/Malachy case, the South African Government naturally went to great lengths to affirm that Malachy was not a citizen of their Country, pointing out that he had a forged South African passport. It is obvious that such a situation will not  endear South Africa to Nigeria and Nigerian citizens. The image of South Africa was smeared by a Nigerian. No South African will like this. It is no surprise that Nigerians living in South Africa as well as visiting Nigerian citizens and officials are often treated shabbily in South Africa.
The Government of Ghana  will probably walk the same path concerning Chijioke who has been sentenced still fairly recently; a sentence which may yet take several months to carry out. During that time there will be a lot of negative publicity directed to Ghana. No doubt Ghana will then be forced to come out and  deny  his being a citizen of their Country, while their regard for Nigerian integrity which is already low will sink even lower.

The case  of Tochi had garnered worldwide publicity at the time due to his youth (when he was arrested in 2004, his age as stated on his passport was about 19 years), his apparent talent for football (he had represented Nigeria in some youth tournaments and had also played professionally in Senegal) and some controversy about whether he actually knew that the package he was carrying contained heroin or not. Olusegun Obasanjo, then president of Nigeria, had in fact sent a letter to the President of Singapore pleading for clemency on his behalf on the eve of his execution. It is doubtful that Chijioke will get such sympathy. For one, the excuse of not knowing the contents of a package which eventually turns out to be narcotics has already gone stale and will barely get a yawn from the appeal court judges in Singapore. Secondly, the teary story of the aspiring professional football star who does not make it and subsequently gets in trouble in foreign Countries has also worn thin. Thirdly, his stated age was 29 when he was arrested; no longer a boy, but a full grown man. Finally, there appears to be very  little doubt about his guilt as he was caught trafficking a large quantity of marijuana red handed.

Therefore, it seems more meaningful to use this situation to learn some lessons for future situations. Not that we have not learnt these same lessons before, but in Nigeria we seem to have a disease of repeating the same sad errors (must be deliberately) over and over again. So here goes.

While we should not excuse Nigerians (or anyone else for that matter) for committing crimes in whether at home or in foreign lands, we need to also examine the driving factors that lead to these things. It is becoming much too simplistic especially in view of clearly deliberate mismanagement of resources in Nigeria, to merely condemn the affected individuals without examining systemic factors.

In the case of Tochi, his evidence was that he had been playing football as a career since his early teens but got injured while playing in Senegal. After coming home to recuperate in Nigeria, he set out to continue his football career but opted this time to try his luck in Dubai. Through some unclear circumstances, he could not get a visa to Dubai but managed to get to Pakistan. He claimed he was told there was a direct train from Pakistan to Dubai. This information was false, there is no such train. Unable to get to Dubai both for lack of funds as well as lack of a visa, he got stuck in Pakistan. It was no doubt this desperate situation that eventually led him to the gallows through a series of unfortunate circumstances as well as some big mistakes on his own part of course. If Nigeria had a well organized National Football League, it is likely that Tochi may have opted to ply his trade at home instead of going on a clearly precarious trip abroad. While our Government officials are buying multi-million Naira mansions nationwide and worldwide through ill gotten gains or indulging in meaningless ego-trips, the untold other side of the story is that some of our people are being placed in tough predicaments, which when coupled with some bad luck and personal mistakes, are leading to dire consequences for them, including even ignominous deaths in strange lands.

As for Chijioke, he was arrested at age 29 after being in Singapore for about eighteen months. This implies according to his evidence that he came to try out for a football club in Singapore at about age 27. That is clearly rather late in age for a person of whom there is no evidence that he had a previous football career. It is also unclear that he had any real football talent. It is hardly a surprise that he was not selected to play for the club. It is certainly feasible that he may have anticipated this but just wanted to get out of Nigeria. Thus he found himself  in a strange land, with an expired visa as at January 2007. These factors must have played a substantial role in his being involved and eventually arrested for drug trafficking in April 2007. Yes, Chijioke did wrong, but again we need to ask why a University graduate of Industrial Chemistry (he claimed he graduated with a second class upper degree from University of Benin) would be reduced to such depths in the first place. While he bears a major share of the blame, we must also put a solid chunk of this blame squarely on a Government and a system that puts down its people and gives them very little chance to grow and develop with any dignity. When basic infrastructure such as Power supply cannot be done right despite millions of dollars spent, when housing, water and good roads are luxuries, when jobs are simply not available for the people even after they have made strenuous efforts to educate themselves under harsh conditions, it is inevitable that some bizarre situations and predicaments such as that of Chijioke will arise.

I seize this opportunity to point out to President Umaru Musa Yaradua that his sleeping on duty is not some minor infraction but in fact an act of treason, first degree murder as well as systematic genocide. There is such a thing as criminal negligence.
Governors, Ministers, and other public and not so public officials who use positions of trust to loot or otherwise mismanage the commonwealth while creating a roadblock to the smooth flow of life are also guilty of treason, premeditated  murder and genocide.

If or when the hangman pulls the lever to send Chijioke Stephen Obioha to an early death sometime later this year, you all have some of his blood on your hands. You know yourselves and while God Almighty may take His time, His judgement is inevitable.



[/b]

— Security operatives in[b] Bayelsa State have embarked on a manhunt for suspected militants who allegedly stabbed a female undergraduate from Ondewari community in the state to death.
<
The death of the student is generating tension in the community as no fewer than four persons have been rounded up by the police at Oporoma in Southern Ijaw Local Government.

The deceased, identified as Patience, until her demise was a final year student of Political Science at the Rivers State College of Education.

She was ambushed by some suspected militants while worshipping at a church in Ondewari.

Eye witness account told Daily Independent that the victim and her father had had a quarrel with a militant leader during which Patience threatened to destroy his blocks.

The deceased never destroyed the blocks as threatened but the militant leader believed his crushed blocks were the handiwork of Patience.

It was gathered she had attended a Sunday church service a day after the quarrel, and there she was cornered by some violent youths armed with sharp objects and sticks.

Reports revealed that the youths headed straight to the church, demanding for the release of their prey, but the church officials bluntly refused, sensing danger.

The lady reportedly jumped out through one of the windows but was apprehended by the desperate gang.

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Immediately she was stabbed on her upper arm and left in the pool of her blood before sympathisers rushed her to the Korokorosei Health Centre for medical attention.

Patience was said to have lost much blood as one of her relations was requested to donate blood to resuscitate her. But before that could be done, the lady passed on.

When contacted, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Ibokette Iniobong, could not confirm the incident, saying he was in Abuja on an official assignment.

Thriving sex trade, overflowing refuse dumps distort new face of Imo
By Chux Ohai

As a visitor to Owerri, the capital of Imo State, steps out of the Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport, a large billboard warmly greets him, ‘Welcome to Owerri, Capital City’ and then reminds him that the city he is about to enter is, as a popular slogan of the state government suggests, ‘clean and green’.

Just as touted, the visitor soon discovers that the streets of Owerri appear modestly clean and that the stench that once gave the city the appearance of a huge refuse dump has finally been gotten rid of. It is clean, without the sparkling quality, but lacks evidence of a steely determination by the municipal authority to transform it into a lush green zone in the manner of Abuja and Lagos.

Indeed, Saturday Punch discovered a semblance of order in the manner in which the inhabitants conducted their affairs and the roads appeared at a glance to be well-kempt, wide, and less-ridden with potholes, even craters of such depth as could be found in more densely populated cities like Lagos.

At a junction where road users patiently waited for the next signal from the traffic lights to continue their journey, the New Face of Imo Agenda assumed a more visible perspective, as a couple of workmen laboured in the sun to clear some debris from the site of a recently demolished building.

Once described as the entertainment capital of the South-East, on the surface, Owerri cut the picture of a city in transition. Earlier in 2007, the current governor of Imo State, Ikedi Ohakim, had embarked on a 14-point agenda, the thrust of which was to reposition the state economically, socially and culturally, in such a way that it would attract external investors and tourists. It was gathered that in order to make this a reality, the governor had initiated the much publicised Clean and Green Campaign and set up the Imo State Environmental Transformation Commission (ENTRANCO), which was given the responsibility of saving Owerri from further declining into and wearing the face of a shanty town. ENTRANCO’s major task was to transform the capital city to a model and modern city.

When our correspondent spoke to Willy Amadi, ENTRANCO’s boss, about the Clean and Green project in Owerri, he said, “Our objective is to create an environment that will promote tourism and in turn, create employment. Most importantly, we want to create a model modern state and a capital city that will be the best in West Africa. We are thinking of moulding Owerri and all the other local governments around it into one mega city that countries would emulate. That is why we are spending more time in transforming the people’s mindset to make them do the right thing.”

Amadi added that the staff and management of ENTRANCO had toiled night and day to ensure that Governor Ohakim’s transformational agenda remained visible and attainable. “We have put in so much to get to where we are today, but we have only achieved 15 per cent of the initial target. We have laid the foundation and the people of Imo have accepted the initiative because they have seen its usefulness and benefits. In spite of this, we still have a lot to do,” he said.

But moving further inland, our correspondent stumbled on sights that seemed to contradict the state government’s claims of running one of the cleanest and tidiest state capitals in the world. At a spot on Ama J.K Road, one of the major roads in Owerri, a large and overflowing refuse bin stood like a sore thumb, in total contrast to the shinning surroundings. Nearby, a heap of rubbish had been abandoned in the middle of the ever-busy Douglas Road. As if to complement the ugly sight, the gutters on both sides of this road were solidly blocked by used pure water sachets and such like debris.

Right in the heart of Ama Wire, one of the oldest neighbourhoods in the Owerri metropolis, there was a huge refuse dump nestling among rows of dusty and rustic-looking houses. At a glance, it looked as if the neighbourhood, clearly neglected, had for a while evaded the good intentions of Ohakim’s Clean and Green Initiative. At the same time, it seemed that ENTRANCO’s cleaners and sanitary officers would spare the neighbourhod their modernizing visits for a long time. Ama Wire in its wretched and unkempt state was clearly not a reflection of the ingenuity of the government’s Face of Imo agenda.

Perhaps one of the most dominant features of Owerri life was the huge presence of commercial motorcycle operators, or Okada riders, on the roads. Okada riders constitute a significant percentage of the workforce in Imo State. In Owerri, they were found everywhere, in their hundreds, racing from one point in the city to another, sometimes at alarming speed. One did not need to be told that these commercial motorcycles were the most popular means of transport in Owerri. Yet the state government was said to have decided to kick Okada riders out of town in March, 2009.

In response to this, Charles Ngobiri, an Okada operator, told Saturday Punch, “The governor said we should leave before the end of March. But where are we going? How does he expect us to earn a living after March? To tell you the truth, I don’t like what this governor is doing to us. They say he is making Owerri clean. Is it cleanliness that I will eat?”

But in an interview with our correspondent, Governor Ikedi Ohakim denied ever handing Okada riders a quit order. “I have never given an order to Okada riders to quit. There is nothing like that. What we have said is that between now and March, we will restrict them outside Owerri metropolis, which is different from Owerri urban area. What this means is that Okada riders can still work within the city,” he said.

Revealing his intention to introduce an alternative with which he planned to absorb the Okada riders, he said, “We have to find a way to discourage these boys from committing suicide. Riding Okada is like committing suicide.”

Apart from the rumoured ban on commercial motorcycles in Owerri, Ohakim’s demolition squads appear to have incurred the displeasure of some residents of the city. Madam Anthonia Okoro, a resident, called them ‘extortion’ squads. She complained to Saturday Punch that she lost a substantial sum of money to one of the teams when it came to demolish her shop at Mbaise Road. Such complaints were common in Owerri. But the government recently denied that members of the task force set up to supervise the demolition exercise had extorted money from affected shop owners or traders.

Determined to survive against all odds, Madam Okoro had moved to a small, but bubbly place known as ‘Control’, where she was able to sell her wares every night, away from the prying eyes of law enforcement agents.

Meanwhile, most victims of the government’s Clean and Green Initiative have found themselves facing abject poverty after the bulldozers had destroyed their means of livelihood. “One of my neighbours has left Owerri for his village because there is nothing to do here any more,” a trader named Maxwell said. He admitted that he dreaded a new life in his native village and added that he was not in a hurry to relocate to his village yet, because life was a lot tougher there.

At night, Owerri presented a different picture from what one had encountered in day time. The city’s characteristic calm gradually dissolved into a bubbly atmosphere that was reinforced by the presence of several night spots struggling to relive the city’s past image of a fecund haven for revelers. Tens of Okada riders, undeterred by the existence of numerous police checkpoints at strategic points in the city, were busy ferrying night crawlers from one night spot to the other. This correspondent found that prostitutes constituted the majority of passengers transported on the motorcycles.

Indeed, prostitutes, most of them in their late teens, swarmed the hotels and night clubs in Owerri almost every night. Some of them confessed that they had to hustle to make ends meet. “There is so much poverty here. As for me, I don’t like to burden my parents with demands for money. I have needs and I don’t like to disturb them for money. That is why I go out to hustle,” said Nkiruka, who declined for obvious reasons to mention her surname. Nkiru said she was a student of Imo State University. Her companion, Stephanie, admitted that she had to travel all the way from Uturu in neighbouring Abia State to ‘try her luck’ at the Imo Concorde Hotel where clients were certain to part with generous sums of money for a night of sex. Apart from Concorde Hotel, other regular haunts for the likes of Nkiru and Stephanie include Links Hotel and Disney Hotel, as well as Control, a popular resort for drivers of trailer-trucks in transit located along the Onitsha-Owerri Road.

Another resident of Owerri, Mr.Sampson Eze, who said he worked with a commercial bank in the city, described the booming sex trade as an unpleasant development that derived from the get-rich-quick attitude of the people. “Can you imagine that most of these prostitutes are young girls who should be busy reading their books? I think we are having a serious problem in our hands,” he said.

Generally, the thriving sex trade has been attributed to the erosion of positive moral values among the Igbo. At the 2009 Ahiajoku Lecture, the collapse of moral values was identified as one of the issues that needed to be addressed in the quest for the cultural rebirth of the Igbo. Alongside the rampaging bulldozers of the demolition teams, the scarcity of potable water in the metropolis and frequent blackouts, it is an issue the current governor must address in his bid to recreate the image of the capital city.

http://www.punchontheweb.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art200901312581834



[b][/b]

Are you two kidding me?

*comfort:

Thriving sex trade, overflowing refuse dumps distort new face of Imo
By Chux Ohai

As a visitor to Owerri, the capital of Imo State, steps out of the Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport, a large billboard warmly greets him, ‘Welcome to Owerri, Capital City’ and then reminds him that the city he is about to enter is, as a popular slogan of the state government suggests, ‘clean and green’.

Just as touted, the visitor soon discovers that the streets of Owerri appear modestly clean and that the stench that once gave the city the appearance of a huge refuse dump has finally been gotten rid of. It is clean, without the sparkling quality, but lacks evidence of a steely determination by the municipal authority to transform it into a lush green zone in the manner of Abuja and Lagos.

Indeed, Saturday Punch discovered a semblance of order in the manner in which the inhabitants conducted their affairs and the roads appeared at a glance to be well-kempt, wide, and less-ridden with potholes, even craters of such depth as could be found in more densely populated cities like Lagos.

At a junction where road users patiently waited for the next signal from the traffic lights to continue their journey, the New Face of Imo Agenda assumed a more visible perspective, as a couple of workmen laboured in the sun to clear some debris from the site of a recently demolished building.

Once described as the entertainment capital of the South-East, on the surface, Owerri cut the picture of a city in transition. Earlier in 2007, the current governor of Imo State, Ikedi Ohakim, had embarked on a 14-point agenda, the thrust of which was to reposition the state economically, socially and culturally, in such a way that it would attract external investors and tourists. It was gathered that in order to make this a reality, the governor had initiated the much publicised Clean and Green Campaign and set up the Imo State Environmental Transformation Commission (ENTRANCO), which was given the responsibility of saving Owerri from further declining into and wearing the face of a shanty town. ENTRANCO’s major task was to transform the capital city to a model and modern city.

When our correspondent spoke to Willy Amadi, ENTRANCO’s boss, about the Clean and Green project in Owerri, he said, “Our objective is to create an environment that will promote tourism and in turn, create employment. Most importantly, we want to create a model modern state and a capital city that will be the best in West Africa. We are thinking of moulding Owerri and all the other local governments around it into one mega city that countries would emulate. That is why we are spending more time in transforming the people’s mindset to make them do the right thing.”

Amadi added that the staff and management of ENTRANCO had toiled night and day to ensure that Governor Ohakim’s transformational agenda remained visible and attainable. “We have put in so much to get to where we are today, but we have only achieved 15 per cent of the initial target. We have laid the foundation and the people of Imo have accepted the initiative because they have seen its usefulness and benefits. In spite of this, we still have a lot to do,” he said.

But moving further inland, our correspondent stumbled on sights that seemed to contradict the state government’s claims of running one of the cleanest and tidiest state capitals in the world. At a spot on Ama J.K Road, one of the major roads in Owerri, a large and overflowing refuse bin stood like a sore thumb, in total contrast to the shinning surroundings. Nearby, a heap of rubbish had been abandoned in the middle of the ever-busy Douglas Road. As if to complement the ugly sight, the gutters on both sides of this road were solidly blocked by used pure water sachets and such like debris.

Right in the heart of Ama Wire, one of the oldest neighbourhoods in the Owerri metropolis, there was a huge refuse dump nestling among rows of dusty and rustic-looking houses. At a glance, it looked as if the neighbourhood, clearly neglected, had for a while evaded the good intentions of Ohakim’s Clean and Green Initiative. At the same time, it seemed that ENTRANCO’s cleaners and sanitary officers would spare the neighbourhod their modernizing visits for a long time. Ama Wire in its wretched and unkempt state was clearly not a reflection of the ingenuity of the government’s Face of Imo agenda.

Perhaps one of the most dominant features of Owerri life was the huge presence of commercial motorcycle operators, or Okada riders, on the roads. Okada riders constitute a significant percentage of the workforce in Imo State. In Owerri, they were found everywhere, in their hundreds, racing from one point in the city to another, sometimes at alarming speed. One did not need to be told that these commercial motorcycles were the most popular means of transport in Owerri. Yet the state government was said to have decided to kick Okada riders out of town in March, 2009.

In response to this, Charles Ngobiri, an Okada operator, told Saturday Punch, “The governor said we should leave before the end of March. But where are we going? How does he expect us to earn a living after March? To tell you the truth, I don’t like what this governor is doing to us. They say he is making Owerri clean. Is it cleanliness that I will eat?”

But in an interview with our correspondent, Governor Ikedi Ohakim denied ever handing Okada riders a quit order. “I have never given an order to Okada riders to quit. There is nothing like that. What we have said is that between now and March, we will restrict them outside Owerri metropolis, which is different from Owerri urban area. What this means is that Okada riders can still work within the city,” he said.

Revealing his intention to introduce an alternative with which he planned to absorb the Okada riders, he said, “We have to find a way to discourage these boys from committing suicide. Riding Okada is like committing suicide.”

Apart from the rumoured ban on commercial motorcycles in Owerri, Ohakim’s demolition squads appear to have incurred the displeasure of some residents of the city. Madam Anthonia Okoro, a resident, called them ‘extortion’ squads. She complained to Saturday Punch that she lost a substantial sum of money to one of the teams when it came to demolish her shop at Mbaise Road. Such complaints were common in Owerri. But the government recently denied that members of the task force set up to supervise the demolition exercise had extorted money from affected shop owners or traders.

Determined to survive against all odds, Madam Okoro had moved to a small, but bubbly place known as ‘Control’, where she was able to sell her wares every night, away from the prying eyes of law enforcement agents.

Meanwhile, most victims of the government’s Clean and Green Initiative have found themselves facing abject poverty after the bulldozers had destroyed their means of livelihood. “One of my neighbours has left Owerri for his village because there is nothing to do here any more,” a trader named Maxwell said. He admitted that he dreaded a new life in his native village and added that he was not in a hurry to relocate to his village yet, because life was a lot tougher there.

At night, Owerri presented a different picture from what one had encountered in day time. The city’s characteristic calm gradually dissolved into a bubbly atmosphere that was reinforced by the presence of several night spots struggling to relive the city’s past image of a fecund haven for revelers. Tens of Okada riders, undeterred by the existence of numerous police checkpoints at strategic points in the city, were busy ferrying night crawlers from one night spot to the other. This correspondent found that prostitutes constituted the majority of passengers transported on the motorcycles.

Indeed, prostitutes, most of them in their late teens, swarmed the hotels and night clubs in Owerri almost every night. Some of them confessed that they had to hustle to make ends meet. “There is so much poverty here. As for me, I don’t like to burden my parents with demands for money. I have needs and I don’t like to disturb them for money. That is why I go out to hustle,” said Nkiruka, who declined for obvious reasons to mention her surname. Nkiru said she was a student of Imo State University. Her companion, Stephanie, admitted that she had to travel all the way from Uturu in neighbouring Abia State to ‘try her luck’ at the Imo Concorde Hotel where clients were certain to part with generous sums of money for a night of sex. Apart from Concorde Hotel, other regular haunts for the likes of Nkiru and Stephanie include Links Hotel and Disney Hotel, as well as Control, a popular resort for drivers of trailer-trucks in transit located along the Onitsha-Owerri Road.

Another resident of Owerri, Mr.Sampson Eze, who said he worked with a commercial bank in the city, described the booming sex trade as an unpleasant development that derived from the get-rich-quick attitude of the people. “Can you imagine that most of these prostitutes are young girls who should be busy reading their books? I think we are having a serious problem in our hands,” he said.

Generally, the thriving sex trade has been attributed to the erosion of positive moral values among the Igbo. At the 2009 Ahiajoku Lecture, the collapse of moral values was identified as one of the issues that needed to be addressed in the quest for the cultural rebirth of the Igbo. Alongside the rampaging bulldozers of the demolition teams, the scarcity of potable water in the metropolis and frequent blackouts, it is an issue the current governor must address in his bid to recreate the image of the capital city.

http://www.punchontheweb.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art200901312581834



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Nigeria: Three-Year-Old Boy, Two Others Feared Dead in Yenagoa Cult Clash
Samuel Oyadongha
21 March 2009

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    A Three-year-old boy, two others were shot dead in renewed cult clash in Bayelsa as night life is gradually grinding to a halt in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital following renewed war between rival cult gangs in the predominantly riverine state.<
Apart from the thirteen supporters of Ocean Boys FC that were allegedly trailed and killed outside the by suspected cults members, no fewer than ten persons have so far lost their lives in a renewed cult related killings in Yenagoa.The latest killing which has heightened tension in Yenagoa where before the sad turn of event residents could move freely into the early hours of the day took place in the early hours of Thursday when two rival cult groups were locked in violent shoot-out leading to the death of three persons among them a three year old boy.

The sounds of exchange of gun fire believed to be a supremacy battle between the rival cult groups which took place around 12.30am jolted residents out of their sleep.

The incident, which occurred in the Biogbolo suburb of the state capital, caused panic. Eyewitnesses close to the scene of the battle claimed that after the exchange of gunfire by the cultists, a boy and a girl were said to have been felled by flying bullets.

It was gathered that moment after the exchange of gunshot ceased the loud wailing of a woman selling cigarette and other petty items was heard some distant away from the scene of battle.

The grief_stricken woman was said to be holding a blood stained corpse of a three boy who was reportedly killed by a stray bullet from the guns of the rampaging cultists.

The sad turn of the event is gradually affecting night life in the capital city as most resident now retire to their homes early for fear of being caught in likely crossfire of the cults thereby impacting negatively on the various relaxation spots in town.

Contacted, the State Police Public Relations Officer, Iniobong Ibokette confirmed the incident but assured residents of their safety as the police has intensified security in the state capital.

He said two persons have been arrested and the Commissioner of Police has since ordered a full investigation in order to bring the culprits to book
http://allafrica.com/stories/200903230069.html

The police at the Area ‘F’ Command have arrested a dispatch rider identified as Elendu Stanley Ikechukwu, for allegedly raping his brother’s eight-year-old daughter.

Elendu, a staff of Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), whose office is located at 45, Opebi Road, Ikeja, was alleged to have raped the victim (names withheld), in his office.
P.M.NEWS gathered that the suspect, who is married, brought the victim from their village and were all living in GRA, Ikeja, before relocating to an undisclosed place.

It was learnt that Elendu, in order to have free sex with the little girl, told his wife that he would change the girl’s school to one very close to his work place so that he could bring her home after closing hours, while the wife was said to have consented to the idea.

On the morning he brought the girl to his office to change her school, it was learnt, he discovered that the only staff in the office had left for breakfast and reportedly took the girl to the accounts office, removed her pant and had sex with her.

He was, however, unlucky as another member of staff came in and caught him on top of the girl. The staff member immediately invited the police from Area ‘F’, who arrested him and took him to the station. When P.M.NEWS visited the NIOB office, both president and secretary were said to be out of the office, but a staff confirmed the incident, saying that the suspect was later brought to the office by the police, where the girl’s pant was picked up and taken to the station.

When P.M.NEWS visited the station, the DPO was also not around to confirm the story, but a police source confirmed the incident, but was not sure when he will be charged to court.


http://news.onlinenigeria.com/templates/?a=461&z=12

[b][/b]

comfort have you noticed that all my stories are this march 2009 and almost all in Yenegoa alone o while you've dabbled from 1980 all opver five states and beyond?

*comfort:

The police at the Area ‘F’ Command have arrested a dispatch rider identified as Elendu Stanley Ikechukwu, for allegedly raping his brother’s eight-year-old daughter.

Elendu, a staff of Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), whose office is located at 45, Opebi Road, Ikeja, was alleged to have raped the victim (names withheld), in his office.
P.M.NEWS gathered that the suspect, who is married, brought the victim from their village and were all living in GRA, Ikeja, before relocating to an undisclosed place.

It was learnt that Elendu, in order to have free sex with the little girl, told his wife that he would change the girl’s school to one very close to his work place so that he could bring her home after closing hours, while the wife was said to have consented to the idea.

On the morning he brought the girl to his office to change her school, it was learnt, he discovered that the only staff in the office had left for breakfast and reportedly took the girl to the accounts office, removed her pant and had sex with her.

He was, however, unlucky as another member of staff came in and caught him on top of the girl. The staff member immediately invited the police from Area ‘F’, who arrested him and took him to the station. When P.M.NEWS visited the NIOB office, both president and secretary were said to be out of the office, but a staff confirmed the incident, saying that the suspect was later brought to the office by the police, where the girl’s pant was picked up and taken to the station.

When P.M.NEWS visited the station, the DPO was also not around to confirm the story, but a police source confirmed the incident, but was not sure when he will be charged to court.


http://news.onlinenigeria.com/templates/?a=461&z=12

[b][/b]

Nigeria: Menace of 'Sex Workers'
Chinwe Ochu
5 March 2009

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    analysis

Lagos — As Abuja grows in people and infrastructure, so also are other vices like robberies and petty stealing.

However, another growing business in the Federal Capital Territory is prostitution, one of the oldest professions known to mankind. Chinwe Ochu, who walked the streets on a night to look at how thriving the business is, writes

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At first glance she struck me as a young lady standing by the roadside, waiting for a cab at about 8pm after a busy day at work. Decked in the characteristic long veil atop native skirt and blouse Ankara, she was the sight of a responsible lady on her way home.

But later, something about her did not feel right. She declined to board the many number of cabs that stopped in front of her; but rather eyed the private vehicles that cruised in her direction. Only a few minutes later did she find what she was looking for as she bent to discuss with the man behind the wheels and zoomed off with him.

Shocked! That was exactly what I felt as I came to the realisation that she, whom I would name Seyifat was a red-light lady, woman of the night, sex worker, hawker, hooker, LovePeddler or prostitute as the dictionary would describe any who peddles sex in exchange for money or other material things as the case maybe.

Gone is the usual image of this category of women with their suggestive dressing and grooming; and seen in dungy, dark and dirty places at odd hours. It is called the oldest profession on earth. You might wonder, profession? I tell you yes. In the course of this research on this issue, It was discovered the 'professionalism' that goes into being a sex worker.

Abuja, Nigeria's capital is resplendent in glory and is a sight to behold at night as the beauty of the modern city is evident. Its beautiful road network, amazing structures, serene neighbourhoods and relatively safe environment attract people from far and wide like bees to honey. Yet, residents have come to notice a different trend from what was obtainable in the recent past. Girls, ladies and women alike strut the streets at night in large numbers, discussing in hushed tones with any vehicle- owners that might come their way and most of the times, boarding the said vehicle to God- knows where.

Do not get me wrong- this particular scene is seen everywhere there are morally- decadent men looking for bodies for sale. But the Abuja trend is becoming alarming. Not only do these ladies begin their trade as early as 8pm, they are seen at almost every street corner in Abuja. Gone are the days when they are sought for in certain sections of the city; which mostly becomes prominently known over- time as their depot.

Abuja now 'boasts' of harbouring these women everywhere- I mean literarily everywhere; from high- brow residential areas in the city like Asokoro, Maitama, Wuse II to out- of- town estates like Gwarinpa, Abuja Model City and deserted highways leading to these estates. Gone also are the days when these women look harassed, with their inexpensive attires sometimes looking like drug- addicts.

Now in Abuja, sex or street workers stun their 'customers' with radiant skin, gorgeous designer clothes and shoes and million dollar fragrances and perfumes. Some, you will find out have their cars packed somewhere close-by. Another uniqueness to the street workers in Abuja is that 90 per cent of them are what I call 'imports'. They are not Abuja residents.

They come into the city on Fridays from places as far as Enugu, Yenagoa, Calabar, Lagos and as near as Kaduna, Jos and Minna; to engage in their trade for like a week before going back to their base for sometime and later return to make some more money. It is like a cycle. These girls often claim to be in one high institution of learning or the other. Research has shown, however that some of them are not undergraduates of any sort, but ladies out to make money out of ruining themselves.

All over the world, majority of the women that engage in this trade claim they have no other means of livelihood to cater for their daily necessities. That is not the case with the average Abuja street worker. Some of them hold respectable jobs during the day; and in the bid to get more, driven by their greed, hawk themselves for money at night. So, the principle of rehabilitation and reabsorbing into the society is out of the question since they are a useful part of the society- during the day.

That again is another unique feature of the street workers in Abuja.

Anyway, I caught up with Seyifat days later as I hid at the back of a car driven by a male friend of mine who volunteered to assist me with this investigation. She was exactly at that same spot from the other day and dressed the same way. That helped me recognise her. Our car slowed down and then began the business negotiation.

They discussed the 'terms and conditions' of the service- one that I will not go into for the sake of decency. Finally, she entered our car and a discussion ensued. My friend asked all the questions that I would have asked her- Why? Seyifat gave a lengthy story of how she is the bread- winner in her family of jobless parents and four siblings, all in secondary schools. When asked how much she made in a day she said that it depended on how fortunate she was.

"Fifteen to twenty thousand," she replied. On where she came from, she said: "Bauchi." Imagine how shocked I was when I learnt that she does not even hail from the North. Her real name is Grace. When she was asked why she dressed the way she did, she said that it enabled her get married Alhajis as her clients, which means more money for her. To cut the long story short, she discovered that she was being interviewed and begged that she alight and go about her business.

Seyifat is one out of the many thousands of women that walk the streets of Abuja every night; giving the city a bad name. Stories have been heard of these girls stealing parked cars, snatching briefcases from unsuspecting passers- by and blackmailing prominent men in the society who try to lend help to them. In the opinion of most Abuja residents, these girls do not 'hawk' themselves simply because they are poor or unemployed, since they look better than most working- class women.

The question is: "If they do not have enough resources to take care of themselves, how come they dress so good every night and sometimes have cars to their credit?" The answer boils down to what one resident, Albert calls "laziness and the unwillingness to sit down and make a decent living. If they are desperate for jobs, there are positions as sales girls and receptionists everywhere. They can even learn a trade and start their own business and be their own masters," he said.

Government authorities in Abuja should address this issue as it is getting really embarrassing. We want to attract foreign investors and re- brand Nigeria, don't we? The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Alhaji Aliero Adamu should pay heed to the pleas of countless Abuja residents and enforce the laws necessary to rid our streets of this ugly menace. Even the physical roads in Abuja will thank him for that, for are they not being trampled upon all night by these street workers all year round?

any news from rives state?

LAGOS (AFP) – The Nigerian military on Friday said it had raided and destroyed a militant camp in the volatile Niger Delta as part of its drive to end unrest in the oil-producing region.

Army spokesman colonel Rabe Abubakar said the Joint Task Force (JTF), a contingent of the Nigerian army that protects oil facilities and personnel in the restive region, on Thursday "destroyed" a militant camp at Daroama in Bayelsa State.

"A very significant part of Daroama militant camp has been destroyed, severe casualties were suffered by them (the militants) and some quantities of arms, ammunition, were recovered," said Abubakar.

He blamed militants loyal to a leader named Kitikata for the death last year of three government troops and for "incessant" attacks on JTF locations and oil companies.

The most prominent of the active groups claiming to fight for a greater share of the oil wealth for impoverished locals -- the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) -- has called off a ceasefire it had declared last year.

Abubakar vowed to crush the militancy saying there would be an end to the "crisis in no distant future."

The surge in violent attacks on Nigeria's oil industry has resulted in a drop in crude production in this world's eighth largest producer to some two million barrels a day, compared to 2.6 million in 2006.

It all started like a burning straw sometime in 2003 when some politicians in Rivers and Bayelsa States were reported to have embarked on the massive recruitment and arming of criminally minded youths, some of whom had allegedly escaped from prison after conviction for murder and related crimes.

The politicians[b] found them handy for intimidating political opponents and election-rigging[/b]. Some of the employable ones among these youths were later absorbed as aides by the politicians after the elections, but the unskilled ones were let loose to fend for themselves.


It is this initial flame, among other factors - especially the genuine struggle by militants for resource control in the oil-producing communities - that has escalated today into political criminality, the raging gang wars in Rivers State and the callous business of hostage taking in the Niger Delta and several other parts of the country.

As is the case with many other growing monsters, the situation now threatens to consume the entire nation, including individuals and authorities whose actions and omissions helped to create and nurture it in the first place.

Alarmed by the gravity of the situation, some state governments have called for the adoption of the death penalty for convicted kidnappers in order to stem the tide of the menace. As of press time, the Rivers State House of Assembly had approved life imprisonment for the offence, while passing the executive bill introduced by Governor Rotimi Amaechi administration. The executive bill preferred capital punishment for those found guilty. Also, the Enugu State House of Assembly has passed into law a bill sanctioning the death penalty for kidnapping. The Akwa Ibom government is processing a similar legislation.

While stiffening the punitive sanctions in the Criminal Code for the worsening menace of kidnapping is a necessary response of the state governments to meet the present challenge, it appears that some of deeper issues involved are still being overlooked. For example, it is unfortunate that the Federal Government, through its law enforcement agencies, has chosen to play politics with the matter of the complicity of some individual sponsors of these gangs, who happen to be political bigwigs.

We urge the authorities to note that the fire of escalating insecurity in Rivers State is a bad omen for the country; that Nigeria risks a descent into anarchy if criminal gangs and their sponsors in other parts of the country become emboldened by the undeserved sacred cow status that gang financiers in Rivers and Bayelsa States now seem to enjoy. Anambra and Oyo States are instances of such outposts of lawlessness and chaos, where political godfathers have precipitated all manner of crises leading to deaths and arson with impunity.

Another deeper spring of the foul waters of criminal hostage-taking is the provocative lifestyle of many political office holders and their hangers-on in the Niger Delta, who plunder the treasury with impunity and flaunt their illegal wealth before the pauperized ordinary citizens of the region. Many desperate youths have been lured into crimes in an attempt to imitate such lifestyles of idle, criminal opulence, which the authorities of the land cannot punish.

It is well known that the present monstrous forms of abduction, especially in the Niger Delta states, where infants, housewives, and the aged, among others, have been kidnapped for cash ransoms, began with the abduction of foreigners by armed groups. The groups claimed that the foreigners were agents of the unjust exploitation of their communities' natural resources by multinationals working for an insensitive Federal Government. But when the abductions extended to Nigerian dignitaries and then even to ordinary citizens who appeared to have any lucrative ransom value, the phenomenon was exposed for what it is: a callous crime to extort money from the abductors' victims. It has brought such misery to countless homes, including death at the hands of heartless kidnappers, that the latest legislative measures are being rushed to the rescue. At least in Enugu State to date, the death sentence is one of such deterrent measures.

The appropriateness of capital punishment remains a controversial subject across the world, and the question may be asked if the Nigerian legislative houses are justified to prescribe the death penalty for convicted kidnappers. It has been argued that though it is an integral right of a sovereign State, like Nigeria, to punish those who violate her laws, that right should not extend to the imposition of cruel, degrading or inhuman punishments. The inherent sanctity of human life and the apparent moral illogicality of punishing the taking of life by also taking life in revenge, have been urged also by some reformists upon States that sanction capital punishment.

There is no doubt, be that as it may, that the present mood of the public is one of justified outrage and consternation at the spectre of criminal abductions now haunting the land. The people clearly desire greater protection under their laws against the heartless hostage-takers, and the new anti-abduction bills are a response to that demand.

The Rivers legislature's preference for life imprisonment, and Enugu State's choice of the death penalty for the same offence, reflect the ongoing global debate on the merits of capital punishment. We urge the nation to reflect soberly and act decisively on the appropriate measures to control this hideous crime.

The murder in London of a Nigerian boy, simply named Adam by the British Police, might have brought to international focus and attention one of the most dreadful and horrifying practices in Nigeria - ritual killing.
In September 2001, the mutilated body of "Boy Adam" was found by the British Police floating in the River Thames, near Tower Bridge in London. A top police source suspected that Adam might have been a victim of a style of ritual killing practiced in west and southern Africa. And forensic examination revealed that Adam lived in southwestern Nigeria.

So, early this year, British detectives arrived in Nigeria in search of Adam's killers. Both the former president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, and Nigerian soccer player Nwankwo Kanu, made passionate appeals for clues and information leading to the arrest of Adam's killers.

In July, Police arrested a 37-year-old Nigerian, Sam Onogigovie (in Dublin), and twenty-one other Nigerians in Britain in connection with the murder of Adam. Generally, ritual killing is a common practice in Nigeria. Every year, hundreds of Nigerians lose their lives to ritual murderers, also known as headhunters.

These head hunters go in search of human parts-head, breast, tongue, sexual organs-at the behest of witchdoctors, juju priests, and traditional medicine men who require them for some sacrifices or for the preparation of assorted magical potions.

Recently, there have been several reported cases of individuals who were kidnapped, killed, or had their bodies mutilated by ritualists in Nigeria. The most notorious of them is the one associated with one Chief Vincent Duru, popularly known as Otokoto.

It happened this way: In 1996, the police in the southern Nigerian city of Owerri arrested a man, Innocent Ekeanyanwu, with the head of a young boy, Ikechukwu Okonkwo. In the course of the investigation, the police discovered the buried torso of Ikechukwu on the premises of Otokoto Hotel, owned by Chief Duru, and uncovered a syndicate that specialized in ritual killing and the sale and procurement of human parts. The horrifying discoveries sparked off violent protests in the city of Owerri which led to the burning and looting of properties belonging to suspected killers. Otokoto and his ritualist syndicate were arrested and put on trial, and in February 2003, they were sentenced to death by hanging.

Apart from the Otokoto incident, there have been other instances of ritual murder and mutilation in other parts of the country. For instance, in Calabar, two men plucked out the eyes of a young lady, Adlyne Eze, for money-making ritual. And in Ifo, Ogun state, a businessman inflicted the same harm on his younger sister. In Ibadan, the police in December arrested a taxi driver, Abbas, who used his fourteen-month-old baby for rituals. Abbas killed his child in order to secure a human head, which was one of the materials listed for him by a local witchdoctor for a money-making ritual.

And in another act of ritual horror in Onitsha, Anambra State, two young men, Tobechukwu Okorie and Peter Obasi, seized a boy, Monday Emenike, and cut off his sexual organ with the intention of delivering it to a man, who allegedly offered to pay 1.5 million naira ($11,000) for it. In Kaduna, Danladi Damina was arrested after he exhumed the corpse of a 9-year-old boy, plucked out his eyes and cut off his lips, intending to use them for charms. Recently a woman was caught in a bush in Warri, Delta State, decapitating a four-year-old boy for ritual purposes. And while writing this piece, I read in The Guardian (Nigeria) a report of the murder of an 18-year-old girl, identified as Chioma, by suspected ritualists in Mbaise, Imo State.

[b][/b]

Nigeria: Bayelsa Converts NRC, SDP Secretariats to Satellite Prisons
Samuel Oyadongha
25 February 2009

Worried by the inherent[b] danger involved in the movement of convicts from Bayelsa to neighbouring Rivers State, Bayelsa State government has announced the conversion of the party secretariats of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) into satellite prisons in the state to solve the transfer of convicts to custody.[/b]
<
The three secretariat buildings[b] located in Ogbia, Brass and Sagbama council areas of the state were converted into prisons[/b] to complement the on-going Federal Prisons project in the Okaka suburb of Yenagoa the Bayelsa State capital.

Speaking yesterday during the ceremony to mark the 2008/2009 legal year in Yenagoa, the state Chief Judge, Justice Kate Abiri, said though the satellite prisons were under renovation, the increased commercial activities in the state capital have shot up the number of civil and criminal cases being handled in the courts and need to have safe place of custody for convicts.

Highlighting the achievement of the judiciary which include the renovation of courts, increase in revenue generated from court fees, fines and levies, enhanced welfare packages for workers and increased funding of human and infrastructural facilities, Justice Kate Abiri said the issue of rising cases in the courts in the state has also energized the judiciary to do more in the area of dispensation of justice.

The judiciary she said started the year with a total case of 1,929 pending cases and another 1,484 filed within the same year while the various courts disposed off over 1,227 cases in the year under review.

A total of 2,228 cases are pending before the courts for adjudication she added.

Justice Abiri pointed out that the magnanimity of the state governor at releasing capital fund of the Judiciary contributed in a big way to the success recorded in the area welfare for workers, adding, "with the release of funds in the last quarter, the judiciary commenced much needed renovation in all our station's courts."

On the issue of the approval handed by the National Judicial Council for the appointment of the President of the Customary Court of Appeal and three judges, Justice Abiri explained that those appointed would be announced if cleared by the State House of Assembly and swearing-in done in the first quarter of the year.




them don run out of prisons sef

Wicked mum: Slaughters own seven-month-old baby
From MATTHIAS NWOGU, Umuahia
Thursday, March 12, 2009


The serene village of Nchara Oloko, Ikwuano Local Government Area of Abia State was thrown into confusion recently as a woman slit the throat of her seven-month-old son and dumped him in the house of her lover in protest.

The 32-year-old[b] mother, Mrs Amarachi Ajagba has five other children possibly from a previous marriage before giving birth to the one she slaughtered, claiming that she did so to protest her abandonment by her lover to solely take care of the baby.
It was gathered that the lover, Mr Ibeabuchi Ememandu, a commercial motorcyclist had a fling with her, which resulted in pregnancy. He consequently accepted responsibility, but did not cater for the baby.

Amarachi who took care of the baby for seven months allegedly got fed up on the fateful day and felt she could no longer bear the burden alone. She therefore took the fatal decision, slaughtered the baby, took him in her wrapper and dumped the corpse in his lover’s house. Mr Soji Alabi, Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Abia State Command where the incident was first reported said the woman confessed that she carried out the heartless act in the residence of a pastor in one of the pentecostal churches in the area, using his kitchen knife.
His words, “A confessional statement made by the woman indicated that Mr Ememandu refused to take care of her and the baby hence her action.

However, Mr Ememandu denied abandoning the baby and the woman, saying he “never failed to take care of her during and after the birth of the child” and wondered why she should take such an extreme action of terminating the life of the baby who was already seven months old.

Another riddle in the episode is that there were no bloodstains on the boy and the wrapper with which she brought the corpse to the lover’s house, raising suspicion on the whereabouts of the innocent child’s blood.
The lover, who reported the incident to the NSCDC said it was his sister who alerted him to the corpse dumped in his house.

Meanwhile, the NSCDC has transferred the matter on the Abia State Police Command Umuahia for further investigation, even as the Commandant of the Corps, Dauda D. Mungadi frowned at the growing lack of respect for human life in the state.

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2009/mar/12/national-12-03-2009-06.htm
[/b]

Yenagoa — GUNMEN, suspected to be working for some oil thieves at the weekend engaged the troops of the Joint Task Force (JTF) on the Niger-Delta in a shoot-out at the National Agip Oil Company (NAOC) Terminal in Bayelsa State .

In a related incident in Delta State, gunmen also trailed one of the crew members of the MT Adamawa, a Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Warri vessel used by the JTF in towing some barges seized from oil thieves to his residence in Warri with a view to eliminating him.


Also, the two traditional chiefs that were picked up by the task force in connection with the attack on Utorogun Gas Plant, Ughelli by militants have been cleared of complicity in the attack and subsequently released.

It was learnt that before the siege on the vessel, the crew members who worked with the JTF to bring the impounded barges to Warri were threatened on their return voyage from Forcados by hooded gunmen.

Four of the crew members also issued death threats on the phone, as the seamen now live in fear of attack.

The gunmen in the Bayelsa incident stormed the Agip facility in two speed boats and immediately started firing at the soldiers who returned fire at about 6.30 pm on Saturday, leaving some of them injured.

Coordinator of the Joint Media Campaign Centre of the Task Force (JMCC), Colonel Abubakar Rabe, who confirmed the shoot-out, said the troops were deployed to guard the Twon-Brass Terminal of the company.

He said the JTF troops professionally foiled the incursion with no casualty on it side and damage to the terminal, adding that the gunmen fled when they saw that "our men had superior firepower."According to him, the assault is connected with the recent arrest of 24 barges by the JTF.

He, however, maintained that the unprovoked attack would not make the security outfit to tone down its war against criminals.

In Delta state, Vanguard learnt that the captain of the vessel bolted away from an exit door before the invading gunmen who met his wife and children could reach him.

The killers dropped a message for the fleeing captain that he was a problem to the illegal business of their masters and that they would surely get him, and told his wife to tell him to stop working with the JTF.

Meanwhile, luck ran out of three suspected oil bunkers at Oghara in Delta State when they were picked up by the JTF with 70 drums of AGO, loaded in a wooden (Cotonou) boat.

Also, JTF troops at Odidi arrested a wooden boat carrying substances suspected to be crude oil at Egwa 1, Delta State.

Reiterating the order of the Commander of the JTF, Effurun Headquarters, Brigadier-General Rimtip to the men of the task force to be vigilant at all times, Col Abubakar said
"When there is no crime in the society, like that of Niger Delta, the citizens would be free to carry out their legitimate economic activities and investors would be at liberty to invest for the overall development of our great nation.

That is the beauty of peace."On the chiefs arrested over the attack on Utorogu Gas Plant, Ughelli, Abubakar said the duo, Chiefs David Ikolo, 79 and Ugen Oghenechoviren, 53, Abubakar, were set free after investigations exonerated them of any involvement in the crime.

According to him, the chiefs' release confirms the JTF's adherence to due process and the rule of law in its operations.

AFTER a short stay in the United States, a Nigerian youth has emerged as one of the country's most wanted men, sharing the same poster with America's enemy number one, Osama bin Laden, on the Federal Bureau of Investigation's website.

President George W. Bush, who is battling with his country's economic crisis that has sent shock waves around the world, has ordered security agents to track down the 29-year old Nigerian, Tobechi Enyinna Onwuhara “at all cost”.

Bush gave the order following a discovery that Onwuhara, within three years, had stolen over $44 million, (about N5.28billion), from American citizens and financial institutions, including a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeal, who was recently appointed by the president.

The judge was once a Chief of Staff to the late American Senator, Strom Thurmond, who defected from the Democratic party to the Republican and made history then as the longest-serving and oldest senator in US history. By the time he was 100 years, he had served 48 years as a lawmaker.
To underscore the importance of the fugitive and the threat he is posing to the American economy, the FBI placed his picture under that of bin Laden, on the agency's identification orders posted on the internet.

According to the FBI, Onwuhara and some of his Nigerian partners have used online internet databases to steal victims' identities to the tune of $44 million.

FBI sources said that Onwuhara soiled into his victims' personal information through a database, in a bid to access their Home Equity Line of Credit accounts. Once inside, he would wire the money to accounts mainly located overseas, but some inside the US.

The suspect has been accused of causing tens of millions of dollars in losses to banks and home-owners.

Onwuhara was described by the agents as ‘a very smart and crafty fraudster’, who had painstakingly perfected the scam, after lots of research, followed by several tests.

Also described as 'The Consummate Con-man' with a seemingly-bottomless bag of tricks, Onwuhara was found to have been spending his money on wine, women and songs.

Among his traits and habits noted by the FBI are: gambling at the casino, flashing money, driving luxury cars and hanging out at strip clubs.
Investigators believe that Onwuhara first entered the US in 1999 or 2000 on a student visa.

A statement signed by FBI Director, Robert S. Mueller, reads in part: “Tobechi Enyinna Onwuhara, a convicted felon is wanted for his alleged involvement in an elaborate scheme that defrauded the financial industry out of tens of millions of dollars.

“Onwuhara is a key member of a group of Nigerians, which allegedly has been conducting fraudulent banking activities from Florida and Texas, since 2005. It is alleged that the group has been using on-line Internet databases to steal victims' identities. Once acquired, they allegedly use the victims' information to gain access to the victims' Home Equity Line of Credit accounts and wire transfer the money to accounts mainly located overseas, some in the United States.
“Some of Onwuhara's alleged coconspirators have been arrested, inside and outside of the UnitedStates. However, Onwuhara remains at large. Onwuhara was charged federally with conspiracyto commit bank fraud, and a federal warrant was issued for his arrest by the United States District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, on August 1, 2008.”The statement carries a caution, boldly printed in red ink: 'Should be considered an escape risk.'

The FBI pleaded that those who have information concerning the case should contact the local FBI office or the nearest American Embassy or Consulate.

Investigators said Onwuhara had once moved from Seattle in Washington, where he lived for a short time, then Houston in Texas. Later, he was found to have set up homes in Miami and Dallas.
The Miami home costs $600,000, and the Dallas base was described as a playground, where he lived the life of a multi-millionaire playboy and businessman, renting a condo for $4,000 a month.

Although agents describe Onwuhara as a quiet guy, they say he craved the spotlight and let his money do his talking for him.

Dennis Michael Wagner, who works with the ‘American Most Wanted’, reveals that Onwuhara loves "making it rain". He usually throws fistfuls of cash up in the air, at one of his favourite spots, a local strip club. They say he could easily drop $50,000.

According to Wagner, Onwuhara's desires didn't stop with cash and women. Investigators say he loves luxury cars. He has a Maserati, a Bentley, a Rolls-Royce Phantom and he had been working as a car salesman to indulge his passion.

Once in his possession, agents say Onwuhara would ship the cars to Nigeria to be sold.

According to them, he was so confident in his skills and scams that he never believed they could be traced directly back to him.

The only paper trail Onwuhara left behind led directly back to close associates. Discreet investigations later unravelled his alleged scams in precise detail.
With the money he generated from his illegal activities, they say Onwuhara started his own hip-hop label, called S.W.A.T. Up Entertainment. He even signed two artists to the label.

It was gathered that Onwuhara owned a recording studio at one point.

Investigators have now spread their dragnet across Dallas, Miami, Atlanta, New Jersey and Canada, looking for the suspect with the security label: W054871136. They gave his height as 5' 10”; his weight is put at 185 pounds and he uses aliases including “T”, “Tobe”, “Xavier” and “Enyinna”.

Onwuhara's poster says he has access to fake driver's licences and passports and millions of dollars in overseas accounts.

Onwuhara's kinsmen in Nigeria spell the name as Onwughara, meaning “Death left this”; and the other name Tobechi means “Keep praising God,” while Enyinna means “Darling of the Father.”[b][/b]

:-x

February 22 2009 at 10:06AM


By Segun Owen

Yenegoa - Gunmen ambushed a busload of football fans travelling to a match in southern Nigeria on Saturday and killed at least six in an apparent revenge attack, police and local officials said .

The supporters were travelling from Yenegoa in Bayelsa state to neighbouring Delta state. Local officials said the execution-style killing appeared to be in retaliation for a nightclub shooting in Yenegoa on Friday.

"The fans coming to Delta were ambushed and shot. Eight were killed and seven were injured and are in hospital," Delta state police spokesperson Charles Muka said.

A senior Bayelsa state government official who visited the scene said he had seen six bodies being taken to the mortuary in the nearby town of Ughelli. Another local official put the death toll among the "Ocean Boys" football supporters at 13.







Bayelsa and Delta are two of the main states in Nigeria's restive Niger Delta, where criminal gangs and militant groups regularly ambush vehicles and carry out kidnappings for ransom.

The government official said the killings appeared to be part of a feud between rival "cults", a word often used in Nigeria to refer to university campus gangs originally sponsored by politicians to commit abuses at election time.

Detailed statistics are not available, but hundreds of people are believed to have been killed in clashes between such gangs since the early 1990s at the more than 100 federal and regional universities and polytechnics in Nigeria.

The lawlessness in a region which is home to Africa's biggest oil and gas industry has forced many foreign companies to remove expatriate staff and scale back their operations. - Reuters

C'ttee moves to tackle fake drug in Onitsha market    
Written by VANGUARD    
Friday, 13 March 2009  

Onitsha—The Caretaker Committee on Onitsha Drugs Market  in Anambra State, has said it has put a machinery in place to tackle fake, adulterated and counterfeit  drugs in the market. The Committee said it was also monitoring the activities of dealers with questionable characters in the market.

The Chairman and the Secretary of  the committee, Mr. Donatus Ugwudike and Chidiebere Nwagu respectively, said this while briefing newsmen in Onitsha.

They said that some measures which they had taken since 2008 had compelled some fake drug sellers to flee the market.

Ugwudike and Nwagu disclosed that many of those  involved in fake drugs were detected, apprehended and handed over to NAFDAC for interrogations and possible sanctions.

The duo said anytime a suspected fake dealer was detected and handed over to NAFDAC, the committee usually sealed off the suspect’s shop.

Such a shop, they said, would not be re-opened until when NAFDAC was through with investigations and direct the committee to either re-open it or seal it off permanently.

They, however, noted that the issue of expired drugs could not be completely stamped out in the country.“Any product which can be consumed before its expiry date must surely expire but our committee usually goes round the market to fish out expired products for destruction,’’ they said.

They said their committee had organised series of lectures and enlightenment campaigns for traders on the need for them to voluntarily hand over all expired goods for destruction.

They congratulated the new NAFDAC Director-General, Dr Paul Orhii, on his appointment and assured him of their co-operation to enable him succeed in his assignment.

They contended that Orhii’s utterances had proved his readiness to work like his predecessor, Prof. Dora Akunyili.



http://www.vanguardngr.com/content/view/30926/45/

Nigeria: Niger Delta Crisis - Shell Shuts in 180,000bpd
18 February 2009

Lagos — The unabated crisis in the oil-rich Niger Delta has continued to take its toll on Shell Petroleum Development and Production Company (SPDC) and Nigeria's oil revenue, as the company has been forced to shut in production of 180,000 barrels per day ("bpd) of oil following renewed attacks on its facilities.

Suspected[b] loyalists of Kitikata, a militant leader linked with the recent killing of soldiers in the Niger Delta region, yesterday invaded the SPDC's Nembe Creek flowstation in Bayelsa State.[/b]
The Nembe invasion, which took place in the early hours of yesterday, occurred barely one month after heavily armed militants stormed the crude oil loading platform in Bonny, Rivers State and shot at several vessels, which were carrying out legitimate businesses in the area. SPDC spokesman, Precious Okolobo, has, however, denied any attack on the company's Nembe facility, saying activities were ongoing.

But Shell's Chief Executive, Jeroen van der Veer, confirmed at a London conference that the lost production was due to the heightened insecurity in the region.

Prior to the attacks on its facilities, owing to the escalation of violence in the region in 2006, Shell was producing about one million barrels of crude oil per day.

The attacks had reduced the company's production to about 400,000 barrels per day.

The recent shut in means a further reduction in the company's production, a development which translates to revenue losses for the country.

Nigeria, the eighth largest crude exporter earns over 90 per cent of its foreign income from crude exports. The country had benchmarked its oil at $45 a barrel in the 2009 Budget and the new price of the crude, which stood below $36 per barrel yesterday is less than $9 above the budget target.

The upsurge in violence in the Niger Delta region has already reduced the country's production to about 2.2 million barrels from 2.5 million barrels per day.

THISDAY had last Friday reported that oil producing companies operating in the region had suspended further redeployment of expatriate staff in the area pending when normalcy would return.

An official of Shell was last week quoted as affirming that the company had commenced preparations to evacuate its staff from the Niger Delta after a militant group issued a warning to quit the region or risk more attacks.

The spokesman had, however, stated that the company had no plans to leave Nigeria but that at the same time was not prepared to gamble with the safety and well-being of its workers and contractors.

A militant group led by Ateke Tom had accused Shell and other oil operators including Agip, the local subsidiary of Italian oil company Eni, and the Nigeria Liquefied National Gas Company of helping the Nigerian military to carry out attacks on the group's camps in Rivers State.

The dreaded Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), which threatened swooping attacks on oil companies in the region has issued a three-day ultimatum to Nigeria Agip Oil Company, (NAOC) and its sister company, Saipem, to vacate their operational bases in the region or face the wrath of the militia group.

The invasion of the multi-billion dollar Nembe Creek flowstation was said to have been repelled by soldiers on guard duties aboard the facility.

It was, however, not clear whether there were casualties during the incident, but THISDAY gathered that the gun battle with the attackers lasted several hours before the men escaped in their boats.

The armed groups were said to have left a letter chronicling a number of demands from the Shell management, prompting security agents to believe that the attackers might be local boys from the Nembe area.

The militants, in the said letter, had accused Shell of "being insensitive to the plight of the people of the area by refusing to implement agreements reached with them in various Memorandum of Understanding signed with the people".

Part of their demands were that their militia group should be recognised by the SPDC management as a major interest group and must be placed on a stipend of N3 million monthly.

The Media Assistant to the Bayelsa State Chairman of the Niger Delta Peace and Conflict Resolution Committee, Alphine Ogoh, however, said yesterday's incident was not an attack but that the militia group had gone to the platform to drop letter for SPDC.

Following the incident, the Joint military Task Force (JTF) has deployed more men to the facility to prevent another attack even as MEND has distanced itself from the operation.

MEND had earlier indicated its intention to resume hostilities along the creeks of the Niger Delta by ordering two Italian oil companies to move out of the region in three days.

Nigeria: Delta Crisis Curbs Shell Oil Output

In an ultimatum sent through an e-mail message, the group warned the two companies to take its fore warning seriously or be ready for the consequences of any attack.

MEND, which some months ago suspended attacks on oil installations in the region, had alleged that the Federal Gover-nment, in collaboration with the Italian Government was planning to wipe out the freedom fighters in the region.

By Chika Amanze-Nwachuku in Lagos, Segun James in Yenagoa and Gboyega Akinsanmi with agency report

Two Russians abducted in Nigeria’s restive Niger Delta in December have been rescued after escaping from their captors, the Nigerian military has said. The Russians “escaped from an unidentified militant camp” and had been wandering in the creeks for five days before a military patrol team rescued them, military spokesman Sagir Musa said yesterday.

Identified by the military as Sergey Zermotalov and Korstantin Aksemon, the pair worked for an aluminium smelting firm in Ikot Abasi town in southern Akwa Ibom state.

Over the last few months, militant attacks mainly concentrated on the Niger Delta’s Rivers and Bayelsa states have gradually spread to other nearby states such as Akwa Ibom, closer :oto the southern border with Cameroon.

For the past three years, armed groups in the oil-rich Niger Delta have staged a wave of attacks and kidnappings against oil industry and government targets in southern Nigeria.

The militants, the most prominent group being the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), have demanded a greater share for impoverished locals in the region’s oil wealth.

Hmm. . . here on Nairaland is my first time of having heard such a claim. *Comfort asserts that it exists, and has presented isolated cases. The mistake made now, is that the isolated case is being used to represent all of Igboland. Anyway, this is my first time ever hearing/reading such a claim.

only igbo people.from cannibals to drug dealers to  bakassi boys, from blood rituals  to osu caste to biafragroups,from selling babies to sex trade from rapists to kidnappings.i have diffrent news mix with all crime.only kidnapping you came off with in rivers state.




Heroin Concealed In Pampers
March 13, 2009 .
By Simon Ateba


Officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have arrested a 37-year-old man, Mr. Okechukwu Anthony Ikechukwu, with 2.9 kilogrammes of heroin concealed in baby pampers and empty Ghana-Must-Go bags.


According to Alhaji Idris Bello, Assistant Commander in charge of operations, NDLEA Airport Command, the mode of concealment is unique, as this is the first time this year, that pampers and baby wears have been used to traffic drug.

Ikechukwu, an indigene of Enugu state, was heading for China when he was picked up by NDLEA operatives at the departure lounge of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja, Lagos, on Wednesday night.

Upon his arrest, Ikechukwu claimed he was innocent and simply given the bag by Emeka Uwaezuoke, 41, an indigene of Imo state. The bag, he explained, was to be delivered to an unidentified man in China.

He said he did not know the content of the bag but was only helping a friend in need. But yesterday, when both men were paraded by the agency, Emeka denied that claim.

Also arrested was Chief Odugwukwe Azubuke, an indigene of Anambra state, who had been arrested by the NDLEA in 2007 and granted bail by a Lagos court. Azubuke had recruited a traveller to bring in the 3 kilogrammes of heroin from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, aboard Ethiopian Airlines.

The NDLEA said “in an attempt to outwit the operators, chief had recruited Hammed Sodeeq, who hails from Kogi state. In order for Sodeeq to get entrance into the arrival hall to pick up the drug brought in by an unknown traveller concealed in a duty-free polythene bag, chief had procured an international passport for Sodeeq, for him to gain access into the hall. Sodeeq then lied that he had returned from a trip a few days before and his bag had failed to arrive.”

Other suspects arrested recently include Afolabi Olushola, 39, picked up on 28 February, with some wraps of cocaine concealed in his stomach. He was heading for Spain aboard a KLM flight.Onum Michael Nkpa was arrested on 6 February, with 1.649 kg of cocaine. He was heading for Holland. Another suspect was arrested at the airport car park with 1.085 kg of heroin stuffed in the hollows of the metal handles and tyre racks

Bello Idris disclosed that the NDLEA Airport Command has so far arrested 25 suspects; 24 males and one female.

Cultists storm Abia varsity, assault DVC   
Written by Uduma Kalu     
Saturday, 14 March 2009 

The Abia State University, which was last January engulfed in a communal riot, leading to death of three young students was this week attacked by suspected cultists.
Reports from the Universiry told Saturday Vanguard that  the cultists stormed a Prima Causa  welcome party of the Faculty of Law held last Friday.According to eye witness reports, the cultists stormed the party, blocking the entrance against the university’s Deputy Vice Chancellor Academics who was to represent the Vice Chancellor. A pregnant final year student named Stephanie was also seen crying having been rough handled by the group.

The cultists were said to have gone ahead to cart away the food, drinks and awards for the visitors. Some of the fresh students expressed their anger in various ways. But the final year students declined to mention names of their classmates who were involved. 

Some of them were seen discussing the event however shied away from answering questions, saying their association president, one Okezie, should tell the world what happened, not they.Visitors to the event also witnessed the show of shame.  The Aba North Chairman was said to have tried to placate the hoodlums whose identity were named by the sources.

Genesis of the problem is suspected to be the fall out of a fellow cultist said to have lost out in an election of the Law association, LAWSAW held last year. http://www.vanguardngr.com/content/view/30962/43/