naijaking1:

Would you like a copy of today's newspaper article on niger delta killings?

no thanks.bakassi boys war in biafraland,  the rituals killing,abia baby factory,etc

*jona abeg read this

http://allafrica.com/stories/200812190067.html

biafra part 2 is comming.What goes around comes around

Source: Guardian Today.

Military offensive in Delta goes on, Senate probes


Coalition seeks UN intervention
From Kelvin Ebiri (Port Harcourt), Hendrix Oliomogbe (Asaba), Azimazi Momoh Jimoh, Lemmy Ughegbe (Abuja), Julius Alabi (Akure) and Iyabo Lawal (Ibadan)
THE military authorities yesterday confirmed that troops deployed in the Niger Delta to fish out gunmen in the region have carried out successful operations in two more communities in Delta State.

Although it was silent on the casualty level, the Joint Task Force (JTF), which coordinates the military expedition, said its men struck in Okerenkoro and Oporoza following information that militants were regrouping in the areas.

Its spokesman, Col. Rabe Abubakar, who gave an update of the five-day offensive in the Delta creeks, said large quantities of arms and ammunition, which include anti-aircraft guns, general purpose machine guns, rocket propelled grenades, locally made guns, machetes and native charms were recovered at militants' camps in

Okerenkoko and Oporoza communities in Delta State.

Abubakar said the ammunition were discovered when the soldiers stormed the communities for a "Search and Rescue Operation" at dawn yesterday.

He said: "The operations at the two communities were executed after a reliable intelligence source fingered them as re-grouping points for militants dislodged from their camps, which are at present being occupied by the JTF."

Abubakar denied the use of jet fighters and helicopter-gunships in the campaign, insisting that it was only infantry soldiers that were involved in the operation.

The operation, he said, was timely considering the calibre of weapons discovered in the militants' camps.

"We ought to be celebrating this operation and the success we have recorded with the destruction and seizure of colossal hardware that were in the hands of these criminals," he said.

Abubakar said the lives of Nigerians in the communities were precious to the JTF and would not for any reason use jets on them. While advising those living in the "satellite communities" to always pass information about militants' activities to the JTF for appropriate action, Abubakar said such "information will be treated with the secrecy it deserves, fear not."

At its session yesterday, the Senate directed its Committee on Defence to begin a comprehensive investigation into the circumstances leading to the military's bombardment of some Delta communities.

The Upper House's action was prompted by a motion sponsored by Senator James Manager (Delta South) when he drew his colleagues' attention to the carnage in the Niger Delta creeks, saying that innocent residents of the region had been killed by the rampaging soldiers.

Ruling on the motion, Senate President David Mark, said there was no need to debate the matter because of its sensitive nature. He therefore asked the Senator Ibrahim Ida-Defence Committee to investigate the matter and report back to the Upper House in two weeks.

At a press conference shortly after the session, Manager said: "The turmoil that has been going on in my state, particularly in my senatorial district, in Warri South-West /Delta State is unfortunate. The struggle on behalf of the Niger Delta people is an age-long one. It did not just start today, it started even before I was born and it is still there. It was meant to attract the attention of government to the plight of the people. The area is difficult, the terrain is difficult, and commissions upon commissions have been set up beginning with the Willink Commission in 1958 and so much has been talked about it but nothing achieved.

"The attack has become indiscriminate, that is the crux of the matter. The people, the old men and women, the children and the reasonable people who are not part of the attack, every body is now affected. That is the crux of my motion. How do we protect these people? They are Nigerians. As we speak, so many people have been displaced.

"Between the 14th and 17th of May, 2009, communities in the oil-rich Gbaramatu Clan in Warri South-West Local Council of Delta State were heavily bombarded by the Nigerian military from air, on land and on water. The communities are the permanent homes of Nigerian old men, old and pregnant women, nursing mothers and children, many of whom have died helplessly," he lamented.

Manager appealed to the Federal Government to withdraw the troops to end the tragedies being recorded in the area.

The Speaker of House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, yesterday described the military operations in the region as a peace-keeping operations geared towards restoring peace to the area.

Bankole, who spoke to reporters at the Presidential Wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, said: "Whenever people are fighting as it is the case in the Niger Delta any attempt to separate the feuding parties could trigger punches on any side as the human catastrophe thus far indicates.

"As far as I am concerned, the situation in the Niger Delta is a peace-keeping option that could restore peace to the region. When two people are fighting and you try to separate them, you may get punches as well."

But the presidential candidate of the National Action Council (NAC) in the 2007 elections, Dr. Olapade Agoro, blamed the elite, particularly for the crisis in the Niger Delta.

Agoro, who is also a factional chairman of the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP), said the quest for power and control of wealth by a few people in the region was responsible for the unrest.

He spoke yesterday in Ibadan, Oyo State, against the backdrop of the renewed onslaught on militants in the region by JTF. Agoro said the only panacea for resolving the crisis lies in the convocation of a national conference to address the problem.

In its reaction to the military invasion, the Niger Delta Civil Society Coalition (NDCSC) appealed to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and the organ responsible for indigenous and minority rights, to send a team to Nigeria to investigate the level of human rights abuses in the area.

NDCSC Chairman and head of the Niger Delta Technical Sub-committee on Disarmament, Demobilisation and Rehabilitation, Anyakwee Nsirimovu, urged the UN to investigate cases of extra-judicial executions, inhuman treatment, torture, rape, cultural, social and economic rights in the Niger Delta before the evidence disappears without trace.

Nsirimovu accused President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua of lack of political will in dealing with the Niger Delta crisis. According to him, the President had an invaluable opportunity to implement at least the recommendations of his technical committee on the Niger Delta, beginning with militancy and conflict measures, which would have made the "latest maiming, slaughtering and displacing of unsuspecting citizens in the region unnecessary."

The Joint Revolutionary Council (JRC) made up of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), the Martyrs Brigade and the Reformed Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force, has vowed to avenge the bombing of the palace of the Agadagba of Gbaramatu and the destruction of Ijaw communities by the military soon.

JRC spokesperson, Cynthia Whyte, said in the next few days, the militants would know how prepared and combat ready the Nigerian armed forces are because "we will carry out revenge attacks.

"Let us also warn that any bandit soldier of the Nigerian state who breaches the rules of engagement in this campaign will be summarily executed. Any attack on unarmed and innocent village-folks will be revenged. Any attack on community people will result in an equal attack on families of soldiers in any barracks we choose to attack. It will be an eye for an eye henceforth."

He alleged that the attacks on Gbaramatu Kingdom represent the height of an attempt by a cabal to fully sink their teeth in oil production operations in the Niger Delta. "This cabal, comprising largely of serving and retired army generals would no longer be given free passage through the creeks of the Niger Delta anymore."

The Ijaw Consultative Forum (ICF) has also appealed to Yar'Adua to thread softly on the face-off between the JTF and militants so as not to create the impression that the Federal Government was fighting the Ijaw nation.

In a statement yesterday in Akure, Ondo State, the group's coordinator, Suffy Eleitu Uguoji, urged the government to exercise restraint and ensure a ceasefire.

Similarly, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) yesterday called for a speedy resolution of the crisis because it was causing the people untold hardship.

It also urged the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to facilitate the provision of relief materials to the innocent citizens caught in the crossfire between JTF and militants in the region.

NHRC Executive Secretary, Mr. Rowland Ewubare spoke yesterday in Abuja when he received four new vehicles donated to the commission by Chief Anthony Idigbe (SAN) and his wife, Elizabeth, on behalf of the Punuka Foundation.

"We are concerned about the development in the Niger Delta region and we are seeking a quick end to the crisis in the region and particularly in Delta State right now. We are hopeful everything will calm down soon," he said.

;d ;d

asha

we ur brain de self, u let the old rag disrespect our people like that

when through the last 6 yrs y^^^^^ has taken over 419, FBI still on the look-out

osun ritual killing still goin on

@Jona
Instead of going around begging for help from all sources, demented Ijaw boys like you are busy throwing wrench into the wheel of peace in your area. Now Ijaw people want help from UN, do you know what UN stands for

[b]Ijaw leaders seek help from UN[/b]From FEMI FOLARANMI, Yenagoa
Thursday, May 21, 2009


More Stories on This Section
As the attack against militants in the Niger Delta region by the Joint Military Task Force (JTF) enters its seventh day, Niger Delta leaders have launched a blistering attack on President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua describing him as the enemy of the people.

Ijaw leaders and elders who were prevented on Monday from holding a meeting at the Bayelsa State Government House on Tuesday had deliberated on the current situation in the region.

In a communiqué endorsed by Ijaw national leader, Chief Edwin Clark and President Ijaw National Congress (INC), Dr. A. W. Obianime, they appealed to the United Nations “to set up a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the circumstances surrounding the latest assault of hapless and innocent people,” adding that “we do not foresee the possibility of justice from a Nigerian government commissioned inquiry.”

It demanded that those found responsible by inquiry should be tried at the International Court of Justice for acts of genocide. In its own reaction, the Ethnic Nationalities of the Niger Delta said the attack has made rubbish of the proposed amnesty of President Yar’Adua to the militants.

The President of the MEND, Prof. Kimse Okoko in a statement said the recent invasion has confirmed the fears nursed by people of the region when the idea of the amnesty was mooted.

The statement reads in part: “We had hope while commending the president's gesture at that time, that the amnesty was not a manipulative ploy by our erstwhile opportunistic political jobbers in collaboration with the hawks of the feudal oligarchy, who now have a strangulating hold on Mr. President while perfecting their morbid plans to decimate our communities. To be sure the on-going invasion of our communities ala Odi has confirmed our worst fears.”

MEND punctured JTF claims that it was on a search and rescue mission, stating that Camp 5 is neither in Oporoza nor other communities decimated, adding that “we, therefore, hold the Federal Government and the JTF responsible for the wanton massacre of scores of people in those communities, as well as destruction of properties.”

Also Niger Delta Women and concerned Ijaws in the United States have condemned the action of the JTF. The women's position is contained in a statement signed by Annkio Briggs of Agape Birthrights, Emem J. Okon, Kebetkache Women Development & Resource Centre Hilda Dokubo, Centre for Creative Education (CCAE), Ifie Lott, Women Light Foundation, Ibiba Don Pedro, Centre for Development Communication, Lilian George, Niger Delta for Justice and Constance Meju Amazonna Women Leadership Initiative National Network for Women in Niger Delta. Security and Peace Building, stated that the killing of innocent women and children was happening despite repeated declaration by the Yar’Adua government of its good intentions to address the neglect of the Niger Delta people.

The Concerned Ijaws in the United States in a statement signed by Elias Courson and Joel Bisina urged the international community to, for the sake of humanity, prevail on the military to allow passage of food and medical facilities to displaced women and children now taking refuge in the bush and creeks of Gbaramatu kingdom.

But the JTF unperturbed by the reaction of the elders and leaders of the region has appealed to the people to push out militants in their midst for their own safety. In a statement entitled: Bring them out from your midst, Stay Safe, coordinator of the Joint Media Campaign Centre (JMCC) Col. Rabe Abubakar, said the people should give the militants away to avoid inconveniences.

“You know these people and they live with you. To avoid the innocent being inconvenienced, we call on all of you to aid in the extradition of these miscreants for your safety and interest,” he said.

i hope the northerners strike against the igbos in the north,about thousands of them  died. the igbos can  rejoice while it last,where is those Muslims when you need them.

*jona:

i hope the northerners strike against the igbos in the north,about thousands of them  died. the igbos can  rejoice while it last,where is those Muslims when you need them.

this happen Evey year.its coming soon.watch.lol

*jona:

i hope the northerners strike against the igbos in the north,about thousands of them  died. the igbos can  rejoice while it last,where is those Muslims when you need them.

While you sit and hope for the impossible, please read the link posted by asha80 above. It explains the root cause of Ijaw/Igbo problems: laziness vs industry: shortsighted vs long term planning: deciet vs honesty.
Finally, sense of entitlement vs sense of duty.

naijaking1:

[s]While you sit and hope for the impossible, please read the link posted by asha80 above. It explains the root cause of Ijaw/Igbo problems: laziness vs industry: shortsighted vs long term planning: deciet vs honesty.
Finally, sense of entitlement vs sense of duty.

[/s]blahhhhhhhhhhhh.with all your hard work,drugs, dubious business ,419,rituals killing,blood money, what a bunch of crooks.get a Bleep of here.honesty and igbo don,t rhythm.

shake my head and leave

@jona, I hope you know you are strangers in your own land?There is no devt in the niger delta cos you all are lazy.Portharcourt is developed today cos of the ibo man.Fact!If naija was to break up and they say hausa go,yoruba go,ND go,una no go fit survive even wit una oil.Face it, You all are a bunch of underdogs.You need to see the faces of your displaced bros and sis in todays dailies to understand what i mean.Biafra lasted three years.You guys wont last a minute

ahaahhh

phantom:

@[s]jona, I hope you know you are strangers in your own land?There is no devt in the niger delta cos you all are lazy.Portharcourt is developed today cos of the ibo man.Fact!If naija was to break up and they say hausa go,yoruba go,ND go,una no go fit survive even wit una oil.Face it, You all are a bunch of underdogs.You need to see the faces of your displaced bros and sis in todays dailies to understand what i mean.Biafra lasted three years.You guys wont last a minute

[/s]
with the helped of the British.huh the east still look like slum.?

@Jona
So, did you read the asha80 article? You see, there're lazy people every where, but in Ijawland, it seems to have been made a national policy.

@jona, lol, See this clown, ND IS ONE BIG SLUM.Where dey developed for nigerdelta, Dont mention ph,cos no be una get am.You are here tellin me shit bout 419 and prosties, No be bini boys do 19 pass plus jazz ontop, Una girls full italy dey chop dog, Please!

enugu no bi slum

anambra infact my villa better pass most place for naija delta

abi na canoe u want, nawoo

my uncle at oil company always complain on the laziness of delta people; the oil company offer them automatic employment, but guess what they havnt got the skills cuz the very lazy, they rather drink and eat fish till damn

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=270383.msg3858997#msg3858997
human eaters.

slump delta!!millioniare

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=270383.msg3858997#msg3858997
human eaters.
Baby sales racket
• More ‘baby factories’ uncovered
By HENRY UMAHI (umahi@sunnewsonline.com)
Saturday, May 9, 2009


Photo: Sun News Publishing  
More Stories on This Section
The last may not have been heard about the baby racket thriving in the country. Not long ago, the activities of a woman, who camps pregnant teenage girls and cater for them till they deliver their babies, were exposed. It was believed that the woman trades in babies, in the name of giving them out for adoption.

However, it has been discovered that there are actually more “factories” of the babies in the country than earlier imagined. It is indeed, a racket. Curiously, the mafia, which runs the business, is believed to buy into government as well as law enforcement agencies and, therefore, remain untouched.

Saturday Sun observed that the business is shrouded in deceit. The owners and operators claim to camp teenage pregnant girls and taking care of them for charity. However, they have failed to say what becomes of the babies after delivery or how their bodies are disposed, in case of death.

Investigation of the hospitals has, however, revealed that there is more to the activities of the operators of the teenage girls homes than meets the eye.

A known factory
Inside the Mercy Maternity Clinic/Nma Charity Home and Child Care Centre, Umunkpeyi Nvosi, Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area of Abia State, which was in the news recently when the police arrested its operator, girls in their teens and early 20s mill around when Saturday Sun visited. The girls form small groups, discussing only God-knows-what. Some sit by themselves appearing to be in sober mood or wearing pensive looks. Although they come from different places, looking different, in terms of built, they are brought together by common destiny or fate. The agony-ridden faces are reflective of the circumstances of their camping.

All the girls have eaten the forbidden fruit at the wrong time and it is not difficult to tell. Their grotesque figures tell the story. They are all at various stages of pregnancy. These young pregnant girls, about 50 of them, are crammed into the few available rooms in the home, owned by Mrs. Lillian Achomba, a nurse.
When Saturday Sun visited the ‘baby factory’ three weeks ago, the home had bounced back to life after the raid some weeks earlier by the X-Squad Unit of the Nigeria Police on allegation that Achomba was trafficking in pregnant teenage girls. The raid did not finally stop the wheels of the factory turning, as it were.
The Commissioner of Police in-charge of the X-Squad Unit had said that Achomba also operates a private mortuary and cemetery for preservation and burial of any of the girls and/or their babies who died at the home. He said that police operatives dug up one of the graves and discovered a fresh body of an infant with its mother during the raid.

“When any of them delivers, the baby is sold for N150,000 and the children whose HIV status is negative are offered at prices from N200,000 and above depending on the sex of the child. This woman is so rich that she bought over all the security agencies in the state and also highly connected in the state,” the police chief said.

They lied against me
The light-complexioned woman running the home, however, told Saturday Sun that she was framed up as a result of a problem in her community. Claiming that the pregnant girls were in the home at their volition, she volunteered that a new girl was brought to her shortly before the reporter arrived.
Incidentally, the woman’s mien changed completely when the reporter began to probe into the activities of the centre. It was like touching a tiger by the tail, as she became hostile threatening fire and brimstone. Here was a woman, dressed in the robe of civility when the writer arrived, claiming she had no skeleton in her cupboard but only interested in helping underage ladies, who could not restrain themselves from sexual liaisons and thus became pregnant too early. But when the reporter switched on his tape recorder for a formal interview she became visibly uncomfortable. Her face reddened when she was asked the whereabouts of the children born in the home.

Having waited for an answer for what seemed like eternity without one, except blazing eyes, the writer fired again: “How do you recoup the expenses incurred in taking care of the pregnant girls until they put to bed?”
At that point, Achomba had become so agitated that she insisted on inviting in her younger brother, Ukandu Achomba. The siblings then consulted and decided that they must get clearance from their lawyer before responding to the questions. Strangely, the lawyer ordered the duo to maintain sealed lips. All efforts by Saturday Sun to make him lift the gag order was rebuffed.

Saturday Sun had a bad experience in the hands of some youths believed to be working for the centre. On Monday, April 20, a group of four men, reeking of alcohol and marijuana ambushed the reporter and snatched his digital camera that had photos of the camp as well as some of the teenage pregnant girls loitering around the area. He was issued a stern warning not to be sighted in the vicinity again.
In the same vein, Achomba prevented the pregnant girls from speaking with Saturday Sun, as she ordered them into their rooms.

State of the home
One of the characteristics of the home is the prevalence of rats, lizards and cockroaches. Native fowls were seen doing the marathon with the cockroaches all over the place, as rats dashed across in all directions.
According to an inside source, deaths occur in the home regularly. This is attributable to lack of qualified personnel and inadequate facilities.

“The shambolic state of the healthcare facilities in the centre is a problem. In fact, the place operates like a traditional maternity home. The equipment, where they exist, are neither adequate nor safe. There are no qualified doctors or nurses. You can imagine what happens in an emergency, that is if any of the girls develops complications during childbirth,” the source said.

An evangelist (names withheld) told Saturday Sun that there is no doubt the operators of the home are well connected. Otherwise, he argues, the place would not remain in existence till date, considering the hair raising stories emanating therefrom.

Pregnant in, no baby out
According to him, “you do not see any of the girls leaving with a new baby. While pregnant, sometimes you see some of them in the market or in the front of the building relaxing, but when they are leaving, after putting to bed, you don’t see the baby. Something is wrong there. There must be something fishy going on.”
Another pastor from the area corroborated this position. He disclosed that sometime ago, one of his distant relations became pregnant and disappeared and when she came back several months later, there was no child with her. It was suspected that she took up residence in the camp for the period of her pregnancy. Since they lack the wherewithal to follow up the matter and also avoid scandal that could jeopardize the girl’s future, they chose to let the sleeping dog lie. He added that the lady is now married.

When Saturday Sun traced the lady to her matrimonial home in Aba and wanted to hear from the horse’s mouth as it were, she dissolved in tears.
“I don’t want to say anything. I have nothing to say. Please, don’t drive me away from my husband’s house,” she pleaded, sobbing softly.

An old deal
A taxi driver, who identified himself as Isiala, alleged that the baby trade has been going on for quite some time. He claimed that not too long ago, a woman from Anambra State chartered his 504 Peugeot cab and he took her to one of the popular camps. According to the Umunkpeyi indigene, about 30 minutes later, the woman emerged with a child of about four months. He observed that with the swiftness with which she came out, it appeared the deal had been signed and sealed before that day. He added that the woman was so relaxed in the manner of someone playing a familiar game.

Another source told Saturday Sun that some youths watch the back of the operators of the clinic even as the state police allegedly offer security protection. Hence, each time police from Abuja raid the place, it bounces back shortly afterwards.

And going by the experience of Saturday Sun with the police in Abia State, it appears that the complicity theory may be credible. For instance, all efforts to make the state Police Public Relations Officer, Ali Okechukwu, to speak on the matter, was futile. Whenever his telephone number was called to discuss the matter, he would claim to be either driving or attending one meeting or the other. Even when a text message was sent to him, he chose not to respond.

This seems to support the position of the commissioner in-charge of the X-Squad, CP Okorie, who reportedly said that the woman has “bought over all the security agencies in the state.” He added that investigations revealed that the clinic is not registered. Yet it continued to operate, even after the police from Abuja ordered its closure.

When contacted, Mr. Sam Hart, Chief Press Secretary to Abia State governor, Chief Theodore A. Orji, said he was not aware of the existence of the camp. He, however, admitted that he is “aware that such places exist in some remote parts of the state.”

Other factories
It appears that illegal baby trade is really booming in Abia or so it seems. For instance, Saturday Sun investigation revealed the existence of another centre in Aba, where babies are freely sold.
The centre is located in an uncompleted two-storey building off Nicholas Street, by Brass junction, off Aba-Owerri Road. It is tucked away in between high walls and a massive black gate. The hospital has no signpost, but home to teenage pregnant girls whose babies are suspected to be sold when they are delivered.

The pregnant girls, whose number could not be confirmed, are quartered in dingy rooms. All day, the ladies remain inside their rooms, only peeping through the windows to see the world outside. But when night falls, they perch like vultures on the decking of the unroofed building savouring the fresh air they had missed all day.
Saturday Sun learnt that the hospital is well-patronized by those who need babies. In fact, in many instances, the source said, buyers queue, waiting for the girls to put to bed in order to snap up the babies. The source said the location of the hospital is an added advantage, as a buyer would simply melt into the crowd after leaving the premises.

According to an inside source, an average of eight girls share a small room. The number, the source explained, could actually be higher, depending on the number of inmates at a given time.

On the modus operandi, the source volunteered: “When the girls come, the hospital begins to take care of them until they are delivered of their babies. They prepare their food themselves, in turns and eat from the same pot. They hardly go out once they are admitted into the hospital. Beans is a regular feature on the menu because of the nutritional content.”

[b]Community sex/baby making
The source further said: “Sometimes, some boys are brought in to make love to some of the girls who are in heat, so to say. Those who introduce the girls go home with between N5,000 and N7, 000 depending on the stage of the pregnancy at the time of arrival. If a girl is less than four months pregnant, the person who introduced her to the hospital gets N5,000 but if the pregnancy is five months and above, the person is rewarded with N7,000. And when a girl delivers safely, she is paid off with between N40,000 and N50,000 depending on how much time spent there.
Saturday Sun tried to see the doctor in charge on two occasions, but he was said to be unavailable. The undercover reporter was, however, requested to leave his contact address and telephone numbers. But two weeks afterwards, the hospital is yet to make any contact.

Sex-defined price tag
The price of a bay is determined and dependent on the sex. While a female child could sell for between N300,000 and N350,000, a male child fetches between N350,000 and N400,000. So, while the ‘social mothers,’ as they are known, are made to believe that their babies will be put up for adoption by willing foster parents, with the prospect of a guaranteed future, the fact remains that they are mere money spinners for the doctors. However, to create a semblance of a legitimate transaction, the baby merchants brandish phony documents.

The source hinted that the rate of deaths in the hospital is high, attributing it to poor and inadequate medical attention. Because of the pricing formula, based on the sex of the babies, a lady who operates a scan, revealed that girls whose tests show they are carrying boys, get better medical attention because the product/commodity she bears attracts more money. He did not say how the corpses of dead babies are discarded.

A former staffer of the hospital, who identified himself as Morris, alleged that workers were usually meant to take compulsory oath of secrecy by swearing to a juju not to divulge any information about the place to anyone no matter the circumstances.

Orthodox factory
A certain private hospital on Okigwe Road, Aba, was recently fingered as a baby factory.
When Saturday Sun visited the hospital, very prominent, at an end of the street where rugs and carpets are sold, it was locked. However, peeping through the broken glass door, it was discovered that the ceiling fan, in the front office, was on.

Mr. Ndubuisi Ekeh, who sells electrical gadgets beside the hospital, described it as a market. According to him, at the place, babies are sold, like beans cake, adding that NAPTIP raided the place some time ago[/b].

Baby factory under watch
Speaking with Saturday Sun, Mrs. Ijeoma Okoronkwo, zonal head, National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Human Persons and Other Related Matters (NAPTIP, Enugu zone, said the organization is working on the hospital’s case and other teenage camp centres in Aba.
The NAPTIP chief explained that the medical director of the hospital is trying to stop the agency’s investigation and prosecution. “We know he sells babies in the name of adoption,” she said, adding: “There are reports of so many other areas where babies are sold in the area. We are investigating them. It is assuming an alarming proportion around the South East and NAPTIP is not taking it lightly.”
She argued that the illegal baby trade is booming because of the high profit in the business and low risk, volunteering that the agency was determined to nip it in the bud.

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2009/may/09/national-09-05-2009-01.htm

Owerri: 9 bodies recovered from Nworie River

EMMA OGU, Owerri


Nine decomposing bodies have been recovered from the Nworie River in Owerri, Imo State, by tractors engaged in clearing the river preparatory to its dredging; a project being executed by Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and Governor Ikedi Ohakim’s administration.

The unidentified bodies said to be undergoing autospy are suspected to be victims of ritual killing.

Special adviser to the governor on Sanitation and Transport, Chief Willy Amadi, who disclosed this in an interactive session with journalists, said the bodies were not completely decomposed, even as he expressed the likelihood of more bodies being discovered.

Amadi who doubles as vice-chairman of Environmental Transformation Committee, ENTRACO, sad the company to carry out the dredging exercise will arrive in the state soon to begin the project awarded at the cost of N7billion.

He said: "What is going on now is not dredging. They are just clearing the weeds in the river. Who knows who the nine bodies are? If nine bodies can be discovered at this stage you can imagine what will be discovered when they dig deeper. People are being regularly declared missing. Who knows what has been going on for long in the River? "

He said the dredging exercise was purely a Federal Government project through the NDDC and the only counterpart contribution of the state government was payment of compensation to land owners and provision of security.

On the master plan and economic value of the project, he said three amusement parks will be built on the banks of the river alongside four modern bridges and houses. The dredging project, he said, will provide for water transport in all the local government areas the river crossed, saying it will have much economic impact on the state when the project is completed. Amadi said Ohakim deserved commendation and encouragement for attracting the project to the state.

The dredging project has attracted criticism in some quarters since it was announced. Some critics see it as a white elephant project while some question its economic value.


http://www.champion-newspapers.com/news/article_2.htm

WE SHLD REMEMBER THE FAMOUS OTOKOTO IN IMO STATE & OKIJA SHRINE IN ANAMBRA STATE.

Four arrested with human skulls  punch
By Yemi Dalemo, Ijebu-Ode
Published: Tuesday, 12 May 2009
Four suspected ritualists who specialise in cutting and selling human skulls were on Friday night arrested by security operatives of the Muslim community in Ijebu Igbo, Ijebu North Local Government Area of Ogun State.

Two of them, Shina Sulaiman (25) and Yomi Aregbe (20) were arrested at Oke Agbo Muslim Cemetery at about 8pm.

According to a community leader in Ijebu Igbo, Alhaji Daodu Sulaiman, and Alhaji Shittu Muritala, the skulls of over 73 per cent of the corpses buried at the cemetery have been lost to the suspects.

Sulaiman said the act which had been going on for over 10 years, became a source of concern to the people as the act was also extended to the Christian cemetry beside theirs at Oke Agbo and this forced the Muslims to engage a security man to guard the place.

He said even with this, the suspects still found their way in and engaged in the illict trade until two youths, Alfa Shittu Muritala and a colleague volunteered to assist the guard in nabbing the perpetrators.

Muritala told our correspondent that on Friday night, they met the two young men at the cemetry and allowed them to finish their job before challenging them.

He noted that two skulls were found on them at the graveside of a deceased.

One fresh head of a woman buried on Thursday and another dry head.

They were later handed over to the police in Ijebu Igbo.

The suspects named two herbalists who they claimed usually bought the heads from them at the rate of between N2500 and N3000.

The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Muyiwa Adejobi, and the Ijebu Area Commander, Mr. Oyedokun Omolodun, confirmed the incident to our correspondent on Tuesday.

Adejobi said the suspects would be transferred to the state command from where they would be charged to court after an investigation.

The Bakassi Boys are a group of youth known for their anti-crime vigilantism, and are usually armed with machetes, guns, and charms. They operate in the Igbo area of Nigeria, and are sometimes accused of illegal activities and human rights abuses, yet enjoy popular support in the areas where they operate.


By Dan Isaacs
BBC correspondent in Onitsha, south-eastern Nigeria  



Human rights campaigners have called on the Nigerian Government to disband state-sponsored vigilantes operating in eastern Nigeria.

In a report published on Monday, the US-based Human Rights Watch says that the vigilantes, known as the Bakassi Boys, have carried out scores of extra-judicial killings as well as hundreds of cases of torture and arbitrary detention.



It is good because they catch the criminals, then kill them and burn them

Local trader  
The report also warns that these groups are being used as a tool for politically-motivated violence in the run up to national elections.

Although the Bakassi Boys operate in three states across south-eastern Nigeria, it is their activities in Anambra State that has caused most concern.

There, they have been adopted by the state government as a crime fighting force - funded and officially sanctioned under a law passed by the state parliament two years ago.

They work independently from the police force in the state, and do not as a rule hand suspects over to them, a fact confirmed by the Abdul Bello, the Anambra state police commissioner.

"To the extent that they do not submit themselves to the control of Nigerian police force, they are not working with us," said Mr Bello.

And as for what they do with those they apprehend, Mr Bello said: "You had better ask them, because I don't know what they do. And that is where we part ways."

But there is no doubt that the activities of the Bakassi Boys, despite their methods, are popular among many of the traders in the sprawling town of Onitsha, home to one of the largest markets in West Africa, with an appalling reputation for armed crime.

 

In a world where the police had effectively abandoned law enforcement, the arrival of the vigilantes was very welcome.

"All that the police do is take bribes," one market woman tells me.

"When you tell them a crime has happened, they just run away."

These traders are people living day to day with theft and violent crime.

"Before the Bakassi Boys came, there were many problems with thieves and armed robbers. Now it is much better," says one shopkeeper.

But few have any doubts about the vigilante's tactics, and another man tells me: "It is good because they catch the criminals, then kill them and burn them".

Climate of fear

At the entrance to the headquarters of Bakassi Boys in Onitsha, two cars bear the vigilante logo on their bonnets: a skull and cross bones crudely painted in red.

By the door a young man in dark glasses sits on a bench studying his reflection in a highly polished machete.


The Bakassi Boys have a fearful reputation


Gun cartridge cases litter the ground.

Up a narrow staircase and into a darkened office, the local Bakassi commander, simply known as Okpompi tells me how his men work closely with the local police, how they hand over all criminals they catch, and how they possess no weapons.

Once these formalities have been dealt with, we discuss the guns I can see hidden behind the sofa, the man I saw tied up and being beaten when I had arrived unannounced the previous day and, most revealingly, the methods they use to extract confessions from the suspects they catch.



'Supernatural powers'

The Bakassi Boys have a reputation for possessing powerful magic powers.

The objects I see around the room all bear witness to the use of fetishes and juju in their daily work.


Bakassi Boys say they work within the law


There are also crucifixes on the walls.

"Our powers come from God", Okpompi tells me.

"We are all Christians working with the power of the Almighty."

Hanging from the door is a carving of a shrunken human head, on the desk are a range of small wooden coffins containing devices to determine the guilt or innocence of suspects - but they are sacred and must not be opened in my presence.

"We don't kill anybody. If anybody tells you the Bakassi Boys kills anybody, it's not true," says Okpompi, "but we do make people confess to their crimes."

The most infamous of their techniques involves a machete, imbued with powerful magic charms.

It is held against the bare chest of a suspect.

If it turns red, the person is guilty.

But only the Bakassi Boys can see the change of colour, and it is for them alone to decide guilt or innocence.

Claims of torture

Their claims that those found guilty are then handed over to the police are not only denied by the police themselves, but also challenged by those who have witnessed the Bakassi Boys activities first hand.



People are afraid to talk, they fear for reprisals

Chief Chike Udenze, businessman  
Human Rights Watch researchers have documented testimonies to scores of killings as well as hundreds of accounts of torture and detention.

"They usually use their knives to kill people", businessman, Chief Chike Udenze tells me.

"They then use tyres over their necks, fill them with fuel and shoot into the tyres to set them alight. That is their usual method".

Chief Udenze is not a neutral observer to the activities of the vigilantes.

He is a prominent local politician who accuses the ruling establishment in Anambra state of using the Bakassi Boys to silence opponents such as himself.

"People are afraid to talk, they fear for reprisals," he says.

"But the use of the Bakassi Boys against political opponents could seriously jeopardise the conduct of the upcoming elections."

Crackdown on crime

Not surprisingly this is a view strongly rejected by the government of Anambra state, particularly as the Bakassi Boys are authorised and financed by them.


The authorities turn a blind eye to the Bakassi Boys' excesses


The staunchest supporter of their activities is the governor himself, Chinwoke Mbadinuju who tells me that crime in the state had reached such an appalling level that something had to be done.

"These vigilante boys are there to ensure that the armed robbers that menaced us for all these years were stopped. This had been achieved".

As for the reports of extra-judicial punishments carried out by the Bakassi Boys, the governors answer is measured.

"Definitely it's an exaggeration. There are occupational hazards but these things are an exception to the rule."
[b][/b]

Some Igbo women need to stop being glorified prostitutes.Those of us who have northern Nigerian links (Emeka is also a Nigerlite) know what goes on between some Igbo women and oga Alhaji or rich Nigerian men. Some Igbo women are so cheap these days that my former illiterate northern driver once told me that he could sleep with any Igbo woman for ten naira (1 cent). .http://nigeriaworld.com/articles/2007/jul/021.html

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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]

FBI MOST WANTED IS AN IGBOMAN.
http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/fugitives/cyber/onwuhara_te.htm