PASTOR IN AGONY: Detained for weeks over allegation of sponsoring MASSOB after being kidnapped by unknown
gunmen
Wednesday, July 11, 2007

The biblical injuction that many are the afflictions of the righteous, but that the Lord God delivers him from them all could be said to have manifested for an Nnewi motorcycle businessman, Pastor Pius Okwuchukwu Ogbuawa.


He was thrown into police cell and detained for more than one month on the allegation that he was sponsoring the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), to kidnap people in Anambra State between last January and April.

Incidentally, the cleric said he is innocent.

Also, MASSOB has disowned him. Indeed, MASSOB headquarters said that the allegation against Ogbuawa, who is the chairman and Managing Director of P. O. Ogbuawa and Sons Nigeria Limited, Nnewi, was not only false, but also a calculated attempt by saboteurs of its struggle to liberate Igbo to dent the image of MASSOB and the businessman’s.

Genesis of the problem

According to Ogbuawa, who is who the pastor of the Church of Jesus Christ, Nnewi, the relative success he made in his new motorcycle spare parts and sale of complete units of new motorcycles earned him an object of hatred and envy.

He said, “there were several attempts to pirate and imitate our goods, but we resisted it vehemently with law suits for infringement of registered designs and colours at the Federal High Court, Enugu. We got judgment and our competitors bowed to our superior claims and consented to the judgment.

“But you see, in their determination to frustrate us out of business and liquidate us, they hatched another evil plan to cause me to be charged to court for treason, murder and armed robbery and you know all these are capital offences that would have remanded me indefinitely in prison custody and out of circulation and business.

“An opportunity came for them when, sometime in April, three workers of one of them were kidnapped by the same gang that earlier kidnapped me in January and when one of them was released, he told his maSter that he saw two of my company’s motorcycles, that is, my brand, in the hideout of the kidnappers. I was accused of supporting dissidents opposed to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, armed robbery, supporting bandits that rob with arms and murder.”

Arrests and detentions

This, according to the auto spare parts dealer, caused his arrested on April 11, 2007 by men of the Area Command Nnewi.

“When the men came, they told me that they had the instructions of the Area Commander to arrest me and bring me to him and that I would be sorry for myself if I resisted because they would shoot my two legs and cripple me. I, however, followed them voluntarily and on getting there, the commander seized my two handsets and questioned me over telephone calls I received, using my down-loaded call records from MTN. He was interested in two numbers which however, were numbers of my daughters.

“On my own, I innocently showed the Area Commander the numbers of the kidnappers for they had called me earlier in the month demanding more ransom from me. But my detractors went to town spreading false rumours that I compiled names of prominent people and gave to the kidnappers, including Igwe Orizu of Nnewi and from that April 11, I was detained at the dreaded SARS cell, Awkuzu for 21 days, in spite of the orders my lawyer got from the court for my release or arraignment. I was transferred to Zone 9 Umuahia, where I was detained for another 14 days until May 16, 2007 when the AIG Zone 9, interviewed me and directed that I be released on bail to report on May 21, 2007.

“But before the May 21 date, I was arrested again on the following May 17, 2007 by a team of policemen from Force CID Abuja, on this same matter.

I was detained till June 12, 2007 when the DIG investigated me and others directed me to go home as he saw no merit in the allegations against me. He also gave me back my handsets seized by Nnewi Area Commander since April 11, 2007.

“It is important to tell you that before the intervention of Zone 9, the Anambra State CID Awka had prepared charges of murder, treason and armed robbery against me. So I thank God and the AIG Zone 9 who saved me from that.

Motorcycles at the kidnappers hide-out.

You will recall that on Sunday, January 28, I was in the church when a group of heavily armed robbers and kidnappers overpowered me and took me away to an unknown hideout after inflicting deep cuts on my head. I almost died but for God. I was released after three days, when my family members rallied round, raised and paid the N20 million ransom demanded for five motor cycles and generating sets which they said they would come to collect whenever they had the need, I agreed so as to save my life first.

“So in April, they phoned me and that day, I was not even in Nnewi, they demanded two of the agreed motorcycles. I phoned my manager to keep two motorcycles for the faceless kidnappers who had threatened to eliminate me and wipe my family if they were exposed and they later collected the motorcycles. That’s all I know about that.

MASSOB reaction

The MASSOB Deputy Director of Information, Mac David, berated those alleging that it was MASSOB that kidnapped people in the state, maintaining that the group was non-violent and had no deal whatsoever with Ogbuawa on any issue.

Mac David said: “I want to start by saying that these people or companies should stop forthwith pointing fingers on MASSOB member on any criminal activities that goes on within the state or neighbouring states. It is well known that MASSOB is a non-violent organization whose activities are focused on agitation of the independent state of Biafra. We have never been involved in any act of violence, be it kidnap, robbery a widely been alleged.

“Ogbuawa was once kidnapped by men who claimed to be Biafran soldiers and not MASSOB. The case of the two white men working with Innoson Group and his manager will not be far-fetched with the same people that kidnapped Ogbuawa. The issue of kidnap in Nigeria has always been said to be carried out by the Niger Delta militant groups, whose its hideout is alleged to be at Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, the same place both Ogbuawa and the white men were taken to.

“MASSOB vehemently disassociate itself from the allegation of being sponsored by Ogbuawa for anything, talk-less of kidnap. To the best of my knowledge and record of MASSOB, we have never had any discussion or deal with the Nnewi motorcycle businessman for anything whatsoever.

“Those who knew us know that MASSOB does not indulge in such evil things. And come to think of it, how can you say that a group fighting for independence of their people would indulge in kidnapping, abducting and maiming the same people they are fighting for? This is a clear handiwork of those sabotaging our struggle.

“While we wait for the outcome of our case at the Court of Appeal, Abuja we hope that the Nigeria government will not continue holding out leader, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike and 10 others with him, including our Director of Information, Comrade Uche Madu, having release the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force leader, Asari Dokubo.”.

Suspected ritualists kidnap 3 girls in Delta
By Emma Amaize
Posted to the Web: Thursday, July 12, 2007



WARRI— SUSPECTED ritualists, two men and a woman, have kidnapped a Junior Secondary School (JSS) One student at Ozoro in Isoko Local Government Area of Delta State, Miss Faith Igbide and two other girls.

Vanguard learnt that Faith was seized near the school, few days ago, but Faith, a native of Oleh, who is now receiving treatment at the Oleh Central Hospital managed to escape alive from the kidnappers. The identities of the other two girls were still unknown as at yesterday.

Reports said that Faith took permission from the Principal of her school at about 12.00 pm on 7 July to go outside the school’s premises to have lunch and buy sachet water.

On her way to the restaurant, she observed that two other girls were tied in a car, parked by the roadside, and she decised to go nearer and find out why they were tied in that manner and also alert her school authorities.

The two victims who had native chalks tied on their forehead by the ritualists told her that they were kidnapped by some men from a place they could not easily remember.

As she was telling the girls the name of the place from their description of the location, two of the suspected ritualists emerged from their hideout, overpowered and dragged her into the car.

Because she was hypnotized she waved off one of her classmates, when she was sent to buy native chalk, who saw her returning to the car after buying the native chalk. She practically pushed her away and made for the waiting car, as she was spirit-possessed.

Like the other two girls, the ritualists tied the native chalk and a coin on her forehead as soon as she entered the car, and drove straight to the outskirt of the town, where the ritual was to be performed on the kids.

But it appeared the money-making ritual was bound to backfire on them as the woman ritualist warned against taking Faith to the shrine, saying that her spirit was too strong for the charm they ritualists wanted to prepare.

“When we got to a particular point, one of the ritualist, a woman now said that my spirit is tormenting her and that if they continue with me I will prevent them from doing what they intended doing and so they ask of my name but I kept silent and the other girls said my name was Blessing instead of Faith,” Faith was reported to have told sympathizers at the hospital.

She was thereafter pushed out of the car and abandoned to her fate on the roadside. The ritualists left with the other two girls. A motorcyclist who was passing by saw her and brought her to Oleh main market. The motorcylist did not wait for fear of being lynched by people who would mistake him for one of the ritualists.

Faith was first taken to the Christ Chosen Deliverance Church, Irri, by the villagers who thought that she was possessed, as she could not make coherent statements and after prayers in the church, she was later taken to the Oleh Central Hospital for further medical treatment.

The mother of the girl, Mrs. Oghale Okoro expressed joy over God’s delivery of her daughter from the hands of the ritual killers, saying that she was in a market at Asaba-Ase when she was called that her daughter was kidnapped and rescued by God.

Leadership has failed in N/Delta— IHONVBERE
By Umoru Henry
Posted to the Web: Thursday, July 12, 2007



ABUJA—FORMER Special Adviser to Obasanjo on Project Monitoring and Evaluation, Professor Julius Ihonvbere said yesterday that leadership has failed in the Niger Delta region of the country, just as he described hostage taking by the militants as political.

Presenting a book titled "Towards an Integrated Development of the Niger Delta" compiled by the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) in Abuja yesterday, Professor Ihonvbere who tongue-lashed the Niger Delta governors for not managing the resources that accrued to them for the overall benefit of the people of their states, said these states got over N600 billion they could not channel properly into developmental projects.
The former Director, CDD, Dr Kayode Fayemi, Stella Amadi and Ololade Bamidele of the CDD edited the six-chapter book with 270 pages.

According to him, if the governors had spent at least N30 million effectively, problems associated with the people of the Niger Delta would have been nipped in the bud, even as he called on the government to put in structures at the local government levels if the problem of militancy in the region and abject poverty must be resolved.

“If you go to the Niger-Delta, some states that collected over N600 billion since 1999, have nothing to show for the huge money. If the governors put N3 billion in each local government and properly spent, not someone supplying goods for one and half million naira, there can be no local government in the Niger Delta without schools, without water, without electricity, and other amenities, it is impossible. It is so terrible in the region”, he said.

The former governorship aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for Edo State who frowned at the proliferation of books that only eulogize leaders while in power without actually capturing issues that affect the ordinary people in the society especially the Niger Delta region, said books were not coming out from ivory towers, even as he urged university lecturers to engage seriously on research and churning out educational books for present and future generations.

In his contribution, Lagos lawyer and activist, Femi Falana, who noted that the only panacea for the Niger-Delta problem was that of mobilizing the people to ask governors, local government Chairmen, legislators in each state of the region questions on how much the states got, how much they spent and on what projects, said the major problem was that of ignorance.

A Bayelsa lady suspected to be posing as a mad woman in Yenagoa, capital of Bayelsa State, has been arrested over her involvement in alleged abduction of a baby from a private hospital along Ingbi road area of the city.

The lady, names withheld, was reported to have dressed like a mad woman along the Ingbi road vicinity of the private clinic known as New Uchenna Clinic and Maternity home.

P.M.News gathered that she was alleged to have stayed a few kilometres away from the clinic until her evil plan of abducting a one year old child was hatched.

It was gathered that the purportedly mad lady carried out the crime with the assistance of an Igbo man resident in the area and a nurse employed by the clinic.

The mad lady was claimed to have walked into the clinic and snatched the boy whose mother was a patient in the hospital.

The baby was abducted at about 7.30p.m. on the fateful day when the mother of the baby was said to have gone to the bathroom.

While the search party was blaming the management of the clinic for poor security situation, the father of the child rushed to the Area police division to lay a complaint.

The abducted child was, however, found the next day with the lady along Pancha area of the city while trying to put the stolen baby in a posh car.

A Commercial motorcyclist, popularly who was part of the search party the previous day sighted the lady with the child and raised an alarm.

She was later arrested and handed to the police but she is insisting that she is crazy.

The police reportedly arrested the Laboratory Technician and Nurse on duty during the disappearance of the child.

The management of the hospital and some other eyewitnesses told our correspondent that another suspect was also arrested.

A visit to the Police Station, where the suspects were detained showed that the accused nurse and the Lab. Technician have been released. When this correspondent visited the clinic, a doctor, who claimed he was not on duty at the time of the incident confirmed the report but said the accused nurse was not in any way involved in the abduction and that it was a minor case which they never wanted to be reported.