₦airaland Forum

From Charles Ogugbuaja, Owerri


IMO State Governor, Chief Rochas Okorocha has disclosed that his government would commence the building of another university in the state within a short time.

A police station to befit the status of the institution and people of the area will also be put in place to compliment the existing one. According to him, the university will be located around Ngor Opkala axis of the state.

The governor made the disclosure yesterday while interacting with stakeholders in the state.

In the same vein, the state government has invited willing managing firms to tender for the management and maintenance of the Imo Concorde Hotel and turn it to a world-class five-star outfit.

The new Commissioner for Information and Strategy in the state, Mr. Chinedu Offor stated this while addressing journalists at the weekend in Owerri after the weekly Executive Council Meeting.

"The time to manage the Concorde Hotel is now. It is now opened for business. Anybody or group of people who can manage it adequately and maintain it to five-star status would be welcomed by government," he said.

Speaking on a number of issues that were deliberated on at the meeting, Offor said the Exco adopted the enforcement of capital punishment as passed by the legislature earlier.

"After a critical look at the security situation in Imo State, council resolved to adopt the capital punishment as passed into Law for kidnappers."

Also, in order to stem the agony and sufferings of returnees affected by the Boko Haram insurgence, Offor said a "Diaspora Village" would be constructed to make them feel at ease and have a sense of belonging.

He also used the forum to announce that the state government had directed each community to provide at least 1,000 hectares of land for palm plantation and agricultural purpose, adding that the Ministry of Lands would allocate and issue land with Certificate of Occupancy for those willing to own genuinely.

“Before I joined the church of Satan, I sacrificed a baby, I drank blood and so many other things, which I shouldn’t have done. I also sold myself to the devil for fifty years.”

This confession summed up the story of a 29 year old businessman who in his quest to be rich joined four occult groups where he committed the worst of abominations.

At 21, Steven Kofi (not real name) from West coast in Ghana, began his journey into the occult world by joining the church of Satan international before going deeper to join others such as the score and bone cult, region of doom and free mercy debunked all in his bid to make wealth.
A once vibrant man with wife and a child along with a prospering oil business had to abdicate his matrimonial responsibility to his wife for eight ( 8 ) years after sacrificing his manhood as a condition for wealth.

Faced with the threat of death after being given a 49 day ultimatum to live, the Ghanaian ran after God and recently got a relief in Lagos during the Lord’s Chosen Church programme, “Time To Recover All” where Saturday Sun had an encounter with him.

How did he join such groups at an early stage in life? “The story started in my final year at the university of Ghana, I was studying oil and gas engineering, I got my master degree in oil and gas engineering. At the final year, things were so tough for me that I needed to finish my education, but there was no way to get financial help, at the end of the day I consulted my parents but it was fruitless”, he stated.

According to him,“usually I chat with somebody on the internet that helps me with money. He is a man and that was before I later got married to a Norwegian lady in 2003. We had a kid before she travelled, but she usually call me on phone once in while, at that time, I called her for financial help but she didn’t have any cash.”

He said the person who used to assist him complained that he could not continue sending money to him, and as such, he has to fend for himself. “He told me that he cannot continue sending me money. He said I have to work for myself, and I asked him, how, he said you have to do it on your own”, he stated adding that from that point he decided to locate the church of Satan in Ghana where he was told that his initiation would be done in far away Califonia, USA. In deed, travel documents were prepared for him and he travelled to ground Lodge at Early Noise in Califonia where his initiation took place.

He said after the initiation process, he demanded to see the devil, and was asked to write a request letter to the devil which he did. His request was granted within two weeks, and he was able to meet face to face with the devil who asked him to make three wishes, adding that his third wish for long life could not be granted because church members only live within the space of thirty years after joining the church of Satan.

“The devil demanded that I make three wishes from him, which I consented to, that I want to be famous, wealthy and live long, but the third one he refused to grant, disagreeing to the idea that any one that joins the church of Satan will always live for thirty years, once you join at 20, you live till 50. This I agreed to because I was eager for money”, Kofi stressed.

He further disclosed that after joining the church of Satan, Satanic Bible was made available to him, sword of slaughter, initiation glove, Suit and other items. He however explained that he didn’t lose his manhood until he added another feather to his cap in the occult world by joining yet another group. “When I joined the Score and bone society, that’s when I sacrificed my manhood to increase my wealth”, he added.

Beside the monetary gains from the cults, he was also sent on an assignment which is to win souls for the kingdom of Satan. Through this, he has won more than 23 souls for Satan, using the advantage of the wealth he was given. “Boys and girls who are eager for money, wealth, I show them the way. I have offices in Port-Harcourt, Warri, Abuja, Ghana, I give them what to do and they begin to make money on their own and also teach them how to join and I send them over”, he added.

How did this bring joy to his parents? Kofi said after making money, he decided to open a plaza for his mother in Ghana, but she rejected the offer, claiming that it was a blood money, because of her attachment to Christ and a vision she saw in which she saw the source of his wealth. But his father and siblings accepted him.

His trouble however started after he became uncomfortable with his life. At that point, he began to look for powerful pastors that could save his life. When his cults discovered he was going astray, he was penalized and given only 49 days to live. “I was given 49 days to live, I have spent 19 days, and it remains 30 days, before deliverance came to me through Pastor Mouka of the Lord’s Chosen”, he stated.

Having learnt some bitter lessons, Kofi is advising youths not to covet what others have while urging parents to restrict what their children watch on television screens. On his manhood that was restored during the deliverance session, Kofi said “I give God all the glory that my manhood was restored back, am happy now that I can make more babies again.”

“I want to believe that what we have on our hands today is an islamisiation agenda being propagated and sponsored by some religious bigots who are poised for war, and if government does not decisively stem down this tide, Nigeria may cease to be a nation.”

The Chancellor of Covenant University, Bishop David Oyedepo, has called for a comprehensive overhaul of Nigeria’s security apparatus with a view to check mating the wicked acticvities of those he called ‘religious bigots’ scheming to Islamise Nigeria through repeated attacks on churches.

Oyedepo also urged the Federal Government to be more committed to the insecurity problem, failure of which he noted, may lead to disintegration.
In his address titled – Towards the rescue of a nation on the brink of collapse: Necessity for a new generation of thinkers – delivered at the seventh convocation of Covenant University on Friday, Oyedepo said consistent attacks by Boko Haram leaves much suspicion in its trail.

He noted that if Boko Haram members are agitating for their rights as they claim, government institutions rather that churches should have been their targets. “Now let us think: If Boko Haram, as claimed by some of their symphatisers, is fighting the government for its rights, the question is, is it the church that is depriving them of such rights? If the bombs in the North are just reactions to class oppression or poverty in the nation, why are mosques exempted from bombs?

He continued: “Did the militants in the South South, during their struggle, ever attacked worshippers in the mosque on Fridays? A lot of political hypocrisy must be going on here.

“Are there no Muslins in the West, South and East of Nigeria? Why are they not shooting at people in churches who gather for worship? Why are they not throwing bombs at Christians? I believe some individuals are simply without any other mission other than breaking Nigeria.”

He said insecurity today remains the nation’s greatest albatross, dwarfing other national malaise like poverty, corruption, unemployment, among others.

“Until we solve the security problems, we may not solve the economic problems. If you kill for the sake of conversion, can that dead man be convertible? Rather, you have lost a God-like asset for your nation and lost an opportunity to live a better life,” he said.

By: MURPHY GANAGANA

Monday, June 18, 2012


*Police in a fix over possible trial

Investigators yesterday said that Hon. Farouk Lawan at the centre of a $3 million bribe scandal over the fuel subsidy payments, was released under considerable pressure, Daily Sun has learnt. Lawan, suspended Chairman, House Committee on Education, was detained last Thursday when he eventually honoured a police invitation



Indications also emerged that the Police Special Task Force (STF) investigating the scam involving the former Chairman, House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on Fuel Subsidy payments, might have run into a hitch. The problem is on how to retrieve the "appropriately marked" 500,000 dollar bills vital for a successful prosecution.

Against the backdrop of perceived investigative and alleged operational blunders and inconsistencies in the statements of the suspects, a top police officer, who does not want his name in print, yesterday confided that the police had actually decided not to grant bail to Lawan until he produced the bribe money, but eventually caved in due to intense pressure and blackmail.

His words: "The police wouldn't have released him without recovering the exhibit, but there was serious pressure on the investigators and even the IG. We didn't want to grant him police bail; we wanted him charged to court with the exhibit so that the court can decide his fate. But the pressure became too much and at a point, they were now turning the issue to appear as if it was a battle between the North and the West, and if not for our experience, they would have gotten at us. So, we had to grant him conditional bail with an undertaking to provide the money to us between Tuesday and Wednesday".


He said when asked by detectives at the STF during his interrogation on Thursday at the Louis Edet House Force Headquarters in Abuja to justify his claim of handing over the bribe money to Chairman, House Committee on Narcotics, Drugs and Financial Crimes, Hon Adams Jagaba, instead of appropriate security agencies, Lawan had no explanation, but said he made a mistake.


On how the trial may face some hurdles, it was the alleged failure of the State Security Service [SSS], which reportedly undertook the electronic video recording operation at the Abuja residence of the Chairman of Zenon Petroleum & Gas, Mr. Femi Otedola, to recover the bribe money at the scene of the incident.

Daily Sun checks revealed that though the STF investigators led by Commissioner of Police Ali Ahmodu, last Monday, watched the video clips of how Lawan walked into Otedola's residence and collected $500,000 being part-payment of the alleged $3million bribe, the fact that the money was said to be marked by the SSS, but not recovered immediately from the suspect, had triggered fears of prosecutorial blunders when the suspects are eventually arraigned.


"The SSS which covered the operation said the money was marked before it was given to Lawan. The whole thing was electronically recorded, which was proper, but the mistake they might have made was not recovering the money from him on the spot. The standard operational rule in the security circle is that if marked money was given in an operation, you must recover it on the spot as evidence.

"Now, even if the money was actually marked, some people will instigate Lawan and tell him, don't bring out that money. Or even if he brings out the money since he had accepted collecting the bribe, though with a caveat, what of if the money surrendered is not marked", a source close to the investigators queried yesterday.

The source, who did not want to be named, said that alleged SSS' failure to avail police investigators with evidence that the money was actually marked had become worrisome.

He said: "The fact is that when money is marked for an operation, it does not mean that you paint the currency with colour; you simply record the serial numbers of all the notes given. We had expected that the SSS had followed this procedure, and if that was done, there should be no difficulty in providing us with the evidence even if they failed to recover the bribe money on the spot. That is why we are deeply worried".


After an initial denial, Lawan eventually accepted collecting $500,000 from Otedola, but claimed he kept the money under the custody of Hon. Jagaba, as an evidence of bribe given to him by the Zenon Oil Chairman. The police said Lawan was granted bail at the weekend after an undertaking to produce the exhibit money this week.

Interestingly, one of his counsel, Mr. Israel Olorundare (SAN), had reportedly denied the existence of such undertaking. According to him, "based on what Lawan told me, he said he wrote an undertaking to facilitate how to get to the Chairman of the House Committee on Narcotics, Drugs and Financial Crimes, Adams Jagaba, whom they want to ask questions about the whereabouts of the bribe sum. To the best of my knowledge, he did not say he will produce the bribe sum. Even in the undertaking, he did not give any time-frame when he will link up with Jagaba, but it might be before the end of next week."


Meanwhile, Lawan, who was suspended by his colleagues as Chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Ad-hoc Committee on Fuel Subsidy Management, at an emergency session on Friday, has reportedly hired four Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs)including Olorundare to handle his case. He is expected to report today at the police headquarters for further interrogation.

Esther Felix was a regular call girl at Pekas, a popular night club at the highbrow Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos, until recently when she ran into trouble for organizing the abduction of one of her customers, who happened to be a citizen of the United States of America and the son of a Lagos-based business man (names withheld).


The suspects


The deal made her richer by N5m which was the ransom placed on the head of their victim. On the D-day, Sunday May 6, 2012, the 26-year-old victim identified simply as Ayo reportedly received an urgent call from Esther for a meeting that evening. Formerly, the duo usually meet at Pekas, their first meeting point and from there, they will proceed to other night clubs within Ikeja, before ending up in a hotel where they will pass the night.

Sinister motive

But this night, there was a change of plan. Esther wanted Ayo to meet a friend schooling at Lagos State University, who she had boasted could be very good on bed as she does. Unknown to him, she was up to something more sinister than he could ever image. She later led him into the hands of three heavily-built men, armed with dangerous weapons, waiting to kidnap him.

After they picked Esther's friend identified as Part Nnana some where around LASU, and were driving through Lasu-Igando Road, Esther told Ayo who was driving a Murano Jeep that she was pressed and needed to urinate and they stopped the car at Iyano School axis of the road. Unfortunately, the spot turned out to be where they positioned the heavily set men for the kidnap.

Before Ayo could fathom what was happening, the men took over the wheels of his jeep and tucked him into the rear seat, preventing him from raising an alarm. He was then taken to the home of one of the men where he was kept for three days until communication was established between them and his father and the sum of N5m was paid as ransom before he was released.

How suspects were rounded up

However, Crime Alert gathered that Ayo's father felt insulted with the manner at which his son was kidnapped and he vowed that he must see the end of the case by bringing the culprits to book. He therefore sent a petition to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr.Umaru Manko and the Police boss mandated officer in-charge of the command Special anti-robbery squad, SARS, SP Abba Kyari, to track down the suspects and apprehend them. Sources at SARS hinted that the moment the officer got the directive, he took his men to work and they started tracking the suspects.


The source added that the leader of the gang whose phone was used while negotiating the ransom was the first to be arrested. "Through him, we were able to track others involved, including the two prostitutes who delivered Ayo to them. During the cause of our investigations, we discovered that the kidnappers hid the number of their phone while negotiating for ransom. But we were able to unravel the phone number and we got the identity of the owner and went after him," he stated.

Her story

When Crime Alert met with Esther at the Command headquarter, Ikeja, she opened up by saying that she was led into prostitution because of financial problems. "It was financial problem that pushed me into prostitution. I started going to clubs, especially night clubs, to look for men who were seeking fun. I used to charge N2000 for short time sex. But for full time, I used to charge between N3,000 and N4,000.

“I stayed in a hotel in Sango-Ota, Ogun State, where I met with men on short time and full time bases. Because I was finding it difficult to pay for the hotel room, I relocated to an uncompleted building in the town. I used to pay N1,000 for the room every day, whether I met with men or not. I also used to give the hotel manager N500 any day there was good business.

When I started going to night clubs, some men used to beat me and, at times, if they were three or four, all of them would like to sleep with me. My father is from Ondo but I grew up in Imo State. My mother is from Ugwu Aba village in Orlu town, Imo State. I was a student of Lagos State Polytechnic, where I was studying Mass Communication before I dropped out at 200 levels due to financial problems. I am even the breadwinner of my family. I stabilized and made some money from prostitution.

I used to send money to my mother in Imo State and take care of my younger ones because our father was not helping the family in anyway. This made it difficult for me to save enough money. When I had managed to rise up to N800, 000, I started thinking of how to procure a ticket and a visa to travel abroad. It was during that time that I met one Wale and Bayo at Ikeja to help me travel out of the country. But they gave me fake passport and visa. When I got to the airport, it was God who saved me from being arrested.

I then went to Ikeja police station and reported Wale and Bayo for duping me. The case dragged for long and became boring, as nothing concrete was done to recover my money, while the people I borrowed money from were on my neck. I became frustrated and confused. I was in this state of frustration when I met Ayo who was so nice and caring. All I needed to pull out of prostitution was just N200,000.

I started thinking that if I could kidnap this Ayo, his father, a stinking billionaire would give any amount to get his only child back. I contacted my friend Patricia, and told her about it. We discussed it and she said it was a good shortcut to big money. I told her that I had nobody with whom I could do the job and she said she knew somebody called Kingsley Okenwa aka Dragon.

How kidnappers were contacted

She contacted Dragon and he said he could do it perfectly. We then fixed an appointment. On the day we were supposed to meet, I told Dragon that Ayo would be driving a jeep by himself from Opebi and that I would go there to meet him, as he had told me that he wanted to sleep with Patricia and I together. I told Dragon and his men to wait for us at Iyana School Bus Stop along Lasu-Isheri Road.

We got to Iyana School Bus Stop that evening. I pretended that I wanted to ease myself. Ayo pulled over and came down. Before I could bend down, Dragon and his men appeared with daggers and entered the Murano Jeep. They forced Ayo to the back seat and Osi took over the steering. We drove to a room in Iyana and the five of us stayed there. Ayo was not chained.

He knew that I had planned the kidnap, so he asked why I was risking his life because of common N200, 000, which he said he would have given me without any stress if I had asked him. We demanded N10m from his father, but Dragon later collected only N5 million and five of us shared it."

bittyend: I apologize to those I've offended with my tribal antics on NL - because it's a new dawn. Though, I'm not a tribalist - but I got carried away by my incessant tribal banter. I love money, and girls too much - to care about tribe, or ethnic origin. Let bygones be bygones - and stop cork blocking all those pretty Igbo chics I'm trying to wife up. The new bittyend of narnia is about emerge.

A suspected evil pastor who allegedly doubled as the ring leader of a deadly gang of armed robbers has been nabbed. Pastor and General Overseer of a ministry in Eket, Akwa-Ibom, one pastor Eze was arrested by the operatives of Ondo State Police Command Special Anti-Robbery Squad(SARS) who trailed him to Eket, Akwa-Ibom after being exposed by members of his gang.


The deadly four-man gang that specialized in snatching of high profile cars and Sports Utility Vehicles(SUV) according to police sources had been terrorizing residents of Akure, Ondo State capital, and Ilesha in Osun State before they met their waterloo. The 41-year old pastor popularly known as Chairman was said to be the sole receiver of the cars snatched from innocent people and disposed them off in Akwa-Ibom.

It was gathered that whenever Pastor Eze and his gang went for operation he would stay in an hotel while the four gang members would be carrying out their nefarious activities of snatching cars on the road . When the car has been snatched it would be taken to the Pastor in the hotel. The Pastor would drive the stolen car to Akwa Ibom where it would be sold . One of such stolen vehicle was said to have been sold for N2.5million

On March 6, 2012, Pastor Eze and his gang stormed Akure. He lodged in an hotel as usual and his gang members double-crossed a woman, one Mrs Olubunmi who was driving an SUV along FUTA Road and snatched her car. The car was taken away and when information got to the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS), it swung into action and got one of the gang members arrested in Akure .

Speaking with our reporter, Commissioner of Police, Ondo State Police Command, Mr Edgar Nanakumu said the command has been facing a serious problem of combating car snatchers within the state. “We have received several complaints of car snatching and immediately the information came to us about this latest one. I quickly mobilized men of SARS and they swung into action and arrested one of the gang members and he confessed that one Pastor Eze who was their gang leader always sold the snatched cars at Akwa Ibom State.”

Nanakumu explained that the policemen had to travel to Eket in Akwa Ibom State and arrested the said Pastor who happened to be the General Overseer (GO) of a church which has a large congregation in Akwa Ibom. He was arrested with charms, ritual rings and Bible in his house. Pastor Eze, according to the Ondo CP confessed right in Akwa Ibom that he is the leader of the gang of armed robbers and the receiver of snatched cars and that he used to sell them at Akwa Ibom State. CP Nanakumu said that the policemen arrested the four members of the robbery gang and that they confessed their operations in several states.

Some of the victims are said to have visited the police headquarters to identify their snatched cars and most of them have confirmed that the recovered cars were theirs. One of the victims, one Mr Sola told our reporter that “ It was a bitter experience when he was robbed and the hoodlums snatched his car. He said he had to report the matter at the Police Command .“The police did their best , they couldn’t succeed . It was when I heard the information that the police have been able to arrest some suspects that I came to check if they were those that snatched my car and I was able to identify one of the suspects. I am highly impressed by the police effort,” he said.

Another victim, one Mrs Olubunmi said: “I was greeting my friend when suddenly four armed men double crossed me with their Honda Accord Car and succeeded in taking my car away. I quickly went to report the incident at the police station. The police tried their best as they swung into action but the robbers escaped.“I was impressed when the story got to me that the Police have arrested some of the suspects in Akure . I was able to identify two of the suspects,” she said.

The suspected ringleader, in his confession said:“ I have a ring which the police recovered from me. I used the ring for power to bail out people from their problems . When a woman is not pregnant and I touched her with the ring, she would get pregnant. I used to deceive some of them and sleep with the women who came to church for counseling.

CP Nanakumu said the command has been able to arrest the four suspects. He said that the command is still investigating the matter and that when it is concluded the suspects would be charged to court.