PoliticalThuG:
Nonsense

can you tell us why you called the writeup nonsense ?

lalasticlacla, mynd44 and seun where una dey ?

I concur. most of the crises in the north are exaggerated by southerners who hav no inklin on what is happening up north.
imagine payose Ffk speaking for northern christians.
They use news papers and even social and Nigerians believe whatever is written on social media. May god forgive them…

I saw this and i thought its worth sharing

by
Aliyu U. Tilde

The North Cannot Be Instigated to War
A letter from the Acting Registrar KSCOE Kafancan refuted that 5 students were ambushed and killed by herdsmen on their way to Gidan Waya campus some days back and wondered why even 'reputable' papers would carry such stories when the college is not even in session. Mr Samuel should not wonder because some people are instigating war in the North. But they will fail woefully.
I think those defeated in Biafra should realize that Gowon's defeat was decisive and final. One Nigeria is here. This attempt at revenge through incitement cannot turn the clock of reality. Meanwhile, do not forget that Gowon is not a herdsman.
I repeat: We northerners can have our challenges, even if instigated or amplified by outsiders. But we are not stupid enough to got to war over them. We will come out stronger, to the shame of enemies who want to see the region in conflagration.
Let these defeated war-mongers visit Plateau today and see how Fulani herds are grazing in Riom and Shendam. Even with a state government that sponsored an agenda of hatred and massacres for 8 years, our eternal resolve for peaceful coexistence could not be broken.
It is through this kind of propaganda that innocent souls in the south are made to believe that there is a rampaging battalion of herdsmen that is killing thousands of Christians in southern-Kaduna and against which the Christians are incited to take up arms.
And they blame government for not doing anything. How can government act on mere propaganda? The present IG went on a fact finding mission in Southern Kaduna two weeks ago and came back telling the media to stop the exaggeration.
It is not the first time. At Agatu, Arase, the former IG, asked to be shown the graves of the 300 Agatians killed by herdsmen. All he could be shown was graves of 3 people! Today, the Agatians have freely allowed Fulani to continue grazing on their land. Shame to the liars and Devils that pray for bloodbirth in the North.
More is awaiting these bad losers. We northerners will come out of the southern-Kaduna crisis stronger. Our people will not suffer war while you smile from 500 km east or 1000 km southwest of Kafanchan. Soon, it will be like it has become in Plateau and Benue. God is on the side of peace lovers. The fiery pastor and his ilk will live in frustration and hell forever.
And take note that these demons and criminals will never spoil the good image of thousands of southerners whom we have come to associate with and love for several decades now. Nobody can tarnish the image of Madame Rose from whom I buy my plumbing materials, or PD from whom I buy my industrial mechanical parts. Not to mention my old friendship with Professor Ezealor in Owerri or Mr. Chidi in Umudike. Vanguard cannot severe these ties no matter its evil efforts.
Neither can it break my nearly 40 years relationship with Prof. Iortsuun, my former Tiv (thief) lecturer from Benue. I missed her when I visited her office in Zaria yesterday. I called her and she told me how much she missed me. Does any southern or eastern newspaper think I will ever take up arms against this northern jewel simply because she is Christian? In the contrary, I am ready to defend her with my blood in appreciation of the exceptional love she showed me over the past four decades as I will defend Serah, Faith, Felicia, Gida, Drambi, etc.
I can fill hundreds of pages with the stories of my Christian friends from Northern and Eastern Nigeria. The dream of someone that he can just instigate war among us while he enjoys his bed in Enugu or Lagos remains just what it is - a dream. When the chips are down, we from the North - Christians and Muslims alike - know that we share a common name that others refer to us with - northerners. We know that in our eyes we all carry that same tag irrespective of our religion. And we are proud of to anwer our father's name. And let us be frank. I am sure they are intelligent enough to know that at the sub-national level, they too have a tag that they carry, with which we northerners refer to them, irrespective of whether we are Christians or Muslims.
Now, I will give a piece of advice to people like Pastor Oyedepo who is advising that the country be divided between Christians and Muslims (forgetting that his village, Omuaran, is in a muslim majority state), Apostate Suleiman, SSCE (yes that is his qualification) and southern newspapers, that they should preach peace and desist from courting violence, for violence can smell its instigator from afar and overtake him wherever he is, no matter his position in society or his detachment from the scene he depicts it.
We once had someone in Nigeria, a highly placed person, a governor in the Second Republic, a SAN, who was referring to Fulani as Tutsis of Nigeria, publicly instigating a genocide against them in the late 1990s. He died with his wish unfulfilled. Instead, Bola Ige, did not have the privilege to die a natural death. Even as the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, the nemesis of violence visited him one evening in his house. He was served some bullets by one of his own, not by a Fulani herdsman. And to date, nobody is convicted for the crime. He became a variable to neutralize in the 2003 second tenure algebra of someone, his own kind, not a Tutsi Fulani for that matter.
Moral: Do not wish bloodshed for some people because it will boomerang on you. Apostate Suleman, the coward, can run from the SSS and enjoy the protection of another equally criminal personality. However, he cannot run away from the nemesis of violence when it reckons to visit him one day.
I must confess to the Roses and Ezealors of my life that I write these posts with so much pain and do so only because it is inevitable today. My pen cannot afford the luxury of political correctness under the situation. We can not sit back and allow some people to instigate bloodshed among in the North. We must check them by all means through revealing their machinations and make our people dispel them. The life of a single Christian or Muslim in southern Kaduna is so priceless to me as a northerner that I just must protect it with my pen. Please do understand.
Aliyu U. Tilde
27/1/17

this is the kind of news that is usually not or under reported by our biased media. smh…

A Zankan village local disclosed to the newspaper that gunmen arrived in the Fulani village on Saturday night at around 8:30 pm and began firing upon residents.

BY SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK
JAN 22, 2017
Unknown gunmen attacked Zankan village in Kaura Local Government Area, Kaduna State on Saturday, killing 13-year-old Yahaya Musa, Daily Trust reports.
A Zankan village local disclosed to the newspaper that gunmen arrived in the Fulani village on Saturday night at around 8:30 pm and began firing upon residents. In the process, they killed the 13-year-old boy and injured five others, who are receiving medical treatment in Plateau State.
The resident, who pleaded for anonymity, called on the law enforcement authorities to improve security in the village.
In a related development in nearby Zangon Kataf, local man Danjuma Musa reported that he was robbed on Thursday. He said youths approached him while he was riding his motorcycle and robbed him of N40,000, his cell phone, ATM cards, and his motorcycle.
The youths threatened Mr. Musa's life, but according to him, civil defense personnel intervened and freed him. However, he was not able to retrieve his stolen items.
Daily Trust reached out to Police Public Relations Officer Aliyu Usman, who confirmed the two incidents.

saharareporters.com/2017/01/22/unknown-gunmen-attack-village-kaduna-kill-13-year-old

Some comment i read above are really disturbing to say the least. you want an end to Fulani-harding yet you do not want the govt. to encourage ranching. we should always look beyond tribalism and politics for a peaceful Nig.

Barrister Aisha Kalil Wakkil is a lawyer and
human rights activist with the National Human
Rights Commission. The senior legal officer has,
for over five years, been into peacemaking
between the Jama’atu Ahlil Sunnah (Boko
Haram) and the federal government. In this
exclusive interview with the Daily Trust on
Sunday, Barr Wakkil, who claims to be a very
close confidant of Boko Haram foot soldiers,
spoke on several issues.
How did your mediation initiative between the
federal government and Boko Haram
Nobody asked me to do it. Such a quality is in my
nature because I love peace so much. Where I
come from in the Southeast, we live in a very
peaceful atmosphere, especially in my family. We
mediate a lot where there is any problem. Now
that I am a Muslim and Islam is a very peaceful
religion, with all its teachings, this Boko Haram
development doesn’t really make sense to me.
Why should such a wonderful religion experience
this kind of a thing? But I also know that
anywhere there is smoke, there must be fire.
Something must have happened for these children
to start behaving like this.
Do you really know them well?
Yes, they were children I knew a long time ago.
The first time I visited Maiduguri around 1989
was when some of them were circumcised. I
witnessed the circumcision. That is to tell you
how young some of them were - and still are. I
witnessed the growth of most of them. They were
very wonderful children. As time went on, most of
them began living in my house because my house
is always open to all the children in that area.
That was how I got to know most of them. Then
they were not Boko Haram and Jama’atu ah-lil
Sunnah members.
So at what stage did they become extremists?
It is surprising how these children turned out to
be what they are now. I keep on saying there is
certainly no smoke without fire. Something must
have triggered those innocent-looking children to
grow up behaving the way they are behaving now.
You needed to see them growing up. These were
children that would come to my house, play
around and help in watering my ugwu plant. We
would cook together and they would help clean
my kitchen, my room and the entire house.
Sometimes when I start talking about them, I
shed tears. Those children prayed, and still pray a
lot. I have a mosque in the house and they would
always go in and pray. Anytime I went to Shehuri
north, whatever was in my handbag would not
follow me back because they would finish it there.
They all called me Mama.
At what stage did you start noticing changes in
their character?
It all started with a rumour. I began observing
they would go out in the morning and return in
the evening. During the fasting period, they would
not return until around 11 or 12 midnight. I also
remember they would go to Muhammad Yusuf’s
lectures to listen to his preaching. Sometimes,
they would come back to tell me, “Mama, see
what we read today”, and I would say, “thank
God, this Muhammad Yusuf is really trying o.” I
didn’t observe anything strange about the
teaching.
Soon, the children began to be conscious of
themselves. They always wanted to do one thing
or the other to remain busy. It was then that the
rumour started that they were planning a war.
When I heard of it, I went straight to Muhammad
Yusuf because I had been very close to him. His
father-in-law, Alhaji Baba Fugu was my Islamic
spiritual father and the entire family knew me very
well. When I realized that Muhammad Yusuf was
frequently being arrested, detained and released, I
went to Baba Fugu and asked him why his son-
in-law was always being detained? But I learnt he
was always preaching things government didn’t
like and insulting them.
One day when he (Muhammad Yusuf) returned, I
went to his house to see him. I tried to enter the
house but was not allowed in because I had a
policeman in the front seat of my car. It was
Shekau who saw the policeman and refused to
allow me to go in to see Yusuf. I was angry and
asked Shekau whether he didn’t recognize me
and didn’t realise how close I was to Yusuf. I
sent a message to Yusuf that I was angry and
would never come to his house again. When he
got my message, through his father-in-law, he
rushed to my husband’s office and told him that
he heard I was in his place but his boys refused
to allow me in. He explained I wasn’t allowed in
because of the policeman they saw with me.
When my husband told me, I asked Yusuf to come
over. He did and bowed down saying, “Mama,
please forgive me.” He was a very humble boy. I
advised him that whenever he was preaching he
should avoid insulting government. After about a
year or two, I started hearing the rumour again
that they were planning to fight. We used to
speak on phone most of the time.
How did you learn of the rumour?
Those boys in my house suddenly disappeared for
about a month; I did not set my eyes on them. I
was tensed up and started asking people where
they were, but nobody could tell me. Eventually
when they returned, one of them told me he had
something to tell me. He said, “Mama we went for
training.” When I enquired from him what kind of
training that was, he simply confided they would
be fighting a war. But then, I just laughed it off
because I did not take him serious. Jokingly, I
asked him what he knew about war. But looking
so serious, he replied that, “Mama, I swear, our
guns have already arrived in Maiduguri and that
included AK47s. When I asked him again what he
knew about any AK47, he just told me it was the
gun they would be using to fight the war. I then
asked him where they trained and he respectfully
replied, “Mama, I will not tell you this one.”
I, thereafter, called Muhammad Yusuf and told
him what I had heard about a war imminent. He
asked who told me but I replied I wouldn’t tell
him and he should just answer me yes or no
whether they were, indeed, planning to start a
war. One good quality about these boys is that
they don’t lie. Yusuf said, “yes, ma.” When I
asked him why, he said it was because of acts of
maltreatment over the crash helmet against his
followers. He said, “They killed our people and
nobody is doing anything”, and that government
had betrayed them and so on. I asked him what
that betrayal could be and whether we could
address and stop it. It was getting close to the
fasting period. He folded his hands, bent his neck
and kept mute. That was his nature. He then
said, “Mama, my hands are tight. I am not alone
in this thing. A decision has been taken. They
must fight this war unless you can go and meet
the governor.”
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to see the governor
until the war started. When I heard about the
fight in Bauchi on a Saturday, I called Yusuf
(which was the last time I spoke with him) and
told him I heard something was happening in
Bauchi. He admitted it, saying, “yes, we are the
one.” He added the war would engulf everybody
beyond Bauchi. I thought he was joking. I spoke
with his father-in-law on phone that Saturday
night. The following day, our own started (in
Borno state). I tried to reach him on phone but
his line was not going.
On Monday, someone came to tell me that he saw
Muhammad Yusuf at the West-End area. I rushed
there but could not see him. Two days later, I
saw him on television talking and the next thing I
saw him on the ground. Instantly, I knew there
was going to be a problem. That is where we are
now.
Were you still seeing those boys living in your
house after that?
One week to that incident, they disappeared
again. When things cooled down, one of them
rushed in to tell me that “Mama, we fought a war,
we killed this and we killed that.” I shouted at
him that small as he was, he could go to war?
But he replied that was how Allah wanted it and
they did the work of Allah. He said he had come
to tell me he was going back to the battlefield
and he wouldn’t know if we would be meeting
again. He told me to keep calling his line and
promised to always answer my calls so long he
remained alive.
The boys left and, in a short while, became
commanders in the Boko Haram group. The whole
thing was very funny to me. Suddenly, they
started changing fast; they no longer looked like
those kids I called my children. The other day one
of them came to see me in my house. When I told
him to sit down for a talk, he curtly responded,
“No, ma. As you are seeing me here, they have
given me an assignment and I have to go and do
it.” When I enquired the manner of the
assignment, he calmly replied it was to kill
someone. There was nothing I could do. I couldn’t
stop them. That situation remains till today.
Were you at a point scared of any association
with them and thought of cutting off all ties with
them?
I have always held that even if those boys should
turn to snakes, I would remain with them because
I believe they will never harm me. Anytime any of
them comes around, what he tells me is the story
that this one has died and that one has become
this and that.
When they relocated to the bush, did you ever go
there to see them?
I have been there several times at different
locations to see them. Sometimes, I will cook for
them and take the food there. Sometimes they
will be the ones to phone me and say, “when next
you are coming buy suya and drugs for us”, and
things like that. At a time majority of them were
dying before they started recruiting more and
more people.
When you go to the bush to see them, where do
you stay?
Whenever I meet them in the bush, we sit down
and talk freely like mother and children. They will
show me different bombs and ammunitions. I will
ask them what they are doing with those things
and will joke with them it’s themselves they will
bomb with them, not me. They will burst out
laughing, saying “Mama has come again.”
Sometimes I will even stay there overnight. Their
major requirements are food and drugs. There
had been occasions I stayed three days with
them in the bush.
How do you always find your way to wherever
they are?
In most cases, they will be the ones to call to ask
me to bring them food, drugs and/or money.
When I inform them I am on my way there, they
will start directing me, saying things like, “go out
of your house, cross the road and you will see a
car like this, like that. Open the rear door and sit
on the back seat and bend your head down while
in the car till the journey lasts.”
Do you still know the whereabouts of some of
those boys living in your house then?
Some are dead, some are still in the bush, while
some are in jail.
Have you ever sold them the idea of dropping
their guns and accepting amnesty?
Yes, I have been doing that right from day one. In
the beginning, they were telling me that, “Mama,
we don’t like this thing that is happening to us.
We are sure something is wrong somewhere. If
government can call us and ask us, we shall tell
them everything. Let government dialogue with us
and tell us how to stop all these things and we
will stop.” But as time went on, they started
talking negative of government. They were saying
government was no more doing this and that.
One of them told me, “Mama, the ocean we are
swimming in is very deep. This thing has
graduated from the Jama’atul Ahlil Sunnah into
something else.” He said “the big men in Nigeria
know what I am saying,” adding, “such people
will not allow peace to emerge because they have
their interests.”
Weren’t they ever afraid you could betray them to
the authorities?
They know I will never do that. In any case,
whenever we come together to Abuja for peace
talks, we always move so closely until we return.
You need to see us at the airport as if we are
fused together. In case there is any danger, all of
us will go. Anywhere I take them, we sleep in the
same hotel and eat the same food. They will all
converge on my room to watch television. I will
tell them to look at the good things of life that
they are missing and they will confidently reply,
“Yes, but one day in Allah’s kingdom is better
than all these.”
Have they ever told you if the group is
factionalized, as it seems they are no more
doing things the same way they started?
Yes, the way some of them are doing things has
not been the same way the original group was
doing it. But the original group is still there. They
are still very much around. Even among them, the
original Jama’atu Ahlil Sunnah is calling the other
ones Boko Haram. They will say they are not
Boko Haram, the other ones are the Boko Haram.
I once asked them the difference between the two
groups. They said the other group has deviated
from the norms. They said government and
politicians are buying them and using them to kill
perceived opponents. They said there are people
doing rituals in the name of Boko Haram. But they
are all together in the bush. The whole thing is
mixed up now. But once the original group stops,
every other one must stop because none can
stand on its own again. I once asked them about
the frequent spate of bombings when it was
becoming too much. They said, “Mama, anywhere
we bombed, we issue a statement claiming
responsibility. The ones we did not do, we keep
quiet.”
Were the Chibok girls kidnapped by the original
group?
All I know is that the Boko Haram group
kidnapped the Chibok girls.
From your close interaction with these boys, do
you think they will agree to drop their arms,
release every person in their custody and return
to the larger society if government decides to
grant them amnesty?
Let me ask you this question; are they not human
beings? If they are human beings like you and I,
why won’t they accept the offer of amnesty? This
administration is willing to dialogue with them. I
am sure the president would like to ask them
what happened and I am sure the children will be
willing to say it. I was with them recently and
they were asking me if the society will be willing
to forgive them. I said why not if they will drop
their arms and become good boys. If Nigeria and
Nigerians can accommodate the OPC in the West,
MASSOB in the East and the Niger Delta militants,
why won’t they accommodate them?
In all your visits to the forest to meet those
boys, have you ever encountered any difficulty?
Of course, yes, I have encountered many
difficulties. Once when I went out in search of the
girls, there was one particular guy who nearly
kidnapped the group I went with, but I just played
along with him. Once you put a smile on their
faces, your problem is over. God helped us and
we came out of it successfully.
There was this other one that I do not like
remembering. I was in the bush with them. They
were asking me who to trust and who not to
trust. They were eating the food I took to them
and writing their names in Arabic inscription on
the ground when, suddenly, one of them stood up
and started insulting me. He was eating the
N20,000 suya I bought for them when something
came over him and he started pouring abuses on
me. He said as a lawyer who went to an English
school, I was not supposed to be where they
were. He threatened to shoot me if I talk again.
Others were just eating their suya when their
boss shouted at him to keep quiet. After some
minutes, one of them stood up and asked him,
“Do you know the person you just insulted? What
made you insult her?” He pulled his trigger and
shot him thrice and his lifeless body fell down
there. I was terrified. None of them cared about
his corpse. They simply continued eating their
suya. That was my worst moment.
There was another time I was with them in the
bush. I didn’t know that they had some of their
men on the top of the trees we were sitting
under. I just heard someone shout ‘Allahu Akbar’
from the tree top. Suddenly, they started firing in
that bush ceaselessly for about an hour. No one
was willing to tell me what was going on.
After the death of Muhammad Yusuf, did you
ever see or meet Shekau in the bush?
No, I never met him.
But you were seeing other commanders in the
bush who you knew during the lifetime of
Muhammad Yusuf…
Yes, I was meeting others and Shekau knew I was
going to the bush to meet some of the boys.
We understand Shekau is dead…
I am sorry, I won’t answer that question. I do not
want to discuss that issue.
How would you like to describe the new
leadership of the group?
Well, it has been the same thing. They keep
killing. How do you want me to describe them?
Some people say Muhammad Yusuf was milder
than Shekau because there weren’t many killings
then. Do you agree with that belief?
Of course, that is true. Muhammad Yusuf was
cool-headed. But you should also know that they
are not responsible for all the killings. Some of
the killings are politically motivated while others
may be for economic reasons. When finally there
is peace and the boys come into the open,
Nigerians will hear from them. They will tell the
world who and who were sending them to do
what.

http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/news/news/my-encounter-with-boko-haram-foot-soldiers-barr-aisha/106520.html#ybeYJ19v1MOkcKTC.99

Barrister Aisha Kalil Wakkil is a lawyer and
human rights activist with the National Human
Rights Commission. The senior legal officer has,
for over five years, been into peacemaking
between the Jama’atu Ahlil Sunnah (Boko
Haram) and the federal government. In this
exclusive interview with the Daily Trust on
Sunday, Barr Wakkil, who claims to be a very
close confidant of Boko Haram foot soldiers,
spoke on several issues.
How did your mediation initiative between the
federal government and Boko Haram
Nobody asked me to do it. Such a quality is in my
nature because I love peace so much. Where I
come from in the Southeast, we live in a very
peaceful atmosphere, especially in my family. We
mediate a lot where there is any problem. Now
that I am a Muslim and Islam is a very peaceful
religion, with all its teachings, this Boko Haram
development doesn’t really make sense to me.
Why should such a wonderful religion experience
this kind of a thing? But I also know that
anywhere there is smoke, there must be fire.
Something must have happened for these children
to start behaving like this.
Do you really know them well?
Yes, they were children I knew a long time ago.
The first time I visited Maiduguri around 1989
was when some of them were circumcised. I
witnessed the circumcision. That is to tell you
how young some of them were - and still are. I
witnessed the growth of most of them. They were
very wonderful children. As time went on, most of
them began living in my house because my house
is always open to all the children in that area.
That was how I got to know most of them. Then
they were not Boko Haram and Jama’atu ah-lil
Sunnah members.
So at what stage did they become extremists?
It is surprising how these children turned out to
be what they are now. I keep on saying there is
certainly no smoke without fire. Something must
have triggered those innocent-looking children to
grow up behaving the way they are behaving now.
You needed to see them growing up. These were
children that would come to my house, play
around and help in watering my ugwu plant. We
would cook together and they would help clean
my kitchen, my room and the entire house.
Sometimes when I start talking about them, I
shed tears. Those children prayed, and still pray a
lot. I have a mosque in the house and they would
always go in and pray. Anytime I went to Shehuri
north, whatever was in my handbag would not
follow me back because they would finish it there.
They all called me Mama.
At what stage did you start noticing changes in
their character?
It all started with a rumour. I began observing
they would go out in the morning and return in
the evening. During the fasting period, they would
not return until around 11 or 12 midnight. I also
remember they would go to Muhammad Yusuf’s
lectures to listen to his preaching. Sometimes,
they would come back to tell me, “Mama, see
what we read today”, and I would say, “thank
God, this Muhammad Yusuf is really trying o.” I
didn’t observe anything strange about the
teaching.
Soon, the children began to be conscious of
themselves. They always wanted to do one thing
or the other to remain busy. It was then that the
rumour started that they were planning a war.
When I heard of it, I went straight to Muhammad
Yusuf because I had been very close to him. His
father-in-law, Alhaji Baba Fugu was my Islamic
spiritual father and the entire family knew me very
well. When I realized that Muhammad Yusuf was
frequently being arrested, detained and released, I
went to Baba Fugu and asked him why his son-
in-law was always being detained? But I learnt he
was always preaching things government didn’t
like and insulting them.
One day when he (Muhammad Yusuf) returned, I
went to his house to see him. I tried to enter the
house but was not allowed in because I had a
policeman in the front seat of my car. It was
Shekau who saw the policeman and refused to
allow me to go in to see Yusuf. I was angry and
asked Shekau whether he didn’t recognize me
and didn’t realise how close I was to Yusuf. I
sent a message to Yusuf that I was angry and
would never come to his house again. When he
got my message, through his father-in-law, he
rushed to my husband’s office and told him that
he heard I was in his place but his boys refused
to allow me in. He explained I wasn’t allowed in
because of the policeman they saw with me.
When my husband told me, I asked Yusuf to come
over. He did and bowed down saying, “Mama,
please forgive me.” He was a very humble boy. I
advised him that whenever he was preaching he
should avoid insulting government. After about a
year or two, I started hearing the rumour again
that they were planning to fight. We used to
speak on phone most of the time.
How did you learn of the rumour?
Those boys in my house suddenly disappeared for
about a month; I did not set my eyes on them. I
was tensed up and started asking people where
they were, but nobody could tell me. Eventually
when they returned, one of them told me he had
something to tell me. He said, “Mama we went for
training.” When I enquired from him what kind of
training that was, he simply confided they would
be fighting a war. But then, I just laughed it off
because I did not take him serious. Jokingly, I
asked him what he knew about war. But looking
so serious, he replied that, “Mama, I swear, our
guns have already arrived in Maiduguri and that
included AK47s. When I asked him again what he
knew about any AK47, he just told me it was the
gun they would be using to fight the war. I then
asked him where they trained and he respectfully
replied, “Mama, I will not tell you this one.”
I, thereafter, called Muhammad Yusuf and told
him what I had heard about a war imminent. He
asked who told me but I replied I wouldn’t tell
him and he should just answer me yes or no
whether they were, indeed, planning to start a
war. One good quality about these boys is that
they don’t lie. Yusuf said, “yes, ma.” When I
asked him why, he said it was because of acts of
maltreatment over the crash helmet against his
followers. He said, “They killed our people and
nobody is doing anything”, and that government
had betrayed them and so on. I asked him what
that betrayal could be and whether we could
address and stop it. It was getting close to the
fasting period. He folded his hands, bent his neck
and kept mute. That was his nature. He then
said, “Mama, my hands are tight. I am not alone
in this thing. A decision has been taken. They
must fight this war unless you can go and meet
the governor.”
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to see the governor
until the war started. When I heard about the
fight in Bauchi on a Saturday, I called Yusuf
(which was the last time I spoke with him) and
told him I heard something was happening in
Bauchi. He admitted it, saying, “yes, we are the
one.” He added the war would engulf everybody
beyond Bauchi. I thought he was joking. I spoke
with his father-in-law on phone that Saturday
night. The following day, our own started (in
Borno state). I tried to reach him on phone but
his line was not going.
On Monday, someone came to tell me that he saw
Muhammad Yusuf at the West-End area. I rushed
there but could not see him. Two days later, I
saw him on television talking and the next thing I
saw him on the ground. Instantly, I knew there
was going to be a problem. That is where we are
now.
Were you still seeing those boys living in your
house after that?
One week to that incident, they disappeared
again. When things cooled down, one of them
rushed in to tell me that “Mama, we fought a war,
we killed this and we killed that.” I shouted at
him that small as he was, he could go to war?
But he replied that was how Allah wanted it and
they did the work of Allah. He said he had come
to tell me he was going back to the battlefield
and he wouldn’t know if we would be meeting
again. He told me to keep calling his line and
promised to always answer my calls so long he
remained alive.
The boys left and, in a short while, became
commanders in the Boko Haram group. The whole
thing was very funny to me. Suddenly, they
started changing fast; they no longer looked like
those kids I called my children. The other day one
of them came to see me in my house. When I told
him to sit down for a talk, he curtly responded,
“No, ma. As you are seeing me here, they have
given me an assignment and I have to go and do
it.” When I enquired the manner of the
assignment, he calmly replied it was to kill
someone. There was nothing I could do. I couldn’t
stop them. That situation remains till today.
Were you at a point scared of any association
with them and thought of cutting off all ties with
them?
I have always held that even if those boys should
turn to snakes, I would remain with them because
I believe they will never harm me. Anytime any of
them comes around, what he tells me is the story
that this one has died and that one has become
this and that.
When they relocated to the bush, did you ever go
there to see them?
I have been there several times at different
locations to see them. Sometimes, I will cook for
them and take the food there. Sometimes they
will be the ones to phone me and say, “when next
you are coming buy suya and drugs for us”, and
things like that. At a time majority of them were
dying before they started recruiting more and
more people.
When you go to the bush to see them, where do
you stay?
Whenever I meet them in the bush, we sit down
and talk freely like mother and children. They will
show me different bombs and ammunitions. I will
ask them what they are doing with those things
and will joke with them it’s themselves they will
bomb with them, not me. They will burst out
laughing, saying “Mama has come again.”
Sometimes I will even stay there overnight. Their
major requirements are food and drugs. There
had been occasions I stayed three days with
them in the bush.
How do you always find your way to wherever
they are?
In most cases, they will be the ones to call to ask
me to bring them food, drugs and/or money.
When I inform them I am on my way there, they
will start directing me, saying things like, “go out
of your house, cross the road and you will see a
car like this, like that. Open the rear door and sit
on the back seat and bend your head down while
in the car till the journey lasts.”
Do you still know the whereabouts of some of
those boys living in your house then?
Some are dead, some are still in the bush, while
some are in jail.
Have you ever sold them the idea of dropping
their guns and accepting amnesty?
Yes, I have been doing that right from day one. In
the beginning, they were telling me that, “Mama,
we don’t like this thing that is happening to us.
We are sure something is wrong somewhere. If
government can call us and ask us, we shall tell
them everything. Let government dialogue with us
and tell us how to stop all these things and we
will stop.” But as time went on, they started
talking negative of government. They were saying
government was no more doing this and that.
One of them told me, “Mama, the ocean we are
swimming in is very deep. This thing has
graduated from the Jama’atul Ahlil Sunnah into
something else.” He said “the big men in Nigeria
know what I am saying,” adding, “such people
will not allow peace to emerge because they have
their interests.”
Weren’t they ever afraid you could betray them to
the authorities?
They know I will never do that. In any case,
whenever we come together to Abuja for peace
talks, we always move so closely until we return.
You need to see us at the airport as if we are
fused together. In case there is any danger, all of
us will go. Anywhere I take them, we sleep in the
same hotel and eat the same food. They will all
converge on my room to watch television. I will
tell them to look at the good things of life that
they are missing and they will confidently reply,
“Yes, but one day in Allah’s kingdom is better
than all these.”
Have they ever told you if the group is
factionalized, as it seems they are no more
doing things the same way they started?
Yes, the way some of them are doing things has
not been the same way the original group was
doing it. But the original group is still there. They
are still very much around. Even among them, the
original Jama’atu Ahlil Sunnah is calling the other
ones Boko Haram. They will say they are not
Boko Haram, the other ones are the Boko Haram.
I once asked them the difference between the two
groups. They said the other group has deviated
from the norms. They said government and
politicians are buying them and using them to kill
perceived opponents. They said there are people
doing rituals in the name of Boko Haram. But they
are all together in the bush. The whole thing is
mixed up now. But once the original group stops,
every other one must stop because none can
stand on its own again. I once asked them about
the frequent spate of bombings when it was
becoming too much. They said, “Mama, anywhere
we bombed, we issue a statement claiming
responsibility. The ones we did not do, we keep
quiet.”
Were the Chibok girls kidnapped by the original
group?
All I know is that the Boko Haram group
kidnapped the Chibok girls.
From your close interaction with these boys, do
you think they will agree to drop their arms,
release every person in their custody and return
to the larger society if government decides to
grant them amnesty?
Let me ask you this question; are they not human
beings? If they are human beings like you and I,
why won’t they accept the offer of amnesty? This
administration is willing to dialogue with them. I
am sure the president would like to ask them
what happened and I am sure the children will be
willing to say it. I was with them recently and
they were asking me if the society will be willing
to forgive them. I said why not if they will drop
their arms and become good boys. If Nigeria and
Nigerians can accommodate the OPC in the West,
MASSOB in the East and the Niger Delta militants,
why won’t they accommodate them?
In all your visits to the forest to meet those
boys, have you ever encountered any difficulty?
Of course, yes, I have encountered many
difficulties. Once when I went out in search of the
girls, there was one particular guy who nearly
kidnapped the group I went with, but I just played
along with him. Once you put a smile on their
faces, your problem is over. God helped us and
we came out of it successfully.
There was this other one that I do not like
remembering. I was in the bush with them. They
were asking me who to trust and who not to
trust. They were eating the food I took to them
and writing their names in Arabic inscription on
the ground when, suddenly, one of them stood up
and started insulting me. He was eating the
N20,000 suya I bought for them when something
came over him and he started pouring abuses on
me. He said as a lawyer who went to an English
school, I was not supposed to be where they
were. He threatened to shoot me if I talk again.
Others were just eating their suya when their
boss shouted at him to keep quiet. After some
minutes, one of them stood up and asked him,
“Do you know the person you just insulted? What
made you insult her?” He pulled his trigger and
shot him thrice and his lifeless body fell down
there. I was terrified. None of them cared about
his corpse. They simply continued eating their
suya. That was my worst moment.
There was another time I was with them in the
bush. I didn’t know that they had some of their
men on the top of the trees we were sitting
under. I just heard someone shout ‘Allahu Akbar’
from the tree top. Suddenly, they started firing in
that bush ceaselessly for about an hour. No one
was willing to tell me what was going on.
After the death of Muhammad Yusuf, did you
ever see or meet Shekau in the bush?
No, I never met him.
But you were seeing other commanders in the
bush who you knew during the lifetime of
Muhammad Yusuf…
Yes, I was meeting others and Shekau knew I was
going to the bush to meet some of the boys.
We understand Shekau is dead…
I am sorry, I won’t answer that question. I do not
want to discuss that issue.
How would you like to describe the new
leadership of the group?
Well, it has been the same thing. They keep
killing. How do you want me to describe them?
Some people say Muhammad Yusuf was milder
than Shekau because there weren’t many killings
then. Do you agree with that belief?
Of course, that is true. Muhammad Yusuf was
cool-headed. But you should also know that they
are not responsible for all the killings. Some of
the killings are politically motivated while others
may be for economic reasons. When finally there
is peace and the boys come into the open,
Nigerians will hear from them. They will tell the
world who and who were sending them to do
what.

http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/news/news/my-encounter-with-boko-haram-foot-soldiers-barr-aisha/106520.html#ybeYJ19v1MOkcKTC.99

Barrister Aisha Kalil Wakkil is a lawyer and
human rights activist with the National Human
Rights Commission. The senior legal officer has,
for over five years, been into peacemaking
between the Jama’atu Ahlil Sunnah (Boko
Haram) and the federal government. In this
exclusive interview with the Daily Trust on
Sunday, Barr Wakkil, who claims to be a very
close confidant of Boko Haram foot soldiers,
spoke on several issues.
How did your mediation initiative between the
federal government and Boko Haram
Nobody asked me to do it. Such a quality is in my
nature because I love peace so much. Where I
come from in the Southeast, we live in a very
peaceful atmosphere, especially in my family. We
mediate a lot where there is any problem. Now
that I am a Muslim and Islam is a very peaceful
religion, with all its teachings, this Boko Haram
development doesn’t really make sense to me.
Why should such a wonderful religion experience
this kind of a thing? But I also know that
anywhere there is smoke, there must be fire.
Something must have happened for these children
to start behaving like this.
Do you really know them well?
Yes, they were children I knew a long time ago.
The first time I visited Maiduguri around 1989
was when some of them were circumcised. I
witnessed the circumcision. That is to tell you
how young some of them were - and still are. I
witnessed the growth of most of them. They were
very wonderful children. As time went on, most of
them began living in my house because my house
is always open to all the children in that area.
That was how I got to know most of them. Then
they were not Boko Haram and Jama’atu ah-lil
Sunnah members.
So at what stage did they become extremists?
It is surprising how these children turned out to
be what they are now. I keep on saying there is
certainly no smoke without fire. Something must
have triggered those innocent-looking children to
grow up behaving the way they are behaving now.
You needed to see them growing up. These were
children that would come to my house, play
around and help in watering my ugwu plant. We
would cook together and they would help clean
my kitchen, my room and the entire house.
Sometimes when I start talking about them, I
shed tears. Those children prayed, and still pray a
lot. I have a mosque in the house and they would
always go in and pray. Anytime I went to Shehuri
north, whatever was in my handbag would not
follow me back because they would finish it there.
They all called me Mama.
At what stage did you start noticing changes in
their character?
It all started with a rumour. I began observing
they would go out in the morning and return in
the evening. During the fasting period, they would
not return until around 11 or 12 midnight. I also
remember they would go to Muhammad Yusuf’s
lectures to listen to his preaching. Sometimes,
they would come back to tell me, “Mama, see
what we read today”, and I would say, “thank
God, this Muhammad Yusuf is really trying o.” I
didn’t observe anything strange about the
teaching.
Soon, the children began to be conscious of
themselves. They always wanted to do one thing
or the other to remain busy. It was then that the
rumour started that they were planning a war.
When I heard of it, I went straight to Muhammad
Yusuf because I had been very close to him. His
father-in-law, Alhaji Baba Fugu was my Islamic
spiritual father and the entire family knew me very
well. When I realized that Muhammad Yusuf was
frequently being arrested, detained and released, I
went to Baba Fugu and asked him why his son-
in-law was always being detained? But I learnt he
was always preaching things government didn’t
like and insulting them.
One day when he (Muhammad Yusuf) returned, I
went to his house to see him. I tried to enter the
house but was not allowed in because I had a
policeman in the front seat of my car. It was
Shekau who saw the policeman and refused to
allow me to go in to see Yusuf. I was angry and
asked Shekau whether he didn’t recognize me
and didn’t realise how close I was to Yusuf. I
sent a message to Yusuf that I was angry and
would never come to his house again. When he
got my message, through his father-in-law, he
rushed to my husband’s office and told him that
he heard I was in his place but his boys refused
to allow me in. He explained I wasn’t allowed in
because of the policeman they saw with me.
When my husband told me, I asked Yusuf to come
over. He did and bowed down saying, “Mama,
please forgive me.” He was a very humble boy. I
advised him that whenever he was preaching he
should avoid insulting government. After about a
year or two, I started hearing the rumour again
that they were planning to fight. We used to
speak on phone most of the time.
How did you learn of the rumour?
Those boys in my house suddenly disappeared for
about a month; I did not set my eyes on them. I
was tensed up and started asking people where
they were, but nobody could tell me. Eventually
when they returned, one of them told me he had
something to tell me. He said, “Mama we went for
training.” When I enquired from him what kind of
training that was, he simply confided they would
be fighting a war. But then, I just laughed it off
because I did not take him serious. Jokingly, I
asked him what he knew about war. But looking
so serious, he replied that, “Mama, I swear, our
guns have already arrived in Maiduguri and that
included AK47s. When I asked him again what he
knew about any AK47, he just told me it was the
gun they would be using to fight the war. I then
asked him where they trained and he respectfully
replied, “Mama, I will not tell you this one.”
I, thereafter, called Muhammad Yusuf and told
him what I had heard about a war imminent. He
asked who told me but I replied I wouldn’t tell
him and he should just answer me yes or no
whether they were, indeed, planning to start a
war. One good quality about these boys is that
they don’t lie. Yusuf said, “yes, ma.” When I
asked him why, he said it was because of acts of
maltreatment over the crash helmet against his
followers. He said, “They killed our people and
nobody is doing anything”, and that government
had betrayed them and so on. I asked him what
that betrayal could be and whether we could
address and stop it. It was getting close to the
fasting period. He folded his hands, bent his neck
and kept mute. That was his nature. He then
said, “Mama, my hands are tight. I am not alone
in this thing. A decision has been taken. They
must fight this war unless you can go and meet
the governor.”
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to see the governor
until the war started. When I heard about the
fight in Bauchi on a Saturday, I called Yusuf
(which was the last time I spoke with him) and
told him I heard something was happening in
Bauchi. He admitted it, saying, “yes, we are the
one.” He added the war would engulf everybody
beyond Bauchi. I thought he was joking. I spoke
with his father-in-law on phone that Saturday
night. The following day, our own started (in
Borno state). I tried to reach him on phone but
his line was not going.
On Monday, someone came to tell me that he saw
Muhammad Yusuf at the West-End area. I rushed
there but could not see him. Two days later, I
saw him on television talking and the next thing I
saw him on the ground. Instantly, I knew there
was going to be a problem. That is where we are
now.
Were you still seeing those boys living in your
house after that?
One week to that incident, they disappeared
again. When things cooled down, one of them
rushed in to tell me that “Mama, we fought a war,
we killed this and we killed that.” I shouted at
him that small as he was, he could go to war?
But he replied that was how Allah wanted it and
they did the work of Allah. He said he had come
to tell me he was going back to the battlefield
and he wouldn’t know if we would be meeting
again. He told me to keep calling his line and
promised to always answer my calls so long he
remained alive.
The boys left and, in a short while, became
commanders in the Boko Haram group. The whole
thing was very funny to me. Suddenly, they
started changing fast; they no longer looked like
those kids I called my children. The other day one
of them came to see me in my house. When I told
him to sit down for a talk, he curtly responded,
“No, ma. As you are seeing me here, they have
given me an assignment and I have to go and do
it.” When I enquired the manner of the
assignment, he calmly replied it was to kill
someone. There was nothing I could do. I couldn’t
stop them. That situation remains till today.
Were you at a point scared of any association
with them and thought of cutting off all ties with
them?
I have always held that even if those boys should
turn to snakes, I would remain with them because
I believe they will never harm me. Anytime any of
them comes around, what he tells me is the story
that this one has died and that one has become
this and that.
When they relocated to the bush, did you ever go
there to see them?
I have been there several times at different
locations to see them. Sometimes, I will cook for
them and take the food there. Sometimes they
will be the ones to phone me and say, “when next
you are coming buy suya and drugs for us”, and
things like that. At a time majority of them were
dying before they started recruiting more and
more people.
When you go to the bush to see them, where do
you stay?
Whenever I meet them in the bush, we sit down
and talk freely like mother and children. They will
show me different bombs and ammunitions. I will
ask them what they are doing with those things
and will joke with them it’s themselves they will
bomb with them, not me. They will burst out
laughing, saying “Mama has come again.”
Sometimes I will even stay there overnight. Their
major requirements are food and drugs. There
had been occasions I stayed three days with
them in the bush.
How do you always find your way to wherever
they are?
In most cases, they will be the ones to call to ask
me to bring them food, drugs and/or money.
When I inform them I am on my way there, they
will start directing me, saying things like, “go out
of your house, cross the road and you will see a
car like this, like that. Open the rear door and sit
on the back seat and bend your head down while
in the car till the journey lasts.”
Do you still know the whereabouts of some of
those boys living in your house then?
Some are dead, some are still in the bush, while
some are in jail.
Have you ever sold them the idea of dropping
their guns and accepting amnesty?
Yes, I have been doing that right from day one. In
the beginning, they were telling me that, “Mama,
we don’t like this thing that is happening to us.
We are sure something is wrong somewhere. If
government can call us and ask us, we shall tell
them everything. Let government dialogue with us
and tell us how to stop all these things and we
will stop.” But as time went on, they started
talking negative of government. They were saying
government was no more doing this and that.
One of them told me, “Mama, the ocean we are
swimming in is very deep. This thing has
graduated from the Jama’atul Ahlil Sunnah into
something else.” He said “the big men in Nigeria
know what I am saying,” adding, “such people
will not allow peace to emerge because they have
their interests.”
Weren’t they ever afraid you could betray them to
the authorities?
They know I will never do that. In any case,
whenever we come together to Abuja for peace
talks, we always move so closely until we return.
You need to see us at the airport as if we are
fused together. In case there is any danger, all of
us will go. Anywhere I take them, we sleep in the
same hotel and eat the same food. They will all
converge on my room to watch television. I will
tell them to look at the good things of life that
they are missing and they will confidently reply,
“Yes, but one day in Allah’s kingdom is better
than all these.”
Have they ever told you if the group is
factionalized, as it seems they are no more
doing things the same way they started?
Yes, the way some of them are doing things has
not been the same way the original group was
doing it. But the original group is still there. They
are still very much around. Even among them, the
original Jama’atu Ahlil Sunnah is calling the other
ones Boko Haram. They will say they are not
Boko Haram, the other ones are the Boko Haram.
I once asked them the difference between the two
groups. They said the other group has deviated
from the norms. They said government and
politicians are buying them and using them to kill
perceived opponents. They said there are people
doing rituals in the name of Boko Haram. But they
are all together in the bush. The whole thing is
mixed up now. But once the original group stops,
every other one must stop because none can
stand on its own again. I once asked them about
the frequent spate of bombings when it was
becoming too much. They said, “Mama, anywhere
we bombed, we issue a statement claiming
responsibility. The ones we did not do, we keep
quiet.”
Were the Chibok girls kidnapped by the original
group?
All I know is that the Boko Haram group
kidnapped the Chibok girls.
From your close interaction with these boys, do
you think they will agree to drop their arms,
release every person in their custody and return
to the larger society if government decides to
grant them amnesty?
Let me ask you this question; are they not human
beings? If they are human beings like you and I,
why won’t they accept the offer of amnesty? This
administration is willing to dialogue with them. I
am sure the president would like to ask them
what happened and I am sure the children will be
willing to say it. I was with them recently and
they were asking me if the society will be willing
to forgive them. I said why not if they will drop
their arms and become good boys. If Nigeria and
Nigerians can accommodate the OPC in the West,
MASSOB in the East and the Niger Delta militants,
why won’t they accommodate them?
In all your visits to the forest to meet those
boys, have you ever encountered any difficulty?
Of course, yes, I have encountered many
difficulties. Once when I went out in search of the
girls, there was one particular guy who nearly
kidnapped the group I went with, but I just played
along with him. Once you put a smile on their
faces, your problem is over. God helped us and
we came out of it successfully.
There was this other one that I do not like
remembering. I was in the bush with them. They
were asking me who to trust and who not to
trust. They were eating the food I took to them
and writing their names in Arabic inscription on
the ground when, suddenly, one of them stood up
and started insulting me. He was eating the
N20,000 suya I bought for them when something
came over him and he started pouring abuses on
me. He said as a lawyer who went to an English
school, I was not supposed to be where they
were. He threatened to shoot me if I talk again.
Others were just eating their suya when their
boss shouted at him to keep quiet. After some
minutes, one of them stood up and asked him,
“Do you know the person you just insulted? What
made you insult her?” He pulled his trigger and
shot him thrice and his lifeless body fell down
there. I was terrified. None of them cared about
his corpse. They simply continued eating their
suya. That was my worst moment.
There was another time I was with them in the
bush. I didn’t know that they had some of their
men on the top of the trees we were sitting
under. I just heard someone shout ‘Allahu Akbar’
from the tree top. Suddenly, they started firing in
that bush ceaselessly for about an hour. No one
was willing to tell me what was going on.
After the death of Muhammad Yusuf, did you
ever see or meet Shekau in the bush?
No, I never met him.
But you were seeing other commanders in the
bush who you knew during the lifetime of
Muhammad Yusuf…
Yes, I was meeting others and Shekau knew I was
going to the bush to meet some of the boys.
We understand Shekau is dead…
I am sorry, I won’t answer that question. I do not
want to discuss that issue.
How would you like to describe the new
leadership of the group?
Well, it has been the same thing. They keep
killing. How do you want me to describe them?
Some people say Muhammad Yusuf was milder
than Shekau because there weren’t many killings
then. Do you agree with that belief?
Of course, that is true. Muhammad Yusuf was
cool-headed. But you should also know that they
are not responsible for all the killings. Some of
the killings are politically motivated while others
may be for economic reasons. When finally there
is peace and the boys come into the open,
Nigerians will hear from them. They will tell the
world who and who were sending them to do
what.

http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/news/news/my-encounter-with-boko-haram-foot-soldiers-barr-aisha/106520.html#ybeYJ19v1MOkcKTC.99

The gas explosion which occurred on Sunday in
Obotim Nsit village, Nsit Ibom Local Government
Area of Akwa Ibom State, left shocked villagers
with various degrees of injuries.
But by Tuesday, two days after the incident, the
victims were yet to receive medical attention. The
community only received drinks and cash worth
fifty-one thousand five hundred naira (one
hundred and sixty-three dollars only).
No help came from the local or state
governments, or Seven Energy International Ltd,
owner of the destroyed pipeline, a PREMIUM
TIMES’ reporter who visited the community
confirmed.
On Tuesday, the company’s representatives
merely presented two cartons of Malta Guinness
malt drink, two cartons of Star beer, and a gin to
the community. The drinks are worth N6, 500
(about $18).
The village head, Okon Ukpong, confirmed that the
community had not received anything before
Tuesday.
Seven Energy’s representatives declined to speak
to the PREMIUM TIMES’ reporter who met with
them at the scene of the explosion.
The company’s officials – three young men –
spoke with the Secretary to the Akwa Ibom State
government, Etekamba Umoren, and the Special
Assistant on Security Matters to Governor Udom
Emmanuel, Iniobong Ekong, who also visited the
scene.
The pipeline explosion, which the militant group,
Niger Delta Avengers has claimed responsibility
for, occurred around 11.30pm Sunday.
The impact of the blast – burnt palm trees,
destroyed cassava farms, razed economic trees –
could be seen within a 1,000 metres radius.
“I think those who doubt the effect of gas flaring,
should come and see this. This is less than 24
hours, and yet the impact is so enormous,” the
SSG, Mr. Umoren, said in a sad tone, as he
walked back to his car. “No amount of fertilizer
can help the soil here.”
Some residents of Uyo, the capital of Akwa Ibom,
which is about 20 kilometre from the explosion
scene, said they heard the sound of the explosion,
and saw thick ball of fire illuminate the skyline.
Justice Udousoro, a sports journalist who lives at
Obot Idim which is about five minutes’ drive from
Uyo city centre, said the explosion shook his
house and others around the neighbouring
villages. “I initially thought it was a plane crash,”
Mr. Udousoro said.
People living in Obotim Nsit village said they
thought the world had come to an end that night.
Terrified by the loud bang and ensuing fire, the
villagers said they fled into the bush, falling upon
trees and whatever objects stood on their path.
Some, including children, fell into pits and wells.
“Some of us ran naked into the bush. It was total
confusion,” said an aged woman, Emma Bassey.
“I am not sure there is any family which has not
suffered one injury or the other.”
Emmanuel Monday, a 35-year-old carpenter who
lives with his wife, Enobong, and five children, in
Obotim Nsit, said he almost lost his two-year old
girl, Joy, who ran out into the bush with others,
and fell into a freshly dug 9 -feet deep latrine in a
neigbouring compound.
“The fire was running towards our home, we all
thought that the world had come to an end,” said
Mr. Monday, whose house is more than 700
metres away from the scene. “There was intense
heat everywhere.”
Mr. Monday said he was able to grab only one of
his five children. Together, they ran through the
backdoor into the bush, while his wife grabbed
another and ran behind them. The other children
followed.
“We heard the cries of a baby near our house that
night, and we went into the bush to investigate
where it was coming from, and there we saw the
little girl inside the pit latrine,” said a middle-aged
woman who narrated how Mr. Monday’s daughter
was rescued.
Mr. Monday was alerted that his missing
daughter had been found, and he went over to
pick her. This was around 5am.
2 year-old Joy also fell into a pit latrine (Photo
Credit: Ubong Abasi Okon)
The little girl had been crying all day since the
incident, the parents said. They suspected she
may have sustained internal injuries.
“I don’t have money to take her to hospital,” the
father said. “I have bought paracetamol for her
because that’s what I could afford.”
Idongesit Okorie, a 45-year-old unemployed father
of five, suffered a similar fate. His three-year-old
granddaughter, Idorenyin, fell into about 8ft-deep
well, filled with water. Luckily, the child was
rescued quickly.
She too had not received any medical attention
as of Tuesday because the parents and the
grandparents could not afford money for the
hospital.
Mr. Okorie’s 10-year-old son, Iniewonghoabasi,
dazed by the explosion, ran as fast as he could
away from the village. He ran past two other
villages, before finally stopping at Afaha Ofiong
village where he was rescued and brought back
to the village.
“I know the injuries and the pains my family and I
have suffered because of what happened, I am
only looking up to God for help,” Mr. Okorie said.
“Nobody cares to know how we survived the
incident and how we are coping with our injuries.
Nobody has even told us anything about the
explosion.”
Malt and gin
Seven Energy owns a gas processing plant in
Uquo, Esit Eket Local Government Area, Akwa
Ibom State.
The company supplies gas to the 560 MW
Calabar National Integrated Power Project, Cross
River State, the Ibom Power Company, Akwa
Ibom, Notore Chemical Industries Limited and the
United Cement Company of Nigeria, in Calabar.
The company says it has invested over $1 billion
in the south east region of the Niger Delta in the
last 5 years.
The essence of its meeting with leaders of Obotim
Nsit was to plead with the community to allow
them repair the pipeline.
Seven Energy officials arrived the community on
Tuesday in a white Toyota Hilux truck with
registration number APP 986 AG, and a white Ford
truck, with registration number LND 19 XS.
As community leaders gathered, they presented
them with the drinks: malt, beer and gin.
The officials of the company soon became fidgety
when a PREMIUM TIMES’ reporter walked into the
meeting. An official who was counting some naira
notes, obviously meant for the community,
suddenly paused, while another walked up and
whispered to the village head.
The village head, Mr. Ukpong, halted proceedings
of the meeting and asked the reporter to
introduce himself. Convinced who the visitor was,
the chief politely asked the journalist to leave the
meeting.
“We are meeting today with the company, we will
meet with you tomorrow,” he assured.
But he immediately added: “But let me say it here,
that nobody from the local or state government
has visited this village since that incident
happened. We have not received any relief
material from the company (Seven Energy) or
government.”
Some locals at the meeting who protested the
decision to expel the reporter, could not change
anything. They had argued the community needed
an independent observer to help check whatever
Seven Energy was doing.
The village head, Mr. Ukpong, promised to get in
touch, but he has yet to do so.
Mum is the word
When PREMIUM TIMES contacted the
headquarters of Seven Energy, Lagos, on
Wednesday, a staff in its media unit, who
identified herself only as Chioma, said the
company’s Senior manager, Administration and
Corporate Affairs, Patricia Akinlotan, would get
back to the reporter. The company did not revert.
The Akwa Ibom State government too has yet to
make an official statement on the gas explosion.
Mr. Idongesit Okorie, measuring the depth of the
well that his 3 years old daughter, Idorenyin, fell
into (Photo Credit: Ubong Abasi Okon)
The Commissioner for Information in the state,
Aniekan Umanah, referred PREMIUM TIMES to his
counterpart in the Ministry of Environment,
Iniobong Essien.
But Mr. Essien did not respond to phone calls and
text messages.
The youth leader of Obotim Nsit, Emmanuel
Wilson, told PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday that
things went from bad to worse after the meeting
between Seven Energy and the community.
Mr. Wilson said in addition to the drinks, the
company gave the youth N15, 000, the village
council N15, 000, and the women N10, 000.
Mr. Wilson said Seven Energy refused to talk
about payment of compensation to the
community, and because of that the village head
went and placed a traditional injunction,
forbidding the company from entering the site.
“They (Seven Energy) went and brought soldiers
to the community to protect the site, there is so
much trouble now in the community. We need
help,” Mr. Wilson said.


http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/207755-nigerian-community-compensated-163-dollars-after-deadly-explosion.html

John Cardinal Onaiyekan on Friday advised
Nigerians to unite against divisive elements that
he alleged were attempting to tear the country
apart.
Cardinal-Onaiyekan
Onaiyekan, the Cardinal Archbishop of the
Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja, gave the advice in
Makurdi at the requiem mass for Bishop
Athanasius Usuh held at the IBB Square.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that
Usuh was the Bishop Emeritus of the Catholic
diocese of Makurdi, Benue until some years ago.
The prelate said that it was important for the
people to leverage on the good works of the late
bishop in uniting the people of the North-Central
Nigeria through evangelism and establishment of
schools.
He said that Usuh's episcopacy was
characterised by selfless service to the people
regardless of his health constraints.
The cardinal said the deceased bishop promoted
peace and the unity among Nigerians through the
services he rendered to the people under his
apostolic care.
He appealed to Nigerians not to take for granted
the prevailing peace in the country by renouncing
all forms of religious fanaticism and exposing
those promoting them.
He said the war against corruption was necessary
and had to continue for peace to reign in the
country.
"We must end all forms of religious pluralism and
remove all that seems to tear us apart."
Onaiyekan described Usuh as "a tireless apostle
and a hero of the Christian faith".
He said the late bishop emeritus presided over the
largest diocese in the country then; stretching
from Benue to the city gates of Abuja through the
Eastern borders of Cameroon.
The cardinal said that it was through Usuh’s
tireless efforts that the dioceses of Lafia, Otukpo,
Gboko and Katsina-Ala were carved out of the
territory handed to him by his predecessor, the
late Bishop Donald Murray.
Onaiyekan reading from 2 Timothy 4:7 said of
Usuh, "He fought a good fight, finished the race
and remained faithful".
NAN reports that the Apostolic Nuncio to Nigeria,
Archbishop Augustine Kasujja, was the chief
celebrant at the requiem mass where no fewer
than 1,000 Catholic bishops and priests
concelebrated.
They were joined by dignitaries of church and
state to offer prayers for the repose of the soul of
the bishop during the requiem mass.


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/07/unite-divisive-elements-cardinal-onaiyekan-urges-nigerians/

Eight civil servants under the employment of
Kaduna State Government and some traditional
rulers have been dismissed from service over land
and Hajj scandals.
Among the fired civil servants, LEADERSHIP
Friday gathered, are three directors of Kaduna
State Urban Planning and Development Agency
(KASUPDA), two staffs from Kaduna State
Geographic Information Service,(KADGIS) and
three other staffs of the local government service
commission.
They were fired for for abusing the revised
Millennium City layout, and defrauding pilgrims
who paid for participation in the Hajj.
Letters of dismissal signed by Mrs Grace Yusuf
Bature on behalf of the General Manager of
KASUPDA, Saratu M.Haruna, have been delivered
to Charles Akau Ibrahim, its director of Urban
Planning and Research, Adamu Aliyu Nuhu,
director, Development Control, and Philemon
Mairabo, director, Urban Planning and Research.
Their sacking, according to document made
available, follows the State Executive Council’s
deliberations over a report of the committee that
investigated the role of some staff of the former
Ministry of Land, Surveys and Country Planning,
KASUPDA and some traditional rulers in distorting
the revised Millennium City layout.
The letters read: “Sequel to your suspension from
the service via letter No.PER/SEC.351/VOL.1/006
dated 31st May, 2016, I am directed to convey to
you the State Council’s decision at it’s 17th
Meeting held on 9th May,2016 and to dismiss you
from the service of the State Government with
immediate effect. This is as per the report of the
committee that investigated the role of some staff
of Ministry of Land and Surveys and Country
Planning,
KASUPDA and traditional rulers in the Revised
Millennium City Layout abuse TPO.833 which
indicted you. You are further directed to hand
over all government properties in your possession
to the agency please”.
In another letter signed by Ibrahim Hussaini,
dated 19th May, 2016, it said two staff of KADGIS
, Mr. Jacob Makadas Kogi and Mr. Joshua A.
Gambas were also suspended over abuse of
Revised Millennium City. Layout land.
According to the letters: “Further to council
decision on the report of the committee to
investigate the roles played by you and traditional
leaders in the abuse of the revised Millennium
City Layout (TPO.833), I wish to inform you that
your appointment has been suspended with
immediate effect and subsequent dismissal from
the public service by the State Civil Service
Commission.You are to hand over all government
properties under your custody to the surveyor
general, please”.
The dismissal follows the directives of governor
Nasir El-rufa’I as decided by the State Council
after its 17th meeting, which held on 9th May
2016.
The three staffs of the local government service
commission in the state were also dismissed for
defrauding pilgrims who paid for participation in
the Hajj.
In a letter signed by Zakari Mohammed, Deputy
Director Administration and Finance, dated 21st
June, 2016 , for the state Head of Service, said: “I
am directed to refer to your letter GH/KD/S/229/
S.1 dated 7th march,2016 on the above subject
matter and to inform you that the decision of the
State Executive Council to terminate the
appointment of Abubakar Hamza, Saidu Baba and
Balarabe Ilyasu for breach of trust, cheating,
dishonesty and serious misconduct has been
communicated to Local Government Service
Commission and appropriate action has been
taken.”
LEADERSHIP Friday recalled the State government
us taken numerous steps to reclaim government
properties that have hitherto been occupied by
illegal settlers, land encroachers and other
offenders involved in illegal sales of these
properties as part of effort in implementing its
vigorous urban upgrade programme.

http://leadership.ng/news/543725/8-civil-servants-traditional-rulers-fired-in-kaduna-over-land-hajj-scandal

Another set of NORTHERNERS !!! NORTHERNIZATION N ISLAMIZATION contn… SMH for PMb lol…

Suspected hoodlums have robbed and killed a 35- year-old ‘suya’ seller, Habibu Maude, in Calabar. The late Maude, a father of four, was shot dead at his suya spot along White House Street in Calabar, Cross River State. It was gathered that shops and other businesses in Bogobiri, an Hausa settlement in Calabar, were closed on Saturday and Sunday as a result of the incident. The deceased, an eyewitness told Punch, was an indigene of Tangaza Local Government Area of Sokoto State, adding that he did not argue with the hoodlums before he was shot. The state Police Public Relations Officer, Irene Ugbo, confirmed the incident, saying investigation was ongoing to unravel the killers. “Yes, we got the investigation that a suya seller was shot by an unknown gunman along White House streets. We have not made any arrest yet, but I can assure that we would track the killers,” she said.
http://dailypost.ng/2016/07/20/hoodlums-kill-suya-seller-calabar/

this is a photo of PMB with Ameachi n others…

In this interview with JOHN ALECHENU, National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, speaks about the challenges of managing the nation, President Buhari’s policies and other national issues. Excerpts The opposition Peoples Democratic Party has accused your party of being responsible for its leadership crisis. How do you respond to this? All I can say is that they cannot eat their cake and have it. When their factional chairman left us, they were celebrating, they were happy saying oh, we’ve got a big fish. Now that they see the kind of man he is, they are crying wolf. We have nothing to do with the travails of the PDP because in reality; we want a virile opposition. We want an opposition that is responsible, that has ideas to contribute. They have failed to do this so far. So, it is not of any value to us that they are heating up and that they are losing the little bit of the sense of direction they had left. They are just looking for a scape goat. We have absolutely no interest in what is going on in the PDP. If you recall, we once urged their members who were trooping into the APC -as soon as we won the election- to remain in their party to give us the kind of opposition that will strengthen our democracy. This shows we mean well for them. We asked them to go and re-engineer themselves and be as we were- a responsible opposition party. I just pray for them and hope that they will be able to rediscover themselves, to be able to start the process of rebuilding themselves. Maybe, it is even good that what is happening is happening, because it will give us the time to take the tough decisions that the country which they ruined requires. The Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, recently said the APC-led government has fulfilled its campaign promises to Nigerians. Is this the position of your party? What we promised to do we are doing. I don’t think we ever promised that in the first two months; everything will be okay. If only because we did not also predict that the price of crude oil will collapse the way it has collapsed, neither were we aware that the resources of the nation were in fact, diverted for electioneering purposes to the extent that even our troops who were fighting life and death battles in the North East were being deprived of the resources needed to carry out their assignments. In fact, their (troops) lives were out at unacceptable risk. To come back to your question, what we promised to do was - to be honest with the people, to do things that will improve their lives in the long run and in the interim, to have a social net which is already going into operation. A lot of the things we promised, we are doing. We promised improved security in the North East, we’ve delivered on that. We promised a reshaping of the economy so that we can provide jobs, we are delivering on that. At present, the police is recruiting 10,000; there are also 500,000 teachers being recruited and the various other programmes are already in place to retrain and re-motivate youths to become self employed and of course, in the interim, they will get some payment that they can rely on whilst they are being retrained and reoriented. All these are going on. Then there is the issue of the President’s foreign trips which has become a talking point among Nigerians … Oh that. The President’s foreign trips have virtually locked down the construction of a new standard gauge railway system that will go all the way from Kano through Lagos to Calabar. Things are happening; it’s just that these things take time to mature and have the desired effect on individual lives within the society. There are insinuations that the leadership of your party has preferred candidates for the Edo and Ondo states governorship primaries. Don’t you think this can lead to a loss of members? No, no, no. The party does not have preferred candidates anywhere. We are not in the habit or in the trade of imposing candidates. We want to win elections and you can only win elections when you have popular candidates. We won the 2015 national elections because we had a popular candidate in the person of President Muhammadu Buhari. That is something that we want to replicate all over. That does not mean of course, that individuals, not the party, cannot have their preferences and give help to these people in what manner they consider fit so long as the party itself whether in the state, in a senatorial area or in a federal constituency, does not come out to say this is our anointed candidate. That will not happen, not under my watch. The Federal Government has denied being selective in its fight against corruption, why has none of your members even at the state level been prosecuted? Prosecution depends on evidence. Once there is evidence, if anyone has evidence, let him provide it. This generalised rumour is not basis for serious action of that type. And in any case, there are a few APC leaders who are being called to question. It is not as one sided as it seems and it is not something to be apologetic for. When the then National Security Adviser was disbursing funds from his Automated Teller Machine, he did not call an opposition person to say take money. So, it’s a natural course of events. This administration- if anybody can read; the President will not mind whose ox is gored so long as justice is done. It just happens that as at now, those whose hands are found in the till happen to be preponderantly in the PDP. But you can see that a lot of other investigations are ongoing and quite a few involve some APC leaders. Can we have some names sir? They are already in public domain and I’ m sure even your paper has published them. It is not the same as hearing it from you; you may have more names than what is in the public domain. Do your investigations. It has been said that your party has no firm grip of its members- especially at the National Assembly. Why is this so? We didn’t have time to really melt things together; that is one aspect. But the reality that everybody knows is that the party came together from three main parties and fractions of others with interests, differences in visions and perception, ambition and the rest of it and what we suffered, as serious as it was, was natural and we are getting out of it. The good thing is that, it has not hampered the operations of government. It has implications for the operations of the party which we are watching very closely, managing very closely and tying to make sure it does not cause serious disruption now or in the future to the party itself. It’s unfortunate but that is the situation and that is the reality and we are working within that confine. A lot of Nigerians are unhappy with the way things are especially in the area of development. Do you think Nigerians are being too harsh in their judgement? Yes, it is harsh. But it is understandable. Harsh because when you talk of power, everybody is aware of the activities of the so-called Nigeria Delta Avengers, everybody knows that the minute you cut off gas supply to the power plants, we have a problem that has prevented the stabilisation of the power sector. A lot of work has been done; consultations are going on. Apart from the presence of the military in the Niger Delta, consultations are going on behind the scenes. We hope that things will be brought under control speedily. Criticisms are there but we have always said, we empathise and regret the anguish that the general population- particularly those living at the margins are going through. Change is painful but at the end of it, everybody will be happier because we will have a stronger economy; an economy that is creating jobs, an economy where industry is getting back into its stride. We are going through this painful stride which is not being made easy by the fact that corruption is actively and massively fighting back. Not to mention the eruptions in the Niger Delta or the ones in the South East, all of which are still vestiges of corruption fighting back. But this is not a struggle that this nation can afford to lose; we must and cannot go back to business as usual. Senator Dino Melaye said recently that the APC should be grateful that it didn’t lose the National Assembly leadership to the PDP instead of persecuting Saraki. Is the party grateful or still displeased with that development? I think the thing that rankled us most was the election of Ekweremadu as Deputy Senate President. Saraki is a member of the APC, much as the main line of the party would have wished a different result and a different scenario but we all find it very, very difficult to accept the emergence of a PDP person as his deputy. The Federal Government has been investigating PDP over its campaign funds. How did the APC raise its Presidential campaign funds? Why is nobody investigating this? That is not the issue. There is a great misunderstanding. We are not investigating PDP campaign funds. We are investigating records as to how public funds were hijacked for illegal purposes which were not budgeted for by the National Assembly. Nobody in business who contributed a lot of money has been dragged to any tribunal because he gave PDP funds. Public funds, public resources, money that belongs to you, me and the people of this country were stolen and diverted. Crude oil was being illegally sold to fund the campaigns and other political activities. Not just the campaigns, people just shared money and pocketed. It’s not company XYZ limited giving PDP X amount and about being dragged before EFCC, that is not what is going on. Anybody who steals from the treasury either to fund campaign, or to put in his pocket or to buy an estate in every part of the world would be asked questions. It must not be allowed. Nobody must be allowed to get away with that. It is not the same with campaign funding. We are not investigating PDP campaign funds. Alhaji Lai Mohammed said recently that he spoke too much before the 2015 election and that the backlash he has been receiving was like paying the price. Did your party make too many promises? What promises did we make? The President promised security; he promised the people jobs. He promised the people revitalisation of the economy and strongly promised the people the taming of corruption. A lot of things are under this and up till today, we still stand by this and we stand behind because these are the things he promised and he is determined to do them for the people. The results are already showing all over the place. The President did not make too many promises. A lot of other things people are saying are neither here nor there; people are saying things he never said. Things like: he will make the Naira equivalent to the Dollar; he never said things like that but people just manufacture and read what they want to read into these issues. This brings us to issue of the fuel price. Remember during the campaigns, your candidate said there was no subsidy on petrol; that the whole thing was a sham. How come we now hear that subsidy has been removed? When the President said there is was subsidy on fuel, all he was saying is that, the inefficiency of the system, the corruption of the system was being visited on the people and the government was being made to pay huge unacceptable sums that ended up in people’s pockets. If all these things are corrected, you will find that there is no subsidy in the real sense of the word. That was precisely what the President was saying; that is precisely what it has turned out to be. It is now being corrected and the price of fuel is beginning to drop gradually all over and there is no subsidy. The market forces will now determine just like what has happened in the Foreign Exchange Market in the last few days. Let demand and supply be the determinant of the price of anything whatsoever in the market. During his time as governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola once said any serious government would fix the power situation in six months. With benefit of hindsight, was your party not unfair and unrealistic in its criticisms of Jonathan’s government? We were not unfair. It was not just about Jonathan but the PDP as an institution. Sixteen years of the PDP administration and $18 billion was spent on the power sector, we haven’t got a single additional kilowatt of power. So, any such criticism is very, very deserving. Of course, in the interim, a lot of other issues like we discussed earlier, cropped up like the Niger Delta Avengers, otherwise, power was stabilising already but the minute the power station cannot get gas to power it, then you are in deep trouble and that is what is happening now. Otherwise, what he said was correct. We were firstly going to stabilise the system, strengthening the transmitting and distribution network, build captive power plants in areas of high intensive use like industries and so on, bringing on stream power stations that were virtually ready. Some were waiting for connection to the gas station, some were waiting for final installation of turbines that were imported and were already in the country. All of these were being done, then came the Niger Delta Avengers. You cannot but escape the impression that there is a powerful group intent on sabotaging. I want to assure them that they won’t succeed. Your party also criticised the presidency under Jonathan for running the largest presidential air fleet and the APC promised to cut down on this. What have you been waiting for? I think this has largely been cut down. Besides, I think they are even available for hire in case you want to use any of them (general laughter). Don’t forget, from the very first day, even the vehicles being used by Mr. President were exactly the same vehicles used by his predecessor. Do you agree with those who say that APC’s popularity has waned because of the harsh economic reality Nigerians are facing since it took office? All governments worldwide in between terms lose some degree of popularity; no question about that. We are having harsh economic times, no question about that and that does not increase the popularity of any government. It only diminishes it to some extent. What is different is that, in our case, in spite of the harsh economic realities, the people still have full confidence, trust. I think that is the proper word, in President Buhari, that he will do his very best to improve their lot and I think the proof of that was the reaction to the threatened strikes by the labour unions. You can see that even though people are unhappy, they refused to come out because they understood. They are in pain but they understood why the pain was there and they trusted the President that he was doing everything within his power to ameliorate their pain. So yes, there is a lot of grumbling all over the place, but also there is a lot of trust in Mr. President. Your party is also having its internal crisis at some state chapters. States like Kano, Bayelsa, Kogi and the like, what happened to the various committees you set up to deal with these issues? We are attending to each and every one of them. In virtually every case, we are making progress. Bayelsa should be concluded in a matter of weeks, Kano is basically a personality thing and we’ve got everybody to sheathe their swords for now. And I think that has happened. Kano has cooled off. We also have issues in Kogi State which we are also attending to. That is the only way you know a government that is in power. If we were in opposition, there won’t be skirmishes in these states because there would be nothing to skirmish over but since we are in power, people are still struggling for relative importance within the system with an eye on tomorrow. These things are normal, they are expected but we’ve developed that habit of democratic consultation and reconciliation and it is working. Some have said the country would have been better if the President pursued other areas such as the economy with the same vigour he is pursuing anti-corruption. Don’t you agree? The President is somebody who multi-tasks, he can work on different issues at the same time. The only difference is that corruption attracts headlines. Mr. X stole N20 billion, ha! Headlines, you people in the media make it headlines. When you hear that there is a project in XYZ place, you say, well, it’s one of those things and you give it small space but when a major elite is accused of stealing X amount of money, it is headlines. This has nothing to do with the importance which the President is giving to different issues that face the nation. Copyright PUNCH.

The Nigerian government has launched an unprecedented $1bn (£750m) operation to clean up the environmental damage caused by the oil industry, and it will be paid for by the polluters. But will it work? The BBC's Stephanie Hegarty reports from the Niger Delta. The mangroves that used to stretch across the creeks of Kegbara Dere, Ogoniland, are now dead - their naked, rotten trunks stick out of the water, like skeletons coated in a layer of black. This is the price that has been paid for the discovery of oil. Erabanabari Kobah, an environmental campaigner who grew up on these creeks, used to fish here during his school holidays to make a little money to pay for his school books. But he says children cannot do that anymore. "This used to be a very flourishing mangrove forest full of diversity but as a result of the continuous oil spills the fish are all dead," he says, as he navigates a creek in a small wooden canoe. "People can no longer do their fishing here. It's sad to see it like this." Kogbara Dere was a fishing village in which life revolved around the creek. Oil was discovered here in the 1950s but by the 1990s the wider Ogoniland community pushed the oil company operating in the area, Shell, out of the creek. For many years afterwards the abandoned oil wells leaked until they were capped in 2010, but by then the damage was done. 'Cancer-causing' pollution In 2011, the Nigerian government called on the UN Environment Programme to do an independent report on the damage in Ogoniland. Researchers found that oil had penetrated far deeper into the soil than anyone expected and said the clean-up could take up to 30 years. They said the people of Ogoniland were exposed to extreme health hazards from air and water pollution. In some cases, cancer-causing compounds in crude oil - like benzene - could be found in drinking water at more than 900 times the safe level. Despite the damage some communities are opposed to a clean-up fearing that the money spent on it could end up in the wrong hands. The experience of what has happened in Bodo, just down the coast from Kogbara Dere, may shed some light on the difficulties ahead. It was once a quiet fishing town but became famous last year when Shell paid out almost $ 80m in compensation for two major oil spills. That money was split between 15,600 local people, with each getting about $3,000, and the rest was earmarked for the community as a whole, but that has also now been distributed to individuals. It was a huge windfall for people who were until then living hand to mouth. The money physically transformed the town with concrete houses popping up everywhere replacing mud and corrugated tin huts. It also bitterly divided the community. Part of the 2015 deal said Shell must clean up the mess, but that surprisingly is not what many people want. Siitu Emmanuel, fisherman "I believe the money earmarked is for the clean- up. This is for [the benefit of] the community therefore money should be paid to them" Fisherman Siitu Emmanuel was one of the beneficiaries of the pay-out and spent it building houses for his children. He says he is not in support of Shell doing the clean-up - instead he wants the money that was going to pay for it to be split amongst the community. "I believe the money earmarked is for the clean- up. This is for [the benefit of] the community therefore money should be paid to them," he says. And most people in Bodo agree with him, they would rather have money in their pockets than see the environmental problems sorted out. The damage to the creeks has been so profound that many cannot even imagine returning to the life they had as fishermen before. How clean is clean? Clean-ups in places like Kogbara Dere have been attempted in the past but according to some residents they have not worked. Comfort Gbode's farm is beside a pipeline which spilled oil in 2012 destroying much of her land. Mrs Gbode and her husband still farm the land but the crops are stunted. A clean-up was done but had little effect. "They said they were cleaning the soil, I saw tippers coming in to dump new soil on top," she says. "But it's not clean, we still can't farm the land." A core of activists is still arguing for the clean-up to happen. One of them, Sylvester Kogbara, had his home attacked by local youths opposed to it. The conflict got so violent that in February four people were killed in clashes. Father Abel Agbulu, Bodo's Catholic priest, was called in to stop the violence and understands better than most why it happened. "They don't really trust any kind of negotiations or negotiators from the community," he says. This is the land that has made many Nigerians super rich and yet he says many of his parishioners are surviving on one meal a day. People here are used to seeing oil money go into the wrong hands. Likewise, they believe the money spent by Shell to sort out the environmental damage will end up with corrupt local politicians and contractors. For its part Shell is committed to undertake a clean-up operation but says it is too dangerous to begin work until the Bodo people are ready to welcome them. They have been in talks with various groups for three years to get the work started. But those talks have stalled repeatedly. Dutch ambassador John Groffen acts as a mediator and explains why the process has been so difficult. "We wanted to make sure that it wasn't happening in the old ways where contracts were being given out to contractors in an underhanded way," he says. "In the end some parties, some contractors, some youths felt they were left out of the process and there was a push back from those groups." Until the allocation of those contracts is sorted out, the creeks continue to rot. Bodo is just one community, there are thousands like it in the Niger Delta. The task of cleaning up is mammoth. But the Nigerian government says it is determined that its own plans will work. Environment Minister Amina Mohamed is aware of the murky local politics at play. "A lot of the [issues involve] transparency," she says. "It's not about sharing money. It's about contracting people to do work that needs to be done to clean up the Niger Delta." But even if this does happen, it could be 30 years before these creeks are clean again.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-36641153?ocid=socialflow_twitter

really…
the posters above know better than the security agencies and even the victims.

it seems FG is on recovery process on all front… May be we may not need loan to fund 016 budget.

Bulk Pack Services Limited, a beverage package
manufacturer and supplier owned by Alhaji Sani
Dangote, the younger brother of Alhaji Aliko
Dangote, was taken over by Asset Management
Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) yesterday as
part of the corporation’s recovery efforts.
The Receiver, Mr. Urua Essien, confirmed that he
took effective control of the company following
the failure of the company to repay their
outstanding debt.
“The Receiver immediately sealed off the premises
of the company located at Dangote Regional
Office, Oluwole Ladipo Street, Off Oba Akran, Ikeja,
Lagos,” according to a statement yesterday.
Bulk Pack Services Limited, which is affiliated to
Dangote Group specialises in the manufacturing
and supply of packages for major beverage
companies like Dansa Foods Limited.
Dangote Group is a multinational industrial
conglomerate in West Africa and one of the
largest in the African continent. In 2015, the
group generated revenue in excess of $3billion. It
is the leading diversified business conglomerate in
Africa with interests across in range of sectors in
Africa including cement, sugar, flour, salt, pasta,
beverages and real estate.


http://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2016/05/26/amcon-takes-over-sani-dangotes-asset/?utm_content=buffer2bc79&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday opened up on why he retained immediate past Inspector- General of Police, Solomon Arase. Buhari, who spoke through his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina in Lagos said he retained Arase, not because of his strategy and tactics as a police, but, because of Arase’s intellect and capacity as an operation person. The president spoke during the public presentaton of Cascade of Change…, a book written by Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Steve Ayorinde. Adesina, who spoke about the reaction of the immedite past IGP to a farewell dinner the president held in his honour, said Arase had expected to be sacked before the end of his tenure. “Arase told the president it was very strange for him to have been invited for a farewell dinner, because, what we know in Nigeria, is that, you are sacked on the pages of newspapers.” According to Adesina, Arase also had the fear that, since, he was inherited by Buhari’s administration, he was not sure of being retained; so, everyday, he had the trepediation he would hear he had been removed. But, quoting President Buhari on why he retained Arase till the end of his tenure, Adesina said: “When it was the turn of the president to speak, he explained why he kept Arase as IGP. “He said he saw the quality of his mind and he saw the quality of things, he had written. You know Arase has many publications to his credit and he also saw his capacity as an operations person and he decided to keep him till his tenure expired.” The president’s aide told the gathering that Buhari appreciates sound mind and intellect “and that shows the goodwill he has for Mr. Steve Ayorinde, the author of the book.” Adesina commended Ayorinde and urged Nigerians to emulate him and always contribute to knowledge. Meanwhile, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode has said his administration will take the state to the next level, and make it a globally competitive city-state. “In the last one year, we have laid the foundation to make Lagos a globally competitive city-state. In the coming years, we will build on this foundation to move Lagos to the next level, a level of first class infrastructure, services, economic growth and opportunities for all,” he said. Ambode, who noted that the state has the privilege of housing the largest collection of media houses in Nigeria, canvassed support of every journalist, editor, columnist and blogger in the development of the state. “Our government will always do its part and we call on the media to be our partner as we build a Lagos State where everybody has a voice, a chance and opportunities,” he said. The governor commended Ayorinde, saying the publication will enhance knowledge “as well as shed more light on issues of public discourse and enrich policy design and implementation process.” He appreciated Ayorinde’s contributions and participation as the arrowhead of the media and strategy team during his gubernatorial campaign. “He represents a generation of conscious journalists who have committed to working towards a better society. We are proud to have him in the Lagos State Executive and he has been involved in various stages in the implementation of our Change Agenda. “He has deployed his professional skills, competence and experience in promoting our socio-political reforms through a liberal and focused policy implementation strategy.” Chairman on the occasion and former governor of Ogun State, Aremo Olusegun Osoba said in the last one year, Ambode has silently embarked on massive transformation of the State. Osoba said he was happy that the administration has continued in the tradition of excellence that the state has always been known for. He alluded to the clearing of Falomo Roundabout in Ikoyi, the ongoing dualisation of Epe-Ijebu Road, among other infrastructural projects in the state. Professor Pat Utomi, in his speech, recalled the early days of Ambode in office and said he was initially miscontrued to lack the capacity to lead the state, “but, in no time, he proved critics wrong.” In her goodwill message, former managing director of Concord Newspapers, Dr. Doyin Abiola said she was proud that Lagos has always been a centre of excellence producing people of excellence. “I have never met the governor and I have never had any discussion with him but, from what he has been doing so far, it is clear that he was prepared for the job and he has been moving from step to step. I have always wondered how Lagos survived when the local government allocation of the state was withheld by the Federal Government. I could not understand it and it was said that governor Ambode successfully managed the account of the state at that time and, so, I want to commend them for the good works they are doing and urge them to continue,” she said. Media personalities, who attended the ceremony included Eric Osagie, Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of The Sun Publishing Limited, Steve Nwosu, Deputy Managing Director and Executive Director, Bolaji Tunji. Others were the National President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Mr. Waheed Odusile, Managing Director of New Telegraph, Mrs. Funke Egbemode, Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of Vanguard Media, Gbenga Adefaye, among other eminent Nigerians.

sunnewsonline.com/why-i-didnt-retire-arase-buhari/

At least 15 people lost their lives on Friday,
June 17, in a militants’ raid
– A Muslim cleric was reportedly killed in an
attack on a local mosque
– An anonymous local claims the attackers
might be of Ijaw origin
– The police confirmed the attack, however,
disagreed with the number of people killed
Unknown armed men raided Imushin community,
Ogijo area of Ogun state, in the late hours of June
17, killing at least 15 residents, ThePunch
reported.
The militants on a killing spree were about 100 in
number. They carried guns and cutlasses.
Among the 15 killed was a technician, a travel
agent, and even a Muslim cleric from a local
mosque. The Hausa community vowed to make
the attackers pay for the death of two of its
members.
The residents say two hotels were raided, and
their guests were robbed and injured.
Over 25 shops in the community were reportedly
looted by the attackers.
A resident told a reporter of ThePunch the
militants were of Ijaw origin. She said the youths
came on a revenge mission following the killing of
two of their friends, suspected pipeline vandals.
It has been gathered the State Anti-Robbery
Squad engaged the two suspects at about 4pm
on Friday, June 17. The group of suspected
militants armed with sophisticated weapons came
back on the same day, after 10pm.
Both the residents and the community leaders
were reluctant to share details. The suspected
militants scared them with more violence and
brutality if a case against them is reported to the
police. However, those who have the courage to
speak, beg the government to intervene before the
area becomes completely deserted.
“These people are militants and even the police
cannot withstand their firepower. We need help
from the government. We will appreciate anything
they can do for us,” a man from Imushin
community said.
The Ogun police confirmed the attack and death
of three people. The authorities are aware that
suspected militants from riverine area might be
behind the attack. However, the police failed to
find a reason why the invaders came in such a
large number.

https://www.naij.com/865130-suspected-ijaw-militants-kill-muslim-cleric-14-others-raid-ogun-community.html

Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, has opined that the government’s Free School Meal Initiative is a move to put an end to the school drop-out condition in the state. Ikpeazu made the statement during the School Lunch Programme held on Monday at Ntigha primary school in Isiala Ngwa North Local Government Area. The governor pointed out that the scheme would ensure that all the children were adequately taken care of irrespective of parental status and background. The Governor said he felt indebted to the children who were the future leaders, hinting that the scheme guaranteed that every pupil in Abia State was sure of at least one meal a day. He said the initiative was geared towards closing the gap, providing meals to the children and assisting the needy which, would be sustained by Abia families. Free school lunch bags, a bus for food distribution to various primary schools and employment for the chef and stewards amongst others were part of the gains associated with the scheme. The governor’s wife, Mrs Nkechi Ikpeazu also dewormed thousands of primary school pupils during the programme.
dailypost.ng/2016/06/14/free-meal-in-schools-will-curb-drop-out-rate-ikpeazu/

A 37-year-old man, Michael Ugwu, who claims to
work as a police SPY official at a federal ministry
in Lagos state, has been arrested by the police in
the state for taking a 12-year-old orphan,
identified only as Nneka as wife.
Nneka’s grand father, Abada, a native doctor in
Enugu State, reportedly gave out her out in
marriage to Ugwu, an indigene of Aji in Enugu
Ezike town, Igbo-Eze North Local Government
Area of Enugu State.
The Punch is reporting that Ugwu, had gone to
the Ipaja Police Division, Lagos to report that his
teenage wife ran away from home and had since
been missing.
The police, upon finding the said missing wife,
subsequently detained Ugwu for marrying a
minor.
A police source at the Division said, “Ugwu came
and reported that his wife absconded and that he
even took a loan from a bank to marry her. He
even sounded drunk when he came to the station.
“When we saw the minor he called wife, we had
to detain him to get more information, because a
12-year-old girl is not ripe for marriage, so we
had to ask him more questions,” the source
added.
But Ugwu, on his part, said the girl’s grandfather
willingly gave her out to him in marriage at their
hometown in Enugu State.
He added that there was a traditional marriage to
that effect on January 20, 2016 in the village,
attended by about 50 persons, including
community elders, the girl’s grandfather and other
villagers.
He noted he never saw anything wrong with
taking the girl as a wife because there were
elders at the event and they gave their blessings
to the union, adding that the girl’s grandfather,
who also happened to be his old time friend, had
assured him that the girl was not a small girl.
Ugwu said, “I have been under pressure from my
family members to get married, and when I
visited the village earlier in the year, I and Abada,
a retired Biafran soldier, went to have a drink.
“I paid the bills and told Abada I needed a woman
to marry.
“Abada was happy I paid for his drinks, and he
assured me he would introduce me to a girl. He
said I might not be able to take care of a woman
he wanted to give me but that he had another
one for me. The following morning, I visited him
with a friend of mine.
“He asked for N500 and I gave him. Around
10pm, he brought a girl to my house. I was about
sleeping then. He said the girl he brought for me
is his child and that he would want me to marry
from their place.
“I asked if the girl is up to the right age, he said
yes; that she was not a small girl. He said he
needed to give the girl out in marriage so that
she would not get unwanted pregnancy. I said
okay.
“He brought the girl again the following morning.
He asked that I shook hands with the girl and I
did. He said I should not joke with the offer
because someone else had even shown interest in
the girl but that he wanted me to marry her. He
said I should come with one carton each of beer
and malt to ‘knock the door’ as the tradition
demands.
“We call it ‘Omenala’. He gave me the list of
items to buy for the introduction,” Ugwu stated.
“During my first visit, I went with one carton of
beer and malt. During my second visit for the
introduction, the items I bought, according to the
list I was given, included a jar of palm wine worth
N30,000, eight cartons of beer worth N16,000,
two cartons of malt worth N3,000, amount spent
on cooking to entertain the guests cost N11,000,
two laps of pig meat worth N6,000, 30 kolanuts
worth N2,800, two packets of cigarette worth
N400 and dowry of N33,000. I was there with
some of my family members.
“At the event, even though she didn’t give me
wine as required traditionally and we didn’t put
on same attire, Abada gave her to me and told us
to kneel down and he prayed for us. He said he
expected us to come back with children.
“The two times the girl was brought to my house
and on the day of the introduction, she wore high
heels, which made her look taller and mature.
“At that time, I didn’t see her as too young, and
as our elders in the village supported it, I thought
it was right. I am a heavy drinker, maybe that is
why I was confused and the pressure from my
people to get married made me to rush into it.
Then, the girl’s grandfather is a herbalist, I don’t
know whether he covered my eyes because now I
regret my actions.
“I came back to Lagos with the girl in February. I
think I was hypnotised for me to have taken that
loan because now, my salary is being deducted
monthly to pay back the loan.
“I have never slept with her, but I made the
attempt twice but it was not successful, as I
could not penetrate, so I left her.
“I think the man used a charm to hypnotise me,
otherwise, how would I have married such a
young girl without knowing it and that is part of
the reasons why I regret my actions. I love the
girl but she didn’t respond when I tried ‘it’
because there was ‘no way’.
“How would I have a wife at home and I would
still go out to satisfy myself (sexually). A doctor
even advised me not to sleep with her because
she was too young to be pregnant. I made two
attempts to sleep with her but no way. I didn’t
force her. In my life, I had never deflowered any
woman.”
A 37-year-old man, Michael Ugwu, who claims to
work as a police SPY official at a federal ministry
in Lagos state, has been arrested by the police in
the state for taking a 12-year-old orphan,
identified only as Nneka as wife.
Nneka’s grand father, Abada, a native doctor in
Enugu State, reportedly gave out her out in
marriage to Ugwu, an indigene of Aji in Enugu
Ezike town, Igbo-Eze North Local Government
Area of Enugu State.
The Punch is reporting that Ugwu, had gone to
the Ipaja Police Division, Lagos to report that his
teenage wife ran away from home and had since
been missing.
The police, upon finding the said missing wife,
subsequently detained Ugwu for marrying a
minor.
A police source at the Division said, “Ugwu came
and reported that his wife absconded and that he
even took a loan from a bank to marry her. He
even sounded drunk when he came to the station.
“When we saw the minor he called wife, we had
to detain him to get more information, because a
12-year-old girl is not ripe for marriage, so we
had to ask him more questions,” the source
added.
But Ugwu, on his part, said the girl’s grandfather
willingly gave her out to him in marriage at their
hometown in Enugu State.
He added that there was a traditional marriage to
that effect on January 20, 2016 in the village,
attended by about 50 persons, including
community elders, the girl’s grandfather and other
villagers.
He noted he never saw anything wrong with
taking the girl as a wife because there were
elders at the event and they gave their blessings
to the union, adding that the girl’s grandfather,
who also happened to be his old time friend, had
assured him that the girl was not a small girl.
Ugwu said, “I have been under pressure from my
family members to get married, and when I
visited the village earlier in the year, I and Abada,
a retired Biafran soldier, went to have a drink.
“I paid the bills and told Abada I needed a woman
to marry.
“Abada was happy I paid for his drinks, and he
assured me he would introduce me to a girl. He
said I might not be able to take care of a woman
he wanted to give me but that he had another
one for me. The following morning, I visited him
with a friend of mine.
“He asked for N500 and I gave him. Around
10pm, he brought a girl to my house. I was about
sleeping then. He said the girl he brought for me
is his child and that he would want me to marry
from their place.
“I asked if the girl is up to the right age, he said
yes; that she was not a small girl. He said he
needed to give the girl out in marriage so that
she would not get unwanted pregnancy. I said
okay.
“He brought the girl again the following morning.
He asked that I shook hands with the girl and I
did. He said I should not joke with the offer
because someone else had even shown interest in
the girl but that he wanted me to marry her. He
said I should come with one carton each of beer
and malt to ‘knock the door’ as the tradition
demands.
“We call it ‘Omenala’. He gave me the list of
items to buy for the introduction,” Ugwu stated.
“During my first visit, I went with one carton of
beer and malt. During my second visit for the
introduction, the items I bought, according to the
list I was given, included a jar of palm wine worth
N30,000, eight cartons of beer worth N16,000,
two cartons of malt worth N3,000, amount spent
on cooking to entertain the guests cost N11,000,
two laps of pig meat worth N6,000, 30 kolanuts
worth N2,800, two packets of cigarette worth
N400 and dowry of N33,000. I was there with
some of my family members.
“At the event, even though she didn’t give me
wine as required traditionally and we didn’t put
on same attire, Abada gave her to me and told us
to kneel down and he prayed for us. He said he
expected us to come back with children.
“The two times the girl was brought to my house
and on the day of the introduction, she wore high
heels, which made her look taller and mature.
“At that time, I didn’t see her as too young, and
as our elders in the village supported it, I thought
it was right. I am a heavy drinker, maybe that is
why I was confused and the pressure from my
people to get married made me to rush into it.
Then, the girl’s grandfather is a herbalist, I don’t
know whether he covered my eyes because now I
regret my actions.
“I came back to Lagos with the girl in February. I
think I was hypnotised for me to have taken that
loan because now, my salary is being deducted
monthly to pay back the loan.
“I have never slept with her, but I made the
attempt twice but it was not successful, as I
could not penetrate, so I left her.
“I think the man used a charm to hypnotise me,
otherwise, how would I have married such a
young girl without knowing it and that is part of
the reasons why I regret my actions. I love the
girl but she didn’t respond when I tried ‘it’
because there was ‘no way’.
“How would I have a wife at home and I would
still go out to satisfy myself (sexually). A doctor
even advised me not to sleep with her because
she was too young to be pregnant. I made two
attempts to sleep with her but no way. I didn’t
force her. In my life, I had never deflowered any
woman.”
Commenting on the incident, the Director of
Children Affairs in the Ministry, Mrs. Alaba
Fadairo, said the case was under investigation.
The Spokesperson for the Enugu State Police
Command, Ebere Amaraizu, said the command
would swing into action as soon as it is briefed
by the Lagos State Command or a formal report
is made to the command on the matter. on the incident, the Director of
Children Affairs in the Ministry, Mrs. Alaba
Fadairo, said the case was under investigation.
The Spokesperson for the Enugu State Police
Command, Ebere Amaraizu, said the command
would swing into action as soon as it is briefed
by the Lagos State Command or a formal report
is made to the command on the matter.

dailypost.ng/2016/05/29/i-didnt-see-her-as-too-young-man-who-married-12-year-old-girl-in-enugu/

Saraki in my mind right now…

Nigeria's state-run oil firm NNPC and China
State Construction Engineering Corporation
(CSCEC) have signed a $23bn (£16bn; 18bn
euros) deal.
The two will jointly seek financing and credits
from Chinese authorities and banks to build three
refineries and a fuel complex in Nigeria.
The project would add 750,000 barrels per day of
extra refining capacity.
NNPC hopes the construction of new refineries
will stem the flood of imported refined products
into Nigeria.
'Deepen relationships'
Nigeria is the world's 12th-largest oil producer
and the eighth-largest oil exporter.
But the country imports roughly 85% of its fuel
needs because of the disrepair and
mismanagement of its four state-owned
refineries.
"We are about to deepen the existing technical
and commercial relationships between China and
Nigeria through the signing of a memorandum of
understanding," said Shehu Ladan, head of NNPC.
The three refineries will be built in Bayelsa, Kogi
and Lagos states, while a location has to be
confirmed for the petrochemicals complex.
The Nigerian government has said that foreign
companies must invest in developing Nigeria's
infrastructure and economy first, before they can
benefit from its oil and gas exports.

http://www.bbc.com/news/10116945?SThisFB

brown envelope journalism… smh

as much as i detest any form of criminality be it boko, militant terorist, hardsmen etc. but this particular one is deliverately over propagated by bloggers and our poor and unprofessional media houses.
Nigeria should be great again…

Farmers and harders crises is still ongoin in far north and u dont hear report of any hate speech by our media house but since its in another planet(region) you here something 10billion naira farm was destroyed, our women are raped and so on. 10b naira farm in Nigeria(how many do exist if at all we hav in nig.)
but where is lalasticlacla ?