₦airaland Forum

I was just informed that Joseph passed his acceptance exam and has resumed school, the principal said she was shocked at the speed he answered the questions and got them right..I was told the government schools is free but I realized that the state of the govt school was not really impressive and conducive for kids to learn effectively, so I decided to put him in a private school where I believe he will get the best for now...We’ve attended to his mothers hospital issue and the doctor said she will be discharged this week..how can we claim they are leaders of tomorrow when we destroy their future with our own hands...

Joseph is a great leader( I can tell) and in few years you will say I said so but he is one out of many leaders on the streets of Nigeria and Africa so let’s get these our young leaders off the roads and put them in class rooms, because the boys and girls they are today will determine the men and women they will become tomorrow..

I have made some plans for some of these other kids on the street but that will be for later..a big thanks to my team @queen_stephaniejames for the running around and @unilagolodo for posting the picture and everyone else one on ground for bringing out their time and energy to make this happens God bless you guys.. @williamsuchembafoundation

The Ondo state police command is currently on the trail of two armed robbery suspects, Rotimi Adeyeye and Adeoye Bukola, who reportedly escaped from a cell at the Special Anti-Robbery Squad SARS of the police command.

A source in the command said the suspects were arrested for cultism but later discovered to have been responsible for the robbery attack that took place at the home of one Samuel Arifalo in Ijoka area of the state on April 30th this year.

The suspects have been in police custody for 16 days but on Monday July 2nd, they escaped from police cell with handcuffs still on them. Till now, the police is yet to rearrest them.

Confirming the escape, the spokesperson of the state police command, Femi Joseph, said the command had started investigation into the matter. He added that the SARS officers on duty at the time the suspects escaped have been arrested.

The Senate on Thursday demanded investigations into the death of a corp member, Ms Linda Angela Igwetu, who was killed by a policeman on Wednesday.

The matter was raised by Senator Atai Aidoko, citing Orders 42 and 52, stating that while on her way home with her friends, the corp member was shot and rushed to Garki Hospital, Abuja, but was not treated because they needed a police report.

(The ‘End SARS champion,’ Segun Awosanya, had initially claimed in one of his tweets that Garki Hospital first refused to treat the injured corp member without Police report; but he later corrected himself, saying that sources present at the hospital revealed that a consultant was called in, who attended to Linda immediately.)

The Senate resolved to observe a one-minute silence for the deceased and mandated the Senate Committee on Youth and Sports to investigate the death of the corp member; while the Committee on Health was also directed to investigate the (alleged refusal of the hospital) to treat the patient.

The Committee on Police Affairs was also detailed to investigate the cause of the incident, and report back to the Senate in two weeks.

A statement released by Olu Onemola, the Special Assistant on New Media to Senate President Bukola Saraki, corroborated the Senate’s stand

My fiance proposed on my birthday. I was having an amazing time with all my friends and family that came out to my birthday dinner.

Just when I thought things couldn’t be more amazing, he surprisingly told my friends and family to meet us at a hotel where he had “will you marry me” in rose petals and candles everywhere! .
It was literally the most beautiful night of my life❤ .

A man from Ezzagbo in Ebonyi state Okechukwu James Uwa who caused a heavy traffic today at Oshodi said he traveled to Lagos day before yesterday being 27th June 2018 to visit his one time colleague while he was in Aba, Abia state. And was parading along Oshodi when he stumbled on his wife that died two years ago in his home.

According to him, he said; my wife died of motor accident two years ago which I have finished her burial but am shocked to see her with a man who was conveying her in his motorcycle. At first, I hesitated until I summoned courage and when I called her by her name, on turning to see me she disappeared.

Our correspondent also said that the said man who was carrying her on his bike fainted twice before being resuscitated and narrated his own story saying that he have lived with her for 8months, he also said that she moved in with him after they met in a church and he dishing out advances towards her, I love her so much which I have begged to marry her.

She told me she was all alone in Lagos working but told me she was from Ebonyi state. I have many times requested that I meet her people but she would decline saying that her people are evil'.

An ex-wife of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Taiwo, has responded to the claims made by her son’s wife, Tope, saying she (Tope) was bent on destroying her son, Olujonwo Obasanjo.

Olujonwo had about a week ago dragged his wife, Tope, who is the daughter of billionaire businessman, Chief Kessington Adebutu, before the Ogun State Judicial Service Commission and a Lagos State Magistrate’s Court sitting in Igbosere, over allegations of domestic violence, intimidation and threat to his life.

He said on one occasion, his wife slapped him twice and that she was emotionally unstable, aggressive and ready to attack him in the head anytime. He therefore asked the court for an order directing his wife “to stay apart pending when critical issues in the marriage of the parties are determined,” among other prayers.

But in her counter-affidavit, Tope denied being emotionally unstable, saying it was her husband who subjected her to emotional and psychological hardship by abandoning her in his father’s house and rendering himself incommunicado.

She also alleged that he treated her with cruelty and that he was at an unknown location for drug rehabilitation between the end of January and second week of March 2018.

Meanwhile, her mother, Mrs. Rosemary Adebutu, also alleged that Mrs. Obasanjo collected N4m from her husband, popularly known as Baba Ijebu.

But responding to the allegations, the wife of the former president told Saturday PUNCH that she never took any money from Adebutu and that it was untrue that she and her son were drug addicts, as alleged by Baba Ijebu’s wife.

She said, “I heard they said I took money from him. Chief Adebutu is alive and he can testify whether I collected money from him or not. If I had taken money from him, would I still be able to talk? I never took any money from Chief Adebutu. My son’s wife is just bent on destroying him.

“They also said my son and I are drug addicts, which is a lie. What is the problem if a man wants to quit a marriage that would send him to his grave early?

“They also said my son got a contract worth N35m from Segun Adebutu and that he ran away with the money, which is not true. It is true that he was awarded the job, but he did not abandon the job. He had started executing the job but it was when this problem arose that they called my son to threaten him that there would be war if he decided to leave the marriage. They said they would make sure they finished my son and his wife had said she would destroy him.”

“The unfortunate aspect is Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, who has done nothing over this issue, and he’s the one prodding my son’s wife and her mother into continuing this because he wanted my son and his wife to stay in the marriage, so that my son could become collateral for him to keep having access to the Adebutu family.

“I leave them all to God because He’s the one who knows how to reveal things done in the secret and pay people back for their deeds. They think I’m not okay, but everything I warned them against is happening. However, I won’t let them destroy my son.”

Thirty-three-year-old Cynthia has grown restless in recent days. A native of Gboko in Benue State, the young woman, who refused to disclose her other names during a recent encounter with one of our correspondents posing as a potential client, has not only grown confused over what next to do with her life but also where the elusive breakthrough lies. A commercial sex worker in the Jibowu area of Lagos, she revealed how she has been living in fear since two of her colleagues suddenly disappeared more than five months ago. Though the two are yet to be found, Cynthia feared that they may have been used for ritual purposes after they went out to ‘entertain’ a client said to have lodged in a nearby hotel.

“One of our madams after contacting a spiritualist told us that the two ladies had been used for rituals by the customer who engaged their services on that fateful day,” the young woman said, cutting a forlorn picture. “Since we heard that news, many of us have been very afraid. In fact, it has been tough for some of us to have the courage to continue this work,” she added.

After settling for N2, 000 for a short session with one of our correspondents, the 33-year-old became a bit relaxed and chatted freely. Asked how she’ll know and protect herself from customers with ulterior motives especially those, who intend to use her for ritual purposes, Cynthia took a deep breath before pouring out her heart.

“Though before now, I just relied on looks to determine who could be dangerous or not, since my colleagues got missing, many of us here have fortified ourselves spiritually through the assistance of one of our madams,” she revealed. “There is a traditionalist that comes to bathe us here specially once every month and the exercise is to ward off any sort of danger related to our work for that period. But even with this form of protection, I am still quite afraid because there are some customers too who move about with stronger juju with which they can use to catch anybody they want.

“As a result of this development, I have stopped working outside the brothel where I hustle. Any client that needs my services has to come to meet me here for now. Until I find a protection that I am very sure of, I will continue to be careful because I don’t want to die anyhow,” she said.

Like the Benue State-born 33-year-old, Kenny, 29, is another commercial sex worker in the city, who has learnt to be more conscious of her safety in recent times following a rise in the spate of killings of prostitutes for ritual purposes. The Ikire, Osun State native, who plies her trade in the Ibafo area of Ogun State, told one of our correspondents that sought her services that she couldn’t go with him to Ikorodu where he claimed to have lodged in a hotel because she couldn’t guarantee her own safety. Efforts to persuade her yielded little result and in the end, the rambunctious lady agreed to sit at a joint to familiarise before a final agreement would be reached between both parties.

When probed why she had refused to go with our correspondent to his hotel room at the Ikorodu area of Lagos, Kenny said she wasn’t sure if he was a genuine client, who just wanted a steamy session or something more sinister. According to her, even if she must go outside Ibafo with a client these days, she has to get the approval of her chairlady, who would first check spiritually if it is safe or not.

“We are not just talking about the money here, it is about one’s life,” she told one of our correspondents as the conversation went on. “I know I’m a ‘runs babe’ (coded name for prostitutes) but I also value my life. Many of us have been killed by those dealing in human parts in recent times, so one just has to apply care even though one wants to hustle and get good money.

“We have a flat five of us rented at Ibafo, we prefer our clients coming to patronise us there rather than going to hotels with them. But if the person is willing to pay good money, we ask our chairlady to check the road spiritually for us to see if it would be good. She has strong medicine men that work for her and the rest of us contribute a certain amount of money at the end of every month to also benefit from that type of protection. Once she warns us not to go out with any client, we listen to her regardless of the amount the person is offering. She has been in this job for more than 15 years, so she knows a lot more than us. If not for her, people like us would have run into trouble,” Kenny, who gulped three bottles of a popular beer in the nearly 25 minutes the interaction lasted, added.

Her inability to reach her chairlady that afternoon prevented her from giving in to the request of one of our correspondents. The technique is her own way of escaping the prowling eyes of ritual killers posing as genuine customers in need of good sex these days.

Resorting to selling their bodies for a fee as the last hope of survival in an increasingly hostile economy, many commercial sex workers have become easy targets for thieves, kidnappers and ritual killers across the country these days, sending fear and serious panic throughout the infamous industry. Difficult to identify through physical appearance, these ‘predators’ have come in various forms, devising all sorts of means to get their ‘preys’.

For example, last week, a young sex worker from Kogi State, Mercy Moses, lost her life to ritual killers in Azuri-Okene, Adavi Local Government Area, after being lured out of the hotel she operated in the community. Led by one Pastor Otaru Olusegun, the gang, including Yakubu Abdulmuminu and Samuel Olusegun, slept with the young lady several times before dismembering her body and burying some parts under the altar inside the Voice of Canaan Church belonging to the clergy. While confessing to the crime, the pastor claimed that poverty led him into it, revealing that he had hoped to raise around N2.5m from the ritual before he was arrested.

In March 2016, a 35-year-old sex worker in Abuja was found dead in her hotel room a few hours after one of her rich clients visited. It was discovered that her clitoris had been cut off when her body was examined closely by colleagues. The said customer has never been seen around the place again.

In August 2015, a 23-year-old sex worker known as Sitira was murdered in Abeokuta, Ogun State, by suspected ritual killers and her remains dumped at a refuse site. According to an eyewitness, the body was thrown out of a moving Sport Utility Vehicle in the early hours of that fateful day. Angered by that incident, commercial sex workers in the city embarked on a massive protest to vent their frustration at the growing number of similar attacks against their colleagues in the area. While calling for police protection, they vowed to match any ritualist fire for fire.

“I have vowed that nothing would make me follow any customer home again,” one enraged sex worker, said. “It’s either the men follow me to where I stay or we go to a hotel. Any ritual killer, who attempts to take my life, will be punished. If he thinks that I am a prostitute and have no worth, I am going to make sure he does not live to tell his own story. They should come with their charms, we will deal with them,” she added.

Though no accurate data to reveal the frequency of the crisis, dozens of prostitutes in different parts of Nigeria have lost their lives this year after crossing paths with ritual killers disguising as customers in need of paid sex.

One young lady in the business, who told Saturday PUNCH that she was forced to embrace prostitution after failing to find a job with which to support herself and further her studies after completing her National Diploma from a polytechnic in Kwara State, said that apart from using her instincts to detect customers, who could be a threat to her safety, she has decided to fortify herself spiritually to avoid falling into the hands of ritual killers.

“It is difficult to identify the bad ones from mere looks because people have mastered the art of deception over the years,” the lady, who identified herself only as Deola, said. “I have always relied on instinct to guide myself but with what is happening all around the country today, it is very difficult and dangerous to do so. Since this is the only job I do, I have decided to fortify myself spiritually so as to further protect myself against bad guys especially those that see us as easy targets for ritual purposes.

“This job is full of dangers and so one has to be very sharp and smart. As it is, instinct alone won’t work, so one has to be smart and do everything possible to get protection,” she stated.

While narrating what the experience has been operating as a commercial sex worker for about eight years, a young lady, who claims to be from Bayelsa State and named Precious, said that if not for the protective incisions on her body, she would have been used for rituals by two men posing as customers. According to her, she had to jump out of the speeding vehicle of the men when it appeared as the only option left.

“I am lucky to still be alive today because the experience I had last November with ritual killers posing as clients was terrible,” she stated. “There was a night I stood outside the hotel we operate with other girls in search of customers. I didn’t know that the guys that picked me up for the night were fake. Immediately we got inside the car, one of them sprayed something like air freshener and I slept off. Luckily for me I woke up in time before they diverted the car into a bush from the express. I had to summon courage to jump out of the vehicle. If not for God, maybe I could have been killed by the other cars coming behind. I sustained serious injury as a result of that incident.

“Since that period, I have resorted to attending to clients in the hotel we operate. I only go out with the ones I met through close links. At least those ones can be easily traced if anything happens.

“Apart from the incisions on my body, I have met a strong prayer man that has been organising spiritual protection for me. One just has to protect herself on this job,” she said.

Daniela, yet another young lady in the profession of exchanging sex for money, told Saturday PUNCH that apart from also getting spiritual protection to avoid falling into the hands of ritual killers these days, she watches out for certain behaviours, which then alert her to potential danger.

“Whenever I get a customer and he offers to give me amounts like N200, 000 for a night, I run for my life,” she said. “That kind of amount is too exorbitant, there must be more he wants to collect from me other than sexual satisfaction.

“Also, as a way of protecting ourselves, we always tell ourselves about the clients we are going to see especially if we notice the person is into fraudulent practices.

“For example, if I have a client tomorrow, I usually drop his name, contact address, phone number and picture with my friends just to be on a safe side. It is all part of the ways we are protecting ourselves because these ritual killers are not resting. They are coming up with all sorts of means to get us,” she said.

A top member of the National Association of Nigerian Prostitutes, who identified herself only as Nikky, told Saturday PUNCH that their job is just like any other important one in the society, therefore they must be treated with respect and dignity by clients. According to the lady, who said they would continue to engage security agencies and the government in general for the protection of their members, they would employ all sorts of safety measures, including applying spiritual solution, to guard themselves against ritual killers.

“What we provide in the society is an essential service, so nobody should look down on us,” she said. “In other societies, sex workers are respected but here they are rubbished anyhow. As if that is not enough, we have now become easy targets for ritual killers. We will not allow that.

“Already we have sent out a message to security agencies and the government to protect us against evil people but if nothing is done, we will look at other means including spiritual to keep ourselves safe. We are professionals, we will not allow anybody or group scare us out of existence,” she added.