₦airaland Forum

PS: I Have the pictures but would not post them as they dishonour the memories of the fallen soldiers.

I think some Nigeria soldiers were also killed by the Somilian militia in those days.

Famous, Infamous and Iconic Photos
U.S Soldier dragged through Mogadishu

It was a media war that the United States lost in Somalia, ironic since its involvement was forced by the pictures of famine-stricken people there. In one of the clearest and earliest examples of the CNN effect, the war was repeatedly dogged by the dozens of press photographers. It is an anticipating media, not snipers or enemy combatants, that greeted the U.S landing forces in Mogadishu in December 9th 1992.

For a war that began with memorable images, it is both fitting and ironic that it ended because of another set of dramatic images. The photos taken by Canadian photographer Paul Watson, of a dead American soldier being dragged through the streets of Mogadishu spelled the beginning of the end for U.S.-U.N. peacekeeping force. Domestic opinion turned hostile as horrified TV viewers watched images of the bloodshed—-including this Pulitzer-prize winning footage of Somali warlord Mohammed Aideed’s supporters dragging the body of U.S. Staff Sgt. William David Cleveland through the streets of Mogadishu, cheering. President Clinton immediately abandoned the pursuit of Aideed, the mission that cost Cleveland his life and gave the order for all American soldiers to withdraw from Somalia by March 31, 1994. Other Western nations followed suit.

When the last U.N. peacekeepers left in 1995, ending a mission that had cost more than $2 billion, Mogadishu still lacked a functioning government. The battle deaths, and the harrowing images prompted lingering U.S. reluctance to get involved in Africa’s crises, including the following year’s genocide in Rwanda. In 1996, Osama bin Laden cited the incident as proof that the U.S. was unable to stomach casualties: when “one American was dragged in the streets of Mogadishu you left; the extent of your impotence and weaknesses became very clear.” Never before or since had a photo altered a nation’s political destinies so much so.

[In the topmost photo, the soldier's genitals are exposed. When Time magazine decided to print it, they decided to cover them up in a controversial decision. Right after Watson took that photo, the crowd turned more violent, and they forced him to enter into a leaving car. He bolted from it and took the middle picture. The people in that photo looked a lot meaner and their eyes were focused on Watson, who defied the order to leave. It was this middle picture that AP ran (AP had tough policies against nudity). Supreme irony was that, as Watson noted, "decision was made to censor something sexually offensive, while the outrageous violence of desecrating a corpse is deemed safe for the general public's consumption."

Time magazine's Stephen Mayes replied: "[It] exposes the sensitivities of a nation that is militarily strong enough to confront one dead soldier but morally too insecure to risk the exposure of a single genital, even in such a non-sexual context?”]

http://iconicphotos./2010/03/10/u-s-marine-dragged-through-mogadishu/

Soldiers' corpses dragged through Mogadishu
Updated 3/21/2007 4:52 PM | Comment | Recommend E-mail | Print |

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Masked gunmen dragged slain soldiers through the streets of Somalia's capital Wednesday, then set the bodies on fire as jeering crowds threw rocks and kicked the dead after a fierce battle in a neighborhood loyal to Islamic insurgents.

At least 16 people were reported killed and dozens were wounded in the hours-long firefight, which was some of the heaviest fighting in Mogadishu since a radical Muslim militia was driven from the city in December after six months in power.

An Associated Press photographer saw six corpses — all soldiers for the U.N.-backed interim government or their Ethiopian allies — burned and mutilated while masked men shouted "God is great!" Women in head scarves and flowing dresses pounded one charred body with rocks.

A similar scene in Mogadishu grabbed the world's attention in 1993 when militiamen shot down a U.S. Black Hawk helicopter during an attempt to capture a warlord and dragged around dead American soldiers. The Clinton administration pulled out U.S. troops, and U.N. peacekeepers soon followed suit, leaving Somalia to years of anarchy.

One masked man, Abdinasir Hussein, said he dragged a soldier's corpse behind his motorbike. He told AP he wanted to show that Somalis will defeat the "invaders," referring to the troops from neighboring Ethiopia that helped government forces defeat the Islamic militia.

"I'm happy to drag an Ethiopian soldier on the Mogadishu streets," Hussein said.

Ahmed Mohamed Botaan, a clan elder in the neighborhood where the battle erupted before dawn, said he counted 16 bodies, seven of which were government soldiers. Mogadishu's three hospitals reported at least seven dead and 36 wounded.

The fighting began when Somali and Ethiopian soldiers entered the insurgent stronghold in southern Mogadishu seeking to consolidate the government's control. But hundreds of masked gunmen were waiting, and shooting raged for hours.

An insurgent group known as the Popular Resistance Movement in the Land of the Two Migrations, which is linked to the ousted Council of Islamic Courts, claimed it was the target of the government offensive but said its fighters repulsed the attack.

"They were unable to bear the pain of bullets coming from all four directions," the group said in a statement posted on the Islamic militia's website.

A government official, who agreed to discuss the combat situation only if not quoted by name, said the offensive focused on parts of the city controlled by the Habr Gedir clan, which supported more radical elements of the Islamic militia and opposes the interim administration.

The official said there would be more fighting. "The next week will be very hot in Mogadishu," the official said.

President Abdullahi Yusuf's Darod clan and the Habr Gedir are traditional enemies. Habr Gedir elders accuse Yusuf of favoring his own clansmen and recruiting only Darod into the new Somali army, aggravating Somalia's complex mixture of clan, political and religious disputes.

The United States has supported Yusuf's government and accuses the Islamic militia of having ties to al-Qaeda terrorists.

The U.S. ambassador to Kenya, Michael Ranneberger, who also represents American interests in Somalia, condemned Wednesday's bloodshed but said Washington believes things are better in Somalia.

"On balance we do feel that the situation in Somalia is moving forward in a generally positive way," Ranneberger told reporters in Nairobi, Kenya.

Somalia has been without an effective central government since 1991, when clan-based warlords ousted a longtime dictator and then began fighting among themselves.

Yusuf's administration was set up with U.N. help but it has failed to assert control across the country. The African Union has deployed a small peacekeeping force to defend the government, but daily violence grips Mogadishu and civilians caught in the middle are suffering the most.

"The government should learn from today's defeat. Its soldiers were dragged through the streets," said Zainab Abdi, a mother of two children.

She urged the government to reach out to the leaders of the Islamic militia, who are in hiding and promising to wage an Iraq-style insurgency.

"Otherwise, civilians will keep dying," Abdi said. "Who will the government rule if their people are killed every day?"


http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-03-21-somalia_N.htm

Brings back sad memories of the American soldier whose dead boby was dragged tied to the back of a truck through the streets of Mogadishu.

And the name of one of the warlords- Farah Aideed, I think.
Sad! Realy Sad!

.

Arrival at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Australia.

http://pmnewsnigeria.com/2011/10/24/in-pictures-president-goodluck-jonathan-arrives-australia-for-commonwealth-summit/

Lagos govt plans Ikorodu road expansion
On September 21, 2011 · In News ,
By Olasunkanmi Akoni

IKEJA- Lagos State Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, has said the state plans to expand Lagos–Ikorodu Road and construct a new road to link the town with Lagos-Ibadan Expressway by Ojodu- Berger.

Meanwhile, Permanent Secretary, Office of Infrastructure in the state, Wasiu Olokunola, who spoke at the 2011 lecture on “Entrepreneurship Opportunities in the Civil Engineering Profession,” urged young engineering graduates to reduce their dependency on white-collar jobs by embracing programmes and activities that would make them self- reliant.

Hamzat, who spoke on a radio programme, yesterday, said the plan was informed by the large population of people in the axis and the need to ensure unhindered movement of goods, services and part of strategy to bring succour and relief to residents of Ikorodu and its environs.

He said work on the expansion of the current route would begin soon and would include the creation of an exclusive carriage for BRT route. He added that Ojodu-Berger-Ikorodu route was being mapped to avoid extensive demolition that a present route plan entails.

While calling on the Federal Government to protect the roads by providing train services to undertake haulage of goods and services, he said the use of heavy duty vehicles in movement of goods and services was having untold consequences on roads across the country.

Delivering the lecture, organised by the state Chapter of the Nigerian Institution of Civil Engineers in Lagos, Olokunola said that engineering offers vast opportunities across its wide spectrum of specialisation, adding that the nation offers engineers more opportunities that were yet to be tapped.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/lagos-govt-plans-ikorodu-road-expansion/

Where is that name and shame thread again? [Furiously goes out searching for the thread]

This is bread and butter journalism!

johnie:
Respite in sight as Abuja light rail nears completion .

The road traffic gridlock in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja is becoming a nightmare for residents. The problem is further compounded by expansion work on major highways leading to the city centre. For residents of satellite towns like Kubwa, Mararaba, Nyanya, Karu, Lugbe, Gwarinpa, going to work or returning, has not been smooth.

Many residents have had to put up with hours of waiting on long queues because of the traffic bottlenecks.

Doesn't the heading say that the project is nearing completion? How come the gridlock is "becoming a nightmare?"

johnie:
To redress the chaotic traffic situation, the administration of former minister of FCT, Adamu Ailero, came up with the idea of light rail in 2009. The light rail which is expected to link the city was billed to terminate at the famous Eagle Square, in the centre of the city.

Since the idea was mooted, however, not much has been heard about the project, thus leaving residents to doubt the good intention of government.

Though the FCT administration gave end of 2010 as take off date for the test run of the rail, residents waited in vain with no sign of progress. This was what prompted the newly inaugurated Senate Committee on FCT, headed by second term senator, Smart Adeyemi, to lead other members of the committee to pay on- the-spot visit to the headquarters of the FCT, to ascertain the true situation of the project.

Though Adeyemi was a member of the committee in the last Senate, he felt he did not have much say in the matter unlike now that he is at the helm of affairs, as chairman.

Last week, Adeyemi and members of the committee took a three-hour tour of the light rail corridor from the Ministry of Finance Estate through Idu, where the Chinese company handling the project has its sight for producing all the materials needed for the completion of the rail. Unknown to the residents, work on the project had advanced and from the briefing the committee got, test run of the light rail would commence this year’s December.

Is this about the incompetence or inabiliy of Ailero to complete the project he started, about Adeyemi not being able to speak when he was a member of the committee, or a way of showing us that Adeyemi is the "action man" who would bring respite to the residents of Abuja?

johnie:
The federal lawmakers were taking through the corridors which already had laid tracks for the first phase of the rail. CityFile discovered on the tour that two locomotive engines were on sight awaiting coaches for the test run. It was also noticed that the company has in stock huge pile of rail tracks, which could speed up the completion of the project in near future.

The committee members were able to see firsthand transfer of technology to Nigerians, as young girls and boys mounted various operating machines where equipment for the rail was produced. The committee chairman told CityFile after the tour that “the light rail is a reality from what we have seen. I was part of the committee that visited the site last year.

“I am very satisfied with the level of progress on the sight, and hopefully the project will take off on schedule. Our people have suffered in an attempt to get to work. As representatives of the people, it is our duty to ensure that we alleviate the sufferings of the poor masses and this light rail is one of the measures government is working out to address that.”

He said the committee had directed the FCT administration to revoke the licence granted six transport operators who after collecting the licence have failed to deliver.

He said “there are competent operators that have the resources to deliver, and we think there is no reason why some people would be granted licences and they would not perform. The committee would not tolerate that type of situation and we have told the officials in charge.”

From what is now on ground and with the assurance by the Chinese company handling the light rail, residents can begin to heave sighs of relief from the end of this year as the test run of the project comes on stream.

This kind of "report" which reads like a report from the committee chairman himself makes one doubt the sincereity of the lawmakers in carrying out their oversight functions!

Respite in sight as Abuja light rail nears completion .
Tuesday, 25 October 2011 00:00 TUNJI OLAWUNI

The road traffic gridlock in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja is becoming a nightmare for residents. The problem is further compounded by expansion work on major highways leading to the city centre. For residents of satellite towns like Kubwa, Mararaba, Nyanya, Karu, Lugbe, Gwarinpa, going to work or returning, has not been smooth.

Many residents have had to put up with hours of waiting on long queues because of the traffic bottlenecks. To redress the chaotic traffic situation, the administration of former minister of FCT, Adamu Ailero, came up with the idea of light rail in 2009. The light rail which is expected to link the city was billed to terminate at the famous Eagle Square, in the centre of the city.

Since the idea was mooted, however, not much has been heard about the project, thus leaving residents to doubt the good intention of government.

Though the FCT administration gave end of 2010 as take off date for the test run of the rail, residents waited in vain with no sign of progress. This was what prompted the newly inaugurated Senate Committee on FCT, headed by second term senator, Smart Adeyemi, to lead other members of the committee to pay on- the-spot visit to the headquarters of the FCT, to ascertain the true situation of the project.

Though Adeyemi was a member of the committee in the last Senate, he felt he did not have much say in the matter unlike now that he is at the helm of affairs, as chairman.

Last week, Adeyemi and members of the committee took a three-hour tour of the light rail corridor from the Ministry of Finance Estate through Idu, where the Chinese company handling the project has its sight for producing all the materials needed for the completion of the rail. Unknown to the residents, work on the project had advanced and from the briefing the committee got, test run of the light rail would commence this year’s December.

The federal lawmakers were taking through the corridors which already had laid tracks for the first phase of the rail. CityFile discovered on the tour that two locomotive engines were on sight awaiting coaches for the test run. It was also noticed that the company has in stock huge pile of rail tracks, which could speed up the completion of the project in near future.

The committee members were able to see firsthand transfer of technology to Nigerians, as young girls and boys mounted various operating machines where equipment for the rail was produced. The committee chairman told CityFile after the tour that “the light rail is a reality from what we have seen. I was part of the committee that visited the site last year.

“I am very satisfied with the level of progress on the sight, and hopefully the project will take off on schedule. Our people have suffered in an attempt to get to work. As representatives of the people, it is our duty to ensure that we alleviate the sufferings of the poor masses and this light rail is one of the measures government is working out to address that.”

He said the committee had directed the FCT administration to revoke the licence granted six transport operators who after collecting the licence have failed to deliver.

He said “there are competent operators that have the resources to deliver, and we think there is no reason why some people would be granted licences and they would not perform. The committee would not tolerate that type of situation and we have told the officials in charge.”

From what is now on ground and with the assurance by the Chinese company handling the light rail, residents can begin to heave sighs of relief from the end of this year as the test run of the project comes on stream.

http://www.businessdayonline.com/NG/index.php/city-file/city-file/28950-respite-in-sight-as-abuja-light-rail-nears-completion

In Ikorodu, Lagos, ‘It’s Water, Water, Everywhere, But None to Drink’

By Chiemelie Ezeobi

The annual agony of residents of Ikorodu area of Lagos State began again last week when roads turned into rivers and rivers into little oceans. The residents of the area are now grappling with the war declared by nature.

For the Ikorodu residents, hearts beat faster with possibility of a rising blood pressure whenever the cloud gathers and the rains threaten. Whenever it rains, it pours. With each down pour, the area becomes flooded as the level of water at the Odo-Ogun dam overflows its bank.

Not surprisingly, activities always grind to a halt in the area because of the flooding menace. When THISDAY paid a visit to the area after the recent incessant rain fall witnessed in the area, the roads were practically impassable. The flood has virtually sacked the highway for a stretch running into kilometres.

The situation was so bad that the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LATSMA) operating at the Orile Odo-Ogun point were seen directing motorists to ply one way so as to ease traffic on one lane. Even as they waded through the heavy knee-deep flood, the traffic officials faced a herculean task which they faced with all determination.

Also affected were industries and schools as they were all shut down to await the recession of the water. Some of the parents spoken to worried that at the rate of the flood, their kids would be behind in their academic pursuits.

Also worrying over the effect of the flooding at Ikorodu, a motorist who preferred anonymity, noted that it was indeed a horrifying experience for road users. Explaining further, he said whenever it rains in Ikorodu, the roads are made impassable, with all the drainages covered, submerged and overflown thereby causing traffic snarl that usually lasts for hours.

While admitting that most of the flooding is caused by bad roads and lack of drainages, he called on the state government to live up to its responsibility by building passable roads and of course a channel for the water to pass through. He added that the government should chase out people who have, over time, built their shops on the drainage system in the state.

This is, however, not the first time the residents would be facing such havoc-wreaking flood. It would be recalled that in October 2010, in line with climate change predictions, two dams were opened in the north, flooding into neighbouring states and displaced about two million people.

Confirming the severity of the flood then, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said the 2010 flood has brought the number of people displaced in Nigeria to 258,044 while about 1,555 lives were lost to cholera epidemic due to contamination of drinking water as result of the flooding.

This, they noted, was expected, going by available information and statistics that indicate that climate variation is becoming more extreme in different parts of the African continent and beyond.

Unfortunately, the flood also extended to Ikorodu axis and many of the houses were submerged, with some houses and properties washed away in the fierce flow. The situation got so bad that the residents resorted to paddling canoes from street to street, even to go buy victuals from neighbourhood shops.

The flood was as a result of the release of excess water of Oyan Dam into Ogun River, which consequently has been overflowing its bank. The flooding sacked many people who reside near the course of the Ogun River in both Lagos and Ogun States.

However, despite the flooding at the riverine areas, the state Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Tunji Bello in a press release made available to THISDAY Monday, stated that contrary to opinion in some quarters, the flood control measures of the state government is working.

The commissioner made this assessment on Sunday during a joint Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) tour of areas like Ajegunle, Agiliti, Itowolo, Owode-Elede and Owode-Onirin and Orile Odo-Ogun in Ikorodu district.

Buttressing, he said his statement was backed by the fact that despite the incessant heavy downpour in the last few weeks, there was a remarkable reduction in the level of flooding of the flood prone areas as compared to last year.

On the sources of the flood in the area, Bello said that Lagos State had to cope with a situation in which rain water travelled from places in Oyo and Ogun States through the Ogun River to discharge into Lagos Lagoon. “1/3 of entire Oyo State and ½ of Ogun State discharge water into Lagos” he said.

Bello reiterated that given all these factors along with Climate Change, it was not possible to have flood-free Lagos. He posited that no country can now boast of a flood-free state because of the global nature of climate change.

He, however, said what they mitigate the effect by ensuring that the drainages are working to allow the free flow as well as plant trees to reduce atmospheric movement. He urged the residents to be watchful and not wait for the situation to exacerbate before they make plans to pack out.

It would be recalled that during the Ikorodu flood in October, 2010, the state government promised to relocate about 681 victims.

Governor Babatunde Fashola had said since the area was flood-prone, government would look for land to relocate the entire communities to a new site. To support the residents, he further promised that the land would be sold as cheap as possible. It could not be confirmed if this promise has been kept.

THISDAY gathered that in the event of any mishap, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) has put measures in place like the strengthening of the Primary Healthcare Centres to deal with diseases associated with flood.

The issue of the flood is, however, seen as different strokes for different folks. Speaking to THISDAY, Mr. Ebenezer Etete said, “the residents in the area are living too close to the river banks and I believe that it’s caused by the laxity of town planners. If we had a good town planning scheme, people should not be left to build houses that are too close to the river.

Reacting to the option of moving away, a visibly agitated Okon Bassey asked: “Where do we go to? This is the only home I have known since I moved to Lagos. The land and house I live in belongs to me. If I pack out will I be compensated for my loss?

But one Kayode lamented the fate that has befallen their location. Hear him: “What kind of childhood are we creating for our innocent children when all they know is that they are often given an indefinite break from school when their mates in other areas are in session? Is this life?”

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/in-ikorodu-lagos-it-s-water-water-everywhere-but-none-to-drink-/101259/

Flood disrupts traffic flow on Ikorodu road
By TOLUWANI ENIOLA

The flood, which has submerged houses in coastal communities situated on Ikorodu Road, Lagos, has also made vehicular traffic on some portions of the ever-busy road a nightmare, reports TOLUWANI ENIOLA


RESIDENTS of riverine communities on Ikorodu road and commuters from that axis of Lagos yesterday spent several hours in traffic; no thanks to the floods from Ogun River that had almost cut them off.

Many, who could not endure the gridlock had to re-route their trips either through Ajah-Lekki or the Sagamu/Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

The traffic elicited emotions from residents of the affected communities, which include: Owode-Onirin, Owode-Elede, Agiliti, Ajegunle, Isheri-North and other coastal communities at Mile 12.

The Nation learnt that residents of the affected communities had a sleepless night because of the fear of being wiped away by flood. Sources told this reporter that some residents in Ajegunle slept in abandoned vehicles on the roads to save their lives.

Some rose as early as 5 am to beat the anticipated traffic but were still trapped on the road.

Many commuters waded through the flooded road with trousers rolled up above their knees. The flood became a blessing for commercial motorcyclists, who got free water to wash their motorbikes.

Traffic was held up for several hours. Many could not make it to their offices as the long queues of vehicles stretched from Mile 12 to Zion Street in Ikorodu.

Officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA) had a hectic time maintaining order as impatient drivers drove against traffic. Some vehicles parked indiscriminately on either side of the dual-carriage way were submerged in the flood.

A newspaper vendor, Mr Nurudeen Abdulsemiu, who witnessed the traffic snarl, described it as a terrible one. Abdulsemiu said: “It was very terrible. For like three hours, the roads were completely blocked. At the Odo-Ogun Bus stop, the flood took over the roads. Many motorists flouted traffic regulations. The LASTMA officials over-worked themselves to restore order.

Also affected were secondary school pupils in the area, who had to take a boat out of their streets to get to the main road. For instance, Ifelodun Street in Ajegunle was completely overtaken by flood. Residents were at the mercy of the few boat riders who capitalised on the disaster to make money. The Nation gathered that residents of the street pay N20 to get to their homes on wooden canoes. The situation was the same at Odo-Ogun where unemployed youths became emergency paddlers.

One of them, identified as Peter John, who was asked to take reporters through Ifelodun street to assess the situation, demaded N500.

Residents stood helplessly in their flooded homes watching the canoes go by. Dogs and other pets lay sedentary on piles of refuse to avoid being swept away by the flood. Evening services could not hold at Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) and First Baptist Church on Ifelodun Street.

One of the affected house owners, Mrs Omirinde Olufunmilayo, appealed to the government for assistance. She said she has nowhere to go.

Mrs Olufunmilayo, who stood in a pool of water reaching up to her windows, cried : “Please, help us appeal to the government to find a lasting solution to this problem. I have been in this community for 25 years. I have lived a significant part of my life here. I have four children who also grew up here. The situation has been like this for many years but it was not as worse as this. Our representatives in government should be our voice but nothing significant has been done to end our woes.The N700 million released by the Federal Government for these communities should be utilised to find a lasting solution.

“There is no where we would relocate to, knowing full well that the problems of accommodation is serious in Lagos. I have observed that the canals recently built by the government need to be opened to allow the water to pass. As you can see, to go in and out of this street, you have to use the canoe. Remember this street has a tarred road. This is sad.”

At Waterside, the gateway to Agiliti, the roads were also heavily flooded. Some pupils returning from schools were assisted by the elderly to get home.

The people suddenly became hostile to reporters, as they were rebuffed by angry residents. The people took them for government officials. At Owode-Elede, vehicles that conveyed some TV camera men were attacked by angry youths.

“If you come here and take pictures again, we will kill you,” they threatened.

When this reporter met the Baale of Odo-Ogun community, the old man declined to speak, saying it was a waste of time. “Don’t come and ask me questions again. It is every year that you come here, yet the situation is like this. What has the government done to improve this condition?

As at 2pm yesterday, the traffic gridlock reduced because the flood subsided. But residents fear the worst may not be over.

Speaking with The Nation, the Head of Operation, LASTMA, Ikorodu, Mr Oladunni Shakira, who confirmed the incident, said the situation was under control. He said: “Flood is a natural disaster. We will continue to do our best to maintain order.

A source from the Lagos State Ministry of the Environment who prefers anonymity, said the state government was doing its best to attain a flood-free environment. He urged residents to assist the government by vacating the waterpath.

Commissioner for the Environment Tunji Bello, duringa visit to the area on Sunday, said: “We have been working endlessly to mitigate the effects of flooding.In the last one week, we have been on air trying to alert Lagosians that those who live along the flood plains of Ogun River, such as Isheri North, up to Ajegunle and Owode area face imminent disaster if they fail to relocate, If the rain stops, there is no cause for alarm. But if we should have continuous rain for the next two or three days, there is likelihood of a total wipe out.”

http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/news/24039-flood-disrupts-traffic-flow-on-ikorodu-road.html

Dis one na Gba Fun Olorun Airlines -- We take you there, dead or alive!

Frequent listeners to Westsyde on 102.3FM would know what I mean.

Can someone help us with a picture  of the plane, please?

There’s no PDP in Lagos –Tinubu

He said the PDP does not exist in Lagos and that it was too early to reach a verdict about voter apathy and voter manipulation. Tinubu made these comments in a chat with newsmen shortly after casting his vote in Ikeja on Saturday.

“They started crying foul even before voting started. They just woke up to the fact that the LCDAs exist. They don’t have the people. But I am glad they are in the race. This is the beauty of democracy. We did our campaign, we created awareness among the citizens about their right to vote.”

While reacting directly to the unfounded allegations of rigging elections, Asiwaju Tinubu described the PDP as master riggers. “They don’t know how to conduct elections. Look at the 2007 elections with the hundreds of litigations and overturned PDP victories at the courts and tribunals.”

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2011/oct/23/national-23-10-2011-005.html

Is this a new report or a press statement?
Is the reporter qualified to categorise the allegations as unfounded?

This our journalists sef

I doubt the authenticity of this picture.

Compare the positioning of the head with that in this picture that was cicrulating earlier.

And who detains a suspect with his belt?

This is a media trial!

[size=18pt]CAUTION:

Are you in the habit of running across the road at first round about?

STOP NOW!  Make sure you use the newly constructed pedestrian bridge![/size]

The Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) officials arrested a lot of unwary pedestrians at the round about this morning and herded them into their Black Maria!

It was a sorry sight.

I think there are more civilised ways of effecting attitudinal change.

@occam,

The other similarity that Gadaffi and Saddam have is that they both ran to to their hometowns. i.e. Sirte and Tikrit.

Nugget: When looking for a fugitive despot, search his home town thoroughly!

And "field marshall" Tantawi, Egypt's new military ruler was Mubarak's defence minister and long time confidant.

A case of "soldier go, soldier come?"

George Orwell's Animal Farm is truly a classic!

@reference, very good point.

When we are blinded by naïve or self-centred interests to make gods of our "leaders", the end result is uncontrollable dictatorship.

One thing I find interesting in the Libyan case, is that some of the people at the helm of affairs in the NTC were senior officials in Gadaffi,s regime till as recently as a few months ago.

Reminds me some of our politicians who jump from the Local rulinG party (usually PDP or ACN) when they don't secure the party's ticket only to go back to the party they deserted immediately they lose the elections!

Mobutu Sese Seko

The archetypal African dictator, Mobutu Sese Seko, a military officer, rose to power in the Congo by displacing populist, left-leaning leader Patrice Lumumba. Burnishing his nationalist chops, he renamed the resource-rich, strategic former Belgian colony "Zaire," a pronunciation of a local Kikongo word for "the river that swallows all rivers."

Mobutu swallowed all his country's politics, building a highly centralized state where power radiated from his presidential palace and tales of his nepotism and corruption — including Concorde-borne shopping trips to Paris — were legion. Propped up with aid from the West — for years, Zaire was one of the biggest recipients of U.S. funds in Africa — Mobutu presided over the country for some four decades, despite myriad reports of abuses and human rights violations.

The end of the Cold War prompted him to embark upon hesitant political reform, but it took civil strife and the victory of armies loyal to Laurent Kabila to unseat Mobutu in 1997 — he died shortly thereafter in exile in Morocco, of prostate cancer.

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2097426_2097427_2097458,00.html

Pol Pot, Former Khmer Rouge Leader, Dead at 73
7.27 a.m. ET (1127 GMT) April 16, 1998
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cheating pursuers who believed they were days away from capturing him for trial, toppled Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot died peacefully in his sleep — evading prosecution in the deaths of as many as 2 million countrymen. He was 73.

Cambodians wept in disappointment after hearing that Pol Pot had died of heart failure Wednesday in a jungle hut on the Thai border, even as the last diehard members of his vanquished movement were moving toward surrendering him to an international tribunal.

"He deserved to die. I am only sorry that he died so easily without being tried," sobbed Kim Saren, whose entire family — mother, father and eight brothers and sisters — died under Pol Pot's regime.

Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, killing everyone who stood in the way of remaking the country into a Marxist agrarian regime. One person in five died of starvation, illness or execution.

Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk, who the Khmer Rouge deposed, recently described Pol Pot as "one of the most powerful monsters ever created by humanity."

The last few hundred Khmer Rouge were on the run from government soldiers and the movement was nearing its demise at the time of his death. He was no longer the leader, but a prisoner of his own men who were offering to turn him over for trial in exchange for a peace deal.

Pol Pot's wife discovered his body when she went to arrange the mosquito netting around him for the night, said Non Nou, his Khmer Rouge jailer.

"At 12 midnight his wife came to us" sobbing, Non Nou said. "She learned that her husband was dead when she was tying the net for him. He died in a hut built for him after he lost his power."

Non Nou said Pol Pot's body would be kept for one or two days before a traditional Cambodian funeral. "Wait and see," he said when asked if journalists or outsiders would be allowed to attend.

Thai military officers, speaking on condition of anonymity, said one of their teams had crossed into Cambodia and obtained photographs of Pol Pot's corpse. The photos were to be released to the media Friday.

Skepticism about the news of the reclusive leader's death, often rumored in recent years, was especially strong given the timing. The United States sought China's aid on April 9 in bringing him to trial for crimes against humanity, and his comrades-turned-captors were mulling over what nation, if any, they should surrender him.

"I think we could almost have arrested him tomorrow. It was very close," said Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, a Yale University-affiliated project gathering evidence against top Khmer Rouge leaders in case they are ever brought to trial.

Youk Chhang said countries like Thailand and China must be "relieved" about the death because Pol Pot would not be able to reveal just how much these countries had aided his movement.

To the end, Pol Pot showed no regret, or even recognition of the misery he had caused.

His "conscience is clear," he told Western journalist Nate Thayer in October. While he acknowledged "mistakes," he suggested he had been the target of a plot to discredit him, perhaps by Cambodia's traditional enemy, Vietnam.

It was a frail gray-haired man who spoke to Thayer in the first interview he had given in 18 years. By then he had become a victim of the movement he once headed, condemned to spend the last months of his life under house arrest.

A "people's tribunal" held at the guerrillas' last stronghold in northern Cambodia condemned him in July for crimes that included the killing of the group's longtime guerrilla defense minister, Son Sen, and his family.

The murders were committed by Pol Pot's henchmen as the group itself was in its death throes, sent into irrevocable decline by mass defections in 1996.

"I want you to know that everything I did, I did for my country," Pol Pot said in his rueful final interview last fall.

Pol Pot was born into a farming family in Kompong Thom province, 80 miles north of Phnom Penh. Personal details of his life were always hard to verify, and only in his 1997 interview did he make public the true year of his birth, 1925.

Pol Pot went to Paris in 1949 on a government scholarship to study electronics. Absorbed with leftist politics, he established a communist cell with fellow Cambodian students. He failed his exams, lost his scholarship and returned home.

In the early 1960s, Pol Pot fled into the jungle after the government, led by then-Prince Norodom Sihanouk, savagely repressed leftist opposition. There, he built up an armed resistance movement, dubbed the Khmer Rouge — Red Cambodians — by Sihanouk.

In 1970, when Sihanouk was overthrown in a coup, the Khmer Rouge numbered a few thousand. But the aggrieved prince then joined forces with them, bringing his prestige and popular support.

Aided by China and Vietnam, the guerrillas gained control of the countryside and forced the army of U.S.-backed Premier Lon Nol into the towns. U.S. bombing alienated the peasantry.

On April 17, 1975, the black pajama-clad guerrillas seized Phnom Penh, immediately expelled all foreigners and sealed off the country.

"This is Year Zero," Pol Pot said.

Society was to be "purified," Khmer Rouge officials said. The country began a forced march to pure agrarian communism — cities were emptied, money was abolished, nationwide communal kitchens introduced, schools and temples shut.

Phnom Penh was evacuated at gunpoint and its 2 million people sent to work in the countryside.

Marked for death were educated people, religious or ethnic minorities, Buddhist monks, and anyone suspected of ties with the former government or who questioned the regime.

Vietnam invaded on Christmas Day 1978 and installed a new communist government led by Khmer Rouge defectors. Pol Pot retreated to western Cambodia and began directing his forces against the Vietnamese.

The Khmer Rouge boycotted a U.N.-supervised election in 1991. A decline in strength and support was capped by the 1996 defections.

In 1997, his interviewer asked Pol Pot if a daughter born to him after a 1987 marriage would be proud of him when she grew up.

"I don't know about that," Pol Pot responded. "It's up to history to judge."


http://www2.fiu.edu/~fcf/polsstilldead41698.html

October 20, 2011 12:26 PM
Qaddafi's last moments: "Don't shoot"

Muammar Qaddafi's final day most likely began as it ended: In a squeeze. He was almost surely in the 700-square-yard area of Sirte where Libya's ex-rebels had penned in the die-hard forces remaining loyal to him.


The transitional government had for some time speculated that Qaddafi was out wandering the desert, recruiting fighters for a counter-insurgency. Therefore, at around 8 a.m., the ex-rebels where probably unaware that their ultimate target was actually within their grasp as they began an assault on that small final area. It was around that time that Qaddafi got in a convoy to flee, according to most accounts.


Somewhere just outside of the loyalist-held area, NATO aircraft struck Qaddafi's convoy, but didn't kill him. According to NATO officials, they were unaware Qaddafi was inside. That airstrike, however, hastened his demise.


The Telegraph's Ben Farmer visited the scene where Qaddafi's convoy was hit and the ex-dictator's final moments played out. He writes: "Colonel Gaddafi was finally cornered in a drain underneath a road in open countryside to the west of the city of Sirte. Rebels said a column of vehicles tried to punch out of an encirclement at dawn. They parked up around 3-4kms west of the town, which was hit by a NATO airstrike. Gaddafi and several bodyguards were then forced to take refuge in the drain where they were then captured and taken away by revolutionary forces."




Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters carry a young man holding what they claim to be the gold-plated gun of ousted Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi at the site where the latter was allegedly captured in the coastal Libyan city of Sirte on October 20, 2011.

(Credit: Getty Images) An ex-rebel fighter named Mohammed, "a young fighter in his 20s wearing a blue t-shirt and a New York Yankees baseball cap," told the BBC he found Qaddafi hiding in the tiny drain pipe. The colonel allegedly looked up and said simply: "Don't shoot."


They didn't listen.

There are conflicting reports about how and at whose hands exactly Qaddafi died. It seems pretty certain he was alive when first captured. Al Jazeera aired video (below) of what is almost surely Qaddafi's final moments. The once-mighty ex-dictator is seen soaked in blood, apparently disoriented, either being led around by or restrained by ex-rebels, who brandish guns as they yell at him and tug his hair, and he appears to yell back. Still other video taken later of his body being dragged around show him covered in blood everywhere, seeming to be bleeding from the head and other places. Reuters reports Qaddafi died around noon and that an ex-rebel official said Qaddafi died after capture in a firefight between his supporters and his captors.


The Associated Press reports: "One fighter says after the convoy was hit, it turned back and re-entered a compound, which was then attacked by several hundred fighters. He says they found Qaddafi there, and someone shot him with a pistol. But a spokesman for a local military council says fighters had surrounded the convoy and exchanged fire, before finding Qaddafi in one vehicle, wounded in the neck. The spokesman says Qaddafi bled to death from his wounds a half-hour later. Fighters said he died in an ambulance on the way to Misrata."


Still, others report a different ending.


CBS News correspondent David Martin reports that some claim Qaddafi's own bodyguard shot him, in order to spare him the indignity of being captured.


An ex-rebel named Salem Bakeer told Reuters that he and his comrades gave chase to Qaddafi and his small retinue of bodyguards after they fled their convoy following the airstrike.


"At first we fired at them with anti-aircraft guns, but it was no use," said Bakeer. "Then we went in on foot. One of Qaddafi's men came out waving his rifle in the air and shouting surrender, but as soon as he saw my face he started shooting at me. Then I think Qaddafi must have told them to stop. 'My master is here, my master is here', he said, 'Muammar Qaddafi is here and he is wounded.' We went in and brought Qaddafi out. He was saying 'What's wrong? What's wrong? What's going on?'. Then we took him and put him in the car."


At the time of capture, Gaddafi was already wounded with gunshots to his leg and to his back, Bakeer said.


"They captured him alive and while he was being taken away, they beat him and then they killed him," an ex-rebel told Reuters. "He might have been resisting."


Ex-rebel Adel Samir told the Telegraph that Qaddafi was gunned down with a 9mm pistol, shot in the stomach. Imad Moustaf, another ex-rebel fighter, told Global Post Qaddafi had been shot in the head and the heart. Still other reports claim he was shot in the both legs.


Libya's interim prime minister, Mahmoud Jibril, said that Qaddafi was killed from a bullet to the head during crossfire between government fighters and his loyalists, The Guardian reported.


Qaddafi likely bound for "secret burial"


Sometime after Qaddafi was shot, freelance photojournalist Holly Pickett tweeted that she saw his body. Pickett says she was embedded with an ex-rebel ambulance, and spotted another ambulance packed with rebels speeding away from Sirte with Qaddafi's body.


"From the side door, I could see a bare chest with bullet wound and a bloody hand. He was wearing gold-colored pants," Pickett tweeted. "At every checkpoint between #Sirte and #Misrata, crowds had gathered and wanted to know if we were the ambulance with #Gaddafi's body in it. Upon hearing the truth, that #Gaddafi was truly dead, revolutionaries at the checkpoints were beside themselves, shouting with joy."


However his final moments may have actually unfolded, the numerous images of his body have already made the rounds on cell phones, computers and TV screens all over the globe, leaving little doubt that Libya's 42 years of Qaddafi's oft-cruel "Jamahiriya" rule is over.


Also captured and killed Thursday was Qaddafi's flamboyant fifth son - also his National Security Adviser - Mutassim Qaddafi, whom Libyans had claimed a week earlier was already captured. An ex-rebel spokesman said Mutassim was killed "resisting his captors," Reuters reports. Additionally, the BBC reports that ex-rebels captured his famed former security chief, Mansour Daw, who, it had been reported, fled to Niger.

According to Reuters, Qaddafi will have a "secret burial."

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543_162-20123183-503543/qaddafis-last-moments-dont-shoot/#ixzz1bQi3HcLV

[quote author=~Bluetooth link=topic=786694.msg9389543#msg9389543 date=1319205590]The wise ones are still living and enjoying their loots eg Buhari,babangida and obj.so [b]what's going to happen to them ?[/b][/quote]Maybe like,

THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY,

JOSEPH STALIN
The Russian ruler died in his bed at home near Moscow on March 5, 1953, at the age of 74. He suffered a stroke and had spent four days bedridden before passing away.

Through purges, famine and gulags he is estimated to have been responsible for the deaths of over 20million. Some historians have suggested he could be responsible for over 60million deaths.
The reality - with so few records kept - is no one knows how much damage this dictator truly inflicted on his people.

It is thought that around 14.5million needlessly starved to death and 9.5million were executed in cold blood for opposing his politics.
Stalin was such a ruthless dictator that all of his enemies were murdered. Throughout the 1930s the 'enemies of the people' were murdered - with thousands executed. The purges weakened the army heading into World War II.
The murder of Sergey Kirov, Stalin's rival, in 1934 was the pretext for the fierce repression of Stalin's enemies.
As he grew old, Stalin became increasingly paranoid but he was never himself the victim of the tough 'justice' he meted out.

[quote author=~Bluetooth link=topic=786694.msg9389543#msg9389543 date=1319205590]The wise ones are still living and enjoying their loots eg Buhari,babangida and obj.so what's going to happen to them ?[/quote]Are you saying that Abacha was not wise?

Who's next?

This picture may give a clue.

Sani Abacha

Nigeria also features on the list. Sani Abacha was a military General. He was ruthless and played prominent roles in military rule in the country. He was an active participant in the 1983, 1985 and 1993 change of governments. He served as Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Defence Staff and Defence Minister at different times. But, in November 1993, he sacked the lackluster Chief Ernest Shonekan government.

He immediately started his political maneuvers, starting with a Constitutional Conference through which he sought to lull the people into supporting his regime. He followed it up by allowing the formation of political parties, five of which he recognised. In a move previously unknown to Nigeria, he got the five parties to adopt him separately as their presidential candidate. But he did not live up to witness the actualisation of that dream. He died on June 8, 1998 and was replaced by General Abdulsalami Abubakar who handed over to a civilian government on May 29, 1999.

Siad Barre
In Somalia, there was Siad Barre who started as an extremely popular leader but fell with ignominy. He ruled from 1969 to 1991. His reign was characterised by mindless killing of civilians. He was once accused of poisoning water supplied to some communities. He fled into exile in Nigeria where he eventually died in 1995.

Idi Amin Dada

The self-proclaimed Ugandan President-for-Life ruled the country for far less time than he had hoped, but the eight years of his tenure were filled with gross human-rights violations, ethnic persecution — tens of thousands of Ugandans of Indian origin were forced out — killings and unbridled corruption. After alienating many of his supporters during a period of increasingly erratic behavior in the late 1970s, Amin found himself nearly alone at the top. A group of his own troops turned against him and soon — bolstered by a Tanzanian military force and Ugandan exiles — they brought Amin down. He fled to Libya, where his supporter Muammar Gaddafi awaited him. There Amin remained for several years before relocating to Saudi Arabia, where he died in 2003, remorseless and angry at his country's betrayal.

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2097426_2097427_2097418,00.html

Samuel Kanyon Doe
The civil war, devastation and destruction of Liberia in the early 80s are all due to the despotic rule of Doe who sacked William Tolbert from power in 1980. Prior to the coup led by Doe, then a Master Sergeant in 1980, the Americo-Liberians who were a minority controlled life in the country. Doe who was only about 30 year old when he led other non-commissioned officers to stage the coup was extremely popular for his action as he emerged the first indigenous President.

He proceeded immediately to kill members of the power elite in the country, including Tolbert and his cabinet members. Gradually, he lost his popularity. He stage-managed a return to pseudo civil rule in 1985 as he formed a political party and maneuvered it to victory. Thereafter, he became more repressive and got most of those who had assisted in staging the 1980 coup, including strongman Thomas Quiwonkpa, killed.
His maltreatment of the Manos and the Gios eventually led to a civil war as a resistance movement led by Charles Taylor and several other rebel groups sprang up. One of the groups led by Yormie Johnson captured Doe in September 1990.

Jean Bedel Bokassa
Bokassa ruled Central African Republic as a mindless tyrant between 1966 and 1979. He took over power on January 1, 1965 and immediately proclaimed himself President, Prime Minister and Leader of the Republic’s only political party.

As soon as he became confident that the reins of power were in his hands, he made himself an Emperor and, for the coronation ceremony, he lavished 20 million dollars, a third of the country’s budget for the year.

It took the intervention of French forces in 1979 to dislodge him. He died in exile in 1996.

Francisco Marcias Nguema
Born on January 1, 1924, Nguema emerged the first President of Equatorial Guinea following independence in 1968. His 11-year rule was noted for the persecution and execution of political opponents. Two prominent names among those who had to give way for Nguema to establish his hold on power were the pre-independence Prime Minister, Bonifacio Ondo Edu. As soon as Nguema seized power, he detained the former PM and conveniently, later died in detention.

Execution of the two opened the floodgate to political killings. He declared himself Life President on July 14, 1972 and, on Christmas day 1975, he handed bitter gifts to 150 opponents who were killed at the Malabo football stadium.
A former Vice President was also said to have committed suicide in prison. As in the case of many of the other dictators, he not only changed his name to Masie Nguema Biyogo Negue Ndong, he awarded himself the incredible titles: Unique Miracle and Grand Master of Education, Science and Culture.

His tyrannical rule was brought to an end on August 3, 1979 through a coup masterminded and led by Theodore Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. He fled his comfort zone but was tracked down and captured in a forest 15 days later. He was consequently sentenced to death 101 times by a Special Military Tribunal and executed.

http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/news-update/23646-other-african-dictators-who-bit-the-dust.html

VALERIAN, 193 - 260 ADValerian was a Roman emperor who was taken captive and tortured by Persian king Shapur I after the Battle of Edessa.

After being roundly defeated in the battle at the beginning of 260, Valerian arranged a meeting with Shapur to negotiate a peace settlement, hoping to retreat to his kingdom and rebuild his power-base.

But the truce was betrayed by Shapur who seized Valerian and held him prisoner until his death.
Valerian was the only Roman emperor ever taken as a prisoner of war.
According to the early Christian scholar Lactantius, Valerian was subjected to torture and humiliation by his captors.
It is claimed that he was used as a footstool and also a mounting block for Shapur.

According to Lactantius, Valerian offered Shapur a huge ransom for his release. But in reply Shapur was said to have forced Valerian to swallow molten gold and then had him skinned and his skin stuffed with straw and preserved as a trophy in the main Persian temple.
Lactantius also says that it was only after a later Persian defeat against Rome that Valerian's remains were given a cremation and burial.