₦airaland Forum

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From Chris Oji, Enugu

All is not well in the agrarian community of Owo in Nkanu Local Government Area of Enugu State. The hitherto peaceful and bubbling community is now under the siege of an orchestrated mafia within the community that has continued to unleash te


For close to two years, the gang, who operate like armed robbers, have attacked innocent citizens and threatened the lives of many young and old indigenes of the community.

The terror gang, whose motive is not known, is said to strike at will, maiming and kidnapping. They sometimes kill and rob their victims. The reign of terror has reduced the town into a ghost haven. The people now live in perpetual fear and anxiety as nobody is sure of the next target.

For this reason, the community is taking its case to Governor Sullivan Chime and the State Police Command to come to their rescue as the situation is getting out of hand. The elders, leaders of thought, the town union executives and Ndioha of the community converged recently at the Town Square to map out strategies against the siege. A 21-member committee was mandated to convey their plight to the governor and the commissioner of police.

The meeting was provoked by the recent attack on some of the community members. The victims of such attacks are Igwe Nwaogbachi, Steve Uzu, Christopher Ani Nwanamene, Odo Nwaogbuebo and Christian Igwe. Also attacked were Mrs. Helen Ogbu, Patrick Ede and Fredrick Ede.

The elders toldNewsextra that many prominent indigenes have fled the town, following threats by the group. Among them are the Special Assistant to Chime on Public Enlightenment and Mass Mobilisation, Mr. Paul Nnajiofor, Chief Agbowo Ede, Vincent Nnajieze and Chikezie Aga.

Worried by the ugly development, the community leaders have petitioned the governor and the commissioner of police. They wondered why some people with selfish interest, could hold the entire community to ransom, supporting killings and kidnappings in the otherwise peaceful town.

In their petition to the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mohammed Zarewa, the community told him that "this group of suspected bandits and criminals have, at various times, armed themselves with guns, machetes, broken bottles and other dangerous weapons, snatching mobile phones, money, motorcycles and other valuables. They have also caused serious tension, moments of insecurity and created fear among the law-abiding and innocent indigenes of Owo town."

The community listed 11 members who they suspected to be behind the atrocities. They, therefore, urged the police boss "to use his good offices to save our lives and those of others before we are killed, by launching massive raids, arrests and prosecuting the above listed group of ‘bad boys’ in Owo town for peace to reign."

The Police confirmed receiving the petition. According to the Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ebere Amaraizu, a number of arrests have been effected regarding the Owo community. More arrests are likely to be made as the investigation goes on, he assured.The Special Assistant to Chime on Public Enlightenment, Mr. Nnajiofor, who described the situation as most disturbing, called on the people of Owo town to eschew violence and embrace peace, noting that without peace, there would be no meaningful development and progress in any community.

He also called on those engaged in carrying arms, kidnappings and killings of law-abiding citizens to drop their arms and embrace peace and dialogue.

http://www.thenationonlineng.com/dynamicpage.asp?id=80384

Rising Number Of Igbo In Overseas Prisons Worry Leaders
From Lawrence Njoku Enugu

The number of Igbo serving various prison terms outside the country, those already executed and the ones facing death sentences for various offences were said to have formed the nucleus of discussions on Friday, in Enugu, as political leaders of the South East Zone met.

The Guardian gathered from a source at the closed door meeting, which was attended by the five Governors in the Zone, serving members of the National Assembly led by Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, as well as other leaders of thought deliberated on the situations of the affected Igbo with a view to assisting them.

It was gathered that about 2400 Igbo are serving various jail terms outside the country. Of the figure, 3 was said to have been executed in Indonesia while 18 is facing death sentence in the same country. About 1500 is also said to be serving various prison terms in South Africa. Although, details about how the leaders intends to assist the affected persons was not made public, but it was, however agreed that poverty and unemployment ravaging the South East Zone have contributed to the rising number of inmates, stressing that ,there was need to make the economic situation of the zone more attractive.

Ekweremadu, who briefed reporters at the end of the meeting, said all the South East Governors and members of the National Assembly from the Zone have resolved to work together irrespective of party affiliations for the general interest of the zone. Add that several issues affecting the zone, including the ecological problems and the state of infrastructures were discussed.

While describing the meeting as a very good development for discussing matters affecting the zone, he said, it has also for the first time brought political office holders, irrespective of the political party, together for peace. Adding that the meeting will henceforth be held on quarterly basis.

Another source however, disclosed that the meeting also discussed a common position on state creation for the zone.
Source: Guardian, 30th November 2008

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KILLING  YOUR OWN AFTER ONE MILLION IGBOS DIED.
500 Okija victims recount ordeal

Daily Independent
30th August 2004

By Chris Agbambu, Deputy Bureau Chief, Abuja

Shrines in Okija, Anambra State were chambers of horror and torture. About 500 victims have told police investigators how they were tortured to confess to crimes they knew nothing about.

In turn, the police have tightened their noose on the detained priests who may be charged with multiple crimes against humanity.

Since the news of their arrests, police investigators have been inundated with petitions from victims who allege one form of maltreatment or another by the priests.

They said the ordeal usually started with an invitation by the priests alleging offences they were innocent of.

One of the victims told the police in Abuja how the shrine operators extorted more than N3 million from him if he did not want to die.

The victim, who pleaded anonymity, told the detectives that it was by the special grace of God that he is alive, having met their demands.

In their own petition to the police, the Igbo community in Kwara State narrated how they were summoned to the shrine.

The younger brother of the captain of the Super Eagles, Austin Jay-Jay Okocha, was also at the police headquarters to tell detectives how the footballer was summoned to the shrine.

The victims said they came voluntarily to narrate their experiences so that when the list of the names in the shrine registers are published, Nigerians would not be surprised, “because most of them were victims of circumstances”.

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The Day Okija 'Gods' Invaded Reps' Chamber

The Guardian
29th August 2004

FROM JOHN-ABBA OGBODO, ABUJA

EVEN before the Speaker, Alhaji Aminu Bello Masari had introduced the item; lawmakers from the Southeast had been criss-crossing the floor of the House of Representatives, discussing in low tones.

Their prancing and whispering had aroused curiosity and anxiety in their colleagues and members of the gallery.

"Was there any report of financial scandal in the House," a member in the gallery wondered aloud. His question was not particularly directed and no response was forthcoming.

But the picture soon became clearer when Mr. Mba Ajah from Abia State was asked by Masari to move his motion. However, the legislator buckled under, pleading to withdraw the motion.

"Mr Speaker, Sir, I would want to withdraw the motion because I have been under pressure from my colleagues from the Southeast to withdraw. I want to withdraw it against my wish," Ajah said.

His U-turn caused immediate bedlam, with members taking opposing views and urging the upholding of their positions.

"No, no, no," shouted the group that opposed the motion, "go ahead," urged the motion's protagonists.

Ajah had principally sought the commendation of the Nigeria Police for their exploits in the Okija forests in Anambra State where their raid exposed cadavers in different stages of decomposition at the Ogwugwu Shrines.

Eighty-three bodies were reportedly discovered and scores of skulls and other bones found littering the "evil forest."

Perhaps impressed by their act of bravery, Ajah wanted his colleagues to eulogise the police, but he walked himself into the odium of his colleagues from the Southeast.

Their concern was that controversial as the saga had been in the public domain, it should not be introduced on the floor particularly by an Igboman.

The former leader of the Southeast caucus in the House, Mao Ohubunwa (Abia) opened the line of attack on Ajah.

He frowned at the attempt by a "son of the soil" (an Igboman) to commit a supposed sacrilege by bringing the Okija Shrines gods to judgment in the people's court.

"We should not be here to do things that are not in tune with our culture. If he wants to withdraw or is disposed to withdrawing the motion, he should do so but to say he is under pressure says a different thing," Mao said.

The ingredients of the failed motion by Ajah were that:

The problem of ritual killings has lingered in the country for many decades without any visible solution.
Many people have died mysteriously and their death put down to unspecified causes.
It is a shameful and embarrassing to realise that people still worship these powerless gods so religiously and faithfully in the 21st Century when our counterparts all over the world are busy re-ordering the world through technology and making it a better place for human habitation.
Shrines and deities have caused immense havoc and concern to the society; these deities have created societal problems on account of mysterious deaths attributed to them.
Apart from the Okija incident, there are other cases of mysterious deaths.
The Nigeria Police deserves commendation for the able and dynamic way they handled the issue of Okija shrines and deities by swooping on the shrines and arresting the Ogwugwu priests, and recovering skulls and corpses of the victims.
Ajah, therefore, urged the House to:
Commend the police.
Condemn the existence of fetish culture in some parts of the country.
Urge the police to spread their dragnet nationwide with a view to tracking down other similar institutions.
Call on the police to carry out thorough investigation and advice Anambra State government to acquire the land/forest harbouring the shrines and deities in Okija.
This was the motion that inflamed passion among members and the result was the bedlam that lasted almost 40 minutes.
But before rounding off his opposition to the motion, Mao Ohubunwa threw bombshell. He alleged that most of the members had patronised or still patronise the same gods they were ridiculing.
"Some of us could not have been here if we were not taken to such places," he said.
Apparently to avert the unexpected, the leader of the Southeast caucus and House Deputy Leader, Gilbert Nnaji attempted to steer the proceedings from the topic but some interested members would not let the debate go.
Nnaji pleaded with members to allow Ajah withdraw the motion but the persistent deafening, "no, no, no" drowned his voice.
Ostensibly disappointed by low decibel of their voices, some members had to move from their seats, to meet Ajah and physically urge him to continue with the motion.
Not even the plea from the House Whip, Bawa Bwari, that the handwriting was clear that the mover of the motion wanted it withdrawn, could persuade the agitating members.
But given a breather, Ajah spiced the controversy with another comment; he said he was basely three years old in politics.
"I am learning a great deal of politics. I am just three years old in politics. I have been in business all along," he confessed.
The import of the statement was that he had embarked on the controversial motion, unaware of the consequences it would attract.
Nonetheless, Independence Ogunnewe (Abia) wanted Ajah to disclose the source of the pressure on him instead of his blanket allegation.
But John Halims Agoda said the issue was not whether there was pressure or not but that the House Rules do not allow for withdrawal of a motion once it appears on the floor.
Citing Rule 13(1) of the House Standing Rules, Agoda argued that unless the House so approved, Ajah had no ground to do so. The Chairman of the Women Committee on Rules and Business, Ita Enan supported Agoda's argument.
At this point, the pro-debate members cheered, clapped and jumped to savour their temporary victory. The House did not allow the debate, to avoid the issue degenerating into aggression.
The House Speaker, Bello Masari, deploying wits and experience advised Ajah to "step down not withdraw the motion." It was a technicality employed to subtly consign the motion to the graveyard.
Ajah told journalists afterwards that he proposed the motion because of his faith in God.
But legislative watchers have noted that the Speaker had saved the "political neophyte" from the wrath of his Southeast colleagues and "the rampaging Okija gods."
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Okija Shrines Priests Confess

Daily Champion
28th August 2004

AS the Okija shrines episode continues to generate ripples across Nigeria and beyond, 12 of the 43 suspects have reportedly admitted that they took advantage of the shrines to enrich themselves as well as further other selfish pursuits.

Chilling confessions of the suspects pieced together from police sources by Saturday Champion, indicate that some of those in police custody have stated that the state of the buildings, exotic cars and other posh property they acquired, were obtained through the deployment of their influence against unsuspecting victims.

Twelve of the 43 suspects being detained at Abuja were said to have confessed that they used the Ogwugwu shrines to their personal advantage.

For instance, one of them, who is a prominent member of the Anglican Church as well as another, known as a leaching figure in one of the Pentecostal churches in Okija, revealed that he deceived people with the shrines into partying with their money and property.

Police sources stated that "their people would make fake copies of the Ogwugwu shrines’ letter of summons and issue same to a complainant who then hands it over to the other party.

"Rather than allow the parties to come to the shrines on their own accord, they would mount pressure on them, hijack them to their personal shrines and hoodwink them into believing they were dealing with the genuine Ogwugwu shrine priests.

"Through this art, they would make both parties to part with huge sums of money or in the alternative they would deploy other unlawful means to deal with one of the parties," the sources stated.

It was gathered that through this method, the claimant to priesthood of the shrines have made fortunes and usually used such ill-gotten wealth to terrorise other people in the Okija, Ihiala and adjoining communities.

When contacted, Mr. Chris Olakpe, the Force Public Relations Officer, confirmed that the suspects were actually being interrogated and that they have made useful statements.

He, however, refused to go into the revelations made or other claims made by the suspects.

"When we are through, the Inspector-General of Police will brief you," he stated.

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Ngige speaks on Okija, warns troublemakers

Vanguard
27th August 2004

By Anayo Okoli

AWKA — GOVERNOR Chris Ngige of Anambra State yesterday made his first official statement on the Okija shrine episode with a warning that the people should not hide under the shrine issue to cause a breach of the peace in the state. Ngige warned that nobody should hide under the “so called shrine saga or episode” to cause trouble and destabilise the state. Ngige’s reaction came through a broadcast he made to the people of Anambra State to mark the state’s 13th annivresary.

The state was created in August 1991 by Gen. Ibrahim Babangida’s regime. Ngige also touched on some other issues including road projects, health and agriculture. He appealed to the civil servants to give him more time to pay their outstanding arrears of salary and allowances, saying that the state is experiencing “little financial hitches.” Let me take this opprotunity to admonish the people of this state not to take the so-called “shrine” saga or episode being bandied about as an excuse to cause a breach of the law nor align with some unscrupulous individuals to cause trouble and destabilise the peace of the state.

"Also, in this regard, I want to take this opportunity to warn all Anambrarians to disassociate themselves from any association, group or organisation by whatever nomenclature that has plans to disturb the peace of the land through unauthorised assemblage or celebration other than this 13th anniversary of the creation of the state being marked today.

Our agricultural reforms also, entails our involvement in the massive cassava, rice and palm-oil production to achieve food security for the people of the state. The College of Agriculture, Igbariam has been rejuvenated and very soon normal teaching will take off there. This, in addition to the Anambra Volunteer Farmers (AVF) project at Omor and Okija, which are designed to gainfully engage our youths providing them with job opportunity. Our roads reconstruction and rehabilitation project is still going on. We have not relented in this regard.

I want to use this forum to dispel the feeling in some quarters that we have reduced our speed in our road work project. We also hope to award three major roads whose tender analysis have almost been concluded after due process by next month,” Ngige promised. He also promised to embark on a rigorous water scheme rehabilitation programme will start from the begining of October 2004 to provide water for our people in the dry season.”

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The Okija shrine horror
NewAge
27th August 2004

In the past few weeks, the Okija Shrine in Anambra State has seized public attention. NNAMDI ONYEUMA reviews the public’s reaction to the horrific find.

Akpan Blessing, Engineer (Reltel)
What is happening at Okija in Anambra State is sad. I never believed there was still a place where people can be killed or are being killed with reckless abandon. It’s barbaric and condemnable. This is modern age and such things have ceased to happen long ago. I would want the government at the federal level to investigate the killings and prosecute all those involved in this gory act. Let the law take its full course, because the people did not have regard for human life. It could have been anybody’s relative. And to think of it, these people killed are young men.

Andy Ukwuorji, Publisher
I think the discovery of such barbaric shrine is good, because of the lessons we stand to learn from it. It is very disappointing that such practice is still existing in this 21st century. You know, we had such kind of shrine in Arochukwu those days but it was destroyed by the white men. Although it is not possible to change a people’s culture, killing of human beings for sacrifice should not be condoned. What is happening is an eye opener. I must tell you, shrines nowadays are no longer as effective as they used to be.

Therefore, anyone who goes there is subject to manipulation. Let the government acquire the sprawling acres of land. I thank God that recent reports indicate such a move. It is welcome.

However, the suspects must not be allowed to walk out of custody free. They must face justice, including those who patronise it. My kind of jail for them is life jail. Nothing short of that will be good enough.

Onanuga ’Juwon, Businessman
When I heard about it, I shed tears. I couldn’t believe it until newspapers started carrying convincing and detailed photographs taken at the scene. And it seems the last may not have been heard as new discoveries are made almost each passing day. I would want the government to hang all those involved. There is no need for going to court because their victims were not given option. They were killed without restraint. We cannot afford to waste energy and resources on people whose happiness is derived from wasting human beings. He who kills should also be killed. It is a shame to us, because they have ridiculed Nigeria before foreigners, who will carry the news to their home countries.

Again, it is possible that some of those killed may be the breadwinners of their respective families. Human life is precious and cannot be wasted with ease. So, let justice take its full course.

Orji Onyekwere, Journalist
The Okija revelation if that is the right word to use, is not strange. Yes, because it is a tradition passed on to Okija people by their forefathers.

According to reports, it has been on for over 200 years. So, why should people react differently? And come to think of it, the police could not discover it until someone gave them a tip-off. In as much as I would want the government to thoroughly investigate the case, police should not over-politicise the matter.

I want the police to find out whether those corpses were murdered for ritual purposes or killed by the shrine. You must know that the police in Anambra State before now, did not declare anyone missing. But like I said, it is not only in Igboland that such practice exists.

However, I condemn the use of human beings for sacrifice. The police said they saw Ezego’s corpse and of course, you know that Ezego’s family has denied it and is in fact threatening to sue over the statement. This Okija issue should not be blown out of proportion.

Asher Gindau, Businessman
I would want the police in conjunction with the Federal Government to investigate how those killings started and the beneficiaries of this crude practice. Honestly, this discovery is laughable. We are making mockery of ourselves, especially in the face of the government’s campaign for foreign investors. They will certainly not come, not in the face of this gory act. I want all those involved to face the long arm of the law.

Alhaji Inusa Oyaifo, Businessman
Well, it’s a pity that such is happening in this jet age. There is no alternative to a bad situation, because that is exactly what the situation is. The suspects and their clients should be tried and their investment closed down forthwith. Killing for ritual purposes is evil and those who derive pleasure in evil should be taught not to do evil. Period!

Roland Isiorho
I think the best thing to do now is to thoroughly find out why this kind of practice is going on. Who are involved? If what the high priest is saying — that it is a tradition —then the government will be in a very tight corner. But where it is speculated that it is for money making rituals, they should be tried. I think the problem with our society today is that so much importance has been attached to wealth. And where this is the case, people go out of their way, including applying crude means to make money. For me, it is about time the government probed our so-called rich men to know the source of the wealth they are flaunting.

The shrine should be demolished after the investigations and those involved tried in a court of law. The tradition too should be stopped. I don’t know how the government will do that, but it is supposed to be stopped. We cannot continue to kill our people in their productive and active stage of life.

Uzoma Uba, Security Personnel
Let government look into the matter and bring everyone involved to book. The Bible condemns shedding of innocent blood and nobody was created to take another’s life. Look, government should arrest those involved and kill them. They do not deserve to live, let they taste the bitter pill of death which them celebrated on a daily basis. I learnt some prominent Nigerians were clients of the chief priest.




Okija community defends shrine, vows to resist acquisition

Vanguard
23rd August 2004

By Anayo Okili

AWKA —THE Okija community of Anambra State said weekend that the shrines from where the police recently recovered 80 decomposing corpses were as old as the community itself, and people going there did so purely to get justice. The Igwe-elect of Okija, Igwe Ben Okeke, at a press conference in his palace said the police discovery did not, by any means, make the people of Okija cannibals and warned against government plan to acquire the vast forest harbouring the shrines.

“Okija people are no barbarians, we are no cannibals, and I am personally a practising Catholic Christian since 99.9 per cent of the Okija royal cabinet are Christians,” he said in a statement read by the palace secretary. He also disowned the man who tipped off the police about the forest, saying the informant was unknown in the area.

In the text entitled “Okija: The truth about it all, as presented by Okija Royal Cabinet,” the Igwe-elect said: “The tradition of the worship of these deities is that the eldest (Okpala) in the village who is a pagan becomes the chief priest. People go to the shrines for the settlement of their cases because of the immediate and constant justice they receive from the shrines. It is because these people from far and wide go there for justice on their personal decision. It is true that the greater majority of the visitors who are the customers of these shrines come from outside Okija.

“If after the settlement of a case and the culprit finally dies, it is reported to the chief priest who allows the corpse to be brought and thrown into the shrine forest, buried or left just like that by the relations of the dead person. Some of the skulls discovered from the shrine could be older than all those who are now the priests of the shrines.

“It is true that these Ogwugwu killed the offenders who swore on them, including those who are the owners and the worshipers. These deities have no guns and no knives. It is guilty conscience that kills any offender. We need add that nobody has ever reported to the Okija Royal Cabinet that either the chief priests or their agents killed any of their people. All we hear in Okija is that Ogwugwu-Akpu or Ogwugwu-isi-ula killed someone and these stories were never challenged and we at Okija Royal Cabinet never bothered.

“We pray the police to investigate the cases of the arrested persons with fairness and honesty and if discovered that people worship Ogwgwu-Akpu and Ogwugwu-isi-ula in the traditional manner as their own religion, they should be left to be covered by the persuasive Christian religion. On the other hand, if along the line it is discovered that any person or group of persons went against the law, we shall not hesitate to say the law should take its course in dealing with them. The Okija customs and traditions advocate and insist on fairness and justice as well as respect of human life and cannot condone evil.

“However, we feel sad over the manner the police initially started handling the stories of Ogwugwu-Akpu and Ogwugwu-isi-ula, presenting the entire Okija community as idol worshippers and murderers. We are sure that the police know the real worshippers of these deities well enough. Allow us to end this address by telling you that Okija people are no barbarians, we are no cannibals and idol worshippers,” Okeke said.

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Anambra To Acquire 'Evil' Forest


The Guardian
21st August 2004

From Chuks Collins, Onitsha

APPARENTLY to put the waste lands into better use and to the benefit of its citizens, the Anambra State Government will soon acquire all 'evil' forests and shrine grounds in Okija, in Ihiala Council of the state.

Disclosing this after a meeting with Governor Chris Ngige, the state former governor, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife said that if he was aware of such evil places when he was the governor, he would have dismantled them.

The former governor also commended Ngige and the police for taking a bold step to "dislodge and flush out the dubious priests of the discredited deities."

According to him, "I thank my brother Ngige for initiating moves to dismantle and burst the activities of those shrines, through the instrumentality of the police".

Also the majority leader of the State House of Assembly, Humphrey Nsofor has sent a word of appreciation to the police for "joining hands with Ngige in cleansing and liberating the state."

He alleged that Mr. Chuma Nzeribe, a serving member of Federal House of Representatives for Ihiala Federal Constituency and one Chief Benson Nwawulu, a defeated member were those who attempted to force political office seekers to swear to some fetish oath in May 2003 but that he personally objected.

He said he elected rather to have a pastor or any man of God of their choice to pray and unite them together instead of any fetish involvement. All these, he alleged, occurred at the Udoka Housing Estate residence of Chief Chris Uba, where they usually hold meetings.

Meanwhile, a group, The Igbo Youth Movement has called on the police to make public without further delay the names of the patrons, clients and all actors in the shameful fraud of the so-called Okija deity.

The union advised other sections of Nigeria to emulate this commendable self-cleansing attribute of Ndigbo, as exemplified in the 1996 Otokoto Saga at Owerri, the 2003 political liberation of Anambra State and now the exposure of the evil routinely perpetrated by of fraudsters and ritualists masquerading as agents of a deity.

Nigeria would be a better place if every citizen emulated this self-cleansing mechanism of Ndigbo, instead of pretending that they were not under similar or even worse bondage. The self-purge of evil from time to time confirms "God's special love for Ndigbo," the group added.

In a statement signed by its President Mr. Elliot Uko, the group also berated political actors in Enugu State, who it alleged have been corrupting students by funding their cult groups, over the slaughter of about dozens students in Enugu recently.

" It is ungodly to send your own children to school abroad while you fund and arm other people's children for your political agenda. The blood of those naive students will hang on the heads of their sponsors," the IYM added.

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Daily Sun

Police Seal off Okija Shrines

By Geoffrey Anyanwu, Awka, Murphy Ganagana, Abuja Mike Jimoh, Lagos,
Joe Effiong, Aba
Daily Sun, Thursday, August 19, 2004

Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Tafa Balogun has ordered the Anambra State Police Command as well as the Police Mobile Force (PMF) squadrons in the state to cordon off the two fetish shrines in Okija where human skulls and decomposing bodies were discovered recently.

Balogun who spoke with newsmen on Wednesday shortly after an on-the-spot assessment of the shrines also vowed that the police would ransack all nooks and crannies of Nigeria to identify and clamp down on similar shrines.

According to him, the cordoning off of the shrines was to forestall possible attempt by some suspects still at large to move into the forests and perpetrate further criminal activities.

He said his visit to the shrines was to have first hand assessment of the situation, assuring that the police would leave no stone unturned in the on-going investigations.
Balogun described the activities at the shrines as barbaric and which the operators must answer for.
He said that such practice at this time of the century and independence of Nigeria was turning the clock back and must not be welcomed.

"We are not only going to investigate these shrines we have seen here, we are going to penetrate and see if there are similar and identical ones everywhere. Because these shrines you see create fears and tension in the minds of people so much that they lose their lives."

He said that any system that "kills human being, or any deity that authorises the illegal killings of human beings certainly must be described as barbaric deity. To me this is a barbaric deity and also an abnormal situation.

"The law of the land is above all cultures and all deities, and the law has not said that human beings should be killed in this circumstance. Any culture that perpetrates killing of human beings against the constitution should not be respected at all, it is barbaric deity as far as I am concerned."
The police, he said, would want to know the level of involvement of the old chief priests, stressing that if they were found guilty, the law would not respect their age.

"We want to see those that are used as innocent agents, certainly those that have that have gone into hiding, the long hands of the law will catch up with them.

"We want to assure everybody that we will do justice, we’ve got a lot of registers where people who have come here in the recent past have endorsed their names, we will reach out to those people.
"We are also going to go professional to involve forensic officers who are also on the ground to see whether there is any peculiarity in the pattern of killing or whether there is anything to suggest otherwise. I am sure that at the end of the day we will be doing a good job, even more thorough job than perhaps in the case of Boy Adam.

"The beautiful thing about this affair is that all our laws including the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria have taken care of the situation we are seeing today, like section 207 and 208 of the criminal code. They have actually dealt heavy blows on all the people that do all sorts of things regarding skulls and corpse.

"Also, we have section 34 sub section 4 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that has actually criminalised members of the secret cult because the people who do these things are members of secret cult."

The I.G, however, commended the informant, Mr. Orbed Igwe, describing him as a noble Nigerian citizen and also the State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Felix Ogbaudu for prompt action.
Natives of Okija trooped out in large numbers hailing the police chief and the police for saving them from the evil of the ritualists.

Meanwhile, defence lawyer to those arrested and detained in connection with the Okija shrine has expressed fears that his clients might die the same way the star suspect did during the Otokoto crisis.
Stanley Malizu, a native of Umuhu of Okija but based in Nnewi, told Daily Sun on Wednesday that he feared that what happened to the man caught with the severed head of teenage bread seller, Ikechukwu, in Owerri years ago might happen to some of his star witnesses, 21 of whom are currently in detention in Abuja and Awka.

"We are scandalized by the intensity of public denials by certain public figures who are known to be the leading patrons of the shrine," Malizu said. He was frightened, he claimed, because of the calibre of the people who had been visiting the shrine. Those powerful people might do anything to prevent those in custody from mentioning their names as the chief suspect in the Otokoto case was cleverly eliminated.
"We know many of them that have been to the shrine before, some to even ask for magical powers to wipe out their political opponents. Now, they don’t want to be seen to have anything to do with the shrine.

With the arrest of a number of Ogwugwu Akpu priests, Malizu insinuated, those politicians were in danger of having their covers blown. "We know for certain that at least three governors from the South-South had been to Ogwugwu Akpu shrine."

Also, the lawyer denied that contrary to recent disclosures, there were no murders of any sort in his client’s shrine. "There may have been deaths arising from violation of oaths. In such situations, families of the deceased voluntarily hand over bodies in line with Igbo culture."

In a related development, a group in Anambra state known as Umunri Youth Movement has said that the Okija shrine saga had been blown out of proportion by enemies of the state rooting for declaration of state of emergency.

In a press statement signed by its national chairman and national secretary, Messrs George Oraeki and Uchenna Nwafor respectively, the group which said it cut across 118 clans in Igboland even spilling over to Rivers, Kwara and Delta states, said the police before now had some knowledge about the dangerous shrine at Okija as they had got reports of its activities.

"The invasion of the shrine is another ploy to impose a state of emergency on Anambra State, long expected and schemed by the political detractors of Governor Chris Ngige as Ngige had earlier exposed what Anambra political gladiators are doing by taking any political aspirant to that shrine to take an oath thereby manipulating the act of governance.

"The shrine has in the past remained a treasure bank for ritualists, armed robbers and other evil doers in Nigeria as a whole."

The group which said Umunri were sacred people from Israel and the cradle of the Igbo traditions, condemned not only the Okija, but other similar shrines in the entire Igboland and called on religious bodies to pray to God for the eradication of the fallen demons still living in the midst of the people in the 21st century.

"We are calling on the Federal Government and the National Assembly to enact a law proscribing the existence of shrines in our land. Rather, altars of God should replace those shrines. We also call on the Federal Government not to allow politicians to score cheap points with the shrine by scheming for a state of emergency in Anambra State."

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Shocker for IGP at Okija shrines
•Detainee’s wife dares police

Daily Champion
19th August 2004

FELIX UKA, Awka

"I’M disturbed. I couldn’t believe my eyes."With these words, Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr. Tafa Balogun, yesterday poured out his soul as he visited the Okija shrines in Ihiala council area of Anambra State. He arrived there at exactly 2.27pm.

Wife of Mr. Osita Ndukwu, one of the arrested priests, yesterday, in a related incident, during the visit, asked the police to free her husband and arrest the deities for the corpses at the place.

Tight security surrounded the IGP’s visit with over 200 heavily armed mobile and regular policemen led by State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Felix Ogbaudu, guarding the place.

On the IGP’s entourage were Deputy Inspector-General (DIG) of Police, Mr. Sunday Ehindero and former police commissioner in the state, Mr. Adanaya Gaya.

The entourage took a narrow foot path, fringed with cassava plants, which led to the Ogwugwu Isuala shrines in the dense forest.

At the site, a mere 10-minute walk, several corpses in different states of decomposition lay scattered on the rough ground.

Significantly, though the corpses were shrunken with some skeletons headless, many of the former had their clothes intact.

It was not known how long they had been laid there in the open and why they had not rapidly decomposed, though police sources spoke of local embalment.

The IGP’s entourage also saw heaps of feathers which littered the area.

At Ogwugwu Akpu shrine, Mr. Balogun and his team were shown an even greater number of corpses.

Interestingly, a few houses were spotted here with the owners or inhabitants around. A pepper soup shack was also seen.

Mr. Balogun proceeded from there to another shrine, Ogwugwu Idigo, said to be a relatively new shrine, but no corpses were sighted there.

A former commissioner for Women Affairs in the Mbadinuju administration, Mrs. Bridget Obi, who also followed the entourage, caused a stir when she was introduced and was asked by the IGP why she had failed to report the shrines matter to the authorities since she hails from the Okija area.

But Mrs Obi responded by saying she had never before visited the shrines, except yesterday, pointing out that stories from the place all these years were like fairy tales to her.

Speaking later, Mr. Balogun expressed deep shock at the findings.

"However, I’m happy at the co-operation of the Okija people. I’m happy with Obed Igwe, the informant. The police commissioner in Anambra and his men did a good job. We will leave no stone unturned here," he said.

The IGP reassured Nigerians that contents of registers found at the shrines will be made public at a later date while his men are presently contacting those whose names appeared in the documents.

On the over 100-year-old chief priest of Ogwugwu Isuala, Chief Okoli Orji Ewulu, not arrested by the police, the IGP said police will not lose sight of him as age has nothing to do with the law.

Osita Ndukwu is among 32 persons still being held by the police following the recovery of corpses and skulls at the Okija shrines.

Speaking with Daily Champion at the family’s beautiful residence near Okija, Mrs. Stella Ndukwu implored the police to release her husband, saying he is innocent of any proposed charges of murder, indulgence in ritualism or related matter.

"The police should go and arrest the deity which took the lives of the people (corpses) and free my husband. He is innocent," she said.

The 22-year-old housewife also said since her husband’s arrest and the dismantling of worship at the shrines, starvation has hit her family.

Her five kids, Mrs. Ndukwu claimed, are now going hungry with business at the shrines no longer booming.

Daily Champion noted that the Ndukwus’ tasteful residence has a live crocodile in a pool.

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Okija People are not Cannibals, Says Monarch

The Guardian
24th August 2004



From Uzoma Nzeagwu, Awka

WORRIED by the negative publicity resulting from the Okija shrine scandal, the traditional ruler of the community, Igwe Ben I. Okeke and his cabinet have refuted allegations by the police and media that their people are murderers and cannibals.

Since last three weeks, there have been allegations of ritual killings and trade on human parts, following police raid and arrest of no fewer than 35 suspects from shrines in Okija in Ihiala Local Council of Anambra State.

The Ezegedegwum IV of Okija expressed displeasure over the manner in which security agents and the press had played up the issue, accusing them of having negative sentiments against the community.

At a crowded press briefing at the weekend in his palace, Igwe Okeke, flanked by members of his cabinet and the town's development union, denied the allegations.

He remarked that his subjects are law-abiding and hospitable and that nobody had ever protested or reported any harassment by the priests or complained of any missing person in the community.

"We feel very sad over the manner the police have handled the stories of Ogwugwu Akpu and Ogwugwu Isialu, portraying the Okija community as idol worshippers and murderers", Igwe said.

He continued: "It is more disturbing for the press to give out bad stories representing Okija people as idol worshippers and cannibals to the whole world".

"Okija people are peaceful, loving, patriotic, hospitable and law-abiding citizens". The monarch insisted and urged for transparency in the investigation of the suspects and the shrine episode.

On the chief priests and the adherents, he maintained that they are "pagans who are observing and practising their traditional religions while ministering to their clients from within and outside Okija, either as arbiters in disputes or consultants for one matter or another".

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Raid on shrines: Police recover 50 corpses, 20 skulls

BY FELIX UKA, Awka

ANAMBRA State police command yesterday recovered 20 skulls, most of them fresh, and about 50 corpses at Ogwugwu Okija shrines in Ihiala local government area of the state.

Heavily armed policemen in 10 trucks, mostly men of the special anti-robbery squad, were accompanied by the state commissioner of police, Mr. Felix Ogbaudu in the raid.

Addressing newsmen after the raid, Mr. Ogbaudu said the command in a convoy of 10 vehicles, fully loaded with policemen, arrived the Okija community by 10.00 a.m.

After showing journalists the 20 skulls, the commissioner said the raid followed a tip-off by a former member of the shrines (names withheld) who said he saw over 50 corpses in various stages of decomposition at the shrine, saying that it was a peculiarly gory sight.

The commissioner said that the remains of Chief Victor Okafor (a.k.a Ezego), who died mysteriously about two years ago, could be among the corpses carelessly scattered in the various shrines in the Okija community.

"I tell you, I almost shed tears: I saw corpses thrown around the evil forest, with remains of their clothes on, I think they were embalmed before being taken to the shrines", he stated.

Ogbaudu said it was not unlikely that most of those said to be missing could be found in the shrines.

"You can’t rule out that it is a market place for human parts, yes!, where are the heads of those whose heads I found missing at the shrines?"

He lamented that the development might have been due to age-long traditional practices, urging people in and around the area to have faith in God and not be compelled to deposit bodies of their relations at the shrines.

The commissioner assured that his command would unravel the immediate and remote issues concerning rituals.
Source: The Sun, 06/7/04.

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INSIDE HORROR SHRINE- Inside Okija horror shrine

By NWABUEZE OKONKWO, Onitsha

Fresh insight was yesterday made into the Ogwugwu Okija shrine in Ihiala Local Government Area, Anambra State, where the police discovered 20 human skulls and 50 decomposing corpses, with a mind boggling revelation that the victims may have been sacrificed to satisfy the appetite of ghouls.

The revelation came amidst reports that Okija natives, mostly adult males have fled the town for fear of arrest by the police.
The Anambra State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Felix Ogbaudu dispatched 80 members of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, led by its commander, Gabriel Haruna to the shrine on Wednesday, following a tip-off earlier in the week about alleged criminal activities at the site.

Ogbaudu had, while parading the seized human carcasses and 32 arrested suspects lamented: "I shed tears at the sight of human corpses, many completely severed of their skulls, bones of many years, coffins with corpses and… I never believed that such a thing could happen in this country."

1. Daily Sun gathered that even though many natives of Okija had knowledge about the existence of the "evil forest," they had been scared stiff of going closer to the shrine, farm near it or challenge the adherents for fear of instant death at the instance of the spirits.

One of the natives, simply called Okechukwu, said the shrine was constantly patronised by traders, especially from Onitsha, who, if felt cheated by their partners or apprentices, usually took their grievances to the priests for revenge.

It was further gathered that a notable victim of the dreaded powers of the shrine was Chief Victor Okafor (a.k.a Ezego), the stupendously rich Igbo youth, who died in an accident in 1999.
The late Okafor was said to have been reported at the Ogwugwu shrine by a business partner who accused Ezego of shortchanging him in a business transaction involving about N189,000.Ezego was said to have been adjudged guilty by the deities and his death in an auto-accident in Okija in December 1999 was believed to be the price he paid for the guilt.

Okafor had been travelling home for the Christmas festivities when his car broke down and he decided to tow the car with another vehicle in his convoy.
In the course of the journey, Ezego’s car fell into a small ditch by the road side. He suffered a fatal injury and eventually died. His corpse was believed to have been deposited at the shrine.
When the police stormed the shrine on Wednesday, it was littered with human bodies in various stages of decomposition. Many of the bodies looked drained of fluids with flesh gummed to the bones.
Besides the decomposing bodies, human skeletons were strewn around the shrine.

The sight was sickening and capable of melting even a heart of stone.
Speaking to newsmen, one of the key suspects and a son of the chief priest, who gave his name as Osita Ndukwu of Umuhu Okija village, said they had many deities in Okija.
"What we do is that if anybody reports to us that someone has wronged him or her, our chief priest will send for the person by writing and if he fails to come after two notices, the chief priest will command the deity to go after such one.

"And when the people come to tell us that the deity has killed their person, they will be told what and what to bring to appease the deity including the corpse of the person."
But the man who petitioned against them, Mr. Chukwumezie Obed Igwe, and who led police to the shrine said the deity had no power and does not kill anyone; pointing out that the priests were the ones killing victims with some diabolic means.

He said he decided to take the bull by the horns to save the unborn generation, adding that even if he dies, "I am happy, because I have been able to expose this barbaric practice and set our people and children unborn free."

Mr. Igwe said he had to pretend as if he was interested in the practice and took oath with the adherents so that they could show him all the tricks, and it worked out.
Source: The Sun, 6/8/04.

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Police uncover 10 fresh shrines, Ohanaeze scribe slams raid

By Anayo Okoli & Tony Edike

AWKA — NO fewer than 10 shrines similar to those uncovered Wednesday by the police in Okija, Ihiala local government area of Anambra State exist in that area, the police said yesterday. Twenty human skulls and one fresh corpse were recovered in a raid by the police at Ogwugwu Isiula and Ogwugwu Akpu.

The discovery which came as a shock to many was, however, downplayed yesterday by the Secretary-General of the pan-Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze, Chief Joe Achuzia, who dismissed the police raid as ridiculous and said worshpping at shrines was not a new thing in Nigeria. The police are to continue their raid of the area today with the head of the police operation, Mr. Gabriel Haruna, saying: “It’s an on-going fight.”

Mr. Haruna, a Chief Superintendent of Police, said 13 of the arrested suspects were workers at the Ogwugwu Isiula shrine while the remaining 17 were arrested at Ogwugu Akpu

He gave the names of other shrines in Okija as Ogwugwu Mmili located in Umuhu village, Apunama in Ihite, Ahaya Afa in Ubaha Udara, Ajana-Ohobo, Ahaobuo Umugum and Ihenemenle-Umuhuhihie. Other shrines are Ogwugwu Idigo in Umuhu and Ogwugwu Idimgo. Haruna said four members of a family believed to be strong worshippers of Ogwugwu Isiula, including the assistant chief priest and a priest were in police net. He gave their names to include Osita Ndukwu, 43, a principal priest of the shrine who was paraded on Wednesday; his brothers, Batholemew Ndukwu and Sunday Ndukwu and their father, the assistant chief priest, Mr. Edim Ndukwu who is over 70 years old. Their brother, Cornelius “Okoja” Ndukwu, a member of the banned Bakassi Boys was said to be on the run. According to the SARS commander, three of the human skulls and the fresh corpse were recovered at Ogwugwu Isiula while the remaining 17 skulls were recovered at Ogwugwu Akpu. "It was hell going there.

The moment you step into the shrine you see human corpses left and right, but we mustered courage. I encouraged my men and we moved on to raid the places. It was like a 419 set-up. They use the corpses to scare people away. You know, once you see corpses left and right, you are bound to be afraid,” the police officer said. The police investigation revealed that the Ogwugwu Isiula was registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission as a cultural body. The registration number, according to information pieced together from police, is IT CERT NO 15,018 with Ubaha Oti, Umuhu Okija, Ihiala Local Government Area as address. Their motto contained in their letters of invitation which they send to those visiting their shrine is “Eziokwu bu ndu, asi bu onwu — truth is life, falsehood (lying) is death”

Achuzia castigates police
However, Secretary-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Joe Achuzia, yesterday took exception to the police raid of the two shrines in Okija, describing the action of the police as “ridiculous.” The Ohanaeze scribe, who spoke on the development, decried the interest generated by the raid, saying worshipping at shrines was not new in Nigerian tradition. He said the issue portrayed the Igbo as cannibals, alleging that the police were out to rubbish the Igbo.

“Unless the police have no other job to do, then they can go on making further discoveries on things that are in consonance with ancient history. Everybody in Igboland and Nigeria knows about the existence of shrines everywhere. Go to Hausaland, go to Yorubaland, go to every part of Nigeria, there exists one shrine or another. These things are part of Nigerian tradition. So, unmasking one in Ihiala is not new. These skulls have been there long ago, and I do not see anything new about it except that the police want to portray the Igbo as cannibals. But this is not what the police should be involved in.

“Ohanaeze Ndigbo does not thrive in illegality. Our duty is to ensure that all Igbo do that which is right. In doing so, however, we shall not condone any act that will paint a race in bad light. The police in Awka have done one and one prays they don’t go farther than this, especially when they are not conversant with the history of the people,” Achuzia said.

Achuzia recalled the history of the Okija shrine, saying it has reputation for justice in the settlement of disputes among people, stressing that never in Igboland had anybody complained that the priests at the place killed or sacrificed human beings unjustly.
Said he: “Nobody has said that they kill people there. Those who go there, go there to settle their matters. They take oaths and at the end of the day, any of those found guilty is killed by the shrine. But it is obvious that not all cases are taken to this shrine because it is very powerful. The human parts and skulls which they discovered are merely those who had sworn at the place and apparently found guilty were killed not by any human being but the gods. Their bodies are usually brought to the place as sacrifice to the gods.”

He wondered why the discovery should be made an issue especially when nobody complained about the shrine or its existence, adding that it was another form of marginalisation of the Igbo in the scheme of things of this country. “Why should it be the shrine in Okija? Does it mean that there are no such things in other parts of this country? Okija shrine is reputable in Igboland and the whole world is aware. I do not think any amount of campaign can destroy that which has been in existence for a long time. I think the police should watch it and release all those they arrested in the interest of justice and fair play,” Achuzia said.
Source: Vanguard, 6/8/04.

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Okija Shrine of Death- HOW WE GET HUMAN SKULLS-Chief priest

By GEOFFREY ANYANWU, Awka.

The unmasking of the Ogwugwu Okija by the Anambra State Police command on Tuesday, has revealed a lot of hidden atrocities that have been going on in one of the largest towns of Anambra State for hundreds of years now.

One of the greatest revelations is that which puts a lie to the fable that the deity kills people. Rather, truth is that its worshippers and adherents have been committing blue murder, deceiving gullible faithfuls and making stupendous wealth off them. The have sustained a myth which only objective is to instill fear to make money.

It also reopened what many thought was the closed case of the death, by auto accident of a very popular son of the area who was an epitome of the nouveaux riches of the late 1990s. The late money bag who was based in Lagos is said to have been was actually killed by these ritual killers and that his body may, in fact, still be in – this is even as an empty coffin was said to have been buried in the grave in his country home, unknown to family and friends who could not understand why his coffin could not be opened before burial.

But Mr. Obed Igwe, the man who blew the whistle on the ritualists and who happens to come from the same village is helping Nigerians put two and two together. Igwe was initiated into the cult but, unknown to the others, he joined only to know the inner workings in the shrine, with a view to exposing them later.
Saturday Sun got Igwe and one of the chief priests of the dreaded arusi Okija to explain their roles in one of the most gory tales to emerge from Nigeria after the Otokoto saga in Owerri, Imo State.

My name is Chukwumezie Obed Igwe, from Umuhu Okija, these people here are all my brothers.
Since I was born, I have been seeing my people carried into this place in ambulances and, sometimes, with tipper. I see these things because I am living at the frontline of that street. Initially, they were taking these people there (to the shrine) but, all of a sudden, they now started having it (shrines) individually. Somebody could just go to any big tree, mystify it and start using it to cheat, dupe and kill people.
“Then I was worried and I decided to know what exactly this people do. Hence, I entered into them. Now, when they saw how I was coming close to them, Osita (Ndukwu, one of the priests) said we should take oath (of secrecy). He said that if anybody reveals each other, that the arusi (deity) would come down on him. I agreed and we took oath and became ‘brothers’ and everything. They now told me everything, all the tricks in the practice and how they are killing people.

I notice that no shrine is killing anybody and there is no Christianity there. No shrine kills anybody, it is human beings who are killing each other. I believe that no human being is stronger than God and Jesus. Why is it that Jesus or God doesn’t kill us and we keep on dying by something fetish, I don’t believe that.

How this people are killing people and blaming it on the shrine is that there is something they used to prepare, they call that very thing Isusu. That Isusu contained many dangerous substances. So when they write somebody’s name on a paper and put it with gunpowder and blow it up it with Nkponala (canons), within three or four days, the person must surely die, and they would claim it is the arusi that has killed the person.

They also have many agents like these Okadas (commercial motorcyclists). If they know that you drive a car, they can also rob it on your car door, because you must surely open that door with your hand and the moment you do, it doesn’t kill immediately, but within three, four months that person must pass away. So all these things were what I saw and now decided to call police.

Igwe , in the course of fraternizing with the shrine brotherhood, also got into a land deal with them. He paid out money but has yet to receive the plot of land. However, he insists he was never keen on the land from the onset.

“You know we are all brothers; they are my senior ones. So I told them that I want to come home to establish poultry and stay at home. They told me there is a lot of land and that I should bring money so that they can buy land for me. I gave them N1.3 million because the land they promised is big. Osita even promised to give me from his own land if the one he would buy is not sufficient for me”. So, it is not the money that is the issue now, but the time has come for me to expose them”.

You see, they have now started spreading their evil practice to other parts of the state - from Odoekpe to all those towns that have shrines, and whose shrines have not been known to kill. They say that their shrine does not kill and they are now initiating them to that very thing the they do with the Okija shrine. They teach them to use the Isusu. They call human beings ‘container’ (like the traders refer to their containers of goods from overseas). In fact, they eat human flesh a lot.

When they take that thing kill somebody, they will tell you that you should park that person’s property and money and bring it to the shrine, so that the shrine will not kill the whole village and the whole community.

That is the initial strategy. When you obey, they will tell you that no, you will bring cows and other things. They collect up to five cows from people, ask them, they are here.
Apart from that, they have many strategies of making money. They don’t farm, they don’t fish, but you see all of them building mansions, ridding flashy cars and buying properties overseas.
What I am saying is that everything about Okija and shrine is 100 per cent fake, and there is no doubt about that. It is 100 per cent fake. This thing has been existing hundreds of years ago but nobody has power to expose it. These ones you see that are old now, they started from their youth, their forefathers started it and died, their fathers took over before their sons now.

“It is not true that because they cheated me, that is why I am exposing them. They know that my business is quite different. I’m a trader. I deal on jewelry. They know I am a kind of somebody, my religion is Hare Krishna. We are vegetarians we don’t like killing. They know that we like life and I know that every human being I’m looking at in this world, even if you are from Ghana or elsewhere, I know from the Bible that all of us originated from one father and mother. So all those people they are killing are my brothers.

I have waited till now to expose them, because I wanted to gather every fact and for me to be able to make sure I get them all. All of them, like the other one (he points to one of the suspects arrested from the shrine) who returned from Lagos the other time, I tricked them home, saying let us go home so that we can hold a party, and they came back home, otherwise seeing the other tall one (he points to yet another of the men) is very difficult”.

You know what I did now is very very dangerous, no one has been able to do it because of the danger it poses to one’s life. My wife told me that I should see my children because I am a father of eight children, because some of these people are mean, they can come after me both with hired assassins and other means. She said that the government of this country cannot even give me guarantee or protection. But I’m just doing this for the freedom, health and long life of generation to come. If I die in the process, I am very happy, provided the future generation will be very happy that they have been liberated.
Ask them where they

“Pertaining to Ezego, I still feel that Ezego was killed by this same set of people and also dumped there. I saw him once, because I used to follow them to enter that place, otherwise I couldn’t have known the axis that I showed the police. It is a tragedy. If we refuse to fight this now, this may happen to any body else, even you. Ask them where they kept Ezego, they will show you.”

‘My name is Osita Ndukwu, I am from Umuhu Okija. I sell drugs and practice traditional medicine, I am a native doctor, I also serve Ogwugwu Isiula (deity) of Okija. In Okija there eare many deities (Arusi). We have Ogwugwu Isiula, Ogwugwu Akpu, Ihenemere-muo-ihe, Idigo, Ogwugwu mmiri. We also have Akwunama, Ohayakpa, there are so many of them there. The most dreadful of them all is Ogwugwu Akpu and Ogwugwu mmiri.

We are those who go on errands, like if you come and report anybody to our Chief Priest, our father at home, Okorie Ezike (if you bring our books you will see where he thumb printed those papers we work with). If someone reports to our shrine that he has dispute with another fellow, our master, the Chief Priest, will tell that person to wait and he will send us to go and call the person whom the report was against so that their differences will be resolved.

If the person refuses to come, our master will send message again to him and his people, even to their traditional rulers that the man should come that there was a report against him. And if he refused to come this time around, our master, the Chief Priest, will then send the Arusi (deity) to look for the person to know why he disobeyed.

When the Chief Priest commands the deity (arusi) to search for the person, it goes after the person and if the report against him is true, the Arusi will catch the person and cause him to be saying that Arusi is holding him.

After we might have judged any case the arusi (deity) normally kills the offender or the guilty one. When such one dies, their people will come and inform us and they will be taken to our Chief Priest who will demand for money, cow, goat chicken - as the case may be - so that he will call the arusi back and resolve the issue for them. It is the people that will come and tell us that arusi is killing them before we can go. Like this one here (pointing at the fresh corps the police brought from the shrine as an exhibit) he is from Enugu State, I came home and saw it in our shrine and I was told that they brought some one to arusi and I asked and was told he is from Enugu State, that his people brought him. I don’t know when he swore at the shrine, I was told he was in mortuary for some days before they brought him to the shrine”.
The messemger of arusi also revealed that politicians, traders and even husbands and wives and children come to the shrine and take oath so that no one will cheat the other.

I cannot explain why I was arrested, because the man who came and arrested me, his name is Obed Igwe, I went to his house in Lagos. He invited me and I went. I was with him up to five days even he paid my children’s school fees in Lagos. He even gave me transport money when I told him I needed to come home, and I came back. So last Sunday, he came back and came to my house and my wife cooked for us and we ate. He slept in my house with two persons and a policeman with him.
The next day, he told me he was going, so the next thing I saw was he coming to my place yesterday (Tuesday) with policemen. That time in Lagos, he paid my children’s school fees of N80,000. He also gave me N 20,000 for my feeding while in Lagos and when I wanted to go, he gave me N50,000 saying I should pay him back the N50,000 when he comes back to the village because I did not have money with me there. Another thing that concerned us is, he is my brother, he gave me N1 million for the land he wants to buy for building. But along the line, those we were dealing with about the land had problems of ownership of the land. So he came with the police about 3pm on Tuesday arrested us, searched the house, and entered the shrine, he (Obed) entered the shrine because he is a co-owner of the shrine. In fact, there is arusi that was given to him that is in his house now that he worships. It is in lagos, he uses it there. He is also a native doctor. So we are not in dispute, we are not quarreling. Two of us even took oath with the arusi who will allow evil come to his brothe

Quote from: *dakobu on March 14, 2009, 03:07 AM
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C'ttee moves to tackle fake drug in Onitsha market
Written by VANGUARD
Friday, 13 March 2009

Onitsha—The Caretaker Committee on Onitsha Drugs Market in Anambra State, has said it has put a machinery in place to tackle fake, adulterated and counterfeit drugs in the market. The Committee said it was also monitoring the activities of dealers with questionable characters in the market.

The Chairman and the Secretary of the committee, Mr. Donatus Ugwudike and Chidiebere Nwagu respectively, said this while briefing newsmen in Onitsha.

They said that some measures which they had taken since 2008 had compelled some fake drug sellers to flee the market.

Ugwudike and Nwagu disclosed that many of those involved in fake drugs were detected, apprehended and handed over to NAFDAC for interrogations and possible sanctions.

The duo said anytime a suspected fake dealer was detected and handed over to NAFDAC, the committee usually sealed off the suspect’s shop.

Such a shop, they said, would not be re-opened until when NAFDAC was through with investigations and direct the committee to either re-open it or seal it off permanently.

They, however, noted that the issue of expired drugs could not be completely stamped out in the country.“Any product which can be consumed before its expiry date must surely expire but our committee usually goes round the market to fish out expired products for destruction,’’ they said.

They said their committee had organised series of lectures and enlightenment campaigns for traders on the need for them to voluntarily hand over all expired goods for destruction.

They congratulated the new NAFDAC Director-General, Dr Paul Orhii, on his appointment and assured him of their co-operation to enable him succeed in his assignment.

They contended that Orhii’s utterances had proved his readiness to work like his predecessor, Prof. Dora Akunyili.



http://www.vanguardngr.com/content/view/30926/45/

gold digger LovePeddler.typical igbo girl=money.

FBI MOST WANTED IS AN IGBOMAN.
http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/fugitives/cyber/onwuhara_te.htm

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Thriving sex trade, overflowing refuse dumps distort new face of Imo
By Chux Ohai

As a visitor to Owerri, the capital of Imo State, steps out of the Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport, a large billboard warmly greets him, ‘Welcome to Owerri, Capital City’ and then reminds him that the city he is about to enter is, as a popular slogan of the state government suggests, ‘clean and green’.

Just as touted, the visitor soon discovers that the streets of Owerri appear modestly clean and that the stench that once gave the city the appearance of a huge refuse dump has finally been gotten rid of. It is clean, without the sparkling quality, but lacks evidence of a steely determination by the municipal authority to transform it into a lush green zone in the manner of Abuja and Lagos.

Indeed, Saturday Punch discovered a semblance of order in the manner in which the inhabitants conducted their affairs and the roads appeared at a glance to be well-kempt, wide, and less-ridden with potholes, even craters of such depth as could be found in more densely populated cities like Lagos.

At a junction where road users patiently waited for the next signal from the traffic lights to continue their journey, the New Face of Imo Agenda assumed a more visible perspective, as a couple of workmen laboured in the sun to clear some debris from the site of a recently demolished building.

Once described as the entertainment capital of the South-East, on the surface, Owerri cut the picture of a city in transition. Earlier in 2007, the current governor of Imo State, Ikedi Ohakim, had embarked on a 14-point agenda, the thrust of which was to reposition the state economically, socially and culturally, in such a way that it would attract external investors and tourists. It was gathered that in order to make this a reality, the governor had initiated the much publicised Clean and Green Campaign and set up the Imo State Environmental Transformation Commission (ENTRANCO), which was given the responsibility of saving Owerri from further declining into and wearing the face of a shanty town. ENTRANCO’s major task was to transform the capital city to a model and modern city.

When our correspondent spoke to Willy Amadi, ENTRANCO’s boss, about the Clean and Green project in Owerri, he said, “Our objective is to create an environment that will promote tourism and in turn, create employment. Most importantly, we want to create a model modern state and a capital city that will be the best in West Africa. We are thinking of moulding Owerri and all the other local governments around it into one mega city that countries would emulate. That is why we are spending more time in transforming the people’s mindset to make them do the right thing.”

Amadi added that the staff and management of ENTRANCO had toiled night and day to ensure that Governor Ohakim’s transformational agenda remained visible and attainable. “We have put in so much to get to where we are today, but we have only achieved 15 per cent of the initial target. We have laid the foundation and the people of Imo have accepted the initiative because they have seen its usefulness and benefits. In spite of this, we still have a lot to do,” he said.

But moving further inland, our correspondent stumbled on sights that seemed to contradict the state government’s claims of running one of the cleanest and tidiest state capitals in the world. At a spot on Ama J.K Road, one of the major roads in Owerri, a large and overflowing refuse bin stood like a sore thumb, in total contrast to the shinning surroundings. Nearby, a heap of rubbish had been abandoned in the middle of the ever-busy Douglas Road. As if to complement the ugly sight, the gutters on both sides of this road were solidly blocked by used pure water sachets and such like debris.

Right in the heart of Ama Wire, one of the oldest neighbourhoods in the Owerri metropolis, there was a huge refuse dump nestling among rows of dusty and rustic-looking houses. At a glance, it looked as if the neighbourhood, clearly neglected, had for a while evaded the good intentions of Ohakim’s Clean and Green Initiative. At the same time, it seemed that ENTRANCO’s cleaners and sanitary officers would spare the neighbourhod their modernizing visits for a long time. Ama Wire in its wretched and unkempt state was clearly not a reflection of the ingenuity of the government’s Face of Imo agenda.

Perhaps one of the most dominant features of Owerri life was the huge presence of commercial motorcycle operators, or Okada riders, on the roads. Okada riders constitute a significant percentage of the workforce in Imo State. In Owerri, they were found everywhere, in their hundreds, racing from one point in the city to another, sometimes at alarming speed. One did not need to be told that these commercial motorcycles were the most popular means of transport in Owerri. Yet the state government was said to have decided to kick Okada riders out of town in March, 2009.

In response to this, Charles Ngobiri, an Okada operator, told Saturday Punch, “The governor said we should leave before the end of March. But where are we going? How does he expect us to earn a living after March? To tell you the truth, I don’t like what this governor is doing to us. They say he is making Owerri clean. Is it cleanliness that I will eat?”

But in an interview with our correspondent, Governor Ikedi Ohakim denied ever handing Okada riders a quit order. “I have never given an order to Okada riders to quit. There is nothing like that. What we have said is that between now and March, we will restrict them outside Owerri metropolis, which is different from Owerri urban area. What this means is that Okada riders can still work within the city,” he said.

Revealing his intention to introduce an alternative with which he planned to absorb the Okada riders, he said, “We have to find a way to discourage these boys from committing suicide. Riding Okada is like committing suicide.”

Apart from the rumoured ban on commercial motorcycles in Owerri, Ohakim’s demolition squads appear to have incurred the displeasure of some residents of the city. Madam Anthonia Okoro, a resident, called them ‘extortion’ squads. She complained to Saturday Punch that she lost a substantial sum of money to one of the teams when it came to demolish her shop at Mbaise Road. Such complaints were common in Owerri. But the government recently denied that members of the task force set up to supervise the demolition exercise had extorted money from affected shop owners or traders.

Determined to survive against all odds, Madam Okoro had moved to a small, but bubbly place known as ‘Control’, where she was able to sell her wares every night, away from the prying eyes of law enforcement agents.

Meanwhile, most victims of the government’s Clean and Green Initiative have found themselves facing abject poverty after the bulldozers had destroyed their means of livelihood. “One of my neighbours has left Owerri for his village because there is nothing to do here any more,” a trader named Maxwell said. He admitted that he dreaded a new life in his native village and added that he was not in a hurry to relocate to his village yet, because life was a lot tougher there.

At night, Owerri presented a different picture from what one had encountered in day time. The city’s characteristic calm gradually dissolved into a bubbly atmosphere that was reinforced by the presence of several night spots struggling to relive the city’s past image of a fecund haven for revelers. Tens of Okada riders, undeterred by the existence of numerous police checkpoints at strategic points in the city, were busy ferrying night crawlers from one night spot to the other. This correspondent found that prostitutes constituted the majority of passengers transported on the motorcycles.

Indeed, prostitutes, most of them in their late teens, swarmed the hotels and night clubs in Owerri almost every night. Some of them confessed that they had to hustle to make ends meet. “There is so much poverty here. As for me, I don’t like to burden my parents with demands for money. I have needs and I don’t like to disturb them for money. That is why I go out to hustle,” said Nkiruka, who declined for obvious reasons to mention her surname. Nkiru said she was a student of Imo State University. Her companion, Stephanie, admitted that she had to travel all the way from Uturu in neighbouring Abia State to ‘try her luck’ at the Imo Concorde Hotel where clients were certain to part with generous sums of money for a night of sex. Apart from Concorde Hotel, other regular haunts for the likes of Nkiru and Stephanie include Links Hotel and Disney Hotel, as well as Control, a popular resort for drivers of trailer-trucks in transit located along the Onitsha-Owerri Road.

Another resident of Owerri, Mr.Sampson Eze, who said he worked with a commercial bank in the city, described the booming sex trade as an unpleasant development that derived from the get-rich-quick attitude of the people. “Can you imagine that most of these prostitutes are young girls who should be busy reading their books? I think we are having a serious problem in our hands,” he said.

Generally, the thriving sex trade has been attributed to the erosion of positive moral values among the Igbo. At the 2009 Ahiajoku Lecture, the collapse of moral values was identified as one of the issues that needed to be addressed in the quest for the cultural rebirth of the Igbo. Alongside the rampaging bulldozers of the demolition teams, the scarcity of potable water in the metropolis and frequent blackouts, it is an issue the current governor must address in his bid to recreate the image of the capital city.

http://www.punchontheweb.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art200901312581834

[b][/b]

Some Igbo women need to stop being glorified prostitutes.Those of us who have northern Nigerian links (Emeka is also a Nigerlite) know what goes on between some Igbo women and oga Alhaji or rich Nigerian men. Some Igbo women are so cheap these days that my former illiterate northern driver once told me that he could sleep with any Igbo woman for ten naira (1 cent). .http://nigeriaworld.com/articles/2007/jul/021.html

The Bakassi Boys are a group of youth known for their anti-crime vigilantism, and are usually armed with machetes, guns, and charms. They operate in the Igbo area of Nigeria, and are sometimes accused of illegal activities and human rights abuses, yet enjoy popular support in the areas where they operate.


By Dan Isaacs
BBC correspondent in Onitsha, south-eastern Nigeria  



Human rights campaigners have called on the Nigerian Government to disband state-sponsored vigilantes operating in eastern Nigeria.

In a report published on Monday, the US-based Human Rights Watch says that the vigilantes, known as the Bakassi Boys, have carried out scores of extra-judicial killings as well as hundreds of cases of torture and arbitrary detention.



It is good because they catch the criminals, then kill them and burn them

Local trader  
The report also warns that these groups are being used as a tool for politically-motivated violence in the run up to national elections.

Although the Bakassi Boys operate in three states across south-eastern Nigeria, it is their activities in Anambra State that has caused most concern.

There, they have been adopted by the state government as a crime fighting force - funded and officially sanctioned under a law passed by the state parliament two years ago.

They work independently from the police force in the state, and do not as a rule hand suspects over to them, a fact confirmed by the Abdul Bello, the Anambra state police commissioner.

"To the extent that they do not submit themselves to the control of Nigerian police force, they are not working with us," said Mr Bello.

And as for what they do with those they apprehend, Mr Bello said: "You had better ask them, because I don't know what they do. And that is where we part ways."

But there is no doubt that the activities of the Bakassi Boys, despite their methods, are popular among many of the traders in the sprawling town of Onitsha, home to one of the largest markets in West Africa, with an appalling reputation for armed crime.

 

In a world where the police had effectively abandoned law enforcement, the arrival of the vigilantes was very welcome.

"All that the police do is take bribes," one market woman tells me.

"When you tell them a crime has happened, they just run away."

These traders are people living day to day with theft and violent crime.

"Before the Bakassi Boys came, there were many problems with thieves and armed robbers. Now it is much better," says one shopkeeper.

But few have any doubts about the vigilante's tactics, and another man tells me: "It is good because they catch the criminals, then kill them and burn them".

Climate of fear

At the entrance to the headquarters of Bakassi Boys in Onitsha, two cars bear the vigilante logo on their bonnets: a skull and cross bones crudely painted in red.

By the door a young man in dark glasses sits on a bench studying his reflection in a highly polished machete.


The Bakassi Boys have a fearful reputation


Gun cartridge cases litter the ground.

Up a narrow staircase and into a darkened office, the local Bakassi commander, simply known as Okpompi tells me how his men work closely with the local police, how they hand over all criminals they catch, and how they possess no weapons.

Once these formalities have been dealt with, we discuss the guns I can see hidden behind the sofa, the man I saw tied up and being beaten when I had arrived unannounced the previous day and, most revealingly, the methods they use to extract confessions from the suspects they catch.



'Supernatural powers'

The Bakassi Boys have a reputation for possessing powerful magic powers.

The objects I see around the room all bear witness to the use of fetishes and juju in their daily work.


Bakassi Boys say they work within the law


There are also crucifixes on the walls.

"Our powers come from God", Okpompi tells me.

"We are all Christians working with the power of the Almighty."

Hanging from the door is a carving of a shrunken human head, on the desk are a range of small wooden coffins containing devices to determine the guilt or innocence of suspects - but they are sacred and must not be opened in my presence.

"We don't kill anybody. If anybody tells you the Bakassi Boys kills anybody, it's not true," says Okpompi, "but we do make people confess to their crimes."

The most infamous of their techniques involves a machete, imbued with powerful magic charms.

It is held against the bare chest of a suspect.

If it turns red, the person is guilty.

But only the Bakassi Boys can see the change of colour, and it is for them alone to decide guilt or innocence.

Claims of torture

Their claims that those found guilty are then handed over to the police are not only denied by the police themselves, but also challenged by those who have witnessed the Bakassi Boys activities first hand.



People are afraid to talk, they fear for reprisals

Chief Chike Udenze, businessman  
Human Rights Watch researchers have documented testimonies to scores of killings as well as hundreds of accounts of torture and detention.

"They usually use their knives to kill people", businessman, Chief Chike Udenze tells me.

"They then use tyres over their necks, fill them with fuel and shoot into the tyres to set them alight. That is their usual method".

Chief Udenze is not a neutral observer to the activities of the vigilantes.

He is a prominent local politician who accuses the ruling establishment in Anambra state of using the Bakassi Boys to silence opponents such as himself.

"People are afraid to talk, they fear for reprisals," he says.

"But the use of the Bakassi Boys against political opponents could seriously jeopardise the conduct of the upcoming elections."

Crackdown on crime

Not surprisingly this is a view strongly rejected by the government of Anambra state, particularly as the Bakassi Boys are authorised and financed by them.


The authorities turn a blind eye to the Bakassi Boys' excesses


The staunchest supporter of their activities is the governor himself, Chinwoke Mbadinuju who tells me that crime in the state had reached such an appalling level that something had to be done.

"These vigilante boys are there to ensure that the armed robbers that menaced us for all these years were stopped. This had been achieved".

As for the reports of extra-judicial punishments carried out by the Bakassi Boys, the governors answer is measured.

"Definitely it's an exaggeration. There are occupational hazards but these things are an exception to the rule."
[b][/b]

;d

Owerri: 9 bodies recovered from Nworie River

EMMA OGU, Owerri


Nine decomposing bodies have been recovered from the Nworie River in Owerri, Imo State, by tractors engaged in clearing the river preparatory to its dredging; a project being executed by Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and Governor Ikedi Ohakim’s administration.

The unidentified bodies said to be undergoing autospy are suspected to be victims of ritual killing.

Special adviser to the governor on Sanitation and Transport, Chief Willy Amadi, who disclosed this in an interactive session with journalists, said the bodies were not completely decomposed, even as he expressed the likelihood of more bodies being discovered.

Amadi who doubles as vice-chairman of Environmental Transformation Committee, ENTRACO, sad the company to carry out the dredging exercise will arrive in the state soon to begin the project awarded at the cost of N7billion.

He said: "What is going on now is not dredging. They are just clearing the weeds in the river. Who knows who the nine bodies are? If nine bodies can be discovered at this stage you can imagine what will be discovered when they dig deeper. People are being regularly declared missing. Who knows what has been going on for long in the River? "

He said the dredging exercise was purely a Federal Government project through the NDDC and the only counterpart contribution of the state government was payment of compensation to land owners and provision of security.

On the master plan and economic value of the project, he said three amusement parks will be built on the banks of the river alongside four modern bridges and houses. The dredging project, he said, will provide for water transport in all the local government areas the river crossed, saying it will have much economic impact on the state when the project is completed. Amadi said Ohakim deserved commendation and encouragement for attracting the project to the state.

The dredging project has attracted criticism in some quarters since it was announced. Some critics see it as a white elephant project while some question its economic value.


http://www.champion-newspapers.com/news/article_2.htm

WE SHLD REMEMBER THE FAMOUS OTOKOTO IN IMO STATE & OKIJA SHRINE IN ANAMBRA STATE.

they could be igbos.

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=270383.msg3858997#msg3858997
human eaters.
Baby sales racket
• More ‘baby factories’ uncovered
By HENRY UMAHI (umahi@sunnewsonline.com)
Saturday, May 9, 2009


Photo: Sun News Publishing  
More Stories on This Section
The last may not have been heard about the baby racket thriving in the country. Not long ago, the activities of a woman, who camps pregnant teenage girls and cater for them till they deliver their babies, were exposed. It was believed that the woman trades in babies, in the name of giving them out for adoption.

However, it has been discovered that there are actually more “factories” of the babies in the country than earlier imagined. It is indeed, a racket. Curiously, the mafia, which runs the business, is believed to buy into government as well as law enforcement agencies and, therefore, remain untouched.

Saturday Sun observed that the business is shrouded in deceit. The owners and operators claim to camp teenage pregnant girls and taking care of them for charity. However, they have failed to say what becomes of the babies after delivery or how their bodies are disposed, in case of death.

Investigation of the hospitals has, however, revealed that there is more to the activities of the operators of the teenage girls homes than meets the eye.

A known factory
Inside the Mercy Maternity Clinic/Nma Charity Home and Child Care Centre, Umunkpeyi Nvosi, Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area of Abia State, which was in the news recently when the police arrested its operator, girls in their teens and early 20s mill around when Saturday Sun visited. The girls form small groups, discussing only God-knows-what. Some sit by themselves appearing to be in sober mood or wearing pensive looks. Although they come from different places, looking different, in terms of built, they are brought together by common destiny or fate. The agony-ridden faces are reflective of the circumstances of their camping.

All the girls have eaten the forbidden fruit at the wrong time and it is not difficult to tell. Their grotesque figures tell the story. They are all at various stages of pregnancy. These young pregnant girls, about 50 of them, are crammed into the few available rooms in the home, owned by Mrs. Lillian Achomba, a nurse.
When Saturday Sun visited the ‘baby factory’ three weeks ago, the home had bounced back to life after the raid some weeks earlier by the X-Squad Unit of the Nigeria Police on allegation that Achomba was trafficking in pregnant teenage girls. The raid did not finally stop the wheels of the factory turning, as it were.
The Commissioner of Police in-charge of the X-Squad Unit had said that Achomba also operates a private mortuary and cemetery for preservation and burial of any of the girls and/or their babies who died at the home. He said that police operatives dug up one of the graves and discovered a fresh body of an infant with its mother during the raid.

“When any of them delivers, the baby is sold for N150,000 and the children whose HIV status is negative are offered at prices from N200,000 and above depending on the sex of the child. This woman is so rich that she bought over all the security agencies in the state and also highly connected in the state,” the police chief said.

They lied against me
The light-complexioned woman running the home, however, told Saturday Sun that she was framed up as a result of a problem in her community. Claiming that the pregnant girls were in the home at their volition, she volunteered that a new girl was brought to her shortly before the reporter arrived.
Incidentally, the woman’s mien changed completely when the reporter began to probe into the activities of the centre. It was like touching a tiger by the tail, as she became hostile threatening fire and brimstone. Here was a woman, dressed in the robe of civility when the writer arrived, claiming she had no skeleton in her cupboard but only interested in helping underage ladies, who could not restrain themselves from sexual liaisons and thus became pregnant too early. But when the reporter switched on his tape recorder for a formal interview she became visibly uncomfortable. Her face reddened when she was asked the whereabouts of the children born in the home.

Having waited for an answer for what seemed like eternity without one, except blazing eyes, the writer fired again: “How do you recoup the expenses incurred in taking care of the pregnant girls until they put to bed?”
At that point, Achomba had become so agitated that she insisted on inviting in her younger brother, Ukandu Achomba. The siblings then consulted and decided that they must get clearance from their lawyer before responding to the questions. Strangely, the lawyer ordered the duo to maintain sealed lips. All efforts by Saturday Sun to make him lift the gag order was rebuffed.

Saturday Sun had a bad experience in the hands of some youths believed to be working for the centre. On Monday, April 20, a group of four men, reeking of alcohol and marijuana ambushed the reporter and snatched his digital camera that had photos of the camp as well as some of the teenage pregnant girls loitering around the area. He was issued a stern warning not to be sighted in the vicinity again.
In the same vein, Achomba prevented the pregnant girls from speaking with Saturday Sun, as she ordered them into their rooms.

State of the home
One of the characteristics of the home is the prevalence of rats, lizards and cockroaches. Native fowls were seen doing the marathon with the cockroaches all over the place, as rats dashed across in all directions.
According to an inside source, deaths occur in the home regularly. This is attributable to lack of qualified personnel and inadequate facilities.

“The shambolic state of the healthcare facilities in the centre is a problem. In fact, the place operates like a traditional maternity home. The equipment, where they exist, are neither adequate nor safe. There are no qualified doctors or nurses. You can imagine what happens in an emergency, that is if any of the girls develops complications during childbirth,” the source said.

An evangelist (names withheld) told Saturday Sun that there is no doubt the operators of the home are well connected. Otherwise, he argues, the place would not remain in existence till date, considering the hair raising stories emanating therefrom.

Pregnant in, no baby out
According to him, “you do not see any of the girls leaving with a new baby. While pregnant, sometimes you see some of them in the market or in the front of the building relaxing, but when they are leaving, after putting to bed, you don’t see the baby. Something is wrong there. There must be something fishy going on.”
Another pastor from the area corroborated this position. He disclosed that sometime ago, one of his distant relations became pregnant and disappeared and when she came back several months later, there was no child with her. It was suspected that she took up residence in the camp for the period of her pregnancy. Since they lack the wherewithal to follow up the matter and also avoid scandal that could jeopardize the girl’s future, they chose to let the sleeping dog lie. He added that the lady is now married.

When Saturday Sun traced the lady to her matrimonial home in Aba and wanted to hear from the horse’s mouth as it were, she dissolved in tears.
“I don’t want to say anything. I have nothing to say. Please, don’t drive me away from my husband’s house,” she pleaded, sobbing softly.

An old deal
A taxi driver, who identified himself as Isiala, alleged that the baby trade has been going on for quite some time. He claimed that not too long ago, a woman from Anambra State chartered his 504 Peugeot cab and he took her to one of the popular camps. According to the Umunkpeyi indigene, about 30 minutes later, the woman emerged with a child of about four months. He observed that with the swiftness with which she came out, it appeared the deal had been signed and sealed before that day. He added that the woman was so relaxed in the manner of someone playing a familiar game.

Another source told Saturday Sun that some youths watch the back of the operators of the clinic even as the state police allegedly offer security protection. Hence, each time police from Abuja raid the place, it bounces back shortly afterwards.

And going by the experience of Saturday Sun with the police in Abia State, it appears that the complicity theory may be credible. For instance, all efforts to make the state Police Public Relations Officer, Ali Okechukwu, to speak on the matter, was futile. Whenever his telephone number was called to discuss the matter, he would claim to be either driving or attending one meeting or the other. Even when a text message was sent to him, he chose not to respond.

This seems to support the position of the commissioner in-charge of the X-Squad, CP Okorie, who reportedly said that the woman has “bought over all the security agencies in the state.” He added that investigations revealed that the clinic is not registered. Yet it continued to operate, even after the police from Abuja ordered its closure.

When contacted, Mr. Sam Hart, Chief Press Secretary to Abia State governor, Chief Theodore A. Orji, said he was not aware of the existence of the camp. He, however, admitted that he is “aware that such places exist in some remote parts of the state.”

Other factories
It appears that illegal baby trade is really booming in Abia or so it seems. For instance, Saturday Sun investigation revealed the existence of another centre in Aba, where babies are freely sold.
The centre is located in an uncompleted two-storey building off Nicholas Street, by Brass junction, off Aba-Owerri Road. It is tucked away in between high walls and a massive black gate. The hospital has no signpost, but home to teenage pregnant girls whose babies are suspected to be sold when they are delivered.

The pregnant girls, whose number could not be confirmed, are quartered in dingy rooms. All day, the ladies remain inside their rooms, only peeping through the windows to see the world outside. But when night falls, they perch like vultures on the decking of the unroofed building savouring the fresh air they had missed all day.
Saturday Sun learnt that the hospital is well-patronized by those who need babies. In fact, in many instances, the source said, buyers queue, waiting for the girls to put to bed in order to snap up the babies. The source said the location of the hospital is an added advantage, as a buyer would simply melt into the crowd after leaving the premises.

According to an inside source, an average of eight girls share a small room. The number, the source explained, could actually be higher, depending on the number of inmates at a given time.

On the modus operandi, the source volunteered: “When the girls come, the hospital begins to take care of them until they are delivered of their babies. They prepare their food themselves, in turns and eat from the same pot. They hardly go out once they are admitted into the hospital. Beans is a regular feature on the menu because of the nutritional content.”

[b]Community sex/baby making
The source further said: “Sometimes, some boys are brought in to make love to some of the girls who are in heat, so to say. Those who introduce the girls go home with between N5,000 and N7, 000 depending on the stage of the pregnancy at the time of arrival. If a girl is less than four months pregnant, the person who introduced her to the hospital gets N5,000 but if the pregnancy is five months and above, the person is rewarded with N7,000. And when a girl delivers safely, she is paid off with between N40,000 and N50,000 depending on how much time spent there.
Saturday Sun tried to see the doctor in charge on two occasions, but he was said to be unavailable. The undercover reporter was, however, requested to leave his contact address and telephone numbers. But two weeks afterwards, the hospital is yet to make any contact.

Sex-defined price tag
The price of a bay is determined and dependent on the sex. While a female child could sell for between N300,000 and N350,000, a male child fetches between N350,000 and N400,000. So, while the ‘social mothers,’ as they are known, are made to believe that their babies will be put up for adoption by willing foster parents, with the prospect of a guaranteed future, the fact remains that they are mere money spinners for the doctors. However, to create a semblance of a legitimate transaction, the baby merchants brandish phony documents.

The source hinted that the rate of deaths in the hospital is high, attributing it to poor and inadequate medical attention. Because of the pricing formula, based on the sex of the babies, a lady who operates a scan, revealed that girls whose tests show they are carrying boys, get better medical attention because the product/commodity she bears attracts more money. He did not say how the corpses of dead babies are discarded.

A former staffer of the hospital, who identified himself as Morris, alleged that workers were usually meant to take compulsory oath of secrecy by swearing to a juju not to divulge any information about the place to anyone no matter the circumstances.

Orthodox factory
A certain private hospital on Okigwe Road, Aba, was recently fingered as a baby factory.
When Saturday Sun visited the hospital, very prominent, at an end of the street where rugs and carpets are sold, it was locked. However, peeping through the broken glass door, it was discovered that the ceiling fan, in the front office, was on.

Mr. Ndubuisi Ekeh, who sells electrical gadgets beside the hospital, described it as a market. According to him, at the place, babies are sold, like beans cake, adding that NAPTIP raided the place some time ago[/b].

Baby factory under watch
Speaking with Saturday Sun, Mrs. Ijeoma Okoronkwo, zonal head, National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Human Persons and Other Related Matters (NAPTIP, Enugu zone, said the organization is working on the hospital’s case and other teenage camp centres in Aba.
The NAPTIP chief explained that the medical director of the hospital is trying to stop the agency’s investigation and prosecution. “We know he sells babies in the name of adoption,” she said, adding: “There are reports of so many other areas where babies are sold in the area. We are investigating them. It is assuming an alarming proportion around the South East and NAPTIP is not taking it lightly.”
She argued that the illegal baby trade is booming because of the high profit in the business and low risk, volunteering that the agency was determined to nip it in the bud.

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2009/may/09/national-09-05-2009-01.htm

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=270383.msg3858997#msg3858997
human eaters.

:-x

hummmmmmmm

hummmmmm

phantom:
@[s]jona, I hope you know you are strangers in your own land?There is no devt in the niger delta cos you all are lazy.Portharcourt is developed today cos of the ibo man.Fact!If naija was to break up and they say hausa go,yoruba go,ND go,una no go fit survive even wit una oil.Face it, You all are a bunch of underdogs.You need to see the faces of your displaced bros and sis in todays dailies to understand what i mean.Biafra lasted three years.You guys wont last a minute

[/s]
with the helped of the British.huh the east still look like slum.?

naijaking1:
[s]While you sit and hope for the impossible, please read the link posted by asha80 above. It explains the root cause of Ijaw/Igbo problems: laziness vs industry: shortsighted vs long term planning: deciet vs honesty.
Finally, sense of entitlement vs sense of duty.

[/s]blahhhhhhhhhhhh.with all your hard work,drugs, dubious business ,419,rituals killing,blood money, what a bunch of crooks.get a Bleep of here.honesty and igbo don,t rhythm.