₦airaland Forum

There is always light at the end of the tunnel -all it takes is patience and faith. A woman who passed through horrific ordeal in the quest for childbearing -is filled with joy and happiness for welcoming her first child after 23 years of marriage.

Her brother-in-law took to his Facebook page to share the good news.. He wrote;

There is no impossibility with God , my in-law carrying her baby for the first time after 23yrs of marriage.Yours is the next in Jesus name.

more photos here: http://www.naijsnews.com/2016/04/19-things-your-kids-wont-believe-about.html

Here’s a sobering thought. If you were a teen in the 80s, the 1950s were ancient history – but they were no further from from you than the 80s are to the teens of today.

Things that we took for granted sound absolutely crazy today. Here are 21 things your kids won’t believe about the 80s.

1. You had to type in computer games

It took days, and then the bloody things didn’t work.

2. You had to look stuff up in books

There was no Wikipedia to tell you that no, Bob Holness didn’t play the sax in Baker Street. So we believed all kinds of bullshit.

3. People wanted to ban pretty much everything

Mary Whitehouse could find filth in the most innocuous programmes, terrible horror films became public enemies thanks to over-excited tabloids and faintly rude songs about shagging became national scandals.

4. There wasn’t any internet

It existed, but only a few boffins knew about it.

5. Or apps

Etch-a-Sketch was about as high-tech as we got.



6. Or GPS

We just got lost.

7. Trolling was limited to landlines

Trolling was more innocent then: you’d call a random number, ask if their fridge was running and then howl “Well! Better run after it!”

8. We watched things on VHS

Imagine YouTube on a really small laptop screen, viewed through a really dirty window. That was our home entertainment.

9. Kids loved Ceefax

Ceefax was our internet, pages of text that hid behind the pictures on TV and… changed… very… slowly.



10. Cabbage Patch Dolls were a thing

For no good reason the world went mad for faintly sinister-looking plush dolls in the 1980s, with parents battling each other in the aisles for the must-have monstrosities.

11. Everybody was on smack

Or at least you’d think so if you watched TV, where Zammo from Grange Hill fell into heroin addiction and you couldn’t move for charity singles urging kids to just say no. Ironically enough, the only way to get through the Grange Hill cast’s Just Say No record involved taking heroic quantities of drugs.

12. We memorised phone numbers

Everybody knew all the phone numbers, or wrote them down in books.

13. We spent hours rewinding videotapes

Imagine Netflix, but instead of clicking an icon you go to a petrol station, come home with a box the size of a hardback book and spend hours rewinding the tape before you can watch anything.

14. Mobiles were massive

Only three people had mobiles in the 1980s, because nobody else could lift the damn things.

15. We made mix tapes

Forget Tinder. To impress potential partners we curated C-90 cassettes and used our best handwriting on the inlay card.



16. We made the most of music videos

Today, music videos are simple and pretty formulaic. In the 80s, they were insane, big budget blow-outs, probably because everyone was on drugs.

17. All of the haircuts

But particularly mullets.

18. Phone books were vital

Whether you were looking for a plumber or wanted to ask someone out on a date.

19. Everybody expected World War III to happen any minute

We really did, and it turns out we got a lot closer to fiery nuclear armageddon than even the most paranoid of us believed. Given the imminent threat of burny death from the skies, the haircuts and music made sense: if we were all going to die, we might as well do it while looking and sounding amazing.

source:http://www.naijsnews.com/2016/04/19-things-your-kids-wont-believe-about.html

Here Is The List Of The 6 Youngest PhD Holders In Nigeria
http://www.naijsnews.com/2016/04/here-is-list-of-6-youngest-phd-holders.html

for all those runs babes, hmmmm ATM dey vex for una tooo ohhh....lol


source:http://www.naijsnews.com/

After being disgrace few months ago on allegation of fraud, suspended UEFA chief Michel Platini and Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi were amongst the names found Sunday in leaked documents which reveal offshore financial dealings.

‘The Panama Papers’ claim the law firm of a FIFA ethics watchdog had business relationships with three men recently indicted in football’s global corruption scandal.

Documents also bring to light how some players use offshore companies to bank money from image rights deals.


The findings are the result a year-long investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung and other media outlets.

The records show that a law firm belonging to Juan Pedro Damiani, a member of FIFA’s Independent Ethics Committee, did work for offshore companies linked to Eugenio Figueredo, a former FIFA vice president who has been indicted in the US on wire fraud and money laundering charges.

“The records do not show illegal conduct by Damiani or his law firm. But they do raise new questions for Damiani and FIFA,” said the report issued by the ICIJ.

A spokesman for the ethics panel told the ICIJ that Damiani had informed the committee in March that he has had business ties to Figueredo.

However, the panel has launched an investigation into Damiani’s relationship with Figueredo.

Damiani told the ICIJ, through a spokesperson, that he wasn’t authorised to make statements while officials in Uruguay are investigating allegations of corruption related to FIFA.

“He added, however, that he taken a lead in reporting corrupt practices within FIFA to Uruguayan authorities and to the soccer organisation’s ethics committee,” said the report.

The 11 million leaked records from the files of Mossack Fonseca, a Panama-based law firm, include the names of 20 high-profile footballers.

The most high-profile of all is Argentina and Barcelona star Messi.

Messi and his father Jorge are already due to stand trial in May charged with tax fraud for allegedly failing to declare 4.16 million euros ($4.69 million) in taxes related to his image rights between 2007 and 2009 through front companies in Belize and Uruguay.

The pair are accused of ceding the player’s image rights to the companies in order to avoid declaring money made from lucrative deals with sponsors in Spain.

Both men deny any wrongdoing.

The ICIJ said the documents also allege that Platini turned to Mossack Fonseca to help him administer an offshore company created in Panama in 2007.

Platini is serving a six-year ban from all football-related activity for an ethics breach after former FIFA president Sepp Blatter approved a $2 million payment to the Frenchman in 2011 for consultancy work done without a contract a decade earlier.

Late Sunday, Platini’s communications service told AFP that his entire financial records and properties had been made known to the Swiss authorities since 2007.

It was made clear that any defamatory comments published could lead to legal action.

source:http://www.naijsnews.com/2016/04/barcelona-star-in-trouble-as-platini.html

photo of his arrival at newcastle:http://www.omobasblog.com/2016/03/rafa-benitez-set-to-replace-steve.html

Rafael Benitez has been pictured arriving at St James’ Park as he looks set to replace Steve McClaren as the manager of Newcastle United. Newcastle took the decision to sack the former England managed after he managed just six wins during his 28 games in charge of the club after he took over at the start of the season.

source:http://www.omobasblog.com/2016/03/rafa-benitez-set-to-replace-steve.html

THIS IS HORRIBLE BRO!

Pro-government militias in South Sudan are allowing soldiers to rape women as payment, the UN rights office has claimed.

In a new report, the rights office described the country as ‘one of the most horrendous human rights situations in the world’, and extensively outlined how women were routinely raped by soldiers as payment for their services.


‘The assessment team received information that the armed militias… who carry out attacks together with the SPLA (South Sudanese army) commit violations under an agreement of ‘do what you can and take what you can’, the report said.



‘Most of the youth therefore also raided cattle, stole personal property, raped and abducted women and girls as a form of payment.’
The report contained detailed testimonies from rape victims in the country, who bravely recalled their harrowing ordeals.

The report said: ‘One woman explained how, eight months pregnant, she was severely beaten to the point that she began to hemorrhage and had a miscarriage. She added that she was then forced to immediately carry heavy goods.


‘Other women described being beaten with sticks and gun butts. One woman explained that her beating lasted more than one hour, “the men told me to lie down and when I refused they beat me and all three forced themselves on me.”‘
The report also described how some women were even physically sick as they recalled their horrific ordeals.


‘On one occasion an older woman became physically ill as she recalled events that had taken place; the interview was immediately stopped’, the report claimed.


‘Some survivors and witnesses gave testimonies of women being raped in front of their family members, or in front of their neighbors and friends, resulting not only in physical harm to the victim but also additional psychological trauma.’

UN human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein has since warned that brutal rapes were being used as a systematic ‘instrument of terror and weapon of war.’

The latest revelation about human rights abuses in South Sudan comes in the same week that Amnesty International accused South Sudan government forces of deliberately suffocating more than 60 men and boys in a shipping container.



Violence in South Sudan - a brief history according to the Council on Foreign

Relations

Tens of thousands of people have been killed and more than 1.6 million have been internally displaced since civil war broke out in South Sudan in December 2013. Under the threat of international sanctions and following several rounds of negotiations supported by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development(IGAD), President Salva Kiir signed a peace agreement with rebel leader and former Vice President Riek Machar on August 26.

The latest deal remains fragile, as clashes continue and both sides have blamed the other for violating the cease-fire. After the leaders failed to reach an agreement by the deadline in March 2015, South Sudanese lawmakers again postponed elections and extended President Kiir’s term; elections are now slated for 2018. The peace talks, which began in January 2014, have resulted in several agreements, but both parties to the conflict and other splintering factions repeatedly violate the cease-fires.

Armed groups, including the government’s Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), have committed widespread violence against civilians, especially women and children, humanitarian workers, and peacekeepers. As of July 2015, more than 166,000 people are seeking protection on UN bases, which have become displacement-like settlements known as Protection of Civilian sites, in areas such as Bentiu, Juba, and Malakal.

The organisation claims that 23 witnesses in the villages of Luale and Leer saw the men and boys being forced into the container with their hands tied, or saw their bodies being later dragged away and dumped.

The report said: ‘Witnesses described hearing the detainees crying and screaming in distress and banging on the walls of the shipping container, which they said had no windows or other form of ventilation.’


The newly formed country gained independence from Sudan in 2011 – but descended into civil war in December 2013, setting off widespread violence that has dogged the country ever since.

http://www.omobasblog.com/2016/03/soldiers-in-south-sudan-are-allowed-to.html#more

This is supposedly Yunusa, the young man who abducted 14 year old Ese Oruru and took her to Kano where he married and may have impregnated her...Premium Times obtained the exclusive pic.

this dude say him dey Bornu state ni... tahahahaha

President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Abike Dabiri-Erewa as his Senior Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs and the Diaspora. Dabiri-Erewa was a former Chair of the House Committee on Diaspora Affairs and Chair of the House Committee on Media and Publicity.

The former broadcaster, who was born in Jos, Plateau State, was elected to the House of Representatives, representing Ikorodu Constituency in Lagos State in 2003. She was re-elected in 2007 and 2011.

http://www.omobasblog.com/2016/02/breaking-buhari-appoints-abike-dabiri.html#more

lol.. really?

I can't imagine what this guy is looking out for?

any idea?...lol


http://www.omobasblog.com/2016/02/just-imagine-what-this-stupid-guy-is.html

President Buhari has approved the sack of more Director Generals of Federal Government parastatals. The list of the parastatals that have their DGs fired include;


-Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF)
- New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD)
- Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF)
- Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board(NCDMB)



- Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN)
- Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund)
- National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA)
- Petroleum Equalization Fund Nigeria Railways Corporation (NRC) (xv) Bureau of
-Public Procurements (BPP)
- Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE)
- Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA)
-Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON)
-National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC)
- Nigeria Investment Promotion Council (NIPC)
- Bank of Industry (BoI)
-National Centre for Women Development (NCWD)
- National Orientation Agency (NOA)
-Industrial Training Fund (ITF)
-Nigerian Export-Import Bank

-National Agency for Prohibition of Traffic In Persons and Other Related Matters (NAPTIP)


http://www.omobasblog.com/2016/02/buhari-fires-more-dgs-including-those.html

and there is no adsense on your blog ni?.. theif

Do you all agree with this?



http://www.omobasblog.com/2016/02/for-real-things-nigerians-must-do-if.html

Gideon Robinson made hearts melt when he proposed to the nurse he calls 'Tall Sarah' This is the moment a brave five-year-old boy battling cancer proposed to his favourite nurse. Gideon Robinson was diagnosed with lymphoblastic leukemia last year.

During his battle with the illness, he's grown close to nurse Sarah Richards at Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego.

And he's now taken his strong feelings for the nurse to the next level. He proposed to her with a pipe cleaner ring, and her response is amazing. She replied: "Of course you can be my hospital husband."


The child's mother, speaking to BuzzFeed News, said: "She was the nurse that took care of us through most of his first chunk of time in the hospital. "The nurse that is teaching you how to keep your son alive becomes a very important person."

more pics here: http://www.omobasblog.com/2016/02/five-year-old-boy-with-cancer-proposes.html#more

Senate President, Bukola Saraki will face trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) according to a 7-man panel at the Supreme Court which rejected his appeal challenging the decision of the Appeal Court which upheld his trial at the tribunal.

A three-judge panel of the Supreme Court led by a retiring Justice John Fabiyi had on December 4, 2015, ordered a stay of proceeding by the Tribunal pending the determination of Mr. Saraki's appeal. The court also asked counsel on both sides to submit their briefs of argument within 14 days. The court then fixed February 5, 2016, to deliver its judgement.
Mr. Saraki's appeal before the country's apex court contends that the CCT lacks jurisdiction to try him. His lawyers argue that the tribunal was not duly constituted as it comprised two instead of three members provided for by the Constitution. Also, the embattled Senate President's lawyers claim that the charges against Mr. Saraki were not competent.

A panel of Nigeria's Court of Appeal had earlier, in a split decision, affirmed the jurisdiction of the tribunal to try Mr. Saraki.

http://www.omobasblog.com/2016/02/breaking-news-supreme-court-dismisses.html

Manuel Pellegrini will leave Manchester City as manager at the end of the season with Bayern Munich's Pep Guardiola replacing him in the summer.

Guardiola announced in December he was to leave Bundesliga giants Bayern at the end of the current campaign and outlined his ambition to coach in the Premier League.

Pellegrini, who has won two Premier League titles with City, will now part ways with the club at the end of 2015-16, with Guardiola to replace him at the helm following successful negotiations.

http://www.omobasblog.com/2016/02/breaking-newspep-guardiola-confirmed-as.html

– The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) is totally in support of President Muhammadu Buhari in his anti-corruption war in Nigeria

– The NLC demanded apology to Nigerians from all the beneficiaries of the $2.1bn arms deal scandal

– Corruption is a national disease which is affecting all aspects of the Nigerian economy The Nigerian Labour Congress stated that the body is fully behind President Muhammadu Buhari’s government campaign against all forms of corrupt practices.

The nation’s apex workers’ union described corruption as “a national malaise that afflicts virtually every fabric of our national life.” READ ALSO: 6 Conditions I Gave GEJ Before Taking N100 Million

– Falae The NLC which is made up of workers from other labour union stated that it “continues to express its strong and unalloyed support for government’s war on corruption,” after issuing a communique at the end of its national executive council meeting on Friday, January 29 in Lagos.

Some weeks ago, President Muhammadu Buhari said anyone found guilty over the $2.1billion Dasuki arms scandal will lose all his or her property to the Federal Government.

The labour union said this when it opined on how the $2.1 billion arms deal money was mismanaged instead of using it to buy weapons to tackle the Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeastern part of the country, saying “the list of the corrupt as expressed in the $2.1 arms contract scandal underscores the extent of the rot in the system.”

The NLC urged those who got money from the office of the former National Security Adviser, NSA, Colonel Sambo Dasuki to “apologise to Nigerians for their shameful act.” The workers’ union body said:

“Corruption is not just a national malaise that afflicts virtually every fabric of our national life, it has all but crippled the nation and accordingly requires a national action.” Ayuba Waba, the president of the NLC and its General Secretary, Peter Ozo-Eson both signed the communiqué which was released today Sunday, January 31.

http://www.omobasblog.com/2016/01/dasukigate-we-are-fully-in-support-of.html

The countries where public sector corruption is perceived highest
1. Somalia and North Korea
2. Afghanistan
3. Sudan
4. South Sudan
5. Angola
6. Libya
7. Iraq
8. Venezuela
9. Guinea-Bissau
10. Haiti


source: http://www.omobasblog.com

A photogenic potato, at least for renowned celebrity photographer Kevin Abosch. His "Potato #345" -- a simple portrait of an organic Irish spud -- reportedly sold for €1 million ($1.08 million) last year to a European businessman, who saw it while dining at Abosch's Paris home. The 46-year-old Irish visual artist -- who typically charges up to $500,000 for portraits of famous figures -- revealed earlier this month that the sale, brokered over a few glasses of wine, was the biggest of his career. In 2010, Abosch made three prints of the now-famous tuber: one hangs in his private collection, the other was donated to a museum in Serbia, and the third was sold.


But why shoot the humble spud? "I see commonalities between humans and potatoes that speak to our relationship as individuals within a collective species," says Abosch. "Generally, the life of a harvested potato is violent and taken for granted. I use the potato as a proxy for the ontological study of the human experience." Models, tech giants and actors have all turned to Abosch for portraits over the years.


A photograph of Bob Geldof, the Irish singer and activist, was among three by the artist that joined the National Gallery of Ireland's permanent collection in 2013. Abosch has also shot Nobel Peace Prize laureates Malala Yousafzai and Aung Sang Suu Kyi. And in 2011, for his Faces:Tech series, he worked with Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales and Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg, among other tech entrepreneurs. If the sale price is verified, it will make "Potato #345" the 15th most expensive photo ever sold.


The current record holder for the most expensive photograph ever sold is "Rhein II" by Andreas Gursky, which fetched US$4.3 million at a Christie's auction in 2011. In 2014, photographer Peter Lik claimed that his "Phantom" had surpassed that record, "officially making art history" by selling for US$6.5 million. That record, however, was not verified, and the alleged buyer was never named


http://www.omobasblog.com/2016/01/see-potato-photo-that-was-sold-for-108m.html#more

no giving up man..continue, your millions is on the way ni..

One of President Buhari’s ministers, Solomon Dalung, the minister for youths and sports, has shown his ‘aboki’ side. Lol He was spotted this morning, January 25, taking his breakfast at Mallam Musa Mai Shayi’s shop, Bauchi motor park, Jos, in Plateau state. This got crowd of people looking all surprised as they watch the minister munching his breakfast!

source:http://www.omobasblog.com/2016/01/see-what-minister-solomon-dalung-was.html

A scorned wife took revenge on her husband's mistress in a shocking way,by throwing her from a bridg.

The violent footage, which was posted to Liveleak, was allegedly captured in Brazil.The mistress who was screaming,tried in vain to hold on to a gate but was dragged by her hair along the road.
She appeared to be pleading in Portuguese as she was dragged closer and closer to a bridge.

Another woman then intervened to help her friend toss her over the bridge which is about ten feet high.
Others can then be heard cheering as the woman struggles to stand up and compose herself after landing in the water below.
It is not known whether the woman was injured in the brutal attack.

See video here:http://www.omobasblog.com/2016/01/enraged-wife-beats-husbands-mistress.html#more

Tragedy was averted in Lagos on Friday when an unidentified man mounted an electricity transmission tower. The incident occurred at Powerline Street, Calvary Bus Stop in Egbe-Idimu Local Council Development Area. Our correspondent gathered that the man wandered around the vicinity in the early hours of the day before stopping at the foot of the tower at about 2pm.


Eyewitnesses said he removed some totems tied to the tower by a vigilance group and mounted it to the top despite warnings from residents and passers-by. A resident, Mr. Kazeem Oyebola, who said the man did not look like a mentally challenged person, added that his responses showed he was on a suicide mission. He stated, “He was not mad at all.

He was coherent when he talked except for some vague statements he made. He had a mission and it was to kill himself for some unknown reasons.” Also, a yam seller in the area who identified herself as Iya Bose said she was scared when the man in his late thirties climbed the tower. Another resident, identified as Odunayo, who sells alcoholic drinks in the area, said the man covered himself with a wrapper.


She added that many felt the tower climber wanted cheap publicity or had an intention to “carry out a diabolical assignment particularly as he wore red knickers.” Our correspondent learnt that the incident attracted a crowd and some of them had to climb the tower to see if they could get him down.

A community leader in the area, Mr. Alao Salami, said when he sensed that the man was not ready to disembark from the tower after about three hours he had to alert the police at the Idimu Police Station. An official with an electricity distribution firm who did not want his name in print told SUNDAY PUNCH that the only way the man could have survived electrocution was because there was no electricity in the wires.

When our correspondent visited Idimu Police Divisional Headquarters, the Divisional Police Officer, Mr. James Sonekan, refused to comment on the matter. He said he was not authorised to make an official statement on the matter.

source:http://www.omobasblog.com/2016/01/man-climbs-stays-on-lagos-high-tension.html

The economic downturn in Nigeria is pushing some Nigerians into selling their babies for money, writesGBENGA ADENIJI

Okwuchukwu Ibekwe, 27, proudly carried his baby boy, Chidera, in his hands. Just like most African fathers, he knew the tot signified strength and the offshoot of his next generation. As expected, family members and friends congratulated him on his bundle of joy. A vehicle spare parts dealer in Ladipo market area of Lagos State, none thought he could trade his now five-month-old baby for money.

But he did.


Ibekwe

Last December, he was said to have tricked his wife to buy him some food but upon her return from the errand, the baby could no longer be found, neither did she see her husband. She raised the alarm.


After some days, a lawyer whom Ibekwe had contacted to assist him in arranging a trip to the United Arab Emirates for work purposes, Raphael Nwogu, invited Ibekwe’s wife and a man who initially introduced Ibekwe to him to a meeting.

The legal practitioner was surprised to hear that Ibekwe, together with his son, was missing. He had received the latter in his office few days earlier and on the day of the visit; Ibekwe also gave him a part payment of N200,000 for the processing of his trip to the UAE.

He knew he had to help the police arrest the culprit. Thus, he invited Ibekwe to his office and told him they needed to discuss his travel plans. He didn’t disclose to him that his wife was looking for him and her baby.

After few minutes of discussion, the lawyer ushered in Ibekwe’s wife. He was tongue-tied because he was said to have told the lawyer that he had relocated her to his hometown in Anambra State because of his planned trip.

He was unable to give the whereabouts of the baby and the police in Iba Police Post were contacted. He was arrested in the lawyer’s office and later transferred to Ojo Police Station.

Ibekwe, while being paraded by the state command, confessed he sold his baby.

He said, “Chinelo (who he sold the baby to) was to give me N400,000 for the baby. My wife was the one who suggested that we dispose of the baby to meet our business needs. But Chinelo gave me N250,000 for the baby when I went to deliver him to her in Anambra State.

“When I returned, my wife and I quarrelled and she ran away for three days. I did not know that she went to report the matter to the police. She was concerned with her share of N150,000.’’

Ibekwe is currently facing a three-count charge. The next hearing for the case had been fixed for March 17 in Court 23, Ikeja Magistrate Court.

When contacted, the spokesperson for the Lagos State Police Command, Dolapo Badmus said she would get back to our correspondent on whether the baby had been recovered.

She was yet to do so at the time of filling this report.

When our correspondent visited the two-storey building on 23 Shinaba Street, Agboroko in Iba Local Government Area which was the residence of the accused on Thursday, the occupants refused to comment on the matter.

They stayed indoors and only mumbled words from the precincts of their rooms. The black gate with the inscriptions: ‘Jesus is Lord’ and ‘Blood of Jesus’ was locked as our correspondent walked out of the compound.

The accused is one out of the Nigerians arrested to have sold their children for money. The reason of poverty given by Ibekwe for his action is akin to what other perpetrators caught by the police also identified as responsible for their behaviour.

This was reinforced by the spokesperson of the Delta State Police Command, Celestina Kanu.

She told our correspondent during a telephone interview on the issue that the majority of the culprits claimed that poverty drove them to commit the crime.

Kalu said, ‘‘They always claim that poverty drove them to the crime. They said they had no money to take care of themselves hence had to take to the crime.’’

Despicable baby sales

Mariam Ekanem was not different. Her milk of kindness has been dried by poverty. A young lady, she had hoped to get all the best life has got to offer until October last year when an incident changed the course of her life.

The Cross River State Police Command apprehended her while she was said to be concluding plans to sell her baby.

The 20-year-old, who is said to hail from Odukpani Local Government Area of the state, could not understand how her plans fell like a pack of cards before her eyes.

According to the Public Relations Officer of the state Police Command, John Eluu, Ekanem was trying to sell her baby having collected a part payment of N20,000, before she was arrested by the police.

Ekanem, in her defence statement, said, ‘‘I had no intention of selling the baby. I wanted to give him out to someone to help me take good care of him. I am not working. I do not have money to take care of him and even to feed myself.’’

Ekanem’s case made light of what a female sergeant, Obotie Adesuwa did. At least, she was not the mother of a week-old baby she sold. The police woman was attached to the Akinpelu Police Division in the Oshodi area of Lagos state and a baby was brought to the police station by a mentally challenged woman.

Trouble erupted when the woman returned to the station to get her baby and Adesuwa denied knowing her. She later confessed to the crime.

Adesuwa was arrested and detained by the X-Squad Section of the Lagos State Police Command having allegedly sold the baby in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, for an undisclosed amount.

The Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, who disclosed the dismissal of the police woman during a press briefing, added that the baby had been reunited with his mother.

He said, “We used our investigative acumen to recover the baby. He has been reunited with his mother. The police sergeant is now a civilian.’’

Adesuwa is currently standing trial.

A nation’s gloomy realities

With its poor living condition, there’s no denying the fact that Nigeria is facing hard times and Nigerians are resorting to different means to beat poverty.

The 2006 United Nations Human Development Index put Nigeria at 159 out of 177 countries that 70.8 per cent of the population lives on less than $1 a day and 92.4 per cent on less than $2 a day.

The situation is worsening a decade after the report. The signs of economic crisis in the country are bold: from job losses, irregular financial policies and reversals, unemployment, weaker naira against the dollar, drop in global oil prices at less than $32 per barrel to the cash crunch across states who are finding it increasingly difficult to pay salaries.

On her recent visit to Nigeria, the Managing Director, International Monetary Fund, Ms. Christine Lagarde, noted that poverty, inequality and unemployment remained too high in the country.

Besides, Nigeria, with about 170 million people, was ranked in 2014 by the World Bank in its global poverty index as one of the top five countries with the highest number of poor people. It rated third on the list of the top 10 nations with ‘extreme poverty.’

The country earns about 90 per cent of its total exports revenue from crude oil. It is Africa’s top producer and exporter of crude oil but its earnings from the commodity have not translated into good life for its citizens.

If anything, the nation’s resources have been concentrated in the hands of a rich few through a cocktail of corruption. These realities are terribly making some Nigerians to take to heinous crimes such as child trafficking for survival.

However, a professor of Psychology at the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Toba Elegbeleye, stated that it was cruel for baby sellers to rationalise their action.

He said there was no justification for selling one’s child.

Elegbeleye stated, “There is no justification whatsoever to trade one’s child for cash. It is the height of criminal act.”

The booming trade

In 2015, there were 22 reported cases of sale of children in Nigeria. The acts was carried out by the family friends, parents and close relations of the newborns.

There was an upsurge of the criminal activity in the months of August, September and October. August recorded four cases while the remaining two had three cases apiece.

These cases occurred across states which included Imo, Delta, Akwa Ibom, Ogun, Lagos, Enugu and Cross River.

The prices for the sale of the babies — who were aged between three days to three weeks — ranged from N20,000 to N1.5m.

Our correspondent’s findings showed that in the reported cases, 19 of the babies were males while the rest were females.

Some of the baby traffickers also went as far as taking them from one state to the other to hand them over to the buyers.

For instance, a 25-year-old sales girl in Omuwa Town, Imo State, Ogechi Njoku, was arrested by the police in Lagos alongside two accomplices after they allegedly stole a baby from Imo and sold it to a couple in the Cele, Mile 2 area of Lagos for N1m.

Njoku was apprehended by policemen attached to the Makinde division on her way to deliver the baby to the couple.

It was gathered that Njoku later led the State Intelligence Bureau, which handled the matter, to arrest her two accomplices – Patience Nwaogbo and Ngozi Izuora.

The majority of those arrested by the police in connection with the dastardly act were mostly uneducated traders and artisans who gave ridiculous reasons for their actions.

But a criminologist and expert on security matters, Mr. Pedro Ayandokun, said only the intermediaries had been apprehended in most cases and not the kingpins of the baby cartel.

Baby factories boost business

Much as willing baby sellers and buyers have joined forces to boom the illegal trading, activities of baby factories are also increasing the fortunes of the baby traders.

While the baby factories harbour women paid to have babies for illegal adoptions by couples in dire need of children, parents and individuals trying to escape the biting effects of the financial hardship in the country find solace in selling their kids.

Last year, security agents rescued nine pregnant girls and women during a raid on a baby factory in Enugu State.

Same year, a baby factory was also uncovered in Imo while some illegal orphanages, where babies were said to be sold to prospective buyers depending on their bargaining power, were discovered by the police in Warri and Asaba areas of Delta State.

Nigeria is not the only country in this situation. China also battles baby factories.

In India, however, there is what is regarded as the world’s first surrogacy shop where Indian women make babies for childless Western couples.

The owner of the shop, it was reported, pays each surrogate £4,950 (N1, 420,650) and charges prospective parents £17,250 (N4, 950, 750).

Ayandokun was of the view that both the buyers and sellers of babies were engaging in a blind deal.

According to him, the buyer is unsure of the trouble that may arise in future about the baby being bought while the seller is also oblivious if the buyer genuinely needs the baby to cater for or merely buying for ritual purposes.

“Some people even sell unborn babies while still pregnant. The economic recession in the country is chief among causes of this situation. But it is not justifiable in anyway. As parents, government and institutions, we have failed our children if this trend is not checked,” he stated.

He also argued that the clampdown on baby factories especially in the South-East region of the country had not stopped new ones from emerging.

The Nigeria Police Force, however, said it had embarked on sensitisation of the public on how to protect themselves and their families against crimes.

The Force Public Relations Officer, Olabisi Kolawole, said the Force was ready to prevent any type of crime in the country and arrest offenders.

She stated, ‘‘We have embarked on the sensitisation of the public on personal security. The Force is using the guide to personal security developed by the Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase, to constantly sensitise the public. We urge the public to work with the police in ensuring a crime-free society.’’

The spokesperson added that the sensitisation on security embarked on by the Force was yielding fruits.

According to her, the awareness on security by the Force made the commercial driver, who took Njoku, to report to the police having noticed that she was unable to breastfeed the baby but instead gave him baby food when he cried.

She said the driver’s report to the police eventually led to the arrest of Njoku.

Experts’ take on the trend

Speaking on the growing business of selling babies, Elegbeleye, said the trend was an evidence of the decaying social structure caused by the economic recession in Nigeria.

He added that with the many social problems in Nigeria, people tend to engage in a lot of anti-social activities to survive hard times.

The lecturer stated, “We can only talk about the one that is open to all. What about the ones which are hidden from the public. When people are denied of economic rights, they tend to do anything to make ends meet.”

The don noted that the perpetrators appeared to have been driven to the wall of economic hardship to go to the extent of selling babies for cash, adding, ‘‘There are some who even sell parts of their bodies for money. We have read stories of how some persons sold one of their kidneys. It is a social malady.”

Also, a popular Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Jiti Ogunye, classified the sale of children as human trafficking.

He noted that human trafficking is a generic term for an offence involving the taking of people, children and women out of their environment, parental control to someone else for monetary purposes.

Ogunye added, “It is a criminal act in the sense that since the abolition of slave trade nobody can sell human beings as if they are items that can be sold to generate money. The selling of a child, apart from being a violation of the Child Rights Act is also a violation of Section 34 of the Constitution which prescribes the right to dignity of humans.”

The lawyer further said the Traffic in Persons (Prohibition) Law Enforcement and Administration Act, CAP T23. Vol. 15 Law of the Federation of Nigeria prohibits the selling of persons for a purpose and recommends 14 years jail term for offenders without an option of fine upon conviction.

On his part, Ayandokun urged the government to provide good governance for the people in order to reduce crime rate.

He further tasked security agents to check the menace by beaming their searchlights on those behind the act.

Besides, the Force spokesperson appealed to parents to care for their children and not exchange them for money.

She said it was unimaginable for someone to sell human beings not to talk of their children.

‘‘It is inhuman. They should desist from such act. They should remember that the children are their future and the future of the country,” Kolawole said.


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