Did you know the incident that led to the formation of the brutal Aba Vigilante Group aka "Aba Bakkassi" was because some Criminals robbed and killed a Yoruba woman who came to Aba on a night bus to buy shoes from her customer in the Ariaria Shoe Factory?

The incident made the Shoemakers Association in Ariaria to rally up amongst themselves to hunt down and kill close to a dozen Criminals.

First, the arm robbers or thugs were all Igbo, and the shoemakers were all Igbo. The victim was a Yoruba contractor who got job to make NYSC boots and she subcontracted it to her customer/s in the Ariaria shoemaker village.

Those days there were no mobile phones, no ATM, or mobile banking, so people travelled those days with large sums of cash. The mode of transportation over long distances was usually through Luxurious buses on night journeys.

She got into Aba very early, it was still dark. She took a Taxi from Main Park to a hotel very close to Ariaria Market, she agreed with the Taxi man to come pick her up at daylight.

At daylight, people saw her corpse at one of the various heaps of rubbish along the road. Fortunately, the Taxi man came back to the hotel and they denied the woman lodged there. He saw people gathered along the road, on enquiry he saw the corpse and recognised his passenger, luckily she already told him she came to see her shoemaker at Ariaria.

The Taxi man went to the Market and told them, her customer was also expecting her. They put 1 and 2 together. They went to the hotel, it was the hotel attendant that gave information to the Criminals, they immediately mobbed the hotel attendant to death after he confessed and called names. The Criminals were notorious and most people knew them.

In the next couple of days, all of the culprits were apprehended and mobbed to death by the Ariaria people. This was how the Abia Vigilante Group aka "Aba Bakkassi" started.

I don't want to say much, but I doubt if an Igbo trader would have gotten justice elsewhere.

By Ngozi Ojukwu

https://www.ojamedia.com/2020/10/how-murder-of-yoruba-trader-birthed.html

The Nigeria as we know it slept on Saturday 3rd of October, and very exasperated citizens woke up to reports of yet another alleged murder of a Nigerian youth by members of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) officers in Delta State. Although a normal headliner in Nigerian tabloids for years now, the public outcry that follows such reports doesn’t result to any prosecution or the least explanation by the now defunct F-SARS of the Nigerian Police force.

Even though the Police Force vehemently denied any hand in what happened to Joshua Ambrose the young man from Ugheli, Delta State; Nigerians did not buy it and this ushered what is said to be the most widespread, independent, non-partisan and voluntary protest in the nation’s 60 years history.
The anger being felt by the Nigerian youths who refused to celebrate the annual independence day four days prior due to perceived ineptitude and incompetency in the present administration was amplified by the news of the familiar monster the government created and wouldn’t keep on tight leash despite numerous complaints of abuse, murder, kidnaps, brutality, extortion and violation of human rights.

The protest began online on 4th of October with hashtag #ENDSARS and quickly blew into an inferno when musicians Douglas Jack Agu (Runtown) and Folarin Falana (Falz) announced a date (8th of October) for a peaceful protest after another of their spineless colleague chickened out due to alleged pressure from the Force hierarchy.

In spite of the protest against brutality from police officers, peaceful protesters were shot at and brutalized, resulting in the death of at least one young man, Jimoh Isiaq and injuries on more than ten others in the beginning days of the protest. The ill advised move of the government to stifle the protest with arrests and intimidation met hard resistance, alongside the threat of some weak Governors banning protests in their states and the alleged threat to shut down internet service with the intention of destabilizing the protest with communication breakdown.

The protest is increasingly demanding accountability and respect from armed forces in the country and is also requesting immediate review of the salary of the police force which is suspected to be the root of the decay in the system; its tentacles are also spreading to address other begging anomalies in the country. The widespread but surprisingly very coordinated protest by the youths is forcing the government to bend to the will of the masses.

https://www.ojamedia.com/2020/10/endsars-protest-story-behind-protests.html

Super Captain, Mikel Obi has led Stoke City to their season’s first win at home in a goal thriller against fellow championship side, Brentford.

The former Super Eagles captain who took up the captain job on Saturday afternoon in the absence of Ryan Shawcross and Joe Allen put up a remarkable performance completing the match’s most interceptions and second highest tackle behind Tommy Smith.

This win places the Stoke city side at 8th with 12points on the championship table and stretches their unbeaten streak to seven games.

Goals from Steven Fletcher, James McClean and Tyrese Campbell were enough to see the potters through as Brentford almost pulled level with a brace from second-half substitute Marcus Forss.

This is the second consecutive game Mikel Obi has captained for the potters due to the injury problems of the first choice captain and his assistant, the first match was a ‘2-2’ draw vs Barnsley.

The 33 year old former Super Eagles Captain is proving he is still a force to reckon with in his second stint in a competitive English league.

https://www.ojamedia.com/2020/10/super-captain-mikel-obi-leads-stoke.html