₦airaland Forum

Ishilove: So what are you feeling like now? You are too proud

mufutau55: I thought "Ikebe Super" was part of the "Lagos Weekend" a Friday afternoon newspaper in the 70's?
Is that that "Lagos Weekend" still in existence?

Hajji Mufutau

Maxymilliano: I thought it was Daily Times, there used to be a cartoon series “Garth” ran in the daily times of old.

Obiagelli: Thanks naptu2, just stored them on my phone and some on speed dial

Obiagelli: I thought i was 767 and 112

Ishilove: Abami Eda himself was one bad asss paranoid niqqa

franktolk: I've searched several times for this song by mighty sparrow, so glad u posted it. Thanks so much!

Mr Aboki: [b]Erm...

First of all.. R.I.P to Mr Mohammed. R.I.P to the Policeman.


This is another case of poor training. Why would he fire into an unarmed crowd to disperse them?! Why would the Police force dispatch random Policemen to disperse a protest instead of Riot Police?! Lord knows that Nigerian protests can be very violent. Nobody knows the condition that this officer found himself in that necessitated his using his firearm on them. This is just a product of a failed system.

MAYBE: If the Police Head Quarters that dispatched this group of officers to the scene had rather sent Riot Policemen armed with Shields, batons, tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets, maybe this whole debacle could have been avoided..

Its so sad to see Policemen on the streets carrying teargas guns and then those who need the teargas guns are given live ammo.

Simple truth is that the Police is a failed institution in Nigeria. A total overhaul is needed. A 5 year phase out plan. Basically set up a new Police Department, start recruiting officers with OND being the minimum requirement. The old officers should be put through tests and those that pass can be admitted into the new Police training college, while those that fail be paid their full retirement benefits and sacked. A proper Police force in needed and needed fast. Just today alone, we have read three reports about the Police on the frontpage and None of them is good.

1. Drunk Police kill 1, injure 2.
2. Policeman lynched for killing trader.
3. Policeman demanding bribe video.

This week.

4. Policemen that aided the killing of 2 teens in Lagos arrested.
[/b]

londoner: To be honest, I wonder if they are getting rid of destitutes from other places, so that only destitute lagosians or Yorubas can take advantage of those skills aquisition centres, once built.

eGuerrilla: A war! Another connoisseur of Mighty Sparrow's ditties.

A bit risque - this one...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zAVTu_1Ekg

eGuerrilla: If you have any problems with the report, I suggest you seek some form of redress from Rivers state government directly -- http://www.riversstate.gov.ng/item/1432-rsg-committed-to-rid-port-harcourt-of-destitutes.html/

Any more unsolicited attacks on my handle and I will expressly request your banishment for a period.

Chanchit: Maybe you also need to read the article again. Its not only for the unclaimed bodies, families that also wants to cremate their loved ones, ok, maybe cremating is for people that lost the people they hate sha, cos I don't knw who would want to cremate a loved one.
So I don't know why he would waste his time making a law that makes no sense. It would have been better if the law applies for only unclaimed bodies.
You called me a phool, the you are over phool.

[size=14pt]Lagos And The Cremation Law[/size]

25 Jun 2013

Nigerians will have to get used to the law

A law legalising cremation of human bodies came into force in Lagos State early this month. Before appending his signature, Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) said the new law "tells the story of how global the state has become in the affairs of things". But not every Lagosian seems to have agreed with the governor, as some critical stakeholders have condemned it as alien to our culture.

For sure, there are considerable merits in the arguments being made in support of the law. One, the state government has been facing daunting challenges in managing unclaimed corpses in all its general hospitals and morgues; so this offers an easy way out with regard to disposing off such abandoned corpses. Two, the law expands choices and options for foreigners and also for indigenes who prefer to be cremated or who specify the way their bodies should be treated in their wills. Three, the law takes into consideration the need to have formal legal structure for the cremation of deceased persons within the state; which then means that establishing crematoria for the state, there can no longer be cremations except in places duly recognised, established and managed according to the law.


From the foregoing, it is very clear that the essence of the law is to legalise and strictly regulate the manner in which cremations will be carried out in Lagos State. Before an application for cremation is allowed, there must be a death certificate issued; a certified true copy of the entry of the deceased death in the relevant registers; and confirmed medical certificate which must certify the cause of the death. Under the law, it must be the deceased that provides for it or their families who agree to make the application.

Where a will is silent, the law states, the closest relation who may apply must have attained the age of 18. Also, a medical officer can apply for cremation for abandoned corpses which are not claimed after a period of time. The law dwells on the aftermath of unclaimed corpses in the state and the step-by-step approach to their disposal. Once a 14-day notice is given after cremation and if nobody claims the ashes, the office can dispose of it.


Beyond what might be provided for in the law which took its roots from a private bill, Fashola said that cremation "is a way to go, given the mega-city status of Lagos" and we consider the arguments rather persuasive. As a global city, as the governor stated, there is a compelling need to provide standard solutions, as it is done in many other cities in the world, especially for those who choose that kind of service. Indeed, the law becomes most indispensable given the fact that people daily migrate into, choose a home and set up businesses in the state. Consequently, as the governor put it, the state should be able to respond to the need of all its residents and should not be insensitive to other people's beliefs and customs.

However, the law has stoked serious disapproval, especially from some religious leaders. As they have argued, cremating human bodies is alien to the prevailing cultures, traditions and religions, be it in Lagos State or in any part of Nigeria. The argument therefore is that no condition should warrant the enactment of such a legal regime that undermines our country's intrinsic values and belief systems.  But to the extent that nobody is compelled to cremate, as against burying on the ground, we do not see where the problem lies. What the Lagos State Government has done is merely to provide options for those who may choose to cremate the bodies of their deceased family members. To that extent, we do not think that the law should offend any sensibility.

deols: Did Biu die before Abacha?

Was he ever tried by any government?

Is he alive and well?

olivertwist: Ofcourse I know bro. Imagine if every state is as serious as LASG about this issue.

olivertwist: It's there any state in the country without destitutes, lunatics, disable people etc

What is the Federal govt, House of Assembly(legislators) and Judiciary doing to help these sets of vulnerable people in our society?

Until we are serious and start helping these people especially those with mental & physical disabilities, we'll continue to have them on our streets cos they've got no other way to survive than begging.

Until each state govt take this issue seriously, they'll continue to get embarassed daily.

Is it not surprising that all of our legislators, judiciary and even our president are all playing the 'ostrich' with all the noise coming from our Igbo brothers? They all know how sensitive the issue is hence, they all kept mute as long as it's not affecting their own benefits/allowances.

These are the people that collect all the allowances and benefits you can think of in the world as politicians but they refuse to make a provision for those that can't even work. Where's even the work we are talking about?

The solution is that each local govt should pay these vulnerable people some kind of monthly disability benefit, starting from those without arms and legs.

Ola one: BIU. That name still scares me gan. Haa! Monster!

I went through hell. If there was hell on earth, I saw it...apart from the initial mental torture, the agony I had to go through was enormous, because I was the only officer that was subjected to various cells transfer. I was taken to the worst cell and when I asked question, I was told Abacha directed that I should be kept in the worst cell. In fact, that cell...it’s dark, there is not light, it’s infested, it’s so narrow that in fact you have to stand both day and night...That was the first stage of the torture. And for two, three nights I spent there, it was harrowing. After complaining, they had to push me out to another cell. I think I went through about four or five cells in that place.

We were there for three months, and nobody came to talk to you so that you can even ask what was going on...They sent for me; with the usual chaining, arms shackles, whatever and took me to the interrogation centre somewhere in Ikoyi, off Bourdillion. We got in there and I met one of the panels. Omenka was there. One other officer, whose name I have forgotten, and Zakari Biu. And they asked me if I knew why I was there, I said no. They said they were surprised. They said okay, what was my movement like in the last two or three years?… They said, “Look, don’t you know why you are here? Don’t you know the plan you have to topple the government? I said, “This is news to me. I don’t know of that. I have never planned to overthrow any government right from the day I was commissioned”... they were very hostile and they said okay, since I was not willing to cooperate, I should go and put down my statement. So...at about 6 to 6.15 p.m. a private soldier came and said he had instruction that we should come out. We got out. He said we should UnCloth. We took off our shirts and trousers. He said no, no, we should be naked completely. So, we took off everything. We were naked and we were chained, back to back, and that was how we walked into the open. We stayed there right from about that time till 7 a.m. We spent the night standing...Another funny thing was while they kept us there, Bello-Fadile was chained alone and kept close to us. Maybe they wanted to hear if there had been anything; maybe we could talk, they’ll pick it up. They sent out some men to monitor what was going on. And we kept asking Bello-Fadile, “What is going on? Please if you know, let us know and save us from this humiliation”. He said he did not know, so that was our first ordeal. The following morning, when people started coming to work, they pushed us in, we wore our dresses; and we were still chained hand to hand, leg to leg and kept in the open field in the scorching sun. My colleague asked for water, he was refused water. At about 4 p.m. the second day, we were now thrown into one dungeon behind, so that nobody would see us… After some time, I heard nothing. And a week or two later, that was when they came picked me up, took me back to the same place, this time, me alone, to ask the same question. I said, “Please, I really don’t know what you people want”. They said well, it would appear I was not ready to cooperate. They claimed that in my movement, they observed that at a point in time, I spoke to Bello-Fadile in his office. I said, “Yes, but I told you, when I came, I had this tooth and eye problem. I went to Bonny Camp which was where Bello-Fadile was ad director of legal services, and we had just finished from Enugu, and he is my course-mate and friend, I felt like saying hi to him. And that was exactly what I did. In fact I spent less than two minutes with Bello-Fadile”. But they said no, no, we spent about two, three hours talking…They took me behind a cell and of course had to hang me. They call it the spider hanging - your hands up, the two legs all suspended, I was there throughout the night. They pulled my shirt off so, I was in my pant only. Look. Name all the kinds of insects, they preyed on me. I told them you are punishing an innocent man. The following day, they took me back to my cell...About three weeks later, the same Zakari Biu came...With shackles on, I was blindfolded. The next thing, they pushed me into a waiting vehicle and sped off, driving roughly…I didn’t know where they were heading to. But somehow, having had a little knowledge of Lagos, through the cries in the various bus-stops, I was able to kind of guess where they were taking me to. They took me to that particular area and I heard shouts and cries, like some other people were being tortured. “Colonel”, they kept asking me, “tell us what you have done. Tell us how much Bello-Fadile gave to you. How much was promised you by some generals. And I said, “Look I’m sorry. Nobody ever gave me money”...They said okay, I am not ready to talk. This time, I was in chains. I had been blindfolded, I didn’t know what was going on. Then later, that other man that was being tortured was now… I heard a kind of silence, I believed he has passed out and they dropped him. They said I should come out.

In fact, they themselves just brought me out like a bundle of firewood and the next thing, they just threw me on the ground, folded my legs, folded my hands behind and they tied me like they tie logs and they carried me like that. All I knew was a pole was inserted under my armpit and like a barbecued chicken; I was there suspended for hours. In fact, by the time I passed out, everything about me, the limbs, all were gone. While there, they would strike a match and put under my nose, my eyes, to say something, to confess… so after almost about two hours of torture, I was finished, and by the time I regained consciousness, I could not shout, I couldn’t even move. They knew I was passing out. They just removed me, and dumped me like you dump… if you’ve been to abattoir, you must have seen how they throw a slaughtered cow...For 10 good days, I was lying prostrate on the bed. I couldn’t move my knees. Even eating, they had to spoonfeed me

At the end of Emokpae’s “trial” he was sentenced to death by firing squad. “As soon as he [Patrick Aziza] said it, I said, “I’m rejecting it in the name of the Lord”. Openly, he shouted at me, “Shut up and sit down”...Before we knew it, vehicles, tanks and all these things had been brought in, we were shackled again and we were taken back to the black Maria. It was on July 14, 1995 that the judgement was passed”.

How on earth can we explain this, a professor of my own calibre and age who has served the country for so
many years in different capacities being subjected to indignity and utmost brutality by some majors and privates
who are nitwits ordinarily. I’m not being boastful. It’s like you take a jewel and you start messing it up in the mud. You cannot explain it. Any time I recalled the humiliation meted out to me by those nitwits I started
weeping, not for myself, but for Nigeria, country, which was being savagely reduced to nothingness.

Yar’ Adua was hale and hearty inside Abakaliki Prison. Then some people came saying they were from Abacha and they wanted to take Yar’Adua for medical check-up. They picked him up hale and hearty but he arrived
the University Teaching Hospital, Enugu dead. What happened between Abakaliki and Enugu nobody seems to know. But something happened and if pressure is put on those people who picked him up they would give an answer to the country.

Zakari Biu is an animal. He’s just wicked..he is dead to feelings. I fact, I don’t know why such people should still be walking the streets of Lagos or this country. I am surpised as I am told that he has even been promoted, even given special assignments. I am surprised at this government. Zakari Biu, for what, they know him to have done, that they could still keep him. This government itself is culpable of all acts they committed...Omenka started the whole thing. He co-supervised our torture. But the main actor in my case was really Zakari Biu. I say both of them have the same instincts, if we compare them.

I have called for the arrest and trial immediately at the Abuja High Court the following government officials for the atrocities committed against Nigeria and Nigerians in the course of the late Gen. Abacha’s administration: Alhaji Ismaila Gwazo; Brigadier-Gen. Sabo [rtd].., Col. Frank Omenka..There are also Lt. Col. M. Garuba..and Lt. Ibrahim who was one of the people beating Generals in Jos...For the purpose of true national reconciliation and genuine peace, these people should be retired and be put on trial.

..the experience I had when the government decided to send Operation Sweep, a para-military outfit to break
up the farewell reception the human rights groups and pro-democracy activists organised for me, personally was a vivid demonstration of the dehumanisation Nigerians were going through everyday under the General Abacha administration. It was very surprising and careless about international protocol, hence they could break a reception held for an ambassador.