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panafrican:
For the past two or three weeks, I couldn't post or reply to any thread. Every time the system says "Follow " , then when one clicks on a thread , word "Un-Follow " comes out.
Why is that ? are you upset because of many of us blaming homosexual Democracies? If the answer is yes, then you have a problem.

CFCfan: She is an Over-The-Air Presenter with Rhythm FM, Lagos. She also has a weekly youtube blog on relationships and other social issues.

Ishilove: Only God can judge, but you have labeled him a satanist. You labeled him a satanist because you don't like the kind of prophecies he gives. You have labeled him a satanist without any concrete evidence, and yet you don't want to judge. It seems you have appointed yourself judge and jury here.

I am not a member of SCOAN, if you must know.

[size=14pt]“I will shoot you! Do you think you are special?”: Two Nigerian journalists brutalised by South African police[/size]

Posted By TheScoop on February 13, 2013


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by Dare Lawal


On the day the Super Eagles of Nigeria left South Africa and arrived Nigeria for their well deserved reception, two Nigerian journalists covering the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) were “kicked, dragged on the ground, threatened with cocked guns and forcibly detained for two hours” by officers of the South African police in Johannesburg while on their way to cover the departure of the victorious Super Eagles team.

The two correspondents, Debo Oshudun of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) for Central and Southern Africa and John Joshua Akanji, a Deputy Editor of The Sun Newspapers were on their way to the departure louge when suddenly about 20 fully armed police officers surrounded them as they alighted from the taxi which they boarded. The officers threatened to shoot them after they insisted that they were journalists.

“I thank God we are still alive because we could have been shot, knowing the type of (extra-) judicial killings in South Africa. I have never been in that situation in my life. I was dragged on the floor, kicked and brutalised. I and John Joshua-Akanji were disposed of our phones, my keys and we couldn’t contact anybody. We were detained for two hours and I was really traumatised throughout the time the police dealt with us and still imagining it up till now.

“The police claimed that they stopped our car because the taxi we were in had a number plate with two different characters. Immediately they stopped us they removed the number plate. They lied that they had been trailing us,” Oshundun told SportingLife in an interview on Tuesday afternoon.

Also speaking, The Sun Newspaper Deputy Editor, Joshua-Akanji said:

“I was in a trance. I thought I was acting out a movie. I never thought it was for real. I have never seen a thing like this in all my life. But I am happy to be alive to tell the story”, the visibly shaken journalist disclosed. 20 policemen, who had already cocked their guns and pointed them to my head and my colleague Oshundun’s, were shouting ‘I will shoot you, I will shoot you. Who are you? Do you think you are special? I will blast your brains off’”, Joshua-Akanji revealed.

South African police are notorious for their high-handedness. Last year, several South African mine workers were killed by the police during a protest in Marikana, a case which caught worldwide attention.

The Nigerian duo were later apologised to by Lieutenant Colonel M. F. Tshabalala station commander, Sandringham Command South African Police Service, SAPS, after the intervention of the Nigerian Consulate in Johannesburg.

The journalists were however full of commendation for their South African cab driver, Hope. They told Sporting Life that Hope rose to their defence following the police brutality. ”These men are responsible journalists that have come here to cover the AFCON. They are like brothers to me. I ate and dinned with them. They have been wonderful to me as a South African. Why are you treating them this way? It’s not fair! it’s not fair!”, Hope is said to have cried out while the policemen were brutalising the journalists.

manny4life: Well I pity Nigeria and Nigerians who live in SA in general, if a place is hostile to you, why do u stay there? If you're from tne NAN, shouldn't they have had an AFCON/SA press pass or an ID? Isn't that how foreigners do it? Notwithstanding, they treatment meted out to them is unjust, hopefully, Nigerian govt will look into this. Nigerians can't be treated like they're caused people even on their own continent.

Bokoharam: I saw earlier a pix of Joseph Yobo presenting the trophy to Mike Adenuga. This obviously happened before the trophy was presented to Mr President. Is this proper? Shouldn't the president be the first to receive the cup in Nigeria. Just curious.

chosen04: But I thought you graduated from IFE (OAU?)

naptu2: Sir Louis Phillipe Odumegwu Ojukwu, KBE, (1909-1966)

Sir Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu was an extremely successful Nigerian businessman and politician from the Ojukwu family of Nwakanwa Quarters Obiuno Umudim Nnewi south east of Onitsha in modern Anambra State. One of the most illustrious citizens of Nigeria, he had remarkable success as a businessman and also rendered distinguished public service in several fields. He was also associated with several philanthropic and cultural organisations to which he made generous material and tacit contributions.

He was born in 1909 in Nnewi and attended a primary school in Asaba and the Hope Waddell Institute. After formal schooling he joined the Produce Inspection Service as produce examiner in 1928 and later worked as a clerk with the large West African trading company of John Holt. It was here that the self made man who later became one of Nigeria’s foremost business tycoons and a multi-millionaire developed his business interest. He incorporated a textile company in Onitsha to supplement his income during this period, already exhibiting a little bit of his entrepreneurial spirit. While at John Holt, he noticed the severe strain a lack of adequate transportation had on Eastern textile traders He resigned from John Holt in 1934 to start a transport business with one second-hand truck that later grew into a vast transport enterprise. As a transporter he was a tireless worker and meticulous to detail; he was usually the first to inspect his transport vehicles for oil and leakages. His transport company (Ojukwu"s Transport Company) was the first major transport company to move the easterners to Lagos from the Asaba end of the Niger river after they might have crossed over from Onitsha on a boat.

He entered politics in 1951 as a member of Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe’s National Council of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC) which included him in the delegation to the London Constitutional Conference in 1951. Four years later Odumegwu Ojukwu was elected to the Federal House of Representatives in Lagos, but resigned in 1956 to become chairman of the Eastern Region Development Corporation.

Apart from his work ethic, his success was also oiled by the economic boom after World War II, working with the West African Railway Company and the newly inaugurated produce boards, he provided his fleet for commodity transportation and for other traders use. During the 1950s, he diversified his interest, bought some industries and invested heavily in the real estate sector.

His success, drive and ability led him to a host of other business appointments as chairman of the Eastern Nigerian Marketing Board, chairman of the Nigerian Shipping Line, chairman of the Nigerian Cement Company, first and founding President of The Nigerian Stock Exchange and director of a number of business concerns including Shell-BP. He was also a member of the board of Nigerian Coal Corporation. His last public engagement was as chairman of the Eastern Nigeria Marketing Board. He resigned from this position and also from office as chairman of the African Continental Bank, in May 1966 as a result of ill health.

His own company, founded on the Ojukwu Transport Company in 1934, had at the time of his death in 1966 spread its activities into construction and other areas, growing into a multi-million-naira group and employing thousands of workers.

In 1953, he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal; he was knighted in 1960. In 1963 the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Law, becoming the first to be so honoured by that university. He died on September 13th 1966 at Nkalagu in his home state, at the age of 57.

Ojukwu’s death came a few months after the first Nigerian civilian government was ended by a military coup d’etat which saw his son, Lieutenant-Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, ascend to office as Military Governor of Eastern Nigeria. Lieutenant-Colonel Ojukwu later declared the region, which he renamed Biafra, independent of the Federation of Nigeria, but secession was ended after a three-year bitter civil war in 1970.

His Majesty: Can i presume that this is Ojukwu's son fighting his father's widow... Na wa o!