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Gen. Gowon interviewed hours after surrender of Biafra; he blames Ojukwu for war - Politics (14) - Nairaland

Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Politics / Gen. Gowon interviewed hours after surrender of Biafra; he blames Ojukwu for war (147617 Views)

Photo Of Obasanjo Accepting The Surrender Of Biafra In 1970; (picture) / Surrounded By Chad N Cameroon Forces, Bokoharam Negotiates Surrender Of 40,000 / Wedding Invitation Card Of Gen. Gowon In 1969 (2) (3) (4)

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Re: Gen. Gowon interviewed hours after surrender of Biafra; he blames Ojukwu for war by isalegan2: 4:10am On Dec 04, 2011
Ngodigha1:

@Gen Buhari, are you the only Nigerian that has not heard of Ikemba's death. At a time when Ndigbo worldwide and easterns as well as associates are mournig the fallen hero, you are here posting and replying yourself. This is shameful.

Let him be!  There's a dozen active threads about the Ikemba.  Why are you trying to intimidate and shame him into doing your bidding?  angry


GenBuhari, you're a true believer.  Keep on.  Maybe a news archive post related to Ojukwu would be nice though.  To keep Ngodigba off your back.  wink

GenBuhari:

@Ngodigha1
In all seriousness, I was a child of Biafra and I have a lot of respect for Ojukwu and wish the great man RIP

cool

1 Like

Re: Gen. Gowon interviewed hours after surrender of Biafra; he blames Ojukwu for war by isalegan2: 4:16am On Dec 04, 2011
GenBuhari:

[size=18pt]28th January 2002  - BBC News
Lagos army munitions dump explosions leave approx 1,000 people  dead[/size]

At least 600 people are now known to have been killed as a result of huge explosions at an army munitions dump in Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos.
Many of the dead are children and babies who drowned in a canal as thousands of terrified residents fled the Isolo district near the scene of the blasts on Sunday.

Bodies have also been found inside the military compound housing the depot. Others died as artillery shells ripped through densely populated suburbs.

President Olusegun Obasanjo has visited the scene and ordered a full military inquiry into what caused the explosions.

Stampede

The force of the blasts in the Ikeja area near the airport shook buildings and shattered windows in the city centre, 15 kilometres (nine miles) away. Most of the fires were finally extinguished early on Monday morning.

Click here for a map of the area

An army spokesman told the BBC that the blaze had started in a market next to the munitions dump.

Nick Braley, who was less than a mile away from the barracks, told BBC News Online that shells could be seen exploding in the sky. The noise was like thunder, he said.

Another eyewitness, who gave his name as Phil, said he was at his parents' house when he saw a "mighty mushroom plume", which was followed by "an ear-shattering blast that set off car alarms on the usually quiet street".

"This barrage continued for hours as people, pet dogs and other animals ran helter-skelter without a definite direction," he said.

Canal of death

The barracks are in the middle of a crowded residential area, with one of the city's busiest transport interchanges just outside the gates.

Thousands fled in panic from the army quarters and nearby residential areas as shells exploded across the city.

The BBC's Dan Isaacs says that in the chaos and confusion people fled for what they believed to be the safety of a banana plantation, but then slipped down into a swampy canal.

As they struggled for their lives more people surged down into the water.

Nigerian barracks are like towns in themselves. Soldiers live there with their wives and families and traders often set up stalls inside.

Unexploded shells

Hospitals in the area say they are overwhelmed by the disaster.

A senior nurse at the Isolo General Hospital said they had received 152 bodies during the morning. "Most of them are children. The youngest of them is four," said Titilayo Akinogun.

"More bodies have been taken to other hospitals," she said.

Lagos State Governor Bola Tinubu is reported to have arrived at the scene to supervise the rescue effort.

Our correspondent says the market was gutted, a nearby church completely destroyed and a hospital damaged. A school also took a direct hit.

Unexploded shells are still lying on the streets.


OMG!  This was horrible.  I will never forget it.  I was in USA though.  People drowning n the lagoon - that murky water - because they were running to and fro in the dark.  They had heard the explosions and didn't know if Naija was under attack.  The news coverage here was highlighting the fact that army barracks and ammunition storage was so close to, and sometimes smack-dab in the middle of, civilian residential areas.  sad sad sad
Re: Gen. Gowon interviewed hours after surrender of Biafra; he blames Ojukwu for war by SEFAGO(m): 4:44am On Dec 04, 2011
^ I was in secondary school then barely 11 but I can still remember that day because it highlighted to me how superstitious nigerians are. Loads of people trying to commit suicide thinking it was the end of the world. Re, tards at least thank God they killed themselves so that they cannot procreate and pollute the genetic pool.

@Isale_gan2
Babes how u dey? Now that we have reconciled and are good friends we can now greet each other without much ado.

1 Like

Re: Gen. Gowon interviewed hours after surrender of Biafra; he blames Ojukwu for war by isalegan2: 5:24am On Dec 04, 2011
SEFAGO:

^ I was in secondary school then barely 11 but I can still remember that day because it highlighted to me how superstitious nigerians are. Loads of people trying to commit suicide thinking it was the end of the world. Re, tards at least thank God they killed themselves so that they cannot procreate and pollute the genetic pool.

@Isale_gan2
Babes how u dey? Now that we have reconciled and are good friends we can now greet each other without much ado.

Yes, of course, we're pals now. smiley cool

shocked at the bolded though.  The people that drowned in the lagoon weren't trying to commit suicide, as far I know.  What are you talking about?  I suppose I missed a lot, being away and all.  In those days, we still depended a lot on CNN for our "foreign" news. Internet hadn't caught on quite as much.

"11 in 2002."  You're kinda young, no offense.  It all makes sense now. cheesy
Re: Gen. Gowon interviewed hours after surrender of Biafra; he blames Ojukwu for war by SEFAGO(m): 5:47am On Dec 04, 2011
isale_gan2:

Yes, of course, we're pals now. smiley cool

shocked at the bolded though. The people that drowned in the lagoon weren't trying to commit suicide, as far I know. What are you talking about? I suppose I missed a lot, being away and all. In those days, we still depended a lot on CNN for our "foreign" news. Internet hadn't caught on quite as much.

"11 in 2002." You're kinda young, no offense. It all makes sense now. cheesy

Ok yeah I cannot remember the specifics -they did not try to commit suicide (Nigerians dont commit suicide lol nah oyibo people dey do that one) per se but they like where so scared that they did loads of funny stuff like jumped and everything. But yeah stuff happened very close to where I went to school in lagos so its kind of very memorable for me because people were so scared though its like actually a long tym ago, I was a bit older than 11 but man I can still remember that day vividly because stoopid people were saying shyt like "armageddon."

1 Like

Re: Gen. Gowon interviewed hours after surrender of Biafra; he blames Ojukwu for war by Nobody: 11:15pm On Dec 04, 2011
@isale_gan2
Thank you madam,
The Biafran era of Nigeria's history has been covered in the first page of this thread. However it might be an idea to insert some more news stories from that era smiley

isale_gan2:

Let him be! There's a dozen active threads about the Ikemba. Why are you trying to intimidate and shame him into doing your bidding? angry


GenBuhari, you're a true believer. Keep on. Maybe a news archive post related to Ojukwu would be nice though. To keep Ngodigba off your back. wink

cool
Re: Gen. Gowon interviewed hours after surrender of Biafra; he blames Ojukwu for war by autodoctor: 11:18pm On Dec 04, 2011
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Re: Gen. Gowon interviewed hours after surrender of Biafra; he blames Ojukwu for war by Nobody: 12:46am On Dec 05, 2011
[size=18pt]25th April 2002 - BBC News
Obasanjo announces his intention to run for a second term in office in next year's election. Buhari also declares his intention to contest under the ANPP[/size]

Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo is to run for a second term in office in next year's election.
The 65-year-old leader ended weeks of speculation by saying he had made the decision to stand after "lengthy consultation with family, friends, critics and allies."
Mr Obasanjo came to power in 1999, in elections that put an end to 15 years of military rule.

He at first won support for his tough stand against corruption, but more recently his government has been criticised for its human rights record, and for its handling of the economy.

But as he launched his campaign at a rally in the capital, Abuja, Mr Obasanjo said his critics were wrong.

Dark days

He said the nation was "in despair" when he took over.

Announcing his intention to run again, he said: "things are getting better". There are more cars on the roads, more aircraft in the skies, the country's ports are busier, there are more jobs and "living conditions continue to improve."

Mr Obasanjo said he would once again seek the nomination of the People's Democratic Party.

The BBC's Dan Isaacs in Lagos says that despite the perceived failing of the government to improve living standards or tackle violence, few in Nigeria would welcome a return to the dark days of military rule.

If the elections due next year pass off peacefully, Mr Obasanjo will be the first civilian leader of Nigeria to conduct a successful vote since independence in the 1960s.

Our correspondent says that ironically, military governments in Nigeria have proved better at organising elections than civilians.

The last attempt almost two decades ago was deeply flawed and swiftly followed by a military coup.

Mr Obasanjo had a previous stint as military ruler in the 1970s.

Power base

Although a Christian southerner, he has had significant support amongst northern Muslims, an achievement which won him the presidency three years ago.
This time, our correspondent says a strong northern opponent might be able to undermine that power base.
In the past two years, the adoption of Sharia law by most northern states has led to violent clashes between Christians and Muslims.

Meanwhile another former Nigerian military ruler has announced that he plans to seek the backing of a political party.

Muhammadu Buhari has said that he intends to register with the opposition All People's Party - a step towards standing in next year's presidential election.
Re: Gen. Gowon interviewed hours after surrender of Biafra; he blames Ojukwu for war by Nobody: 12:54pm On Dec 06, 2011
Video of the Nigerian / Biafran civil war inserted July 1967
Re: Gen. Gowon interviewed hours after surrender of Biafra; he blames Ojukwu for war by Nobody: 12:23pm On Dec 07, 2011
[size=18pt]4th May 2002   - BBC News
Kano Plane crash kills more than 100 people including Sports Minister Ishaya Mark Aku and wife of General Jeremiah Useni (rtd) [/size]

More than 100 people have been killed after an airliner crashed minutes after take-off in the northern Nigerian city of Kano.

Hospital officials say most of the 70 people estimated to be on board were killed, among them the country's Sports Minister, Ishaya Mark Aku. Many others on the ground also died.

Eyewitnesses said they saw the plane swaying from side to side just after takeoff, and then it went into a nose dive - the captain is said to have reported to the control tower he was having engine trouble.

The plane came down in a densely populated area, ploughing through several buildings including two mosques before it came to a halt and burst into flames.

Terrified residents, screaming and sobbing, were reported to be searching for survivors in the shattered pieces of aircraft and crumbled homes.

One local resident said people could be heard inside the wreckage screaming for help, but they perished because firefighters had no water and could not put out the fire.

Reports are also coming that one survivor was pulled out from the wreckage.

Older aircraft

Airport officials said the BAC 111-500 plane belonged to a private Nigerian airline, EAS.

The plane had arrived safely in Kano from the central city of Jos, and had just set off for Lagos when it plunged to the ground.

There has not been a major air disaster in Nigeria since 1996 when 142 people died as a Boeing 727 plunged into a lagoon outside the commercial capital Lagos.

Nigeria deregulated its airline industry in the mid-1980s and about a dozen private companies, including EAS, sprang up to compete with state carrier Nigeria Airways.

Correspondents say there are concerns about the use of older aircraft by the private domestic carriers.

In April, the Nigerian Government announced a ban on the use of aircraft more than 22 years old, a move that triggered strong protests from private local airline operators.

Re: Gen. Gowon interviewed hours after surrender of Biafra; he blames Ojukwu for war by Nobody: 4:27pm On Dec 08, 2011
News video inserted on just before the story Jan 1970
Re: Gen. Gowon interviewed hours after surrender of Biafra; he blames Ojukwu for war by Nobody: 5:16am On Dec 09, 2011
[size=18pt]5th June 2002 -  The NY Times
General Joseph Garba (rtd), dies age 58[/size]

Joseph Garba, a Nigerian soldier turned diplomat who helped organize a military coup that briefly restored civilian rule to his country, died on Saturday in the capital, Abuja. He was 58.

No cause of death was given in The Associated Press report of his death.

On July 29. 1975, Colonel Garba and a number of other middle-ranking army officers, led by Brig. Murtala Ramat Muhammad, overthrew the Nigerian military government of Gen. Yakubu Gowan in a bloodless coup and set themselves a four-year timetable for restoring democracy.

In this transition period, General Garba, as he became in 1979, was Nigeria's foreign minister, first under the provisional government formed by General Muhammed, as he became, and then, after his assassination in 1976, under the government of Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo.

As foreign minister, General Garba served as president of the Organization of African Unity meeting of foreign ministers on economic issues, and then as leader of the Nonaligned Conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in 1976; and as chairman of the organization's Good Offices Committee on the Arbitration of Disputes from 1975 to 1978.

In 1987, General Garba published an account of these years, ''Diplomatic Soldiering''( Spectrum Books), which opened with an arresting description of the 1975 coup, ''The senior officers were late arriving in Lagos, and I was fed up listening to my voice, over and over again on the radio,'' announcing the takeover.

In 1978 a National Constituent Assembly approved a new democratic constitution for Nigeria. In elections the next year, Alhaji Shehu Shagari was elected federal president and Dr. Alex Ekwueme vice president. But in 1983 a group of senior military officers under Gen. Muhammadu Buhari seized power.

The next year, General Garba, who had retired from the army in 1980, was appointed Nigeria's permanent representative at the United Nations, serving there until 1989. As chairman of the Special Committee Against Apartheid, he led the fight at the United Nations against racial discrimination in South Africa. In 1989 he was elected president of the 44th United Nations General Assembly.

Joseph Nanven Garba was born July 17, 1943, at Langtang, on the Jos Plateau in central Nigeria. After military training in Nigeria and Britain, he became, at 19, the youngest officer in the Nigerian Army.

He rose to command the elite Brigade of Guards at Dodan Barracks in Lagos and was in charge of General Gowan's personal security at the time when Colonel Garba and the others ousted him, in despair over whether General Gowan would ever return the country to civilian rule.

''The army had become so unpopular we used to drive to work in civilian clothes and change at the barracks,'' he recalled in a 1989 interview.

After leaving the army, General Garba earned a master's degree in public administration at Harvard. After his work at the United Nations, he returned to Nigeria and became a political analyst.

He is survived by his wife, the former Evelyn Okon Edem, a son and five daughters.

Re: Gen. Gowon interviewed hours after surrender of Biafra; he blames Ojukwu for war by Nobody: 3:44am On Dec 11, 2011
News story inserted 31st January 1968
Re: Gen. Gowon interviewed hours after surrender of Biafra; he blames Ojukwu for war by Nobody: 12:29pm On Dec 12, 2011
[size=18pt]13 June 2002 - BBC News
Chief Magistrate of Calabar , Maria Theresa Nsa is hacked to death in her home; political motive suspected.[/size]

Nigerian police say they will "diligently" hunt those responsible for the murder of the chief magistrate of Calabar, capital of Cross River State in south-east Nigeria.

But the BBC's Sola Odunfa in Lagos says there were no witnesses to the killing and so investigations may take some time.

The mutilated body of Maria Theresa Nsa was found at her home on 11 June.

She had been "hacked to death", a police spokesman was quoted as saying by the French news agency, AFP.

She may have been killed in revenge for denying a group of murder suspects bail, the police spokesman said.

No protection

The suspects were being held in connection with the murder in Cross River State last year of a local government councillor.

The police spokesman said that a political motive for the murder of the magistrate could not be ruled out.

"We cannot rule out a political motive for her assassination. She gave a ruling about some notorious criminals and a few hours later, she was dead," he said.

Our correspondent says the murder raises once again the issue of the personal security of public officials such as judges and magistrates who undertake serious civil and criminal cases.

There have been a number of attacks on members of the judiciary in recent months but they are not accorded police protection at their homes, unlike prominent political figures who often have armed police escorts.

He told the BBC's Network Africa that the police are short-staffed and are unable to provide protection for all public officials who may need it.

Accustomed

"The police have not solved a single case of assassination in five to 10 years," he said.

The then Justice Minister Bola Ige was shot dead by armed gunmen last December.

Sola Odunfa says that sadly, Nigerians are becoming used to the assassination of public officials.

The Chairman of the Calabar branch of the Nigerian Bar Association, Joe Agi, called for an official investigation into the killing of Ms Nsa and said his association would set up its own "independent" inquiry.

"The police should leave no stone unturned to get the culprits," he said.

Courts in Calabar have not held any sittings since news of the chief magistrate's death was announced on Wednesday.
Re: Gen. Gowon interviewed hours after surrender of Biafra; he blames Ojukwu for war by youngmonie: 7:18pm On Dec 12, 2011
2nd October 1995 - ITN News
Abacha announces he will remain in power for another 3years = 1998 when he died

1 Like

Re: Gen. Gowon interviewed hours after surrender of Biafra; he blames Ojukwu for war by youngmonie: 7:20pm On Dec 12, 2011
18 December, 2001, 11:37 GMT
Obasanjo failed to act on warning signs of looming religious violence in Jos that claimed 1,000 lives


So its even a thing of the past, no be today dem start and our government has still not found a solution 10 yrs on

1 Like

Re: Gen. Gowon interviewed hours after surrender of Biafra; he blames Ojukwu for war by Nobody: 2:16pm On Dec 13, 2011
News story inserted 19th January 1996
Re: Gen. Gowon interviewed hours after surrender of Biafra; he blames Ojukwu for war by Nobody: 4:56pm On Dec 14, 2011
[size=18pt]5th September 2002  - The NY Times
National Assembly moves to impeach President Obasanjo for twice ordering massacre of civilains[/size]

ABUJA, Nigeria, Sept. 4— Lawmakers from Nigeria's ruling party stepped up efforts today to impeach President Olusegun Obasanjo, accusing him of twice ordering soldiers to massacre civilians.

The allegations were the most damning on a list of 17 charges of ''gross misconduct'' leveled by the Peoples Democratic Party caucus, which controls the House of Representatives. It was the first time lawmakers had publicly accused Mr. Obasanjo of ordering the attacks.

The president's spokesman, Tunji Oseni, said the presidency would respond formally in the coming days.

The first attack allegedly ordered by the president was an army raid on Odi, in the Niger delta, in November 1999 after seven police officers were killed in the area. Soldiers killed an estimated 1,000 civilians. The second was in October 2001, when the army killed hundreds in central Benue State after local militiamen executed 19 soldiers.

''He authorized the deployment of military troops to Odi to massacre innocent citizens without recourse to the National Assembly,'' the House spokesman, Farouk Lawan, said today, and also sent the army into Benue ''without lawful authority.''

Re: Gen. Gowon interviewed hours after surrender of Biafra; he blames Ojukwu for war by Nobody: 10:39pm On Dec 16, 2011
News story inserted 8th January 1978
Re: Gen. Gowon interviewed hours after surrender of Biafra; he blames Ojukwu for war by Nobody: 2:22pm On Dec 17, 2011
[size=18pt]10th October 2002 -BBC News
Obasanjo's Nigeria gives up Oil-rich Bakassi Peninsula land to Cameroon after International Court of Justice ruling.[/size]

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has awarded the disputed oil-rich Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon, rejecting Nigeria's claims.
The court based its decision on a 1917 document between colonial powers Britain and Germany.

The two countries have clashed several times over the peninsula and Cameroon referred the dispute to The Hague in 1994.

The ruling cannot be appealed and both sides have agreed to respect the court's judgement.

Pride

Cameroon has hailed the court's decision as "a victory for international law".

"This conflict was ripe for resolution," Professor Ngole Ngole, the Minister for Special Duties at the presidency, told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.

"As a Cameroonian, it feels great, we are that much prouder that we are Cameroonian," he said.

But the BBC's Geraldine Coughlan in The Hague says that handing over the peninsula could be embarrassing for Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo ahead of elections next year.

Nigerian troops in the peninsula were placed on high alert ahead of the decision, reported Reuters news agency.

The BBC's Francis Ngwa Niba in Yaounde says that the people in the Bakassi peninsula, mostly fishermen, want to belong to a country which will take care of them.

Long history

The dispute dates back more than 100 years, when the colonial powers in the region left the status of the area undecided after agreeing on the rest of the border between their colonies.

Equatorial Guinea intervened in the dispute in 1999, and asked the Court to protect its rights in the Gulf of Guinea.


The verdict ends eight years of legal battles between both countries, one of the longest in the history of the ICJ.

Agreement

Last month the United Nations said the countries' presidents had agreed to respect the decision the ICJ would reach on the Bakassi Peninsula.

Mr Obasanjo and his Cameroonian counterpart, Paul Biya, also agreed at talks in Paris to discuss the demilitarisation of the peninsula.

Meeting in the presence of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan they agreed not to make inflammatory statements on the issue, and to consider the possibility of deploying international monitors.

Oil

The Bakassi peninsula is in itself a swampy strip of land with little value, but its ownership has implications for fishing and oil rights offshore.

Large numbers of Nigerian and Cameroonian troops are reported to be in the area and tensions there have been high for years.

The British Foreign Office website says travellers should avoid the area, as "the situation could escalate at any time."

More than 150 Nigerians arrested in the Bakassi region by Cameroonian forces were reportedly freed last month.

Re: Gen. Gowon interviewed hours after surrender of Biafra; he blames Ojukwu for war by Nobody: 1:36am On Dec 19, 2011
News story inserted 25th September 1998
Re: Gen. Gowon interviewed hours after surrender of Biafra; he blames Ojukwu for war by Nobody: 3:43pm On Dec 19, 2011
[size=18pt]20th November, 2002 -  BBC News
Islamists riot over Miss World report[/size]

Muslim radicals have burnt down the premises of a newspaper in the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna after it published an article referring to the Prophet Mohammed in a report on the Miss World contest, which is currently taking place in Nigeria.
 
Hundreds of people chanting "Allahu Akbar" (God is great) attacked the Kaduna office of the Lagos-based newspaper This Day on the second day of demonstrations sparked by the report.

Correspondents say Kaduna state is regarded as one of Nigeria's most volatile regions because of its large Christian as well as Muslim population.

Two years ago over 2,000 people died in communal clashes in Kaduna, before the army was eventually sent in to restore order.

Text alerts

The riot started after the paper published an article on Saturday which said that the Prophet Mohammed would have married one of the beauty queens.

The fire brigade has put down the fire in This Day's offices, but the BBC's Yusuf Sarki Muhammad in Kaduna says that the atmosphere is "chaotic".

There is debris everywhere, as well as broken furniture and burnt pieces of newspaper in the premises which are now being guarded by police.

No-one has been injured, but the staff of the newspaper have gone into hiding for fear of more attacks.

Our correspondent says that local mosques have been calling for action against the paper since yesterday.

He says that some people were first alerted to the article by text messages being sent to their mobile phones.

Death by stoning

The newspaper later retracted the story and published an apology on two separate days.

Witnesses told Reuters news agency that the rioters have vowed to attack This Day offices all over the north, where Sharia law has been introduced.

The Miss World pageant is taking place over several weeks in Nigeria, but only in the southern, largely Christian and Animist, part of the country.

Muslim groups say the contest is unIslamic.

The contest had also been threatened by a large-scale boycott by beauty queens protesting against a Sharia court's sentence of death by stoning against Amina Lawal, a woman convicted of adultery.

The Nigerian Government has moved to calm fears by promising it will not allow any Nigerian to be stoned to death.

Re: Gen. Gowon interviewed hours after surrender of Biafra; he blames Ojukwu for war by Nobody: 1:59pm On Dec 20, 2011
News story inserted 6th October 1980 (page2)
Re: Gen. Gowon interviewed hours after surrender of Biafra; he blames Ojukwu for war by Nobody: 1:06pm On Dec 21, 2011
[size=18pt]23rd November 2002 -The NY Times
Religious Violence Drives Out Miss World Event from Nigeria[/size]

LONDON, Nov. 22— After days of sectarian violence linked to the Miss World beauty competition in Nigeria, the organizers announced late tonight that the pageant would be moved to London ''in the overall interest of Nigeria and the contestants.''

At least 105 people have been reported killed in the fighting between Christians and Muslims in the northern city of Kaduna in the past few days. The violence spread today to Abuja, the capital, where the Miss World Pageant was to have had its finale on Dec. 7.

The 92 Miss World contestants were reportedly under guard in a hotel in Abuja as the latest clashes occurred.

The decision to move the competition reflected the tinderbox of religious passions in the country, which is Africa's most populous nation. It is divided between a largely Christian south and a Muslim north that has put Islamic Shariah law into effect in many areas.

The rioting started after an article published on Nov. 16 in the newspaper ThisDay, in Lagos, the commercial capital, seemed to defend the pageant against Muslim protests. The article implied that the Prophet Muhammad would have been happy to marry one of the contestants.

Nigeria was selected to be the host for the contest after a Nigerian contender, Agbani Darego, won last year's competition. But the plan was contentious from the start, after several contestants threatened to withdraw to protest a Nigerian Shariah court's sentence to death by stoning for Amina Lawal, who was found guilty of bearing a child out of wedlock.

The publication of the ThisDay article ignited a wider Muslim protest against the pageant, which many Nigerian Muslims have condemned as promoting promiscuity and offending female modesty and sexual morality.

In the newspaper article, the writer, Isioma Daniel, wrote: ''What would Muhammad think? In all honesty, he would probably have chosen a wife from among them.'' The newspaper initially published a brief apology after Muslims complained that it was offensive.

But as fury built over the reference to Muhammad, Muslim youths attacked and burned the newspaper's office in Kaduna, the scene of fighting between Muslims and the city's Christian minority in which thousands of people were killed two years ago after imposition of Shariah law, governed by the Koran.

The Nigerian Red Cross said today that 500 people had been treated in hospitals and that more than 3,000 had been left homeless by the fighting, which began Wednesday.

The death toll remained uncertain because some bodies of people killed by civilians or security forces were thrown down wells or taken away and burned, residents told Reuters. Mosques and churches were said to have been burned to the ground. And today, a Reuters correspondent reported seeing 13 more bodies on the dusty streets of the city.

The persistent violence apparently deepened official fears that the Miss World contest could not continue without the risk of more strife and bloodshed.

A statement by the Miss World Organization and the Nigerian producers, Silver Bird productions, said the pageant had been moved to London. ''The decision was taken after careful consideration of all the issues involved and in the overall interest of Nigeria and the contestants participating in this year's edition,'' the statement said.

It will be held on Dec. 7, the same day as it was scheduled in Nigeria, the pageant said.

The rioting in Kaduna persisted today despite official attempts to impose a 24-hour curfew. Muslim residents apparently took the curfew as an attempt to prevent them from attending Friday prayers and ignored it, pouring onto the streets, witnesses said.

There were some reports that the governor of Kaduna, Ahmed Makarfi, an ally of President Olusegun Obasanjo, had refused to accept a protesters' petition against the ThisDay article, bringing protests against the governor himself.

Some Kaduna residents fled to police barracks or left town with their belongings late today for fear of another night of violence.

Earlier in Abuja, Muslims leaving a mosque after prayers reportedly stampeded, attacking people they believed to be Christians before police fired tear gas to disperse them, according to The Associated Press.

Mr. Obasanjo blamed the rioting on the newspaper article, not the contest. ''The beauty queens should not feel that they are the cause of the violence,'' he said. ''It could happen at any time irresponsible journalism is committed against Islam.''

Re: Gen. Gowon interviewed hours after surrender of Biafra; he blames Ojukwu for war by Nobody: 2:25pm On Dec 22, 2011
News story inserted 11th June 1965 (page 1)
Re: Gen. Gowon interviewed hours after surrender of Biafra; he blames Ojukwu for war by Nobody: 2:30pm On Dec 23, 2011
[size=18pt]2nd January 2003 - BBC News
Obasanjo finally says sorry for massacre in Zaki Bam, in Benue State, but ommits to apologise for killings of thousands in Odi, as he seeks re-election[/size]

Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has publicly apologised for the killing of more than 200 unarmed civilians by the army in Benue State in October 2001.
He was speaking at a meeting of local Christian groups in the state capital, Makurdi.

The army has been accused of several mass killings since civilian rule was restored in Nigeria in 1999.

Mr Obasanjo is seeking re-election in April and this Sunday faces a former minister from Benue State in primaries for the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP).

Correspondents say the apology may be an attempt to win votes.

The killing of ethnic Tivs was apparently in retaliation for the abduction and murder of 19 soldiers sent to quash fighting between Tivs and Jukuns, the biggest group in neighbouring Taraba State.

Bullet-ridden

The Nigerian Government has been strongly condemned by the New York-based Human Rights Watch for first encouraging, then failing to condemn, the military action.

"I am sorry, it should never have happened," Mr Obasanjo said.

Over a three-day period, soldiers entered a series of towns and villages, including Zaki Bam, in Benue State and opened fire on unarmed residents.

Journalists who arrived at the scene less than 24 hours after the soldiers had left saw scores of bullet-ridden corpses and every single building razed to the ground in towns otherwise deserted by their terrified populations.

A Human Rights Watch report said that those killed by the military were targeted simply because they were Tivs.

The French news agency, AFP, says that Mr Obasanjo has not apologised for the army massacre in the southern town of Odi, in which thousands of people were killed.

Barnabas Gemade from Benue State is one of the five people vying for the PDP presidential nomination.

The BBC's Nigeria correspondent, Dan Isaacs, says that if Mr Obasanjo can win the PDP nomination, he stands a good chance of re-election.
Re: Gen. Gowon interviewed hours after surrender of Biafra; he blames Ojukwu for war by Afam4eva(m): 4:04pm On Dec 23, 2011
Good job so far gen Buhari.

From the archives so far one can conclude that the duo of IBB and OBJ are responsible for what has befallen this nation.

1 Like

Re: Gen. Gowon interviewed hours after surrender of Biafra; he blames Ojukwu for war by isalegan2: 2:51am On Jan 01, 2012
Re: Gen. Gowon interviewed hours after surrender of Biafra; he blames Ojukwu for war by Nobody: 11:24am On Jan 19, 2012
Happy New Year!

I had suspended posting on this thread for a few days out of respect for my sister, who sadly passed away 2 weeks ago.

She was 49.
Re: Gen. Gowon interviewed hours after surrender of Biafra; he blames Ojukwu for war by Nobody: 11:30am On Jan 19, 2012
^^^ Hiya sorry sad May her soul Rest in Perfect Peace

1 Like

Re: Gen. Gowon interviewed hours after surrender of Biafra; he blames Ojukwu for war by Nobody: 12:53pm On Jan 19, 2012
Thank you.
Re: Gen. Gowon interviewed hours after surrender of Biafra; he blames Ojukwu for war by Nobody: 12:59pm On Jan 19, 2012
News Story inserted 4th June 1989 (page 6)

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