LAGOS (AFP) – The Nigerian military on Friday said it had raided and destroyed a militant camp in the volatile Niger Delta as part of its drive to end unrest in the oil-producing region.

Army spokesman colonel Rabe Abubakar said the Joint Task Force (JTF), a contingent of the Nigerian army that protects oil facilities and personnel in the restive region, on Thursday "destroyed" a militant camp at Daroama in Bayelsa State.

"A very significant part of Daroama militant camp has been destroyed, severe casualties were suffered by them (the militants) and some quantities of arms, ammunition, were recovered," said Abubakar.

He blamed militants loyal to a leader named Kitikata for the death last year of three government troops and for "incessant" attacks on JTF locations and oil companies.

The most prominent of the active groups claiming to fight for a greater share of the oil wealth for impoverished locals -- the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) -- has called off a ceasefire it had declared last year.

Abubakar vowed to crush the militancy saying there would be an end to the "crisis in no distant future."

The surge in violent attacks on Nigeria's oil industry has resulted in a drop in crude production in this world's eighth largest producer to some two million barrels a day, compared to 2.6 million in 2006.

*comfort:

The police at the Area ‘F’ Command have arrested a dispatch rider identified as Elendu Stanley Ikechukwu, for allegedly raping his brother’s eight-year-old daughter.

Elendu, a staff of Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), whose office is located at 45, Opebi Road, Ikeja, was alleged to have raped the victim (names withheld), in his office.
P.M.NEWS gathered that the suspect, who is married, brought the victim from their village and were all living in GRA, Ikeja, before relocating to an undisclosed place.

It was learnt that Elendu, in order to have free sex with the little girl, told his wife that he would change the girl’s school to one very close to his work place so that he could bring her home after closing hours, while the wife was said to have consented to the idea.

On the morning he brought the girl to his office to change her school, it was learnt, he discovered that the only staff in the office had left for breakfast and reportedly took the girl to the accounts office, removed her pant and had sex with her.

He was, however, unlucky as another member of staff came in and caught him on top of the girl. The staff member immediately invited the police from Area ‘F’, who arrested him and took him to the station. When P.M.NEWS visited the NIOB office, both president and secretary were said to be out of the office, but a staff confirmed the incident, saying that the suspect was later brought to the office by the police, where the girl’s pant was picked up and taken to the station.

When P.M.NEWS visited the station, the DPO was also not around to confirm the story, but a police source confirmed the incident, but was not sure when he will be charged to court.


http://news.onlinenigeria.com/templates/?a=461&z=12

[b][/b]

Nigeria: Menace of 'Sex Workers'
Chinwe Ochu
5 March 2009

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    analysis

Lagos — As Abuja grows in people and infrastructure, so also are other vices like robberies and petty stealing.

However, another growing business in the Federal Capital Territory is prostitution, one of the oldest professions known to mankind. Chinwe Ochu, who walked the streets on a night to look at how thriving the business is, writes

<
At first glance she struck me as a young lady standing by the roadside, waiting for a cab at about 8pm after a busy day at work. Decked in the characteristic long veil atop native skirt and blouse Ankara, she was the sight of a responsible lady on her way home.

But later, something about her did not feel right. She declined to board the many number of cabs that stopped in front of her; but rather eyed the private vehicles that cruised in her direction. Only a few minutes later did she find what she was looking for as she bent to discuss with the man behind the wheels and zoomed off with him.

Shocked! That was exactly what I felt as I came to the realisation that she, whom I would name Seyifat was a red-light lady, woman of the night, sex worker, hawker, hooker, LovePeddler or prostitute as the dictionary would describe any who peddles sex in exchange for money or other material things as the case maybe.

Gone is the usual image of this category of women with their suggestive dressing and grooming; and seen in dungy, dark and dirty places at odd hours. It is called the oldest profession on earth. You might wonder, profession? I tell you yes. In the course of this research on this issue, It was discovered the 'professionalism' that goes into being a sex worker.

Abuja, Nigeria's capital is resplendent in glory and is a sight to behold at night as the beauty of the modern city is evident. Its beautiful road network, amazing structures, serene neighbourhoods and relatively safe environment attract people from far and wide like bees to honey. Yet, residents have come to notice a different trend from what was obtainable in the recent past. Girls, ladies and women alike strut the streets at night in large numbers, discussing in hushed tones with any vehicle- owners that might come their way and most of the times, boarding the said vehicle to God- knows where.

Do not get me wrong- this particular scene is seen everywhere there are morally- decadent men looking for bodies for sale. But the Abuja trend is becoming alarming. Not only do these ladies begin their trade as early as 8pm, they are seen at almost every street corner in Abuja. Gone are the days when they are sought for in certain sections of the city; which mostly becomes prominently known over- time as their depot.

Abuja now 'boasts' of harbouring these women everywhere- I mean literarily everywhere; from high- brow residential areas in the city like Asokoro, Maitama, Wuse II to out- of- town estates like Gwarinpa, Abuja Model City and deserted highways leading to these estates. Gone also are the days when these women look harassed, with their inexpensive attires sometimes looking like drug- addicts.

Now in Abuja, sex or street workers stun their 'customers' with radiant skin, gorgeous designer clothes and shoes and million dollar fragrances and perfumes. Some, you will find out have their cars packed somewhere close-by. Another uniqueness to the street workers in Abuja is that 90 per cent of them are what I call 'imports'. They are not Abuja residents.

They come into the city on Fridays from places as far as Enugu, Yenagoa, Calabar, Lagos and as near as Kaduna, Jos and Minna; to engage in their trade for like a week before going back to their base for sometime and later return to make some more money. It is like a cycle. These girls often claim to be in one high institution of learning or the other. Research has shown, however that some of them are not undergraduates of any sort, but ladies out to make money out of ruining themselves.

All over the world, majority of the women that engage in this trade claim they have no other means of livelihood to cater for their daily necessities. That is not the case with the average Abuja street worker. Some of them hold respectable jobs during the day; and in the bid to get more, driven by their greed, hawk themselves for money at night. So, the principle of rehabilitation and reabsorbing into the society is out of the question since they are a useful part of the society- during the day.

That again is another unique feature of the street workers in Abuja.

Anyway, I caught up with Seyifat days later as I hid at the back of a car driven by a male friend of mine who volunteered to assist me with this investigation. She was exactly at that same spot from the other day and dressed the same way. That helped me recognise her. Our car slowed down and then began the business negotiation.

They discussed the 'terms and conditions' of the service- one that I will not go into for the sake of decency. Finally, she entered our car and a discussion ensued. My friend asked all the questions that I would have asked her- Why? Seyifat gave a lengthy story of how she is the bread- winner in her family of jobless parents and four siblings, all in secondary schools. When asked how much she made in a day she said that it depended on how fortunate she was.

"Fifteen to twenty thousand," she replied. On where she came from, she said: "Bauchi." Imagine how shocked I was when I learnt that she does not even hail from the North. Her real name is Grace. When she was asked why she dressed the way she did, she said that it enabled her get married Alhajis as her clients, which means more money for her. To cut the long story short, she discovered that she was being interviewed and begged that she alight and go about her business.

Seyifat is one out of the many thousands of women that walk the streets of Abuja every night; giving the city a bad name. Stories have been heard of these girls stealing parked cars, snatching briefcases from unsuspecting passers- by and blackmailing prominent men in the society who try to lend help to them. In the opinion of most Abuja residents, these girls do not 'hawk' themselves simply because they are poor or unemployed, since they look better than most working- class women.

The question is: "If they do not have enough resources to take care of themselves, how come they dress so good every night and sometimes have cars to their credit?" The answer boils down to what one resident, Albert calls "laziness and the unwillingness to sit down and make a decent living. If they are desperate for jobs, there are positions as sales girls and receptionists everywhere. They can even learn a trade and start their own business and be their own masters," he said.

Government authorities in Abuja should address this issue as it is getting really embarrassing. We want to attract foreign investors and re- brand Nigeria, don't we? The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Alhaji Aliero Adamu should pay heed to the pleas of countless Abuja residents and enforce the laws necessary to rid our streets of this ugly menace. Even the physical roads in Abuja will thank him for that, for are they not being trampled upon all night by these street workers all year round?

comfort have you noticed that all my stories are this march 2009 and almost all in Yenegoa alone o while you've dabbled from 1980 all opver five states and beyond?

*comfort:

Thriving sex trade, overflowing refuse dumps distort new face of Imo
By Chux Ohai

As a visitor to Owerri, the capital of Imo State, steps out of the Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport, a large billboard warmly greets him, ‘Welcome to Owerri, Capital City’ and then reminds him that the city he is about to enter is, as a popular slogan of the state government suggests, ‘clean and green’.

Just as touted, the visitor soon discovers that the streets of Owerri appear modestly clean and that the stench that once gave the city the appearance of a huge refuse dump has finally been gotten rid of. It is clean, without the sparkling quality, but lacks evidence of a steely determination by the municipal authority to transform it into a lush green zone in the manner of Abuja and Lagos.

Indeed, Saturday Punch discovered a semblance of order in the manner in which the inhabitants conducted their affairs and the roads appeared at a glance to be well-kempt, wide, and less-ridden with potholes, even craters of such depth as could be found in more densely populated cities like Lagos.

At a junction where road users patiently waited for the next signal from the traffic lights to continue their journey, the New Face of Imo Agenda assumed a more visible perspective, as a couple of workmen laboured in the sun to clear some debris from the site of a recently demolished building.

Once described as the entertainment capital of the South-East, on the surface, Owerri cut the picture of a city in transition. Earlier in 2007, the current governor of Imo State, Ikedi Ohakim, had embarked on a 14-point agenda, the thrust of which was to reposition the state economically, socially and culturally, in such a way that it would attract external investors and tourists. It was gathered that in order to make this a reality, the governor had initiated the much publicised Clean and Green Campaign and set up the Imo State Environmental Transformation Commission (ENTRANCO), which was given the responsibility of saving Owerri from further declining into and wearing the face of a shanty town. ENTRANCO’s major task was to transform the capital city to a model and modern city.

When our correspondent spoke to Willy Amadi, ENTRANCO’s boss, about the Clean and Green project in Owerri, he said, “Our objective is to create an environment that will promote tourism and in turn, create employment. Most importantly, we want to create a model modern state and a capital city that will be the best in West Africa. We are thinking of moulding Owerri and all the other local governments around it into one mega city that countries would emulate. That is why we are spending more time in transforming the people’s mindset to make them do the right thing.”

Amadi added that the staff and management of ENTRANCO had toiled night and day to ensure that Governor Ohakim’s transformational agenda remained visible and attainable. “We have put in so much to get to where we are today, but we have only achieved 15 per cent of the initial target. We have laid the foundation and the people of Imo have accepted the initiative because they have seen its usefulness and benefits. In spite of this, we still have a lot to do,” he said.

But moving further inland, our correspondent stumbled on sights that seemed to contradict the state government’s claims of running one of the cleanest and tidiest state capitals in the world. At a spot on Ama J.K Road, one of the major roads in Owerri, a large and overflowing refuse bin stood like a sore thumb, in total contrast to the shinning surroundings. Nearby, a heap of rubbish had been abandoned in the middle of the ever-busy Douglas Road. As if to complement the ugly sight, the gutters on both sides of this road were solidly blocked by used pure water sachets and such like debris.

Right in the heart of Ama Wire, one of the oldest neighbourhoods in the Owerri metropolis, there was a huge refuse dump nestling among rows of dusty and rustic-looking houses. At a glance, it looked as if the neighbourhood, clearly neglected, had for a while evaded the good intentions of Ohakim’s Clean and Green Initiative. At the same time, it seemed that ENTRANCO’s cleaners and sanitary officers would spare the neighbourhod their modernizing visits for a long time. Ama Wire in its wretched and unkempt state was clearly not a reflection of the ingenuity of the government’s Face of Imo agenda.

Perhaps one of the most dominant features of Owerri life was the huge presence of commercial motorcycle operators, or Okada riders, on the roads. Okada riders constitute a significant percentage of the workforce in Imo State. In Owerri, they were found everywhere, in their hundreds, racing from one point in the city to another, sometimes at alarming speed. One did not need to be told that these commercial motorcycles were the most popular means of transport in Owerri. Yet the state government was said to have decided to kick Okada riders out of town in March, 2009.

In response to this, Charles Ngobiri, an Okada operator, told Saturday Punch, “The governor said we should leave before the end of March. But where are we going? How does he expect us to earn a living after March? To tell you the truth, I don’t like what this governor is doing to us. They say he is making Owerri clean. Is it cleanliness that I will eat?”

But in an interview with our correspondent, Governor Ikedi Ohakim denied ever handing Okada riders a quit order. “I have never given an order to Okada riders to quit. There is nothing like that. What we have said is that between now and March, we will restrict them outside Owerri metropolis, which is different from Owerri urban area. What this means is that Okada riders can still work within the city,” he said.

Revealing his intention to introduce an alternative with which he planned to absorb the Okada riders, he said, “We have to find a way to discourage these boys from committing suicide. Riding Okada is like committing suicide.”

Apart from the rumoured ban on commercial motorcycles in Owerri, Ohakim’s demolition squads appear to have incurred the displeasure of some residents of the city. Madam Anthonia Okoro, a resident, called them ‘extortion’ squads. She complained to Saturday Punch that she lost a substantial sum of money to one of the teams when it came to demolish her shop at Mbaise Road. Such complaints were common in Owerri. But the government recently denied that members of the task force set up to supervise the demolition exercise had extorted money from affected shop owners or traders.

Determined to survive against all odds, Madam Okoro had moved to a small, but bubbly place known as ‘Control’, where she was able to sell her wares every night, away from the prying eyes of law enforcement agents.

Meanwhile, most victims of the government’s Clean and Green Initiative have found themselves facing abject poverty after the bulldozers had destroyed their means of livelihood. “One of my neighbours has left Owerri for his village because there is nothing to do here any more,” a trader named Maxwell said. He admitted that he dreaded a new life in his native village and added that he was not in a hurry to relocate to his village yet, because life was a lot tougher there.

At night, Owerri presented a different picture from what one had encountered in day time. The city’s characteristic calm gradually dissolved into a bubbly atmosphere that was reinforced by the presence of several night spots struggling to relive the city’s past image of a fecund haven for revelers. Tens of Okada riders, undeterred by the existence of numerous police checkpoints at strategic points in the city, were busy ferrying night crawlers from one night spot to the other. This correspondent found that prostitutes constituted the majority of passengers transported on the motorcycles.

Indeed, prostitutes, most of them in their late teens, swarmed the hotels and night clubs in Owerri almost every night. Some of them confessed that they had to hustle to make ends meet. “There is so much poverty here. As for me, I don’t like to burden my parents with demands for money. I have needs and I don’t like to disturb them for money. That is why I go out to hustle,” said Nkiruka, who declined for obvious reasons to mention her surname. Nkiru said she was a student of Imo State University. Her companion, Stephanie, admitted that she had to travel all the way from Uturu in neighbouring Abia State to ‘try her luck’ at the Imo Concorde Hotel where clients were certain to part with generous sums of money for a night of sex. Apart from Concorde Hotel, other regular haunts for the likes of Nkiru and Stephanie include Links Hotel and Disney Hotel, as well as Control, a popular resort for drivers of trailer-trucks in transit located along the Onitsha-Owerri Road.

Another resident of Owerri, Mr.Sampson Eze, who said he worked with a commercial bank in the city, described the booming sex trade as an unpleasant development that derived from the get-rich-quick attitude of the people. “Can you imagine that most of these prostitutes are young girls who should be busy reading their books? I think we are having a serious problem in our hands,” he said.

Generally, the thriving sex trade has been attributed to the erosion of positive moral values among the Igbo. At the 2009 Ahiajoku Lecture, the collapse of moral values was identified as one of the issues that needed to be addressed in the quest for the cultural rebirth of the Igbo. Alongside the rampaging bulldozers of the demolition teams, the scarcity of potable water in the metropolis and frequent blackouts, it is an issue the current governor must address in his bid to recreate the image of the capital city.

http://www.punchontheweb.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art200901312581834



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Nigeria: Three-Year-Old Boy, Two Others Feared Dead in Yenagoa Cult Clash
Samuel Oyadongha
21 March 2009

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    A Three-year-old boy, two others were shot dead in renewed cult clash in Bayelsa as night life is gradually grinding to a halt in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital following renewed war between rival cult gangs in the predominantly riverine state.<
Apart from the thirteen supporters of Ocean Boys FC that were allegedly trailed and killed outside the by suspected cults members, no fewer than ten persons have so far lost their lives in a renewed cult related killings in Yenagoa.The latest killing which has heightened tension in Yenagoa where before the sad turn of event residents could move freely into the early hours of the day took place in the early hours of Thursday when two rival cult groups were locked in violent shoot-out leading to the death of three persons among them a three year old boy.

The sounds of exchange of gun fire believed to be a supremacy battle between the rival cult groups which took place around 12.30am jolted residents out of their sleep.

The incident, which occurred in the Biogbolo suburb of the state capital, caused panic. Eyewitnesses close to the scene of the battle claimed that after the exchange of gunfire by the cultists, a boy and a girl were said to have been felled by flying bullets.

It was gathered that moment after the exchange of gunshot ceased the loud wailing of a woman selling cigarette and other petty items was heard some distant away from the scene of battle.

The grief_stricken woman was said to be holding a blood stained corpse of a three boy who was reportedly killed by a stray bullet from the guns of the rampaging cultists.

The sad turn of the event is gradually affecting night life in the capital city as most resident now retire to their homes early for fear of being caught in likely crossfire of the cults thereby impacting negatively on the various relaxation spots in town.

Contacted, the State Police Public Relations Officer, Iniobong Ibokette confirmed the incident but assured residents of their safety as the police has intensified security in the state capital.

He said two persons have been arrested and the Commissioner of Police has since ordered a full investigation in order to bring the culprits to book
http://allafrica.com/stories/200903230069.html

*comfort:

On December 30th. 2008, Nigerian citizen Chijioke Stephen Obioha was convicted for drug trafficking in Singapore. Drug trafficking carries a mandatory death penalty in Singapore and so, Judge Woo Bih Li duly sentenced him to death by hanging. Chijioke was arrested in April 2007, some four months after another Nigerian, Tochi Amara Iwuchukwu was hanged alongside  yet another Nigerian, Nelson Okele Malachy in the same Singapore, both for drug trafficking.

There are other sad similarities.

Nelson Okele Malachy was arrested with a fake South African passport and was subsequently often referred to as stateless. However, by merely looking at his name as well as the facts of the case, he was clearly Nigerian. Chijioke has been described in several media as Ghanaian. However, also by merely looking at his name as well as the facts of the case, he is clearly Nigerian. For example, his oral evidence during trial stated  that he graduated from the University of Benin with a Bachelor's degree in Industrial Chemistry in 2003, completed his National Youth Service in 2004, worked for his elder brother (whom he named as Tochukwu Colinus Obioha) in Tochuckwu's electronics store at Alaba International market in Lagos, Nigeria until 2005 when he left for Singapore to seek a professional football career. Tochi, who was hanged in January 2007 had also allegedly gone to Singapore to seek a football career. During the Tochi/Malachy case, the South African Government naturally went to great lengths to affirm that Malachy was not a citizen of their Country, pointing out that he had a forged South African passport. It is obvious that such a situation will not  endear South Africa to Nigeria and Nigerian citizens. The image of South Africa was smeared by a Nigerian. No South African will like this. It is no surprise that Nigerians living in South Africa as well as visiting Nigerian citizens and officials are often treated shabbily in South Africa.
The Government of Ghana  will probably walk the same path concerning Chijioke who has been sentenced still fairly recently; a sentence which may yet take several months to carry out. During that time there will be a lot of negative publicity directed to Ghana. No doubt Ghana will then be forced to come out and  deny  his being a citizen of their Country, while their regard for Nigerian integrity which is already low will sink even lower.

The case  of Tochi had garnered worldwide publicity at the time due to his youth (when he was arrested in 2004, his age as stated on his passport was about 19 years), his apparent talent for football (he had represented Nigeria in some youth tournaments and had also played professionally in Senegal) and some controversy about whether he actually knew that the package he was carrying contained heroin or not. Olusegun Obasanjo, then president of Nigeria, had in fact sent a letter to the President of Singapore pleading for clemency on his behalf on the eve of his execution. It is doubtful that Chijioke will get such sympathy. For one, the excuse of not knowing the contents of a package which eventually turns out to be narcotics has already gone stale and will barely get a yawn from the appeal court judges in Singapore. Secondly, the teary story of the aspiring professional football star who does not make it and subsequently gets in trouble in foreign Countries has also worn thin. Thirdly, his stated age was 29 when he was arrested; no longer a boy, but a full grown man. Finally, there appears to be very  little doubt about his guilt as he was caught trafficking a large quantity of marijuana red handed.

Therefore, it seems more meaningful to use this situation to learn some lessons for future situations. Not that we have not learnt these same lessons before, but in Nigeria we seem to have a disease of repeating the same sad errors (must be deliberately) over and over again. So here goes.

While we should not excuse Nigerians (or anyone else for that matter) for committing crimes in whether at home or in foreign lands, we need to also examine the driving factors that lead to these things. It is becoming much too simplistic especially in view of clearly deliberate mismanagement of resources in Nigeria, to merely condemn the affected individuals without examining systemic factors.

In the case of Tochi, his evidence was that he had been playing football as a career since his early teens but got injured while playing in Senegal. After coming home to recuperate in Nigeria, he set out to continue his football career but opted this time to try his luck in Dubai. Through some unclear circumstances, he could not get a visa to Dubai but managed to get to Pakistan. He claimed he was told there was a direct train from Pakistan to Dubai. This information was false, there is no such train. Unable to get to Dubai both for lack of funds as well as lack of a visa, he got stuck in Pakistan. It was no doubt this desperate situation that eventually led him to the gallows through a series of unfortunate circumstances as well as some big mistakes on his own part of course. If Nigeria had a well organized National Football League, it is likely that Tochi may have opted to ply his trade at home instead of going on a clearly precarious trip abroad. While our Government officials are buying multi-million Naira mansions nationwide and worldwide through ill gotten gains or indulging in meaningless ego-trips, the untold other side of the story is that some of our people are being placed in tough predicaments, which when coupled with some bad luck and personal mistakes, are leading to dire consequences for them, including even ignominous deaths in strange lands.

As for Chijioke, he was arrested at age 29 after being in Singapore for about eighteen months. This implies according to his evidence that he came to try out for a football club in Singapore at about age 27. That is clearly rather late in age for a person of whom there is no evidence that he had a previous football career. It is also unclear that he had any real football talent. It is hardly a surprise that he was not selected to play for the club. It is certainly feasible that he may have anticipated this but just wanted to get out of Nigeria. Thus he found himself  in a strange land, with an expired visa as at January 2007. These factors must have played a substantial role in his being involved and eventually arrested for drug trafficking in April 2007. Yes, Chijioke did wrong, but again we need to ask why a University graduate of Industrial Chemistry (he claimed he graduated with a second class upper degree from University of Benin) would be reduced to such depths in the first place. While he bears a major share of the blame, we must also put a solid chunk of this blame squarely on a Government and a system that puts down its people and gives them very little chance to grow and develop with any dignity. When basic infrastructure such as Power supply cannot be done right despite millions of dollars spent, when housing, water and good roads are luxuries, when jobs are simply not available for the people even after they have made strenuous efforts to educate themselves under harsh conditions, it is inevitable that some bizarre situations and predicaments such as that of Chijioke will arise.

I seize this opportunity to point out to President Umaru Musa Yaradua that his sleeping on duty is not some minor infraction but in fact an act of treason, first degree murder as well as systematic genocide. There is such a thing as criminal negligence.
Governors, Ministers, and other public and not so public officials who use positions of trust to loot or otherwise mismanage the commonwealth while creating a roadblock to the smooth flow of life are also guilty of treason, premeditated  murder and genocide.

If or when the hangman pulls the lever to send Chijioke Stephen Obioha to an early death sometime later this year, you all have some of his blood on your hands. You know yourselves and while God Almighty may take His time, His judgement is inevitable.



[/b]

— Security operatives in[b] Bayelsa State have embarked on a manhunt for suspected militants who allegedly stabbed a female undergraduate from Ondewari community in the state to death.
<
The death of the student is generating tension in the community as no fewer than four persons have been rounded up by the police at Oporoma in Southern Ijaw Local Government.

The deceased, identified as Patience, until her demise was a final year student of Political Science at the Rivers State College of Education.

She was ambushed by some suspected militants while worshipping at a church in Ondewari.

Eye witness account told Daily Independent that the victim and her father had had a quarrel with a militant leader during which Patience threatened to destroy his blocks.

The deceased never destroyed the blocks as threatened but the militant leader believed his crushed blocks were the handiwork of Patience.

It was gathered she had attended a Sunday church service a day after the quarrel, and there she was cornered by some violent youths armed with sharp objects and sticks.

Reports revealed that the youths headed straight to the church, demanding for the release of their prey, but the church officials bluntly refused, sensing danger.

The lady reportedly jumped out through one of the windows but was apprehended by the desperate gang.

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Immediately she was stabbed on her upper arm and left in the pool of her blood before sympathisers rushed her to the Korokorosei Health Centre for medical attention.

Patience was said to have lost much blood as one of her relations was requested to donate blood to resuscitate her. But before that could be done, the lady passed on.

When contacted, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Ibokette Iniobong, could not confirm the incident, saying he was in Abuja on an official assignment.

militant vs vigilante

*comfort:

‘When the Bakassi Boys Came: Eastern Nigeria Confronts
Vigilantism’, Journal of Contemporary African Studies, 20, 2
(2002), 1-22.
Abstract
Against a background of failure by the Nigeria Police to protect citizens from
violent robberies, the Governor of Anambra State has adopted a radical solution.
He invited a private vigilante group, the Bakassi Boys, to form the basis of a state
vigilante service. Within a space of one year, armed robbery had been reduced
to a minimum. But, as the paper shows, the venture was not unproblematic.
First, it brought to the fore a power struggle between the federal and state levels
of government and between the Nigeria Police and those in the local community
concerned with security. More seriously, for all its local popularity, the group’s
use of counter-violence and their scant regard for the law or human rights has
serious implications for democracy. Locating such state vigilante services within
sociological theory is not straightforward, but a number of approaches to
explaining the phenomenon are considered in the light of the account. The paper
concludes that although it is increasingly being used as a model of internal
security across Nigeria, its lack of accountability and attitude to the rule of law
disqualify it from being a valid alternative policing strategy within a democracy.[b][/b]

*comfort:

IF my life were to depend on telling exactly who the Bakassi Boys are, I will be dead. I do not know who they are and I am not sure that I want to know. But I do know that there is something about them that the police do not like, which is, usurping their functions. No responsible police force will welcome a situation where their relevance is being questioned because of the activities of an ubiquitous body crossing their paths and sometimes moving along parallel lines.

I[b] am a living witness to the fact that for three years before the year 2000, in my part of Imo State, life was made unbearable by the callous activities of armed bandits. They suddenly seemed to have so multiplied that anybody found outside his front door after dusk was risking his or her life. Stories of robberies, torture and car snatching filled the air. Everybody had an experience to share in these orgies. Then something intolerable happened warranting the community setting up local vigilance units. They were assigned the responsibility to stem the rise in crime, identify the criminals and involve the police at Owerri, Urualla and in Okigwe. Before the members knew it, their anonymity was compromised and they were marked for elimination. The activities of gangs of robbers confined royal fathers to their palaces following threats of their being killed for identifying with their subjects in the search for a peaceful community.

It did not take a lot of investigation to learn that the culprits were local boys and that the police collaboration was part of their strength. All information placed at the disposal of the police about suspected dare devil home based hoodlums were passed on to the men of the underworld. At this stage a voice suggested the engagement of the services of the Bakassi Boys whose successes in other communities had become remarkable. How they were reached was another dimension to their anonymity and security effectiveness. They went to work immediately with a dose of discreteness that allowed them to know their employers and be briefed in detail on who the suspects could be. Until they were perfectly ready, nothing happened. Faith and patience were running out as anxiety heightened.

Then suddenly things began to happen. Well known hoodlums who were friends of the police gradually took notice and either fled or stayed at their peril. In a short time, locking and bolting gates and doors in my village became only a matter of habit; nobody needed to. Home was becoming haven again and evening parties and outside engagements returned to the community. It was such a great relief. Asked thereafter to choose between the Bakassi Boys and the police, the village folks preferred the former. Information is perhaps the greatest help the police force needs to combat crime. The same applied to the Bakassi Boys. But whereas police informants were betrayed through the flippancy, irresponsibility and criminal intent of the bad eggs in the force, Bakassi Boys did not have that problem or gloat about their successes. They respected informants but still investigated every case reported.

I once had cause to report a burglary in my house to the police a couple of years ago. To date the investigators are making me to believe that they would have made an arrest had I induced them sufficiently. Even the paper on which I wrote my complaint was paid for by me. I paid for the investigators' trips to Kwara and Enugu States in the course of their investigations. Unwarranted visits were paid to my house in the pretense of bringing me up to date on my complaint. Each visit meant beer and kola in an envelope. I have since given up on them.

The Inspector General of Police will be lacking in candour if he denies awareness of these malpractice. Of course, he does not deny them any more. He blames them on his bad eggs. A situation where bad eggs out number the good ones suggests a characteristic that earns collective guilt. Ill equipped yes; ill clad yes; ill paid yes and ill trained yes. But there is no guarantee that given all they need the police bully mentality and aggressive orientation will change. The situation on the ground is that only criminals and potential criminals seek the friendship of the Nigerian police, not honest decent men and women. The inferiority complex every policeman wears is their greatest undoing. We will be relieved to hear that the contemplated ban of Bakassi Boys is shelved. That is not to say that the "Boys" should usurp police duties in a triumphant manner. The police should device a way of working with them. It is also up to the police to decide that the "Boys" can conversely use useful facilities of the force for the common good. To achieve maximum result, goodwill and mutual trust must be enthroned. And above all, the Bakassi Boys must see themselves as an ad hoc outfit on a special assignment and be ready to fold up when and if the police are fully prepared to assume their full responsibilities. Finally they must always act responsibly and show more common sense than zeal. [/b]

Gunmen attack Nigeria oil flow station 16 Mar 2009 17:48:46 GMT
Source: Reuters
PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria, March 16 (Reuters) - Suspected armed militants in gunboats attacked an oil flow station in the southern Niger Delta early on Monday, a military spokesman said.
Colonel Rabe Abubakar, spokesman for the military taskforce in the western Niger Delta, said the facility was attacked by gunmen in five speedboats at Nembe in Bayelsa state. It was not clear if any oil production was affected by the incident.
"The facilities remain intact, there were no casualties to our troops," he said in a statement.

It was not immediately clear which company owned the facilities. This was the second attack on an oil facility in the Niger Delta, the heart of Nigeria's oil and gas sector, in the last four days.

Chevron <CVX.N> confirmed on Monday an attack by suspected militants on its oil pipeline in Delta state on Friday, shutting down around 11,500 barrels per day of production.

Attacks on pipelines and industry installations are common in the Niger Delta. The unrest has shut down more than a fifth of Nigerian oil output over the past three years. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/ ) (Reporting by Austine Ekeinde; Writing by Randy Fabi)

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LG96629.htm

Your own useless Bayelsa even has the militants on payroll?

Militants insist on monthly allowance
Search in this item
KeywordsType of queryAll keywordsOne or more keywordsNone of the keywordsSearchPosted on Friday 20 March 2009 - 12:50


Tamunobarabi Gogo Ibulubo, AfricaNews reporter in Port Harcourt, Nigeria
The government of Bayelsa state in Niger Delta, Nigeria, has cried out that militants in the area have threatened to blow up oil facilities and wreck unnamed havoc if it keeps faith with the promise to rescind payment of the regular monthly allowance to them.
The Bayelsa government pays about NGN100, 000,000 (US$677,966) as servicing allowance to seven militant’s camps spread out in the state. But since the world financial crisis began to take a hard toll on Nigeria, the monthly allocation for the constitute states and local governments have dropped making the payment of salaries as well as make the execution of capital projects difficult.
With the threat from the militants the Bayelsa government has requested for more troupes of the joint military task force to be dispatched to the state

.http://www.africanews.com/site/list_message/19128?data%5Bsource%5D=rss



-

imagine 12 year old girls in Bayelsa involved in cultism and armed robbery amongst other criminal acts
where else in Nigeria do you hear such news
na from the breast feeding una own dey start?

Residents of the Bayelsa State capital were yesterday taken aback following the arrest by Police of teenage boys and girls with ages ranging between 12 and 16years over alleged involvement in cases of cultism, currency counterfeiting, illegal sales of cannabis and armed robbery in different parts of the state.

*comfort:

expect more number from Europe, and Asia .


Anambra police rescue 11 kidnapped victims

ODOGWU EMEKA ODOGWU, Awka



DESPITE the death sentence threat for kidnappers in Anambra State, the business still thrives in the state as the police weekend, rescued 11 kidnapped victims including a couple.


The victims rescued included four women and seven men, including a couple, Mr. and Mrs. Tochukwu Omambala from Nri , Anaocha council area of Anambra State.


The victims Daily Champion gathered, were rescued in the early hours of Saturday, from Isiagu river valley following a tip-off from the villagers.


The police also recovered from the hideout, two motorcycles and a Mitsubishi L-300 mini bus with registration XC653EZA, as well as machetes, hammers and other dangerous weapons.


Unfortunately the kidnappers numbering over five, escaped through the Isiagu River during the raid.


Divisional Crime Officer (CDCO), Awka Division, Mr. Umege Uzor Chris, who confirmed the incident to Daily Champion, said his men ambushed the kidnappers following useful information from some neighbouring villagers.


He said four notorious armed robbery suspects who attacked his men last week on checkpoint at Eke-Nibo-Mbaukwu road junction were also arrested even as he vowed to bring crime rate in the area to zero level. Daily Champion recalls that members of the Anambra House of Assembly had passed into law a bill spelling out capital punishment for any convicted kidnapper in the state.

http://nigeriaworld.com/cgi-bin/axs/ax.pl?http://odili.net/news/source/2009/mar/24/801.html

[b][/b]

Yenagoa — For residents of Yenagoa the state capital this is certainly not the best of time given the series of cult related killings in a city dubbed as the oasis of peace in the turbulent Niger Delta.

Residents of the Bayelsa State capital were yesterday taken aback following the arrest by Police of teenage boys and girls with ages ranging between 12 and 16years over alleged involvement in cases of cultism, currency counterfeiting, illegal sales of cannabis and armed robbery in different parts of the state.

<
While the apprehensive residents thronged the state police headquarters to a catch a glimpse of the arrested teenagers, some concerned family members pleaded with the media to assist that fair investigation is conducted as they claimed that their wards presently in police custody were not involved in crimes mentioned by the police.

The state police command were parading the suspects accused two teenage girls of being used by a cult group known as the Icelanders for luring and recruitment of innocent girls and boys in the state capital.

A lad, aged 16, identified as Lucky Abel from Southern Ijaw local government area of the state was arrested with an automatic pistol and accused of armed robbery by the police authorities.

The suspects arrested by the police for cult activities include Makpa Elohor (12yrs) and Maureen Bethel (13yrs).

According to the State Police Public Relation Officer (PPRO), Ibokette Iniobong (DSP), the teenage girls were abducted by one Unity Kingsley and taken to the unholy meetings of the 'Icelanders' where they were taken through rigorous initiation processes include sexual acts.

The duo of Elohor and Bethel were later reported to have become field officers that specializes in luring and recruiting boys and girls for the cult group before they were arrested along with Unity Kingsley.

Also arrested in different parts of the state with the assistance of the girls were over thirteen boys including a disabled identified as a senior member of the group.

However, there was a drama midway into the parade of the suspects as some family members of the suspects pleading with newsmen to interview their wards accused of cultism and illegal sales of cannabis.

This was however dismissed by the Commissioner of Police, Julian Opaleke who said the newsmen should not be allowed to speak with the suspects as "it will jeopardize investigation."

The trio of Trinia Godswill, Kide Captain and Peria Arake were also arrested with two Generating sets, two image scanners allegedly used for counterfeiting and fake currency notes in the state capital.



http://allafrica.com/stories/200903130865.html

*comfort:

no proof. my mother   is forced to sleep with horses  and donkeys, which is worse?.

e be like say dat one pain you well well.
next time you'll be more careful in asking for trouble.
Now you know Bayelsa women cuddle with German shepherds after circumcision

*comfort:

Rising Number Of Igbo In Overseas Prisons Worry Leaders
From Lawrence Njoku Enugu

The number of Igbo serving various prison terms outside the country, those already executed and the ones facing death sentences for various offences were said to have formed the nucleus of discussions on Friday, in Enugu, as political leaders of the South East Zone met.

The Guardian gathered from a source at the closed door meeting, which was attended by the five Governors in the Zone, serving members of the National Assembly led by Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, as well as other leaders of thought deliberated on the situations of the affected Igbo with a view to assisting them.

It was gathered that about[b] 2400 Igbo are serving various jail terms outside the country. Of the figure, 3 was said to have been executed in Indonesia while 18 is facing death sentence in the same country. About 1500 is also said to be serving various prison terms in South Africa. [/b] Although, details about how the leaders intends to assist the affected persons was not made public, but it was, however agreed that poverty and unemployment ravaging the South East Zone have contributed to the rising number of inmates, stressing that ,there was need to make the economic situation of the zone more attractive.

Ekweremadu, who briefed reporters at the end of the meeting, said all the South East Governors and members of the National Assembly from the Zone have resolved to work together irrespective of party affiliations for the general interest of the zone. Add that several issues affecting the zone, including the ecological problems and the state of infrastructures were discussed.

While describing the meeting as a very good development for discussing matters affecting the zone, he said, it has also for the first time brought political office holders, irrespective of the political party, together for peace. Adding that the meeting will henceforth be held on quarterly basis.

Another source however, disclosed that the meeting also discussed a common position on state creation for the zone.
Source: Guardian, 30th November 2008

Only 2400 ?
out of over 30 million Igbos,only 2400 ?
Is that even one tenth of the rapist militants and kidnappers rampaging Bayela and Rivers

you may want to see my thread on widowhood from last year.
here it is

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-187909.0.html#msg2994677

kudos to Enugu state

A LAW TO MAKE IT UNLAWFUL TO INFRINGE THE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS OF WIDOWS AND WIDOWERS, AND FOR OTHER RELATED MATTERS
ENACTED BY THE ENUGU STATE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY, THIS 8TH MARCH, 2001

PROHIBITION

(1) "No person for whatever purpose or reason shall compel a widow/widower as follows:

(a) to permit the hairs on the head or any other part of the body to be shaved;

(b) to sleep either alone or on the some bed or be locked in a room with corpse of the husband

c) not to receive condolence visits from sympathisers during the period of mourning

(d) to be re-married by a relative of the late husband

(e) to sit on the floor or be naked during any period of the husband's/ burial rite

(f) to drink the water used in washing the corpse of the husband/

(g) to weep and wail loudly at intervals at any time after the death of the husband/ except at ones own volition or involuntary action;

(h) to remain in confinement after the death of the husband for any given period;

(i) to vacate the matrimonial home;

(j) to do any other thing which contravenes the fundamental rights entrenched in the Constitution or is degrading the person.

(2) A widow shall not be dispossessed upon the death of the husband of any property acquired by the deceased husband/wife (during the deceased husband's/wife's life time) without his/her consent.

PENALTY: It shall be unlawful for any widow/widower or any person to falsely allege that the rights guaranteed under this law have been violated

JURISDICTION: Anybody who contravenes, conspires, aids, counsels, procures, or assists another person to contravene the provisions of this Law shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine N5,000 (Five thousand naira) or two years imprisonment or both

APPEAL: The Magistrate Court shall have jurisdiction to try summarily any offence under this law.


"During 2001 a series of meetings and workshops were organized by WiDO to make the bill known and to discuss and disseminate the information about its enactment."

WIDOWHOOD PRACTICES: THE CASE OF ENUGU STATE (NIGERIA)

FROM THE FOREWORD:
"Although both the widow and the widower experience basically equal pains for the death of the partner, the Nigerian widow suffers many deprivations, some of which are inhuman, barbaric and uncouth. This discriminatory and parochial approach in the practice of widowhood in Nigeria destabilizes and vexes Nigerian women and rightly so. Apart from the fact that the discriminatory practice violates the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the traditional practices are a taboo in the civilised world and should not find a place in any decent society, It is difficult for a human being in this day and age to believe that a wife is forced to drink the water used in bathing the corpse of her husband, all in the name of custom, as told by Mrs. Agnes lloegbunam. This and other widowhood practices are repugnant to natural justice, equity and good conscience and should be thrown out from society as they do much harm to womanhood.

Although the book tells the pathetic story of the experiences of Enugu State widows, it is known that widows in other States in the country suffer from similar situations, Nigerian women should continue in the struggle for complete eradication of the present obnoxious widowhood practices. The first step towards achieving total freedom is education, Congratulations to the Enugu State Widows Welfare Committee on a successful campaign!

Niki Tobi, Justice, Court of Appeal & Professor of Law."

For more information Contact: Medical Women's Association of Nigeria Centre, 29 Abakaliki Rd, G.R.A, Enugu, NIGERIA

At least the Igbo leaders address the issues in their soceity, that, should be commended.
Your women are forced to sleep with horses  and donkeys, which is worse?

*comfort:

there is no bestiality in that article? lol,its the one you wrote yourself, go eat your eat human flesh in Abia.

click on it dear,I didn't add it there since you want copy and paste ,you shall have them.

In March 1999, the chairman of the Bayelsa State Family Support Programme (FSP) stated that the FSP "in conjunction with some Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), had embarked on a series of campaigns to stem some obnoxious practices against womanhood, such as genital mutilation, widowhood practices and early marriage. … She advised widows in the state, whose relatives were being forced to marry relations of their dead husbands, to use the services of the legal aid council" (Post Express 24 Mar. 1999

comfort who knew your Bayelsa was no haven for widows

http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/topic,463af2212,469f2ea82,3ae6ad6e64,0.html

violence ranging from
beatings, rape, bestiality

,

@ comfort do you know what bestiality means?
Ijaw women having sex with domesticated animals
That is an Ijaw culture abi?
you want to sling mud,get ready

.   A.  Blood and Oil: Testimonies of Violence from Women of the Niger Delta.  NDWJ carried out a research investigating violence against women by the Nigerian State and multi-national oil companies. The project covered 13 communities across the delta over a period of three weeks including[b] Ijaw, Ogoni, Ikwerre, Egi, Umuechem, Isoko,Itsekiri and Ilaje among others.[/b] The Niger Delta has been intensively militarised over the past 10 years during which period communities have been brutalised and destroyed by security forces and suffered untold environmental damage by multinational oil companies.
The research sought to give voice to the many women who have been victims of violence ranging from
beatings, rape, bestiality, destruction and theft of property and crops to fear and intimidation.

B.     EFFECTS OF FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION (FGM) NDWJ also carried out a research on the effects of female genital mutilation on women. Rural communities in the delta still practise the act of mutilating
women's genitals with the excuse of initiating them into womanhood. The research aimed to convince the
perpetrators of FGM that the practise is harmful to the health of the women and is a violation of women's
right to health and her sexuality. It is a compilation of victim's experiences. And we gathered during the
research that 4 adolescent female children died as a result of FGM in 1999 in Erema community. This
research was carried out in Rivers State.

C      WIDOWHOOD RITES
This was a research into the various ways in which women are subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment
in the name of mourning a deceased spouse, by their various customs and traditions.

The above is from the Niger delta women for justice

http://www.ndwj.kabissa.org/AnnualReport/annualreport.html

could you believe there are ills in your area?

*comfort:

in igboland a widow must married her late husband brother.

stick to copy and paste since it's obvious the schools in Yenegoa are no good

I asked you to prove that this rare practice was more common with Igbos and you failed.
do you know where Ozubulu is,how prevalent this is in Ozubulu talk less of Igboland as a whole?
I am Igbo
I had never ever heard or witnessed such until last year here on nairaland when someone,a Yoruba girl made mention to spite Igbos and we used google to find out it also happens in Yorubaland, Rivers state, amongst Binis (mainly) and several other places.
The individual who brought it up  (having seen it on nollywood) had no clue the same thing obtained in Yoruba land if not she would have never said so.
That's how rare such practices are.
If you were sincere in your google search,paste all the news items you found on that topic and prove me right.
This was extensively discussed last year,I hate to go back on old threads so enjoy your search.

It's people like you that walk around feeling untouchable until we see you on youtube slammed on the hood of a police vehicle with a black eye handcuffed and taken away for a crime you didn't commit.
we'll talk about it on nairaland
don't worry.
auntie osisi will have your back

bawomolo:

blah blah blah, is he a pastor or an investment banker? It's pretty stupid to support someone because they share a race and religion with you. Lets see what happens when this goes to court. persecution complex is a bitch.

has he been convicted of any wrong doing?
does it take any intelligence to know that a black man is an easy target in a white world.
Is that not enough for me to support him at least until he gets his day in court ?

*comfort:

lol.always denying anything negative about the igbos, It's actually more prevalent in igbo states.(igboland)

proof please or sharapp

RichyBlacK:

I have nothing against Pentecostal churches, but I know that some pastors are extortionists. The ones in Akwa-Ibom collecting N400,000 to deliver a child from witchcraft are good examples.
I will give Pastor Sunday Adelaja the benefit of the doubt. He is innocent until proven guilty.

I'm with you on that one.
There are charlattans and thieves parading as men of God.
It's only a fool that won't agree that Christianity is an easy topic to bash because we don't come with death threats and bombs strapped to our groins
In this forum you see the slowpoke called Huxley spending a lifetime on his anti Christian threads because he and his demons know where the light is.
Talk about a Pastor did this and that,Seun takes it to the front page and carefully conceals the Islamic ones away from public scrutiny before they blow up his den in Abeokuta as they promised.
na today?

where is everyone?
Ify nwa nma o mu go nwa?
Ndewo nu ooooooooo

And there are fellow black men like bawomolo here on this forum that'll pronounce them guilty just because he read it on the papers fuelled of course by his hatred for Christianity.The same black men who would be arrested and treated like common criminals on the streets of America for being black having the audacity to condemn a man of God with unproven allegations,a fellow black man just because he preaches what they hate to hear.

Abandoned property
Akpabio's mother may be Ijaw.

This witch child is still alive

davidylan:

Oluwa o! another thread? Oh boy what happened to this - Creationism Or Evolution - Post Your Peer-review Articles Here And Lets Discuss

Have we finished "discussing"? why spamming the forum?

Stay there and be entertaining a bipolar individual instead of pointing him to the nearest NHS shrink in Manchester.
His own family couldn't help his situation and you think you can?

Moyola:

Huuuhh!!!

The pain in his writing as he conveys the message of "not being bothered" is palpable
The thing dey pain am well well
I wonder why?

It's actually more prevalent in Edo state and also happens in Rivers state.

ChinenyeN:

The Igbo do that?

I heard it and read it on nairaland too my dear