₦airaland Forum

Jalingo dance Alingo

na wah oooo

see am ooooo no be chinko

Unbelievable; Employer Cuts Maid’s Toes





The toes of a house maid identified as Aishatu have been allegedly cut by her employer, who was irked over the failure of Aishatu to meet her at the gate when she returned home from an outing.

A source who disclosed this to LEADERSHIP said the case of Aishatu was one out of the many atrocities being committed against humanity, especially the female folk in Sokoto State.

The incident which happened in Rujin Sambo area of the state metropolis, was not the first of it’s kind according to a neighbour who craved anonymity.

The neighbour said the inhuman treatment against Aishatu who is Nupe from Niger State by her madam also from Niger, has become a recurring decimal, adding that the madam who is nursing a two-year-old baby often threatens to strangulate her maid if she tells anyone about her ordeal.

- See more at: http://leadership.ng/news/250713/employer-cuts-maid-s-toes#sthash.JKFwUT...

Rivers Attack: S’South Youths Apologise To Northern Govs





Youths from the South-South geo-political zone of the country have resolved to apologise and pay visits to governors of four northern states that were recently attacked in Port Harcourt while on a solidarity visit to Rivers State governor, Mr Chibuike Amaechi. The governors include Dr Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Dr Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (Kano), Alhaji Sule Lamido (Jigawa) and Murtala Nyako (Adamawa).

The four governors were in Port Harcourt to pay a solidarity visit to Rivers State governor and chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Mr Chibuike Amaechi, when protesters believed to be members of the Grassroots Development Initiative (GDI) pelted their convoy with stones as they made to leave the VIP Lounge of the airport.

- See more at: http://leadership.ng/news/250713/rivers-attack-s-south-youths-apologise-...

I said it before that Britain will never recover from the effects of Mad cows.....
walks away singing Fela animal talk don start again......

Home » Sports » Abdullahi asks Bash Ali to apologise
Abdullahi asks Bash Ali to apologise
Abdullahi asks Bash Ali to apologise
Posted by: Segun Ogunjimi, Abuja in Sports 6 hours ago 0

•Minister insists on public retraction of bribery allegation

The proposed plans to reconcile former Cruiserweight Boxing Champion, Bash Ali and the Minister of Sports, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi broke down yesterday as recalcitrant Bash Ali refused to apologise publicly to the Minister at a meeting brokered by Ali’s Manger and popular Musician Mr. Omotshola Itse.

Abuja based sports reporters had anxiously gathered at the office of the Sports Minister to witness the outcome of the parley but it wasn’t a successful one because Bash Ali refused to say in the public glare that the Minister did not ask for monetary rewards to effect the hosting of Ali’s proposed Guinness Book fight at the age of 57.

The Special Assistant on Media to the Sports Minister however shed more lights on the visit of the boxer to the Mnister. “Bash Ali was brought to see the Minister by his Manager Mr. Omotshola Itse and they had a private meeting with the Minister. Bash Ali apologized to the Minister and told him he is sorry. The meeting was not deadlocked.

“The only snagged there was that the Minister asked him (Bash Ali) he (the Minister) indeed asked Bash Ali for money before the fight could be staged but he (Bash Ali) couldn’t talk. He wasn’t willing to say that he lied on the Minister. Maybe Bash Ali didn’t want to say he lied in order to protect his reputation”, the Minister spokesman disclosed in Abuja yesterday

Recalcitrant Bash Ali said to the sporting press that gathered to cover his apologies to the Honourable Sports Minister, “It may still happen because Nigeria is bigger than all of us. One man (Sports Minister) can’t stop the show.

But his Manager, veteran musician Omotshola Itse popularly known as Tee Mac came to Bas Ali rescue, “Mr. Aghalieaku Arinze, Mr. Osita Ofor also known as Ultimate Commander and I are planning The Night of the Legends. We came to discuss with the Honourable (Sports) Minister yesterday (Monday) about the bouts but the Minister revealed that Bash Ali made some uncomplimentary remarks about him and Bash has to come ion person to apologise.

The Minister met with Bash Ali today (Tuesday) and say he has forgiven Bash Ali but he asked Al when did he asked him for money for the fight to hold. He said that is what bothers him because he as a Minister has reputation and has never in his life asked any body for money (bribes). But unfortunately Mr. Bash Ali couldn’t answer that question and that is why the discussion broke down. Bas said that at the appropriate time they will discuss that.

“But the appropriate time should have been today. The question the Minister asked Mr. Bash Ali couldn’t answer and because of this the discussion broke down. We have been trying to make peace with the Minister because we still nee his blessings for this Night of Legends to hold. Even if the National Sport Commission is not organising professional fights it is proper that a big event like this has the enabling environment such as the backing of the Presidency through the Honourable Minister of Sports. I am a little disappointed that the meeting we held today was not successful”, Tee Mac disclosed.
Source: The nation newspapers.

There was anxiety in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital on Monday as news of the death of Mrs. Iwari-Oba, the mother of the wife of President Goodluck Jonathan, Patience, spread in the city.

The mother of Mrs. Jonathan was said to have been involved in a ghastly motor accident along Elele Road in Rivers State. It was gathered that the woman, who is from Okrika Local Government Area, was on her way to Bayelsa State when the unfortunate accident happened.


Reports say her corpse was taken to Kpaima Mortuary by a team of policemen and a member representing Ogu Bolo State Constituency, Hon. Evans Bipi, who is a relative of the First Lady.

Though, the police and the Federal Road Safety Commission in the state could not confirm the incident, an aide to Bipi said the First Lady’s mother died in the road accident, which occurred at about 4pm.

Bipi’s aide, Mr. Fred Itobo, said:
“Yes! She was involved in an accident and she died. Her body has been taken to a mortuary. Bipi was among those who took her body to the mortuary,” Itobo said.

When contacted, the State Director of FRSC, Dr. Kayode Olagunju, declined comment on the matter, saying, “I cannot say anything on this matter now until I get full details.”

May her soul rest in peace!

Edo State has offered insights into why Governor Adams Oshiomhole signed the warrants of four criminals on death row.The warrants, the Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice of Edo State, Barrister Henry Idahagbon, stated were signed because death sentence has not been expunged from the nation’s criminal code acts.He spoke yesterday when civil society organisations and students’ leaders led by the Executive Director of Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice, Reverend David Ugolor, protested the killing of criminals on death row in the state.The commissioner called on civil society organisations to take their advocacy campaigns against the killing of convicts on death row to the National Assembly.It said the groups should lobby the national legislators for death sentence to be expunged from the nation’s criminal code acts.Idahagbon explained that any state governor is under a legal duty to sign execution warrants, stating that governors who fail to sign can be sued.According to him: “As we speak today in Edo State, there are three offences that carry death penalty.“The first is murder under section 319, the second is armed robbery and the third is treasonable felony.“When a person is charged with armed robbery or any of these three offences, the judge has no discretion. He must impose the sentence of death because that is the law!”He said the execution warrants were signed on the four convicts after they exhausted all their rights known to law up to the Supreme Court.Expatiating on their crimes, he said: “Daniel Nsofor entered a motor from Ekpan to Ehor and with two others and a lady called Maria Imariagbe.“At about 07:15, they disembarked from the vehicle at Ehor and then they got this Maria Imariagbe, they strangulated her, killed her and collected her money.“ChimaIjiofor was a spare parts dealer in Benin here. He has a relationship with a woman that led to the birth of a baby.“The baby was two and half months old. He came to visit the baby and the mother at their house.“He gave money to the mother to go and buy Coca Cola and before she came back, he poured acid into the mouth of the baby and the baby died.“What was his excuse? He said that as a first child from his state of origin, he is not expected to have a child out of wedlock.”He continued: “OsarenmwindaAigbokhian went into the bush and he said he saw a big deer.“He said he shot at the deer and the deer died. He went there and he started butchering the deer.“While butchering the deer, the deer turned to a human being. He didn’t stop. He cut the human being into small parts and buried them in several parts of the bush.“When autopsy was done, there was no mark of any bullet. So, there was no shooting. The person was killed with a very sharp object.“The one remaining, Richard Igagu, was not executed because the sentence of the court is that he should die by firing squad. He went with his gang to a house to rob.“After robbing the man of his possessions, they raped the wife. And after raping the wife, they took a bottle and inserted the bottle into the private part of the wife until she bled to death.”

By SaharaReporters, New York
Thirteen years after he was first docked before the Code of Conduct Tribunal on charges of abuse of office and non-declaration of assets, the trial of former Nigerian Federal Capital Territory Minister, Gen Jeremiah Useni (Rtd), resumed Tuesday before the Code of Conduct tribunal.


Useni is alleged to have used his office as the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory to acquire mind-boggling landed properties in choice locations of the Abuja metropolis.

The former military chief held the position during the regime of late maximum dictator, General Sani Abacha, under whose regime Nigeria’s commonwealth was often privatized and looted with reckless abandon. Useni was also alleged to have failed to declare his assets on assumption of office as well as on leaving office as the FCT minister. The retired General however, did not appear in person as statutorily required in criminal proceedings, and has never appeared before the court at any time during the 13 years the matter has lingered before the court. The Chairman of the Tribunal, Mr. Danladi Umar, who led two other members of the panel, could not hide his shock over the discovery that the former minister has been treating the Tribunal with disdain which accounted for his refusal to grace the court with his appearance.

"The accused person has never appeared in person in this matter as required by the law. It has been a tale of one excuse or the other from the accused person,” the chairman observed.

Explaining the General’s absence from the court, his lawyer, Mr. Victor Odjenu, said his client was on a "medical emergency" as at Monday night when he informed him of today’s sitting. He presented a medical report to the court, showing the health challenges of the former Minister. He could not however tell the court the specific hospital where former minister was recuperating, and the Tribunal Chairman thereafter ordered that the General must appear before it at the next adjournment as the allegations preferred against him are criminal in nature.

Mr. Odjenu further told the Tribunal that his presence was with regards to an application filed on behalf of the former minister and dated 15 May, 2013 as well as for the preliminary objection served on him by the prosecution counsel, Mr. Simon Egede.

In the application, Gen. Useni is asking the Tribunal to make an order directing the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), to hand over some property titles confiscated from him, to the custody of the tribunal pending the determination of the substantive suit. President Olusegun Obasanjo had during his tenure constituted a probe panel which investigated some persons, including Useni, and title documents to some properties suspected to have been fraudulently acquired by the former minister were confiscated.

"It is this tribunal that can make an order seizing the title documents of the confiscated properties and forfeiture of such property. We therefore urge the court to make an order that the title documents of the property be put in custody of the tribunal," Mr. Odjenuurged the tribunal.

In a preliminary objection to the application, Mr.Egede challenged the jurisdiction of the tribunal to adjudicate on the issue of the confiscated title documents. After listening to their submissions, the Chairman of the Tribunal adjourned the matter to July 16 for ruling on the preliminary objection.

Just heard on the radio now

Customers of First Bank Limited may find it difficult to carry out their banking transactions from Thursday to Monday, five solid days, due to the decision to shut down the bank’s branches nationwide.

“This is a major project and on account of the technical requirements, we regret that there will be some disruptions to our services for about three [working] days, while the upgrade is ongoing.”
According to the bank, the shutdown is to enable it upgrade its core banking application. From Finacle 7 to Finacle 10, which will ensure easier and faster customer services and experience.


Apart from all the branches being shut, Point of Sale transactions and transaction alerts by SMS will not be possible during the period - Thursday to Monday. In addition, all card services, except Visa prepaid card, will not be available via Quick Teller and the Web.

First Bank said in a statement, “All transactions that will impact on the banking platform e.g. settlements, inter bank (RTGS, NEFT, FIP) inflows, will not be available.”

However, the bank said skeletal services would be available on its ATMs throughout the migration period until 5pm on Sunday, and would be restored at 6am on Monday.

Online banking services, according to the bank, will also be available until 5pm on Sunday and be restored at 6am on Monday. But its mobile money services will be available throughout the migration period.

Group Managing Director, First Bank, Mr. Bisi Onasanya, said “I am particularly excited at the prospect of this milestone as it represents the opportunity to significantly transform our service delivery to you in many respects, while also supporting our plans for the introduction of new and innovative products as we anticipate your every banking need."


So, if you'll need your money in First Bank this period, go withdraw today.

The Akwa Ibom State Police Command has arrested a 25-year-old man, Usen Effiong, for posing as a medical doctor and consulting for the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital for months.

The State Police Command Public Relations Officer, Mr. Etim Dickson, said Effiong, an indigene of Ukot Usung Itam, in Itu LGA was caught based on intelligence report.

He said, “The police arrested Effiong in the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital impersonating a medical doctor. The Chairman, Nigerian Medical Association, Akwa Ibom State branch, Dr. John Udobang denied ever knowing the young man. He is not a member of the association.”

The police had investigated Effiong and found out that he was actually impersonating a medical doctor.

Dr. Udobang told Punch that he received a call from the Dean of the Faculty of Clinical Sciences, UUTH, Dr. Sunday Udo on the activities of Effiong.

Dr. Udobang explained that he went to the teaching hospital where he interviewed the suspect and found him with stethoscope and sphygmomanometer (blood pressure apparatus).

He said, “We also found some prescriptions and forms that he wanted to fill to become a member of the association of resident doctors.

“Later, when they went to look for him, he was found in the doctor’s consulting room eating. He has confessed that he is not a doctor, and has not finished his school certificate, and has been coming there to consult in the last two months.”

Asked how it was possible for an SS II dropout to be consulting in a teaching hospital, Dr. Udobang replied that people used to see him but did not know his intention.

“It was after one of the younger doctors saw him and asked the Dean who he was that they started investigating him.”

Usen Effiong will be charged to court accordingly

e bi like say dem won to start galala na the new dance again ooooo

A friend set this piece to me and i think it worth sharing.

A few years after I was born, my Dad met a stranger who was new to our small town.

From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer and soon invited him to live with our family.

The stranger was quickly accepted and was around from then on.

As I grew up, I never questioned his place in my family.

In my young mind, he had a special niche.

My parents were complementary instructors:

Mom taught me good from evil, and Dad taught me to obey.

But the stranger... he was our storyteller.

He would keep us spellbound for hours on end with adventures, mysteries and comedies.

If I wanted to know anything about politics, history or science, he always knew the answers about the past, understood the present and even seemed able to predict the future!

He took my family to the first major league ball game.

He made me laugh, and he made me cry.

The stranger never stopped talking, but Dad didn't seem to mind.

Sometimes, Mom would get up quietly while the rest of us were shushing each other to listen to what he had to say, and she would go to the kitchen for peace and quiet.

(I wonder now if she ever prayed for the stranger to leave.)

Dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions, but the stranger never felt obligated to honor them.

Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our home - not from us, our friends or any visitors.

Our long time visitor, however, got away with four-letter words that burned my ears and made my dad squirm and my mother blush.

My Dad didn't permit the liberal use of alcohol but the stranger encouraged us to try it on a regular basis.

He made cigarettes look cool, cigars manly, and pipes distinguished.

He talked freely (much too freely!) about sex.

His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive, and generally embarrassing..

I now know that my early concepts about relationships were influenced strongly by the stranger.

Time after time, he opposed the values of my parents, yet he was seldom rebuked ... And NEVER asked to leave.

More than fifty years have passed since the stranger moved in with our family.

He has blended right in and is not nearly as fascinating as he was at first.

Still, if you could walk into my parents' den today, you would still find him sitting over in his corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures.




His name?....

We just call him 'TV.


(Note: This should be required reading for every household!)

He has a wife now....we call her 'Computer.'

Their first child is "Cell Phone."

Second child "I Pod.”

And MOST RECENTLY BORN WAS a Grandchild: “IPAD.”

OH MY----HOW TRUE THIS IS!!!

The scary part is how fertile they are and the gestation period for the next
intrusions are getting shorter and shorter!!!

“AN assessment of reports in the Nigeria media prove one major point: namely, that we have serious problems in this country, that we are a people without standards, values, beyond shame, we live in a society where anything is possible, we worship persons, we place them above the rule of law, anything can be rationalized, Nigerians can hold a position today and shift to the other side tomorrow and still argue with great passion, and there is never a shortage of opportunists, in and out of the corridors of power”
Reuben Abati October 2005.



My question is why do people change so easily? is it Money, Fame, Poverty or plain stupidity and inner confusion of mind

You want to report him to EFCC because you don't know the source of his wealth or on ground of suspicion? anyway i advice to call him and ask for your share before the windfall finish oooooo Ewu also remember that you are now in the lower division of the family if you try anything ehn? you go hear wen your brother no no book but he get hand writing

Don't worry your time will come

Which language she speak for Australia sef, but she for go visit widows na afta all she is one
but e bi like say the woman don dey fine small small ooooo ahhhhh Fresh Air jare

We have plenty wild even over wild animals for Nigeria plenty
This are likely places you can see then in all shapes ( you are free to add yours)

National Assembly
PDP
Ota Farm
and also ASO ROCK

"@ NATASHA a beg give me ya 14 digit numba

thanks i hope they will start in Lagos too my brother, cheers

na wah ooo so na hold we dey sooo? well, i guess i have to keep waiting , thanks guys

I just bought a used car and was finding it difficult to register, the reason was that the guys at the VIO office at Ojodu told me that there is a new number that has just been approved by FG but not yet in circulation, does anybody have an idea of what im talking about?, just confused (now they say i MUST wait till the new number is sold and that if i buy the old number plate, it will be illegal) wetin i go do now? can anyone help me?

Maputo 2011: Iworima’s Gold Withdrawn, Event to Be Repeated
13 Sep 2011
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Otonye Iworima


By Duro Ikhazuagbe

The organisers of the 10th All Africa Games have withdrawn the gold medal awarded to Otonye Iworima in the women triple jump event following the protest filed by Algeria.

According to the organisers, the event is to be repeated on September 15, the final day of the track and field at the on-going Games in Maputo.
Insiders at the Games revealed Monday night that the protest of the Algerians was upheld to allow for fairness when it became certain that there were irregularities in the recordings made for the jumpers.

Algeria's Baya Rahouli, who was 8th at the World Championships in Daegu, was the favourite for the gold but discovered that proceedings were been tainted.

“After she fouled her first two attempts, she asked to have a look at the results sheet and saw a 14.47m marked for one of the participants (Otonye). She became livid with shock as none of the competitors had jumped enough to have such a score. She then asked her coach to find out which athlete indeed achieved such a performance.

“Even Iworima, who was the de facto leading jumper, explained to the judge she couldn’t realistically have jumped that far. But the judges didn't listen to her. One of the judges even told her: "Yes you did 14.47m, you just forgot," revealed the source Monday night.

It was on the basis of this mixed up that the AAC, the African athletics body, decided that for fairness, that the event be repeated on Thursday. With that, Iworima’s gold and the new national record got nullified.

BBC

Police in Austria have arrested a man suspected of imprisoning and sexually abusing his two daughters in his village home over 40 years.

The man, now 80, denies the abuse, which allegedly began when one girl was aged 12 and the other four, reports the BBC.

Police say the case was reported in May, when the daughters escaped after one reportedly knocked over the father as he tried to rape her.

Now aged 53 and 45, they were both found to have "mental deficiencies".

Austria's Die Presse newspaper says there are echoes of another Austrian case, that of Jozef Fritzl, who is serving a life sentence for imprisoning and raping his daughter, fathering seven children with her.

There was no mention of any children being fathered in the new case.

A social worker found the alleged abuser who had been lying on the floor for two days, incapacitated by his fall.

He received hospital treatment but is said to be mentally alert, and on Thursday he was arrested and moved from a nursing home to prison.

He is suspected of imprisoning, beating and sexually abusing his daughters in the village of St Peter am Hart, near the north Austrian town of Braunau.

Police believe he repeatedly threatened to kill them with a pitchfork and a stick.

The women were apparently allowed limited contact with the outside world but intimidated into not speaking about their alleged ordeal.

They were kept in the kitchen and made to sleep on a bench.

They are now receiving help from the authorities.

The mother of the house, who died three years ago, was allegedly also abused.

Residents of St Peter am Hart spoke of their shock at the news of the alleged abuse to the Austrian newspaper Krone.

"It is appalling that a person could do such a thing," said one 83-year-old man

From Tobi Soniyi in Abuja

A Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) test conducted in the United States (US) to determine the paternity of a girl alleged to be the daughter of former governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Abubakar Audu, has revealed that he is not the real father.


Prior to the conduct of the DNA test, Audu was alleged to have believed that his former First Lady, Mrs. Aisha Audu, bore him a baby girl. However, following a rift between the two, it then became imperative to conduct a DNA test in order to determine the true paternity of the girl.


Aisha, it was gathered, had before a Montgomery County Court presided over by Justice Dennis Michael Mchugh, allegedly accused her husband of domestic violence, family abandonment in US, among others. Based on the allegations, she was said to have asked the court for an absolute divorce and payment of alimony, child support as well as absolute ownership of a property in America, belonging to a company where Audu had interest.


She had also allegedly wanted the house to be designated a family home to enable her claim it as part of her divorce settlement.
Interestingly, however, Aisha lost all grounds canvassed in the case, except that of the child support.


Audu, who had earlier told the court that he doubted the paternity of the new born baby, insisted that the paternity test through DNA be conducted to determine the father of the baby, noting that Aisha was pregnant for six months at the time she left his house for America. The result of the paternity test, it was gathered, showed negative, meaning that Audu was not the father of the baby.


While confirming the development, Audu said he had insisted that a DNA test be conducted because he was suspicious of his estranged wife. Audu, who spoke through his Special Assistant on Media and Communications, Mr. Abraham Akogu, in Abuja said he could not: “Compromise his image built over the years on the altar of cheap blackmail by a greedy woman.”


But Aisha prior to the test, had initially objected to the conduct of the DNA test, until the Montgomery County Court ordered her to submit herself for the test, a development which would have attracted contempt charge, if she had failed to surrender herself.


Following the result of the test, Audu was said to have insisted that a similar DNA test be carried out on the remaining two children for determination of their biological father. This will enable him to decide whether or not he will be liable for payment of child support of the two boys. Further hearing in the matter will take place in Maryland court on September 8, 2011.

Every year tens of thousands of West Africans migrate to Europe in search of a better life. But for some of them that search will end in tragedy, as they fall victim to competing mafia gangs that prey on the hopes of the desperate. In southern Italy, it is Nigerian women who are among the most exploited, with many ending up trapped in the nightmare world of the sex trade.

In the first of two special reports, Juliana Ruhfus investigates the plight of African women caught up in a web of organised crime, prostitution and people trafficking. In the following account Chiara Caprio, an Italian journalist who was involved in the making of the film, describes what they found out in southern Italy.

The ghetto of Destra Volturno, an assembly of houses once used by Neapolitan tourists, is surrounded by flowers as it hosts the funeral of Mary Morad, a seven-year-old from Ghana. She was killed by a man with psychiatric problems. But in Castel Volturno, more than one-third of the 25,000 official citizens are African and, in particular, Ghanaian and Nigerian.
Al Jazeera came to investigate the phenomenon of Nigerian organised crime in this small town, quickly forgotten after serious riots in 2008, when hundreds of Africans took to the streets to protest against the massacre of six young Ghanaians committed by Giuseppe Setola, the army of the Casalesi clan.

Mary's family is waiting for the coffin and tension grows as delays and friction increase. Bose Atta, Mary's Nigerian mother, who was trafficked to Italy to be forced into prostitution, is nervous. She cries as her friends express anger against Mary's father, a man from Ghana who is now married to another Nigerian woman.

Finally, the coffin arrives and a group of men start celebrating with a Muslim rite. An improvised march towards the cemetery starts under a warm sun overheating a tormented African community
Stronger than ever

"The Domitiana crosses Castel Volturno for 28 kilometres," says Stefano Ricciardiello, a detective at the local police station, a small and shabby office overwhelmed by new and old papers covering stories of murders, repatriations and organised crime. "The new African mafia's activities have invaded the whole territory."

He is showing us along the roads where, one after another, Nigerian women and young girls are waiting for clients.

According to the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI), Italy is now the main destination for more than 10,000 Nigerian prostitutes, trafficked from Benin City to European cities and criminal hubs, just like the Domitiana and its coast.

"Nigerian criminals are able to find agreements with all the mafias, from Colombians to Chinese. But it's an easy game for them in Italy also for another reason: the high number of Italian clients who look for prostitutes night and day," says Giovanni Conzo, a prosecutor at the anti-mafia section in Naples.

"This organisation is stronger than ever. We should stop them before they take full control of our region," he adds. But Conzo's words offer just a glimmer of hope.
Using voodoo to enslave

Isoke Aikpitanyi, a former victim of trafficking and now the main reference point for Nigerian women in Italy, knows how this business is managed in Caserta's area. As she walks in Castel Volturno's historic centre, she explains: "Today in Italy there are almost 10,000 madams, each one in control of an average of two or three girls."

Madams are the key, she explains. They are the main actors in this exploitation. They force girls into prostitution and ask for money to repay the debt. They work with "brothers", men who are in charge of physically trafficking the "babies", as girls forced into prostitution are called.

But Nigerian human trafficking is often associated with drug smuggling and a distorted use of religious tradition.

The women and girls are often forced to undergo a Juju oath-swearing ritual that commits them to repaying the money they owe to their smugglers on pain of death or insanity.

"The Juju, the voodoo rite, it's not a bad practice. It was used to bring justice, but they ruined everything," says Isoke with anger. "They don't care how they make their money as far as they make it. They use Juju to enslave."

Even in this hell, there are people who try not to lose hope. Sister Antonia, a Nigerian nun of the Sacred Heart of Jesus order, manages a shelter, the Casa Santa Maria dell'Accoglienza, launched in 2000 in the Fernandes centre by the Capua-based Caritas. Here, more than 70 women have found a place to stay and 10 children have been born.

"We were called by the bishop of Capua, Mons. Bruno Schettino, to promote these girls' integration. They are all former prostitutes. If they want to change their lives, they know they'll always find a place here," Sister Antonia says
We try to make them understand that Juju won't have any effect on them," she says.

But we met girls who still work on the streets and believe in the agreements they made. Some of them have to repay debts of up to $58,000 and are still terrified of the powerful consequences of Juju on their families and themselves.

The Nigerian Connection II:

In the second part of the special investigation, The Nigerian Connection II, Juliana Ruhfus follows the trail from Italy back to Benin City in Nigeria, from where women, desperately seeking an escape from grinding poverty, are trafficked to Europe.

To pay for their travel, many of them incur massive debts to organised crime gangs in the false belief that a lucrative regular job awaits them at the other end. Often they are forced to undergo a Juju oath-swearing ritual that commits them to repaying the money on pain of death or insanity.

When they arrive in Europe, they discover the only way they can do this is by agreeing to work in the sex trade. A Juju priest who is involved in the trade justifies the use of ritual practices on the grounds that he is offering a service to the community.

But as Juliana discovers, it is not just traditional African religions in West Africa that contribute to this trade on bonded labour. Evangelical Christian pastors have been involved too.

Reporter/ Producer: Juliana Ruhfus
Director: Orlando von Einsiedel
Associate Producer: Chiara Caprio
A Grain Media/ Pear Productions co-production

IAAF

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has rejected the USA-born duo of sprinter, Asumnu Ogechi Gloria and quarter-miler, Mayungbe Ibukun Blessing as eligible athletes to compete for Nigeria at the 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics which begins this weekend in Daegu, South Korea.

The two athletes, who hold dual citizenship of both the United States of America and Nigeria, were originally entered to compete for the Nigeria by the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN).

But IAAF said at the weekend that both Asumnu and Mayungbe will not be eligible to wear the Nigeria green colour until June 23, 2013.

However, Chinwe Okoro who did not make the team to Daegu has been cleared to begin to compete for Nigeria from August 4, 2011.

“The fact that both athletes are still listed as representing the USA on IAAF website should have alarmed the AFN officials who should have done a proper check before sending Nigeria's final list to the IAAF and save the country this embarrassment,” said many athletics observers Monday after it was revealed that IAAF has rejected the duo of Asumnu and Mayungbe.

Both athletes are also ineligible to compete for Nigeria at next month's 10th All Africa Games in Maputo while it remains to be seen what the AFN will do to the result achieved by the athlete at the last national championships, the Nigeria/Cross River State Track and Field Championships last June in Calabar.

Meanwhile the duo of Mrs Maria Wophil, Secretary General of the AFN and erstwhile president of the federation, Mrs Violet Odogwu-Nwajei have been confirmed as the only two Nigerians vying for seats on the IAAF Women's Committee and Cross Country Committee respectively.

Wophil, a former national handball star has been one of the longest serving secretary generals the AFN has ever had and very popular among international athletics administrators while Odogwu-Nwajei, the first Nigerian nay African woman to win a field event medal at the Commonwealth Games is one of the vice-presidents of the African Athletics Confederations (AAC)

Relief and joy came the way of the Obi family yesterday following the eventual rescue of Pa Michael Obi, Mikel’s father, from his abductors, by the Kano State Police Command. The father of the Chelsea of England’s midfielder was kidnapped by some hoodlums 12 days ago.


The state Police Commissioner Ibrahim Idris, who paraded all five suspects before reporters in Kano, said the kidnappers were apprehended in Kabuga Quarters of the commercial city of Kano.


He said the suspected kidnappers included one Ifeanyi Esseit, Ndubisi Friday, Basil Chukwumah, a woman - Nkechi Ossai - and a Nigerien national, Sule Ibrahim, who all camouflaged as soldiers, using a vehicle painted in military colours.


The police commissioner said: “A team of police officers from Plateau State in collaboration with officers in Kano raided a neighbourhood in Kabuga Quarters of Kano city at around 3.30 pm yesterday after a tipoff gathered from a dismissed police corporal, Jacob Kowen.”


Narrating his ordeal, the traumatised father of the footballer, Elder Obi, told reporters that he was subjected to severe inhuman treatment. He said: “I was taken right deep into the bush in an isolated area in Jos. I started begging them, yet they beat me mercilessly, kicking me with their boots. They are five of them and they were dressed in military uniforms.


“They pushed me into a vehicle painted in military colour and began to drive very fast. I never knew a vehicle can fly like that.” The police said at the moment, they had launched an intensive investigation to ascertain whether or not, the arrested suspects were members of the Nigerian Army.


For the older Obi, Friday, August 12 will forever remain a date to remember.
Instead of the usual day that heralds the weekend, August 12 turned out a nightmare: a day he wished never came up. However, the figure 12 has turned out very significant in the ordeal of Pa Obi. Consider this: during the time of his father's disappearance for 12 days, Mikel continued playing for Chelsea in his jersey number 12, the same date the kidnappers chose to unleash the terror on the Obi family.
Initially, the Plateau Police Command insisted that those who seized Obi Snr were not kidnappers. They made all attempts to make the matter look ordinary, until the abductor made their ransom demand.


The family received two calls from the abductors, who first warned them that Obi Snr had been taken out of Jos.
Few hours after the first call, a second call from the kidnappers informed the family the location of the car Mikel’s father was driving before they took him.
Tony, the eldest of the Obi siblings, indeed confirmed that the car was found in Jos, but declined to say where.
The older Obi, a former footballer also in his college days at St Theresa’s School in Jos, was also a civil servant before his son, Mikel, set up the Inter-State Transport Company Limited, located at Angwan Soya, Jos for his father to run. Pa Obi has eight children, including the Chelsea player. Mikel and Ebele grew up inheriting the innate soccer skill from their father which has brought nothing but fame, honour and wealth to the family.


While Mikel plays as a midfielder with Chelsea FC, the other sibling, Ebele plays for the Nigeria Premier League (NPL) club, Enugu Rangers.


In what would have been his first attempt in his football career with Gombe XI, a local club, Obi Snr’s dream was aborted by the Nigerian Civil War that lasted from 1967-1970

Recalling with nostalgia he said: “When I was playing, there was no money and in appreciation of your performance, the most people could do was to buy you a drink.”
As was his custom, he drove himself to work on that fateful August 10 when he was accosted and kidnapped.
He is described as a devout Christian who wouldn’t miss his afternoon mass for anything as confirmed by his wife, Irosu.