Nigeriadondie1:
MC Oluomo and Tinubu among others

we Yorunba Moslems have rejected Tinubu, he has a drug case in America. MURIC warned us about the criminal stealing Southwest dry.

HellAnus:
Oduduwa is the biblical fallen demon who fell out from heaven and was casted into abyss. Have u ever asked urself why the SW remains the sin and voodoo capital of Nigeria

not every southwest, I'm from Ilorin, we practice Islam not voodoo.

Every ethnic nationality has a day of set aside for the commemoration and honoring the heroes that payed the ultimate price in the struggle for seperate existence.

In southeast, may 30th is the day. In Nigerdelta, ijaw has a rememberance day, more recently, we Yorunba's join the struggle for self determination but just like me, many wonder who are Oduduwa heroes, and is there any day set aside commemoration of Oduduwa nation and it's heroes.

DW honors Nigerian reporter Tobore Ovuorie for defending the voiceless


Tobore Ovuorie is DW's 2021 Freedom of Speech Award winner. The investigative journalist's undercover work has given a voice to those hushed in Nigerian society. Her courage almost cost her her life.
Screams filled the dark corners of the high-security camp. The young women around Tobore Ovuorie scrambled to escape into the night. She was frozen from horror. Her clothes splattered with blood, and her eyes transfixed on the two bodiless heads that just tumbled to the ground. Everything turned black, her consciousness drifting from her body.


DW Director General Limbourg: 'Press freedom is in danger around the globe'
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When Ovuorie recounts her experience from seven years ago, her eyes still fill with tears. The then 33-year-old investigative reporter went undercover in Nigeria's sex trafficking circles for seven months. Her reporting shed light on criminal syndicates involved in prostitution, human traffickers and organ trading.

'Living the story'
Weeks before the investigation, Ovuorie had been approached by an editor who asked her to shed light on sex trafficking in Nigeria by speaking to victims. In an interview with DW, she laughs as she recalls the conversation, clicking her tongue disapprovingly. "They don't write on their forehead: Hey! I am going to be trafficked."

Freedom of Speech Award 2021 | Preisträgerin Tobore Ovuorie aus Nigeria
Tobore Ovuorie posed as a prostitute in Nigeria's sex trafficking circles to get to the core of the story
For her, there was no question about it: "We had to go through the process ourselves. Otherwise, the story would be wishy-washy." Ovuorie tells DW, clapping her hands loudly to emphasize her words. In her work, she has no room for compromises.


DW Director-General Peter Limbourg said Ovuorie's courageous reporting earned her this year's Freedom of Speech Award.

"The Freedom of Speech award highlights the importance of transparency in our work, and it shows the importance of courage in our society. I think the award will help Tobore Ovuorie in her work and hopefully also for her security," Limbourg said.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that 80% of girls arriving in Europe from Nigeria are potential victims of sex trafficking. Ovuorie's best friend was one of them. She succumbed to HIV/AIDS after having been trafficked to Europe.

Back in 2013, Ovuorie was driven by a clear-cut goal: Finding clarity on what had happened to her friend and many others she knew by uncovering the personal stories of thousands of victims trafficked from Nigeria to Italy every year.

"I had so many gaping holes in me that I needed to fill," Ovuorie said about the investigation in an interview with Pulse Nigeria.

With the help of her colleagues at Nigeria's online newspaper Premium Times, she went undercover in Nigeria's sex trafficking circles for seven months. She shed her own identity and changed her clothes, hair, makeup and even how she spoke to enter a new life. She posed as a prostitute and was taken in by a love-vendor, first in Lagos, then in Abuja.

Throughout her 2013 investigation, the dark underbelly of Nigeria's crime syndicates imprinted on her own body. Her hair was chopped off, she was beaten, abused, hospitalized and barely escaped murder.

A few months into the investigation, Ovuorie got the go-ahead from her love-vendor to go to Italy. Together with a group of girls, she was smuggled to Benin. The experiences she made during the journey leave her unable to watch horror films to this day.

Ovuorie witnessed two trafficking victims being decapitated, their organs destined for the black market. Once she arrived in Cotonou, she managed to escape with the help of her colleagues.

Many Nigerian women are lured by sex traffickers who then exploit the women once they reach Europe

Growing up in Nigeria's commercial capital, Lagos, Ovuorie knew she wanted to be a journalist before entering school. Every week, she mailed her handwritten stories and poems to Nigerian newspapers. Whenever they were turned down, she remained undeterred and sent in more stories the following week.

While in secondary school, the mother of one of her classmates was wrongly accused of killing her husband through witchcraft. Ovuorie called out the injustice, but her protest was not tolerated.

"I kept hearing: 'You are a girl, you have to keep quiet, you talk too much,'" she tells DW. "There was anger, a sort of rage in me. I did not want to conform," Ovuorie says as she shakes her head in defiance.


TRACKING NIGERIA'S HUMAN TRAFFICKERS

Fleeing poverty

Our investigation began in Benin City, capital of Edo State. Almost everyone we spoke to has at least a friend or a family member in Europe. More than three-quarters of illegal prostitutes in Italy are from this region. Due to high unemployment among the youths in Edo state, many young women see fewer prospects here. They seek for a better life in Europe instead, not fully aware of the dangers.

Catholic Sister, Bibiana Emenaha, has tried for years to warn young Nigerian women before they ended up in Europe. "Many are lured with false promises," she told us. The traffickers promise jobs such as babysitting or hair dressing, but that quickly turn out to be a lie. Once the young women are in Europe, they end up on the streets.

Schleuser in einer Hinterhof-Bar (Foto: Scholz/Kriesch)
TRACKING NIGERIA'S HUMAN TRAFFICKERS
"The people are greedy"
After long negotiations, a trafficker agreed to an interview with us. He called himself Steve and claimed he has already transported more than 100 Nigerians all the way to Libya. He wouldn’t speak about the people behind his business. He said he was simply a service provider. "The people here in Edo State are greedy. They are willing to do anything for a better life," Steve said.

Straße zwischen der nigerianisch-nigrischen Grenze und Agadez (Foto: Scholz/Kriesch)
TRACKING NIGERIA'S HUMAN TRAFFICKERS
Dangerous Sahara journey
For 600 euros ($666) per person, Steve organizes the journey from Nigeria to Libya. "Most people know how dangerous the journey is through the Sahara," the human smuggler told us. Many people die very often along the way. "That is the risk," Steve said, who brings the migrants personally to Agadez in Niger. A colleague then takes over from there.

Reporter Adrian Kriesch mit Tuareg-Kopfbedeckung (Foto: Scholz)
TRACKING NIGERIA'S HUMAN TRAFFICKERS
Agadez: A hub for human traffickers
The desert town of Agadez was the most dangerous part of our research trip. The town thrives on human and drug trafficking and foreigners are often kidnapped for ransom. We could only move around with armed guards and had to wear traditional head cover to be less visible.

Sultan von Agadez, Omar Ibrahim Omar, in seinem Palast (Foto: Scholz/Kriesch)
TRACKING NIGERIA'S HUMAN TRAFFICKERS
Solving the migration crisis
Like many others in the desert town, Omar Ibrahim Omar, the Sultan of Agadez, sees human trafficking as a problem that cannot be solved in Agadez. He is asking for more money from the international community. His argument: If Europe does not want more migrants to keep coming through the Mediterranean Sea, Europe should give more support to Niger.

LKW mit Migranten verlässt Agadez
TRACKING NIGERIA'S HUMAN TRAFFICKERS
The "Monday Caravan" to Libya
For months now, several trucks with migrants from Agadez set out every Monday shortly before sunset towards the north. The crisis in Libya has contributed to human traffickers being able to reach the Mediterranean Sea without the usual controls. And we soon learned that the authorities here in Niger have little interests in their activities.

Sozialarbeiterin Lisa Bertini im Interview (Foto: Scholz/Kriesch)
TRACKING NIGERIA'S HUMAN TRAFFICKERS
"The girls are getting younger"
Many of the migrants from Nigeria land on the streets in Italy. Social worker Lisa Bertini works with foreign prostitutes. "They are coming more and more," she told us. According to official figures, about 1,000 Nigerians went to Italy across the Mediterranean in 2014. In 2015, the figure climbed to 4,000. "And the girls are getting younger," the social worker said.

Reporter Jan-Philipp Scholz, Adrian Kriesch und Henry Ogunjimi
TRACKING NIGERIA'S HUMAN TRAFFICKERS
Looking for a "Madam"
With help from a Nigerian colleague, we discovered an alleged "Madam" in northern Italy. A Nigerian host in Italy is referred to as "Madam," she is at the top of a smaller trafficking network. The madam we found lived in a suburb of Florence and one victim made serious accusations against the her: "She has been beating us and forced us into prostitution," the victim said.

Italien Florenz Bild 10: Mutmaßliche Madame in der Nähe von Florenz
TRACKING NIGERIA'S HUMAN TRAFFICKERS
'Madam' and her girls
As we confronted the supposed "Madam" about the accusations, she admited accommodating six young Nigerian women in her house, but denied forcing them into prostitution: "It's just something young Nigerians here do." After our interview, we handed our research to the Italian public prosecutor's office.

Anti-Menschenhandels-Aktivistin Schwester Monika Uchikwe (Foto: Kriesch/Scholz)
TRACKING NIGERIA'S HUMAN TRAFFICKERS
Cheap sexual satisfaction
Sister Monika Uchikwe has long been criticizing the inactivity of the Italian authorities. For eight years, she has cared for victims of human trafficking. She explained in rage as we asked about the customers. The men always want cheap satisfaction – sex with a Nigerian woman on the streets costs only 10 euros. "Without this possibility, this problem would not exist," she said.

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She locked herself in her room and put pen to paper, recording every detail of the story. When her father discovered her notes in her drawer, he encouraged her to utilize her writing to fight injustice.

"This is what I decided to do for the rest of my life. To stand up for the voiceless with the power of the written word."

As a young reporter in the newsroom, Ovuorie had to dismantle biases against women in Nigeria's journalism industry. "Females were the ones reporting on family life, fashion and entertainment. The hard-hitting stuff was reserved for men."

Fighting on
The mental wounds Ovuorie incurred during her investigation into Nigeria's sex trafficking cartels have not fully healed until today. She struggles with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Her Ghanaian counterpart, investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas, told DW that Ovuorie's ability to withstand shocks defines her exceptional journalism.

"We thought at a stage in her career that her work would come to an end, but she came back very strong. She is driven by the wrongs she sees in society. She wants to make sure that vulnerable groups, women, and children, get a fair share of the cake."

Following her 2013 investigation, Ovuorie has continued to choose hard-hitting topics. She has told the stories of trafficking victims in Libya and shed light on the stigmatization of Nigerian children living with HIV. Currently, she is researching the involvement of embassy employees in human trafficking.

When asked whether she regrets putting her life in danger for her reporting, Ovuorie doesn't hesitate: "I don't regret it at all. It has caused people to rethink. I can go to bed and sleep soundly. That, for me, is purposeful living."

Nevertheless, she says safety is an issue: "I still receive strange calls from people threatening me and sending very terrible text messages. It's an attempt to scare you away. It has taught me to watch my back and to be very security conscious. I have to move quite often, I can never to stay in the same place for long."

LeoThaGreat:
My stand will always remain staying true to the vision of the founders of these schools in question.
Schools founded by Christian missions should remain with the same vision, likewise schools founded by Muslim missions.
However, community schools, Local government schools, State & Federal schools should be religiously neutral.

Any other thing is an invite to unnecessary unrest & scrimmages

I didn't think your fair enough, we have more Christian schools in Ilorin, so partitioning school children along religious line may deny Muslim children access to education, Christians should learn to be tolerant and remove every restrictions against Muslim school children.

Kwara belong to we Yoruba Moslems, MURIC made it clear we own Kwara.

Governor Abdulrazaq represents a new kind of change in Kwara State. Before his ascension to power, the dominant force in Kwara politics was the enduring patriarchy of Dr Olusola Saraki and his son, Bukola. The Sarakis were supposed to represent the continuing dominance of the descendants of the Fulani in Ilorin over the Yoruba majority. The coming of Abdulrazaq was a seen as a credible challenge to the old Saraki hegemony. He came in with the Otoge (Enough!) battle cry and was swept to power on the ticket of All Progressives Congress, APC, the party of President Muhammadu Buhari.

In September 2018, a seminar was held at the Ikeja Airport Hotel, Lagos, in honour of the late Chief Bola Ige. Some Abdulrazaq partisans were present in large number at that seminar. I had tackled one of his partisans that this man who claims to represent the Yoruba of Kwara State does not have a single Yoruba name. Why should a fully-grown Yoruba person bears only foreign names? He said it was because of Abdulrazaq Islamic background. I pointed out to him that bearing your native names does not make you less religious. I gave the examples of Ayatollah Rhohollar Khomeini of Iran, Gamal Abdul Nasser of Egypt, Iyanda Folawiyo of Lagos, Arisekola Alao of Ibadan, Ibrahim Dasuki of Sokoto and many others.

The truth is that many Ilorin people, especially those who are Muslims, are struggling with their Yoruba heritage. They believe wrongly that the less Yoruba they become, the more acceptable they are to what they perceived to be the power-centres of Nigeria. Yet bearing their normal Yoruba names have not deprived the Ilorin people of the ability to rise. We have the illustrious examples of the Sarakis, Major-General Abdul Kareem Adisa, Major General Babatunde Idiagbon and many others.

Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State, is a Yoruba city. It is now in the throes of a self-inflicted crisis caused by the hijab, the head covering favoured by Muslim laity for their women folks. It is also loved by some Christians, especially the Catholics. It originated from the Middle-East where women are subjected to strict code of fashion. But in Yorubaland, fashion has never been a matter of contention. Now this. The case, I am told, is in the court. Some of the Muslims in Ilorin, apparently with the sympathy of the Governor, do not want to wait for the court. They would rather put the matter in their own hands.

What is surprising is that a Muslim parent, knowingly sending his daughter to a Christian school, still wants his daughter to wear the hijab. The corollary is a Christian parent sending his daughter to a Muslim school and yet does not want his daughter to wear the hijab. Luckily, there is no Orunmila High School in Ilorin. If there is one, I can assure you that no Muslim parent would insist that his daughter wears the hijab in Orunmila High School if it is not part of the prescribed uniform. But Christianity and Islam are both imported religions and we Africans we tend to be more catholic than the Pope.

What we are witnessing in Ilorin is the attempt by the government to take all powers from school authorities. Uniforms are parts of the tradition of each school. It seldom changes and when any principal tries to change it, he or she usually faces hostilities from the Alumni Association. In Kwara, the government claims to derive its power to prescribe uniform and enforce the hijab in all public schools because it is funding those schools.

When Alhaji Ahmadu Bello became the Leader of Government Business in Northern Nigeria in 1952, the government decided to support all mission schools; both Christians and Muslims. Those schools were referred to as grant-aided schools. However, there were also private schools established by individual proprietors who were excluded from this generosity. In the 1970s, all private secondary schools, including the mission schools, were taking over by the government. The government did not pay compensations for these schools. There was the understanding that though the schools had been taken over by the government, the original owners would still have proprietary interest in those schools. That understanding subsists until Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq decided to have interest in the hijab.

ygowon:
Are u speaking for the Yoruba Muslims alone or the Christians are included?

I'm speaking for both Yoruba Moslems and Christians.

it's really sad and pathetic that someone will comeout openly to belittle and tarnish the image of great Asiwaju Bola ammed Tinubu, The Jagaban of Yorunba land. I want to vehemently disagree with you that Banji Akintoye is the leader of Yoruba's. We the real Omoluabi's will not and never allow Banji Akintoye to be our leader. We currently have two leaders; politically is Bola Ammed Tinubu, Religiously, Prof Ishaq Akintola has our full support.

when you talk of Tinubu drug case in America, I want to tell you that the case has ended amicable.

Who is Banji Akintoye that to you want us to follow? where is he from? How many supporters does he have?, Tinubu is from Osun but he has the support of all real Omoluabi's. He's a well respected personality especially among Yorunba Muslims.

Tinubu is not Jagagan of bariba in Borgu kingdom. where is the so called bariba and Borgu kingdom? you called him Jagaban of street urchins but it may surprise you that without street urchins like motor park Alayes, Lagos may not be lively. A simple tour from Agege to amuwo odofin, Mushin to oshodi-isolo, ikorodu to ikeja reveal bunch of urchines and motor park Alayes who are hussling, collecting taxes, levies and making out a living on daily basis Courtesy of Tinubu. popular MC oluomo, ademola are Tinubu street urchines with from grass to grace story.

We the real Omoluabi's have only two leaders, Asiwaju Bola Ammed Tinubu, the Jagaban of Yorunba land, our political leader and Godfather and Prof Ishaq Akintola of MURIC, the spiritual and Islamic leader of whole Yorunba race. Nobody can take them away from us!!!

OdudwaR

Israel crush: Dozens killed at Lag B'Omer religious festival


At least 44 people have been killed in a crush at a crowded religious festival in the north-east of Israel.

Dozens more were injured at the Lag B'Omer festival, which takes place annually at the foot of Mount Meron.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described it as a "heavy disaster" and said he was praying for the casualties.

Tens of thousands of Orthodox Jews attended the festival, making it the largest event in Israel since the coronavirus pandemic began.

The country's successful vaccination programme has allowed it to lift many restrictions, but health officials had still warned of the risk of Covid-19.


Early reports suggested a structure at the site had collapsed, but emergency officials later said a crush had occurred at around 01:00 local time (22:00 GMT Thursday).

Police sources told Haaretz newspaper that it started after some attendees slipped on steps, which caused dozens more to fall.
A police officer walks at the sceneimage copyrightGetty Images
image captionWitnesses said some people fell down a crowded set of steps

"It happened in a split second; people just fell, trampling each other. It was a disaster," one witness told the newspaper.

Videos posted online show thousands of people struggling to flee the chaos through a narrow passageway as the incident unfolded.

One pilgrim said he thought there was a bomb alert when loudhailer messages urged the crowds to disperse. Police then requested the evacuation of the site.

"No-one imagined that this could happen here," he told Channel 12 TV. "Rejoicing became mourning, a great light became a deep darkness."

Dozens of ambulances attended the scene and emergency services laid out bodies under foil covers on the ground. Helicopters took the injured to hospital, while the military said search-and-rescue troops were also deployed.

At least 103 people were injured, officials said, including 38 people who were in critical condition at the site.

"MDA is fighting for the lives of dozens wounded, and will not give up until the last victim is evacuated," a tweet from the national emergency service Magen David Adom (MDA) said.
attendees at the festivalimage copyrightReuters
image captionThe festival attracted tens of thousands of attendees

Earlier in the day, officials said they were not able to enforce coronavirus restrictions at the site due to the huge crowds.

Police reportedly said they had arrested two people for disrupting their efforts to keep order before the crush occurred.
'No place to move'

Witnesses have described the panic as the crush began to unfold.

"It was crowded and there [was]... no place to move," one attendee told the BBC. "People started to fall on the ground."

"All of a sudden we saw paramedics... running by," another attendee, Shlomo Katz, said. "One after the other [they] started coming out... Then we understood that something is going on here."
Image shows personal belongings left over after the crushimage copyrightReuters

"Over 1,000 people together tried to go down a very, very small place, very narrow road and they just fell on top of each other," said Yanki Farber, a reporter with the Orthodox Jewish website Behadrei Haredim.

One emergency worker, Dov Maisel, told the BBC: "We just finished treating one of Israel's worst disasters."

"A terrible disaster of people who came to celebrate... and unfortunately were literally crushed to death," he said.
What is the Lag B'Omer festival?

Tens of thousands of Orthodox Jews make a pilgrimage to Meron each year for Lag B'Omer, a religious holiday marked with all-night bonfires, prayer and dancing.

The town is the site of the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, a revered second-century sage, who ordained that the anniversary of his death be commemorated with a rejoicing of his life.

According to the Times of Israel, organisers estimated that 100,000 people arrived on Thursday night, with more due on Friday.

The attendance at the event was higher than it was last year, when the festival was held under restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic.

But it was still smaller than in previous years when hundreds of thousands of people gathered at the site.

criuze:
let not omoalabi or your brothers or friends defend the state of Nigeria in the East,


whoever does shall go down even if he's igbo


igbos need buses badly and by the looks of things the situation will keep in escalating



igbos are always dogged and determined in pursuit of freedom

don't be a victim
omoabi don't fall a victim

That's what am saying, real Omoluabi's are dying in East, it's time they come back and defend our land, if not, Fulani will sack us. Many of us are already refugee in Benin republic.

jrjfjfj:
Mr man ,You are not YORUBA ,Stop trying so hard to impersonate Yorubas ,Because an average yoruba man uses his God giving brain to think not using anus to think like u do

I'm a real Omoluabi, our Yoruba Moslem brothers are dying in East.

cocolacec:


IPOb Criminal trying to cause division among Yorubas.You are an imposter.If Yoruba officers are killed in the East,Igbo officer have no business working in the South west because we need those slots for our Yoruba children in Yorubaland.

Igbos destroyed Nigeria by scrapping regionnal govt out of greed and are paying the price for the greed for giving Fulanis power on a platter of gold.

May Amadioha strike you and your family if you write anything about Yorubas again.Ise

lalasticala
seun
mynd44

IgweOfNnewi:
There has never been any separation or segregation in religious line in the west we accommodate all even Igbos so you can cry more and lament your woes, no 5% people of criminal tendency can stop our unity and progress

I'm not talking about separation between we yorubas, am raising concerns about our brothers being killed in east. East is burning, our Yoruba Moslem brothers are burning too.

StaffofOrayan:


What does pleasant fulani mean?
I recommend this book for you!

put this away, your just a peasant fulani claiming Yoruba.

StaffofOrayan:


Your poor command of English language exposes you as a Northerner

if you can't understand this simple Grammer, then, I need no confirmation that your a peasant fulani without any iota of formal education.

theTranslator:

you are not
you created this moniker to mock us

your moniker says it all

we are not dumb

you just exposed yourself now! Your just a Kwara/Ilorin Fulani claiming Yoruba. Any real Omoluabi knows Yoruba comes from the word "Yaribanza".

theTranslator:

his moniker shows that he is not Yoruba

get out, your not real Omoluabi. How can our brothers be dying in East and your here only concern about my moniker.