SOUTH Africa’s tourism credentials as a leisure destination were put on full display at this year’s AKWAABA travel and trade show. During the three-day show, the South African Tourism team promoted the country to West African visitors to the fair.

Thulani Nzima, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of  South African Tourism, says: “Regional Africa and in particular the East and West African regions, continue to be key growth markets for us. We have invested considerable resources in growing tourist arrivals from this region to South Africa.

“Our participation at this year’s AKWAABA show served as the perfect platform for us to continue building and strengthening partnerships with the outbound sector of the Regional African tourism industry and with our partners in media and the travel trade who give South Africa fantastic support in destination marketing and sales. It also gave us the opportunity to demonstrate the best of our leisure offering to the rest of the continent and to the broader global industry that recognises the potential of Africa’s future.”

West Africa, more specifically, Nigeria, and South Africa have enjoyed a long-standing and fruitful partnership. The two countries have many times spoken of their resolve to strengthen relations and work together for the long-term betterment of an economically vibrant African continent. Travel and tourism have been identified as a key driver in unbridling this potential..

“The travel trade are a critical component to the work that we do. During AKWAABA we officially announced our partnership with the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA) who will help boost tourist arrivals growth from Nigeria to South Africa by developing a range of packages to suit the Nigerian traveller,” explains Nzima.

This partnership, he says, is a significant milestone and one which we believe will go far in reaffirming our commitment to bolstering the economic relations between Nigeria and South Africa. It will also give us access to a wide audience of discerning travellers who contribute significantly to South Africa’s growth.

Growth in Regional African arrivals has been driving growth of South Africa’s tourism industry for many years now. Tourist arrivals to South Africa from Nigeria in particular have enjoyed a steady incline.  A total of 84, 589 Nigerian tourists visited South Africa last year.

ALTHOUGH, killings in Southern part of Kaduna State can be traced to the 80s, with the outbreak of the 1983 Kafanchan crisis, the number of deaths recorded in the area since the 2011 post-election violence has become very alarming and unabated.

Since the end of the post-presidential election violence, several villages in Sanga, Kaura and Kachia local government areas have been attacked by unknown gunmen, with several people killed, villages razed and other property worth millions of naira destroyed; even though several measures have been put in place by government and other stakeholders, the killings have continued.

Following the mass killing of innocent people in three villages of Maro’a Chiefdom, the immediate past Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Dikko Abubakar, set up a committee to find a lasting solution to the constant invasion of Southern Kaduna villages by suspected Fulani herdsmen. The meeting took place at the General Hassan Usman Katsina House in Kaduna, where a cease-fire arrangement was put in place. Many, especially Southern Kaduna youths, did not believe in the peace deal.

The peace deal was broken just few months after the agreement, as unknown gunmen attacked a police station at Fadan Karshi in Sanga Local Government Area, leaving six people dead. Similarly, barely 24 hours the international conference organised by the office of the National Security Adviser, which aimed at finding a lasting solution to the constant attacks by suspected Fulani herdsmen, a couple was killed in their farm also in Fadan Karshi, while two villages were attacked, leaving not less than 38 people dead.

In a related development, over 300 people have been killed in separate attacks in the same community of Fadan Karshi between June and September this year. The incident, which started as an attack on two villages of Sanga Local Government Area, gradually spread around the local government with more villages coming under the attack of the Fulani herdsmen, leaving in their trail series of death of innocent men, women and children.

It was gathered that, the attackers invaded Kabamu Village in Fadan Karshi District and Ankpon in Nandu District both of Numana Chiefdom at 10:00pm on the night of Monday, June 22, this year. The last attack by the gunmen in the same community claimed over 20 lives, with several others sustaining various degrees of injuries. The attack, which took place on September 19, was said to have started at midnight. The attackers set houses ablaze. One of the survivors of the attack, who identified himself as Bitrus Solomon, was quoted as saying that many people who could not run were shot dead.

Apart from these attacks, which lasted for almost one week without help coming to the victims, the community has constantly suffered series of attacks since then. It was gathered that farmers in the area could not go to their farms due to fear of probable attacks. As they could not cultivate their farm lands this year, fears are that the community may experience starvation.

However, the people have accused Governor Mukthar Ramalan Yero of being insensitive to their plight, saying he merely condemned the attacks and does nothing to ensure that they are safe. Rev. Yunana Oganto, President of Reach Forth Nigeria and a native of the area had told The Nation that Governor Yero has not shown any sign of sensitivity about the events. He urged the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency in Southern Kaduna. They believe it’s the only way to stop the carnage. Apart from the incidents in Fadan Karshi, there had been other serious attacks in other parts of Southern Kaduna; the most fatal being in Bondon and Fadan Attakkar.

Having accused the governor of being insensible to their plight, the people turned against him when he decided to visit. Apparently, the governor’s decision not to visit may not be unconnected with the ugly incident when he paid a similar visit to Manchok where angry residents threw stones at his convoy. But his visit to Fadan Karshi may also have been a terrible mistake.

Even though he went there with a high-powered security team, the women in the area did not consider his visit a friendly one. Concerned about the repeated attacks on the people, the governor decided to visit them. He was, however, conscious of the fact that when his deputy, Nuhu Bajoga, visited the area after the earlier attacks in June, he was not well received and so decided to visit the area well prepared.

The Nation gathered that the people, especially women, decided to embarrass the governor, who was received at the palace of the District Head of Fadan Karshi. Majority of the women protested half nude as a way of showing their displeasure to the killings of their people and the seeming lack of interest by the state government.

The National President of Ninzom Progressive Youths, Bezard Wuyah, who confirmed the action of the women, explained that “the women were angry that after about seven attacks on their villages, in which not less than 300 people were killed since July, the governor had not visited the place until a few weeks to the primary elections.”

Wuyah further said that, “the governor came with hundreds of soldiers, policemen, Road Safety Corps and State Security Service (SSS) personnel, even with a detachment of Prison Guards. It was more of an invasion, not a condolence visit. Our mothers and sisters who were expecting a sober, caring governor were furious when they noticed that the visit was meant to intimidate them. So, they had to bare their minds with regard to the negligence they had suffered since gunmen sacked their villages and rendered them homeless. You will be surprised to learn that the women were organised. They were united in their grief and anger as neglected widows. They came from about seven ethnic groups.

“One of them lost her husband and four sons. They and their children are starving in refugee camps that are not fit for human habitation. Natives of Sanga are law-abiding and we are appealing to everyone to remain calm since the governor has come and seen the situation.”

On its part, the Southern Kaduna Indigenes Progressive Forum (SKIPFO) accused the governor of going to Sango to show off his might. Its Chairman, Major George Nchok Asake (rtd), said in a statement that “it is no longer news that the state governor, Alhaji Mukhtar Ramalan Yero, has never deemed it necessary to pay any condolence visit to the affected Southern Kaduna communities that have had their people brutally and mercilessly killed. He has also not taken any action to protect the affected communities or any other Southern Kaduna community for that matter, except those occupied by his settlers Hausa/Fulani brothers.

“Yero visited Fadan Karshi with a very large contingent of armed personnel. That was not a show of sympathy or condolence. It was pure show of state might to intimidate and suppress any dissension in view of his hate against our people. We kick against this show of naked power and we want to assure him that we shall take our revenge at the ballot box.”

But a group of Southern Kaduna youths, under the auspices of the Yero Vanguard, who have sympathy for the governor, told our correspondent that the action of the women was a show of shame as the governor had done everything possible to ensure that the people are safe.

Their spokesman, Istifanus Musa, accused politicians in the area of sponsoring the protest against the governor, who was in Fadan Karshi to sympathise with the people. He said: “After the first attack in the area, the governor sent his deputy and some relief materials. This time, he decided to visit the people himself. What wrong has he done to warrant such humiliation? The man has done well for the people of the state since he assumed office. Instead of being grateful to him, people are sponsoring such demonstrations against him.”

The ceasefire agreement

As part of the peace moves, leaders of the Southern Kaduna People’s Union (SOKAPU), and Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), had recently in Kaduna signed a peace agreement toward ending months of hostilities in the area since the series of attacks were suspected to have been carried out by Fulani herdsmen.

The peace pact, which came after several meetings under the supervision of senior police officials, was signed for the Fulanis by the Chairman of MACBAN in Kaduna State, Alhaji Ahmadu Suleiman; Chairman, Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore Socio-Cultural Association, Dr Ibrahim Abdullahi and the State Secretary, Mobgal Fulbe Development Association, Ahmad Yandeh, while the Southern Kaduna team was represented by the SOKAPU National President, Dr. Ephraim Goje; National Chairman, Moroa Development Association, Mr. Musa Sheyin and a member of SOKAPU executive committee, Bitrus Gwadah.

Also, in a communique that followed the peace pact, the two groups stressed the need for a ceasefire, continued dialogue and return of peace and unity to the state, calling for close monitoring of people’s movement, and suggested more involvement of traditional rulers in that respect.

The meeting also called for a return to the traditional intelligence gathering mechanisms, while mobile police and military units should be established in Kafanchan and Birnin Gwari for quick response to security challenges, while, urging governments at all levels to improve on security agencies’ capacities to handle crisis by providing adequate logistics.

According to the communique, “There is also the need for joint community policing, comprising all ethnic groups, to complement the efforts of the security agencies, while proliferation of small and medium arms should be seriously checked. The youth should be sensitised on the need for self-restraint and the dangers of taking laws into their hands, while the perpetrators of attacks must be fished out and brought to book.

“The pastoralists should be encouraged to adopt modern animal husbandry techniques in place of roaming with their livestock, while all grazing reserves that have been encroached should be reclaimed while compensation should be paid to the original landowners where this has not been done,” it read.

The communiqué also recommended the implementation of recommendations of all previous committees established by the state government on peace and reconciliation, and emphasised the need to resolve all outstanding issues on boundary disputes with neighbouring states.

Reactions to ceasefire

However, in reaction to the peace move, there was palpable anger in Southern Kaduna as people insisted on going ahead with the compiled attacks on their villages by suspected herdsmen before the International Criminal Court (ICC). They said: “The main characteristic of the on-going assaults on our communities is that they are carefully planned, organised and executed with heartless viciousness and on incremental basis. Between 1981 and 2010, there were just 16 incidents of such attacks.

“However, between 2011 and 2014, over a period of four years, 37 such attacks have been launched against our hospitable, accommodating, peaceful and law-abiding communities by Fulani herdsmen. These planned, systematic and coordinated attacks have claimed the lives of over 4,000 innocent Southern Kaduna people”, a coalition of seven groups representing Southern Kaduna, led by a former Kaduna State Commissioner of Justice, Zakari Sokfa, said in Kaduna, in their apparent rejection of the ‘ceasefire’.

The coalition said the deal was a charade, and that it lacked credibility since it had no endorsement of their chiefs and community leaders. According to them, the SOKAPU President had no authority to enter into an agreement with the Fulani on his own terms without the congress or even the executive of SOKAPU agreeing on what to table and how.

The National Youth leader of SOKAPU, Sabastine Luka, who said he was speaking on behalf of Southern Kaduna youths, condemned the agreement and was signatory to the press statement read by Sokfa on behalf of the coalition.

However, DIG Zuokumor, who initiated the peace move, dismissed the protest as the handiwork of those who benefit from violence. He said the affected communities were happy with the peace agreement.

In the meantime, Mr. Nuhu Waney, the coordinator of the camp holding about 2,000 Mora refugees from Tekum, Ma Gata and Sankwai, the three communities attacked by suspected herdsmen, said: “We at home are shocked and angry that some people sitting in the comfort of their offices in Kaduna would concoct a so-called peace agreement with the Fulani.

“We do not know the content of the agreement and we were not informed. In any case, we are not at war with the Fulani. Let the Fulani come and tell us what is their grouse with us and then we will know. What kind of peace agreement will you sign with someone who would come into your home in the night, kill your wife and children and burn you alive and you have no idea of any wrong you have done to him?

“Do they want us to sign that we have given them our lands, then, we move so that they come and take over? We the affected villages believe that the Fulani should be the ones to sign agreement with government promising not to attack us again. We are unhappy with this kind of political trick, while we are still under the fire of the Fulani. Right now, we are waiting for the soldiers who have gone to engage the Fulani to come out and tell us what is going on,” he said.

On his part, Dr. Bonnat Zwahu, speaking on behalf of Southern Kaduna Development Association, said that any Fulani that is signatory to any agreement would mean that he was in the know of the massacre of the people of Southern Kaduna. He said that such a person should be arrested and made to face justice.

Government’s efforts

The governor, through his Director General Media, Ahmed Maiyaki, said the state government under Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero has consistently demonstrated through words and actions, his commitment to evolving lasting peace and security in all parts of the state.

According to him, “It is on record that Governor Yero has personally visited Southern Kaduna on several occasions to commiserate with victims of such mindless attacks and to also meet with stakeholders from the area on the need to collaborate in fighting those bent on afflicting the people with mindless killings. During these visits, the governor supported the victims by providing them with emergency relief, while also calling the attention of relevant security agencies to take adequate measures to forestall recurrence.

“We are sadly also aware that some of such persons have sold their conscience and are doing the biddings of some paymasters with political interests. Such persons rather than taking part in seeking lasting solution to the problem have chosen to play dirty politics with human lives, just for the sake of personal ambitions. Saboteurs are evidently at work.”

He added that, over the period, Governor Yero has made a few efforts in bringing lasting peace to Southern Kaduna, which he said included meetings with elders and groups from the affected communities, followed by a meeting with traditional rulers. “This is part of his multi dimensional approach to improving security and halting criminals carrying out attacks in the state, particularly in Southern Kaduna, Birinin Gwari and Giwa that are vulnerable to such attacks. So, there has been an increase in security presence in the area, which is being funded by the government, as it has held several meetings and is collaborating with relevant stakeholders with a view to addressing the menace of the criminal gunmen and the issue of youth restiveness under the influence of drugs.

“The government has also come up with strategies that we believe would broadly address the issues through the promotion of dialogue amongst resident citizens. This is predicated on the fact that continuous dialogue among communities promotes mutual and harmonious co-existence. We believe that no amount of security presence would ensure peaceful co-existence without the buy in of the communities.

“To involve the community in the security process, it is on record that the administration has initiated the Kaduna State Vigilante Service with a mandate for community surveillance. In addition, the government has commenced the process of empowering critical stakeholders on ways to assist security agencies in curbing the incessant killings,” he said.

It will be recalled that a two-day retreat was held in Kaduna in March this year, aimed at involving traditional rulers in the process of securing our communities through the established systems as being practised in the past. Similar retreat was held for religious leaders and respected men of God to collaborate with the authorities in their collective determination to bring lasting peace and security in the state.

Yero, during the retreat, said as religious leaders, they should become part of the solution and shun the temptation of joining in the unnecessary blame game and wild accusations. He said: “I am not biased against any section of Kaduna State; to me, the entire people of the state are one. I urge those whose stock in trade is to spread hate to desist lest they are met with the divine fury of God Almighty. We call on all citizens of the state to continue to support government in its genuine efforts at ending incessant attacks on our people.

“The state government is confident that the war against criminals and those bent on causing confusion in our state and indeed in the country will be won through concerted efforts of all. This is not time for blame game and attempt at politicising the killing of innocent souls. It is time to forge greater unity to ensure the triumph of good over evil,” said Yero.

In this encounter with Senior Correspondent, FANEN IHYONGO, the current Miss FCT, Bertha Eke, speaks about the challenges she encountered during the competition, over which she almost withdrew on the eve of the finale, and her philanthropic projects for children and the less-privileged.

SHE beguiled the gathering as she cat-walked confidently down into the undulating Garden near Blake, Garki II, Abuja, penultimate week. As the audience gazed, she sauntered more gorgeously, her snow-white eyes flashing at them. Her sparkly eye-shadows, pretty nails and well-designed dress were flattering. Who is this young lady? One man asked himself. It was Bertha Eke, the Queen of Abuja FCT 2014.

Bertha is such an elegant and fabulous lady. She has a down-to-earth beauty that makes any man quiver at first sight. She is not a skinny broom chic, either is she a fatty. She is just there, if you like, ‘between.’ Her uniquely pointed noise, as though created by herself, a fair-flaxen complexion, tall height and straight legs have given her that natural attractiveness and sexy gait. Above all, Bertha has a kind and caring heart. She wants to help and touch lives, which has become like a hobby.

At the Garden, this reporter had several hours picking the queen’s brain on her identity and works of charity. High point of the interaction was the promotion of the queen’s E2E brand and The Nation newspaper in front of cameras. The queen promised to partner The Nation as she spoke coolly about her pet projects, fielding questions and laughing off all along. Her passion was on children, particularly girls. “The suffering of the less-privileged people, particularly destitute children, the physically challenged, widows and the aged motivated me to do what I am doing. I try to empower them,” she said softly.

The Miss FCT beauty pageantry is not the type of contest in which alluring girls must rock in tiny bathing suits or bikinis to show off their mother-given curves. The contest is well cultured. And the queen said she sought the blessing of her parents before veering into the competition.

“My parents and siblings have been very supportive before and after the contest. They are always showing love for me. I wouldn’t have contested against their wish. My mother particularly is a wonderful woman; she is my backbone,” she said.

How did she get into the competition? “Honestly, I didn’t plan for it. And I got to know about the contest only a week before we were called for audition.” The contest, Bertha explained, was not just about showcasing beauty and winning a prize. “I never knew I was going to win. There were a lot of challenges and I actually wanted to quit on the eve of the finale.”

She said she became frustrated in the camp where she and 19 other contestants were kept. She became their common rival and they did everything possible to pull her down. “They almost succeeded, but I thank God, at the end of the day, I was able to scale through.”

Having won, Bertha revealed that the crown has not changed her person. She said: “Not much has changed in me; I only have more responsibilities now. This is different from most pageantry, because, apart from the fact that it is organised by the Fashion Studio of Nigeria, it has collaboration with the Abuja FCT administration, and it is designed to bring out the best in womanhood and tap into the inner strength that beauty confers.

“This is so because beauty transcends the physical. Beauty is not just an outward thing but the inner qualities of an individual. If we dwell more or only on the outward appearance, we would get it wrong.” She told The Nation that she became the Miss FCT not only because of her appearance, but more of her character which endeared the panel of judges.

“The contest wasn’t only about physical beauty. We were watched and assessed on the bases of character, personality, poise and intelligence. It is the sum total of this that is called beauty. And ladies should see their beauty as a gift from God and channel it to proper use. I never thought I could use mine (beauty) in the most positive way today.

“What many ladies need is self-confidence. Their beauty should be channelled to great uses in the area of empowering the society.” The queen believes that staying close to God enhances beauty. So she dedicates several hours every morning to fellowship.

After winning the Miss FCT Nigeria 2014 crown, its third edition, Bertha came up with an initiative known as “Empowered to Empower (E2E)”. The concept creates a means for her to empower the less-privileged and cater for them. She achieves this through advocacy campaigns, outreach programmes, seminars and skills acquisition training workshops etc which has given her the enviable sobriquet of the “True empowerment activist.”

The beautiful queen also advocates for “access to education by all,” as she also caters for the welfare of widows and the aged. She creates awareness on the consequences of the traditional practice of female genital mutilation, and fights against early child marriage to reduce cases of Vesicovaginal fistula (VVF). She also combats child labour/trafficking as she works to protect the young generation from HIV/AIDS infection through her sensitisation programmes.

“I will say I have achieved a lot because I have been able to increase the economic, political, social and educational potentials of the youth and the less-privileged persons, particularly the grassroots widows. I believe this is the best way to foster peace, unity, love and sense of belonging and contribute to nation building,” she said.

Some of her programmes are in form of quiz, debate, sports competitions and vocational/skills training. Participants are awarded and encouraged to achieve their full potentials. And for her love for Nigeria as her father land, Bertha promotes patriotism (national loyalty) and cultural values among the youth. She encourages the young ones to love, support and defend the country with pride, participate actively in elections as true advocates of free, fair, credible and peaceful elections.

As the Ebola virus disease continues to ravage many countries, the beautiful Queen of FCT has stepped up her philanthropic programmes to launch a vigorous sensitisation campaign in the rural communities to enlighten people about the deadly virus. She has distributed sanitation items such as buckets, antiseptic soaps, bleach, rakes, brooms, refuse sacks and packers to the rural folks for free.

Bertha is simply the queen with a difference. Despite her down-to-earth beauty and new office, she has remained humble and caring. She has a fine heart like her beauty.

THE Rivers State Command of Vigilante Group of Nigeria, (VGN) has arrested four suspects in connection with the killing of one Obunikem by unknown gunmen last week in Ahaoda-East Local Government Area of Rivers State.

The State Commander of VGN, Rivers State Command, Mr. Mambo Wilcox, said his men in Ochiagba Community, Ahoada East LGA of Rivers State found a dead man along Ochiagba-Ogbologolo road of the area. He said the dead body of the deceased was found by one of the Ward Commanders, Mr. Otishi Cosmos, who thereafter reported the incident to the District Commander in Ahoada Area Command. He said the suspects have made confessionary statement admitting that they were responsible for the killing of the victim.

He added that the suspects were found with locally made pistols during a search on them. Commander Wilcox said: “After hearing the news of the victim’s death and his missing corpse, Mr. Amobi Richard, one of our commanders in the area, mobilised his men on surveillance to search the area. “In the course of investigation, our men apprehended two suspects, Emmanuel and Okechukwu, who in their confessional statements, admitted that they were responsible for the murder of the late Obunikem.

“The two suspects have confessed that they were four in number, two from Ochiagba and the other two from Ogbologbolo Communities of the LGA. As we were searching them, we found locally made pistols with them before we handed them over to the police.”

Wilcox also added that the paramount ruler of Ochiagba, Chief Benjamin Okirie and other chiefs of the community were invited alongside the paramount ruler of the neighbouring community of Ogbologbolo to the scene of the crime by VGN officers. He affirmed that VGN, Rivers State Command, will do everything possible to ensure that the lives and properties in Rivers State are protected, especially now that elections are fast approaching. Efforts to reach the Rivers State Police Public Relations Officers, Ahmad Mohammad, on the matter did not succeed.

As a child, Chinelo Iwenofu was smuggled out of war-torn Biafra state in the heat of the Nigerian civil war in an American cargo plane. That was just the beginning of a life of the unpredictable, fun and adventure.  At 11, Chinny, as she is fondly called, turned a celebrity in the United Kingdom after winning a writing competition. However, many Nigerians in the UK will remember her more as the immigration lawyer who helped many Nigerian immigrants find their feet in the UK. Chinelo is back in the country. The lawyer-turned-publisher is neck deep in work in Abuja but you will still find her at the golf course and once in a while at a dance floor. Chinelo shares the story of her life, in this interview with PAUL UKPABIO.

Why did you have to leave the country in the middle of the civil war?

I was born in Lagos in 1960. The war started around 1966/1967. From Lagos, we moved back to the east when we were not feeling safe. And I remember vividly going to Onitsha where we stayed with the Ojukwus, and then we went to my mother’s village of Ogidi, then to Aba. We then went to Nkwerre through Uli airport on the floor of a cargo plane, before we finally went to the UK. My father was still living there. He sent for us. All through the war period, we were with my mother, that is my brother Emeka and I. He is now a chemical pathologist in the UK.

We didn’t have to leave Biafra for the UK but we had the opportunity.

Most parents, who could afford it given half the chance, would have sent their children out of the country. My mother was too happy when they ‘conspired’ to send us out of the country. My mother did not follow my brother and I out. She just had a baby, my brother, Victor, and it was thought to be dangerous. We had a guardian called Rose who went with us. We entered a plane without chairs. It was flown by Americans. The cargo plane brought in food stuffs, medicine and ammunition. We took off from Uli or Orlu airport or airstrip. I remember screaming when flying because the plane was being shot at as we flew, until we passed the enemy’s territory. We changed to a normal plane at Sao Tome after spending a night there, on to Lisbon Portugal and spent about a week there. Thereafter, we flew to the UK and the rest is history. We were the fortunate ones who could escape the war through that passage. But we wouldn’t have been fortunate, if the plane had been shot down.

How did you feel when you got to London?

I was so happy to see my dad because I hadn’t seen him for years but I still recognised him. Everybody thinks I look like him. So I was happy and he was also happy to see us alive. We continued our lives there. He was a single parent taking care of his two children and he was a young doctor. Most of the time, he brought people to look after us. At the end, he decided to put us in boarding schools. That was how I ended up in Convent of our Lady, Sussex County. I left there for Middlesex. My dad had bought a big house in Yeading village near Hayes. Before then, we lived in a flat in Kilburn North London. I married prematurely because I met someone and my parents were not happy about it. It was a stormy affair. Afterwards I went back to school, to the university to study law. I was actually trying to get into another university to study Mass Communication. But there was a three-year waiting list and I didn’t want to waste time not doing anything. So I decided to study law.

Did your mum join your dad in England?

No, she didn’t. Though she survived the civil war, she later divorced my dad. My dad married an English woman. I have three siblings who are half English and my mum was hitched to someone else too, Dr. Pius Okigbo, who was a one-time economic adviser to Biafran and other Nigerian governments after that.

During the war, what was the feeling like in the home of the Ojukwus?

I remember two of the Ojukwu children then, Mimi the daughter who was a toddler then since became my friend; she came and stayed a short while with me in London during our adult years, and then Emeka, the son too. We stayed with them because Njideka, Ojukwu’s first wife was my mother’s best friend. We moved from there when Onitsha was about to fall during the civil war. Ojukwu was not around; he was the head of state of Biafra. I remember that there was no fear in Ojukwu’s house and especially among us children maybe because we had food; we didn’t know what was going on out there; we didn’t know about kwashiorkor. There was a whole army battalion protecting the house, nobody could easily come near the house. They had anti-aircraft weapons on the roof.

Where was the house then?

The house was in Onitsha; that was where the family was based. I don’t know where Ojukwu was but I remember seeing him on the black and white television screen of those days.

So after the war, where did the Ojukwu family go to?

They went to Ivory Coast.

When did you see them again?

Around the time I had my first son, Aunty Njide, Ojukwu’s first wife, was in London then in Finchley, North London. She was my godmother, she came to visit me in the hospital and I used to visit her on Sundays too and after that her daughter, Mimi, came to visit me in London; she spent six months with me there. We used to go and visit Mimi’s godfather, Fredrick Forsyth who is a renowned writer and a British man. Mimi moved to the USA. Her mother died a year before Ojukwu died. I went to visit her in Nnewi when they were burying her mother and again when Ikemba himself passed on.

Why did your mum return to Nigeria initially?

I think she would have been in the best position to answer that (laughs). But I think in those days, people went abroad to learn and return to Nigeria to help the country develop, not like these days that people who go and do not even want to return anymore. When my father returned, he was the ninth eye surgeon in the whole of Nigeria. The government was even begging him to return. He was given a good position and made a top senior civil servant. So people went abroad and returned.

It was in my time that I noticed people were running away. Then we had military governments ruling and I was working as an immigration law consultant in the UK, it was more lucrative. I got to meet many Nigerians who didn’t want to return again to their country. They sought for asylum. They were getting arrested; suddenly, the British government introduced visa for Nigerians. You know before, it was not so. Nigerians were no longer adding value. They used to get to UK, train and return. But after a while they were coming in to stay and look for menial jobs. So the respect for Nigerians changed as well. I wondered why some of my people chose to live like dogs in another man’s country. When I returned finally, it wasn’t very comfortable compared to what I was used to, we had more problems, but I told myself ‘you cannot be developing someone else’s country when at the end of the day, they will let you know that you are not one of them.’

Did you get married again?

No, I had two boys. When I left their father, my family in Nigeria said: ‘If you are going back to school, why don’t you leave them here?’ So I left them with my mother and my aunty in Ogidi, they went to school in Onitsha and lived in Nigeria for five years. I used to visit Nigeria minimum twice a year during the holidays because I was always missing them, because they were very young and growing up fast. So in between studies and visiting Nigeria, I got attached to the country so as soon as I was through with my studies I took them back to stay with me in London. They are grown up now and they have been coming and going back to the UK.

You have a big family, how do you get in touch with each other?

My family is a very complicated one but I think I am closer to my mother’s side. We all come together during Christmas most times. We all preferred to come down to Nigeria for Christmas so we go to the village to stay together as one family.

Now you are a publisher, what kind of things do you publish?

I publish books and magazines.

What kind of books?

Well I don’t discriminate; I publish fiction and non-fiction, biographies, government journals and so on. I publish religious books too. But so far, I have done about 12 books and I’m in the process of doing another four. We are not a very old company; we are still trying to get a good grip in Nigeria.

How long have you been into publishing?

Before I started Africagenda Limited, which is my own company, I was the General Manager of Primetime Publishers. It was owned by the former Minister of Aviation, Dr. Kema Chikwe. I worked with her for a year to establish the company but due to some unforeseen circumstances, I had to quit and return to England. Before then, I was a columnist and on the editorial board of Focus Magazine in the United Kingdom. Focus was a magazine for Nigerians in England. However, my first writing job was in 1982 when I worked for Voice Newspaper, which was the first black newspaper in the UK.

Coincidentally, the original editor-in-chief, Flip Fraser, just died a few months ago. He was a Jamaican. I was one of the freelance writers there. Apart from that, I have had a lot of things published. I even wrote poetry when I was younger and I still do as a hobby. But publishing started with Primetime in 2005. I came to Nigeria for one year, after being head-hunted by Dr. Kema Chikwe because, we had worked together before, and so she wanted me to run her business. But it didn’t quite work out totally because she was still engrossed in her political disposition at that time. She was not paying much attention to what we were doing and we were running out of funds. I decided to return to England. But before I left, we managed to do a couple of books there.

Tell us some of the books that you’ve done.

My very first book at Africagenda, my own publishing outfit, was Dr. Ngozi Achebe’s ‘Onaedo – The Blacksmith’s Daughter.’ And I think that is a classic. The book still has a lot of potential; it is still selling very well in America through an American based publisher. They are selling well as e-books through Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Various book shops here in Nigeria have complained that they have run out of copies. Now, we have to replenish them, in fact we have to go and print some more because they just disappear off the shelves.

Also, she was shortlisted for the NLNG prize for literature. She will still keep gunning for the NLNG prize. That is a cool hundred thousand dollars. She came second. So we will keep trying until we get the prize. Her writing style is akin to that of the revered writer, Professor Chinua Achebe. Somebody even said it is a superior style to that of the late Professor, who also happens to be her uncle. So that was the book my organisation first published.

It encouraged me to go on and suddenly I was approached to do another one: the official biography of the current President, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, which we called ‘Wind Of Hope.’ It took a lot of time, there were so many people involved. They went around interviewing a lot of people. After which it was launched on the 11th of March 2011. It was quite a time and I had to rush to Dubai to go and print the book, arriving at the International Conference Centre venue with the finished books on the morning of the event. The President was there with most of his ministers.

Did you benefit from publishing a book on the President?

That event was good publicity for me because it got me more clients. I did another book on the President just before the election by Ambassador Igali. I also published another book for Governor Liyel Imoke. It was a great success. We celebrated the book presentation in Calabar in 2012. The attendance was good. I got to meet Elderstatesman and former president Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Bishop David Oyedepo and a lot of other top dignitaries. In between, I did a book for Dr. Eleanor Nwadinobi, who works as consultant for the United Nations; she did a paper on the witchcraft saga in Akwa Ibom State, where there were cases of the killing of children accused of witchcraft.

So we did a book on that. It was enlightening. However, we are yet to launch it. It was an academic work. We also did some work for the Human Rights Commission; it was a journal which is out every year. We did another journal for the SGF last year and so on. I think the second most popular book we have published since Dr. Ngozi Achebe’s book, that is also selling very well, is the book on the Nigerian civil war or the Biafran war.  We have begun to sell out in shops in Lagos. Glendora, Terra Kulture and the other popular bookshops have been asking for more. The book was written by Nnamdi Ebo, and it is titled: ‘There Was A Time.’ We launched it at the Yar’adua Centre in Abuja.

It was controversial because people came and asked why the book is called ‘There Was A Time,’ more so when Professor Chinua Achebe had just written a book before his demise called ‘There Was A Country!’ But it was a coincidence apparently because the author had written the book long before There Was A Country came out. So we could not really change the title. There is another gentleman called Reginald Ofodile, a brilliant writer, he is also an actor in UK and a lawyer. He writes books and plays and he also acts on stage and in movies. He did a beautiful novel too that I have published called ‘Thou Shalt Not’ and we are in the process of bringing out another titled ‘Two Singers Are Silenced’. But the book closest to my heart is by my adopted daughter, Eeefy Ike, she is a brand. Her book is called ‘Queen Of Cyberspace’ and contains a plethora of inspirational and motivational anecdotes gleaned from her daily write ups on Facebook over a short period. It has yet to be launched and we are expecting to do so in a big way.

Since publishing came a little later, what were you doing initially?

I actually trained as a lawyer. I graduated in 1987 in England with an LLB Honours degree and then trained as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales. But now, I hear it has been changed to the Senior Court of England and Wales and I practised for about 15 years in the UK. I started out as a criminal lawyer and from there, I did other aspects of law and I ended up as an immigration lawyer when there was an influx of immigrants, particularly Nigerians, who needed help. I was looking after so many of them. At some stage, I had over 800 clients on the go. So I did all that but I was writing as a hobby and I eventually started working with Focus magazine.

Which came first, the writing or the law?

Actually, writing started before law. I went to UK when I was nine just as the war was dragging to an end. Over there, my father sent me to a boarding school. He was a medical doctor living alone because my parents were separated and my mother stayed behind in Biafra. On Saturdays we used to go shopping while at boarding school, to buy sweets and other such things. We were in Hastings Sussex, along the coast of the English channel. I used to go and stand on the pier watching the sea. I found it scary, especially in the winter when you just see huge waves, grey everywhere, ugly looking and cold. At that time, we were told about a national poetry competition for children of my age category; my school entered us. So I wrote a poem. I was 11 at the time and suddenly, I was told that I was the winner out of all the primary school entrants in Britain. After I was announced the winner, a group of teachers came to my school and started interrogating me, trying to find out if I truly wrote the wining poem because I was just 11. I told them I did.

They wondered about the end of the poem where I wrote ‘The sea is a thrill, a nightmare, a wonder!’ They thought that line, especially was too sophisticated for an 11-year-old. I told them I wrote it and that I like English language and that it made sense to me. I told them the sea scares me, yet I am attracted to it and sometimes I just wonder about it. That was how writing started for me. When I was 17, I wrote another article that was published in a magazine called Staunch. I remember the publisher and editor-in-chief then was someone called Don Kinch, he was fascinated with my story titled ‘Politics Of Early Childhood.’ That was because I wrote about my experiences in Biafra, how we were children moving from one place to another.

How do you feel now that so much written items are now coming out of the civil war?

Oh, I like it because it seemed to have been hidden. Lots of things about that period were hidden. It seemed like people were afraid to talk about it. There was a time when I came back from the UK. My dad had returned to the country. He was Chief Consultant Ophthalmologist then in the old Anambra State Government, and was posted to Enugu. He was an eye surgeon of great repute. I recall moving around Onitsha and other parts of the east and seeing bullet holes on buildings and all other relics of the war. They were still there in 1977 but now, newer buildings have taken over.

The twins were about two years old when the incident that nearly brought my life to an end occurred. It was a call from my clearing agent that started it all. I remember it was early in the morning as I was preparing to take my wife who was pregnant again to her antenatal and to see her doctor before heading to my office.

Paddy, my agent called to break the terrible news that my goods which had arrived that week had been seized by Customs!

“What happened?” I shouted, slumping heavily on the bed at his words.

Sherri who was fixing her hair turned from the dressing mirror, looking at me worriedly. She dropped the hair brush and rushed to my side.

“Honey, what is it?” she asked anxiously, placing her hand on my shoulder.

I placed a finger on my lips to silence her as I listened intently to Paddy on the phone. The more he spoke, the more worried I became. This could not be happening to me, I thought suddenly feeling dizzy.

The call ended and I jumped up from the bed. Picking up my car keys, I headed for the door.

“Dear, I have to go! There is an emergency at the Port! Will explain later!” I said.

“But Dan, what about my antenatal and the appointment with the doctor? We were supposed to see him today, remember?” she stated, coming after me to the living room.

“Sorry, dear, it has to be rescheduled. Tony will drop you at the hospital before joining me at the Port. You can take a taxi back home when you are done. There’s some money in the drawer in the bedroom. I’ve to go!” I said, hurrying out.

I still remember the events of that day like it just happened recently. I remember rushing to the Port to meet my agent who gave me the full details of what led to the seizure of my goods.

The matter is a criminal offence so I can’t really give the full picture but just a brief sketch. It turned out that my business partner and friend, whom we often import goods together had added some ‘contraband’ items to his own consignment without my knowledge. When they were discovered during routine checks, my goods were seized along with his since they were shipped together. What saved me from being prosecuted was that my partner confessed he acted alone without my involvement. That however could not save my goods which were confiscated and auctioned off.

The bottom line is I lost everything- my goods, my money even my house. I had used it as a collateral to get a loan from the bank which I added to my own funds to import the goods. It was a short term loan and when the time to pay came and I could not meet up, the bank took the house, cars and other properties to settle the amount I had borrowed.

I was back to ‘zero’- no home, money, nothing! As you can imagine, it was a terrible time for me and my family. We were nearly homeless, so we had to squat with my younger brother Tony who had moved to a small apartment after my marriage for a while. It was while there that Sherri gave birth to our daughter Karen. With her arrival, things became tougher as there was an extra mouth to feed. Tony had a fiancée who made it clear we were not welcome in their home. To avoid further insults from her, I borrowed some money from my brother who still had some savings with which we moved to a one bedroom mini-flat in another part of town.

At the beginning of our problems, my wife supported me and was understanding. But after sometime, her attitude began changing. Either she was always complaining about the cramped space we lived in a seedy environment or that I was not giving her enough money for baby food or to buy clothes for the children.

“The twins’ clothes need changing as they have outgrown them. Karen’s food is finished. I need money,” she said one day.

“But dear, you know I don’t have any money. The N5,000 I collected from Larry three days ago, I gave it all to you. Don’t tell me you have spent everything! You have to be more prudent with your spending now because of our situation!” I stated.

“What? Are you now questioning me about how I spent 5k? What is N5,000? Is that money? Is that what your mates give their wives?” she stated in an angry tone.

“How can you talk like that, Sherri? You know when we had money, I used to give you thousands of Naira for your clothes alone! So, why are you…?” I started saying before she cut me short.

“That was then, this is now! Now, you are messing up big time. You are no longer living up to your responsibilities as a husband and father. Instead of going out to ‘hustle’ like other men, you sit here all day complaining about my spending habits and watching stupid football games. Nonsense!” she shouted before going into the bedroom to pick up the baby who had woken up and was crying.

From the way she spoke, one would think I was simply lazying around all day long at home, doing nothing. It was not so. I went out nearly everyday to look for ways of restarting my ruined business but it was tough. There was simply no money and none of my friends were ready to give me loans to start again. Only very few like Larry were supportive and gave me some financial assistance with which we bought food and other necessities. I even thought about getting a job no matter how small at least to get money to feed my family. But jobs were scarce and all the places I had gone to for work informed me there were no vacancies.

Broken family

Sherri’s attitude worsened with each passing day. It got to a stage she stopped giving me food at home, stating that the food was meant for her as a nursing mother and the children and I had to go out and ‘sort myself out’ as she put it. I had to make arrangements with a woman who ran a local restaurant, a ‘buka’ near my house to be eating there at least once a day on credit or I would have starved. I would settle her whenever I got a little money from my friend, Larry.

“Apart from not giving me food, do you know she doesn’t allow me to sleep with her anymore?” I said one day when I went to see Larry at his office in Ikeja.

“Why? She is your wife! Why would she deny you sex?” he enquired.

“I don’t understand Sherri anymore o! The woman has changed so much! Her excuse is that she doesn’t want to get pregnant again as we don’t even have money to feed the three we have already!” I replied.

“That’s not a good excuse. Has she not heard of contraceptives? Anyway, I will advise you to take it easy with her. Some women are like that. They can’t cope with difficult situations; they expect things to be going smoothly all the time. Life is not like that. Life is like a road that is full of bends and bumps. You just have to learn to negotiate the rough parts when you get there,” Larry said philosophically.

“You are right, my brother. And thanks so much for your support. I don’t know how I could have coped without you,” I stated.

Larry smiled, stating that it was the least he could do for me considering how I had helped him in the past when I had money.

“You did the same for me some years back when I had problems in my business. I have no choice but support you now,” he pointed out.

“Not everyone remembers the good one had done them in the past. Afterall, you are not the only one I helped, but where are the others? No where! Some even hide when they hear that I’m in their offices or homes to see them. That’s life!” I said bitterly.

Later, we discussed some business ideas. My mood brightened a bit when he told me about a good business partner of his in Asia who was considering sending goods to me on credit.

“I told him you are a reliable person and you always pay your debts. We are still discussing; I hope it works out,” said Larry.

I prayed this opportunity would work out as it could help a lot in my efforts to bounce back to reckoning.

I got home that day feeling much better than I had done in a long while. At home, I met the twins sleeping in the bedroom and my wife was no where in sight.

‘Where could she have gone?’ I wondered as I went to get some water from the fridge.

Shortly after, she returned with a large ‘Ghana-must-go’ bag in her hand.

“Where did you go, Sherri? The boys were all alone in the house! That’s not good at all!” I said.

She ignored me and went to the bedroom. Thinking she was in one of her bad moods, I left her alone and sat watching TV in the parlour.

The sounds of the baby crying woke me up early the next morning. I looked at my watch to see it was just past six o’ clock. Sounds were coming from the parlour so I went there. There was a suitcase and some bags there which Sherri was about taking outside the house.

“What’s going on here, Sherri? Where are you taking those bags to?” I asked.

“Are you so daft? What does it look like? I’m leaving!” she announced abruptly.

“Leaving? To where? You never told me you were travelling to see your family?” I said, thinking she was going to the village to visit her old mother, who was a widow.

“I’m going away! I’m done with this marriage!” she said, grabbing one of the bags.

It then dawned on me that this was no ordinary journey. She was abandoning me!

“But dear, it hasn’t come to that! Things are not so bad that you will just walk away like that from our home, our marriage!” I said.

“That’s what you think! As for me, I can’t take this anymore. I have to leave before I go crazy!” said Sherri.

“Please, dear, don’t go! I need you now more than ever! Please stay! You are my life, my world! What will I do without you?” I said pleadingly, trying to take her hand which she shook off.

“Stay to do what? Starve to death? I can’t o! Let me go and try my luck elsewhere since you can no longer take care of me,” she retorted.

I tried to stop her but she pushed me aside and dragged all the bags outside. A strange man I had never seen before came and took the bags to a waiting car which my wife later entered with the baby in her arms and they drove away, leaving me all alone with the twins…

To be continued

What next? Join us next Saturday for the final episode of Dan’s story!

Names have been changed to protect the identity of the narrator, his wife and other individuals in the story.

Send comments/suggestions to 08023201831(sms only), psaduwa@yahoo.com or psaduwa007@gmail.com

TWO cable vandals in Jos, Plateau State have got instant justice with their electrocution in the process of stealing. The more recent of the two incidents occurred in an isolated area of Dadin Kowa, Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State when a young man whose age was estimated at 35 sneaked out of his house while everyone else was sleep. With a ladder, he climbed one of the electric poles and successfully cut two high tension cables from one end. He then alighted and moved the ladder to another pole in order to cut the other ends of the cables. To show that he was an expert in the art of stealing electric cables, he left the ladder and sat on the pole bar.

He wore hand gloves to prevent direct contact with the naked cable. It was about 11.30 pm and everyone in the neighbourhood had gone to bed because there was no light for them to stay late that night. The cable vandal thought it was the best time to carry out his plan since everywhere was dark and no one could see him. But just at the point he lay his pliers on the cables to cut them, electricity was restored and the cable thief was instantly electrocuted. But rather than fall from the electric pole, his lifeless body remained hanging till the next day when the people in the neighbourhood woke up to behold his lifeless body on the bar of the electric pole. Some residents of the community recalled that they heard a spark the previous night when light was restored, but they did not know that someone had been electrocuted until they woke up the next day and found the body on the pole.

A member of the community, Simon Madugu, said: “Last night, a lot of us went to bed on time as there was no light to watch the television. At about 11.30 pm, we heard a violent spark and some of us thought it must have come from an overloaded transformer. So we ignored it and continued sleeping. “But the next day, we started hearing that a lifeless body of someone was hanging from the electric pole, and we all rushed out to see the body.” Mr Paul Gindiri, manager of a Stone Crushing Company located near the scene, said:

“The same electric lines have been vandalised five times in the last one year. It is my company that keeps replacing them each time they are vandalised because this is the only line supplying power to my company. I did not know that it was these boys that are doing it. Now God has caught one of them. “But he should have been alive to help the police with investigation. It is obvious he is not the only one in the act.

” The neighbours then called on the police and men of the Civil Defence Corps who came to remove the body of the criminal from the pole. The second case of natural justice occurred in an isolated area of Tundunwada, Jos where a young man was electrocuted and his body left hanging from an electric pole.

The incident occurred when at about 11 am when most members of the area had gone to town for their legitimate businesses. But while other members of the community were rushing out early to source for livelihood, the deceased suspected vandal was plotting how to execute his plan to vandalise electric cables. So at about 11 am on that fateful day, the deceased, who was identified as Bulus Dangayi, took a ladder, climbed the poles and had made a good harvest of electric cables. “But as he climbed the last pole to round off his business for the day, electricity was restored.

The victim had not expected that power would be restored at that time of the day because he was aware that power supply to the community was being rationed. There had been light in the area the previous day and night, and as the light went off in the area, it was the turn of another part of the community to enjoy electricity. One of the residents, Inuwa Bala, said: “It has been long since our community was placed on power rationing. We would have it for 24 hours and they would serve light to another area for another 24 hours before we would get it again. “So everybody knew when it was their turn, and that was what the criminals took advantage of to steal electric cables.

They would steal the cables and plunge us into darkness until members of the community would contribute money to buy another cable. But God is at work. On the day this boy was electrocuted, he least expected there would be light. So, he was doing it with confidence. But, as they say, every day is for the thief but one day for the owner.” In the case of Dangayi, the family quickly identified him and he was taken for burial instantly before the police could hear of it. Also in Apata, Jos North area of the state, a similar incident occurred. But it was a case of illegal connection of electric line. The victim was a known electrician in the area. Eyewitnesses said he normally climbed the pole to change the lines that supplied power to his shop. But this time around, the electrician made a wrong connection which resulted in a spark. He was electrocuted instantly and his body hanged on the pole.

The 28-year-old electrician is identified as Chukwuebuka Eze. “We saw him climb the pole in Agwan Lambu quarters around noon ostensibly to change the supply phase to his shop when the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) suddenly restored light “The shirt he wore caught fire and burnt out even as his body remained glued to the electric line. We heard a spark when the thing occurred and we rushed out to see the man on fire on the pole. We could not but help the PHCN people to switch off the lines so as to bring down his body” Some onlookers rushed to PHCN office to lodge a report for the electricity supply to the area to be cut off and it took the combined effort of PHCN officials and some concerned residents to bring down the corpse of the deceased from the pole. The corpse was later taken away by the PHCN officials accompanied by three policemen.

Only a few days ago, residents of Old Cemetery Street in the heart of Jos city were thrown into confusion when a suspected fuel thief was electrocuted while attempting to siphon fuel from an MTN base station. The victim was a known person in the area except that they never knew that he lived by stealing fuel from Telecom Service-based stations in town. He was identified as Timkok. The telecom station was fenced and barricaded with barb wires. But the suspect knew there was no electricity in the area and he found it a juicy opportunity to play a fast one. They came in a group of five, but while the suspect was scaling through the naked electric cables, electricity was restored and he was electrocuted instantly. The Public Relations Officer of the Plateau State Police Command, Emmanuel Abu, who confirmed the incidents, advised youths in the state to engaged themselves in productive ventures rather than stealing.

ONITSHA city has for ages remained the hub of commercial activities in the eastern part of Nigeria. While Awka enjoys the status of the capital of Anambra State, the commercial city remains the ‘oil bloc’ of traders. It shares boundaries with Asaba, Delta State, with the River Niger as the dividing line.

The city has before now produced prominent Nigerians, including the first Nigerian President, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe; former Administrator of Eastern Nigeria, Ukpabi Asika and Chief Louis Mbanefo, among others. Onitsha, which before now had harboured many robbers and other anti-social elements, is being transformed into a model city.

Onitsha is divided into two Local Government Areas, namely Onitsha North and Onitsha South, with their headquarters at Awka Road and Fegge. It is a one-community local government with the indigenes residing mainly in the North, while the non-indigenes are concentrated in the southern part.

One of the sub-villages called Okpoko, which boasts the largest population, is reputed as a den of armed robbers. But according to Mr. Bonny Nwigwe, a resident of Nkpor, one of the bubbling parts of Onitsha, the issue of robbery and kidnapping in the city has become a thing of the past. He commended the new administration in the state for the development.

A major characteristic of Onitsha is the resourcefulness of its residents, even though the real indigenes are believed to have preference for white collar jobs. The only industry a core Onitsha person knows is education, which is why they say Onitsha no dey do boy-boy (an Onitsha indigene would never be a servant). But a lot has gone wrong with Onitsha in recent years. The city which used to boast of amusement parks is now left without any. A visitor to the city would be reminded of the famous Denis Memorial Grammar School, (DMGS), Christ the King College (CKC) and the popular Girls School (QRC) attended by some famous Nigerians, including Senator Joy Emodi.

At the heart of the busy city, the imposing compound of the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe greets one, just as the popular Upper Iweka Junction stands out. The only feature that is missing in the commercial city is night life, which makes other cities like Lagos, Kano,

Uyo, Calabar and Enugu tick. But fast food centres in the city are as many as those of other famous cities. They iclude Crunchies at Oguta Road and Mr. Biggs, which has two outlets at Limca Road Nkpor and Upper New Market Road.

As for restaurants, they are almost uncountable. The famous ones include Mary-Joe (Nwanyi-Awka Etiti) close to Elite Club on Onitsha-Enugu Expressway; Busy Bee at Awka Road and Madam Social, close to Koka Filling Station, Limca Road. There are also others like Five Star on Awka Road by Pacific Plaza, with branches at the Young Plaza at the Main Market and Enugu-Onitsha fly over, Nkpor.

The Onitsha Main Market, which prides itself as the biggest market in the sub-Saharan region, is located in Onitsha North Council Area, while others like Ochanja, Electronics Market, and Ogboefere are all located in Onitsha South Council Area.

Residents of Onitsha are predominantly traders, which some say is the reason for high rate of alcohol consumption and other promiscuous acts in the town.

There are also magnificent hotels like Lumen Christy at the Government Reserved Area (GRA), Amen Ridge, Bigger Villa and Ben Gee. Others are Top Ranks at Fegge, Nkisi Palace Hotel owned by the late popular traditional ruler of Anam, Igwe John Emeka; Dolly Hills, Precious Hotels and Safety Hotels behind OANDO Filling Station and Niger Heritage at Omagba, among others. On assumption of office, Governor Obiano’s first assignment was to chase away the hoodlums who had sworn not to allow the residents sleep with their two eyes closed as gunshots kept them awake.

A resident of Onitsha, Engr. Tony Nweke, told The Nation that Onitsha is now safe for business, adding that foreigners are now trooping into the city because of its conducive nature. “We have never heard it so good. People are walking freely in the city and discussing freely without fear of bad people. This city is born again,” he said.

For Mr. Bonny Nwigwe, “it is a dream come true to see Onitsha compared to cities like Lagos, Calabar and Enugu. It is what the bad boys have done in this city that made a lot of people to relocate to Enugu or Asaba, leaving our businesses to suffer serious setback.

“Although business has not started booming again, people are now sleeping with their two eyes closed. It is difficult now to see people being attacked or robbed.’’

Chief Gilbert Obi Nwasike, who had lived in Onitsha for many years, said that most residents of the city would not live elsewhere. The businessman commended the Obiano administration for what it has done in the area within the short period of his administration. He noted, however, that former governor, Mr. Peter Obi, also did well in Onitsha in terms of road construction, while praising Senator Chris Ngige for exposing residents of Nkpor to life by building Nkpor old road.

He said: “Our past governors did well but we are grateful to Obiano for making Onitsha safe again. Before now, people were living in fears. We were always on our toes. Honestly, we cannot believe what we are witnessing today.” Onitsha is one of the big cities in Nigeria without a higher institution. The only higher institution close to it is Nsugbe College of Education. The city has a rich vein of culture with Agbogidi as the traditional ruler at the helm, surrounded by Otu-Odu Women, the Ozo and Agbalanze societies, among others.

In Eze Goes to School, a novel written by Onuorah Nzekwu, first Managing Director of News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Eze’s mother describes Onitsha as a dangerous city full of kidnappers. She advised her son (Eze) not to go near the River Niger. But today, those fears have been wiped out by the Anambra State Government. The only problem remaining is the ‘planless’ nature of the city with the highest number of three, four or fivestorey buildings in the country. Be that as it may, the commercial city has started bubbling again without fear of attacks in broad daylight.

THE Kwara State Police Command has paraded one Abdullahi Muhammed for allegedly robbing a church in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital. The name of the church, located in Iluteju Oko-Erin area of the metropolis, was given as Apostle of Christ Church. Also paraded were three robbery suspects who allegedly robbed a Professor of the University of Ilorin in his home.

Addressing reporters in Ilorin, the state Commissioner of Police, Salihu Garba, said the robbery suspects who allegedly attacked the church were seven in number. Mr. Garba said: “On the 25th of October, 2014 a gang of armed robbers invaded Apostle of Christ Church, Iluteju Oko-Erin and carted away the sum of N308,000, a phone and a gold wrist watch.” Other items recovered from them include one blackberry and one Ipad, the commissioner added.

He gave the names of the robbery suspects that attacked the Professor’s residence as Samuel Olawale Pedro, Ogunjobi Segun and Alhaji Danjuma Abu, adding that they were also allegedly involved in another robbery incident in the metropolis on the same day. Items recovered from them include nine wrist watches, two cameras, one white garment and jewellery.

Two of the suspects who spoke to reporters said their friends introduced them to crime. Ogunjobi Segun said: “I was brought here due to robbery. That will be my first time of being involved in robbery. It was just a friend of mine that led me into it. I am a barber in Lagos. I stay at Ojuelegba. I came here on a visit.” Samuel Olawale, who said he hailed from Kogi State, regretted his action.

He said: “I was brought here because of a robbery incident. I robbed a professor’s wife because of bad friends. “They initiated me into the act. They told me to go with them and I did not know the effect. “We were six in number. Three of us ran away and they were not apprehended. I am a furniture maker in Lagos. “It was during the Sallah period that I came to Ilorin. After the Sallah celebration, they initiated me. I have not been long in robbery business. This is my first time and I am really regretting it.”

IT was a tragic end for a 27-year-old Okada rider, Sulaiman Lawal, who died shortly after an encounter with some policemen on October 28, 2014, in the Oyingbo area of Lagos State. Eyewitnesses said Lawal, who until his death resided at No 90, Jebba Street, Ebute Metta, Lagos, slumped to death shortly after the brutal encounter with the minions of law attached to Denton Police Division, Ebute Metta, Lagos. The incident, according to sources, happened about 8 pm when Lawal fled as he sighted the policemen during a raid on Okada riders in the area.

He was said to have been given a hot chase by the policemen and beaten up, while his motorbike was also impounded. An eyewitness who asked not to be named said: “He was alerted by his colleagues of the presence of some policemen who were carrying out a raid on Okada riders but he unfortunately fell into their trap.

The policemen then tried to forcibly impound his motorbike; hence, he fled the scene. The policemen then pursued him and mercilessly beat him up to the extent that he became so weak and barely managed to return home, while his motorbike was impounded and taken to their station. “It was when he got home that his health worsened and he decided to have a shower in order to apply a balm on his body when he slumped and died instantly. As a matter of fact, blood was gushing out of his mouth and nostrils when he collapsed on his way to the bathroom.

” The police, in a swift reaction, however, denied that any of its men beat the Okada man. Angry youths and sympathisers were said to have stormed the police station to register their annoyance about the alleged complicity of the policemen in the death of Lawal, but they were pacified by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of the station. “ We (the youths) went to the station to register our displeasure about the circumstances surrounding Lawal’s death, but the DPO of the station begged us and pleaded that we should go and bury Lawal’s corpse.

He even gave us some telephone numbers to call if we encountered other policemen while taking Lawal’s body for burial in his home town in Kwara State. His (Lawal’s) body was subsequently taken to Ilorin where his burial held on October 30,” said a resident, who simply identified himself as Adewale. A close family member, who spoke in confidence, explained that the deceased had gone out on the unfortunate day because he needed some money to defray his ailing mother’s hospital bills.

“Lawal’s mother had been sick lately and was taken to a hospital in Ilorin, where she is currently receiving treatment. In fact, he had to relocate his wife and two children from Lagos to Ilorin, because of his mother’s condition which required a lot of care. He was asked to pay about N24, 000 for his mother’s treatment but had just saved about N16,000. He had hoped that he would make some money to complete the amount requested to clear the bill when he met his untimely death as a result of the unfortunate encounter with the overzealous policemen.”

The spokesman of Lagos Police Command, Mr. Kenneth Nwosu, said: “It is not true that he was beaten by our men. Two of our men were actually on surveillance in Oyingbo, when the deceased was passing on a prohibited route for Okada. On sighting one of our men, he abandoned his motorbike and ran away following which his motorbike was taken to the station. ‘’It was the following day that some people reported that he was found dead in his room. I want to use this opportunity to warn Okada riders to desist henceforth from plying prohibited routes because violators will be arrested.”

IT was a few minutes past noon in Mubi, Adamawa State, this day. The streets were deserted. Vultures hovered in the sky above, threatening to descend on the near-decomposing human corpses scattered all over the city. Strange scenes like this have been the lot of the once boisterous, second largest city in Adamawa State since Boko Haram bandits seized control of the town.

Since the attack, there have been ceaseless tears and sorrow on the faces of residents, especially the about 100 pregnant women who have prematurely given birth to babies in the bush or in the camps for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

The Nation gathered that over 300 children, who have been separated from their families since the invasion, are yet to be reunited, while the fate of many mothers, fathers and other members of the family cannot be ascertained.

According to a resident, who pleaded anonymity, “Even husbands that ran away from Mubi are yet to locate their wives, unaware if they will ever see themselves again. The situation in the town is very grim. As I speak with you, nobody is sure of where other members of their families who have been scattered are or whether they are alive or dead.”

Survivors, who spoke with The Nation, narrated tales of narrow escape. According to them, the lucky survivors of the attack on Mubi were those who were able to recite ‘kalma shahada’, which they explained was the only sure passport to freedom for residents who are not members of the Boko Haram.

“I tell you, it was a terrible experience. Many people were gruesomely murdered by the insurgents. The only people who were spared were those who were able to recite the kalma shahada. What happened in Mubi is better imagined than experienced. Even up till now, the smell of decomposing bodies scattered all over the city is still fouling the air.”

Eyewitnesses’ accounts say most of the attackers are not Nigerians. According to them, most of the attackers are tall, slender, light-skinned and wore coiled hair.

“Most of these people are not Nigerians. It is easy to identify them. None of the Boko Haram fighters is robust. They are tall, slender and very light-skinned. Their ages should be between 15 and 30 years.”

A resident of Mubi, Mallam Abubakar Usman, said he narrowly escaped death. According to him, he trekked more than 75 kilometres to escape the onslaught of the insurgents who have now changed the name of Mubi to Madinatu Islama.

He said he lost his uncle and other relatives. He called on the Federal Government to flush out the insurgents, whom he described as foreign invaders.

“I trekked more than 75 kilometres to escape. I have never trekked such a distance all my life. Some people who were unable to run were slaughtered by these people. They were killed in front of their children like rams. The insurgents are foreigners. They don’t look like Nigerians at all.

“A man was killed along with four of his children. They took away the wife with them. The woman was crying and begging them to kill her. She said she could not afford to live without her family.”

Another indigene of Mubi, Asabe James, is yet get over the shock of witnessing the killing of her parents by the insurgents.  It was the same sorrowful tale for Jana Jabala, whose parents were also killed by the insurgents. However, she is happy to have been reunited with her two siblings who were scattered during the attack.

“I am happy that my two brothers are alive. At least, I have a bit of consolation that not all members of my family were killed.”

A source in Mubi pointed out that they were a sizeable number of soldiers at the home of the Chief of Army Staff, Alex Badeh; so, according to the source, it was not clear why the insurgents were able to take the town.

Many of the soldiers, who allegedly removed their uniforms before fleeing into the bush, were said to have been assisted by the youths of the town to find their way into Yola.

However, the army authorities have taken steps to address the problem. Shortly after the attack, the Nigerian Army was said to have posted a new commander to reorganise the 232 Tank Battalion, Yola, and pep up the morale of the troops.

Governor Bala James Nggilari also addressed the people of the state in a broadcast, assuring them of the efforts of his government to secure their lives and property. He also urged the people not to abandon their homes but defend their territories from the invaders. He said efforts were being made by the state government to ensure that all those who left their places were kept away from danger.

Nggilari promised that the government would resettle all the displaced persons in a decent camp and look after their health and welfare.

The state government has also imposed a curfew on Yola and other neighbouring communities, while the use of motorcycles has been restricted in the area.

As at the time of filing this report, more than 2,000 churches in Mubi North and Mubi South had been destroyed. According to sources, the latest church to be destroyed was the Alheli Baptist Church, built in 1922.

Meanwhile, sources in the town say the youth of the town are willing to confront the insurgents. They, however, lamented the lack of government’s support.

But the insurgents have already imposed Islamic law on Mubi, while more than 50 people have had their hands amputated for contravening the laws. They are also urging the people to return to the town.

Latest raids have also seen the Boko Haram taking over Gella, the headquarters of Mubi South Local Government Area. Sources in the area told The Nation that while the council chairman, Yerima Gude, was lucky to escape to Yola, the rampaging insurgents destroyed the palace of the district head.

As you can imagine, my wife’s abrupt and unexpected departure from our home left me confused and sad. At first, I just sat staring blankly at the wall in the living room, unable to function. Later, when the twins began crying for food, I had to get up and prepare breakfast for them. That was the beginning. From that point, I became a father, mother and nurse maid to the boys. Initially, they asked for their mother. But after a while, they stopped pestering me about when ‘Mummy would return from the village to visit ‘Grandma’ as I had told them.

God knows I made a lot of efforts to get her back but all yielded no fruit. I even travelled to her village to inform her mother and family about what was going on in my home. They told me they had neither seen nor heard from her for months and did not know where she was. The same with her friends when I contacted them; they denied knowing where she presently lived.

It was only one, Brenda who probably took pity on me and confessed that my wife had warned her not to tell me where she had moved to.

“Sherri’s staying with one man she calls her ‘husband’. I saw her once with the man while she was still living with you but she never told me she was having an affair with him. I thought they were just friends. Anyway, I don’t like what she has done and I told her so when I went to see her recently,” Brenda said.

She then gave me the address of my wife’s new abode. One Saturday morning, my friend Larry drove me down to the place so we could cajole her to return home. For despite what she had done, the truth was that I still loved Sherri and I was ready to accept her back if she was willing to.

But it was a wasted journey. Sherri, on sighting us at the door of the new-looking bungalow where she lived started shouting that if we did not leave at once, she would call the police and ‘have us locked up!’

“Dan or whatever your name is, you have the guts to come to my new husband’s home! You are not even afraid! I think the poverty afflicting you has affected your brain! You better leave before I call the police!”

“Please, why don’t you just listen to us, Sherri. Dan wants you back home. Just pack your things and let’s go,” said Larry.

“Go where? This is my home now! This is where I belong. The earlier this stupid friend of yours realize our marriage is over, the better! You are lucky my husband is not home, or you people would have seen ‘fire’ today!”

I spoke up then.

“It hasn’t come to that, Sherri. You are still my wife and the mother of my children. The twins keep asking after you. Don’t you even miss them? Why don’t you come home and see them?”

“You want me to come home! Alright, wait here let me get my bag,” she said, going into the house.

A short while later, she returned with a bucket of water which she threw on us! Worse, the water was mixed with pepper; so we were not just soaked to the skin, we had itchy skin from the pepper.

As we walked towards the gate looking like drenched cats, Sherri kept pouring curses and invectives on us.

“So, you are leaving? Stay now! Useless, jobless idiots! You have nothing better to do than come here to harass another man’s wife so early in the day. The next time I see your ‘k leg’ in this compound, it’s acid I will pour on you, not just ‘pepper water’. Yeye people! You want to come and put ‘sand sand in my garri’, spoil all the fun I’m having in my new home. Nonsense!..

Family meeting

After that nasty experience, I did not see my wife again till some weeks later. It was at a family meeting that was convened to resolve the matter between us. At the gathering presided over by an elderly Uncle of hers who was the family head, my wife remained obdurate. The old man precisely told her that as far as the family was concerned, I was the only husband they knew; he even ordered her to move back to our home.

“You have no excuse whatsoever for abandoning your matrimonial home and moving to another man’s house. So what if he is currently having difficulties because of his failed business ventures. So? Is he the first man to fail in business and go broke? If every wife abandons her home just because the husband is broke, do you know how many broken homes we will have in the society? What kind of irresponsible behaviour is that? If your father were alive today, he will be very angry with you! I don’t know where you got this bad character from because women in our family don’t behave in this manner. This young man was good to you and also the family when the going was good. It’s your duty as a wife to stand by him now that things are rough. That is what marriage is, full of ups and downs. It’s not rosy all the time! You don’t run away at the slightest hint of trouble and move into another man’s house!”

“This your so-called new husband is unknown to us. We don’t know that man! It’s our son-in-law here, Dan we know. So, go and pack your things at once and go back to your home. Go and take care of your children and family. That is my final decision and that of this family!”

I was very happy at the decision and was hopeful that it would put an end to Sherri and I’s estrangement. How wrong I was! Sherri defied her family’s order to return home and continued to stay with her new man. To make matters worse, she even threatened to get custody of the twins through the courts if I did not stop harassing her about returning. She already had Karen, our baby daughter and I did not want to lose my sons. It was tough bringing them up on my own but I would rather go through all that stress of raising the boys than allow them brought up in another man’s home.

I decided to leave everything to fate and focus on my boys as well as resuscitating my business. With Larry’s support, things began to pick up for me gradually. A few jobs here and there enabled me acquire some capital with which I began doing business again. Then, to my joy, Larry’s business partner in China finally agreed to do business with me on a credit basis based on his recommendation. That turned out to be a major breakthrough for me. I sold the first consignment of goods he shipped to me and promptly remitted the money to him. He was so happy that I met up with the contractual agreement on time that he agreed to do business with me on a long term business.

With that connection and a few others, I started making money again. I moved out of the house we were living into a bigger place in a nicer neighbourhood. I even got a maid to take care of the house and twins who were growing fast. Then, nearly two years after my wife left me, I started seeing another lady. Doreen was a member of our church. I used to see her around the church but we did not become close until we both became members of a committee set up for a building project in the church headquarters.

All along, I had stayed away from women because of my experience with my wife. Besides, I always felt at the back of my mind that Sherri might return home one day and what would happen when that day came and another woman had taken her place. But when two years passed with no sign of her, I finally gave up especially when I heard she had had a baby for her new man. I decided to put the past behind me and forge on with my life.

It was at this point that Doreen and I started seeing each other. We grew to love each other and best of all, she loved my boys and was always caring towards them. After I had studied her for a while, I made up my mind and decided to marry her. Larry and all my family members were all in support of the union. So, five months ago, they all accompanied me to her father’s house in Benin and we did the introduction and other traditional marriage rites.

Since then, we have been living happily together as a couple. Her coming into my life has brought so much blessings, it’s like a new beginning for me. My business is doing so well that I’m nearly at the level I was three years before when my goods were seized at the ports.

I’m at a good place now and I thank God for everything. The only problem now is my former wife Sherri. She suddenly resurfaced in my life after three years of absence begging me to take her back! Imagine that! This is a woman that caused me so much pain and heartache and just when things were going well for me again, she wants to return.

It turned out that the man she was living with had a wife who was based abroad. The woman, who owned the house and all the other properties they had been enjoying, suddenly returned to Nigeria one morning. She threw Sherri and her children out, locked up the house and took her husband with her back to her base abroad.

With no where to go, Sherri felt she had no option but to come back to me! Anyway, I told her when she came to see me in my new office that there was no ‘vacancy’ at home anymore, that her place had been taken by a woman who understood what real love and marriage meant.

She has been going about telling all my friends and family members to plead with me to forgive her and take her back. I always tell them that can only happen when ‘pigs start flying’ meaning never!

Why would I take a woman back who abandoned me at my hour of need? Who almost blinded me with the water and pepper concoction she poured on my friend and I? In fact, her misdeeds are too many to mention here.

The only concession I have is to send her an allowance regularly at least for the upkeep of my daughter Karen so the little girl will not suffer because of her mother’s bad behaviour. With time, I plan getting custody of the child so she can be with her brothers.

I’m writing this so the young guys out there who want to marry should learn to choose their partners carefully. Look for a lady who loves you enough to remain with you even when things are not going well, not the one that will run away like my ex-wife just because I lost all my money and became poor.

Concluded

Names have been changed to protect the identity of the narrator, his wife and other individuals in the story.

Send comments/suggestions to 08023201831(sms only), psaduwa@yahoo.com or psaduwa007@gmail.com

Raimi Asegbe, 26, prowled the streets with habitual grace on a Thursday evening in Ilupeju. The day was October 30 and as he picked his way through the Lagos neighbourhood, death kept pace at his heels with the savage intent of a beast.

Few minutes past 8pm, while worshippers at a nearby mosque completed Ishai, the Muslim evening prayer, five young men emerged from the shadows on motorcycles. At their arrival, they fired random shots into the air apparently to scare people. They were looking for Asegbe.

No sooner they sighted him on the road than they hit him with a metal object to weaken him. Asegbe, according to an eye witness, tried to run but he was overpowered. The gang of five descended upon him with consummate brutishness and skill; cruising with bizarre dexterity, the assailants, believed to be members of a notorious cult group, shot Asegbe at close range, killing him on the spot.

For about 20 minutes, the neighbourhood was terrified by the gory incident. Some residents said the assailants did not leave immediately after the incident. They allegedly threatened to kill more people.

Asegbe reportedly belonged to a rival gang that invaded Kayode Street in Onipanu, Mushin two days earlier  on Tuesday October 28 to be precise  killing two persons from the opposing gang that killed him in a reprisal attack.

A resident, who saw the late Asegbe 30 minutes before he was killed, said: “I saw him with a lady and another man in Iseyin Street at 7:30pm. He stopped by at a house and played with some people for about 15 minutes before he left. He walked towards Oyewole Street but 30 minutes later, we heard gunshots. We initially did not know where the shots were fired but I later got a call from a friend, who lives on Ilupeju Road, telling me that Raimi had been killed by a five-man gang. We rushed to the scene and saw his lifeless body in pool of blood.”

The late Asegbe is survived by aged parents, three wives and seven children.

Asegbe’s sin

On October 28, two youths were killed by the Supreme Eiye Confraternity (SEC) at a restaurant on Kayode Street in Onipanu. The deceased, said to be members of Black Axe Confraternity, were reportedly having a good time when the opposing Eiye cult group stormed the restaurant to attack them. The late Asegbe was allegedly a SEC member, hence, his brutal murder is suspected to be a reprisal attack.

Similar attacks

From January, several youths have been killed in the ongoing gang war ravaging Mushin, Fadeyi and Onipanu in Lagos. The attacks are customarily carried out in mafia-execution style. For instance, in February, an alleged member of Eiye confraternity, known as Segun, was killed in Mushin by a bandit group led by a youth known as Oyinbo (his real name unknown) on Ajisegiri Street. The late Segun was said to be the hit man for SEC.

Segun was stabbed several times with a dagger on the neck and chest before he was shot to death by his assailants. Prior to his execution, the deceased had reportedly gone on a mission to kill Oyinbo, an outlaw in the area. When he did not see him, he reportedly called Oyinbo on the phone and asked him to come out from his hideout for a fight. Oyinbo, however, told the late Segun to give him 10 minutes to finish what he was doing and promised to meet him wherever he wished for the fight.

Twenty minutes later, Segun was killed. He was attacked at a local canteen, where he had gone to eat, perhaps in preparation for the grisly encounter with Oyinbo. Three weeks later, a member of Oyinbo’s group, identified as Lawal, was murdered in revenge. The reprisal was done before Lawal’s family members in Iyana Ipaja ,Lagos, where he fled to escape being killed.

In June, Oyinbo reportedly killed another member of Eiye confraternity at a meeting and  disappeared to escape arrest.

In August, the late Segun’s SEC group however, recorded a ‘breakthrough’ killing Oyinbo in a lottery kiosk located on Ogunmokun Street. The Nation investigations revealed that the incident happened in the presence of an anti-riot police squad stationed in the area to forestall violence. No arrest was made; the assailants, who, witnesses said, were armed with sophisticated guns, left the scene without confrontation by anyone. From September, more than eight youths have been killed in reprisals.

In another development, a a recent fracas erupted with the killing of Sheriff Alasia, a lottery agent, on October 13. The late Sheriff was attacked in his kiosk in Ogunmokun area of Mushin.

In the evening of the same day, Tunde, who was reportedly one of the late Sheriff’s assailants, was shot dead in reprisal and his head was chopped off.

The police recovered the severed head of a 28-year-old Tunde, who was killed while smoking indian hemp in Akala street. The late Tunde was said to be a Fadeyi resident and his head was recovered on Ojelade Street, Fadeyi, on October 16 by security operatives from the Alakara Police Station.

A resident said: “Tunde’s body was recovered by the police immediately after he was killed but his head remained missing for almost four days. The killers were playing soccer with the deceased’s head in the neighbourhood and we reported to the police. On Thursday night, policemen came to Ojelade Street to recover the head.”

Mushin…the descent

Mushin has maintained a reputation of violence, perhaps since the creation of Lagos State. But this could not be said of Ilupeju, a nearby community, which used to be relatively peaceful. But in the last five years, the once quiet neighbourhood has witnessed vicious attacks that have claimed the life of many, including personal friends and acquaintances.

From the campuses on to the streets

The Nation investigations reveal the ugly manifestations of confraternity wars in Nigeria. Until recently, cult activities were an exclusive feature of Nigerian tertiary institutions. Frequent fracas erupted between rival cult groups on university and polytechnic campuses but hardly spilled to the streets.

“It was like an unwritten rule of engagement. Rival cult groups attacked each other on the campuses but no group  launched an attack against a member of another cult group outside the campus. No one dared attack a rival cult member at home. Each cult member’s home was like a hallowed ground, a sanctuary that evoked the respect of all and sundry. That was because we respected the institution of the family. Once when we went to hit (attack) one notorious Eiye (SEC) boy, we met his mother and sisters in his room. We could not drop (kill) him like we planned to but we brushed (beat) him severely. And that was even in his rented apartment outside the school campus,” disclosed Felix, a banker and former ‘butcher’ with the Black Axe confraternity.

It’s a short haul from Felix’s era and the former ‘hitman’ admitted his shock over the metamorphosis of campus confraternities and spill over of their activities on to the streets.

In Lagos, for instance, erstwhile peaceful neighbourhoods of Bariga, Festac, Ojodu, Mushin, Ojo, Somolu, Okokomaiko, Yaba, Surulere, Lagos Island and Ikorodu have in recent times imploded to fierce clashes between rival cult groups, leading to deaths and destruction of properties worth millions of naira.

In Mushin, an enduring confraternity war has replaced the turf battles and armed robbery that characterised the area. At least five persons, among them, a final year Nigerian student who schooled at the North American University Houdegbe, in Benin Republic, were killed in a renewed cult war in the area. The victim, Adeolu Otenaike, 26, left Benin Republic on March 18, 2013 to celebrate the purchase of a car with his friends. He was reportedly accosted while seeing his friends off, beaten and shot in the head and neck.

One of his friends simply identified as Chinedu, who managed to escape, reportedly sustained injuries. The same day, four other persons whose identities were given simply as Martins, Olosa, Fadeyi and Adeyemi were also killed at different spots in Mushin.

Rival cultists in Somolu and Ketu areas of Lagos clashed recently, leaving four persons dead and several others injured. In Ajelogo area of Ketu, Nigeria, it was gathered that suspected members of Eiye confraternity stormed a suspected rival’s home in the wee hours of Monday morning. They flung his nine-month old baby off the bed, dragged him outside and clubbed him to death but not until they had taken turns in raping his wife in front of him.

The inclusion of street urchins, commercial bus and motorcycle drivers, according to Biodun Gbolagade a.k.a Simple, a bar operator and Buccaneer, “has worsened everything.”

Gbolagade bemoaned the inclusion of motor park urchins into the various confraternities, particularly the Buccaneer, SEC and Black Axe groups, as a worrisome development. “These hoodlums that they are blending (initiating) lack proper orientation. Consequently, they conduct themselves like ordinary hoodlums that they are, maiming and killing each other and innocent members of the public at the slightest provocation,” lamented Gbolagade.

Indeed, street urchins and members of transport unions in the areas openly display their membership of cult groups. It is no longer a strange sight to see commercial motorcycle operators known as Okada riders, display the colours of the various cult groups that they belong to. Those claiming membership of SEC display the blue colour, Buccaneer, yellow colour and the Black Axe’s black colour. On several occasions, clashes erupt over non-members allegedly donning colours perceived as symbols of a particular cult group.

A new manifestation of the confraternity ogre reposes in cultists’ deployment as mercenaries and land grabbers by influential members of the public. In rural areas of Itele, Iyana Ipaja, Ogijo and Igbo Olomu, land merchants frequently employ cultists as ajagungbale, land grabbers or mercenaries over land matters.

Lagos gangs at a glance

In recent past, Lagos has suffered the onslaught of certain fearful gangs terrorising the mainland, Isale-Eko and Stadium/Barrack, axis of Lagos Island. The most notorious amongst them was the Kainkain gang of Isale Eko; this gang was persistently blamed for serial criminal acts including rape, mobile phone theft, pick-pocketing and armed robbery. The leader of the group, ‘Surutu,’ allegedly relocated from the neighbourhood after he was shot.

And residents of Ajegunle otherwise known as Lagos’ jungle city will not forget in a hurry, their ordeal in the hands of One Million Boys (OMB), a gang of hoodlums that terrorised the area before they were arrested by the police. At inception, 20 boys in Ajegunle united to form the association with the original intent to fight perceived injustices synonymous with the township. Subsequently, the gang grew in strength and numbers and soon they formed a vigilance group to checkmate and fight crime and criminality in the community. But somewhere along the way, some members of the association hijacked it and turned a hitherto crime fighting group into a sinister one; terrorising the entire community, raping hapless women and robbing defenseless residents.

Residents revealed that the group metamorphosed into a gang of outlaws. “Before they invaded any community or street, they usually wrote a letter to inform the residents. They sent the letter through a courier, usually a minor, to the head of that street or the landlord association. And when they come, they would rob from one house to the other, raping young girls and even married women. There was one bizarre situation when members of the group allegedly raped a pregnant woman to death and forced a father to sleep with his daughter with a threat that if he did not comply, he would be killed. Of course, the man complied with their wish, while they laughed maniacally.

They operated with such impunity until their operation in Agugu Street, where they killed a young man, after robbing a resident. The community could not take it any longer and they sent an SOS to the Commissioner of Police, Umaru Manko, who issued a directive for their arrest. The police was able to arrest over 400 suspected members of the group.

The raid was led by Area B Command Apapa, comprising Apapa, Ajegunle, Tolu, Trinity, Amukoko, Ijora Badia, Layeni and Kirikiri Police divisions. “The onslaught was led by the Area Commander, Mohammed Alli.

Ijaya Boys (Minstrels of fear) comprise a group of 17 boys, all school drop-outs except their leader who never attended high school. The latter, a former butcher, assembled young boys in his area in Alimosho to form a gang with a purported mission to right the wrongs in their community. No sooner they formed the gang, than he led them in two bloody turf wars in which they succeeded in dislodging two former gangs that held sway in their neighbourhood. They operate with knives, cudgels, guns and dangerous charms.

Several gangs are linked to criminal operations between Surulere and Lagos Island, where several house burglaries and armed robberies are perpetrated and the stolen valuables are sold often at ridiculous prices. Most gangs are principally concerned with fighting and conquering other young male gangs from one street or district to another in violent turf wars to establish their dominance. After establishing their dominance in any neighbourhood, they engage in a peculiar brand of hustle by which they perpetrate scams, bullying, political violence and armed robbery, according to Ikuomola Adediran Daniel (PhD), Department of Sociology, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State.

Living by the street code

Analysing the street code of the ubiquitous gang member, Dr. Ikuomola stated that within the social world of the gang member, familial and peer group attachments are essential in terms of ‘back up’ and possible retribution for an act of bullying, violence and robbery. “As such, when a group of boys from ‘rush’ or ‘jack’ a young person  either from their hood or a surrounding neighbourhood  with no obvious familial or peer group attachments, most young males in public will just shrug their shoulders as if to say ‘well that’s just how things are on the street.’ However, in private the young males will acknowledge that the assaulters involved were out of order, they shouldn’t have picked on an innocent.”

Yet the code of the street dictates that sympathy for the victim is at best fleeting and generally non-sympathetic, as the commonly held view amongst young males is that ‘they’ (victim) should not have allowed themselves to be picked on so easily. On the other hand, when the victim is a known but disliked individual  usually a rapscallion who does not play by the rules,  perhaps he attacks people indiscriminately, harassing young girls at street corners and therefore creating lots of potential enemies within the neighbourhood,  the code of the street determines that the defaulter probably got what he deserved, as he was beginning to believe too much ‘in his own hype,’ running about upsetting ‘too many of the area boys’ in the neighbourhood.

Psychology of a gang-banger

According to Omotoke Iyunade, a social psychologist, the harsh living conditions and endemic poverty in the slums wreak untold havoc on the inhabitants, the children in particular. “Such children having undergone a gruesome childhood characterised by an insidious socialisation process eventually mature into what could be termed damaged youth.”

According to her, young people in the slums are often the victim of non-existent or dysfunctional family structures, lack of education and opportunities, race and class-based discrimination. This militarizes them and forces them to adopt a hostile attitude to the world. Ultimately, they are considered enemies of the state by law enforcers and the society at large and this is due to their hostile disposition and inclinations for violence.

Shanty life is such that vulnerable children and youths are exposed to considerable amount of hazards and they face a number of problems ranging from financial problems to harassment and extortions from police and the ubiquitous area boys; eventually, many of such vulnerable youth evolve to become area boys. As area boys, they learn to perpetuate the insecurity, severe beatings and fighting, sexual abuse (especially of the females) and health hazards that they had erstwhile been exposed to as vulnerable minors.

According to Patrick Edewor, PhD, Department of Sociology, Covenant University, the presence of street children (and homeless children and youth) is an indictment of the way the society construes its priorities. “These children and youths suffer considerable amount of hardship. Although they are ignored by the society, they hope to become productive members of the society,” he noted.

Gangs of area boys are composed of mainly young males aged 11 to 25 years and they are a typical characteristic of the state. These gangs provide young people with a sense of belonging and social identity, and as they operate in shadow economies, they make up for the lack of educational and job opportunities.

Within gangs, young men find a way to make a living. Many of them primarily commit serious crimes such as robbery and burglary with the intention of exchanging the stolen goods for cash. The money earned from such crimes is invested in patronising sex workers, gambling and other guilty pleasures. Others expend it on status enhancement drives such as ‘looking good,’ eating out, smoking cannabis, cocaine or crack, and clubbing.

In Lagos, many gang members and area boys act as violent brokers in parallel structures, having created an income for themselves via forced extortions (owo ile) and narcotics peddling, playing guard of individual property or public space in situations of inadequate or ineffective police presence. Over time, they have become an accepted part of the urban landscape even as they become willing tools and available mercenaries for various forms of political, ethnic and religious criminal contracts in the process.

Some gang bangers, however, start out from promising beginnings. According to a childhood acquaintance of late Segun, who simply identified himself as Adewale, the latter started out promisingly. “I met him at an evening coaching class on Shokunbi Street in Mushin. Although, he was a year junior,  we used to attend mathematics class together. He was brilliant. But when he was unable to gain admission into a higher institution, he became frustrated and joined a gang of street urchins. He gained an infamous popularity in 2010 when he reportedly shot someone 35 times in the thigh at a street carnival in Onipanu. Since then, he became notorious and a serial killer until he was killed in February by a gang of cultists.”

Late Shina Ajah also presents a peculiar case. Late Ajah, a burly figure, was 24 at the time of his death. He was killed in front of an eatery in Onipanu, Mushin. According to Wale, Shina Ajah was violent and showed no mercy to anyone who dared cross him. “There was an incident, which took the residents of Oluwakemi Street in Onipanu by surprise. He reportedly stormed a christening ceremony and forcefully took away the eight-day-old baby in the full glare of the residents. What was the baby’s sin? The baby’s father, who is a tout, had a disagreement with the late Shina Ajah days earlier. Ajah threatened to cut the baby into pieces should his father refuse to come out of hiding. It took the heartfelt plea of clerics, who came for the ceremony to get the late Ajah to release the baby to her mother. A few months after the incident, Shina Ajah was shot dead by an unknown gang.

Stemming the menace

According to Dr. Ikuomola, a youthful population can be a significant and positive asset to a country and its development, but if left to its own devices, that is, marginalised and exploited, they can also turn against the society and become a force of destruction. The latter suggested that in order to prevent such situation, the government should create an environment that will improve the quality of nation’s education system through investments in free technical education that will have meaningful impact on the youth and the quest for self reliance and development. In the long run this will influence and increase youths employment outcomes. He also suggested that “policies should be put in place at all levels for young men and women to have the same opportunities in job prospecting. Emphasis should also be placed on vulnerable groups, especially children and youths; to avoid child labour and exploitation, street life and the breeding of street urchins in cities.”

While suggestions like Ikuomola’s may in part be the palliative to the scourge of area boys in the state, further priority strategies may have to be tailored to the reorientation of the family structure, parenting and the Lagos youth, according Morenike Abass, a school proprietor and educational psychologist. Exactly how fragile the situation is in the state is vividly illustrated by the exploits and premature deaths of random teenagers like Asegbe, Shina Ajah, Segun  and so many others.

The Governor of Benue State, Rt. Hon. Gabriel Toruwa Suswam, clocks 50 today. In this pre-Golden Anniversary chat with senior editors in Abuja, he spoke about life, politics and his bid for the Senate in 2015. The Managing Editor, Northern Operation of The Nation, YUSUF ALLI and SANNI ONOGU, bring you excerpts:

HOW does it feel being 50 in a country where life expectancy is about 45 years? In everything, I give thanks and glory to God because Psalm 118: 23-25 says “This is the Lord has made, I shall rejoice and be glad in it.” I give glory to God because within a short space of 50, I have been able to be who I am today. It is only by the grace of God that gave me the opportunity and privilege of being in the National Assembly for eight years and being governor for almost eight years before turning 50. There is no adjective that will qualify my gratitude to the Almighty God. I still feel as if it was yesterday, the days are going and the body is still responding to the days. I thank God for His mercies.

How was your growing up like? I was born in a very polygamous family. My father was a traditional ruler. I was born during the Tiv riots, the Atem Tyo in 1964 and the meaning of my native name, Torwua. Then, the traditional rulers were the target because the feeling then was that they were supporting the NPC headed by late Sardauna of Sokoto and the JS Tarka group had the UMBC. My father had more than 15 wives. You know in a polygamous family, if your mother does not struggle, you end up in the village. I was lucky my mother was a struggling woman. I grew up basically with her picking up the bills. We were six but two have died and I am third in line of the boys.

So, I was born in a humble background. Of course, at the time, a traditional ruler was a big deal but it was just a local arrangement. There were a lot of difficulties but my mother was able to struggle to overcome some of those hiccups and gave us education and all of us became university graduates. While I was in form two in 1978, my father passed on and the entire responsibility of raising six children was on my mother’s shoulders but she was very industrious and was able to move us from the village to Makurdi and was able to train us. Fundamentally, I grew up with my grandmother but still under the same circumstances.

What were the lessons you learnt from her? Discipline, courage and commitment without necessarily being aggressive. My mother was a very disciplined woman and that has helped me in life because you will never see me being aggressive or shouting or making noise. I am very disciplined about things that I want to do. I also know that I am a very courageous person. I got that from my mother; I fear only God but I respect people. Once I set my eyes on something, I am always focused.

What motivated you into politics? Let me say that I did not like politics. My immediate elder brother was the one that was into politics. But growing up, we went to NKST Primary School, Zaki-Biam, and NKST Mission School was where a measure of discipline was exercised. If you could not spell a word correctly, you were given severe punishment. You had to be punctual in school and a lot of moral issues that we were put through that helped in guiding me. From NKST Primary School, I went to St. Andrew’s Secondary School, Adikpo, also a mission school where I did my forms one and two before moving on to Government College, Makurdi. Government College was a unity school with a lot of discipline and so from there, I went to SBS Makurdi and from there to the University of Lagos.

I wanted to become an economist because right from secondary school, I was very good in some subjects like History, in which I got A1 in my WAEC; in Literature, I had A2; Economics, I had A3. I was focused on being an economist but when I went to SBS, the stories about wigs and lawyers became a big attraction. So, after SBS, I came out with 10 points and I decided that I was going to be a lawyer. I applied to the University of Lagos. I hadn’t been to Lagos but the university was the first thing that took me to Lagos in 1986. I was given admission. After graduation and qualifying as a lawyer, I started practice with some senior colleagues’ chambers and later joined with Harris Ogbole. We were just struggling young lawyers. But we decided that we were moving to Abuja and it was while in Abuja that I started going home and I had some friends with disposition to politics.

Suddenly, Gen. Sani Abacha died. I was home when he died and the young men began to meet and I was meeting with them. When they formed PDP, in the Youth Wing where we were meeting, I found myself going to my local government constantly. Even at that, I had no intention of running for an elective position. I just wanted to help the process and as I was going and meeting with them, people started talking about House of Representatives. I didn’t know what it meant but I began to develop interest and all the young men were with me and I eventually became serious; I was nominated and elected to the House. It was not a conscious and deliberate effort on my part. It was circumstances that pushed me into it. I thank God that He had a different plan for me, while I was planning a different thing.

Who would you say is your role model? Whose style of politicking attracted you? Like I said, my immediate elder brother was the one into all of this. As far as I was concerned, it was a waste of time and I was like why can’t you do something better? But frankly, at the time that I made up my mind to join politics, most of the people who are elders in the state were also new in the game. Senator George Akume was just coming in from the civil service; Senator Barnabas Gemade started with CNC; Senator Ayu who was somebody that would be considered older in the game. But all of them had not practised politics for more than 10 years. So, it was like a new thing that we were all coming into. Because I wasn’t politically conscious, I wouldn’t say that there was any outstanding politician that I took after but while I was a student of politics in SBS, people like Aminu Kano and Waziri Ibrahim attracted me a lot. They were characters that I used to listen to and what Dr. Olusola Saraki was doing in Kwara interested me a lot. So, I looked up to them as people worth emulating. I looked up to them but not to the extent of being in politics. I took interest in them and I eventually had to join. But my joining politics was just circumstantial.

You look very young and you are turning 50; what is the secret behind this? If you ask me, you see, some are born to be slim; some have the tendency of being fat. I thank God that I have been able to control myself because in the family, I am the one that looks like my late mother because she was big and I know that if I don’t control myself, I would look bigger than this. So, it is about discipline; about what you eat and what you do. I am somebody who works round the clock, I hardly sleep on time. I go on and on when it comes to work. I am also sensitive about changes in my body. So, I make sure that I check myself regularly. Medically, they say when you turn 40, you change, so from the moment I became 40, I became very conscious and I began to check. And I have kept very active, if you are docile and keep a sedentary lifestyle, there is the tendency for certain things to happen but if you keep the body active it repels some of those things.

You are as old as Nigeria so to speak because we got our independence in 1960, how will you say Nigeria has changed between independence and today? No, there is tremendous change. For good or for bad? For good. The way we have changed is almost dramatic but because we have a lot of mischievous people who want to see the negative part. Who were driving SUV cars here? Who was talking on GSM? Who were the people who had private jets? There is quite a lot that have changed in the country. Educationwise, we have progressed in a manner that is unprecedented. Even in terms of infrastructure, as late as the 90s how many roads were tarred? Not many. So for me, we’ve positively changed but people don’t want to accept. I went back home and I say that as late as when I came to the National Assembly, it was a big deal for somebody to buy a tokunbo car. It was announced back in Benue that this young man has arrived and that he bought a tokunbo car. Even babies now buy cars. It is not news. As late I went to the National Assembly in 1999, you could count how many young men could afford to buy tokunbo cars. When we were in Lagos in the 90s and we bought tokunbo cars and we could drive home on Christmas, we were the kings. But today those conditions have changed.

The changes are simply amazing. We must accept the fact that we have changed. When we begin to compare ourselves with developed economies, these are people who in the 20s were flying aircraft. We can’t get some basis for comparism. There is no basis. People who have discovered different things as early as in the 18th Century. So there is no basis but we are trying to compare ourselves with such countries and feeling that we are lagging behind. We are not. There is a lot of improvement that we need to do but I will say that between 1960 and now, we have changed a lot. The only problem that we have that has created a major problem in the society is the issue of corruption because from 1960 up to the time that the military took over, those people were actually determined to set Nigeria on the path of development but unfortunately, the military came in and distorted the whole of that and so people begin to see more reason in material things than working for the overriding interest of the Nigerian people and that is what has created problem for us.

Otherwise, there are a lot of positive changes in the country. It was also the military intervention and the war that brought in armed robbery into our country and so while there are very positive changes, you also have some negative ones as well but put on the average, I will say the positive ones are more than the negative. Look at Press Freedom. These are all changes. Internet, social media…

I like one aspect of your life where you said that you were in the University of Lagos, then you read law; what was your first day in court like and who is the judge that you appeared before? I was with Professor Olawoye and it was actually a political case. I have forgotten the judge because it is long but it was very interesting. Professor didn’t appear himself so I went with a senior in court and the secretary of the party then, I also can’t recollect the party it was, it was saying that he was not qualified to be the secretary and the man was defending himself. He stood up and they asked, they said you don’t have western education,

how can you be the secretary of the party? What I recollect vividly was the answer. He said that they were voting people and not voting English. You know the judge himself burst out laughing. It was quite an ingenious way of answering the question – they were voting people and not English and that where he comes from, the language they speak predominantly is Hausa language and so are they saying that he can’t speak Hausa or what? That was my first experience as an intern with Professor Olawoye. Professor Olawoye was my Professor in the university.

Was it Hausa or Yoruba language? No, it was Hausa and he brought the case to the Federal High Court, Lagos, in Tinubu Square. How did you meet your wife? I got married to my wife in 1998. We met the year before then in Kaduna incidentally. It was in Kaduna and she was also visiting and we met. It was in a restaurant and she was with her friend. She then, I think, had finished serving with FCDA and working with them. I was a freelance young lawyer who was all over the place. I was also visiting Kaduna and we met and started joking and I said, ‘Ah, she looks like she would be a good wife.’ That was a joke but I think God worked on that and incidentally she was in Abuja and I used to come here because we we started practice, they had just established the Corporate Affairs Commission and with a few young lawyers who were incorporating companies, the in thing was to convince people to incorporate companies.

The pay wasn’t much but we were making some change and behaving big. So, I got back to Abuja and then there were landlines then working. We started talking on the phone and then one thing led to the other, and we became friends. We dated for about a year and we ended up getting married in Ibadan. We have a son, Terna but before then I had a relationship that did not work but produced a son, Shima. So, I have two big boys. She is an architect. In 2003, when you contested for the House of Representatives against one of your late brothers, Mahmoud Akiga, there was this attack in which one of your boys was killed. Have you forgiven people that perpetrated that? You see, God has a way of setting people’s path. I think God has set my path and for anything that I do in life, I have committed it into God’s hands. You won’t see me being aggressive or unduly aggressive for anything. I am a very determined person but I am not aggressive in trying to achieve material things because that can only come from God. Like the experience you have mentioned, I went to the House of Representatives in 1999. When I was to go back, there was serious gang up from some of my elders and friends. They just ganged up and did not want me to go back. So within my local government headquarters, they had planned to even assassinate me but somehow, I was in the village and I would be voting that morning.

I woke up but unlike me, during election, the person you are seeing now is not the same person you see during election. I am totally a different person. So unlike me, I voted and sat back. I did not go anywhere because I was very weak. My spirit was just weak. I sent one of my aides, Joe Ker, but they almost killed him but the orderly that went with him was shot. They shot at them; they thought he was dead because they were waiting for me. They moved these militia from all over other places in Benue into the local government headquarters. Nothing would have stopped me from going to see how the elections were going. But funny enough, I did not go. So I sent them. He escaped by the whiskers but my orderly was shot and they thought he was dead. They shot him and as a policeman, he laid still.

So when when they came, some said just put fuel on him and burn him but one said let’s not waste our fuel, he is already dead. So they left. They were chanting and looking for me, saying ‘we will cut him into pieces.’ I wasn’t there. So, I have forgiven them because thereafter I had won several elections, after that incident I became governor. Even some of the people who participated, who the policeman identified are people working closely with me now. So I am not somebody who keep malice with people. If God had wanted me dead, I won’t be sitting here. God did not want it, so He stopped it and I have continued to progress over and above some of the people who engineered that, so I hold nothing against any of those people.

There is the issue of godfatherism in Nigeria politics and Benue cannot be an exception. There are allegations in some quarters that there was this your godfather who was dictating but at a stage, you said let me be myself. What is your take on godfatherism in Nigerian politics? You know, everywhere globally, politics whether we accept it or not, you can’t rule out the issue of godfather or godmother or whatever you call it. People call it different names in different spheres but you know for even Obama to have won elections in the first place, there were people behind it. It is just that those people would not become as visible as our own here will want to be. Once, you assist a person to attain that, you have achieved your own purpose, so allow the person and probably guide the person from behind. But here, godfathers and godmothers you have want to determine everything. It is not practicable.

My eldest son just turned 17, the other one is 13 and most time, when I sit down with them, and say look, they will say no that they can’t do it and there is nothing you can do. That is your own child who is still a child. They will tell you no. How much more an adult that has won election to an office as governor and there are different interests that are seeking for his attention and then you want to determine what he does. You see, that is our problem here. The problem here is that we don’t give space. Once you assist somebody in an office, you want to even determine what he does with his wife. That kind of thing can never work anywhere and that is why there is problem everywhere.

I think that as I exit, that is a lesson to me and that is why I have tried as much as possible to allow the situation in Benue to be free and fair environment, so that any person who emerges can operate freely. I don’t want a situation where they say this is Suswam’s boy. I don’t think that is right. Our politics is developing. So we must begin to pull back. You know elsewhere when people leave office, you don’t even hear about them. But when you hear about them, you hear about them in foundations, in charity works, but here people want to finish and come back and say look, this boy I put here, you know I must pull him out. As long as we continue with that disposition and attitude, we will continue to have problems.

So for me, Senator George Akume is my elder brother, he is my boss and we worked together very closely and among other people, he participated actively in making sure that I become governor. We parted ways politically because there were certain tendencies that did not agree with my philosophy and so we parted ways. We are not enemies but politically we parted ways and we still relate and I believe that there is room for us to relate as we move on. In politics, our late Zik said that what should be permanent should be interest so the issue of godfatherism in Nigeria is a big political problem for people who want to still remain in office when they are out of office. That can’t happen and that shouldn’t happen and I pray to God that I should not find myself in a position where I want to remain in office even when I am out of office.

What is the relationship between you and Senator Barnabas Gemade? Senator Gemade is an elder that I respect very much. When we started this politics and said it was a Youth Wing, he was the leader of the elders and eventually he became the National Chairman of this party. So I respect him. When I became governor and he said that he wanted to be a senator, I supported him with my whole heart. Senator Akaghergher was the senator then. He wanted to go back but we pulled Senator Akaghergher back because of the respect we have for Gemade for him to go to the Senate. And when he was campaigning, everywhere he went, and I say this on my honour, let him deny that he never said that he was doing it for one term because we have a tacit understanding in my senatorial zone that whichever district gets it that is eight years. It is not anything written but it is a tacit understanding and I challenge Gemade to deny that he did not say he was going to do one term to complete the eight-year tenure of what was given to them.

That is why the entire elders with no exception in Zone A – they were the people who bought my forms. They were the people who said I should go to the Senate. The Senate is actually not supposed to go to my district. We are composed of three districts in my Senatorial Zone. It is supposed to go to another district but elders from that district agreed as is the tradition and custody to the Tiv people to loan it to my own district, knowing that after I would have gone for eight years as it is customary, or whatever it is they will have it back. And so for Senator Gemade, what I would have expected from him as an elder statesman was to call all of us and sit down and say ‘look, we have an understanding in our Senatorial District. These four years are not enough for, me what can we do?’ Instead he went straight attacking me and assassinating my character and all kinds of thing and I felt that for an elder, that is not right and that is not fair. The people said that I should go to the Senate. The elders unanimously with no exception said that I should go – they bought my form with their meagre resources. Does the PDP discuss zoning since you said they have not given automatic tickets to anybody? The party discusses consensus and encourages dialogue and zoning. Zoning is a principle that is not written in the constitution of the party but it is something that is encouraged so that people don’t feel marginalised. And so they encourage it. And in Benue, you will know that Aper Aku is the proponent of zoning. Aper Aku started this in NPN. In Benue, among the Tiv, zoning is something that is a cultural thing. It is very cultural within the Tiv that if today this person has gotten this, if it takes a 100 years and that same position comes back to that community, they will say 100 years ago this person got it from here, it should move to that place and eventually, the Nigerian societies have imbibed that and it is working in a lot of places so as to avert crisis in most of the highly contentious areas. How do you defend this charge? They say when someone like you have been in the House of Representatives for eight years and you have been governor for eight years, though you are still full of energy, they will ask, must it be you alone? That is why I am not contesting for governor, I want to go to the Senate. To be the governor and the Senate are two different things. What we need also at some level are people who have cut across, and that is the way that we can develop the country. You know, America is not a good example but we keep giving it because our constitution is modelled after their own. Politics is not an all comers affair. There are families that are political and for you to become governor, you can’t wake up from your bed in your village just because you have money and say you will be governor. It cannot happen. You can just not sleep and say that I have made money from crude oil and so I want to be president, it would never happen.

You must either be a governor, a senator, or in the House of Representatives. You can never, never be governor without either passing through the State Assembly or the House of Representatives. You can’t. So we must also develop a political culture here and that is the only way we can develop the process. So when you have people with my kind of experience wanting to go to the Senate, I believe that it is to add value to that institution. It is not for any selfish interest, we are not saying that we will entrench ourselves in the executive, we want to build these institutions. Once we have a political culture – it is only in Nigeria people will go and do 419 from America and come here and they are running for governor and people are following them without any pedigree, without anything to show who they are and later the people will start having problems. So, I believe at the age of 50, I am just turning 50 by the grace of God, I have a lot to offer given the experience I have gathered over the years.

If the national leadership of your party says you should step down for Gemade, are you going to dump the PDP? No. I don’t think that that situation will arise. But PDP is a party that I started in 1998 and I am not somebody who is flippant in even talking of somebody who will just walk out because of one single incident and say that I am changing party. I am a very philosophical person, I believe in certain ideologies. Politics in Nigeria, people take it as an end to a means. I am not that kind of politician. I believe in PDP. If and when I am tired and I decide on anything I will leave politics. I will not go and say I am changing political party because of an incident. I will simply pull back. I am a professional and there is a lot that I can offer in other areas and so, I want to assure you that the leadership of the party and the presidency will not engage in a scenario that you have painted. Nothing like that will happen in the PDP. All of us are encouraged, where has dialogue is not possible, we go the field.

You will exit as governor by May 29 next year, looking back over these years, what can you say that is your major achievement for the state? In other words, what legacy would you say that you are leaving behind in Benue State? First is the attitude. I have said this several times. More than the physical development on ground, the attitude of an average Benue man has shifted from extremely negative to mid positive. When I became governor, the attitude was very very negative.

You know anything about government, people were just negative because they have been told lies over a long period of time. So they never believed in anything. There was apathy and so that has changed. Now they believe that government can make promises and fulfill them. Anytime I make a pronouncement, they will say that you made pronouncement and you fulfilled them. That shows a shift. You know attitude of people is major in any society. If the attitude is negative, no matter what happened, that society will not move forward. And so my major achievement that I can beat my chest is the slight change in the negative attitude of the Benue people to the positive one.

You know, there are whole lot of legacies in terms of physical infrastructure but the one that I am proud is that shift and how did it happen? When I came in and there were promises, no body believed that that will happen because in the past it has not happened. But I decided at I was going to change that, so virtually everything I said I would do I have been able to do within the limited resources available to me. Some I have not completed the way I wanted, but they can see it and so they now believe that this can happen. So there is a big paradigm shift in the attitude of the people towards the positive more than it was before and I want to say that is the legacy I want to leave behind and I am happy that I was able to do that.

FOR those steep in the tradition and history of Yorubaland, the mention of Iragbiji always evokes the people’s traditional praise them: Iragbiji oloke meji tako tabo lori agba. It means  Iragbiji made up of two rocks male upon the female. The modest town with a rather slow laid back mien common to most small towns in the semi rural areas, is scenic. It has one major road from Ikirun meandering through the town heading to Igbajo, Ada and other towns. There are other small roads. The towns visage is greatly influence by the  rocky hills that form a kind of arc round it. But the hills are not austere. Trees, shrubs and other economic plants fight with the igneous rocks fro space. It is as if they have reach a kind of mutual agreement that but the trees and the rock should co-exist side-by-side for the sustenance of the community.

Here man and nature, most especially the hills, have come to co-exist that one can hardly be mentioned without the other. Although hills are the basis for the aesthetic beauty of this town, but it actually one of the hills, Okanyilule that has become the symbol of the town.

Okanyilule spectacular hill is at the back of the town towards the boundary between the Iragbiji people and Obaagun town. The rocky hill juts out high into the sky. Right on top of the rock another one is delicately place as if a superhuman giant had picked the rock and balance rock on top. It is a spectacle and marvel for many.

It is from this rock that Iragbiji people got cognomen. Moving inside hill area is difficult with rocks and shrubs blocking the way. But finally one managed to make the it to the hill of course with scratches from plants. The site was worth the trouble. But according to the naitves, there was more to the hills than the aesthetics.

Oba Abdul-Rasheed Olabomi is the traditional ruler of the town. Cultured and well educated, talking about the tourist endowments of Iragbiji, most especially the famous Okanyilule hill seems to bring the out him. He has deep knowledge about his town’s history and talks about it like a history professor lecturing university students. He occasionally laced his speech with Yoruba songs in praise of his town. He talks about the Okanyilule hills: “The Okanyilule Hill is historical to Iragbiji. It is a monument that really depicts and connotes what Iragbiji is. Part of our cognomen says ‘Iragbiji owners of double hills, one fell down, while the other is still standing.’ Okunyilule has a history dating back to about 200 years ago. There was a dispute over the ownership of the hills area and the land around it. It involved the then monarch of Obaagun, a neigbouring town to Iragbiji. The monarch of Iragbiji then was Oba Oloyede Dada. Then there were no policemen, there were no soldiers and there were no courts; but traditionally, when issues like that arose, our people in the past had their own method of settling such dispute. What was then was to invite all the Obas around Iragbiji area. It involved the then Timi of Ede, the then Ataoja of Osogbo, Oragun of Illa. All of them went to the foot of the hills and asked each of the monarch to prove that their ownership. Eventually the Aragbiji said, to prove that he was the owner of the land and the hills, that within seven days, the two hills, Tako-Tabo, one male and one female standing on each other, one will roll down within seven days. The then Oloba Agun said nothing of such would happen. To the glory of Almighty God, on the third day, the small hill sitting on the other one, one of them rolled and fell down.

Since then, Iragbiji has considered the Okunyilule hill a monument. In fact every year, people go there salute the courage of our forebears who were able to stand by the truth, uphold and also say the truth. We also commend the gods who allowed the truth to manifest in the rolling down of one of the hills. Today, it is the symbol of Iragbiji on our letter head. Anything we do, we would always allude to the Okanyilule hill. It is one of our prime monuments.  We are proud of it.”

So, what are some of the things to attract a tourist to Iragbiji. The Oba has an answer: “Around the Okanyilule Hils, we have about four sites. There is a source of water at the Okayilule Hills. There is the site where the earliest migrants to iragbiji, called Iledesi,. That was where they settled. There is also a source of water we call Oloti. It was not Oloti from source, it became Oloti down the stream. If you get in there, you will see the marvels of the work of Almighty God, how water is gushing out from the base of the rock. It is as site to behold.

“When you leave there, you want to visit Oke Iragbiji itself, which has its own historical connotation. It started with the establishment of Iragbiji, about 600 years ago.

“History has it that our great grandfather, Sokungbade, was a great man, a hunter . when he arrived here, he went on hunting expedition to the pick of the hill, Oke Iragbiji. He was chasing an antelope and the antelope entered a hole on top of the hill. History has it that he entered and and the antelope and the hunter came out in front of what we now have as the palace. We cannot prove the veracity of that claim, but that is in our oral history. In those days, so many things did happen that we will see now and feel they are unbelievable. Since that time, our people have been celebrating the hill annually in what we call, Oke Iragbiji Odun rioke. We normally celebrate it last week of July every year. On top  of that hill too, we have the Ayeye stream. The stream has its source, on top of the hill. The water is always very clean and chilled. Then it was forbidden for anybody who was not a prince to go there draw water or have anything to do with it because it was sacriligoues. The water, before now, was said to be highly medicinal for barren women. The beleive3 was very strong that taking a cup full of that water, a barren woman would conceive. During annual festivals, people go to the stream to make a lot of pledges, the barren, sick and so on. history has it that about 100 years a go, there was an outbreak of small pox all around the then Yoruba land, if not Nigeria. That it was the water from Ayeye stream that was taken to heal the ailment. So, the water is regarded as highly medicinal and spiritual.

“We leave that place, we have the traditional wall fence, Odi. We have tow types: the earth wall fence and the rocky wall fence. According to our history, the two types were put up by extra-terrestrial beings. That our fathers in those days were so powerful that they invoked the spirit to help them construct the two traditional wall fences. Today, we still have relics of the fences. The earth fence has collapse, but we still preserve some of them.”

Leaving Iragbiji, one is left with the feeling of having been to a town where the people and nature are at peace.

Contrary to what my enemies and detractors say, I’m not a bad mother. I love my children and always look out for their interests. Okay, the method I have used in furthering this interest might have been unconventional and frowned on by society but who is to blame for that? Is it not the same society condemning me now, saying all my daughters turned out wayward and useless that caused it? Where were all these people when I was in pain and needed help but no one extended a hand in support?

Even my ex-husband, the father of my last daughter Penny, has joined my detractors in the name calling even threatening to come and take her away from me! And this was a man who ran away with my friend and left me high and dry to raise his children all alone by myself! What was I supposed to do, sit down and watch my kids starve?

I had to survive using all the means at my disposal. Today, the consequences of my actions are glaring to all, leading to all this condemnation. Maybe, when they hear my story, they will be more understanding and less judgmental, less ready to cast stones at me…

***

I was born into an average family; my parents were neither rich nor poor. My Dad worked in the construction industry as a Supervisor. He worked for several years with a foreign firm and made enough money to take care of my three siblings and I. Due to the nature of his job, he travelled a lot and was hardly at home. When we were much younger, my mother used to take us with her to stay with him for a while wherever his job took him. But as we grew older, she stopped moving us around, saying we needed more ‘stability’ especially when we started attending school.

My mother did not work, she was a housewife who did a little business of buying and selling of fabrics like ‘ankara’ wax print to make a little extra money to supplement the allowance she got from my Dad. I had a normal, happy childhood and my future looked bright.

I had just turned fifteen when the incident happened that changed the course of my life, turning me to what I am today. It was late evening and I was returning from an errand my mother sent me on. I remember I was passing through a short cut to our house; it was a narrow path near our street with a lot of bushes and a few uncompleted buildings. It was often deserted at that time of the day and our mother had warned us not to pass that road at that late hour. But I was in a hurry to get home and watch a favourite programme of mine on TV that aired in the evening so I ignored her warning and took the path.

I was walking quickly and was nearly half way down the path when two men suddenly appeared as if from nowhere. They grabbed me and dragged me into the bush. I was screaming and struggling but they overpowered me; I was just 15, what could I do against two strong men in a lonely spot where no one could hear my screams for help.

Those ‘animals’ raped, defiled me and when they were done, left me half dead in the bush. I managed to muster the strength to drag myself home. My mother wept bitterly when she heard what happened. My Dad was at his base in another town- it was an uncle of ours who lived with us that organised a group of young men to search for the two thugs that had raped me. But of course they had long gone and could not be found.

My Dad when he came home wanted to report the incident to the Police but our relatives advised him against it. Their argument was that it would cause embarrassment to the family

and also put a stigma on me.

“This child will grow up one day and marry. What suitor will be happy to hear that his bride was a victim of rape?” they pointed out. So, based on that, the matter was buried. But that incident left me with a lot of emotional and psychological scars which I believe never healed.

Worse still, the rape resulted in pregnancy which caused more problems in our family. My Dad started blaming my Mum for what happened to me, that she abandoned her responsibilities as a mother to face her ‘stupid business’ as he put it.

“I try to make enough money so you won’t have to work, so you can stay home and look after these children. But what do you do? The minute my back is turned, you start running all over town selling your stupid fabrics, neglecting my children! See the result now! Vickie is now pregnant at her age! 15 years old and she’s already going to be a mother, when she’s not married!” he stated, fuming.

“But dear, it’s wrong for you to blame me for what happened to her! I only sent her on a simple errand and she took the wrong road..” my mother said, defending herself.

But my Dad was not in the mood to listen to her, insisting that my pregnancy was her problem and she should look for a solution.

“You caused all this mess. So, clean it up!” he stated before marching out of the house in anger.

What my mother did was what any caring mother in a similar situation would do- she took good care of me, assuring me that as long as she lived, the unborn child and I would not suffer.

“Gina, my child, what has happened can’t be undone. We just have to move on and cope the best we can,” she said philosophically.

And she kept to her words. When the pregnancy started showing, I had to drop out of school and remained at home. She took me to the hospital for antenatal care, ensured I ate the right foods, took my drugs and had enough rest. She was wonderful. Unlike my Dad who made it clear I was no longer welcome in his house and wanted me out.

His attitude got worse after the baby, a girl was born. Whenever he was home and the baby cried, he would complain of the noise or some other thing. It got to a stage that he gave my mother an ultimatum: it was either I left the house with the ‘little brat’ as he called my daughter or he would no longer visit home to see the family from his base.

My mother ignored his words and I remained in the house. That was until one day, he came on one of his visits a few weeks later when my baby was a few months old. I was in the sitting room feeding the baby when he arrived. I greeted him but he ignored me and went straight to his bedroom. Shortly after, he came out and seeing my mother said:

“So, this child and her brat are still here, in my house! I thought I left specific instructions that they should both leave before my return! So, what are they still doing here?”

“Of course, she’s still here! Where do you want her to go? She’s just 15, for God’s sake!” my mother countered.

“Thank God, you remember her age, that she is 15. Ask yourself this: how many young girls of her age do you see around having babies? While her mates are in school studying to better their lives, she’s here playing baby nurse! This is what your negligence has caused,” said my Dad.

“Dear, this is not the time for that now. Whatever has happened, she’s still our daughter. We can’t throw her out because of something that was not her fault,” my mother stated.

“Ok. It’s now my fault. Instead of owning up to your mistakes, that you did not play your motherly role properly, you are here sprouting rubbish. Anyway, I don’t have time for all this. Since you have bluntly refused to obey my orders in this house, I will leave the house for you so you can enjoy your new born ‘brat’,” he stated before leaving.

My Dad refused to return home for nearly six months after that. To avoid the situation deteriorating further and affecting my parents’ marriage, my maternal grandmother suggested I should come to stay with her until things calmed down. So, that was how I ended up moving to the village to live with my Grandma. It was while there that I completed my secondary school education and also met the man who will become my first husband…

To be continued

Names have been changed to protect the narrator’s identity and other individuals in the story

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BANGLES are not new fads. They have been around for a very long time. There are many pieces  and what most people do is to pick out  bangles that fit and blend with their outfits. They are the perfect accessories for all occasions and times. Bangles are simple and yet so very glamorous.

They are so sassy at the moment that they are worn on all kinds of attire. They are the hottest news trend of the season. Trendy bangles are everywhere. With a unique bangle, you can dress up or down for a day at the beach, office or for a night out in town. Bangles are getting more stylish. From small thinning to big, round curve bangles, some are plain, while others are studded and embroidered with exotic stones and beads. When any of these fashion items is wrapped worn or on the wrist, it jazzes up one’s look.

From the Jos refugee camp of North East residents displaced by the Boko Haram sect, YUSUFU AMINU IDEGU writes on the pains and agony of families whose members are now divided between Nigeria and Cameroun.

JOS, the Plateau State capital, is one of the cities that has come under pressure from refugees that are fleeing from the enclave of the Boko Haram sect in the North East. Among the more than 2,000 displaced persons currently taking refuge in Jos is 75-year-old Elder Joel Maina whose words summarised the situation that forced the refugees to flee their homes in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.

Maina said: “What is going on in North Eastern Nigeria between the Boko Haram sect and the Federal Government is a replay of the Nigerian civil war between the Biafran soldiers and the Nigerian government. Both the Biafran war and the Boko Haram insurgency are fights for territorial control.”

The result of the sect’s quest for a territory in the North has been a monumental humanitarian crisis. Thousands of residents of Gwoza, Mubi, Michika and other communities in the North East have fled their homes to whichever part of Nigeria they think they can have peace. The residents of the affected communities have conceded them to the terrorist sect and fled.

As a matter of fact, several hundreds of the displaced persons are taking refuge in Cameroun while thousands of others are taking refuge in Jos, Bauchi, Abuja, Taraba and Kaduna states.

A visit to the refugee camps in Jos could force tears to roll down the cheeks of the visitor. In Zang Secondary School, Jos, for instance, there are more than 700 displaced persons, mostly women and children. And the camp swells by the day. At the last count, there were no fewer than 132 families from the troubled zone. They are mostly Christians as the Muslims among them were said to prefer to run to Abuja.

But the most pathetic plight of the displaced persons is that the families are scattered. You could find half the members of a family in Jos while the other half is holed up in Cameroun. There is the case of a couple who got married just two months before the Boko Haram sect invaded Madagali in Adamawa State and took over the town.

The husband, named Markus Kukuda, said: “It was only by the grace of God that I managed to escape and find myself here in Jos. I got married just two months ago. I left home for work when the Boko Haram came, so I could not go home. My wife, who was at home that time, had to join those who fled to Cameroon, she is now in a refugee camp in Cameroon while I am in here in Jos. We do communicate on the phone, so I know she is alive and she knows I am alive. I have hope that one day, I will meet my wife”

Narrating how he got to Jos, Kukuda said: “When Boko Haram invaded Madagali village and everyone had to run for his life. we ran to Minchika. The next day, Boko Haram stormed Minchika town and we ran from Minchika to Mubi. Boko Haram again arrived Mubi and we ran further to Yola. There was serious tension in Yola and heavy speculation that the sect would soon be in Yola. That was why we ran from Yola to Jos. It is only in Jos here we are able to find peace and we can now sleep.

“My appeal to the government of Adamawa State and the Federal Government is that we need help and protection. They should know that there is serious problem in the northern region. Unfortunately, we have wealthy people in the north but they don’t seem to care for poor people like us.

“It is poor people that are suffering in the hands of Boko Haram. The wealthy ones abandoned us and they now reside in Abuja. We need help from anywhere at all. We need help from Nigerians. Our desire is to return home with our families if our safety is guaranteed.

A teenager, Blessing Zachariah, one the people taking refuge in a school in Jos, said: “I came from Mubi in Adamawa State. The Boko Haram sect came to attack Mubi and we ran to Cameroon on foot. We ran Cameroun together with some Nigerian soldiers, but the soldiers later found their way back to Nigerian and abandoned us there in the bush. There was no food, and because we were in foreign land, we could not go out to look for food.

“So, in Cameroon, we lacked food and there was nowhere to sleep. We were sleeping in the bush without food. So we ran back to Yola after two weeks in the bush but we heard that Boko Haram was coming to attack Yola. So my mother suggested that we should run to Taraba State. From Taraba we decided to come to Jos. That was how we came here. I am here with my mother and two sisters, but my father and my younger brother are still in Cameroon.

“Originally, we were attacked in Gwoza, Borno State. We lost our house in Gwoza and everything we had. We came to Mubi with nothing, hoping that Mubi would be safe. But the Boko Haram people attack us again in Mubi. I am comfortable in this camp but I want to go back home, and our home is not safe. We want government to help us. They should protect us to live in our houses in Mubi.”

Fourteen-year-old Victor Samson recalled that he ran with his parents from Maraba, Mubi in Adamawa State.

He said: “Our house was burnt down by Boko Haram. We ran to the police station in Mubi but we had to run away from there because the police ran away and left us. So, we ran away from Mubi and we finally arrived in Jos two weeks ago.”

Another victim, Hajaratu Michael, from Takasala village in Gwoza, Borno State, said: “We were lucky to escape. We first ran to Yola. From Yola, we came to Jos. But many of our neighbours were killed by Boko Haram. All our houses were burnt down by the attackers. We were only lucky to be alive today.

“Our appeal to the government is that it should protect us. We are not asking government to feed us. They should provide us security so that we can go about our normal businesses. All we need is peace.”

Mary Joshua managed to escape from Gwoza by scaling the fence of her house. The closest place they could run to was Cameroun. She climbed the Gwoza Mountain and crossed over to Cameroun. For the one month they stayed in Cameroun, they could not move around to look for food.

“We were driven by hunger from Cameroun back to Mubi. We spent one full week trekking from Cameroun to Mubi. But Mubi was not safe so we proceeded to Yola. But when there were rumours that the insurgents would storm Yola, we fled to Jos.

“In Jos here, we are living at the mercy of Plateau people. They are helping us with food. So, our cry to government is to secure our homes in Gwoza so that we can return home soon,” she said.

In spite of the hardship they face in camp, the displaced persons are taking solace in the fact that they are alive.

“We know we are suffering at the camp but we are not so worried because we are alive. Many of our people have been killed, but since we are alive, we have the hope that we will return to our homes one day,” said Mr Paul Duma who escaped to Jos with all his five children and wife.

In Jos, majority of the displaced persons are being hosted by a non-governmental organisation known as Stefanos Foundation. The Foundation is a human rights, advocacy, relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction organisation working to help victims of the continuous violence in Northern Nigeria.

Stefano is a registered NGO and has been working in the field since 2002. The organisation says it is in touch with the victims who it has come to realise comprise mainly of ethnic minorities

The Jos-based NGO said: “Over 700 natives of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states from 132 families are currently taking refuge in Jos, the Plateau State capital after being rendered homeless by Boko Haram in the North East. The home town of the displaced families had earlier been taken over by Boko Haram and declared Islamic territories by the insurgents. Most of those in camps in Jos are from Gwoza, Mubi, Uba, Michika and Yola.”

The programme coordinator of the NGO, Mark Lipdo, noted that many of the IDPs have horrifying experiences of how they managed to escape from their homes and farms.

Many of the IDPs had to escape from their farms without the privilege of returning home when they learnt their towns had been taken over by insurgents.

From August 2014, many displaced persons began to migrate down to Jos in trickles and were accommodated in private homes. But there came a time that they became too many to be accommodated, hence the organisation began a search for a property that can be used to establish an IDP camp. The Zang Commercial Secondary School hostel was secured and while still effecting repairs on the property, displaced persons have been arriving in their numbers.

The camp is intended to be a transit camp as the organisation does not have resources to keep the people for long. The needs of the camp include mattresses, mosquito nets, toiletries, food, medicine and water supply. So far, over 130 families have arrived the camp. Many of them are coming in and some reintegrating into the society with their friends and relatives.

Lipdo said: “A few women gave birth in the bush while looking for ways to escape the horror. A lot of them are beginning to ask if government still regards them as Nigerians, especially as the Federal Government is quick to respond to conflicts in other countries but is seemingly unable to curb the insurgency in few states within its domain”

The NGO therefore called on relevant government agencies to heed the cries of victims of Boko Haram attacks as security and welfare of citizens are the primary responsibilities of government.

“We appeal to relevant authorities, agencies, spirited individuals and organisations to reach out to these victims for help in their bid to resettle and start life afresh,” Lipdo said.

In another camp at EYN Church Jos, hundreds of women sleep in the church auditorium. The Church of the Brethren in Nigeria, also known as EYN, claims it has member strength of over five million and that the church is the worst affected by the Boko Haram insurgency in the North East.

Addressing newsmen in the church, President of the church, Rev. Dr. Samuel Dali, said: “Available information from the church shows that losses suffered by the church includes 700, 000 members of the church, mostly women and children, have been displaced and now scattered in places like Jos, Abuja, Kaduna and Yola.

“Over 8,000 members have been murdered or killed by the Boko Haram insurgents. About 270 churches have been destroyed completely by the insurgents and 45 out of the 50 District Church Councils (DCC) have been affected.”

MAKE-UP can sometimes be a hassle, especially if you don’t know what products to use or how to use them. There are certain things that you should keep in mind while applying make-up. Knowing how much to use and what colours you want to wear is the first step in application. Below are basic make-up tips every woman should know to give the impression of being best always.

* Apply eye shadow before you put on your foundation.

A lot of people wonder about how to apply eye shadow. Putting on eye shadow after foundation can only lead to problems. Flecks from the shadow can fall onto your face, making it impossible to remove it without wiping off some of the foundation just applied. By applying eye shadow first, if any falls onto your face, you can swipe it off very easily with make-up remover.

Already applied foundation and in a dilemma? Here is a make-up trick: Grab a piece of scotch tape and gently press it onto the area where flecks are visible. The tape will clean up any excess shadow.

* Apply foundation colour that is closest to your skin tone.

Some people make the mistake of purchasing a foundation with a face full of make-up which does not help the consultant find your perfect shade. Next time you head to the make-up counter, be sure to go all natural. To attain the perfect shade that is best for you, test the foundation on your jaw line. This will give you the most accurate match for your skin tone. Apply it with a brush or a sponge and never with your fingers as a lot of products get wasted on your hands and also it would not be too hygienic.

* Never skip applying a loose/pressed powder after applying a liquid foundation.

No one likes to look like a shiny mess, especially if you are attending a social event or working in an eight- hour shift. Too many women forget to apply a powder to seal their make-up. The result? A melting face you could have prevented, if you didn’t skip that one simple little step.

* Get rid of mascara that is three months old.

Every time you open a tube of mascara, airborne bacteria clings onto the wand. The tube also acts as a breeding ground for bacteria. Toss out mascara that has been open for three months or longer.

* Do not go to sleep with your make-up on

Sleeping with make-up on is bad for your skin as pores can get clogge., Your skin won’t breathe and you can wake up the next morning with a face full of zits. Next time you plan on spending a long night out, keep make-up remover wipes handy at your bedside.

The life we live can be a thriller. I have seen a few movies where people get caught up in love triangle when they should actually be watching their friends’  interest. Truth is half the time; these individuals never really set to hurt their friends. However, there are far too such experiences that nothing that the person involved says that justifies his or her action as the case may be.

Enough of the preamble, and let me get down to some real life thrillers that seem to have turned into betrayal stories depending on how you see it. This actually happened years ago to a friend of mine, Bisi. So when Rotimi came asking me my opinion on what is happening in his life currently, it all just brought back that memory.

Bisi was this girl that wasn’t in a relationship at that time. She went out and met this guy. I can’t remember how they met now. It’s been quite a long time now and what I hate is not to keep it real (making up stories just to fill some space) with you, my esteemed readers. So she went out and met this guy, Akeem. And they went on a date somewhere in Ikeja. From how she gave me the gist when she got back I could tell there wasn’t any chemistry between them. There wasn’t from the first time and not even the first date changed that feeling. But there was going to be another date. This time, it wasn’t a date like date. Akeem’s friend was returning into the country from the UK and he invited her over to meet him, so they could both pick him up from the airport. And she asked me to come with her and I obliged her. Akeem was excited to have me around. It was later I knew why. Immediately we picked up his friend, Tunde, you know, they made this eye contact and he was trying to hook me up with his friend without asking me. Anyways, we went to this restaurant in GRA, Ikeja, so Tunde could eat something before dropping him off at his house, somewhere in Omole. And then he dropped  us, Bisi and I, off too.

At the restaurant, I noticed Tunde kept stealing a look at Bisi to the point that even his friend noticed that he wasn’t interested in building a friendship with me. I wasn’t interested in meeting him either, so the feeling was mutual. More so, I wasn’t prepared for a blind date.  I didn’t know how Tunde got Bisi’s number and then called her the following day. Bisi was so stunned that she quickly came to where I was and said to me : “Guess what? Tunde, Akeem’s friend, just called me and said he wanted to see me and that it was important. I knew immediately where all that was going . Somehow, he had this thing about me. Bisi invited him over. She was probably curious. He came, picked her up and they drove off. After she came back, she said: “Girl, honestly I don’t know how Akeem is going to take this, but I’m down with Tunde.” I wasn’t listening to her. All I wanted to know was how he got her number. Then, Bisi said, “Yes I asked him and he was honest. He said he stole my number from Akeem’s phone”.

Like I thought, the weeks that followed Akeem soon discovered that Bisi was completely out of his reach. Nothing had started between Akeem and my friend anyway, but Akeem thought he was in a good air space with her and was looking to having a great relationship with her, but all that was ruined with Tunde’s returning from the UK. He felt bad. He spoke to me about how he felt betrayed by both of them. It took another friend of theirs to wade into the matter before both guys could push the issue aside and try to get along. At some point, Akeem just had to come to terms with it, especially when he was constantly reminded that they had not been intimate, if you know what I mean. But no matter what we, the mediators, said to Akeem because it got to a point we all had to come together to him. Tunde was a girlfriend snatcher and committed an act of  betrayal. But is he really guilty of betrayal? Personal opinion, no! But to some people, betrayal doesn’t get worse than that. The only bit that I didn’t like was him stealing the number from Akeem. He could have simply asked Bisi that day at the restaurant or wait for another opportunity to ask her because truth is Bisi would not have dated Akeem, even if Tunde didn’t come and ruin it for his friend. We had talked about him and he wasn’t a candidate. And don’t get it wrong. They were both accomplished in their fields. There wasn’t just the chemistry with Akeem.

Not everything they call betrayal is actually betrayal in the real sense of it. But I realise we are too quick to judge. How difficult it must be for celebrities.

This acquaintance of mine, who has been through several failed relationships and has become very aggressive, went on her first date exactly a year and three months after her last relationship. And then she went on this date with a guy she just met and  she said she wanted a relationship that would lead to marriage. She was just going about it all too soon and telling him how she had become paranoid and lost trust in relationship. After their first date, the guy was no longer calling her or returning her text messages. But after a lot of pressure from her, he decided to show up again, and this time, it was at work. Coincidentally, he saw a friend and colleague of hers who he recognized. She recognized him too and they exchanged pleasantries. She saw them talking and came to join them. Meanwhile, she had told her friend and colleague about the same guy, how they met and how the guy wasn’t showing interest in her. After the guy left their office, he called up the other girl and they hit it off. The guy showed up at the office to pick his new girlfriend and she was alarmed . She walked up to him and asked what he was doing . . And the guy reminded her that he hadn’t been calling or picking her calls so obviously he wasn’t looking for her. Then, when her friend and colleague came out, she screamed betrayal. To me that’s not betrayal.

In the first place, you are paranoid You need not to go on a date because it is expected the guy who is coming to you will not be able to deal with your situation and will eventually take a walk. The only thing here is that the next girl who he moves on with happens to be your friend; it would have been someone else.

Snatching would be that you and your guy are good. You have a great relationship and you girlfriend goes behind to probably backbite you and then spoil your relationship whether she takes him over or not she just betrayed you.

I have written two pages of Microsoft document before I realized I was going to talk about Rotimi. Yes, Rotimi got introduced to Funmi. They’ve been talking, but they’ve never met physically. Funmi then decided that since her friend, Kemi, was travelling to Abuja where Rotimi is based that she decided to call him to host her friend. Funmi actually told Kemi while she was already in Abuja that she had this friend Rotimi and that he would host her and make  her enjoy her stay in Abuja. She didn’t spell out the kind of friendship that was between them. She just said friend. But after Kemi and Rotimi met Funmi, then called Kemi to ask her how their outing went. And it was at that point that she then asked Kemi her opinion of Rotimi and told her the real reason she wanted her to meet him was because she wanted her to tell her the kind of person he was. Wow! But guess what? When Rotimi and Kemi met, they just got attracted to each other. Perhaps, it was the alcohol too. That very day, they ended up in his house and they made love. Somehow he had been showing that he truly cared about Kemi and it’s not just the sex that was binding them together. He has since stopped talking to Funmi because, according to him, from their conversation, he already knew he would never get to see her. And he was not looking at having a relationship with her anymore.

So when Funmi called Kemi the day after she met with Rotimi about their outing, Kemi was just being honest with her about who she thought he was, but then she couldn’t tell her what happened.

What happened between Kemi and Rotimi happened ‘so fast’. It was not until morning that they actually had time to talk about the relationship between Rotimi and Funmi but Rotimi insisted, he knew what he was doing. Kemi likes him though but she’s about to spill the beans.  She wants to open up to her friend. They’ve both agreed to announce the news to Funmi.

Rotimi reached out to me. He wants to know if he just betrayed Funmi even though he doesn’t feel he has. What will happen, if Funmi gets to find out? Would it be a good idea, if they should tell her? Did Kemi just betray her friend?

I know some people are going to wonder why I’m pushing the baton to Kemi. It’s simply because she’s the one who will receive all the blame for what happened should Funmi find out. She’s the one that will be called names.