AND IT'S AS IF NIGERIA HAS NO KING : Nigerian Government indicts politicians for creating Boko Haram, but punishes no one ... SEE GOVT WHITE PAPER HERE

A federal government White Paper on Boko Haram- the government’s first official report on the sect since it began a deadly uprising in 2009- has indicted “prominent” Borno state politicians as the group’s founders, with a directive they be brought to justice-a decision left unimplemented nearly two years after. The report, published in government’s official gazette since 2011, says Boko Haram evolved from private militias run by key politicians from the northeast state, who sought to outflank opponents ahead of 2003 elections. For several months or maybe years ahead of the polls, the groups, under titles as ECOMOG, Yan Kalare in Gombe, and Sara Suka in Bauchi, amassed huge cache of weapons made available by the political leaders in a broad effort that stretched to adjoining Yobe, Gombe and Bauchi states, the report states.

After the elections, the youth, still armed, but discarded by their sponsors-a well-known electioneering habit for most Nigerian politicians- became easy preys for a radical brand of Islam preached at the time by Mohammed Yusuf, the sect’s leader. The findings fairly agreed with popular version of how the deadly sect, responsible for thousands of deaths, rose to a notorious prominence. As government’s official position, delivered between August and September 2011, the investigative panel headed by Usman Galtimari, a former ambassador, proposed that security agencies be mandated to “beam their search light on some politicians who sponsored, funded and used the militia groups that later metamorphosed into Boko Haram and bring them to justice.”

The recommendation was approved by the government as stated in the White Paper exclusively obtained by PREMIUM TIMES. The White Paper committee was chaired by the Interior minister, Abba Moro. “Government accepts this recommendation, and directs the National Security Adviser to coordinate the investigation of the kingpins and sponsors to unravel the individuals and groups that are involved,” the report says. But nearly two years on, amid escalating violence waged by the sect, no political leader from the state has faced sanctions as recommended.

Prominent politicians
Despite its vague reference to “prominent politicians” as the sponsors and originators in the state as of 2003, security officials say the recommended “searchlight” stated in the White Paper, would have been on the state’s former governor, Ali Modu Sherriff, as well as state and federal lawmakers, if the government had chosen to act. The arrest and prosecution of Mr. Sheriff, now a Senator, alleged by Borno residents and officials as the founder and sponsor of ECOMOG for his 2003 gubernatorial election, has also been a major demand of the Boko Haram in earlier statements when the group still seemed willing for an amnesty. What would seem a partial effort at executing the decision is the court charge against Mohammed Ali Ndume, a House of Representative member in 2003 and now a senator. Mr. Ndume is accused of having operational links with members of the sect, allegedly established through telephone contacts.

Mr. Ndume, himself a member of the government committee that investigated the insurgency, has denied the charge, in a running legal battle that has already spanned more than a year. Similar decisions adopted in the report, including a commitment to authorize military investigation into alleged atrocities committed by government troops in Borno state, have also yet to be implemented, security sources informed about the progress, say. While the government adopted nearly all of 109 recommendations outlined in the report, it flatly rejected proposals to compensate victims of Boko Haram attacks, offering instead to “assist” them. It also turned down a suggestion to have the sect’s detainees transferred from Abuja cells to Borno state as a prelude to possible talks in 2011. The government said while it agreed to possible dialogue with the group, its approach would be from “a position of strength” whereby security forces will continue to take charge, trying to root out elements of the sect.

How Boko Haram grew
But despite the government’s eventual decision and an apparent dismal implementation of the recommendations, the report chronicled how a little-known group, which appeared harmless at start, metamorphosed into a world class, modern day terror organization years after. The report says if the sect’s leader, Mohammed Yusuf’s rapid momentum at first, could have been reversed early enough, Nigerian courts did not help by discharging Mr. Yusuf repeatedly on initial state charges of disrupting the peace. Mr. Yusuf was charged more than once in Abuja, and was repeatedly he was acquitted. On each occasion, the report states, he returned to a hero’s welcome in Borno state, projecting an air of invincibility and drawing even more members who relished his legal exploits, to his fold.

“The discharge of Mohammed Yusuf on two occasions by an Abuja court made a hero out of him, as the reception accorded him upon his return to Maiduguri, attracted a mammoth crowd that temporarily undermined state authority, and served as an avenue for him to attract additional membership into the sect,” the report says. Again, the report says, while Yusuf continued with his fundamentalist sermons that electrified his followers, the government only attempted a forcible crackdown; without seeking to comprehend, and contradict the group’s belligerent ideology. The report briefly accused the late President Umaru Yar’Adua for failing to institute proper investigation into the extrajudicial killing of Mr. Yusuf by the police, a fatal twist, which the report acknowledges, became the turning point for increased attacks that have failed to abate since 2009.

OBASANJO STILL STANDS TALL ABOVE THEM ALL :Leave Former Ministers Alone, Probe Me Instead, Obasanjo Challenges Jonathan

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has criticised the establishment of an agency to protect oil pipelines and described it as corruption in governance.

The former president also said he is ready for a probe of his eight-year administration instead of the present administration descending on his cabinet ministers.
Mr Obasanjo, who made the criticism at the 50th birthday thanksgiving of former minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili in Abuja, said he is ready to account for his stewardship.
He said if the present government finds anything wrong with his administration, he would bear the responsibility.
The former President was reacting to the recent moves to probe Mrs Ezekwesili by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and challenge thrown to the former World Bank VP by the presidency to account for her tenure as Minister of Education.
He said, “I have always said this, whatever you want to blame in my government, blame me, don’t blame any of those people who assisted me. If there is any credit to dispense we share it.
“But for anything you want to say is wrong, I was the one in charge and I was in charge.”

STILL ON THAT STELLA DAMASUS MARRIAGE : Stella Damasus did not ruin Doris and Daniel Ademinokan’s marriage – New Findings ... READ MAIL SENT TO STELLA DIMOKOKORKUS HERE

In a mail titled ”Revelation about Daniel and Doris” and sent to popular celebrity blogger Stella Dimokokorkus, new facts reveal that Stella Damasus did not exactly ruin Doris Simeon and Daniel Ademinokan’s marriage as some blogs initially reported.
Read the mail below:
Hello,
I have stood by in the last couple of days to see this drama about Stella Damasus and Daniel Ademinokan unfold. I have read countless blogs, reviews and comments from all over the world and I have come to the conclusion that people have no clue what they are talking about.
I LIVED WITH DANIEL AND DORIS FOR ABOUT 4 YEARS SO I CAN TELL YOU FACTS! Not hear say or assumptions. I will even mention names that can be verified.
Let us not be distracted by this stunt that uncle Daniel just pulled with the party and the gift. Let us focus on the root of this matter. When we know the foundation, we will know how to direct our anger and “insults”.

I lived with Daniel & Doris because my sister was close friends with aunty Doris and at that time I needed accommodation in Lagos because my parents were based in the south south part of Nigeria. I lived with them when they were still on Salami Street in Mende, Maryland, Lagos and even when they moved to their Idowu Akindele Crescent residence in Magodo GRA, Lagos.
Daniel was a good man and the perfect husband to Doris and he made her feel special in every way. He always spoke to her nicely and was quick to defend her in many ways. He supported her career and was determined to make Doris rise to the top above her colleagues. He used to say that a lot and felt she deserved to be at the top. He would always say, “Dem Toyin, Funke, Dayo and co no fine pass you. Dem nor act pass you. I have to position you at the top”. He did everything in his power to put her her there. Daniel cannot come and boast to people, especially me that he single handedly financed all of Doris’ films. HE CAN’T. He was responsible for getting the finances but it was not HIS money entirely that did films like ONITEMI and OMO IYA KAN. The marketer named EPSALUM financed these films. I know that Daniel may have added about 10%-20% of his cash at some point but it was almost insignificant. The only film he did with his money for her 100% was the film ASIRI. So if he ever claims he did those films for her….quote me or ask EPSALUM.
Doris was a good wife in her own right. She supported her husband’s passion to change the industry. She encouraged him into making Yoruba films which he really didn’t want to get into. She enjoyed the fact that out of most of her colleagues, she was the one that had a STEADY home with a young and successful guy…ambitious man too. She was the minister of finance. That’s what Daniel used to call her in the house because he always gave her all the money to handle. He would bring money home an hand it ALL over to her because she was efficient in money management, unlike him who was a free giver and really had no respect or regard for money! Whether he had enough or not, he never did care so much about cash. NEVER!
For the 4 years that I lived with them, not for ONE day did I ever hear them raise their voices at each other in arguments or quarrels. You would see them come out of their bedroom sometimes with weird expressions and we would all know they just fought but you would NEVER hear Daniel raise his voice. NEVER!
One thing that the world never know was how much both families NEVER wanted them to get married. Doris’ parents didn’t like Daniel and Daniel’s mother (in particular) never liked Doris. She was against the relationship from the beginning. She is known to be a heavy prayer warrior and she said God was against the marriage from scratch but Daniel never listened to his mother.
Now, the HORRIBLE thing about Daniel is his stubbornness and hard headed nature. He never listens to people and if he believes in something, it would take a manifestation of the 10 plagues in Egypt to change his mind. He is an extremely stubborn and very determined person. Which was one thing I hated about him. Yes he is nice, loving to his family and friends but do not think for a minute that you can convince him easily to change his mind when he has already formed an opinion or decided on what he wants to do.
He went on with the marriage. His family believed that Doris trapped him with the baby but that is a big lie. I have always disagreed with his mother on that note: I respect the woman but Doris DID NOT trap Daniel with a baby. They were already living together for 3 years before David was born. So the woman should get her facts straight. Her son (I believe) wanted the child as much as Doris did.
I think along the line Uncle Daniel started to realize that in many ways he and Aunty Doris were different. Much different than he had thought. I believe Doris started to relax on several things because she felt she had her husband and he was going nowhere. He was always very expressive about his love, she was the opposite. He would run around the house and want to play love games with her but she thought that was a waste of time and energy. I personally experienced that with them on several occasions. I guess Doris was more concerned about how people perceived the relationship on the outside and not how sweet it really was on the inside. She always wanted pictures of them out there. Daniel was more concerned about making his marrige very “Oyinbo-ish” because that’s who he has always been.
At some point I started to feel that Daniel started getting tired of her excuses about being expressive with her feelings even in the house. I think it suddenly dawned on him that they were from two different worlds. Their command of English was too far apart, their ideologies were different, approach to situations, educational background, family, upbringing, etc. I believe she just stopped being his wife and turned herself into a MAMA in the house. I remember him buying her all sorts of short clothes and sexy outfits from the US. I thought they were too daring but he didn’t mind.
The marriage meltdown goes as far back as 2009. I know that I heard them talking in hush tones a few times about how sex was a problem in the marriage. I know for a fact that Daniel used to joke about it around the house but you could see he was serious in those jokes. He was always clowning about how he had to fill forms like an embassy to have sex with his wife. I know at some point it was so bad that for almost 6 months they didn’t do anything. One thing I can tell you for a fact is that in the course of their marriage, Daniel never cheated on Doris. This was a known fact and EVERYONE knew how crazy he was about his wife but really….is lack of sex enough to ruin a marriage?
Some people Daniel confided in where his bosom friend ALEX EFFIONG who was there when Daniel and Doris hooked up originally. I know I overheard Daniel and Alex talking about it in the editing studio at the BQ in Magodo. Two other people I know for a fact that Daniel confided in when he was in America where his friends BUKKY EBUN of Nollywood View and ‘LAMIDE DAVIES TALABI. You can ask them because they are on Facebook. These two people will tell you the whole story and how they tried to step in to advice. Even Bukky came to the house in Magodo at some point when she visited Nigeria. She came with KAHA the singer. That’s how I found out. He was desperate to save his marriage that’s why he took drastic steps to talk to people.
I blame Doris in some ways because she just relaxed, trusted that everything was OK and that her marriage was going to last forever. In marriage, you gotta keep working to make it good.
What annoyed Daniel the most was when he found out his wife had a shop that he didn’t even know about. He found out from outsiders and when he confronted her, she said she was trying to surprise him. That really pissed him off! He was enraged! This was when he grabbed his son and left! Daniel was a very, very patient man but I hate the way he did it. He just left!
While everyone was celebrating the happy lives these people shared, the marriage was already over!! They were just patching things up! They kept holding on because of “What people would say”.
Doris also messed up in certain ways because she could not fight to keep her man. She was too comfortable and never imagined that Daniel would get frustrated and leave. Not in this lifetime. I could see it in his eyes everyday that he was just tired of struggling to make it all work.
Look for people like ALIU SHORINMADE who was his personal assistant for 5 years. These were the people who knew Daniel very well and how he avoided women like a plague. Let them tell you facts. Let them tell you truths. Stella Damasus did not break up Doris Simeon’s home. That home was scattered long before Stella came into the picture. I believe Daniel got the attention that he craved so much at home in someone he considered a friend and sparks flew.
When i read that Daniel moved to Abuja and was being taken care of by a woman, I laughed because the people saying this have no idea who Daniel is. He is so arrogant in certain ways that he would rather die of hunger than take a dime from any woman. HE IS THAT KIND OF MAN! He will be too embarrassed to take a dime from any woman. The dude is a workaholic….I give that to him. Films, Fashion, Documentaries, Writing, Photography, Music, Publishing, Visual Effects, name it! He is a master at them all.
There is so much I know and if all these names I mentioned here deny anything…they are lying! I can open a big can of worms!
Look for ALIU and ask him to tell you about the girl BLESSING that DORIS brought into their house that stayed for almost 3 years. Daniel sent her away from the house over 4 times and Doris kept bringing her back. Why? Nobody knows! Can never be explained! He NEVER WANTED THE GIRL IN THE HOUSE but she kept bringing her back. We know that at some point Daniel discovered that this girl was sexually abusing Daniel’s son DAVID! WHAT DID DORIS DO ABOUT IT???
If all the parties involved think I am lying, let them confront me! Let them deny it! Daniel cannot deny it! Doris cannot Deny it! Aliu cannot deny it! They know the truth!! There is a girl called SUNMISOLA that used to visit the house some weekends then. She was close to Doris…find out and ASK HER TOO!
All I can say is that Daniel and Doris deceived EVERYONE for a long time about how good the marriage was even when everything was BITTER and SOUR! So those hating on Stella are really wasting their time because STELLA DAMASUS DID NOT RUIN DORIS’ MARRIAGE. Daniel and Doris know what scattered them that led to their divorce in 2011. If any of them claim I’m lying, let them challenge me.
I am … JMK.

BAGA ON MY MIND, NOW THAT THE WORMS ARE CREEPING OUT OF DECAYING MATTER : Baga Death Toll Rises; Senator Discovers 228 Fresh Graves, 4,000 Burnt Houses

Senator Maina Ma’aji Lawan, representing Borno North Senatorial District, declared that his two-day visit to the border town revealed 228 fresh graves, 4,000 houses leveled, contrary to earlier reports of 185 deaths and destruction of over 2,000 houses following a clash between Boko Haram gunmen and men of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTC) at Baga, Borno State.
Lawan made the “declaration and assessment” of the Baga carnage, Saturday.
According to him, despite the widely reported carnage and destruction of Baga, there was much more to the reports on the total number of people killed and houses destroyed in the fishing and commercial town.
The reality of the clash on ground, he disclosed, is very much higher than the 185 lives lost and the destruction of 2,000 houses, 62 vehicles and 284 motorcycles reported. Instead, the senator said: “During my two-day on-the-spot visit to Baga, what I saw was very frightening and sad to report and comment further, as many more lives and properties were destroyed in the two-day carnage. The houses leveled or torched run for a distance of three-four kilometers of township settlements.
“I drove through the charred remains and counted no fewer than 4,000 houses of innocent residents destroyed in the fight between the Boko Haram sect and soldiers of Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF).

 

“The magnitude of the carnage has overwhelmed me, as the number of and level at which the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Nigerian Red Cross (NRC), the JNL, Izala and other humanitarian agencies in Baga town are carrying out their humanitarian activities is grossly inadequate to meet the food, health and housing requirements of victims that are still sleeping in the open air. Even, NEMA, as at last Friday, had only two tents to cope with tens of hundreds of displaced victims.”
Lawan said the death toll was more than what was widely reported: “I personally visited all the four grave sites before arriving at the exact number of residents killed in the destruction of Baga town.
“At the Wayah graveyard, I counted 130 fresh graves, while at the Arewa cemetery, 60 people were buried by their relations. The Magumeri grave yard also gave me a total of 60 fresh graves. These bring to a total of 228 people massacred and buried in Baga by their surviving relations last week.
“Inside the town, the community leader furnished me with a total of eight graves in which some of the victims killed in the Tuesday and Wednesday clash between the Boko Haram insurgents and soldiers.”
Lawan therefore called on humanitarian agencies and philanthropists to act swiftly to “intervene and assist” the surviving Baga victims with food, shelter, medical services and drugs, and shelter by setting up more resettlement camps and water points, as against NEMA’s two tents.

REVEALED : At last, Nollywood Actor Chidi Mokeme steps out with wife (SEE PHOTO OF COUPLE)

Mokeme and wife

Nollywood actor, Chidi Mokeme attracted quite an enormous amount of attention at the opening of Pastor Paul Adefarasin’s Rock Cathedral in Lagos. This, however, was not on account of his famous face. Instead, all eyes were on his wife, Jean, who was beside him while the event lasted.

Ever since the couple tied the knots last year, Chidi had been attending functions alone while his United States of America-based wife was nowhere to be found until now.

EXTRAORDINARY KIND OF BUSINESS : Baby factory business

It was not something Abia was known for and it definitely was not a business venture. But today, child trafficking has become a big time business and a steady source of survival.
It is no longer news that the baby trade industry thrives in every nook and cranny of Abia communities and the adjoining states.
Many residents know the traders, where they operate, but watch helplessly.  No thanks to dwindling sense of values, the society is gradually drifting back to the slave trade era when those who cannot fend for their many children, sold some and use the proceeds to cater for the others.
How it started
The good book says that children are blessings from the Lord, but in some parts of the South East and the South South, children have become wares from the factory, and only those with good money can purchase them. This is an apt description of what goes on in Abia state. What has become popularly known as “baby factory” came to the open in the state in 2006, when one Ben Ezinma, the Programme Manager of a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in the state, Child Rights Network (CHIRN), drew the attention of the state government to the sale of babies by some unscrupulous persons, motherless babies homes and orphanages in the state.
Ezinma said then, that the privately owned homes were channels for child trafficking and slavery in the state and urged the government to investigate the process of child adoption, because it had been grossly abused. He described what went on then as, “neo-trafficking” in the name of adoption, adding that the price of a child was as high as N200,000 depending on the sex or state of health of the baby.
Before the child trade boom, dumping of children was commonplace and people with dubious business sense, realizing that the dumped children could be source of joy for childless couples, exploited the situation to make money. Consequently, organized baby racketeering drastically reduced child-dumping cases. Initially, it was not seen as illegal because some ‘smart’ people just set up homes where young girls with unwanted pregnancies came to give birth, gave up their babies and returned home to their parents as if nothing had happened. The new babies were later sold to those in need. Thus, many people set up child trade outlets and anyone with enough money walked in and smiled home with a baby of his or her choice.
Disturbing statistics
In 2007, 19 girls were rescued from a cartel that operated between Aba and Port Harcourt in Rivers state and in 2008, 13 girls were rescued from 80-year-old Grace Erondu. Another 14 girls were rescued from Divine Mercy and Childcare Home at 2, Nwankpe Street, Aba, managed by Felicia Ebe in 2008, and 42 others rescued from Nma Child Care/Charity Centre.
Then in 2008, seven pregnant girls were rescued in Enugu. In 2009, over six baby factories were sealed with hundreds of pregnant young girls released. In January and March 2010, 40 and 37 girls were rescued respectively in Abia. In April 2013, 20 pregnant girls were found in a home in Anambra state. The list is endless.
Reactions to a wild fire
Ezinma who is also president of Civil Society Coalition Against Human Trafficking and sale of babies in Nigeria (SCAHT), said that his organization conducted a survey on baby factories in 2006, in Abia state and likened what it discovered to a wild fire.
“They operated without regulations as it was an all-comers affair. It was at this point that government and some relevant agencies became interested in the matter. We wrote petitions after which some organizations including National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and other related matters (NAPTIP). It was at this point that government stepped in. Before this time, many did not know what was going on. It was after this period that people started hearing about closure of homes, arrests of offenders, their prosecution, etc. They invited us for series of meetings to authenticate our petitions, followed by the invitation from the state government, Ministry of Women Affairs and others, and the matter was looked into seriously and some of the outlets for this illegal activities were sealed up”, Ezinma said.
Reason for upsurge
A secondary school teacher, Mr Christian Ukandu, attributed the increase in teenage pregnancies to mass poverty.
“Poverty is the major factor causing teenage pregnancy. Most families find it difficult to feed three times daily and as a result, they lose control of their children. Peer pressure eventually lures them into social vices including unwanted pregnancy. Child trafficking is on the increase and the root cause of it is poverty. As a teacher, I have observed that teenagers become uncontrollable at a particular stage of their lives, and it takes the true concentration of parents to notice this and re-direct them, because once they are not put right at this stage, it is finished”, Ukandu said.
Before the emergence of baby factories, there were orphanages, where abandoned children or those whose parents died, were reared. The orphanages are not for young pregnant girls looking for a way out of their predicament. Today, the conventional motherless babies’ homes have lost out to baby factories.  The ‘factories’ recruit and camp pregnant young girls, mostly teenagers. They allegedly hypnotize, coerce or lure some of their victims into getting pregnant and keep them until they give birth for a ready couple waiting to buy. Unlike the motherless babies homes, the baby factories are absolutely illegal. Also, in motherless babies homes, there is a process of adoption but in baby factories, it is outright sale of babies to the highest bidder.  While baby factories do their business in clandestine manner, with the sole objective of exploiting their victims, the motherless babies homes enjoy official backing.
The way out
On the way out of the ugly trend, Ezinma said: “If you want to get these people out of business, you have to dry their source of supply, which is the teenage girls. If the source of a river dries up, the river stops flowing. If the process that makes young girls get pregnant is put in check, most of these homes will close down.
“Other problems are poverty and ignorance. Poverty must be tacked on all fronts. Some of the girls get pregnant by accident and once they find themselves in any of these homes, they are hypnotized or encouraged to stay longer and get the money they would use to start a business thereafter. In some cases, they are told to stay back and have more babies to earn more. After all, they just sit in a place, get fed and impregnated, and when they deliver, money is given to them.  So, what have they to lose?
“What we need is aggressive reproductive health education so that people will be well informed. In the beginning, the boy’s intention was not to impregnate the girl, but once it happens and the girl finds herself in that situation, the evil ones go to work. She would be lectured on the advantages of what she has done, but nobody would tell her the disadvantages”, Ezinma said.
Why the trade thrives in South East
The SCAHT president told Sunday Sun that the fear of stigmatization in the South East often pushes many pregnant girls to the baby factories.  He said: “In the South East for instance, we need cultural re-orientation to tell parents that a girl getting pregnant outside wedlock, does not make her an outcast. To the people of the South East, it is a taboo for a young girl to get pregnant when she is not married. The society will taunt her and her parents and label them irresponsible and in some places, ostracize or even fine them some huge sum of money. This makes some of the girls to bolt, in order not to bring shame to their families and in the process, fall into the hands of these baby factory owners who welcome them with open arms.
“Some parents encourage their pregnant daughters to go to those factories to avoid shame. The way the society in the South East perceives teenage pregnancy and unmarried girls is what makes them run away from home to a ‘safer ground’ and this could land them in baby factories.
But in the West for instance, if a young girl got pregnant, her parents would not chase her away. There is almost nothing as a bastard there, because all they need from the girl is to identify who is responsible for her pregnancy and once he admits, little ceremonies are performed and she moves on.”
Unenviable image
Checks by Sunday Sun revealed that the issue has become so rampant that when anyone talks about baby factory, the next place people refer to, is Abia state in particular, and the South East in general. If you talk about a missing pregnant girl, you are advised to look for her in Aba. Within this month (April) alone, the Civil Defence Corps and the Police have made startling discoveries about baby factories in the state. The Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps rescued 32 teenage girls in various stages of pregnancy from Chigemezu Care Centre in Umuzuo community in Osisioma Local Government Area of Abia state. Just last week, a pregnant mother of two who was tricked out of her matrimonial home in Imo state, to Aba in Abia state by her friend that had made arrangements for buyers of her nine-month-old pregnancy, was paraded by the Commissioner of Police, Mr Usman Tilli. The police rescued the victim, Ogechi Eberendu from Imo state, while she was being induced to deliver the baby for a waiting buyer. The police arrested five suspects including four females, for the alleged crime and hinted that they would soon be charged to court. The suspects came from Rivers, Imo and Anambra states for the purchase of the unborn child, a pointer to Abia state’s growing but unenviable image as the home of a booming illegal baby trade.
The Public Relations Officer of NSCDC, Mr Ogbonna Victor, whose organization rescued the teenage girls, said they were taken to the Ministry of Women Affairs for necessary action after interviewing them. According to him, the normal thing is that the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and other related matters (NAPTIP) would receive the girls, carry out further investigation into the matter and bring them and the suspect back for prosecution. But he stated that NAPTIP was yet to establish an office in Abia and for that reason, anything could have happened. He urged the state government to do something fast about it.
A source at the Ministry of Women Affairs said that while some of the girls who are not natives of the state had been sent back to their states, those from the state and the suspect, Mrs Nnenna Mba, were sent to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for prosecution. But Ogbonna wondered why the ministry took the girls to the police, whereas the NSCDC rescued them and arrested the suspect, adding that the Corps ought to prosecute them.
“I don’t know why they decided to send the woman to the State CID for prosecution. Maybe, it’s because the woman’s husband is a policeman. You know that NSCDC does not do magomago in any matter.  We are always straight in whatever we do”, the PRO said.
The whereabouts of the teenage pregnant girls became an issue following enquiries by a Lagos-based Non-Governmental Organization that had assured that its foreign partners would assist them. The Commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs Ugoeze Joy Alozie could not be reached for comments on the matter as at press time.
Need for legislation
Speaking to Sunday Sun on the whereabouts of the girls, Ezinma said that they could move into another baby factory. “However, the government has a role to play in this matter. The state House of Assembly should enact a law criminalizing the abandonment or chasing out of pregnant young girls by their parents and stopping people from ostracizing such girls. It will give the young girls protection and safe landing. Some of the girls are looking for a way to survive; so after having their babies, they just disappear.
“Government should ensure that it becomes a crime to ostracize, banish or reject pregnant girls, parents and families by communities. If there is such a law, people will become apprehensive when deciding on such matters. Those who impregnate girls and abandon them should also be regarded as criminals. Abia State Government should give NAPTIP an office so that they can flush out these criminals giving the state a negative image.
“The state has been stereotyped as a baby factory state. Government should encourage agencies that ought to handle this matter. This problem has gone beyond the Ministry of Women Affairs. When you talk about sale of babies, it appears light, but we are talking about human lives. The international community should do something because it has become a problem that all human beings must address. These innocent lives are sold, sometimes or most times, for destruction”, he stated.
PUNCH

STRANGER THAN FICTION : Nigerian Police arrest cow, chairs, as boy, 13, dies in Ota carnival violence

 
There was tension at the Oruba quarters in Ota, Ogun State, Saturday morning, as a 13-year-old-boy was stabbed to death during a carnival which turned violent.
Several people, including old women and men have been arrested by the Sango Ota divisional police station in connection with the incident.
There was, however, a mild drama as policemen also arrested the cow and chairs  bought for the carnival.
An eyewitness, who pleaded anonymity, said that the problem started on Friday night when Oruba youths organised a pre-carnival before the Saturday event.
Trouble started when a  street urchin in the area, accused a 13-year-old boy of stepping on his feet.
The deceased, identified  as Azeez, had hardly said a word when the urchin allegedly broke a bottle, stabbed him in the neck and ran away.
The incident brought a temporary halt to the carnival as the reveller tried to assist the injured boy who died on a bike on the way to the hospital.
Sunday Tribune gathered that the boy, who, last week, lost his younger brother, would have survived the injury but for the pieces of broken bottle that were lodged in his neck.
Policemen on Saturday morning invaded the carnival venue and arrested scores of people, including youths, women and others.
The policemen, however, created a scene when they untied the cow meant  for the carnival and took it to Sango police station, as well as plastic chairs rented for the event.
A source at Sango police station confirmed the incident and added that “some” people had been arrested in connection with the incident.
The police source, however, denied that the cow was arrested, but admitted that it was taken away from Oruba in a patrol van  to prevent further clash between youths in the area.
Efforts to get the reaction of the state police image maker , Muyiwa Adejobi, were futile as text messages sent to him were not answered just as calls  were not returned.
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