Jonathan Explodes! ‘Blame northern govs, not me for Boko Haram!’
Vanguard on March 30, 2014
PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan yesterday took a swipe at governors for accusing the Federal Government of bad leadership, asking them to stop pushing blames when they have failed on their part to provide primary and secondary education for their citizens.
Speaking in Bauchi during the North-east Zonal Rally of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Jonathan also lampooned some northern governors over insurgency in their states which he blamed on lack of education for the children and employment consequent upon which they are ready tools for terrorists.
Jonathan, who charged the governors to take charge and stop blaming their inept leadership on the Federal Government, however asked if the federal government, constitutionally responsible for the provision of tertiary education, should be in charge of primary and secondary education at the state level.
He said, “ Sometimes governors will come and say we have some issues because of bad leadership. I was governor, deputy governor before I became a governor. I spent eight years at the state level, I handled security challenges. That was the state where the first commercial kidnapping took place because of excess militancy.
More than 70 % of the state is swamp. I knew how we handled things. A governor will come and say bad leadership, bad leadership from whom? If we have security challenges, whether you call them Boko Haram or whatever, these are people who couldn’t go to primary school, who couldn’t go to secondary school and they have no hope and miscreants or criminals now recruit them and using them; if you see what they wear, they wear rags and not normal clothes; all what they put on their bodies is not worth N10, but they carry rifles and bullets that are worth more that N250, 000. Somebody gives them food to eat so that they can kill.
”You ask how did we build this army of unemployed or unemployable youth? The Federal Government does not control primary education; it does not control secondary education, and a governor has been on seat for almost eight years and we have people in that state that can’t go to primary school, that can’t go to secondary school. You say bad leadership, who is the bad leader? Is it the Federal Government? I made sure that every state has a university. That is the responsibility of the Federal Government and I have done it.
Governors must make sure that our children go to primary school, governors must make sure that our children go to secondary school. Somebody hide under the cover of politics and cannot do it in eight years or seven years plus. We still have do many children in your state that cannot go to primary school, not going to secondary school and you open your mouth to say bad leadership; is it the Federal Government or Mr. President that should come and take your children to primary schools? Federal Government by the constitution faces tertiary education. “
Earlier in his remarks, PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Muazu, who reiterated that aspirants must go to their wards, local governments and states to convince the people to vote for them, disclosed that all congresses in the 36 states and Abuja would be televised life for people to watch.
In his remarks, Vice President Namadi Sambo disclosed that all closed schools in the zone would be re- opened soon.
Also in his remarks, Chairman, PDP Board of Trustees, BoT, Chief Tony Anenih, who noted that the Jonathan-led administration has done much for the North-east, said that one good turn must deserve another when the time comes.
Confab Hiccups! The majority question and the North’s fear
Vanguard on March 30, 2014
Futile or fruitful? That’s the big question one week after the National Conference began in Abuja. In the real sense, the confab is supposed to be two weeks old having been inaugurated on March 17. But it deferred the commencement of technical session by one week. The adumbration started on March 24.. Seated in the auditorium of the National Judicial Institute, Abuja, venue of confab, were the 492 delegates drawn from various distinct groupings in the country.
For three days, Monday through Wednesday, the conference had not just some deliberations but heated debates that apparently pitted the South and North against each other. Like in an action-packed movie, there were tension-soaked scenes that characterized the three days with the Chairman of the conference, Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi (rtd), providing comic relief that reduced tensions in the hall.
Traffic hitches/administrative bottlenecks
Monday morning was simply difficult for almost all the delegates. From the threshold of the venue to getting into the hall, life was made hard for them. Time was 10 am, the rush time. There was huge security in and around the hall. And so, whether highly placed or lowly placed, everyone went through the gamut of security checks. Consequently, the human and vehicular checks prompted a serpentine queue that took members up to two hours to scale through.
After the gate screening, delegates again faced SSS checks and scanning machines at the entry point of the hall. They were also made to document their personal data. Eventually, it was Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), a delegate from the South-west who, in between proceedings which had already started inside the hall, brought the excruciating experience of his colleague-delegates outside to the knowledge of the Chairman. His submission was echoed by Comrade Isa Aremu of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), among others. They pushed for a halt to the proceedings to enable many trapped outside to join the plenary. The Chairman, Kutigi, called for a 10-minute wait.
Debate/adoption of rules
The conference had hardly got underway when Kutigi called for adoption of the rules. But Falana told the Chairman that it was unconventional to adopt the procedural rules without debating them first. With that, the debate on the rules opened.
Voting pattern
The delegates failed to reach a common ground on Order Xi (1) and (2) of the Procedure Rules of the conference which says,” All decisions of the conference at plenary and committee stage shall be reached by consensus, or in the absence of that, the Chairman shall, at his discretion, adjourn proceedings to allow for further consultations.
In case of failure to reach a resolution on the matter by consensus, it shall be decided by vote of three quarter majority.” They had successfully deliberated on all other matters on Tuesday except the voting pattern when they proceeded for lunch break. After the break, Kutigi called for the adoption of the rules. But members objected. A Federal Government delegate, Mr. Mike Ozokeheme (SAN), questioned the wisdom behind adopting an inclusive matter, forcing a debate.
While some delegates favoured the presidential proposal of reaching consensus or three quarter majority, many advocated the two-third majority, stressing that it was more conventional and reasonable.The issue stalled proceedings.
The delegates were split along North/South lines. While many northern delegates wanted decisions taken by three quarter votes when the conference is unable to decide by consensus, many from the South wanted two third.
An elder statesman from Gombe State, Ambassador Yerima Abdullahi, told Sunday Vanguard the North’s fear that inevitably led some delegates from that part of the country into asking for three quarter voting pattern. Abdullahi said: “If you analyze the membership of this conference, you have 492 outside the officials. But going a little further into the demography of this country, about 55 percent of the population is from the North, but Mr. President, in his own wisdom, decided to nominate 290 people from the South, his area and nominated only 200 from the North.
Automatically, that gives the South a serious advantage of two third majority without even any contribution from the North. And I don’t think this is what Mr. President wants. Because, if that is done, then it will not be a Nigerian decision. It will be a southern Nigerian decision which is not healthy for Nigeria. Now, I think that sanity should prevail and, therefore, in view of the practical situation on the ground, we should take the three quarter decision and stand there”.
A delegate on the platform of elder statesmen, Chief Edwin Clark, cautioned his colleagues not to further associate President Goodluck Jonathan with the 75 per cent clause, emphasizing that issues of rules and order should not stop the conference from progressing.
He said: “Consensus should be the order of the day, but where we disagree, are we going to stop this meeting? We should not allow rules or orders to stop us from proceeding. All over the world, the practice is two third majority. No one here should deceive us that, that is the mindset of Mr. President. This matter has come to an end. We should decide it. So, Mr. Chairman, let’s put Nigeria first. Whether we are talking about two third majority or 75 percent, we are all Nigerians. Let’s put it to vote if we cannot decide.”
Also speaking, another delegate from North, Alhaji Mohammed Bello, said that the issue of majority or minority does not arise.
“We have opportunity now to look at the issues and decide on which way to go. The conference is not about majority or minority. What we are talking about is consensus. Before the President thought about consensus, he must have thought about it seriously. If it is about majority or minority, we would not have been here. Let us forget about our sentiments. If we insist that people will use their numbers to intimidate others, it will cause problem in this country,” he said.
Air Commodore Idongesit Nkanga, a delegate from the South-south, lent a voice to the debate saying two third majority was the answer.
He said: “We were here when the President spoke to us. He said the interest of the conference is Nigeria, not your tribe. The President said we are re-launching Nigeria. We want two third so that we can move along.”
Another delegate on the platform of retired state security and NIA officers, Chief Jerry Okwuonu, challenged the confab leadership and insisted on two third majority.
“I come from a part of the country where even before the white men came, we had reached consensus. But time has changed. We are taking two third so that we can have something to take to Nigerians.”
Chidinma Uwajumogu, an Imo State delegate, said, “Three quarter will not suffice. Two third, sir.”
When it became obvious that reaching a compromise was almost impossible given the number of hands that indicated interests to speak on the voting pattern issue, a northern delegate, Yusuf Garba, advised against a division that may derail the conference.
“I pray that we will not look for division in this hallowed chambers. Whatever, let’s go back to Mr. President and do something that will give us a name,” he said.
Setting up of 50-member committee
In resolving the voting pattern impasse, the Chairman set up a 50-member committee to look into it. The committee members, later on Wednesday, later went into a closed-door session with the conference leadership. While hopes were alive that by 4pm that day, the outcome of their deliberation would be announced, it was rather astonishing to hear Kutigi at resumption of plenary say that the committee was inclusive on the issue. He subsequently adjourned the conference till tomorrow (Monday).
Meanwhile, the committee was said to have reached a consensus position which is expected to be submitted to the conference for adoption tomorrow.
A member of the committee, which sat on the matter, on Thursday and Friday, told Sunday Vanguard that the body made far reaching decisions that would resolve the voting pattern impasse.
The member, who did not want to be named because he was not authorised to talk to the media, explained that those in the committee had frank and serious discussion before arriving at the compromise position.
”At the end of the day, we recommended that decisions on issues would be taken when 70% of members vote on it if they are unable to arrive at consensus after three attempts. This is less than the 3/4 some delegates, mostly from the North, insisted on and more than 2/3 that others, mostly from the South, insisted on. It was a decision that every member was satisfied with”, he said.
According to him, members of the committee were mandated to meet with the various caucuses in the conference today evening to appraise them of the development before the delegates reconvene tomorrow.
”We believe that by the time we meet with all the caucuses today (Sunday), we would be able to persuade members to accept the new position and allow the compromise position to hold National interest is greater that the interest of individual members those of groups,” the member said.
Hours of session
Delegates had a tough time reaching a consensus on hours of the session. This happened on Monday. While some delegates agreed with the status quo in the rules book of the conference which provides for session to run from 10 a.m to 6 p.m with two hours in between for lunch, many others argued that the time was too much.
The followed a motion by a former governor of Ogun State, Aremo Olusegun Osoba, who suggested that closing time should be 4 p.m and lunch time reduced to one hour.
According to him, the adjustment in time would enable the media ensure a better coverage of the conference by filing their stories on time. Besides, he said the idea will also enable delegates to have fruitful deliberations.
A former governor of Anambra State, Chukwuemeka Ezeife, supported Osoba. He said flexibility should be allowed to dominate proceedings.
Chinedu Obasi, representing students association from South east, also insisted on reducing the break time.
But the Senate President in the aborted Third Republic, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, from Benue State, disagreed with Osoba and Ezeife, saying the time provided in the rules book should be left as it is.
Senator Adolphus Wabara, another former Senate President and delegate from Abia State, argued that the time provided was enough, urging a clear demarcation between the presiding officers and other principal officers. “If quorum is formed, we should demarcate between the presiding and principal offers. The time provided is enough,” he said.
A monarch’s pain
Alhaji Muhammadu Barkindo Mustapha, the Lamido of Adamawa, stirred the hornet’s nest, on Wednesday, when, out of apparent anger arising from many times of microphone denial and attitude of delegates over the voting formula, said that he was directly or indirectly a Cameronian.
“Mr. Chairman, I want to sound a note of warning. I have been sitting here for three days now watching and listening. We should not take cue from the so-called civilized people of western countries because they are always after their own interest and they can use anything including coercion to protect that interest,” the monarch said.
“Listening to the debates and behavior of some of the delegates here, it beats my imagination why a gathering of people like us will behave the way we are.
“The President delivered an address and laid down what we are supposed to discuss and what not to discuss. But many people here, some of them elder statesmen, who claim to be strong loyalists of the President unfortunately, these people are in the forefront to contradict what the President has said.
“In the long run, if we are not careful, this conference will flop. God forbid. If it flops, the resultant effect will not be imaginable. If anything happens and the country disintegrates, God forbid, many of us who are shouting their heads off may not have anywhere to go.
“My people and the people of Adamawa have got somewhere to go. I am the Lamido Adamawa and my kingdom extends to Cameroun. The larger part of my kingdom is in Cameroun. Part of that kingdom is today called Adamawa State in Cameroun. You see, if I run to that place, I will easily assimilate.”
This prompted mixed reactions among the delegates some of whom resorted to booing the monarch. For instance, Professor Chinedum Nwajiuba from Imo State, South-east zone, who spoke on the issue, said, “It’s straight forward. We now know there are people who don’t have as much stake as we have in the unity of Nigeria. Most of us have only Nigeria. Some people have told us they actually have other countries after Nigeria and may not be as committed to the future the well-being of Nigeria. Our duty is to convince them to remain Nigerians totally and not partial Nigerians.”
Incredible stories from the Ibadan forest of horror
From the Punch of 30 March, 2014
. An overview of the evil forest
. We reported to the police — Residents
. 72-year old victim is missing
. 10 madmen in police net
. OUR ORDEAL: They beat some to death — Nafiu, victim; We ate once in four days — Titi, victim
The evil forest
But for last Saturday’s discovery of the callous maiming of hapless victims by a team of fleeing ritual killers in a forest located at Soka area of Ibadan, Oyo State, the place didn’t in any way betray the gory activities perpetrated there.
With the chirping of birds, singing of trees and balmy breeze complemented by the enthralling scenery from a portion of Ogunpa River overlooking the forest, it cuts an appealing picture from afar. A journey into the forest however removes the veil of innocence and naturalness noticeable from a distance.
The Ibadan forest is not inhabited by thousand demons as captured in one of the fictional narrations of the late magical realist, Daniel Fagunwa. But it was one where bloodthirsty ritual killers stripped their victims of all humanity. They beat, starved them, raped the females and hanged the captives one after the other to remove essential parts of their bodies for sale to buyers who thronged the place under the cover of the night.
A journey to the forest begins at Soka bus-stop, approximately three kilometres after the old Ibadan Toll Gate along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. From the Lagos end of the expressway, the road to the forest veers right and goes past a publishing company. It is the only passable route to the place.
There were burnt vehicles parked at the entrance into the forest. It was clear that victims were stripped immediately they were driven in, perhaps, in an unconscious state. This was because clothes of casualties were beside the vehicles. The vehicles were probably burnt to remove all traces of identification from them.
The route to the forest through Soka across the Ogunpa River compels passers-by to remove their shoes and walk a sandy terrain.
A tiny block building close to the entrance was full of shoes of several sizes. A bag which had been ripped showed many ‘second hand’ shoes of men, women, boys and girls.
With barbed wires covered with shrubs, it would be futile for any victim to attempt escape. Such a determined victim would have cried bitterly after being caught and seriously injured by the hidden wires.
Perhaps, this might have been the case of a victim whose skull was found alongside others at a particular portion of the forest. Escape could have been a luxury word in the place, which was chilling with heavy adornment of charms. The charms were reportedly used to hypnotise their victims.
Though the expansive land was once used as a site by Costain West Africa Company while constructing a canal to the Ogunpa River, the warehouse and containers the company left behind many years ago became the torture chambers and accommodation for victims.
A brick storehouse built by the company was full of clothes, notebooks, writing materials, underwear, perfumes, purses, toothbrushes and other valuables. In it, there were also rosaries and rubber mats. A bale of clothes of various designs, sizes and fabric on the bare floors showed that the victims ranged from the very old to the very young of both sexes.
The two rooms in the warehouse elicited stench while other two rooms accommodated abandoned bags of cement that had become solidified. The human parts merchants seemed to have operated unhindered in the forest as evident in the erection of an open makeshift guillotine where captives were believed to have been killed in turns.
Fresh dung littered everywhere. SUNDAY PUNCH gathered that cattle breeders used the place. But no one could say where they had gone since the den was uncovered. Their relationship with the killers was neither known nor was their complicity in the barbaric act.
In various parts of the forest, human parts such as ribs, skeletons and skulls were seen either thrown carelessly on the ground or in holes. Many of those who visited the place on Tuesday were scared when officers of the state health services discovered human parts of 10 victims while they were combing the forest to fumigate it.
A policeman who spoke on condition of anonymity told our correspondent that a crocodile was killed near one of the containers. He said it was possible that the killers kept it there and fed it with the flesh of their victims while they threw away the bones after removing the organs they needed from their bodies.
As the rescue team toured the forest, more discoveries were made. A blood-soaked scrotum and intestines were seen with flies swarming over them including pants soaked with blood.
A faction of the Odua Peoples Congress led by Dr. Frederick Fasehun joined the police and other local security groups to search for the remains of the victims.
It was not clear if the abductors lived with the victims but the belongings of the captives indicated that those captured and killed were many.
A First Bank debit card belonging to one Adesanya Esther Bukola was found in a distant portion of the forest by our correspondent.
The Chairman, Ibadan South-West Local Government, Mr. Taoreed Adeleke, who spoke on Wednesday during the planned clearing of the forest, said the state government would later decide on what to do with the place.
He lamented that the killings occurred in the place for many years unchecked.
We reported to the police — Residents
Though activities of the killers in the evil forest were shrouded in secrecy for a long time, some residents of Soka area, where the forest is located, said they had long suspected that something was amiss in the place.
A former councilor in Oyo East Local Government Area and resident of Soka who identified himself as Segun Adepoju, said about three years ago, residents started hearing noises in the forest especially at night.
He said, “People usually wailed and called for help in the night from the forest. They cried and spoke in Yoruba. Some shouted E gba wa (come and help us). Sometimes, we even saw people enter the river to have a bath. The landlord association in the area reported the matter at Sanyo Police Station and we were directed to Toll Gate Police Station. They told us that Soka was not under their jurisdiction. When the policemen later came, we followed them to the place and the people we met there told us that they were treating mentally challenged men there.’’
Adepoju added that they decided to let the matter rest thereafter but the strange noises and voices they kept hearing at night didn’t abate until Saturday’s discovery.
Another resident, Olajide Hassan, said he used to hear voices and cries at night.
“We always heard cries at night but we didn’t know what was going on. We never knew strange things were happening in that forest all along. The forest is usually thick during rainy season, and one couldn’t see whatever was going on there. We once reported our findings to the police but they told us there was nothing to fear because the people were taking care of mad people. So we left them.’’
Similarly, a resident, Shina Alakanji, stated that his friend told him about how some of the ritual killers in the forest murdered a motorcycle rider.
“He told me that the motorcyclist was killed in the forest. But he was able to make a call to say he was in danger. It was the call that alerted the youth who rushed to the place with the hope that they could rescue him and apprehend his abductors. The motorcyclist said a passenger he knew lured him there.
“It was during the search that they were able to rescue some people and discover numerous skulls, bones and lifeless bodies in varying stages of decomposition, littering many parts of the forest. I was shocked because I have been living in the area for sometime but never suspected that such weird things were going on around me.’’
Mr. Isaac Akinluyi was mending the fence of his farmland when one of our correspondents approached him. He said it was destroyed by the rampaging youths while rushing into the forest to save the motorcyclist last Saturday.
He also said he was apprehensive about some men who always took frail-looking persons to have a bath in the river.
He said when he couldn’t bear the frequency of their coming to the river which is near his house, he told the chairman of the landlord association who called a meeting.
Akinluyi, said, “At the meeting, it was decided that we should inform the police. We reported at the Sanyo police station but we were directed to Toll Gate police station under whose jurisdiction the area is. But when they came, the men we met in the forest showed proof that they were treating mentally challenged individuals. It was at that point that we left them to continue what they were doing.”
One Ahmed Sarafa, said he was aware that some people used to treat mentally challenged people in the place.
Sarafa added, “I am aware that some people used to treat mad people in the forest. It was not too bushy and thick then. I was new in Soka area then. They came to the place after the company handling the Ogunpa River project left. Those people also left the place later. That could be why the people in the forest claimed they were treating mad people there when the residents reported their suspicion to the police. They lied because they seemed to know what was happening there before they came. Anybody who is familiar with Soka, especially that forest, will know that after the company left, mad people were moved there to be treated.”
Another resident, Amos Oguntola told SUNDAY PUNCH that the community accosted a man last year who used to drive a black jeep to the Ogunpa River every night.
“He would come around 8pm and walk to the river bank and cross to the forest area. I saw him many times and the day he was challenged, he said he was only coming to the place for a spiritual bath in the river. He would return to where he parked his car around 9:30pm, enter it and drive off. We did not challenge him again after his explanation. I am beginning to understand what he was coming for,” he said.
A woman who identified herself as Bisola stated that she could not believe that such killings took place there.
She said, “I don’t sleep well these days. I live in fear.”
72-year old victim is missing
In 2008, on a day that started out like any other, Cecila Obaikhena, who is now 72, left home for a routine trip to the market in Iruekpen, Edo State, where she resided. That was the last time her family saw her.
Efforts they made to get the police in the state to find her failed, so also were media announcements they made.
Two days after the news broke that some kidnapped persons had been rescued in a forest in Ibadan, Victor Obaikhena with his daughter, Vivian, hurried to the scene from their Lagos home with high hopes of finding their matriarch among the rescued people.
They stumbled on the news of the forest on Monday, alongside their mother’s photograph taken by a photojournalist and recognised her immediately. So they set out with the assurance that they would be reunited with their mother and grandmother after six years.
To their shock, when they got to the site, there was no trace of Mrs. Obaikhena. They were asked to visit Adeoyo Teaching Hospital, Yemetu, Ibadan, where some of those rescued had been taken. There, they also met with disappointment. They went to as many police stations as they could with the hope that a miracle would happen.
The Oyo State Police Public Relations Officer, Mrs. Olabisi Ilobanafor, said the command has taken up Obaikhena’s case.
“As we speak, Obaikhena’s children are in a patrol vehicle with our officers, combing Ibadan in search of the woman. In fact, my deputy, Inspector Bashiru, is the one with the relatives of the old woman, and they are searching everywhere for her,” she said.
She explained that on the day of the discovery of the den, members of the public got to the crime scene before the police.
“Most people do not know what is called crime scene preservation. As soon as these people got there, they removed chains from the captives’ legs. We were told that some of them that were let loose ran away, while the old woman walked away. Just before the woman walked away, journalists saw her, interviewed her, and took her picture,” Ilobanafor said.
10 madmen in police net
Oyo State police command said it has arrested 10 madmen in connection with the horror den in Soka area of Ibadan, where scores of decomposing bodies were recovered last Saturday.
The police had said on Thursday that at least eight people in connection with the death camp have been arrested but declined to release more details of their identities and places of arrest.
It, however, said that some mad persons were burnt to death by angry youths who suspected that they were feigning mental sickness and could have a link to the operators of the camp inside the Soka forest and the multiple murders that happened there.
Some were, however, rescued from the youths by the police.
On Friday, the command’s Public Relations Officer, Olabisi Ilobanefor, told our correspondent that the attack had stopped and that people have handed over some madmen suspected to have connections with the camp. They were also suspected of feigning madness.
She said, “The people of Ibadan have started cooperating with the police. They no longer attack mad people on the streets. We have about 10 people with supposed mental illnesses brought to us by the people. We have appealed to them that if they have useful information, they should contact security agents instead of taking the law into their hands. The police command is happy for their response.”
At the Adeoyo State Hospital where the eight victims rescued from the camp are receiving treatment, scores of people were still seen on Friday looking for their missing relatives. They came with photographs of their missing persons but the hospital management has insisted that the photographs would not be enough to prove identity. A member of staff at the hospital, who preferred anonymity because he was not authorised to give official information on the issue, told our correspondent that police report was vital document proof.
“People have been coming here with pictures but they need police report that reveals that they actually lost relatives. The report must date back to the time when they reported the case to the police,” he said.
OUR ORDEAL
They beat some to death — Nafiu, victim
What is your name?
Nafiu Shittu
Where do you come from?
I am from Isale-Osun, Osogbo. I live in the Foko area of Ibadan city.
Are you married?
No.
When and how were you kidnapped?
I was kidnapped seven months ago in Ibadan. Some men dragged me into a vehicle. I only remember that I later saw myself chained to the wall in a room. I was held there all alone.
What were you eating in the forest?
I was rarely fed. There were two men who brought food every four days. It was food meant for sacrifice – rice and palm oil. But I couldn’t eat the food, so I drank only water.
Can you describe the people who held you?
The men were hefty and were always smoking in the place. I remember there were two of them. I don’t remember ever seeing a woman among them. On the day we were rescued, there was a lot of noise coming from outside. Before I knew it, some youths broke in, freed me and others who had been held captive.
Do you recall seeing other people there?
Yes. I was not the only one in the place. Everyday, they brought new people there and beat them. I heard cries from other rooms daily. I don’t know if they were killed later, but I often saw dead bodies taken out.
Where were you kept and how was the condition of the place?
I was kept in a small room without a roof. I was isolated. I was chained throughout the duration I was held captive. And whenever it rained, it drenched me. There were many rooms there.
We ate once in four days — Titi, victim
What is your name and where do you come from?
My name is Titi. I stay in Oke-Ado area of Ibadan.
How were you kidnapped?
I was just relaxing in front of my house when I was seized by some men and whisked into a vehicle. They took all my belongings.
When were you kidnapped?
About two months ago.
Where were you kept?
I was locked up in a room with other women.
Do you know what happened to the other women? Were they molested?
I don’t know what happened to them. I did not see what happened to them. But the men would come and beat us. Later, they would bring food. But I never liked the food.
What were you fed with?
I can’t remember. I just remember that I didn’t like what we were being fed with. The food we were given was terrible. So, I rarely ate it. But they did not bring the food all the time. One of the guards used to bring me soft drinks and bread every four days. I had N9,000 on me when I was kidnapped. But they took it from me. I don’t want to talk anymore.
Incredible stories, Ibadan horror, Punch, evil forest, police, Residents, 72-year old, 10 madmen in police net, They beat some to death, Nafiu, We ate once in four days, Titi, victim
Ekiti PDP crisis: Olubolade, 12 others pick Aluko as ‘consensus’ candidate
The Nation on Sunday, March 30th, 2014
THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) forces ranged against the party’s governorship candidate in the June 21 governorship candidate in Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, stepped up their opposition to him yesterday.
Former Minister of Police Affairs, Navy Capt Caleb Olubolade (rtd), Mr. Wale Aribisala, Mr. Ropo Ogunbolude, Modupe Ogundipe, Dr Kadijat Adubiaro, Mr. Peter Obafemi, Deji Ajayi, Dare Bejide and Bodunde Adeyanju adopted Senator Gbenga Aluko as their ‘consensus candidate.’
They were all defeated by Fayose in the party’s primary held in Ado Ekiti penultimate Saturday.
They had all protested the conduct of the primary, saying it was manipulated in his favour.
They also claimed that Fayose is ineligible to seek the party’s ticket in the first place.
The national leadership of the PDP has, however, already endorsed the emergence of Fayose as the party’s candidate in the election.
The 13 aggrieved aspirants met in Abuja on Friday to take their decision.
At the meeting were: Olubolade, Adeyeye, Aribisala, Ogunbolude, Makanjuola Ogundipe,
Adubiaro, Obafemi, Ajayi, Bejide and Adeyanju.
Aluko told reporters by phone from Abuja yesterday that the move followed a directive from President Goodluck Jonathan.
“The move by the pro-consensus aspirants to select me was an unanimous decision taken after due consideration. The next move will be to present me to the party’s national leaders for approval,” he said.
Fayose’s former deputy during his truncated first tenure, Bisi Omoyeni, was not at Friday’s meeting.
The Ekiti State Chairman of the party, Makanjuola Ogundipe, who shunned the controversial primary in Ado Ekiti, was said to have presided over the consensus meeting.
Aluko said Ogundipe has written to President Jonathan to intimate him with the development.
But another aggrieved aspirant, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, contradicted the purported adoption in a statement issued by the Director General of his campaign organisation, Hon Bisi Kolawole.
“The 12 aspirants that met in Abuja yesterday (Friday) did not unanimously agree on anyone as a consensus candidate,” he said.
Only five out of the 12 aspirants, according to him, “supported one of the aspirants,” and stressed that “any agreement on a consensus candidate this time around must be truly unanimous.”
He added: “A situation where only five very weak aspirants supported one of the aspirants cannot be regarded as a consensus agreement. Rather, consensus should take into consideration the strength of the aspirants.
“Most importantly, what ought to have been done was for the aspirants to call for the implementation of the Chief Bode George’s Committee Report, which all of them signed to abide with.
“Since all the aspirants signed to abide with the decision of the Chief Bode George Committee, what should have been done simply was the implementation of the report, and that was what Prince Adeyeye pointed out at the meeting.
“It is therefore our position in PAAM that if the consensus option is still necessary in view of the present situation, report of the Chief Bode George Committee, which considered the strength of the aspirants must form the basis,” Kolawole said.
ConcreteNews Online 