-By Bashorun J.K. Randle OFR; FCA
While most of the publicity and media hype have focused on Africa Fashion week which is scheduled to hold in London from the 11th to the 12th of August 2017, the preparations for this year’s ‘’Africa Week’’ in Oxford were almost derailed by pirate photographs of Africa’s (indeed global) icon Dr. Nelson Mandela prostrating before the Queen mother, Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon when he visited her at Clarence House, London.
The mischief was inspired by the following extract from a newly published book: ‘’ Behind Palace Closed Doors’’ by Colin Burgess who was the equerry- a glorified word for fixer and organiser to the Queen Mother for two years after completing three years in the Irish Guards. He was only twenty –six years old.
‘’I do remember the French President Jacques Chirac coming to visit Clarence House for afternoon tea with an entourage of about ten people. The President was slightly nervy in her presence, unlike Nelson Mandela- who startled her by prostrating himself in front of her with his face buried in the carpet while she stood there patiently acknowledging this gesture of deep respect.
On that occasion, I struggled to know what to do. There was nothing in the equerry Blue Book about this. But eventually, after about four minutes, the Queen Mother decided it had gone on long enough.
‘Come on,’ she said. ‘Let’s go and have some tea.’ And off they went. I know that Mandela made a huge impact on her.’’
It has taken considerable political skill and social dexterity on the part of James Schneider who was at public school (Winchester College) before going up to Trinity College, Oxford University where he was president of the Liberal Democrats student branch, to douse the outrage. James left the Liberal Democrats in 2010 and joined the Labour Party on May 11, 2015.This was only three days after Labour’s devastating defeat at the last general election. Unlike Nigerian politicians who gravitate from a losing party to the winning party without any scruples, James appeared to be driven by the politics of conviction.
It seems the main attraction at the Africa Week in Oxford is going to be Sir George Buckley. This is what a pirated copy of the flyer has to say about him:
“George is a working-class boy who made good. He was born in the north of England, from a poor family.”
According to George himself:
“I was born to the wrong parents. I went to the wrong school; went to the wrong university and I speak with the wrong accent. I suffered a set of impediments that are more important (and formidable) in Britain than they are in the United States of America.”
Regardless, aged 70, he has become a much sought after business guru and captain of industry with directorships in several blue chip companies. He is the chairman of Smiths Group, the engineering conglomerate and Stanley Black & Decker, the American toolmaker.
The reason he is so much sought after by Oxford University for “Africa Week” is on account of his integrity, forthrightness and candour. On Thames TV“This Is Your Life”, he pulled no punches. Neither did he adorn himself with any false airs.
“My father was a steelworker. He walked out on the family when I was only a baby and I was passed on to my grandmother who helped run lodgings for itinerants. I was sexually abused and raped. Eventually, I was sent to a school for the physically handicapped on account of the large cyst on my leg and chronic bronchitis as well as kidney disease and pernicious anaemia. In my interview with Robert Lea which I understand has gone viral, I disclosed that I left school at the age of fifteen without O levels or any qualification whatever. However, I found a job as an apprentice electrician. It was like an epiphany (On The Road To Damascus) when it hit me that I was in danger of being stupid or ignorant for the rest of my life.”
Friends of Sir George have added that what drove him was that he was scared. He realised that he was trapped and the question that confronted him was: what is the route out of here? The answer was readily available: Education was the route. That is a message which resonates with Africans who are studying at Oxford University.
Rather than wait until Sir George turns up in Oxford for “Africa Week”, public interest in his mantra: Education, Education and Education has been phenomenal. He seems to have struck a responsive chord not just in Britain but also in America where he has a considerable following courtesy of PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) on which he is regularly quoted.
“In the United States of America they admire people who have pulled themselves up by their bootstraps. The US was the perfect place for me to go and work. Americans are very open, very accepting, say things as they are and have a can-do mentality. In the UK there is still that difference, even if the gap has narrowed in recent years.”
Matters were not helped by the outburst from the newly elected (since January 2017) President of Ghana, Mr Nana Dankwa Akufo-Addo who was on the list of Special Guests for the “Africa Week” in Oxford. Rather than travel in presidential style on a private jet, he was contemplating travelling from Accra to London on British Airways (BA) until he developed second thoughts.
It was Paolo De Renzis, head of Middle East, Africa and Central Asia sales at British Airways who strayed into the lion’s den and unwittingly stepped on its tail. The President gave it to him full blast:
“When friends are speaking, I think we should speak frankly. I think I am the proper person to let you know what the pre-occupations of our people are. These are matters that will be easy for you to rectify. There are complaints about the quality of your planes on the London/Accra/London route and the service. In some quarters, there is a feeling that you are taking us a little for granted by the way in which we are receiving your services. We have been bombarded with complaints from travellers over poor service on your flights.”
Regardless, British Airways has not cancelled its plans to celebrate eighty years of flying from Britain to Ghana.
Oxford University has been boiling with rage over the monstrous and brutal treatment regularly meted out to women in Africa, especially those who have not had the privilege of university education (or any form of education). A case in point was featured on the front page of ‘’ Vanguard’’ newspaper on May 12, 2017.
Headline: I KNEEL, STRETCH OUT MY HAND FOR MY HUSBAND TO FLOG DAILY’’
‘’ Lagos—A 39-year-old housewife, Yemisi Akinwunmi, who is a petty trader, pleaded with a customary court sitting in Agege, Lagos, to end her 20-year-old marriage and free her from the pangs of daily corporal punishment meted out to her by the husband.
She said: “My husband constantly beats me and whenever he wants to do so, he tells me to kneel down and stretch my hands like a pupil before caning me. He often threatens to kill me.’’
While testifying before the court’s President, Mr. Phillips Williams, she said there was no love between them anymore.
Yemisi described her husband of 20 years as an irresponsible man, who has refused to take proper care of her and the children.
She said she had been solely responsible for the feeding and upkeep of the children since her husband lost his job.
According to her, “I made efforts to secure a loan for my husband from a cooperative bank to start a small business with a promise by him to pay back in instalments. But after a few months, he refused to pay and attempts to get him to refund the money were unsuccessful. My husband started threatening to kill me and dispose of my corpse without anybody knowing. I am fed up with the marriage; there is no love between us again. I can no longer bear the pains and humiliations.”
She further urged the court to dissolve the marriage and to compel the respondent to be responsible for the welfare and education of the children.
The respondent, Wasiu, 49, however, denied the allegations and pleaded with the court not to dissolve the marriage.
According to him, his wife started misbehaving and became promiscuous the moment he lost his job.
Wasiu, who claimed to have caught her in the act of adultery, said: “My wife later told me that she was fed up with the union and she moved out of the house with the children sometime in 2015. However, after much pleading, she returned home later in 2016 only to start engaging in adultery. I have caught her on several occasions. She stopped cooking for me since July 2016 and finally moved out of the house.’'
The respondent said he made efforts and begged his wife to return, especially for the sake of the children, but she remained adamant.
President of the court invited the estranged couple to his chambers for a possible resolution of the crisis and later adjourned the case to April 11.’’
Even more savage is the front page report of ‘’ Daily Trust ‘’ newspaper of May 15, 2017.
Headline: ‘’ I WAS SENT ON SUICIDE MISSION FOR REFUSING MARRIAGE PROPOSAL-14 YEAR OLD’’
‘’ A 14-year-old female said Boko Haram leaders chose her to detonate an Improvised Explosive Device in Maiduguri because she refused to get married to their members in Sambisa Forest.
The suspect was among three suspects arrested by the military, when they allegedly came for a suicide mission at a military facility at Jakana in Maiduguri.
The suspect told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Maiduguri yesterday that she was sent on the mission to detonate the device because she refused marriage proposals from three Boko Haram terrorists.
The suspect said she was abducted with her father, Usman, by Boko Haram insurgents in Gwoza, Borno State in 2013.
She said she and her father were running to Mandara Mountain for safety when they were abducted.
The suspect said she and her father wanted to travel to Madagali in Adamawa State, where he normally sold cows before Boko Haram insurgents attacked Gwoza.
“I have spent three years in the hands of Boko Haram. Three different Boko Haram (terrorists) proposed to marry me and I refused. Two among them were commanders.
When I refused for the third time, one of the commanders became furious and threatened to kill me and my father. I told him I would rather die than marry a Boko Haram.
So, after one week, they said since I have refused to get married, I should be taken to Maiduguri for a suicide mission. So, three of them held my hands and they injected me.
Then, I never knew what was happening again.
I was taken to a herbalist, who, after I regained consciousness, told me that I had been with him for 30 days.
He told me he was preparing me for a mission. So he gave me some water to drink. I don’t know what it tasted like but I drank it. So, he said they would come and pick me today.
At about 7p.m. three Boko Haram members came with a male and a female. They were also recruited for the mission like me.
We spent one and a half days on the road to Maiduguri. It was when we got to Maiduguri that they strapped the bombs on our bodies. At that moment I knew that I was going to die, so I started crying.
I was watching when the first bomber, a female, detonated her explosive close to a military checkpoint which killed no one but herself. The second, a male, was killed by the military before he could detonate his.
At that time something told me to remove my own IED and surrender which I did. I was surrounded by soldiers and policemen and I fainted.
When I woke, I discovered that one of the policemen at the checkpoint was a brother of my mother’s. I think that was the reason I survived,’’ the suspect said.
Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. Lucky Irabor, the Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, said the suspects were being de-radicalised at the military detention facility.’’
‘’ Africa Week’’ is determined to highlight the sharp contrast between the long suffering women in Africa and the case featured on the front page of the ‘’ Daily Sun’’ newspaper on May 12, 2017.
Headline: ‘’DIVORCE: COURT ORDERS RUSSIAN BILLIONAIRE TO PAY EX-WIFE £453M.’’
‘’A Russian billionaire has been ordered to pay his estranged wife £453m in a divorce settlement at a British court.
The payment from the 61-year-old, a former oil and gas trader, to his ex-wife, 41, has been described as one of the largest awards made by a United Kingdom court. During a High Court hearing, a judge said the couple met and married in Moscow before moving to Surrey.
Mr Justice Haddon-Cave said he had awarded the woman 41.5% of the “total marital assets”.
The judge made a ruling preventing the man, from the Caucasus, and the woman, who was born in Eastern Europe, from being identified.
Both were given indefinite leave to stay in the UK, where they have lived for a number of years.
Nearly five years ago, the court was told, the husband sold shares in a Russian company for $1.3 billion (£1bn).
He then bought both the couple’s sons flats in a luxury London development, one for £29 million and the other for £7 million. Mr Justice Haddon-Cave said the woman had been a housewife and mother to the couple’s children.
The husband argued he had made a “special contribution” to the generation of his wealth, but the judge concluded that the man and woman had made “equal contributions to the welfare of the family”.
His ex-wife claimed the “total net marital wealth” was just over £1 billion which had been built up during their marriage. Mr Justice Haddon-Cave said the reasons for the man’s “sudden decision” to no longer contest the case were “unclear”, but it seemed that he had previously argued that he was wealthy before they married.
Neither party was in court for the final ruling. In 2014, Jamie Cooper-Hohn, wife of financier Sir Chris Hohn, was awarded more than £330 million. Legal experts said the Cooper-Hohn award was “certainly” one of the largest made in the UK, although divorce proceedings are often conducted in private hearings.’’
The promoters of ‘’ Africa Week’’ in Oxford have been overwhelmed by the avalanche of well documented oppression of women (especially the girl child) in Africa.
The following report from Ethiopia has gone viral.
Headline: WOMEN WHO BEG TO BE WHIPPED…. TO SHOW THEIR LOVE
‘’ Members of the Hamar tribe in Ethiopia believe the elaborate scars demonstrate a woman's capacity for love, and if they fall on hard times later in life it allows them to call on those who whipped them for help.
Women are whipped as part of a Rite of Passage ceremony for boys, when female family members declare their love for the young man at the heart of the celebration.
After the ceremony the boy becomes a man, and is allowed to marry.
The brutal tradition is known as Ukuli Bula, and was captured by photographer Jeremy Hunter. Instead of fleeing, women beg men to whip them again during the ceremony, held in the Omo River Valley.
For Hamar women, beatings are not just part of an initiation ritual- they are daily life until at least two children have been born. Under Hamar rules, a man need not explain why he’s delivering a beating. It is his prerogative to mete out as he sees fit.
The majority of the 20,000 strong Hamar people live in the Omo River Valley, a fertile part of the vast Southern Nations, Nationalities, and peoples’ Region of South-West Ethiopia, which is bordered by Kenya and South Sudan. Most still live in traditional villages, although growing numbers are migrating to the region’s cities and towns as well as the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
No screaming is permitted by the men wielding the canes but the women don’t care. Instead of fleeing, they beg the men to do it again and again until blood flows, dripping into the gritty red dust of the Omo River Valley.
A key element of the ceremony is the whipping of young women who are family members or relatives of the boy undertaking the Rite-of-Passage. The women trumpet and sing, extolling the virtues of the jumper, declaring their love for him and for their desire to be marked by the whip. They coat their bodies with butter to lessen the effect of the whipping which is only carried out by Maza – those who have already undergone this Rite-of–Passage
Some whipping appears to be tender, others more aggressive. But once whipped, the girls proudly show off their scars - as proof of their courage and integrity. It is a kind of Insurance Policy. The ceremony tends to unite the family and is a demonstration of the women’s capacity for love, and in later life - perhaps when they've become widowed - they will look to the boys who whipped them years before to request help. The scars on her back are said to be proof of her sacrifice for the man, and it is therefore impossible for the man to refuse her needs in hard times or emergencies.
Hamar women of the Lower Omo Valley, Southern Ethiopia willingly submit themselves to be whipped during the ceremony of Ukuli Bula. It indicates their courage and capacity for love, and is a form of insurance policy. Should they fall on hard times in later life, they will look to the boy who whipped them to request help.
To the south of Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, lies the tribal animist area. It stretches from Addis all the way to Lake Turkana, formerly known during colonial times as Lake Rudolph, which borders Kenya.
The Italian historian Carlo Conti Rossini has described this part of Ethiopia to be a Museum of People as there are at least eight major tribal groups living here - numbering around 200,000, who until recently were largely untouched by outside influences. But change is on the way, not least the impact of global phone technology - and the development of the country’s mineral resources by the Chinese.
The annual flooding of the Omo River has been the life-support for the tribal people of this region. For centuries the powerful flow and huge rise and fall of the river have provided up to three harvests a year for the indigenous people’s staple crop - the highly nutritious sorghum. But in 2006 President Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia commissioned the construction of the tallest hydro-electric dam in Africa. The project was never put to tender, the tribal groups were never consulted, and conservation groups today believe that the dam will destroy an already fragile environment as well as the livelihoods of the tribes, which are closely linked to the river and its annual flood.
One of the most spectacular ceremonies in the Lower Omo Valley is the UKULI BULA ceremony of the Hamar tribal group; it’s effectively a Rite-of-Passage from boy to manhood.
To reach manhood, Hamar boys must undergo two rituals: circumcision and a leap over the bulls. This determines whether the young Hamar male is ready to make the social jump from youth to adulthood.
After a successful bull-jump - always naked - the Hamar boy, now a Maz - a mature member of the society - may get married.
At every ceremony around two hundred members of the Hamar (also spelt Hamer) participate in this life-changing event.
From the front page of ‘’Vanguard’’ newspaper of May 23, 2017 we have the following reports:
Headline: ‘’ JILTED LOVER BATHES EX-GIRLFRIEND WITH ACID.’’
YENAGOA—A 26-year-old lady, identified as Miss Deborah Eteh, was bathed with substance suspected to be acid on Tombia Road by Edepie, Bayelsa State, by her ex-boyfriend, who came in from Rivers State.
It was gathered that both of them were in a relationship in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, before the victim, Deborah, pulled out of the relationship and relocated to Yenagoa.
The suspect is said to have traced his victim from Port Harcourt to Yenagoa, where he bathed the victim with substance suspected to be acid. Following the alarm raised by the victim’s neighbours, residents of the area apprehended the suspect, who is currently being detained at a police station in the state capital.
The victim was rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa, where she is receiving treatment. Contacted, spokesman of the state Police Command, Asinim Butswat, who could not confirm the incident, sent an SMS, saying “I cannot talk right now, I will get back to you.” He had not done so at press time.
Headline: ‘’ 14- YEAR OLD BOY BREAKS INTO TOILET, DEFILES NEIGHBOUR’S 7- YEAR OLD DAUGHTER.’’
‘’A 14-year-old secondary school student is facing trial at an Ikeja chief magistrate’s court over the defilement of his neighbour’s seven-year-old daughter. The accused, who resides with his parents in Bariga, Lagos, according to police prosecutor, Raphael Donny, broke into the toilet where the girl was easing herself, and defiled her.
He said the accused committed the offence in December 2016, noting “it was the cry of the girl that alerted the mother, who immediately rushed to the scene.
“When the mother saw blood stains on the child’s clothes, she shouted and efforts to apprehend the boy were unsuccessful as he ran away from the house. The case was reported at the police station, while the boy was later sighted in Agege and arrested by the police.”
The accused, however, denied the charge.
Chief Magistrate D. Abegunde admitted the accused to N300, 000 bail with two sureties in like sum.
Abegunde, however, ordered the accused remanded in the Boys Correctional Centre, Oregun, Ikeja, until when the bail condition is met.
Before adjourning the case till June 5, she directed that the case file be duplicated and a copy sent to the state’s Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP, for advice.
On May 25, 2017. ‘’Vanguard’’ newspaper carried an even more shocking report on its front page.
Headline: ‘’ PASTOR’S BEEN SLEEPING WITH ME SINCE I WAS 10; THIS IS THE FOURTH ABORTION’’ .16-year-old girl says, senior pastor, teachers didn’t help her.
‘’ LAGOS—Scriptural assertions of wolves in sheep clothing resurfaced yesterday, following a startling revelation by a 16-year-old Senior Secondary School, SSS, I student, on how she has been subjected to sexual violations since she was 10 years by a pastor at the Egbe branch of a popular new generation pentecostal church.
The victim, who spoke from her hospital bed around Ikotun area of the state, alleged that the suspect, with the connivance of a medical doctor, had carried out four abortions on her without her consent.
Trouble, as gathered, started for the teenager after the demise of her parents six years ago. An uncle she identified simply as George, took her to Delta State from where the suspect, who had just been separated from his wife, took her to Lagos to look after his child, with a promise to train her in school. That was when he allegedly started a sexual relationship with her in his three-bedroom flat at 6, Dolamo Street, Agodo-Egbe.
The victim alleged that whenever he wanted to have sexual intercourse with her, he would invite her to his bedroom and offer her some drugs after which she would lose her memory.
According to her, “he usually invited me to bring water to his room at night. Thereafter, he would give me some drugs. But when I summoned courage to ask him one day, he said that the drugs was to make me sexually active.
‘No one believed me’
“I have waited for this day when I would be free from his claws. The first time I opened up to our branch’s Senior Pastor and his wife, I was hushed. They even said I wanted to tarnish my guardian’s image, despite all he had done to keep me in school. “Again, I reported the sexual molestation to some of my school teachers, but they said they did not know how to go about it and how to prove my claim. They were even afraid that I could be driven away from the house and that it would mean the end of my education.
This is my fourth pregnancy he has aborted. When he took me to the doctor that has been carrying out the abortion on me, the doctor refused, saying he had been doing it right from when I was 10 years.
The doctor opened up to me that there could be complications if the pregnancy was terminated.
He took me to another place that looked like a laboratory on Monday, where I was laid on a slab. I begged the doctor not to do anything, but they pinned me down and the doctor induced me to sleep.
When I woke up, I discovered that they had flushed out the pregnancy.” She added that when they got home that night, the suspect attempted to sleep with her again, but she refused, adding that the next day (Tuesday), she packed her belongings out of the house and headed for school where she intended to be living.
It was while heading to the school that she slumped, bleeding from her private part. Sympathisers rushed her to a hospital along Isolo-Mushin Road, where it was discovered that the abortion was not properly done.
Continuing in tears, the teenager said: “The hospital bed I laid on was soaked with blood. The attention of a church member, who is also a family friend of my guardian, was invited. When the result of the scan came out, it revealed that the abortion was not properly done.
At 7p.m., yesterday, the victim was still been attended to at the hospital. A nurse at the hospital, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that the teenager was in a stable condition.
Meanwhile, her guardian, who she calls Daddy, has been arrested by policemen at Area ‘M’ and has admitted to the girl’s claims.
Investigations, according to police sources, were still ongoing.’’
OXFAM is committed fully to ensuring that ‘’Africa Week’’ in Oxford delivers maximum impact with particular reference to endemic corruption; the alleviation of poverty and beaming the search light on the plight of women. To this end, it has provided the link to the following reports on its website:
1) Front page of ‘’ Daily Sun’’ newspaper of April 27, 2017.
Headline: ‘’CORRUPTION COSTS AFRICA US $50 BILLION ANNUALLY.’’
‘’The Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, says Africa loses over 50 billion dollars, yearly, to illicit financial flows through money laundering, corruption and tax evasion.
Adeosun said this at the opening of a capacity building workshop on the use of beneficial ownership information and the recovery of assets in Africa on Wednesday in Abuja.
The Minister was represented by the Director, Technical Services in the ministry, Mrs Larai Shuaibu.
“As a result of illicit financial flows, an estimated 50 billion dollars is lost every year in Africa.
I therefore, enjoin all participants to continue to work with us and all other countries across the continent to address this key problematic area.
We hope that this kind of collaboration will continue in earnest and we will use the opportunity of our gathering to further strengthen relations between our various institutions and organisations,’’ she said.
“The Nigerian government has put in place a number of processes and has undertaken a lot of activities to trace these assets.
I believe some of you have been witnessing some of the recent revelations that have been going on and a lot of things that have been coming to light.
Adeosun expressed concern that tax evasion, money laundering, corruption and other issues had also continued to be a problem within the society.
She said that motions had being set in place and number of steps taken towards tackling corruption.
Adeosun urged the participants to put in their best to bring in ideas that would help to move not only Nigeria ahead but also other nations in terms of tackling illicit financial flows.
Meanwhile, The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says the commission will soon introduce an anti- corruption programme course to universities.
Its Acting Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, said the commission would soon launch its anti-corruption programme in universities across the country.
Magu disclosed this to newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of a capacity-building workshop on the use of beneficial ownership information and the recovery of assets in Africa.
He said the anti-corruption programme would be similar to that of ‘’women Against Corruption’’
Front page report of ‘’The Guardian’’ newspaper of April 27, 2017.
Headline: ‘’ COURT ORDERS INTERIM FORFEITURE OF PATIENCE JONATHAN’S US $5.8MILLION.
‘’ The Federal High Court, Lagos yesterday granted an exparte application seeking interim forfeiture of $5,8 million belonging to former First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan.
The new order followed the withdrawal of application about 24 hours after the stay of judgement which had earlier ordered Jonathan’s account unfrozen.
But the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) wants the sum forfeited to the federal government pending the determination of the motion on notice.
Moving the ex parte application yesterday, counsel to the EFCC, Rotimi Oyedepo urged the court to grant the order as prayed. Justice Mojisola Olatoregun held that the order was granted as prayed.
In the new motion titled: “Action in Rem,” the EFCC sought an interim order of interim forfeiture of the sum of $5.8 million in Jonathan’s Skye Bank account.
The commission also sought an order directing the interim forfeiture of the sum of N2.4 billion discovered in an Ecobank account in the name of La Wari Furniture and Bath Ltd, sums suspected to be proceeds of crime.
It also sought an order for the publication of the said order in any national newspaper to enable any interested parties to appear and show proof why the interim order should not be made final.
In an affidavit in support deposed to by one Musbahu Abubakar, the commission averred that it received an intelligence report that funds suspected to be proceeds of crime were warehoused in a Skye Bank account in the name of Jonathan.
It said the report was analysed and found worthy of investigation adding that Jonathan opened the account on February 7, 2013. The EFCC revealed that several cash deposits were made by Jonathan in U.S. dollars through one Waripamo Dudafa, a former Special Assistant to former President Goodluck Jonathan.
The commission disclosed that another frequent depositor of funds into the account was one Festus Iyoha, who it said was a steward at the State House, Abuja.The EFCC said that between February 8, 2013 and January 30, 2015, about $6.7 million suspected to be proceeds of crime was deposited into the account, adding that Jonathan had dissipated the funds leaving a balance of about $5.7 million.
It therefore, averred that if the funds were not forfeited in the interim, it may be fully dissipated by Jonathan. The EFCC added that the sum of N2.03 billion, suspected to be proceeds of crime was currently on fixed deposit in the account of La Wari Furniture, and another credit balance of N389 million.
The EFCC urged the court to grant the application in the interest of justice. Justice Olatoregun fixed May 15, 2017 to enable any interested party to appear and show proofs why the interim order should not be made final.
Meanwhile, a lawyer, Olukoya Ogungbeje yesterday asked the Federal High Court, Lagos to stay proceedings in the suit seeking to forfeit the money discovered in Flat 7B, Osborne Towers in Ikoyi.
Ogungbeje is asking for an order compelling the EFCC, the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the police to immediately begin the investigation of the recovered monies.He also sought an order directing the EFCC to furnish the court with its findings on the source of the money, its owner and how the currencies got into the building.’’
Front page report in ‘’Daily Trust ‘’ newspaper of April 27, 2017.
Headline: ‘’MY WIFE BEARS CHILDREN LIKE RATS, SAYS MAN SEEKING DIVORCE’’
‘’ A 39-year-old civil servant, Michael Ayinde, yesterday asked an Igando customary court in Lagos to dissolve his nine-year-old marriage on the ground that his wife “bears children like rats”.
Ayinde said his wife, Glory, had six children within nine years of their marriage, an action he feared might ruin him if allowed to continue unchecked.
He said before he married Glory, he had told her that he needed only two kids, irrespective of their gender, so that he could afford their upkeep, which she agreed.
“My lord, my wife wants to kill me with children; she is bearing them like rats. She agreed to have two kids with me but after marriage, she started having children like rats. In nine years, she delivered six children.
She was sacked from where she was working just because she would get pregnant immediately after she resumed from maternity leave. I have sold my cars and some of my property to cater for the children. After she had the fourth baby, I begged her to go for family planning, but she refused.
I had to force her to go to the hospital to do a family planning device but she went secretly to deactivate it without my consent. Some months later, she went to her parent’s place and sent me a text message that she was pregnant. She did not return home until after delivery and naming ceremony.”
He added that on December 24, 2016, Glory left home again for her parent’s place, where she called again that she was pregnant and that she would be back after she has been delivered of the baby.
Last month, she called me that she had been delivered and had christened the baby David. Please, sir, dissolve this marriage because if I continue to live with this woman, she will continue to have more children. I will be compelled to sell my remaining property, which is my house, and then become a beggar,” he said.
Ayinde also accused his wife, who was not in court, of starving him and their children.
“I always buy foodstuffs at home but she will never cook. If she managed to cook once in two weeks, the food is always tasteless. I don’t eat her food anymore because I vomit anytime I eat her food,” he said.
He also alleged that his wife did not wash his clothes and those of their children, and he had to employ a dry cleaner.
The president of the court, Mr. Adegboyega Omilola, ordered the bailiffs to serve Glory another summons to appear at the next hearing on the matter and adjourned the case to May 16, 2017.’’
Front page report of ‘’ The Punch’’ newspaper of May 27, 2017
a) Headline: ‘’TRADER RAPED ME AFTER I ASKED HIM FOR HELP OVER LOST N7,000- 19- year- old girl.
On May 9, 2017, a 19-year-old girl, Bisola (not real name), was sent on an errand by her mother in their Akowonjo, Lagos neighbourhood. But she lost N7,000 in the process.
What happened next has now become the controversy surrounding her allegation that she was raped by a 36-year-old foodstuff trader, Henry, whom she approached for help.
Saturday PUNCH learnt that Bisola’s mother, a noodle seller on their street, had sent her to buy packs of the product but she said she lost the money in the process.
She told our correspondent, “If I went back home and told my mother that I lost the N7,000, I did not know what could have happened. But I know she would nearly kill me.
“So, I approached Henry to give me anything he had to assist me. I didn’t know him before. But he said all the money he had was at home. He said I could follow him home to get the money. I did not suspect anything, so, I followed him to his house at Unity Estate.”
According to Bisola, the home she followed Henry to is a “face-me-I-face-you” apartment which was deserted when they got there that afternoon.
She alleged that Henry offered her drinks and food which she declined because she wanted to get back home on time.
She told Saturday PUNCH that Henry wasted no time when he told her that he would indeed give her the money if she allowed him to have sex with her.
“I told him that I could not do that. If he wanted to help me, he could help me without asking me for sex. I had never done it before. But before I could leave, he grabbed me and raped me even though I begged him not to.”
Bisola said when he was done with her, he resorted to begging her as she cried.
She explained that Henry also gave her a toilet roll to clean up her bleeding.
“He told me to give him the blood-soaked tissue paper but I insisted on taking it home with me. He then gave me the N7,000.”
Bisola was said to have wrapped the tissue in a nylon and took it home.
The girl’s parents who had been worried sick over her whereabouts said they asked her where she went to but she said nothing about the lost money or the alleged rape.
But one of her siblings was said to have spotted the blood-soaked tissue paper, which she initially described as her menstrual flow.
She later told her parents the truth.
Bisola’s father explained that he promptly reported the case to the police at Shasha.
Henry, who was later arrested said he indeed had sex with Bisola, whom he described as an acquaintance.
Asked if he used protection, he said he did not.
According to Henry, he did not rape Bisola but that he insisted on having sex with her because he had already agreed to give her the money.
His case was later transferred to the Lagos State Police Headquarters.
On May 16, Henry was charged with sexual assault at the Ogba Chief Magistrate’s Court, Lagos.
He pleaded not guilty to one count of rape and was remanded in prison custody pending when he would be able to perfect his bail.
The case was adjourned till June 14.’’
b) ‘’ POWER-DRUNK COP HANGS, BEATS BAKERY WORKER FOR BEING STUBBORN
…collects N33,000 for bail, arraigns victim for assaulting him.’’
‘’ A bakery worker, 23-year-old Sherifat Saka, was tired on the night of May 13, 2017 as she retired to bed in the room she shared with eight others on Ifelodun Street, Amukoko area of Lagos. It was an accommodation she shared with other workers of the bakery. But there was noise as a result of the discussion between two of her roommates when an older worker, angrily stormed out to make a call.
The woman referred to by other workers as Iya Mayowa, allegedly picked up her phone and placed a call to one of her acquaintances at the Pako Police Division, Amukoko, Omotosho Abiodun, a sergeant.
Moments later, Abiodun in company with a colleague stormed the house at about 2am.
She said, “He came and said we were under arrest. He told three of us that we were going to the station. I noticed that the two others were already heading for an unmarked SUV they brought there.
But I told them I could not follow them. Apart from my underwear, I was tying just a wrapper. But they did not care. They did not wear uniform and did not show us any identity card apart from the fact that they brought an unmarked vehicle there.
How could I follow people like that in the dead of the night?I told them that if indeed they were from the police station at Amukoko, I would walk there because it was a short walking distance.
That was when the man started to beat me. They forced me into the vehicle, I was afraid and refused to enter. They stripped me in the process.”
According to her, as soon as they got to the police station, another round of beating started.
“They hanged and beat me till I fainted. When I did, they took me outside and poured water on me. Later, the man brought some clothes for me to wear because I was naked,” Saka said.
She said three more of her colleagues were later arrested for breach of peace.
According to her, when her bosses at work later came to the station to plead, the divisional crime officer of the station prevailed on Abiodun to release them all.
The policeman did not release them until they paid N33,000.
However, things took a different turn when a human rights group, Movement for Islamic Rights and Justice got involved in the case.
The National Director of Operations of the group, Mr. Shakirulai Abdullahi, said he had tangled with Abiodun in the past as a result of manhandling of members of the public.
Few days later, he rearrested Saka for being too stubborn and also for consulting a human rights organisation.
“Despite our pleadings and even the appeal of the divisional police officer of the station, he insisted on charging her to court for assaulting him,” Abdullahi said.
That day, Abiodun dragged Saka before an Agbomalu Magistrate’s Court, Agbomalu, Apapa on two counts of assault and breach of peace.
The charge accused her of conducting herself “in a manner likely to cause breach of peace by cutting Sylva’s chain and tearing off the shirt of one Sergeant Omotosho Abiodun to resist lawful arrest.
“That you on the same date and time did unlawfully assault one Sergeant Omotosho Abiodun by giving him fist blow on his left eye and causing him bodily pain.”
Saka spent five days in prison before she could perfect her bail condition.
She is now appealing to police authorities to call Abiodun to order, alleging that he had vowed to send her to prison.
When Saturday PUNCH contacted Abiodun, he confirmed that he was called by Iya Mayowa as a result of the noise of the workers.
He said, “It is not true that we were not wearing uniforms when we got there. At least my subordinate who followed me there was in full uniform. We told her to enter the vehicle and she was asking why she had to enter the vehicle. She was asking me what she did wrong.
“I asked her if she did not recognise us as policemen and she said ‘so what? Should I now run away because of that?’ I was surprised by her attitude and I instructed that she should be put in the vehicle, that was when she started fighting me. She hit me in the eye and I was shocked. Even when we put her in the vehicle, she was still hitting me with her feet and hand.
When we got to the station, nobody beat her, I only said she should be handcuffed while her statement should be taken.
I insisted I would press charges against her because I did not want the man he brought to intervene in the case to use it against me when they were pleading that I should release her. I have had an encounter with the man before when he caused trouble because of a case I was involved in.”
Abiodun denied collecting any money as bail saying “I am not even the investigating police officer in charge of her case so I know nothing about any money paid for bail.”
But Saka’s boss, Mr. Mumini Shittu, who paid the money insisted that Abiodun was lying.
“N11,000 of the money was for the bail of Sherifat (Saka) while the remaining N22,000 was for the bail of the remaining four.” he said.’’
c) ‘’UNIBEN PROBES ALLEGED STABBING OF STUDENT BY COLLEAGUE.’’
‘’ The management of the University of Benin, Edo State, on Friday said it has launched an internal investigation into the alleged stabbing of a female student of the institution by her colleague.
It also said that it would hand down appropriate sanctions at the end of the investigation.
The incident was said to have occurred on Wednesday night in one of the female hostels located on the Ekenhuan campus of the university.
It was learnt that the victim, identified simply as Heritage, had been stabbed by her friend, one Becky Oseye, in the head following an argument.
It was learnt that the victim sustained a deep cut in the head as a result of the attack and was rushed to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital.
It was also gathered that Oseye, said to be a 200-level student in the Department of Mass Communication, was later arrested by personnel of the university’s security unit, after some students in the hostel raised the alarm.
It was learnt that she had not been sighted at her department since the incident occurred.
But an Instagram user, who identified herself as a sister to Heritage, who had claimed on her account that the victim was allegedly stabbed five times over a piece of wrapper, also demanded justice on the matter.
The user, identified as Tushspot, had said, “Justice has to be served. If Becky should be rusticated, it would be lovely. But her mum, whom her father left would feel it so much.
“The poor woman has high blood pressure all because of her; and the girl (Oseye) doesn’t care about school, so she won’t feel it.
“She should be beaten and rusticated…. Stab someone five times over wrapper? Jesus Christ. And she was let go this afternoon (Thursday) without a scratch. While my sister was in the hospital, she (Oseye) was sleeping peacefully at home.”
Efforts by our correspondent to access the hall of residence where the incident reportedly took place were resisted by some hostel officials, who insisted that male visitors were not allowed into the premises.
But a female student who was sighted around the hostel said that the victim could have sustained the cut when she fell on her bunk during the argument.
The source, who did not want to be named, said, “According to what we heard this morning (Friday), she was not actually stabbed but hit her head on a bunk. But she was taken to UBTH.”
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Moses Nkombe, told our correspondent that he had yet to receive the report of the incident.
Nkombe said, “I am not aware of the matter. I have not been briefed.”
But the university’s Public Relations Officer, Mr. Michael Osasuyi, described the development as condemnable, adding that the institution had zero tolerance for any act of indiscipline.
Osasuyi said, “We know that the student was stabbed. They had an argument. But the school does not condone any form of indiscipline; the school does not even allow you to slap a student, not to talk of inflicting an injury.
The school will take the necessary action. The moment it (incident) happened, we informed the school’s security department.”
He said that while the victim was responding to treatment, the institution would involve the Nigeria Police “when the need arises”.
“In life, there are stages, so we will take it stage by stage. She (victim) is responding to treatment. The school will take the necessary actions and all that needs to be done will be done,” Osasuyi added.’’
Ahead of the ‘’Africa Week’’ at Oxford, the ‘’Daily Trust’’ newspaper of May 29, 2017 has provided the following front page reports:
I. Headline: EMIR SANUSI DELIBERATELY MISUNDERSTOOD ON POLYGAMY.
‘’ The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, was deliberately misunderstood in the proposed Islamic Family Law, the Secretary of the committee and Head of Department (HoD) Islamic Law Bayero University Kano, Dr Usman Muhammad Shu’aib has said.
He was speaking yesterday in Abuja at the annual Ramadan Lecture of the Al-Habibiyyah Islamic Society of Nigeria (AIS) themed; ‘Polygamy: Shari’ah vs Culture’.
He said the committee headed by Dr Bashir Aliyu, was aimed at understanding issues on marriage, inheritance, orphans, widows and divorcee among others in order to save Muslims from misguidance.
Shu’aib charged Muslims to always ensure fairness and justice in the practice of polygamy to avoid the wrath of Allah.
He said though Islam clearly spelt out conditions for marriage and polygamy, some individuals hide under some fabricated Hadiths and selfish desires to circumvent the laid down guidelines for polygamy.
“In Islam marriage occupies a central position in the development and survival of mankind. Polygamy as practised by true Muslims comes with a lot of guides on how it is to be conducted and the rights of the couples are clearly defined and the requirements that the husband must fulfil in order to be fair and just to all the wives,” Shu’aib said.
He said Islam forbids a man from marrying another woman if he will not be fair in the treatment he gives them or discriminate among them and their children.
He quoted Prophet Muhammed as saying, “A man who marries more than one woman and does not deal justly amongst them, will be resurrected with half of his body paralyzed.”
While blaming the Almajri or beggars syndrome in most parts of the North to lack of Islamic knowledge and improperly constituted marriages, he urged Muslim men to prepare to cater for the essential needs of their wives like food, clothing and shelter before going into marriage, to avoid some of the rampant societal vices.
Earlier, the Chief Imam of the society, Ustaz Adeyemi Fuad, said the theme was carefully chosen to enlighten the public on the provisions of Islam on some contentious issues.
He urged Muslims to use the Ramadan period to pray for peace and stability of Nigeria, while contributing their quota to national development.
On President Muhammadu Buhari’s health challenge, he urged Nigeria’s to continue to pray for the wellbeing of Mr President and Nigeria as a whole.’’
II. Headline: 20 MILLION NIGERIANS LIVE WITH HEPATITIS- MINISTER
‘’ Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewale has said that about 20 million Nigerians were affected by hepatitis.
He stated this at the weekend during the Guild of Medical Directors annual general meeting and scientific conference in Abuja.
The minister said though many people may appear healthy physically, they could be walking around with the hepatitis virus without knowing they were carriers.
He said most times the disease does not manifest until it was too late, adding that it could cause chronic liver disease, liver cancer and death without any presentation of weighty symptoms.
Adewole said the conference was appropriate in creating awareness on the disease in order to prevent it from reaching epidemic levels like meningitis and Ebola virus disease.’’
III. Headline: I HAVE RAPED 30 WOMEN IN THREE YEARS, KILLED MANY OTHERS’’
‘’ A 37-year-old armed robber whom the police described as notorious, Lanre Olowojobi, alias Pumpy, and who was arrested at Mushin, Lagos, at the weekend by operatives of the Lagos State Taskforce, has narrated how he and his gang members robbed and raped their female victims.
Olowojobi, whose gang members the police said have been raining terror on Mushin, also admitted in his statement that he killed many of his victims for refusing to let go of their valuables.
The suspect was arrested at the weekend during a raid of some identified criminal hideouts in the Akala, Idi-Iro, and Fadeyi areas of the metropolis. The raid followed frequent complaints by members of the public about the activities of Pumpy and his gang members.
In his confessional statement to the police, Pumpy disclosed that he had raped not less than 30 women in the past three years, with most of his victims being those that his gang members had waylaid to be robbed. He explained that his accomplices would drag their unfortunate victims into the bush or abandoned structures where they took turns raping them.
The robbery kingpin, who hails from Ipoti in Ekiti State, also said he had shot dead more than 10 persons in frequent fracas in the Akala area of Mushin widely feared in Lagos as a gathering of undesirable elements and dark spot for criminal activities.
Pumpy narrated, “I joined the boys in the street in 2008 but I founded my own gang in 2010. Initially we were four members in the gang but we later increased to 10. Aside being contracted by land grabbers and members of the different transport unions during their frequent leadership tussles, we also recruit young boys and girls to sell drugs on the street.
I have over 20 young boys and girls who sell Indian hemp, Codeine, Tramadol and other drugs to users in the area. These young boys and girls do this in return for food, shelter and protection. A good number of them ran away from their homes while some of them are destitute.
Since 2010 when I founded my own gang, I have killed so many persons. Some of those killed either died during shootouts or were macheted. There was a time I butchered one guy like a goat simply because he assaulted my girlfriend. Before then, I had warned him to stay away from my girl but he refused. I even sent some of his friends to him and he still paid deaf ears. One day, I sent some of my boys to corner him at night and macheted him severally during the fight that later ensued.”
The Chairman of the Lagos State Task Force, Superintendent of Police, Olayinka Egbeyemi, who confirmed the arrest said that, though investigation was still ongoing, those arrested would soon be charged to court. ‘’
‘’The Sunday Times’’ deserves commendation for its front page report on May 28, 2017.
Headline: ‘’OXFORD BOWS TO DEMAND FOR BLACK HISTORY’’- S.Griffiths/L. Mints.
‘’Oxford University is bringing in a compulsory exam paper for history students featuring black, Asian and Indian affairs.
The move comes as universities across the country face protests as part of a ‘’ why is my curriculum white?’’ campaign and a year after Oriel College refused to remove a statue of the Victorian imperialist Cecil Rhodes, for symbolising its colonial links.
From this autumn, all Oxford history undergraduates will have to take a paper that covers neither British nor European topics as part of their three-year degree. Possible topics include the 1960s civil right movement and Indian Independence, highlighting figures such as Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Manhatma Gandhi. There will still be compulsory papers on British history.’’
For five centuries Oxford University has valiantly striven to sustain, nourish, and cherish its unique relationship with the city of Oxford. Suddenly, terror has struck and there is a grave danger of rupture as well as threat of conflict. All it took was the case of Lavinia Woodward (who suddenly leapt out the woodwork!!). The story is all over the internet.
Headline: Who is Lavinia Woodward? Oxford Uni student who stabbed Cambridge boyfriend at Christ Church College
‘’Lavinia Woodward stabbed her ex in the leg with a breadknife and hurled a laptop, glass and jam jar at him.
A BRAINY Oxford student who stabbed her boyfriend in a boozed-up frenzy could avoid jail after a judge said she was too clever for prison.
The aspiring heart surgeon is currently studying at Oxford’s historic Christ Church College.
She has published articles in medical journals and plans to return to university in the next academic year.
A friend said: “They see her as someone worth the risk of having around. She might win a Nobel Prize, she is that intelligent.”
But it has emerged she could yet be expelled as her college says there is “no guarantee of a return”, reports the Sunday Times.
The Oxford student may be spared jail as it could interfere with her professional goals
Woodward’s name appears on articles published in medical journals including the Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Hypertension, and The Journal of Physiology.
A source reported in the Telegraph said her ambition had been to cure heart disease, and that she had come top of her year in the pre-clinical tests that all Oxford medical students take at the end of their third year.
According to her Facebook profile, Woodward attended £16,000-a-year Sir James Henderson British School of Milan.
She left in 2011 and began studying at Oxford in the same year.
Friends said she turned “dark” and started posting nude selfies on Facebook after getting hooked on drugs.
A former school pal told The Sun: “After she went to Oxford she turned weird. She became all dark and gothic and it was obvious she was into drugs.
It quickly got around that she was hooked on cocaine and, in a bid to beat it, went into rehab.
She posted naked pictures of herself on Facebook which was completely out of character for the girl I went to school with.”
Another pal said Woodward lied to an ex-boyfriend about having cancer for four months to cover up the ravages of cocaine abuse.
She became increasingly violent, throttling the fellow Oxford student to the point of unconsciousness, it was claimed.
He then discovered the lies had been to explain weight loss and mood swings caused by her out-of control drug binges.
Oxford Crown Court heard Woodward had a “very troubled life,” battling addiction and suffering abuse by another ex.
But she also posted pictures of herself in designer outfits and travelling on private jets.
She wrote: “The best things in life are free. The second best things are very, very expensive.”
The aspiring surgeon admitted to wounding at Oxford crown court
The 24-year-old had met her ex, Cambridge PhD student Thomas Fairclough, on Tinder earlier in the term.
Prosecutor Cathy Olliver said on the night of the attack, the couple had rowed and Woodward’s behaviour “deteriorated”.
When Fairclough threatened to contact Woodward’s mum on Skype she punched him in the face before picking up a bread knife and stabbing him in the leg.
She also hurled a laptop, glass and jam jar at her boyfriend during the drink-fuelled attack.
A 999 operator could hear screaming as Mr Fairclough said: “I think my girlfriend has taken a lot of drugs.”
Woodward admitted a charge of unlawfully wounding Mr Fairclough on September 30 last year.
She also faced two further allegations of assaulting her ex on November 25 and December 12.
Woodward denied both charges, which were ordered to lie on file.
She has already published articles in medical journals
Why would Lavinia Woodward avoid prison?
Judge Ian Pringle suggested he will waive the usual prison term when he sentences her in case it damages her career.
He said: “It seems to me that if this was a one-off, a complete one-off.
To prevent this extraordinary able young lady from not following her long-held desire to enter the profession she wishes to, would be a sentence which would be too severe.
What you did will never, I know, leave you but it was pretty awful, and normally it would attract a custodial sentence, whether it is immediate or suspended.”
James Sturman QC, defending, said Woodward’s hopes of becoming a surgeon would be “almost impossible” because she must disclose her conviction in future.
After the court hearing Woodward flew to Barbados.
Judge Pringle will sentence her on September 25. In the mean time she has been slapped with a restraining order and told to stay drug-free and not to re-offend.’’
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