IMPEACHMENT: Panel to commence sitting on AL-makura today

The Seven-man panel constituted by the Chief Judge of Nasarawa State, Justice Suleiman Dikko to investigate allegations of gross misconduct and misappropriation of funds contained in the 16-point impeachment notice signed by 20 lawmakers in the state assembly, will commence sitting today, according to the Public Relations Officer (PRO) at the state High Courts Headquarters, Mr. Enoch Ali Maku.

 

Maku told Daily Trust through the telephone, yesterday, that the panel has concluded arrangements to sit today.

 

“They will commence sitting tomorrow,” Mr. Maku said. The panel has three months to investigate the allegations, and submit its report in accordance with the provisions of the constitution.

 

The state CJ, Justice Dikko, last Friday, inaugurated the Seven-man panel in Lafia, a day after President Goodluck Jonathan broke the cloud of silence that hung over the impeachment process, by meeting the lawmakers in the helm of the plot to oust Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura.

 

The House, on July 14 reconvened from an ongoing recess at an emergency session, and passed a motion of impeachment, alleging various breaches of the provisions of the constitution against Al-Makura, including misappropriation of funds from 2011 and 2014, as well as alleged gross misconduct and abuse of office processes. 20 of the 24 lawmakers, all of them of the PDP, signed the impeachment notice, containing 16-count charges, which copy is yet to be made public.

               

The lawmakers have since published the impeachment notice containing the 16-count charges against Al-Makura, after they made frantic efforts for three days to serve the notice on the governor. Al-Makura is yet to respond to the allegations, as his team is picking holes in the substituted service.

 

Members of the investigative panel are: Yusuf Shehu Usman as chairman, and Mohammed Sabo Keana; a former Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Reverend Joel Galadima, Alhaji Abdul Usman, Samuel Chaku, Mohammed Sani Usman and Pastor Daniel Chaga as members.

Source: Dailytrust

IMPEACHMENT: Panel to commence sitting on AL-makura today

The Seven-man panel constituted by the Chief Judge of Nasarawa State, Justice Suleiman Dikko to investigate allegations of gross misconduct and misappropriation of funds contained in the 16-point impeachment notice signed by 20 lawmakers in the state assembly, will commence sitting today, according to the Public Relations Officer (PRO) at the state High Courts Headquarters, Mr. Enoch Ali Maku.

 

Maku told Daily Trust through the telephone, yesterday, that the panel has concluded arrangements to sit today.

 

“They will commence sitting tomorrow,” Mr. Maku said. The panel has three months to investigate the allegations, and submit its report in accordance with the provisions of the constitution.

 

The state CJ, Justice Dikko, last Friday, inaugurated the Seven-man panel in Lafia, a day after President Goodluck Jonathan broke the cloud of silence that hung over the impeachment process, by meeting the lawmakers in the helm of the plot to oust Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura.

 

The House, on July 14 reconvened from an ongoing recess at an emergency session, and passed a motion of impeachment, alleging various breaches of the provisions of the constitution against Al-Makura, including misappropriation of funds from 2011 and 2014, as well as alleged gross misconduct and abuse of office processes. 20 of the 24 lawmakers, all of them of the PDP, signed the impeachment notice, containing 16-count charges, which copy is yet to be made public.

               

Landslides trap 150 people or more in India

Landslides caused by heavy monsoon rains may have trapped 150 people or more in a village in western India, a senior official said Wednesday.

At least eight bodies had been recovered Wednesday as the search continued. Two survivors were pulled out with injuries, said Suresh Jadhav, a district administrator in Maharashtra state.

"There are reports that up to 30 to 40 houses have been affected," Jadhav said.

About 50 ambulances and 200 volunteers were sent to the scene to help with the rescue effort, he said.

The landslides were reported around midnight in Malin, a village in Maharashtra's Pune district, near Mumbai.

Source: CNN

Landslides trap 150 people or more in India

Landslides caused by heavy monsoon rains may have trapped 150 people or more in a village in western India, a senior official said Wednesday.

At least eight bodies had been recovered Wednesday as the search continued. Two survivors were pulled out with injuries, said Suresh Jadhav, a district administrator in Maharashtra state.

"There are reports that up to 30 to 40 houses have been affected," Jadhav said.

About 50 ambulances and 200 volunteers were sent to the scene to help with the rescue effort, he said.

The landslides were reported around midnight in Malin, a village in Maharashtra's Pune district, near Mumbai.

Source: CNN

Unending Doctors’ Strikes - Vanguard

SADLY, the current doctors’ strike, like the series of strikes that preceded it, would not change anything. The reason is simple – it is not based on sustainable principles. Doctors want improvements on their welfare, not even facilities for their work.

More indefinite strikes would occur as any gains from the present struggle would be lost to the weaknesses of the economy. Inflation is real. Wages do not match inflation. Doctors are over-worked; ironically there is a high level of unemployment among young doctors.

 Things are so bad that students in medical school cannot find places for their housemanship, the mandatory training that attaches them to medical facilities.

The strike is said to be indefinite. The issues are almost infinite. While doctors are pressing for better wages, the public is worried about the quality of private and public medical services. For the 24 demands doctors are making, the public can list more demands from the profession.

President of the Nigeria Medical Association, NMA, Dr. Lawrence Obembe, said the strike was based on failure of the Federal Government to meet doctors’ 24-point demand. Many meetings and interventions by Ministers of Health and Justice proved futile.   It is remarkable that NMA is embarking on this strike in defiance of an interim injunction by the National Industrial Court, Abuja.

The court order forbade the strike by all health workers. It halted the implementation of agreements reached with government until the substantive case before it was resolved. Before the law, the strike is illegal. For the public, the avoidable loss of lives is something people cannot understand.

Doctors are demanding a full recognition of their primacy in the medical profession. They want discontinuation of appointing non-medical doctors as directors and consultants. Other issues include specialised duty allowances.

The frequency of these strikes has become uncontrollable and untenable. It is difficult for the public to understand what doctors and the health sector workers really want. It gives the impression that doctors are putting unhealthy union politics above their Hippocratic Oath, which places saving of lives above every principle in the conduct of medical doctors.

Complications of the demands are that other health workers start their own strike to prove they are equally important, thus resulting in endless disruptions. How would government manage the endless strikes?

A health sector that can work smoothly, with the various interest groups finding their rightful places and getting what is rightly due to them is possible. Governments and unions can use the same well laid down best practices that have served other societies so well that wealthy individuals, often at public expense, travel abroad for medical care. Nigerians are tired of strikes, especially ones that cost lives.

Source: Vanguard

Unending Doctors’ Strikes - Vanguard

SADLY, the current doctors’ strike, like the series of strikes that preceded it, would not change anything. The reason is simple – it is not based on sustainable principles. Doctors want improvements on their welfare, not even facilities for their work.

More indefinite strikes would occur as any gains from the present struggle would be lost to the weaknesses of the economy. Inflation is real. Wages do not match inflation. Doctors are over-worked; ironically there is a high level of unemployment among young doctors.

 Things are so bad that students in medical school cannot find places for their housemanship, the mandatory training that attaches them to medical facilities.

The strike is said to be indefinite. The issues are almost infinite. While doctors are pressing for better wages, the public is worried about the quality of private and public medical services. For the 24 demands doctors are making, the public can list more demands from the profession.

President of the Nigeria Medical Association, NMA, Dr. Lawrence Obembe, said the strike was based on failure of the Federal Government to meet doctors’ 24-point demand. Many meetings and interventions by Ministers of Health and Justice proved futile.   It is remarkable that NMA is embarking on this strike in defiance of an interim injunction by the National Industrial Court, Abuja.

The court order forbade the strike by all health workers. It halted the implementation of agreements reached with government until the substantive case before it was resolved. Before the law, the strike is illegal. For the public, the avoidable loss of lives is something people cannot understand.

Doctors are demanding a full recognition of their primacy in the medical profession. They want discontinuation of appointing non-medical doctors as directors and consultants. Other issues include specialised duty allowances.

The rise of female suicide bombing...By ABIMBOLA ADELAKUN

Given the missed chance at assassinating Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) two Wednesdays’ ago, a blitzkrieg of female suicidal bombings, starting Sunday this week, seems intent on compensating for the failure. Except for the Lagos incident where Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, claimed he used a female suicide bomber to set off the explosion, none has claimed responsibility for this emergent phenomenon; maybe, the coordinators are too timid to hoist their flag – yet.

From Borno State where news of terrorists attacks has been regurgitated to the point of banality, to Kano, Kaduna, and Adamawa states, the body count increases. Nigeria has been invaded by a slew of predatory martyrs. And some of them are women in their teenage years.

Whilst pondering the new madness that appears to have made an unrelenting purchase on our national catalogue of theatricalised violence, I note that the ISIS, the new terror of moderate Muslims and liberals who seek an oppression-free society, has tentacles that stretch from the Middle East to parts of Africa and Europe. Their inimitable proxies meanwhile – the Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the factions of Libya, Boko Haram and Al-Shabab – have softened the ground for the ISIS triumphant but grim invasion.

Although the map they draw on geopolitical zones of the world is a cause for worry, for now I will rather consign them to the delusional grandeur that propels half-wits to spectacular ruin. Both Adolf Hitler and Osama bin Laden suffered from a similar megalomania. Presently, I am more worried by the emergence of female predatory martyrs.

Although relatively a novelty in Nigeria, female suicide bombing has existed for years. They are a proof that viciousness has nothing to do with biology. In Russia, Chechnya, Palestine, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, women have successfully carried out suicide bombing attacks showing that they are as much political subjects as men. Yet, I wonder, how is it that females, a disadvantaged collective in many measurable modern ways, became the swords of their tormentors?

To paint a startling picture of the abjectness of Nigeria’s female predatory martyrs, northern Nigeria that is now spawning them is one place these women are accorded the status of a third-class citizen. In June, UNICEF noted that Nigeria has the highest number of children out of school: a staggering 10.5 million! A higher percentage of this number is from northern Nigeria with more than 60 per cent being females. A year ago, a former CBN governor and now the Emir of Kano, Lamido Sanusi, lamented that 93 per cent of women in northern Nigeria lack as much as secondary education. On top of this educational drawback, there are social, political and cultural disadvantages that dog the women all their lives. Yet, the toga of suicide bombs is now being added to their drudgery.

What motivates them: anger, hate or revenge? If men are said to be driven by the thought of 72 virgins, (quite an enticing offer for a virile male, really) what then drives the women? Coercion? Brainwashing? Money? I have no doubt that their ideological conversion process was no different from that of the men. Only that they probably never considered that their martyrdom benefits only their coordinators,who will not walk the talk when it comes to women having equal social, cultural and political access with them. How did they overlook their social predicament to accept to be dynamites in the hands of their oppressors?

Yes, and they are motivated by the glory of martyrdom. Women who become human bombs are, seemingly, motivated for the same reason other women want to be in the boardroom: to share power and glory with male counterparts.

As it is, female suicide bombers will likely increase over time. The answer might lie in the combination of biology, and politics.

Females, for one, are seen as less threatening and can therefore bypass places where men cannot. She can carry more explosives on her body by simply pretending she is pregnant and due to some particular religion-based clothing, she can hide more materials. The political angle involves the likelihood of the growth of an army of ‘Black Widows,’ victims of the establishment brutality – from the attacks on Maiduguri in 2007 when there was indiscriminate killing of suspected Boko Haram members by men of the Nigerian state – and have worked up enough anger in them to want to strike back in vengeance.

Female suicide bombing, yet, does little to elevate the woman’s status before the paternal class who runs the terrorist establishments. Watch the same Shekau on video boasting about the kidnap of the Chibok girls; how he threatened to sell them for as little as N2, 000 and even marry them off. In his little mind, they are pieces of household furniture he could just dispose of at will.

Some while ago, Prof. Wole Soyinka, in an op-ed piece titled, “And Now, the Ecumenical City of Jos?”, preemptively suggested recruiting women into the Nigerian Army as combat fighters and even creating a special unit of women fighters to confront Boko Haram. He reasoned that if the group loathes women so much, then training women to fight against it would be waging a battle with it at the level of psyche.

He said, “The women have borne the brunt of Boko Haram hatred, disdain, dehumanisation and primordial viciousness. Survivors of their onslaught, and even those who have not undergone any baptism of fire, but have the ‘fire in their belly’ should be encouraged to teach Boko Haram some gender-free truths of human commitment at the war front and the even more primordial call of human liberation, even at the risk of life…. Even the late Qaddafi refused to trust his most intimate safety net to any but a female praetorian guard. Nor should we forget that female combatants were recorded on both sides during the Nigerian civil war…. Nothing unique therefore is proposed here, and of course we are speaking of strict volunteering only, not conscription. The door should be cast open even wider to the gender peers of those whose very presence within the army, even in auxiliary roles, already punctures the warped theology of Boko Haram.”

Now, I think is the time to give the good Prof’s suggestion one more look. Women fighters are nothing new in history. There are historical accounts of how some Ibadan women went to war with men. In one instance, dethroned an Oba. The emergence of female suicide bombers is proof that what a man can do, a woman can do just as well. Let women join the combat against Boko Haram. After all they are already fighting on the side of the enemy.

Source: Punch

The rise of female suicide bombing...By ABIMBOLA ADELAKUN

Given the missed chance at assassinating Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) two Wednesdays’ ago, a blitzkrieg of female suicidal bombings, starting Sunday this week, seems intent on compensating for the failure. Except for the Lagos incident where Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, claimed he used a female suicide bomber to set off the explosion, none has claimed responsibility for this emergent phenomenon; maybe, the coordinators are too timid to hoist their flag – yet.

From Borno State where news of terrorists attacks has been regurgitated to the point of banality, to Kano, Kaduna, and Adamawa states, the body count increases. Nigeria has been invaded by a slew of predatory martyrs. And some of them are women in their teenage years.

Whilst pondering the new madness that appears to have made an unrelenting purchase on our national catalogue of theatricalised violence, I note that the ISIS, the new terror of moderate Muslims and liberals who seek an oppression-free society, has tentacles that stretch from the Middle East to parts of Africa and Europe. Their inimitable proxies meanwhile – the Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the factions of Libya, Boko Haram and Al-Shabab – have softened the ground for the ISIS triumphant but grim invasion.

Although the map they draw on geopolitical zones of the world is a cause for worry, for now I will rather consign them to the delusional grandeur that propels half-wits to spectacular ruin. Both Adolf Hitler and Osama bin Laden suffered from a similar megalomania. Presently, I am more worried by the emergence of female predatory martyrs.

Terrorism: Nigerian government has failed – US

The United States government yesterday expressed disappointment over Nigerian Government’s poor attitude towards the issue of insecurity in Nigeria.

Th US also faulted the Goodluck Jonathan’s led administration over its failure to adequately equip and train security forces to contain violent extremist groups in the north. This was made known in the International Religious Report for 2013, and released in Washington DC, yesterday.

Secretary to the state, John Kerry said that the federal government did not act effectively to end the reign of terror in the country. He said, “The government also failed to protect victims of violent attacks targeted because of their religious beliefs or for other reasons,” the report said. It noted that federal, state, and local authorities did not effectively address underlying political, ethnic, and religious grievances leading to the violence.

“Recommendations from numerous government-sponsored panels for resolving ongoing ethno-religious disputes in the Middle Belt included establishing truth and reconciliation committees, redistricting cities, engaging in community sensitization, and ending the dichotomy between indigenes and settlers. Nationwide practice distinguished between indigenes, whose ethnic group was native to a location, and settlers, who had ethnic roots in another part of the country.

“Indigenes and settlers often belonged to different religious groups. Local authorities granted indigenes certain privileges, including preferential access to political positions, government employment, and lower school fees, based on a certificate attesting to indigene status. The federal government did not implement any recommendations despite ongoing calls by political and religious leaders to do so” says the report.

It was further noted that the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati Wal-Jihad, or “people committed to the propagation of the prophet’s teachings and jihad” continued to commit violent acts in the quest to overthrow the government and impose its own religious and political beliefs throughout the country, especially in the north.

“Boko Haram killed more than 1,000 persons during the year. The group targeted a wide array of civilians and sites, including Christian and Muslim religious leaders, churches, and mosques, using assault rifles, bombs, improvised explosive devices, suicide car bombs, and suicide vests.

“An attack on the Emir of Kano in January was widely believed to be an attempt by Boko Haram to silence the anti-extremist Muslim leader, although the group did not officially claim responsibility. On September 28, Boko Haram killed at least 50 mostly Muslim students at a technical college in rural Yobe State. After this and other incidents, security forces faced public criticism for arriving at the scene hours after the assailants had fled.

“Government attempts to stop Boko Haram were largely ineffective. Actions taken by security forces under the state of emergency, declared in May in the three northeastern states of Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa, often increased the death toll, as bystanders were caught in crossfire during urban gunfights, security forces committed extrajudicial killings of suspected terrorists, and detainees died in custody,” the report stated.
Source: 

Terrorism: Nigerian government has failed – US

The United States government yesterday expressed disappointment over Nigerian Government’s poor attitude towards the issue of insecurity in Nigeria.

Th US also faulted the Goodluck Jonathan’s led administration over its failure to adequately equip and train security forces to contain violent extremist groups in the north. This was made known in the International Religious Report for 2013, and released in Washington DC, yesterday.

Secretary to the state, John Kerry said that the federal government did not act effectively to end the reign of terror in the country. He said, “The government also failed to protect victims of violent attacks targeted because of their religious beliefs or for other reasons,” the report said. It noted that federal, state, and local authorities did not effectively address underlying political, ethnic, and religious grievances leading to the violence.

“Recommendations from numerous government-sponsored panels for resolving ongoing ethno-religious disputes in the Middle Belt included establishing truth and reconciliation committees, redistricting cities, engaging in community sensitization, and ending the dichotomy between indigenes and settlers. Nationwide practice distinguished between indigenes, whose ethnic group was native to a location, and settlers, who had ethnic roots in another part of the country.

“Indigenes and settlers often belonged to different religious groups. Local authorities granted indigenes certain privileges, including preferential access to political positions, government employment, and lower school fees, based on a certificate attesting to indigene status. The federal government did not implement any recommendations despite ongoing calls by political and religious leaders to do so” says the report.

EXCLUSIVE: Ogun lawmakers plot Amosun’s sack, list 14 impeachable offences against him

Governor Ibikunle Amosun

After weeks of speculations on alleged hatch to impeach Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, the rumours may soon take a real form as the state legislature has commenced moves to oust the Governor.

DailyPost was exclusively informed Wednesday afternoon that the group which is currently in the majority in the House of Assembly, has been meeting secretly to perfect plans toward actualising its resolution to the sack Amosun.

The lawmakers are said to have compiled a list of 14-point constitutional breach by the Governor which they intend to present before the plenary as soon as they perfect the plot.

Part of the allegations raised in the 14-point impeachable offences made available to DailyPost include:

1. Reckless borrowing from banks at commercial interest loan rates, and in breach of constitutional provisions. The House accuses the governor of brazenly sidelining it while committing the state to huge debt in his contract awards.

2. Exposing the state to huge debt without a functional Debt Management Office as stipulated by law.

3. Demolition of houses and business premises without adequate compensation, and where compensations were allegedly paid, such transactions have been shrouded in secrecy and questionable circumstances.

4. Illegal deductions from local government allocations in breach of constitutional provisions on the financial autonomy of the local government to administrations.

5. Misapplication of the Excess crude monies accruable to the state since 2011.

6. Illegal purchase of arms through independent arms dealers; a deal which has brought Ogun State into disrepute and shamefully place the state on the International Terror Watch list.

7. Over invoicing of contracts over arms purchase and road constructions.

8. Swindling the unsuspecting citizens of Ogun State through the Home Owners charter without the necessary House of Assembly edict. Monies were illegally collected from the citizens without any legal backing.

9. Extra budgetary expenditure.

10. Deliberate withholding of the House of Assembly running costs as a punitive measure; selective application and implementation of Appropriation laws. Zero implementation of capital votes approved in the budget.

11. Awards of contracts in breach of the constitutional provisions and the Public Procurement Laws.

12. Waste of public funds on multiple awards of contracts: Ogun State money was expended on the planting of flowers under the urban renewal projects since 2011 but the flowers refused to grow. Bus- stops that were constructed with tax payers’ money were demolished less than six months later. The bridge constructed at Leme on Abiola Way was also demolished less than a year after.

13. Reckless government expenditure on the construction of pedestrian bridge at an outrageous cost of two hundred and sixty million naira (N260m) which has fallen into disuse as soon as it was constructed.

14. Selective distribution of developmental projects with brazen neglects of several parts of the state. It was gathered that the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Suraj Adekunbi and his Deputy, Hon. Tola Banjo have been identified as the possible clog in the plot and the lawmakers might have concluded to begin the process with a change of guard in the leadership of the House of Assembly.

When DailyPost called Funmi Wakama, Senior Special Assistant to the governor on Media and Communication, she asked our reporter to call the Commissioner for Information (Yusuf Olaniyonu), saying he is in the best position to speak on the matter.

“Please contact the Commissioner for Information. We just left an executive council meeting so he should be available for comments.”

Phone call by DailyPost to the Commissioner’s “official telephone number” was picked by a female staff who refused to give her name.

After informing her of the news regarding the possible impeachment process, she directed our reporter to the website of Ogun State, as if the enquiry has anything to do with a government-owned portal.

“I cannot say anything on what you’re asking me. Any information you need is on the site, www.ogunstate.gov.ng,” she said and quickly disengaged.

A follow-up text message to Mrs. Wakama requesting Mr. Olaniyonu’s direct line was not replied as at the time of filing this report.

Source: Dailypost

EXCLUSIVE: Ogun lawmakers plot Amosun’s sack, list 14 impeachable offences against him

Governor Ibikunle Amosun

After weeks of speculations on alleged hatch to impeach Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, the rumours may soon take a real form as the state legislature has commenced moves to oust the Governor.

DailyPost was exclusively informed Wednesday afternoon that the group which is currently in the majority in the House of Assembly, has been meeting secretly to perfect plans toward actualising its resolution to the sack Amosun.

The lawmakers are said to have compiled a list of 14-point constitutional breach by the Governor which they intend to present before the plenary as soon as they perfect the plot.

Part of the allegations raised in the 14-point impeachable offences made available to DailyPost include:

1. Reckless borrowing from banks at commercial interest loan rates, and in breach of constitutional provisions. The House accuses the governor of brazenly sidelining it while committing the state to huge debt in his contract awards.

2. Exposing the state to huge debt without a functional Debt Management Office as stipulated by law.

3. Demolition of houses and business premises without adequate compensation, and where compensations were allegedly paid, such transactions have been shrouded in secrecy and questionable circumstances.

4. Illegal deductions from local government allocations in breach of constitutional provisions on the financial autonomy of the local government to administrations.

5. Misapplication of the Excess crude monies accruable to the state since 2011.

6. Illegal purchase of arms through independent arms dealers; a deal which has brought Ogun State into disrepute and shamefully place the state on the International Terror Watch list.

Sorrows of a Chibok Mum

One of the Chibok's abducted girls Mum

Rebecca Ejifoma writes a moving story of one of the mothers of the over 200 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram insurgents at Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State

“We were at home that night. They called and told us that the Boko Haram militants were coming and we quickly began to seek for hideout out of fear. But soon we were called again that they had gone to our children’s school. I became restive until the next morning. At daybreak I boarded a bike and left for my daughter’s school only to see that my world had crumbled,” said Mrs. Monica Stover whose daughter is still being held by insurgents.

It was evening time on July 23 and exactly 100 days since mothers were separated from their children in Chibok, Borno State.
The whole of Falomo Roundabout in Lagos was jam-packed with people who had come share in her pain, but only Mrs. Stover knows where the shoe really pinches in her own case.

For a fleeting moment, screened pictures with the names of each missing Chibok girl brought tears to the eyes of everyone around including the passers-by.

And every now and then, thunderous shout making a demand for the return of the girls would rent the atmosphere. There were songs of justice and courage as the Women for Peace and Justice led by able women like the Chief Executive Officer, Murtala Mohammed Foundation and Coordinator for the BringBackOurGirls Lagos, Ms. Aisha Oyebode and Yemisi Ramsome Kuti, took to the street to keep the memory of the kidnapped girls alive.

For Stover, it was an opportunity to speak out. The anguish she has suffered was evident in her shaky voice each time she spoke to the megaphone. Her 17-year-old daughter, Saraya was forcibly taken away on April 14 and no one has been able to console her with a good news of Saraya’s return.

She slowly muttered a word in Hausa language to thank the people who came to show solidarity with her cause. She said: “Nagode.”
She thanked all the men and women around for their help with a single request to them to help bring back her daughter from unknown hideout where they are being kept by the insurgents.

According to Mrs. Stover, It was barely a month after her husband was admitted to the hospital for an undisclosed ailment that the incident of her daughter’s abduction happened.

“And, to worsen it all, we are suffering so much in the village, because we live in the bush. Days after the abduction, they burnt down our homes, so we had to go into the bushes to live,” she said.

Perhaps, if Buchi Emecheta’s Joys of Motherhood was written in this era, then it may have been titled the sorrows of motherhood based on the stories from Chibok.

Mrs. Stover lamented that it was the Chibok women that buried the 73 men that were killed in their village. So now that they have lost their homes and their men to Boko Haram attacks, they all live in the bush against their will. “It is a nightmare and an exasperating experience for us,” she said.

She added: “As we are in the bush, if we see any shadow we become afraid and run further into the bush. If someone coughs right there in the bush, we all run away very quickly, because we are frightened that we may be attacked.”

While, narrating the pains that mothers in Chibok are going through, the Hausa speaking mother, who came with an interpreter added that where they sleep in the bush, pregnant women are having their babies. “I helped them deliver their babies. But before I do, I remind them that there is no hospital to take them (the mother and her baby) to. If the child dies, will you hold me responsible? I asked her. And she replied no. thanks to God I cut the placenta and the child is fine,” she narrated.

Although, they live in the bush with all their remaining families, she said, they are frightened every moment. “Whenever any child cries, everyone runs away from that woman, whose child it is. With the sound of that child those people, Boko Haram, may find us all. And they will kill us.”

She explained that her 17- year-old daughter is among the girls in the Sambisa forest. But according to her, one man had told her that her daughter was among those who escaped but even until now she has not found her.

“I have combed the whole of the possible routes the others took; I searched 20 kilometres round. Even until now I have not seen her if truly she escaped. Although people told me that after she escaped, the Boko Haram boys caught and returned her to the forest.”
“As courageous as my Saraya Stover is the Boko Haram could still take her away. Even until now I am yet to find Saraya,” she said nervously.

Meanwhile, another resident of Chibok community, Mrs. Esther Musa, who was in the crowd with her little girl, said: “They are too many. The Boko Haram insurgents are so many that they are everywhere. If you live in Borno you can’t sleep, because of the sound of the gunshot every time. We are always afraid.”

Explaining the horrific experience they go through daily, Mrs. Musa said that Boko Haram militants do not kill older women. “They let every old women go. But once they come across any young girl, whether married or not, they carry her away; so long she is a young person, Boko Haram members will take her away”, she said.

She added: “If we choose to run to another state where would we stay? Who will give us shelter? How can we run away to another state when we are so many in numbers?”

Mrs. Musa who came alongside her neighbour, Mrs. Mary Yakubu, said the war in Borno State is still on, because the deadly insurgents are in control and still in full force in many part of the state.

For the Speak Out Initiative, other members of Chibok community including male and female were present. In the words of the National President of Chibok Youth Association, Moses Zakwa, they all shared a common concern at this time

He said: “Going by the recent activities of Boko Haram in the Chibok area, these girls, if successfully rescued which we are trusting God for, may not come home to meet their parents and relatives alive. This is because of the massive onslaught by the terrorists against the whole Kibaku community in Chibok Local Government Area in the past few months.”
The terrorists according to him move from one village to the other burning houses.

“Chibok is inhabited predominantly by the Kibaku speaking people and has more than 35 communities. Today, more than 30 of these communities have been sacked by the terrorist’s continuous attack, creating very serious humanitarian situation in that part of the country,” he explained.

Zakwa further stated that the insurgents attacked these communities freely without resistance, as the only security present in the LGC is in Chibok town, which is the LG Headquarters.

Despite their presence, he lamented, they don’t respond to distressed calls even if it is a Kilometre from their base. “There are instances where they have reportedly told the people in most of the communities they have attacked to prepare for the day. Truly, they would strike.”

Therefore, he appealed, “The Federal Government, non-governmental organisations, corporate bodies and kind hearted individuals to come to our aid by establishing camps in some safe suitable locations. If possible, Adamawa state for the people of Chibok LG to enable the displaced persons to take refuge.”

While addressing participants at the WPJ programme, tagged, 100 Days of Captivity, Ms. Ransome Kuti led a procession of participants round the Falomo roundabout while mentioning the names of some of the abducted girls.

She urged that the Government should equip the soldiers, because they are being killed too. “We must continue to pray and stand for the girls. This has not happened before in the history of mankind. We want the girls to be brought back to us alive and now.”
Participants were made to understand that they were not alone. The people of Ibadan, Abuja, Australia, Atlanta, Lagos, New York, Oshogbo and London were strongly with them in these trying times.

Kaka Sara, who came with Mrs. Stover, said, “The President is trying but he is not trying enough. He promised us that these girls would be brought back. Where are they now?” The women also disclosed that when Mrs. Stover was taken to hospital (withheld) the doctor said her Blood Pressure was 235. For security purpose, they refused to tell the doctor who she really is although he insisted to know why.

Members of the Chibok community joined in the march and sang songs of freedom. Others present at the venue were Hasfat Costello-Abiola and the Chairman of Chibok Community Lagos Chapter, Mr. Zakariya Ali and others.

Source: Thisday

Sorrows of a Chibok Mum

One of the Chibok's abducted girls Mum

Rebecca Ejifoma writes a moving story of one of the mothers of the over 200 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram insurgents at Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State

“We were at home that night. They called and told us that the Boko Haram militants were coming and we quickly began to seek for hideout out of fear. But soon we were called again that they had gone to our children’s school. I became restive until the next morning. At daybreak I boarded a bike and left for my daughter’s school only to see that my world had crumbled,” said Mrs. Monica Stover whose daughter is still being held by insurgents.

It was evening time on July 23 and exactly 100 days since mothers were separated from their children in Chibok, Borno State.
The whole of Falomo Roundabout in Lagos was jam-packed with people who had come share in her pain, but only Mrs. Stover knows where the shoe really pinches in her own case.

For a fleeting moment, screened pictures with the names of each missing Chibok girl brought tears to the eyes of everyone around including the passers-by.

And every now and then, thunderous shout making a demand for the return of the girls would rent the atmosphere. There were songs of justice and courage as the Women for Peace and Justice led by able women like the Chief Executive Officer, Murtala Mohammed Foundation and Coordinator for the BringBackOurGirls Lagos, Ms. Aisha Oyebode and Yemisi Ramsome Kuti, took to the street to keep the memory of the kidnapped girls alive.

For Stover, it was an opportunity to speak out. The anguish she has suffered was evident in her shaky voice each time she spoke to the megaphone. Her 17-year-old daughter, Saraya was forcibly taken away on April 14 and no one has been able to console her with a good news of Saraya’s return.

She slowly muttered a word in Hausa language to thank the people who came to show solidarity with her cause. She said: “Nagode.”
She thanked all the men and women around for their help with a single request to them to help bring back her daughter from unknown hideout where they are being kept by the insurgents.

According to Mrs. Stover, It was barely a month after her husband was admitted to the hospital for an undisclosed ailment that the incident of her daughter’s abduction happened.

I caught Ebola in Guinea and survived - Victim

Survivor

The number of people who have contracted the Ebola virus in Guinea, according to the World Health Organization, has risen to 208 - and 136 of them have died. About half of these cases have been confirmed in a laboratory - earlier cases were not tested.

There is no cure for Ebola but with early medical support some people's bodies are able to develop antibodies to fight it off. One survivor, who asked not to be named, told the BBC his story.
The symptoms started with headaches, diarrhoea, pains in my back and vomiting.

The first doctor I saw at a village health centre said it was malaria - it was only when I was brought to a special unit at the hospital in [the capital] Conakry that I was told I had the Ebola virus.

I felt really depressed - I had heard about Ebola so when the doctors told me, I was very scared. I tried to be positive - I was thinking about death, but deep inside I thought my time had not come yet and I would get over it. That's how I overcame the pain and the fear.

Doctors from the charity Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF) were here to comfort me and give their moral support. I tried to stay positive although I was scared when I saw my relatives dying in front of me. There was a moment when I thought I might die when I lost two of my uncles and their bodies were taken away.

On that night none of us could sleep - we thought we would never make it to the morning. Some doctors from MSF came to collect and wrap the bodies and sterilise the area. It all happened in front of us.


A short while after I was admitted to the hospital for treatment I started feeling better, step by step.

'Shook my hands'
At first I was scared to eat as I thought I would be sick but after a while I took a few drops of water and realised it was OK and the diarrhoea gradually stopped as well.
The doctors would come to see me and ask questions and one day nearly all my answers were "no" - the doctors were pleased and I realised that I would make it.

That was a very powerful feeling for me.
It was a great feeling when I walked out of the hospital.
We had a little celebration with the doctors, all the nurses and the people who had been waiting for me
They took pictures of me, they shook my hands - I saw that they felt safe touching me and I realised I was better. I was really happy on that day. Now I feel good although I sometimes get some pain in my joints.

I prefer not be identified in the media - many people are aware that I had the disease but many others are not.

We have been through difficult times - people were afraid of us.

You know about African solidarity - usually when someone dies people visit you but when we lost one and then two, three, four members of our family, nobody came to visit us and we realised we were being kept at bay because of fear.

It gets even worse if everybody hears about your condition on the radio and television.
Even people close to us, neighbours and relatives, are met with suspicion when they mention they know us.

Immediately the other person takes two or three steps back for fear of contracting the virus. People are very poorly informed about the disease.
Nine people in my family had the virus in total. My wife and my cousin survived too, so it is the three of us out of nine.

We were very affected by the deaths of our relatives but we were also relieved that not all of us had died.
It would have been such a catastrophe if we had all passed away.
This was a lesson on a spiritual level and it has changed the way I look at life.
The short time we spent in hospital has really transformed us. I feel lucky. I feel very happy to be alive

Source: BBC

I caught Ebola in Guinea and survived - Victim

Survivor

The number of people who have contracted the Ebola virus in Guinea, according to the World Health Organization, has risen to 208 - and 136 of them have died. About half of these cases have been confirmed in a laboratory - earlier cases were not tested.

There is no cure for Ebola but with early medical support some people's bodies are able to develop antibodies to fight it off. One survivor, who asked not to be named, told the BBC his story.
The symptoms started with headaches, diarrhoea, pains in my back and vomiting.

The first doctor I saw at a village health centre said it was malaria - it was only when I was brought to a special unit at the hospital in [the capital] Conakry that I was told I had the Ebola virus.

I felt really depressed - I had heard about Ebola so when the doctors told me, I was very scared. I tried to be positive - I was thinking about death, but deep inside I thought my time had not come yet and I would get over it. That's how I overcame the pain and the fear.

Doctors from the charity Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF) were here to comfort me and give their moral support. I tried to stay positive although I was scared when I saw my relatives dying in front of me. There was a moment when I thought I might die when I lost two of my uncles and their bodies were taken away.

On that night none of us could sleep - we thought we would never make it to the morning. Some doctors from MSF came to collect and wrap the bodies and sterilise the area. It all happened in front of us.

Commonwealth Games: Okagbare wins gold in Women's 100m

Blessing Okagbare was utterly dominant as she helped to ease the memory of London 2012 by winning Commonwealth gold in the women's 100m.

The 25-year-old finished last in the Olympic final, but won the first of three possible individual titles in Glasgow as she powered to glory in the 100m in a new Games record of 10.85secs. Her freshly dyed golden hair shone just as much as her performance.

The Nigerian, who will also contest the 200m and long jump, stayed relaxed to power past experienced Jamaicans Veronica Campbell-Brown and Kerron Stewart, who finished second and third in 11.03secs and 11.07secs, in the last 50m.

England's Asha Philip, 23, and Bianca Williams, 21, both reached the final, finishing fourth and sixth respectively. 

Philip also set a new personal best of 11.18secs to cap a fine evening for this exciting crop of young English talent.

Philip said: 'I'm so proud of myself, so happy to run a PB at a major event - it gives me a lot of confidence.'

Source: Dailymail