When Osun State Eventually Pays 7 Months Salary To Workers See What Happens (see photo)

US reiterates support for fight against Boko Haram

 

US on Friday reiterated its continuous support for Nigeria’s efforts to bring those responsible for recent terrorists attacks to justice.
This is contained In a statement by John Kirby, Spokesman of the States Department in New York.
He said the US strongly condemned the attacks.
The spokesman reiterate commitment to help Nigeria and its neighbours counter Boko Haram, both through bilateral assistance and support to the Multinational Joint Task Force.
“The United States offered her deepest sympathy and condolences to the families and friends of the victims of the attacks of Thursday and Friday at a market in Gombe and a prayer ground in Damaturu, Yobe, Northeast Nigeria,” Kirby said

fathers turn homes to torture chambers for children

Eight-year-old Shina Adegbolu, a basic three pupil of a primary school in Ikotun area of Lagos was taken for treatment at the Igando General Hospital on July 5, 2015. But an observant nurse knew something was wrong as soon as he saw the boy and his injuries.

Shina’s 34-year-old father, Idris, took him for treatment with the complaint that the boy fell down and sustained an injury on his buttocks.

But the nurse tactically separated the boy from his father and asked about the true cause of the extensive sore that had developed on the boy’s buttocks.

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Shina quietly explained that he had not been able to sit for about five days since his father gave him a violent beating with a stick for stealing.

The nurse treated the boy but rather than confront the father, she took down his address and phone number and contacted a non-governmental organisation for action on the boy’s case.

When our correspondent tracked down the man, he confirmed the boy’s story even though he tried to play down the impact his beating had on his son.

“I only beat him once because he stole N500. I don’t usually beat him and I was just angry that day. That was why I beat him. The beating did not cause the sore. It was after he could not sit down that his step-mother used warm water to treat the buttocks and a tiny wound there developed into the sore,” Idris told our correspondent.

A subdued, shy and gaunt Shina told our correspondent that he was simply very hungry the day he took the money because his father and step-mother refused to feed him.

“When my father started to look for the money, I returned the N500. But he was angry and beat me till neighbours came to drag me away from him. I could not sit when I went to school and my teacher sent me home when I could not sit to write,” Shina said.

Neighbours at their Ikotun residence told Saturday PUNCH that Idris beat his son mercilessly regularly that they feared that he was going to kill him one day.

“Nobody said he should not discipline his child but it is no longer punishment when you beat a child as if you want to kill him,” one neighbour told our correspondent.

Cases of extreme corporal punishment in the hands of parents in Nigeria may not be an entirely new phenomenon but the recent rise in such deadly torture calls to question the laws protecting children and the reasons parents have to resort to such deadly means to discipline their children.

The United Nations Children’s Fund explains that child abuse includes all forms of physical and emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect, and exploitation that result in actual or potential harm to the child’s health, development or dignity.

According to a UNICEF report on violence against children, on average, about six in 10 children worldwide (almost 1 billion) between the ages of two and 14 are subjected to physical (corporal) punishment by their caregivers on a regular basis, many of which lead to death.

UNICEF says Nigeria had the highest number of such deaths (due to intentional injuries) in 2012 with almost 13,000 deaths, followed by Brazil with approximately 11,000.

UNICEF agrees that reliable data on violence against children in Nigeria is scarce “because violence is often not reported as it occurs mostly within the context where it is regarded as ‘normal’ such as within the family circle or behind the privacy of homes.”

Deadly parents, frightening homefront

Idris maintained he was just trying to discipline his son to make him a better person. But for little Shina, that home is the most dreaded place in the world for him.

Our correspondent noticed the body language between Shina and his father. It was clearly of a boy that was terrified of the man he called father.

“My mummy is dead. I want to run away because my daddy beats me too much. But I don’t know where to go,” Shina told our correspondent out of the earshot of his father.

Idris was handed over to the police. But he was not charged to court.

He was made to write an undertaking that he would never hurt the boy and any extreme punishment would land him in bigger trouble.

“I am not a monster that they made me out to be. Is it wrong for one to punish his own child for wrongdoing?” he said.

Elsewhere in Lagos, a father fled home after nearly killing his daughter.

Thirty-seven-year-old Monsurat Kazeem was crying when she told our correspondent about her ordeal and that of her children in the hands of her 40-year-old husband, Kamoni.

“He has been acting like someone with a mental illness since he lost his job. Our lives have been hell,” she said.

But the problem in their house goes beyond just the maltreatment in the hands of Kamoni.

On July 7, 2015, vigilantes on a patrol rescued their 12-year-old daughter Kafayat, in the middle of the night as she hid in front of a shop at Oyingbo Market, Lagos.

The state in which the girl was found prompted the vigilantes to instantly rush the girl to the hospital.

She had been beaten brutally with a wire, leaving scary marks on the girl’s chest.

Kafayat said her father turned on her when she intervened in a fight between him and her mother as he brutalised her for playing lotto.

“My mother screamed for help as my daddy beat her. She was shouting for help but the neighbours did not come out. He was always beating her. But when I held his hand to stop, he started to beat me also.

“He did not use his hands to beat me, he used wire and I thought he was about to kill me. But after taking more than 20 lashes, I was able to run away. I want mummy to take us back to Ilorin. I am afraid of living with our father again.”

But Kafayat’s mother told a slightly different story.

She said, “Please, don’t think that I am trying to cover up for my husband. The truth is losing his job has affected him very much that he has become aggressive.

“I am a petty trader and whenever I go out to hawk, he accuses me of having an affair. There was a time he was arrested and sent to prison for something he did not do. I sold everything I had for his legal defence. I had to resort to playing lotto just to survive at the time.

“When he got back from prison, he started to harass me for playing lotto. He is always suspicious about everything I do. He always punishes the children but not up to inflicting so much injury like he did on Kafayat. Kafayat sometimes steals and that day, she did something wrong that angered her father. I only came back from hawking to see that he had brutally beaten and injured Kafayat and he was sorry for what he did.”

The police are looking for Kamoni presently as he has fled his home.

When our correspondent spoke with him on the phone, he was sobbing as he explained that his action was “the devil’s work.”

“Please, government should have mercy on me. I was not in my right mind when I beat my daughter to that extent. I was only afraid that they would lock me up; that’s why I ran away,” Kamoni said.

But for Kafayat, the scar of such violent treatment in the hands of her father is something she probably would live to remember. When our correspondent spoke with Kamoni on the phone, he was profusely apologetic.

“Please, I was only angry. I regret everything I did now. I love my daughter. But my anger overwhelmed me that day. I am willing to report myself to the government now. But please, I don’t want to be locked up,” he said.

For children like this, the home, which is supposed to provide the expected protection and warmth needed for their balanced development is like a torture chamber.

A United Nations’ report on violence against children states, “A basic assumption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, contained in its preamble, is that the family is the natural environment for the growth and well-being of all its members — and particularly children — thereby recognising that the family has the greatest potential to protect children and provide for their physical and emotional safety.

“The exposure of children to violence in their homes on a frequent basis, usually through fights between parents or between a mother and her partner, can severely affect a child’s well-being, personal development and social interaction in childhood and adulthood.”

The Nigerian Child Rights Acts 2003 expressly criminalises any form of punishment that harms a child either physically or emotionally.

Section 11 of the CRA states, “(a) No child shall be subjected to physical, mental or emotional injury, abuse, neglect or maltreatment, including sexual abuse; or (b) subjected to torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

But few parents seem to be aware that beating their children to the point of inflicting deadly injuries on them has become criminal in the country.

Ugly trend, frightening punishment

In May 2015, Ibrahim Bello, the father of a 16-year-old secondary school student, Kafayat, inflicted severe burn injury with a hot iron all over her body as punishment for leaving her duty post in her mother’s shop to play with friends. He had initially whipped her till the girl could not walk.

Around the same period, a five-year-old boy, Olamilekan Mustapha, was beaten to a coma by his father, Adigun, at Surulere area of Lagos, leaving gory looking stripes on the boy’s body when he was rescued by sympathisers.

More shocking was the case of 40-year-old Surulere Raphael, who cut off one of his daughter’s fingers in Jos, Plateau State on June 23, 2015 for stealing N1,500 and meat from a pot of soup.

These cases attest to the ugly trend of extreme punishment, which have turned homes to torture chambers for many children in the country.

Our correspondent went in search of Kafayat and Olamilekan to find out what has happened to them since their cases reached the authorities.

Deaths from extreme punishment

The culture of corporal punishment goes beyond the home front as many schools in the country still engage in this form of correctional action.

But unfortunately, every year in the last three years, one case or another has hit the consciousness of the nation as showing the danger in corporal punishment.

In October 2012, a teacher in a school in Awka, Anambra State, flogged a pupil, Chidinma Ukachukwu, to death for failing to do her homework. In November 2013, a primary school teacher in Ondo State flogged a female pupil, Elizabeth Wanogba, to death for being stubborn in class. He beat her till she fainted and she was pronounced dead in a hospital thereafter.

In one of the most alarming cases in recent times, in February 2014, Chris Elvis, a computer accessory trader in Lagos, padlocked the mouth of his son, Godrich, locked him up in the room and beat him to death accusing him of being an ‘Ogbanje’ (an evil child that dies and reincarnates repeatedly).

15 killed in southern Libya tribal clashes

At least 15 people were killed on Thursday in tribal clashes in the southern Libyan city Sebha, Libyan official news agency LANA reported on Friday.
The deadly clashes occurred between members of Tabu and Tuareg tribes, two large rival tribes in southern Libya.
The report said that three others were killed on Wednesday. And tribal clashes have claimed the lives of over 60 people in the city in a month, according to the city statistics.
Sebha, Libya’s largest southern city, has been witnessing escalating violence and similar clashes between the two rival tribe members despite government and elders reconciliation efforts.

We’ve neutralised Radio Biafra, says NBC

Leader of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra, Ralph Uwazuruike

The National Broadcasting Commission on Friday said that it had neutralised Radio Biafra.

The commission, in a statement in Abuja by its Director-General, Mr. Emeka Mba, said with the assistance of security operatives, it had confiscated the equipment of the radio station.

The statement read, “The commission has worked with other agencies to remove the transmissions of the illegal station from the satellite and this has put paid to the divisive and disruptive transmissions. We are working on the Internet transmissions.”

The NBC said that it appreciated the concerns expressed by Nigerians about the seditious activities of the radio station.

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The commission reiterated its calls on the public to disregard the hate messages broadcast by the radio station. It also said that security operators had arrested operators of the radio and transferred them to Abuja.

“Some of the suspects involved in the illicit broadcasts have also been arrested and taken to Abuja for questioning and prosecution,” it said.

Don’t blame me for Jonathan’s performance, says Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Friday said the South-South geopolitical zone would reflect the performance of the immediate past President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, who is from the area.

Obasanjo stated this while fielding questions from members of the audience shortly after delivering a lecture at the 11th convocation of the Benson Idahosa University, Benin, Edo State.

He explained that the 2011 presidential election had presented the South-South an opportunity to produce the number one citizen of the country, as a minority zone, and would bear the consequences of his decisions as President for six years.

He also said what the former President did while in office was entirely his.

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When asked whether he did not share any responsibility in the performance of Jonathan as an elder statesman and former chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, Obasanjo said, “I have also said that you can help anybody to get a job, but you cannot help him to do it. Let us get it clear, there is nobody who has got into any position who has not been helped by one person or more than one person.

“To become Nigeria’s head of state, it was first of all my performance in the war front. Now, if General Yakubu Gowon had not sent me to the war front, you won’t know whether I can perform or cannot perform.

“Now he sent me to the war front, I thank him for it. And because I performed, we shared the credit. If I have failed, Gowon would not have shared the credit; he would not have shared the condemnation with me. I will be alone.

“Yes as I have said, I believe that opportunity that afforded itself in 2010 to somebody from the minority tribe to become the President of Nigeria; he should never lose the opportunity.

“And don’t forget what he did or did not do with it will reflect for a long time on that part of the country and don’t take that lightly.

“What he did or did not do with it will reflect for a long time on that part of the country. But nobody will be there who will not be helped, but you voted for him, I was not the only one among 18 million voters who voted for him.”

On the leadership crisis rocking the 8th National Assembly, the former President said that the Assembly was experiencing “growing up hiccups” which he said was normal in a democratic system.

He said, “You know normally when you are growing up, you have what they call growing up hiccups. And that is nothing to worry about.

“It is part of growing up in our democracy.”

The former President, however, expressed concern over the high rate of youth unemployment in the country.

He said the challenge could leave Nigeria sitting on a keg of gunpowder if left unchecked.

Obasanjo said, “Whichever way you look at it, we have a large proportion of our youths who are unemployed. It doesn’t matter the statistics you use; at one time, they say it was 50 per cent. At another time, they say they rebased; we are never tired of rebasing in this country.

“They rebased and say it is 25 per cent. Even if it is 25 per cent, that will be about 25 million (unemployed) people.

“If we do not do something about it, we are all sitting on a keg of gunpowder because the youths that are unemployed will be angry and restless and any spark will set them off.”

Two planes collide at Murtala Mohammed Airport In Lagos (see photo)

Two aeroplanes have collided at the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos State.

play Two planes collide at Lagos Airport
(Twitter/baklays)

The incident occurred at about 12pm on Friday, July 17, 2015, between two aircraft belonging to First Nation Airways, Vanguard reports.

play First Nation Airways planes (Photo for illustrative purposes only)
(Airplane Pictures)

One of the planes was reportedly taxiing from the runway to MMA2 to drop off passengers while the other aircraft was preparing to take off for Port-Harcourt when the collision happened.

A source at airport is said to have blamed the incident on a possible misdirection by the marshals who directed the arriving plane to taxi to the wrong part of the apron.

The incident has been confirmed by the General Manager, Public Affairs of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Fan Ndubuoke.

Ndubuoke said that there was no casualty and that the incident had been referred to the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) for further investigation.

A similar incident had occurred at the airport on July 6, after an Emirates aircraft hit a parked Hak Air plane.

We'll re-strategise' On How To Fight Boko Haram - New Army Chief

Chief of Army Staff, Maj. Gen. Tukur Buratai, on Friday, July 17, said the Nigeria army will re-strategise its operations to solidly defend any part of the country under threat.

Gen. Buratai said this in Damaturu at a Sallah party organised for soldiers serving in the state.

He said he is committed to building a professional and responsive army that will execute its constitutional responsibilities with high sense of commitment.

"My mission statement is to build a professional and responsive army because I have realised that although we have a professional army, the aspect of responsiveness is missing.

"Troops have failed to respond to distress calls that would have redeemed a situation, this has to stop under my watch. We will relate very well with other sister agencies to achieve our set goals."

He said he is determined to ensure that army will continue to promote the unity of the country. 

Yobe governor Ibrahim Gaidam commended the political will exhibited by the President Muhammadu Buhari's administration to eliminate insurgency in Nigeria.

He identified lack of political will and inadequate equipment as responsible for the prolonged security challenge in the country.

"The visit of the COAS to Yobe to meet soldiers in the frontline state on the very day he assumed office, indicates a new dawn in the fight against insurgency."

Gaidam assured the readiness of his administration to support the fight against insecurity in the state.

"From 1998 to date, we have provided 387 pick-up vehicles to the Joint Task Force for Patrol operations" he said.

Iran Leader vows opposition to US despite nuclear deal

American leaders sought Iran's "surrender", he said. Iran would not welcome war but if there were one, the United States would be humiliated.

 

Iranian opposition to the "arrogant" United States will not change despite a nuclear deal with world powers, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday, adding Tehran remains sharply at odds with U.S. policy in the Middle East.

In an address marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Khamenei said he wanted politicians to examine the agreement to ensure national interests were preserved, as Iran would not allow the disruption of its revolutionary principles or defensive abilities.

American leaders sought Iran's "surrender", he said. Iran would not welcome war but if there were one, the United States would be humiliated.

AGN President Emeka Ike Sends Heart Touching Message Asking His Wife To Come Back (read below)

Controversial actor, Emeka Ike has sent a plea to his estranged wife to return home midst of their messy split.
The actor, who is controversially claiming the presidential seat of the Actors Guild of Nigeria sent the plea in a recent interview.
Read Actor says he knows nothing about divorce, domestic abuse reports

play (mjemagazine)

‘…If my wife wants to leave me, she should have just said that it is due to irreconcilable differences and not that I am a wife beater. It would mean that she is trying to get unnecessary sympathy and I don’t think she would say such. When I showed my children what was on the internet, they were sad and said that it was a lie because I don’t beat their mother. I am a father of four children and I must protect them first before I even protect myself. That is why I would never say any bad thing about their mother. God would judge us all in life. Anyone who sees my wife should tell her to come back home to her children because they need her,’ he said.

OMG!!! See what A Lover Bought For His Girlfriend As Birthday Gift (See Photo)

Please Describe this car in one word

Man, 75, Rapes Girl, 13, Who Came To Fetch Water In His Compound In Lagos ( See Photo)

A 75-year-old man, Gabriel Nwakama, who allegedly raped a 13-year-old girl, was yesterday charged before the Ikeja Magistrates’ Court 4 in Lagos.
The accused, who lives at 4, Oloosa-Oke Street, Ogundimu in Iju-Ishaga, Lagos, is facing a two-count charge of assault and defilement.
Prosecuting police officer Racheal Williams said the offence was committed on July 12 in the defendant’s apartment.
According to Williams, the accused lured the girl, who went to fetch water in his compound, into his room and raped her.
“The accused covered her mouth and raped her. He told the innocent girl not to tell anyone or else he would kill her.
“Out of fear, the girl kept quiet when she got home but the mother who suspected a foul play threatened to beat her if she did not tell her what happened,” she said.
“The girl finally opened up three days after and the accused was arrested.’’
The offence contravenes Sections 135 and 137 of the Criminal Law.
The accused pleaded not guilty.
Chief Magistrate Tajudeen Elias granted the accused N500, 000 bail with two sureties in like the sum. He adjourned the case till July 22.

50 Killed In Today’s Bomb Blast In Damaturu, 10Yr Old Among Female Suicide Bombers

50 people have been confirmed dead in a twin suicide bomb blast that rocked Damaturu Yobe state this morning.
A statement released by the Acting-Director of Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman says an elderly woman and a 10 year old girl were responsible for the attacks.
“This is to confirm that there were two suicide bomb explosions today at about 7:40 a.m. in Damaturu, Yobe, in which two female suicide bombers — one elderly woman and a ten year-old girl –detonated the devices.
It occurred at screening areas for intending Muslim worshippers at Layin Gwange, Damaturu and at Phase1, in front of former state secretariat, Damaturu,’’ the statement read.

Buhari recalls narrow escape from mob at prayer ground

President Muhammadu Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday admitted that the heavy security cordon around him is not capable of protecting him.

He said only God can protect him from being harmed.

Buhari made the submission while granting audience to the Muslim community in the Federal Capital Territory that paid him the traditional Sallah homage at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The President recalled his experience earlier in the day when some youths, who were desperate to catch a glimpse of him at the prayer ground located on the Airport Road during the Eid-el-Fitri prayers, almost overwhelmed security operatives.

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Amidst laughter from his guests, Buhari told the story of how he had to hold tight to his agbada and quickly rushed into his car.

He added that with what happened with Ronald Reagan during his time as United States President, it was clear that only God could protect leaders.

He said anybody armed with a sharp knife could have caused havoc in that kind of riotous situation.

The President said, “I thank you most sincerely for fulfilling the tradition of greetings whoever occupies this place. I thank you very much for your loyalty to the country, as represented by our institutions and to the system.

“Today, during and immediately after the prayers, I think I was bombarded by the youths, who almost overwhelmed the security, and I had to hold tight to my gown to get to my car.

“I was advised to enter the car from the ADC side and I refused. I went across trying to wave my hand to the wild youths, who wanted to see me.

“On an occasion like this, it shows that after what happened to (former) President Ronald Reagan of the USA, it is only God Almighty that protects leaders because in a mob like this, anybody with a sharp knife can get access and do a lot of damage.

“So, all the policemen that were deployed and soldiers since 6 o’clock in the morning, before I came out two hours later in the rains, cannot protect you; only God protects. I hope God will continue to protect us.”

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who also joined the delegation, commended the President for giving an enabling environment for people of different faiths to co-exist in the country.

This, he said, was in fulfillment of Buhari’s electoral promise that no religion would be given undue advantage over others under him.

Osinbajo assured Nigerians that they would soon be enjoying the good of the nation that would be made possible by the present administration.

“Our country is one with a great potential. We should contribute our quota to its development and in no time, we will see a great change. All of us will enjoy this nation. Even our children and grandchildren will enjoy the good of the land,” he said.

The Permanent Secretary of the FCT, Mr. Obinna Chukwu, urged all Nigerians to be their neighbours’ keepers and continue to work for the peace of the country.

He said he led the delegation to pledge loyalty and commitment to the President and his administration.

He later presented Sallah gifts, consisting a giant greeting car, a photo frame and a mat designed in the national colours to the President.

Top government officials, members of the National Assembly and Presidential aides, among others, were part of the delegation.

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