Boko Haram claims victory over military

Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau

LEADER of the violent Islamic sect, Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, on Tuesday claimed in a video that Nigerian soldiers had retreated from the ongoing military offensive against terrorism and that insurgents had sustained little damage, AFP reports.

The video marks the first public comments from Shekau since the military offensive which started on May 15 following the declaration of emergency rule in the stronghold of the sect, Borno, as well as Adamawa and Yobe states.

Shekau also reportedly called for foreign Islamists to join the fight against Nigeria in the video which AFP claimed was in its possession.

The AFP reports thus: Shekau’s whereabouts cannot be determined in the video, in which he is shown seated while dressed in camouflage with a turban, an AK-47 at his side.

His comments contradict statements from the military, which has claimed much success during the offensive, including the destruction of Boko Haram camps and dozens of arrests.

It has been impossible to verify the claims of either side independently, with the military having cut mobile phone service in much of the country’s northeast and access to remote locations restricted.

“Since we started this ongoing war which they call a state of emergency … in some instances soldiers who faced us turned and ran,” Shekau said in the hour-long video.

He claimed Nigerian forces “threw down their arms in flight.”

He called on like-minded Islamists in countries including Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq to join the fight to create an Islamic state in Nigeria.

“We call to us our brethren in these countries I mentioned. Oh! Our brethren, come to us,” he said in the video, which alternates between Arabic and the Hausa language spoken across northern Nigeria.

The video later purports to show vehicles and weapons seized from Nigerian soldiers.

Shekau, designated a global terrorist by the United States last year, repeats earlier statements that Boko Haram “will not stop the kidnap of your women and children until you set free our women and children, and our brethren.”

He also says Boko Haram’s goal is either the creation of an Islamic state or “martyrdom”.

The video was delivered to AFP through an intermediary in a manner similar to previous Boko Haram messages. The images of Shekau in the video are consistent with those previously released.

Nigeria launched the offensive against Boko Haram after President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in three states in the country’s northeast, the Islamist insurgents’ stronghold.

Several thousand troops were deployed and fighter jets hit alleged Boko Haram camps.

On May 20, the military said it had re-established control in five remote areas of the northeast where Islamist insurgents had seized territory.

It had also claimed the arrests of 120 suspected insurgents.

The military’s latest statement says 25 insurgents were arrested and three killed during operations at the weekend, including one identified as “Abba” named on a most-wanted list. One soldier was also killed.

“Troops of the special forces have intercepted messages sent to fleeing insurgents urging them not to give up but fight to the end.

“The attempt by some of them to heed the call was foiled during the weekend as they were trailed to some settlements and towns towards the border where they plan to regroup,” the statement explains.

Last week, the military said it had freed three women and six children abducted by Boko Haram.

Nigeria’s government has also pledged to release certain suspects held in connection with the insurgency as a peace gesture, including all women and children.

Boko Haram has waged its insurgency since 2009, with an estimated 3,600 people left dead, including killings by the security forces.

The group has pushed for the creation of an Islamic state in Africa’s most populous nation and largest oil producer, though its demands have repeatedly shifted.

It is believed to include various factions with differing aims.

Nigeria’s military has come under heavy criticism over its response to Boko Haram, including allegations of extra-judicial killings, arbitrary arrests and unlawful detentions.

Nine-man gang attacks Fuji artiste, Pasuma, snatches car

Pasuma
| credits: File copy

A nine-man  gang attacked music artiste, Wasiu Alabi, aka Pasuma, in Ahmadiyya end of Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway on Monday night.

The robbers snatched Pasuma’s Range Rover Sports Utility Vehicle with number plate Lagos, MUS 830AP, and dispossessed him of other valuables.

prince bola learnt that the singer, in company with a friend, was on his way to a show when he was attacked by the culprits.

It was learnt that some of the culprits forced their way into Pasuma’s vehicle and drove him around for over three hours before dumping him into a bush near Ota, Ogun State, and made away with the vehicle.

An associate of the singer, who spoke with our correspondent on the telephone, said the incident occurred at about 9pm.

The source Pasuma was not identified by the robbers because he hid his face.

He said, “On Monday night, Pasuma was on his way to perform at a party but on getting to Ahmadiyya, he was attacked and the culprits took all his money and his mobile phones. His friend, who was in the car with him, was robbed as well.

“The robbers then took control and drove Pasuma around for about three hours. While he was in their custody, Pasuma hid his face from them so the robbers did not know he was the one. When it was about 12 midnight, they dumped him and his friend in a bush at Itele area of Ogun State.”

Our correspondent learnt that some sympathisers were able to help the victims to get transportation back home

The matter was said to have been reported at the Lagos State Police Command headquarters while efforts were being made to recover the vehicle.

When contacted on the telephone, the Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, said the police had commenced investigations into the robbery.

She said, “The Deputy Commissioner of Police, Tunde Sobulo, was informed and he sent signal to the control room. Efforts are on to recover the vehicle and apprehend the robbers.”

CPC’s Rotimi Fashakin is a brainless ignoramus, says Reuben Abati

Abdulrahman Abdulmalik

Reuben Abati, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to President Goodluck Jonathan

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity,  Reuben Abati, has described the spokesperson of the opposition Congress for Progressive Change as a medieval-era ignoramus and brainless individual.
In a statement Tuesday night, Mr. Abati was unsparing of Mr. Fashakin who had earlier issued a statement condemning President Goodluck Jonathan for missing his speaking slot at the just-concluded African Union summit in Addis Ababa.
The CPC spokesperson had also accused the president of instigating the crisis in the Nigeria Governors’ Forum.
But in responding to Mr. Fashakin’s criticism of his boss, an ostensibly angry Mr. Abati poured invectives on the CPC spokesperson  describing him as a silly, hideous and second rate character whose family should be ashamed of.
He described him as a disruptive character with a mental indolence that has left him with a deep character flaw.
Read the full statement below.

We are dealing with such hideous and second rate characters in Nigeria’s public space, belonging to the ACN and the CPC, and that other would-be disaster-prone mongrel called APC that they won’t even respect the truth. The prize for being silly in this regard must go to one Rotimi Fashakin who describes himself as the National Publicity Secretary of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC). He is an arm-chair critic per excellence and a medieval-era ignoramus.
In a release titled “President Jonathan’s AU summit gaffe” (May 28) Rotimi displayed such habitual indolence and brainlessness that his heirs must be eternally ashamed of, and which I consider offensive and needlessly disruptive. His subject is the just-ended AU @ 50 summit in Addis Ababa.
I invite more cerebral and decent persons to consider the facts. President Jonathan as the leader of the Nigerian delegation to the AU summit in Addis Ababa and the 50th anniversary of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) indeed put up a sterling performance, using the opportunity of the trip to further promote Nigeria’s interests and to strengthen Nigeria’s relationships with other countries. He held bilateral meetings with the UN Secretary General and the leaders of Jamaica, Egypt, Swaziland, Ghana, Cote D’Ivoire. He granted interviews to the media, local and international. He also participated in a special session on HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, at which he invited other world leaders to the Abuja+12 conference to be hosted in Nigeria, mid-June. President Jonathan is an accomplished diplomat and a responsible leader under whose watch, Nigeria’s foreign policy process and international relations have been strengthened with commendable results.
Fashakin, failing to do minimal research that any right-thinking person would attempt, jumps to the conclusion that President Jonathan missed his slot at the AU and that nobody represented him. This is more than 48 hours after I had issued a statement indicating that no slot was missed. Fashakin must be so busy he doesn’t even bother to read the news. No slot was missed because no country was under any compulsion to speak. Any country that wished to make a statement indicated the interest to do so, by pressing the button at its own convenience. Nigeria had indicated an interest to speak, but the President needed to attend an urgent ECOWAS meeting on the Lagos-Abidjan Highway, to be attended by five West African countries, to take a report by the Nigerian Minister of Works who is the chair of the regional inter-Ministerial body on the proposed Lagos-Abidjan Highway. I have since circulated the conclusions of that meeting.
While President Jonathan was attending that meeting, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru, the Minister of Foreign Affairs presented our statement to the OAU at 50 on President Jonathan’s behalf. I have also since circulated the full text of that statement. In other words, Nigeria’s voice was heard, loud and clear. Let it be noted that President Jonathan’s attendance of a meeting on the sidelines of the AU Summit was perfectly in order, and he attended quite a number, just as Minister Ashiru was not the only Foreign Minister who spoke on behalf of a President at the Summit. So where did Fashakin get his information from that nobody represented Nigeria?
The nature of his mental indolence is understandable. In this attempt to pull President Jonathan down at all costs, lies have become standard stuff, mischief a major commodity, and indecency a character flaw. President Jonathan does not owe anyone an apology for serving Nigeria diligently and truthfully. Fashakin’s reference to an incident in Australia is also wrong-headed because the allegation is false. In fact, in Australia, President Jonathan met with a broad range of investors in the mining sector and that has resulted in huge investments in the Nigerian mining sector. I consider the insinuation about inebriation, in Fashakin’s statement, amplified by his paid agents in other fora, as utterly disrespectful and foolish. They can’t certainly be talking about a President who is a well-focused man of achievement. By the same token, I consider the reference to Governor Rotimi Amaechi and the Nigeria Governors’ Forum in that statement as a red herring. Again, I advise Fashakin to read the newspapers so he can be abreast of developments, the only way he can get close to being an effective spokesperson. I had made it clear that President Jonathan has no hand in the Governors Forum crisis, and we stand by that position.
Our case is not rested. When next Fashakin comes to the public with unintelligent thoughts about President Jonathan, it shall remain our duty to continue to remind him of the need to think before talking.

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We don’t have time for celebration’

Odelaja and Atoyebi
| credits: File copy

While a lot of children celebrated their day on Monday, some were on the road trying to make ends meet. They were not in any position to celebrate.

One of them, Sunday Atoyebi, 17, who was hawking bread on Ogudu Road, told  that he had to make money for his family and as such had no time for any celebration.

He said, “I took these loaves from a Good Samaritan. I must pay him his money in the evening after deducting my profit.

“I am not celebrating because I have to be on the road to make money. My usual profit in a day is N1, 200 and today must not be an exception.”

Atoyebi, the first born in a family of four children, however, told our correspondent that there was danger in his job. He added that his friend was knocked down by a car on the Ojodu Road four days earlier while hawking bread.

He said, “But what can I do, I have to hustle so I can raise money to assist my parents and my other three siblings. I also try to save some money too for my future.”

Another hawker of soft drinks, Yetunde Odelaja, 15, said she did the work around the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway to assist her mother.

She said she stopped attending school after they relocated to Ojota area of Lagos.

She said, “I used to go to school, but had to stop when I got to primary five because we relocated to Ojota.

“I help my mum to do this work, because we need to raise enough money for our upkeep.”

Nigerian lawmakers oppose Jonathan’s plans to use Adamawa, Borno, Yobe’s allocations for emergency rule

President Goodluck Jonathan

Lawmakers insist the president has no powers to withhold state funds.
A week after limiting President Jonathan’s powers to use funds belonging to Borno, Adamawa and Yobe state for the emergency rule in those states, the House of Representatives has turned away from an agreement with the senate to give the power back to the president.
The House approved a resolution, Tuesday, insisting its earlier decision holds, mandating the president to deploy only federal funds to administer the emergency rule in the three states. The decision nullified part of a conference report it reached with the senate.
The new order will come into effect after a similar reversal is approved by the senate. The House has urged the senate to deliver a similar resolution.
The policy somersault came as governments of the affected states increasingly demonstrate impatience with the president’s initial plan which should see funds belonging to their three states and local government areas deployed unilaterally by the president.
The Adamawa state governor, Murtala Nyako, on Monday, threatened a legal action against the president if statutory funds belonging to the state were not released.
At the passage of the emergency gazette last week, while the senate agreed with the president’s plan to retain the powers to utilize funds belonging to those states, the House rebuffed the plan, and passed a version that gave Mr. Jonathan strictly security powers.
The House insisted that administrative powers, which require financing, be retained by the state governors and the council heads.
A conference meeting by both chambers late last week jettisoned the House’s position, giving back that spending power to the president.
But the House rejected that provision on Tuesday, as its conference committee reported the amendment back to the plenary.
“The house resolves to delete and revoke completely section 3(2)(e) of the harmonized, adopted and approved Emergency Powers(general) regulations, 2013 by both houses of the National Assembly,” a motion passed Tuesday said.
The lengthy resolution said the House reverted to its initial position due to “public outcry and outright opposition by majority of Nigerians” especially indigenes of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states.
The House also cited the “near consensus of opinion of senior advocates of Nigeria and constitutional lawyers on the constitutionality of the said section” as well as Supreme Court’s repeated rulings on the autonomy of the finances of states and local government areas.
“I will never allow the institution to be an institution of arrogance. We should avoid any position that is against the constitution,” Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal said.

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FALL IN LOVE

I think I am an open person, honest, if I think something I say it. I never do something behind a person's back, for me it is important. I am calm, lovely, I like love and to be loved. Am a simple guy God's fearing, well according to the bible, we have to marry each other before we can be doing all that sex or kissing i believe , but all i want you to know is that am here to make you happy and stay with you the end of my life and i promise you will not regret of knowing me...... I must tell you what is in my mind....Falling In Love Is Like Jumping Off A Building,your brain says don't do It! you Will die! but your heart says don’t worry, i can fly...So sweetie i need you for real and i know it's God will, so let start our relation ship now, and we should pray about it, because i with God all thins are possible...So pls be with me...I care to hear from you soon...Stay Bless

Boko Haram still killing people in Borno —Ndume

Boko Haram members
| credits: File copy

Senator Ali Ndume, representing Borno South Senatorial District, has lamented the continued killings of citizens by the terrorists group in the state, in spite of the proclamation of a state of emergency in the state.

Ndume, who spoke to Senate correspondents on Monday, acknowledged that the armed forces were doing their best, but certainly could not be in every part of the emergency area.

He however appealed to all Nigerians to rally round the Federal Government to fight the terrorists in order to restore peace to the area.

He said, “The group still razed the primary school I attended in Gashua town over the weekend and shot dead a Reverend friend of mine. nThis is in spite of the state of emergency in the state.

“The problem of Boko Haram needs to be taken more seriously by all Nigerians because it is not the issue of Borno alone. There is no price that is too much for peace.”

On his relationship with the sect, Ndume said, “I’ve been convicted by the press, but I won’t comment further for fear of subjudice.”

He also blamed the media for the problems bedeviling the nation following sensational reporting.

He said, “The last 14 years of democracy in Nigeria has recorded very little dividends for the citizenry at all levels due to failure of governance in the land caused by series of factors, one of which is the subjective press that thrive on one-sided cum fictitious story reporting.

“For Nigeria to have concrete things on the ground to celebrate for practising democracy within the next two years, precisely by 2015, there must be change of altitude by the press in the mode of actually been the watch dog of the society, reporting things as they are, without any coloration.”

He also noted that his current ordeal over alleged sponsorship of Boko Haram was compounded by sensational reportage of the issue by the media.

He added that media reports had  indicted him even before he was arraigned in the court of law.

Foluke Mudashiru, Former First Lady of Lagos, passes on at 67

Mrs Foluke Mudashiru has succumbed to an undisclosed sickness she has been battling for quite some time now.

The former first lady of Lagos State and wife of Air Commodore Gbolahan Mudasiru who served as military governor of Lagos State from January 1984 and August 1986 has died today, May 27, 2013 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Saheed Osupa\Oluperi Partways

The king of music, saheed osupa, is always in the news.The latest about him is the controversial separation between him and his band leader, oluperi. The both have been reportedly gone separate ways.
This is due to the non payment of salaries. Oluperi, the lead drummer, has decided to move on with his life and tagged the his boss as a self centered person who cares for himself only. But osupa described oluperi the magic hand as greedy individual who never please with whatever they have.

Boko Haram Tells Fleeing Terrorists Not To Give Up – Army

The troops deployed to flush out terrorists from Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states following declaration of state of emergency said they have intercepted messages by the leadership of Boko Haram urging sect members to regroup and refuse to give up.
It was learnt that the interception made by the military communication interceptors came about as continued combing of the camps and enclaves revealed fresh graves, more ammunition depots, vehicles and other equipment.
Also, 25 insurgents were rounded up by troops while three of them died, including a high profile terrorist identified as Abba who has been on the list of most wanted persons.
A statement by the Director of Defence Information, Brigadier General Chris Olukolade while giving the mission update reads, “troops of the special forces have intercepted messages sent to fleeing insurgents urging them not to give up but fight to the end.
“The attempt by some of them to heed the call was foiled at the weekend as they were trailed to some settlements and towns towards the border where they planned to regroup.
“Troops of the Multinational Joint Task Force carried out an operation which resulted in the capture and destruction of the insurgents assembly points sited in the outskirts of Kaneram Dan Katsina, Tumbu Dabino and Mallam Fatori area north of Baga.
“The towns and settlements have now been secured while cordon and search operation is also ongoing in the area after the insurgents have been dislodged”.
Meanwhile, 25 insurgents were rounded up while three died, including a high profile terrorist identified as Abba who has been on the list of most wanted persons.
“This incident happened during an encounter with troops of the task force as the insurgents were finalizing moves to carry out an extensive terrorist operation around Maiduguri.
“The captured ones were all apprehended with their weapons which include rifles, pistols, double barrel guns and various calibres of ammunition during a raid operation of the JTF in Kumshe and Bulunkutu area.
“Although they succeeded in killing a security operative of the Task Force, they were apprehended before their planned infiltration with more arms to cause mayhem in the city.
“In Sambisa forest, troops combing the forest continue to make more discoveries. A man who had been held hostage in the forest since last year escaped bound in handcuffs as his captors fled during the troops attack on the biggest camp in the forest.
“The freed hostage is being treated by the Task Force. The troops are dominating the forest as they find a number of fresh graves, more arms and ammunition, burnt vehicles and other equipment”.

President Jonathan Plans To Impeach Governor Amaechi With Five La

President Jonathan Plans To Impeach Governor Amaechi With Five Lawmakers

28 May, 2013

President Goodluck Jonathan’s political witch-hunt of Rivers State governor, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has reached a dramatic stage, with the Presidency approving and funding a plan to impeach the governor with the help of only five state lawmakers.
A source within the Presidency told that President Jonathan’s men have given the go-ahead to the Rivers State Commissioner of Police Mbu Joseph Mbu,, Minister of State for Education, Nyeson Wike, and former member of the House of Representatives, Austin Okpara, to recruit five willing members of the state assembly to declare Mr. Amaechi impeached before this week runs out.
“As soon as the impeachment is carried out, the CP (Commissioner of Police), Mbu, has been directed to arrest Amaechi and transfer him to Abuja where he will be tried,” said our authoritative source.
A senior aide to Mr. Amaechi told SaharaReporters that the governor had heard that President Jonathan had urged his closest associates to effect his rival’s impeachment as soon as possible.
The feud between President Jonathan and Mr. Amaechi has escalated ever since the latter won the chairmanship of the Nigeria Governors Forum, defeating Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State who was backed by the president. The root of the feud lies in Mr. Amaechi’s rumored hostility to Mr. Jonathan’s plan to run for a second term in office come 2015. Since the quarrel between the two politicians blew into the open, Mr. Jonathan has used federal might to move against the governor. Acting on presidential order, the Aviation Minister grounded a jet used by Mr. Amaechi on the excuse that its registration was irregular.
Yesterday, the National Working Committee of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) suspended Mr. Amaechi from the party without giving him a chance to defend himself.
Governor Amaechi cried out yesterday that his life was in danger at the hands of Mr. Jonathan and the president’s political associates.
However, while Mr. Amaechi appeared focused on physical risks, Mr. Jonathan’s immediate interest is to throw him out of office by using five willing members of the Rivers State of Assembly, our source at the Presidency disclosed. “The matter is giving Mr. President sleepless nights and he has decided to remove Amaechi immediately,” he added.

Couple Get Married Completely Naked In Bizarre Wedding Ceremony

PHOTOS: Couple Get Married Completely Naked In Bizarre Wedding Ceremony

27 May, 2013

For most brides and grooms, deciding what to wear on the Big Day is one of the most important parts of wedding planning. But one New Zealand couple didn’t have to shop for wedding outfits — because they got married in the Unclad.

Nick and Wendy Lowe were married at the Wellington Naturist Club on Saturday in a “clothing optional” wedding, reported local newspaper The Dominion Post. About half of the 120 guests were Unclad. Both clothed and Unclad photos were taken, and though guests were asked to dress for dinner, the dancing portion of the event was clothing optional.

Nick encouraged Wendy to embrace the “naturism,” or nudist, lifestyle six years ago.

“It was one of the first things he said to me: ‘I’m a naturist, how do you feel about it?’ I knew at some point I’d have to at least try it,” Wendy said.

Check out more photos from the Lowes’ Unclad wedding below:

Why Baby Factory Of Underage Girls Are Many In Igboland

28 May, 2013

Three incidents regarding teenage pregnancy in Yorubaland remain evergreen in my memory.
Some 19 years ago, on being told that I was posted to a mixed secondary school in the South-West for the one-year National Youth Service Corps scheme, a relative (but born and bred in Yorubaland) warned me with all seriousness: “Be careful! Yoruba girls are very fertile.” I laughed at such a ridiculous statement, asking her if fertility had anything to do with race or ethnicity.

A few months later, while discussing with a Yoruba friend on our small street (a close in which almost all of us knew one another), one of the teenage girls on the street passed by with a protruded stomach...
I was shocked at her pregnancy. My friend sneered at her and told me that two other girls of her age on the street were also pregnant. Given my background as someone who grew up in the South-East, it was strange to me, but I kept quiet to avoid being accused of bigotry. The Yoruba friend asked me with surprise: “Why is it that I have never seen a pregnant Igbo girl? Is it that they don’t do what other girls do?” I laughed heartily but knowingly.

Some years later, my landlady at that time sent some snacks to me, saying that her unmarried and unemployed son had had a baby. I was surprised. Shortly after, the young mother arrived with her son. I thought the young man had married her. No. She stayed a few months to nurse the baby, and when the baby was weaned, she departed, leaving the baby behind with his father. I was shocked. But I sought an explanation. I saw myself as a baby in kindergarten, being schooled in a different culture. I learnt that the Yoruba never wish that their unmarried daughters get pregnant, but if such a pregnancy occurs, so long as the man claims responsibility, the parents’ anger and disappointment will be lessened. There is little or no stigma on the girl, the man, the baby, as well as both parents, once the man has claimed responsibility and the child has an identifiable father. No doubt, this worldview has its drawbacks, but that is not our focus now.

Contrast that with the practice in Igboland, where I was born and bred. When a teenage girl gets pregnant, it is most likely that the man or boy responsible will deny ever touching her. He may even disappear from the community, never to be seen again, especially if he is not an indigene. The Igbo tradition holds that the baby belongs to the girl’s family, because no bride price has been paid, even though these days some individuals and families go against that tradition. But the bottom line is that the girl’s parents will feel utterly disappointed and ashamed of her. People will make snide remarks about them not training their daughter properly. Some parents go to the extreme of sending such a girl away. Her school will rusticate her. If she is a member of the church choir, Block Rosary, Girls’ Guide/Brigade, Red Cross, etc, in her local church, other girls will be warned by such a church society never to be like “the prodigal daughter.”

To avoid public odium, she will stay indoors throughout the pregnancy. Her chances of marriage are drastically reduced, as every prospective suitor who hears that she is a single mother will change his mind (unless she becomes successful later in life). If she eventually finds a husband, it may be as a second wife: to a man whose first wife has not had a child or son, a widower, a man her father’s age, or a man below her dreams of a husband. She may never return to school to avoid ridicule, and her dreams to become a doctor or lawyer dies.

On the contrary, if she miscarries, aborts the pregnancy, or loses her baby during delivery or shortly after, she becomes “a good girl again,” and can walk about with more confidence, even though some may still sneer at her silently for a year or two.

So, in response to my friend who said he had never seen a pregnant Igbo spinster, this is the reason. It has nothing to do with Igbo girls being more chaste than other girls in Nigeria. In the distant past, the Igbo society had no respect for a girl who was not a virgin during marriage. Today, virginity before marriage is no longer an issue. The unspoken law is: Thou shall not be caught pregnant before marriage. An Igbo proverb describes this mindset aptly: All dogs eat faeces, but it is only the one that bears the remnants on its snout that is calledFaeces Eater. Consequently, Igbo girls are more exposed to sex education and contraceptives. When those two fail, they resort to abortion, commonly called D & C (dilatation and curettage). But if the baby is born, some resort to dumping of such babies in a pit toilet or a bush, where they may die or be found by someone else.

However, while teenage girls don’t need their babies, there are some women who need children desperately: Married women with no child or no male child. Such women are most times put under intense pressure by their mothers-in-law or husbands. They are constantly threatened with divorce or a second wife, or they are branded witches or “men”. To make matters worse, there seems to have been a rise in childlessness among married couples in recent times.

Furthermore, in most Igbo communities, adoption still has a stigma. An adopted child is seen as not a “real son/daughter of the soil.” Everyone wants a child that society will believe is a biological child.

And so “demand” meets “supply.” Some smart alecs discovered this and took advantage of the situation by setting up baby factories under different guises. Childless women are given some special “herbs” that make them have a false sense of pregnancy. They look bloated like pregnant women and feel some sensation in their wombs. They are warned never to visit any other hospital or do any scan, to avoid losing the baby. They are told to come in and live in the so-called maternities from the fifth or sixth month of “pregnancy” for special attention. So they travel from the big cities of Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, etc, to these remote villages in the South-East to “deliver.”

Meanwhile, the so-called midwife that administers the special herbs has a baby factory where pregnant girls are housed. Some of these girls were kicked out by their parents; some ran away from home to avoid the heavy consequences; some are lured in from poor homes with a promise to be handsomely rewarded if they could take in. Any day one of these girls in their custody is delivered of a baby, the woman with a fake pregnancy is given an injection that makes her feel she is in labour. When she wakes up, she is presented with “her” baby. She pays between N400,000 and N600,000, depending on the sex of the child, believing she actually delivered a child, unless a future DNA or blood test comes up. Even if she suspects that she did not actually deliver any child, she keeps it a secret and raises “her child”. She organises a big thanksgiving in her church with a soul-lifting testimony of “divine visitation and favour” after 15 years of marriage, with a lot to eat and drink at home after the church service. The pressure on her from family and society eases off, because now she has a child, who will keep her husband’s lineage alive.

The real teenage mother of the child is paid off with an amount that is less than N100,000. She is not much bothered because her burden and stigma have been removed. She returns to her family and education and continues her normal life as “a good girl.”

So from one Igbo state to another, baby factories and baby thieves are discovered regularly. During interrogation by the police, one point runs through their stories: they are rendering a service to society by ensuring that children are raised by those who have the financial capacity to take care of them. There is no sign of remorse in them for being involved in a heinous crime. As far as they are concerned, they are making the world a happier place.

Therefore, it is not enough for fellow Igbo people to feel mortified that such baby factories and baby-stealing stories are emanating from different parts of Igboland. The time has come for Igbo families and communities to stop treating pregnant teenagers as the worst sinners on earth. Pregnancy before marriage should not be encouraged, but if a girl makes such a mistake, she should not be treated like an outcast for life. Such stigmatisation does not discourage girls from having pre-marital sex. What it does is to make them devise means — no matter how atrocious — to ensure that they are not single mothers.

The sad truth is that most teenagers get pregnant because of naivety rather than promiscuity. The girls who are really sexually hyper-active never get pregnant! And even when they do, such pregnancies are terminated in a matter of weeks before anyone can notice.

In the same vein, the pressure on married women to have children or male children as well as the stigma associated with adoption makes many women undergo emotional trauma and also resort to illegal ways of having children that society will call their biological children. Action usually begets reaction. We must not cling to a vacuous moral high ground that drives people to worse crimes in their bid to be seen as chaste or well-trained.

Photos: Man Gets Slapped After Proposing To Woman In Public

28 May, 2013

This dysfunctional couple were photographed at Shepherd Bush underground station in London during what was supposed to be an ‘Aw!’ moment. It turned into an ‘Ouch!’ moment seconds after the man went the down on one knee and asked the woman to marry him.

She responded by giving him a slap across the face as people watched in shock.
Someone said this is the kind of thing that makes someone turn gay.

My life under threat, Amaechi speaks out … after PDP suspends him

Hours after PDP’s decision to suspend the party’s membership of Executive Governor of River State, Rt Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi for violating the Article 58 1 (b), (c), (h), and (m), Amaechi reacted by soliciting prayers from the citizens of the state against frantic people who he claimed were after his life.
The reaction of governor reflected the strong opposition from his loyalists and some party officials who termed this as a continued supremacy of lawlessness in the party.

He further commented on the desperation of his foes by stating that they may even come after his life. He therefore vowed to his supporters that when they pray, they must pray for him also to remain alive.
Amaechi complained for not getting fair hearing from NWC committee. He further rejected the allegations of suspending Obio/ Akpor Council Executive and not reinstating him afterwards as he claimed to not even suspend him in the first place.
He was of the view that The Rivers State House of Assembly had the power to suspend Obio/ Akpor Council Executive, whereas The State Assembly has authority to investigate the case.

TESTIMONY SHARED BY A PROFFESSIONAL PROSTITUTE

A MUST READ
•TESTIMONY SHARED BY A
PROFFESSIONAL PROSTITUTE 

 

A lady who was a deadly
professional prostitute, she does prostitution for
a living and has a
lot of customers around. She knew
that no man will never accept her
as a wife, so she went to a hospital
and told the doctor to remove her
womb so that she will no longer be coming for an
abortion things, After some years,
someone introduce the word of
God to her and immediately, she
gave her life to christ and starts
working in the church and
becomes dedicated to God. As time goes by, one
of the pastor called
her and said 'my sister, 'the lord
spoke to me that you are my wife, i
want to marry you.' the lady smiled
and said 'Brother, the lord dint tell
u anything or maybe u didn't hear him clearly, go
back cause am not
even planning to marry any man.
The man came back and say to her
again 'the Lord said that u are my
wife'. The lady smiled and narrated
her story to him. The man still insist to marry her
until the matter
came to the senior pastor. The lady
told the senior pastor that she's a
prostitute with degree before she
repented, the senior pastor says
'forget about old things cause old things are
passed away and
behold all things are new, the lady
included 'i have also removed my
womb and i can no longer
conceive,,,..the senior pastor's
mouth was shut, he could no longer say old
things are passed
away and he turned to the young
pastor 'did the lord still speak to u?
He said 'yes that the lord says she's
my wife'. The senior pastor prayed
for them. Not too long after some months she
became pregnant.
The lady and the man went to the
hospital were her womb was
removed before, the doctor
thought she's coming for another
business...but
the lady told
the doctor that am pregnant and i
have come to your hospital to
register. The doctor was shocked
and say 'u told me to remove your
womb, u can no longer have children'.,,,the
doctor was thinking
maybe he didn't do the operation
properly,,,,but the lady told him it is
the GRACE, FAVOUR and MERCY of
GOD that she's pregnant....not too
long the lady gave birth to a child......
IT IS THE GRACE, FAVOUR AND
MERCY OF GOD that the prostitute
could have a child. decree upon ur
life that what so ever that has or
might have damaged in your life, in your body, in
your skills, your
carrier, your academics, your
business,
MAY THE FAVOUR, MERCY,
AND GRACE OF GOD LOCATE YOU THIS
WEEKEND!!!
Why not share and say AMEN???

YOU WIL CRY AFTER READIN THIS

Just type amen that this will never be yours and your family portion in Jesus name (Amen)

YOU WIL CRY AFTER READIN THIS
NNEWI—No fewer than eight
persons were feared dead,
yesterday, in an auto crash
involving a Mitsubishi
commercial bus and a tipper
lorry at the Ideani end of
Nnobi-Ideani-Ojoto-Umuoji-
Nkpor road in Idemili North
Local Government Area of
Anambra State.
Eight others also allegedly
sustained various degrees of
injuries in the accident,
which occurred as a result of
a head-on collision by the
two vehicles.
According to an eyewitness,
the bus, an Ekwulobia-bound
fully-loaded mass transit
vehicle, coming from
Onitsha-Nkpor, collided with
the tipper, coming from
Nnobi end, close to Ideani
River.
The tipper lorry was said to
have smashed the bus,
which resulted in the instant
death of six of the bus
passengers, while two
others died on their way to a
nearby hospital.
Those that sustained injuries
were said to on danger list in
their hospital beds.
Efforts by newsmen to get in
touch with the Divisional
Police Officer, DPO, in-charge
of Nnobi Police Station on
phone, proved abortive as
there was no response.
A Senior Police Officer, who
pleaded anonymity,
confirmed the incident but
said only four had so far
been confirmed dead by the
police.
The Onitsha Unit Commander
of Federal Road Safety
Commission, FRSC, Mr. Metta,
could not be reached at
press time.

Let us pray accident shall never be our portion in Jesus name
amen

May their souls rest in peace

type AMEN if u have a hrt

Jonathan Vows To Stop Boko Haram At All Cos

Jonathan Vows To Stop Boko Haram At All Cost

26 May, 2013

No matter the cost, the excesses of extremist group, Boko Haram, must stop, President Goodluck Jonathan has vowed in a new resolve that comes two weeks into a broad military campaign to root out the militants in three northeast states.
“The excesses of Boko Haram must stop. That is the decision of this present government now. It must stop, whatever it will cost the government, it must stop,” Mr. Jonathan said in an interview with journalists on the sideline of the 21st ordinary session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Africa Union holding in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The president said his administration would not fold its arms and watch the violent Islamic group continue to kill innocent citizens.
The President who noted that terrorism was a global problem with the United States and United Kingdom and other countries having their shares, said his administration was working to ensure it is contained with immediate, medium and long term strategies.
Mr. Jonathan said under the short term, military intervention was compulsory since a lot of weapons found their ways into the country because of the Libya crisis and it was important for the weapons to be mopped up.
“For the short term, of course, there must be military intervention, we must beef up security, we must change the security architecture to make sure that we detect that something is about to happen before it happens so that we will be able to stop it,” he said.
“We have stopped a number of incidents in the country. It is just that the few that happened affect life and whenever life is affected, you will not even think that somebody is doing anything.”
The president said the need to “go all out to make sure that we seize these weapons” informed the recent declaration of emergency rule in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states. “We must comb the whole place to seize all these weapons and so on.”
“A lot of free weapons come in because of the Libya crisis. We must seize them. They are illegal weapons and must be seized and you cannot do that without declaring a state of emergency to enable the military enter any house, whether it is a residential building, it is a church, a mosque, a shrine, anywhere, hotel, anything that we suspect. We will be able to enter and seize these weapons.
He said in the medium term, the government will concentrate more on education as the part of the country where there is prevalence of Boko Haram activities has the highest rate of school dropout.
As part of that plan, the federal government will intervene to improve education in those areas although the Constitution puts the issue of basic education under the watch of state and local governments.
He enumerated creating economic environment as another approach adopted by government, so that individuals would be able to fend for themselves.
“We are doing that in terms of our own agriculture programme. We are doing that in what we call community services, local roads, renovation of health centres, primary schools and so on. A number of men and women are involved; road rehabilitation, clearing of roads and so on.
“So, we are also encouraging young people to be on their own through YouWin. The fairly enlightened ones who think they have some businesses to do will submit a proposal to a neutral body and if they select you, we give you grant, not loan. That alone is helping.
“The idea is that if you can set up micro and small businesses, that if one youth that benefit can employ five others that means by the time you give to 1000 and something to multiply by five on the average and the results are quite promising. And we are doing robustly in agriculture.
“That is why we are encouraging more of irrigation because like in the northern part of the country, where you have vast land for farming, incidentally it is savannah area where water is not that common compared to the south. So, we must irrigate to provide water and have farm settlements.
“Because some of the interviews they get from people who have been involved and were arrested, they didn’t even know. They just tell them stories and they are just carried away. Coupled with the fact that some of them are sub adults and they don’t have means of survival and their parents themselves cannot take care of them. So, they become very susceptible to mischievous characters who can just provide them little food and use them to kill people.”
The President also said the threat posed by the Islamic sect to the country and the sub region could be more devastating if the government had not moved fast.
He said Nigeria was becoming difficult for the militants to operate, as some of the sect members recently moved into Niger Republic with suicide attacks in two places simultaneously leading to the death of about 20 Nigerien soldiers.
“Niger Republic had been relatively calm although they have been noticing the movement because it is a general area from Mali, Niger, Chad to Nigeria, but because Nigeria is fairly big, we now said ‘no, this must stop,’ Mr. Jonathan said.
“They are now moving, Central Africa, North Africa, West Africa; East Africa is not also safe. Even in Ethiopia here, there were a lot of terrorist activities before but it is now coming down. Same with Somalia. So, it is only southern Africa that is relatively peaceful in terms of terror.
“It is a serious business. That it why all presidents and heads of government on this continent must come together to fight, otherwise, they will create more problems especially for countries that cannot contain them.
“Luckily, Nigeria is fairly rugged, fairly robust. So, we can confront it and we are confronting it now because we can no longer watch people being killed and it must stop.”

When Men Get What They Want, They Leave The Morning After - Beverly Osu, Nigerian Big Brother Africa Representative

27 May, 2013

Nigeria's representative in BBA 8, Beverly Osu was asked if she would fall in love in the BBA house and here is what she said.

I was in a relationship with this guy and I was close to marrying, but I broke up with him just because after fighting with my parents over him, and with my friends too; I found out that he had not a single feeling and neither did he love me at all so I had to break up with him.
After all that this guy did to me, every guy that I meet and seem to fall in love with or any one that tells me he's in love with me, I don't take them seriously. All I know is that you guys will be chasing something and on getting it, you leave the morning after that.