How UNILAG girl died.....THE NATION
Uju Anekwe, sister of the 300-level Accounting
student of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) who
was electrocuted last Tuesday, relived at the
weekend the last moments of her sister, Oluchi.
They were together during the incident in Akoka, the
university campus. Uju is a 200-level student of
Medicine in the university.
Their father, Basil, recalled how he received the
tragic news.
Uju, who was injured in the incident, came down
from the family’s apartment with her friend. She
walked gently, limping on her left leg. She had
bruises below her nose and on her right arm.
She said: “It had been long that I visited her on
Akoka campus, since I moved to the College of
Medicine in Idi-Araba. That Tuesday, I visited her
and she told me to meet her at the University
Chapel, because she was attending a Catholic
mass. I saw her bag full of books. She was
supposed to write ICAN exam next week.
“We left the chapel to New Hall to buy popcorn.
When we got there, the vendor was reparing the
popcorn machine. We told him we would come
back. We stopped nearby the popcorn vendor to buy
3-in-1 bracelets. Then, I told her to let us wait for
the popcorn but she said she was going back to
church for Catholic students’ meeting. It was a few
minutes past 7pm.
“We came out of New Hall gate and standing on the
road. I told her we should go to her room but she
was adamant, saying I should give her one of the
bracelets that we bought a moment earlier. As I
was about opening my bag, I heard a loud bang and
we were thrown apart. All I could remember at that
moment was that I was shouting and screaming for
help.
“I noticed electric sparks of white blue light. It all
happened within microseconds. I initially lost
consciousness. When I regained my consciousness,
I saw people running away from us. I tried to stand
up but I could not, because I was still feeling
electrical shock in my body. As I turned, I saw my
sister (Oluchi) with the electric cable around her
leg.
“I don’t know where I got the energy; I got up and
screamed for help. Nobody came to our rescue.
One man came later and single-handedly pulled
Oluchi away from the cable. Others came and
stopped a taxi and rushed her to the Medical Centre
within the campus. I joined another taxi.
“When we got there, we didn’t receive immediate
attention until 30 minutes after. She could have
stayed alive a little longer if the doctor had
attended to her. The doctor did not even show
sympathy and care. They only offered to give me a
drip but they left my sister unconscious.
“As a medical student, I knew my sister needed
urgent attention, but the people in the clinic
seemed helpless. I told them I would not allow
them to give me the drip until they attended to my
sister. Later, one of the nurses brought two tablets
of Panadol. We stayed for some time before they
brought an ambulance to take my sister to LUTH.”
Uju blamed the school for not providing facilities at
the clinic, saying: “The Medical Centre does not
even have a toilet roll. What does the school provide
for the Medical Centre to cope with emergency?”
Anekwe, a senior employee at the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), said: “Oluchi’s life
could have been saved. When they brought out her
body, I checked it and I discovered that the only
stiff part was Oluchi’s left arm where the electric
cable struck her. Every other part was moving
freely. And this shows she was left to die because
the nurses and doctors, who attended to her, did
not know what to do when she was rushed to
school clinic and LUTH.”
On how she learnt about the incident, Anekwe said:
“I got a call from my first son, telling me Oluchi was
seriously sick. I did not believe him, because Oluchi
and her sister came home at the weekend. We all
went to church together and she was lively. She
returned to school on Sunday and I promised to
send N30,000 to her for upkeep.
“On Tuesday evening, I withdrew the money from
ATM, with hope that I would ask somebody to
deliver the money to her on Wednesday before I left
for work. I got the call from Chinedu, who asked me
to come back home, that Oluchi had been admitted.
When I got home, Chinedu took me in his car and
headed for LUTH.
“As we entered the LUTH gate, he did not take me
to hospital but he drove to mortuary area, where I
saw Nkem and my wife’s sisters. I asked what they
were doing there, but none of them replied. It was
then I knew tragedy had hit my household. The
N30,000 I wanted to send to Oluchi was paid at the
mortuary. While this was happening, my wife did not
know what was going on…”
Anekwe criticised UNILAG for not equipping its
health centre with good facilities and competent
medical personnel. He said the late Oluchi was not
attended to for more than 20 minutes after she was
rushed to the clinic.
He said: “I was told the doctors were asking for
Oluchi’s medical card before she could be attended
to. As doctors, are they not to save lives first? If
they had attended to my daughter and told me the
medical bill is N2 million, I would look for the
money and pay it, because her life is more
important than money.
“But, they did not attend to her. No effort was
made to revive her and no medical test was
conducted on Oluchi before she died. When they
wanted to transfer the body to the mortuary, a
doctor wrote on a plain sheet and gave Nkem to
take the body to the LUTH morgue. Nkem rejected
it because the note contained a statement that
indicated that Oluchi was brought in dead. This was
to cover their inaction that led to the death of my
daughter.”
Although the family accused the UNILAG
management of carelessness, Anekwe said there
would not be any legal action against the school
and Eko Electric Distribution Company (EKEDC) –
owners of the cable that fell on the girls. He
wondered why the university did not remove the
cable after weeks of complaints by students living
in the New Hall hostel. He said it was wrong for the
school to allow EKEDC to run cables not meant for
the hostels across the campus.
Anekwe said: “We will not take any legal action
against the school and the power company that
owns the cable. I don’t want any compensation
from them. If UNILAG management approaches me
for compensation, I will ask them to give me my
daughter or go to hell with their money. I don’t want
their money; I want my daughter.
“It would be wrong if UNILAG usually pays
compensation for such carelessness. As a parent, I
will never accept any offer, whether money or
material, from the people who watched my daughter
to die. If they are thinking of compensation, let
UNILAG use the money to equip its clinic and hire
competent medical personnel. The people presently
in their clinic are killers.”
Sunday, September 13, 2015
Infant Twins Share Heartbreaking Cancer Diagnosis
After nine months in the womb together, a set of 3-
month-old twin girls, Kenedi and Kendal, are now
sharing something else -- the same heartbreaking
cancer diagnosis.
"It's devastating having one child diagnosed with
cancer, but having two, it's just a lot more work," the
girls' mom Abby Breyfogle told ABC News today.
"There can be awful side effects of chemo -- we
worry about that of course, but in the grand scheme
of things we try to take it day by day."
"We're trying to enjoy all the time we can with
them," she said.
Breyfogle, of Pierre, South Dakota, said two months
after giving birth to Kenedi and Kendal, the mom of
three noticed strange spots appearing on the both
the girls' skin.
"We thought were bug bites but they weren’t,"
Breyfogle said. "Towards the of July they [nurses]
said to wait it out another week to see if they had
gone away and hadn’t."
"We went to the dermatologist and had a biopsy
there," she added. "That Thursday they called me
and said that the biopsy was malignant."
On Aug. 17, following a bone marrow biopsy,
Breyfogle received confirmation that her twins both
had acute myeloid leukemia .
"Everybody kept saying 'I don’t think so. It can't be
that,'" she said. "Having two, of course it's sad, but
we just immediately went to the next step because
we need to fight this. The doctor said it's very rare."
On Aug. 19, Kenedi and Kendal were admitted into
the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
Two days later, the girls received their first rounds of
chemotherapy.
"This one is very rare and to have both identical
twins have it at the same time, at least at the Mayo
Clinic, in our group we have never seen it," said Dr.
Shakila Khan, division chair of pediatric hematology-
oncology at the clinic. "Beginning of August, they
had a very unusual presentation with the lesions. It's
called leukemia cutis and that means leukemia in the
skin. We do see it occasionally in children."
"We confirmed it and started them on therapy," she
added. "They are doing OK and we are hoping that
they continue to do well."
Despite a long road of treatments ahead of them,
Breyfogle said she is confident that her daughters
will remain strong throughout.
"Kenedi is our little one. She was only 3 pounds, 2
ounces when she was born, but she is as tough as
tough can be," she said. "She's very chilled and
relaxed and Kendal is the opposite. We call her
'grumpy pants' because she has a grumpy look,
which really puts a smile on your face. They are
complete opposites."
"Considering everything that’s going on, of course
there are days where they are fussy, but overall they
are great babies," Breyfogle added. "I can't
complain."
month-old twin girls, Kenedi and Kendal, are now
sharing something else -- the same heartbreaking
cancer diagnosis.
"It's devastating having one child diagnosed with
cancer, but having two, it's just a lot more work," the
girls' mom Abby Breyfogle told ABC News today.
"There can be awful side effects of chemo -- we
worry about that of course, but in the grand scheme
of things we try to take it day by day."
"We're trying to enjoy all the time we can with
them," she said.
Breyfogle, of Pierre, South Dakota, said two months
after giving birth to Kenedi and Kendal, the mom of
three noticed strange spots appearing on the both
the girls' skin.
"We thought were bug bites but they weren’t,"
Breyfogle said. "Towards the of July they [nurses]
said to wait it out another week to see if they had
gone away and hadn’t."
"We went to the dermatologist and had a biopsy
there," she added. "That Thursday they called me
and said that the biopsy was malignant."
On Aug. 17, following a bone marrow biopsy,
Breyfogle received confirmation that her twins both
had acute myeloid leukemia .
"Everybody kept saying 'I don’t think so. It can't be
that,'" she said. "Having two, of course it's sad, but
we just immediately went to the next step because
we need to fight this. The doctor said it's very rare."
On Aug. 19, Kenedi and Kendal were admitted into
the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
Two days later, the girls received their first rounds of
chemotherapy.
"This one is very rare and to have both identical
twins have it at the same time, at least at the Mayo
Clinic, in our group we have never seen it," said Dr.
Shakila Khan, division chair of pediatric hematology-
oncology at the clinic. "Beginning of August, they
had a very unusual presentation with the lesions. It's
called leukemia cutis and that means leukemia in the
skin. We do see it occasionally in children."
"We confirmed it and started them on therapy," she
added. "They are doing OK and we are hoping that
they continue to do well."
Despite a long road of treatments ahead of them,
Breyfogle said she is confident that her daughters
will remain strong throughout.
"Kenedi is our little one. She was only 3 pounds, 2
ounces when she was born, but she is as tough as
tough can be," she said. "She's very chilled and
relaxed and Kendal is the opposite. We call her
'grumpy pants' because she has a grumpy look,
which really puts a smile on your face. They are
complete opposites."
"Considering everything that’s going on, of course
there are days where they are fussy, but overall they
are great babies," Breyfogle added. "I can't
complain."
A shocking death and the will of God
A Shocking Death and the Will of God
Simon Kolawole
How do you respond to the electrocution of a
promising university undergraduate, a first-class
material at that? You can say "it is God's will" — as it
is our custom in Nigeria — or you can say that once
again, another light has been dimmed in clearly
avoidable circumstances. Oluchi Anekwe, a 300-level
accounting student of the University of Lagos, was
killed on Tuesday when a naked wire fell on her from
an electric pole. Since there was no natural disaster
such as a storm, you get the sense that the deadly
cable had been hanging dangerously for a while. It
was somebody's responsibility, I guess, to maintain
those cables. The "somebody" failed in his duty and
there are no consequences. Life goes on. We await
the next electrocution, the next "God's will".
So, how many people have died needlessly in Nigeria?
If someone illegally goes on an electric pole to tamper
with the installation and gets electrocuted, we can say
there was a trespass and a self-affliction. It is still not
acceptable for any Nigerian to die carelessly —
whether or not it is self-afflicted — but official
negligence makes it all the more painful and we
should, ordinarily, be full of regrets. Only God knows
how many people have died from electrocution in
Nigeria for reasons that are considered to be God's
will. The rain falls and a weak electric pole comes
down on innocent road users or passers-by and send
them to their early graves. It is "God's will". It is the
will of God that people should be careless about their
jobs and go away scot-free, right?
Could it be God's will that people should do the right
and sensible thing? To start with, cables are hardly
laid over the ground these days. They are laid below
the surface — like sewage and water pipes. It not only
solves an aesthetic problem, it addresses a health and
safety issue. I am shocked anytime I see newly
developed areas in Nigeria still laying surface cables
on rickety poles. Let us admit that the electric cables
have been over the ground for decades and we can do
nothing about that for now — but could it be God's will
that electricity officials who get paid to oversee the
electric infrastructure should be diligent in enforcing
and maintaining safety so that naked cables stop
killing innocent Nigerians? How many people have to
die before enough is enough?
Did you hear about the container that fell off a trailer
and killed a family of three in Lagos recently? It was
the will of God, I was told, because if God had not
willed it, there was no way the accident could have
happened. You know the line: were it not for God's
will, the container would have missed them by a few
inches or they wouldn't have been on the road at that
time. It was their destiny. Do you know how many
containers regularly fall off trailers and crush people to
death in Nigeria? Do you know that the last one is not
going to be the last one? Do you know that there are
rare cases of such accidents in some other countries
— countries where the name of God is used as a curse
word or as a joke? Why should God decide to be killing
his children in Nigeria with containers all the time?
I am wondering if it is God's will that safety standards
should be enforced on our roads by those who rule
over us. I am wondering if it is God's will that officials
who certified a vehicle roadworthy should be called to
account for their negligence after accidents. I am
wondering if broken down vehicles should be left in the
middle of the road at night. I am wondering if it is
God's will that our streetlights should work so that
people will stop dying in avoidable accidents at night. I
am wondering if it God's will that our roads should be
littered with potholes that serve as death traps,
sending sorrows to homes on a daily basis. I am
wondering if it God's will that hospitals are ill-equipped
and people die daily from treatable ailments.
Some years ago, a friend's younger brother fell ill at
midnight. He managed to get a neighbour's car to take
the brother to the hospital. He got to the gate of the
estate and found it firmly locked. The security guard
said they were under instruction not to open the gate
until 6am. All pleadings fell on deaf ears. By the time
somebody came to his senses and ordered the gate
opened, it was too late. My friend's sibling had died
right in the vehicle — according to "God's will". If God
did not want the brother to die, the conventional
wisdom declares, the brother would not have fallen ill
at night when the gates were locked. In fact, the
brother would not have fallen ill at all. My friend was
traumatised for years and eventually relocated from
Nigeria, unable to overcome the devastation.
In godless countries, it is God's will that there should
be emergency services. It is God's will that you dial a
number at anytime of the day and the ambulance and
paramedics show up. It is God's will that life-
threatening cases are treated without any pre-
condition of making cash deposits. But in our godly
country, it is God's will, we are tutored, for bullet-
wound victims to bleed to death. It is God's will that
accident victims are abandoned to die because there
is nobody to guarantee payment of hospital bills. It is
God's will that our hospitals should be in a deplorable
state, and the people who embezzled the funds and
mismanaged the commonwealth are able to fly abroad
for the best medical treatment, while the people are
dying from typhoid and malaria.
An older friend of mine is diabetic. He had managed
his condition very well for years, for at least 10 years,
until one fateful day in 2011. His wife was having her
birthday. He decided to surprise her by taking a gift to
her at her shop somewhere in Mushin, Lagos. As he
parked his car and made to walk up to the shopping
complex with the surprise package in his hand, his leg
got stuck between the failing concrete slabs on the
gutter. A few weeks later, he had to have his right leg
amputated from below the knee. He subsequently lost
his job — as there is no protection for disabled people
in Nigeria — and spent a fortune rehabilitating himself,
setting himself up in business and buying a prosthetic
leg. I am even not calculating the emotional cost to
his life.
I was made to understand that it was "God's will" for
my friend to experience what he did. Some will even
go to the extent that maybe he had committed a sin
and God wanted to punish him. Maybe he had done
some evil to some people and it was Karma time. And
I was thinking: but could it also be God's will that the
local government should have maintained the gutters?
Could it be God's will that the same council that sends
thugs to harass traders and motorists to extort all
kinds of taxes and levies from them should also care a
bit about the safety of citizens? Could it be God's will
that part of the millions of naira going into the coffers
of councils should be spent on building a decent
concrete slab on a gutter? Could it be God's will for
the government to take responsibility for its failings?
I understand God's will in a simpler way: that is, I have
done all that is humanly possible but still could not
help the situation. I then surrender to the higher
authority. If the electricity officials had properly
maintained the cables and there was a storm that
caused Anekwe to be electrocuted, I will say: what
more could human beings have done? If the officials
responsible for maintenance are investigated and
charged to court for negligence and manslaughter, I
will say we are making every effort to enforce health
and safety rules in Nigeria. But from all I can see, the
tears in the eyes of the grief-stricken parents will still
be fresh when another "God's will" brings another
loosely hanging cable down to kill another innocent
Nigerian. You call that God's will? Really?
Simon Kolawole
How do you respond to the electrocution of a
promising university undergraduate, a first-class
material at that? You can say "it is God's will" — as it
is our custom in Nigeria — or you can say that once
again, another light has been dimmed in clearly
avoidable circumstances. Oluchi Anekwe, a 300-level
accounting student of the University of Lagos, was
killed on Tuesday when a naked wire fell on her from
an electric pole. Since there was no natural disaster
such as a storm, you get the sense that the deadly
cable had been hanging dangerously for a while. It
was somebody's responsibility, I guess, to maintain
those cables. The "somebody" failed in his duty and
there are no consequences. Life goes on. We await
the next electrocution, the next "God's will".
So, how many people have died needlessly in Nigeria?
If someone illegally goes on an electric pole to tamper
with the installation and gets electrocuted, we can say
there was a trespass and a self-affliction. It is still not
acceptable for any Nigerian to die carelessly —
whether or not it is self-afflicted — but official
negligence makes it all the more painful and we
should, ordinarily, be full of regrets. Only God knows
how many people have died from electrocution in
Nigeria for reasons that are considered to be God's
will. The rain falls and a weak electric pole comes
down on innocent road users or passers-by and send
them to their early graves. It is "God's will". It is the
will of God that people should be careless about their
jobs and go away scot-free, right?
Could it be God's will that people should do the right
and sensible thing? To start with, cables are hardly
laid over the ground these days. They are laid below
the surface — like sewage and water pipes. It not only
solves an aesthetic problem, it addresses a health and
safety issue. I am shocked anytime I see newly
developed areas in Nigeria still laying surface cables
on rickety poles. Let us admit that the electric cables
have been over the ground for decades and we can do
nothing about that for now — but could it be God's will
that electricity officials who get paid to oversee the
electric infrastructure should be diligent in enforcing
and maintaining safety so that naked cables stop
killing innocent Nigerians? How many people have to
die before enough is enough?
Did you hear about the container that fell off a trailer
and killed a family of three in Lagos recently? It was
the will of God, I was told, because if God had not
willed it, there was no way the accident could have
happened. You know the line: were it not for God's
will, the container would have missed them by a few
inches or they wouldn't have been on the road at that
time. It was their destiny. Do you know how many
containers regularly fall off trailers and crush people to
death in Nigeria? Do you know that the last one is not
going to be the last one? Do you know that there are
rare cases of such accidents in some other countries
— countries where the name of God is used as a curse
word or as a joke? Why should God decide to be killing
his children in Nigeria with containers all the time?
I am wondering if it is God's will that safety standards
should be enforced on our roads by those who rule
over us. I am wondering if it is God's will that officials
who certified a vehicle roadworthy should be called to
account for their negligence after accidents. I am
wondering if broken down vehicles should be left in the
middle of the road at night. I am wondering if it is
God's will that our streetlights should work so that
people will stop dying in avoidable accidents at night. I
am wondering if it God's will that our roads should be
littered with potholes that serve as death traps,
sending sorrows to homes on a daily basis. I am
wondering if it God's will that hospitals are ill-equipped
and people die daily from treatable ailments.
Some years ago, a friend's younger brother fell ill at
midnight. He managed to get a neighbour's car to take
the brother to the hospital. He got to the gate of the
estate and found it firmly locked. The security guard
said they were under instruction not to open the gate
until 6am. All pleadings fell on deaf ears. By the time
somebody came to his senses and ordered the gate
opened, it was too late. My friend's sibling had died
right in the vehicle — according to "God's will". If God
did not want the brother to die, the conventional
wisdom declares, the brother would not have fallen ill
at night when the gates were locked. In fact, the
brother would not have fallen ill at all. My friend was
traumatised for years and eventually relocated from
Nigeria, unable to overcome the devastation.
In godless countries, it is God's will that there should
be emergency services. It is God's will that you dial a
number at anytime of the day and the ambulance and
paramedics show up. It is God's will that life-
threatening cases are treated without any pre-
condition of making cash deposits. But in our godly
country, it is God's will, we are tutored, for bullet-
wound victims to bleed to death. It is God's will that
accident victims are abandoned to die because there
is nobody to guarantee payment of hospital bills. It is
God's will that our hospitals should be in a deplorable
state, and the people who embezzled the funds and
mismanaged the commonwealth are able to fly abroad
for the best medical treatment, while the people are
dying from typhoid and malaria.
An older friend of mine is diabetic. He had managed
his condition very well for years, for at least 10 years,
until one fateful day in 2011. His wife was having her
birthday. He decided to surprise her by taking a gift to
her at her shop somewhere in Mushin, Lagos. As he
parked his car and made to walk up to the shopping
complex with the surprise package in his hand, his leg
got stuck between the failing concrete slabs on the
gutter. A few weeks later, he had to have his right leg
amputated from below the knee. He subsequently lost
his job — as there is no protection for disabled people
in Nigeria — and spent a fortune rehabilitating himself,
setting himself up in business and buying a prosthetic
leg. I am even not calculating the emotional cost to
his life.
I was made to understand that it was "God's will" for
my friend to experience what he did. Some will even
go to the extent that maybe he had committed a sin
and God wanted to punish him. Maybe he had done
some evil to some people and it was Karma time. And
I was thinking: but could it also be God's will that the
local government should have maintained the gutters?
Could it be God's will that the same council that sends
thugs to harass traders and motorists to extort all
kinds of taxes and levies from them should also care a
bit about the safety of citizens? Could it be God's will
that part of the millions of naira going into the coffers
of councils should be spent on building a decent
concrete slab on a gutter? Could it be God's will for
the government to take responsibility for its failings?
I understand God's will in a simpler way: that is, I have
done all that is humanly possible but still could not
help the situation. I then surrender to the higher
authority. If the electricity officials had properly
maintained the cables and there was a storm that
caused Anekwe to be electrocuted, I will say: what
more could human beings have done? If the officials
responsible for maintenance are investigated and
charged to court for negligence and manslaughter, I
will say we are making every effort to enforce health
and safety rules in Nigeria. But from all I can see, the
tears in the eyes of the grief-stricken parents will still
be fresh when another "God's will" brings another
loosely hanging cable down to kill another innocent
Nigerian. You call that God's will? Really?
A shocking death and the will of God
A Shocking Death and the Will of God
Simon Kolawole
How do you respond to the electrocution of a
promising university undergraduate, a first-class
material at that? You can say "it is God's will" — as it
is our custom in Nigeria — or you can say that once
again, another light has been dimmed in clearly
avoidable circumstances. Oluchi Anekwe, a 300-level
accounting student of the University of Lagos, was
killed on Tuesday when a naked wire fell on her from
an electric pole. Since there was no natural disaster
such as a storm, you get the sense that the deadly
cable had been hanging dangerously for a while. It
was somebody's responsibility, I guess, to maintain
those cables. The "somebody" failed in his duty and
there are no consequences. Life goes on. We await
the next electrocution, the next "God's will".
So, how many people have died needlessly in Nigeria?
If someone illegally goes on an electric pole to tamper
with the installation and gets electrocuted, we can say
there was a trespass and a self-affliction. It is still not
acceptable for any Nigerian to die carelessly —
whether or not it is self-afflicted — but official
negligence makes it all the more painful and we
should, ordinarily, be full of regrets. Only God knows
how many people have died from electrocution in
Nigeria for reasons that are considered to be God's
will. The rain falls and a weak electric pole comes
down on innocent road users or passers-by and send
them to their early graves. It is "God's will". It is the
will of God that people should be careless about their
jobs and go away scot-free, right?
Could it be God's will that people should do the right
and sensible thing? To start with, cables are hardly
laid over the ground these days. They are laid below
the surface — like sewage and water pipes. It not only
solves an aesthetic problem, it addresses a health and
safety issue. I am shocked anytime I see newly
developed areas in Nigeria still laying surface cables
on rickety poles. Let us admit that the electric cables
have been over the ground for decades and we can do
nothing about that for now — but could it be God's will
that electricity officials who get paid to oversee the
electric infrastructure should be diligent in enforcing
and maintaining safety so that naked cables stop
killing innocent Nigerians? How many people have to
die before enough is enough?
Did you hear about the container that fell off a trailer
and killed a family of three in Lagos recently? It was
the will of God, I was told, because if God had not
willed it, there was no way the accident could have
happened. You know the line: were it not for God's
will, the container would have missed them by a few
inches or they wouldn't have been on the road at that
time. It was their destiny. Do you know how many
containers regularly fall off trailers and crush people to
death in Nigeria? Do you know that the last one is not
going to be the last one? Do you know that there are
rare cases of such accidents in some other countries
— countries where the name of God is used as a curse
word or as a joke? Why should God decide to be killing
his children in Nigeria with containers all the time?
I am wondering if it is God's will that safety standards
should be enforced on our roads by those who rule
over us. I am wondering if it is God's will that officials
who certified a vehicle roadworthy should be called to
account for their negligence after accidents. I am
wondering if broken down vehicles should be left in the
middle of the road at night. I am wondering if it is
God's will that our streetlights should work so that
people will stop dying in avoidable accidents at night. I
am wondering if it God's will that our roads should be
littered with potholes that serve as death traps,
sending sorrows to homes on a daily basis. I am
wondering if it God's will that hospitals are ill-equipped
and people die daily from treatable ailments.
Some years ago, a friend's younger brother fell ill at
midnight. He managed to get a neighbour's car to take
the brother to the hospital. He got to the gate of the
estate and found it firmly locked. The security guard
said they were under instruction not to open the gate
until 6am. All pleadings fell on deaf ears. By the time
somebody came to his senses and ordered the gate
opened, it was too late. My friend's sibling had died
right in the vehicle — according to "God's will". If God
did not want the brother to die, the conventional
wisdom declares, the brother would not have fallen ill
at night when the gates were locked. In fact, the
brother would not have fallen ill at all. My friend was
traumatised for years and eventually relocated from
Nigeria, unable to overcome the devastation.
In godless countries, it is God's will that there should
be emergency services. It is God's will that you dial a
number at anytime of the day and the ambulance and
paramedics show up. It is God's will that life-
threatening cases are treated without any pre-
condition of making cash deposits. But in our godly
country, it is God's will, we are tutored, for bullet-
wound victims to bleed to death. It is God's will that
accident victims are abandoned to die because there
is nobody to guarantee payment of hospital bills. It is
God's will that our hospitals should be in a deplorable
state, and the people who embezzled the funds and
mismanaged the commonwealth are able to fly abroad
for the best medical treatment, while the people are
dying from typhoid and malaria.
An older friend of mine is diabetic. He had managed
his condition very well for years, for at least 10 years,
until one fateful day in 2011. His wife was having her
birthday. He decided to surprise her by taking a gift to
her at her shop somewhere in Mushin, Lagos. As he
parked his car and made to walk up to the shopping
complex with the surprise package in his hand, his leg
got stuck between the failing concrete slabs on the
gutter. A few weeks later, he had to have his right leg
amputated from below the knee. He subsequently lost
his job — as there is no protection for disabled people
in Nigeria — and spent a fortune rehabilitating himself,
setting himself up in business and buying a prosthetic
leg. I am even not calculating the emotional cost to
his life.
I was made to understand that it was "God's will" for
my friend to experience what he did. Some will even
go to the extent that maybe he had committed a sin
and God wanted to punish him. Maybe he had done
some evil to some people and it was Karma time. And
I was thinking: but could it also be God's will that the
local government should have maintained the gutters?
Could it be God's will that the same council that sends
thugs to harass traders and motorists to extort all
kinds of taxes and levies from them should also care a
bit about the safety of citizens? Could it be God's will
that part of the millions of naira going into the coffers
of councils should be spent on building a decent
concrete slab on a gutter? Could it be God's will for
the government to take responsibility for its failings?
I understand God's will in a simpler way: that is, I have
done all that is humanly possible but still could not
help the situation. I then surrender to the higher
authority. If the electricity officials had properly
maintained the cables and there was a storm that
caused Anekwe to be electrocuted, I will say: what
more could human beings have done? If the officials
responsible for maintenance are investigated and
charged to court for negligence and manslaughter, I
will say we are making every effort to enforce health
and safety rules in Nigeria. But from all I can see, the
tears in the eyes of the grief-stricken parents will still
be fresh when another "God's will" brings another
loosely hanging cable down to kill another innocent
Nigerian. You call that God's will? Really?
Simon Kolawole
How do you respond to the electrocution of a
promising university undergraduate, a first-class
material at that? You can say "it is God's will" — as it
is our custom in Nigeria — or you can say that once
again, another light has been dimmed in clearly
avoidable circumstances. Oluchi Anekwe, a 300-level
accounting student of the University of Lagos, was
killed on Tuesday when a naked wire fell on her from
an electric pole. Since there was no natural disaster
such as a storm, you get the sense that the deadly
cable had been hanging dangerously for a while. It
was somebody's responsibility, I guess, to maintain
those cables. The "somebody" failed in his duty and
there are no consequences. Life goes on. We await
the next electrocution, the next "God's will".
So, how many people have died needlessly in Nigeria?
If someone illegally goes on an electric pole to tamper
with the installation and gets electrocuted, we can say
there was a trespass and a self-affliction. It is still not
acceptable for any Nigerian to die carelessly —
whether or not it is self-afflicted — but official
negligence makes it all the more painful and we
should, ordinarily, be full of regrets. Only God knows
how many people have died from electrocution in
Nigeria for reasons that are considered to be God's
will. The rain falls and a weak electric pole comes
down on innocent road users or passers-by and send
them to their early graves. It is "God's will". It is the
will of God that people should be careless about their
jobs and go away scot-free, right?
Could it be God's will that people should do the right
and sensible thing? To start with, cables are hardly
laid over the ground these days. They are laid below
the surface — like sewage and water pipes. It not only
solves an aesthetic problem, it addresses a health and
safety issue. I am shocked anytime I see newly
developed areas in Nigeria still laying surface cables
on rickety poles. Let us admit that the electric cables
have been over the ground for decades and we can do
nothing about that for now — but could it be God's will
that electricity officials who get paid to oversee the
electric infrastructure should be diligent in enforcing
and maintaining safety so that naked cables stop
killing innocent Nigerians? How many people have to
die before enough is enough?
Did you hear about the container that fell off a trailer
and killed a family of three in Lagos recently? It was
the will of God, I was told, because if God had not
willed it, there was no way the accident could have
happened. You know the line: were it not for God's
will, the container would have missed them by a few
inches or they wouldn't have been on the road at that
time. It was their destiny. Do you know how many
containers regularly fall off trailers and crush people to
death in Nigeria? Do you know that the last one is not
going to be the last one? Do you know that there are
rare cases of such accidents in some other countries
— countries where the name of God is used as a curse
word or as a joke? Why should God decide to be killing
his children in Nigeria with containers all the time?
I am wondering if it is God's will that safety standards
should be enforced on our roads by those who rule
over us. I am wondering if it is God's will that officials
who certified a vehicle roadworthy should be called to
account for their negligence after accidents. I am
wondering if broken down vehicles should be left in the
middle of the road at night. I am wondering if it is
God's will that our streetlights should work so that
people will stop dying in avoidable accidents at night. I
am wondering if it God's will that our roads should be
littered with potholes that serve as death traps,
sending sorrows to homes on a daily basis. I am
wondering if it God's will that hospitals are ill-equipped
and people die daily from treatable ailments.
Some years ago, a friend's younger brother fell ill at
midnight. He managed to get a neighbour's car to take
the brother to the hospital. He got to the gate of the
estate and found it firmly locked. The security guard
said they were under instruction not to open the gate
until 6am. All pleadings fell on deaf ears. By the time
somebody came to his senses and ordered the gate
opened, it was too late. My friend's sibling had died
right in the vehicle — according to "God's will". If God
did not want the brother to die, the conventional
wisdom declares, the brother would not have fallen ill
at night when the gates were locked. In fact, the
brother would not have fallen ill at all. My friend was
traumatised for years and eventually relocated from
Nigeria, unable to overcome the devastation.
In godless countries, it is God's will that there should
be emergency services. It is God's will that you dial a
number at anytime of the day and the ambulance and
paramedics show up. It is God's will that life-
threatening cases are treated without any pre-
condition of making cash deposits. But in our godly
country, it is God's will, we are tutored, for bullet-
wound victims to bleed to death. It is God's will that
accident victims are abandoned to die because there
is nobody to guarantee payment of hospital bills. It is
God's will that our hospitals should be in a deplorable
state, and the people who embezzled the funds and
mismanaged the commonwealth are able to fly abroad
for the best medical treatment, while the people are
dying from typhoid and malaria.
An older friend of mine is diabetic. He had managed
his condition very well for years, for at least 10 years,
until one fateful day in 2011. His wife was having her
birthday. He decided to surprise her by taking a gift to
her at her shop somewhere in Mushin, Lagos. As he
parked his car and made to walk up to the shopping
complex with the surprise package in his hand, his leg
got stuck between the failing concrete slabs on the
gutter. A few weeks later, he had to have his right leg
amputated from below the knee. He subsequently lost
his job — as there is no protection for disabled people
in Nigeria — and spent a fortune rehabilitating himself,
setting himself up in business and buying a prosthetic
leg. I am even not calculating the emotional cost to
his life.
I was made to understand that it was "God's will" for
my friend to experience what he did. Some will even
go to the extent that maybe he had committed a sin
and God wanted to punish him. Maybe he had done
some evil to some people and it was Karma time. And
I was thinking: but could it also be God's will that the
local government should have maintained the gutters?
Could it be God's will that the same council that sends
thugs to harass traders and motorists to extort all
kinds of taxes and levies from them should also care a
bit about the safety of citizens? Could it be God's will
that part of the millions of naira going into the coffers
of councils should be spent on building a decent
concrete slab on a gutter? Could it be God's will for
the government to take responsibility for its failings?
I understand God's will in a simpler way: that is, I have
done all that is humanly possible but still could not
help the situation. I then surrender to the higher
authority. If the electricity officials had properly
maintained the cables and there was a storm that
caused Anekwe to be electrocuted, I will say: what
more could human beings have done? If the officials
responsible for maintenance are investigated and
charged to court for negligence and manslaughter, I
will say we are making every effort to enforce health
and safety rules in Nigeria. But from all I can see, the
tears in the eyes of the grief-stricken parents will still
be fresh when another "God's will" brings another
loosely hanging cable down to kill another innocent
Nigerian. You call that God's will? Really?
A shocking death and the will of God
A Shocking Death and the Will of God
Simon Kolawole
How do you respond to the electrocution of a
promising university undergraduate, a first-class
material at that? You can say "it is God's will" — as it
is our custom in Nigeria — or you can say that once
again, another light has been dimmed in clearly
avoidable circumstances. Oluchi Anekwe, a 300-level
accounting student of the University of Lagos, was
killed on Tuesday when a naked wire fell on her from
an electric pole. Since there was no natural disaster
such as a storm, you get the sense that the deadly
cable had been hanging dangerously for a while. It
was somebody's responsibility, I guess, to maintain
those cables. The "somebody" failed in his duty and
there are no consequences. Life goes on. We await
the next electrocution, the next "God's will".
So, how many people have died needlessly in Nigeria?
If someone illegally goes on an electric pole to tamper
with the installation and gets electrocuted, we can say
there was a trespass and a self-affliction. It is still not
acceptable for any Nigerian to die carelessly —
whether or not it is self-afflicted — but official
negligence makes it all the more painful and we
should, ordinarily, be full of regrets. Only God knows
how many people have died from electrocution in
Nigeria for reasons that are considered to be God's
will. The rain falls and a weak electric pole comes
down on innocent road users or passers-by and send
them to their early graves. It is "God's will". It is the
will of God that people should be careless about their
jobs and go away scot-free, right?
Could it be God's will that people should do the right
and sensible thing? To start with, cables are hardly
laid over the ground these days. They are laid below
the surface — like sewage and water pipes. It not only
solves an aesthetic problem, it addresses a health and
safety issue. I am shocked anytime I see newly
developed areas in Nigeria still laying surface cables
on rickety poles. Let us admit that the electric cables
have been over the ground for decades and we can do
nothing about that for now — but could it be God's will
that electricity officials who get paid to oversee the
electric infrastructure should be diligent in enforcing
and maintaining safety so that naked cables stop
killing innocent Nigerians? How many people have to
die before enough is enough?
Did you hear about the container that fell off a trailer
and killed a family of three in Lagos recently? It was
the will of God, I was told, because if God had not
willed it, there was no way the accident could have
happened. You know the line: were it not for God's
will, the container would have missed them by a few
inches or they wouldn't have been on the road at that
time. It was their destiny. Do you know how many
containers regularly fall off trailers and crush people to
death in Nigeria? Do you know that the last one is not
going to be the last one? Do you know that there are
rare cases of such accidents in some other countries
— countries where the name of God is used as a curse
word or as a joke? Why should God decide to be killing
his children in Nigeria with containers all the time?
I am wondering if it is God's will that safety standards
should be enforced on our roads by those who rule
over us. I am wondering if it is God's will that officials
who certified a vehicle roadworthy should be called to
account for their negligence after accidents. I am
wondering if broken down vehicles should be left in the
middle of the road at night. I am wondering if it is
God's will that our streetlights should work so that
people will stop dying in avoidable accidents at night. I
am wondering if it God's will that our roads should be
littered with potholes that serve as death traps,
sending sorrows to homes on a daily basis. I am
wondering if it God's will that hospitals are ill-equipped
and people die daily from treatable ailments.
Some years ago, a friend's younger brother fell ill at
midnight. He managed to get a neighbour's car to take
the brother to the hospital. He got to the gate of the
estate and found it firmly locked. The security guard
said they were under instruction not to open the gate
until 6am. All pleadings fell on deaf ears. By the time
somebody came to his senses and ordered the gate
opened, it was too late. My friend's sibling had died
right in the vehicle — according to "God's will". If God
did not want the brother to die, the conventional
wisdom declares, the brother would not have fallen ill
at night when the gates were locked. In fact, the
brother would not have fallen ill at all. My friend was
traumatised for years and eventually relocated from
Nigeria, unable to overcome the devastation.
In godless countries, it is God's will that there should
be emergency services. It is God's will that you dial a
number at anytime of the day and the ambulance and
paramedics show up. It is God's will that life-
threatening cases are treated without any pre-
condition of making cash deposits. But in our godly
country, it is God's will, we are tutored, for bullet-
wound victims to bleed to death. It is God's will that
accident victims are abandoned to die because there
is nobody to guarantee payment of hospital bills. It is
God's will that our hospitals should be in a deplorable
state, and the people who embezzled the funds and
mismanaged the commonwealth are able to fly abroad
for the best medical treatment, while the people are
dying from typhoid and malaria.
An older friend of mine is diabetic. He had managed
his condition very well for years, for at least 10 years,
until one fateful day in 2011. His wife was having her
birthday. He decided to surprise her by taking a gift to
her at her shop somewhere in Mushin, Lagos. As he
parked his car and made to walk up to the shopping
complex with the surprise package in his hand, his leg
got stuck between the failing concrete slabs on the
gutter. A few weeks later, he had to have his right leg
amputated from below the knee. He subsequently lost
his job — as there is no protection for disabled people
in Nigeria — and spent a fortune rehabilitating himself,
setting himself up in business and buying a prosthetic
leg. I am even not calculating the emotional cost to
his life.
I was made to understand that it was "God's will" for
my friend to experience what he did. Some will even
go to the extent that maybe he had committed a sin
and God wanted to punish him. Maybe he had done
some evil to some people and it was Karma time. And
I was thinking: but could it also be God's will that the
local government should have maintained the gutters?
Could it be God's will that the same council that sends
thugs to harass traders and motorists to extort all
kinds of taxes and levies from them should also care a
bit about the safety of citizens? Could it be God's will
that part of the millions of naira going into the coffers
of councils should be spent on building a decent
concrete slab on a gutter? Could it be God's will for
the government to take responsibility for its failings?
I understand God's will in a simpler way: that is, I have
done all that is humanly possible but still could not
help the situation. I then surrender to the higher
authority. If the electricity officials had properly
maintained the cables and there was a storm that
caused Anekwe to be electrocuted, I will say: what
more could human beings have done? If the officials
responsible for maintenance are investigated and
charged to court for negligence and manslaughter, I
will say we are making every effort to enforce health
and safety rules in Nigeria. But from all I can see, the
tears in the eyes of the grief-stricken parents will still
be fresh when another "God's will" brings another
loosely hanging cable down to kill another innocent
Nigerian. You call that God's will? Really?
Simon Kolawole
How do you respond to the electrocution of a
promising university undergraduate, a first-class
material at that? You can say "it is God's will" — as it
is our custom in Nigeria — or you can say that once
again, another light has been dimmed in clearly
avoidable circumstances. Oluchi Anekwe, a 300-level
accounting student of the University of Lagos, was
killed on Tuesday when a naked wire fell on her from
an electric pole. Since there was no natural disaster
such as a storm, you get the sense that the deadly
cable had been hanging dangerously for a while. It
was somebody's responsibility, I guess, to maintain
those cables. The "somebody" failed in his duty and
there are no consequences. Life goes on. We await
the next electrocution, the next "God's will".
So, how many people have died needlessly in Nigeria?
If someone illegally goes on an electric pole to tamper
with the installation and gets electrocuted, we can say
there was a trespass and a self-affliction. It is still not
acceptable for any Nigerian to die carelessly —
whether or not it is self-afflicted — but official
negligence makes it all the more painful and we
should, ordinarily, be full of regrets. Only God knows
how many people have died from electrocution in
Nigeria for reasons that are considered to be God's
will. The rain falls and a weak electric pole comes
down on innocent road users or passers-by and send
them to their early graves. It is "God's will". It is the
will of God that people should be careless about their
jobs and go away scot-free, right?
Could it be God's will that people should do the right
and sensible thing? To start with, cables are hardly
laid over the ground these days. They are laid below
the surface — like sewage and water pipes. It not only
solves an aesthetic problem, it addresses a health and
safety issue. I am shocked anytime I see newly
developed areas in Nigeria still laying surface cables
on rickety poles. Let us admit that the electric cables
have been over the ground for decades and we can do
nothing about that for now — but could it be God's will
that electricity officials who get paid to oversee the
electric infrastructure should be diligent in enforcing
and maintaining safety so that naked cables stop
killing innocent Nigerians? How many people have to
die before enough is enough?
Did you hear about the container that fell off a trailer
and killed a family of three in Lagos recently? It was
the will of God, I was told, because if God had not
willed it, there was no way the accident could have
happened. You know the line: were it not for God's
will, the container would have missed them by a few
inches or they wouldn't have been on the road at that
time. It was their destiny. Do you know how many
containers regularly fall off trailers and crush people to
death in Nigeria? Do you know that the last one is not
going to be the last one? Do you know that there are
rare cases of such accidents in some other countries
— countries where the name of God is used as a curse
word or as a joke? Why should God decide to be killing
his children in Nigeria with containers all the time?
I am wondering if it is God's will that safety standards
should be enforced on our roads by those who rule
over us. I am wondering if it is God's will that officials
who certified a vehicle roadworthy should be called to
account for their negligence after accidents. I am
wondering if broken down vehicles should be left in the
middle of the road at night. I am wondering if it is
God's will that our streetlights should work so that
people will stop dying in avoidable accidents at night. I
am wondering if it God's will that our roads should be
littered with potholes that serve as death traps,
sending sorrows to homes on a daily basis. I am
wondering if it God's will that hospitals are ill-equipped
and people die daily from treatable ailments.
Some years ago, a friend's younger brother fell ill at
midnight. He managed to get a neighbour's car to take
the brother to the hospital. He got to the gate of the
estate and found it firmly locked. The security guard
said they were under instruction not to open the gate
until 6am. All pleadings fell on deaf ears. By the time
somebody came to his senses and ordered the gate
opened, it was too late. My friend's sibling had died
right in the vehicle — according to "God's will". If God
did not want the brother to die, the conventional
wisdom declares, the brother would not have fallen ill
at night when the gates were locked. In fact, the
brother would not have fallen ill at all. My friend was
traumatised for years and eventually relocated from
Nigeria, unable to overcome the devastation.
In godless countries, it is God's will that there should
be emergency services. It is God's will that you dial a
number at anytime of the day and the ambulance and
paramedics show up. It is God's will that life-
threatening cases are treated without any pre-
condition of making cash deposits. But in our godly
country, it is God's will, we are tutored, for bullet-
wound victims to bleed to death. It is God's will that
accident victims are abandoned to die because there
is nobody to guarantee payment of hospital bills. It is
God's will that our hospitals should be in a deplorable
state, and the people who embezzled the funds and
mismanaged the commonwealth are able to fly abroad
for the best medical treatment, while the people are
dying from typhoid and malaria.
An older friend of mine is diabetic. He had managed
his condition very well for years, for at least 10 years,
until one fateful day in 2011. His wife was having her
birthday. He decided to surprise her by taking a gift to
her at her shop somewhere in Mushin, Lagos. As he
parked his car and made to walk up to the shopping
complex with the surprise package in his hand, his leg
got stuck between the failing concrete slabs on the
gutter. A few weeks later, he had to have his right leg
amputated from below the knee. He subsequently lost
his job — as there is no protection for disabled people
in Nigeria — and spent a fortune rehabilitating himself,
setting himself up in business and buying a prosthetic
leg. I am even not calculating the emotional cost to
his life.
I was made to understand that it was "God's will" for
my friend to experience what he did. Some will even
go to the extent that maybe he had committed a sin
and God wanted to punish him. Maybe he had done
some evil to some people and it was Karma time. And
I was thinking: but could it also be God's will that the
local government should have maintained the gutters?
Could it be God's will that the same council that sends
thugs to harass traders and motorists to extort all
kinds of taxes and levies from them should also care a
bit about the safety of citizens? Could it be God's will
that part of the millions of naira going into the coffers
of councils should be spent on building a decent
concrete slab on a gutter? Could it be God's will for
the government to take responsibility for its failings?
I understand God's will in a simpler way: that is, I have
done all that is humanly possible but still could not
help the situation. I then surrender to the higher
authority. If the electricity officials had properly
maintained the cables and there was a storm that
caused Anekwe to be electrocuted, I will say: what
more could human beings have done? If the officials
responsible for maintenance are investigated and
charged to court for negligence and manslaughter, I
will say we are making every effort to enforce health
and safety rules in Nigeria. But from all I can see, the
tears in the eyes of the grief-stricken parents will still
be fresh when another "God's will" brings another
loosely hanging cable down to kill another innocent
Nigerian. You call that God's will? Really?
Monday, August 17, 2015
Public Disgrace! 16-year-old
Anambra girl caught in the bush
sleeping with 52 men
A 16-year-old secondary school dropout,
Ifechukwu Atunanya, has been arrested by
policemen from the Anambra State Police
Command while allegedly having sex with over 52
young men inside a bush in what looked like an
initiation ceremony.
According to reports, the suspects were all
rounded up in the bush in Awka and are
reportedly members of the Supreme Vikings
Confraternity, during the initiation of new
members.
Ifechukwu, on her arrest, claimed she was forced
to sleep with every male member of the cult
during her initiation.
According to the state Commissioner of Police,
Hosea Karma, the police acted on an intelligence
tip-off that the cult members and their new
entrants were in a bush performing some rituals,
explaining that some items including guns,
machetes and several wraps of Indian hemp,
were recovered from them.
On apprehension, the Police said the suspects
confirmed that as part of their ritual, every male
member of the cult will sleep with every
prospective female member.
“This they did in order to secure their oath of
secrecy and it was during the raid we arrested
ifechukwu,” Hosea stated.
At the police station, Ifechukwu claimed that she
had to travel to Anambra from Abuja just to
witness the initiation of new members.
In her statement, she said:
“I joined them three months ago and during my
initiation; I was forced to have sex with every
registered male member of the cult present that
night. I was given sedatives so as not to feel
what they were doing. It was not easy, but I bore
the pain,” she said.
“The day we were initiated, I was the only girl in
their midst. I was determined to be a successful
member. I was further convinced to stay because
I discovered that they were more honorable men
than the other cult groups.
“I am sorry for myself and would love to be given
the opportunity to go back to school,” she
sobbed.
She went further to say she never knew that it
was crime to be a cult member.
“I am so sorry,” Ifechukwu begged.
Another member, Ugochukwu Agbazuo, also said
they are all undergraduates of various institutions
in Anambra.
“Apart from some of our national leaders, we are
all students. I was initiated into the cult while I
was still in my first year. I had no choice but to
join them because of the harassment in school. I
discovered that most of the Engineering students
in my school were members of different cult
groups.”
Speaking further, Ugochukwu added: “If you
identify with a known cult in school, the lecturers
will respect you. You don’t have to buy handouts.
This was why I joined them.”
“We did not steal or harass innocent people. The
guns that were found with us were bought in case
there was a clash in school. It is our leaders who
are all graduates and working across the country
that normally assists us to secure the arms. It is
strictly for protection and one of the rules of our
group is that you must read and pass your exams
on merit,” he added.
On the issue of rape, Ugochukwu admitted that it
only happened with female members.
“A female intending member cannot undergo the
rigorous process during the initiation. So, our
leaders suggested that the best way to get them
under oath is for every registered member to
have sex with her during initiation.
“She would be given sedatives during the process
so that she will not physically feel the pain.
Ifechukwu’s case was better because we were
only 52 registered males present on the day of
her initiation. All of our female members were
raped,” he noted.
As the story goes, Ifechukuw’s parents, who hail
from Anambra State, are still alive. However, she
said that they were not aware of her secret cult
activities.
“I am from a poor family and I wanted to be the
light that will change the situation in my family. I
got to know about the cult activity through a
friend. She assured me that all the connections
that I needed in life will be made if I joined the
group,” Ifechukwu stated.
Anambra girl caught in the bush
sleeping with 52 men
A 16-year-old secondary school dropout,
Ifechukwu Atunanya, has been arrested by
policemen from the Anambra State Police
Command while allegedly having sex with over 52
young men inside a bush in what looked like an
initiation ceremony.
According to reports, the suspects were all
rounded up in the bush in Awka and are
reportedly members of the Supreme Vikings
Confraternity, during the initiation of new
members.
Ifechukwu, on her arrest, claimed she was forced
to sleep with every male member of the cult
during her initiation.
According to the state Commissioner of Police,
Hosea Karma, the police acted on an intelligence
tip-off that the cult members and their new
entrants were in a bush performing some rituals,
explaining that some items including guns,
machetes and several wraps of Indian hemp,
were recovered from them.
On apprehension, the Police said the suspects
confirmed that as part of their ritual, every male
member of the cult will sleep with every
prospective female member.
“This they did in order to secure their oath of
secrecy and it was during the raid we arrested
ifechukwu,” Hosea stated.
At the police station, Ifechukwu claimed that she
had to travel to Anambra from Abuja just to
witness the initiation of new members.
In her statement, she said:
“I joined them three months ago and during my
initiation; I was forced to have sex with every
registered male member of the cult present that
night. I was given sedatives so as not to feel
what they were doing. It was not easy, but I bore
the pain,” she said.
“The day we were initiated, I was the only girl in
their midst. I was determined to be a successful
member. I was further convinced to stay because
I discovered that they were more honorable men
than the other cult groups.
“I am sorry for myself and would love to be given
the opportunity to go back to school,” she
sobbed.
She went further to say she never knew that it
was crime to be a cult member.
“I am so sorry,” Ifechukwu begged.
Another member, Ugochukwu Agbazuo, also said
they are all undergraduates of various institutions
in Anambra.
“Apart from some of our national leaders, we are
all students. I was initiated into the cult while I
was still in my first year. I had no choice but to
join them because of the harassment in school. I
discovered that most of the Engineering students
in my school were members of different cult
groups.”
Speaking further, Ugochukwu added: “If you
identify with a known cult in school, the lecturers
will respect you. You don’t have to buy handouts.
This was why I joined them.”
“We did not steal or harass innocent people. The
guns that were found with us were bought in case
there was a clash in school. It is our leaders who
are all graduates and working across the country
that normally assists us to secure the arms. It is
strictly for protection and one of the rules of our
group is that you must read and pass your exams
on merit,” he added.
On the issue of rape, Ugochukwu admitted that it
only happened with female members.
“A female intending member cannot undergo the
rigorous process during the initiation. So, our
leaders suggested that the best way to get them
under oath is for every registered member to
have sex with her during initiation.
“She would be given sedatives during the process
so that she will not physically feel the pain.
Ifechukwu’s case was better because we were
only 52 registered males present on the day of
her initiation. All of our female members were
raped,” he noted.
As the story goes, Ifechukuw’s parents, who hail
from Anambra State, are still alive. However, she
said that they were not aware of her secret cult
activities.
“I am from a poor family and I wanted to be the
light that will change the situation in my family. I
got to know about the cult activity through a
friend. She assured me that all the connections
that I needed in life will be made if I joined the
group,” Ifechukwu stated.
Saturday, July 18, 2015
My mother threatened to kill me ...6 -year-old boy
Six-year-old Promise Eboye, should not be alive, at
least going by the four gory looking stab injuries on his
back. The boy survived an attack that would have
killed even an adult had the injuries been sustained in
vital parts of the body.
Promise, a bright and sharp boy lives with his mother
and step-father in Kollington area of Ijaiye, Lagos,
while his biological father lives in Benin, Edo State.
At about 8am on Monday, Promise’s mother, Comfort,
stabbed her son four times, inflicting life-threatening
injuries on the boy’s body.
The broken bottle the woman used on her son tore
into the boy’s flesh inflicting one three-inch injury and
another two-inch injury on the boy’s back. Two other
wounds looked equally horrific but were not as long
and deep as the other two.
Neighbours said if Promise had not run away from his
mother, who held tight to his wrist and stabbed him as
he screamed, he would have been stabbed to death.
What manner of crime could such a young boy have
committed, people who witnessed the scene have
asked.
On Wednesday, our correspondent visited the woman’s
house on Olawoyin Street. The story that Promise, his
neighbours and the hospital workers told could only be
described as incredible.
Promise, who seems to have a remarkable memory,
told Saturday PUNCH that his mother has a “N30 cane”,
which she uses to flog him, even when he had no idea
what he had done wrong. He said she would
sometimes beat him till he could not walk.
“My mother is wicked,” Promise said simply, quietly.
As shocking as that sounded, coming from a six-year-
old, it explained the kind of treatment the boy had
been experiencing in the hands of his mother.
Promise said he had been living with his father in Edo
State since he was one year old. But when he was
five, his mother came to take him from his father’s
house.
The boy said, “I was sweeping the day she came. I did
not know her as my mother. My father then told me
that she was my mother and she had come to take me
to Lagos.
“When we came to Lagos, I started to live with her
and my step-father. But she beat me all the time.”
Asked what happened on Monday to make his mother
stab him, Promise said he tripped and fell.
He said, “When I fell, my mother asked me what
pushed me and why I fell. She was angry and went to
take her N30 cane. When she was beating me too
much and I was screaming, one of our neighbours
came to hold her hand to take the cane away from
her. The woman said I should run away because my
mother would kill me the way she was beating me.
“My mother said ‘I will kill you, I will kill you’. When she
could not find anything else to beat me with, she took
a broken bottle on the ground and started to stab me
on the back.”
Promise was rescued by alarmed residents, who took
him to a private hospital nearby.
But by the time the boy was taken to the hospital,
Comfort had planted another story in the boy’s head.
Pastor Charles Agboola, a pharmacist who founded the
hospital, said the two people who brought Promise in
said the boy fell down and landed on a broken bottle.
When Agboola’s wife, a nurse, asked the boy what
actually happened, Promise told her that he was
watching two people fight when he sustained the
injury.
The nurse told our correspondent, “He told me that
they pushed him and he landed on the broken bottles
but when I informed my husband, he said immediately
that the story could not be true. I also noticed that the
wounds were not consistent with that story.
“It was shocking that the boy’s mother was not
remorseful in any way. It was when she dashed out of
the door under the pretence that she was going to look
for money for the boy’s treatment, that a crowd from
their street, who were coming to the hospital ,grabbed
her and told the true story of what happened.
“When we asked Promise why he lied, he said his
mother had told him what to say when asked how he
sustained the injury.”
Mr. Agboola told Saturday PUNCH that by the time the
boy was about to leave the clinic, he was crying.
“He said he did not want to go back home. We fed
him, gave him any kind of food he wanted because I
could not leave the boy to suffer even though nobody
paid us any money for his treatment. We even prayed
for him. Anytime we brought up the issue of who
would take over his care when he was released from
our hospital, he became very sad,” the pharmacist
said.
Neighbours told our correspondent that Comfort
sometimes punished the boy by smashing his head
against a wall whenever he did something wrong.
Comfort was later handed over to the police at Ijaiye-
Ojokoro Division.
Comfort, who is nursing a toddler, said Promise
stepped on her baby, which was why she became
angry.
When Promise’s biological father was later contacted,
he initially said he wanted nothing to do with the
issue.
“I have other children – I have produced boys and
girls. Whatever she likes, she should do with her son.
When she likes, she would take the boy to a motor
park and send him to me through a driver,” the man
said.
Later when he was told that his ex-wife was in police
custody, he said he would come to Lagos to pick the
boy.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Kenneth
Nwosu, said Comfort would be arraigned as soon as
possible.
He explained that Promise had been treated and
discharged from hospital. As of the time of filing this
report, Promise was being housed at the Lagos State
social welfare home.
Later on Thursday, Comfort was arraigned at an
Ojokoro Magistrate Court, Lagos on charges of assault
occasioning harm and attempted murder.
Promise’s father also came to Lagos on Thursday to
take the boy. The father declined to speak on the
issue when our correspondent tried to ask him some
questions. “I only came to Lagos to pick the boy,” he
said.
least going by the four gory looking stab injuries on his
back. The boy survived an attack that would have
killed even an adult had the injuries been sustained in
vital parts of the body.
Promise, a bright and sharp boy lives with his mother
and step-father in Kollington area of Ijaiye, Lagos,
while his biological father lives in Benin, Edo State.
At about 8am on Monday, Promise’s mother, Comfort,
stabbed her son four times, inflicting life-threatening
injuries on the boy’s body.
The broken bottle the woman used on her son tore
into the boy’s flesh inflicting one three-inch injury and
another two-inch injury on the boy’s back. Two other
wounds looked equally horrific but were not as long
and deep as the other two.
Neighbours said if Promise had not run away from his
mother, who held tight to his wrist and stabbed him as
he screamed, he would have been stabbed to death.
What manner of crime could such a young boy have
committed, people who witnessed the scene have
asked.
On Wednesday, our correspondent visited the woman’s
house on Olawoyin Street. The story that Promise, his
neighbours and the hospital workers told could only be
described as incredible.
Promise, who seems to have a remarkable memory,
told Saturday PUNCH that his mother has a “N30 cane”,
which she uses to flog him, even when he had no idea
what he had done wrong. He said she would
sometimes beat him till he could not walk.
“My mother is wicked,” Promise said simply, quietly.
As shocking as that sounded, coming from a six-year-
old, it explained the kind of treatment the boy had
been experiencing in the hands of his mother.
Promise said he had been living with his father in Edo
State since he was one year old. But when he was
five, his mother came to take him from his father’s
house.
The boy said, “I was sweeping the day she came. I did
not know her as my mother. My father then told me
that she was my mother and she had come to take me
to Lagos.
“When we came to Lagos, I started to live with her
and my step-father. But she beat me all the time.”
Asked what happened on Monday to make his mother
stab him, Promise said he tripped and fell.
He said, “When I fell, my mother asked me what
pushed me and why I fell. She was angry and went to
take her N30 cane. When she was beating me too
much and I was screaming, one of our neighbours
came to hold her hand to take the cane away from
her. The woman said I should run away because my
mother would kill me the way she was beating me.
“My mother said ‘I will kill you, I will kill you’. When she
could not find anything else to beat me with, she took
a broken bottle on the ground and started to stab me
on the back.”
Promise was rescued by alarmed residents, who took
him to a private hospital nearby.
But by the time the boy was taken to the hospital,
Comfort had planted another story in the boy’s head.
Pastor Charles Agboola, a pharmacist who founded the
hospital, said the two people who brought Promise in
said the boy fell down and landed on a broken bottle.
When Agboola’s wife, a nurse, asked the boy what
actually happened, Promise told her that he was
watching two people fight when he sustained the
injury.
The nurse told our correspondent, “He told me that
they pushed him and he landed on the broken bottles
but when I informed my husband, he said immediately
that the story could not be true. I also noticed that the
wounds were not consistent with that story.
“It was shocking that the boy’s mother was not
remorseful in any way. It was when she dashed out of
the door under the pretence that she was going to look
for money for the boy’s treatment, that a crowd from
their street, who were coming to the hospital ,grabbed
her and told the true story of what happened.
“When we asked Promise why he lied, he said his
mother had told him what to say when asked how he
sustained the injury.”
Mr. Agboola told Saturday PUNCH that by the time the
boy was about to leave the clinic, he was crying.
“He said he did not want to go back home. We fed
him, gave him any kind of food he wanted because I
could not leave the boy to suffer even though nobody
paid us any money for his treatment. We even prayed
for him. Anytime we brought up the issue of who
would take over his care when he was released from
our hospital, he became very sad,” the pharmacist
said.
Neighbours told our correspondent that Comfort
sometimes punished the boy by smashing his head
against a wall whenever he did something wrong.
Comfort was later handed over to the police at Ijaiye-
Ojokoro Division.
Comfort, who is nursing a toddler, said Promise
stepped on her baby, which was why she became
angry.
When Promise’s biological father was later contacted,
he initially said he wanted nothing to do with the
issue.
“I have other children – I have produced boys and
girls. Whatever she likes, she should do with her son.
When she likes, she would take the boy to a motor
park and send him to me through a driver,” the man
said.
Later when he was told that his ex-wife was in police
custody, he said he would come to Lagos to pick the
boy.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Kenneth
Nwosu, said Comfort would be arraigned as soon as
possible.
He explained that Promise had been treated and
discharged from hospital. As of the time of filing this
report, Promise was being housed at the Lagos State
social welfare home.
Later on Thursday, Comfort was arraigned at an
Ojokoro Magistrate Court, Lagos on charges of assault
occasioning harm and attempted murder.
Promise’s father also came to Lagos on Thursday to
take the boy. The father declined to speak on the
issue when our correspondent tried to ask him some
questions. “I only came to Lagos to pick the boy,” he
said.
Friday, July 3, 2015
Man disappears over third set of twins
Man disappears over wife ’s third set of
twins
July 3 , 2015
Written by Miriam Ekene - Okoro , Staff
Reporter
Where is Citizen Emeka Benjamin Uche, a Lagos
factory worker ?
That was the big question yesterday as his wife,
Ruth , 34, from Abia State broke the news of his
disappearance since February.
Uche, 39, fled home when he learnt that his
expectant wife was carrying a set of twins – the
family ’ s third .
Mrs Uche was at the Lagos State Secretariat,
Alausa yesterday with her six children, pleading
for help.
Not many knew what she wanted as she stood
under a tree, close to the Press Centre , carrying
the babies . Her first two sets of twins, much
older , stood close to their mother, and did not in
any way seem intimidated by the sea of cameras
and faces focusing on them.
Mrs . Uche was receptive when our reporter
approached her to narrate her ordeal.
In 2009 when she first conceived , she was
delivered of two girls – Goodness and Godnews.
The second conception , two years later,
produced another two – a boy and a girl , named
John and Joyce.
But when her husband , Emeka , learnt that the
third pregnancy was another set of two he fled
their number 32, Awori Street , Agege home on
the outskirt of Lagos to an undisclosed location
in Ikorodu, Lagos.
The third set of twins arrived last month. They
were named Daniel and Daniella.
Mrs . Uche said she could no longer cope with
widening needs for food, clothes , drugs and
school fees .
Her meagre earnings as a teacher in a private
school in Lagos can no longer meet their needs.
Her story : “ I met my husband in 2002 but we got
married in 2008 . We met in the village at
Umuahia . I don’ t want to leave the children and
run away . This is why I want government to help
us , ” she said .
She recalled that she never wanted the third
pregnancy, but her use of traditional means of
family planning ( counting fertile and infertile
days ) failed her .
“ I was using traditional way of family planning
where I calculate some days before having
intercourse. It was working for me . You can see
my first set of twins is four years old .
“ You know as women , we cannot deny our
husband that thing whenever they request for it .
Whenever I mistakenly take in, he would say that
I was pretending. Sometimes , I would go through
long process to abort the pregnancy. After that,
another one would happen . I would still have to
go through the process again to abort it . When
this one happened he still insisted that I was
pretending until the pregnancy became obvious . ”
“ My Church was responsible for the payment of
the first delivery . The church paid N 120, 000 for
the delivery of the first set of twins. The two
deliveries of the twins have been through
Caesarean Section for which we paid N 120, 000
each . The last twins are through normal
delivery” .
Mrs . Uche explained that her husband , a factory
worker in Iju Road , Agege , has since refused to
pick her calls . She learnt that he stays in
Ikorodu.
“ Since I gave birth to the children, I have tried
calling my husband but he would not pick once
he knows that it is me . I contacted his mother
and other relatives to tell them that he has run
away . They promised that they will call back.
Since then, none of them has called me . It is not
easy for me at all .
“ I know only two of his relations . One of them
lives in Ikorodu ; the other one lives at Ajegunle .
My elder brother, who could have also helped, is
very angry with me for giving birth to another set
of twins. He warned me before not to have any
other child after the two sets of twins, especially
with the kind of husband I have.
“ I cannot put my hands in blood shedding by
committing abortion . I want Nigerians to help me
because there is nobody to pay their school
fees .
“ I went for immunisation some days ago and I
told them my condition and why they have not
been seeing me . It was there that they advised
that I should come to government. Government
should please help my children; no one to help
me with house rent, electricity bill , school fees ,
food and so on, ” Mrs . Uche said .
twins
July 3 , 2015
Written by Miriam Ekene - Okoro , Staff
Reporter
Where is Citizen Emeka Benjamin Uche, a Lagos
factory worker ?
That was the big question yesterday as his wife,
Ruth , 34, from Abia State broke the news of his
disappearance since February.
Uche, 39, fled home when he learnt that his
expectant wife was carrying a set of twins – the
family ’ s third .
Mrs Uche was at the Lagos State Secretariat,
Alausa yesterday with her six children, pleading
for help.
Not many knew what she wanted as she stood
under a tree, close to the Press Centre , carrying
the babies . Her first two sets of twins, much
older , stood close to their mother, and did not in
any way seem intimidated by the sea of cameras
and faces focusing on them.
Mrs . Uche was receptive when our reporter
approached her to narrate her ordeal.
In 2009 when she first conceived , she was
delivered of two girls – Goodness and Godnews.
The second conception , two years later,
produced another two – a boy and a girl , named
John and Joyce.
But when her husband , Emeka , learnt that the
third pregnancy was another set of two he fled
their number 32, Awori Street , Agege home on
the outskirt of Lagos to an undisclosed location
in Ikorodu, Lagos.
The third set of twins arrived last month. They
were named Daniel and Daniella.
Mrs . Uche said she could no longer cope with
widening needs for food, clothes , drugs and
school fees .
Her meagre earnings as a teacher in a private
school in Lagos can no longer meet their needs.
Her story : “ I met my husband in 2002 but we got
married in 2008 . We met in the village at
Umuahia . I don’ t want to leave the children and
run away . This is why I want government to help
us , ” she said .
She recalled that she never wanted the third
pregnancy, but her use of traditional means of
family planning ( counting fertile and infertile
days ) failed her .
“ I was using traditional way of family planning
where I calculate some days before having
intercourse. It was working for me . You can see
my first set of twins is four years old .
“ You know as women , we cannot deny our
husband that thing whenever they request for it .
Whenever I mistakenly take in, he would say that
I was pretending. Sometimes , I would go through
long process to abort the pregnancy. After that,
another one would happen . I would still have to
go through the process again to abort it . When
this one happened he still insisted that I was
pretending until the pregnancy became obvious . ”
“ My Church was responsible for the payment of
the first delivery . The church paid N 120, 000 for
the delivery of the first set of twins. The two
deliveries of the twins have been through
Caesarean Section for which we paid N 120, 000
each . The last twins are through normal
delivery” .
Mrs . Uche explained that her husband , a factory
worker in Iju Road , Agege , has since refused to
pick her calls . She learnt that he stays in
Ikorodu.
“ Since I gave birth to the children, I have tried
calling my husband but he would not pick once
he knows that it is me . I contacted his mother
and other relatives to tell them that he has run
away . They promised that they will call back.
Since then, none of them has called me . It is not
easy for me at all .
“ I know only two of his relations . One of them
lives in Ikorodu ; the other one lives at Ajegunle .
My elder brother, who could have also helped, is
very angry with me for giving birth to another set
of twins. He warned me before not to have any
other child after the two sets of twins, especially
with the kind of husband I have.
“ I cannot put my hands in blood shedding by
committing abortion . I want Nigerians to help me
because there is nobody to pay their school
fees .
“ I went for immunisation some days ago and I
told them my condition and why they have not
been seeing me . It was there that they advised
that I should come to government. Government
should please help my children; no one to help
me with house rent, electricity bill , school fees ,
food and so on, ” Mrs . Uche said .
Saturday, June 27, 2015
10-year-old jumps out of car
10-Year-Old Jumps From Car Holding Sister, Police in Redlands
are trying to track down a suspect in an automobile
theft and attempted kidnapping case that involved two
young children.
The incident occurred this past Sunday, shortly after
noon.
Police say a mother parked her car at the gas pump,
and left her two daughters in the car while she went
inside to pay. The engine was left running.
That's when police say, Cory Michael Ahumada,24,
walked up to the vehicle, and got in the driver side
door.
Surveillance video shows the mother running back
toward the car, just as Ahumada begins to pull away
with her two children inside.
As the car pulls away, the 10-year-old girl reaches over
and grabs her young sister, and jumps from the moving
vehicle.
Both girls sustained minor abrasions
Police were able to identify Ahumada from surveillance
video, after he made a purchase inside the store before
allegedly taking off in the car.
are trying to track down a suspect in an automobile
theft and attempted kidnapping case that involved two
young children.
The incident occurred this past Sunday, shortly after
noon.
Police say a mother parked her car at the gas pump,
and left her two daughters in the car while she went
inside to pay. The engine was left running.
That's when police say, Cory Michael Ahumada,24,
walked up to the vehicle, and got in the driver side
door.
Surveillance video shows the mother running back
toward the car, just as Ahumada begins to pull away
with her two children inside.
As the car pulls away, the 10-year-old girl reaches over
and grabs her young sister, and jumps from the moving
vehicle.
Both girls sustained minor abrasions
Police were able to identify Ahumada from surveillance
video, after he made a purchase inside the store before
allegedly taking off in the car.
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Torture
A woman in
Lagos State was last week subjected to the
extreme torture of having ground pepper
smeared on her genitalia, causing the woman to
develop mental instability.
A woman brutally tortured by family
Civil society activists told our correspondent that the
victim of the latest savage violation is 25-year-old
Opeyemi Amuda who resides in Ikorodu, Lagos State.
According to our sources, the victim, who was married
four years ago, was on June 15, 2015 subjected to the
unusual form of torture by her in-laws.
The in-laws, who are self-confessed members of a
witchcraft society, accused their victim of using
ingredients forbidden by their witch society to cook a
meal for them. They reportedly alleged that Mrs.
Amuda, as a fellow member of the same witchcraft
society, knew that the ingredients she used were
abominable to members of their group.
For her offense, the woman’s in-laws mixed ground
peppers with local gin and poured the concoction in
her private part.
Civil society activists who have taken up the matter
told SaharaReporters that Mrs. Amuda’s husband was
not at home when his wife was attacked, but later
backed his relatives’ action.
Adebayo Obatungashe, the community secretary of
Igbo-Olomu in Ikorodu West, who is also a coordinator
for the Women Arise civil society group in Ikorodu, said
that the woman’s assailants had used crude means to
smear their concoction inside their victim’s private
parts. Mr. Obatungashe added that the torturers
thereafter threw the victim out of the house.
He disclosed that his group contacted the police on
the matter. “Knowing that the matter was grievous
and the torturers are very influential in Ikorodu, we
mounted pressure to get the police to take it seriously.
I also involved the Women Arise President,” Mr.
Obatungashe said.
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Ken
Nwosu, confirmed that the matter had been
transferred to Panti Police Station for investigation by
the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
President of Women Arise, Joe Okei-Odumakin, posted
about the incident on Twitter. She wrote that the
horrific act was similar to an earlier pepper torture of
three females in Ejigbo area of Lagos State. Mrs. Okei-
Odumakin said the victim was now mentally unstable
as a result of the trauma.
“She has now been taken to a rehabilitation center in
Ikorodu and the Office of Public Defender (OPD) has
provided a lawyer for the victim,” she said, adding that
the perpetrators were being detained at Ikoyi prison.
“It is a bestial act. The victim is from [a] very poor
background and they [perpetrators] are taking
advantage of this. It is very unreasonable to mistreat
anyone because they are poor under allegation of
witchcraft,” said Okei-Odumakin
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