#WowTinz: Accused a Witch; An Old Woman Almost Lynched in Lagos (Photo)

The Victim

Earlier yesterday (Wednesday), an old woman (Picture in this post) escaped lynching after being accused of being a bird and witch in the Ajegunle area of Lagos State.

Hundreds of residents were said to have gathered around the woman to lynch her.

An eyewitness named Chike, said he was sitting in front of a compound with his girlfriend when they saw three black birds flying. It seemed as if the birds were involved in a fight and as he was watching, suddenly, one of the birds fell into a moving van belonging to the Eko Electricity Distribution Company while the other two flew away.

He said, 

“The bird suddenly turned to an old woman of about 80. People were shocked as they saw the woman rolling on the road and blood gushing out from her forehead.

“When the crowd was interrogating her, she said she was a witch and that she came from Ibadan for a meeting in Lagos but as they were returning home they missed their way and wasted so much time hovering in the area till daybreak. The woman claimed she fell because she was tired of flying.”

The traditional ruler of Layeni Community, Baale Rafiu Olayeni, arrived the scene and pleaded with the angry people not to take laws into their hands.

Olayeni called the Divisional Police Officer of Layeni Police Division, CSP Chijioke Ndu, and he drafted anti- robbery policemen to the scene, rescued the woman and took her to the station.

The traditional leader said, 

“People told me the woman fell down as a bird but I did not believe them. I had to rescue the old woman before the mob lynches her as they claimed she was a witch. Sometimes the reasoning of old people could be compared to that of a small child because of the effects of old age.”

At the police station, the policemen had to have fire tear gas at the crowd and dispersed them from the station.

“She has not committed any crime and will, therefore, be released to any member of her family who shows up. We did not arrest her. We only prevented a likely jungle justice,” the police source said.

It was gathered that this was the seventh lynching the police had prevented this month.

HBC: So this poor old lady was almost killed because somebody who was probably extremely hungry and hallucinating said she is a witch? Na waOooO... When will we ever change my country people? Please lets think before we act otherwise we are no different from animals.

Residents of Ajegunle area of Lagos were, yesterday, thrown into shock, after a bird was said to have transformed into an old woman who confessed to being a witch.
The dark-complexioned nonagenarian with tribal marks, who spoke in Yoruba, told a bewildered crowd that she was on her way back to Ibadan, Oyo State (as a bird) when she missed her track.
She was also said to have told the mammoth crowd that her mystical powers disappointed her because it was dawn.
Eye-witnesses told Vanguard that three black birds were seen at about 7am, flying side‑by‑side along Old Ojo Road.
Then, all of a sudden, one of them landed on a moving pick‑up van owned by Eko Electricity Distribution Company.
An eye witness who identified himself simply as Mr Okafor said: “Immediately the bird landed on the van, it transformed into an old woman.
“Everyone ran away at first but we later gathered round the woman only to discover that she had a bruise on her forehead with which she landed.
“When we asked her what her mission was, she said three of them were sent to Lagos from their coven in Ibadan but that on their way back, they missed their way.
“She said they started hovering in the area until it was morning, adding that she fell because she was tired.
“She also told us that she initially did not want to embark on the journey and that she used to restrict her witchcraft activities to Ibadan because of her age.
“She was thereafter taken to the Baale of Ajeromi, where she confessed to have killed her husband through witchcraft.”
Policemen from Layeni Police Division were said to have been contacted to prevent the woman from being lynched and they came and took her away.
Police sources told Vanguard that the woman would be released to any of her relations who shows up, explaining that the law does not recognise witchcraft.
“She has not committed any crime and will, therefore, be released to any member of her family who shows up. We did not arrest her. We only prevented a likely jungle justice,” the police source said.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/05/bird-turns-old-woman-lagos/#sthash.IuzX3Wuy.dpuf

In 9ja: Youths Went On Rampage Over Killing Of Civilian In Maiduguri

Youths in Maiduguri,  the capital city of Borno State protest over the alleged killing of a civilian at the West End area of the metropolis by a trigger-happy security operative.Checkpoints in the city are manned by both police and military operatives and it is not yet clear who killed the civilian among them because the person who allegedly fired the shot was said to have been wearing only a helmet and a fragmented jacket on plain cloth.

 A trader, Mohammed Bukar, told Daily Trust that the angry youths chased away both soldiers and policemen at the scene of the incident.

“People were angered because after the shooting, the ‘soldier’ did not show any sign of regret. The youths who came to the area started protesting the killing. The soldier was almost lynched by the youths but for the quick intervention of his colleagues who sneaked him out of the area,” Bukar said.

The angry youths barricaded major roads leading to Baga road, Post Office and Custom area for many hours. They also set bonfires in various locations and attempted setting fire on a police station and military posts around the West End area.
It took the intervention of the Borno State Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice, Barrister Kaka Shehu Lawan, following a directive by Governor Kashim Shettima, to control the youths.

A witness at the scene said: 

“Trouble started after a soldier stationed in a nearby military formation targeted and shot a tricycle operator popularly known as Keke NAPEP for allegedly violating traffic rule. The bullet hit a road side trader (Maigoro) on the chest and he died instantly before help could come his way. He was at the opposite site of the military formation,” the witness said.

Another witness said, 

“The police officer at the security checkpoint had ordered a tricycle driver to take another direction because there was traffic congestion in the West-end roundabout but the rider refused to obey and the policeman fired a shot which hit the passenger. When he realized that his passenger had been hit, the rider stopped and that was when the policeman walked up to him and shot him dead.”

HBC: This incident may affect the corporation between the security forces and the youths. I pray it doesn't escalate further.

#BringBackOurGirls: US Officials Said Nigerian Government is Tragically, unacceptably slow

On Thursday, Democratic senator Robert Menendez, chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, said Nigeria had been “tragically and unacceptably slow” to deal with the crisis, despite offers of assistance from the United States and other countries.

Nigeria has typically resisted security cooperation with the West over the group.

“We cannot ignore that Nigeria can be an extremely challenging partner to work with,” Department of Defense official Alice Friend said.

“In the face of this sophisticated threat, Nigeria’s security forces have been slow to adapt with new strategies and new tactics.”

US State Department official Robert Jackson, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, said Washington had been “urging Nigeria to reform its approach to Boko Haram.”

The United States has accused Nigeria’s military of widespread rights abuses in its fight against Boko Haram, which Jackson said had been counter-productive in dealing with the group.

“The State must demonstrate to its citizens that it can protect them and offer them opportunities,” he said.

“When soldiers destroy towns, kill civilians and detain innocent people with impunity mistrust takes root.”

Friend said Nigeria’s “record of atrocities perpetrated by some of its security forces during operations against Boko Haram have been widely documented.”

The United States would not provide assistance to any Nigerian military units who had been implicated in rights abuses, she added.

The United States has sent a team of around 30 civilian and military personnel to help Abuja in its hunt for the kidnapped schoolgirls.

The US military has also confirmed it is flying surveillance drones as well as manned reconnaissance planes over the country in an effort to locate the girls.

Boko Haram militants kidnapped 276 girls from their school in Chibok last month. Dozens managed to escape but 223 are thought to remain in the hands of the group.

In 9ja: Docs, Nurses, Health Workers Contact Lassa Fever In Ebonyi

An operation on a pregnant woman at the Federal Teaching Hospital Abakaliki (FETHA) left no fewer than eight doctors, four nurses and five health workers sick with Lassa fever.

The woman and her baby died few days after they were discharged from the hospital and were suspected to have died of the deadly disease.

At a press conference, the state Chairman of Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, Dr. Chidi Esike, stated that the affected medical personnel had been moved to Specialist Hospital, Irrua, in Edo State for diagnosis and immediate medical attention.

According to him, the refusal of the Federal Government to provide a virology centre in the South East geopolitical zone of the country, in the face of overwhelming evidence of the need for such facility, had threatened the gains in the health sector.

He said: 

“The sad aspect of this whole saga is that since all these times that this woman and her child were managed with several doctors, nurses and all kinds of health workers exposed to the risk of the deadly Lassa fever virus, we are still suspecting that we have cases of Lassa fever in our land.

”It is not sheer insensitivity to the plight of not just the medical doctors, but also other health workers in Ebonyi State that today, 15th May, 2014, 17 health workers in the Federal TeachingHospital Abakaliki are suspected to be affected by Lassa fever; out of this number, we have eight doctors, four nurses, seven others have been rushed to Edo State for treatment.

Source: Vanguard Newspaper.

HBC: This is a nightmare, may God help 9ja.

In 9ja: SSS Parades Men Responsible For Nyanya Bomb Attack

Ahmad Rufai Abubakar (left) Muhammadu Sani, Ishaq Adamu (centre), Yusuf Yau Saidu and Anas Isah (right) Men that masterminded the April 14th bomb attack at Nyanya park.

Marilyn Ogar, the DSS Deputy Director of Public Relations announced that the Nyanya Motor park bombing that occured on the 14th of April 2014 was masterminded by one Rufai Abubakar Tsiga, described as a Boko Haram leader and assisted by one Aminu Sadiq Ogwuche, an army deserter and son of a retired Nigerian Army officer.

Marilyn Ogar, who was flanked by the Defence, military and police spokesmen during the briefing announced this yesterday while  parading the suspects at the DSS headquarters in Abuja. The Nyanya bomb blast that claimed 74 lives and injured many others.
Click Here for more details.
More Pictures in the Cut below.

#TechWorld: Samsung Sold 10 Million Galaxy S5, 25 Days Into Market.

According to the Korea Economic Daily, Samsung Electronics sold 10 million Galaxy S5 units worldwide in the smartphone's first 25 days on the market.

Analyzing the sales rate of its previous units, the South Korean technology giant said it took seven months to sell 10 million of the original Galaxy S, five months for the Galaxy S2, It sold 10 million S3s in a third of the time of its predecessor and finally S4 hit the 10 million milestone in 27 days.

HBC:  Thats a lot of phones sold in just three and a half weeks. Nice One.

#BringBackOurGirls: Ahmad Sani Yerima Joins Campaign, Gets Attacked On Twitter.

Ahmad Sani Yarima carrying the #Tag to show support of the campaign.

Former Zamfara State Governor Senator Ahmed Sani showed support for the bring back our girls campaign in a similar fashion as millions of people around the world including world leaders and celebrities.
The Poor man was seriously attacked on twitter by Funmi Iyanda and co. on twitter. See the tweets below.

More tweets after the cut.

In 9ja: Involving The US May Worsen Insurgency In Nigeria - Professor Kyari.

In a BBC Hausa Service interview, A security analyst Professor Kyari Muhammad has said that the offer of assistance from the United States government on the search for over 200 abducted girls may worsen the Boko Haram insurgency,

Prof Kyari said going by America’s track records, each country it assisted ended up having its situation worsened.
He said:

“Our major fear is that we don’t want such assistance to make the crisis spread further. Boko Haram can also seek assistance from elsewhere, and the crisis may just ignite and become a big one. Check the records, everywhere America goes, it worsens the situation, from Iraq, Pakistan to Afghanistan to Somalia to Yemen and others,”.

“It’s good on one hand, but on another hand, it’s not good. It’s good if really there’s assurance that the matter is beyond Nigerian authorities and there’s need to seek assistance from outside, if the assistance from America will bring an end to the series of insurgency and the abductions of girls in the Borno area, then it’s a welcome development so that the girls can be rescued and be reunited with their parents.”

 HBC: May God help us.

#SayYourMind: Analysing the first lady’s cry

HBC: In all honesty, I am very much worried by the way our First Lady is presenting herself in the past few weeks. Based on her recent comment in the news, the video clip that went viral over the social media of her crying "there is God oOoO" and based on the interrogations and arrest orders she gave on government officials, I feel she is over doing it.

I stumbled on this article (Analysing the first lady’s Chibok cry) in Daily Trust and in a way, it concurs with my feeling.

Read it and please let the world know your opinion by writing a comment at the bottom of this page. 

Published on Thursday, 08 May 2014. Written by Abu Bilaal Abdulrazaq bn Bello bn Oare. 

Nigeria’s first lady, Patience Faka Jonathan, on Sunday 4th May, 2014 convened a meeting over the abduction of some two hundred and seventy female students of Government Girls’ Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State. A video clip of the meeting, in which she appeared to broken down in tears, has since gone viral on social media.  

The meeting was convened ostensibly as her contribution to the ongoing BringBackOurGirls campaign spreading round the country and beyond. However, even as one is tempted to applaud the First Lady’s well-choreographed empathy for the abducted students, a careful observation shows that her actions and statements manifest so many vexatious issues that need to be addressed, and call for a redefinition of the designation “first lady” in the light of the Nigerian constitution – at least for those who do not know and for those who know but are simply inebriated with impunity.
To start with, there is no such thing as the Office of the First Lady in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. And to that extent, the wife of the president – at best – is, as described by the literary icon, Professor Wole Soyinka, a mere domestic appendage of the president. In case you don’t get it, what that simply means is that morally and constitutionally, the first lady is no more than the president’s wife. Therefore, one wonders under which powers she constituted a one-man panel of inquiry into a national issue, dispensing blame here and there, and accusing people of blackmailing her husband or of trying to squelch his chances at the 2015 presidential election. One wonders wherefrom she derives the constitutional authority to summon the wife of the Borno State Governor, Hajiya Nana Kashim Shettima.

#MustRead: I infected 324 men, target 2000 by the end of this year – HIV Positive Female student's Confesses (PICTURED)

I don't know if this story is true and I could not confirm its authenticity but what the hell, its worth telling.

This lady is a student of Kabarak University in Nakuru, Rift Valley, Kenya.

She e-mailed Kenya Scandals her Facebook page and the following statement:

"I see you people exposing scandals i also have a big one to tell just don't expose my name" 

After assuring of her identity protection she went ahead and burst her bubble. Read her statements below.

"I am 19 and a 2nd year here at Kabarak Uni, I joined this college a virgin though I have had boyfriends before, my parents are strict so having sex was never on my mind. 

"Sep 22nd 2013 is a day I will never forget, we went clubbing in town and got drunk with some senior students then went back hostels for party round 2, I remember less but I remember waking up naked to some guy called Javan with my P**** painful and knew he had sex with me when drunk I only asked if he used a condom and he said yes, however when taking bath I noticed sperms down there, I wanted to commit suicide, I feared getting pregnant and HIV, I took contraceptives and hoped I was HIV free, In November I tested HIV positive, I felt like cutting off my neck, I confronted that guy and he insisted he was clean that I got it from somewhere, I was so depressed and took alcohol to die, I even bought poison, the pain was just unbearable how was I gonna face the world, I let my parents down, I gave up on the world and just wanted to end my life".

In 9ja: Borno State Government Upset Over Maltreatment Of Its Officials At The Presidency

(L-R) First Lady Mrs Jonathan, Governor Kashim Shettima, President GEJ

This issue is really getting out of hand. President GEJ actually believes that the abduction scandal is a grand scheme by the government of Borno State to undermine his administration.

 

Borno State Government officials are angry over an alleged “ill treatment” at the Presidential Villa in Abuja during last week’s invitation by President Goodluck Jonathan over the abduction of the school girls in Chibok.

In a protest letter signed by some of the officials, they expressed reservations over the manner they were treated by the presidency.

It would be recalled that on May 2, 2014, President Jonathan invited some government officials to the presidency including Governor Shettima, the Commissioner for Education, some security officials, the Principal of Government Girls Secondary School Chibok, the Chairman of Chibok LGA and the DPO of Chibok as well as the Chief Security Officer of the school.
According to the protest letter, upon their arrival at the Villa on Saturday May 3, President Goodluck Jonathan personally interrogated the officials from 9pm to 2:00 am as if all the official information relayed to him by his security apparatus in Borno were meaningless, unreliable and suspicious.

“At the end of the interrogation, President Goodluck Jonathan (with the exception of Governor Shettima) handed over the officials to the Inspector General of Police with  clear instructions to do his job. The officials were driven to the Force Headquarters where they were detained and made to make written statements on how the girls were abducted and later released on bail on self recognition as if they were directly or indirectly responsible for the abduction of their own children.

“The following Sunday May 5, they were again taken to the Villa at 5pm for further interrogation and this time by the first lady Dame Patience Jonathan. While at the villa, they remained standing for four hours after which they were ushered in into the first lady’s chambers where they were treated to verbal assaults as to the veracity of their claims on how the school girls were abducted,” the letter said.

HBC: The President should control the situation well. Now that Shekau/Boko Haram have claimed responsibility for the abduction, it clearly shows that he has behaved shamefully and needs to apologize to the officials. 

The First Lady on the other hand is overstepping her bounds. Interrogating government officials, summoning governors wives and actions like that are not her job as the first lady. She is taking up too much power for herself and that should be checked. No wonder the wife of Borno State Governor did not attend the last meeting she was summoned the First Lady.