Police uncover body of Edo varsity’s abducted lecturer

The Edo State Police Command on Friday said it has uncovered the lifeless body of a lecturer of the Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Professor Paul Erie, who was abducted by kidnappers, three months ago.It also said it had arrested five persons suspected to be members of a criminal gang, one of whom “confessed to the kidnapping and murder” of of the lecturer.Those arrested, according to a statement signed by the Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Stephen Onwochei, and made available to The PUNCH, were “Awulu Sam‎son aka SASEKI, Lucky Owuadegbe, Jeremiah Amayo, Chucks Edobor and Stephen Usiagwu.”The late Professor of Agricultural Economics was kidnapped by suspected hoodlums on June 16 at about 7:45pm along Agbor-Uromi road, by Igbanke village in Orhionmwon Local Government Area of the state, and taken to an unknown destination.His prolonged absence had sparked protests from the AAU chapter of Academic Staff Union and his family members who had earlier said his abductors had demanded huge sums of money as a ransom to release the victim.It was learnt from unconfirmed sources that the gang had killed the associate professor, buried his remains in a bush, and later collected an undisclosed amount as ransom. But the Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Stephen Onwochei, explained that late Erie’s corpse was uncovered, after one of the suspects led a special intervention team, initiated by the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Chris Ezike, to the shallow grave where the remains of the professor was exhumed.  Onwochei said, “He (one of the suspects) volunteered and led police pathologist, forensic experts, detectives, family members and the press to a bush at Igbanke village on October 1, 2015, at about 11pm, where a shallow grave was identified and successful exhumation of the suspected remains of Prof. Paul A. Erie was carried out.“Items recovered from the grave and scene are consistent and suggestive that the remains are indeed that of Prof. Paul A. Erie as identified by family members.”While expressing the condolence of the command to the aggrieved family, the police spokesperson, however, noted that the command had begun a manhunt for three other members of the gang who were still at large. “It is worthy of note that three out of the eight suspected kidnappers are yet to be arrested but the command assures the family that it will leave no stone unturned until the suspects at large are arrested and brought to book,”‎ he added.

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Selfies: How far should you go?

I am not a great fan of the social media by any means. I am shy, in fact, afraid of them. For me, their disadvantage far outweighs the merits. one must therefore be very careful, especially if, like me, you don’t really have a good knowledge of it.

Better safe than sorry is my watch word concerning such matters. Until very recently, when I hooked up on the WhatsApp, I only could allow myself the luxury of the Blackberry Messenger. For me, the Facebook as well as several similar platforms were a no go area.

I joined Facebook and Linkedin late last year on the prompting of my son, who insisted after the public presentation of my book, Youth, Sex and Wellbeing, that they were my best bets at  promoting it. Even as I write, I am yet to take any step in actualising that. I can count the number of times I’ve visited both platforms on my fingertips, I’m only there when it’s absolutely necessary.  I only discovered in the last few days that I could actually be more comfortable using the Linkedin services, even as my fears of the Facebook has so far been justified even on the count of the hour.

On Thursday, October 23, after our Vanguard Women’s Roundtable Conference titled “The plight of women and children in the face of emerging Terrorism, which way forward?” Vanguard’s Administrative Manager, Victor Gotebve informed me that he had uploaded the pictures on his Facebook page. So, I decided to check the next day and thereafter, use the opportunity to update some of the information on my timeline too. The things I stumbled upon that day and subsequent visits thereafter have forced me to conclude that I am very naive or indeed a novice of some of the things happening around me.

The first headline that caught my attention was a posting on the currently running Big Brother game, directing one to click in to watch clips of the shower session of three of the housemates. My reaction was that we have outsmarted Multichoice as usual. Then, there was another link to watch a leaked video of a Nigerian undergraduate girl while strip dancing for her on-line lover. My reaction to this was, “are people still doing that kind of thing these days?”  Then doubt crawled in, the owner could be misinforming people just to drive traffic to the blog. Finally, out of curiosity, I decided to confirm. Boy, was it for real? The face of the young lady was not concealed in any way as she danced her heart out for the pleasure of whoever it was meant for before it hit the internet, her jigida or bebedi, glistening against the rays of light. Even as I pondered over the rational for this lady’s action, yet another link popped up on the same person’s page. This time, it directed friends to another link to see how a teenage boy shagged his sugar mummy lover and then posted it online.  Yet another link came up directing one to watch a school girl being pumped by her lover. Incidentally, this was quite dubious as it had no faces, only the sex organs in use were visible. This girl also had a set of jigida strings and a huge sense of patriotism as they bore the green and white colours of the Nigerian flag.

I logged back in on Sunday and the postings continued. There was another of a young lady who was being bumped doggy style and screaming on the top of her lungs. I wondered why since it was obvious that she was not being raped. This video however did not show the face of the guy and I guessed it might have been secretly recorded without the girl’s permission.  Then there were two other posting allegedly leaked on the internet by the girls in the pictures in a bid to up their clientele drive or to simply flaunt their impressive gifts from mother nature.

And finally, for the first time, I found the courage to see the hideous video of the torture of the two women in Ikotun area of Lagos who were alleged of stealing ordinary pepper. That marked my experience on Facebook last week. I intend to visit more often as a few other things also caught my attention.

I tried to analyse the content of the various links I viewed and several questions popped up in my mind. Apart from the pictures and videos purportedly posted by the owners, all  others showed only the faces of the women and not the guys. This as I have said did not seem right, unless, the men had edited themselves out and then deliberately posted the videos to hurt these poor girls. Should this be the case, why if I may ask?

For any female, prostitute or otherwise, it takes two to tango and you must have arrived at that level of undress through some form of mutual agreement or concession of sort. Even a prostitute does not deserve to be secretly videoed and posted on the internet for everyone to see. That is wicked and definitely not part of the bargain.

However, this appears to be going on every day and no one seem capable of doing anything about it. The girls too hardly ever report until they are forced with no other option but to do so.

Sometimes last year, a young, female, undergraduate of a foremost Nigerian University was lured into an apartment somewhere on Lagos Island by a 300-level undergraduate of the same University who also happened to live in her neighbourhood. She was acquainted with the guy and though she’d refused his love request, they had maintained a cordial relationship. As soon as she stepped into the apartment, he’d pounced on her, tore off her clothes, beaten her blue and black, then violently raped her? As if this was not enough, he brought out his phone and took photographs of her naked body. He kept her locked up till the following day and raped her several times through the night. Before he allowed her out, he’d threatened to post her pictures on the internet, should she tell anyone what had transpired between them. To him, it was the only way to negotiate her silence.

Frightened beyond words, the young lady could only tell her mother that she was involved in an accident on her way home and fell off a moving bus which tore her clothes and left her with several cuts and bruises. Naturally, they had cared for her and everything seemed alright until a couple of days later.

An older relative had called asking to speak with the girl and if she was alright. Initially, she had told the guy that she was until he dropped the bombshell, why had she posted her naked photographs on the internet! The young girl thereafter confessed all that had happened to her and took her parents to the guy’s apartment.

In his confession at the Police Station, this guy disclosed that it was his friends who posted the pictures and not him. He had only narrated his “great achievement” to them and showed them the “trophies”, he never knew they would post them on the internet. The other guys were subsequently rounded up.

If one may ask, what was this girl’s offence that she should be dehumanised in such a manner? Is it now a crime to turn down a love request? There are many women who find it very difficult and painful to even engage in mutually consenting intercourse, not to think of going through the horror of being raped, then being videoed. A real case of adding salt on injury.

But same cannot be said for people who wilfully take selfies of their naked bodies and sexual activities, then post same on the internet for strangers to ogle at. If these videos were shot by the owners of the blogs or websites they were viewed on, then one can understand the commercial gain to be made in that instance. It is no secret that the sex industry is a multi billion Naira spinning trade across the world, Nigeria inclusive.

However, what is to gain for the ordinary individuals who shoot self staring porn videos or snap naked selfies and post them on these blogs and websites? As one of the links said, the “Ashawo” Port Harcourt babe desired to max on clientele. Even if it is intended to lure men, must their faces be shot with the pictures? What will happen when age and use begin to take its toll on the body and the face has become known as that of the notorious wench? Hmm!

Everyone, especially those in long distance relationships know how difficult it is managing a relationship were the lovers hardly see each other physically. One of the common ways such lovers use to engage each other’s attention is by exchanging selfies of sexual parts, especially by the female.

Selfies are photographs or videos taken of one’s self by one’s self. An innovation apparently made possible with the coming of camera phones with front cameras which enable users to take photographs or shoot videos of themselves without the help of another. Depending on preference of the owner or user, two or more people can feature in a selfie.  Another advantage of the front camera is that you no longer have to strain the eyes through a pin hole to find a good angle for your photographs, the wide screen of the phone allows you unlimited space to perfect whatever you want to do on the camera.

This DIY technology in photography has however taken sexual acts and perhaps pervasion to a new dimension. Many people indiscriminately take pictures of themselves in various states of undress or sexual acts without thinking of the likely implications should they fall into wrong hands. The story of Anita Hogan’s published nude photographs still rings fresh in my memory. She had given her laptop in which the photographs were saved to a technician for repair. What about the story of a senior manager with one of the telecommunication giants and a married, female junior worker whose naked photographs graced the social media about four or so years ago? The duo had left home telling their respective partners they were attending a seminar in Badagry area of Lagos State. It took a lost memory card for the world to discover the kind of seminar they had attended.

The fear of internet hackers should be the beginning of wisdom for all internet users as information you push out there could be used against you at anytime.

Above all, the implications of this trend with regards to even legitimate relationships and sexual affairs are grave. The average lady, married or single needs to show great caution in terms of the kind of relationship she keeps and those she decides to share her body with. As with any relationship, you can only know your mind, you cannot know your partner’s. You can only love someone, you cannot determine if or how much the person will love you in return. If you must take pictures of your private parts, do so without your face showing. If you visit a lover and there is need for you to undress, shine your eyes well, you never can tell. A guy once told me he records his extra marital affairs to help increase his sex drive with a wife who no longer turns him on.
And should a partner start insisting on a certain sexual position or direction, it’s your body too, you can always take a walk!

Do have a wonderful weekend!!!

By Yetunde Arebi

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How our father raped us — daughters

By Ola Ajayi & Fisayo Ogunwale

Ibadan—Oyo State Police Command has arrested a man who allegedly defiled his two under-aged biological daughters and two of his nieces, all between 14 and 17 years.

The crime was allegedly committed at Moniya in Akinyele Local Government Area of the state.

Though the suspect, a herbalist, denied the incest allegation, saying he was being held for a crime he did not commit, the confessions of the four girls took many people at the state police headquarters, Eleyele, Ibadan by surprise as they narrated how the father had sex with them at different times.

While parading the suspect, identified as Tajudeen Awoniyi, Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Muhammed Katsina, said the accused person had carnal knowledge of his own daughters whenever he was drunk.

The commissioner alleged that the suspect would give black soap to the other two nieces before having sexual intercourse with them one after the other.

Nieces’ story

The children, aged between 14 and 17.

Speaking with newsmen yesterday, one of the victims (names withheld), said: “My sister and I are the nieces to Tajudeen Awoniyi.

“His daughters came to our house and asked us to follow them to their place. On getting there, her father told us he would give us soap by midnight which we must use to bathe.

“Around 1a.m., he woke me up, gave me a black soap and asked me to go and take my bath. After taking my bath, I went to him and he placed something under his tongue and asked me to sleep on a bench.

“He had sex with me. Afterwards, I was bleeding and he asked me to go to bed. By morning, he sent my sister and me out of his house.”

The sister, who is about 16 years old, corroborated the story, saying “after taking my bath at night, he tied my mouth with cloth so that people would not hear me when I cried.

“He had sex with me afterwards and by morning he sent me out of his house.”

He’s been sleeping with me since last year—Daughter

One of his daughters also said: “My father has been sleeping with me since last year. Whenever he comes home drunk, he sleeps with me and my sister (names withheld). He had slept with me three times now since last year.”

He once threatened my mother with cutlass—Sister

Tajudeen

The suspect’s sister said: “When I came back from where I travelled to, I did not meet my daughters at home. So I asked the people around and I was told that my brother’s children came to my house and my daughters went out together with them.

“I said they could not have slept in my brother’s place because it has been a while I saw him. The next day as I was about to pray around 6:30a.m., my brother showed up.

“I was scared because I usually get scared when I see him since the day he threatened my mother with cutlass to release his children for him when they were still little.

“So he told me that my daughters slept in his place and he had asked them to go back the next day. It was not until the third day that I saw my daughters. Someone staying around brought them home.

“One of them was holding her tummy. I later took them to the hospital where we found out about the incident and I had to call the police.”

The victims, who dared their father and told the police the whole story, further explained that they kept sealed lips for fear of being beaten by the herbalist.

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Murder at dusk: Female teacher shot dead in Nsukka

By Chinenyeh Ozor; Nsukka

Tension mounts at the University town of Nsukka, Enugu state, following last week’s gruesome killing of a female classroom teacher at about 200 meters to her residence while returning from the state capital where she attended the swearing- in ceremony of newly appointed commissioners in the state.

Crime Guard gathered that the teacher identified as Princess Uzoamaka Onyishi, nee Ugwuokwor, 40 , hailed from Mbu -Akpoti in Isi- Uzo local government area of the state. She had accompanied one of her relations , Mrs. Eze, to attend the swearing-in ceremony of her husband, Mr M.E Eze, who was appointed Attorney -General and Commissioner for Justice in the state, only to be assailed by unknown gunmen, very close to her Uwani-Ugwu residence in Nsukka metropolis.

Princess Uzoamaka Onyishi,

Investigations revealed that Princess Onyishi drove herself to Enugu, venue of the ceremony in company of her Kano-based sister, Mrs Ndidiamaka Nnaji, to attend the ceremony. Reports said that soon after the ceremony, both of them cruised in a blue -coloured Toyota Corolla of the deceased back home. It was gathered that after she had dropped her sister at the family house along Ogurugu road in Nsukka, picked up her cousin, Miss Jacinta Okwor, who stays with her and headed to her residence at Uwani- Ugwu, tragedy struck. She was shot dead by two unknown gunmen.

The attack

Eyewitness account said the two gunmen ambushed the princess at a flooded spot on the pretext that their motor cycle had problem along the lonely road around 8.30 pm. Reports said the unsuspecting Princess fell victim to the bullets of her assailants as she tried to offer help by directing her head lamp towards the passable side of the road only for one of them to point gun at her and without demanding anything from her, pulled the trigger and shattered her skull. The assailants fled under the cover of darkness.

Visit to son at the campus

Further investigations revealed that the deceased who is the daughter of late Igwe Gabriel Ugwuokwor, the traditional ruler of Mbu Akpoti, a neighbouring community in the area and mother of five children, also visited her first son, Chidera Onyishi, a first year student at the Department of Political Science, at the University campus, unknown to the boy that it was the last he will see her mother. With the joy of the swearing in celebration, the deceased was reportedly singing songs of praises that their relation and close acquaintance had been elevated as a commissioner only for her to be assailed by yet -to -be identified gunmen.

Visit to the family house

When Crime Guard visited the family house at Ogurugu road, members of the family wore gloomy faces, wailing and confused over the fate that befell them. Her elder sister, Uzoamaka. Nnaemeka Ugwuokwor, told Crime Guard amidst tears that the entire family has been thrown into confusion by the killing of their sister.

According to her, ‘’My sister just returned from Enugu where she attended the swearing-in ceremony of newly appointed commissioners. One of our relations was amongst them. On arrival at Nsukka, she drove to the family house to see our mother, Lolo Josephine Ugwuokwor. When she was through with her, she went to see her son at the campus. As she was just driving into her house later, she met two young men carrying a motor cycle, trying to manoeuvre their way in the flooded area of the road. When she tried to evade the young man dragging the motor bike, another young man emerged from the bush, pointed gun at her and shot her, straight on the forehead. She died on the spot. Before she met her untimely death, she was teaching at Urban Boys Secondary school, Nsukka. She was the kind that hardly could hurt a fly. What prompted her killing still remains a mystery to the family that just buried their father, Igwe Gabriel Ugwuokwor. She was driving herself when the incident happened. She never joined politics for one day. Her only business in politics was to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the newly appointed commissioner. The incident has been reported to Nsukka police division who promptly responded to the call put across to them when she was shot. Both the police and some clergy men assisted in taken her to Bishop Shanahan mortuary where her corpse was deposited. Presently, the matter has been transferred to Enugu state police headquarters. The gruesome killing of our sister has taken the family to a devastating point of agony, mourning, confusion and pity. She is the most endearing in the hearts of members of the family. She was humble, amiable and loving to the people that interacted with her. We are not suspecting any person for now,. Our only prayer is for God to bring out the killers of our sister. She was a mother of five, two boys and three girls. The first is a first year student at UNN, the second will be writing the post UME, the third is in SS 3, the fourth is in SS 1 while the last one is in primary five.

Appeal to the police

“We look up to the police to unearth the circumstances surrounding the wicked killing of our sister. We believe the police will stand to the challenge to fish out perpetrators of the heinous crime and bring them to book. We are equally appealing to the general public to assist us in our moment of grief to give information, if any, about the killing. We cry for help from any quarter to assist us fish out those that assailed our sister to death. We have sent messages across to various communities within Nsukka and beyond to report any suspected person to the nearest police station in connection with the killing. It was pure assassination as the killers never demanded anything from her, neither her car key, nor cash, nothing whatsoever.

Mother reacts

Amidst tears, Lolo Josephine Ugwuokwor, 55, the mother of the deceased managed to speak with Crime Guard. She narrated her unbearable traumatic ordeal ‘’ The killers of my daughter will never go unpunished. It is too painful to me that my daughter was carelessly killed by unknown gunmen. I am appealing to the police to investigate and arrest her killers with the fear of God. We have reported to our community and everybody is waiting for the outcome of police investigation. I spoke with her immediately she returned from Enugu unknown to me that it was the last to speak with her before she went to UNN to see her son, Chidera.

Eye witness account

The lady who was with the deceased when the ugly incident happened, Jacinta Okwor, narrated their travail. “ I was in the vehicle with her when the people emerged and shot her. The two men demanded nothing from her, only pointed gun and shot her instantly. When she was shot, she fell on my laps. I did not know she was dead. When the two men left, I started calling her to wake up for us to go, unknown to me that she was dead. As my efforts to wake her failed, I took the bush part and ran to a house not too far from the scene and informed her husband that aunty has been shot dead just now. The killers did not demand anything from her. I sat with her in the front seat. It was a horrible experience. I have not recovered from the trauma. The cloth I wore that faithful day is still soaked with the blood of my aunty. God will never forgive her killers. I am an apprentice tailor under my sister’s care but now they have killed her. One of the two men was dragging motor cycle and she flashed light to help him only for another to emerge from the bush and shot her, point blank without uttering a word to her.”

Husband laments

Husband to the fair- complexioned princess, Sunday Onyishi, 57, lamented the circumstances that surrounded the gruesome murder of his wife. “The whole thing still sound strange to me. I still could not believe that my wife was killed like a common thief. We have been married for the past 22 years and blessed with five children.

I am a transporter. Nobody has ever complained to me that she had problem with her. I don’t know why she was killed. When my sister in- law rushed to me and broke the news of her death, I rushed shouting, neighbours joined me, we combed the entire place but could not see the killers. Then we invited the police to see what happened. I am not suspecting anybody but the killers of my wife will definitely be brought to book. We moved in into our own building five months ago. Her killers did not allow her enjoy the house she laboured for all these years of hardship. I want the police to unearth the surroundings of her killing by faceless two young men,” he stated amidst tears

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Hotel manager found dead in room

The Operations Manager of Maybeny Hotel at Ire-Akari Road in Isolo, Lagos, Mr Uche Egwuenu, was found dead in one of the rooms in the hotel on Saturday.

A source close to the hotel said that the deceased was the son of the owner of the hotel, whose name was given simply as Chief Egwuenu.

“The deceased was last seen in the early hours of Friday before locking himself up in one of the rooms. Nobody heard from him throughout Friday.

“The assistant manager and other staff of the hotel reported the matter at the Isolo Divisional Police Headquarters, which prompted the DPO’s visit to the hotel for assessment.

“The DPO and others forced the room open and Uche was found dead and swollen on the bed, an indication that he died more than 24 hours before discovery.

“White liquid substance suspected to be hard drugs, diary and a bottle of Orijin drink with mixed liquid, were recovered from the room,” the source said.

When NAN visited the hotel at about 3.00 p.m. on Saturday, a wedding reception was on, an indication that the visitors were not aware of the incident.

Efforts by NAN to speak with the management of the hotel proved abortive as people at the reception claimed that such incident did not happen at the hotel.

However, the Lagos State Police Command’s Spokeswoman, DSP. Patricia Amadin, confirmed the incident.

She said that policemen from the Isolo Division had deposited the corpse at the Isolo General Hospital Mortuary for autopsy.

Amadin said that the police would investigate the circumstances surrounding the death.

p.s. if you have witnessed any mysterious event in your neighborhood lately and you like to share please contact us on "nawtinaija@gmail.com"
and if you happen to be there in the future we'll be here to discuss your charges 

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