Photos: Benin Republic raided and dumped Nigerians in a camp

According to a report by a Nigerian lawyer living in Benin Republic who sent out the story to the media, in the early hours of yesterday morning, Wednesday July 31st, the police department of the Republic of Benin carried out a
house to house search of Nigerians living in Cotonou,
who don’t have their passports and ID cards. The Nigerians they found wanting were bundled up and
quarantined in a local primary school (pictured above).

A few other nationalities like Ghanaians and Nigers were also picked up but majority were Nigerians. The Benin police say they plan to continue their raid because some foreigners were constituting a nuisance in the area.

The lawyer had to bail her relatives from the camp with 20,000cfa which is about N6000 even though they didn’t commit any crime other than being unable to identify themselves. Maybe it’s time to come home!

The Nollywood divorces

Kayode and Funke 

If marriages are meant to be celebrated then what happens to divorces? In the last couple of weeks what has been pouring out of Nollywood are stories of divorce. If there are any marriages, they are not hot enough to make good news. Okay, there are enough movies making their rounds of the cinemas and maybe some endorsement deals are being pulled off but aren’t they a bit of backstage stuff to take the shine out of these divorces?

With recent divorce of Nollywood superstar actress, Funke Akindele, it is no longer news that most marriages involving top Nollywood actresses hit the rocks just as soon as the oaths were taken. Maybe Funke’s drama with husband of barely one year tops the list, given the glamour that accompanied the solemnisation  of their matrimony and the manner in which the separation was served to the public.

Everybody felt for Funke. At least the method employed by the husband, choosing the social media to break the news, even to his wife, got Funke a drove of sympathisers who were ready to take her husband apart. Maybe, that emboldened Funke because she has since shrugged it off and is already painting the town red as she was spotted last weekend, looking her smashing self at the Miss Global pageant .

Then Chika Ike steps into the mix. Although she has been separated from her husband, Tony Eberiri for close to two years but the glee with which she announced the divorce she got from an Abuja High Court on Monday set adrift once again another divorce saga which has an uncanny resemblance to that of Funke Akindele’s.

While Funke’s husband, Kehinde Oloyede took to Facebook to announce  his separation from his wife, Chika chose Twitter to tell her fans that “she was finally free of Mr Tony Eberiri”. “I’m now officially divorced. Thanks,” she tweeted.

Funke and Chika may now be on the spot but they have a long list of others before them. While a lot has been speculated on why these marriages fail, investigations have revealed that top on the list are abuse, infidelity, violence and what they have come to term ‘irreconcilable differences’.

The story of Laide Bakare was another messy divorce saga. She was reportedly married to Mr. Okunfulire who unknown to her was married to another woman with two children. But most of the facts were not made public until Laide was delivered of a baby  for another man, Mr Tunde Oriowo. She however had a daughter for her estranged husband. Her own case was termed “glaring injustice”.

Nollywood diva, Stella Damasus is probably unlucky. She lost her first husband, Jaiye Aboderin  to the cold hands of death shortly after their marriage. After that, she tried to get on with life and tried her luck with Emeka Nzeribe. That luck did not hold as they separated just after two years, citing ‘irreconcilable differences’.

Saheed and Fathia Balogun were the perfect couple, almost a model for what a celebrity marriage should be  until cracks in that perfect picture began to manifest. While Saheed accused Fathia of infidelity, Fathia was always crying of domestic violence from her partner. Willy-nilly the marriage crashed despite interventions from families and colleagues.

Chika Ike

Although, Lola Alao, another Yoruba actress, has said she has forgiven her husband, Dare Ogunlana,  allegations made by the man during the heat of the divorce saga are still fresh. Dare described Lola as “diabolical, deceitful and a woman not to be trusted”, to which the woman responded with maturity by keeping mum. In a recent interview Lola agreed his ex husband was a nice man but got carried away by the pain of the separation. According to her “that man is a very nice man, it just didn’t work out between us”, she said.

Ayo Adesanya and Goriola Hassan probably didn’t do badly. Their marriage lasted eight years and  Ayo and her movie director husband were always together, in the house and on location until it seemed they got tired of seeing each other around. Ayo fingered ‘jealousy’ as the virus that stole into their home to eat out the nuptial knot.

It was hard to believe that Doris Simeon and her director husband, Daniel Ademinokan would go their separate ways after showing so much love and affection the way couples who seem to be in love do. They were married for a few years and then broke up. At a point, Doris accused her Daniel of scrounging on her.

Stephanie Okereke-Linus is now enjoying the bliss of her second marriage, her marriage to big boy Idahosa Linus.The A-list actress is said to have been very happy with her divorce from her ex-footballer husband Mike Iloanyusi, who, at a point allegedly completely likened Stephanie to a piece of football he played around. She divorced him on account of battery and infidelity.The breakup of the marriage of this top actress is said to be based on extra-marital affairs.

For Chiege Alisigwe, who was married to a UK-based businessman, she  alleged that the man had other relationships. Unable to bear it, she came back to continue her life in Nigeria, where she met her present husband, an Enugu-based police officer.

After a number of failed marriages, fans were happy that Shan George had found love again, when she announced that she was getting married to Tony Nwosisi. They got married, but the marriage did not last, her reason, being ‘incompatibility’

*Eucharia

Eucharia Anunobi, now an evangelist married Charles Ekwu in 2000 and they divorced in 2009 on many grounds including infidelity, abandonment and lack of responsibility to their only child. She disclosed to an Ikeja High Court, how her  ex-husband allegedly slept with their 13-year old housemaid several times in their matrimo-nial home. The suit was filed in 2007 but suffered several setbacks until 2009.

The list is endless. Hilda Dokubo, Monalisa Chinda, Foluke Daramola, Clarion Chukwura, Ngozi Ezeonu, Kate Henshaw, Jennifer Eliogu, Stephanie Okere and many more have experienced bitter pills of divorce and in most cases the reasons are not so dissimilar.

Most often than not, these super stars knew they were diving into troubled waters but for one reason or another they just didn’t give a damn. Funke Akindele’s husband was known to have fathered over ten kids by different women before Funke decided to settle with him.

Monalisa Chinda, who is romancing Lanre Nzeribe cannot say she is so wet behind the ears not to know that the guy is known as a top playboy. Many Nollywood actresses have also married at the expense of some other women who have had to relinquish their men to their beauty, fame and influence.

Gov. Obi flags of 9-billion Naira Road and Bridge Projects

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Joy in Anambra Communities as Obi flags of 9-billion Naira Road and Bridge Projects

Amansea, Ndiukwuenu, Awa and Ufuma communities in Anambra State on Wednesday converged at Ndiukwuenu in thousands and with dance groups and masquerades to celebrate the flag off of the 28-kilometer road traversing the 4 communities.

Speaking during the flag-off, Governor Peter Obi said that it was one of the roads that gave him the greatest joy, because, according to him, while some of the roads he did were reconstruction work, the road under question was a virgin road going through some of the communities that had not witnessed tarred road since creation. Obi likened it to Lilu and Umueze Anam Roads, constructed in difficult terrains and among those that never witnessed tarred roads. He said the road would eventually have a spur to Amaetiti, Okpeze and Awgbu communities.

Obi assured the people of good work by the contractor handling the work, Stesanutistocks and Havel Ltd. He disclosed that they were one of the companies that constructed the OThambo International Airport in South Africa.

Speaking at the event, the Commissioner for Works, Arc. Callistus Ilozumba said that the road was properly designed with every component, including culvert that would guarantee that the road lasts. Further, he said that the 28 kilometers of road had three bridges and when completed would open up the entire area known for food production.

Speaking on behalf of the stakeholders of Orumba North, His Excellency, and Dr. Okey Udeh said that the only debt the people of Anambra owned Governor Obi was to give praise and thanks unceasingly to God for given the State such a man.

Fighting Crime in Anambra State

Gov. Peter Obi is right now supervising the demolition of three-story Upper Class Hotel at 8 Old Market Road Onitsha.

Two fresh human heads were discovered in the building with 2 AK 47 Guns this morning.

Details, including pictures will come after the exercise code named "Operation Nzacha,"

Valentine Obienyem reporting from the scene.

Fashola warned Governor Peter Obi

Governor Babatunde Fashola has warned Governor Peter Obi not to incite the Igbo community against their host state as the the issue of stranded persons numbering about 70 allegedly dumped at the upper axis of Onitsha, Anambra State at about 3:20 a.m. by unknown persons, threatens to sour relationship

between Governor of Lagos State and the of Anambra state. 

The latest decision of the Lagos State Government (LASG) to remove indigent Nigerians from the streets of the economic capital of the nation and repatriate them to their perceived states of origin has raised a lot of dust.

Executed by the Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) department of the state government, several trips have been undertaken, ferrying beggars and the homeless to various parts of the country.

The LASG argues that it is part of preparing the Lagos metropolis as a modern mega-city able to attract tourists and genuine business interests from all over the world.

But the Anambra State Government did not find it funny and has formally sent a powerfully worded letter of protest to President Goodluck Jonathan over the forceful and illegal dumping of bona-fide Nigerians, ‘deported’ from Lagos State, to Anambra State.

In the letter published by FOA yesterday, the Anambra state government stated that "no amount of offense committed by these people, even if deemed extremely criminal, would justify or warrant such cruel action by a State authority and in a democracy.  Even refugees are protected by the law.  Furthermore, the extant provisions of the Nigerian Constitution states: “Every citizen of Nigeria is entitled to move freely throughout Nigeria and to reside in any part, thereof, and no citizen shall be expelled from Nigeria or refused entry thereby or exit therefrom”.  

In his reaction, Governor Fashola warned his Anambra counterpart: 

“There is too much at stake for anyone to begin to incite the Igbo community against their host state. There is too much at stake here. It is a very dangerous and unwarranted precedent. And I hope that common sense will prevail here. Also those who are baying for blood should know that there is too much at risk here. When I get a formal complaint from the government of Anambra State or notification from the Presidency, I will lay the facts bare.

It is unfortunate that my colleague governor has made this a media issue. As I speak, I haven’t received any telephone call or letter from him to complain and I don’t thin that is the way government works. On less important matters like this, he had called me before...this is a political season and Anambra will be up for contest and in a political season, unusual things happen and perhaps we are living in an interesting times...it was regrettable when one saw issues of governance being trivialized or tried on the pages of newspaper, with all sorts of columnists writing on it"

As reported that on Wednesday, July 24, 2013, at about 3: am, about 72 people including beggars, petty traders, the aged, women and children and the physically challenged, were dumped at the same spot in Onitsha.

Before then, on 18th of September 2012, over one hundred citizens made of destitute-beggars, children, women, and the aged and the physically challenged were dumped at about 4: am under the Upper Iweka Flyover in Onitsha, Southeast Nigeria.

They were conveyed in 9 buses by unnamed agents of Lagos State Government believed to be working under the State’s Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI). Those interviewed by journalists, Red Cross officials and rights groups presented clear and horrible pictures of their ordeal in the hands of the Government of Lagos State.

Notorious robber plaguing south-west arrested by police.

The Leader of a notorious robbery gang terrorizing Lagos and other south-west states was Thursday, arrested by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, Lagos.  Vanguard gathered that the suspect, identified as Abiodun Ogunjobi, a.k.a, Abbey Godogodo, met his waterloo when SARS operatives who have been on his trail for a long time, laid ambush for him at his mansion at Egbeda area of Ibadan, Oyo state and also recovered two Ak47 rifles and 10 fully loaded magazines.

Vanguard learnt Godogodo was behind the July 7, 2013, gruesome murder of seven persons at  O4 Hotel, a popular hotel in Ajah area of Lagos, including the owner, Olarinwaju Subair. His gang also went on to kill two security guards at a popular hotel, along Apapa Road, Ebute-Meta area of State on the same day. Police sources told our reporter that the suspect narrowly escaped arrest on July 14, 2013, when he and members of his gang engaged SARS operatives in a shootout on Eko Bridge, Lagos Island after killing two policemen at Ebute-Ero and Ajao Estate. Five members of his gang were gunned down in the encounter, while Godogodo and two others escaped.

Vanguard further learnt that Godogodo who has three children from three women, coordinated several bank robberies in Kwara, Ogun, Oyo, Ekiti and Osun States. According to the police source “he is the biggest and most notorious armed robber we have in the South West in the past 14 years.

When Vanguard interviewed the 36-year-old suspects, who is a native of Abekuta, Ogun State, he confessed to being a robber as accused with no regrets for his actions. He said “I started robbing in 1996 and in 1999 I was arrested and remanded in prison for the minor crime of fighting. I spent more than seven years in prison. My prolonged stay in prison for this minor offence hardened me and I vowed to pay back the police for that injustice.

“After I was released, I went to Katanguar, in Iyano-Ipaja area of Lagos to meet my friend Odun, who was arrested by the Police recently at O4 Hotel in Ajah. Odun was a robber and we started operating; we worked with several other gangs.  I invested my money in arms and ammunition. I also built houses in Ifo, Ilaro, Ikorodu and Ibadan.

“I kill policemen and take their rifles because they (policemen) have also killed my boys and taken my rifles from them. I have no regrets for all I have done and I have no advice for young people who want to go into armed robbery like me.”

17-year-old girl kills husband over alleged sexual demands: early marriage saga

The Plateau Police Command on Wednesday in Jos said it had arrested a 17-year-old minor who allegedly killed her husband over his sexual demands.

The minor allegedly killed Lawal Bala, 26, in his sleep on their matrimonial bed on July 8.

The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Chris Olakpe, said the police had also arrested some suspected criminals.

The minor, who spoke from the police custody, told newsmen that “he was sleeping with me six times in a day.

“I kept complaining to him that I could not stand his sexual urge but he refused to listen to my plea; no family member was ready to help me, so I did what I did. “

She said that she regretted killing him, but that she thought that was the only option left for her to free herself from the pains she was passing through.

According to her, I have realised my mistake and have repented of my sin; all I want is for the authorities to allow me to go home.

The suspect said she was already two months pregnant for her late husband and would want to go home to take care of herself till delivery.

Earlier, Olakpe had said that when the matter was reported, and the minor was arrested, she denied committing the offence.

“But in the cause of investigations, she later confessed to committing the crime and gave reasons, “ he said.

Olakpe, who said that the offence was a culpable homicide, added that she would soon be prosecuted at the Juvenile Court. (NAN)

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/08/wife-kills-husband-over-alleged-sexual-demands/#sthash.6rnGYl2g.dpuf

Nigerian man and Cape Verdean Lady Arrested Over Cocaine

olua uguru christopher

one of the hand bags revealing the parcel of cocaine

Officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) are quizzing a Cape Verdean in connection with the unlawful importation of 2kg of cocaine hidden in female handbags. The drug was detected during the inward screening of Emirate passengers at the arrival hall of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos. The 35 year old Cape Verdean, Rosangela Gomes Gonealves Correia and Olua Uguru Christopher, a 36 year old Nigerian are currently explaining their roles in the illicit import.

NDLEA Lagos Airport Commander, Mr. Hamza Umar said that the Cape Verdean whose statement was obtained in Portuguese has provided useful information to the anti-narcotic investigators. “The statement of the lady was obtained in Portuguese by a language interpreter. Both suspects are calm and cooperating with authorities in the investigation. The parcels of cocaine hidden inside the linings of the female handbags were found during search” Hamza stated.

rosangela gomes gonealves correia

Olua Uguru Christopher left Nigeria to Paris in search of better employment opportunities in 2001. He is married with two children and hails from Abia State. While Olua said that he sells shoes and shirts, the Cape Verdean claimed to have a restaurant in her country. According to Olua, “I was enticed by the financial incentives. France is a very difficult place to live now because of unemployment problem. If I had succeeded in bringing the drug into the country, I would have invested my share of the profit in business”.

In his reaction, the NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive, Ahmadu Giade has assured that drug traffickers will continue to encounter difficulties in smuggling drugs into the country. “We shall continue to make the entry and exit points impenetrable to drug traffickers. The Cape Verdean will be charged under the NDLEA Act. No infringement under the Act will go unpunished. We are working towards the arrest and prosecution of other members of the drug cell” Giade stated.

Meanwhile, the suspects will soon be charged to court.

Soludo dumps PDP for APGA

The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) on Wednesday recorded a big catch with the defection of the former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo to the party. The former CBN governor defected to APGA from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) under which platform he ran the 2010 governorship election in the state. In a letter addressed to the national chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, dated July 17, 2013, conveying his resignation from the PDP, Professor Soludo thanked the party for offering him the opportunity to serve in it some capacities. “This is to convey my resignation as a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with effect from today. Let me use this opportunity to thank the party for the opportunity given to me to serve it in some capacities. This resignation is without prejudice to the possibility of future collaboration with the party in any areas of common interest designed to advance the course of nation-building,” the letter read. Meanwhile, Professor Soludo was on Wednesday registered as APGA member at his Isuofia Ward in Aguata local government area of Anambra State by the ward chairman, Mr. Okeke Anthony and subsequently issued with the party’s membership card. He said he joined APGA because he believed the party had sound and progressive ideology that would enable him transform Anambra State into “Africa- Taiwan Dubai” of his dream. 

Peter Obi's Letter to President Jonathan On Fashola's "Callous Act"

I wish to respectfully bring to your due attention a very disturbing development that has vast national security and political implications.  Last September and again on 24 July 2013, the Lagos State Government contrived inexplicable reasons to round up Nigerians, whom they alleged were Anambra indigenes (most of whom the SSS report shows clearly are not from

Anambra state) and forcefully deported them to Anambra state, dumping them as it were in the commercial city of Onitsha (see attached SSS report). 
This latest callous act, in which Lagos State did not even bother to consult with Anambra State authorities, before deporting 72 persons considered to be of Igbo extraction to Anambra State, is illegal, unconstitutional and a blatant violation of the human rights of these individuals and of the Nigerian Constitution. 
Your Excellency, no amount of offense committed by these people, even if deemed extremely criminal, would justify or warrant such cruel action by a State authority and in a democracy.  Even refugees are protected by the law.  Furthermore, the extant provisions of the Nigerian Constitution states: “Every citizen of Nigeria is entitled to move freely throughout Nigeria and to reside in any part, thereof, and no citizen shall be expelled from Nigeria or refused entry thereby or exit therefrom”. 
Sir, forced deportation such as this, which Lagos State seems to be making a norm in addressing its domestic challenges are egregious, and calls into question the validity of Nigeria and its federating components. Such acts violate human decency, the rule of law and constitutionally ordered liberties.  Were Anambra and other States in the federation to resort to such extreme measures, there would be total anarchy.

It would amount to complicity on the part of the states and the federal government, if this issue is not thoroughly investigated and some form of censure brought to bear on Lagos State.  I suggest, Sir, that you direct the Attorney-General of the Federation to investigate these incidents.  Naturally, I have the obligation to protect the interest and welfare of all Nigerians resident in Anambra State irrespective of their States of origin and I would be left no option other than reciprocity or reprisal.  I will, however, put any such reaction in abeyance until Your Excellency has had the opportunity to address our concerns.
Please accept, Your Excellency, the renewed assurances of my highest regards.

Peter Obi, CON
Governor, Anambra State

Zimbabwe: Elections ‘peaceful,free and fair’ — Obasanjo

THE African Union’s top poll observer said crunch election on Wednesday appeared, according to initial reports, to have passed off smoothly.

“The conduct of the election… has been peaceful, orderly, free andfair,” said former Nigerian leader Olusegun Obasanjo, who leads the 69-member observation team, speaking at the closing of a pollingcentre in Harare.

The AU mission had been criticised by President Robert Mugabe’schallenger Morgan Tsvangirai for painting a rosy picture of vote preparations.

Tsvangirai and non-governmental groups have voiced concern that the electoral roll, which was not released until the eve of the vote, is ripe for manipulation.

It is alleged the list contains many duplicate and ghost voters.

The Election Resource Centre, an NGO which is collating reports of problems, said it had received multiple reports of ballot papers running out and people finding their names were not on the register.

About 600 foreign election observers, mainly from African bodies, have been accredited to watch the polls in addition to 6 000 local observers.

Zimbabwe has not invited Western observer missions because of sanctions imposed on Mugabe and his top officials for rights abuses.

My mother sold my baby – 17-year-old girl

Seventeen-year-old Blessing Godspower,  on Wednesday narrated how her mother sold her (Godspower) eight-month-old baby. The mother, Onyinyechi Nwabueze, 38, was paraded by the police at the  ‘A’ Division of the Plateau State Police Command. Policemen from the division, led by the Divisional Police Officer, Mr. Victor Dimkpa, a Chief Superintendent of Police, had rescued the baby, Chiamaka, in Awka, the Anambra State capital.

Blessing, who was staying with her mother at Rukuba Road area of Jos North, was allegedly put in the family way by her boyfriend. After Chiamaka was delivered, Godspower’s mother, who was not comfortable with the development, allegedly decided to get rid of the baby. According to Blessing, on July 19, her mother sent her on a phony errand in order to effect the “diabolical” act. She said, “My mother sent me on an errand, but when I came back I asked for my baby and my mother asked, ‘which baby?’ She feigned ignorance and at that point I started crying and reported the incident to the Police.” Police Commissioner, Mr. Chris Olakpe said, “After the mother sent her daughter away, she (Nwabueze) stopped a tricycle and took the baby to the first receiver, one Eucharia Anyaegbu.

Anyaegbu transferred the baby to the second receiver, Rita Maduako, who finally sold the baby to 53-year-old unmarried woman, Grace Nnadozie.” Nnadozie, however, told our correspondent that after she applied to an orphanage home for a child without any result for the past two years, she sought Anyaegbu’s help. She said  she gave N500,000 to Anyaegbu for the baby. Anyaegbu gave N350, 000 to Maduako.  Maduako was to give N200,000 to the baby’s grandmother. But Nwabueze denied that she sold the baby.  She said her daughter was very wayward, so she decided to give the baby out to somebody else who would take proper care of her. She said, “How can I sell my granddaughter.

My daughter is not capable of taking care of the baby and I decided to give her to somebody who will take proper care of her.” Nwabueze explained that she lost her husband in 2007 and since then, she and the six children she had with him, had been finding things difficult.