With tears dripping down his cheeks, Oluwarotimi Sikiru looked lost. He knelt down as if addressing some audience. “I am appealing to good spirited Nigerians to come to my aid. My suffering has been compounded since going to prison for an offence I did not commit,” Sikiru said. Sikiru was in jail for 13 years as prisoner awaiting trial until February 14, 2003 on trumped-up robbery charge. He remarried after his release as his wife abandoned him during his years in jail.
Ganiyu Balogun, 42, could hardly do anything on his own. He was assisted to Vanguard Headquarters to share his story. To him, life is cruel as it has turned once a promising young man with great dreams, into a bedridden chap on the verge of death within a short space of time after a diagnosis revealing the presence of acute kidney failure, or what is termed as ‘end stage kidney disease.’
The Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, has warned that it will apply commensurate punishment on any teaching staff found to be engaging in sorting, mutilation of results, sexual harassment and all forms of exploitation. The Rector, Dr. (Mrs.) Celestina Njoku, read the riot act during the institution’s Quarterly General Assembly.
Few days ago, Otukpo the traditional headquarters of the Idoma kingdom and the home town of the Senate President, David Mark, was engulfed in a major crisis that shook the very foundation of the town. The crisis which started as a protest by the irate youths who were protesting the citing of a private university by the Senate President, at Asa 111 area of the town, led to the alleged shooting of five Police men and six others by the protesting youths.
…bearded suspect arrested
Tragedy struck on Wednesday, May 8, between 12 and 1pm at the Festac link bridge, Lagos, when a yet- to- be identified young man got drowned while trying to retrieve a bag allegedly containing N150,000 for a stranger who had begged him to do so for a fee of N5,000.
…I will defend my husband’s status even in death—widow
Family of late Adindu Ohamara, the 34-year-old banker who was murdered in his Akoka abode in Lagos, three weeks ago, has described as untrue report that their late brother was a gay, calling on the police to unravel the circumstance that led to his death and bring his killers to book.
WHO killed our brother, Mr. Anthony Onwuebuibo Ukatta? This is the question on the lips of the entire Amizi people of Awomnuzie Autonomous community in Ikwuano Local Government area of Abia State.
*Hunger, loss of pregnancies, strange illnesses as victims battle post-flood pains
*Anambra govt: We are focused on response to natural disasters…
The impact of the 2012 flood disaster which ravaged communities in Nigeria lingers. In Anambra State where 53 communities were affected, victims continue to relive the sad experience.
Getting to SS. Joachim and Anne Catholic Church, Meiran Parish, Lagos, in a low lying uneven, rough terrain with undulating natural features, on the outskirts of Lagos metropolis was nerve–racking.
…We bore our child in jail – Couple
The tales coming from some in-mates of Kirikiri Prisons, just released by the Lagos State Chief judge, Justice Ayotunde Philips, are heart touching.
The youths were in a celebration mood and all was set for the 2013 carnival that was billed for Saturday, April 27 in Ilata-Ota, Ogun State. Days before, the town wore a new look and the town was well lit up, courtesy of the youths who had used everything at their disposal to ensure a successful carnival.
Seven months after flood devastated some communities in Kogi State, most of the flood victims are still lamenting the neglect from the State Government in addressing their plight, stressing that they are really suffering. Though government kept singing song of self satisfaction over their effort in ameliorating the victims plight, but that seems a mirage in comparison to the reality on ground.
This is certainly not the best of times for the besieged native Tiv farmers inhabiting communities within and around Guma, Gwer West and Makurdi local government areas of Benue state.
For 17 years, Mrs. Alaba Gbadebo was in agony, as she struggled to care for her son, Olaoluwa, suffering from cerebral palsy.
Seven days after an ill-fated Toyota Hilux van plunged into Majidun river in Ikorodu area of Lagos, the exact number of victims is yet to be ascertained. While an eye witness account gave the figure as four, local divers, Nigerian Navy and other emergency agencies said only one body was recovered.
When on the 31st of March, 2009, Senator Liyel Imoke, the Cross River State Governor laid the first block to kick start the construction of a housing estate in the barren forest of Atimbo, in Akpabuyo Local Government Area, some five kilometres East of Calabar, the Cross River State capital, his action was greeted with a lot of scepticism and criticism as many wondered how he would transform a dense tropical forest to residential homes.
…My grandchild died without fulfilling her dream- grandmother …
Residents of Oworoshoki area of Lagos, are yet to overcome the shock of the lightening which struck Celestina Farotide, a Senior Secondary School, SSS 3 student of Muslim College, dead, Tuesday.
It was a day of agony, pain and frustration for residents of Odo-Iragunshin, a suburb of Epe area of Lagos state, when the officials of Lagos State Government paid an unannounced visit to the place and demolished not less than 200 houses.
The hinterlands in Benue State have gradually become theatres of war where the rules of engagement and sanctity of human life are brazenly disregarded. From Gwer West to Guma and from Gwer to Oturkpo and Makurdi, it is the same sad story of killings and bloodbath occasioned by conflicts between the natives of these communities and invading Fulani herdsmen.
…As displaced ‘enemies’ take refuge under same roofs in Ganawuri …
Hostility among some communities in Plateau State in the last two weeks spreading across about four local governments has again thrown up the issue of the effectiveness of the current security arrangement in the country . Many are wondering why the gale of violence has continued to escalate rather than abate.
Ahmad Abubakar Warawa, 58, a victim of the Monday blast in the Sabongari area of Kano, hawked caps within the premises of the park daily. “This is my second home; we are used to the people here and we have everything to be grateful to Allah for, for the patronage we are getting here”, he said before narrating how he survived the attack.
A thirteen-year-old girl, Precious Udu, who was taken from Obudu in northern Cross River State to Calabar to work as a house maid, has allegedly been bathed with hot water severely burning her neck, shoulder and chest even as she was not allowed to attend school by her mistress.
‘We held on to cylinder for 2 days as fellow passengers went down with ill-fated MV Soni’ …
With the name MV Soni boldly inscribed on its dark body, the ill-fated boat, strung together with wood, set sail for Gabon, at about 9 p.m. on March 15, after it had docked at the Oron quay for over a month to take passengers and complete other travel logistics.
The Omomen family of Sobe in Edo State has raised the alarm over their missing member, Mr Abie Omomen, 58, who, they claimed, travelled from Benin-City to Kwoi in Kaduna State on February 20, 2011 but has since not been found.
He made to escape from death, but it would seem death was determined not to spare him on that fateful Sunday night. Hearing gunshots from a nearby house, 80-year old Da Dung Bot Gwom, the village head of Tapo in Heipang District of Barkin-Ladi Local Government Area did not want to leave anything to chance.
AS the death toll in Monday’s bomb blasts at a bus park in Kano rises to 110, President of the Igbo Youth Movement, IYM, Evangelist Elliot Uko, has urged Igbo youths to remain calm and await the decision of Igbo leaders next week. In a chat with reporters, Uko holds northern leaders and politicians responsible for the Boko Haram insurgency, saying that sponsors of the sect have murdered sleep.
No fewer than 670 students over the weekend benefited from the MTN Foundation scholarship scheme. While 590 students were from Science and Technology institutions in the South-West region, 80 blind students in Nigerian tertiary institutions made the list of the phisically challenged scholars.
Residents of Aladelola Street in Ikosi-Ketu, Lagos, where a PHCN official and a security man were electrocuted early January this year, are still living in fear. This is because, officials of PHCN are yet to replace the obsolete wires that caused the death of their neighbours. Worse still, the old wires are still left to dangle dangerously on weak electric poles thereby posing a great danger to people living in the area.
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Wizkid beat PSquare, Flavour, others to win African Artist of the Year
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Lagos closes gap in knee replacement surgery
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When women survive, families and nations thrive – Jill Sheffield
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The bee venom as HIV, cancer cure


