The Great God

The God of the Good times,
Is the God of the bad times
When things go wrong,
He will make them right
God of the day
Is still God of the Night
Therefore,
We must be strong
Though we wean
We must win
We must not faint
Because if we faint
We cannot obtain the promise
An the light will shine
With Glory, Holy and wonderful treasures
Be strong

Yemi Olakitan

Being Physically Challenged has not hindered my Artistry—Wale Balogun

Being Physically Challenged has not hindered my Artistry—Wale Balogun

By Yemi Olakitan

Balogun Mufutau Adewale is a physically challenged and versatile Nigerian artist. Adewale was not born with any form of disability. It began while he was growing up at the age of three. In this revealing interview with Yemi Olakitan, he explained how it happened and how he has been able to carve a niche for himself in the world of arts despite his challenges.

·   How did you discover your talents?

As a young man, my initial ambition was to become a Medical Doctor despite the fact that my talent as an artist was noticeable at a very early age. I was very lucky because I met someone who advised me to study Visual arts instead of Medicine.  He said, God has given me a talent that fits my condition since I am physically challenged, if I were a Medical Doctor, how would I handle the demands of the profession. It may even be very challenging to secure employment after school if I had studied Medicine.  It was a God sent advice and I took it. Art is something that I have been able to practice without much hindrance since I can do it with my hands and I can do it sitting down. I would not say that it has been easy but God has been very faithful.

·   ·     How did you come about your disability?

My condition started long ago when I was younger. According to my parents I was not born with any form of disability. A time came when I became ill and I had to be taken to the hospital for medical treatment. I was three yeas old at the time. A Nurse gave me an injection during the course of my treatment. The injection paralyzed my legs. My parents did not notice in time and by the time, my parents noticed the reason why I could not rise and walk, it was too late. The doctors could only save one of my legs. The other one could not come back to normal. Only one was fully healed. From the beginning, I knew that there was art in me. I could draw. I drew my mother at the age of four. I used to draw for fun because I liked it a lot. I used to use my sisters’ lipsticks to paint whatever I drew. Those were my watercolors. It was natural for me to do Art.

·   ·     How were you able to cope with the situation?

There are different types of handicapped people. There are those who were born mentally handicapped and it affected their productivity. There are those who were not born with any form of mental disability and yet they are still handicapped in their minds. I was not born with my disability nor am I affected mentally or psychologically. I know that as long as I have a sound mind, I could achieve anything I want to achieve in life. When I was younger my parents wanted to send me to school for the handicapped. I refused because my mind is not affected by my disability. There are many things that able-bodied people cannot do that I can do. By the grace of          God, It has not stopped anything good in my life.  Sometimes, it could be a plus, for example, I am a public speaker, if I stand before people to talk, before I say anything, my appearance alone will challenge them. This is why I am always working with my hands so I am always improving. 

      When I was younger I never saw my self as handicapped. I played around like any normal kid and I had fun just like them. I crawled for the first six years while playing with my younger ones. While my younger brother was six, he was enrolled in a Primary school and I was eight, at the time so I asked them what about me?  They wanted to send me to a school for the handicapped but I refused. I insisted that I had a normal life to live so I needed to attend a normal school just like any regular kid and they had to agree.

      One day, someone organized a party on our streets and everyone was going so I said to myself that why should I be crawling when everyone is walking so I went to the backyard and got myself a burnt wood from the traditional stove (adogon) I used that as crutches and helped myself to the party.  When my parents saw that attempt to walk, they decided to get me actual crutches.  The major challenge is that people never stop treating you as a second class and some even go out of their way to put you down. I was waiting by the bus stop one day when someone offered me alms. I had to educate him that I was not a beggar. There are disable people who are not disturbed by their situation and people constantly try to refer them to it. If you have physical disability and you do not have mental disability, you are fine because you can achieve whatever you set your mind to achieve if you work hard enough and with faith in God.

·   ·     Why do you choose to work with beads?

People love new things; new creativity and I want my work to stand out. I don’t want to do what everybody is doing. I choose to use beads in my paintings because of its durability. If it gets dirty, you can cleanse it easily. I want to inspire other artistes and make an impact in other peoples’ lives.  If for example, you want to encourage or advice an handicapped person it may not sink well but if you are in the same condition with him as I am and he sees that you are doing what he feels he cannot do, he will listen.  You see, a man may have a bad leg or a bad hand but the worst scenario is to have a bad head, which is terrible. There are different types of handicapped people and everyone is falling into one category or the other. You can be financially handicapped. You can be mentally handicapped. One can be spiritually handicapped. Everyone has one; even President Jonathan is facing its own handicap from Boko Haram.  I define my handicap as handy and Cap. The evidence that one is living is because of challenges. There are people who cannot feel hunger or pain because they are dead but we are alive. There is nobody without challenges, it may differ.  I always found very creative ways to live normally and to do my work. All I have to do is sit and think about it.  My wife came home, one day and discovered that I have hung all my art works on the walls of our living room and she was surprised that I could do it by myself.  She asked who helped me? Actually, I just sat down and think of the various ways by which I should hang the art works and I was able to do it. By the way, my wife has been a great inspiration to me. There is a lot of hard work in art. I sit for hours in order to produce an art piece and many times my back aches. The reward is in seen people appreciate your work.  I participate in group exhibitions a lot. I am also planning a solo exhibition soon.

·   What are your words of advice to those in similar situation?

My advice is this: Challenges are an evidence to prove that you have a great future and you are going somewhere great. There is no gain without pain. Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy.  My dream in life is to be ahead of the so-called able bodied. I am grateful to God. He has been there for me.

·   You are happily married; you have a family and a thriving career

To the Glory of God, even my four-year-old kid adjusts to the situation. He will even go and bring my crutches for me when I needed them. God has not allowed it to be a problem that we cannot surmount.

·   Can you mention some of the people who have influenced you?

One of them is Dr. Davide.H.Dale He developed his own style and he helped me to develop mine.  Mr. Dale is highly influential in my evolution as an artiste. I would say he contributed a lot. There are several other people who have influenced and helped me in my career as an artist. When an artist is willing there are positive people who will support him in Nigeria even a physically challenged artist.

·   Thank you very much

You are welcome

How New Media is affecting Traditional Journalism in Nigeria

How New Media is affecting Traditional Journalism in Nigeria

 

  Yemi Olakitan

Information technology is changing the face of media practice and journalism in general in the world today and Nigeria is not left behind. The increasing impacts of new media in the dissemination of information have given room to an increase in both professional and amateur journalism. Yemi Olakitan examines the pros and cons of this on mass communication practice.

Today, the media is not limited to the radio, television and the print alone. The Internet has created whole new platforms for the dissemination of news and information within minutes. With the click of a button, news and information can be posted on Facebook, twitter, You Tube, a blog or website and the world can become aware of this recent development instantaneously. This new media makes use of videos, audios, and pictures and can disseminate information faster than any newspaper or television house .

Things are no longer the same for traditional forms of media in the world and Nigeria since global attention is now on Internet reportage of news and events. All over the world, people want to see or read the news on the Internet. The Internet has consolidated itself as a very powerful platform that has changed the way the world communicates. No other communication medium, has given a “Globalized” dimension to the world like the Internet.

It is the Universal source of information for millions of people, at home, at school, and at work, and it is actually the most democratic of all the mass media. With a very low investment, anyone can have a web page on the Internet; almost anybody can reach a very large audience directly, fast and economically, no matter the size or location.

The upsurge in the use of the Internet has also given rise to new media platforms, which have become increasingly popular. Leading global news networks such as BBC and CNN now replay clips of non-professional eyewitness account of events taken from either You Tube or Twitter. Today, a media organization without an online presence is a huge local champion.

The popularity of social networking sites among Nigerians, both young and old has made it necessary for media organizations to make their presence felt on the Internet or they may soon be wiped out by competing brands. It is not surprising that nearly all the major media houses in Nigeria have created flamboyant websites with social networking sites to complement them. Smarter media organizations are also making use of blogs, You Tubes and many other tools to make their presence more pronounced. Today, it is possible to read an entire Nigerian newspaper online.

In some cases, Internet advertisingrevenue is competing favorably with traditional adverts placements. US Facebook guru, Joe Trippl, said there are two million Nigerians on Facebook, out of the 400 million worldwide.

The Internet has given room to a new form of media freedom in information dissemination that has not been seen some few years ago. Nigerians are able to post information faster than an average journalist could send an article for production. The recent mass protests of the oil subsidy removal had many users of twitters sharing picture s of dead or dying protesters. Many Nigerians entered into meaningful discussions on the subjects of corruption, police brutality, comparing figures and statistics on Facebook and posting comments. The impacts of the new media have never been felt like this before.

News coverage of the demonstrations by traditional media has also been criticized. Many Nigerians covered the protests themselves through social media tools. Nigerians no longer rely on government owned media such as the National Television Authority, NTA that often broadcasts content that favour the sitting government. Today, Nigerians post their own videos on You Tube and inform friends on Facebook, Twitter or Skype. When armed robbers attacked a luxury bus about a year ago and passengers were made to lie on the highway and trucks ran over them. The police denied the incident. Days later, pictures of the horror was posted on You Tube for all to see.

Even, President Goodluck Jonathan is not speared the use of Facebook. A book, “My Friends and I,’’ chronicling numerous discussions on national issues, which the president had with Nigerians on Facebook, was published in 2011. The President was reported to have confessed that such discussions have often influenced some of the decisions he has taken on various national issues. Far from being a tool for mere social networking, Facebook and twitter are increasingly competing with traditional media in the dissemination of news and information.

Although, some Nigerian journalists still regard social networking sites as a place to make friends and meet people, many are using such sites for professional networking in the practice of journalism. In many countries of the world where press freedom is lacking new media has come to the rescue since it often cannot be silenced by draconian government decrees. Journalists have embraced blogging, preferring to upload their stories and pictures online.

Many have become their own editor and sub editor, creating a robust online presence that often attract readers and advertisers alike. The need for deploying these tools for instantaneous news coverage has never been more urgent in Nigeria. Nigerians reporting corruption, insecurity, police brutality, and journalists can operate without fear using New Media. Global news reporting have been made easier with the use of new media tools since journalists network faster than ever before from one part of the world to another. It is easier for journalists to get information, quotes and interviews through twitter, Facebook or Skype.  Although some journalists still acquire camera and digital voice recorders, mobile phones are been used for professional news reporting and coverage.

However, social media can spread false information about government and individuals as well. False Messages can circulate; often feeding a rumor that can be completely untrue. Hackers have been reported to hack government websites, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. (EFCC) Social media will continue to play a major role in news and discussions, despite low incomes, as Nigeria has the continent’s top mobile phone market and the largest online audience in Africa.

The terrible aspect of UNIPORT 4 lynching

By  Emma Okah,



Last week, this column clearly condemned the killing of four innocent students of University of Port Harcourt and insisted that the perpetrators must face the music. In doing so, I affirmed that my personal knowledge of Aluu community before the unfortunate incident of October 5, 2012 did not show them as barbaric. I do not have any evidence to the contrary.
As an Ikwerre man, I attest that Ikwerre people are as shocked and embarrassed as any other Nigerian on the wicked killing of those young boys in Omuokri, Aluu. Every assemblage or community of people would naturally have bad eggs and it is for this reason that we believe the law must take its course so that our country would not witness an ugly incident like that again. However, in the same article which is still continuing today, I had advised Nigeria and Nigerians to address collateral issues that could strain or promote peaceful relationship between UNIPORT and the host communities to avoid similar violence in the future.
This is because the university community and host communities can ill-afford to be enemies as it happened in FUTO some time past. That in my opinion is what a patriotic Nigerian should do. The column is a call to contribute to national growth and development. It’s not about any other sentiment, tribal or religious. Therefore it will be wrong for anyone to criminalize a race or condemn a people purely because of the irresponsibility of a few persons.
We cannot call every Igbo young man a criminal because two or three Igbo boys had drugged, raped, robbed and killed Cynthia Osokogu in a Lagos hotel. That will be irresponsible and unacceptable. In the same vein, I disagree that all Aluu indigenes or people of Ikwerre ethnic group can be described as killers or cannibals. However, in any society, any person that has contravened the law should face its wrath. Do we need to emphasize that something is going wrong with many Nigerians? How do we explain that fellow UNIPORT students, natives, non indigenes and police watched the clubbing and burning of those boys to death and did nothing to save their lives?
Rather than save the situation, enlightened people were recording and snapping the harmless and battered boys until they were burnt alive. Nobody sent for the VC of UNIPORT or called the dreaded JTF or SOS or Rivers State Government House, PH to save the situation. This is a gradual descent to hell and we condemn it many times again. The lynching of the innocent UNIPORT 4 was avoidable, illegal, unnecessary and unjustifiable. Whatever may be anybody’s offence let every suspect be brought before the temple of justice so that he can answer for himself.
To have killed those young boys in that wicked manner and without a just reason cannot stand before man and God. Following the first publication of my opinion last week, many people hurriedly jumped into wrong conclusions and called me names and voiced curses because I am from Ikwerre in Rivers State. In gratitude, I am happy that many Nigerians are reading my column and I respect their private opinions on what I write. However, what I find very intriguing is that many of them did not understand the purpose of the article.
Those who had the opportunity to call, email or send text to me are now satisfied after our interaction, that we share the same agony and pain on the UNIPORT 4 killing. Evil is evil whether in Abuja, Lagos or Port Harcourt. What we are saying is that even if the Omuokri mob had done all else including stripping and beating but not killing, society would have pardoned them, but outright killing is barbaric. Given this ugly Aluu incident, cases of extra judicial killings and lawlessness that are prevalent in Nigeria, it is safe to say that the criminal justice system (CJS) has broken down totally in our society.
The CJS begins with the arrest of an offender through trials to imprisonment. In this journey, two independent arms of government have played active roles while the entire three arms had played roles. The criminalization process (making of the laws under which an offender is held) is carried out by the legislature. What is not law cannot be broken. Now, when an arrest is made by the police, it is the executive arm of government that is acting.
When the suspect (accused) appears in court, it is the judiciary that would handle the fact finding and penalization. When he is found guilty as charged (after due process), the convict is transferred back to the executive through the prison to administer the penalty so pronounced by the judiciary. The CJS has therefore traveled through the three arms of government. This is why any reform in one unit will not deliver well except the entire chain is reformed. The tragedy we have on our hands is that the citizen has lost every single sense of confidence and protection from the government which should always act through the police. Instead of handing over suspects to the police, the citizens prefer to illegally mete out ‘appropriate’ punishment to the suspected offenders.
In that moment of madness, an angry victim of an alleged offence acts as complainant, police, judge and the hangman. This is sadly a backward resort to the dark age. Everywhere we drive on our roads in Nigeria, we see charred bodies of citizens and we assume that they were robbers. We even thank God that one more enemy of the society has been eliminated. Understandably, we cry when it affects us most,but all of us are part of the decaying society. Are we still our brother’s keepers? Most Nigerians believe that whenever suspects are apprehended and handed over to the police, they return home even before the complainant would get back.
Some suspects even raise their shoulders in the presence of the complainant as if to say, see now, nothing can happen. Have we ever heard some men maltreating someone on the road? The bully would say, I can kill you and nothing will happen! And actually, nothing happens. Until we move our affairs to the point that if a citizen lodges a complaint, the system moves quickly, apprehends the suspect even if he is the son of a minister, detains him, runs the investigation swiftly like the Cynthia Osokogu investigation team in Lagos, and charges the accused to court and allow that court to make a pronouncement, then the citizens would still prefer jungle justice to justice-delayed which they say is justice-denied. This is what happens in all parts of Nigeria.
The final word on this is that we have allowed the citizen to take over control of all his problems with little or no government intervention; private residence to private water system (borehole) to private school for your child to private church to save your soul to private clinic now to private security and private judge etc. Now, the police post is only relevant for making your neighbor lose some money if he offended you. This is why our people would say, he called the police for me so that I would spend. They do not see it that you called the police for justice to be done.
This is the greatest tragedy, if you want your neighbor to spend, call the police, if you want justice, take the law into your hand and administer your own justice. This is sadly and shamefully the real issue all over Nigeria. That’s the behavior nationwide and it’s demonstrated in the ease we saw on the faces of the crowd that watched the killing at Omuokri; no stern faces but giggling lips and uncaring crowd. Also, now that the names of suspects are being reeled out and charged to court, we have Yoruba, Igala, Ogoni, Akwa Ibom names, and few community indigenes.
In the beginning, vengeance was in the hands of a man or his survivors (family). Government came later to ask us to leave vengeance to Government but are we getting it in Nigeria? Later, Christians came and said we should leave vengeance to God, but are people prepared to wait till heaven’s time? That is the real tragedy! This is the terrible aspect of this tragedy.

MANY TEARS FOR THE UNIPORT

| ANAYO ONUKWUGHA

 

• Features

When the video of the hideous killing of four students of the University of Port Harcourt penultimate Friday went viral, Nigerians and indeed the decent communities of the world were stunned. In the wake of the killings, so much of positive and negative actions have been recorded- from students, University authorities, government, police and bereaved families members to the desertion by residents of the community in the thick of the gruesome killing. ANAYO ONUKWUGHA reviews the situation.
It started like a rumour on Friday, October 5, 2012, but gradually, it became a reality that four students of the University of Port Harcourt had been killed at Omuokere-Aluu Community, Rivers State.
The students are; Biringa Chiadika Lordson, Year-Two Theatre Arts;  Ugonna Kelechi Obuzor, Year-Two Geology and Mike Lloyd Toku, Year-Two Civil Engineering, while the status of the fourth victim, Tekena Erikena is yet to be confirmed.
Lloyd and Ugonna, apart from being cousins, also found a relationship in rap, a music genre, which was made popular in the United States. As upcoming artistes, they both won a rapping contest organised by Silverbird Television in Port Harcourt, a few years back.
Although, Aluu is in Ikwerre local government area of the state, it is less than 30 metres from the main campus of the University, which is at Choba in Obio/Akpor local government area of the state.
Aluu can be described as an off-campus suburb, where more than 50 per cent of students of the University of Port Harcourt live side by side with indigenes of the community, who are predominantly of the Ikwerre ethnic stock.
Different accounts have been giving by different people, including those who were at the scene of the incident, in relation to the actual reason why members of the Omuokere-Aluu vigilante killed the four youths after parading them round the community naked. While one of the accounts had it that they were armed robbers who went to rob residents of the community of their laptops and phones before they were caught at about 4.30 am, another account said they were cultists that had been terrorising the community.
Another account, which sounded more authentic, was the one that said that the four boys had gone to demand for a debt owed one of them, Ugonna, by a resident of the community and in the process, a fight ensued between them and the man they went to meet. According to the account, the boys decided to go away with a laptop and phones belonging to their debtor in place of the money. It was at this point that the man raised alarm, shouting thieves, which prompted the vigilante to swoop on them.
According to eyewitnesses, the vigilante team, made up of mostly youths of the community took thearrested students to the palace of the traditional ruler of the community, Alhaji Hassan Welewa where the four boys, upon interrogation, allegedly gave three different stories that did not match.
The eyewitnesses said that it was at this point that Welewa, who is also a Muslim leader in the state, allegedly gave a nod to the action of members of the vigilante team, prompting the parading of the four boys round the community and their subsequent beating to death. However, the vigilante team could not succeed in setting their corpses ablaze as they planned before the arrival of policemen from the Aluu Divisional Police Headquarters, who removed the corpses and deposited them at the morgue of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH), Alakahia in Obio/Akpor local government area of the state.
Following public outcry over the incident, Rivers State Governor, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi ordered a full-scale investigation into the murder of the four promising youths. The governor, who spoke through the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs. Ibim Seminitari gave an assurance that all those behind the killing of the students would be fished out and made to face the wrath of the law.
By Saturday, October 6, 2012, security agents comprising men of the Rivers State Police Command, the State Security Service (SSS) and the Joint Task Force (JTF) swooped on the community and by Sunday, October 7, 2012, no fewer than 13 persons, including the traditional ruler of the community were already in custody of the police.
Confirming the arrests in a statement, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, Mr. Benjamin Ugwuegbulem, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) said; “Rivers State Police Command unequivocally condemns the gruesome killing of four Uniport students on October 5, by irate mob from Aluu community.
“The command sympathises with the families of the slain students and also appeals to them not to take the laws into their hands. Students of the university are urged not to engage in any reprisal attack as such could lead to chaos and anarchy.
“The command has commenced investigation into the incident. Amazing success has been recorded in that regard as 13 persons, including the chief of the community suspected to have been involved in the reprehensible, barbaric act, have been arrested based on credible intelligence and video clips of the killings. Suspects are being interrogated by crack police team.”
Only last Tuesday, the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abdulkadir Indabawa announced that 11 out of the 13 suspects that were arrested in connection with the killing of the students have been charged while the remaining two were kept in police custody to aid security agents in their investigations.
Also, last Wednesday, security teams comprising of men of the State Police Command, the State Security Service (SSS) and 2 Amphibious Brigade, Nigerian Army, Port Harcourt, arrested five more persons near the scene of the crime in Omuokere-Aluu, thereby bringing the number of those arrested so far in connection with the murder to 18.
To Indabawa, the way the four youths were killed was barbaric as there was no justification for the mob action. He promised that the police would ensure such ugly incident does not repeat itself again in the state.
The authorities of the University declared a seven-day mourning period and suspended the planned students’ union week in honour of the murdered four and later shut down the school indefinitely following protests by students which became violent.
Apart from blocking the ever-busy East-West Road for several hours, the students, despite appeals from the Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Joseph Ajienka and the Executive Secretary of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Professor Ben Angwe, over-ran Omuokere-Aluu community, burning down no fewer than 12 houses.
Already, the entire Aluu community has turned into a ghost town as residents have fled the area to avoid either being arrested by the security agents that have flooded the community or the rampaging students of the University.
A visit to the community showed that truck load of mobile policemen was spotted at one location near the scene of the killings, while over 50 other heavily armed and fierce looking operatives of the Joint Task Force, (JTF), Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), State Security Service (SSS) and  other conventional policemen were seen moving round the town.
Confirming the closure of the University, the Deputy Registrar, Public Relations of UNIPORT, Dr. Williams Wodi said that students have been directed to vacate the hostels within the university immediately as the institution remained closed indefinitely.
Wodi said the decision of the university became necessary to prevent any breakdown of law and order that may result, following the killing of the four students by Aluu villagers.
He said; “The University Authority has ordered the immediate closure of the institution and directed students to vacate the hostels within the university. The decision is to prevent a breakdown of law and order on campus as a result of the killing of four students.”
To Angwe, the NHRC had received calls from the international community on the extra-judicial murder of the four students and would also monitor the trial of all the suspects involved in the sad incident to its end. He assured family members of the four and students of the University that the Commission would stand by them to see that justice was done in the case.
Apparently disturbed by the murder of the students, the Rivers State House of Assembly last Wednesday made a resolution condemning the action of the people of Omuokere-Aluu community.
The resolution followed a motion brought on the floor of the House by the member representing Omuma Constituency, Hon. Kelechi Godspower Nwogu, who regretted that students of the University went on reprisal and razed houses in the community despite warning against such act by the state governor, who also ordered a full scale investigation into the murder.
Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Otelemaba Daniel Amachree, who also condemned the murder of the students, urged the state government and security agencies to beef up security in the community.
Despite the claim by the Rivers State Police Command that it got alert on the incident very late, hence, its inability to respond before the students were killed, not few Nigerians were of the belief that the police never wanted to interfere in what it saw as ‘a community affair.’
To Mrs. Chinwe Biringa, mother of Chiadika, one of the murdered four undergraduate students, policemen were present during the killings. She expressed disappointment with the way and manner the policemen looked on and did nothing to stop the gruesome murder of the four boys.
Biringa said, “Eyewitnesses accounts revealed that policemen were at the scene of the incident. Besides, policemen at the police station confirmed to one of the bereaved parents who visited them that policemen were there.And the explanation they gave was that they were overwhelmed by the crowd and that they had insufficient bullets in their guns and all that thrash to confront the crowd.
“But those people were only with sticks not with guns. If they really wanted to work they would have worked. If they had done what the Joint Task Force did by firing warning shots into the air when they wanted to collect the corpses, things wouldn’t have gone awry”.
While insisting that the four murdered boys were not robbers, she said; “We don’t have security in this country. We don’t just have and our children and wards are all over the country. We are only living by God’s grace every day, because this can happen to anybody any day.
“God knows best because nothing stops Him from doing something extraordinary to save them. But may God judge all those who had a hand in the killings”.
Writing on his page on face-book, a Port Harcourt-based media practitioner, Chris Finebone said; “There are indications that the police unit at Choba came to the scene with two patrol vans as the boys were being man-handled and were warned to stay off by the villagers and the police left.
“Please, Mr. Governor, how can we trust the police when their men got to the mob in action and simply walked away without rescuing the poor lads? How can we trust the police? How?”
Perhaps, it was Finebone’s question to the governor that prompted the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Rivers State to call on President Goodluck Jonathan, the Police Service Commission (PSC), the Inspector-General of Police and the National Assembly to immediately sack the state Commissioner of Police for negligence over the killing of the four students.
The party also frowned at the contradictory statements emanating from the Police Commissioner, Police Public Relations Officer and the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Rumorji Division, saying it smacks of irresponsibility  and unbecoming of men and officers trained to protect lives and properties.
In a statement signed by its Publicity Secretary in the state, Jerry Needam, the ACN described the attitude of the police to distress calls put across to them as not only poor, but a dereliction of duty following the failure to mobilise men and officers of the force to the scene of the murder upon receiving the distress calls.
The statement said; “While killers of these undergraduates of the University of Port Harcourt are being fished out for prosecution, the Police Commissioner, his PPRO and the DPO in Charge of Rumorji whose primary responsibility is to protect lives and property but failed to do so in this circumstance should also be queried and possibly prosecuted.
“The double speak of the PPRO is also regrettable, for misinforming the public. On one account he claimed the victims were dead before the police arrived. On another, he said his men were overpowered by the uncountable number of people at the scene that made it impossible for the police to act.
“Police officers must be held accountable to all their actions and inactions in this circumstance to guarantee adequate security in Rivers State.”
Apart from the ACN, several individuals and organisations, including the Rivers State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the state Councils of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have unequivocally condemned the murder of the students.
To the PDP, the killing of the four undergraduates was “despicable, most barbaric, chilling, and in explainable. The party expressed shock at the misfortune that cut short the precious lives of the four lads.
In a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Mr. George Ukwuoma-Nwogba, the PDP lamented the wild display of hatred shown by those who killed the young men and in the bizarre manner they did, saying; “That act is an anti-thesis to the efforts at value re-orientation being championed by the administration in the state.”
As it is now, the eyes of all Nigerians and the international community is on the security agencies in Rivers State, especially, the police, as well as the judiciary to ensure that while investigation into the extra-judicial murder of the undergraduates is conducted with the urgency it requires, there should also be speedy trials of the suspects arrested in connection with the ugly incident.

UNIPORT FOUR: THE STORY CONTINUES

UNIPORT FOUR: They are demonising Aluu community – Elechi Amadi

THE story of the murder of four students of University of Port Harcourt  (UNIPORT) on October 5 at Omuokiri-Aluu community continued,  last week, with the parade of thirteen suspects by the police at its headquarters in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital.
Among those paraded was the paramount ruler of Omuokiri-Aluu community, Alhaji Hassan Walewa. The suspects were later charged alongside others at large at a magistrate court in Port Harcourt on  a five-count charge which included conspiracy and murder.
The court adjourned the matter to December 20. Magistrate of the court, Emanuel Woke, said his court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the case because of its nature. He directed that the case file be handed over to the Director of Public Prosecution for legal advice and the accused be remanded in prison custody.  The charges were read to them but no plea taken.
Meantime, literary icon, Captain Elechi Amadi (rtd),  has absolved his Aluu community of complicity in the killing of the four students.
Amadi said Aluu is made up of nine clans, adding that the students were murdered  in  one of the clans nearest to UNIPORT. According to him, the part where the sad incident occurred is inhabited by strangers. He said Aluu community marked that area out for sale to strangers to erect residential buildings and student hostels.
Besides  the traditional ruler the others arrested by the police, according to him,  were strangers. The novelist maintained that the police merely arrested the paramount ruler of Omuokiri-Aluu  as part of their routine exercise.
He said the media had chosen to demonise indigenes of Aluu over a sad incident they had no hand in Amadi, said the police should go ahead to prosecute any Aluu son or daughter found to have been involved in the brutal murder of the students.  Continuing, he said there was no way indigenes of the area could break into the mob to rescue the students, adding that the police got there  but did nothing. Excerpts:
What  is your comment on the killings  in Omuokiri-Aluu community?
Our press statements are never carried properly. The impact of our message is lost during the translation. What we are saying is that Aluu indigenes were not involved in the killing of the four students.
The killings occurred in one of the villages of Aluu. There are nine villages in Aluu. They occurred in the village nearest to the university, in an area allocated to strangers for residential building. No Aluu man was involved.

University of Port Harcourt students brutally beaten and burnt alive

The only person arrested was the paramount ruler of the village. That was a routine thing. When things like this happen, they ask the  paramount ruler where he was when it occurred.  But all the others arrested are not Aluu indigenes.
What effort did Aluu indigenes make to stop the killings?
How could they when it was happening in a part of the town where there are no indigenes. And it was early in the day or thereabouts.
But  it would not have been possible for Aluu indigenes within the neighbourhood not to be aware of the happenings  in this age?
But the police were there. So how can an unarmed citizen go to the mob to stop them? The police were there. Infact one of the sisters of the slain students said the police were there and one of them told the mob to deal with them. So there was nothing anybody could do.
The natives of Aluu are being demonised. They are making devils of us. It is believed that we killed the students. But we did not. Let the police investigate the matter thoroughly; publish the names of the suspects so that the bereaved parents will know those behind it.
But  how come Aluu will allocate a portion of its land entirely to strangers with no indigene living in the area?
The question you asked shows you are already prejudiced. This is the trouble with the press, they already have a stand. They refuse to look at the other side.
It was one of the questions from readers since Aluu came up with the story that none of its indigenes  was involved in the killing…?
No Aluu indigene lives in that area. They have their compounds in Aluu where they live. So when you sell land it is the person that you sold to that lives there. It so happened that in that portion strangers have been buying and building. No Aluu man lives there.

Elechi Amadi

What if any Aluu indigene is linked to the killings?
He should be dealt with, prosecuted.
But the paramount ruler has been arrested in connection with the incident?
People just imagine things. How will they parade people to an old man, people he did not know? These are strangers in the place. People just imagine things.
You know where the paramount ruler lives?
Very far from where it happened.
Suspects speak
The police allowed three of the suspects  to speak to journalists when they paraded them at the police headquarters in Rivers State. Two of them said the police arrived Omuokiri-Aluu community before the murder.
One of them, Mr David Chinasa Ugbaje, said he saw two police men when the four students were being beaten, adding that one of them pleaded that the boys should be set free. Continuing, he said the other policeman joined the mob  in beating the students.
Ugbaje, a cobbler, said the four students were first marched to his compound to confirm their story that they came to see one Bright. But when they got there, Bright’s door was locked. Immediately, according to him, those around started beating them. He said he and other neighbours in the compound had to push the riotous mob out of the compound when it became clear that the mob wanted to lynch them there.
His words, “I was arrested as a result of what happened in Aluu. Around 7a.m.  on that day, I left my house and went to my workplace. I saw a crowd beating four boys. I asked who the four men being beaten were and they said they were armed robbers.  I was told they were going to my compound with the boys so they could   point at the particular person who they said they were coming to look for.
“So, along the line, we went there, I opened the gate; they entered. I could not control the crowd. They pointed at one of our co-tenants door; the name of the person is Bright. Some people say they would break Bright’s door; but the door was locked. So they started beating the boys very seriously.
“Along the line, two police men came around. One of the police was pleading but the other one even joined in beating the boys. At a point, the police said the boys should be handed over to them,  but the crowd refused. I now said if they kill these  people here, this house will be in trouble. I had to bring out my belt to start flogging people to leave the yard.
“They took them out from my street. I now left the house. The two other suspects, Ikechuckwu Louis Amadi and Lawal Segun,  in their separate comments, said they saw police men at the scene of the incident. Lawal, a taxi driver, said he was not part of the mob that murdered the students.  He alleged that he pleaded with the mob to release them.
On his part, Amadi said he saw four police men while the students were being beaten, adding that the angry mob insisted they were not going to release the boys to the policemen.  The slain students were Ugona Kelechi Obuzor, a year two geology student, Biringa Chiadika Lordson, year two  theatre arts student,  Mike Lloyd Toku, year two civil  engineering student, and Tekena Erikena.

On the PORTGACOUT 4

PORT HARCOURT – THIRTEEN suspects arrested in connection with the murder of four students of the University of Port Harcourt on October 5, were, yesterday, charged before a Port Harcourt Magistrate on a five- count charge, even as the Police has dismissed a Sergeant, Lucky Orji, who was said to be part of the mob.
The paramount ruler of Omuokiri-Aluu community,  Alhaja Hassan Walewa , 59, was among the thirteen suspects in court. The others were,  ex-sergeant, Lucky Orji, 43; Lawal Segun, 28; Cynthia Chinwo, 24; George Nwadei, 20; Ekpe Daniel, 30; Okoghiroh Endurance, 24; Gabriel Oche, 33; Ozioma Abajuo, 23; Endurance Edet, 27; Ikechukwu Louis Amadi (aka Kapoon) 32; David Chinasa Ogboda, 30; and Chigozie Evans Samuel, 22.
They were charged alongside others at large for conspiring to murder the four students of the University of Port Harcourt, Ugonna Obuzor, Toku Lloyd, Chiadika Biringa, and Tekenah Elkanah.
The charge was read to them but the magistrate did not take their plea
Adjourning  on the matter till December 20, Chief Magistrate Emmanuel Woke, said the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the suit because of its nature.
He then directed that the case file be handed over to the Director of Public Prosecution for legal advice and ordered that the accused be remanded in prison custody.
The accused who were leg-chained were led to the court by heavily armed security men.
Charge
The charge against them read: “You, Alhaji Hassan Walewa, 59 years, ex-sergeant, Lucky Orji, 43, Lawal Segun, 28, Cynthia Chinwo, 24, George Nwadei, 20 , Ekpe Daniel, 30 years old, Okoghiroh Endurance, 24, Gabriel Oche, 33, Ozioma Abajuo, 23, Endurance Edet, 27, Ikechukwu Louis Amadi (aka Kapoon), 32, David Chinasa Ogboda, 30, Chigozie Evans Samuel, 22 years, and others at large, on October 5, 2012, at Omuokiri, Aluu community, in the Port Harcourt Magisterial District, did conspire amongst yourselves to commit felony to wit: murder and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 324 of the Criminal Code Cap 37 laws of Rivers State, 1999.
“On the same date and place in the aforesaid Magisterial District, did murder one Ugonna Obuzor by lynching and burning him to death and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 319 of the Criminal Code cap 37 volume 111 laws of Rivers State, 1999.”
Police dismiss Sergeant
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Police Force has dismissed a sergeant identified as Lucky Orji, who was allegedly involved in the gruesome murder of the students, following the confessions of one of the arrested suspects who claimed that a policeman was part of the mob.
The sergeant was dismissed for ordering the mob to kill the students.
Mr. Frank Mba, the Force Public Relations Officer, while speaking yesterday on Channels TV, named the dismissed sergeant as Lucky Orji. He stated that the Nigeria Police Force had carried out their investigations and dismissed the ‘named’ sergeant.
Mba said the dismissed police officer and another officer were alleged to have stumbled upon the angry mob beating the students