Innih+419+More

Former military governor of Kwara and old Bendel states, Maj. General George Agbazika Innih (rtd) is dead. He was 64 years old.

Family sources said he died in Germany yesterday of complication resulting from an accident he had in around Auchi on his way from Abuja Wednesday last week.

The sources said after the accident, Innih was admitted at Benoni Hospital in Benin. But when his condition worsened, the Presidency made an aircraft available to convey him to Abuja where he was admitted at the National Hospital.

He was flown to Germany, Wednesday night accompanied by his wife who was in US when he had the accident. He was said to have arrived Germany about 5.00 a.m. yesterday and died shortly after.

Born on September 25, 1938 at Agenebode, Etsako East Local Government area of Edo State, the late Innih had his military training at Mons Officer Cadet School, Hans, England (1962), Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, England (1962-1964), and Staff College, Camberly, Surrey, England (1972).

He was at various times Platoon Commander, 4 Infantry Battalion, Ibadan (1964-65) Deputy Military Secretary, Supreme Headquarters, Lagos, Colonel General Staff 3rd Marine Commando (1968-69), Brigade Commander, 5 Infantry Brigade, Onitsha 1974-74, Military Governor of old Bendel State (now Edo and Delta) 1975-76 and Kwara state. (1976-78).

He was Quarter Master General, Nigerian Army (1978-79) General Officer Commanding, I Infantry Division, Nigerian Army (1979-80). He retired voluntarily in 1980 to set up his private business. He was Chairman/Managing Director Niger Valley Agro Industries Limited, Chairman / Managing Director Tamsaks Nigeria Limited and Chairman Bridgestone Finance Limited among others.

In 1998, he was awarded Honorary Doctor of Law degree by the University of Ilorin. A knight of Saint Mulumba, he was also honoured with the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR)

He was involved in the recently formed Midwest Forum.

He is survived by a wife and six children.

A group of suspected internet racketeers, who fooled people into sending them money by pretending to be from the central bank of South Africa, have been arrested.

A spokesman for South Africa's elite criminal investigations unit - known as the Scorpions - said 15 Nigerians had been detained, and would appear in court on Monday.

He said the gang, operating via email, promised to pay its victims a commission for looking after $10m, and directed them to a website which looked similar to that of the South African Central Bank.

The fictitious website then asked for advance payments to cover insurance and other costs.

Gerhald Nell, spokesman for the Scorpions said: "The web site gave the scheme legitimacy."

He said the gang diverted phone calls and created fictitious email addresses to fool people.

Nigerian money offer's like this have been described as the fastest-growing type of internet fraud.

Reports of e-mailed Nigerian money scams - designed to obtain recipients' bank account details by offering to transfer large sums to them for safekeeping - rose by 900% between 2000 and 2001, the NCL, the main US consumer lobby, have said.

Scams of this kind, which often emanate from Nigeria or other African countries, have been circulating for years through the post or by fax.

National Consumers League <http://www.nclnet.org/>
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) - Police freed 46 captives - many of them chained and badly beaten - in raids on five ``torture centers'' run by a feared Nigerian vigilante group, a police said Thursday.

The vigilantes, known as the Bakassi Boys, were initially considered heroes by many here for their campaign against robbers in the country's crime-ridden southeast.

But human rights organizations, and some residents, say the vigilante groups are out of control, and have denounced them as ruthless killers.

Police arrested 33 people and seized dozens of guns, police spokesman Haz Iwendi said.

Police and the Bakassi Boys exchanged gunfire during Wednesday's raids in the southeastern towns of Umuahia, Ossisioma, Akwete, Ogbor Hill and Aba in Abia state, he said.

Many of the people released by the police were bleeding from severe beatings and needed hospital treatment, Iwendi said. They included eight women.

Amnesty International says the vigilantes have executed more than 1,000 people since forming in 1998. The New York-based Human Rights Watch says they have also tortured hundreds of people to force confessions.

Wednesday's raids came as Bakassi Boys in neighboring Anambra state decapitated and burned suspected criminals in the southeastern market city of Onitsha, police said.

On Thursday, residents said the vigilantes left at least three decapitated bodies burning in the streets of Onitsha.

© Copyright The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained In this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. 08/09/2002 03:46

Mother, daughter killed inside home; estranged husband hospitalized, faces charges, police say By CHRISTIAN BOTTORFF By CHRISTIAN BOTTORFF
Staff Writer Staff Writer

Charles Emesibe parked his taxicab early yesterday morning on Blue Hole Road and walked in the dark to the house he once shared with his estranged wife, according to Metro police.

He somehow entered the home at 132 Brian Circle, shot and killed his wife, Ibiene Emesibe, 38, then shot and killed her mother, Leticia Abili, 57, after a struggle, police said.

Police said they think Abili shot Charles Emesibe in the neck with his own weapon during the fight.

The Emesibes' children, Patterson, Galvin, Melvin, Kennedy and Mercedes — ages 4 to 12 — were in the house, along with two of Ibiene Emesibe's nieces, ages 1 and 2, who were visiting from California, police said.

None of the children was injured. The five Emesibe children are in state custody, and the mother of the nieces is coming to Nashville to get them, a state Department of Children's Services official said.

Charles Emesibe, 44, in critical condition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center last night, faces homicide charges pending an investigation. He was found bleeding on the home's front porch when police arrived, alerted by a very brief, unintelligible 911 call from the home at 3:46 a.m. A panic alarm from the residence went off soon after, police said.

When officers arrived, they knocked on the door, which was answered by a 12-year-old boy, police said. As the door opened, they saw Ibiene Emesibe dead just inside the doorway. Abili was found dead in an upstairs bedroom.

Police want to ask Emesibe why he went to the home yesterday but said the slayings are ''part of an ongoing domestic dispute.''

The slayings followed a bitter, 10-month divorce dispute in which both sides leveled claims of infidelity, according to records in Davidson County Circuit Court. The Emesibes' troubled domestic history also includes five police reports of abuse, in September and October. In each case Ibiene Emesibe accused her husband of hitting, threatening or harassing her.

He was arrested twice, on Sept. 18 and 26, 2001, the first time accused of domestic assault and the second of violating an order of protection, police said. On two other occasions that month and the next, the wife did not press charges. After a third complaint on Oct. 24, he left before officers arrived.

The day following that last report, Ibiene Emesibe swore out a warrant accusing her husband of violating an order of protection by stalking and harassing her. The warrant still has not been served.

In a petition signed Sept. 18, 2001, asking for the order of protection, Emesibe asked that her husband be prohibited from abusing or threatening her, contacting her or stalking her.

According to court records, Charles Emesibe is a native of Umuahia, Nigeria, who has lived in Tennessee for more than 20 years. The records indicate he was then a driver for Allied Cab Co. Ibiene Emesibe, from Lagos, Nigeria, was an employee of the state Department of Correction, records show.

Charles Emesibe filed for divorce Sept. 28, asking for custody of the five children and that child support be paid by his wife, whom he accused of infidelity. He also asked for the home on Brian Circle. The couple was separated Aug. 31, 2000, according to his petition.

In subsequent paperwork, Ibiene Emesibe denied claims of infidelity, also asked for custody of the children, along with the house and its contents. She also sought temporary child support from her husband, alimony and attorney's fees.

During the dispute, the state Department of Children's Services came to the house three times to investigate allegations of child abuse. Nothing that would have required the state to intervene was found, DCS spokeswoman Carla Aaron said.

The state's most recent investigation at the Emesibe home came July 18 after a referral that involved allegations of physical abuse. The investigation was still incomplete as of yesterday, said Aaron, who declined to provide detailed information on any of the investigations. ''There was nothing in any of our records that showed the propensity for this type of violent behavior,'' Aaron said.

Lucy Glavan, Ibiene Emesibe's next-door neighbor, who has lived on Brian Circle for 12 years, said yesterday afternoon that she hadn't seen Charles Emesibe near Brian Circle for two or three months until yesterday. She said she heard four or five gunshots at the home yesterday and she could hear a child crying. Then, she said, she heard Charles Emesibe scream, ''This is my house!'' ''And that was it,'' Glavan said. ''Just silent.''

Darego Dazzles them in Germany By Bolu Johnson Before the return to democratic rule in Nigeria, the country suffered a battered damage. And till date, many Germans still associate Nigeria with military rule even three years after the ascension of democracy. But one of the unnoticed but effective steps at redeeming Nigeria's image was taken about three months ago when the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) and reigning Miss World, Agbani Darego were star members of the delegation led by Nigeria's Tourism Ambassador and First Lady, Mrs. Stella Obasanjo to the international tourism fair in Berlin, Germany. Agbani sold Nigeria to millions of opinion leading Germans and foreigners on leading television channels. First she was hosted by Pro 7 on the programme "TV total with Stefan Raab". This programme is a must-watch for celebrities. The Miss World spoke very positively about Nigeria as a safe and peaceful country. She also appeared on RTV television, on ZDF's Sabine Christian political talk show which has a viewership of approximately two million each week. She was also in Cologne for a radio talk. In fact, Agbani's presence and that of the First Lady spread like fire in Germany with their good words about Nigeria, which resulted in a better perception of the most populous African country. Miss World's photographs adorned Nigeria's stand in Berlin. Her presence was magnetic as exhibitors momentarily abandoned their stands either to have a glimpse of the beauty or sign autographs. Her pictures and stories were positively and lavishly used in the German media. Germany's mass circulating newspapers, Berlin Kurier (circulation: 340,000) and Berliner Morgenpost (circulation: 150,000) ran stories with positive headlines. Giant photographs of the queen adorned Nigeria's stand at Berlin. A leading newspaper, the Frankfurter, in an article reported the press conference that was held by Mrs. Obasanjo; the Minister of Culture and Tourism, Ms Boma Bromillow-Jack and Miss World. The First Lady had at the press conference mentioned Nigeria as the cradle of African culture which needed to be discovered again as a tourist destination. The article also explains Nigeria as a democratic country since 1999, stating that the message must be passed round as most Germans still associate military dictatorship with Nigeria. A very positive article about Miss World and Nigeria appeared in the Berliner Morgernpost of March 18, 2002 which described the beauty of Agbani as she was walking down the street, while people stopped and milled round her. The article, which is titled 'The most beautiful woman on earth bewitches Berlin' mentioned the sprawling Nigeria's stand at the fair ground and the delegation led by the First lady. Johnson is a Geneva-based Nigerian journalist

The Catholic Church in Nigeria has evolved a curriculum on sexuality education for use in homes and parishes, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

The adoption of the curriculum was the outcome of a recent workshop on sexuality education organised in Enugu by the clerics in collaboration with Community life Project, a non-governmental organisation.

The curriculum gives guidelines on how to teach sex education to married couples, adults, youths and couples preparing for marriage.

A copy which was made available to NAN stresses the need for sex education to be taken more seriously by priests and bishops to improve the understanding of the subject.

Among the topics listed are sacrament of matrimony, importance of the family, menopause, woman sexuality in married life and marital love life.

Others are HIV/AIDS, domestic violence, managing family finances, practice of christian virtues, rights of the family, love and friendship as well as many other aspects of sexuality education.

The curriculum makes it obligatory for the priests to include sex education in their preachings.

About 100 delegates drawn from the 50 dioceses of the Catholic Church in Nigeria attended the workshop.

Catholics contitute one of the major faiths in the country, and have established primary and secondary schools as well as a university.

The federal government has introduced population and family life education into secondary schools.

Earlier in an address at the workshop, the bishop of Minna diocese, Most Rev. Martin Uzoukwu, called on Nigerians to imbibe self-discipline to curb promiscuity, while parents should be role models.

Using the teaching of Jesus Christ as an example, he urged the participants to be careful as they are being looked upon to set examples.

Also speaking, Prof. Mike Azuzu, a lecturer in public and community medicine at the University of Ibadan, observed that self permissiveness had been the driving force on individual rights and freedom.

Azuzu, who spoke on ``sexual revolution and its consequences on families and the society,'' recalled that since the French revolution of 1789 on population explosion, the world has witnessed ``sexual decadence.''

He pointed out that in the developing countries such as

Nigeria, where the notion of individual rights and freedoms was not deep rooted, the sexual revolution is rather driven by various socio-economic and environmental factors such as poverty, migration and urbanisation.

The effect has led to various types of sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS, he said.

He reiterated the need for the church to teach abstinence and place emphasis onnatural family planning method instead of using other forms of contraception.

allAfrica.com - 3 Students Flogged Unconscious - July 29, 2002
P.M. News (Lagos) - Posted to the web July 29, 2002

Three senior secondary school students of Ikeja High School were on Friday beaten to a state of coma on the order of the Lagos State Commissioner for Education, Professor Idowu Sobowale. The commissioner reportedly supervised the beating.

The SSS2 students of the school were among several others beaten at the commissioner's office at Alausa for embarking on a protest over what they (students) described as their general failure in the examinations conducted by one of their teachers. Some of the students who spoke with P.M.News said the teacher failed at least eighty-five per cent of the SSS2 students in the examination, a situation which did not go down well with the students, prompting them to protest their failures.

The students were alleged to have written a protest letter to their Principal, Mrs. M.M. Olateju and equally embarked on unruly behaviour, a development which earned them a week's suspension.

Sources told P.M.News that after the expiration of the suspension, the students were asked to report to the commissioner's office where they were given six strokes of the cane each as a further punishment for their unruly behaviour. It was in the course of being beaten that three of the student fainted.

According to eye witnesses, the students who fainted were not immediately given medical attention by the officials of the ministry, until other students began shouting and rushed out of the office. The students then in protest destroyed louvres at the commissioner's office.

Men of the Lagos State Emergency Ambulance Services (LASAMBUS), it was further learnt, were immediately invited to convey the three students who were already gasping for breath to the hospital, while their colleagues and parents, who came with them, protested the unfortunate incident.

A visit to the school this morning revealed the presence of police vehicle belonging to the Lagos State Environmental (Special) Offences Tribunal stationed at the gate, while some parents were seen at the principal's office. Efforts to speak with the principal proved abortive as she was said to be attending a meeting with the parents.

My first encounter with the evil at NIPOST was when two copies of my book entitled 'Degema' were auctioned at NIPOST Territorial Headquarters, Port Harcourt in 1998. Copies of the said book were sent to me by airmail by my German publishers, LINCOM EUROPA. I received a slip dated 7 May 1998 from NIPOST Territorial Headquarters, Port Harcourt on 23 November 1998. On receiving the slip, I rushed to the Territorial Headquarters on the same day to collect my parcel only to be told that the parcel was opened and the books auctioned on Thursday, 19 November 1998. The reason given for the auctioning of the said copies of my book was that I was late in going to claim the parcel. But how could this have been when I got the slip, stamped on 7 May 1998, in November 1998? I was very bitter not only because copies of my book were auctioned but also because the slip I got from NIPOST Territorial Headquarters, Port Harcourt did not have my complete address, which explains the delay in my receiving the slip.

I wrote to the Post Master General to complain about the illegal auctioning of my books, and to tell him about the ineptitude and negligence on the part of some of his workers. To cut a long story short, the two copies of the said book were later retrieved from their alleged buyers and given to me. I thought I was relieved but I was wrong.

Things have not changed for the better since 1998. On the 29 October 2001, I sent a surface mail from Japan to one of my friends in Lagos, Nigeria. Faceless people at NIPOST intercepted the mail, opened it, cut out my email address and my telephone number, redrafted the contents, and reposted it to my friend with the intention of duping him of N90,000.00 (Ninety thousand naira). My friend quickly contacted me because the idiots forgot to cut out my postal address. It was alleged in the redrafted mail that I sent my friend a cheque of 1000 pounds through one Joseph Efuribe which my friend was to claim with N90,000.00. The dupes did not succeed as my friend was well acquainted with the happenings in Nigeria. My immediate conclusion after this incident was that registered mails were safer than unregistered ones but, again, I was wrong.

On the 29 November 2001, I sent two draft copies of my Ph.D. dissertation, weighing 2660 grammes, by Express Mail Service (EMS) to one of my teachers in Nigeria. Normally, it takes a maximum of 14 days for an EMS parcel from Tokyo, Japan to arrive Port Harcourt, Nigeria but up till the moment of writing this piece, the said EMS parcel has not yet arrived its final destination. The post office at which I posted the parcel investigated the non-delivery of the said parcel and found out that the parcel got lost somewhere in Nigeria. I thought that the parcel was intercepted because of its bulkiness, and concluded that lighter EMS parcels were less suspect than bulkier ones but this time too, I was wrong.

The thieves at the NIPOST are at it again. The last EMS parcel I sent to Nigeria, weighing 114 grammes, was on 4 July 2002. This parcel, which contains application forms for one of my brothers, has not arrived its final destination up till the moment of writing. This time it is not because of the weight of the parcel. These 'guy men' at NIPOST have come to the wrong conclusion that there is money in every letter that has overseas stamp on it. For this reason, many letters to Nigeria never get to their final destinations. This shameful handling of mails has become a way of life for dubious NIPOST officials.

What exactly is happening at NIPOST? How long do people continue to loss valuable mails to thieves at NIPOST? By which other relatively cheaper and safer means can people abroad send mails to Nigeria? It is by DHL or UPS? How many people can afford to send their mails by these later means? Can the Post Master General claim that he is not aware of the dirty things that are happening in his department? His answer will certainly be 'yes'. He might even take an oath on behalf of the criminals at NIPOST, and say that they are the best workers that he has ever had. But it will not be long before he is proved wrong.

Whether we admit it or not, the truth remains that the bulk of mails to Nigeria, be they sent by air or by sea, pass though NIPOST. If some people want to play safe by refusing to send mails to Nigeria through NIPOST, will such people not be sent mails through the same NIPOST? What is happening in Nigeria, as a whole, is sad. Wherever one turns to, there is one evil or the other. The people are just not ready for any positive change. Like every other institution in the country, NIPOST needs to be overhauled.

How long will the thieves at NIPOST continue to have a field day? Have they stopped to consider the effect of their nefarious activities on the image of the country at home and abroad?

Do these faceless people know that some post offices abroad no longer accept EMS and other registered parcels sent to Nigeria because of their evil deeds, as they will have to pay for the loss of such registered parcels like EMS? What is the whole talk of laundering Nigeria's image abroad all about when inside the country is full of rotten eggs? The inside should be cleaned first and then the outside will automatically be clean. The bad eggs at NIPOST (and in other sectors of the economy) need to be identified and flushed out immediately to save our postal system.

IGBINEDION University, Edo State, last Thursday, added a feather to its cap as the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria granted the college a pre-clinical accreditation.

The accreditation letter which was duly signed by the Registrar of the council, Dr. C.O. Ezeani and sent to the Vice Chancellor of the institution in line with the regulations has given the college the go-ahead to administer its first professional examination to the medical students to enable them proceed to the clinicals.

The accreditation was granted in line with the commendable effort of the university in providing excellent facilities. This was well attested to by the visitors from the council who visited the university.

The university is the first private university to receive the council's accreditation for training medical students at any level.

Sealed with Love & Prayers By Patty Nsionu