Secret prison in the jungle on Nigerian island

Sunday Alamba / AP

A man swalk past a sign post at the former prison known as Tekunle on Ita Oko Island outside of Lagos, Nigeria. The prison is cut out of the dense jungle that engulfs this island outside of Nigeria's largest city, but it never officially existed although many critics of the nation's military rule were kept here. Ita Oko Island allowed Nigeria's military governments to have opponents disappear into the swamps of the Lekki Lagoon at a camp accessible only by boat and helicopter.

Jon Gambrell / AP

A message on a wall at the prison on Ita Oka Island.

Sunday Alamba / AP

Associated Press team shields from rain as they travel to the former prison known as Tekunle on Ita Oko Island.

Sunday Alamba / AP

The remains of a burnt down part of a former prison known as Tekunle on Ita Oko Island outside of Lagos, Nigeria.

The Associated Press reports that anyone deemed a security risk by the government could be imprisoned:

Those deemed to be a major risk politically found themselves taken to Ita Oko by helicopter, where they worked on the farm and had no contact with the outside world, Agbakoba said. Even today, as the country has become a democracy with the guise of free information laws, it remains unclear how many inmates died on the prison island.

"It was abused by prison authorities," Agbakoba said. "If you misbehave, they said we'll send you as punishment to" the island.

In 1988, the wife of one inmate who discovered her husband had been sent there slipped a note to Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka. Soyinka was on the board of Agbakoba's Civil Liberties Organization, which later traveled to the island with a journalist from The Guardian newspaper who published a story exposing the prison. Authorities quickly closed the prison.

Air Nigeria Recovers $75,000 From ex-Executive Director

The Special Fraud Unit (SFU) of the Nigeria Police has succeeded in recovering 75,000 US Dollars of the 100,000 US Dollars illegally diverted from the company’s account by our former Executive Director (EDF), Finance, Mr. John Nnorom, who was recently sacked from his position.

We also wish to use this medium to clarify our relationship with the sacked EDF and the issues that led to his sack. It was discovered sometime in March, this year, that the EDF was using his position to short-change the company in its financial transactions.

He was specifically found to have attempted to defraud the company of $300,000 US Dollars in a particular transaction with a Bureau De Change (name withheld, where investigation revealed that he is the Director), which he personally introduced to the airline.  The company managed to prevent the theft of the entire sum, but not until after he had successfully siphoned off $100,000 US Dollars.

After his subsequent (and mandatory) sack by the Board of Directors, the company commenced the process of recovering the stolen money by lodging a case against him with the Special Fraud Unit (SFU) of the Nigeria Police, at Ikoyi, Lagos. This effort led to the recovery of $75,000 US Dollars of the money, a fact that can be independently verified from the SFU.  We are also taking further lawful steps to recover the outstanding balance.

With the consequences of his actions staring him in the face, we quite understand his desperate attempts to exonerate himself by resorting to cheap blackmail and spreading false information about the airline.

While, it is not in our character to join issues with former staff of the airline, we are constrained, on this occasion, to make the necessary clarifications and to also inform all our customers, suppliers and vendors that Mr. John Nnorom no longer has a mandate to represent Air Nigeria.

Air Fare Disparity: British Govt Dismisses FG’s Threat.

LAGOS — The British government, weekend, dismissed the Federal Government’s threat to ban foreign airlines operating in the country should they fail to reduce their fares on the expiration of the 30-day ultimatum served them on April 25, saying it stood by earlier position taken on the issue.

This came as former Aviation Minister, Prof. Babalola Borishade, advised the National Assembly to seek professional advice from outside the lawmaking chambers before engaging foreign airlines on fare disparity to be able to favourably resolve the issue in favour of the country.

British Deputy High Commissioner, Giles Lever, had said two weeks ago that Nigeria had no legal rights to ban foreign airlines operating in the country, insisting that fares charged by the two British carriers were in tandem with the Bilateral Air Services Agreement, BASA, between Nigeria and Britain.

Re-echoing the British government’s position on the issue, weekend, the country’s High Commissioner in Nigeria, Andrew Lloyd, in an online statement said his government had nothing new to add to what it said two weeks ago.

According to him, it is left to the Aviation Minister, Princess Stella Oduah, to consider whether her action to ban foreign airlines was in the interest of the country.

He said: “We’ve got nothing further to add to the statements (by the deputy high commissioner) we’ve already  made on the issue. It is now for the minister to consider whether it is in Nigeria’s interest to take the action she has suggested against international airlines.”

Borishade advises NASS

Meanwhile, former Aviation Minister, Prof. Babalola Borishade, has charged the National Assembly to be on top of its game as it probes the foreign airlines today on fare disparity, saying the issue is a technical matter which requires the input of professionals in the aviation sector.

He said it would be ill-advisable for members of the Aviation Committees in the National Assembly to ask the airlines questions on issues they were not well grounded, stressing that this could create escape routes for the airlines.

Borishade urged the lawmakers to constitute a committee of professionals to grill the airlines and then fall back on the recommendations of the committee to take a decision, adding that during his tenure as aviation minister, he also had a running battle with the airlines over high fares and commends the present government for taking on the issue at present.

He said: “This is an observation that has been made sometime ago. Every time, we had always quarrelled with some of the foreign airlines that charge Nigerians arbitrarily but it is interesting that now attention is being paid at the right quarter, but that’s not the only industry Nigeria is being short-changed.

“We have been cheated in a number of other things. The amount you pay for visa in this country to some other countries is not the same thing as you pay in Ghana. So, there are a lot of other places we have to look at critically.

“In Europe, nobody knows what is first class, you are either in a business class or others. But again, because they know that we like conspicuous consumption and most of us are not using our money, they charge first class, the money they get for first class is enough to pay for every body.

NASS should do a thorough job

“I believe now that the National Assembly is looking at it, they need to do a thorough job but they need to do it professionally so that they don’t scare people away. We want investors to come, we don’t want to make rules that people would say it is a jungle rule. We have to be consistent and internationally correct about what we are doing.”

The foreign airlines and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru, are appearing before the Senate today on the matter.

Nigeria Police Rescue Pregnant Girls From "Baby Factory" ... Damn!

 LAGOS: Nigerian police have raided an alleged illegal orphanage where they rescued young women thought to have been forced to bear children with the aim of selling them, a spokesman said Friday.
"We discovered the baby factory in Uruah local government area of the state during a raid following a tip-off," assistant police superintendent Oyekachi Orji told AFP of the operation in southern Akwa Ibom state.
He said seven women between the ages of 18 and 20, including three who were pregnant, were freed from the home during the April 4 operation. No babies were discovered.
Three suspects including the owner, his wife and another accomplice were arrested, he said.
"The suspects usually lure young girls to get pregnant with a promise of 70,000 naira (340 euros, $445) after having their babies, which they sell to ritualists," he said.

 A number of such "factories" have been discovered Nigeria, often intending to sell children to childless couples.
One of the young mothers said that she had contacted the owner of the home with the intention to have an abortion but he convinced her to stay until she gave birth.
"The doctor gave me 70,000 naira," the Nigerian press quoted the woman as saying. She also said the baby was taken away from her right after the birth.
This was not the only baby factory uncovered in Nigeria.
In October last year police found 17 pregnant teenagers in a home in the southern state of Anambra ...Trendinaija Source/Read More

Porsche Targets Rich Nigerians' Love For Luxury.

Nigeria's super-rich are not strangers to the consumption of exotic products, and what better way to show off wealth than buying a new European sports.
The automaker Porsche officially opened on Friday a new car dealership in the wealthiest district of lakes, Victoria Island, a place with one of the largest concentrations of millionaires in the world.There are already dealers specializing in Aston Martin, Lamborghini, Porsche hopes to do business but on the promise of tougher vehicle that can handle the rough roads of Nigeria. Their presence is considered a vote of confidence in the booming economy of the West African country.

Porsche also plans to open a store in the capital, Abuja, where they have built new roads, which will be a better market for the sport model 911 - and politicians are among the highest paid in the world.
"The continent of Africa, particularly Nigeria, is of growing importance to us in Porsche," said the head of the firm's Middle East and Africa, George Wills, featuring the 911.
Producers of high-end goods are paying increasing attention to Africa, as economic growth begins to leave little to other continents and while western countries are facing the crisis ...Trendinaija Source/Read More

Real-Time GPS Station Goes Live In Lagos State, Says Gov Fashola.

Lagos
Lagos State Governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola, SAN, has declared that the state Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS) and Global Positioning System (GPS) which has been successfully completed will soon come up live. 
GPS is a satellite-based radio navigation system, which allows users to determine their location anywhere in the world at any time of the day.
On the other hand, the CORS operates continuously from a permanent and stable location to track down dozens of GPS and Global Navigation Satellites (GNSS), receives and stores the data, removes any errors and transmits the enhanced satellite data to users in real time.
Fashola who was at a stakeholders meeting Thursday, at Alausa to ascertain the progress of the project, expressed satisfaction and confirmed the successful completion of the project.
http://odili.net/news/source/2009/nov/23/214.htmlReal-Time GPS Station Goes Live In Lagos State, Says Gov Fashola. Real-time GPS station goes live in Lagos State, says Gov Fashola

Tenant Kills Landlord’s Daughter Over Slippers? Omg!!!

It started as a squabble between two ladies. One was the landlord’s daughter, the other a tenant’s little sister. In time, it graduated to a brawl. People, including the landlord, came to separate them. And there was peace – or so the people thought. Just when everyone was just settling down with what he or she was doing, there was a fresh commotion.

The two ladies had gone back at each other. This time, viciously. By the time it all ended, one of the ladies lay dead. It was the landlord’s daughter, named Rhoda. It was said that her alleged assailant, the tenant’s little sister named Happiness, stabbed her in the chest. Her dead body is now in the morgue in Isolo area of Lagos.Rhoda, a 23-year-old hairdresser and mother of two (she was nursing the last one before her death) was living in her father’s house, at 23,Odulaju Street, Sabo, Ajangbadi, Ojo, in Lagos, with her children. Her father Oladuyoye Abel is a pastor with Christ Apostolic Church.Her alleged killer, Happiness, 19, from Nnewi South, Anambra State and a salesgirl at Alaba International Market, Ojo, said she never intended to kill Rhoda. According to her it was Rhoda who wanted to stab her. Narrating the incident, she said, she returned from the just-concluded Lagos International Trade Fair to notice that her bathroom slippers were not at the entrance of her room. She started looking for them and saw Rhoda’s first child of about four years wearing them. According to her, she took them from the little girl and implored her not to wear them again because she had lost several pairs left at the entrance of her door.

“I was cautioning the little girl and I didn’t know that her mother was by the well-side. Instead of Rhoda to caution her child, she started asking the little girl why she should wear the slippers of a valueless, worthless, miserable and good-for-nothing girl. She was calling me other unprintable names. It was from then that fight erupted and her father and my brother intervened immediately and separated us. That was about 7.30pm. Her father was angry with her and he asked her if she was the only lady in the compound that every time, she would quarrel with people.”Happiness said, in annoyance, the old man went inside the house and started throwing out his daughter’s belongings, asking her to “leave the house as he is fed up with her trouble. My brother also cautioned me that this shouldn’t be the reason to fight. I wanted to go inside when she rushed at me from behind and I shouted and drew the attention of people that thought that the fight had ended and I fell on the door of the tenants’ kitchen and she was holding my jugular. Her mother was there, I didn’t know how she got a kitchen knife on the floor probably left by a tenant that was cooking and wanted to stab me. I overpowered her and took it from her and it slipped through my finger and I stabbed her. It was later that I heard that it was on the chest that I stabbed her.

“As the fight was going on she had vowed that either of us would die that evening. I went inside and heard that she was lying down and bleeding. My brother made move for her to be taken to the hospital but her mother objected and said she would grind pepper and onions and put in her nose to revive her and when she gets up she would then be taken to the hospital. It was when the pepper and onion therapy had been administered and she didn’t get up that my brother went to the Ilemba Hausa police station, Ajangbadi to report,” Happiness narrated. She then asked: “Why should I deliberately kill her? Even though we had problem before, but we had made up our differences.”Happiness is now in the homicide section of State Investigative Bureau, Muslim Smith, Yaba. She is very sacred of how the whole thing would turn out. She is also afraid of want might become of her aged mother in the village when she hears the news. According to her, she lost her father at an early age.In an emotion laden voice, Pastor Abel, father of the decease, told Saturday Sun that he is still wondering whyHappiness should stab her daughter to death. According to him, Happiness went into the kitchen to take the knife she used to commit the murder and the family wants justice to be properly done. He said both of them had problems but they made up long before the incident. Rhoda died at gate of the hospital she was rushed to. The kitchen knife used for the alleged murder has not been found.
It was A mistake

2012: Jonathan's feeding to cost 1 Billion Naija money, which means the Agege on his table will cost 1 million Naija

The budget also covers provision for the Vice President's household, which will spend N6.2m on cooking gas. The Federal Government has budgeted spend a whooping N992.57 million on food and general catering services for President Goodluck Jonathan and Vice President Namadi Sambo in 2012.

According to a report, out of the N4.749 trillion budget presented by Jonathan to lawmakers last week, N18.34billion was budgeted for the state house and from that, the cost of purchasing food stuffs, catering supplies and kitchen equipment for the president, his vice and their offices, will cost the nation N992.57 million, approximately N1 billion.

Taxpayers will pay approximately N477 million for foodstuffs and “catering materials supplies” for the president's office,as well as an additional N293 million to provide "refreshment and meals" for the president's comfort at his home and office.

Another N45.4 million will also be needed to buy “kitchen equipment” for the president's household, although similar purchases were made last year, the report stated.

Other expenditures include N104 million for the vice president’s office,which will cover foodstuffs with catering and materials supplies, while cooking gas and cooking fuel will consume N6.2 million.

Refreshment allowance for the Vice President was also estimated at N20.8 million, while another N45.4 million, was allocated for purchase of kitchen and household equipment at the state house headquarters.

Reacting to the proposed expenditure, Osita Okechukwu, spokesperson of the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) condemned the budget, calling it "a continuation of the 'food is  ready'  culture".

"These guys don't care about what happens to the common man. For them it is grab, grab, grab. What will they be eating that should cost that amount in a country with high unemployment, poverty and disease?" he asked.

2012: Jonathan's feeding to cost 1 Billion Naija money, which means the Agege on his table will cost 1 million Naija

JIM IYKE IN FRESH FLASHY CARS IMPOSTOR TROUBLE ...

Top actor James Ikechukwu Esemugha popularly known as Jim Iyke seems to be in fresh trouble.

As you read this page,the dark skin sexy dude is no longer sleeping in his mansion at Federal Capital Territory,Abuja.The problem responsible for his escape from home has nothing to do with the alleged N15 million court case.

According to information gathered,he got into fresh trouble over his acclaimed brand new Cameron SS Convertible and Plymouth Prowler Convertible cars worth N16 million. to see more go to http://naijagist-amebonews.blogspot.com/

Baba Suwe with the crowd outside Lagos high court

The scene could have been taken from one of the larger-than-life Nollywood films comedies that made Baba Suwe one of Nigeria's most popular actors. But a judge was deadly serious when she asked the comedian, who had spent three weeks in jail on suspicion of smuggling drugs in his stomach: "So you've been to the toilet how many times?"

Tens of thousands of fans, the national drug enforcement agency and two legal teams have been in thrall to the actor's next release, so to speak. But Suwe's failure produce a single bag of cocaine in any of the 18 or so bowel movements detectives have been closely monitoring has turned into an embarrassment for the agency – and a running joke in the local media.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/04/nigeria-baba-suwe-freed-drug