My Friend Sold Me To Ritualists For N150,000

Hearing the story of kidnapped people for ritual purposes or for a ransom is disturbing and many just thank God it isn’t them and pray against it. The truth however is that with dangerous elements that carry out these dastardly acts roaming freely amongst us, everyone is at risk. Here is the story of a young man, Timothy Lawani, 25, a trader at Suleja roundabout area, who was kidnapped for ritual purpose but survived the ordeal. Lawani, in an interview with LEADERSHIP Weekend, said it was God that saved him after he was kidnapped, tied up and was to be sacrificed in Kano. The incident happened at about 4am on January 14, 2015. Lawani went outside his family house at Old Barracks, Suleja to ease himself, when suddenly he heard someone call his name. Walking towards a red Volkswagen Golf parked behind his house, he was surprised to see an old friend, Friday, comfortably seated in the car beckoning on him with two hefty men. Narrating his story, Lawani said, “In my confused state, I greeted them. One of them held me and the other sprayed a powder on my face. That was the last thing I could remember. I later saw myself in a very large hall with other young men who were tied up. The kidnappers kept bringing other people to join us. Sometimes, they even offered us food to eat which we all refused. They then said, whether we ate or not, we would die after all. “After two days, we were made to put on white apparels and join a queue. I noticed that anyone who goes out never comes back; I was so scared. When it was my turn, I went outside, saw a large pool of water like swimming pool and a man standing by the side chanting incantations. He later ordered the guards to take me inside that they were not in need of someone like me.” Continuing, Lawani said, “In my presence, the man called on Friday who came about 40 minutes later. After telling him that I was not acceptable for their rituals, Friday started flogging me mercilessly. He then ordered the men to take me out, but not before the ritualist got angry, and ordered the hefty men to bring Friday for sacrifice in my place. I heard him beg them to give him just 30 minutes to enable him bring another person, but the man said there was no time. “With Friday’s hands and legs tied, the man began chanting incantations again. This time, I saw crocodiles coming out of the water. Friday was then thrown inside, the reptiles feasted on him. I was not myself because of the sight of blood and how such large reptiles ate up a whole human being. The man later ordered the men to throw me out, that I was useless to them. They sprayed a powder on my face again and I became unconscious.’’ On how he got back to his senses, Lawani recalled that he was sheltered by a Hausa man who saw him wandering in Gomoja area of Kano State. After prayers were offered for him for about three days, he regained consciousness but could not speak. It was then he wrote down his father’s phone number which he easily remembered and with which they used to reach his family, that had been searching frantically for him. LEADERSHIP Weekend later learnt from his elder brother, Theophilus Lawani, that his friend sold him to the kidnappers for N150,000. Theophilus further revealed that before the Hausa man called them from Kano, Lawani’s friend sent them several messages, telling them to forgive him for selling his friend. “Even before we got the text from Friday, we reported the case at A division Police Station in Suleja, but the Policemen demanded the sum of N70,000 in order to start investigation. Since we do not have such amount, we resorted to prayers, and God answered us. We have decided to take my brother for further prayers in Kaduna,” Theophilus stated. All efforts by LEADERSHIP Weekend to speak with the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of A Division was futile as it was referred to the Public Relations Officer (PRO) at the headquarters in Minna. Meanwhile, a Police officer who pleaded anonymity, said there have been several incidents of kidnapping within and outside the state, but the police have tried to curtail the rate by investigating and arresting suspects. Giving tips on how people could prevent themselves from being kidnapped, he said, “People need to be wary anywhere they are. An isolated target is easier to pick up. It is better for people to be strengthened by being in groups. Hostage takers would have to work harder to kidnap members of a group than to kidnap an individual. People should also try to promptly report any kidnap case around them to the nearest police station.” According to a security expert, Bashir Wole, people should be very cautious whenever they come in contact with any stranger. “People ought to become more alert and discerning to protect themselves from being kidnapped. Government also needs to do more in terms of detecting, arresting and punishing kidnappers, such that the severity of the punishment would deter others from engaging in such. “There must be enforcement and punishment that can deter people from going into kidnapping. If people are punished, maybe by capital punishment, others would conclude that it is not worth it. The criminal justice system must work. The reason kidnapping is lucrative in Nigeria is impunity; people think they can do it and get away with the crime. The fear of the grievous punishment should be such that will keep people from further committing the crime.” The general public is advised to heed to advice from security experts and the Police by being alert and security conscious to avoid timothy’s experience. We should all learn to be security conscious wherever we goes. http://leadership.ng/features/444649/my-friend-sold-me-to-ritualists-for-n150000-victim

Soft Drinks Kill 184,000 Adults Every Year - Study

The dangers of fizzy, sugary drinks have once again been highlighted as scientists have said they kill 184,000 adults every year. It further said those under 45 consume more artificially sweetened drinks and are more at risk of diabetes and obesity. The worldwide study is the first to estimate deaths and disability from diabetes, heart disease, and cancers caused by the drinks. It added that 133,000 deaths from diabetes, 45,000 deaths from cardiovascular disease and 6,450 deaths from cancer were caused by fizzy drinks, fruit drinks, energy drinks and sweetened ice teas in 2010. The study did not include pure fruit juices and all drinks had at least 50 kcal per eight US ounces (0.23 litres) serving or just over two thirds of a standard pop can. According to Dr Dariush Mozaffarian, Dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University in Boston said "many countries in the world have a significant number of deaths occurring from a single dietary factor, sugar-sweetened beverages" She therefore said it should be a global priority to substantially reduce or eliminate sugar-sweetened beverages from the diet as there are no health benefits from them. The study based its estimates of consumption from 62 dietary surveys including 611,971 individuals conducted between 1980 and 2010 across 51 countries, along with data on national availability of sugar in 187 countries and other information. Based on meta-analyses of other published evidence on health harms of sugar-sweetened beverages, it calculated the direct impact on diabetes and the obesity-related effects on cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer. It found sugar drinks caused more deaths in Mexico with 405 deaths per million adults equal to 24,000 total deaths followed by the US with an estimated 125 deaths per million adults or 25,000 total deaths. Japan also came in with the estimated percentage of deaths less than 1% of over 65 years old, but 30% in Mexican adults under 45. Three quarters of all deaths are linked to developing countries. Younger adults were however more at risk of chronic illnesses than older people. The study which was published in the journal, Circulation, raised concern on the health impact of sugar-sweetened beverage intake on the young as younger adults form a large sector of the workforce in many countries. http://www.metroparrot.net/2015/07/soft-drinks-kill-184000-adults-every.html

Dead Man Withdraws N4.3M From Union Bank In Kaduna

Wonders, they say, shall nev­er end. Or, how else does one describe a situation where a young medical doctor who died in a motor accident on the way to his wedding on October 10, 2013 withdrew about N4.3m from his own account in Union Bank in Kaduna few weeks after his death? Information from the bank indicated that the dead man used the ATM card to make the withdrawals. New twist A new twist emerged when the dead man applied for an ATM card from his bank and used it to clear his account. A family source said: “When Chidiebere died, we discovered that his mobile telephone num­ber had been blocked. We were surprised because no member of our family told the GSM service provider that Chidiebere had died. So, we took up the matter and it took some time before the line was reactivated. “We got the shock of our lives after re­activating the line. As soon as we switched on the phone, we began to receive alerts of withdrawals from his account. All the withdrawals were made after he had died and had been buried. During his life time, he did not use ATM cards but in death, he applied for ATM card from the bank in Kaduna and started withdrawing all the money in his account. Worse still, Chidie­bere was not the owner of all the money in the account. One of his brothers who went abroad in search of greener pastures was sending money to Chidiebere to keep for him. Now, the brother is back and Chidie­bere’s corpse had withdrawn all the money as the bank wants us to believe.” It was learnt that the family has con­tacted the bank on the strange withdrawals but it has been prevaricating over the issue. Saturday Sun had, on November 16, 2013, published the pathetic story of Dr Chidiebere Emmanuel Nwanja, who died on the way to Okposi in Ohaozara Local Government Area of Ebonyi State to con­tract marriage with his sweet heart, Miss Celina Uzor. According to the report “Their tradi­tional marriage rite otherwise called Ig­bankwu was fixed for Monday, October 14, 2013 while the white wedding was billed for Tuesday, October 15 at the Pres­byterian Church, Okposi Okwu. “On October 10, Chidiebere left Kadu­na where he was practising for his home­town for the marriage ceremony. He was in company with his younger brother, Kel­echi Nwanja and Mr Ifeanyi, an indigene of Onicha Igboeze, who was supposed to play the role of best man. While they jour­neyed, the bride and groom kept in touch via telephone. In fact, Celina and about seven of her friends, the asebi girls, were already in town putting finishing touches to the arrangement. “The journey was smooth until they got to Udi in Enugu. There, the unexpected happened. They had a fatal accident in which the groom and his best man died on the spot. Only Kelechi survived but he sus­tained serious injuries. “Narrating the tragedy that befell the family, Chidiebere’s elder brother, Mr Ndubuisi Nwanja, in an emotion laden voice, said: ‘When I got the information that my brother was involved in an acci­dent, I rushed to the place but before I got there, the police had already been there. They took Kelechi to Annunciation Hos­pital, a Catholic hospital, in Emene, Enugu and deposited the corpses of Chidiebere and Ifeanyi at a mortuary in Udi because the accident happened in Udi, at the bypass before Four – Corner. The following day we went to the hospital to see the corpses.’ “He added that the family committed the resources already earmarked for the marriage to the burial of the young medi­cal doctor. ‘The family met and decided to bury him immediately; we did not want to keep the corpse in the mortuary. So, we went to the mortuary, took the corpse and buried. The wake keep held on October 14 while the burial took place on October 15. His traditional marriage was supposed to hold on October 14 while the church wed­ding would take place on October 15, the day he was eventually buried. We decided to use the things he bought for the tradi­tional marriage and Church wedding for his burial. He had already bought drinks and hired chairs, tables, canopies and mu­sical groups and we decided to use these things he had paid for to bury him.’ The report disclosed that the tale as­sumed a new dimension on October 18 when the family went to the accident site to retrieve the car or what was left of it and personal effects. A family source said in the report: ‘We tried to bring the car out of the place it fell into but we could not. So, we decided to axe the car into pieces there. While we were at it, a commercial bus driver from Udi who operates between Enugu and Port Harcourt saw us and parked his ve­hicle. He asked us if we were the relation of the doctor and we told him everything. He said that he was the person that helped the police to bring the doctor out of the car but, unfortunately, he was already dead. He said that he was the one that removed his clothes and while removing the clothes he saw a huge sum of money that he was coming back with and he handed every­thing over to the police. But the police did not even make mention of the money, let alone release it to us. They only gave us the luggage he was coming back with. They didn’t tell us that there was any mon­ey involved.’ The report added that the family had gone to the police station at Udi with a view to recovering the money to no avail, as policemen there claimed to be unaware of the money.

Most Of Nigeria Problem Starts With Letter "P" See Below

Have you noticed that most of Nigeria’s problems begin with the letter ‘P’…? Police PHCN Politics Potholes Pension Thieves Power failure Pipeline vandals Petroleum Subsidy scam Prostitutes Pirates Propaganda Palaver President Power Supply P…………? Fill in the gap and add yours

APC crisis: Osinbajo, Tinubu, Akande boycott NEC meeting

The end of the crisis rocking the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, may still not be in sight as former governor of Lagos state and a national leader of the party, Bola Tinubu stayed away from the National Executive Committee, NEC at the party’s national headquarters in Abuja. Also conspicuously meeting was the former interim national chairman of the party, Chief Bisi Akande. Though it was speculated before now whether Tinubu is a member of the NEC, but other party leaders like Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, Dr Niyi Adebayo, and Dr Chris Ngige were all admitted into the meeting, which lays to rest whether Tinubu should be in the meeting. Akande being a former national chairman of the party, is automatically a member of NEC. The Vice President also stayed away from the meeting though, the national chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun recognised his contributions to the success of the party. - See more at: http://nigerianpilot.com/apc-crisis-osinbajo-tinubu-akande-boycott-nec-meeting/#sthash.YwO2z02G.dpuf

EX-GOV ARRESTED IN LONDON FOR WIFE BEATING

Immediate past governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam, was recently arrested by the Metropolitan Police in Britain and charged with battery after he allegedly beat up his wife, Yemisi in their luxury London home. The governor was however quick to deny on social media that he was at peace with his wife as no such incident occurred. But according to reports, the Metropolitan Police Domestic Violence Office booked Governor Suswam into its London detention center for several hours last week and a judge set a £5,000 bail bound for him before he was released. Police arrested the embattled Governor Suswam in his luxury London home after they received a distress 999 call from his wife Yemisi, the former first lady of Benue State. Mrs Suswam was said to have told a dispatcher over the phone that she feared for her life after being physically assaulted by her husband over a heated argument relating to Suswam’s mistress (names withheld.) One family source told the police that Suswam hit Yemisi severally and inflicted injuries on her. Apparently, Mrs. Suswam was unhappy with mistress’s alleged increasing influence on her husband and matters eventually came to a head. Battery is an offence in the UK under the Persons Act of 1861 and Suswam faces a prison term not exceeding six months if found guilty. One close family source revealed that the British Police are prevailing on Mrs Suswam to press charges against her husband who is in the habit of abusing her regularly. If Mrs. Suswam decides to press criminal charges against her husband, the former governor risks going to jail under the UK Criminal Justice Act of 1988. However, in a swift reaction via his official Facebook account, the former governor called on the general public to disregard the rumour, saying that there’s no iota of truth in the story. “Dear friends, my attention has been drawn to news making rounds on social media that I was arrested in London last week. That report is full of mischief and aimed at slandering me and my dear wife. Disregard any news about a squabble between me and my dear wife. We’re fine, enjoy your day. Thank you. GTS,” he wrote. - See more at: http://nigerianpilot.com/ex-gov-arrested-in-london-for-wife-beating/#sthash.ola40Zgh.dpuf

15 Mistakes You Shouldn't Make On The First Date

I know some people dont respect the dating world. They believe it's a waste of time and currency and girls dont deserve it. I mean why should I waste my money on lunch (I might offer to pay you never can tell) if I can use that to get a quickie at the corner of every club. My brother, you cant continue living like this cause nothing good comes from the corner of every club. Well, this article is for you decent gentlemen. Im here to help you out, make it easy a little for you. Im not promising you anything superb at the end but to save you from getting red wine all over your outfit or having a nagging frowning lady opposite you, these are fifteen first date mistakes you dont wanna make; 1. Do not bring your friend without her consent. You dont know how rude it looks when she walks up to the car and realises she has to move to the back seat. Worse of all she didnt know...Sigh** well it's wrong if common sense doesn't tell you it is. 2.Dont waste her time. Dont stand her up. If it isn't okay for you give a time that is. 'How about we make it by 4' not that you'll be all okay and then waste her time. Dont stand her up 3.Dont go all dirty and talk vulgar. I mean dude im eating. But seriously no dirty talk if she didnt initiate it. Dont start asking questions about her favorite position or asking her to demonstrate how she gives a head...Bro, really 4. Dont hold a pity party and talk about all your exes. We really don't wanna date an attachment Barbie who cries at love films. Besides we really dont care 5. It is not okay to chill at your place after. Take her home don't ask. 6. Your football club is playing and you decide to have the date. Then you cant keep your phone away and you are glued to goals.com or your eyes is on the tv screen. You're even talking about the match and the whole date is about the silly football. My point? Dont have it when your club is playing 7. Dont order for her. Or try to be impulsive. Dont try to make her have more drinks or more food. Let her have what's okay for her 8. Dont talk about your marriage plans, how many kids you wanna have. I mean it's nice to know you think of getting there but no. Dont talk about it today. Not the first time we are going out 9.If she says I dont want to talk about it, dont push. Don't go all come on, dont make it a big deal, didn't I just tell you about my own, dont try to play therapist. She doesn't wanna talk about it. 10. Do you have a car, are you using the commercial means of transportation, are you letting cab? let her know how your movement is gonna be. We might just decide it's convenient for us to meet you there instead 11. Dont talk too much. Talk, make jokes but not dry jokes and please dont be a chatterbox. You'd probably lie because you are talking too much or make yourself look like a complete . Dont chatter away. 12. Go for what's convenient for you. If you are not used to a fork and knife, finger foods are also available. Dont make a mess of yourself, please. 13. Reduce the volume of your phone, keep it in your pocket and concentrate on her. It goes a long way 14. Do not try checking other girls out. You may not know but its rude to have a beautiful lady opposite you and still look onwards when a girl passes or worst of all turn your head. Really.....seriously..... 15. Compliment her, tell her what a nice time you had. If you have her smiling. I think you were pretty impressive. Compiled by nneka