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Boko Haram activities un-Islamic, devilish - Muslim students

Kaduna – The Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN) on Wednesday, said the activities of the insurgent group, Boko Haram, was un-Islamic and devilish. The President of the group in the North, Malam Yusuf Arrigasiyyu, made the condemnation in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna. He also condemned the recent bombings at Nyanya in Abuja and abduction of over 200 students by the insurgents. “This bombing and killing of innocent souls by the Boko Haram has to stop. “The teaching of boko haram is not Islamic and they don’t represent Islam, they are not Muslims. Islam is a religion of peace.” He expressed the belief that the present security challenges facing the country has some external influences which the government must look into. Arrigasiyyu also said the government should not allow the insurgents to continue operating with impunity, adding that their activities must be checkmated in the interest of the nation. The MSSN president cautioned against politicising the current security challenges, saying that fighting terrorism require collective action. He also called on political leaders in the country to discharge their responsibilities with diligence and the fear of God. Arrigasiyyu advised youth in the country to seek for knowledge so as not to be misled by “selfish and bad religious scholars espousing wrong ideologies”. He expressed optimism that the present security challenges facing the country will soon come to an end

Two factions of APC in Ogun State engaged in a battle of wits for ascendancy.

The outcome of the ensuing battle would be crucial in upholding the integrity of the ruling party in the state. Presently, Chief Isaac Olu Agemo and Chief Roqeeb Adeniji who are both from Ogun West Senatorial district have emerged chairmen of the two factions of the ruling party in the state. BY DAUD OLATUNJI The feud, according to findings is a struggle for absolute control of the party’s machinery in the state. However, the crisis is not peculiar to Ogun State, as it is happening in some other states like Oyo, Ondo among others. Findings have also shown that, while the national lawmakers are gunning for their return tickets, the state governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun on the other hand is desirous of cornering the same tickets for his loyalists. The governor was accused of attempting to scuttle the chances of members of the National Assembly caucus through alleged schemes to foist only his loyalists as members of the Harmonisation Committee set up to make peace in the party. Speaking on the relationship between the governor and federal lawmakers, Senator Adegboyega Kaka who is the leader of the National Assembly caucus , said “ It is an open secret that the relationship is not exactly cordial. But as I said, we disagree to agree. We are moving towards resolution of whatever the disagreement that exists between us”. But the governor’s camp acussed the other faction of working against the party’s guidelines and planing to scuttle the governor’s efforts to reposition the party in the state. It also acussed the other faction of planning to stop Governor Amosun from realising his second term bid in 2015. Speaking on the crisis, Chief Isaac Olu Agemo, a factional chairman of the party loyal to a former governor of the state, Aremo Segun Osoba , said “Nobody should be blamed for the crisis. I don’t believe there is crisis in the party, it is an in-house misunderstanding, it is not crisis per se, but, misunderstanding between A and B. We are saying that let the governor take care of the governance and the party leaders take care of the party, so that you will have a lighter load of what to carry; simple”, he said. Second term election Agemo who described the crisis rocking the party as “an in-house misunderstanding”, said Chief Osoba did not contribute to the crisis rocking the party in the state. Agemo also said that neither the faction nor the national leader was against the second term election of the state governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, urging him not to nurse any fear. He said “I have not seen Chief Osoba playing adverse role, he has been quiet, gentle in his general disposition to what is going on in the party and he believes things would settle.” “Amosun can seek for second term, we are all together, we are in the same party, we can disagree to agree, that is human nature “, he said. Addressing his loyalists during the factional state congress at MKO Abiola stadium, Abeokuta, Senator Amosun, on his part called on members of the party to unite in order to overcome the challenges ahead. Amosun who noted that its month-long congresses have produced no victors, no vanquished , said those who won should be magnanimous in victory while those that lost should take it in their strides. “One thing we should all take away from the conduct of our congresses is that there was no overt or covert attempt to impose candidates or disenfranchise anyone. The exercises were conducted in a peaceful atmosphere and all electors exercised their right of franchise without let or hindrance,” Amosun said. Commenting on the protests that nearly marred the sitting of the Appeal Panel three days before the congress, Amosun said such was not totally unacceptable in politics. “Once people don’t take laws into their own hands, then all is well and good. “I spoke with our party leader, Akinrogun Olusegun Osoba, this morning and we shall continue to work together so that we can face the next elections as a united body,” he said. But , in what could be described as a swift reaction, appeal committee of the All Progressives Congress in the state denied the media reports that it said the congresses held by the faction loyal to the state governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun has complied substantially with the guidelines of the party. The Chairman and Secretary of the appeal committee Hon. Ikra Bilbis and Udochukwu Ezekwe respectively stated this, describing the report as fallacy which they said did not emanate from them. According to them, the chairman, state congress committee, Ope Salami had no authority to disclose the content of the report of the appeal committee which he did not even see. The duo said Salami was a party in the matter and could not have been the best person to represent either the appeal committee or national leadership to disclose the content of the report. Bilbis said “I did not send my report to anybody except the national body that sent me. I did not send the report to Ope Salami .Why didn’t they find out from the headquarters. I was given an assignment it took me two days and I have submitted. I don’t know what the party would do with the report”. Corroborating his chairman, the Secretary said “We have a procedure the way we do things in APC. The committee was given the mandate to look into the complaints of the petitioners, so, we did it, we have finished and submitted , we were very careful . Salami is not a member of the appeal committee. “If Salami said we sent the report to him, is not true, we did not send it to him, Salami has his own committee, he was accused of some things and we asked him to defend himself and he explained his action. How can we give the report to somebody who is part of the matter, it is not done and is not correct”. The way out: Proffering a solution to the political logjam Senator Kaka said “what is happening is normal and I am sure nobody will expect us to fight on aimlessly. If there are disagreements, which I don’t regard as fights, it should mean that justice needs to be done. Once there is readiness to ensure justice is done, there will be peace. Semblance of peace So, if you are seeing peace or semblance of peace, it is because we have promised our people that justice will be enthroned and once it is enthroned, there will be peace”. A chieftain of the party in the state, Mr Wale Okunniyi, called for the intervention by its national leaders to resolve the issue. Okuniyi, a former governorship candidate in the state under the Congress for Progressive Change, one of the legacy parties of the APC while reacting to the crisis rocking the party warned that overlooking the crisis may affect the fortunes of the party in the state. He said “It is a pity that we have found ourselves in this situation, where we have to do with two structures in the state. If nothing is done about it, considering the way some Peoples Democratic Party and Labour Party are ganging up, they will oust APC in 2015. Meanwhile, both sides are now awaiting directives by the national body on the political logjam in the party in the state before they take further steps. It was being rumoured that if the national body upholds the congresses held by the faction loyal to Aremo Osoba, the other faction loyal to Governor Amosun, may dump the party for either Accord Party or Labour Party. While it was also gathered that if the congresses held by the the faction loyal to Amosun are upheld, the other faction may head to court to challenge the decision. The national body needs to make hays while the sun shines before it would be too late to resolve the crisis which is becoming multifaceted and more complex.

President Jonathan Has Accepted US Offer To Help Rescue Abducted Girls

President Goodluck Jonathan today accepted a definite offer of help from the United States of America to locate and rescue the girls abducted from the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok three weeks ago, a presidential statement has said. “The offer from President Barack Obama which was conveyed to President Jonathan by the United States Secretary of State, Mr. John Kerry in a telephone conversation which began at 15.30 Hours today, includes the deployment of U.S. security personnel and assets to work with their Nigerian counterparts in the search and rescue operation.” It added that Mr. Kerry assured President Jonathan of the full commitment of the United States to giving Nigeria the required support and assistance to save the abducted girls and bring the reign of terror unleashed on parts of the country by Boko Haram to an end. Mr. Jonathan told Mr. Kerry that Nigeria’s security agencies would appreciate the deployment of American counter-insurgency know-how and expertise in support of their efforts. The statement further said that following Mr. Jonathan’s conversation with Mr. Kerry, he met with the Chief of Defence Staff, Service Chiefs and heads of national security agencies “in continuation of the national efforts to find and rescue” the girls. Mr. Jonathan received updates on the situation, and gave approval for recommended further actions, the statement said.

Four killed in well trying to retrieve bucket

ONE after another, four men entered a water well and drowned while trying to retrieve a bucket when  the string cut letting the bucket to sink to the bottom of the well. The incident, which happened  along Ogoja Road, Ikom in the Central Senatorial District of Cross River State, attracted  sympathisers  some of them attributing the tragedy to a spiritual force. The first person to enter the well, John Ushie, according to a resident of the compound  who gave her name as Janet, was preparing to go to  work  that morning and wanted to take his bath. Ushie decided to fetch water from the well but the string with which the bucket  he was drawing the water fell inside the well. When the string gave way, he decided to retrieve it by jumping into the well but ended up gulping  water and drowned. His  brother, Boniface, who had  left the house for  his shop at the Ikom Main Market, was alerted on phone what had happened. He rushed down on Okada and  jumped into the well to rescue his brother but also downed in the process. When Boniface could not come out, another neighbor jumped in to try to rescue the two brothers  inside the well. He too drowned. According to Janet, when the landlord of the compound, Eyung Ebam, saw what had happened, he jumped into the well to rescue the drowned men and  he too drowned. “It was at this point that nobody was willing to get into the well and the National Drug Law Enforcement, NDLEA, officials who were mounting a road block close to the house called the Fire Service and they arrived soon ”, the eye witness told Sunday Vanguard. She explained that when the Fire Service men arrived, one of them jumped into the well with a rope with which he tied the landlord who was the last person to drown  in order to pull him out. “He tied the rope around his chest region and gradually his colleagues dragged him out but when he got close to the point they wanted to grab him and pull him out, the rope slipped and he went down again hitting the others inside which may have eventually killed everyone inside,” the neighbour said. The four bodies were pulled out by the Fire Service men and taken to County Hospital, Ikom Four Corners and the victims confirmed dead by Dr. Ukwam, the medical doctor, there. An official of the Cross River State Fire Service,  Ikom, Mt Linus Ework, said he got a distress  call at about 7 am and he and his men rushed to the scene to rescue the victims but “it was unfortunate that it was a little too late as three of them were pulled out dead”.

Adams Oshiomole Apologized and offered the sum of Two Million Naira

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8-Year Old Boy Ask The Police To Burn His Father With A Hot Iron as a Revenge

An eight-year-old boy at Asafo Dadiesoaba in Kumasi, whose right foot was heinously seared by his father, Yussif Wahab, for being rowdy, wants the police to take revenge on his behalf by also roasting his father with a hot iron.The boy, who could not walk properly following the severe wounds that he suffered on his foot after being burnt with a burning iron, has passionately appealed the police to come to his aid by teaching his ‘wicked’ father a bitter lesson.

The poor boy’s right foot developed a sore, making it impossible for him to walk properly. He was spotted by two journalists of Kessben FM on Wednesday who took him to the Emergency Centre of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital where he was admitted.

Yussif said his father, sent him on an errand but he decided to visit his grandmother, against his father’s warning. According to him, his father, after searching for him, later found him at his grandmother’s at Asafo Dadiesoaba. Yussif’s father became angry and dragged the boy to his house.

Yussif said his father, upon reaching the house, subjected him to severe beatings after which he ordered him to sit on the bed where he pressed a hot iron on his foot for disobeying him.

Yussif, who is now being treated by medical personnel at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, insisted that: “I want the police to arrest my father, beat him mercilessly and also press a hot iron against his foot just as he did to me.”

Wahab Yussif, has been invited for questioning. The young boy is also being kept by the department until the matter is finally resolved.

Bomb Shell! An Akwa Ibom MAN carried out the attack on Christians at BUK

Augustine Effiong, 25, an indigene of Akwa Ibom State, who is popularly known as Abubakar Garba said on Monday that he helped carry out deadly attacks on April 29 at church services in the old campus of the Bayero University, Kano (BUK) and admitted belonging to the extremist group, Boko Haram in his confession to police.

Name: Augustine Effiong (25).
State of Origin: Akwa Ibom State (Parents are from same state.
Place of Birth: Maiduguri, Borno State.
Address: Bulunkutu Abuja Quarters in Maiduguri.
Religion: Islam. Changed parents given Name to reflect his Faith.
Spoken Language(s): Kanuri, Hausa and English.
Other City of Residence: Lived in Maiduguri all His life. Relocated to Kano in April, 2012.
Job in Kano: Part of a 20-man killer squad, charged with targeting security officers in Kano.
Case: (1): Attack on Worshippers at BUK, including Killing 2 Professors.
Case: (2): Involved in Other Terror attacked that killed Civilians and Security officers in Maiduguri and Kano.
Case: (3): Attempt Murder at Danlasan Village in Warawa LGA of Kano state.
Present Location: Custody of the State Security service (SSS), Abuja.

The State Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Idris who disclosed this in a press statement made available to reporters said that, Mr Effiong had confessed to be one of those behind the attack on Christian worshipers at BUK.

Mr Effiong, though an indigene of Akwa Ibom was born and brought up at Maiduguri before he later converted to Islam. The police said, “he has been transferred to Abuja for discreet investigations”.

The command said Mr Effiong was arrested over an attempt to murder a civilian at Danlasan Village in Warawa Local Government Area of Kano state.

During the preliminary investigation, the suspect, a resident of Bulunkutu Abuja Quarters in Maiduguri confessed to have relocated to the Kano state last April.

“He confessed to have participated in a series of attacks, killing of policemen and military personnel in the state (Kano), including the recent attack and killings in Bayero University Kano (BUK),” the police said.

Attackers with bombs and guns opened fire at church services at BUK last month and killed about 20 people including two professors as worshippers tried to flee.

“I was involved in the attack at BUK,” he told reporters in Hausa.

He further confessed to being part of a “20-man killer squad” charged with targeting the security services around Kano.

Boko Haram has repeatedly targeted the security services in Kano and has claimed attacks that have killed more than 1,000 people since mid-2009.

“I killed many people, including five soldiers at checkpoints,” in Kano, Mr Effiong said.

SEE WHAT HE DID

The question remains:

- Who are the sponsors of the deadly Boko Haram
- were the bombers payed?
- and what should be done to any arrested Bomber? Jungle Justice? Court? or which other way can you prescribe?

3 bankers, 8 others arrested after failed bank attack

LAGOS— ELEVEN suspected members of a robbery gang were arrested by the Lagos Police Command which foiled their attempt to rob a new generation bank at Gbagada area of the state.

Five of the suspects were said to be staff of the bank. They are being detained at the Special Anti-Robery Squad, Lagos.

Police sources said one of the bank staff, a senior marketing executive, alleged  to be mastermind of the foiled robbery  attempt, connived with two internal securitymen   and two other staff  of the bank to attack the bank  Monday night, after a customer had deposited N120 million.

They were said to have invited a notorious robbery suspect, one Sadiq, who had been on the command’s wanted list.

Sadiq, it was gathered, invited six other members of his gang and planned the Monday’s attack.

During the operation, they reportedly posed as customers and stormed the bank. They were arrested by plain-cloth policemen, who, acting  on tip-off, had condoned off the entire bank premises. The suspects, during interrogation, mentioned the bank staff as their accomplices.

Preliminary investigation, according to sources at SARS,  showed that the suspects bought their arms from Lagos and Benin City, Edo State and gave them to one of the bank staff, who concealed then in some Central Processing Unit, CPU, in the bank, to avoid the metal detective machine at the entrance of the bank from giving them away.

The marketing executive, according to the confessional statement of the robbers, allegedly gave them money to procure the weapons.

According to the command boss, Mr. Umar Manko, “We have arrested 11 of the suspects including five staff of the bank. We are still investigating the matter. We shall prosecute them as soon as investigation is concluded.”

Ogun traffic officers kill Okada rider for driving on uncommissioned road

Tragedy struck, yesterday, after 15  officials of Ogun state Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps, TRACE,  in Abeokuta, beat a man identified as Samuel Adoke,  to death for driving on a road that is yet to be commissioned.

An eye-witness  told  Vanguard that  the incident  occurred about 9a.m. at  Oke-Sokori  when  the TRACE  officials  flagged down Adoke who was ridding  an Okada on the yet to be commissioned six-lane  road,  but he allegedly ignored them.

Vanguard  gathered  that the officials,  in annoyance,  pursued the man, who reportedly  maintained his ground  that there was no other route through which he could access his house except passing through the road which had been barricaded.

The source added that the  officials  claimed  the man  ignored  the road diversion signs placed  on the six-lane road  expected to be commissioned by Governor Ibikunle Amosun on Monday.

The TRACE officials were also said to have  immediately fled the area after the death of  Adoke,a father of two and an employee of a new generation bank in Abeokuta.

Leader of the TRACE’s team that allegedly committed the crime was  identified as Gabriel Odunlami while the squad was identified as Ranger squad.

One of the TRACE officials who allegedly killed the man was, however, apprehended by the police and was said to have been remanded at the Ibara Police Divisional headquarters in Abeokuta.

The state Police Public Relations Officer,  Muyiwa Adejobi, confirmed the incident after efforts to get the Corps Commandant of TRACE ,Ayo Sangofadeji, to comment failed.

Adejobi, however, stressed that Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Okoye Ikhemefuna had ordered full investigation into the matter.

Profile of Nigeria's Boko Haram Leader Abubakar Shekau-BBC

Abubakar Shekau is the leader of the militant Islamist group Boko Haram, which has carried out a series of deadly attacks across northern Nigeria. Abdullahi Tasiu Abubakar from the BBC Hausa service looks at Nigeria's most wanted man.

The leader of the militant Islamist group Boko Haram is said to be a fearless loner, a complex, paradoxical man - part intellectual, part gangster.

Fondly called imam or leader by his followers, Abubakar Muhammad Shekau was born in Shekau village in Nigeria's north-eastern state of Yobe.

Some say he is 34 or 35, others that he may be 43 - the uncertainty adds to the myths surrounding Nigeria's most wanted man.

Radical theology student. Mr Shekau was once thought to have been killed by security forces in 2009 - only for him to reappear in videos posted on the internet less than a year later as Boko Haram's new leader.

The group's founder, Muhammad Yusuf died in police custody, and hundreds of others were killed during that massive crackdown - which many blame for making the group even more violent.

Mr Shekau has not been seen in public since.

Instead, still images and video clips of him are released from time to time, mostly online, by the group's faceless "public enlightenment department".

Mr Shekau is said to have met his predecessor in Maiduguri, capital of Borno State and now Boko Haram's headquarters, through a mutual friend, Mamman Nur.

Nigeria's authorities say Mr Nur masterminded the August 2011 bombing of the UN office complex in Nigeria's capital, Abuja.

All three were theology students - and Mr Shekau was seen as the quietest and perhaps the most radical of them.

"He hardly talks, he is fearless," says Ahmed Salkida, a journalist with such good access to Boko Haram that, at one stage, he was suspected of being a member.

A screengrab taken from a video released on You Tube on April 12, 2012 apparently shows Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau (C) sitting flanked by militants Under Mr Shekau, Boko Haram has become more radical and carried out more killings.

He says he only escaped summary execution by Maiduguri police after an intelligence officer intervened.

"He is one of those who believes that you can sacrifice anything for your belief," Mr Salkida says.

Mr Shekau is fluent in his native Kanuri, Hausa and Arabic languages - he does not speak English.

"I used to joke with him that he should teach me Arabic and I would teach him English," Mr Salkida says.

When Yusuf was killed, Mr Shekau is said to have married one of his four wives and adopted their children - perhaps, say sources who do not want to be named, to preserve Boko Haram's cohesion or "purity".
'Chilling message'.

The group has a highly decentralised structure - the unifying force is ideology.

Mr Shekau does not communicate directly with the group's foot soldiers - he is said to wield his power through a few select cell leaders, but even then contact is minimal.

"A lot of those calling themselves leaders in the group do not even have contact with him," Mr Salkida says.

Mr. Shekau has neither the charismatic streak nor the oratorical skills of his predecessor - but he has an intense ideological commitment and ruthlessness, say people who study the group.

"He is the leader of the more militant wing of the group as testified by his aping of Osama Bin Laden in his video appearances," says Abubakar Mu'azu from the University of Maiduguri.

Mr Shekau issued a chilling message in one of those appearances - which provides an major insight into what his leadership of the group will bring.

"I enjoy killing anyone that God commands me to kill - the way I enjoy killing chickens and rams," he said in the video clip released just after Boko Haram had carried out its deadliest attack so far, killing at least 180 people in Kano, northern Nigeria's largest city.

Mr Shekau is also the group's spiritual leader - and, judging by video footage, he seems equally comfortable delivering sermons to his followers.

"He has a photographic memory and is well versed in theology," Mr Salkida said.

He is nicknamed "Darul Tawheed", which translates as a specialist in Tawheed. This is an orthodox doctrine of the uniqueness and oneness of Allah, which is the very cornerstone of Islam.

But Nigeria's mainstream Muslim clerics do not regard Mr Shekau as a scholar and question his understanding of Islam - and regularly condemn the bombings and drive-by shootings committed by his followers against anyone who disagrees with them.

AN UNCLE JAILED FOR RAPING HIV+ ORPHANED NIECE

Wilson Chingosho, 54, has been jailed for 18 years for a sickening sex attack on his orphaned 13-year-old niece.
Chingosho, of Mabvuku in Harare, will spend an effective 14 years behind bars after Harare magistrate, Sandra Mpindu, set aside part of the sentence on Monday.
Said the magistrate: “The complainant trusted you as an uncle, but you misused that trust and abused a child who is also an orphan.”

The court heard that the victim was also HIV positive after contracting the disease from her mother at birth.
Mpindu said the court needed to make a strong statement with a deterrent sentence as cases of abuse of vulnerable minors by relatives supposed to be caring for them were on the increase.
Tinashe Kanyemba, prosecuting, said the assault occurred sometime last year after Chingosho went into the spare bedroom used by the teenager and her sister.
Chingosho found the two girls sitting on the bed and got rid of the other sister by telling her to go and buy bread at the shops.

While she was gone, Chingosho returned to the room where he found the 13-year-old sleeping. He dropped his trousers to his ankles, lifted the blankets raped his niece once.
He then threatened her with physical harm if she told anyone about the abuse.

Kanyemba told the court the girl had started bleeding shortly after the attack and went outside the house where a neighbour saw her crying but was apparently too drunk to do anything about it.
The rape was only discovered on April 11 this year when the girl told staff at a Harare clinic about the abuse. Police were called.

Suspected Suicide Bomber Caught At The Radio House In Abuja

Police said they caught a suspected terrorist at the proposed venue of a ministerial conference yesterday.

The person whose identity remains unknown reportedly came to the Radio House with high grade explosives and rounds of ammunition.

The Radio House was to play host to three federal ministers who were scheduled to present their achievements in office in preparation for the annual May 29th "Democracy Day" ritual.

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In what may best be described as a wild goose chase the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Witchcraft Accusations and Child Abuses raised by the Akwa Ibom State government, has jetted into the clouds, shifting its operational base from Uyo, the state capital, to London.

Exactly what impact the trip will make to the issue of child witch stigmatization that is supposedly being investigated by the panel is unclear.

SaharaReporters gathered that the panel, which was established by Governor Akpabio recently to intervene and save children accused of witchcraft may also implement one of his famous threats to ‘deal with’ child the rights activists who drew the attention of the world to the state’s gory details of child torture, killings and abuses practiced. Our source said the panel obtained Akpabio’s approval for the trip, which has no conceivable benefit to the vulnerable children the commission is supposed to serve.

Although the cost of the foreign foray by the commission could not immediately be ascertained, a conservative estimate of $100,000, before estacodes, was given by a source in Akpabio’s cabinet. The source further told SaharaReporters that the Commission is being rewarded with the trip in exchange for doing the governor’s bidding.

The Commission will spend one week in London, ostensibly to listen to the testimony of a United Kingdom based charity organisation, Stepping Stones Nigeria (SSN), which has been accused by Akwa Ibom government of exaggerating the child witch syndrome in Akwa Ibom, as well as fraud.

It would be recalled that Akpabio ordered the arrest of the officials of SSN and Child Rights and Rehabilitation Network in September 2010 during a radio phone-in programme. Reacting to a news report by Cable News Network (CNN), he accused the NGO of exaggerating the child witch syndrome in the state for monetary gain. Akpabio reportedly promised that “Heads will roll” even before the panel was contemplated.

Observers see the London trip as a waste of the public funds that would have been better channeled into the welfare of the some 178 children in the ‘shelter’ of the government, a fact that was previously unknown to the public. In comparison, 1,500 abandoned children are in the care of privately run orphanages within the state, which means that the state spends the available funds only on the few children in its secret shelter.

Only recently, the commission uncovered embarrassing details when it visited the Special Children’s centre on IBB way in Uyo, finding the children in deplorable conditions. The children showed obvious signs of being malnourished, and the members of the panel were forced by the offensive odour emanating from the centre to leave the premises.

The judicial panel has received testimonies from more than 60 witnesses summoned to appear before it including children, parents, community leaders, United Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF), churches, government officials and NGOs. Its report is being anxiously awaited by stakeholders and child rights advocate within and outside the country.