India gang-rape: Victims' relative calls for public hanging of attackers

 Mourners sat on mud floors at a village in India where two teen girls were gang-raped and then found hanging from a mango tree. They wailed and talked of fears of more attacks.

The assault on the cousins, ages 14 and 16, sparked outrage in the community in Uttar Pradesh state.

Villagers streamed into the homes of the girls' relatives, weeping behind their customary veils. The mother of one of the girls said her daughter wanted to become a doctor to escape grinding poverty.

The attackers, she said, deserved the same fate that befell her daughter.

"Hang them in public," she said.

CNN cannot identify the relatives or victims under Indian law.

In the northern village where the attack occurred, crowds surrounded the girls for hours after their bodies were found Wednesday. They accused authorities of siding with the suspects and blocked them from taking the girls down from their nooses unless arrests are made.

Authorities arrested five men -- three brothers and two police officers -- who are facing rape and murder charges, said R.K.S. Rathore, a senior police officer.

In addition, the officers face charges of conspiracy in the crime and negligence of duty after villagers accused them of failing to respond when they first pinpointed the suspects.

An autopsy confirmed that the girls had been raped and strangled, according to authorities. They were cremated the same day the bodies were found, in line with Hindu customs, said Mukesh Saxena, a local police official.

"We are scared," said Renu Devi, a woman in the village where the attack occurred.

"If this could happen to them, it could happen to us also."

Police under scrutiny

Devi has reason to fear. The girls were out in the orchard relieving themselves Tuesday night when the attackers grabbed them, authorities said.

Toilets are rare in the village, forcing women to wander away into fields in the dead of night.

"There's no toilet. Where can the girls go?" shouted Jamuni Devi, another woman from the village. "No one has done anything for sanitation."

Indians have more access to mobile phones than to toilets, according to a United Nations report four years ago.

"India has some 545 million cell phones, enough to serve about 45% of the population," according to the U.N.

But it also has the highest number of people in the world -- an estimated 620 million -- who defecate in the open, according to UNICEF.

The lack of indoor plumbing leaves women in rural areas vulnerable to frequent rapes and beatings.

"It is a tragic irony to think that in India, a country now wealthy enough that roughly half of the people own phones, about half cannot afford the basic necessity and dignity of a toilet," said Zafar Adeel, who chairs the organization U.N.-Water.

FG not serous in ending Boko Haram insurgency – Shehu Sani

Barely 24 hours after President Goodluck Jonathan declared measures to crush insurgency in the country, civil rights activist Shehu Sani, has described the steps outlined by the Federal Government as contradictory and incapable of bringing the insurgents to the negotiation table.

Sani, who is the president of the Civil Rights Congress, had been involved in two previous attempts to broker peace between the government and the insurgents, said the Federal Government had never been serious in finding a lasting solution to the rising wave of terrorism in the north.

The reason, according to him, is that the Federal Government does not want to negotiate with the sect so as not to be seen to be weak and surrendering to insurgents. He told Saturday Vanguard yesterday that “it was the insincerity of the Federal Government to accept and implement the conditions

Shehu Sani

previously given by the sect that had given rise to the attacks being launched by the group, saying that if the government had accepted the agreement brokered by former President Obasanjo and himself with the sect members in Maiduguri, the problem of insurgency would not have escalated to its present deadly form.“

He disclosed that the suggestions made by his committee and headed by Ahmed Datti on how to end insurgency based on their interactions with members of the sect, were inexplicably jettisoned by the Presidency, which at the time boasted that it was on top of the situation and was determined to crush the sect.

Sani also said the Chibok girls would also have been freed two weeks ago but  for the last minute cancellation of negotiations by President Jonathan that the discussion should be discontinued with a negotiator, whom he introduced to the government.

The activist, who said he was however still willing to lead the way in further negotiations with the sect, however expressed doubts about the willingness of the members of the sect to come out and accept amnesty given the many roadblocks already erected by the government against them.

He pointed out that with a price tag on the head of the Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau from the Nigerian Government the United States, the declaration of a state of emergency in most of the states where the sect members are and the deployment of troops to go after them, it was impossible for the members to come out and discuss with anybody.

On how to free the Chibok girls, Sani asked the Federal Government to call a security conference of Northern Islamic clerics, who can hold talks with the Boko Haram leadership and guaranty the release of the girls in exchange for detained Boko Haram members.“

“The Muslim clerics should be brought into that kind of conference and the President should give them a waiver to reach out to the Boko Haram group and work out the possibility of getting these girls back. “In return, the President should take an inventory of all persons, who have been in detention on suspicion of aiding abetting or participating in this insurgency.

He should divide the insurgents into three groups-the high chiefs, the foot soldiers and their family members. “People who have been kept in detention should be exchanged for these Chibok girls. He should hand over these people to these Islamic clerics who would then meet the Boko Haram and collect the girls back,” Sani added.

Ex-Oyo governor, Ladoja, loses son in auto crash

A former Governor of Oyo State, Rasheed Ladoja, on Thursday lost one of his sons in an auto crash on the Eko Bridge in Lagos.

The deceased, identified as Adebola Ladoja, was driving a Golf saloon car, marked, AKD 107 CJ, and was said to be on his way to Lagos Island when a Daf truck, with number plate, JJJ 59 XA, driven by one Justice Oseghai, rammed into his car on the Eko Bridge.


An eyewitness said the driver of the Daf truck, who was on top speed, lost control of his vehicle, rammed into the median of the bridge, before he eventually crashed into the deceased’s car.

He said, “It took several hours before the victim could be rescued from the wreckage of the vehicle. He was trapped behind the wheels with blood gushing out of his head.”

The Lagos State Police spokesperson, Ngozi Braide, who confirmed the incident, added that it occurred at about 3.30pm.

She said, “At about 3.30pm on the Eko Bridge, Lagos Island, a Daf truck with number plate, JJJ 59 XA, driven by one Justice Oseghai, ran into a Volkswagen Golf saloon car, marked, AKD 107 CJ, driven by one Adebola Ladoja, the son of a former governor of Oyo State, Senator Rasheed Ladoja.

“The victim died on the spot. The corpse has been removed to the Lagos Island General Hospital mortuary for autopsy while the truck driver has been arrested.”

Some friends of Adebola took to Facebook to mourn the deceased

One of them, Kiri Phoenix Gray, wrote, “Omg I’m in such shock to find out my friend Dee CaKe Ladoja is no longer with us. I’ll never forget what such an amazing friend you were to me Dee and the only person I had when I first moved to London. I’ll miss you so much and I regret all the times we said we needed to catch up recently and didn’t. It was only a couple of weeks ago since we spoke and I won’t forget that conversation.

Another friend, Folarin Amosu, wrote, “Adebola Ladoja, my aburo, my good friend and ex colleague, Just heard the sad news about your accident that led to death. Why bro??? Still saw you two weeks ago when you visited me, we had a lovely time laughing and sharing business ideas.

‘‘You are the true legend Debola. Personally you will always be in my heart and I will always miss you.”

First pic of Sudanese woman sentenced to death and the baby she delivered in prison

This is the first picture of Sudanese woman Meriam Ibrahim, who was sentenced to death for apostasy, from inside the prison where she's being held. In this pic, Meriam carries her new born baby girl Maya, who was born this week in prison. Her legs were reportedly chained as she gave birth in prison. the 27 year old has been in prison for eight months now and is awaiting execution for doing nothing but marrying a Christian man. Right is Meriam's husband, Daniel Wani, with the new baby.

Despite just given birth, it's being reported that Meriam will be given the 100 lashes that are part of her sentence in 2weeks' time unless she wins her appeal. Meriam has refused to renounce Christianity andSudanese authorities are bent on the barbaric punishment despite mounting international outrage.

Daniel with the couple's son

Children raped, forced to eat faeces in Indian school - police

The owner and manager of a children's boarding school in Maharashtra have been arrested after five minors said they were raped, forced to watch pornographic films and act them out with one another, police and charity workers said.
The children were made to eat faeces as a punishment if they did not comply.

The 52-year-old owner of the Chandraprabha Charitable Trust and his 30-year-old female manager were arrested on Monday after a police raid on the school in Karjat city. Continue...



"We received a police complaint from the Childline charity saying that one child had gone home for the holidays and confessed to his mother that abuses were happening," Karjat's Police Inspector R.R. Patil told the Thomson Reuters Foundation late on Thursday.

"Five children in total have now come forward and we have booked the two suspects under various offences," he said, adding that these included unnatural sex (sodomy), wrongful confinement and sexual assault.

The school accommodated 28 underprivileged children, aged between 4 and 14, for 10 months of the year, said Patil, but most were on holiday at home at the time of the raid.

Police were trying to find out whether other children were abused and if there were any other suspects.

Anuradha Sahasrabudhe of Childline, a charity supported by the government, said the children had spoken about all kinds of sexual and physical abuse.

"It's a horrific case. The children have been telling us about the sexual abuse going on there. There has been oral sex, there has been forced sex... These things have been photographed," Saharasabudhe told the NDTV news channel.

"Children have been punished by making them eat dog excreta and when they vomited, they were made to eat vomit," she added.

Police say the residential school had been running since 2002, but was not registered and had therefore escaped government inspections by child welfare officials.

Source: Reuters 

Ex-Lagos Governor, Sir Michael Otedola, Laid To Rest

Former Lagos state governor & father of billionaire businessman Femi Otedola, Sir Michael Otedola, who died May 6th, was buried today May 30th. His funeral mass held at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Epe.

Guests included President Jonathan and his wife Patience Jonathan, Governor Babatunde Fashola and his wife Bimbola; Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Adeyemi Ikuforiji; former President Olusegun Obasanjo; Mallam Nuhu Ribadu; Aliko Dangote; Folorunsho Alakija; Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie; former governor Peter Obi; Abike Dabiri, former military Administrator of Lagos, Olagunsoye Oyinlola; Ministers for Culture and Tourism, Edem Duke and Agriculture, Dr. Akinwunmi Ayo Adesina.

Kogi Governor sacks education officials for stealing teachers’ salaries

The governor says the sacked officiasl refused to pay salaries after money had been released

Governor Idris Wada of Kogi State has fired the chairman and members of the State Universal Education Board, SUBEB, accusing them of diverting salaries meant for primary school teachers.

The officials were involved in widespread corruption, and had been removed over “mismanagement and dishonesty” the governor said Thursday.

He explained that investigations into complaints of non-payment of salaries of primary school teachers’ emanating from SUBEB revealed widespread corruption.

“There was gross misappropriation and dishonesty; we gave them a long rope but they failed,” the governor told journalists in the state capital, Lokoja.

“One of the things I did was to give the SUBEB chairman time and I asked him to give me his own deadline to clear all the salary arrears.

“He said he would clear them before Easter period and I told him that I will hold him responsible if he failed and he said I should trust him.

“But after that, I was still getting complaints upon complaints that he still owed teachers’ salaries from January till date, and a responsible government cannot do that,” he said.

The governor noted that a critical element for quality education was quality teachers, adding that an unpaid teacher could not be a quality teacher “no matter how bright the teacher is.”

“You must pay teachers for the work they do and the money for SUBEB to do so is there as money is deducted every month for the payment of teachers’ salary.

“It is not about lack of money but mismanagement,” he said.

Mr. Wada said he gave members of the board enough time while collating evidence about the mismanagement going on at the board.

He said that a committee he constituted, headed by Steven Aku, to investigate the board, cleared the arrears of teachers’ salary up to March.

The governor said the issue led to strike by members of the Nigerian Union of Teachers, NUT, in the state.

While the strike had been officially called off, the teachers have threatened to not go back to their classrooms until the arrears of their salary were cleared.

The governor assured that the committee would likely pay the outstanding arrears till May in a fortnight to enable primary schools re-open.

(NAN)

Emir of Gwoza feared dead after abduction by Boko Haram

The Emir of Uba survived the attack.

The Emir of Gwoza, Idrissa Timta, is feared dead after armed men abducted him and a colleague early Friday, local officials said.

Suspected Boko Haram militants attacked and abducted the traditional ruler, and his colleague, the Emir of Uba, Ismaila Mamza on Friday morning.

The two leaders were travelling to Gombe State for the funeral of the of the Emir of Gombe, Shehu Abubakar, who died on Tuesday evening at the Royal Marsden Hospital, London, where he was undergoing treatment for cancer.

After being attacked and abducted, the two emirs who were riding in the same car, tried to escape by fleeing into the bush, officials say.

The Emir of Uba survived the attack, and was later found in the bush by soldiers who had fought the assailants.

It is not clear whether it was the insurgents who killed the emir or security personnel who tried to repel the attackers.

A version of the story said the Emir died of shock as security agents engaged his abductors in a gun duel.

But the body of the Emir of Gwoza, Mr. Timta, was later found, a top security personnel confirmed.

Earlier, witnesses said the two men were abducted on their way to Gombe.

A top security personnel confirmed the emir’s death.

“It was really sad that the Emir of Gwoza got killed in the attack; but his colleague, Emir of Uba managed to escape unhurt,” the source said.

Local officials who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES said the slain leader may have died of shock as there was no bullet wounds on his body.

Borno state Government officials have yet to issue a formal statement on the incident.

Witnesses said all the vehicles on the convoy of the emirs were also burnt by the attackers.

Officials said the children and family members of the late leader have gone to receive his body for burial in Gwoza.

The two abducted emirs were elevated to First Class traditional ruler status only in January.

The abduction came 46 days after the Boko Haram sect whisked away over 250 schoolgirls from their dormitories in Chibok.

Over 200 of the girls are yet to be freed.

Boko Haram: Ugandan President, Museveni, mocks Nigeria over foreign military assistance

President Museveni says he would be prepared to hang than hand over the security of his country to the United Nations

Uganda’s President, Yoweri Museveni, has mocked the Nigerian military over its failure to contain the extremist sect, Boko Haram, saying he would be prepared to “hang” than surrender his country’s security to foreigners as Nigeria and other troubled African nations have done.

Mr. Museveni said the failure of the governments of Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo, to protect their people and instead opt for foreign assistance amounts to a vote of no confidence.

“I have never called the United Nations to guard your security. Me, Yoweri Museveni to say that I have failed to protect my people and I call in the UN….I would rather hang myself,” Mr. Museveni was quoted by the country’s state-owned newspaper, New Vision, as saying.

He added: “We prioritized national security by developing a strong army otherwise our Uganda would be like DRC, South Sudan, Somalia or Nigeria where militias have disappeared with school children. It would be a vote of no confidence to our country and citizens if we can’t guarantee our security, what kind of persons would we be?”

Mr. Museveni made the remarks while speaking at a political event in the East African nation’s capital, Kampala, on Wednesday.

Nigeria is facing perhaps its bloodiest cycle of violence with the Boko Haram sect unleashing terror on communities, killing dozens almost daily.

The group has also killed hundreds in car bombs.

Boko Haram’s abduction of more than 250 school girls has drawn international outrage, with many lambasting the government over its handling of the crisis.

Nigeria’s largely secretive military has also come under unprecedented attacks for failing to deal with the group, and over allegations of human rights abuses. The military has also been accused of corruption and inefficiency.

The Nigerian government recently accepted international assistance to help rescue the girls abducted from Chibok, a community in Borno State.

Mr. Museveni, whose military is also faced with a brutal insurgency by the Joseph Kony-led Lord’s Resistance Army, has been fiery about the terror campaign by Boko Haram.

Early May, Mr. Museveni warned the Nigerian government against negotiating with Boko Haram.

“It would be a mistake for the government of Nigeria to negotiate with these people. The most important thing is to defeat them, then negotiations can come after that,” he said.

Nollywood Icon and filmmaker, Amaka Igwe to be buried June 13th

Nollywood Icon and filmmaker, Amaka Igwe who passed away on the 28th of April 2014 will be laid to rest on Friday, June 13th 2014 at Ndiuche Arondizuogu in Imo State, her marital home. 

Various events preceding her funeral as announced by the family include; A tribute evening and Lagos Service of Songs at Haven Gardens G.R.A Ikeja on the 9th of June, and Enugu Service of Songs at Okpara Square, Enugu on the 12th of June, 2014. Continue...

A tribute website, www.amakaigwe.ng, has been created for goodwill messages and pictures. The site will also contain tweets and Facebook messages celebrating Amaka Igwe. Past pictures, videos and speeches of Amaka Igwe will also be uploaded onto the site continuously.

Amaka Igwe, who is survived by her husband of 21 years Charles Igwe, three children, an aged mother and siblings, died from complications from asthma at the age of 51.

She contributed immensely to the development of indigenous television drama and Nollywood over the past 25 years, for which His Excellency, Mr. President graciously awarded her an MFR in 2011, one of the proudest moments of her life.

She is the founder of BoBTV Film and Television Programmes Expo, founder and CEO of Top Radio 90.9FM, Amaka Igwe Studios, and the newly launched Q Entertainment Network.

A visionary and pioneer of modern Nigerian TV drama and film, she hit national limelight as the writer and producer of award-winning TV soap 'Checkmate' and its off shoot 'Fuji House of Commotion'.

Her Nollywood projects include RattleSnake and Violated - two critically acclaimed movies that set apart Amaka Igwe Studios in the much-criticized Nollywood industry.

Amaka Igwe studied Education/Religion at the University of Ife (Now Obafemi Awolowo University). She had a Master's Degree from the University of Ibadan. She had her early education at All Saints School (Now Ekulu Primary School), Girls High School Awkunanaw, Enugu and Idia College, Benin.

She worked as a lecturer at the Anambra State University of Technology and briefly in oil and Gas, before settling for the motion picture industry.

UN blacklists Boko Haram

The United Nation Security Council committee yesterday May 22nd blacklisted Islamic sect Boko haram after the Nigerian government on Wednesday May 21st made a request asking for the sect to be blacklisted. 

 

A statement released by the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power says the move was to help close all avenue of funding received by Boko Haram members

"Today, the Security Council took an important step in support of the government of Nigeria’s efforts to defeat Boko Haram and hold its murderous leadership accountable for atrocities. By adding Boko Haram to the U.N.’s 1267 (al Qaeda) sanctions list, the Security Council has helped to close off important avenues of funding, travel and weapons to Boko Haram, and shown global unity against their savage actions,”

With this blacklisting, it makes it an offence for any country or individual to provide any form of support to Boko Haram. The group is now subject to an international asset freeze, travel ban and arms embargo

FRSC suspends enforcement of new number plate, licence

The Federal Road Safety Corps, has suspended the enforcement of the new vehicle number plate and the driving licence, following two separate court judgements from Lagos and Abuja which ruled that the scheme was illegal.

The Corps has therefore directed its commanding officers to commence a nationwide public awareness on the new initiative for motor vehicle administration in the country, which would emphasise the benefits of the new scheme and the need for buy-in from all Nigerians.

A statement by the Corps Commander, Corps Public Education, Jonas Agwu in Abuja on Thursday, explained that the new directive is in line with decisions taken by the Joint Tax Board at its 129th meeting held on April 23 and 24, 2014 at the Headquarters of Edo State Internal Revenue Services in Benin.

It stated that the Board suspended the June 30, 2014 deadline earlier announced for the change to the enhanced Motor Vehicle Number Plate and the Driving Licence pending the outcome of the appeal by the FRSC.

“The States Internal Revenue Service, the Federal Road Safety Corps and the Vehicle Inspection Offices have been encouraged to put all necessary logistics in place to improve motor vehicle registration and issuance of driver’s licence in order to build a comprehensive database,” the statement added.

The FRSC equally directed its commanding officers to explore all available platforms such as motor park rallies, advocacy visits and other forms of public engagement in keeping with its 2014 strategic goal of improved public communication and road use education.

The corps re-affirmed that the court never vacated its statutory powers to design and produce the new number plate, “but only questioned its powers to fix deadline for enforcement of the new scheme, as confirmed by the recent directive from the Joint Tax Board which has the statutory powers to fix prices and set deadlines for implementation of the new number plate and driver’s license.”

It stated that the same position was taken by an Abuja Federal High Court which declared that the FRSC has no powers to invalidate a driver or vehicle license before its expiration.

Chibok girls: U.S. Air Force men, drone swing into action

More details emerged yesterday on the United States troops deployed to join the search for the Chibok girls kidnapped by extremist Boko Haram sect.



A U.S. military spokesman said that the 80 personnel deployed in Chad to help find nearly 300 kidnapped schoolgirls are from the Air Force and have already begun their mission, using a drone and Global Hawks.

Chuck Prichard, a spokesman at the U.S. military’s Africa command in Germany, said yesterday that the 80 Air Force personnel were previously stationed in the United States, though he did not disclose where in the U.S.

President Barack Obama told Congress in a letter Wednesday about the deployment. Obama said the service members would help with intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft for missions over northern Nigeria and the nearby region.

A senior U.S. official said the drone is a Predator and will be in addition to the unarmed Global Hawks already being used. The new flights will be based out of Chad and allow the military to expand its search to that country. Initially the flights were largely over Nigeria.

Lt. Col. Myles Caggins said Wednesday that newly deployed forces will help expand drone searches of the region. About 40 of the troops make up the launch and recovering teams for the drone being deployed there and the other 40 make up the security force for the team.

The girls were kidnapped last month from the Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State.

The United Nations (UN) Security Council has imposed sanctions against Boko Haram.

U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power welcomed the council’s action, calling it “an important step in support of the government of Nigeria’s efforts to defeat Boko Haram and hold its murderous leadership accountable for atrocities.”

Nigeria, which is serving a two-year term on the council, asked the Security Council committee monitoring sanctions against al-Qaida to add Boko Haram to the list of al-Qaida-linked organisations subject to an arms embargo and asset freeze.

The 14 other council members had until 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT) yesterday to object and none did. So the committee will now add Boko Haram to the al-Qaida sanctions list.

By adding Boko Haram to the sanctions list, Power said, “the Security Council has helped to close off important avenues of funding, travel and weapons to Boko Haram, and shown global unity against their savage actions.”

Nigeria’s U.N. Ambassador U. Joy Ogwu said Wednesday “the important thing is to attack the problem, and that is terrorism.”

The al-Qaida sanctions list includes 62 entities and groups, and 213 individuals who are also subject to travel bans.

At a summit in Paris on Saturday aimed at hammering out a plan to rescue the 276 girls, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said “Boko Haram is acting clearly as an al-Qaida operation.” The Nigerian president only reluctantly accepted outside help after years of insisting that Boko Haram was a local problem.

French President Francois Hollande told the summit that Boko Haram is armed with weapons that came from Libya following the ouster of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011, and the training took place in Mali before the ouster of its al-Qaida linked Islamist leaders. As for the money, Hollande said its origins were murky.

Also yesterday, the presidents of Cameroon and Chad met to map out ways to combat the Islamist group, which has extended its violence from Nigeria to its neighbours. Presidents Paul Biya and Idriss Deby were also to examine security reports that some weapons used by Boko Haram came from Libya through Chad.

The two leaders said they were meeting to fine-tune plans and reiterate the commitments they made in Paris on May 17 to wage war against Boko Haram.

Colonel Didier Badjeck, spokesperson for Cameroon’s military, said the two governments were committed more than ever to fight Boko Haram alongside Nigerian forces.

“We can not be indifferent when our brothers and sisters live in permanent fear from those who have taken upon themselves to use violence on everyone instead of a spiritual rearmament they claim to bring,” he said.

Nyambelle Elvis, a Chadian expert on security issues, says the presidents of Chad and Cameroon had agreed to allow their forces to cross into the territories of each country in pursuit of terrorists and armed groups.

He says there are accords that authorise security forces from the two countries to pursue “havoc wreakers” up to 30 kilometers from the border. He adds it was, therefore, necessary to reinforce that measure and increase mixed patrols in the border area.

Nyambelle Elvis cites intelligence reports that Boko Haram has received sophisticated weapons from the Middle East and the Maghreb through Sudan and Chad to Nigeria and Cameroon.

He said weapons also came in from Libya and that training of Boko Haram members took place in Mali when Islamist militants controlled the north of that country.