High drama in Lagos as mentally-challenged woman gives birth

•Baby named after state governor, Ambode
Swaddled in a warm blanket, he slept in all innocence beside his mother, unaware of all the noise and commotion going on around him on 3rd Floor, Ward 3A of the Island Maternity Lagos. Though just days old, Baby Ambode, named after the Lagos State governor might be the most popular toddler on the bloc. Since he was brought to the facility alongside his mother by officials of the Lagos State Emergency Agency (LASEMA), all attention had been fixed on him to ensure his survival.

Ironically, cute and cuddly as he looks, the fate of this adorable baby boy hangs in the balance, as his mother is a mentally-unstable woman who roamed the streets of Lagos. Safe for the timely intervention of a Good Samaritan, Uju Aniagboso, an occupant of the house where he was delivered of his mother, maybe he might have died at birth or stolen by evil, unscrupulous persons.
The only thing the mother of the new born could utter audibly about herself, was her name, Tope Alabi, and the only information she could volunteer about her background was that she hailed from Abeokuta.

At the moment, she is delirious but sane enough to look out for her son, and darts suspicious eyes at anyone that dares to come within an air breathe to her baby.
Our correspondent gathered that like an arrow, Tope’s desperate cry for help pierced through the stillness of the night, rudely jolting residents of Bornu Way, Ebute Meta from their sleep. With inquisitiveness hanging thickly in the air, residents peeped out of their homes to find out the source of the agonising sound, only to behold a pregnant, mad woman, who had been known to roam the area in the throes of labour pains. With the woman frantically calling on residents not to let her die, the area was thrown into panic as women quickly rallied round, forming a protective barrier to provide privacy.

According to Uju Aniagboso, the young lady that immediately came to the rescue of the mentally- challenged woman, she heard her cry at about 1am and when she peeped out of her apartment, she was shocked to see the woman writhing in pain. She immediately came out of her apartment and brought her to a shield by her house. With the labour progressing and her cry attracting more good-spirited people, including her landlady, Uju disclosed that Baby Ambode finally arrived at about 4 am.

“Immediately the baby arrived, his cord was cut by a woman selling akara (fried bean cake) on the street and he was immediately cleaned up. I rushed  inside to get some of my elder sister’s baby’s clothes and towels, sanitary pad and boiled water for her bath. I also made hot tea for her and gave her bread, while my landlady brought one of her clothes for the woman,” she narrated.

With the placenta taking so long to come out, a concerned Uju immediately said she called the Lagos State Emergency number, and within a short time, an ambulance driven by officials of the Lagos State Emergency Agency (LASEMA) arrived the scene, and moved both mother and baby to the Lagos State Island Maternity hospital.

Uju noted that although she knew nothing about the mentally-challenged woman, aside the information she had about her being a regular face in the neighbourhood, she was quite unsettled about their wellbeing and so visited the hospital, which was a stone throw from her office with a friend immediately she got to work the next day.

Uju said she was however, appalled when the nurses on duty told her that the woman needed several things, including baby formula and wondered what had happened to the money donated by some Good Samaritans and which was given to the LASEMA officials that responded to her distress call. Despite being shocked by the information, the young lady went to procure the things needed by Tope and Baby Ambode.

According to her, “I was surprised when they said the woman needed provisions, pad, baby food and other things. I recall bringing out N2, 000; my landlady brought N1, 000 and another woman who was crying that she had been believing God for a baby also brought N1, 000. This is aside the N100, N500 and other smaller denominations brought by other Good Samaritans. The nurses on duty told me they had to borrow baby formula from other patients. I was very unhappy about this development.

”Money for baby Ambode lost in transit
Wanting to know what happened to the money donated for the upkeep of the mentally-challenged woman, and not wanting to believe that such money could actually be taken by any individual, Uju said she went to inquire from the Emergency Unit about the person that actually received the woman and her baby from the LASEMA officials, and was told that the nurse on duty had mentioned the money but did not remit it for the patient’s upkeep.

With a mild drama ensuing over who collected the money, the matter was reported to the Head of Department (HOD), Nursing Department, who swung into action, insisting the money must be located for the wellbeing of the patients. After much buck-passing, N3,000 was produced by the matron in-charge of the unit, pending when the nurse who received Tope and her baby resumed for duty. Later investigations by the head matron revealed that the money actually handed over to the hospital by officials of LASEMA was only N3, 000, and they were at a loss as to what happened to the rest of the money donated for the upkeep of the mentally-challenged woman and her son.

For Uju, the Good Samaritan, Tope’s mental state was enough for anyone to capitalise on and dispose her of her child, hence she wanted to ensure that the baby was not taken away, and not disconnected from her mother and possibly sold to the ‘highest bidder.’

Her fears, which might not seem unfounded, made the reporter to inquire about the fate that awaited Baby Ambode, if he were finally discharged from the health facility.
At the office of the Medical Director, Dr. A.O. Sholanke, the reporter was repeatedly told he was not available after several attempts. She was later directed to the office of Dr. Femi Omololu, Director of Clinical Services and Training, but was also told he too was not available.

At the Heart-to-Heart Centre, a social welfare department run by the Lagos State Government, an official who spoke on condition of anonymity disclosed that once Tope recovered and was stable, she would be interrogated to know where she actually came from. But should she still show any sign of mental illness, the baby might be taken from her to a shelter run by the state for his safety. The mother, he disclosed, would be taken to a centre for psychotic patients.

“We would try and see if we can locate her people.  It is either her people come to pick her or she would be confined to a centre for treatment. As for the child, we assure you that he would be well taken care of by the state government where other kids like him are presently being housed,” the official said.
Source:The Sun

I killed my friend, buried him in shallow grave –Suspect

Ngbede Omale has confessed to Benue State Police Command how he secretly killed his friend, Agabaidu Omale and buried him in a shallow grave.

Narrating how he committed the crime to Daily Sun at the State Police Headquarters where he is presently cooling his heels, Ngbede said  he had a heated argument with his friend in the farm which resulted into a fight.

“I just gave him a little push and he fell down and before I knew it, he was dead. I tried to resuscitate him but to no avail. I didn’t know what to do and there was nobody around. So, I quickly dug a shallow grave and buried him there.”

The suspect, who is now blaming the devil for his crimes said he didn’t intend to kill his friend.
However, when it was announced in the village that Agabaidu was missing, Ngbede kept sealed lips for over eight months until hunters one day discovered his skeleton in the shallow grave where he had been buried.

“I did not intend to kill him. I did not know that he would die. In fact, as soon as I buried him, I came home and confided in one of my cousins after which I ran away from the village. I did not know that my sin would still find me out. I am sorry.”

Commissioner of Police in the state, Dibal Yakadi said the bubble burst when the mother of the deceased insisted his son was last seen with Ngbede and a manhunt was launched to nab him.

Yakadi said during investigation, Ngbede who was later found and arrested at a village in Kwara State, confessed to the crime adding that he would soon be charged to court when investigation is completed.
Source:The Sun

Kidnappers behind murder of couple in Enugu’

Enugu—Mr Marcel Ossai Aba who was slaughtered with his wife, Jacinta, at Amaja in Enugu Ezike about eight days ago might have been killed by kidnappers.
Aba was sleeping with his wife and three children penultimate week when some unknown persons woke him up and broke his head with a cutlass.

The assailants later went into his wife’s room and removed her one-year-old daughter who she was breast feeding before severing her head.
The assailants left the scene of crime without removing any material or property.
However, investigations by Vanguard revealed that Aba and his wife were killed after an abducted man from Anambra State was rescued by the police in a bush near his house.

Those who spoke on the condition of anonymity at Amaja, informed Vanguard that an unidentified man whose mouth was covered with a black cloth, was seen in a bush which separates the village from Amaja with Adupi in Benue State,

Aba lived at the border with his family.
It was gathered that another woman had found the abducted man and ran back to inform her husband who consequently alerted members of the vigilante group in the area.
The members of the vigilante were also said to have alerted the nearest police station in the area, which sent detectives to free the kidnap victim.
It was gathered that the abductors of the unidentified victim usually visited him  between  2 am and 3.30 am  each day to feed him.

However, sources said that when the kidnappers visited the area where they hid their victim in the bush, they were disappointed that the people living nearby alerted the police men who untied their victim and went to the nearby house to kill the couple.

An 11 year old daughter of the deceased, Chinonso narrated how her parents were killed in cold when her parents were killed at the palace of the Onyishi Amaja, Eze Nwidoko, where the people of the area returned en- masse to discuss the strange development weekend said that the assailants killed her father before killed her mother.

”We were sleeping in the night when my mother noticed that some people were flashing their torches outside but were not talking.
”As she was talking, the people came into our room and took her baby who was sucking her breast away from her and threw him to              Ikedi, 5, before cutting my mother’s neck.
”The whole place was dark, We did not know when they left, After waiting for sometime I went to my father’s room and saw that his head was also cut, I used the lantern which was lit by mother before we went to bed. Later I came out with Ikedi but the whole place was still dark.

”It was later in the morning that we called those nearby who started shouting and calling others to come and see what had happened,” Chinonso who was carrying the last child of her mother said.
The traditional ruler of Amaja, Igwe Ignatius Idoko, aka Atlas, said that his community was the most neglected border area in the state.

”We have been appealing to the relevant authorities to establish a police station between us and the people of Benue and Kogi   states who are our neighbours.
Igwe Idoko who took Vanguard on a motorcycle to the family house of the deceased couple where it was discovered that the door leading to the man’s room was opened by the deceased for his assailants while the one leading to his wife’s own was broken has vowed that the community would leave no stone unturned to get at the root of the matter.

Onyishi Idoko Igwe Idoko said that the couple had died for the liberation of the people of Amaja just as Jesus died for the liberation of mankind adding that the people would cooperate with security agencies to ensure that justice was done.
Source:Vanguard

Hajj tragedy: Emir dead with 8 family members

■ Prof Jega’s Appeal Court justice brother too
■ 105 Nigerian pilgrims declared missing
■ NAHCON’ s silence on casualty figure causes panic, anxiety

Two other prominent Ni­gerians were yesterday confirmed to be among several others who lost their lives in last Thursday’s stam­pede in Muna, near Makkah, while the pilgrims were on their way to Jamarat to per­form the symbolic stoning of the devil.
The two Nigerians are: Justice Abubakar Abdulkadir Jega, an Appeal Court justice and Emir of Zing in Taraba State, Alhaji Abbas Sambo.

Jega, who is a member of the Kebbi State’s delegation to this year’s hajj, is a brother to the immediate past chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Professor Attahiru Jega. His death was confirmed to Sun­day Sun by a close family friend, yesterday evening.
The late Sambo, on the other hand, is the leader of the Taraba State delegation to this year’s hajj, and he was said to have died alongside eight oth­er members of his immediate family, including two wives.

However, none of the deaths of the prominent Ni­gerians involved in the stam­pede, including those of late Hajia Bilikisu Yusuf and Prof Tijjani El-Miskin, were con­firmed officially by the Na­tional Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON).
Meanwhile, no fewer than 105 pilgrims from Nigeria have been declared missing.
The 105 pilgrims who could not be accounted for are 100 from Sokoto, and five from Gombe states alone. But from the figure, nine have been confirmed dead from So­koto State, Sunday Sun, fur­ther gathered.

The figure was further con­firmed by the spokesperson of the Sokoto State Governor, Imam Imam, who was not part of the state’s delegation, but had to issue a statement from Nigeria, when it became ap­parent that NAHCON was not forthcoming with any piece of information.
The statement from Imam Imam reads: “Sokoto State Government wishes to an­nounce that nine (9) of its pilgrims have so far been con­firmed dead in the stampede that occurred on Eid Day in Muna, Saudi Arabia.

“Government officials, led by the state Amirul Hajj and Leader of Delegation, His Excellency, the Deputy Gov­ernor, Alhaji Ahmad Aliyu, have been working round the clock to identify many of the pilgrims who suffered various degrees of injuries and are re­ceiving treatments in different hospitals in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

“At this moment of grief and sober reflection, the state government urges all citizens to remain calm and intensify prayers as we await further confirmation from authorities concerned. Further statement will be made as more infor­mation becomes available,” he added, just as he prayed that God blesses the souls of those who died and heal those injured.

Gombe State Pilgrims Welfare Board has officially declared five of its pilgrims missing.
According to Alhaji Usman Gurama, executive secretary of the board, the five pilgrims had not been seen since last Thursday, when the stampede occurred.
Sunday Sun, however, gath­ered that some pilgrims were initially declared missing last Thursday night, with their friends and family members already mourning, thinking they had died, only for such pilgrims to resurface in their tents by late Friday night.

Also, a university lecturer from Sokoto, Prof Abubakar Yagna was initially thought to have died with his twowives, but they returned to their tent in Muna yesterday hale and hearty.
It was, however, gathered that a missioner of Ansar-Ud- Ddeen Society from Lagos, simply identified as Abdu­lAzeez died in the stampede.

The number of deaths so far reported by Sunday Sun and our sister publications were ei­ther confirmed by close family friends or state officials who would not want to be quot­ed, since NAHCON, is yet to officially release any figure.
Meanwhile, NAHCON’s continued silence over the fig­ure of casualties from Nigeria is already generating panic and anxiety, with some ad hoc staff chastising the officials of the commission, for “hoarding information.”

“I think NAHCON has not in any way helped matters by refusing to release information to Nigerians.Some are getting to hear the death of their loved ones on the social media. This is not good enough. If you don’t have a complete picture of what has transpired, why don’t you give interim report? This idea of saying they are still carrying out a head count, more than 72 hours af­ter the unfortunate incident is not good for the image of the country. It is causing unneces­sary anxiety and tension.
“As I speak to you, I un­derstand the death toll from Nigeria is more than 80. In one local government alone in (one of the states in the North-west,) about 40 of them were said to have died. In fact, I understand only three pilgrims are left of that local govern­ment, “ one of the pilgrims’ as­sistants, who does not want the name in print told Sunday Sun.

As at the time of filing this report, NAHCON is yet to is­sue any statement on Nigerian pilgrims’ death toll, though it was said to be meeting in Makkah over the issue by Sat­urday evening.
The commission had con­tinued to tell journalists since last Thursday when the inci­dent happened that it was still carrying out a head count and going round the hospitals, in­sisting that it was only after then that it could confirm the number of deaths from the country.

Contrary to the figure re­leased vide the Iranian-owned television, the Press TV, Sau­di Arabian Health Minister, Khalid Al-Falih yesterday said the number of pilgrims who died in the stampede has risen to 769, from the initial 717.
The figure provided by the Saudi Arabia authority is in sharp contrast to the figure of over 2000, broadcast by the Press TV last Friday.

According to the report monitored on Arab News web­site yesterday, Al-Falih dis­closed also that the number of those injured, had risen from about 800 to 934 and that most of the victims were still con­fined to their hospital beds.
Source:The Sun

Germany-based businessman shot dead in Lagos

It happened in Iyana Ishashi, along the Lagos-Badagry expressway. Mr. Barry Ndulue, a middle-aged man was coming back from a business trip to Ghana on Sunday, September 20, 2015. Unknown to him, he was being trailed, according to police ac­counts. Once he got to that lonely part of the expressway, the assailants lev­eled up and began to shoot into the car he was travelling in. When the op­eration ended, Barry, a businessman based in Germany, lay dead in the pool of his own blood.

Curiously, neither the driver of the chattered car nor his (Barry) business partner, identified as Paul Obioma Nn­ago, with whom he was travelling, was hurt in the bizarre, tragic incident. Sur­prisingly also, the unknown gunmen took only the phones of the occupants of the car and fled the scene.
Already, the Lagos State Police Crimi­nal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti, has commenced investigation into the death of the businessman and father of three.

When Saturday Sun visited the resi­dence of the deceased at 401 road, Fes­tac Town Lagos, family and friends kept trooping in and out of the house to con­done with the family. His widow was seen surrounded by her mother and im­mediate relatives who kept consoling her. His first son who was obviously shattered by the news of the death of his father sat at a corner of the house battling to control tears. The other two who are between the ages of two and five, took it upon them­selves to open the door for sympathizers. Obviously oblivious of what was going on, the two kids, instead of sharing in the gloom, were rather cheering them up by playing around them.

The late Ndulue’s mother in-law who spoke on behalf of the family pleaded that they would decide as a family before they could share the details of the matter with the public. “We know that the world will like to hear our story but it is also impor­tant for my daughter to consult with the family before taking to the press”, she stated.

One of the relatives who spoke with Saturday Sun but chose to remain anony­mous said that he would get the consent of the elders of the family before talking to the press. “At the moment we do not want to talk to the media without the consent of my elder brother. You can go to the police and get all the details of the mat­ter. The two persons who were with him in the car are currently in police custody. We are not suspecting anyone especially his friend who was arrested. He lives on the same street and they have done a lot of things together. We pray that the police will quickly conclude their investigation so that we can bury our late brother. May his gentle soul rest in peace.”

Describing him as a simple man, one the neighbours said that Barry returned to Nigeria less than a week before the inci­dent. “He has been away for the past eight months. He was a very quiet person that prefers to stay indoors with his beautiful kids anytime that he was in Nigeria.”
On the possible reason why Paul and the driver are being detained, a senior po­lice officer at SCID Panti said that it was necessary to be sure that the duo were not the mastermind of the murder. “We hope to unravel the reason why Barry was killed while his friend Paul and the chat­tered car driver were left unhurt. Why did the assailants pick only their phones? There is a prob­ability that one of them alerted the assassins of their present location and to hide the person’s identity their phones were taken.

“The Homicide section of the SCID after analyzing their call log will be able to determine their involve­ment in the matter. We will be able to uncover what happened and if they were not indicted, they will be released.”

Confirming the attack, the state Police Public Rela­tions Officer, DSP Joe Offor said: “We learnt that he (Barry) was returning to Nigeria through Seme border when he was attacked by unknown gunmen. His body had been deposited in the mortuary while the case is currently being investigated by detectives at­tached to the state CID, Panti.”
 
He assured that the suspects, who are cur­rently in detention, will be released as soon as it is confirmed that they are innocent.
Source:The Sun