M.I composes poem for murdered UNIPORT students...

M.I.

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Nigeria’s talented rapper Jude Abaga popularly known as M.I has condemned the killings of the 4 University of Port-Hacourt students who were beaten and burnt alive in front of a crowd.

The young men were accused of stealing laptops and mobile phones before being burnt to death.

In reaction to this, M.I wrote the poem below:

The hope is the worst part of it.

The way they lay there, beaten and broken, battered and bruised. Knowing their end had come for certain. Knowing that the crowd meant to see this through to the end. And yet, in the midst of all this certainty, in some small corner of their hearts, hoping. That something would happen, some miracle perhaps.

I am speaking of course, of the #Aluu4, students of University of Port Harcourt who were beaten and set ablaze last week.

I’d heard the news sometime last week and devoted all of 10 seconds of thought to it. I wondered briefly who the students were, and what could possibly have driven them to steal. I briefly wondered if they were really guilty but my mind quickly shied away from where that road could lead. I remembered all the stories I grew up hearing about thieves and the instant justice meted out to them, and mentally shook my head.

That would have been all, I suppose, but for the video. It is probably the most gruesome thing I have ever seen, and the worst I ever hope to see.

Hope.

There, I’ve said it again. Somehow it seems there is no escaping it.

Because when things like this happen, it seems our default reaction is to hope it will never happen to us or any one we know or love. Then we hope that our religion and hard work and luck will exempt us from senseless suffering. Sometimes we hope that right thing will be done, the wrong doers brought to book, and the victims receive some sort of justice.

Every day we hope the country we live in will be a better place for us and for our children.

And that is the problem with hope.

That we have allowed it to cripple us and render us inactive.

You , me, all of us who sit by hoping and doing nothing to change.

The question is not whether or not the 4 boys stole anything. That is quite besides the point.

Let us ask instead: What do I need to ensure my children do not grow up hearing stories like these?

What would it cost to make this country and are we willing to pay the price?

Because if I were there that day, would I have spoken up and done my best to put a stop to it? Or silently stood by, condemning the actions in my heart, but doing nothing? Would I have been seized by the bloodlust and fear and anger myself, and spurred them on with my shouts, and cries for blood, maybe tossed in a rock or two for good measure.

Uniport identifies, mourns slain students...

Vice-Chancellor of the University of Port Harcourt, Prof. Joseph Ajienka.

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THE Vice-Chancellor of the University of Port Harcourt, Prof. Joseph Ajienka, said on Monday that the institution had begun a seven-day mourning of the killings of their students by a mob.

Ajienka, who said this shortly after identifying three among the deceased as students of the university, said the flags were already being flown at half mast as a mark of honour to the slain students.

Speaking with newsmen at the university, the vice-chancellor also explained that the Students’ Union Week, which was to begin on Monday (yesterday), had been put off indefinitely.

He said, “As is to be expected under the sad circumstance in which we now find ourselves, the university is in a mourning mood in honour of the murdered students.

“As a result, the 2012 Students’ Union Week, which was to have commenced this morning, has been put off indefinitely. Flags are already being flown at half mast as a mark of honour to the deceased students of the university.

Ajienka identified the slain students as Biringa Chidiaka Lordson (Year 2, Theatre Arts), Ugonna Kelechi Obuzor (Year 2, Geology) and Mike Lloyd Toku (Year 2, Civil Engineering).

He stated the fourth person, Tekena Erikena, had not been formally identified as a bonafide member of the institution, saying, “Erikena did Basic Studies, but we need to confirm his department and matriculation number.”

He added that pre-emptive security measures had been initiated by authorities of the institution to secure lives and property on campus, adding that a joint security patrol team had taken charge of the affected area.

Things are gradually falling apart in Nigeria...

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Yet another sad news with the reported massacre of over 20 innocent students at the Federal Polytechnic Mubi in Adamawa State. These are indeed troubling times for Nigeria. We have not trod this path before. There is a palpable sense of anxiety, if not fear over where the country is heading. Terrorism, kidnappings, armed robbery, ritual killings and assassinations are now common place, with no signs of abating. 

Businesses in the north have almost ground to a halt because of the incessant bombings. Agitations by tribal groups to go it alone, that were once quiet mutterings are now getting louder and bolder. Cases of tribal and religious intolerance are on the increase as Nigerians are beginning for the first time to question openly the basis of our federalism. 

States are at loggerheads on the fairness of the current revenue sharing formula as the debate rages on how the nation’s wealth is shared. Cracks are appearing in the bond that once held us together as a nation. Things seem to be falling apart and the centre is struggling to hold. The president of the Senate, David Mark, captured the mood of the nation, in his summation of the dire state of the nation in his welcome address to his colleagues, from their summer recess. The message was honest, it was blunt, it was timely and needed to be said from the high echelons of power.

Paradoxically, the emergence of Boko Haram seems to have awakened northern leaders from their slumber. For decades, this elite group of individuals paid little attention to the developmental aspirations of their people. 

They were content for their people to forage for crumbs falling from their table, whilst they lived sumptuously from state revenue allocations and oil patronages. They learnt nothing from the selfless leadership of their forebears, such as Ahmadu Bello and Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. Apart from a few progressive governors in the South, the story is the same; the story of greed, graft and incompetence. Driving through Asaba, Delta State’s capital, it is hard to believe that this state gets more than four times the revenue allocation of Edo State where so much is happening in infrastructure development.

The Gambia claims cure for HIV

Gambian President Yahya Jammeh

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The Gambian President Yahya Jammeh has said that dozens of HIVand AIDS patients in the tiny West African state have been cured using his secret concoction of boiled herbs, Reuters reports.

Jammeh first announced he had found a natural remedy to cure HIV and AIDS in 2007, stirring anger among Western medical experts who claimed he was giving false hope to the sick.

“Who am I to expect that everybody would praise me,’’ Jammeh said in a state television broadcast on Sunday evening, announcing that 68 patients had been cured and discharged from a treatment centre.

“Just as the Prophet Mohammed prevailed and established Islam, I have also prevailed to cure HIV/AIDS to the point that 68 are being discharged today,’’ he said.

The World Health Organisation and the UN have said Jammeh’s HIV/AIDS treatment is alarming mainly because patients are required to cease their anti-retroviral drugs making them more prone to infection.

Soldiers go haywire …kill 30, burn 50 houses in Maiduguri to avenge army officer’s death

New Chief of Defence Staff, Vice Admiral Ola Ibrahim

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OPERATIVES of the Joint Task Force, made up of soldiers, on Monday went haywire in Maiduguri, Borno State, and killed 30 persons in reprisal for the attack on their patrol vehicle in the town.

Most of the victims, The PUNCH learnt, were civilians.

The soldiers were also said to have burnt at least 50 houses, shops and vehicles in the Gwange area of the town.

Some of the victims were reportedly burnt inside their houses beyond recognition.

An Improvised Explosive Device believed to have been planted by member of the violent Islamic sect, Boko Haram, hit the JTF vehicle in the early hours of Monday and killed the leader of the patrol team, an unnamed Lieutenant and injured other members of the patrol team.

The incident occurred along the popular Lagos Street in the Borno State capital town. Maiduguri is believed to be the base of Boko Haram

In retaliation, tens of soldiers were said to have stormed the street and shot indiscriminately at the residents and motorists on the busy road leading to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.

The PUNCH learnt on Tuesday that some of the dead victims were killed inside their houses while their corpses were set on fire by the angry soldiers.

About 50 vehicles parked along the street and in front of houses were also set ablaze.

Maiduguri witnessed a similar incident last Sunday when soldiers reportedly killed and indiscriminately set properties on fire to avenge the murder of two soldiers, one of them a Lt.Col.

Reports indicated that some members of Boko Haram died in the soldiers’ rage on Monday but no one could give a specific figure even as the area was cordoned off.

My son’s killing will always haunt me –Llyod’s mum...

Mr. and Mrs. Toku in Port Harcourt ... on Monday

Hello Friends!

My Thoughts: I have severally via various mediums (twitter , Facebook and blackberry messenger), expressed my pain, disgust and disappointment in respect to this incident. I am certain that what Nigerians are experiencing now, is a clear show of a decaying society! 

A Society without regard for human life nor Law! A Society where children are taught that "killing of a man, is acceptable whenever you get angry at something you probably do not even know nor understand!  I am still pained at this happening and my heart goes out in prayer to the 4 families in mourning at this time. 

Mrs. Jane Toku, the mother of Lloyd, one of the four undergraduates of the University of Port Harcourt that were lynched at Aluu community in Rivers State, says her son’s death will always haunt her. She also expressed shock that the crowd could watch how her son and his friends were gruesomely murdered.

Jane spoke with our correspondent amid tears on Monday in Port Harcourt.

Jane said, “When we got there, one of them was still breathing. He was gasping for breath, but the crowd…they were all there watching while my baby (Lloyd) was butchered. Come to my area and ask questions about my child; the child I trained.

“Penultimate Sunday, we went to church, Salvation Ministry; that is where he worshipped. We all went together for the second service. He stayed back for the remaining service. When he came back, he started preparing to go to school. I can still see him as I talk to you.

“He brought out a book; ‘How Faith Works’ by David Ibiyomie and he said ‘Mummy, read this book and you will know what faith is all about. By the time I come back on Friday, you will tell me what faith is all about.’

“Ever since, I have been moving around with that book, so that I could read and not get him angry when he comes back from school and ask me about what I learnt from the book.

“Thursday was his daddy’s birthday. He (Lloyd) called him and wished him happy birthday. When his daddy asked him if he would be coming home to celebrate the birthday with the family, he (Lloyd) promised to be back on Friday after lectures.

“But on Friday morning, we got the call that my son was being beaten. How can I erase the fact that my son was lynched from my mind? He studied very hard and got admission into the university.”

Meanwhile, the community was like a ghost town on Monday as the inhabitants of the area left their homes to avoid being arrested by security agents.

The Accused UNI PORT Students...

Shops, restaurants and mini supermarkets were also shut by their owners who felt students of the university were planning a reprisal on the community.

Four students were on Friday morning lynched by suspected members of the community for allegedly stealing laptops and mobile phones.

Outraged Nigerians launch campaign to identify students’ killers

Uni Port lynching: faces of killers?

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Nigerians outraged by the lynching of four University of Port Harcourt undergraduates in Aluu, Rivers State, have launched an online campaign to have the killers identified and punished.

Although it was learnt that the community has been deserted following the arrest of the village head, Alhaji Hassan Walewa, and 13 others by the police, users of social media argued that some of the killers could still be traced.

Already, photographs of some of the suspected killers, have surfaced on the Internet.

The photographs were frozen from the video tape of the killings.

One of the suspects was believed to have poured petrol on the students and lit the fire. For instance, a blog, AmeborTalk.com, has the photographs of two of the suspected killers and a crowd at the scene on its page. A contributor on Nigeria Online Community wrote. “The guy holding the plank was an especially enthusiastic BEAST and deserves capital punishment.

“The video appeared to have been shot by the woman in purple/jeans. If you know anyone of them on this picture, have them reported to the police.”

Popular blogger, Linda Ikeji, wrote, “If the Rivers State government thinks this is an incident that will eventually die off, then they have another thing coming! They must prosecute and jail the people who committed this dastardly act before we let it rest!

“We the youths of this country demand that the River State Government look into this matter and arrest everyone in that video. Except the government want to tell us that they have given the youths of Aluu power to arrest and kill indiscriminately.

“The Rivers government MUST make a scapegoat of the people who did this so it doesn’t repeat itself. Next time, it could be my brother or your brother, my child or your child! We can’t let this happen again.” A blogger, identified simply as Kel, warned that the United Nations would be alerted if any attempt was made to sweep the matter under the carpet, adding that “if our government can’t help us then I guess we’ll get help elsewhere.”

It was also being claimed on some blogs that some policemen were allegedly at the scene of the incident and when the mob told them the young men were killers, they gave their ‘go ahead.’

Some bloggers were enraged that contrary to claims in some quarters, neither arms nor “stolen items”were found on the four young men as confirmed by the JTF who brought their bodies to the mortuary.

Culled from The Punch Nigeria.

xoxo

Simply Cheska...