At the weekend I was discussing Trump’s “shithole” remarks with a friend, and mentioned something a lot of people don’t get. The third world is not like the first world but with poorer people; the third world is an altogether different place (the ZMan remarks on this occasionally).<\/p>\n
In order to illustrate the point that Africa is very, very different from anywhere else I showed my friend some news articles I’d posted on my blog back when I lived in Nigeria. One should understand that I didn’t go around specifically hunting for such stories to paint a slanted picture of the country in which I was living. Instead, I took them from a company’s internal intranet which featured a page of local news items that a Nigerian employee had assembled from various media outlets. I don’t believe any further comment is necessary to illustrate my point, so I’ll just post the stories as I found them.<\/p>\n
Story 1:<\/strong><\/p>\n A woman, Oluremi Bolaji, 32, held residents of Ijeshatedo, Surulere and its environs spell bound when she mysteriously appeared on the minaret of the Ijesha Central Mosque in Lagos. The scene of the incident became a Mecca of sort as residents from the neigbouring communities gathered to witness the incident. Many of the onlookers expressed surprise at how Bolaji managed to climb the mosque tower even as they wondered how the mother of three would be rescued safely.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, there were different sides to the Bolaji saga. While some people claimed she was a witch on a failed mission, and reaping the fruits of her wickedness, others said she was mentally deranged, a claim corroborated by Bolaji\u2019s father. According to Bolaji\u2019s father who wept openly at his daughter\u2019s risky situation, the victim was mentally ill and the family had been making plans to move her to a psychiatrist home for treatment before the incident. Ikechukwu, after getting the assurance that he would be given the money began to climb the minaret. Unaware that he was embarking on a dangerous mission, Ikechukwu never returned to claim the money he was promised. He was allegedly pushed down by Bolaji using one of the wooden beams the construction workers had placed in the minaret. He landed, hitting his head on the concrete floor. He died instantly. Following Ikechukwu\u2019s fatal fall, Bolaji was said to have boasted that she would kill more people should they venture to bring her down.<\/p>\n However, the Imam in charge of the mosque, Ganiyu Oyebanjo, was said to have contacted the policemen and men of the State Fire Service. Daily Sun gathered that before the arrival of the crime fighters, a native doctor was said to have made a futile attempt to rescue Bolaji. The medicine man was said to have recited some incantations, cast spell but to no avail. He was reportedly chased away by the crowd. Men of the state fire service on their arrival splashed water on the victim hoping it would scare her, yet she remained adamant.<\/p>\n When Daily Sun arrived the scene Bolaji was seen entertaining her audience. Repeatedly, she would remove her clothes dance around while the malefolk applauded her. When it was obvious that the woman just had to be saved from possible death, able-bodied men comprising mainly of members of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), took over the rescue mission.<\/p>\n They beckoned on her to come down, while she shouted in Yoruba language that they should leave her alone. She began throwing stones at the men who for safety had to wear helmet. Gradually the men climbed up the tower, distracted the lady while another with the aid of a plank pushed her from the minaret to the roof of the mosque. She was eventually brought down from the roof.<\/p>\n The mob attempted to lynch Bolaji but for the quick intervention of the police. She was whisked to Ijesha police station and later moved to a private hospital where she is receiving treatment. Her father lamented that things would not have degenerated to this if his daughter had not been turned back by Yaba Psychiatric hospital. According to him, the hospital had asked that the family should first treat the wounds Oluremi had inflicted on herself before bringing her for admission. The angry mob took to the street, protesting the death of Ikechukwu and calling for the heads of the woman and members of her entire family.<\/p>\n The mob barricaded Ijesha Lawanson Road, disrupting commercial activities and vehicular movements. Some hoodlums who hijacked the protest used the opportunity to snatch peoples mobile phones and handbags. The police eventually dispersed the protesters by firing tear gas canisters. He alleged that worshippers had prevailed on the deceased, Ikechukwu, to wait for the arrival of policemen and the fire fighters but he was adamant, probably because of the N1, 000, allegedly promised him by his colleagues.<\/p>\n Lagos State police spokesman, Mr. Frank Mba, who confirmed the death of Ikechukwu, said the quick intervention of the police saved the lady from being stoned to death by the mob. He said both the police and fire fighters rushed the woman in an ambulance to the police before taking her to the hospital. Story 2:<\/strong><\/p>\n The killing of a 45-year-old Akwa Ibom man, Mr. Mfon Edung, by people believed to be his relatives over allegation of witchcraft is generating concerns among the family of the slain man.<\/p>\n It was learnt that the father of three, who hailed from Mbokpu Eyoima in Urue Offong\/Oruko Local Government Area of the state, was killed on his way to\u00a0collect his church\u2019s pulpit\u00a0from Mr. Ini Edung on Friday.<\/p>\n An eyewitness, who preferred anonymity, said the deceased was riding on a motorcycle when he saw some men at Oyoku Ubighi, drinking andeating dog meat\u00a0at a joint.<\/p>\n The eyewitness explained that the men jumped inside a vehicle immediately they sighted him and chased the deceased.<\/p>\n He said, \u201cWe saw Mfon riding on a motorcycle and almost all the men that were drinking left immediately to close him. They followed him and when they got to a desolate area, hit him with their vehicle.<\/p>\n \u201cAs he tried to get up and run, people around the area, who thought it was an accident, rushed to the scene to rescue him.<\/p>\n \u201cBut no fewer than five persons got out of the vehicle,\u00a0with axes and cutlasses\u00a0and hacked the deceased. They shot into the air sporadically to scare the crowd, and took the body away to an unknown destination.\u201d<\/p>\n Also, a bicycle rider, who also craved anonymity, corroborated the eyewitness\u2019 account.<\/p>\n He added that as he was running to the scene to rescue the deceased, he saw some men coming out of a white Volvo car with no number plate.<\/p>\n He said, \u201cWhen I saw them, I was afraid and quickly retreated. In the process of killing Mfon, I heard one of them say, \u2018You use your\u00a0witchcraft power\u00a0to kill my mother. I warned you if the woman died, you too would die. And let us see if your witchcraft will be able to save you.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cI held my breath. When they finished cutting the deceased up, they took the body away, and nobody could trace them anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n The wife of the deceased, Ikwo, said her husband was going to ask Etim how far he had gone with the aluminium pulpit he was making for the church.<\/p>\n She said from what she learnt, when her husband was returning home around 5pm at Mbokpu Oyoima, a vehicle was trailing him but he didn\u2019t notice it.<\/p>\n She said she learnt her husband was killed at a desolate area, opposite a church at Oyoku Ibighi, in Urue Offong\/Oruko LGA.<\/p>\n She said her husband had abandoned home to live with friends following repeated threat messages by his relations.<\/p>\n She said, \u201cAll along they had been sending threat messages to the extent that a Deacon in a church, summoned my husband and advised him to avoid some of his relations because of the threats.<\/p>\n \u201cMy husband had on two occasions been\u00a0mercilessly beaten\u00a0by his own people and some\u00a0cult men\u00a0in the village. When I reported the matter to the police who came to my husband\u2019s rescue, his relations blamed me and\u00a0fined me one she-goat and 10 bottles of locally-made gin\u00a0for insulting them by calling the police.<\/p>\n \u201cThey blamed my husband for the sickness of her sister and said if the woman should die, my husband would also be killed. And so, they carried out their threat.\u201d<\/p>\n Ikwo said when she reported the matter to the police in the area, they asked\u00a0what she expected them to do\u00a0after the man had been killed.<\/p>\n Story 3:<\/strong><\/p>\n A police corporal, Olufemi Ajayi, was yesterday set ablaze in Ayete, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State, by an irate mob, after he allegedly shot and killed a commercial driver at a checkpoint.<\/p>\n Ajayi, who is attached to Igboora Police Station, allegedly shot the victim, Mr. Emiola Kolade, after a minor argument.<\/p>\n Kolade died in a hospital in Igboora.<\/p>\n An eyewitness, Alhaji Salau Adele, said: \u201cIt all started at one of the many illegal checkpoints on Idere-Ayete road, when the corporal flagged down the driver and demanded a bribe. The driver gave him N100, but the policeman said the money was too small and refused to accept it.<\/p>\n \u201cThis led to an argument between the two. We heard a gunshot later and the driver was found injured on the ground. The policeman tried to escape, but he was caught.\u201d<\/p>\n It was learnt that the policeman was beaten and set ablaze by the mob.<\/p>\n Story 4:<\/strong><\/p>\n The renewed efforts of the Niger State\u00a0police command to rid the state of criminal elements may have started yielding results, following the discovery of a severed head of a few months old baby girl in a polythene in possession of a young man suspected to be one of the arrow-heads of a syndicate that specialises in using human parts for ritual purposes in parts of the state.<\/p>\n The discovery of the strange object with the suspect (names withheld) occurred early last week, during a stop and search duty by a team of policemen on the highway at Erena, in Shiroro Local Government area of the state .<\/p>\n The Nigerian Tribune further learnt that trouble began for the young man, when he was allegedly sighted by a policeman, holding a wet Bagco Super sack and attempting to board a commercial vehicle from the village (Erena) with the bag allegedly containing the fresh human head.<\/p>\n It was further gathered that, as the suspect was about to board the vehicle, the policeman allegedly observed that a liquid substance which was a mixture of blood and water was said to have been oozing from the bag.<\/p>\n A police source at the homicide section of the state Criminal Investigation Department(CID), Minna, the state capital, informed the Nigerian Tribune that, as a result of that, the policeman became suspicious and requested to know the content of the bag.<\/p>\n The source who craved for anonymity in a chat with the NT stated that the suspect allegedly told the Policeman that the bag contained some pieces of fresh Tomatoes , just as the policeman insisted that he must be allowed\u00a0to see whether it was \u201cTomatoes\u201d or not.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was however at the point of a very serious struggle between the suspect and the policeman, that some concerned on lookers who were either passing by of attempting to board commercial vehicles near the scene who assisted the policeman in apprehending the suspect. And when they forced the bag opened, they now saw the head of human being concealed in the sack\u201d the source stated.<\/p>\n NT was further informed that no sooner that the strange object was discovered with the suspect that an irate mob gathered with the view to beating him into a pulp, but that the policeman was allegedly able to maneuver him to the nearby police outpost in the village where he was kept in the police cell as he was said to have confessed to the crime during investigation by the police.<\/p>\n \u201cHe now confessed that another person gave him the head and at the point of the police trying to track down the person he also escaped from the police\u2019s cell that fateful night , while the police went to look for the person whom he said gave him the head . But after apprehending the man, fortunately for the police, the following morning, he was re-arrested and the two of them have been transferred to the state CID for further investigation\u201d said the source.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" At the weekend I was discussing Trump’s “shithole” remarks with a friend, and mentioned something a lot of people don’t get. The third world is not like the first world but with poorer people; the third world is an altogether … Continue reading
\nResidents of the area had woken up to see the woman perched dangerously atop the minaret which is under construction as part of ongoing renovation works on the three-storey mosque.<\/p>\n
\n<\/span>Amid the confusion over how to rescue Bolaji safely from her precarious position, a commercial tricyclist, simply identified as Ikechukwu, offered to bring the lady down if his colleagues would compensate him with the sum of N1, 000. There was another angle to the Ikechukwu story, as another account said he had actually placed a bet with some other young men at the scene that he could bring down the woman. The wager was put at N1,000.00.<\/p>\n
\nThe Imam, Ganiyu Oyebanjo, expressed shock on how the woman managed to climb the minaret. \u201cI think she was being controlled by a demonic force. She climbed the minaret at about midnight and was brought down around 11:00 am.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nHe said the body of Ikechukwu had been taken by his family for burial. Mba advised members of the public to always report such incidents to the police rather than resort to jungle justice.<\/p>\n