It is all very well to provide free information. However, somebody is going to have to pay for it. Indeed, Psalm 146 has put us in notice:Psalm 146:'Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul!While I live I will praise the Lord; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.Do not put your trust in princes, not in a son of man, in whom there is no help.His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; in that very day his plans perish.Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God.Who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps truth forever.Who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The Lord gives freedom to the prisoners.The Lord opens the eyes of the blind; the Lord raises those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous.The Lord watches over the strangers; He relieves the fatherless and widow; but the way of the wicked He turns upside down.The Lord shall reign forever ' your God. O Zion, to all generations.Praise the Lord!'From the internet we have the following Headline: 'SAUDI BUSINESSMAN KIDNAPED IN ABUJACAPTORS DEMAND U.S.$150 MILLION AS RANSOM''Huhuonline.com understands that a Saudi businessman, Hamdan bin Tawalah, was kidnapped, minutes after he arrived Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja. Sources close to the businessman told huhuonline.com that his captors have demanded $150 million ransom. Our checks revealed that Hamdah bin Tawalah, who is in the Nigeria for business, had contact with his captors prior to his arrival. Believing they were genuine businessmen, Tawalah had asked them to wait for him at the airport.The Saudi ambassador to Nigeria, Khaled Omar Abedrabbo, who reported the incident to the Nigerian authorities, said the businessman had contacted his captors because he thought they were likely business partners.The Ambassador said: 'After they received him, they took him in their car and headed for an unknown destination.'Mohammed bin Tawalah, brother to the kidnapped businessman, said he had been in touch with his brother, who informed him the captors are demanding $150 million as ransome.'He told me he is in a good condition and he calls me almost every day from the apartment where he is being held,' he said.'Daily Trust' newspaper (September 26, 2011)Headline: 'HE DESERVED IT' WOMAN WHO 'DRUGGED HUSBAND AND CUT OFF HIS MANHOOD'PLEADS NOT GUILTY.' Catherine Kieu given $1m bail and could get life behind bars for 'attack'' Followed argument over husband's male friend staying at divorcing couple's home.' Kieu told police her husband 'deserved it'.'A woman who faces life in prison for allegedly drugging her husband before cutting off his manhood with a kitchen knife and grinding it up in a garbage disposal reportedly told police, 'he deserved it.'Catherine Kieu, 48, is said to have made her 60-year old husband dinner at their California home earlier this month and put a poison or drug in the food to make him pass out.When he woke up, he was tied to a bed and could not move while his wife took a 10 inch knife to his genitalia before throwing the organ into the garbage disposal and turning it on, police said.On Friday Mrs. Kieu pleaded not guilty to aggravated may-hem as Orange County Superior Court Judge Debra Carrillo set bail at $1million.The Couple, who married in late 2009, were involved in divorce proceedings and the horrific attack followed an argument over the husband having a male friend around friend to stay at the house, according to prosecutors.Kieu appeared briefly in a blue jail jumpsuit, with chains rattling as she walked. Her long dark hair blocked portions of her face, and she answered Carrillo's questions through a Vietnamese language interpreter.She is charged with torture and aggravated mayhem, with sentencing enhancement s for great bodily injury and use of a knife. If convicted of all counts, she could face life in prison without parole.Frank Bittar, Kieu's attorney, declined to comment on the allegations, except to say 'there's a lot there, t the case ' more than meets the eye.'Authorities were called to the couple's home in Garden Grove, ust south of Los Angeles, after Kieu called 911 reporting a medical emergency.Kieu, who works as a real estate broker, told officers who found her husband tied to the bed and bleeding from the groin that he deserved it.'She had blood spattered on her legs and shirt when authorities arrived, according to court documents.The man was rushed to the University of California-Irvine Medical Center in Orange where he underwent emergency surgery. The severed organ could not be reattached.The husband told police she served him a tofu dinner which tasted 'metallic' and he went to bed at about 9 pm feeling tired.While he was sleeping, Kieu 'tied the victim's legs and arms to the four corners of the bed with nylon ropes', prosecutors said.The victim told authorities that when he woke up, Kieu pulled his pants 'grabbing the victim's manhood and severing it with a knife.'Kieu then took the severed organ (manhood) to the kitchen and threw it in the garbage disposal, 'turning it on, and mutilating the organ.''Nigerian Compass' newspaper (September 22, 2011)Headline: 'ONE MILLION BARRERS OF CRUDE STOLEN DAILY IN NIGERIA, ERA ALLEGES''Contrary to the general feeling that the crisis situation in the Niger Delta is ebbing, the Environment Rights Action (ERA) yesterday in Enugu painted a gloomy picture still of the economic and environmental devastations going in the region, saying that some one million barrels of crude oil is stolen daily in the area.The group, which flagged off a two-day seminar for newsmen in Enugu, also lamented that close to 1000 oil spills occur annually in the Niger Delta, making the environmental devastation of the region grow without ceasing despite the so-called efforts to remedy the situation.Both the Executive Director of ERA, Nnimmo Bassey; and the Director, Corporate Accountability and Administration of the organization, Akinbode Oluwafemi, make the disclosure during the opening ceremony of the Media Training on Environmental Reporting which began yesterday.Bassey alleged that about one million barrels of crude is stolen daily in Nigeria and also lamented that surface water throughout the creeks of Ogoni land is polluted by hydrocarbons.'Hydrocarbon pollution has reached ground water at 41 sites and at a place the ground water that serves local wells was found to have up to 8cm layer of oil on it,' he said.Oluwafemi said: 'We have coastal and gully erosion, environmental impacts associated with oil exploration, forest degradation and loss of livelihoods. We must admit that the environmental challenges that we have to contend with as a nation are enormous. In the Niger Delta, the operations of oil industry have endangered conflicts and impacted wetlands, water and sanitation.'Close to 1000 oil spills occur every year, although the official figure currently puts this at 34,000 over a period of four years. Yet, the South-Eastern Nigeria also has equal burden instigated by climate change and human activities that have led to deforestation, gully erosion and its implication on the livelihoods of locals.'He also spoke of under-reported environmental issues such as coal mining and rock blasting in Enugu and Ebonyi states, saying that 'unfortunately, the impacts of these activities are hardly reported to engender policy responses.''THISDAY' newspaper (November 5, 2011)Headline:'NIGERIA MUST BE FOOD SELF-SUFFICIENT''In 1961, we accounted for 42% of the global exports of groundnut. Today we have gone down to virtually zero. Nigeria accounted at the time for 18% of global production of cocoa. Today we are back again to zero. We were the largest producer of cotton in West Africa; we were ahead of Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso.Today, we have lost that market. I can say the same also for Palm Oil production; we were at 27% of global exports. Again, we lost that position to Malaysia, which today now earns U.S.$18 billion per year from exporting Palm Oil.''Sunday Sun' newspaper (November 6, 2011)Headline:'NO I-G CAN CONTROL POLICE AGAIN ' TSAV'Alhaji Abubakar Tsav is a former Lagos State Commissioner of Police. In this interview, he x-rays the plan by the Federal Government to remove fuel subsidy, describing it as very unreasonable as it would affect the common man negatively. The social critic also speaks on other salient national issues. Excerpts'But, at what point did the police get it wrong'During Louis Edet's time, it was good; during Yussuf's, it was also good, and during Adewusi's, it was very good. It was after Adewusi that things started going wrong, because the police would go and kill innocent people and come and write false reports that they had killed armed robbers. The next day they would be promoted. The police would write a security report, the authority above would accept it and promote or post you to a very good place. That was when police job started going bad. During Adewusi's time, he tried to fortify the police by buying a lot of equipment. That was during Shagari's regime. But as soon as the military came, and Adewusi was removed, the same senior police officers went to the military and said Adewusi was trying to build the police against the Army.So, all the armoured vehicles Adewusi acquired for the police, the military took them over to fetch water and firewood from the bush. And that was when things started going bad and the man, who betrayed Adewusi eventually became IG, but could not sustain the situation. Then, we started having some of these new era IGs, who came in and introduced sectionalism and groupings into the police force. They displayed loyalty to their region and that was when things started going bad. Things have gone very, very bad in the police force, to the extent that whoever is appointed IG would not be able to bring the police force together again. The young man there now is doing his best, but it is impossible for him to bring the police together to be loyal to him, because among them are people criticizing him. I remember when I was in service, there were some policemen I caught taking bribe. We issued them query and recommended their dismissal, but these same people are still in the force now. In fact, they have risen very high. So, how do you expect such people to fight corruption' The situation is very bad. In the past, during our time, if you don't obtain government loan, you could not buy a motorcycle or bicycle, because if you did, they would ask you where you got the money. But today, a constable would ride the best car and park it next to the CP's and the CP would not have the courage to ask any question.With the scenario you just painted, are you blaming the military high command for the decay in the Nigeria Police'Yes, they started the whole rot. Policemen, who were senior officers at that time, supported the military because they wanted to retain their positions.''Daily Champion' newspaper (November 7, 2011)Headline: 'MAN, 30, RAPES 96-YEAR-OLD WOMAN IN KOGI''A 30 year-oldman, Lanre Aremu, has been arrested by the Police in Kogi for allegedly raping a 96-year-old grandmother, Ige Samuel in Iyara, Ijumu Local Government Area of the state.Parading the suspect before newsmen at the state Police Command Headquarters in Lokoja, Mr. Samuel Ojo, the Assistant, Commissioner of Police (ACP) in charge of Criminal Investigation, said the act was an abomination, ungodly and inhuman.The daughter of the victim told newsmen that the incident happened on Oct. 31, when most of the residents were in Church.She said the suspect forcefully pushed her mother into the room and raped her, adding that she was alarmed when her mother suddenly started behaving funny and speaking incoherently after the incident.One of the sons of the old woman, who is in his 60s, said the incident happened because it was on a Sunday morning and the woman's guide had travelled to Ekiti.He added that the suspect jumped out through the window, leaving behind his pair of slippers with the helpless old woman panting and writhing in pains when he noticed that people were returning from Church.He said their father died a long time ago, adding that the suspect must have committed the crime for some ritual purposes.He urged the police to compel the accused to reverse whatever he did to the woman and do everything possible to restore his mother's sanity.The suspect, who spoke in Yoruba denied the allegations, saying that the old woman beckoned on him through the window for assistance only for him to be accused of rape.In a related development, one Promise Uche, a businessman of Olobayo Housing Estate, 200 unit, Lokoja was also paraded for allegedly raping his neighbour's 19-year-old daughter on Oct. 31.The Police said Uche allegedly abducted the girl into his room and raped her, adding that doctors' report confirmed the act.He said that the suspects would be arraigned after police investigation.''Nigerian Compass' newspaper (November 4, 2011)Headline: REPS BIKER OVER NNPC, CBN ALLEGED BRIBES'Allegations of under hand deals and collection of an undisclosed amount of money yesterday marred the ongoing probe of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).Abusive words were used by members of the joint committee of the House of Representatives investigating the non-remittance of about N450 billion to the federation account since 2004.While some finally staged a walk-out from the venue, others rented the air with shouts of 'point of order, point of order' as the leadership battled to restore order.While exchange of words lasted to the amazement of officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the National Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), it took the intervention of the Deputy Minority Leader, Suleman Kawu, who was hurriedly called to the venue , to calm nerves.Trouble started when a few members came out of the arena to hold a brief meeting during which the Nigerian Compass gathered that an undisclosed amount of money had exchanged hands.Investigations later revealed that the anger of the members was that a certain committee chairman had gone behind them to strike a deal to ensure that those invited to defend themselves had soft landing at yesterday's hearing.A deputy chairman of one of the committees was said to have openly rained abused on his chairman who was said to have received the amount which came in foreign currencies.The selected committees involved in the three-day hearing are Committees on Finance and Petroleum (Upstream and Down-stream).Some had also threatened to forward a petition on the alleged bribery scandal to Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal who is away in the United Arabic Emirates (UAE) attending the International Bar Association (IBA) Conference.A member, who preferred anonymity, said they have facts and details of how the money found its way into the venue.Others described the situation as very embarrassing and a set-back for the image of the House.The failure3 of Ajibola Muraina and Abdulmunini Jibril, Chairmen of Committees on Petroleum, (Upstream) and Finance respectively, to talk their members into accepting their mode of moderating the programme further worsened the uproar.Muraina was in particular accused of leading the Petroleum Minister, Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke, into her questions.He was also accused of planning to repeat a similar situation on Wednesday where he prevented his colleagues from asking questions directly from the invitees except they are vetted by him first.A highly informed source in the office of the Speaker, however, told the Nigerian Compass last night that moves had commenced to make changes in the leadership of the committees handling the hearing.The source said the House leadership's purpose of using the hearing as a step to check the proposed removal of fuel subsidy may have failed.Complaints were said to have flooded the ears of the leadership on the poor manner at which the investigative hearing is being carried out.While the yelling members continued, the NNPC took its time to put up a defence that the petroleum sector can not be run as expected by the National Assembly.The minister argued: 'The oil and gas industry is highly capitalized, that it cannot be run on government appropriation. Let members know that the NNPC is not subject to the Consolidation Revenue.'According to her, the ministry's budget was N9 billion this year and was too small for the operations of the oil and gas by the NNPC.She said the NNPC had made no deductions as claimed by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), adding that what happened was a case of discrepancies in the volume of crude pumped out and what was recorded.She said the same situation was experienced in 2003 when the NNPC ended up making what she called 'forced payment.'But, the Executive Secretary of NEITI, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, in her submission, still maintained that the NNPC was indebted to the Federation Account up till the tune of N842 billion and not N450 billion as formerly presented.NEITI presented an audited report that shows that between 2004 and 2008, there were under-payment and overpayment of invoice values by the NNPC.Also, the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Mr. Niyi Otunla, gave details of the non-remittance to the Federation Account by the NNPC from 2005 to 2008 to the tune of N450,776,350,456.26.'The NNPC withheld a total of N450 billion from the proceeds generated by it between the periods of February 2005 to November 2008.'The amount deducted is not in dispute as the NNPC agreed with figures, as they have begun the repayment of the sum of N7,617,426,250 per month, effective from the month of September 2011,' he said.'The Punch' newspaper (November 4, 2011).Headline:'12-YEAR-OLD ORPHAN RAPED BY POLICEMAN GIVES BIRTH''A 12-year-old (name withheld), who was allegedly raped by a policeman in Ekiti State Police Command has been delivered of a baby.The wife of Ekiti State governor, Mrs. Bisi Fayemi, said this in Ado-Ekiti on Thursday during an advocacy visit to the state House of Assembly on the need to pass into law the Gender-based Violence Prohibition bill.The governor's wife was accompanied to the Assembly by the Deputy Governor, Mrs. Funmi Olayinka, Chairman of the state chapter of International Federation of Women Lawyers, Mrs. Toyin Ajibulu, female corps members and some artisans.Fayemi whose voice was laden with emotion while delivering her address said that the rape victim gave birth to a baby boy recently.She said that those present at the naming ceremony were in tears because the mother herself was still a 'baby'.She said that DNA test would be carried out on the baby to confirm his paternity.Fayemi vowed that the case would be followed to a local conclusion, saying justice must prevail.The teenager was allegedly raped in 2010 by a policeman who lured her into a bush while she was running an errand.The victim, an orphan, was living with her grandma and the old woman who was said to be away when the girl was raped.The governor's wife, who appealed to the House Committee on Women Affairs and Gender Equality to expedite action on the passage of the bill, stated that the lawmakers stood the chance of writing their names in gold by passing the bill into law.'Please pass the bill because this will be your legacy for the people of Ekiti State. The Late Saliu Adeoti, the former deputy speaker of the third assembly is still being celebrated due to his contributions to the making of people-oriented laws,' she said.Some of the women who followed the governor's wife on the visit carried placards with various inscriptions such as 'Violence is barbaric.' 'No to domestic violence in Ekiti State;' 'Violence is not discipline.' 'Stop all forms of violence against women.'According to statistics, 33 cases of battery were recorded in the state between January and August. Of the recorded cases, eight were batteries, while 25 were sexual-related.PUNCH METRO had on May 25 published that the policeman, Mr. Olalekan Lasisi, allegedly raped and impregnated the orphan.It was learnt that the policeman also beat the girl's guardian, Mrs. Juliana Olajiga, who had gone to challenge him for defiling her ward. The victim, was said to have been raped twice by the policeman around November 2010.Lasisi allegedly sighted the victim, who was sent on an errand in Basiri area of Ado-Ekiti, dragged her inside a bush and had several rounds of sex with her.The victim, who was said to be a virgin until she was raped, was said to have stopped schooling, and her guardian expressed the fear that she might not be able to continue with her education.The policeman was said to have injured the victim's guardian at her residence in Similoluwa area of Ado-Ekiti on May 12, 2011, when he was eventually found.'Bashorun R `andle, OFR, is the CEO of JK Randle Professional Services. 'E-mail: jkrandleintuk@gmail.com
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