Thugs chase, kill INEC staffer in Jos

Gov. Jonah Jang

A group of hoodlums yesterday chased and killed an ad hoc staffer of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) while two soldiers who were trying to save him were badly injured at the Tina Junction in Jos North local government area of Plateau state. Our correspondent reports that the victim, Murtala Ibrahim, a law graduate, was attacked and killed when six INEC ad hoc staffers went to the area to collect registration materials for their ward in preparation for the voter registration exercise.

According to an eyewitness, Umar M. Adam, who was among those who escaped the mob attack, they went to the area early in the morning to collect the materials when they were surrounded by a group of youths who attacked them.

Adam said the initial place where they used to collect the materials during every election or voter registration exercise was at Baptist School, but during this exercise the venue was shifted to St. Philip Academy. He said, “At first, we were reluctant to go there considering the nature of what is happening in Jos, but we were assured by the Electoral Officer (E.O) that nothing will happen to us.”

He said despite the fact that they were accompanied by some soldiers, they were still attacked, and that the two soldiers that were accompanying them sustained injuries on the leg and head respectively, after rescuing them.

According to Adam, four of them, including Murtala Muhammed, Salisu Husaini and Abdul Salam Yusuf were hidden in a classroom by one police woman, while Jamilu and the deceased (Murtala Ibrahim) hid inside one of the soldiers’ outposts in the area. He said, “Jamilu narrowly escaped, while Murtala (the deceased) and the two soldiers who were trying to control the youths were overpowered and in the end Murtala was killed and the two soldiers were injured”.

Adam added that it took the intervention of two armoured tankers and two Hilux vehicles filled with soldiers before they were rescued, adding that one of the vehicles belonging to the soldiers was badly damaged by the rampaging youths.

The Special Task Force (STF) spokesperson Captain Charles Ekoacha confirmed the incident to newsmen. Although this aspect was not confirmed by the STF, Daily Trust learnt that two of the hoodlums were killed while some of them were injured in the struggle to rescue the INEC ad hoc staff.

Meanwhile, the Special Military Task Force on the Jos crisis [STF] yesterday received orders to fire at any person or group of persons attempting to kill or to burn a public building in the state.

STF spokesman Capt. Charles Ekeocha said the order was received yesterday in reaction to the unrest at Tina Junction where an INEC staff who took cover in the tent of the soldiers while a mob was pursuing him was killed and his body was set ablaze while the soldiers watched helplessly. Ekeocha said the order took effect from yesterday. He said any act of violence from any individual or group henceforth would be met by force.

“We have been ordered to shoot and kill anybody trying to kill another or anybody trying to burn down a church or a mosque,” he said. The STF spokesman cautioned elders and parents in the community to talk to their wards not to take the laws into their hands, saying the kind of scenario that played out on Monday where an official on duty was killed right under their nose would not be allowed to happen again.

Govt may withdraw privileges over voters’ card – INEC

Prof. Attahiru Jega

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has hinted that government may deny eligible Nigerians certain benefits if they failed to register and obtain voters card. The INEC Resident Commissioner in Lagos Adetokumbo Ladipo dropped the hint at a voter’s registration sensitization seminar/workshop for traders in Lagos.

Mr. Ladipo who recalled that such punitive action against citizens who failed to do their civic duties had been done in the past said it could still be meted out by government if it so desires.  He also announced that anybody caught to have registered twice will face the law and risks one year jail term or fine or both.

He encouraged the traders and indeed Nigerians to come out and register and vote for their preferred candidate assuring that their vote will count.   The one-day seminar put together by Traders Right Protection Initiative in conjunction with Traders Voice Newspaper and INEC was to encourage traders to be fully involved in the elections activities.

PDP Convention - More protests in Kaduna, Bauchi

protesters burning umbrellas and PDP flag

Protests began by youths in some Northern cities to protest the outcome of the Peoples Democratic Party’s [PDP] presidential primaries of last week spread yesterday to Kaduna and Bauchi states, with protesters burning the party flag and causing commotion in the streets. Vice President Mohamed Namadi Sambo also had to cancel his planned visit to Kaduna yesterday to participate in the voter registration exercise.

Pandemonium had broken out along the busy Muhammadu Buhari/ Waff Road in Kaduna metropolis yesterday when youths numbering about a hundred set ablaze the flag of the ruling PDP. They said they were protesting the outcome of the party’s presidential primaries held in Abuja last Thursday.

The youths, who barricaded the road for some time, created tension in the area as passersby scampered away for safety.  The youths who came on motorcycles were chanting “Ba muson PDP,” meaning they don’t want PDP.

They destroyed several umbrellas [the PDP symbol] as well as the party’s flags and banners. They also attempted to enter the Kaduna secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) but the chairman of the state council, Alhaji Yusuf Idris quickly ordered for the closure of the secretariat.

Speaking to our correspondent, one of the protesting youths, Adamu Mohammed, said they decided to denounce the PDP following the way that last Thursday’s primaries was conducted.

He said, “We are doing this to show our displeasure in the sham primaries they conducted. There is no internal democracy in the party at all. For them to dump zoning, we are also dumping the party and we are going to work against them.’’

Chairman of the Kaduna council of NUJ Alhaji Yusuf Idris said they decided to lock the secretariat because the press centre was not meant for protest. He also said the protesters did not tell the NUJ leaders that they were coming.

Meanwhile, Daily Trust gathered that Vice President Sambo decided to postpone his voters’ registration in Kaduna because of “unfavourable security reports.” The Vice President had been expected to perform the civic responsibility at a special polling unit at Shooting Range, near the Almanar Juma’at Mosque Close, a stone’s throw from his Kaduna residence.

Dozens of security men were drafted to the area. All roads leading to the shooting range polling unit were fortified by security men. The VP’s advanced team had arrived the Shooting Range polling unit around 2.pm.

Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media, Alhaji Sani Umar had told our correspondent that the VP would be coming to the state for the voter registration. Newsmen from both electronic and print media houses waited for hours at the Shooting Range. The news of the cancellation of the VP’s trip was broken to the newsmen at 4.10 pm.

Meanwhile, in Bauchi state, the police had to disperse a group of youths who were protesting over the emergence of President Goodluck Jonathan as the flag bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2011 presidential election.

Our correspondent who monitored the protest reported that the youths took over Nasarawa and Ran roads chanting bamuso, Bamuyin Jonathan, meaning “we don’t want”, “we are not doing [i.e. supporting] Jonathan.” They burnt several PDP flags and an umbrella. Men of the Special Anti robbery Squad as well as soldiers in an Army Hilux truck followed the protesting youths along the streets and dispersed them before they could hold a rally.

Leader of the protesters, Comrade Aliyu Ladan, said they were disappointed with the northern governors who they said compelled their delegates to vote for Jonathan. Ladan threatened that they will decamp from PDP and would do everything to frustrate Jonathan’s election in the North.

He said the PDP national leadership did not follow the zoning formula of allowing the north to produce the party’s next presidential candidate. He said, “They should have allowed the northern part of the country to complete its four years before going for any negations. Already, the south have finished their tenure through Obasanjo, so therefore it is now is the turn of north to rule for eight years. All our elders, women, and youth in the state are going out of the party (PDP), because the youth are the majority of Nigerian voters.”

Bauchi State Publicity Secretary of PDP Sani Al’amin Mohammed however said PDP youths don’t take laws in their hands and advised the protesting youth, “if they are genuine PDP members,” to come forward and express their grievances peacefully.

Jonathan says Nigeria doomed without unity

President Goodluck Jonathan said yesterday that without unity Nigeria’s development as a country will be doomed.

He decried the incessant crises in the country which led to the death of personnel of the armed forces and other security agencies thereby bringing untold hardship to their families. President Jonathan spoke at the 2011 Armed Forces Remembrance Day held at the National Christian Centre amidst tight security yesterday.

He called on the congregation and Nigerians to pray for the country’s armed forces and other security agencies as their work has continued to keep the nation together.

He said the nation’s diversity should not be seen as a hindrance but resources that can be exploited for the development of the country.

President Jonathan, who noted that Nigerians sometimes seem to dwell more on the excesses of some personnel thereby not giving them kudos for efforts made to sustain our democracy and security, called on Nigerians to remember them in prayers as they are people who have sworn to die for us to live.

“Today we remember those who have passed on and call on all Nigerians to pray for them, their widows, children and dependants that God will provide a window for them to cushion the suffering of those whose husbands paid the supreme sacrifice for this nation,” he said.

In his sermon titled “Leadership that stands out”, the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, using Prophet Nehemiah as an example, said “a leader that does not fear God would make himself god. A leader that does not fear god becomes a master instead of a servant”.

Oritsejafor also said Nehemiah identified with the people, adding “a good leader would sit where the people sit, feel what the people feel so that he would know what the people need and therefore be able to do what is right.”

Others who attended the service were the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, the President’s mother, representative of the Senate President, the ministers, the Chief of Defence Staff and Service Chiefs, and heads of other security agencies and the  representative of the Inspector General of Police.

Northern consensus group meets without Saraki, transforms to G3

General Ibrahim Babangida

The northern consensus group (G4) consisting General Ibrahim Babangida, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, General Aliyu Gusau and Governor Bukola Saraki met yesterday in Abuja without the Kwara State governor to discuss the outcome of last Thursday’s presidential primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Details of the meeting could not be obtained at press time but a source told Daily Trust that the “G4” might have transformed to “G3” “with Governor Bukola having moved over to Jonathan, leaving General Babangida, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and General Aliyu Gusau.”

However, when asked why he did not attend yesterday’s meeting, Saraki who spoke through the spokesman of his campaign organisation, Garbdeen Mohammed, said the Kwara State governor did not deliberately boycott the meeting.

He said the meeting was earlier slated for today (Monday) but later shifted forward to yesterday, pointing out that Saraki received the notice at a very short notice when he had already given a commitment to other state matters. Garbadeen said being a state governor, Saraki was also overwhelmed by the ongoing registration exercise the start of which was greeted by some hiccups.

Members of the G4, all PDP presidential aspirants had submitted themselves to a consensus arrangement worked out by nine ‘wise men’ headed by elder statesman Malam Adamu Ciroma in which Atiku emerged as the consensus.

However, only Governor Saraki could not deliver his state to Atiku in last Thursday’s primaries, something which appears to have raised some level of suspicion since both Babangida and Gusau delivered their respective states of Niger and Zamafara in accordance with their pledge to support Atiku after the result of consensus.

The former VP’s camp also said it was unaware of the reconciliation moves widely reported to have been initiated by President Jonathan.

The president’s spokesman Ima Niboro was quoted on Saturday as saying that Jonathan is meeting with Atiku, IBB and Adamu Ciroma in his effort to mend fences with the trio and their supporters because of the wounds inflicted in the build up to the presidential primaries.

When contacted, Atiku’s media aide Garba Shehu said: “We too read about it in the press.”

Shekarau wins ANPP ticket

Governor Ibrahim Shekarau

Governor Ibrahim Shekarau of Kano State recorded a landslide win early Sunday morning to emerge as the presidential candidate of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) at the Eagle Square, Abuja.

Shekarau polled 4,178 of the total 5,315 votes cast to defeat the three other aspirants. Chairman of the ANPP National Election Committee and the party’s Returning Officer, Senator Maina Ma’aji Lawan, who announced the results and declared Shekarau winner, also declared that the former Board of Trustees (BOT) chairman and three times presidential aspirant of the party, Chief Harry Ayoade Akande, came a distant second with 708 votes. Former Education Minister Alhaji Dauda Birmah scored 148 votes while Alhaji Bashir Othman Tofa garnered 139 votes. 142 votes were invalidated.

In his acceptance speech, Malam Shekarau said he was gratified to witness a free, fair and transparent primaries that led to his emergence and he promised to tackle corruption if elected president. He said, “Election symbolised the answer to the dreams and aspirations of fellow Nigerians to work out actual ways of national development and bring Nigeria among the top 20 economies of the world.”

The four aspirants had earlier undergone thorough screening and were cleared by the Senator Ahmed Sani-led screening panel to contest.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had fixed January 15 as the deadline for the conclusion of primaries and submission of candidates for the April polls, but it extended the deadline for the ANPP following the party’s inability to hold its special 2011 presidential convention at the Eagles Square, Abuja on Saturday due to the Armed Forces Remembrance Day celebration that was held there.

Chairman of the convention committee and former Edo State governor Chief John Odigie Oyegun, who told newsmen of the deadline extension by INEC said, “We wrote to the electoral body on the challenges we were facing concerning the venue of the convention. They reasoned with us because we have published the date of our convention in the media but we could not hold it that night because of the Armed Forces Remembrance Day. We have respect for our military, our country and our president that is why we have to conduct the primaries today (yesterday) using the same venue. We have that agreement in writing that even if there is a slippage into January 16, INEC will accommodate us because what happened was totally outside our control.”

He said the military, police, State Security Services (SSS), the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corp (NSCDC) and Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) sent 500 men each to the convention, in addition to 200 federal highway patrol men.

ANPP’s National Chairman Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, while declaring open the convention, said the party has been in opposition for too long and that it will take over power from the PDP. “We therefore advise the ruling party to start preparing to play the role of the leading opposition political party in Nigeria,” Onu said.

Each of the four aspirants was given five minutes to address the delegates before the voting commenced. Shekarau, in his speech, said the occasion was a day of great of history, a great moment of change for ANPP and for the country as a whole and that the expected change in Nigeria would come with the election of a credible and experienced leader to lead the way.

While decrying the slow pace of development in the power, education, energy and agricultural sectors, he promised an accelerated change in the country. He said, “The change I am talking about is the restoration of trust and confidence in the running of government in Nigeria. This is the foundation of good governance in Nigeria.”

Chief Akande, on his part, expressed regret on the dwindling fortunes of ANPP from nine governors in 1999 to three today, saying the party needs a rebirth and that he was presenting himself as the pivot of that rebirth.

Alhaji Bashir Tofa advised the delegates to see the convention as the last chance for ANPP to progress and give Nigerians the best, saying “Nigeria yesterday was always better than today’’, hence the need for change. “Nigerians and Nigeria just need to change or be short-changed,” he said.

Alhaji Dauda Birmah lamented the backwardness of the country due to bad leadership and promised to give good leadership to redress the injustice of the past. He also promised to bring about positive change in education, agriculture and power sectors, among others, while recalling that he stepped down eight years ago for Gen. Muhammadu Buhari. He who fights and runs, lives to fight another day, he said.

N600m water plant collapses at test run

The overhead tank of a N539 million water treatment plant in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital, collapsed yesterday during a test-run by the contractor. Water had been pumped into the tank for the first time when it keeled over and fell.

Ibrum Integrated Services Limited, which has N1.6 billion water project contracts in the state, was given six months from May, 2008 to complete the Lafia project with specifications to refurbish the old water works, provide two additional overhead tanks at the plants’ booster station along Shendam Road and NTA area, and to provide underground pipes through the metropolis to channel water to the various sections of Lafia.

But the project suffered serious hitches, with the completion period dragging on till yesterday, when the company’s engineers invited government officials to witness the test run at the booster station along Shendam Road.

The main tank, whose capacity was put at 3 million gallons, was filled to the brim in the test run, but its stands then began to wobble, made a screeching noise before pumping water to the various channels. Engineers and government supervisors who stood at the foot of the main tank had a premonition of impending disaster coming and they took to their heels, leaving behind some construction vehicles behind.

The stands then collapsed and the overhead tank came crashed down, ramming into construction equipment and sending water surging water into adjoining offices and all the way down the Shendam Road. Even though the booster station’s premises was hard hit, no one was hurt as the engineers and government officials had all scampered away. Nasarawa State Commissioner for Water Resources James Agule Kasse spoke to newsmen shortly after he led the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Timothy Anjide for an on-the-spot visit to the collapsed structure, thanking God that no lives were lost.

Kasse blamed “technical problems” for the tank’s collapse but told newsmen the management of the contractors was yet to report to Lafia to give reasons. He said, “The contractor is not around. We want to meet with the contractor first because the project is still under him, and is only being test run.”

The project was expected to be presented for commissioning soon.

EFCC advisory not for sinister motive - Waziri

EFCC boss Farida Waziri was recently is in the news over her organisation’s controversial advisory which lists out allegedly corrupt government officials. Weekly Trust spoke to her on that, as well as other issues. Excerpts:

Weekly Trust: What informed the release of the advisory even after it is obvious that the Supreme Court ruling in 2007 clearly said that the EFCC could not ban politicians from contesting election?


Farida Waziri: Let me make it crystal clear that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is not the Independent National Electoral Commission and its mandate does not extend to the issue of election. The so-called advisory is an interpretational fallacy by those who love to cry wolf where there is none. There is no list specially prepared by the EFCC to achieve any sinister motive. As a law enforcement agency, we keep records of all our prosecutions and convictions. This is obtainable on our website. The record has always been there. If a newspaper visits the website and publishes such a record for public consumption, both the newspaper and the EFCC have done nothing wrong. I really don’t understand why we are making an issue of a normal, routine issue like this.

The Supreme Court ruling has nothing to do with this issue because we have not made any statement of any kind to suggest a contravention or contempt of the highest court in the land. Even the Supreme Court has a record of its convictions in its registry. So, what are we talking about? There is hardly any agency or even private company today that does not keep a record of its activities on its website. So, why the hue and cry about EFCC maintaining a record of its activities on its website? Politicians and their agents know how to make a mountain out of a molehill because there is an agenda they want to pursue. The EFCC is not partisan and will never be. Our mandate is clear and we have no problem keeping to it.

WT: But the advisory is coming few weeks after EFCC said it will advise political parties on those to field for election…

Waziri: The two are not related, though the ambience may suggest so. The EFCC never set out to short-circuit the political process by hinting at any form of exclusion of politicians in the game they know too well. Democracy is about inclusion and a level-playing field for all. What we have is a record of investigation and prosecution activities and not any advisory list as you will want to tag it but it is beyond my control to determine what an organization or someone else does with information that is in the public domain.

It is not helpful to link two separate incidences all in a bid to draw some conclusions that may not follow from the premises. If the EFCC feels that political parties should take a decision on some accused persons standing trial in any court, the decision will not be made by us. Parties have their guidelines, internal modalities that can be employed to achieve any purpose they seek to achieve.

WT: There was also a reported secret meeting between the EFCC chairman and the PDP that also fueled the belief that the commission is acting the presidency script…

Waziri: There is no script anywhere. If there was a secret meeting, how come it was reported as you said? It was a normal interactive meeting, the kind of meeting you would expect between two institutions working together for the progress of the nation.

WT: Then on the visit of the EFCC to Rivers, Jigawa and Kwara states at the height of the zoning debate. Don’t you think that the people are justified to put one and two together to arrive at their conclusions having seen the EFCC act this way during the time of Nuhu Ribadu?

Waziri: The EFCC is always working. The timing of any of our visit to any state, institution or individual has nothing to do with the political mood of the nation. We are just doing our work.

WT: One of the controversial actions of Ribadu while in office has to do with his attempt in 2007 to stop politicians who had problems with former President Olusegun Obasanjo from contesting election. Why does the EFCC appear to be treading the same path?

Waziri: There is no controversy anywhere because the EFCC is not treading any mischievous path. Let me emphasize it here that the EFCC is not interested in the vocation of anyone having matters being looked into either at the investigative level or at prosecution level. We are not bothered whether a politician, banker, surveyor, journalist or hotelier has a matter we are working on. What we are interested in is the integrity of the work we are doing.

WT: What is your reaction to outbursts by politicians, some of who have tagged it ‘adversary list’ to poke fun at it and some even calling on you to resign…

Waziri: There is no trouble whatsoever with any politician because we are not on the same terrain. Well, you talked about outburst. Let it remain so. Should I resign just on the basis of an outburst? It is not the gesture you make to people that matters but the way it is interpreted. The EFCC’s gesture is clear: clean and honest people have no trouble with us.

WT: So you are saying the EFCC isn’t being used by the Presidency to hunt its enemies?

Waziri: And who are these enemies of the government? As much as I know, President Goodluck Jonathan is a President of every Nigerian.

WT: When you took over there were high expectation that you will chart a new course. Don’t you think that these political issues are unnecessarily making EFCC more controversial?

Waziri: Those who had high expectation that I would chart a new course have never been disappointed and they will never be. The truth is that there has been a paradigm shift in EFCC. The progress has been steady and consistent. A professional EFCC has emerged. A confident and globally-competitive law enforcement agency has been built.

WT: You once said that Nuhu Ribadu never gave a handover note to you except one sheet of paper. Now that he is back, has he come to do a proper handover?

Waziri: Thank God you know he is back. Why don’t you ask him if he has come to do that?

12-year-old kidnapped in Lagos, rescued in Sokoto

From all indications, kidnapping is becoming popular. Another thing is certain, that the traditional African style of life where people live as one family with their neighbors and in some cases, entrust the care of their children into their neighbors, may suffer. The case of 12-year-old Chizaram Christopher, a primary one pupil of Unity Primary School, Lagos, who was allegedly kidnapped in Lagos by a neighbor, Ndubuisi, who is now at large, taken to Onitsha in Anambra State and handed over to a stranger, Amidu Sula, who took the boy to Sokoto and detained him in a room, is enough testimony.

While Chizaram was detained in a house at Sokoto and fed with groundnuts, his captor Ndubuisi had gone back to Lagos from Onitsha where he met Chizaram’s aunty that the boy was staying with and decided to play the good neighbor type by helping aunty Dazie to negotiate on phone for the release of Chizaram.



The “good neighbor” Ndubuisi was able to agree with the “Kidnappers” of Chizaram on phone to accept N1.2 million from Aunty Dazie to release Chizaram. But Aunty Dazie who brought Chizaram from his parents in Imo state to stay with her before he was kidnapped, was only able to raise N1 million for the kidnappers . The kingpin of the kidnap gang, Ndubuisi - who had all through the act deceived Dazie as a good neighbor - insisted that the kidnappers were not ready to take anything less than N1.2 million. It was not however clear if Ndubusi had collected the available N1 million from Dazie in Lagos before the police in Sokoto burst the deal.

Sokoto State Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Umar Abubakar Manko, who confirmed the report said Chizaram was locked up in a room. Chizaram managed to come out of the room but could not go out of the verandah because it was locked. CP Manko said when the boy’s cry was loud, some neighbors that could not help the situation reported to the police.

He said detectives from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the command were detailed to keep vigil on the house and monitor the movements and activities of the alleged kidnappers while Chizaram was fed through the fence. When the three alleged kidnappers holding Chizaram hostage in Sokoto finally returned to the house around 10pm in the night, they were nabbed by the waiting cops.

The Taraba-born Amidu Sula who allegedly brought Chizaram from Onitsha to Sokoto said he is a licensed driver looking for work. He said his friend Ndubuisi who resides in Sokoto phoned him that he will get a job for him in Sokoto. “When we met in Onitsha, I saw him with this boy, Chizaram. Ndubuisi introduced Chizaram to me as his cousin and said he is going to live with him in Sokoto. He requested me to pay his transport fare to Sokoto but I told him I do not have money for that. Ndubuisi then told me to proceed with Chizaram to Sokoto while he will return back to Lagos and source for money. I complained to him that I have never been to Sokoto so I may not know my way. He phoned Onyebuchi Ochoba to go to the motor part in Sokoto and receive us on arrival. We met Onyebuchi waiting for us at the Sokoto motor park. He took us to Ebeneza Nkenwa’s place where we all lived before we were arrested. Yes, I used to go to Ndubusi’s place in Lagos where I saw Chizaram in their neighborhood but I was not a party to his kidnap.”

Speaking to Weekly Trust, Chizaram said he was returning from school when Ndubuisi met him on the way and told him to follow him to an undisclosed place, adding, “But Ndubuisi told me that he told my aunty that I will follow him to the place and she asked him to go and pick me from the school. When he said he has told my aunty that he is going with me, I agreed to follow him. I use to help Aunty Dozie sell things in the shop. “My parents live in the village. Aunty Dozie brought me from the village to live with her in Lagos. I do not know the name of the village. I do not also know the name of my state. Yes, I know Ndubuisi in Lagos. He lived in a house near my aunty’s house.”

CP Manko said detectives are on the trail of Ndubuisi while efforts are being made to link up with Dozie in Lagos and Chizaram’s parents in Imo with the hope of linking them back with the boy. He said the trio of Amidu, Onyebuchi and Ebeneze will be charged to court as soon as investigation into the matter is concluded while the hunt for Ndubuisi will continue.

Super-polygamist reveals: ‘Why I married 30 women’

Chief Ogbole Iseku is an octogenarian and a super-polygamist living at Sabon Gari in Doma town in Nasarawa State. In a chat with Weekly Trust, he explained the reasons behind his marriage to 30 women. Excerpts:

Weekly Trust: Can you give a brief insight into your life?


Chief Ogbole Iseku: My name is Ogbole Iseku. I was born and brought up in Doma town about 89 years ago and I am the traditional title holder of Ogbulaya, which is one of the most highly esteemed titles in Doma.

I am married to 30 women and God Almighty has blessed us with numerous children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

WT: Is that why you were crowned as the ‘king of women’?

Ogbole: That is not the reason. You know, I hail from the royal family and I am entitled to inherit the throne of Andoma na Doma (Emir of Doma). Despite not being the Emir now, I am not barred from holding other traditional titles. My first title is Ose-Gayinya, meaning ‘king of women.’ This is because in the olden days, any girl who was due to be married within Doma would be brought to me, for me to bless her. This is the origin of my traditional title of Sarkin Mata (king of women). And from there my status was upgraded to my present title as the third in command in Doma Kingdom.

WT: What are the reasons behind your marriage to 30 women?

Ogbole: First, I am married to numerous women because of the frequent death of my children. Second, to get helping hands on my farmland. Right from the beginning, I have been a farmer and businessman.

WT: Where do you settle with your wives?

Ogbole: As I am talking to you now, I live with my nine wives in this house, the remaining reside at Unguwar Gasa and Unguwar Masallaci and Unguwar Mahauta; all these are residential areas in Doma town.

To be candid, I do not know the number of my children, because some of my wives still give birth. Even the one I am holding in my hand is my child. But if you can be patient enough, I can call my wives one by one, so that each can tell you the number of her children.

WT: Have you ever regretted marrying them?

Ogbole: To be sincere, I did once, but I have never contemplated divorcing any of them. What made me regret marrying them once was the day I came back from the farm and found them fighting each other. As I made effort to settle the dispute they all turned against me, every one of them thinking that I would be on the other side.

I therefore left my house for my grains shop at Doma market, until the situation was calm before I returned home.

WT: Would you want your children to become polygamists like you?

Ogbole: I don’t want any of my children or our teeming youth to imitate my marriage lifestyle, even though we are living peacefully. My reason is that among my children there are both Muslims and non-Muslims. But as for me, I am a traditionalist. By and large, as I told you earlier, I am a royalist. And God has blessed me with some worldly riches. So, if care is not taken, as soon as I am dead, my children would be disunited in an attempt to outdo one another to get hold of my traditional title or the distribution of my estates among themselves. I hope this will not happen.