welcome to 9jasouth

18-year-old Godwin Awogbo, a 300 level student of University of Cape Coast in Central region, Ghana, studying Social Science was brutally killed. His body had been found with some his internal organs gorged out, with his hands and legs tied.
His Father Mr Fred Awogbo whose eyes were swollen, obviously due to prolonged crying, expressed many regrets as regards why he had not listened to his late son’s proprietor who had suggested that he should send his son to Canada to further his studies or better still, allow his son to weather the storm of strike actions often associated with Nigerian universities than losing him in Ghana to the cold hands of death, where he thought he was safe and he would not lose him to strange culture.
The bereaved father revealed that his son’s room-mate borrowed $4500 from him and killed him when he asked for the money..He said..

“We arrived at the Nigerian High Commission and with some of the staff of the High Commission, we went to meet the Vice Chancellor. The meeting was also witnessed by the Police and all Nigerian community leaders in Ghana.At the meeting, the management asked some of his friends and roommate to say what they knew about his death.

Meanwhile, while I was in Nigeria, I spoke with his roommate, a Ghanaian, who told me that my son had withdrawn some thousands of dollars meant for his school fees, but had lent the money to some students. When he requested them to pay back, they started threatening his life. It was after the threats that he heard about his death.
“Unfortunately, after everyone of them had spoken, not even the roommate mentioned the issue of those my son lent some money and how they threatened him. So, I told the school authority and the police right there to ask him to tell them how my son was threatened.
It was when he started talking that we realised he (the room mate) was the one who borrowed about $4,500 from my son, thereby denying my son the opportunity of paying his school fees on time.
When my late son started worrying him, he set him up. So, after the police took my statement, they promised to arrest him.”“My son was brought up in the church. When he was still in secondary school, he was being addressed as ‘Dr Pastor’ because he was active in church”.
Appreciating the efforts of the Nigerian High Commission, Mr Awogbo said “The Nigeria High Commission in Ghana really surprised us with the amount of effort they have put into this case. They have promised to make sure the killer is brought to book.
Honestly, I regret sending my child to study in Ghana, because if he had gained admission into higher institution in Nigeria, this would not have happened. The reason I sent him to Ghana was to avoid the issue of strike action in Nigerian higher institutions.
Even his mother and proprietor wanted him to go to Canada to further his studies. They really persuaded me but I said ‘No’, because I didn’t want to lose my boy.
I have been traveling to Europe for more than 20 years and I know what happens in such developed countries. At a tender age, I thought if I sent him there, I might lose him; he might not even want to come back home.So I decided that after he’s through with his degree, he would go and do his Masters in Canada, but here we are.
As for now, I cannot advise any Nigerian parent to send their children to study in Ghana; a lot of them studying here are teenagers and the stress is too much for them. Coming here myself has made me know that, in addition is the fact that the money we are paying is too much, compared to what private universities are charging in Nigeria.”

Nigeria’s national security adviser has unveiled plans for a new non-military strategy to combat a four-and-half year old Islamist insurgency that has killed thousands of people. The strategy would complement, not replace, military efforts to fight radical sect Boko Haram.

About 10 months ago Nigeria launched its biggest military push ever against Boko Haram insurgents, imposing emergency rule on three northeastern states. Many urban centers were quickly secured, but the violence continued in the countryside. More recently, northern cities have again come under attack. Human Rights Watch says 700 people have been killed this year alone.

Amid the growing violence, Nigeria’s National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki says the government will take a “soft approach” to counter terrorism, in addition to military efforts.
“My approach has been to understand the problem in order to apply the appropriate solutions. What we have learned is that there is not one particular path that leads to terrorism. Rather, there are many, often complicated, paths that lead to terrorism.”
Poverty, social injustice, isolation and sectarianism are among the causes of insurgency, he says. And prison reform, economic development, peace talks and educating the public are among the solutions.
Under the plan, two prisons will become “de-radicalization” facilities. The next step, Dasuki says, is to train the staff.
“The initiative will require substantial capacity building of prison staff in areas such as psychology, sport and art therapy, faith-based instructors and vocational training experts that would engage beneficiaries.”
Another key tenet of the “soft approach” to counter terrorism, he says, is economic reform in northeastern Nigeria, where most people live in abject poverty, fueling the insurgency.
But the insurgency also makes the region poor, adds Gbenro Olajuyigbe, a human security manager at anti-poverty organization ActionAid. The soft approach, he adds, needs to follow better security on the ground.
“If people are in insecure environment — economics has collapsed, rights have collapsed, there is an intrusion of fear — I think the best thing to do is to stabilize the country first.”
The United Nations calls the Boko Haram insurgency “increasingly monstrous,” saying nearly half a million people have fled their homes, and tens of thousands have fled to neighboring countries. Farmers have also abandoned their fields, threatening food security in many areas.

A bus loaded with cartons of 30,000 pieces of live cartridges but concealed with tubers of yam and bags of yam flour was on Tuesday, March 10 been seized by the Nigeria Customs Service.

But the customs officials working along Saki-Ago Are, led by Superintendent of Customs A. Okoi, proved that they were well-trained, as their eagle eyes caught the conveyer of the unwholesome products while the men alleged to be the owners fled on sighting the customs officials.

Speaking during a press briefing, the Area Controller, Mr Richard Oteri, said that the driver of the bus with registration number KW 286 SHH was intercepted in the early hours of Monday, March 10 in which the live cartridges were discovered. The driver, Adegoke Abdulrahman, was also arrested.
Crime Reports learnt that Saki town has routes that could be used to link other countries such as Republic of Benin, Togo Republic and Burkina Faso. Many illegal routes along the borders of the countries have been used to bring in arms and ammunition into Nigeria. Similar seizure of 56,750 live cartridges was also made by the area command on May 18, 2013 along same Saki route, Mr Oteri revealed.
Speaking with Crime Reports after the press briefing, the bus driver claimed that he was ignorant of the content of the bags, as he was just hired by the owners to convey them to Ibadan.
According to the indigene of Ago Amodu residing in Saki, both in Oke Ogun area of Oyo State, “on Monday March 10, I was at Ago Amodu town to get foodstuff for my brother’s child naming ceremony taking place in Lagos State on Tuesday. As some people were helping me to slaughter and cut the ram we wanted to use, I went to Oje Owode area where I saw two men. One was a Yoruba man while the other was Igbo.
“They told me they had goods they were taking to Ibadan, saying they vehicle with which they were conveying the goods broke down. I asked them the kind of goods they wanted me to convey and they said they were bags of yam flour and tubers of yam. I told them I wanted to go and settle some things first but they urged me to them follow and view the goods.
“I took my vehicle and followed them. I saw the goods at the back of a pick-up van. I told them to wait until I concluded my brother’s errands but again, they urged me to drop my vehicle, volunteering to load the goods into it themselves. They said they would have finished before I would return. We negotiated the fare and after sizing up the goods at the back of the van, I asked them to pay N30,000.
“They pleaded that I should collect N25,000 from them. We agreed on that and I left for Saki. By the time I returned, they had finished loading the goods and I was given N5,000 as advance payment, with them promising to pay me the balance when we get to Iwo Road area of Ibadan after they must have withdrawn some cash from an Automated Teller Machine. They told me the goods would be offloaded beside a petrol station at Iwo Road.
“I also picked four women as passengers before we proceeded to Ibadan. At Iseyin, one of the women said she wanted to buy drinks and bread, so I parked. That was where a patrol team of Nigeria Customs Service came to meet us. They demanded to know what was in the bus and I told them it was bags of yam flour and tubers of yam.
“The Igbo man came and told me to open up to them that there were 10 bags of rice and cartons of cartridges among the goods. I exclaimed in fear, telling him that I could not speak on what I did not know about. But he assured me that the customs officials only needed to be settled.
“When we got to the customs’ office, I relayed what the Igbo man told me and they asked me to follow them to their office. As we were going, I turned back and noticed that the owners of the goods had fled. Other passengers had also left. This is the first time I will be experiencing this kind of thing. I have never done it before.”

An 18-year-old girl and mother of one, Kate Ajie, has been arraigned before a Rivers State court over assault and child abuse  to her five-year-old daughter, Divine.

The 18-year-old mother was said to have seriously beaten her five-year-old daughter to the extent that a concerned neighbour who accused the mother of constant maltreatment had to involve the police by taking the girl to the Divisional Police Officer, Mohammed Suleiman Baba on February 21.

The 18-year-old Kate who is the only child of her parents revealed how she had the child for her an unwanted lover, how her mother died of b****t cancer and her father remarried.
Narrating her story “I stopped schooling when. I was impregnated against my will in 2008 by one boy called Godstime in my village at Ogoni. He was doing nothing when he impregnated me.
“At that time, I left my mother in Bonny and went to my village selling orange and banana during holidays. Godstime came to buy an orange from me but he didn’t take it, saying he would come back for it as he wanted to see someone.
“When I didn’t see him, I traced him with the orange and took it to the compound that was pointed to me as his place of abode. As I gave him the orange, he put it in his pocket and brought out a white handkerchief and shook it at me. Dust-like particles came from it and that was the last I could remember, as he camped me in his room for two months.
“My people were searching for me but didn’t know where I was. It was my uncle’s wife who discovered me and carried me out of Godstime’s room back home. It was when I came to my senses that I knew what happened.
“That was how I got pregnant without me knowing, though he already knew. I left Ogoni for Bonny to stay with my mother. I told my mother that something was turning in my stomach. She laughed and took me for a test which indicated that I was pregnant. I was surprised because I was still menstruating. I went back to my village where a girl narrated all that happened to me when I was hypnotised.
Kate also narrated what led to her beating her daughter she said: “I came back from work on the fateful day and was told that my girl took two children to a main road to play. The mother of the children was shouting so much over the issue that I became confused and frustrated.
“I wanted to flog my daughter on her buttocks but the way she was hollering and jumping about got me angrier. That was why I flogged her all over her body.”
Kate who begged that she forgiven she she was ready to turn a new leaf and take care of her child properly.
However the chief magistrate instructed that Kate be rehabilitated and the young child put in a school.