Police arrest 132 human traffickers

Human Trafficking Unit of the Nigeria Police Force arrested 132 human traffickers in 2009.

The unit also rescued over 170 victims within the same period.

Head of the Unit, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Juliana Abah, stated that the unit did not go abroad to arrest the traffickers, but they were arrested "internally".

Abah disclosed this at a workshop on "Violence Against Women" in Abuja.

Speaking on efforts by the Nigeria Police on Human Trafficking, she said, "More than 70 young girls were rescued and reintegrated with the families and close to 100 females have been rehabilitated."

She disclosed further that the unit discovered that children were in the majority at the receiving end, saying those who indulged in child sale internally make a whopping gain from such act.

According to her, most of the times the suspects would procure babies from their victims at the sum of N30,000 or N40,000 depending on the sex, and sell for N300,000 or N400,000, also depending on the sex.

Answering questions on efforts being made to checkmate activities of human traffickers, Abah said suspects were being prosecuted at different courts, but advocated for special courts to prosecute human trafficking cases.

She said the demand for special court was necessary going by experiences of the unit in courts, adding that, "We are prosecuting a doctor in Aba for illegal adoption and sale of babies, the prosecution was stalled because the courts were on strike."

This kind of situation, according to her, has made it difficult for suspects to be properly prosecuted.

"We don't have settlement homes, and it becomes difficult for the unit to continue holding victims that could provide evidence in courts," she added

Appreciating efforts of partnering agencies like the UNICEF, UNIFEM, the Inspector General of Police and NAPTIP, for training and retraining officers and creating child-friendly environment, Abah said the unit should be strengthened and equipped.

According to her, more than 5,000 officers were trained and retrained in 2009 and more would be trained and retrained since the unit had offices in all commands in the nation.

On how the unit accesses information on traffickers or their human victims, the ACP said the unit relied on intelligent gathering, surveillance, petitions, complaints and other viable sources.

Daily Independent

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Court dissolves 10 year marriage over placenta

An Alimosho Grade 'B' Customary Court, sitting in Iyana Ipaya, a Lagos suburb, has dissolved a 10-year-old marriage between a pastor and a primary school teacher who had been feuding for months over the disposal of their baby's placenta.

The court president, Mrs. Abigail Olatunji, in her judgement observed that the marriage had broken down irretrievably, and subsequently dissolved it.

Layi Oyegbemi, a pastor who lectures at a Bible College, Lagos, had sued his wife, Folake, accusing her of disrespect, troublesomeness and unfaithfulness.

During the trial, Folake, a 35-year-old primary school teacher shocked the audience when she told the court that her husband's action towards the disposal of their baby's placenta was suspicious.

"He kept our daughter's placenta in the house for four days before I saw it. When I arrived home from the hospital, the whole room was stinking. So I decided to search the house to know where the odour was coming from. I then stumbled on the nylon containing the placenta. I threw it (the placenta) into the pit latrine before he came back from that place he calls his workplace," Folake stated.

According to her, the improper disposition of the placenta by her husband was the genesis of their impasse.

Both parties had, however, consented to the dissolution of the marriage, but custody of their nine-year-old daughter, Faith, was an issue that had to be resolved by the court, the major reason for the divorce suit, filed before the court by Layi against his wife of 10 years.

Layi had asked the court to grant him custody of their daughter, Faith Oyegbemi.

The petitioner said he wanted the custody of his daughter because, according to him, Faith does not want to stay with her mother's parents again.

He added, "On several occasions, the girl had been emotional and had always shown her preference to go with me whenever I visited."

He, however, stated that he would have had custody of the girl, but because he wanted her to attain a certain age and educational standard. He added that both the respondent and her father had told him on several occasions that if he wanted his daughter, they would gladly let her go.

"I am, however, surprised at the turn of events now. The mother of my daughter had told me about 11times that she would willingly hand her over. Last Easter celebration, my father-in-law told me that if I wanted custody of my daughter, he would willingly hand her over since I have always been responsible for her upkeep," he said.

In her defence, Folake said she got married to her husband in November 1999 after courting for three-months. The marriage was blessed with a baby girl, exactly nine months into the marriage, which lasted for one year and six months, before they eventually separated on April 29, 2001.

She urged the court not to grant the custody of their daughter to her husband because, according to her, the petitioner is untruthful, irresponsible and may want to harm their daughter, considering the late disposal of her placenta.

"My parents sponsored our wedding. He does not go to church. He is just an honorary pastor. When I was to register for ante-natal, he was always giving excuses until I had to register on my own with my money. When I put to bed, my father called him to go and dispose the placenta, suggesting that if he could not get space to bury the placenta around, he could come to our house to bury it there," she added.

She also alleged that Layi had called her on several occasions to come along with him to swear to an oath.

Layi, however, countered her testimony, describing it as figment of her imagination. He said he has been responsible for the child's upkeep and school fees, alleging that his wife and her father are the dangerous species not him.

He also stated that he had been under intense pressures from his in-laws for which reasons he forgot to bury the placenta on the day of delivery.

"I would have actually buried the placenta the next day, but the disturbance from her side was too much. So, I had to inquire from my people at home who told me that my in-laws did not need the placenta for anything. And that I should not give them," he said.

Daily Independent

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Al-Qaeda groomed Nigerian terrorist in London

Security sources have confirmed that Christmas Day airline bomb plot suspect, Abdulmutallab was recruited by al-Qaeda in London.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, was also an ex-president of the Islamic Society at University College London.

The Christmas Day airline bomb plot suspect organised a conference under the banner "War on Terror Week" as he immersed himself in radical politics while a student in London, The Times has learnt.

One lecture, Jihad v Terrorism, was billed as "a lecture on the Islamic position with respect to jihad".

Security sources are concerned that the picture emerging of his undergraduate years suggests that he was recruited by al-Qaeda in London. Security sources said that Islamist radicalisation was rife on university campuses, especially in London, and that college authorities had "a patchy record in facing up to the problem". Previous anti-terrorist inquiries have uncovered evidence of extremists using political meetings and religious study circles to identify potential recruits.

It emerged last night that Mr Abdulmutallab featured on the periphery of one counterterrorism intelligence operation in Britain. US intelligence authorities are also looking at conversations between him and at least one al-Qaeda member.

The event he organised took place in January 2007 and included talks on Guantánamo Bay, the alleged torture of prisoners and the War on Terror.

He is the fourth president of a London student Islamic society to face terrorist charges in three years. One is facing a retrial on charges that he was involved in the 2006 liquid bomb plot to blow up airliners. Two others have been convicted of terrorist offences since 2007.

Mr Abdulmutallab left UCL last year. The Times has learnt that his attempt to renew his student visa in May this year was based on an application to study "life coaching" at a non-existent college. That visa refusal may have saved Britain from an attack. His terrorist training took a new turn in August when he moved to Yemen, ostensibly to study Arabic, and was schooled by al-Qaeda there.

Yesterday, the US put on display the underwear he wore on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on Christmas Day. Explosives had been sewn into them. As the plane approached Detroit the material ignited, shooting 6ft flames up the cabin wall. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which has claimed the attack, said that the device failed because of a "faulty detonator".

Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, the Yemeni Foreign Minister, appealed for help to train and equip counter-terrorist forces. He said: "Of course there are a number of al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen and some of their leaders. They may actually plan attacks like the one we have just had in Detroit. There are maybe hundreds of them -- 200, 300."

President Obama said that it was "totally unacceptable" that US agencies had not prevented the attack with the information available and demanded preliminary results from two security reviews by tomorrow. He is facing criticism for leaving two key federal security agencies without leaders 11 months into his administration.

Dutch authorities dismissed claims that Mr Abdulmutallab boarded the flight in Amsterdam without a passport. A spokesman for its counter-terrorism office said: "He had a passport and a valid visa for the United States and KLM had clearance on the passenger list to carry him to the US."

Vanguard

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24 Super Eagles listed for Angola 2010

With only a day to the deadline for the submission of a final list of national teams to the 2010 African Cup of Nations in Angola, Nigeria yesterday pruned down the list of players invited to the Super Eagles camp in Durban South Africa.

Coach Shaibu Amodu had invited 32 players to the team's camp which opens today ahead of the African soccer show.

But even as the invited players were yet to kick the ball, team selectors yesterday trimmed the down the list to 24 from the initial list of 32 players earlier announced by Head Coach Shaibu Amodu.

The dropped players are made up of all three home-based and five foreign-based. They are Bayelsa United duo of Bassey Akpan and Chibuzor Okonkwo and Heartland's Bartholomew Ibenegbu.

The foreign-based who were also axed by the selectors are Greg Etafia, Dele Adeleye, Olubayo Adefemi, Olufemi Ajilore, and Joseph Akpala.

Nigeria Football Federation Chief Media Officer, Ademola Olajire said in a statement yesterday that after a meeting involving the NFF leadership, members of the NFF Technical Committee and the Super Eagles' technical crew at the NFF Secretariat in Abuja yesterday morning, eight players were dropped from the playing body for the final training camp that starts in Durban, South Africa tomorrow.

Team Captain Nwankwo Kanu is set to make his sixth appearance in the continental showpiece, with his deputy Joseph Yobo and other 'senior' players like Oluwaseyi Olofinjana and Yakubu Ayegbeni also listed.

The three goalkeepers who were at the last competition in Ghana earlier last year also head to Angola, with youngster Elderson Echiejile countenancing his first African Nations Cup.

THE FULL SQUAD

Goalkeepers: Vincent Enyeama, Bamidele Aiyenugba, Austin Ejide

Defenders: Joseph Yobo, Danny Shittu, Obinna Nwaneri, Taye Taiwo, Elderson Echiejile, Yusuf Mohammed, Chidi Odiah, Onyekachi Apam

Midfielders: Nwankwo Kanu, Mikel Obi, Dickson Etuhu, Sani Kaita, Yusuf Ayila, Oluwaseyi Olofinjana, Kalu Uche

Strikers: Yakubu Aiyegbeni, Osaze Odemwingie, Michael Eneramo, Obinna Nsofor, Obafemi Martins, Chinedu Obasi.

Daily Trust

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Messageboard post by Nigerian terrorist shows he was suffering from depression

An archived messageboard post by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab on an Islamic discussion website called gawaher.com reveals that the Nigerian terrorist had been dealing with depression and loneliness. Here is his first post on January 28, 2005:

"Assalamu Alaykum brothers and sisters,

I have several dilemmas i want to get out of and this has made me lonely. As i intent to write a lot, i suggest for anyone who gets board of my long desperate talk to just read the bit they can and advise me even it is just a sentence. I will find it very beneficail and comforting to get help from muslim brothers and sisters. 

Firstly i will start with a bit of my background and then the dilemmas. I am a boarding student in a school with few muslims. For some years now, i hav been doing some da'wah, mainly enjoining good and forbiding evil, and jihadinnafs, trying to become closer to Allah. But i have been facing several problems.

First of all, i have no friend. Not because i do not socialise, etc but because either people do not want to get too close to me as they go partying and stuff while i dont, or they are bad people who befriend me and influence me to do bad things. Hence i am in a situation where i do not have a friend, i have no one to speak too, no one to consult, no one to support me and i feel depressed and lonely. i do not know what to do. 

And then i think this loneliness leads me to other problems. As i get lonely, the natural sexual drive awakens and i struggle to control it, sometimes leading to minor sinful activities like not lowering the gaze. 

And this problem makes me want to get married to avoid getting aroused. The Prophet (S) advised young men to fast if they cant get married but it has not been helping me much and i seriously dont want to wait for years before i get married. But i am only 18, (just going to university, insha Allah in London or California). i have not started searching for prospective partners because It would be difficult for me to get married due to social norms of getting to the late 20's when one has a degree, a job, a house, etc before getting married, plus parents are relunctunt to give their daughters in marriage to an 18 year old and sisters are also not normally willing to marry an 18 year old. Anyway alhamdulillah my parents i know could help me financially should i get married, even though i think they are also not going to be in favour of early marriage.

The last thing i want to talk about is my dilemma between liberalism and extremism. The Prpphet (S) said religion is easy and anyone who tries to overburden themselves will find it hard and will not be able to continue. So anytime i relax, i deviate sometimes and then when i strive hard, i get tired of what i am doing i.e. memorising the quran, etc. How should one put the balance right?

Thank you for anyone whoo reaches this stage of reading my problem. May Allah reward you for reading and reward you more for helping. Ameen"

A few months later, June 16 2005, Umar was in Yemen and seemed to have found happiness according to his post:

"Assalamu alaykum

Alhamdulillah i finally got my wish. After a hard battle deciding where to go and what to do, i finally ended up in Yemen. I'm doing a 3 month arabic course and so far it is just great. There are a lot of Brits and Americans also studying in the Institute i'm studying in, Sana'a institute of Arabic Languages- http://www.sialyemen.com 

Its fun too. The institute is actually like a border line between the Old ciyt of Sana'a for those who like a traditional, quiet and peaceful environment, and the new city of Sana'a where bustling like Cairo, with almost anything you want to find, accesceries, clothing (not the best in quality though), food (KFC, Pizza hut, Shawarmas, Italian, chinese, korean, pakistani(Chicken Biryani, indian.....restaurants, gym, amusement parks (not as thrilling as the 7 flags or Alton Towers of course).

Its quite cheap too! For anyone who can afford it and wants to learn arabic, i say come to Sial. Some people have been to various places around the arab world such syria, palestine, egypt...learning arabic but while here at sial, they say its the best. The courses are flexible, it could be private one on one, choose your syllabus, bring your group over for large discounts. Female classes are seperate. Yemenis are so friendly and welcoming. They are very islamically modest. most of the women were niqabs. Yemen is a good place to study arabic for muslims and non muslims as well. there are several non muslims and they are really having a good time.

Hope i get time to tell you more about yemen and the course.

ma'assalam"

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