1) Adebayo Salami aka Oga Bello and Son Femi Adebayo
59 year-old Adebayo Salami is one of the most successful and most celebrated veteran actors in the Nigerian film industry. He's starred in over 200 movies and garnered a lot of accolades. His son Femi Adebayo who dumped his wig and gown for acting about 8 years ago is also doing incredibly well in the yoruba movie scene.
2) Adeyemi Afolayan aka Ade Love and Son Kunle, Aremu&Gabriel Afolayan
Adeyemi Afolayan (Ade Love) needs no introduction. Though now deceased, but in his lifetime the foremost filmmaker raised a lot of bars. Asides acting, his vocal dexterity was also a plus, infact he also produced soundtracks of movies. Needless to say his sons Kunle, Aremu&Gabriel who are seasoned and award-winning thespians are still hoisting their father's colourful flag. And there's this touch of style and excellence in what they do.
3) Arthur Modupe Alade and Son Dare Art Alade Presently, there's no picture for Dare's father (except if you have it somewhere), but during his realm, he was versatile and talented; he could sing different parts of music, crack ribs and his Art Alade show was always a delight to watch. His son Dare got his talent from his father. The Project Fame West Africa finalist is one of the best R'n'b singers the country has ever produced.
4) Fela Anikulapo Kuti and Sons Femi and Seun Anikulapo Kuti
Who doesn't know Fela? The saxophone-wielding, musician and composer whose impact is still felt till date. Infact a considerable number of contemporary musicians draw so much inspiration from him. But we take consolation in the fact that Femi and Seun, the most popular of his numerous sons have stepped into his shoes and continued where he stopped.
5) Jide Kosoko and daughter Sola Kosoko-Abinna
Trained actor, Jide Kosoko who has been acting for over 15 years hasn't in the least bit waned in influence. The 58 year-old theatre practitioner's pretty daughter Sola Kosoko who got married few months ago is also a well-known face in the Nollywood industry.
6) Sunday Omobolanle aka Aluwe and Olasunkanmi Omobolanle
Fondly called Pappy Luwe, when it comes to comic roles, Sunday Omobolanle isn't a weakling. The Oyo-state indigene's acting career spans decades. His light-skinned son, Olasunkanmi who tied the knots last year has also been acting for the past 7 years and not doing bad for himself too.
7) Pete Edochie and Son Yul Edochie
Heavily-bearded veteran, Pete Edochie has certainly paid his dues as long as Nollywood is concerned. Whether he is playing the role of a stern-faced man who would poison his sibling the nextminute over plots of land or a caring father (which is rare), the Igbo actor has been a blessing. Unlike his father who fits into 'wicked' roles easily, handsome Yul maintains his cool, is soft-spoken and a gentle lover (in movies).
I know there's more to this list, so rather than criticize this post for omitting some notable celebrities and their children, please feel free to add any names you can recollect to the end of the post.
If a show's success can be evaluated only via the number of guests, audience or on-lookers that came to cheer or just look, then the Ubuntu Collection, which had the Nigerian focus as its major highlight should be awarded the status of over-whelming success: 4 Designers from Nigeria showcased- Ayo Van Elmer who is based in Vienna, Austria, but makes her clothes and fabrics from Nigeria, there was also Zohi Taglit who is Abuja based, then there was Studio 24 and finally House of Jola, owned by Mrs. Joan Okorodudu . Like we had earlier reported, the event venue was totally packed out and many had to stand to catch a glimpse of the showcase.
Most importantly according to the feelers we got, many were not disappointed by what they saw on the catwalk. We were everywhere during the event, running from one spot to the other, trying as much as possible to get pictures of all that was going on, so in this package we have for your viewing pleasure, a mix of pictures of happenings backstage, some as the guests were arriving, a few pictures of fashionistas just outside the venue and those who had the privilege of sitting at the much coveted front-row bench. Enjoy!
They are beautiful, they are educated, some of them are top models, aspiring singers, actresses...some even have successful businesses. These are the ten most sought after video vixens in Nigeria.
Who f*cking stupid. You think he would if he knew it was a bomb?
MR, that's why I said there is no proper training provided to the Nigeria police force, that was the 2nd bomb, the first bomb already exploded, once there is a bomb on a scene, you treat every other object like a bomb. The late officer held a metal detector, which is simply used to detect metals and not bombs. Its like carrying a stick to a gun fight.
This is really unfortunate, Nigeria Police force should be well trained, you don't approach a Bomb with a casual wear and a mere Metal Detector. See how a Thailand bomb expert handled a bomb incident yesterday. You need to be in full gear to approach a bomb talk more of detonating it, besides like the poster said, this might have been detonated from a close proximity. An ordinary GSm phone can be used to detonate such bombs. God will save us from the menace of Boko Haram.
Death of student sparks violence in Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo
Students of Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo yesterday went on rampage in response to series of neglect by the school authorities which caused the death of a student . They invited the police to face students of a private university. A female student fainted as a result of tear gas shot at them.
It was said that basic needs of the students have not been provided to them despite paying for everything to the sum of five hundred thousand naira (500,000).
Trouble started when late ABU ELVIS PAUL, complained of a headache was admitted at the health center and placed on medication. His friends asked that he should be taken to a hospital in town but the medical personnel at the university declined, it was suspected that the university ambulance was faulty that’s why the request was turned down. He later died.
The Vice Chancellor of Ajayi Crowther University is Reverend Canon Professor Kolawole Timothy Jayeoba and the registrar is Dr. Mrs. Josephine Oyebanji. Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo, is owned by The Church of Nigeria, Anglican communion. The students have been told to go home.
He was also said to be a gifted artist, below is his one of his artworks
Now you see not only men harm women, women do too. A woman, Hadezia Abutu (nee Afegbua), who allegedly shot her husband, Ibrahim, to death two days after he wedded a second wife in December 2011 has been rearrested and detained by the police in Abuja after she was initially granted bail by Justice Abubakar Talba of the Abuja High Court, Gudu.
Hadezia had allegedly shot her husband, Ibrahim, a former employee of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, in their Wuse II, Abuja residence about 24 hours after the deceased took a second wife in Gombe.
Hadezia, an employee of the National Youth Service Corps, was said to have told the police that her husband was cleaning the gun when it accidentally went off and killed him. But a relation of the deceased said that just before he died, Ibrahim had managed to tell his younger sibling, Obotu, that his wife had shot him. An autopsy conducted on Ibrahim indicated that he was shot at point-blank range and the bullet hit his heart and broke three ribs. The police had on Jan 3, 2012 arraigned Hadezia with her sister, Nafisat Afegbua, Oyifie Okoh (cousin to the deceased), and a girl, identified simply as Anne, before a Karu magistrate's court on charges of conspiracy and giving false information to the police.
Spokesperson of Jama’atu Ahlis Sunnati Lidda’awati Wal Jihad, popularlyknown as Boko Haram, Abul-Qaga, has told journalists in a telephone exchange in Kano last night that Sokoto State will be their next target following arrest and imprisonment of their members.
Abul-Qaga said “You should avoid replication of the big attack in Kano State. This is an open letter to the Emir of Sokoto (Sultan of Sokoto), Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal and the Acting Governor of Sokoto State. Before we visited Kano, we had written an open letter to senior citizens there on the imperative of releasing our members but nobody cared to talk. Indeed, we sent three warnings to Kano before we struck.”
“What happened in Kano will be inevitable in Sokoto unless you (Sultan and others) intervene and ensure the immediate and unconditional release of our members who were specifically arrested in the city of Sokoto on Thursday. There is gross inconsistency in all the proclamations of the Nigerian leader. Our members are being trailed and killed on one hand, and on the other hand, some people are telling us to surrender our arms and come out. This is impossible.”
Gunmen bombed a police station late yesterday in Kano, the police and witnesses said, leading to an hour of gun battles in the city recently plagued by attacks from suspected Boko Haram followers.
Witnesses said gunmen and armed police were in a shoot out for around an hour after the explosion at the police station at Naibawa district in Kano. “We are scared. The police and Boko Haram members are battling each other and there is gunfire everywhere,” resident Usman Ibrahim Bello told Reuters news agency.
Kano state police commissioner Ibrahim Idris confirmed the attack.
“We were able to push them out of the area but they burnt part of the police station,” Idris said, quoted by Reuters. “It was a blast that caused damage to the station.”
AFP news agency quoted witness Kabiru Maikatako saying: “A large number of gunmen stormed the area at prayer time and opened fire on the police station. The police fired back and a shootout has been going on for the past 30 minutes.”
“I am now trapped in my (timber) shed. It is shooting all around and the whole area has been deserted. Only the police and the attackers are shooting at each other,” he added.
The shootout took place in the Naibawa motor park, a major bus terminal on the outskirts of the city, not far from where a German engineer was kidnapped by gunmen on Thursday.
“We were saying our evening prayers when shooting broke out around the police station,” said local resident Sule Adamu, according to AFP.
“We all dispersed without finishing our prayer and moved indoors while passengers who had left the motor park scampered for safety,” he added.
Taxi driver Abbas Saleh said he was preparing for evening prayers “when gunshots filled the air with gunmen attacking the police station and shouting Allahu Akbar.”
“I abandoned what I was doing and hurried into a nearby shop. Where I am I can hear gunshots. I don’t know whether anybody has been killed or injured,” he said.
Yesterday’s attack followed the January 20 coordinated gun and bomb attacks in Kano claimed by Boko Haram that killed at least 185 people in the city.
In several recent messages, the group has vowed to strike again.
Most recently, in leaflets distributed around Kano overnight, it warned residents that it would continue to target the city’s security services leaflets.
The leaflets, which could not be independently verified as authentic, said that Boko Haram tried to avoid harming civilians.
Earlier yesterday, security forces had deployed heavily around Kano guarding churches and frisking worshippers as they arrived to pray.
Boko Haram has been blamed for the deaths of more than 900 people in roughly 160 separate attacks since July 2009. It has claimed attacks that have killed more than 200 people since the start of 2012.
There are strong indications that the United States of America, USA, may be gearing up for a possible balkanisation of the country following developments in the last few years. This indication is contained in a publication credited to NEWSRESCUE in America, where accounts of an article written by Director of the African Security Research Project in Washington, DC and Guest Columnist of AllAfrica Global Media, Mr. Daniel Volman and speakers in an AFRICOM conference held at Fort McNair were given. It would be recalled that in 2005, the US predicted that Nigeria would cease to be a nation state in 2015 in view of threats posed by continued ethno-religious crisis over the years. Similarly, the United States military had, in May 2008, conducted a war games test called Unified Quest 2008, to ascertain how its military might respond to a war in parts of Africa with a mention of Nigeria. Also, the question of how to handle possible splits between factions within the Nigerian government was tested with a plan by the Americans to send about 20,000 troops to secure and take over the oil-rich South while the North would be turned into an Arab aligned, possibly terrorist enclave.
Recent developments in the polity, namely the post-election violence up country, the activities of militants in the South and the recent activities of the Islamic Boko Haram sect in a spate of terrorism-like bomb attacks may have laid strong credence to the claim. Indications are that the US will favour a disintegration of the country given Nigeria’s not too distant past romance with countries considered not to be allies of the self-acclaimed world super power. The Nigerian government had not long ago signed deals with Russia and Iran for major resource, military and power (Nuclear generation) mutual ventures. This alliance did not go down well with the US as these nations are considered perpetual enemies. In addition, Nigeria has been promoting development, not by serving US interest but by cooperation’s with so-called third world Nations like Brazil. The US has been known to be at the center of important breakups in the past. Countries like Vietnam and Korea had the US play a major skewed role, and when these Nations divided into North and South, the US stationed its troops at the border to defend usually the Southern territory, and the Northern usually became a rejected, isolated rudiment. It would also be recalled that in the 2010 budget, the US had made provision for the expansion of the operations of United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), which will provide increased security assistance to repressive regimes in Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and key US allies such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti, Rwanda and Uganda. This is even as in 2009, Nigeria’s late President, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, clearly rejected the installation of US AFRICOM military command in Nigeria, probably sensing that the Pentagon had planned to establish a new military command in Africa.
The eloquence of the Nigerian first lady has raised major questions about her communications skills and suitability to represent the largest black nation on earth
1. My Husband and Sambo is a good people
2. The President was once a Child and the Senators were once a Children
3. My Fellow Widows
4. A Good Mother takes care of his Children
5. The people sitting before you here were once a Children
6. Yes we are all happy for the effort,it is not easy to carry second in an international competition like this one – Addressing Press men after Female Under 19 Fifa World Cup
7. The Bombers who born them?wasn’t it not a woman? They were once a Children now a adult now they are bombing women and children making some children a widow
8. My Heart feels sorry for these Children who have become Widows by losing their Parents for one reason or another
9. We should have love for our fellow Nigerians irrespective of their NATIONALITY?
10. vote UMBLERRA and press your finger for UMBLERRA
Below is the 2011 complete list.......
Nigeria First Lady Makes Another Bad Grammatical blunder "My husband, Dr Goodluck Jonathan and Sambo is a quiet people" //www.gistmania.com/talk/topic,54868.0.html =============================================
One of the most "Newsworthy" Celeb stories of 2011 was the Mercy Johnson Series, MJ as popular called is very controversial and extremely sexy at same time. The news all started when she wanted to insure her hips for been to important more than her career. Mercy Johnson has managed to be named the most searched Nigerian Celebrity on the internet even though she does not have an official twitter handle (her management company did create one for her) nor an official facebook fanpage - Mercy is incredible!
After many months of speculation and denials, sultry Nollywood actress, Mercy Johnson has finally declared that she will be getting married on 27 August, 2011. //www.gistmania.com/talk/topic,67908.0.html ====================================
After her wedding came the infamous movie theme: THREE MONTHS AFTER MARRIAGE,MERCY JOHNSON GOES BLIND //www.gistmania.com/talk/topic,85684.0.html =================== But I tell you Mercy Johnson has moved on after all the 2011 controversies and she is now living happy ever after.
The State Security Service on Wednesday unmasked the alleged mastermind of last Friday’s bombing of the United Nations building in Abuja.
A statement by the spokesperson for the SSS, Maurilyn Ogar, named the alleged mastermind as Mamman Nur. While declaring Nur wanted, the SSS described him as “a notorious Boko Haram element with al-Queda links.”
The SSS asked the public to provide useful information that might lead to the arrest of Nur, who it said returned to the country from Somalia recently. The agency said two other suspects, Babagana Ismail Kwaljima, a.k.a Abu Sumaya, and Babagana Mali, a.k.a Mali, were already in custody.
“Investigation has revealed that one Mamman Nur, a notorious Boko Haram element with al-Qaeda links who returned recently from Somalia, working in concert with the two suspects, masterminded the attack on the United Nations building in Abuja.
“Further investigation has also revealed that the car used for the attack was a Honda car with Kano State registration number AV38NSR.
“It was purchased on September 3, 2002 and registered on December 3, 2002. The vehicle identification number is 1HGCBA7400A100748, and Engine number, F22A72000540.”
However, unlike what obtains in other countries where the circumstances leading to the arrest of terrorism suspects are made public, the SSS was silent on how the mastermind and his associates planned the bombing. The agency did not also say whether the suspects in its care are the ones the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Hafiz Ringim, said had been arrested. The IGP at a meeting with diplomatic corps on Monday had said some suspects in the UN bombing had been arrested.
The SSS’ claim that Nur just returned from Somalia tallies with a recent statement by the Boko Haram that some of its members had gone for training in the East African country.
The agency explained that it had arrested Kwaljima and Mali on August 21, 2011 during joint operations by all security services.
It maintained that the two suspects were leaders of Boko Haram, and had made valuable statements to investigators. According to the SSS, the suspects are being held at a military facility, which it refused to disclose.
Arabs have a long history of treating black Africans badly. It's been estimated that up to 18 million black Africans were enslaved by Arab traders between the years between 650 and 1900. In fact, it still takes place, especially in places like the Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Mauritania.
Now is the turn of Blacks in Libya, especially Nigerians, they are been killed everyday in droves by the so called Rebel fighters, Europe & America will never say anything, all they want is for oil to start flowing back to the shore, I pity my Nigerians brothers and sisters still in Libya. Libya is a quick route where most Nigerians take to Italy
See the video below for yourself: This is bad time to be a black man in Libya
This really goes to show that The Nigerian Government does not care about its people having quickly declared support for the Rebels killing Blacks in the name of Freedom.
Who says Patient is not a good thing to have, Listen to me every lady out there, if you Love a married man, Just wait for him to divorce his current wife, and then jump into the boat..... Mercy Johnson is truelly a Patient woman
The path has been cleared for Prince Odianosen Okojie, the groom-to-be of Nollywood star actress, Mercy Johnson to proceed with their wedding plans starting today.
An authoritative source disclosed that Okojie had on Tuesday 23 August, 2011, successfully secured a divorce from his estranged wife, Lovelyn Adaze Aletor Okojie.
According to the source, the divorce proceedings and its judgment were hastened up given the exigency of the matter at hand.
Okojie on 12 July had filed for divorce from his estranged wife, Lovelyn at the Igueben Area Customary Court, holden at Igueben, in the Customary Court of Edo State.
In the divorce suit No:- IACC/14/2011, Okojie had prayed for an order of dissolution of the traditional marriage contracted sometime in October 2008 at Eko Udo, in Igueben Local Government Area between his estranged wife and himself, through their respective lawful attorneys, Prince Tom Okojie and Mr. Aletor in accordance with the prevailing Esan Native Law and Custom of Udo on the ground that the “said marriage has broken down irretrievably owing to Lovelyn’s acts of hostility, hatred, cruelty and quarrelsomeness” towards him (the petitioner).
Okojie also prayed the court to allow him refund the N100 (One hundred naira) bride price he paid on Lovelyn in respect of the said marriage which produced two kids age five and three respectively, named Miss Precious Ofure Okojie and Master Harmony Okpeibbo Okojie.
His prayers were granted just 72 hours to the commencement of the wedding ceremony.
Lovelyn has made frantic efforts to stop the marriage between her former husband and the actress. She only succeeded partially to disrupt the four-day extravaganza, the couple had planned. She has used different means possible including public sympathy and the media, especially bloggers, to thwart the wedding.
In a message and copy of the divorce certificate she sent to popular social website naijapals.com the aggrieved lovers accused Okojie of being heartless by desperately trying to disrupt the wedding.
Okojie and his fiancée, Mercy are upbeat as they were expected to kick start their marital union today with a court registry, followed by the traditional ceremony tomorrow at the Iba Housing Estate, Lagos family home of the Johnsons.
While the church ceremony aspect of the wedding ceremony remains doubtful, a grand reception has been scheduled for Saturday 27 August. Though the venue remains a closely guarded secret, select guests of the couple are expected to be contacted through messages regarding the location.
Guys, I saw this write-up and I thought it wise to share it with the house, I believe this guy is suffering from either a broken relationship or he has a personal beef with a pastor, in my opinion the writer of the article is an ANGRY MAN probably just coming out of a failed marriage anointed by a pastor.
...... the writer asserts that Pastors have taken the place of God telling people who to marry and he said pastors should not interfere when someone chooses who he/she wants to marry.
what do you think, this is the summary........ Read some part for yourself....
If your pastor chose for you who to marry, you have already signed your death warrant. You will cry, even if you are laughing now. You are in bondage, locked in the vomit of men. All tables are full of vomit, and who shall be taught knowledge? Don't bother to run away from trouble: it is in your house to stay.
I have never ceased to marvel about the sheer impudence of prophets telling people who to marry. I have carefully studied the Bible: nowhere do I find Peter or Paul choosing wives for people. Picture this: a scoundrel in suit clears his throat, goes into mad prayer, and then pronounces: "No road there."
And the boy or girl weeps: the Pastor has said that he/she cannot marry the person after his/her heart. A lot of educated Nigerians are in the firm grip of these pastors, these worthless criminals who propagate a marriage ministry, the kind one cannot find in Josephus or any other Christian historian.
It is a shame, but one pastor was actually cursing a relation of mine on his wedding day. "If you divorce this woman, cursed are you ... " And on and on he went, threatening fire and brimstone. These are the hollow men, the wicked men, the slave drivers, the Pharaohs, the men of perdition. When the Lord Himself was invited to a wedding, He was there to bless, not to curse. He added value, and he did not join anyone together. I wonder where these buffoons got their "By the powers conferred on me, I pronounce you husband and wife." Powers conferred by who? English culture, maybe, but certainly not God Almighty. God created man a free moral agent: pastors have made slaves of men, and they will dissolve in sulphur when the time comes.
Some pastors even tell girls who are above 30: It is the Holy Ghost that you need first, not a husband, as if they were the Holy Ghost giver. What foolishness. The girl's body demands sex, and she needs precisely what she is asking for: a husband. These are Pharisees who lay grievous burden on people, but will not touch it with one of their fingers. There is a law of biology which God Almighty put in the human body, and no amount of spiritual abracadabra will change it.
Sex is a legitimate need of an adult, a legitimate feeling. You can prophesy for ten hours, I don't care. Or tell the lie that "Jesus is my husband," as one hypocrite said in Ondo years back. She was later to be caught praying: "Lord, when will you give me my own husband?" I laughed when her younger brother told me the story. Holy sister, you need a husband. Did you hear me? Stop clutching pillows at night. Go for gold or drown in dust.
Well, some of these girls are over-wise. They will look for a Brother who has a future (i.e good prospects) and say that they saw it in their dream that he is the chosen one. They will never see the Brother who is a tyre or bicycle repairer in their dream. And the so-called Brothers are looking for sisters with a future and a background, meaning a sister endowed in the proper places. This is another evil that I have seen under the sun.
Oh my God, how these born-again folks are suffering from segxwal bondage and claiming that they are fighting the devil!
I am not a fool: I know that a man needs a woman, and vice versa. When you return from work, exhausted, there is nothing as great as a welcoming kiss. But some women, when their husband returns, hiss and tell their friend: "As I was saying ... "These are wicked women with wicked friends with wicked souls.
Pastors should stop enslaving the people, or they will soon be deregulated. There are too many pastors in this country. Advice for the wicked: if you do not like to hear the truth, please fight it. It will be your doom.
Like the biblical prodigal son, 17-year-old Edwin is lamenting the misdemeanour that has brought him to the Special Correctional centre for Boys, Oregun, Lagos, all the way from Edo State.
He told PUNCH METRO that he was waiting for a day that he would be able to go back home; kneel down and beg his father for forgiveness and a second opportunity to go back to school and make something of his life.
For Edwin, gambling was a second nature. He said he never heeded the advice of those who seemed to care for him, as he continued unabated in his bad hobby.
He said although the gambling was on a small scale, it however had a maximum impact on his life as he never concentrated on his studies. Thus at 16 years in 2010, he was still a pupil of JSS1 in a secondary school in Benin, the capital of Edo State.
He soon ran into trouble on January I5 ,2010 when he ran out of luck and lost N15, 000, which was meant for his school fee at a popular casino house in Benin.
He said, "I started working at a nearby bakery in my neighbourhood in order to get the money I squandered at the game house back before my father found out. I was able to gather N4, 000 after working there for a month.
"After waiting endlessly, the school principal called my dad and told him that I still owed the school fee. My dad found out what happened to the school fee and was very angry with me. He flogged me mercilessly. The second day, I ran away from home in anger and headed for Lagos," Edwin said.
He recounted further to PUNCH METRO that when he got to Lagos, he had nowhere to go to as he could not remember his aunt's address. Since he did not have the money to return home and because of pride, Edwin joined hundreds of other homeless youths, walking aimlessly and sleeping around on the streets.
After staying on the street for weeks, he and some other homeless persons were apprehended by the police. He said they were suspected of been criminally minded.
He said, ''We were taken to court, from there we were transferred to the remand home for rehabilitation."
Edwin is now one of the over 100 inmates at the special correctional centre. He said as soon as he is discharged from the home and reunite with his family; "I will beg my father for forgiveness and promise never to do such a thing again. I also want to go back to school and begin from where I stopped."
However, in a bid to help Edwin and other inmates in their transition to the larger society, a Non-Governmental Organisation, Masterpiece Resource Development Centre has started a mentoring programme for them at the special correctional centre.
The mentoring programme will run for six months, and will involve over 30 facilitators from the NGO.The founder of the organisation, Mrs. Modupe Oyekunle, told PUNCH METRO that the scheme was geared towards helping the young boys at the remand home to discover their purpose in life by giving them the required psycho-social support that would help them positively in their transition back into the society.
''Our encounter with them today revealed that these boys can't wait to get back to the larger society. They simply do not know what to do and lack the self-actualisation to lead a good life when they go out of here,''
At least 20 people were killed and 89 trucks belonging to Dangote Group of Companies and 22 other trucks owned by individuals as well as over 40 shops were burnt down in a late night fracas between two staff of Benue Cement Company at Tse-Kucha, Gboko LGA, Benue State.
When P.M.NEWS visited the scene of the incident at Tse-Kucha, no fewer than seven corpses, three of them burnt beyond recognition were seen littered around the multi billion naira cement factory just as members of the host community have fled their homes for fear of escalation of the crisis.
In addition heavy security has been beefed up with soldiers and policemen drafted to the trouble Benue Cement Company to checkmate renewed hostility.
A staff of the company who did not want to be identified told P.M.NEWS that trouble started between Suleiman (Hausa ) and Kwaghkule(Tiv). The latter who sells diesel around the company claimed that the former ( Suleiman) owed him for a long time and refused to pay up his debt.
During an argument that ensued, Sule-man was said to have stabbed Kwaghkule.
Our sources added that Kwagkule’s kinsmen were attracted to the scene of the incident by Aliade, a driver with BCC resulting in escalation of the crisis.
While conducting Governor Gabriel Suswam round the scene of the incident, the caretaker chairman of Gboko LGA, Hon Isaac Angbande emphassised that the crisis was not political or religious, maintaining that it is clash of business interest involving workers of the cement company.
He said 89 of the burnt articulated vehicles belonged to Dangote group of company while the other 22 were said to belong to other individuals .
“It is clear case of dissatisfaction by the business community in the company”, Angbande said.
In his comment the President of Mbayion Community, Mr. Benedict Kyado, said they have had cordial relationship with the management and staff of the multi-billion naira cement company and reassured them of their security and protection.
The General Manager, Finance, Benue Cement Company, Mr. Mike Etuk said the company has increased the wealth of not only the state but the nation, adding that it had maintained a cordial relationship with the host community.
He lamented that the company has been experiencing a lot of security threats, disclosing that conveyor belts and several materials have often been vandalised by unknown persons.
He therefore appealed for deployment of more security personnel as well as improvement in visibility of the area.
Also the acting Ter Gboko in his comment further appealed that the security operatives should beef up security within the company and warned his subjects not to exploit the opportunity to loot the property of the cement company.
In his remarks the Benue State Governor, Hon Gabriel Suswam who condemned the act in strong terms said he is short of words at the high level of destruction.
“The destruction is enormous and indeed monumental. We never envisaged such destruction on the company,” he said.
The Governor urged the management to always address issues concerning their staff so that it does not escalate to this magnitude in future.
He appealed for calm and enjoined the host community to work with the management of company to ensure security of the area.
He also assured all non-indigenes doing business around and within the area of their safety even as Suswam praised the quick intervention of the police and soldiers in arresting the crisis and promised his administration will ensure that business activities kick start in the next few days.
Meanwhile the Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Alaribe Ejike told P.M.NEWS that some arrest had been made.
Show Posts
