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Tag: Ordeal

  • Lagos residents share ordeal after accepting old notes from banks

    Lagos residents share ordeal after accepting old notes from banks

    Some Lagos residents have expressed regrets for collecting the old N500 and N1,000 notes from commercial banks, after the Supreme Court judgment validating it as legal tender till Dec. 31.

    In separate interviews that it had been challenging spending the two old notes as Nigerians were not accepting the money for their daily transactions.

    They also said it was surprising that two days after the judgment, banks started paying between N5,000 and N10,000 per customer, compared with N3,000 and N5,000 that were dispensed from their Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) during cash swap period.

    Mr Matthew Aburime, a student of Lagos State Polytechnic, Ikorodu, who expressed disappointment, said he had been unable to spend the money he collected from a bank.

    “I came from Ikorodu to Ajao Estate to spend some time with my grandmother, unfortunately for me, when it was time for me to go back to my base, there was no liquid cash to be given to me.

    “Someone, then, told me that a nearby bank was paying old notes. Since it was from a commercial bank, I felt they would pay based on the instruction of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    “Then, I went and queued, eventually, I was able to withdraw N10,000 from the bank.

    “As we speak, the money is still with me, I’ve not been able to spend it; the first rejection was from commercial bus driver.

    Aburime urged President Muhammadu Buhari or the Central Bank Governor to make a pronouncement on whether to accept it or not.

    “They, being quiet is making people lose more money,” he said.

    According to him, their quietness has also given some people the power to cheat and commit heinous act like the excess charges from the PoS agents.

    Mr. Daniel Okpulonu, a trader, also shared same regrets.

    “When I realised that these old notes that I was receiving from my bank was not legal tender was when a bank official announced that people who had received the old notes should not bother bringing it back to deposit, as it would not be acceptable.

    “As we speak, I am still going about with the money, looking out for where I can spend it. All to no avail.

    “This is not good enough, government should come out and tell us what they want from us, Nigerians have suffered enough since the inception of this policy,” he said.

    Mr Brian Achilefu, a Clergy, blamed the situation on the inability of many banks to dispense the old notes after the Supreme Court judgement.

    According to him, it is not a good sign when institutions begin to disrespect the authority of the Supreme Court.

    “The CBN should obey the court ruling and do as it ordered, so that people and everything can go back to normal,” he said.

    However, Mrs. Abimbola Alli, a trader at Jakande Estate Market, Okeafa, told NAN she only accepts new notes.

    According to her, she took the few old notes that she accepted from her customers to the bank, but she was turned back.

    “Is that the situation that you want for me again? Never will I collect old notes again.

    “Other traders are not collecting old notes in this market; I was the only one accepting it.

    “When I could not deposit it in my bank and Okada riders also refused to accept it, I decided not to accept it anymore,” she said.

    The Supreme Court on March 3 ordered that the old Naira notes should be allowed in circulation along with the new notes until Dec. 31.

  • Lagos-Ibadan Expressway: Kidnap victim narrates ordeal in captivity

    Lagos-Ibadan Expressway: Kidnap victim narrates ordeal in captivity

    Aminat Taiwo one of the abductees forcefully taken away by unknown gunmen on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, last week has narrated her ordeal.

    Taiwo confirmed that her dad paid a ransom of 3.2m  before she was released alongside her friend Tobi Orekoya.

    Aminat explained that they were on their way to a wedding in Ibadan when the kidnappers accosted them on the expressway.

    Taiwo told  pressmen that all the kidnapped victims were told to queue and enter the forest at the Ibadan end of the road.

    The victim, her friend and some other road users were kidnapped last Friday near the Sat Guru Maharaji Garden at the Ibadan end of the expressway.

    The abductors contacted the families of the victims and demanded ransom ranging from N50m to N10m.

    It was, however, reported that Aminat, her friend, a former Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Prof. Adigun Agbaje, and a student of the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Olayemi Adejare, were released on Sunday after two days in captivity.

    Aminat added that the kidnappers didn’t give them food or drinks during their stay in captivity.

    She added that some who couldn’t meet up their demands after the deadline were killed in the forest.

    She said, “Those kidnappers were more than 30; they covered their faces. They were putting on army and police uniforms.

    “They were armed to the teeth; they had guns, swords, knives and other weapons.

    “They asked us to lie down and collected all our money and phones. They collected gold chains, wristwatches, and other jewellery.

    “At first, we thought they just wanted to rob us, but to our greatest surprise, after stripping us of everything we had, they asked us to start moving inside a deep forest. We walked for more than two hours inside the forest. When we got to a place, they asked us to lie down.

    “We were moving in the forest for several hours; they did not give us water or food. We licked water on leaves in the forest.

    “For the two days I spent with them, we did not stay too long in a place before they moved us to another place.”

    Her father, Kayode Taiwo, said the family raised N800,000 from donations across the world.

    He, however, said family members and friends supported him before he raised the money demanded by the kidnappers.

    He said, “Some people donated N1,000, N500, N200, N400. By the time we calculated everything, it was around N800,000.

    “I paid N2m as ransom for my daughter, while her friend’s parents paid N1.2m. But I was the one that handed over everything to them at the hideout.

    “When I was at Toll Gate, they asked me to wait there and collect the money the mother of my daughter’s friend was bringing. They told me I should come alone that the woman could not come to where they were.”

     

  • Igbos behind their ordeals – Umahi

    Igbos behind their ordeals – Umahi

    The Ebonyi State Government has averred that the people of the South-East were responsible for the ongoing crises and killings in the region.

    It said lack of love and the pursuit for self were real reasons for the disorders in the land, adding if the current wave of crises were not addressed, it could lead to trouble.

    Governor David Umahi stated this during the World Igbo Day celebration at the Christian Ecumenical Centre, Abakaliki.

    Noting that founding fathers of the region hitherto suffered and fought hard for the freedom of the land, Governor Umahi, who was represented at the occasion by the Secretary to the State Government and Coordinating Commissioner, Dr Kenneth Ugbala, said, “There were people who fought and suffered so much for us to be free as a people; yet there is still fighting among us. This simply tells us something: Igbos are the ones killing themselves.”

    He added, “We are our own problems. It’s in our hands to make this region better again. God brought us here to make it a better place for all of us.

    “What are we gaining as a people, that we sit-at-home every Monday? Our children were denied the opportunity to sit a national examination; which children in other regions of this country took, because of sit-at-home. We, Igbos, are undoing ourselves. We are the cause of what we suffer today.”

     

  • Nigeria is far better than Libya – Returnee recounts ordeal

    A 29-year-old Nigerian returnee from Libya has described her irregular migration journey to the North African country as stressful, tiring and unproductive.
     
    Aminat Sunday, who is one of the 149 stranded Nigerians who recently returned from Libya told newsmen in Lagos that she worked as a maid during her stay in Libya.
     
    She said she was lured to the country due to family burdens and persuasion from her trafficker, NAN reports.
     
    Sunday who hails from Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun state, said she regretted embarking on the journey as she had a very difficult experience in Libya.
     
    According to her, she paid her trafficker with her full year wages after arriving in Libya.
     
    “I was working as a housemaid cleaning tiles but the work made me to come back home because it is very stressful, tiring and have serious health problems on my body.
     
    “To be sincere, Nigeria is far better than Libya, I have learned my lessons in wrong way but thank God I am still alive,” Sunday said.
     
    She therefore advised other youths to learn from her experience and shun the urge of irregular migration in search of greener pastures.
     
    Receiving Sunday alongside the other returnees, Ibrahim Farinloye, spokesperson for NEMA, South West Zone, said the majority of the returnees came back from Tripoli, the capital city of the volatile North African country.
     
    Farinloye said they comprised of 81 adult males, 56 adult females, two male children, eight male infants, one female child and two female infants.
     
    The International Organisation for Migration said it has helped over 10,000 Nigerian migrants return from Libya over the past twelve months.
     
    According to the Migrant Project, hundreds of Nigerians are stuck and experiencing inhuman conditions in Libya and other African countries in an attempt to travel to Europe through irregular routes.
     
     
     

  • Abaribe narrates ordeal in DSS detention, vows to continue speaking truth to power

    Senator representing Abia South, Enyinnaya Abaribe, on Wednesday narrated on the floor of the Senate how he was arrested and detained for days by officials of the Department of State Services (DSS).

    The embattled senator explained that he will continue to speak truth to power despite his arrest.

    Recall that the senator was arrested on June 22 by DSS operatives for his alleged links with the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

    Abaribe, who was one of the sureties for the IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, was later released after days with the operatives.

    Coming under order 43 of the Senate rule, the senator gave his account of the incident to his colleagues.

    “I have been inundated by Nigerians and my colleagues who were worried about the reports regarding my arrest by men of the DSS. So today Mr President, I crave your indulgence and those of my colleagues to state that on Friday 22nd of June I was arrested at the gate of the Hilton hotel while the International Press Institute congress was going on.

    “I was taken to the office of the DSS by 11:30 in the morning and subsequently by 5pm I was taken to my house for a search of my residence. When we got to my house, it was at the point I was formally informed of why I was arrested. The search warrant that was used stated clearly that I’m being accused of sponsoring a proscribed organisation, IPOB, and so that the search was to look for evidence of such.

    “After the search, which took about five to six hours, I was taken to the office of DSS at about 12 midnight and now kept there. The late musician that Nigerians know very well called Fela said ‘when you are inside, you are in inside world, when you are outside, you are in outside world.’

    “So when I was the inside world, the first person that received me and who helped my transition from freedom to incarceration was the former governor of Benue state, Governor Gabriel Suswam. He had been arrested on Tuesday, I was arrested on Friday. As at the time I was released last Tuesday, he told me he had not been told why he was arrested.

    “But Mr President, I have been released through the intervention of all well-meaning Nigerians led by you and the leadership of the Senate. I’m very glad and grateful. I want to use this opportunity to thank all Nigerians who were very concerned who did everything to secure my release.”

    “Let me also say Mr President that nothing has been found on the allegation that was made. Up till this moment, I am still on bail, administrative bail by the DSS and so every morning I have to report to the DSS but these things are going to be challenged [in court]. What everybody has asked me is that where do we go from here?”

    On his next move, Abaribe vowed to continue to tell the truth, saying that supporting an inefficient president would only amount to him not been patriotic.

    Though he did not mention his name, the senator appeared to be directing his statement at President Muhammadu Buhari, who he has always been critical of.

    “I want to crave your indulgence to tell every Nigerian where I want to go. I will do it by giving you Mr President and my distinguished colleagues, a quotation from the 26th president of the United States of America, Theodore Roosevelt.

    “That quotation reads ‘patriotism means to stand by the country, it does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official, same to the degree to which a president stands by the country. It is patriotic to support a president if so far as he efficiently serve the country. It is unpatriotic to not to oppose a president who fails to stand by his duty to do well for the country. And it is unpatriotic not to tell the truth whether about the president or anyone else.’

    “I will continue to tell the truth, I will continue to stand by this country, I will continue to say that no person is bigger than this country,” he said.