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Bleak Christmas As Insecurity, High Cost Of Living, Others Mar Celebrations

Published

3 years ago

December 25, 2022

It is another Christmas, a season people travel to be with their loved ones. For some Nigerians, it is more than a Christmas celebration, it is a period of homecoming.

Nigerians are known to be travelling home every December for Christmas and New Year celebrations. They used the occasion to besiege their villages from wherever they may reside including those in the Diaspora.

While some attributed this quest to visit home during the end of the year as an inborn trait, others saw it as more of a homecoming, a get-together for an average Nigerian traveller. The latter school of thought believes that Christmas time provides people with the opportunity to unite with their families and loved ones.

This period of homecoming usually witnesses so many social and cultural events such as housewarming, weddings, child naming/dedication, burial, football competitions and masquerade displays among others.

Before now, many had thought that nothing would deter Nigerians from travelling home during this annual festivity. However, the worsening security challenges in the country, the biting economic hardship and an astronomic increase in transport fares have changed the narrative. People are afraid to go home for fear of being killed by bandits and unknown gunmen. They are hungry and ever-busy motor parks and markets are scanty.

Gloomy Situation

A trip to some major parks in major cities like Lagos and Abuja showed a drastic decrease in the number of travellers from the previous years. The above-mentioned factors were said to be responsible. For example, a journey from Lagos to Onitsha that cost about N11, 000 in November was N27, 000, a more than a 200 per cent increase, on Friday.

Transporters are not happy with the gloomy situation. They voiced their frustration when asked to compare this year with previous years.

“This is supposed to be a boom time”, said Onoja, a driver with an interstates transport company.

“But you can see what’s happening here, this place used to boom by this time. As you can see, everywhere is dry and it’s not good for us.”

Economic Hardship

The scenario is the same across major markets. In Lagos, markets like Oyingbo, Mile12 etc. recorded low turnouts of traders. The reason is not far-fetched: economic hardship. For instance, a bag of 50kg rice, which was sold between N15, 000 and N20, 000 last year, is selling between N40, 000 and N45, 000 as of Friday.

“How many Nigerians do you think can afford a bag of rice at this period when the minimum wage is N30,000 and salaries are owed in many states?”, Adeola, who deals in foodstuff at Daleko Market, Mushin, Lagos queried.

“The economy is bad and nothing is working. It’s unfortunate that this government only knows how to visit hardship on the people”.

Insecurity

According to VANGUARD findings, insecurity tops the reasons why many people were not travelling. Those who spoke to our correspondents attributed the situation to the menace of unknown gunmen, kidnappers, bandits, armed herdsmen, etc who have been terrorizing the entire country.

The South-East, which used to be one of Nigeria’s relatively peaceful regions, has witnessed rising violence in recent years. Gunmen have been on the rampage in the geo-political zone, killing scores including police officers and burning police stations, Independent Electoral Commission, INEC, offices, shops and vehicles.

The recent spike in violent attacks followed a five-day sit-at-home across South-East from December 9 – 14, declared by Simon Ekpa, a controversial Finland-based Biafra agitator and leader of the pro-Biafran group, Autopilot IPOB, a faction of the IPOB.

During the enforcement of the order, many people were killed, including Prince Iheme, an elder brother to Nollywood actor, Osita Iheme. Properties worth billions of Naira were also destroyed.

The unconscionable enforcement of the now unpopular sit-at-home has injected fear into the people.

Instead of those living outside Igbo land to visit home, as usual, it is residents in the region that are leaving their ancestral homes in droves to meet their loved ones in Asaba, Lagos, Abuja, etc.

For example, a report by SBM Intelligence for DevEast Foundation said insecurity and sit-at-home protests in the South East have led to massive economic losses estimated at almost N4 trillion in two years.

The study noted that transporters plying inter and intra highways and other roads in the five states of the region lose between N10 billion and N13 billion every day of the sit-at-home protest. It added that small and medium enterprises mostly involved in trade and commerce, as well as artisans, lost between N655 billion and N3.8 trillion within 24 months.

The losses, according to the report, could be traced to specific factors including loss of between four and five working days per week; job losses due to cutbacks by business owners in response to the reduced working hours and other lost opportunities; loss of clients and customers who find alternatives because of the unstable business environment in the South-East; and increased cost of service delivery because of extra logistical costs.

The study added that the activities of official and non-state actors of various stripes – unknown gunmen, Eastern Security Network (ESN) and Ebube Agu and military operations in the zone, agitations by IPOB as well as the #EndSARS protests of 2020 – also worsened the security situation in the region and contributed to the losses. The story is not different from any other part of the country.

Not even the presence of increased formal security measures and parallel quasi-security formations like the one formed by the Benue State government could stop the incessant violent attacks across the country. The agitations, violence and inability of constituted authorities to handle the security situation in the country appear to have further dwindled public trust in the political and community leaders due to their apparent helplessness.

Not even the assurances of state governors and security agencies that the security of lives and properties of all citizens was guaranteed could convince everybody who wanted to travel to do so. Those who dare to travel in the face of insecurity said they were doing so because of important engagements they have at home.

Sharing his thought with our correspondent, Obinna, a trader at Alaba International market, Lagos, said: “I know the risks involved but I can’t help it. I have an important engagement in the village and my presence is required. So, I’m travelling.”

Another trader at Ladipo market in Lagos, Emmanuel, said he’s travelling because of the burial of his late mum which is scheduled for January 5, 2023.

His words: “It’s my mother we are talking about here. We can’t keep her in the morgue forever. The date has been fixed and we will give her a befitting burial. It’s our hope and prayers that nothing unfortunate happens that day.”

Mr Paul Eso, a journalist, he’s travelling with his entire family to see his aged parents.

According to him, “since my parents are old and weak to be moving around from village to the city and verse versa, it is my duty to always check on them and there’s no best time to do so than this Christmas season.”

Meanwhile, Favour Ama said he would have travelled but for the exorbitant transport fares.

“The only thing discouraging me from going to my village during this yuletide is the high cost of transportation. Things are hard, I don’t want to go past myself. When things get better in the country, I will travel home.”

Similarly, Mrs Blessing Sunday, Mr Ebere Okwara and John Abasi all said they would have travelled if not for the insecurity in the country.

“I love visiting home during this period. I planned to travel for Christmas but was deterred by high cost of transportation and insecurity. It is unfortunate that the government who came to power on the mantra of change has failed woefully in discharging its constitutional responsibility of protecting lives and property”, Abasi said.

VANGUARD

Headline

Trump Threatens To Unleash ‘Hell’ On Hamas

Published

1 day ago

October 4, 2025

Editor

US President Donald Trump has given Hamas until 2200 GMT on Sunday to accept his 20-point plan for peace in Gaza, warning the Palestinian militant group faced “all hell” if it did not agree to the terms.

The US leader set the deadline — which would fall at 1:00 a.m. Monday in Gaza — after an official for the Islamist movement told AFP earlier on Friday that the group still needed time to study the proposal to end nearly two years of devastating war in the Palestinian territory.

“If this LAST CHANCE agreement is not reached, all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.

The proposal, backed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calls for a ceasefire, the release of hostages within 72 hours, Hamas’s disarmament and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

That would be followed by a post-war transitional authority headed by Trump himself.

“Hamas is still continuing consultations regarding Trump’s plan… and has informed mediators that the consultations are ongoing and need some time,” the official said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly on the matter.

On Tuesday, Trump gave Hamas “three or four days” to accept his plan, which has been welcomed by world powers, including Arab and Muslim nations.

Mohammad Nazzal, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, said in a statement Friday that the “plan has points of concern, and we will announce our position on it soon.”

As Hamas mulled Trump’s peace plan this week, a Palestinian source close to the group’s leadership told AFP on Wednesday that the Islamist movement wanted to amend some clauses, including the one on disarmament.

Hamas leaders also want “international guarantees” for a full Israeli withdrawal and that no assassination attempts would be made inside or outside Gaza, the source added.

Another source familiar with the negotiations told AFP that the group was split over Trump’s plan.

Structurally, the group’s leadership is divided between officials based in the Gaza Strip and those abroad, particularly in Qatar.

Much of Hamas’s leadership has also been wiped out in Israeli attacks throughout the war.

The source told AFP that “the first (opinion) supports unconditional approval, as the priority is a ceasefire under Trump’s guarantees, with mediators ensuring Israel implements the plan”.

“The second has serious reservations regarding key clauses… They favour conditional approval with clarifications reflecting Hamas’s and the resistance factions’ demands,” the source added.

Hugh Lovatt, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said “ultimately it’s not just about convincing Hamas leadership in Doha, but also the leadership in Gaza, as well as Hamas members and fighters in Gaza.”

“Additionally, Hamas must then be able to convince other factions in Gaza,” he added.

The war was triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 66,288 Palestinians, according to health ministry figures in the Hamas-run territory that the United Nations considers reliable.

Their data does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but indicates that more than half of the dead are women and children.

Headline

Israeli Forces Strike Gaza Despite Trump’s Ceasefire Call

Published

1 day ago

October 4, 2025

Editor

Gaza’s civil defence agency said Saturday that Israel carried out dozens of attacks on Gaza City despite US President Donald Trump’s appeal to end bombardments after Hamas accepted a ceasefire deal.

“It was a very violent night, during which the (Israeli army) carried out dozens of air strikes and artillery shelling on Gaza City and other areas in the Strip, despite President Trump’s call to halt the bombing,” civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.

Bassal, whose agency is a rescue force which operates under Hamas authority, added that 20 homes were destroyed in the overnight bombardments.

“The situation is very serious in Gaza City,” Bassal said, adding that his teams were not able to reach all the casualties due to the “presence of tanks and the ongoing bombardment”.

Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said it was “checking” reports of overnight bombardments on Gaza City.

Gaza City’s Baptist Hospital said in a statement that it received casualties from a strike on a home in Tuffah neighbourhood, including four dead and “several wounded”.

Nasser Hospital in south Gaza’s Khan Yunis said two children were killed and eight people were wounded in a drone strike on a tent in a camp for displaced Gazans.

The peace plan for Gaza, presented by Trump this week and backed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calls for a ceasefire, the release of hostages within 72 hours, Hamas’s disarmament and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

Hamas said on Friday it was ready to release hostages held in Gaza under the Trump plan, but wanted negotiations on the details and a say in the future of the Palestinian territory.

AFP

Headline

Prosecutors Seek 11-year Sentence For Diddy, Citing ‘Lack Of Remorse’

Published

2 days ago

October 3, 2025

Editor

Prosecutors urged a federal judge Friday to sentence Sean “Diddy” Combs to more than a decade behind bars for his conviction on two prostitution-related counts, saying the music mogul had shown a lack of remorse.

“This is not a person who has accepted responsibility,” prosecutor Christy Slavik told the New York court at Diddy’s sentencing hearing.

“His remorse was qualified. It’s as though he thinks the law doesn’t apply to him,” Slavik said in arguing for an 11-year prison sentence for the 55-year-old hip-hop innovator. ” “His respect for the law is just lip service.”

Combs’s lawyers have asked the judge for a 14-month sentence, which would effectively be time served.

Slavik said Combs had booked speaking engagements in Miami next week in anticipation of a light sentence, which she called “the height of hubris.”

Judge Arun Subramanian for his part said federal sentencing guidelines suggested a prison term of between six and seven years although he has the latitude to impose more or less.

The judge also noted an apparent lack of remorse, saying Combs has “challenged his factual guilt full-throatedly.”

Combs was expected to address the court at the sentencing hearing after submitting a letter to the judge on Thursday pleading for mercy and saying he had “lost my way.”

Following two months of often searing testimony, jurors in July rejected the most serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering against Combs, sparing him the prospect of life in prison.

Combs’s mother and six of his children were in court on Friday and have submitted letters to the judge in his support.

In his plea to the judge, Combs apologised for his conduct, saying he was “scared to death” to be away from his family and vowing he “will never commit a crime again.”

“I lost my way,” he wrote. “I got lost in my journey. Lost in the drugs and the excess.”

Combs’s former girlfriend, Casandra Ventura, asked the judge in a letter of her own to consider “the many lives that Sean Combs has upended with his abuse and control.”

– ‘Humbled and broken’ –

Ventura, the 39-year-old singer known as Cassie, testified for days while heavily pregnant.

She described in wrenching detail physical, emotional and sexual abuse she suffered while in a more than decade-long relationship with Combs.

Ventura and another woman, identified as Jane, said they were coerced into performing so-called “freak-offs”: sexual marathons with hired men that Combs directed and sometimes filmed.

“The entire courtroom watched actual footage of Combs kicking and beating me as I tried to run away from a freak off in 2016,” Ventura wrote.

“People watched this footage dozens of times, seeing my body thrown to the ground, my hands over my head, curled into a fetal position to shield me from the worst blows,” she said, noting she has nightmares and flashbacks “on a regular, everyday basis.”

Ventura said she and her family had left the New York area for fear of “retribution” from Combs if he is released.

The defense didn’t deny Combs’s sexual activity but insisted it was consensual.

They also didn’t deny Combs’s years of violence against both romantic partners as well as employees — but they said it didn’t meet the legal threshold for the grave charges he faced.

Jurors took their side.

The conviction on lesser if still serious counts stemmed from a federal statute that makes it illegal to transport people across state lines for prostitution.

Combs has been incarcerated in Brooklyn for more than a year.

He said his time in prison has left him “reborn.”

“I have been humbled and broken to my core,” Combs wrote.
AFP