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Doctor Allegedly Removed 3 Litres Of Pus From Abia Farmer’s Abdomen; Police Investigate Death

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The Abia State Police Command, said it had launched investigation into the death of one Joseph Urum, an employee of Do Good Farm, Abiriba, Ohafia Local Government Area of the state, vowing to unravel the truth behind the death.

This is as the doctor who attended to the deceased before he died, said about three litres of pus were extracted from his abdomen.

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Meanwhile, the paramount traditional ruler of Abiriba ancient kingdom, HRM Eze Kalu Kalu Ogbu (Enachoken Abiriba IV), has sued for peace, and demanded justice for both the deceased and the owner of the multi-million piggery farm.

Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Abia State, Maureen Chilaka, told Vanguard that some suspects had been taken into custody over the matter.

The PPRO said personnel of the State Criminal Investigation Department, CID, handling the matter, had already visited the hospital where the deceased died, and dropped a letter for the doctor on the history of treatment given to the late Joseph.

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She said: ”We are aware of the matter. Investigations are on-going. We have been to the hospital where he died and dropped a letter with the doctor on treatment history before and after his death. Once we gather reasonable facts, we shall know if there is need for autopsy.”

Recall that after the death of Joseph on February 26, 2025, his fellow workers – Oko Ukaegbu, Pastor Ejemole Ukaegbu, Maduka, Bassey, were arrested and detained by the police following allegations that he died in a questionable circumstance.

As suspicion and controversy continued to build over the matter, youths of the community reportedly threatened to burn down the piggery farm.

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Meanwhile, the owner of the multi-million piggery farm, Mrs Onyinye Urum Ukaegbu Ibe, based in the United States of America, petitioned the Inspector General of Police, seeking his intervention, and calling for thorough investigation into the matter.

The US-based investor and step-aunty of the deceased said she established the farm to assist her relations at home.

She expressed bewilderment over the various allegations and controversies trailing the death of Joseph, her step sister’s son.

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She dismissed the allegations as false and a veiled ploy to destroy her investments.

Distancing herself from the death of the deceased, she called for autopsy to ascertain the actual cause of the death.

The mother of the deceased, Mrs Jane Agwu Nmaju (nee Urum); his elder sister, Mrs Nne Ejituru; and younger sister, Mrs Ruth Uchechukwu, have demanded justice for the late Joseph.

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The trio who spoke with newsmen in Umuahia, raised suspicion over the circumstances surrounding Joseph’s death, and demanded explanations from those who took him to hospital.

They said Joseph, prior to his death, was not complaining of any ailments, and called for autopsy to unravel the actual cause of his death.

“We don’t know what killed him. Those who were taking him round hospitals should explain to us. We want justice for him. How can he be sick at Abiriba only to be taken to Mbaise hospital to die?”

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READ ALSO: Scores Injured As Police Invade Entertainment Centre In Abia

The mother of six who said she lives in Bayelsa, demanded explanations on why her son would be rushed to the hospital and surgery allegedly conducted on him without the consent of any close family member.

They ought to have called to inform us and seek our consent before the surgery”, one of the daughters added.

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Joseph’s mother who said she is the eldest in her paternal Urum family, also expressed annoyance that she was prevented from seeing Joseph’s corpse at the mortuary where she was reportedly told she could only see him after seven days of embalment.

Narrating their grief, her daughter, Nne, said:”My mother said they contacted her and asked her to agree so that Joseph could be operated on. They knew she lives in Bayelsa and it would take some time for her to arrive. Then when she told them that her daughter (Ruth) lives in Umuahia, and would join them soon, they said they were at Mbaise.

“The next they said was that he was dead. Then, when my mother came with some family members they said he had been deposited in the mortuary and that his corpse cannot be seen until after seven days.

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“So, we became surprised and suspicious. How can our brother be that sick and surgery conducted on him without our consent? Ejimole who is my mother’s step-brother ought to have told us before taking my brother to Mbaise”, Mrs Ejituru fumed.

Corroborating this account, her sister Ruth said:”When my mother told me Joseph was sick, I got to the hospital at Mbaise around 9am on February 26 and saw him on a surgical table and knew he was already lifeless. The hospital was like a shop.

“I saw that my brother already had a tear in his abdomen. I inquired from the doctor what happened. He said they didn’t run any test on him. I said: Why will they operate on him just like that? By mere looking at him, he was just lifeless. I knew he was already dead but it wasn’t I that would pronounce him dead. The doctor said his intestines were like something that was cooked.

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“I told the doctor it was unfortunate he could do that kind of surgery without test or scan. I became angry and stepped out. Within 15 minutes the doctor came out and said he was done and that the operation was successful.

“After the operation, he left for about three hours. We became worried and I asked the nurse, and she said the doctor was coming. Ejimole was busy making calls”.

Meanwhile, when Vanguard visited Evergreen Hospital & Maternity, Onicha Ezinihitte Mbaise, Imo State, where the deceased died, the Proprietor, Dr Alexander Ohanyere, said he tried his best to save him but without success.

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I tried to give him the best services; I took some desperate measures to save him but, unfortunately they didn’t work”.

He explained that the patient was rushed to his hospital around 1:00am as an emergency case, and he tried to stabilize him before he would be wheeled into the theater for surgery but regretted that he died while efforts were still on to stabilize him.

“I got a call from a patient I had treated before, saying they had an emergency situation. So, when they came, it was already a contaminated case. I told them that the patient can’t go to the theatre due to his condition. He lacked blood, and the scan result he came with showed the intestines were perforated.

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“He also had low blood pressure. We needed to stabilize him first before any surgery could be conducted on him. After some times the kidneys stopped working.

READ ALSO: Gunmen Abduct Abia Electoral Commission Chairman In Imo

“As we kept making efforts to revive him, I noticed massive water in his abdomen. Then the quick intervention was to drain the massive water in his abdomen. I was amazed to see pus in his abdomen.

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“For the abdomen to be that rotten, it means it had been bad for some weeks.

“So, I removed about 10 milligram of fluid and he reacted positively to show he had relief. Then I brought a bucket and removed about three litres of pus from his abdomen.”

Responding to a question, the Family Physician who read at the University of Nigeria Nsukka, UNN, said ruptured appendicitis, low immunity, among others, could possibly cause such situation.

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Asked if he conducted any surgery on the organs of the deceased as being rumoured, Dr Ohanyere answered to the contrary, saying he did not go beyond “extracting the mass fluid in his abdomen”.

Dr Ohanyere said anyone in doubt of what happened should call for autopsy.

Meanwhile, a Doctor at Abiriba General Hospital, Dr Joshua Okereke, where the late Joseph was first taken to, said he noticed the seriousness of the matter and referred him immediately to the Federal Medical Centre, FMC Umuahia where the facilities to handle him were available.

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According to him, the patient manifested symptoms of acute abdomen which required surgical emergency within 24 hours, hence his decision to refer him to a tertiary hospital for adequate attention.

We don’t have the facility to handle him here. So, within 20 minutes, I had referred him to the FMC that has everything needed to manage his situation.

“Acute abdomen means something is wrong inside the abdominal cavity. It could be intestinal obstruction or a hole, or ulcer that has eaten the stomach. The sickness was not like something that came suddenly. Looking at him you will see he has been sick.”

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Dr Okereke wondered why he (doctor) had to be subjected to police interrogation, having referred the deceased to a higher hospital without delays.

“I’m surprised that police are involving us. The patient left here alive but very sick. Whatever happened to him later, I was not aware.”

Farm employee speaks
One of the employees of the Do Good Farm, Mrs Confidence Nduka, told Vanguard that the deceased usually complained of loss of appetite, and would avoid his meals and rather take ‘tea’ in lieu of solid food.

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She said that the deceased who was recruited towards the end of January 2025, had no issues with any co-worker, wondering where the allegation of murder was coming from.

Other staff of the farm narrated how some of the workers now in detention assisted in rushing the deceased to the hospital when he complained of stomach ache, expressing shock that anybody could come up with murder allegation.

Nnanna Urum Ukaegbu, who said the deceased was a member of their extended family, narrated how their sister based in the US established the farm to assist the family.

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He said it sounded strange for anyone to allege murder after frantic efforts were made by the arrested co-workers to save the life of the deceased.

READ ALSO: Tension In Abia As Female Truck Driver Blocks Highway To Protest Harassment By Touts

On why the deceased was rather taken to a clinic at Mbaise in Imo State instead of FMC Umuahia, a tertiary hospital where he was referred to by the doctor at Abiriba general hospital, it was said that he was allegedly told at FMC “to come back in the morning due to lack of space.”

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The detained co-workers were quoted to have said that they got to FMC but were not attended to , and in their desperation to save the life of their brother , decided to go to Mbaise hospital based on recommended by a friend whom the doctor had once treated while practicing in Enugu.

They were said to have been told at the emergency unit to return in the morning because “there was no space.”

The source said that in their desperation to save Joseph who was not admitted at FMC, somebody suggested that they should contact the doctor at Mbaise who treated him some years ago at Enugu.

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When contacted for a response, the Public Relations Officer, PRO, of FMC Umuahia, Chief Darlington Madubuko, said the Management of the hospital would investigate the claims.

The PRO explained that sometimes if there were no bed space to admit a patient brought at odd hour at the emergency unit, the patient could be asked to come when there would be space.

Asked why a patient brought under emergency should be turned back for lack of bed space, the PRO said that the policy was adopted due to blackmail as people were posting on the social media, images of patients being attended to on the floor.

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He said: ”Remember that there was no record to prove that the person you are referring to was our patient since he was not admitted. But we will investigate the matter.

“If the time they arrived was too late, and there was no bed space at the emergency unit, there is no way he would be admitted. We were admitting before even when there was no bed space but people started posting photos of patients on the floor to blackmail us”.

He explained that the hospital is usually overcrowded due to high patronage by patients from neighbouring states of Akwa Ibom, Ebonyi, Imo and Rivers States.

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The PRO, however, said that the current management of the hospital was making spirited efforts to address the challenge of infrastructure, hinting that the new emergency building it embarked on would soon be ready.

“We are building a new emergency unit and it will soon be ready. There’s massive infrastructural development with new equipment by the current management to make sure we give the best of services”.

The Chief Medical Director, CMD, Professor Azubuike Onyebuchi told Vanguard that the new Emergency building “which is triple the existing one” would be opened by the first week of April as he had just secured approval to engage 35 new nurses to boost the manpower team.

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He said that the challenge of crowded bed space would have been addressed by the time the new complex becomes operational.

Meanwhile, the paramount traditional ruler of Abiriba ancient kingdom, HRM Eze Kalu Kalu Ogbu (Enachoken Abiriba IV), said peace had been restored to the area following his intervention.

READ ALSO: 73% Of Abia Residents Drink Water Contaminated With Faeces — Study

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He said that when he heard about the matter, he invited both parties to the palace for arbitration but decided to hand the matter over to the police for proper investigation due to the heavy allegations involved.

“ When I heard of the matter I invited all the parties. The siblings of the deceased told us that their brother died in questionable circumstances. So, I invited the police, and told the police: This is your area. Go and investigate and find out what happened. I’m very sure police know what to do.”

The monarch also said he had stopped an attempt by irate locals to burn down the farm, arguing that it is not proper to destroy ones property based on mere allegations.

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By then, tension was already rising in the community. They were thinking of how to burn down the farm but I said it was not proper to destroy somebody’s investment because of allegations. So, in the interim, I asked them to put palm fronds there to allow for partial operations in the farm. We learnt there are animals in the farm and if you lock it down they will all die.

“There are no more threats. Once we handed over the matter to the police, both families have been cooperating.”

Enachoken said his concern was justice for both the deceased and the owner of the farm.

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“‘I want justice for the deceased; I want justice for the owner of the farm. After police investigations, whoever is at fault, we will know, and start addressing the fault. We don’t want another person to die. We will continue to do our best to ensure there is peace. I want peace in my community. Both parties are my subjects”.

On the rumour that some youths are threatening that the deceased would be buried on the farm, an action considered as a ploy to take over the farm from the owner, Enachoken there was no basis for such thinking.

We don’t address rumour. But if there is any reason for that the family will come to the community. They can’t decide that on their own. The issue of where to bury him has not arisen. If at the end of the day, he died of natural cause, why should anyone go and bury him in the farm?

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“If the police are through with investigation, we will call all the parties again at the palace and tell them what to do”, Enachoken said.
(Vanguard)

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OPINION: Ahmadu Bello Children’s Territorial Politics

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By Festus Adedayo

There was territorial tension in Nigeria last week. Like in the famous fable where animals gathered in the forest to delineate their individual boundaries, last Tuesday, Northern Nigeria regrouped in Kaduna in aid of its territory. Western Nigeria Awurebe music lord, Late Ibadan, Oyo State-born Dauda Epo Akara, has the patent of a folklore that captures this fictional animal gathering. Epo sang about a quartet of animals comprising Lion, Fox, Cobra and Tortoise which can be extrapolated into a human gathering. It was a power show and territorial delineation. The animals did not only gather to flex muscles but to have a mutual understanding of the power in their pouches. In a July 17, 1995 article published in the Nigerian Tribune, authored by late Dr. Omololu Olunloyo, ex-governor of Oyo State, the famous mathematician and politician looked at that same fable from a power calculus prism. Ace columnist, Dr. Lasisi Olagunju, in an Olunloyo memorial symposium recently, uprooted the folklore from the archive and situated its essence.

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Each of the animals was embittered by past territorial usurpation. As they complained, they also criminalized any further attempt to take one another for granted. This they curated in form of taboos, the irreducible minimum of their tempers’ elasticity, a violation of which would bring the beast out of them.

For Cobra, he could tolerate his head or even the back being stepped upon in elementary power duel. However, anyone who trod on his tail in power contestation should be ready to meet Asarailu, Muslims’ angel of death. Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) Board Chairman, Bashir Dalhatu, would seem to represent the Cobra in the folklore. Like a reptile ready to sting with its deadly venom, Dalhatu spat out the north’s grouse. President Bola Tinubu, he said, had underdeveloped the north. Rising insecurity, poor infrastructure, declining agricultural support, neglect of education and healthcare of the children of Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, were the president’s 26-month infractions.

In territorial politics, the north has always been unexampled of the two old Nigerian regions. Highly savvy and purposeful in its romance of power, the North acts like the proverbial hollow-eyed whose tears stream out in a long course. The north’s entitlement, said Dalhatu, was its demographic contribution to Tinubu’s emergence. What gave Tinubu the temerity to trifle with Ahmadu Bello’s progeny who gave him 64 per cent of the total votes that crowned him?

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Convened at the instance of Uba Sani, Kaduna state governor and one of Tinubu’s political sidekicks, the undisguised raison d’être of the gathering was to dissolve mounting perceived undercurrents of the north’s dissatisfaction with the Tinubu government. In the last 26 months, the children of the Sardauna of Sokoto have bickered in ones and groups. The North, they claimed, has been severely marginalized in federal allocations, project execution, and key appointments. Of greater fundament, they complain, is the ravaging pestilence of insurgency. Don’t our fathers say, before the Sòbìyà, a guinea worm parasitic infectious disease, becomes a painful wound is the appropriate time to call for its doctor, the Olúgànbe?

Fox, Lion and Tortoise were also at The Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation (SABMF)-organized event which drew participants from across the 19 Northern states and the FCT. For these three animals, their anger and prognosis for stopping further territorial hurt was without equivocation. Fox spoke next. It was abominable for his deadly face to be looked at by anyone, he said. It was then the turn of the Lion to speak. If anyone impugned this animal’s dignity, reputed for scarifying his victims without a scalpel (akom’oní’làláìl’abe), the recompense was bloodbath for the transgressor, he spelled the word audibly. Tortoise told the conferees that he was aware of his own bitchy ugliness, especially the amoebic shape of his splintered carapace, but it was not the remit of anyone to mock him. Anyone who engaged in such body-shaming would have to endure a “very lethal punishment” from him.

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Chairman of the Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF), Prof. AngoAbdullahi, for that moment, became one of the animals. He was angry about recent relocation of key Central Bank departments from Abuja to Lagos, a move he condemned as “suspicious and divisive”. He equaled the so-called marginalization of Northern Nigeria as a threat to Nigeria’s unity and development. Abdullahi told the president that there was a growing number of out-of-school children in the north, a figure he put at 80 per cent of Nigeria’s estimated 20 million out-of-school children. As the animals proposed conditions for armistice, Abdullahi also proposed the allocation of N7.5 trillion each to education and roads in the North.

Amity reigned in the animal kingdom after this “Memorandum of Association”. It was the same peace that reigned after, I reckon, this same northern bloc met Tinubu before the 2023 election. What must have given the Abdullahis and Dalhatus of the north the weapon to show this kind of entitlement? My guess is that there must have been a breakdown of agreement between them and Tinubu. Not long after the animals signed their own Memorandum, a rupture soon came. One fateful day, Tortoise, with his wobbly weight and unsightly limbs, walked into the gathering of his colleagues. His gait immediately provoked laughter among them.

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Miffed by this rank rupture of a gentlemanly agreement, Tortoise, notorious for his trickster traits, reached for his pouch of trickery. He immediately hid himself behind a twig of trees not too far from the animals. From there, he dug his limb into the soil and spattered loose soil on the fur coat of Fox. Angered, Fox spat on the Lion whom he wrongly believed was responsible for this. Lion roared, his mane fluffing in indescribable fury as the whole forest shook in a seismic burst. He then charged at Fox who he assumed was responsible for breaking this taboo. In the pandemonium that ensued, Lion and Fox mistakenly stomped on the tail of the Cobra, breaking his spinal cord. As a last minute revenge, Cobra spat his venom which immediately temporarily blinded the two. The fight was so intense that both Fox and Lion inflicted fatal wounds on each other’s jugular. In no long a time, the bodies of the three giants of the forest lay in a heap, in a mutually assured destruction.

In the folklore told by the trio of Epo Akara, Olunloyo and Olagunju, the eventual tragedy of the quartet was similar. Olagunju explains the tragedy thus: “As to cause of death, Lion died from a fatal snake bite, Fox from being torn to pieces by His Royal Majesty, the Lion, whilst Cobra had his vital backbone crushed in the scuffle. The battered tortoise hobbled away quite amused but not before having his back shell broken when the lion squashed it, in a mad rush after receiving a snake bite.”

Since the 1914 amalgamation of the Southern and Northern protectorates by Lord Lugard, the two regions have worn their fatal flaws on their lapels. While the south, first port of call of white colonialists, took its Westernism to the extreme, the north prides itself in how it weaponizes its magisterial understanding of the calculus of power.

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Why did Dalhatu, Abdullahi and other sons of Ahmadu Bello who railed at Tinubu last Tuesday feel they were entitled to their bile? The north always feels it holds the ace in Nigeria’s murky and voodoo demographic politics. The crisis from the 1962 census was part of what eventually led to the military putsch of January 1966.

The territorial politics that happened in Kaduna last week is the type the north has always used to transform ethnicity into an identity. It does this for the sake of aiming to gain political power. The weapon of actualizing this is demographics. This was hoisted a few weeks ago when the rump of CPC in the APC hoisted a nebulous 12 million votes with which it hoped to whip Tinubu into line. Since the British began attempts at a nationwide population census, it had always faced the accusation that it planned to favour its northern quisling ahead of the south. The south claims that the whole population exercises in the north is a sham, buoyed by the amorphous Purdah system where enumerators are forbidden from entering delineated harem homes wherein is written “Baa siga, gidanaore ne” – entrance barred because it is inhabited by married women.

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Accusation of sudden inflow into Nigeria of nationals of Niger, Chad and contiguous countries surrounding the north is also rife in enumeration time. The aim of doing this is to bloat population numbers for the sake of securing more government funding and political representation.

Since 1999 when the 4th Republic commenced, as each election cycle is afoot, the north takes Nigeria into inter-ethnic tensions while hoisting the primacy of its ethnicity. This politicized ethnicity made Goodluck Jonathan run from pillar to post to satisfy the region in 2015. It was all to no avail. Jonathan flew to Sokoto to establish the nomadic school. I doubt if that school ever functioned till today. His fatal nudge was to think education was the problem of the North. He was wrong. Continuation of a feudal hold on the Talakawas is it. Jonathan brought on board his government elites of the Ahmadu Bello’s progeny. It failed to rouse the region in his support. The north was rather obsessed with bringing its most vacant-minded son to administer Nigeria. From 2015 to 2023 of Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, he kept on nourishing that same barren path of prejudicing northern elite ahead of rescuing northern children from ignorance of Almajiri. The result is the metastasis we have today of insurgency. The roam-abouts of yesterday have come of age, equipped with burning fury against their elite captors.

I agree absolutely with Kaduna State governor, Uba Sanni, that it will be unfair for the north to blame its backwardness on Tinubu. From July 28, 1966 when it took over power, except for the accident of history that produced Olusegun Obasanjo in 1976, northern leaders have consistently and woefully failed to provide a future for the north. It was the lack of the will to combat the vermin of roam-about, born-trowey children – apologies to Mrs. Patience Jonathan – that birthed and energized the incubus of Boko Haram and allied insurgent activities in the north. How can Tinubu be victimized for this? On this violence affliction which the north brought upon Nigeria, this country has spent trillions of Naira of annual budgetary allocations, as well as martyred thousands of its soldier children, in service of decades of this elite fatal flaw.

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I am interested in knowing how northern son, Buhari, fared in taming insecurity in his eight years rule, as compared to Tinubu’s two years, to warrant Dalhatu’s blame. Dalhatu’s allegation is that, under this government, “the North remains under siege, with insurgent groups multiplying and attacks becoming increasingly deadly.” How much of Dalhatu’s “widespread violence — including massacres, bombings, kidnappings and cattle rustling” which he said “has crippled economic and social progress across the region” did Buhari tackle? What was the percentage of Buhari government’s funding of agriculture, education, infrastructure and healthcare, and implementation of policies that promote equitable development across the country? When Buhari sat in Aso Rock for eight years picking his teeth, how much of this territorial politics did the north play? Only statistics can trump the mashed potato of rhetoric and impassioned arguments of the north.

Like the intense fight of Fox, Lion, Cobra and Tortoise and its attendant mutual infliction of fatal wounds, the north’s card of politicized ethnicity has a potential of a mutually assured destruction. As the bodies of the three giants of the forest lay in a heap, the moment Tinubu finds a way round the north’s territorial politics, he will, like Tortoise, though bruised, walk away from its self-inflicted wounds. When some of Ahmadu Bello’s progeny’s brown-noses argue that since 1999, the north has spent less years in the Villa than the south, as rationalization for the region to again be in office in 2027, they make one want to puke. It is a self-serving argument. The question to ask is, is the period from 1966 to 1999 no longer part of Nigeria’s history? In other words, did Nigeria start in 1999?

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UNICEF Urges Women To Breastfeed Babies Within One Hour Of Birth, Warns Against Breastmilk Substitutes Usage

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The United Nations Children’s Fund has called on pregnant women in Borno State to initiate their newborns into breastmilk consumption within one hour of birth

Speaking during the flag-off event of the 2025 World Breastfeeding Week on Saturday in Maiduguri, the state capital, the UNICEF Chief of Maiduguri Field Office, Francis Busiku, stated that only 35.5 per cent of children in Nigeria were initiated to breastmilk within one hour of birth, and only 28.8 per cent were exclusively breastfed

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According to him, this year’s theme, “Prioritise Breastfeeding: Create Sustainable Support System”, highlights the urgent need to prioritise actions and systems leading to equitable access to breastfeeding, especially for vulnerable women in rural and conflict-affected areas.

READ ALSO:How UNICEF’s Initiative Changes Narrative Of Access To Healthcare Services In Bauchi

He said, “Only 35.5 per cent of children in Nigeria were initiated to breastmilk within one hour of birth, and only 28.8 per cent were exclusively breastfed.

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“Every child born in Borno State deserves to be initiated to breastmilk within one hour of birth, exclusively, breastfed for the next six months of life and continue breastfeeding for up to two years and beyond”

Francis also warned against the use of breastmilk substitutes and unsafe water, while noting that it poses a serious health risk to infants

The use of breastmilk substitutes and unsafe water in our communities can pose serious risks to the health of infants. It is therefore critical that the state enacts, enforces, and monitors the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes to protect children and promote breastfeeding,” he advised.

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READ ALSO:Polio: UNICEF Engages Traditional Rulers To Ensure Vaccine Compliance

He emphasised that breast milk provides all essential nutrients infants need in the first six months and offers maximum protection against illness and supports health growth and development

The UNICEF boss further called on the Borno state government and stakeholders to strengthen maternal protection polices, increase funding support, revitalise baby-friendly initiatives and prioritise community-level nutrition interventions.

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“Together, through strategic partnerships, innovative approaches, and sustained commitment, we can transform breastfeeding practices across Borno state. UNICEF remains steadfast in its support to the government and partners in this vital vision”, he concluded.

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NBA Slams Niger Gov Over Shutting Down Of Radio Station

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The Nigerian Bar Association has called on the Governor of Niger State, Mohammed Bago, to immediately withdraw what it described as an unconstitutional order shutting down Badeggi FM in the state.

The NBA President, Afam Osigwe, SAN), in a statement on Saturday, emphasised that only the National Broadcasting Commission had the legal authority to regulate or shut down broadcasting operations in the country as anything contrary will amount to press gagging.

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The Association urged the governor to rescind his directive ordering the immediate closure of the privately owned Badeggi 90.1 FM.

It stressed that the action, reportedly carried out through instructions to the State Commissioner of Police and the Commissioner for Homeland Security, allegedly involved profiling the station’s owner and marking the premises for demolition.

READ ALSO:Passengers’ Traffic: Anxiety As local Airlines Raise Alarm Over Consistent Decline

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The statement read, “This constitutes executive rascality of the highest order. It is a blatant abuse of power that undermines constitutional democracy and the rule of law. The Governor lacks the constitutional or legal authority to revoke broadcast licences or shut down any media establishment. In Nigeria, only the National Broadcasting Commission has the statutory mandate to regulate broadcasting, including the suspension or revocation of licences, subject to due process.

“It is imperative to state that the Commissioner of Police or any security agency must not act on unlawful executive directives. Security agencies are bound by law to act within constitutional limits and not as instruments for political intimidation or media suppression.

“The Nigerian Constitution guarantees freedom of expression under Section 39, including the right to own, operate, and access media. No person, regardless of office, has the right to arbitrarily restrict or shut down a media house without due process of law. This unlawful closure, without regulatory sanction or judicial backing, is a dangerous assault on press freedom and democratic governance.”

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The NBA further stated that Governor Bago’s directive is entirely unlawful and of no legal effect.

READ ALSO:What May Change As Lagos Tenancy Bill Passes Second Reading

Osigwe maintained that the Commissioner of Police and other relevant authorities must refuse to implement illegal orders that infringe on constitutional rights, reiterating that media regulation must follow due process through established statutory mechanisms, not arbitrary executive action.

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The Association also noted that the actions taken against Badeggi FM constitute a direct affront to press freedom and violate Nigeria’s democratic norms.

We call on Governor Bago to immediately withdraw this directive and refrain from further unconstitutional acts. The NBA also urges all levels of government to uphold the rule of law, respect constitutional boundaries, and protect the freedom of the press. A free and independent media is not a privilege – it is a constitutional right and a cornerstone of any democratic society,” the statement read.

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