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OPINION: Mass Murder On River Niger[Monday Lines]

By Lasisi Olagunju
“As of today, the combined efforts of NEMA, Kogi State Emergency Management Agency and the Red Cross have recovered 54 bodies. Unfortunately, there was no manifest for the boat, which makes it difficult to confirm the exact number of passengers. The journey took place at night, and none of the passengers had life jackets.” The Head of Operations of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in Kogi State, Justin Uwazuruonye, told the above to newsmen on Saturday. He was speaking about last Friday’s boat accident involving about 200 women and labourers.
A folk poet says, “The young goat fled the slaughterers/ He took shelter among the butchers./ The couscous fled those who sprinkle sauce over it,/ It took shelter among those who eat it.” People who were running away from hunger and poverty in one place ended up buying death on the waterways at another end. That is what happened to the casualties of that accident, who were women on their way to a market in Niger State. Their boat sank into River Niger with all in it. Nigeria is still searching for the remains of many.
Like Wole Soyinka’s metal on concrete, reports of that accident on the Niger jarred the heart. We still do not know the exact number of those who sank with that sepulchral boat. What we know is that all of the dead had no names – they are just a number, nameless. People who have names – big names – don’t travel in deathly canoes; they don’t paddle coffins to their places of trade.
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Overcrowded boats are cemeteries in motion. Two hundred people crammed into a creaky bowl of wood is mass murder – or mass suicide. Many of the boats are old and decrepit; they are very well-known disasters waiting to happen. Yet, people pay to use them because they are the only affordable means of transportation available to those who use them.
We may not trust the authorities in big things, but in ‘small’ talks like how to save ourselves from recalcitrant death, we must listen. The Nigeria Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) recently rolled out a safety protocol. Obey them. They say do not be lured into boarding wooden boats whose expiry dates are in the last century. They say do not travel on water without life vests. They say the flip side of not wearing life vests is wearing aprons of death.
Murderers are not just felons with swords and daggers. Operators of boats without care are killers. They maximize profit and overload boats. They use corner-corner creek routes and compromise safety; they offend the law and dodge regulators; they break rules and avoid water marshals. They run faster than their destinies and collide with tragedy. They mass-kill the helpless who trust them with their lives.
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How do we say enough is enough? Can we appeal to the big men from that axis of tragedy to intervene with their money? Is it not possible for the rich to replace every aged wooden boat with modern watercraft that won’t crack and perish under the weight of struggling children, women and labourers? Can the powerful channel monies currently being spent on buying wheelbarrows into buying life jackets for every household that must travel on water? Can radio and television stations in these areas and in other places mount a campaign against suicidal cruises on the waterways? Can we make this avoidable accident the very last on our waterways?
No one wants to die. The hundreds who have perished in boat accidents this year alone in that axis wanted to live. Over 100 died in October in Mokwa, Niger State; more than 40 died somewhere in Zamfara State in September. The latest casualties were on their way to farm work or to buy and sell in a market. They were looking for what to eat. May we not run from the house of hunger to the house of stupid death. May the souls of the dead Rest In Peace. May the living learn from the dead.
News
[JUST IN] Trump’s Threat: Nigeria Ready To Work With US, Other Countries To Wipe Out Terrorists – FG

The Federal Government has said Nigeria is willing to work with the United States and other countries to wipe out remnants of terrorists and criminal elements in Nigeria.
Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, stated this during a world press conference in Abuja on Wednesday.
While acknowledging that Nigeria is faced with insecurity challenges, he clarified that it is not targeted at any religion or group, as peddled by faulty data.
He saud in the last two years, President Bola Tinubu has deepened his commitment to dealing with insecurity, evident in the country’s improved standing on the Global Terrorism Index and recent change of security service chiefs.
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He called on the United States and other nations to support President Tinubu in ridding the menace of criminals and terrorists making life unbearable for Nigerians.
“The Nigerian government is willing to work with other international bodies, including the United States, to ensure that criminals are permanently wiped out.
“We welcome support from international partners, including the US, to deal with its security challenges.
“President Tinubu is taking the lead to resolve all challenges with the US, including other countries.
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“Nigeria is not running away from the fact that we have a big insecurity situation.
“The government and people of Nigeria have taken note of the US stance over the alleged violation of human rights.
“President Tinubu is determined to confront and end security challenges,” he said.
Recall that last week, US President Donald Trump threatened military action in Nigeria if nothing is done about alleged killings of Christians.
This comes after Trump designated Nigeria as a ‘Country of Particular Concern’.
News
Edo Twin Babies Died Of Natural Causes — Autopsy Report

An autopsy report regarding the death of twin babies who were referred to a medical facility in Benin has revealed that the babies died naturally.
The twin babies were referred to Med-Vical Medical Centre, Benin, on August 2025 in a severely ill condition and extremely premature.
The babies died in the hospital which led to family members and friends accusing the hospital of masterminding the death of the twins through negligence.
The widespread of allegations prompted the Edo State Police Command to initiate an investigation into circumstances surrounding the death of the babies.
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In the autopsy report conducted by a team of pathologists —Dr. Ducan Iyawe, Dr. D.E Imasogie, Dr. K.O Abinokhauno, and Dr Ijomone, and made available to newsmen on Wednesday, it was revealed that the baby died of natural causes.
The final report was read in the presence of the Edo State Commissioner of Police, the state Ministry of Health, and the Nigerian Medical Association (Edo State Chapter) on Wednesday.
The findings listed the cause of death as foetal squames in the lungs leading to respiratory distress, acute foetal asphyxia, neonatal sepsis and bronchopneumonia
“The autopsy has shown clearly that the baby died of natural causes and there was in fact no case of negligence, secrecy, or any form of malpractice as alleged,” the report stated.
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The medical team emphasized that all the babies’ organs were intact, adding that death resulted from complications associated with extreme prematurity and severe illness.
“The twin babies were originally delivered prematurely in another hospital, referred to another private facility before subsequent referral to Med-Vical Medical Centre for advanced neonatal intensive care and life support.
“Despite the hospital’s intervention, the infants could not survive the severe complications linked to their early birth and critical conditions,” the report stated.
Reacting to the report, Ms. Onyedikachi Nwizu of Med-Vical Medical Centre’s Management, expressed relief at the findings, but described the allegations as “false, malicious, and devilish.”
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She disclosed that though pained by the loss of the babies, the hospital had instructed its legal team to take steps to redeem its reputation, which had been “seriously dented” by the false accusations.
Recall that parents of the babies, Mr Jerry Sylvester and Mrs. Edwina Jerry had earlier petitioned the Edo State Commissioner of Police, accusing Med-Vical of professional misconduct and concealment.
Their allegations circulated widely on social media and were reported by several news outlets, prompting the police to order a formal autopsy to ascertain the cause of death.
News
Ex-IYC President Demands Toru-Ebe, Oil River States Creation, 33 LGs In Bayelsa

Pioneer president of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC),
Dr Felix Tuodolo, has called on the Federal Government of Nigeria to create Toru-Ebe and Oil River states.
The former commissioner for Ijaw Affairs in Bayelsa State also urged the government at the centre to create 33 Thirty-three (33) additional Local Government Councils for Bayelsa State.
Tuodolo, who said Bayelsa is one of the largest oil and gas producing states in Nigeria, added that the state accounts for a substantial portion of the country’s oil production, estimated to be around 35-45%.
He noted that despite the state’s significant contribution to Nigeria’s GDP, land and river mass and huge potentials for steady growth and development, the state currently had only eight (8) Local Government Areas, emphasising that Thirty-three LGAs were proposed for creation to make Bayelsa a constitutional state since the 1999 Constitution stipulates that every state must have a minimum of ten LGAs.
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The statement read, “Importantly, the three major tribes in Nigeria all have their own states. The Yorubas have six states, the Hausa- Fulani has 19 northern states and the Igbo has five, and now seven with the resolutions to create a sixth state for them and an extra state in each Geo-political zone, which Ijaws strongly supports. But the Ijaws do not have a single state because the only Ijaw state, namely, Bayelsa, does not even meet the requirement of a state with only eight LGAs. The proposed new thirty-three LGAs for Bayelsa must be created for the Ijaws to accept that they have a state. Nigeria should take seriously the creation of 33 additional LGAs in Bayelsa State. This 33 LGs creation was as old as the creation of Bayelsa State.
“These including other demands made by the INC Global in the envisaged new constitution include: (d) Protection and remediation of the Ijaw environment (6) Federal resource contribution through resource control and payment of tax (1) True federal Constitution (with no unitary colouration) (g) Reintegration of own vide the wholesale prosecution of the Ijaw struggle for self-determination, which had lasted centuries (h) Improve the quality and quantity of representation in the Ijaw region”, he added.
Dr Tuodolo also threw his weight behind the call by the INC Global the creation of Toru Ebe State out of the present Ondo, Edo and Delta States.
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He argued that the oil revenue from the Ijaw areas in the three states accounts for the largest revenue accruing to the National Economy, stressing that despite the receipt of the 13% Derivation Revenue by the 3 states (Delta, Edo and Ondo), the Ijaw areas which are mineral producing had been denied of any meaningful development.
“The proposed state with a population of 2.7million people has natural landscapes with beautiful beaches and lengthy coastline which can be annexed into a blue economy and tourism that will make the State economically viable”, he noted.
The INC Global also demanded the creation of the oil river state.
“We proposed Oil Rivers State that will comprise Ijaws in Rivers and Akwa ibom States. These areas remain the most naturally blessed but environmentally degraded in the entire world with massive oil (exploration) and gas flaring threatening the very survival of the People”, he emphasised.
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