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Slap That Got Ojukwu, 100 King’s College Boys Arrested In March 1944

Published

4 years ago

March 27, 2022

Bianca’s husband and hero, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, the same time 78 years ago, slapped a British teacher for ‘behaving badly’.

The media is awash with a blend of serious and comic analyses of Bianca Ojukwu’s violent encounter with former Governor Willie Obiano’s wife, Ebelechukwu, and what led to it in Awka, Anambra State during the handover of power to Governor Chukwuma Soludo. The summary of the analyses in the past few days depicts the fact that, like her husband Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Bianca has very low tolerance threshold for insults and bad behaviour.

Prime Business Africa reports that the March 17, 2022 unfortunate episode involving Bianca Ojukwu, former beauty queen and daughter of another tough man and governor of the old Anambra State, Chief C.C Onoh, occurred (almost) exactly 78 years (March 15, 1944) after her husband had a similar encounter as student of the King’s College, Lagos.

A look at a historic event in the life of the late Biafran leader that led to his expulsion from Kings’ College at age 11 implies similitude of tolerance levels to certain forms of behaviour. Ojukwu’s father, Chief Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu, had to send him to Epsom College, England to finish his High School before proceeding to the Oxford University and subsequently joining the Nigerian Army.

Also trending in the social media space is Ojukwu’s alleged encounter with the late Umaru Dikko during the Constitutional Conference of 1995 after the latter made some disparaging remarks when Ojukwu was speaking at the plenary. Ojukwu was said to have waited for the unsuspecting Dikko to move towards the toilet before walking up to give him a slap.Bianca Ojukwu has always relived fond memories of her late husband and how he taught her to be strong in character.

Could having low-threshold tolerance for insults be one of those lessons? No doubt, accounts of Dim Ojukwu’s childhood experiences showed he had been a fighter, a revolutionist, with very little patience for bad conduct, no matter who got involved.

Slap that got Ojukwu arrested

In 1944, Emeka Ojukwu was reported to have slapped a British member of King’s College teaching staff during a students’ protest for crossing the barricade and taunting. He and a few others were expelled after 100 students were arrested and tried.

King’s College Strike of 1944 led by Ovie Whiskey

King’s College boarding house students had written a petition letter to Principal Allan Clift but he dismissed their concerns on grounds he would not tolerate student petitions. Led by Senior Boy Victor Ovie Wiskey, the boarding house students, therefore, consulted prominent and knowledgeable personalities within and outside the school and decided to launch a sit-in protest on Monday March 15, 1944.

The protesting students barricaded the boardinghouse gates and defended their strongholds with cutlasses.Although the students, who would not dare to attack their teachers with weapons, little Emeka Ojukwu (aged 11), who was a junior boy at the time, and who was tasked with delivering water to the senior boys, could not tolerate Mr. Slee’s violation of their stronghold.

Here’s Emeka Ojukwu’s recollection in a 2003 interview

“…I was the person carrying the water to the guards at the front of the boarding school. The man guarding the gate at the time everything took a different shape was the great (Victor) Ovie-Whiskey.

“There he was, formidably attired in his shorts and wrapper around his waist. His job was to frighten anybody that was coming.

“We the small ones had the job of carrying water to them whenever it was needed. It was then I noticed my Nature Studies master, Mr. Sleigh (sic), striding towards Bonanza Gate from the police station.

“Clearly, he was coming to disperse the whole notion of strike. I don’t know what got into my head. I dropped the bucket of water and ran as fast as I could towards Mr. Sleigh, got to him, leapt up in the air and gave him the biggest slap I could muster…and that sealed my fate”.

Mr. Slee was said to have reported the 11-year-old Emeka Ojukwu’s assault to Principal Allan Clift.

Considering Principal Clift’s earlier intolerant attitude to the student petition, it is no surprise that Clift escalated the situation: later that day, Clift and Slee arrived with the Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) MacNamara, many policemen and a fire brigade officer from the Tinubu Fire Station who cut open the locks of the boarding house building.

Approximately 100 students were arrested and detained at Tinubu Police Station.Bailouts and Court TrialsSir Adeyemo Alakija and Samuel Akintola, then Daily Service newspaper Editor, had to bail out in the evening of their arrest.

75 senior students were then charged to court at the Santa Anna Court, Tinubu.Emeka Ojukwu was specifically charged to court for assault.The students were defended by Eusebius James Alexander Taylor and L.J. Dosunmu while the prosecution was headed by James Egbuson.

The trial, which was published in the dailies and closely observed by the public, fortunately, saw the boys acquitted and discharged.

World War II ArmyThe court’s acquittal of the King’s College boys, however, was not the end of the story: Within hours of the court judgment, the British Colonial Government and Principal Clift struck back with World War II conscription and expulsions.

Eight students were conscripted into the World War II-bound Army with very little information on what was the rationale behind the conscription.

Principal Clift expelled 11-year-old Emeka Ojukwu.Sir Louis Ojukwu (Emeka’s father) then sent him to Epsom College in England to continue his education.The boys conscripted into the Second World War were: Ayoola Gladstone, Yon Dakolo, Adedapo Aderemi (eldest son of former Ooni of Ife), Adesoji Aderemi, Victor Ologundudu, Valentine Osula, Akanni Pratt, Yinka Akpata and Okparaocha (who reportedly died in service at Burma).Principal Allan Clift, according to Femi Okunnu, sent away some boys from King’s College to other schools within Lagos such as CMS Grammar School, Methodist Boys High School, Baptist Academy and St Gregory’s.

Those sent away from King’s College were:

1. Charles O. Idowu
2. E.E. Idehen
3. R.S. Kokori
4. C. K.Ikemefuna
5. Adenekan Ademola
6. Tira Bello-Osagie
7.Victor Ovie-Whiskey (Chairman of Nigeria’s electoral body FEDECO, 1979- 1983)
8. C.H.Oyewo
9. S.A. Fakoya
10. O. Awani
11. S.S. Young-Harry
12. Thaddeus Eziashi
13. M.Agidee.

Of course, the National Union of Students (NUS) and the Lagos intelligentsia at the time were displeased by the World War II conscription and expulsions and lobbied to reverse them.

Their efforts were, however, unsuccessful.

The NUS reportedly reached out to leaders like Herbert Macaulay, who, at 80-year-old at the time had become the ‘grand old man of Lagos politics’; Comet Newspaper owner and publisher, Duse Mohammed Ali, and rising politician, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, for support.

The NUS, on June 10, 1944, convened a gathering at the Glover Memorial Hall in Lagos to discuss nationalism and the King’s College strike.

Herbert Macaulay presided over the meeting (with Ali and Azikiwe in attendance) where a Resolution to form the NCNC, comprising representatives from political parties, trade unions, literary associations, professional associations, religious groups, social clubs, and women’s organisations, was passed.

Source: Prime Business Africa

Related Topics:Bianca Ojukwu Odumegwu Ojukwu

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Trump Warns Of More Strikes In Nigeria If Attacks On Christians Continue

Published

1 hour ago

January 9, 2026

Editor

US President Donald Trump has warned that he could authorise additional military strikes in Nigeria if attacks against Christians continue, citing the security situation in the West African nation as a key concern.

In an interview with the New York Times on Thursday, Trump was asked whether the Christmas Day strikes in Sokoto State, which targeted Islamist militants, were intended as part of a broader campaign. “I’d love to make it a one-time strike. But if they continue to kill Christians, it will be a many-time strike,” he said.

Trump’s comments follow his 2025 designation of Nigeria as a “country of particular concern” due to what he described as an “existential threat” to its Christian population. The remarks have drawn criticism from Nigerian officials, who insist that jihadist groups target people regardless of religion. “Muslims, Christians and those of no faith alike” are affected, a government spokesperson said, rejecting claims that Christians are being singled out.

When pressed about reports that most victims of jihadist groups in Nigeria are Muslims, Trump responded, “I think that Muslims are being killed also in Nigeria. But it’s mostly Christians.” Nigeria, with a population exceeding 230 million, is roughly evenly divided between Christians in the south and Muslims in the north.

The December strikes targeted camps run by a jihadist group known as Lakurawa in Sokoto, a largely Muslim region near the border with Niger. Both the US and Nigerian authorities have linked the militants to Islamic State-affiliated groups in the Sahel, although the IS has not formally claimed any association with Lakurawa. Details of casualties from the strikes remain unclear, as neither government has provided official figures.

Nigeria’s Foreign Minister Yusuf Maitama Tuggar said the operation was a “joint effort” and emphasised that it was not motivated by religion. He confirmed that the strikes had the approval of President Bola Tinubu and included
participation by Nigerian armed forces. Addressing the timing of the strikes, Tuggar added that they were unrelated to Christmas, though Trump described them as a “Christmas present”.

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Science Discovers Why Hungry, Broke Men Prefer Bigger Breasts

Published

1 hour ago

January 9, 2026

Editor

A scientific study has found that men who feel financially insecure or hungry are more likely to find larger female breasts attractive.

The research was published in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS ONE and was conducted by psychologists Viren Swami and Martin J. Tovée.

The study examined whether breast size acts as a signal of fat reserves and access to resources, and whether men facing resource insecurity rate larger breast sizes as more attractive than men who feel economically secure.

Researchers carried out two separate studies across Malaysia and the United Kingdom.

In the first study, 266 men from three areas in Malaysia were assessed. The locations represented low, medium and high socioeconomic backgrounds. Participants were shown rotating computer-generated images of women with different breast sizes and asked to rate which they found most attractive.

The findings showed a clear socioeconomic pattern.

Men from low-income rural areas preferred larger breasts.

Men from middle-income towns preferred medium to large breasts.

Men from high-income urban areas preferred smaller to medium breasts.

PLOS ONE study showing how hunger and financial insecurity affect men’s breast size preferences
Cover page of a PLOS ONE study examining how resource insecurity influences men’s breast size preferences. Source: PLOS ONE

As stated in the study, “Men from relatively low socioeconomic sites rated larger breast sizes as more physically attractive than did participants in moderate socioeconomic sites, who in turn rated larger breast sizes as more attractive than individuals in a high socioeconomic site.”

The researchers noted that the lower a man’s financial security, the stronger his preference for larger breast size.

The second study focused on hunger rather than income.

In Britain, 124 male university students were divided into two groups. Sixty-six participants were classified as hungry, while 58 had recently eaten. Both groups viewed the same breast size images under identical conditions.

Hungry men consistently rated larger breasts as more attractive than men who were full.

According to the researchers, “Hungry men rated a significantly larger breast size as more physically attractive than did the satiated group. Taken together, these studies provide evidence that resource security impacts upon men’s attractiveness ratings based on women’s breast size.”

The researchers explained that these shifts suggest attraction is not fixed but responsive to immediate conditions.

They noted that men experiencing hunger or financial pressure may place greater value on physical traits that signal access to resources or stability.

The study added that temporary states such as hunger can shape attraction in the same way long-term economic conditions do, reinforcing the idea that social and environmental factors play a key role in how physical attractiveness is judged.

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Man With Lengthy Criminal Record Shoots Nigerian To Death Inside Bus In Canada

Published

1 hour ago

January 9, 2026

Editor

A 40-year-old man with an extensive criminal history has been charged with first-degree murder after a Nigerian national was shot dead on a GO bus at the Yorkdale GO Bus Terminal in Toronto, marking the city’s first homicide of 2026.

Toronto Police, in a statement on their website, said officers were called to the terminal, near Yorkdale Road and Allen Road, at about 7 p.m. on Sunday, January 4, following reports of a shooting. Investigators allege that both the suspect and the victim boarded a GO bus at the terminal, where the suspect shot the victim before fleeing the scene on foot.

According to the statement, officers arrived to find a man suffering from a gunshot wound, but despite carrying out life-saving measures, the Nigerian was pronounced dead at the scene.

The victim was later identified as Osemwengie Irorere, a 46-year-old man from Nigeria, the Toronto police said in a later statement.

Local media reports noted that an eyewitness who was seated just behind the victim said the bus had been dark and crowded as passengers waited to depart when a single gunshot rang out.

“I assumed it was a popped tyre or something, but immediately after, a guy sitting in front of me got up, shoved his hands in his pocket and ran off the bus,” the witness said, requesting anonymity for safety reasons.

“Right after, I stood up and I looked at the seat in front of me and I saw a guy, bleeding,” he added, saying he could smell smoke in the air after the shot was fired.

Police said the suspect was located and arrested a short time later near the Yorkdale subway station, and a firearm was recovered.

The accused has been identified as Tyrel Gibson, 40, of Toronto. He appeared at the Toronto Regional Bail Centre on Monday, January 5.

Court documents show that Gibson has a lengthy criminal record dating back to 2000, with nearly two dozen charges. He has previously been convicted of offences including attempted murder and firearm-related crimes. In 2015, he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, using a firearm, possession of a firearm with ammunition and possession of an unauthorised firearm and was handed a lifetime weapons prohibition. He was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2017, although it remains unclear how much of that term he served.