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Sudan: ‘Gunshots Everywhere, We Paid To Urinate, Bath, Brush’ Returnees Recount Ordeals

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Sudan returnees who were airlifted back home by Air Peace have narrated the horrific experience of the crisis in the country, saying they experienced sporadic gunfire and thought they would not see another day in Nigeria.

The no fewer than 376 Nigerians who were the first batch of evacuees from war-torn Sudan, arrived in Nigeria late Wednesday night.

The returnees, who were first evacuated to Egypt, touched down at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, NAIA, Abuja about 11.30p.m., and 11.54p.m., respectively and were received by aides of the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Sadiya Faruk, officials of the National Emergency Management Agency and Nigeria in Diaspora Commission, NIDCOM, among others.

Among them is a 32-year-old woman, Zainab Haruna, who said she had lost hope of survival in Sudan, adding that she went incommunicado and without water for days.

Others were the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dr. Nasir Gwarzo; Director General, National Emergency Management Agency, Ahmed Habib; and Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa.

The returnees were airlifted back by Air Peace, which brought back 282 persons and C-130 aircraft of the Nigerian Air Force, NAF, 94 returnees.

READ ALSO: Sudan: FG Gives Each Returnee N100,000 Cash Gift

The evacuees had encountered numerous encumbrances following stringent formalities issued by the Egyptian authorities to enable their airlift back to Nigeria.

Among them is a 32-year-old woman, Zainab Haruna, who said she had lost hope of survival in Sudan, adding that she went incommunicado and without water for days.

My experience in Sudan was horrible. Things were going fine, although we had rumours of a looming crisis but we didn’t take it seriously, only to wake up to gunshots and people running everywhere to save their lives,” she said.

Another returnee, Clement Mustapha, had arrived Sudan to study for a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Studies, a few weeks before the war started.

Mustapha said Sudan was like hell for him, adding that at some point, he had to say his last prayers and waited for the worst to happen.

I said my last prayers and waited for death

His words: “Sudan currently is not where your worst enemy should be. Have you seen war movies and how terrible they are? We just went through that. I am sure some people here may end up using drugs to stabilise their mind because it was draining and scary. We spent days walking to safety, hiding and explaining ourselves to gunmen, whose minds are in their guns. We begged for water. There was no electricity to charge our phones, because there was tension everywhere. We trekked under the sun and I heard that some of our ladies were molested.”

READ ALSO: Sudan: Battles Rage On As UN Warns Of ‘Catastrophe’

I didn’t know I’d ever return to Nigeria

Also speaking, Margaret Dauda, while expressing gratitude to the Federal Government for coming through for them, said they had given up hope of returning to Nigeria.

Her words: “Many other people from different countries are experiencing pain but I thank God for how Nigeria has come through for us because we literally saw the face of death in war. We saw a bullet. That’s something I have never seen or even heard before.

“We woke up on Saturday morning with heavy bombings and fire everywhere. It was that bad. I don’t know how to describe it, it is something that we have not seen before, we only saw it in the movies.”

We were sexualy harrased, broke, stole to survive — students

Recounting their ordeals, some students among the returnees said that some females were sexually harassed and were so broke to the extent of picking things from shops and running away.

A returnee female student told journalists on arrival that they faced humiliation and slept in the open.

“We spent all the money we had. We were so hungry and thirsty. They were harassing us sexualy. There was no food, no water to drink. It got to the point we picked things from shops and ran away,” she said.

Another female student told the BBC Hausa Service in an interview, that their legs were swollen due to long hours of stay in the buses.

READ ALSO: [BREAKING] Sudan Conflict: 350 Passengers Arrive Aswan Airport, Egypt

We paid money to be allowed to urinate

A male student, who had a semester to finish his studies said the situation was so bad that they even had to pay money before they were allowed to urinate. He prayed that the war should end soon to enable him go back to Sudan and complete just a semester to round up his programme.

We paid to bathe, brush teeth

Miss Fathai Alliory said the Nigeria missions in Egypt and Sudan did not take care of them. “They didn’t give us food, they didn’t give us water, they didn’t give us anything, we had to pay to take our bath, you pay to brush your teeth, you pay to do anything you want to do and things were very expensive there.

Refusal of Nigeria missions to pay visa fees delayed our evacuation
“We got to know that one of the reasons that we were delayed for days was that the Nigerian Mission in Egypt was not ready to pay for our visa, so, the Egyptian government was waiting for us to pay for our visa and we learned that the Federal Government gave them money to make all the necessary arrangements for us to leave the country.”

Sharing his experience, Mr. Ibrahim Musa, a student, who lived on the outskirts of the capital, Khartoum, said he was devastated when he heard sounds of gunshots and grenades.

At the time I started hearing the sound of gunshots, the first thing that came to my mind was to escape and I thank God this is where I am,” Musa said.

I feared my children may not survive

A father, Ibrahim Sardius, who was on standby to receive his children, said: “I feared my children may not survive the war in Sudan because the videos I saw and things I heard were horrible. I stayed days praying and was following the government closely to know what to do. At some point, I lost contact with my children but with faith I came here today to see that they are here. I am really grateful.”

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Kanye West To Launch Yeezy P0rn Studio With Stormy Daniels

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Ye, the musical artist formerly known as Kanye West, 46, is considering the idea of launching a pornography studio as his latest non-musical project.

According to a new report by TMZ, Ye and his associates are reportedly now in advanced talks with Stormy Daniels’ ex-husband Mike Moz start building a supposed “Yeezy Porn” division, which would fall under the Yeezy parent company.

Moz is a veteran in the adult entertainment industry with over a decade’s worth of experience as a producer. He would reportedly be brought in to lead the new effort, which could launch as early as this summer.

Ye seems to have a complicated relationship with pornography. He wasn’t shy when it came to rapping about his fantasies with women at the start of his career but something shifted about five years ago when he confirmed he converted to Christianity.

During a 2019 interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, West—who served as creative director for the Pornhub Awards in 2018, complete with merchandize, said Playboy magazine was his gateway to a “full-on pornography addiction.”

“My dad had a full-on magazine laid out when I was five,” he told Lowe. “Playboy was a gateway to a full-on pornography addiction. … It has impacted every choice I have made in my life from age five to now.”

Elsewhere in the conversation, which was recorded ahead of the release of his Jesus Is King album featuring the Sunday Service Choir, Ye opened up about how his Christianity changed him.

“Now that I’m in service to Christ, my job is to spread the gospel, to let people know what Jesus has done for me,” said Ye, who was still with Kim Kardashian. “I’ve spread a lot of things. There was a time I was letting you know what high fashion had done for me, I was letting you know what the Hennessey had done for me, but now I’m letting you know what Jesus has done for me, and in that I’m no longer a slave, I’m a son now, a son of God. I’m free.”

In 2022, West wrote in a now-deleted Instagram post that pornography “destroyed” his family.

“Hollywood is a giant brothel Pornography destroyed my family I deal with the addiction instagram promotes it Not gonna let it happen to Northy and Chicago,” he wrote at the time, per Page Six.

A lot has changed between then and now, including Ye’s marriage to Bianca Censori, 29, which happened secretly in December 2022. She’s been photographed a number of times—by Ye and paparazzi alike—in clothing that tests the boundaries of the word “revealing.”.

On his latest album, Vultures, Ye sampled an infamous line from the 1999 film Dogma for his song “Back to Me” where he raps, “Beautiful, big titty, butt-naked women just don’t fall out the sky, you know?”

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Many Ladies Can’t Cook, Christian Movie Producer, Bamiloye Laments Scarcity Of ‘Wife Materials’

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The Founder of Mount Zion Faith Ministries, Mike Bamiloye, has expressed concern about young people who prioritise wedding ceremonies over preparation for marriage.

In a post on his Facebook page on Wednesday, Bamiloye criticised a trend of young couples rushing into marriage without adequate knowledge or skills.

He wrote, “I am so afraid of youths of this generation. Many are not preparing enough to enter into marriage. Many are very shallow in their knowledge of marriage. They prepare more for the wedding day, than for marriage. No deep studies on what marriage entails. They are too hasty and not ready to sit down and learn the principles of marital life.

“Many ladies are not qualified to be wives, even at 28. They can’t cook properly. They are used to fast food at the eateries, ice cream, indomie, and spagetti, plus boiled eggs and titus, and they spend six months studying the wedding gowns and the accessories for the bridal trails.”

READ ALSO: UK Varsity Offers Nigerians N44m Scholarships

He further emphasised the importance of spiritual grounding, communication, and perseverance in navigating the challenges of marriage.

My dear sister is 26; she is still not yet wife material. She is beautiful, but she cannot cook. She is not spiritually strong in prayer. And she has a shallow knowledge of the word of God.

“How would she withstand the spiritual challenges that come against every home now? Too materialistic and with very little knowledge of home management. She spent several months preparing for her wedding day, but few moment to study what marriage life is. If love is blind at courtship, it is marriage that will open the blind eyes,” he added.

While condemning domestic abuse, Bamiloye encouraged couples to “sharpen the rough edges” and highlighted the need to address “red flags” during courtship.

READ ALSO: B-I-Z-A-R-R-E! Mother Sets Self, Two Daughters Ablaze

He added, “I am against abuse of women and wives. A man who beats or tortures his wife is an animal unfit to live among humans. However, we are now having too many breakings, separations, and divorces among children of God.

“No endurance, no respect, no patience. When things do not go as expected, it becomes incompatibility, and our youths, especially ladies, are being taught to walk out of marriage.

“So today, many young marriages are not fulfilled. Every marriage has its rough edges, but you have to sharpen the rough-edges.

“When you were in courtship, you ought to have noticed some little devilish behaviour in the young man, which the Holy Spirit was pointing to you as a red flag, but you were too much in love, too impatient to get into marriage. What then was the meaning of courtship?”

The PUNCH reported in November 2023, that the Christian movie producer similarly expressed concern about women who, despite appearing pleasant in church, display stubbornness, rudeness, and a lack of submission at home.

 

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FG Revokes 924 Dormant Mining Licences

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The Federal Government, through the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, has revoked 924 dormant mineral licences.

The Minister of Solid Development Minerals, Dele Alake, disclosed this information at a press conference on Wednesday in Abuja.

The revoked licences include 528 exploration licences, 20 mining leases, 101 quarry licences and 273 small-scale mining licences.

Last November, the ministry revoked 1,633 mineral titles previously given to non-complying mining companies.

READ ALSO: German Police Arrest 11 Nigerians For Dating Scam, Money Laundering

The minister also promised to clean up the solid minerals sector for international competitiveness and urged all stakeholders who have acted wrongly in this sector to turn a new leaf.

But speaking at the briefing, Alake said the ministry decided after identifying a problem of licence racketeering among players in the sector.

He said, “In line with constitutional provisions, we ensured that adequate notice was given to the concerned parties through the official gazette of the Federal Republic of Nigeria no 227 which was published on December 27, 2023.

READ ALSO: Multichoice Hikes DStv, GOtv Prices

“This notice gave all concerned parties 30 days to regularise their status including clarifications on what caused the licence to be dormant.

“In view of the above, which shows our adherence with due process and fair consideration and in line with the standard policy of use it or lose it, I hereby revoke the 924 dormant licences with immediate effect.

“These include 528 exploration licences, 20 mining leases, 101 quarry licences and 273 small-scale mining licences.”

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