CHEATING COUPLE CAUGHT, FORCED TO WALK NAKED IN BENUE

 

 A woman who was said to have been involved in adultery was caught and forced to walk naked with her partner in Benue State.

The incident was said to have occurred on September 19 at Orokam, Obadigbo Local Government area of the state.

Apparently the woman is said to be the wife of a popular school proprietor in the area. She lost her husband on Tuesday, and was accused by her husband's people of committing adultery which she admitted she was guilty of.

Further revelation by members of Orokam stated that there is an oracle called "ALEKWU" in that town which punishes married women that cheats on their husbands and also deters people from committing atrocities.

The Oracle supposedly issues out a warning to the husband of any adulterous woman of which if he fails to take appropriate actions or return to the village from wherever he is to perform the proper rites for cleansing himself and his family, he will die.

 

What do you think of the woman's punishment?

WHY NIGERIA WAS EXCLUDED FROM 2015 DV LOTTERY – U.S Envoy

 

The United States Consul-General, Mr. Jeffery Hawkins, on Thursday September 19 2013, gave reasons why Nigeria was excluded from the 2015 Diversity-Visa-Programme registration.

Hawkins told journalists at the U.S. Consulate General in Lagos, that Nigeria was among other countries that had in the last five years, sent more than 50,000 immigrants to the country through the programme.

"As at today, Nigerians have graduated from being under-represented to being a fully well represented group in the U.S.

"There is therefore no longer any need to encourage Nigerians to apply to travel to the U.S. through the Diversity-Visa-Programme. "Already there are too many Nigerians in the U.S. that have benefited from this programme,'' he said.

The envoy explained that the diversity visa was created to promote countries with low rates of immigration to the U.S. Hawkins said that Nigeria and other affected countries had already exceeded their quota in the last five years.

He, however, stressed that the U.S. authorities would continue to give preference to Nigerians travelling to U.S for visits, business transactions, studies and professional engagements. "All other types of immigration from Nigeria to the U.S, apart from the diversity visa, would continue unabated.

"Also, let me say that the ban has nothing to do with our relations with Nigeria now, and in the years ahead,'' the News Agency of Nigeria quoted the envoy as saying to journalists. He also dismissed insinuations making the rounds that the move was to reduce the number of Nigerians travelling to the U.S.

The U.S official also said that the development had "nothing to do with insecurity, activities of Boko Haram and other forms of upheaval in Nigeria." It would be recalled that the U.S. Department of State, banned Nigeria, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador and Haiti from participating in the 2015 Diversity-Visa-Programme.

Other affected countries are: India, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, South Korea, United Kingdom and Vietnam.

REVEALED: You Will Not Believe What Goes On In Motor Parks At Nights

In major cities and towns across the country, villages strategically located along highways, there are up to more than 3000 motor parks and joints in which travellers eat, drink and smoke without mandatory closing time, from morning through the night till day break.

Licensing authorities at any level of government are not in place to regulate and control the establishment and activities of these kiosks, stores, drinking palours, joints, restaurants, open spaces with tables and chairs mounted to sell alcohol- all within a few blocks in some cases, around the neighbourhood or vicinity.

In the Lagos metropolis for example, these motor parks for both intra and inter-state travelling can be found at Ojota, Maza-Maza, Mile 2, Mile 12, Jibowu, Ojuelegba, Oshodi, Iyana-Iba, Iyana-Ipaja, Agege, Oworo, Sango-Otta, Abule-Egba and Ikotun.

Others are at Lekki, Obalende, CMS, Owode, Ikorodu, Epe, Volks, Ajah and other places with high concentration of people across Nigeria.

At most of these motor-parks and major bus stops, operators of the drinking spots are usually women and young girls. All sorts of alcoholic drinks are sold. From soft drinks to beer, stout, wines, brandy, gordon gin, chelsea, Bertola, illicit gin locally known as "ogogoro" in various components.

Cigarettes of different brands including Indian hemp (marijuana), cocaine, heroin are also not left out. Majority of the customers are bus and taxi drivers, tricycle operators, conductors, motor-cyle riders and Agberos when they want to cool down after running up and down extorting money from private commercial transporters.

In addition, there are numerous travellers, day and night, boarding buses to different destinations in the East, West, South and North, and even to neigbbouring countries in the sub-West African region.

Some people preferred night travels in spite of the danger involved as armed robbers could disguise as genuine passengers only to pull out guns while on the journey. Armed robbers may operate on the highway, shooting and dispossessing passengers of their goods, luggage and money.

Before the journey commenced, travellers often waited for the night buses to load which could depart between 10pm and 12 midnight. They will relax at these joints to drink and eat before departure time.

Some of these inter-state bus drivers often consumed excessive liquor before hitting the road on a trip that could last for five, eight, twelve hours and above.

According to a traveller at Maza-Maza park going to Abuja, a lot of accidents are caused by reckless druken drivers. "There are no government guidelines on alcohol consumption especially for commercial drivers in this country. The Police should crack down on the patrons and the bars around motor parks who sell alcohol indiscriminately.

"We don't have restrictive time for sale of drinks and it's particularly wrong for drivers to be under the influence of alcohol while driving. By this, they are putting the lives of passengers in grave danger."

Reports have showed that thousands of Nigerians die annually on road accidents due to reckless driving. Moreover the government itself seems to lack a coherent alcohol policy.

Investigation by Saturday Vanguard showed that many people are against unlimited sale and use of alcohol by commercial transport operators, preferring a ban outright of alcohol sale in motor parks. The government has not found a way out of this to address the growing concern from the public on this issue. "We are building a big problem ahead if we don't really find a workable solution to alcohol-related road accidents in our country", said Mr. Kennedy Tosin, a textile dealer, a frequent traveller.

"A minority of dealers in alcoholic drinks at motor parks are responsible for the carnage on our highways. A staggered closing hours for sale of drinks to commercial drivers will reduce the number of accidents on the roads. Varied hours can help and consumption pegged at tolerable limit," he suggested.

According to Tosin, "if you allow people to drink more, they will drink more and that could lead to more antisocial behaviour, crime and more abuse of alcohol."

He added: "A lot of people share this view. In a typical Friday night around motor parks thousands of people roll up to over 300 restaurants, bars, beer palours, disco clubs, licensed and unlicensed to sell alcohol. They serve drinks, chicken and fried meat from 5pm to as late as 5a.m. in some cases."

It has been discovered that at times, violent crimes and kidnapping are hatched from these spots. Prostitution also flourished as women of easy virtue stayed around looking for customers who will take them home.

No wonder Police often raided such places in search of criminals who hang around these "dark spots".

Some people, after spending time at the motor parks, proceed to night clubs in quest of more fun. It's like having good time around the clock. Those without permanent places of abode, could move into nearby places with facilities for toilet and bathing to clean up and start another day afresh.

Some travellers are however compelled to stay very late at the motor parks which have also become transit zones for those who arrived a city late in the night without immediate connecting transportation to their eventual destination.

Truck and trailer drivers conveying haulage goods from the west to the north and East could stop at Ore, Oluku junction, Sagamu, Ijebu-Ode to rest and re-fuel. In the course of the long journey, they make use of the entertainment facilities in the motor parks to relax, eat, drink and socialise within the environment.

So these motor parks provide 'safe haven" for genuine travellers, "shelter" for travellers in transit, drinks and food for many, and hide outs for the criminally minded. Therefore, the good and the bad, often availed themselves with what the motor parks can offer.

In the first half of 2013, about 1,397 persons were killed in road accidents in different parts of Nigeria. Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC Corps Marshal Osita Chidoka who disclosed this recently said that the frequency of these accidents were due to "non-compliance with traffic laws, especially overspeeding by motorists", adding, "the current situation calls for urgent steps to deal with the menace of road traffic crashes."

MULTIPLE TOLLS ON LEKKI-EPE EXPRESSWAY DROP PROPERTY VALUE BY 30 PERCENT

The three toll gates planned for Lekki-Epe Expressway is already impacting negatively on the value of property in that axis with about 30 percent differential in the prices of property before and after the toll gates, THE INFO EXTRA  investigations have revealed.

The drop in property value started a couple of years ago when tolling started on the expressway. The drop in property prices had been gradual, beginning with 10 percent and recently, a bit drastic, rising as high as 20 percent.

The findings further reveal that there is a major disparity in property values beyond the Chevron Toll Gate, which is the second after the Admiralty Circle. The disparity is such that parcels of land before and after the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) office, whose values were at par when the second toll gate was not there, now have as much as 50 percent value difference between them.

Tolling on the expressway has been a subject of unending controversy and litigation, and the contention of those opposing the tolling is not only that the rates are outrageous and inconsiderate, but also that three toll gates on a 49-kilometre expressway are too many and therefore exploitative.

Worried about having to pay tolls at different points on the same road before getting to their houses or offices, prospective home buyers and tenants have decided to avoid the Lekki axis, especially those beyond the second and third gates.

Gbenga Olaniyan, a resident and developer in the area, disclosed to newsmen that places like Victoria Garden City (VGC) had felt the brunt of this development heavily, explaining that about five years ago, VGC was more costly than Lekki.

"A property that was rented for N3.5 million per annum in VGC was at par with Nicon Town, a relatively upscale neighbourhood in Lekki, before the toll gate. But now, while VGC has dropped a little, Nicon Town has gone up 100 percent in four years.

"In VGC, a property of N4 million per annum four years ago has dropped to N3.5 million, while a N3.5 million property in Nicon Town four years ago has gone up to N7 million, just because of the toll gate," he said.

Samuel Ukpong, CEO, 1004 Estates Limited, had told BusinessDay in an interview that part of the reasons for the rising demand for their apartments was the tolling on Lekki-Epe Expressway, which has compelled some Lekki residents to move over to their apartments.

He explained that many of the Lekki residents spend between N500,000 and N600,000 a year on tolls, depending on the number of cars they put on the road, and the number of toll gates they have to pass before getting to their offices or homes.