The v knowledgeable perspective of Dr Abubakar Siddique Mohammed, the Director, Centre for Democratic Development Research and Training, Zango Shanu, Zaria, whose centre carried out research on banditry, kidnapping and killings in Zamfara and Katsina states....

He speaks on the findings of their research. Members of this plalease take the time to go through it. It is very revealing, as it gives a real perspective to what is happening in the North Western part of the country, and the danger it poses for the country: Four years ago, you warned that unless urgent steps were taken to stop the crisis in Zamfara, the whole country could be consumed. With what is happening now, it seems you were prophetic. We are 20 years into democracy and Nigerians are wondering why insecurity has become such a big issue. Four years ago when we first did our studies, it was farmer/herders conflict. What I am going to talk to you about is what is happening today in the North-West, Kaduna, Katsina, Sokoto and Zamfara, which is the epicentre of insecurity in the North. This conflict has been on for more than four years. It started as farmers/herders conflict but it degenerated into something else. Some years ago, there were armed robberies in the North-West. In the Zamfara area, some Fulani boys were alleged to be the major culprits. In the areas we studied, there were so many ungoverned spaces: No electricity, telecommunication and local governments existed only in name. You could hardly see anybody when you go there. Over a long period of time, traditional leaders and Islamic teachers were the ones dealing with the crisis. There was no presence of the state. The roads were extremely bad and the people left to their fate. So when the armed robberies persisted, people took it upon themselves to bring about law and order, they formed vigilante groups. The vigilante groups were quite often not trained. So they went beyond their limits whenever they went on operations. In the Dansadau area of Zamfara, they identified some boys, who also happened to be of Fulani stock. They attacked some of them and killed them. They were very brutal. They wanted to stamp out armed robbery in the area. They were the police, the prosecutor and judge. They did not stop in the towns and semi-urban centres. They pursued the Fulani deep into the forest and, in the process, killed so many innocent people. This was the immediate cause of the conflict. *Ethnic coloration* Four years ago, it had already started taking ethnic coloration because those who organised the killings happened to be Hausa and those who were killed were the Fulani. At this point, the Fulani pastoralists started asking, on what basis were they being attacked? They had nothing to do with armed robbery; they had nothing to do with the theft in the area. They were not in town. The story of killings of the Fulani repeated itself in all the areas we visited. When the attacks on the Fulani became generalised, some of them withdrew, went and reorganised and came back to those localities where they were attacked, identified those who organised the attacks and sought revenge. At that time, it was not generalised. They targeted those who organised the killing of their kinsmen. Then it became a tit-for-tat. Those in the bush will organise attacks and there will be counter-attacks. It took ethnic dimension. The conflict started escalating. Those pastoralists who withdrew as a result of constant attacks on them organised and came back and they forced the neutral pastoralists, those who were not party to any of the conflicts, those who were not attacked or even if they were attacked remained neutral, to join them in what they called the emancipation of the Fulani by participating directly or contributing to the financing of the struggle. Those whose kids were of fighting age were forced to donate their kids or provide money. At the height of the conflict, virtually all the rural rich suffered one form of attack or the other. We were not able to establish whether the attacks were carried out only by the Fulani. In all the areas we visited, there were no banks. People kept money at home. These bandits will break into a man’s house and insist that he gives them all his money. In some cases, they will rape his wife and daughters in his presence. It was a terrible situation. *What was government’s reaction to the worsening security situation?* The government in Zamfara was not serious about the challenge ab initio. From fighting rural banditry by the vigilantes to the retaliation by the Fulani, the challenge morphed into generalised rural banditry. At this stage, the farmers and pastoralists became victims of a superior force. The pastoralists lost their herds because some other forces had come in and subjugated both the pastoralists and farmers. A third force then emerged which dispossessed the pastoralists of their cows, dispossessed the farmers of their savings which they kept at home and drove them away from their lands. In the areas we studied, virtually all the cattle had been rustled by bandits. From rustling the cattle, they moved to kidnapping. When the crisis degenerated between the bandits and the vigilante groups, it escalated. In one town in Zamfara, the vigilante group there was meeting to discuss how they could deal with the rural banditry. The bandits heard about the meeting, they attacked the town on a market day and killed about 200 people. When we got to the town shortly after, it was like a ghost town. There were no human beings in sight. When these youths lost their cattle, they had nothing to do anymore. But, surprisingly, they started seeing some of their rustled cows with some of the rich people around the area and that is what triggered the kidnappings. They could not get to some of the rich people because they had their own security guards armed with AK 47 rifles or police protection. So what the criminals did was to also acquire AK 47 rifles as a balance of terror. I have not spoken about land. *The crisis in Zamfara is multi-dimensional.* Some years back, the Zamfara government, under Sani Yerima, decided to drive the Fulani out of their ancestral land to pave the way for big farmers. These were people who had lived there for over five hundred years. Overnight, they were pushed out and their land and the land given out to the rich and many of the Fulani had to relocate to other parts of Nigeria or other parts of Zamfara which, in turn, heightened conflict with farmers. The Fulani were dispossessed, first of land and later of their cattle. Violence was used in both instances. Many of the boys operating around the Abuja-Kaduna highway are from Zamfara. *What was government reaction to your study which was made public four years ago?* We made it known four years ago that this thing will get out of control. We recommended that concerted efforts had to be made to stop the crisis. You cannot solve the problems in Kaduna, Katsina and Sokoto without dealing with the situation in Zamfara. *How can the situation in Zamfara be tackled?* The Zamfara situation has gotten out of control. The security architecture we have in the country cannot deal with the crisis. It is going to be with us for some time to come. Take for instance the police. Let us say we have 370,000 policemen. How can they effectively cover the 774 local government areas and tackle the different security challenges in the country? We are certainly under-policed. The police cannot deal with the situation. They can only do their best but they cannot deal with the situation. Everywhere you go in the country, there is one form of crisis or the another; so the police are overstretched. Same thing goes for the army. They have also been overstretched. We need to expand the armed forces and the police. The number and the capacity are simply not there now. There are other factors that we have to deal with. The North-West is the poorest part of the country. We have so many educated boys who are unemployed and many more uneducated who have lost everything including hope. We must tackle this issue of poverty and, unless we tackle it, the problem will keep escalating. In Zamfara for instance, I read in the media that for 16 months, civil servants have not been paid, despite the Paris Club refund by the Federal Government. The only industry in Zamfara is politics and yet all that the people need in Zamfara is security for them to farm. They are not lazy. They produce large quantities of maize and other things. Many of them have been pushed out to other states. If you go to Abuja, Kaduna, Lagos and other cities, they are the ones hawking on the street or riding motorcycle (Okada). The governor of the state was never there. He was always in Abuja. In Kaduna, the governor is doing very well providing leadership; in Katsina, the governor is doing very well. But no matter what Kaduna and Katsina do, we will not be able to solve this problem unless we deal with Zamfara which is the epicentre of the crisis. The governor is not serious about it. So what started in Zamfara as a local problem has escalated to other parts of the country. Of course other bandits moved in because of the security vacuum in Zamfara. They started operating in Zamfara before spreading to Katsina and Kaduna. Initially, it was restricted to the Birnin Gwari area of the state but it has now expanded. Let us move very fast and contain the situation or it will spread further and when it spreads further, given the weakness in the security architecture of this country, we will not be able to deal with it for a very long time. But the armed forces have been bombing areas they said are the stronghold of the bandits. When you bomb and leave, the bandits come back. You have to hold territory and the security forces don’t have enough capacity to hold territory. The bandits even boast that they see fighter jets coming and dodge, the jets bomb and leave and the bandits continue with their lives. I think the Federal Government is just reacting because there is public outcry against what is happening in Zamfara. *Findings* We have been working in those areas for more than four years and we have made our findings public but no government agency has ever asked us what we have found. *As a political scientist, how do you describe the security situation in Nigeria 20 years after democracy?* We have a structure which was doing very well in the past. But the complexity of global politics has complicated the situation in this country, so there is a need for a review of the structure that we have. Whatever is happening in Nigeria has effects on neighbouring countries, so we are not dealing with what is happening in Nigeria only. The country has expanded in terms of population. Remember we even reduced the size of the army at a point. The security services have been overwhelmed by the myriads of problems that we have in this country. As far as we are concerned, we need to introduce a new force. I don’t mean we should dismantle the security services. The police should be left to deal with the normal problems they have been dealing with. We need a superior force, a rapid force that is superior to the police, armed and rapid to deal with the kind of banditry that we are contending with. It’s a force which is superior to the police but inferior to the Nigerian Army. The army will now be left to do what it is supposed to do: protect the territorial integrity of the country. Before the army is brought into any crisis situation, this second layer force would have dealt with the situation. They will just come in to finish whatever is left. *Are you advocating the return of National Guard?* It can be called whatever name but we need it. The security architecture needs some tinkering, so we need something like that. Look at what is happening in the country. The military is being destroyed. They are there at the roadblocks and exposed to the corruption associated with roadblocks. They are there doing what they are not supposed to do and yet their attention is needed in places like Borno and Yobe. I think the time has come that we expand the police, create another layer within the security architecture and retrain the police with new values to face the new challenges. Unless we do that, we will be overwhelmed by the new challenges. The governors, with the exception of the governor of Zamfara, are doing their best. Most of the time, the governor of Zamfara is not there and you need somebody to be there to give leadership. There is complete leadership failure in Zamfara and that is why this crisis has continued in the state and has now consumed even states that are doing their best. When we started our study, it was Sabuwa in Katsina that was affected; now Batsari, Safana and Kankara have all been affected. All the villages there have become bandit territories. The bandits have moved to the Kaduna-Abuja highway and Kaduna-Zaria highway is just a matter of time before the bandits move in. Faskari in Katsina State which is not far from Shika in Zaria, all the villages there are now bandit territories. All the villagers have moved into towns around there. Many towns now exist in names because they have disappeared. People have moved. They have become ghost towns because of banditry. And because of the vacuum we have in Zamfara, many criminals have moved from other parts of Nigeria to that area. Something that started as a local dispute, improperly handled, has gotten out of control. Politicians in Zamfara are all culpable. I was surprised when the Minister of Defence pointed accusing fingers at traditional rulers. During the course of our studies, the only people that were always there to console the victims of these bandits were the traditional rulers and mallams. They have become managers of misfortunes. Until this situation got out of control, Governor Yari was treating the bandits with kid gloves. He was even threatening government officials. They had overwhelmed the police and so government had to initiate dialogue. The deputy governor was asked to negotiate with the leader of the bandits. But the bandits’ leader kept the deputy governor waiting for hours and then sent a message that he was not ready to meet him. Initially, the government of Zamfara was not ready to deal with the bandits the way they should be dealt with because they intended using them for political purposes. During election, parties that won in areas where the bandits were in control were parties that were in contact with the leaders of the bandits. The bandits would direct the villagers on what to do and they will obey because they are armed. The come to villages in about fifty to one hundred motorcycles. On each motorcycle, there will be three of them each armed with AK-47 rifle. They even attacked a town on a Sallah day. *What is the implication of this on national food security?* We did a study on the impact of this on the economy. People who used to produce two hundred bags of maize cannot produce anymore. They have been driven off the land. In one of the towns we visited, the bandits had written to the district head ordering him to tell his people not to go to farm. In one of the towns, fifteen people who defied the order were killed. For fear of their lives, many of these villagers fled to neighbouring towns. Same thing applied to the pastoralists. In that town I am talking about, the king of the Fulani lost one hundred and fifty cows. He was left with fifty sheep. One day he called me and told me that moments after I interviewed him, the bandits had taken the fifty sheep. He barely escaped with his life. There is a cattle market that used to sell five hundred cows a week. When we went, there was no single cow in that market. *Abandoned* The people feel abandoned. It was because of that same feeling of abandonment that they set up the vigilantes to defend themselves; went beyond their limits and the thing snowballed into what we have now. I know governors don’t control the police but it is a lie if the man (Zamfara Governor Abdul-aziz Yari Abubakar) says he has no influence over the police. But the man is not even there to have a proper appreciation of the crisis. When he leaves Zamfara, everything stops until he comes back. *Given your vast knowledge about what is happening, what is your advice to the Federal Government?* We asked the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency in Zamfara. There is no government in Zamfara. And the people are helpless. This study convinced me that Nigerians are patriots and patient. That is why our leaders are taking us for granted. In virtually all the places we went, there was absence of government in Zamfara. Bandits outnumber security agents in some areas. One of my informants in Safana told me that all the neighbouring villages had been taken over by bandits. He said in the whole of the local government, there were less than a hundred policemen. The bandits no longer hide. They come to the market. Sometimes they take your things and pay. Sometimes they don’t pay. Nobody can challenge them. We tend to observe things in isolation. We tend to see what is happening in Zamfara as a Zamfara issue. That is wrong. You may not care if you are living in Agenebode but your brother may be working in that town as a police officer or in another capacity. We were treating this conflict as a Zamfara conflict. Now it has engulfed Kaduna, it has engulfed Sokoto and Katsina. When they took over Kaduna road, it’s not only Kaduna people that are affected. Everybody on the road is a victim.

THE PRISON DOORS & THE PRISONER WHO WON’T BE FREE - JOSEPH OKECHUKWU

THE PRISON DOORS & THE PRISONER WHO WON’T BE FREE - JOSEPH OKECHUKWU There’s this beautiful story of a prisoner who’s been so long in prison he had a hard time leaving the prison when eventually the prison doors were thrown open. He sat and moped at the prison doors but they were no longer in view. But he still saw them - in his mind! The doors were open in his sight, but they were still shut in his mind. A grim reminder that your shackles aren’t made of iron & steam. They’re made with fear & ignorance. After the heavily flawed 2019 elections in which the Buhari-led administration hit a brand new low in tyrannical impositions, disenfranchisement, intimidation, harassments and sundry malpractices, I saw humanity at its basest and Christianity at its worst. I kept asking myself “is this really happening?” And then I wondered out loud like many have “how did we get here?!” Several months ago, I stumbled on a colonial era secret document that actually detailed the colonial elements’ motive for creating Nigeria. In that document they stated clearly that Nigeria as a “constitutional” entity was only going to be structured to go anti clockwise or in reverse. Clearly stated! They called it “the crazy unworkable experiment of Lord Lugard”. The colonial author went further to state that the Lugard-manufactured “Nigerian system” was so retrogressively iconic and unique that one could actually take the template elsewhere and replicate failure even where there was none. He wrote that the system was built on three items: Ignorance, Fear & Military. Sound familiar? Ignorance: Nigerians are known worldwide as some of the most educated people in black Africa, both home and abroad. But how can the most educated also win the trophy for the most ignorant? Because we have been reduced to a people who want to sit and be served knowledge rather than the people who get on the road and seek knowledge. So, whatever the colonial restaurant feels is good knowledge or information becomes good for us - to an extent History as a subject was yanked from our schools and we said nothing! Name one constitutional entity anywhere in the world where citizens are denied access to their nation’s history. This only happens when you don’t actually have a nation. IGNORANCE! Fear: The holy book - the Bible says that “fear has torment!”. Indeed nothing torments like fear. How do you know a Nigerian regime that is sold out to the colonial concept of enslavement? The one that instills the most fear in the people is it! Compare your freedom of speech and ability to abuse former president Jonathan and his quintessential wife before 2015 to your life now under this clearly oppressive regime where writing or speaking against the president could land you in trouble. What do you get? A fear-stricken mass of rudderless people who only vent in their bedrooms but smile in the face of oppression. That’s what you get and the sad news is, that’s what “the Nigerian system” is all about. Big churches litter everywhere, but absolutely no big Christ in those churches. Pastors are too afraid to speak up. Rather, they partner with the merchants of death & tyranny - if you can’t beat them. Churches have become a place of bitter complaint and endless whining rather than a place of revolutionary transformation of society. In the beginning, it was not so - but this is what the Nigerian System is about. FEAR! Military: There’s a video that’s currently trending on social media of a returning US army official who returned from active duty in, I guess Iraq and decided to pay his children a surprise visit at school. He equally visited a black kid who isn’t even his biological child, but with whom he had developed a strong bond. As soon as he walked into the classroom of this black kid, I overheard their teacher saying “kids, here is a real soldier!” The kids were amazed. One of them said “...and I have never even seen a soldier before”. Another said “oh! He is a real soldier! I have never seen a real soldier before!”. Think about this. If you’re a Nigerian kid and you go to school everyday, before you’re two years old, you would’ve see soldiers not just a soldier and you would’ve seen them in arms actually. I lived in Ghana at some point in the early 2000s and one day I asked my friend, after one whole year of living in Ghana, and I said, “do you guys have soldiers here?” He laughed and said “Of course! If Ghana has any wars you’ll see them. But now, you’ll have to go to their base to see them.” Trust me, I did go to their base to see what their soldiers looked like. That was the only place I could see a soldier in Ghana - their base! I used the Ghana example because Ghana is like our West African twin brother - not America or Europe. If the colonials didn’t plan it this way, why should the Nigerian military be seen in public everyday? Soldiers are supposed to command respect and inspire awe wherever they go. Soldiers are supposed to be loved by citizens not hated. Soldiers are defenders not destroyers per se. We should throw parties for our soldiers and love them and their families and accord them something close to worship like Americans do! why is our own story different? Because the people don’t think they’ve earned it and sadly, this is just what the Nigerian system is about. MILITARY! Bottom line: To hold these three pillars of control together, you need a very strong adhesive. Of course, they didn’t have to look any further to find lies! Lies lies lies and lies! That’s the gum that holds it all together and if you wanna know a Nigerian regime that’s being run daily by the colonials themselves, look out for the one that lies the most! Governor El Rufai of Kaduna was alleged to have been involved in a fatal car accident. Allegedly, his driver died and he had a serious spinal fracture and was flown abroad. Suddenly, there was a rebuttal: It wasn’t true, his media team said. Then they followed it up in the media, rehashing old pictures and videos of the Governor on Channels TV, The Nation Newspaper, Leadership Newspaper, etc. Yet, till this moment, no physical evidence of his presence anywhere in Nigeria. What happened to our media? Fear! Lies! Fake! Former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen just had his case closed because like we’ve always known, the man is Innocent! When they came for his head, many cried out that this was clearly politically motivated. Go back to those days and see how many Christians and so called legal luminaries who not only were passive but indirectly implied he should face trial for nothing! Today? We’re back to square 10! And lies continue to rule. With President Muhammadu Buhari allegedly out of the country for God knows how long, and Governor El Rufai nowhere to be found, if you asked me where we’re at right now, I’ll tell you we’re right back up to the beginning - the prisoner whose doors are open and he doesn’t know they are! That’s who and where we are now, but who’s gonna slap sense into these Nigerian prisoners and wake them up from their psychosomatic slumber? Maybe...just maybe, we’ll all realize how long we’ve been here and summarily take this offer from lady Freedom. Solution: Immediate constitutional review - Do away with the 1999 constitution which is the container of the adhesive. If lies were the adhesives, the 1999 constitution is the container. In fact, it contains way more than just lies. To unbundle the three pillars of our bondage, we must smash the container of lies and oppression of the Indigenous Peoples (the constitution) and come to a round table where we all have a say and a take on the course of our destiny. Whatever choice we make becomes us. No one knows for how long these prison doors shall be open but they sure are now and we must Awake, Arise & Make a break for it! Like knowledge, you don’t get served Freedom on a platter. You go for it!THE PRISON DOORS & THE PRISONER WHO WON’T BE FREE - JOSEPH OKECHUKWU There’s this beautiful story of a prisoner who’s been so long in prison he had a hard time leaving the prison when eventually the prison doors were thrown open. He sat and moped at the prison doors but they were no longer in view. But he still saw them - in his mind! The doors were open in his sight, but they were still shut in his mind. A grim reminder that your shackles aren’t made of iron & steam. They’re made with fear & ignorance. After the heavily flawed 2019 elections in which the Buhari-led administration hit a brand new low in tyrannical impositions, disenfranchisement, intimidation, harassments and sundry malpractices, I saw humanity at its basest and Christianity at its worst. I kept asking myself “is this really happening?” And then I wondered out loud like many have “how did we get here?!” Several months ago, I stumbled on a colonial era secret document that actually detailed the colonial elements’ motive for creating Nigeria. In that document they stated clearly that Nigeria as a “constitutional” entity was only going to be structured to go anti clockwise or in reverse. Clearly stated! They called it “the crazy unworkable experiment of Lord Lugard”. The colonial author went further to state that the Lugard-manufactured “Nigerian system” was so retrogressively iconic and unique that one could actually take the template elsewhere and replicate failure even where there was none. He wrote that the system was built on three items: Ignorance, Fear & Military. Sound familiar? Ignorance: Nigerians are known worldwide as some of the most educated people in black Africa, both home and abroad. But how can the most educated also win the trophy for the most ignorant? Because we have been reduced to a people who want to sit and be served knowledge rather than the people who get on the road and seek knowledge. So, whatever the colonial restaurant feels is good knowledge or information becomes good for us - to an extent History as a subject was yanked from our schools and we said nothing! Name one constitutional entity anywhere in the world where citizens are denied access to their nation’s history. This only happens when you don’t actually have a nation. IGNORANCE! Fear: The holy book - the Bible says that “fear has torment!”. Indeed nothing torments like fear. How do you know a Nigerian regime that is sold out to the colonial concept of enslavement? The one that instills the most fear in the people is it! Compare your freedom of speech and ability to abuse former president Jonathan and his quintessential wife before 2015 to your life now under this clearly oppressive regime where writing or speaking against the president could land you in trouble. What do you get? A fear-stricken mass of rudderless people who only vent in their bedrooms but smile in the face of oppression. That’s what you get and the sad news is, that’s what “the Nigerian system” is all about. Big churches litter everywhere, but absolutely no big Christ in those churches. Pastors are too afraid to speak up. Rather, they partner with the merchants of death & tyranny - if you can’t beat them. Churches have become a place of bitter complaint and endless whining rather than a place of revolutionary transformation of society. In the beginning, it was not so - but this is what the Nigerian System is about. FEAR! Military: There’s a video that’s currently trending on social media of a returning US army official who returned from active duty in, I guess Iraq and decided to pay his children a surprise visit at school. He equally visited a black kid who isn’t even his biological child, but with whom he had developed a strong bond. As soon as he walked into the classroom of this black kid, I overheard their teacher saying “kids, here is a real soldier!” The kids were amazed. One of them said “...and I have never even seen a soldier before”. Another said “oh! He is a real soldier! I have never seen a real soldier before!”. Think about this. If you’re a Nigerian kid and you go to school everyday, before you’re two years old, you would’ve see soldiers not just a soldier and you would’ve seen them in arms actually. I lived in Ghana at some point in the early 2000s and one day I asked my friend, after one whole year of living in Ghana, and I said, “do you guys have soldiers here?” He laughed and said “Of course! If Ghana has any wars you’ll see them. But now, you’ll have to go to their base to see them.” Trust me, I did go to their base to see what their soldiers looked like. That was the only place I could see a soldier in Ghana - their base! I used the Ghana example because Ghana is like our West African twin brother - not America or Europe. If the colonials didn’t plan it this way, why should the Nigerian military be seen in public everyday? Soldiers are supposed to command respect and inspire awe wherever they go. Soldiers are supposed to be loved by citizens not hated. Soldiers are defenders not destroyers per se. We should throw parties for our soldiers and love them and their families and accord them something close to worship like Americans do! why is our own story different? Because the people don’t think they’ve earned it and sadly, this is just what the Nigerian system is about. MILITARY! Bottom line: To hold these three pillars of control together, you need a very strong adhesive. Of course, they didn’t have to look any further to find lies! Lies lies lies and lies! That’s the gum that holds it all together and if you wanna know a Nigerian regime that’s being run daily by the colonials themselves, look out for the one that lies the most! Governor El Rufai of Kaduna was alleged to have been involved in a fatal car accident. Allegedly, his driver died and he had a serious spinal fracture and was flown abroad. Suddenly, there was a rebuttal: It wasn’t true, his media team said. Then they followed it up in the media, rehashing old pictures and videos of the Governor on Channels TV, The Nation Newspaper, Leadership Newspaper, etc. Yet, till this moment, no physical evidence of his presence anywhere in Nigeria. What happened to our media? Fear! Lies! Fake! Former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen just had his case closed because like we’ve always known, the man is Innocent! When they came for his head, many cried out that this was clearly politically motivated. Go back to those days and see how many Christians and so called legal luminaries who not only were passive but indirectly implied he should face trial for nothing! Today? We’re back to square 10! And lies continue to rule. With President Muhammadu Buhari allegedly out of the country for God knows how long, and Governor El Rufai nowhere to be found, if you asked me where we’re at right now, I’ll tell you we’re right back up to the beginning - the prisoner whose doors are open and he doesn’t know they are! That’s who and where we are now, but who’s gonna slap sense into these Nigerian prisoners and wake them up from their psychosomatic slumber? Maybe...just maybe, we’ll all realize how long we’ve been here and summarily take this offer from lady Freedom. Solution: Immediate constitutional review - Do away with the 1999 constitution which is the container of the adhesive. If lies were the adhesives, the 1999 constitution is the container. In fact, it contains way more than just lies. To unbundle the three pillars of our bondage, we must smash the container of lies and oppression of the Indigenous Peoples (the constitution) and come to a round table where we all have a say and a take on the course of our destiny. Whatever choice we make becomes us. No one knows for how long these prison doors shall be open but they sure are now and we must Awake, Arise & Make a break for it! Like knowledge, you don’t get served Freedom on a platter. You go for it!

LETTER TO BOLA AHMED TINUBU 2: Portrait of the tiger Ambode rodeBy Yinka Odumakin

In 1999, the entire South West was under the control of the Alliance for Democracy, AD. When we were approaching the 2003 elections, I told my boss, former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, to give me the authority to take over the South West from the AD for the party. He gave me the approval. My effort during that election resulted in our party taking over the states except Lagos State. And the reason was that Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and I came a long way from the Social Democratic Party, SDP, and the PDM. I felt I should leave Lagos for him. In fact, I could easily have taken over Lagos, but I did not. I have since regretted my decision; please, my sisters and brothers in the party, I want you to forgive me for taking Lagos out of that arrangement.“ -Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in Lagos on 3rd September 2018. Until Atiku detonated the above bomb in Lagos recently, the lie Tinubu spinners had put out was that he became the “last man standing” in 2003 in the South-West because of some sagacity and that he broke ranks with Afenifere over the alliance with Obasanjo. But those of us who are aware of what happened know that the monkey has no special skill beyond the fact that the trees are close to each other. The sacred truth is that the deal to have electoral pact with the PDP in 2003 was brokered by Tinubu who had planned to run as VP to Atiku in 2007 under the then ruling party. The discussion started during the convocation ceremony of the University of Lagos in 2002 where Tinubu kept the company of President Olusegun Obasanjo. It was during the event that he agreed to arrange a meeting with his colleagues-governors. The meeting held at Dodan Barracks in Lagos and the governors agreed to work on a pact to give the President the support he needed in the South West just as they advised him not to allow Local Government, LG, elections nationwide so it would not hurt his delegates at the PDP convention as his party would not win in the Southwest. The governors who had taken control of the AD as of this time merely came to inform Afenifere of their decision. They reported all their discussions with the President and the fact that they advised him not to conduct elections. Papa Adesanya like a General whose troops had moved in a direction decided not to follow another route. He decided to follow up on the briefing by negotiating terms for the pact which included free and fair election and restructuring of the polity. While the deal was in the making, Tinubu gathered through Atiku that the deal would cost the governors their seats and quickly bailed out but this bird did not tell the other birds that a stone was coming. That was how he remained the only surviving AD governor. HThe former governor of Oyo State, Alhaji Lam Adesina was not a happy man with Tinubu in the last days of his life over this and other issues. I recall when he came to meet the elders of Afenifere in Lagos late in 2003 and asked to leave early enough to be able to get back to Ibadan on time. Chief Ayo Adebanjo had told him to either be Tinubu’s guest for the night and that would he say he did not have a house in Lagos. Alhaji Adesina responded with a tinge of anger “God will not let me sleep in Tinubu’s house. I don’t have a land in Lagos not to talk of a house. Tinubu promised to give me a land but he kept asking me for passport photographs until I told him I was not going to the photographer again. This is somebody on whose behalf I asked the Principal of Government College Ibadan to keep all crucial files of the school in my office for three years. I have returned the files on the eve of my departure .” Immediately after indirectly sending his colleagues to political Siberia and weaning himself off the influence of Afenifere, Tinubu commenced his empire building project by sending protégés to the other South West states and Kwara for the 2007 governorship elections. Nearly all posted out were either his aides or recruits under his Action Congress, AC. His ambition had become very clear at this stage that it was a negation of collegiate leadership the Yoruba are known for that he was trying to replace with an Emperor reign. Realising what his project meant for the Yoruba on the long run, a group of Yoruba Patriots and Nationalists approached Chief Bisi Akande in 2010 that we needed an audience with Tinubu. A little about Chief Akande After the 2003 elections, we had erroneously thought that Chief Akande was placed to provide leadership in Yorubaland at some point given his performance in office and ideological clarity with a tinge of intellectual underpinning. He authored a book on restructuring with an understanding of our issues. I drove to his home in Ibadan regularly and we travelled abroad together on a few occasions to meetings with Yorubas in diaspora. When we approached him to complain about the strangeness of Tinubu Leadership Academy to Yoruba values, he agreed to seek an appointment with him. He soon got the appointment and we agreed to meet in his house before proceeding to Bourdilon. We articulated all the issues and we moved. On our delegation were Hon.Wale Oshun, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, Mr. Tola Mobolurin, Prince Oye Oyewumi, Mr. Demola Oyinlola, Mr. Adedeji Zacch among others. On getting to Tinubu, we met Professors Segun Gbadegesin and Ropo Sekoni with him. It became a chatting session as we sat down. It was when Tinubu was planning the Ambode treatment for then Lagos Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fasola whom he railed and railed against. He said he was not going to allow him a second term as he blocked all the drainages he made for himself before leaving office with droplets now coming to him while Fashola’s own channels were flowing in torrents. He added that he had now seen the thief who can steal better than THE thief. I cut in at that stage to remind him that he told me in 2006 when he was going to foist Fasola on the party that he managed all his assets while he was in exile without a penny missing and he replied, “I was just marketing him then”. Prof. Sekoni pleaded with him to sheathe his sword and allow Fasola to run for a second term. He added that Tinubu should know that he is the elder in the dispute with the greatest responsibility to bring amicable resolution. Tinubu looked at Prof. and said he reminded him of the case of a widow who lost her husband and people were coming to commiserate with her over the tragic loss.The first group to come were elderly and that after all the commiseration they ended by asking the lady to try and eat something as starving herself would not raise her dead husband. They took their leave after sometime. Then came her peers who also went through all the rituals of comfort. They prayed for the repose of the soul of her husband and ended on a note of plea that she should eat something in order not to injure her health. Tinubu threw the audience into laughter when he ended the story by saying that the widow asked her peers “What did you bring for me to set when you were coming ? ” After about two hours of chatting, I went to Chief Akande to remind him we had yet to get to what brought us to Tinubu and he asked me “What is that ?” I was shocked and he lost me forever that day. I got up and announced to Tinubu that we had a reason for coming and reeled out our articulated points. Mr. Mobolurin adumbrated the points. He cut in and flared up “I am not holding any meeting again. I cannot be spending my money for rebuilding Southwest and people will come here and insult me. All my mates have high rising buildings all over the place but this is the only house I have in Lagos because we are spending all the money for politics .” We left Tinubu that day and it was clear that what we were trying to build had crashed. I also knew that the Tinubu machinery had triumphed and would be there for a while. But I was also convinced it would not last forever as the foundation was not in sync with our ancient landmarks. Eventually, Tinubu who had vowed that Fashola would not do a second term allowed him when he realised he was going to be demystified if he moved openly against him then because he did not prepare the full Ambode package for him. Fashola had been left to build influence within the party and in town though the political structure was still essentially Tinubu’s. Tinubu and Fasola played cat and mouse relationship in the latter’s second term but the cracks were papered over. It was when Fashola’s successor was to come that the daggers were drawn again. Fashola had planned to have a successor which would have meant setting Tinubu’s “factory ” on fire. But the Emperor moved with all his might and checkmated him by handing Akinwumi Ambode the ticket. Tinubu had learnt from his mistakes with Fashola and vowed that whoever he must make Governor in Lagos must not develop his own character and he must manipulate him well so that taking him out would not be a problem. That was why Ambode who had a frosty relationship with Fasola and a civil servant came handy as a cashier, not necessarily a Governor. I stated last week that Ambode did not appear a governor on the three occasions I met him in Tinubu’s company. That waits till the concluding part.

LETTER TO BOLA AHMED TINUBU: Portrait Of The Tiger Ambode Rode (4) March 19, 2019 By Yinka Odumakin Dear Chief Tinubu, The back page of your The Nation of Tuesday 12 March where one of your rottweilers under the FORGED name “Segun Ibirogba” wrote “Odumakin’s anxiety over vanishing feeding-bottles” has un-paused the button on this serial.

LETTER TO BOLA AHMED TINUBU: Portrait Of The Tiger Ambode Rode (4) March 19, 2019 By Yinka Odumakin Dear Chief Tinubu, The back page of your The Nation of Tuesday 12 March where one of your rottweilers under the FORGED name “Segun Ibirogba” wrote “Odumakin’s anxiety over vanishing feeding-bottles” has un-paused the button on this serial. I have always wondered why these intellectual almajiris around you always attack me under fake names. It is either they are afraid of me or they don’t believe in you to risk their names doing the dirty job for you. Well, we know many of them hold worst views about you than us but for the free money they have been accustomed to from a Robbin Hood. The piece referenced was a rehash of same old silly lies and freshly minted ones. In keeping faith with my resolve that for every dart of lie you guys throw in my direction, I will return 10 bombs of truth I make this response.And for every line I write, I can say like Fela Anikulapo-Kuti “Na true I wan talk again o, if I dey lie o, make Edumare punish me o”. Since you guys made a failed attempt to impugn my integrity, I have chosen to use this edition to place your life side-by-side mine on the scale of integrity so we can know if your hen can point at the boil in a hawk’s eye. I intend to show that were it not that Nigeria has become Ceaser’s palace where the leper holds the veil, nobody in your circle should move near that subject. I am Yinka Odumakin and nobody can say he had known me under any identity in my life. I have led a straight life unlike you that people know under different identities depending on whey they met you in your about 80 years on earth. Yes, 80! Those of us who are knowledgeable about you can't buy your 66 claim for so many reasons. The current governor of Osun is the son of your immediate senior sister from Iragbiji and he is 63 while you are claiming 66. Your first wife died in Lagos recently unannounced at 74. When the son he had for you died many moths earlier his age had to de doctored to fit into the lie that you live.And there is a photograph of yours at the palace of Soun Ogbomoso in 1974 when the current monarch was installed with a bottle of beer and packet of cigarette in your front.You mean you were 20 when you were drinking and smoking in a palace? There is no school I have attended in my life that my classmates would not come out in droves to say “yeah, we were there together!”. From St Augustine Primary School, Ondo to CAC Grammar School, Edunabon and Oduduwa College Ile -Ife down to Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile -Ife and University of Ghana. At your end St John Primary School Aroloya you claimed may be created by your new governor in Lagos. The old boys of Government College !Ibadan were planning a reception for you when someone asked which set you belonged to .There has been no answer to that till date and the reception was cancelled. The tales by moonlight on Chigago State University and University of Chiicago are all over the place. My parents are alive in Osun and by God’s grace I will give them a befitting burial. I will not have to send emissaries to bury them since I have not abandoned “moomi” (that’s how we Oyo people in Osun call mummy) to be calling another woman “maami” in Lagos to fit a life of lie and greed. No Mama HID Awolowo would have told me that she knew all the children of “maami ” and that I was not one of them. My parents are not rich but I am proud of them because it is from their black pot that my white palp has come out. I say proudly among my University mates today that they could not afford more than N60 per month for me throughout my University days.The story of grass to grace is a proud thing among the Yoruba. MKO Abiola was proud of the story that he ate egg for the first time in his life in the home of Simbiat Abiola’s parents. With the modest means of my parents, they instilled so much values in me that there is no crime attached to my name in all my years on earth. Forging traveling passports had never appealed to me. Neither has my name been linked to a narcotic ring leading to inquiry and forfeiture of assets. All my life, my hands have provided for me. And they have provided for you too. I recall when you returned from exile in 1998 and running for governor. You were not “Ezeego” then. You had only the Sunday Adigun house and all the four cars you used then belonged to Mr Ganiyu Solomon. There were a lot of printings being done for you by your friends at The News. I saw the price you were being offered and I told you my press could do it at 40%. I delivered and saved you 60%. I recall Mr Babafemi Ojodu complained openly that they could not do the price I offered you ! That should tell you and your attack dogs that I have always separated the cause I believe in from what I would eat unlike you who always mix the two. You pose as a June 12 hero today but Kola Abiola is alive to tell the story of what happened to MKO’s money as Bashorun is no longer alive. In 20 years, there is hardly any boundary between Lagos treasury and your private pockets. Your “O to ge” moment is coming some day and all the dirty deals will be out. Like a rapist, you can tell your victims to shout “O to pe” for as long as stolen funds and drug money rule Lagos politics. I have noticed that because you and your followers have no abiding principle and you are driven by only lust for money, you assume it is so for everybody. Your being glued to the lowest of all spirits (money) makes it difficult for you to make the right judgement about people thinking they are all about money. Was it that you didn’t have money when I told you in December 2006 that it was over between us politically? Have I ever looked in your direction ever? There are men who may not be able to give N10,000 to a cause but if they say they want to see me at 8AM I would be there at 7. Can you summon me with all your bullion vans? I recall how you said to me in 2006 about Senator Tokunbo Afikuyomi and I quote you “Adiye ni Tokunbo, yin agbado fun a pada” (Tokunbo is a fowl, throw corns and it is U-turn). Has he not turned his back at you today? You don’t have “corns ” again? This was the man who was your fall guy when you made all the forgeries in 1999. He was among the team that went to bury your biological mother in Iragbiji when you could not show your face, has his exit not shown you there are men who place value on principle than money? I have lived my political life on the basis of the fact that an adversary today can be an ally tomorrow and vice versa. I am not beholden to any person outside the core beliefs we share. One of the men I had an open disagreement with was President Obasanjo and when we reconciled it was an open thing. That differentiates me from you who walk both sides of the streets simultaneously. You were with NADECO and also in bed with Abacha through whom you forged friendship with the Chagourys who are your business partners till date. The political buffoons around you would hold you out as an anti-third term person today but you know what happened between us on May 2, 2006. We had a meeting at Airport Hotel in Lagos where you were dictating the communique against third term unknown to participants you were at a meeting till wee hours of that morning to work third term in another way. I was reading the communique to the press when you called me. I gave the phone to the late Rev Tunji Adebiyi but you told him you wanted to speak with me. We didn’t get to talk till late in the night. I had with me in the car as you spoke with me from VGC to Ikeja then President of Egbe Omo Yoruba in North America, Mr Odusanya. Let me quote you verbatim: “I hope you have not released that communique. We need to manage this third term carefully. Obasanjo is a blind cat. If he causes problem now and they kill one Yoruba graduate in Kano and we kill 200 people selling onions in mile 12 it is not equal. I am therefore proposing that we have a win-win situation. Instead of outright third term we can have the confab recommendation of one six-year tenure starting with the incumbent having 2 extra years and so with we the governors. We can use the two years to empower people like you and handover to one of you. I have asked General Alani Akinrinade to come and I am going to meet Prof Soyinka to discuss it. I want you to think about it.” I told you as a matter of fact that the proposition was unreasonable and there was nothing for me to think about as I would prefer outright third term where we would have elections to automatic two years extension. But my eyes were opened to how unreliable you are that night. Here was a man dictating communique against third term in the morning having this conversation with me at night. I made up my mind on you that night. The conversation I had with you minutes after Funso Williams was killed and the way you handled your your succession made me to severe political links with you within six months. …More to come.

The Real Fact About Gov. EL Rufai Accident Rumour. The truth is that Gov. EL-Rufia was involves in a fatal accident last Wednesday, while coming back from Kano to Kaduna after the governors meetings.

The Real Fact About Gov. EL Rufai Accident Rumour. The truth is that Gov. EL-Rufia was involves in a fatal accident last Wednesday, while coming back from Kano to Kaduna after the governors meetings. Though his office try to deny it, they even rushed to make a post on his Facebook account, releases an audio tape in Hausa language said to be his voice, which was later punctured. When the news started spreading like a wild fire, the rushed to Channel TV to relay an old video of the governor's visit to the Kaduna killings last February, and made it to look like he was on another visit to the victims of the fresh attack. But, unconfirmed Information at my disposal revealed that the governor is in a critical condition while his driver was confirmed dead. I am made to understand that the Kaduna State governor is currently in Dubai for spinal treatment. It's important to note that this report is yet to be officially verified. But the facts that is helping to lay credence to this story is the fact that we are yet to hear or see the governor in public since Wednesday last week. There are ethnic cleansing presently ongoing in the Southern Kaduna presently, so many national and other socio-political issues too. But, unlike the EL-Rufai we know that does not like to keep quite, nothing has been heard from him. Even the upcoming Rerun coming up at Kano this Saturday, the Kaduna State governor is supposed to be one of the topmost APC northern leaders that will lead the campaign, but he has not been seen in the public space for about a week now. This is just an attempt to report the facts as made available to me, not an attempt in anyway to celebrate his accident or wish him bad. Wherever the Kaduna State governor is and what state he is, I wish him quick recovery.

BREAKING NEWS NUGGET: Atiku asks tribunal to sack Buhari, declare him winner …lines up 400 witnesses, 20 SANs …we have solid case against Buhari, his lawyers insist.

BREAKING NEWS NUGGET: Atiku asks tribunal to sack Buhari, declare him winner …lines up 400 witnesses, 20 SANs …we have solid case against Buhari, his lawyers insist. ABUJA – In a rush to beat the 21 days deadline provided by the Electoral Act, lawyers to the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, on Monday evening, stormed the tribunal to lodge a petition against President Muhammadu Buhari. Buhari and Atiku The Independent National Electoral Commission had on February 27, declared President Buhari who was the flag-bearer of the All Progressives Congress, APC, winner of the presidential election. Under section 134 of the Electoral Act, 2010, any candidate that was dissatisfied with the outcome of the presidential contest, was mandated to approach the tribunal with a petition, not later than 21 days after the result was announced, a deadline that will expire on Tuesday. While the tribunal must deliver its judgment in writing within 180 days from the date the petition was filed. As at the time of filing this report, 7:50pm, Atiku’s team of lawyers led by Mr. Chukwuma Machukwu Ume, SAN, Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, and Mr. Emeka Etiaba, SAN, are perfecting the filing process at the Central Registry of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, PEPT. The tribunal will be conducting its proceedings at the Court of Appeal headquarters in Abuja. Though Atiku had yet to arrive at the tribunal where he is expected to personally depose to an affidavit, however, some chieftains of the PDP, including its spokesman, Mr. Kola Ologbodiyan and Alhaji Buba Galadima, accompanied the lawyers to the tribunal. Addressing newsmen, National Legal Adviser of the PDP, Mr. Emmanuel Enoidem, revealed that Atiku would be seeking two principal reliefs at the tribunal. He said the first relief was for an order declaring him as the bona-fide winner of the 2019 presidential election. In the alternative, Atiku and the PDP, are urging the tribunal to nullify the February 23 presidential election on the premise that it was marred by irregularities. “We asked that our candidate who won the election massively across the country be declared the winner. “In the alternative, we also asked that the election be set aside on the ground of irregularity which was apparent across the country. “We have a pool of 20 SANs who are tested in election petition matters and other senior lawyers who are also working with them. So we are confident. “We have also lined up more than 400 witnesses that are going to testify in this petition. “Nigerians are at home with what happened on February 23, the sham they called election. We are going to re-present those facts to Nigerians, we are not going to manufacture facts”, he added. Similarly, a member of the legal team, Chief Ozekhome, SAN, told journalists that the petitioners encountered serious challenges in the hands of INEC which is said was reluctant to grant them access to the electoral materials. “Our petition is quite solid, very strong and unassailable. We believe that by the grace of God, the original winner will regain his mandate”, Ozekhome added. It will be recalled that the tribunal had on March 6, ordered INEC to grant Atiku and PDP access to all the electoral materials that were used for the presidential poll. The tribunal however declined to allow Atiku and PDP to conduct forensic analysis on any of the electoral materials on the premise that such request was outside the scope of the Electoral Act, as amended. Justice Abdul Aboki who delivered the lead ruling of the tribunal, held that Atiku’s request for experts to be permitted to conduct forensic audit on the materials, could not be regarded as “inspection” that was allowed in section 151 of the Electoral Act. He held that a decided case-law in Hope Uzodinma Vs Osita Izunaso, which Atiku and the PDP relied upon to make the application, wherein a tribunal ordered INEC to allow the petitioner to scan and conduct forensic audit on all the election materials, had since been set-aside by the Court of Appeal. Nevertheless, the tribunal directed INEC to allow the Applicants access to the ballot papers and voters register. Specifically, Atiku and his party, told the tribunal that the essence of the request was to establish that the presidential election was fraught with manifest irregularities they said included multiple thumbprinting of ballot papers. They indicated their determination to engage forensic experts to scritinze all materials that INEC deployed for the election. In a counter-move, President Buhari and the APC, on March 14, also approached the tribunal and secured an order for INEC to equally grant them access to all the electoral materials. The Tribunal, in two separate rulings, ordered the electoral body to forthwith, make available to President Buhari and the APC, both used and unused ballot papers it deployed across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, for the purpose of the presidential poll. Among other documents the tribunal granted the Applicants leave to inspect included all the voters registers. It held that the Applicants should also be allowed to obtain Certified True Copies of all the documents that were used at the polling units, wards, local governments and state levels. The tribunal said it was inclined to grant the request pursuant to section 6(6) (a) (b) of the 1999 Constitution, section 137(2) and 151(1) and (2) of the Electoral Act and 47(1) of the Third Schedule to Electoral Act. President Buhari and the APC had through their lawyers, Adelani Ajibade and Thomas Ojo, prayed the tribunal to order INEC to release the materials to enable them to prepare their defence to a petition the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar intends to lodge against the outcome of the presidential poll. Buhari told the panel that Atiku had expressed his intention to go to court to challenge his declaration as winner of the presidential contest. He said he would need some of the electoral materials currently in INEC’s custody, to be able to prove that he legitimately secured the highest number of valid votes ahead of Atiku who came second at the election. President Buhari noted that the tribunal had also granted a similar request in favour of Atiku and the PDP. Though the inspection request was allowed, the tribunal however declined to order INEC to grant the Applicants access to the Smart Card Reader Machines that were used for the presidential election. “I am of the view that the prayers sought, ought to be granted”, Justice Aboki held, stressing that the Applicants or their representatives should be granted access to the polling documents. “The 1st Respondent (INEC) is hereby ordered to forthwith, allow the Applicant or his representatives to inspect all the polling documents used in the just concluded presidential election to allow the Applicant to defend any petition that may arise from his declaration as winner of the February 23 presidential election”, the tribunal held. It equally granted the Applicants the leave to seek for such reliefs before the pre-hearing session of any petition that may be lodged against the outcome of the presidential election.

Breaking:... Murder of PDP Agent by F-SARs: Governor Wike to set up a Judicial Commission of Inquiry ▪to fund a scholarship scheme for the deceased children

Murder of PDP Agent by F-SARs: Governor Wike to set up a Judicial Commission of Inquiry ▪to fund a scholarship scheme for the deceased children Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has announced that the State Government will set up a Judicial Commission of Inquiry to ensure that the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (F-SARS) personnel who killed Dr Ferry Gberegbe, PDP Khana Collation Agent are brought to justice . Governor Wike also announced a N200million scholarship for the four children of the Late Dr Gberegbe, directing the widow of the deceased to open bank accounts for each of the four children. "We will set up a Judicial Commission of Inquiry to ensure that the culprits are brought to Justice. It is unfortunate that F-SARs killed the PDP Collation Agent. "The State Government will offer scholarship to the four young children left behind by the deceased. The Mother of the children should open dedicated account for each of the children. The State Government will pay N50million to each of the four children for their education " He spoke on Saturday in Port Harcourt when he led leaders of Rivers State on a condolence visit to the family of the slain lecturer . The governor decried the shooting of the late lecturer by men of F-SARs led by Rivers F-SARs Commander, Akin Fakorede, at the Khana Collation Centre, where he served as the PDP Collation Agent. He said the fatal shots led to his death. He said: "It is most unfortunate that the young man was shot dead by F-SARs led by Akin Fakorede in an attempt to cart away election results. "Instead of us to allow people to choose who will represent and govern them, the security agencies will not allow that. Rather they prefer to kill us. "He died in the course of the defending the PDP. He died in the course of defending democracy. I want to assure the family that all those who killed him will not go free". Governor Wike said the Late Dr Ferry Gberegbe remained committed to the PDP even on his sick-bed. He said the deceased sent him a text message saying that he would very happy when Governor Wike is declared winner of the election. Governor Wike stated that the State Government will also construct a house for the family of Late Dr Ferry Gberegbe and participate in his burial. Also speaking, PDP National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus said the late lecturer was a victim of the calculated oppression of the oil rich states by the Army and the F-SARs. He said that the country is in distress, noting that the nation is sitting on the leg of gun-powder in view of the negative activities of the Federal Government. "The Commander of F-SARs, Akin Fakorede will kill several people and he cannot be transferred or disciplined. The Police and Army have become politicians, always responding to politicians ", he said. Widow of the deceased, Mrs Funke Gberegbe said that the family is yet to fully celebrate the doctorate degree bagged by Dr Gberegbe before he was brutally murdered by F-SARs operatives at the Collation Centre. She said that her late husband was the pillar of the family whose sudden death will negatively impact their lives. Father of the deceased, Mr Conduct Gberegbe said he was shocked by the killing of his son by F-SARs operatives. The retired police officer described the late academic as his hope and future . Ben Lekia, brother of the deceased, said the slain academic only recently bagged his doctorate and was preparing to make further progress before he was cut down. Several mourners gathered at the residence of the deceased to sympathise with his family. Simeon Nwakaudu, Special Assistant to the Rivers State Governor, Electronic Media. 16th March, 2019.