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South Africa Faces Global Diplomatic Heat

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South Africa Faces Global Diplomatic Heat

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he heat is on. What the South African government considered a minor diplomatic spat with Nigeria has inspired other nations in the continent to step up pressure on the President Malama government to rein in sponsors of xenophobic attacks on Nigerians and other immigrants living in the country.

On Tuesday, President Muhammadu Buhari recalled Nigeria Ambassador to South Africa, Kabiru Bala barely few hours after summoning President Malama’s envoy to explain the reasons behind the killings of some Nigerian residents in the Rainbow nation.

Nigeria has also pulled out of the World Economic Forum, WEF which started on September 4 to demand an end to attacks on her citizens.

President Buhari had earlier held a meeting in Abuja with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Nigeria’s foreign minister, Geoffrey Onyeama  where the decision to recall the ambassador  was reached. Since then, other countries have also joined in the diplomatic pressure against South African.

Businesses, shops and other valuable properties belonging to foreigners living in the country have been set on fire, in what analysts considers one of the worst onslaught against  non-indigenes in recent days.

Barely few hours after Nigeria said it will no longer attend the summit, other countries such as Rwanda, Malawi, DRC and others have also pulled out.

It’s unclear whether they took the action in solidarity with Nigeria, analysts say.

According to Aljazeera, the South African government has tried to downplay the impact of other African leaders boycotting the summit.

“South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, on a charm offensive to attract $100bn of new investment, tried to limit fallout from the violence, which has rekindled memories of previous deadly attacks on foreigners that also led to reprisals on South African businesses abroad,” the Doha based media giant said.

The WEF was meant to draw funding for the huge infrastructural deficit in the continent, analysts say.

Pressure has mounted in recent days across the continent on the current government in that country to quickly halt the spread of the deadly attacks.

Outbursts against South African interests and business have also grown in other nations across Africa in the last 72 hours. The situation may even get worse, according to foreign relations experts, as protesters lay siege on MTN, Shoprite and

Multi-Choice offices, major South African franchises in Nigeria.

Skirmishes have been recorded in Lagos, Kano, Abuja, Ibadan and other state’s capital across the country as the political leadership calls for calm.

Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu of Lagos state has sued for peace in the face of protesters’ confrontation with riot policemen who are struggling to restore calm.

International organisations like the United Nations and Amnesty International have blamed the attacks on South Africa’s failure to halt the spread.

South African President has been trying to find solutions to the issue amidst global pressure.

Ramaphosa said on Wednesday that South Africans should never take justice into their own hands against people from other countries.

“We need to quell those incidents of unrest,” Ramaphosa said. “South Africa must be a country where everyone feels safe,” he said, also condemning the recent incidents in which women had been killed.

Meantime, Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Malawi’s Peter Mutharika have yet to an official reason for their decisions to pull out of the WEF.

WEF spokesman Oliver Cann said Kagame and Mutharika had informed conference organisers by Saturday – before the attacks had started – that they could not attend.

BREAKING: Robert Mugabe is dead

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BREAKING: Robert Mugabe is dead

[dropcap]F[/dropcap]ormer President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe is dead. He died in Singapore aged 95, as confirmed on twitter by current President Emmerson Mnangagwa .

According to Mnangagwa: “It is with the utmost sadness that I announce the passing on of Zimbabwe’s founding father and former President, Cde Robert Mugabe.

“Cde Mugabe was an icon of liberation, a pan-Africanist who dedicated his life to the emancipation and empowerment of his people. His contribution to the history of our nation and continent will never be forgotten. May his soul rest in eternal peace.”

Mugabe had led Zimbabwe in 1980 and again in 2017, before ultimately being booted after a military coup. His early years in power was praised for broadening access to health and education for the black majority – but his later years were marked by rights abuses and corruption.

ZimLive first reported the death of the dictator who led the country during the two spells.

Customs: Comptr. Mohammed Marches On One Year After

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Customs: Comptr. Mohammed Marches On One Year After
[dropcap]F[/dropcap]ew days to go in August , a formation of federal troops consisting of the army, police , Navy and air-force marched on Seme after a combined drill that also include other paramilitary forces like the Civil Defense Corps.

Simultaneously, the same event was also taking place along other border posts across the country.

The forces, armed to the teeth and ready to go, had been ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari to join the NCS to strengthen security across all international borders in the country.

Security experts say the move is a change in strategy for the Buhari’s administration in five years, intended to counter various security problems facing the country.

“Other security agencies that have now taken positions along the borders include the DSS and NIA, their mission is first to check the influx of dangerous weapons and movement of terrorists within our borders,” said a ministry of defense official in Abuja on Wednesday.

The development has obviously altered the operations of the NCS in such a way that it no longer has the monopoly of controlling the movement of goods and persons along the border “at least for the period that the joint border operations will last,” one security analyst said last week.

It has nevertheless hamstrung the activities of some customs’ area controllers along the borders as some of them appear to have left the task to the ‘joint military operations,’ close customs watchers say.

But at the Seme Command of the NCS, one Comptroller Mohammed Uba Garba will not allow himself to be relegated to the background or dwarfed by the ‘federal forces,’ whose presence at the borders, many insist have made movement of goods and persons difficult since they debut few weeks ago.

At the time that unusual silence have pervaded many border commands across the country, the Seme command braved the odds after Comptroller Uba directed his men to go after criminals more than ever before as they could not allow themselves to be distracted by the presence of the federal forces.

His order has paid off.

Few days ago, some criminals have plotted to hide under the hullabaloo of ‘Abuja forces’ to bring into the country some contraband including parcels of cannabis sativa, a banned substance.

Unbeknown to the members of underworld, who the magazine learned were working in cahoots with a gang from neighbouring Ghana, the controller had, after an intelligence report, directed his eagle-eye operatives to lay an ambush.

The gang of smugglers eventually fell into the trap set by Comptroller Uba and his men.

“Thank God for that successful operation five parcels of banned drug, suspected to be cannabis sativa would have found the way to the country thus compounding the problem of use of dangerous drug and abuse among our citizens especially the youths,’ a border security expert told the magazine of the seizure.

Comptroller Uba has not relented in his patriotic duty of making the nation safe from the Seme International border end since he was redeployed from the FOU Zone A, Ikeja exactly a year ago by the Comptroller General of NCS, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd), close watchers of the Service said.

Recently in July Comptroller Uba had reminded notorious smugglers that he has the mandate of the CG to run them out of town and their illegal business ‘for the good of country.’

He made the statement while displaying to the public seized rotten cow hide also known as ‘pomo’ and other prohibited items worth N114.5m.

Smoking out smugglers wherever they are hidden “will ensure that our core mandate as directed,” by the CG “is achieved,” he said.

According to him “the holistic approach in executing the mandate of the service will lead to an all-encompassing result as revenue generation, suppression of smuggling and legitimate trade facilitation will be adequately enhanced at the Lagos-Abidjan corridor without compromising national security.”

The controller has a unique message for criminals with funny ideas to test the resilience of his men.

For drug smugglers he recently said “We as customs men have the patriotic duty to support the effort of the federal government to rid the nation of hard drugs in line with the directive of the Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd)

His command will also not spare smugglers of prohibited goods, trying to undermine the nation’s economy. They will be hunted down and fished out, he said.

“There is no hiding place for smugglers at the Seme border. We have a duty to protect our economy from influx of harmful and prohibited items and we must do that tirelessly,” he said.

It has been a very eventful year for Comptroller Uba, but critics say there’s still room to do more.

Meanwhile, his admirers say the lanky controller has ended the year well despite many odds.

“There’s no better way to show to his boss in Abuja that he’s not tired after 12 months in the saddle. What the controller is saying is that he and his men are not tired and are ready to do more,” Joe Adeyemi, a border analyst said while commenting on seizures for the month of August.

Apart from the five parcel of cannabis sativa, other prohibited items seized in the last two weeks of last month, according to the spokesman of the command, Nuruddeen Abdulllahi are 875x50bags of Foreign parboiled rice with DPV of N15,023,750; 20 parcels of cannabis sativa with street value worth of N516,180; 535 bales of used clothes with DPV of N17,259,769; 65 cartons of poultry products with DPV of N948,333.75.

Others are 269 baskets of fresh tomatoes; one basket of fresh peppers; seven sacks of cucumber and pineapples; 16 baskets of fresh okro (all perishable products coming from Benin Rep. which were earnestly auctioned off) with DPV of N367,471; 137×25 liter jerry cans of PMS with DPV of N287,700; 6x50kg of refined sugar with DPV of N147,640.50 and  12x25litres of vegetable oil with DPV of N131,625.90.

The essence of the seizure Comptroller Uba stated is to “continue to send the right signal to discourage other people from indulging in the despicable act of smuggling.”

Culled from Source Magazine

Smugglers Conceal Contraband in Dead Bodies

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Smugglers Conceal Contraband in Dead Bodies
Col. Hameed Ali (rtd)

[dropcap]N[/dropcap]igeria were recently dumbfounded when they suddenly woke up few month ago to heard and read the story of how smugglers are trying their  best and doing everything humanly possible to outsmart the eyed officers and men of the Nigeria customs Service (NCS) who are on patrol most of the time by concealing hard substances like cocaine,marijuana etc .in dead bodies just to ensure that they smuggle it across the borders.

This sounds funny and like a tale from the blues, but it is real and happening. Nigeria of today business men of these days, are ready to do anything in the name of money.But the most dangerous aspect of it is that people don’t fear God anymore.How would people go to such extent of doing such sacrilege just to make millions of money without respect for the dead? In Africa it is assumed that we respect the dead.But from this scenario,men of the dead conscience have jettisoned that. Nigerian desperate business men (smugglers) go extents of hiding these substances in dead bodies and load them alongside with the dead bodies trying ferry them across the borders in ambulances, as if they are conveying corpses of their loved ones who they claim have died overseas. The reason behind this devilish way of business may not be far from the fact that.In side sources  close to this medium hinted that dead bodies attract zero duty payment in Nigeria but it is not so in other countries of the world. To ferry a corpse from any part of the world to Nigeria cost a lot of money. Even some notorious smugglers even go to the extent of wearing white gowns,disguising themselves pretending to be either clergies,sabbath or celestial worshipers without one knowing they are smugglers who have concealed one form of harmful objects, dangerous drugs and even weapons.

At Gbaji checkpoint along Seme Badagry expressway these evil men known as smugglers played out the same antics when they tried to ferry a harmful pack of cocaine under the dead body’s coffin well rapped in an ambulance conveying same from Ghana to Seme entering Lagos or wherever but were intercepted by able officers at Gbaji checkpoint who mounted serious road block there.

However,it looks embarrassing an Un -African for one to stop an search and search an incoming ambulance conveying a dead body. But the incident at Gbaji few months ago proved these men to be foolish enough in their antics  as the officers and men who seriously deliberated over checking and searching the vehicle but finally flagged the vehicle down caught them red-handed .This was possible because one of the top officers there insisted that these men can do anything and ensured that the vehicle was stopped and searched.But at the end,he was proved right.The said officer was said to have had similar experiences at both airports and other places.

There is another case where it was discovered on the process of stop and search that smugglers opened the belly of a dead man removed all the intestines and every other organ and buried a heavy load of cocaine inside the dead body and packaged it in a coffin to ferry  it across the borders but were caught by the smart officers of the Nigeria customs.We therefore at NEWS EMPEROR,wish to commend such gallant officers at Gbaji who were able to detect and discover the deadly antics of smugglers within the axis.We also want to  advice that in security parlance,everyone around you is a suspect until he/she is proved otherwise.So,keep it up men  and officers of the Nigeria Custom Service,Seme.

Okorocha And His Wife To Forfeit Assets Worth Millions Of Naira To EFCC

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Okorocha And His Wife To Forfeit Assets Worth Millions Of Naira To EFCC
Senator  Rochas Okorocha 

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says it has obtained orders for the interim forfeiture of assets traced to a former Imo governor, Rochas Okorocha, and his wife. The Head, Enugu Zonal Office of the commission, Mr Usman Imam, disclosed this on Wednesday in Enugu while briefing newsmen on the activities of the commission in the last eight months.

Imam said that the commission also obtained similar order on a property traced to a former aide to Okorocha, Mr Paschal Obi, and the former governor’s daughter.

He said that the commission had established prima facie cases against the suspects which they would answer to.

Imam said that the commission would like to know how the Rochas Foundation and other accomplices acquired and or converted some of the property for personal use.

He listed some of the property to include a 16-block cum 96 flats and an eight-bungalow multimillion naira estate, hotel, two schools, shopping plaza, supermarket, hospital and four vehicles.

The EFCC chief said that while the hospital was traced to Obi, the remaining property were traced to the former governor and his family, including his wife and daughter.

“We hope to get permanent forfeiture orders on the property in order to return them to the people of the state,” he said.

Imam said that all the facilities, including the schools, would remain functional as the commission would not like to shut them down for the sake of the students and other users. “Other recoveries were made and are awaiting forfeiture, but for the court vacation. They include a twin three-storey building with a three bedroom bungalow and a duplex, both in Enugu.

“The property were recovered from cyber fraudsters,” he said.

Imam said that the commission, within the period, recovered N213.85 million and 10, 600 US dollars.

“In one of such recoveries, one Augustine Ejimokor, who defrauded his victim of the sum of 5,000 US dollars and used it to acquire a Mercedez Benz C300 was ordered to forfeit the vehicle.

“So far, the zone has arrested 88 suspected fraudsters since 2015, with 70 of them in 2019. This underscores the efforts of the present zonal head in conformity with the acting chairman’s directives,” he said.

Imam said that the zone also obtained 59 convictions out of whom were the 51 arrested and prosecuted in 2019.

Musa Wada has emerged the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Kogi

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Musa Wada has emerged the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Kogi
Musa Wada

[dropcap]M[/dropcap]usa Wada has emerged the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the Nov. 16 governorship election in Kogi State.The Chairman of the governorship primary election committee, Ahmadu Fintiri, told newsmen on Wednesday in Lokoja that Wada emerged by polling 748 votes to beat 12 other aspirants.

Fintiri, who is the Governor of Adamawa, also disclosed that another aspirant, Abubakar Ibrahim, polled 710 votes to come second, while former Gov. Idris Wada came third with 345.

Other aspirants and their scores as announced by Fintiri were Sen. Dino Melaye, 70 votes, Aminu Abubakar Suleiman, 55, Victor Adoji, 54, Erico Ahmeh, 42, AVM Salihu Atawodi (rtd), 11, Mohamed Shaibu, 4, Bayo Averehi, 2, Emmanuel Omebije, 9 and Mrs Grace Adejoh polled 0.

The committee chairman said that he decided to announce the results, having been satisfied that the conduct of the primaries had complied substantially with the provisions of the party’s constitution.

“We have performed well and we should be commended by all the aspirants,” the governor said.

He said that 2,388 delegates were accredited for the election while 2,109 votes were cast. He also said that 54 voided votes were recorded, with 244 unused ballots, while 247 ballot papers could not be accounted for.

Fintiri also said that the 247 missing ballot papers could be as a result of the invasion of the venue of the primary by yet-to-be-identified gunmen, saying that the number was not enough to damage the integrity of the exercise.

He added that any aggrieved aspirant was free to lodge appeal with the national secretariat of the party.

In his reaction, Melaye expressed dissatisfaction with the conduct and the outcome of the election.

He claimed that the winner was allowed to bring over 600 votes from his house which, he said, the committee accepted and counted in his favour.

Melaye, who spoke through his agent, Mr Femi Obalemo, said that he would appeal the decision of the committee.

Also speaking, Ibrahim, who came second, said that the winner defeated him with 38 votes, which, he said, was not up to the missing 247 ballot papers. He expressed the confidence that if the missing ballot papers could be recovered, he would emerge the winner.

Wada, who was declared winner, appealed to other contestants to accept the result in good faith and in the interest of the party, promising to carry them along in all the processes leading to the real election.

By: Emeji Noble

NDDC has performed poorly, owes over N2 trillion -Akpabio

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NDDC has performed poorly, owes over N2 trillion -Akpabio
Senator Godswill Akpabio

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio has said that the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has performed poorly since it was established and has not met the yearning and aspirations of the Niger Delta people.

The minister frowned at the huge debts owned the Commission which run into  over N2 trillion to some real contracts and imagined contracts, which are coloured in corruption.

Senator Akpabio who disclosed this while meeting with the Management team of the NDDC said there would be a forensic audit of the funds received and spent by the Commission since 2000.

“The impact of NDDC on the entire Niger Delta region would have been more if not for those thing militating development, personal interest, political interest, interferences here and there.

“The NDDC was strategic, it was a child of necessity, I believe that the NDDC has not performed well, I don’t want to say that you have failed the region, I am saying that you have not performed well.

“The real youths of the Niger Delta who undertook clearance of water have not been paid, those that were paid are political youths, people that you owe just N500,000 to N1 million are over 400 and they have been going to NDDC for over 10 years, and the money has not been given to them.

“I know as for now in terms of debt, NDDC is owing over N2 trillion, some of them are real, some are imagined, but the problem we are having is that you won’t know the ones that are real when they are mixed with the that are political, and the result is that someone who took a loan to do a real job for NDDC probably may have died, leaving the family at penury.

“We will do forensic analysis and audit, we will try to go backwards even from the year 2000 up till now to know what came in and what went out and why we have not seen much on ground,” Senator Akpabio said.

Stating the need to refocus the Commission, the Minister noted the Commission would cease from paying over N200 million as rent for their headquarters.

“We will stop you from doing politically motivated roads, we will stop you from keeping your headquarters for over 20 years without commissioning, we will stop you from paying N200 million to N300 million yearly as rent for the headquarters you are occupying,” he added.

Earlier in his address, the Minister of State for Niger Delta Affairs, Barrister Festus Keyamo said the NDDC has failed the Niger Deltans.

He said the funds spent by the Commission was not commensurate with the infrastructure on ground.

“The purpose of this meeting is to meet with you for the first time as the supervisory Ministry, get to know you and discuss some issues that are at the front burner, redefine the vision of the Commission that has since been lost over time

“I recall that a few weeks ago, the Vice President of this country did say publicly that this commission has failed, that is the truth.

“In terms of commensurability of the project viz-a-viz the income that is accruable to the commission, we have failed.

“Let us be clear that it will not business as usual, it will be business unusual from now on,” Keyamo noted.

The NDDC Management team was led by the Director Overseeing the Commission, Dr Akwagaga Enyia.

 

Delta State Govt. will intervene on the failed sections of the Warri-Sapele-Benin road

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Delta State Govt. will intervene on the failed sections of the Warri-Sapele-Benin road
Inspection of the failed sections of the Warri-Benin road at Okuvo Okpe Local Government Area, Delta State.

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Delta State Government has stated that it will intervene on the failed sections of the Warri-Sapele-Benin road to reduce the sufferings of road users on the highway.

Commissioner for Works Chief James Augoye and his Information counterpart Mr Charles Aniagwu stated this Wednesday, September 4, 2019 at Okuvo, Okpe Local Government Area of Delta State while conducting journalists round the failed sections on the road. The Works Commissioner noted that although the road is a Federal Road, Deltans and other Nigerians depend on the road to erk a living for themselves.

He said Governor Ifeanyi Okowa was disturbed by the sufferings of the people who ply the road and decries the loss of man hour and productive time on the road.

Deplorable Warri Benin Road
Inspection of the failed sections of the Warri-Benin road at Okuvo Okpe Local Government Area, Delta State.

“This Warri-Sapele-Benin road is a Federal Highway and as a state we actually did palliatives works on some portions of the road before now and the parts we intervened on are still very solid till today, what we are doing here is to look at the possibility of the state government intervening.

“The work here is not just maintenance or rehabilitation, it requires total reconstruction because the mud here is very clayed and it needs to be excavated to the soil base and refilled with sharp stand to make it solid so there is much work to be done here.

“Governor Ifeanyi Okowa has directed that we visit the site and see the possible way of intervention by the state government to free the masses from the sufferings on the road.

On his part, Commissioner for Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu said the state government was intervening because Deltans and Nigerians use the road irrespective of where they are from, because what they are going through on account of the deplorable condition of the road.

“You have seen it by yourself that it is in a very very bad condition and we are pained so it doesn’t just have to be Deltans that pass through here for us to be disturbed, we are disturbed because what is happening here affects not just the economy of the state and the nation.

Delta State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Charles Aniagwu (left) and the Commissioner for Works, Chief James Augoye, during the Inspection of Warri-Benin Expressway, at Okuvo Okpe Local Government Area, Delta State.
Delta State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Charles Aniagwu (left) and the Commissioner for Works, Chief James Augoye, during the Inspection of Warri-Benin Expressway, at Okuvo Okpe Local Government Area, Delta State.
“The Commissioner for Works has made it very very clear that we are going to start work in earnest but we have to plead with the Federal Government to assist us in taking care of these Federal roads because it is digging very deep into our pockets as a state and the more they assist us the better for us and the better for other Nigerians that are making use of these roads,” he added. The duo had earlier inspected work at the ongoing construction of the Ughelli-Asaba Federal highway and appealed to the Federal Government to reimburse the State Government for previous interventions so that such funds can be deployed to other needs.

“As you can see it is taking us several billions to ensure that these roads are put to motorable condition. It is costing the State Government several billions to carry out these interventions and of course you know there are a lot of needs and other challenges that are within the direct responsibility of the State Government that requires attention but here we are investing huge sums of money to address these Federal roads because we believe that leaving it unattended will lead to untold hardship for our people.

“We are equally using this opportunity of this inspection to plead with the Federal Government to reimburse the State Government with what it has spent before on previous interventions so that we can deploy the funds to other important needs.

The Commissioner for Works had earlier hinted that the 47.8km Section A alone is costing the State Government over N19bn and you know what that kind of money can do for us as a state,” he said.

The On-going Construction of Ughelli-Asaba Express Road Sector A.
The On-going Construction of Ughelli-Asaba Express Road Sector A.

“Governor Okowa is seriously troubled that all the Federal roads in the state are in terrible conditions, he is disturbed by the hectic traffic at the Head bridge leading into Onitsha in Anambra state, you will recall that at one time we wrote to the Federal Government to allow us fix that road, but they declined on the ground that they have engaged a contractor to address the failed sections of the road.

“The Asaba-Benin stretch of the road has also become a nightmare and even our decision to remediate part of the Agbor-Eku road is just a palliative as that road requires total reconstruction. So you can understand now why we are pleading with the Federal Government to expedite action on these roads.

“The fact is that beyond the hardship faced by commuters it’s effect on the economy is incalculable.” he said.

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Delta State Executive Council has approved the establishment of two new schools in Asaba

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Delta State Executive Council has approved the establishment of two new schools in Asaba

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Delta State Executive Council has approved the establishment of two new schools in the state capital, Asaba.

The decision of the state government on the creation of the new schools, was disclosed at a post exco briefing of journalists at the press center in government house, Asaba.

Reeling out the resolutions reached by the council at its meeting on Tuesday, September 3, 2019 presided by the state governor, Senator Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, the State Commissioner for Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu said, “because of influx of people to Delta and Asaba in particular due to the peaceful and progressive nature of the state, Exco approved the establishment of one new primary school and another secondary school in Asaba metropolis.”

The commissioner added that, “we know the importance of education to the lives of our people and we are also aware of the passion of the people when it has to do with education, so, we should expect more schools to be established in the future. We must give accolades to the administration of our Governor, because a lot of schools were also established during his first tenure.”

He revealed that the primary school will be situated within the junior staff quarters area while the secondary school will be sited along Okpanam road.

Still on Education matters, Aniagwu informed that the Delta Executive Council approved the release of N1.5 billion counterpart fund to Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) for funding of primary education in the state for 2019.

The Information Commissioner noted that Delta was one of the few states consistent with payment of the counterpart fund to UBEC, adding that, the state government was consistent with the payment because of the premium it attached to education and resolve that Deltans should have the best of every positive development in the country.

“Delta is a peculiar state and our governor is passionate about education and as such, when the issue of counterpart-funding for UBEC was raised and deliberated on, it was approved by the Exco.

 

Snakes take over Auchi Poly, as female student flees bathroom naked

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Snakes take over Auchi Poly, as female student flees bathroom naked

[dropcap]P[/dropcap]alpable fear and anxiety have gripped staff and students of Auchi Polytechnic, Auchi, Edo State, as dangerous snakes have allegedly taken over the institution.

Students, canteen operators and other members of staff who work or reside on the campuses of the federal tertiary Institution, have reportedly sighted the dangerous and poisonous visitors now laying ambush in ceilings, offices, hostels, bathrooms and other places.

It was gathered that thick darkness occasioned by power outage worsened the situation, making it difficult for the hapless students to see the lurking​ snakes.

The students, who described the situation as worrisome, called on the management of the institution to fumigate the entire campuses, to forestall a possible attack on the students.

It was learnt that a female student who was bathing, narrowly escaped being bitten when a snake suddenly dropped from the ceiling of the bathroom. She had to run out of the bathroom naked.

A student who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they now lived in their hostels in constant fear and anxiety.

“We now live in fear over the recent discovery of snakes in the hostels​.

“We now live in fear in this hostel. Snakes were found and killed yesterday in one of the girl’s hostels. Snakes are now everywhere and nothing is being done about it.

“Somebody was bathing and a snake almost fell on her. She ran out naked, she was very lucky.

“Snakes are just everywhere as you see this hostel, even in the portals, offices, snakes have taken over, we are just confused. They will not give us light to see or read despite the fact that some of us are writing exams.

“We are begging the school management to come to our aid and fumigate everywhere so we can be peaceful,” she said.

The Public Relations Officer of the Polytechnic, Mr. Mustapha Osahiobugie, denied the alleged invasion of reptile in the institution. He disclosed that two giant generators were set aside for the students to ensure adequate power supply in their hostels.

“Whether there is BEDC power or not, we have two giant generators set aside for students alone so that they can have adequate power supply.

“Our hostel building is two storeys. We do spot check every week and none of our ceilings is compromised​. The roofs are well covered, so, how will a snake now fall from the ceiling?

“On the environment as it relates to sanitation, the horticulture staff are fully in charge, but I will inform them right away to go and check the sports complex and every area concerned,” he added.

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