metro
DRAMA: Couple who snatched mad woman’s baby meet waterloo -Suspects admit guilt, trade blame
Wife: My husband didn’t tell me he was impotent, he starved me of sex for 16 years
Husband: My wife didn’t tell me she has damaged womb, can’t bear children
It was a dramatic moment at Agwa Tashi community, Obi Local Government Area, Nasarawa State on Monday as a couple, Mr Thomas Agba and his wife Mary, were arrested by a combination of some vigilante group members and a few elders of the community for stealing a new born baby belonging to a mad woman.
The couple, who before now were resident in Akwanga Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, had been married for 16 years without an issue. Their relationship had begun when Thomas, an indigene of Kokona LGA, met Mary, who hails from Wamba Local Government Area, and proposed marriage to her. They agreed to get married after a courtship that lasted about six months.
It was gathered that the couple agreed not to have sex before they would get married. Mary, however kept secret the fact that she had lost her womb during an abortion she had as a spinster while Thomas also kept secret the fact that he had been impotent from birth.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with our correspondent, Mary said: “Before I got married 16 years ago, my husband and I never made love.
“He was the first to suggest that we should not have sex until he paid my dowry. He always told me that we should wait until we got married. Unfortunately, I never knew that he was avoiding sex because he was impotent.
“Since we got married, he has not been doing his job as a husband and that always made me sad.
“Each time I confronted him with sex issues, he would either say he was not in the mood or ask that we should adjourn the matter till the next day.
“For 16 years, he kept giving me one excuse or the other, so we never had sex.
“Barely a year after our marriage, I discovered that he was an impotent man. There is no complete man on earth who will spend one year with a woman on the same bed without sex, more so your own wife.
“Many times I tried to seduce him by giving him the best of romantic kisses and wearing sexy clothes at night just to entice him, but his manhood would not stand at all.
“To make matters worse, he has never asked me for sex since we got married.
“I was depressed by the situation, so almost every night, I cried and cried because I didn’t know what to do.
“Right inside me, I also know that I don’t have a womb to conceive a baby even if my husband was a man. But the truth is that I love him so much and I did not want to commit adultery or cheat on him.”
Mary added that since her womb got damaged, it was clear to her that she would have a problem with child bearing when she got married.
She said: “Whenever a new couple gets married and later gives birth, I feel happy for them. But when I realise that I will never have the same experience, tears roll down my cheeks. The joy of every family is to bear children.
“Sometime late last year, I woke up early in the morning and summoned courage to tell my husband the truth. I told him to his face that he is an impotent man and there is no way he can impregnate me for us to bear children.
“He admitted it, telling me that he grew up to discover that he was impotent. I also seized the chance to tell him that I also cannot bear a child because my womb is damaged.
“I told him that even if he was man enough, it would be impossible for me to take in. I them suggested that there were two options open to us since we were both tired of people asking why pregnancy had not come.
“I suggested that we should adopt a baby and move to another location to give the impression that it is our biological baby.
“On a second thought, I remembered that there was a mad pregnant woman around our area, so I decided that we should monitor her, draw her close to us and take her baby as soon as she was delivered of it instead of going through the long process of adopting a child in Abuja.
“We both agreed to the idea and I started drawing the mad woman close to me by providing for her needs and somehow she became used to me.
“She hardly spoke, but due to my closeness to her because of the food I was giving her, she managed to tell me how she was impregnated by a man whose location she could not really say.
“She also said that she was expected to give birth in July, although she ended up delivering in September.
“She went into labour in the night on September 7. Around that time, she was always in our compound, because I was providing for her necessities and our house was not far from the main road.
“We immediately rushed her to the hospital and after about five hours of labour, she was delivered of a baby boy. We spent two days in the hospital to normalise her.
“While we were in the hospital, I sold the idea of snatching the baby from the mad woman to my husband and change our base from Akwanga to Lafia.
“When she was discharged from the hospital, with my husband’s car, we left the hospital in Akwanga, drove straight to Lafia and headed straight to Awe LGA where we arranged for a friend who is a medical personel to give her some injection to calm down her breast milk.
“We dumped her somewhere in Awe LG and returned to Agwa Tashi in Obi LG with the baby.
“The mad woman’s deficiency, which we took advantage of, is that she hardly talks. She prefers to talk alone than to talk to people.
“I had already bought baby food and feeding bottle and prepared hot water in case he would start crying on the road.
“So we abandoned the mad woman in Awe and relocated to Obi to settle there temporarily. Our intention was to move back to Lafia after one year and settle there permanently.
“My husband is a businessman.”
Our correspondent gathered that while many people around Akwanga had noticed the sudden disappearance of the mad woman, none felt any need to probe into her case.
Mary said: “One week after, the new born baby was not feeling so strong, so we took him to Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital for treatment.
“As we were trying to locate the children ward, we did not know that a former neighbour of ours in Akwanga was involved in an accident and was admitted at the hospital.
“His wife saw us with a baby and was visibly shocked. From that moment, she knew that we must have snatched the mad woman’s baby, more so because she knew that the mad woman was close to us and her whereabouts had become a source of concern.
“She quickly returned home and informed a few other people who later told some members of the vigilante group about our new location.”
Mary, who pleaded with the team not to thank her over to law enforcement agents, said she could not bear any child because her womb was damaged by a quack doctor during an abortion she had as secondary school pupil, adding that she did what she did out of frustration.
She said: “When I met Thomas about16 years ago, he loved me so much and I equally loved him. So, when he proposed marriage to me, I quickly obliged and could not tell the truth because I didn’t want to lose him.”
Also speaking, Thomas, who also pleaded that security agents should not be involved in the matter, admitted that he was impotent, adding that desperation to have a child led him to accept his wife’s proposal.
He said that they both have themselves to blame for not being sincere about their conditions from the outset.
He said: “We both lied to each other and it landed us in this mess. Please and please, you people should have mercy, pity our condition and look at our case. It was desperation to have a child that led us into this evil plan.”
The couple has since led some members of the vigilante group to Awe in search of the mad woman.
The matter was yet to be reported to the police at press time as the vigilante men insist on finding the mad woman before involving the police in it.
Linus OOTA, The Nation
metro
Osun man on death row for fowl theft shares how police subjected 17-year-old self to torture
Osun man on death row for fowl theft shares how police subjected 17-year-old self to torture
Segun Olowookere, a man who was sentenced to death for stealing fowls in Osun State when he was 17, has recounted how the police tortured and gave him a cutlass used as an exhibit against him as a minor in court.
FIJ had earlier reported that Governor Ademola Adeleke planned to pardon Olowookere after news of how Justice Sakariya Oyejide Falola sentenced Olowookere and Morakinyo Sunday to death in 2014 broke out.
Olowookere was charged in court with conspiracy, armed robbery and stealing. It was on these grounds that Falola delivered his judgment.
Olowookere and Sunday spent some days at a police station in Okuku before their arraignment and conviction. Olowookere said that the police gave them one cutlass each while at the station for weeding the premises.
However, the two of them were later transferred to Osogbo, the state capital, with the cutlasses. These cutlasses were later presented before the judge as exhibits of an armed robbery offence, Olowookere told The Punch in an interview on Sunday.
HOW HE WAS ARRESTED
Now in a custodial centre working with a medical team, Olowookere said he gave himself up for the arrest in November 2010.
“I was at my father’s shop in Oyan after returning from school. My dad and I were discussing my university admission and suddenly, we heard gunshots, and everybody ran away except my dad and a few others,” he narrated.
“My father was taken to a police van where there were some children. I was peeping out and could hear and see what was going on. The police asked my dad where I was and he asked them what my offence was. When they couldn’t give him a satisfactory response, my father shouted at the top of his voice that I should run away because the police wanted to arrest me.
READ ALSO:
- Why we displayed ‘Jesus Christ is not God’ banner at Lekki mosque -Imam
- Lagos-Calabar coastal road: Train track work begins 2025, says minister
- Three days to Christmas, food prices, transport fares hit the roof
“But I was wondering what my offence was. So, I came out and went to meet them. I was detained at the police post in Oyan and was taken to Okuku Divisional Police Headquarters the following day. I met the children who were in the police van when they came for me sitting on the ground and eating rice.”
THEY WERE GIVEN CUTLASSES
Olowookere recalled that the divisional police officer (DPO) heading the station at the time accused him of being a leader of an armed robbery gang consisting of teenage children.
Some days after his arrest, his parents were still making efforts to secure his bail. While this was ongoing, the police engaged them in labour, giving them a cutlass each to cut the grasses at the station.
“The DPO told me that one of the children confessed to stealing two broilers and some crates of eggs. I met the broilers and the eggs at the station,” he said.
“The children were eight in number. He told me the children said I was their gang leader, which I denied. The children he was talking about were around 12 and 13 years old, while I was 17 then. I told him I knew the children but I didn’t have anything to do with them other than greeting them in the community.
“I met Sunday Morakinyo at the station, and he told the police that he didn’t know me nor had anything to do with me. I don’t even know where he was arrested. All the children were released but Morakinyo and I were not.
“We were seriously tortured from the first day I got to the Okuku Police Station under the supervision of the DPO. The children who allegedly committed the crime were not beaten. He repeatedly asked me to admit and confess to a crime I didn’t commit.
READ ALSO:
- Three Ogun varsity students die auto crash
- Dangote, MRS agree to sell petrol at N935/litre nationwide
- How another Nigerian allegedly murdered by four South Africans
“After some days, we were given cutlasses to cut the grass at the police station premises despite having injuries on every part of our body as a result of the torture.”
BAIL SUM BEYOND HIS PARENTS
Olowookere’s father was asked to produce N30,000 for his bail, but his father could only raise N20,000, and the police would not cut down this financial bail demand.
His father then left the station, perhaps to gather the shortfall of N10,000. Before his father could return, the police had ferried them to Osogbo.
“My father could only raise N20,000 out of the N30,000 they demanded. The police rejected it and insisted on the N30,000,” Olowookere said.
“My dad left the station to look for the money. But before he returned the following day, we had been moved to the SARS office in Osogbo. The cutlasses that were given to me and Morakinyo to cut the grass were presented to SARS as exhibits and they were told we were armed robbers.
“After 17 days in the SARS cell, we were taken to a magistrate court and charged with robbery, and from there to the High Court, where we were sentenced to death.”
The poultry farm from which they were alleged to have stolen fowls belonged to one of his uncles.
Despite initially promising not to pursue the case against him, the uncle went on to testify in court against him.
“We are from the same Ajerotutu Compound in Oyan. He was summoned to a family meeting where he said I was not among those who stole the fowls, but my name was mentioned by the children who were arrested,” Olowookere explained.
“He told the family that he would discontinue the case. But he later came to court to testify against me.
“I never wrote any statement to the police. My parents never had a flat, not to mention a six-bedroom flat. I lived with my parents until I was arrested.”
READ ALSO:
- Copyright: Court orders Adele’s song removed from platforms
- Ibadan, Abuja, Anambra stampedes: IG orders probe, threatens prosecution of organisers
- Gabriel Jesus shines as Arsenal thrash Palace 5-1 in London derby
Asked why his lawyer didn’t object to the statement during the trial, Olowookere said, “I didn’t know anything, but I am sure I didn’t write any statement.”
SUNDAY SUFFERS MENTAL ILLNESS
As a result of the torture they received at the police station before arraignment, Sunday began to bleed from several parts of his body.
Eventually, this bleeding led to his becoming mentally ill, according to Olowookere.
“He is now a mad person. He is at Ibara Prison. He developed mental issues when we were tortured at the police station in Okuku and by the officers of the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad. I am just lucky, and I believe God’s grace is over me,” he said.
“Morakinyo was bleeding from the anus, ears, nose and on the head. The police did not treat him despite that. I cleaned the cell every day because his blood stained the floor. He was bleeding for the entire six days we spent inside the Okuku police cell before we were transferred to the SARS cell in Osogbo.
“We spent 17 days with SARS and Morakinyo bled every day. Some of the SARS officers noticed that he was not mentally normal again but others thought he was pretending, and from there, he developed full mental issues.
“When we were remanded at Ilesa Custodial Centre, the warders tried to manage his mental health but they didn’t have the capacity. His condition then worsened. As I am talking to you, he doesn’t recognise anybody again. His mother has stopped checking up on him.”
Olowookere said he was hopeful that he would regain his freedom someday to pursue his academic studies and become useful to the world.
“I first enrolled in Yewa College of Education, Abeokuta, Ogun State, after my sentence. It is my dream to study medicine, but it is not available at a college of education. I was later transferred to a maximum prison in 2016. But due to financial constraints, I couldn’t study my dream course,” he explained.
“However, I was encouraged to train under the medical practitioners in the prison. So, I applied and I was accepted into the medical line in 2017. Since then, I have been working with the nurses, pharmacists and doctors inside the prison.
“I believe I will be free one day, and when I regain my freedom, I will definitely go for medicine. I pray to God to set me free because I am innocent.
“I don’t know anything about the crime I am convicted for. I pray to God to give me the opportunity to prove my innocence to the world and be useful to society. I am not a criminal; I have never stolen anything in my life, not to talk of robbing somebody.”
Osun man on death row for fowl theft shares how police subjected 17-year-old self to torture
metro
Oil cabal sponsoring blackmails against Tompolo, Otuaro, Kyari, say Ijaw youths
Oil cabal sponsoring blackmails against Tompolo, Otuaro, Kyari, say Ijaw youths
Stakeholders under the Ijaw Youths Network (IYN) have alleged a well-coordinated international blackmail campaign against High Chief Government Ekpemupolo (Tompolo), Chairman of Tantita Security Services; Mele Kyari, Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL); and Dr. Dennis Otuaro, Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP).
In a statement issued on Sunday by its President, Frank Ebikabo, and Secretary, Federal Ebiaridor, the IYN accused a cabal of oil thieves of sponsoring the campaign to undermine the successes of Tantita Security Services and other security outfits in combating oil theft.
The group specifically condemned a staged protest outside the United Nations headquarters in New York, describing it as a smear campaign filled with false criminal allegations against Tompolo, Kyari, and Otuaro.
The IYN called on the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, and others entrusted with the nation’s security to ensure a thorough investigation of persons behind the blackmail and bring them to justice in the interest of national security.
The stakeholders also urged President Ahmed Bola Tinubu to be resolute in sustaining the reversal of the evils of oil theft against Nigeria and her citizens.
The IYN stressed that oil thieves and their operatives armed with billions of ill-gotten resources were funding the recurrent attacks on Tompolo, Kyari and Otuaro.
The youths insisted that a virulent cabal of oil thieves with a vast network across international boundaries was on the rampage to orchestrate the campaign targeting the economy of the country and its leadership.
READ ALSO:
- Why we displayed ‘Jesus Christ is not God’ banner at Lekki mosque -Imam
- Lagos-Calabar coastal road: Train track work begins 2025, says minister
- Three days to Christmas, food prices, transport fares hit the roof
The IYN said that the oil thieves were pooling resources together with their international collaborators to undermine the President, national security and the nation’s economy.
The group said that it was not unexpected that the deadly cabal that almost ruined the economy of the country by stealing billions of petro dollars would not give up their lucrative crime without a fight.
The IYN said that the achievement of the Tinubu Administration which had been able to attain 1.8m barrels of crude oil per day, after serious efforts into the battle against oil thieves should be protected from such influential, deadly gang.
The IYN added some of those fighting Tompolo, Kyari and Otuaro were persons, who pressed to be appointed Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme without success.
The Ijaw youths groups said that the antecedents of Otuaro and his capacity to deepen consultations and sustenance of peace in the Niger Delta might be hurting those behind the campaign of calumny in the region.
The group called on all sister organizations in the Niger Delta to support the campaign against oil theft, Tantita Security Service Limited, the NNPCL and the PAP leadership.
READ ALSO:
- Three Ogun varsity students die auto crash
- Dangote, MRS agree to sell petrol at N935/litre nationwide
- How another Nigerian allegedly murdered by four South Africans
The group said: “We are shocked at the extent to which this deadly cabal of oil thieves can go to orchestrate a campaign of calumny against hardworking people carrying out their lawful responsibilities in the Niger Delta.
“Of course, nobody expects a group of extremely wealthy, connected and influential people who has been involved in oil theft, stealing billions for years to go away without resistance.
“The show of shame in front of the UN headquarters is a most reprehensible attack on the country image, the President, national security and our economy.
“The unpatriotic characters are conniving with enemies of Nigeria in their criminal bid to bring back the dark days of oil theft and its impact on the nation’s economy.
“We call on the President, to be firm in sustaining what is good for Nigeria. Tompolo, and Tantita have shown that it is not impossible to stop the menace of oil theft as shown by the daily production of oil to 1.8 million barrels per day,
“We also urge the Mr Kyari and Dr Otuaro to be firm in carrying out their official responsibilities to this great country. That oil thieves are focusing attacks on the, shows in clear terms that their actions are suffocating their evil activities in the region.”
Oil cabal sponsoring blackmails against Tompolo, Otuaro, Kyari, say Ijaw youths
metro
NURTW scribe felicitates Nigerians on Xmas, urges caution
NURTW scribe felicitates Nigerians on Xmas, urges caution
The General Secretary of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Comrade Kayode Agbeyangi, has enjoined Nigerians to imbibe the virtues of peace, love and compassion as taught through the birth of Jesus Christ.
He stated this in his Christmas and end of the year goodwill message to felicitate members of the union and Nigerians in general.
Agbeyangi urged Nigerians to use the festive season to reflect on the values of love, compassion, and sacrifice that Jesus Christ embodied.
“This period is not for merry making alone; we should also spare time to reflect on the birth and life of Jesus Christ.
“His birth teaches humility, love compassion and sacrifice. As Nigerians, we must show love to our fellow county men. We must love our country. As Nigerians, we must be ready to make sacrifices for the nation.”
The NURTW scribe also used the opportunity to appeal to members of the union and other road users to always exercise caution and adhere to all safety protocols while travelling during the festive season.
“As we celebrate, let us not forget the importance of road safety. The roads can be treacherous, especially during the festive season.
“I urge our members and all road users to drive safely, avoid overspending, overtaking at dangerous bends and overloading, and be courteous to other road users,” he stated.
He also advised drivers that all their vehicle papers should be up to date to avoid embarrassment from law enforcement officers on the highways.
Comrade Agbeyangi prayed for a peaceful and joyous celebration, and wished members of the union and Nigerians, a happy prosperous New Year.
-
Railway2 days ago
Lagos Rail Mass Transit part of FG free train ride – NRC
-
metro18 hours ago
Why we displayed ‘Jesus Christ is not God’ banner at Lekki mosque -Imam
-
metro3 days ago
Court stops customs from seizing imported rice in open market
-
metro3 days ago
Ibadan stampede: Tinubu orders probe as death toll hits 40
-
metro2 days ago
Ibadan stampede: Ooni reacts after arrest of ex-wife
-
metro3 days ago
Afe Babalola: Court grants Dele Farotimi bail, barred from media interviews
-
metro2 days ago
NIMC warns against extortion, reaffirms free NIN enrollment
-
News3 days ago
Adebayo Ogunlesi, 2 other Nigerians make Forbes 50 wealthiest Black Americans list 2024