Lokoja: 13 year-old-girl murdered, kept in fridge

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Read Time:4 Minute, 56 Second
Lokoja, if only, 13-year old Yetunde, Racheal Samuel had known what fate had in store for her on 5TH October, she would have changed her mind about staying home and followed her family to the wedding of the day. But life played a fast one on her and kept her in the dark about the evil that lurked at the corner. She had no premonition whatsoever, that on that particular day, she would bid the world goodbye in a gruesome manner.
 
On that day, the serene town of Isanlu, headquarters of Yagba – East Local Government of Kogi State was thrown into tumoil following the gruesome murder of Yetunde, whose body was deposited inside a medium size freezer after being strangled to death by yet to be identified killers.
 
Yetunde Rachael Samuel, a JSS 2 student of Oluyori Comprehensive College, Isanlu was killed in the night of October 5th and neatly deposited inside a medium size freezer to create impression that she fell into the freezer and was subsequently jamlocked and frozen to death without any body knowing; which shows that her death was pre-planned and carried out with an ulterior motive. 
 

 

What has remained a mystery is who actually murdered her and for what. Aside that, the question on the  lips of people  is why was she the only one left in the house that particular day and why  she was hurriedly buried in the cover of the night? Why did the parents or the guardians fail to report her mysterious death to the police before she was committed to mother earth?  Only the police or perhaps, the late Yetunde herself could actually reveal who killed her and how she died.
 
The perpetrators of the henious crime would have gotten away with it if the police had not gotten wind of it. Maybe Yetunde’s blood is seeking for justice as no one knows how the Police heard about it.
 
The state commissioner of  Police, Alh Mohammed Musa Katsina who got wind of the dastardly act, suspected  foul play, arrested the guardians of the girl and ordered that the corpse be exhumed for a thorough autopsy to confirm whether the girl actually jumped inside the freezer and got frozen or she was killed.
It was a hectic time for our correspondent and detectives led by the deputy commissioner of police, Alh Zannah Mohammed who travelled to the community with a pathologist from Federal Medical Centre to exhume the decompsing corpse for autopsy.
 
The guardian of the girl who is at the centre of the mysterious death, Mrs Deborah Motunrayo Jaiyeoba claimed that she left the girl who was the daughter of her younger sister at home that Saturday morning for a marriage ceremony along with all her children.
 
According to her, when she got back from the wedding ceremony and did not see Yetunde, she thought she had gone to play. She said she was thirsty and raced to the deep freezer to get a satchet of water to quench her thirst when she suddenly discovered that Yetunde was stone dead in the freezer and she immediately raised alarm.
 
Mrs jaiyeoba, a sanitary inspector at the local government claimed Yetunde wanted to clean the deep freezer in her small retail shop when she fell into the deep freezer and must have frozen to death.
 
Saturday Vanguard also gathered that the father of the desceased was said to have felt indiferrent about the death of her daughter as he hurriedly consented that she should be buried immediately.
 
Saturday Vanguard’s investigation revealed that Yetunde’s mother was impregnated at the age of 17 while she was still in secondary school; and after delivery, decided to drop Yetunde at the age of two with her sister and headed  to Ilorin for greener pasture where she later got married. However, the autopsy carried out revealed that the late girl was actually killed; maybe, for rituals.
 
Preliminary doctor’s report confirmed that the girl died as result of neorogenic shock secondary to multiple skeletal injuries most likely sustained from blunt force trauma.
 
The doctor’s report also said two of the girl’s teeth were removed with some vital parts while the entire head region was battered with blunt instrument.
 
Speaking with Saturday Vanguard, the State Commissioner of Police, Muhammed Kastina said the whole episode was a case of culpable homicide. He said the innocent girl was brutally murdered but expressed shock that the biological father of the girl did not show concern but instead, he brought a letter to his office along with somebody who claimed to be a judicial officer that the case be withdrawn.
 
The CP said when he interrogated the father, he could not even read nor comprehend the contents of the letter which gave suspicion that some people were behind the murder. He therefore called on members of the public to be more vigilant with their children and to know who they give their children to for upkeeping but vowed to pursue the case to a logical conclusion.
 
If truly Yetunde’s guardian was behind the gruesome murder, why and what could be the reason behind it after sucessefully nuturing  her for the past 13 years? What does she stand to gain? All these questions seem unanswarable as the peoples wait patiently for the police to unravel the case and make their submission known on time.
 
Those arrested along with the 43 year- old Mrs Jaiyeoba Deborah who was the guardian are three of her children namely: Jaiyeoba Titilayo, 20 years old; Tunmininu Jaiyeoba 23 years old and Jaiyeoba Femi 18 years old. Others are Shade Jimoh, Chief J I Owolabi, Raphael Owolabi, Raphael Abiodun and Tolulope Sunday.
 

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Etisalat Begins Hunt for Future Star with Abuja Audition of Nigerian Idol Season 3

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Read Time:43 Second

Season three of the exciting reality TV music show Nigerian Idol sponsored by Etisalat, is finally here. Many aspiring singers have been setting their sights on this show as they come out to show what they’ve got to Nigeria in the hopes of winning the title of Nigeria’s much loved singer as well as the opportunity to become a star.  The first leg of the auditions started in Abuja with different people showing their talent and Etisalat, the nation’s most innovative telecommunications service provider was there to support them.

The surprise of the show was the appearance of Afrobeat Icon Femi Kuti as a judge on the show, replacing Charlie Boy from last season. Watch the interview with Femi as he shared his thoughts on the show and his expectations from the participants.

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About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Capital Oil Boss Ifeanyi Uba Granted Bail

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Read Time:26 Second

MD of Capital Oil and Gas Ltd, Mr Ifeanyi Uba was this evening released from the custody of the Special Fraud Unit after spending 10 days in their cell in Ikoyi. He was arrested on October 9th following accusations of fraud totaling N43billion from the Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede led presidential committee on verification and reconciliation of fuel subsidy payments.

The committee discovered gross abuse by many marketers and reported the case to the police. He was released this evening after he fulfilled his bail conditions.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Nigeria: 33 feared dead in Ogun as Coaster bus plunges into River

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Read Time:2 Minute, 9 Second
No fewer than 33 passengers were feared  dead yesterday  when a coaster bus loaded with passengers skidded-off  a dual carriage bridge and plunged into a river at J4, Ogbere -Ijebu stretch of the Sagamu – Ore expressway, in Ijebu East Local government area of Ogun state.
 
It was gathered that the bus sank immediately it plunged into the river and was reportedly swept away from the point of entry to the river.
 
 
It was learnt that, there were  three survivors who include  a pregnant woman who were said to have been   hung between a tree branch.
 
Confirming the incident, the Unit Commander, Ijebu – Ode Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr Seidu Isah Osilama, said the FRSC  opera-tives   arrived at the scene of the accident few minutes after it occurred.
 

 

He however said  that  they were able to rescue the three survivors because, according to him, they fell off the bus and landed on a tree.
 
According to him, the  rescue effort would require crane and divers to ascertain the location of the bus and the passengers inside the water.
He said  no one knows  the exact number of passengers in the bus or the casualty figure as they are still in the water.
 
The survivors have been taken to hospital in Ore in Ondo state.
 
The Head of Operation of the FRSC in Ogun, Mrs Cecilia Alao also, said  that the accident occurred at about 12 noon when the driver of the 36-seater coastal bus slept off.
 
Alao said that the exact number of passengers and the registration number of the vehicle were yet to be ascertained.
 
She said that all the victims, apart from the driver, were women travelling from Lagos to Benin to attend a burial ceremony.
 
The FRSC head of operations, who described the rescue operation as difficult, said that the command engaged the services of local divers who helped to rescued three of the passengers.
 
‘’We also hired a crane to pull the vehicle from the driver but after trying from 12 p.m to 6 p.m, we could not find the bus and other victims apart from the three.
 

‘’All other efforts to locate the vehicle and the victims proved abortive, the operation will continue over the night as we are not going to relent in our efforts,” she said.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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VIDEO- Thief Burnt To Death In Broad Day Light in Warri

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Read Time:24 Second
This is not a new video, however it still points to the fact that ‘jungle justice’ in Nigeria needs to stop.
After the horrific killing and burning of the 4 uniport students, another terrific one has happened again and in this case in the oil rich city of Warri Nigeria where a man accused of stealing a necklace was beaten and burnt to death in broad day light.. VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED!!!
 
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About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Lucky Dube: Who are Killing the Prophets of Reggae?

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Read Time:4 Minute, 35 Second

I love reggae music, especially songs by Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Lucky Dube and count myself as a reggae fan. It was in the morning of Friday October 19, 2007. I was going to work on board our staff bus when I heard the news over the radio that Lucky Dube, the South African-born reggae musician, had died the previous day Thursday October 18, 2007! I peremptorily dismissed the news as untrue, hoping that it was either a reverie or I did not hear well. But it turned out to be true, for the sad news was repeatedly aired and soon became the topic of general conversation.

 

Ironically, the late Lucky Dube in one of his hit tracks lamented how evil forces were “killing the prophets of reggae”. Alas! He another prophet of reggae has fallen victim to the same fate in the hands of agents of evil. When the legendary Bob Marley died of cancer in 1981, most of his fans worldwide believed and still believe that there was more to his death than met the eyes. This suspicion of foul play is heightened when viewed against Marley’s 1976 narrow escape from the assassins’ bullets. In 1987, Peter Tosh, another reggae great was shot dead by three evil emissaries, two of whom were never caught. Lucky Dube is the latest casualty on the list of reggae musicians cut short by agents of darkness.

 

Sequel to the above, one is forced to ask, who are killing the prophets of reggae? Over the years, reggae music has come to be associated with the fight for justice, equal rights, pan-Africanism, liberation of the oppressed, good governance, as well as the fight against apartheid, colonialism, neo-colonialism, man’s inhumanity to man and other social vices. These ideals were popularized in the lyrics of Marley, Tosh and other reggae pioneers. And succeeding reggae artistes like Lucky Dube took over from where they stopped and have maintained the tempo ever since. Once accused of fighting the whites (his father’s race), Bob Marley was reported to have answered that he was fighting the bad system and not personalities, but it happened that the bad system is ascribed to the whites.

 

Reggae musicians, otherwise known as Rastafarians, revere and deify the late Emperor Haile Sellasie of Ethiopia for two reasons. First, he is acclaimed to be a descendant of the Biblical King Solomon of Israel. Second, Ethiopia remains the only African country which was never colonized. They identified themselves with the cause of African irredentism, liberation, total independence and unity. In one of his songs, Marley urged Africans to unite, while Peter Tosh reminded all blacks in Diaspora of their African origin. Their commitment to the African cause is only comparable to that shown by famous pan-Africanists like Marcus Garvey, Kwame Nkrumah, Julius Nyerere, etc.

 

It is very unfortunate that both Peter Tosh and Lucky Dube were killed by fellow blacks (Africans). Were their killers acting for themselves or as agents of faceless, but powerful external forces? Is their murder the handiwork of persons who felt pricked by the messages contained in the lyrics of their songs? We may never know, except courtesy of an in-depth and thorough investigation which may throw up some startling revelations. Nevertheless, it is an irrefutable fact of history that the West has always been suspected of involvement in the overthrow or assassination of almost all genuine African leaders such as Lumumba, Sellassie, Nkrumah, Sankara, etc whose resolve to uplift Africa from neo-colonialism and dependence they loathed.

 

Lucky Dube, through the instrumentality of his songs, fought the repressive policy of apartheid and other societal vices, identified with the oppressed and urged that the Blackman be accorded the respect and dignity due to him. It is worrisome that the selfsame blacks he fought for turned around to kill him. He was not consumed by the forces of apartheid which he denounced through his songs. The circumstances of Dube’s death and the rising incidence of violent crime in South Africa in recent times compel one to wonder if black South Africans are not more vicious on themselves than the agents of apartheid were on them. We cannot justifiably blame whites always whenever blacks turn against fellow blacks. Could the high crime wave in South Africa be traced to high-level unemployment and the use of youths as thugs and hired assassins by politicians as obtains in Nigeria? Whatever be the case, it is high time the South African government tackled this monster of violent crime which is giving the country a bad image abroad. Else, agents of apartheid may point to it and argue that blacks are incapable of offering good governance.

 

We lament the demise of reggae stars at the peak of their career. We mourn the death of Lucky Dube. However, we find consolation in the stardom he achieved in his music career, the consciousness he created through the messages in his songs, especially that he helped through his music to dismantle apartheid. Again, as he sang in one of his tracks, “nobody can stop reggae/‘cos reggae is strong”. My heartfelt condolences go to his family and my fellow fans of his. But for his final wishes, Dube deserved a state burial by the South African government.

 

Ikechukwu A. Ogu, a legal practitioner, writes from Centrl Business District, Abuja FCT (ikechukwuogu@yahoo.com).

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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ABOMINATION! Pastor tries using mom for rituals

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Read Time:4 Minute, 5 Second
Residents of Agboku, a community in the Ado -Odo Local Government area of Ogun State were thrown into confusion and pandemonium on Thursday, 13th April , when news filtered out about the kidnap of a 70- year-old-woman, madam Aduke Karimu Sawo.
 The kidnappers were believed to be money ritualists. But what alarmed people of Agboku was that they were allegedly sent by Pastor Rafiu Sawo, the biological son of the woman.
 
 Born a Muslim 35 years ago, Rafiu Sawo is now a Christian and was the founder of Celestial Church of Christ, [Oke itura Parish,] Owode, Ogun state, which he shepherds. The old woman was reportedly kidnapped and taken far away on a chartered motorcycle popularly called Okada to a thick forest, near Ayede village where her throat was slashed with knife. Taken for dead, she was then covered with raffia leaves and dumped by the bush path. Her assailants thereafter took leave of ‘the corpse’ to put a call across to Pastor Sawo to come over and sever the head as required for the money ritual .Unknown to them, Madam Aduke was still alive and she escaped to safely before they came for her.Recounting her ordeals and narrow escape , she told our reporter in a private clinic at Ado Odo, where she is still recuperating, that it was God that saved her.Telling her strange-but-true story, she said: “My name is Aduke, my husband’s name is Sawo, now late. I am about seventy years old. I have five children, namely, Wahab, Silifat, Iyabode, Rashidat, and the one in question now is Rafiu.
Since my husband passed on, I have been charged with the responsibility of sending then to school and looking after their welfare.I suffered untold hardships and did all kinds of odd jobs to take care of myself and the children before old ages started catching up with me.”Madam Aduke, who looked frail on the hospital stretcher stated further that, “sometimes I fetched water from the Ado-Odo streams to houses for a token in order to make ends meet. Also, I sold different herbs cut in the bush.
 My other children are contend with this simple life and they assist me in my old age, Rafiu, who is the fourth in the family has always been the black sheep among them all. Like the prodigal son, Rafiu ran away to Ajangbadi, in the outskirts of Lagos where he stayed for close to three years, in the company of some friends of questionable character. I warned him to avoid the company of all bad friends to no avail.””Last week, we were planning for a burial ceremony. I was here in Ado-Odo with one of my daughters who had just given birth to a set of twins. Rafiu came here in the company of some of his friends.
He told me that they were planning to offer a sacrifice to appease the gods of the land in Agboku to avoid the untimely death of my children.I did not know that he had planned with his friends to kill me for money making ritual. He had already instructed the Okada man to drive me to the specific area where I would be killed. He rode hurriedly and dangerously. Along Agboku bush, I was told to say my last prayer.
 I was further told that today was going to be my last day on earth. The Okada man said he had instruction to cut off my head to better the financial condition of my son, Rafiu and others. And before I could say anything, he had pushed me down from the bike, drawn up a sharp dagger and slashed my throat. Because he was in a hurry he slashed it half way. I lay face down on the floor and pretended that I had died as blood gushed out of my neck.He started making desperate calls to Rafiu to come and cut off my head.
When I saw that he had left to pick Rafiu, I managed to stand up and staggered away to the nearby village where I begged some people to save my life. They brought me here where I am presently receiving treatment.”Speaking with the our correspondent , the Nurse in charge of the clinic said, “Initially I was reluctant to admit the woman because of the problems of these Egun speaking people around here. I changed my mind later because of her condition and the need to assist a fellow being.
She is presently on antibiotics and she is responding well to treatment. The Divisional Police Officer in charge of the Divisional Police Station Ado-Odo, one Mr. Adesina confirmed that the case was reported at the division but told our reporter that the information about the whereabouts of the suspect was still sketchy while investigations were still ongoing.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Meet the 10-Year Old who Cannot Do Without Sex Daily

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Read Time:2 Minute, 18 Second
A 10-year old girl who was a victim of sexual abuse has made a shocking confession, saying that she cannot do without having sex with men daily.
She narrated how an old man, who was their neighbour at Mile 12, Lagos State, southwest Nigeria, lured her into sex at seven and since then she cannot resist having sex everyday.
The primary two pupil said if she did not see any man to have sex with her in her area, she would go to a popular under bridge at Mile 12 Lagos and beg for sex from touts.
She said she came from Enugu state to Lagos to live with her aunt after the death of her father.
Her case has become so serious that she had to be referred to an NGO, Community Health Support and Empowerment Initiative, COHSAEI, which has taken up the challenge to rehabilitate her.
The little girl said she was lured into sex by a man she called Baba who lived with her aunt in the same compound.
She said the man (Baba) usually called her to his apartment whenever his wife and her aunt were not around and will put his finger inside her private part.
“He will tell me to come back home immediately our school closes and when I reach home he will be waiting for me to finger my vagina,” she narrated.
She said with time he started having real sex with her.
She said when the man that initiated her into it moved out of their area, she resorted to meeting other men in the area without her aunt knowing.
She said she has become addicted to sex and cannot do without it.
“When I desire sex and I do not see anybody to do it in my area, I will go under the bridge and beg the touts to do it for me,” he said.
Her predicament came when she confessed to her teacher what she was going through after the teacher noticed some abnormal behaviour in her.
The teacher contacted her aunt who contacted an NGO for assistance.
The programme coordinator of the NGO, Mrs. Priscilla Ingbia, noted that her case was very pathetic because of her age. She said her group took up the challenge to rehabilitate her because it was clear if nothing was done urgently her future was in danger.
 
She said her organisation has started the process of rehabilitating her by carrying out series of tests on her to ascertain her health conditions.
Ingbia stressed the urgent need to relocate her from her present environment and start a new life for her.

She said her organisation has not been able to do so because of the financial cost of doing so.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Meet the Nwaogu twins, Nigeria’s Mark Zuckebergs

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Read Time:5 Minute, 8 Second
Facebook has grown to become the most interesting media on the internet today. When three years ago, President Barack Obama employed it as a forum for his campaigns, analysts projected it was going to become increasingly more popular. Today, President Goodluck Jonathan has proven to be the most available president of Nigeria on Facebook. But what’s more, Facebook has taken a Nigerian dimension literally speaking.
 
This is because; some young men have decided that, like Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, they are going to give Nigerians a good reason they should socialise with ease within the country. The pioneers are twins, Chidi and Chima Nwaogu, who are both studying Physics in the University of Lagos (UNILAG). Sometime in early 2010, after opting out of another group developing a social network site, Chidi had asked Chima whether it won’t be a good idea to give UNILAG students a forum to socialize similar to Facebook. This got both of them busy working on it. On April 17th 2010, LAGbook was born. LAGbook went live on April 25th 2010, when they purchased the domain name.
The social network quickly grew to fame on campus of the University of Lagos, Akoka in June 2010 after appearing on a campus magazine and littering about 1,000 wall stickers around the campus’ walls, tables, chairs and notice boards. The twins were just 20 years old. Like Facebook, LAGbook is a social networking service in which its users may create a personal profile, add other users as friends, and exchange messages, including automatic notifications when they update their profile. Additionally, users may join common interest user groups, organised by workplace, school or college, or other characteristics.
LAGbook also allows anyone who declares that they are 13 years old to become a registered user of the website. Aside these social networking facilities, LAGbook also a number of other attractive facilities that places it ahead of Facebook, despite its age. For instance, a user can chat with other users that are not their friends on LAGbook. This creates fun for the first time users as they do not have to start adding friends before getting the best of LAGbook. It also makes it possible for more than two users to discuss or debate a topic or issue.
Apart from that, there is no upper limit to the number of friends a user can add a day. One can search for other users using their sex and location, and can upload their photo gallery from Flickr by simply connecting their LAGbook account with the Flickr account. Unlike Facebook, one can upload videos from other websites, like Youtube to LAGbook. One can also share files of any kind on LAGbook with other users such as Corel-draw files, PDF, PSD, DOC, RTF and music files. But above all, one can earn money by socializing.
According to Chidi Nwaogu, co-founder and co-president of LAGbook Inc. “We try to make LAGbook as innovative as possible. We even have headline news from different media on the social network, so one does not need to leave the site in order to know what is going on around the world. We also have value for users, so on every page is a feedback tab.” When it was earlier founded, the focus was on students of University of Lagos. However, Chidi says they have always been aware that they are bound to expand, and had prepared for them . His words: “LAGbook is an acronym for ‘Ladies and Gentlemen’s book’. We didn’t intend to make a copy-cat of Facebook. We choose the name LAGbook instead of AkokitesMeet because we thought the name will tell what it is all about even to dummies. LAGbook first adopted red colour for about 4 hours before we decided to give it a faint blue colour.”
“We adopted the default group logo as logo of LAGbook after enhancing it by adding LAGbook to it as that looked more like Facebook after LAGbook had grown to fame in the University. But we no longer use the Facebook blue colour anymore. The Nigerian green colour and present logo was adopted on 6th October 2010 as part of the many steps to reinventing LAGbook”. Apart from LAGbook, the developers have also invented other projects like OyaFollow.me, their own version of Twitter for Nigerians.
On the name of the website that seems to make it look like it was meant for Lagosians only, Chika says that the name is coincident. “It was meant for all Nigerians. Our focal point is Nigerians all over the world, not Lagos. It is for all Naija people, not only Lagosians and so it will be wrong for people outside Lagos to mistake it for a social network meant for Lagos alone. The polname is ladies and gentlemen’s book, not Lagos book”. With over 25 thousand subscribers, LAGbook is quickly gaining prominence. However, some users and Facebook subscribers who have come across LAGbook have complained that it shares a lot of resemblance with Facebook.
Chidi however told Young & Next Generation that although the initial idea was from Facebook, they have not been copying Facebook in any way whatsoever, and that they have been working hard to ensure that the resemblance is reduced to the barest minimum, while retaining the original format: “We write all our codes ourselves, although our codes look and function like Facebook. But we are not in any way infringing Facebook’s rights because we do not share the same source code with them. We want to make it as Nigerian as possible, as different from Facebook as possible”.
But what about financing? Nwaogu Twins told Young & Next Generation that, had it not been for the money their father has been giving them each time they ran into hitches, LAGbook would have been an aborted dream “our dad never failed us, he was always providing for us the initial pressures of money, but we also raised money through adverts on the website”.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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I challenge Igbo businessmen to beat what I have done in Igboland – Afikpo Chic

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Read Time:10 Minute, 13 Second
 

Maria Ude Nwachi, nee Egwuis a jazzy and snazzy young lady. Popularly known as Afikpo Chic, she left New York City in 2006 to return to her homeland, Afikpo and establish one the largest and most exquisite facilities in Igbo land. Named Maria Island Resort, Afikpo Chic revels in her love for her hometown, Afikpo as well as Igboland as a whole. Also the coordinator of the most popular Facebook page in Nigeria, Afikpo Chic explains unveils the resort to Jungle Journalist even as she challenges Igbos worldwide to give up the idea of developing the Diaspora at the expense of Igboland:

 


 
 
What was your motive in establishing Ndi Igbo social forum on Facebook?
have always been someone who likes to brag about where I come from. It’s just who I am. In fact, due to this obsession, I am most happy when I’m addressed as Afikpo Chic. I am usually as happy as a lark when I am in my village. I am out of my mind with joy. Even my jeans and other wears are customized with the words “Afikpo Chic”! I will say “Afikpo or Nothing, Afikpo is the best, Afikpo this, Afikpo that’, so then I created a forum called “Afikpo people” on Facebook and it became an instant hit then. But when I searched for something about Igbo people, I could not find anything good enough or big enough on Igbo, and Facebook has become so big then. So I decided to do something about that. So I created the page to create an awareness, for people to be proud of being Igbo- ‘Igbo this, Igbo that, Igbo for life, you know’.
Another big reason is the development of Igboland. Already, I had set a good example because I feel I have the bona fides to tell people to come and develop Igboland- I had already done that. I have already put over a billion naira worth property in my village, and I felt that I have the qualifications to say, ‘hey guys, come do the same’. I built a sort of island home; I had always wanted to build a good structure in Igbo land, particularly my village, Afikpo. The complex is literally done, except for one section, which I intend to use as a hotel. Since then I have been travelling.
 
 
Afikpo Chic poses for at Club de Maria

 â€œNdi Igbo are being held hostage in this country by our own investments. Nothing can fall in place till this is fixed. Even if we have a president of Igbo extraction, it’s not going to solve anything in this particular issue. Igbos can’t talk, they can’t make kpim because of their investments”

 
Leading to a back gate

I built the first night club in my state, Ebonyi. It was a platform I felt I could use to tell Igbos to please come home and develop home. What is going on now in Igboland is sickening. An Igbo young man will leave Igboland, go to Lagos, Kaduna, Kano or wherever before he can make it. There is nothing going on there, all our big boys, all the rich men are busy developing Lagos, Kaduna, Kano and Abuja. I, Afikpo Chic, I built mine at home with my own small money. Because of what I did, a lot of Afikpo big boys are now coming home and building businesses and building homes. But I challenge Igbo businessmen to beat what I have done in Igboland. I am only a woman, and I have 11 massive structures. Try it, Umu Igbo, this is a challenge. Come and beat Afikpo Chic, come and beat my island. So, that’s one of the reasons I started the Ndi Igbo page. Then I got pregnant in 2009, and it incapacitated me from my business, but it gave me the time to sit down and start working on my page. It was then that I really developed it.

Security House
The Nite Club

After nine months, I hired a couple of admins that are on payroll. As I talk to you, there are 10 admins on payroll, and costs me about N300, 000 a month to run. But the bottom line is that we have done so well that Ndi Igbo page has become the number one Facebook page in Nigeria. It’s not easy.  This page has brought Igbos together mote than anything else has done in a very long while- I don’t remember anything playing that role.

Playing with her boy, Okochi

 

 
Leading to the club! 1st entrance.

 

 

 

 

Lead and Let Live Gate

 

Lounge and Gardens

 

Driveway and parking space

 

25 room motor hotel. Downstairs is a car garage. The guest will drive in and head straight to his room without anyone even seeing him/her go in. This is concept that is common in Asia. There are 10 garages. The hotel will be ready before the year ends

 

Who’s this hot Igbo babe!!!

 

Okochi, the ‘king’ of Maria Resort
Driveway

 

 
Okochi again!

 

Lounge area

 

Massive entrance area

 

The hotel under construction

 

Car park

 

Closer view of Club de Maria

 

Living quarters

 

Maria Gardens

 

Driveway

 

Home
Home
Afikpo’s Best!
Exclusive de Maria
 

 

The compound

 

Ada Igbo ji eje mba, Afikpo Chic
Strolling the compound
Taking a shot
And another
And one more..
 
What is Maria Island Resort like?
      
In the lush-green gardens of Maria Resort

Maria Island Resort is something I just thought of while I was in America. I just told my people to look for a vast land and buy it. They bought a huge land, about 45 plots. I put up my private facility, where I live, then there is a guest house, then a night club where people hold weddings. The outside of the night club is really beautiful. I did it because I wanted Igboland to be developed. That thing that is in America, that is in London, in Lagos and Abuja should be in my home land. That is why I want to tell my people, Ndi Igbo that the only way we will amount to anything in Nigeria, in this world is by making Igboland livable. If they make Igboland a place to live, a place to work, then we have some hope. If not, Igbo man should just forget all of their aspirations. If they do not make Igbo land livable, if they do not stop this shameful, mass migration of Igbo brains outside Igboland- going to Ibadan, to Kano, to Port Harcourt, going to places they hate them where their properties are not safe, hmmm. But even if their property is safe, if their own land is unlivable, if others cannot migrate to Igbo land, we are doomed. The only solution an Igbo man has is to make a conscious effort to develop our home. I think this thing should start with the governors, but the way I look at it, I don’t trust them. As am talking to you, Peter Obi of Anambra State has built the number one mall in Africa in Abuja. Just imagine that. Is Abuja not the headquarters of Boko Haram?

A section of the living quarters

I hate to say this here, but from my discoveries, T.A. is a very tribalistic governor, in the sense that he can close his eyes and say, its Igbo land or nothing. Whether you like T.A or not, I am telling you that the only Igbo governor that is very Igbotic, Igbogborigbo– village governor like T.A doesn’t exist. He is the only governor that can say, ‘okay, let’s do it, but it must be in Igbo. I don’t know what to tell you, but Ndi Igbo are being held hostage in this country by our own investments. Nothing can fall in place till this is fixed. Even if we have a president of Igbo extraction, it’s not going to solve anything in this particular issue. Igbos can’t talk, they can’t make kpim because of their investments. They are like women in this matter.

 
T. A. Orji
“From my discoveries, T.A. is a very tribalistic governor, in the sense that he can close his eyes and say, its Igbo land or nothing. Whether you like T.A or not, I am telling you that the only Igbo governor that is very Igbotic, Igbogborigbo- village governor like T.A doesn’t exist. He is the only governor that can say, ‘okay, let’s do it, but it must be in Igbo”.
 
Can we compare Maria Resort to Obudu Cattle Ranch?
Actually, this is  coming from one person, which is me, a woman, with my small money to compare with Obudu where one billion dollars is just a small thing. Its coming from one person with one head o, a girl for that matter. But with that small money, its quite something else. The Maria Island Resort is a structure to behold by any standard on earth.i am not bragging because you are a journalits and I want you to write me a fat story, no, this is for real. Its there in the pictures and pictures don’t lie. So, Maria Island is a result of my desire to do something in Igboland, ‘that thing wey dem dey build for Londo, for Nu Yor, for Vitoria Isla, Lekky, I want am for my village’. But the most important things is, ‘hello, Igbo men, this is a girl talking, you will never be a full man in this Nigeria, until you go home and build your own house. They will always hold you hostage. Dear Igbo men, listen to me, na me dey talk, you will never be a full man.  You will be like a woman, yeah.
 
Maria Ude Nwachi
 
“If you no come develop your land, go dey gallivant for another man’s land, talk anyhow there make you see anyhow. And you know, that why you don’t talk, kpim”.

 

If somebody comes and says that an igbo girl has been raped by a Yoruba guy in Lagos, what are you people going to do? You will hold a meeting and say, lets solve this problem. Because if you don’t, you wan show yourself. It’s not your land. They are holding you hostage- the Hausa, the mba mmiri (Riverine states), Yoruba, they are all holding the Igboman hostage. How long are you going to live that kind of life? Start your Biafra now, it’s very simple for you, instead of complaining no one is giving you Biafra. The Biafra that needs to start right away is Igbos making a conscious effort to go back home. Even if its 50 % you need to take home, you can invest that, and turn Igbo land tyo a place that any son or daughter of Igboland can go back there and work, live comfortably with your children. That is what this Facebook page, Ndi Igbo is doing, and it is working. If not, Igbo is doomed. That is what am telling you. That is just it. Right now, if we put a building and claim that so so ans so igbo man built this in Lagos, the insults they will heap on you, the curse dem go curse you eh, you go know say na your mama born you. So its already working in a way, but its going to take time. So this is my letter to dear Igbo men.

If you come develop your land, go dey gallivant for another man’s land, talk anyhow there make you see anyhow. And you know, that why you don’t talk, kpim.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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