(CNN) — A Sudanese woman has been freed from prison a month after being sentenced to die by hanging for refusing to renounce her Christian faith.
"I am a Christian," Meriam Yehya Ibrahim told the judge at her sentencing hearing in May, "and I will remain a Christian."
An appeals court in Sudan ruled that a lower court's judgment against the 27-year-old was faulty, her lawyer, Mohaned Mustafa El-Nour, said Monday. He declined to elaborate.
An international controversy erupted over Ibraham's conviction in May by a Sudanese court on charges of apostasy, or the renunciation of faith, and adultery. Ibrahim was eight months pregnant when was sentenced to suffer 100 lashes and then be hanged.
"I'm so frustrated. I don't know what to do," her husband, Daniel Wani told CNN in May. "I'm just praying." Wani, uses a wheelchair and "totally depends on her for all details of his life," Ibrahim's lawyer said.
Ibrahim was reunited with her husband after getting out of custody, her lawyer said Monday.
Ibrahim gave birth to a girl in a prison last month, two weeks after she was sentenced. She was in the women's prison with her 20-month-old son, but Sudanese officials said the toddler was free to leave at any time, according to her lawyer.
The criminal complaint filed by a brother, a Muslim, said her family was shocked to find out Ibrahim had married a Christian, U.S. citizen Daniel Wani, after she was missing for several years, according to her lawyer. A Muslim woman's marriage to a Christian man is not considered legal in Sudan, thus the adultery charge.
The apostasy charge came because Ibrahim proclaimed herself to be Christian, not Muslim. Her mother, an Ethiopian Orthodox, was abandoned by her Sudanese Muslim father when Ibrahim was just 6 and she was raised as a Christian, she said.
Sudanese Parliament speaker Fatih Izz Al-Deen defended the conviction last month, insisting that claims that Ibrahim was raised as non-Muslim are untrue. She was raised in an Islamic environment, Al-Deen said.
The lower court had warned Ibrahim to renounce her Christianity by May 15, but she held firm to her beliefs while her lawyer appealed the conviction and sentence.
Her sentence had drawn international condemnation from rights groups and foreign embassies in Khartoum, including those of the United States, United Kingdom and Canada.
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.
(CNN) — When federal safety investigators meet on Tuesday to determine the cause of the Asiana Flight 214 crash, they will have studied not only last summer's deadly accident but also a little-known incident years earlier.
In August of 2010, Eugene Francis Arnold, one of the Federal Aviation Administration's top test pilots, was descending into Seattle's Boeing Field when he leveled off to avoid another plane.
To his surprise, his speed fell 10 or 15 knots below his target speed, even though he believed the jet's automated speed control, or auto-throttle, was engaged.
Arnold pushed the throttle manually to increase the plane's speed and landed safely.
Arnold, investigators believe, experienced the same type of "mode confusion" that caught Asiana's pilots off guard — at a much lower altitude — shortly before they plowed into the sea wall at San Francisco International Airport.
In both cases, the pilots believed they had selected modes of autopilot and auto-throttle that would "wake up" the auto-throttle if necessary, much as a car's cruise control kicks in when the car heads uphill. But they hadn't.
Complex system
There lies the big question before the National Transportation Safety Board when it meets Tuesday: Is Boeing to blame for creating a system so complicated that it befuddled even a top FAA test pilot?
Are the pilots to blame for not understanding the intricacies of the system and for failing to monitor the plane's speed?
Or is Korea-based Asiana Airlines to blame for not adequately training its pilots?
At a December hearing on the crash, experts told the safety board that while automation has vastly improved aviation safety, it has a flip side.
The same technology that makes it possible for pilots to fly coast to coast without touching a yoke are complicated and hard to master.
Thus, flying is getting easier and harder at the same time.
"Automation can be extremely supportive of human operators if it is designed properly," expert Nadine Sarter of the University of Michigan testified. "But we also have seen in a number of incidents (where) automation can actually get in the way."
"We have heard things like 'clumsy' automation, where automation … helps the most when the pilot actually might need the help the least. But when they need the help the most — in very time-critical conditions — it might be very difficult for them to actually operate the automation," she said.
Different opinions
Not surprisingly, Asiana Airlines, the pilots union, and Boeing, which manufactured the 777 involved in the crash, have starkly different opinions of what role the pilots played in the crash, and the role of automation.
"The airplane and all airplane systems were functioning as expected prior to impact and did not contribute to the accident," Boeing said in a March submission to the safety board. The accident was caused by the pilots' failure to monitor and control the plane's airspeed and direction, and could have been avoided if they had initiated a timely go-around.
Asiana, meanwhile, blamed Boeing and the pilots. The pilots, just three months before the accident, had received "specific instruction" about the possibility the airspeed protection would be disabled in a certain mode, Asiana said.
The airline assigned blame to the pilots for not ensuring "a minimum safe airspeed," and Boeing for creating an autopilot system that led to an "unexpected disabling" of speed protections.
The warning system, the airline says, also did not give the pilots enough time to recover.
The Asiana Pilots Union blamed crew training, saying pilots were not trained that a combination of autopilot and auto-throttle modes would not prevent the plane from going too slowly.
"In this case, a key piece of information was not provided as part of the normal training program at Asiana," the union said.
Boeing said it was without fault.
"All airplane systems were functioning as expected prior to impact and did not contribute to the accident," it told the safety board.
Asked why the "hold" mode did not protect against dangerous drop-offs in speed, Boeing told the board, "To do this would violate (Boeing's) design philosophy: the pilot is the final authority for the operation of the airplane."
"If the auto-throttle automatically (switched mode to prevent an aerodynamic stall), it would be overriding the crew's selection," Boeing said.
Fly the plane manually
If pilots are confused by the technology, there is a simple solution: Fly the plane manually, Boeing said.
"This accident would have been avoided had the flight crew followed procedures and initiated a timely go-around," Boeing told the safety board.
What no one contests is that by the time the plane's captain recognized the plane was traveling too slowly, it was too late.
At 11 seconds before impact, the plane's low airspeed alert was triggered.
Eight seconds before impact, one of the pilots pushed the throttles forward. But it takes engines seven to eight seconds to spool up from idle to full power.
The plane slammed into the seawall, ripping off the landing gear, the tail and both engines. It spun 330 degrees in a shower of sparks and debris.
Of the 307 people on board, three died. Almost 200 were injured.
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.
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — A Roman Catholic priest convicted of killing a nun at a hospital chapel in 1980 wants a federal judge to let him out of prison so he can spend his final days at an Ohio nursing home run by nuns.
The Rev. Gerald Robinson has been in a prison hospice unit in Columbus since the end of May after suffering a heart attack and now wants to die in his hometown of Toledo, his attorney said in a motion filed in federal court Friday.
"What is sought is an act of grace for a dying man," said Richard Kerger, Robinson's attorney.
Robinson is serving a sentence of 15 years to life in prison after being convicted in 2006 of killing Sister Margaret Ann Pahl during Easter weekend at a Toledo hospital where they both worked.
Church historians have said it is the only documented case of a Catholic priest killing a nun. Robinson wasn't arrested until 24 years after Pahl was found stabbed and strangled. Prosecutors blamed the murder on Robinson's simmering anger over Pahl's domineering ways, saying their relationship was strained.
Robinson, who has maintained his innocence, has only a month or two to live, Kerger said.
The Little Sisters of the Poor, who run a home for the elderly and dying just outside Toledo, have agreed to care for him as have his brother and sister-in-law, Kerger said.
The order, whose mission is to serve the elderly poor, routinely takes care of priests at the end of their lives.
Robinson is receiving oxygen through tubes to his nose and now has intravenous ports in each arm. "He is in no risk to anyone irrespective of where he is held," Kerger said.
The request is unusual, Kerger acknowledged, adding that Ohio law does not permit a convicted murderer who is not yet eligible for parole to be released for care to ease pain and suffering.
Gov. John Kasich's office has told the priest's attorney that there is nothing it can do.
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.
The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa'ad Abubakar III, monday said politicians should not see traditional leaders as competitors or enemies but as partners in progress working to move the society forward.
He also admonished the new Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammad Sanusi II, to be fair and just and should lead his subjects on the path of God.
The monarch made the remarks monday when Sanusi paid him a homage in his palace in Sokoto.
He asserted that traditional leaders were not competing with politicians but will support whoever occupies the position of leadership at a particular time.
"Politicians should listen to us. As Muslim leaders, we support whoever occupies a position whether that of the president, governor or minister. So, there is need for synergy in order to move the country forward.
"We are partners in progress not competitors and we will not relent in giving the necessary advice to politicians because that is what is expected of us," the monarch said.
The monarch stated that traditional leaders would not relent in their efforts to continue to advise political leaders on the best way to meet the yearnings and aspirations of the people.
He reminded the Emir of Kano of the need to be fair to all, stressing that in leadership, there should not be preference for any individual. The Sultan emphasised that leadership was a sacred responsibility, hence the need for Sanusi to do his best to assist his subjects, as there was no better time they need his assistance than now.
He stated that God gives power to whoever He wishes and takes it away whenever He deems fit and as such there was the need for Sanusi to lead his subjects on the path of God.
"Your ambition to be an Emir has been fulfilled, what is now left is for you to provide the required leadership. You should remember that it is God that destined you to become an Emir and nobody else and as such should lead your subjects on the path of God.
"Whoever depends on God will not fear anything. We believe God will empower you with wisdom in the exercise of your mandate provided you follow his path," the Sultan advised.
The Sultan to this end, welcomed the Emir of Kano into the Northern Council of Traditional Rulers and the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs and expressed optimism that he would bring his wealth of experience to assist the organisations.
The monarch also reiterated his commitment to join hands with the new emir for the promotion of Islam in the country.
He therefore, congratulated Sanusi on his ascendance of the throne of his forefathers and prayed God to guide him in steering the affairs of his subjects.
Earlier, Sanusi told the Sultan that his coming to Sokoto, was to pay homage in line with the traditions dating from the era of Emir Suleiman.
According to him, his visit to the palace symbolised the respect and loyalty to the Sultan and prayed that God will continue to guide him to lead the Muslim ummah.
He condoled Muslims over the death of Alhaji Ado Bayero and prayed God to grant his soul eternal rest.
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.
President Goodluck Jonathan has warned that terrorists are introducing a new dimension to their attacks by masquerading as pastoralists in order to inflict maximum damage to the peace, stability and security of the country.
Jonathan, who was represented by the Vice-President, Namadi Sambo, raised this alarm yesterday in Kaduna at the International Conference on Security and Development Challenges of Pastoralism in West and Central Africa under the theme: “The Role of Pastoralist for Sustainable Peace and National Security," organised by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
He said the insurgents are hiding under the umbrella of the Fulani herdsmen to exploit the conflict between the pastoralists and farmers in Nigeria to propagate their terrorist activities.
According to him, the intensity and dimension of the conflict over the last few years had reached an alarming proportion with the attendant and unfortunate loss of lives and properties.
He said: "This conflict unfortunately has been predominant in Plateau, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Benue and some other states in Northern Nigeria are also exposed to these challenges. Some challenges has also been reported in some Southern part of the country.
"The state of conflict continue to pose serious threat to nation's security, stability and economic development. We are all aware of the threats posed to nation by the activities of insurgents.
"Terrorists capitalises on the lingering pastoralists- farmers conflict to form a hybrid type of insurgency whereby they masquerade as pastoralist to wage war against the state".
Fortunately, he noted, this objective is yet to be fully realised owing to the resilience of the pastoralist.
The president further warned that "such a development should it be materialised will be at a great cost to our country."
In order to avoid such ugly reality in the country, he called "all stakeholders, community leaders, religious leaders, youth groups must continue to promote the course of peace rather than resort to conflict and violence, which serves no useful purpose.
"It is therefore pertinent to state that issues affecting pastoralists, especially pertaining to the current clashes with farmers is holistically reversed."
In the same vein, the Governor of Niger State and Chairman, Northern Governors’ Forum, Dr. Babangida Aliyu, has branded people with extremist ethno-religious views as members of the Boko Haram group, saying that Islam as a religion emphasis moderation.
Aliyu clarified that Boko Haram was un-Islamic and must be condemned, adding that the right Jihad in this 21st century was the one that improves the standard of living rather than those that seek to destroy lives.
He stated: "Boko Haram is un-Islamic. It is not Muslim and you must fight Boko Haram even in your houses. In fact, I consider anybody who is an extremist as Boko Haram.
"Islam is about moderation and not extremism. Jihad is about how to make peace and life better, not on how to kill people."
Earlier, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, lamented that pastoralism, which had over the years been a seasonal and mutually beneficial to traditional livestock management and production system that worked well between Fulani herdsmen and local farmers had become a conduit to security threat. According to Adesina, pastoralism was today a worrisome practice characterised by incessant clashes of unimaginable proportions usually resulting in huge losses of lives and property.
He said previous interventions to curb pastoralists-farmers clash had been largely unsuccessful, because of growing foreign dimension to the conflict.
The minister noted that there had been reports of some of these foreign migrant pastoralists carrying dangerous weapons and assault rifles.
He said: "This is not the usual pastoralists that we know in Nigeria, who for decades have lived in harmony with their communities. criminality has increased especially with the menace of cattle rustling.
"The issue is no longer an agriculture problem. It is a national security problem and we need an integrated set of solutions that includes agriculture and security.
"We must face these challenges squarely, be frank and realistic in our solutions. One thing is clear: the status quo of unbounded pastoralism can no longer continue. These solutions can no longer be just national," he added.
Adesina harped on the need for a regional solution, saying "we must think out of the box.
"Old traditions must give way to new realities and challenges. Moving animals, instead of beef, can no longer be sustained.
According to him, movement of animals without tracking systems for animals or record of the animals, for traceability, can no longer be sustained in the face of rising conflicts, criminality and insecurity.
The minister emphasised the fact that "we must accept that just like humans cannot move between places without identification, it is no longer tenable for migrant pastoralists, whether local or foreign, to move without any identification.
"And we must accept that just like cars cannot move without licenses or chassis number, the days that animals are without labels, records and tracking are limited. As a government, we must change our approach. Our communities must change. And within ECOWAS, we must change."
One fundamental change that must be made, which is structural, Adesina stated, was that we must end the practice of moving animals.
Also speaking, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd), promised that the federal government in collaboration with state governments and other stakeholders were doing all they can to tackle the frequent conflict between pastoralists and farmers in the country.
Dasuki said several measures have been put in place to bring a lasting solution to the crisis that claimed many lives in different parts of the country.
He explained further that government encouraged dialogue between the pastoralists and farmers so as to promote peaceful co-existence between them.
He said: "Such crisis is mostly between Fulani, Kanuri, Tiv, Jukun and other ethnic groups. But effort have been made by the federal government in collaboration with state governments and other stakeholders to involve permanent measures to bring and end to such crisis or conflicts.
"I will like to commend the recent initiative of the Inspector General of Police for bringing all aggrieve persons to round table so as to discuss a way out.
"The crisis has nothing to do with religion against what other people think. Some believe that Fulanis are Muslims and farmers are non Muslims which is not truth because when the cows come to your farm they don't differentiate a Muslim or Christian farm they will just destroyed them but people will always attribute the incident to religion or ethnic which is not so," he noted.
In his remarks, Emir of Zazzau, Dr Shehu Idris, represented by Emir of Birnin Gwari, Malam Zubairu Jibril Mai Gwari, stressed on the need for government to meet with leaders of Fulani with the hope of finding a lasting solution to the crisis.
"We must sit down with leaders of Fulani to find a solution to this problem…", he suggested.
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.
An Adamawa State High Court sitting in Yola monday dismissed an application brought before it by the state House of Assembly seeking an injunction to allow it serve Governor Murtala Nyako and his deputy impeachment notice through the media.
The development was necessitated by several attempts by the Clerk of the assembly, Mr. Francis Gbendenso, who was said to be unable to serve the governor and his deputy the impeachment notice as directed by the assembly.
The acting Chief Judge of the state, Justice, Ambrose Mammadi, in his ruling, held that: "In view of the ruling of the Supreme Court in the case of Inikojo vs Adeleke to which I am bound, I refused to exercise my discretions to grant the application sought by the House of Assembly
"I hold that service of the notice of allegation against the respondents must be personal service. I resolve the issue for determination in the negative. I refused the application and it is accordingly dismissed.”
However, the assembly, observing that the ruling by the acting Chief Judge was not in its favour, immediately sought an injunction from another High Court in Yola to allow it go ahead with its plans to serve the governor and his deputy the notice through the media Presided by the Deputy Speaker of the assembly, Hon. Kwamoti Laori, at the floor of the assembly yesterday, the assembly directed the Clerk to go ahead and publish the said impeachment notice in two national dailies and the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA).
However, at the assembly’s sitting, only nine members were present while 15 lawmakers were said to be absent including the speaker. Although the deputy speaker said some of the members were absent on by permission, and were on assignment.
During the sitting, the deputy speaker who presided over the plenary, invited the clerk to brief the assembly his ordeal and why he was unable to serve the governor and his deputy the impeachment notice as directed by the assembly .
The Clerk noted that he visited the offices of the governor and his deputy several times without success, stressing that he had gone to court to obtain an affidavit as directed by the leadership of the assembly to serve the governor and his deputy through two national dailies and the NTA.
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.
Justice Ahmed Mohammed of a Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed July 10 to hear the suit filed by the former Managing Director of the defunct Oceanic Bank International Plc. Mrs. Cecilia Ibru, seeking to compel the federal government to implement her plea bargain as specified in the agreement she signed with the government
Ibru instituted the suit through her lawyer, Dr. Ted Iseghohi-Edwards, on behalf of herself and the Ibru Group against the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice and the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).
In the suit, she accused the government of breaching the terms of the agreement she entered into as part of her plea bargain in 2010. Ibru is asking the court to make a declaration that the plea bargain and settlement agreement she entered with the federal government in 2010 was a valid and enforceable agreement between the parties and more particularly valid against the federal government or any of its organs, including but not limited to AMCON.
She also wants the court to declare that the striping of the assets and the subsequent sale of Oceanic Bank to Eko Bank was not part of the plea bargain and settlement agreement which she signed. She also asked the court to declare the sale of the defunct bank a sham, mis-conceived, mischievous and of no legal consequences.
Furthermore, Ibru urged the court to also declare that Aero Contractors Nigeria Limited was also not on the list of the assets she forfeited to the federal government as part of her plea bargain and asked the court to declare that any attempt by AMCON to take over the airline or attach its assets as ultra vires and of no legal consequences.
At the root of the suit filed by the former chief executive officer of the defunct bank was a recent ex-parte order obtained from a Federal High Court in Lagos last November by AMCON against a private company, Sidochem Industries Limited, and the company's managing director, Mr. Edgar Sido, and two others over a loan of N433.5 million owed the defunct bank which AMCON acquired.
AMCON had approached the court in Lagos where it complained that the debtor company and the managing director who personally guaranteed the loans granted to the company by the defunct bank, had refused to resolve their indebtedness to the corporation and had been taking steps to frustrate every step it took to recover the debt by using every manner of tricks to evade payment.
The corporation therefore sought an order of the court empowering it to take immediate possession of the assets and properties of the company covered in the deed of all assets debenture created by the company in favour of Oceanic Bank as well as the freezing of all accounts operated by the company in 19 commercial banks in Nigeria.
After Justice Idris granted the orders as requested by AMCON, Sidochem Industries Limited and its owners cried foul. The company claimed that the debts it owed the defunct bank was among the matters resolved in the plea bargain judgment in the Cecilia Ibru's case.
In support of the company's claim are two deeds of ratification donated by both Sidochem Industries and Sido whereby they wholly transferred and released all of its rights, interests and estate in the assets forfeited to AMCON by Ibru as part of her plea bargain.
Iseghohi-Edwards pointed out that AMCON which was well represented by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke, as well as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in her plea bargain agreement and which was the sole beneficiary of all the properties she forfeited, had gone ahead to seal off an expanse of rental property completely unrelated to Sidochem's business on the strength of the ex-parte order it obtained from the Lagos court.
He argued that AMCON did not disclose the material facts to the court in Lagos as regards its consent to the plea bargain and settlement agreement where Mrs. Ibru, representing herself, the Ibru group and others forfeited properties listed under the forfeited assets part of the plea bargain.
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.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has lamented that about 650,000 Nigerians have been displaced in many parts of the North as a result of the activities of the Boko Haram sect.
Representative of the body in Nigeria, Ms. Angele Dikongue-Atangana, said in an interview yesterday that an intelligence assessment carried out in May had blamed their displacement on the recent crises in the North-east region.
“According to an intelligence assessment of North-eastern Nigeria, at least 650,000 persons have been displaced within the boundary of Nigeria. And what is of most concern to the UNHCR in Nigeria today are these internally displaced persons.”
She said her organisation was working hard to establish a regional office in Gombe that would take care of many of the internally displaced persons, adding that the international community and the UN systems in Nigeria are working jointly to provid protection and care for the affected persons.
The representative also disclosed plans by UNHCR to ensure efficient coordination and management of camps for those affected.
“UNHCR will always support respective states in taking care of internally displaced persons.
“This is one reason we want to establish an office in Gombe, to be able to cater for the needs of many displaced persons in this part of Nigeria,” Dikongue-Atangana.
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.
A herbalist, Olatunji Azeez, yesterday confessed to journalists how he tricked a retired customs officer and her teenage daughter to their death and buried them alive in a 20-feet pit inside his shrine at Ajuwon, Akute in Ogun State.
The 64-year-old suspect made the confession after he was paraded by the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Umar Manko, at the command headquarters in Ikeja, Lagos.
The deceased and her child both identified as 68-year-old Mrs. Angela Kerry and 10-year-old Obralulum Kerry, respectively had on May 10 been reported missing by family members to the Oko-Oba Police Station.
During the cause of investigation, Manko said based on the strength of the matter, he directed the Officer in Charge of the State Anti Robbery Squad (SARS), SP Abba Kyari, to take over the investigation.
He said the police finally achieved success by tracking Azeez, a herbalist and a ritualist who resides at Ajuwon Akute in Ogun State, through the tracking device installed in the victim's Toyota Camry.
Speaking to journalists, the suspect said he became acquainted with the deceased in 2013, after she alongside her friend simply identified as Kemi came for spiritual cleansing.
He said: "The deceased came to me along with one of her friends known as Kemi, alleging that she had been bewitched. I actually assisted her in this respect. Sometime this year, she again came back to my shrine.
"She said the little girl was not her biological child and that she needed me to assist her become pregnant. Sincerely speaking, I told her she had reached menopause and that there was nothing anybody can do about it.
"But she insisted that I have to do something for her desperately. So to discharge her, I asked her to provide N10 million to enable me put together concoction that would get her pregnant. Surprisingly, she provided the money and I collected it.
"Six months later, she came back to complain that she had not gotten pregnant and I reminded her that in the first place I told her that it was impossible for anybody to make her pregnant since she had gone past menopause. This was when the pressure on me to pay back her money started."
He added: "When the pressure became intense, I told her bluntly that I won't pay back. It was then she threatened me, saying that she will show me that she was in the customs.
"However, when the pressure got worse, I paid her about N2.5 million and subsequently made installmental payments all amounting to about N4.5 million remaining a balance of N6.5million.
"It was then I cooked up a plan of how to eliminate her. I have a pit behind my house which drains rain water that accumulates in my compound. So, I built a house (shrine) over it, placed a mat on top of the pit and placed a white cloth on it.
"When she honoured my invitation, I invited her into the shrine but I pleaded with her to leave the girl behind but she refused. So I had no other option but to allow her, after-all it was either my life or her own.
"As soon as she stepped on the mat, she fell into the 20-feet pit along with her child. When I peeped into the well, I saw her in a sitting position while the girl appeared to be standing.
"I also dumped her belongings into the well and then covered the pit with the sand that was dug out of the hole and I continued the next day until they were completely buried. I later cemented the surface to avoid any prying eyes but I don't know how the police later caught me."
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.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A top federal investigator has identified "a troubling pattern of deficient patient care" at Veterans Affairs facilities around the country that she says was pointed out by whistleblowers but downplayed by the department.
The problems went far beyond the extraordinarily long wait time for some appointments — and the attempts to cover them up — that has put the department under intense scrutiny.
In a letter Monday to President Barack Obama, Carolyn Lerner of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel cited canceled appointments with no follow up, drinking water contaminated with the bacteria that causes Legionnaires' disease and improper handling of surgical equipment and supplies. One veteran was admitted to a long-term mental health facility but didn't get a comprehensive psychiatric evaluation for eight years.
Acting VA Secretary Sloan Gibson said he had launched a departmental review due to be completed within 14 days. "I am deeply disappointed not only in the substantiation of allegations raised by whistleblowers, but also in the failures within VA to take whistleblower complaints seriously," he said in a statement.
Lerner said the VA consistently acknowledges problems but says the quality of patient care is not affected, which she referred to as "the VA's typical harmless error approach."
"This approach has prevented the VA from acknowledging the severity of systemic problems and from taking the necessary steps to provide quality care to veterans," Lerner wrote to Obama. "As a result, veterans' health and safety has been unnecessarily put at risk."
Complaints about a lack of access to VA health care have prompted a national outcry that led to VA Secretary Eric Shinseki's resignation. The most startling allegations have arisen out of the VA's medical center in Phoenix, where a VA inspector general's investigation found that about 1,700 veterans in need of care were "at risk of being lost or forgotten" after being kept off an official, electronic waiting list.
Lerner says the office is reviewing more than 50 complaints alleging threats to patient health and safety and has referred 29 of them to the VA for investigation.
Her office is an independent investigative and prosecutorial agency that protects federal workers from prohibited personnel practices, especially reprisal for whistleblowing.
Lerner said two cases highlight her concerns. In Fort Collins, Colorado, the VA's Office of Medical Inspector confirmed multiple violations of policy concerning appointment scheduling and cancellations that masked true wait times. Nearly 3,000 veterans were unable to reschedule cancelled appointments, and one nurse practitioner alone had 975 patients unable to reschedule appointments. However, the same office did not substantiate that the failure to properly train staff resulted in danger to public health and safety.
Lerner said the VA's conclusion "is not only unsupportable on its own, but is also inconsistent with reports by other VA components examining similar patient-care issues."
In a second case, a VA psychiatrist disclosed concerns about patient neglect in a long-term mental health care facility in Brockton, Massachusetts. One veteran who was a resident of the facility between 2005 and 2013 had only one psychiatric note written in his chart. Another was admitted to the facility in 2003, yet his first comprehensive psychiatric evaluation did not occur until 2011.
Despite the findings, the VA said there was no impact on patient care. A follow-up was requested, and the VA again said it did not feel that the patient's rights were violated.
"Such statements are a serious disservice to the veterans who received inadequate patient care for years after being admitted to VA facilities," Lerner wrote. "Unfortunately, these are not isolated cases."
At a hearing Monday night examining patient care, lawmakers said they were particularly disturbed about the allegations in Brockton.
"One note in eight years?" asked Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., the chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
"That is unacceptable sir," responded Dr. Thomas Lynch, an assistant deputy secretary for the VA.
"We have a veteran we warehouse for eight years," added Democratic Rep. Tim Walz of Minnesota. "That's a national tragedy."
Miller said Obama needs to reiterate to each VA employee the need to solve problems rather than downplay them.
"It's impossible to solve problems by whitewashing them or denying they exist," Miller said.
Lerner cited other cases in Buffalo, New York; Little Rock, Arkansas; Harlingen, Texas; Jackson, Mississippi, and San Juan to bolster her position that the VA is downplaying the impact of deficient care.
The VA said Gibson had reiterated to staff earlier this month that whistleblowers must be protected.
Both the House and Senate have passed legislation that would require the VA to pay private providers to treat qualifying veterans who can't get prompt appointments. Each chamber has appointed a committee to iron out differences between the two bills, with the lawmakers meeting Tuesday.
Both bills would make it easier to fire or demote senior agency officials, and both would end bonuses to regional VA officials and other administrators based on meeting patient scheduling goals — a practice investigators say led some officials to create phony waiting lists to "game" the system.
At the House committee hearing Monday night, VA officials acknowledged that the department has a lot of work to do to restore credibility. It has launched an initiative in late May in response to concerns about wait times that has led to about 200,000 new appointments, but Miller questioned how lawmakers and the public could have any confidence in the numbers given a history of data manipulation at the department.
Lynch defended the quality of care that the VA provides while acknowledging "unacceptable practices in patient scheduling."
Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colorado, said Lynch was in denial about the extent of VA's problems.
"We need a new secretary of Veterans Affairs that is going to come in and clean house," Coffman said.
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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