Over the years, women in Nigeria as in most parts of the world have
been exposed to various forms of abuses. One of these is
sexual abuse which occurs at various stages of the woman's life.
 Although reports have in recent times shown that rape is not a crime
perpetrated only against women; evidence of past events have also
indicated that the female folk if twice as prone to the menace as
the mail folk.
 More so, the latest trend in our turbulent democracy where military
and paramilitary personnel who are supposed to protect the life and
dignity of Nigerians join in this dastardly act of destroying the life
of innocent young children, mostly girls, makes it necessary to draw
the attention of government again to this unholy trend and find
other ways of alleviating the sufferings of the innocent victims.
 A couple of days back, the case of a four year old young girl raped by a
police officer in Jos was  was reported on the stables of the Nigerian
and international media. The police officer Mr. Damudu Bzigu was a
member of the Joint Task
Force in Jos, expected to protect the girl and her likes from
terrorist and other terrible people cajoled the girl and ripped her of
her dignity.
Although the man was asked to pay a huge sum as compensation for the
crime, the damage done will evidently remain for a long time in the
young girl's life.

The provisions of the law in Nigeria may have provided for certain
duration of time in prison as jail term for the crime of rape, but is
that really enough, is it worth justifying that a fully grown adult
takes it upon himself to cause such life pain on a minor and is made
only to face a short term in prison. Most survivors of rape certainly
bare more pain than any penalty can inflict upon the perpetrators of
the act.
This is the confession of some rape survivors at a rally organized to
educate Nigerians about the many effects of rape in our society, with
the theme, stand to end rape.

 "Habiba, was raped14 years ago,

Nyanya’s Tale of Terror

President Jonathan at a hospital where some of the affected patients are receiving treatment

Senator Iroegbu recounts the experience of the injured victims of the recent bombing of Nyanya bus park in which scores of people died.

The bombing last week, of the popular Nyanya bus park, a satellite town in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja has once again brought fear into the hearts of the residents of Abuja who had witnessed similar horror two years earlier.

Like any major terror attack, the April 14, 2014 bombing left behind tales of sorrow, tears and blood. Overall, more than 71 people were reportedly killed with several people injured and valuable property destroyed.
Nevertheless, as typical with human nature for instinctive survival, there would always be triumphant stories of heroism, miraculous escape and survival, which non other fits into this equation than the story of "baby Adams" and her mother.

ACF asks FG to probe Nyako’s memo

Governor Nyako

Arewa Consultative Forum on Monday in Kaduna State asked the Federal Government to investigate the allegation against it by one of its governors, Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State that the Islamist sect, Boko Haram, was the creation of President Goodluck Jonathan’s government to wipe out the region.

“The scale and sophistication of weapons used for the attacks against armedess people is beyond the capacity of the semi-illiterate almajiri that we know,” it said.

In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Muhammad Ibrahim, the ACF expressed concern over the killings in the region, especially in the North-East.

Specifically, the ACF said that it had variously called on the Federal Government in the past to probe the sources of funding of the insurgent both internally and externally, but to no avail.

The northern body noted with shock that despite the claim by the military high command that it had seized 700 vehicles and cache of weapons, the activities of the insurgents continued unabated in the North-East.

Al-Shabab aided B’Haram in Abuja bombing – Security sources

scene of the blast

There are strong indications that members of the Somalia militant sect, Al-Shabab, aided Boko Haram militants in carrying out the attack on Nyanya Motor Park seven days ago.

The PUNCH’s investigations on Sunday also revealed that Al-Shabab, which has strong links with Al-Qaeda, had moved from providing technical assistance to Boko Haram to fighting alongside insurgents in some parts of the North-East.

It was gathered that security agencies received intelligence reports that Al-Shabab, which carried out the West Gate Mall attack in Kenya, was planning an attack in Abuja.

A top   military source, who confided in

'Terrible: the Abuja blast, the sad effects'

a map of the affected area from the BBC

 By Evelyn Blog with agency report

The British Broadcasting corporation (BBC) has said that the Boko Haram's fighters have killed more than 1,500 civilians in three states in north-east Nigeria.

The latest blast in the Nyanya area of Abuja has lead to the death of over 7o people and left 124 badly injured. A lot is still being said about the blast with various groups of Nigerians expressing grief and anger over the incident.

Dr John udeme who spoke with Jessica David for Evelyn’s blog said he was at the area where the explosion occurred at exactly 6:42 am this morning. he had driven slightly far away but was still held back by traffic when three minutes later, a blast was heard from the area. He and his friends in the car turned back and had to come down from the vehicle that they ware in, to see the massacre.

Another young man, a colleague said to Jessica that he was on his way there when suddenly he saw smoke, and they heard people stopping vehicles from continuing towards that area. After few enquiries they were told that the sound they had heard which seemed looked that of a bomb from afar, was actually a bomb exploding in the Nyanya park.

a woman in angwish cries out at the sight of the affected dead people-  BBC

But more disturbing is eye witness account by the BBC: Eyewitness Mimi Daniels, who works in Abuja, said: "I was waiting to get on a bus when I heard a deafening explosion then smoke; People were running around in panic.

Another eyewitness had this to say: "I have never seen [anything] like that in my life. It was just terrible. We were just running helter-skelter. So somehow I think that they planted something inside one of the buses there.

"So there are many dead shot down at the scene of the accident. And as you can see now some of these casualties... we are hoping, we are praying they will be ok. We saw some ambulances bringing corpses to other hospitals."

No group has taken responsibility for the attack, but Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan blamed Boko Haram.

.

Boko Haram has hit Abuja several times before, including an attack on the United Nations building in 2011.

Officials earlier said two separate blasts had ripped through the terminal, but later said the damage may have been caused by just one bomb.

Abbas Idris, head of the Abuja Emergency Relief Agency, told the BBC that so far Police spokesman Frank Mba gave the same figures, adding that 16 luxury coaches and 24 minibuses had been destroyed.

Eyewitness Badamasi Nyanya said he had seen 40 bodies being evacuated; other eyewitnesses say they saw rescue workers and police gathering body parts.

Investigators believe the explosives may have been inside a vehicle, according to Charles Otegbade of the Nigerian Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

 

an ambulance carrying some of the victims at the Asokoro Hospital in Abuja

Also according to punch online, this sadff report emanated from friends and relatives of the affected: It was tears, wailing, screaming and anger at the Wuse General Hospital, Abuja, on Monday afternoon as some visibly irate citizens forcefully demanded for the corpses of their dead relatives.

After sighting the corpse of one of their colleagues at the hospital, a group of young men, who alleged that they had searched four hospitals for the corpses of two of their colleagues, forcefully demanded that the hospital should release the one that they saw.

One of them, who gave his name as Obinna Nwankwo, told our correspondent that they were disappointed by the management of the hospital.

According to him, the dead bodies were not placed in the mortuary but were left under the sun and thereafter transferred into a Hilux.

At about 2.51pm, our correspondent saw the corpses being transferred into a Toyota Hilux with registration CT151C28, while others were moved into a Toyota Hiace ambulance with registration CT208A08.

It was gathered that the mortuary at the hospital lacked the capacity to accommodate the dead brought in by the emergency response agencies.

A senior official at the office of the medical director told our correspondent that the bodies were transferred out of the hospital based on the directive of the Federal Ministry of Health.

The official, who pleaded not to be named, said, “We cannot put them in the mortuary because of some constraints and that is why the health ministry has directed that we move them to another location. I cannot tell you where the bodies are being moved to now.”

Nwankwo also stated that the body of his other colleague had not been seen up till about 3pm.

He said, “This is very sad because is like we have lost all know means of addressing this menace. A colleague of mine in the office was affected and up till this afternoon we have not been able to see his body. We have seen the other one who was also affected but we are still searching for the second person.

“We have gone to all the hospitals where they said victims were taken to but his corpse has not been seen in any of these hospitals. All of us at our place of work are so confused because we have tried his lines and none of them connected. At the hospitals nobody can give us any good report.

“If they cannot take care of the bodies, they should give them to their relatives instead of allowing them stay under the sun for hours unnecessarily.”

Juvenile sex and unsafe abortion; the trauma of the Nigerian Teenage girl

Juvenile sex and unsafe abortion; the trauma of the Nigerian Teenage girl
By Evelyn Okakwu
According to the group;Young woman, Nigeria (Youth Coalition 2007):
"Unsafe abortion has eaten into our society, gradually destroying the
lives of young women, as people have closed their eyes at the issue
hoping it will disappear; but on the other hand they are also directly
and indirectly worsening the situation."
it is a universal truth that moral ethics will not permit a woman the
right to any form of abortion, as abortion is regarded to be the act
of terminating a potential life: A situation which puts the
woman at the ugly position of subjecting the needs of her unborn baby
to her own needs.
unfortunately, however, with the passing of time; facts and figures
have also indicated that this single act of stereotypic conclusion,
which, though born out of love for the dignity of human life, but
caries a trace of inadequacy, has unconsciously led to the loss of an
even greater number of human life.
Yet still, the life lost is none other than that of the woman, or girl
child who's vulnerability ratio to sexual acts of various form and
consequently unwanted pregnancies, is at an unprecedented increase.
A survey conducted by the  world health organization in 2007 revealed
the following:
 "That over 25% of adolescents in Nigeria have their first sexual
intercourse by the age of 15; that by the age of 18 years, over 60% of
adolescents have had sexual intercourse (What this means is that while
a reasonable number of young Nigerians experience their firsts sexual
intercourse which may inevitable result in cases of pregnancy; most of
which are for one reason or the other unwanted or unexpected, an even
greater number (35 per cent increase) of this young ones get involved
in sexual acts within this dangerously adventurous 365 days of their
lives (between ages 15-16) The survey also revealed that; First sex is
often experimentation, and adolescents usually do not prepare for it
nor take any protective
measure".
Evidently the likelihood of an unwanted pregnancy at this stage cannot
be avoided. More so, the likelihood of these young ones to become open
to various forms of scrutiny and possible stigmatization for getting
pregnant (especially the women) cannot be over emphasized.
In this conversation with a group of parents on the possible reactions
for such an involvement by their child, they had this to say;
Mrs Rosemary Ezekude spoke first on the issue "Well first of all you
cannot expect me to congratulate a girl who decides to abuse what I am
doing to make her life better by getting pregnant, I will certainly be
furious. I have in fact warned my children to be careful because I
will not allow anyone to make me a laughing stock in the society. Why
should a young girl be having sex when she is only
fifteen or sixteen, she should be patient till she is old enough to
face the consequence of her actions. I will not in any way tolerate
that from my children, I have enough headache catering for their needs
I will not have them add more worries to my pack of headache".

In a similar manner Mrs Jenifer Dauda an Air force official, had this
to say: For what reason will I want to tolerate such nonsense from my
child, I will not even have her tell me that rubbish, when I have told
her time and time again to keep herself, why will she bring me such
trouble? I may not kill her but I am, sure she knows I will make her
pay for such rubbish, the problem with our time is that youths are
getting more and more involved in the assumption that then have the
right to do all sorts of things, if my child admits her mistake; I may
be a little lenient, but if she dares to tell me that it is as a
result of a social right,
God knows she will have to pay for that by matching those rights with
responsibilities.
While it is not out of place to match a right with responsibility, the
tone of this woman and certainly that of her partner above does not
only suggest an impending danger for the potentially pregnant
adolescent girl; it also explains why most young girls would rather
hide cases of similar pregnancies from their parents who would rather
have been in good light to guard them at such turbulent times.
Nevertheless countless of these young ones have persistently engaged
in this sexual acts which have resulted invariably in various forms of
unwanted pregnancies. Evidently a larger chunk of them, would rather
prefer to handle this recent responsibility personally, not
withstanding their overwhelming level of ignorance on the issue.
More often than not, they resort to the nearest source of help where
condemnation or stigmatization will be less. The peer influences hear
comes to play.
In this report by Ipas; a none governmental organization that seeks to
provide greater insight into the
reproductive rights of women, the confession of two young ladies
caught in the web of sexual abuse and its effect went thus: "After he
forced me to have sex, he started sending my friend, a girl, to talk
to me, because he knew I was mad at him and did not want to see him
again. My friend convinced me that such things happen to every girl,
so I should get used to it. So I forgave the boy and went back." (Girl
aged 15, Edo)
The confession of the second lady went thus  "One day, he told me that
he wanted to introduce me to his relatives who would help in getting
us married: I went there. He was alone. He locked the door; he
threatened me saying how could he marry me if I behaved like this. He
beat me when I tried to get out "(Girl aged 19 Kaduna)
Obviously, the experience of these young ladies are similar to that of
many young women in our time.
The incidences of rape and other forms of promiscuous sex among youths
have persistently resulted in countless unwanted pregnancies. And
since most parents may not understand, the future of the girl
child is put at stake;  but more at stake is her very life which is
left in the hands of her  naive self and that of her equally ignorant
peer; and at a time when rational ideology would have inclined her the
safe
haven of her parents or older experiences.
Whether the cause of un unwanted pregnancy was rape or juvenile
behavior; the tendency of the girl child to want to do away with the
pregnancy is in more cases than not, high.
According to: Bankole, (2006) and Henshaw et al., (1998) "1 in 10
Nigerian women has an abortion in her lifetime. Also, there are
760,000 abortions cases every year in Nigeria 60 per cent of which are
unsafe. At least 3,000 Nigerians die of unsafe abortion every year;
with more than eight deaths per day".
in the words of Barrister Hauwa Shekarau, senior advisor legal systems
Ipas;   "The legal indications for abortion in Nigeria are quite
restrictive: to save the woman's life; found in the Criminal codes
section 228 to section 230 and section 297, for the South and the
penal code section 232 and 233, which are applicable in the North. The
consequence of the restrictive nature of these laws, she notes is
that:
"Women who do not fall under these indications are left to their own
devices. Those who are not economically empowered resort to quacks and
herbalists; Thus making unsafe abortion silent and persistent".
According to Dr Kailani Ahmadu, senior advisor, Health systems Ipas;
"The restrictive nature of the
acts relating to abortion has led a lot of young vulnerable youths to
resort to the use of dangerous equipments for performing abortion.
This equipments range from Alligator pepper, native chalk, native
alum, among others, and are capable of destroying the woman's
reproductive organ and her life as a whole".
These means that while the world looks to these young ones as
irresponsible and even condemnable for their mistakes, their unguided
steps to win again the trust of their loved ones and indeed their
pride in the society causes them to make greater and certainly more
grave mistakes.
This is why the need to ensure a wide reach of youth awareness to
health safety habits to prevent these unwanted pregnancies becomes
inevitable.
Ipas outlines these steps as features of a youth with a healthy sexual
balance. They include the fact that a sexually healthy youth must be
able to;
Accepts responsibility for his or her behavior; Identify personal values.
Decide what it is 'right' (That is whether sex is right) for her or
himself and acts on these value; Understands the consequences of
actions; Understands that media messages can create unrealistic
expectations related to sexuality and intimate relationships; Is able
to distinguish personal desires from desires of peers; Is
knowledgeable about sexuality issues; Enjoys sexual feelings without
necessarily acting upon them; Understands the consequences of sexual
behaviors; Understands his or her own gender identity ;Seeks further
information about sexuality as needed.
 It is the collective responsibility, both of the youth and the parent
or guardian to analyze these steps and heed them for a safer future of
our next generation

Clean gist

By Jacinta Fidelis
This week on clean gist number of interesting issues graze our page.
The comic discuss by senior citizens on the choice of foreign rice at the setting of Nigeria’s very important National dialogue forces clean gist to wonder whether this set of delegates understand clearly the enormity of the stake at hand; If they are well aware of the true state of the nation or whether their concern lies only in the state of their stomach.
Also the recent information that Nigeria’s economy is the highest growing economy in the continent, backed with the very interesting question from one of our source; seeking the relationship of that with the price of fish gave clean gist a very interesting bend to the topic.
More so the recent story that the official writer for the Nation’s insurance health scheme plans to revitalise the sector makes it necessary for clean gist to bring the issues begging for concern in the area to bear.
Lastly the drama that ensued during the passage of the latest financial allocation for the country was something very interesting for us at clean gist and certainly for our ardent readers. This and other issues made the day on clean gist this week.
Rice from the china shop, national diet
Yes this first topic was indeed triggered by a rather dramatic and certainly funny discussion that took place at the National discuss of our time. The story has it that our set of a specially prescribed representatives at the national discuss, decided to make issues of stomach relevance a matter of top priority, the subject matter tabled for deliberation therefore was the inclusion of a foreign kind of rice in the dialogue menu for the nation’s discuss. In fact the rice suggested is that emanating from the china shop. Indeed the Chinese have not only worn our dear country over with the choice of their generating set to our powerful sources of electric energy.
The fact that our country with all of its resources still relies solely on generated power supply is not enough headache for this able leaders of our dearly beloved Nigeria. No! The choice of food will also be made with special reference to this ocean tigers.
And thus this set of national discussants relegates the all important issues craving national attention for a topic on foreign kind of food for themselves as menu at the National discuss.
How much is fish in the largest economy?
Next on our agenda is the latest pleasant bombshell of our time. Clean gist watched with vigor how the news went round that Nigeria’s economy has topped that of its counterparts in the continent. A noble colleague anxiously popped the question from clean gist initiative when it asked how that affects the price of fish.
At clean gist, we continue with the list of question: does that provide in any way for the teaming population of unemployed Nigerians? Or are these youths just going to fold their hands and watch while an economy booms without feeling its effects?
Does that mean a more stabled power supply for the people in all sets of the society?
Does that mean that the young Nigerian at 18 can soon start hoping of having legal access to sources of living? Even before graduating from tertiary institution?
Does that mean that those in the Nigerian civil service, but private and public sector will stop witnessing the season of salary failures at the end of each working season?
Does that mean that fuel and kerosene with other petroleum products will become more available in the market?
Does that also mean our leaders will stick their necks out, for a change to make things even better?
OR :
Is that a new signal for greater attempts towards pen robbery by whoever can try?
Is that another phase in Nigeria’s stream of nightmares?
Indeed is this yet another lie waiting only to be unraveled?
Insurance revitilisation, and health issues
Yes a story on the national tabloids about Nigeria’s health insurance revitilasation promised by the secretary general of the sector caught our interest at clean gist, although the focus of the topic, as stated by the man, was to ensure that the facilities for the agency was not diverted. Clean gist thinks it is high time the moral and legal rights of the benefactors of these facilities became a mater of equal importance to the agency. A visit to government hospital will certainly disclose that the right of fair treatment for health insurance facilities in the nation is treated with much less concern than ought to be. The way and manner this people are treated at hospitals has made it quite necessary to wonder whether the insurance schemes have a nick name like a suffering mechanism.
Yes the intention for creating the scheme was to alleviate the suffering of Nigerians and it may be doing that but the process requires further arrangement for future diversion of the agency from clean gist's cradle.
Budgetary debate, an argument or an argument?
Our last story emanates from the raging battle ion the nation’s leadership of political parties.
The budget proposal analised earlier on this page was not without its own face from the political episodes of our time. According to our source, it was gathered that the various issues tabled for discussion on the nations’ budgetary allocation went quite smooth until it got to the time for the money on the national discourse of our time. Clean gist gathered that the amount which totaled at N7 billion raised quite an eyebrow in the house. But what made greater interest was the fact t that the set of people in the opposing end are not just those from a random setting but the members of the opposing party. What a set you may say. At Clean gist, we say the set differs only in name but are quite alike in spirit. Or how else will one explain the fact that the figure slated for consideration by these people was unanimously increased without any one raising a point of order? If that discuss on the increase in sum did not cause controversy, one then wonders why the same topic that has raised inter-party controversy at its inception will again become subject of controversial debate in the budgetary analyses.

Environmental officials kill 17-year-old pupil

A 17-year-old boy has died after being beaten up with sticks by men of the Enugu State Waste Management Agency.

Before his death, the boy, Chidiebere Edeh, lived with his parents at 20 Ifenze Street in the Abakpa area of the state and was sitting for the ongoing Senior School Certificate Examination.

PUNCH Metro learnt that he died at about 3pm on Monday, nine hours after being beaten up by five ESWAMA agents and a police officer.

It was gathered that a scuffle between ESWAMA agents and Chidiebere ensued minutes after the deceased allegedly disposed of a bag of rubbish at one of the approved dumpsites.

Apparently not happy with the manner he discarded the rubbish, residents who live close to the dump site told our correspondent that the ESWAMA agents immediately began to hit him with sticks.

“All attempts by the boy to explain to them that the rubbish was tied into a big black nylon bag, as recommended by ESWAMA, and neatly dumped proved abortive,” said one of the residents.

The resident, Obinna Madukwe, said the ESWAMA men hit the deceased harder when he refused being taken away in a commercial bus.

According to Madukwe, the noise attracted some other people to the scene who continued to plead with them.

He said, “Instead of listening to our pleas, they threatened to arrest us and chased us away.”

Mother of the deceased, Mrs. Catherine Edeh, said she went to the dumpsite having waited endlessly for her son to return home.

Catherine told our correspondent that she pleaded with the ESWAMA agents, adding that they threatened to beat her if she didn’t steer clear.

She said she left to look for money to bail her son, but returned to meet the place deserted.

Catherine said, “A tricycle man brought me back there and we couldn’t find anyone, except for someone who laid by the centre of the road, just inches away from the dumpsite.

“I initially took the person for a mad man and we were about leaving when I noticed blood gushing out from the body, and then something made me to look properly. Lo and behold, it was my son – almost dead.

“He had been beaten to stupor and at that point, the only wise thing to do was to take him to a hospital in Abakpa.

“Had I known, I would have gone to throw away the rubbish myself. It’s just that it was about 6.30am and I was

Chidiabere

preparing to go to the market and his younger brother was busy.

“He was to return to Ngwo to continue with his SSCE exams and now he is no more.”

Our correspondent visited the hospital – Ogechukwu Hospital – where the doctor on duty disclosed that Chidiebere died from internal bleeding.

The doctor, who pleaded anonymity, said, “He had a damaged brain and suffered deep wounds at his back and the rear of his head. His eyes popped out, the right leg was shifted and swollen.”

When contacted, the Managing Director of ESWAMA, Mr. Don  Okonkwo, declined comments.

Other members of staff of the agency also refused commenting, saying they had been warned against talking to the press on the matter.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Ebere Amaraizu, confirmed the incident.

“Investigations into the incident have commenced to ascertain what actually transpired,” Amaraizu said.

Meanwhile, the International Solidarity for Peace and Human Rights Initiative has demanded justice in the murder of Chidiebere by officials of ESWAMA.

President of the group, Mr. Osmond Ugwu, said the probe should not be cumbersome as those involved were known to ESWAMA management.

He said, “The management knows very well those in charge of Enugu East Local Government Area, while those in Enugu East in turn know who they sent out on duty at such place, date and time.

 “If ESWAMA management failed to produce them under the guise that they didn’t know them, it means that members of public are in danger and should be encouraged not to honour any ESWAMA agent.”

Ugwu urged the commissioner of police to prevail on ESWAMA management and police officers assigned to ESWAMA to produce the killers of  Chidiebere and prosecute them in accordance with the law.

He insisted that ESWAMA authority should pay the necessary compensation to the family for the loss.

FG okays six-month imprisonment, N50,000 fine for smokers

The Federal Executive Council on Wednesday approved the draft National Tobacco Control Bill 2004 that will be sent to the National Assembly as an Executive Bill for promulgation into law.

The Bill recommends a minimum of six months imprisonment or N50,000 or both for individuals that smoke outside public places designated as smoking areas.

Minister of Information, Mr. Laban Maku; and the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, disclosed this to State House correspondents at the end of the meeting presided over by President Goodluck Jonathan.

Chukwu said the penalties for corporate offenders varied from N1million to N5million and one year to two years imprisonment for the chief executives of such firms.

The minister added that all forms of advertisement of tobacco is totally banned under the proposed law.

He added that while the law forbids government from accepting gifts from tobacco firms, it also bans the firms from sponsoring any public event.

When it finally becomes a law, he said 50 per cent of the packaging of tobacco is expected to be used to warn the public of the risks involved in smoking.

Chukwu said the government would set up a standing committee that would assist law enforcement agencies in implementing the law.

He said the present administration decided to work on the Bill because the provisions of a similar one passed into law in 2001 were considered to be weak.

He listed some of the diseases linked to smoking to include cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack and stroke; cancer, especially that of the lung; as well as chronic respiratory disorder.

He recalled that a Global Youth Tobacco Survey conducted in 2008 showed that 15 per cent of children between 13 years and 15 years are already smoking and another percentage exposed as passive smokers.

He said the Global Adult Tobacco Survey on its part showed that 10 percent of men in Nigeria smoke while 1.1 percent women smoke.

This, he explained, showed that almost six per cent of adults in Nigeria smoke.

He said, “This is not the first attempt in Nigeria to control the use of tobacco in this country. In 1990 we had a decree which tried to place some control on the sale and use of tobacco products and in 2001, it was repealed and re-enacted to become the National Tobacco Control Act of 2001.

“The whole idea is to make it stiffer, but when in 2004, Nigeria along with other nations of the world signed the 2004 WHO framework convention on tobacco control, there was then the need to bring our laws in conformity because we actually as a country ratified that convention the next year which was 2005.

“So that attempt by the Executive will eventually culminate in the passage of a revised or amended Act as it were in 2011 by the sixth session of the National Assembly.

“The bill is to protect Nigerians against the harmful effects of tobacco. We know that tobacco is dangerous, tobacco is the cause of many deaths and it causes so many illnesses.”

source Punch-online

Woman dies in ghastly car accident

By Evelyn Okakwu

An accident involving Mercedes Benz with plate number, Lagos EH 574-EKY and a pedestrian along Berger Bridge has lead to the death of  a middle aged  woman.

Speaking  to our correspondent on the incident, an eye witness, Dahiru Garba, said the accident occurred when a vehicle dropped off a woman along Berger high way,  along Mabuchi.  The road

He said the woman was about crossing the road when a Mercedes Benz moving on high speed hit the woman from behind.

The driver of the Mercedes Jacob Ikpe obviously became confused and tried nervously to stop the car, but ended up hitting a pedestrian, barricade made of iron. The result, according the eye witness account was that the driver smashed his head causing a serious injury on himself.

Dahiru added that although the woman was in a critical condition before reaching the hospital, she obviously died before they arrived at the Hospital.

 His words; “The woman was badly hit by the car. He was coming on a high speed and the woman was just about to cross the road. It was evident that at the time when he saw the woman, it was already too late for him to reduce speed. Somehow he tried to stop, but evidently, he was confused and ended up at that iron Barricade where he smashed his car. She was still glued to the car when it stopped.

At the hospital, we were almost certain that she was already dead but we waited first for the Doctor to confirm. Several Doctors examined her before they finally came and told us that the lady was dead”.

Although information from the office of the Public Relations Officer (PRO) at the National  hospital, Dr Haastrub Ayo said that Mr Ikpe was being examined and placed under oxygen, other efforts to get  the name of the dead woman, as at the time of filing this report proved abortive.

tearful, Oscar Pictorious apologises

tearful Oscar at the hearing

Fighting back tears, Oscar Pistorius began giving evidence at his
murder trial by apologising to the family of the girlfriend he shot
dead.

The Olympic athlete also recalled the panic attacks he says he has
suffered since he killed Reeva Steenkamp last year and described how
he has nightmares that have caused him to wake up to the "smell of
blood".

"There hasn't been a moment since this tragedy happened that I haven't
thought about your family," the double-amputee runner said as he
addressed the Pretoria courtroom and Ms Steenkamp's mother June looked
straight at him, stone-faced.

"I wake up every morning and you're the first people I think of, the
first people I pray for ... I was simply trying to protect Reeva. I
can promise that when she went to bed that night she felt loved," said
Pistorius, stating the central part of his defence, that he shot Ms
Steenkamp by mistake, thinking she was an intruder in his bathroom.

Pistorius killed Ms Steenkamp last year by shooting her in the head,
arm and hip through a toilet door in his home. Prosecutors allege he
intentionally killed her after a fight in the early hours of February
14, 2013 and have sought to paint him as a hothead with an inflated
sense of entitlement and an obsession with firearms.

In his evidence, Pistorius also said he is on antidepressant medicine
and has trouble sleeping, and described one night when he went to hide
in a cupboard after waking up in "a panic".

"I climbed into a cupboard and I phoned my sister to come and sit by
me, which she did for a while," Pistorius said.

His evidence came on the day his defence opened its case and after
legal experts said it was crucial to his case that he testify to
explain why he shot Ms Steenkamp. Pistorius faces 25 years to life in
prison if convicted of premeditated murder for Ms Steenkamp's killing.

He spoke in a soft, quavering voice while making his apology and
describing what he said was his fragile state. At one point, Judge
Thokozile Masipa asked him to speak more loudly.

Later, Pistorius grew more settled and confident as defence lawyer
Barry Roux led him through questions about his childhood, his
athletics career and how he overcame his disability to run at top
track meets. Pistorius's life story is one that impressed many people
around the world, before he killed Ms Steenkamp.

Pistorius also described the positive effect his mother Sheila had on
his life after he was born with a congenital condition and had to have
his lower legs amputated when he was 11 months old, and the grief he
felt at her death when he was a teenager.

But he also described how as a family they had "security concerns" and
his mother slept with a gun under a pillow on her bed.

He was asked by Mr Roux to talk about a 2009 boat crash when he
suffered serious facial injuries. He said the accident had a "massive
impact", causing him to become fearful, withdrawn, more vigilant about
personal safety and more focused on his sporting career. He denied
media reports at the time that he had been drinking alcohol before the
boat accident.