… better than oil and drug peddling

Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State on Saturday disclosed that arrested Finland-based self-acclaimed Biafra agitator, Simon Ekpa “has continued kidnapping for ransom.

Soludo said kidnapping is currently a business that is more lucrative than drugs and oil.

The governor who spoke in Awka, the state capital, said before he became governor, eight local government areas in the state were being controlled by gunmen.

Soludo also recalled how his father was kidnapped in 2009.

He said: “Kidnapping is not new, my father had been kidnapped as far back as 2009. GU Okeke, Pokobros and many others have fallen victim too.

“Before I assumed office, about eight local government areas were being controlled by gunmen.

“They killed policemen and collected guns, attacked and burnt down police stations and went into the bush to label themselves liberators.

We came in and went to work and cleared them and we recovered the eight local government areas that were under siege. These gangs claim to be Biafra freedom fighters. IPOB has dissociated themselves from it, but one Simon Ekpa has continued kidnapping for ransom.

“Kidnapping for ransom is now the most lucrative enterprise, even more lucrative than drugs and oil. For every one naira reported as payment for ransom, five to six naira was not reported.

“With a culture that celebrates wealth without craft, even the kidnappers amongst us are now celebrated. Idolatry which these criminals have converted to have become the fastest growing religion in the South-East. Nothing is sacred to them anymore.”

Delta State Governor, Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, has commiserated with the Ibru family of Agbarha-Otor in Ughelli North Local Government Area of the State on the death of their wife and mother, Mrs. Edna Ibru.

Mrs Ibru, who reportedly died after a brief illness, was the wife of late Olorogun Senator Felix Ovuodoroye Ibru, first Executive Governor of Delta State.

A former Miss Nigeria, Mrs Ibru in 1964, died in London after a brief illness on Wednesday.

In a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Sir Festus Ahon, the governor described the demise of Mrs Ibru as sad and painful, adding that she was a loving wife and mother who supported her husband and family in all his noble endeavours.

He said, “On behalf of the government and people of Delta, I mourn the passing of a great woman of substance, a caring mother and loving wife, Mrs Edna Ibru.

“The news of her death came to me as a shock, especially now that the family members needed her motherly and wise counsel.

“She was a woman of faith who devoted her time in supporting her husband’s political career which culminated in his election as the first Executive Governor of Delta State.”

Oborevwori prayed to God to accept the soul of the deceased and grant fortitude to the family and friends she left to bear the loss.

Thousands gathered in northern Liberia on Saturday for the funeral of warlord-turned-politician Prince Johnson, a notorious face of the country’s brutal civil wars who died without facing trial.

Back-to-back conflicts devastated the small West African country from 1989 until 2003, claiming around 250,000 lives and resulting in massacres, mutilation, rape, cannibalism and the widespread use of child soldiers.

Johnson became infamous in 1990 after appearing in a video sipping beer and being fanned by a woman as he calmly watched his fighter slowly mutilate and torture President Samuel Doe to death.

The former rebel leader was identified as having the highest number of violations by any individual perpetrator during the gruesome wars, according to a 2009 Truth and Reconciliation Commission report.

It said his crimes spanned killing, extortion, massacre, destruction of property, forced recruitment, assault, abduction, torture, forced labour and rape.

Johnson went on to become a highly influential senator, acting as kingmaker in the last three presidential elections before his death in November aged 72.

Saturday’s burial marks the end of a five-day state funeral which saw his body displayed outside parliament in the capital Monrovia before being transported to his home county of Nimba.

Johnson’s supporters and government officials, including President Joseph Boakai and Vice President Jeremiah Koung, crowded the grounds of the Liberia Petroleum Refinery Company in Ganta city on Saturday, an AFP journalist saw.

Some of the crowd hailing from Nimba donned traditional attire and daubed their faces with red and white chalk.

– ‘The biggest tree has fallen’ –

Others wrapped their heads and carried sticks in the shape of guns, which they said symbolised Johnson’s warrior-like nature and depicted his role in defending Nimba during the civil war.

“The biggest tree that we all depended on has fallen,” said 65-year-old Charles G. Wondor, a farmer from Nimba.

“We are thinking that we wouldn’t have anyone to replace him because of the way he contributed to the county and to the people, we don’t think we can ever get anyone like him,” he added.

Johnson’s immediate family wore white, while another group of supporters — all dressed in black with red hats — beat drums, clapped, danced and sang.

The burial is due to take place at the nearby PYJ Polytechnic University, an institution founded and named after the late senator.

Despite being among eight warlords the Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommended be prosecuted for gross human rights violations, Johnson never faced justice as the recommendations were not implemented.