In full disclosure, what you are about to read, dear Nigerians, and the world at large, is part of the efforts lined up by Ekitipanupo and the Ojoodide family for the release of MR OLAPADE OJOODIDE, a proud member of our forum who was last seen by family and friends on Saturday, 22 April, 2017. Needless to say, this has brought us, not only indescribable agony, but an unpalatable gnashing of teeth. One can only begin to imagine in what state this has left his darling wife and adoring children.
Since this unfortunate event occurred, Ekitipanupo has not rest easy. We have, together with members of Pade’s family, met with senior officials of the Nigerian security community, organised prayer sessions and, indeed, held a Press Conference on 14, July 217 which was the 83rd day of his abduction. A the Press conference, we said the following: “Pade was, until his disappearance, a Regional Director, South-South, with Dangote Cement Plc, and was based in Warri, Delta State. On Saturday April 22, 2017, he travelled to Akwa, Anambra State, and with three other directors of the company attended an official event hosted by one of the company’s major distributors. He later went back to Asaba where he checked out of the hotel before heading to Port Harcourt.
Nothing has been heard from him since.
The case was immediately reported to the Rivers State Police Command which says it has since been investigating the matter but without a breakthrough. The police command described the case as an abduction and has recovered his phone and the official car, a black Prado Jeep, with Registration Number: KSF 580 DN.
We use this opportunity to call on the Federal Government of Nigeria, the IG, the Rivers State Government and all the good people of Nigeria to come to our aid in the search and rescue of our brother as any further could lead to grave consequences”.
This current phase of our efforts includes, but is not limited, to the following:
| Distribution of Online & Flyers to various Social Media platforms. | |
| 2X2 Newspaper Inserts I many newspapers – | |
| Television appearances, and | |
| Use of Blogs/Bloggers
We plead with the Federal Government, the Dangote group, the Security agencies, individuals and those holding Pade to please, IN THE NAME OF GOD, RELEASE HIM NOW. BENEFITS OF EARLY CONVERSION AND CONSECRATION One of the wonderful individuals the good Lord divinely accorded me the opportunity of being a classmate with at Christ’s School, Ado-Ekiti, 59/63 set, is the Very Rev Jide Iyiola, who the Almighty God must have deliberately compensated his small frame with a tremendous apostolic gift. He recently turned 70, and retired, in the tradition of the Anglican Communion, at the Anglican church of the Ascension, Akobo, Ibadan on 31 July, 2017; an event that was well attended by a good number of our classmates, from far and wide. Rev. Iyiola has been a mighty blessing to our gracefully aging group, who were boys only yesterday and all, but a few of who by His grace, have now clocked the biblical age. Ardent readers of this column would remember my aversion to Whatsapp. I must report, however, that the Man of God, is fast changing that since that is on what platform, he daily feeds us with his wonderful ministrations. A few of us have since persuaded him to agree to be a blessing to the entire world, in this age of the internet, by securing a Sunday column in any Nigerian newspaper to spread the word and I have offered to assist in that quest. I am therefore appealing to any interested newspaper editor to please contact him @babajideiyiola@yahoo.com. He/she would thus enable this trained entomologist, a great opportunity to minister to, not insects, but humanity at large. It is my pleasure to present the reader with the latest of Venerable Iyiola’s ministrations with the above caption as subject matter. “Walking with God from a tender age prevents us from evil programmes of the devil for the world. People that begin their journey with God enjoy peace, success and the promises of God. Joash, as early as age seven, started walking with God. What of people like Josiah, Joseph, Joshua, Timothy etc; They all consecrated their lives to God from their youth. What is your excuse for not serving the Lord? You want to taste life? Well, there is nothing in this world to taste more than evil. If God could pick Josiah when he was only eight years old, what are you waiting for? Parents! We need to realise that hell is for both young and old (Rev:20:12- 15). The only place where we can get breakthrough without sorrow is in the Lord Jesus. Outside Christ, there are only sickness, sorrow and failure. Don’t leave your children at home when going to the church. Look at the way you are doing your best so that they can be successful; why can’t you struggle more for their salvation. Don’t buy clothes that expose them to sin. Correct them early before it is too late. Do you want to be successful in life? Retrace your footsteps back to Jesus today. If all of us can start our journey early with God, this country will not be in this mess. It is not too late to come to Jesus today with genuine repentance because a life without Christ is a life full of crisis. Have a great and blessed day in Jesus name” IN NIGERIA, DO SENATORS, ESPECIALLY THE MORE LOQUACIOUS ONES, HAVE TWO HEADS?
In a number of posts on the Ekitipanupo web portal between yours truly and the inimitable Femi Falana SAN this past week, with the Kanu broohaha as the subject and the Silk, understandably, insisting on the primacy of rule of law, I held, almost adamantly, to the belief that a large proportion of extant Nigerian laws are lagging behind our current realities. While lawyers like Femi Falana and Ayo Turton are exuberant about the primacy of fundamental human rights, I am ad idem with the Nigerian higher bench when in Asari Dokubo Vs FGN it held that as follows: “A close scrutiny of the charge and documentary evidence available reveals offences that are a real threat to National Security. They involve creating a situation where the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria could yield to force or expose the public to serious danger… Where National Security is threatened or there is the real likelihood of it being threatened Human rights or the individual rights of those responsible take second place. Human rights or individual rights must be suspended until the National security can be protected or well taken care of.” Isn’t this the same scenario – laws lagging behind critical realities – playing out in the cases of Senators Godswill Akpabio and Nwaoboshi, both members of PDP, where EFCC invitations to officials of Akwa Ibom state, and Nwaoboshi have so far been treated with benign neglect, with none appearing and the Akwa Ibom Secretary to government seriously warning EFCC to keep off even as these two senators are being investigated for corruption in matters involving billions of naira? Put briefly, in the Akpabio case, seven times, the Akwa Ibom State Government has blocked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from investigating its officials in the probe of Akpabio in the probe of his alleged diversion of public funds running into N108.1B, reported to the EFCC through several petitions by Leo Ekpenyong, a lawyer. Nwaoboshi, in his own case, is in trouble with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for obtaining a N1.2billion loan from the Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) to buy electrical equipment but he allegedly ended up diverting the facility to personal use. There are others including the purchase of refurbished, in place of new construction equipments for some Local Governments in Delta state. Are these the senators Nigerians expect to pass anti-corruption laws? Meanwhile there are about 18 of them under one probe or the other by the EFCC. Why would they want to confirm Magu, their supposed tormentor-in-chief, as substantive chairman of EFCC? But, I ask: Is Efcc so helpless or the Federal Government so unserious in her anti- corruption war that it could be so treated? Kudos to the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Walter Onnoghen, for his new, absolutely revolutionary, reforms. Let us now see if the 8th National Assembly will update our laws to meet current realities or it will like to go down in history as the cog in the wheel of the Muhammadu Buhari anti-corruption war. |