A group of 20 experienced Californian firefighters were due to travel to Australia on Monday to help combat the wildfires that have ravaged roughly 12.4 million acres of land and killed at least 24 people and millions of birds, reptiles and mammals.
The firefighters are all leaders in their units and collectively have more than 100 years of experience, each being five- to 20-year veterans.
“It’s an impressive dream team of sorts,” said Angeles National Fire Service spokesperson Andrew Mitchell.
Many in the group performed an array of tasks during California’s fire in Saddleridge in October – one was the captain of a hotshot crew, another oversaw a firefighting unit, some worked on aviation assignments.
They all will assist the Victoria Rural Fire Service, the largest fire service in the Australian state of Victoria.
Jonathan Merager, a fire-prevention technician and 18-year firefighting veteran, said he didn’t hesitate to volunteer for the assignment when a request for help was submitted to various state and federal agencies.
“Our Australian sisters and brothers have helped us over the years,” he said. “It seemed natural to reciprocate that assistance.”
Merager, 47, said that his only apprehension is that he will be leaving behind his wife and sons, ages 9, 11, 15 and 25. He said the family has expressed concerns after seeing images of the fires’ path of destruction throughout Australia.
But they’re used to his travels throughout California and across the country to combat fires.
In 2009, he battled the Station fire that blackened more than 160,000 acres of the Angeles National Forest.
In October, while firefighters in Southern California battled Saddleridge, Merager was dispatched to North Carolina, where fires burned thousands of acres of land.
The request to Angeles National Fire Service came from the National Interagency Fire Center – the government agency that is coordinating the deployment of firefighters from the U.S.
Roughly 100 firefighters have traveled to Australia over the last four weeks after a U.S. liaison visited to help determine the scope of U.S. resources.
Those dispatched Monday from California are part of a group of 50 to 60. At least sixteen other firefighters from California were deployed earlier.
Mitchell said that while the terrain in Australia is similar to that of Southern California, environmental hazards to plants and animals differ.
“There’s a lot more snakes that could bite you,” he said.
The group will receive a brief orientation before receiving their assignments in Victoria, where they will remain for 35 days.
Merager believes that his assignment will be on the ground at the cutting line, removing brush around the perimeter of the fire.
The exchange of fire resources is made through an agreement between the of U.S. Department of the Interior and Emergency Management Australia.
“It works really well because Australia has a different fire season than we do in the United States,” NIFC spokesperson Kari Cobb said.
In August 2018, Australia and New Zealand sent roughly 140 firefighters to the United States for nearly 30 days.
The group was stationed in Northern California, Washington and Oregon.
This is the first time since 2010 that the U.S. is sending firefighters to Australia. Canada is also sending firefighters for the first time.
The firefighters earn their normal salary on the special assignment, Cobb said.
The communities disclosed this on Wednesday when a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent visited Babuwuri and Ngummachame settlements, which are tagged“Hard-To-Reach (HTR)” in terms of healthcare by the EU/UNICEF.
The Heads of the settlements, Malam Magaji Abdu and Alhaji Ahmadu Garba, disclosed that the only means of transporting pregnant women and sick ones to health facilities were donkeys and ox-drawn trucks.
“This is due to the hard to reach nature of our settlements coupled with the lack of road networks and distance from health facilities.
“If a woman developed obstructed labour or any delivery complications as well as sick ones who cannot be conveyed on motorcycles, the last option is to use either donkeys or ox-drawn trucks.
“This is done over a distance of 20km or 15km depending on the location of the settlements and health facilities,” Abdu said.
The community leader, however, thanked God that in 2018, the EU/UNICEF introduced a health programme whereby a medical team came to their settlements once a month to conduct antenatal on pregnant mothers and children below five years.
On his part, Garba said: “They visit our settlements once in a month and render various medical services including antenatal, nutritional, minor ailments, immunisation and others.
“Fortunately for us, both the services and drugs are given to us free of charge and it has reduced both maternal and child mortality rates.”
The community heads, who are also the village mobilisers for the programme, stressed that in spite of EU/UNICEF assistance, they still used donkeys and ox-drawn trucks to convey patients during emergencies.
They called on the state government to provide them with roads, health facilities and schools, as well as to sustain the EU/UNICEF outreach programme in their areas.
The Team Leader of the programme in the council, Hajiya Amina Abdu, said that between April 26, 2019, and Oct. 22, 2019, the team treated 11,937 patients in 16 settlements of Sarma, Dunkurmi and Kafin Sule wards of the council.
Abdu, who is a retired Nurse and Midwife, disclosed that the team had also treated 10,289 patients between May 2019 and November 2019 in another 16 settlements under Ajali, Sirka and Beti wards of the council.
She called on the state government and other non-governmental organisations to sustain the programme after the EU/UNICEF might have pulled out of the areas due to its importance.
The team leader said that the beneficiaries were under-5 years children, who may be suffering from minor diseases and antenatal care to pregnant women.
She said that cases considered beyond their capacity were either referred to Dankwi Kasuwa Primary Healthcare Centre or Misau General Hospital, a five-hour journey, to access the facilities.
Mr Abdullahi Musa, a volunteer, said that when the team started, most of the parents were sceptical and preferred alternative medicine to the conventional ones, but the situation had changed for the better.
Some of the beneficiaries interviewed expressed delight towards the EU-UNICEF project and called for its sustenance.
They said that their children and pregnant women were given antenatal care and treatment from minor ailments.
The House of Representatives, Tuesday rejected a bill seeking to provide for a single tenure of six years for president and governors.
NAIJALOADED learnt the constitutional amendment bill also seeks to provide for an unlimited term of six years for members of the national assembly and state houses of assembly.
The bill, sponsored by John Dyegh from Benue state, scaled second reading at today’s plenary session.
However, during the debate on the floor of the house, many lawmakers kicked against the bill, arguing that there was nothing wrong with the system Nigeria currently operates.
However, a few lawmakers including Sergius Ogun from Edo state argued it would save the country the funds used to conduct elections after the initial four-year tenure.
“This bill intends to also save the money being spent in elections for the second term. It will save this country and our democracy,”
Ogun said.
Henry Archibong from Akwa Ibom state said the focus should be on improving Nigeria’s electoral process and not on the number of terms an elected official stays in office.
“How can we make electoral processes and elections credible and less expensive,” he asked. “This is the issue we ought to address and not the number of terms.”
Yusuf Gagdi from Plateau state concurred with him saying there is nothing wrong with the current system of four-year tenure with a limit of two tenures for the executive.
He added that in an ideal democracy, “you cannot ask the president to perform a six-year tenure and expect a good performance.”
“Our problem is our inability to respect our rules. Our democracy does not need six-year single term for the executive,” he said.
“What it needs it to maintain what is in place for the executive and national assembly. What we need is to improve our elections and ensure we have a system that will not fail Nigerians.
“It is not the time to say we will amend the tenure of the executive and the national assembly members.”
Haruna Bello from Kano State also kicked against the bill, saying it will fuel the speculation of tenure extension for President Muhammadu Buhari.
Have we honestly stooped to the extent of blatant unwarranted 'fake news' and 'hate speeches' just to bring a man down?
Allen Onyema
The saying ‘there’s no smoke without fire’ most certainly applies in perpetuity in Nigeria than in any other country in the world, and the reason is not far-fetched. Ours has unfortunately become a society where the issues of national significance get politicized and muddled up with facts that are shamelessly unrelated and, in some cases, outrightly untrue. Our public sphere is currently at the lowest and most barren depths of ‘interpersonal and inter-ethnic abuse and strife’.
It is in view of this reality that it was not surprising when various socio-cultural groups raised the alarm of a clear conspiracy in the matter involving the allegations against Mr. Allen Onyema by the United States Department of Justice. Their claim was that there was a well-thought-out sinister attempt by ill meaning forces to drag the person of Mr. Onyema down.
While it might have been easy to dismiss the claims due to the ‘sentimental’ nature of average Nigerians, the event that ensued on the US’ seizure of a jet belonging to ‘a Nigerian involved in a multi-million-dollar fraud’ and the way it was craftily spun to reflect on the allegations against Mr. Onyema, was clear evidence that this smoke is one of the poorly orchestrated agenda and conspiracies of the highest order.
The methodology speaks for itself. Here are some facts – Not long after it was reported that the EFCC had allegedly probed and seized the passport of Mr. Onyema on the account of the allegation, did this recent news on the seizure of a jet hit the online space. However, tracing back to the original source of the story on an American news forum called ‘WSB-TV 2, Atlanta’, it was found that the accused owner of the jet “was in court on Tuesday” the 10th of December in Atlanta, “for an initial appearance”, and that “a removal hearing will also be held to send him back to New York where the charges he faces were originally filed”. Fast forward to the next day, when our Nigerian online news platforms got wind of the news, did the evidence of conspiracy reveal craft at its ugliest.
We are now faced with a situation of lopsided reporting where the part of the news release where it reported that the accused appeared ‘physically’ in court was conveniently omitted since it is fully known that a man whose passport is supposedly still being held by the EFCC cannot travel out of Nigeria to ‘appear in an Atlanta court’.
In fact, it was quite appalling to see how the news morphed all so conveniently an unknown Nigerian’s jet being seized, to suddenly declaring that the “US had seized Allen Onyema’s Aircraft” as reported by a few news platforms in Nigeria by the 11th of December 2019.
This kind of agenda-setting, that begins to eliminate facts, just so the perceptions of unsuspecting, and well-meaning Nigerians are morphed into believing that Mr. Onyema is a man of ill-character, has now gone out of hand.
Have we honestly stooped to the extent of blatant unwarranted ‘fake news’ and ‘hate speeches’ just to bring a man down? Could it be, that a man whose love for his people and country propelled actions of patriotism, can get dragged to in the mud on the premise of ‘over good deeds or excessive display of love’?
Mr. Onyema’s patriotic efforts have not gone and will continue to go unnoticed as encomiums have been poured endlessly on the man who’s been described by many as a role model, businessman par excellence. Just recently, he was honoured with the most distinguished ‘Alumnus of the Year’ award at the premier University of Ibadan. At this point, it is clear that the Nigerian people are beginning to discern truth from ill-meaning agenda.
It seems interests have exchanged hands in what is a move to fuel these untrue narratives. The deal it seems, is to keep the negative fire burning, but to what end? Perhaps the right question to ask is: who is afraid of Mr. Allen Onyema, and why?
Tayo Dauda is a Public Affairs Analyst. He can be reached via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Finding work can be a challenge for new migrants to Australia who often arrive with limited English skills and lack local contacts.
But finding work for people seeking asylum can be even harder, as we found in a study that looked at the experience some had in trying to find a decent job.
We surveyed 59 asylum seekers in Victoria, current employers of asylum seekers, and staff from the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC), a not-for-profit organisation that supports people seeking asylum.
Some found their qualifications were ignored, others were left to take what are known as survival jobs, which is any job they can get just to earn a basic living. And the challenges they face can be compounded by the traumatic experiences in their past.
Yet we found asylum seekers face layers of complex, structural barriers to employment. Some we spoke to had been relying on not-for-profit organisations for years to make ends meet.
Many described their job search as “desperate” and “helpless”.
Visa conditions of some had changed and their work rights denied for periods, often based on seemingly arbitrary factors such as how they came to Australia. For example, people who arrived by plane and are on a bridging visa can’t access concession courses at TAFE while those who arrive on boat can access concession rates.
Even years after first arriving, some are still struggling to find work, as one respondent explained:
Now I have been without a job for almost two years, and it is very difficult to get back into the workforce.
Even participants with high-demand skills and qualifications have few opportunities to use them, hence they depend on survival jobs.
For example, one held a master’s degree and wished to pursue a PhD in Australia, but said he was struggling to access essential living services, let alone attain a scholarship. He said:
I would love to teach and become a lecturer to contribute my quota in this country, but I have been relegated to warehouse job wasting my talent.
One of the managers from the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre we interviewed referred to this as “de-skilling”. She said by virtue of entering Australia, most asylum seekers are automatically denied recognition of any of their skills, qualifications or experience and are forced to “work their way up from the bottom”.
She added:
I find it hard when I speak to (asylum seekers) on the phone about the fact that they are now working night shift in, say, a pharmaceutical company, when they are just (like), ‘This is not what I really want to be doing. I am a particle physicist’, or something, ‘from my home country’.
These survival jobs are often financially unsustainable. Many respondents relayed stories of being underpaid and forced to work in exploitative conditions. For example, one said:
I faced lots of racist people who took advantage of me and recruited me under normal pay because I am an asylum seeker.
Our study found this exploitation was rife across the sector, but as one respondent said, government policies didn’t help as they were “so punitive that it completely reduces people’s ability to feel like they can stand up for their rights”.
Government cuts make it harder
These are just a few of the many factors that trap asylum seekers into a vicious cycle of precarious livelihood. The situation was made worse by the recent government cuts to the Status Resolution Support Service (SRSS).
The SRSS is the only source of government-funded financial and social support available to asylum seekers, offering vital necessities including counselling for torture and trauma, subsidised medication and income support.
The asylum seekers most hard hit by these cuts also had the lowest skills and qualifications. Unable to even find survival jobs or access social security or mental health support services, these people are forced to rely on not-for-profit organisations for help.
Despite these organisations’ best efforts to provide personalised training and support, they are flooded with demand beyond their capacity.
As a staff member explained, they are merely “doing the best with what they have”.
What can we do?
Our report suggests some ways forward to alleviate these challenges.
Most notably, given the inadequacy of federal policy responses, state governments should work with community organisations and employers to provide more targeted services to asylum seekers who have fallen through the cracks of SRSS cuts.
They should fund programs that help recognise their skills and provide support to get them ready for any employment opportunities.
This should help address some of the “de-skilling” and survival job challenges asylum seekers face, and help them contribute significantly to the local economy.
It is a rhetorical question to ask whether everyone wants to get rich. In other words, dear reader, you too are interested in wealth!
Then, here is a story that can inspire you:
How Henry Fajemirokun made his billions
By Dotun Adekanmbi
The history of Nigeria’s organized private sector would be incomplete without mentioning the role of High Chief Henry Oloyede Fajemirokun. During the seventies, Fajemirokun was one of the biggest fish in the widening ponds of big time entrepreneurs. His credentials were like an awesome investment catalogue under the name of Henry Stephens Group of Companies.
Remarkably, Fajemirokun did not have the advantage of starting out anywhere near the upper rungs of the business ladder. His point of entry was as a trader in commodities, cocoa beans, groundnuts and cattle bones for export to Europe under the name of Henry Stephens and Sons Limited, Lagos. Perhaps, something in his background suggested correctly to him the business direction to take when he started out. Fajemirokun made a huge success of the export business. It was only a matter of time before his nimble mind fashioned out opportunities in other sectors of the economy. Suddenly, the theatre of the export and commodity trading concerns became too small for his huge business talents and a business conglomerate was in the making.
Intrepidly but shrewdly, Fajemirokun horned in on a new target. He established Henry Stephens Shipping Company which owned the Nigerian Far East Line and the Nigerian South American Line. The company owned three Nigerian flag vessels and operated a number of chartered vessels while maintaining regular line services between ports in the West African sub region, the far-east and south American ports.
Fajemirokun’s business interests further yield the Nigeria Maritime Services Limited (NMS) whose operations run the gamut of clearing and forwarding, sea and air freighting, as well as free and bonded warehousing. The company also undertook packaging and removal activities with a specialization in door-to-door movement of goods. At its peak, the NMS was described as the foremost removal company in Nigeria.
Henry Fajemirokun, right, and his wife. Photo credit. Photo credit: Lagoschamber.com
Monumental success followed swiftly and Fajemirokun’s Henry Stephens Group spread to every sector of the economy. There was GILCO (Nigeria) Limited which handled sophisticated electrical equipment and machinery, electrical and mechanical power transmissions, marine radar as well as navigational and radio communication devices. Fajemirokun widened GILCO’s operations to include serving as agents, stockists and main distributors for the products of many foreign electrical equipment manufacturing firms. These included Hawker Siddeley Electric Export Limited (Brush Swithgear Ltd) Brash Transformers Limited, Hawker Siddely Power Transmissions Limited, Crompton Cables Limited, Chloride Group of Companies and Doulton Insulators Limited. Others were GEC (lamps and Lightings) Ltd, GEC (Street Lighting Limited), manufacturers of fluorescent, flood and industrial lighting fittings, Hampson Automation Limited, manufacturers of power generating sets, D. Nagata, Midland Electric Manufacturing Company Limited , Aluminum Wire and Cable Company Limited, Sperry Marine Systems, Horstman Gear Company Limited, Safety Products Limited, Gandy Limited and CRC Limited.
Described as a practical businessman and excellent manager of both human and material resources, Fajemirokun possessed an uncanny eye for opportunities. This is obvious from his establishment of Henry Stephens Engineering Company Limited one of his many companies. The company was established obviously not as a hunch but at a time when there was an upsurge in construction activities all over the country.
Munificently funded by proceeds from the petroleum sector, the upsurge in construction was phenomenal. Fajemirokun cashed in on this. Henry Stephens Engineering dealt in construction machinery and equipment. It also served as a distributor for many British, American, Swedish and Indian companies. Shoals of construction equipment were sold for companies like Winget Construction Limited UK, Brown Lennox Limited UK, Dynapac Maskin AB of Sweden and Stenberg Flygt AB of Sweden among others.
Another of his companies executed a ceaseless flow of contracts of all types of building materials throughout the country. There was also a transport and haulage arm including foreign travels and ticketing.
As his businesses grew, so did his statue in the business community. Fajemiroukn held many positions in various Chambers of Commerce. By 1966, he was an executive council member of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry. At about the same time, he was president of the Nigerian American Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Other honours followed . These included vice president, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (1970), president Nigeria Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Mines (1972), first president, Federation of West African Chamber of Commerce (1972) and vice president Federation of Commonwealth Chambers of Commerce (1978). Fajemirokun can certainly be described as a business mogul.
In his 52 years of life, he virtually turned the Nigeria corporate terrain into a mosaic of his foot prints. Aside from more than ten companies in his stable, he also sat on the boards of several up market companies both within and outside the country. Some of these include Oil Exploratory Company Limited, Marine and General Assurance Company Limited, Schiffarts and Handelgesellschaft mbh, Hamburgh Germany. He was also a director, First Bank Nigeria Limited, director Nigeria Krafts Bags Limited, director Nigeria Sewing Machine Manufacturing Company Limited, deputy chairman Johnson Wax Nigeria Limited, chairman Rank Xeros (Nigeria) Limited and chairman National Bank of Nigeria Limited.
Unlike his lowly beginning in the world of business, Fajemirokun’s roots in Ile Oluji was Brahminic. Fajemirokun was born a blue blood on 14 July 1926. He started his primary education in 1932 at St Peter’s School, Ile Oluji and left in 1936. After a years break in his schooling, he continued at St Lukes School in the neighbouring town of Oke Igbo where he completed his elementary education. A year after completing his primary education in 1940, Fajemirokun gained admission into the prestigious CMS Grammar School Lagos where he spent a year. Then he crossed over to Ondo Boys’ High School where he spent two years. He left the school in1955 to enlist in the old Royal West African Frontier Force.
One year after enlistment he was posted to India to join the 82nd West African Division. He served with distinction at the General Headquarters of the 2nd Echelon. Thansi, of the then United Province India. Fajemirokun’s romance with the military profession lasted for only two years. He returned home in 1946 and joined the Posts and Telegraph Department (P&T) where he developed an interest in trade unionism. His commitment to workers’ welfare culminated in his election as the president general of the Nigerian Civil Service Union in 1957.
As an entrepreneur of towering stature, the appreciation of Fajemirokun’s worth transcended the confines of the corporate environment. His numerous philanthropic gestures were recognised through the conferment of many chieftancy titles on him. In 1968 he was conferred with the title of Yegbata of Ile-Oluji, Asiwaju of Oke-Igbo (1971), Lijoka of Ondo (1973), High Chief Orunta of Ifewara (1974) and the Obaloro of Ado Ekiti (1977). The University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University Ile Ife also conferred on him the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science in Business Administration in 1972.
Perhaps the only known area where Chief Henry Fajemirokun did not record any success was his desire to move into publishing. His bid to take over controlling shares in the Daily Times Group in 1975 was checkmated by then management of the newspaper which felt that Fajemirokun would have too much power at his disposal if his bid succeeded.
On 15 February 1978, the candescent career of Fajemirokun was suddenly extinguished in Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire, while leading a trade mission. In 1983, that is, five years after his death, the Federal Government honoured him with a posthumous national award of the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON). By then, Fajemirokun had strolled into his well earned place in the pantheon of entrepreneurial giants.
Originally entitled “Henry Fajemirokun: ahead of his Time,” Dotun Adekanmbi contributed this article to People in TheNEWS, 1900-2000, a special publication of this medium in year 2000
Ja’afaru Ahmed, controller general of the Nigerian Correctional Service, says he has set up a panel to probe Ikoyi Prisons, now known as “Ikoyi Custodial Centre”, following an investigation by Fisayo Soyombo, an undercover journalist.
Soyombo spent eight days as an inmate in Ikoyi Prison — to track corruption in Nigeria’s criminal justice system.
He documented experiences on “drug abuse, sodomy, bribery, pimping and cash and carry operations” at the facility.
But responding in a statement on Tuesday night, Ahmed said those found guilty of the allegations would be punished.
“The attention of the Nigerian Correctional Service has been drawn to allegations of drug abuse, sodomy, bribery, pimping and cash and carry operations in Ikoyi Custodial Centre, Lagos,” the statement read.
“In view of the gravity of the allegations, the Controller General, Ja’afaru Ahmed has set up a high powered panel to immediately commence full investigations into the matter in order to establish the authenticity of the report, identify and bring the culprits to book if found guilty of the allegations.
“The CG who gave the directive in his office in Abuja today stated that the Service is willing to work with the general public as well as relevant stakeholders in the justice sector to actualize the policy objectives of transforming the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) into a modern reformatory institution that operates in line with best international practices.”
Ahmed said the service has no intention of arresting or harassing the journalist over his findings.
“Investigative journalists are partners, who seek the development of the nation, and called for more of such findings aimed at reforming the institution for better service delivery,” he said.
“He therefore called for more constructive engagement with the media and the general public with a view to strengthening the implementation of the Nigerian Correctional Service Act, 2019.”
A youth corps member serving in Cross Rivers state has used his carpentry skills to make desks and chairs for the pupils in the school where he served for a year at no cost.
Teru, in a post shared on his Facebook page, shared how he used his skill to make this change in the lives of his students.
He also shared some pictures on Instagram page and wrote:
‘To God be the glory!
I volunteered my skill to produce desks, tables, benches and shelves for the comfort of over 80 students and pupils of the two public schools (Community Secondary School and St. Georges Primary School) in my host community -Old Netim, Akamkpa LGA. Cross River State.
I must in a very special way appreciate the good people of the community for their support.
Big thanks to my ever supportive principal Mr Emmanuel Eni Sir, you are too much!
My NYSC Inspector, Mr Ubong Effanga, thank you Sir! You’ve been a great source of motivation to us all.
All my friends and colleagues, thanks for being there. My family at Jos, this is for you!’
For five straight days in September, Gbenga Odunsi, Editor at Information Nigeria, disguised as a hapless boyfriend to unearth the illegal practices of abortions in Lagos hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies. Presented in this comprehensive undercover exposé, his findings reveal series of abortion practices. Odunsi discovered that unskilled providers of all sorts, called “quacks” are widely responsible for the high numbers of botched abortions. Some operate out of their homes or sketchy clinics; two pharmacists he encountered admitted to performing abortions at the back rooms of their shops.
“Abortion isn’t a lesser evil, it’s a crime. Taking one life to save another, that’s what the Mafia does. It’s a crime. It’s an absolute evil.” – Pope Francis
This reporter makes a journey to hospitals, pharmacies, and ‘shops’ in Lagos — on undercover operation— to hoist the lid off fraudulently operating ‘doctors,’ whose activities are on the rise across the state.
A medical officer at a private clinic in Lagos, Mr Ayo Oyadiran, had in 2018, stated that hospitals in Lagos no longer provide abortion services unless it is done to save the life of a pregnant woman. Mr Omidiran confidently made this statement while having a friendly and unofficial discussion with his journalist-friend.
“Sometimes, a woman may not be healthy enough to carry a pregnancy due to some terminal ailments. In such cases, a non-induced abortion is performed on medical grounds.
“A married woman or a lady in a relationship will be advised to consult her partner, but then, she can decide not to notify or consult him.”
“What I am stressing is, you can no longer find hospitals performing dilation and curettage without medical reasons. That era is far gone. Clinics that engaged in it in the past have been shut down the state government.
“Some of these hospitals, Rotunda, a well-known abortion hospital at Orile no longer exist. Even the doctor who performs abortion at the clinic is down with stroke.
“Marie Stopes, a foreign hospital with branches in Abuja and Lagos no longer operates. Their branch in Surelere has been shut down.
“My brother, gone are those days, clinics and hospitals don’t engage in abortion again because it is illegal, he said, with confidence.
The need to ascertain the veracity or otherwise of Mr Oyadiran’s claim informed the decision to go undercover in 2019, to expose the criminals who are masquerading as doctors, causing the deaths of young women in frantic need for abortion.
Abortion happens all the time in Lagos, but behind a mask of silence, and it happens across the health care field. From posh hospitals to local and community clinics and pharmacies in Lagos, the term ‘abortion’ brought dropped voices, tense glances and sometimes, perspiring brows.
“We don’t normally do this,” was a ubiquitous catchphrase in all the hospitals I visited.
Abortion legislation in Nigeria
Abortion in Nigeria is illegal and carries a heavy jail sentence–up to 14 years imprisonment–unless it is performed to save the life of the pregnant woman. Abortion is governed by the Criminal Code in the southern states, and the Penal Code in the northern states.
Nigeria’s abortion laws make it one of the most restrictive countries regarding abortion. The Criminal Code is currently enforced in southern states. The abortion laws of the Criminal Code are expressed within sections 228, 229, and 230. Section 228 states that any person providing a miscarriage to a woman is guilty of a felony and up to 14 years of imprisonment. Section 229 states that any woman obtaining a miscarriage is guilty of a felony and up to imprisonment for 7 years. Section 230 states that anyone supplying anything intended for a woman’s miscarriage is also guilty of a felony and up to 3 years of imprisonment
The Penal Code operates in northern states, with abortion laws contained in sections 232, 233, and 234. The sections of the Penal Code parallel the Criminal Code, besides the exception for abortion with the purpose of saving the life of the mother. The Penal Code’s punishments include imprisonment, fine, or both. The offenses of these codes are punishable regardless of whether the miscarriage was successful. No provisions have been made to the Criminal Code making exceptions for the preservations of the mother’s life.
Section 297 provides that “a person is not criminally responsible for performing in good faith and with reasonable care and skill a surgical operation…upon an unborn child for the preservation of the mother’s life if the performance of the operation is reasonable, having regard to the patient’s state at the time and all the circumstances of the case”.
Lagos State of Abortion
It was 9.30 a.m. the cloud was pregnant on this day, thus creating a gloomy picture of the sky; a picture which largely mirrored my seemingly impossible mission — to uncover an abortionist in Ikeja Area of Lagos. A quintessentially clean, calm and quiet clinic environment sits at along Airport road in Ikeja. The clinic is sited 400 meters away from the Nigerian Navy barracks along the same axis.
With its pale leather sofas and brightly-lit reception, the sleek office could be mistaken for an accountancy firm, but, despite its superb appearance, this hospital is an abortion centre.
I quietly approach one of the medical officers on duty, whom I later knew as Demola. “Please sir, I need your help,” I start, stooping by the man, a dark, well-built frame who spoke in measured tones.
“I have a serious problem. My girlfriend is four months pregnant. I have to come make inquiries if there is a way you could help me. We don’t want the baby, sir.” Demola, who combines laboratory with medical services ran a quick, furtive glance over me and must have concluded that I truly had a problem.
“What is your name?” he asks softly, his voice rich in sympathy.
“Mide,” I reply, “Olamide”.
“See, nobody will help you with this request,” he begins slowly, in hush tones.”
“You would be putting her life at risk by attempting to remove a four-month-old pregnancy.
“Why did you wait till four months before taking this step?
“Even if we are to do anything, where is the girl in question?”
I told Demola that a prophet had warned us not to abort the pregnancy, adding that I only came to make inquiry and if we are able to agree on the terms, I would bring her in the evening, after the close of work.
But realizing how much he would make from the procedure, Demola asks me to bring my girlfriend by 6pm, with a sum of — wait for it — paltry N8,000. According to Demola, no test would be conducted; no pre-abortion services will be carried out. He says the entire operation will last between 10- 15 minutes, after which my girlfriend will be given Ampiclox capsules. “Don’t worry, she will be fine after 24 hours, Demola says.
At this hospital, pregnant ladies are not offered in-depth counselling on their decision to request a termination — despite the questionable grounds. The life of a woman is only worth N8,000, despite telling him a prophet had warned us against abortion.
I stood outside the hospital for more than two hours, gisting with one of the security men on duty, and keeping my eyes wide open to monitor the inflow of patients to the hospital. In my estimation, I counted eight young ladies troop in at intervals to the clinic. One would assume all the ladies are sick and came for treatment, right?
I asked one of the security man, whom by now, I had gossiped and shared experiences that cut across board with. I told him of my predicament: My girlfriend is pregnant and I am not ready for the baby…and all that. I made him understand I wasn’t sure if such operation can be carried out in the clinic, which is why I didn’t approach the doctors. As I was saying this, a tall, skinny man, who had been carrying himself with the swag of Chief security offer, interrupts. “Where is ya girlfriend?, he speaks in Igbo-English dialect.
“When you bring her, ask for Doctor Henry, he will help you.”
My next stop was a clinic, few meters away from Mr Biggs at Obanlearo in Ketu Area of Lagos. I stared at the signpost, it reads: ‘Deji Clinic’. I feigned as a boyfriend seriously in need of a doctor to terminate the two-month-old pregnancy of my girlfriend. I approach a tall, dark young medical officer donning a red shirt and black trouser. I told him the same story: I have a major challenge; my girlfriend is pregnant, and I wanted to see if a D and C can be performed on her.
In hush tone, “Why do you want to terminate it”, he asks.
After giving him reasons which are not enough to conduct an abortion, the doctor opens up, “we don’t do such here.” He, however, directs the journalist — although he thinks he is just a random member of the public — to “a professional nurse who knows her onion and has performed the procedure on several ladies.”
He handed me a piece of paper on which he scribbled: 0805*45*71*. I thanked him and left.
Acting on specific information, I made a short visit to another government-approved hospital at Alapere Street in Ketu, (name witheld). I met a short, dark lady at the reception. With a sombre look, I describe my plight to her. The receptionist, with a ‘who-is-this-evil-man- look’ bluntly tells me “no, we don’t do it here.”
I tried to ask if she could direct me to where I can get a D and C done for my girlfriend. The nurse — one quick glance at her and you would conclude she is a ‘Pastor — casts another desperate look at me. “Mr man, I say I don’t know,” she says, in a brusque, brisk tone.
As I exited the clinic and descended the stairs of the building. I knew that my second strategy for exposing this abortion clinic had just been scuppered…or so I thought.
I went back inside the hospital to request for the doctor’s number. I gave him a call the following day, and the following conversation ensued:
“My name is Tunde, a friend of mine gave me your number. My girlfriend is two months pregnant; we are not ready for the baby. My friend told me you can help us solve the problem, I said.
The doctor, who never bothered to confirm which of his clients referred me, was quick to affirm that he can abort the pregnancy. “When last did she see her period? he asks. The doctor asks me to come with N22,000 to terminate a 2-month pregnancy. I told him I will bring my girlfriend in the evening. I never went back there.
The following day, I set out to meet one Mr. Seye, a pharmacist who specializes in illegal abortions. His shop is situated at Ogba Bustop, adjacent Tantalizers eatery, 200 meters from West African Examination Council (WAEC) office. His shop sits in-between a line of cosmetic shops. I glanced at the signpost, it read: ‘Five Dees Pharmacy’.
This time around, I went with a female friend who is not pregnant. Earlier, before the commencement of this investigation, a female friend, whom I had planned to use to disguise as my girlfriend, pulled out of the game for fear of being recognized and attacked by the ‘bad men’ after the story gets published. A police officer, whom I hinted of this investigation, had warned us to be ready for the consequences of exposing the abortionists. He, however, advised that “I apply wisdom and discretion in order to stay alive to tell more stories”. Luckily, two days into the investigation, alone, I was able to convince another lady to assist in pushing the investigation further.
Posing as a boyfriend, I ask Mr Seye to give me a drug that can be used to abort a pregnancy. With a curious look, Seye asks why I wanted my girlfriend to use a drug rather than have a ‘safe D and C’.
“I don’t know anywhere I can get that done; I am new in Lagos,” I reply.
Seye was quick to recommend himself as a qualified pharmacist, priding and reeling out the number of successful D and C’s he had carried out in the last few years.
He tells me he must carry out a test before any operation can be done.
“Follow me,” he says, after insisting that I would follow my girlfriend to where the pregnancy test will be carried out.
Seye, an averagely tall man, perhaps in his 40s, led the way to a small room inside his pharmacy. It turns out, the pharmacists, carries out the operation in a shack-size room right inside his pharmacy.
He did not take any record of my girlfriend, neither did he ask for any symptoms of pregnancy. It appears that, his motive was the money that he would receive from the operation. It took him less than ten minutes to conclude that my girlfriend is pregnant. This conclusion, he came to, after pressing her lower belly a few times. Seye says a foetus was present and an abortion must be done. We convinced him that we will be back for the operation the following day.
Unintended Pregnancies On the rise
Nigeria is not the only country in Africa where risky abortion is on the rise. About 93% of women of reproductive age in Africa live in countries with restrictive abortion laws. Medical experts say the deaths associated with unsafe abortion will continue to rise until either unintended pregnancies are significantly reduced or putting systems in place to ensure safe abortion.
While the number of unplanned pregnancies averted due to the use of up-to-the-minute methods of contraception continues to rise with the latest estimate nearing 1.5 million, the number of unintended pregnancies at risk of unsafe abortion in the country continues to rise as shown below.
The Guttmacher Institute connected unsafe abortion in Nigeria to the country’s high maternal mortality figures. While noting that abortions are common, and most are unsafe because they are done clandestinely, by unskilled providers or both, the institute noted that the practice of unsafe abortion is tightly connected to the death of many pregnant women in the country.
Black Market Abortion
The failure of hospitals to provide abortion services to patients, irrespective of their reasons, has created a booming business for anyone who can claim he or she can provide such.
Some other people in masquerade, parade illegally operating ‘clinics’ under the guise of having the healing hand. Such is the story of the sexy and quack abortionist, Mariam.
Mariam, a fashion designer, operates a tailoring shop in Isolo Area of Lagos State. It turns out, the tailoring shop is just a cover up for booming abortion business. Her shop is located at Ajao Estate, a stone throw from MTN connect office. The shop is situated in a green building housing a few line shops.
I had earlier told a friend, Mosunmola, that I needed a pharmacist who could help me terminate my girlfriend’s two- month unwanted pregnancy. She informs me of a tailor who combines her job with aborting pregnancies.
As usual, my ‘fake’ girlfriend and I paid a visit to Mariam’s shop. Entering the shop, you would have no reasons to doubt that any other activity goes on around there aside cutting and sowing of materials. There are three tailoring machines in the shop, littered with different catalogues of different cloth designs; a chest freezer, a wooden table for ironing, and a basket full of clothes. Don’t be deceived; this tailoring shop is an abortion center.
I told Mariam one of her clients referred me to her. After the entire introduction, Mariam took us to the inner room which had a bed for examination and abortion. The ‘tailor-doctor’ charges N1000 as consultation fee.
Over the next quarter-hour, she would give me a blow-by-blow explanation of the two methods of abortion. According to her, my girlfriend is meant to choose one.
“An abortion for a teen looks like a 1-2 inch blood clot on a menstrual pad in one day. It is not a human life.
“Medication abortion can safely be used up to the first 10 weeks of pregnancy”
“You can take pills – mifepristone and misoprostol – 24 to 48 hours apart.
“With these drugs, you will begin to miscarry after few minutes, even before you get home.
“There is also D and C. In this one, a tube is inserted through the vagina and a machine is used to gently evacuate the fetus and other tissues.
“So it depends on your body system. You can choose anyone.”
We decided to go for D and C. She tells us her operation fee is twenty thousand naira. For some minutes, we haggled over the price before she finally settled for ten thousand naira.
“I’m sorry, uncle, N5,000, cannot do it,” says the fair-complexioned lady in a courteous, in fact, apologetic, tone.
We told her we would go and hustle for the money and come back the following day.
Abortion at Home
After exiting Mariam’s shop, I called 0805*45*71*. (Remember a doctor at Deji Clinic had earlier referred me to a ‘professional nurse’. She gave me her price, fifteen thousand naira, and I requested for her address. I headed to her house at 33 Ijero street, Agiliti, Mile 12, Lagos.
“Who are you,” asks a robustly-built man. With his swag, one can easily deduce he is the security man employed to secure the large compound housing three block of flats.
“Looks like you’re a stranger here?” he says, in a nondescript tone that is neither interrogative nor sentential. I called the nurse again, then she came outside to pick me. I later got to know her name as Chinwe.
Nurse Chinwe, a calm, soft-spoken, simple lady with a suspiciously innocent mien, swings her voluptuous, scantily-covered hips as she leads me to her apartment.
It was a very short visit. I had deliberately made it short in other not to get ‘caught in the act’
I told her my girlfriend had gone to work and I only came to see her and have some discussions before bringing my girlfriend later in the evening.
“I believe you can do a clean job without any complication, since it was a doctor that directed me to you. I don’t want any issue at all. I prefer a clean job”, I told Chinwe.
Switching between English and Pidgin, the three-minute tutorial that followed confirmed nurse Chinwe conducts abortion procedure in her two-bedroom apartment.
“You said your girlfriend is two months pregnant abi? Congratulations, she teased.
“But the safest period to abort a pregnancy is in the first trimester, and from what you have said, your girlfriend falls in this category.
“Even the Doctor wey direct you come here know say my work dey clean.
“No be today I start this thing, ehn, no worry,” she added.
I, however, insisted I wanted to take a glance at the room where the procedure will be done, as this would inform my decision on whether or not to bring my girlfriend. She hesitated for some time, but, seeing that I was bent on my stance, and because she doesn’t want to lose ten thousand naira, Chinwe reluctantly led me into one of the rooms.
The room contains two beds, two mattresses and pillows. In spite of scrubs, visible signs of bloodstains decorate the spreads laid on the beds. Beside one of the beds is a box filled with gloves. Then there is cotton with which she wipes off blood and other stains after the operation.
When clients become sick or feel like vomiting, there is a medical renal dish at their service. Her abortion tools are placed on a wooden table at the edge of the room. A 32inches Samsung LCD sits comfortably on the white painted wall. A GOTV decoder sits on a black shelf below the television.
A table-size refrigerator poses at the other end of the room, while an industrial OX fan, just beside the TV, blows at an average speed. Apparently, clients who decide to take some rest can easily feel at home inside the abortion room.
After seeing all these, I told the abortion-nurse I would be back in the evening with my pregnant girlfriend.
Chinwe performs the operation alone without any assistance from any nurse or medical personnel.
As I was leaving Chinwe’s apartment, a lady saunters in.
“You see that lady that just came in, she is also here for what you came for”, she says, with a full smile.
Availability Of Abortion Drugs
The price of black-market abortions differs widely; the cheapest procedures tend to be the most dangerous. In spite of legal restriction, abortion rate is still high in Nigeria. For as low as N1,000, a woman could procure abortion drugs in the country. While abortion practices are illegal in hospitals, Information Nigeria confirmed that abortion drugs can be easily gotten over-the-counter in chemist shops in several parts of the country.
Where mifepristone is not available, misoprostol alone is being used by abortion seekers to remove unplanned pregnancies. Misoprostol is available under the brand names Cytotec, Miso-fem and Vanaprazol – 200, while Mifepristone is available as a combipack under the brand name Mifepack.
Many pharmacies sell misoprostol, a drug for post-partum haemorrhage that can also be used to induce abortion. While the sale of misoprostol requires a doctor’s prescription, many pharmacists willingly sell it over the counter.
“I was denied abortion at a hospital sometimes last year, but then, I went to a chemist very close to that same hospital and the man I met in the shop gave me misoprostol without asking questions,” a 27-year-old lady who does not want her name in print told this Journalist in Lagos.
According to her, she was panicked to ask for advice on abortion when she was denied the service at the private hospital but the experience at the pharmacy was a sharp contrast. She was told on what to use, how to use it and what to do afterwards.
This investigation reveals that dilation and curettage can be done by quacks for N10,000 while hospitals charge about N22,000 for same procedure.
Quote: “The job of an investigative journalist is about life and death. Any miscalculation will lead to fatal consequences” – Anas Aremeyaw Anas
Editor’s Note: Names of some clinics were intentionally hidden to avoid girls and other abortion seekers from taking advantage of it.Further, with the aid of a secret camera, this journalist secretly filmed and recorded doctors and quacks he had encounters with. Hence, video and audio records of doctors agreeing to perform abortion are available on request by security agencies.
More photos have emerged showing the 74-year-old Indian woman who gave birth to twins.
A 74-year-old woman, Yerramatti Raja Rao in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh has given birth to twin girls.
Doctors delivered the twins, who were born following IVF treatment, on Thursday.
“The mother and the babies are doing well,” Dr Uma Sankar, the woman’s doctor, told BBC Telugu.
Mangayamma Yaramati said she and her husband, who is 82 years old, have always wanted children but had been unable to conceive until now.
“We are incredibly happy,” her husband Sitarama Rajarao told BBC Telugu on Thursday, hours after the babies were born.
But just a day later, Mr Rajarao suffered a sudden stroke and is currently being treated in hospital.
“Nothing is in our hands. Whatever should happen will happen. It is all in the hands of God,” Mr Rajarao had said when asked who would care for the children in case anything were to happen to the couple due to their advanced age.
Having children was important to the couple, who also said that they felt stigmatised in their village.
“They would call me a childless lady,” Ms Yaramati said.
“We tried many times and saw numerous doctors,” she added, “so this is the happiest time of my life.”
The twin girls were delivered by Caesarean section, which is the usual method in such rare cases.
In 2016, another Indian woman in her 70s, Daljinder Kaur, gave birth to a boy.
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