Saudi Arabia deports Nigerian women pilgrims

Saudi Arabia deports Nigerian women pilgrims

Saudi Arabia yesterday ignored protests by the Nigerian government over the deportation of female pilgrims to the holyland as the Saudi authorities deported another batch of 510 Nigerian female pilgrims to this year’s hajj. 171 pilgrims had earlier been deported on Wednesday.

The authorities of Saudi Arabia insisted that the women were unaccompanied by male relations which was considered against laid down rules of the kingdom. An adamant Saudi Arabia has so far refused to yield any ground to Nigeria on the issue of alleged unaccompanied female pilgrims, in spite of spirited diplomatic efforts by the Federal Government. An intriguing development was that the husband of one of the female deportees also returned home with his wife, in protest, when the Saudi Authorities refused to clear his wife, even after explaining that he was the husband of the woman.

A highly placed source at the National Hajj Commission who disclosed this said that the return (in protest) by the male pilgrim in question was an indication that there was more to the stance of the Saudi authorities than meets the eyes. He said: “On board of the plane bringing the women is also a male pilgrim. He decided to return home with his wife in protest when his explanations and entreaties to the fact that his wife was accompanied fell on deaf ears. That shows clearly that there is more to the issue than meets the eyes”.

It was learnt that the Chairman of the commission, Mallam Mohammed Bello, had a hectic day in Abuja, yesterday, as he had to shuttle between the Presidency and the National Assembly to brief his bosses in the executive, as well as, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, who is the leader of the Federal Government delegation to this year’s hajj. Officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, were, until yesterday, still making efforts to get the necessary clearance for a Federal Government delegation to visit Saudi Arabia with a view to resolving the issue.

President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan had on Wednesday constituted a Presidential delegation to interface with the Saudi authorities over the issue surrounding the detained Nigerian female pilgrims at King Abdul-Azziz International Airport, Jeddah. The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, named Aminu Tambuwal as leader of that delegation. Other members are: Minister of State II for Foreign Affairs, Dr. Nuruddeen Mohammed, Ambassador Shehu Galadanchi; Sheikh Sherif Saleh and Chairman of the Hajj Commission, Muhammad Bello. The delegation is expected to depart for Saudi Arabia as soon as an appointment is finalised with the appropriate Saudi authorities.

Senate had on Wednesday asked President Goodluck Jonathan to liaise with the King of Saudi Arabia, King Fahad Abdulaziz to allow over 1, 500 Nigerian female pilgrims stranded in Saudi airport entry into the holy land to perform their hajj. The directive was upon the adoption of a motion entitled, ‘Refusal of the Saudi Arabian Authority to grant entry to over 500 Nigerian female pilgrims’ sponsored by Senator Atiku Bagudu. Leading debate on the motion, Bagudu lamented the refusal of Saudi Arabian authorities to allow the pilgrims entry into the country despite fulfilling all visa requirements. He said, “Over 500 Nigerian female pilgrims from the various states of the federation that arrived Saudi Arabia for this year’s hajj were denied entry upon arrival at the airport in Jedda and Medina. “All the requirements for visa and entry into Saudi Arabia had been met by the pilgrims and were still denied entry.”

The motion was widely supported by Senators as some of them that spoke yesterday urged Nigerian government to quickly intervene in the crisis, adding that the stranded pilgrims are going through untold hardships. Senator Uche Chukwumerije, PDP, Abia while contributing to the motion asked the Federal Government to develop a new foreign policy that will protect Nigerians abroad. He said, “Nigeria must take a robust diplomatic position and make it clear to the world that any Nigeria anywhere must be given protection of that place, if they failed, we are going to visit same on their citizens here.” Chukwumerije also urged the Senate to mandate local coordinating authorities to ensure that pilgrims fulfill all the legal requirements of Saudi Arabia before embarking on pilgrimage.

Senate President, David Mark, who presided over the motion in his ruling, decried the situation despite interventions from Federal Government. Mark urged the Saudi Arabia authorities to allow the pilgrims perform their religious obligation having arrived in the country. He said, “I think that from the effort so made by the Minister of foreign affairs, rather than urge government, I think that we should ask the President to talk directly with the Saudi king because the way they operate there, nobody else may make any difference.

The foreign Affairs Minister has done all he can, he has spoken to his counterpart, he has invited the ambassador, they have done whatever they possibly can and nothing has changed “Our pilgrim having gone this far, we should insist that they should be allowed to perform the hajj and if there are lessons, we will take the necessary corrections.”

It will be recalled that no fewer than 1200 Nigerian female pilgrims from Taraba and Katsina states who were denied entry into Saudi Arabia and deported from the Medina airport, yesterday arrived the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, .. Meanwhile, the Saudi Arabian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Khalid Abdrabuh yesterday gave an assurance that the controversy over the detention of about 1,200 female Nigerian pilgrims in Saudi Arabia will be resolved today. More than 908 women were detained at the Jeddah Airport while 171 of them were deported to Nigeria on Wednesday.

The Saudi Ambassador explained that the issue of detention of pilgrims who failed to meet entry requirements was not restricted to Nigeria. According to him, some pilgrims from other countries have also been subjected to similar screening on arrival at the Holy Land. He also hinted that officials of the Saudi Ministry of Hajj were already holding talks with a delegation of the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Mecca on the issue. He made the pledge shortly after meeting with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal at the National Assembly.

The Federal Government had on Wednesday given the Saudi Arabian government 24 hours to resolve the issue. The Vice President, Namadi Sambo who gave the order also appointed Tambuwal as head of federal government delegation to Saudi Arabia to resolve the impasse. On the strenght of that presidential intervention, Tambuwal met with the Saudi Arabian envoy behind closed doors on Thursday where the duo deliberated on the way out of the pilgrimage standoff. Tambuwal who spoke to journalists at the end of the meeting also disclosed that the Nigerian mission in Riyadh has been meeting with the Saudi authorities to resolve the situation. However, chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Hon. Nnenna Elendu-Ukeje, has warned that Nigeria will not hesitate to bring back her people if the issue was not resolved today.

The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria had on Wednesday briefed the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House on the matter. The standoff began when the Saudi Arabian authorities discovered that hundreds of female Nigerian pilgrims were without their statutory male escorts which is a prerequisite to entry into Saudi Arabia.

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Why Airhiavbere should respect party discipline & people’s mandate

Abubakar Yesufu, a former president, Students Union, University of Benin; chairman, League of Patriotic Lawyers and one of the 22 lawyers the late Gani Fawehinmi led to defend MKO Abiola’s Concorde Newspapers in the celebrated case between Supreme Court judges and the media house, opens up on Comrade Adams Oshiomhole’s re-election, the case filed by General Airhiavbere of the PDP against the result of the poll, Boko-Haram and the CBN’s bid to introduce N5, 000 note.

Excerpt: Oshiomhole was re-elected overwhelmingly by the people of Edo State, but the PDP candidate, General Airhiavbere, has gone to the tribunal contesting the eligibility of the Comrade-governor. What is your take on this? First, the league tries as much as possible to distance itself from partisan politics. Second, the case is subjudice and there is a limit to which we can comment on this. We have since advised and written to General Airhiavbere as an officer and a gentleman to withdraw this petition.

Oshiomhole’s overwhelming victory was altogether not unexpected. The comrade’s service delivery was unparalleled. A visit to Edo State before the election would reveal the developments, from road construction to rehabilitation of dilapidated schools, from youth empowerment to robust and economic growth, were all just too visible to ignore by Edo discerning voters. I last saw caterpillar/bulldozers during the days of Gwarto, Mother Cat, Niger Cat when these construction giants held sway in the then Bendel State.

The comrade-governor re-ignited these and other projects reminiscent of Ogbemudia’s days. Suffice to say that these developments were not just confined to Benin City, the state capital, but also replicated across the three senatorial districts. Third, the comrade-governor had a lot of fiery foot-soldiers like Charles Idahosa that took the campaign beyond the state to even Edo in Diaspora, conscientizing and sensitizing them. The General really had no chance. Advice to Airhiavbere Since the party chairman, Chief Dan Orbih, deputy governorship candidate Abulagba and other respected party chieftains advised against this case; he should do the needful by adhering to party discipline. He ran a good campaign. He must also respect the wish of his party and the will of the people. Afterall, he did not run as an independent candidate.

On Oshiomhole’s qualification canvassed by Airhiavbere I think the General is mistaken. Oshiomhole’s humble beginning cannot be a plank for disqualification. The General should be a good student of history. The comrade-governor has never denied his humble background. History is replete with men of humble beginnings. Harry Truman, a former president of the United States, had a very humble beginning. He indeed took over from Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Truman was born into a farming family in Missouri; after high school, Truman was employed in a few odd jobs, before returning to labour on the family farm. College was not on the cards for Henry, he could not afford to attend any school except West point, they even turned him down because of his poor eyesight. Truman then became the only president to serve after 1897, who did not have a college degree. He was elected as a county judge in 1934 and rose to be a senator, then V.P to F.D.R. When F.D.R. died, he became the president. History is replete with examples of men of humble beginnings.

Henn Ford 1863-1947, Ronald Reagan 1911-2004, Andrew Carnage 1835-1919, Booker T. Washington 1856-1915, Milton S. Hensley 1857-1945 all had very humble and sometimes obscure beginnings. Their beginnings did not obscure their greatness or contributions to society. The Nigerian constitution says all you require is school certificate or its equivalent. Oshiomhole’s qualification transcends this.

On N5, 000 bank note Governor Lamido Sanusi has not convinced Nigerians what this bill is out to cure. The 40 billion cost of production is senseless. Is this policy out to cure our hyper inflation exhibited by the high interest rate, improper banking discipline, unemployment, corruption or what? Issues like this should be discussed before a decision is taken. This policy reversal or a somersault would have been avoided. The introduction of the N5, 000 would strengthen corruption; right from 1973, when the naira was re-denominated to reflect higher value, it has often led to regime of increased and sustained poor fiscal financing. Sanusi should concentrate on how to bring down this double digit interest rate, retrenchment of bank workers without terminal benefits, etc.

On Edo after Oshiomhole It is too early to comment on this. We are only advising the comrade-governor to sustain the developments he has commenced. One thing, however, is certain: We shall no longer tolerate mediocrity at Osadebey Avenue (Government House). On Boko-Haram The Federal Government must initiate sustained process of dialogue with the group. The present crop of elites the government is engaging to dialogue on behalf of Boko-Haram brought all the misgovernance to the North. Dialogue should be with the leaders not those that brought this anomaly.

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Confession: Man Who Lost Wife and Son To Governor Mimoko’s Election Rituals

History is characterized by tragic irony. Mr. Ademuyiwa Adeyeye, a former aide of Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko, must have thought the steps he allegedly took to ensure the victory of the governor in 2007 governorship election in the state would change his life for better. But tragically, the steps led him and members of his family to sorrow, tears, blood and death.

In his shocking revelation in an interview programme on the only private radio station [ADABA FM] in the state last Friday, claimed they took several lives in different parts of Ondo state to ensure Mimiko's victory in 2007 election. Ademuyiwa revealed that Governor Mimiko sent him, the late Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon. Oye Alademehin, the late Senator Iwakun and one other person to India to consult marabouts.

According to him, they also went to a town in Ijebu land where they were told to go and be killing goats in different towns and villages in the state. The lot fell on Ademuyiwa to kill the goats. But without knowing, he was killing human beings. After the killing, Ademuyiwa, who said he was well known among members of the drivers' union [NURTW], said he met his wife on his way back and hugged her, but immediately his wife developed swelling breasts. He said he spent all his fortunes on his wife's health. Doctor eventually told him the wife had cancer of the breast and had to remove the pair of breasts. At the end of the day, he lost the wife. He also told listeners that he lost one of his children.

Revealing this, Ademuyiwa said "We went to India to make rituals. When we got to Ondo State, the governor and late Alademehin [a.k.a Dead Body] said we had to kill goats in different parts of the state for peace to reign. Of course, I was the one that killed the goats without knowing that I was killing human beings. On my way back, my wife met and hugged me. Her breasts began to swell. I took her to different traditional healing homes. "When I did not get good result, I took her to the hospital.

It was at this point that the doctor said it was cancer of the breast. They removed the two breasts, yet I lost her. I also lost my son. It was at this point that I was advised to go to a church in Lagos. It was there I met T.B Joshua who is from Akoko, he said I should go and confess my sins to the people of Ondo State". While narrating how they started the spiritual's trip, Ademuyiwa explained that "When we were coming from Ijebu where will were giving a python snake which would bbe an instrument for the governor, some people laid spiritual ambush for us.

Alademehin told me to drive on, because I was the one that drove the car, I told him no. "He now called the Ijebu herbalist who told us that he already saw it. He then removed the embargo; we brought the snake and dropped it very close to the governor's pond in Ondo. It is still there as I speak with you. If you doubt my story, go there. You will see the snake. You can also tune your TV to the Emmanuel TV and you will see my deliverance there. "Everybody in the drivers' union knows me very well. The governor came to me with N3million after losing my wife and a child. I told him I don't want blood money again. I want peace in my family, not blood money". "When I visited the T.B Joshua's church, [Synagogue Church of All Nations in Lagos ]the man of God told him to go and confess his sin, saying that he was the only precondition for him not to lose other children.

"I want you to forgive me. I don't want to lose any of my children again. I have lost one of them as well as my wife. The man of God that comes from Akoko land with a big and popular Church in Lagos told me that until I confess and ask for your forgiveness, I will lose more people in my family. Every members of the drivers' union knows me very well. The man of God gave me anointed water. I want you to tune to his TV channel if you are in doubt. You will see the day I was delivered" He said. According to him, a python was given to them by one of the herbalists in Ijebu land.

The dangerous snake, he said, is currently around Mimiko's fish pond in Ondo town. Speaking on the ordeal of his wife, Ademuyiwa said, the late Hon. Alademehin came to his aid by giving him money. He said among the people that went for that ritual, he was the only one that is alive and not afflicted by any disease, but not without losing his wife and one of his children, His words, "I am the only one who is still alive and not afflicted by any serious ailment among the four of us who perform the rituals for Mimiko. After seeing the snake, I asked late Senator Iwakun if there would not be any repercussion. Iwakun said he did not mind whatever repercussion that might arise from killings and the python charm. Four days later, Iwakun gave up the ghost. "Before the death of Iwakun, Hon. Oye Alademehin had an intractable ailment that led to his premature death.

Governor Mimiko visited him on his sick bed in one of the Lagos hospital and promised him that he would take care of his family since he laid down his life for him to become the governor of the state. The last person that was privy to the devilish act is at Alagbaka in Akure, currently battling with paralysis. "When the man suffered the killer ailment, Governor Mimiko gave him N6million. But that money could not cure his infirmity".

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GSM Service Providers May Have to Withdraw Services from the North

Following the series of attacks on the installations of GSM service providers and some other telecommunications service providers in the north over the past few days, the umbrella body of the telecommunication operators, the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) on Thursday said its members – MTN, GLO, Airtel and Etisalat will cut off services from the North. According to ALTON, the number of base stations vandalized in the north so far has been put at 26. Yet another base station belonging to an indigenous telecoms infrastructure company (IHS Nigeria) was bombed in Kano on Thursday, barely 24 hours after the attack on several base stations in Borno, Yobe, Bauchi and Gombe states. According to the ALTON president, Gbenga Adebayo, an emergency meeting of the association’s executives had been called for today (Friday) to decide on what next to do. He says, “If it becomes impossible to continue to do business in the face of rising attacks on telecoms sites, operators will naturally suspend operations in the area… This is because beyond base stations, these elements may begin to target telecoms operators‘ offices and data centers among other key infrastructure. That is why it is important that the situation is curtailed before it gets to that point.” Meanwhile, JTF in Borno State yesterday said terrorists’ attacks on telecom masts were designed to “disrupt” communication services and prevent residents from providing information on the activities of gunmen to the military and the police so that they can protect life and property.