News 6
Daily Times Nigeria Tuesday, August 11, 2015
Palace imposes day curfew over Ooni Sodiq Adekunle Osogbo
ÏÏÏIn a test of wills between mo-
dernity and tradition, the Ile Ife palace has declared a 9am to 4pm curfew for Wednesday (tomorrow) to conclude the rite of passage of the demised foremost Yoruba traditional ruler, Oba Okunade Sijuwade. The death of the monarch, which had for about two weeks been denied by the palace, will be formally announced by the cult after the curfew for the dreaded cult known as “oro.” Two legal practitioners who spoke to the Daily Times on Monday night declared that the day curfew is a breach of the people’s constitutionally-guaranteed right to freedom of movement. They also wondered how such a proclamation could be made in this age, particularly if a medical emergency arises during the period. The Daily Times had reported on Monday the fears of the residents that an important ingredient for the burial rites was missing, a phrase they interpreted to mean the Aboba
ku, one who dies with a monarch. The Yoruba tradition believes that a monarch cannot embark on the journey to the great beyond unaccompanied. During the lifetime of the monarch, a person is named for the role and is said to enjoy immense benefits with the monarch. At the demise of the traditional ruler, the Abo ba ku meekly surrenders to death. Although unconfirmed, residents of the town were on Monday reported by the Daily Times to be afraid that the unidentified person had gone underground. An aide of the Osun State Government, who spoke under anonymity denied knowledge of the curfew. The aide told the Daily Times: “The Governor has been busy with the Osun summit and he also made a dash to Ilesa over Sunday night’s market fire. We have no hand in any curfew.” Meanwhile, the official proclamation of the demise of Oba Sijuwade will be made public on Wednesday (tomorrow), according to the Awara of Iwara-Ife, Oba Layi Adereti.
Oba Adereti, who is also the head of the Oro cult in Ile Ife, made the disclosure on Monday while speaking on the preparation of the burial of the monarch who was said to have passed on at the Saint Mary Hospital in London about two weeks ago. According to the traditional ruler, who spoke for the first time on the reported demise of the foremost monarch, the Oro festival is the final rite of passage for an Ooni. He stated that 9am to 4pm on Wednesday has been fixed for the final pronouncement of the demise of Ooni. Additionally, Oba Adereti informed all residents, male and female, to remain indoors during the rite. He declared that after the Oro and proclamation, subsequent rites would follow. The monarch added that though only females are normally barred when Oro festival is being held, this time round, it has no respect for any gender. The monarch added: “This is an official statement from the palace
of Awara of Iwara-Ife who is the head of Oro deity that on Wednesday 12th August 2015, there would be official proclamation of the demise of Ooni of Ife. The proclamation will be made public during the Oro festival, being the final rites on the demise of Ooni of Ife. “The residents of the ancient town are therefore urged to keep away from the streets between the hours of 9am and 4pm during which the Oro deity will be out. “With the announcement, people are advised to stay in-door for the period when the Oro will be out.” Two Lagos State-based legal practitioners, Messrs Tunde Popoola and Chris Okorocha told the Daily Times that the day curfew contradicts section 41 of the constitution. It reads: (1) “Every citizen of Nigeria is entitled to move freely throughout Nigeria and to reside in any part thereof, and no citizen of Nigeria shall be expelled from Nigeria or refused entry thereby or exit therefrom. (2) Nothing in subsection (1) of this section shall invalidate any law that is reasonably justifiable in a democratic society(a) imposing restrictions on the
residence or movement of any person who has committed or is reasonably suspected to have committed a criminal offence in order to prevent him from leaving Nigeria; or (b) providing for the removal of any person from Nigeria to any other country to:(i) be tried outside Nigeria for any criminal offence, or (ii) undergo imprisonment outside Nigeria in execution of the sentence of a court of law in respect of a criminal offence of which he has been found guilty: Provided that there is reciprocal agreement between Nigeria and such other country in relation to such matter. Popoola said: “Nothing in these provisions allows any group of Nigerians to impose restrictions on other citizens, particularly at day time. What happens in an emergency? If a woman falls into labour, or someone suddenly falls critically ill? What about travelers from villages who may not have access to radio and newspapers and may have cause to visit Ile Ife during the period? “This curfew is a test case whether Nigeria is in the 21st Century or is still locked in the 13th Century.”
PDP, APC in war of words Continued from page 4
Chairman, National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Abdullahi Mohammed; Sultan of Sokoto, Alh. Muhammed Sa’ad Abubakar III and the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi 11 at a stakeholders conference in Abuja… on Monday
ment are already hounding civil servants for inflated concessions, allocations, jobs and other favours being unduly granted, making the system fertile for heavy financial sleazes in the absence of appropriate statutory supervising officers.
UK court jails student who stabbed Nigerian teacher Ngozi Okafor, London
ÏÏÏA
14-year-old pupil who stabbed his 50-year-old Nigerian teacher, Vincent Uzomah, early in June, was on Monday sentenced to 11 years imprisonment by a Bradford Crown Court in the United Kingdom. The crime was committed at the Dixons Kings Academy, Bradford, where Uzomah a Nigeriatrained Engineer was a supply (temporary) teacher. The convict could be released on license in three years. The court heard that the student - who cannot be named being a minor- not only discussed the stabbing with a friend a day before the incident, but also boasted
about it on Facebook and got at least “69 likes.” Judge Durham Hall described the conduct of those who liked the crime as sick, noting further that “it’s an appalling reflection on a small microcosm of our society that within minutes or hours after posting, 69 people liked. How sick?” Jailing the boy of Asian descent, Hall told him: “You boasted about it before, you boasted about it after when you had stabbed him.” The judge added: “What you did to Vincent Uzomah was of such shocking seriousness that this man sitting in court, a God-fearing gentleman, first of all thought he was going to die.”
He specifically noted that, “you have, by your actions, changed his life.” The prosecutor, Jonathan Sharp, told the court that “the Crown’s case in consequence is that the attack was, at least in part, racially motivated.” Sharp said that prior to the day of the attack, the teenager had told a friend that he was planning to stab a teacher and then followed this up by taking a knife with a “substantial blade “ into school on June 11, when he then knifed the teacher in the stomach, after the latter asked him to bring his mobile phone - to prevent causing disruption in the science lesson. Sharp said also that on the morning that Uzomah was
stabbed in the classroom , the boy , according to witnesses , was “getting angry, red in the face and putting his head down and muttering the words bastard ,” among others. Speaking after the boy was jailed, the Nigerian who was in court with his wife, said: “As a Christian, I have forgiven this boy who inflicted this pain and trauma on myself and my family.” The boy, meanwhile, yawned as the sentence was being read. Uzomah , in a prepared statement, said he prayed that the boy would use the opportunity presented to him to change his life. Prior to stabbing Uzomah, the boy already had a criminal record.
“This is in addition to the avoidable economic downturn now manifesting in the abandonment of ongoing infrastructural projects, crippling of foreign and domestic investments and continued slide in the money and capital markets. “Finally, we want to reiterate our earlier call on Nigerians to continue to pray for President Muhammadu Buhari, who for obvious reasons is surrounded by people whose divergent personal interests have become a huge burden on our dear nation, the integrity of this government, the health of our economy and sustenance of our democracy”, it declared. But Mohammed, in a statement entitled: “Buhari Administration will not be deterred by orchestrated distractions,” declared that the “distractions being orchestrated by certain elements in the polity would not deter the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari from its avowed determination to rescue Nigeria from the clutches of those who areholding the country by the jugular.” The party said that the people, “including fringe elements, who have frenetically engaged in fault finding with the Buhari Administration,” were those who either had skeletons in their cupboards or were acting at their behest, “for a fee.”