THE Senior Pastor of Commonwealth of Zion Assembly (COZA), Biodun Fatoyinbo, on Sunday suspended a 7-day scheduled programme amidst the alleged rape scandal which followed a protest at the church entrances.
The protesters laid siege at the entrances of the church located in Guzape, Abuja and Ikeja, Lagos State to express their grievances, calling for the sack of Fatoyinbo as well as court action. They had placards with inscriptions – “An alleged rapist should have his time in court”, “When, where, why, how doesn’t matter, Take a stand today”, “No to sexual abuse in the church,” among others.
As a result, Fatoyinbo told the church congregation of the new development towards the end of the service stressing that he was never desperate about the popular programme.
Coza Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo advising his church members not to fight with any of the protesters outside the church but He didn’t mention a single thing about the rape matter he is being accused of doing!! And everyone is there hailing him ????????♂️????????♂️ #stepdownpastor#COZApic.twitter.com/WUkaiHKZko
The programme holds every first week of January and the first week of July. The invited speakers, he said won’t have to be subjected to security checks due to the ongoing crisis, thus cancelled.
“Be that as it may because of what is going on, I am not a desperate person to say we must have the programme,” says Fatoyinbo.
“I am a peaceful person. So because of this, we are going to have prayers every day for those who are interested to come but we are not going to have 7 days of Glory…because I don’t want all those kinds of stuff. I know we are prayerful people. I think last month we prayed for a whole month, as we do all the time. Please, let’s be people of peace.”
The clergy has recently been in the news for an alleged rape case, involving Busola Dakolo, a photographer, who is also the wife of a Nigerian artist, Timi Dakolo.
Prominent Nigerians including Former Senior Special Adviser to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Matters, Abike Dabiri-Erewa and Ex-Director General of the Bureau of Public Service Reform (BPSR), Dr Joe Abah threw their support for Busola, the mother of three.
“It would have taken incredible courage for a public figure, mother and wife IN NIGERIA to come out and do what Busola Dakolo did. Many women may not even tell their husbands and would rather think “Naa. I have too much to lose.” I hope the matter gets to court soon,” Abah stated.
However, Fatoyinbo further told the church that, “If you want to pray with us, you want to come here for the regular 7 days of glory where speakers come…you don’t even want to put your speakers through security check. Apart from the fact that the Lord spoke to me about what is happening, my mentors told me this is what we need to do. We know what we stand for in COZA.
“Also, when you are going out, you will be directed on how to. Please don’t fight anybody. Don’t reply to anybody. You came to worship; you should know better, how many of you have been blessed in COZA?”
“They may say things to you. It doesn’t matter. You have a personal experience of church…so be decent. I want to appeal to those who are in church and will be facing trouble. I don’t want security agencies to handle you roughly and you say its officers. Please behave yourself and make sure everything is in place. The lord is your strength,” he added.
In his reaction, a lawyer, Barrister Pelumi Olajengbesi told The ICIR of why the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) should take up the matter, invite both parties and investigate the allegation.
Olajengbesi noted that though rape cases are always difficult to prove in court, especially when there is no verifiable evidence, the victim could make use of the medical report or police extracts if there was any.
According to the lawyer, who is also the Convener for the Coalition of Public Interest Lawyers, the police are legally responsible to promote law and order.
“Nigerian police cannot wait for the matter but it should do its job by inviting both parties since it has become a national concern,” says Olajengbesi.
“Yes, it is provable in court but it depends on medical pieces of evidence and there must be witnesses. This matter may unravel new things. Rape case is very difficult to prove in court. Sadly, people are not convicted of rape but sexual assaults.”
ON May 3, over 132 oil and gas marketing firms had submitted bids for the lifting of Nigeria’s crude oil under the Direct Sales Direct Purchase, DSDP, contracts, but only 14 firms have emerged successful.
According to a report, several local and international firms that became eventual winners, had formed mergers with two or three other firms to stand a chance at getting the contracts.
The successful companies includes BP/AYM Shafa Limited, Vitol-Hyson/Calson/VaroTrafigura, PTE Limited /AA Rano, MRS, Oando PLC/CEPZA Consortium, Bono Energy Limited /Akleen/Amazon/Eterna PLC, Eyrie/Masters Energy Oil & Gas Limited/Cassiva/Asean Group, Mercuria Energy Trading SA/Barbedos/Petrogas/ Rainoil Limited and TOTSA.
Others are Matrix Energy Limited/Mocoh Oil & Gas/Levene/Petra Atlantic, Duke Oil Company Incorporated, Sahara Energy Resources Limited and Gunvor Limited. The fourteenth successful company is yet to be ascertained.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, is yet to officially announce the list of successful bidders.
But insider sources said the successful bidders would be allocated over 445,000 barrels per day of Nigeria’s crude oil to supply petroleum products to the country under the 2019/2020 DSDP scheme.
The DSDP scheme was launched in 2016 after the 2015 crude oil Offshore Processing Arrangement, OPA, contracts had been marred with corrupt practices.
It is estimated that from 2016 and March 2019, about 29.5 million metric tonnes of petroleum products have been supplied under the DSDP scheme.
This volume represents over 90 per cent of the national requirement of about 55 million litres daily.
The incoming General Managing Director of the NNPC, Melee Kyari, had served as General Manager, Crude Oil Marketing Department overseeing the DSDP scheme with a vision to eliminate corruption in the country’s fuel supply system.
In another development, the outgoing NNPC Group Managing Director, Maikanti Baru, disclosed at an event on Friday that the NNPC has maintained its lead as the largest supplier of gas to the nation’s power sector.
He hinted that the level of achievements recorded through the 12 Business Focus Areas, BUFA, a strategy guide adopted by NNPC management under his reign, would surpass current milestones.
“The Nigerian Petroleum Development Corporation, NPDC’s production has grown in leaps and bounds making the NNPC now the largest gas supplier to the power sector and steady progress is being made on frontier exploration with the spud-in of Kolmani River-II Well,” he said.
He also listed several reasons for the increased production capacity of the corporation to meet its current milestones.
“Security challenges that had hampered exploration and production activities have been tamed, new business models have been developed across NNPC businesses which have led to phenomenal boosts in productivity and lessening of cash calls burden on the government, achieved through alternative funding arrangements we developed,” he stated.
A NEW report from the International Organisation for Migration stated more than 32,000 people have died while migrating illegally between 2014 to 2018.
The report titled “Fatal Journeys (volume 4): Missing Migrant Children” was launched on Friday at UNICEF’s office in Newyork.
Of the 32,000 migrants’ deaths, 17,900 people died or went missing in the Mediterranean sea where the remains of almost two-thirds of these victims, have not been recovered. It noted that around 1,600 were children, an average of one every day. But many more cases of deaths and missing go unrecorded, the report revealed.
As explained in the report, a re-introduction of border checks and increased militarization of the border by some countries to disallow travelling to Europe have resulted in “migrants being forced to take more dangerous routes, such as the Col de l’Échelle mountain pass across the French Alps”. Taking the routes led to the death of a 21-year-old Nigerian lady and two Guinean men in 2018, the report documented.
It also included that at least 231 people died in West African countries mainly Nigeria, Mali, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea Bissau and Burkina Faso in 2018.
The top causes of illegal migrants’ deaths include drowning, sickness and lack of access to medicine.
Testimonies from migrants interviewed by Mixed Migration Monitoring Mechanism Initiative show that people die due to sickness and lack of access to medicines, dehydration, harsh weather, lack of adequate shelter and vehicle accidents in 2018.
Among all cases documented for Nigeria was a case of a 21-year-old youth named as Rene from Delta State. He left Nigeria in 2016 when he was 18 years old with the aim of reaching Europe. He recounted that it took him two months to travel through the Niger and into Libya while being beaten and abused. “‘We woke up to see dead bodies around us at certain points,” Rene described his experience.
The IOM Global Migration Data Analysis Centre (GMDAC) in collaboration with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) that produced the report highlighted the need for better data on migrants deaths and disappearances, particularly for children who are one of the most vulnerable groups of migrants.
Frank Laczko, Director of IOM’s GMDAC said “the lack of data on the ages, characteristics and vulnerabilities of missing migrant children creates serious protection gaps. “It makes it very difficult to create programs and policies designed to protect them.”
Though the report indicates that there is a sharp drop in deaths between 2017 and 2018 —to 4,734 from 6,280—stems largely from a drop in the number of migrants using the Central Mediterranean route to Europe, IOM said the risk of death along the routes increased.
According to IOM’s Missing Migrant Project, 1242 cases of deaths have been recorded so far in 2019 between January 1 to June 27. The areas where high fatalities occurred in 2019 include the Mediterranean Sea, US-Mexico Border, Carribean, Horn of Africa, and Central America.
In November 2017, Italy performed a mass funeral for 26 young female Nigerians that drowned while crossing the Mediterranean Sea.
IF YOU asked Grace Bako, 10, or her sister, Janet, 14, what careers they’re interested in when they become grownups, they would reply, Medicine and Pharmacy. And if you asked why, their explanation would be: to treat people, especially little children, who are dealing with trauma.
What they may not immediately disclose though is that these crucial life choices are not unconnected to distressing events that took place in late 2017. Only nine and 12 years old at the time, Grace and Janet were sexually assaulted by their landlord, Ossai Anthony, who is now at large.
Their mother passed away in September 2013. Since then, their father, 44-year-old Samuel Bako has become a single parent. Being a security guard, Bako is not always around to keep a close watch on his two daughters. He resumed work at a hotel in Wuse II, and worked for seven days without a break, after which he had a week to rest. During weeks when he was away, he would stock the house and leave his three children under the care of his sister, Cecilia.
On Tuesday, December 19, 2017, he received a call from Cecilia. She discovered her nieces had bought a new pair of shoes for their brother and had their hair plaited. She wondered where they got the money from. Later, the children told her they got a cash gift of N1000 from the landlord. At that time their father was owing rents, and the landlord had been asking for it.
“He told me he wanted to send money to his family,” Bako recollects what the landlord told him when asking for the rent. “I told him I’d not received my November salary, he said okay. So, I didn’t know how he got the money he gave them [the girls].”
Bako hurried home the next day. After a lot of persuading, Grace narrated what happened while Janet insisted she was neither raped nor was aware of her sister being raped. He was outraged and wanted to act rashly. “My plan was that if I see this man, either of us has to die; but my sister begged me and said I should not do that.”
Examinations soon conducted by a nurse at a nearby pharmacy confirmed the girls had been “severely tampered with”. From there, they proceeded to the Mpape Police station. It was at this point Janet came clean to her aunt. The landlord has been sleeping with two sisters for a while.
The DPO recommended that more credible test results be obtained from Maitama District Hospital and instructed a police officer, Emmanuel, to accompany the family. There, the doctors also confirmed both girls had been defiled. The DPO then asked Bako to inform the police when they see the landlord so they can make an arrest. It’s been over 18 months since then and Anthony is still nowhere to be found, nor have attempts to find him yielded results.
Rape for rent
It was almost time for church service one Sunday morning, two years ago, and the young Bakos were preparing to attend. The youngest had gone to see their aunt who lives nearby and Janet had asked her sister to fetch him so they could all bathe. While waiting, the landlord stepped outside and asked to send her on an errand. She was about to have her bath, she explained, but the man insisted it was urgent.
Anthony, who worked as a carpenter, lived in a two-room apartment inside the same compound. When Janet arrived, he was seated in the room. Then, in an exaggerated manner, he began to search for money. “Kai! Where did I keep the money just now?” he’d asked rhetorically.
He left for the second room and instructed her to keep searching. As she did so, Anthony suddenly and silently sneaked up on her; she could feel his presence. Quickly, he held her hands and flung her on his bed.
“My voice was not loud,” Janet says as she fidgets with her toes. “I did not know what he used to cover my face, pillow or wrapper. The time he threw me on the bed, my wrapper nearly came off because I did not tie it properly. As it loosened, he lied on my body. Then he put his mouth in my private part. I was shouting but my voice was not loud enough.”
When he was satisfied, Anthony released her and stood up. The young girl threatened to reveal what had just happened to her father, but the landlord’s response shocked her. There is nothing his tenant can do about it, he mocked adding that, “I have done this for the first time, and I will do it a second time if your daddy does not pay his rent.”
Anthony, taking advantage of her naiveness, also threatened to take Janet to the juju back in his village, which he said would kill her, if she dared tell anyone.
It wasn’t the first time Anthony harassed her. On another occasion, when their father was away, he walked into their room and said he wished to sleep with them that night. The girls refused and managed to escape. At other times, he would invite them to his room when they were preparing to bathe, but they refused—though having no idea what he had in mind.
From her account, it appeared Grace suffered more at the hands of their landlord. Once, while her sister was in the bathroom, Anthony called her to help him wash plates and kitchen utensils.
“As I wanted to wash the plates, he called me and pushed me to his bed, and then …,” her muffled words peter out as she struggles to describe the scene. He had asked her to pull off her clothes and had his way with her. She cannot count how many times she was abused but says it is between five and 10 times.
“I want the government to help me fight for these children’s rights,” Bako says.
According to Nigeria’s Criminal Code, “any person who commits the offence of rape is liable to imprisonment for life, with or without caning.” The same punishment is prescribed by the law for the offence of defiling girls under the age of 13, whether or not consent was given. The Sexual Offences Bill, passed by the national assembly in 2015, also stipulates life imprisonment as the penalty for the offence.
Dogged pursuit of justice
A day after Bako discovered his daughters had been raped by the same man, the landlord’s sister came around, asking for her brother. Musa, a close friend of Anthony also paid visits and proposed that the case be settled out of court. In January, both Musa and Anthony’s sister returned and everyone went to see Bako’s tribal chief for mediation. Because of the chief’s insistence that the accused person must be present as well, Musa promised to bring him along the following Saturday—but that never happened.
“After I resumed work, I was called to visit Radio House immediately,” Bako narrates to The ICIR.
“I met Musa with the landlord’s younger sister. Musa said the landlord had been with her since the atrocities leaked. He hid because of fear of being killed. He also said he advised him to go to the Radio House, but the sister resisted and claimed he fled the previous night. She also said she doesn’t know where he was again.”
According to Bako, Manza Anjuguri, spokesman of the Abuja Police Command, called Radio House during the programme and instructed that they detain the woman. An inspector was then sent to arrest her. After a few days, she was given an ultimatum of two weeks to provide her brother. It lapsed, but she asked for more time with the excuse that she had no idea where he was and his phone number wasn’t reachable.
“After that time, I waited an additional one week before returning to the station. Then, they told me, ‘You know it is not the sister that is guilty but we only needed her to produce her brother,'” Bako recalls. “That is where the case is up till today. I’m not hearing from the police or the family.”
But the old man is yet to give up. He has officially lodged complaints with the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), and the Force Gender Unit.
The Human Rights Commission and NAPTIP have also taken Bako’s statements and those of his daughters, but the anti-trafficking agency was uncomfortable that the case is also being handled by the police.
“When they arrested the landlord’s sister, I called the Investigation Police Officer (IPO) at NAPTIP, Ismaila, to tell him the situation,” Bako says. “He began to shout at me and said if I want to deal with the police I should deal with the police, if I want to deal with NAPTIP I should deal with NAPTIP. He then ended the call abruptly. Since then, I have not gone to NAPTIP again.”
Janet: “He put his mouth in my private part. I was shouting but my voice was not loud enough.”
The Mpape police division is reluctant to move forward with the case or even charge the landlord’s sister for abetting. However, they eventually gave their word to prosecute, but Bako says they haven’t contacted him till today.
“As we were leaving, Inspector Henry told my IPO, Varem Robert, to call the woman and invite her surety. They said they would call me when they invite the woman. But I’ve not heard from them.”
Robert, in a meeting with this reporter, says while he sympathises with the girl’s father, he does not agree with how he handled the case from the start without carrying the police along, giving room for the suspect to escape. He also explains that the law does not permit that the landlord’s sister is prosecuted for a crime she did not commit.
“We made strenuous efforts to lure this guy through his sister but they were to no avail,” he says. “He started saying we were supposed to go to Delta … We communicated with the village, but they said they saw him once and then he disappeared.”
Bako discovered, on a Sunday in January, that the phone rang when he again called his landlord’s old phone number. He then gave updates to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad office in Zone II where he learnt the case file had been transferred from Mpape. But nothing has happened yet.
“The IPO, Inspector John, has also not called me; the last time we spoke he said they are working on it,” , and that was in January.
John, in a phone conversation on Thursday, confirmed they’ve “been taken steps”. “I just spoke to the father about 35 minutes ago and he said he has just got new information; so I’m still waiting for him to send it to me so we can work on it,” he says. He adds that the police have done everything possible and they hope to charge the suspect once he is arrested.
Police’s demand for mobilisation fee
According to Bako, the Gender Unit asked him to write a petition to the Inspector-General of Police and assigned IPO Onyinye Ibe to the case. After writing his statement, he says he was asked if he had money to pursue the matter and track down the suspect.
“Tooh!” he had replied. “I don’t have anything. And she said okay, I should go; she’ll call me. But up till now, nobody has called.”
Ibe, however, insists the unit did not “ask that man to bring any dime” and says, in fact, her “madame” gave his children some money.
But Usani Odum, a lawyer who worked with the Dorothy Njemanze Foundation and took up the case, confirms that a demand for money was made. Specifically, he was asked to bring N50,000 for mobilisation.
“Yes, it is true,” he says. “The suspect has since relocated to Delta State, and we established contact with him. So the problem was how to proceed to Delta State with the police to pick him up. It is for this purpose the police insisted we must mobilise them with N50,000. It was at this point I left the case and subsequently relocated.”
Odum gave the name of the officer who made the demand as Yetunde, whom Ibe had described earlier as her former “team leader” and a CSP (Chief Superintendent of Police) who instructed her to take Bako’s statement.
Signpost: Mpape Police Division, Abuja
I didn’t do it, says the landlord
Speaking with our reporter, Anthony Ossai has denied that he raped the two girls, describing the allegation as “false” and a “planned work”. He also challenges the father to take an oath if he’s sure of his claim.
“It is the good I do that has caused all these things,” he says, “because if not that I was providing foodstuff for them to cook and all of us were eating including their father, all these things would not take place.
“See if you want to know the truth, ask the father how many times the girls go out … If it is something we can discuss face to face, I will tell him to swear. I can bring my juju, they should bring their juju, and we will swear.”
Ossai says fleeing from the outset made his case worse and it is why he is reluctant to turn himself in. If he raises enough money to hire a lawyer, he adds, he will return to clear his name.
“I was told if I had not left and had gone straight to the police, it would have been easy. But now that I have left, it means I have failed. That’s the problem I have,” he tells The ICIR during a phone call.
“If I get my own lawyer, I’m coming back,” he says. Asked how soon, he replies: “Make I see, whether before the ending of this year maybe I will be able to meet up with the things I am working on and sell them.”
Scarred childhood
Test results conducted at Maitama District Hospital shortly after the incident show the extent of the damage caused by the sexual assault. Usoro Mmenieobong confirmed, in a letter attached to the report, that Grace was treated for vuluo vaginitis while Janet was found to have vulvovaginal candidiasis.
“Vaginal examination showed poor vaginal hygiene, no lacerations seen, hymen not visible, presence of whitish discharge around the vagina, (and) vagina admitted one finger with ease,” Mmenieobong wrote.
Oyejide Samuel, a Ukraine-based Doctor of Medicine, says the reports are a confirmation of rape and explains that vaginitis is an inflammation of the vaginal vulva. The infection, which may be caused by viruses that are typically sexually transmitted, often leads to itching, irritation of the genital area and increased vaginal discharge.
Weeks before the scandal in December 2017, Cecilia had noticed that Grace “was always getting sick” and often staggered as someone who was unwell. But whenever she enquired about it, the young girl replied that she was fine.
While their father is concerned about what effects the traumatic incident is likely to have on the girls when they’re older, it is clear the consequences are already taking place. Grace, a primary four student at Mpape LEA Primary School, is often withdrawn and says she does not keep any friends, and Janet acknowledges she faces constant stigmatisation and ridicule from neighbours.
“Since that time, I have not been comfortable in this environment,” she says. “Every time I pass, some people will be laughing, some people will be saying you are lying against this man. You just want to take the house as your own, that is why you said he raped you.”
Letter to National Human Rights Commission
NHRC acknowledgement letter
Letter to the Inspector General of Police
Letter to NAPTIP
Medical report for Grace
Medical report for Janet
Detailed test result for one of the victims
Hoping for closure
Despite her experience, Janet’s heart is filled with love and forgiveness. Asked what she wants from the government, she replies that she doesn’t want anyone else her age to fall victim of what happened to them.
“Let the government try and arrest all the people that used to do all these bad things in our country so that we will have peace,” she says. “Let them arrest all the people and jail them in the cell, ask them if they will repent. If they say they will not repent, let them remain in the jail, and if some people say they will repent, let them go and never do that thing again.”
All her sister and father also want is justice served promptly and properly.
“I want the government to help me fight for these children’s rights,” Bako says. “Two of my daughters at the same time. It is painful. It is painful. It got to a point they said I should forgive and forget. I will forgive… but the injury there, I will not forget it easily like that.I want the government to help me. I need a judgment for these children.”
Joseph Chidiebere, executive director of the Devatop Centre for Africa Development, a non-governmental organisation that is offering support to the Bakos, tells The ICIR the case has remained unsolved for far too long and says his organisation is not comfortable with this.
“The man is in Nigeria; using his phone number they should be able to track wherever he is,” Chidiebere says.
“For how many months now, the children are traumatised while the perpetrator is somewhere relaxing. So, I think there’s a need for more efforts, even if it involves getting intelligence agencies to use their technology to track down the man… We need to make him a scapegoat to also teach other perpetrators a lesson.”
*The names of the victims have been changed to protect them from stigmatisation.
MIYETTI-ALLAH Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) on Friday disclosed that the Ruga settlements pilot project in the country was a ‘desire’ of the Federal Government.
It stated that it was initiated to create a holistic solution to the farmers/herders clashes.
Baba Uthman Ngelzarma, the General Secretary of MACBAN, revealed this during Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television programme.
He further claimed that Office of the Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo was aware of the project and its implementation, stressing that it would be beneficial to the country at large.
“This Ruga settlement model is a component part of the livestock development and transformation plan that is being implemented under the Office of the Vice-President. It is a component part of it,” says Ngelzarma.
“All must agree with me that the crisis we are facing today has become a multi-dimensional one and so the approach must also be holistic. It was the desire of the Federal Government to take a holistic approach that gave birth to the Ruga settlement model and it is not only for Fulani herders.”
The Ruga settlement was an initiative of the National Economic Council (NEC) presented under the National Livestock Transformation Plan (2018-2027).
Benue youths protesting over ruga settlement Photo Credit: ChannelsTV
Farmers herders crisis has for long posed security challenge to the country with several recorded casualties across the nation.
The incident has reportedly spread to at least 22 states from the 36 states of the federation.
According to the International Crisis Group, as at July 2018, the rising clash was already six-times deadlier than the Boko Haram insurgency. In 2016, the report added that about 2,000 people were killed with tens of thousands displaced in Benue and Kaduna State only.
Amnesty international further put the figure at 3,641 between January 2016 and October 2018.
While the crisis persists in selected parts of the country, Alhaji Mafindi Danburam, North East Vice Chairman of MACBAN claimed that in 2018, the association members lost one million cattle to the Boko Haram insurgency thus had to move southward.
The incident eventually led to the establishment of the cattle anti-open grazing Act which also met strong retaliation by the pastoralists.
Southern socio-cultural groups including Afenifere and Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo; as well as the Middle Belt Forum have all rejected the Ruga initiative. The Benue youths from different communities today, also kicked against the model during a protest in Markurdi.
“We are out marching on Benue streets this morning to protest the said plan of the Federal Government of Nigeria to establish Ruga settlement in Benue State.
“Benue State has recorded a lot of herdsmen crisis. When we heard the establishment of Ruga – for herdsmen to come and settle with us! We are out here this morning to say that we reject this.
“Our stand has remained on ranching. Benue State has a bill that says all herdsmen should ranch their cattle, anything short of that is an anomaly, and we Benue youths reject this,” Orngu Angu, President, Benue Youth Congress says during the protest.
Signage of Ruga Settlement Project in Benue State Photo Credit: ChannelsTV
But, Ngelzerma insisted that pastoralism is not only peculiar to the Fulani tribe but people from Jos, Kaduna among others
“In southern Kaduna, there are natives who are also herders. Even in Plateau, there are other groups that are herders. It was intended for the herders as part of efforts by the government to come up with an economic model of solving this crisis.
“This is an integrated settlement that will bring about the production of pasture grass, water, schools, markets, meat and milk processing and where it can create a sub-sector of the economy. This is something that if done properly, it will create a lot of employment.”
He further appealed to the people to support the initiative stressing that only states that approved the model would have Ruga settlements.
“It is a misunderstood concept to some people. The lands are under the control of governors. This model is a trial. It will be done in 12 states to see if it can work or not. Even we, from the side of the herders, have our reservations.”
According to Punch, when asked if it was right for the government to spend taxpayers’ money on what would benefit herders alone, Ngelzerma argued that crop farmers had similarly benefitted in the past.
However, he concluded that southerners benefit from animal husbandry more than the northern herdsmen who rear the cattle.
THE Plateau State High Court sitting in Jos overruled the plea by former Plateau State governor, Jonah Jang, to refuse admittance of sensitive state documents as evidence over an alleged N6.2 billion fraud.
The presiding judge, Justice Daniel Longji admitted more evidence against the former governor, who is currently embroiled in a prosecution charge by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, over misappropriation of funds belonging to the state government.
On June 13, counsel for Jang, Mike Ozekhome, SAN, objected that the prosecuting team intends to make use of the minutes of the State Security Council meeting and State Executive Council between 2014 and 2015 during Jang’s tenure as evidence before the court.
Sunday Odey, counsel for Yusuf Gyang Pam, a cashier of the Office of the Secretary to the Plateau State Government, who is standing trial along with Jang, also objected to the admissibility of the document.
Counsel for the EFCC, Rotimi Jacobs, SAN had, through the ninth prosecution witness, Jonah Kabong, a Civil Servant in the Office of the Secretary to the State Government sought to tender the documents.
He described it as “crucial in the prosecution of the matter”, Jacobs had argued that “the government does not need an authority from itself to tender a document that’s within its custody”, stressing that what governed the admissibility of a document in court was the Evidence Act.
At the resumed hearing, Justice Longji dismissed the objections and admitted the documents as exhibits P47 – P50.
In his ruling, the Justice Longji decided against the defence counsel stating that his counter-arguments were not sufficient to deny the prosecuting team.
“I have carefully considered the submissions of both counsels on some of the issues raised. The issues raised by the defence team are elementary, and the crucial issue is that all the authorities cited are considered civil matters, and none of the documents tendered in support of their position has met the requirement of the law in dismissing the application made by the prosecution,” he said.
Speaking further, he explained that the State government knew the information contained in the document would not compromise the security infrastructure of the state.
“Only the State government knows the information that will jeopardise the security of the State and the Government has released these documents, the PW9 did not tender it in a private capacity, he is a representative of the government and no private individual has the right to challenge it,” he said.
On May 7, 2018, EFCC had preferred a 12-count charge bordering on alleged corruption and misappropriation against Jang.
It alleged that Jang, who served as Plateau governor between 2007 and 2015, misappropriated N6.2 billion, two months to the end of his tenure as governor.
The former governor was charged alongside Pam Yusuf, then a cashier in the office of the Secretary to the State government through whom he laundered over N4 billion from the state’s coffers.
The case was adjourned till July 10 and 11, 2019 to continue the trial.
AT dusk on Friday, Hassan’s daily efforts as a drug peddler are beginning to pick up for the day, amidst a gang of drug merchants located at their popular spot behind Obalende Bridge in Lagos – the economic capital of Nigeria. Hassan seems determined to attract customers – drug abusers and unsuspecting patrons.
A few moments later, an ardent customer appears before him, looking suspiciously, like a wanted pocket-fingering thief. “Give me white,” he whispers to Hassan, conspicuously exchanging hands. Hassan quickly scissors four pills of the drug and hands them over to him. The customer drops the pills into a half-emptied Pepsi bottle; he waits for a few minutes for the pills to dissolve, still looking around, and then gulps a portion of the mixed drink.
“Dan banza (scoundrel),” Hassan insults the man, in Hausa, as he disappears. Common contraband caplets, counterfeit pills – paraded as potent – narcotic drugs, among others, dominate the stuck of drugs on his trade tray.
The dark, middle-aged man from Borno is a personification of a hustling Nigerian citizen, perspiring to make ends meet in the bustling city of Lagos. Fast-backward a few years of his trading sojourn in Lagos, he has ventured into many kinds of trades before starting to peddle drugs, in the bid to make bountiful gains, albeit illegal.“I was into selling provisions; I was a shoemaker; I was also once a butcher in my village and I did a lot of brisk businesses, before this,” says Hassan.
Hassan in his daily exploit as an illegal drug peddler
The drug peddler admits the fact that trading illicit drugs in the heart of Lagos is risky, but he has decided to “stick to this business”, hoping to “earn some money and leave the business to set up another”. Though he is illiterate, Hassan makes his daily bread in a business that requires solid expertise. But to him, learning the art before the act is nothing to worry about, as the most important thing is to earn a meaningful living, while he depends on “what God provides.”
Although the young man pays his bills through his illegal trade, he will not advise anyone to venture into it. “It’s a very complicated business and it’s not easy to set up; if you don’t know where to buy the actual drugs and the right person to buy from, you will end up buying fake drugs,” he said with a smile on his face.
“Please don’t venture into this business. It’s risky and we buy the drugs at a costly price. I advise you to set up a provision kiosk. If you are educated, you should better find a chemist and start selling drugs. If you are buying in bulk from a company, they will even give you a loan and retrieve the money later,” Hassan admonishes the reporter, who dramatically plays the role of a drug abuser and a potential peddler, after many fruitless attempts to interview the drug tycoons about their illicit merchandise of medicinal products.
Merchandising contraband and counterfeit drugs to drug abusers and vulnerable citizens who cannot differentiate between fake and genuine drugs in the market is a multi-million Naira business in Nigeria. An extensive study by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in 2013, which focuses on Africa and South-east Asia, shows that the counterfeit drug market in Africa is worth about US$4billion.
Illegal drug traders are found on streets, in the slums, on the highways, etc. – they are part and parcel of the existence of common Nigerians.
In Nigeria, illicit drug peddling is a lucrative trade
The night drug peddlers at Ojuelegba, Lagos
At Ijora-Badia, a crowded Lagos community, 17-year-old Ibrahim places his stock of drugs on the railway in the ghetto area, hunting for customers in the bubbling market. As young as he is, Ibrahim’s eye is exposed to buying and selling of banned brand and counterfeit drugs, among others, to make profits.
The teenage drug vendor has just arrived Lagos from Maiduguri, the Borno state capital, fleeing the state to seek refuge in Lagos and start a new life, after suicide bombers cruelly disrupted his secondary education. Now in the busy slum of Ijora, he thrives in the illicit business, where he makes profitable returns on a daily basis.
“I make N5, 000 and sometimes N20, 000 per day, if I get more customers,” he says, when asked how much profit he makes every day from the trade. And it is obvious; Ibrahim makes a lot of money, selling all sorts of contraband drugs such as Tramol (Tramadol), and Codeine, which are in high demand.
Buying and selling of drugs, preparing medications, interpreting the physician prescriptions and detecting therapeutic inconsistencies – which are the principal duties of a pharmacist – should not take one more than two weeks to learn, according to young Ibrahim.
“If you have anyone who is selling drugs, in less than two weeks you will learn about this business,” the drug vendor confidently says, stressing that the job is what anybody can do.
If Ibrahim earns N5,000 profit daily from his illicit drug peddling, in 30 days, he will make N150, 000 – that is five times more than the new national minimum wage pegged at N30, 000. The rate of turnover makes drug peddling more lucrative many legal trades? But then, as profitable as the trade seems, the offence is punishable under National Food and Drugs Administration and Control’s counterfeit and fake drugs and unwholesome processed foods (miscellaneous provisions) act cap c.34, 2004.
Section (1) of the above NAFDAC Act strongly prohibits the sale and distribution of counterfeit, adulterated, banned or fake, substandard or expired drug or unwholesome processed food; and of sale, etc. Meanwhile, section 3 (1) of the same act clearly states the penalties for the aforementioned prohibition: “Any person, who commits an offence under (a) section 1 of this Act, is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding N500, 000 or imprisonment for a term of not less than five years or more than fifteen years or to both such fine and imprisonment.”
Drug peddlers should not even exist in society if the NAFDAC Act is really effective. They are unlawful traders of medicinal products, who cause more harm than good to the people and innocent drug buyers.
“Any person who (a) hawks or sells; or (b) displays for the purpose of sale; or (c) aids or abets any person to hawk, sell, display for the purpose of sale, any drug or poison in any place not duly licensed or registered by the appropriate authority, including any market, kiosk, motor park, road-side stall or in any bus, ferry or any other means of transportation, is guilty of an offence under this Act and shall, accordingly, be punished as specified in this Act,” section 2 (1) of the NAFDAC Act declares, noting the “prohibition of sale, etc., of drugs or poisons in certain premises or places.”
‘Banned (over the counter) drugs selling fast’
Ibrahim selling Tramadol pills to a drug abuser
As usual, Ibrahim’s perpetual patrons have come around now; they have come to rejuvenate their dying appetites with doses of narcotic drugs – most of which are forbidden for sale over the counter, to make them out of reach of drug addicts. But abusers of the drug will always find their ways to get those banned drugs from peddlers like Ibrahim. And to avoid being remanded by drug regulatory agencies, they refer to drugs with certain street lingos: “Codeine is Gutter water”; “Tramadol is TM”; “Benzodiazepines is Benz,” “Rophynol is Roofies,” and the list goes on. Most of these drugs are either banned totally or banned over the counter because they are narcotic; drug abusers and addicts pop them for hyper-sedation, an increase of sex appetite, hyper-activeness and hyper-intoxication.
“You get TM (Tramadol)?” a dark man with thick dreadlocks inquires from Ibrahim, holding a bottle of Coca-Cola firmly with his left hand. “Yes I do,” Ibrahim replies. “I have red Tramadol; it costs N300 per pill.” The young man quickly grabs two pills, uncaps the bottle of Coca-Cola and dissolves the two pills in the beverage and turns to take his leave. Before he leaves, his eye catches some drugs understood to be narcotic. “Which drugs are these?” he asks. “They are also high drugs,” Ibrahim says, pointing at the said drugs on his tray. “We have them a lot, see them. The white is two pills for N50; the capsule is N100 each, and this one is four pills for N50.”
Ibrahim, the teen drug vendor seems to know very well that it is forbidden for him to sell Tramadol, as he and other peddlers encountered engage in a subtle display of Tramadol’s brand. “Can’t you see that we disguise these Tramadols so that they won’t know?” He persuasively queries this reporter, noting that they are always careful and afraid of Police apprehension when caught.
Tramadol, among other narcotic drugs, seems to be commonest to acquire in the open markets. Use the right words to describe it and it shall be sold to you with immediate alacrity. Introduced in 1995 with ‘Ultrum’ as the brand name, Tramadol is used to help relieve moderate to moderately severe pain. It is similar to opioid (narcotic) analgesics. It works in the brain to change how your body feels and responds to pain. However, because the said drug has been abused and misused by its patrons on several occasions – which calls for concerns – its sales are restricted in the open market, especially over the counter.
In Orile-Iganmu, under the rabble-rousing Orile Bridge in Lagos, Saliu and his co-drug vendors enjoy the rowdiness surrounding their world. He sells all kinds of fake drugs too. “This drug will add to your strength and make you high,” he states, describing how the 225mg Tramadol he attempted to sell to this reporter works. He nonetheless asserts that Tramadol sells fast in the market, noting that “as we buy it, we sell it in a short period of time.” The illicit drug vendor also confesses that he and his cohorts buy the contraband drugs in large quantity at Idumota drug market – one of the largest open drug markets in Nigeria – in Lagos.
As for David, also at Orile, he is not only an illicit drug peddler; he is also a devoted drug abuser. After trying to sell 250mg Tramadol to this reporter, he reveals how itinerant his illegal business has made him. “I’m always available,” he says, “but often change my locations – in the morning I stay there; in the afternoon, I stay beside the bridge; in the evening time, I stay here.” While trying to convince the reporter to buy his illegal Tramadol, he reveals that he is also an addict of the drug, saying that “yesterday, I took half of this pill and I was high from night till morning working very hard.”
An encounter with drug abusers
An ardent drug abuser gulping a bottle of codeine in Ijora, Lagos
“I started taking drugs through the influence of friends because at that time the pressure was so high. So, due to the myriad of drug addict friends around me, I had to start taking drugs too,” Bashir Awalu narrates his ordeal as a drug addict. The brick-layer man, by occupation, says he is an ardent user of narcotic drugs to get hyper-activated while working. “Actually, drug abuse has affected me in many ways – everything about me has changed both mentally, physically and socially. Taking drugs excessively affects our thinking,” Awalu confesses.
Apart from the mental negative effects of his drug addiction, Awalu enjoys being an adherent of toxic tablets, basing his habit on this: “I feel comfortable and relaxed if I take hard drugs, rather than not taking them.” But then, he notes that whenever he is intoxicated by drugs “little misunderstanding aggregates my anger”. “I also take patch gum and Indian hemp. I smoke and take everything that will make me high except alcohol,” he says.
It seems Awalu is aware that drug abuse and taking hard drugs should be forbidden; he opines that “dealers of the drugs need to be cautioned, from wholesalers down to the retailers”. “But now,” he continues. “Since I stopped taking drugs, I withdrew from taking other substances. So if they will stop importing the drugs, the high prevalence of taking drugs will surely decrease.”
Sani Gwagwarwa, like Awalu, dwells well, taking hard drugs in Kano; he is an adherent addict of Tramadol and other ‘high’ drugs. To him, taking hard drugs, especially abusing the use of Tramadol makes him feel he is in the paradise of the Lord.
“I take the drug (Tramadol) during the weekend, so as to have some relief,” he says. “I take hard drugs anytime I feel sad and jobless, so I use the drugs to overcome my emotions, so as to feel comfortable. And If I take it, I feel comfortable because I won’t feel any bad condition again and it makes me feel happy.”
Gwagarwa believes taking hard drugs has not affected his health or mental condition and so, he has no reason to stop taking them. “ If I over-work, I take drugs and whenever I want to overwork myself, I take Tramadol and after use, I even feel more works should be given to me because it’s then I regain more powers and energy.”
Timelines on drug misuse… abuse of tramadol
Tramadol
It is appalling though, it is a matter of fact; Nigerians are growing cancerously in abusing the use of drugs. According to the National Bureau of Statistics’ 2018 reports on drug usage and abusage in Nigeria, about 14.3million people in Nigeria use drugs outside prescription; the statistics revealed that those who are victims of drug use are mainly between 15 and 64 years of age and, one in every four of them is also a woman.
The report also unveils the huge data on the prevalence of illicit drug use in Nigeria at the national level and also by geopolitical zones and states, adding that Yobe, Imo, Bayelsa, Rivers and Lagos States were ranked as the states where it was more difficult to access treatments for illicit drug use disorder.
As if that is not enough, in 2018, Prof MojisolaAdeyeye, Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) publicly lamented that the agency intercepted 6.4 billion tablets of Tramadol with an estimated street value of about N193.38 billion on an average cost of N1.5 million per carton, stressing that agency destroyed 25 containers of Tramadol valued worth N1.7 billion.
She said this in Abuja, while presenting her one year anniversary speech, noting that three persons involved in the distribution of the banned Tramadol have been arraigned at the Federal High Court, Lagos even as plans were underway to destroy more than 30 additional containers of Tramadol and other unregistered products worth more than N198 billion on the street.
“Little did I know that aside from substandard and falsified medicines issue, the unsafe and illicit drugs would become a significant part of my role as the Director-General of NAFDAC in safeguarding the health of the nation,” she said.
“Since my assumption of duty, the new Director of Ports Inspection Directorate and his team have intercepted 86 containers containing Tramadol and other unregulated drug products. These include 23-40-foot containers recently examined and found to have been loaded with Tramadol of various strengths from 120mg to 250mg.
“Tramadol and other unregistered pharmaceutical products that are known to be injurious to the health of the public, most importantly our youth. The Tramadol is estimated to be 6,446,100,000 tablets. The worth of Tramadol alone on the street is estimated to be at about N193,383,000,000.00 on an average cost of N1, 500,000.00.”
Is the insurgency in Borno State fuelling the illicit drug trade?
A drug peddler prescribing drugs to an unsuspecting patron
Curiously, most of the peddlers met in Lagos tell the tales of how they absconded from their own state of origin, Borno, to begin the illicit trade here in Lagos. Some of them claim to have left their communities because of the massive killings by insurgents in the state.
John, 23, from Maiduguri sells contraband drugs at Obalende, Lagos. The youngish man reveals that he, as well as other drug vendors in the state, has no formal knowledge about drug prescription. “We don’t have formal education about drugs; we only use our own little literacy to read the manual description of drugs and start selling,” he says.
Just like John, Mustapha, a teenage drug vendor from Borno, also exploits the night patronage of unsuspecting patrons in Ojuelegba, Lagos. At night passers-by buy all kinds of drugs from him and he makes a lot of money in the drug peddling trade. According to him, his brother taught him how to do the business within just three months when he came to Lagos, from Maiduguri, to seek fortune and favour.
In Obalende market, this reporter meets another peddler from Borno, while prescribing a malaria drug to a seemingly sick patron. “You’ll use this one in the morning, this in the afternoon and two pills of this at night,” he prescribes. The illegal drug prescriber and peddler refuses to reveal his name to this reporter but he tells him he is from Maiduguri.
So, John could be right for saying that there are many of them, from Borno, in the market hawking drugs illegally in the suburbs of Lagos. “Most of us from Maiduguri sell drugs or ride bikes; if you go to Ijora and Apapa, you will see us there,” he affirms, which makes one wonders whether the insurgency in Borno state is actually fuelling illicit drug trades, in Nigeria.
Who should (not) buy, sell drugs?
The business of illegal drug peddling booms in Nigeria for so many reasons, including lack of proper control of who can handle drugs and who should not have access to buying and selling of drugs in the open drug markets. Concerned about the proliferation of illicit drug peddlers in Nigeria, Mr Chukwuebuka Ejiofor, a renowned pharmacist in Nigeria believes that curbing illegal drug peddling in Nigeria “can’t be 100% but it should be limited to the extent that it will be rare. There should be some kind of rules and regulations that only certain people will handle a certain kind of products. There are several factors like I said from the point of entry these products into the country.”
“There is one particular body dealing with this – Pharmacist Council of Nigeria,” he proceeds. “They deal basically with proper licensing of pharmacists and premises for pharmacy. Also, there are some patent drug dealers, they also deal with them and give them their limits and boundaries.” However, all efforts geared towards getting the practical stands of the Pharmacist Council of Nigeria were unsuccessful.
Mr Ejiofor also notes that drug peddlers should not even exist in a saner world, adding that it is the role of drug regulatory agencies to make sure that “when it comes to the authenticity of products, it takes much more time. It is their responsibility to ensure that proper medications enter into the market they are dealing with and that only professionals engage in this business.”
He also asserts that “pharmacists have a role to play but it first starts from NAFDAC. Right from Customs, coming in of product, screening of product, proper registration of the product, and verification of the origin of certain products – they are the ones that lack responsibility. Any lapses that you see will be because of the failure of one of these processes.”
PSN Speaks
Nevertheless, Chairman of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) – a group of people who come together to project the image of pharmacy and pharmacists – Mr Kilani Jelili has admonished Nigerians to patronise only registered pharmacies and pharmacists, to curb the scourge of fake drugs in the country. He said this while speaking to this journalist, in a telephone conversation.
Mr Jelili noted that “the problem in Nigeria is that everybody is just interested in the money they will make from selling drugs. I always emphasise that if we allow everybody around to handle drug then the result is chaos.” He however assured that “PSN has been collaborating with PCN and NAFDAC to ensure that sanity is actually maintained.”
The Chairman also stated some of the plights of the association and the efforts geared so far to tackle the challenges. He said: “We normally educate the public but the people who usually perpetrate this evil of selling fake substances are in town abundantly and they are also powerful. They contribute money and even late last year, they even wanted to sponsor a bill to have their own regulatory body. These are people who did not go may be beyond primary school and they want people to lay their lives on their hands for drugs. They are only supposed to sell what we call over the counter drugs but when you go to them, they sell everything. They don’t remain within the bound.”
“Also,” he continued, “you found that the street drug hawkers are always there at the garages but nobody is doing anything today. How do you want pharmacist’s council to even handle those ones? There were times we went on inspection and we found out that people ganged up against us and even wanted to mob us, if not that we had to seek the help of the police.”
He emphasised that “there is a shortage of fund for the inspection that we are supposed to be doing every moment but we couldn’t do much.”
Additionally, the Public Relation Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) – an organ that is charged with the duty of eliminating the buying and selling of illicit drug – Mr Jonah Achema has revealed that lots of efforts have been geared towards in tackling growing illicit trade in Nigeria by the Agency. “In terms of arrest and seizure, in the last one year, we have arrested over 10, 000 drug traffickers and peddlers, including drug coordinators,” Mr Achema says, stressing on the sweats of the NDLEA to ensure that illegal drug trading is totally tackled in the country.
The PRO also noted that “in terms of awareness, we have been into schools, market places, campaigning” on why people should stay away of from hard drugs, telling them the harms in such drugs. He, however, advised the public to stay away from buying and selling of illicit drugs in Nigeria, irrespective of the circumstances.
‘Stop buying drugs from peddlers’
However, a top NAFDAC official – who prefers not to be mentioned because is not authorized to do so – has advised Nigerians to be very careful while they purchase drugs to heal their ills. “This is a serious menace that we have been fighting; we have been telling people to stop buying drugs from road peddlers. They are there just money makers, they don’t care whether it is something that will affect the system or not.
NAFDAC is doing extremely everything possible to ensure that these peddlers are no more in our society. We have an enforcement team; their function is to enforce NAFDAC regulations. They move around with the police. Anything that has been apprehended we don’t allow society to use them. We keep them for a long time and then dispose of them.
“Immediately we get them, we also charge them to court. We have a legal unit in our department. Most of those drugs with those peddlers are illegal, they are smuggled drugs. They are not registered by NAFDAC – 80 per cent of them, I can say this categorically – are smuggled in. You find out that they smuggled them due to our porous borders. And NAFDAC is trying everything possible to make sure that these things are not being escalated. The companies that we give importation permit, we liaise with them, and from time to time we visit them, for them to follow the proper guidance and proper regulations,” he says.
Mr Jimoh Abubakar, the Director of Public Affairs, NAFDAC also urges Nigerians to patronise only licensed pharmacies for drugs of all kinds. He reiterates that drug peddlers are “mischievous makers who have no integrity to protect.”
This report was done with support from Ford Foundation and the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, ICIR.
OPEYEMI Jamiu has swallowed poisoned pills, and saliva in his mouth has run dry. He’s heavily gasping for breath, suffering from severe dehydration; if he spends more time without proper medications, he’ll give up the ghost; but health workers in his community clinic have come to his aid; the doctors confirm that he has taken some toxic tablets capable of ruining his health.
Carelessly, while returning from school, feeling an unbearable headache; Jamiu decides to visit one of the medicine stores at the back of his school, asking the pharmacist to give him a drug to subside the pain. “I can’t even remember the name of the drug – he just cut it for me and I left for home,” he recounts.
He gets home fell into a deep sleep – and wakes up the next morning with a more severe headache, worse than his condition the previous night.
“When I got to my cousin’s place, we were discussing and suddenly, I just noticed I could not feel any saliva in my throat again. Immediately I noticed I rushed to the kitchen and took some palm oil; I felt a little okay but some minutes later, it occurred again. I told my cousin that I could not understand how I was feeling, so we went to one health centre nearby – Lamodi Health Centre, Offa – a community clinic in the area, where they gave me injections. They began to ask me some questions, trying to know what I ate, and that was the last thing I saw,” he says.
“When I woke up, I was a bit okay; the doctor asked if I had used anything before coming to the hospital and I told him that I used some drugs; he confirmed that I have popped poisoned pills.”
Many sick Nigerians are dying by installments on daily basis; this is not always because they don’t have the money to purchase the drugs; they are buying what may quickly kill them as drugs and unknowingly, they pop counterfeit and substandard pills paraded as potent drugs in the market. Like it or hate it: Fake drugs can damage your health, it kills you slowly even before your death. A study by the World Health Organisation (WHO) unveils that those counterfeiters have massively killed millions of people in developing countries (such as Nigeria).
“An estimated 1 in 10 medical products circulating in low-and-middle-income countries is either substandard or falsified,” research by WHO has revealed.
Meanwhile, any drug could be a killer, no matter how good it appears, if the formulation of a drug is poorly made or criminally produced, it is either fake or substandard. Drug counterfeiters are mere profit makers, they are careless about public health but are concerned about the fat gains made from fake medicinal products that are dangerous for human consumptions.
For instance, ‘Dr. Really Extra’ tablet brand is appealing to the layman’s eyes; the glittery, yellowish pills boast to bear active diclofenac potassium that ‘kills’ all kinds of pains – as boldly written on the pack – but be careful of the eye-teasing drug! Veteran drug analysts in the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, vouch that it’s criminally made and should be eliminated totally from drug marts. Its lookalike is ‘Yef Real Extra’ tablet, which seems to be the original brand of ‘Dr. Really Extra’. It bears the NAFDAC no: A11-0298 but fails the test of the active ingredient woefully. A laboratory test has confirmed that the drug is substandard and not safe for human consumption. These are just a few examples of poorly and criminally-made drugs in the country. A quest to unravel the business of fake drugs pushed this reporter out on a Monday morning.
Analytical expedition into the realm of drug counterfeiting
Dr. Really Extra
“Good morning ladies and gentlemen! As we are all going out today to find our daily bread, may we not get into trouble in the course of our struggles in Jesus name,” a short, fair man with a clerical look prays in a sonorous voice, to which there is a chorused response represented in shouts of “Amen” from the crowd, in the 18-passenger bus. It is barely 10.00 am; the slight sunny weather is not too hot, for a heavy downpour has just wrapped up.
The passengers have just struggled to find their ways into the Orile-Oshodi bus, after a tense delay at the vehicle terminus, amidst the give-me-way-if-you-can’t-go cacophony in Lagos.
“My name remains unchanged. I am Obinna. I know that many of you are stressed up this morning. Some of you already have a headache even before getting to your places of work. The Bible says: ‘Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you even, as your soul is getting along well.’ Ladies and gentlemen, I bring to you this morning ‘Dr. Really Extra’, a pain killer that threatens all sorts of pains in the body. You’re still under 30 but you can’t stand for one hour without crying of backache. My brother, my sister, you wake up in the morning, go to work and return home, having had a troublesome day; you need this drug to kill the pains that give you terrible nightmares every day.”
“Health is wealth,” he continues, “if you’re having a stiff neck, hot headache, foot pain … whatever kinds of pains, don’t keep silent. ‘Dr. Really Extra’ is here to tackle them all. If you know, you know; those who know me know I don’t sell trash. All the way from India, ‘Dr. Really Extra’ is just N100. Buy and don’t forget to get for your relatives. The Bible says: ‘Foreigners lose heart and come trembling from their fortifications’.”
“O yes!” A woman in the bus exclaims as the man solicits people’s patronage. “With ‘Dr. Really Extra’, every evil spirit of pain in your body shall be killed in Jesus name.” “Amen,” passengers in the bus echo again and a slight scramble begins as they order for the drug – it is a lucrative Monday morning for the drug counterfeiting trader.
This reporter purchases some packs of the drug; a critical look at it gives room to doubt whether the drug is actually genuine as claimed. The label of the yellow packet of the said ‘Dr. Really Extra’ has no NAFDAC number, no batch number, no expiry date, not even on the blister (as the labels indicate). When asked whether the aforementioned is not a reason to doubt the potency of the drug, Obinna responds in pidgin: “No worry. That one no mean anything. The important thing na make the drug work well well.”
However, it indeed means a lot; the World Health Organisation (WHO) refers to such drugs as“unregistered/unlicensed medical products that have not undergone evaluation and/or approval by the National or Regional Regulatory Authority for the market in which they are marketed/distributed or used, subject to permitted conditions under national or regional regulation and legislation.”
The body saddled with the responsibility of regulating the production of food and medicinal products in Nigeria, the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Council (NAFDAC), strongly prohibits the importation, exportation, buying and selling of any medicinal products that are either counterfeit/fake or substandard. WHO has defined counterfeit medicine as “one which is deliberately and fraudulently mislabelled with respect to identity or source.” This, in fact, is an apt description of ‘Dr. Really Extra,’ which is commonly sold to common peoples in Nigeria.
The drug analysis
Inside the Laboratory
“Mtchew,” Olajide Mustapha hisses disappointedly as he stares scrupulously at ‘Dr. Really Extra’ brand pack. He inclines his head left and right; a wrinkle of anger is tentatively plastered on his face. “Those Indian people,” he quips and gloves his hands to begin the test of active ingredients for the selected drugs – this takes place inside the drug analysis laboratory at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos. Peter Ojobor, the Assistant Chief Technologist, leads the drug analysis, aided by Olajide Mustapha.
Five pills of ‘Dr. Really Extra’ are later placed in the Denver Instrument (Analytical Weighing Balance) to weigh the substances; the pills are triturated, tooling the porcelain mortar and its pestle. The ground substance is then wrapped up to get it weighed again in the Analytical Weighing Balance. Ojobor puts the powdered pills in the sample bottles. He uses the sonicator to give the drug an ultrasonic bath, so as to enhance the solution of the analyte (drug substance). The next step is to mix and shake the analytes to ensure the solubility and subject them to the syringe filter to round off the analysis and await the final results.
Get it right: ‘Dr. Really Exra’ tablet is not the only diclofenac drug subjected to laboratory test by this reporter. Having x-rayed the open drug markets, buying drugs randomly, from chemists and petty drug peddlers in commercial buses and on the streets – in the hearts of Lagos, Oyo, Sokoto and Niger states, respectively – four affordable and common pain killer drugs (diclofenac) are sampled and subjected to test in the laboratory. The sampled drugs are: ‘Dr. Really Extra, Yef Real Extra, Masterfen 50g and Diclosuit.’ The same methods of drug analysis stated above are used for all the drugs.
‘Criminally produced Dr. Really Extra’
Dr. Really Extra Blister
According to the certificate of the drug analysis issued to this reporter, dated April 12, 2019, ‘Dr. Really Extra’, which is a“sachet yellow caplet scored on one side and plane on the reverse.” It is however clearly asserted that “the product passed the assay of active ingredient (Diclofenac) but the regulatory details are not satisfactory.”
Ojobor states that ‘Dr. Really Extra’ is an illegal brand medicinal product which violates NAFDAC’s regulatory laws. “Even though the formulation is okay, there are drug regulatory laws in the country. For instance, this one contains the contents it claims, but if they produce another one, the content may be too high or too low. If the content is too high, it causes toxins and so, if it causes damage to the body, the regulatory body cannot trace the source. From what I have seen here, that drug is criminally produced; there is no address of where it is produced; it is not registered; it is not dated. So, it is a criminal brand.”
Meanwhile, NAFDAC’s Food, Drug and Related Products (Registration) Act Cap F.33 wholly prohibits the manufacture, sale, distribution and advertisement of unregistered food, drugs, drug products, cosmetics, medical devices or water. The Law also regulates the manufacture, importation, exportation, advertisement, sale or distribution of processed food, drugs, medical devices, chemicals and bottled water. Subsection 1 of the said act decrees that “no processed food, drug, drug product, cosmetic, medical device or water shall be manufactured, imported, exported, advertised, sold or distributed in Nigeria unless it has been registered in accordance with the provisions of this Act or regulations made under it.”
Poorly produced but NAFDAC approved…
Poorly produced but NAFDAC approved
Only a critical look will quickly fathom that ‘Dr. Really Extra’ is a copy of ‘Yef Real Extra’; of course, the drug’s brand name of the later is modified to make the former. Yet, the ‘Yef Real Extra’ is not ‘real’; when checked on the NAFDAC website, it has a documented database with the regulatory body, which means it is duly registered and approved by the agency, unlike its lookalike – Dr. Really Extra – which has no database with NAFDAC.
Nevertheless, ‘Yef Real Extra’ is poorly produced but NAFDAC approved; it fails the test of its diclofenac active ingredient – the content of the drug is said to be below the 90-110% limit of the specification. What this implies is that the ‘pain killer drug’ is substandard and not safe for use. “Scored on one side and plane on the reverse,” is stated on the certificate of analysis dated April 4, 2019.
Substandard drugs are – according to WHO – “authorised medical products that fail to meet either their quality standards or specifications, or both,” just like ‘Yef Real Extra’. “Substandard and falsified medical products are often produced in very poor and unhygienic conditions by unqualified personnel, and contain unknown impurities and are sometimes contaminated with bacteria,” WHO states.
Exploring the health implication of the substandard drug, Ojobor asserts that “the efficacy (of the drug) will be reduced because it is not up to the 50mg it claims; of course the formulation must contain 50mg for it to have energetic effects. But if it is less than that, the effect will also be reduced. This is for pain relief, so the extent to which it will relieve the pain will not be adequate enough – the person will feel relieved but not as much as it will be, if it were to be a full dose.”
The question is: How did substandard ‘Yef Really Extra’ caplet get approved by NAFDAC?
Chukwuebuka Ejiofor, a pharmacist at Glory Land Pharmacy in Lagos has an idea of what could have gone wrong, which brings up the question of the approval of the substandard drug by NAFDAC.
“I have a friend who had an internship with NAFDAC; there are some cases when most of these drugs don’t pass the required test and the ‘Ogas at the top’ will make you certify those drugs. So, even in our regulatory bodies, we still have corruption. For example, a tablet does not contain its Paracetamol 500mg and when assayed, it contained 450 and your ‘Oga’ says you should certify such product and issue it NAFDAC number; obviously that is corruption in the regulatory system,” says Ejiofor, adding that “sometimes it could be a lack of required facilities.”
“Ideally, for example, for you to import a drug, NAFDAC is supposed to travel outside the country to inspect the pack in question. Even when you’re manufacturing in Nigeria, they should look from their offices to inspect.”
The pharmacist also notes that “sometimes logistics issues come in … this is Nigeria for you. They are under-staffed; they cannot cover everywhere. It takes four to five months for NAFDAC to pass a particular drug and issue number. In Nigeria, they have a lab in Kaduna; they have a lab in Lagos and in one other place, serving the whole of the nation. So if the assay is not done in Lagos, it is pushed to Kaduna. How can they have just two assay outlets, serving 36 states?”
Notwithstanding, section 4 (1) of the NAFDAC Act states that: “The Agency may suspend or cancel the registration of a processed food, drug, drug product, cosmetic or medical device if (a) the grounds on which the processed food, drug, drug product, cosmetic or medical device was registered were later found to be false or incomplete; or (b) the circumstances under which the processed food, drug, drug product, cosmetic or medical device was registered no longer exist; or (c) any of the conditions under which the processed food, drug, drug product, cosmetic or medical device was registered has been contravened; or (d) the standard of quality, safety or efficacy as prescribed in the documentation for registration is not being complied with; or (e) the premises in which the processed food, drug, drug product, cosmetic or medical device or part thereof is manufactured, assembled or stored by or on behalf of the holder of the certificate of registration are unsuitable for the manufacturing, assembling or storage of the processed food, drug, drug product, cosmetic or medical device.”
By implication, as a drug regulatory body, NAFDAC has every right to withdraw the approval given to the drug, ‘Yef Real Extra’ for failing the assay of active ingredients, woefully.
Two drugs stand out
Certificate of drug analysis for Yef Real Extra
Unlike the laboratory proved substandard ‘Yef Real Extra’ and its unlicensed copy –‘Dr. Really Extra’– the other two drugs, which are subjected to both physical and laboratory tests stand out. The results of the drug analysis clearly show that both ‘Diclosuit’ and ‘Masterfen 50’ tablets pass the assay of active ingredients and abide by the drug regulatory laws, accordingly. ‘Masterfen 50’, with a sachet of pink caplets, which bears the NAFDAC no: A4-8180 is distinctively described to have passed the assay of active ingredient by 104.85% of labelled Diclofenac.
The analysis shows that “the product is satisfactory and safe for use.” Diclosuit, an off-white tablet with blue, yellow and pink tinge, with NAFDAC no: B4-6742 also passes the assay of the active ingredient with 110.62% of the labelled claim for Diclofenac. It is said to also be satisfactory and safe for use.
Fake drugs kill faster than disease
He’s been apprehended by an infection that troubles his reproductory organ. He is in severe pain and if he dares waste more time before seeing his doctor, he may wake up to tell sad health stories that touch. He quickly consults his doctor and the doctor says he has been gripped by Epididymitis – a critical disease usually caused by a bacterial infection. His own name is Mustapha Munir and he lives in Kaduna. He tellingly carefully follows the doctor’s prescriptions by going to purchase the drugs in a pharmacy, only for his condition to get more and more critical. Guess right: Munir has bought a fake/counterfeit drug and his condition gets worse until he’s asked to change his pharmacy.
“I was having this serious problem called Epididymitis and the doctor prescribed a drug for me. It’s actually an infection that affects a person’s reproductory organ. Following the prescription that he (the doctor) gave me, I got the medicine from a pharmacy. I was taking them (the antibiotic drugs) just the way they were prescribed to me, but the skin of that drug started getting void.
“We realised that it was actually a fake drug that was sold to us and when I changed the pharmacy, the pain went off in few days,” Munir narrates. But then, before gaining back his good health, he has had serious pain and felt like vomiting. “I kept feeling nauseous and dehydrated,” he says.
He nevertheless lamentably frowns the high level of fake drugs paraded in the society of nowadays, stressing that “fake drugs kill people faster than disease itself.” With a disease, we can live and be fine but once one starts taking fake drug, one may quickly die. He then wonders whether we are really fighting this war against fake drug, when humanity is nothing. “People would just keep dying and nobody tends to care about it,” he laments.
Munir, however, counsels that “awareness has to be created for people to fight back against drug counterfeiters.” “Once the awareness is being created,” he admonishes, “the institution that is supposed to make it their work, educating the people against fake drug would be able to find the moral in people’s depression by doing what the people want them to do.
“When they work, fake drug sellers would actually be eradicated. To eradicate fake drug, the people have to rise and the institution has to actually reform themselves, their activities and the system itself,” he says.
He also advises “victims of fake drugs in Nigeria to always be conscious,” noting that “ whenever they are buying drugs, they should verify and ensure that the drugs they are buying are authentic. They should spend quality money on quality drug. “If you are to get it at an expensive price, but knowing it’s of quality, buy it.” He never forgets to remind victims that “whenever they find any kind of fake drugs within the society, they should report to the authority in charge of fake drugs.”
Curing chronic headache with chalky paracetamol
Titrating the drug in the lab
Amidst the rabble-rousing Kano motor park, Linda is imprecated by a severe headache; he’s got no choice than to patronise one of the road-side-drug-peddlers in Kano, with the hope of getting a Paracetamol to cure her worrisome headache. Disappointedly, mere powdered chalk has been masqueraded as a Paracetamol tablet – she has purchased aggravating chalky pills.
“I was in Kano, at a motor-park, on my way back to Kaduna and I wanted to buy medicine because I had a headache and I called this road-side-peddler – you know in the park there are always so many of them walking around – so, I bought a Paracetamol from one of them. But surprisingly when I opened the medicine, it was powdering. I tasted it and it was actually chalk,” she says.
“I was furious and told others about the travail – they now told me that there were some factories that make these drugs in Kano and some other places. They deliberately package it and sell to unsuspecting buyers. That was when I realised that I should stop buying drugs from drug peddlers and that was how I knew some fake drugs especially in Kano.”
‘… Analgin almost paralised my left leg’
If not for professional medical intervention, Lukman, a resident of Ijora, Lagos would have had a paralysed left leg by now. On a Tuesday morning, Lukman wakes up feeling feverish and unsettled; he uses several pills but none of them seems efficacious and so, he decides to call on a local nurse for treatment.
“The first thing I noticed while checking the drugs that were to be given to me by this nurse was that, there was an injection called Analgin, which did not even have a NAFDAC number,” says Lukman, narrating his ordeal. “I challenged the nurse; I told her that the injection did not have a NAFDAC number but she told me not to worry about that and I kept quiet when she told me not to teach her her job.”
Afterward, the nurse injects the contraband Analgin into Lukman’s body, through his ass vein, only for him to remain stiff, with a knocked knee. “For minutes, I could neither move forward nor backward. My left knee was knocked and my leg was also stiff. I cried.”
The nurse is dumfounded – too confused to know what to do. Lukman’s guardian quickly rushes him to a nearby private hospital – Jim Sam, located at Gasikiya Road, Ijora-Badia, in Lagos. “They treated me and told me never to patronise such a nurse again. If not for the doctors in the hospital, that Analgin almost paralysed my left leg.”
Before now, Analgin injection used to be highly recommended as a pain killer and fever fighter. But in 2005, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC ) banned the drug from circulation following “the discovery of two major cases of severe Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) involving two secondary school students at the Federal Government Girls’ College, Ibuzor, Delta State. One of the students, a 14-year-old Miss Uju Okwusiogu, suffered severe tissue damage from the upper hip down to the back knee, while the other a 12-year-old girl, died following severe Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TEN) after being injected with dipyrone known as metamizole in generic terms.”
When asked by Lukman why she used the banned Analgin on him, “she said that was not her first time of using Analgin for her sick patient. She also said that she never thought it was going to happen that way.”
Pharmacovigilance
It is essential for drug regulatory bodies such as NAFDAC to invigilate thoroughly, the importation of drugs, examine the drugs before they find their ways into the open markets for human consumption and even after they reach the markets (and pharmacies) – this is exactly what is known as ‘pharmacovigilance’.
However, a top NAFDAC official who prefers not to be named because he is not authorised to speak to journalists explains in details how the drug regulatory agency has been vigilant to ensure the safety of the drugs sold in Nigeria. “There is what we call drug registration number and drug compliance number. We ensure safety, efficacy, and quality of the product. After we check and before we give NAFDAC approval, we have to look at the critical company of that product. We have to inspect where you are producing the drug, the process from the formulation to the finishing. The active ingredients, the source of formulation and whether you follow the right process or not.
“After meeting all the specified process, reaching the final stage, we also sample. When we sample, we will now take the product and check the claim of the manufacturer. In drugs, there is verification of active ingredient, we do potency, and we also check dissolution,” he says.
While stressing that any medicinal product without NAFDAC number should be regarded as counterfeit and be avoided, he explains that some drugs may still fail the assay of the active ingredient when they are poorly stored.
“You know, these things that they use in making the drugs are scientific formation; they can easily be degraded by either radiation or heat. There is something we call stability of a drug if the drug is not stable. When I talk of stability, I talk of the storage condition of that drug, mode of transformation of that drug, and dispose of that drug. If it doesn’t follow the due process, and at the end, it reaches the consumer, they may not get the actual ingredients they are supposed to meet,” he remarks.
He also clarifies that “not less than 75 per cent of the tablet should release into the body system. If any tablet releases lower than that, that tablet has failed quality control check. And that tablet can be called counterfeit or substandard. Dissolution will give the rate of drug release into the body system. Assay is just to quantify the percentage of active ingredients in that product.
“You may see some fine drugs with good packages but the active ingredient is not there. We have some machines that detect that. We make sure that all the anti-malarial drugs have our scratch cards on them. We collaborate with the entire network provider to authenticate the product passed by NAFDAC. But here in Africa, some are mad in making money; some fake NAFDAC numbers,” he says, lamentably.
While the role of NAFDAC – as far as drug regulation is concerned – is to regulate and control the manufacture, importation, exportation, advertisement, distribution, sales and use of drug, the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) is saddled with the responsibility of regulating and controlling the education, training and practice of pharmacy in the country. However, on its side, PCN has beamed silence, when contacted to explore the possible pharmaceutical blues that fumes the scourge of fake drugs in Nigeria and activities of the agency to curb the menace.
On May 21, 2019, information seeking letter was written to the headquarters of the agency in Abuja, but as at the time of writing this report, this reporter has got no feedback; neither has he been granted an interview, as requested.
Before you pop that drug…
Perhaps you are a bit under the weather, gripped by acute headache, a severe stomach disorder or even fatal fever, beware and be aware of certain things you may have to consider before you pop that drug.
NAFDAC’s Director of Public Affairs Dr. Jimoh Abubakar, warns Nigerians from buying drugs from sourceless counterfeiters, stressing that “the problem of drug counterfeiting is quite overwhelming; we are talking of a population over two hundred million (in Nigeria) and we have (in NAFDAC) a population of staff that is not more than two thousand five hundred, policing that Nigeria large population.”
“But then, we have involved a creative way of doing this job so that we can stay ahead of the counterfeiters. And one of the strategies we have leveraged on is consistent public enlightenment campaigns – enlightenment campaigns in the sense that, instead of jumping here and there with limited staff strength, we try to educate the citizens in the right direction.
“And we have always been saying; when you see a product that does not have NAFDAC registration number, avoid it, because you cannot vouch for what is inside. Even if it has effect of high qualities, it means the manufacturer has something to hide. Even when the number is there, look out for other things – the batch number, the manufacturer address, and other things.”
This report was done with support from Ford Foundation and the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, ICIR.
WATER is crucial for human existence. An adequate supply of clean water is one of the most basic human needs. 663 million people in the world live without clean water that’s nearly 1 in 9 people worldwide, yet two-thirds of the surface of our globe is covered with water.
Water plays an important role in the world economy. Approximately 70 per cent of the freshwater used by humans goes to agriculture. Fishing in salt and fresh water bodies is a major source of food for many parts of the world.
In Nigeria, as of 2015, 67 per cent of the total population had access to “at least basic water supply”. This was 82 per cent of the urban population and 54 per cent of the rural population. In 2015, around 60 million people lacked access to “at least basic” water. As for sanitation, only 33 per cent of the total population had access to “at least basic” sanitation. This was 39 per cent of the urban population and 27 per cent of the rural population. Approximately 122 million people still lacked access to “at least basic” sanitation. In urban areas, access to standpipes substituted to a large extent to piped water access.
The responsibility of water supply in Nigeria is shared between three levels of government – federal, state and local. The federal government is in charge of water resources management; state governments have the primary responsibility for urban water supply, and local governments together with communities are responsible for rural water supply.
Many households in Nigeria mainly depend on external sources for their drinking water as most homes do not have potable water within their premises. This has put the quality of water Nigerians drink into question, reflected in the incessant outbreak of cholera in the country.
The 2017 Multiple Indicator Cluster survey stated that 68 per cent of Nigerians buys or source water from locations outside their homes. Most of the water they drink is from sachet, bottle water, taps, wells and boreholes, depending on the location. According to the survey, women constitute the highest per cent (40 per cent) of persons who go out looking for water. This situation is far worse in the North-eastern part of the country as 83 per cent of homes have no drinking water on their premises. This is followed by the South-south with 71 per cent and the North-central with 70 per cent with drinking water burden. The burden is also heavier on the rural areas with 74 per cent, compared to 59 per cent in the urban areas. In most cases, those who go looking for water spend about 30 minutes away from their homes.
Access to safe water can save most of the under-five children who die from preventable diseases, as most of the diseases are caused by poor access to water. About 88 per cent of diarrhoea cases in Nigeria come from states that do not meet the WASH standard.
According to the World Health Organisation, water safety and quality are fundamental to human development and well-being. This is because health risk may arise from the consumption of water contaminated with infectious agents, toxic chemicals, and radiological hazards. Also, improving access to safe drinking water can result in tangible improvements to health.
Providing access to safe water is one of the most effective instruments in promoting health and reducing poverty. Drinking-water quality management has been a key foundation for the prevention and control of waterborne diseases. Water is essential for life, but it can and does transmit disease in countries in all continents – from the poorest to the wealthiest.
The most predominant waterborne disease, diarrhoea, has an estimated annual incidence of 4.6 billion episodes and causes 2.2 million deaths every year.
There are several variants of the faecal-oral pathway of water-borne disease transmission. These include contamination of drinking-water catchments (e.g. by human or animal faeces), water within the distribution system (e.g. through leaky pipes or obsolete infrastructure) or of stored household water as a result of unhygienic handling.
Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6 by 2030 requires extraordinary efforts. Based on World Bank estimates, Nigeria will be required to triple its budget or at least allocate 1.7 per cent of the current Gross Domestic Product to WASH. The ambition is highest for rural sanitation where the gap for improved services is 64.1 per cent. Funding for the sub-sector is weak, and significant household contribution is needed to eliminate open defecation despite low family incomes.
SDG Goal 6 aims at ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
WaterWideis a non-profit organisation that tracks government spendings and international aids for water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in rural communities in Nigeria.
MALLAM Muntari Daura, 47, was busy sorting old sacks picked from the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) public refuse container located nearby a new generation bank in the Wuse market when The ICIR reporter passed by. He vigorously stretched the used sacks so that it can be fit for sale, unmindful of the odious smell oozing from the huge AEPB refuse container.
He was doing this as he waited patiently for customers.
“The small sacks sell for N10, medium goes for N30 while the biggest sorted sacks are N50,” Daura advertised in Hausa language.
Next to him was a middle-aged woman whose interest is the used cartons also from the same refuse receptacle. She had no gloves or safety shoes. Both traders carefully tied the cartons; and lay them on the ground for sale. Few meters away, pedestrians could be seen walking into the banks with their hands covering their noses. The expression on their faces apparently showed discomfort as they passed by the stinking AEBP container.
Major dump at Area 3 Food Court few metres to the AEPB office, Abuja Photo Credit: Olugbenga Adanikin
“I am even surprised that the refuse is not much,” she added, despite the huge pile of wastes, aside those littering the floor. “Even if they pack it now, within a minute, it will again fill up.”
Many residential areas within Abuja are also littered with refuse and left uncollected until a small pile becomes a huge heap.
Adeyemi Bademosi, a resident, said a pile of refuse on the streets of Abuja has become a regular feature in the most streets around the city. The reporter observed the same and saw many drainages being blocked by refuse.
In a fact-finding exercise conducted by The ICIR across 17 locations randomly chosen in the territory, residents lamented how the city is gradually being taken over by refuse.
Some of the locations visited include Central Business District (CBD), Wuse Zone 2 and 3, Gwarimpa, Lugbe, Wuse Market, Nyanyan, Karu, Area 3 and Area 1 all in the Abuja Metropolitan Area Council (AMAC). Other locations are Bwari by Usman Dam Water Works, Gwagwalada, Jabi, Dutsen-Garki, Wumba, Dape and Karmo.
Dirt in Koforidua street, Nyanyan
Walking across the stretch of Koforidua Street, Wuse Zone 2, to the Magistrate Court, opposite Zone 3, the reporter observed garbage on both sides of the street.
“There is nothing we can do except the AEPB comes to collect the waste,” says Azeez Ibrahim, a resident.
He said scavengers come sometimes and take some of the scraps away.
Excess wastes left unattended to by the authorities at 21 Koforidua Street, Wuse Zone 2, Abuja Photo Credit: Olugbenga Adanikin
In Karu, by St. Mary Catholic Church, there is a heap of waste. According to residents, it often takes special intervention of the community before AEPB officials come to clear the mess. Also, there is a gully nearby LEA primary school mostly filled with wastes. Residents, The ICIR learnt, have turned the gully to a dumping site.
“It is worse in this area. People dump refuse in the middle of the road. I could remember a time the FCT minister came himself to see the place when people were complaining on the smell because the AEPB refused to pack it,” Ms Nnena Okeke told The ICIR.
Now, people rely on waste cart pushers to get rid of their wastes, said Kayode Adebiyi, a resident.
“Along the road to my residence in FHA, Karu, there is one of such which is a constant eyesore and its stench disturbs…If you notice, Abuja is now dirtier than it used to be; almost every corner you turn has a dumpsite.”
Waste dump few metres to the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Central Business District, Abuja Photo Credit: Damilola Ojetunde
The story is the same at the Central Business District (CBD), Garki, Nyanya, Karu, Gwagwalada and Bwari Area Council. Residents everywhere are embattled with waste problems. Gwarimpa, acclaimed largest estate in Africa is inundated with dirt from First Avenue to Third Avenue. To compound the problem, underground sewage systems are left uncovered and have become a passage for rodents that feast on the wastes. However, the investigation by The ICIR revealed that the AEPB is less active at the suburb than at the city centres. A visit to Gwagwalada and Bwari confirmed this fact.
An over-filled waste container at 3rd Avenue, Gwarimpa, Abuja Photo Credit: Olugbenga Adanikin
Five years of failed battle with AEPB, dump
Wumba district is one of the communities in Abuja. It is a few metres to the Apo Mechanic village with three major, but dusty roads. For five years, residents have battled fruitlessly to manage their waste seeking supports from the AEPB. At the community’s entrance is a big heap of refuse that has remained a nightmare to the residents and nearby estates. At the mention of Wumba community, what comes to mind is the refuse dump and stench.
“As you dey here, you no dey perceive the smell?” Sunday David asked the reporter.
“It has been here for more than seven years. They have brought trucks to pack the dirt like three times but the waste remains.”
David’s Aluminium workshop was directly opposite the dumpsite, so he was used to the smell, and cared less about the health implications.
John’s Shop opposite the dump site which serve as an entrance to Wumba community, AMAC, Abuja Photo credit: Olugbenga Adanikin
The reporter observed residents blocking their noses each time they pass through. And those in cars simply wound up their side glasses.
Mr John, a welder in the area, had to erect a makeshift fence made of bamboo to separate his workshop from the dump heap. “Several attempts have been made to stop people and we have persuaded the AEPB to come around but it’s being wasted efforts, and we are tired.”
The ICIR found that deliberate moves were made by residents to contribute funds to mobilise the AEPB officials to pack the refuse but the effort was futile due to mistrust. All through the period spent observing the community, it is either vehicle owners throw-out wastes in black polythene bags or parents send their teenage wards to dump their waste at the dump site.
Mr Istifanus Danlami, secretary to Prince Daniel Zhiba, the Chief of Wumba Community, narrated how the community initially had problem with location for its dump site. But years later, they secured a space. By that time, it was already late as it became difficult to persuade the AEPB to move the refuse container.
Palace of Wumba Traditional Chief, Prince Daniel Zhiba, AMAC Abuja. Photo Credit: Olugbenga Adanikin
“We invited the AEPB, made an agreement for them to provide waste containers so that at the end of the month, they can pack it but they needed assistance from the community.”
Curious, The ICIR inquired further to know what form of assistance. “Financially, I think they were saying N100 per room but we later found out that those that came were not directly from the AEPB… so we stopped because we don’t want to deceive the community.”
Trading with dirt at Nyanyan, Mopol Junction
Filled waste container left unpacked at Mopol Junction, Nyanyan Pedestrian Bridge, Abuja Photo Credit: Olugbenga Adanikin
Like many other locations visited, Mopol Junction, Nyanyan is an eyesore. It is by the main road connecting the FCT with Nasarawa State. It’s also an access way for those who reside close to the pedestrian bridge.
Daily, residents dispose wastes at the AEPB bin positioned almost directly under the pedestrian bridge. According to passers-by, the waste container is always overfilled with wastes, extending to the drainage. Commercial motorcyclists sometimes defecate on the spot, making the area a health risk for passersby.
Five metres to the refuse dump is a mentally challenged man. He appeared to be in his 60s yet an addict smoker. Apparently, he is in need of help but his situation is made worse as he ignorantly inhaled sordid smells from the collection point – already made his home.
Next to him was Hassan, a northerner. He has a small kiosk, tied to a wheelbarrow under the lower part of the pedestrian bridge – few metres from the waste bin. “I come here 7 am in the morning and leave 10 pm everyday Inshah Allah” Hassan says.
Hassan standing by his stall with friends few metres away from the waste stench. Photo Credit: Olugbenga Adanikin
As odours from the filled waste bin ooze northward to his direction, he continued with his small venture, not minding the poor scent. “The motor get problem so they never come to carry it (waste container),” he said when asked why the refuse dump was filled up without attendant.
Residents vulnerable to Lassa fever
Recently, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) placed FCT on the watch list of states vulnerable to Lassa fever outbreak after declaring the disease outbreak on 22nd January.
This implies the need to maintain proper hygiene and good waste management. The World Health Organisation (WHO) risk assessment also described Lassa fever as easily transmittable, when in contact with food or household items contaminated with rodent urine or faeces.
According to the WHO, 37 confirmed cases with 10 deaths have been reported in nine states across the country including the FCT as of February.
Though AEPB has selected days for collection, residents think the days are few.
Over-filled Waste Bin by Nyanyan pedestrian bridge, Abuja Photo Credit: Olugbenga Adanikin
They request for additional frequent visits so that waste can be collected more promptly.
The people also alleged cases of exploitation by the AEPB officials who purportedly present outrageous bills to residents. But the AEPB authorities insisted payments are made via bank and payment of physical cash is not allowed.
Experts’ position
Aside vulnerability to Lassa fever that could arise from dirty environment, experts said residents are prone to cholera, diarrhoea, yellow fever, malaria among other deadly diseases. Also, extreme health challenges could also arise from dumping damaged batteries, and heavy metals into the water body.
Dr Jimlas Ogunsakin, a public health physician, said poor sanitation and hygiene could cause a serious outbreak in the society, stressing that what most people actually need to be healthy is to reside in a healthy environment.
“We are so conscious of healing rather than keeping our environment clean and living healthy,” he said.
“Environmental factors such as lack of good sanitation, hygiene and open defecation are actually the main causes of outbreaks. These could be Lassa fever, cholera, sicknesses like malaria, typhoid fever etc. So they have a direct link to the health of the population.
Waste dump, set ablaze covering drainage at the entrance to Dutsen-Garki, AMAC Abuja Photo Credit: Olugbenga Adanikin
“Society must own interventions and every effort to ensure good sanitation. If the government says it is setting up a day to clean the environment, the community should take ownership. With this, many of our children will not be dying of common sicknesses.”
An official of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Mr Adebusuyi validated the statement of Dr. Ogunsakin. “Of course, it has a lot of health implications. Illegal dumping is not proper and as such, it should be discouraged.”
Dr Okobia Efegbidiki, National Secretary of the Nigerian Environmental Society (NES), in his reaction blamed the scourge to lack of national policy on municipal waste management. Based on his submission, improper waste dumping could cause respiratory problems and other health hazards.
“If you dump waste close to residential places, it could lead to respiratory or cardiovascular issues because of the emissions of nitrogen oxide and other releases from the wastes.” “If it is during the wet season and you have a situation of underground water, it could also affect underground water such as boreholes and wells.”
Dr Helen Eze, another Medical Practitioner at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH) stressed how wrong waste disposal and late collection of wastes could affect the digestive system.
“Most times the digestive system is more affected and people could be prone to cholera, typhoid fever, dysentery, even the air pollution, the respiratory system may be affected.”
Nigeria is a signatory to the SDGs aimed to achieve universal and equitable access to good sanitation, safe and affordable drinking water for all by 2030. But these goals may be defeated except waste mismanagement is well addressed.
Cattle feast on wastes at an illegal dump site in Nyanya along Jikwoyi Road, Abuja Photo Credit: Olugbenga Adanikin
Yes we charge for wastes – AEPB reacts
Reacting to the claims, Muktar Ibrahim, AEPB Head of Information and Outreach Unit Programme, admitted the board charges for the waste collected.
But he denied any form of arbitrary rates. “I don’t really entertain spurious claims… those bills are for services rendered, there is no residential apartment that will be charged N100, 000, not even a commercial complex.” Adding that, the AEPB, “has a bill of N35, 000 which we issue out.”
Ibrahim said it was practically impossible to cover the entire FCT, though it operates in 27 districts with plans to extend to 48 and this is the reason the council areas, he said, are also responsible for waste management at the suburbs.
“There are 27 waste contractors paid by the FCTA, who are not consultants and Area Council Chairmen are board members of the AEPB.
“We have a structured pattern of waste disposal and we have a main disposal point in Gosa. If you find anyone dumping waste anyhow, it must be illegal operators. Yes, operationally, we render a supervisory role as the foremost agency but if there are complains, we carry out interventions upon requests.”
Refuse set ablaze at Dutsen-Garki Photo Credit: Olugbenga Adanikin The ICIRRefuse dump along Lower Usman Dam, Bwari Photo Credit: Olugbenga Adanikin The ICIR
Reacting to Wumba crisis, Ibrahim promised to meet with the department of solid wastes, urging residents to write officially to the environment department of AMAC.
In conclusion, residents who spoke to The ICIR advised the relevant authorities to collect wastes on a regular basis– at least weekly– , and provide more waste containers for proper collection. They also suggested that environmental authorities should be more organised in order to be more effective in keeping Abuja clean and safe.
