Friday, August 31, 2012

Woman Sets Self Ablaze For Failing Driving test Four Times

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Yamakala Sapkota at Edinburgh High Court today where a judge decided to suspend a custodial sentence because she was 'out of her mind' when she set fire to herself


A mother who was left distraught after she failed her driving test for the fourth time endangered others when she tried to commit suicide by setting fire to herself.
Yamkala Sapkota made the attempt on her own life when, despite spending thousands on 90 driving lessons, she was still deemed to be below the standard required to pass her test.
The news sparked an argument between Sapkota and her husband Yadumen who told her to 'die if you want to' before he left for work in the morning.

Following his departure, the 30-year-old set herself alight after leaving a suicide note penned in her native Nepalese, saying she no longer wanted to live.
A neighbour saw Sapkota ablaze in her flat in Gordon Street, in the Leith area of Edinburgh and called the fire service.
Using breathing apparatus firefighters managed to rescue the semi-conscious woman who had suffered burns to her face, back and arms.
Sapkota earlier admitted culpably and recklessly starting the fire, severely injuring herself and endangering the lives of others as well as property on June 28 last year.
Judge Lord Bannatyne told her: 'I have decided to take the unusual course in a High Court case to defer sentence for one year for you to be of good behaviour.'
 
He said that if she did behave he intended to deal with her in a non-custodial manner to allow her to prove that the incident really was out of character.
But he warned that if she was not of good behaviour he would deal with the case 'in a different fashion'.
He also said he had noted the background to the offence which he described as 'somewhat unusual'.
He pointed out that there were no previous convictions and she had committed no offences since. He added: 'I believe it is highly unlikely you will ever offend again.'
Defence counsel Sarah Livingstone said Sapkota had described herself as being out of her mind.
She said: 'In her state of mind she was trying to harm herself and no one else.'
Sapkota and her husband moved to Britain eight years and he secured a job as a chef.
Prosecuting Stephen O'Rourke told the High Court in Edinburgh that on the day of the incident her husband Yadumen had left her very upset when he told her to 'die if you want' before leaving for work.
The prosecutor said: 'The immediate motivator behind the incident was the fact that the accused had failed to pass her driving test for the fourth time that morning, after taking over 90 lessons.

Yamakala Sapkota pictured with her husband Yadumen. He had left her so upset when he said she 'might as well die' that she tried to commit suicide


'She was very upset about this and an argument followed between her and her husband which led to the comment.
'The family's financial circumstances were limited and it appears that the cost of the lessons were significant in that regard.'
After the alarm was raised by the 999 call, police arrived and could see smoke coming from under the door of the flat.
As officers evacuated the building, a police officer managed to force open the door but as he went into the hall he was stopped from going any further by the heat.
Firefighters wearing breathing gear managed to reach Sapkota and she was taken out of the flat and paramedics gave her morphine and oxygen as she was taken to hospital.
Mr O'Rourke said the fire, which posed no immediate danger to other properties, was put out.
Sapkota suffered 12 per cent burns to her face, head, neck, shoulder, right arm and back and under went operations to graft skin.
She was also psychiatrically assessed but was diagnosed as not suffering from any mental illness.
Ms Livingstone said the scarring to Sapkota's back was 'horrendous' and she had to wear a special suit. Doctors took the view that she will be permanently scarred.

Source: Mail Online

Is Scapegoat Dbanj In Love With Adama Idimi?

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According to MAESTROMEDIA something sizzling might be on going between Nigeria's Mr Entertainer , who is also one of Africa's biggest Music Star's- THE ONE,THE ONLY-D Banj and one of the gloriously gorgeous daughters of Maiduguri based Multi-Millionaire, Alhaji Mohammed Indimi, who is also General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida's in-law. So hot is the supposed relationship between Dapo and Adama that some are speculating it might become something more serious.

The main reason many believe something hot and sweet might be going on is related to the tweets between the 2 friends. Adama Indimi who would pass for a beauty queen anyday, is one of the very many daughters of Alhaji Indimi and she is a student at Lynn University, a private co-educational institution in Boca Raton, Florida, USA founded in 1962. Adama and another sister are currently studying in the school, while 3 of her elder sisters have already graduated from the same school.

Back to the gist itself that something might be going on started with this tweet from D'banj kokomaster @iamdbanj on August 13, 2012 - On my way to club icon w/@NaetoC and the crew! 2nyt we drinking 2 celebrate my baby @Presido_Adama happy birthday love!
 

Looking at it, it could be that Adama is one of his biggest fans. Also as a superstar he would have loads of female friends/fans that he might be calling love. D banj is one star that has being linked with a few other stars- Genevieve Nnaji, Nadia Buari and others, so what's so fantastic about this one then.

Leading up to D'banj's massive London concert on Bank Holiday Monday, August 27, 2012, Adama again tweeted ''Excited''. Another innocent expression, we think, then that was followed on the day after the concert by another tweet ''You make me do happy'' This was followed by pictures of first herself and his dancers backstage, followed by a picture of the supposed love-birds together looking very sweet together. Mind you all Adama flew in to London from either her base in the US or from Nigeria for the concert.


On August 29, 2012 she posted this - Happy love, happy laugh, happy soul! And afterwards ''You make me do happy! Twas also on that day, that she posted this - When mumsi said ''I like your new Hannah Montana remix'' and followed it with a picture on instagram. So this allows us to ask the Million dollars question- Is D'banj finally hooked? If so when would it be official?
 


I just dey watch

Joseph Yobo Signs N1.6B Deal with Turkish Team

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Super Eagles captain, Joseph Yobo has finally sealed a deal of 3 years with the Number 1 team in the Turkish League- Fenerbahce Fc of Turkey. 

The deal would cost the Turkish team $10Million which is about N1.6 Billion in Nigerian currency. He will also be entitled to another $1m bonus yearly. 

I don’t know how you want me to end this. All I can say is….. hmmm God is good. But you need to know what I am thinking deep down my mind, lol. Yes exactly what you are thinking!!!

How Men Drug And Abuse Ladies (A Must Read)

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I apologise for the last reader’s mail. I promise I won’t post such again.

Hi

I am Ify, a girl like you who also has fears, beliefs, reservations and just your regular typical Nigerian girl. This past few weeks has been one hell of a game for me. I have really been unsettled and I thought I share this story with you. When Cynthia (the lady killed in the hotel room in Festac) surfaced the internet and various new media, I was scared and it brought back a whole lot of memories to me and also served as an eye opener. Many people castigated and criticized Cynthia (may her gentle soul rest in peace). But my point is, it could be any body, anybody at all. We have met people through various social media, some have ended up well, and some have not with painful memories. To cut the long story short, let me kindly share with you my encounter with social media especially the very popular Blackberry Messenger BBM.

I am a graduate and currently serving in Kaduna, I could have runced it, but I needed somewhere to clear my head and forget about my ugly encounter.

Here is my story, I happened to have a married man as contact on my BBM. He had been asking me out for over six months and I refused to date him. As time went on, he invited me clubbing when his wife was outside the country. I went with him all night. We spent most of the night at a popular club on the Island. I also met his click of friends, married as well. Majority of them married with their various mistresses and we had mad fun. After all the clubbing and drinking, he lodged me in a hotel somewhere at obalende, I felt kindda safe with him. We did not have sex. He touched me in places I had never ever imagined, he kissed me so passionately but guess what? He did not have sex with me. We did all sorts but there was no penetration, so to an extent I trusted he was a good person to be around. I did not know that it was all part of the plan, he gave me N10,000 and put me in a cab to go home the next morning,

 We kept talking and chatting and sending naked pictures to each other and he told me nutty things how he wanted to whisper things in my ear, I blushed. We didn't see for two weeks and that is because of his wife just came back from Turkey. One faithful evening, he pinged me that he was organising a beach party/boat cruise and he would love for me to be his date. He also told me that he wanted to open a BBM chat, as a medium for his friends and my friends to interact. I was excited; I just wanted to have fun. I was able to get five of my very hot friends. The BBM group opened and we got chatting. I also realised that majority of them were married and working in reputable firm. It was fun; we didn't mind if they were married, we just wanted to have fun, as well as some other girls apart from my friends in the group. We chatted exclusively, sent pictures to the BBM group to introduce ourselves, and we had opened group conversations pending the beach party, and as excited as we were we went shopping for nice sexy beach wears.

The D-day finally arrived. We all assembled at the boat club. I was wowed; this was a high class party. We were cruising in a boat loaded with goodies. Drinks and hot babes and as well "MARRIED MEN".I did not care, I just said in my mind that I would not roll with married men anymore after this. But for now all I wanted to do was catch some fun after all, I aint paying bills. It was a private beach resort. Most of the beach facilities I got to know where owned by multinational companies. We got out of the boat, and went to where we were partying. It was a duplex made outta wood very nice setting, I felt comfortable because it even had a fence around it, separating it from other beach house around, so there was privacy and of course bouncers (heavy looking guys) guarding the place. I said to myself, this must be heaven am I dreaming. Anyways, we felt free with each other because we had been chatting, it was 5:30pm and the party just started.

We had drinks flowing from the private bar tender which happens to be one of the men in the group. Reality struck when I realised I was feeling dizzy and feeling really funny and light headed, not only me but other girls around me. There was something strange about it. I was also feeling HORNY as hell! I had been drugged. They monitored us and when they knew the drug had really gone dip in our system, they moved us up into the main beach house. I could still see face but was too weak and horny to react. Mr B, the man who took me clubbing carried me in his hands like a sacrifice. He put me down on the floor and other men also carried each girl to themselves. We were eight in number. 8 girls and 8 guys and they all stripped us down and had sex with us. I enjoyed it a bit cos I was horny. It was mixed feeling because I cried, I moaned, I do not know how many times he came into me, he pounded me hard, I was dizzy he grabbed me with force, all I could notice was the wedding ring on his hand. How wicked and miserable married me can be. How inhuman and heartless. All of them took turns in switching partners and slept with all of us. I passed out, that is the last thing I could remember. I felt water poured on me. I noticed all the other girls around me too were half naked and some totally naked. We spent the night at the beach; the men were nowhere to be found. I looked around me all I saw was packs of used condoms and I ran to pick my clothes and possibly raise an alarm. I got dressed, found my phone with and envelope, it contained N16,000 and a note asking us to take N2000 each for transport. 

Tears of anger and rage filled my eyes and the girls around me as well. We were drugged and used like tissue paper. I grabbed my phone and noticed a ping came in. I checked my fone, I noticed the group had been deleted, and a message via BBM from MR B came in. He threatened me that if I say a word to anyone I would regret it. I told him he was a bastard, and he said try it. A picture came in, several pictures of us naked on the floor. Pictures of them humiliating us but they blurred the faces of the men. In total I got 20 pictures. I was not myself for a month. I went back to school, I had no one to talk to, and the rest of the semester was hell for me. My CGPA dropped drastically. It was the worst out of the worst result I have ever had. Till today I and my friends have not discussed this with anyone. But all I could do when I heard Cynthias story was to narrate my own ordeal anonymously and spread the news, spread the words, and pray they see it and changed their ways. I am now born again. I have given my life to Christ. I fear men so much I cannot even move close to them. I still have night mares, but with time God will strengthen me and I will move on. My advice to single ladies out there, do not be desperate for fun, pray to God to open your eyes of understanding. Pray hard. He who kneels before God, will stand before kings and queens, to all married women, pray hard for God to intervene in your marriages and turn your husbands from bad habits and bad friends. As for me, I do not think I ever want to get married or date again. That chapter has been closed for good in my life.

Dear Ladun, please do not ignore my mail. Please post it. There are a lot of things we ladies need to learn including you. Please post it on your blog and save a soul. It could be your friend, sister, cousin, and neighbour. God bless you as you pass it on. To all readers, I do not care if you insult me or rain abuses at me; my job is to share this encounter with you and save you from any mishap. God bless you all.
Source: Ladunlaidi's blog
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Paralympics: Another Nigerian Wins Gold Medal in Power Lifting

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Nigerian Ivory Nwokorie today won gold in women's -44kg power lifting competition. Ivory lifted an incredible 109kg at the South Arena 3 at ExCel. Go Team Nigeria!

Crystal Ellis Owonubi: The American Woman Married to a Nigerian And She Loves it Here in Nigeria

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Despite the efforts put to curb racism world-wide, the bitter act still exists in full swing, till this present day, but here is one American woman who wasn't shaken despite her rejection by her parents for getting married to a black man.  In a bid to encourage others, she shared this on her facebook page,  Happy: I support mixed-raced families!"

Crystal Ellis Owonubi (pictured above) lives in Jos with her family. She has been sharing her story with other Americans and people in the world at large via a popular Facebook page 'Mixed and Happy:

Her story below......

I grew up in Bauxite, Arkansas. I have lived in Nigeria for the past 7 years with my husband. We have two children together. We have been married for 12 years now. My father has never met my husband and has refused to accept my children also.
When I had my first baby, a little girl that is now 12 years old. I called my father and said that I wanted to come and see him for Christmas with my baby. He said, "I don't want any black people in my home!" and hung up the phone!

I grew up in an all white school with only one mixed girl in the school. I was treated horribly in school because I dated a black boy that lived in the next town at the age of 16. My father told me that he would disown me and to this day, I have never received a phone call from him.

I was called nigger lover in school and nobody wanted to sit by me. I knew what it felt like to be rejected. I was sent away to several different homes for troubled children because my mother did not want me to be with a black person. She would lock the phone up in her room. But, today I live in the blackest nation, Nigeria. And today I am happy that I did not end up racist like them or should I say ignorant."

I am holding back my tears. I thank God that he gave me a family of my own! He has blessed me with a wonderful man that understands me and loves me for who I am. He has blessed me with a wonderful family that accepts me regardless of my skin color and regardless of where I come from. Even though my mother and father in law are both deceased now, I thank God for their lives and how they were able to show me love before they went on to be with the Lord. Many people have been amazed that I am been able to stay in Nigeria for this long, but now I am ready to share my story.

This is not the full story nor is it the ending of the story, so watch out for my book......coming soon! God wrote my story, but I wrote the book. I pray that many peoples lives will be touched by my story and that lives will be changed.


The Promo is Real, We are Giving Out a Brand New Aeroplane - MTN

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Due to the recent controversy surrounding the MTNUltimate Wonder promo, in which a lucky winner will win a brand new aircraft, Telecommunication giants, MTN have again assured its new and existing subscribers of its commitment to fulfill its promise of rewarding the winner of its ongoing Ultimate Wonder Promo with an airplane
The company’s General Manager, Consumer Marketing, Kola Oyeyemi, spoke in Lagos while launching the company’s Ultimate Wonder Draw, which will see a Nigerian winning a brand new 2012 Cessna 182T aircraft.

Oyeyemi said: “For many people, it’s so hard to believe that we are giving out an aeroplane which for me is understandable because no other brand has done it. This is what makes us the market leader.”

“Remember the N1billion promo where we shelled out N1billion to 100 lucky winners? It looked impossible until we made it happen. The automania game is ongoing, so far we have given out over 86 Hyundai ix35 SUVs,” he said reiterating MTN’s commitment to the continuous engagement of the market through exciting and innovative promos.

He advised Nigerians to ensure they “recharge up to N3, 000 in the next 90 days of this promo to qualify for the star prize and other mouth-watering cash prizes

UNBELIEVABLE! 3 Year Old Girl Raped at Adeniji Adele

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Reading this story will send cold shivers all over your body, it will make you realize that rapists are indeed insane animals in human skin, and lessons should be learnt, we should be very mindful of how we send our minors on errands unaccompanied or even unsupervised at home.


This incident happened yesterday afternoon at Adeniji Adele, Dolphin Estate, Phase 2. A little girl ran into a woman's shop crying. The woman asked her why she was crying, but the little girl couldn't really express herself. She just kept pointing at a particular direction, and crying. Then a few minutes later, the shop owner saw a man approaching her shop and calling on the girl to follow him. The woman asked the man who he was and why he was after the girl. The man probably realized the women wasn't going to release the girl to him, so he tried to run. The woman raised an alarm immediately shouting ole ole, thinking he was a kidnapper, not knowing he had done something much worse.

Youths in the area thinking the man was a thief descended on him. The man kept saying he wasn't a thief that the little girl was known to him. They turned to the girl and pressured her to tell them what the guy had done to her; the 3 year old told them that the man had taken her to the last floor of a 3 story building and hurt her. They checked the girl's panties and saw blood all over her private area. The blood had even dropped to her legs but nobody noticed on time.

On hearing this, the youths descended on him once again, this time more brutal. They stripped him naked, and beat him with stick, stones, bottles, etc until someone called the police who then took the man away.

The rapist
Police taking him away  

The Story of Kechi Okwuchi: The One Out Of The Two Lucky Survivors Of The Sosoliso Plane Crash That Took 109 lives in Nigeria.... She Had 75 Surgeries And Was Hospitalised For 6 Years. (INTERVIEW WITH KECHI)

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 I remember the Sosoliso plane crash. I remember my extreme homesickness adding to my devastation of the plane crash that took 109 lives from us. 60 of them had been students from Loyola Jesuit College in Abuja and out of the 60, Kechi Okwuchi was the only survivor. With burns expanding to over 60% of her body and over 75 surgeries later, Kechi's story is one of perseverance and determination. Phone interview with Kechi.

Hear what she has to say.......

Y: Tell me about the actual crash, if you may.

Kechi: The pilot announced that we were going to land in the airport in about 20 minutes and the plane started descending. I was in an aisle seat which is really unusual for me because I like the window so I couldn't really see what was going on outside. Suddenly everything seemed different. We were going down way too fast. Someone in the back was shouting. It was a woman's voice, "Is this plane trying to land?" When she said that, everyone started panicking. I looked to the side to my friend and she was looking really scared and I was probably looking just as scared.  So we held hands and tried to pray, but before we could even start to say, "In Jesus' name", there was this really loud, searing sound right in my ear and the next thing I knew, I woke up in the hospital.

Y: Understand that you don't have to answer any of my questions, but how did you deal with the loss of your friends and the other people you knew on the plane?

Kechi: Well at that point when I woke up in the hospital, I automatically assumed that since I was alive, everyone else was alive too. I was told by the psychiatrist in the hospital 4 months later that I was the only survivor of all the students and only one of two survivors of the entire flight. I cried a whole lot. I was devastated. The first person I could think of was my friend Toke Bagru, the girl that was sitting beside me because she was my closest friend. She was the first person I thought of because she had been the last face I had seen before the crash. My mother was there with me the whole time, she's my rock. She let me cry everything out. I still cry, but I don't like the idea of being constantly sad about it. If I stay sad and constantly depressed, it's an insult to their memory. I want to live my life to the fullest, not just for myself, but for them too.


Y: How do you handle your scars? Mainly, how do you handle the way strangers look at you?

Kechi: It's a bit uncomfortable, I won't deny that. I try to make it not define me. Maybe it is America because people here are a little bit more reserved than in Nigeria where you know, strangers will walk up to you and go, "Ehh yaa, chai, what happened?" And in a way, that is actually a better reaction than the strangers here who stare in a really conscious way. I really don't have a problem with them looking because if it were me, I'd stare too. I try to put myself in their shoes and I don't really get annoyed as the world would think I would. It is a really gradual process.

Y: Well, let's move to a different aspect. Tell us more about your personality, what you do for fun, your friends, how sense of style. Really, anything.

Kechi: Well, pre and post the accident, I've always had this sense of confidence which I won't deny has helped me now. My friends describe me as a really cheerful and optimistic person and I see that. I like to smile and laugh a lot, I love joking around. I love video games and board games and I love spending time with my family. I love going to amusement parks, I love the fast rides. Fashion....well I like looking good. I really love looking good. I'm very fashion conscious, I go for comfort. My normal outfit during the day would be jeans and a t-shirt. I love different colored hats, I think because I lost the hair on my head, I just got into this hat crazy where my mother would get all kinds of hats for me. But recently I've been able to start wearing wigs. I love, love, love singing. It is my second favorite thing to do.


Y: What are your plans and hopes for your future?

Kechi: I want to work in an advertising agency. I'm studying Marketing and Advertising in college now. I would hope to have a career involving both. More importantly, I pray that I will be able to become the type of adult who is able to make a difference. I wouldn't have been able to make it this far if it hadn't been for people who helped me out of the kindness of their hearts. I want to do things out of the goodness of my heart and not just for my benefit. Especially for Shriner's hospital that has treated me so far. The things that they have done for me....if I had to pay, I wouldn't have been able to do it.

Y: What do you have to tell other out there about being comfortable in their own skin?

Kechi: No matter who and where you are, you are always going to encounter obstacles. We never give up. Giving up was the one thing that I was not allowed to do. If you get to a situation where you feel that you should just give up and let go, that is the moment that you know that you shouldn't give up. You want to be able to know that you tried. If people feel that their life is worse because of some kind of accident, someone somewhere is going through the same thing, or worse. It gives me hope because I know that I'm not alone in dealing with my problems.




"Shell Petroleum Development Company Nigeria, and the Shriners Kids Hospital USA have been pivotal to Kechi's surgeries, funding the countless surgeries that Kechi has undergone in the last five years. Shell covered her extensive treatment in South Africa, from 2005 till 2007. Upon Kechi's move to Texas in 2007, she received free treatment at Shriners Hospital, Galveston Texas, as she was under the age of 21, and a minor in the United States. However, Kechi turned 21 in October, making her a legal adult in America and unable to receive any more free treatment. Unfortunately, though Kechi's surgeries are far from over, she will have to fund them privately."

To see how you can help, please go to http://www.kechiokwuchifundraiser.com/ for more on her story and share it with people you know. It will go far people!

Her words and spirit touched me and I hope it does the same for you all. RIGHT HERE is a video her cousin made for her and it certainly brought tears to my eyes the way he captured her beauty, eternally.

Please feel free to share this post on your facebook, twitter e.t.c, to Support KECHI... 

Promo: Win A Dinner Date With Stephanie Okereke

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Stephanie Okereke wrote today that she would like to host 10 people to a dinner date this September...Incase you're interested, all you have to do is 

Tell Stephanie, in not more than 20 words…

“What is your life ambition?”


Then send in your responses/comments to her blog - www.StephanieDaily.com, her team will pick the best 10. Goodluck!

Outcome of Cynthia's murder: Press Release From the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria

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This concerns the two pharmacists arrested in connection with Cynthia Osokogu's murder.

""The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) joins millions of Nigerians to empathize with the family of the late Cynthia Osokogu who was lured by friends she met on facebook to Lagos where she was brutalized and eventually killed.
We also commend the Nigeria Police for the professional investigation that led to the arrest of the two young men who admitted openly to have committed the heinous crime."
The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) is interested in a diligent and focused investigation of this murder which continues to attract so much interest from Nigerians to the extent that all found culpable will be made to face the full weight of the law, while innocent people are not unjustly arraigned, prosecuted and punished.

We note with concern the arraignment of two young Pharmacists who were charged along with the confessed suspects for rape, armed robbery, murder and administering of obnoxious substances. These are weighty charges that reflect the gravity of the offences that led to the death of this promising lady. We at Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) indeed perceive this loss as a great one to the Osokogus, friends, colleagues and all Nigerians.

The PSN after a critical appraisal of all issues at stake wishes to reflect thus:
1) Pharmacists as responsible professionals and as legitimate custodians of medicines would continue to champion safe, responsible and rational use of medicines in Nigeria. Our projects and programmes in the last few years have always been geared towards the promotion of safe use of medicines. Having said this, it is important to realize that all medicines are poisons with inherent tendencies for abuse and misuse. Pharmacists have always exercised due diligence, caution and professional judgment in dispensing and sales of medicines. But beyond this, it is difficult to know what a person intends to do or does with the medicine after purchase especially for a premeditated criminal act that involved use of chains, padlocks, tape and other dangerous weapons.

Information available to us indicate:
a. Pharmacist Chukwunonso Maduakor was on duty in Oxpharm in the morning of Monday August 20, 2012. A gentleman approached him and requested to buy Rohypnol. Nonso asked him for a prescription and he said he does not have one. The gentleman begged and pleaded with him that he really needed it with paracetamol. Pharm. Nonso considered his request on compassionate grounds and dispensed to him one (1) card of 10 tablets of flunitrazapam along with one (1) card of Paracetamol. The gentleman goes out of the pharmacy, and then came in again with other persons, arrested Nonso and accused him of selling drug without prescription. They then took him to the Police station, he made statement and was detained for six (6) days in Festac Police Area Command. On the 7th day they transferred him to Panti from where he was taken to a Magistrate Court and was charged for conspiracy, murder, armed robbery, rape and administering obnoxious substances to Miss Cynthia Osokogu who was killed by two known persons a month earlier in July 2012.

b. The second Pharmacists, Pharm. Osita Orji is a Locum Pharmacist with Oxpharm and works evening shifts. The police visited Oxpharm on 21 August 2012 and requested to see Osita. When he got to the station, they alleged that he was the Pharmacist on duty when the suspected killer of Cynthia claimed they bought Rohypnol from Oxpharm. Osita made statement that he did not know the murderers, could not recall meeting them or selling Rohypnol to them and if they ever bought the Rohypnol from him while on duty that they must have presented him with a prescription. Osita was detained in Festac Police Area Command for two (2) days, then transferred to Panti from where he was taken to a Magistrate Court and charged

2) If the liability of the two pharmacists is limited to the sales or alleged sales of rohypnol to clients they do not know and never collaborated with in this condemnable crime then it is logical to believe that at best there might have been breaches of professional ethics. The law provides that such matters are dealt with by the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria a regulatory agency of the Federal Government established by Cap. P.17 LFN 2004.

3) The drug in question Rohypnol is an intermediate acting benzodiazepam similar to diazepam (valium), nitrazepam (swidon) and bromazepam (lexotan).

Rohypnol is the brand name of the medicine flunitrazepam and is one of the benzodiazepine class of sedatives or tranquilizer drugs, of which valium or diazepam is perhaps the best known. It is used in the management of anxiety and sleep disorders (short term treatment of insomnia).

Rohypnol is made by Roche in Switzerland, registered with NAFDAC (Reg. No: 04 ? 0150) and distributed in Nigeria by Swipha Nigeria Ltd. It is not a rare drug as being reported. It is available in Nigeria.

4) The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) counsels Nigerians to monitor the use of internet facilities by youths and children particularly because of volume and nature of information available.

5) We urge the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution in the Ministry of Justice in Lagos State to immediately review the cases of these pharmacists with a view to advising the relevant authorities on how best to tackle this matter and to ensure that the innocent is not persecuted albeit unjustly.

CONCLUSION
Gentlemen of the Press, the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) assures Nigerians that it will continue to work with stakeholders including relevant regulatory agencies to evolve a National Strategy that will improve the use of medicines in Nigeria. In line with this, the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) has dedicated September 25, 2012 to continue the dialogue on safe medicines by collaborating with the National Human Rights Commission, Regulatory Agencies, Media and other stakeholders.

One of the salient lessons inherent in the discourse is that our youth while trusting must verify the relationship they make through the social media given the abuse potential.

Once again, we offer our heartfelt condolences to the entire Osokogu family. We pray that God will grant the family the fortitude to bear this loss.

Thank you.

Azubike Okwor FPSN,FPCPHARM,FFIP
President
August 30, 2012

Kobo In

 

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