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3-day-old baby stolen from Plateau hospital found, reunites with
parents
The Management of
Plateau Specialist Hospital, Jos, on Monday, handed a baby (Gift Chukwuebuka),
which was stolen ten days ago to her parents.
We reported
that the baby, which was delivered on May 28, 2019, was stolen barely three
days after she was delivered (May 31, 2019), by a woman who claimed to be a
medical personal in the aforementioned hospital.
Presenting the
child to the parents; the Chief Medical Director of the Hospital, Dr Philemon
Golwa, said, “Today is not a day of mourning, but a day of celebration;
celebration of a life that was thought to have been lost, but now has been
found.
Golwa said when the
management was informed about missing of the child, “we were worried and we
went to the police and had a meeting with them and they did their work and
recovered the baby.”
The CMD said he was
under pressure from different quotas to speak about the incident, but was very
careful not to contradict himself; “But we thank God that today we have to
celebrate.”
“Any baby that comes
with circumstances like this, such baby turns out to be great in the society
and that is why we need to tell the world what has happened.
According to the
CMD, the police invited him and other staff on duty when the incident happened
to the station, “some were even put behind the counter, we had to do all that
we could do to bring them out.
“As God will have
it, last Thursday, we had a big breakthrough, the baby was found and the person
that did the technical work of snatching the baby from here to another hospital
also had to confess, she admitted to her fault and we have left that one to the
police.
“Why the police
have not been able to say anything now is that they are working to demystify
the mystery behind how the baby was taken from the ward finding to another
hospital, so, I think they are still doing their work and I cannot stop them.
The CMD further
explained that the incident occurred during the visiting hours of the Hospital
(between 4-6pm).
Golwa assured that
the management has taken more stringent security measures to ensure that such a
thing never happens again.
He added that
people coming to the Hospital must adhere to some procedures that may sound
strange to them.
The CMD also said
the Medical bills of the baby would be settled by the Hospital and they would
be doing a follow-up, even if they are discharged.
Responding, parents
of the baby, Mr. and Mrs. Chukwuebuka, thanked everyone for ensuring that their
baby was found and returned to them safely, especially the media and security
operatives.
Photos: Family fight over right to bury body of a Nursing officer who
died 11 months ago in Jos
The remains
of Ms Lois Yusuf Davou, a Chief Nursing Officer at the Jos University
Teaching Hospital (JUTH) who died eleven months ago is yet to be buried as her
children, her late husband's family and the man she was dating before she
passed on, are fighting over the right to give her a befitting burial.
The controversy
started many years ago when Lois began having an affair with a married
pastor, Yusuf Davou. The Sun reports that their relationship resulted in
the pregnancy of their first child, Benjamin. Despite the opposition of the
church to their relationship, Lois and Yusuf decided to start a proper home.
Yusuf abandoned his first family after he was suspended by the church and moved
into an apartment with Lois. There they had two more children, 19-year-old
Ephraim and 1 year old Ruth. Lois's parents were vehemently against their union
and refused accepting the brideprice Yusuf offered so he could legally get
married to Lois.
Unfortunately, Yusuf
passed on in 2007, leaving the children behind with their mother. His family
disowned Lois and their children, saying they were not recognized by their
family.
Years after, Lois
found love again in the arms of one John Dominic who paid her dowry and married
her properly. She however died on June 21st 2018.
The task of burying
the deceased became a daunting one as the hospital management said they
could not release the body of the deceased to Dominic as the deceased wasn't
bearing his name before she died. They also could not release her entitlements
to him. Dominic who had already bought a coffin and planned to bury Lois
immediately, had to halt his plans.
Her son, Benjamin
then came in to retrieve his mother's corpse for burial. After much
discussions, he was informed by the hospital's administrator, Bitrus Ali, that
he must present a letter from the family of the late Yusuf Davou, before her
remains can be released to him. He was also directed to clear the debt of
his late mother at the cooperative society of JUTH. It was said that before her
death the hospital owed her three months salaries but only N20, 000 and N18,
000 respectively were allegedly sent to the family from her salary amounting to
about N300, 000.
Confused by the new
development, Benjamin instructed his lawyer, L. E. Anyia to write a letter
to JUTH, December 17, 2018, to plead with the hospital authority to release his
mother’s body for burial. The hospital alleging that there are three families
fighting over its ownership, refused and claimed that they need to know who has
the legitimate right to bury it.
In a bid to address
the issue, Benjamin in company of one of his aunts, paid a visit to Stephen
Davou, the elder brother of his late father. Stephen gave Benjamin the
permission to bury his mother. Arguing that he didn’t know anything about the
relationship between his brother, Yusuf and Lois because he was away from home
and recently retired from civil service before he came home and was briefed
about the affairs, Stephen initially promised to follow Benjamin to the
hospital for clearance the following day to enable him bury his mother. But few
hours later he reneged, noting that he was going to bury his late brother’s
wife according to Berom tradition.
Following the
continuing controversy, the hospital management set up a committee over the
matter. Benjamin, Stephen Davou and Dominic John were invited during their
sitting and they all agreed that Lois’ body should be released to Benjamin for
burial. It was also resolved that the woman’s entitlements be given to her
children.
Not satisfied with
the committee’s recommendations, JUTH authorities dragged Stephen Davou Jang,
John Dominic, Benjamin Davou, to Plateau State High Court, Jos, through its
counsel, K.M.G Pwul, praying the court to decide who among the three is
entitled to be given her remains for burial. They also wanted the court to
determine who among the defendants is entitled to the benefits accruing and due
to the late Lois Davou Yusuf.
But in a
counter-motion, the deceased woman’s children arguing that the state high court
lacks the jurisdiction to adjudicate over the matter as the JUTH is a federal
institution dragged the authorities and other parties involved to Federal High
Court, Jos. Along the line, the parties, having exhausted the legal options,
agreed to settle out-of- court with the children demanding N15 million as
damages for time wasted and the trauma they suffered. But so far the hospital
has refused not only to pay the amount but to also release Lois’ body for
burial.
Speaking on the
controversy surrounding the burial of the deceased, the elder brother to late
Yusuf Davou, Steven Davou, said he initially agreed that not only should
the woman’s body be released to her children to bury anywhere they like but
that also her entitlements should be given to them.
“It’s true that the
children belonged to my late brother, so we wanted to bury their mother
according to our tradition but the children refused, insisting that they want
to go and bury their mother in Kwol, Maingo,” he said. “It was when they took
me to court that I disowned them. I don’t want to have anything to do with
them. I was working to bring them back home but they are not thinking in that
direction. The first son said they were born in a boyfriend-girlfriend
relationship, so I don’t have anything to do with them. The corpse should be
given to them with their mother’s entitlements.”
Also speaking, the
second husband of the deceased, John Dominic, says he has agreed with JUTH to
release the body to the children for burial so that Lois's spirit can rest
in peace.
“I don’t know what
is still delaying the burial up till now,” he said. “I had wanted to do the
burial. I had dug a grave, bought coffin and prepared everything but JUTH
refused to release the corpse to me arguing that she does not bear my name.
JUTH took the matter to State High Court for determination of who is the right
person to release the corpse to but the children went to Federal High Court to
challenge the jurisdiction of the court to attend to the matter. They later
withdrew the case and opted for out-of-court settlement. I am not interested in
the entitlement of their mother. I was only interested in the burial of my wife
but since the children said they want to bury their mother, I have given them
the permission to do that, the corpse should be released to them.” he said
On his part,
Benjamin says he does not know why the hospital management is yet to release
his mother's body to him
“I don’t know why JUTH
has not released the corpse. I don’t know when the Director of Administration
will give me the body for burial,” he said. “The case has gone to court and we
opted for out-of-court settlement but up till now, there is no cheering news
from them. I am sad that my mother is 11 months now in the mortuary; there is
no reason whatsoever for her body to be kept for that long. I am the first son.
They should give me the body of my mother to bury. I am pained that I lost my
mother at this age and my pain is compounded by the controversy that was
introduced in the plans for her burial. As we speak now, I don’t know what the
body looks like in the mortuary. I am begging that the body of my mother should
be given to me for burial.” he said
Plateau attack: How mother escaped with toddler as gunmen kill husband,
five others
Six members of the
same family were on Monday murdered in Nghakai village in Riyom Local
Government Area of Plateau State.
Nghakai village is
15km West of College of Nursing, Vom, a village bordering Jos South LGA of the
state.
The attack, which
was said to have taken place at about 8pm, was reportedly carried out by
unknown gunmen, who spoke amateur versions of Berom and Fulani languages, an
eyewitness said.
Narrating the
incident and how she escaped by the whiskers, Mrs. Lyop Gideon who survived the
attack alongside her 1-year-old baby, said the attackers killed her husband,
Mr. Gideon Gyang, 30, his parents, two siblings and a cousin before fleeing
through a mountain-bound valley.
The 25-year-old
mother-of-one said she escaped by pretending to be dead, while her baby, Esther
Gideon, was unhurt in her slain grandmother’s arms.
“I laid flat on the
ground as they opened fire, killing everyone.
“My baby yelled
from my dead mother in-law’s arms but she was unhurt,” Mrs. Gideon said.
According to her,
the family was having dinner together when the armed men attacked.
She said, “My
husband was in our room few meters away from my father in-law’s room where
seven of us were eating.
“They shot him
first, and my terrified mother-in-law started screaming.
“As he (husband)
was groaning and my mother-in-law screaming, they came into the room where we
were.
“One of them tried
to say something in Berom language but wasn’t so fluent.
“He spoke also in
Fulfulde saying ‘Hurut mu hilleh’ after opening fire in the room but I don’t
think that language was standard too.”
Meantime, the State
Police Command had confirmed the incident.
According to the
Spokesman of the Command, DSP Matthias Tyopev Terna, a
Deputy Commissioner of Police Department of Operations from the Command has
visited the scene.
Terna added, “The
police patrol of the area is being intensified in order to discourage any
reprisal.”
The Command also
solicited credible information to track and arrest the perpetrator or
perpetrators to face justice.
The Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong has
moved to reduce the influence of the paramount ruler of Jos, Da Jacob Gyang
Buba, known as the Gbong Gwom Jos.
The state government ordered the carving out
of two Traditional Councils from Jos Traditional Council. The two new councils
are to be known as Jos North and Riyom Traditional Councils.
This was revealed in a memo written by the
Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Dayyabu Garga, to
the chairmen of Jos North and Riyom Local Government Areas.
In the memo, copies of which were made
available to journalists yesterday in Jos, the government stated that all the
graded chiefs, district heads, village heads and their staff, who are from both
local government areas, should henceforth constitute members and staff of the
newly created traditional councils.
The memo explained that Governor Lalong’s
decision was in compliance with Section 91(1) of the 2016 Local Government Law,
adding that Section 91(3) of the law also states that the most senior
traditional rulers in each local government shall be presidents of Jos North
and Riyom Traditional Councils, respectively.
Earlier, Governor Lalong had created new
chiefdoms and upgraded some, including the Anaguta Chiefdom in Jos North and
that of the Aten of Ganawuri in Riyom.
Reacting yesterday, Da Gyang Buba said he
remained the paramount ruler of Gbong Gwom Jos.
Speaking to Daily Trust through his media
aide, Alex Rwang Pam, Gyang said: “The position of Gbong Gwom Jos was the one
gazetted and nothing has altered the provisions of that document.”
Pam went down the memory lane to explain that
the position currently being occupied by Da Jacob Buba was first
institutionalised as Sarkin Jos on August 28, 1947, explaining that it was much
later that the Berom people re-coined the name to their own language “since
‘Gwom’ means ‘Sarki’ in that language.”
Land tussle: Group decries
police harassment, seeks FG’s intervention
Sequel to the continuous harassment, arrest
and detention of its workers by the Policemen, a Non-Governmental Organization
(NGO), Faith-Based AIDS Awareness Initiative has cried out to the Federal
Government for justice and intervention, by coming to its aid.
The organisation through its Executive
Director, Pastor Folororunsho Oloruntunde, narrated its ordeal on Thursday in a
chat with journalists in Jos.
Oloruntunde said, “We are tired of police
harassment, arrest and detention over a plot of land that belongs to us and we
are begging the federal government to call the Management of Police Staff
College, Jos, to order.
“We bought the piece of land close to Police
Staff College in Jos from the natives, who testified in court and judgement was
entered in our favor five years ago, yet the police is harassing us, “ The
director lamented.
Oloruntunde disclosed that just last Monday
three of the labourers working at the NGO’s Headquarters site were arrested and
detained at Bukuru Police Division on the order of the Commandant of the Police
Staff College.
He explained that on February 27, 2014,
Justice Christy Dabup of the State High Court VII gave an order to the Police
not to harass, arrest, detain and disturb us from continuing with our
construction.
“But in spite of court order, the same police
arrested, detained our boys and even sued us before a Bukuru Senior Magistrates
Court, which on Oct. 21, 2015, struck out the case for last of merit.
“We have written to the Inspector General of
Police (IGP), the Commandant of Police Staff College and the Plateau State
Commissioner of Police on the issue and attached the court’s verdicts for their
understanding.
“It’s five years now that the police did not
appeal any of the court verdicts, yet they blatantly refused to allow us to
roof the building, “ he pointed out.
In a letter to IGP dated May 13, 2019, the
NGO intimated him of the continuous harassment, arrests and detentions as well
obstruction of its work on its headquarters building by the Police College
management.
“The attached are judgments delivered by
courts of competent jurisdiction restraining further disturbances, but this
morning (May 13, 2019) we are surprised that the police came with a Hilux and
arrested 3 innocent workers at the site.
“This act has been traumatizing and wasting
our hard earned resources since 2013. This complaint is for you to use your
good offices in letting the law prevail and prevent further violation.
“Since 1994, Faith-Based AIDS Awareness
Initiative (FBAAI) has been contributing significantly to peace and health of
Nigerians in most communities, “ the letter read.
Chief Gregory Pwajok, Gwom Kwata (Village
Head) of the area, faulted and condemned the action of the police staff college
authorities.
“My subjects sold the land to the NGO, which
has gone to obtain R of O from the Plateau State Ministry of Land and Survey.
“ If the college claims the contrary, let the
authorities show the world its papers for the land. In fact, no compensation
has been paid by the Federal Government on the entire portion the college is
built upon.
“It’s surprising that they are claiming
ownership of the unfenced land to the college.,” Pwajok lamented.
Reacting to the allegations raised, the
college’s Deputy Commandant, CP Rabiu Yusuf, refused to comment on the issue on
the guise that the matter is before a court of Law.
Yusuf, who spoke through the College’s Public
Relationships Officer (PPRO), Solomon Utuumu I. Nyou, said, “l can’t speak on a
matter that is already in court.”
When asked who sued who in which court in
spite of the earlier two court judgements issued in favor of the NGO, he simply
said, “l don’t know but that’s what l was instructed to tell you, the press.”
Herdsmen Killings: Buhari
Promise To Restore Lasting Peace In Plateau
President Muhammadu Buhari has assured Plateau
citizens of his administration’s commitment to support and assist the
Peace-building Agency of the state government to end the cycle of violence that
had bedeviled the state.
He said the state had taken steps leading to a
foundation for sustainable peace, while enjoining other states of the
Federation to emulate Plateau by setting up similar institutions.
Buhari, who is currently in Jos on a two-day working
visit, where he commissioned some projects executed by the Governor of the
state, Mr. Simon Bako Lalong and launched Plateau Peace Roadmap, also held a
town hall meeting with stakeholders in the state.
“I have been monitoring the activities of the
Plateau state Peace-Building Agency; I am indeed quite impressed with gains and
successes recorded in the area of conflict management and peace-building ,
which has returned this state on the path of relative peace.
“As I formally endorse and launch the Plateau State Roadmap
to Peace, let me express the Federal Government commitment to support and
assist the Peace Building Agency in its effort to arrest the vicious cycle of
violence and lay the foundation for sustainable peace,” he said.
Buhari also promised to look into the genuine
request for the dualization and construction of the road from Abuja to Jos and
the gateway extending to the North East, given the economic viability and
conveniences.
He assured Lalong that he will look into his request
for more slots for the state in Federal appointments so as to reflect federal
character in line with his government’s determination to address the issues of
marginalization in the spread of appointments and other privileges.
“The desire of the state to turn Riyom General Hospital
to Trauma/Disaster Hospital is a genuine one in view of the location of Riyom
as the gateway into the state capital from Abuja. I will direct the Federal
Ministry of Health and Federal Road Safety Corps to working close collaboration
with the Plateau State Government towards the actualization of this project”,
Buhari assured.
In his earlier address, Lalong narrated to the
President that he met a dislocated state.
“When this administration came on board on 29th May
2015, the scenario in the state was that of despondency, despair and
discomfort, as the citizens were groaning under varying degrees of adverse
socio-political and economic conditions.
“The citizenry was even further plunged into
life-threatening insecurity challenges with many lives lost and properties
wantonly destroyed in the wake of crises and sporadic attacks.
“On the economic front this spectacle of instability
had drastically affected the economic well-being of our enterprising women and
youth group.
“For the common man, life was very challenging as
the government then became helpless”, he lamented.
“Even more pathetic was the backlog of workers’
salaries as Civil Servants were owed arrears of eight (8) months salary,
Teachers were owed seven (7) months and most pathetic too was unpaid Pensions
of over twelve (12) months and thirteen (13) in some Local Governments.
“We also met a seriously demoralized Civil Service
characterized by low performance and productivity due to neglect of staff
welfare and training. This gloomy scenario was in the face of a staggering debt
profile of over two hundred and twenty two billion Naira (N222,000,000,000),
which we inherited. The prospects of getting out of these tragic spectacles at
first looked almost impossible, were it not for our resilience and Mr. President’s
timely interventions in critical areas of need”, he added.
According to the governor, the secret behind the
success story of his administration, “lies in our vision, commitment, trust,
painful sacrifice and judicious use of limited resources. It may also interest
Mr. President to know that the 5-Pillar Policy Thrust of my administration has
remained the Trojan horse on which we rode towards tackling the enormous
developmental challenges confronting us in this state.
“These Policy Thrusts include Peace, Security and
Good Governance; Human Capital Development and Social Welfare; Agriculture and
Rural Development; Entrepreneurship and Industrialization, and Physical
Infrastructure and Environment. These policy thrusts are targeted at meeting
the peculiar developmental aspirations of the Plateau citizens, while taking
into consideration contemporary economic challenges and our new normal in the
areas of Agriculture, Mining and Tourism”.
However, a Christian group under the aegis of Arewa
Christians and Indigenous Pastors Association (ACIPA) has condemned the
re-naming of Mararaban Jama’a – Bukuru road after President Muhammadu Buhari by
Lalong.
Lalong had on Thursday re-named the newly
constructed road after the President, who commissioned it and other projects.
The group in a press statement signed by Reverend
Luke Shehu, rejected the re-naming, describing it as “obvious blunder of
Governor Lalong in a desperate effort to please the Grand patron of Fulani,
flag bearer of Danfodio Jihad and the recently coronated Bayajidda. Not only
did Lalong mischievously claim credit for Jang’s PDP projects, Lalong has just
re-named the Mararaban Jama’a to Bukuru express way after Muhammadu Buhari.
“Lalong does not know the relevance of Mararaban
Jama’a road as a gateway to Jos.”
“The entire Plateau people must arise and protect
our collective heritage and value before the hangman’s noose is pulled under
our very eyes”, he stressed.
Aside from the Mararaban Jama’a road, the President
also commissioned Secretariat Junction Flyover and Miango Road before
proceeding to the Gbong Gwom palace where he met with the state traditional
council.
It was, however, gathered that most of the projects
were commenced by the past Governor of the state, Jonah David Jang, but
completed by Lalong.
