The struggle for supremacy in Oyo state 2006 - Chief Adedibu

President Olusegun Obasanjo knelt down for me more than six times. I swear in the name of God, begging on behalf of Ladoja. But I said, no. How do you expect me to pardon Ladoja? Somebody I brought into the party who later said that he had expelled me from the same party? Apart from that, there was a day I was going to the Central Mosque in company of my family members, Ladoja sent people to ambush me, and they forcefully took the vehicle from me. Chief Lamidi Adedibu in an interview by Sahara reporter in 2006

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Clifford Orji - The Lagos “man-eater” - Nigeria Cannibal No1

Of all the mysteries surrounding the capture of the Lagos “man-eater”, the fate of the missing heads is the most disturbing. Clifford Orji was caught frying up human feet and ribs for breakfast under a city flyover. Severed hands lay about the place.
There was even a policeman’s helmet resting on some bones. But days later the skulls of his uncounted victims are still nowhere to be found.

Joseph Bello stumbled on the cannibal as he walked home after a night vigil at a local church. Bello heard a strange song from bushes next to the flyover and noticed a shack built of car tyres. As he moved closer, the odd smell of cooking flesh hit his nostrils. He peeped into the shack. “When I saw human limbs and other parts roasting on the fire I was transfixed,” he said.

Bello alerted other people around the underpass. A crowd gathered and burst into the shack. They were confronted by severed feet and rib cages, and chunks of flesh.

Orji ran. The crowd gave chase.

No one noticed a small, emaciated woman imprisoned inside the tyres of Orji’s shack. It was only after he was caught and dragged back to watch the mob demolish his home that Awawu Lawal was discovered awaiting her turn on the menu. The sight of the filthy, starving woman drove the crowd wild. They beat her captor until the police arrived. Lawal died several days later after falling into a coma.

The crowd then turned their attention to a man they knew to be Orji’s friend, Tahiru Aliyu. He lived nearby. The mob tore his shack down too, and found a 4m pit underneath where some of the victims were kept before they were killed and cooked.

Orji, who is in his 30s, was sometimes seen wandering naked or chasing complete strangers, ranting at them and waving a stick. Despite his thick matted hair and filthy clothes he managed to convince some people that he was a traditional healer, which may be how he lured his victims.

The cannibal told the police he would entrance women by blowing on their foreheads and they would then follow him back to the underpass. “I will have a sexual affair with her to a state of coma before we slaughter her and roast,” he said. “I am not alone. I have between four and 10 people. They take their own parts and go while I wait for another `meat’.”

Orji’s statement to the police has fueled speculation that he was butchering his victims for more than his own consumption. People in the area said they regularly saw upmarket cars stopping beneath the flyover. To some it explains why none of the victims heads have been found.

In Nigeria there is a discreet trade in body parts for religious or medicinal ceremonies. The case has disturbing echoes of earlier killings when a man called Innocent Ikeanyanwu was discovered with the head of a 10-year-old boy.


In police detention he said he had been regularly shipping severed heads to some highly placed Nigerians for ancient rituals. But before he could name names, Ikeanyanwu died in custody of “cardiac arrest”.

A fortnight after the arrest of Orji and his partner, the flyover has become a tourist site. Lagosians are selling pictures of the human remains on the grills and calendars of the cannibal and his friend. Orji is confined to the Yaba Psychiatric hospital. The police are suspicious of the claim he is insane in part because he told them he was “mad”.

Alleged cannibal Clifford Orji has died in Kirikiri Maximum Prison after being behind bars for 13 years. Clifford Orji died on Friday 17th August 2012. The cause of his death is yet to be known as autopsy is being performed.

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Today muslim all over the world remember the Second Muslim Caliph Umar_ibn_Al-Khattāb last day on earth

Umar_ibn_Al-Khattāb .The Second Muslim Caliph, Umar played a key role in the expansion of Islam following the death of the prophet Muhammad. Umar was considered a pious Muslim who played a role in compiling the first Quran. As Caliph, he oversaw an expansion of Arab conquests which saw a sustained expansion of Arab rule and the new Muslim religion.

Umar was born c. 585 AD in Mecca, Arabia (now Saudi Arabia). He was an influential member of the Adia Clan of the Meccan tribe of Quraysh – at that time following a polytheistic religion. He was tall, physically strong, a renowned wrestler and fighter. He also was well-educated, the time period, and a skillful orator for A charismatic figure he became an influential person in dealing with local politics and business. In his early days, he worked as a merchant.

Umar was originally one of the bitterest opponents of Muhammad and persecuted the new followers of Islam with cruelty; at the time, he was committed to defending the old traditions of the Quraysh. However, in 616 AD at the age of 39, on his way to murder Muhammad, he underwent a radical transformation after being influenced by his friend and sister who had already converted. After being humbled by their devotion, he became a devoted follower and confidant of the prophet Muhammad.

Umar became influential in helping the new religion of Islam to be accepted by local residents. Umar had the courage to practise the new religious duties openly, without fear of retribution. However, due to ongoing friction with the authorities, in 622, Muhammad took Umar and his followers to Medina where there was greater safety.

Umar played a key role in collecting all the verses of the Qu’ran and having them published in one book. It was Umar who advised Abu Bakr to request Zayd ibn Thabit to compile the Quran into a single book.

After the death of the prophet Muhammad on 8 June 632, there was uncertainty over who would serve as his successor. Umar promptly supported the candidacy of Abu Bakr – a close associate and father-in-law of Muhammad. This helped prevent conflict over who would become leader. Though the decision is viewed negatively in the Shia tradition, who believe Ali ibn Abi Talib (cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad) to be the rightful successor to Muhammad.

After only two years, Abu Bakr died, but Abu Bakr had nominated Umar to be the second Caliph. Umar was Caliph for ten years from 634 to 644. During this time, Umar expanded the area of Arab conquest. Under Umar, the Arab armies took Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and entered Iraq and Iran. In all countries, the Arab armies were successful in creating one of the largest Empires of the time.

A key battle was the Battle of Qadisiya (637) which led to Arab armies defeating the Sassanid Empire of Persia and opening Iraq to the Muslim Arab armies.

As well as being military successful, Umar was successful in cementing the long-term success of the Empire. Arab armies were given strict instruction to allow the native population to continue with their peaceful occupations – so long as they paid tribute to the Empire. They were not forced to convert to the new religion, and the armies lived at a distance from the towns they conquered. Umar promoted out of loyalty, paid officers high salaries and sought to avoid corruption by allowing official complaints to be made against transgressors. Umar himself was known for his simple and austere lifestyle. This was in contrast to his pre-Islam days and also in contrast to the pomp and display many rulers displayed.

He devotedly followed the Muslim religion and, as ruler, was concerned with the well-being of the poor and disadvantaged. At the time, it was the custom to cut off the hands of thieves. However, Umar did not allow this to be carried out because he felt responsible for not being able to provide full employment for his citizens. In the latter part of his rule, he developed a form of the welfare state, which offered aid to both Muslim and non-Muslim poor, elderly and the disabled.

He used his skill as an orator to gain the loyalty of his subjects. Although he was often feared rather than loved. He cultivated the respect and authority of the population.

In 644, during a Hajj to Mecca, Umar was assassinated by stabbing by a Persian slave name Abu Lulu. Umar died on 3 November 644.

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Benjamin Adekunle - Known as 'The "Black Scorpion'

Benjamin Adesanya Maja Adekunle (26 June 1936 – 13 September 2014) was a Nigerian Army Brigadier and Civil War commander.   Adekunle was born in Kaduna..Benjamin Adekunle was promoted to Brigadier in 1972. After the war Adekunle was put in charge of decongesting the Lagos port that was having a chronic problem of clearing imported goods. He held this position until being compulsorily retired on August 20, 1974.

Benjamin Adekunle's  activities during the Nigerian civil war was shrouded in mystery and remained controversial till date.He attributed his problems during and after the war to his rivals in the army. In various interviews, he said there was always a rumor of coup linked to him until the army authority felt the concern to do something about it. He had large followings in both the army and public at large and was the most popular military commander during the war, apart from Obasanjo, who succeeded him and brought the war to an end with the same 3MC.

Early years and background
 His father was a native of Ogbomosho, while his mother was a member of the Bachama tribe. He underwent secondary education at the government college, Okene (now known as Abdul Aziz Atta Memorial College, Okene, in present-day Kogi State). He enlisted in the Nigerian Army in 1958 shortly after completing his school certificate examinations. He passed the army selection examinations and thereafter was despatched to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the UK, the British Army's initial officer entry academy. He was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant on December 15, 1960.

 As a platoon commander, he served in Kasai Province of Congo with the 1st Battalion, Queen's Own Nigeria Regiment during his first ONUC UN peace keeping tour of duty. In 1962, Lt. Adekunle became Aide-de-Camp to the governor of the eastern region, Sir Akanu Ibiam. The following year, as a Captain, he was posted back to the Congo as Staff Captain (A) to the Nigerian Brigade HQ at Luluabourg - under Brigadier B. Babafemi Ogundipe. In 1964, Major Adekunle attended the Defence Services Staff College at Wellington, in India. When he returned he was briefly appointed Adjutant General at the Army Headquarters in May 1965 to replace Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon, who was proceeding on a course outside the country. However, he later handed over the position to Lt. Col. James Pam and was posted back to his old Battalion (1st Bn) in Enugu as a Company Commander.

Nigerian Civil War
Adekunle later assumed command of the Lagos Garrison as a substantive Lt. Col. When the Nigerian Civil War erupted in July 1967, Adekunle was tasked to lead elements which included two new battalions (7th and 8th) - to conduct the historic sea borne assault on Bonny in the Bight of Benin on 26 July 1968 (carried out by Major Isaac Adaka Boro's unit). This happened after the federal government gained confidence of most south western ethnic groups as a direct result of Biafran push to mid-west state and probe into Western region. Adekunle was promoted to Colonel after the Bonny landing.

The 6th (under Major Jalo) and 8th (under Major Ochefu) battalions of the Lagos Garrison subsequently took part in operations to liberate the Midwest following the Biafran invasion of August 1967. The 7th (under Major Abubakar) stayed behind to hold Bonny. Because Major Jalo's Unit was seconded to Lt. Col. Murtala Mohammed's 2nd Division, Adekunle was left with only the 8th Battalion at Escravos. He, therefore, protested to Army HQ and got the Lagos garrison upgraded to Brigade status through the creation of the 31 and 32 Battalions (under Majors Aliyu and Hamman, respectively).

This formation, combined with elements of the Lagos garrison along the eastern seaboard, was officially designated the 3 Infantry Division. However, Colonel Adekunle did not think the name "3 Infantry Division" was sensational enough nor did it project the nature of the unique terrain in which his men had to fight. Therefore, without formal approval from Army HQ, he renamed it the " 3 Marine Commando (3MCDO)." The "Black Scorpion" as he came to be known, was easily the most controversial, celebrated and mythologized figure[citation needed] in the war of attrition that laid the foundations for Nigeria's contemporary crisis; and threw a wedge into the national fabric. Benjamin "Adekunle's boys in the Midwest seized Escravos, Burutu, Urhonigbe, Owa and Aladima. They captured Bomadi and Patani, Youngtown, Koko, Sapele, Ajagbodudu, Warri, Ughelli, Orerokpe, Umutu and Itagba".

Adekunle led the Third Marine Commando Division with such great panache and determination that the foreign media, in looking for a human angle on the Biafran war, found him a ready source of news.

He died on 13 September 2014 and was buried in the Vaults and Gardens, Ikoyi, Lagos

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