News
Woman Cancels Wedding As Fiancé Turns Brutal
Imagine preparing for your wedding, making expenses, informing family and friends of what could possibly be the happiest day of your life, only to cancel it three months before the D-Day?
That was what 29-year-old OmolaraBusari did but she is not regretful. According to her, calling the wedding off saved her from a lifetime of misery or, in worst case scenario, death.
Omolara said she called off the wedding after receiving the beating of her life from her fiancé, AdelekanAdelufosi.
Omolara, who hails from Iseyin, Oyo State, told newsmen that she endured her relationship with 32-year-old Adelufosi for four years.
They had planned to finally get married in August 2019, but their wedding has now been cancelled after Adelufosi beat his fiancée to a pulp last Thursday at Iwere-Ile, Iwajowa, Oyo State.
Omolara, who spoke to our correspondent on the telephone, said she had only challenged Adelufosi for asking her not to ever relate with a woman who lives in their area.
By the time she knew what was happening, she had been admitted to hospital.
She said, “There is a woman who lives in my area, close to my apartment. We were just discussing and greeting each other when he (Adelufosi) showed up.
“Later, he went to the woman’s shop and warned her not to ever see her around me again. When we entered my apartment that night, I asked him, ‘Why did you do that?’
“That was the last thing I remembered saying. By the time I opened my eyes, I found myself in a hospital.”
From last Thursday night, Omolara had been receiving treatment and was discharged on Monday.
But that was not the first time Omolara would get physically assaulted by a man who claimed to love her and make his wife someday.
“That was the fifth time he would beat me,” Omolara said.
Asked why she held on to the man despite his abusive nature for so long, Omolara said it was because she had a daughter for him.
She said, “Actually, I wanted to marry him because I have a daughter, who is two years old, for him. This is what kept me glued to the relationship. But this time around, I don’t care. Our relationship has ended and I have cancelled our wedding.
“Right from the beginning, my parents and siblings didn’t approve of our relationship, but I thought maybe after our wedding, he would change.
“We were already planning our wedding for August 2019, but like I said, it cannot hold again.”
Omolara lamented she did not heed her parents’ and siblings’ warning before. However, she was thankful it was not too late for her.
“Now, they (my parents and siblings) are relieved and I have finally learnt my lesson. I am so happy that our relationship has ended,” she said.
Omolara said she was more relieved because she would not have to spend her savings on Adelufosi again, who she claimed to have been responsible for since their relationship started.
She said, “He only has the primary school leaving certificate. I am a trader and deal in beverages. He doesn’t have a job and I have been the one taking care of him.
“I used to buy him clothes, shoes and others. Even the phone he’s using right now, I bought it for him. I was practically taking responsibility for his life.
“Just last week, I gave him N50,000 capital, encouraging him to start selling recharge cards. But after the beating, he burgled my shop and ran away. Up till now, he’s still at large. He was always mad at me for telling him to look for a job.”
Asked what he initially saw in the suspect before agreeing to date him, Omolara said she thought he was a good man because he was “calm and gentle.”
Rivers State Head of Service, Dr (Mrs) Inyingi Brown, has called on rural communities in the State to embrace the Rural Access and Agricultural marketing project (RAAMP) with a view to improving their living conditions.
This follows the ongoing sensitization campaign by the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) visits to Degema, Abonnema, Afam headquarters of Degema, Akuku Toru and Oyigbo Etche and Omuma local government areas respectively.
Dr Brown who was represented by the Deputy Director, Special Duties in her office, Mrs Dein Akpanah, said RAAMP was initiated by the Federal Government and World Bank to economically empower rural dwellers.s
She said the World Bank understands the plights of rural farmers and traders in the State, and therefore came up with the programme to address them.
According to her, RAAMP will improve the conditions of farmers, traders and fishermen, and therefore, behoves on every rural communities in the State to embrace the programme.
The Head of Service also said the programme would support the youths to be gainfully employed while bridges and roads will be built to link farms and fishing settlements.
Also speaking, the State project coordinator, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the programme has the potential of creating millionaires among farmers and fishermen in the State.
Kpakol who was represented by Engr. Sam Tombari, said RAAMP would help farmers and fishermen to preserve their produce.
According to him, the project will build cold rooms and Silos for preservation of crops and fishes while access roads will also be created to link farmers and fishermen to the market.
He, however, warned them against any act that will lead to the suspension of the projects by the World Bank.
Kpakol particularly warned against acts such as kidnapping, marching ground, gender based violence and child labour, adding that such acts if they occur may lead to the cancellation of the project by the World Bank.
During the visit to Oyigbo local government area, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the team was there to let them know how they will benefit from the Raamp.
The coordinator who was personally at Oyigbo said the World Bank introduced the project to check food insecurity in the State.
He said already 19 states in Nigeria are already benefitting from the project and called on them to embrace the project.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the three local government areas have commended the World Bank for including their areas in the project.
They, however, complained over the incessant attacks by pirates on their waterways.
At Degema, King Agolia of Ke kingdom said land was a major problem in the kingdom.
King Agolia represented by High Chief Alpheus Damiebi said many indigenes of the kingdom are willing to go into farming but are handicapped by lack of land.
Also at Degema, the representative of the Omu Onyam Ekeim of Usokun Degema kingdom, Osoabo Isaac, said Degema has embraced the programme but needed more information on the implementation of the programme.
Similarly, while High Chief Precious Abadi advised that the project should not be narrowed to only crop farming, a community women leader, Mrs Orikinge Eremabo Otto, called for the construction of cold rooms in all fishing settlements in the area.
At Abonnema, Mr Diamond Kio linked the problem of the area to incessant piracy along waterways.
He also expressed fears over the possibility of the project being hijacked by politicians.
Also at Abonnema, a stakeholder, Ikiriko Kelvin, called on the World Bank to design an agricultural project that will suit the riverine environment, while at Oyigbo, HRH Eze Boniface Akawo expressed satisfaction with the project.
John Bibor
The political mudslinging between the Senate leadership and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan continued yesterday as the Senate named Senator Aniekan Bassey as the new Chairman of the Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the appointment during yesterday’s plenary, confirming Bassey’s replacement of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is currently on suspension.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was reassigned to the Diaspora and NGOs Committee in February after she was removed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Local Content during a minor reshuffle.
Bassey is the senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District.
Although no reason was given for her removal yesterday, the change is believed to be connected to her unresolved suspension.
In May, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court ordered her reinstatement and directed her to tender an apology to the Senate.
However, the Senate has insisted it has not received a certified true copy of the court judgment.
Akpoti-Uduaghan who represents Kogi Central, has yet to resume her legislative duties despite a recent court ruling that voided her suspension.
In a televised interview on Tuesday, Akpoti-Uduaghan said she was awaiting the Certified True Copy of the judgment before officially returning to plenary, citing legal advice and respect for institutional process.
Although the Federal High Court described her suspension as “excessive and unconstitutional”, a legal opinion dated July 5 and attributed to the Senate’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), argued that the ruling lacked any binding directive to enforce her reinstatement.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of only three female senators in the current assembly, said the continued delay in allowing her return was not only a denial of her mandate but also a blow to democratic representation.
“By keeping me out of the chambers, the Senate is not just silencing Kogi Central, it’s denying Nigerian women and children representation. We are only three female senators now, down from eight,” she said.