A report by Human Right Organisation, Amnesty International has revealed the ordeal of girl survivors of Boko Haram captivity, among whom were underaged forced into marriage with their captors and others raped.

The investigative report, titled, ‘Help us build our lives’: Girl survivors of Boko Haram and military abuses in north-east Nigeria’ released on Monday by the group captured the travails of the girls having survived trafficking and crimes against humanity by Boko Haram.

The report, based on 126 interviews, including 82 with survivors, conducted in-person in North East Nigeria and remotely between 2019 and 2024 unravelled how the litany of war crimes stole the childhood of the girls, many of them now young women.

The organisation, quoting the survivors and identifying them by their initials revealed: “At least eight girls witnessed Boko Haram kill their relatives. CA*, who was abducted aged around 13 in 2014, said: “One day, Boko Haram… came into our house.

“They told our father we’re non-believers. They shot my father in the back of his head and the bullet came through his eyes. We started crying. They said if we don’t keep quiet, they will kill my mother too.”

“Once abducted, most girls were then forcibly married. Child and forced marriage are common practices by Boko Haram, who generally consider girls to be “of age” to marry from early adolescence, or even before.

“Girls were used in a multitude of ways as “wives”, including being made to serve their “husbands” in sexual slavery and domestic servitude. At least 33 survivors of forced marriage told Amnesty International that their “husbands” raped them.

“HA* was a teenager when she “agreed” to be married to save her father from being killed. She told Amnesty International she was beaten when she refused her “husband”, and that he frequently raped her.

The organisation noted that all those abducted were threatened into living under strict rules with severely limited freedom of movement as any real or perceived breaches of these rules were met with physical punishment and, at times, prolonged periods of imprisonment.

“Boko Haram meted out punishments publicly to instil fear and exert control. At least 31 girls interviewed were forced to watch forms of punishment that included lashings, amputations and beheadings.”

“GH, now in her early 20s, spent around a decade in captivity. She was often forced to watch violent punishments and said: “Sometimes I dream about the corpses that I saw or the stoning of the women that I saw. Once I open my eyes, I can’t go back to sleep again.”

Amnesty International revealed further that a total of 28 interviewees said they bore children of sexual violence, and at least 20 were children themselves when they gave birth.

“Girls were used in a multitude of ways as ‘wives’, including being made to serve their ‘husbands’ in sexual slavery and domestic servitude. At least 33 survivors of forced marriage told Amnesty International that their ‘husbands’ raped them.

“HA* was a teenager when she ‘agreed’ to be married to save her father from being killed. She told Amnesty International she was beaten when she refused her ‘husband’, and that he frequently raped her.

For the violations in unlawful detention, the report said some of the girls were “rescued” by the Nigerian military or members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), a state-sponsored militia, who later unlawfully detained many of them.

“Throughout the conflict, the Nigerian military has arbitrarily detained thousands of children for prolonged periods, and according to the report, “those not unlawfully detained were left to fend for themselves in displacement camps amid millions of other people needing humanitarian assistance.

“From there, some were ‘reunited’ with their surrendered Boko Haram ‘husband’ in a government-run transit camp, exposing them to the risk of continued abuse.”

According to Samira Daoud, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa, “An enormous number of girls suffered horrific abuse in Boko Haram captivity, with many survivors then detained or neglected by their government.

“Now, they are sending a clear message to the Nigerian government and its international partners. They urgently need increased specialist support to rebuild their lives.”

Read full reports here

Popular social media influencer Martins Vincent Otse, popular known as VeryDarkMan, has been released from police custody after a Federal High Court in Abuja granted him bail on Monday.

VeryDarkMan was arrested in May on five counts of cyberstalking.

The charges stemmed from comments he made about celebrities and accusations against senior police officers.

The controversial influencer faced charges related to comments he made about actress Iyabo Ojo and cross-dresser Bobrisky. The charges included accusations of spreading false information and causing annoyance.

He also criticized the police for not arresting Bobrisky, alleging some officers had inappropriate relationships with the cross-dresser. The police denied these claims, stating there were no legal grounds for Bobrisky’s arrest.

The prosecuting counsel initially opposed VeryDarkMan’s bail request, seeking to remand him in prison. However, his lawyers successfully argued against his continued detention in police custody.

Justice Mobolaji Olajuwon of the Federal High Court granted the bail request and he was taken to the National Cybercrime Centre.

The charges against him read, “That you Martins Vincent Otse (A.K.A. VERYDARKBLACKMAN) ‘M’, 29 YRS of Supreme Court Estate Karu, Abuja on or about 29th October, 2023, in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court knowingly and intentionally posted videos, by means of computer system on your Instagram handles ‘verydarkblackman’, which video contained information that is grossly offensive, pornographic or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character wherein you stated that one Iyabo Ojo is having indecent sexual relationship with her daughter knowing or having reasons to believe that the information in the video you posted on your Instagram handle is false and you thereby committed the offence of Cyberstalking contrary to and punishable under section 24 (1)(a) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) ACT, 2015.

“That you Martins Vincent Otse (A.K.A. VERYDARKBLACKMAN) ‘M’, 29 years of Supreme Court Estate Karu, Abuja on or about 19th March, 2024, in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court knowingly and intentionally posted videos, by means of computer system on your Instagram handles ‘verydarkblackman’ containing information you know or had reasons to believe to be false, wherein you stated that Bobrisky is pimping young boys for Senators and Senior Police Officers to sleep with, which statement you made for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, insult, injury.”

His lawyer, Deji Adeyanju confirmed that he will be released on bail on Tuesday.

When asked if he felt embittered against Peter Obi's popularity on social media, Sowore said, "This is the same narrative that I told you earlier. All these 'dem say, dem say,' can't you guys just come out and say this is how you feel? I don't have anything in common with Peter Obi. I do not crave his supporters.

A former African Action Congress presidential candidate, Mr Omoyele Sowore, has said he doesn't crave the support of ‘Obidient’ Movement, the supporters of Peter Obi, a former Labour Party presidential candidate.

The #RevolutionNow convener in a recent interview with Pulse Nigeria said he does not want supporters who will suppress and oppress people the way ‘Obidients’ do.

Mr. Sowore noted that if he had to have supporters who would lead him to victory to govern the country, he would not want them to be people who cannot question him or who will package him to the world as what he is not.


"If I had to have supporters in this world who would lead me to victory to govern this country, I don't want them to be people who cannot question me or who will package me to the world as what I am not. I don't want those kinds of supporters.

"I don't want supporters who will suppress and oppress people the same way these people are fighting our present people. I don't wish for supporters who would go to the extent of even arresting people because they say something they don't like on Facebook. I don't want those kinds of supporters. I don't want to be an ‘Obidient.’”

Speaking further, Sowore noted that “the word ‘Obidient’ in itself riles me that anybody would form an organisation that's obedient during the period of oppression”.

"It's like surrendering your sovereignty, in this case, your senses, to nonsense,” he added.

Stressing that he was not embittered against Obi, Sowore said, “Let me tell you, Femi Falana was defending the Labour Party during the same period we won our party back. We got a judgement that said the court cannot intervene in party matters, but it was not published.

"I was the one who gave Femi Falana a copy of our own, which was published, that they used in arguing against the people who wanted to ensure that Obi did not run in the 2023 election.

"That was what won them the case, and he became a candidate. Otherwise, he would never have become a candidate. I'm just telling you this, and I've said it publicly; they can't deny it.

"Femi Falana will tell you. You can call him, and he will tell you that's what happened. We gave them our party's judgement, made it available in the middle of the night, and they ran to court the next day and said there was a judgment from the Supreme Court.

"The judge ended that case right there based on that Supreme Court ruling, but at that point, it was unpublished.

"So, this is not the first time I will provide support to Obi. When Obasanjo tried to run him out of term in Anambra with Andy Uba, we were the same people who used Sahara Reporters to decode all their plans, which led to Obi being in office for eight years. I participated in that, and at the time, I thought Obi was genuine, but in subsequent years, I found that he was a fraud."

The Federal Government has threatened to sue hospitals that decline to treat patients rushed in for emergency treatment.

The Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, issued the warning on Sunday at the “Unlock Grants Award” event in Abuja.

Recall that earlier this year, the Federal Ministry of Health was given a mandate by the House of Representatives to take firm action against hospitals and healthcare facilities that refuse to treat accident or gunshot victims without first obtaining a police report.

Kennedy-Ohanenye, however, said that Federal Government hospitals would henceforth be required to place signs outside their doors that reads: ‘No more rejection of emergency patients’.

She said: “Our hospitals will also put a sign of ‘No more rejection of emergency patients.’ These are some of the major issues we have in this country. I am in touch with Maitama Hospital. But now, I have a mobile court for any hospital that does that.

“I use this opportunity to call on all Nigerians to be vigilant.

“Let me also say that I am proud of Nigerians. I love the way they are using social media to tackle issues. But focus and continue to tackle the main issues as you are doing. Keep it up. But this is the time for action.

“Let all of us buckle up to prevent emergency patients from being rejected. I am still going to keep calling on Nigerians. This fight is not for one person alone. It is for all of us.”

A final-year Electrical Electronics student at Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic, Ikot Osurua, in Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area, has been shot dead by suspected armed robbers.

The victim, identified as Saviour, was said to have been shot around 8:00 pm on Saturday near his former residence in Ikot Uboh, Ikot Ekpene LGA, while trying to protect his cellphone from the robbers.

A source close to the school said the armed robbers opened fire on their victim as he tried to raise the alarm.

The source noted, “Apart from his phone, the devils took nothing away. I pray that God comforts his mother and siblings and grants his soul eternal rest.

“I urge the Akwa Ibom State government and security agencies to fish out those bad elements, especially in our institutions, to ensure peace for our children.”

However, the Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Timfon John, who confirmed the incident, said the command is working round the clock to ensure that the culprits are brought to book.

“The perpetrators will be apprehended and made to face the full weight of the law. It is the determination of CP Waheed Ayilara to rid Akwa Ibom State of criminal elements. And this is not negotiable,” she assured.

The Organised Labour has said it will not accept any N62,000 or N100,000 “starvation wage” as the minimum wage for Nigerian workers.

It insisted on N250,000, being its latest demand at the last meeting of the Tripartite Committee on Minimum Wage on Friday, as the living wage for an average Nigerian worker.

This was made known on Monday by Chris Onyeka, Assistant General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, while fielding questions on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief show.

Onyeka said the one-week grace period given to the Federal Government last Tuesday, June 4, 2024, would expire by the midnight of Tuesday, June 11, 2024.

According to him, should the Federal Government and National Assembly fail to act on the demands of workers by tomorrow (Tuesday), the organs of the NLC and the Trade Union Congress, TUC, would meet to decide on the resumption of the nationwide industrial action relaxed last week.

“Our position is very clear. We have never considered accepting N62,000 or any other wage that we know is below what we know is able to take Nigerian workers home. We will not negotiate a starvation wage.

“We have never contemplated N100,000 let alone N62,000. We are still at N250,000, that is where we are, and that is what we considered enough concession to the government and the other social partners in this particular situation. We are not just driven by frivolities but the realities of the market place; realities of things we buy every day, bag of rice, yam, garri, and all of that.

“The Federal Government and the National Assembly have the call now. It is not our call. Our demand is there for them (the government) to look at and send an Executive Bill to the National Assembly, and for the National Assembly to look at what we have demanded, the various fact of the law, and then come up with a National Minimum Act that meets our demands.”

He continued: “If that does not meet our demand, we have given the Federal Government a one-week notice to look at the issues and that one week expires tomorrow (Tuesday). If after tomorrow, we have not seen any tangible response from the government, the organs of the Organised Labour will meet to decide on what next.

“It was clear what we said. We said we are relaxing a nationwide indefinite strike. It’s like putting a pause on it.

“So, if you put a pause on something and the organs that govern us as trade unions decide that we should remove that pause, it means that we go back to what was in existence before.”

An erstwhile National Vice Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Salihu Lukman, has said that there is no difference between the ruling party and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

Lukman, who made this statement while speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics monitored by DAILY POST, said the APC was now becoming worse than the PDP it came to replace.

According to him, the PDP was becoming a one-man show where internal democracy had been dumped and candidates imposed on the electorate, stressing that it was the reason they came up with the APC.

The APC chieftain said they came up with the idea of the opposition parties merging to defeat the PDP and correct some of the anomalies noticed at that time.

“We were clear on the kind of party APC should be. We saw the weaknesses of the PDP, apart from the imposition of candidates, part of the problem was that elected candidates were not accountable to the party or anybody and we thought building the APC would depart from that and that was where the slogan ‘change’ came from.

“When the debate about the manifesto of the party was going on, the conception was that the party was going to be social democratic with a priority on the issues of health, education and social services but the party has deviated,” Lukman said.

Lukman said part of the party’s problems started from Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, adding that the President was like an emperor because he was the singular electoral asset of the party.

“We were hoping with Asiwaju (President Bola Ahmed Tinubu), things will start changing,” he said, lamenting that things rather got worse.

“We are having a party where some of its organs have not been convened since its formation. We are having a party in which for one year no meeting has taken place and that party is controlling the government,” the APC chieftain lamented.

Maureen Esisi, the estranged wife of Nollywood star, Blossom Chukwujekwu, has said she regrets marrying the actor.

Appearing on the ‘The House Chronicles’ podcast, the fashion designer described the five years of their marriage as “wasted years”.

Esisi lamented that she would have been a mother of two by now if she had married someone else. 

“I regret marrying him [Blossom Chukwujekwu]. It was wasted years. Five years of my life, that’s a lot. I would have married somebody else and probably had two kids by now,” she said.

“I wished I had kids. Because trying to have kids now is just scary and annoying. I’m currently working on having kids. I don’t know how it’s going to happen but I must get pregnant this year.”

DAILY POST recalls that Chukwujekwu got married to Pastor Ehinome, at Christ Embassy in June 2022, three years after his marriage to Maureen Esisi packed up.

Esisi insisted that the actor was the one who “walked away,” stressing that for her “divorce wasn’t an option”.

She maintained that they were not officially divorced, as she didn’t sign any legal documents.