Business
Couple torture, chain 11-Year old girl for playing with Neighbours in Ogun
The police in Ogun State have arrested a couple, Chioma and Innocent Anozie, for allegedly torturing an 11-year-old girl, Oluchi, in Ebute, in the Ibafo area of Ogun State.
The couple allegedly flogged the victim with ropes, starved her of food, and locked her up in a toilet for two days for wanting to play with other children in the neighbourhood.
Some residents, who found her crying in the toilet, reportedly called the attention of some soldiers in the community.
But reprieve did not come Oluchi’s way until the intervention of our correspondent who alerted the Ogun State Police Command Headquarters.
Some policemen from the Ibafo division, led by the Divisional Crime Officer, later arrived at the scene and rescued the victim.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the primary four pupil started living with the couple about four years ago when she was brought from her hometown in Owerri, Imo State.
However, she was said to have been subjected to different forms of inhuman treatment by the couple who had yet to have a child.
Most residents of Ebute Road, Ibafo, who spoke with our correspondent on Friday, said Chioma, in particular, always tortured the victim for every offence.
The landlady of their house, Mrs. Florence Sanusi, noted that cries of the victim always filled the compound each time Chioma assaulted her.
She said, “They have been living in my house since December 2014. I, however, observed that she (Chioma) always flogged the girl. There was a day it rained heavily and I was hearing the girl’s cry. When I queried her husband, he said nothing was happening.
“But when I saw the girl the next day, her body was full of torture marks. Her eye was also swollen. She told me her guardian flogged her with cables.
“Recently, I heard her crying again and when I could not bear it, I warned them to stop the abuse or I would evict them from my house. Because of my reaction, they instructed the girl that whenever they flogged her, she must not cry. So, I started to hear muffled groans.
“I was fed up with their action and was planning to issue them a notice to quit this morning (Friday) when I was informed that they had locked the girl in the toilet without food for the past two days. When I talked to the girl, she said her madam said she would be in the toilet for 21 days and that was why I raised the alarm.”
PUNCH Metro learnt that some soldiers, who got the information, visited the house and interviewed the victim.
After getting her details, the soldiers reportedly called a relative who brought her from the village, asking if she was aware of the maltreatment.
The relative in turn called the couple to query them on the incident.
A resident, who did not want to be identified, said the soldiers reported at the Ibafo Police Station and returned with two policemen.
He said, “When the policemen came, they called the woman’s husband on the telephone and he warned them not to break his door. The policemen did not stay long before leaving the girl in the toilet.”
The residents contacted PUNCH Metro shortly afterwards and our correspondent arrived at the scene around 6pm. Oluchi was still in the toilet.
Our correspondent spoke with the Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, who assured that the policemen would return to the scene.
While waiting for the policemen, Oluchi appealed to our correspondent for help, saying she wanted to return to her parents.
She said, “My parents have seven children and I am their fifth child. All my siblings are living with other distant relatives. My madam (Chioma) is the daughter of my father’s sister .
“When I was brought from the village four years ago, she said I would be cleaning the house and washing clothes and dishes. I am supposed to be in Junior Secondary School 2, but she put me in primary 4.
“Before we came to Ibafo, her husband used to allow me to play freely. But since we relocated here, she stopped me from going out. She said all the people in this house are criminals and they can use me for money ritual. She always beats me with ropes and cables.
“I have been inside the toilet since yesterday morning (Thursday). She locked me up because I went to take a story book in her room. She said I was lying and that I actually went to look for keys to open the door and go out.
“She used celotape to seal my mouth and chained my legs. She flogged me with ropes and a stick. She said I would serve 21 punishments. I only took garri on Thursday morning.”
PUNCH Metro observed that the victim had a Nokia phone with which the relative earlier called by the soldiers was communicating with her.
She was reportedly instructed to break the toilet door open and get spare keys to access another exit door from the three-bedroomed flat.
While our correspondent and other residents awaited the arrival of the police, a resident observed that the victim had disappeared from the toilet’s window which faced the passageway.
She was spotted tiptoeing out through the exit door at the backyard and was held.
Just then, the relative called the telephone line again to know if she had left the vicinity.
Our correspondent intercepted the phone and put the call on speaker.
“Don’t talk to anybody. Did you hear me? Oya move fast,” the woman, later identified as Victoria, said.
At that point, policemen from the Ibafo division arrived and took the frightened girl into custody.
A cleric, who stayed in the house, Segun Oshoffa, said he had foreseen the situation getting to a crisis level, adding that the couple didn’t heed his advice.
He said, “I observed that the couple needed a child badly. I told them that if they wanted God to answer their prayers, they should stop assaulting the girl.
“Both husband and wife changed for about three days. But afterwards, they continued with the assault.
“I called them the second time and urged them to return the girl to her parents if they could not take care of her. But they didn’t listen to me.”
The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Oyeyemi, confirmed the arrest of the suspects to our correspondent on Sunday.
He promised to issue a statement on the incident detailing the suspects’ statements to the police.
Business
FLOUTING CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS, DEFYING COURT ORDERS, AND DISREGARDING ARBITRATION: THE FACTS BEHIND HADIZA BALA USMAN’S ABUSE OF OFFICE AS NPA MD
FLOUTING CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS, DEFYING COURT ORDERS, AND DISREGARDING ARBITRATION: THE FACTS BEHIND HADIZA BALA USMAN’S ABUSE OF OFFICE AS NPA MD
By BUA Group | May 31, 2025
We have noted recent public statements made by Ms. Hadiza Bala Usman, the former Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), who was sacked from office. In her comments, she accused BUA Group and our Chairman, Abdul Samad Rabiu, of breaching a concession agreement and distorting facts. These claims were made in response to our Chairman’s interview and article, “Two Years of President Tinubu: A Business Perspective” (watch at https://bit.ly/pbatbua), which celebrated Nigeria’s reform trajectory and referenced prior instances of arbitrary disruptions to business operations, without naming anyone – a situation that has now been curtailed by President Tinubu’s no-nonsense approach to bringing sanity and stability to the business environment in Nigeria.
Ordinarily, we would not engage, but the distortions in her response necessitate this factual clarification, especially as they relate to her actions during her tenure as MD of the NPA.
THE CONTRACT AND WHAT SHE OMITTED
In 2006,
BUA entered into a valid long lease agreement with the NPA to rehabilitate and operate Terminal B at Rivers Port in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Long before Ms. Usman’s appointment, BUA had begun formal engagement with the NPA to address outstanding remedial works and infrastructural deficiencies. These discussions were nearing their conclusion when she assumed office.
Rather than build on that process, Ms. Usman ignored BUA’s requests and obligations under the agreement. In 2016, BUA wrote to the NPA under Article 8.4 of the lease, mandating concessionaires to report environmental and safety concerns and to seek approval for remedial works. Rather than act constructively, Ms. Usman used that letter as a pretext to issue a termination notice and summarily shut down the terminal, without providing any prior warning, consultation, or invoking the dispute resolution clause.
She forgot or failed to disclose in her response that the NPA, under her leadership, was itself in material breach of core obligations including, failing to hand over critical portions of the port, leaving derelict iron ore on the berths, failing to dredge or repair quay walls, and neglecting to provide mandatory security. These lapses were significant impediments to BUA’s operations and, as a result, led to disputes between the parties.
ILLEGALITY, CONTEMPT, AND DISREGARD FOR CONTRACTUAL MECHANISMS
After the unlawful termination, BUA approached the Federal High Court, which promptly granted an injunction restraining the NPA from proceeding with termination. The NPA itself then referred the dispute to arbitration, as stipulated in Section 17.3 of the agreement, which clearly states:
“Any dispute, controversy or claim… shall be exclusively and finally settled under the dispute resolution process prescribed in this Article.”
Despite this, Ms. Usman, against the advice of her agency, unilaterally decommissioned the berths, thereby violating both the agreement and a court injunction. To be clear, the concession agreement granted her no such power to decommission. If she believes otherwise, we invite her to publicly cite the specific clause that authorizes this action.
To further compound the illegality, BUA, after providing the guarantees and indemnities requested by the NPA, was permitted to resume operations briefly. Merely three weeks later, the terminal was again shut down, this time by Ms. Usman’s instruction. This left no doubt that her actions were motivated not by due process, but by personal animosity and abuse of office.
BUA subsequently filed contempt proceedings and was looking at estimated losses of over $10 million. These proceedings were only withdrawn out of respect for national interest and following the intervention of well-meaning Nigerians within and outside the government.
PRESIDENT BUHARI WAS NOT MISINFORMED—HE ACTED ON FACTS AND LAW
Ms. Usman’s claim that former President Muhammadu Buhari was “misinformed” when he reversed her actions is false, disrespectful, and disingenuous.
Following a meeting that our Chairman had the privilege of holding with President Buhari in 2018, he presented the matter to the President, who then directed the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation to conduct a thorough legal review and investigate the situation. The AGF invited all parties, including Ms. Usman, to several meetings. We never saw her at any of them.
Nevertheless, the AGF proceeded to undertake a comprehensive review of the contract, the litigation, the arbitration clause, and all correspondence and actions by BUA and NPA. The legal advice (attached herewith) found that the termination was unlawful, the decommissioning was without any legal basis, and that BUA’s rights should be reinstated.
It was on this basis that President Buhari ordered the reversal of her unlawful actions. His intervention preserved the sanctity of the contract, saved over 4,000 jobs, and BUA’s $500 million integrated investment cluster involving flour, pasta, and sugar processing facilities, which were all dependent on terminal access. For this, we remain deeply grateful to former President Buhari.
As our Chairman said in his interview, imagine if he weren’t privileged to have access. Nonetheless, this culture of impunity has been significantly curtailed under President Tinubu’s leadership, as many are aware that they could be dismissed or imprisoned if they abuse their positions.
POST-HADIZA: DUE PROCESS RESTORED, INVESTMENT RESUMED
Following Ms. Usman’s removal from office, the NPA, under new leadership, implemented the AGF’s position. In 2022, BUA was granted formal approval to resume reconstruction works. The contract was awarded to TREVI, and BUA has since invested over $65 million—entirely self-funded and with no recourse to public funds or subsidies. Work is ongoing, and completion is expected in the first quarter of 2026.
THE REAL DANGER: INVESTOR CONFIDENCE AND THE RULE OF LAW
We must state clearly that this matter goes beyond BUA. Had Ms. Usman’s actions been allowed to stand, it would have sent a disastrous signal that contracts in Nigeria are worthless, court orders are optional, and public institutions or individuals can act unilaterally without consequence. We must never return to that era.
Nigeria’s reform success today is rooted in respecting contracts, due process, and investor confidence—principles being restored under President Tinubu’s administration, under which BUA has committed over $1 billion in new investments across energy, food processing, manufacturing, infrastructure, and social interventions.
We wish to emphasise that Ms. Usman is entitled to her opinions, irrespective of how distorted they may be. However, she is not entitled to distort the facts or rewrite history. We do not seek a public spat and would like her to concentrate on fulfilling her duties in her new role under the strong leadership of President Tinubu.
We therefore simply restate the facts that Ms Hadiza Bala-Usman had no authority to decommission Terminal B unilaterally. She also acted in defiance of a court injunction and contractual procedure, and her actions caused significant economic loss of over USD10 million, reputational risk to BUA, and investor concern for Nigeria.
Our core message remains the same: public office should be viewed as a position of trust rather than a platform for personal biases. Those granted public power need to resist the temptation to let prejudice, ego, and vendetta influence their actions.
If Ms Hadiza Bala-Usman believes she acted lawfully, we challenge her to cite the specific clause or clauses that guided her unlawful actions. If not, let the facts remain where they belong — in the public record.
Signed,
BUA Group
May 31, 2025
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