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King Jaja of Opobo: The Sad History of a Brave Leader

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King Jaja of Opobo

Who was King Jaja of Opobo?

King Jaja of Opobo was the charismatic and brave leader of Opobo, a city-state in modern-day Rivers State, who fought against the penetration and domination of British trade in the Igbo hinterland.

Jaja was a Nkwerre man, born around 1821 in Umuduruoha in Amaigbo. His real name was Mbanaso Okwaraozurumba; he later took up the name Jaja because of his dealings with the British. For cutting his top teeth which is an abnormal and evil phenomenon in Igbo tradition, he was sold off to a wealthy man, Iganipughuma Allison of the Delta town of Bonny which as at then was populated by Igbo slaves…Click Here To Continue Reading>> …Click Here To Continue Reading>>

 

In Bonny, Jaja was given the name Jubo Jubogha and was ranked on the lowest rung of slaves which included the ones born outside the town, and because he was difficult to control, Jaja was gifted to Chief Madi of the House of Anna Pepple by his own master.

Jaja’s rise to power

While in the house of Anna Pepple, Jaja earned respect and rank with his skills in trade. He was admired by the leading members of the house and was later elected head of the house. This did not go well with some of the slaves in the house, so Jaja was later confronted with obstacles. An envious influential ex-slave named Oko Jombo battled and defeated Jaja with the help of King George Pepple. JaJa fled for his life and settled at a site close to the Ikomtoro River where he, as a talented trader, blocked the flow of Palm Oil to Pepple in Bonny.

On the 4th of January, 1873, Jaja signed a treaty with the British crown because of his dissatisfaction with a commercial agreement initiated by king George of Bonny. The treaty recognized Jaja as the king of Opobo and gave him the sole monopoly of trading except only in the White Man’s Beach.

This treaty was interpreted otherwise by the newly dispatched Consul to the British Queen, E.H. Hewett, who denied that the treaty granted a monopoly of the market to King Jaja of Opobo. The decision to impede the white man from proceeding higher up the river of Opobo, Hewett argued, was for sanitary reasons only. The treaty of 1873 appears to have been finally superseded by the treaty of the protectorate of the Berlin Conference on the 19th of December, 1884 which puts the Niger District under “Her Majesty the Queen.”

King Jaja (left) and Governor Nana Olomu (right)
King Jaja (left) and Governor Nana Olomu (right)

The Fall and Exile of King Jaja

For intrigues made to preserve his believed trade rights, King Jaja was accused of obstructing trade and infringing the agreement made at the Berlin Conference. King Jaja, failing to understand the full import of the establishment of a protectorate for the district in which his kingdom was part, sent a deputation to the Foreign Office in London to plead his case to the Earl of Roseberry. READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>

“(The Consul) is pushing Old Bonny people to go to our markets, while we do not interfere with theirs. Your Lordship would therefore see exactly what trouble he is trying to bring upon us.”

The Consul decided to get rid of King Jaja of Opobo and thus persuaded the King of Bonny to repudiate him. He isolated King Jaja politically and asked for permission to remove him “temporarily” to Gold Coast, now Ghana.

Before King Jaja of Opobo was banished to Accra, Gold Coast, the Foreign Office demanded a third party opinion but still couldn’t stop the banishment which was effected on the 30th of September, 1887. An inquiry into King Jaja’s activities was held in Accra under a senior naval officer, Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty. It appeared that King Jaja’s actions against free trade was out of his ignorance, misinterpretation and later, objection to the Treaty of Berlin.

The Foreign Office had been unaware of this. However, the Admiralty found no proven case against King Jaja, the accused posed threat to penetration “to that only part of the country which is worth exploitation” was severe.

King Jaja was sent to exile for the benefit of free trade in the hinterland. Although King Jaja pleaded in a letter to be exiled in Accra, he was refused as he was thought capable of reasserting his authority from a place so ‘near’.

Jaja's House

The death of King Jaja of Opobo

King Jaja lived the rest of his life in St. Vincent Island in the West Indies. However, in 1891, the British decided that King Jaja could return to his kingdom but on his way back, King Jaja of Opobo died of what many thought was poisoning. JaJa’s death, two decades later, was followed by the Aro War which will open up the entire Igbo hinterland to colonial power.

 

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Nurses got fired immediately after ‘stunning video showed what they did to a newborn’s face’!

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As all parents know by now, nurses are responsible for the daily care of your baby. They will feed, change, and bathe your baby. They will also give medicines and keep track of vital signs – like temperature, breathing, and heart rate); and monitor medical equipment.

But, unfortunately, sometimes they forget what’s their job description. Per reports. a group of nurses reportedly recorded themselves doing the unthinkable a newborn’s face fired after video infuriates public.

The group of nurses who recorded themselves chuckling while cruelly crushing the face of a hospitalized newborn have actually been fired after their video was flowed online.

The baby’s household discovered the worrying treatment their kid had actually gotten at the hands of these nurses after the video was shared on social networks. In the stunning video, a nurse can be seen consistently getting the baby by the neck and forehead, and inhumanely crushing the child’s face, while the onlooking nurses chuckled…Click Here To Continue Reading>> …Click Here To Continue Reading>>

 

The 3 nurses, who were operating at a maternity ward were rapidly determined and found. The Health Affairs examined the source of the video and had the ability to determine the nurses who appeared in the video and the medical facility where the event occurred,’ stated representative Abdulhadi. After being determined, the nurses were quickly suspended from their positions at the maternity medical facility. They have because had their medical licenses withdrawed and have actually been prohibited from practicing nursing in other health departments. READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>

The newborn’s daddy notified media his child had actually remained in the health center for 10 days for treatment of a urinary system infection and was horrified after seeing the video commonly flowed on social networks platforms. He has actually required the nurses, in addition to those who distributed the upsetting video, to be penalized. Some have actually recommended that CCTV needs to be set up throughout the healthcare facility to assist in avoiding the incident of a comparable occasion.

 

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Man who indecently assaulted 4 girls walked free when the judge explained to the victims why ‘jail isn’t appropriate’!

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According to the court documents, the 20-year-old defendant, Christopher, pleaded guilty to ra-ing one young girl and se-ually abusing three others over the course of a year.

But, unfortunately,, thanks to the judge’s sympathy, he won’t even set foot inside of a prison cell for any of his crimes. The victims of the defendant are tormented by the fact that their se-ual abuser will not be jailed for his actions. The defendant was formally charged with first-degree ra-e, third-degree ra-e, and se-ual abuse involving multiple minors when he was only 17 years old.

The abuse occurred over the course of a year at his home. He later pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree se* abuse, third-degree attempted abuse, and third-degree ra-e.

Per reports, Judge Murphy said in front of Belter and his victims that he agonized over whether or not to imprison the rapist. He then announced that Belter would receive no jail time and just eight years of probation for his crimes because jailing him wouldn’t be an appropriate sentence…Click Here To Continue Reading>> …Click Here To Continue Reading>>

 

Judge Murphy went on to say that he came to his decision based on the ra-ist’s age at the time of the crimes. The defendant was 16 or 17 when he ra-ed a teen girl and se-ually abused three others, whose ages ranged from 15 to 16 years. READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>

“I agonized — I’m not ashamed to say that I actually prayed over what is the appropriate sentence in this case. because there was great pain. There was great harm — There were multiple crimes committed in the case,” Judge Murphy explained. “It seems to me that a sentence that involves incarceration or partial incarceration isn’t appropriate, so I am going to sentence you to probation.” Although the defendant is required to register as a se* offender, he received a sentence of two years interim probation which, if completed, will earn him Youthful Offender status. His probation restrictions include no contact with minors, living with his parents, employment or full-time student status, and no internet. “It’s going to be like a sword hanging over your head for the next eight years,” Judge Murphy remarked.

Christopher’s victims learned in court that he would receive no jail time. Understandably, they were stunned and disgusted with the judge’s decision.

One of the victim’s attorneys attributed the merciful sentence to Christopher’s race and economic status. “I am deeply, deeply disappointed. I expected a different outcome today,” declared Cohen, attorney. “Justice was not done today. He is privileged. He comes from money. He is white. He was sentenced as an adult, appropriately — for an adult to get away with these crimes is unjust.”

 

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Police thought disabled woman is a killer, they wheeled her to the judge and ‘she said these 5 chilling words’!

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According to the court documents, the 50-year-old disabled woman, Asenka, was reportedly charged with murder for allegedly killing her mother.

The woman appeared in court and had an interesting request for the judge. Per reports, Asenka was charged with the murder of her 75-year-old mother at the home they shared and then dug a grave for her in the backyard.

She was brought into the court in a wheelchair, where she requested ‘the unexpexted’. Among the many people who commented about this incident, one person remarked: “Give her what she wants.”

Per reports, the 50-year-old woman reportedly said: “I want the death penalty. Lethal injection, please. The court does not want me alive, and neither do I.” She had reportedly told detectives that her mother, Carole, abused her physically over the years. When they fought the previous week, she punched her mother in the head and she passed away…Click Here To Continue Reading>> …Click Here To Continue Reading>>

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The woman then spent the rest of the day digging a grave, stopping when she became exhausted. She later went to a neighbor’s house to say her mother had died, with the neighbor calling 911 to request a welfare check. When police arrived, they found the victim’s body in the bedroom and a hole in the ground several feet deep.

Police reviewed Asenka’s phone to discover she had taken photos after her mother’s killing, including injuries to her hands and arms that she allegedly sustained during ther fight. Prosecutors noted that the victim had obtained a restraining order against Asenka last year and filed to renew it, but the order was dropped when they didn’t appear at the court hearing. Asenka’s attorney argued that his client was afraid of her mother because of the alleged abuse, but a friend of the victim that the older woman was very petite and said she had talked about her daughter’s mental health problems.

Among the many people who commented about the murder case, one person remarked: “Give her what she wants. I know they can do it and quickly because years ago a man who had killed and abused two boys asked to be hanged and he was within the year.” Another commenter added: “How sweet of her to tell the court what she wants. Her mother didn’t have a choice and I presume she didn’t want to be murdered. Let her go crazy and rot in a cell.” One commenter agreed, noting: “Too easy! Let her suffer for the rest of her life for what she did. I suspect the wheelchair is a prop!”

 

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