40 Suspected Homosexuals Arraigned In Lagos Courts

The suspected homosexuals arraigned in court on Thursday

By Kazeem Ugbodaga

No fewer than 40 suspected homosexuals were on Thursday arraigned at the Ebute-Metta Magistrate Court and the Yaba Magistrate Court in Lagos, Southwest Nigeria.

The suspects arraigned by the Lagos State Government included 28 adults and 12 minors for allegedly engaging in homosexuality contrary to the laws of the land.

The minors were arraigned before Ebute-Metta Magistrate Court, while the adults were arraigned before Yaba Magistrate Court.

The defendants, who are all male, were arraigned separately on a one-count charge.

They were all arrested last Saturday by men of the Lagos State Police Command in Owode Onirin area of the State.

The defendants were said to have been caught in the act of homosexuality at a popular hotel in the area simply known as Vintage Hotel.

According to the criminal charge, the defendants were said to have “On or about 29th July, 2017, at Vintage Hotel, No. 999 Ikorodu Road/Toyin Close, Weigh Bridge, Owode Onirin, Lagos, in the Lagos Magisterial District, did engage in gay activities by permitting male persons to have canal knowledge of themselves against the order of nature and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 261 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.”

The adults are Adedayo Kamadupe (27), Abiodun Pedro (22), Ikechukwu Onyebuchi (32), Dike Stanley (19), Oji Charles Isioma (28), Garuba Ibrahim (21), Monday Favour (20), Ayo Marcus Ayobamidele (26), Stanley Adeasbo (25), Victor Isaac (18), Godwin Williams (19), Kashimawo Oluwatosin (25), Abass Tajudeen (24), Olamigoke Adeola (19) and Yussuf Fawaz (19).

Others are Johnson Michael (19), Francis Michael (22), Samuel Adeyinka (25), Samuel Collins (25), Kazeem Akorede (25), Adebayo Bukola (23), Ochiagha Ifeanyi (19), Babatunde Taiwo (26), Raphael Dugh (30), Kenneth Ubaji (19), Alisi Ferdinand Okechukwu (30), Malik Ahmed (18) and Olamide Adeola (18).

After the charge was read to the defendants, they all pleaded not guilty, while their lawyers – Ehiko Onoche, S.M Oladele urged the Court to admit them to bail.

The prosecution team led by Ms Adetutu Oshinusi from the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP), Lagos State Ministry of Justice did not oppose their bail application but urged the Court to direct the defendants to submit themselves to the Lagos State Aids Control Agency (LSACA) for monitoring and Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team (DSVRT) for rehabilitation.

The officials of both agencies were also present in court.

In his ruling, Chief Magistrate Adewale Ojo granted bail to the defendants in the sum of N500, 000 and two sureties in like sum.

One of the sureties, according to the Court, must be a relative of the defendants, while the other must be resident within the court’s jurisdiction. The sureties must also present evidence of tax payment.

The Magistrate also granted the request of the prosecution demanding monitoring and Sexual rehabilitation for the defendants, while the matter was adjourned to September 8, 2017.

The minors were arraigned before Magistrate Segun Elias of Ebute-Metta Magistrate Court in a closed-session.

Brand equity has a big role in RCI's strategy

By Kelly LeVoyer, Editorial Director, SAS

Editor's note: In this Analytical Marketing series, learn how a few dynamic executives at top brands have led their organizations into the modern world of data-driven marketing. Check back next month for the next article in the series.

RCI is no stranger to innovation. The company pioneered the concept of vacation exchange in 1974 and changed the way millions of timeshare owners experience the world. As senior vice president of global marketing for RCI (part of the Wyndham Worldwide family of brands), Phil Brojan takes modernization seriously, and sees it as a primary strategy to improve brand recognition in a highly competitive market.

Serving a membership base is quite different from using an open market model with an endless supply of customers, Brojan says. “Our interactions with our members require a good deal of context to be meaningful. That makes it even more important that we know them very well, and make our offers and services highly relevant.”

• To learn more about branding in the digital age, read the SAS white paper: Redefining Brand Performance for the 21st Century.

Download the paper

Phil Brojan, Senior Vice President, Global Marketing at RCI

Analytics enhances brand equity

RCI’s marketing organization began its analytical marketing transformation about eight years ago. “I still remember the meeting that started it all,” Brojan says. “I can remember exactly where people were sitting. We had so many people participating in what we knew was going to be a sea change for RCI, that some people had to sit on the countertops around the edge of the boardroom.

That was the point at which we all made the commitment that we were going to transform – we were going to become a much more data-driven organization. It was all driven by a simple fact: We were a membership organization that simply didn’t know enough about our members. We wanted to make sure we had reliable data to understand our customer better and to make better decisions. And we knew that had to change. Luckily we have great senior leaders who trust and empower us; we had a lot of encouragement and support.”

That transformation has enabled the company to segment and model customer data and act on it quickly. “We can personalize communications and sales channels like the web and make them more relevant and timely.” Data scientists work within the organization and collaborate with data analysts on advanced analytical techniques like optimization and modeling. “We’re seeing more direct attribution of revenue back to campaigns and we’re better able to see what’s working and what’s not.”

The impact of this analytical transformation is enhancing the role of marketing at RCI to build brand equity. “The insights we glean from the data now help drive overall business strategy. We’re providing key indicators of where the revenue opportunities are. This has been huge for marketing at RCI over the past five years, because we’re helping set the direction for the company and helping other organizational areas.”

From art to science

To sustain an analytical marketing approach, Brojan says that marketers need to be more like scientists than artists – which has changed how his organization thinks about hiring new marketers. “We now look for scientific and analytical skills and pick and choose where we put creatives,” he says, while noting that finding and evaluating people with these skillsets can be difficult. One way RCI has evolved its interview process along these lines is to rely more on panel interviews, where they present candidates with complex business scenarios and then ask them to explain what they would do and why.

Customer experience trumps all

In terms of what’s next for the analytical marketing organization, Brojan says that the focus will be on becoming even more predictive to anticipate what consumer wants before they even know – to recommend and predict more than react. “It’s about continuing to personalize the customer experience,” he says. “Everyone’s come a long way on focusing on the customer experience yet there is still work to be done. The effort to personalize is never complete.”

What to read next

What does it take to really put the customer at the center of your business strategy? This Harvard Business Review summary: Leading Marketing Excellence with Analyticsoffers insights from top leaders about building your business around your customers.

British envoy urges economic diversification

By Prince Okafor

 

British envoy has urged Nigeria to diversify its economy especially in the area of renewable energy in powering the country, saying that this is the optimal way to balance the current dip in international oil prices.

Economy

The British High Commissioner, Mr. Paul Arkwright, also noted that with oil revenue making up to 80 percent of the country’s budget, “Oil and gas remain extremely important to Nigeria as the main revenue earning for the government and it will stay like that for a longer while. I’m sure because of the reduction in oil price in the country, it has actually created a serious impact in the government revenue that is why the government needs to diversify the economy beyond oil and gas, diversifying the economy is a key, I’m not too sure if the price will rise or reduce,” he said.

He argued that for the country to attract foreign investors in the oil and gas sector, the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB needs to be passed by the National Assembly, saying that the non-passage of the PIB is hindering investors from coming in.

His words: “To attract foreign investor in the country, the number one thing is to pass the PIB. The PIB has been in the National Assembly for more than seven years. I do think that it’s time for the PIB to be released; it is time it is passed. It should be done with the cooperation of the international oil companies because they will bring huge amount of employment to this country. If this is done, you will see increased interest in investment in the oil and gas sector from international companies.

“Without power there can be no strengthening of the economy. Solar is a good example, and we are already helping the Nigeria government with that. But financing is very important and British banks are very well vast in financing power infrastructure. There is the need for large scale insurance, that’s where expertise can come in, good governance, partnership with the government is very important.

Energy access agreement

I’m not saying you must do this or you must do that. The Nigeria vice president was in London recently at a major launch with the UK minister, who was also here in the country, of what we call the Energy Access Africa campaign,” he added

Recall Vice president Yemi Osinbanjo signed the energy access agreement with the UK, in which the UK government will increase the deployment of solar energy to the West African country’s rural communities and also help Africa achieve universal energy access by 2030.

UK Minister of State for International Development, Mr. Grant Shapps, signed the agreement on behalf of the UK government.

Osinbajo said: “With the cost of solar power 20 years ago that would have been impossible; the combination of innovation in technology, the low cost of solar power has made this all the more possible.

“This is an incredible opportunity in Africa, especially Nigeria, with over 96 million people who do not have access to power.”

Osinbajo noted that the use of kerosene had created a lot of safety and environmental issues, adding: “A default energy source should be solar and the option was not available for so long, but now it is cheaper, safer, and more environmentally friendly.”

The Chief of Party, USAID Nigeria Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Project, REEEP, Mr. Javier Betancourt, also argued that solar system can help to power the country such that its economy can attract more foreign investors.

According to Javier, “Foreign Investors are attracted by profitability of investments and unreliable and expensive energy will always result in reduced profitability. Solar systems are reliable and cost effective therefore widespread use of these systems will result in reducing the energy constraint and increase profitability. Increased profitability will result in increased interest by foreign investors.”