By; ROWLAND KELVIN
Being an investigative journalist with a combined 27 years of experience, I always had the urge to fully understand if those bandits around the Kaduna, Zamfara, Katsina and Sokoto axis were actually Nigerians or imported mercenary bandits from Niger Republic or Chad. My quest took me to Sokoto, Kebbi and entered Niger Republic, through a town called Kamba where I spent a night, so as to ask about the terrain.
Armed with my passport, and with the help of vehicles that travel daily in between Nigeria and Niger, we traveled almost the whole day to get to Niamey which was my first destination. It was after I had secured a place to sleep, then I decided to visit any nearby clinic or hospital, a quest that took me to the Military Hospital to see a Doctor due to the symptoms of Malaria that had been over the last few days, been making me weak with pain in different joints of my body.
It was at the reception of the Military Hospital that I saw the famous Dr Abdulrasheed Maina with some aides. I approached and introduced myself where I realised that the two aides were actually security officials from Nigeria. We got into talking about the situation in Nigeria while we await the registration processes.
As a freelance journalist, I was privy to most of the inner circle information regarding Dr Maina’s travails and later got to know his health challenges, but the opportunity to see him physically was mind blowing.
It was there I saw the referrals he got from a prominent hospital in Nigeria. We talked about the fact that we don’t have one single Hospital in Nigeria that has the equipment, foreign doctors and genuine medicine to tackle simple ailments.
They had fully registered him and called out his name to proceed for vital signs. I was to later on meet with the Doctor on call after Maina had been fully admitted and inquired using our (Media) technical skills to get credible information, and the doctor on call sat and told me that their preliminary check up indicates that Maina was actually living with life threatening conditions which require him to undergo multiple surgeries that were dangerously degenerating..
If the public may recall, Maina was diagnosed with several life threatening ailments, tumors in multiple places, sudden Loss of hearing ,cardiovascular issues and knee issues, from the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital.
These serious life threatening conditions as i later found out had earlier been communicated to the authorities concerned ,thus the assistance given him to travel.
This is someone who cannot walk unaided which gave rise to the urgent need for him to be fully checked and treated. The tumors that are growing had some blood exiting his left ear, yet he could not even be entertained by those concerned, which as I was to later find out was the reason he was advised to immediately travel and treat himself then return.
Lest I forget, upon getting back to the reception i realized that his aides seemed to be looking like they were in a hurry to leave for the Airport and return to Abuja, it was at that particular moment I fully realized that some powerful individuals must have flown him from Nigeria to Niger Republic for the urgent surgery due to his deteriorating health condition.
All these findings kept me curious and wanting to know more about this man and what we have
been seeing and hearing in the Nigerian mainstream media.
Upon confirmation that he was offered to be flown to either the military hospital in Chad or Niger Republic for a fast surgery, he opted to go and be alive first before he could stand trial, a request he knew could never have been approved due to the open biaise being shown to the public against him during his trial.
A plane was provided that transported him to Niger republic accordingly. Arriving at night, he was taken to the hospital where Il met him. I lurked around and found out that series of tests were carried out on him in preparation for the surgery.
After spending three days, I decided to visit him at that hospital. On that fateful day the news in Nigeria was agog with vituperations threatening fire and brimstorm on the distinguished Senator who stood for him as surety. At that juncture, I wondered what Maina’s Lawyers were actually doing by allowing that to happen. On Maina’s first day in court, the judge said ” Registrar please advise the defendant to stop looking at me, and when his counsel further enquired why, the judge said “because I have a wife and children, whom I have to protect”.
Lets Leave this my short investigation for some other time. Upon getting the news of a warrant of arrest issued by the same judge on Maina, i decided to speak to him about it, where he expressed shock and disappointment at what the Judge did knowing fully well that Maina is sick and and has been seeking for medical attention even before he was arraigned.
Facts available. Dr Maina then made some calls and after the call, even though he was a free Man and could easily have taken a flight out to anywhere, or seek shelter with the numerous Niger Republic
politicians that were with him at the Hospital, but to my utter shock, Maina looked me in the eye and said that he will travel back to Nigeria without continuing with the surgery.
I personally went with him to his hotel room where we talked at length and he asked me to find out where the Niger Police Headquarters was, which i did.
He packed up his bag and we all took off to the Police Headquarters to see the interpol department staff, where he introduced himself and waited for them to reach out to Nigeria.
So I don’t know where the seemingly Intelligent Nigerian public got their distorted information that Maina actually ran to Niger with the intention of Jumping Bail. and even went ahead to spread wrong information to other gullible Nigerians without taking the necessary steps to confirm the truth.
I believe this might have happened because the distinguished Senator was remanded, not for his fault but ostensibly to put pressure on Maina to go to court.
To roll back, during one of Dr Maina’s calls to Nigeria, while I was with him, I heard him insisting on going back to Nigeria and saying “can anyone pinpoint to what I did wrong? They just want to ridicule me thinking I will talk and expose the rot in the system, but unknown to them, it’s a buried part of my life and I will never bring it back”.
The top Government Functionaries whose names I will not mention that, actually advised him on phone to stay in Niger but coded, untill the uproar is over, really amazed me for being part of the same people castigating Maina in the media glaringly, (Nigeria My Country).
I’ m also glad that Dr Maina refused to stay and opted to return to Nigeria.
The story went on and on even as I learnt that he was even declared wanted which was unnecessary. I cry for Nigeria our Country. When are we going to get it right?
After waking up from my slumber, I remembered the primary assignment that led me to travel in the first place, and that’s my quest and urge to find out more about the Bandits, but this urge diminished due to my fear that all the data I collected before the start of that trip confirmed the conclusions so many Nigerians have.
The more we look as ordinary Nigerians, the less we understand, Thus my reason for lying low for a while and bringing this story out after a year so that I wouldn’t be charged with obstruction of trial.
On my way home, this information continued to send shivers down my spine. So Maina didn’t run to Niger Republic to evade justice, but heeded to advise of Medical Consultants who felt his life was in danger.
What do they intend to achieve? Created trumped up charges and worked it out with a willing judge just to keep him incarcerated and silenced completely or what? Only time shall reveal the truth. Some events in the world are better left for history, but it is our responsibility as citizens to open up and tell the truth.
My personal conclusion based on confirmed facts available to me, is that of how gullible we are as a people to always fall into their trap.
Finally, to most Nigerians including myself whom before now castigated him anywhere discussions about him were brought, we can see the truth. I have all the records ,photos and facts at my disposal, based on confirmed documents that Maina is indeed a National hero who sanitized the pension sector and recovered trillions of Naira for Nigeria.
This was what endeared him to Former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan GCFR who worked with him closely due to his exceptional performance in the recovery of funds and restructuring the Pension Sector, and being the first to personally design the biometric database, currently in use and now suffering from it as a result.
My next quest is an investigation into where they kept all the recoveries Maina carried out
for Nigeria during this administration and the last one, which the former Minister of Finance and coordinating Minister of the Economy, (Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala) and the current Attorney General and Minister of Justice of the Federation (Mr ABUBAKAR Malami ,SAN), both confirmed to the National Assembly that Maina made recoveries and some of the funds had been injected into the economy.
I believe that Nigerians would like to know where the funds were kept and how the funds were expended. I also believe that, the Nigerian People would like to know the REAL WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH, about the pension scandal and the recoveries made with its accompanying political sabotage, persecution, and greed.
I must end this by asserting that such are the kinds of people that the Nigerian President should actually pardon compassionately in public interest and released from custody then reengaged once again to help in recovering funds for Nigeria to compliment the effort of the Minister of Justice in the recoveries made under his leadership.
My hope for this man now in detention is that he gets justice under a free and fair atmosphere as guaranteed by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. As for me, I have seen it all.
May God bless Nigeria.
Rowland Kelvin
Jabi, Abuja
