The Effects of Radiation From Orbit Hidden from Cell Phone Towers, Microwave and Air Craft nose-cone Radar Antenna. Most people are unware of the Radio Frequency (RF) radiation they are exposed to. Radiation is usually associated with radium, weapons, medical treatments, nuclear power plants and smoke detectors. Before we discuss covert cell towers and other numerous radiating antennas being installed with impunity, we should review the RF spectrum. This will be helpful in understanding how the radio spectrum affects us. We will not discuss HAARP, which is in itself a unique area of the radio spectrum in the shortwave band. There are essentially TWO types of harmful radiation (not including light such as ultraviolet): A. GOVT. CONTROLLED RADIOACTIVE SOURCES: Power plants, smoke detectors, medical treatment sources, etc... B. UNCONTROLLED RF EXPOSURE: Radio Frequency devices of many types. The RD spectrum is regulated by the FCC in America, and other similar regulatory agencies that exist in other countries around the world through international radio agreements. Yet most of them appear to be very unconcerned about health effects, especially in Nigeria. We will concentrate on the latter in this esay - UNCONTROLLED RF EXPOSURE. RF signals are without a doubt an invisible form of pollution. Most people see a smoke-stack smoking and scream "OH ! Look at that pollution!" But as we will see, this is not really the most immediate, serious health hazard. What is known about RF, is that unhealthy effects from it are related to an almost infinte combination of each of the five following factors: 1. FREQUENCY - Certain frequencies are absorbed in the body more than others. For example, the new riot control weapons the Pentagon have operates in the Super-High Frequency (SHF) region. This frequency is about 15 times higher than a conventional microwave oven. Although SHF is not absorbed into the skin, it boils perspiration on the skin causing pain. 2. DURATION - How long you are exposed to the radiation, or how long the transmitter is "on." 3. DISTANCE - How close you are to the antenna. Energy levels decrease with the square of the distance. 4. POWER LEVEL - What the strength of the signal is. This is measured in microwatts, milliwatts and watts. One microwatt is a millionth of a watt, One milliwatt is one-thousandth of a watt. For example, 1,000 milliwatts is one watt. Cell phone power levels are often in the 100 milliwatt to 4 watt class. In the past, older bag type cell phones people carried around, were up near 4 watts of power. Getting a strong signal was no problem. Today's pocket cell phones are in the 100 milliwatt area. Reducing the power goes with size reduction and a smaller battery. This also reduces cell size, which actually is beneficial. 5. SUSCEPTABILITY - Like tobacco smoke, you cannot tell if you will or will not become ill from RF exposure. But RF heating of body tissues and possible DNA alteration (mutation) happens to 100% of the people exposed to RF. The amount of heating is determined by a combination of the four factors above. The immune system is responsible for cleaning up mutant DNA. But can the immune system clean it out all the defective DNA and dead cells, and do this indefinitely? Modern medical science knows there are limits to how much of an assault on the body the immune system can deal with. WHY RF IS SIMILAR TO RADIOACTIVITY For those familiar with radiation exposure hazards, the striking parallels to radioactivity are obvious here in Nigeria. RF Frequency is similar to the radiation type, like Alpha, Beta or Gamma. In fact, each of these particles move as a frequency above that of ultraviolet light, and are actually composed of high speed particles. Each of the particle types affects the human body and systems in different ways. RF power level is like the number of particles per second of a radioactive source. Both duration and distance also translate into the realm of radiation exposure. We know that certain radioactive particles from Alpha particle emitters cause the most damage to lung cells when inhaled. Alpha particle ionizing radiation alters DNA in cells, and can create pre-cursor changes leading to cancer. Tissues and structures in the body that appear on scans and x-rays are sometimes diagnosed as a "pre-cancerous condition" by doctors. Older camping mantle lanterns and microwave ovens were very radioactive, because they were made from the element thorium. The reason for discussing the above subject, is to show that anything which alters cellular DNA can be extremely unhealthy. And this is both nuclear radiation and RF. There are also chemical and effects from ultraviolet as well. THE RF SPECTRUM - WHAT DIFFERENT RF FREQUENCIES DO TO THE HUMAN BODY The lowest frequencies are radio waves, that are actually the same as frequencies as the audio sound which comes out of your speakers. This called VLF, or Very Low Frequency. These waves have wavelengths measured in thousands of miles. They pass through the body without damage. Commercial AM radio signals, use waves that are also quite long and pass through the body with relative ease. These are also waves, whose wavelengths are measured in hundreds of feet. Shortwave signals are also very long, and this part of the spectrum reaches up to a part of the miltary band, located below TV channels. Decades ago, people could go to a doctor for aches and pains and be treated with a Diathermy machine. This machine was essentially a shortwave radio transmitter, and operated with a curved antenna that fits the human body. When placed against the skin, the antenna radiated energy that was absorbed deep in the body's tissues. A sufficient power level of RF energy will cause currents of electricity to flow in these tissues, thereby creating warmth. These machines are probably outlawed by now and died a quiet death in some countries. RF energy causes molecules to collide with one another creating heat. This occurs in tisuues like muscles, as well as blood. FM stations (located in the radio band near TV channels and over the air television channels through 13 are all in the VHF band. These signals can also pass through the human body without harm. These waves are measured in several feet. When you look at any TV antenna, multiply the width of the antenna by four, and that will be the wavelength of the wave from the TV transmitter. Hence the term 1/4 wavelength, which is a design rule for most antennas. Television channels through the UHF region. Channel is actually just below analog cell phone frequencies. Progammable police scanners and cell phone frequencies. (Privacy laws force scanners to block the cell phone bands) WHERE DOES MICROWAVE BEGIN? We are now entering the realm where RF begins to affect the human body at a distance. It is generally considered that any frequency above TV channel is microwave. There is a "fuzzy" line between microwave and non-microwave radio signals. In fact, the upper channels of the UHF bands are considered the near microwave band. Radio signals operating with short wavelengths measured in centimeters, can increase the temperature of water and tissues at a distance. Although most people equate this only with microwave ovens, this effects happens at lower frequencies. Complex proteins present in blood also break down into toxic materials. These invisible, toxic compounds can cause increasing muscle, joint and nerve pain in people over time as toxins build up in the body. Alteration of proteins and toxin generation not only happens to the body when exposed to RF, but also to food in microwave ovens. Many people have put their microwave ovens on the curb, when they discovered their pain was linked to microwaved food. The effects of microwaved food on the immune system are largely unexplored by mainstream science, but are well known by those that suffer from them. In reality, Diathermy treatments work on the same principle that microwave ovens operate on, except that microwave ovens use higher power levels and higher frequencies. Diathermy became popular, it was found that higher RF frequencies allowed heating at a distance, without direct electrode contact. The story about the microwave oven invention is that it was discovered by accident, by an engineer working in an electronics lab. He found the radiation from the equipment melted a candy bar in his pocket. Amana is credited with building and selling the first commonly available oven - the infamous Radar Range (RR). The discovery reminds one of the sticky-note origin story. Another accidental discovery - found while 3M was trying to create a better adhesive.. For many years, everyone treated microwaves as nothing to be concerned about. No one learned from the lessons of Madam and Pierre Curie who tinkered with radium a century ago, and died from radiation poisoning. Remember the comparison of RF with radioactiviting above. Several decades ago, a man walked past the front of a telephone relay dish on the roof of a building. He suffered no immediate ill effects, but died some days later in the hospital as his organs began to fail. His organs had absorbed the microwave radiation, and were permanently and fatally damaged. He was essentially cooked and didn't know it. If he has walked past a sufficient amount of Plutonium, the same thing would happen but in a different way. He would have still died. RADIATION BY ANY OTHER NAME IS STILL RADIATION. Today, all microwave transmitting dishes and antennas must have radiation stickers on them, if people can become near them. Located on the front nose-cone of aircraft are small warning stickers if they have radar. The radar MUST be turned off when the aircraft is on the ground, as it is hazardous to ground personnel. Warning stickers use the universal radiation warning symbol of three triangles inside a circle. These identical symbols are used for radioactive materials. Many in the armed forces know the stories and often unpleasant fate of those that unknowingly walked in front of operating aircraft radar. Microwave remote uplink trucks used at sports events use power levels typically on the order of 120 watts. Fortunately all the RF energy is pointed upwards towards a satellite more than 22,000 miles away. Now with all that said, how are WE being irradiated ? The effects of low level radiation are only now beginning to be understood from the efforts of lab research around the world. There are a number of RF frequencies the FCC has set aside, that have unlimited civilian use. Although related unlicensed transmitter operation is usually limited to short range digital devices like garage door openers and cordless phones, low level RF may have a cumulative effect that is not yet understood. For a more in-depth look at complex microwave frequency allocation. Here is a quick list of common sources of radiation: 1. CELL PHONES - Here the antenna is very close to the brain, and many studies have been done on this. Recent studies done in Europe show that tumors can be induced in rats, which are exposed to the same power levels and distances that normal cell phone users are from the phone's antenna. 2. CORDLESS PHONES - In reality, these are as detrimental as cell phones because they operate near the microwave frequencies of cell phones (microwave.) In some ways, they could be worse than cell phones because many people spend more time on these. 3. GARAGE DOOR AND GATE OPENERS - A source of radiation when the button is pressed. 4. WIRELESS PDAs and NOTEBOOK COMPUTERS - These work very much like cell phones, with the same potential effects. 5. MICROWAVE ALARM SYSTEM SENSORS - This is one area NO ONE talks about. These are common in homes and businesses. Although the power level is in the microwatt realm, one may sit exposed to it all day, every day, sometimes just a few feet away. Again, think about it in terms of exposure time versus energy levels. 6. BLUE TOOTH WIRELESS DEVICES - Operate in the lower microwave region. 7. WIRELESS VIDEO CAMERAS - Operate in the microwave region above analog cell phones. 8. TV EXTENDERS - Used to transmit video and sound without wires from one room to another in a home. These also operate in the microwave region above analog cell phones. 9. SATELLITES - Walk outside, anywhere, and you will be bombarded with RF from satellites, both civilian and military. If you could visibly "see" these sources, you would see points of "light" from the 22,500 mile high Clarke belt of stationary satellites. This belt of satellites rise from the western horizon and arcs across the sky to the earth. There will also be hundreds of moving lights in the sky from lower geosynchronous orbits. Some of these are also satellites the military uses that send signals to earth. Many military satellites have high-powered optical sensors, with huge telephoto lenses that watch everything from orbit. These satellites orbit about 200 miles up and contrary to public belief, can actually read a newspaper headline from orbit. The portrayal of distant fuzzy images as seen in "Patriot Games" is far from the truth. And these satellites bombard the earth with more RF radiation as they send their data to the earth. 10. POLICE RADIOS (Sirens) - Police officers now have antennas on their microphones, also have a similar risk to that of cell phone users since the antenna is located near the head. There is also radiation from the antennas on their vehicles, too. 11. WALKIE-TALKIE TYPE RADIOS - In decades past, business radios operated in the lower VHF band. These were known as business band radios, and are still in use today. No known ill effects are known to have originated from these radios. Today's family channel radios operate in the 400Mhz UHF band, near TV channel 14. 12. DOOR OPENERS - Often used in grocery and discount stores, these open the door when you pass under a microwave motion detector. You pass directly under the unit when you enter or exit the store, receiving more microwave radiation. 13. SECURITY FOR STORES - Used in WalMart, video rental and other stores, these exit portals generate an RF field you are forced to walk through upon entering and exiting the store. The square "Be Kind Please Rewind" tag is often a tuned printed circuit behind the label, that will trigger the security system when passed through a portal at the exit. Libraries use a very similar system with thin resonanting devices slipped into the spine of books. These systems operate in the lower microwave band, allowing the use of small coils (or no coils at all) because of the high frequencies employed. 14. CELL TOWERS - Last but not least, cell tower antennas which operate at power levels of about 10 watts for each antenna on the tower. Some use higher wattage than others. These directional antennas divide a geographical area into cells of service. There are many more toys, products and devices too numerous to mention here. We are immersed in a virtual SEA of RF energy, with cell towers as one of the strongest continuous sources of RF energy. MORE ABOUT CELL PHONES When you turn your cell phone on, the cell phone company carrier you have uses a computer network connected to all the cell towers, to invisibly command your phone to change to an available frequency. This is why numerous people can talk in a given cell phone area and not hear one another. When a cell phone is on, it transmits frequently to notify the phone company it is actually on. As you walk or drive, the cell system determines signal strength and switches you connection to another tower near you. Even when you are not talking, the phone can still radiate energy. If you have it in your shirt or pants pocket or on your belt, body tissues around the antenna on the phone are being irradiated with RF energy. This is an inescapable fact. COVERT ANTENNAS The closer to a radiating antenna you are, the higher the health risk there is. In an effort to increase channel availability for the increasing number of cell phone users, cells have to be made smaller. These are often known as microcells. In the past, cell towers typically covered a 10 mile cell. Microcells today are often less than one mile, depending on local population size. More towers are required to be assured a cell phone will get a channel when talk is pressed, or when someone answers a cell phone. There were more than 128,000 cell towers across Africa; this include Nigeria. About 25% of these were hidden towers, and the remaining number of them were traditional types. Keep in mind that cell tower density is directly connected to population density. There are still parts of where no cell towers exist, because population density makes them economically unfeasable. Antennas come in many forms, including trees, cactus and gas station signs in some countries. Take the necessary precaution please.

The Effects of Radiation From Orbit Hidden from Cell Phone Towers, Microwave and Air Craft nose-cone Radar Antenna. Most people are unware of the Radio Frequency (RF) radiation they are exposed to. Radiation is usually associated with radium, weapons, medical treatments, nuclear power plants and smoke detectors. Before we discuss covert cell towers and other numerous radiating antennas being installed with impunity, we should review the RF spectrum. This will be helpful in understanding how the radio spectrum affects us. We will not discuss HAARP, which is in itself a unique area of the radio spectrum in the shortwave band.   There are essentially TWO types of harmful radiation (not including light such as ultraviolet):   A. GOVT. CONTROLLED RADIOACTIVE SOURCES: Power plants, smoke detectors, medical treatment sources, etc...   B. UNCONTROLLED RF EXPOSURE: Radio Frequency devices of many types. The RD spectrum is regulated by the FCC in America, and other similar regulatory agencies that exist in other countries around the world through international radio agreements. Yet most of them appear to be very unconcerned about health effects, especially in Nigeria.   We will concentrate on the latter in this esay - UNCONTROLLED RF EXPOSURE. RF signals are without a doubt an invisible form of pollution. Most people see a smoke-stack smoking and scream "OH ! Look at that pollution!" But as we will see, this is not really the most immediate, serious health hazard. What is known about RF, is that unhealthy effects from it are related to an almost infinte combination of each of the five following factors:   1. FREQUENCY - Certain frequencies are absorbed in the body more than others. For example, the new riot control weapons the Pentagon have operates in the Super-High Frequency (SHF) region. This frequency is about 15 times higher than a conventional microwave oven. Although SHF is not absorbed into the skin, it boils perspiration on the skin causing pain.   2. DURATION - How long you are exposed to the radiation, or how long the transmitter is "on."   3. DISTANCE - How close you are to the antenna. Energy levels decrease with the square of the distance.   4. POWER LEVEL - What the strength of the signal is. This is measured in microwatts, milliwatts and watts. One microwatt is a millionth of a watt, One milliwatt is one-thousandth of a watt. For example, 1,000 milliwatts is one watt.   Cell phone power levels are often in the 100 milliwatt to 4 watt class. In the past, older bag type cell phones people carried around, were up near 4 watts of power. Getting a strong signal was no problem. Today's pocket cell phones are in the 100 milliwatt area. Reducing the power goes with size reduction and a smaller battery. This also reduces cell size, which actually is beneficial.   5. SUSCEPTABILITY - Like tobacco smoke, you cannot tell if you will or will not become ill from RF exposure. But RF heating of body tissues and possible DNA alteration (mutation) happens to 100% of the people exposed to RF. The amount of heating is determined by a combination of the four factors above. The immune system is responsible for cleaning up mutant DNA. But can the immune system clean it out all the defective DNA and dead cells, and do this indefinitely? Modern medical science knows there are limits to how much of an assault on the body the immune system can deal with.   WHY RF IS SIMILAR TO RADIOACTIVITY   For those familiar with radiation exposure hazards, the striking parallels to radioactivity are obvious here in Nigeria. RF Frequency is similar to the radiation type, like Alpha, Beta or Gamma. In fact, each of these particles move as a frequency above that of ultraviolet light, and are actually composed of high speed particles. Each of the particle types affects the human body and systems in different ways. RF power level is like the number of particles per second of a radioactive source. Both duration and distance also translate into the realm of radiation exposure.   We know that certain radioactive particles from Alpha particle emitters cause the most damage to lung cells when inhaled. Alpha particle ionizing radiation alters DNA in cells, and can create pre-cursor changes leading to cancer. Tissues and structures in the body that appear on scans and x-rays are sometimes diagnosed as a "pre-cancerous condition" by doctors. Older camping mantle lanterns and microwave ovens were very radioactive, because they were made from the element thorium.   The reason for discussing the above subject, is to show that anything which alters cellular DNA can be extremely unhealthy. And this is both nuclear radiation and RF. There are also chemical and effects from ultraviolet as well.   THE RF SPECTRUM - WHAT DIFFERENT RF FREQUENCIES DO TO THE HUMAN BODY   The lowest frequencies are radio waves, that are actually the same as frequencies as the audio sound which comes out of your speakers. This called VLF, or Very Low Frequency. These waves have wavelengths measured in thousands of miles. They pass through the body without damage.   Commercial AM radio signals, use waves that are also quite long and pass through the body with relative ease. These are also waves, whose wavelengths are measured in hundreds of feet. Shortwave signals are also very long, and this part of the spectrum reaches up to a part of the miltary band, located below TV channels.   Decades ago, people could go to a doctor for aches and pains and be treated with a Diathermy machine. This machine was essentially a shortwave radio transmitter, and operated with a curved antenna that fits the human body. When placed against the skin, the antenna radiated energy that was absorbed deep in the body's tissues. A sufficient power level of RF energy will cause currents of electricity to flow in these tissues, thereby creating warmth. These machines are probably outlawed by now and died a quiet death in some countries. RF energy causes molecules to collide with one another creating heat. This occurs in tisuues like muscles, as well as blood. FM stations (located in the radio band near TV channels and over the air television channels through 13 are all in the VHF band. These signals can also pass through the human body without harm. These waves are measured in several feet. When you look at any TV antenna, multiply the width of the antenna by four, and that will be the wavelength of the wave from the TV transmitter. Hence the term 1/4 wavelength, which is a design rule for most antennas.   Television channels through the UHF region. Channel is actually just below analog cell phone frequencies. Progammable police scanners and cell phone frequencies. (Privacy laws force scanners to block the cell phone bands)   WHERE DOES MICROWAVE BEGIN?   We are now entering the realm where RF begins to affect the human body at a distance. It is generally considered that any frequency above TV channel is microwave. There is a "fuzzy" line between microwave and non-microwave radio signals. In fact, the upper channels of the UHF bands are considered the near microwave band. Radio signals operating with short wavelengths measured in centimeters, can increase the temperature of water and tissues at a distance. Although most people equate this only with microwave ovens, this effects happens at lower frequencies. Complex proteins present in blood also break down into toxic materials. These invisible, toxic compounds can cause increasing muscle, joint and nerve pain in people over time as toxins build up in the body. Alteration of proteins and toxin generation not only happens to the body when exposed to RF, but also to food in microwave ovens. Many people have put their microwave ovens on the curb, when they discovered their pain was linked to microwaved food. The effects of microwaved food on the immune system are largely unexplored by mainstream science, but are well known by those that suffer from them.   In reality, Diathermy treatments work on the same principle that microwave ovens operate on, except that microwave ovens use higher power levels and higher frequencies. Diathermy became popular, it was found that higher RF frequencies allowed heating at a distance, without direct electrode contact. The story about the microwave oven invention is that it was discovered by accident, by an engineer working in an electronics lab. He found the radiation from the equipment melted a candy bar in his pocket. Amana is credited with building and selling the first commonly available oven - the infamous Radar Range (RR). The discovery reminds one of the sticky-note origin story. Another accidental discovery - found while 3M was trying to create a better adhesive..   For many years, everyone treated microwaves as nothing to be concerned about. No one learned from the lessons of Madam and Pierre Curie who tinkered with radium a century ago, and died from radiation poisoning. Remember the comparison of RF with radioactiviting above. Several decades ago, a man walked past the front of a telephone relay dish on the roof of a building. He suffered no immediate ill effects, but died some days later in the hospital as his organs began to fail. His organs had absorbed the microwave radiation, and were permanently and fatally damaged. He was essentially cooked and didn't know it. If he has walked past a sufficient amount of Plutonium, the same thing would happen but in a different way. He would have still died.   RADIATION BY ANY OTHER NAME IS STILL RADIATION.   Today, all microwave transmitting dishes and antennas must have radiation stickers on them, if people can become near them. Located on the front nose-cone of aircraft are small warning stickers if they have radar. The radar MUST be turned off when the aircraft is on the ground, as it is hazardous to ground personnel. Warning stickers use the universal radiation warning symbol of three triangles inside a circle. These identical symbols are used for radioactive materials. Many in the armed forces know the stories and often unpleasant fate of those that unknowingly walked in front of operating aircraft radar.   Microwave remote uplink trucks used at sports events use power levels typically on the order of 120 watts. Fortunately all the RF energy is pointed upwards towards a satellite more than 22,000 miles away.   Now with all that said, how are WE being irradiated ? The effects of low level radiation are only now beginning to be understood from the efforts of lab research around the world.   There are a number of RF frequencies the FCC has set aside, that have unlimited civilian use. Although related unlicensed transmitter operation is usually limited to short range digital devices like garage door openers and cordless phones, low level RF may have a cumulative effect that is not yet understood. For a more in-depth look at complex microwave frequency allocation.   Here is a quick list of common sources of radiation:   1. CELL PHONES - Here the antenna is very close to the brain, and many studies have been done on this. Recent studies done in Europe show that tumors can be induced in rats, which are exposed to the same power levels and distances that normal cell phone users are from the phone's antenna.   2. CORDLESS PHONES - In reality, these are as detrimental as cell phones because they operate near the microwave frequencies of cell phones (microwave.) In some ways, they could be worse than cell phones because many people spend more time on these.   3. GARAGE DOOR AND GATE OPENERS - A source of radiation when the button is pressed.   4. WIRELESS PDAs and NOTEBOOK COMPUTERS - These work very much like cell phones, with the same potential effects.   5. MICROWAVE ALARM SYSTEM SENSORS - This is one area NO ONE talks about. These are common in homes and businesses. Although the power level is in the microwatt realm, one may sit exposed to it all day, every day, sometimes just a few feet away. Again, think about it in terms of exposure time versus energy levels.   6. BLUE TOOTH WIRELESS DEVICES - Operate in the lower microwave region.   7. WIRELESS VIDEO CAMERAS - Operate in the microwave region above analog cell phones.   8. TV EXTENDERS - Used to transmit video and sound without wires from one room to another in a home. These also operate in the microwave region above analog cell phones.   9. SATELLITES - Walk outside, anywhere, and you will be bombarded with RF from satellites, both civilian and military. If you could visibly "see" these sources, you would see points of "light" from the 22,500 mile high Clarke belt of stationary satellites. This belt of satellites rise from the western horizon and arcs across the sky to the earth. There will also be hundreds of moving lights in the sky from lower geosynchronous orbits. Some of these are also satellites the military uses that send signals to earth. Many military satellites have high-powered optical sensors, with huge telephoto lenses that watch everything from orbit. These satellites orbit about 200 miles up and contrary to public belief, can actually read a newspaper headline from orbit. The portrayal of distant fuzzy images as seen in "Patriot Games" is far from the truth. And these satellites bombard the earth with more RF radiation as they send their data to the earth.   10. POLICE RADIOS (Sirens) - Police officers now have antennas on their microphones, also have a similar risk to that of cell phone users since the antenna is located near the head. There is also radiation from the antennas on their vehicles, too.   11. WALKIE-TALKIE TYPE RADIOS - In decades past, business radios operated in the lower VHF band. These were known as business band radios, and are still in use today. No known ill effects are known to have originated from these radios. Today's family channel radios operate in the 400Mhz UHF band, near TV channel 14.   12. DOOR OPENERS - Often used in grocery and discount stores, these open the door when you pass under a microwave motion detector. You pass directly under the unit when you enter or exit the store, receiving more microwave radiation.   13. SECURITY FOR STORES - Used in WalMart, video rental and other stores, these exit portals generate an RF field you are forced to walk through upon entering and exiting the store. The square "Be Kind Please Rewind" tag is often a tuned printed circuit behind the label, that will trigger the security system when passed through a portal at the exit. Libraries use a very similar system with thin resonanting devices slipped into the spine of books. These systems operate in the lower microwave band, allowing the use of small coils (or no coils at all) because of the high frequencies employed.   14. CELL TOWERS - Last but not least, cell tower antennas which operate at power levels of about 10 watts for each antenna on the tower. Some use higher wattage than others. These directional antennas divide a geographical area into cells of service.   There are many more toys, products and devices too numerous to mention here. We are immersed in a virtual SEA of RF energy, with cell towers as one of the strongest continuous sources of RF energy.   MORE ABOUT CELL PHONES   When you turn your cell phone on, the cell phone company carrier you have uses a computer network connected to all the cell towers, to invisibly command your phone to change to an available frequency. This is why numerous people can talk in a given cell phone area and not hear one another. When a cell phone is on, it transmits frequently to notify the phone company it is actually on. As you walk or drive, the cell system determines signal strength and switches you connection to another tower near you. Even when you are not talking, the phone can still radiate energy. If you have it in your shirt or pants pocket or on your belt, body tissues around the antenna on the phone are being irradiated with RF energy. This is an inescapable fact.   COVERT ANTENNAS   The closer to a radiating antenna you are, the higher the health risk there is. In an effort to increase channel availability for the increasing number of cell phone users, cells have to be made smaller. These are often known as microcells. In the past, cell towers typically covered a 10 mile cell. Microcells today are often less than one mile, depending on local population size. More towers are required to be assured a cell phone will get a channel when talk is pressed, or when someone answers a cell phone.   There were more than 128,000 cell towers across Africa; this include Nigeria. About 25% of these were hidden towers, and the remaining number of them were traditional types. Keep in mind that cell tower density is directly connected to population density. There are still parts of where no cell towers exist, because population density makes them economically unfeasable. Antennas come in many forms, including trees, cactus and gas station signs in some countries. Take the necessary precaution please.

The Effects of Radiation From Orbit Hidden from Cell Phone Towers, Microwave and Air Craft nose-cone Radar Antenna. Most people are unware of the Radio Frequency (RF) radiation they are exposed to. Radiation is usually associated with radium, weapons, medical treatments, nuclear power plants and smoke detectors. Before we discuss covert cell towers and other numerous radiating antennas being installed with impunity, we should review the RF spectrum. This will be helpful in understanding how the radio spectrum affects us. We will not discuss HAARP, which is in itself a unique area of the radio spectrum in the shortwave band.   There are essentially TWO types of harmful radiation (not including light such as ultraviolet):   A. GOVT. CONTROLLED RADIOACTIVE SOURCES: Power plants, smoke detectors, medical treatment sources, etc...   B. UNCONTROLLED RF EXPOSURE: Radio Frequency devices of many types. The RD spectrum is regulated by the FCC in America, and other similar regulatory agencies that exist in other countries around the world through international radio agreements. Yet most of them appear to be very unconcerned about health effects, especially in Nigeria.   We will concentrate on the latter in this esay - UNCONTROLLED RF EXPOSURE. RF signals are without a doubt an invisible form of pollution. Most people see a smoke-stack smoking and scream "OH ! Look at that pollution!" But as we will see, this is not really the most immediate, serious health hazard. What is known about RF, is that unhealthy effects from it are related to an almost infinte combination of each of the five following factors:   1. FREQUENCY - Certain frequencies are absorbed in the body more than others. For example, the new riot control weapons the Pentagon have operates in the Super-High Frequency (SHF) region. This frequency is about 15 times higher than a conventional microwave oven. Although SHF is not absorbed into the skin, it boils perspiration on the skin causing pain.   2. DURATION - How long you are exposed to the radiation, or how long the transmitter is "on."   3. DISTANCE - How close you are to the antenna. Energy levels decrease with the square of the distance.   4. POWER LEVEL - What the strength of the signal is. This is measured in microwatts, milliwatts and watts. One microwatt is a millionth of a watt, One milliwatt is one-thousandth of a watt. For example, 1,000 milliwatts is one watt.   Cell phone power levels are often in the 100 milliwatt to 4 watt class. In the past, older bag type cell phones people carried around, were up near 4 watts of power. Getting a strong signal was no problem. Today's pocket cell phones are in the 100 milliwatt area. Reducing the power goes with size reduction and a smaller battery. This also reduces cell size, which actually is beneficial.   5. SUSCEPTABILITY - Like tobacco smoke, you cannot tell if you will or will not become ill from RF exposure. But RF heating of body tissues and possible DNA alteration (mutation) happens to 100% of the people exposed to RF. The amount of heating is determined by a combination of the four factors above. The immune system is responsible for cleaning up mutant DNA. But can the immune system clean it out all the defective DNA and dead cells, and do this indefinitely? Modern medical science knows there are limits to how much of an assault on the body the immune system can deal with.   WHY RF IS SIMILAR TO RADIOACTIVITY   For those familiar with radiation exposure hazards, the striking parallels to radioactivity are obvious here in Nigeria. RF Frequency is similar to the radiation type, like Alpha, Beta or Gamma. In fact, each of these particles move as a frequency above that of ultraviolet light, and are actually composed of high speed particles. Each of the particle types affects the human body and systems in different ways. RF power level is like the number of particles per second of a radioactive source. Both duration and distance also translate into the realm of radiation exposure.   We know that certain radioactive particles from Alpha particle emitters cause the most damage to lung cells when inhaled. Alpha particle ionizing radiation alters DNA in cells, and can create pre-cursor changes leading to cancer. Tissues and structures in the body that appear on scans and x-rays are sometimes diagnosed as a "pre-cancerous condition" by doctors. Older camping mantle lanterns and microwave ovens were very radioactive, because they were made from the element thorium.   The reason for discussing the above subject, is to show that anything which alters cellular DNA can be extremely unhealthy. And this is both nuclear radiation and RF. There are also chemical and effects from ultraviolet as well.   THE RF SPECTRUM - WHAT DIFFERENT RF FREQUENCIES DO TO THE HUMAN BODY   The lowest frequencies are radio waves, that are actually the same as frequencies as the audio sound which comes out of your speakers. This called VLF, or Very Low Frequency. These waves have wavelengths measured in thousands of miles. They pass through the body without damage.   Commercial AM radio signals, use waves that are also quite long and pass through the body with relative ease. These are also waves, whose wavelengths are measured in hundreds of feet. Shortwave signals are also very long, and this part of the spectrum reaches up to a part of the miltary band, located below TV channels.   Decades ago, people could go to a doctor for aches and pains and be treated with a Diathermy machine. This machine was essentially a shortwave radio transmitter, and operated with a curved antenna that fits the human body. When placed against the skin, the antenna radiated energy that was absorbed deep in the body's tissues. A sufficient power level of RF energy will cause currents of electricity to flow in these tissues, thereby creating warmth. These machines are probably outlawed by now and died a quiet death in some countries. RF energy causes molecules to collide with one another creating heat. This occurs in tisuues like muscles, as well as blood. FM stations (located in the radio band near TV channels and over the air television channels through 13 are all in the VHF band. These signals can also pass through the human body without harm. These waves are measured in several feet. When you look at any TV antenna, multiply the width of the antenna by four, and that will be the wavelength of the wave from the TV transmitter. Hence the term 1/4 wavelength, which is a design rule for most antennas.   Television channels through the UHF region. Channel is actually just below analog cell phone frequencies. Progammable police scanners and cell phone frequencies. (Privacy laws force scanners to block the cell phone bands)   WHERE DOES MICROWAVE BEGIN?   We are now entering the realm where RF begins to affect the human body at a distance. It is generally considered that any frequency above TV channel is microwave. There is a "fuzzy" line between microwave and non-microwave radio signals. In fact, the upper channels of the UHF bands are considered the near microwave band. Radio signals operating with short wavelengths measured in centimeters, can increase the temperature of water and tissues at a distance. Although most people equate this only with microwave ovens, this effects happens at lower frequencies. Complex proteins present in blood also break down into toxic materials. These invisible, toxic compounds can cause increasing muscle, joint and nerve pain in people over time as toxins build up in the body. Alteration of proteins and toxin generation not only happens to the body when exposed to RF, but also to food in microwave ovens. Many people have put their microwave ovens on the curb, when they discovered their pain was linked to microwaved food. The effects of microwaved food on the immune system are largely unexplored by mainstream science, but are well known by those that suffer from them.   In reality, Diathermy treatments work on the same principle that microwave ovens operate on, except that microwave ovens use higher power levels and higher frequencies. Diathermy became popular, it was found that higher RF frequencies allowed heating at a distance, without direct electrode contact. The story about the microwave oven invention is that it was discovered by accident, by an engineer working in an electronics lab. He found the radiation from the equipment melted a candy bar in his pocket. Amana is credited with building and selling the first commonly available oven - the infamous Radar Range (RR). The discovery reminds one of the sticky-note origin story. Another accidental discovery - found while 3M was trying to create a better adhesive..   For many years, everyone treated microwaves as nothing to be concerned about. No one learned from the lessons of Madam and Pierre Curie who tinkered with radium a century ago, and died from radiation poisoning. Remember the comparison of RF with radioactiviting above. Several decades ago, a man walked past the front of a telephone relay dish on the roof of a building. He suffered no immediate ill effects, but died some days later in the hospital as his organs began to fail. His organs had absorbed the microwave radiation, and were permanently and fatally damaged. He was essentially cooked and didn't know it. If he has walked past a sufficient amount of Plutonium, the same thing would happen but in a different way. He would have still died.   RADIATION BY ANY OTHER NAME IS STILL RADIATION.   Today, all microwave transmitting dishes and antennas must have radiation stickers on them, if people can become near them. Located on the front nose-cone of aircraft are small warning stickers if they have radar. The radar MUST be turned off when the aircraft is on the ground, as it is hazardous to ground personnel. Warning stickers use the universal radiation warning symbol of three triangles inside a circle. These identical symbols are used for radioactive materials. Many in the armed forces know the stories and often unpleasant fate of those that unknowingly walked in front of operating aircraft radar.   Microwave remote uplink trucks used at sports events use power levels typically on the order of 120 watts. Fortunately all the RF energy is pointed upwards towards a satellite more than 22,000 miles away.   Now with all that said, how are WE being irradiated ? The effects of low level radiation are only now beginning to be understood from the efforts of lab research around the world.   There are a number of RF frequencies the FCC has set aside, that have unlimited civilian use. Although related unlicensed transmitter operation is usually limited to short range digital devices like garage door openers and cordless phones, low level RF may have a cumulative effect that is not yet understood. For a more in-depth look at complex microwave frequency allocation.   Here is a quick list of common sources of radiation:   1. CELL PHONES - Here the antenna is very close to the brain, and many studies have been done on this. Recent studies done in Europe show that tumors can be induced in rats, which are exposed to the same power levels and distances that normal cell phone users are from the phone's antenna.   2. CORDLESS PHONES - In reality, these are as detrimental as cell phones because they operate near the microwave frequencies of cell phones (microwave.) In some ways, they could be worse than cell phones because many people spend more time on these.   3. GARAGE DOOR AND GATE OPENERS - A source of radiation when the button is pressed.   4. WIRELESS PDAs and NOTEBOOK COMPUTERS - These work very much like cell phones, with the same potential effects.   5. MICROWAVE ALARM SYSTEM SENSORS - This is one area NO ONE talks about. These are common in homes and businesses. Although the power level is in the microwatt realm, one may sit exposed to it all day, every day, sometimes just a few feet away. Again, think about it in terms of exposure time versus energy levels.   6. BLUE TOOTH WIRELESS DEVICES - Operate in the lower microwave region.   7. WIRELESS VIDEO CAMERAS - Operate in the microwave region above analog cell phones.   8. TV EXTENDERS - Used to transmit video and sound without wires from one room to another in a home. These also operate in the microwave region above analog cell phones.   9. SATELLITES - Walk outside, anywhere, and you will be bombarded with RF from satellites, both civilian and military. If you could visibly "see" these sources, you would see points of "light" from the 22,500 mile high Clarke belt of stationary satellites. This belt of satellites rise from the western horizon and arcs across the sky to the earth. There will also be hundreds of moving lights in the sky from lower geosynchronous orbits. Some of these are also satellites the military uses that send signals to earth. Many military satellites have high-powered optical sensors, with huge telephoto lenses that watch everything from orbit. These satellites orbit about 200 miles up and contrary to public belief, can actually read a newspaper headline from orbit. The portrayal of distant fuzzy images as seen in "Patriot Games" is far from the truth. And these satellites bombard the earth with more RF radiation as they send their data to the earth.   10. POLICE RADIOS (Sirens) - Police officers now have antennas on their microphones, also have a similar risk to that of cell phone users since the antenna is located near the head. There is also radiation from the antennas on their vehicles, too.   11. WALKIE-TALKIE TYPE RADIOS - In decades past, business radios operated in the lower VHF band. These were known as business band radios, and are still in use today. No known ill effects are known to have originated from these radios. Today's family channel radios operate in the 400Mhz UHF band, near TV channel 14.   12. DOOR OPENERS - Often used in grocery and discount stores, these open the door when you pass under a microwave motion detector. You pass directly under the unit when you enter or exit the store, receiving more microwave radiation.   13. SECURITY FOR STORES - Used in WalMart, video rental and other stores, these exit portals generate an RF field you are forced to walk through upon entering and exiting the store. The square "Be Kind Please Rewind" tag is often a tuned printed circuit behind the label, that will trigger the security system when passed through a portal at the exit. Libraries use a very similar system with thin resonanting devices slipped into the spine of books. These systems operate in the lower microwave band, allowing the use of small coils (or no coils at all) because of the high frequencies employed.   14. CELL TOWERS - Last but not least, cell tower antennas which operate at power levels of about 10 watts for each antenna on the tower. Some use higher wattage than others. These directional antennas divide a geographical area into cells of service.   There are many more toys, products and devices too numerous to mention here. We are immersed in a virtual SEA of RF energy, with cell towers as one of the strongest continuous sources of RF energy.   MORE ABOUT CELL PHONES   When you turn your cell phone on, the cell phone company carrier you have uses a computer network connected to all the cell towers, to invisibly command your phone to change to an available frequency. This is why numerous people can talk in a given cell phone area and not hear one another. When a cell phone is on, it transmits frequently to notify the phone company it is actually on. As you walk or drive, the cell system determines signal strength and switches you connection to another tower near you. Even when you are not talking, the phone can still radiate energy. If you have it in your shirt or pants pocket or on your belt, body tissues around the antenna on the phone are being irradiated with RF energy. This is an inescapable fact.   COVERT ANTENNAS   The closer to a radiating antenna you are, the higher the health risk there is. In an effort to increase channel availability for the increasing number of cell phone users, cells have to be made smaller. These are often known as microcells. In the past, cell towers typically covered a 10 mile cell. Microcells today are often less than one mile, depending on local population size. More towers are required to be assured a cell phone will get a channel when talk is pressed, or when someone answers a cell phone.   There were more than 128,000 cell towers across Africa; this include Nigeria. About 25% of these were hidden towers, and the remaining number of them were traditional types. Keep in mind that cell tower density is directly connected to population density. There are still parts of where no cell towers exist, because population density makes them economically unfeasable. Antennas come in many forms, including trees, cactus and gas station signs in some countries. Take the necessary precaution please.

THE EVIL DEEDS AGAINST LATE GENERAL MAMMAN VATSA AND HIS FAMILY! On 23 December 1985, the Vatsa family had just concluded plans to travel to Calabar because, usually, they spent the yuletide in the Cross River State capital, (Sufiya; the wife to late Gen M Vatsa is an Efik by tribe), the Id-el-Fitri in Minna, Niger State (Gen M Vatsa is Nupe by tribe) and the Id-el Kabir in Kaduna. After the necessary packing for the trip, the family waited for the return of General Vatsa from the Armed Forces Ruling Council, (AFRC), he had attended the meeting and returned home late, so the trip was postponed till the following day. At about 12 midnight, while Sufiya was watching a movie in her bedroom, her husband, who was working in his study, rushed in to tell her that IBB had sent for him. The wife protested that it was too late in the night, that Vatsa should phone his boss to shift the meeting to the following morning. As this debate was going on, Lt Col UK Bello led a team of soldiers to Vatsa’s home at Rumens Street, Ikoyi-Lagos. The soldiers, who came with armored vehicles and military vans, surrounded the house. Vatsa told his wife who was upstairs to peep through the window. Unable to contain her fear, she rushed downstairs and insisted that if the soldiers would take away her husband, then she had to follow them. Sufiya insisted on driving Vatsa in her own Pengeot 404. At this point, Vatsa directed that the children be woken up, and he kissed them one after the other. Haruna, the first son, who was in the Nigeria Military School (NMS) Zaria, followed them downstairs, weeping. While UK Bello drove in the fore of the convoy, Sufiya and Vatsa were chauffeur-driven in their own car in what later turned out to be a merry-go-round about Lagos till about 2 a.m when they stopped at No.7 Cameron Road, Ikoyi. Vatsa was ordered out of the car. As he made to enter the building, Sufiya ran after him but she was rudely pulled back by the soldiers. The General turned and gave his wife a bear hug, an embrace that was their last. He urged his wife to take care of their children, Haruna, Fatima, Jibrin and Aisha. Sufiya returned home dejected. To her shock, the military authorities had withdrawn the official domestic staff and guards At 5am, she prepared breakfast of fried yam and slised pawpaw, then drove to her husband’s detention centre, but was told she could not bring in any food. Another surprise awaited Vatsa’s wife. A soldier came in and said: “Madam, Oga’s wife, Mrs Mariam Babangida, said I should carry General Vatsa’s telephone handset to her.” Fatima, Vatsa’s daughter, clung to the gadget. A struggle ensued between the 15yr old girl and the soldier, whose muscles bulged like the biceps of Michaelangelo’statues. Sufiya asked her daughter to let go of the probably bugged set.Worse still, some gruff, fierced looking soldiers, led by Vatsa’s former Aide-de-Camp (ADC), Captain Maku, an intelligence officer of Idoma extraction, had led other soldiers in laying siege to the family’s house. “Madam, no visitors, no phone calls, no going out,” Maku snapped as he reclined on a settee in the living room, an improvised toothpick, peeping out of a corner of his mouth. When Sufiya protested that the family needed to buy foodstuff, Maku, whose friendly disposition when he was Vatsa’s ADC had changed, commanded that the woman and her children “to must manage.”After three days of captivity, Sufiya could not endure it any longer. She told Maku: “Look, I am going to the market. If you refuse me, it means between you and I, somebody will die. I will show you I am a soldier’s wife.” She took her car, and without bothering about the soldiers, who cocked their guns menacingly at her, she rammed it into the gate, which gave way as the soldiers scattered capriciously in different directions. She got to Falomo market, bought bread and eggs, and decided to see one of her husband’s friends, General Gado Nasko. Before the visit to Nasko, however, Sufiya had driven home and, since her daughter was, coincidentally at the gate, she dropped the food and driven to the Naskos home. Sufiya’s mission was to ask Nasko to fix a meeting between her and IBB to find a way and settle the matter. Although soldiers at Nasko’s house gave her the cold shoulder, her persistence worked. Nasko, who said he was aware of the problem and would try to arrange the meeting, asked Sufiya to see him in the evening. Her hope soared. The reason was the special relationship between her family and IBB’s. “When we got married,” Sufiya was reported as saying, “I thought IBB and my husband were of the same family. The two wore same size of dress and pair of shoes. IBB would drop his dirty wears in our house and put on my husband’s own sometimes. When IBB traveled out, for further military training, my husband took care of Mariam and her children. General Vatsa, apart from mounting the horse when IBB married Mariam; bought their first set of furniture from Leventis on hire purchase. IBB was also my husband’s best man during our wedding. Whenever Maryam’s Mercedez Benz car broke down, she used to drive my Peugeot 404. We were close.” All these, to Babangida, did not count in the field of real politics. Nasko told Sufiya later in the day that the military President was not ready to see her. Another disappointment awaited Sufiya when she returned to her Rumen’s Street residence, Ikoyi. A soldier from Bonny Camp was waiting for her with an order that the family should vacate the house. Another military officer said the car should be taken to Army Headquarters for security check after which they broke into the car’s glove compartment and confiscated Vatsa’s manuscripts. In frustration, Sufiya hired a trailer and moved the family’s belongings to Kaduna. She and Fatima, however, returned and stayed in Nwakana Okoro, her brother-in-law’s house at Queen’s Drive Ikoyi. When the military authorities bugged Okoro’s telephone, the lawyer, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria became jittery. All attempts by Sufiya to see her husband were frustrated by the military authorities. It was only Fatima’s trick that worked a bit. Posing as a lawyer, she would follow other counsels into Vatsa’s detention centre and trial venue. Vatsa, however, sent Sufiya a note from Kirikiri, saying: “Do not beg Babangida. He is after my life. Take care of the children. I know it is not easy but God will help you.”When he was to be executed, Vatsa requested that his wrist watch and wedding ring be given to Sufiya. “But by the time they brought the watch and the wedding ring, the ring wasn’t my wedding ring, so I rejected it. “Till today, they have not returned the ring to me,” Sufiya was quoted by a family source. Sufiya was, therefore, left in the cold, without any wealth to fall back on. Vatsa had only one plot of land in Abuja, but it was taken over by the late despot, General Sani Abacha. At a point, Sufiya approached General Jeremiah Useni, one-time Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, in a bid to reclaim the land. Useni called for the file and told Vatsa’s wife to pay for the land rent. She, however complained to Useni: “When my husband was a minister in FCT, he refused to allocate land to me. He said it would be immoral for him to give me land. He said his successor would give me.” Useni looked the other way while Sufiya and her family were deprived of the land.Not all of Vatsa’s friends abandoned the family, however. “One of his friends came to our aid.” Sufiya once said. “Every other person that was dining and wining with my husband immediately switched over to IBB. Even my children today are not identified with.”To keep body, soul and the family together, Sufiya, of Efik descent, would travel to Calabar, in Cross River State, and bring food from her people to take care of her children in Kaduna where she has vowed to remain. Apart from buying and selling, Sufiya used to engage in poultry and cattle rearing. In fact, she injected life into her Sava Farm, which she set up in 1971 after the civil war. But robbers ruined the business. Sufiya believed her husband was innocent of the crime for which he was executed. She once lamented to her husband’s family:” It is painful that my husband was executed as a coup plotter even when he was not. And till this moment, we don’t know where he was buried. That Gen Domkat Bali interview published in TheNews magazine is one of the good things God has done to us in the Vatsa family. Before, some people did not believe that Vatsa was not a coup plotter; but Bali’s confession explained it all. They should release the corpse of my husband to me so that he can be given a befitting burial. That is my prayer.”It was for this reason that Sufiya wrote a letter, dated 15 June 2006, to President Olusegun Obasanjo, where she stated: “Although there was no iota of evidence linking my husband with the phantom coup, he was convicted and sentenced to death by the Special Military Tribunal which purportedly tried him and other coup suspects. My husband’s appeal to the Armed Forces Ruling Council against his illegal conviction was yet to be considered when the Head of State, General Babangida had him secretly executed along with the other coup convicts.”She claimed in the letter that Bali confirmed her husband’s innocence in TheNEWS’ interview when he said:‘“My regret is that up till now, I am not sure whether Vatsa ought to have been killed because, whatever evidence they amassed against him was weak. My only regret is that I could not say, don’t do it. I am not so sure whether we were right to have killed Vatsa.” Sufiya, therefore, requested the Obasanjo administration to prosecute General Babangida for “the murder of my husband, General Vatsa.”Born on 3 December 1940, Major General Mamman Vatsa attended the Government Secondary School, Bida-Niger State. He enlisted in the Nigerian Army on 10 December 1962 and was trained at the Nigerian Military Training College, Kaduna and the India Military Academy. Vatsa was in charge of the 21 Battalion during the Nigerian Civil War, after which he became an instructor at the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna. Apart from his position as Principal Staff Officer at Army Headquarters, he commanded the 30 infantry Brigade (Ogoja) until July 1975. As the Commander of the Brigade of Guards, a post he held until 1979, Vatsa oversaw the movement of its headquarters from Dodan Barracks to Kofo Abayomi Street, Victoria Island-Lagos. One proof of his loyalty to his Commander-in-Chief was when, as Commander, Brigade of Guards, Calabar, he was the first to go on air to kick against the 13 February 1976 coup, led by Lt Col Buka Dimka. During the trial of suspects involved in that coup, he was the Tribunal Secretary. There after, he was appointed the Commander, Brigade of Guards under General Olusegun Obasanjo. Mrs Vatsa once revealed: “My husband drove General Obasanjo to his Ota farm after he handed over power to the civilians in 1979.”As Nowa Omoigui wrote, Vatsa was Commandant of the Nigerian Army School of Infantry (NASI) from 1979. “He, along with Lt Col Bitiyong, developed the Special Warfare Wing and established the doctrinal basis for the establishment of the 82nd Composite Division of the Nigerian Army in Enugu. In fact, it was Vatsa who suggested that the Division be called the “82nd Division” – after the 82nd West African Division, Burma.”As an accomplished poet and writer, Vatsa was able to publish eight poetry collections for adults and 11 for younger ones. Some of his book titles are Back Again At Watergate (1982), Reach For The Skies (1984), and Verses for Nigerian State Capitals (1973). His pidgin poetry collection is Tori for Geti Bow Leg (1981). His pictorial books are Bikin Suna and Stinger the Scorpion. His literary interests transcended merely reeling out volumes of verse. He organized writing workshops for soldiers and their families, assisted the Children’s Literature Association with funds, as well as allocating a piece of land in Abuja for a writers village for the Association of Nigerian Authors. Vatsa was so pre-occupied with creativity that he always carried jotters to the toilet, dining table and the bedroom. There were books strewn around in the family’s apartment so much that, Sufiya once threatened to “throw these books out.”Vatsa’s journey to the great beyond started on 17 December 1985 when the military authorities arrested over 100 officers from the Army, Navy and the Air Force. Vatsa was picked up seven days later. They were, for two weeks investigated by the Brigadier General Sani Sami-led Preliminary Special Investigation Panel. After this, 17 of them were dragged before a Special Military Tribunal, set up by General Bali, the Defence Minister, at the Brigade of Guards Headquarters, Lagos. The accused officers were 9:34:20 PM Cols Musa Bitiyong, Christian. A Oche, MA Iyorshe, M. Effiong; Majors DI Bamidele, DE West, JO Onyeke and TG Akwashiki. Others were Captain GIL Sese, Lt KG Dakpa, Commodore AA Ogwiji, Wing Commanders BE Ekele, Adamu Sakaba; Squadron Leaders Martin Luther, C Ode and A Ahura.The tribunal; Chaired by Major General Ndiomu, tried the officers under the Treason and Other Offences (Special Military Tribunal) Decree 1 of 1986. Other members of the tribunal were Brigadier Yerima Yohanna Kure, Commodore Murtala Nyako, Col Rufus Kupolati, Col E Opaleye, and Lt Col D Muhammed. Alhaji Mamman Nassarawa, a commissioner of police and Major A Kejawa, the Judge Advocate, were also members. The IBB regime accused Vatsa of trying to overthrow it by hiding behind a farming loan to Lt Col Bitiyong, a charge which the general denied. As Nowa Omogui, a military analyst explains in his essay, The Vatsa Conspiracy, Bitiyong was allegedly tortured to implicate Vatsa “by making reference to certain private political conversations they had, which Vatsa denied.”There were further allegations that Luther, Oche, Ogwiji and Bitiyong held a meeting at the Lagos Sheraton Hotel and Towers in November 1985. Iyorchie, Bitiyong, Oche, Ekele, Sakaba and Bamidele also allegedly met in Makurdi. Allegations such as the diversion of the presidential jet to a pre-arranged location by pilots in the executive fleet (Luther and Ahura), as Omogui put it, were floated. Oche allegedly held a meeting with Major Akwashiki, Commander of the 6th Battalion, Bonny Camp, and Onyeke, after a game of squash in Lagos and spoke about the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan. Akwashiki was sentenced to death, but this was commuted to life imprisonment. He was however released 10 years later by the Abacha regime. Oche, it was also alleged, mentioned the plot to his nephew, Peter Odoba, a young lieutenant of the Brigade of Guards who, as Omogui wrote, informed then Lt Hamza al-Mustapha, an intelligence officer to the Chiefof Army Staff. Obada was charged with “concealment, recommended for dismissal and a long jail term.”On 6 March 1986, however, Vatsa, Iyorshe, Bamidele, Ogwiji, Ekele, Sakaba, Luther, Akura were executed. Vatsa had taken his trial and sentence with cheerful equanimity like the writer that he was. His vintage smiles revealed more than his words. “I leave you with smiles as smiles surprise people. But I will tell members of the Nigerian Army that the day you start insulting yourselves, others begin to join you,” he said. To buttress his position that there was rivalry between IBB and Vatsa, Omogui referred to an interview that; Eniola Bello of THISDAY had with IBB in 2001 when he turned 60. “Babangida said it was after Vatsa’s coup was foiled that he realized his childhood friend and classmate planned the coup in line with a deep-seated personal rivalry, going back to their days as young officers. He said that unconsciously, he and Vatsa had been great competitors; that as a young officer, whatever he did Vatsa equally did and whatever Vatsa achieved, he also went after. He said it was Lt Gen TY Danjuma who pointed this out to him from their military records. "Babangida gave this rationalization to justify his refusal to pardon Vatsa. He said when he first heard his childhood friend was planning a coup, he decided to do nothing but monitor him. He added, however, that Vatsa came to him to complain thus: You heard I was planning a coup and couldn’t even ask me. What kind of friend are you? To this, Babangida said he replied: I didn’t believe it, or are you planning a coup? He said Vatsa replied in the negative and the matter was forgotten until there was evidence of the plot. Babangida said he instructed that Vatsa be arrested and detained to prevent him from impeding investigation into the matter. Babangida argued: “However, Vatsa tried to escape through the air conditioner hole. I couldn’t understand why he was trying to escape if he was not involved in a coup plot. But while watching the video of his execution, I turned my eyes away when I saw him remove his watch and ask a soldier to give his wife. I couldn’t continue watching. "Babangida added that he couldn’t retire or imprison Vatsa because he believed the guy could still have planned a coup either in retirement or in prison. “Rawlings did it in Ghana and you know Vatsa was very stubborn,” IBB said. Omogui, however, lamented the tragedy that befell Vatsa: “Vatsa maintained to the very end that the money was for farming. Others alleged, however, that after being tortured for two days, Bitiyong implicatedVatsa by making reference to certain private political conversations they had, which Vatsa denied. But Vatsa was accused of harbouring “bad blood” against his friend and classmate Babangida, dating back to the Buhari regime and possibly earlier. He was also obliquely accused of reporting Babangida’s coup plot to Buhari before he left the country for pilgrimage along with Major General Tunde Idiagbon in August, 1985. Actions he later took as a Minister to accelerate many military applications for certificates of occupancy for land in Abuja, came to be viewed as efforts to buy the support of one or two of the plotters. Rumors that a civilian had introduced him at a party as Nigeria’s next President were even aired. All of this was, of course, circumstantial. But they took him to the stake, which was quite an anti-climax to the career of a brilliant man who never took part in any coup in Nigeria. Indeed, Mamman Vatsa was the first to go on air in Calabar to denounce the Dimka coup, and was later the Secretary of the Obada panel that tried Dimka and others in 1976. This little detail may have earned him some latent enmity in certain circles of the Army which later contributed to his death. "There is also a very strong belief that Vatsa may have been a victim of political intrigues because of his intellectual sagacity, being a writer and soldier-poet, and his significant indifference to the military politics at that time. In fact, his ordeal had attracted three leading Nigerian literary icons, Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka and John Pepper Clark Bekederemo, who had gone to plead with Babangida for clemency, only to be shocked by news of his execution few minutes after departing Dodan Barracks, venue of the meeting. Hajia Sufiya Vatsa, wife of the late former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, General Mamman Vatsa, was at the forefront of the struggle to ensure that justice is done in the Vatsa case. Her campaign was cut short in the early hours of Monday, 21 May 2007 when the grim riper came calling. She handed over the mantle to her son Jubrin who broke the news of her demise. Hajia Sufiya Vatsa, widow of the late former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, General Mamman Vatsa, died aged 56, but looked older than her age. She has been through a whole lot of psychological trauma. Hajia Safiya died in the early hours of Monday, May 21, 2007 at her residence in Kaduna after a brief illness. Jibrin, son of the late Mrs. Vatsa, who broke the news of his mother's death to DailySun on telephone, said; Hajia Sufiya took ill early last week and was getting better when she passed on. He said the deceased's remains were buried on Monday in her farm, according to Islamic rites. Only recently, Hajia Vatsa petitioned President Olusegun Obasanjo demanding a review of the circumstance surrounding the execution of her husband in 1986 by the General Ibrahim Babangida military administration. President Obasanjo later had an audience with her during which she was said to have stated her case. Until her death, Hajia Vatsa lived in her husband's farm in Kaduna. She vowed never to step foot in Minna for the rest of her life after her husband, Vatsa was executed by the military junta. Sufiya, was both Father and Mother to her kids who she brought up on a shoe-string budget. Haruna, whom Vatsa asked to be withdrawn from the Nigerian Military School Zaria, because of the way the Army treated him, is now married with two children. Fatima, who is a Medical Doctor, is in London with her husband, while Jubrin, who studied law, lived in Minna, Niger State until he died on 13 September 2015 in Calabar after a brief illness. Aisha the baby of the house is a US-based pilot. Of all the Vatsas, only Jubrin lived in Minna after Sufiya relocated the family to Kaduna. He wanted to be closer to his Father who was very fond of him. General Vatsa on page 74 in his book of Poetry REACH FOR THE SKIES has this to say about his son Jubrin:"Jib Boy'O, Jib boy; You give me joy; You look so much like me, But what else could it be!" Pg 74, REACH FOR THE SKIES (1985) by Gen Mamman Jiya Vatsa . Jibrin Mamman Jiya Vatsa, the third child of General Mamman Jiya Vatsa and Sufiya died in the early hours of Sunday, September 13, 2015 after a brief illness in Calabar. Jubrin finally made the journey to Calabar which was aborted on 23rd December, 1985 when the junta led by the "Evil Genius" took away his source of joy. Alas Father, Mother and Son reunited by the grim riper. These things are beyond anything we've seen before, and I am afraid that William Shakespeare was spot on in his epic, Julius Caesar where he posited thus: “When beggars die there are no comets seen; the heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.

Hillary Clinton defends Islam, says it's a religion of peace and that Muslims have nothing to do with terrorism. Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton delivers remarks at the Brady Center's annual Brady Bear Awards Gala in the Manhattan borough in New York, on Nov. 19, 2015. Leading Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is not about to blame Muslims for terrorism, even after the Islamic State (ISIS) extremist group claimed responsibility for the terror attacks in Paris, which killed over 120 people. Speaking before the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on Thursday, Clinton sought to insulate the entire Muslim population from the notorious jihadist organisation. The former secretary of state also defended Islam, saying it is a religion advocating peace and not violence. "Let's be clear: Islam is not our adversary. Muslims are peaceful and tolerant people and have nothing whatsoever to do with terrorism," Clinton said, as quoted by WND.com. She also repeatedly used the term "radical jihadism" in her prepared comments, and warned against establishing a connection between worldwide Islamic terror networks and Islam, saying this should not be done. Clinton further said that associating Islam with terrorism only "gives these criminals, these murderers, more standing than they deserve, and it actually plays into their hands by alienating partners we need by our side." At the same time, the Democratic presidential frontrunner also called for a wide-ranging assault to crush the ISIS once and for all. "Our goal is not to deter or contain ISIS, but to defeat and destroy ISIS. It is time to begin a new phase ... to smash the would-be caliphate," she said, as quoted by Bloomberg News. To be able to do this, Clinton proposed an expanded air war and an "intelligence surge," among other efforts against the ISIS. "To be successful, airstrikes will have to be combined with ground forces actually taking back more territory from ISIS," the former state secretary said. Clinton's stand about the ISIS and Islam is in stark contrast with Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump's, who has taken a tougher stance against the Muslim community. Trump once said that he would consider closing down mosques linked to terrorism.