The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • Father, son beheaded in Cross River communal crisis

    At least two persons are feared dead in renewed hostilities between Usumtong and Ebom Communities in Abi local government area of Cross River State during the weekend.

    The village head of Ebom, Chief Sunday Obite, on Sunday alleged that a father and son were killed and beheaded by people from Usumtong, who ambushed them while they were in their farm on Saturday.

    It was gathered the deceased, Mr. Oti Ato, was killed with his son, Sunday.

    He was also with his grandson, Michael, who escaped with a gunshot wound, and other members of his family.

    Chief Obite said three persons are still missing as the headless bodies of the victims have been recovered with the help of soldiers deployed to the communities since the crisis started sometime last year.

    According to him: “The man and his family were harvesting casssava when they were attacked by Usumutong people.

    Read Also: 10 dead as police, bandits engage in gun duel

    “According to the grandson who is currently receiving treatment in the hospital in Itigidi due to the bullet wound he got while hiding in the bush, he saw them cutting off his grandfather and his father’s head from his hiding place in the bush.

    “They even made the wife, Eliza Oti, watch while they beheaded her husband and her son and asked her to take the message to her people.

    “We believed that since soldiers are present, peace had returned but we have been proven wrong once again.

    “Even as they steal our farm produce, we kept mute but now they have started again by killing a father and his son in the presence of the wife.”

    Another member of Ebom Community, Oban Bassey also said, they retrieved the bodies with the help of soldiers from the area and reported the matter to the police.

    The Police Public Relation Officer, DSP Irene Ugbo said: “We are aware of the killing and the Commissioner of Police has deployed men there, and the community leaders have also been invited to meet with the Commissioner for further deliberation. For now, the area is calm.”

  • Power generation is not Nigeria’s problem- Shell

    Oil giant, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), has declared electricity problem is not about power generation but distribution to various parts despite the nation’s huge gas reserve.

    Speaking to newsmen in Warri, at the media launch of the 2019 edition of Shell in Nigeria Briefing Notes over the weekend, SPDC General Manager External Relations, Igo Weli, disclosed the company’s joint venture Afam VI power plant supplied about 13 percent power to the national grid last year.

    Weli, who was represented by SPDC Head Government Relations West, Alaye Dokubo, also assured of Shell’s focus on the economic growth and development of its host communities in Delta state, in particular, the Sea Eagle Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, 19 Producing Fields within four Production Nodes and several gas projects at its operations in Forcados.

    He noted that since inception of the Global Memorandum of Understanding, $239 million have been disbursed to fund social investment schemes which supports education, health, sports, as well as enterprise development,  Nigeria, especially in Delta state.

    Weli also pointed out that these ongoing projects, which include Forcados Yokri Intregated, Southern Swamp, Associated Gas Solution, Escravos NGC and Otumara Associated Gas Gathering, put to rest assertions that Shell is no more in Delta.

    Read Also: GenCos: AfCFTA’ll boost power generation

    “SPDC JV has strong commitment to the development of Delta State and Nigeria through its delivery of positive social outcomes and strong relationships with stakeholders and communities to support business growth and social license to operate.

    “While the SPDC JV develops its assets and facilities, it also implements several development projects for host communities, covering economic empowerment, human capital development and provision of social infrastructure.

    “As evidence of our commitment to Delta State, in 2018, SPDC JV spent more than N390 million on development projects in Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU) clusters on roads, schools, town halls and markets, award of secondary school and university scholarships as well as microcredit programmes for small businesses,” Weli stated.

    He further charged stakeholders of the oil and gas industry to put more efforts to ending illegal refinery and pipeline vandalism, stating that 11,000 barrels of crude oil were lost to these activities in 2018.

    Shell spokesman, Michael Adande, who explained more on the company’s commitment to sustaining renewable energy for Nigeria, remarked that even when power is generated, its distribution remains a problem because many areas remain unconnected to the national grid.

    It will be noted that Nigeria’s production of liquefied natural gas for the year 2018 was put at around 7% of global capacity.

    Adande said: “In Shell globally, we have a team called Energy Transition and we recognise that we need to thinks of what is new.

    “Our own challenge in Nigeria is really access to energy. You will agree that there are still many places in this country where there is no electricity. You heard our Afam VI power plant supplied 13% of power to the national grid, however, we know that distribution of power in Nigeria is still a big problem.

    “Even when you produce all the power, how it gets to people in Nigeria is still a challenge. I’m sure the country is managing that. But what we have tried to do as Shell, because we are more concerned about stakeholders in our communities or areas of operation, we have set up outfits.

    “What we are talking about here is access to energy and one of the companies that you may have checked is called All-On. We wanted it to run on its own. It is a company that enables people to have access to energy.

    “As part of efforts to creating sustainable and commercially viable energy, Shell has taken some critical gas development projects, in partnership with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), to increase gas supply for power generation,” he said.

  • BDC operator kidnapped in Aba

    A yet-to-be identified Bureau De Change operator in Aba, the commercial nerve of Abia State has been reportedly kidnapped by unknown gunmen.

    The incident, our reporter gathered, happened at Okpu-Umuobo in Osisioma LGA off the commercial city.

    The kidnapped victim is said to be a newly married man believed to be taking the pregnant wife home after medical check-up.

    A source within the area told our reporter that there is upsurge of kidnapping incidences in the area as many had fallen victim of the activities of the hoodlums.

    ”Aro Ngwa, Osogwa is their headquarters. There is nothing that the boys there are doing apart from riding Okada and kidnapping. They are suspected to be behind this. The guy wedded three months ago. he is into exchange.

    “How can somebody be honking and flashing light for you at night and you parked. This thing happened around some minutes to 8.

    Read Also: Anambra: Police nabs car snatcher, recovers vehicle

    “He said that he thought it was his landlord flashing him light and he slowed to allow him park before him because he planned going out early the next morning.

    “That is the exact time that the landlord comes back from the market. The incident happened one pole to his house.

    “At Okpu Umuobo, you don’t drive into the area with flashy car at night, you can only go there with shuttle.

    “The guys have contacted the family and they are demanding for five million.

    “We learnt that somebody paid some money into his account that he wants to move to China. His office is inside the town.

    “He is still a young man and supposed to be smart. He was with the wife who is pregnant. He took her to where she had gone for treatment and was on their way back when the incident happened.

    “They slapped the wife and dragged him out of the car. They abandoned his car and left with the guy in an SUV.

    “You know that they don’t go with the victim’s car because of tracking. So, what they do is that they might rob someone of his or her and used same for an operation after which they sell it off or burn the car in some instance if they noticed that they were being tracked. The guy was driving Lexus 300,” the source stated

  • Flood sacks 2,000 residents, destroys 300 houses

    No fewer 2,000 residents have been rendered homeless following the destruction of over 300 houses by flood in Okpoko community, Ogbaru local government area of Anambra state.

    The Nation gathered most residents have fled their homes while others had their belongings buried in the sand.

    Some government institutions including a secondary school and Okpoko Secretariat were also reportedly affected by the flood.

    Speaking to the Nation on Sunday, President General of the community, Edwin Emesinwa, said about 100 buildings with over 700 occupants, including landlords and tenants were either pulled down or sand-filled to roofing level.

    He revealed that over 1,300 of those living along Obodoukwu road were also rendered homeless while the roads remained impassable.

    Read Also: Woman banker, man drown in Anambra flood

    He said: “Since the commencement of this year’s rainy reason, it has been destruction galore in Okpoko. Nobody is spared anytime it rains.

    “Most parents don’t allow their children to go to school if it rains, while they will rush to pick those already in school before they will be carried away by flood.

    “Areas mostly affected include Ezeakunne street, Unity Comprehensive secondary school and environs, Okpoko

    secretariat, Obodoukwu road where the 15-feet deep sakamory drainage system has been completely filled with sand.”

    One of the victims, Ugochukwu Ejezie, whose house is located along Ezeakunne street, attributed the scourge to the ongoing road construction work in the area.

    “The situation is worsened since the awarded of contract for the rehabilitation of Mgbemena street in Awada, Obosi.

    “The sand the construction firm piled there will always be carried by the flood with other debris down to Okpoko through Ezeakunne street and that is why you have this massive destruction.” he lamented.

    He called on state government to come to their rescue before the entire residents got sacked by the devastating flood.

  • Ijaw youths threaten to cripple telecom operations in Bayelsa

    Ijaw youths in Bayelsa State at the weekend threatened to shutdown operations of telecommunication companies following unresolved issues bordering on diesel supply to their various power plants in the state.

    The youths were said to be angry that indigenes of the state had been shut out of the companies’ multi-million Naira diesel supply chain to generators that power telecommunication masts in the state.

    It was gathered that the youths under the auspices of the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) Worldwide had written many letters to the management of frontline telecom operators such as MTN, Airtel, Glo and 9th Mobile on the need to correct the imbalance.

    The youths in the letters signed by the IYC Chairman, Central Zone, Mr. Kennedy Olorogun, insisted that they would no longer tolerate the companies’ practice of outsourcing diesel supply to only non-indigenes in the state.

    Read Also: Ijaw youths angry over ‘unfair’ recruitment

    It was learnt that following lack of response to all the letters, Olorogun issued 14-day ultimatum to the companies to act or risk disruption of their operations in the state.

    In one of the letters sent to the MTN Telecommunication company, Bayelsa State branch, Olorogun reminded the firm of previous letters indicating interest of IYC to be part of some of is empowerment schemes.

    The letter was also sent to the Commissioner of Police, Director, Department of State Service (DSS) and the Commandant, Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Delta Safe.

    Addressing MTN, the letter said: “The council is aware that it is non-indigenes that are doing all the jobs and supplies in the company.

    “The desire of the council to be a partaker in in the economic opportunities in your company such as the supply of Automative Gas Oil (AGO) popularly known as diesel and other basic and fundamental supplies going on in your company are legitimate demands that ought not to be contentious.

    These are embedded in your corporate social responsibility to your host communities and area of operations in line with the Local Content Act 2010. The pecuniary benefits derivable from these economic opportunities would assist the council to organise workshops, seminars and assist indigent members of the council.

    “Having discovered that you have elected to treat our request with disdain and your hostile disposition to our peaceful approach is standing as an obstacle towards any meaningful engagement with you.

    “The council has decided to issue your company 14-day ultimatum which will effectively start July 9, 2019. At the expiration of this ultimatum, the council will have no choice but to picket and shutdown your operations”.

  • Lokpobiri sure of APC’s guber ticket, says campaign DG

    Director-General of the Senator Heineken Lokpobiri Campaign, Mr. Warman Ogoriba, at the weekend said the immediate past Minister of State for Agriculture was sure of winning the governorship ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bayelsa State.

    He said Lokpobiri was vying to the ticket to enable him rescue Bayelsa insisting that his uuwas fully prepared for any form of primaries adopted by the APC.

    He spoke at Lokpobiri’s campaign office in Yenagoa during the inauguration of 137 coordinators at the wards, constituencies and local government areas.

    He said Lokpobiri was sure of winning the APC ticket and the November 16th governorship poll.

    He maintained that Lokpobiri was prepared to rescue the state from hunger, darkness and underdevelopment.

    He urged all the newly appointed coordinators to ensure that Lokpobiri emerged the candidate of the APC.

    He said: ” You must make sure you reach all the wards, all the local governments and all the villages in Bayelsa. Although we don’t know the mode of primaries. It might be electoral college, indirect or direct, whatever it is the onus lies on you to carry our messages to the hinterlands.

    Read Also: Bayelsa 2019: Audu Ogbeh endorses Lokpobiri for APC ticket

    “You have been carefully selected to carry this task. To whom much is given, much is expected. We will allow you do your job. You need to interact with the delegates the gospel of Heineken Lokpobiri who is desirous of bringing development to this state.

    “ He believes that Bayelsa is not where it is supposed to be. He believes that Bayelsa does not need a suit and tie governor, but a Jean and shirt man because this metropolis shouldn’t be like this. There must be light, water in Bayelsa. The hunger is killing, he will empower you.

    “Nobody has worked under him and has cried. If you work, you will reap. He will run a government of serious minded people. This is the only functional secretariat in this Bayelsa. That’s because we have a vision and direction and haven’t come here to play”.

    Also,  a nuclear scientist and former boss of the Nigerian Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC), Dr. Franklin Osaisai, opened his campaign office along Isaac Boron way, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

    Osaisai, an aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) boasted that he remained the most qualified to seek the PDP’s ticket.

    The aspirant, who brought two clergy men to dedicate the campaign office to God, said he would deploy  his exposure and his knowledge ti develop Bayelsa.

    He described the times as difficult, but noted that he had the solution to the problems of the state if given the ticket.

    He said: “There is vacancy in Creek Haven because Governor Seriake Dickson is leaving office in February. It is quite clear that it is only one who is fully prepared that can effectively take over. And I am ready to move into creek haven”.

    He said he had obtained the nomination form in Abuja adding that he was fully ready for the primary election.

    He said: “We are prepared to provide service and leadership. You can’t move around after seven O’ clock. We need to reduce the poverty level. The devil operates in darkness. The state capital is in darkness. We will give light to Bayelsa.

    “ Our communities don’t have hospitals. Every child born should be able live a reasonable life. I am a village man, we will ensure that the hospitals in all the communities are equipped to tackle these diseases that kill our people”.

  • Custom, police, army parade 24 suspected rice smugglers

    A combined team of men of the Nigeria Navy, Police and Customs at the weekend paraded 24 persons in connection with alleged smuggling of bags of rice from Benin Republic to Nigeria.

    The security agents also paraded 850 bags of50 kilograms of rice allegedly smuggled into the country by the suspects.

    Parading the suspects in Ilorin, the state capital, state commissioner of police, Kayode Egbetokun, said that 15 of the suspects were arrested in Offa by the officers of the Navy School of Health Sciences, who he said also impounded the rice.

    Egbetokun said that the 15 suspects were the drivers transporting the smuggled rice in various vehicles to some destinations where they were asked to keep the goods.

    The police boss, who said that the Navy handed over the suspects and the impounded goods to the police for investigations, added that investigations conducted by the police led to arrest of the remaining nine suspects.

    He said the nine suspects whom he described as the owners of the smuggled goods were arrested at different locations both within and outside the state.

    Read Also: Navy nabs 12 suspected rice smugglers in A’Ibom

    Egbetokun said that the suspects confessed that they bought the rice from Cotonou in Benin Republic to sell in Nigeria.

    The police boss, who spoke with newsmen at the state police headquarters in Ilorin In company of officers of the state command of the Nigerian Customs Service said that the police had concluded their investigation and would hand over the suspects and the impounded goods to the Customs for further investigations.

    Head of the delegation of the Customs officers at the venue, Adamu Yahaya, a Chief Superintendent of Customs  thanked both the police an the Navy for the job done and assured that the Customs would judiciously carry out its assignment on the matter.

  • Edo brainstorms on devt roadmap, work plan

    To re-calibrate its strategies and sharpen its focus to consolidate on gains made in the state in the last two years and seven months, the Edo State Executive Council at the weekend completed a strategic workshop on the Edo State Development Road-map and Work plan held with its members and other top government functionaries.

    The session, which held in Abuja, was facilitated by Big Fast Results Institute of Malaysia, led by its Chairman and Founder, Idris Jala, with Governor Godwin Obaseki as the convener. The two-day workshop held from Saturday, July 13 to Sunday, July 14.

    In a statement, Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Communication Strategy, Mr Crusoe Osagie, said the workshop was held to enable the team better define and sharpen its vision.

    He said the focus was to galvanise efforts to improve the socio- economic life of the state, noting that a review and recalibration of initiatives in agriculture, industrial sector, tourism, security, education and healthcare all came into focus during the deliberations.

    Read Also: Kidnapped Adamawa perm sec regains freedom

    He said there was reorientation for the management team on how best to make Edo a prosperous state which offers everyone excellent opportunities and good quality of life.

    According to him, “The workshop aimed to sharpen the team’s focus on how to get results faster. This administration will clock three years in November. We have recorded some milestones, and we want the team to work faster to achieve the objectives set in different areas.”

    Top government functionaries at the workshop include the Deputy Governor, Rt. Hon. Comrade Philip Shaibu; Head of Service, Mr. Isaac Omozuwa; Chief of Staff to the Governor, Chief Taiwo Akerele, among others.

    The facilitator, Mr. Jala, was pleased with the personnel that make up the state’s management team. He expressed confidence in the experience, potential and enthusiasm of the team to deliver good governance in the state.

    Edo brainstorms on devt roadmap, work plan
    Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki (middle); his Deputy, Rt. Hon. Comrade Philip Shaibu (2nd left); Head of Service, Isaac Ehiozuwa (left); members of the Edo State Executive Council and resource persons, at a strategic workshop on the Edo State Development Roadmap and Workplan in Abuja.

  • Kidnapped Adamawa perm sec regains freedom

    The Permanent Secretary of the Adamawa State Ministry of Mineral Resources, Mr. Emmanuel Piridimso, who was kidnapped last Wednesday, has regained freedom.

    His abductors freed him after receiving yet to be ascertained amount of money as ransom, and gave him N1,000 as transport money back home.

    A source who made this disclosure on Sunday, said the permanent secretary had to trek long distances to reconnect with his family.

    The source said, “After the payment of ransom, the kidnappers released him near Bagale hills and gave him N1,000 to transport himself home. He trekked all the way to Viniklang where he got a motorcycle that finally conveyed him home.”

    Read Also: Kidnappers kill Abbo’s uncle, abduct his nursing stepmother

    The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Sulaiman Yahaya, confirming  the permanent secretary’s release, credited it to the police.

    “The abductors released the man when they knew that we were hot on their trail,” he told our correspondent on Sunday afternoon, assuring that the police would still round up the abductors.

    “We remain on the trail of the kidnappers. They may have one or two other people in their captivity. We will get them and free whoever else remain with them,” he said.

    Kidnapping has recently been rife around Adamawa State. Only on Saturday, an uncle of embattled Sen Ishaku Abbo was killed by kidnappers who stormed Abbo’s family house in Mubi and took away Abbo’s stepmother. She is yet to be released.

  • Katsina State Govt. donates 60 bed dormitory to Police School

    The Katsina state Government on Sunday, donated a 60 bed dormitory complete with 4 sets of bathroom and toilet worth N16.8m to the Police Boy’s Secondary School, Mani, during their passing out parade and graduation ceremony

    The Permanent Secretary of the State Ministry of Education, Hajia Halima Othman, who was represented at the ceremony by the Director Works of the Ministry, Alhaji Nakano Idris Lawal, said the donation is the fallout of a request from the Police high command routed through the state commissioner of Police, CP Sanusi Buba to the Governor, requesting for hostel accommodation

    He said ‘’the police supported their request with a prototype design of the building they wanted, and our ministry did the cost and the final execution of the project after having obtained the governor’s approval’’

    Also commissioned, were two a fish pond built and donated by the Parents Teachers Association, PTA, of the School.

    Read Also: Police engage bandits in a gun duel in Safana, Katsina

    Earlier in his welcome address at the occasion, the commandant of the School, CP Aliyu Yusuf, said the school with a population of about 430 students and a staff strength of 57 teaching and 23 non teaching staff, was initially built as a day school but had to be upgraded towards a boarding school despite previous interventions by the Police authorities

    He said’’ the challenge of upgrading the school further opened up to numerous others, including staff quarters, Dining Hall, Solar Boreholes, Computer laboratory and so on.’’

    ‘’I want to glorify and praise Allah for the school ’.’Also I want to thank the katsina state Government on behalf of the school. The Commandant, Management, Students of the school, sincerely thank Governor Aminu Bello Masari for his support and assistance especially through the Ministry of Education’’

    The parade reviewer in his own speech at the occasion congratulated the graduating students on behalf of the inspector general of police and the state commissioner of police, urging them to remain law abiding and good ambassadors of the Nigerian Police force.