The Nation Newspaper

Category: Niger delta

  • Bayelsa seeks residents’ cooperation on delayed road expansion

    Bayelsa seeks residents’ cooperation on delayed road expansion

    Simon Utebor, Yenagoa

     

    Bayelsa State government has sought the understanding and cooperation of the residents on the road expansion project going on in Etegwe-Edepie roundabout.

    The Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Moses Teibowei, made the plea on Friday when he and the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Johnson Dagana, and other top management team of the ministry did on the spot assessment of the project.

    Speaking at the site, Teibowei stated that the project would have been completed before he assumed office but was put to a halt to enable Shell Petroleum Development Company to locate and identify its pipelines routes at the roundabout.

    He, however, assured Bayelsans that the ministry would return to site next week and that the project would be fully executed by the end of October this year.

    Read Also: Gunmen kill councillor in Bayelsa

    Teibowei, therefore, called for understanding and patience among the residents, saying that the government was committed to deliver on the project.

    Meanwhile, an aspirant under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr Ebieridei Ambaiowei, has withdrawn from the party’s senatorial primary slated for Saturday.

    Ambaiowei, in a letter addressed to the Secretary of the PDP in the state, said: “Let me sincerely our great party for the dispassionate consideration of my appeal which resulted in my subsequent clearance to contest in the party primary. However, permit my humbly withdrawing forthwith from the party primary.”

  • Tension in Rivers communities as gunmen kill fisherman, UNIPORT graduate

    Tension in Rivers communities as gunmen kill fisherman, UNIPORT graduate

    Mike Odiegwu, Port Harcourt

     

    Tension has enveloped Egunughan community in Abua/Odual Local Government Area, Rivers State, following the killing of a man identified as Siyammi Levi by gunmen.

    It was learnt that Levi was ambushed on his way to fishing by the hoodlums, who cut off two of his legs and slit his throat.

    A source from the community, who spoke in confidence, said the deceased was accompanied by his kinsman, who narrowly escaped death and later reported the incident to the community and security agencies.

    He said: “Some men with guns attacked Siyami Levi in Egunughan community, matcheted his legs and cut open his throat in the bush near the river where he was on his way to fishing.

    “He was in the company of his friend, but that his friend managed to escape the attacker and later informed the community and the military men stationed in the community who intervened but could not get them. They were able to recover the corpse of the victim and deposited it in the mortuary.”

    It was learnt in another development that gunmen shot and killed a graduate of the University of Port Harcourt identified as Godknows Opudaa at Eteoo Road in Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State.

    Read Also: Rivers APC disowns anti-Wike statement

    Opudaa, an indigene of Ogu, Ogu/Bolo LGA, who worked in onne Sea Port was killed on his way home from work at around 8pm.

    A source, who spoke in confidence said the victim was found in his own pool of blood before he was taken to a nearby hospital where he was confirmed dead.

    When contacted, the Rivers State Police Public Relations Officer, Nnamdi Omoni who confirmed both incidents.

    He said that the state Commissioner of Police Joseph Mukan ordered investigations to arrest the perpetrators.

  • NDDC IMC member escapes assassination in Rivers

    NDDC IMC member escapes assassination in Rivers

    Mike Odiegwu, Port Harcourt

     

    A member of the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Caroline Nagbo, has narrowly escaped assassination  in Port Harcourt, the  Rivers State capital.

    It was gathered that gunmen suspected to be assassins trailed Nagbo while she was returning from a church service at Ozuoba in Obio-Akpo Local Government Area on Tuesday morning.

    Nagbo, who confirmed the incident through his Special Assistant, Technical and Youth Matters, Sogbeye Eli, said the operation to kill her was aborted by the police and the Department of Security Service (DSS), which reacted swiftly following distress calls.

    Nagbo, who expressed shock over the development thanked God for her protection and commended the gallantry of the security officials.

    She showered praises on the Commissioner of Police, Rivers State Command; the Director, State Security Services, Rivers State Command and Head of Security at the NDDC, Mr. Tonye Frank Oputu, saying their professionalism and timely intervention saved her life.

    Read Also: Revisiting the NDDC scandal

    Nagbo also thanked her colleague in the Interim Management Committee and Acting Executive Director, Finance and Administration, Mr. Effiong Akwa, for his prompt response to the rescue effort.

    She called on the Commissioner of Police and other security agencies operating in the state to intensify efforts in tracking down persons after her life.

    She said that criminal elements terrorizing the state must be flushed out to secure the lives of law-abiding citizens and stop scaring investors in the petroleum and gas resource-rich state.

    The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) condemned the attack on Nagbo and called on security agencies to investigate the incident.

  • Forensic audit will ‘birth’ new NDDC – Akpabio

    Forensic audit will ‘birth’ new NDDC – Akpabio

    By Okodili Ndidi, Abuja

    The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, has assured that the forensic audit of the Niger Development Commission (NDDC), will provide “a strong base upon which a new NDDC will emerge”.

    The Minister allayed the fear of NDDC stakeholders, advising that the forensic audit should be seen as an opportunity and not a witch-hunt.

    He said the Presidential directive to carry out holistic examination of activities of the NDDC from its inception in 2001 to August 2019 “is not just in furtherance of the present administration’s policy agenda to check corruption but determined efforts to reposition the NDDC to change the narrative of the region”.

    Akpabio, who gave the assurance while inaugurating the Field Forensic Auditors Thursday, disclosed that the eight Forensic Audit Firms were cleared by the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) based on their technical competencies and financial compliance.

    Read Also: NDDC: DSS quizzes COVID-19 palliative committee chair

    According to him, “Government’s effort at repositioning the Niger Delta region led to the formation of NDDC in 2000 by an Act of Law mainly to address the issues of Ecological and Socio-economic development problems at the region after many failed attempts.”

    He regretted that “most of the problems that led to the failure of the previous Development Institutions created before which includes Niger Delta Development Board (NDDB) created in1958 and Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC) in 1992 all failed because their operations were marred by lack of focus, excessive corruption, political interference and high overhead cost, which are still prominent in the present NDDC.”

    He maintained that “it is pertinent to have a forensic audit considering the amount of resources poured into the Commission over the years compared with the level of development recorded over the same period of time.

    “The forensic audit of the Commission is supposed to examine and provide answers, as well as creating a framework for reversing the failures recorded in the past in order to recover those resources recoverable, plug the gaps and stop the waste that is keeping the region under developed.

    “Therefore, the forensic audit should be seen as an opportunity and not a witch-hunt, it is considered as an important project by President Muhammadu Buhari Administration. It will also provide a strong base upon which a new NDDC will emerge.”

  • Anambra PDP chair promises fair poll

    Anambra PDP chair promises fair poll

     Nwanosike Onu, Awka 

     

    CHAIRMAN of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Anambra State Ndubuisi Nwobu has promised that the primaries will be credible.

    Nwobu, who addressed reporters yesterday in Awka, said 12 persons had shown interest to contest for governor.

    He urged the aspirants to woo delegates.

    Nwobi said the primaries would be keenly contested because of the calibre of persons interested in Governor Willie Obiano’s seat

    The aspirants include Obiora Okonkwo; Chris Azubogu; Valentine Ozigbo; Ike Oligbo; Uche Ekwunife and Chuma Nzeribe.

    Read Also: Pastor arrested again for rape in Anambra

    Others are Ugochukwu Okeke; Ifedi Okwenna; Emeka Etiaba (SAN); Godwin Maduka and Godwin Ezeemo.

    Nwobu maintained nobody would get preferential treatment, saying they should discuss with delegates, not the executive.

    “If we get it right during the primaries, we would pursue the party in power out of the Government House and God willing it will happen,” he added.

  • Rivers APC disowns anti-Wike statement 

    Rivers APC disowns anti-Wike statement 

    Mike Odiegwu, Port Harcourt 

     

    ALL Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has disowned a statement against Governor Nyesom Wike, allegedly credited to Ogbonna Nwuke.

    Caretaker Committee Chairman Igo Aguma, in a statement by his media aide, Livingstone Wechie, said the statement ‘Halting the Invasion of the Judiciary by Governor Wike’ did not originate from the party.

    Aguma said Nwuke had never been the party’s spokesman and was never authorised to speak for it.

    He insisted the statement was Nwuke’s opinion and those of his paymasters.

    The statement reads: “It is an age-long tradition in Rivers wherein successive administrations from 1999 till date have given logistics support to the judiciary to enhance the delivery and dispensation of justice.

    “The judicial environment in terms of infrastructure and other human resources have become an object of envy because of the commitment of the various administrations to always support the only hope of the common man.

    Read Also: PDP, APC leaders trade blame over violence 

    “The APC is not anti-judiciary as Ogbonna Nwuke and his known sponsors seek to portray it. Right from federal to state levels, the APC has been committed to the support of justice and its institutions in promoting the rule of law…

    “Postulations contained in the purported statement, wherein Nwuke alleged that judicial officers are manipulated, is timid and a mockery of the temple of justice.”

    “The wife of a former governor meritoriously rose to the apex court in Nigeria. So what is wrong in a woman, if qualified, to rise in her career simply because she is married to a politician? We caution Mr. Nwuke and his paymasters to leave people’s wives and their families alone…”

  • Youths get agripreneurship training

    Youths get agripreneurship training

    Our Reporter

     

    CROSS River State Governor Ben Ayade has promised to build youth capacity in agribusiness.

    He spoke at the Agricultural Training and Business Farms in Abuja where indigenes would be trained in modern farming and agripreneurship.

    Ayade pledged partnership with CSS Global Integrated Farms in line with his administration’s agro-revolution.

    He said: “I am overwhelmed by this gigantic agricultural institution. The facilities are world-class…

    “The technical knowledge and 21st century farm experience that our youths need to drive, enhance and maximise the benefits of Green Money can be acquired in this farm. We believe our future lies in agriculture; it is the only guaranteed way to achieve food sufficiency, mass employment and revenue earnings….”

    Chairman of CSS Global Integrated Farms Dr John Opara said Ayade was a man with a clear but rare vision to reverse the fortunes of Nigeria through innovative agriculture.

    Opara extolled Ayade’s ‘inspirational leadership’, saying the governor was laying a solid foundation for generations unborn. “I can see the kind of future Ayade intends for Cross River State. His passion for humanity has got him thinking even beyond the present into generations ahead. Ayade is not only thinking of today’s Cross River, but also tomorrow’s. And it is only strategic that he is assiduously investing in the future of youths…”

     

  • Headteacher suspended for absenteeism

    Headteacher suspended for absenteeism

    Simon Utebor, Yenagoa

     

    FABINGHA Simeon and Morgans Agagaowei, headteacher and deputy at Epie National High School in Kpansia, Bayelsa State, have been suspended for absenteeism.

    Commissioner for Education Gentle Emelah ordered their suspension when he visited the school on Tuesday.

    The commissioner also visited Bishop Dimieari Grammar School.

    Emelah said it was improper that the two officials would abscond from work, especially during examination. He directed a senior teacher, Mrs. Dakolo Timinipre, to run the school until further notice.

    He said: “I was at ENHS and the principal and vice principal were not on ground. I have suspended them while we look into their case.”

  • Ebonyi monarch Agbo is dead

    Ebonyi monarch Agbo is dead

    Ogochukwu Anioke, Abakaliki

     

    THE Ogaba Idu II of Izhia in Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Chibueze Agbo, is dead.

    He was 81.

    Agbo ascended the throne in 1978.

    Agbo’s death was announced by his family and chiefs on Tuesday.

    His eldest son, Prince Chinedu, who announced the death, said: “The great protector of our people has gone to the great beyond.”

    Read Also: Ebonyi bans under aged herders

    Another of his sons and former governorship candidate of Social Democratic Party (SDP), Prince Ndubuisi, described his father as an enigma.

    “He was among the founding fathers of Ebonyi. He was the treasurer of Ebonyi State movement, and attracted the College of Medicine to Abakaliki when the state was part of Enugu State,” he said.

    Prime Minister Chief Emmanuel Onweaka described the late royal father as a peacemaker. He added that burial would hold on November 28.

  • Ohanaeze youths reject Water Resources Bill

    Ohanaeze youths reject Water Resources Bill

     Chris Njoku, Owerri 

     

    THE Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC) has rejected plans to re-introduce the proposed National Water Resources Management Bill by the National Assembly.

    National President Igboayaka O. Igboayaka, who spoke in Owerri yesterday, urged lawmakers of Igbo extraction, and Southern Nigeria legislators, to reject the bill ‘as it seeks to promote the expansionist agenda of grabbing lands and depriving indigenous fishermen and farmers of their sources of living’.

    Igboayaka wondered why the Federal Government would impose the bill on Nigerians despite its rejection.

    He said the bill was first sent to the National Assembly in May 2017, debated by the lower chamber in July 2017, and rejected by the Bukola Saraki-led Eghth Senate.

    The proposed bill, currently before the Ninth Senate, if passed into law, will transfer ownership of every lake, river, including the creeks or ancestral waters, to the Federal Government. It will repeal the Water Resources Act and encroach on the land and other heritage of the Eastern people.

    Read Also: Ohaneze backs IPOB on call for referendum

    Igboayaka said: “We regret that at a time the country, particularly the South, is demanding restructuring and devolution of power, the Federal Government is seeking ways to arrogate more power to itself to annex and control state resources…

    “Revisiting the controversial bill as an Executive Bill, from the Presidency, seeks to place exclusive control of the country’s water resources, including rivers and lakes across states, under the Federal Government. It is a strategy for dispossession, which is not what the country needs now”