Polycarp Orosevwotu, Ughelli

Authorities of the Nigeria Police Force, at the weekend prevented Brothers Across Nigeria, BAN, a nonprofit, nongovernmental organisation from holding its General Assembly at Wetland Hotel, a popular hotel in Ughelli, as armed police officers laid siege to the premises.

The group had insisted on holding its meeting, demanding from the police the reason why they should not hold their meeting.

The president of the group, Dr. Lewis Aitufe reacting briefing newsmen, described the action of the police as illegal and infringement on the fundamental human rights of the Nigeria citizens as enshrined in section 40 of the Nigeria constitution.

He noted that prior to the group assembling in Delta State, the Commissioner of Police Delta State, Mr. Hafiz Inuwa, the Director of SSS, where duly notified through a letter dated August 18th, and submitted to the Ughelli Area Commander, the DPO and duly acknowledged by the police, approving the meeting.

Dr. Altufe alongside one of the past presidents of the group, Mr. Femi Osinbajo  and other members, said the group has obtain a perpetual judgment in court against the Nigeria Police in 2018 in a suit No. A/M/97/2018 from interfering in any of the group’s activities, but decried the gross disobedience of the police to court orders.

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He stated that with the above response and considering the huge resources that have been invested, we approached the High Court, Effurun Delta State for a court injunction in a suit No. EHC/M/77/2020, restraining the police from interfering in the activities of the Brothers Across Nigeria BAN, holding on September 25 and 26 respectively.

“With the above court injunction, the legal department of the body, were directed to write to the Inspector General of Police and also serve him the court order. To this he said; the IGP responded by asking the group to liaise with the CP Delta, and equally grant our request.”

In a memo showed to journalists and signed by DCP Idowu Owohunwa, a Principal Staff Officer to the IGP, reads, “I am to confirm that the Inspector General of Police has instructed the Commissioner of Police, Delta State Command to handle your request. You may wish to liaise with him, accordingly. Kindly accept the assurance of the highest regards of the Inspector General of Police.”

When contacted, the Commissioner of Police Delta State, Mr. Hafiz Inuwa, said, “We had an intelligence, and base on insecurity report, we are stopping it.”

Frank Ikpefan, Abuja

Labour and Employment Minister Chris Ngige has described the authors of a letter addressed to President Muhammadu Buhari by some All Progressives Congress (APC) members in Anambra State as mischievous.

The minister, who dismissed the letter to the President, described its writers as impostors who are neither members of the party in the wards, much less in the local government.

A statement on Thursday in Abuja by his Media Office reads: “They are free-wheeling, wheeler-dealers, hirelings and Trojan horses. They are gatecrashers, perennial ‘cross-carpeters’, bread and butter politicians who, unable to displace the original members of APC in access to patronage, and already one leg back in PDP, will be pleased to cause disaffection in the APC.

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“There is no reason genuine members in the state would feel marginalised or excluded in opportunities offered by the party. The board appointments referred to, as part of their grouse, were equitably distributed to members of the party in 2016 before the ‘Mfecane’; yes, before the wanderers and rolling stones from the PDP surged into the APC.

“It is on record that the APC liaised with a committee set up in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) where the stakeholders of the party from Anambra fully participated in the allotment of board appointments. There were no complaints because the act was performed before the Mfecane.

“Indeed, we make bold to state that the APC is a sky that is large enough for every bird of the air to fly and as wide as the deep blue sea for every member to freely swim.

“Senator Ngige does not and has never discriminated between the founding members and other members who joined after the APC came to power in 2015. He sees every member as one and united in achieving the larger party goals.”

Bassey Anthony, Uyo

The Akwa Ibom State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has said its members may go on an indefinite strike over the continued refusal of the government to pay its workers’ entitlements.

NLC State Chairman Sunny James told reporters yesterday in Uyo, the state capital, that the workers might join the planned national strike because all was not well with the state’s workers, especially those in the local government areas.

James threatened that if the planned nationwide strike sailed through, the workers in the state would go on an indefinite strike.

“This means that other offices will receive their pensions and then those in the local government system would not. Discussions on this have been going on for some weeks now with the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs. I do hope that government would give peace a chance to allow benefits go to whoever they are due.

“For gratuity, we are not doing well in Akwa Ibom State. There has been a halt since 2016 in the civil service gratuity; no explanation has been given to us, four years along the line.

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“In the local government administration, since 2010, it has not been paid to teachers; since 2012, it has not been paid to the local government workers. Therefore, 10 years after retirement, you cannot collect your gratuity. So, workers are not happy.

“What is burning at the moment is the non-implementation of promotion to Akwa Ibom workers. You have the letter, but it is not implemented.

“We are getting very uncomfortable about it. If the strike proceeds as planned, those are some of the things we may have to ask the Akwa Ibom State government to address before we go back to work. If the strike is allowed, then Akwa Ibom state government must solve our problems,” he said.

Nsa Gill, Calabar

Speaker of Cross River State House of Assembly, Eteng Williams, on Thursday expressed support for the peaceful protest by over 2,500 workers whose names were delisted from the government payroll for over year without pay.

The delisted workers have been staging peaceful protests since Monday.

They have occupied the entrance gate to the state secretariat and marched to the House of Assembly, among other places.

Addressing the delisted workers, Eteng said: “We feel your pains. My younger ones are involved, about three of them. So, it is not just the number of you that have come out here. There are a thousand and one others out there.”

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The Speaker said he was embarrassed by the situation, adding: “On two occasions, we summoned the people in government handling the screening and verification. What we have asked is: ‘Are you not done with it? How long are you going to continue with it? You can’t continue with screening endlessly.’

“As a member of this government, I am embarrassed by this situation and the issue keeps embarrassing me. This screening is getting too long. I am saying it openly here without minding anything.”

On his encounter with the verification committee members, Etang said: “We told them to come out with a position paper on where they are and what they are doing. We told them to also let us know what the position of government is on what they are doing and where they are on their job.

Mike Odiegwu, Port Harcourt

RIVERS State Governor Nyesom Wike has released N50 million for the state burial of the late retired Judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Adolphus Karibi-Whyte.

The governor commiserated with the family of the eminent jurist, describing him as a foremost legal icon.

He insisted that the late Karibi-Whyte deserved a befitting burial.

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Wike spoke through the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Dr. Tammy Danagogo, when he addressed members of the deceased’s family during their visit to the governor at the Government House in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

Danagogo said Wike released the money to the family of the late judge out of the governor’s magnanimity.

Presenting the cheque to the family, the SSG said Wike had again demonstrated his love for the Kalabari, adding that the governor continued to show his affection for the people of the area through developmental projects and welfare support to individuals and organisations.

 Mike Odiegwu, Port Harcourt and Simon Utebor, Yenagoa

EDO State Governor Godwin Obaseki has described his victory in last Saturday’s election as a unifying factor for the Southsouth.

He spoke on Wednesday in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, at a state dinner in his honour.

Obaseki said the victory, which brought all the states in the region under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), would foster rapid socio-economic development in the region.

The governor hailed President Muhammadu Buhari for ensuring a level-playing field in the poll and expressed optimism that the outcome would rub off positively on future elections in the country and allow the will of the people to prevail at all times.

He said: “We drove here from Asaba as part of our tour to come and say thank you, to come and appreciate His Excellency, Governor Duoye Diri and the people of Bayelsa State for what you have done for us, for the contributions you made to ensure that we emerged victorious in last Saturday’s election. We did not want to keep it late just to let you know how truly grateful we are.

“Senator Diri said he didn’t do much, just prayers. But that was more than enough. You did more than prayers. You visited us, you contributed, you gave us support, you prayed. These are all the things that came together to give us victory.”

Also, Obaseki has described his Rivers State colleague, Nyesom Wike, picked him up when he former party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), dumped him when he ran to him for rescue.

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The newly re-elected governor said Wike was the second pivot, after God, in the process that led to his election victory last Saturday.

Obaseki spoke in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, when he led some political leaders of Edo State on a thank-you visit to Wike at the Government House, according to a statement by Rivers Commissioner for Information and Communications, Paulinus Nsirim.

He said: “After I was pushed out of my former party, this house was the first place I sought solace. You took me in as a brother, out of the storm, changed my clothes and gave me food to eat.

“It was in this house, the Campaign Council met to work out the key strategies that led us to victory. You mobilised people across the country. You moved to Benin, went through the humiliation and attacks. You supported us and we won.

“It will be a sin against God if we do not come to say thank you. Even if the victory we are celebrating is from God, He has used people like you to make it happen.”

Wike said his support was informed by the fact that Obaseki was courageous and fearless.

“Our work would have been difficult if he did not make himself available. I cannot support a lily-hearted person. Governor Obaseki was firm,” he said.