The Nation Newspaper

Category: Niger Delta

Udu… Where residents are at the mercy of rapists, robbers

On Thursday, September 10, Mrs Omamurhomum Ukana was returning from service at the St Paul Anglican Church, Ekete in Udu Local Government Area of Delta State. She was not carrying cash; the dutiful wife had a tin of palm oil, tangerine and items with which she planned to make supper for her beloved husband of 15 years and their two children.

She never did.

•The late Mrs Ukana with her family shortly before her death

Barely 100 meters to her home, the 43-year-old nurse was attacked by machete-wielding hoodlums and butchered to a painful death. Three days later when our reporter visited the murder scene, the bestial tale of her killing was aptly told by a congealed mass of her spilled blood.

“She was stabbed in the back, head and in her neck,” her husband, Stephen Ukana, told our reporter.

Mrs Ukana, popularly called Omas by friends, was not the first or 100th victim of a rampaging hoodlums, cultist and other criminals who have taken over Usiefrun, Orhumworun, Ovwian and other parts of the local government council in recent times, but her death was the most gripping for the people of the horror-struck community and Christian community in the area.

Those who knew her (and they are many) described her as a soft, gentle woman who couldn’t hurt a fly. She was a matron in health service of Warri South West LGA, where she was also the Focal Person in charge of nutritional heath.

A leader of the Anglican Church in the area told our reporter that she said the opening prayer for the evening church service on the day she was murdered.

So, why was she handed such a heartbreaking end? Trend of similar crimes in the area indicated that it is the modus operandi of hoodlums who have seized the area by the jugular.

•Blood-soaked Oyibo after his bloody encounter with the hoodlums

Mr Ogheneruona Oyibo, a reporter with the Delta State Broadcasting Service, one victim who lived to tell the tale of his encounter, said the criminals are usually young boys, some as young as 17 years or less and have no regard for the sanctity of life or human dignity.

“In my case, they broke a Coca-Cola bottle in my presence after taking my GSM phones, cash and other valuables. They used the bottle to stab me severally; on the head, back and arm before leaving me in the pool of my blood,” Mr Oyibo, told our reporter at the funeral of Mrs Ukana, on September 17.

But for quick intervention of good neighbours who rushed him to the hospital, Oyibo said he would he bled to death.

Our reporters visit to the area showed that the entire Usiefrun and other parts of that axis of the state are battling development challenges ranging from lack of motorable roads, power to all basic amenities. Apart from political appointees and few others, the people are mostly poor and without hope.

•Mr Ogheneruona Oyibo after his bloody encounter with the hoodlums

Investigation by our reporter revealed that the area has become a hotbed of violence and cult activities with school children, some as young as 12 years, deeply entrenched in cult activities.

The area, with a population of over 100,000, lacks government presence and basic amenities. The Delta Steel Town, the residential quarters of the Delta Steel Complex has deteriorated in the past decade, leading to the dearth of services that were provided by the company to its host.

“You can see the major roads into Orhumworun, Ekete, Aladja and other parts are deplorable. We do not have light or pipe-borne water supply. Parents are losing control over their children. The highest aspiration of some of the youths is to become thugs to politicians and go into politics,” a resident, who asked not to be named for obvious reason, told our reporter.

“Almost every child you find around here now belongs to one cult group or the other. They use their membership of the various cult groups to terrorise even members of their families and neighbours. Those who want to get protection join cults,” a civil servant in the area told our reporter on condition of anonymity.

It was gathered that the security situation in the area worsened further after the head of the Udu Central Vigilante Group, Honorable Prosper Erhinyojare, was gruesomely murdered. The local security chief was shot dead along with an associated at a beer parlour along the Udu Expressway about the 17th day of April, 2014.

It was gathered that the former Councilor’s murder sparked off unrestrained killings, maiming, robbery rape and other crimes in the area. The alleged arrest of his killers by the police has not halted the drift to anarchy.

“Since his death, cultism and criminal activities are on the increase as people are daily attacked. In the early hours of Monday, the corpse of a young m an suspected to be killed by cultists was on Sunday found at Ekete junction. The victim was simply identified as Junior. Also, at Owhase, a woman was killed after she had been robbed.”

Another source said, “Although the said Prosper was not himself free of terror, his presence, in the absence of government, brought law and order to some degree even though there were others under him who used his influence to victimize and carry out nefarious activities.”

It was gathered that members of the local vigilante group guarding the Usiefrun area have emerged as key suspects in the killing of Mrs Ukana. The vigilante gang, it was alleged, had earlier on the morning of September 10, warned of mayhem over the delay in the payment of their salaries.

“One of them particularly warned that when ‘bad things happen’ the people would know their importance and would be forced to pay up. It is instructive that on that same day they did not resume work as usual and the woman, who is the treasurer of the landlords’ union, was killed. So, it is a case of the witch flew over at night and the child died in the morning,” a source in the neighbourhood said.

Police Public Relations Officer, Delta Command, DSP Celestina Kalu, could not be reached for comment at the time of this report on Monday morning. But a source at the Owvian Police Station, who asked not to be named, said, “We are doing our best; it is a very difficult situation.”

The source, who revealed that some suspects had been arrested in connection with the killings, accused some prominent persons in the area of shielding culprits, adding, “When we called one of the suspects he boldly told us that he was at the home of a traditional leader. He said the traditional leader wanted to see us. Of course, we cannot tolerate that.”

October 2, 2015
Pharmacists donate to orphanage, elderly people homes

The Rivers State branch of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) has donated drugs and food items to the home for elderly and motherless babies home.

The visit, which started with sensitisation awareness on fake drugs and the operation of quack in the profession, gave pharmacists operating in the state the opportunity to suggest the way forward for a healthy society.

Speaking after the donation at the orphanage home, the Chairman PSN Rivers State chapter, Godson Chukunda, said his group had identified quack in the profession as one of the major challenges facing the organisation. He said they need security officers to arrest the imposters who he alleged have sent many people to early grave by their fake practices.

Chukunda said in spite of their effort to ensure access to medicines and good pharmacy practice in the state many criminals are still fighting hard to defile all laws and make mockery of the practice.

“The bitter truth is that in Rivers State we are working round the clock to make sure that we sanitize the system. We need security officers to arrest the imposters; of course security is not free again in Nigeria. We have always warned the public that the Neon sign is a symbol of professional pharmacist. Drug is an ingredient and if you don’t store it well you will be taking poison, I want to use this medium to inform Nigerians that taking drugs deserve information and whenever you take drugs without information it’s as good as jeopardising your health.”

In the same vein, Donatus Ijezie, the Vice President Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN), said they are at the motherless home and the home for the elderly as part of the sensitisation awareness on accessibility of drug to the public.

He noted that the responsible use of medicines depends on the synergy between pharmacists and other members of the health care team.

“This partnership must be based on agreed vision, shared goals and commitment, vital skills, rapport and ability to dialogue positively. Health as a fundamental human right is indispensable in achieving other rights especially the right to development and right to living a life of dignity.”

October 2, 2015
NGO lifts Bayelsa taxpayers

The coming on board of the Tax Justice Advocacy and Governance Platform (TJGP) has restored the hope of shop owners and the business community in Bayelsa State. The state has serious tax issues. In fact, the increasing quest to generate revenue internally to augment lean resources from the Federal Government has placed additional burden on the shoulders of taxpayers.

Artisans, shop owners and all categories of businesses including drivers of commercial vehicles especially in Yenagoa, the state capital are not free from the wrath of tax collectors. The main problem bugging the tax system is multiple taxation. Different ministries collect the same taxes from people.

But the TJGP said it had come to address all the tax injustices in the state. The stae Coordinator, TJGP, Princes Elizabeth Egbe, and the group’s Secretary, Mr. Torki Dauseye, held a forum recently in Yenagoa to sensitise the people on their rights.

Egbe said the platform was established to increase awareness among citizens on tax justice; promote fair, progressive and transparent tax system and administration in the state through improved stakeholders’ advocacy.

She explained that the platform would undertake research to determine the tax burden and types of taxes implemented in the state which would facilitate evidence-based campaigns against all forms of harmful tax practices that undermine human rights and government ability to generate maximum tax revenue.

While saying that it is a civic responsiblity for every citizen to pay tax, she insisted that it should be done in a way that protects the rights of the people.

She said: “The tendency for the government to pursue the raising of revenue as much as possible from taxes in a manner that ignores the rights of citizens is therefore a looming possibility, especially as power has the ability to corrupt if not checked.

“When taxation becomes strictly revenue-driven, the tendency for injustice becomes higher. Tax justice proposes that every citizen pay all the taxes they are expected to pay according to their ability to the appropriate authorities and jurisdiction with ease and convenience in a timely manner”.

She advocated an inclusive tax system in the state to promote small and medium enterprises insisting that the platforn seeks a balance between the obligations and the rights of the state to collect taxes and the duties of citizens to pay taxes.

She said a survey by the platform found some injustices in the system. She identified some of them as multiple rates, taxes, levies on lower ladder players especially women; tacit approval of extortion, undocumented collections; corruption and collusion by tax officials and non-remittance of collected taxes to appropriate authorities.

In its quest for tax justice, she said the platform visited Ministry of Finance, board of internal revenue, Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and the traders and media unions.

October 2, 2015
Odimodi: Groaning under the weight of local oppression

Odimodi community, by all standards, should be a little paradise and a tourism investment destination, considering its natural endowments, but the unusual circumstances that have faced it in recent times and the struggles it has had to go through to fight a special war for freedom have so far robbed it of its dues. BOLAJI OGUNDELE writes about the recent military versus militant showdown in the community.

•A house affected by the crisis

Not long ago, Odimodi played host to men of the Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Pulo Shield. They laid siege on the militant camp. By the time the sounds of fire exchange were dying out, four bodies of suspected militants were discovered.

At the end, the story out there in the public domain depicted the community as harbouring the unscrupulous and probably aiding and abetting their unlawful life pattern. However, it was an incomplete story; the story of a people, told by an outsider.

Explaining the genesis of the crisis to reporters over the last weekend in Odimodi, the Amadiwei of Odimodi, Chief Yangaboy Angalabiri, explained how the sponsors and operators of the criminal hideout had terrorised the community, electing and deposing community leadership at will, driving fear and panic into all residents and indigenes.

The crisis in the community was further compounded by the involvement of security agents, who reportedly took sides with the parallel authority in Odimodi to terrorise the town.

“Anybody who speaks out against the oppression and illegality being perpetuated by the criminals are hounded and antagonised by security operatives on the payroll of these unscrupulous elements. If you remember, Chief Futek Zikoregha has been in detention since April 1 for a crime he did not commit. The police were used to frame him up as an illegal bunkerer, when he was the one who has been fighting the menace in over 10 years. He has been to Warri police cell, Asaba, Abuja and he is now back in Asaba, where the police are detaining him for no just cause,” one of the community leaders told our reporter.

It was gathered that Zikoregha got into trouble after he raised alarm over the usurpation of traditional authority in the clan by his traducers. The activist also petitioned security agencies, raising alarm on the import of allowing the illegality in the oil-rich community to fester.

Apart from the police, the Nigerian Navy and other security agencies have been fingered for looking the other way while Odimodi raged. For instance, Chief Sunny Gbegha, a leader in the community, whose house was among those razed during the August 31 mayhem, said SOS sent to the Nigerian Navy was rebuffed.

•Gone with the fire

At a the press briefing, the aged traditional ruler, who had personally been a victim of the fangs of the marauding gang, which besides using its Beniboye camp as base for its operations (attacking fish trawlers, crude oil loading vessels, pirate activities on sea goers and attacks on offshore bases of oil companies), reeled out names of those the community had accused of making life and living in the supposed little paradise a hell.

In a nine-page statement, supported with a bulky collection of documents, the Amadiwei identified 29 persons who belong in the category that had oppressed the community and its people, determining how they must live their lives, as a people, against their will. The same name on the lips of everybody in the community; Presley Iyalagha.

He, according to the paramount ruler, had imposed community council executives for years. Iyalagha’s influence had been so pervasive that the traditional council had been rendered almost non-existent. According to the traditional ruler, “Presley is rich and influential; he has used his power to oppress the entire community”. This way of life lasted until recently when the community resisted his oppressive rule and removed his lackeys, whom he had foisted as community executives.

Pukon

Narrating the development that eventually brought Odimodi long desired freedom, the caretaker chairman of the community executive council, Chief Pukon Simon Elex, said “this militant camp, headed by Ayaigbo Abdulraman Ingo, sponsored by Presley Iyalagha and his cohorts, was established sometime in 2013 and the community went against it. When I say community I mean Odimodi, which is mother community to other settler communities. The chiefs, elders and youths protested then that we didn’t want a militant camp in our domain, especially now that militants have all embraced amnesty.

“He did not stop there, he imposed community executive, led by one Benjamin Gbesine on Odimodi community on the 1st of July, 2014 and sometime in June this year, he and his cohorts sacked Benjamin Gbesine, imposed his own elder brother, one Peter Perekuro Iyalagha, on the community. From that 1st of July, 2014 to the 25th of July 2015 there have been many quarrels, petitions and court cases. We’ve been to the D.I.G’s office at the Force C.I.D in Abuja on many occasions.

“From the look of things, Presley has been benefitting from this camp from the proceeds they make from attacking fishing trawlers, small crude oil loading vessels; they remit the returns to him. With that he has been buying arms and ammunition for them, with the aid of his mopol (mobile police) guards.

On the 26th of July, this year, the entire community became tired because like I said earlier, he also incited communal crisis, on the 20th of July, 2015, I led a 12-man committee from Odimodi to Ogulagha to pacify them that Odimodi had no intention of going into crisis with them. He has also been using this camp to threaten Shell, which is our tenant.

“So the community got tired and decided to sack the Presley-imposed community executives and set up a three-man caretaker executive committee, which I am the chairman. It was the sacking of that executive that led to the destruction of our houses. They came into the community on the 31st of August, burnt houses down, shot sporadically, making all the inhabitants; men, women, young and old were sent into the bushes. It was the soldiers who came in about 12 hours after the attack started (that) looked for the paramount ruler and rescued him” Chief Pukon narrated.

Several attempts to get the reaction of Iyalagha to the weighty allegations against him by the community’s leaders were abortive. Calls put across to him went unanswered, just as the myriad of telephone text messages, which we confirmed delivered, to his mobile phone got no response.

It should be noted that Mr Iyalagha had some point indicated interest in giving his side of the story when he said he would only give his response through a type-written statement and requested for an email address, which was provided to him. He, however, refused to give any response as at the time of filing this report, close to a week since he had been reached for his response.

At 9:05am and 8:54pm on Tuesday, September 22, our reporter sent him SMS enquiry. At 9:19pm same day, he offered to respond by email, saying, “Please kindly forward your email, I will send my response via email.”

Our reporter’s email address was sent to him at 9:24pm, five minutes after his request. The next morning, our reporter sent him a reminder. Further notices were sent to him on the 24th (6:50am) and 27th (1:56pm). They all failed to elicit any response until press time.

However, it was gathered that Chief Pukon barley managed to escape with his life when the oppressors came to town the 31st of August because those assigned to get rid of him made sure that only the land on which he built his house was left of all he used to call ‘property’.

They came with a rage and they had more than a field day while in rage. Although the worst seems to be out of sight in the interim, and many of the people who fled from the community as a result of the invasion have returned, there is still fear in the air as news still filters in that those vanquished by the army have started regrouping in nearby communities.

October 2, 2015
Ogbe-Ijoh kingship tussle: Go to court, Deputy Governor advises aggrieved party

Amidst the controversy generated by the crowning of Chief Couple Oromoni as the new Pere of Ogbe-Ijoh, Warri Kingdom, the Deputy Governor of Delta State, Kingsley Otuaro, has charged aggrieved persons to seek legal redress.

Although it was gathered the process leading to the crowning of the new Pere of Ogbe-Ijoh Warri Kingdom, Pere Amakosu Mobene III, was concluding before the new administration, Otuaro is accused of influencing the process.

The apparently unimpressed deputy governor, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Communication and Press, Mr Bulou Kosin, cautioned against unfounded allegations, mudslinging and other acts capable of creating bad sentiments.

The deputy governor denied the allegation and frowned at the antics of his accuser, which a section of the parties believed is aimed at arm-twisting him.

He said: “The Deputy Governor of Delta State, Barr. Kingsley Otuaro wishes to state that he is in no way party to the alleged selection/appointment of Chief Couple Oromoni, or anybody for that matter, as Pere (King) of Ogbe-Ijoh-Warri Kingdom, against a subsisting court order as claimed in recent media reports.

“As leaders believed to be respectable, Chief Alfred Yola and Sele Banni and their sponsors, ought to have done the responsible thing by initiating contempt proceedings in court against whoever may have defied such court order, instead of resorting to hurling unsubstantiated allegations, sentiments and blackmail at the Deputy Governor.”

The leaders of Perebiri Quarters in Ogbe-Ijoh said the Deputy Governor “sent over 200 of his (Otuaro’s) policemen and aides to Ogbe-Ijoh Warri Kingdom…against the court directive”.

But the deputy governor said: “One wonders where the leaders of Perebiri quarters in Ogbe-Ijoh got their ridiculously staggering number of over 200 security details and aides to the Deputy Governor which he allegedly sent to the said Ogbe-Ijoh event.

“To begin with, the Deputy Governor does not have such weird number of security details and aides and the entire story is indeed the figment of imagination of mischief makers bent on tarnishing the good reputation of the Deputy Governor. Informed leaders everywhere know that people who have one occasion or the other to celebrate do not need a Deputy Governor before seeking and getting police protection.

“Despite insults hurled at him, the Deputy Governor, Barr. Kingsley Otuaro, wishes to appeal to the generally good people of Ogbe-Ijoh-Warri Kingdom to embrace peace necessary for the enjoyment of democratic dividends under Governor Ifeanyi Okowa’s SMART agenda of prosperity for all Deltans.”

October 2, 2015
‘In Bonny, we suffer the resource curse of the Niger Delta’

Mr Simeon Wilcox, a lawyer, is the youth leader of Bonny Kingdom and spokesman of Joint Niger Delta Youth Movement (JNDYM). In this exclusive interview with Precious Dikewoha, he examines the activities of the multinationals in the oil rich Bonny Kingdom and the Niger Delta region and also speaks on the burdens that come with it, the needs to engage the youths and so on.

Will you say the rich environment is a blessing or curse to the Bonny people?

A professor wrote a book and titled it “The Resource Curse”; what he meant is that having everything you need under your table by nature makes you lazy. Having everything you need under your table removes that aspect of life that makes you struggle because by implication it gives you that impression that after all you are the owner so what are you fighting for. I will not deny the fact that the resource curse in the Niger Delta and particularly in Bonny kingdom is the biggest challenge the nature has brought for us. It is a blessing having the resources but what you do with it is what determines if it will be a curse or a blessing.
In our own case we have everything we need and everything we pray to have but we don’t have the benefits therein. Our people are still unemployed, largely unskilled. The social cultural activities don’t show the presence of the multinationals that are there. Something has got to be done, which is the right management of the resources that we have. And in terms of developing new frameworks to work with the communities and these multinationals and at the end of the day there has to be a meeting point for the benefit of the region.

The multinational companies operating in the region have always complained that our youths are unskilled do you agree to that?

Far from that, the Amnesty programme is a programme that started based on the perception that the Niger Delta youths are not skilled. If you think back, you will realize that the youths were trained, they got scholarships but when these scholarships comes up the non-indigenes will be the ones to benefit. Before the Amnesty Programme, vacancies were being announced secretly and before it gets to the knowledge of the host communities they’ve already brought those that will be employed. So that was how the youths started agitating against such method of neo-colonialism. While these youths were agitating they took them to Abuja for negotiation, Amnesty was given but has it changed anything. The only thing I know is that they know now that we have the capacity to resist them and win the war. But as to the number of persons that have been trained, I will give kudos to former President, Goodluck Jonathan and late President Yar’Adua because the Niger Delta region is not as it uses to be. We have a lot of trained youths, the Amnesty Programme trained quiet a large number of people like pilots, pipe welders, Engineers and so on. Now the level of skill development in the Niger Delta region has increased.
The next question is, is it matching the number of jobs being created? The companies operating in the region cannot be giving the same excuses of yesteryears that the people are not qualified. It is not true; we have lots of qualified youths in the region. I know quite a number of people that the Federal government trained that are still looking for jobs. Let me narrow it down to Bonny that has NLNG base, the NLNG trained some persons but they still say the youths are unskilled. We gave them a list of persons to employ but when they got there they deliberately failed them and the next minute they brought in their own people. There has to be a meeting point, the Federal government has to come in. We can’t keep these things the way it has always being, it won’t work that way.

With many multinational companies operating in Bonny, one would have expected the area to be will developed

Bonny is the third highest revenue producer in Rivers State, NLNG gives the Federal government N7 billion annually, now they are building more facilities they are going to employ more people. I know the state government is only responsible for income tax; Shell is in charge of 35 percent of Nigeria’s crude oil. In all these Bonny has no roads; it has no Federal government presence. The only Federal government presence is the Federal Polytechnics of Oil and Gas. NNDC approved contract to link Bonny roads together but till today that project has been abandoned, in fact they have squandered the money. We had a press conference and we gave an ultimatum but till today nobody has reacted. Bonny is the only community that produces so much yet has little. If you want to travel to Bonny you need to prepare for one hour rough riding on the sea and get attacked by pirates. If you travel to Bonny and you don’t go with NLNG boat or a private boat mounted with securities then you are not safe how then do you expect us to be happy? NLNG has 1,200 staff only 90 are from Bonny and out of that 90 we have people who are not staffs. Bonny people are getting blind because of the constant gas flaring, our shores are washing off, our youths are unemployed Shell pays N37 million as rent while NLNG pays N140 million to state government.

From when oil was discovered in the Niger Delta region till date what different does it make to the people?

Without oil Niger Delta region would have been also developed. It might not be as accelerated as oil has made it to be. Places without oil still have some scanty development because nothing remains static in life. But the development in Bonny is not commensurate. If you put it on a scale of 100 it is not up to 10. Before they started NLNG they took my people to Bintu in Mali and showed them how it is properly organized and promised them that Bonny will be like Bintu, a paradise on earth but guess what 20 years after that Bonny is still a shanty town. The light they gave to us is fading away they even want to privatize it. The light you hear about in Bonny is not free, we still pay bills and tariffs it’s just that they subsidized it. The Bonny master plan has failed; it was only last year they tried to revive it through the Amayanabo of Bonny. Although they have contributed to the development of the area but as an oil producing area it is not commensurate, a place where Nigeria has its resources, those that don’t have oil are far more developed than us.

October 2, 2015
Six communities protest abandoned NDDC road project

Six communities at Iyekogba area of Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State have protested over the abandonment of a road construction contracted awarded by the Niger Delta Development Commission and the continued deplorable condition of roads leading to the communities.

Residents and indigenes of the communities, comprising Evbowe, Uholor, Utangban, Efionayi, Evbuodia and Ulemon, took to the streets of their communities to protest the abandoned road project that was supposed to link the communities from Iyekogba near Ogba River to Upper Ekenwan road leading to Gelegele.

The project was supposed to provide an alternative route to Gelegele jetty through Airport road but over six years after the contract for the road project was awarded, it is yet to be completed.

Driving through the communities is a nightmare for motorists as even the Upper Ekenwan axis has become worsen. They appeared cut off by the bad roads.

•A bad spot

Besides accessible road, there is no secondary school in the communities and the only two primary schools at Utangban and Evbuodia are far apart and in deplorable conditions.

Pupils in the communities usually trek long distance to attend good primary and secondary across the Ogba River.

Chairman of Ulemon Community, Julius Iredia, said members of the community have been subjected to hardship due to the abandoned road project.

Iredia said the protest was to draw governments’ attention to their plight as the communities have written protest letters to The Presidency, Governor Adams Oshiomhole, and the State House of Assembly, all to no avail.

According to him, “The bad condition of the road leading to our communities has brought hardship to us. We have tried our best to meet with the Niger Delta Development Commission in Benin for the completion of the road but nothing has happened since.”This abandoned road project has hampered the social economic activities of the community and we are not going to rest until the government comes to our rescue. We are part and parcel of the country and should begin to reap from the benefits of democracy, which other communities are enjoying to the fullest.”We have been sidelined in the developmental process going on in the country,” he lamented.Investigation by Niger Delta Report at the Upper Ekenwan axis showed that businesses have been paralyzed and social activities are non-existent due to the bad road and lack of electricity for the past five months.When contacted for comments, Edo State Commissioner in the NDDC, Mr. Peter Enogieru, said the road project has been abandoned for over four years because of poor funding.Enogieru said many projects of the NDDC were abandoned not only in Edo State but across the Niger Delta region because of nonpayment of funds to contractors.

According to him, “The contractor has not been paid because of lack of fund. The contractor will work and no payment will be made to them. Many of them have taken bank loans. They cannot go back to work.”When funding improves like we are expecting under the new regime, things will improved. It is not an Edo State issue, it is the entire Niger a Delta region that jobs are amandine because of funds.”However, the office of the NDDC in Edo State that was sealed over non-remittance of Pay As You Earn tax amounting to N97m was yet to be opened as at press time.

October 2, 2015
A birthday celebration with a difference

Every September 21, family members, friends and associates join Dr. Seinye O. B. Lulu-Briggs to thank God for keeping her life for another year. While they celebrate, dance, praise and worship God together for her, she is busy celebrating the old people who she and her husband, High Chief O.B.Lulu-Briggs, carter for, under their “Care For Life” programme, of the O.B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation.

Mrs. Lulu-Briggs, a pastor, while speaking on her 57th birthday celebration and 14th year anniversary of the foundation held in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital , said: “I normally do not celebrate my birthday, I started celebrating my birthday when I had these wonderful senior citizens, who became so attached to me and it is like a new life is giving to them when we signed them on.

“Every year on my birthday, I will say I celebrate them; so I look forward to my birthday every year when I will gather old people, those from 70 and above, bring them, see them dressed very cleanly, we praise, worship God and danced together and I see joy in their faces, by this they know that truly there is God in heaven that cares for the affairs of His people down here on earth.”

O.B.Lulu-Briggs Foundation, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), was inaugurated on September 21, 2001, her 43rd birthday. The vision has since then been active and making impacts across states and in communities.

Mrs Lulu-Briggs said the Foundation started very small in their living room with just one programme, “Care for Life” and 10 old people (beneficiaries) to cater for.

Fourteen years after, the Foundation has expanded to five programmes comprising Care for Life, in which over 200 indigent elderly people are registered and are being taking care of by the foundation.

The quarterly five-day rural free medical care mission of the foundation has become a house hold name across states and communities of the Niger Delta, especially Rivers State where almost all the 23 local government areas, have been visited. Several community dwellers have benefitted from this gesture that cannot be repaid by human.

The Foundation also runs a scholarship scheme through which it offers opportunities for both local and overseas studies. It also carries out water purification and access to good water programme, as well as skill acquisition/ empowerment programme, all for the indigent members of rural communities.

The celebrant, who desires to love more, care more and give more to the old people and humanity at large, said her joy is always complete each time they are around her in any occasion.

This claim clearly played out at the event on Monday, when she directed that the birthday/vision day celebration service be delayed for a while to allow the beneficiaries arrive from their various communities.

She had earlier sent vehicles to convey them to the new building of Chapel of God International Worship Centre in Port Harcourt, venue of the event.

Speaking on her 14 years of service to humanity, the celebrant was not fully satisfied with the time she has so far spent on serving humanity when compared with the number of years she has spent on earth. She wished the foundation had started earlier and more grounds already covered.

“Today I am very happy, but the way I feel now, if I have to think of using 14 years out of 57 years to start a foundation and keep it running till today, serving humanity, I will say one could have done more because 14/57, I don’t think that is a pass mark; in all however, I give God the glory.”

She called for people to partner with the foundation to provid more care, hope and health to more persons.

At the thanksgiving service, the guest minister, Apostle Zilly Aggrey, speaking on the topic entitled, “Grace for purpose”, said obedience of the celebrant to the call of God on her life attracted the grace of God upon her for that purpose.

•Apostle Aggrey and others praying for the celebrant

Apostle Aggrey noted that without the incredible grace of God it is impossible for anyone to do good. According to him, God created everybody with purpose and the earlier each person discovered and runs with his/ her purpose in life while there is yet time, the better for him and humanity.

Speaking about the celebrant, the preacher, described her as a gift from God, a woman of great passion in good doing.

“Pastor Mrs. Seinye O.B. Lulu-Briggs is a gift from God, to her husband, children and humanity. From the little I know about her is that she lives her life, working and praying every day to figure out what she can do to make someone happy.

Also speaking on how the giving lifestyle of his boss, Mrs. O.B.Lulu-Briggs and her husband has impacted his life and that of his other colleagues in the last 14 years, the programme Director of the Foundation, Miebaka Nabiebu, a lawyer, said: “I have learnt life transforming lessons over this years, one of the very crucial one being the ability and willingness to give. I have learnt through my mentor in the school of giving and boss in service, the Executive Director of the Foundation whom we are celebrating today, to give, give and always give, without any afterthought.

•High Chief and Mrs. Lulu-Briggs

October 2, 2015
Concerns for baby whose dad was killed by policeman in Port Harcourt

He was not born when his father was killed by a policeman in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, for allegedly not giving a N100 bribe. His mother was delivered of him two months after the sad incident. After his birth, he was named ThankGod David Legbara. His father was David Legbara. He was a commercial bus driver in Port Harcourt. He was murdered on August 7 by a policeman attached to Kala Station for refusing to give bribe.

His father’s death automatically made him fatherless. Now there are concerns about what tomorrow holds for him. His mother, Gift Legbara, can barely afford to feed him well.

Legbara’s death created a scene that almost truncated business activities in Port Harcourt. There were protests for three days protest by angry commercial drivers under the aegis Rivers State Association of Road Transport Workers. Some of the protesters went nude demanding compensation to the family of the deceased and scholarship for the then unborn baby.

The then Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Chris Ezike, in a statement, confirmed that a police officer on stop-and-search duty shot the victim. He also assured the protesters that the police would ensure the safety of the widow and contribute to the welfare of the baby, who was born a fortnight ago.

Mrs. Legbara and his baby are now at their home in Mgboushimini community in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area. She was lucky to have a safe delivery because the maternity where she delivered had no facility to handle emergency situation.

When Niger Delta Report visited the family, it was evident they need help. Their living condition is nothing to write home about. The area they live is a swamp waterfront settlement; their house is made up of wood and red mud.

Narrating what she went through as a pregnant woman when the sad news was broken to her, Mrs. Legbara said it would have been a double tragedy.

“I almost gave up the ghost. I thought it was a dream, later it looked as if I was in a different world where nothing existed. But I thank God that I didn’t die with the pregnancy. When my husband died, I was in the market. I felt cold in my whole body, I felt like eating but I couldn’t, I was restless. I was feeling cold seriously. One of my customers came to the shop to patronise my goods, but because of the cold I could not attend to her. She asked if I was okay, I told her I didn’t know what was wrong with me. After that, someone called me and told me that they shot my husband. I told her to be serious that it was not a joking matter; she still repeated it that they shot my husband but refused to tell me where the shooting took place.”

She continued: “That day I felt like dying. I said ‘God, where will I start from? I don’t have anybody. He was the only hope I had, he was the breadwinner of his family. I told the people who informed me about my husband’s death to allow me go with them to see him but they refused due to my condition. The onlookers started blaming the woman who informed me of my husband’s death. In spite of our poor condition, we were very happy as husband and wife. The police murdered my husband at the time that things were about to get better. As a commercial driver, he drove another man’s vehicle and rendered account daily. But later he got a vehicle to drive on hire purchase and he had completed the terms of agreement, meaning that the bus now belonged to him before he was killed.”

Mrs. Lagbara wants the police to assist train her baby to the university level. She noted that her late husband planned to ensure that his children got good education.

“The police officer who killed my husband did not allow him to have more children with me. This is my first issue after our marriage. To be frank, I need help from the government. I don’t have anybody who will help me. I want them to train the child from nursery school up to university level.”

Mr. Gobari Deebom, a lawyer, said: “We have not relented since the day of the occurrence of this incident even till now, because our interest is how to sustain the interest of the family; especially the wife and the new born baby. Our plan is how to give him a befitting education from nursery to university and for the baby to be an independent person in life.

“We have written to the Inspector General of Police. The time frame we gave to them has elapsed, not even a call from any of them, despite that we are not relenting. We have also written letters to the governor of Rivers State pleading with him to assuage the pain of the wife, the new born baby and the aged mother at home on sympathetic ground; we are hoping that our governor as a liberal man will assist the family. Though they have not called but we still hope in God that things will work out fine.”

For now, all eyes are on the police to fulfil the promise of helping train the baby. Many are also waiting to see what will become of the killer cop. Justice, observers insist, must be done.

September 25, 2015
Edo community to govt: give us good roads

The people of Uwessan, a community that comprises of eight villages, are not happy. What pained them is that they see communities around them enjoy basic amenities such as good road network, electricity and water but they are still yearning for government to come to their aid.

Uwessan is located in Esan Central local government. It is a boundary community between Estako West and Esan North East local government areas in Edo State. Indigenous of Uwessan are mainly farmers but they find it difficult to convey their farm produce to where they could sell for profits because the main road connecting the community to other communities is an eye sore.

The road which connects from Utako in Esan North East through Ujabhole to other communities in Uwessan is about 21 kilometers. It is supposed to reduce travel to Abuja from the Eastern part of the country without motorist getting to Ewu along the Benin-Auchi express road. The road however cuts off at Utako and has been overtaken by weeds. Residents who live opposite each other along the road cannot walk through to the other side.

Side drains constructed on the road and was abandoned have collapsed. The drainage was said to have been constructed in 2005 by the then Chairman of Esan Central, Okhai Enegbo but was stopped because of funding.

Residents in the area blamed former Minister of Works, Mike Onolememen for the collapsed side drains because flood water from Uromi was channelled to the drains. Besides, they said the former Minister focused on building roads within Uromi and environs without extending same to other local government.

Apart from the inaccessible road to Uwessan, the residents said access to portable water has remained a mirage to them since the days of Awolowo. Water tap erected in the community many years ago still stand but no water.

Charles Akhere, a businessman, said his house used to be a like a fighting spot during the dry season as people struggle to get free water.

According to him, “This road is appalling when you are going from Utako to all the villages. We have no business following another long route. Uwessan as a whole, there is no road. We go through another road.”

“When it is time for campaign, you see politicians here. It has affected development of Uwessan. Good road network is vital to development. If the road were good, those places where you find bushes, people would have built houses. A journey of five minutes would take you longer hours. It has affected business and our farmers are mainly affected.”

“We don’t have a single borehole dug by either the state or local government in the whole of Uwessan. During dry season, you see my house like a war front because people are looking for water. There are no teachers in the secondary school here. Oshiomhole has renovated the primary school but our grammar school is appalling. I built house for female corpers here. It is at Uwessan you find the worst road in Esanland”.

Vice Chairman of Uwessan Youth Movement, Henshaw Oligbi, described the situation as pathetic. He said vehicles stopped playing the road for the past 16 years.

His words, “That is the original road to access Uwessan Community. It was the original road connecting Southern and Northern part of the country via Auchi before it was diverted to Ekpoma-Ewu-Auchi road. For the past 16 years, the road has been abandoned. Successive government has promised to construct the road for us but after election, we will not see them again.”

“During the days of Action Group, we were told politicians used the road to campaign but nothing was done. We are farmers but no road to move our products to the market. Uwessan is made up of eight communities but the road is our headache. We have been neglected for so long that we don’t have government presence in our communities. All the developmental structures were through self help or through our sons who excelled in their chosen careers.”

“The electricity was brought by late Sunday Okoduwa. Uwessan has the highest population in Esan land. Oshiomhole promised to construct the road during his second term electioneering campaign. We need govern-ment to construct the road so that we would stop passing through long distance.”

Paul Iyoha, Ujabhole community youth president, said, “This is the only access road we have that lead to the eight villages in Uwessan. We have not been passing that road for many years now.”

“

he Bad Roads In The Community

The road has been in a deplorable condition. There is no accessible road in the whole of Uwessan. You see lorries falling off the road. We have paid our taxes and it is government time to help us. We have been trying through self help. Flood water from Uromi destroyed the whole drainage that was constructed. There is no pipe borne water. The last time we had water was during the days of Awolowo. Since the water scheme broke down, we have not had water. We get water from wells.”

Retired Commissioner of Police, Young Emmanuel Arebamen, said it was bad politics that caused the situation of the road linking Uwessan to other communities.

Arebamen said the Auchi expressed road was diverted to pass through Agbede by powerful politicians even when the colonial masters saw that the stretch of road between Ewu-Agebde and Auchi was swampy and not suitable for road construction.

According to him, “The only solid road in that axis is through my village. I am surprised that what politicians promised my forefathers, they are promising my children in my presence.”

“Our people are suffering. Nobody can go there and buy anything. The schools were built by our collective effort. What is the essence of government? We want Oshiomhole to come and work in our community.”

September 25, 2015