Nothing can be further from the truth than the position of the respected Uwvie Chief Newton Agbofodoh. In the first place everybody in Delta is a supporter of the governor even those who contested election against him, because they are Deltans and we believe that they mean well even the particular chief, just as much as the Governor does, to that extent, we are saying that they are all supporters of the government and Gov. Okowa. So anybody does anything we can say he is not a Deltan because he has committed something wrong .If take it from that perspective the man is right that anybody who is doing good or doing bad is the supporter of the Gov Okowa because they voted for Okowa and his mandate is total.He is Governor for everybody. Gov. Okowa being the chief security officer feels the headache when there is trouble in any part of the State and to that extent he cannot support anyone to cause trouble because the trouble bounces back to him. Maybe Chief Agbofodoh needs further briefing perhaps he did not get his facts right. I must tell you that the Gov Okowa is very disturbed by the situation in Uwvie particularly with respect with the development at the motor park and to that extent he did not hesitate in directing the security agencies in the State to put everything within the bounds of the law to arrest the situation in Uwvie. If you look back the situation is not as bad as it was two weeks ago. It was not by magic and it was not because those troublemakers were tired of trouble. It was because Gov.Okowa took steps and Gov Okowa will not rest on his oars until Uwvie becomes peaceful.
CLO-Chief Agbofodoh seems very economical with the truth.Gov Okowa cannot just start removing people from positions without being properly briefed about all developments in all the communities in the State .If anybody’s tenure is exhausted either Gov Okowa will make move for the revalidation of the tenure or another person will be appointed .Okowa will not do anything illegal. Do not forget Senator Okowa just left the senate, the highest law making body in the land to that extent he knows what the law says and so he will not travel the path of injustice or condone illegality. Everything is being done to bring about a harmonious working relationship between the oil companies, the communities and leaders of the different communities.
If environmental sustainability is to be achieved in Nigeria there must be transparency and accountability especially in the oil and gas sector.
Once more, we wish to draw the attention of the government and general public’s attention to the reckless oil extraction in the Niger Delta. The oil companies’ impunity and non-adherence to best practices over the years has ruined the Niger Delta environment. Since 1956 when oil extraction began, gas flaring and frequent oil spills have been the order of the day. Added to this is the tragic and frequent pipeline blowouts that occur almost on a daily basis from oil and gas operations. A case in point is the recent Agip Azuzuama tragedy of July 2015 which claimed 14 lives while others sustained serious injuries. The environment was devastated and rural livelihoods destroyed.
The Azuzuama incident stands out as a metaphor of oil incidents by oil companies like Agip operating in the region. Not only has the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) been implicated in the burning of oil spill sites in the past, fire outbreaks during repair works have been commonly associated with the company. The records of such frequency are well known to Agip and the regulators.
Broadly, this press briefing sets out to address three main issues of ecocide, a call for probe of Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) operations, and the need for remediation and adequate compensation for victims. It firmly adduces evidence and a case of ecocide against Agip.
A Case of Ecocide
Agip’s operation fields are crime sites tantamount to ecocide. As an environmental advocacy group that has been monitoring the environment for over two decades, we have observed a consistent trend of Agip’s pipeline explosions and death. Environmental destruction and needless death have continued to trail the company’s operations from 1995 to the present.
Before we turn to the incident which claimed several lives in 2015, perhaps more pathetic is the Agip Ozochi tragedy which claimed at least 7 workers attempting to clear a major spill by a state of the art technology of spade and bucket. The spill occurred in early June 1995 and eventually 7 persons were roasted while clearing oil spills using spade and bucket. When the spill occurred, Agip reacted by contacting DAEWOO, a contracting firm for the clean up. The firm in turn hired 20 unskilled labourers from Ozochi, Odua, and without any supervision from Agip or DAEWOO and without any training and proper clean up kits, they were mobilized to site on 25 June. As instructed, they dug pits into which they transferred the crude oil in order to set it ablaze later. During a short break at noon, one of the crew members decided to smoke a cigarette. He struck a match and the entire spillage site erupted in flames. 14 of the labourers were instantly trapped in the inferno, and 5 men died on the spot. The four unhurt labourers working about 100 metres away carried the injured to the nearest community 10 kilometres away and two of the injured later died in the community. The seven injured were later admitted at Ahoada General Hospital. This was in addition to destruction of the environment, farmlands and biodiversity.
It will be interesting for Agip to tell the world its level of responsibility and liability and what preventive measures were taken. Was there any adequate clean up and compensation to the bereaved families these past years?
On 13 May 2000, 6 youths died in a tragic incident which occurred in Etieama community in Nembe Local Government Area during a clamping operation on a ruptured section of Agip’s Brass-Ogoda pipeline. The incident is said to have been caused by spark from a machine used during the clamping.
On Sunday, 29th July, 2012 a similar incident happened along Agip’s pipeline within Ayamabele/Kalaba community environment, in Okordia clan, Yenagoa LGA. 16 individuals were lucky to have escaped when a fire was ignited in the process of the clean up. They fled the scene of the fire eruption.
Death by Fire: A Case of Agip’s Equipment Failure and Negligence
On 9th July 2015 Agip’s facility exploded with massive fire along Tebidabe-Clough Creek pipeline at Azuzuama in Bassan Clan Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa state. The incident occurred during a Joint Investigation Visit to a damaged section. ERA Field Monitors discovered on site that:
Agip’s Tebidabe-Clough Creek pipeline and explosion is clearly a case of negligence due to equipment failure while attempting to clamp a leaking oil pipeline by substandard and crude methods,
The oil pipeline may have remained active and never shut down while repair effort was on-going thereby putting lives at risk and placing production as more important than safety of those working at the repair site,
iii. There was no ‘Fire Man’ or fire service personnel in the team who could have put off the fire while it was still little rather than the crude method of scooping mud filled petrol,
Although the site was a difficult terrain and muddy, there were no precautionary measure or escape plan put in place in the event of fire.
When the explosion and fire finally occurred as a result of scooping mud filled petrol to quench the building sparks of fire, 14 people were roasted alive instantly. They included a Nigerian soldier, an official of the Bayelsa State Ministry of Environment, an official of the regional NOSDRA office, Agip staff and community youths. Till date, the full list is yet to be made public. Up till date, Agip is yet to respond officially and publicly on the incident.
Although a few meetings have been held with family representatives of the deceased, nothing tangible has been done in terms of responsibility and liability. Agip’s insensitivity and delay is highly unacceptable.
The following are the victims of the explosion whose death occurred on July 9th:Mupe Afoh Anthony (HSE-NAOC-Florina); Matthew Iyom (CRV Supervisor –NAOC Crest); Godspower Okorosei (Vowgas Welder); Promise Kpora (Vowgas Pipe Fitter); Michael Izeku (Vowgas Store Keeper); Longinus Dum (Vowgas HSE); Ositadinma Ugwu (NOSDRA); Theophilus Duabo (BYSMENV); Amos Omereji (Helper); Undo John (Vowgas Pegger); Epunumokumo Linus (Community Man); Corporal Audu Rikoto (Vowgas Gunboat); Eze Akpojota (Vowgas Swamp Buggie Mechanic); and another whose name is yet to be disclosed.
That this trend is normal occurrence to oil companies particularly Agip has been shown in the cases presented. Doubtless, a clear pattern of ecocide and criminal liability has been observed in Agip’s operations in the Niger Delta. If a CEO of an oil company persistently takes decisions that consistently undermine human and environmental health across a period of time, this crime is tantamount to ecocide and crime against humanity. The incident in Azuzuama is yet another sad episode from NAOC operations as the testimonies from bereaved families and officials of the Bayelsa State Ministry of Environment also show.
Pathway to Revocation of Agip’s
Operational License
The impunity and flagrant disregard for environmental regulations by Agip has resulted in massive environmental degradation and destruction of rural livelihoods over several decades of its operation in the Niger Delta. The laws governing oil spills and prevention of environmental degradation and security of lives and property have been severely compromised. As in other cases, the vegetation, trees and cash crops and livelihoods on both sides of the pipeline covering several hectares were severely burnt. Certainly, Agip is not meeting their own internal rules. They are also not meeting the regulations and laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The state of the art clean up technology remains the crude setting of oil spills ablaze. We demand the revocation of the operational license of Agip for their persistent and criminal liability in the frequent fire explosions and deaths recorded.
As an environmental advocacy group monitoring the environment over two decades, again, we observe incontrovertibly a consistent trend of Agip’s pipeline explosions leading to needless death that have trailed the company’s operations since 1995. These incidents can be traced mostly to negligence and equipment failure and the substandard mode of clamping procedures. As a result we call on the Federal and state governments to set up an investigative panel to review Agip’s operations as well as its spill contingency plan and protocols, which have so far put production and profit at the fore and left safety at the back seat.
Remediation and Compensation
Although a few meetings have been held with family representatives of the deceased, nothing tangible has been done in terms of responsibility and liability. Agip’s insensitivity and delay is highly unacceptable.Beyond the need for investigation, Agip must provide public response to the frequent fire explosion incidents, and conduct immediate clean up and environmental remediation. While a price cannot be placed on the loss of human lives, we urge the payment of the sum of US$2 million each to the families of the bereaved since their bread winners have been taken away from them abruptly. This will also serve as a deterrent to Agip and other oil companies on the need to put lives first before profit.
Constitutional Review of the Legislative Duty of states on the Environment
At present state level environmental responsibility on oil matters is almost nil. One major constraint is that while the environment is in the Concurrent List of the state and federal government, oil and gas and allied matters are the exclusive preserve of the federal government. This lacuna is making the state woefully handicapped in this regard. This issue requires immediate legislative action for reform and expansion to include the jurisdiction of states on oil and gas matters in order to proactively safeguard the environment, lives and property.
Very few Nigerians are actually surprised at the horrendous revelations from the Rivers State Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Abuja. Those who followed the mass media from the build-up to the elections proper and the so-called announcement of results which followed after would actually not be shocked at the awful disclosures from witnesses at the tribunal.
Apart from the endless complaints by members of other political parties aside the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP before the election and after, the over 80 election observers as a matter of fact, sounded the alarm bells with their reports, especially with regard to widespread violence, killings, intimidation, harassment, ballot-snatching and stuffing, subversion of the will of Rivers people and other forms of impunity.
What may have come as a surprise to many Nigerians are the revelations by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, army officers, the police, agents of the Department of State Security, DSS members of the All Progressives Congress, APC and those of other political parties.
To those who perpetrated these horrifying violence and crisis that
marred the governorship election in Rivers State, a day of reckoning was definitely not in their calculations. Like before, they had unleashed terror on people with the hope that the familiar path of impunity and lawlessness that had become common place feature in our state, particularly during the last administration would go on unchecked.
For me, the revelations at Rivers State Election Petitions Tribunal are not only absurd but also unprecedented. This is the first time in Nigeria’s history that we are witnessing this level of violence, bloodbath and subversion in one single election in one state. Nothing would have been more telling than the disclosures of serving security operatives on election duty in the state. They captured in very graphic details, the violence, the intimidation, deaths and ballot-snatching and stuffing that characterised the exercise in almost all parts of the state.
I was particularly jolted by the testimonies of two soldiers, Captain Ahmed Al-Makura and Captain Jeremiah Salisu who were posted to Ikwerre and Gokana Local Government Areas respectively. The soldiers were emphatic with their submissions which they hinged on the fact that an election could not have taken place in a state of war.
Indeed, what happened in Rivers State during the elections, especially on April 11 is only comparable to war. The tragic part however is that many innocent sons and daughters of Rivers State suffered great harm, for aligning ‘wrongly’, politically. That is apart from those who lost their lives.
There is also the heartbreaking account by Godwin Mba, an officer of the Department of State Security Service, DSS who revealed how cult groups and thugs worked for the PDP in Andoni Local Government Area.
Benson Chukwuma, a representative of the Director-General, also in a similar account in Ogo Bolo, also told the tribunal about the anticipated violence which was all too evident because of the tension and security reports. Mr. Tafa Michael, a Superintendent of Police who was posted to Tai Local Government Area said he actually caught agents of PDP thumb-printing at a house opposite the PDP secretariat at Tai.
He said he arrested over 70 people on that day alone which included PDP members, INEC Staff, youth corpers and others.
Another oddity in the horrifying revelations came from Mr. Yusuf Buba of Police Mobile Squadron, Ogoni who revealed how an Assistant Commissioner of Police, Kenneth Akabue supervised the rigging of the April 11 election in Khana Local Government Area. These are in addition to other accounts of compromise and complicity by the electoral umpire, a position that Charles Okoye, who heads INEC’s Department of Elections and Party Monitoring, a body established by the electoral body to monitor elections emphasised in his presentation. In fact, Okoye described the April 11 election as a mockery of democracy. What a verdict!
At some point during cross examination, Mr. Ebikoru Tebekaemi, INEC’s Electoral Office for Obio/Akpor told the tribunal that he was not aware if card readers were used in the April 11 election. This left many wondering how an electoral officer would be so ignorant of INEC’s policy on card readers which was a well known decision even among politically naive voters.
When asked to comment on the damning report of Elections Operations Support Centre, another body INEC established to monitor elections, Tebekaemi said after prolonged hesitation that the body only worked partially.
These are indeed terrible times, a reminder that our march to nationhood is still a long journey ahead. For all these to have happened, not in the North-East where there is insurgency shows that there is serious work for this present administration.
But when justice eventually comes to candidates who took part in that sham of an election, what happens to the wounded and the dead? I must state here, and unequivocally too, that those who visited violence and mayhem on people and homes for their political beliefs must as a matter of fairness, be brought to book. That, for me, is the only the way the souls of those who were killed can rest.
Daminabo, an economist and public affairs analyst, lives in Abuja.
It was one of those times when tradition muzzled a people and prevented them from expressing their emotions and grief, at least publicly. An overcast of gloom had pervaded Iwere (Warri) Kingdom in Delta State, as the rumour gathered momentum that the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse II had joined his ancestors. It started in the early week of September, but the people could not mourn one of the gravest tragedies of the last three decades because their tradition forbids them from acknowledging the news until the whole hog of rites had been completed.
•A cross section of chiefs and Itsekiri people
Olu Ogiame Atuwatse II was the centripetal force that moved and glued the Itsekiri nation. He was the pride of the Itsekiri, a group that prides itself as ‘one people under one monarch’. They occupy, but are not restricted, to the three Warri local government areas of Delta State. The Itsekiri tribes are found in communities, such as Ugbolokposo in Uvwie Local Government Area, in Ologbo and other villages and hamlets in Edo State and they all revere their Olu as a deity that is second only to God.
But the death of Atuwatse II remained a rumour until last Saturday, when the Ojomo of Warri Kingdom, Chief Yaya Pessu, who acted the role of Ologbotsere, symbolically broke the pot of white chalk to announce his death. The rite freed the people from the burden of secrecy and era of topsy-turvydom.
The much revered monarch was last sighted by this reporter at his palace, when the state governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, consulted with him before the constitution of the board of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission. Three Itsekiri indigenes – Mr Godwin Ebosa, Chief Thomas Ereyitomi and Mr Victor Woods – made the board.
Days later, Niger Delta Report learnt that the monarch had joined his ancestors after a domestic accident. His death took place at a private hospital in Lagos where he was flown to for medical attention. Prior to the sad event, the monarch had been slowed for years by a protracted ailment.
• The palace
Despite the report, prominent Itsekiri leaders, traditional titleholders and members of the royal family in of the kingdom (Otolus) kept mum. Some of the palace chiefs who are close to this reporter suddenly stopped taking his call, ostensibly to wade off inquiries about the monarch’s death.
The Iwere Integrity Group, in a terse statement denied the report but left open many possible interpretations. The statement was signed by over 30 members and the chairman and secretary, Mr Moses Fregene and Robinson Ariyo.
Barely a day before the Ode-Itsekiri announcement, this reporter spoke with Prince Ebiyemi Emiko, one of those considered as possible successor. The trained journalist also feigned ignorance. Prince ‘Yemi said he wasn’t aware of the death of his brother or that one of the most exalted traditional stool in the land was vacant.
By that time, Chief Yaya Pessu, the highest ranking and oldest member of the Olu Advisory Council, had sent out invitation for a National Assembly of the Itsekiri people. There was anxiety and uneasy calm in the kingdom. Telephone lines of prominent Itsekiri leaders and members of the JOS Ayomike-led Itsekiri Leaders of Thought, rang incessantly as people called for information and news on latest developments.
•Becroft waiting at Ode-Itsekiri
It was under this specter of tradition-induced silence and tension that the Itsekiri nation gathered at their ancestral home of Ode-Itsekiri (Big Warri) in Warri South Local Government Area on Saturday. The atmosphere at the Aghofen (Palace) in Ode-Itsekiri was tense. About all the Ojoyes (noble titleholders) were present; they were led by the Chief Pessu and Chief Isaac Jemide, the Otsodi of Warri Kingdom – the duo are the only surviving members of the Olu Advisory Council.
The only dignitary missing was Chief Gabriel Mabiaku, the Iyasere, who died weeks earlier and the most important personage in the kingdom. Olu Atuwatse II was visibly missing and his shadow loomed over the overcrowded galleria; it spread through the roads and walkway from his palace to the waterside and darkened the horizon.
Those who went to the arena hoping, against hope, that the man whose numerous titles include Ogbowuru Afomasin would somehow materialise, had their hopes dashed when Chief Pessu and other chiefs trudge in their traditional white chiefly robes and red cummerbunds. But this time, they also had the symbolic black sash over the red and the usual spring in their gaits was missing.
They came from far and wide, from various clans and lineage of the famous tribe. Chief Rita Lori-Ogbebor, led Igba and there were chiefs Hayman, Walter Omadeli, Mene Brown, Nelson Utienyinone, Emmanuel Jones, Edward Olley and E A Tetseola, among others.
At the dais where Pessu and Jemide other chiefs sat, an immaculate white chair stood empty; its void symbolised the absence of the highest authority in Iwere (Itsekiri) land.
Even younger men like Mr Temi Kingsway-Eyoyibo and Oregbemi Onamoren- Beecroft, who besieged Ode-Itsekiri decked in his kemeje (traditional male attire), knew that something was amiss. The reality that they were about to hear a bad news about the monarch they loved and respected began to dawn.
“I felt proud being an Itsekiri and in my ancestral home, but at the same time, I dreaded what was coming. Ogiame Atuwatse II was our father, he was our baba and the one whose pronouncement settles all arguments,” Onamoren-Beecroft told our reporter; his voice was laden with emotion.
A few minutes later, after singing the Ara Olorire (Itsekiri National Anthem) and other formalities, the Chief Priest, Chief Pessu, who bore earthen pots of efun (native chalk) raised one over his head and smashed it unto the ground. The poignant rite was accompanied by cries of Ale je efun, which literarily means ‘the ground has eaten the native chalk’, and ‘Ata tse’ (the anchor is broken) signifying that Olu was no more.
• Breaking of the pot of chalk
The rite was followed by murmurs of ‘eh oooh’, gnashing of teeth and shaking of heads as the import of the ceremony seeped through the sea of people. Some cried, others were too dazed to react. The time was 11:50am. Canon shots rent the air, the boom reaching as far as neighbouring communities like Ubeji, Ugbuwangue and the others communities in the kingdom and the Oil City of Warri metropolis.
But barely 25 minutes later – at 12:15pm, the crowd was animated and in jubilant mood.
Chief Pessu, after consulting with Jemide and other Ojoyes, announced that the late monarch would be succeed by his younger brother, Prince Ikenwoli Godfrey Gbesimi Emiko (aka Abiloye). And the ‘eh oooh’ and sorrow swiftly turned to shouts of joy. There was no doubt that the choice was a very popular one.
It was reminiscent of a similar rite nearly three decades ago, when Chief Ogbeyiwa Newe Rewane, announced the death of Olu Erejuwa II, who reigned from 1936 to 1987. But the euphoria and rapturous response that greeted Saturday’s announcement of Prince Ikenwoli contrasted with the announcement of then Prince Toritseju Emiko as Olu-designate in 1987, because a section, perhaps the large slice, of the kingdom preferred Prince Ikenwoli, who was also his late father’s choice.
The response that greeted the emergence of Prince Ikenwoli, indicated that 28 years after missing out on the throne, he was still a very popular choice. His emergence was the first time in centuries that an Itsekiri monarch would be succeeded by his brother, but there was no dissent.
Prince Tsola Emiko, the first son of the late monarch, as was earlier reported by The Nation, was disqualified on the account of his maternal lineage. The 1979 gazette on the monarchy was unambiquous: only princes born of Itsekiri or Edo mothers can ascend the throne. Prince Tsola’s mother is a Yoruba.
The announcement brought consolation to the grief-stricken nation. Men, women and youths erupted in singing and dancing as their new monarch surfaced to take the vacant white chair surrounded by regally dressed chiefs.
Shouts of ‘eeeeeeeeee iwoooooooo, eeeeeeeeeee iwoooooooo’, rented the air as the 60-year-old University of Benin graduate was led before thousands of singing and dancing Itsekiri men and women.
Decked in a sky blue damask kemeje and a matching wrapper, the Olu-designate emerged. He carried himself with the same grace and dignity that he had maintained nearly 30 years after he missed the stool.
The Olu of Warri-designate
Edged on all sides by younger Ojoyes including chiefs Ayirimi Emami, Thomas Ereyitomi and Francis Omatseye, among others, the man who would be addressed as Olu of Warri in a few months, was sat on the white chair at the centre of the room.
The day’s job was done and Olu-designate had completed the first stage of a long walk to the throne of his father.
But the rite is far from finished; he still has to participate in the burial rites and ceremonies of his older brother and predecessor. The final rite of passage will culminate in the ‘Iken Rites’, at the Royal Cemetery in Ijala, one of the five most important communities in the Warri Kingdom.
The 1979 Gazette of the defunct Bendel State, which is the law regulating succession to the title of the Olu of Warri, states that the Omoba’s failure to perform and complete the burial rites and ceremonies is bar to his installation, irrespective of the event of last Saturday.
The gazette, made under Section 8 of the Traditional Rulers and Chiefs Edict, 1979, also specified that after interring the late Olu, Omoba Ikenwoli would proceed on “Ideniken” where he remains for a period of three lunar months.
The period is used to complete the burial rites and ceremonies for Atuwatse II. A very knowledgeable members of the kingdom also informed NDR, that the Ideniken is also an orientation and induction course for the next Olu.
“Prince Ikenwoli has been prepared for the role he is to assume a very long time ago; he is an Abiloye, the Itsekiri’s crown prince of sort. Apart from his formal education, he was schooled in the Itsekiri culture and tradition and that is why there were murmurs when he was overlooked in 1979. But that is not enough; he has merely passed a stage and there is now the last and final stage that will put him head and shoulder above his subjects – the Ideniken,” our source added.
The Rivers State Governorship Election Tribunal has been full of drama since the 1st Respondent, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), opened its defence on September 17. The electoral body was said to have flown 20 out of twenty-three Electoral Officers involved in the election into Abuja to testify in its defence. They were reportedly lodged at Awala Hotel, Wuse Zone 11. Six of them came to the court to give their testimony.
INEC’s lead counsel, Mr. Ikpeazu (SAN) confidently called in the Electoral Officer for Obio/Akpor Local Government Area as his first Defence Witness (DW1), who was led to adopt his witness deposition, in which he repeatedly claimed that the election was free and fair. However, the situation changed almost immediately under a firebrand cross-examination led by Chief Olujimi SAN. Under cross examination, the EO denied being aware that Card Reader was meant to be used for the April 11 Governorship Election. When pushed further, the EO maintained: “I am not aware that card reader was to be used for the Governorship Election in Rivers State.” The credibility of the witness was battered when in response to Olujimi’s question he claimed that the election in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area took place the same day, April 11, whereas it is on record, even from INEC’s documentations, that at least election in two wards were rescheduled for the following day, April 12.
INEC called it a day after this witness and applied for adjournment till the following day. With the disappointing response of that single witness, the entire “election” in Obio/Akpor LGA had been successfully discredited. The 19 other Electoral Officers were immediately flown back to Rivers State. On September 18, when the matter was called up, Ikpeazu was reported ill and asked for further adjournment to Monday, September 21.
On Monday, when the tribunal resumed, the counsel to INEC called in some witnesses who testified as Youth Corps members, who claimed to have “conducted election” at the polling units. Unfortunately, all the witnesses, who claimed to have been trained for the job, denied being aware of clear guidelines for the election, one of which is to the effect that where the card reader fails, the election should be postponed to the following day, a directive that is clearly written down on the electoral manual for the election. A Deputy Director from INEC, in charge of ICT, had also given evidence for the petitioner in that regard. The climax of the drama was at the point when Chief Olujimi under cross-examination requested one of the witnesses to read out a portion on the Electoral Manual, but the lady claimed that her sight had failed her and the entire tribunal burst into laughter, as spectators were heard whispering Prof. Etu Efeotor. Ikpeazu urged the tribunal to order the police to maintain order. Prof. Efeotor was the Rivers State Collation Officer for the March 28 Presidential Election, who could not read out collation figures because according to him the figures were “written under special circumstances”. Even when the Tribunal ordered the witness to read, she simply refused to. It was the provision which directed that where the card reader failed or was unavailable till the time fixed for the close of accreditation, election should be postponed to the following day.
INEC had planned to call 50 witnesses in six days and many were wondering how the evidence of 50 polling units Presiding Officers, assuming INEC is able to call such number, would assist their case when higher authorities who monitored the elections at a general and wider level had testified at the tribunal to say that the election did not hold as prescribed under the law. They contended that if the POs were able to prove compliance, it is only as it relates to their respective units, maximum of 50 polling units, which would be very insignificant in a State of over 4,442 polling unit. They expect that the Resident Electoral Commissioner that superintended the election should be brought to testify as to the conduct of the election. Regrettably, it is not likely that the legal team is willing to take the risk of fielding the REC or any senior INEC officer.
Wike
Expressing their deep concern, many seem to be suggesting that it is a very bad case for Governor Nyesom Wike and the PDP.
This seems to be the general view and atmosphere for both the petitioners and some of the respondents’ counsel, but whether the tribunal will agree with them is a different issue. One of the lawyers of PDP simply put it this way, “the APC has tried, their evidence is overwhelming. We will try our best and leave it to the court. It is not a do-or-die, but honestly, to me, they have proven their case but I am not the tribunal.”
High Chief Newton Agbofodoh is the Unuevworo (Prime Minister) of Ekpan, Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State. In this interview with Polycarp Orosevwotu, he speaks on a variety of issues, including the recent Motor-Park crises, Governor IfeanyI Okowa’s alleged involvement, among others.
That was the cause of the recent Uvwie Motor Park crisis and attendant gun-battle?
The Motor Park, from inception, is run by the local government council. Motor parks and markets are run by local government not by state. So if the local government decided to change the leadership of motor park, I don’t see where it concerned the state government or the governor of a state.
The state government coming into the issue is interference as far the Uvwie motor park and market are concerned. And I am sure that is what brought the little fracas that happened, because the ones that were there before refused to remit to the council, they collect the money and put in their pockets. The council chairman decided with his councilors that those managing the motor park cannot be eating government money without remitting to the council, rather, they should leave and let other people that will remit to the council come in. That is exactly what he did and the people ran to the governor that they were being victimised because they work for Okowa. How can they say they are being victimised because they worked for Okowa, when the council chairman is a PDP and the people who ran to Okowa are also PDP? How can you say you worked for Okowa and the chairman of the council did not work for Okowa and he is PDP chairman, how come?
And one expected that the governor would listen to the council chairman and hear him out, but he asked his boys to go and take over the garage. With the assistance of the Inspector General of Police, those security agents deployed to all the park to cause mayhem and to intimidate the people were ordered to leave.
What is your take on the suspension of the Uvwie council chairman by the Delta State House of Assembly?
I am not a legislator, but if they say they have suspended the council chairman, it is expected that the law will define it if they have the right or not. Suspension l thought, comes when the councilors had complained or written to the House on any issue but when they have not, l wonder, what was the business of the Delta State lawmakers on an internal problem that had to do with the council; though,I am not a lawyer.
Those involved in the motor park are two of your sons, don’t you think, it was your duty to invite them for peace talk?
We would have reacted and settle it if they had called or explained to us, but when you now interfere, they say you are not a politician, but because we know they have political leaders, we expected such issues to have been addressed by their leaders.
Most times, some of our visitors who had stayed with us over decades are taking it for granted to start creating problems for us in our own land because we take them as our own and we don’t discriminate, and that should not be an excuse to start measuring up with us.
There have been peace since this local government chairman came into power if not that the state government went to rob Peter to pay Paul over this recent crises. We expected that as the governor of the state, the chairman is under you, when you see things happening to your own, you have to invite both parties and ensure the differences are settled.
There is also the issue of protest against Community Liaison Officer, CLO, whose tenures ended, what led to the protest?
Yes, we had Community Liaison Officers that their tenures came to an end recently but because they know the governor, they ran to him as they did in the case of the Uvwie Motor-Park and they were issued a letter through the Secretary to the State Government for reinstatement with security agents deployed to all the companies to prevent us from going close to the companies.
But again, with the assistance of the Inspector-General of Police, who ordered his men to leave, those that were reinstated out of fear, left but one of them who came back with Hilux Van with security agents to resume was disallowed to go in. Now you can see how we are being oppressed by the Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa for no just cause.
The CLO positions have tenures that expires every three years as approved by one of the Uvwie council chairman and if one’s tenure expires, it is expected that new CLOs has to come to position. But those that their tenure expired resort to using the governor’s machinery to intimidate us for no reason, and that brings to mind if he is a sectional governor, going by his attitude and see how we are being oppressed by the governor.
Ekpan community has been host to a lot multinational oil firms, how has this transformed your community in the area of development?
Well some of the companies we have in Ekpan are trying but some don’t at all. when we sincerely request for job, they don’t listen but that has not made us to stop asking, because we have a lot of youths in this community that don’t have job. So, we are still crying to the government to talk to the companies, mostly NNPC, to assist us because a man who is not working is an angry man and the one working will ever remain peaceful.
We are making this appeal because WRPC, PPMC and NGC which are subsidiary of NNPC are not doing well at all with the community, if we ask them for employment, they will tell us no vacancy but the next minute, we will see people being employed from Abuja to our community and it is not good for us. We don’t want to take laws into our hands, that is why we have resolve to protesting to let government know that these companies are not helping situations.
Our demands are genuine as it is our right for them to employ our youths because the company is in our land, so they don’t expect us to go and work somewhere else when we have the company here. All the land the company occupies are our fathers’ and mothers’ farmland, now the companies are occupying them, where do you expect our fathers and mothers to farm?
On effects of refinery and other companies activities on health...
You can see the refinery had occupied a large area which our forefathers and mother used to farm, so it is affecting us as a community. This is aside the pollution we breathe day in, day out, mostly when it is raining. If you put in a white basin when it is raining, it tells you what we breathing and there is no solution to the excessive pollution we inhaled everyday from the flare and NNPC don’t see what is wrong about it and yet they will not provide employment to the community. Our mothers and fathers had always suffered from this flare at about the age of 40-50 years and grow old fast as a result of what they inhale from the refinery and we don’t get any benefit from it. You can see the pains that NNPC had brought to us..
Well, Chevron had given scholarships to our community, even Shell had given us too but NNPC, I don’t think so, they have not given us scholarship but what they do from time to time, maybe two years they give us skill acquisition for hair dressing and other things like tailoring and at the end of the training, maybe one or two weeks they will provide the starters pack
There has been relative peace in Ekpan community since you assume the position of the Unuevworo, how come?
It is true that there is relative peace in this community, not only in my reign, we have been maintaining the peace and that is why we are confidently calling on investors that are ready to invest in this community to come provided what the community is due as a host community is given to them.
They did not expect it. So, it hit them hard. By the time the dust settled, 54 suspected prostitutes and 58 men suspected to be their customers were arrested in a raid carried out by the Cross River State Security Adviser, Mr Jude Ngaji, at Peace Garden Hotels located at No 1 Old Odukpani Road by Flour Mill, a popular red light district in Calabar.
Three women suspected to specialise in recruiting unsuspecting young girls into prostitution were also arrested, Ngaji said.
He said the raid was carried out between 11pm on Monday to 2pm on Tuesdayin collaboration with State Area Command of the Nigeria Police where the girls, aged 13 to 25 and were caught in “compromising positions” with the men.
•A room raided in the hotel
Ngaji, who took reporters on a tour of the raided hotel, which was in poor sanitary condition, yesterday, said the girls were from Cross River and various neighbouring states, he said.
He said the raid was necessary as the state frowns at prostitution, especially involving underage girls, and also that the place was a hideout for criminals. These he said were not good for the tourism profile of the state.
His words: “We also arrested three women who normally bring these girls from other states and tell them to come and be nannies in Calabar and when they arrive, they are forced into prostitution.
“These are the women who collect money from customers and supply the girls to service them. We also found CCTVs which we believe is used to monitor the girls so they don’t hide money or collect numbers from customers.”
Ngaji said the government would not relent in its fight against prostitution and criminality. He said the matter has been transfered to the police for appropriate action.
The Institute of Science and Technology, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, has launched some innovative, practical job creation schemes designed to tackle acute youth unemployment and insecurity in Africa.
The schemes are TeachFirst Solutions (TFS), Public-Private Partnership Job Creation Solutions (PPPJCS), and Youth Engagement and Entrepreneurial Training Solutions (YEETS).
TFS is aimed at African governments experiencing unemployment among their university graduates in maths, science and technology fields, while the PPPJCS is aimed at both governments and private sector organisations and is, particularly, useful for addressing unemployment among educated or literate young people. The latter scheme is also designed to provide high technical skills to young people as well as aid workplace productivity. The third scheme, YEETS, is aimed at governments experiencing high unemployment among their artisans or low skill people. It is particularly useful in dealing with challenges pose by youth violence, kidnapping and insecurity.
In all the three schemes, the Centre for Youth Employment and Job Creation at the Institute of Science and Technology will design and write-up the scheme and train people who are to implement them. Each scheme, which comes with built-in review, monitoring, research and evaluation – all designed to guarantee results and assure quality, guarantees jobs and training places for the unemployed young persons.
On the innovations, James Ogunleye, professor of innovation and enterprise and Deputy Rector at the Institute, said: “A significant reason for the current high rate of youth joblessness in Africa is a virtual absence of interactions between education and the labour markets. Be that as it may, what is missing between the youth and employment is innovation”. According to him: “the Institute of Science and Technology solutions are both strategies to prevent and actions to address youth unemployment, kidnapping, gang violence and general insecurity anywhere in Africa”.
The Institute of Science and Technology is a new interdisciplinary research-led school dedicated to applied research and education in science and technology.
Its main objective is to empower our generation and contribute to nation-building by helping to uplift the progress in business, science and technology and to undertake cutting-edge research that will inform policy and development in Nigeria, Africa and the world at large.
Two female armed robbers who specialise in looting shops, boutiques, supermarkets and restaurants have been nabbed.
The notorious gang which has been terrorising pedestrians and residents of Uyo, the Akwa Ibom Capital, using keke to operate was last Thursday apprehended by some residents of Ekpo Obot Street who gave them a hot pursuit after they had stolen from a boutique at No. 15 Ekpo Obot Street.
Narrating her ordeal, the Boutique sales girl, Imaobong Isaiah exclaimed: “See me o-o-o! The two girls entered my shop on a pretence to buy from me but after picking all the costly female hand bags, shoes, men jeans, hand watches and cloths worth forty-five thousand naira, instead of paying for what they have bought, they sent me to go and buy them drinks.
“So, I went to buy drinks for them at the nearby shop. As I returned, I met them making calls, and immediately their operational Keke man who was on standby to pick them came and they dashed inside the Keke with all my cloths without paying. So, I told them to give me my cloths, they refused.
“So, I started shouting, help! Thief! Thief! But the Keke man had already moved. As God would like it, luck ran out on them, the people around and people using cars pursued them and caught them.”
Questioning the two suspects, Grace Ekpo and Mfon Daniel from Itiam Ikot Ebia, Uyo Local Government, they confessed to the crime; saying apart from looting from shops, they have been involved in all kinds of robberies in the State and begged the people not to kill them.
They said: “When we enter peoples’ shops, we will pack the most costly ones; after which we will ask the attendant to get us water or send you on an errand. That will make us run away with the goods without paying for it. We rob women in Keke, we pick recharge card bags and anything that would fetch us quick money.’’
The gang was however saved from the angry mob when men of the Police Force arrived the scene, and whisked them away to the Police Station along Wellington Bassey Way, Uyo.
An eyewitness told this reporter that the gang had earlier also stolen clothes from another boutique on the same street, including hand bags full with recharge cards and cash of about fifty thousands of naira.
Police Public Relations Officer Cordelia Nwawe could not be reached to comment on the development.
The Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) has been commended for maintaining its own part of agreement in the General Memorandum of understanding (GMOU) entered with its host communities in Igboh cluster of Etche local government area of Rivers State.
The chairman of Etche Cluster One Development Foundation, Hon Stanley Amaechi made this commendation yesterday in Port Harcourt while briefing the press as part of the activities marking his two years in office as cluster chairman.
He said the company’s corporate social responsibility to its host communities in the area was the best among other companies operating in the area, adding that the reason for which the cluster was founded in 2013 have not been violated by the parties.
His word: “The Igboh cluster One Development Foundation has expressed gratitude to SPDC, the Monarch of Igboh kingdom, HRM Eze Samuel Amaechi for the support he gave to the foundation through the enthronement of peace.
“We are calling on other multinational companies operating in the area to emulate SPDC and join hand with the host communities to bring development especially the construction of accessible road in the area.”
