The Nation Newspaper

Category: Niger Delta

  • Curbing illegal refineries

    Curbing illegal refineries

    BOLAJI OGUNDELE writes about the most recent effort of the Nigerian Navy to battle oil theft and illegal oil refining in the deep recesses of Delta State’s creeks

    Nigeria’s economy has been has been bleeding in the last few years, largely as a result of some unhealthy activities going on in its various sub-sectors on a daily basis. Perhaps the most damaging of all the malfeasances is the phenomenon of oil theft and the operation of illegal oil refineries in the deep recesses of the Delta’s creeks. This particular factor has set the economy back in several billions of dollars over the years.

    The infractions had, however, not been left untreated as various security agencies have been battling the menace, with the mandate to either end it all together or ensure it is reduced to the barest minimum. The effort in Delta state has been spare headed by the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Delta, under the command of Commodore Musa Gemu, though has made remarkable progress, through the several operations targeted at the destruction of stolen crude and refined products, as well as facilities used for illegal refineries.

    One of such operations, described as about the most important, was recently executed in the Warri South council area of Delta state, seeing to the destruction of products and crude running into thousands of metric tons. Concisely, the naval outfit, after carrying out the operation, put the number of illegal refineries destroyed at more than 260 units and the amount of crude and refined products destroyed at about 5000 metric tons as the cumulative figure for the entire operation, which covered many of the communities in the council area.

    Speaking on the  destruction of the illegal refineries in Otegbene-Agbara community, Bennet Island and Jones Creek, all in Warri South council area, Commodore Gemu said the afffected places were new hideouts for oil thieves, where they refine illegally and from where they take illegally refined petroleum products to unsuspecting public.

    He noted that the renewed commitment of the navy to combating this illicit oil deal was in line with the zero tolerance of the  Chief of Naval Staff (CNS)Vice  Admiral Usman  Jibrin   to the issue of illegal bunkering activities and pipeline vandalism along the waterways, adding that since those behind this dastardly act of sabotage have resolved not to stop, the navy has intensified its surveillance operations and destruction exercise along these creeks.

    While lamenting the damage of the oil thieves to the economy, Commodre Gemu said aside the economy, they were damaging the  environment.

    “Over 700 metric tons of crude and refined products, with over 35 illegal refineries at Oteghele Ogharaha and equally destroyed over 350 metric tons of both crude and refined product at Bennett Island and Jones Creek. The crude and refined products were found inside over 70 basketball pitch size storages, all in Warri South. This is about the biggest of all our operations”, Gemu told journalists.

    “We (Navy) are particularly concerned that in spite of what the federal government,  NNPC, NDDC,  and DESOPADEC had done and still doing to alleviate the poverty in this region through youth empowerments, job creation and educational up-liftment, some people are just not satisfied. They take to criminal activities as if it’s a way of life and that’s the  more reason they indulge themselves in all sorts of criminalities along the creeks.

    “Look at the environment here now. They have polluted the waters in the various communities along these creeks as a result of spills from the damaged pipelines points from where they stole the crude. Now, how do the indigenes of these communities cope? Let’s assume that they don’t drink the waters from this river but at least people rely on it as a source of living especially fishermen and also domestic use but as you can see now of what use is this polluted water to the people? So even the communities suffers so much from this act of sabotage”, he said.

    Commodore Gemu warned those behind this dastardly act to desist in their best interest as the navy has improved his surveillance network along to creeks to be able to locate some of the remote hideout where these criminal acts are being perpetrated, stressing that anyone caught in this act should be prepared to face the unpleasant consequences of their actions.

     

  • Stolen mandates

    Stolen mandates

    Moseyn Ekiw is all smiles. He is in his tastefully-furnished sitting room. A bottle of Louis XIII wine, which costs at least £5,000 or some ?1,500,000, stands majestically on a side stool. A portion of it is in a golden tumbler in his left hand. He sips from it from time to time and each time he does that, his eyes light up in a manner suggesting: this is the life!

    It is 6am. The crowd will soon start trooping in. Since his status changed to governor-elect of Waters State, the crowd in and outside his compound has increased. They troop in as early as 7am. He knows that many of them are with him because of what they can get and not because they love him.

    His gold edition of Thuraya phone soon starts beeping. The man on the other end is Modu Leunamme, the governor-elect of Abasi Ibom State. Ekiw picks the call and screams: “My brother.”

    “Good morning, bros,” Leunamme, a former bank top executive drafted into politics by the outgoing governor of Abasi Ibom State, replies.

    “Hope all is well? This one that you are calling me this early…”

    “I am calling so that we can discuss how things will be well.”

    “Okay, what is the problem?”

    “You know we share a common fate. We are both governors-elect and we know more than anybody else that we did not get the status on merit. It was through fraud. The elections that we claimed to have won, as international and local observers have observed, were sham. They were a rape of democracy. I can admit that before you, but outside I will defend it and hide my shame…”

    Ekiw cuts in: “ I agree with you my brother, but it is not strange in our region. We had always written the results of elections in private homes. VIPs’ guest houses have always served us as collation centres and if we had done anything contrary, these men sweeping everywhere in the country with broom would have taken over our states. That is the only weapon we have and we must guard it jealously…”

    “My point exactly. These change people will not take it lightly with us. They sure will go to court and challenge the results of the elections that brought you and me to power. We need to think fast. Assemble a team of lawyers— senior advocates— and get them to tell us what we need to do to keep these mandates that we stole…”

    “You know each time I hear senior advocates, my heat skips. Those guys can drain you all in the name of defending you and when they know you are desperate like us, they are more daring. I will use them but I will also use another strategy…”

    “And what will that be?” Leunamme asks.

    “All the ex-militants in this state are in my hand. I used them during the elections and I will use them in the struggle to keep this seat.  I will not give up without a fight and even if I will be sent away one day, I will make sure I find a way to drag this thing for at least one year. If the tribunal rules in their favour, I will appeal. If the appeal rules in their favour, I will approach the Supreme Court and why I am doing that, I will be scaring them with the militants…”

    “ How will you use the militants effectively when by that time the change people would have taken over at the centre? You know we were able to use the security agents at the state level because we still control the centre. All that stops on May 29 and I know that these change people will go all out to equip the security to effectively cow your militants.”

    There is silence for some seconds.

    “ My brother, you know I really did not think very well about what you just pointed out. But we will cross the bridge when we get there. I will not leave without putting up a fight. I will fight till the last and also see how to rally the people around me. I know it will not be easy, especially with the stupid reports from those foreign observers. Those people are stupid. Why can’t they just mind their business? This is our region’s brand of democracy and we have always done it like this. Even Timiro got his second term through a similar manner. You know the Supreme Court gave him his first term without election.”

    “ I will like you to come to Uyo on Sunday. I want to have a thanksgiving service…”

    “ I can’t make it. I am also having a second thanksgiving on Sunday and aside that I plan to visit some big churches here to plead with the people to accept the outcome of the poll…”

    “But you had one thanksgiving the day you were declared?”

    “My brother, one thanksgiving service is not enough in this special circumstance…”

    “I was just shaking my head when I heard you making promises about not prosecuting anybody and saying people should believe you because you were talking before men of God…”

    “Why were you shaking your head?”

    “Because I know you were only making a political statement and dragging men of God into it. You the ruthless one. God sure is gentle. If He were a man, He would have struck you dead right there.”

    The duo burst into laughter.

    “ We need to keep comparing notes from time to time,” says Ekiw,” the people who helped us to steal these mandates would be out of power by May 29. So, we will be on our own. There will be little they can do for us at that stage. We have to be our own men.”

    “ I agree with you.”

    “Thanks for calling my brother,” Ekiw says as he drops the phone.

    The time is now 6.45am. The crowd will soon start building up. His first comes down and sits by him.

    “Good morning darling,” she says.

    “Morning honey,” he replies

    “Goodluck charm has brought us this far. How further can it take us? I am afraid of disgrace after a few months in power…”

    “ Don’t worry, I will work out how we will keep the mandate…”

    “ The way the mandate was stolen was too brazen and with the foreign observers saying what they are saying, I am afraid. The people we are up against will be in control at the centre then. There will be no Goodluck charm again.”

    Ekiw’s phone gives a signal that a text message just comes in. He reads it: “Congrats your Excellency, I will be willing to serve in your cabinet. Prof Nelson Ipadibo.”

    He shows it to his wife and she hisses.

    “ Dear, we have come a long way. At a point, I told people it would be wrong of me to want to be governor because I am from the same ethnic stock with the outgoing governor. At a point, I was drafted into the race. At another point, I was almost dropped because of the sentiment that the People on Water should take the next shot. Then I thought of taking a UNICEF job in Paris and relocating. Then the Goodluck charm was promised me again after some political moves on my path. I had to fight men within Umbrella Peoples Party (UPP) to get the ticket. Thanks to the Goodluck charm. Even you did not believe the Goodluck charm was capable of making me governor. You said so to me a couple of times.  Even traditional rulers ganged up against me, but Goodluck charm proved potent. Now, I am governor-elect and on May 29, I will be sworn-in as governor. You can see I have gone too far to give up just anyhow. I will fight to keep this mandate. Let them call it stolen or not, I don’t give a damn. Mandates have always been stolen in our geo-political zone.”

    He hugs his wife and they both cling to each other for some time. As far as he is concerned, an era has ended and a new one is beginning. He vows to take it one step at a time.

     

  • Ogoniland’s request from President-elect Buhari

    The President, Supreme Council of Ogoni Traditional Rulers in Rivers State, His Royal Majesty King Godwin Gininwa has seen his land awash in oil. Farmlands are awash in crude oil. Streams are not spared. The side effects of this are numerous. Strange diseases, food shortage and crushing poverty are some of the side effects of the oil  spills that have turned Ogoniland to a sorry state.

    The United Nations Environmental Project (UNEP) investigated the extent of the destruction to the Ogoni environment and its verdict was damning. The oil giants operating there have been reckless and insincere.

    As change begins at the federal level on May 29, the people of Ogoniland are expectant. Aside the clean-up of their land, King Gininwa also expects President-elect Mohammadu Buhari to appoint Ogoni indigenes into prominent position.

    King Gininwa, who believes that Nigeria would fare better under Buhari, also appealed to the in-coming President to include Ogoni clean-up exercise as one of the projects that would be celebrated in his first 100 days in office.

    The Gbene-Mene Tai, who is also the Chairman, Rivers State Traditional Rulers’ Council made the appeal when officials of the Association of Ogoni Oil Producing Communities Traditional Rulers Council (OPTRACON), paid him a visit in his Palace at Koroma Tai, in Ogoniland recently.

    The monarch said the recruitment of his subjects into the mainstream of the new government is imperative for guiding the new President on issues of development in Ogoniland.

    He reiterated his support for the proposed take-up of oil production in the land by an indigenous oil firm, Belemaoil and Gas, owned by a Rivers state indigene maintaining that his support is in agreement with that of oil producing communities in the four Ogoni Local Government Areas.

    The King described oil as leading development instrument in the world and recalled the alleged unfair treatment by Shell to the people of Ogoni and its environments, which he said attracted the wrath of the people against it. He warned that the indigenous company would not be treated any differently if it deviates from the agreement reached when it gets the authorisation to start production.

    “If Belema has met the communities that have the oil and you have agreed with the conditions presented, there is nothing wrong with my supporting you, that is not a criminal offence. If you have thoroughly investigated him and are convinced that he will keep to the agreement of lifting the environmental and welfare status of the people of Ogoniland please go ahead with him, you have my support.

    “We appeal to Gen. Buhari to as a matter of urgency, come and clean up Ogoniland within his first 100 days in office after which oil activities should resume in the land, we have suffered for so long.

    “I am not only asking Gen. Buhari to implement UNEP report, but also recruit Ogoni indigenes into various jobs in his government. I have already told him that Ogoni people are honest and serviceable and will serve him well.

    “How can we have oil and still continue to suffer in the midst of plenty? Ogoni has oil, Ogoni has oil, but when you come into Ogoni you see nothing. We are appealing to our dear President-Elect to try and help Ogoni people out from this poor state of life and environment.

    “We have not been treated well as oil producing communities, but this time around, we want to be treated fairly. Ogoni people are impoverished today because of the poor treatment we received from Shell, if it pleased God to put the resources that sustains governments in our land, then we are not supposed to be poor, but that is not the case with us.”

     

  • Help rebuild our library, Iguobazuwa residents beg govt

    Help rebuild our library, Iguobazuwa residents beg govt

    Presidents of Iguobazuwa in Ovia South West Local Government have appealed to the Edo State Government to help renovate and rehabilitate the only library building in the community.

    The library located at the community public field is a shadow of its former self. The roofs have been blown opened while the doors are destroyed and hanging loosely. A handful of books could still be found on some shelves. Rodents and termites have since taken abode in the library building whose surrounding is unkempt.

    It could not be ascertained when the library was built but Executive Director of the African Network for Environment and Economic Justice, Rev. David Ugolor, said he used to study in the library when he was in secondary school.

    The residents expressed their concern about the library at a stakeholders meeting organised by the League of Awareness in collaboration with Edo Study Groups (ESP).

    Rev. Ugolor in his speech recalled how he used to go to the library after school hours to read before joining his parents at the farm. He said it was the books he read at the library that helped to shape his present status.

    Ugolor who lamented the absence of a community bank at Iguobazuwa community despite it being a local government headquarters ascribed the situation to lack of unity among the people.

    He said the essence of the meeting was to educate the people on the wind of change blowing across the country to enable them key into it and warned against collecting money to vote during election.

    Rev. Ugolor said the meeting was for the people to cross check the development strides of Governor Oshiomhole with a view to knowing which political party meant well for the people.

    According to him, “Edo need a steady political system that would join forces with Iguobazuwa to ensure that the community is not forgotton by Oshiomhole’s administration”.

    “What is happening in Igoubazuwa cannot continue, we need change. I am not a member of any political party but I know Oshiomhole meant well for the people.”

    Former Commissioner for Investment, Public and Private Partnership, Dennis Idahosa, urged the people to work together for the purpose of developing the community.

    Idahosa said the community need industries, soft loans for farmers as well as a tertiary institution.

    Chairman of Iguobazuwa Development Association, Joseph Ohonbamu, said the money used to bribe voters during the general elections should have been used to create jobs for youths in the communities.

    In his speech, Chairman of Ovia South West local government council, Morris Ogunrobo-Ovia, described the meeting as the beginning for a better tomorrow for the community

    Lamenting the under-development of Iguobazuwa in spite of array of personalities from the community, the council boss revealed that his administration has taken deliberate steps to redress the situation by embarking on several developmental projects across the locality.

    The theme of the meeting was “ From Stomach Infrastructure to Sustainable Development,’’ in Edo State.

     

  • Otuoke …Gloomy after Jonathan’s loss of the big pie

    Otuoke …Gloomy after Jonathan’s loss of the big pie

    What does a town look like when its most prominent indigene loses the highest office in the country? MIKE ODIEGWU was in Otuoke, the home town of outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan, to see its state after the last presidential election won by Gen. Muhammadu Buhari

    President Goodluck Jonathan’s Polling Unit 39, Ward 13 in Otuoke, Ogbia Local Government Area, had a reversal of fortune on Saturday during the House of Assembly elections in Bayelsa State. It lacked the presidential atmosphere and aura it once commanded.

    Prior to Saturday, Otuoke used to bubble on each election day, especially after Jonathan was elevated to the highest political office in the country. Each election was like a carnival or as some people said a market of dignitaries. Everybody who mattered in the Presidency used to accompany Jonathan to his polling unit in Otuoke.

    Then, the broad road of Otuoke felt the impact of exotic vehicles which tickled the earth and quaked the bridges. Residents of Otuoke were treated and entertained by influx of very important persons to their community. They fed their eyes counting movement of many strange and expensive Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) in their community.

    Then, the media community used to relocate to Otuoke. All the media houses, especially electronic media, moved their gadgets to the polling unit of the President to cover him, most times live as he exercised his franchise. Foreign media organisations were not left behind. In fact, the number of reporters almost suffocated the polling unit.

    What about the number of security operatives? They were simply uncountable. Like bees they swarmed around the unit and Otuoke. They paraded different sophisticated rifles and looked stern. The operatives took over the streets of Otuoke and through their eyes they scanned everything and everybody in the community.

    With their presence, it was a Herculean task to catch a glimpse of the President. Different security hardware and softwares used to be deployed in Otuoke. In fact, security commanders of all the security agencies in the state took charge of affairs of the President whenever he visited to cast his votes.

    One of the major features of the President’s visit to Otuoke on any Election Day was the presence of his wife, Dame Patience and his mother, Comfort. The President enjoyed the company of his wife whose handling of English Language provoked laughter when on one of the occasions she saw a crew of AIT reporters and exclaimed: “AIT, una wan come carry us alive today?” Indeed, Jonathan never voted in the polling unit without his wife.

    But everything changed last Saturday. “How the mighty have fallen”, a resident from Otuoke exclaimed as he trudged along the road unhindered. The unidentified old man shook his head a number of times as he passed. Apparently, it was strange for him to see a few vehicles, relaxed security and absence of “Mama Peace” in Otuoke on that day.

    Nobody believed that Jonathan was in town last Saturday. His polling unit where the people of Otuoke came out in their numbers on March 28 during the Presidential election to identify with him, was deserted. Nobody believed that such level of disenchantment existed in Otuoke where voting entered the second day during the presidential election.

    There was serious voter apathy at the polling unit of the President. The downcast residents were in their houses and business premises refusing to come out for the election. Dame Patience ‘abandoned’ her husband. Madam Comfort stood by her son.

    Jonathan arrived the community at about 10:53am and did his accreditation at about 11:05am with minimal number of aides and security details. The disenchanted people of Otuoke went about their normal business and domestic activities leaving officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) sitting idly.

    INEC officials arrived before 8am at the polling units in the area but waited till about 9:20am before some voters grudgingly appeared for accreditation. Some of the residents said there was nothing to vote for since their kinsman lost the presidential election despite their massive support.

    “We are no longer motivated to vote. What are we voting for again. We voted massively during the presidential election but our brother still lost,” a lady who was engrossed in her business muttered.

    Where was Patience Jonathan? Everybody was curious to know the First Lady’s whereabouts. Why was she not with her husband? Why did she refuse to cast her vote at her polling unit? It became obvious that Patience sacrificed her vote for the soul of Rivers State. She went to her hometown in Okirika to supervise the abnormalities that led to the emergence of Nyesom Wike as the Governor-elect of Rivers State.

    But journalists were curious over the absence of Jonathan’s wife. So, a female journalist inquired from the President: “Where is your wife?” The President was a little startled. He let out a smile and gave answer suggesting he was playing to the gallery.

    At about 1:45pm, the President said he was still expecting his wife at his community in Otuoke to participate in the electoral process. The President, who spoke after casting his vote at his polling unit, feigned ignorance of his wife’s whereabouts claiming that the First Lady who was nowhere to be found in her voting unit did not board the same aircraft with him.

    While Jonathan who jetted out of his community shortly after casting his vote, claimed he was still expecting his wife at Otuoke, there were reports that Patience had spent about two days in Okirika, Rivers State, working to ensure the victory of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the polls.

    Jonathan said: “Of course, we used different aircraft. She was expected to be here. We have been expecting her and she will still come. The only thing is whether she will meet up the accreditation period. That is the problem. But she is supposed to be on her way.”

    But Jonathan attributed the low turnout of voters to different levels of election, noting that some elections elicit more interest than others. “Naturally different levels of elections elicit different interests. Presidential elections are more interesting. governorship elections are quite interesting,” he said.?

    He added that there would have been better turnout if governorship election was holding in Bayelsa State. “For the House of Assembly election, the interest is not as high compared to governorship election. We expect low turnout in states that don’t have governorship elections,” he said.

    On his feeling after conceding defeat, the President said: “I am a Nigerian and I am Goodluck Jonathan and I feel that as a nation, you respect your laws and I am quite pleased in respecting the laws of the land.”

    The President further expressed satisfaction on the growing democratic ideals of the country. “As a nation, we are quite happy we are consolidating in our democratic efforts. The key thing is that the citizens must directly change government properly. We must do elections every four years,” he said.

     

  • Soldiers detain Transition Committee chair

    Soldiers detain Transition Committee chair

    Soldiers in Aba, Abia State, have apprehended the Transition Committee chairman of Obingwa Local Government Area, Prince Obinna Nwabiaraije for allegedly being in possession of materials said to belong to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    Nwabiaraije was detained for failing to explain why bottles of ink, pads and result sheets, among others, were found in a car on his convoy.

    Sources said that the materials were discovered during a stop-and-search operation by soldiers at the Waterside Bridge along the Aba- Ikot Ekpene Expressway.

    A source who would not want to be mentioned said when the Obingwa transition chief could not give a credible explanation on the presence of the INEC materials, the soldiers ordered him to lie down on the expressway.

    The source said that all entreaties by the suspect’s father to release his son failed as the soldiers insisted that they would take Nwabiaraije to their base.

    Investigations by The Nation revealed that the Obingwa Transitional Committee Chairman was later taken to the Ngwa High School Forward Operation Base (FOB) where he was said to have been detained and later released after the father, who was once a former Deputy council chairman of Abia State Traditional Rulers’ Council made calls to the powers that be in the state.

    Information gathered by The Nation has it that as at the time of this report, the vehicle used in conveying the materials was still in the army’s custody at Ngwa High School near Osisioma.

    The Public Relations Officer of 14 Brigade, Ohafia could not be reached at the time of the report, but sources confirmed that the TC chairman was in the custody of the soldiers on Saturday, as well as the said vehicle.

    The governorship election in the state was said to have marred by a lot of irregularities, including snatching of ballot boxes, result sheets, harassing of INEC officials and intimidation of agents of opposition parties by people alleged to be working for the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

    Anyim and Otti, who spoke to reporters described the election in the state as a sham, citing cases of electoral irregularities such as snatching of ballot boxes, use of fake uniformed men and thugs to harass and intimidate their party agents, among other electoral offences.

    Otti said: “There was no election in Abia State. The governor and the PDP, in collaboration with INEC officials, went to various polling units and withdrew the original result sheets which they replaced with a fake one.

    “We have information that the PDP were thumb-printing ballot papers in the official residence of a top PDP member in the state.

    “They used thugs who wielded machetes and fire arms, and who shot sporadically in the air to harass and scare people away before snatching the ballot papers and result sheets. They did these things using fake uniformed men to cart away the election materials.

    “It is the same situation in Umuahia, Aba North and South, Umuahia North and South, Ohafia, Umunneochi, Isiala Ngwa North and South. In fact, there is no election in Abia State and I am calling on the chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega to cancel the election in some of the areas where we have pockets of irregularities because what we witnessed was a total sham and cannot, in any way, be described as an election. We have evidences and genuine reason to call for the cancelation of the poll.”

    The guber candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) however expressed the optimism that he would still defeat the ruling party in the state if the election was re-conducted in a credible and transparent atmosphere.

    While appraising the conduct of the election, Anyim, however regretted reported cases of ballot-box snatching, intimidation of the opposition by the ruling party, stressing that such thuggish acts as reported by their agents in the field show the desperation of the ruling party.

    He said: “It was primitive. Nigeria is too big for such a thing to happen; where election materials were being stolen. It shows that the PDP has failed the state because if they did well, they wouldn’t have resorted to stealing of ballot boxes and other sensitive materials. It is a total shame and shows how it has failed in giving the people good governance.

    “It shows that they have badly managed the state and that is why the people need change which APC is will bring about when it comes on board as a government that the people of the state is truly yearning for, as the PDP has failed them in the past 16 years of their administration in the state.”

    Also speaking, a chieftain of APGA and the Abia Central Senatorial candidate of the partyý in the just-concluded National Assembly election, Chief Ahamdi Emmanuel Nweke, corroborated Dr. Otti’s position, accusing the ruling party of rigging the process and causing mayhem.

    Nweke said: “The action of the PDP and some corrupt INEC officials is a rape of democracy”.

    The Nation gathered that security agents in the state recovered two AK47 rifles and 49 raps of Indian hemp from hoodlums who were yet to name their sponsor.

  • Fresh Escravos violence tests Itsekiri/Ijaw relationship in Delta

    Fresh Escravos violence tests Itsekiri/Ijaw relationship in Delta

    Will there ever be a time that the Ijaw and Itsekiri in Delta State will live in unity? Events of the last decades suggest it will never happen. S’South Regional Editor Shola O’Neil reports on the fresh violence between the two groups in Escravos

    The early Tuesday morning fracas between the Ijaw and Itsekiri in Escravos area of Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State once again highlighted how delicate the relationship between the two ethnic groups has remained, over 10 years after the end of the fratricidal war between them from 1997 to 2014.

    That war, which was the predecessor of the Niger Delta crisis, led to thousands of death, particularly on the side of the Itsekiris, whose communities were plundered and sacked from Warri South, South West and North LGAs.

    Trouble again broke out in the wee hours of that Tuesday after three irate Itsekiri boys attacked and brutally wounded an Ijaw security guard working at the site of a deep sea project in the area. The dastardly attack drew a very tough and brutal response from Ijaw militias.

    Over 30 youths armed with sophisticated weapon, took off from one of their communities, thought to be Oporoza, and stormed Madangho, an Itsekiri community located opposite the Escravos Tank Farm and Gas to Liquid complex of Chevron Nigeria Limited, in the dead of the night.

    For several hours they rained bullets on the town from the seashore. People, including the elderly women, youths and children who were rudely woken up from sleep, scampered for safety in the dead of the night. Several persons were wounded in their desperate bids to get out of harm’s away. The fleeing persons crawled out of the ‘war front’ on their belly, ostensibly to avoid stopping flying bullets. One source said flying bullets wheezed passed his head severally.

    “It was almost a return to the Warri crisis; fathers forgot their children and ran for dear lives. Men, women and everybody took off and ran into the bushes, some jumped into the river and swam away to safe shores. It was the same madness all over again,” a menial laborer in the town who simply identified as Friday told our reporter.

    When the staccato of gunfire died, some of the marauders disembarked from their boats, doused houses with petrol and set them afire. They left a trail of destruction on other parts of the town. Hours later, an eerie silence fell over the darkness, reaching as far as Ode-Ugborodo, Ajuadaibo, Ogidigben and Arunto, the other Itsekiri settlements that make up Ugborodo, and even Warri and beyond.

    Panicky inhabitants were already packing their bags and girding their loins, ready to beat a hasty exit should the gunfire come nearer their in habitation. Painful memories of deaths, blazing guns and burning houses came back for those who witnessed the seven-year pogrom. However thry were relieved when the gunfire died and reports came that the siege was over.

    But the interregnum of silence didn’t last long; the marauders returned again with more weapons and ammunition and the orgy of shooting and violence returned with them. But this time the sporadic gunfire attracted the attention of a military post in the area.

    A source said: “The soldiers came and they faced-off for a while, after which the marauders felt they had had enough. They pulled out and left, but kept on shooting until their boats were safely in the centre of the river and zoomed off.”

    Tension had gripped the areas since early January when ex-militants threatened to unleash mayhem if President Jonathan did not win the election. The tension became even more palpable when the APC candidate won the March 28 election.

    “That night we monitored the results until the winner was announced. We had people watching the waterways for any sign of impending invasion because we know that they (ex-militants) cannot go and fight the Hausa/Fulani in the north, we would be their targets,” one Ugborodo youth said.

    Although the intervention of the military men brought the Tuesday morning party to an abrupt close, it was clear that the intention of the attackers was not to kill their victims. “It was more a show of might more than anything. They wanted to show their counterparts that they could still hit them hard if they want to,” a security source in the area told our reporter.

    Frantic telephone calls between some notable elements on both sides pulled the attackers out of the brink. One of the Itsekiri youths, who called our reporter when the second shooting started at about 3:45am, later said: “We learnt that the council chairman, Chief George Ekpemupolo (sibling of Government Ekpemupolo (Tompolo), David Tonwe and Tompolo were in constant touch that night and made frenetic efforts to reach out to their people to ensure that the matter didn’t escalate. They have been working together for peace and they were able to calm the situation and ensure that it didn’t get out of hand.”

    The Commanding Officer, 3 Battalion of the Nigerian Army, Lt Col. Ekong Bassey, confirmed that the leaders from both sides waded into p the matter and we’re working hard to ensure that the situation did not escalate further. He urged both parties to continue to be law abiding and not take action that could torpedo the existing peace in the area.

    Still, inspire of the security presence, the aggrieved Ijaw youths mounted blockades on the waterways and prevented boats carrying Itsekiri people or persons from the Itsekiri communities from going to Warri and other destinations. Transport boats taking passengers and commodities to the area from upland towns were also turned back.

    Chief Ayirimi Emami denounced the invasion and subsequent burning of houses in Madangho. He traced the initial action of the Itsekiri youths to the disagreement over the project land and the clearing of same site without consultation with the committee set up by the state government.

    “Besides, whatever happened at the project site was not enough for some people to roll out guns and visit mayhem on defenseless community people. It is a clear act of banditry and totally uncalled for and must be condemned. There are fights everyday in other communities, people don’t unleash heavy weapons and brute force on their neighbours. This has shown that there is more to it,” Emami told our reporter in a telephone chat on Wednesday.

    His claim confirmed persistence of mutual distrust between the two sides over the years, in spite of several attempts at peace building. Our reporter noted that minor disagreements between them are almost always followed by threats of war and reenactment of the seven years of bloodletting and bestiary killings.

    Our investigation revealed that the Tuesday skirmish was a carryover of the Ijaw/Itsekiri crisis. Ikpokpo (or Kpokpo), depends on which side is staking the claim, was said to be one of the communities seized by the Ijaws after sacking dozens of communities from their weaker neighbours in the 1990s crisis.

    The community, which borders Ugborodo and Gbaramatu, Ijaw and Itsekiri clans, had remained almost fallow since the end of the war. It became attractive following the siting of the $16billion Delta Gas City project in the area by the outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan administration.

    Although the project was initially named after Ogidigben, one of five settlements that make up the Ugborodo community, trouble started when the Gbaramatu demanded their inclusion as stakeholder. Their argument was that Ikpokpo, which is site of the deep sea arm of the mega project, was theirs. Chief Godspower Gbenekama, a prominent Gbaramatu leader, said the land was theirs, warning that they would resist the injustice.

    The contention and subsequent threat of war by the Ijaw infamously led to President Goodluck Jonathan’s postponement of the groundbreaking ceremony at least thrice. He sited security challenges and threat to peace. The Itsekiri, in return, famously tagged him an ethnic President, memo they also accused of pandering to the whims and caprices of his kinsmen.

    Although the ceremony was later performed on the 26 of March, it was alleged that the President motive merely part of his national vote-hunting drive on the eve of the presidential election,which he later lost, than because he felt genuinely committed to the project, as the Itsekiri had threatened to vote massively against him.

    Prior to the March 26 event, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), which oversees the Federal Government’s stake in the project; Delta State Government and other stakeholders from the two ethnic groups met severally to hammer out a mutually satisfactory peace deal. According to the term of the deal, the gas project remain in Ogidigben, while the deep sea port recede into Gbaramatu in order to create a win-win scenario for all parties.

    Despite that deal, some stakeholders, particularly the Itsekiri people remained unperturbed and unimpressed. Notable among the disgruntled member was the effervescent Chief Emami. He insisted that the NNPC had not come out to explain to the Itsekiri if it was acquiring a fresh parcel of land from the Ijaw or it if was the same land that they have earmarked for the project.

    Notable Itsekiri politicians and aspirants kept their part of the deal and worked with Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan to ‘deliver’ the President and other candidates of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the general elections. Emami, who was uncomfortable with the deal, left the PDP and pitch his tent with the opposition All Progressive Congress. Emami, He accused some of his kinsmen of selling their tribe for their business and political interests.

    At the time of this report on Wednesday, calm had return to the area; the waterways was opened to nor business and people of the sides have left the trenches. Yet, some persons believe that the existing peace is merely the peace of the graveyard.

    In the words of one of the beleaguered residents, “Nobody knows when another round of shooting will take place. We are not sleeping with our eyes close yet, not today or tomorrow.”

     

  • A year after, controversy persists over Delta lawyers’ murder

    A year after, controversy persists over Delta lawyers’ murder

    two Warri-based lawyers were killed about a year ago on their way to court in Ozoro, Delta State. No headway is being made to resolve the murder, writes BOLAJI OGUNDELE 

    A year ago, two Warri-based lawyers, Horace Eguono Dafiaghor and Samuel Ekwuaghanju, were killed in cold blood by yet to be identified gunmen. They were representing a couple of kidnap suspects at a High Court in Ozoro, they were on their way to perform their duties in the case when they were trailed and killed along the road in Ozoro.

    The incident, sad as it was, generated a lot of passion and reactions, especially from the Warri branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), which then demanded in immediate investigation of the killing of its members. It should be pointed out that prior to their brutal murder, one of the two victims, Dafiaghor, had reported to his professional association that he was receiving threats and that when some of the phone lines being used were traced, they led to policemen. This singular claim prompted the NBA to particularly charge the police to do a sincere in depth investigation and and resist pressure to cover any liable person up.

    At that time, both police and the state government promised to uncover the mystery surrounding the circumstances of the lawyers’ death. Police, under the former Commissioner of Police in the state, Ikechukwu Aduda, said it had tasked a crack team to investigate and unravel the killing. “That while we deeply regret the gruesome Murder of the two ministers in the temple of Justice – a crack team of detectives led by the Deputy Commissioner of Police State CID Asaba had been constituted to unravelled the mystery behind the sordid act.

     

    “Finally we want to reassure the good people of Delta State that the Command will never succumb to the temptations of extra judicial killing or be a party to same, but will rather remain undeterred or discouraged by any act of blackmail and will continue in our present efforts to ensure that the evil of kidnapping and violent crime is consistently fought head-on no matter whose ox is gored”, Aduba had said.

    However, one year after the sad incident, the case still remains unsolved and no culprit punished, hence the protest by members of the NBA decided to steer the state’s police command into action by organising a protest to express their dissatisfaction over failure of the police to live up to its billings. During the protest, the NBA, led by its branch chairman, John Aikpokpo-Martins, said it would not relent until the police does its work and bring the killers of its members to Justice.

    Speaking during the protest, the chairman of the Warri branch of the NBA, Aikpokpo-Martins, said nothing had been heard or seen as a sincere effort from the police to bring the murderers of the slain lawyers to book.

    “On 27 April 2014, the NBA promptly made a petition directly to the Inspector General of Police (IG) in view of the suspected persons involved in this condemnable act wherein we made passionate call for comprehensive investigation into the murder of our colleagues.

    “Nothing has been heard thus far, giving the ominous belief that this is one murder the police is reluctant in investigating and bring the culprits to book in the circumstance in spite of the pressure made to bear on the police”, he said.

    He said further that the body had again written to the IG to awaken the “smothering coals of police investigation in the matters”, stressing that “we are watching and at the right time we would declare a new line of action if the police remain reluctant. We shall not relent.”

     

  • Niger Delta…Still at the mercy of oil spills, gas flaring, poverty

    Niger Delta…Still at the mercy of oil spills, gas flaring, poverty

    As a Niger Delta youth leader, Mujahhid Dokubo-Asari knows the region in and out. His verdict is that in the last six years, the Federal Government, led by President Goodluck Jonathan, took the region for granted. Its challenges, such as oil spills, gas flaring, coastal erosion and poverty, remain largely unaddressed as a new government takes charge at the centre, writes Mike Odiegwu

    President Goodluck Jonathan’s defeat at the March 28 presidential poll sent shock waves across the Niger Delta. The President’s kinsmen never imagined that their benefactor could be sent packing from the Aso Rock Villa. Though, they simply acknowledged that it was going to be the tightest presidential race in the history of the country,  defeat to them, was not an option.

    When asked by some journalists, what they would do if Jonathan eventually lost the race, a kinsman of theCover pic 2 President who came to cast his vote in Otuoke, Jonathan’s home town, said: “Our brother will not lose.” couldthe unnamed kinsman of the President be speaking the minds of other youths in the region? Without mincing words, there has been grave silence punctured intermittently by threats of militancy in the region since Buhari was officially declared the winner

    Asenior government official confided in the Niger Delta Report that President Goodluck Jonathan saved a violent response that would have followed Buhari’s declaration.

    “The boys were already in the creeks. They were prepared to start blowing major oil facilities in the creeks when Jonathan immediately conceded defeat even before all the results were announced. That singular act of the President weakened the boys”, the official who pleaded anonymity said.

    Events before the election

    In fact, the Niger Delta region was gripped in prolonged pre-election agitations. Different groups rose to endorse their kinsman and to list myriads of reasons why President Jonathan must be reelected. Aside predicating their reasons on performance index of Jonathan’s Presidency, they also vehemently argued that it was their birthright to have a second term in office to guarantee balance of power.

    No group, however, rattled Nigeria more than the assemblage of ex-militants and their leaders who converged under the roof of Bayelsa State Government House to threaten the collective existence of the country.

    Apparently worried by the tide of public opinion against Jonathan and the north’s reaction against his ambition, Governor Seriake Dickson and the Presidential Adviser on Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Kingsley Kuku, met with key ex-militant leaders and hundreds of their foot soldiers at the Banquet Hall.

    The gathering was reinforced by the attendance of ex-militant leaders, vitriolic agitators and notable youth leaders, such as Alhaji Mujahid Asari Dokubo, Chief Government Ekpemopulo (a.k.a Tompolo), Ebikabowei Victor Ben (a.k.a. Boyloaf) and Ijaw Youth Council President, Udengs Eradiri.

    Also in attendance were Pastor Reuben, Ogunboss, General Africa, General Joshua, Shoot-at-Sight, General Ezekiel and many others. Their emotions boiled over. Dokubo turned the gathering to a war front. In what seemed like a last minute efforts to rescue the President, their kinsman, Dokubo referred to the Presidential election as a war and asked the ex-militants to get ready.

    Declaring that nobody would intimidate the Ijaw nation, Dokubo beat the war drum and said the President must win the election. “We are going to war and everyone of you must go and purify yourself. President Jonathan will win. Whatever anger they have, this anger must be kept aside”, he thundered.

    Also, Boyloaf said the only thing that binds Nigeria together is oil adding that if President Jonathan fails to return, the Niger Delta region will take its oil back. “They want to use insecurity to push out our own. I am retired but not tired. I can go back to the creeks. Whether they like it or not we will win.

    “We own the oil. We own the resources, but they say we don’t have the right to rule. They want to take the seat but we must collect our oil if they take the power back from us”, he vibrated.

    Outrage, indeed, was the word used to describe the gathering and warmongering of the ex-militants by many critics. People came down hard on them and reminded them that though oil, the mainstay of the Nigerian economy, is from their area, the country is still bigger than any ethnic group.

    Following the bashing and tongue-lashing, the ex-militants backed down on their war threat, clarified the reasons for their meeting and then called for peace. Even Dickson and Kuku sweated many times to convince Nigerians that the meeting was in order and was not meant to cause crisis in Nigeria.

    After Buhari’s victory

    There have been discordant tunes among the youths and ex-militants since Buhari emerged as the President-elect. Many critical stakeholders and ex-militant leaders have taken the new Nigerian order in good faith. Some, however, have resorted to fire and brimstone.

    Among the critical stakeholders that have congratulated Buhari are the Ijaw National Leader, E.K Clark, Tompolo, the Ijaw National Congress (INC) and at some point the President of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Mr. Udens Eradiri.

    But Dokubo has remained adamant. He reinstated his threat insisting that the emergence of Buhari has re-energised the agitation for militants to return to the creeks.

    “The days coming will be critical. We shall study all the conditions and consult widely before determining the way going forward for our collective existence and survival as a people. The days coming will either drive the quest of integration or further separate us.

    “The celebrated victory of Buhari is not the victory of the people but victory of regional conspiracy and supremacy. The voting pattern has clearly shown that the Gambari North and the Yorubas are united in the conquest of the Niger Deltans and the Igbos of defunct Biafra with the middle belt now used as pawns”, he said.

    Many people dismissed the outburst of Dokubo. They argued that the controversial agitator is more of a businessman than a selfless activist. They concluded that Dokubo may simply at every point in time be seeking his advantage instead of the collective interests of the Ijaw and the Niger Delta region. According to them there is no investment that can be traced to Dokubo in the region. Most of his assets and developmental projects are sited in Benin Republic.

    Ijaw youths to decide on Buhari  

    Ijaw youths across the country have scheduled a crucial meeting to review the defeat of Jonathan and the victory of Buhari. The meeting will have all the Ijaw youth leaders, past leaders of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide and other members of the IYC in attendance.

    The youths are rattled by the victory of Buhari at the poll which according to them had taken political power away from them. The IYC Spokesman, Mr. Eric Omare, said the decision to convene the National Congress of IYC on Buhari was taken at a meeting of the national executive council and consultative meeting of the group in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

    He said the congress will assemble at Tuomo community in Burutu Local Government Area, Delta State, on April 5 to take a collective position on Buhari’s victory and determine the next direction of their struggle for self determination.

    Besides self determination, he said the youths will decide on renewing agitation for resource control as enshrined in their historic Kaiama Declaration.

    “We call on all Ijaw Youths to be alert and ready to heed the call to the service of the Ijaw nation at this crucial time of our history and struggle for survival in the Nigerian state in the face of the grand conspiracy between the north and a section of the south west to continue to suppress and exploit the resource of the Ijaw nation,” he said.

    He said the youths recalled that when their kinsman, Jonathan, won an internationally-acclaimed free, fair and credible election in 2011, Buhari and his people never congratulated or supported him.

    He said: “Instead they killed hundreds of innocent Nigerians and fought President Jonathan from the day he became the Acting President of Nigeria in 2010 until the north conspired with a section of the south west to take over the Presidency from President Jonathan and the minorities of the south-south in an election fraught with irregularities.

    “It is also significant to note that none of the northern socio-cultural groups such as the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and others congratulated or supported the administration of President Jonathan.

    “Northerners created Boko Haram and blame it on President Jonathan deliberately to incite the northern populace against President Jonathan and make him unpopular in the 2015 election so as to take back power in a grand conspiracy with a section of the south west.

    “Therefore, the April 5, 2015 meeting of all Ijaw youths would determine the position of the Ijaw Youths on the 2015 Presidential election and our next line of action.”

    Militant group issues threats to Shell

    Militant group finds voice, threatens Shell

    Suspiciously, a militant group operating in Bayelsa State resurrected few days after Jonathan lost at the poll. The group notoriously known in 2005 as, Iduwini Volunteer Force (IVF) gave the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) 14 days to vacate communities in Ekeremor Local Government Area of the state.

    The militant group came into the limelight in 2005. Members of the group abducted six oil workers including two Germans working for the SPDC in the community. The development led to the intervention of the then Governor of Bayelsa state, Goodluck Jonathan, and subsequent signing of a surveillance contract in 2007 to calm frayed nerves.

    But the group claimed that as part of the contractual terms, SPDC was expected to pay N8million yearly to its members in exchange of pipeline security. In a letter it addressed to President Goodluck Jonathan and signed by one Commander Johnson Biboye, IVF said Shell only observed its contractual obligations in 2007.

    It said: “It was then resolved that for the peace, security and safety of oil companies activities within the Iduwini area of SPDC operations, a running surveillance contract amounting to N8, 002, 350. 00 (Eight million, two thousand, three hundred and fifty naira) per year be awarded to the leadership of the Iduwini Volunteer Force and it was awarded.

    “The surveillance contract which started in 2007 and was dutifully carried out by the leadership of the Iduwini Volunteer Force and payment for 2007 made.

    “In 2008 without any known breach of contract, SPDC, unilaterally stopped the contract till date, although our boys are still rendering the services of securing oil facilities in the aforementioned areas as contained in the contract paper.”

    It gave the oil giant a 14-day ultimatum to vacate Ijaw communities in Ekeremor Local Government Area or face unrest. Why now? Niger Delta Report gathered that the militants only respected the Presidency of Jonathan and decided not to begin fresh unrest in the home state of the President during his government. Having, however, seen that Jonathan had lost out, the militants resumed their agitation.

    But the group said: “We make this demand in good faith not minding the political situation in the country so that those who do not have the history of our struggle in the Iduwini area will not be quick to add that Ijaw people have started making trouble now that President Jonathan has purportedly lost election.

    “Our struggle predates President Jonathan’s presidency and the struggle to get our rights and privileges restored has been on and known to notable government agencies like the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and notable Nigerians who have intervened to no avail.

    “We have, therefore, directed all units commanders and commanders alike to be on red alert that at the end of the 14 days, should SPDC and its cohorts refuse to see reasons, we will have no choice but to commence immediate attacks and processes of restoring our full rights and privileges as contained in the surveillance contract documents”.

     

  • Ebola: Nurses honour colleague

    Ebola: Nurses honour colleague

    Dr Ameyo Adadevoh has gained post-mortem national and international accolades for her role in stopping the Liberian-American Patrick Sawyer, the first known Ebola carrier in Nigeria. She was unknown before her heroic and sad death, but the arrival of late Patrick Sawyer in Lagos state on July 20, 2014 and the role she played to ensure that the deadly disease did not become a national disaster shot Dr. Adadevoh into the global limelight.

    But it was not just Dr Adadevoh who paid the ultimate price for her profession and country; there were also nurses who died as a result of contact with the ill-fated sojourner, who brought the highly infectious and swift killing virus with no known cure to First Consultant Medical Centre (FCMC). He infested Adedevoh and Nurse Justina Ejelonu among others.

    However, little has been heard about the young nurse after then. It was learnt that it was Nurse Ejelonu’s first day in the employment with the FCMC, and Sawyer was apparently the first and last litmus test of her nursing carrier. Sadly, she did not live to tell the story.

    She died along with other members of staff of the hospital who also died of the virus which broke out in Lagos and Port Harcourt, Rivers state, killing a total of eight persons, including two doctors.

    But colleagues of the late nurse are not happy that while the tragic event brought fame and whipped up accolades as well awards for the brave Dr. Adadevoh locally and internationally, nothing was said or done about Ejelonu.

    They said though government officials at all levels, corporate bodies, and members of Nigerian society, rightly praised the late doctor for making the supreme sacrifice for her country and for  her rare courage, they lamented that not much was being said about Ms Ejelonu and others who sacrificed their lives.

    It was against the backdrop of this dissatisfaction that members of her professional body, under the aegis of “Nursing World,” Nigeria took it upon themselves to reorganize her sacrifice, celebrate and immortalize her in their own way. They instituted a monthly “Justina Ejelonu Memorial Award” (JEMA), to keep the name of their friend and professional colleague alive and to also tell the world that nursing profession also has its fair share of the Ebola Virus tragedy and should also be reorganised.

    The award meant exclusively for nursing students in Nigerian Nursing Schools, was instituted this year and has had two editions, January and February, 2015. Deserving students from the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) and School of Nursing Agbor  in Rivers and Delta states respectively won the first editions.

    Speaking at the second ceremony in UNPORT recently, spokesman of the group, Nurse Jude Nwobi, said the move was meant to advocate and project nursing profession in the country. He said they are of the view that despite the crucial position of nursing care in health care delivery,  it receives little or no recognition  in Nigerian society. He said there is the need to strike a change and balance.

    Nwobi said, “We instituted Justina Ejelonu scholarship award in memory of a nurse who passed away during the Ebola outbreak at the First Consultant Hospital in Lagos state. Every month we give out N50,000 to a deserving nursing student.

    “Every month a student nurse gets the money, that way we honour our departed colleague for her sacrificial contribution and bravery to nursing profession. She did all her best during the Ebola outbreak, if not for people like her; Nigeria would have slipped into a catastrophic situation.

    “We are doing all of these to honour her memory and keep her alive so that everybody gets to know the story that Justina died doing what she loved to do-keeping best nursing practice.

    “The award was instituted January this year and we hope it to keep it up until the government does the needful. We believe that those that paid the price of this deadly scourge with their lives ought to be honoured without any form of discrimination, they should be immortalised but it look like nothing is happening, nobody is saying anything, particularly about the nurses that died in this. All you hear in the whole lot of professionals that died is Dr. Adadevoh, a nurse like our own Justina died, an auxiliary nurse also died, most members of the team that received the index case died on the line of duty but all you hear about is Dr. Adadevoh.

    “In a hospital setting, everybody knows that there is no way she should have fought the battle of late Patrick Sawyer  alone to save the rest of Nigerians, but the way she is singled out made it look as if she was the only sacrificial victim on the line.

    “We work as a team in hospitals, when one team member is singled out in such a situation, it makes other team member awkward, this is exactly what we are trying to do with this award.

    “Let the world know that the nursing profession also lost their passionate own in that tragedy and that Justina Ejeleonu  was part of the team that gave their lives to save the rest of Nigeria from the catastrophe  and they all deserve to be honoured.” He insisted.

    The nurse who spoke with passion on the award explained how winners emerge: “Every month we have nurses go on our website to apply for the scholarship. Automated system is used to picks the school, names of applicants from the School are sent to the school’s  Head of Department (HOD), if it is a university or the Registrar if it is a college of Nursing or Principal if it is a school of Nursing.

    “It is this school’s authority that now sets up a committee to decide who gets the award, depending on the academic performance of the students, among other factors. The school then notifies us after they have concluded their selection process.”

    The winner of the award 23 year-old Blessing Darlington, 500-level Nursing student of UNIPORT, thanked the organizers of the award for their good thought and promised to make Ms Ejelonu her role model and take nursing profession to a higher level.

    “I love nursing profession that is why I am doing this course, I wish to be a better nurse than Justina to make nursing profession an envious one that people will crave for. I advise my other colleagues to emulate Justina’s bravery and sacrifice by giving their nursing care without reservations.”