The Nation Newspaper

Category: Niger Delta

  • Fresh violence brews between two Bayelsa communities

    Nobody can forget in a hurry the bloodshed that occurred between Agudama-Epie and Akenfa in Yenagoa, the state capital over a disputed piece of land. The November 22, 2013 incident turned the two neighbouring communities into arch rivals. Indignant youths brandished sharp cutlasses and other weapons in a free-for-all.

    They drew blood in the hot afternoon. Though 10 persons were feared dead after the orgy of violence, it was later found that only one person died while others sustained various degrees of injuries. The deceased identified as Mulai George was an indigene of Aguadama-Epie. Therefore, Agudama-Epie believed it suffered more from the violence than its Akenfa neighbours.

    It took the intervention of security operatives consisting of the police, the navy and the Joint Task Force ( JTF) Operation Pulo Shield to restore order in the communities.

    Before the bloodshed, Agudama-Epie and Akenfa had continued to lay claims to the ownership of the disputed land. Some parts of the land had, however, been sold to non-indigenes living in both communities. But the crisis has persisted.

    Agudiama-Epie is the host community to the Central Naval Command (CNC) of the Nigerian Navy and the South-South Campus of the Nigerian Law School.

    A day after the incident, the combined team of the homicide and the criminal investigation departments of the Bayelsa State police command launched a manhunt for the masterminds of the bloody clash.

    The police raided the communities and arrested seven persons linked to the incident. Other suspects named in the crisis were said to be on the run. The communities were taken over by the police including the operatives of the state security outfit, Operation Door-Akpo, who were able to restore fragile peace in the communities.

    The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hillary Opara, had said the suspects would be thoroughly screened and those linked to the murder would be prosecuted. He said the police had made recommendations to the government on ways to resolve the conflict.

    He said: “We have arrested seven suspects.They are helping us in the investigation. We are working on the criminal aspect of the clash.Majority of them are from Akenfa.

    “It is a murder case and we don’t want to rush it and charge innocent persons to court.We are taking time to screen them.

    “Our men acted swiftly on that day to reduce the number of the casualties. We went to Aguadiama school and evacuated the students and handed them over to their parents. That was what saved the day”.

    Like Opara said, the government established a panel to find a lasting solution to the lingering land tussle. The deputy Governor, Rear Admiral John Jonah (retd) was appointed by Governor Seriake Dickson to head the peace committee.

    A statement from the Government House had condemned the conflict and appealed to the warring communities to sheathe their swords. It said the investigative panel would find a lasting solution to the lingering crisis that had generated tension and suspicion between the communities.

    The government warned that it would be forced to invoke a section of the constitution and take over the ownership of the disputed land if the communities failed to embrace the peace.

    Recent development, however, showed that the government and the police were far from resolving the crisis. Aggrieved women of Agudiama-Epie recently staged a peaceful protest in the community over the killing of George.

    They lamented that the government and the police had mismanaged the crisis. The placard-carrying women blocked the busy Agudama-Epie axis of the busy Mbiama-Yenagoa road in the morning for over two hours chanting songs. They disrupted traffic.

    The angry women urged the state government to resolve the matter equitably before it snowballed into another round of violence.

    Though fears of reprisal were imminent, the Agudama-Epie chiefs promised not to retaliate insisting on justice. The Paramount ruler of Agudama-Epie,Chief Wisdom Franklin berated the government and the police over what he described as poor handling of the case. He said he was in support of the protest.

    Franklin said the community had spent N1.8million to treat its indigenes wounded in the November violence. He asked the government to find lasting solutions to the land tussle to avoid further bloodshed.

  • The King who wants to be governor

    The King who wants to be governor

    In the olden days, kings were law. Whatever they decreed must be obeyed. They ruled over kingdoms and owned everything. They could commandeer young ladies to become their wives. Nowadays, however, kings have influences but nowhere near what they used to have.

    The King, I write of today, however, is a different kind. He rules over no kingdom, town or community. He is aspiring to rule or lead a state, Akwa Ibom, where Governor Godswill Alpabio holds the ace now.

    The concern here is about King’s godfather. The talk around Akwa Ibom now is that King has been endorsed by President Goodluck Jonathan to take over from Akpabio. Until recently, Akpabio was said to have endorsed his then Secretary to the State Government, Umana Umana. But many were shocked when Umana was forced out of office. Then people started asking what has gone wrong. One thing is clear though, King is not in Akpabio’s reckoning and that raises a poser: why will Jonathan be supporting a candidate different from Akpabio’s?

    This father of five, I understand, is being accused in Akwa Ibom government circle of dropping President Goodluck Jonathan’s name. Is he really Jonathan’s anointed? Will Akpabio bow to the superior power of the Presidency and support the King to be governor? Or will Akpabio slug it out with Jonathan and prove he is in charge?

    Akpabio has been in the forefront of pro-Jonathan governors. He actually is the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum formed to whittle down the influence of the Rotimi Amaechi-led Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF). He has helped tackle those moving against the president and it baffles one why this man who appears the embodiment of loyalty to the president is not being allowed to have a say in who his successor should be.

    Akpabio believes the next governor of the state must come from Eket, where King incidentally also comes from. The Eket senatorial district has not produced the governor of the state in its 26 years of existence.

    Otuekong Idongesit Nkanga, who led Akwa Ibom State and Obong Akpan Isemin, are both from Uyo senatorial district. After them, Obong Victor Attah from the same Uyo senatorial district took over. Akpabio is from Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District. So, the only district that has not had a go at the Hilltop Mansion is Eket Senatorial District.

    From the look of things, however, King was not part of Akpabio’s calculation in favouring Eket. Unconfirmed report says he is not happy with King’s declaration for the seat. His aides, however, say he has no plan to impose anyone on the state. And considering his loyalty to Jonathan, many still doubt the president will force somebody on him.

    What is not in doubt is King’s resume, which speaks volume. It tells of a man who, over the years, has equipped himself and has all it takes to be governor.

    Prof. Richard King was born on May 17, 1958 to the family of the late Chief John King Usoro of the Otonita/Nung Awo family of Ikot Ebok in Eket Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. His father, who was Head of Idua Clan, sent him to St. Gregory Primary School, Ikot Ebok, Eket where he obtained the First School Leaving Certificate (FSLC) in 1972. He had his secondary education at the Nigerian Christian Secondary School, Ukpom, Abak Local Government Area, where, in Form 4, he took and passed the O’ Level General Certificate of Education (GCE) examination in 1976.

    Prof. King proceeded to the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) as a pioneer student where he graduated with a B.Sc (Second Class Honours, Upper Division) Degree in Zoology (1981)UNIPORT was where he also earned an M.Sc. Degree in Hydrobiology and Fisheries Biology in 1985 and a Ph.D Degree in Zoology (with major in Fisheries Biology) in 1994.

    In 1984, he joined the University of Cross River State as a Lecturer and Research Scientist. He later transferred his services to the University of Uyo where he held several positions, including: Head, Department of Zoology; Head, Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture; Acting Dean, Faculty of Agriculture; Pioneer Director, Centre for Wetlands and Waste Management Studies; Director, Remedial Directorate and Chairman and Member of Sundry Committees and Panels.

    Prof. King is the first Professor of Fisheries and Aquaculture of the University of Uyo. He has served as an environmental Consultant on several Baseline Environmental Studies (BES), Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Environmental Post Impact Assessment (EPIA) projects in the Niger Delta. He was an Environmental Impact Assessment Review Panelist for the Ministry of Environment for over seven years.

    In 2007 and 2011, Prof. King served as member of the Presidential Campaign Team. He is also credited with writing campaign materials, such as: The Dr. Goodluck Jonathan That I Know (2007); and Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan: A Personality Profile (2011).

    He was a member of the Presidential Monitoring Committee on the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

    This active member of the PDP from Ward 3, Eket is tired of playing by the side. He wants to play on the field and has dubbed his campaign organ, Divine Mandate Organisation. This is not strange for a man who is a Deacon at the Winners’ Chapel. He recently had a reception in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital and also opened the office of the Divine Mandate Organisation. The impression after the reception was that he was the president’s man.

    Akwa Ibom will be interesting in months to come. It is a state to watch!

     

  • Crisis looms between Delta, Bayelsa communities over oil royalty

    Crisis looms between Delta, Bayelsa communities over oil royalty

    Crisis is brewing between Okia in Burutu Local Government Local Government Area of Delta State and Agge communities in and Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State over land ownership.

    The people of Okia told Niger Delta Report that their counterparts from Bayelsa state are encroaching into their land, warning that the situation could lead to violence in the area.

    The Chairman of Okia community, Mr Pius Gbeneyei, accused Agge community, of encroaching on their land.

    He appealed to Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State to reach out to his Bayelsa State counterpart, Hon. Seriake Dickson in order to call the offending party to order and avert bloody clash.

    Speaking with newsmen at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Warri Press Centre, Gbeneyei said Agge leaders are making “persistent visit to oil companies working on their land”.

    He said the act was capable of causing a breach of the existing peace between the two states, particularly against the backdrop of 2006 ruling by a Bayelsa State High Court, which gave a judgment against Agge.

    Gbeneyei, who touted a copy of the judgement, said, “In 2006, Agge Community invaded my community and took away some persons from the community. When the incident happened we reported to the Government and government agency took steps and arrested them and charged them to Ekeremor High Court, prosecuted them and passed judgment against them that they should not temper with our land or repeat that kind of action.

    “Now they are still coming in spite of a High Court judgment against them. They are still encroaching which is a threat to public peace.

    “So I am using this medium to call on the Delta State Government to come into the matter and ask our brothers in Bayelsa to keep calm, they should not encroach on our land; they should obey the judgment.

    “The judgment is the law of the land which must be obeyed. Whatever issue they want to resolve let them wait for the outcome of the appeal court. They should wait for appeal court judgment,” Gbeneyei reiterated.

    He said that the people of Okia Community have resolved to continue to preach peace even at the expense of them losing credibility on their own land, warning any further encroachment may be resisted by force .

    “I want the Delta State government to look into this matter. They have been parading themselves to companies operating in on our land which is not proper.

    “The companies are on Delta State land. The revenue is Delta State revenue and we cannot use our state revenue to pay Bayelsa we are two different local governments and two different states.

    “This is oppression and we don’t need oppression. There is a judgment that asked them to stay clear from the land. I am preaching peace because I obey the law of the land,” he added.

     

     

  • Crisis looms between Delta, Bayelsa communities over oil royalty

    Crisis is brewing between Okia and Agge communities in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State and Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State over land ownership.

    The people of Okia told Niger Delta Report that their counterparts from Bayelsa state are encroaching into their land, warning that the situation could lead to violence in the area.

    The Chairman of Okia community, Mr Pius Gbeneyei, accused Agge community, of encroaching on their land.

    He appealed to Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State to reach out to his Bayelsa State counterpart, Seriake Dickson, to call the offending party to order and avert bloody clash.

    Speaking with newsmen at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Warri Press Centre, Gbeneyei said Agge leaders are making “persistent visit to oil companies working on their land”.

    He said the act was capable of causing a breach of the existing peace between the two states, particularly against the backdrop of 2006 ruling by a Bayelsa State High Court, which gave a judgment against Agge.

    Gbeneyei, who touted a copy of the judgement, said, “In 2006, Agge Community invaded my community and took away some persons from the community. When the incident happened we reported to the Government and government agency took steps and arrested them and charged them to Ekeremor High Court, prosecuted them and passed judgment against them that they should not temper with our land or repeat that kind of action.

    “Now they are still coming in spite of a High Court judgment against them. They are still encroaching which is a threat to public peace.

    “So I am using this medium to call on the Delta State Government to come into the matter and ask our brothers in Bayelsa to keep calm, they should not encroach on our land; they should obey the judgment.

    “The judgment is the law of the land which must be obeyed. Whatever issue they want to resolve let them wait for the outcome of the appeal court. They should wait for appeal court judgment,” Gbeneyei reiterated.

    He said that the people of Okia Community have resolved to continue to preach peace even at the expense of them losing credibility on their own land, warning any further encroachment may be resisted by force .

    “I want the Delta State government to look into this matter. They have been parading themselves to companies operating in on our land which is not proper.

    “The companies are on Delta State land. The revenue is Delta State revenue and we cannot use our state revenue to pay Bayelsa we are two different local governments and two different states.

    “This is oppression and we don’t need oppression. There is a judgment that asked them to stay clear from the land. I am preaching peace because I obey the law of the land,” he added.

     

  • ‘43 died in A/Ibom road crashes in 2013’

    The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has said it recorded 43 deaths and 100 road traffic crashes in Akwa Ibom in 2013.

    The Uyo Sector Commander of the corps, Mr Ocheja Ameh, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Uyo.

    Ameh explained that those who died in the crashes were 32 male, 10 female and one child.

    The sector commander said there was a decrease in the number of deaths recorded in 2013 as against 50 deaths recorded in 2012.

    He also said there was a reduction in the number of road crashes in the state in the year under review, pointing out that 131 road crashes occurred in the state in 2012.

    He attributed the reduction to rigorous sensitisation campaigns carried out by the command, especially in the last quarter of 2013.

    “As a matter of fact, in 2013 we recorded 100 road traffic crashes in Akwa Ibom State as against 131 that we had in 2012. Out of the number of crashes during the year, 31 were fatal; but in the previous year, we recorded 35 fatal crashes. We have put a lot of measures in place to reduce road crashes in the state.’’

    Ameh said the dominant causes of road crashes in the state were speed limit violations and dangerous driving.

    He, however, said the command had seriously campaigned against speed limit violations and dangerous driving in the state to reduce crashes this year.

    He added that the command would organise other programmes in 2014 to drastically reduce the number of road crashes in the state.

    He said: “we have been educating the public on the need to install speed limit devices in all commercial vehicles in the state.”

    Ameh told NAN that all stakeholders in the transport sector in Akwa Ibom had signed an agreement that there would be strict enforcement of the speed limit device installation.

    “We have started discussion with Akwa Ibom Transport Company (AKTC), a major transporter in the state, and the company has started installing the devices in its vehicles,” he said.

    He added that the corps would enter into similar agreements with other transport companies in the state.

  • 5,000 for dry season farming scheme in Edo

    No fewer than 5,000 rice farmers are to benefit from this year’s Federal Government-assisted dry season farming in Edo, under the Growth Enhancement Support (GES) Scheme.

    The Director, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in the state, Mr Wellington Omorgbon, said this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Benin.

    Omorghon said the initiative was to ensure the nation’s self-sufficiency in food, especially rice, at all times.

    He said that the 5,000 farmers were selected from Edo North and Edo Central where dry season rice cultivation could be done in the state.

    According to him, each of the farmers is expected to cultivate one hectare of rice, amounting to 5,000 hectares.

    Omorgbon said that the farmers were expected to harvest 20,000 metric tonnes of rice at the end of the season.

    The director told NAN that the farmers were supplied with free rice seeds and agro-chemicals at 50 per cent subsidised cost.

    “In addition, one threshing machine and a reaper have been allocated to the farmers at a 25 per cent subsidised cost,” he said.

    The director said that the idea was to encourage farmers to work together as a group.

    “The essence of all these is to make the nation self-sufficient in food production and eradicate poverty,” he said.

  • Navy: we’ll eradicate oil theft, illegal bunkering

    The Navy said it had arrested 21 suspects and seized two vessels at the waterway and creeks of Agbami Oil field and Obi Creeks in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, Bayelsa.

    A statement on Tuesday by the Flag Officer Commanding the Central Naval Command, Rear Adm. Sidi-Ali Hassan Usman, said the suspects were Nigerians.

    The statement said the vessels lacked the necessary permits to lift crude oil.

    “The two vessels were laden with 2.1million litres of crude oil at the time of arrest. The vessels were intercepted at separate points along the Ebi Creeks and Agbami Oil Field between December 26, 2013 and January14.

    “They were unable to tender relevant documents such as Nigerian Port Authority bunkering permit and the NNPC nomination for crude oil lifting.

    “And they lack the certificate of registration with the Joint Military Task Force. They did not have the Naval Headquarters approval for the movement of petroleum products within the command area of responsibility.

    “The determination of the Nigerian Navy and the Central Naval Command to completely eradicate oil theft, illegal bunkering and other illegality in the Nigeria waters is total.”

    The Navy also vowed to sustain the tempo of activities in the waterways and creek in the Niger Delta.

     

  • Delta to distribute 10,000 fishing nets

    The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Delta has said it will distribute 10,000 fishing nets and accessories to artisan fish farmers under its Growth Enhancement Support (GES) Scheme.

    A Director in the ministry, Mr Felix Kehis, spoke in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Asaba.

    Kehis said the gesture was part of government’s efforts to empower fish farmers in the riverine communities across the state.

    “This January, we are going to distribute 10,000 fishing nets and other accessories free to artisan fishermen, in the fishing communities in Delta under GES initiative.

    “We also have artificial fishing ponds for distributing to fish farmers at the agro service centre, Koko, in Warri North Local Government Area,” he said.

    He said the ministry would also distribute 1,700 units of improved plantain and banana suckers to farmers in the state.

    He recalled that last year, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FOA), through the ministry, distributed fingerlings and fish feeds to the farmers affected by the 2012 flood disaster in the state.

    He said the organisation, in a bid to boost agriculture in the state, trained 13 agricultural extension workers at the Amadu Bello University, Zaria.

    ‘‘These agents will be deployed to work with the farmers in their respective communities; they will give farmers informal education on planting methods, harvest and post-harvest operations,’’ he said.

  • We’re under pressure to join APC, says Cross River Rep

    The representative of Calabar-South/Akpabuyo/Bakassi in the Federal House of Representatives, Essien Ayi, has urged the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to put its house in order. He said he is under pressure to join the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Speaking with reporters in Calabar, he said: “Well, it is true that, we have had a lot of defections in the house. It is also true that even some others are threatening to go, but all what I will advise my party, which I belong, is that they should sit up, if they don’t sit up, if we assume, if we take things for granted, it may be very difficult for us.

    “Whatever they can do to put the party back in shape and bring everybody together they should try and do it. A lot of us have been under pressure to join these other political parties. ?

    “I happen to be one of those who originally started the party. In Calabar south, we had a forum called Calabar South Forum, we merged with the Cross River Democratic forum led by the former and present governors of the state, which later transformed to the PDP in the state. Even the day that the G34 was inaugurated, I was at the Eagle Square; so I will say that I am one of the founding members of the party and within me, if they happen to allow the party go the way it is going now, it will pain me because I know how we suffered to make the party what it is today.

    “So my advice to the gladiators, because, there are so many gladiators, who are trying to show their power, they say when two elephants fight it is the grass that suffers. They should tread carefully so that they should not destroy our party.”

     

     

     

  • Police Commissioner Mbu, softly, softly

    The Rivers State Commissioner Mbu is a man of arrogance. On Sunday, he was on Channels TV explaining why his men dispersed an All Progressives Congress (APC) rally in Obio Akpor, which resulted in Senator Magnus Abe developing low blood pressure and internal bleeding.

    The violent and direct attack on Abe is a frontal assault against democracy. The police have been unleashed on the people. The police seem not willing to arrest first, but primed to shoot first and ask questions later. The country seems burdened with a Police Force that has now become an agent provocateur and a tool of political oppression.

    Former Lagos State Governor Bola Tinubu, in a reaction on the matter, said: ” The Jonathan Presidency is willing to sacrifice the lives of countless Nigerians so that it can continue to lord it over Nigerians. If they could shoot a current Senator in broad daylight on a Sunday, imagine the mayhem they will set upon the average citizen seeking to advance his political rights. Their purpose is not to govern Nigeria but to break down the rule of law and our democratic institutions so that they may own Nigeria.

    “The illegal conduct of the Police in Rivers should be called what it is; it is uniformed gangsters, a coup against democracy. The rights and the protection guaranteed to the Nigerian people should never be a function of the party they are affiliated with. Under the current Jonathan government, we move towards fascism.”

    The Rivers APC has described as barefaced lies CP Joseph Mbu’s account of the event. It described Abe’s fate as “attempted murder”.

    It faulted Mbu’s claim that it applied for police permit for most of its rallies but failed to do so for the Obio-Akpor rally. It said it rather applied for police protection for the Obio-Akpor rally and instead Mbu’s men disrupted the rally.

    Mbu’s claims raise posers about what minimum force means? If minimum force landed Abe in hospital, maximum force would have sent him to early grave?

    It must be pointed out to Mbu, who is pretending not to know, that the Constitution gives Nigerians the power to associate freely without any need for police permit.

    CP Mbu and his sponsors need to pray Abe lives, as things may get out of hand if he leaves!

    As the 2015 elections draw near, the police must watch it. If things continue the way they are, then this country is in danger. People must be free to associate.

    The words of the late Mahatma Gandhi suffices here: “Remember that all through history, there have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they seem invincible. But in the end, they always fall. Always.”

    The National Assembly must rise to its statutory responsibility in defence of the people’s rights and to exercise legislative oversight of an executive branch through the police which has lost all sense of democratic balance and fair play.

    If the National Assembly does not rise at this juncture, things will only worsen.

    Mbu also needs to watch it. Even if he is being sent on an evil assignment, he should reject it because of his tomorrow.

    Softly, softly Mbu. Those using you will get tired of you at some points and look for another person to use and you will have the value of an orange already soaked.