The Nation Newspaper

Category: Niger Delta

  • Waterways armed robbers of the Niger Delta

    English is an interesting language; it is a language built on rules, which intending users either learn and use or be accused of committing murder! It is a language, which most times, does not correctly portray some of our local realities.

    The Yoruba at times find it difficult to find English words that truly describe some of their local words. The same is true for many of the other ethnic groups in the country.

    In most of our local languages, what the English call pirates will be known as waterways armed robbers. That is harsh enough to convey the evil these men have wrought and are still inflicting on mankind. It is baffling that the English chose a word, which gives the impression that they do not want to call a spade a spade.

    Wikipedia describes piracy as “typically an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator (e.g. one passenger stealing from others on the same vessel). The term has been used throughout history to refer to raids across land borders by non-state agents.”

    Truth is: pirates are armed robbers; that is what they are. The only difference between them and the regular robbers is that they operate on water. Their victims are usually people on ships and big boats. With AK 47 and machine guns, they overpower their victims, dispossess them of their belongings and in a lot of cases, they also hold them hostage to get ransom from either their families or their employers.

    In this dare-devil game, human life means nothing, if it stands in the way of the cash the waterways robbers want. Brains have been blown off when their owners play smart with the pirates as English would have us call them, instead of the more appropriate waterways armed robbers. People who stands in the way of the cash, soldiers or naval officers, have been wasted and fed to the fishes; in this business, all is fair once it leads to enriching the pockets of the waterways robbers.

    It was a business, which started long ago, but with time, it has become sophisticated. And sadly, the Niger Delta, obviously because of its being surrounded by water, takes the lead in this game of blood. In the last few years, while other countries where pirates had leeway have seen a drop in cases, Niger Delta has retained the trophy as the pacesetter.

    The victims are not usually locals. Americans, Britons and other foreign sailors who have cause to pass through our waters have had to do so with their hearts in their mouths.

    They have succeeded in making travel by sea perilous extremely dangerous. Slow-moving vessels servicing oil platforms are more vulnerable to attacks than cargo ships.

    The oil-rich area has increasingly drawn international attention as a piracy hotspot. Between January and September, 40 pirate attacks were reported. Also, it has been the site of the only ship crew kidnappings worldwide this year, with 132 crew members taken hostage.

    At the time of writing this, two American sailors were being held. They were seized in Brass, Bayelsa State. A day before they became unfortunate, some soldiers were killed by pirates in Rivers State.

    When will blood stop being shed all for rat race? When will men see dignity in labour as watchword? When will we stop caressing waterways armed robbers by ceasing to call them pirates which make them feel ‘sexy’?

     

  • Kokori’s leaders call for release of Chief Priest, others

    LEADERS of Kokori community in Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State are demanding the release of their Chief Priest, Mr. Michael Omonigho and other persons arrested.

    The community Chiefs, women (Eghweya), youths, Kokori Progress Union Executives took the decision after a meeting presided over by the Okarorho-in-council, Chief Macaulay Anigboro II.

    In a statement by Chief Anigboro, the Otota-in-Council, Chief Josiah Orhorhoro and the Secretary-General Kokori community, Chief P. O. Ogbe, they said the Chief priest is not a native doctor or appointed but was chosen by the Egba (deity) to serve in order to bring peace to the community.

    Anigboro said the Egba is celebrated once in a year and its totems of worship, which are in the Chief Priest’s custody, should not be tempared with by security agents, adding that arresting the Chief Priest is not only a taboo but has put fear into the minds of Kokori people.

    They said the military siege in Kokori has led to the evacuation of people from the community and the closure of schools, health centre and market.

     

     

     

     

  • ‘Niger Delta gods won’t forgive GEJ if he fails to complete East-West Road’

    Why are SSPA and leaders in the Niger Delta drumming support for Jonathan’s reelection?

    Number one it is his legitimate constitutional right to contest for a second term. Number two, by the indices of his policies and actions for just two years, Jonathan has performed better than some of his predecessors who served a second term. The cost of production in this country with its micro effects on other key sectors of the economy was always on the increase simply because of epileptic power supply to the extent that small scale businesses were affected. The only hope against all odds was to privatise the power sector the way the telecom sector was liberalised and for a president to have the courage to do that means that the economy is set for a multi dimensional growth.

    Then look at the railways, moribund for almost three decades. It is not just that somebody started it and budgeted money. Where is the money he budgeted? Nigeria is a country where people dont account for misapplied moneys. For the first time President Jonathan has put the rail business on track such that passengers travel from Lagos to Kano by train. I travel by road and l have seen that the state of Nigerian roads today is not what it was five years. So in want areas of assessment would you say this man has not done enough to earn a second term slot?

    Number three is that as a minority this is the first time a minority has provided leadership for Nigeria. And if other majorities have the opportunity of ruling for eight and ten years, some constitutionally and others unconstitutionally, a minority must never be denied. He must be given his right to rule for eight years. This country belongs to all of us and nobody is superior to any other person. We are all equal.

    All the professors of constitutional law are in unison that nothing debars Mr. President from contesting for a second term. In terms of performance, for the first time in the history of this country, a sitting President decided to put his performance on a paper giving members of the public the opportunity to assess him. That is transparency in action.

    Don’t you foresee this ambition dividing the country because some leaders have also advised him to bow out in the interest of Nigeria’s unity?

    If his ambition will divide Nigeria, let it be so because Nigeria belongs to all of us. Nobody can claim a greater right to Nigeria than the other. So, if what is good for you is not good for me, then let it be. If Hausa/Fulani man can provide leadership for this country for 38 years and a Southsouth man is just there for two years and they said he should not continue; Who is a slave to who now? We are all born equal. The whole craze of Jonathan must not rule is all about the oil economy. Where is the oil coming from? After all Jonathan is from an area where oil was struck in commercial quantity. The OgbIan territory where oil was first struck is where Jonathan is from. You that came from far away Savannah that do not have single drop of oil and you could rule this country for 38 years but you are now saying that a man beneath whose soil is oil which you used in building skyscrapers in your country must not continue after one tenure. Then you do not want Nigeria to continue. Who cares? Nigeria is not the first country that is disintegrating if that is the ultimate, but that is not agenda of any Southsouth man and that is not the agenda of any progressive Nigerian.

    What has Jonathan done for the Niger Delta to deserve the support of the region?

    But that is the irony of life. Yet those who don’t know claim that the man is favouring only his people. What special things has he brought to Bayelsamsince he became the President? But the issue is not peculiar to the Niger Delta. Ordinarily, it is our expectation. But a patriotic ruler will look less unto himself to avoid being accused of bias and that is what the President is doing. That is why his own people are not happy with him, he is demonstrating that patriotism to a fault. Nobody will believe that the only East-West Road traversing from Warri to Calabar is impassable.

    I hear the minister crying everyday that the project is underfunded. But Jonathan as a patriotic Nigerian believes more in equity to the extent that he had even forgotten himself. It is the reason why after two years the Eastwest road remained impassable, l have no doubts that he has between this year and next year to correct this mistake because the gods of the Southsouth will not forgive Jonathan if he does not complete the project. We are not asking for too many but make this dualisation work so that we can leave Yenagoa and go to Calabar without headache. Make it work because after leaving the office as the President he won’t be flying to his village in Ogbia with chopper. He won’t.

    Once you leave office, you will become ordinary like us and you will be traveling from Port Harcourt to Otuoke by road. The only way he can shake his head and beat his chest in pride is when he completes the project. Otherwise the gods of the Southsouth will not forgive him.

    Now Jonathan has proposed a national dialogue. How will the proposed conference benefit the region?

    Simple. What has been our primary concern is resource ownership and resource control. That has been our concern. So, we can tell them that oil belongs to us. In the emerging constitution, it can be clearly stated that anybody beneath whose soil a resource is found, he owns it and he has an unfettered access to control the resource found beneath its soil. As a partner of the union called Nigeria, l will agree to contribute whatever; we will sit and agree that federating units will contribute. That is the only way we can use what God has given us to develop our creeks, our rivulets and our rivers.

    But this conference has been criticised; with some referring to it as a Greek gift?

    How is it a Greek gift? NADECO of old called for a national conference. Under late Chief Anthony Enahoro’s National Reformation Movement, the principal issue that body agitated for was the convocation of a Sovereign National Conference. The people of the Southeast have been agitating for a national conference. The people of the Southsouth, at least the South South Peooples Assembly where you rightly acknowledged me as its national secretary, even in our last conference at Warri on 6th of September 2012, we called for a national conference. When the South South People’s Assembly formed a body in conjunction with the Southwest, principally led by the Yoruba Unity Forum and leaders of the southeast under the aegis of Southern People’s Assembly where l am also privileged to serve as one of the coordinating secretaries; in our first national conference at Uyo, in the second conference at Enugu and in the third conference at Lagos, we all called for a national conference.

    The bodies led by Prof. Ben Nwabueze, both The Patriots as well as Project Nigeria, were all agitating for a national conference. Another body l am privileged to also be a member, the Nigerian National Summit Group is a movement for the convocation of a national conference. So if Mr. President has listened to all these several calls to give Nigerians an opportunity to talk, how does that act of a listening President translate to a Greek gift?

    So, with all due respect, the former Governor of Lagos State is totally misplaced in this matter. The truth is that Nigeria is fundamentally at a crossroad as it is today. There are so many things that are wrong with this country and there is the growing need ever for Nigerians to sit and talk for the future of this country. The position we have maintained in all these bodies l belong to is that the only way Nigeria can meaningfully celebrate our centenary is a platform for Nigerians to sit and discuss the future of this country.

    It is well known that my ethnic nationality, the Ijaw did not give consent to be part of a union called Nigeria. The Efik, the Igbo, the Hausa/ Fulani, the Kanuri, the Tiv never gave such consent, yet we were brought together in a forced union called Nigeria. Since we managed this marriage for 100 years, it is only important, it is only necessary, it is only germane that we come together to discuss the tenets of staying together after 100 years. So, it is not a Greek gift. Mr. President has demonstrated that he is a listening President, that he is ever prepared to follow the yearnings of Nigeria.

    Leaders who are against the conference are questioning the motives and the timing. Is it not ill-timed considering that the 2015 election is around the corner?

    What time is ripe? When did Jonathan become the President of Nigeria? The man has just stayed two years in office. And these agitations had been there long before now. Number two, the crisis Nigeria is faced with today where some group of people said they don’t like education and for many holding unto that disposition, they kept killing innocent lives, threatening the corporate existence of this country. Some, people feel that their resources are being shortchanged, you’re using my resources to feed everybody in this country. Give me what is genuinely due me and the fact that 13 per cent derivation in the eyes of others is too much and they are even threatening that if you are complaining of ecological damage, we can relocate you.

    Every little thing will ignite crisis. That a minority for the first time became the President of the Federal Republic in 2011 and somebody who lost election because he refused to accept defeat went public to claim that we will make this country ungovernable. Arising from that statement innocent lives were killed. Subsequent to that massacre, a body in the name of Boko Haram threatened the survival of this country.

    Who says Nigeria doesn’t have issues? Why do we have the MASSOB that is agitating for Biafra Republic? Why do we have the OPC whose primary objective is to create Oduduwa Republic and you say Nigerians don’t have issues that are challenging our corporate existence? What time is ripe? In any case, who attributed political undertone to Obasanjo’s Political Reform Conference which later turned into a third term agenda? But Jonathan has not even finished his second term, so the issue of wanting to transmute a national dialogue to a third term project does not arise. There is no intention behind Jonathan’s quest for national dialogue that will contradict and conflict with the provisions of the constitution as Obasanjo attempted to do with the conference of 2005. So, no timing is right and no timing is wrong. Whatever that happened now is when God says it should be.

    Some states are still nursing some fears about the proposed conference…

    I can tell you very clearly that people fear that the conference may bring many things on the table. And indeed so. A system where states have become apron strings of the Federal Government; a system where states don’t have independence, they must look at the Federal Government to survive is not federalism. Nigeria is not running federalism. You can never succeed in running a unitary system of government in a heterogeneous society like Nigeria. This is a country of 418 nationalities.

    Nigeria needs to go back to the fundamentals of a Federal Government. Nigeria needs to go back to true federalism.

     

  • ‘My divine escape from kidnappers’

    ‘My divine escape from kidnappers’

    For 76-year-old Mrs. Otiti Esegba, her escape from the hands of kidnappers was made possible due to divine intervention. She attributes her escape from her abductors to the baptismal ceremony she underwent four day earlier.

    According to her, she prayed that God should cause her kidnappers to fall into a deep slumber and her prayers were answered.

    She said: “I was just baptised on Friday. I prayed that God should deliver me and put them to a deep sleep. After a moment I discovered that they were asleep so I made attempt to sneak away but one of them shouted ‘if you move, I will shoot you.’ So, I said I wanted to ease myself. After sometime again both of them dozed off and I crept away. I ran into a footpath and I was running till I met a woman who was too afraid to help me, it was almost dawn then because I could see a bit clearer. I met two other women who also did not help.”

    Following her mysterious escape Akperhe Community, Olomu Kingdom, Ughelli-South Area was in a carnival mood as they celebrated her audacious escape.

    She was abducted by unidentified gunmen five days ago and plotted a daring escape to nearby Oviri-Olomu community.

    Recounting her ordeal, Esegba said she was forcefully taken away from her home by gunmen at about 2am.

    Her words: “About 2am while asleep, I heard a great noise and before I knew it, two heavily armed men storm into the house and seized me after pulling down my door. Three others also armed joined them and ransacked the house, took my jewelries, my George wrappers and several thousands of naira. They started beating and hitting me with guns. Thereafter, I was dragged into one of the waiting Okada, one sat behind me and the three others took the other Okada. The one seated behind me held my mouth, I was blinded folded and also held by the throat”.

    Mrs. Esegba is the mother of Benard Esegba, who runs a successful oil servicing firm in the Niger Delta.

    According to Mrs Esegba, her entreaties to be freed fell on deaf ears as the gunmen even refused accepting the money she offered on the ground that the money was “small money”.

    Her words: “I had some money on my cloth, but they said is a big amount and not the small money they want, that they want my son to pay them big money before I will be released that they will not kill me. I promised that I will sell off my canopies, chairs and land to pay but they refused, and they said they were also going to kidnap other people.”

    She said she sneaked away after her prayer was answered and her abductors slept off.

    She added: “After a moment, I discovered that they were asleep; so, I made an attempt to sneak away but one of them shouted ‘if you move I will shoot you’. So, I said I wanted to ease myself. After sometime again, both of them dozed off and I crept away. I ran into a footpath and I was running till I met a woman who was too afraid to help me. It was almost dawn then because I could see a bit clearer. I met two other women who also did not help. Finally, I met a fisherman on an Okada with fishing gadgets but I was also scared to stop him, but on second thoughts I called to him for help, this Good Samaritan took me to his home at a place I later found out to be Oviri-Olomu after hearing my story. At his home I found out that he was married to my niece. They now clothed me as I was almost naked”.

    “This man called my people at Akperhe at about 6am who came and alerted Oviri Community leadership that is my story.”

    Benard Esegba said: “I was in Lagos on Monday morning when I received a call from one of my relatives, Mr. Ighotemurue Efeni saying that my mother was suspected to be kidnapped and the town was in confusion.

    “I immediately place a call to my Bishop, His Holiness, Miyerijesu, my cousin, Isaac Omafuaire, the President- General of my town, and the councillor representing us that my mother was kidnapped. I also called the Ughelli vigilante through Mr. Ufuoma Akpodiete to swing into action which they did. Immediately I left Lagos, on my way I was called that they have found her. When I arrived, I went to the hospital where she was receiving treatment as she was in a bad shape, she bruised and injured. I am grateful to God, my bishop, Olomu Mmonarch, the Akperhe people, Oviri people, security agents and the vigilante who worked seriously and the Oviri-Olomu youths. I am indebted to all who joined me in prayers.”

    Reacting to the kidnap and the escape, HRM, Ovie R. L. Ogbon, Ohworode of Olomu Kingdom, said: “This condemnable in its entirety, this is a taboo, it is unacceptable. I thank God that she has been released.I want the Governor to accent to the anti-kidnapping bill quickly, such people must die. I am going to call a meeting of all the communities, the Olomu vigilante and communities’ vigilante must be coordinated to forestall recurrence of such again.

    Chief Felix Osiaje, President General of Akperhe Community said: “This is an insider job; no stranger can come into my community to do this devilish act. There is an insider involved in this thing. I am happy that she escaped but I am going to the village to find a solution to this act. We don’t tolerate criminality; we will get to the root of this matter. I sympathise with the family and my friend, Benard, in this trying moment.”

    Six months ago, the Delta House of Assembly passed the anti-kidnapping Bill 2013, imposing a death sentence on any person convicted of kidnapping in the state, into law.

    The lawmakers had earlier passed the bill on December18, last year and sent it to Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan for his assent.

    The bill, sponsored by 28 members of the House, provided for death penalty for kidnappers, cultists and terrorists.

    It also stipulated that property used by those who engaged in hostage taking would be confiscated by the government.

    However, in a letter to the lawmakers, read by the Speaker, Victor Ochei, Uduaghan withheld his assent to the bill.

    The governor recommended life sentence, instead of death penalty for kidnapping cases in the state.

    Uduaghan said: “After full consideration to the Bill as passed by the house and presented to me for assent, no doubt, there are fundamental and compelling issues, some of which are constitutional.

    “This has made it necessary for me to withhold my assent on the bill. It is my view that death sentence punishment is not likely to serve as a deterrent or antidote for crime of kidnapping. It is suggested that the sentence should be imprisonment for a longer term, that is life imprisonment.

    “My reasons for suggesting long term of imprisonment are, it is a well known fact that death sentence is the penalty for the offences of armed robbery and murder. Notwithstanding death sentence imposed for those offences, they are still being committed on a daily basis in this country.

    “As at today, there are more armed robbery cases pending compared to kidnapping cases in the various judicial divisions of High Court. The second reason why I withhold my assent to the bill is that there is currently world-wide campaign calling for the abolition of death sentence from the law books.

    “This campaign has been taken up by the Nigerian Institute of Advance Legal Studies among several agencies.”

    In a reaction, the lawmakers overruled the governor’s position and went through the legislative process to bring the bill into law with effect from April 17.

    The law gives the governor or his representative power to sign an order authorising the sealing up of the premises that he reasonably suspects to be used to harbour persons held against their will, kidnapped persons or hostages held with or without the demand for ransom; and that the sealing of the premises shall remain in force pending the final determination of the application for forfeiture or revocation order by the governor.

    Acting on the law, a residential house at Ovara-Umusu, Orogun owned by the late Daniel Awharitoma and a hotel, Uncle P Guest House at Abraka, belonging to Pius Ogbeni, were pulled down for allegedly serving as haven to kidnappers, who hid their victims there.

    Uncle P Guest House was demolished for allegedly serving as a den for kidnapping kingpin, Kelvin Oniarah also known as Ibruvbe. The residential house owned by the late Awhritoma was alleged to have been used by a kidnapping suspect, Anthony Agidi, a tenant in the house, to keep his victims.

    A Ughelli-based lawyer, Chief Peter Wanogho, instituted a case at the Warri High Court on behalf of the Awharitoma family.

    The suit has as parties the government, Commissioner of Police, Speaker of the Delta House of Assembly, the Inspector General of Police and the Attorney-General of the Federation.

    State government in the execution of the powers purportedly conferred on it by the Delta State Anti-kidnapping and Terrorism Law enacted by the Delta State House of Assembly, can validly authorise policemen under the command of the Delta State Commissioner of Police and the Inspector General of Police to whom the Attorney General of the Federation is their chief law officer, to demolish any premises “where a person is held hostage against his/her will” without the premises being first forfeited to the state government without “an order authorising the sealing up of the premises” reasonably suspected “to be used to harbour persons held against his/her will, kidnapped persons or hostages held with or without the demand for ransom and without a final determination of the application for forfeiture or revocation order by the governor” of Delta State, brought before a court of competent jurisdiction by Ochuko Daniel Awharitoma”.

    And whether or not section 3 (4) of the Delta State Anti Terrorism Law, 2012, which made a blanket provision that “Any premises wherein a person is held against his/her will as a hostage shall be forfeited to the government without the payment of compensation, except the circumstances of the case otherwise suggests”, in respect of a premises owned by a person who is not a party to the kidnapping or aware that his premises was being used to hold persons as hostages and without the actual owner of the premises being given any hearing before the purported order of forfeiture of the premises, does not violate the provisions of section 36 (1), (2) (a) & (4) and section 44 (1) (a) & (b) of the constitution of the federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and therefore amounts to a flagrant breach or violation of the fundamental rights of the innocent owners of the premises to “be forfeited to the government without the payment of compensation?”

    According to Wanogho, the demolition of the plaintiffs’ buildings on June 10, 2013 without their being first forfeited to government and sealed off; and without a valid order of forfeiture of the said premises and payment of compensation to the plaintiffs, who are not in any way connected to the alleged act of kidnapping or the premises being used to hold hostages is contrary to the provisions of section 3 (4), (5) & (6) and 16 (2) of the Delta State Anti Kidnapping and Anti Terrorism law, 2012 and sections 36 (1), (2) (a) & (4) and 44 (1) (a) & (b) of the constitution of the federal Republic of Nigeria of 1999 as amended. The act is also unlawful and amounts to a flagrant breach and violation of the plaintiffs’ fundamental rights.

    The Awharitoma family is therefore demanding eleven million, six hundred and sixty-nine thousand, four hundred and thirty seven naira as damages and another fifty million naira as exemplary damages for the wrongful, illegal, and unconstitutional flagrant breach and violent violation of the plaintiffs’ fundamental rights. They also sought an order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants or their agents from further carrying out any act detrimental to the plaintiffs’ rights over the premises.

    The Delta State Police Command has, however, absolved itself of blame in the alleged illegal demolitions. The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Lucky Uyabeme, told The Guardian that the order approving the demolition of the said houses was a security decision reached during the state security meetings attended by all the heads of the security agencies and government officials. He added that a combined team of the Police, Army, Navy and other relevant government agencies and not just the police carried out the demolition exercise.

    The eldest son of the late owner of the house, Akpbor Daniel Awharitoma, said the demolition was shocking and illegal, adding there was no time the children and the two widows of the late owner were aware that the apartment let out to the late Mrs. Comfort Agidi, was being used by her son, Anthony Agidi, a kidnap suspect, to keep a hostage.

    Describing the demolition as jungle justice, Human Rights lawyer and national coordinator of the Forum for Justice and Human Rights Defence, (FJHD), Oghenejabor Ikimi, apparently miffed by the non-adherence to the provisions of the Anti-kidnapping law by the state government in the demolition of both houses said: “We members of the Forum For Justice and Human Rights Defence, do hereby call upon the Delta State government to observe the strict provisions of Section 4 sub sections 4 & 5 of the Delta State Anti-kidnapping and Anti-terrorism Law, which empowers the governor or his representative to sign an order authorising the sealing up of any premises that he reasonably finds to be used to harbour persons held against their will, kidnapped persons or hostages held with or without demand for ransom, pending the final determination of the application for forfeiture or revocation order by a competent court.

    “We note with dismay that some residential houses including a hotel were recently demolished on the orders of the state government without recourse to the provisions of the above Law. We submit without fear or favour that the above action of government amounts to jungle justice and a cure worse than the disease. As such, we call on the Delta State government to respect the rule of law in its fight against all forms of criminality in the state.

    In the same vein, Wanogho has urged anyone whose house or houses have been destroyed or demolished to test the law because constitutionally, such houses cannot be destroyed without committing a criminal offence and without government taking possession of them.

    He said that the idea of destroying any building inhabited by kidnappers or used, as a base for kidnap victims is not proper, stressing that the law is meant to serve the interest of the people and not to oppress them.

    Said he: “in the situation where a kidnapper is a tenant in a compound where the landlord is not resident, and is therefore innocent because he/she is unaware that such heinous activity is going on in his/her house…. Is the landlord then the offender? Is the landlord involved in kidnapping? Why should the house be destroyed because a tenant happens to be a kidnapper?

    “Is there any machinery with which a landlord can detect the criminality of his tenant? If there is such in Nigeria, then Boko Haram won’t operate because it would have been used to discover members of the sect in Maiduguri and they would be easily fished out. And if government does not have such machinery, how can it then be possible for an individual landlord, the owner of a building to know that his/her tenant is involved in kidnapping?

     

    “Criminality is not written on the forehead because it is a thing of the mind and the criminal law punishes an offender. And who is an offender? Those who aid in the commission of the crime, those who counsel the commission of the crime and those that aid after the commission of the crime are regarded as offenders.

     

    “In this case, however, they punished a man who never participated in any way in the commission of the crime. His only offence is that he built a house and let it out to a person, who happens to be involved in a crime. Even if the kidnapped victim is taken to a house so hired, does that make the landlord an offender? And if the house is demolished, has the weight of the criminality been visited on the actual criminal? Or should the brunt of the criminality now be borne by an innocent landlord who let out his house?

    “If government could provide the machinery for landlords, whereby all potential tenants are brought to a screening machine to test their criminality to know who is capable of committing what crime, then that law would be justifiable. But the law, I dare say is barbaric. Criminal responsibility is personal and not transferable. You cannot punish a man for a crime he has not committed. The demolition of houses of persons who are not criminal just because their houses are inhabited by criminals is a bad law; a bad piece of legislation that should be condemned. Nobody is taking sides with criminals, but let the innocent citizens not get punished for an offence they did not comm

     

  • Amnesty: Ex-militants flay calls for Kuku’s sack

    The John Togo-led Niger Delta Liberation Force (NDLF) has condemned the call for the removal of Hon Kingsley Kuku as Chairman of the Federal Amnesty Programme by a section of ex-militants in the Niger Delta.

    The NDLF also dissociated its members from criminal activities like sea piracy and others in the region, stressing that the the group would never embark on any act that threatens the prevailing peace in the region.

    The group’s position was contained in a press statement by its spokesperson, Capt Mark Anthony, which was made available to Niger Delta Report in Port Harcourt.

    It described reported arrest of some of the group’s members for alleged sea piracy as false and calculated attempt to smear the name of the group.

    NDLF said“The activities of some unscrupulous Niger Delta youths who hide under the cover of “ex-militants” to blackmail the hard-earned reputation of Hon. Kingsley Kuku and demanded for his removal from the amnesty office.

    “We want to be categorical in our statement that these sets of acclaimed ‘generals’ are fake as they never at any time engaged in the violent armed Niger Delta struggle. You cannot call yourself a general without a barracks and foot-soldiers or blow up any pipeline in Niger Delta only to suddenly wake up from your mother’s hut and ascribe the title to yourself.

    “The term “general” is not a child’s play. It is for those leaders of former militant camps who led their boys violently against federal troops led by army generals. General Sagir Belo and General Charles Omoregie of the Nigerian army,” the statement added.

    Mark Anthony described those calling for Kuku’s sack as “fake and street urchins”, urging Nigerians and President Goodluck Jonathan not to take them seriously in matters affecting the region.

    He said the renowned ex-militant leaders were satisfied and comfortable with the activities of the amnesty under Kuku and could therefore not call for his sack.

    The NDLF leader noted that Kuku had never short-paid or make arbitrary deduction of funds meant for ex-militants or diverted their gratuity to his private use as claimed by those calling for his removal.

    “Hon. Kingsley Kuku is a man of high outstanding integrity who had displayed efficient and robust management of the federal amnesty programme which result is the enduring peace and maximum oil production in Niger Delta.”

    “Therefore, we are appealing to Mr. President and the general public to disregard any self-styled ex-militant leader or group calling for the sack of the amnesty boss is doing so out of ignorance and selfish reasons. They are fake and do not understand how we fought the Niger Delta struggle.”

     

     

  • Community rues location of Calabar dump site

    Community rues location of Calabar dump site

    For residents of Ikot Effanga Mkpa, a community on the new LEMNA Road in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, the permanent stench of refuse has almost become a part of their lives.

    Reason: within the community are acres of land, which serve as the Calabar dumpsite, where all the refuse gathered throughout the city is emptied.

    Calabar has gathered fame for its cleanliness. In fact, it is reputed to be the cleanest city in the country. Residents of the community feel it is their sacrifice to bear brunt of the state’s rising dirt-free status.

    The community, it was gathered, grew around the dumpsite, as before the construction of the LEMNA Road, there were hardly any residents around there. With the government’s city expansion project through the construction of the road that led through an area of the town that was before now secluded, houses started springing up.

    The habitation of the place became so much such that people were living right across the dumpsite.

    A resident, Mrs Cecilia Ekpang, said they had learnt to live with the hazardous situation, but she appealled to the government to do something about the situation.

    She said such a dumpsite should not be located anywhere near a city. She said: “Such a dump should not be close to where people are living, not to mention inside a city, such as Calabar. The level of risk we are exposed to here cannot be quantified, but what can we do, this is the place available for most of us to build our houses. Should we be the ones to leave the place for the dump? or it should be the dump leaving the place for us? Calabar is becoming a fast growing city and you can see the number of houses growing around this new area the government has opened up. So, as a government which I believe means well for its citizens as well as trying to uphold its status as sanitary conscious; I plead that this dumpsite be moved to another area for the sake of our health. Children are always getting ill around here and I am sure it is because of the air they breathe around here.”

    Another resident, Mr Daniel Bassey, said: “As it is now, you can smell the pollution in the air right from my house. But I tell you that is nothing. Come back in the night and you would wonder how we manage to survive here. In the night, the smell is so thick that you can even taste it. Even if you like, you can go inside your room and lock everywhere, the smell will meet you. I can only imagine the kind of things we breathe into our bodies. The government needs to do something urgently about the situation before some kind of epidemic breaks out here. In my opinion, a dumpsite, such as this, should not be anywhere close to where human beings are staying. It is a very terrible situation we face here and God is the only one who is keeping us.”

    Worried by the development, the Cross River State House of Assembly last week resolved that its Committee On Environment interface with the waste management agency and other relevant agencies to address the health hazard caused by the refuse dumpsite.

    The resolution was sequel to a motion of matter of urgent public interest on the danger of the refuse dump by the Deputy Speaker and member representing Akamkpa State Constituency, Itaya Asuquo Nyong.

    Nyong observed that with the fast growing status of the state capital, locating such dumpsite in the city was dangerous to the inhabitants.

    He said already two lives have been lost due to the outbreak of cholera, possible caused by the hazardous situation.

    The member representing Boki II State Constituency, Jacob Otu Enyia, noted that about N70 million was provided in the 2013 budget to tackle the issue.

    Enyia said the matter was of great concern and appealed to government to address the problem, before more harm would be done.

    The member representing Yala II State Constituency, Ogana Lukpata, said unless the refuse dump was removed, everybody around there and even passers-by were at the risk of contracting air- borne diseases.

    Member representing Odukpani State Constituency, Wilson Ekpenyong, called for a recycling facility as a permanent solution to the problem.

    The Commissioner for Environment, Dr Sandy Onor, could not be reached for comments on the situation.

     

     

  • Unending controversy over girl’s death in Agbor

    Unending controversy over girl’s death in Agbor

    What happened?

    My daughter, Radah Emuobosan Elsie Agbaje, was murdered on October 10 at Agbor in my younger sister’s house, where she was staying, by suspected student cultists from the College of Education, Agbor.

    She collected her result the upper Friday and she went to show her father the result on Monday and she was here to show my younger brother. She made Second Class Upper. She was brilliant. She finished from the Federal Government Girls College in Calabar, she made clear A’s. You need to see the poems she wrote. She was a writer and she was just wonderful.

    She (the other lady in the room with her) said when they (robbers) came in about 2am, they started flogging them; they flogged my daughter, and they flogged her. That they were shouting ‘Jesus, Jesus help’; that when she kept quiet, they continued flogging my daughter.

    What children in the house saw that night

    According to my sister’s three kids, they were in their room; they heard everything. When they now woke up in the morning around 5am, they saw that everywhere was quiet. The three kids now came out, holding hands and they went to my daughter’s room. They saw my daughter hurdled by the wardrobe’s door, the part of the wardrobe that belongs to Ederi.

    They started shaking her and that was when the senior one noticed that she was in a pool of her own blood. They now started screaming and my daughter did not respond. They now looked at the bed; the other girl was sleeping on the bed. So, they decided to wake her up. That was when she started saying that she was injured, the robbers have taken key. So, she told the boy of 8 to pass through the window to call people that she was afraid that the robbers were still there. So, the young boy had to go out through the window to go and call for help.

    Door was opened

    When the boy finally succeeded in going through the window, when people were trying to come in, they just turned the handle of the door that she claimed that robbers made away with the keys and the door opened. The door was not locked with keys.

    How did the alleged robbers come in?

    They came in through the ceiling. The ceiling was broken two weeks ago. My sister went out only to come back to discover that they broke the ceiling and came into the house. They did not know if it was robbers but they reported to the police that they broke through. They took my sister’s car key; they took N10,000 and her jewelleries.

    Not a robbery case

    Nothing was stolen from my in-law’s house that night. Robbers don’t sit, eat comfortably. They ate that night. They sat down and took long meal. So, what happened between 2-5am when a child of 8 years decided to raise alarm? What was the suspect doing in the same room when there is blood splashed all over the wall? They said they smashed her head. You need to go to Agbor. You need to see the room. The foam is soaked with blood. The flood in the wardrobe where she was when these kids saw her soaked with blood. What was a girl of 24 to 25 years doing when her own mate sharing the same bed with her was killed? What was she doing? That is the question.

    Police response was light

    They (police) treated it lightly the first time and I was not happy. I now knew that it was not a robbery case. I knew my daughter was murdered. On Sunday, I decided to seek legal help because I know it was not robbery. After that, they told me to go back to the police and reported the incident all over again. They had to open a file.

    Cry for justice

    I want justice! I want justice for a girl whose life was cut short. A gem, a girl that was everything, a girl that was all. I don’t know how to describe her. She is an angel that walked on this earth. Those who came in contact with her know who she was that girl that could never hurt a fly. She could never keep anything in her heart or go to bed with anger. She had this logic that she could never go to bed annoying somebody.

    I am calling on security agencies, police, SSS, to go after the killers of my daughter. The killers of my daughter are walking freely. I want the killers of my daughter brought to justice. I want security agencies to go after them before they go and torture another soul. I want them to be found and made to face the law. My daughter cannot die like that.

     

  • Why I’m writing a book on public administration, by ex-Edo SSG

    Why I’m writing a book on public administration, by ex-Edo SSG

    THE youths in Edo State say good things about you; what is the magic behind this?

    My philosophy of life is to try as much as possible to touch many lives in a positive manner, and I believe that the future belongs to the youths. If you go to any campaign ground, 70 per cent of the people you see there are youths, same on the voting day, therefore, if you neglect the youths, you are not only neglecting the present generation but the future generation as well if attention is not given to the youths.

    It is for this reason that I had always invested in the youths – I have been doing this right from my days in the medical profession, especially as an activist in the NMA. This is what has brought me close to many youths associations in the state and beyond. When they come to me, I listen to them, and in my own way assist them. This was why when I was dropped from the government, they were not happy but I assure them that nobody has the prerogative to remain in office. I really find it rewarding assisting the youths in whatever capacity I can.

    What have you been doing since you left office as SSG?

    I have not really been idle since I left office. I have been very busy with various activities that I have occupied myself with. I have my future all mapped out, whether in office or not. I am an academic, with two fellowship in pediatrics, I could take up a teaching job if I meant to. Since I left office, I have been serving government as a consultant to the state government on internal revenue; I have served and still serving in various committees of the state ruling party. I am also putting a book together to educate public servants on governance and administration. The book is titled, “Understanding Public Administration As a Tool for Effective Service Delivery”. This book has been completed and about being sent to the publisher. It is billed to be out in the next one or two months. It is based on my experience in the various offices I held during the past 19 years. This book will prepare those aspiring for public offices. I am also trying to put one or two thing in place to give myself support. My family is also there for me to look after – I have not been bore but rather very busy since I left office.

    As a stakeholder in Afemai politics, there is this recent vote of no confidence passed on the Chief of Staff to the President, Chief Mike Ogiadomhe by your people. What is your take on this?

    Though it was a party issue, I think it was a wrong decision taken by those involved. I believe there are better ways of getting leaders to do those things we believe they are not doing. What that exercise portrayed, is the leadership question in Edo North. I think if we had an established structure on ground, either at the traditional institution level, the problem of going to the public to pass a vote of no confidence would not have occurred. Perhaps some of the reasons behind their actions may be genuine but not how it was handled. I think there should have been a better way of telling him about his shortcomings.

    How would you react to the insinuation that your desire to become a senator in Edo North in 2015 has pitched you against the governor and some key political actors in the area?

    I have made it clear to my supporters and family that I have no desire to contest a senatorial position, I am a careful person and I take my time to access situation, though there has been glamour for me to contest, I have told them that my spirit has not convinced me at this point in time to run for the senate or any other political office for now.

    For those who think am a clog in their wheel of progress, let me use this opportunity to let them know that I am not aspiring for any political office. I also like the public know that I have no problem with the governor as regards any senatorial ambition or any political position whatsoever.

    Why are you so committed to Oshiomhole despite the fact that he dumped you after working hard to ensure he was re-elected?

    I do not have any problem with the governor. I do not have any disagreement with Oshiomhole. My relationship with Oshiomhole is very cordial. I worked with him during his first tenure as Head of Service and Secretary to Government. I was an integral part of government during the first term and I had a good work relationship with him. We all worked hard for him to win his second term election, the prerogative as to who remains or becomes his SSG is his and in his wisdom, he decided to drop me. And when that happened, I gave God the glory, for enabling me to serve SSG after I had retired as the HOS.

    So, I had no problem whatsoever when I was dropped because I had prepared myself that I would one day leave office. As I speak with you, the same governor has appointed me as a consultant to the state on revenue, under this platform; I interact with him quite often. I am also serving in various committees that he has put in place. Talks about disagreement with the governor are mere speculations.

    What is your response to the mirage of criticism of Oshiomhole’s government this second term?

    I have heard some of these things and feel surprised that people are talking like this. The fact is that it is very difficult to satisfy Nigerians and Edo people in particular. If you look at Edo State now and compare it to the era before Oshiomhole became the Governor of Edo State, you will agree with me that the changes he has brought are phenomenon. It is uncharitable for people to start doubting his government. If the roads in Benin are the only thing he has done, there is no doubt in my mind that he has brought changes to the State. Name it; Airport Road, Akpakpava Road, Sapele Road, this development is not only visible in Benin City but in other parts of the State as well. But by far the most visible intervention of Oshiomhole’s government is in the area of education. Public schools in the state were not longer viable before his intervention but as I speak, you have more parents changing their wards school from private to public schools because of Oshiomhole’s intervention. Many universities in this country today do not have some of these facilities in some of these schools in Edo State. It is the same in the health sector and water.

     

  • 2015: Jonathan’ll value the support of any Niger Deltan

    2015: Jonathan’ll value the support of any Niger Deltan

    The chairman of Centenary Exhibition Committee, Apostle Romel Eric Emenike, has said President Goodluck Jonathan, will value the support of every Niger Deltan for his re-election bid.

    Emenike, who spoke at his residence in Port Harcourt, the River State capital, urged politicians in the Niger Delta to stop playing politics with 2015 and focus on how to bring about change and development in the region.

    He said the need to focus on development has made Jonathan not to consider 2015 election a priority now.

    He said as the Chairman of Centenary Exhibition Committee his focus is on the growth of the economy.

    He said: “ Jonathan loves the people of Niger Delta and he values every support that comes from this region. Though, he has not started talking about 2015 but about the economy. Recently, my committee met with Bill Gate, the American billionaire, to discuss how his organisations could support Nigeria in the area of agriculture. The committee has taken the responsibility of contacting great men all over the world to participate in next year’s centenary celebration.”

    He said the committee was also working hard to ensure that many foreign investors would participate in the centenary celebration to meet with their Nigeria counterparts and discuss the way forward for the economy.

    He said the need to transform agricultural sector made his committee to place more emphasis on investors who could partner Nigeria’s vision to make agriculture the biggest source of Nigeria’s revenue.

    He said: “Our task as the Centenary Exhibition Committee is to focus on the economy; so, there is positive response from efforts made so far. But the most important thing is to showcase Nigeria’s ingenuity and greatness.”

    He urged those who want to take the job of the President when his tenure was not over to thread carefully. He said many people have tried it in the past but they did not succeed instead their political careers were brought down.

    He said the Niger Delta for many years clamoured to become the President of this country, adding that it would be wrong for any other Niger Delta man to become a stumbling block in the wheel of progress in the region.

    “It is a shame that desperate politicians in the region are raising their head and fighting against the president all in the name of 2015. Where were they when this region was crying to taste the seat of Presidency? Where were they when the North retained power for many years? I think they should learn more about history; those who challenged the president in the past never ended well in their political careers. The job of Mr. President in this country is a naked wire; it has consumed many people.”

    On oil theft, Emenike, who is also a stakeholder in the oil and gas sector,

    said the stealing of crude oil at the creek is not significant compared to the rebranded oil stealing called ‘topping’ at Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC).

    He argued that the illegal ‘topping’ formula, which only benefits those at the top in NNPC and security personnel, cannot cause the shortfall incurred in oil theft.

    “Topping is an indirect way of stealing, if somebody has a contract with NNPC to lift one million barrel of oil, he or she will now enter into illegal arrangement with NPPC and the security men to lift more than it was agreed. If they can end this stealing, even the stealing at the creek will be insignificant.”

  • Akwa Ibom fishermen demand N250b compensation from oil firm

    Fishermen in Unyenge community, Mbo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom, have demanded N250 billion compensation from an oil company, Universal Energy Resources Ltd. (UERL).

    The fishermen told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Mbo on Sunday that they made the demand under the aegis of Famous Fishing Organisation (FFO).

    The chairman of the organisation, Mr Johnson Harry, told NAN that the members were affected by the August 15 oil spill from the company’s oil field in Stubb Creek.

    According to him, the spill emptied about 2,000 barrels of crude into the Ede Akpa River in the area and has prevented them from fishing— their only source of their livelihood.

    He also said the oil company should pay adequate compensation to farmers in the community who were also affected by the oil spill.

    “The oil flowed to Ede Akpa River where we do our fishing activities and destroyed our fishing equipment and as a result, we can no longer fish in the river again,’’ he said.

    He said the oil spill also destroyed farmlands in the area, affecting the livelihood of 5,000 farmers in Unyenge community.

    Harry said the spill had caused untold hardship to the people of the area, and that some of their members had died of hunger and starvation, as a result.

    “We cannot farm, and according to international standard, if there is an oil spill, you have to wait for 10 years before you can start farming again,’’ Harry said.

    “The hazardous substances coming from the spilled crude has destroyed aquatic life, raffia palms and fishing nets.

    “Even the air we breath in the area have been affecting our health and we no longer go out for fishing,’’ he said.

    Harry urged UERL to clean up the affected lands and waters in the area, according to international standard.

    The Public Affairs Officer of the company, Mr Aniefiok Iwaudofia, confirmed the incident, saying the cause of the spill was equipment failure from a ruptured flange on the tank outlet.

    He, however, said that the quantity of crude spilled into the river was only about three barrels.

    “It is important to note that the spill was immediately and effectively contained within the Stubb Creek well pad.

    “The little that poured on the UERL acquired Right of Way (ROW) was scooped and the top soil excavated and back-filled with fresh sand,’’ he said.

    Iwaudofia assured the host community that the management would continue to engage in practice and processes designed to effectively manage the hazards of its operations.