Category: South East

COMMUNITIES in Enugu and Imo States were thrown into turmoil at the weekend as unknown gunmen went on a shooting spree killing at least three individuals, including prominent town union leaders.

In Oruku Community in Nkanu East LGA and Umuopu community, in Igboeze North local government area of Enugu State, it was gathered that the president-general of the town union, Chief Linus Nwatu, was reportedly shot dead in the early hours of yesterday by gunmen who have been terrorizing the community in recent time.

Also, in Enugu Ezike, a commander of Umuopu community vigilante group, known as Mr. Levi was also shot dead by a group of hoodlums currently making the area unlivable.

He was said to have been killed by hoodlums hiding under the secessionist agitations to commit atrocities in Igboeze North LGA.

The hoodlums were said to have tagged the security leader as a saboteur before killing him in his car. His lifeless body was seen in the car.

In Oruku, sources said Chief Nwatu, a retired police officer, was shot dead by the unidentified gunmen who broke into his house where he resided with his family members after his retirement from Nigeria Police.

The Oruku President-General was killed on a day that the community had scheduled to bury a member of the town’s neighborhood watch, Mr. Dennis Ike (a.k.a Peace), who was shot dead by gunmen in the town on June 6, 2022.

The development has caused panic in the affected communities.

In like manner, the gunmen, apparently on a mission to forestall the burial of the slain Ike slated for yesterday, stormed the compound of the president-general (Nwatu) and murdered him in cold-blood in the morning.

One of the sources, who preferred anonymity, told newsmen that the attack on Nwatu was not unconnected with his role in the protracted communal conflict in Oruku.

The traditional ruler of Oruku community, Igwe Emmanuel Mbah and several natives had been murdered by hoodlums loyal to a faction in the communal dispute from December 2020 till date.  The traditional ruler was assassinated on December 26, 2020 and his killers are yet to be brought to book.

The assassination later sparked a disorder that caused destruction of lives and property in the community prompting Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi to institute a Judicial Commission of Inquiry to investigate Mbah’s killing.

The murdered Town Union President, Chief Nwatu, had alleged while testifying before the commission that “23 collaborators and sponsors were fueling cultist activities in Oruku” to destroy lives and property.

He had urged the commission headed by Justice Harold Eya to look into the names listed in his memorandum as the masterminds of Oruku crisis and bring them to book.

The Justice Harold Eya panel had since submitted its findings to Governor Ugwuanyi but the government has yet to make the report public and take necessary steps to restore lasting peace in the area.

The state police spokesman, Daniel Ndukwe could not be reached for his comments on the incidents as of press time Saturday.

Also in Imo, an auto mechanic identified as Valentine Enwerem was reportedly shot dead. The deceased who was killed on Friday at a place known as U-turn after Nkwo Orji market junction on Owerri-Okigwe Road was said to be carrying three persons in his car when he was doubled crossed.

After shooting him dead, the gunmen kidnapped the three persons he was carrying in a vehicle.

The development caused panic in the area as the gunmen shot sporadically as they made their way out of the scene.

The deceased’s colleagues told our correspondent at his workshop at the Orji Mechanic Village on yesterday, that his killers drove towards the Okigwe end of the road after killing him and abducting the occupants of his vehicle.

According to an eyewitness, “They said they didn’t come for him and asked him to cooperate with them. They later shot him dead and zoomed towards the Okigwe end of the road after kidnapping the people in the vehicle.

“He was from the Ikeduru Local Government Area of Imo State and his wife sells provision besides his workshop. This is very unfortunate. We are pained and highly embittered by his loss.”

In a related development two chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC) were abducted at two locations in the Isiala Mbano Council Area of the state.

While one was kidnapped at his community in Amauzairi, another politician cum businessman from the Ikeduru LGA, popularly known as ‘Ability’, was kidnapped at a pharmaceutical shop at Amaraku.

The development caused panic in the areas as people ran inside their houses and closed for the day.

A source that does not want to be mentioned said, “one of them (name withheld), an aspirant for the upcoming LGA Chairmanship election, has been kidnapped.

“As they approached Amaraku, they saw a Tundra vehicle parked in front of a pharmaceutical shop, they stopped, went there and kidnapped Chief Ability and released multiple gunshots as they made their way out of the area. The people are panicking,” he said.

Contacted, the state Publicity Secretary of APC, Cajetan Duke, told our correspondent that that he has heard about the incident.

“I have heard about it but I don’t have details of the incident,” he said.

The spokesperson for the police in the state, Michael Abattam, was yet to respond to the incidents as at the time of filing the report.

BAYELSA State government has constituted a 14-member Women Economic Inclusion Committee as part of efforts to ensure seamless implementation of the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) in the state.

Constituting the committee at his office in Government House on Saturday, Deputy Governor Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo said the members were carefully selected based on their pedigree and wealth of experience.

Ewhrudjakpo assured the people that government would create an enabling environment for all stakeholders including men and youths to play a role in terms of implementing the PIA to ensure mutual benefits for all parties.

Speaking on behalf of the committee members, the Commissioner for Women/Children Affairs, Empowerment and Social Development, Mrs Faith Opene, thanked the state government for giving them the opportunity to serve the state through the committee.

The committee has Mrs. Faith Opene and Comrade Princess Egbe as Co-Chairmen while Mary Bekeowei Accrah is to serve as Secretary.

Other members of the committee are Doubra Ofoni, Financial Secretary; Victoria Feboke, Public Relations Officer; and Pauline Onyibe, Publicity Secretary.

The conflict resolution sub-team has Dr. Juliet Teibowei, and Queen Tessy Diongoli; while Barrister Winner Obonin Dominic and Barrister Deme Pamosoo are to serve as the legal team.

The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), a gender advocacy group, StandUp for Women Society (SWS) and the NYSC Legal Aid Community Development Service (CDS) have united to train out-of-school teenage mothers in legal education and vocational skills in Bayelsa State.

Although more than 100 teenage mothers have been captured to undergo the skills acquisition training, the facilitators said they would begin with 20 teenagers in the first phase of the programme.

The 20 teenagers were selected from the rural communities in Yenagoa Local Government and they will undergo training in Fashion Design, Catering, Make-Up and Hair Dressing for three months at the Bayelsa State Institute of Tourism and Hospitality (BSITH), Yenagoa.

Speaking yesterday at the launch at the BSITH, the Deputy Manager, Capacity Building, NCDMB, Mr. Timbiri Augustine, said the board attached importance to training and human capital development, hence the support for the training.

He hailed the stakeholders for initiating the training, noting that it was the first time “this category of persons will be captured by the board for skills acquisition training programme.”

Augustine said: “We have noted that employment is limited, but there is the entrepreneurship window that is open for all of us. There are only two ways to generate income either as a service provider or producer or both. This training will expose you to skills to become a service provider and a producer.

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“We expect maximum commitments. You have a role to play. We are playing our own role, the trainers are expected to play their own role as you are also expected to play your own role and remain committed and align with our expectations. We want to thank the stakeholders involved in this training. NCDMB knows the importance of partnership, and collaboration is one of our key priorities.”

The Rector, BSITHI, Prof. Apuega Arikawie, praised the NCDMB for utilising the facilities offered by the institute for its training and for financing training programmes in the Niger Delta and the country at large.

He said: “As a way to empower teenage mothers to have a scheme for themselves to enable them take care of the child, the NCDMB thought it wise to sponsor this programme.

“The programme will make them entrepreneurs and reduce crime, poverty in the Niger Delta and vices bedevilling the area.”

The Chairperson, SWS, Bayelsa State chapter, Ms Eunice Nnachi, said the training was about social integration and giving hope to teenage mothers, who had found themselves in that condition.

She added that the trainees would be given stipends and starter packs to enable them become self-reliant.

Nnachi noted that over 100 teenage mothers had been captured and would undergo the skills acquisition training, which would be carried out in phases.

She said arrangements had been put in place to ensure that the programme was well monitored and supervised.

The management of Calabar  Seaport,  under the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA), has given assurance that the port is active, well equipped  and has the  capacity to handle vessels for importers and exporters within the catchment area.

The Port Manager, Chief Festus Olumati, gave the assurance yesterday when he played host to  the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Cross River Council.

Olumati, who dispelled the impression in some quarters that the Calabar Port was dead or ill-equipped to render the expected services, noted that recently the Port had handled vessels that came with 204 heavy-duty trucks, 22 cubic metres of pipes and other containers.

He said they have also handled export of palm kernel from the state and a lot is being put in place in order to handle more of such as well as encourage importers within the seaport catchment area for  patronage.

Emphasising on the effectiveness of the Calabar Port, he disclosed that the Federal Government was investing in more equipment and clearing encumbrances that had affected the port in the past.

He said effort had been made to ensure that importers nearby patronised the port.

According to him, “the port is still viable and of economic benefit to the state and to Nigeria and it is safe for berthing, hence the need for customers to patronise it to clear their general containers.

“The significance of the recent  berthing of these vessels is to tell the world that Calabar Port is active and working. The rumour going round that nothing is happening in Calabar Port is not true.

“We have installed 36 buoys to give proper direction to vessels coming into the port and also security boat and marine police have been approved for the port.”

He said the port management was not resting and was in talks with stakeholders to increase and record more patronage.

“We have resumed discussions with importers in Aba, Nnewi and other places to make them see the need why they should start patronising Calabar Port.

“Export Processing Zone was built in Calabar because of this Port and not because of Port Harcourt.

“It will make more meaning for importers around here to patronise Calabar Port instead of Lagos or Port Harcourt,” he stated.

On dredging of the Port, he said that would resume once the issues around it was settled out of court.

The state NUJ Chairman, Mr  Nsa Gill, had promised the management of the Port that journalists would be fair and just in their reportage of port activities, but required timely and more access to information about developments.

Anambra State residents have lamented government’s shutting of designated dumpsites.

They said the decision to seal off the sites without alternative arrangements had led to dumping of refuse, particularly inside drainages and waterways.

The government had announced plans to ban street dumping of wastes with effect from September 30.

The Managing Director, Anambra State Waste Management Authority (ASWAMA), Mike Ozoemena, at a meeting with environmental health officers across the 21 local governments, said house-to-house collection of refuse would be activated after the ban.

He said 31 contractors had been engaged in taking refuse off the street, stressing that the move is targeted at ensuring that the state becomes one of the cleanest in the country by December.

But residents, who spoke with The Nation, queried the rationale behind sealing off the existing dumpsites ahead of the ban, describing it as counterproductive.

They admitted being aware of government’s plans to replace street dumping with house-to-house refuse collection, but said they were yet to see the collectors in their areas.

A public servant, Ugochukwu Ikemefula, said it was unfortunate that concerned authorities did not factor in health implications of their actions before taking such decisions.

He said: “I wonder where they want us to be disposing of our wastes? I was surprised the day I went to dispose of my refuse only to find out that the place had been sealed off. I saw some children dumping their wastes inside the gutter while I drove off with mine.

“Why not ensure the effectiveness of the house-to-house arrangement before closing the existing dumpsites entirely? We will soon see the repercussions of this decision.”

Another resident, a trader at Ochanja market, who simply identified herself as Charity, said: “I learnt they said each flat is to pay N3,000 every month for waste disposal. As a shop owner, I will be paying double? Is this the solution they’ve been promising us?”

Eugene Otega, an Nnewi resident, said the initiative was laudable, but noted that more public enlightenment and sensitisation by the media and community leaders were needed to ensure its success.

ASWAMA Board Chairman Dr. Emma Ezenwaji said indiscriminate dumping of refuse remained an offence, warning defaulters to desist or face the consequences.

He urged contractors and neighbourhood leaders, whose responsibility was to inform residents of days of refuse collection, to rise to the occasion. Ezenwaji appealed to residents to be patient with the agency in sanitising the state.

As part of measures to prevent possible implosion within its ranks, Enugu State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has begun reconciliation of stakeholders ahead of the 2023 general election.

The Reconciliation Committee has urged aggrieved members with pending court cases arising from state congresses to withdraw the litigations, to allow the committee engage in reconciliation.

The Chairman of the committee, Eva Asadu, who briefed reporters after the inaugural meeting of the committee in Enugu yesterday, assured the litigants that the issues they canvassed in their cases would be addressed.

The committee was set up by the state Chairman, Ugochukwu  Agbalah, to reconcile members of the party.

Asadu said the committee would work towards bringing back members of the party, who were expelled in the past.

He appealed to the party leaders to embrace reconciliation and reach out to their followers on the need for reconciliation of members.

Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma has sworn in two commissioners, four members of House of Assembly Service Commission and 27 sole administrators for local governments.

During the swearing-in yesterday at Sam Mbakwe Executive Chambers, Government House, Owerri, the governor urged the appointees to serve the people well and drive government’s affairs.

The two commissioners who took oath of office are: Prof Eugene Ukachukwu  Opara and Jerry Egemba, a lawyer; while members of the House of Assembly Service Commission include Dr. Lambert Orisakwe (Chairman), Emmanuel Orie, Israel Nnataraonye and Mike Nduleche, a lawyer.

The Nigeria Policy Institute United States of America (NPI-USA) yesterday disclosed its preparedness to financially and technologically support infrastructural projects of Anambra State Government.

The group said it would support progressive changes needed for effective and productive governance in the state, as well as support Governor Charles Soludo to better his predecessors’ performances.

In a statement by its Executive Director, Chief Jimmy Asiegbu, the body appealed to the governor to work with diaspora indigenes by setting up accounts where they could donate their widow’s mite.

Praising Soludo’s approach to cultism, kidnapping, killings, drug abuse, among others, NPI-USA said the governor had demonstrated his capacity to fulfil his campaign promises to the people.

It hailed him for cleaning up Okpoko, Awka, Onitsha and its environs, as well as closing tax loopholes and revenue misappropriation.

The statement said: “Those campaign promises include turning Anambra into a livable environment, tackling infrastructural decays, road construction, flood and erosion related problems.

“Despite the meager money in the treasury and from the federal allocations, the governor has embarked on these infrastructural projects. There is no question that these projects cost money.

“It is a welcome development that  Anambra indigenes in the diaspora are uniting to support Soludo’s projects. We urge other indigenes living abroad to emulate this gesture.

“We also advise the governor to surround himself with good advisers, who will tell him the truth and suggest the best approach to solving the problems of the state.

“NPI-USA has confidence that Soludo will work on exceeding the performance of his predecessors and make Anambra the Dubai of Africa, as he has promised.”

Calling for progressive steps targeted at attracting local and foreign businesses, particularly for job creation for unemployed youths, the group enjoined residents to support Soludo to ensure his success.

Akwa Ibom State Government says it will rebuild structures and facilities destroyed during the bloody crisis between Ikot Akpan Udo in Ikot Abasi and Amazaba in Eastern Obolo local governments.

This, according to the government, was part of measures to resettle the communities back to their ancestral homes 14 years after they were displaced.

The government said it was committed to restoring peace between the neighbouring communities.

The development follows the first visit of the state government’s White Paper Implementation Committee to the two communities yesterday.

In separate addresses to the two communities, the leader of the team and Commissioner for Health, Prof. Augustine Umoh, said the Governor Udom Emmanuel administration was desirous of ensuring that the sad chapter of the communities’ history of communal conflict was laid to rest.

He said the visit was to enable the committee have an on-the-spot assessment of the property destroyed during the crisis, which engulfed the areas in 2008.

Umoh urged the two sides to abide by the terms of their Memorandum of Understanding, while the government undertakes a holistic review of their needs assessment for development of the areas, to make way for proper resettlement.

He said the visit was a follow up to the meetings between the committee and the affected communities, adding that the government had taken steps that would lead to the provision of facilities that were destroyed in the area, to enable the people return to normal life.

The commissioner advised the people not to reopen old wounds, saying they should cooperate with the committee to provide locations where the government could rebuild schools, health centres, markets, civic centres and other destroyed amenities.

He noted that since the Emmanuel administration was committed to restoring peace to the area, the community had a responsibility of providing an enabling environment for peace to thrive.

Umoh said even as the government was working towards the demarcation of the boundary between the two local governments, it should not disrupt the resettlement process.

He enjoined the people to desist from taking actions capable of igniting another round of crisis.

At Ikot Akpan Udo, the village head, Eteidung Oscar Abel, who spoke through the chairman of the village council, Chief John Obotowo, thanked the state government for the efforts made so far to bring peace to the area.

He assured the government of the willingness of Ikot Akpan Udo to cooperate with the committee to execute the projects for the community.

He prayed for a speedy demarcation of the area, stressing that the matter was not a case between Ikot Akpan Udo and Amazaba, but a crisis between Ikot Abasi and Eastern Obolo local governments.

At Obolo Hall where Amazaba people gathered, the monarch, Harry Etetor and the council Chairman, Mr. Abraham Odiong, said for the past 14 years, Amazaba people had been driven out of their community.

They appreciated government’s determination to settle the problem and pledged their readiness to cooperate to bring peace to the area.

The paramount ruler appealed to the Emmanuel administration to complete their resettlement to their ancestral home before the end of his tenure next year.

He said the Amazaba people were ready to cooperate with the government in all the programmes lined up and urged the committee to provide security for the planned solemn assembly.

A chieftain of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Anambra State, Dr. Azubuike Ekweozor, has explained why he insisted on fulfilling his campaign promises to his constituency despite failure to secure victory at the primaries.

Ekweozor, who aspired to represent Awka North and South at the  House of Representatives on APGA platform, said he needed to silence gainsayers, who dismissed the promises as mere political rhetoric.

Fifty market women and youths benefitted from Ekweozor’s philanthropy, with the women receiving N20,000 each, while five youths got three shuttle buses, Toyota Corolla car and a pickup van.

Addressing reporters at his Umuawulu home, Ekweozor described his political journey as divine, with mandate to change the narrative of the people, including putting smiles on their faces.

He said: “Politics is a seasonal thing, which will always come and go. I’m a messenger of God with a mandate to change the narrative. But people misunderstood the inspiration I had. However, I took everything as the will of God.

“I had to go back to my business, after all, politics is not a do or die affair. Many thought I would abandon my party as a result of the failure. But I will continue and retire in APGA, having contributed a lot as a major stakeholder and financier.”

The benefactor, who is also the founder, Ide Global Movement, urged the beneficiaries to make use of the gesture to better their lives and those of their families, as well as support party’s activities.

The monarch of Umuawulu, Igwe Joel Maduabuchie, thanked the benefactor, advising other influential members of the community to emulate him.