Category: South East

The 16 Brigade Nigerian Army, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, has gifted a multimillion-naira educational materials to 287 pupils in Ekeremor Local Government Area of the state.

The educational items donated by the Brigade were notebooks, textbooks, pencils, calendars carrying alphabetical write-ups, among others.

The Commander, 16 Brigade Nigerian Army, Sector 2 Operation Delta Safe, Brigadier-General Olurotimi Awolo, said the donation part of the activities to commemorate the 2022 Nigerian Army Day as well as the Brigade’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

Awolo presented the educational materials to management and pupils of Ayamasa Community Primary School, Ekeremor in an event attended by community members including King Oyaseiye Moses and his council of chiefs.

He said the event is held in July every year in honour of members of the Nigerian Army, especially those who took part in World Wars 1 & 2 as well as those who lost their lives during the Nigerian Civil War and those currently serving in the Army.

Speaking on the theme for this year’s celebration, entitled, ‘Repositioning the Nigeria Army in Joint Environment A Panacea for Security Challenges’, Awolo said this year’s celebration marked the Nigerian Army 159 years of existence.

Responding to the gesture, King Oyaseiye Moses, the Amananaowei of Ayamasa Federated Community, commended the Nigerian Army for the donation to the school within his precinct.

National Population Commission (NPC) has urged officers involved in the ongoing training for the trial population and housing census in Anambra state to place the exercise above pecuniary gains.

Federal Commissioner representing the State in the Commission, Mr Chidi Ezeoke gave the advice in Oba while addressing supervisors and enumerators involved in the exercise in seven towns in Idemili South Local Government Area of the State.

He challenged them to take the exercise seriously, in view of its expected impact on the nation’s socio-economic planning, warning that any form of compromise would not be tolerated.

He said, “What you’re embarking on is national service for Nigeria which you’re all citizens of. If the emphasis is on what you’ll get at the end of the day, then what’s the essence of what we’re doing?

“Because of the confidentiality of the programme, you’re going to take oath of secrecy. If you do anything contrary, you’re liable and would be shown the way out.”

State Chief Magistrate, Genevieve Osakwe, while administering the oath of secrecy, underscored the importance of signing the relevant documents, noting that non-compliance rendered the documents invalid.

“If there’s any breach of the oath, you’ll face the wrath of the law. Besides, if you don’t sign the documents, I can’t append my signature, which will invariably renders the documents null and void and the owner out of the assignment,” she warned.

Earlier, State Director in the Commission, Dr. Joachim Ulasi disclosed that a total of 1,277 personnel, comprising 1,132 enumerators and 117 supervisors would be involved in the exercise.

On his part, State Coordinator for the trial census, Mutar Folomi revealed that Anambra was the only state that procured projectors in all the classes the training exercise was holding in the area.

He called for maximum cooperation from all personnel to ensure a hitchfree and successful trial census exercise.

Warri Kingdom has begun preparations for the first coronation anniversary of His Majesty Ogiame Atuwatse III, the Olu of Warri.

This was disclosed in a statement issued by the palace of the Olu of Warri, Friday.

The statement which was signed by Prince Yemi Emiko, chairman, Media and Publicity Committee of the programme, said the anniversary celebration will last for five days, beginning from August 17th to August 21st, 2022.

Describing the celebrant as a “digital king” who has brought so much “excitement, vitality, innovation and hope to the Itsekiri people,” the statement invited all neighbours and friends of Iwereland to join in the ceremony.

It stated that activities for the anniversary include praise and worship sessions, the “Warri food festival,” a novel idea by the monarch to showcase the Itsekiri cuisine, the Iwere Music Concert, launch of the Iwere Royal Society, as well as free healthcare service delivery, all to be held at the Aghofen.

The statement further disclosed that activities will shift to Ode Itsekiri, headquarters of Warri kingdom, Saturday, August 20th, where Itsekiri in their thousands, will take turns to pay homage to the revered monarch and then, a Thanksgiving service will culminate the entire event in the oil city.

Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri has said his government remains committed to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) outlined by the United Nations to enhance the living conditions of the people of the state.

Diri gave the assurance when he visited the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Dr. Amina Mohammed, at the UN headquarters in New York, United States of America.

He said the continued collaboration with the global body would fast track development in such areas as education, health, youths and women empowerment, food production and the environment.

In a statement on Friday by his Director, New Media, the Governor who congratulated Dr. Mohammed for rising to the enviable position and for her great work at the UN, said the collaboration would enhance the prosperity agenda of his government to the people of the state.

He insisted that his government was building critical infrastructure that would provide great opportunities to open up Bayelsa State for more investments in different sectors.

Diri said: “First, we are here to congratulate you on your appointment and to say that you are a worthy ambassador of Nigeria in the United Nations. So far, you have done very well occupying this office, please continue to help humanity.

“We have come to strengthen the existing relationship between Bayelsa State and the UN. We are committed to the attainment of the SDGs for the betterment of our people in education, health, sanitation, access to clean water and ensuring we live in a safe environment devoid of pollution.”

In her response, the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, Dr. Amina Mohammed, appreciated the pace of development in Bayelsa State since its creation in 1996 and that the UN was ready to deepen the existing relationship with the state to support ongoing development efforts by the current administration.

There is palpable fear in Oron and Mbo Local Government Areas as well as some adjoining areas of Akwa Ibom State as activities of sea pirates skyrocket.

Their activities including killings, kidnapping, rape, theft of goods, seizure of boats and destruction of naval installations have continued unabated even as fishing business in the areas have been affected.

Transportation on the Oron-Calabar waterway is also affected as boat operators and commuters fear for their lives.

In the past 72 hours alone, the pirates have seized a total of 9 outboard engines mounted on fishing and passenger boats.

They met no resistance from naval operatives when they stormed the fishing community of Ibaka in Mbo, shooting sporadically to scare fishermen and other people in the locality.

The location were the engines were seized is close to the Naval base at Ibaka.

In Oron, same happened as suspected pirates met no resistance from naval officers.

The mobile phone number 09044371457 was left behind by the assailants for communication with owners of the seized engines.

Each engine is said to be worth up between 6 million Naira to 8.5 Million Naira while a fairly used one goes for about 3 Million Naira depending on the horsepower rating.

The pirates usually accept ransom for seized engines but not in all cases as they sometimes sell the engines in other states in Nigeria, or in neighbouring countries.

Virtually all parts of Akwa Ibom State and neighbouring states depends on sea food from the Oro axis of the state.

The business is quite a booming one, with Ibaka being one of the most visited fish markets in Nigeria.

A visit to Ibaka revealed that some open stalls at the beach was deserted. Only few of the traders were seen displaying their wares which included fish, crayfish and other goods at stalls along the Oron beach road.

A boat operator at Ibaka, Bassey Effiong lamented that activities of the pirates have heightened despite the presence of naval officers.

“As you heard, Ibaka is not safe for us fishermen and people who come here for business. Sometimes we give the navy people some money for their upkeep but they cannot defend us. Even the pirates, some of us pay them to allow us donour work, but they always come back to kill and sometimes take away our engines. I want government to look into this and bring a permanent solution to this problem,” Effiong narrated.

A fish and crayfish trader, Mrs Utibe Matthew, who said she came in from Uyo to purchase goods at Ibaka was equally disappointed by the development.

“I am disappointed because the quantity of crayfish and fish that is available is below what I expected. I have a stall at Akpan Andem market in Uyo, and demand is very high. Insecurity should be addressed in order for full-fledged economic activities to resume,” she stated in Ibibio vernacular.

A community elder who did not his name mentioned said the spate of attacks has lasted over 10 years.

He accused naval officers and marine police of always running away or not being interested in confronting the pirates.

The naval authority in Akwa Ibom State could not be reached for comment on the matter.

Police Public Relations Officer, Odiko Macdon neither pick his calls nor reply text messages seeking an update on the matter.

Edo State Government has expressed commitment to making the state flood-free, clean and green.

It called on residents of the state to play active roles in mitigating flooding and erosion, in the wake of torrential rains.

The Commissioner for Environment and Sustainability, Jonathan Lawani, an engineer, yesterday in Benin, noted that the active involvement of residents in environmental regeneration was germane to maintaining a hygienic environment.

He said: “I want to plead with the people of Edo State on the issue of waste management, cleanliness and erosion control. It must be a joint effort between the government and the residents.

“Whatever affects the state affects everybody that lives in it. People should take care of their immediate environment by clearing grasses and desilting drainages.”

Lawani also urged the residents to desist from indiscriminate dumping of garbage.

He said: “We have seen that some of our people now put their refuse bags in their vehicles and dump them by the expressway. This is not good for the state, as it makes the city dirty. We have been doing everything possible to clean up the state.

“We have different waste managers that take care of properties at homes and offices and are now working jointly with local governments to make sure people pay for the waste they generate.

“We also have sweepers’ waste evacuators that are specifically dedicated to our major roads, where our sweepers are cleaning on a daily basis. We have another set dedicated to evacuating wastes in the markets.”

The commissioner also said the ministry was currently evacuating wastes from the various illegal dumpsites, especially in Oluku and Ogheghe communities, with steps put in place to solve the management issues in the areas permanently.

On flood control, he stated that preparations had been made to ensure that the effects would not be as bad as had been projected by NiMET.

Lawani said: “We consciously carried out desilting of major drains across Benin-City, between December last year and February this year. We had to desilt these drains and other minor drains within Benin City.

“We have also constructed ponds in some locations. If we undertake major drain construction in those areas, it is going to cost billions of naira. What we did was to quickly provide a means of solving that problem without spending too many resources.”

 

No fewer than 500 residents of Warri, Effurun and their environs will benefit from a week-long free eye cataract surgery outreach being held at Dr Agbowu Medical Centre, Ekurede Itsekiri in Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State.

The outreach, which is being organised by the founder, of the African Cataract and Eye Foundation, Gabriel Okorodudu, in partnership with Elena Baraquer Foundation and the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwaste lll, began on Monday, July 4.

In a chat with reporters yesterday, Dr Okorodudu said cataract accounts for 50 per cent of causes of blindness.

Noting that most cases of blindness in Africa were preventable, he said his foundation is into the prevention of cataract blindness and had carried out pre-screening exercises for intending beneficiaries of the outreach at different locations in Warri South, Uvwie and Okpe local government areas.

Commending the Olu of Warri for his support, he said when informed about the project, the monarch decided to match the number of cataract surgeries the Elena Baraquer Foundation was offering Nigerians, thereby increasing the number from 250 to 500.

“For this event now, we are carrying out 500 free cataract surgeries for all Nigerians. Though, we are doing a partnership here.

“Majority of the blindness we have in Africa, unfortunately, are from avoidable causes. This kind of blindness we have here, you don’t have abroad.

“They have more genetic ones, metabolic diseases such as diabetes and others, causes blindness over there, for which mainly they work very hard to ensure that people don’t get to that point of being blind because once one gets blind, nothing can be done about the situation.

“But here, you have cases like cataract, glaucoma, injury to the cornea from farm accidents, children playing and getting an injury in the eye, a refractive error that you can easily just manage.

“The ones I have told you now are things you can prevent. Once you do surgery for a person suffering from a cataract, after the surgery, he starts to see again. The man that has glaucoma, if you catch him early enough and put him on medication, he doesn’t go blind,” Okorodudu said.

He added that, given the high cost of having eye cataract surgery, the team will attend to as many others, who present themselves with the condition.

One of the beneficiaries, Mrs Kate Emetulu said: “When I heard about the free eye surgery, I decided to be part of it. Getting here, Doctor Okorodudu and his partners really did a fantastic surgery. I thank God for them.”

An associate of Senator Magnus Abe and ex-factional Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Golden Chioma, has resigned from the party.

Chioma, a former member of the Rivers State House of Assembly, announced his resignation in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

Chioma, who did not say his next political move, said he could not remain in a party where “one man employs the governor for the benefit of one man.”

He said he left the APC because of the failure of the party to reward hard work, insisting that the reward system was appalling.

He said: “All those who sacrificed their political future for the good of the party have been abandoned. People who are not worth being mentioned are nominated and given appointments.

“But those who merit the offices are sidelined for obvious reasons. For me the reward system is appalling. For now, I have left the party.”

On which party he would join, he said: “I will tell you in a few days’ time.”

The Bayelsa State Police Commissioner Ben Okolo has presented cheques worth N24, 295,062 to the families of eight personnel of the command who died in active service.

Okolo presented the money yesterday to the next-of-kin of the dead officers at the Police Command’s headquarters in Yenagoa on behalf of the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba.

He described the death of the officers as unfortunate and painful.

Okolo advised the benefitting families not to misuse the money, saying that the money was part of the ongoing Group Life Insurance Welfare Scheme (GLIWS) of IGP Baba for families of the late police officers for 2020/2021.

One of the beneficiaries, Blessing Jacob, whose father died after a protracted battle with ill-health, commended the Nigeria Police for releasing the monies to the deceased’s families.

CP Okolo has assured residents of the state capital and its environs of the readiness of the police to ensure the safety of lives and property in the state.

He declared that the state police command and all serving commanders of sister agencies had rejigged the security tactics and set to work in close synergy to tackle crime and criminality.

Okolo said: “We have mapped out a couple of strategies which we will begin the implementation. Now, we are working on ensuring that issues of kidnap are brought to the barest minimum and we will ensure the waterways are properly policed.

“Our particular interest is factory-fitted vehicles. We have a squad that will ensure that we enforce the law to the letter and that other strategic issues have been worked out.

“We will continue to look at what we are doing and review. Let me assure all residents, indigenes of Bayelsa State that this state is safe and we are going to make it safer for all and also for the election after and always.”