Category: SouthEast

At least 12 persons including a soldier have been feared killed in another armed herdsmen invasion of communities in Apa Local Government Area of Benue State.

 Recently communities in Apa and Otukpo Local Government areas, both in Benue South Senatorial District had been under bloody attacks from criminal herders.

 The latest incident was said to have occurred on Tuesday night at Opaha, Odugbo and Edikwu in Apa Local Government Area.

 The affected communities were said to have been attacked simultaneously.

 A victim, Paul Omar, who escaped by whiskers, said the slain soldier was attached to Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS).

 He said his body and those of others killed have been recovered.

 Chairman of Apa Development Association, Eche Akpoko, confirmed the attacks to The Nation.

 Akpoko said 10 bodies including the soldier’s had been recovered, adding that he was yet to get an update as at 10:30am.

 State Commissioner for Finance, David Olofu, a native of Opaha, one of the affected villages, put the death toll at 17, stating that the bodies of 15 villagers and two soldiers were recovered Wednesday morning.

 Olofu said he was on his way to the village to assess the situation at the time of this report.

 But the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) for Benue Command, SP Kate Anene, said she was unaware of the attacks.

 Contacted, spokesman for OPWS, Flight Lieutenant D.O. Oquah, said he was out of town and could not speak on the matter.

 Sector Commander of OPWS in charge of Apa LGA, Major Ogundile, could also not be reached as his telephone was switched off.

Afe Annang, an apex socio-cultural organisation of Annang people, the second largest ethnic group in Akwa Ibom State, has joined the call for Senator Godswill Akpabio to be elected president of the 10th Senate.

The group noted that the Southsouth had never produced the Senate president since the return of democracy in 1999; hence the position should be zoned to the region.

In a statement in Uyo yesterday, signed by its President, Blaise Udofia and National Publicity Secretary, Sunny Udom, the organisation said Akpabio was qualified to be Senate president.

It urged President-elect Bola Tinubu and the other 108 senators to support Akpabio for the number one Senate seat, saying he (Akpabio) was the first aspirant to step down for Tinubu during the presidential primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC) last year in Abuja.

Congratulating Akpabio on emerging victorious in the February 25, 2023 National Assembly elections, Afe Annang said the victory was a call for higher service.

The statement said: “That the victory in the understanding of Annang people and the entire Akwa Ibom State was a sent-forth mandate given to Senator Akpabio to engage his colleagues for support for the Senate presidency.

“Senator Akpabio is qualified in terms of zoning, national and international connection and networking, experience in good governance and past political performance records.

“As far as zoning is concerned, the Southsouth stands out as the zone to beat, as no Senate president has ever been produced by the zone since after the late Senator Joseph Wayas left the office in 1983 – 40 years ago.

“If it is considered that our sister zone, the Southeast, has produced five Senate presidents (one from each of its five states), in an unbroken back-to-back stream of 16 years in this Fourth Republic alone, all with the support of the Southsouth; then the Southeast should take this as a payback period to support the Southsouth for their turn.

“Therefore, as the only ranking APC senator and former Senate Minority Leader, Senator Akpabio as son-in-law to the Southeast should be trusted to carry the Southeast and other geo-political zones along as Senate President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

The body said: “Senator Akpabio’s sweeping victory on February 25, 2023 also ensured that the President-elect gained 33 per cent, which is more than the constitutional requirement of 25 per cent in Akwa Ibom State.

“For the President-elect, it is also reciprocal to reward the loyalty of the Southsouth, which gave him about 800,000 votes on February 25, while the Southeast gave him a paltry 100,000 votes.”

Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri has advised beneficiaries of the state’s monthly empowerment grants for Small and Medium Enterprises Schemes (SMEs), to invest and not tamper with their capital.

He gave the advice yesterday while speaking at a monthly disbursement ceremony for 840 SME beneficiaries at the Government House, Yenagoa.

Bayelsa government disbursed grants of N200,000 each to four beneficiaries, two women and two youths, drawn from the 105 wards.

The ceremony was for January and February 2023.

 Diri said the policy of encouraging growth and expansion of SMEs across the state was strategic and deliberate, to spread prosperity through entrepreneurship.

He said his administration was mindful of the need for human capital development, to complement investment in infrastructure, especially roads and bridges to connect all parts of the state to Yenagoa, the capital.

The governor said: “Do not eat your seed, plant it and watch it grow. It may be small, but I can tell you that most big businesses you see today had humble beginning.

“This is a well thought out policy to spread the prosperity our administration is noted for. So, we are not just talking prosperity, we are working prosperity.”

Women, Children Affairs and Empowerment Commissioner Faith Opuene said the policy had been implemented for 11 months with 2,310 beneficiaries so far.

She recalled that at inception, the programme captured 210 beneficiaries, one woman, one youth per ward, but the governor saw the need to touch more lives, hence increased the slots to 420.

Opuene, who is also the chairperson of Bayelsa SME Empowerment Committee, said the scheme was structured with monitoring and evaluation mechanism, to prevent multiple beneficiaries.

She said the biodata and biometrics were captured in a database, which was used to verify identities of beneficiaries prior to disbursement.

The commissioner said: “Today, the biometrics checks detected seven people who had benefited before but tried to get a second round. They were promptly disqualified.

“The feedback we are getting is very encouraging and this will transform Bayelsa economy and change the narrative of a civil service state if only the beneficiaries will invest the seed capital.”

Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo yesterday distributed 200 computers and laptops to civil servants, to digitalise the civil service and drive electronic government (e-Government).

He said state economy and affairs would be run more effectively through Information and Communication Technology (ICT) initiatives, as obtained in developed countries.

Speaking through the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Solo Chukwulobelu, at the launch of the ceremony, organised by the state ICT Agency in Awka, the governor said digital operations had potential for the public sector.

He said: “We are in a digital era, any country or state that does not embrace technology is unlikely to make significant progress or sustain economic development.

“The distribution of ICT tools to civil servants is a policy that began three years ago, to facilitate e-Government and keep pace with global best practices.

“e-Government, which is the adoption of technology in government processes and service delivery, makes government service delivery efficient and cost effective.

“The adoption of ICT in the civil service will increase productivity, transparency, drive the state’s mega-city project as well as build trust between the government and the citizens.”

Urging the workers to adopt ICT to serve the people, Prof. Soludo advised the ICT agency to hold regular training for the civil servants on how to use the ICT equipment.

“I retired a permanent secretary in Ebonyi civil service prematurely because the official could not calculate civil servants’ gratuities,’’ Governor David Umahi has said in Abakaliki.

He spoke while swearing in new permanent secretaries and members of the state’s Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission.

“The deputy governor asked me to reverse the decision, but I declined and this will be his first request I am not granting in the eight years that he has been deputy governor.

“You can still give me the elements which make up the gratuity even if you don’t know how to calculate it,’’ he noted.

Umahi said, however, that he might reverse the decision and urged the newly sworn in officials to read widely; be prudent and magnify their offices.

The governor noted that the issue of gratuity of civil servants was worrisome.

He said permanent secretaries in Ebonyi were among the best in the country, adding that they should strive to maintain the Ebonyi standard.

“We have raised a standard in Ebonyi that makes us compete with the best in the world.

“Anyone who fails to meet the standard will be asked whether or not he comes from Ebonyi.

“Set examinations for yourselves on performance because Ebonyi should not be your limits in exposure and proficiency.

“The theory that helped me, which should also help you, is to regard public duties or services as your personal business,’’ he said.

The governor said he understudied the Israelis and it helped him to attain engineering proficiency.

“I was tutored in an Israeli firm in 1987 on a monthly salary of N650.

“I listened to my mentors and though I have just a first degree in engineering, I can debate favourably with a professor in the field,’’ he said.

The Chairman of Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission, Chief Sabinus Nwankwegu, pledged to justify the confidence reposed in members by the governor.