The Nation Newspaper

Category: SouthEast

  • IPOB unrest takes toll on Abia

    IPOB unrest takes toll on Abia

    Residents count their losses as a week-long curfew imposed on Aba, Abia State’s commercial capital, following unrest in the state, is lifted. SUNNY NWANKWO reports 

    It was a nightmarish week marked by military invasion, protests, clashes between secessionist agitators and security forces, and a 12-hour curfew imposed on Aba, the commercial nerve of Abia State. As members of the Independent Peoples of Biafra or IPOB spilled into the streets protesting the army’s incursion in the home of their leader Nnamdi Kanu, the atmosphere in Aba and other parts of the state changed. Transporters began to withdraw from the roads and commuters had a tough time getting around. A curfew on the commercial city followed and everything came to a standstill. Streets were deserted. Shops were slammed shut. For Abia residents, the losses were huge, though some insisted there were gains as well since the curfew imposed by Governor Okezie Ikpeazu helped to prevent an escalation of the crisis.

    No one will forget that week in which the image of the IPOB leader Kanu loomed large. A few months to the 2015 general election, Kanu hit the air wave especially in the Southeast where IPOB’s pirate radio station was broadcasting on the FM band. Although the station had been running on the internet for several months, it was learnt that in order to reach a wider audience in the region and beyond, Kanu decided to bring in transmitters.

    In one of his visits to Nigeria, Kanu was arrested, tried and remanded at the Kuje Prison, Abuja with other members of his group. After many months in prison he was released after meeting his bail conditions. He soon started crisscrossing the Southeast where he held rallies to reassure his supporters of his commitment to the cause of ending what he described as the marginalisation of the people of the eastern states.

    Irked by Kanu’s conduct at most of his rallies and in videos that have gone viral on the internet showing Kanu flouting his bail conditions granted by Justice Binta Nyako, the federal government through the Attorney General of the Federation went to court in August seeking the revocation of the bail conditions.

    Before Kanu’s scheduled court appearance on October 17, IPOB members and Kanu’s supporters took to the streets of Umuahia and Aba and other parts of the Southeast protesting the invasion of his house and the killing of IPOB members, among others acts allegedly perpetrated by soldiers in the state.

    The clash between the army and IPOB which came on the heels of a planned military operation in the region called Operation Python Dance II, led to the deployment of military personnel and tanks to the state capital and other parts of the state.

    As part of measures to contain the crisis brewing in the state especially in Aba, Governor Ikpeazu, after due consultations with the State Security Council, imposed a curfew on the state’s commercial hub.

    The curfew, Ikpeazu said, would last from 6pm to 6am.

    Meanwhile, the losses of Aba residents were mounting. While some of the respondents who spoke to our reporter in the city thanked the state government for its proactive step to nip in the bud what could have turned Abia and other parts of the country into yet another ethnic and religious crisis capable of degenerating into a civil war, others described the curfew as counterproductive to the economic development of the state.

    They also lamented the devastating effect the curfew had on night life in Aba which the commercial city was noted for before the 2010 insecurity challenge of the state.

    Investigations by our reporter revealed that apart from the devastating effects of the curfew on business owners, most churches, corporate organisations and individuals who scheduled various programmes within the period had to call them off indefinitely to forestall nasty eventualities for parishioners and invited guests.

    On the third day of the curfew our reporter found that major markets including Ariaria International Market, Cemetery, Shopping Plaza, and Ahia Ohuru, among others, were on Thursday last week forced to close down amid rumours that there were killings and mob attacks in every part of the city.

    Major streets and roads such as St. Michaels, Azikiwe, Milverton, Okigwe, Asa, Aba-Owerri Expressway, and Faulks, among others, were deserted as early as 5pm. This, some of the residents said, was to avoid the usual gridlock on most Aba roads which could keep them on the road till the start of the curfew.

    Many people who were unable to close early had to trek home due to scarcity of commercial buses and tricycles.

    A trader, Festus Madu, described the loss to his business as overwhelming and unquantifiable, stressing that it would take him months to recover. He said that most of the customers who patronise him from other West African countries were yet to start coming to Ariaria International market because of the fear and apprehension that greeted Aba as a result of the unrest.

    Corroborating Mr. Madu, a director of a hospitality facility near Ariaria International Market, Mr. Gilbert where some of the traders of other African countries lodged whenever they were in Aba for business claimed that there was a sharp drop in patronage of his facility.

    Gilbert warned that a continuation of the curfew and faceoff between the army and IPOB members would continue to have negative effects on the lives and businesses of citizens of the state.

    A fast food shop owner along Milverton that simply gave his name as Pius, while speaking with our reporter on Tuesday night, said, “We are happy that the governor has extended the time of the curfew to 10pm, but that will still not be enough. My business is done at night. We start selling food by 8 0’clock in the night to close around 3 to 4am because most persons traveling in the night comes to eat here. Some of the tailors and even bus drivers who work in the night do come here to eat. Passengers whose cars arrived late in the night and may be leave very early in the morning also come here to buy what they eat. But with the curfew still in place, we only have 2 to 3 hours to do our business and since Monday that the curfew was extended, business has been dull. After today, I don’t think I am going to cook again until the curfew is over. But my worry is what I will be doing until the state government announces the end of the curfew because the little money I make from this is what I use to pay for my shop and house rents and to pay for my children’s school fees.”

    A man who gave his name as Clinton Uchenna narrating his experience during the curfew said that he nearly lost his wife to illness as there was no means of conveying his wife to the hospital, stating that even his neighbours who saw the conditions of his wife failed to yield to his appeal as they feared of being held by soldiers on their way back from the hospital.

    A petty trader said that she had to sleep in the park after they returned late from Oil Mill market, Port Harcourt, Rivers State because she couldn’t get a bus to her place, adding that she couldn’t trek home either because of the curfew.

    While commending the state governor and other southeastern governors for taking a proactive step to stop the spread of unrest to other parts of the east, they appealed for calm and urged the Abia State Governor, Dr. Ikpeazu to rescind his decision to impose curfew in the state now that they said it seems that peace have returned in Aba and other parts of the state.

  • A peace tour amid chaos

    The northern states governors’ trip to Southeast and Southsouth played a major part in calming
    tensions when crisis brewed, writes OKODILI NDIDI

    There is no sacrifice too much for peace. This much was demonstrated by the northern governors when they left the challenges in their home states to embark on a truce mission to the Southsouth and Southeast states.

    They traversed major cities in Rivers, Anambra, Abia and Imo states preaching the massage of national unity and peaceful coexistence.

    The presence of the delegation led by the chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum and governor of Borno State, Alhaji Kashim Shettima soothed frayed nerves and restored confidence in the people, especially after the Python Dance scare.

    The mission, according to the governors, was to emphasise the need for one indivisible Nigeria, “where every Nigerian can freely live in any part of the country without fear or molestation”.

    The delegation, which comprised governors Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto), Abubakar Bagudu (Kebbi), Simon Lalong (Plateau), and Aminu Masari (Kastina), was received in Imo State by the ecstatic Hausa community, traditional rulers and other stakeholders.

    In the past, similar agitations like that of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) had resulted in killings and reprisals but the proactive measures adopted by leaders in the North and South saved the nation another bloodbath.

    The visit reassured the Hausa communities in the Southeast who were already apprehensive that no harm will befall them. Before the truce tour, the number of Hausas that crowd the streets plying one trade or the other had thinned down remarkable as majority of them had returned to the North for fear of possible attack.

    Receiving the delegation at the Government House, the Imo Governor, Rochas Okorcha said that “Nigeria’s problem has remained largely lack of communication and not being able to socialise with each other. Even in families with husbands and wives, when we don’t have good communication, breakup is inevitable. It is necessary that we communicate amongst ourselves as governors. We should equally communicate with the ordinary citizens on the streets.

    Speaking further, he said, “Today, you have come to Igbo land, I know you will be surprised with the kind of warm reception you have got. Your coming now bridges the gap and it can best be described as the right step in the right direction. We as leaders have not made enough effort to assure the Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba that we are one, meanwhile we meet at our houses and hug, interact with each other. To what extent have we encouraged the ordinary people on the streets of Igbo land or Hausa land to hug these brothers from the west and vice versa?  It is duly incumbent upon us as you have done today to reach out and give each other a sense of belonging”.

    He continued, “I want to state categorically that the Hausa living in Imo State are not different from Imo people living in the state.  Most of these Hausa can only be distinguished not by their conduct or character but only by their dress code. Most of them were born here and have lived here all their lives. So they are more of Igbo than Hausa despite having Hausa parentage. Having seen this, you can understand that we have no other option than to live as one united Nigeria.

    “Nigeria is passing through a very difficult time which many great nations have passed through before reaching to their points of greatness. We must see the happening now as a trial that will bring us to a level of triumph.  We are only passing through a moment and this moment will not last for long, when Nigeria will arrive at the Promised Land.

    “Your visit here is a reminder to all of us that we are one in blood and flesh, inseparable, despite the activities of those who have offered themselves as satanic instruments for the division of our lovely country.  Nigeria is better off as one united nation.  That is the pride with which we command respect in the whole of the African continent.

    “Many nations of the world especially the black race make reference to us as Nigerians, they respect us because of our population and sense of unity.  This is our place in history that we can never afford to lose”.

    “Let me remind all of us, that it does not only take government to speak about peace, it behooves on all of us to speak about the peace and unity of this nation wherever we find ourselves.  Peace is expensive but we must pursue it at all cost.  I salute no man who is so purposeful in destruction but I salute a nation builder”.

    Governor Shettima said that the challenge posed by IPOB is far more dangerous than that of the dreaded Boko Haram. He said while the Boko Haram insurgency is restricted to the Northeast, IPOB is a national threat that has the capacity to cause the nation to implode.

    He said, “We are here due to the seriousness of this challenge, we cannot afford to sit in our comfort zones and watch our country breakup because everybody will suffer the consequence. So it is everyone’s duty to ensure that we remain together as one united Nigeria.

    “We are here as a delegation from the Northern Nigeria to identify with the uncommon and exemplary leadership of the governors of the Southeastern region in this trying moment. In politics, perception counts especially in serious matters like this. We are here largely to identify with our governor colleagues, to visit the northern communities in the Southeast and reassure them that the governors are equal to the task.

    “This visit will equally help us to forestall the chances of mass exodus of Nigerians from one region to the other as it will send a very wrong signal.  We are equally inviting our brothers from the Southeast to visit the Igbo that are in large numbers in Kano, Kaduna and Katsina among other places to assure them of the safety of their lives and properties. “Nigeria belongs to all of us.  A small country like Syria with 23 million people knocked at the doors of Europe because of crisis and Europe started shaking and so Nigeria with over 200 million will cause a disaster in the event of crisis.

    ”The much maligned and demonised Owelle Rochas Okorocha is one of the few that stood his ground for national unity, togetherness and this has brought some developmental initiatives for the Southeast.

    Governor Lalong restated: “Nigeria is one. We have criminal elements everywhere. If somebody is giving a quit notice, we should ask, at what time did we agree?  That’s the beauty of democracy.  Ours as governors and leaders is to maintain peace and see to an indivisible Nigeria. Our political differences must not divide us. Before we go into politics we must have a country called Nigeria.”

    Governor Tambuwal said, “The work of making Nigeria one did not start today, it started with our elders and it is incumbent on us to sustain it and that’s one of the reasons His Eminence Sultan Maccido of blessed memory was able to confer on Governor Rochas Okorocha the title of Dajikan Sokoto, the foresight is to make us realise that Nigeria is one.

    “Nigeria is a country like no other where you have over 300 tribes with many languages spoken, yet have a single country.  No other nation in the world where you have 50% practicing one religion and another 50% practicing another religion.  Nigeria is a special creation for us to make it work.”

    Governor Bagudu said, “We as leaders must bequeath to our children a better heritage that we inherited because our young men and women will face stiffer competition in the world than the ones we are facing.  If we waste our time and energy fighting on those issues that should not even be dividing us, we will be doing harm to subsequent generations.”

    Governor Masari said, “The Hausa community living in the East should live in peace and support the various governments in their developmental strides as they stand to bequeath in their areas of residence more than in their areas of birth, since they make their living in the East.  There is need for the sustenance of these peace overtures across the length and breadth of this nation”.

    At the end of the parley, the tense atmosphere at the Sam Mbakwe Exco Chamber, venue of the meeting, was illuminated by smiles as Hausas hugged their Igbo brothers. It was an emotional moment that healed the pains and mended broken walls of friendship.

    Before the curtain was finally drawn on the historic meeting, there was an unspoken resolve to leave in harmony henceforth as one united people bound by brotherly love and unity.

  • 40 youths make millions in Anambra

    40 youths make millions in Anambra

    They came in their numbers with high hopes. But only about 40 of them scaled through and became instant millionaires.

    Those who were screened by the panel of experts for the youth empowerment were over 100, but Intafact Hero’s Foundation Kickstart programme needed only 40.

    Out of the 40 awardees, according to Prof Ben Osisioma, who led the panel of five eminent Nigerians for the selection, five of them were female.

    The awardees are not from the Southeast alone: some hail from Edo, Delta and Benue states.

    However, five of them who were tagged the star winners by a trustee of the foundation, Prof Chinyere Stella Okunna, got the largest chunk of the N82 million showered on them.

    They are Ekwueme David Chukwuemeka from Anambra State (N3m), Ezeobi Ositadinma Kingsley (Anambra , N3m), Oscar Onajirire (Delta, N2m), Anucheru Chinonso (Imo, N3m) and  Efobi Nonso (Enugu, N3m),

    Others got between N1.5 million to N2.5 million among the 40 awardees from all the eight Southeast and three aforementioned states.

    The training, according to the Regional Director (AB-InBev) of Sabmillier Group, Godwin Oche, the participants successfully crossed hurdles to reach the place.

    He said they went through a week of rigorous training on financial management, communication and managerial skills among others at Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK) Awka.

    Oche further said that 24 persons were empowered in 2016 with 50 million naira by the foundation, adding that it would keep increasing as years roll bye.

    For the Obi of Onitsha, Obi Alfred Nnaemeka Achebe, who is the chairman of the foundation, it was a dream come through.

    He said the aim of the exercise is to take children away from crimes by engaging them in skills acquisition where they could be their own bosses.

    The empowerment of the youths, according to the monarch, made all the traditional rulers in Anambra state to shelve their monthly council meeting to attend the event.

    Achebe described the youths as the future of the country, adding that since 2016, the foundation had at least empowered 64 of such people.

    Anambra State Governor Willie Obiano, was overwhelmed by the gesture of the foundation.

    He said that it synchronized with what his administration had been doing on the youths in the state.

    He said the company which started in 2012, had become the second largest brewer of beer in Nigeria, describing the programme by the foundation as unique.

    Obiano called on other monarchs in the state to emulate what Obi of Onitsha had been doing on youth empowerment, adding that such programmes would engage the youths, while crime would be reduced.

    He also, called on other companies within and outside the state to think towards what INTAFACT HERO’S FOUNDATION KICK START was doing to better the lives of the unemployed youths in the country.

    Obiano, charged the beneficiaries to make use of the money judiciously, adding that they had equally become employers of labour like his administration.

    One of the awardees and an Agric Engineer, Chiemena Ujumadu, told The Nation that he never expected to be one of the winners.

    The young entrepreneur, who wants to use his largesse for fishery and poultry, commended the firm for thinking towards empowering the youths who are unemployed.

    Also, some others who were empowered in 2016 like Edon Thelma, Ngozi Areh and Ezenwa Uchechukwu, told The Nation that they had already employed between three to five staffs in their employs.

    The trio thanked the foundation for making them be like others in the society, while promising to grow from strength to strength.

    Some of the awardees are into beads making, fabrics, piggery, fishery, poultry, soap making, bakery among others.

     

  • ‘Operation Python Dance to be annual event’

    ‘Operation Python Dance to be annual event’

    Abia state deputy Governor Ude Okochukwu has said that the “Operation Python Dance” being carried out in the state and other parts of the Southeast by soldiers would be an annual event in the region.

    Okochukwu was speaking at the end of a tour of facilities and monitoring of the progress of the Python Dance II exercise at the Nigerian Army Language Institute (NALI) at Ovim, Isiukwuato Local Government Area of the state.

    The deputy governor was accompanied by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-General Tukur Buratai and other senior military officers.

    He said  the exercise in the state was meant to tackle the farmers and herdsmen crisis, armed robbery and other related crimes.

    According to the deputy governor, Abia would benefit from the exercise in the long run, stressing that the benefits of the Operation Python Dance II cannot be overemphasised.

    “I want to thank the Nigerian Army for this wonderful exercise. I want to tell all Abians and Nigerians, especially those of us from Abia that this exercise is not new to us. Last year we had it and in the last year’s own, we were able to tackle some security lapses in the state. At the end of it all, Abia State was better for it security-wise. So I want all Abians to know that this exercise is not targeted at civilians; it’s just a routine exercise soldiers do to tackle security issues that are prevalent in this area; like the issue of herdsmen-farmers clashes, kidnapping, robbery, etc. Like a state like Abia that has boundary with about seven states we have boundary issues and some of this boundary issues they’ll handle it. I want everyone to know that the soldiers mean well.”

    Several efforts by journalists to have the reaction of Lt.-Gen. Buratai on the visit and inspection of NALI and ongoing Egwueke exercise in the state failed as the Director of Army Public Public Relations, Brigadier General Usman Sani and his deputy, Col. Musa Sagir (82 Division’s spokesman) barred them (journalists) from speaking with their boss (Buratai).

    Former chief of army staff, Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika (rtd) in his speech said “I am glad that Chief of Army Staff has find time to inspect these facilities and make sure we achieve the reason for establishing it. I am sure that it is not everybody that knows and appreciate that Nigeria is a country bordered by many French speaking countries. It’s on record that even though these facilities were ready as at January 2014 when I left office, it didn’t kick off until General Burutai became the Chief of Army Staff. So, I want to thank the chief of army staff for making it possible for us to have strong armed forces that’s capable of protecting all it borders during peace program.”

    Recall that the phase II of the Egwueke exercise took off in the state officially at the 14Brigade Tactical Headquarters in Umuahia, the State capital with some representatives of Abia State government and heads of sister security agencies in attendance.

     

  • Women to build diagnostic, culture centres in Anambra

    Women to build diagnostic, culture centres in Anambra

    THANKS to an association of Igbo women called Umuada Igbo Nigeria and in the Diaspora, Anambra State residents will soon avail themselves of services rendered at a diagnostic centre as well as a culture facility.

    The women have undertaken to build both facilities at Omogho, Orumba South Local Government Area of the state.

    The land covering 7.7 hectares was donated to them by the community.

    The President-General, Umuada Igbo Worldwide, Dr Kate Ezeofor, said this at St Patrick’s Cathedral Church in Awka, the state capital.

    The meeting was sponsored by an organisation known as IPAS-Nigeria.

    Also, lectures on family planning, reproductive health and rights, selection of foetuses and aging gracefully was delivered by Prof Brain Adinma, who was represented by Dr Egeonu Richard from Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH).

    Another one on cervical cancer, breast cancer and prostate cancer was delivered at the event by Dr Mrs. Salome Ezeofor, from the Department of Radiation Medicine, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) Enugu.

    The eminent practitioners told the women on how to prevent such things and the importance of family planning to prevent maternal deaths.

    Before then, the Umuada Igbo had visited the Catholic Bishop of Awka, Most Rev Paulinus Ezeokafor, but were received by the chancellor of the church, Very Rev Chidume.

    It is reckoned that the diagnostic centre will help raise the health profile of the host community, while the culture will encourage interest in the Igbo way of life, their history and contribution to the world.

    Umuada Igbo commended the  state governor Willie Obiano and Prince Arthur Eze for their support in all their projects, while calling them equally on the hospital, diagnostic and cultural project taking off soon.

    Ezeofor said the project when completed, some of their members who were Medical Doctors and nurses overseas, would come home to work in those areas.

    She said the group had gone a long way in educating the women in the society especially during the yearly August meetings in Igbo land and in Diaspora including rallies and workshops.

    Umuada Igbo commended equally, the IPAS-country Director, Hauwa Skekarau, the workers for working hard in teaching family planning, reproductive health and rights, spacing of children among others.

    Ezeofor further told The Nation that Umuada Igbo had free legal services for the needy, widows and women.

    The hospital, diagnostic and cultural center, The Nation gathered, would receive assistants from the group’s members in Diaspora with free drugs and equipment when completed.

  • APC chief hails special anti-graft courts

    A member of Board of Trustees (BoT) of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), Prince Benjamin Benedict Apugo has commended the Federal Government for creating special courts to try corruption and financial crimes cases.

    The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Walter Onnoghen had in Abuja on Monday during a special court session to mark the commencement of the 2017/2018 new legal year and the conferment of the rank of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) on 29 lawyers, ordered heads of courts in the country to designate at least one court in their various jurisdictions as Special Courts solely for hearing corruption and financial crime cases.

    Justice Onnoghen equally ordered all heads of courts to forward the list of all pending corruption and financial crime cases before their various courts to the National Judicial Council (NJC) for closer monitoring.

    Speaking on the development, Apugo who had been calling for the establishment of Special Courts to try looters in the country said the order by the CJN will go a longer way in complimenting the efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari in the fight against corruption.

    “I have been clamouring for the establishment of Special Courts for the trial of looters of Abia State funds in particular and that of Nigeria in general, for a long time. I know that President Muhammadu Buhari has been trying his best in the fight against corruption, but no one man alone can win this war without others joining hands and that is why I am happy that the judiciary has shown much interest in the fight with the directives of the CJN.

    “Nigerians have not been happy with the way some high profile corruption cases went in courts and that is why they will be happy with the order of the CJN for heads of courts to forward the list of all pending corruption cases to the NJC for proper monitoring.”

    The APC chieftain also commended the CJN for planning to set up an Anti-Corruption Cases Trial Monitoring Committee, saying it was a right step in the right direction as this would check the excesses of some judicial officers whose actions tend to undermine the fight against corruption.

    Apugo said the judiciary having shown enough commitment in the corruption war by the pronouncements of the CJN, it now behooves on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to redouble her efforts in prosecuting the war.

    He said there were some states especially his state, Abia where he alleged that some officials of the immediate past administration who looted the treasury were yet to be summoned to account for their misdeed and called on the EFCC to do something urgently.

    He thanked God that President Buhari was recovering fast and commended him for the way he has been piloting the affairs of the country especially the war against corruption and insurgency.

  • The end for young, deadly gunrunner

    The end for young, deadly gunrunner

    How long has he been selling arms to criminals? The Imo State police have been trying to resolve this and other questions after arresting a 16-year-old suspected armourer. OKODILI NDIDI reports

    His mien is tender and likeable. He does not look like he can hurt a fly. Slender and of impressive height, 16-year-old Onyedikachi Iyaka passes for an innocent teenager. But behind that cool, innocuous exterior hides a cold, hardened heart of a gunrunner.

    Before he met his waterloo Onyedikachi was a kingpin in the criminal underworld with a massive arsenal that could arm a military battalion, police said. He was reportedly responsible for arming various criminal gangs and kidnap syndicates that patronised his armoury.

    The Imo State police command had been locked in an unending battle to contain a flurry of criminal activities by well-armed gangs. One of their briefs was to trace the criminals’ source of ammunition.

    Now the riddle is unravelling. The armourer’s cover was blown by one of his customers arrested by the police for the abduction and murder of a Catholic priest. The suspect revealed Onyedikachi’s secret code to the police.

    It was gathered that for anyone to buy ammunition from the suspected gunrunner, the person must say the code before he could attend to you. Armed with the code, the disguised police officers called Onyedikachi to buy ammunition for an operation they were preparing for. When he came out to transact the business as usual, he never had any inkling that he was walking into an ambush. He was promptly arrested.

    Onyedikachi, a native of Umuchokwu Ukwu village in Ehime Mbaino Council Area of Imo State, said he was selling the ammunition for his elder brother Jeff Iyaka, who gets his supply from Borno State.

    For a 16-year-old, Onyedikachi triggers many questions. What does a boy his age know about such sophisticated weapons? When did he learn the trade? Who taught him, and how long has he been at it? Does he have any backers, or is he a one-man gang?

    The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Chris Ezike, who paraded Onyedikachi alongside other suspects, said police made a massive haul of ammunition when a search was conducted in his house. He listed the recovered high-caliber ammunition to include 1,400 rounds of chained GPMG live ammunition, 1,016 rounds of AK 47 live ammunition, one AK 47 magazine and one K2 empty magazine.

    Others were one army camouflage bulletproof vest, one police bullet proof vest, one police raincoat, one green beret and one empty ammunition box.

    Speaking further, he said, “I promised that crime fighting, Operation Blow the Whistle and Expose the Criminals, is an ongoing exercise and very soon more suspects will be paraded. The job is yet to be finished because criminals are never on casual or annual leave. We must continue to collectively work round the clock to ensure that Imolites sleep with their eyes closed.”

    Ezike announced a special reward for 28 diligent police officers for their roles in busting crime in the state, saying, “We shall continue to seek genuine, strategic and mutually beneficial partnership with all sections of the Imo society so as to make Imo safer and better. Let me also admonish any of us who have been routine in his or her approach to professional duties to step up the game because indolence, unprofessional conducts, sabotage and criminal behaviour shall be punished just as good deeds are rewarded”.

    While speaking with journalists, the suspected gunrunner claimed that the ammunitions were given to him by his elder brother, Mr. Jeff Iyaka, who he said is a police officer deployed to fight Boko Haram in Borno State.

    Although he declined to give the exact location of his brother, he insisted he was selling the ammunition to security officials as directed by his brother.

    “I am not a criminal,” he said, “it is my brother who is a policeman serving in Bornu that brought the ammunition and asked me to help him sell it to police officers and other security men who always come to buy it when they expend their ammunition. He told me to sell it for N7000 per pack”.

    On how he was arrested, the youthful suspect, said, “One Jude called me on phone that one police officer wanted to buy ammunition and he gave him my number and he called me but when I came I was arrested.”

     

  • New security features on EEDC’s electricity bills

    The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) has put new security features on its modified electricity bills issued to its customers in its coverage areas.

    The Head, Communications of EEDC, Mr Emeka Ezeh, said this in a statement he signed in Enugu.

    Ezeh said that the new modified electricity bill for its customers was meant to check bill manipulation as well as other forms of sophisticated fraud.

    He said that the modified bill and its special outlook was part of the company’s continuous effort to introduce initiatives geared towards ensuring enjoyable customer experience.

    “The refreshed two-sided A5 sized electricity bill takes effect from September, 2017, with some new features.

    “These new features include a summary of previous balance and last payment made by the customer, a barcode which is a security feature.

    “It also contains details of feeder and transformer; name and phone number of the marketer in charge as well as pictorial representation of customer’s meter reading.

    “At the back side of the bill is the EEDC call center number as well as address of Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) forum offices within EEDC coverage area, including their phone numbers and email addresses.

    “The new modified electricity bill contains details of respective reconnection fees and other relevant information for the customer,’’ he said.

    Ezeh said that as part of the initiative to create technological driven innovations, the company would soon deliver electricity bills to customers via email prior to their receiving the hard copy.

    “For now, our customers now receive notification alert on their phones acknowledging payment of electricity bills made; and this comes at no cost to the customer.

    “We, therefore, encourage our customers who are not yet enjoying this service to go ahead and update their data via our website or at any of our customer service points,” he said.

  • Doctors sensitise pupils to drug abuse

    Doctors sensitise pupils to drug abuse

    Everyone knows Aba for its bustling commerce and industry, but Enyimba City also once had an ugly side known for hard drugs. At York Street, addicts and peddlers reigned supreme. Until the last four years, York was where women were raped, phones snatched, and handbags stolen even in broad daylight by drug addicts almost on a daily basis.

    Commendation must be given to the immediate past commander of The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in the state, Mrs. Florence Ezionye who, with the support of then governor, Theodore Orji, ensured that the area was rid of the drug addicts.

    On a recent check by our reporter, it was found that the addicts were gradually coming back to the neighbourhoods especially around Milverton where various transportation companies are located.

    The activities of these addicts, The Nation learnt, are posing a great threat to business owners in the area. Shop owners lament the increasing rate of crime and other anti-social activities of the addicts.

    Apparently worried by the increasing rate at which Nigerian youths indulge in drugs, including trafficking, which has ruined so many lives and careers, landed so many in jail, and in some cases the grave, members of the Nigerian medical Association (NMA) Committee on Narcotics and Substance Abuse brought students of various secondary schools in Aba under a roof to educate them on the harmful effects of drug addiction.

    The essence of the seminar, according to the organisers, was to make the students agents of change and ambassadors of NMA and NDLEA.

    After the orientation from the NMA, the pupils are expected to take the message to their peers, families, churches, schools and any part of the society they find themselves.

    The message delivered by the state Commander of NDLEA, Akingbade Bamidele was clear: th agency will collaborate with anyone who will help to rid Aba and Abia Statre of illicit drugs and also rehabilitate people that are willing to give up their addiction.

    Bamidele said the agency will not relent in its war on illicit drugs in the state, adding that the dangers of illicit drugs cannot be overemphasised.

    Bamidele narrated how a boy whose name was withheld for security reasons reportedly sold his father’s two cars, a Lexus and a 4Runner worth N7.5 million for a paltry N350,000 in Umuahia, the state capital, due to his involvement in illicit drugs.

    Bamidele, who spoke on the topic: Illicit Drug and the Law, explained to the students that drug abuse can make someone to do things that he or she wouldn’t normally want to do.

    He said, “There’s a boy at Umuahia, that his father brought to us for counseling. He sold two vehicles: a Lexus and a Forerunner worth 7.5m for N350,000.

    “Do you know why? The reason is because he was involved in their illicit drug trafficking.”

    He further said that NDLEA will follow up the schools that participated in the programme using their special department in charge called Drug Demand Reduction Unit to make sure that the drug-free clubs are established, and also help in its sustenance.

    Speaking at the occasion, Dr. Mrs. Carol Iwuoha, National Chairman of the Committee of the Narcotics and Substance Abuse of the Nigerian Medical Association, said the choice of starting with Abia was not accidental but strategic to the campaign.

    Iwuoha said, “Basically first is that I practise here in Abia State. I’ve practised here for 20 years, so I’ve been here a while. Secondly, Abia is first on the list of the 36 states alphabetically and thirdly, there’s a lot of drug abuse in this state.

    “The main idea behind the choice of secondary schools is that these students at their age now can believe anything. They can be easily carried away by peers. If we win them now they can help us propagate the message and that’s why we are saying that they are going to establish drug free clubs in their schools where they are going to share their lessons and be drivers to saying no to drug abuse.

    “The desire to hold this programme came out from the passion for the burden of the NDLEA. They need a lot of collaborators and support from everybody. That’s why we brought the legislature here today so that they could give legislative backing to some of the fights we have to face in this process.

    “The reason we had this programme firstly is to support NDLEA. As a matter of fact, it’s part of the National Strategic Plan of the NMA to take up social responsibilities of reaching people with health problems and social problems around us.”

    Also speaking at the occasion, the Deputy Speaker, Abia State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Cosmos Ndukwe represented by his Special Assistant, Mr. Emmanuel Uchechukwu, advised the students to put the lectures into practice.

    “I want to add a voice to what we have learnt here today,” he said. “I want to say to us, as good students of Abia and Nigeria, to put all we have heard here into practice. It was a nice lecture. We must not end the message within ourselves. Carry on the message and save lives.”

    Dr. Nwachukwu Ugwunna, one of the guest lecturers, while speaking on the topic: Social Problems of Drug Abuse, said, “All drugs are dangerous, but some drugs are more dangerous than the others. Illicit drugs is said to kill an estimated 17,000 Americans annually. What does that tell you? Nobody is immunized against the dangers of drug abuse. Hard drugs make one socially backward and apathetic. Even those from more develop countries you may aim to copy due to communication exposure to their lifestyle, die of it. So why copy a path that leads to destruction? As adolescents, you’re in a crisis period and the only way to survive it is to avoid drugs in its entirety.

    Lekwauwa Ebenezer David, a student of Dority International Secondary School, Aba, commended the idea behind the project and acknowledged what he has learnt. “This lecture is good for us. I’m sure most of us don’t use drugs yet and this lecture will go a long way in ensuing that most of us don’t get into drugs as we heard, watched and seen the consequences of drug abuse and most importantly, how people are lured into the act of drug abuse. Personally to me, I’ve learnt what to teach my friends out there. I wish the lecture will come up every month with different persons participating not just us here.”

    Another student, Odimkpa Joshua, of Sacred Heart College Eziukwu, Aba expressed his feelings. “We are here to be enlightened about drug abuse. I can proudly say I’m fulfilled today because my head is updated with already existing, but new information to me. I picked interest in all the lectures, because they were educative. I can hardly pick a favourite. They said they will teach us more and I can’t wait to learn more and teach those around me.”

  • Three Enugu communities get N300m for acquired land

    Three Enugu communities get N300m for acquired land

    Three communities in Enugu State have been presented with N300 million cheque for their land acquired by the state government for the development of an industrial project.

    The communities, Ogwofia Owa, Enugu Eke and Akama Oghe were compensated for  2000 hectares of their land and the economic crops and structures on it.

    The cheque was presented to the communities by the state government on behalf of itself and its partners Lion Business Park Limited, a Chinese firm, with whom it paid the compensation.

    The state government considers this a major breakthrough in its efforts to attract foreign investment in the state.

    The Chinese firm is coordinating the project.

    The Lion Business Park industrial project is an initiative of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s administration designed to create a manufacturing and integrated industrial hub in Enugu State and the Southeast geopolitical zone at large and facilitate Chinese manufacturers’ entry into the state to feed the Nigerian and African market through the existing sales channels of Onitsha and Aba in partnership with Nigerian business organisations.

    Presenting the cheque, Ugwuanyi who was represented by his deputy, Mrs. Cecilia Ezeilo, stated that the project was in line with his administration’s determined efforts to attract direct foreign investments to the state, disclosing that the State Executive Council approved and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the group of Chinese Investors for the establishment of the Industrial Market, to be known as Lion Business Park.

    The governor commended the company for the prompt fulfillment of the compensation aspect of the MOU and also expressed gratitude to the people of the three communities “for their wonderful understanding, partnership and cooperation in the entire process”.

    Ugwuanyi appreciated the massive benefits that the industrial market will bring to the economy of the state, saying that it will stimulate investment inflow in diverse sectors of the economy and create a huge economic value chain that would engender employment as well as production and availability of “much needed goods and services”.

    He reassured the foreign partners and all potential investors of the government’s resolve to sustain the business-friendly environment that currently exists in the state, stressing that “Enugu State is indeed ready and open for business”.

    He equally thanked the state Ministry of Commerce and Industry, members of the land acquisition steering committee and all those who assisted in ensuring a successful acquisition of the land as well as the enumeration and evaluation of the economic trees on it.

    In his remark, the Chairman of Lion Business Park Limited, Dr. Okechukwu Mbonu commended Gov. Ugwuanyi for his “great vision in making Enugu State a West African industrial hub”, saying that the company is only complementing what his administration has already started in the state.

    Mbonu assured the governor of the foreign partners’ determination to actualize their mandate in a record time, thanking the host communities for the support and understanding.

    In his opening address, the State Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Sam Ogbu-Nwobodo disclosed that the event was “a major breakthrough geared towards the full actualisation of the investment vision of the present administration of His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi”.

    Ogbu-Nwobodo noted that the project was an outcome of the 2016 Oganiru Enugu State Investment Summit that thrives on the existing trade cooperation between Nigerian business organizations and their foreign counterparts especially from China for the purpose of furthering their mutual interests.

    The commissioner stated that the state government’s vision “is to create a conducive and profitable environment for Chinese companies to produce in Nigeria ahead of other countries and to enhance strong and enduring bi-lateral ties between the People’s Republic of China and the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.

    While thanking Ugwuanyi for his firm commitment to investment promotion in the state, the commissioner stated that the milestone achievement was in keeping with the governor’s inaugural address that his administration “will drive with full force investment promotion…’’ and ”provide the necessary legal and policy framework to make investment thrive in the state”.

    Ogbu-Nwobodo said that the remarkable feat recorded towards the commencement of the project in the state was the fruit of the governor’s “focused and genuine commitment to the rapid industrial and general economic development of the state”, borne out of his deep devotion to the welfare of the people of Enugu State.

    He added that the governor’s interactive sessions with the Traditional Rulers, Presidents General of the various communities and most importantly, about fifty-one indigenous Professors from the area, during the process of acquiring the land were “quite engaging and productive”.

    According to the commissioner, “this ingenious and unprecedented approach made the entire acquisition exercise very smooth. The governor gave the entire process a human face, demonstrating very clearly that his government is that of the people, for the people and by the people – which is the hallmark of democracy.

    “Following this noble example, the committee actively engaged the entire communities in a transparent and honest way, with community visitations, town hall meetings and several other meetings, all aimed at sensitizing the people of Ogwofia owa, Enugu Eke, and Akama Oghe communities of the socio-economic importance of the investment, which attracted them to support this critical industrial development.

    “This achievement we are witnessing today is one of the remarkable impacts in the life of this administration, which have ushered in enduring peace and good governance in the state backed by vision, unprecedented infrastructural development, innovation, fiscal discipline, transparency and other structural and institutional initiatives, aimed at driving massive investment inflow into the state’s economy.”