The Nation Newspaper

Category: SouthEast

  • Ikpeazu’s wife donates to NYSC

    Ikpeazu’s wife donates to NYSC

    The wife of Abia State governor Mrs. Nkechi Ikpeazu has donated food items to the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in the state, hailing the corps for providing good orientation for young graduates.

    Mrs. Ikpeazu made the donation in her office in response to an SOS from the state coordinator of the NYSC who told her there was no food in its camp to feed the Batch A 2016 members coming in for orientation.

    The items donated by Mrs. Ikpeazu included bags of rice, tubers of yam, cartons of noodles and toiletries, among others.

    Mrs. Ikpeazu assured the NYSC of her support, adding that as leaders of tomorrow, the youths deserve adequate attention. She urged the coordinator to ensure the safety of the corps members.

    The state coordinator of NYSC, Mrs. Franca Ifon, thanked her for her generosity, and her husband for approving the rehabilitation of the state NYSC camp.

    Ifon called on public-spirited people to emulate Mrs Ikpeazu’s gesture.

    She said, “I want to thank the wife of the governor, Mrs Ikpeazu, for the food items she donated to us which will go a long way to ensure that the corps members are well fed.

    The governor’s wife gave us foodstuff like yams, rice, tomatoes, noodles among others including toilet rolls and sanitary pads for the female corps members, which will make the stay of the corps members comfortable in the state camp.”

    Ifon also thanked Governor Ikpeazu for his love for the state chapter of the NYSC, saying, “The governor has been very magnanimous towards corps members in the state since he assumed office”.

    She called on employers of labour in the state and those who are in need of the services of corps members to submit their requests for corps members at the NYSC secretariat in Umuahia for processing.

  • Imo police smoke out suspects from hideout

    Imo police smoke out suspects from hideout

    Such was the drama that on Monday when some suspected criminals met their waterloo in Owerri, the Imo State capital, the state Commissioner of Police Taiwo Lekanu and Deputy Governor Eze Madumere were in charge of the operation.

    Lekanu and Madumere saw it all as they led a detachment of policemen into the suspects’ den.

    The operation brought great relief to residents of the popular Douglas Street and traders at the busy Ekeonunwa in Owerri.

    About 50 suspects were  arrested.

    Prior to the raid, a dreaded drug ring and cult groups operated freely from the hideout, robbing residents and traders at gun point, raping women and sometimes hacking their victims to death in broad daylight.

    In the popular market, all manner of fraud was also perpetrated by fake prophets, magicians, conmen and other criminal elements who took advantage of unsuspecting people coming to the market from the villages.

    In the last one year, over 13 cult-related killings have been recorded in the area. Rival cult groups frequently clashed in the market where they came to buy hard drugs which included cocaine, heroin and Indian hemp, among others.

    But determined to rid the state of all forms of criminality, the Commissioner of Police and the Deputy Governor stormed one of the hideouts along Douglas Road.

    At the uncompleted building,  scores of women have been reportedly raped, while all manner of hard drugs were consumed and sold openly.

    Over 50 suspects who are currently standing trial were arrested on the premises in previous raids.

    Items recovered included large quantity of cocaine, Indian hemp, female bags suspected to have been stolen from rape victims and other items.

    The Commissioner of Police warned that there will be no hiding place for criminal elements in any part of the state, while assuring that the command will sustain the current onslaught against criminals in the state.

    The Deputy Governor who expressed shock at the volume of hard drugs and other dangerous items recovered from the single raid, said that the state government will step in to ensure that the premises ceases from being used for nefarious activities.

    He promised further that the state government will continue to support and collaborate with the police command in the fight against crime and criminality in the state.

     

  • Police love for abandoned children

    Police love for abandoned children

    Abia State Commissioner of Police Joshak Habila’s gifts lift the spirits of administrators and inmates of an abandoned children’s home in Aba, Abia State, reports SUNNY NWANKWO

    History was made on Monday in Aba, Abia State’s commercial heart. The state Commissioner of Police Joshak Habila visited a facility in the city where the Reverend Dr. Joy Igweze has been looking after abandoned children for 10 years. He came with a huge of daily needs and lots of love.

    Since it was founded, the Peace Sisters Outreach Ministry International has been running on government’s handouts and public charity. No commissioner of police in the state had ever visited the facility. Habila’s is therefore monumental, more so when it was accompanied with just what the home needed: love and supplies.

    Inmates of the home were mostly picked up from the streets where they were abandoned by their parents, especially mothers. Some of those mothers were themselves pushed out of their matrimonial homes with their children. The streets therefore naturally became their first and sometimes only shelter, until Dr Igweze showed up.

    Mrs Igweze caters for about 110 inmates whose age ranges from one to over 20 years.

    There is something also quite remarkable about the facility. It has not been linked to any baby factory or child rituals or such other gory tales rampant in the country especially in the Southeast. Its record has been clean.

    It was also an emotional event for the inmates. Unable to hide their joy, they sang melodiously to welcome and entertain their guests even as they requested for mattresses and other needs. They also prayed for the Commissioner of Police and his team, the state and the country at large.

    Items donated by the CP included 10 cartons of noodles, a carton of tomato puree, three bags of rice, one carton of seasoning, cartons of beverages, jerry cans of groundnut oil, one carton of toilet tissue, salt, bread, milk and soap, among others.

    The state police chief commended the founder of the home and staff for their concern in giving shelter to the homeless and  hope to the hopeless.

    He said his visit relieved him of the burden he had been bearing for a long period of time.

    Habila stated that his coming to the home was to urge the wealthy to use what God gave them to better the lives of others especially the downtrodden within their vicinity.

    He used the opportunity to appeal to good-spirited Abians and others to come to the aid of the inmates of Peace Sisters International Ministry.

    He also warned those operating illegal maternity and motherless babies homes in the state to look for legitimate jobs or face the consequence.

    He also stressed that the police were on the alert to not only track down operators of such homes, but to also bring them justice.

    He also called on traditional rulers, religious leaders, the press and civil society groups in the country to help spread the message against people abandoning their child/children on the street, stating that if the community policing which the Inspector General of the Police, IGP Solomon Arase preaches will be imbibed by all, crime and criminality will be limited, if not eradicated in the society.

    In her response, the proprietress of the abandoned children home, Dr. Rev. Mrs. Joy Igweze thanked the State Police Chief for finding time to come and visit her home and to also identify with the children in the home.

    Calling for a stiffer penalty to those who gave birth and abandon their child or children on the street, Igweze lamented high level of abandoned and street children in the society by their parents and called for love among people in the society.

    She said, “People who drop their child or children on the street and abandon them will definitely get their punishment, unless they repent and turn a new leaf.”

    She added that they were happy to receive Habila at the home as the first Commissioner of Police in the state to visit them.

    One of the inmates who spoke on behalf others, Master Samuel corroborated the position of their proprietress and solicited for more assistance from the federal, state and local government authorities including public spirited individuals and corporate organizations.

    Samuel said that the Police chief’s visit will ever remain historic to the home and the lives of the inmates.

    On the commissioner of Police entourage were the DPOs of Osisioma and Eziama Police Divisions; Usman and Austin, the PPRO of the state command, Ezekiel Onyeke Udeviotu, State chairman and Osisioma Police Division chairman of Police Community Relation Committee, Ambassador Emma Nwosu and Chief Amanna A. Nwaogu who also used the opportunity provided for by the visit to make some donations to the home.

  • What politics has put asunder

    What politics has put asunder

    Some nine years ago, Edo State was on the march again—looking for Mr Governor. Adams Eric Aliyu Oshiomhole was the man. But when the electoral body made the returns from the polling booths, the verdict was shocking: People’s Democratic Party’s Oserheimen Osunbor was returned elected. Many shouted foul play, but since the oracle had spoken, Oshiomhole had no choice but to rely on the law to reclaim his mandate.

    After months of legal battles at the Election Petition Tribunal and the Court of Appeal, Osunbor’s election was declared a sham and nullified. Oshiomhole assumed office on November 12, 2008 after winning the appeal.

    Since a tree does not make a forest, Oshiomhole did not run the race alone. Dr. Pius Odubu was with him. As his running mate, he stood by his principal and together they took power from the usurper.

    For the first four years of their administration, these men worked together harmoniously. They were also willing to volunteer nice words about each other to whoever cared to ask or listen. It was thus not surprising that Oshiomhole rebuffed calls in some quarters to drop Odubu as his running mate in 2012.

    Together they repelled the federal forces bent on claiming Edo, the only Southsouth state in the hand of the then opposition party.

    Sadly, after some three years into their last tenure, Oshiomhole and Odubu now dance to different tunes. The music Oshiomhole likes sounds macabre to Odubu and vice versa. Their marriage, which appeared made in heaven, has broken down beyond repair. I can hear each of them saying like music star Tiwa Savage: “I am done”.

    Now, politics has put asunder what many thought God joined together and scary stories are coming out of Benin City. So bad is the situation that a party chieftain likened it to “ongoing madness that has become endemic”. We now hear of juju attack. We hear of gun attacks. We hear of a crisis in the House of Assembly, which is linked to the divorce between the comrade governor and his estranged deputy. We hear all kinds of things that are at variance with decency. The stories are the sort that makes one wonder and raises posers: What is the business of Oshiomhole, a former labour leader turned politician and Odubu, a respected intellectual and lawyer, with juju and guns? Why on earth are they at war? Is it all about the September 10 governorship election?

    Neither of them has spoken about what the bad blood is all about. But what is clear is that Odubu wants to be the next governor. Oshiomhole does not see in him a worthy successor. He believes he can not be better than a ‘spare tyre’. And for this, Edo is on edge and may become a gun republic if it is not curbed on time.

    Odubu, on Sunday, narrated what he dubbed his narrow escape from death the previous day. He said assassins attacked the venue of his meeting in Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State. Those who attacked him, his campaign organisation claimed, were paid N1m to carry out the act. Odubu said he had to be shielded inside a hall to avoid “direct bullet contacts”.

    “At Auchi, the deputy governor and his team met with passionate, patriotic (and) huge number of delegates but no sooner had the meeting begun that gunmen opened fire outside the secretariat on both security men and members of the deputy governor’s entourage and delegates,” his campaign organisation said.

    The organisation also said the attack was “orchestrated directly at his person” and meant to  disrupt the aims of the campaign, adding that seven persons sustained varying degrees of injuries and received treatment at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH).

    The victims, according to a former Minority Whip in the House of Representatives, Mr. Samson Osagie, include a DSS operative, Patrick Amakiri; an escort police commander, Inspector Agge Felix; and a driver, Zibiri Yakubu.

    Osagie described the attack as an act of cowardice “perpetrated by those who dread a free, fair and credible democratic contest” and an attempt to compel Odubu to quit the race or be eliminated.

    “This, to us, is the height of naked display of cruelty, animosity, acrimony, intolerance, gross irresponsibility and man’s inhumanity to man,” Osagie fumed.

    For the state APC Publicity Secretary, Mr. Godwin Erhahon, the event of Saturday was “absolute madness”.

    Edo State Police Commissioner of Police Mr. Chris Ezike sees the incident as “clearly avoidable” in a civilised society.

    “2016 is a peaceful year and it’s all our prayer that it should bring peace to the people of Edo State and that is without prejudice to the incident of yesterday (Saturday). I have held that the incident of yesterday was clearly avoidable and should not have happened; it has no business happening.

    “And for the perpetrators, I have given the marching order that those named be arrested. Very luckily, a few names have been mentioned and they are not ghosts; so, the command is after them,” he said.

    Significantly, if anyone was in doubt that things had fallen apart between Odubu and his principal, Oshiomhole’s reaction to the gun drama put paid to such doubts.

    The governor, in a statement by his Commissioner of Information and Orientation, Prince Kassim Afegbua, described the claim as “untrue” and “hasty”. He said it was caused by thugs loyal to the deputy governor.

    Preliminary reports, said the governor, suggested that security details attached to his deputy fired the first shots to scare away party supporters, who kicked against the presence of the thugs in their area.

    Let me quote the statement so that it can be clear to all that Oshiomhole now sees his deputy as a liar: “It is instructive to note that the deputy governor was inside the secretariat building of the APC in company with the party chairman in the local government, Alhaji Umoru Akokhia, addressing the delegates while thugs, loyal to him, who had become unruly, fired gunshots at other APC loyalists, who were outside protesting against his visit.

    “It should be noted that among those who sustained injuries are APC loyalists, who are presently receiving medical attention in the hospital.

    “It is laughable that the Odubu Campaign Organisation will allege that the deputy governor, with a full compliments of security details, was shot at, yet no casualty was recorded on the other side and nobody apprehended.

    “Given the above scenario, we find it lousy for anyone to impute assassination theory as propounded by the Odubu Campaign Organisation, especially when investigations are still ongoing and the police are yet to submit their findings on the fracas.”

    Oshiomhole’s position has been corroborated by Akokhia, who told reporters at the Government House, Benin, that the gun attack might have been carried out by thugs that “Odubu brought”.

    He said: “Before the deputy governor came, there were boys around. I asked them what they came for. They said they came to see the deputy governor and I told them they were not invited and that they were not delegates. They said they were Odubu supporters. Anybody that said the attack was directed at the deputy is a liar. We were together inside my office.”

    He added that the reception for Odubu was interrupted by shouts of ‘Odubu, you don win; Odubu, na you we know’.

    This whole dirty dancing going on in Edo has reminded me of a piece or prophesy I came across earlier in the year, which suggested that a dark horse would replace Oshiomhole. The prophesy came from Dr Moshood Fayemiwo, who pastors a Texas-based non-denominational Christian centre.

    His words:  “I advised Comrade Adams Oshiomhole to look far and wide before endorsing his successor this year. A young man who nobody expects will change the face of Edo politics this year as the Sovereign Lord God Almighty sits on His Throne and superintends over all in heaven and earth and all that are in them. The next governor of Edo State is a Diasporan Nigerian known as Linus Idahosa. He has made a fortune for himself in the entertainment industry and his wife who we all know and beloved; Stephanie Okereke-Linus are young Nigerians coming to shake things up in Edo State.”

    My final take: I don’t care who succeeds Oshiomhole. But I care about the peace of this state. Nobody’s ambition is worth putting the state on edge for. In as much as the governor has a right to throw his weight behind a candidate of his choice, decency and the well-being of the state should not be sacrificed or toyed with. Not by the governor, not by Odubu and not by anybody.

  • Calm after herdsmen storm

    Calm after herdsmen storm

    Cautiously, residents of Ukpabi Nimbo, Enugu State, return to their devastated community after suspected herdsmen’s attack. CHRIS OJI reports

    It has drawn blood, tears, anger, panic and exodus but after suspected herdsmen struck last week in Ukpabi Nimbo, Enugu State, a semblance of calm is returning to the community. There was armed police presence as residents who fled the attack cautiously made their way back to their devastated community.

    It was a tragic week. No fewer than 48 people were reported killed in the attack. The state governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi visited the community a day after the attack and was moved to tears at the scale of bloodshed and destruction.

    He also did his best to reassure the residents, even praying that God will protect them.

    Other leaders took their turn condemning the violence, some saying the people may have no choice but defend themselves if their attackers would not forbear while the authorities looked helplessly on.

    Economic activities and social activities have started picking up gradually, but farming, their mainstay of livelihood, was yet to resume as the fear of the herdsmen still hiding in the bushes remained strong.

    The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) dona-ted trailer-loads of relief materials to the community in Uzo-Uwani council area of the state.

    There have been other visitors since the attack.  Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu who was accompanied by the senator representing Enugu North zone, Chuka Utazi, as well as members of the House of Representatives including, Dr Chukwuemeka Ujam (Nkanu East/Nkanu West), Dennis Agbo (Igboeze North/Udenu), Pat Asadu (Nsukka/Igboeze South), Toby Okechukwu (Aninri/Awgu/Oji-River) and Dennis Amadi (Udi/Ezeagu) who visited the community at the weekend described the damage done to the community as devastating.

    They also visited the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Enugu, where some of the injured are receiving treatment. The lawmakers expressed shock at the casualty figures.

    Ekweremadu announced his donation of a transformer to the community in addition to N2 million by the Enugu lawmakers in the National Assembly.

    “We are going to ensure that roads here are given clear attention,” said Ekweremadu. “After four years, the story of Uzo-Uwani will change. I will also give you a transformer within the next three to four days.”

    Both Hon. Patrick Asadu and Hon. Dennis Agbo representing Nsukka/Igbo-Eze South and Igbo-Eze North/Udenu federal constituencies, said “enough is enough”, maintaining that the attack on Nimbo would not be taken for granted.

    “They have been doing this and going scot-free but this attack on Nimbo will be the last. The people doing this are not just cattle rearers; they are terrorists, Boko Haram elements; we are not going to take it,” said Asadu.

    The Parish Priest of St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Nimbo, the Rev. Fr. Okeke Obetta, had told the delegation how some of the herdsmen numbering over 50 descended on the church and vandalised it after several attempts to set it ablaze failed. He said while the carnage was going on, there were 14 parishioners in the chapel praying. One of them out of fear attempted to escape and was felled by the herdsmen’s bullet.

    “There were three generator sets in the church. But they were all empty without fuel. The herdsmen turned them upside down and shot them with their rifles with the intention to set the church ablaze. But the generators miraculously did not catch fire,” the man of God narrated.

    The traditional ruler of Nimbo community, Igwe John Akor, a former senior editor with the rested Concord newspaper,  made a passionate appeal to the federal government to address the security challenge facing his people, noting that the continued loss of lives and property in the hands of the herdsmen would no longer be condoned.

    “There is no single day that passes without one skirmish with the Fulani herdsmen. They are taking too much. A lasting solution to their impunity should be found. Otherwise our people will continue to sleep with one eye open,” Igwe Akor stressed.

    Director-General of NEMA, Alhaji Mohammad Sani Sidi  sympathised with the people, saying also that the federal government shared their grief and pain.

    Sidi, represented by the Southeast coordinator of NEMA, Mr. Martin Udeinya, described it as a barbaric act.

    He said, “We are here today to present relief materials to Nimbo community after carrying out a comprehensive assessment of the damage done to the area recently. These items will help to cushion the extent of the damage in the community.”

  • Ebonyi to feudiing community: Sheathe your swords

    Ebonyi to feudiing community: Sheathe your swords

    The Ebonyi State government has urged all combatants in the Ezza/Ezillo community in Ishielu Local Government Area of the state to bury the hatchet and embrace peace.

    The Deputy Governor of the state, Mr Kelechi Igwe, a lawyer, who made the call at Ezillo, noted that the David Umahi administration is intent on stamping out violence in Ishielu using every legal means.

    He regretted the economic hardship and mutual distrust the protracted crisis has caused the people while assuring that with understanding and commitment to peace from the affected people, peace would be restored to the area.

    According to him, the administration of David Umahi is bent on fulfilling its campaign promise of ensuring that peace returned to Ezillo before it clocked one year in office.

    He explained that Governor Umahi while serving as deputy made concerted efforts to resolve the crisis and that as the incumbent deputy governor more effort would be invested to end the communal war.

    He said, “Government is aware that some forces are fueling the crisis for political reason and for selfish interest. But I want to warn that our government is not a go-slow government that is upwardly mobile, and we are not ready to entertain the exigencies that will come from people who think that they are untouchable.

    “Therefore if you are one of those orchestrating the war, the eyes are on you and the government will stop at nothing to resolve the crisis and make the people one for the safety of the next generation.”

    The deputy governor who also doubles as the chairman on boundary dispute, further warned those masterminding the crisis that there is no hiding place for them in the state.

    He said that government will use its resources and gadgets to fish out perpetrators and sponsors of the Ezza/Ezillo crisis.

    According to him, peace is paramount to the state and that the state government will deal decisively with anyone connected with the crisis irrespective of his political affiliation, stressing that the peace of the citizenry is important to government.

    His words, “After today, the grace of pardon shall no longer be available. We shall deal with any man or woman for fomenting trouble in Ishielu”

    Barrister Igwe further directed that a prayer and fasting summit should be organized with the theme, “Lets peace of God prevail in our heart, to do that thing which will be invariably acceptable to all” for peace to reign in Ishielu.

    He instructed the Caretaker Chairman of Ishielu Local Government Area to mobilize stakeholders from Ezza and Ezillo to participate in the prayer, noting that attendance will be taken at the prayer summit.

    The deputy governor commended security agencies for their steadfastness in maintaining the peace in the buffer zone while assuring them that government will always give them the needed assistance.

    He however challenged the traditional rulers to support the government to achieve peace in Ishielu.

    The Ebonyi State Commissioner for Local Governments and Chieftaincy Matters, Samuel Okonkwo, a lawyer, appealed to the warring communities to search their conscience and avoid rancour, pointing out that the greatest virtue on earth is peace.

    He urged the people to pray against it.

    In a remark, the Ishielu Caretaker Chairman, Henry Eze promised that the people will follow the path of peace.

  • Herdsmen attacks: Solidarity from across borders

    Herdsmen attacks: Solidarity from across borders

    The lawmaker representing Afikpo Northeast constituency in Ebonyi State House of Assembly, Hon Maria Nwachi has visited two hospitals in Enugu State to donate relief materials to victims of the recent herdsmen attacks in Uzo Uwani.

    The lawmaker who raised money for the visit through her facebook group page, described the attacks as abominable.

    Hon Nwachi and some members of the group first visited a hospital in Nsukka where they met one victim while the rest have been transferred to the orthopaedic hospital in Enugu.

    The group after donating to the patient, proceeded to Orthopaedic Hospital where they also donated items and cash to the victims.

    During the visit, The Nation learnt that attacks by Fulani herdsmen have been going on in Enugu State long before the recent massacre in Uzo Uwani community.

    It was learnt that many isolated cases had been recorded in the state though the attacks were on a few people at a time.

    More surprising is the fact that some of the attacks took place in the day time as against previous attacks which occurred at night.

    One of the victims, Nwobodo Onyeka, who narrated his ordeal, said he was attacked by three herdsmen at Amoji Nike on April 9 two weeks before the Uzo Uwani attacks.

    He said he had gone to the area to survey a land he wanted to buy when the herdsmen attacked them accusing them of killing their cows.

    He said, “We took a car and got to a particular place and took a cab. My younger sister, her friend, the agent who is also a female and myself after surveying the land, were now coming out when the three of the herdsmen came out from the bush with guns.

    ”One of them shot at us and the bullet hit my hand, the bullet went out and entered into the other woman’s belly. Some particles also hit my sister’s friend in her eyes.

    Then they started saying, “Sebi na una dey kill our cows abi, we go kill una today for this land”, meaning you are the people killing our cows, we will kill you today on this land”.

    Reacting, the lawmaker wondered why non-governmental organisations and humanitarian agencies have abandoned the victims.

    She said; “The mayhem, the wanton killing, the gratuitous violence, visited on a people in their land is unheard of, abominable and calamitous”.

    “If this were the civilized world, you would see so many charity organizations falling on top of each other to help the victims, financially and otherwise, but here nothing, you are on your own”.

    “I appeal to government, NGO, humanitarian agencies and individuals to please not abandon victims of this herdsmen mayhem to fend for themselves”.

    “Please, visit them in hospitals and take care of their hospital bills, they cannot be put through this for no fault of their own and then be saddled with how to pay their hospital bills or to get themselves out of the hospital”.

    “Some of the victims, the ones that were conscious, were so happy despite their pain, they felt, people cared. The unconscious ones just looked on, as we consoled them and dropped off their goodies”.

  • Abia hoteliers protest high electricity tariffs

    Abia hoteliers protest high electricity tariffs

    Members of the hospitality industry in Abia State protest over erratic supply and outrageous electricity billing by the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC), reports Sunny Nwankwo

    HOTEL owners in Abia State have had enough of poor power supply and outrageous bills.

    That was why they took to the street to drive home their disatisfaction.

    They were protesting under the aegis of Hotel Proprietors Association.

    Their anger rested on what they described as “outrageous monthly electricity billing” of their hotels by the DISCO in-charge of electricity distribution and supply in the Southeast, Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC).

    The group, at the end of an emergency meeting in Aba, the commercial nerve of the state, lamented that the high tariff is posing a threat to the sustenance of the hospitality industry in the state and further warned that they would not hesitate to drag the management of EEDC to court if they (EEDC) fails to address the situation in the nearest weeks.

    Chief Goody Egbuchulam, chairman of the association in Aba told reporters that the recent increase in electricity tariffs by EEDC in Abia and the rest of the Southeast from N29.5 to N42.22 per unit was too outrageous for his members to pay if they are to remain in business.

    According to Egbuchulam, an average hotel in Aba gets a monthly electricity bill of N1m.

    He regretted that at the end, the hotels would not get adequate power supply.

    He lamented that due to inconsistency of power supply in Aba, the commercial nerve of the state, an average hotel in the city even after paying huge electricity bill; still spend an average N3.5m monthly on diesel to keep their businesses running.

    Recalling how they have made several attempts to get pre-paid meters failed on deaf ears of  EEDC officials, accused them of taking advantage of the situation to give them arbitrary bills, stating that it was wrong for the Electricity Company to continue to charge them for power they did not consume.

    “The hotel industry in Abia needs Federal Government protection from the hands of EEDC and its shylock tariffs. EEDC raised its tariff in 2014 to N29.5 per unit and in 2016 they are raising it this time to N42.22 per unit, yet within this period, there is no single improvement in power supply.”

    A patron of the association in Aba, HRM (Eze) Nzenwata Mbakwe  and Prince Charles Ezeala, chairman of the association in Umuahia, the state capital attributing the high tariff to the privatization of the power sub sector by the previous administration, described the process as counterproductive, stressing that it should be revisited.

     

     

     

  • Seadogs launch ‘Save Aba Street Children’project

    The National Association of Seadogs (Pyrates Confraternity) launches the “Save the Street Child Aba Initiative” in Aba, the Abia State commercial capital. Sunny Nwankwo reports

    THEY are everywhere, on the major roads and the side streets. You find them at different parts of the city: Bata Junction, Azikiwe by Asa Road, Market Road by Asa, Brass Junction and beyond.

    They are the street children of Aba.

    They have no roof over their heads. Children huddle around their mothers, begging. Sometimes, the females receive male visitors who take them away for the night. The relationship sometimes produces more children on the streets.

    A social welfare worker in one of the local governments in Aba, who spoke anonymously to our reporter, warned that if such sexual behaviour was not curbed, Aba might be overwhelmed by children without shelter.

    The social worker disclosed that most of the children found on the streets of Aba are from broken homes where parents were divorced and parted ways without any of the parties agreeing to take ownership of the children born in such relationships.

    Even the security community is worried, a source saying most of the crimes committed in the state are carried out by people who were once street children.

    There is hope, as the Aba chapter of the National Association of Seadogs (Sancta Sacramento Deck) launched  the “Save the Street Child, Aba Initiative” under the NAS Street Child Project.

    The event attracted the crème de la crème in the society including federal and state lawmakers in the state, Abia State Commissioner of Education, Professor Ikechi Mgbeoji and Prince Ifeanyi Onochie, the CAPOON of NAS.

    The event provided guests the opportunity to meet some of the children that have been taken off from the streets.

    Members of the confraternity and public-spirited individuals also  donated generously for the upkeep and the academic welfare of some of the children in some motherless babies homes in Aba.

    Anyanwu Sandra Nwokoroku, Programme Officer at Children at Risk Development (CARD) Initiative, a non-profit child rights protection organisation, said that street children are alwways in tattered clothes, scavenge, beg for alms, peddle drugs, join armed robbery syndicates, move in colonies and do menial jobs, among other things just to survive.

    Nwokoroku also said living on the streets exposes children to sexual abuse and rape and sexually transmitted infections.

    In a paper, Abia State Commissioner of Education, Prof. Ikechi Mgbeoji described the street children syndrome in Aba as the aftermath of the Nigerian Civil war  as well as increasing urbanisation and dislocation of extended family system.

    Mgbeoji added that factors such as poverty, breakdown of homes, political unrest, acculturation, peer group influence, drug addiction amongst others and listed “Correctional model, Rehabilitative model, Outreach strategies and Preventive approach” as some of the measures to use in dealing with issues of street children.

    The Education Commissioner who said that the state is planning to bring stakeholders in education to a roundtable for deliberation; Education Summit, added that the state on its part is planning to propose an Education Bill which is expected to be passed into law by the State House of Assembly before the end of this year, stressing that the bill when passed into law would make street hawking by children a crime in the state.

    He said, “Under the proposed bill, the guardian or parent of any child caught hawking on the streets of the state will be tried and if found guilty, will be fined by a Mobile Education Court which is specially designed for education-related offences.”

    And for the enactment of the Child Rights Act and Persons with Disability Bill into law by the state legislative arm, reintroduction of Free Education regime and the abolishment of street begging syndicates and gangs who specialize in using and displaying children on the streets for the primary purpose of begging, a practice he described as dehumanising.

    Christopher Chijioke Joseph, CAPOON, Aba chapter (Sancta Sacramento Deck) and Ifeanyi Onochie, CAPOON, NAS in separate interviews expressed their happiness over the level of attendance and described the “Save the Street Child, Aba Initiative” event was geared towards eradicating and if impossible to reduce to the barest minimum the act of street begging and taking children of school age off the streets of Aba and the state at large, stressing that they have equally carried out several projects to better the lives of the citizenry.

    They further disclosed that though they are partnering with some motherless babies homes at the moment, they intended to have a home of their own where children taken off from the streets will be kept, nurtured/rehabilitated and reintegrated back into the society.

    They expressed hope that the initiative if embraced by all will reduce crime rate in the society and give the children the sense of belonging.

    “It is a project in which the pilot scheme will run for four years. Within the first four years while this pilot phase of the project is running, we will make plans for the exit; it is just like a continuation of other years ahead. The campaign is continuous as the project is continuous too. So, we will keep doing it from time to time on social media, print media and other areas in order to reach out to as many people as possible that may be interested to join hands to see that the act of child street begging is sorted out.

    “Apart from this, we equally have other projects that we have carried out in Aba community such as in the Aba Prisons, where we have equally built and handed over to the authorities of the prisons,   psychiatric bed for the inmates. We have equally been consistence in the supply of drugs to the prisons till date. We equally engage in de-worming children in primary schools for over two years in the state during MNCHW (Maternal Newborn Child Health Week) and we intend to continue doing that. We engage in cleaning of streets and residential quarters in Aba and also join in the advocacy on HIV/AIDS and since 2006, we have been observing World AIDS Day till date; we do HIV screening, free HIV counseling and also support HIV/AIDS patients in the little way that we can,” the Aba Deck said.

     

  • Enugu prays after herdsmen’s attack

    Enugu prays after herdsmen’s attack

    There is an air of helplessness in Enugu State after suspected Fulani cattle herders invaded a community, killing many and destroying property. Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi calls for a fast. OGOCHUKWU IKEJE and CHRIS OJI write

    We came, saw and broke down. And there was something else Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi did: he called for statewide prayers accompanied with a two-day fast.

    Why did the governor wax spiritual?

    What happened on Monday in Ukpabi-Nimbo, Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of the state was bizarre. Hundreds of heavily-armed suspected Fulani herdsmen reportedly invaded the community and opened fire on anyone in sight. At the end of the attack, some 48 people were said to be killed, while houses and other structures were set ablaze.

    When Governor Ugwuanyi inspected the community on Tuesday under heavy security, he chanced upon a freshly discovered corpse of an apparently well-fed young man killed in the attack. Ugwuanyi wept at the sight. He was also clearly moved by the sheer scale of bloodshed and destruction.

    But could there be another reason the governor wept? Perhaps, it was because the bloodshed could have been prevented.

    Ugwuanyi said he received some intelligence that the community was under imminent threat of attack, possibly on Monday, and immediately summoned a security meeting on Sunday. He added that “far-reaching decisions” were reached at the meeting to forestall the attack.

    “A combined team of police, soldiers, Civil Defence operatives was dispatched to the community,” he said, “but on Monday we heard that they still carried out the threat, resulting in the situation we are facing.”

    That probably explains the whiff of helplessness, which necessitated a spiritual approach to a growing menace playing out across the country.

    “No matter what, we are hopeful that God will save us from the present situation,” Ugwuanyi said, seeking to assure the people. “That is why I’ve declared fasting and prayers in the state for the next two days.”

    Much of the community was razed down in the attack.

    The body that moved the governor to tears was that of Ugwu Ogbu, said to be a teacher posted to the community. Women were also raped by the invaders, The Nation learned.

    The attackers reportedly got help from mercenaries in Nasarawa State.

    Governor Ugwuanyi did much to reassure and calm Nimbo residents. He made a relief donation of N5m to the community. He also sought to direct the traumatised people’s attention to the ultimate source of comfort: heaven.

    Ugwuanyi told them, “We are going to seek for God’s intervention in this matter. It is my belief that this too will pass away. The entire people of Enugu State are with you in this moment of grief.”

    He assured the people that efforts were being made to find a lasting solution to the problem, urging young men not to take the law into their hands by engaging in any form of reprisal attack.

    Some of the clergy were not as tame as the governor. Archbishop of Anglican Communion, Enugu Archdiocese, Dr. Emmanuel Chukwuma warned that if nothing was done to check the herdsmen, he would personally ask pro-Biafra groups to declare war on them.

    The fiery clergy was visibly angry over the Monday attack, saying it was now clear that the federal government controlled security agencies deliberately decided when to act and when to forbear.

    The cleric also called on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency on Igbo land, adding that many hours after the attack, no arrest was made.

    He warned that if the relevant authorities failed to curb the activities of Fulani herdsmen, the breeders would be banned from the Southeast. He added that should they enter, they would meet stiff opposition in the zone.

    “I feel bitter, I feel aggrieved,” he said. “I feel sad that the APC government at the centre cannot protect us. We call on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency in Igbo land over the Fulani herdsmen’s threat to security in the zone or else we will declare war against the Fulani herdsmen.

    “Failure to curb the activities of Fulani herdsmen will make us to ban [them] from rearing their cattle in the zone. Any attempt to harass any Igbo youth in any community will not be taken lightly. We will not tolerate it in Igbo land. We are declaring war against the Fulani herdsmen. We are calling on Northern elders to caution their people. Government should speak out against this Fulani herdsmen menace.

    “Failure for the Southeast governors to rise to the security challenge, we will pass vote of no confidence on them. Where did the Fulani herdsmen get the AK 47 rifles? We will bring our own Ogbunigwe out to defend our rights. We will match force with force.

    “Fulani herdsmen come to Igbo land, ravage our farmland, rape our women. That we were defeated in the last civil war does not mean we will remain slaves forever even in our land. We will defend our land with our blood and anything including Ogbunigwe. Why was there security lapse? The DSS and other security operatives alerted the government yet they went ahead with their threat by unleashing mayhem

    on the villagers. The Fulani herdsmen are more violent than the Biafra agitator.”

    Since the attack, Nimbo community has been deserted, meaning that economic activities have shut down, with obvious consequences on the people. Pupils seating the WAEC exams could not go to their centres. Most of those who sustained life-threatening injuries have been receiving treatment at various hospitals including Royal Cross hospital, Bishop Shanahan and Nsukka District hospitals.

    One of the injured, a young man who just passed out of the NYSC programme earlier in the month has been referred to National Orthopaedic hospital Enugu,  while two others were referred to Park Lane Hospital, Enugu.

    The governor visited the Ukpabi Nibo community as well as the three hospitals where injured persons were receiving treatment. He was accompanied by Senator Chuka Utazi representing Enugu North senatorial zone, the GOC, 82 Division, Major General Ibrahim Attahiru, the Police Commissioner, Nwodibo Ekechukwu among other security chieftains.

    At the palace of the traditional ruler of Nimbo community, Igwe John Akor, the governor lamented the loss of life and property including the Christ Holy Church, which was burnt by the attackers.

    One of the community leaders, Dr Ajokwu George appealed to the state government to come to their aid as their community had become a hunting ground for the herders.

    “Our community is under threat, we have been burying our loved ones. We are more worried because in this case, we even alerted the security that these people were planning to attack us but nothing was done. As we speak, we’ve recovered over 20 corpses and we are still recovering more. Several others are in the morgue and in the hospitals. What did we do to deserve this? We are really pleading that something be done. Our women have been raped and killed and nothing has happened.

    “What has happened is just a tip of the iceberg because we know they will come again. The way they invade our community and rape women before their husbands is worrisome. We need security here not just for a day or week but for months to protect us.”

    The state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ebere Amaraizu confirmed the incident, saying that a police team and the army had been deployed to the area.

    The leader of Fulani community in the state, Alhaji Haldo Saidu Baso said he had lived in the state for over 33 years and would not want to witness any crisis between the ethnic groups. He resolved to talk to their people in the state not take the law into their hands.

    Baso said: “We will travel to Nasarawa State to talk to the cattle owners and stakeholders to warn the rustlers in Enugu State to steer [clear of] trouble.”