Category: Southeast report

By Mike Odiegwu, Port Harcourt

Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has identified the prevalence of illicit drugs as the root cause of rising insecurity in the country.

He lamented that the Federal Government was dissipating its energy fighting the manifest symptoms, instead of holistically addressing the major cause of crimes.

The governor promised to collaborate with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to set up a drug rehabilitation centre in the state.

He spoke yesterday when he received the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, NDLEA, Brig-Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa (rtd), at the Government House, Port Harcourt.

The governor in a statement signed by his Special Assistant, Media, Kelvin Ebiri, said people had often thought that the fight against crime in the country should be targeted only at bandits and kidnappers with less attention paid to the use of illicit drugs,  which he noted remained the root cause of such crimes.

He said if concerted efforts were made towards achieving a reduction in the level of illicit drug in the society, the crime rate would reduce.

Marwa said after he assumed office five weeks ago, the agency had gone out to ensure reduction of drugs supply across the country.

He said there was much criminality in Nigeria with insurgency, banditry, kidnapping and rape being caused by perpetrators under the use of drugs.

By Damian Duruiheoma, Owerri

The people of Umunamu village, Okwe community in Onuimo Local Government of Imo State have urged the police to save them from their kinsman and leader of the Biafra Independent Movement (BIM) and Movement for Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Ralph Uwazuruike.

They accused him of using members of his militia to dispossess them of and evict them from their ancestral land because of his plan to build a university for the pro-Biafran group.

In a letter addressed to the Area Commander of Okigwe Area Command of the Imo State Police Command, Mr. Uzowuru Ifeanyi and Mr. Patrick Uwazuruike, the village chairman and secretary, the people said they had suffered hardship in the hands of the MASSOB leader.

The letter alleged that Uwazuruike recruited youths as his militia, whom he used as foot soldiers “to perpetuate evil, usurp power, deny people their rights and seize people’s land without regards to the rule of law.”

It added: “Despite his action of forcefully seizing our ancestral land on July 2, 2019, a land that measured about 10 square kilometres, he returned to continue his usual eviction and takeover of our farmlands and homes with a flimsy reason that he is building a private university.

“As law-abiding citizens, we resolved not to take the law into our hands despite the intimidation and threats we are going through in the hands of Chief Uwazuruike.

“We call on you sir, to use your good office to salvage this situation and save us from being tenants in our ancestral homes.”

The people appealed to the police to ensure that the influx of young men with weapons at Onuimo in the name of MASSOB should be checked before they turned the area into a graveyard.

Reacting, Uwazuruike advised his kinsmen to go to court if they are not happy with his acquisition of land.

He said he purchased the land lawfully and listed 10 families that sold their land to his organisation in 2010.

The MASSOB leader, speaking through the group’s Director of Information, Chris Mocha, said the protest was sponsored by a few individuals at Umunamu village, Owerre-Okwe in Onuimo Local Government where MASSOB’s Homeland University, and Homeland University Teaching Hospital (HUTH) were being constructed by BIM-MASSOB.

Uwazuruike noted that his organisation followed due processes in acquiring the landed property before it was handed over to him in the presence of the traditional ruler of Okwe, the late HRH Eze E. A. Okonkwo.

Our Reporter

A socio-political organisation, the Movement for the Election of Nigerian President of Igbo Extraction, wants Mr. Peter Obi to contest the 2023 presidential poll.

Obi was the vice-presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2019 election.

The group made the call in a statement by its National Convener, Mr Vincent Ezekwueme, at the weekend in Enugu.

According to Ezekwueme, the appeal is based on the national acceptance of Obi due to his prudent management of public funds and selfless service to sectors of the economy, irrespective of state, religion or ethnicity.

The statement said: “Obi, a former governor of Anambra, changed politics from transactional to transformational and attuned himself as a servant-leader to the people.

“It is pertinent to note that Obi is not only honest and transparent, but also humble, selfless and fanatical when it comes to the welfare of the citizenry.

“It is on record that his renovation of schools and hospitals and the empowerment of children, youths and widows stand out in Anambra to date.

“Obi is the person Nigerians need as their president to actualise Nigeria of our dreams, hopes and aspirations.’’  Ezekwueme, however, reiterated his earlier appeal to parties to zone their presidential candidates to the Southeast in the spirit of justice, equity, morality and good conscience.

“It will be in the best interest of the nation to re-enact the 1999 scenario in which the presidency was ceded to the Southwest to pacify the people over the annulment of June 12 presidential election.”

“The June 12 presidential election was clearly won by Chief MKO Abiola of the Social Democratic Party (SDP),” he recalled.

By Bassey Anthony, Uyo

The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has said the All Progressives Congress (APC) will soon become the dominant party in the Southsouth.

Akpabio, who was at his electoral unit for the APC revalidation exercise at his country home, Ukana, in Essien Udim Local Government, said: “If APC is not strong in any other region, in the Southsouth where I am a major stakeholder, it is waxing stronger.”

The minister noted that the drift of governors from another party to the APC is an indication that the party is waxing stronger by the day.

“The APC is even stronger when looked at the fact that there is no election and governors are defecting from other parties to the APC. Recently we received the governor of Ebonyi State with all the paraphernalia of the government. From the grapevine, we hear that some Southsouth governors are still coming to join the party,” he said.

He attributed the popularity of the APC to the performance of President Muhammadu Buhari in all sectors of the economy and parts of the country.

“What makes the APC strong is performance. The president is doing well. You can see recently, the interim administrator going round and most of the states praising him are not even APC states. They say because of your performance, we will support you; we will support President Buhari to succeed in the Niger Delta. I believe there is not threat to APC. I commend the chairman of the party and the secretary for a wonderful exercise. You can see that when we are through, the party will be waxing stronger and stronger.”

Akpabio said the level of development and effective leadership offered by the APC under President Buhari had emboldened the confidence of Nigerians in the APC government, adding: “The kind of infrastructural rollout, from railways to transportation, is an attestation of good leadership. Even where I belong, for the first time in 25 years, we are going to inaugurate a major head office complex for the NDDC. This is the first time this is happening. The forensic audit ongoing has exposed a lot. We have completed over 81 projects without giving out a contract because people have seen the need to use the money they collected in 2006 and 2008 to do the work”.

The minister said the president was committed to the completion of East-West Road, which was initiated by the Federal Government in 2006.

“The East West Road, whether we like it or not, work is ongoing there. The President is determined to deliver the East-West Road that started 15 years ago by the administration of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2006. If it starts from Warrri and terminates at Oron, what will now remain will be the waterway of Oron. But we would have completed the first line, crossing at least five Niger Delta states on a dualised thoroughfare. We would have taken care of the problem at Eleme junction, we would have taken care of the problem at Ikot Abasi.”

By Mike Odiegwu, Port Harcourt

The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) at the weekend said it would soon begin the training of Niger Delta youths at the Innoson Kiara Academy, a technical and vocational institution affiliated to the Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company.

NDDC Interim Administrator Mr. Efiong Akwa, represented by his Special Adviser on Youths, Udengs Eradiri, spoke after inspecting the facilities at the Innoson factory in Nnewi, Anambra State.

He was accompanied by the NDDC Deputy Director (Commercial and Industrial Development), Daniel Ajunwa.

Akwa said NDDC already had a partnership with the motor manufacturing company for the training of youths in automobile maintenance, adding that the visit was to firm up the partnership.

He said: “There are lots of skills that our young ones can get from this facility. They can be trained in fabrication, assembly, painting and corrosion control, among others. We think that because of the growing economy of the Niger Delta and Nigeria, it is important that we begin to grow our own skills to be better able to manage our economy.”

Akwa said the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) had trained Niger Delta youths in the facility and they came out with skills.

He said: “We want to continue with that kind of development and get to a situation where we will have a plant in the Niger Delta that will also be manufacturing vehicles. We will take the partnership to a point where a replica of the Innoson factory will be set up in the Niger Delta region.

“We are aware that the training facility here teaches skills, attitude and entrepreneurship. We know that if you learn a skill, you should be able to translate it into financial gains.”

The Chief Executive Officer of Innoson Kiara Academy, Mr. Endi Ezengwa, thanked the NDDC for considering the facilities at Innoson Motors for the training of youths.

He said: “The skills from our factory are what we want to transfer to our young ones, so that apart from maintenance of vehicles, they can also manufacture vehicles to some degree. For instance, they can manufacture engine bolts, tools for agriculture and imbibe the concept of manufacturing.”

By Chris Njoku, Owerri

A former governorship aspirant, Senator Samuel Nnaemeka Anyanwu, has described as despicable and unwarranted, the continued hovering of military helicopters at Orlu in Orsu Local Government of Imo State.

Anyanwu, in a statement at the weekend, said such action could cause psychological injury on innocent people, adding that there was no proper notice that military hardware would embark on such strange display at the affected areas.

He wondered if there was any war going on in the state to warrant the military to unleash their personnel on the masses, noting that such exercise would inhibit the rights of the people to free movement.

“It is wrong for the military to intimidate the people with strange movement of their hardware without properly informing the rural people who are made up of peasant farmers. This action does not only affect them psychologically, but also frightens them from going about their normal businesses.”

He called on Governor Hope Uzodinma to intervene, to restore public sanity before it degenerates into another bloody clash as witnessed a few weeks ago, lamenting how the Southeast was gradually turning to a battle ground.

The senator enjoined the people not to panic, saying efforts were on to reach out to relevant bodies with a view to nipping the ugly trend in the bud.

By Mike Odiegwu, Port Harcourt

Ijaw communities under the auspices of the Movement for Survival of Izon Ethnic Nationality (MOSIEND) have appealed to Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike to pay the companies he engaged as land and waterway surveillance contractors from 2018 to 2019.

MOSIEND National President Kennedy Tonjo West, in the group’s 2021 position paper presented in Port Harcourt at the weekend, recalled that the governor engaged the surveillance contractors but failed to pay them.

He urged the governor to fulfil the promise he made to reintegrate 22,000 cultists he granted amnesty in 2016, lamenting that their abandonment after demobilisation had led to increase in crimes.

He said: “We  are  appealing  to  Rivers  State Governor  Nyesom  Wike  to  pay  off  the  companies  he  engaged  as  land  and waterway  surveillance  in  2018  till  2019.

“About 22,000 youths he granted amnesty in 2016 were abandoned after demobilisation. MOSIEND would like to plead with Governor Wike to positively engage the 22,000 youth.

“We recall that after their disarmament, the youth were abandoned. MOSIEND believes that allowing the youth to undergo a reintegration programme will be a rational approach to successfully conclude that novel approach.”

West further enjoined Wike to show compassion on former employees of the disbanded TIMARIV by paying them their salary arrears.

“Our investigation shows that these employees are members of Governor Wike’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who voted for the governor in his first and second tenure. It is only fair that the governor should feel the ordeal of these employees and treat them just as he treated the Sokoto market traders,” West said.

He challenged the Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Delta Safe (ODS), to give account of the 10-fighter gunboats it received from Governor Wike in 2016 to combat crimes along the waterways, saying the JTF had derailed from its terms of reference.

He said the Bayelsa sea routes were replete with criminal activities despite the presence of JTF’s operatives, adding that the group was discussing with Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State to reconstitute the Bayelsa volunteers to work with security agencies and fish out the criminals.

West called on the Southsouth governors to show seriousness in their discussions to form a regional security network to tackle security threats in the zone.

He said: “MOSIEND would like to see unfolding concrete steps in the ongoing discussions among the Southsouth governors concerning regional or state policing. The truth is that the Nigeria Police lacks the required manpower, logistics and facilities to contain the rising security situation in Nigeria.”

By Mike Odiegwu, Port Harcourt

Kinsmen of abducted mourners from Rivers State have expressed worry over their whereabouts, five months after the incident.

The kinsmen, under a socio-cultural organisation, the Bonny Gentlemen’s League, at the weekend recalled that the victims were whisked away during a burial at Banigo in Bonny Local Government.

Calling for their rescue, the league said nothing had been heard about the victims since masked gunmen stormed the burial, shot sporadically and took them to an unknown place.

The league made its position known in a communiqué issued at the end of its 41st annual convention, signed by its Chancellor, Squadron Leader Olam Allwell-Brown (rted).

It said despite the strategic economic importance of the Bonny Island to the country, the Island was battling with security challenges, including banditry, militancy and cult-related clashes along the Bonny-Port Harcourt sea route.

It said: “The league further notes that the activities of gangsters/sea pirates who routinely attack boats, rape, kidnap, dispossess passengers of their property and even kill their victims, have turned the Bonny waterways into a travellers’ nightmare and put the livelihood of the people and residents of Bonny Kingdom in unmitigated peril.

“The league notes with dismay that to date, five Bonny sons who were kidnapped by criminal gangs on Bonny Island since September 12, 2020 are still being held hostage with no hope of their release by the abductors or their rescue by security agencies.

“The league therefore calls on the Federal Government to deploy offensive platforms in men and equipment, including helicopter gunships along the Bonny-Port Harcourt marine corridor, to tackle the emerging threat to the residents of Bonny Kingdom and the operations of the IOCs, especially the upcoming NLNG Train 7 project.”

The league noted that Bonny was also host to Exxon-Mobil and Shell, which contributed major foreign exchange inflows into the nation’s economy on a daily basis, but that the Island was isolated and only accessible by boat.

“The league further calls on the Rivers State Government to, as a matter of urgency, provide standard, safe and secure ferryboats with capacities of 50 passengers and above to ply the Bonny-Port Harcourt sea route and reduce the daily harrowing experience of passengers.

They urged the Federal Government to speed-up completion of the Bonny-Bodo Road project, and called on the Rivers State Government to provide standard, safe and secure ferryboats with capacities of 50 passengers and above to ply the Bonny-Port Harcourt sea route and reduce the daily harrowing experience of passengers.

By Nsa Gill, Calabar

It has been revealed that the  management of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) in Cross River State, under the leadership of Prof. Ikpeme Ikpeme as the Chief Medical Director (CMD), inherited a backlog of debt totalling N1.7billion.

The CMD at the weekend spoke with contractors at a meeting with them where he appealed to them for patience, some of whose debt dated back to 2011.

The Head of the hospital’s Legal Unit, Francis Otu Esq, said the CMD  appealed to the concerned contractors at every opportunity, including during the meetings held in May 2019 and another one last month.

He said it was necessary to reiterate the responsiveness of the current management of UCTH, which took over in April 2019 and inherited a backlog of debt amounting to N1.7billion.

He said it has not been an easy task for the leadership of the hospital under Prof. Ikpeme, but being a man who got the job for a good purpose and with a vision he moved to verify claims from contractors, some of which dated as far back as 2011 and he tried to schedule repayment of the verified claims as funds are available.

He said the essence of the appeal to contractors was the determination of the hospital management to ensure that the hospital was not strangled in terms of service delivery to patients and the public.

“The appeal was equally made to some contractors who chose the path of petitioning the EFCC,” Otu said.

He said a few contractors had also sued the hospital, but the current  management had pursued out-of-court settlement agreements with them and “so far the hospital management has paid over N300million from the N1.7billion debt inherited.”

Asked of the recent publication in one of the national dailies (not The Nation) where the hospital was “said to be owing the contractor by name Obi Achara  Nig. Ltd the sum of N68million and that the out-of-court settlement talks had broken down, hence the return to court by the contractor”, Otu said he would want to respect the court process and not talk about it.

He added: “Since the contractor is the one that has gone back to court and also had media coverage of the proceedings, please talk to him; do your investigation and get the truth.”

A copy of the out-of-court terms of settlement in the suit N0. HC/316/2020 between Obi Achara Nig. Ltd & anor Vs. UCTH management Board & 2 ORS obtained by our correspondent shows that the parties in the case agreed to the facts that the actual debt owed by the hospital in terms of actual work executed is N38.8million, which the hospital agreed to pay in an instalment of four times starting from this year and spreading into next year- 2022.

In a phone interview, counsel to the claimants- Obi Achara Nig. Ltd. Eta Akpama Esq- confirmed that they agreed to the actual account due for payment by the hospital to be N38.8million and not N68million.

Akpama said what broke the out-of-court settlement talks is the mode of payment proposed by the hospital management.

“They have not shown sufficient faith to pay and there are not specific payment dates,” he claimed.

Correspondence from the claimant’s lawyer to the hospital shows that while the claimant wants the agreed amount paid in an instalment of three times as in first instalment paid in the first week of March 2021, second instalment paid in first week of April 2021 and third instalment paid in first week of May 2021. The defendants, UCTH, insisted that they can only pay the agreed amount in four instalments with the first and second instalments scheduled for the second and last quarters of the year; the remaining two instalments to be paid in the first and third quarter of 2022.

Our findings also revealed that another point of disagreement in the settlement talks is the proposal by the claimants’ lawyer that the solicitors’ fees of N5million be borne by the claimants and the defendants at the rate of N3million by the claimants and N2million by the defendants.

The judge, who had approved the out-of-court settlement for the case, upon a motion by the claimants to return the court, adjourned the matter for pre-trial and hearing notice till March 9; insisting that the claimants should put the defendants on notice before the next adjourned date.