The Nation Newspaper

Category: Southeast report

  • ‘All Anambra serving NYSC members must acquire skills’

    ‘All Anambra serving NYSC members must acquire skills’

    By Emma Elekwa, Onitsha

    National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Coordinator, in Anambra State, Mr. Kehinde Aremu has pledged his willingness to ensure that each corps member serving in the state will gain skills that would make them self-sufficient.

    He described the prosperity of corps members in the state as his greatest joy.

    Aremu spoke on Saturday at the permanent orientation camp, Umuawulu-Mbaukwu in Awka South local government area, during the closing ceremony of the Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED).

    Read Also: NYSC to corps members: Stop accepting gifts from strangers

    He described the SAED training as a seeds planted in the lives of the corps members by the NYSC which needed to be nurtured into a fully grown tree.

    The Coordinator urged them to be in touch with their trainers, stressing that what they learned on camp was merely a foundation upon which their financial success would be built.

    While pledging his willingness to ensuring each corps member left the State with a skill that would make them self-sufficient, Aremu prayed the skills would turn them to job creators after their service year.

    The hands-on training was followed by an exhibition of various products by the corps members.

  • Dry season: Enugu govt takes safety measures against fire outbreak

    Dry season: Enugu govt takes safety measures against fire outbreak

    Our Reporter

    The Enugu State Fire Service has hinted of plans to commence campaign on safety measures against possible fire outbreaks in the state from said on Tuesday, December 1, 2020.

    Read Also: Fire guts Otukpo market

    In a statement by the State Chief Fire Officer, Engr. Okwudiri Daniel Ohaa, the fire safety campaign, which will focus mainly against indiscriminate bush burning, will begin in markets such as the popular Ogbete Main Market Enugu, Timber Shed Enugu and 42 other markets across the state.

  • IPOB accuses Wike, Army of airlifting members to secret cells

    IPOB accuses Wike, Army of airlifting members to secret cells

    By Sunny Nwankwo, Umuahia

    The leadership of the Indigenous People of Biafra has accused the Nigerian Army of airlifting members arrested in Oyigbo, Rivers State to secret detention centres in the Northern part of the country.

    The IPOB leadership in a statement issued by its spokesman, Comrade Emma Powerful also accused Rivers state governor, Nyesom Wike of conspiring with the security agencies to airlift some of the arrested IPOB supporters, Citizens of Oyigbo LGA and some Jewish worshippers to many Northern states in an attempt to execute them without any trace of their whereabouts.

    In the statement which reads in part, Powerful who claimed that IPOB gathered that about 300 of its members were being kept at the Obinze Artillery in Imo State said, “IPOB intelligence unit discovered how Nigeria Army in collaboration with Governor Wike was picking anybody suspected to be IPOB or supporter of IPOB in Obigbo Rivers State.

    Read Also: Why I fought IPOB in Rivers, by Wike

    “Our intelligence revealed that the Nigeria Army and police abducted over 300 innocent people out of Rivers State and took them to Army barracks in some Northern States including Niger, Zamfara, Kaduna, Katsina and Kano with the intention of keeping them incommunicado to their people before taking to them to abattoir where they will slaughter them without the knowledge of the public.

    “It is also at our disposal that the Nigeria Government, Wike and the Army slaughtered over 500 innocent people and arrested more than 1000 percent in Obigbo LGA Rivers State during the EndSARS protest in Nigeria.

    “Nigeria government and her partners in crime, the security forces are abducting youths of Biafra from Rivers State and airlifting them to the Boko Haram territories for possible executions.

    “We are putting the global community, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, civil society organisations, the international media; CNN, BBC, Reuters and others on notice of the caliphate’s plans going on against unarmed and peaceful people of IPOB at Obigbo Rivers State with the instructions of Wike. The Nigerian Army Headquarters is secretly removing innocent Jewish worshipers and Christians from Biafraland to dungeons in the Islamic Northern part of Nigeria.”

  • FUPRE VC hails FG for commercialising gas project

    FUPRE VC hails FG for commercialising gas project

    By Polycarp Orosevwotu, Ughelli

    The Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Petroleum Resources, FUPRE, Effurun, Uvwie local government area of Delta State, Engr. Prof. Akpofure Rim-Rukeh, has lauded the Federal Government initiative on the commercialisation of gas, stating that the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano Gas Pipeline project will reduce drastically gas flaring in Nigeria.

    Speaking at the annual International Environmental Management Stakeholder’s Conference organised by the Chartered Institute of Environmental and Public Health Management of Nigeria at the university, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Rim-Rukeh stated that the discovery of oil in Oloibiri in 1958 was a welcome development, but lamented that the interest was only on the crude oil, and gas was left to flare without considering the environmental pollution.

    Read Also: NNPC, SEPLAT embark on $700m gas project in Imo

    Rim-Rukeh, however, commended the federal government for its efforts in ensuring that the environment is safe for the citizens, especially those who reside in such areas of exploration with the initiative of the Ajaokuta-Kaduana-kano Gas Pipeline project.

    He maintained that the air the people breath in, the food they eat and water they drink is very sacrosanct to good healthy and commended the organisers, especially for choosing notable topics.

  • Bianca blasts Igbo leaders’ silence on marginalisation

    Bianca blasts Igbo leaders’ silence on marginalisation

    By Damian Duruiheoma, Owerri

    Former Nigerian ambassador to Spain and wife of the former Biafran leader,   Dim Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, Mrs. Bianca Ojukwu has lashed  out at Igbo leaders for keeping silent on the alleged continuous marginalisation of the people of South East by the federal government.

    This is just as Bianca also tongue-lashed  the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) and its leadership over lack of interest in posthumous honour to her husband.

    Bianca spoke during the ninth edition of Dim Chukwuemeka Ojukwu memorial ceremony held at Ojukwu Centre Owerri, the Imo State capital.

    Ojukwu died in 2011 in London, but nine years down the line, the members of Movement for the Sovereign State of Biafra and Biafra Independence Movement founded by Chief Ralph Uwazuruike have consistently organised memorial ceremony for the late Biafra leader.

    Ojukwu’s widow, accused Igbo leaders of not talking for their people but being, “in a rat race to be included in the center”, thus leaving the issues affecting the generality of their people.

    She stressed the need for the  government to treat Ndigbo fairly in the distribution of the nation’s resources, stating that Ndigbo had been roundly marginalized in the country.

  • Concern over infant deaths, maternal health in Bayelsa

    Concern over infant deaths, maternal health in Bayelsa

    By Simon Utebor, Yenagoa

    Bayelsa State government has expressed concern over issues bordering on infant mortality rate, antenatal coverage, HIV testing, immunization, nutrition, maternal health, among others in the state.

    The Commissioner for Health, Dr Newton Igwele, expressed the concern on Friday in Yenagoa after receiving the Bayelsa Reproductive Maternal Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCAH) scorecard for third quarter of 2020 presented by state team in collaboration with the United Nation International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF).

    He said the scorecard was an eye-opener that the state still had a lot to do in the area of healthcare delivery.

    He said from the scorecard, it was noticed that all the poor healthcare indicators were tied to one thing – maternal care, saying that the state government would do all within its power to cater to the needs of the mothers to change the narrative.

    Igwele said: “From the scorecard, everything on nutrition shows that we are not doing enough. So, we need to strengthen it. In immunization, we are also not doing enough. The parameters show that we are on track in the area of tackling malaria.

    “However, the situation is like joint demands. They are all tied to one thing – the maternal health. If we tackle the mothers, it will positively impact the other areas. Maternal care coverage is poor and we need to tackle it. We need to improve the number of mothers attending clinics and by so doing, we will improve our health care delivery.”

    The Director, Planning Research and Statistics, state Ministry of Health, Dr Beatrice Olomiete, while presenting the Bayelsa RMNCAH scorecard quoted the National Nutrition and Health Survey (NNHS) as saying that Bayelsa recorded no fewer than 3,152 under-five deaths and 101,159 stunted children in 2018.

    According to her, 32 in 1,000 children under five years died and 20 per cent of children under the same age bracket had stunted growth.

    Olomiete said in the area of antenatal care, only three local governments of Ekeremor, Nembe and Yenagoa made progress while the remaining five LGAs of Brass, Kolokuma/Opokuma, Ogbia, Sagbama and Southern Ijaw were not on track.

    She said two LGAs of Ekeremor and Yenagoa recorded 71 and over 90 per cent respectively in HIV testing in antenatal care coverage, while the remaining six councils fared poorly.

  • Police arrest notorious kidnapper, pirate in Rivers

    Police arrest notorious kidnapper, pirate in Rivers

    By Mike Odiegwu, Port Harcourt 

    The Police in Rivers State have nabbed a notorious kidnapper on their wanted list identified simply as Daniel along the Bonny waterways.

    The suspect was arrested shortly after his gang attacked a passenger boat heading for Port Harcourt, the state capital.

    It was learnt that the sea robbers waylaid the boat around Asarama area of Andoni Local Government Area and robbed the travellers of their belongings.

    Sources said the incident that occurred on Thursday morning left one of the passengers dead and many others injured.

    Some of the passengers were said to have jumped into the water during the attack while the driver of the robbers also mistakenly fell into the river.

    But the suspects reportedly abandoned their driver, who was later saved by divers and taken to where other passengers were kept at the shore.

    It was gathered that the passengers identified the driver of the hoodlums and handed him over to the police.

    A source, who spoke in confidence said: “We arrested one of the pirates. He is their driver. His name is Dan Clifford George. One of the passengers that was attacked and escaped identified him.”

    The Police Public Relations Officer, Nnamdi Omoni, who confirmed the development, said Police had launched manhunt on other fleeing members of the gang.

    He said: “I can confirm the incident that happened on Bonny River. Daniel Clifford George from Asarama in Andoni Local Government Area was on Police wanted list and  was arrested alongside others.

    “We have also gone after the others that fled. They are helping us in getting information. They are members of a gang of pirates terrorising the Bonny River.”

  • FG’s neglect of N’Delta cause of hostility, environmental problems – Diri

    FG’s neglect of N’Delta cause of hostility, environmental problems – Diri

    By Simon Utebor, Yenagoa

    The Bayelsa State government has accused the Federal Government of not doing enough to stop the hostility, environmental degradation and pollution in the Niger Delta.

    The state governor, Douye Diri, therefore, urged the Federal Government to endeavour to do the proper thing at all times in order to stop the hostility and agitations in the region.

    Diri, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr Konbowei Benson, made the remarks during the closing of the 5th National Council on Hydrocarbons in Yenagoa, the state capital.

    The governor, who thanked the organisers for having the programme in the state, said: “Bayelsa is a very safe environment to live in, our hospitality has never been in doubt and that was what gave birth to discovering of the rich oil in the state.

    “In 1998, when I was a local government chairman, in a particular forum, a question was raised about development in the area and the answer given was that the development was in the pipelines.

    “From that time until now, the pipelines have not rested. We were not known for kidnapping.” He assured the Federal Government of the state’s readiness to partner them, urging that the narrative must be changed for the benefits of all.

    He stated: “One of the reasons for the destruction of pipelines and illegal oil bunkering is because the people lack good roads, potable water and even the aquatic lives are also being threatened.

    “We are very much ready to partner the Federal Government in terms of oil and gas and also to secure the natural resources.

    “We have been so neglected by the Federal Government as they left us behind in most of the things, so that has brought untold hardship to the people.

    “For us to succeed, we must sit down and collaborate better because it is believed to be one sided – one party is smiling while the other is crying and that is not the way it should be.”

    In his keynote address,  the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva,  gave glory  to God  and thanked everyone that made the council meeting a success.

  • Ibezim’s APC candidate for Imo North senatorial bye-election — Nlemigbo

    Ibezim’s APC candidate for Imo North senatorial bye-election — Nlemigbo

    By Chris Njoku, Owerri

    As the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has declared its readiness for the conduct of the Imo North Senatorial bye-election holding on December 5, the All Progressives Congress(APC) Chairman in the state, Marcellius Nlemigbo has said the party’s candidate remains Frank Ibezim.

    The Federal High Court in Owerri had on Friday November 6, declared  Senator Ifeanyi Araraume as the candidate of APC for the Okgiwe Senatorial election.

    The Presiding Judge, Justice Tegem, in his ruling, in Suit no FHC/Ow/101/2020, nullified the election of Frank Ibezim, on the grounds that he was disqualified by the party’s screening committee before the primary election.

    According to him,  the next person with the highest number of votes,  Senator Ifeanyi Ararume,  automatically becomes the candidate of the APC for Okigwe Senatorial election.

    Nlemigbo however maintained that the authentic candidate of the party is Ibezim.

    The chairman, while speaking to our correspondent yesterday in Owerri, said  that the national leadership of the party has said that the candidate of the party who won the primary election remains Ibezim. ”So we are going into the election with Frank Ibezim,” he stated.

    INEC Chairman, Ahmed Muazu,  had  said that the commission had virtually prepared for the election as all the non-sensitive materials required for the conduct of the election  ”have been dispatched to the  registration area level and delivered to the various local governments in Imo North Senatorial District.

  • Police investigate death of three in Enugu

    Police investigate death of three in Enugu

    By Chris Oji, Enugu

    The police is Enugu State have begun investigations into the mysterious death of three children at Itchi, Igbo Eze South Local Government Area.

    A statement by the spokesman, Daniel Ndukwe, reads: “On November 23, the command received a report made at the Igbo-Eze South Divisional headquarters, that three children were found dead in a parked car in Itchi.

    “Operatives of the division dashed to the scene and found two of the children still alive, while three others were already dead. The survivors were taken to the hospital while the dead were deposited in the mortuary for autopsy.

    Read Also: Truck crushes four to death in Ogun

    “Chukwuebuka Ele (5); Chinyere Eze (F,4) and Chibugoh Eze (F,4) were found dead while Kingsley Eze (3) and Nmasichukwu Eze (F,12) were found alive.

    “Investigations showed that the children left their homes in Nkalagu-Okpuku community to fetch water from a borehole in Itchi, on November 22, but were not seen till the following morning when they were found locked up in the said vehicle.

    “The Commissioner of Police, Ahmad AbdurRahman, has directed that the case be transferred to the state CID and investigated.

    “One suspect has been arrested while the public are enjoined to remain law-abiding, vigilant and promptly report crime to the nearest police station or call the command’s hotlines.”