The Nation Newspaper

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  • NEMA gives relief materials to Delta flood victims

    THE National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) at the weekend distributed relief materials to flood victims in Delta State.

    It registered 8,790 displaced persons at the Internally Displaced Peoples Camps (IDPCs).

    NEMA Director-General Muhammad Sani-Sidi said more camps would be established to accommodate more people.

    Sidi, who was represented by the Deputy Director, Relief, Mr. Mike Adeyanju, said emergency workers were in the state for rapid response assessment and they discovered that the water level in coastal communities have continued to rise.

    He said: “The agency hired boats to evacuate trapped person at Okpai Obeze, Okpai Umuaguru, Akarai Ekiti, Azagba, Power line and Forest Guard communities to nearby IDP camps.”

    Adeyanju said the agency is involved in the administration of the camps and offers technical assistance to local emergency workers and volunteers.

    He urged the state government to engage all stakeholders in the management of the natural disaster.

    NEMA officials inspected camps at St. Patrick’s College, Asaba; Institute for Continuing Education (ICE), Asaba; Ossissa, Ndokwa East Council; Utagba-egbe, Ndokwa East Local Government; and St. Michael’s College, Oleh, Isoko South Local Government.

    Yesterday, Deputy Governor Prof. Amos Utuama (SAN) said over 30,000 persons were displaced.

    Utuama spoke in Asaba when he visited the ICE relief camp.

    He said over 13 local government areas were affected.

    Utuama said about 15,000 persons were in various camps across the state while another 15,000 refused to come to the camps.

    He said the government has the capacity to take care of all the victims and urged people in flood-prone areas to come to the camp.

    Minister of Finance Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said President Goodluck Jonathan has set up an inter-ministerial committee to tackle flood.

    Also at the weekend, the National Commission for Refugees (NCFR) donated bags of gari, rice, buckets, blankets, salt, ground nut oil and palm oil to the victims.

    NCFR Assistant Director Mrs. Ovoudo Abdulahi said the agency’s gesture was to ameliorate the suffering of the victims.

    Commissioner for Poverty Alleviation Dr. Anthonia Ashiedu said skills acquisition training has begun at relief centres across the state.

    She said ICE camp is home to 979 people.

  • Accident victim gets N3m compensation

    An accident victim in Ogun State, Mr. Seyi Adesanya, has received N3 million compensation three years after he was knocked down by a hit and run driver.

    Adesanya was hit in Sagamu by a truck owned by the Flour Mills Nig. Plc.

    Presenting the cheque to Adesanya in Abeokuta, Ogun State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Wemimo Ogunde (SAN), said the compensation was made possible through the intervention of the Citizens Rights Department (CRD) of the Ministry of Justice.

    Ogunde said the department provides a platform for people to exercise their rights and thanked Flour Mills Nig. Plc. for cooperating with CRD to resolve the issue peacefully.

    He said: “This is a triumph for mediation and negotiation. This is the result of the high premium your organisation places on the protection of human rights, else, the matter could have resulted to litigation.”

    The Head, Legal Department, Flour Mills Nig. Plc, Mr. Joseph Umolu, said the absence of a functional legal department before his appointment was responsible for the delay in the compensation.

    CDR Director Mrs. Dayo Osunfisan and the mother of the victim, Mrs. Ogunbowale, thanked the organisation for standing up to its responsibility.

  • Ogun PDP threatens to sue Police Commissioner for contempt

    The Ogun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday threatened to sue the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ikemefuna Okoye, for contempt of the court.

    In a statement in Abeokuta, the state capital, by its Publicity Secretary Waliu Oladipupo, PDP accused Okoye of “criminal complicity in aiding and abetting some hoodlums to seize its secretariat on IBB Boulevard, Kopabe Road, Abeokuta, last Wednesday”.

    The statement reads: “Up till now, the hoodlums, including some wanted criminals, are still at the party secretariat, having a free reign, shooting into the air intermittently and brandishing AK 47 rifles and other ammunition.

    “We shudder to think what could have informed the decision of the Commissioner, who is paid from our commonwealth to keep the peace, to look away in the face of obvious threat to peace, law and order in our dear state.

    “We are the management body for the state party, recognised by our predecessors, the party leadership at the national level, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Our position has been further affirmed by several court judgments in Lagos, Abuja and Ilaro. Even the Assistant Commissioner of Police in-charge of the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) in his report to Okoye confirmed the Engr. Adebayo Dayo-led exco as the authentic leadership of the party. We availed CP Okoye all of these, yet he chose to play the ostrich. Does he want to return to the jungle where might is right?”

    PDP urged Okoye not to rubbish the rebranding efforts of the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, and do the right thing.

  • Reps quiz Fed FCC chief on 2012 budget

    The House of Representatives Committee on Federal Character Commission yesterday quizzed the commission on its allocations in the 2012 Budget.

    The committee’s Chairman, Ahmed Idris, who led other committee members to the commission, said Nigerians must know how the 2012 Budget was used.

    He said: “Members are here on the order of the House of Representatives for oversight function in relation to the 2012 Budget, to know how much was spent on overhead, personnel, capital expenditure and the balance of whatever amount the budget was.

    “We would like to have a complete breakdown of every money spent, figures and beneficiaries. The third quarter has ended and the commission has not shown any sign that the fund made available has been used judiciously.”

    The Chairman of FCC, Prof. Shuiabu Oba AbdulRaheem, said only N40million was allocated to the commission in the 2012 Budget.

    He said of the N40million, N16million was released, and it was released in three batches.

    “Of the N40million, N16million has been released and this was in three batches. The first was N6.4million, the second N1.1million and the third N8million.

    “Of the N16million, the commission is supposed to maintain the 36 states in the federation, including the headquarters in FCT. The commission has no functioning ICT, though the contract has gone out but not paid for because we are not sure of funds yet.

    “The commission is really short of funds. The building we are occupying is a rented building, yet we are expected to pay our rent from this N40million. Monitoring, promotion and enforcement all come from this money. All this are capital-intensive.”

    Idris said N40million was small to run the organisation.

    “The government has been very cunning, especially with the budget. If the government cannot take care of a big institution like this, it means there is something wrong,” he said.

     

  • Police probe Kano licensing office over alleged corruption

    Detectives from the Bompai Headquarters of the Kano State Police Command have begun investigation into the alleged sharp practices at the licensing office.

    It was learnt that men of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), at the weekend, visited the office of the State Internal Revenue Board, which houses the licensing office on Post Office Road.

    They are to investigate the alleged registration of stolen vehicles.

    The police were said to have discovered that a stolen vehicle was found carrying a number plate allocated to the Special Services Office of the Government House.

    A light blue Honda Civic car, with registration number (Kano) BJ288DKA, which was allegedly stolen on September 11 on the premises of Green Park Restaurant on Ahmadu Bello Way, Kano, was allegedly recovered with a new registration number (Kano) AA26TRN.

    The new number was said to have been originally allocated to one of the Special Services.

    It was learnt that days after the car was stolen, the owner, a student of Bayero University in Kano, spotted it on his way to school.

    The owner reportedly found the car with the marks he had made on it, including a particular sticker.

    “He trailed the car to Red Bricks Housing Estate, where he confirmed that his praying mat, which was in the car when it was stolen, was still inside. But the number plate had been changed to that of Tarauni Local Government of Kano,” a source said.

    The owner was said to have reported the matter at the Rijiyar Zaki Police Station after which the matter was transferred to CID Department on the orders of the Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Ibrahim K. Idris, following complaints of interference in the case by some highly placed persons.

    He said leader of the car snatching syndicate was immediately picked up and detained in the CID cell at the Bompai Headquarters.

  • Adeboye praises Lagos Chief Judge for freeing 233 prisoners

    The General Overseer, Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG),Pastor Enoch Adeboye, yesterday praised Lagos State Chief Judge Justice Ayotunde Phillips, for freeing 233 prisoners.

    On September 18, Justice Phillips freed 233 inmates from Kirikiri Medium and Maximum Security Prisons in Lagos, during her visit to the facilities.

    Adeboye spoke during a special prayer for judges and lawyers in the state at the church headquarters in Ebute Metta, Lagos.

    “When I heard the news that the Chief Judge of Lagos State released some prisoners, my heart leapt for joy.

    “The last time I was in Kirikiri Prisons, I found out that if some inmates had been convicted for offences they committed, the maximum sentence would have been three years, but they have been in prison for more than 12 years awaiting trial.

    “If it were to be in some developed countries, the prisoners would have sued government for robbing them of nine years of their lives,” he said. Adeboye observed that convicts often left prisons worse off.

    “Maybe we have not discovered a better way of dealing with some criminals, the only person I know that can change a prisoner on a permanent basis is Jesus.

    “There are some people that are in prison because they do not have anyone who would speak for them or defend them,” the cleric observed.

    Justice Bola Okikioloyinile told reporters that the prayer session was aimed at having fruitful legal activities in the state.

    Also speaking, Mr Wale Ogunade, lawyer and human rights activist, advised lawyers to always be on the side of justice.

  • Women advised against immorality

    Participants at a seminar on womanhood have urged women to shun immorality to avoid tarnishing their dignity and self respect.

    Those who spoke at the seminar, with the theme: “Woman recognise your strength and how to use it to uplift yourself and the society,” included a former Special Assistant in former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration, Princess Gloria Iweka, a public commentator and business mogul, Prince Jacob Akindele and President, Sunshine Foundation, Mrs Rose Odiete.

    The seminar, organised by the Committee of Concerned Women in collaboration with the Sunshine Foundation for the Elderly, was held as part of activities marking the United Nations International Day of the older persons.

    In her paper on Womanhood, Princess Iweka, advised women not to allow societal pressure to push them into acts capable of debasing womanhood.

    She said the only way they can retain their dignity is by being virtuous and true custodians of values.

    The former Special Assistant argued that immorality would do a lot of damage than good to womanhood.

    She said immorality would separate women from the essence of womanhood, adding: “When we do anything that is against womanhood, it would push away spirituality.”

    Princess Iweka admitted that there were times women, especially widows and divorcees, are faced with adversities, deprivations and poverty among others, insisting that sanctity, faithfulness to womanhood, nevertheless, remain the greatest strength of a woman.

    “There is a law that everything that is similar comes together. Savannah forest is in one place, ocean and rain are in one place, but white birds fly together. So women should actually remain together under that law,” she urged.

    In his paper, Prince Akindele described the recent rejection of Nigerian women from performing the Hajj by the Saudi Arabian authority as a constraint on womanhood based on culture, religion and other factors.

    He advised to honour themselves on issues that tend to undermine them, adding, that it is the first step in finding their ability and the strength to uplift themselves in the society.

    “Self liberation must start with you; women must honour and love themselves. If you don’t do this, you will find yourselves being passed about like ping-pong ball and end up being moulded by men to satisfy personal needs.”

    Mrs. Odiete said studies have shown that more women fall into indigent roles upon attaining old age, adding: “We all know our various cultural practices that relegate women to the background and remove all material gains they were meant to have.”

    Odiete decried negative cultural values and other societal practices undermining women. She lamented that the society has not been fair to elderly people as issues relating to them are pushed to the background.

    She said it was in realisation of the need to draw attention to their plights that made the United Nations to designate a day for the commemoration of the older persons in December 14, 1990, and which was later enshrined in Regulation 40/141 of December 21, 1995.

  • Floods hamper our transformation agenda, says Wada

    Kogi State Governor Idris Wada yesterday said the floods in the state have disrupted the implementation of the Transformation Agenda.

    The governor spoke in Lokoja, the state capital, when he hosted the President of Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), Rev. Jeremiah Kado.

    He said: “The recent flooding that destroyed property worth billions of naira and displaced several persons happened when this administration was settling down to implement its Transformation Agenda.”

    Wada said the government was positioning Kogi to become one of the most developed through the 20:2020 plan, when the floods occurred.

    The governor noted that the floods did not only devastate the state but also surpassed the early warning and government’s preparation.

    The state, he assured, would overcome the challenges.

    Wada hailed ECWA for sharing in the state’s moment of grief.

    The governor also praised the church for its archievements in the educational, health and other sectors.

    He noted that ECWA has remained a worthy partner in the state’s Transformation Agenda.

    Wada congratulated Rev. Kado, the ninth ECWA President, as well as his predecessors for their contributions to the state and the nation.

    The governor urged them not to relent in building the people and spreading the gospel.

    Rev. Kado said the church commiserated with the government and the people over the hardship the floods caused.

    The cleric said the church would support the states in its Transformation Agenda.

    He urged the residents to protect their environment.

  • Aregbesola urges religious tolerance

    Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola yesterday urged adherents of various religions to live together in peace.

    He spoke at the 42nd Adult Harvest and Thanksgiving Service of the Celestial Church of Christ (CCC), Osun Provincial Headquarters, Osogbo.

    Aregbesola, who was the Special Guest of Honour at the harvest, said all religions preach oneness of God, but worshiped him in different ways.

    He said people should worship God according to their religious dictates without creating hardship for people of different faith.

    The governor wondered why there should be crisis among people in the worship of God in a society where the constitution guarantees religious freedom.

    He said: “There should be no crisis among Muslims and Christians, as they worship the same God. All religions preach good deeds, good character and good neighbourliness. No religion preaches evil. All religions enjoin their worshippers to do good to others, irrespective of religious differences.”

    Aregbesola said what should be uppermost in everyone’s heart is the worship of God with sincerity of purpose.

    He said it is not part of an individual’s religious duty to compel others to join his faith, adding that the peace in the state is engendered by the mutual respect and understanding among all religions.

    The Shepherd in-charge of the church, Superior Evangelist. Abraham Aladeseye prayed for continued peace in the state.

    Lauding the programmes of the state government, Aladeseye said the state has achieved meaningful transformation in the last two years.

  • Two in court for alleged kidnap

    Two men have been arraigned before a Yaba Magistrate’s Court over the alleged kidnap of a middle-age man, Maxwell Obiahuoko.

    Alani Saheed, 28, and Ozor Stephen, 50, were brought before Magistrate Patrick Adekomaya on a two-count charge of conspiracy and kidnapping under Sections 409 and 269 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos, 2011.

    Prosecuting Inspector Godwin Anyanwu told the court that the accused with others at large, on June 18, between 7pm and 9pm, at Ikate, Surulere, kidnapped Obiahuoko and took him to an unknown destination.

    He said they detained him Obiahuoko against his will and prevented him from reaching his family.

    Anyanwu told the court that the matter was reported by Obiahuoko’s wife, Franca, when she did not see her husband for days.

    Anyanwu said the woman alleged that Ozor was not happy her husband came to demand the N240, 000 given to him in 2007 to rent a house for her. She said when a peace meeting was called, Ozor threatened that he would teach her husband a lesson.

    He said the woman alleged that Ozor, who has been her husband’s friend for many years, refused to pay the N240, 000, but threatened to deal with Obiahuoko and a few weeks later, he (Obiahuoko) disappeared.

    Ozor, Mrs Obiahuoko claimed, did not remit the whole N240,000 to the landlord.

    Obiahuoko’s wife was said to be looking for accommodation when Ozor offered to sublet his apartment since he wanted to move into his own house.

    Saheed, who was said to be owing Obiahuoko N1million for equipment he bought, allegedly threatened the missing man after he attempted to collect the equipment from him.

    Obiahuoko was said to have been invited by Saheed to come and collect part of his money, when he disappeared.

    The accused pleaded not guilty and were granted N500, 000 bail, with two sureties in the like sum by Magistrate Patrick Adekomaya. The matter was adjourned till November 5.