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Tag: Anambra

  • Teenage girl raped to death in Anambra

    A 17-year-old girl was reportedly gang-raped and killed in Ogwugwu, Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra State, it was learnt yesterday.

    The deceased, said to have just finished her West African Senior Secondary School Examination (WASSCE), was attacked about 7pm on her way to buy garri for dinner.

    It was gathered that the suspects, believed to be known to her, lured her to an uncompleted storey building and committed the act.

    A source said: “The boys took advantage of her innocence and lured her to an uncompleted building where she was raped in turns until she became weak and gasped for breath.

    “They eventually threw her down from the storey building so that she will not expose them.”

    It was gathered that the police deposited the girl’s body in an undisclosed morgue.

    The Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in-charge of Ojoto Police Division, Prince Ezejiofor, confirmed the incident but said no arrest has been made.

    He said: “They perpetrated the act about 7pm but we are closing in on the suspects.”

    President-General of Aboji Akanano Union, Oba, Nze Dozie Nweke, described the murder as wicked and gruesome.

  • FG to permanently shut land borders over rice smuggling

    Says Thailand rice is poisonous

    Federal Government has issued stern warning against consumption of Thailand rice saying it is poisonous.

    Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh disclosed this when he interacted with youths during The Guardians of the Nations International (GOTNI) leadership clinic held on Monday in Abuja.

    He disclosed that the land borders will soon be totally shut, in order to prevent smuggling of foreign rice and other toxic materials into the country.

    His words: “Our other problem is smuggling. As we speak, a neighbor of ours is importing more rice than China is importing. They do not eat parboiled rice, they eat white rice, they use their ports to try and damage our economy.

    “I am telling you now because in a few days, you will hear the border has been shut, we are going to shut it to protect you, us and protect our economy. You will start seeing all sorts of negative things on the internet. Let me tell you why we need to shut the border, I grow rice, I was the first Nigerian to mill rice free of stones, if you plant rice in certain parcels of land, some poisonous materials gets into the rice.”

    Ogbeh lamented that the friendly relationship that existed between Nigeria and her neighbouring African countries was adversely affecting the nation’s economy, hence the decision to shut the borders.

    Read Also: Rice smuggling: FG to shut land border in few days

    According to the Minister,  the federal government in past two years had succeeded in reducing rice importation by 95 percent and increased the number of rice farmers from five to 30 million.

    He noted that states like Anambra, Ebonyi, Kebbi, Kano, Jigawa have taken advantage of the Anchor Borrower Programme (ABP) of the Federal government to upscale rice production, and such achievements will not be allowed to fizzle away through smuggling activities.

    “There are three kinds of water in their natural state; there is fresh water from the river, salt water from the sea, blackish water. If you go to the Delta in many countries, in South East Asia where they grow the rice, if you plant rice in the same place like four to six years continuously, the quantum of arsenic begins to increase and arsenic causes cancer and that is what they are dumping for us.

    “Some people say they prefer Thai rice because they are very sophisticated, welcome to poison. We just have to handwork you to prosperity otherwise, this country will not grow. My wish for you is to have a better time than we had,” he added.

  • FRSC recommends use of bicycle for Nigerians

    The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Anambra, has called on Nigerians to embrace the use of bicycle as a means of transportation, being cheaper and healthy.

    The Anambra Sector Commander of the Corps, Mr Sunday Ajayi, made this call at the first World Bicycle Day in Awka on Tuesday.

    Reports have it that Ajayi, in the awareness ride, led a team of cyclists comprising officers of the Corps, government officials and professionals.

    The sector commander said that it was time to reenact the transportation system that had helped human civilisation for ages.

    According to him, apart from being cheaper than vehicles to acquire, bicycle is cheap to maintain and healthy for physical wellbeing of man and his environment.

    The sector commander said it was due to the overwhelming benefits of bicycle that the United Nations met in 2017 and declared June 3 of every year as World Bicycle Day.

    “Advanced countries have adopted bicycle transportation system as a matter of public health wellbeing and control of greenhouse effects of carbon emissions.

    “We want our people to come back to the basics, cycling is good for the body and environment and economical to maintain.

    “That is why we are raising the awareness again and calling on the Anambra Government to join us in this campaign to revive the culture of the use of bicycle as a means of transportation,” he said.

    On his part, Mr Uchenna Okafor, the Commissioner for Transport in Anambra, lauded the efforts of the FRSC at ensuring the safety of all on the roads in the state.

    Okafor said the initiative of the Corps to revive the use of bicycle as a means of transport, was a noble one, adding that the State Government would do everything necessary to make it succeed.

    He said the State Government would henceforth make provision for cyclists in its roads design in order to protect users from automobile users.

    The commissioner expressed concern about the number of automobiles, which had immensely affected the ecosystem negatively.

    “This is a smart move, it will help us achieve better health for our people and save our environment,” he said.

  • Anambra residents defy IPOB’s sit-at-home order

    Residents of Anambra on Wednesday defied the indigenous people of Biafra (IPOB) sit-at-home order as they resumed their normal socio-economic activities.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that government offices and other public places, including banks, schools, markets, motor parks and private offices in Awka, are all conducting their businesses without molestation.

    Some of the residents interviewed called on the terrorist organisation to refrain from making the Federal Government regard the region as ingrate.

    Mr Charles Igwebuke, a civil servant, said that it was high time such directives should not be allowed to get to public domain.

    “In the first place, which national tabloid published the directive that gave it the wide spread it enjoys for that is the beginning of the problem.

    “It has come to a point where every publishing house in the country should abide with the things that unite us as a nation rather than the things that separate us or be sectioned,” he said.

    Mrs Ifeoma Nnameka, a banker, on her part said that though she heard the sit-at-home order but her employer never informed her.

    “I work with a bank that does not take nonsense from staff that don’t do what they should do in regard to this kind of directive that was issued by faceless individuals.

    “There is no way I can obey such when the government that is in place to save lives and property didn’t say so and my bank has warned us not to obey such directives that they are not aware of,” she said.

    Mr Kassim Ajayi, a tailor, said that he opened his shop for business when he saw his fellow Igbo brothers doing same.

    “I have to open for business when all shops around me have opened for the day, for I heard on radio when the state government directed all residents to go about their normal day’s work without fear,” Ajayi said.

    NAN recalls that the state Head of Service, Mr Larry Uduh, had earlier issued a statement that Gov. Willie Obiano has directed that work resumes on Wednesday (May 30) after the Democracy Day public holiday on May 29.

    The Federal High Court in Abuja had proscribed IPOB all over Nigeria  and declared the pro-Biafra group a terrorist organisation

  • Anambra holds Book Creativity Festival

    Anambra Book and Creativity Network, in collaboration with the Art Republic, will hold the fifth edition of Book and Creativity Festival from July 24 -28.

    The four-day event, which will hold at King David Hotel, in Awka, the Anambra State capital, will host publishers, authors, craft makers, musicians, scriptwriters and film makers from Nigeria and around the world.

    According to a statement by the organisers, the festival will be addressing, among others, issues of intellectual desertification in Anambra State as well as in Nigeria and the lack of critical thinking and creativity that are the bane of the society.

    The festival was initiated to serve as a platform for the celebration of books, knowledge and creativity as instruments for the re-humanisation of society, the amelioration of the human condition and as a means of social, cultural and economic renaissance.

    “We seeks ways of encouraging the general population to readdress itself to the art of living and holistic development through a humanising quest for knowledge and a celebration of the creative enterprise to ensure the triumph of the human spirit and the advancement our creative industries,” the statement.

    The first day of the festival will feature art writing and critique workshop by ChuuKrydz Ikwuemesi of University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) and Okey Nwafor of Department of Fine and Applied Arts, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka.

    It will also feature poetry, music, spoken word, open mic for young and aspiring writers and interdisciplinary conference with the theme: Reading Culture, Social Media and the Death of the Book in Nigeria.

    To participate in the conference, one is expected to send an abstract of not more than 200 words to anbukraft2@gmail.com or ikenna.musician@gmail.com or penncils@yahoo.com, including personal contact and affiliation details as well as keywords of your paper before May 30.

  • Anambra: Ngige, Moghalu hail members after peaceful congress

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday in Anambra State recorded a peaceful local government Congress in the state to the surprise of many.

    Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige and National Auditor of the party, Dr. George Muoghalu, have hailed the members for their peaceful conduct.

    The outcome was somewhat a glaring departure from what was witnessed from last week’s Ward congresses in the 326 electoral wards of the state.

    Last weekend’s ward congresses were marred by rancour that led to shootings by security men at the Finotel Hotel in Awka during the stakeholders meeting

    Ngige said the 5-man delegates per ward generated from the ward congress participated in the council congress where another 5-man congress was chosen from each council area.

    The minister charged them to work tirelessly with full commitment to ensure the party garnered more than 70% of all the votes in the coming 2019 general election.

    Moghalu thanked all party members for their cooperation and peaceful disposition during the congress.

     

  • Enugu: Son allegedly hacks 83-year-old father to death

    Enugu State Police Command has commenced investigation into the alleged killing of a father by his son at Ojinato, a community in the state.

    The Command’s spokesman, SP Ebere Amaraizu, said in a statement in Enugu on Tuesday that the incident happened on May 4.

    According to the statement, the suspect’s real name has not been established but investigation is continuing.

    It said that the deceased, Pa Nathaniel Chukwuemerie, 83, who hailed from Ogidi in Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra, was killed by his son simply known as `The Boy’.

    Read Also: Police investigate alleged sale of baby boy for N300,000 in Enugu

    The statement explained that Chukwuemerie, who resides at Ojinato community in the state “met his death when his son identified as a.k.a. `The Boy’ smashed his father’s head with pestle over a yet to be established issue.’’

    It noted that following the development, the victim was rushed by sympathizers to a nearby hospital where he was confirmed dead by a doctor, and the corpse was subsequently deposited at the Oji River General Hospital morgue.

    “The suspect has been nabbed although information from a source closer to the place of the incident revealed that before the incident that the suspect had been behaving abnormally suggesting mental illness,’’ the statement added.

    NAN

  • Heavy shooting as APC leaders meet in Anambra

    •Party leaders accuse Ngige of plotting to hijack congress

    MINISTER of Labour and Employment Senator Chris Ngige yesterday escaped being  lynched by angry mob during the meeting of Anambra State All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders.

    The rowdy session at Finotel Hotel in Awka witnessed heavy shootings by thugs and security men, who thronged the arena.

    However, it was security operatives who herded the former governor away.

    The APC leaders accused the minister of plotting to hijack materials for the ward congress, which did not take place in the state on Saturday.

    The party’s candidate in the 2017 governorship election, Dr. Tony Nwoye, alongside others had accused Ngige of plot to hijack the party.

    Nwoye told Ngige that he was usurping the functions of the congress committee by stating that ward congresses were held on Saturday, when it did not.

    The former governorship candidate said he was refraining from speaking because he might be accused of being bitter because he ran and lost election on the party’s platform.

    According to him, “Some of you here worked against me during that election. But my joy is that I lost the election and they lost too, because they have not risen themselves.

    “We have failed as a party because we do not have any position in Anambra. But it will not work for people to put this party in their pocket so that they can write election results in their houses.

    “I will not let Ngige take the function of the panel. We have a panel that is supposed to conduct that congress and they just came here today (yesterday).

    “Whereas you are trying to tell us that elections have been held yesterday, how can Ngige be the one to conduct the congress when there is a committee?

    “As at 7pm on Saturday, people were being denied the forms because they want to contest for positions and what that means is that the forms have been given out to those they like. We will not let that happen.”

    Ngige, who took offence over what he described as personal attack from Nwoye, explained that there was no trouble in the party.

    Ngige said: “We do not have trouble here and we are here to further the cause of the party.

    “People were querying the guideline given by the NEC of the party, and I said no. The issue was over zoning of position.

    “We said go to the ward and if anyone resigns, we replace him, because this is a brotherly contest.”

    As at the time of filing this report, the meeting venue was rowdy and security men were shooting in the air to stop attacks on dignitaries.

    The meeting, which was earlier scheduled for 12noon, was shifted to 4pm, yet it did not take off as planned.

    Apart from Senate Andy Uba and Senator Uche Ekwunife, who were absent during the meeting, other chieftains attended the meeting.

    They included former governorship aspirants, Chiefs George Muoghalu, Johnbosco Onunkwo, and others

     

     

     

  • Anambra: Association to give karate a new face

    Donatus Agu-Ejidike, the new Chairman of Anambra Karate Association, has urged  members of the association to come up with ideas that could develop the sport beyond its present level in the state.

    Agu-Ejidike made this disclosure in a statement in Lagos on Wednesday. He said that during his tenure as chairman, he would give karate a new face and re-branding that would bring more fame to the state.

    Agu-Ejidike said that he would use his network to woo sponsors in order to promote karate and other sports in the state.

    The chairman explained that the board at its inaugural meeting in Awka, had agreed to work together as a team and eschew sentiment that might divide the board members.

    Read Also: Anambra to earn more from tourism

    He said the board was committed to feature karate players in all national championships and embrace grassroots competitions ranging from school sports to wards and Local Government Areas.

    The chairman lauded the governor of Anambra for considering him and other members for the assignment. Agu-Ejidike said that they would not betray the confidence reposed in them to develop karate in the state.

    The newsmen recall that Anambra emerged the overall winner at the 2017 Karate National Championship held in Abuja. The association is made up of eight members spread across the zones in the state.

    NAN

  • Govt to complete repair on Niger Bridge in Dec

    Mr Innocent Alumonah, Federal Controller of Works, Anambra says the Federal Government will complete repair work on the existing Niger Bridge before the end of December.

    Alumonah, who gave the assurance while speaking with newsmen on Monday in Asaba, said that the contract awarded in 2013 was 78 per cent completed.

    He said the essence of the emergency repair work was to ensure that the bridge was brought back to its full functionality and increase its lifespan.

    The controller said the existing bridge was constructed in 1965 and commissioned in 1966, adding that the bridge had enjoyed a lifespan of 53 years.

    “You can agree with me that the bridge is aging and experiencing heavy traffic in addition to the axle loads going through it on daily basis.

    “It is on this premise that the federal government decided to award contract for the reinforcement of the bridge to bring it back to full functionality and extend its lifespan,” he said.

    He said the scope of works on the project was mainly replacement of the damaged steel members, sandblasting and treatment of steel members against rusting.

    Alumonah said the scope of the work also involved increasing the bearing capacity of the soil after it was realised that the wearing capacity was becoming weak.

    “Soil line protection that will ensure that embankment of the bridge is not eroded and the replacement of the bridge bearing has all been carried out.

    “Before the end of this year, we should see the end of the project because it is currently at its completion stage,” he said.

    He blamed the delay in the completion of the project on some of the test carried out that required the assistance of some foreigners.

    According to him, they brought in some foreigners from the UK who helped in the execution of the stabilisation of the soil.

    Mr Henry Udeh, the Director of Highways Bridges Construction, Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing said bridges, like other structures required regular maintenance.

    He said the existing Niger Bridge was undergoing normal routine maintenance because it was old and needed to be maintained to increase its lifespan.

    “The work is seasonal because, as the raining season is setting in, the water level will start increasing.

    “Once it gets to a time that the contractor cannot work again, they will stop and wait for the next dry season.

    “That is one of the major reasons for the delay in the project,” he said.