Tag: Bayelsa

• Oborevwori visits troubled community

The acting traditional ruler of Igbomotoru 1 community, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, His Royal Highness Goodluck Alagodei, has raised the alarm over alleged attack, torture and arrest of returning indigenes and residents who fled the community following military invasion over the killing of 17 soldiers in Okuama, Delta State.

The distraught monarch has therefore called on Governor Douye Diri to intervene urgently to avoid the matter snowballing into another major crisis in his domain.

He accused a dethroned former monarch and some operatives of an anti-oil theft security company of working in concert with some military operatives stationed in the community to carry out the atrocity.

Alagodei said: “I make this distress call to Governor Douye Diri following attacks on innocent people who have been displaced and returning home from hideouts since the military invasion of Igbomotoru community on 17th March, 2024, relying on the governor’s call to return home.

“The former king is working hands in gloves with operatives of the security surveillance company to thwart the good intentions of Governor Diri to ensure peace in Igbomotoru as demonstrated in his recent visit to the community.

“The perpetrators are currently ransacking the community, dragging out people, flogging them and arresting innocent people on trumped up charges. Thereafter, they hand them over to soldiers for torture.

“The situation has heightened tension in the community.”

He appealed to Diri to intervene and douse the rising tension from further escalating to loss of innocent lives due to the vendetta-driven attacks on innocent people by the perpetrators who had concluded plans to dethrone chiefs in the community and install their ‘own’ to run the affairs of the community.

He thanked the governor for donating relief materials to the communities, which he stated would bring succour to the people, and pledged their unalloyed loyalty and support to the renewed prosperity administration.

King Alagodei further called on the high command of the military to charge their personnel to keep within permissible framework while carrying out their search for suspected perpetrators of Okuama killings.

King Alagodei emphasised that the dethroned monarch had lost touch with reality and did not know the situation of things in the community, adding that he was still reeling from his rejection by the people and was intentionally fabricating unfounded stories to implicate an ex-militant leader Endurance Amagbein in the Okuama killings.

The monarch described Amagbein as a man of proven integrity with peaceful disposition, touching the lives of people through his philanthropic gestures of payment of school fees, provision of educational materials to schools, various employment programmes for the youths, support for the elderly, provision of 500 KVA generators and diesel among other life transforming programmes that have endeared him to the people.

The Acting Amananaowei advised the general public to discountenance the press conference held by the former king, describing his statement that soldiers mobilised to Igbomotoru in pursuit of Amagbein as false, baseless, misleading and a deliberate attempt to portray the ex-militant leader as being responsible for the gruesome murder of the soldiers in Okuama.

Read Also: Bayelsa monarch raises the alarm over alleged torture, arrest of returning residents

Delta governor visits beleaguered community

More than one month after residents of Okuama in Ewu Kingdom, Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State were sacked from their homes as soldiers launched a manhunt for the killers of their colleagues in the area, the state governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, yesterday visited the community.

His visit to the community came 24 hours after the traditional ruler of Ewu Kingdom, HRM Clement Ukolo Urhukpe I, who surrendered himself after he was declared wanted by the Nigerian Army, was released from detention.

Oborevwori, who was accompanied by some government officials, assured the displaced residents of their safe return.

Top security officers in the state were reportedly also among the governor’s team.

Oborevwori reiterated that innocent citizens would not be made to suffer for what they know nothing about.

Seventeen officers and soldiers were ambushed and killed in Okuama community on March 14, 2024 in yet to be unraveled circumstances.

The Acting Amananaowei (King) of  Igbomotoru 1 Community in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, His  Royal Highness Goodluck Alagodei has raised the alarm over alleged attacks, torture and arrest of returning indigenes and residents alike who fled the community following military invasion over the killings of Army 17 in Okuama, Delta State.

The distraught monarch called on Governor Douye Diri to intervene urgently to avoid the matter snowballing into another major crisis in his domain.

He accused a dethroned former monarch and some operatives of anti-oil theft security company of working in concert with some military operatives stationed in the community to carry out the atrocity.

Alagodei said: “I make this distress call to Governor Douye Diri following attacks on innocent people who have been displaced and returning home from hideouts since the military invasion of Igbomotoru community on 17th March, 2024 relying on the Governor’s call to return home.

“The former King is working hand in glove with operatives of security surveillance company to thwart the good intentions of Governor Diri to ensure peace in Igbomotoru as demonstrated in his recent visit to the community.

“The perpetrators are currently ransacking   the community, dragging out people, flogging them and arresting innocent people on trumped up charges. Thereafter, they hand them over to soldiers for torture. The situation has heightened tension in the community.”

Read Also: Bayelsa approves N35,000 wage awards for civil servants

He appealed to Diri to intervene and douse the rising tension from further escalating to loss of innocent lives due to the vendetta driven attacks on innocent people by the perpetrators who had concluded plans to dethrone chiefs in the  community and install their ‘own’ to run the affairs of the community.

He thanked the Governor for donating relief materials to the communities which he stated would bring succour to the people and pledged their unalloyed loyalty and support to the renewed prosperity administration.

King Alagodei further called on the high command of the military to charge their personnel to keep within permissible framework while carrying out their search for suspected perpetrators of Okuama killings. 

King Alagodei emphasised that the dethroned monarch had lost touch with reality and did not know the situation of things in the community, adding that he is still reeling from his rejection by the people and is intentionally fabricating unfounded stories to implicate an ex-militant leader Endurance Amagbein into the Okuama killings.

The monarch described Amagbein as a man of proven integrity, with peaceful disposition, touching the lives of people through his philanthropic gestures of payment of school fees, provision of educational materials to schools, various employment programmes for the youths, support for the elderly, provision of 500 KVA generators and diesel among other life transforming programmes that have endeared him to the people.

The Acting Amananaowei noted that  Amagbein  worked assiduously to stop pipeline vandalism and sea piracy in  Igbomotoru axis and wondered what the dethroned monarch intended to achieve by employing deliberate falsehood to cast aspersions on the ex-agitator.

He advised the general public to discountenance the press conference held by the former king, describing his statement that soldiers mobilised to Igbomotoru in pursuit of Amagbein as false, baseless, misleading and a deliberate attempt to portray the ex-militant leader as being responsible for the gruesome murder of the soldiers in Okuama.

The Bayelsa state government has approved the payment of wage awards to civil servants in its ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) as part of measures to cushion the effects of the high cost of living.

The deputy governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, made this known on Friday, April 12, when the leadership of the south-south zone of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) led by its chairman, Comrade Bolum Martin and vice chairman, Comrade Julius Laye, paid him a courtesy visit in Government House, Yenagoa.

A statement by the media aide to the deputy governor, Doubara Atasi, explained that the wage award which was approved by Governor Douye Diri was in line with the federal government’s appeal to the states to utilize funds from oil subsidy removal to ameliorate the economic hardship facing workers.

According to the statement, Ewhrudjakpo has directed the Head of the State Civil Service, Mrs Biobelemoye Charles-Onyeama, to work out modalities for the payment of the N35,000 wage awards to all civil servants on the state government’s payroll.

Describing the civil service as the engine room for the implementation of the government’s programmes and policies, the deputy governor promised that the present administration in Bayelsa would continue to take the welfare of civil servants seriously.

Read Also: Diri sends list of 14 commissioner-nominees to Bayelsa Assembly

He assured the TUC of the government’s support and encouragement where necessary to meet their goals and promote healthy industrial relations in the state, South-South region, and the country at large.

Ewhrudjakpo, however, urged the two major labour centres in the country, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) to always work together in the interest of workers and the entire citizens of the country.

He said: “The effectiveness of any government is the civil service. And so, anybody who disorganises, disregards, undermines, and fails to recognize the civil service, that person is only doing so to promote his or her own intention to fail in government or governance.

“Civil servants are the people that implement the programmes and policies of the government. In fact, they run with the vision of government. That is why we take our civil service very seriously here.

“And our civil servants are also very supportive. They have always supported us as a government. So, we don’t joke with matters affecting them. As we speak, we are not owing our workers.

“Like the wage award you mentioned, I want you to know that the Governor has already approved the wage awards for civil servants in the state. Soon after this meeting, the Head of Service will get the approval and start working on it.”

Earlier in his remarks, the chairman of TUC, south-south zone, Comrade Bolum Martin, acknowledged the labour-friendly disposition of the Governor Diri-led administration, noting that Bayelsa is among the few states that had extended the payment of the 30 percent minimum wage to local government workers.

Comrade Martin, who is also the TUC state chairman of Delta State, also lauded the state government for taking the lead on paying call duty allowance to health personnel, wage awards to local government workers, and creating a conducive work environment.

He informed that the TUC chairmen and secretaries of the south-south states that were in Bayelsa for their zonal meeting ahead of the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting next month.

A fierce clash between two rival cult groups, the Greenlanders and the Bobos, has led to the killing of one Victor Namabebe, 28, at Amarata area of Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital.

The victim reportedly stormed the Amarata/Ebis Mechanic area with some group of boys suspected to be members of the Greenlanders in search of a member of Bobos who had allegedly crossed them.

Residents said the clash caused serious panic in the area as the cultists who wielded dangerous weapons released a volley of  gunshots indiscriminately.

Many residents, who were trapped at various viewing centres around 8pm while watching the Champions League matches, scampered for safety. 

Victor,  allegedly gunned down during the crossfire, was reportedly left in the pool of his blood.

Sources said that the suspected cult groups residing along the Apex Academy road, OMPADEC, Ebi Mechanic and Amarata end of the state capital had vowed more reprisals over Victor’s death.

Spokesman for the Bayelsa Police Command, Musa Mohammed, confirmed the development.

Read Also: Apathy, low turnout mar Bayelsa council polls

He said the corpse of the deceased had been deposited at the morgue.

Mohammed said: “At about 9pm, one Chief Emmanuel Namabebe reported at the A Division of the Nigeria Police that his 28-year-old son, Victor Namabebe, was found dead at Amarata area of the state capital.

“Police personnel from the A Division mobilised to the area and found the victim. Upon examination, he was found with various grievous injuries to the head “

Bayelsa Governor Douye Diri will on Tuesday play host to Governors of Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Edo and Delta States for a discourse on regional cooperation and reintegration.

The Governors of the six States of the region will meet in Yenagoa under the auspices of the BRACED Commission.

BRACED is an acronym for Southsouth States of Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Edo and Delta.

The pioneer Chairman, Board of Trustees, BRACED Tourism Promotion and Development Initiative (BTPDI), Dr. Piriye Keyaramo, made this known in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, in a chat with reporters. 

Keyaramo, the immediate past Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to Governor Douye Diri on Tourism, also called for the inauguration of a South-South Tourism Development Fund.

He maintained that such a regional funding for the tourism sector could be a catalyst for tourism development and growth, saying that it would be equally essential to balance tourism growth in the region with sustainable development.

Read Also: Apathy, low turnout mar Bayelsa council polls

He reiterated that such regional funding would go a long way to supporting the preservation of the region’s cultural heritage and other assets in a bid to protect the fragile ecosystems to ensure that the region remains sustainable and attractive destinations for years to come.

Keyaramo, who also doubles as Director General of Ernest Ikoli Visitor Information Centre, Yenagoa, noted that regional funding had the potential to transform destinations with a view to improving the quality of life for residents as well as preserving cultural and environmental treasures.

He pointed out that the source of regional funding could vary, coming from both private and public sectors.

He stated: “Deliberate regional cooperation and integration efforts will make the South-South states overcome the seeming costly political divisions to be able to integrate goods, services and market factors, thus facilitating the flow of trade, capital, energy, people and ideas. 

“Regional integration can be promoted through common physical and institutional infrastructure. Specifically, regional integration requires genuine cooperation among states.

“The idea of the BRACED Commission which was the outcome of the first South-South Economic Summit, held in Calabar, Cross River, in 2009 was to drive the region’s developmental aspirations such as a sustainable regional economy that will be strong enough to provide employment and prosperity for the people of the region and one that will be globally competitive.”

Also, the Director General of the BRACED Commission, Amb. Joe Keshi, had earlier hinted that BRACED Commission Council meeting would hold in Yenagoa on Tuesday to review ongoing efforts to revive the commission’s aspirations with a view to reinvigorating the body to achieve its objectives of regional cooperation and integration of the South-South region.

Recall that at the last meeting of the BRACED Commission in Benin City, Edo State, Keshi had noted that the rationale behind the establishment of the commission in 2011 was to improve on agriculture, education, environment, power, security and utilisation of sports to empower youths of the region.

He, however, highlighted some challenges of the commission and urged the body to take prompt actions to address the various issues affecting the regional economic bloc.

Voters in Bayelsa State on Saturday trooped to various polling units to elect chairmen for the eight local government areas and councillors for the 155 wards. 

The polls, which were relatively peaceful, however, witnessed late arrival of materials and low voters’ turnout in some polling units visited.

In Yenagoa, the state capital, Ogbia, Nembe, Kolokuma/Opokuma, Sagbama, and Ekeremor LGA, the exercise was peaceful though many residents and voters shunned the exercise.

Some residents claimed they were not aware of the elections while others took advantage of the partial restrictions of movement to go ahead with their normal routine businesses.

There were reports of alleged hijack of electoral materials in about five wards in Sagbama LGA with party agents alleging that the materials for Wards 11, 14, 7, 13 and 6 were seized.

Governor Douye Diri expressed satisfaction with the exercise shortly after casting his vote with wife, Dr Gloria, at his Kalamaowei Wari Unit 4 ward 6 in Sampou community,

Diri commended the state independent electoral commission for the organisation of the election. 

The Governor said: “You can see that the exercise is peaceful here and it was seamless and the voting process was seamless and I think this is the way it is in every other units and wards and we expect a peaceful and successful council elections will usher in a new leadership in the local government.

“My optimism is that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will emerge victorious in the 105 wards of the eight local government areas as it was the only party with wide acceptance and vigorously campaigned across the state ahead of the election.

“PDP enjoys the support of the people and judging from the outcome of the November 11, 2023 governorship election, our party will still take the upper hand.

 “As you have seen, the voting process was peaceful and seamless and l think if this is the way it is in every other unit and ward, then we expect a peaceful and successful local government election to usher in a new leadership at the third tier of government.

“So far, we are very pleased that there is no report of security breach across the state. At the last security council meeting, l charged the security agencies to be part of this electoral process and to ensure that security of the state was not breached.”

Responding to a question on why the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state did not participate in the election, Diri said only the faction led by Dennis Otiotio under the control of Chief Timipre Sylva boycotted the poll and that the party had more than one faction.

He added that the reason for their action was best known to them.

Also speaking after casting his vote at Ofoni Primary School, Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewrudjakpo, while expressing the confidence that the Peoples Democratic Party will sweep the polls, however, pointed out that the BYSIEC must improve on late arrival of materials.

He said: “You can see, the community has just gathered, the materials have just arrived. The only criticism is that the materials are arriving a little bit late and that is the only criticism I have for BYSIEC as far as these issues are concerned. I believe they will learn their ropes. It is a gradual process, it is a new curves they are going into and I believe they will improve on it.

“But for sure, you know that Ofoni is PDP and the whole of Sagbama is PDP. You are also aware that in the last governorship election, it is only in Sagbama that APC did not get up to 25 per cent. So we don’t expect anything different from that. The voting will be going on, I just cast my vote, the process is going on fairly, squarely and transparently.

Read Also: Heartland Queens, Bayelsa Queens  dominate  pace in   NWFL

“The turnout will be massive, the materials have just arrived. It is a local election and politics is more local. Emotions and sentiment are high than the governorship election. Let them come out enmass and support their councilors and the chairmanship candidate.

“PDP is winning all the eight seats and we are sure of winning at least hundred and three councilorship votes. We may give one or two to other parties depending on what the strength of the other people are. But in Ofoni, it is a no go area for other party.

Bayelsa Speaker Abraham Ingobere, commended voters in Brass Local Government Area for their peaceful and orderly conduct.

Responding to questions from journalists shortly after casting his vote at Unit 3 of Ward 10 in Sangana, the Speaker said the process was hitch-free and satisfactory.

Healthcare providers and nursing mothers in Bayelsa State have expressed satisfaction with the adoption of drone services to supply drugs and other medicals to hospitals in the state.

They are upbeat that the development has boosted immunisation compliance by 97 per cent as well as addressed the challenges of drugs shortages, especially in the health facilities in the remote areas of the state.

The State Government in 2022 entered partnership with a logistics delivery company, Zipline, to enhance the preservation of crucial cold chain medications and expand the distribution of essential medical supplies to remote health facilities across the state.

They noted that the situation had facilitated more than 13,500 delivery of medical supplies including 537,000 doses of vaccines to 210 health facilities in the oil-rich state. 

Speaking with reporters, who visited some medical facilities in the remote and riverine communities in Ogbia and Yenagoa local government areas, some nursing mothers said they no longer had issues with unavailability of vaccines for children’s immunisation in the rural hospitals.

A nursing mother, Mrs Elizabeth Akpo, said at Otuokpoti Primary Heathcare Centre in Ogbia LGA that previously some of her children could not get complete doses of immunisation because the hospital always complained about unavailability of vaccines due to the difficulties in accessing Yenagoa, the state capital.

She asserted: “But the situation is now different as my children get vaccines during any of her scheduled date.

“Anytime I come, they attend to me quickly and there are always injections anytime I come, they no longer give us excuses. 

“As a farmer, I don’t have much time to wait in the hospital, that is why I am very happy with the recent healthcare attention to me and others in the hospitals.

 “The immunisation is very good; it makes the baby look very good. I barely experience small sicknesses such as malaria, stooling and measles. They fly our vaccines to the hospital from Yenagoa regularly and we are very excited.”

Also speaking, the officer in charge of Otuokpoti Primary Heath Centre, Mrs Ase Adiogbogbo, said receiving drugs and medicals through drones help in prompt service delivery and to adequately attend to patients in emergency situations.

She said: “The experience has been wonderful; they are prompt in delivering the products, especially the vaccines we order from them. So, whenever we request, they are prompt in bringing them. Initially, we were having issues with the drones but for now, everything is good as they drop the requested items at the proper site here in the hospital before we store them in our storage facility. 

“Just like the situation of immunisation, you know this is a rural hospital, we deal mostly with nursing mothers. There have been improvements in our health-care delivery, because before now, sometimes it took great time for the vaccines to get to us and before it happened, we got out of stock. But now, there is no shortage of drugs, no complaints about abandonment of patients due to lack of drugs and immunisation services.”

The Head of Clinical Services at Kolo General Hospital in Ogbia, Dr Opukumo Alexendra, said the drone services in Bayelsa hospitals were an innovation designed to improve the healthcare needs of the people of the rural areas in the state.

Read Also: Bayelsa  students graduate from sporting coders programme

Alexandra said: “I can say it is the best technology so far because if you should look for any item that is not available, maybe you go to the market to look for it and it is usually not there, but you can get it as soon as you place your order and without losing time, they fly the consumables across to you.

“Zipline has rendered so much services that we can  not over-emphasize; the truth about it is that they respond quickly whenever you request. Moreover, I can say it is the safest and the best possible way to get drugs from the source.”

Also, the Immunisation Officer at Agudama/Ekpetiama General Hospital in Yenagoa LGA, Dr Agabugene Timineri, said the technological innovation was a big improvement in the health system in the state, noting that the ordered vaccines got to them in the shortest possible time within 15 minutes, compared to when they would have to travel hours to the city centre to get drugs for patients who needed emergency attention.