The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Benue state

  • Bayelsa police battle cultists

    … arrest suspected killer of corps member

     

    The police in Bayelsa State have renewed their battle against rampaging cult groups and their criminal activities in the state.

    It was gathered that having identified cultism as the major cause of other crimes in the state especially, Yenagoa, the state capital, the new Commissioner of Police, Mr. Austin Iwar, mapped out strategies to tackle the menace.

    Already, the command at the weekend arrested a suspect cult leader said to be notorious for armed robbery and allegedly linked to the killing of a member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) at Obele, Yenagoa, in 2016.

    The 19-year-old suspect identified as Prince Owei aka Big Fela is an indigene of Ikibiri Community, but resides at Ovom in Yenagoa.

    It was gathered that the suspect was the second in command of a notorious cult group, the Icelanders.

    The slain corps member, James Onuh, a graduate of the Federal University of Agriculture, Markurdi, Benue State, was shot dead at an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) in Obele.

    Read Also: Bayelsa debts: Dickson fires back at Lokpobiri

    The suspect was said to have been imprisoned twice  at the Okaka Prison in Yenagoa and the Ahoada Maximum Prison for cultism-related offences.

    The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Asinim Butswat, said the suspect was arrested at the Sports Complex, Yenagoa, on his way to watch a football match.

    He said a locally-made revolver pistol, live cartridge and packets of Rohypnol tablets were recovered from him.

    He said: “On 20th September, 2018, at about 1610 hours, operatives arrested a notorious cult leader and an robber who was on the wanted list of Bayelsa State Police Command.”

    “The suspect one Prince Owei ‘m’ aka Big Fela 19 years, from Ikibiri Community, but resident at St. Peters, Ovom, was arrested at the Sports Complex, Yenagoa, on his way to watch a football match and a locally made Revolver Pistol,one live cartridge and packets of Rohypnol tablets were recovered from him.

    “The suspect, a jailbird and a confessed member of Icelanders cult group will be charged to court when investigations are concluded.

    “The Command is determine to   ensure the safety of lives and properties and is appealing to members of the public to provide useful information that will assist the Police in fighting crime in the state.”

    Earlier, Butswat in a statement said the command set up a tactical team with a mandate to deal with cultists.

    He said: “Following reported cases of cultism and armed robbery in Yenagoa metropolis and its attendant consequences on public safety, the Commissioner of Police Bayelsa State Command has charged Tactical Teams to confront cultism and armed robbery in Yenagoa.

    “Seven specialized units headed by Assistant Commissioner of Police, Department of Operations, will carry out sporadic and targeted operations in flash points areas within Yenagoa metropolis.

    “Operatives have been dispatched to hot spots on intelligence gathering and surveillance on such miscreants. Cultists are hereby warned to renounce their membership as the command is poised to deal with any act of criminality decisively.

    “The command commends all non-state actors such as the vigilantes and other spirited individuals for their cooperation and participation in policing in Bayelsa.

    “The Command hereby appeals to members of the public to volunteer useful information about activities of suspected cultists and to utilize our distress telephone numbers”.

  • APC condemns suspension of council chairmen in Benue

    The Benue state chapter of the All Progressive Congress (APC) has condemned the suspension of three chairmen of Local Government councils.

    In a statement signed by the Publicity secretary James Ornguga and made available to newsmen, described the suspension as null, void and illegal.

    Read Also:Ortom sacks Benue Exam Board Secretary

    The statement further reads; “The All Progressives Congress in Benue State has read reports of a purported suspension of three local government council chairmen elected on its platform by the Titus Uba faction of the Benue State House of Assembly.

    “Those said to have been suspended include; Uaah Vitalis – Gwer East, Akola Simon- Ogbadibo, and Akura Dennis – Vandeikya.

    “This action confirms earlier alarms raised by the forum of local government council chairmen elected on APC platform of plans by the Samuel Ortom-led Benue State Government to use crooked means to remove local government chairmen who have refused to defect with the governor to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

    “Reasons announced for the illegal action were sweeping generalizations of misappropriation and embezzlement of public funds and none of the affected chairmen was invited and given fair hearing as the governor’s team had already pronounced sentence on them.

    “We condemned this act of illegality and urge Governor Samuel Ortom to save the local government system in the state the trouble of his second term ambition that is currently being starved of support by the people of Benue State.

    “Political parties attract membership through people oriented programmes and not by coercing members of other political parties using government machinery.

    “By this singular act of desperation, Governor Samuel Ortom has openly displayed his lack of tolerance for due process and constitutionalism as basic ingredients in the practice of democracy world over.

    “Already, a subsisting court order bars both factions of the Benue State House of Assembly from conducting the business of the Assembly.

    “Processes of establishing contempt against the Uba faction that purportedly suspended three council chairmen has already being served on its leadership. It is therefore very strange that a government in this age could stand logic on its head through such careless pronouncements.

    “As a responsible political party, the APC in Benue State will do everything possible within the ambit of the law to ensure that the action by the state government through a faction of the Benue State House of Assembly carries its rightful tag of a nullity and have no effect whatsoever.

    “APC describes this as a huge joke and direct invitation to anarchy as the due process for such suspension was not followed in the first place and the Assembly as it stands now cannot carry out any valid function.

    “We call on security agencies to hold Governor Samuel Ortom responsible should crisis spring up from this deliberate illegality by the governor to plant his stooges as caretaker Chairmen in the affected local governments, so as to swell up his delegate list for the forthcoming PDP primaries.”

  • 560 persons killed in Benue since January – Ortom

    Benue State Governor Samuel  Ortom  has said  more than 560 people have been killed by Fulani herdsmen militia while half of Gwer West, Makurdi, Guma, Logo and Kwande local government areas have been sacked by the attackers since January, 2018.

    He also stated that his first tenure was characterized by several challenges including lack of funds, natural disasters and insecurity which he was gradually overcoming.

    Speaking at residence of the former senate president Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, in Gboko, while addressing major PDP stakeholders from Tarka, Buruku and Gboko local government areas, Governor Ortom added that “In spite of the challenges, he recorded milestones in the health, agriculture, education and rural development sectors, adding that he would do more if elected.

    He said unfortunately, the attackers have found collaborators in some of the leaders in the state who have vowed to remove him from office by all means.

    The Governor stressed that the attacks on several communities across the state were beyond grazing but rather the continuation of the 1804 conquest and the occupation agenda of Jihadists.

    Read Also: I’ll rather lose than win through violence – Ortom

    He appealed to other aspirants to eschew violence as they solicit the mandate of the people, pointing out that peace should be the ultimate desire of everyone.

    Responding, elders of Jemgbah comprising Tarka, Gboko and Tarka, assured the Governor of his re-election.

    He appealed to other aspirants to eschew violence as they solicit the mandate of the people, pointing out that peace should be the ultimate desire of everyone.

  • Psychiatrist raises concern over increasing suicide among young Nigerian

    Dr Ninyo Omidiji, a Psychiatrist and Clinician, Benue State University Teaching Hospital, Makurdi, has raised concern over the growing rate of suicide among young Nigerians.

    Omidiji told News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday in Abuja that taking serious measures to prevent suicide had become necessary because of the evidence of an increase in the menace.

    The psychiatrist made this assertion against the backdrop of the commemoration of the World Suicide Prevention Day with the theme: “Working together to prevent suicide”.

    Omidiji said that suicide attempt was now becoming an option among young Nigerians, adding that the situation called for concern and must be “nipped in the bud’’.

    The psychiatrists said, while suicide received a lot of attention in the developed world, it had been a different case with Nigeria and other Africa countries as it had not been given the needed attention

    Omidiji however said that a number of interplay of factors could be responsible for suicide, adding that they could be classified as individual, socio-cultural and situational.

    According to him, the individual risk factors include mental disorders, among which clinical depression tops the chart.

    Other individual risk factors, according to him include alcohol and substance abuse, feeling of hopelessness, previous suicide attempts and impulsive behaviors.

    Read Also: How to prevent autism in kids, by psychiatrists

    He added that other factors included history of physical, psychological or sexual abuse, isolation and lack of social support, major physical and prolonged illnesses and family history of suicide.

    The psychiatrist noted that the socio-cultural risk factors included the stigmatism of mental health and health seeking behaviors and lack of access to health care facilities.

    “Others are cultural and religious beliefs that can seek to present suicide as a viable option, inappropriate media reporting of unnecessary suicide details which can lead to suicide contagion.’’

    He listed the situational risk factors to include major financial losses, chronic financial difficulty, breakdown or loss of significant relationships, major stressful life events among others

    Omidiji said that to curtail the menace of suicide, there should be massive public health awareness on mental health issue, which according to him account for 90 per cent cases of suicide.

    He said that attempt should also be made to de-stigmatise mental health and suicide through aggressive public health campaign, while calling for a review of mental policy.

    “Suicide and suicide attempts record should be made available in every local government to facilitate research and follow up of individuals who have attempted suicide in order to offer help,’’ he said.

    World Suicide Prevention Day is observed on September.10 every year to promote worldwide action to prevent suicides.

  • Ortom sacks 28 aides

    Governor Samuel Ortom has sacked 17 Special Assistants and 11 Senior Special Assistants in a new political realignment in Benue state.

    The Secretary to the State Government (SSG) Tony Ijoho, who announced the termination of the appointment of the 28 aides to governor, urged them to hand over government property to their permanent secretaries.

    Read Also:50 security operatives killed by herdsmen since January, says Ortom

    The Nation investigations revealed that the political appointees were sacked to pave way for some People’s Democratic Party officials (PDP) who lost their positions in the EXCO to be accommodated.

    Ortom assumed total control of PDP structures in Benue state following his defection from APC .

  • 50 security operatives killed by herdsmen since January, says Ortom

    About 50 security operatives have been killed in Benue State by herdsmen since the begging of the year,  Governor Samuel Ortom  said yesterday.

    But he admitted that herdsmen attacks in the state have subsided since the introduction of  the Operation Whirl Stroke by the security agencies.

    The governor spoke  at   Chihichan, Mbakume in Gwer-East local government area during the burial of Mr. David Upuu, elder brother of  the Permanent Secretary, Bureau of Internal Affairs, Mr. Boniface Nyaakor.

    He  said  those conniving with the  enemies of the state to execute clandestine agenda would always be put to shame.

    While condoling with the bereaved family over the unfortunate incident, Governor Ortom prayed God to grant the deceased eternal rest and his family the fortitude to bear the loss.

    Permanent Secretary, Bureau of Internal Affairs, Mr. Boniface Nyaakor, on behalf of the family, expressed appreciation to Governor Ortom for standing by them in their time of grief.

     

  • Herdsmen plan to kill me – Ortom

    Benue State Governor Samuel said he has received information that there were plans to attack his convoy on his way to Abuja.

    The governor revealed that the attackers plan is to kill his security personnel, kidnap and torture him before subjecting him to the most cruel death .

    He stated that reason behind the plan to kill him is for daring to speak out on the invasion of communities in Benue State and the massive killings.

    Governor Ortom said following the information, he sometimes took chartered flights to Abuja but that such flights have been stopped from landing at the Makurdi airport

    He spoke at an interactive session between the Church, traditional institution and other stakeholders on peaceful elections in 2019, organized by the Makurdi Catholic Diocese.

    The event was held at Pope John Paull II Pastoral Centre in Makurdi.

    Read Also: Ortom restates call for Intelligence gathering

    Governor Ortom said so far those who are involved in violence such as Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore are not being punished even when they have sponsored large scale violence involving destruction of property arson and killing of about 20,000 people in 19 States of the Federation.

    “If those that perpetuate violence like armed herdsmen, are arrested, prosecuted, jailed or appropriate sanctions applied on them, it will serve as deterrence for those contemplating violence in the future,” he stressed.

    “Nigerians should use the 2019 elections to demand an end to the Fulani herdsmen’s aggravated violence.

    The Federal Government must stem the violence and address the root causes threatening elections from holding in some States, he stated.

    Actors including INEC, the Police, Judges and other State security personnel, neglect or fail in their duties during and after elections, giving room for violence.

    He stated that actors like Non-Governmental Organizations, NGOs, Community Based Organizations, CBOs, labour unions, religious and traditional leaders, social and mass media must not relent in promoting and advocating for peace and community values that will strengthen our national unity.

    According to the Governor, the main threat to peaceful election in 2019 is the incessant and devastating attacks by herdsmen in 14 States.

    The Governor quoted media reports that between January and March 2018, at least 1,351 people were killed by herdsmen, Boko Haram and other forms of insurgencies.

     

  • Gunmen abducts businessman in Gboko

    Gunmen  suspected to be kidnappers have abducted  an Ibo trader in Gboko, Benue State on Wednesday .

    The incident occurred about 11 am opposite Zenith Bank PLC, on J.S Tarka way in Gboko.

    The name of the victim is Celestine Agbo  ( aka Yellow) .

    According an eyewitness who pleaded anonymity   said the armed gunmen came in a Toyota corolla  popular known as dog nyash  and shot  into  the air sporadically.

    Read Also: Gunmen abduct slain DPO’s wife

    After shooting they went after their target who was among those on que to withdraw cash from ATM.

    The Gun abducted Agbo and drove away towards Gboko-Lessel road.

    When contacted, the two DPOs of Gboko A and B divisions who were  at the scene of the incidence with team of policemen    referred our correspondent to the Police Public Relation ( PPRO) in makurdi .

    The Chairman of Igbo traders’ association Tofi line, Mr. Nonso Okonkwo confirmed the incidence and said the victim was a member of the association.

    Attempt to speak with the PPRO failed as his GSM number were switch off.

  • Herdsmen: FG begins construction of affected communities

    Governor Samuel Ortom on Tuesday, flagged off the reconstruction of some selected destroyed public infrastructure in some communities affected by the attacks by herdsmen in Benue State.

    The Governor called on the federal government to address head-on, the problem of insecurity that gave rise to the killings of people and destruction of public and private properties.

    Governor Ortom, who flagged-off the long-awaited work reconstruction work at the Comprehensive Health Centre, Gbajimiba, one of the 28 projects to be reconstructed in the state by the federal government in partnership with the Benue State government, called on President Muhammadu Buhari not to hurriedly stop the work of “operation whirl stroke” but rather, to empower the military more to eliminate the threat of attacks on the communities.

    He also adversed the federal government as a matter of urgency restore the needed peace and stability that would lead to the return of the internally displaced people to their homes. .

    Represented by his deputy, Engr. Benson Abounu, Governor Ortom expressed delight at the response by the Victims Support Fund (VSF) led by Gen. Yakubu Danjuma (rtd) to his request for help in reconstructing the damaged public and private infrastructures

    He demanded that the work, expected to be carried out in 21 communities, spread over Guma, Logo and Agatu local government areas in the first instance will reach other communities affected by the attacks.

    Read Also: Ortom restates call for Intelligence gathering

    While appreciating the VSF for the 5 Health Clinics to be built in the state, Governor Ortom appealed to them to also provide the required equipment to enable the State government take over their running.

    The Executive Director, VSF, Prof Sunday Ochoche disclosed that on the basis of the request for assistance by Governor Ortom, and an assessment visit to the state in March, the Committee approved the construction of 23 classroom blocks and 5 comprehensive medical centers in the 3 local government areas.

    He stated that the projects, which cost N700m are expected to be completed within 3 months and called on the local communities to see them as their own projects and give their support to the contractors to enable them execute the work within the time frame.

    Dr. Magdalene Dura, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Development Cooperation, SDGs and NEPAD, and Rev. Dr Phillip Tachin, Executive Secretary, Benue State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) in their separate goodwill messages, thanked the federal government for the intervention, but called for more to be done given the magnitude of the destruction caused in the state.

    The VSF team led by its vice chairman, Tijani Tumsah had earlier paid a courtesy visit on Governor Samuel Ortom before proceeding to Gbajimba.

  • EFCC denies investigating Benue Govt.

    Says probe informed by citizens’ complaints

     

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has denied investigating the accounts, appropriation and administration of funds of the government of Benue State. It faulted insinuations that it was working to cripple the government.

    The commission said it was only investigating some officials of the state government, against whom some citizens made allegations of diversion of public funds, money laundering and related offences.

    The EFCC said its activities in Benue were within its constitutional powers. It faulted claim by the Benue State’s Attorney General that the investigation being carried out by the EFCC in the state amounted to usurping the functions of House of Assembly.

    The anti-graft agency spoke in response to a suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/42/2018, filed by the Benue State Government through the state’s Attorney General.  Defendants in the suit are EFCC, Speaker, Benue State House of Assembly, Clerk, Benue State House of Assembly and the Auditor General, Benue State.

    The EFCC, in its counter-affidavit to the plaintiff’s originating summons, stated that its investigation in Benue was informed by petitions from indigenes of the state, including former Commissioner of Police, Abubakar Tsav and Joel Magnus, President of a group, Concerned Citizens of Benue State Transparency Anti-Corruption Group, Gboko, Benue State.

    It stated that the petitioners identified some officials of the state government, whom they accused of diverting the state’s funds and engaging in money laundering and other related financial crimes, a development, which informed why the state has been unable to pay staff salaries.

    The EFCC added: “In carrying out its onerous duties, the 1st defendant, being a responsible agency of government, has employed the best practices of extending invitation to concerned State Government functionaries through high ranking government officials such as Secretary to the State Government, Permanent Secretaries of relevant ministries/agencies, Accountant General of the state and Liaison Officer, Benue State Liaison Office, Abuja without resorting to crude and uncivilized methods.

    “The 1st defendant is not investigating the accounts and/or appropriation, disbursement and administration of funds of Benue State Government. The 1st defendant is only investigating economic and financial crimes, money laundering related offences allegedly committed by some officials of Benue State Government.

    Read Also: N17b bond: EFCC probes Saraki, Kwara gov, AG

    “The ongoing investigation cannot result into a shut down or grinding to a halt, the activities of governance in Benue State as the 1st defendant is not an army of occupation. Indeed, the 1st defendant has not shut down government offices/business as it has been inviting relevant state government officials to make statements and/or furnish relevant documents as the need arises.

    “The ongoing investigation can only result in restoring the confidence of citizens of Benue State, who are calling for accountability, transparency and probity in the affairs of government of their state. It may well be that the outcome of investigation may prove the allegations as baseless, which is in the interest of the government of Benue State.

    “That contrary to the depositions contained in paragraphs 12 13 of the affidavit in support of the originating summons, the business of governance of Benue State has not in any way suffered or been destabilized consequent upon the ongoing investigation, as relevant officials only report as the need arises, who report and make statements and or bring relevant documents in furtherance of investigation.

    “That contrary to the depositions contained in paragraphs 21, 22 and 25 of the affidavit in support of the Originating Summons, it is not true that honouring invitations by relevant Benue State Government officials in furtherance of ongoing invitation is distracting or causing inconveniences to the officials invited, who by virtue of their offices and responsibilities/duties, their statements are crucial to the investigation, which is very painstaking.

    “That contrary to the depositions contained in paragraphs 23 and 24 of the affidavit in support of the originating summons, the statutory duties of the 1st defendant of investigating criminal allegations are never in conflict with the constitutional duties of the 4th defendant, hence there is no usurpation of the official functions of the 4th defendant, whose constitutional duties are quite distinct and different from the statutory duties of the 1st defendant.

    “The 1st defendant has never interfered with the federal principles relating to the tiers to the tiers of government, as the 1st defendant is only discharging its statutory duties.

    On Monday, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba fixed August 29 for the hearing of the suit in which the plaintiff is challenging the propriety of EFCC’s ongoing activities in the state.