The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Benue

  • Benue council retirees to be paid soon

    Senue State Governor Samuel Ortom has said N200,000,000 of the budget support from the Federal Government has been set aside to pay council retirees.

    Speaking on Radio Nigeria’s (Harvest FM) programme “Democracy and the People”, the governor said the process of capturing the retirees was almost completed, and that the money would be disbursed to the councils for payment.

    He noted that the government restarted the suspended payment of pensions, and to ensure only genuine workers are paid, three committees were raised for workers’ verification.

    Ortom denied allegations that N750,000,000 was released to buy cars for lawmakers, saying only N317,000,000 was released.

  • Running the gauntlet in Benue

    OUTSIDE the Northeast where Boko Haram insurgents operated for about seven years before they were neutralised, and apart from the Niger Delta where there is dreadful unease in anticipation of a military invasion to curb militant activities, Benue State in the North-Central geopolitical zone is probably the most attacked state in Nigeria. In October 2001, soldiers invaded a number of communities in Logo and Zaki-Biam local governments to revenge the abduction and murder of 19 soldiers whose mutilated bodies were dumped around Zaki-Biam by a Tiv militia. The murdered soldiers were part of a military detachment deployed in the area to keep the peace between warring Tiv and Jukun communities. Over a hundred people were killed in the revenge attack, a replay of the killing and revenge attacks that took place in Odi, Bayelsa State, a few months after ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo assumed office in 1999.

    There was no inquiry in 1999 to investigate the Odi massacre, and there was also none to examine a replay of that affliction in Zaki-Biam in 2001. Impunity has thus flourished everywhere, just as the festering problems that caused militias to take the law into their own hands have not abated. In the latest Benue attack, soldiers reportedly razed about 100 houses in Katsina-Ala, Gbishe and Tor Tonga towns while searching for a militant leader, Terwase Akwaza, earlier declared wanted for murder by the police. The invasion was sanctioned by the state security council which was anxious to end the spate of militant attacks in those communities.

    In February 2016, herdsmen swooped on Agatu in the same state and, by some estimates, killed over 300 people in revenge for the alleged slaughter of scores of cows, perhaps for wrongful grazing. Other estimates put the death toll at some 500. While the Senate attributed the killings in Agatu to Boko Haram, and the federal government maintained undignified silence, a Fulani leader openly claimed the killings were in retaliation for the killing of hundreds of cows owned by Fulani cattle owners and the murder of a notable Fulani leader on peace mission from the West African region. No inquiry has been set up to investigate the killings, let alone interrogate those who accepted responsibility for the mayhem.

    Nigeria is rife with self-help. Few people retain hope in the justice system to arbitrate conflicts and resolve them. And just as many people are opting for self-help, even law enforcement officers and other security agencies, including the military, have also embraced self-help. The killing of eight policemen in Odi, Bayelsa State, in 1999 was indefensible; but the indiscriminate revenge killings staged by soldiers were also absolutely indefensible. Yet no lessons were learnt. Murdering 19 soldiers in Zaki-Biam was barbaric; yet nothing justified the revenge attacks by security agents, especially when innocent people were massacred. Nothing excuses the criminal activities of the militant leader, Mr Akwaza, and his group; but it was unprofessional and deplorable for security agents to virtually burn down whole communities after failing to apprehend the militants.

    Indeed, in the past few months, Benue State has been under siege from sundry forces, both lawful and unlawful. The state, one of the food baskets of Nigeria, needs relief from its agonies. While herdsmen need to be tackled vigorously by both the federal government and its security agencies, which have shown gross dereliction of duty, it is also urgent for the state government to adopt civilised and constructive measures in dealing with criminals in Benue communities. The government may be right to say its carrot approach had ended in its engagement with militants, but in wielding the stick, perhaps a much bigger stick than it envisages, the state has a responsibility to ensure that innocent people are not needlessly endangered. Often Nigerian governments have approached threats to peace and stability emotively and immaturely. They need to adopt very scientific approach in tackling crime and militancy. There is no alternative to science if the problem is not to spiral out of control one day.

  • Benue traders protest multiple taxation

    •BIRS: don’t blame us

    Market unions and traders in Benue State have protested the “multiple taxation” imposed on them by the government.

    The protest held at the tomato markets in Tarka and Ushongo local government areas.

    Tarhembe market in Tarka council was shut as traders blocked the Makurdi-Gboko highway, causing a gridlock for about four hours.

    Traders in Lessel market in Ushongo council blocked the highway and made a bonfire.

    There was no vehicular movement for hours as stranded passengers lined up at both ends of the Ogoja, Cross River State, express road.

    Provost of the College of Education, Katsina Ala, DR. Ndyer said he was caught in the unpleasant situation for over three hours.

    Youth leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Tarka, Comrade Justine Anzembe, supported the protest. He berated the idea of asking a J5 bus loaded with tomatoes to pay N40,000, saying this would make it difficult for both the sellers and buyers to make profit.

    Comrade Anzembe warned that if the government does not check the action of the Benue State Internal Revenue Service (BIRS), voters will react negatively come 2019 general election.

    However, an official of the BIRS, who pleaded for anonymity, said the multiple taxation was caused by the traders and their associations.

    He said the federal, state and local governments collects revenue in various markets, thereafter, market unions also imposed their own tax on members.

    According to him, the BIRS operates within the tax law passed by the State House of Assembly. He, however, promised to look into the allegations.

    At press time yesterday, the road was still blocked and travelers remained stranded, even as officials of BIRS headed to the troubled areas to calm tension.

  • Kidnapping: Court discharges student after four years in custody

    Kidnapping: Court discharges student after four years in custody

    An Enugu High Court on Thursday discharged and acquitted a student, Victor Isiwu, who had spent four years in prison custody over alleged kidnapping, as the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.

    Isiwu was arrested on Sept. 30, 2012 for driving a gang that kidnapped one Tochukwu Okeke along Enugu/Abakaliki Road and demanded N30 million ransom from the family.

    The accused person, who is a student of Gbokoro Polytechnic, Benue, had denied the allegation that he was a member of a kidnap gang that terrorised Enugu metropolis with his cab.

    According to him, “I was only a cab driver who conveys people without knowing their identities.

    “I am a student and I engaged in cab services to support my education and I carry people without knowing what they are doing,” he told the court.

    The prosecutor, Mr C.E. Emejuo said that the police officer who investigated the matter had testified that the weapons tendered as evidence before the court were not recovered from the accused but from the hoodlums.

    He pointed out that the hoodlums who died as a result of gun injuries sustained made a statement confirming that the accused person was a taxi driver whom they hired to drop them.

    The presiding judge, Justice Eno Oluedo, said that the prosecution had a burden of proving its case beyond reasonable doubt that the accused person was guilty of the offence.

    “The prosecution must abide by the cardinal rule of the confessional statement of the accused, circumstantial evidence by the accused, eye witness account and the collaborative evidence by the witnesses,” she said.

    Oluedo said that the prosecution never called the complainant and other witnesses to testify in the matter, to determine if the accused was a member of the kidnapping gang.

    “The plaintiff is a vital witness in any criminal matter, the evidence that one hoodlum mentioned ‘my cab guy’ before he died was not enough to rely on.

    “A statement made by the accused at the police needed to be examined to see if they are the statement of fact and as well contained a relevant evidence and anything outside it shows that it is not true,” the judge said.

    She held that the accused was not the owner of the cab and also not a regular driver of the cab.

    “This is confusing as one could not ascertain if the accused was the one that drove the cab the day the plaintiff was kidnapped,” she said.

    She, therefore, discharged and acquitted the accused person.

    The plaintiff earlier told the court that he was abducted by the gang and released a day after when the family paid ransom of N600, 000

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Suspected kidnappers lynched in Benue

    Angry youths in Gboko, Benue State, at the weekend, burnt two suspected kidnappers alive.

    A third suspect was, however, handed over to the police for interrogation.

    The two suspects were trailed to their hideout in Gboko and found with arms and ammunition.

    The youths resorted to jungle justice but spared the third suspect to give the police more information about their activities.

  • Boundary commission to end Ebonyi, Benue disputes

    Incessant and sometimes fatal boundary clashes between Ebonyi and Benue states may soon come to an end as the National Boundary Commission (NBC) has waded in.

    The commission said it would soon delineate the boundaries of both states in such a way as to prevent any more disputes.

    It also expressed concerns over the wanton destruction of life and property in communities along the disputed border.

    The Director-General of the Commission, Dr. Mohammed Ahmed stated this during a joint enlightenment campaign of communities along the Benue/Ebonyi interstate boundary in Ohaukwu and Ebonyi Local Government Areas of the state.

    The DG who thanked representatives of both Ebonyi/Benue state governments for accepting to follow the path of peace towards the resolution of the boundary disputes existing between them, observed that the lingering disputes were consequent upon the inordinate ambition of some members of the affected communities to amass lands without recourse to instituted laws and authorities.

    According to him, after the necessary stages of the joint enlightenment campaigns by the affected states and setting up of Peace Committees by the local government areas, the affected lands would be demarcated by the Commission for a permanent resolution of crisis in the areas.

    He further appealed to politicians, government appointees, clerics, traditional rulers, youths and indigenes of both states to preach and live in peace even as he emphasised the sacredness of the human life.

    In their separate remarks, the Deputy Governor of Ebonyi State, Dr. Eric Igwe represented by the state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Rt. Hon. Augustine Nwankwegu and his counterpart from Benue state, Engr. Benson Abounu represented by the Special Adviser, SA on Lands, Prof Jonathan Uever expressed optimism in the peace process led by the NBC and urged the affected communities to maintain peace and order for the interest of all and sundry.

    They expressed hope that the demarcation of the affected boundary line would foster and restore bilateral relations, trade and marriages and goodwill that had once existed between both states.

    All those who spoke during the exercise including traditional rulers, LG chairmen, youth leaders of both sides among others sued for peace and peaceful resolution of the intricacies involved in the disputed lands.

    The affected local councils in Ebonyi State are Ebonyi and Ohaukwu while that of Benue State are Ado and Oju local government areas.

  • Benue chief kidnapped

    Benue chief kidnapped

    Gunmen have kidnapped Chief Joseph Tsegba, father of former Speaker pro-tempro, Terngu Tsegba.

    The senior Tsegba was abducted around 8 pm on Saturday from his home in Adekaa, Gboko town, Benue State.

    A relative, Mr. Terfa Ape, said the abductors were yet to contact the family. He appealed to them to release the old man as he needs to take his medication.

    Chief Tsegba is the kindred head of Anzua Ward, Gboko Local Government.

    Efforts to contact the Police spokesman Moses Yamu were unsuccessful.

  •  Ortom gives reason for work free days in Benue

     Ortom gives reason for work free days in Benue

    Benue state governor, Samuel Ortom, has said decline in federal allocation occasioned by fall in oil prices in the international market necessitated the declaration of Fridays  as work free days for the months of June and July.

    Governor Ortom who gave the explanation while receiving executive members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, Benue state branch, at the Benue People’s House on Tuesday, said such a measures would reduce the effect of economic crunch on the workers.

    He called on members of  NURTW to intensify farming activities, stressing that farming pays more than any other business in Nigeria.

    The governor said the problem of militants in the Niger Delta region has reduced Nigeria’s oil production capacity from 2.3 million barrels a day to less than 1 million and expressed the fear that it may reduce to less than 800,000 barrels a day.

    He said prices of rice, soya bean, beni-seed, groundnut, maize and other food crops have skyrocketed and urged NURTW members to take advantage of the situation.

    He said he would return to the farm after leaving office, adding that as a former Minister of Trade, Industry and Investment, he is advising Benue people to invest in agriculture.

    Governor Ortom said  as a member of the union, he would always identify with the rest of the members, emphasizing that some people thought he would not become governor because he used to work  at the motor park.

    While saying that he still visits Gboko motor park from where he acquired more education and finally became a PhD holder, the governor said his doctorate degree was not disputable.

    Governor Ortom expressed worries over the proliferation of motor parks in the state and promised to ensure that orderliness was restored.

    He directed the Special Adviser on Politics, Mr Sarwuan Tarnongo, to liaise with the chairman of Konshisha local government with  a view to resolving the disagreement between the council and NURTW and warned that no one should see himself as being above the law .

    The governor said he would provide the union with a utility vehicle when the situation improves, explaining that local government and state workers were being owed salaries for five and four months respectively because of the difficult economic situation.

    He said he was in support of  a scheme that would enable members of the union to own vehicles through a soft loan scheme, pointing that such a scheme would be viable because they have good knowledge of driving.

    He urged members of the union to regard the administration as their own, stressing that if he fails, they would share in he blame.

    Earlier, the state Chairman of NURTW, Comrade John Shom, who spoke through the National Assistant Secretary of the Union, Comrade Boga Abul,  said Governor Ortom’s administration  was labour friendly

    Shom also said the governor has been able to use scientific approach to water down the issues that would have led to labour unrest and commended him for the amnesty programme which he described as a huge success especially in the Sankera geopolitical axis.

    He expressed joy over the governor’s efforts in completing some projects abandoned by the immediate past administration and maintained that the renovation of the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Makurdi, was equally commendable.

    Comrade Shom praised Governor Ortom for facilitating the accreditation of the School of Medical Sciences and ensuring that medical students graduated and declared support for the APC led government .

  • Benue governor’s wife to promote literacy

    Life of the Benue State Governor, Mrs Eunice Ortom, has said her pet project known as Eunice Spring of Life Foundation (ESLF) is poised to advance the intellectual development of the average Benue child.

    Mrs Ortom stated this at a two-day literacy development and talent show competition organised by ESLF in Makurdi.

    According to Ortom,there is need to reawaken the reading culture among children to reduce the time they spend on frivolities.

    “This programme is intended to highlight the importance of literacy and promote commitment to lifelong reading among Benue children,” she said.

    She described as impressive, the enthusiasm shown by the children in various activities including timed reading, spelling, art, impromptu speaking and writing composition.

    She noted that the programme targets children across the 23 councils of the state who fall within the primary and secondary school category. She also promised to hold similar competition in years ahead.

    “I am happy with the talents displayed by the children which are an indication that you are indeed tomorrow’s leaders. With you, I am proud to say that our tomorrow is bright, “Ortom said.

    Twenty-three public and private schools participated in the two-day event that showed winners go home with star prizes and other items.

     

  • EFCC begins investigation into alleged diversion of N107 billion in Benue

    Contrary to specu-lations that Benue State government has dumped the Justice Elizabeth Kpojime Judicial Commission of Enquiry report, which indicted Gabriel Suswam and 51 others, Governor Samuel Ortom says the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has commenced investigation.

    Ortom, who disclosed this during an interactive session with journalists, said EFCC staff in Enugu have already paid assessment visit to Benue State.                        He said the report of the commission was submitted to that office and assured that the staff would certainly follow up.            The governor said his administration would follow rule of law in pursuing the matter and advised those that allegedly looted the treasury to return the loot.

    Ortom said he has given go-ahead to his commissioners to rebuke him if he adds a kobo to any contract and emphasised that his administration has zero tolerance for corruption.

    According to him, upkeep allowances for himself and the deputy governor have been reduced by N500, 000 because of decline in federal allocation.                        He used the occasion, which was organised to mark his one year in office, to say that the amnesty programme introduced last year was a huge success.

    He said life in Benue would have been miserable if the programme was not introduced and added that it was being replicated in some states.

    Ortom said the programme has been highly extolled in Africa and announced that he has been invited to speak on amnesty at a United Nations gathering in New York in June this year.

    “We have reduced criminality to a certain level; states like Kaduna, Kano and Nasarawa are talking of replicating the programme, why would anyone say it has failed”, he queried.

    He said if those criticising the programme had seen the over 600 weapons surrendered, they would have commended his administration instead of condemning it.

    On the 800 staff of Obi Local Government, who demonstrated over non-payment of salaries, the governor said he directed that they should be disengaged because they were illegally employed by the director in charge of general services and administration.

    In the area of sports, Ortom said he has told the Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Mr Lawrence Onoja Jnr, to submit a memo on its diversification.

    He said the state government would liaise with local governments and look for talents in football,  handball and so on, and disclosed that a professor has told him that openings exist for the provision of scholarship for the training of talented youths in America.

    On the murder of his Senior Special Assistant on Security, Mr Denen Igbana, Ortom said he has handed the matter over to security agencies. He said the law should take its course and noted that Mr Igbana contributed to the release of over 13 kidnapped persons and contributed immensely to the success of the amnesty programme.