The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Benue

  • Benue partners BOI on N1bn loan

    Benue partners BOI on N1bn loan

    Governor Gabriel Suswan of Benue State has said that the state government had entered into an agreement with Bank of Industry (BOI) to provide N1 billion loan to entrepreneurs.

    Suswan disclosed this during the Benue State Special Day at the ongoing 2012 Lagos International Trade Fair with the theme : Promoting Trade for Sustainable Economic Transformation.

    The governor was represented at the occasion by Secretary to the State Government, Dr David Salifu.

    According to him, the aim is to encourage entrepreneurship development in the state.

    “Already, the state government has made her counterpart contribution of N500 million and the N1 billion loan facilities are now ready for businesses to access,” he said.

    He said that the state government was also creating enabling environment for more investors to come to the state to do business.

    Suswan said that the state had made a mark in agriculture which gave it the appellation: “Food Basket of the Nation”.

    He said that all its agricultural products were being cultivated in commercial quantities that could sustain investments in agro allied industries in the state.

    He said that there were also large quantities of solid minerals that had not been tapped.

    The governor said that the state government was providing critical infrastructure as well as investing in Independent Power Projects.

    He said that the state government was also privatising its companies and using public-private partnerships to encourage private sector involvement in growing the potentials of the state.

  • PDP ‘hoodlums’ attack ACN supporters in Benue

    Several vehicles were destroyed and many people injured yesterday when hoodlums, suspected to be supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), attacked Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) members in Makurdi, the state capital.

    An eyewitness told The Nation that some PDP youths ambushed ACN supporters, who were on a local government campaign tour.

    The hoodlums smashed ACN vehicles with stones and clubs near Togos Supermarket in Wurukum, Makurdi.

    The attack caused panic in the town. Many residents fled the area in fear.

    But some riot policemen prevented what would have been a bloody day ahead of the November 27 local government election in the state.

    There was another attack on ACN members in Gboko, the ancestral headquarters of Tiv, by suspected PDP supporters.

    Over 20 PDP youths were said to have driven in a bus around Gboko, destroying ACN property.

    They also attacked the mother of ACN lawmaker representing Gboko/Tarkaa, John Dye, and another chieftain of the party, Bala Bagu.

    The victims are receiving treatment at different hospitals in Gboko.

    The cause of the attacks on ACN member ahead of the defection of former senate president Dr Iyorchia Ayu was not known at press time.

    But a source said it might not be unconnected with Ayu’s plan to defect to the ACN.

    At press time yesterday, the police had not arrested anyone on the attacks.

     

  • Council poll: Court stops Benue PDP

    The Benue State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been restrained by a Benue High Court from presenting the name of one Emmanuel Ochekwu to the Benue State Independent Electoral Commission (BSIEC) as the party’s candidate for Ikobi ward in Apa Local Government Area for the November 24 council polls in the state.

    Delivering ruling in a suit filed against both the PDP and BSIEC, Justice M. A Abounu also granted the applicant, Johnson Otache Silas an injunction to challenge the substitution of his name with that of Ochekwu despite the fact that he won the PDP primaries on August 14, 2012 and was duly declared as the councillorship candidate for Ikobi ward.

    According to the suit filed by Barrister Samuel Adama on behalf of Otache, the applicant had defeated Ochekwu and other aspirants during the August 14 primaries conducted by party officials from the state headquarters and supervised by BSIEC.

    It added that Ochekwu dumped the PDP and tried to get the ticket of about two other political parties after he lost the PDP ticket to Otache all to no avail.

    Otache, until a couple of weeks later, was recognised by the party as its candidate in Ikobi ward.Granting the injunction, Justice Abounu said it is within the fundamental human rights of Otache to challenge his alleged disqualification by his party given that he contested and won the primary election held to nominate the PDP flag-bearer for the ward.

  • Benue inaugurates 42 buses

    Benue inaugurates 42 buses

    Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam has inaugurated 42 buses to boost the state-owned transport company, Benue Links Nig Limited.

    The General Manager of the firm, Mr. John Baka, an engineer, put the cost of the buses at N200 million, with a loan from Infrastructure Bank and guarantee  by Diamond Bank.

    Baka also appealed to the state government to asphalt the company’s terminus, which is said to have been taken over by flood.

    The GM further requested that the Suswam administration help the transport firm to acquire Marcopolo buses to enable it extend its services beyond the state.

    The Commissioner for Works and Transport, Hon. Benjamin Ashaver also urged the management of the company to guard against misusing the buses, directing that all drivers in the employ of the firm must be well trained.

    Hon. Ashaver advised the police and personnel of Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) not to hesitate to impound any vehicle and arrest the driver who runs foul of the law. This, many belive, will instill discipline in operators of the buses.

    Suswam  hailed the purchase of the buses, saying they would boost commuting in several areas of the state, including, especially, the rural areas.

    The governor also called on the management of the firm to ensure that the buses are properly deployed to cover all those rural roads.

    Suswam equally urged managers of the state transport company to charge affordable rates in order not to rob the masses of the facility.

    The governor made the point that the buses should help the poor to commute better, not worsen their challenges.

    Suswam was in good company when he inaugurated the buses. As he cut the tape to unveil the vehicles, GM Baka offered assistance.

    Commissioner Ashaver was equally on hand, as were officials of the FRSC.

  • Floods alert for Kogi, Abia, Benue, others

    Floods alert for Kogi, Abia, Benue, others

    The Federal Ministry of Environment Flood Early Warning Centre has  issued a forecast of possible heavy rainfall that may cause flooding in some parts of the country.

    The forecast entitled: ‘Flood status Report for Dissemination’, made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, indicated that the rainfall was expected between now and September 24.

    “Please note and help to disseminate the forecast of possible heavy rainfall that may likely result in Flood (if adequate and necessary precautions are not taken),” it said.

    It identified the locations to include Abejukolo and Wara in Kogi; Afikpo in Abia, Egbema in Imo; Itigidi in Cross River  and Otukpo in Benue.

    Others are Patani in Delta; Sagbama in Bayelsa; Kisi in Oyo State;Jebba, Kosubosu, Lafiaji and New Bussa in Kwara as well as Nafada in Gombe State.

    The list also includes Shendam in Plateau; Demsa, Ganye, Jimeta, Mayo-Belwa, and Song in Adamawa and Donga, Gembu, Mutumbiyu, Yorro in Taraba.

    The alert also asked Jigawa, Kebbi, Bauchi, FCT, Katsina, Borno, Kano, Kaduna, Plateau, Zamfara, Yobe, Sokoto and Niger states to watch out for vulnerable areas, following earlier alerts issued.

  • Floods: 40,000 sacked in Kano, Benue

    Floods: 40,000 sacked in Kano, Benue

    •49 Cross River communities threatened 

    ABOUT 40,000 people in Kano and Benue States, many of them women and children, have been displaced from their homes by floods in the last one week.
    Their property, including farms and livestock estimated at millions of naira, are also under water or washed away.
    Forty-nine communities in Cross River State may be next to be affected, according to a report yesterday.
    The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) estimates that 25,000 from 14 communities are now homeless in Makurdi and environs in the aftermath of the overflowing of River Benue.
    The authorities in Cameroun were said to have released massive water from the Lagdo Dam into the river precipitating the overflow.
    The other 15,000 people were displaced from five villages in Warawa Local Government Area of Kano State by water from Tiga Dam.
    Submerged are Laraba Jigawa, Katarkawa, Garundau, Wambanto and Litau villages.
    Farms and livestock of the residents have also been submerged or washed away.
    Five camps have been created for the victims at Token Primary School, NALDA Secretariat, Emawa Primary School, Laraba Jigawa and Dan Hawan Giwa Primary School,according to the  Director of Personnel of  Warawa Local Government, Alhaji Ahmed Haruna Bichi.
    However, the displaced people have cried out about inadequate shelter, food and medication.
    One of them, Hajiya Amina Yusuf, a mother of eight said government officials are hardly available to cater for the needs of the displaced people.
     She said: “It was only this afternoon that they brought us gari and sugar. I have about eight children with me, what can we do with three cups of gari? This is pathetic and I call on those in authority to do something urgently to alleviate our plight.
    “We did not cause the flood. We are victims of  a natural disaster and that does not mean that we should not be treated as human beings. In everything, we give Allah the glory that all of us survived the flood.”
    Alhaji Bichi has pledged that efforts are being made to make the victims as comfortable as possible.
    He said the situation could have been worse if the people had failed to heed the warning by NEMA to leave their villages.
     “We have started making plans for their resettlement. As you can see, some relief materials have just arrived the camp and more efforts are being put in place to get them more provisions, particularly, food items,” he said.
    Relief materials already distributed to them included 60 bags of gari, 30 bags of sugar, 1,300 loaves of bread and 500 bags of sachet water.
    Nineteen people were reportedly killed by earlier flooding in 30 Local Government Areas of the state.
    In Makurdi, the raging River Benue submerged farms and houses up to five kilometres away from its banks.
    NEMA says although it has set up three camps for the displaced people, many of the victims are reluctant to relocate.
     It was gathered that many of them find the cost of transporting their property beyond their means.
    The Cross River State Emergency Management Agency  said yesterday that over 49  coastal communities across   seven Local Government Areas of the state are  at the risk  of severe flooding from  water from  Lagdo Dam in Cameroon.
    The affected local government areas are Yala, Ogoja, Ikom, Obubra, Abi, Biase and Odukpani.
     The  Assistant Director of Information of the agency, Mr David Akate, said in a statement  that farmland in some  communities have already been submerged, destroying yams, cassava, vegetable cocoyam, melons and other cash crops worth millions of naira.
    He said 11 persons have been reported killed by flood in the state this year while hundreds of houses have been submerged and pulled down, displacing thousands.
     Also hundreds of houses have been flooded while over 10,000 livestock have been affected, the statement indicated.
     Speaking in Isejah, one of the affected communities in Obubra Local Government Area, Director General of SEMA, Mr. Vincent Aquah, o expressed fears that the magnitude and severity of damage to lives and property would increase as the level of flood rises.
  • Floods sack Kaduna, Benue communities after days of rains

    Floods sack Kaduna, Benue communities after days of rains

    At least 178 homes have been swept away in Kaduna metropolis following 350 days of torrential rainfall.

    Vice President Namadi Sambo’s house and the zonal office of the Nigeria National Petroleum Cooperation (NNPC) along Gabarau Road near the new Kaduna Bridge are in danger of being submerged because of the rising water level.

    In Benue State, about 350 hectares of rice farm along the bank of River Benue has been destroyed by flood.

    Kaduna State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) said yesterday that more houses may be affected in the coming days as the level of water on the Kaduna river continues to rise.

    Executive Secretary of the Agency, Ishaku Dogo Makama, however, said the agency has no record of death so far, even though many residents of the metropolis believe that the figure of houses affected is more than the figures given.

    A Senior Lecturer with the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Dr. Mhamud Umar, said: “In the Zaria, area where I live, one family lost their apartment. The entire house collapsed. The owner of the house had to sleep outside because of their property while his family went to take refuge somewhere”.

    Weather experts had predicted that Kaduna will be affected by flood, especially between September and October, compelling the government to issue a warning on August 7, to residents of flood-prone areas to evacuate.

    Some of the areas affected by the floods include Abubakar Kigo Road extension, Rafin Guza, Nasarawa, Bashan Road, Tudun Wada and Unguwan Rimi GRA, among others. The areas are flood-prone, but attract lots of people annually.

    Makama said a combined effort of the agency and officials of the Nigeria Red Cross came with the figure of the affected houses saying “after the assessment of these areas by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the Red Cross, we confirmed 178 homes submerged. We have not heard of any reported death or injury. We are writing a report to government, so, we can be helped to set up camp for affected people. We are still appealing to people living in flood-prone areas to please leave, as the danger of flooding is not yet over”. It was gathered that some of the houses affected at the high brow Unguwan Rimi GRA, New Extension, were homes of the rich who build houses not too far from the Kaduna River which is already on the tip of the bridge.

    One of those affected by the flood along Abubakar Kigo Road and a Reporter with The Road , Miss Amina Anebi said: “I was woken up by a roaring sound. When I woke up, I heard the sound of water gushing from my doors and windows, so I jumped out of bed. “I discovered that the water had risen close to my ankles. I started to move my things and put them on top of the table. I carried some on my head. When I opened the door, more water flowed in. I managed to wade through it. By this time, it was waist-high.

    “This was around 2am and there was water everywhere. As I speak now, my things are still there. I saw people moving out their things in vehicles, some carrying their children moving their things about that night. It came as a surprise to many of us”, she said.

    Unguwan Rafi, housing the state legislative quarters was not left out as the flood turn the place into an overnight lake. Men in canoe were seen doing brisk business, moving people out and recovering some valuables for them. At the time of this report, the water level was still rising and there was no immediate succour to those affected who are taking refuge with friends and family members across the metropolis.

    About 50 kilometre stretch of Rice farm ,cultivated on 350 hectares of land along the Bank of River Benue has been destroyed by flood from water released from Lagdo dam in cameroun.

    Most of the farmers affected by the floods are those engaged in out growers scheme of Mess Ashi Foods limited ,owners of Ashi Rice Mill, with biggest rice processing plant at Anyiin, Local Government Area.

    With the flooding, the hope of harvesting this season is dashed and the fear of rice scarcity ,which would also scuttle the government effort on rice importation.

    There is also the fear of food crisis as Benue is considered as the food basket of the nation and a major rice-procession region in the country, accounting for 45 per cent of local rice production .There are two modern rice milling plant in operation.

    Ashi Foods limited, owners of Ashi Rice Mill are already counting losses as a result of the flooding.

    The Project Coordinator of the company, Joesph Tsavsar estimated the loss at over N500 million.