The Nation Newspaper

Tag: COMMUNITY

  • Ahmed advocates community policing

    Ahmed advocates community policing

    Kwara State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed has identified community policing as an effective and efficient way of tackling security challenges in the country.

    The governor spoke when he received the new Commissioner of Police, Lawan Ado, at the Government House in Ilorin, the state capital. He proffered community policing as a feasible option in the battle against insurgency, kidnapping and other security threats to the country’s existence.

    Ahmed urged the police to strengthen existing police/public relationship to resolve issues militating against peaceful coexistence between various groups.

    The governor, who praised the former police boss, Olusola Amore, for introducing community policing, advised Ado to adopt the style to strengthen the existing peace and harmony in the state. He promised to support the new commissioner to make the state safer.

    Ado promised to do his best to maintain peace, law and order in the state. “Kwara State is a state of harmony. I intend to work hard towards sustaining the harmonious environment,” Ado promised.

  • Women acquire skills in Ondo community

    Over 150 vulnerable and unemployed young women in Okitipupa Local Government Area of Ondo State benefited from the benevolence of the wife of the Ondo State Governor, Mrs Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu when she visited the area.

    The women, who hitherto had no means of sustenance or certification that could attract gainful employment, were empowered to become self-reliant, as part of activities marking the 100 days in office of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu.

    Mrs Anyanwu- Akeredolu, who presented certificates to the women after the few days training further, urged them to deploy the knowledge they acquired during the training to ventures that will make them useful to themselves and the society, noting that the goal of the empowerment exercise was to ensure that more women are empowered.

    While acknowledging that more women are unemployed because of marginalisation; she further stressed that when a woman is empowered and has a reliable source of income, her family’s source of income becomes stable.

    Participants at the programme, which was organised by the Office of the Wife of the Governor in conjunction with Make Mee Elegant, benefited from numerous training exercises which included bag making, shoe making, hairdressing and wig making.

    Speaking on the impact of the exercise, the Chairman of Okitipupa Local Government Area, Mrs. Morenike Alaka affirmed that the support given to the women through the training exercise was unprecedented as it would go a long way in equipping them towards contributing to their family’s development.

    “Some of the women that are being trained were impregnated and abandoned; some are school dropouts who have no form of certificate to acquire jobs that would sustain them.

  • Schools come alive in Ondo community

    Schools come alive in Ondo community

    Bothered about the deplorable state of some public schools in Ondo State, the Senator representing Ondo Central District, Chief Tayo Alasoadura has inaugurated blocks of renovated classrooms at St Patrick’s Primary School and Baptist High School, both in Idanre Local Government Area of Ondo State as part of his constituency projects.

    Besides, the lawmaker has launched the construction of multi-purpose hall in the town.

    Idanre is one of the six local government areas in the Central District. Others are Akure South, Ifedore, Akure North, Ondo East and Ondo West.

    Alasoadura apologised for his inability to organise the quarterly Town Hall meeting he promised since his assumption of office.

    The Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream) said the enormity of work in the Senate and particularly the Committee where he is the Chairman and his resolve to break the jinx of numerous years over the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) were largely responsible.

    He, however, expressed delight that the jinx was finally broken when the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) was passed on the floor of the Senate.

    This development, he said, generated accolades of fulfilment despite what it cost his constituent, promising that the Town Hall meeting would commence without delay.

    Alasoadura noted that despite the overwhelming legislative/committee activities he is saddled with, he had been able to facilitate some projects for the Senatorial District while also executing some personally in fulfilment of his campaign promises.

    The former commissioner noted that having observed that most of the facilities in the primary and secondary schools were in deplorable condition, he decided to renovate them within the available resources.

    He recalled that on December 22, last year, he organised a women/youth empowerment programme in Akure South for three out of the six local government areas within the Senatorial District where he distributed empowerment materials that included cars, motorcycles, manual sewing machines and grinding machine.

    He also added that cash empowerment was given to over 60 beneficiaries across the three local government areas, noting that the empowerment programme for the three other local government areas will hold later this year.

    Residents and management of the schools praised the efforts of Senator Alasoadura in enhancing the living conditions of members of Idanre community.

    Dignitaries who attended the event were the lawmaker representing Akure North/South Federal Constituency at the National Assembly, Afe Olowookere, Caretaker Chairman, Akure North Local Government Area, Segun Oluyede and traditional rulers, among others.

  • Lagos appeals verdict on resettlement of Otodo Gbame community

    The Lagos State Government has faulted a Lagos High Court verdict which declared illegal, the demolition of Otodo Gbame Community and some other riverine settlements around Lekki.

    In a Notice of Appeal filed at the Appeal Court, in Lagos, the government said Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo’s June 21 judgement was capable of encouraging illegality.

    The judgement, it noted, visited the constitution.

    The government claimed that the high court erred in law and misdirected itself when it made far-reaching decisions that conflicted with the facts of the matter placed before it.

    Under the first ground of appeal, the government said Justice Onigbanjo erred when he held that the demolition was illegal when there was no demolition in Otodo Gbame before the case was filed.

    According to the government, there was a fire in Otodo Gbame caused by violent clash between two rival cult groups. The fire destroyed the community with no residents and property remaining because the burnt shanties were built with corrugated iron sheets, woods and bamboos.

    It said Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, who visited the community after the incident stopped the reconstruction of the shanties and directed all those living on the riverine areas to leave for security reasons.

    The riverine areas, the government said, were known to harbour illegal bunkers, kidnappers and robbers.

    The governor’s directive, the appellant said, according to government, was pursuant to Chapter 2, Section 14 (2) (b) of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

    The appellant accused the residents of visiting the governor’s directive which led to the demolition of Otodo Gbame and other communities when the case was referred to mediation by Justice Onigbanjo.

    The appellant claimed: “The declaration of the lower court that the demolition of March 17, 2017 is illegal and unconstitutional is misplaced and one-sided without considering the violation of the same order of court by the respondents. The demolition was to return both parties to status quo.”

    Under in ground two, the appellant said the high court erred when it held that the government should have consulted with the communities before any further evictions, and also compensate them for the demolition of their properties. The appellant claimed that in as much as Chapter 4 of the Constitution provides for fundamental rights, some rights contained provisos that made such rights not sacrosanct and absolute.

    It said: “There are abundance of uncontroverted evidence before the lower court that the structures built along riverine/swampy areas of the state are without building permit as required under the Urban and Regional Development Planning Law.

    “The respondents have constructed shanties and illegal structures without the requisite building permit/approval and the rights under the Constitution do not permit breach of a law or exempt anybody whosoever from building without first obtaining requisite approval. The respondents are squatters and deliberately failed to put the issue of title in contention.”

  • Suspected toxic material in Delta community

    Another Delta State community, Egbeleku in Okpe Council Area, now hosts a foul-smelling substance believed to be toxic waste. It is being brought in by a yet to be identified firm.

    The Nation gathered from a community source that leaders of the community, who are suspected to have been compromised by owners of the unidentified object, warned members of the community not to raise any alarm over the development.

    When The Nation visited the community, a new haul of the  suspected toxic materials was being pushed into a dugout pit by an excavator.

    “A company came and settled some leaders in the community some weeks back and have since been hauling in the foul smelling brownish waste through the community into the site.

    “Some of us meant to raise questions as the tact and secrecy with which they control movement of the unknown product into the community tells even the uninformed that what is being brought is toxic.

    “Before we could say what’s going on, some community leaders issued a warning vowing to sanction anyone who exposes the shady deal. It is obvious some persons have been settled to endanger our lives. We call on relevant authorities to come and stop this dangerous business,” a community source said.

  • Community stops governor from cutting ‘sacred tree’

    Community stops governor from cutting ‘sacred tree’

    Residents of Ikere-Ekiti in Ekiti State have stopped government agencies from cutting down a “sacred tree” for the dualisation of a road in the community.

    Governor Ayo Fayose reportedly ordered that the tree in a historical site be uprooted for a road project.

    Youths and traditionalists lit bonfires at Odo-Oja area of the town.

    Fayose reportedly led armed policemen and operatives of the state’s security outfit, Operation Flush in the heat of the crisis.

     

     

  • Police avert crisis in community

    TO prevent the breakdown of law and order in the ancient town of Igboye land in Epe Local Government Area of Lagos State, the police have stopped the annual sacrifice to the ancestors of the primordial town till further notice.

    Last Thursday, some persons (names withheld) suspected to be sympathetic to the embattled traditional ruler of the town, Michael Onakoya, had attempted to offer sacrifices to the ancestors (Osi Ilu) of the town at the shrine, claiming to be acting on divination by an oracle.

    It was gathered that these persons cleared the bush surrounding the shrine and hired tents, chairs and bought a goat with which to make the sacrifice.

    The attempt to make the sacrifice came days after the monarch returned to the community following reprieve granted him by the Lagos State government last month.

    The monarch, who came back to the community as “an ordinary citizen”, it was learnt, has since kept a low profile as part of the conditions laid down by the government for his return, pending final determination of various cases in court.

    The Lagos State government, had earlier on May 17, last year, banished Oba Onakoya from Igboye, following two judgments by Justice Habib Abiru in October, 2008 and Justice Iyabo Kasali in April last year deposing Onakoya as the Orijeru of Igboye land.

    The deposition letter signed by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Sanuth J.A.B., ordered the monarch to stop parading himself “as the Orijeru of Igboye with immediate effect until another judgment setting the two aside is obtained.

    “I am to also advise you to stay away from the community in order to prevent any breakdown of law and order until the situation is reversed.”

    However, before the sacrifice could commence, youths of the community, in retaliation, were said to have swooped on the shrine, stopped the ceremony and chased away the people they met there.

    It was gathered that they insisted that no sacrifice would be allowed to take place at the shrine until there is a substantive king on the throne, more so that the community has not selected and installed a new Olisa after the death of Chief Fatai Mustapha.

    Investigation, however, revealed that those sympathetic to the monarch had earlier in March, this year, prevented some members of the community from celebrating Kilajolu Festival spear-headed by one of the ruling houses and during which they normally make offerings to their ancestors.

    It was learnt that a breakdown of law and order was prevented in the community following the intervention of Alara of Ilara, Oba A.A. Adesanya and the police.

    As a result of the new development, one Alhaji Rasaki Azeez and the youths’ leader (Olori Odo), Mr Toyin Sangosanya, leading some of the youth of the community, lodged a formal complaint at the office of the Department of State Security Services (DSS) and the Divisional Police Station at Oke Oyinbo, Epe.

    During an eventual meeting with the Divisional Crime Officer (DCO), Mrs Akinbo, the monarch reportedly insisted on having nothing to do with the attempt to offer sacrifices in the community.

    The DCO, thereafter, ordered that no sacrifice, under any guise, should hold in the community unless it has the support and approval of all the four ruling houses and until after the Muslim fasting season.

    Oba Onakoya did not pick his phone when contacted on his GSM line for comment on the matter.

    Head of the ruling houses (Olori Ebi Gbogbogbo) and also Head of Osikadewa Ruling House, Chief Safiriyu Bakare, who also confirmed the development, insisted that there is a reigning king in the town.

    Chief Bakare said the monarch left the town a year ago to allow peace to reign.

    He insisted that the monarch has nothing to do with the attempt to offer sacrifice to their ancestors at the shrine but that a new date would be fixed after the Ramadan for the conduct of the sacrifice.

    Acting Head of the Ewade Ruling House and Baba Adinni of Igboye and Odoyangusen, Alhaji Mikhail Kadiri confirmed the events in the town. He alleged that those sympathetic to the embattled monarch breached agreement reached at the police station in March that no family should make any sacrifice until there is a king on the throne.

    “If at all it must hold in the future, it must be subject to the agreement of the four ruling houses on equal terms”, he said, adding “any meeting to which Ewade Ruling House, for instance, is not validly invited on equal terms cannot be in the interest of Igboye land and would not be acceptable”.

    When contacted for comment on the matter, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Mr Ajimuda Olatunji also said   the issue in Igboye land is being handled at the level of the Lagos State Police Command, Ikeja.

     

  • Community laments bad road

    Residents of Oreyo community in Igbogbo, Ikorodu, Lagos, have called on Governor Akinwumi Ambode to come to their aid over bad roads in the community. They pleaded with the governor to repair the roads.

    A resident, Aliu Muhammed, said the road in the community has been in a bad state since he started living in the area 14 years ago, noting that government has done nothing about it.

    “Sometime in 2015, we learnt that the community was listed among those that government was going to repair, but till date, nothing has been done on the roads.”

    Titi Fadeyemi, a trader in the community, said the state of the roads affects their businesses.

    “The state of the roads prevents customers from patronising us as they should. Many times, we would sit in the shop for hours and no one would patronise us.”

    She added that the rainy season has made the roads worse, saying the whole community is flooded and vehicles have to find alternative routes, which is longer and time wasting..

    Another resident, David Badejo, said the roads, asides affecting businesses also affects the lives of residents in the community.

  • Police avert crisis in community

    In a bid to prevent the breakdown of law and order in the ancient town of Igboye land in Epe Local Government Area of Lagos State, the police have stopped the annual sacrifice to the ancestors of the primordial town till further notice.

    Last Thursday, some persons (names withheld) suspected to be sympathetic to the embattled traditional ruler of the town, Michael Onakoya, had attempted to offer sacrifices to the ancestors (Osi Ilu) of the town at the shrine, claiming to be acting on divination by an oracle.

    It was gathered that these persons cleared the bush surrounding the shrine and hired tents, chairs and bought a goat with which to make the sacrifice.

    The attempt to make the sacrifice came days after the monarch returned to the community following reprieve granted him by the Lagos State government last month.

    The monarch, who came back to the community as “an ordinary citizen”, it was learnt, has since kept a low profile as part of the conditions laid down by the government for his return, pending final determination of various cases in court.

    The Lagos State government, had earlier on May 17, last year, banished Oba Onakoya from Igboye, following two judgments by Justice Habib Abiru in October, 2008 and Justice Iyabo Kasali in April last year deposing Onakoya as the Orijeru of Igboye land.

    The deposition letter signed by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Sanuth J.A.B., ordered the monarch to stop parading himself “as the Orijeru of Igboye with immediate effect until another judgment setting the two aside is obtained.

    “I am to also advise you to stay away from the community in order to prevent any breakdown of law and order until the situation is reversed.”

    However, before the sacrifice could commence, youths of the community, in retaliation, were said to have swooped on the shrine, stopped the ceremony and chased away the people they met there.

    It was gathered that they insisted that no sacrifice would be allowed to take place at the shrine until there is a substantive king on the throne, more so that the community has not selected and installed a new Olisa after the death of Chief Fatai Mustapha.

    Investigation, however, revealed that those sympathetic to the monarch had earlier in March, this year, prevented some members of the community from celebrating Kilajolu Festival spear-headed by one of the ruling houses and during which they normally make offerings to their ancestors.

    It was learnt that a breakdown of law and order was prevented in the community following the intervention of Alara of Ilara, Oba A.A. Adesanya and the police.

    As a result of the new development, one Alhaji Rasaki Azeez and the youths’ leader (Olori Odo), Mr Toyin Sangosanya, leading some of the youth of the community, lodged a formal complaint at the office of the Department of State Security Services (DSS) and the Divisional Police Station at Oke Oyinbo, Epe.

    During an eventual meeting with the Divisional Crime Officer (DCO), Mrs Akinbo, the monarch reportedly insisted on having nothing to do with the attempt to offer sacrifices in the community.

    The DCO, thereafter, ordered that no sacrifice, under any guise, should hold in the community unless it has the support and approval of all the four ruling houses and until after the Muslim fasting season.

    Oba Onakoya did not pick his phone when contacted on his GSM line for comment on the matter.

    Head of the ruling houses (Olori Ebi Gbogbogbo) and also Head of Osikadewa Ruling House, Chief Safiriyu Bakare, who also confirmed the development, insisted that there is a reigning king in the town.

    Chief Bakare said the monarch left the town a year ago to allow peace to reign.

    He insisted that the monarch has nothing to do with the attempt to offer sacrifice to their ancestors at the shrine but that a new date would be fixed after the Ramadan for the conduct of the sacrifice.

    Acting Head of the Ewade Ruling House and Baba Adinni of Igboye and Odoyangusen, Alhaji Mikhail Kadiri confirmed the events in the town. He alleged that those sympathetic to the embattled monarch breached agreement reached at the police station in March that no family should make any sacrifice until there is a king on the throne.

    “If at all it must hold in the future, it must be subject to the agreement of the four ruling houses on equal terms”, he said, adding “any meeting to which Ewade Ruling House, for instance, is not validly invited on equal terms cannot be in the interest of Igboye land and would not be acceptable”.

    When contacted for comment on the matter, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Mr Ajimuda Olatunji also said   the issue in Igboye land is being handled at the level of the Lagos State Police Command, Ikeja.

     

  • Herdsmen, community excited over ranch promise

    It was a day of excitement yesterday in Anambra by the herdsmen and a community, following a promise by Mr. Godwin ChukwunenyeEzeemo to build a ranch for them in the state.

    The State Leader of Progressive People’s Alliance (PPA) in Anambra State, Mr. Godwin ChukwunenyeEzeemo, said the clashes between the herdsmen and communities in the state had become unbearable.

    He said that building a ranch for the herdsmen would bring to a stop conflicts between farmers and the herdsmen.

    Ezeemo spoke yesterday in Mmiata, Anambra West Local Government Area, during an interactive session with some indigenous ministers from the community who said the activities of herdsmen was becoming worrisome.

    Corroborating the ill feelings of the indigenous ministers, Ezeemo decried the environmental and economic problems herdsmen activities pose on the people and assured that he would insist on building a ranch for herdsmen which he described as a socially acceptable means of transporting cattle into a state.

    He said the ranches must be regulated and taxes would be paid for every cattle, adding that the herdsmen would have proper living quarters built for them.