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Tag: compensation

  • Father cries for compensation over son’s electrocution

    Father cries for compensation over son’s electrocution

    The father of Ayodele Samuel, a seven- year-old boy electrocuted by live electricity cable belonging to the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) in Kabusa area of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has appealed to the power firm, Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) for urgent compensation to avoid litigation, reports JOHN OFIKHENUA.

    MR Tade Ayodele, a spray painter left in grief by his seven-year-old son, Samuel Ayodele’s electrocution at Kabusa in FCT during the week told The Nation that AEDC has refused to act after the fateful incident of November 9, 2015.

    Speaking with The Nation, the father of the deceased complained that after petitioning NERC and CPC, neither of the organisations had addressed the situation with necessary compensation.

    The visibly shaken parent, who had accepted the irreversibility of death, noted that he would not hesitate to take the power company, CPC and NERC to court should they refuse to act appropriately and in record time.

    He said: “It is clear that there is nothing one can do to revive Samuel. But the company and all the government agencies I wrote the petition to have refused to act. They should do the right thing by paying compensation, but if they refuse to do that nothing will stop me from going to court.”

    According to copies of the petition which the trio of NERC, CPC and AEDC received on November 12, the power firm appeared reluctant to act when the community informed it of the looming danger of the fallen and exposed cable.

    The petition  with the heading “Electrocution and Death of My 7 Year Old Son By AEDC Cable at Kabusa, Abuja,” reads in part: “On Monday, November 9, 2015, around 6:00 a.m, an electric cable belonging to the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) fell down from the pole at the Old Pantaker Area of Kabusa, Abuja.

    “Electricity supply was on when this cable fell down, and seeing the danger to lives of the people living in the area, the AEDC was called on phone and the fallen cable reported to them. They were begged to take action by cutting off power supply to the area and coming to remove the fallen cable. They promised they would come but almost throughout the day, from that 6:00 a.m. till late afternoon, they did not come.

    “Around 2.30 p.m. while I was at my place of work at Gudu District, my 7 year-old son, Samuel Ayodele was going to throw refuse away. As he tried to cross a gutter, his foot slipped and he fell down on the electric cable and was electrocuted. Some neighbours used a dry plank to remove the cable from him and he was rushed to the Shadalafiya Primary Health Centre, Sherreti Road, Kabusa.

    “He was received at the health centre by Dr H. Dabagal and Dr Andrew Bayero who battled unsuccessfully to save his life. My son died around 6:30 p.m. that same day. Please find attached the Medical Report and Death Certificate of my late son as issued by Dr. Dabagal and Dr, Bayero. Sir, you can imagine how I feel as a father.

    “The death of my son is an irreparable and irreplaceable loss, and I am begging you in the name of God Almighty to seek redress for me and sanction the AEDC accordingly to prevent further negligence and nonchalant approach to duty for which the AEDC has become well-known.

    “Sir, please I cry for justice and appeal to you to use your good office to ensure I get redress for this unbearable loss. I look forward to your usual prompt response, Sir.”

    Asked to respond to the allegation on the telephone, the AEDC Head of Corporate Communications and Community Relations, Mr. Oyebode Fadipe, noted that on receiving the petition, the company mobilised its team to investigate the matter.

    “We are also aware that the father has written to NERC. And you know NERC is the regulatory agency in this sector, and even we on our own have informed NERC on what has happened as it is expected of us. And that is exactly what we have done. We are expected to bring it to the attention of the regulatory agency and we have done exactly that. The father of the diseased has also done that. It means that we have submitted to the authority of the regulatory agency. Even we have, on our part, conducted investigation to see the circumstances surrounding that.

    “But you know we cannot be a judge in our own case. And for our own purpose too we need the investigation so that we can prevent such occurrences in future and make sure that our customers are safe. It is NERC that is handling the situation as it is now. Both parties have submitted to NERC. It is NERC that has the prerogative to take the matter beyond where we have taken it to.”

    Asked whether the company would compensate the family which acknowledged the impossibly of replacing life, the spokesman admitted that one could truly not replace life.

    He said: “What do we know that we can do that is adequate to the circumstance that people will not say how did they arrived at what they did. That is why you need the legitimate arbiter in this circumstance, and that is NERC.”

    He added that as a firm, it is looking forwarding to NERC’s directive to know how to compensate the family.

    NERC chairman, Dr Sam Amadi, who spoke to The Nation on the telephone said that he was going to ask for pending mails to see whether the petition was among them. He said: “When did it happen? Was it today? I have some mails here. I will check because if it comes they will first send it to Engineering. We use the outcome to prescribe sanction. Let me check and see if it will come within the week.”

    He said he would immediately sanction AEDC accordingly as soon as he received the petition.

     

  • Traders decry delayed compensation for demolished shops

    Traders of Kuje Area Council have expressed their grief over the delay in being compensated for their shops demolished in the ongoing modernisation of the community’s main market.

    Some who spoke with Abuja Review expressed their dissatisfaction with the area council management for delaying the compensation in the market project.

    Mr. Mohammed Salisu disclosed that no proper information is been made between the council management and the traders in regards to compensation and resettlement.

    “I have spent sixteen years in this town and I have three shops that were demolished with no proper agreement or compensation.

    “They have not been calling for meetings to address us on how to compensate the affected traders or relocate us.

    “I have all the papers that were issued to me by the area council during the first allocation of shops in the market.

    “I have two wives and ten children and I can no longer feed them because I no longer have any source of income.

    Mrs Juliana David told Abuja Review that two of her shops were demolished and is yet to be compensated adding that the price to acquire a new allocation was outrageous.

    “The new shops are too expensive for ordinary people if you don’t have any steady source of income.

    “The luck up shops is going for about N2.5 million while the open shops go for 1.5 million and the plaza goes for N3.5 million.

    “If you are not rich or have a big business doing, it will be difficult to acquire this kind of shops.

    Reacting, the Chairman of Kuje Traders Association, Mr. Yunusa Isa appealed to the affected traders to be patient with the management as compensation was done in badges.

    Isa however disclosed that only traders with genuine allocation papers from the Kuje Area Council land department would be considered.

    He said proper consultations and meetings were held with the genuine traders of the market before the demolition exercise.

    He added that that the project was a public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement between the Kuje Area Council and Green House Ventures Limited.

    He said that, “there is no development without pains in any society and I appeal to the traders to cooperate with the management in the completion of the market project.

    “You will agree with me that the market was constructed more than 25 years ago and is in a dilapidated state with most structures damaged.

    “There is no adequate drainage to control the flow of rainwater as a result of neglect by the successive past administration.

    “I want to specially appeal to some traders who are in court over this project to cooperate with us so that this project can be completed,’’ Isa said

     

  • ECOWAS court orders Niger to pay $.75m compensation to slain ex-president’s family

    Niger Republic  is to pay a compensation of 435 million CFA francs (663,000 euros, $750,000) to the family of former president Ibrahim Bare Mainassara, the ECOWAS Court of Justice ordered yesterday.

    Mainasara  was killed by members of the presidential guard in a 1999 coup.

    Five judges sitting at the ECOWAS Court  ruled yesterday in Abuja that the compensation be paid to his widow, five children and 11 brothers and sisters.

    The panel declared  unanimously that “the right to life of president Ibrahim Bare Mainassara has been violated”.

    Eleven members of the former president’s family sought redress in the court in December 2013, urging it to compel the Niger government to identify the assassins and bring them to justice.

    “The right of the applicants’ access to justice hasý been violated by the government of Niger,” the court said in a judgment read in French by Justice Alioune Sall.

    The former leader’s widow will receive 75 million CFA francs, each of his five children will get 50 million CFA francs, while 10 million CFA francs will go to his 11 siblings, it added.

    The court’s decisions are binding on all members of the Economic Community of West African States, and are final and not subject to appeal.

    Mainassara, an army general, was killed at a military base on April 9, 1999, three years after himself seizing power in a coup following disputed elections.

    The junta that seized power was replaced by a civilian government that December.

  • Family demands compensation for ‘airport’ project land

    The proposed airport project of the Ayo Fayose administration is causing more controversy as the family which owns the land claimed it was not notified before bulldozers moved to site last Friday.

    The Iwajo Family of Aso Ayegunle, on Ijan Road in Ado Ekiti, the state capital, is demanding compensation on the economic trees on the land “in line with the law of the land”.

    Its members said they were shocked to see bulldozers and other earth-moving equipment on the land without any notice and without their consent.

    They claimed the project besides destroying the cocoa plantations would also render not less than 5,000 workers jobless.

    The family said throwing over 5,000 cocoa plantation owners and workers out of job would defeat the “stomach infrastructure” policy of the Fayose administration.

    Rising from a meeting at the weekend presided over by the head of the family, Chief Moses Ojo, and attended by over 1,000 people, the family  resolved to hold a follow-up meeting with the Ewi of Ado Ekiti, Oba Adeyemo Adejugbe today at his palace.

    It claimed to have been on the land for over 500 years, saying the land was not suitable because it is a cocoa belt, which spreads to Igbemo-Ekiti in Irepodun/Ifelodun Local Government Area and never a virgin land.

    Members said they don’t want to be added to the ever-increasing number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs),  expressing fear that the airport project could trigger a refugee crisis in the area, if they are chased out of their ancestral land.

    They recalled that when government acquired the land on which the Ondo State House of Assembly complex was built, land owners were given prior notice and compensated, although there was no cocoa plantation there and that such a ‘benevolent’ action was taken by a military regime.

    The resolution signed by Ojo, the secretary, Osho Olorunfemi and Chief Italohun Fadahunsi, called on the government to consider another virgin land on Ado-Ijan Road, if the family and owners of the cocoa plantations won’t be compensated.

    They said: “The Land Use Decree gives a person using a place for about a century title to the land. Before taking the land from the person using it, royalty should be paid to the owner apart from the property on the land.

    “Ekiti is known to be a cocoa-producing state and this site is renowned for cocoa production. To the best of our knowledge, any land being acquired by government, it is expected that government should settle the owner on the land and property therein before moving to site.

    “To the best of our knowledge, all the farm owners at the present (Federal) Polytechnic were settled before moving to site. We are afraid that stomach infrastructure will be defeated if about 5,000 people are driven away by force.

    “As far as we are friends of this government, government in turn should put our interest into consideration before any project that is secondary to our well-being is executed.

    “If eventually the government sticks to its decision to site the project on this spot, there should be compensation and adequate notice given to allow those who have repayable crops to harvest their crops before moving to the site.”

    But Commissioner for Works Kayode Osho allayed the fear of the family and the people of Aso Ayegunle community.

    Osho, the chairman of the airport project implementation committee, assured the people that adequate compensation would be paid to owners of the land and economic trees.

    The commissioner, however, was non-committal on when the compensation will be paid.

  • Poultry farmers compensation under threat

    The Federal Government may suspend the payment of compensation to poultry farmers whose farms were infected by Avian Influenza (AI) pending when substantial progress on bio-security and other containment measures are put in place  by the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) and state veterinary services.

    The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Arc. Sonny Echono who spoke at a meeting held with stakeholders in the poultry industry at the Ministry’s Headquarters in Abuja, said about N380million had already been paid to about 138 farmers, while N643million has been totally committed as compensation to 246 poultry farmers. He said the sum of N476million is still required for the payment of compensation to the remaining 250 poultry farmers.

    A statement endorsed by the Director  of Information, Tony Ohaeri expalined that the Federal Government has noted with concern the unencounraging disposition of the PAN in the states in assisting the state officials in all the efforts aimed at curtailing the spread of the disease. He said such co-operation was needed in the creation of adequate sensitisation and awareness among the poultry farmers.

    Echono strongly emphasised the need for sensitisation on the control of AI in birds, proper adherence to on farm bio-security, registration of farms with State Directorate of Veterinary Services, non-transportation of birds indiscriminately without the authorisation of the state veterinary services. He insited that poultry farmers must adhere to government policy of non-vaccination against the disease and enforcing the restocking policy on affected farms.

    The Permanent Secretary said the ministry in collaboration with USAID and Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) had conducted series of trainings and capacity building workshops on AI for federal, state and local government officials, state extension workers, private veterinarians, surveillance agents as well as poultry farmers and PAN officials.

    Echono solicited the support of stakeholders in the renewed efforts aimed at controlling the spread of the AI virus, saying the role played by each stakeholders in the industry in controlling the disease becomes very critical to the overall success in the containment effort. He therefore called for an effective and efficient state veterinary service and enforcement of mandatory regulatory functions to contain Bird Flu outbreak and other zoonotic diseases in the country.

    Echono attributed the new outbreaks of between July and September in Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, Enugu, Abia, Rivers and FCT to non-compliance to bio-security measures in farms, disregard to public policy on the citing of poultry farms and other enforcement protocols which he said were expected to be implemented by the state veterinary services.

    He said the ministry plans  to come up with modalities that will ensure that the burden of payment is borne by both the federal, state and local government areas and the farmers.

    He advised poultry farmers to safeguard their investment through the adoption of insurance policy as a way forward since Federal Government now sees agriculture as a business.

  • Centenary City: Indigenes seek inclusion in compensation

    Indigenous people of Gude, Sauka and Dakibiyu communities in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have cried out against being left out when communities affected by the Centenary City project are compensated.

    They have also called for the revaluation of their economic trees and crops.

    Over 199 native people in the three communities affected lamented what they described as irregularities and deception in the assessment and valuation of their economic trees and crops, saying that they were unduly influenced and that the process lacked transparency.

    The natives through their counsel, Mr. James Ndeye, a lawyer, are appealing to the federal government and the FCT administration to do a mop-up in the valuation or conduct another assessment and valuation.

    Ndeye, who addressed journalists in Abuja on the presumed wrongful manner in which the natives were cheated during the valuation of the economic trees and crops, said that about 250 hectares of land was acquired for the project in the three communities.

    He added during and after the assessment and valuation of economic trees and crops on their farmlands, only officials of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), the Centenary City representative, the private consultant and the farm owners’ committee chairman went round the entire 250 hectares of land without the participation of the individual farm owners.

    “It was a fraudulent exercise since no amount was disclosed to farm owners before collection and signing of cheque as they were unduly influenced to collect cheque first before seeing the amount written on it,” Ndeye said.

    While stressing the need for government authorities to revisit the valuation process, he said inadequate compensation will not only be a scourge to the natives, but a gradual extinction of their livelihood and their generation yet unborn.

    He said all the affected farm owners were paid about N26 million, with the highest paid farm owner receiving N885, 000 for his 14 hectare while the least paid farm owner was N10, 000.

    Ndeye said the aggrieved natives would have to seek redress by taking legal action in a competent court of jurisdiction to challenge the mode or manner of acquisition of farmlands by the authorities in charge of the Centenary City Project.

     

  • Ilaje coastal communities seek compensation from Shell

    The Ilaje communities in Ondo State have urged Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company, (SNEPCO), to compensate them for the Bonga oil Spill of 2011. They said SNEPCo and the communities reached an agreement for compensation but Shell has not fulfilled its promise.

    The General Secretary of Abereke Communities and field coordinator, Communities Environmental Protection Committee of Ilaje land (CEPCOM), Prince Taiwo Aiyedatiwa said despite the fact that Ilaje coastal communities of Ondo State are host communities to SNEPCo’s Bonga oil facility, which is offshore Ilaje Local Government of Ondo State, Shell has not been carrying out its corporate social responsibilities to the communities.

    He said: “In January 2014, we were aware that SNEPCO called about 88 coastal communities in Delta and Bayelsa States to stakeholders’ forum in Abuja through the house of representative committee on environment in which the Minister of Environment, National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and other regulatory bodies were in attendance, and Shell agreed to compensate the communities.

    “But to our surprise, Ilaje local Government of Ondo State that plays host to SNEPCO, and also affected by the oil spill was left out. We have written several letters to the company, regulatory bodies and Presidency since the occurrence of the oil spill but our communities have not been invited by Shell. The oil spill affected five coastal states in the Niger Delta including Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Ondo and Rivers.”

    He appealed to Shell and the Federal Government as well as the spill committees to prevail on SNEPCO to call a stakeholders forum and invite the Ilaje coastal communities that were badly affected by the oil spill and compensate them, clean up and remediate the environment to restore aquatic lives. “We had planned to take legal action but were stopped by the traditional head of Abereke communities, Oloja Darosha Oladayo Mesagan. He advised us not to do so now, but the continued failure of SNEPCo to address our issue, will compel us to take action,” he added.

    NOSDRA’s director-general, Sir Peter Idabor had in a letter to Shell said the agency imposed a sanction on the company for pollution and damage to natural resources and means of livelihood of the affected communities. The Agency had recently threatened to sanction SNEPCo for failing to pay the $3.6 billion fine.

    He said: “Despite the fact that the incident was caused by equipment failure and the admission by the then Managing Director that 40,000 barrels of crude oil spilled into the Atlantic Ocean, no attempt was made by the oil company to provide relief materials for the shoreline fishing communities with respect to the acute and chronic impact of the crude oil on the environment.”

    NOSDRA directed SNEPCo to pay the sum of $3,600,191,206.00 or its Naira equivalent as compensation and administrative costs for failure to effect clean up on the impacted site within the stipulated period, as provided in the agency’s Act and Regulations.”

    Shell declined to comment on the issue when contacted by The Nation.

  • ‘No compensation for illegal structure owners’

    Illegal structures on the roads marked for construction in Akwa Ibom State will be demolished without compensation to the owners, Governor Udom Emmanuel has said.

    There has been an increase in the number of new buildings on some roads marked for construction by the Emmanuel administration.

    Emmanuel spoke at his hometown, Onna, in Onna Local Government Area, at the funeral service of the father of his Chief Press Secretary, Elder Simeon Timothy Udoh.

    The governor said he would resist any activity to destabilise his administration’s efforts at delivering democratic dividends to the people.

    He said: “I have noticed new structures, particularly along the Eket-Etinan, Ikot Nkang-Awa and other roads. I want to sound it to everyone that there will be no compensation for those buildings when they’re demolished. Structures erected from April this year, which do not conform to building regulations, will be brought down. Let people learn to live with integrity and desist from cheating government.”

    Emmanuel directed the chairmen of the affected local government areas to liaise with the town planning authorities to ensure that such buildings were marked for demolition.

     

  • Investors’ Protection Fund to pay N42.2m compensation to 158 investors

    The Investors’ Protection Fund (IPF) of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) is set to pay about N42.23 million as compensation to 158 investors that had suffered pecuniary losses from infractions by stockbroking firms.

    The IPF is a statutory fund established pursuant to Part XIV, Section 197 of the Investment and Securities Act 2007 (ISA) to compensate investors who suffer pecuniary loss arising from the revocation or cancellation of the registration of a dealing member firm by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), insolvency and bankruptcy or negligence of a dealing member firm of the Exchange.

    The IPF also compensates for defalcation committed by a dealing member firm or any of its directors, officers, employees or representatives in relation to securities, money or any property entrusted to, or received or deemed received by the dealing member firm in the course of its business as a dealing member firm.

    The board of the IPF yesterday stated that a total of 158 claimants for pecuniary losses suffered by them as a result of wrong doing by certain dealing member firms of the Exchange.

    According to the IPF, the 158 claimants due to be compensated are investors whose claims were verified by the Exchange, approved by the board of trustees of the IPF, and whose identities were verified by an identity verification consultant engaged by the IPF.

    The 158 investors would shares N42.23 million, with the maximum compensation capped at N400,000 in line with the approved rules of the IPF.

    “These 158 investors are being compensated for defalcation committed by 29 dealing member firms of the Exchange who are either inactive or have been expelled as members of the Exchange,” the IPF stated.

    The claimants had been screened and found to be eligible for compensation in accordance with the relevant provisions of the ISA and the IPF rules. The IPF will advise all 158 claimants about the processes to receive their compensation payments.

    Vice chairperson, board of trustees, Investors’ Protection Fund (IPF), Mr. Fubara Anga, said the fund had gone through a long, rigorous and transparent process and had worked in line with global best practices in reaching decisions on various issues regarding the IPF.

    “First of all, we put in place an appropriate corporate governance structure for the Fund; we adopted Rules for the IPF and then following transparent and auditable selection processes, we appointed auditors as well as identity verification consultants. We then commenced the process of identifying claimants and verifying their claims. We must thank the claimants for their patience,” Anga explained.

    Chief executive officer, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Oscar Onyema, who is also a trustee of the IPF, described the maiden payment as a milestone pointing out that the payment affirmed commitment to the continuous development of initiatives that will bolster confidence in the capital market.

  • Gunmen abduct Odi committee chairman

    Odi community in Bayelsa State has been thrown into confusion following the abduction of Compensation Funds Disbursement Committee Chairman, Prof. Zibokere Daukiye by unidentified gunmen.
    The riverine community has been engulfed in crisis since 1999 when federal troops under President Olusegun Obasanjo bombarded it to avenge the gruesome murder of security operatives by youths during the militancy era.
    The community was awarded N 37.6 billion by a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, but was later paid N15bn by the government after negotiation.
    The N15bn compensation paid the community by the government after series of legal actions has also unsettled the people in the area following alleged diversion of a chunk of the money.
    It was gathered that Daukiye amidst controversies was appointed by stakeholders in the community to manage the disbursement of the compensation funds which had torn the people apart.
    The unknown gunmen were said to have stormed the community on Friday.
    It was gathered that they arrived the area on a speedboat through the community’s river.
    The gunmen were said to have caused panic in the community by firing staccato of gunshots into the air to scare the residents.
    Residents were said to have fled to many direction for safety as the gunmen invaded the residence of Daukiye.