The Nation Newspaper

Tag: danger

  • Gombe in danger after three polio-free years

    Gombe in danger after three polio-free years

    After almost three years of being polio-free, Gombe State seems to be at risk of the disease and other contagious childhood killer-ailments.

    This followed the discovery of measles among refugees, who trooped in from Borno State into Gombe.

    Chairman of the National Association of Community Health Practitioners, Mohammed Kabir Babangida dropped the hint at the Internally Displaced Persons camp.

    He said they have immunised 110 in a camp that is believed to hold more than 250 children, adding that they were frustrated by non-compliance to the immunisation programme by the IDPs.

    “We gave them health talks to sensitise them on personal hygiene, environmental hygiene and other clinical issues before embarking on immunisation because we realise they avoid immunisation,” he said.

    The UNICEF D Field in Bauchi, which also controls Gombe State, has donated relief materials worth millions of naira to the IDP camp.

    Ajiya Thomas, who brought the items, said they include learning materials for school children, blankets, vaccines, food items and other household items.

    Executive Secretary of the State Emergency Management Agency Dr. Danlami Arabs Rukujei said they have been working with NEMA in the provision of food and other items to the refugees.

    Not less than 500 adult IDPs were said to have been registered last week, with more coming in.

  • ‘My life in danger’

    ‘My life in danger’

    A Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain in Oyo State, Alhaji Adebisi Olopoenia, has said his life is in danger over the attempted murder on former Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) Mukaila Lamidi (Auxiliary).

    Olopoenia spoke yesterday with reporters in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. He said: “I received information this morning that some politicians in this state have submitted my name and 11 other PDP chieftains’ state to some security operatives  naming me to be involved with the Auxiliary murder case. Am I a union member or a politician and a businessman? I have received various threat messages on my phone that some people the party want to kill me and I have informed the police about this development last month. My life is not safe any longer. That was the same way the former NURTW boss, Alhaji Lateef Salako (Elewe Omo), was assassinated too.”

    “I believe this accusation is coming from a PDP governorship aspirant who doesn’t want me to support someone whom I believe so much in to transform this state in 2015.”

  • Cancer patients in danger as ministry stalls treatment

    The survival of cancer patients hangs in the balance, as the two treatment centres in Ibadan and Abuja cannot attend to patients since January, due to the failure of the Ministry of Petroleum to grant licence to the centres to import radioactive materials.

    Top officials of the centres are accusing the Minister of Petroleum, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, of denying cancer patients access to medical treatment.

    It was learnt that cancer patients had died, while others who could afford overseas treatment were left to die in their homes.

    The Coordinator of the Nuclear Medicine Project in Nigeria, Prof. Bola O.A. Osifo, said since the beginning of this year, the two centres could not operate due to the increase of licence fee from N250,000 a year to N2million a year by the Nigeria Nuclear Regulatory Authority, an agency under the Ministry of Petroleum.

    Without the licence, the centres would not be given clearance by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to import radioactive nuclear materials used for diagnoses and treatment of cancer patients.

    The National Coordinator of the Nuclear Medicine Project in a letter dated December 13, 2013 addressed to Prof. T.C. Akpa, the Director, Radioactive Safety, under the Nigeria Nuclear Regulatory Authority, expressed bewilderment about the arbitrary increase of licence fees, saying the centres, being a non-profit making body, could not afford to pay N2million every year for licence.

    The letter reads: “It is difficult for me to understand your review of fees after I had applied for licence for 2014 since November 8 last year. The fact is, no Department of Nuclear Medicine can afford to pay your fees. Your commission is ruining our 2014 practice, as our suppliers wrote us to submit our licences latest December 23 last year.

    “Please remember that we are practising in a hospital, which is not a profitable business venture. Rather, it is to help millions of Nigerians, who are ill and cannot afford to go anywhere else for their medical care, unlike the elite. We would like to remind you that we are running an IAEA project where all the equipment are given free of charge by the agency.”

    The minister of petroleum is the supervising minister to the Nigeria Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA), saddled with the responsibility of issuing licence to the National Nuclear Medicine Project.

    Despite letters to the regulatory authority, nothing positive was done to issue the licence or review the fees.

    A source said calls made by the agency to the minister of petroleum were rebuffed.

    When our reporter visited the Nuclear Medicine Centre at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, yesterday, the situation was appalling. Some of the patients were turned back, as there was no licence to import the radioactive materials needed for their treatment

  • My baby is in danger, says quadruplets’ mother 

    A mother of quadruplets, Mrs. Alice Akor is concerned that one of her babies may not survive if financial help does not come quickly.

    The four babies were delivered on April 23, 2013 at the National Hospital in Abuja, who was admitted in the Kubwa General Hospital.

    Akor who spoke to newsmen stated that the baby went down with a fever. She said she rushed him to hospital, adding that she was in need of money to pay the medical bills for the treatment.

    Akor, a mother of five, delivered the quadruplets in April last year and have since been pleading with the government and well-meaning Nigerians for assistance.

    When our reporter visited the hospital, Akor was with her baby boy, worried about his fate and that of her family who have been struggling to make ends meet.

    “I have to get to the pharmacist to get his drugs. And I need to rush home to bathe the other children at home. It hasn’t been easy. My husband has to collect money from people to offset our medical bill. And now one of the children is sick again. We need assistance from anybody that can help us,’’ she said.

    Mrs. Akor, a National Diploma (ND) holder, stated that before giving birth to the quadruplets, she was earning money from selling clothes, but had to stop due to the financial burden and physical demands of raising her children.

    She stated that her husband had to borrow money to pay for the medical bills after she delivered, before she and the newborns could be discharged from the hospital.

    Akor, a native of Kogi, and her husband were already parents to a boy when she gave birth to the quadruplets.

  • Igiebor in danger of being relegated

    Igiebor in danger of being relegated

    Out of action Super Eagles midfielder,Nosa Igiebor,may find himself playing in the second division of the Spanish League next season.

    This is because Juan Carlos Garrido, the new manager of the Sevilla side, has acknowledged that he is ‘concerned’ for Real Betis after they lost 1-0 to Almeria.

    Another Nigerian, Ramon Azeez’s fourth minute goal was enough to give the promoted side all three points on Saturday and the Verdiblancos boss has conceded that his men are in a precarious situation at the foot of the table.

    “I’m as concerned as any fan, but I am also strengthened to see all the supporters behind us, he said after the game.

    “I thought we played a good game overall and deserved to win.We need 30 points now in the second half of the season.That means winning 10 games.”

    Igiebor is out injured and is not expected back in action till next year.

  • Tinubu: Rivers PDP crisis portends danger to democracy

    Tinubu: Rivers PDP crisis portends danger to democracy

    Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) National Leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu yesterday reflected on the protracted Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) crisis in Rivers State, warning that it portends grave danger to constitutional democracy and individual liberty.

    The former Lagos State governor urged men and women of goodwill to ponder over the fate of constitutional democracy and federalism, adding that Governor Rotimi Amaechi should not be abandoned in this period of trial.

    Tinubu, who noted that gloomy and uncertain days lie ahead, pointed out that Amaechi was marked down for liquidation, following his resistance to the alleged injustice triggered by the fierce oil field battles between Rivers State to Bayelsa State.

    The ACN national leader condemned the biased involvement of the Presidency, the PDP leaders and the police in the lingering crises, stressing that the President’s posture contradicted his avowed commitment to the transformation agenda.

    Tinubu said in a statement in Lagos that the five legislators who plotted the anarchy in the Rivers State House of Assembly last week have mocked their callings as lawmakers.

    He said: “With the latest drama in the Rivers State House of Assembly, the PDP is at it again. The ruling party has inflicted yet another mortal injury on Nigeria’s democracy. As the House reconvened after a recent adjournment due to a police failure to provide adequate security to this legislative body, thugs hired by sinister forces allied to the powers in Abuja were unleashed on the unsuspecting majority in the State Assembly. “While the House was to consider a necessary budgetary matter, a cell of five legislators, making a mockery of their title as lawmakers, had plotted anarchy in their own chamber. They engineered this coup against the very body in which they serve.

    “This group of five and their sponsors attacked the other 27 members and the deputy governor who was making a presentation on a budgetary matter pending before the House. All this occurred under the watchful eye, but idle hand of the police officers deployed to guard the chamber.

    “We can say the police in Rivers became an accomplice to an illegal attack on the very government and constitution they pledged to uphold. This was a shameful moment but even worse, it is a likely foretaste of the partisan role the police will take in coming elections.”

    In Tinubu’s view, the PDP has added that shameful public brawling to its list of accomplishments by acting as a “fight club” that employs the police as ushers for its matches.

    He disagreed with the denial of involvement by the party and the Presidency, stressing that “there is no way the police and the small number of five lawmakers would act so brazenly unless they receive instructions from the high places”.

    The ACN national leader added: “Nigerians must ask: “Is this the way President Jonathan intends to transform Nigeria? By turning it from an imperfect democracy into a perfect mess? A total lack of respect for Constitutional democracy is what we are witnessing. Governor Rotimi Amaechi swore an oath to protect and serve the people of Rivers State. He is thus empowered by the Constitution to carry out this function. Not even the Police has the constitutional right to impede him from carrying out his functions as governor. Yet, we have a federal government under whose eager eyes an assault on our constitution is taking place in the open.”

    Tinubu cautioned against the danger of abandoning Amaechi to his fate, warning that more victims would suffer the impunity of the PDP in the future, if this trend is not curtailed.

    He said: “My advice is that we should not leave Governor Amaechi to suffer his fate alone. All true democrats must defend constitutional democracy and true federalism. In what stable and functioning democracy can you find a President or his agents bully a governor this way or violate the federal Constitution so openly with complete impunity?

    “ When the interest of the nation is subjugated so that the narrow, parochial interest of a clique in power is served, events like we see unfold in Rivers will soon become common place.

    “As a new breed of imperial rulers run amok and with impunity, violate Nigeria’s Constitution, the days ahead seem gloomy and uncertain. Discerning minds must locate the present crisis in the suspected injustice in the Bayelsa and Rivers State oil boundary legal battle. For standing up in defence of the interest of his people, Governor Amaechi became a marked person.

    “The irreconcilable political differences between main actors in Rivers State soon magnified the crisis with heavy lifting from the Presidency. Like a running thriller with nightmarish garnishing, Nigerians are watching an elected governor come under incessant illegal assault sanctioned by the powers that be. But we need not just watch. People with good conscience must speak up now.”

    Tinubu pointed out that the Rivers PDP crises were consistent with the party’s past attempts to scuttle fair elections and genuine democratic processes.

    He said: “Undermining democracy has become a central plank in the party’s manifesto. What happened in the Rivers House is one more reminder. PDP leaders hold democracy in contempt and will trample it, if given the slightest opportunity. If they invert the relatively small numbers involved in the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) and the Rivers State House, what they might do to general elections involving such a large population as ours is a hard piece of wood to chew”.

    Tinubu warned the PDP leaders against lording it over the 150 million Nigerians in a manner reminiscent of the colonial masters, adding that it is impossible to seek to control the mind of the people through threat, intimidation and assault.

    He said that this style, which could lead to “elected dictatorship”, is unacceptable, even if the dictator initially got to office through the ballot.

    Describing the PDP as “poor steward of democracy”, Tinubu added: “It is hard to be a good democrat without knowing how to count properly and this crew cannot count. During the NGF debacle, they claimed that 16 was larger than 19. Now in Rivers, they claim 5 outnumbers 27.

    “If they can’t count, how can we count on them to improve the nation? If they can’t add, it is a mistake to rely on them to add anything good to our lives. For reasons best known to them, they have tried to pin the Rivers governor to the wall. In doing so, they have turned Rivers into an embattled state.

    “Those of us living in other states should not be indifferent. What is happening in Rivers today can come to your state tomorrow if the PDP holds sway. Events in that state are but a symbol and a forecast. As long as the current PDP leadership holds forth, we will have many rivers to cross before this land sees genuine democracy”.

  • Danger signals from Rivers

    Rivers State House of Assembly played host to a theatre of the absurd last week. Five errant lawmakers in a 32-member assembly, apparently emboldened by support from ‘above’, hatched a devious plan to impeach the speaker and elect one of theirs as the new speaker. The planned resumption of sittings which the assembly had communicated the Police commissioner and the Army commander to provide adequate security turned out the undoing of the speaker and majority of the law makers.

    Unknown to them, the five dissenting legislators who take orders from Abuja had perfected plans for a showdown by importing ex-militants and thugs into the assembly complex preparatory to acting out a script crafted for them. In arriving at this suicide mission, it never occurred to them that both in terms of numbers and extant constitutional requirements, they were heading for an impossible task. But they trudged on apparently buoyed by recent events at the Nigerian Governors’ Forum election where a minority has since laid claim to its leadership with the full support of the presidency. If the five legislators had come to the conclusion that they could as well pull a surprise despite the heavy encumbrances on their way, it should not surprise any one. Basking on the backing or anticipated indifference of the law enforcement agencies, they made good their plan to stir trouble on the floor of the assembly. Curiously, five of them succeeded in instilling fear into 23 legislators loyal to the Rivers State governor to the extent that they had to scamper for safety. This further spurred them to the point of purportedly electing a new speaker. It took the intervention of Governor Amaechi for order to be restored after the ensuing confrontation. The assembly subsequently sat and approved an amendment to the 2013 budget presented to it by the deputy governor. That amendment was the main purpose for which the speaker summoned the assembly.

    Events in the assembly have generated condemnations from a broad spectrum of the Nigerian people. Not only are they irked by the seeming indifference of the police, accusing fingers, for good reason, have been pointed at the presidency for simulating the crisis in that state. The confrontation is generally viewed as a continuation of the crisis in the NGF since the dramatis personae has not changed. As was the case in the NGF crisis, the presidency has washed its hands off that show of shame. In a tepid statement hurriedly put together following its fingering for tacitly supporting the dissenting lawmakers, its spokesmen put up futile efforts to deny complicity from Abuja. Not many believed them anyway. It was a rehearsal of the same stale denials that hallmarked the crisis in the NGF until Jonathan openly roped himself into the matter by publicly recognizing the losers as winners. So if the same presidency is again denying vicarious culpability in the latest crisis, no body will take it serious. Not with the purported recognition of the so-called new ‘speaker’ by the Peoples Democratic Party PDP. Since it is the same enemy that is involved, the warring five may have come to the conclusion that any thing is possible in this country including an insignificant minority impeaching and having its way over the majority? After all, this will not be the first of it in our recent political past. We saw such a charade in its worst form during the regime of Obasanjo. We are all witnesses to the abduction of former Governor Chris Ngige of Anambra state by a band of marauding buccaneers bent in sucking the state dry.

    Yet, nobody was punished for that odious conduct except perhaps, the AIG of police in charge of Zone 9, late Raphael Ige. The same impunity played out in Bayelsa and Plateau states where officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC used a few lawmakers to impeach the governors in the most kangaroo manner. It was the impeachment of the governor of Bayelsa State where Jonathan was the then deputy that opened the door for his meteoric ascendancy to power.

    So if Jonathan is now seen to be taking the footsteps of his mentor in a very cruel manner, we can understand him. In a previous article in this column titled ‘Jonathan going Obasanjo’s way’ we had drawn attention to the observed inclination of Jonathan to the undemocratic pranks of Obasanjo. We had predicted also that the logic of self preservation will drive him into such frenzy that he may soon become an ardent apostle of those anti-democratic tendencies that marred Obasanjo’s regime.

    Successive events have borne out these predictions. Today, Obasanjo has been effectively sidelined in the PDP in the same manner he did to those who were instrumental to his release from prison and subsequent drafting into that party. Nemesis one may wish to call it!

    More fundamentally, all these anti-democratic tendencies are neither being spurred by public good nor in the interest of our floundering democracy. At the centre of them all, is the lure of primitive accumulation of power, influence and capital. We saw Obasanjo manifest this in his obnoxious third term ambition even as our constitution has no room for such a self-serving contraption. Jonathan’s is manifesting in the desire for another term despite the dire straits the nation is currently passing through. He may be within his rights to desire another term. But his current posturing that seeks to cut down anybody or processes seen to be standing against his ambition is potentially dangerous and may spiral a chain of events with dire repercussions for this country.

    It is very hard to exculpate Jonathan from the chain of embarrassing events that have been the lot of Rivers these past days. It is a big shame that the deputy governor was ambushed and cars in his convoy damaged by hired thugs. Equally inexcusable is the report that teargas canisters were hurled into government house even as soldiers there have been withdrawn together with the armoured personnel carrier. Why these are happening in very quick succession can only find explanation in a subtle attempt to simulate anarchy so as to declare a state of emergency.

    Or how else can we rationalize the effrontery of the five legislators despite their incapacitation on account of numbers? Obviously, they were responding to drum beats from those who control the instruments of coercion?

    If it took Amaechi to personally intervene before order was restored in the assembly, then we can better understand all that has been said about the bias of the commissioner of police, Joseph Mbu. If not for connivance, how on earth can five people intimidate and overpower 23 others to the extent that they had to scamper for safety? These are some of the issues to ponder. Even then, why was the initial screening at the assembly’s gate relaxed such that thugs had to enter with dangerous weapons? This question is pertinent for us to locate what must have spurred the recalcitrant five to take on their colleagues despite the futility in so doing. In all, both the five law makers and Mr. Mbu should take responsibility for the sordid outing of the assembly that day. They prepared for trouble and were the purveyors of the fight that ensued. They stand condemned in very unequivocal manner.

    Mbu has lost the confidence of the Rivers people and must not be allowed a day longer. His continued stay has become a big liability and clear evidence that some body somewhere kept him there for some odd job.

  • Amaechi: my life in danger

    Amaechi: my life in danger

    The Rivers State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) crisis and the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) election fiasco may have hit a dangerous level, with Governor Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi alleging a threat to his life.

    “I want to say the way these people at the federal level are acting, they may come after my life. So, when you pray, pray for me,” the governor, who was suspended by his party’s National Working Committee (NWC) yesterday, said.

    He spoke on a wide range of issues- his suspension from the PDP, the suspension of the Obio/Akpor Local Government executive, the police siege to the council secretariat, his continued membership of the PDP and the NGF election.

    Amaechi spoke last night at an Interactive Session, with the theme: “Consolidating on Rivers of our Dreams” at the Banquet Hall of the Government House, Port Harcourt with youths in Rivers State.

    He said the NWC issued a press statement to suspend him without any invitation and fair hearing.

    “I was not invited by the National Working Committee of PDP. I was not given fair hearing. What I heard was that: why did I refuse to reinstate the suspended Obio/Akpor Local Government executive? Who suspended them?”

    The youths at the forum replied: “The Rivers State House of Assembly.”

    “Who has the power to investigate Obio/Akpor council executive?” Amaechi asked again.

    The youths replied: “The State Assembly.”

    “….So, you see the political witch-hunting? It is so ridiculous. My party (PDP) must rise above political witch-hunting,” Amaechi said.

    “Governor Amaechi did not suspend Obio/Akpor Council(executive). I hope you know, I have the power and my power is to dissolve. I can dissolve Obio/Akpor Council(executive). But I have not done that. What the Assembly is doing is that they are investigating corruption. But the party said they should not investigate corruption, is it fair?” The youths thundered “no.”

    “If they are not guilty, then they will re-instate them, but if they are guilty, then we will ask for the dissolution of the council. We have not even gone half, and the party (PDP) says ‘re-instate them’. It means that the party likes corruption. Let the Assembly resume and commence investigation; let’s see what goes on. Whether there is corruption or not, it is the business of the Assembly. I have been a speaker, and I know the powers of a Speaker and the legislature. I used it when I was a speaker,” Amaechi said.

    He advised the police to obey court orders by vacating the Obio/Akpor council premises, and allowing normalcy to return to the council.

    “What are the police still doing at the Obio/Akpor Council building? The court gave an order to the police to vacate Obio/Akpor Council; they disobeyed, and the police are still stationed there,” he said.

    Amaechi also expressed displeasure over the development in Obio/Akpor council which forced Rivers State workers to go on strike, adding that due to the absence of doctors in Government Hospitals, they (government) now transfer patients from public to private hospitals to ensure they survive.

    “The Federal Government does not care; they only stationed police at Obio/Akpor council. Even if everybody should die, they don’t care. Now the entire state will be grounded, because the police have refused to vacate the Obio/Akpor Council secretariat. They don’t want to know; we are not important to the Federal Government; we are not important at all.

    “You know what it took for us to stop militancy in the state. But only last week, they organised militants to return to the streets of Port Harcourt, is that not shameful? You all knew how the militants spent our money, raped our women, killed our parents and young men. Immediately the militants stopped protesting, the police said, nobody should protest again,” Amaechi said.

    He urged youths to pray to God to intervene, adding that there is nothing wrong as governor of Rivers State and member of the PDP to ask for his right, which the PDP is now describing as anti-party.

    Said the governor: “Internal democracy is important in our party. If they fought me by all means, and I still won the Nigeria Governors’ Forum election, what should they do? They should have joined me to thank God. Because what it means is that God has spoken. It happened when I was in Ghana; I fasted and prayed for six months, 6am to 6pm, and God made me governor.”

    Amaechi spoke on his immediate political pan, saying: “I will not leave the PDP. I will go to court…. The plane issue is same politics, pure politics. For one year plus, a minister refused to sign import permit. I’m sure you are aware of the House of Representatives Committee report on the plane issue.”

    Amaechi urged the Federal Government to allow democracy to reign supreme.

    “They should allow the police to work for the benefit of the public. And imagine, if you and I cannot go to court to seek for protection, where else can we go to? They have refused to accept the court decision. And if the police continue, we shall mobilise Rivers people to come out en masse and I will be in front to lead the protest,” he said.

    On the NGF election, Amaechi said: “You will see it on the internet when the governors were voting, all the governors were there and you will also see the counting. We (governors) agreed to voting, and all the governors voted. So, any governor who said he didn’t vote is lying against the nation because all of us are on oath to govern properly; so, we should not lie. Every governor voted; you will see the video. If we leaders of Nigeria today are refusing to accept the results of a properly organised election supervised by the Director-General of the Governors’ Forum, and somebody brought a paper that was signed in April.

    “If you check that list, it was signed in April and you brought it on May 24 after the governors have finished voting their chairman into office. That list is not part of our election. There is a rumour that they want to go to court to stop me as NGF chairman. We are ready to meet them in court but they should not go through the backdoor to get an order,” Amaechi warned.