The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Delta

  • Customs destroys 700 cartons of seized poultry products – Official

    Customs destroys 700 cartons of seized poultry products – Official

    The Federal Operations Units (FOU) Zone ‘C’ Benin axis of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) has destroyed 700 cartons of seized poultry products in Benin.

    According to Superintendent of Customs, Patrick Onyemem who supervised the destruction on Wednesday, the product has a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N10 million.

    Onyemem said that the consignment was intercepted by the operatives of the FOU on the Benin-Okada expressway as it was being smuggled into the state.

    He also said that the consignment was being conveyed in a Mercedes Actross with registration number KTU26LG when it was intercepted.

    He further said that the destruction was carried out in compliance with the Federal Government’s directive and policy on importation of frozen products which included turkey and chicken.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the destruction was done at the Custom’s outstation, Edo/Delta Command, and was witnessed by officials of the Service, NAFDAC, Police, NSCDC, Army, the defendants and newsmen.

    NAN recalls that on Monday, a similar exercise was carried out on 480 cartons of seized poultry products valued at N7.2 million.

    Read Also: Nigeria Customs seizes contraband worth N93m

  • 1,070 Nigerians died in road accidents – NBS

    1,070 Nigerians died in road accidents – NBS

    The National Bureau of Statistics ( NBS ) said on Wednesday  that at least 1,070 Nigerians died in road accidents in the third quarter of this year.

    The NBS Road Transport Data for Third Quarter, 2017 posted on its website on Wednesday showed that 89 out of the victims were children.

    The report stated that 981 of the 1,070 Nigerians that died, representing 91.7 per cent of the figure were adults while the remaining 89 Nigerians, representing 8.3 per cent of the figure were children.

    The breakdown of the figure showed that 815 of the number were males, representing 76.2 per cent while 255 were females, representing 23.8 per cent.

    According to the report, 2,478 road accidents occurred in the third quarter.

    It, however, attributed the major cause of accidents to speed violation, which it said accounted for 44.51 per cent of the total accidents reported in the quarter.

    It stated that loss of control and dangerous driving followed closely as they both accounted for 10.41 per cent and 9.52 per cent of the total accident recorded respectively.

    Meanwhile, the report stated that a total of 6,803 Nigerians got injured in the accidents.

    Read also: Nigeria’s population hits 193.3m, says NBS report

    It stated that 6,419 of the 6,803 Nigerians that got injured, representing 94.4 per cent of the figure were adults while the remaining 384 Nigerians, representing 5.7 per cent of the figure were children.

    It further stated that 5,110 male Nigerians, representing 75 per cent, got injured in road accidents in the quarter while 1,693 female Nigerians, representing 25 per cent got injured.

    According to the report, estimated vehicle population in Nigeria as at third quarter was put at 11,547,236 with the total population of the country puts at 193.3 million in 2016.

    It stated Nigeria s vehicle per population ratio was put 0.06

    In addition, it stated that data on the category of vehicles involved in road accident reflected that 58 per cent of vehicles were commercial (2,000), 40.6 per cent were private (1,401), 1.4 per cent were government (48) and the remaining were diplomat (0).

    It stated that FCT recorded the highest number of road crashes in the quarter, closely followed by Kaduna and Kogi States while Borno and Bayelsa States recorded the least.

    The report stated that 200,565 national driver’s licenses were produced in the period under review.

    It stated that Lagos and FCT produced the highest number of driver’s licenses while Zamfara and Kebbi produced the least numbers of national driver’s license.

    Similarly, it stated that 75,958 vehicle number plates were produced in the quarter.

    It also stated that Delta and FCT produced the highest number of vehicle plate numbers while Ekiti and Rivers produced the least numbers of vehicle plate numbers in the quarter.

    NAN

  • VAIDS: FG recruits 2190 tax officers – Adeosun

    VAIDS: FG recruits 2190 tax officers – Adeosun

    The Federal Government has recruited and trained 2,190 Community Tax Liaison Officers (CTLOs) under the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS), says the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun.

    Adeosun, in a statement by her Special Adviser, Media and Communications, Mr Oluyinka Akintunde, said that 1,710 CTLOs had already been deployed to 33 states, out of the number recruited and trained.

    She said that their task was to raise awareness about the scheme and taxation in general.

    She said that the CTLOs were currently operating in Adamawa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Enugu, Kaduna, Kwara, Lagos, Nassarawa, Niger, Ogun and Oyo states among others.

    Adeosun said there was no hiding place for tax evaders residing in Nigeria or abroad, noting that the Federal Government had put in place a data mining mechanism to fish out evaders.

    “The unique cooperation between the various arms of Federal Government, state governments and foreign governments has provided an unprecedented level of data that allows the Nigerian Government to profile taxpayers accurately.

    “We are now able to identify those whose lifestyle and assets are not consistent with their declared income.

    “A lot of data mining is going on daily, both locally and internationally, on property ownership and other items. Data is an extremely powerful tool that is now being utilized.

    “For instance, we have reviewed all companies that received major payments from the Federal Government in the last 5 years and found that even those who made money from government, under-declared,” she said.

    Adeosun said that the tax compliance team had looked at import records and compared the value of goods imported to the tax declarations of the importers, but the discovery was worrisome as “the variance was disturbingly wide”.

    “On personal income taxes, we reviewed property and company ownership as well as registration of high value assets and foreign exchange allocations, which gives us a sense of the lifestyles of the persons.

    “But again, we found major non-compliance. In some cases, people declared as little as N10 million as income but purchased expensive property overseas and in Nigeria.

    “They also registered high specification vehicles and funded luxurious personal events costing multiples of the declared income,” she said.

    Adeosun said that now, with the centralisation of data under Project Lighthouse within the Federal Ministry of Finance, a major tax loophole has been plugged.

    She reiterated the willingness of the Federal Government to prosecute tax evaders after the tax amnesty period had elapsed.

    Adeosun also said that the Federal Government had compiled a list of 500 prominent Nigerians with property and trusts abroad, to determine their tax compliance status.

    The 500 prominent Nigerians, according to her, will receive their letters beginning from Monday, asking them to take advantage of the tax amnesty to regularise their tax status and avoid prosecution and fines.

    VAIDS, an initiative of the Federal Ministry of Finance in collaboration with the State Tax Authorities, is a revolutionary programme that provides tax defaulters a nine-month opportunity to voluntarily and truthfully declare previously untaxed assets and incomes.

    The tax amnesty period is expected to lapse on March 31, 2018.

    Job creation is one of the spin-offs of the VAIDS initiative, with the scheme expected to create 7,500 opportunities for Nigerians as CTLOs through the N-Power scheme of the Federal Government.

     

  • 300 women receive vegetable seeds, farm implements in Delta

    300 women receive vegetable seeds, farm implements in Delta

    At least 300 women in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta have been empowered with vegetable seeds and farm implements, an aide to the state governor, said on Saturday.

    Speaking in an interview in Asaba, Dr Genevieve Mordi, the Senior Special Assistant to Delta Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa,  on International Relations, said the empowerment programme was to encourage more women to engage in agriculture, especially vegetable farming.

    Mordi said that the vision was driven by the need to instill in the people of the state the “Western-style’’ mind-set of farming.

    “The vision is also aimed at erasing the erroneous notion that some particular crops cannot do well in the state.

    “I am particularly worried that sometimes, we are at the mercies of our northern brothers for the supply of some crops and vegetables such as tomato and onion, among others.

    “These crops some of us earlier believed cannot do well in this part of the country.

    “Delta state, by divine coordination is well situated geographically and my vision is to see a Delta State where farming becomes a specialised profession as it is in the western hemisphere where farming is not just limited to supplying the food chain but also expands into agri-tourism ,’’ she said.

    According to her, Agri-tourism, hotels are built within organised farming settlement, activities such as fruit picking, customised foods, custom smoothness and juices blends by the hotel guests could be included as part of the tourism package to attract guests nationally and internationally.

    “We already have this in Aqua-culture termed as ‘point and kill’. It is just adapting same practice to fruits and vegetables.

    “This will definitely lead to job creation and increased revenue generation. We will get there one day and real soon,’’ Mordi said.

    NAN

  • FG begins training of 182 officers, enumerators in Delta

    FG begins training of 182 officers, enumerators in Delta

    The Federal Government ( FG ) on Thursday in Asaba commenced the training of 182 officers and enumerators chosen from nine local government areas of Delta on identification of poor and vulnerable in the state.

    The four-day training programme organised by the National Social Safety-Nets Coordinating Office ( NASSCO ) of the Vice President’s office, is under the National Social Safety Net Programme.

    The National Coordinator, NASSCO, Mr Peter Papka, said that .the prrogramme was to enable the trainees understand the concept of Community Based Target (CBT) and develop CBT plans for their areas.

    He said that the World Bank-assisted programme was aimed at having a social register of the poor and vulnerable with a view to reducing extreme poverty in the country.

    Papka said that the programme was designed to allow communities define in their own context what poverty was to them.

    The coordinator said that after the training, the participants would commence sensitisation of the various communities in their area on the registration of the poor and the vulnerable in the various LGAs.

    Papka said that the chosen nine local government areas represented 30 per cent of the 25 local government areas of the state.

    He listed the benefiting localgovernment areas as Aniocha South, Aniocha North, Burutu, Ethiope East, Ika North East, Warri South West, Warri North, Okpe and Ughelli South..

    Meanwhile, some of the participants commended the federal government for the initiative, adding that if well implemented it would go a long way in reducing poverty in the country.

    Mr Godwin Aroture form Burutu Local Government Area, said, “I must commend the Federal and the state government for this initiative and expect that it will be implemented.’’

    Also, Mrs Kate Okocha from Aniocha South Local government Area, said “I am happy with this programme like this, but my prayer is let it be implemented as promised.”

    NAN

  • ASUP strike shutdown Delta polytechnics

    ASUP strike shutdown Delta polytechnics

    Academic activities at the Delta state polytechnics at Otefe and Ozoro, have been grounded as local unions comply with directive to embark on strike by the national body of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnic ( ASUP ).

    ASUP Chairman, Delta State Polytechnic, Ozoro, Isoko North local government, Comrade Thomas Ojuye, said his members heeded directives of the National Executive Council of the Union to embark on indefinite strike.

    He disclosed that a communiqué issued at the end of the Chapter Congress, last Monday advised all members to down tools and commended members for complying, even as he vowed that the action would continue until issues raised by the union are addressed.

    Ojuye, who also doubles as the Joint Union Chairman of the State owned polytechnics in Delta state (Ozoro and Otefe-Oghara), said the state owned polytechnics are in full compliance with the National Executives Council directives.

    He listed non-implementation of the NEEDS assessment report, shortfalls in personnel release and withdrawal of allowances, condition of state owned institutions and nonrelease of CONTISS 15 migration arrears as some of the conditions.

    Others include non passage of the amendment bill of the Polytechnics Act, infraction in the appointment of Rectors and continued victimization of union officers.

    Ojuye added that, “the union had vowed to continue the indefinite strike until the Federal Government yield to its demands.”

  • Delta to OPS: invest in education

    The Delta State government has called on the private sector as well as public spirited individuals and organisations to partner with it in its efforts to develop the education sector in the state.

    The state’s Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Chiedu Ebie, made the call yesterday in Warri during the handing over ceremony of the structurally upgraded and refurbished Ifiekporo Community Primary School, Warri, by Matrix Energy Limited.

    Ebie, who was represented by a principal officer of the ministry, Paul Okpala, said the state governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, had designed a special programme, tagged the Support-A-School Programme (SASP), to specifically open a window to organizations like Matrix Energy, to participate in the administration’s vision to make learning conducive to children in the state.

    In his remark, the Chief Operating Officer of Matrix Energy, Loqman Salam-Alada, said the project to upgrade and refurbish the school’s facility was part of the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility to the host community.

     

  • Anambra poll: Delta police restricts vehicular movement

    Anambra poll: Delta police restricts vehicular movement

    The Delta Command of the Nigeria Police has ordered the restriction of vehicular movement between Delta and Anambra through the Niger Bridge, with effect from 12 mid-night on Friday.

    The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Zanna Ibrahim, gave the order in a statement Friday in Asaba, signed by  Dsp. Andrew Aniamaka, the Command’s public relations officer.

    The commissioner said the order was aimed at forestalling any breach of security ahead of the Saturday governorship election in Anambra.

    “Against the backdrop of the forthcoming gubernatorial election in Anambra slated for Saturday, Nov.18, the Commissioner of Police, Delta Command,Mr Zanna Ibrahim has ordered the restriction of vehicular movement.

    “The order restricts movement through the Niger Bridge linking Asaba to Onitsha with effect from 12 mid-night, Friday, Nov.17, 2017 till after the election,” the police boss said.

    He also said that the ordered was borne out of the need to prevent any security breach around the Niger bridge linking Delta to Anambra during the election.

    Ibrahim, however, said only those on official and emergency duties with genuine means of identification would be allowed passage during the period of the restriction.

    “While regretting the inconveniences the restriction will cause commuters, especially those travelling to the South-East and South-South States, the commissioner of police enjoins them to take alternative routes.

    “Commuters can also make do with other contingency plans as the restriction order is in the overall interest of public’s well being and safety.”

    NAN

  • PTI reduces tuition as NANS intervenes

    PTI reduces tuition as NANS intervenes

    The Management of the Petroleum Training Institute ( PTI ), Effurun, Delta, has reviewed down the tuition paid by the students, following the intervention of the National Association on Nigerian Students ( NANS ).

    The tuition was increased by about 130 per cent, leading to a face-off between the students and the management.

    The fee was however reviewed down, following the meeting between the management of the institute and the leadership of NANS in Effurun on Wednesday.

    The Principal of the institute, Mr Sunny Iyuke and NANS President, Chinonso Obasi, led the two parties during the meeting that lasted for hours.

    Iyuke said after the deliberation that the institution had decided to reduce the fee but pointed out that it needed to increase it because it was underfunded.

    The principal said that the management needed to execute projects in the institution but had very lean resources.

    “The school fee was increased because the costs of things have also risen. Four years ago, we were paying N14,000 as school fee but things have changed now.

    “We want to provide quality education for our students and we also need funding to be able to justify the purpose for which PTI was established.

    “Everything we are doing at this moment in the institution is on loan,’’ he said.

    Obasi said that before the increase, students of General Welding paid N51,000 as tuition; National Diploma (ND) 1 students paid N42,000 while Higher National Diploma (HND) 1 students paid N43,000.

    The NASN’s president said that the management raised the tuition to N115,800 for the General Welding students, N99,800 for the ND 1 students and N103,800 for the HND 1 students.

    He said after the dialogue, the management agreed to shift ground and reduced the fees to N81,600, N67,200 and N68,800 for General Welding, ND 1 and HND 1 students respectively.

    “We had given the PTI a 24-hours ultimatum to unconditionally reverse the tuition and the management quickly invited us for a dialogue.

    “We have been able to bring the increment down from about 130 per cent to 60 per cent.

    “It is a pity that a national asset like this has been experiencing inadequate funding for a long time.

    “We have agreed to partner with the management to see how we can generate more funds from internal sources for the institution,” he said.

    Obasi appealed to the management to always create an enabling environment for dialogue with students on issues that affect them.

    He also advised the students to take their academic work seriously assuring them that the association would continue to promote meaningful negotiation and dialogue on their behalf.

    NAN

  • Tension in Gbaramatu as military deploy aircrafts, gunboats

    Tension in Gbaramatu as military deploy aircrafts, gunboats

    The mood was apprehensive around Gbaramatu Kingdom, Warri South-West council area of Delta state on Monday as residents and leaders sighted military aircrafts and gunboats around their communities.

    The Nation gathered that military aircrafts were seen hovering around the palace of the Gbaramatu paramount ruler in Oporoza, just as many gunboats were seen in different communities across the kingdom on Tuesday.

    Meanwhile, military sources on monday evening told The Nation that there was no cause for alarm as the hardware seen were only meant for routine patrol of the Escravos and Trans-Forcados Pipeline and not any special operation targeting specific communities.

    Speaking on the development, the spokesman of the Gbaramatu Council of Chiefs, Chief Godspower Gbenekama, expressed worry of what he described as fresh deployment of military equipment and personnel to Gbaramatu, a situation which he feared might negatively affect efforts currently being made to persuade the dreaded Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) to let down its guards.

    “Some few hours ago, military aircraft was roving round our palace and there were troops with gun boats all over Gbaramatu Kingdom.

    “While we are appealing to the Niger Delta Avengers to sheathe their sword, we don’t know the rationale behind, and why the deployment of troops and gun boats.

    “Gbaramatu people are not at war with the Nigeria government, why is it that anytime there is crisis anywhere; something happens in Bayelsa, or Rivers state,the first place of call is Gbaramatu?

    “We don’t want what happened in 2009 and 2016 to happen again. So let the military restrain itself and we are still appealing to the Avengers to sheathe their swords.

    Read Also: FG urges Niger Delta militants to remain calm

    “The Avengers that were operating in 2016 that would say something, the next day they take drastic action are same people still operating but somehow they are now listening to us including the traditional ruler that they should sheathe their sword and give government sometime.

    “And thank God nothing has happened since the renewed threat so why the deployment? Military presence in Gbaramatu and other part of Niger Delta region is capable of escalating the crisis.

    “Let the military back down. We are also appealing to agitators to sheathe their sword. While we still appealing to the agitators, the military should back down so that we can sustain the peace while the federal government embark on one or two projects in the region.

    However, explaining the development, the Commander of the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Delta, Commodore Ibrahim Dewu, said what had been misconstrued to be a military assault was a routine patrol exercise in the area, saying the hardware seen were not deployed to harass any community or any person.

    “What they are speculating as military deployment is routine patrol along Escravos and the Trans Forcados Pipeline. Once we sense any security concern on that line, our men usually move in to patrol the area. Nobody is deploying any gunboat or jets to specific communities. It is a normal patrol”, Dewu explained.