The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Delta

  • Leader’s murder: Delta community treads on familiar path

    Even by its unenviable high level of violence and history of brutal kilings, the murder of the Financial Secretary-elect of the Ekpan Community Trust, Ekpan, Delta State, Mr Olomu Abraham Siesiri, was callousness taken a notch higher. The Monday evening bloodletting sent shivers down the spines of residents of the area and neighboring Effurun, headquarters of Uvwie Local Government area of Delta State.

    Various eyewitness accounts indicated that the victim was shot at least five times at pointblank range during a minor fracas. The scene was around the Joceco Petrol Station area of the Urhobo community and the victim was driving in the company of three friends when he met his unfortunate end.

    Ironically, his death came just hours before he was to be inaugurated along with others into the very influential ECT. One account of his horrific murder indicated that he was on his way to the inauguration ceremony into the trust when he met his untimely end.

    It was learnt that trouble broke out between him and his killer when the latter crashed a car into Esiesiri’s car along the recently dualised Housing Complex/Refinery Link.

    “When the other car bashed his car, AB came down and a hot exchange ensued between him and the two persons in the other car. In the heat of the shouting match, Siesiri slapped the driver of the other car. The young man just rushed back to his car, opened the booth, brought out a rifle and opened fire on him. All this took barely one minute.”

    When the gunman and his accomplice fled the scene, their victim was lying helplessly in a fast flowing river of his own blood. His friends who rushed him to a private hospital in the area knew they were fighting a lost cause. He was pronounced dead on arrival.

    Medical report later indicated that the deceased youth leader was shot five times across his body. The circumstances and brutality of his death led to concern that the accident was merely a cover for what was possibly an assassination.

    Leadership tussle in Ekpan, like other oil-rich communities in the Niger Delta region, are often a matter of life and death. The community is host to several oil facilities, including Chevron/Texaco Nigeria Limited, the Warri Refining and Petroleum Company (WRPC), Pipeline Products and Marketing Company as well as other oil services companies. Those who lead the various communities enjoy substantial patronages from the companies and politicians in the area.

    As a result, the struggle to assume the leadership of the community and of being a part of any juicy committee is taken by key players as a do-or-die affair. Sometimes overambitious members who cannot wait for the next round of elections, usually resolve to bloody coups in which the extant leaders are either killed or forced to flee the community.

    It was against this background that the death of the youth leader led to panic in Ekpan and neighbouring suburbs of the council on Monday. The fears of reprisal killings of his real and perceived enemies have also gripped the community.

    “The hard way is the only way. On a bad day, a good man died,” read a tribute posted on Esiesiri’s FaceBook page by a ‘friend and brother’.

    The Police Public Relations Officer, Delta Command, DSP Celestina Kalu, who confirmed the report to reporters shortly after the killing, vowed that the police would track down the killers and bring them to book.

    She said: “The killers escaped before Police arrived; expended shell of ammunition were recovered. Our crack team is on their trail to unravel the killers”, she said.

    Interestingly, our investigation showed that the scene of the killing was a few meters away from the Ekpan Police Station. Similarly, a few meters down road at the Ekpan Junction, there is an army checkpoint. The military post was one of the measures taken several years ago by the state government and security agencies to curb the youths’ lust for blood and incessant killings occasioned by similar tussle.

    Uneasy calm reigns in the community. The days ahead will determine if it is a calm before the storm.

  • PDP’s Amori wins Delta Central Senate seat

    The People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP) candidate for the Delta Central Senatorial District election, Chief Ighoyota Amori, has been declared winner of last Saturday’s supplementary election in Delta state.

    Amori led the results table with 116, 723 votes, ahead of Labour Party’s (LP) Ovie Omo-Agege, who polled an aggregate of 76, 635 votes while the All Progressives’ Party (APC) Hon Halims Agoda had 15, 491 votes.

    According to the result breakdown, in Ethiope East, Ethiope West and Sapele local council areas, Amori got; 14, 142, 172 and 8, 864 votes while Omo-Agege got; 7, 168, 12 and 1, 541 votes respectively.

    For Udu, Uvwie, Okpe and Ughelli South areas, the PDP candidate pulled; 9, 194, 4, 819, 8, 613 and 2, 981 while the LP candidate got; 3, 956, 2, 366, 2, 022 and 681 respectively.

    Reacting to the result, the Media Director, Omo-Agege Campaign Organisation, Martins Aruviere, expressed dissatisfaction that results in the strongholds of his principal were cancelled, hinting of his camp’s decision to explore the election tribunal to redress the situation.

    “INEC is not independent as they want us to believe. Results from LP strongholds were unanimously cancelled, especially in Ethiope East, Uvwie and Udu Local Government Areas. This is just the beginning, election is just the first phase, the tribunal is there to scrutinize and question the process”, he said.

  • Delta…Flyovers, flyovers everywhere

    Delta…Flyovers, flyovers everywhere

    The outgoing administration of Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan is easing traffic in Delta State with the inauguration of flyover bridges in major towns, writes Southsouth Regional Editor SHOLA O’NEIL

    Last Friday, a visibly happy Ovie (traditional ruler) of Uvwie Kingdom in Delta, HRM Emmanuel Sideso, Abe I, led his people, including the Chairman of Uvwie Local Government council, Chief Henry Baro, and other traditional rulers from across the state to the famous roundabout in Effurun, headquarters of the council. The occasion was the inauguration of the N4.1billion 447meter flyover bridge built by the outgoing Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan administration.

    The monarch’s joy and those of the delighted Uvwie people, who rolled out the red carpet, drums and brought in gaily dressed traditional dancers to welcome the governor and his team, could be appreciated against the background of the importance of the landmark project: Effurun, headquarters of the Uvwie LGA, is an important town because of its link to Warri, the economic capital of the state.

    In spite of the Warri crisis and the Niger Delta unrests, the cities remain the hub of economic activities in the state; they are home to many multinational oil companies and services firms and the imposing 5-storey Revenue House, headquarters of the Internal Revenue Board (DBIR) recently inaugurated by the state government was a monument to the economic importance of the area to the state.

    •Uduaghan cutting the tape to inaugurate the Effurun flyover. With him are (from left)Chairman, Uvwe LGA, Hon Baro; Ovie of Uvwie HRM Emmanuel Sideso Abe I and Prof. Amus Utuama.
    •Uduaghan cutting the tape to inaugurate the Effurun flyover. With him are (from left)Chairman, Uvwe LGA, Hon Baro; Ovie of Uvwie HRM Emmanuel Sideso Abe I and Prof. Amus Utuama.

    In appreciation of the gateway city importance, Governor Uduaghan said, “Effurun or Uvwie is very dear to us because it is like the heartbeat of Delta State.

    “There is no way you can ignore Uvwie because you must pass through here to go to other parts of the country. If you have not pass through here, it only means you are not in Delta State. So Uvwie is very strategic in terms of location in Delta State. So whatever we are doing here was necessary to be done here,” the governor added.

    Over the years the cities of Effurun and Warri have converged to form a hub for commence and industry in the region, so much so that visitors not conversant with the city are not aware that they are seamlessly moving from on to the other.

    The Effurun Roundabout, site of the flyover is the entry point into the twin cities from the western and other southern parts of the country. It is notorious for knotty traffic, especially at rush hours and weekends when vehicular traffic is very heavy.

    • Another section of the Effueun flyover
    • Another section of the Effueun flyover

    It was against this background that Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, described the 447m Effurun Flyover as one of his legacy projects in the state, adding that it was conceived as the panacea for the notorious traffic congestion in the area.

    He used the opportunity to restate his call for peace as a catalyst for sustainable development, noting that but for peace in the area, which was hitherto notorious for ‘Gbege’ (crisis) and deve (extortion), the project would not have been possible.

    To this end, he commended the efforts of the Uvwie monarch, whose ascension to the throne coincided with the return of peace and orderliness in the kingdom. He urged other communities and youths in the state to emulate the community and adopted dialogue as means of expressing and settling disagreements.

    The governor also used the occasion to get back at his critics – people who he said thought the project would not be completed. He said that the completion of the bridge within 20 months and the first one at the famous Summit Roundabout in Asaba, which he inaugurated just days earlier, was no mean feat.

    It would be recalled that the governor had earlier inaugurated the first flyover bridge in the state capital at a cost of N3.5bn. He said he had done a lot make the city assume the “status of a befitting state capital. At the beginning, we started with the airport, the new Government House then we did the schools and the health sectors, very soon an ultra-modern hospital will be completed. ”

    Uduaghan said the Asaba flyover was very strategic as it would ease traffic on the road, which connects Edo State and reduces time of journey from Asaba to Abuja and the northern parts of the country.

    Meanwhile, the State Commissioner for Works, Hon. Solomon Funkekeme, in his remarks at the Effurun Flyover ceremony, attributed the conception and construction of the project to the proactive approach of Governor Uduaghan to problem-solving. He said the governor’s style had brought unequalled and even developments to the all nooks and crannies of the state.

    He explained that the scope of the project comprised 120m-long six span bridge; two ramps of 150m and 177m at the Sapele and Effurun approaches respectively; and 1.72km length of road. He revealed that the bridge and ramp structure comprised four-lane dual carriage way with two lanes on each travel direction demarcated with a barrier.

    Hon Solomon appealed to the people of the area to protect the project, especially its rails, from vandalism and thanked the Uvwie monarch and his colleagues across the state for their supports towards the Uduaghan’s administration’s successes. He solicited for the same support and encouragement to his successor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa.

    In his welcome address, Ovie Abe I described his kingdom as the greatest beneficiary of the administration’s development stride. He confessed that Uvwie Kingdom, with the several road dualisation and construction projects, enjoyed unprecedented development under the administration, adding that he and his people would remain forever grateful to the Uduaghan administration. He expressed his confidence that the governor would complete ongoing projects before the expiration of his tenure.

    Some of the project executed in the kingdom included the dualisation of Jakpa, PTI and Refinery roads as well as the ongoing Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) project, construction of the New Layout Road and several other development projects.

    For his part, the council boss, Hon Henry Baro, enthused that the N4.1bn flyover had added value to the council area and improve its aesthetic beauty. Baro said the people of Uvwie are indebted to Governor Uduaghan for all the projects.

    He attributed the prevailing peace and attendant harvest of projects to the three-point agenda of Peace and Security; Human Capital Development and Infrastructure Development embarked upon by Governor Uduaghan at the inception of his administration.

    Meanwhile, a cross section of residents of the twin cities of Effurun and Warri have commended the state government for the flyover, which they say would make life better for residents of the city and travelers alike.

    They however advised the state government to expedite action on the controversial BRT project in order to make the bridge meaningful and more useful.

    “The state of the Effurun-Warri Road leaves a lot to be desired, in spite of the completion of the flyover. I am among those who believe that the state of the road was better off before than with this BRT. It is difficult to see the importance of the project because the problem had never been of transportation, but of roads,” Ofei Isah, a resident of Effurun told our reporter.

    Similarly, the state Ministry of Works came under attack for perceived lack of planning before embarking on the BRT because of the revelation that the road needed to be expanded to accommodate the planned six-lane traffic.

    Governor Uduaghan had assured that his administration would try to take the ongoing expansion of the Effurun-Sapele road as far as he could before the May 29, 2015 terminal date of his administration. He blamed the delay in completing the project on paucity of fund due to falling revenue from the Federation Account.

     

     

  • Gunmen kidnap Delta community leader’s wife

    The wife a leader of Ugborodo Community Trust in Delta State, Mrs Caro Botosan, was abducted yesterday by a four suspected gunmen near Okere in Warri.

    One of the kidnappers was arrested on the scene while the other escaped.

    Mrs Botosan, who is the wife of Isaac Botosan, was driving her car near her home when she was snatched by the hoodlums.

    It was learnt that her abductors waylaid her, seized her car and took her away in the car.

    But youths in the community blocked the car conveying the kidnappers as its driver attempted to reverse on the one-way road.

    The driver was caught by the angry youths as he attempted to flee and was reportedly beaten up.

    He was said to have confessed that the kidnap gang was from Agbarho in Ughelli North Local Government Area.

    Mr Botosan reportedly invited the police from ‘A’ Division in Warri to arrest the suspect.

    His mother was abducted last year by some gunmen and was released after several weeks.

  • Uneasy calm in Delta after Ijaw/Itsekiri clash

    Uneasy calm in Delta after Ijaw/Itsekiri clash

    Uneasy calm pervaded the Escravos area in Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State following midnight reprisal attack by suspected Ijaw militias on Madangho, an Itsekiri community.

    At least two houses were were torched when about 30 heavily armed Ijaw youths stormed the community from Gbaramatu, an Ijaw home clan of former warlord, Chief Government Ekpemupolo (AKA Tompolo). Two suspects were also arrested for the initial attack, which left a 50-year-old security guard in critical condition.

    It was gathered that the attack was a revenge mission by the marauders following an unprovoked machete attack on the Ijaw security guard at Kpokpo, site of the $16bn gas city project by three Itsekiri youths from Madangho.

    An Ugborodo source, who denounced the action of his kinsmen, said, “The old man was guarding tractors and swamp bogey being used to clear the land for the deep sea port when he was attacked by our brothers from Madangho.

    “The Ijaws later came back in anger and started shooting and burning. Two houses were burnt before they left at about midnight.

    “They came back very early in the morning again and I counted over 30 youths armed with sophisticated weapons. They shot for several minutes until some soldiers came and engaged them in a shoutout, which forced them to flee,” a source said.

    The Commanding Officer, 3 Battalion of the Nigerian Army, Lt Col Ekong Bassey, confirmed the report, adding that calm had been restored. He said the matter was being handled by leaders of both communities amicably.

    Nevertheless, it was gathered that the incident heightened tension between the two ethnic groups that have been locked in a cat-and-mouse game over the $16billion Gas City and Deep Sea Port project. Kpokpo, the site of the deep sea port, is a subject of contention between the two sides.

    Various sources told our reporter that the face-off almost degenerated into a full blown war on Tuesday morning following a blockade on the waterways around Gbaramatu kingdom by the Ijaw militias.

    “Boats leaving Ugborodo and other Itsekiri villages for Warri and other upland communities were turned back by the Ijaw youths. They also didn’t allow boats coming into their barricades to Ugborodo.”

    However, it was learnt that calm was gradually returning to the area at the time of this report (3:30pm) on Tuesday following the intervention of Tompolo and Itsekiri leaders who are suing for peace.

    It was gathered that the peace shuttle was helped by the arrest of two of the three recalcitrant Itsekiri youths who carried out the unprovoked attack on the Ijaw night guard.

  • Scores wounded in bloody Ijaw/Itsekiri clash in Delta

    There is panic in Ugborodo, Escravos in Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta following sporadic shooting which lasted several hours from late Monday night to the early hours of Tuesday.

    Although the casualty figure, if any, was unknown on Tuesday morning, a source told our reporter than no fewer than three houses were razed in Madangho, an Itsekiri community, an Itsekiri community.

    It was also gathered that scores of persons suffered severe gunshot and machete cuts and wounds in the fracas, which was believed to be between Ijaw and Itsekiri gangs.

    What sparked off the fighting was not immediately clear, but it was learnt that armed Ijaw youths burnt no fewer than three houses in Madangho.

    There had been growing tension between the Itsekiri people of Ugborodo and Ijaw of Gbaramatu over the $16bn gas city project and the recently concluded general elections in the area.

  • Ibori’s daughter wins in Delta

    DAUGHTER of ex-Delta State Governor James Ibori, Erhiatake, and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has won the Ethiope West seat in the House of Assembly.

    She polled 32,700 votes to defeat the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Edirin Ajueshi Ejidiran, who got 1,709 votes.

    The Labour Party (LP) candidate, Ajogri Benedict, polled 1,429; APA candidate, Okpomo Sunday, got 11 votes and Egikpero Kingsley of the PPN, 14.

     

  • Uduaghan congratulates Okowa

    Uduaghan congratulates Okowa

    Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State has congratulated Delta State Governor-elect, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa saying that the victory has affirmed the performance and supremacy of PDP in Delta.

    In a statement issued in Asaba Monday by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Sunny Ogefere, the Governor said that the success of the PDP was “a total victory for all Deltans”.

    He commended the members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in the State as well as the electorate for renewing their faith and trust in the PDP to pilot the affairs of the State for the next four years.

    In particular, Uduaghan thanked Deltans for their peaceful conduct during and after the elections and assured that development strides in the state under Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa will be rapid, peaceful and progressive.

    He assured that the transition will be smooth and called on all other political parties that contested the elections to accept defeat, embrace the winner and help to create an atmosphere of peace and development in Delta State.

    “My appeal to all Deltans is that we should remain calm and peaceful as we look forward to more dividends of democracy from PDP administration in the state,” he stated.

    He however enjoined parties and contestants that are aggrieved to channel their grievances lawfully to the appropriate quarters or approach the elections tribunals for redress rather than take the laws into their hands.

  • Ibori’s daughter wins Delta Assembly seat

    Ibori’s daughter wins Delta Assembly seat

    Daughter of former Delta State Governor James Ibori, Erhiatake won the Ethiope West Constituency into the Delta State House of Assembly.

    Erhiatake of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) polled 32, 700 votes to defeat the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate who scored 1, 709 while the Labour Party candidate recorded1, 429.

  • Mixed reactions trail polls in Delta

    • Exercise peaceful and commendable – Uduaghan
    • It was riddled with irregularities, fraud – Emerhor, Ogboru

    Mixed reactions have continued to trail yesterday’s governorship and state House of Assembly elections, which held across Delta State.

    While the state governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, praised the conduct of the exercise and commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for a job well done, candidates of the two main opposition parties in the state; Olorogun O’tega Emerhor of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Chief Great Ogboru of the Labour Party (LP), raised the alarm over reported irregularities and electoral fraud witnessed during the exercise.

    Governor Uduaghan, who spoke shortly after casting his vote in his Abigborodo country home in Warri North council area of the state, also commended people of Delta state for properly conducting themselves during the exercise.

    Uduaghan, who commended INEC for improving on its performance at the presidential/national assembly elections, also thanked the people of the state for their peaceful conduct, saying their behaviour had proven doomsayers wrong about the state.

    “The INEC conduct of the governorship and house of assembly elections in the Umuegbe Primary School polling station, Abigborodo Ward six was an improvement on its conduct of the presidential election, INEC officials and election materials arrived the polling station at 8:55 am while accreditation started at 9:52 am,” he said.

    Meanwhile, the governorship candidate of the APC, Olorogun Emerhor, said his party had taken notice of irregularities and malpractices in some places and would be seeking cancellation of results from such places.

    Emerhor also alleged that ballot boxes were snatched and the denial of his supporters in some parts of the state from exercising their right, saying the allegations were being investigated.

     

     

    “There are skirmishes up north, we are following them up, we heard that a lot of our supporters are being disallowed from voting, ballot boxes snatched and such similar issues. We are investigating them, there is a situation room, some of these issues are being documented. We’ll make statements appropriately, at the right time.”

    Also speaking, the governorship candidate of the LP, Chief Ogboru, corroborated claims by his APC counterpart that voters who were not members of the PDP were not allowed to vote in some council areas in the Delta North senatorial district, which is regarded as the home base of the PDP governorship candidate, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa.

    “INEC is trying to conduct free and fair elections, but some people are trying to subdue INEC. They forced INEC people to subdue them. We are going to win the elections. We are confident of 15 LGs so far. We are making reports about result sheets being hijacked. In some places, elections were delayed because result sheets came late,” Ogboru said.