The Nation Newspaper

Tag: destroy

  • Unknown men destroy church building

    It was a sad day for the Anglican Church in Anambra State, when unknown persons pulled down the Ebenezer Anglican Church, Oyolu-Oze, 3-3, Nkwelle Ezunanka in Oyi Local Government Area of the state.

    Though the Nkwelle Ezunanka community denied knowledge of the action, the Anglican Church authority accused the community of masterminding the demolition of their church.

    The church cited some lingering crises between the church and the community which, according to them, has lasted for over a decade.

    Our correspondent gathered that the destroyed building was an ongoing project embarked upon by the worshipers at Ebenezer’s Anglican Church in Nkwelle Ezunaka community.

    The multi-million Naira building project which was at its completion stage, having been roofed, was allegedly pulled down at midnight on Monday by unknown persons suspected to be leaders of the community.

    The crisis had erupted between the community and the worshippers about two months ago when the school premises, housing the compound, was de-roofed by a contractor suspected to have been engaged by the state government, in collaboration with the community following an ongoing crisis between the church and the community over the ownership of the school.

    Following a protest by the worshippers over the de-roofing of the school building, the community, through its President-General, Elder Chris Eluemuno, announced the ejection of the worshippers from the school premises.

    He also announced the suspension of all religious activities in the premises in the community.

    Reacting to the development, the Anglican Archdeacon in charge of the Church Building project, Venerable Frank Obi, accused Elder Eluemuno of being responsible for the demolition exercise.

    He recalled a meeting between the community, the police and leaders of the church at the Police Area Command Headquarters, Onitsha. The meeting aimed at brokering peace between the two parties.

    The meeting, according to the cleric, took place on Monday, barley 12 hours before the church was demolished.

    Describing the incident as ungodly, he called on the Anambra State Government to intervene in the matter.

    The church, according to him, as the conscience of the society, shall remain calm and await the response of the state Governor, Chief Willie Obiano. He also urged the members of the church to remain calm as God is in control.

    But Elder Eluemuno denied any involvement of the community in the demolition of the church building.

    He added that the church had written the community through the Headmaster of the Oyolu Primary School sometime in 1990 requesting to make use of the school building on temporarily as service centre which was granted to them only for the church to start laying claims to the school which, according to him, they were not part of.

  • Soldiers destroy crude oil tanker

    Soldiers from the Forward Operation Base (FOB), Ngwa High School in Aba, Abia State, have destroyed a tanker with over 66,000 litres of crude oil.

    The Nation learnt that one of the bunkers was shot dead by the patrol team while attempting to escape.

    The Commanding Officer, 144 Battalion Nigerian Army, Aba, Lt. Col. T.T Minimah, said the unmarked tanker had over 66,000 litres of crude oil illegally siphoned from one of the Shell Petroleum Development Company’s pipelines at Owazah in Ukwa West Local Government.

    He confirmed the death of a member of the gang and said the tanker was confiscated.

    Minimah said: “The incident occurred about 1:30 am at Owazah. The bunkers, including the driver of the truck and the conductor with other accomplices, on sighting my men, ran into the bush. This led to a short chase by members of the patrol team, which resulted in the death of one person during a shootout.

    “What you are seeing today is one of the successes of the military in Aba. We got an intelligence report that some people would vandalise pipelines and scoop petroleum products. We stepped up our surveillance and today, it has paid off.

    “We are committed to securing government property, and protecting the residents.

    “This is not the first time we are doing this. It is the fifth or sixth time. It should serve as a warning to those siphoning petroleum products. We have intensified our patrol and will ensure that we discourage people from pipeline vandalism and ensure that their illegal business never thrives.”

  • Chidi Nwanu warns Keshi, NFF: Don’t destroy Super Eagles again

    Chidi Nwanu warns Keshi, NFF: Don’t destroy Super Eagles again

    Super Eagles defender, Chidi Nwanu, who is now a full time Pastor in Belgium, has warned the Super Eagles Coach Stephen Keshi and the Nigeria Football Federation not to destroy the team as it happened after the USA ’94 World Cup when it was disbanded.

    According to him the downfall of the Nigeria senior national team actually began that time and the country’s football is still struggling to come back to limelight. He was of the opinion that more experienced players should be brought back into the team in order to fortify it most especially in the attack line of the team.

    Nwanu who was not happy with the performance of the Eagles most especially against the world Champions Spain told SportingLife from his base in Belgium yesterday that he was ashamed of the way the Eagles lost the game because of loss of concentration. He was particularly irked about the way the Nigerian team conceded the third goal against Spain.

    “I watched the Super Eagles match against Spain which Nigeria lost 3-0. I think they forgot to score and they forgot to keep their discipline either. They couldn’t make the goals, they lost their chances and they couldn’t concentrate in the defense,” he said.

    “The third goal that Spain scored against the Eagles was not supposed to be because everybody left the defense line including the goalkeeper trying to score. It was ridiculous to have done this at this level of a competition like the Confederations Cup.

    “I will say Kudos to the goalkeeper (Vincent Enyeama) because the Spanish team could have scored more goals if not for his efforts in goal by preventing many goals attempt from the Spanish attackers.

    “I think the Eagles gave too much respect to the national team of Spain and I don’t know why.

    “The Technical Adviser of the team (Keshi) and his technical crew as well as the welfare officer, if there is any in the team, should sit down and analyze how these experienced players can be useful to the team and how best they could bring some of them back to the team in order to fortify it. I know quite well that in all these national and international matches a team like the Super Eagles need experienced players in the team.

    “Let’s go back the memory lane. I don’t want what happened to the team (Eagles) after the World Cup in 1994 in United States of America to happen again this time around.

    “We came back from the USA ’94 World Cup and we were all disbanded despite playing impressively in the competition. So the players that formed the 1996 Atlanta Olympics were the team that played in the France 1998 World Cup and we know what happened then.

    “The Super Eagles disbandment in 1994 was the beginning of the downfall of Nigerian football then. The team was properly disorganized that time which is still reflecting in our (Nigerian) football up till date. The same trying is what is happening now in the Eagles. So we must try to stop this trend once and for all.”

  • Police destroy 140 explosives in Jos

    The Anti-bomb Unit of the Plateau Police Command yesterday in Jos destroyed 140 Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) recovered from failed bomb attempts.

    The Unit Commander, Mr. Abel Mbibi, who supervised the exercise, said the bombs did not explode but were discovered and defused by men of the unit in Jos and parts of Bauchi State.

    Mbibi said the IEDs, which were recovered over time, were kept for public awareness and identification by sister security agencies.”The idea is to educate sister agencies and help them in identifying IEDs because they take various forms and shapes,” he added.

    The unit commander said 90 per cent of the enlightenment on the bombs had been achieved and that there was need to destroy the IEDs as some had started deteriorating.

    According to him, the explosives were home-made and refined grenades, unexploded military stores (another type of explosive), compressors, gas cylinders and cone iron pipes.

    “Also, there are some devices inside vegetable tins, plastic cans, Coca-Cola tins and several others in different shapes,” he added.

    Mbibi said the destruction of the IEDs was a routine exercise aimed at saving the society from their harmful effects.

    To ensure the safety of people around the quarry in Zaramaganda, Jos, where the exercise was carried out, he said the unit gave several days notice, advising people to stay away from the vicinity between 6:30 am and 4pm.

    “We took time to ensure that nobody was close to the quarry, to avoid casualty as a result of the blast,” he said.

    Mbibi assured the public that the unit would ensure a bomb-free society.

    He urged the public to assist the police and other security agencies with useful information leading to the recovery of bombs before they exploded.

  • CPC to Jonathan: Maku ‘ll destroy your administration

    The Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) yesterday advised President Goodluck Jonathan to be wary of his Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku lest he destroys his government.

    CPC was reacting to Maku’s recent comment that National Assembly’s resolutions were not binding on the executive.

    The party said the minister is in the league of: “talkative Information ministers” that have used the position as platform for self aggrandisement.

    According to a statement in Abuja by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Rotimi Fashakin, CPC said Maku seems to have “penchant for stifling divergent opinions from the government he serves and invariably, his political party. It smacks of immaturity and political rascality for an appointed public official like himself to crudely lampoon elected representatives of the people, be it at the state or Federal level, just for the purpose of showing fawning sub-servience to his benefactor. Who does not know that the Senate resolution on the proposed currency restructuring was closer, than the Federal Government’s position, to the people?”

    The statement reads: “The Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) has noted the apology to the Senate by the Minister of Information, Mr Labaran Maku, on his disparaging comment to the Upper Legislative house resolution on the introduction of the N5,000 currency by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Quite aptly, Senate President David Mark had referred to Mr Labaran Maku as characteristically careless in speech.

    “As a party, we have noted the trajectory of Mr Maku’s performance as a minister and quite convinced that he, being caught in self-denial of his past radical posturing, is desperately in search of an identity. It seems to us that his current demeanour is informed by the expediency of retaining his ministerial portfolio as against the far more important conscience-based position on the national discourse. In January, Mr. Maku had dismissed Nigerians’ aversion to the removal of the fuel subsidy by declaring that the removal was long overdue” and should have been done by previous regime. President Jonathan should be careful of this minister if he wants to have a safe landing.

    “This was dialectically opposed to his position as President of the Students’ Union Government (SUG) of the University of Jos , when he stoutly opposed the subsisting government’s decision to remove oil subsidy and invariably increase the petrol pump price, by declaring the move as “a crime against the Nigerian masses and a war against the poor.”