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Tag: dumped

  • Drained, duped and dumped

    •Federal Government should probe alleged exploitation of youths engaged under the SURE-P/FERMA project and punish the scammers

    Beneficiaries of the Subsidy Reinvestment Programme (SURE-P) who were officially engaged for community services have been telling tales of woe of how the Federal Government agency exploited their status as unemployed youth to dupe them, under the guise of bringing their sorry situation as unemployed youths under control.

    In the aftermath of the protests against mindless hike of prices of petroleum products in January 2012, the Federal Government had set up SURE-P as a palliative programme. The youths were therefore lured into employment by the programme shortly after, ostensibly to provide services such as sweeping, cleaning of gutters, traffic control and maintenance of government properties in all states of the federation and the federal capital city, Abuja. In the process, they said they had to pay various sums of money, in some cases amounting to N150,000 to some chieftains of the former ruling political party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Three years after they were engaged, some are being owed several months salaries. The worst exploited are those in Lagos. They claim not to have been paid at all for the three years they have been reporting for duty. They told journalists during their protest last week that the money they borrowed to pick up the forms and uniforms only deepened their woes as creditors have been tugging at their shirts and skirts.

    This is not how a country should treat its citizens, especially the underprivileged. The state is expected to wipe away, not induce tears. We call on the Buhari administration to probe the claims of the participants. In some states, accounts were allegedly opened for them by the National Directorate of Employment. This should be speedily investigated. How many such people were engaged? Were they given letters of employment and for how many months was money released for the project? If the participants paid for forms and uniforms, into what account was the money paid and how many received the uniforms?

    The beneficiaries also claim that as much as N350,000 might have been released on the orders of former President Goodluck Jonathan for each of them. It should not be difficult to trace such disbursements as there should be records in the appropriate government ministry or agency ,and where it was diverted by those who considered themselves high-heeled, they should be arrested, prosecuted and adequately punished. Nigeria is not a banana republic where anyone should get away with murder.

    It is bad enough that in Lagos State, they were converted to political thugs and made to do the bidding of the PDP. Alongside the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) operatives, the recruits were unleashed on innocent residents of Lagos during the last general elections. They were given paramilitary training which made some of the operatives to lose their pregnancies. This should not be happening in a republic governed by law. The perpetrators should be exposed and brought to book.

    Under the Obasanjo administration, the former Minister of Works, Mr. Segun Ogunlewe, used the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) for similar purpose by recruiting young Nigerians who were used as thugs to harass innocent citizens on federal roads.

    It is incredible that some people engaged by the Federal Government could be made to go without salaries for 36 months. This matter should not be swept under the carpet like the National Immigration Service employment scam that claimed the lives of many after they had been conned into purchasing forms. Till date, no one has been punished for that tragedy.

    The police, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission should be made to conduct a forensic investigation into the matter and a report submitted within a month. Those found to have been so duped should be paid forthwith, even if the project would be cancelled and participants formally disengaged.

  • Kaduna’s dumped projects

    Kaduna’s dumped projects

    Before his death, the former Governor of Kaduna State, Sir Patrick Yakowa, was determined to improve the living standard of the people. To ensure this, he awarded contracts for the construction of roads and other amenities that would enhance their well-being.

    He awarded contracts for 33 roads in the local government areas in November, 2012. The people of the benefiting communities sang and danced as Yakowa flaggesd off the construction of the roads after he had paid 25 per cent of the contract sum to all the contractors .

    Before they were paid, each of the contractors provided a bank guarantee. A couple of days after he concluded the exercise, Yakowa died in a helicopter crash.

    His Deputy, Mukthar Ramalan Yero took over as governor.  He promised that he would continue with all the projects whose contracts had been awarded by the Yakowa administration. Apart from the 33 roads, there are other ongoing road projects due for completion. One of them is the Narayi/Ungwan Maigero Road which connects Narayi Village with the new road that has been named after the late governmor.

    However, the10-kilometre Yakowa Way was completed before his death, but the link road which is less than three kilometres is far from being completed.

    Investigation revealed that any time Yero tours ongoing road projects, work will resume on the roads, but stops immediately he concludes his tour.

    With the slow pace of work on the roads and many of the contractors abandoning sites for a long time, there are speculations across the state that Yero has abandoned the roads, despite his promise to omplete all projects awarded by Yakowa.

    Apart from taking a tour of the roads in the Northern Senatorial District, Yero made little effort to tell the people why work on the roads has been slow.  Non-performing contractors have neither been sanctioned nor the contracts re-awarded.

    However, Mordecai Sunday Ibrahim, publisher of the Kaduna-based New Impression Magazine, has alleged that Yakowa’s kinsmen had abandoned the road projects after collecting mobilisation fees.

    In a recent interview, Ibrahim was quoted as saying that Yero was not the one that abandoned the road projects, especially those in Southern Kaduna, but Yakowa’s kinsmen.

    Ibrahim said: “From my investigations and observations, some of the roads were abandoned because some of the contractors do not have the wherewithal to execute the contracts. Some of them do not even have a wheelbarrow to pack sands, yet they got the contracts.

    “Some of them collected 25 per cent mobilisation fee and took off. The Commissioner for Works and Transport told me that he had meetings with one of the contractors thrice times, yet the man has not gone back to site. You collected public money, taxpayers’ money and went away with it. If the man who gave you the contract had been alive, I am sure he will not be happy with you.

    “The intention of the late Sir Patrick Yakowa is that both the contractor and community should benefit from the contract, but as it is today, like the Hausa saying goes, no bird no trap.”

    He argued that it was wrong to accuse governor of abandoning the road projects which he believes are of immense benefit to the people.

    He said: “Anybody who is accusing Governor Muhktar Ramalan Yero of abandoning road projects is not fair to him. This is because he has not abandoned any project. He has even awarded contracts for additional six roads which are also ongoing. Some are even completed, both at the Northern and Southern Senatorial zones.

    “For example, the Saye Bridge, Kofan Gayan in Zaria has been completed. People are enjoying the use of the road now. If you go to the 6.5km Asphalt road at Kagarko Local Government Area in the Southern Senatorial zone, the Marraban Iddah–Iddah–Bwari Junction that leads to Abuja, has been completed.

    “The irony is that the contractor completed the job within the required period with only 25 per cent mobilisation he received. The road was awarded at the cost of N584, 864,894.25. The contract was awarded on December 27, 2013 and the contractor moved to site in February 2014. The contractor confirmed to us that he was paid only N146, 216,223.57 which represents 25 per cent of the total sum.”

    He further alleged that Yakowa’s relatives were among those who collected mobilisation fees and abandoned the road projects.

    He said: “The contractor handling one of the abandoned road projects I mentioned is closely related to the late Yakowa. That was why I said if Yakowa were alive to see this, he would not be happy. Yakowa would not have tolerated abandonment of any project by anybody.

    “If he were alive to see that the road he awarded contracts for construction and his kinsmen are not doing them, he would be sad and even angry with them. It is no secret that some of the road construction works were awarded to Yakowa’s kinsmen. There is nothing wrong with Yakowa’s kinsmen getting the contract. But there is everything wrong when they get the contracts and they abandon project sites after collecting mobilisation fees.”

    Buttressing Ibrahim’s point, Kaduna State Accountant-General, Ishaku Shekari who pays contractors for works done and who is from Southern Kaduna, also dismissed the claim that the road projects awarded by the late Yakowa were abandoned.

    He said: “No road project has been abandoned. The late Governor Yakowa was magnanimous and wanted to empower a lot of people as possible and therefore awarded contracts to people who are somehow new and not known in road construction. A good number of them did not have the capacity to execute the jobs.

    “Those who have the capacity have since completed the jobs and are awaiting their payments. Those who lacked the experience are waiting for government to completely finance the jobs. All of them that were awarded these contracts were given 25 per cent of the contract sum as mobilisation fee.

    “If a contract is given to you and you are paid 25 per cent of the sum, I expect that before you come for anything, the job would have been at least 40 or 50 per cent completed. One of the jobs that have been revoked is that of Gonin Gora because the contractor has not done up to 10 per cent of the job.

    “So, what happened to the 25 per cent money given to him? That is why some of the projects are still at the stage they are today. The contractors do not have the capacity and so did not mobilise to sites. Some were waiting to borrow equipment from those who have as a result of which the jobs suffered. In fact, some of them sold the contracts out.”

    But some people from Southern Kaduna believe that the claim that Yakowa awarded some of the contracts to people who do not have the capacity to execute the project is part of ploys to exonerate Governor Yero and give Yakowa a bad name.

    Rev. Yunana Oganto told our correspondent that the denials were attempts to underplay the ineptitude and incompetence of the Kaduna State Government in handling developmental issues.

    Oganto, who is the National Chairman of Rich Forth Nigeria, a Jos-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) said: “The Kaduna State Government and its collaborators attempt to underplay their ineptitude and incompetence by adopting Machiavellian antics in exonerating themselves from glaring failure.

    Continuing, Oganto said: “Those who conducted the so-called projects investigation should be able to provide the names of the local governments visited and the lists of abandoned projects therein. They should also oblige us with a comprehensive list of the companies owned by the illusive Yakowa kinsmen whom they claim abandoned the contracts after collecting the mobilisation fees.

    “Unless the facts are made available, the purported fact finding is a mere calculated attempt to score cheap credit for doing nothing. Those who sponsored the facetious assignment have failed in their effort to launder their tainted image, as long as these abandoned projects remained uncompleted and deteriorating.”

    Similarly, Convener of the Concerned Southern Kaduna Professionals, Dr. John Danfulani challenged Ibrahim to mention the names of those who collected mobilisation fees and later abandoned the road projects.

    He said: “I read the claim by one Modecai Sunday Ibrahim who is not a government official. Modecai threatened to mention names of Southern Kaduna people that collected money and abandoned the road projects sited in Southern Kaduna during Yakowa’s era.

    “The statement is nonsense and detached from commonsense and logic. If truly his mission was to exonerate Governor Yero from the whole mess, he should have been bold enough to mention names and state the take-off grant given to them.

    “So long as he was courageous enough to pillar his empty talk with facts, he merely danced naked in a public square. As we approach 2015 general elections, there is nothing Sir Kashim Ibrahim foot soldiers in Southern Kaduna and party urchin will not say and do to cleanse their inept government by shifting the blame to Yakowa and Southern Kaduna people.

    While on tour of the roads across the state, Governor Yero threatened to revoke all non-performing contracts awarded by the state government just as he urged contractors handling government projects to ensure that they are completed on schedule.

    He said the government will carry out a comprehensive review of all ongoing projects across, adding that government will take concrete action against contractors who have abandoned their project sites.

    While commending contractors who have either completed their jobs or are in the process of doing so, the governor said the review is to ensure the completion of projects earmarked in the 2014 budget before the end of the year. He advised contractors to begin the second phase of the project which is asphalt-laying and completion of drainage.

    He denied allegations that he had abandoned road projects initiated by the late Yakowa.

    While speaking at a public function in Kafanchan, the governor said: “Our administration has not and will not dump any projects initiated by regimes before us. While we continue to allocate scarce resources to tackle numerous demands, it is imperative to ensure completion of ongoing projects in order to ensure prudent spending of public funds.

    “It will amount to wastage and retrogression if every administration dumps projects initiated by its predecessors and we shall not fall into such trap. In zone three alone, there are 15 ongoing road projects that have been earmarked for funding in the 2014 budget.

    “While most are at various stages of completion; our administration has successfully completed the Zonkwa-Yarbam Road, Tum-Madakiya Road and the College of Education Gidan Waya Road. Several other road projects have reached advanced stages of completion and these include Jere-Kurmin Jibrin and Kwoi-Kafanchan Road which has reached 74 per cent completion stage, Wazo-Asso-Tanda-Gegira Washout has reached 92 per cent completion stage and the Zonal Police Headquarter-Kaduna State University Campus Access Road has reached 96 per cent completion stage.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    “We have made a total allocation of N8.251 billion in the budget as funding for ongoing road projects in zone three this year. There are also projects in other sectors including education, health, rural development and water supply that are ongoing in all parts of the state.

    “I re-assure the entire people of Kaduna State that our administration is for all people, irrespective of tribe, religion or section. I am Governor for all the people of Kaduna State and for us; no citizen of Kaduna State is superior or inferior to others.

    “We are all equal partners in this project. As government, we shall continue to work hard in ensuring that every citizen of Kaduna State enjoys the right and opportunity to attain their full potential. I re-affirm that under my watch, no section of the state shall receive more or less than its fair share of all opportunities and projects that government has to offer.”

  • Soludo: why I dumped PDP for APGA

    Former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Chukwuma Soludo yesterday said he dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) so he can be politically relevant.

    According to him, the people blamed him for losing the 2010 governorship election in Anambra State.

    Soludo spoke at his home in Isuofia, Aguata Local Government Area, when he was registered by Isuofia Ward Chairman of APGA Okeke Anthony and issued an APGA card.

    He said: “Anambra remains an APGA land and therefore, I decided to join my people in a quest to transform Anambra State and Nigeria.

    “It is true that I have resigned my membership of the PDP and right now, I am a fully registered member of APGA.”

    Soludo’s resignation letter to the PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, dated July 17, was made available to reporters yesterday.

    The letter reads: “This is to convey my resignation as a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with effect from today.

    “Let me use this opportunity to thank the party for the opportunity given to me to serve in some capacity.

    “This resignation is without prejudice to the possibility of future collaboration with the party in any areas of common interest designed to advance the course of nation-building.”

    Speaking at his registration, Soludo said: “It has been a long process of consultations which dated back to January 2.

    “There is an overwhelming demand by the people for me to remain engaged in the political process and after all the consultations; I came to the conclusion that there was need for that

    “Also, there is a peculiar demand from the people for me to run for governor in November to build on what Governor Peter Obi has done.

    “We need continuity and consolidation on what Obi and his predecessors had done in the state, so APGA is a party that is a mass movement; it lives in the consciousness of the people.

    “I am not joining APGA simply as a vehicle to contest the election; I am joining APGA because I agree with its trust, objective and driving force.

    ” APGA is a big discovery. Being in APGA is a home coming for me and I have come into it out of the conviction that most of the people in the Southeast are APGA members at heart.

    He told reporters that he was not aware of any zoning and rotation formula in the APGA constitution.

    “This is a democracy, it is the people who will make the decision.

    “I understand our governor’s point and argument concerning the people of a section but again, this is a democracy and only the people will say what they want.”

     

  • Who dumped bodies in Ezu River?

    Who dumped bodies in Ezu River?

    HOW many bodies were dumped into Ezu River? Who dumped them? Why should a flowing river that serves as the source of water to many communities in the Southeast be polluted? These and many questions have been begging for answers since the strange discovery of floating human bodies in the river last Saturday.

    Controversy has continued to rage over the number of decomposing bodies found in the river. Some claimed 50 human bodies were found; others insisted they counted only 30 bodies. But official figures from the Anambra State government and the state Police Command put the figures at 16 and 14 respectively.

    Local Government Commissioner Lady Azuka Enemuo confirmed 16 bodies were found. However, residents said 100 bodies were recovered in Amansea, Anambra State.

    Ezu, a flowing river, linking several communities in the Southeast terminates into River Niger.

    A community leader in Amansea, Chief Benjamin Onwuanyi, said Ezu River derives its sources and stren gth from all the rivers in the Southeast.

    The river, according to him, cuts across Mmaku, in Ananri Local Government Area; Ufuma, in Orumba North; Akpugo-Eze, Oji River Local Government Area; Agbaogugu; Ozuu and Ezinator communities before getting to Ugwuoba and Amansea, in Awka North Local Government Area.

    Ugwuoba and Amansea are border communities.

    These two communities are border communities. Onwuanyi informed that the river continues from Amansea to Ebenebe-Ugbene through Awba Offemili, where it joins Ugwulugwu River and empties into Omambala River and subsequently River Niger and the Atlantic Ocean.

    Some of the bodies were in under-pants; singlet and out-rightly naked when they were recovered.

    Police Occupation

    The presence of 60 policemen in three patrol vehicles from Anambra and Enugu states, triggered tension in the community. The officer’s mission was to unravel the mysterious discovery.

    The policemen came in patrol vehicles marked NPF 117 C, with the inscription of Anambra Cobra Squad B Division; NPF 2347 C, with the inscription of Enugu State Anti Robbery Squad and an registered vehicle belonging to the Cobra Squad.

    The officers were civil as they made no arrests. They only interrogated those living around the area to say all they know about the mystery found in the river between Ugwuoba (Enugu State) and Amansea (Anambra State).

    Civil society groups

    finger police

    Up till yesterday, there was no clue on the masterminds of the act.

    The International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law (Intersociety) belled the cat with its sweeping allegation that the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) knew something about the shocking discovery.

    It urged Police Commissioner Bala Nasarrawa to unravel the mystery and sanitise his command, failing which the rights’ group recommended his transfer.

     Extra-judicial killing

    suspicion rife

    The allegation was made in a statement signed by the chairman of Intersociety’s Board of Trustees (BOT) Emeka Umeagbalasi and the head of publicity desk, Justus Ijeoma.

    The statement reads: “IGP Abubakar should also investigate thoroughly and conclusively the recent shocking discovery of dozens of corpses inside the Amansea (Ezu) River, in Awka, Anambra State by the local residents on January 19.

    “The river is located between the borders of Anambra and Enugu states. Since there is no known intra and inter communal violence or conflict in the area, it is most likely that the corpses were those of victims of extra-judicial killings.

    “More so when little or nothing is heard of the prosecution, conviction or acquittal of those arrested for their involvement in violent crimes such as armed robbery, kidnapping and culpable murder, particularly after they have been paraded.

    “They are rarely arraigned and prosecuted in courts. In November 2005, over 20 detained citizens were massacred and dumped in the area (Agu-Awka).

    “Therefore, every logical indication points in the direction of the state SARS and the Anti-Kidnap Squad as the source of the dead bodies.

    “The IGP should order that the corpses be pathologically investigated to determine their style of killing and circumstances under which they were killed.”

    Coming on the heels of the Intersociety’s allegation was that of the Anambra chapter of the Civil Liberty Organisation (CLO), which fingered the SARS.

    In a statement issued in Onitsha and signed by its chairman, Aloysius Attah and Secretary, Justus Ijeoma, the CLO said they were tempted to blame the bizarre incident on security agencies because of the knack for judicial killings.

    Making references to the wanton killing of detainees allegedly perpetrated by the SARS operatives since 2004, the group further alleged that the anti-robbery squad may have resorted to kill and dump bodies into the river because the area they hitherto used as shallow graves in Agu-Awka has been developed as residential apartments.

    The CLO commended the prompt response of Governor Peter Obi and condemned the hasty burial of the recovered bodies.

    CLO calls for probe

    It also called for a team of foreign pathologists to ascertain the immediate and remote cause(s) of the death of those found floating.

    The CLO insisted that local experts should be invited from other geo-political zones in order not to jeopardize the findings of the test, adding that the searchlight should be beamed on the security agencies.

    It said it was important for the authorities to determine the number of suspects released on bail, charged to court and those killed extra-judicially.

    The CLO statement reads: “The reason why we are worried is not far-fetched. Awkuzu SARS has acquired notoriety as the worst detention center by the police in Anambra where human bazaar goes on unabated.

    “On 4th November 2004, our fellow comrade, Ifeanyi Onuchukwu was detained in the line of duty as an activist. He later came out with a chilling revelation that the SARS operatives that same night at about 7.15pm mass murdered 20 able-bodied men in their custody.

    “The offence that warranted their gruesome killing was that their relatives were not forthcoming with the bail conditions demanded by the police while the cell was getting congested.

    “Also, citizens, Nonso Ayalogu, an Onitsha indigene and Chekwube Okeke from Nanka detained on 19th March 2009 for two different allegations of attempted kidnap and car robbery at Awkuzu SARS are yet to return home four years after, whereas, there is no record of court arraignment or prison remand about them anywhere. The list continues even now.

    “Today, people involved in civil matters and family disputes top the list among the detainees at Awkuzu SARS office and they pay heavily to regain freedom or else they are threatened to be “taken to Abuja” a euphemism for extra-judicial killing if they fail to comply.

    “It is disappointing to discover that mass burial has already taken place without efforts made to determine their identity and cause of death or to unravel the myths surrounding the dumping of over 50 lifeless bodies at the Ezu River, Ugwuoba , Enugu state, a boundary town to Amansea, in Awka North council, Anambra State. If we lack the expertise to investigate the death, why not involve international organisation?

    “I remember that when the headless and limbless body of a five or six-year-old child, was found near Tower Bridge, London, in September 2001, the UK (United Kingdom) police spent millions of pounds to investigate it.

    “When forensic tests, involving samples taken from the bones, linked the boy to West Africa and subsequently to Nigeria, officers investigating the case visited Nigeria in search of his roots. Now more than 50 unidentified corpses discovered and we rush to give them mass burial? Sad! Sad!! Sad!!!”

    Police Command

    absolves self

    But the Anambra State Police Command insisted that its men recovered 18 bodies from the river.

    Police chief (Nassarawa) said three of the 18 bodies dumped by unknown persons were selected for autopsy. He said his command decided to bury the remaining 15 bodies because they were decomposing.

    Nassarawa also disputed the claim that there were gunshot wounds and machete cuts on the bodies.

    The police chief said: “We have also discovered that there were no gun injuries or machete cuts on their bodies as being speculated and the bodies are not up to 30 or 50 as speculated.”

    According to him, a team had been raised to conduct the autopsy. Members of the team included the Commissioner for Health, the Police Commissioner in charge of medicals and other pathologists from Anambra and Enugu states. He said investigations were still ongoing.

    SARS won’t join issues

    The Officer in Charge of SARS, James Nwafor, a Superintendent of Police (SP) said he could no longer commend on the issue since his boss, the governor and the Amansea monarch Igwe Kenneth Okonkwo, have all spoken.

    Nwafor said: “Those in authority and with the power to speak to the press have already done that. I wonder why you want me to still speak on this issue. But let it be on record that anybody accusing SARS of being the brain behind the dumping of the corpses is not a friend of the society.

    “Those who want the old order and who don’t love the peace and tranquility now existing in the state are saying that. They are enemies of progress in the society and as I speak with you now we are in Owerre trying to resolve another robbery case.

    ‘’It is a rumour and misinformation. So, don’t believe it as we can’t do such a thing. I know everybody likes the peace now in Anambra.”

    He cautioned against blackmailing the police.

    Also speaking, police spokesman Emeka Chukwuemeka said that the command will not join issues with the CLO or any other group. He said the command has swung into action to unravel the mystery.

    He said: “We are concerned and everybody is concerned about how best to unravel the mystery and not frivolities. We should subject ourselves to empirical evidence and not noise making. Why should anybody apportion blames when we are looking for solutions?”

    Enugu yet to respond

    The Enugu State Government has not sent its officials to the scene. Its Commissioner for Information Chuks Ugwuoke said he was awaiting briefing on the matter.

    Ugwuoke said: “The truth is that I do not know what to tell you because I cannot start talking without being adequately informed about the matter.

    “I am not sure that Anambra has contacted us on what to do about the matter. We will issue a statement when I am duly informed.”

    His Water Resources colleague Charles Ajah said the issue of providing drinking water to residents required the approval of top government officials.

    He said: “The provision of alternative sources of water requires money and I have not been directed on that. It is only the higher authority in the state that can make that happen.

    “The only temporary alternative source of water I think the state can give is the provision of water tankers to supply water to the people.

    “The government cannot provide another river for them. As long as the river is flowing, it will purify itself. Sooner Water from the river would soon be safe for drinking.”

    Obi suspends UK trip

    Governor Obi, who cut short his trip abroad to visit the scene on Sunday, directed that all the the bodies be recovered.

    Obi expressed shock over the discovery of the bodies. He was briefed about the incident on the telephone on Saturday afternoon and by Sunday morning, he was back for a trip to the United Kingdom.

    He told reporters: “The fact that River Ezu flows into Anambra State from another state, shows these corpses obviously floated from elsewhere into our state. As you can see, the bodies are already decomposing and this shows that this incident happened some time ago.

    “But I do not care a hoot where they (the corpses) floated from from; I am worried that this type of scenario could be witnessed in our country in this age and time”.

    He urged Nigerians to respect the sanctity of human life just as other civilised citizens of the world believe that life is sacred.

    “This is a most barbaric and unacceptable development. It cannot happen in any decent society,” Obi said.

    It was learnt he had already contacted the acting Enugu State Governor Mr. Sunday Onyebuchi, to thoroughly investigate the strange occurrence even as he has assured that his administration had already begun a painstaking probe.

    N5m reward for informant

    Obi has announced an offer of N5 million to anyone who provides useful information that will help in unraveling the cause and circumstances of the strange incident

    Amansea community leaders and officials from Awka North council secretariat and Awka, the state capital, have visited the scene to sympathise with residents of Ugwuoba, who have sent a Save-Our-Soul (SOS) message to the Enugu State government.

    Concern over epidemic

    The council officials were worried over possibly epidemic that may be caused by the decomposing bodies since residents depended on water from the river for their daily chores and drinking.

    Igwe Okonkwo and his chiefs, the lawmaker representing the Awka North State Constituency in the House of Assembly, Mrs. Rebecca Udoji and council chair, Joy Enweluzor, all condemned the perpetrators of the heinous act against humanity.

    The presence of a police check-point near the river where the bodies were found aroused the curiosity of the people as no arrest was made.

    Posers for security agencies

    Some of the posers being raised include: Who gave the decomposing bodies machete cuts? Was it not the Special Anti Robbery Squad of the Nigerian Police that decongested its prisons of criminal suspects? Why would they dump them in the river instead of burying them.

    The lawmaker representing the Awka North and South Federal Constituency, Emeka Nwogbo, yesterday commended the Obi for directing the immediate drilling of a borehole for the people of Amansea to avoid the outbreak of epidemic.

    Nwogbo told reporters on the telephone that the quick intervention foreclosed imminent epidemic and health complications.

    He appealed to the Inspector General of Police to ensure a thorough investigation by the Commissioners of Police in Anambra and Enugu states into the circumstances surrounding the death and dumping of the dead bodies in his constituency.

    The representative hoped that the autopsy ordered by the governor will go a long way to determine what killed the people.

    He said that the efforts to recover the floating bodies and conduct a mass burial for them were in order.

     Youths bitter

    Youths in the council, under the under the aegis of Youths for the Protection of Environment, yesterday lamented the approach of the Enugu State government and its officials, who had not visited the scene three days after the discovery.

    A statement by the group’s chairman, Pascal Edozie commended Obi and his officials as well as the Anambra State Police command for the actions taken so far.

    He said but for Obi who mobilised for the supply of potable water and the construction of a borehole, Ugwuoba, a community in Euugu state and other communities affected have not felt the presence of Enugu officials.

    Edozie said: “But for governor Obi, who left called off his trip to London for our people, things would have fallen apart.

    “We thank him and all those who felt an epidemic was on the verge of consuming a people and reacted positively. But look at Enugu state even when the Ugwuoba people are affected, none of their officials visited. Not even a councilor and yet we said there is democracy.

    “We are unhappy with the attitude of the people and government of Enugu state against not only their people but against us because they would have come to say thank you to the Governor for doing a great intervention for their people and our people.

    Nwogbo said he would draw the attention of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to guard against adverse health conditions.

    Commending Awka North transition committee for supplying clean water to the people in the interim, Nwogbo said his motion before the House of Representatives brought a resoultion by the National Assembly to task law enforcement agencies to unravel the mystery found in Ezu-River.

    The lawmakers asked for a quick action on the identity of the bodies and directed NEMA and the Federal Ministry of Water Resources to provide alternative water source to the affected communities since the Ezu River is the only source of water for Amansea and Ebenebe and other neighbouring communities.