Tag: Edo State

A hotel under construction in Idumoza community, Uromi, Esan North East Local Government Area of Edo State, has collapsed, killing its owner, Andrew Isesere.

The tragic incident occurred last Friday while Isesere was reportedly inside the building. 

His body was said to have been recovered from the rubble on Sunday morning.

More than 20 workers at the site narrowly escaped death, according to eyewitnesses.

Residents of the area told journalists they had previously warned the late hotel owner about the substandard materials being used for the construction.

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Andrew Inegbebor said, “The owner was told he was using low quality material. He used 12mm instead of 16mm rods for the pillars. There was no base basket at the pillars. Look at the result.

“The building collapsed because of substandard materials that were used. There was no engineer on site. The dead owner supervised the house. The house later collapsed and killed the owner but some workers escaped.”

Edo police spokesman, Moses Yamu, said he was yet to be briefed on the incident.

Some Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) at the International Christian Centre, Uhogua camp, in Edo State, have narrated how they surmounted difficulties to graduate from various universities.

Many of them were brought to the camp as orphans 10 years ago after Boko Haram sacked their villages.

Five of them were recently called to bar in Abuja.

Speaking in an interview at the camp, 25-year- old Philemon Obadiah, who studied Accounting at the University of Benin, said it was difficult for him to cope with classes after he fled from Borno State.

Obadiah said the brutal attack that led to his escape traumatised him for almost two years.

He said he failed at the initial stages of his enrolment into school but was encouraged by the teachers until his grades improved.

Obadiah said he hoped to return to his village after 10 years to help develop the community.

“When I came here, it was not easy to cope up with the studies. If I sit down in class, my mind will not be there because when the Boko Haram attacked my community, I got forcefully separated from my parents. I didn’t know where they ran to and there too they don’t know where I was. 

“So anytime I sat down in the class, I would be thinking where my parents could be by now. So all these trauma and distress were not easy for me to cope up with my education. But through the help of the teachers I was encouraged that everything is going to be all right. 

” Through encouragement, advice and counselling, I was able to pick up my studies. From there, I remember my first time result. It was all F9. So through the encouragement, the next time, I saw there was B and C. The other time, there was a mixture of A, B, C. Before I know, I crossed to the other class. From there, I saw myself now competing for the 1st position.”

Forty-one-year old Esther Maloko had lost hope of any formal education but the foundation helped her returned to school before secured admission into the Western Delta University where she studied Business Administration.

She said she stopped schooling at primary six before she came to the camp and was ecouraged to return to school.

“I hope to work in the business sector. I also hope to open my business, my company, to also help others that are also suffering like me, to bring them up the same way from out of their suffering.” 

 Alhaji Yusuf said he was 15 when he fled Borno State to Edo State and was happy to now be a graduate of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering.

He said he hoped to return to his community to contribute to rebuild destroyed infrastructure especially in the area of telecommunication.

According to him, “Coming to this place, I was only having hope of staying safe, like there’s no shooting, no gun, nothing, nothing. My education was not up to standard because of series of attack. 

“I started developing passion for school. And my passion ignited again. I came back after graduation to assist the school. I can see that the school lacks many things. One of the things is the labs, there are no equipment in the lab. We need support to provide equipment, especially for the science students. Because as a science student, it’s through your ability to think and innovate and what you see is very important.”

Founder of IDP camp, Pastor Solomon Folorunsho, said 180 IDPs in the camp have graduated from various universities.

“We have over 400 students in different universities and some are in some villages just trying to survive because I must tell you these are getting tough here. We allow some of them who who could not continue their education for a while to do some farming and some are also learning some trade, learning some things in different places just to get something to be able to survive because we are we having food challenge seriously. The population is mostly children.

“Few months ago, we had five medical doctors. Yes. Four boys and a girl who graduated. And they are all currently doing their housemanship. We have over 12 nurses and midwives. We have engineers like the one in Chicago. And this year, we are going to have over 40 to 45 graduates in different fields.”

Environmental offenders in Oredo local government area have narrated before a mobile magistrate court how they were harassed and extorted by thugs attached to officials of the council to enforce compliance within the locality.

A total of 78 alleged offenders were brought before the magistrate court.

But many of them told the Magistrate that they were harassed, intimidated and assaulted.

One of the victims, Mrs. Violet Akhere, said she and her husband were dragged out of the bus while travelling to her village.

She said her husband; Desmond sustained a deep cut on his nose during the altercation.

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“They stopped me at the Benin Airport second gate. They didn’t even ask who I was or where I was going. They just stopped and bundled me into the bus. If you want to arrest somebody, aren’t you supposed to identify yourself and explain the offence committed? Why does Oredo Local Government choose to use thugs to harass people?

“I was traveling with three bags, and they pushed everything into the bus while I was being dragged on the ground by those boys. Now I can’t find my bags anymore. Look at my husband—he has injuries on his nose.”

Esohe Aigbe said she was arrested in front of her house while three underage girls were in their nightdresses when they were arraigned.

The court however convicted many of the offenders but gave them the option of N5,000 fine or three hours of community service.

Many minors and those found not guilty were cautioned and released.

Director of Environmental Health Services, Oredo Local Government Council, Mrs. Blessing Ehiator, urged the public to be vigilant as well as identify genuine enforcement officers by their gate passes.

“We had an experience like that the last time, where many people were robbed of their money and phones, and some were even brought to the Oredo Local Government Council Secretariat before being dumped.

“That is why we now issue gate passes to those working with us. We want to educate the public that some of those involved are not part of our team. If anybody comes to you without a gate pass, know that the person is not working with us. We don’t want anybody to fall victim.”

Chairman of Uhunwonde Local Government of Edo State, Benjamin Iredia, has announced plans to host an economic summit in September: Uhunmwode Economic Summit to place Uhunmwode in its place of pride among other councils in line with the agenda of Governor Monday Okpebholo.

A statement by Iredia said Uhunmwode Youth wealth creation and skill seminar held recently was the first in the line-up of events, ahead of the summit. The event will bring together sons and daughters of Uhunmwode under the slogan -Aro Ogbon (a new phase).

The chairman called sons and daughters of Uhunmwode ‘‘to share ideas, contribute, expand their network and deploy resources for growth and progress of Uhunmwode.”

The initiative is a deliberate effort to redirect the narrative that places Uhunmwode as the poorest and least developed council in Edo, which the chairman said is shameful and unacceptable.

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“We will upturn the negative reports about by ensuring we engage stakeholders and the private sector because no one will do it for us.’’

“We call on all sons and daughters of Uhunmwode to assist in this rebuilding process so that we can all have a place to call home,” he added.

The Summit which will be hosted by the Uhunmwode Local Government Council is organised by Princely Reactivation Ltd, a Policy Strategist and Management Company led by Mariam Erakhoba Ilevbare Esq, a proud indigene of the local government.