The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Edo

  • Edo LG polls: Accord Party to sue PDP over fake results

    The Accord Party has threatened to institute legal action against the Edo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for declaring what it termed ‘misleading and fake parallel results’ in last Tuesday’s re-scheduled inconclusive elections in Esan North Esan Local Government Area and in some wards in Uhunmwode, Estako Central and Estako West.

    It said the PDP should have explored the court of law to contest the election instead of embarking on a fishing expedition by declaring the election results on the pages of newspapers.

    National Secretary of Accord Party, Dr. Samson Isibor, in a press statement issued in Benin City, said it was surprising that a political party which prides itself as the largest party in Africa could not obey simple electoral rules that govern the conduct of local government election.

    Isibor noted that it was the duty of the electoral body (EDSIEC) to conduct the local government election as well as declare the results and announce an eventual winner.

    He said the rejection of the election results and protest by the PDP was in bad taste and against the beauty of democracy.

    In the statement which reads in part, Isibor said: “Accord Party frowned at some Abuja- based politicians loyal to the opposition party who converged on Uromi, the administrative local government headquarters of Esan North East local government area of Edo State during the election with a barrage of armed policemen from Abuja and Lagos State to intimidate defenseless, voters at some poling units.

    “These Abuja politicians were said to have also held hostage some presiding officers who were reportedly threatened to announce fake results in favour of the PDP candidate, John Yakubu.

    “Accord Party recalled that other states conducted local government elections in similar manner in the past and there was no rancour. God anointed kings not by threats of force.”

  • Edo introduces ICT in public schools

    The Edo Government is to introduce Information Communication Technology (ICT) as a subject in public primary schools in the state as part of efforts to change the face of primary education, an official said in Benin City on Tuesday.

    The Chairman, Edo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Chief Stephen Alao, told journalists that the initiative was aimed at exposing pupils in their formative years to the best practices in basic education.

    He noted that as the foundation of the education, primary education should be qualitative for pupils to have smooth progress in their education.

    Alao said the present administration in the state is passionate about sound basic education.

    “There is no reason why all public primary schools in the state will not have ICT since government is determined to give qualitative education to the people,” he said.

    Alao said that the state government was also improving the quality of teachers in the state by training and re-training them.

    He added: “If we have well-modeled schools without well tutored students, of course, we are not going anywhere.”

    He said that the board was worried that some teachers were rejection postings to rural areas, promising adding that the “anomaly” will soon be corrected.

    The SUBEB boss said schools with too many teachers would be decongested as surplus teachers would posted to other schools.

    “The issue had been a major challenge to the board and posting will not be done to favour any particular local government area,” he promised.

    Alao also promised that the board would address the overpopulation of pupils in some schools and renovate those yet to be reached by the state government as they will be captured in the state’s 2014 budget.

    He, however, appealed to the authorities of the schools that had already been renovated or upgraded to take good care of the facilities

     

  • 30 arrested in Edo

    Over 30 persons were yesterday arrested during the conduct of the rescheduled local government election in Esan North East Local Government Area of Edo State.

    Among those arrested was a councillorship candidate of one of the political parties and a policeman in mufti escorting already thumb-printed ballot papers.

    The candidate and some of his boys harassed and seized the camera of Mrs. Adekunbi Ero of Tell magazine, who covered the election at Atani Primary School in Ward 8.

    Reporters were harassed and their mobile phones screened until policemen intervened and took the councillorship candidate away for questioning.

    It was after about three hours that the mobile phone was returned through the intervention of leaders in the locality.

    Previous attempts to hold local government election in the locality had been unsuccessful since council elections were held across the state on April 20.

    Esan North East is the stronghold of top chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), including Chief Tony Anenih, Minister of Works, Mike Onolemenme, Mr. Friday Itulah, Frank Ebewele, among others.

    Elections in the locality were relatively peaceful as the people came out early for accreditation.

    In the areas monitored, people were seen casting their votes, except at Ivue Primary School where the voter register was said to be missing.

    Commissioner for Water and Energy, Chris Ebare, said voting was yet to commence at Ivue because the photographs on the voter register were not clear.

    Some persons complained that their names were missing on the register.

    At press time, voting was still going on and security level was high.

  • 20 ghost teachers uncovered in Edo

    OVER 20 dead teachers that are still in the pay roll of the government were yesterday uncovered by the chairman of Ovia North East Local Government Area of Edo, Barr. Lucy Omagbon.

    Omagbon also uncovered a school were four teachers have been fraudulently receiving salaries with no pupils to teach.

    The council boss made the discovery during her physical ongoing verification of primary schools in the council area.

    She had lamented that the teachers’ salaries took more than 70 percent of the federal allocation accruing to the council.

    The council boss said this development had made it impossible for the council to execute developmental projects that would be beneficial to the people of the area.

    The council boss said this discovery was not only shocking to her but embarrassing.

    “What we discovered in this school (Obasoyen Primary School) at Ekiadolor area of the council is shocking. As you can see, this school is completely empty. We don’t have pupils here but we have four teachers who are probably going about their daily private businesses while public fund is being expended on these teachers,” she lamented.

    Expatiating, she said: “They know they don’t have pupils and more so that the environment is not conducive learning but hide under the guise of teaching when they know they don’t have pupils to teach. The supposedly head master of the school has turned one of the classroom to a place of worship. You can see choir band, pulpit, bands and chairs they use for their worship. This is a teacher, and he knows what the finance of the local government and we have a level 13, 12, 7 and 4 receiving money they don’t deserve. This is all too shocking.”

     

     

     

     

  • It’s now death for kidnappers in Edo

    It’s now death for kidnappers in Edo

    FOLLOWING a recent string of high profile abductions in Edo State, Governor Adams Oshiomhole yesterday signed into law the Kidnapping Prohibition Bill as recently amended by the state House of Assembly.

    The governor vowed during the signing ceremony that government would do everything within its powers to ensure the safety of life and property in the state.

    He said: “We have had enough laws in our statute books that provide for various degrees of punishment for various offences. I think the real challenge is about law enforcement and dealing with the problem of impunity. Laws will be worthless if we do not have the capacity to apprehend, interrogate, persecute and interrogate criminals and invoke the full weight of the law.

    “I am convinced that within the three arms of government of the legislatiure, the judiciary and the executive, we have a responsibility to make laws and enforce those laws in a way that would send clear signals to those involved in acts of criminality, whether they are kidnappers, armed robbers, rapists that the security agencies now much more determined than ever before to ensure that this state becomes too hot for criminals to operate.”

    Oshiomhole said most of the kidnappers are migrant criminals from neighbouring states and declared: “I want to assure the good people of Edo State that government is concerned about the state of kidnapping. We share the pain, the agony and trauma which victims of kidnap are all subjected to. But I assure our people that everything is being done to keep these criminals in check.

    “Having signed into law the death penalty, let me assure the good people of Edo State that as reluctant as one wants to be in matters of life and death, I am convinced that the overriding public interest dictates that we invoke the maximum penalty available in our law on those involved in the act of kidnapping. Anyone sentenced and convicted, I will sign the death warrant.”

    The Governor disagreed with those who argue that kidnapping is a result of unemployment, saying “no one should try to trivialise very complex issues.”

  • 35 roads sets for rehabilitation in Edo

    35 roads sets for rehabilitation in Edo

    The Edo State Rapid Response Agency said a total of 35 roads in the state capital are to be rehabilitated before December, 2013.

    This was disclosed to newsmen by the agency Managing Director, Engr. Mujaidu Dako who said work on the roads commenced last week.

    To this end, he said the sum of N250 million had also been approved by the state House of Assembly to purchase earth moving equipments, while N100m has been released to the interventionist agency by the state government.

    Dako noted that plans have also been concluded to rehabilitate more roads in the state capital in the first quarter of 2014.

    “It is our hope that these roads that have been listed for rehabilitation would be completed before the year runs out.

    “We are poised to ensuring that the people and commuters have good roads to ply and also ease traffic flow in the city.

    “We are just not limiting ourselves to these roads that have been penciled down for rehabilitation. We want to take advantage of the dry season; plans have also been concluded to do more in the early part of 2014, before the rains set in.”

    Asked why rehabilitation of roads were limited to the state capital, Dako said: “It is our wish to spread this intervention to all part of the state but for paucity of fund, our scope is restricted to the capital city for now.”

    While noting that quite a good number of roads have been rehabilitated by his agency within the last three years, Dako, however, noted that apart from the issue of paucity of fund, the agency has challenges of obsolete equipment.

    He said most of the equipments being used by the agency were over 44 years that were inherited from the state Ministry of Works. “For us to be effective as an interventionist agency in the road sector, we need reliable and modern equipment to work with aside the problem of funding.

  • NBA, others condemn Edo judge’s abduction

    The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) on Friday condemned the recent abduction of Justice Daniel Okungbowa of the Edo State High Court, saying the development called for serious attention.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Okungbowa was kidnapped by unknown gunmen on September 25 at Ekpoma, Edo State.
    The President of the NBA, Mr. Okey Wali (SAN), told NAN that the development was “worrisome” and that urgent steps should be taken to arrest it.
    Wali said it was incomprehensible why gunmen have suddenly resorted to abducting members of the judiciary.
    “The situation is really disturbing. I do not understand why their acts are now directed at members of the judiciary; this is indeed a source of serious concern for our nation,” he said.
    He, therefore, urged the government to ensure that a more efficient security network was provided for judges in the country.
    The chairman, NBA Lagos branch, Mr. Alex Muoka, also condemned the act, expressing dissatisfaction with the state of security in the country.
    Muoka said that lawyers and judges were members of the larger society, and that the spread of kidnapping should be checked.
    He urged the government to be decisive on matters touching on security, in the interest of public safety.
    Mr. Nelson Ogbuanya, a Nigerian representative of the American Bar Association (ABA), and first Vice Chairman, NBA Lagos, described the incident as a  “bad omen.”
    According to Ogbuanya, the abduction of a member of the bench only deposits fear and anxiety in the minds of members of the bar and bench.
    “The recent development is very unfortunate as it will only succeed in making other judges feel threatened to carry out their statutory duties.
    “I wonder if lawyers and judges are now being abducted because of the position they occupy. It is a bad omen which calls for urgent remedy,” Ogbuanya said.
    He called on security agencies to take drastic steps in forestalling future occurrences.
    A Lagos based lawyer and social critic, Mr. Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, also condemned the act, saying that it was “barbaric.”

  • Police arraign couple for visa scam in Edo

    A couple, Abdulazeez Umar, 50 and Hajiya Fatima Umar, 48, were on Wednesday arraigned at an Auchi Chief Magistrates’ Court for an alleged visa scam.

    The couple, facing a 13-count charge, allegedly collected N1 million from a woman, Princess Zainab Alamah, to get a Saudi Arabian visa for her.

    Some of the charges against them are conspiracy, felony, obtaining money under pretense, stealing and fraud.

    The couple pleaded not guilty to the charges.

    The prosecutor, Cpl. Andrew Edmond, told the court that the accused persons allegedly collected the money from one Princess Zainab Alamah between June and October 2011.

    “My lord, this couple collected the money at different times to assist Alamah to procure document for her to attend the 2011 Muslim pilgrimage.

    “The  accused persons fraudulently and unlawfully converted the money to their personal use, without processing the visa as promised,’’ he said.

    The prosecutor said the offence contravened the Criminal Code of the defunct Bendel State 1976, as applicable in Edo.

    The Magistrate, Mrs I.A. Osayande, granted the accused persons bail, each for  N100,000 with two sureties in like sum.

    The case was adjourned to Oct. 16 for further hearing. (NAN)

  • Gunmen abduct Bini traditional ruler

    The Iyase (Prime Minister) of Udo, near Benin, Mr. Patrick Igbinedu, was on Wednesday abducted by unknown gunmen.
    Sources at the Iyase’s Palace told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday that the monarch was abducted by some armed fierce looking young men.
    They said the Iyase was playing the game of draught in his palace when he was abducted and driven away in an Audi car to an unknown destination at about 6 p.m. on Sept. 11.
    The sources said that Igbinedu is the elder brother of one of the wives of the Oba of Benin, Solomon Erediauwa.
    Confirming the report, the Chairman of Ovia South-West Local Government Area, Mr. Morrison Oggunrobe-Ovia, said the council was working with the police in Iguobazuwa, the administrative headquarters of the council, to secure the release of the traditional ruler.
    According to Oggunrobe-Ovia, the abductors are yet to make any ransom demand.
    The Public Relations Officer of the Edo Police Command, DSP Moses Eguavvoen, could not be reached as at the time of filing in this report, but a competence source who prefer to remain anonymous, confirmed the story.

     

  • Ozekhome set free by his abductors

    Ozekhome set free by his abductors

    The Legal luminary and civil rights crusader, Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN who was abducted by gun men three weeks has regained his freedom.

    He was set free by the gun men who took him at gun point at Ehor near Benin City while traveling along the Benin City – Abuja Expressway  last month.

    It was gathered that the lawyer was set free along with his driver and children late on Thursday night after an undisclosed sum was reportedly paid out as ransom.

    Confirming the release of the lawyer in a telephone interview, the Edo state Police commissioner Mr Foluso Adebanjo said , “He has been released, I will give you details later”.

    The release of Ozekhome coincides with the abduction of a prominent traditional ruler, Chief Uwangue, who is the traditional ruler or Iyase of Udo in Ovia West local government area of the state.

    The abduction of Ozekhome and his being held up for three whole weeks makes him the first kidnap victim in Edo to be held for such a long period of time.