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  • Enugu inaugurates panel to investigate IMT

    Enugu inaugurates panel to investigate IMT

    Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah has inaugurated an eight-man committee to look into the affairs of the state-owned polytechnic, Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu.

    The probe panel named Committee of Inquiry into the Accounts, Management Practices and Staff Conduct, has Prof. Ed Nwobodo as the chairman and Chinenye Angela as the secretary, while Osita Onuma, Dr. Ada Nwonye, Lilian Ikwueze, Judy Nweke, Dr. Moses Otiji and Vincent Onyeabor were named as members.

    Inaugurating the committee yesterday at the Government House, Enugu, Dr. Mbah, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, said the committee was constituted to ensure a level of credibility in the institution, expressing confidence in the capacity of the leadership and members of the committee to deliver on their mandate.

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    The governor gave the committee two weeks to submit its reports and reminded its members that the state was counting on their experience to do a credible job.

    “The work you are going to do will set a new course for the institution and for the rest of the action the government will take in the higher education space in Enugu State,” he said.

    He said the committee’s terms of reference were to evaluate the legal and policy framework underpinning the constitution of the Business Committee; and analyse the categories of fees charged to students, investigating the methods of payment, designated accounts for transactions, and the overall management of fee-related processes.

    The committee was also mandated to assess the degree of adherence to pertinent laws, regulations and institutional policies in the selection and appointment of staff-members, particularly those occupying key positions such as heads of department, deputy rector, among others; identify and scrutinise all streams of revenue generation for the institution, delving into the mechanisms for revenue collection, proper accounting practices for remittances, “and the overall management of these financial resources; investigate any instances of undue financial demands imposed on students either by lecturers or the administrative body, regardless of the pretext used; explore any other relevant areas that may emerge in the course of addressing the aforementioned issues: and to conduct a comprehensive examination leading to well-founded conclusions and recommendations concerning the matters outlined.” 

  • Many feared dead as gunmen attack IPOB protest in Enugu community

    Many feared dead as gunmen attack IPOB protest in Enugu community

    Many people were feared dead In Ugbakwu at Eha-Amufu, Enugu, on a Sunday afternoon after a confrontation between indigenous people of Biafra (IPOB) and some gunmen.

    The clash reportedly began around 5pm when some the guunmen disrupted an IPOB gathering at the Eha Market Square beside community secondary school Ugbakwu with the aim of dispersing the group and making arrests.

    The situation escalated as the gunmen allegedly overpowered the IPOB members and proceeded to target the leader, Obiajulu Ejimede.

    According to eyewitnesses, he was the head of the group who stood firm for freedom.

    In response, a heavily armed security team, including the Police, Army and DSS, arrived in several patrol vehicles and launched a crackdown on the scene.

    Gunfire and tear gas filled the area, spanning St. Joseph Catholic Church along the Old Mba Road.

    Eyewitnesses described the premises of St Joseph Catholic Church as chaotic, with reports of violence and bloodshed, as fleeing IPOB members and the gunmen were pursued. The violence disrupted the environment, causing serious death and injuries.

    The incident started on December, 2022 at Eha-amufu community, in Isi-Uzo local government where residents discovered the bodies of residents with bullet wounds after armed men attacked their community.

    This made the community to start pointing hands and accusing Obiajulu Ejimede who was the main leader of the gathering, for organising the protest.

    He was involved in the protest to champion the creation of Biafra Republic but there was misunderstanding when the gunmen ambushed the protesters causing the military and police to intervene.

    They later opened fire, killing several of them. He died from a gunshot wound.

    The community blamed Ejimede and claimed they had tried to warn him against organising the protest because they feared it might result in violence in their community, but he did not listen.

    Read Also: Alleged money laundering: Court denies El-Rufai’s ex-Chief of Staff bail

    Armed plain clothed men have also allegedly visited the community to trace members of his family after his dead body was found on 22nd December. They have also taken some young men for questioning and are yet to return them.

    A source from the community said many youths have fled the community, which has become a ghost of itself because the youths of the community now fear for their safety.

    Among some of the youths that are running for their lives are Ifeanyi Asogwa, Afamefuna Ude, Obiajulu Ejimede son named Emeka Emmanuel Ejimede, Uchenna Umeh and Azubuike Okereke and others.

    A leader of a community, Ogbuabor Samuel, also confirmed the attack. “Several people have been killed, at least we have recovered the bodies of ten people,” he said.

    “As I speak to you, we are combing bushes in search of those killed. I can’t tell now the exact number of people killed as we are still combing the bushes,” another source said.

    Enugu police spokesman Daniel Ndukwe, confirmed the development.

    He said: “Sketchy report at my disposal shows that there was an attack, but the assailants were repelled by a joint Police and Army Team that is currently tracking them.”

  • Enugu: Clarion call on security agencies

    It is a fact that before the recent security breaches in Enugu State, the state was adjudged one of the most peaceful states in the country. This is even more so since Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi assumed office in 2015. Indigenes, residents and visitors to the state would readily testify to this assertion. To achieve this enviable feat, the Ugwuanyi administration must have done a lot in the area of security and others, which for its delicate nature could not be placed in the public domain. This reduction of crime to its barest minimum in the state attracted investments and investors to the state and engendered peaceful co-existence among the people, irrespective of their status, tribes, religions and political affiliations.

    Surprisingly and ostensibly for political reasons, some bad elements in the state seemed to be perturbed and uncomfortable with the enviable heights the state has attained in the area of security and others under Ugwuanyi’s watch. One would therefore be right to suspect that this might be responsible for the sudden resurgence of security breaches such as kidnapping and killings in the state.  Without apportioning or heaping blame on anybody, the killing of a Catholic Priest, Rev. Fr. Paul Offuh and the subsequent kidnap of the traditional ruler of Obom-Agbogugu, Igwe Sunday Orji and his wife in a quick succession along Ihe-Agbudu Road in Awgu Local Government Area of Enugu state is not only an indictment on the heads of security agencies in the state, but has put a dent on the state security architecture under their watch.

    Some have ignorantly blamed the governor for the ugly development and even went further to politicize and by so doing trivialize the ugly situation. That is unwarranted, condemnable and uncalled for. There is no way politics could be mixed or placed above human lives, not under Ugwuanyi’s government. This didn’t happen at the peak of the last general elections, why now?  So, those insinuating such or mixing the development with politics are pure mischief makers. The elections are over in the state and 2023 elections are too far to be a subject of discussion for now.  Besides, it is only those who are alive till 2023 that will play politics and nobody knows who will be alive by then.

    Meanwhile, it is public knowledge that governors being the chief security officers of their states are more in theory than practice in Nigeria. The governors’ roles are complementary to the federal security arrangement and this mainly in logistical support. This is where those always quick to criticize state governors whenever there are minor security lapses in their states forget; that the centralized, command and control system of Nigerian security, makes it practically impossible for state governors to take total control of the security situation in their respective states without undue interference from the powers-that-be at centre.

    This has remained the bane of securing the country since independence and nothing has changed till date.  Is it not in this country that the immediate past governor of Zamfara State, Alhaji Abdullaziz Yari, openly declared his readiness to resign as the chief security officer at the peak of banditry and killings in his state?  The only difference in Enugu is that Ugwuanyi’s government has been and is still very supportive of the security agencies in the state; and has from the inception initiated several people-oriented projects, policies and programmes that have kept the people engaged, happy and peaceful , especially the youths and thus drastically reduced the crime rate in the state.

    Apart from this, Ugwuanyi ‘s government in 2016 established the Neighbourhood Watch and equipped them to work with the security agents  across the state.  With the recent rise in cases of isolated crimes in the state, the state government has announced the immediate employment of 1700 forest guards and 5200 vigilantes to assist the security agents in securing lives and properties in the state and also announced plan to establish Ministry of Internal Security. What else does anybody expect the governor to do to secure the state? Do they expect the governor to chase away the non-indigenes in the state, especially the herdsmen? No, that is unconstitutional and unacceptable.

    It is the constitutional responsibility of the security agents to secure any state with the support of the governments. The security agents owe Nigerians explanation on what brought about the sudden resurgence of crimes in a particular axis of the once peaceful state of Enugu in recent times.  Is it that the barber does not know how to shave or that the blade is blunt? While the menace of the herdsmen and their expansion agenda cannot be ruled out in this case, conspiracy, compromise and collaboration among the security personnel, locals, politicians and criminals to sabotage the peace of the state cannot also be ruled out in this situation.  This is a possibility, unless we have forgotten that it was the rat in the house that informed the one in the bush that there is fish at home?

    The case in Taraba State, where some military personnel shot dead three police personnel from Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team, Abuja and freed a kidnap kingpin, Alhaji Hamisu Bala Wadume, who is now at large without clear explanation by Army authorities should be an eye opener to Nigerians on the role of some security personnel in aiding and abetting crime in the country. Also in Zamfara State, the state government recently suspended the Emir of Maru, Alhaji Abubakar Gika Ibrahim and the district head of Kanoma, Alhaji Ahmed Kanoma, after being allegedly indicted by the investigative panel set up by government unravel those behind the killings and banditry ravaging the state. There have been several cases of security breaches across the country, where the security personnel, the criminals and the locals have been found culpable. There are also cases where security personnel have forestalled crimes.

    Again, if the story as reported in the Daily Trust newspaper of August 7, that 25 minutes after Rev. Fr. Offuh’s murder along Ihe-Agbogugu road, money in his bank account was withdrawn through the ATM machine is found to be true, it means that his killing is more than the eyes can meet. Thus will be a good clue for the security agents to unravel those behind his killing and other subsequent crimes in that axis in recent times.  This is a hard nut the security agents in Enugu must crack well if they know their onions and want their image redeemed. To achieve this, they must close ranks, a eschew intra and inter security rivalry, materialism, concentrate on their jobs and work with the state government and people of the state collaboratively, closely and sincerely to ensure that the state is adequately secured. That is their primary responsibility and nothing more. They need to justify the huge taxpayers’ money being spent on them by the governments of the country.

     

    • Nwabuko, wrote from Emene industrial Layout, Enugu.

  • Phyno shuts down Enugu for hi-life fest semi-final

    Enugu born rapper, Phyno, thrilled audience to a show-stopping performance in Enugu at the Hi-Life Fest semi-final.

    Phyno had earlier met with the Hi-Life Fest quarterfinalists to offer them some motivation during their time in Lagos.

    The crowd, as well as the Hi-Life Fest semi-finalists, were thrilled to have the talented rapper in their midst. His performance featured some of his chart-topping tunes like ‘The Bag’ and ‘Alobam.’

    Following the performance, a guest in attendance who was seeing Phyno perform for the first time expressed her excitement.

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    “I have heard a lot about his performance but this was better than everything I was told,” she said.

    “Phyno really shutdown the show today and I’m so glad to have witnessed it.”

    The Hi-Life Fest semi-finalists also put in an impressive shift and it was a tough decision to pick four out of the six contestants of the night.

    The four remaining contestants now have a 14-day window to prepare for the final in Onitsha, Anambra State. The grand finale of Hi-Life Fest will see the four remaining contestants go head to head, with the winner earning the grand sum of five million naira.

  • Preparations in top gear for AMAA 2019

    Preparations are in top gear for this year’s edition of the Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) slated to hold in Lagos on October 6, 2019. This year’s edition has as its theme, ‘The Flow’.

    In anticipation of the show, the African Film Academy; parent company of the AMAAs has begun a series of events.

    And as part of the activities celebrating 15 years of the AMA Awards, the train berthed in Enugu, Eastern Nigeria, in May, for the AFA film training and symposium, featuring renowned Hollywood Veteran, Jim Jermanok, as well as the AMAA Homecoming Gala Night, which celebrated African movie stars from the Eastern Nigeria.

    The AMAA train makes its next stop in the Land of Gold, Ghana, from August 7 to August 11, 2019.

    The trip will feature a Soiree, celebrating the Ghanaian culture, and the stars who have made huge impacts and blazed trails on the Ghanaian movie scene. Travel packages are available for the general public who would love to go exploring Ghana with the AMAA crew, and it begins at N250,000 which includes a luxury bus ride to Ghana, five-star hotel lodging, city tour and exclusive ticket to the soiree.

    There is also a 400,000-naira package that covers a return ticket from Lagos, Nigeria, to Accra, Ghana available for those who would rather make the trip by air.

    AMAA, founded by Peace Anyiam-Osigwe, acknowledges the effort of filmmakers, actors, directors, screenwriters, cinematographers, and everyone else involved in the process of filmmaking all over the continent of Africa.

  • 90 military widows trained in Enugu

    Succour has come the way of women whose soldier husbands died in service.

    Ninety of such women who were jobless and unskilled were recently trained in various trades in Enugu.

    Through the facilitators of the skill acquisition, African Global Development for Positive Change Initiative (ADI), the widows underwent an intensive 2 weeks training in cosmetology, tailoring, bread baking and modern catering skills.

    The training was supervised and anchored by the Enugu branch of the Nigerian Legion and the Military Widows Association.

    Speaking during the graduation and presentation of certificates ceremony, the chairman of Enugu Legion, Barr. Emeka Igwesi said skills acquired by the military widows during the training would go a long way in empowering them.

    He stressed that the military widows were not actually looking for anybody to pity them but for the authorities to “equip them to be able to fish on their own.”

    Igwesi remarked that the military widows have dependants and were not ready to fend for them through begging and would also not allow their children suffer any deprivation.

    The Legion chairman was full of praises for Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu state for his interest, understanding and interventions in the plight of the widows.

    The international president of ADI, Prince Dan Mbachi explained the the training was a continuous exercise and assured that more of the widows who could not benefit in this training would be captured in subsequent ones.

    Read Also: 90 military widows trained in Enugu

    He advised the beneficiaries not to waste the skill and knowledge they acquired during the training and urged them to ensure that hardworking and success are their goals.

    The National President of Military Widows Association, Mrs. Vera Aloko expressed joy that the tears of widows of “our departed fallen heroes are gradually being wiped away through your tremendous support and unending contributions.”

    She said: “And as the Chinese say ‘give a man fish, you feed him for a day but teach a man how to fish and you feed him for life’ which is the foundation for which this programme is laid.”

    She admonished the widows to maximise the use of the skills learnt and be good ambassadors of the programme.

    To the Enugu state governor, Aloko thanked him for being “a husband indeed to our widows.”

    She also thanked the legion chairman for his ”awesome support” and prayed God to openly reward for all his efforts.

    The widows president finally appealed to government agencies, corporate bodies and well-meaning individuals to be part the noble gesture of empowering the widows of “our fallen heroes.”

    The Enugu State Commissioner for Gender Affairs, Mrs Peace Nnaji chaired the occasion.

  • Airport Safety: FG happy with measures taken by Enugu

    The Minister of State, Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, has acknowledged steps taken by Enugu State Government in a bid to improve safety at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport (Enugu).

    “We are happy to see that Enugu State Government has seen reason with the ministry to address safety concerns raised.

    We are appreciative that in the name of safety, Enugu State Executive Council approved the immediate closure of Orie Emene Market (abattoir inclusive) to forestall any tragedy at the Airport.

    We are also happy that the council also ordered immediate removal of all illegal structures encroaching on the land of the Airport, radio mast of the state broadcasting service, and Free Trade Zone.

    We, however, would be extremely comfortable if compliance with the above directives from the state government is carried out as soon as possible to give us necessary allowance to carry out repairs as well as expansion and extension of the runway.

    All these will better the lot of the Enugu Airport and improve safety a hundred fold,” Siriki said.

     

  • Another tough high-profile murder in Enugu

    The murder in Enugu of a senior nurse, Mrs Maria Amadi, one of the three high-profile killings in the state in two months, is a hard nut the police are trying to crack. CHRIS OJI reports

    The Enugu State police command is battling to unravel the perpetrators of one of the three high profile murders in the state in the last two months: that of Mrs Maria Amadi, head of nursing at Neuropsychiatric Hospital Enugu.

    N5m reward has been promised by Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi for anybody who can give information on the killers of the nurse.

    A lawyer to Mr. Afam Ndu, one of the suspects being detained over the murder of Mrs. Amadi, JMCC Ogbuka, has come with fresh issues as the security operatives continue in their push to track down those behind the killing.

    Mrs. Amadi, from Igbo-Etiti Local Government Area of the state, was murdered in front of her house at Trans-Ekulu Area of the state at the close of work.

    Ndu, also a senior staff at the same hospital, was remanded alongside two other officials of the hospital over the murder.

    There were reports that before the deceased died she mentioned the suspects, including four others at large, as being the masterminds of the shooting incident.

    All the suspects work in the same hospital with the deceased, Amadi. While the deceased was the head of nursing services, Mr. Ndu is the Vice principal, school of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing of the Hospital. The principal of the school, Mrs. Buzo-Ruth Maduka is also being held.

    However, speaking to journalists after he filed a bail application before an Enugu High Court for the release of Mr. Ndu, Ogbuka said it was against all provisions of the law for someone to be clamped into detention over mere suspicion.

    He added that a look into the police case filed with which the suspect was charged to court showed that the deceased gave no such evidence as was earlier reported, noting that it was actually the husband to the deceased that reeled out the names based on existing work-related issues between his late wife and the other parties.

    He said, “Based on this empty suspicion and unsubstantiated speculation, the applicant, who voluntarily came to seek for the bail of the Principal of the School was equally arrested and detained in police custody as a suspect in the case along with Mrs. Buzo-Ruth Maduka, who he came to bail and one Mrs. Stella Achalla, another staff of the hospital who served as the secretary to the former medical director of the hospital and presently posted as the secretary of the deceased before her death.”

    He added that the husband to “the deceased gave the names of 7 persons to the police, whom he in concert with the DPO of the Trans Ekulu Police Station Enugu suspect to be behind the attack on the deceased to wit: the former managing director of the hospital, Dr. Jojo Onwukwe, the PA to the former MD, Dr. Andrew Oronyigwe, the secretary to the former MD, Mrs. Stella Achalla, a member of the board of the hospital, Mrs. Kudirat Sanni, another PA to the former MD of the hospital, Mr. Paul Ugwu, the principal of the school of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing of the Hospital, Mrs. Buzo Maduka and Mr. Ndu, the applicant, who is the vice principal.”

    Ogbuka, however, averred that his client nor Mrs. Buzo-Ruth Maduka, whom he came to the Trans-Ekulu Police Division to bail nor any other member of staff of the hospital was seen nor reported to have shot the gun that killed the deceased in front of her house.

    On the claims that the deceased made confessional statements, Ogbuka said, “there is no fact, evidence, or statement whatsoever from any eye witness of the incident of the shooting of the deceased in the police case file.”

    He added that one Mr. John Ali, a neighbour to the deceased, who took her to the hospital, and medical staff that attended to her at the Enugu State University Teaching Hospital, Parklane, clearly stated that the deceased had no contact with the police as earlier claimed.

    Ogbuka quoted Ali as saying that as soon as he got to the police station, “the DPO hurriedly asked him to proceed with the deceased to any nearby hospital for an immediate medical attention, which he did.”

    He noted further that “the deceased did not have any contact with the police at the Trans-Ekulu Police Division Enugu nor at the Parklane Hospital, Enugu.”

    Declaring that the arrest and incarceration of the suspect was only hinged on some misunderstandings in their workplace, he said “the suspicion against the applicant in this case is only actuated by sheer emotional feelings and anchored upon a rock of existing malice and mischief that is devoid of any fact to substantiate it.”

    And the association of graduate nurses in the hospital rose to the defence of their detained colleagues.

    In a lengthy statement made available to Southeast Report, they absolved their detained colleagues of complicity in the murder.

    “Contrary to the rumour making the rounds that some suspected and remanded employees of Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital Enugu (FNHE) had a hand in the murder of Nurse Maria Amadi (PhD), emerging information reveals that the abominable act might have been committed by armed robbers.

    The information was availed by Evangelist Tochukwu Obiora (alias Iko Nso), who disclosed he is the Assistant State Commander of Enugu State Neighborhood Watch, to the University Graduates of Nursing Science Association (UGONSA), the professional association of nurses with a minimum qualification of first degree in nursing. UGONSA has been urging those with useful information regarding the gruesome murder of the late nurse to come forth with such for the interest of justice to the late nurse and the entire nursing community. The Enugu State Secretary of the Association (UGONSA), Nurse Nwodoh Chijioke Oliver in the company of the National Secretary, Nurse Nshi Goodluck Ikechukwu, had visited Evangelist Tochukwu Obiora on Thursday, May 2, 2019 and on Monday, May 6, 2019, at Ugboye in Abakpa-Nike Enugu, where they got the useful information concerning where the focus of security agencies should be at to possibly unravel the truth about Nurse Amadi’s gruesome murder.

    Evangelist Tochukwu Obiora, as a top-notch leader of Enugu State Neighborhood Watch, does not only cover the Trans-Ekulu axis where Nurse Maria Amadi was murdered, he is also the Chief Security Officer (CSO) of Ugboye and Ugbowa neighbourhood Watch in Abakpa-Nike, Enugu and has been a frontline neighbourhood security officer of Enugu State for the past 21 years.

    Evangelist Obiora opined that the story about the involvement of some employees of the Federal

    Neuropsychiatric Hospital Enugu (FNHE) in the murder of Nurse Amadi (for which some of them are presently incarcerated in Enugu prison) looks like a fabrication made by some workers to get at their fellow workers who they have had one case or the other with (one of which is still pending in a law court) following the protracted crisis that has been rocking the hospital.

    According to him, the intelligence he had so far gathered is strongly narrowing his suspicion to a gang of armed robbers that have been terrorizing Trans-Ekulu recentlye as those behind the unfortunate criminal mischief that befell Nurse Amadi.

    “Before her incidence, I submitted intelligence report to the police that the area has been marked for indiscriminate attacks by a certain gang over an issue they had with the Trans-Ekulu police and for which they had vowed to make Trans-Ekulu boil” (i.e., “casting the area” – a term used by criminal gangs to portray spoiling show for people, police, in this case). “I made the intelligence report to the police to help forestall impending criminal activities in the area but the effort they have so far made seems not enough to nip such in the bud” said Evangelist Obiora (Iko Nso).

    Continuing, Evangelist Obiora said, “Since the atrocious murder of the woman by this suspected gang of armed robbers, the same group had continued to terrorize Trans-Ekulu/Abakpa axis and had carried out several armed robbery attacks and equally murdered other people in the same area the woman was murdered. Since March till date, Trans-Ekulu/Abakpa axis of Enugu East LGA where this gang operates in has not had peace”.

    “When some members of the gang were apprehended, instead of uncovering their involvement in the murder of the nurse, for which I had tipped them off, the Police later released them without establishing their link to it, reason for which I am yet to understand”.

    “My submission remains that the murder has nothing to do with the workers of the FNHE, who were arrested and detained on the allegation that the murdered woman reported before her demise that, they were the ones that sent assassins to kill her. This case does not look like that of assassins at all.

    “Common security sense tells me that assassins would not shoot on the leg, the tummy or the shoulder, as was reported in this case, but would aim for the head or chest and would have ensured that the woman was confirmed dead before zooming off especially giving the consideration that they operated freely unchallenged by any security operative while their atrocious act lasted. If not, why have they not arrested even one of the alleged ‘assassins’ till now”?

    “I know the right people to suspect as the murderers; they are a gang of robbers and cultists. I am very ready to testify anywhere I am called to come and testify. I have the intelligence that the robbers/killers took off from Ugbowa in Abakpa-Nike and what looks like an affirmation to my submission is that one of them had regretted their action in an open place” – Evangelist Obiora added.

    Evangelist Obiora further questioned the veracity of the rumour that Late Nurse Maria Amadi

    mentioned the name of some persons as suspects in her case, after she was shot, either in the police station or in the hospital (to any doctor or nurse that was involved in her treatment) or to the person that brought her to the hospital, as mounting evidence does not lay credence to such.

    This query was in line with the independent findings of members of UGONSA, Enugu State Chapter, in an investigation led by Nurse Andalyn Iheagu and Nurse (Barr.) Onuh Beatrice Akudo who had visited the doctors and nurses that participated in her treatment, the police station where she was taken to, and the person that took her to both the police station and the hospital following the gun shot and all confirmed the she never mentioned any person’s name.

    Evangelist Obiora challenged those propagating the rumor that the deceased mentioned some people’s name in a statement she made to the police and to the doctors and nurses that attended to her in ESUTH Teaching Hospital, Parklane, to name the officers or the doctors or nurses to whom such statement was made to.

    “To use the unfortunate incident of the gruesome murder of Nurse Maria Amadi (one of the finest professional Nigerian nurses) by some workers in the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital Enugu as an avenue to nail other workers they had issues with was preposterous especially as the whims of being on the deceased’s side should be altruistic inclination to unraveling the real truth and culprits behind her gruesome murder rather than playing primordial politics of attrition” – Evangelist Obiora submitted.

    Speaking to a group of journalist on Monday, May 6, 2019, at Enugu, after the mind blowing revelation made by Evangelist Obiora, Nurse Nwodoh Chijioke Oliver (the Enugu State Secretary of UGONSA) and Nurse Nshi Goodluck Ikechukwu (the National Secretary of UGONSA) strongly condemned the killing of Nurse Maria Amadi and averred that such a dastardly and barbaric act has left the heart of the nursing community shattered.

    According to them, what UGONSA, as an association demands, is a real justice anchored on verifiable truth and not a hearsay or token justice rooted on sentiments and vendetta.

    “We in the nursing community are critically hit by the unfortunate incident because the deceased is a nurse and two out of the three persons that are currently incarcerated in Enugu Prison are nurses. The persons that are currently in detention were arrested on the premise that the late Nurse Amadi made a statement in which she mentioned their names as her killers but investigations have revealed that she never mentioned any person’s name”.

    “Our hearts bleed the more because we are like a father whose daughter was murdered and when he cried out that the murderers should be hunted and brought to book, his remaining daughter and son were, instead, accused of being the killers of their sister over unverifiable stories and thus got arrested and incarcerated”.

    “Since it has been verily established that late Nurse Maria Amadi never mentioned the names of  anybody as her killers or as people that sent assassins to kill her, we demand that the people that are currently in detention over the allegation that she mentioned their names be forthwith released while investigation should be extended to unravel the rightful culprits.”

  • Why Anambra, Enugu, Kogi can’t be declared oil bearing states, by DPR

    The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) yesterday said that Anambra, Enugu and Kogi states can only join the list of oil producing states after meeting necessary conditions.

    In a letter to the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Upstream), the DPR said that the three states could only be declared oil bearing states if the oil firm in the area, Orient Oil, scales up its operations from oil prospecting to oil mining lease.

    The Department insisted that the states cannot be categorised as oil producing states for now because they have not met the necessary requirements.

    Chairman of the Committee, Senator Tayo Alasoadura, said the issue at stake has to do with a referral to the committee on the contentious boundary between the three states.

    He noted that a report that said “the Federal Government confirms Anambra oil producing ‎status” threw up the matter to the front burner.

    Alasoadura said his committee lacked the power to declare an oil-producing status on a state.

    He said that the committee believed that the agency is in the best position to settle the matter with the National Boundary Commission (NBC).

    The Ondo Central senator said the committee wrote to the DPR “but their response was not quite satisfactory.”

    That is why we want to hear from your commission.

    He noted that the committee decided to hear from the National Boundary Commission because “when we had a similar issue in Ondo State in the past, it was your commission that resolved it.”

    Senator Chukwuka Utazi (Enugu North) noted that the issue of OPL 915 and 916 dated back to antiquity.

    Utazi said: “I didn’t know that this motion would come up, because we had already resolved the issue when Senator Isaac Mohammed Alfa was away.

    “Kogi and Enugu states do not have problem; the two are in agreement. But Enugu and Anambra are not in agreement.

    “We in Enugu want to be declared as oil producing state too. Let that be done pending when the boundary commission finishes its work.”

    He added that Orient Oil, within seven years, moved from 3,000 to 10,000 barrels a day.

    According to him, “an oil company that had been able to move from 3,000 to 10,000 barrels per day should have graduated from oil prospecting to oil mining lease.”

    He said that they would go to the DPR to find out why Orient Oil refused to move from oil prospecting to oil mining lease.”

    Senator Alfa said there was no contention on the desire to recognise the affected communities as oil producing communities.

    Acting Director-General of the National Boundary Commission, Adamu Adaji said that the issue is a tripartite one involving the three states.

    He said: “We carried out preliminary field work on Kogi-Anambra boundary, but the challenge we have is the document we are using, which was produced before independence.

    “We had to use a provincial boundary map produced by the colonial masters. We discovered that the descriptions on the map are not too clear.

    “We scaled out seven points, and about five of them were discovered, but the remaining two resisted.

    “Some youths from Ibaji community accosted our staff at some point that they will not agree with the legal document we were using. We are relying on Legal Instrument of 1954.

    “The work was stalled because the people of Ibaji were of the view that we must identify the points between Anambra, Kogi and Enugu before we could do anything.

    “When we made an attempt in 2015, our effort was aborted. We met with the then governor of Kogi State and he promised to talk to the community to cooperate with us.

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    “What we want now is to get the states to cooperate so that we can work. The three states were not quite forthcoming for us to do the job. That is what we have been trying to do now.

    “If we cannot rely on the map, we plead that the states should cooperate for us to come to a boundary that is acceptable to all.”

    Senator Magnus Abe noted that from what the commission said, “it’s already doing something, but the problem is except the commission does what some people want, the work can’t be done. Except there is the right atmosphere for them to work, nothing can be done.”

    Abe suggested that the only way the issue could be resolved is for the committee to invite the states to come and “we set up a joint team with the boundary commission so that we can have adequate security ‎before they can go and do their job.

    “Now that there is oil there, the next thing you may have is that the people will start acquiring guns and start shooting themselves.”

    Senator Gershom Bassey said that the National Boundary Commission cannot completely be exonerated from the blame. He noted that in his state, Cross River, “there have been communal clashes because the commission has not done its job.

    Philip Gyunka said that it appeared the commission does not want to hurt some communities.

    “I want to advise here that whatever you think can solve the problem, please try and do it.”

    Alasoadura, however, explained that the Boundary Commission cannot do anything without the cooperation of the states.

    States, he said, should also establish their own boundary commissions so that they can work directly with the NBC.

     

  • S/East APC to Oshiomhole: revisit zoning of N/A offices

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) South East zone Stakeholders rose from a meeting Saturday in Enugu with a call to the national leadership of the party to revisit the subsisting zoning of principal offices in the 9th National Assembly in a more equitable manner that would accord more deserving positions to the South East zone.

    This, they said, was with recourse to the consideration that the country rests on the six geopolitical zones of South East, South-South, South West, North Central, North East and North West.

    In a communique read by the national vice chairman of the party, South East, Hon Emma Eneukwu, the stakeholders urged the national leadership of the party to draw strength from the need “to utilize the zoning of principal offices in the 9th National Assembly to further deepen and strengthen the electoral appeal of the party, especially in parts of the country where it may be considered as weak.”

    They admonished that at all times it should be borne in mind that since democracy is a dynamic process, the party should remain a truly national political party with broad based support in all parts of the country, the South East inclusive.

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    The stakeholders deplored in strong terms, what they called “the undue interference and unwholesome meddlesomeness by forces by forces from outside the zone in the affairs of the South East of our great party aimed at fictionalising and destabilizing the party in the zone.”

    Present at the meeting include the minister for Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu; the minister for Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige; VON DG, Osita Okechukwu; Hon Nkeiru Onyejeocha and Hon Chile Okafor both aspirants to the Speakership of the House of Representatives.

    Others include Senator Chris Adighije, Senator elect Orji Uzor Kalu, Chief Uche Ogah, General J. O. J. Okoloagu (rtd), Dr Emeka Worgu, and a host of others.

    The stakeholders at the end set up a contact (lobby) committee to reach out to other zones of the country regards to their demand.

    The committee is headed by Dr Ogbonnaya Onu. Others include Dr Chris Ngige, Geoffrey Onyeama, Azubuike Udah, Senator Chris Nwankwo, Mrs. Ugo Okoye and Hon Austin Chukwukere.

    A reconciliation committee was also set up to be headed by Emeka Worgu while Sunny Onyeukwu would serve as secretary.