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Tag: Kogi State

  • We didn’t arrest Kogi gov’s aide, says DSS

    The Department of State Services (DSS) on Wednesday denied arresting Edward Onoja, an aide of Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello.

    The DSS said a media report (not The Nation’s) claiming otherwise was false.

    It stated this in a statement ‘Edward Onoja not arrested by the DSS’ signed by its Public Relations Officer (PRO) PN. Afunaya.

    It reads: “The said news (relating to the arrest of Onoja) is fake and misleading and should be disregarded as the DSS never carried out such operation.

    Read Also: NJC, Kogi State and Court of Appeal judgements

    “The Service recognises that the media is a strategic partner in nation-building and hopes that cordiality and mutual respectability are maintained in the relationship between them.

    “In this vein, it wishes to advise that stories are verified or authenticated before their publication.

    “It, however, warns that persons or organisations that falsely use the name of the Service will be liable to prosecution.

    “The DSS will, no doubt, continue to collaborate with all well meaning stakeholders to ensure that peace and order are maintained, not only in Kogi State but every part of the country.”

  • Encoumiums for Femi after feat at Masters Athletics

    With his impressive showing at the 12th African Masters Athletics Championship in Tunisia as well as the IAAF World Masters Athletics (WMA) Outdoor held in Poland, Peters Olajide Femi has yet been tipped for greater glory in the sport exclusively preserved for athletes already enjoying their Indian summer.

    On the fringe of the championship in Touron, there was a conference which reportedly was the first of such collaboration between the IAAF and WMA in order   to contribute to the continuous professional development of master age level athletes – those 35 and older-in a practical and interactive way.

    Hosting Femi recently in Lokoja following his medallion in Tunis and Touron, Honourable Sani Ogu Salisu, the Kogi State’s Commissioner for Sport and Youth Development said he was impressed with the performance of the athlete, adding the courtesy visit was mainly to bridge the gap between the government and indigenes of the Confluence State, adding the Federal Government through the Ministry of Sports should improve its funding for sports.

    Salisu further encouraged Femi  not to relent in his efforts at  making Nigeria  and particularly, Kogi State proud in athletics with a promise of using his wealth of experience at the forthcoming 3rd edition of the State’s Sports Festival.

    “I’m really grateful to the Honourable Commissioner for creating a forum for athletes and officials to interact and cross fertilize ideas for overall interest of sport in our great state,” stated Femi. “This is no doubt a good motivation for me as a representative of Kogi state and Nigeria at large.

    “I’m really grateful to the Almighty God for the successful outing in Tunisia and Poland and I can’t forget the assistance of President of Nigeria Athletics Masters Mrs. Gloria Obajimi as well as General Secretary in person of coach Urueme Adu and my coach from Kogi State, Mekudi Kaka who has trained me so hard to this high level of achievements.”

    Meanwhile,  a representative of the athlete and consultant, Tokunbo Omisakin  has equally eulogized Dr. Safiyat of the Nigeria Athletics Masters  for her assistance in sorting out Femi’s travel logistics to Tunisia and Poland respectively.

    “ Our athletes need encouragement and I’m really impressed with the efforts of  Peters Olajide Femi at the two recent Masters Championship in Tunisia and Poland but unfortunately his great performance where he won medals in the 100m in Tunisia and another medal in the 50m Outdoor event in Poland were largely unreported.”

    Speaking further, Omisakin  advised the Kogi State Governor, His Excellency  Alhaji  Yahaya Bello to give his full support to  the Nigeria Athletics Masters particularly Peters  Olajide Femi who has become a great ambassador of the state.

    “It is not every day that you have an athlete at Femi’s age with two medals and I’m happy that Honourable Sani Ogu Salisu is happy over his recent performances,” Omisakin stated. “This is a step in the right direction and I hope Governor Yahaya Bello would continue to support his drive in order to bring more glory to the state.”

  • Citizen Temitayo needs N4m to battle muscle cancer

    Temitayo Abayomi Lawal, 24-year-old, who is suffering from neurofibroma, a rare cancer ailment, is in desperate need of over N4million lifeline to carry out a corrective surgery.

    The Mechanical Engineering undergraduate of Yaba College of Technology (Yabatech) Lagos, who was forced to drop out of school as a result of his ill-health, has done over 25 surgeries already since the illness began over 14 years ago.

    The indigene of Okene, Kogi State visited the corporate headquarters of The Nation newspapers last Thursday, in company of his mother, Mrs. Aderonke Lawal, a widow of 22 years, who has beared the pain and anguish of attending to her sick son all by herself with little help from family members and friends.

    Temitayo, who did not betray the emotions of someone threatened by a terminal ailment, recalled that his ordeal began in December 2004.

    He was returning home from church on the 31st of December, 2004 when he was involved in a motorcycle accident, hurting his thumb in the process. Naturally, he applied first aid when he got home and gradually forgot about it.

    However, by mid-2005, a growth started appearing on the lower part of his leg, causing him severe pain and a visit to a private hospital in Agege, where he had the first surgery in 2006.

    The joy of that ‘successful’ surgery was however short-lived, as the malignant growth reared its head again in 2007 – barely 10 months after.

    This time, it came out on his left knee, causing him to undergo another surgery at Gbagada General Hospital, Lagos, in 2010. But much to the chagrin of son and mother, another lump started growing again in 2011 and he was advised to go for surgery again, which he did between August and September 2012.

    Again, the growth reared its head in 2013, this time at his groin, leading him to go under the doctors’ knives 18 gruelling times within a spate of three months in Benin Republic.

    The last straw that broke the camel’s back was in September 2015. Having had successive surgeries, which rendered his skin weak, part of the body was grafted to enable him undergo medical treatment.

    Unfortunately, the grafted part of his body started tearing in 2015, causing him to bleed every day. Again, the growth on his groin resurfaced, with its attendant pain and anguish.

    “I was booked for a surgery at LUTH in 2016 but as at that time, there was paucity of fund. In 2017, the pain became unbearable that I had to go to LUTH again.

    “The doctors thought I wasn’t serious about my health, as they said abandoning treatment that long was very risky. After carrying out several tests on me, I was booked for surgery since last October but the bill is just unaffordable for my mother.

    “Consequently, I have been placed on chemotherapy drugs by Dr. O. Bailey of Plastic and Surgery, LUTH since December last year. The drugs cost N30,000 each and I take it twice a month. So I spend over N60,000 every month,” he lamented.

    Notwithstanding the disruption to his life, the young lad, who has had to skip school several times, still managed to sit for his O’ level and JAMB exams, which he passed in flying colours.  He gained admission to study Mechanical Engineering, but couldn’t finish.

    “Nevertheless,” he says “I still have a dream to study Psychology.”

    Temitayo, who claimed that his family has so far expended over N6million on his treatment, lamented that it has been such a drain on the lean resources of his widowed mother, who until a few years back was a teacher in the Ministry of Education before she was retrenched along with others in 2016.

    “My sister and some family and friends have been very supportive, but last year the Living Faith Church a.k.a Winners Chapel where we worship, gave us N500,000,” he revealed.

    Forcing back tears, the distraught mother, said, “There was a time that he was nursing suicidal thoughts and each time I went out, I had to keep calling him. And if he didn’t pick his calls, I would call on neighbours to help check up on him.”

    According to a doctor’s report dated I7th October, 2018, issued on behalf of the Chief Medical Director at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) by K.O. Otuneme, Head, Corporate Services Division, a conservative estimate of the surgery which does not cover radiotheraphy and chemotheraphy, is over N3million and may last for over 48 weeks in the first instance.

    Mrs. Lawal, 52, who hails from Lagos, said her two kids are all she has and inability to raise the sum required to offset the hospital bills may spell further doom for the already traumatised Temitayo.

    She is therefore appealing to public-spirited Nigerians to come to the aid of the family.

    Members of the public can send their kind donations into the account number as follows: LAWAL ABAYOMI TEMITAYO, KEYSTONE Bank, 6024852610. Telephone: 07068992301/08165246556/08122205401

  • DPR issues license to establish Ajaokuta LNG Project

    The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has issued a License to Establish (LTE) for the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facility in Ajaokuta, Kogi State.

    The LNG project is being developed via a joint venture between Transit Gas Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of Axxela Limited, and Nigerian Gas Marketing Company (NGMC), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). The Federal Ministry of Environment has also approved the project’s Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA).

    DPR’s issuance of the LTE and the Federal Ministry of Environment’s ESIA approval are significant project milestones demonstrating the critical regulatory support for the LNG facility development. The project is on a fast track to completion as it recently received a Gas Purchase Order (GPO) for its feed gas from the Gas Aggregation Company of Nigeria (GACN).

    Read Also: DPR bans sale of LPG in shops, homes

    NGMC and Transit Gas have adopted a world-class development approach in collaborating with a global team of experienced Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractors, technology providers, and other professionals to ensure project delivery in accordance with international best practices and safety standards.

    The establishment of the LNG facility in the strategically located industrial hub of Ajaokuta will assure the safe supply of natural gas in liquefied form via specialised cryogenic trucks across Nigeria. The largest block of beneficiaries are commercial and industrial businesses in the North which have been considered stranded so far due to the absence of gas pipeline infrastructure.

    LNG is an environmentally-friendly fuel for power, process and feedstock needs that provides up to 40 per cent in cost savings, compared to alternative liquid fuels such as diesel.

  • NJC, Kogi State and Court of Appeal judgements

    ON May 9, the Court of Appeal finally decided some of the cases filed before it by former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Walter Onnoghen. He was vindicated in three of the four interlocutory appeals he filed. Probably the most significant of the appeals was the one that concerned the ex parte order the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) surreptitiously and maliciously granted the government based on which the CJN was illegally suspended. In the opinion of the Court of Appeal, the mode of securing the ex parte order raised some questions. Justice, the court averred, must not be shrouded in secrecy.

    It is surprising then that the Court of Appeal merely dismissed the appeal, insisting that no reliefs could be granted because events had overtaken most of the reliefs the CJN sought. No weighty, censorious statements came from the court concerning the prosecution team which in clear view of the world perverted the course of justice, nor was anything said about a government that should know better but which chose to base its perpetration of injustice on what is now obviously a conspiracy to sack the CJN. Is this what justice is about in Nigeria? Is this not corruption on a scale that beggars belief and shames the entire country? If the Court of Appeal found the ex parte order flawed, after dithering for months over the case, should it not have ordered a redress? After all, “Ubis jus ubis remedium” (Where there is a wrong, there must be a remedy).

    When the former CJN was suspended and a new one appointed in clear breach of the law, this column raised the fear that both the courts and the National Judicial Council (NJC), were embarking on a journey whose end no one could foresee. NJC, the column noted particularly, had become compromised and a shadow of itself. As predicted, a few weeks later, the august judicial body was called upon to prove that its behaviour in the Justice Onnoghen matter was nothing but an aberration. The mimic Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, affecting to behave like the presidency, desired to sack the state’s chief judge, Justice Nasir Ajanah, for no reason.

    Mr Bello had taken umbrage at the Kogi State judiciary for failing to embrace the state’s civil service biometric exercise and pay-parade scheme. He then proceeded to seize the salaries of judicial workers against the provisions of the constitution and extant state laws regarding the funding of the third arm of government. Dissatisfied that the judicial workers embarked on a strike, and unable to successfully unseat Justice Ajanah whom he saw as the face of the judicial revolt, Mr Bello petitioned the NJC, alleging that the chief judge had been indicted in a state audit report. It turned out that the report had been doctored. Meanwhile, the NJC is reported to be in possession of the two reports, one real and the other forged. But instead of acting on the petition and proceeding to bring the forgers to justice, the NJC empanelled some justices to visit Kogi State. No one knew whether it was a fact-finding panel or a peacemaking panel.

    In any case, this column rebuked the NJC and asked them to deal with the petition and let justice be served rather than make peace. Instead the NJC, just as it buried its head in the sand over the Onnoghen matter, has also kept the Kogi governor’s spurious petition in abeyance. In fact, seeing that the NJC was supplicatory rather than defending constitutionality and the independence of the judiciary, and preferred to make plaintive remarks about rights and obligations rather than upholding the dignity of judicial workers, Mr Bello became remorselessly emboldened to harass the chief judge, walk him out of a state judicial function, refuse to pay the salaries of judicial workers, and continues to create a regime of fear and terror in Kogi. All because the courts are timid and the NJC is hemming and hawing.

    It started with Justice Onnoghen, when the courts supinely surrendered to the judicial corruption enacted by the presidency, and has persisted with the NJC remaining conspiratorially muffled. Now the train has lumbered into Kogi. Who and where is next in the inglorious and provocative march to distort and corrupt an already weakened judicial arm?

  • Expose killers in your domain or get fired, Bello tells monarchs

    Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State has given a seven-day ultimatum to local government administrators, traditional rulers and Kogi Security Adviser to fish out culprits of the recent killings in some parts of the state or risk losing their jobs.

    Bello gave the ultimatum at a stakeholders meeting on security held in Government House, Lokoja, on Wednesday.

    The meeting was part of efforts to unravel the root causes of recent killings in the state and proffer lasting solutions.

    ”We must set good examples. If you are failing in your primary responsibilities of protecting the lives and property of your immediate communities, then there is an issue for concern.

    “You have seven days to coordinate, fish out these culprits from wherever they are hidden in your domains or I strip every one of you, whose communities are affected, of your jobs,” the governor said.

    Bello added: “For those who think they can be used to cause mayhem in our state, we shall fish every one of you out. We will bring you out to face the full wrath of the law.”

    Read Also: Activists task Gov. Bello on LG elections

    He stressed that Kogi was known for peace, adding that his government had given its best to ensure that peace and tranquility was maintained.

    The governor reassured the people of the state of his administration’s commitment to continue to work in synergy with security agencies to ensure safety that would attract investors to the state.

    He added that his government had been tactical and strategic about the issue of security, noting that he who “seeks equity must come with clean hands”.

    Bello, however, apologized to the families of the affected victims while appealing to them to remain peaceful.

    “I urge you to forgive. Do not take laws into your hands through reprisal attacks,” he pleaded.

    Earlier, the State Security Adviser, Mr Jerry Omodara, had warned the citizens to stop taking laws into their hands as anyone found wanting would be prosecuted.

    The Secretary of Miyetti Allah Association in Yagba West, Mohammed Mainasara, in his speech, claimed that 11 Fulani residents in the council were killed without provocation.

    In their separate remarks, Commander, Army Records, Maj.-Gen. Elvis Njoku, and Kogi Police Commissioner, Hakeem Busari, promised their agencies commitment toward ensuring tnat normalcy was restored to those communities, adding that some arrests had been made.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the meeting drew traditional rulers, security officials, Fulani herdsmen and administrators of the 21 local government areas in Kogi.

     

    NAN

     

  • JUST IN: Bello walks out Kogi CJ from state function

    Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello on Tuesday walked out the Chief Judge (CJ) of the state, Justice Nasir Ajanah from a function.

    The incident occurred at the Government House Lokoja during the swearing-in of the new Grand Khadi of the state.

    The function was attended by top government officials and others from the judiciary.

    Read Also: Kogi poll: Can Bello get second term?

    The CJ, who was said to have been officially invited to the function by the protocol officer of the Government House, was seated before arrival of the governor.

    However, some minutes later before the arrival of the governor, his Chief Security Officer allegedly approached the CJ and informed him the governor gave a directive that he should not be allowed to attend the function.

    The CJ thereafter left the government house and returned to his office.

    The development may not be unconnected to the face-off between the executive and the state judiciary, arising from disagreements over table payment of judicial staff.

  • EFCC’ll vindicate me of all allegations – Bello’s SA on LG

    The Special Adviser to the Governor of Kogi State on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Engr. Sadiku Abubakar Ohere has described the trending allegations of sleaze against him as mischievous.
    Speaking with pressmen in Lokoja, Ohere said that it is unfortunate that the write-up had found its way into some online media platform.
    He noted that it is however gladdening to read that the write-up had been presented to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), adding that there is no iota of truth in the publication authored by the Kogi Conscience and Liberation Forum, Abuja and signed by one Gabriel Enoh.
    He described the organization as faceless.

    Read Also: EFCC to arraign Naira Marley for Yahoo Yahoo on Monday

    According to him: “The write-up is false and irresponsible, as I have nothing to do with the published bank detail except the name of Honourable Engineer Sadiqu Abubakar Ohere, that bear little, but not outright semblance with my name. The misleading publication was a clear attempt to tarnish my image; alleging among others that Engr. Sadiku Abubakar Ohere has several bank accounts with whopping balances in all of them.
    “This is untrue and a figment of the imagination of the mischievous author(s) of the misguided publication.
    “For the avoidance of doubt, I want to put on record that my Union Bank account has been dormant for over ten years, while I currently maintain two accounts with Zenith Bank, out of which one is salary account with a balance of about nine hundred thousand naira (N900,000) and a savings account, with the same bank, with a balance of less than ten thousand naira (N10,000).”
    He urged interested members of the public to make their independent enquiry into his financial transaction with the banks mentioned in the write-up to ascertain their veracity.
    He described as fallacy, the allegation that he had engaged in corrupt practices with one Alhaji Wali Nasiru, DG Procurement at the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel, but that for one Chief Momoh Yusuf Obaro’s intervention that saved him from being sacked.
    “There was nobody called Alhaji Wali Nasiru, that I worked with at the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel, and that Chief Momoh Obaro mentioned, is still very much alive and anybody who is interested could reach him for clarification,” he added.

  • Father of Kogi abducted 5-day-old baby banished from community

    Father of the five-day-old male child abducted by two gunmen on April 11 at Ijagbe community in Kogi State, Mr. Tosin Ojuola, has been banished from the community.

    Ojuola, who confirmed this to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) during a telephone interview on Thursday in Lokoja said that the banishment order was handed to him on May 7 by the community leaders.

    He said that the order also affected his wife, saying that they were asked not to come back to the community until the abducted baby was found.

    According to Ojuola, the journey to the banishment came when he was summoned to the palace by the traditional ruler in the morning of May 7 and was handed a 10-hour ultimatum to leave the town or face the consequences.

    “My parents, my wife and I, were all summoned to the meeting.

    ”At the meeting, the monarch told me that the community leaders said that the village oracle (Ifa deity) revealed that I had a hand in the abduction of my own baby.

    ”Thereafter, they gave me and my wife a 10 -hour ultimatum from 7am to 5pm on May 7, to leave the community and warned us not to come back until our abducted baby is found,” he explained.

    He told NAN that he and his wife left the village at about 12 noon that same day with their two year-old daughter while their other four children were left behind with their aged parents.

    Ojuola, had earlier been arrested and detained by police alongside his landlord and a co-tenant in connection with the incident.

    His being detained then was also at the instance of the community leaders who claimed that series of traditional investigations revealed that Ojuola was behind the abduction of his son.

    He appealed to the police to speed up their investigation and unravel the mystery behind the baby’s disappearance.

    The traditional ruler of Ijagbe community in Mopa-Muro Local Government, Chief Amushin Adeleye, confirmed the banishment of Ojuola from the town in connection with the abduction of his son.

    The monarch, who spoke through his son, Prince Segun Adeleye, told NAN that the decision to banish Ojuola was taken by the Mopa-Muro Local Government Traditional Council of Chiefs.

    He defended the action of the traditional council, explaining that all spiritual consultations revealed that the “father of the abducted baby had a hand in his abduction”.

    Read Also: Kogi poll: Can Yahaya get second term?

    ”Even though Mr Ojuola had never engaged in any form of criminality in the community but our consultations revealed that he knew the baby’s whereabouts,” he said.

    Chairman of the Mopa-Muro Local Government Traditional Council of Chiefs, Oba Julius Joledo, confirmed the banishment order on Ojuola.

    Joledo, who is the Elulu of Mopa, also explained that the decision to banish the father of the abducted baby was jointly taken by the council, saying that Ojuola’s “action and disposition” informed the action.

    According to Joledo, the action of the father of the stolen baby when queried showed that he was involved in the act.

    ”The boy in question by his action admitted his involvement in the abduction of his baby but he did not admit by words or verbally.

    ”So, it was the Traditional Council of Chiefs in Mopa-Muro that jointly took the decision since the oracle confirmed it, and the boy’s action also showed that he has hand in his child’s abduction.

    ”His banishment from the community could be for days, weeks, months or years until the baby is found.

    ”It is not that we have taken law into our own hand, but it is the necessary step the community needs to take in such a situation.

    ”However, if he wants to come back he can return to the community but we will leave him to his conscience.

    ”We do not want the world to portray us in a bad light with that decision; so, he should return back to the community if he so wished,” Joledo said.

    Sunday Alumo, the Administrator of Mopamuro Local Government, told NAN on phone that he was aware of the abduction incident but expressed shock over the banishment of Ojuola from the community.

    ”I am hearing the news of his banishment for the first time. I would have stopped that action if I was informed.

    ”The community leaders cannot decide to take law into their own hands,” he said.

    Alumo asked for time to enable him to find out the real situation from the traditional ruler of the community.

    A lawyer, Joel Usman, said in law the decision of the community leaders amounted to ‘Double Jeopardy’.

    ”However you see it, the community leaders have no right to banish him because that singular act will frustrate any effort to investigate the case at hand.

    “The decision to banish him is not supported by law; every Nigerian citizen has the right to reside in any part of the country without any form of bias or discrimination,” Usman said.

    The lawyer, therefore, urged the police to investigate the matter and arrest the community leaders for possible prosecition.

    The state police command Public Relations Officer, DSP William Aya, described the leaders’ action as unfortunate saying that it was capable of obstructing ongoing police investigation into the incident.

    He explained that every Nigerian had a right to live in any part of the country adding that the community action might have infringed on the fundamental human rights of Ojuola.

    He appealed to all parties involved to allow the law to take its course saying that police investigation into the incident was still ongoing.

    NAN

  • Ramadan: Gov. Bello calls for peace, unity

    Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State has urged the Muslim faithful to use the Ramadan to show more love to their neighbours and pray for sustainable peace and unity in the country.

    Bello said this in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Onogwu Muhammed on Monday in Lokoja.

    He extended his best wishes to all residents of the state, especially the Muslim community, on the occasion of the commencement of the Ramadan fast.

    The governor also urged wealthy individuals to show compassion and extend hands of support to the less privileged in the spirit of the season.

    “The holy month offers another opportunity to all to be fair and just,” he said.

    Read Also: Kogi APC elders: no second term for Bello

    Bello described the month as one of the five pillars of Islam.

    “The month of Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam, with the month-long fasting, it is a period of total devotion, spiritual rebirth and an opportunity for Muslims to re-evaluate their relationship with God,” he said.

    He urged the people to use the period to offer prayers to God to bring about healing, repentance and renewal.

    “As Ramadan starts, I want to felicitate with the Muslim Ummah for witnessing yet another season of spiritual importance.

    “We have enjoyed relative peace in Kogi State, and I want to urge all of us to use the holy month to reflect and re-dedicate ourselves to prayers for sustainable peace and progress of our dear state and country.

    “This is also a period to show more love to our neighbours, the less-privileged and other vulnerable members of the society,” Bello said.

    NAN