The Nation Newspaper

Tag: KOGI

  • Court orders Kogi to pay civil servant’s salary

    The National Industrial Court, Abuja, on Friday ordered the Kogi Government to pay a civil servant, Ameh Onoj, whose salary was stopped  in March 2014.

    Onoja had approached the court to seek redress when he was told that his salary was stopped because he had attained the compulsory retirement age.

    Justice David Isele in his judgment, held that evidence before the court showed that the claimant had not reached the mandatory retirement age of 60.

    Isele also said neither has the claimant spent 35 years in service as required by civil service rule before retirement.

    The court went further to order the restoration of the claimant’s monthly salary of N153,298 from March, 2014 till date within one month.

    Daniel Onuh, the claimant’s counsel told the court that his client was born on Oct. 1, 1960.

    Read Also: Court orders display of guns allegedly recovered from Dasuki’s house

    Onuh also said the claimant joined the civil service in 1983 as a class teacher with the Benue government and in 1995 transferred his service to Kogi.

    Onuh said his client is still serving as the Vice Principal ( Academics ) of Ogugu Community Secondary School, in Olamaboro Local Govt. Area of Kogi State.

    He said since no disciplinary action has been instituted against the claimant for any misconduct, and he has not received any dismissal letter, he is entitled to his salary from when it was stopped till date.

    Also joined in the suit are the Kogi Civil Service and Ministry of Justice.

    NAN

  • Breaking: Melaye jumps out of SARS vehicle, injured

    Senator Dino Melaye injured himself after he reportedly jumped out of a Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) vehicle conveying him to Lokoja, Kogi State capital, on Tuesday.

    Melaye surrendered himself to the police on Tuesday morning.

    Melaye

    Read Also: Police fail to parade Melaye

    He was being taken  to the Kogi State Police Command headquarters for questioning when the incident happened.

    Details later…

  • FG to commit more resources to space research

    The Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonaya Onu, has said that the Federal Government will commit more resources to space research and development.

    The minister made this known to our reporter on Monday at Anyigba,  Kogi, while inaugurating a new laboratory complex and engineering workshop built by the  Centre for Atmospheric Research (CAR).

    He noted that science, technology and innovation were critical to the development of any nation, saying this informed the decision by the Federal Government to provide more funds for the sector.

    Onu said there was the need to establish the centre because the country could not continue to be indifferent to global trends in space research.

    “We want to be at the frontier of knowledge. We cannot afford not to participate in space research and development,” he said.

    He also lauded the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) for establishing the centre, stressing that it was of critical importance to the country.

    The Director-General of NASRDA, Prof. Mohammed Seidu, said that the centre’s mandate was to provide sound education, research and knowledge in lower atmosphere, upper atmosphere, atmospheric chemistry and environmental sciences.

    He said that the centre was also mandated to conduct environmental research, tropospheric and trans-ionospheric radio propagation research, solar physics, solar terrestrial interactions, space weather, human space technology initiative and space debris among others.

    Seidu said that the centre had researched into safer air travel system and better security for space assets, space weather study and study on the cause, impact and mediation of 2012 flood over Nigeria.

    He said that Monday’s inauguration marked the successful completion of the first phase of the project and the commencement of the second phase.

    The second phase, he said, would include administrative block and ground receiving station to enable the installation of required equipment for research activities.

    In his address of welcome, the Director of CAR, Prof.  Babatunde Rabiu, said that the centre was one of the seven autonomous research and development centres of NASRDA in the country.

    He said the Centre on Feb.12 commenced the daily dissemination of space weather condition in West Africa.

    Rabiu said that atmospheric and space facilities at the centre were running perfectly and had afforded it to run 19 weather stations in 19 locations in the country.

    He thanked the Federal Government for releasing funds for the completion of the centre, promising that the facilities would be put to good use.

    NAN

     

  • NIS confirms Dino Melaye’s arrest

    The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) has confirmed the arrest of Sen. Dino Melaye at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on Monday morning.

    Spokesman of the Service, Mr Sunday James, told our reporter that Melaye was arrested by Immigration officials “based on instruction”.

    The confirmation came hours after the senator, who represents Kogi West, announced the arrest on his Twitter handle at 7:32 a.m.

    “I have just been arrested at the international wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport on my way to Morocco for an official engagement sponsored by the Federal Government after checking in,” he tweeted.

    The police recently declared Melaye wanted after he was accused of supplying arms to some murder suspects, who allegedly implicated him.

    The senator denies the allegations, which he describes as politically motivated.

    NAN

  • 10 killed in fresh gunmen attack on Kogi community

    The police in Lokoja on Sunday confirmed the death of 10 persons when gunmen invaded Kpanche community in Bassa Local Government Area of Kogi State.

    The state Commissioner of Police, Mr Ali Janga, told newsmen that the dead included five residents of the community while five of the armed bandits were killed during a cross fire with security agents.

    He said that the bandits invaded the sleepy agrarian community in the early hours of Sunday but they were quickly repelled by a combined team of policemen and soldiers.

    “Yes, five lives were lost in the village but operatives of the police mobile force and soldiers repelled them and succeeded in killing five bandits and recovered some weapons.

    “So far, normalcy has been restored in the area,” Janga said in response to a message sent to him on the incident.

    According to him, five houses and unspecified number of vehicles, tricycles, motorcycles and other properties were set ablaze by the bandits.

    He said that security agents would remain on ground in Kpanche while full investigation into the incident had commenced. (NAN)

  • Kogi sets up panel to probe violence in three communities

    Kogi Government has set up a 13-member Judicial Panel of Inquiry into the recent bloody civil disturbances in Ognae-Nigwu, Ojuwo -Ajimadi and Agbenema-Ife communities in the state.

    Members of the panel were inaugurated on Tuesday in Lokoja by the state Deputy governor, Mr Simon Achuba.

    Justice Josiah Mejabi is the Chairman of the panel, while Mr Ayo Fasoba of the state Ministry of Justice will serve as Secretary.

    At the inauguration, Achuba charged members of the panel to take the assignment seriously , saying that government was determined to get to the roots of the crises.

    He said that government would provide a conducive environment for the panel to carry out the assignment.

    He gave the committee six weeks to carry out the assignment and submit its report.

    According to the deputy governor, the terms of reference of the panel include: determining the immediate and remote causes of the bloody clashes in which 17 people were killed and property worth millions of Naira destroyed.

    He said that individuals or group of persons directly responsible for the mayhem should also to be identified by
    the panel.

    Achuba charged the panel members to identity and assess damage done to lives and property during the crises.

    “ It should also make recommendations that would help to restore peace and avoid reoccurrence of such crises,” he said.

    Mejabi promised that members of the panel would live up to expectations by doing a thorough job within the specified time.

    He thanked the government for finding them worthy to serve as members of the panel.

    Other members of the panel are: the Director -General, Bureau of Information Services and Grassroots Sensitisation, Mr Abdulkarim Abdulmalik and Mr Sumaila Abbas.

    Others are: Mr Ibrahim Atadoga; Mr Samuel Onimisi; Mr Adamu Isakoto; Mr Jatto Dan Bello; Miss Abimbola Agbogun; Mr Ahmed Atta; Major Tijani Sheu; Navy Capt. Isaac Udoudoh; Mr Yahaya Atoto and ACP Lenox Taylor.

  • Attack on Melaye: Court issues Bench warrant against accused

    A Kogi High Court on Friday issued a bench warrant against one Ade Obege, charged with four others for alleged assassination attempt on Sen. Dino Melaye on April, 2017.

    Justice Fola Ajayi, issued the bench warrant following Obege’s absence at the trial.

    Fola also ordered that summons be served on his sureties.

    There was no cogent reason for Obege’s absence on Friday.

    The prosecuting counsel, Lough Simon, was also not in court.

    Samuel Ikutanwa, who held the brief of Simon, told the court that the prosecutor could not attend the sitting because of the death of his father.

    Ikutanwa said the development had already been communicated to the parties, adding that he was not availed with the details of proceedings on the matter.

    Obege’s Counsel, Mr Ayo Jonathan, told the court that his client was last seen on March 22, when he came to court for his trial.

    Jonathan told the court that the wife of the accused said she had not seen her husband since March 22, when he left Okene for Lokoja, saying that he wanted to conclude that Obege was missing.

    Reacting to the submission of the counsel, Ikutanwa prayed the court to issue a bench warrant against the second accused since there was no cogent reason for not being in court.

    Ajayi, in his ruling, issued a bench warrant against Obege, and ordered that his sureties be summoned to court.

    The court said that the suit could not go on due to the absence of the second accused and the prosecutor.

    The judge, therefore, adjourned the case till May 14 and May 15 for definite hearing.

    NAN recalls that the Administrator of Ijumu Local Government Council, Alhaji Taofiq Isa and four others including Obege, were arraigned before late Justice Aromeh Akogu for alleged attempt to assassinate Melaye in April 2017.

    Unidentified gunmen allegedly attacked the lawmaker’s residence in Ayetoro-Gbede, Ijumu Local Government, fired several shots into the compound and destroyed property. No life was lost in the attack.

  • Kogi caretaker committees’ tenure extended

    The Kogi State House of Assembly has extended the tenure of local government administrators by another six months.

    It gave the approval yesterday following the adoption of a March 28 letter from Governor Yahaya Bello.

    The letter, read by the Speaker, Prince Matthew Kolawole, explained that the paucity of funds necessitated the request.

    According to Bello, the current tenure of administrators, as extended twice by the House, expired in March 31.

    The letter reads: “The Kogi State government considers elections the preferred option to fill these positions, but the reality is that the administration remains constrained by paucity of funds.

    “It is therefore incumbent on the House of Assembly to keep our local government administration within the purview of the law by formally extending the tenure of the 21 transition committees.”

    Governor Bello requested the House to, in accordance  with Part VIII, Section 56(3) of the Local Government (Amendment) Law, 2008, grant the extension from April 1 to September 30.

    He hailed the Speaker and lawmakers for partnering his administration to ensure growth.

    The Majority Leader, Bello Hassan Balogun, urged his colleagues to support and approve the request.

    The speaker thereafter granted the request following majority voice votes from members.

  • Omi Dam, success story of our agric policies, says Kogi

    The Kogi State Government has said the success of the Omi Dam Agricultural Project is clear testimony of the genuineness of government determination to shift the state economy from civil service reliance to  agricultural prosperity.

    Speaking in Kabba, at the weekend, the Director General of Media and Publicity to the Governor, Kingsley Fanwo, said the state government has “blazed the trail by providing jobs for more youths through the project”, urging investors to “tap into the potentials of the project to establish processing zones in the area”.

    “Today, the Omi Dam Agricultural Project has provided more jobs than the combined number of all the Civil Servants from the seven Local Government Areas of Kogi West. This is the focus of  Governor Yahaya Bello to redirect the state’s economy from white-collar base to that of a green revolution by becoming the number one food destination of Africa.

    “The present administration is working closely with the New Direction Blueprint which seeks to create jobs and human capacity development for wealth creation.

    “Kogi is naturally endowed to excel in agriculture. We have taken a step further by transforming our potentials into reality through the massive agricultural projects in Omi, Osara, Ibaji and Idah. The aim of government is to refocus the economy and empower our youth and women to see agriculture as an easy way of combating hunger and poverty as well as making the state a big player in the global agricultural market.

    “When completed, the ongoing Greenhouse Project at Osara will turn Kogi to an Agric hub and concentrate our population on adding to our revenue rather than depending on salaries”.

    Fanwo said the administration is concentrating on delivering democracy dividends to the people rather than joining issues with detractors who are bent on discrediting the administration for political reasons.

    “As the poster of the youth in Nigerian politics, Governor Yahaya Bello has taken daring steps that are capable of fixing a badly damaged state. Such reforms provoke reactions expectedly. But he will remain committed to the wellness and progress of the state.

    “A good number of capital projects have been initiated, completed and inaugurated without much fanfare. Some projects are also in progress. The administration has completed over 300km of road construction across the state.

    “All the road projects are ongoing simultaneously across the three Senatorial Districts . We also make bold to say we have provided more water to our people more than any administration since the creation of Kogi State.

    “The people of Kogi State appreciate what the Governor is doing and will not be swayed by the elitist war of some people who are pained by the fact that there is no more “free money” in the state. That is why they sponsor falsehood against the administration.

    On allegations of failure to pay salaries to civil servants, the Governor’s spokesperson said it is a “media creation, sponsored and sustained by the elites to create an image issue for the state”.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Osun, Kogi, Ekiti most peaceful states, says report

    Osun State is the most peaceful in the country, according to a report on Nigeria Peace Index (NPI).

    It is closely followed by Kogi and Ekiti States, according to the report.

    According to NPI, Kwara and Imo ranked as fourth and fifth respectively in the rating.

    The inaugural peace index report put together by the Foundation for Peace Professionals, a research organisation that advocates for peace, adopted similar methodology of the Global Peace Index.

    It also followed the pattern of the United States Peace Index and the United Kingdom Peace index in series of national indexes.

    Speaking at the unveiling of the report in Abuja, the Executive Director of FPP, Abdulrazaq Hamzat, explained in attempting to rate the level of peace in Nigeria, NPI investigated the extent to which states experience social, economic, political and environmental factors that either hinder or promote peace.

    He said: “We collected data for 2010 to 2016, an average of which gives us the result of Nigeria peace Index 2017.

    “Five broad indicators were adopted for this index and they include the level of poverty crime rate, level of education, rate of human rights abuse and level of Incarceration.

    “Key findings of the NPI showed that Osun State is the most peaceful state in Nigeria and it has greater tendency for peace based on its overall performance in the five broad indicators. While Osun didn’t come top in any of the five indicators, its overall score is the least violent.

    “Osun, Kogi, Ekiti, Kwara and Imo States are five most peaceful states in Nigeria.

    “Kogi is second most peaceful state in Nigeria and most peaceful in the North. Imo is the most peaceful state in South-East and fifth most peaceful in Nigeria.

    “Akwa Ibom is most peaceful state in South-South, Kaduna in North-West, Kogi in North Central, Osun in South-West, Imo in South-East and Taraba State in North-East.”

    The report stated that Yobe Kebbi, Bauchi, Zamfara and Sokoto were five least peaceful states in Nigeria, adding this was apart from Borno that was not considered due to insufficient data and the Boko Haram red light.

    The report therefore assumed that Borno was overall least peaceful.

    It said Lagos had least poverty in Nigeria while Zamfara had least crime and Imo the most education.

    The NPI noted that Ekiti had least incarceration and Taraba had least human rights abuses, adding that the North-West with least education and most poverty in Nigeria was one of the two least peaceful regions in the country despite being most performing in the other three indicators.