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Tag: Oghara

  • Why I killed, slept with my mother’s corpse

    An-18 year old boy, Samuel Akpobome Emobor, has confessed that he killed his mother and slept with her corpse for the purpose of money ritual.

    Samuel who hails from Oghara in Delta State committed the act at their rented apartment in Ologbo community in Ikpoba-Okha local government area.

    Speaking to newsmen when he was paraded at the Edo State Police Command, Samuel said he was pushed to commit the act by a ritualist who sells drugs in the community.

    According to him, “I wanted to use my mother for ritual. I am 18 years old. My father is dead. It was one man called One Love that told me to use my mother for money ritual. He promised to give me N50,000 if I killed my mother and sleep with her. He said I should cut my mother’s ear and fingers and bring them to him.

    “I wanted to cut the ears and fingers before the people came in. I slept with my mother only once. I pressed my mother’s neck to kill her while she was sleeping. The One Love sells drugs. He put something inside the drink he gave and he told me to go and kill my mother.

    Read Also: Herbalist nabbed for defiling teenage patient

    “The day I went to his house with policemen, the man has ran away. I hail from Oghara. I work in a pure water factory.

    “I now feel very bad because I was beaten badly by people. I did what the ritualist told me.”

    Police Commissioner, Babatunde Kokumo, said the suspect would soon be charged to court.

  • Versity Plans yearlong activities to mark decade anniversary

    Versity Plans yearlong activities to mark decade anniversary

    In commemoration of its 10 year anniversary, the Western Delta University (WDU), Oghara, Delta state, has lined out a year-long series of events to celebrate its achievements.
    Disclosing this in a press statement, made available to the Nation in Warri, the Registrar of the institution, G.O Egbiri, said the university, which produced its first set of graduates in 2010, had since graduated seven sets of final year students.
    According to him, the WDU had run its ten years of academic activities uninterrupted, adding that the National Universities Commission (NUC) had recently approved two more programme for the university.
    “Though the university acquired the Federal Government’s approval in May 2007, it actually commenced academic activities on March 31st 2008. WDU produced its first set of graduates in 2010 and since then it has graduated seven sets of final year students regularly.
    “This means WDU has never witnessed any disruption either by staff’s strike action or students’ unrest. Also to be celebrated is the total absence of cultism in the school” said the Registrar.
    Egbiri explained that “WDU offers 15 fully accredited undergraduate courses in Social and Management Sciences as well as Natural and Applied  Sciences. In addition, we have recently received National University Commission’s (NUC) approval for two programmes, namely, B.Sc. Criminology and Security Studies and B.Sc. International Relations.
    “NUC has also given WDU approval for Law degree programme  for which we are presently seeking Council of Legal Education’s approval. Remarkably, the University boasts of fully equipped and functional laboratories”.
    “WDU’s Permanent Site is a sprawling 150 hectres of once luscious and ever-green forest from which an eye-catching picturesque campus is being created through an uncommon harmony between Mother Nature and the most wondrous architectural statements in brick, steel, glass and stone, giving the ambiance of a well-manicured garden”.
    “The celebrations will be spread out through the entire year and will involve special lectures to be delivered by top class national figures and respected Local and Foreign Academics. Also lined up are varieties of Sporting, Literary and Cultural activities involving WDU’s students and staff.
    “Specifically, WDU will host a sports fiesta. The university is already a sports power house; it hosted the All Nigeria Private Universities Games (NUPGA) in 2011 and emerged second”.  In 2017 WDU won 22 medals at the 7th NUPGA games hosted by Nile University, Abuja.
    “Obviously, WDU has firmly established itself in the comity of Nigerian universities within 10 years, the Registrar said. WDU graduates are flying high in various establishments in the country and abroad, while some others are engaged in Postgraduate programmes in top-flight universities across the globe.
    “We at WDU are rolling out the drums in a well-deserved celebration and all universities, industries and the general public are invited to celebrate with us”, he added.
  • CMD: DELSUTH’s biggest challenge is funding

    CMD: DELSUTH’s biggest challenge is funding

    Seven-year-old Delta State University Teaching Hospital (DELSUTH), Oghara, is, today, enjoying an outstanding status among tertiary health institutions in Nigeria. Leading this initiative is Chief Medical Director (CMD) Dr Onome Ogueh, an Obstetrician/Gynaecologist, who tells BOLAJI OGUNDELE, how his intervention is meeting the founding fathers’ vision of a world-class hospital that emhasises ‘’excellence in patients’ care.’’ 

    Nine months in the saddle

     

    It’s been quite challenging; there were loads of issues that I came to meet, but we’ve been working through all of those issues,  which I know we are going to make real progress on them…

     

    Specifics?

     

    Take for an instance the time I got here this facility has not had electricity for three months, we were cut off from the power source because we were having issues with payments, we were running on generator and that was something good for a hospital, where we had equipment that rely on power. We have three generators; a 1000 KVA, 500 KVA and a 200 KVA generators. These were what were being used to run the place, but very quickly, with the help of the state government, under the leadership of Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, we were able to restore power. The state governor has been very magnanimous to this institution since I came on board. With the help of an initial grant, we were able to pay some of the money we owed the electricity company, so we were able to quickly reconnect the hospital to BEDC. That’s something that we have done since I came, but we also want to go beyond that by having a dedicated line that guarantees 24/7 electricity in this place and as we speak, we are currently in the process of connecting that. That’s what we should expect in a facility of this sort, especially when one of the main visions of the facility is to provide world class excellence in patients’ care and you cannot do that without having guaranteed 24/7 electricity supply.

     

    Towards a world class excellence in patients’ care

     

    By the time I got here in December 2016, we had a 64 slide CT Scan in this hospital that had not worked for about a year before I got here. We also have a 1.5 Tesla MRI, there’s probably only one or two in the whole of the South-South, top range equipment that had not worked for about 4 to 6 months by the time I got here and we had loads of such other equipment in this place. If I take the Radiology Department as an instance, we’ve had funds from the government since I came and we’ve now been able to revive the department so that now we can provide any kind of radiological services that people need. Now, unlike in the past, rather than go to Lagos or Abuja to have MRI or CT Scan, all that can now be done at the Delta State University Teaching Hospital.

    We’ve made strides in that direction and you can say that in the 9 months that I have been in the saddle, I have been able to revive the Radiology Department, but one of the things we have also done , which is a bit different from what we used to have is that we now have a public/private partnership arrangement with EcoScan, which guarantees that the Radiology Department will remain functional all the time. They have a maintenance contract with us; if any equipment goes down, you won’t have the kind of downtime we had before my coming, now there’s no downtime anymore. Before patients get to know that there’s a problem with an equipment, it has been fixed because there’s that maintenance contract for managing all of those equipment in the department. They maintain the equipment and run the department so the service is now seamless. However, we still have the staff of the hospital, the teaching staff, they are still the ones delivering the services, but they now have the private partners who are ensuring that everything that they need for the functioning of the is there; they manage the facilities, they repair and fix things if necessary. With all of that being done, it means that the rest of us can concentrate on doing the real work of caring for the patient.

     

    Well equipped, what about manpower?

     

    We have manpower, but one of the things that we also find in this country is that we may not have all the man power we need in every area so if I take this hospital for instance, this is a major teaching hospital in this area, the only one in Delta state and which is quite close to a major thoroughfare between Warri and Lagos, which means that we see accident victims on a regular basis, but at the time I got here we did not have a neurosurgeon, we had to send cases in the need of neurosurgical care out, but since I came, with the kind approval of the governor, Dr Okowa, we now have neurosurgeon who came on board in May 2017 and since he came on board we are now able to treat people with brain injury or any kind of neurosurgical procedure we are able to provide here.

    So we now have those kinds of manpower and that’s why it’s useful to say at this point that we are working at achieving the vision of this institution; which means that if people have medical conditions for which they need help, before they think about going South Africa or India or the UK or America, they should think about coming to DELSUTH first. That’s our drive; to be able to deliver that kind of care and I know that we are making real progress towards that.

     

    DELSUTH’s future

     

    I want us to achieve the vision of the founders of this hospital and the vision is to achieve world class excellence in patients’ care and some of the things I’ve said to you are working towards that goal, but even if we have that world class goal and we are able to do some of these things here, we still have to do the small things right. In terms of the small things that we are doing, as we speak, just yesterday, we have approved funding for an optic laboratory. We have an Ophthalmology Department in this hospital, we have ophthalmologists who do high end stuffs, who are able to operate on the eye and do all sorts of things for people who have problems with sights, but when patients need glasses for example, they now have to go outside to buy, but what my approval yesterday will do is that those patients no longer have to go outside, they now have the complete package here. That’s what I meant by doing even the small things well. Like we have the Eye, Nose and Throat (ENT) specialists, one of the other things I want to achieve in the next few months is to buy and audiometer to that we can also do hearing test here rather than do all the big complicated things, but we don’t do the small things; when you need a hearing test we send you out elsewhere, but now we’ll be able to do all of those.

    We have a Maxillofacial Department, the Dentistry Department; we have loads of wonderful equipment that we have in the labs, but have not been used in the last 7 years. There re a few things left to complete a restorative dentistry lab, that’s something else that we are hoping for so in the next few months we should be looking at having a restorative dentistry lab where we can do interesting things for people, do tooth implant for instance and all of those kind of things that can add to the main work we do. In the Maxillofacial Department, for instance, we’ve been doing loads of interesting things. We recently removed a huge left-sided tumor from a young boy, an ossifying fibroma from the left mandible. This is a tumor that took over the whole of the left side of this boy’s face, but again I keep going back to our governor because he saw this boy in town hall meeting and referred him to us here and we managed to do that surgery. When people see the boy now, they wonder if he was taken to India for the operation. No, it was done here at the Delta State University Teaching Hospital. So we are doing those big things, but we also need to do the small things so all of those small things we will be achieving in time, we will continue to expand our services. We will grow the place so that we can really get to that vision of world class excellence in patients’ care.

     

    Challenges and solutions

     

    One of the biggest challenges in the role I’m playing here is attracting funding to the hospital to be able to provide the services that we need our people. That’s a major challenge, but like I’ve said, I’ve had a very good relationship with the governor, who has a keen interest in this place and has been quite forthcoming with funding to help us achieve some of the things we need to do. I’ve also said that we’ve been looking at public/private partnership to try and raise those funds. We have one in the Radiology Department, we also have a private partner for the laboratory services, that too is to ensure that we have some regular income without having to do too much in terms of investment into the lab. Money is a challenge, but we are doing what we can and we are hoping that as we improve the services that we give, as people begin to see the kind of quality of care that we provide that money will follow because people will want to come here. Like I said, people should about DELSUTH before thinking of going anywhere else. Growing the services is one way of attending to our challenges.

    One other big challenge that we had in this place, I’ll say, is one of industrial disharmony. Before I came, situations were that out of the 365 days in a year, you had more than 200 days that the hospital was shut down because of industrial actions. But since I got here in December 2016, this is the first time this hospital has had a strike and as you know, this one is a national strike and none of the things they are talking about has anything to do with this hospital, but the resident doctors felt they needed to join the national body. But for the first time in the history of this institution, this hospital was opened in 2010, for the very first time, a group of doctors has gone on strike and the hospital is still open because for the first time once we knew that the resident doctors were going on strike, we immediately put measures in place to ensure that the doctors who are left, the consultants, the house officers, are able to continue services. For instance, even as we are on strike, the Outpatients Department is still running. I ran my own clinic on Wednesday. Other doctors are running their own clinics now. We also decided that patients who are already in the hospital must be looked after; so, we didn’t discharge patients in the hospital.

    The laboratory is functioning fully, the Radiology Department is functioning fully. The only thing we said is that we will not bring in new patients because the resident doctors who should be the people on the ground are on strike, but the rest of us are still working and giving patients care. So in terms of dealing with the challenge of incessant strikes, we’ve now gone almost 10 months without strike and the only reason we have a strike now is because it is a national strike. The way we have been dealing with is by being proactive; I’ve met with all staff groups, all unions and we’ve been able to address issues that people may have in a positive and collaborative so that there’s really no need to begin to look at industrial action because in fairness there’s really no issue you cannot resolve with dialogue. For an institution like this, where people’s lives are put at risk, we must focus on using dialogue to change the way we address things.

     

    Greatest challenge

     

    I must say that the greatest challenge for me in the this place is about changing the hearts and minds of my people, the workforce, so that people can begin to think more positively about the work they do, about the institution, about where we are heading as an institution and what the vision for this place is.

  • WIKE visits Ibori in Oghara

    WIKE visits Ibori in Oghara

    In what has been described as parts of moves to position the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the crucial 2019 general elections, the Rivers state governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, has joined the list of party leaders who have met with former Delta state governor, Chief James Ibori, at his Oghara country home.

    Although details of what the two party leaders might have discussed were still kept in wraps as at the time of filing this report Saturday evening as access into the Ibori Villa in Ogharefe was restricted, especially to journalists, The Nation gathered that it was all about strengthening the PDP in the South-South for the upcoming elections.

    An Oghara based source told The Nation that the Rivers state governor arrived Oghara in a chopper Saturday afternoon and moved on to the home of the former governor in a convoy of cars.

    “You know that Ibori’s house is something of an off limit these days, especially to journalists, so I don’t think many people had access. For now it is difficult to know what the meeting was all about, as it was held behind closed doors, but I heard someone suggest it was all about how to prepare PDP for the next elections in the region”, a source said Saturday evening.

  • Imbibe culture of group operation, Naval Chief charges officers

    Imbibe culture of group operation, Naval Chief charges officers

    The Flag Officer Commanding Logistic Command, Oghara, Ethiope West local government area of Delta State, Rear Admiral Begroy Ibe-Enwo, has charged Navy officers to imbibe the culture of group movement in the discharge of their duty.

    Ibe-Enwo who gave this charge during his handing over ceremony held at the Naval base, Oghara, said moving in group in any assignment will prevent any of them falling into the hands of perceived enemies in the course of their duty.

    While advising them to always ensure good working relationship with the Nigeria police, Ibe-Enwo explained that working effectively with the police will further enhance their job in the discharge of their professional duty.

    Ibe-Enwo who commended the officers for their support and loyalty which he said contributed to his success story during his one and half year stay in Delta State, urged them to also transfer same to the new Flag Officer Command, FOC, Rear Admiral Peter Onaji, taking over from him to succeed.

    Speaking further, he said he was particularly impressed that in line with the Commands’ motto: ‘Support for Efficiency’, Naval officers at the command were able to imbibe the good virtues which he inculcated in them.

    He assured them that he will continue to be their in his new area assignment, appealing that they extended the same cooperation to other sister agencies like the Army, Air force and the police for a peaceful and a better developed country.

    Receiving the handing over note, the new Flag Officer Commanding Logistic Command, Rear Admiral Peter Onaji commended his predecessor, Rear Admiral Ibe-Enwo for effectively piloting the activities of the command, and appealed to the officers to extend same cooperation to him.

  • Corper shot dead in Delta

    A serving National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member, Toriseju Logbe, was reported killed by an unidentified gunman in Oghara, Ethiope West council area of Delta state over the Easter weekend.

    The victim, who was serving in Imo state, had visited Oghara town, where he did his university study for the Easter holidays; he graduated from the Western Delta University, Oghara. According to sources, Logbe’s parents are based in Sapele town, but he decided to spend his holiday in Oghara with his friends.

    According to a source, Logbe was outside his rented apartment at about 11:00pm, fiddling with his mobile phone, in the company of a younger friend, when a masked gunman appeared from nowhere and opened fire on him.

    “Toritseju rented an  apartment in Oghara but his parents stays in Sapele, So when he came for the Easter celebration  he chose to stay there. He was outside that night, checking his phone when the gunman suddenly emerged and shot him thrice. He then took his mobile phone, removed the sim card and memory card before destroying the phone and disappearing into the night”, source said.

    When reached for confirmation, the spokesman of the Delta state police command, DSP Andrew Aniamaka, said ” from preliminary investigation, it does seem more like a cult related murder. He’s not serving in the state here, he’s serving in Imo state”.

  • Dickson meets Ibori behind closed doors 

    Dickson meets Ibori behind closed doors 

     

    …Niger Delta, PDP crisis dominate discussions

     

    Bayelsa State Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson, has met behind closed doors with former Governor of Delta State and ex-convict, Chief James Ibori.

    It was gathered that Dickson visited Oghara, the country home of Ibori and seized the opportunity to hold talks with the former governor, who recently returned to his village after serving jail terms in the UK for money laundering.

    Dickson, who spent some hours meeting with Ibori on Thursday, reportedly discussed the crisis rocking the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and issues affecting the Niger Delta region.

    Confirming the meeting, the Chief Press Secretary to Dickson, Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson in a statement said the governor spoke about the roles Ibori could play for peace to permanently reign in the region.

    They were said to have discussed how Ibori could rally major stakeholders towards tackling some of the peace and security challenges in the region.

    “The two leaders equally discussed likely windows of opportunities for criminally minded youths in the region to be more meaningfully engaged as well as protect some of the critical national assets of the country within the region”, the statement said.

    Dickson was said to have earlier spoken with his Delta State counterpart, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, before holding the meeting with Ibori.

    The governor expressed satisfaction with the disposition and resolve of Ibori to support current measures at tackling the security challenges in the region.

    Dickson was accompanied by his Chief of Staff, Mr. Talford Ongolo, some members of the State Executive Council, including the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Jonathan Obuebite.

  • Thanksgiving service for Ibori in Oghara

    Oghara, the home town of former Delta state governor, Chief James Ibori,was again host to the creme of Delta state political, traditional and clerical fields on Sunday as the Oghara community held a special
    thanksgiving service for the former governor.

    The church service, which was held at the First Baptist Church, Oghara, was organised by the community to thankGod for the release of Iborifrom a United Kingdom prison, where he had served almost five years after conviction for money laundry charges.

    The service had many political associates and followers of
    the former governor present. Among those at the event were the immediate
    past governor of the state, who is also a cousin of Ibori, Dr Emmanuel
    Uduaghan, the Secretary to the Delta State Government, Festus Ovie-Agas,
    Senators Emmanuel Aguariavwodo, Patric Osakwe and Ighoyota Amori.

    Others were members of the Delta state executive and legislative arms of
    government, including the Speaker of the state’s House of Assembly, Hon
    Monday Igbuya and daughter of Chief Ibori, who is a member of the
    legislature; Erhiateake Ibori. Traditional rulers present included the Ovie
    of Oghara Kingdom, Noble Eshemitan and the Pere of Akegbene-Mein Kingdom,
    Pere Kalanama VII.

    Some artistes who graced the church service were Ras Kimono, Orits Wiliki
    and Ras Father.

  • Oghara reception : ‘Ibori is our father, we can die because of him’

    Oghara reception : ‘Ibori is our father, we can die because of him’

    The ancient town of Oghara in Ethiope West local Governments Area of Delta was on Saturday agog as former governor James Ibori returned home after serving jail term in a UK prison.

    Ibori, who was convicted by a British court on charges of money laundering, arrived at the Benin Airport on Saturday aboard a chartered plane, IZYAIR, with registration number India Zulu Yanky (5NIZY).

    The flight, a Challenger 60, landed the airport at about 2.25pm

    Ibori stepped into his country home Oghara at about 3:30 pm on Saturday after completing his 13-year jail term in UK.

    His residence was besieged by well wishers and political associates in the state to felicitate with their leader.

    Hunreds of the well wishers trekked a long distance and around the town carrying leaves while some painted their faces with chalk jubilating

    Similarly, musical stands were set up in various locations in the town as musicians entertained the crowd.

    Speaking outside Ibori’s home, Mr Ighoyota Amori, a former senator representing Delta Central, said the return of Ibori was a good omen to the people.

    “We are happy that Ibori is back, people are jubilating, the crowd you see here and the enthusiasm that has been displayed today showed that we really missed him.

    “This is the only way for us to appreciate that our leader who left us long ago is back.

    “His coming is a beginning of so many good things to come, by his presence today, l am sure we are gaining back all we have lost.

    “Ibori remains in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),  but it is not time to discuss politics, all his followers around are members of PDP,” Amori said.

    Also speaking to newsmen, Mr Lovett Idisi, member representing Ethiope East and Ethiope West Federal Constituency, thanked God for the safe return of Ibori.

    “We prayed that all our PDP faithful  should be steadfast now that we have a pure political direction.

    “Their support has not been in vain, I believe now that our leader is out, we will have a sense of direction.  We are a sheep with a shepherd right now.

    “In my constituency, we now have somebody to consult without travelling overseas,” Idisi said.

    One of  Oghara’s youth leader, Mr Efe Moses said the return of Ibori would turn things around for the good of Oghara.

    “We are grateful to God for the return of our chief (Ibori), sure things will turn around for better from now on in Oghara.

    “Ibori is our father and we can die because of him,’’ Moses said.

    News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that security was beefed up to maintain law and order within and outside the Ibori residence. (NAN)

  • All set in Oghara for Ibori’s return

    Residents of Oghara in Ethiope West Local Government Area of Delta State are in high spirits as they await the return of their beloved son and former Delta State governor, James Ibori. Ibori was set free on Wednesday by a court in London where he was in jail for about four years following his conviction for money laundering offences.

    Major roads and street corners in the town are awash with posters welcoming the ex-governor back home. What is more, key locations in Oghara have been given a facelift while the town is beautified and cleaned up.

    Unlike other politicians who ignore their ancestral communities while piling up riches in Abuja and elsewhere, Chief James Onanefe Ibori a.k.a. Odidigborigbo of Africa, did a lot for the Oghara kingdom, building a lot of infrastructure there during his tenure as Delta governor between 1999 and 2007. That is why his kinsmen are pulling all the strings to ensure he is treated to a  royal reception upon his return.

    Popular spots in Oghara like the Market Roundabout, Ibori Roundabout and the entrance to Oghara, are full of congratulatory messages and posters proclaiming the people’s joy and ecstasy at his return.