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Tag: Ohafia

  • Insecurity: Army drills officers

    Against the backdrop of insecurity in the land, the Army toughens its personnel in a competition for warrant officers and senior non-commissioned officers. SUNNY NWANKWO, who covered the event at 14 Brigade Headquarters, Ohafia, Abia State, reports

    One of the major challenges facing Nigeria across the six geo-political zones is insecurity. From militancy to insurgency, herdsmen attacks to banditry and agitation for secession by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), the Army has been battling to ensure peace in the land while performing their statutory role of warding off external aggression.

    This was why the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai directed heads of military formations across the country to ensure that their officers participated in the 2019 Inter-Brigade Warrant Officers and Senior Non-Commissioned Officers Competition.

    In compliance with the directive, the leadership of the 82 Division of the Army with its headquarters in Enugu, Enugu State, has held the military competition at Goodluck Ebele Jonathan Barracks, 14 Brigade Headquarters, Ohafia, Abia State.

    The participating personnel were drawn from various 82 Division’s Areas of Responsibility (AOR) participating in the exercise even though some of them just returned from the Northeast where they have been over the years, engaging the outlawed members of Boko Haram sect in severe gun battle.

    The event provided the leadership of the 82 Division the opportunity to select the exceptional personnel among the participants that will represent the command at a similar event later in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

    The Inter-Brigade Warrant Officers and Senior Non-Commissioned Officers Competition for 82 Division held at Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s Barracks, 14 Brigade Headquarters, Ohafia, Abia State saw the personnel participating in Drill Competition, swimming competition which took place at Hotel Damgrete in Umuahia, shooting range competition which took place at the command headquarters of 34 Artillery Brigade, Obinze in Imo State, Obstacle Crossing at the 14Brigade Headquarters, Ohafia, among other competitions.

    The General Officer Commanding 82 Division, Major-General Abubakar Maikobi represented by his Chief of Staff Brigadier General Clement A. Atere at the closing ceremony of the exercise, extolled the Brigade for engaging in the training which he said would help enhance and improve their physical fitness, leadership qualities, discipline, efficiency, effectiveness, cooperation and esprit-de-corps that will prepare the warrant officers and senior non commission officers for more challenging tasks and responsibilities especially now that the country is bedeviled with series of security challenges.

    According to Atere, Maikobi used the opportunity to congratulate the winning team and further commended the efforts of the officers and men of the Division for their professionalism.

    The GOC also appreciated the support of the Chief of Army Staff Lt. Gen Tukur Y. Buratai for his contributions to the success of the competition.

    He also appreciated commanders of various formations that participated in the competition for the timely preparation of their teams and equally commended other security agencies for the synergies and cooperation in ensuring that Abia State remains safe and peaceful.

    The Special Guest of Honour, Abia State Governor Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu ably represented by his Deputy, Rt. Hon. Sir Ude Oko Chukwu extolled the Division for organising the competition especially by choosing 14 Brigade in Abia State as the host. He used the opportunity to congratulate the winning team and further commend the efforts of the officers and men of the Brigade for their professionalism in ensuring peace and safety of Abians especially at the just concluded 2019 General Elections in Abia State.

    He said, “I want to conclude by commending the Commander 14 Brigade and his team of officers and men for organising this worthwhile competition.

    “I want to also appreciate the General Officer Commanding 82 Division, other Services, the Nigeria Police and Para-Military Security Agencies for the synergy and cooperation in order to ensure Abia State remains safe and peaceful”. The Governor asserts.

    At the end of the keenly contested competition, 34 Artillery Brigade came 4th with 240 points, 13 Brigade Akim Barracks, Calabar scored 340 points to emerge 3rd, the host Brigade came 2nd with 400 points while the 82 Division Garrison was the overall best with 420 points.

    The highlight of the event includes an Award of Excellence to the Governor of Abia State by the General Officer Commanding 82 Division Enugu.

  • Gunmen kill man one month to his wedding in Abia

    Residents of Federal Housing Estate and the adjoining Emelogu Road in Ogbor Hill axis of Aba, Abia State have reportedly been thrown into mourning as yet-to-be identified gunmen storm the area and shot dead a commercial tricycle operator whose identity is yet to be known.

    Our reporter was told that the gunmen numbering about four had accosted the tricycle operator whose name was later identified as Kalu, an indigene of Abiriba, in Ohafia Local Government of the state and demanded the keys to his Keke which sources suspected would be used by the hoodlums to perpetuate evil as that has been their style of beating prying eyes of security agencies.

    The commercial tricycle operator, who was said to be living in a near Emelogu Road, was reported to have refused parting with the keys to his keke which forced the hoodlums to shoot him.

    The victim was said to have died instantly because he was shot from a close range.

    The men of the underworld was said to have made away with the tricycle, leaving the keke operator in the pool of his own blood.

    A source hinted that the commercial tricycle operator was heading towards Ngwa Road from Ogbor Hill when on getting close to the Orji Uzor Kalu Bridge, the hoodlums accosted him.

    Read Also: ‘Lunatic’ who killed Ekiti monarch arrested

    The source said the victim who was to get married to his heartthrob in less than one month’s time, initially thought the men were passengers who wanted to engage his services.

    According to him, “It was when they demanded for his keke’s key that he knew they were armed robbers. The keke operator resisted them, the hoodlums shot him severally and he died instantly

    “From what we have been able to gather, these hoodlums do park their car in a nearby bush, come out on the road, and snatch a tricycle from its owner to go after their victim and to beat security operatives on the road.

    “When they succeed attacking or kidnapping their target, they will either snatch another keke to run or abandon that keke elsewhere to escape into the bush. Some people are in jail today because police traced their keke to have been used in a robbery operation without knowing that the owner of the keke doesn’t have any hand in the kidnapping or robbery.

    “Some keke owners are lucky to find their keke abandoned in a nearby bush where the hoodlums abandoned their keke before heading off with their victim. It is unfortunate that the innocent young man fail victim of these heartless individuals,” narrated.

    Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in Abia State Police Command, Geoffrey Ogbonna could not be reached at the time of filing this report.

    However, a senior police officer who pleaded anonymity, confirmed the killing of Kalu and said that police was on the trail of the hoodlums.

  • Abia NYSC chief hails Army on Corps members’ safety

    Abia NYSC chief hails Army on Corps members’ safety

    Abia State Coordinator of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Mrs. Francisca Ifong has visited the commander of 14 Brigade, Army Headquarters, Ohafia, Brigadier Abdul Ibrahim, thanking the army for ensuring the safety of Corps members in the state during the recent unrest.

    Ifong, who came in the company of management staff of the NYSC, said she was at the Sector Headquarters of the ongoing Operation Python Dance II in Umuahia, the state capital, to formally thank the sector and the Nigerian Army for promptly coming to the aid of some Corps members trapped in Aba and other parts of the state during the unrest.

    The NYSC Abia Coordinator said she was impressed with the military’s professionalism and concern for the safety of citizens as exemplified in their prompt response in evacuating Corps members in the state from their residents to safe places within a short period of notification.

    She said that she was impressed with the timely rescue and the treatment the Corps members were given in the military facility where they were kept while the unrest in the state lasted.

    She said she was very happy and impressed with the reaction and deemed fit to personally visit the Commander and thank him.

    Responding, General Ibrahim who is also the Sector 1 Commander of the ongoing Operation Python Dance in the state, thanked the NYSC boss for the visit, saying what the Sector did was in line with their mandate and acted in line with the Sector ‘s Standard Operating Procedure.

    He also said that the Sector would continue to support the NYSC because it is a vital tool for national integration and unity.

    He used the opportunity to the NYSC State Coordinator about the ongoing Exercise Egwu Eke II and said so far, it has been a resounding success given what it was able to achieve thus far.

    He further stated that apart from enhancing troops’ proficiency, many criminals engaging in kidnapping and armed robbery have been intercepted and arrested, while many others have been denied freedom to operate too within the formation’s area of responsibility.

    He further stated that from feelers and feedback, the security situation is much better than it was before the Exercise started and stated that the Sector will continue to partner with other security agencies and stakeholders to ensure that a secured environment exists.

    The commander also used the opportunity to reiterate that Law-abiding citizens have nothing to fear as all military training exercises and operations are guided by the rules of engagement and anyone found flouting them will have himself to blame.

    He debunked the claim by some mischief makers that the Exercise Egwu Eke II was targeted at certain persons or individuals and called on the public to support the military as they discharge their professional duties.

  • We need urgent infrastructural attention, Arochukwu, Ohafia tell rep

    The people of Arochukwu/Ohafia Federal Constituency have called on the member representing them at the National Assembly, Hon. Uko Nkole, to assist the communities in need of infrastructural development to ease their sufferings.

    The President-General of each of the communities narrated their plight to the honourable member at a Town Hall meeting held at Ohafia Local Government Area headquarters, saying they needed urgent infrastructural attention.

    The President-Generals of the village town unions mentioned the projects according to their priority as it affects their communities, some of which included dilapidated roads, lack of electricity as well as unemployment, amongst other pressing needs.

    The people want their federal legislator to ensure that the constituency project funds are optimized to tackle the challenges facing their locality because they have suffered for a long time, stressing that the stress they are going through are becoming unbearable.

    In his response to the outlined issues, Nkole said the town hall meeting is a platform put in place for the people to interact and discuss on critical infrastructures that would enhance economic development.

    Nkole said projects worth N150 million was earmarked for each lawmakers to nominate within the constituencies in the 2016 budget that is yet to be executed and promised that he will work hard to see that funds are made available in the 2017 budget to enable the contractor remobilise Arochukwu/Ohafia roads.

    The federal legislator expressed optimism over the rehabilitation of the road in the 2017 budget and regrets the challenges that people are facing, particularly the loss of lives and child/maternal death due to the bad roads. Nkole used the opportunity to give the score card on the projects done across the federal constituency in 2016 in primary education intervention, water projects, amongst many others.

  • ‘Revoke Ohafia/Arochukwu Road contract’

    Former Deputy House Leader in the House of Representatives who represented Arochukwu/Ohafia Federal Constituency, Hon. Mao Ohuabunwa has called on the Minister of Works, Mr. Mike Onolememen, to revoke the Ohafia/Arochukwu road contract.

    Ohuabunwa said the call became necessary because of what he described as the contractor’s lackluster performance, stressing that there is no hope that the road will be reconstructed within the stipulated time.

    The former Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament lamented that the contractor has failed to convince anyone that he has the capacity to deliver on the job, adding that the people from that area are suffering indescribable hardship because of his attitude.

    Ohuabunwa said since the contractor allegedly commenced work on the road, there has not been any significant impact on the road to justify the budgetary allocation for its execution two years after the contract was awarded.

    The present deplorable state of the road despite the fact that the contractor has been mobilised for the job, he maintained, has made the road a nightmare and death trap for motorists and other road users.

    Speaking in Arochukwu when members of executive of the Abia North Progressives visited him at his country home to persuade him to represent Abia North at the Senate in 2015, Ohuabunwa said the deplorable state of the road was a matter of serious concern to him and other well-meaning people of the state.

    Ohuabunwa maintained that the present condition of the road has adversely affected the socio-economic life of the people, stressing that if the contractor is allowed to continue, many lives will be lost on the road.

    He called on members of the National Assembly from the state to liaise with their counterparts in the state Assembly to ensure that all the federal roads in the state were given proper attention to complement the efforts of Governor Theodore Orji in road infrastructure.

    The former lawmaker noted that the federal roads linking the state with its neighbours including Imo, Rivers, Enugu, Cross River and Akwa-Ibom states require urgent rehabilitation.

    He assured that his political position will be made known to them at the appropriate time, even as he told them to remain steadfast and avoid anything that could bring a breach of peace in the zone and the entire state.