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Tag: Port Harcourt

  • ‘APC councillors didn’t defect to PDP in Rivers’

    ‘APC councillors didn’t defect to PDP in Rivers’

    The Rivers State All Progressives Congress (APC) Councillors Forum of the 8th Legislative Assembly has stated that none of its members has defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and not planning to do so, describing the claim as mere propaganda to cause confusion.

    The councillors, who were elected in 2015, during the Rotimi Amaechi’s administration, declared that they were intact and still pursuing their suit at the Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt against the Rivers government and would never withdraw the case.

    The forum, through its Chairman, Stephen Deegbara, denied Rivers PDP’s claim that over 200 of its members from across the 23 local government areas of the state had defected or were on the verge of defecting from the APC to the PDP. 

    The councillors also declared that the self-acclaimed leader of a group that allegedly defected to PDP, ‘Tamunoemi Williams, who claimed to be a councillor from Bonny LGA of the state was non-existent.

    Rivers APC councillors’ forum said: “We want to state clearly that none of our members from across the 319 wards of Rivers State is defecting from our party, the APC to any other party. None of our members has defected. 

    “Members of the Rivers APC Councillors’ Forum have no plan whatsoever to seek the withdrawal or the discontinuation of our case before the Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt. 

    “Our case in court is at an advanced stage and we believe justice shall be served in no distance time. Our grassroots’ supporters from across the 23 LGAs of Rivers State are assured that we shall pursue our case to a  justifiable end. 

    “From the records available to us at the state level of the forum, there is no such councillor by the name “Tamunoemi Williams” on the list of our elected honourable members from Bonny LGA. “Tamunoemi Williams” is an impostor.”

    The forum described the false defection claim as a figment of the imagination of the gullible persons behind it and the handiwork of mischief makers, professionally crafted to deceive their supporters and some unsuspecting members of the public, just to cause confusion.

    Members of the forum also pledged their loyalty to the Rivers APC, under the leadership of the Transportation Minister, Rotimi Amaechi.

    The forum said: “None of our councillors is defecting to another political party. We remain steadfast and comfortable in the APC because we believe our future and destinies can be better guaranteed within the progressive family.”

    The APC councillors also urged journalists to always cross-check their facts, before rushing to the press.

  • Agony of Port Harcourt Mile 1 Market traders

    Agony of Port Harcourt Mile 1 Market traders

    Traders who were relocated from  the Mile 1 main market in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital,  to the extension of old Obi-Wali Cultural Centre on Silverbird/Abonema Wharf road in Port Harcourt are grieving, Precious Dikewoha reports.

    Mr. James Idafe, Kenneth Eze and Innocent Chibueze are not happy these days. They all belong to the Mile 1 Market Traders Association in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital. The source of their sadness is Rivers State government’s demolition of their market.

    They were relocated a few years ago from the Mile 1 main market to the extension of old Obi-Wali Cultural Centre on Silverbird/Abonema Wharf road in Port Harcourt after their shops and goods.

    On hearing about the directive to demolish their shops, the traders Thursday last week protested to the Government House to complain to Governor Nyesom Wike.

    Idafe, in an interview with this reporter, said:“ The government had on Thursday last week notified the traders in the market that it would carry out a demolition exercise on the market. They claimed that we are illegally occupying the space. Some Task Force members escorted by heavily armed security men had around 5a.m visited the market on alleged order of the state government and smashed our shops and goods.”

    But  the state government said the Mile 1 market extension was a hideout for criminals.

    The Special Adviser to Governor Nyesom Wike on Lands and Survey, Mr. Anugbum Onuoha, said the government did not in any way evict trades in the popular Mile 1 Market, Port Harcourt, capital of Rivers State.

    A statement  by his media aide, Prince Uwaifo Oviawe, quoted Onuoha as saying the area has been acquired by the government for meaningful projects.

    Eze, who chairs the association, questioned the kind of democratic government operated by the Rivers State government, adding that the government refused to listen to them.

    He said: “I received a call from a security in the market around 5am that police and other security and unknown faces have destroyed main gate with caterpillar, they have arrested some persons. After the arrests they started destroying the whole place and nobody removed any of his belongings.

    “When we received this information, we marched peacefully to Government House to inform the government of what we heard. The message we are receiving from them is what we are seeing now.

    “Is this the democracy we are talking about; a government that cannot listen to the voice and pleas of the masses? We did not come here illegally; we have papers that backed us to be here given to us by the past government.”

    As far as Chibueze is concerned, an act of inhumanity has been visited on traders.

    He said:“What we are seeing is an act of inhumanity. This is the administration we all fought for but they are treating us like this. We suffered for them without benefit. Now they have scattered and destroyed our goods.

    “If they had asked us to leave here, we would have done it without this level of losses. Our goods got burnt in the old market in 2013, we came to this place empty handed, building ourselves up again and after our effort to stand the state government came and destroyed everything.

    “Nobody removed even a pin from his shop everything was matched with the bulldozer. We don’t know what to do. We are watching. We hope in God. Last time the market burnt we did not die even this one, we will survive.”

    Another trader, Mr. Miracle Harry said:“After the fire that razed the old market, the government gave us this site temporarily till the market is rebuilt and to that effect there was documentation, we are not illegal occupants.

    “It is barbaric, I don’t think this kind of  thing would happen. If the governor is involved in this, it means that he was not properly informed. He should have come down here to ascertain things for himself. We are helpless in a democratic state.”

    Onuoha said  criminals were using the uncompleted buildings and makeshift apartments in the area as the safe haven, adding that the demolition was to curb crime.

    The statement reads: “The Rivers State government has dispelled the allegations surrounding the eviction of occupants and demolition of the makeshift shops occupied by Mile 1 traders along Silverbird/Abonema Wharf road in the Port Harcourt metropolis.

    “Several reports show that those makeshift shops and the uncompleted building serve as a hide out for criminals. The land which has been acquired by the state government and compensation fully paid has to be secured for meaningful projects.”

    Onuoha dismissed speculations that the Ministry of Lands and Survey was aware of an agreement reached between the traders and the Port Harcourt City Local Government Council for the space to be used.

    In December 17, 2013,  Mile 1 market was gutted by an early morning fire  which destroyed properties and goods worth billion  of naira. This prompted the relocation of the affected traders to an extension of Obi-Wali Cultural Centre where they were allocated space to construct wooden shops.

    However, that was not the first time the market would be gutted by fire. In 2004,  the  market was gutted by fire. The then governor of the state,  Dr. Peter Odili, visited the market and promised  to build a befitting market  for the traders, but he did not.

    The next governor, Celestine Omehia, awarded the contract for construction of a modern market for the traders. Construction   in the market was ongoing when Omehia was removed from office by the Supreme Court of Nigeria  and Rotimi  Amaechi came on board.

    On assumption of office, Amaechi continued with the project. The first phase of the market was completed in 2011 and stores allocated to some traders. The second phase would have been continued, but there were administrative lapses which led to the abandonment of the project.

  • EFCC arrests Turnah for N2bn scam

    EFCC arrests Turnah for N2bn scam

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Tuesday said it arrested George Turnah over N2 billion scam.

    This is contained in a statement signed by the Head, Media and Publicity, EFCC, Mr Wilson Uwujareh and made available to newsmen in Abuja.

    It said its operatives arrested Turnah, the former Special Adviser to the erstwhile Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mr Dan Abia in Port Harcourt.

    According to the statement, Turnah was arrested in connection with possession of funds running into N2billion.

    The statement said the EFCC suspected the fund to be part of the money siphoned from the NDDC while serving there as an adviser between 2012 and 2015.

    “Preliminary investigation by the EFCC threw up deposits made in his personal and company bank accounts in excess of N2 billion.

    “A search conducted in his houses in Port Harcourt and Yenogoa also yielded useful documents.’’

    The statement said the suspect had made useful statements to the EFCC and would be arraigned as soon as investigations were concluded.

     

  • Ijaw group hails FG’s directive for oil companies to relocate to N/Delta

    Ijaw group hails FG’s directive for oil companies to relocate to N/Delta

    The Ijaw Professionals Association (IPA) has described as a step in the right direction, the Federal Government’s historic directive that oil companies must relocate their corporate headquarters to the crude oil and gas-rich Niger Delta region.

    It noted that the directive, which was conveyed by the then Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State on March 2 this year, during his equally-encouraging stakeholders’ consultation tours to all states of the Niger Delta, would ensure a lasting peace in the region.

    IPA, in an online statement on Tuesday by the Chairman of its Board of Trustees (BoT), Maj.-Gen. Paul Alaowei-Toun; President of Homeland Chapter (Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta States), Iniruo Wills; and President of Lagos Chapter, Elaye Otrofanowei; described the directive as the strongest signal in many years that the Federal Government had sincerely begun to address the age-old challenges of the Niger Delta region from the roots, rather than the usual cosmetic approach of trying to dust off the symptoms on the surface.

    It said: “The presidential directive answers one of the cardinal demands of petroleum host communities over the last half-century. For the oil producing and heavily oil-polluted communities and states in the Niger Delta, this might be the most authentic evidence of the Nigerian local content policy that was recently enacted into law but is yet to be of much practical value to our people’s lives and local economies in the region.

    The effects on the water of an oil spill which occurred in mid 2007, near the community of Goi, Ogoniland, Nigeria, photo taken 28 January 2008.

    “Hopefully, the directive will also mark a departure from the mutually counter-productive tactics of seeking to suppress agitation and its regrettable ramifications by military might.

     

    “Although the Federal Government’s directive, even upon complete implementation, will not be the final solution to the Niger Delta question, it will be of tremendous benefit to Nigeria and to the Niger Delta, due to the significant impact it will have on the region in terms of social and economic empowerment, restoration of the crucial peaceful atmosphere for smooth oil and gas operations and the consequent sustainability of the substantial national revenues flowing from the region and its coastal treasures.

    “The speed and commitment with which the directive will be implemented and facilitated by all stakeholder segments are matters of critical national importance and urgency. The momentum must not only be maintained but maximised as well.

    [quote font_size=”18″ bgcolor=”#e8e820″ arrow=”yes”]”It is highly incumbent on all key stakeholders and drivers to act promptly and decisively towards immediate implementation of the Federal Government’s directive.”[/quote]

    The Ijaw professionals also looked primarily to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Emmanuel Kachikwu, in his usual energetic manner, to drive an accelerated process for the relocation of all oil and gas companies to their areas of operation.kachikwu

    IPA noted that the relocation should affect the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), its various subsidiaries (NAPIMS, NETCO, HYSON, IDSL, etc.) and the relevant regulatory/monitoring and capacity building agencies such as the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) and the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), which it said had all curiously remained at a dysfunctional distance far from the geographical centres of their operations and mandates.

    It said: “We trust that the industry operators, especially but not restricted to the multinational oil companies, will cooperate fully and swiftly on this declared thrust of the Government of Nigeria.

    “It is also our minimum expectation from the indigenous operators that they will follow suit, moreover as they are all beneficiaries of the petroleum industry indigenisation or Nigerian-local content policy and in particular recent divestments of oil mining leases and marginal fields.

    “The people of the Niger Delta region and the rest of Nigeria look forward to this.”

    IPA also admonished home governments of the oil companies to take all measures to actively encourage their corporate nationals to comply with this directive of the government of Nigeria.

    The oil firms were asked to start to address the grave and intolerable hardships and losses they had continuously inflicted on the people and communities in the Niger Delta region for about sixty years.

    Ijaw professionals said: “We urge, as a matter of urgent responsibility, the governors of the affected states in the Niger Delta, the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, the Niger Delta Development Commission and the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs to seize the moment now and work together and with the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and the Minister of Budget and National Planning, to facilitate the actualization of the directive.

    “This should include an immediate and mutually coordinated short to medium term infrastructure and amenities plan, with clearly defined stakeholders’ commitments on funding and other enablers. Such a strategic facilitation plan will be of immense value towards bringing the Federal Government’s visionary directive to quick fruition.

    “Our governors and other key actors, including leading professional bodies and genuine stakeholder platforms, should commit themselves to this opportunity and challenge, with the target of ensuring that the relocation of all oil and gas companies is consummated within the next six to twelve months, while arrangements for perfecting their settling down continue for such further time as may be expedient.

    “IPA commits to collaborating with these vital governmental and non-governmental institutions and mobilising its wide membership, expertise and leverages towards the fulfilment of this potentially-redefining and transformative-presidential directive.”

    Members of the association also stated that they were studying with keen interest, the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) that had just been released by the Federal Government, in its bid to revitalise the Nigerian economy.

    IPA added that part of the proceeds of the planned divestments should be to fund and underwrite the critical infrastructure needs of the Niger Delta.

  • Rivers gets new Police Commissioner

    Rivers gets new Police Commissioner

    A new commissioner of Police (CP) has been deployed to Rivers state.

    This followed the death of the former commissioner, Francis Odesanya.

    The new CP, is Zaki Ahmed, he resumed work as the 38th CP of the command Monday.

    Ahmed, who hails from Kogi State, last served in Bauchi State before his redeployment to State to continue his service.

    Upon resumption at the Command’s headquarters, Moscow Road, Port Harcourt,  he has met with high ranking officers of the command for brief meeting and familiarization.

    Speaking briefly after inspection at the Quarter Guard, Ahmed thanked the press for their cooperation with the police, noting that he would officially address the media later.

    He stated that he would work with the media to ensure transparency and urged them to give him the need assistance.

    However, outcome of the meeting could not be ascertained at the time of filing the report.

    Meanwhile, after the demise of Odesanya, in January,  2017, DCP Ahmed Magaji,  oversaw the affairs of the Command as the Acting Commissioner of Police.

  • Don decries inadequate facilities, lecturers in higher institutions

    A don, Dr Awotein George, has decried the inadequate learning and teaching facilities in the nation’s tertiary institutions.

    George told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Port Harcourt on Friday that the student’s population and available learning facilities were far apart.

    George, Head of Department (HOD), Fisheries and Aquatic Environment, Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST), Port Harcourt, said students population out weighted available learning facilities.

    “Universities (students) are increasing year after year, while the learning facilities/lecturers are not increasing,” he said.

    He said the situation had made effective assessment of students difficult.

    The don said Joint Matriculation Admission Board (JAMB) might have banned candidates on awaiting West African Examination Council (WAEC) and National Examination Council (NECO) results from registering for JAMB.

    The HOD noted that JAMB’s decision could have come on the heels of the computer based examination.

    He said the available computers might not go round the candidates if not the policy.

    “The JAMB examination is computer-based; where are the computer facilities, and electricity supply, especially in the rural areas,” he said.

    George advised those affected by the ban to use the one year period to acquire relevant skills.

     

  • How we defeated obesity, by Port Harcourt residents

    Edmark Direct Marketing, a network product marketing company in Nigeria, last week gathered at the Arena Hall in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, to celebrate its victory against obesity.

    The event also offered customers who were suffering from obesity the opportunity to give testimony.

    Mrs. Chioma Obiageri said she had always wanted to lose weight.

    She described her former size as a serious problem.

    Obiageri said:  ”In 2014, Edmark Nigeria kicked off the weight loss challenge, giving people like us and other Nigerians the opportunity and platform to regain their health through weight loss and to fight obesity which is a disease of its own.

    ”I was unhappy about  myself each time I look at myself at the mirror. At a point, I started thinking on what to do to fight this disease of obesity. It is on the process of searching for solution that I met someone who introduced me to Edmark product.  I stand here today to tell you that I’m now a free person because I got my confidence back.”

    Another customer, Ogechi Okorie, said her experience  showed that excess fat in human system was not only bad but dangerous to health.

    She said the fat in her system wanted to kill her.

    Okorie said:  ”I want to thank the almighty God that He made me to come in contact with this company. I was dying before now. I was looking for solution; I wanted to be free from my previous size. Today I’m here to give my testimony and I would say that I’m glad that everything is now history.

    “I had excess fat in my body and when you have excess fat, it would cause serious damage if you didn’t discover it on time. So, when I got the opportunity from the company, I made a lot of efforts to ensure that the fats in my body were burned off using Edmark product.”

    Edmark Senior Crown Manager Mrs. Gift Emelle said obesity “is a growing global epidemic penetrating every walk of life around the world”.

    She said Edmark  would help  combat obesity, not just with healthy food supplements, but by creating awareness and educating the people.

    Mrs. Emelle said:“ Edmark Nigeria  has since helped over 950 individuals lose over 6.925 kilogramme of excess weight collectively. The weight loss challenge rewards participants for their discipline in achieving their healthy Body Mass Index (BMI) within 90 days.

    “With the weight loss initiative, distributors are encouraged to turn their weight loss journeys into a business opportunity and tool to be a product of the product. Following the initial success   of the product expo in Port Harcourt the company decided to bring it back for an encore.

    “The expo is a concept of exhibiting the opportunity that the company offers to all the Nigerian. It is a way to reclaim and maintained their health. It is a path towards financial freedom, and a means to better their lives. The expo is also one of the many ways the company seeks to assist its independent distributors with their efforts in expanding their business teams.”

  • Rivers rerun: Army, Police warn troublemakers

    Rivers rerun: Army, Police warn troublemakers

    • APC, PDP disagree on rigging plot
    The 6 Division of the Nigerian Army, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has warned thugs and troublemakers to steer clear of Etche and Omuma Local Government Areas during the rerun election, on Saturday.
    It also assured of peaceful elections in the two LGAs, while urging leaders of political parties fielding candidates in the polls to call their supporters to order, thereby refusing involvement in violence and thuggery.
    The 6 division, through its Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Aminu Iliyasu, in an interview on Friday in Port Harcourt, disclosed that enough soldiers were on Thursday deployed in Etche and Omuma LGAs to give the necessary support to the police and other security agencies, declaring that the Nigerian army was very prepared for the elections.
    Acting Rivers Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Magaji, who is the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) in charge of Operations, promised adequate security during today’s polls, to ensure free,  fair and credible rerun.
    The leaders of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the state and the main opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) also disagreed on a plot to rig the polls.
    The PDP, through its Publicity Secretary, Samuel Nwanosike, accused the members and leaders of the APC of conniving with security agencies and officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to massively rig the crucial elections.
    The Publicity Secretary of the APC in Rivers, Chris Finebone, on Friday evening in Port Harcourt, however, declared that Governor Nyesom Wike, his allies and members of the PDP had perfected plans to rig the elections again through violence, thuggery and bribery while urging security agents to be vigilant and avoid a double standard.
    Finebone stressed that candidates of APC for the elections and members of the party in Etche and Omuma LGAs vigorously campaigned, which he said would make them to record landslide victories, provided the polls were free, fair and devoid of violence/thuggery.
    The rerun in over 200 voting units across 8 registration areas will be for House of Representatives’ Etche/Omuma federal constituency, which will hold in 147 units in Etche LGA & one unit in Omuma LGA, while the election for Rivers House of Assembly’s Etche constituency 2 will hold in 74 units.
    The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of INEC in Rivers state, Aniedi Ikoiwak, stated that the polls would hold in areas where access to polling units is blocked by suspected thugs during the December 10 last year’s rerun, where election materials got to, but for violence and disruption, elections were not collated and results not declared at the appropriate venue and where elections were held, but the results were rejected and cancelled by the Electoral Officers at the ward level, because of certain malpractices.
    Ikoiwak noted that with all the adequate arrangements made by INEC and assurances given by security agencies, he expressed optimism that the elections would be free, fair and credible.
    APC’s Ogbonna Nwuke is for Etche/Omuma federal constituency in the House of Representatives, while Golden Chioma is the main opposition party’s candidate for Rivers House of Assembly’s Etche constituency 2.
    PDP’s Chief Jerome Eke is for House of Representatives, while Mr Tony Ejiogu is the ruling party’s candidate for Etche constituency 2 in the House of Assembly.
    INEC’s National Commissioner supervising Rivers, Edo and Bayelsa states, May Agbamuche-Mbu, had earlier revealed that over 700 staff of the commission, within and outside Rivers state, would be deployed for the elections.
    It will be recalled that the Rivers Coordinator of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Mr Omotayo Adewoye, stated that the 300 invited youth corps members would not be participating in today’s elections, to avoid being killed, since a youth corps member was earlier killed by hoodlums during a previous rerun in the state.
    Adewoye noted that the approval for the youth corps members not to take part in the polls was given by the Direcror-General of NYSC, Brig. Gen. Sule Zakari, since nobody would be able to guarantee the security of lives of the youth corps members.

  • Group commends FG’s training scheme for Ogoni women

    The Federated Ogoni Women Association (FOWA), has commended the Federal Government for approving a special training and empowerment scheme for 1,200 Ogoni women in Rivers.

    The Secretary of FOWA, Mrs Charity Nwido, made this known on Monday in Port Harcourt, said the scheme would assist women who were impacted negatively by pollution.

    Nwido noted that the training, an aspect of the Federal Government’s Ogoni clean-up programme, was aimed at providing alternative livelihood for the female peasant farmers.

    She said that the training programme would assist women in the area who she said suffered more than 60 per cent of the impact of the environmental degradation in Ogoni land.

    “Ogoni women bear over 6o per cent of this environmental pollution because they form the bulk of the farming population of the area.

    Nwido said because of the environmental degradation, women in Ogoni land recorded poor harvest and diminished income.

    She said: “women development is essential to a successful clean-up as recommended by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report.

    “I believe that this training programme will provide opportunities for the Ogoni women to engage in other means of livelihood, pending when the soil will have been restored for normal agricultural activities.’’

    She appealed to the Federal Government to establish a cottage hospital in the area that would effectively take care of the health challenges of the people, especially women and children.

  • Army denies killing IPOB supporters in Rivers

    Army denies killing IPOB supporters in Rivers

    The Nigerian Army on Sunday denied that its troops shot 11 members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to death during Jan. 20 solidarity rally in Port Harcourt.

    Col. Aminu Iliyasu, the Army’s spokesman, 6 Division in Port Harcourt said that the army adhered strictly to rules of engagement in spite of provocation from some IPOB members.

    Thousands of youths believed to be IPOB supporters took to the street on Jan. 20 to commemorate the election of Donald Trump as 45th President of the United States of America.

    Iliyasu said that troops from its 29 Battalion were only deployed to assist other security agencies to prevent possible breakdown of law and order during the rally.

    “The attention of 6 Division Nigerian Army has been drawn to a baseless and unsubstantiated allegation by one Emma Powerful, who claimed that soldiers killed 11 IPOB members during Jan. 20 rally.

    “The allegation is false, malicious and existed in the figment of imagination of Mr Powerful, who claimed to be the Publicity Secretary of IPOB.

    “Despite all provocative attempt occasioned by the stoning of security agents and smashing of commuters’ windscreen, troops refused to be cajoled to fire a single shot.

    “In spite of the provocation, the violent protest was only subdued with the use of tear gas while arrests were made by a sister security agency with no casualty recorded on either side,” he said.

    Iliyasu said that pictures and videos that put on Social Media were old materials picked from IPOB archives.

    He said IPOB used the pictures and videos as propaganda to attract public sympathy and raise sentiment among citizens in its favour.

    The division spokesman said that the army would no longer tolerate any spurious and unfounded allegations aimed at injuring its image and reputation.

    “We wish to inform the public that the allegation is untrue and so, should be dismissed as mere propaganda by the separatist group.

    “We wish to restate our total commitment to the protection of lives and properties within the division’s area of responsibility.

    “To this end, Mr Powerful and other like-minded mischief makers are hereby warned that the Nigerian Army will no longer tolerate such allegations.”

    Iliyasu urged residents of Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers to corporate with security agencies to enhance peace and socio-economic development of the region. (NAN)