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Tag: Rivers

  • Security alert over protests in Ekiti, Rivers

    Security alert over protests in Ekiti, Rivers

    Security agencies have been placed on the alert following the uncovering of plots to sponsor protests against some ministerial nominees.

    Also, there were indications last night that Mrs. Amina Mohammed, Special Adviser to the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, has accepted her nomination for a ministerial job.

    President Muhamadu Buhari is said to have rejected lobbyists seeking to be Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). He has reportedly directed Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, who is a minister- designate to retain the portfolio.

    Kachikwu is listed to be the Minister of State for petroleum Resources because the President has said he will be the minister of Petroleum – a decision that has been criticised by some legal experts that it is not backed by the law.

    The Senate is expected to unveil the ministerial nominees’ list tomorrow and release the screeing plan.

    Some governors and opposition elements plan to scuttle the screening of some ministerial nominees.

    Besides, some former governors are said to be unhappy with some nominees.

    Some All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders in some states are also believed to be aggrieved.

    The states are Rivers, Ekiti, Kebbi, Akwa Ibom, Ogun, Gombe and Kwara.

    Some of the targeted nominees include ex-Governors Rotimi Amaechi and Kayode Fayemi, Mrs. Amina Mohammed, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, Udoma Udo-Udoma, and Abubakar Malami.

    It was gathered that security agencies have discovered that those opposed to these nominees have perfected their plans, including public demonstrations to call for the rejection of the nominees.

    A source said: “Security agencies have uncovered plans by some elements in the opposition and a few stakeholders to launch vicious political attacks against some ministerial nominees.

    “Some of these elements are even plotting to disrupt the public peace in Abuja because of the inclusion of some technocrats and independent-minded nominees. They are aggrieved because the President didn’t go for political candidates.

    “Their attempt is to rubbish the President’s choices under the guise of opposing some nominees.

    “Some governors have so far been implicated in the would-be protests.”

    Another source said: “ Some loyalists of Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike are planning a protest at the National Assembly this week against former Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi’s nomination.

    “We have reliable information that they have set aside N350million to execute this invidious plot.

    “What is worrisome is that Wike’s loyalists are doing this at a time Rivers State children have been locked out of schools because of the state government’s refusal to pay salaries.”

    The source also alleged that some PDP stalwarts met with a group of senators from the party to ‘pay back Amaechi in his own coin’ for defecting from the party to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    “The PDP is already advising its members in Rivers and Ekiti states to reject the nominees appointed by the President , “ the source said.

    But the APC in Rivers State may resist attempts by Wike’s loyalists to march on Abuja against Amaechi.

    “Security agencies are very concerned about the possibility of the Rivers crisis spilling over into the FCT, Abuja,” another source said.

    Rivers State APC chairman Chief  Davies Ibiamu Ikanya admitted that he had heard about the planned protest and had told his members to be prepared. He said: “The APC in Rivers State has borne with equanimity all the numerous attacks by the PDP and its leadership against our leader and former Governor Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi.

    “It is sad indeed as the former governor, has done nothing to deserve such evil behaviour. We have decided as a party that we will no longer keep silent. We will match the PDP action for action and word for word.”

    Mrs Mohammed is said to have accepted her ministerial nomination.

    A Presidency source said: “After personal discussions and interaction with Ban Ki-Moon, Ms Mohammed has accepted her appointment. She was on her way from New York to Nigeria yesterday in preparation for documentation and screening.

    The Office of the Chief of Staff was busy yesterday preparing the profiles of the ministerial nominees for the Senate.

    It was learnt last night that the President had rejected lobbyists seeking to be the GMD of NNPC and directed Dr. Kachikwu to retain the portfolio.

    A Presidency source said: “The President met with the GMD of NNPC at the weekend and assured him that he would combine the portfolio with that of a minister of state.

    “Buhari said he would honour all the conditions which made him to secure the services of Kachikwu from a high profile job in ExxonMobil.

    “The President has shut his doors against lobbyists for the GMD’s job.”

  • ‘I almost declined being Rivers commissioner’

    ‘I almost declined being Rivers commissioner’

    Hon. Ibim Semenitari, a CNN award-winning journalist, is a former Rivers Commissioner for Information and Communications. In this interview with BISI OLANIYI in Port Harcourt, a Fellow of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the Publisher/Founding Editor of Business Eye magazine, whose husband, Henry, is the immediate past Managing Director of Unity Bank, says for the love of journalism, she declined serving in oil companies and other world-class establishments. The lady, who is also the daughter of Sir Gabriel Toby, shares her experiences, while working closely with ex-Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, as Rivers Commissioner for Information and Communications, among others. Excerpts:

    WERE your parents strict, while growing up?  I lived a very sheltered childhood, in the sense that my parents were very protective of me when I was growing up. They were very strict, very firm and very loving parents. I enjoyed growing up. I was not a spoilt kid. My parents insisted that we learnt the virtues of hard work, industry and discipline early enough. I grew up in a home where discipline was very highly priced.

    My father (Sir Gabriel Toby, a former Deputy Governor of Rivers State) taught us to be very contented with what we had and to be accountable. For instance, when I was in secondary school (attended both primary and secondary schools in Port Harcourt), if my father gave you pocket money, before he would give you the next pocket money, you must retire your expenses. You must give my father a budget for the school term and you must retire every expense.

    When I started doing vacation jobs, by the time I got to the university (University of Benin, UNIBEN), unlike many other kids, whose vacation jobs’ monies would be just their own, after my vacation jobs, my father would ask how much was left from my vacation jobs’ money and what I did with the money.

    While going back to school, my father would tell me that with the leftover of the vacation jobs’ money, I already had pocket money, without any addition. My upbringing taught me to be accountable. After I left UNIBEN, I finished my youth service and I started working.

    Where did you serve?

    I served in Lagos.

    Where in Lagos?

    Daily Times of those days. When Daily Times was Daily Times. I had been praying that I would serve in Lagos. I can proudly say that I was tutored and trained by some of the best in the journalism profession.

    Did you study Mass Communication for your first degree to have had the opportunity of being trained by the best hands in journalism?

    My first degree was in English Language and Literature, combined honours, from UNIBEN. Then I started working. I did PGD (Post-Graduate Diploma) in Mass Communication at the University of Lagos (UNILAG). I do not have a Master’s yet. I finished the PGD’s coursework and passed all the courses very well, but I did not finish my project.

    In the course of doing my project, I got the Alfred Friendly Press Fellowship in the United States of America and I had to make a choice between missing out of the fellowship and staying back to write my project. Perhaps, because I was a professional, why I wanted the PGD in Mass Communication was to have the technical side to journalism, which I did not have.

    For me, as a professional, the experience of an American newsroom for six months was of greater value than staying back. So, I gave up on the project. I did the fellowship and came back to Nigeria.

    What of the youth service?

    From the camp of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), everybody was trying to go to different places, but I had wanted to be a journalist. So, I wanted to serve in a media house. While everybody was looking for places of primary assignment in banks and oil companies, I was not interested. I so badly wanted to work in a media house.

    I first went to see Prof. Pat Utomi, a younger friend of my father. When I said a friend, they were not age mates, but they are alumni of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN). Pat was then (in 1989) the Managing Director of Volkswagen of Nigeria Limited, to talk to him about the possibility of serving with Vanguard. At that time, there was saturation at Vanguard.

    So, Pat wanted to talk to them at The Guardian, but he asked me to also try Daily Times. I went to Daily Times and I saw Mr. Onyema Ugochukwu, who was then the General Manager. I told him I wanted to serve in Daily Times. He looked at me and said Daily Times would not pay extras, but I said it did not matter.

    Then, Mediline Tador (a former Rivers State Commissioner for Information and the immediate past General Manager of the Rivers State Broadcasting Corporation) was the Editor of Poise magazine, a publication of the Daily Times, before it was rested. Onyema said Daily Times was starting a women’s magazine and he asked Solana Olumese to talk to me and to interview me and see if I could be part of the Daily Times’ team.

    Sonala spoke with me, along with Femi Ajayi. That’s how I got into Daily Times, which was a great experience, because I was groomed by some of the best in the business, including Sonala Olumese, Femi Ajayi and Chidi Amuta.

    Even though I was working with Poise magazine, I spent a lot of my time with members of the editorial board, especially Lizzy Nkem, and they all liked and took special interest in me. I was very passionate about what I was doing. I loved being a journalist. I still love being a journalist. That is something I love very passionately. They saw the passion and encouraged it. Chijioke Amunadi was my deputy editor in Poise. Pascal Anyaso was a great editor of the arts page. We had a great team.

    I started with Poise in Daily Times, but I wanted to do more than Daily Times offered. I was not just satisfied with doing Poise. That was at the time Dr. Yemi Ogunbiyi, then Managing Director, was about leaving Daily Times. I took a decision to leave Daily Times, while still serving. Helen Obasi said I could come to The Sunday Magazine (TSM), but said I should come and see Chris Anyanwu.

    I went to TSM and met with Chris Anyanwu. She was such a pretty lady. She had her legs on her table, wearing a pair of three-quarter trousers, white long-sleeve blouse and had a chain belt around her waist. Chris Anyanwu said: “I do not hire female journalists,” and I said: “But you are female.” I told her Comfort Obi is female. Comfort Obi was then working at TSM. Chris Anyanwu said Comfort Obi was different.

    Chris said to me: “You are still very young. Won’t you get married and have kids?” I said I would get married and have kids. Chris said she could not hire me. My assumption was that Chris was worried that my family life might interfere with my work. I did not think it would and gladly, it did not, in all of my professional life.

    TSM did not hire me. I then went to Quality magazine, which belonged to the Newswatch group. While I was at UNIBEN, some friends and I had started the first-ever campus magazine called Campus Watch, which was patterned after Newswatch. Our mentors and patrons were the Newswatch’s eminent journalists.

    We had gone to see Yakubu Mohammed, Ray Ekpu, Dan Agbese and Soji Akinrinade and others and we talked to them about Campus Watch and they agreed to be our mentors. They told us that after graduating and we wanted jobs, we should feel free to come to Newswatch. That was shortly after Dele Giwa died.

    When I got to Lagos, I decided not to go to Newswatch. I like to earn my own shirt. I do not like favours. I went to Quality with my story clips and I said I had been working for Daily Times. Even as a youth corper, I had done big interviews which were liked by the Quality team.

    I later met with the Newswatch bosses, since Quality was part of Newswatch. I then mentioned to Dan Agbese our initial meeting, when Campus Watch team visited Newswatch from UNIBEN. By the time we met, I already had a job in Quality.

    About the time I was finishing my youth service, Newswatch wanted to start Eko magazine, which was to be an experiment with having a regional magazine. Working with Eko magazine made me to know all of Lagos, because we went round all the local government areas. We were doing a magazine that was for Lagos.

    How did you get to Tell magazine, where you became head of newsroom, before founding Business Eye magazine?

    I was in Newswatch magazine for the longest time. Just before I got married, I had a brief stint with Sunray newspaper, based in Port Harcourt, when the newspaper was starting in 1992, but I returned to Newswatch after three months (October to December).

    Sunray head-hunted me, but it was not it for me and I had to go back to Newswatch in Lagos. Not because of the salary offered by Sunray, which was better than what I was earning in Newswatch, but I was a Newswatch person at heart.

    Sunray newspaper was a great idea, with nice graphics, but it was not the environment that I wanted to be. Professionally, everybody has an environment that works for them. You define your boundaries. It just was not my boundary.

    Returning to Newswatch from Sunray was not about money. If it was about money, I probably would have served in Nigerian Agip Oil Company, which was a nice offer that a family friend of ours offered. Chief Humphrey Idisi, who owns a drilling company, also offered that I should be his personal assistant during the service year. Chief Idisi also asked me to work in his Lagos office, with great prospect, but I declined because of my passion for journalism.

    Life is more about the intangibles, because my mother always says if you can count it, it can finish. Bible says the things that you see are ephemeral, but the things that you do not see are eternal. Money is good, but I do not place a premium on it. It does not define me. I was raised differently. My father taught us that there are more important things in life.

  • Drama time at Rivers Governorship Elections Petition Tribunal

    The Rivers State Governorship Election Tribunal is on its last stretch. After no less than three months of sitting, it is getting to the stage where witnesses are rounding off their evidence for Governor Nyesom Wike. The All Progressives Congress (APC), its candidate, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have already taken their turns to present witnesses before the tribunal. Today will mark the second day that the witnesses of Governor Nyesom Wike will mount the box to give their evidence.

    As expected, Peterside and APC brought witnesses to show that the election was a sham. PDP, INEC and Wike did the opposite. Wike’s witnesses started giving evidence on Wednesday. He has six days to call witnesses. By the end of today, he would have had two days, which means he still has Saturday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to wrap up with his witnesses—except the tribunal decides otherwise.

    The first day for the PDP candidate was interesting and full of drama.  All the defence witnesses refused to read documents, feigning poor vision. The witnesses, drawn mainly from Khana, Tai and Andoni local government areas, complained of vision impairment. Not a few see this as deliberate tactic to frustrate Peterside’s petition.

    The witnesses include Monday Burabari Nkpoba, Elder Gbrone Gibson and Amos Apa,  Barisua Peter, Chief Adagbo Samson, Godwin Gbarapi and Agahigiwune Isaiah. Their excuse created free entertainment for those in the court.

    Apah, a retired civil servant from Tai Local Government Area, said he is 67 years, blaming his age for his inability to read the document. He was shown was shown Exhibit A300/5 which showed that no party agent signed the results. Samson, a civil servant from Khana, said he could not read because he forgot his reading glasses.

    Under cross-examination, Peter also introduced a drama when he said he actually started voting at 15. Now 31, he said he started voting in 1999.  The declaration of the trader, who claimed to have voted at Ward One, Unit One, Bori, Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State, seemingly compounded his efforts to convince the tribunal that election actually took place in Khana on April 11.

    Peterside’s lawyer Chief Akin Olujimi faulted the witness’ deposition where he failed to mention the absence of card readers and other electoral materials during the election. Olujimi exposed the contradictions in his written and oral evidence. Peter agreed that card readers were not used for the election, as accreditation was done manually. Like others, he also refused to read from exhibits that showed that neither was there an election nor voters’ register in that unit.

    Another drama centered on attempt by lawyer to the PDP, Ifedayo Adedipe, to shield one of the witnesses from being confronted with an earlier admitted document made by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The tribunal overruled Adedipe’s objection on the ground that it was premature. Justice Ambrosa held that such objection should be reserved till the final address stage.

    Also, Ambrosa, at a point, cautioned lawyers from the respondents’ camp to desist from whispering to witnesses before the tribunal.

    “We (lawyers in the case) should be careful. We (tribunal members) are not here to destroy anybody. Why carry other people’s case on your head? If you are not careful, you will have stroke in few days,” Justice Ambrosa said.

    Wike and INEC’s main task is to ‘rubbish’ evidence by witnesses for Peterisde, which include soldiers, policemen and even INEC members of staff. One of the witnesses, Mr Tafa Michael, a Superintendent of Police, who was on election duty on April 11 in Tai Local Government Area of Rivers State, told the tribunal that his men caught agents of the PDP thumb-printing in a house opposite their party’s secretariat at Seme in Tai Local Government Area.

    The police officer told the Justice Suleman Ambrosa-led tribunal that over 70 persons, including PDP agents, INEC members of staff,  the commission’s ad hoc staff and other individuals were arrested by his men shortly after noon on election day and were taken to their office.

    Another witness, an officer of the Department of State Security, Mr. Godwin Mba, revealed that cult groups and thugs spearheaded the violence and carnage that marred the April 11 governorship election in Rivers State.

    There were many others from the close to 60 witnesses that Peterside called. All damning. These are what Wike is trying to rubbish with the likes of Apah and Samson. And the drama has been interesting. Five more days of drama may lie ahead.

     

  • NDDC builds school for Rivers community

    To improve access to quality education for residents of Amalem community, Abua Central in Abua/Odual Local Government Area of Rivers State, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), has built a model primary school.

    The school, which has 10 classrooms, common rooms, toilets, washrooms, and water tanks among others, would replace the old school building of Agbebi Memorial State School built in 1957.

    Speaking at the inauguration, NDDC Executive Director, Finance and Administration, Dr Henry Ogiri said the model school would be replicated in all the nine states of the Niger Delta to address the challenge of decayed infrastructure in the education sector.

    Ogiri said the overall objective is to enhance teaching and learning to make education very interesting for school children.

    “The NDDC feels that education is an all-encompassing training process. If the school is in a way that can support learning effectively, then of course, students will be motivated to go to school,” he said.

    In his speech, the Caretaker Committee Chairman of Abua/Odual LGA, Chief Isaac Ukwe, who inspected the school with other stakeholders, expressed delight at what he described as the beautiful  edifice built for his people. Ukwe said as an oil-producing community that has contributed immensely to the economic growth of Nigeria, his council area deserved the attention.

    “I want to thank the NDDC on behalf of our people. This model school is something our people will cherish for a long time. I, also pray that the NDDC will do more for us. The commission should not stop at giving us a beautiful school building. There is need to also give us a well-equipped library to enable our children read books from different parts of the world,” he said.

    Headmaster of the school, Chief Thankyou Ogini, said more pupils have enrolled in the school since the completion of the project.

    “Previously, we had only 210 pupils, but now we have 300 even as schools have just resumed. Obviously, the beautiful building and the surrounding environment are attracting more pupils to our school,” he said.

    Paramount ruler of Omalema community in Abua Central, Chief Imerari Anatho, said his domain did not have any meaningful Federal Government presence before now.

     

  • Robbers kill policeman, LG official, driver in Rivers

    A riot policeman on escort duty, Sergeant William Relomer, an official of Oyigbo Local Government Council of Rivers State; and a driver were on Tuesday afternoon gunned down by armed robbers in Port Harcourt, the state capital.
    The bandits also escaped with a huge sum of money belonging to Oyigbo LG council, earlier withdrawn from a new generation bank , along ever-busy Olu-Obasanjo Road, Port Harcourt and the policeman’s rifle.
    The robbery took place around 12 noon along the Olu-Obasanjo Road, which divides the highbrow new Government Reservation Area (GRA) and D-Line, with many commercial banks, corporate organisations, hotels and other business outfits.
    Witnesses revealed that the four bandits trailed the three occupants of a Toyota Thundra car, after withdrawing the money from the new generation bank and they had not gone far, when the armed robbers opened fire, killing all of them on the spot.
    It was also disclosed that the armed robbers drove in a Toyota Camry car, but in view of the heavy traffic on Olu Obasanjo Road, they parked close to the Rivers Transport Company (RTC) loading point near Waterlines Bus Stop, off Port Harcourt-Aba Expressway and trekked towards the victims’ car, not far from the bank, where the transaction took place.
    It was learnt that the bandits targeted the fully-armed riot policeman, who they felt might want to repel the attack, but he was caught unawares, as bullets were first rained on him.
    It was also gathered that with Olu Obasanjo Road adjoining roads and streets deserted, the armed robbers quickly escaped, while still shooting sporadically, since the spot is not far from the Olu Obasanjo Divisional Police Headquarters, along the same road, where the bandits operated unchallenged.
    With the escape of the bandits, policemen later came and picked the three bodies.
    It was learnt that the bodies of the policeman and the local government official were first moved away, while the security personnel later returned to the horrific scene and picked the body of the driver, that was fully soaked with blood.
    Rivers police Spokesman, Muhammad Ahmad, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), who confirmed the robbery, said: “I am aware of the incident, but only Sergeant William Relomer, who happened to be in an escort vehicle, lost his life.”

    In the last four months, Rivers state had been under siege of armed robbers, kidnappers, cultists, sea pirates and pipeline vandals, but Governor Nyesom Wike kept assuring residents of the security of their lives and property.

  • Army seizes boats, N3.4m diesel in Rivers

    The Operation Pulo Shield (OPS) in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, have seized 2.3 million litres of allegedly stolen diesel worth N3.45 million from an illegal bunker.

    The petroleum product was siphoned from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) pipelines.

    Maj.-Gen. Alani Okunlola, the Commander of Operations of OPS, formerly known as the Joint Task Force (JTF), addressed reporters yesterday at Tamunotonye Ama in Ogu-Bolo Local Government Area of Rivers State.

    Okunlola said two suspected oil thieves were arrested at the bunker, while several equipment used by the operators of the illegal bunker were seized during the raid.

    He said: “On September 23, troops of Sector 2 of OPS of 2 Brigade, Nigerian Army in Port Harcourt stormed Tamunotonye-Ama community and discovered a large bunkering site, which operated illegally.

    “The troops, during the raid, discovered and seized eight large metal badges laden with stolen Automated Gas Oil (AGO), commonly referred to as diesel; another 23 empty barges were also seized.

    “Two of the eight metal badges have estimated capacity of seven tanker trucks each.”

    The OPS commander told reporters that other items found at the site included 44 large plastic tanks, 22 illegal pumping dumps, 18 pumping machines, three speedboats, two outboard engines and a lengthy hose.

    He added that 19 storage tanks filled with stolen crude oil were also seized from the site during the operation.

    Okunlola said: “Two suspects in our custody will be interrogated, while the barges have been towed to Ogoloma Jetty in Okirika Local Government Area of Rivers State.”

    The commander said investigation into the activities of the operators of the illegal bunkers had begun.

    He said the investigation would show how they operated in the area without being detected.

    Okunlola noted that under his command, the OPS had increased the frequency of raids in a bid to end oil theft and illegal bunkering in the Niger Delta.

    The site is located near the Onne Sea Port and the Onne Oil and Gas Free Zone where several multinational oil and gas companies are operating.

  • NDDC builds model school in Rivers

    NDDC builds model school in Rivers

    The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has completed a model primary school at Amalem, Abua Central in Abua/Odual Local Government Area of Rivers State.

    The school, which replaced the building of Agbebi Memorial State School, built in 1957, has 10 standard classrooms, common rooms, toilets, washrooms and water tanks, among others.

    NDDC’s Executive Director, Finance and Administration, Dr. Henry Ogiri, said the model school would be replicated in the nine states in Niger Delta to stop decaying infrastructure in the Education sector.

    Ogiri, who addressed reporters yesterday in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, said the commission’s objective was to enhance teaching and learning in a way that would make education interesting to pupils.

    He said: “The NDDC feels that education is an all-encompassing training process. If the school is in a way that can support learning effectively, then students will be motivated to go to school.”

    The director said the NDDC realised that many schools were in deplorable conditions with dilapidated structures.

    He noted that in some of the schools, students were required to attend classes with their desks, while others studied under trees.

    Ogiri said: “The NDDC thought it necessary to re-model these schools and bring them to the standard of modern-day schools that can support effective learning.”

    The Caretaker Committee Chairman of Abua/Odual Local Government Area, Chief Isaac Ukwe, who inspected the model school in company of other stakeholders, expressed delight at what he called the beautiful edifice the NDDC built for his people.

    He noted that as an oil-bearing community, which had contributed to the economic growth of Nigeria, his local government area deserved the attention the NDDC had given to it.

  • Rivers APC to Buhari: halt intimidation of tribunals’ witnesses

    Rivers APC to Buhari: halt intimidation of tribunals’ witnesses

    The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to halt the alleged intimidation of witnesses who testified  before the election petitions tribunals in Abuja.

    Rivers APC, through its Chairman, Chief Davies Ikanya, in a statement yesterday in Port Harcourt, through his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, said the witnesses wanted to assist the tribunal to ensure justice.

    APC in Rivers said: “Photos of the APC witnesses at the tribunals in Abuja are being posted on Facebook by a group known as The Youth Coalition For Good Governance. They held a demonstration and tagged our witnesses with all sorts of unprintable names and accused them of being saboteurs.

    “Today, these men (witnesses) live in hiding and can no longer do their businesses freely to maintain their families.”

    It urged Buhari to institute a probe into the murder of 97 persons during the 2015 polls in Rivers State.

    APC said:  “We passionately plead with President Buhari to hasten to make good his promise to Rivers people on May 13, 2015 when he vowed to revisit the issue, saying: ‘We will confront them with facts and figures. We will not forgive and we will not forget those who perpetrated killings and arson in Rivers State during the elections (of March 28 and April 11, 2015).’

    “We demand that the Prof. Chidi Odinkalu Commission of Inquiry report be revisited urgently,”

    Rivers APC also called on all the security agencies to take necessary preventive measures, to guarantee the safety of the witnesses testifying at the various election petitions tribunals in Abuja.

  • Sound bites from Rivers governorship petition tribunal

    The Rivers State Governorship Election Tribunal has been full of drama since the 1st Respondent, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), opened its defence on September 17.  The electoral body was said to have flown 20 out of twenty-three Electoral Officers involved in the election into Abuja to testify in its defence. They were reportedly lodged at Awala Hotel, Wuse Zone 11. Six of them came to the court to give their testimony.

    INEC’s lead counsel, Mr. Ikpeazu (SAN) confidently called in the Electoral Officer for Obio/Akpor Local Government Area as his first Defence Witness (DW1), who was led to adopt his witness deposition, in which he repeatedly claimed that the election was free and fair. However, the situation changed almost immediately under a firebrand cross-examination led by Chief Olujimi SAN. Under cross examination, the EO denied being aware that Card Reader was meant to be used for the April 11 Governorship Election. When pushed further, the EO maintained: “I am not aware that card reader was to be used for the Governorship Election in Rivers State.” The credibility of the witness was battered when in response to Olujimi’s question he claimed that the election in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area took place the same day, April 11, whereas it is on record, even from INEC’s documentations, that at least election in two wards were rescheduled for the following day, April 12.

    INEC called it a day after this witness and applied for adjournment till the following day. With the disappointing response of that single witness, the entire “election” in Obio/Akpor LGA had been successfully discredited. The 19 other Electoral Officers were immediately flown back to Rivers State. On September 18, when the matter was called up, Ikpeazu was reported ill and asked for further adjournment to Monday, September 21.

    On Monday, when the tribunal resumed, the counsel to INEC called in some witnesses who testified as Youth Corps members, who claimed to have “conducted election” at the polling units. Unfortunately, all the witnesses, who claimed to have been trained for the job, denied being aware of clear guidelines for the election, one of which is to the effect that where the card reader fails, the election should be postponed to the following day, a directive that is clearly written down on the electoral manual for the election. A Deputy Director from INEC, in charge of ICT, had also given evidence for the petitioner in that regard. The climax of the drama was at the point when Chief Olujimi under cross-examination requested one of the witnesses to read out a portion on the Electoral Manual, but the lady claimed that her sight had failed her and the entire tribunal burst into laughter, as spectators were heard whispering Prof. Etu Efeotor. Ikpeazu urged the tribunal to order the police to maintain order. Prof. Efeotor was the Rivers State Collation Officer for the March 28 Presidential Election, who could not read out collation figures because according to him the figures were “written under special circumstances”. Even when the Tribunal ordered the witness to read, she simply refused to. It was the provision which directed that where the card reader failed or was unavailable till the time fixed for the close of accreditation, election should be postponed to the following day.

    INEC had planned to call 50 witnesses in six days and many were wondering how the evidence of 50 polling units Presiding Officers, assuming INEC is able to call such number, would assist their case when higher authorities who monitored the elections at a general and wider level had testified at the tribunal to say that the election did not hold as prescribed under the law. They contended that if the POs were able to prove compliance, it is only as it relates to their respective units, maximum of 50 polling units, which would be very insignificant in a State of over 4,442 polling unit. They expect that the Resident Electoral Commissioner that superintended the election should be brought to testify as to the conduct of the election. Regrettably, it is not likely that the legal team is willing to take the risk of fielding the REC or any senior INEC officer.

    Wike
    Wike

    Expressing their deep concern, many seem to be suggesting that it is a very bad case for Governor Nyesom Wike and the PDP.

    This seems to be the general view and atmosphere for both the petitioners and some of the respondents’ counsel, but whether the tribunal will agree with them is a different issue. One of the lawyers of PDP simply put it this way, “the APC has tried, their evidence is overwhelming. We will try our best and leave it to the court. It is not a do-or-die, but honestly, to me, they have proven their case but I am not the tribunal.”

    • Eleba is of the SNP Online News.

     

  • Army arrests soldier training militants in Rivers

    •12 others held •Illegal arms seized •11 killed in shoot-out

    A soldier (names withheld), who specialises in training Niger Delta militants, has been arrested in Rivers State by the Army. He was arrested with 12 others; the illegal arms and ammunition were seized.

    The discovery and arrests were made yesterday during the mop-up operation in Kula in Akuku-Toru Local Government Area.

    Some of the arms and ammunition were moved by the militants before the arrival of the troops at the Kalabari community.

    The 12 suspects, including the arms and ammunition, were handed over to the state headquarters of the Department of State Services (DSS) for investigation and prosecution.

    The Commanding Officer of 2 Brigade Lt.-Col. Timothy Opurum spoke yesterday in Port Harcourt.

    Opurum said the soldier, who deserted the Army in 2002, was a member of 13-man gang that had terrorised many communities in the state.

    The commanding officer said: “Based on intelligence reports, we carried out a sting operation, where we captured a 13-man militant gang, including its notorious leader, Kenneth.

    “We also arrested a soldier, who deserted the Army in 2002 and specialised in training militants in weapons’ handling and operational tactics.

    “The soldier, who is a Private, joined the Army in 1998 and served in the 331 Artillery Regiment, Kalapanzi Barracks in Kaduna, before he was declared missing in 2002.

    “The soldier, who is related to the leader of the militant group, is in our custody and will be released to prosecuting agencies, after formal dismissal from the Nigerian Army.”

    Opurum, who described the operation as “highly successful,” said the troops raided the community on account of incessant  militancy, kidnapping, sea piracy, cultism, pipeline vandalism and killings.

    He noted that reports showed that the community was not only serving as a hideout for criminals, but as a  warehouse for arms and ammunition.

    The commanding officer, who led the operation, denied the allegation that troops opened fire on innocent fishermen, traders and destroyed their wares, adding that no innocent civilian was assaulted during the operation.

    The traditional ruler of Opu-Kula, King Hope Opusingi, earlier alleged that soldiers battered his people and destroyed property worth millions of naira.

    The monarch insisted that the raid by the soldiers was an abuse of power and a gross violation of the rights of his people.

    Eight suspected kidnappers and three robbery suspects were killed in a shootout with men of the state police command,  Commissioner of Police Musa Kimo has said.

    Kimo, who spoke at a news conference yesterday in Port Harcourt, said six robbery suspects were arrested in the state between September 8 and 22.

    He said seven suspected kidnappers were arrested, while six kidnapped persons were rescued.

    Kimo added that six suspected cultists were arrested and 32 firearms recovered from criminal gangs.

    He said the firearms, included three AK 47 assault rifles, 11 pump action guns, 10 locally-made pistols, three double barrel guns and three single barrel guns as well as 101 assorted ammunition and nine vehicles.

    Kimo said some of the vehicles included BMW X 5 J, Toyota Lexus saloon, Toyota Corolla and Nissan Xterra, among others.

    He attributed the achievements to proactive measures and professionalism displayed by officers and men of the command, warning criminals to desist from their acts or be prepared to face the law.