Tag: Rivers
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Photo: Destruction of illegal crude oil refineries
DESTRUCTION OF ILLEGAL CRUDE OIL REFINERIES IN BUGAMA, ASARI TORU LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF RIVERS BY THE NIGERIAN NAVY SHIP PATHFINDER PORT HARCOURT ON SUNDAY -
APC: Rivers PDP can’t kill Amaechi’s political career
The Rivers State All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday said the alleged sponsored probe of former Governor Rotimi Amaechi by the People Democratic Party (PDP) is a waste of time.
The state’s APC Deputy Chairman Prince Peter Odike told reporters in Port Harcourt, the state capital, that the plan by Governor Nyesom Wike-led PDP government was to shut Amaechi out of political space.
The plan, Odike said, would fail.
The deputy chairman said the commission of enquiry Wike set up and the petition to Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) against Amaechi were among PDP’s plan to deny Amaechi an appointment in President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
He recalled that Amaechi, the former chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) for solid eight years, resisted the pressure by some elements, with the alleged backing of former President Goodlouck Jonathan, to control the state’s resource.
Odike said: “I am here calling on the elders, young men and women of Rivers State and indeed the people of Niger Delta to rise in union and to tell these few actors, represented by the current occupants of the Brick House, especially the PDP in the state, that the sound of their drums is of war.
“They want to shut Amaechi out of the political space but they can’t because their plans are evil. Their actions are becoming inimical to the progress of Rivers State. They are not happy that Amaechi fought the political battle of his life to ensure Buhari’s victory at the poll.
“We, therefore, enjoin the good people of Rivers State to discountenance this ill-motivated selfish and devilish campaign of calumny against the great son of Niger Delta. Rivers people should refuse to be part of any gang–up geared towards destroying what Amaechi has built in the state.”
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APC, PDP trade words over Rivers, Akwa Ibom elections tribunals
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) are trading words over the operations of the election tribunals.
The PDP has alleged plots by the federal authorities to tinker with the composition of election tribunals in Rivers and other states controlled by the PDP. But, the APC has asked the PDP to stop denigrating the judiciary by suggesting that Tribunal judges handling the various election petitions can be influenced, saying the APC-led Federal Government will not micromanage the judiciary.
A statement yesterday by PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, said the move was with a view to importing “pliable judges” to overturn the party’s victory in the last general elections in the affected states.
The party said it has “concrete evidence” that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was set to transfer “uncooperative” tribunal judges and replace them with malleable ones to overturn PDP’s electoral victory in Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Abia, Taraba and Delta states and hand them over to the APC.
Metuh said: “Following the insistence by some tribunal judges on delivering justice, despite the pressure being mounted by the APC government, machineries have been put in motion to influence the outcome of the judicial process by replacing them with those already briefed to do the bidding of the APC government.
“Part of the plot is to use the Department of State Services (DSS) and some unscrupulous officials of the independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).”
But, the APC, in a statement issued in Lagos by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the PDP is throwing wild allegations against the Tribunals in Rivers and other states because the party knows it stole the votes in those states.
“The affected states are the cashcows of the PDP, hence the party is so jittery about losing the states, which they know they did not win in the first instance.
“We have confidence in the ability of the Tribunals to carry out their duties diligently and without fear or favour. We implore the PDP to be charitable enough to repose the same confidence in the Tribunals,” it said.
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Rivers: ‘Probe of N60b sale welcome’
The Patriots Alliance (TPA) yesterday said the investigation of the N60billion proceeds from the sale of some equity in Rivers State Power Project was a welcome development.
It said the probe by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission would put an end to premature and endless name calling in Rivers State.
It, however, said the perpetual injunction obtained by a former Governor of Rivers State, Dr. Peter Odili, might stall the present investigation.
It said the perpetual injunction had stopped security agencies, including the EFCC, from investigating the Governor of Rivers State for corruption
The TPA made its position known in a statement by Mr. Solomon Okocha.
The statement said: “On behalf of the good people of Rivers State and Nigeria at large, The Patriots Alliance (TPA), commends the EFCC as it commences investigation into the controversial petition by a pro – PDP body – Integrity Group, against former Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, bordering on issues pertaining the proceeds of sale of Rivers State government assets.
“We are also happy that the EFCC has written to the Rivers State finance ministry, Accountant General demanding details of contracts. We believe that this move will put an end to the premature and endless name calling in Rivers State.
“But in view of the judgement procured by former Governor Peter Odili from Justice Buba of the Federal High Court, where he granted a perpetual injunction stopping security agencies, including the EFCC, from investigating the Governor of Rivers State for corruption, we are afraid that this present investigation is dead on arrival.
“We understand that EFCC had appealed the ruling in the Court of Appeal; but eight years after, the court is yet to hear the case.
“We are also aware that it is the same order of perpetual injunction that stalled EFCC’s corruption and abuse of public office case against Governor Nyesom Wike.
“We hereby urge the EFCC as a matter of necessity and public good, to approach the Court of Appeal to set aside that obnoxious perpetual injunction as soon as possible.
“It is also necessary that the judiciary demonstrates a determination to combat corruption or frivolous corruption allegations by the quick dispensation of corruption cases at the courts.
“Where cases are allowed to linger in courts, it allows for the continued violation of the rights of the accused persons.”
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Rivers’ PHC board urges exclusive breast feeding
The Rivers State Primary Health Care Management Board (RSPHCB) has organised an awareness week to educate nursing and expectant mothers in urban and rural communities on the importance of exclusive breast feeding.
The awareness was aimed at sensitising nursing/expectant mothers and community leaders, especially men, to ensure that babies are breastfed exclusively for six months from birth.
The board’s Director, Community Health Service, Dr Isaac Opurum, who spoke on the global awareness campaign on breastfeeding, said the state is collaborating with United Nation Children Fund (UNICEF) to ensure the success of the programme. The theme is: Breastfeeding and work, Let make it work.
Opurum said experts from various organisations and ministries would be on hand to teach mothers on how to breast feed.
He charged the government and private sectors to assist working mothers with the facilities that would make breastfeeding in their offices possible.
He said if the facilities were provided by employers, it would encourage working mothers to breastfeed their babies.
Opurum said leaving the babies at home would deny them access to exclusive breast feeding.
Oparum said the board would organise a baby show to reward mothers who breastfeed their babies exclusively.
He continued: “The programme is a global event and a one week event that is expected to draw the attention of the mothers, rural community leaders, the government and the private sector to the importance of breastfeeding, particularly exclusive breastfeeding.
“Exclusive breastfeeding helps the child to develop immunity and it also protects it from unnecessary illness. They hardly come to the hospital with diseases and other infections when exclusively breastfed. The breast milk assists in the development of the child’s brain. This is why we are inviting the mothers to be part of the event.”
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Rivers waterside settlers battle police over Citizen Igbe’s death
Two weeks after an Ogoni bus driver was murdered by a police officer attached to Kala Police Station in Mile 4 for refusing to give N100 bribe, another man, Chukwuemaka Igbe, a resident of Elechi waterfront, was last weekend made to jump to his death by officers from Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) .
Angered by the third extra-judicial killing in the area, the residents of the waterfront took the victim’s body from Elechi waterfront at Mile 1 to the Rivers State Government House where they presented their grievance to Governor Nyesom Wike.
The residents of the waterfront said the victim died while trying to escape the bullet of the officers from SARS who stormed the waterfront shooting.
“When they started shooting, about four men ran away and they started pursing them until they jumped inside the water but the man who died did not know how to swim. With the sound of the gun, he was scared and entered the deep part of the water and died,” the community chairman, Mr. Harrison Lawson said.
Elechi beach settlement, which is popularly called waterfront community, is one of the seashore settlements which escaped the waterfront demolition policy of the immediate past administration of Rotimi Amaechi. The former governor, who demolished most of the waterfronts in Port Harcourt, described them as hideouts for criminals. Elechi beach linked Njemaze water to Abonima wolf and it is one of the oldest waterfronts in Rivers State.
A visit to Elechi waterfront showed that the people are living in a different world. Every ten person you see, eight of them are smoking Indian hemp. You need not be told that you are in a jungle when you get there. They have a very poor hygienic environment; the buildings are mostly wood materials. The toilets were constructed with wood close to seashore and it is being channeled to the same water which they drink, bath and cook with.
They do not have enough space for children to play; the available wet and dirty space is the only children playing ground where they also dump waste.
Speaking further on how the police have been terrorising the residents of waterfront, Harrison said police officers have been using Indian hemp as an excuse to humiliate residents of the waterfront.
He said illegal extortion on residents of waterfront started when one officer from Mile 1 police station known as Paulo now with SARS introduced other officers to the waterfront when they discovered that they were making a lot of money from them through forceful collection of money and illegal bail.
He said: “The police have became more dangerous to us. Every day they are coming here to chase people around in the name of Indian hemp. If they are looking for the smokers of Indian hemp, they should go to the rich man’s house and not here. We are poor smokers, how many of these boys have the money to smoke. They chased the late Chukwuemeka until he jumped inside the water. Tell me who will hear the sound of gun that would not run.
“The late Chukwuemeka’s body could not be found until after three days when the river floated it out. It was at this point that we confirmed his death. Police said they didn’t shoot him, they alleged that the man jumped inside the water and drown, but we have eyewitnesses who saw them shooting and chasing the man until he jumped inside the water. The resident who saw them pursing the man specifically told the police that the victim did not know how to swim but they refused and continue threatening the man with gun until he jumped inside the river and died and they said they have no hand.
“They are not coming here for anything than to generate money from the residents of waterfront in the name of searching for Indian hemp smokers. We have warned them severally that if it was the Indian hemp smokers they are targeting they should look for them because a lot of people are living here. Everybody cannot be a criminal or Indian hemp smoker, as far as we are concerned we also have responsible people living here.”
“The worst thing is that whenever they enter here, they will start shooting and it is only a tree that will remain in one place when shooting is taking place. So, whenever the police come around to shoot, the boys will take off and they will pursue them as if they are criminals. Sometimes, the officers will enter here early morning to knock on people’s door and as soon as you wake up to say who is that the next thing you will here is handcuff him. The funny thing is that when they take us to police station they don’t allow us to write statement. The only thing they do is to force us to bail ourselves which is bad. If you go to work, the police will break into your house, collect handset and cash without telling the person his or her offence. They also come here to smell residents’ hands and mouths and at the end, they will claim that their hands and mouths smell Indian hemp and the person will be arrested.”
Mr. Olanikon Okoneonimim, one of the residents of the waterfront who doubled as the Vice chairman of the waterfront community, said residents of the area were also being arrested based on their dressing.
He said: “They have forgotten so soon how they begged us on the first and second killing before we allowed them to sponsor the burials, showing that they were guilty of the offence. Now, they have killed another person, we will not take it lightly with them this time around. The first person they killed here the man was fixing an electrical wire connected to his house and they saw him and asked him if he is a NEPA man. When the man said no, they dragged him down and killed him. The police authority also visited us and pleaded with us, what have we done to the police. The Police should stop using us to raise fund. This is robbery; police had been robbing us which started with officers called Paulo, Kennedy and Victor from Mile 1 police station. We want the Commissioner of police to know that the police officers coming here are more criminal than the people they are looking for. Here is not a criminal base, all the crimes committed in Port Harcourt happened in upland.”
Godwin Amos, one of the four men who jumped inside the river when the police were allegedly chasing them, said he pleaded with the police to arrest him so that he could rescue the deceased.”We were just relaxing when we heard hold him….hold him and we immediately realised that it was police, so we took off. Of course, in waterfront, you have limited space to run to, because we are surrounded by water. When we ran a few distance and the police were still pursing us, we had no other option than to jump inside the water. But unfortunately, the guy who died was a new neighbour and did not know how to swim. When he got to the point where he should jump inside the water, he stopped and the police was still shooting. Because he didn’t want to be arrested, he followed us and jumped inside the river and he drowned to death. Meanwhile, when the residents who were around saw the police coming they told them that the guy did not know how to swim, they pleaded with them to stop so that the guy would not be threatened to jump inside the water but they didn’t listen to anyone.”
12-year-old Imore Clement, who was fishing at the water when the incident took place, said: “I was getting some fish at the water when I heard a gunshot. I didn’t know they were pursing some residents of waterfront. I thought it was the issue of robbery. The next thing I saw was the boys jumping inside the water, but one of them stopped at the front of the water showing that he did not know how to swim. The residents didn’t close their mouth as they shouted to SARS officers that the man could not swim; yet the officers were seriously shooting until they chased the man inside water. It was few days later that the river floated his body out lifeless.”
The Southsouth General Secretary of the Buhari Legacy Foundation, Comrade Felix God’swill Nkwazema, who visited the waterfront, said the organisation would partner with some human right groups to ensure justice on the matter. He said the police had no right to take the life of anyone, even that of a criminal until the court of law says so.
The Rivers State Police Public Relation Officer, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Ahmad Mohammad, said the police as a responsible organisation would not kill the people they are supposed to protect. “Police as a responsible constitutional agency will not be involved in the killing of the citizens they ought to protect,” he said.
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Rivers APC slams Wike over comments on caretaker chairmen
Following a remark by Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike , that the newly-inaugurated local government chairmen fight over funds, the Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has described the statement as unbelievable, saying it is a confirmation that the state has ended up in a ‘one chance bus’.
Speaking through its Publicity Secretary, Chris Finebone, the APC said the statement by Wike was a sign that the state was in deep trouble.
The governor had been quoted as saying, ‘Don’t behave like the kind of CTC (caretaker) chairmen we are appointing, who always fight over funds. The chairman would go to bank with the council treasurer for funds, while the members (caretaker) would ambush them.’
Reacting to the statement, APC said: “Few weeks after Barr. Nyesom Wike was inaugurated as governor of Rivers State and he earnestly embarked on a borrowing spree, the Rivers State chapter of the APC came out to warn that Rivers people had ended up in a ‘One Chance Bus’ with Governor Wike as the driver.
“Typical of the infamous ‘one chance’ phenomenon that leaves tears and blood in its wake, the passengers (this time the people and residents of Rivers State) are destined for either loss of personal effects and belongings or outright crash, in which only the driver and his cohorts manoeuvre themselves to safety, with the loot from the people, dead or alive.
“On Thursday, Governor Nyesom Wike, while inaugurating the re-constituted Rivers State Pilgrims Welfare Board, told the world that he appointed thieves as caretaker chairmen and members.
“Most worrisome to the APC is the fact that Governor Wike only mentioned something as grave as that, just in passing. The continuous nature of his statement clearly shows that Governor Wike has no remorse for his indiscretion in appointment.”
The APC also recalled that about two weeks ago, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Dakuku Adol Peterside, after observing the persons appointed as caretaker council chairmen and members by Wike, raised the alarm about the kind of persons being appointed.
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Tribunal: Rivers APC exposes PDP’s sinister plot
The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has, once again, exposed the sinister plot of the leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the suits before the election petitions tribunal in Abuja.
APC, through the Secretary of its Media and Publicity Committee, Godstime Orlukwu, Tuesday in Port Harcourt, revealed that the PDP leaders were plotting to pay money into the bank account of one of the tribunal judges, thereby implicating the APC through frivolous petitions.
The governorship candidate of the APC in Rivers, Dr. Dakuku Adol Peterside, and most candidates of the party for the state and National Assemblies filed petitions at the tribunal, in view of the massively-rigged March 28 and April 11 polls.
Peterside dragged his counterpart of the PDP, Chief Nyesom Wike, now governor, to the tribunal, on the sham elections, while all the motions and applications of the PDP’s governorship candidate to stall the petition have been dismissed by the fearless judges, with full hearing to commence soon.
Rivers governorship candidate of the APC had consistently accused officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of working with the PDP and Wike to frustrate his petition before the tribunal.
The party said: “The APC has just uncovered another desperate arrangement by the PDP to put a cog in the wheel of justice in the ongoing governorship/legislative tribunal cases in Abuja. At a meeting they held in Port Harcourt, the PDP leaders perfected moves to pay a huge sum of money into the account of one of the tribunal judges hearing the Rivers State petitions.
“This might not have been a strange occurrence, since the PDP leaders would not imagine that every Nigerian is up for sale. The plan is to make the payment in the name of a chieftain of the APC and then write a petition to the National Judicial Council, (NJC) and the unsuspecting public.
“The aim of the sinister move is to cast aspersion on the integrity of the members of the tribunals hearing the Rivers State petitions, and raise doubts in the minds of Nigerians and especially Rivers people.”
The APC also stated that its candidates had good cases before God and man, while having absolute confidence in the Nigerian judiciary as the last hope of the common man.
It noted that it did not have any reason to coerce, blackmail or corrupt the process to get justice.
APC said: “We wish to reiterate that the APC and its candidates will not be party to any plot or ploy to compromise any judge, as we believe wholly in the rule of law and in the sanctity of the judiciary.
“We are confident that justice will prevail and we have repeatedly said that we would pursue our matters legally and without recourse to illegality or self-help of any kind. We have never been and will never be party to any untoward act, even in the face of outright provocations and deliberate denial of our rights.
“We have remained steadfast in our pursuit of justice and trust that God and the will of Rivers people will see us through. Eternal vigilance remains the price of freedom.”
The APC also called on the security agents to be on the alert and monitor very closely any act that might be inimical to the peace and progress of Rivers State.
It noted that Rivers people had suffered enough and would not believe that the state should continually be in the eye of the storm, in view of some people’s greed.
Wike had earlier in Port Harcourt stated that he had a good defence at the tribunal, with formidable legal team and would not be involved in any criminal act to get justice.
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Rivers APC chair berates Wike for ‘demonising’ Amaechi
Rivers State All Progressives Congress (APC) Chairman Davies Ikanya has criticised Governor Nyesom Wike for his failed attempt to demonise former Governor Rotimi Amaechi.
Ikanya noted that Amaechi, a former Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), had been vindicated in Wike’s corruption allegation levelled against him.
Wike was Amaechi’s Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt from 2007 to 2011.
The former governor recommended him to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011 for a ministerial appointment.
In a statement yesterday in Port Harcourt, the state capital, by his Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Media and Public Affairs, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, the APC chairman noted that Wike’s allegations were spurious, senseless and baseless.
The statement said: “The immediate past Secretary to the Rivers State Government (SSG), George Feyii, and the Commissioner for Finance, Dr. Chamberlain Peterside, in a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, did not only dismiss the allegations as a figment of the imagination of Wike and his cohorts, but also provided concrete proofs that ex-Governor Amaechi ran the affairs of Rivers State, using transparent financial procedures that cannot be faulted by any well-meaning person or organisation.
“As Messrs. Feyii and Peterside made clear in their letter to President Buhari, the fabricated allegations against Amaechi, sponsored by Wike and spread through the Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and amorphous groups, such as Integrity Group, are borne out of malice, with the sole aim to malign the integrity of ex-Governor Amaechi and his administration, to poison President Buhari’s mind and discourage him from appointing Amaechi into his cabinet.
“With the refutation …by Messrs. Feyii and Peterside, it is now very clear to President Buhari and other Nigerians that former Governor Amaechi is just one of our few leaders who ran a corruption-free and transparent administration during his tenure as the governor of Rivers State.
“Thus, Wike has failed abysmally in his desperate bid to tarnish the good image of Amaechi. Surely, President Buhari cannot be deceived by the antics of Wike and his cohorts who are seeking to stop him (President Buhari) from making Amaechi part of his administration, in recognition of his well-known managerial acumen and the role he played as the Director-General of Buhari/Osinbajo Presidential Campaign Organisation, in mobilising Nigerians to cast their votes for the APC’s presidential candidate in the March 28 election.”
Ikanya urged Nigerians to continue to support the Buhari administration to bring about the necessary change.
The APC chairman noted that with Amaechi’s excellent performance as Rivers governor, he would do much better at the federal level.
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PDP seeks sack of Rivers tribunal judge
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has urged the President of the Court of Appeal (PCA), Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, to sack Justice Victor Uchenna Okorie, one of the judges serving in the Rivers State Legislative Election Petitions Tribunal, sitting in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
Justice Okorie, who was initially the chairman of Panel One of the tribunal, was redeployed as a member of Panel Three after the PDP wrote the PCA, alleging that the judge, who is of the Customary Court of Appeal in Imo State, was not qualified to act as chairman of a tribunal, under Paragraph 1(1) and (2) of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution.
In a fresh letter to the PCA, dated August 12, PDP’s lawyer, Godwin Obla (SAN), argued that it would be detrimental to his client’s interest should Justice Okorie be retained in any capacity where he could play any role in the determination of other petitions in which the PDP was a defendant.
The lawyer alluded to PDP’s role in the judge’s removal as tribunal chairman.
The letter reads: “We write to express our grave concern that immediately after the reconstitution of Panel One, which removed him (Justice Okorie) as Chairman, the latter was constituted into Panel Three, before whom PDP will appear in all pending petitions before it.
“The net effect of the above is that PDP will continue to appear before the very one, against whom it had successfully raised objection in respect of his capacity as Chairman in the earlier panel.
There is no gainsaying the fact that his present position as a member of Panel Three is a ‘demotion’, as it were, from his earlier exalted position of ‘Chairman’ of Panel One, a fact that will definitely continue to play out in his mind; needless to further point out the inevitable or likelihood of human passions of bias and prejudice awaiting the PDP as a party.
“It, therefore, stands to reason from the above that the continued inclusion of Justice Okorie in the panel, where PDP is appearing as a party against another adversary, will inexorably compromise the integrity of the structure of justice system before whom our client has been made to appear in defence of its mandate in the electoral process.”
The lawyer urged the PCA, as the appointing authority, “to take the necessary step to address our concern and that of the PDP and remove Justice Okorie from all the election petitions tribunals currently sitting nationwide, in which the PDP is a party, seeing that he is not ready to disqualify himself”.
Obla said his client’s challenge of Justice Okorie as a member of the election tribunals was not about his competence as a judge in other capacities.