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Tag: Rivers

  • Ebola in Rivers: Doctor, Pharmacist, quarantined

    Ebola in Rivers: Doctor, Pharmacist, quarantined

    Three people – a doctor, a pharmacist and another person – among those who had primary contact with the late Dr. Ikechukwu Sam Enemuo, the first Ebola victim in Rivers State, have been quarantined after showing symptoms of the virus.

    The results of their tests are however still being awaited. The late doctor Emenuo’s widow, who has tested positive to the virus is receiving treatment in Lagos.

    Rivers State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Sampson Parker stated this on Sunday in an update on the outbreak of Ebola in Port Harcourt.

    Dr. Enemuo contracted the virus and died on August 22 in Port Harcourt. He became the sixth Nigerian to die of the virus after secretly treating a Nigerian official of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Mr. Oluibukun Koye in a hotel in Port Harcourt.

    Koye, who contracted Ebola after having primary contact with the Index case in Nigeria Liberian-American Patrick Sawyer, escaped from quarantine in Lagos where he was treated by Dr. Enemuo.

    While Koye is free of the virus, Dr. Enemuo, Chief Medical Director of Samsteel Hospital in Rumuokoro, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, died of the virus.

    He was the third medical doctor to die of the virus.

    The commissioner said the doctor and pharmacist started managing Enemuo’s case at his hospital, before he was moved to Good Hart Hospital, where he died.

    Also moved to the quarantine centre according to the commissioner is a patient who was on admission at the Good Hart Hospital where Enemuo was admitted until he died. Results of their samples were being awaited.

    The commissioner said 50 among the 200 people on the contact tracing list are classified to be high risk while 60 of them could not be reached even on the telephone. Some of them, he said are people who had direct contact with Dr. Enemuo at his hospital after he contracted the virus.

    Parker announced other measures taken by the Rivers State Government to include: banning movement of bodies within and outside the state, bagging of Dr. Enemuo’s body and decontaminating the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital morgue and the attendants placed under watch; a meeting by Governor Chibuike Amaechi with religious leaders on Sunday and traditional rulers Monday, to sensitise them and mobilise them on how to educate their followers and subjects on the virus.

    The commissioner assured residents of the governments’ readiness to fight the disease in collaboration with the Federal Government’s Ebola Emergency Response team and other International Agencies and NGOs including, WHO and Doctors Without Border (MSF).

  • Church organises prayer conference in Rivers

    Church organises prayer conference in Rivers

    Following the outbreak of the dreaded Ebola virus disease in Port Harcourt, the Rivers state capital, the Rivers Diocese of African Church has included enlightenment on Ebola in their ongoing annual conference at Oboma, Akuku-Toru Local Government Area of the state.

    The conference has Divine Abundance as its theme.

    The Diocesan Bishop of the church in Rivers State, Rev. Isaac Adeniyi Akinkunmi Falana, disclosed this in a statement in Port Harcourt yesterday.

    A medical doctor, Iky. Sam. Enemuo, died of the disease in a private hospital in Port Harcourt recently.

    His young widow, who is also a medical doctor, has taken ill after the death of her husband and has been quarantined. More than 100 persons are presently under surveillance in the state.

    The news has raised panic and fear among residents.

    Falana said Ebola disease is a warning sign by God and appealed to the people to reverence Him and go back to Him in repentance.

    The clergy said the disease has become a huge worry to the world and Nigeria, and having already claimed a life in the state, it is importantthat  participants in the conference are educated on the disease and encouraged to imbibe and maintain sound personal and environmental hygiene to ward it off.

    According to him, the conference would also feature free medical check-up and teachings on rape and widowhood, among others, adding that a dedicated prayer session would be undertaken against Ebola disease, which he insisted is a spiritual problem.

    He said: “I see Ebola as a warning signal to all, just as HIV/AIDS is a warning against immorality. We have been talking about Nigeria returning back to God, but people have remained undaunted about it. Ebola disease is not beyond God.”

  • Another tragedy hits Rivers as two kids, eight others die in boat accident

    Another tragedy hits Rivers as two kids, eight others die in boat accident

    A pall of gried again descended on Rivers State  yesterday when no fewer than  ten persons including two children were feared dead in a boat accident in Bonny Island, a suburb of Rivers State.

    Seven persons, including a youth corps member, as at press time were still missing, with the Caretaker Chairman of Bonny Local Government Council, Adoye Wilcox, declaring in a telephone interview that the divers, who had been combing the river bed were stil searching for bodies.

    Eighteen of the thirty five passengers, including four corps members, in the boat, meant for 28 persons, had so far been rescued and are being treated in hospitals in Bonny and Port Harcourt.

    Wilcox also blamed the Goodluck Jonathan’s administration for abandoning the strategic Bodo-Bonny Road, which would have put an end to the use of boats to access the densely populated Bonny Island, the headquarters of Bonny LGA.

    Witnesses stated that the boat capsized around 7 am yesterday, barely ten minutes after taking off from Bonny jetty and heading for Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

    It was also gathered that all the passengers in the ill-fated boat wore life jackets, but could not swim to safety.

    Speaking further,Wilcox said: “This is the darkest moment in the history of Bonny Kingdom. The boat might have been hit by a sharp object before it capsized. Divers are still working, but they are observing the tide. I am not sure there will be more survivors, but we will be looking for the bodies of the dead victims.

    “The boat mishap is quite pathetic. Ten persons, consisting of eight adults and two minors, died in the incident.There are however eighteen survivors.

    “Does the Federal Government want all of us in Bonny LGA to die? We are pleading with the administration of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan to deem it fit to construct the Bonny-Bodo Road, which is annually in the Federal Government’s budget, without any work done on it till date. The boat accident is avoidable. With a link road, we will no longer be using boat to get to Bonny LGA.”

    Wilcox also announced the ban of passenger boats from operating on Bonny Island, especially along the Bonny-Port Harcourt route, while he also dissolved the Bonny LGA Marine Safety Committee.

    The council boss called on the people of the council area to remain law abiding.He sympathised with the families of persons who died in the incident.

    Spokesperson of the Rivers Police Command, Grace Iringe-Koko, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), confirmed the incident saying that ” seven persons are still missing.”

  • Rivers PDP members join APC

    Rivers PDP members join APC

    some Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members in Obio/Akpor and Emohua local government areas of Rivers State defected yesterday to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Many PDP members, led by Mr. Francis Egbulajor, defected in Emohua council.

    Mr. Ogbondah Amadi also led his supporters from Obio/Akpor Local Government to join APC.

    They defected during the local government and ward inauguration of new executives of the Ikwerre/Etche People’s Forum, a group canvassing for an Ogoni governorship candidate in 2015.

    The president-general of the forum, Emmanuel Amadi, who received the defectors, said the group was not a political party, adding that it promotes justice, equity and fairness.

    Amadi said: “We welcome you to our great party. Thank God you have identified the difference between light and darkness. We will communicate to the state APC leadership, which will formally receive you into the party. You all have made a wise decision.

    “Our objective is to support an Ogoni candidate in 2015. It is ideal to look for constituencies or a place where the people have not led the state. Former Governor Peter Odili is from Rivers West Senatorial District. Governor Rotimi Amaechi is from Rivers East.”

    “Okrika produced Chief Rufus Ada-George. We are expecting Southeast Senatorial District to produce the next governor. Opobo/Nkoro, which is in Southeast Senatorial District, has produced a deputy governor; Adoni has also produced one, but Ogoni has produced none.”

    Ebulajor said: “Today, I have defected from the PDP to APC with my supporters and family. Anybody that pulls out from the darkness called PDP will not go back again. We cannot be deceived any longer; we are tired of following betrayers.”

    Amadi said: “We won’t go back to the PDP. It took us time to take this decision. Now that we have joined the APC, we will mobilise people for the party.”

    The defectors and members of the forum visited the Paramount Ruler of Omagwa Kingdom, Eze Jacob Orji, who said Amaechi’s successor must be “fearless like him (Amaechi)”.

  • Rivers on the alert

    Rivers on the alert

    The Rivers State government has placed the state on the alert to tackle a likely outbreak of the dreaded Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).

    The disease has killed five people in Nigeria and thousands of others in three other West African countries.

    Health Commissioner Dr. Sampson Parker addressed reporters yesterday in Port Harcourt, the state capital, on the government’s plans to prevent the disease from breaking out and, in case of an outbreak, the prevention measures to take.

    The commissioner said the Rotimi Amaechi administration was being proactive because of the state’s proximity to Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and other countries affected by the deadly disease, especially by sea.

    He noted that infected persons from such countries could escape to Nigeria through the sea routes.

    Parker stressed that there was no reason to panic over a likely outbreak of the disease because the government had put preventive measures in place.

    The commissioner assured the residents that the government, which effectively handled the outbreak of the Lassa fever, would also tackle the Ebola Virus Disease, if it is reported anywhere in the state.

    He said: “The Rivers State government is on the alert. There is need to also sensitise, educate and inform the public not to panic. This is exactly what the government is doing, because we have a very functional health care system.

    “The government will not want to be taken unawares by the virus. A quarantine area has already been set up. Some health experts have been brought into Rivers State from the United States (U.S) to train our health workers on the use of new equipment acquired by the government.

    “Our health workers have been well kitted to handle the EVD, even though no case has been reported.”

  • Rivers workers plan for life after service

    The Trade Union Congress (TUC) in collaboration with Rivers State Government has expressed dissatisfaction over the increasing number of Civil Servants who retired hopelessly due to their inability to plan for retirement.

    They said it has become a habit by civil servant especially those who did not plan for their future to falsify their age as to remain on the job instead of going for retirement

    The TUC and Rivers State government agreed that there is need to introduce entrepreneurship skill development to equip workers to face the challenges of life after retirement.

    The Chairman Rivers State Civil Service Commission Ngo Martyns-Yellowe, and the President-General of Trade Union Congress (TUC) Comrade Bobboi  Bala Kaigama, spoke  in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital.

    The workshop, which was organised by Rivers State chapter of Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN)   with the theme “Entrepreneurship Skill Development and Pre-retirement”, was to sensitise the workers on the need to plan for their retirement.

    Martyns-Yellowe said workers should always know that they must  retire and have no excuse not plan  for their retirement.

    “Why would a worker condescend too low as to reduce his or her age to avert retirement? It is because such person has failed to understand that someday he or she will retire. The government of Rivers State is totally in support of entrepreneurship skills development for workers.

    “This idea will assist those who are about to retire to acquire certain knowledge that could help them after retirement. Workers must take the advantage of contributory Pension plan to ensure that he or she does not end up in the sick bed for high blood pressure”

    He added that workers who have three months to retire will not be part of the contributory Pension plan. He said the workers under the new policy will contribute 8 per cent while the government will assist with   12 per cent as a way to encourage those who have the heart to embrace the policy.

    Kaigama, who is also the National President of Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), said: “You must not falsify your gage; instead take good advantage of the workshop to equip yourself with the requisite tools that could assist your retirement. It is necessary to acquire manpower skill, so that as you retire you can have an alternative to continue to cope with the vagaries of life.”

     

  • Rivers community, clerics make case for Ogoni, Jonathan

    Politics is in the air and there is no dull moment for socio-political groups. Even communities are seeking relevance in a game that will climax in 2015. In the spirits of 2015, Rivers community in Bayelsa State trooped out recently to announce their preferred candidates for the election year.

    Displaying placards and banners, members of the Rivers community under the aegis of the Federated Union of Rivers State Indigenes in Bayelsa (FURSIB) State marched the streets of Yenagoa. Under police protection, the enthusiasts chanted songs to create awareness about their mission.

    They are rooting for two persons – President Goodluck Jonathan for reelection and an Ogoni indigene for the Governor of Rivers State. In fact Prof. Don Baridam is their preferred candidate and they want him to run n the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    In unison, they asked President Goodluck Jonathan to stop foot-dragging and declare for his reelection in 2015. They also asked President Jonathan to support Prof. Don Baridam’s ambition to govern Rivers State in 2015 on the platform of PDP.

    The President of the group, Emman Ubaka, said  Jonathan’s Transformational Agenda was being felt in critical sectors of the economy.

    He said: “And whereas key infrastructure such as roads, economic empowerment of citizens and improvement of the well being of Nigerians are effectively developed and promoted despite all the distractions.”

    “Nigerians have never had it so good until now and if Jonathan achieved so much in less than four years it is obvious that if given a second term, he would achieve more and the glory of Nigeria will fully return.”

    He said the call on Jonathan to support Baridam was based on “fairness, equity and justice as the Ogoni ethnic group in Rivers State had not produced a governor, deputy governor nor speaker since the creation of Rivers State.”

    Ubaka said an Ogoni governor would give the ethnic group a sense of belonging and urged all other ethnic groups in Rivers State to throw their weight behind Baridam’s candidature.

    “We believe that Prof. Don M. Baridam represents equity, justice, peace and prosperity in Rivers State and will not antagonize the Federal Government or undermine the interest of the Southsouth zone.”

    The community is not the only voice.  Clerics under the aegis of Concerned Clergies for Good Governance (CCGG) also asked Nigerians to bury their selfishness and follow divine direction to avert looming bloodshed in 2015 general elections.

    The National President of the group, Prophet Lawrence Okorie, in Yenagoa warned Nigerians against hauling insults against the President.

    Okorie, who claimed to have predicted the militancy in the Niger Delta in 2015, said the country was drenched in injustice and bloodshed.

  • ‘Ogoni should produce next Rivers governor’

    ‘Ogoni should produce next Rivers governor’

     The President-General of Ikwerre/Etche People’s Forum, Rivers State, Emmanuel Amadi, spoke with Precious Dikewoha in Port-Harcourt on the agitation of the Ogonis for power shift in next year’s governorship election. 

    Why is your group not in support of the agitation for a ‘riverine governor?

    The Ikwerre/Etche People’s Forum is made up of people from Ikwerre Local Government, Emohua, Port Harcourt City, Obio/Akpor,  Etche and Omuma  local councils. In 2015,  the forum will not support any ‘riverine governor.’ The former governor, Dr. Peter Odili, is from Rivers West Senatorial District. Governor Rotimi Amaechi is from Rivers East. Okrika has produced Chief  Rufus Ada-George.  We are expecting the Southeast Senatorial District to produce the next governor. But, when you look at this senatorial district, Opobo/Nkoro, which is under  the South East District, has produced  the deputy governor. Adoni  has also produced the deputy governor. But,  Ogoni has produced none. The forum is totally in support of the Ogoni project in 2015. They have suffered a lot. Their kinsmen were murdered by the Federal Government.  Their environment has been sentenced to death due to oil exploration and production in the area. Ogoni has lost its natural resources. The Federal Government has refused to implement the UNEP report, which would have been leverage for them. It will amount to injustice, if we refuse to give them a chance in 2015. Even, the Kalabari has also shown sympathy for Ogoni people.  No Ogoni in 2015, no governorship in Rivers State.

    It apppear some of your members are divided over the decision to support the Amaechi Administration… 

    That is incorrect. That is propaganda. Because of the visionary leadership in the state, we have decided that there is no other person we could give support than Amaechi.  We have not seen what the PDP has offered.  All what they have offered is violence, which cannot attract our support. Those who are supporting the PDP in Rivers State, especially in Ikwerre and Etche, are not supporting them with sincerity. They are following them because of what they will gain from them. Some of the chiefs and elders who claim that they are supporting the PDP are being deceived. If you want to know where the major chiefs and elders of the area belong, then, you go to the Ogbakor Ikwerri, which is the highest consultative assembly in Ikwerre. They are in support Amaechi. We have passed a vote of confidence on Amaechi after assessing his developmental strides.

    The opposition has said that the governor is not working. What is your assessment?

    One of the goals of Ikwerre/Etche People’s Forum is to support good governance and sustainability. We believe that a good and hardworking leader sgould be supported. In Rivers State, we have seen the developmental strides of  Amaechi. All of us cannot claim ignorant of the development. He has  shown that democracy is the government of the people, by the people and for the people. He has touched the lives of the people. We are not talking about giving people cash.  We are talking about projects that have touched the lives of the people and communities.

    There are accessible roads. That means the poor are beneficiaries of the massive development.  The same thing also happens in the education sector, where those who cannot send their children to private schools now enjoy the same facilities in government  schools. What the rich man’s children benefit, in times of teaching aids, are now available in our model schools. The government of Rivers State has also gone further by providing free school bags, uniforms, and sandals to the pupils. In our health sector,the government has made health accessible to the poor,  especially the primary healthcare.

    If you talk about scholarship, thousands of youths are studying in Nigeria and outside Nigeria.  In the area of employment, Amaechi has become a reference point. Apart from the employment of thousands of teachers, he has also employed graduates and non-graduates in other sectors. More than 35 doctors were given scholarship. That is what we call democracy. That is what a visionary leader should do. During the dark days in Port Harcourt, when cult groups were ruling the state, the governor descended on them.  Today, that issue is a thing of the past. Today, if not that some desperate politicians have begun create  tension in the state, Port Harcourt could be regarded as the most peaceful city.

    If Wike becomes the PDP governorship candidate, can the APC candidate defeat him?

    Look, we don’t need to struggle to  defeat the PDP. How many people are members of the PDP?  To me, I see no battle because of what the government has done at the grassroots level.  During the last party registration,   my  community, Omagwa, Ikwerre Local Government Area, registered over 4000 APC members. So, how many PDP members are left in that ward?  PDP members are just making noise in the state. They love propaganda. The PDP once put the photograph of Lamido as the presidential aspirant and that of Amaechi as his running mate. Today, Lamido is in the PDP while Amaechi is in the APC.  Look at what is happening in the Rivers State PDP. Supporters are busy destroying APC flags and banners.   As far as I am concerned, the PDP will not win this state.

  • Rivers LG Chairman slumps, dies

    The Caretaker Chairman of Port Harcourt City Local Government Council of Rivers State, Charles Paul Ejekwu, slumped and died on Wednesday, with his corpse already deposited at the morgue of an undisclosed hospital in Port Harcourt.

    In a telephone interview Wednesday evening, the Press Secretary of the Port Harcourt City LG council, Bolingo Elenwo, disclosed that Ejekwu, popularly called Mayor, slumped and died around 3 am in his house on Peter Odili Road, Trans-Amadi Residential Layout in Port Harcourt.

    Elenwo also stated that burial arrangements were yet to be made, since the family members were yet to meet and take decisions, while describing the sudden death of the healthy and energetic caretaker chairman as shocking and pathetic.

    It was learnt that Ejekwu and 22 other Rivers LG chairmen were on Tuesday evening at the Government House, Port Harcourt, in a crucial meeting with Governor Rotimi Amaechi.

    The deceased LG boss was inaugurated about two months ago, along with twenty other caretaker chairmen, excluding the chairmen of Degema (Kalabari) and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGAs of Rivers state, who are yet to serve out their tenure.

  • No cause for alarm, says Rivers

    No cause for alarm, says Rivers

    • Council alerts abattoirs, food vendors

    •FAAN screens air travellers

    The Rivers State Government has urged the residents to remain calm because it is ready to tackle any Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) case, if it arises.

    Health Commissioner Dr Sampson Parker said there had been no reported case of the virus in the state.

    He said the Chibuike Amaechi administration had provided the personnel and materials to combat the deadly virus.

    Parker expressed Amaechi’s confidence in the capability of the Ebola Technical Committee to rise to the occasion.

    The commissioner described as “reckless, irresponsible and unfortunate” the statements by former House Representatives Deputy Speaker Austin Opara on a radio station in Port Harcourt.

    Opara allegedly said the Amaechi administration was not taking the Ebola virus seriously.

    Parker said: “Governor Amaechi has given me everything we need to fight the Ebola virus in Rivers State. He has also assured me that should we need more personnel and materials the state would provide them. However, I realise that this is political season. But we, as leaders, must be responsible in our utterances to avoid causing unnecessary panic in our people.”

    Also, the Port Harcourt City Local Government Area (PHALGA) has placed abattoir operators, restaurant owners and food vendors on the alert to avert a likely spread of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in the Rivers State capital and its environs.

    This came as the management of Port Harcourt International Airport at Omagwa intensified the screening of air travellers at the city’s airport.

    PHALGA Caretaker Committee Chairman Paul Charles spoke at the weekend in Port Harcourt on the steps the local government was taking to check the spread of the virus.

    Charles said any abattoir or food vendor that operates in an unhygienic environment would be closed.

    He said the local government had dispatched its team of health workers and officials to parts of Port Harcourt to check the sanitary conditions of abattoirs, food vendors and related businesses.

    Also, the management of the Port Harcourt International Airport at Omagwa has intensified screening of travellers into Rivers State through the airport.

    The Southeast and Southsouth Regional Manager of the Federal Aviation Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) Mrs Ebele Okoye spoke at the weekend at a symposium organised for its workers.

    Okoye said some of the measures would ensure that the EVD does not threaten the state.

    She said the measures include the designation of an isolated centre and provision of protective kits for workers at the airport.

    Mrs Okoye said: “We actually have a lot that is going on now, starting from the sensitisation programme. We have also quarantined a space for emergencies of that nature.

    “The airport workers at the arrival and departure areas are provided with gloves and masked.

    “Everyone at the airport is aware now and airport workers are also taking measures to protect themselves.”