The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Taraba

  • Buhari’s planned visit to Benue, Taraba, others an afterthought – PDP

    Buhari’s planned visit to Benue, Taraba, others an afterthought – PDP

    The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has described President Mohammadu Buhari’s plan to visit Benue, Taraba and other states where Nigerians were killed by insurgents and Fulani herdsmen as an afterthought.

    A statement on Monday by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan also said the planned visit was a fresh device to further hoodwink the people ahead of the 2019 general elections.

    The statement said, “It is alarming that Mr. President will consider visiting some of these states months after marauders, insurgents and bandits committed their havocs.

    “Mr. President has been in the country and never thought it necessary to pay a condolence visit to any of these states until Nigerians raised the alarm alleging a manifest indifference on his part.

    “It is even more pathetic that in Benue state, President Buhari summoned the leaders of the bereaved people to the Presidential villa, Abuja, rather than complying with the age-long tradition of Africans by visiting the bereaved.

    “No wonder many Nigerians have dismissed the planned visit of President Buhari to these states as cosmetic afterthought. Nigerians have already formed their opinion of him, and rightly so, as a President that has never shown them concern in their time of need”.

    Read Also:Buhari to visit Taraba, Benue, Yobe, two others

  • Taraba Killings: Buhari to visit Mambilla Plateau

    Taraba Killings: Buhari to visit Mambilla Plateau

    President Muhammadu Buhari will visit the troubled Mambilla Plateau in Sardauna Local Government Area of Taraba before leaving for Accra, Ghana, later today.

    The President will also receive the visiting Liberian President George Weah at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, before the Taraba visit.

    Already the President’s advanced team of personnel had left Abuja for Taraba to prepare for his arrival.

    We reliably gathered that while in Taraba, President Buhari will visit the troubled areas and address traditional rulers and other stakeholders in the state on need to shun all forms of violence and embrace peace.

    The latest communal clash on the Mambilla Plateau was reported to have claimed the lives of about 20 persons while 300 cows were either killed or stolen.

    The Mambilla Plateau has been witnessing outbreaks of ethnic violence with hundreds of people reported dead in recent times.

    President Buhari will proceed to Accra, Ghana after the official engagement in Taraba.

    NAN

  • Kidnappers of expatriates, slain Taraba lawmaker arrested

    Kidnappers of expatriates, slain Taraba lawmaker arrested

    Operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) have arrested kidnappers of the Canadians and Americans on the Abuja/Kaduna road.

    A statement by the spokesman, Tony Opuiyo, added that the kidnappers of the late Taraba Lawmaker Hosea Ibi, a Senator, a lecturer and an Army Warrant Officer were also arrested.

    They were arrested between last December and February.

    Isaiah Suwe (23), was said to have led the DSS operatives to Gbise in Katsina-Ala Local Government Area of Benue State, where Barnabas Torva Amadu (aka Ataminin); Aondi Tersoo (21); Nengenen Mbaawuaga (22); Aondoase Kayitor (18) and Ternenge Tersoo (19), were arrested for their alleged involvement in the kidnap and murder of Ibi.

    The statement reads: “Suwe is an accomplice of the notorious kidnapper, Terwase Akwaza (aka Ghana), who is wanted. Amadu participated in the kidnap and murder of Ibi. About nine SIM cards, different telephone brands and accessories, as well as a First Bank ATM card, a flash drive, one Voters’ card and one ID card, belonging to Moses Yaro, a member of the Vigilante Group of Nigeria in Taraba State, were recovered from the gang.

    “On February 21, at Igu area of Benin City, Edo State, the service arrested five members of the Gemere kidnap gang – Usman Umaru; Abubakar Umaru; Garba Umaru; Abubakar Garba and Umar Bello – which operates on the Lokoja/Okene highway. They were responsible for the kidnap of some Canadians and Americans.

    “The service, on January 20, arrested the gang leader, Abubakar Muhammed (aka Gemere) on the Lokoja/Okene highway. He was killed in a gun battle.

    “On February 20, at Ambaliya area of Jalingo, Taraba State, Mohammed Babangida Isma’il was arrested in possession of firearms and he is being investigated…”

  • N1.64bn fraud suit: Nyame to know fate on May 30

    N1.64bn fraud suit: Nyame to know fate on May 30

    Former Governor of Taraba, Jolly Nyame, charged with N1.64bn fraud suit, will on May 30, know his fate as Justice Adebukola Banjoko of the FCT High Court will deliver judgment.

    Banjoko fixed the date for judgment after counsel to parties had adopted their addresses.

    The EFCC  charged Nyame with criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of government funds on June 22, 2010.

    Earlier, Mr Olalekan Ojo, Counsel to Nyame said the confessional statement the EFCC had relied on was marred by inconsistency and therefore urged the court to discountenance it.

    Ojo argued that his client had promised to return the alleged stolen funds if prosecution witnesses could show evidence to prove that he stole them.

    He said: “My Lord, at it stance, no witness has testified or brought out any evidence linking my client to have stolen any funds from Taraba Government’’.

    He also urged the court to be circumspect of frivolous evidence given by some of the prosecution witnesses with the viewing to dismissing them.

    Ojo specifically mentioned Mrs Asabe Mengua, a prosecution witness whom he claimed took her evidence from the state’s former Commissioner for Finance, Abubakar Tutare, who had testified earlier.

    Ojo therefore, drew the attention of the court to the fact that Mengua had told the court that she heard from Tutare that Nyame directed that certain funds be paid to Salman Global Ventures Ltd.

    The counsel argued that such evidence was not substantive, direct but `unreliable’ and `fraudulent’.

    “Our contention is that the prosecution has been unable to prove that the defendant gave that directive’’, he said.

    He further argued that the evidence given by Tutare was a “self confessed beneficiary of an alleged fraud being fielded as a witness.’’

    He submitted that all the allegations brought against his client had not been proven to secure his conviction, adding that all financial dealings under Nyame as governor were impeccable.

    Ojo went ahead to urge the court dismiss the suit, adding that the state’s financial record indicated that the ex-governor diligently expended the funds on state projects and not on himself.

    Mr Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), the Prosecuting Counsel, had urged the court to discountenance the arguments of the defence as the prosecution had been able to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.

    Jacobs said he had called fourteen relevant witnesses, adding that the defendant’s statement reproduced as evidence supported the prosecution in the case.

    Jacobs said all financial misdemeanour committed during the defendant’s tenure as governor were aptly heaped on him.

    “My Lord, the simple question to ask is whether the sum of N1.64 was stolen while the defendant was in charge as governor of the state. The answer is a big yes.

    Jacob therefore submitted that the principal culprit was Nyame, adding that the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses exposed how the defendant stole and misused the monies.

    He said the defendant had also supported the case by admitting that he collected money in his statement which he had not retracted.

    “My Lord, we urge the court to dismiss all the issues canvassed by the defendant and go ahead to convict him’’, he said.

    NAN

  • Taraba woman held for ‘housing Cameroonian asylum seekers’

    Taraba woman held for ‘housing Cameroonian asylum seekers’

    The Federal High Court, Abuja, has fixed March 2  to hear a suit filed by a Taraba State indigene, Mrs Augustine Winifred, challenging her detention by the police, following “an order from above”.

    Winifred’s lawyer, Mr Femi Falana (SAN), is praying the court to declare her detention at the police headquarters in Abuja unconstitutional.

    According to him, Winifred was arrested for allegedly accommodating Cameroonian refugees.

    Falana is also seeking an order compelling the police to release four naturalised Nigerians from Cameroon, namely: Dr John Ojong Okongho, Nsoh Nabowah Bih, ThankGod Genesis and Nasiru Bah.

    They were arrested by the military alongside 47 Cameroonian refugees and asylum seekers.

    Okongho, Bih, Genesis and Bah were transferred to the police while 47 others were deported.

    The court will, same day, hear another suit filed by Falana, challenging the deportation of the 47 Cameroonians, some of whom Winifred allegedly accommodated.

    The Nation learnt that when Falana and Edo State Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Abdul Oroh, visited the police station for the release of Winifred and the four other detainees, the police officers on duty reportedly declined.

    They allegedly told Falana and Oroh that the detainees were being held “on orders from above”.

    Last January 7 in Abuja, the Department of State Services (DSS) arrested several leaders of an Anglophone Cameroonian secessionist group for their agitation for Ambazonia Republic.

    Their group, the Movement for the Independence of Southern Cameroonians, is agitating for an independent Ambazonia state.

    Last night, we confirmed that the 4 naturalised Nigerians – -Dr John Ojong Okongho, Nsoh Nabowah Bih, ThankGod Genesis, and Nasiru Bah – were not deported to Cameroon with 47 Cameroonian refugees and asylum seekers. They were reportedly transferred from military custody to police custody at asokoro, Abuja.

  • Access Bank partners Taraba on housing

    The Managing Director of Access Bank, Mr. Herbert Wigwe, has said the bank will collaborate with the Taraba State government in the provision of housing, infrastructure and poverty alleviation.

    Wigwe made this known during his visit earlier in the week to Governor Darius Ishaku in Jalingo, the state capital. He said that in a couple of months, the bank will build between 200 and 500 housing units for the state’s civil servants in a couple of months.

    “The houses will be cheap, with low interest rate, and affordable. It is necessary that civil servants should be able able to peacefully plan their retirement,” the bank chieftain noted.

    He also stated that Access Bank will also invest in infrastructural development in Taraba, with focus on road construction.

    “We shall work with the Taraba State government in providing the appropriate structures, for contractors to do the work.

    “The third area is to provide general welfare for the civil servants, by providing them loans to be able to pay their children’s school fees, buy cars and improve their living condition.

    “By doing that, we shall be investing in the educational sector of the state too. Already, we are working with the World Bank on that.”

    Governor Ishaku said with the visit of one of the five top commercial banks in the country, something good was about to happen to the state.

    “With the coming of Access Bank, Taraba has begun to rise; it is good news to us.

    “With the support of Access Bank, we are going to tear all the roads in the state and make them admirable by all.

    “We shall also make housing available and affordable to all our civil servants, to avoid them the temptation of graft in office, so that they will enjoy their homes during retirement,” Ishaku said.

  •  ’Military operations in Benue, Taraba, others will avert further bloodshed’

     ’Military operations in Benue, Taraba, others will avert further bloodshed’

    A group, The Middle Belt Conscience Guard, has described the launch of operation rat race in the middle belt part of the country by the Nigerian Army as a timely intervention to avert further bloodshed in the region.

    The group called the Middle beltans to give their maximum co-operation to the military, saying it is important for them to allow the military get rid of killers under whatever guise.

    Addressing reporters in Abuja yesterday, Convener /National President, Prince Raymond Enero, commended the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Yusuf Buratai, for always leading the Nigerian Army to protect the sanctity of lives of all Nigerians.

    He said: “As law abiding people, we appeal to members of all our communities to provide information that will enable troops track down the killers that are clouding our land with sadness.

    “The people of the Middle Belt region would be the ultimate winner when Operation Cat Race succeeds as we expect it to. We look forward to a time when the states in the Middle Belt would no longer be used as the poster states for avoidable bloodletting.

    “We are eager to a return to a time when the entire area covered by the North-Central geo-political zone and outlying areas are back to providing an abundance of plant and animal produce to nourish the country with surplus left for export.

    Such expectation can only come to fruition when farmers and herders are not at each other’s jugular, when expats and investors can visit to prospect without fear of being kidnapped and when people are confident of their safety while in transit for their legitimate livekihood.”

    He said the group had wished for this kind of military operation owing to the menace of the identified security problems that falls within the remit of the operation.

    He said: “We have learnt that other military and security services will be collaborating with the Nigerian Army during the operation that would target killer-herdsmen, cattle rustlers, armed bandits, kidnappers, armed militias and other criminal elements in addition to providing training for troops.

    He said similar deployments of troops in certain other geo-political zones were greeted with unnecessarily sensationalized, politicized and demonized by groups that have dark agenda for their people.

    According to Enero, such attitude was even as the larger population in these areas hailed the succession of the operations by the Nigerian Army as helping to restore peace, sanity and stability in their towns and villages.

    He appealled to the political class to desist from the tendency to exploit an operation like this for selfish gains, stressing that the sanctity of the life of the people is greater than any monetary, material or positional gains anyone could hope to make.

    He said:  “This is why we warn state governors, the leadership of farmers’ groups or associations, the leadership of herders’ groups or associations, traditional and religious leaders not to engage in any acts that would deprive the people of the Middle-Belt of the advantages of the military exercise. Because we see this as a timely intervention to avert further bloodshed in our region, we will not hesitate to rise against anyone that that stands in the path of our return to peace.”

  • Air Force tackles herdsmen/farmers clashes in Taraba, Benue, others

    Air Force tackles herdsmen/farmers clashes in Taraba, Benue, others

    The Nigerian Air Force Thursday said it would be involved in the operations in Benue, Taraba and Nasarawa to tackle incessant clashes between herdsmen and farmers.

    The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar made the disclosure in Abuja at a lecture to participants of Course 26 of the National Defence College, (NDC).

    He explained that the intervention of the NAF would be through the establishment of Forward Operational Base (FOB) in Taraba state and Quick Rsponse Wing along Benue and Nasarawa axis.

    In a statement signed by the Director of Public Relations and Information of the NAF, Air Vice Marshal Olatokunbo Adesanya, the Air Chief said the developments were part of elaborate efforts to address the security challenges facing the country.

    The statement reads: “The Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, Thursday disclosed plans by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) to establish a Forward Operational Base (FOB) in Taraba State, as part of plans to further tackle the incessant herdsmen-farmers clash in the country.

    “The CAS, who disclosed the plans while delivering a lecture to participants of National Defence College (NDC) Course 26 in Abuja, also announced plans to establish a Quick Response Wing along the Benue-Nassarawa Axis.

    “The title of the lecture, which lasted one hour, was ‘The Nigerian Air Force – Challenges and Future Perspectives’. Participants of the Course are drawn from senior officers of the Armed Forces of Nigeria and those of sister African countries, senior officials of other security agencies in Nigeria as well as those of Federal Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies.

    “The lecture afforded the CAS to share thoughts with the participants on how the National Defence Policy prescribes that the NAF should be employed, out of which the mission statement of the NAF was coined.

    “Air Marshal Abubakar also spoke on the current and likely threats as well as contingencies from the perspective of air operations. He then elucidated on his vision for the NAF while also highlighting current efforts at actualizing it.

    “Some of the initiatives included but are not limited to the establishment of new commands and some units, improvement in human capacity development, improved aircraft serviceability and logistics support as well as enhanced personnel welfare.

    “He also spoke about the efforts being made in the area of research and development towards improved self-sufficiency, as a result of which the NAF is currently making great savings in foreign exchange.

    “Thereafter, he discussed the current NAF Force structure, doctrine, current capabilities and equipment holding in response to threats alongside the NAF’s strategic plan before looking at NAF future perspectives.

    “The CAS equally examined the challenges and constraints to the NAF’s air power effectiveness before concluding the lecture by discussing the strategies to countering the challenges enumerated. The lecture was followed by a stimulating interactive session.

    “In his closing remarks, the Commandant of NDC, Rear Admiral Adeniyi Osinowo, declared that “You cannot win any war today without an effective and virile Air Force”.

    “He then added that there was no doubt that the current NAF leadership is taking a lot of laudable and unprecedented steps, especially in the area of technological development, in a bid to reposition the NAF for greatness.

    “He particularly cited the recent feats by the NAF in locally designing and producing an operational Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, among many other breakthroughs in the area of research and development. He then seized the opportunity to congratulate the CAS on the recent passage of the bill establishing the Air Force Institute of Technology Kaduna, which he believed would further enhance technological growth in the NAF.

    “It is recalled that the NAF had also earlier announced plans to establish FOBs in Akwa Ibom and Cross River States, as part of its commitment to combatting emerging security challenges in those parts of the country”.

  • ANA condemns killings in Taraba, Zamfara, others

    The writer’s group, Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), has  condemned the killings in Benue, Taraba, Zamfara, Kaduna states, the Northcentral and the Southsouth geopolitical zones.

    Describing the nefarious acts as “callous” and crimes against the state, ANA said the  victims were mainly women and children, the elderly and the weak.

    The group called on the government to investigate these killings, and ensure that the perpetrators faced the law, saying this would not only serve as a deterrent to others.

    “ANA enjoins the security agencies to be up to date with the task and responsibilities associated with the protection of lives and properties in an increasingly challenging human environment.The association condemns and cautions against any unnecessary politicisation and ethnicisation of the country and enjoins political players at all levels to approach their activities (in view of the build-up to the 2019 elections) with utmost respect to the interest of the country and especially the sanctity of human life above all else,” it stated.

    The group made the call during its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held at Grange Hill Hotel in Mpape, Federal Capital Territory.

    In the wake of brutal killings across the country, the group urged writers to use their writings to promote peace, harmony and mutual coexistence.

    Writers were urged to “continue to employ the instrumentality of their writings and creative endowments to promote peace, harmony and mutual coexistence in the country in line with our founding philosophy of supporting Nigeria’s emergence as an egalitarian society, safe for all and vibrantly accommodating of others opinions and noble pursuits”.

    At the NEC meetings, the group’s leadership restated its commitment to “purposeful administration”, pursuit and protection of the interest of all creative writers in the country in a continuing effort towards upholding the objectives, vision and mission of the association as outlined in its Constitution”.

    The Denja Abdullahi-led executive also reiterated its commitment to the development of the ANA Land at Mpape into a modern Writers Village and creative hub, which it said was witnessing progress in the form of the building; and completion of a mini-national secretariat and construction on various outlined facilities earmarked for the Mamman Vatsa Writers’ Village shall be sustained.

    The meeting also focused on the 37th International Annual Convention of the association, which has been scheduled for October 25 to 28. It would have as  theme: Literature: Megacities and mega-narratives.

    After exhaustive deliberations, it came up with a communique  signed by ANA president, Mallam Abdullahi, and ANA General Secretary, Dr. Ofonime Inyang, which also states, among other issues, that creative writing and literary production should begin to receive more attention from both the public and private sectors of the economy. In it, the group notes that the present exclusion of the literary sector from the government’s discourse and support projections for the creative industry, while calling for urgent redress on this to enable a wholesome development of the creative industry.

  • Buhari for Nasarawa, Taraba, Zamfara, Benue

    Buhari for Nasarawa, Taraba, Zamfara, Benue

    President Muhammadu Buhari is scheduled to visit Nasarawa State today as part of efforts to ensure peace in some trouble spots.

    After Nasarawa, Buhari is slated to visit Taraba, Zamfara and Benue states but the dates of the visits are yet to be decided, a Presidency source said last night.

    The President is expected to console victims of herdsmens’ killings and douse tensions in the trouble spots.