The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Tension

  • Tension in Kokori over killing London-based octogenarian

    There was fear yesterday among residents of Kokori in Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State, following the killing of 88-year-old London-based Chief Gilbert Oshevire.

    Oshevire was allegedly strangled to death between Friday night and Saturday at his 1 Ediagbon Street.

    The motive or masterminds of the killing could not be established at the time going to press last night.

    But it was gathered that the incident has caused serious panic among the residents.

    Speaking with our reporter yesterday, a prominent leader in the community who spoke in confidence, said the octogenarian was in the town to resolve an issue.

    He said: “Chief Oshevire was last seen alive on Friday night after he retired for the night. He resided in London but came home on the invitation of the Kokori Council of Chiefs about some issues, especially a case he instituted against some of his kinsmen in London.

    “The leaders of Kokori invited him to come home so that the issue, which bothers on some financial transactions, could be resolved amicably.”

    Police spokesman Andrew Aniaka, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), confirmed the report.

    He said the police had arrested one suspect.

    Aniamaka told our reporter on telephone that the victim was found by his nephew, Donald Oshevire.

    “He (Donald) said blood was coming out of the victim’s mouth and there were signs that the room had been ransacked,” the police spokesman added.

    It was gathered that the issues for which Oshevire was invited could not be resolved as the key players in the conflict did not turn up.

    The source said: “A meeting was fixed for December 5 but the others did not show up. It was while waiting for further development he was mysterious killed last night (Saturday).

    “His body has been deposited by the police at a mortuary in Kokori. But as we speak, arrangements are being made to transfer his remains to another morgue outside the area.”

    It was gathered that the circumstance surrounding his death angered his clan, who are alleging foul plays.

  • Ogbe-Ijoh/Aladja crisis:Tension as unknown persons behead fish farmer

    THE fragile peace in Ogbe-Ijoh/Aladja part of Delta State snapped yesterday as unknown persons beheaded a 40-year- old Ogbe-Ijoh fish farmer.
    The development has started heating up the area with the warring tribes throwing accusations and counter accusations.
    The victim, Samson Bebebo, was a 40-year old fish farmer and father of two.
    He was reportedly shot and later beheaded by unknown persons behind the Warri South-West council Secretariat, which is in Ogbe-Ijoh.
    Although there was no concrete pointer as to who killed him as at the time of filing this report, it was gathered indigenes of Ogbe-Ijoh were pointing accusing fingers at their Aladja neighbours.
    But indigenes of Aladja refuted the allegation, saying it was another attempt at escalating the crisis, which the state government was already doing everything necessary to quell.
    A chief from Ogbe-Ijoh, Chief Monday Keme, decribed how the lifeless body of Bebebo was found.
    According to him: “We were at the burial at Ogbe Ijoh this morning when we got information that Samson, who normally goes to work on his fish farm had not returned home.
    “So we sent a search party after him at about two hours after 10:30a.m and somebody said he heard gunshots.
    “The search party found his body lifeless and head removed. He was brutally murdered and beheaded.”
    He described the current tension at Ogbe Ijoh as palpable, warning youths may spoil for a showdown if the state government does not act fast in resolving the land dispute among communities in that area.
    Another reliable source in Ogbe-Ijoh, who did not to be named, accused indigenes Aladja of masterminding the killing, pointing the neighbouring community had accused Ogbe-Ijoh recently of also kidnapping its indigenes.
    Contacted President Aladja Community Council, Prince Dogene Ellias, said: “We don’t know what they are talking about and it is very unfounded and inciting.
    “The Prof. Abnenego Ekoko Panel has moved round and a report is being awaited and we have confidence in what they are doing over the Aladja/Ogbe-Ijoh lingering crisis.
    “While we wait, no party between us and Ogbe-Ijoh is allowed to go to the other’s territory or even go to the bush.
    “It is only the military guards that have the liberty to cross over or enter the government determined buffer zone.”
    He went on: “So how would anyone in its senses stage manage a bogus murder and point unsubstantiated fingers at Aladja?
    “It is just the figment of someone’s imagination and we believe it will not be without a purpose.
    “When we claimed Sunday Obruche was killed in Isaba invasion of Ayama, we had a corpse in mortuary and police report to prove it.
    “When we said the Oduara couple were abducted and their children helpless, we had proof.
    “Ogbe-Ijoh must show proof of this claim of someone beheaded at their secretariat.
    “Aladja know nothing about it and we think it is just being fabricated to divert attentive from our missing persons.
    “Or if they fought and killed themselves they should own up and stop inciting further conflict with unfounded accusations,” he said.
    Though Delta state Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Zannah and his spokesman, DSP Andrew Aniamaka, could not be reached last night, it was gathered policemen had recovered the corpse of the victim.

  • Tension in Abia community over alleged secret burial on controversial

    The Okagwe community in Ohafia Local Government Area of Abia State is enveloped in tension over an alleged clandestine attempt by a family to bury their late father on controversial property contrary to the decision of the village’s council of elders.

    It was learnt that strangers are being treated with suspicion after the attempted secret burial was foiled.

    The situation, noted indigenes, could lead to a breakdown of law and order.

    It was learnt that the family of one Chief Uche, who died recently, approached the village elders for a suitable burial  date as tradition demands, and the village Elders-in-Council, the governing body of the community, gave them November 11 as a burial date with a caveat not to bury their father in a disputed house.

    On Friday, September 30, 2016, however, the children of the late Uche, aided by some policemen, allegedly brought his remains late in the night and secretly dug a grave in one of the rooms of the disputed property with a view to bury him there and cover up the grave.

    It was learnt that the plan was foiled by members of the community’s vigilance group, after one of the armed policemen that accompanied the grave diggers got drunk and let out the plan during a telephone conversation with an unidentified colleague.

    It was gathered that the vigilance group apprehended the grave diggers, who revealed during interrogation how they were hired for the plan.

    The grave diggers were afterwards sent out of the community.

    Our correspondent gathered that the policemen that allegedly protected the grave diggers were on illegal duty.

    It emerged that they came from Benue State on the instruction of a senior police officer that is close to the family of the deceased.

    Commenting on the development, one of the community leaders who asked not to be named, said: “It is a sacrilege. What happened was an abomination and unheard of not just in the history of our community but the entire Ohafia town.”

    “The late Chief Uche’s family and their cousins are engaged in dispute over ownership of a house in the community. Subsequently, the late Uche‘s children were banned from burying their father in the disputed property on Amaguzo Road, Okagwe.

    One of the daughters of the deceased, Chioma, did not answer her mobile phone number on Thursday and failed to reply to a text message sent to the number.

    A few hours later, a man who would not be named and who claimed to be Chioma’s husband, later called back and declined comments on the ground of being an in-law of the family. He said: “I am Chioma’s husband, but I cannot speak on the matter because I am a son in-law to the family. Moreover, this telephone number belongs to me and not my wife.

    However, the secretary of Okagwe Development Union (ODU), Mr. Michael Huomah, confirmed the incident in a telephone conversation. “Yes,” he said. “It is true that there was an attempt to secretly bury the man (Uche) but it was foiled by the community’s vigilante group. I think that one of those hired to do the job let out the information and the community promptly prevented them from carrying out such assignment.

    “The community took that decision because the disputed property on which the burial was to be carried out is currently a subject of litigation in a state High Court and we felt that they should wait for the outcome of the case before embarking on such plan.

    “It is somehow strange that they resorted to clandestinely dig a grave in the compound after the actual burial has been scheduled for November and the community’s leadership felt the attempted secret burial was out of proportion. We have one of the most efficient vigilante group in Ohafia and they have their ears on the ground to forestall any breakdown of law and order.”

  • Tremor tension

    Tremor tension

    •Kaduna incident is indication that we must build capacity for emergencies

    Naturally, the earth tremors that occurred on two consecutive days in Kaduna State raised questions about the country’s seismological capacity. Although the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) responded with a reassuring statement, the reassurance was not enough.

    The agency referred to “an on-the-spot assessment as well as survey investigation” carried out by the Centre for Geodesy and Geo-dynamics: “The reports have established that the incidents were recorded in Kwoi and surrounding villages of Nok, Sanbah and Chori in Jama’a council on Sunday, September 11 and Monday, September 12. The current findings are outcomes of a preliminary report by the team of experts deployed to the affected communities.”  It also said:  ”The reports showed the time of occurrence and intensities of the locations as reported by residents, which included cracks on building walls, falling off of ceiling fans and other items.”

    While the public anxiously awaits more information on the fear-provoking tremors, which the agency has promised to release “as soon as investigation is completed,” it is curious that the Interim Chairman of Jama’a council, Mr. Ben Kure, was quoted as saying their magnitude was exaggerated.

    No matter how the occurrences are downplayed, perhaps in an effort to douse public tension, it is certainly no exaggeration to observe that they might be a signal to something much more serious and devastating. Thankfully, this time the damage was minimal and there were no fatalities. The reality is that a tremor is a small earthquake, an earthquake of low intensity that might be followed by a full-scale earthquake.

    This concern is particularly significant, considering that it has been noted that Kaduna State is “not on a major fault line or active tectonic plate.” Why the earth tremors occurred in such a supposedly unlikely place, therefore, is a question begging for an answer.

    This is why the relevant bodies should spare no effort in getting to the bottom of the matter, and the relevant authorities should ensure that appropriate measures are put in place for public safety in the event of such potentially life-threatening seismic occurrences.

    Although Nigeria is not located within the world’s major seismic zones, it is noteworthy that the country has its own history of minor seismic events. A report said: “The first widely reported occurrence of an earth tremor in Nigeria was in 1933. Other events were reported in 1939, 1964, 1984, 1990, 1994, 1997, 2000 and 2006…Of these, only the 1984, 1990, 1994 and 2000 events were instrumentally recorded.”  It added: “When these events occurred, there were no functional seismological observatories in Nigeria. However, that has now changed with the establishment of a seismographic network managed by the Centre for Geodesy and Geodynamics (CGG), Toro, Nigeria.”

    The evidence of change in the important area of seismological observation must be evident. It goes without saying that in a scientific age with an advanced scientific capacity, there is no excuse for failure in the area of seismological monitoring.

    It is a cause for concern that, based on studies, experts have warned of “the possibility of experiencing earthquake disaster” in some areas of the country, specifically, Port-Harcourt, Warri, Bayelsa State, Cross River State and Oyo State. Indeed, there have been reported tremors in Oyo, Bayelsa and Rivers states in recent times.

    The bottom line is that the country is exposed to seismic risks and may not be completely seismically safe. What is to be done beyond rigorous observation and monitoring of seismological data must include capacity building for prompt and effective emergency response, just in case Nature strikes.

  • Tension as suspected Fulani herdsmen kill farmer in Kogi

    Tension as suspected Fulani herdsmen kill farmer in Kogi

    Residents of Karagi community in Lokoja Local Government Area of Kogi State have been thrown into mourning following the killing of a 45-year-old farmer by gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen.

    The incident which reportedly occurred on Sunday, said an indigene, who pleaded not to be named, was among other series of attacks on local farmers by herdsmen in recent times in the state.

    It was gathered that the victim, identified as Adama Muhammed, was in his cassava farm when he was gunned down.

    The incident is now raising tension among local residents with the Fulani herdsmen allegedly fleeing the area, for safety.

    The wife of the deceased, Mrs Amina Muhammed who was said to be nursing a two-month old baby, was said to have paased out earlier on hearing the ugly incident.

    Speaking on the incident, Amina, said her husband left home for his farm yesterday and did not return home as expected. When she did not see him, she raised an alarm and a search party was launched which took them to his farm where they found his beheaded body.

    A family member of the deceased who was said to be a final year student of Nassarawa College of Education, Lafia, said the deceased had always complained about the “unruly” behaviour of the Fulani herdsmen in their community.

    “This my cousin who just died now used to complain about the Fulanis. They used to carry their cows to come and destroy his own crops. I believe its through them that this thing happened”, he said.

    A member of the community who went to the bush with the search party to evacuate the deceased’s body, said: “I followed the family members who came here to take him to the village. When we got here, there was machete wound on all parts of his body. After they killed him, they caught off his head and stabbed him on his stomach”.

    Findings reveal that the people of the area and the herdsmen had been having a running battle over an alleged atrocities against them.

    A source said, “A traditional ruler was kidnapped with another person by Fulani herdsmen. They passed through the kidnappers’ den and were killed”.

    A political leader, Hon. Ibrahim Musa, who confirmed the incident, expressed shock at the killing.

    He lamented, “Between Abugi and Mami, I had encountered them when I was traveling to my village, Mabo, they opened fire on me but God saw me through”.

    Another member of the community said they were considering marching with the headless corpse of their brother to the Lokoja State Police Command.

  • Tension mounts in Ekiti over alleged govt bribe

    Tension mounts in Ekiti over alleged govt bribe

    Tension continues to mount at the weekend in Ado-Ekiti, the capital of  Ekiti State, as the disagreement that ensued between workers and labour leaders over an alleged bribe received from the state government, deepened. Already, stakeholders are worried that the development, if not properly handled by both parties, may result into a another round of labour unrest in the embattled state. A month long strike action embarked upon by the workers had just been called off by their union after signing an agreement with the state governor, Ayodele Fayose.

    Findings by The Nation posit that a section of the workers’ union, which is accusing labour leaders of betraying them by calling off the strike after agreeing to the payment of a one-month salary out of the six months owed them by the state government, has vowed to continue its agitation against the leadership of labour unions in the state.

    Our source, a state official of the National Union of Local Government Employee (NULGE), said the majority of the workers in the state are disappointed in the agreement signed by their leaders with the state government. He added that contrary to the usual practice since the face-off between Fayose and the workers started, the labour leaders did not consult the workers before signing the controversial agreement.

    “The situation is worrisome and the last is yet to be heard. We have a way of doing things as unions. We have a practice of always reporting back to the workers and consulting them before any agreement is signed. This was not done in this case and that led to suspicion. The end result is this allegation that government bribed our leaders into signing that agreement.

    Worse still, the agreement is not in any way in the interest of the workers. How can you agree that when one month is paid we will return to work. We earlier rejected the offer of two months from the same government. How then can we explain this agreement? Many of us, especially those of us in the local government sector, will continue to reject the leadership of these people who betrayed us,” he said.

    Another source, said it is unacceptable to Ekiti workers that the leaders of the state councils of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Joint Negotiating Council (JNC) could not convince the government to pay at least three months to the workers before the strike was suspended.

    “We sincerely see the development as a betrayal of the workers by their leaders. We saw no reason why the agreement was hurriedly signed and workers directed to immediately return to work. If you consider the fact that Fayose at the time was under pressure following the revelations about his Zenith bank account, one will further be shocked that our leaders couldn’t get a better deal for us,” he said.

    Already, the workers have stated expressing their disappointment publicly while calling for explanation from the labour leaders. In a bulletin issued during the week by an interest group, the Enlightened Workers Forum (EWF), and signed by the Coordinator, Mike Bamidele, the angry workers alleged that the labour leaders received N10 million bribe from the government to end the strike.

    Bamidele said it was a mark of failure for the leaders of the state councils of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Joint Negotiating Council (JNC) to suspend the strike after being promised only one month pay by the government. He described as “very irresponsible”, a directive to the workers by one of the Labour leaders to resume work and await the payment of one month salary seven days after suspending the strike.

    “One wonders what gave Labour the impression that the Federal Government will again be willing to release another bailout fund to Governor Ayodele Fayose when the first one has not been accounted for. This is a mark of failure on the part of the organised Labour and we in the EWF are not surprised about the development, as we anticipated this failure from the onset.

    “Against this background, therefore, it will be wrong and illegal for any Labour leader to attempt to coerce the workers back to work through the backdoor without achieving anything. Negotiating one month salary on their behalf after about five weeks strike is not only anti-worker, but also criminal,” the EWF leader said while calling on the people to reject the agreement in its entirety.

    Another group under the aegis of the Ekiti Labour Coalition (ELC) said the future of Ekiti workers and pensioners have been mortgaged by the JNC and other labour leaders following the “disgraceful and shocking manner they rushed to sign an agreement with Governor Ayodele Fayose who made no pretense about his lack of interest in the plight of the striking workers.

    ELC co-ordinator and state chairman of Human Rights Alliance (HuRA), Comrade Biola Fatukasi, said it is a matter of time before the agreement will collapse. He said Ekiti workers are unwilling to be cajoled or deceived for much longer.

    “The agreement is a waste of time because it is built on fraud and deceit. Ekiti workers will reject it. It is a matter of time before the agreement will collapse. Ekiti workers are unwilling to be cajoled or deceived for much longer. It is unfortunate that after leading us out to embark on this fight for a more rewarding life as workers, our leaders allowed themselves to be influenced into signing such a wicked agreement.

    Imagine the government rejoicing over an agreement that will see the workers collecting one month salary out of the six months they are being owed with no assurance that they will henceforth be paid regularly. It is even worse that our leaders signed such an agreement purportedly on behalf of Ekiti workers. I can tell you that we are prepared to get to the root of how that agreement came about being signed,” he said.

    But the state NLC Chairman, Ade Adesanmi, asserted that the workers were wrong in their allegation of bribery, saying, “I didn’t sign the pact with government culminating in this resumption because I compromised. I signed because of the fear that this allocation may be spent without the payment of worker salaries.

    The same workers we were fighting for were coming to work during the strike to assist government in spending monies that could have been kept and added to the current allocation to pay workers. This is highest level of wickedness and prosperity will judge all of us.”

  • Tension in Akure as Ogboni leader dies

    There was palpable fear in Akure, the Ondo State capital, at the weekend following the death and burial of the President of the Reformed Ogboni Fraternity (ROF) in Nigeria, Chief Araba Ajemoju.

    Ajemoju, who until his deathwas the head of ROF, died on Saturday and was buried according to traditional rites at his home, Araromi Street in Akure,the state capital.

    Akure,his home town, was enveloped in fear as rumours prevailed that many people would be killed for rituals for the funeral of the late traditionalist.

    Traditionalists from the six states of the Southwest region

    converged in Akure for the burial and it was widely speculated that travellers would be used as sacrifice by the spiritualists.

    The news, which went viral on the social media, prevented many people from travelling out of Akure.

    Many businesses in the town were affected by the development as shops and other commercial places in the town were locked.

    Police spokesman Femi Joseph said the culture and tradition of the people should be respected,stressing the need for people to co-operate with the

    traditionalists.

    He added that the security of the people in Akure would be guaranteed.

  • Oyo: Tension as NLC insists on strike

    Oyo: Tension as NLC insists on strike

    Following its inability to reach a truce with the government of Oyo State over the lingering labour crisis, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC)  during the week said its members will continue the ongoing strike they embarked upon weeks back. Workers in the state have been at loggerhead with the Governor Abiola Ajimobi-led All Progressives Congress (APC) administration over the non payment of salary arrears, amongst other issues.

    The Nation, however, learnt that the decision of the workers to turn down all pleas and continue with the industrial action may introduce a new twist into the labour crisis as, according to government sources, the state government may also decide to invoke the “no work, no pay’ rule it threatened about a week ago.

    “The government is considerate and wishes the workers will, in the interest of the people of the state, shelf their strike and return to work. Since we are already dialoguing and trying to find ways out of the crisis, it is important that we all show commitment to the negotiations by shifting grounds in our demands and positions.

    The news emanating from the NLC is not encouraging and it may force the government too to consider the “no work, no pay’ rule it threatened about a week ago. If the government is trying to make things work, NLC should be seen to be doing same. The current situation, in the long run, will benefit none of the two divides,” our source said.

    But the Chairman of the NLC in the state, Mr Waheed Olojede, told newsmen in Ibadan that government failed to meet the terms of agreement with the labour leadership at a peace parley held during the week between the labour leadership and government. According to him, the hard stance of government at the parley made it inconclusive.

    NLC had on June 6 declared an indefinite strike over their unpaid six months salaries. The workers also rejected government’s controversial education initiative to involve private participation in the management of public secondary schools while also demanding the withdrawal of all charges against the labour leaders in a court of law.

    The NLC boss added that the meeting held with the governor was not conclusive in resolving the disagreement between government and labour. He said government had agreed to put on hold the proposed controversial education policy , noting that a 14-man committee would be saddled with the responsibility of ratifying the recommendations.

    “The committee will comprise seven representatives from each party, excluding the chairman that will come from government side,” he said. Olojede, however, said that the leadership of labour insisted on the continuation of the ongoing strike action because government did not meet the demand on payment of outstanding salaries.

    “We have requested that government pays at least two months of the six months outstanding salaries but government said it cannot pay due to paucity of fund,” he said. He said that since the government was not ready to accede to the demand, there was no way workers in the state could go back to work.

    Also on the demand list, according to the workers, was proper and adequate funding of the education sector, including payment of a living wage and other incentives for workers in educational institutions as well as dropping some criminal charges instituted against labour leaders in court by the state government.

    “We are against  Oyo State government’s plan to sell our public schools. Education is not a commodity but a social responsibility of the government. We also want the government to stop the unnecessary victimization of our leaders through phony charges they instated in court weeks back.

    It would be recalled that Olojede, and six other labour leaders were arraigned for organising a protest against government’s perceived move to hand over mission schools to their original owners. The labour leaders were arrested and detained by the Oyo State Police command on the allegation that the labour leaders destroyed some properties and beat up some government officials.

     

  • Tension in Edo Communities over Land Dispute

    Tension in Edo Communities over Land Dispute

    Tension is mounting between Iguomon community and their Ikhuonbo neighbour both in Uhunmwode local government area of Edo state over the ownership of a parcel of land, as Court Monday Remanded six persons from Ikhuonbo community in Prison Custody for attempted murder.

    To avert a communal clash between both communities, the Iguomon community has appealed to Governor Adams Oshiomhole and security agents to wade into the issue before it was too late.

    The community however expressed gratitude to the governor and the State Commissioner of Police for taking prompt action to forestall peace and orderliness in the area and reinstated its commitment to continue to operate within the ambient of the law.

    Addressing journalists in Benin Monday, Vice-Chairman of Iguomon Youth Association, Mr. Stanley Osazee who gave the genesis of the crisis, said that the Ikhuonbo community have been crying wolf where non –exists, insisting that the land in question which he described as their ancestral land belongs to them.

    He said, “We the people of Iguomon Community has deemed it fit to inform the general public via the media about the lingering crises and the deliberate occupation of our ancestral land by some group of people who calls themselves Ikhuonbo community in Edo State.

    “Early this month, the people of Ikhuobo came to the media to mislead the general public, claiming that the good people of Iguomon community are trying to chase them away from their land and they refuse to inform the general public with the true situation on ground.

    “The land in dispute is actually owned by Iguomon community, and the Benin palace validated Iguomon’s right to own the land in the past and the palace recommended that Iguomon community should give Ikhuonbo 150ft from the land.

    “The people of Iguomon community went to court to seek legal interpretation, backing and the right to owned the land by dragging the people Ikhuonbo community to the Edo State High Court in Benin which ruled that Iguomon community owns the land

    “Ikhuonbo appealed to the Appeal Court in Benin, which also validated the judgment of the lower court that Iguomon community owned the land. Ikhuonbo again went to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court ruled in the year 2006 that IGUOMON community owned the land”.

    The community said that as law abiding citizens, they applied for a warrant of possession after the Supreme Court judgment which was granted in the year 2013 and the warrant directed the bailiff to bring down every structure within the territory to which belongs to Iguomon as validated by the supreme court judgment.

    It added that when the court went to the disputed land to enforce the court’s order, the people of IKHUONBO resisted the court’s order and shot sporadically against the security agency who accompanies the court bailiff to enforce the court order in line with the Supreme Court judgment.

    The community disclosed that after the incident, Ikhuonbo community sued Iguomon community for N20million, claiming that Iguomon community has damaged their property.

    They claimed that following a directive from the court that the both parties in conflict should meet with the State Surveyor General to delineate the land in accordance with the Supreme Court judgment to see if Iguomon community actually went beyond bound to enforce the court judgment, Ikhuonbo withdrew from the suit and ran to the State House of Assembly who has no jurisdiction to address matters already decided by the Supreme Court.

    The Iguomon community claimed that in the month of May 2016, they again applied for a warrant of possession and the Edo state C Chief Judge granted the community a warrant of possession to take charge of the land.

    They stated that while officials from the State Ministry of Land and Survey were on ground in the site and under watchful eyes of the security agents, Ikhuonbo people short sporadically on Iguomon people and injured eight unarmed Iguomon youths who sustained bullet wounds.

    The community added that the State Commissioner of Police acted promptly by inviting the parties in conflict and demanded an instant investigation into the shootings just as he directed the state CID to ensure that perpetrators of the crime are prosecuted.

    They said investigations by the Police led to the arrest of some people from Ikhuonbo community who were charged to the Magistrates court in Ehor.

     

     

  • Ekiti workers begin strike over unpaid salaries

    Ekiti workers begin strike over unpaid salaries

    •Labour issues 48-hour ultimatum 

    There is tension in the Ekiti State civil service over the five month salary arrears owed workers.

    The workers are also aggrieved over government’s failure to pay last December deductions.

    The state councils of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Joint Negotiation Council (JNC) have issued another 48-hour ultimatum to the government to pay the December deductions or face an industrial action.

    Labour had last Tuesday issued a 24-hour ultimatum to the government to pay deductions or face a strike but this was overshadowed by the national strike called by NLC, which began last Wednesday.

    The workers are angry with the labour leaders for giving preference to agitation for deductions rather than the salary arrears.

    The December 2015 salary was paid to workers in March but only the net was paid without  deductions to cooperatives, check off dues to unions, among other miscellaneous payment totaling N512 million.

    The state TUC boss, Odunayo Adesoye, told reporters that labour leaders are meeting at press time to discuss what would be the next line of action, consequent upon another 48 hours ultimatum issued to the governor to comply with the early demand.

    Some workers, who pleaded for anonymity, slammed labour leaders for “taking it easy” with the government when many of them had turned to “beggars”.

    But a worker, who identified himself as Ojo Ajewole, said: “The labour leaders are no longer representing our interest but only fighting for their own benefit.

    “How can they be requesting for the payment of only deduction in December salary when five months salaries have not been paid. This is unheard of. They are advocating for the payment of deductions, so that check off dues to unions can be paid for their own enjoyment,” he alleged.

    Adesoye described the allegation as unfounded, saying only N12 million of the aggregate of the deductions will go to trade unions and their affiliates.

    He said: “What we are advocating for is the payment of the deductions, so that cooperative societies will be viable enough to lend money to workers to confront the present hardship.

     

    “We were at the meeting for the sharing of the last state allocation, where we agreed that subventions to the State University, College of Education and College of Science and Technology, Ijero-Ekiti  should be paid, while the next allocation will be for the payment of other workers.

    “We were in that meeting, we participated, we knew the financial position of the state and it was difficult for us to turn around and fight the government on why salaries are not paid.

    “The main reason why we issued ultimatum to government on deduction was that, we agreed at the meeting that all deductions on December salary be paid and on that we stand.”