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Tag: toll

  • Tolling of federal highways to go on, says Umahi

    Tolling of federal highways to go on, says Umahi

    The tolling of federal highways across the country is to start soon, Works Minister David Umahi hinted yesterday.

    He said service stations and security patrols will be provided to compliment the toll plazas

    Speaking during a media briefing in Abuja, the minister, lauded the move by Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde to collaborate with his Lagos and Ogun counterparts – governors Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Prince Dapo Abiodun – light up the dual-carriage Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

    The reintroduction of toll gates was mooted under the watch of Mr. Babatunde Fashola as Works and Housing Minister during the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

    The government announced identified preferred/reserved bidders for 12 federal highways which were listed for concession under the Highway Development and Management Initiative (HDMI).

    The development followed the conclusion of the evaluation of the proposals submitted for Phase I of the Value-Added Concession (VAC) under the HDMI.

    The HDMI is a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) initiated by the government to stimulate sustainable investment and funding in the development of road infrastructure.

    The ûrst phase of the VAC seeks to concession 12 economically-viable road corridors to technically and ûnancially capable private sector firms/consortia.

    Read Also; Wike frowns at N85bn Wasa housing infrastructure, says project poorly negotiated

    The 12 highways spanning 1,963 kilometres or 5.6 per cent of Nigeria’s 35,000 kilometres federal highways are: Benin-Asaba; Abuja-Lokoja; Kano-Katsina; Onitsha-Owerri-Aba; Sagamu-Benin; Abuja-Keffi-Akwanga; Kano-Maiduguri (Kano-Shuarin); Kano-Maiduguri (Potiskum-Damaturu); Lokoja-Benin; Enugu-Port Harcourt; Ilorin-Jebba; Lagos-Otta-Abeokuta and Lagos-Badagry-Seme Border.

    Umahi said: “I was happy to hear from the governor of Oyo State that, (concerning) the famous Lagos-Ibadan, which is about 97 per cent on average completion, he is already talking with the governors of Lagos and Ogun states for a combined commitment and effort to put solar light all through the stretch of the road (Lagos-Ibadan).

    “It is commendable and part of our renewed hope agenda to make our highways safer for our people; so that people can travel at night.

    “Also, I am asking them to deploy CCTV, and of course, we are going to toll the road so that when we are having tolling, we are also going to be having service stations. We will also have security, that is, a rapid response squad.”

    The minister also insisted that road contractors using asphalt would henceforth be made to sign an indemnity bond that will guarantee the durability of the roads for 30 years.

    Admitting the use of concrete for road construction as the way to go, Umahi said the roads can last up to 50 years after completion, it will not force any contractor to use concrete. Hence, those insisting on using asphalt, must also guarantee the durability of the roads.

    To ensure adequate funding for all ongoing projects, the minister spoke of a plan to  plead with the National Assembly to, through the 2023 Supplementary Budget, restore the over N650 billion that was taken away from most of the ongoing projects.

    Umahi said he has initiated talks cement manufacturers on the need to lower their price since concrete technology will increase their turnover.

    He stated that constructing roads with concrete will not only attract investors, but also create jobs and opportunities for more indigenous contractors.

    The minister said: “All we are saying to all contractors is that there are two choices to make. The first choice is that you must begin to do our roads according to the design. This means that the shelf life of our roads designed on asphalt is 30 years. You must ensure that it lasts for 30 years and give us an indemnity.

    “The legal departments will draft the letters to them to come and sign, and commit to an affidavit that the roads that they are building must last 30 years. If you have already committed to asphalt, then you must be committed to the durability of the roads without excuse.

    “Please, go ahead and use asphalt, no problems. But if you are afraid, then we can come over and we can agree on a redesign. This is not for roads that are about 80 per cent or 90 per cent in completion.

    “Even if you have roads that are 90 per cent or 100 per cent completed, you must still give us that indemnity. Nigerians are tired of paying for jobs and they would not get value for it.

    “About N650 billion was taken away and I don’t blame anybody because when Mr. President came on board, there was no money for these palliatives because of the subsidy removal, and that is a wise decision. So, this N500 billion and other funds for emergencies were taken away from the ongoing projects for 2022.

    “When I went around, like in the Southwest, these projects had been stopped because there was no money to pay for them. My plea is that there are consequences of not returning the money. Some of the projects have reached 90 per cent, some 80 per cent and some 70 per cent. Some are those that will impact very seriously in our economic activities.

    So, if you don’t have this money, there are consequences. One, you start paying interest on generated certificates – and this runs into millions. Second, the roads will not be completed.

    “I believe that we have to count one before we count two in our budgetary system. These funds ought to be returned. Some of the funds are just part payment, and not the funds to complete all ongoing projects.”

  • Oyo goes tough on illegal sticker, toll collectors

    Oyo goes tough on illegal sticker, toll collectors

    The Oyo State Signage and Advertising Agency (OYSAA) has warned private individuals producing fake mobile advert stickers and selling them to end users at ridiculous prices to desist from such practice or face the music.

    Its Director-General, Pastor Yinka Adepoju also warned local government officials and their agents to stop blocking roads and forcing branded vehicle owners to procure their locally-made mobile stickers.

    This, he said, is contrary to the extant laws establishing the agency.

    The agency issued the warning yesterday while unveiling the 2018 mobile advert stickers and certificates at the Film Theatre, Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, Agodi Secretariat, Ibadan, Oyo State capital.

    According to him, the mobile advert stickers were for branded vehicles for private individuals, corporate organisations, religious organisations, non-governmental agencies, among others.

    He gave the rate at N3,000 for cars, buses, motorcycles, tricycles and N5,000 for lorries, trailers and other articulated vehicles.

    Adepoju said the launching was in line with practices globally to generate revenue for government.

    He said the agency would not allow any individual import fake stickers.

    Any private or corporate organisation caught with such, he said, would be dealt with.

    He said: “We will ensure all leakages in revenue generation is blocked.  We will not relent in our effort at stopping indiscriminate posting of posters and erection of billboards in the state because we aware of some private individuals who are in the habit of producing fake Oyo State Mobile Advert Stickers and selling them to end users at ridiculous prices. Such individuals or corporate organisations should desist from such activities as anyone caught indulging in such act will not be sparred but immediately handed over to the law enforcement agents for prosecution.”

  • Edo accident death toll rises to 7

    The death toll recorded in the accident at Ewu hill on the Benin-Ekpoma-Auchi highway on Saturday has risen to seven.

    Five persons were reported to have died on the spot and two others were confirmed dead at the hospital they were rushed to.

    Edo State Sector Commandant of the Federal Road Safety Commission, Samuel Odukoya, who confirmed the figure to our reporter, said 38 persons were involved in the accident.

    Odukoya said 10 persons were injured in the accident and attributed the accident to wrong overtaking.

    The Edo FRSC boss called on motorists to always exercise caution on the road by obey traffic rules and desist from over speeding.

    Six vehicles, including two trucks and four vehicle were involved in the accident.

    The two trucks had a head -on collision while other vehicles rammed into them.

  • Estate valuers praise Buhari on tolls’ reintroduction

    Estate valuers praise Buhari on tolls’ reintroduction

    The Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), Lagos State branch, has lent its support on the planned reintroduction of toll gates.

    Its Chairman, Samuel  Ukpong said it was a right decision but noted that for it to be successful, stakeholders must be carried along.

    Ukpong, who spoke on the sideline of the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Institution in Lagos at the weekend, said, the toll gate system failed because of the inconsistencies in government policies.

    He said: “If we want to re-introduce these toll gates, let us look at using them as growth centres by developing infrastructure, such as good roads, hospitals, hotels, cottage industries, banks and even clinics,” stsing that if there are accidents on the highways, treatment of the victims can be handled in these growth centres. Let everything not be concentrated in urban centres, he added.

    However, Ukpong faulted President Muhammed Buhari’s decision to merge three key ministries of Power, Works and Housing, saying that the decision, rather than lifting the growth and development of the nation, it would stifle economic growth.

    He said the President has not done very well to merge the ministries together, especially the ministry of housing, merging it with works and power.

    “It is a disservice to the nation and we want to say that it is not proper. Thirty years ago when the president was in government, the population of Nigeria was about 90 million, right now we are in the region of 170 million, we also have a housing deficit of 17 million which means it is a very serious matter. So putting it in the purview of just one person is not just right. Nigeria as a country is expanding responsibilities need to be given to more people.”

    He criticised what he called the neglect of professionals in the built environment and urged the government look at the issue critically in the interest of the nation.

    He said: “So why are we not putting round pegs in round hole? I cannot remember the last time an estate surveyor was made a minister in this country. I discovered we have minister of water resources and you know every activities starts on land. Why don’t we have some from real estate sector, someone who understands the environment as a minister?

    “It is high time the Federal Government thought about using professionals. If you go to international conferences, they are wondering what their Nigerian counterparts are doing. The international financial standards is an accounting standards, it recognise that the inputs of the estate surveyors and valuers must be there.

    “No valuation of asset can be carried out without the valuation being done by estate surveyors and valuers. We have accountant general, auditor –general, solicitor general, but we don’t have a valuer general, despite their relevance to all sectors of the economy, a lot of infrastructures are decaying because they are not managed by estate surveyors and valuers.

    “The Federal Government has taken us for granted. We are critical in the implementation of issues relating to built environment. The government should take us seriously.”

  • Uduaghan: terrorism taking its toll on our economy

    Uduaghan: terrorism taking its toll on our economy

    Delta State Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan has said worsening terrorism in the Northeast is taking a toll on the socio-economic life of the country.

    The governor spoke yesterday at the second plenary session of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), hosted by the Warri Diocese of the Catholic Church.

    Uduaghan said the Boko Haram scourge has gone beyond just a regional problem.

    The bishops urged the Federal Government to devote the same level of seriousness it employed in curbing the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) to fighting the spreading terrorism in the North.

    The governor said the pressure of the activities of the terrorists have continued to force people in the North to flee their homes and communities.

    “The insecurity in the Northeast is not a northern problem alone; it’s a problem affecting the entire country. The phone calls I receive daily about the movement of people from the North to the South are very scary.

    “I only hope and pray that something is done as a matter of urgency to restore confidence in the people, but I can tell you that the government is doing its best to ensure that terrorism is destroyed.”

    The president of the CBCN and Archbishop of Jos, Rev Ignatius Kaigama, urged the Federal Government to find a solution to the worsening terrorism.

    The clergy also denounced calls by some Nigerians for the dissolution of the country, noting that Nigeria stood a better chance at greatness as one that when fractionalised.

    “We insist that the government confronts the issue of insurgency with the same seriousness as it is doing with the ebola problem. It appears that rather than coming to an end, the activities of terrorists, especially in the north-east, are expanding and growing in sophistication and threatening to spread beyond there.

    “We call on all to genuinely use the powerful weapon of prayers and charity, just as we ask Nigerians to be of good disposition towards one another and our political leaders to have the political will to do only what is noble, honourable and just for our nation.

    The event, which took off with a special mass at the Sacred Heart Cathedral, Warri, ended up at the Bishop’s Conference Centre in Effurun and was attended, by Deputy Governor Amos Utuama (SAN), the president of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, Senator Emmanuel Aguariavwodo, senator representing Delta Central District and many others.

  • Ebola death toll hits 887, says WHO

    The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said the death toll from the worst record outbreak of Ebola has reached 887.

    This is an increase of 158 since the global health body released figures on July 31.

    WHO, in a statement yesterday, said there have been over 1,600 cases of Ebola since the disease emerged in Guinea earlier this year.

    The news comes as Nigeria announced yesterday that it had confirmed a second case in Africa’s most populous nation. The patient is a doctor who treated the man who died in Nigeria last month.

    According to WHO, there have been 358 deaths in Guinea, 255 deaths in Liberia, 273 deaths in Sierra Leone and one in Nigeria.

    The United States plans to send 50 health experts to West Africa to contain the Ebola outbreak that has left hundreds of people dead in three countries.

    “This is the biggest and most complex Ebola outbreak in history,” Dr. Tom Frieden, a director at the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a statement.

    “It will take many months, and it won’t be easy. But Ebola can be stopped. We know what needs to be done. CDC is surging our response, sending 50 additional disease control experts to the region in the next 30 days.”

    Frieden said the 50 experts from the CDC will work to combat the outbreak and help implement stronger systems to fight the disease.

    The Ebola virus causes viral hemorrhagic fever, which refers to a group of viruses that affect multiple organ systems in the body and are often accompanied by bleeding.

    Early symptoms include sudden onset of fever, weakness, muscle pain, headaches and a sore throat. They later progress to vomiting, diarrhoea, impaired kidney and liver function – and sometimes internal and external bleeding.

    Though the U.S. had not treated an Ebola patient until last week, the CDC has spearheaded efforts to prepare for the deadly virus. It helped create an isolation unit at Emory University Hospital, which is being used to treat American doctor Kent Brantly, who contracted Ebola in Liberia and was evacuated to the facility in Atlanta over the weekend. A second American patient, Nancy Writebol, is being evacuated from Liberia to the same isolation unit. She is scheduled to arrive today.

    Emory is one of four U.S. institutions capable of providing such treatment.

    But in the nation’s hardest-hit and not as prepared, the reality is grim. Even in the best-case scenario, it could take three to six months to stem the epidemic in West Africa, Frieden said.

    Ebola spreads through contact with organs and bodily fluids such as blood, saliva, urine and other secretions of infected people.

    It has no cure, and the most common approach is to support organ functions and keep up bodily fluids such as blood and water long enough for the body to fight off the infection.

    So far, the outbreak has been confined to West Africa. And it has affected health care providers as well.

    Ebola claimed the life of a director at a hospital in Liberia’s capital, Monrovia. Dr. Patrick Nshamdze tested positive on July 29 after falling sick for two weeks. He died on Saturday.

    In Sierra Leone, where government officials have asked citizens to stay away from work, the military has deployed at least 750 medical officials to 13 locations, military spokesman Col. Michael Samura said.

    Health officials are screening incoming and outgoing passengers at the country’s main international airport with a device that takes people’s temperature from their eyes at a distance.

    Anyone showing signs of fever is taken away to have their blood tested for Ebola.

  • India landslide: Rescuers race to find survivors as toll rises

    Rescue workers in western India are working to locate survivors of a landslide that has claimed at least 30 lives and buried up to 200 people. Eight people have been rescued from the wreckage in Malin village, near the city of Pune in Maharashtra state.

    But more than 36 hours after Wednesday morning’s landslide, chances of finding more people alive appear small.

    Officials say rain is hampering efforts to search for scores of people presumed trapped under the mud and debris.

    The landslide hit the village early on Wednesday while people were sleeping. On Thursday, rescuers continued their search through heavy rains, but hopes of finding any more survivors were fading. “Miracles do happen, we will keep looking, but under current conditions it is very, very bleak,” AFP news agency quoted Alok Avasthy, regional commandant of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) at the scene, as saying.

  • Toll collection on Lekki-Ikoyi bridge illegal, says court

    Toll collection on Lekki-Ikoyi bridge illegal, says court

    Justice Saliu Saidu of Federal High Court in Lagos has ruled that the collection of toll on the Lekki-Ikoyi new bridge is illegal and a nullity.

    Delivering judgement in a suit filed against the state government by a lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, the judge held that there is no law in Lagos State authorising the collection of toll on the bridge by the government.

    Declaring the toll collection illegal, null and void, Justice Saidu held that the power to control the Lekki Lagoon and other Federal Navigable Waterways lies with the Federal Government.

    He said although the Federal Government has given some authority to the state to construct the bridge, there is no law authorising or permitting the collection of toll fee on it.

    “The bridge is not a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) initiative for which the collection of toll can be allowed.

    “The question is: Has the third respondent, Lagos State Government, made appropriate law to enable it collect toll on the bridge?

    “The third respondent only cited Section 27, 28 and 29 of the Lagos State PPP Law, 2011 as making provision for collection of toll.

    “There is nothing before me to show that the subject matter in this case was as a result of the PPP Law.

    “The fact before this court is that the bridge was built with the third respondent’s money.  I agree and uphold the construction of this bridge as of right.

    “The third respondent has power to generate revenue from the subject matter, but the existing law does not cover it,” said Justice Saidu.

    He further held that for the state to collect toll from the bridge, an enabling law must be must in place.
    However, counsel to the state, Ade Ipaye said the court’s judgment would be appealed with immediate effect.
    “We are grateful for the judgment and we hope to get the full reasons soon. There is actually a law, but this is not the place to talk about it,” said Ipaye.

    Reacting to the judgment, the plaintiff said it was a well thought out decision, threatening to challenge any law the state may make to validate toll collection on the bridge.

    He said: “For now, everybody in Lagos State should be free to pass through that bridge without paying any money.

    “It was built with the peoples’ money. We cannot pay tax to build a bridge and pay another money to use it. It was not built through concession.

    “The court said they cannot apply the PPP Law to a bridge that was build with state funds.

    “This judgment is a warning to all statutory and government agencies, because our people are burdened. The economy is bad.

    “On behalf of the people of Nigeria, we must continue to challenge all impunity and all taxation that have no backing.

    “We are going ahead to challenge other imposition of taxes on our people,” Adegboruwa said

    The lawyer sought a declaration that under the National Inland Waterways Authority Act, the 1999 Constitution and the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, and other prevailing statutes, the state government is not conferred with jurisdiction, authority or power of control or management over any federal navigable waterway in Nigeria, and in particular, the Lagos and Lekki Lagoon, as to entitle it to impose toll fee.

    He urged the court to hold, among others, that the collection of tolls or any other fees on any road from him and other citizens of Nigeria constitute a contravention of their fundamental right to free movement.

    The lawyer said the imposition of N500 (which was reduced to N250) per trip per vehicle, for an indeterminate period of time, “is arbitrary, exploitive, oppressive, inhuman and callous in the circumstances of the economy of Nigeria, and is therefore illegal, unconstitutional, null and void.”

    Adegboruwa said the government did not carry him and other Lagosians along or consult with them in the process leading to the proposed imposition of the levy, and that most people who live and work within the Lekki and Ikoyi axis, including him, are opposed to the levy.

    He sought an injunction restraining the defendants – the Attorney-General of the Federation, National Inland Waterways Authority, Lagos State Government and the state Attorney-General – from collecting any form of payment from the applicant and any other citizen of Nigeria for the use and enjoyment of any part or portion of the Admiralty-Ikoyi Suspension Bridge.

    Lagos had, in its defence, said there is no law in Nigeria which compels it to always provide roads and other public infrastructure “totally free of charge” as it is not engaged in trading activities for the purposes of making a profit, being public authority.

    It added that the Lagos and Lekki Lagoon across which the bridge was built falls within inland waterways, and its regulation “has always been within the executive and legislative control of state governments.”

    Lagos added that as a responsible government, it has an obligation to address the perennial traffic problems associated with the Lekki-Ikoyi axis by reducing the man-hours that would have been wasted in traffic gridlock, with its attendant cost in terms of resources, time and health.

    “Many of such projects are still required in the Lekki-Epe axis to make life easier for all who go to that area and government resources are seriously overstretched,” the state said.

    The state said the inclusion of the toll option in the bridge design is to give the state a cash flow option to pay back the borrowed part of the construction cost, keep the toll infrastructure in good repair and enhance the government’s financial capacity to replicate such infrastructure in other parts of the state.

    The state said Adegboruwa is not compelled to commute across the bridge as he has always made the journey without it. Besides, there are alternative routes to Lekki and Ikoyi, Lagos added.

  • Toll for Second Niger Bridge, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, says NSIA

    Toll for Second Niger Bridge, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, says NSIA

    • Equity funding from Julius Berger, SWF

    The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) is to partner with construction giants, Julius Berger, to toll the Second Niger Bridge when completed.

    The Managing Director/CEO of NSIA, Uche Orji who stated this yesterday, said the authority will lead the financial partners in the consortium.

    He said: “(NSIA will be the) lead financial partner in the consortium with responsibility to invest our equity and attract other equity partners and raise debt for this project. We already have soft commitment from potential equity partners.

    “What we have signed is to play two roles- this includes the PPP (public private partnership) which includes the development, build, operate and transfer. So our roles first of all, is to commit development capital and we have already committed some through the negotiation process and we hired an expert to help us review the cost of the project which formed the basis for validation.

    “The second role we are playing is that Julius Berger Plc is going to commit equity as well as we are going to be committed. So Julius Berger is going to use their financial services which is their investment company as well. So we are going to bring our own equity and Julius Berger bring their equity.“

    He said capital structures guiding the investment were still being worked on and promised to make it public as soon as it is finalised.

    “The capital structure has not been finalised, when it is finalised, I will tell you how much we are going to commit, but we have an envelope that we have addressed and we have agreed on our commitments. “We will commit equity, Julius Berger will commit equity and we get other equity partners and then we raise funds for the project,” he said, adding that this is how most of the PPP projects are done.

    According to him, NSIA is taking the role of lead equity partner to provide the core equity, while government will provide for what he described as “viability capital gap funding” that is essential to get PPP of this nature functional.

    Orji said the Second Niger Bridge, “will be the first federally tendered PPP project in Motorways in NIgeria,” adding that the negotiated construction cost will be bankable in the current structure.

    He said the PPP project is a culmination of 11 months of work- including negotiating with the contractors to ensure the project is bankable before commitment is made. “This is a first, but crucial step in the process and post-signing this cooperation agreement, we are now negotiating the concession agreement and thereafter, we will announce a timetable for getting to financial close,” he said.

    Orji noted that between the NSIA’s equity, Julius Berger’s equity, soft commitment from other equity partners and government viability gap funding, he is confident that the flag-off of the Second Niger Bridge can commence next month.

    He said the authority is in negotiations with respect to the Lagos- Ibadan Expressway as other infrastructure investment, adding that it has been working on a bankable structure.

    The NSIA Orji said, has incorporated four subsidiaries to help it execute strategies for the infrastructure fund component of the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF). These subsidiaries are the NSIA Motoways Company Limited; NSIA Power Investment Company Limited; NSIA Healthcare Investment Company Ltd and the NSIA Real Estate Investment Company limited.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Death toll rises to 13 in Delta attacks

    The death toll from attacks on Itsekiri communities in Warri North Local Government Area of Delta State increased to 13 yesterday as more bodies were recovered from the bushes.

    The victims include a couple, two brothers, an aged man and an infant, who were killed in the various communities razed by the rampaging Ijaw group, Egbema Radical Group.

    The Itsekiri National Youth Council (INYC) said their kinsmen won’t retaliate.

    Speaking when various Itsekiri youth groups visited him in his home in Warri, INYC Chairman David Tonwe said: “I appeal to you not to be used to foment trouble; we are not prepared to fight.

    “We have lost 13 of our brothers and sisters; let’s all ensure that it does not escalate.

    “We have just come out from a crisis (Ijaw/Itsekiri) and we are not prepared to take that road again. Nobody who witnessed that crisis would encourage what just happened.

    “So, I want to appeal to everybody to remain calm and hope that the law will take its course.”

    An Itsekiri chief, Mrs. Rita Lori-Igiebor, urged Ijaw leaders, President Goodluck Jonathan and Chief Edwin Clark, to stop the carnage.

    She told reporters in Lagos that the neglect, repression and onslaught against the Itsekiri were worrisome.

    The Itsekiri chief said the solution to the persistent clashes is the creation of Itsekiri state.

    She dismissed the claim by the restless Ijaw youths that the Itsekiri were the main beneficiaries of the oil block allocations in the Niger Delta.

    The Itsekiri chief said: “The allegations are not true. The Itsekiri did not benefit from the oil blocks.

    “They were not the big contractors. They were not the big, illegal bunkerers. They were not the petty oil thieves. I advise the Ijaw youths to concentrate and get meaningful sources of living.

    “The solution is the creation of an Itsekiri state. We are a minority blessed with oil and two ports. The President is Ijaw. The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs is an Ijaw. All the ministries and agencies are managed by the Ijaw man. They have the money to take care of the Ijaw. They should not make life uncomfortable for others.”

    The Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, Kingsley Kuku, also condemned the attacks.

    In a statement in Abuja, Kuku urged security agencies to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice.

    He called on Itsekiri and Ijaw leaders to intervene to avert an escalation of the crisis.

    The Special Adviser appealed to security agencies to restore peace in the area.

    “The violence in Warri North is a sad development and we are very concerned. This is so because it affects youths of two ethnic groups that have a long history of fraternal and marital relationships.

    “We will work with the state government to ensure that the crisis does not escalate. I implore the aggrieved parties to sheathe their swords while the issues are being addressed,” Kuku said.