The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Yobe

  • Plateau killings: PDP knocks Presidency for kicking against call for mourning

    The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has expressed shock at a statement credited to the Presidency justifying its failure to stem the tide of killings and bloodletting in the country, particularly in the Plateau, Zamfara,  Benue, Yobe, Adamawa, Borno, Kogi, Taraba and other troubled states.

    In a statement on Thursday by presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, the Presidency had condemned PDP’s call for seven days mourning in honour of the over 200 villagers killed in Plateau State on Sunday.

    In a statement on Thursday by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, the opposition party said it’s reprehensible that the Presidency had displayed its usual arrogance and insensitivity too the mood of the nation.

    The statement said, “It is disturbing that even in death, the Buhari Presidency still wants to deny these victims of callous murder the honour of being mourned.

    Read Also: Oshiomhole to Presidency, National Assembly: I’ll uphold party supremacy

    “We are particularly appalled that instead of joining Nigerians in mourning the dead and seeking ways to stem the escalation of the bloodletting under its watch, the Buhari Presidency is engaged in morbid reference to past killings as if the lives of Nigerians have no value under President Buhari’s watch.

    “The PDP, as a party, will continue to identify with Nigerians at this troubled time irrespective of ethnic, religious and political affiliations and will therefore not allow itself to be dragged into a needless mire with the Buhari Presidency, which has shown by its statement, that it has no iota of regard for the lives of Nigerians.

    “PDP urges the Buhari Presidency to confront the challenge of fulfilling the basic responsibility of governance by providing security to the lives and property of all Nigerians, irrespective of their creed, tribe and political affiliations.

    “Finally, the PDP assures Nigerians that we will not be deterred in speaking out against the killings and the failure of the Buhari administration to take concrete steps to stem this ugly tide”.

  • Eid-el-Fitri: Police strengthen security in Borno, Yobe , Bauchi, Ekiti

    •Be security conscious, police tell Kano residents

    POLICE commands in  Yobe, Borno, Bauchi and Ekiti states have deployed special forces, including  men of the Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD), to secure all praying grounds as well as tackle political thugs and criminals.

    The measure in the Norther states, according to security sources, was aimed at combing praying ground and ensure no explosive was planted at the venue before worshipers arrive for their prayers today.

    Yobe and Borno states have also placed restriction on movement of vehicles and animals like donkeys and horses during prayers.

    In Yobe State, restriction of movement began from 10.00pm yesterday to 10.00m today, according to a statement by Abdullahi Bego, the director-general of Information and Press Affairs to Governor Ibrahim Gaidam.

    The restriction of movement, Bego said, will  exempt people on emergency services or those with security clearance.

    In Borno State, Police Commissioner Damian Chukwu announced that over 5,000 policemen are to be deployed during the Eid-el-Fitri celebration .

    Chukwu said suicide attacks on Maiduguri have necessitated the need for serious security.

    Police in Bauchi said they will be deploying 2,992 policemen to secure lives and properties in the state during the Eid-el-Fitir celebration.

    Conventional police, Mobile Force, Counter Terrorist Unit, Explosive Ordinance Disposal personnel, intelligence personnel, medical personnel and other operatives in the command will be deployed at strategic positions.

    The command’s spokesperson, Kamal Abubabakar, while quoting Police Commissioner Sanusi Lemu, assured residents: “The command is ready to protect lives and properties of all citizens resident in the state before, during and after the sallah.”

    Kano State Police Command advised Muslim worshipers and people attending recreational centres during the Eid-El-Fitri festivities to be security-conscious and report suspicious movements to security agencies.

    In a statement by the command’s Public Relations Officer, Superintendent of Police, Magaji Musa Majia, in Kano, Police said they have put machinery in place to ensure adequate security of lives and property during the Sallah celebrations.

    The police in Ekiti State said they have beefed up security in a bid to forestall breakdown of law and order and as parties embark on political campaign ahead of the July 14 poll.

    The command also said the security measure was also aimed at ensuring a peaceful celebration of Eid-el-Fitri.

    A statement by the command spokesman, Mr. Caleb Ikechukwu, warned political thugs and miscreants to eschew violence during the Sallah.

    It threatened that the police would deal decisively with troublemakers caught.

    He said: “We assure the good people of Ekiti State that police shall be alive to their responsibility during this celebration.

    “We are fully prepared to deal with hoodlums, political thugs, and other disgruntled elements that may cause panic among the public during this period and we will collaborate with sister security agencies and stakeholders to ensure peaceful hitch-free celebration.

    “To this effect, the command has deployed enough officers and men in all praying grounds and venues of events in the state.”

     

     

     

  • The suspected killer of 24 year old Hauwa arrested

    The Yobe Commissioner of Police(CP), Abdulmaliki Sumonu has confirmed the arrest of Muhammed Adamu, the suspected killer of Hauwa Muhammad, a twenty four year old woman.

    Sumonu told newsmen in Damaturu on Tuesday that Adamu, who is about 30 years old, has made a confessional statement.

    The suspect was brought to the press conference.

    Sumonu said: “I am very happy to tell you that the perpetrator of the 29th May killing of Hauwa Muhammad has been apprehended and has made a confessional statement”

    The CP then allowed the suspect to narrate how he committed the murder to the press.

    The suspect said: “My name is Muhammed Isa Adamu from Potiskum LG. I started dating Hauwa since 2014. She was obedient to me. She never offended me.

    “I have been abusing drugs for almost five years. I even went to Azare General Hospital to seek medical advice in order to get rid of my addiction.

    “I tried as much as possible to convince my family to meet Hauwa’s over our marital arrangement but my effort became unsuccessful.

    “Eventually another guy started dating her. That was the beginning of our problem. She told me that if my family could not meet hers, I should allow the other guy to do so.

    “Apart from that, there was no problem between the two of us”, Adamu added

    “One day I didn’t know what happened to me, I took my “Exol” and decided to end the lives of both of us. I killed her alone with a knife”, Adamu said.

    “I equally wanted to kill myself. May her soul rest in peace: she stopped me from doing that. While she was bleeding, she said I should not kill myself.

    “She further advised me, before she bled to death, that I should repent and seek Allah’s forgiveness. I then promised her not to kill myself and that I will report myself to the police.

    “Which is why when the DPO ‘C’ division called me, I reported at once”, the suspect said.

    Adamu said that he was a fresh graduate from Federal College of Technical Education, Potiskum, affiliated to Federal University of Technology Minna.

    He advised hard drug users to quit the habit as it will only lead to the dead end that he has found himself.

    Hauwa was said to have left home on 29 May to buy a loaf of bread. She did not return. She was later found dead on the same day.(NAN)

  • Yobe blames doctor’s strike on communication gap

    •Union urged to embrace dialogue

    The Yobe State government has blamed threats by resident doctors to go on strike on communication gap.

    It urged the doctors to embace dialogue to resolve contentiou issues.

    Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) in Yobe State on Wednesday called on the government to address problems affecting its members or face an industrial action after 21 days.

    The association also called for the promotion of doctors; an upward review of the residency program package; allowances due and owed be settled; that government should start housemanship and residency program in the hospitals; that youth corps doctors be paid what is due to them and promptly; employ more doctors in the state; and that government should equip the Accident and Emergency wards with necessary emergency drugs, including the theatre.

    Commissioner of Health Dr. Bello Kawuwa, at a news conference yesterday, said most issues raised by the doctors have been addressed.

    He said: “I think it is a case of communication gap. The doctors did not do the needful to lay their complaints and exhaust all opportunities before issuing the ultimatum.

    “Governor Ibrahim Gaidam, on May 14, approved 100 per cent payment of CONMESS and CONHESS salary structure to doctors and medical workers.

    “The reduction in salaries of some may not be unconnected with the initial hitches in the take-off of the implementation.”

    Bello assured the doctors that the government will address their complaints and “give everyone what is due to him or her”.

    The commissioner promised that none of the doctors will be victimised based on the threat, adding that “the doctors are our students and children. We will sit together and resolve the issue. But as I said, many of the issues raised have been addressed.

    “The ministry is surprised by ARD’s stance, which seems to display complete ignorance of, or lack of regard for government operations and current developments in the state.

    “The Ibrahim Gaidam-led government places so much premium on healthcare, recognising that health is a development issue. This is why the government continues to invest heavily in the sector to improve the health and well being of the people.

    “Any element used to sabotage the governemnt’s effort will not succeed. The health sector works with sincerity of purpose, which is the guiding principle for how governor Gaidam operates.

    “We call on the leadership and members of the ARD to embrace dialogue and interface with the Ministry of Health and its agencies on matters relating to service and welfare instead of resorting to threats.

    “We will not be cajoled, intimidated or pushed into derailing from our vision of ensuring an efficient and effective healthcare system in Yobe State.”

  • Civilians foil suicide attack in Yobe mosque

    The Nigerian Army says some courageous civilians on Sunday foiled a suicide bomb attack by a suspected female Boko Haram member on a mosque in Gashua, Gujba Local Government Area of Yobe.
    Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, the
    Deputy Director Public Relations,
    Theatre Command Operation Lafiya Dole, disclosed this in a statement released in Maiduguri.
    “What would have otherwise been a devastating suicide bomb attack on a mosque in Gashua village in Gujba Local Government Area of Yobe state has been successfully foiled today by vigilant members of the community.
    “A female Boko Haram suicide bomber had infiltrated the mosque, while members were about to commence a prayer session but was detected when struggling to detonate a suicide vest strapped to her body. She was quickly restrained by the locals, arrested and handed over to troops at Azare.
    “Members of the Explosive Ordinance Disposal Component of Operation Lafiya Dole at the location have safely defused the suicide vest, while the suicide bomber is currently receiving medical attention due to injuries sustained during her arrest.”(NAN)

  • Yobe Empowers Para-Soccer Players

    The head coach of Yobe Para-soccer team, Mohammed Bashiru, on Wednesday in Abuja said Yobe State was set to eradicate poverty by empowering Para-soccer players in the state.

    Bashiru told our reporter that the state governor, Ibrahim Gaidam, had been giving the state Para-soccer team allowance every month.

    He said that the state governor has always been supporting the team at local and national competitions.

    “The state government has been motivating the team since they joined Para-soccer tournament, it has been encouraging us morally, physically and financially, which is the most important thing.

    “The state governor is paying them minimum wage, which will reduce poverty level, he also empowered our atheletes by putting them in some handworks.

    Read Also: Yobe Govt. creates account for N11bn cargo airport

    “They received salary every month from the state government as a player because most of them are bread winners of their families and some of them have their own businesses.

    “The aim of the Government is to take them away from street begging and say no to violence,’’ he said.

    Bashiru said Yobe team would work hard to win the National League Championship coming up in Katsina in August.

    It was also reported that Yobe team won the just concluded First National Open Para-soccer Championship at the package B of the National Stadium Abuja.

    NAN

  • FG tasks stakeholders on sanitation facilities in Yobe schools, IDPs camps

    Alhaji Muhammad Bukar, Director, Water Supply, Ministry of Water Resources, Yobe, has called on all stakeholders to help in the construction of sanitation facilities in public places and schools in the state.

    Bukar made this call when the Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in Emergency Working Group visited the state on Thursday in Damaturu, Yobe.

    He said the state was in dire need of these facilities to provide succour for the population displaced due to insurgency.

    According to him, a huge number of schools have been merged with little or no access to sanitation facilities, saying the state government cannot do it alone.

    He noted that the schools were congested with some population as high as 6,000 students lacking access to toilets and hand washing facilities.

    “The challenge is higher in the female institutions, they are handicapped, Government Girls in Damaturu, Gazarma, Potiskum, Fika and others are congested secondary schools with little facilities for sanitation.

    “If you can complement our efforts by diverting some of the Federal Government’s project to those places, it will be nice, because these five schools were merged and housed in one place, and the population is more than 6,000, it’s too much, we need support.”

    Bukar said that returning communities also needed to have access to water and sanitation facilities in place to forestall an outbreak of diseases.

    Read Also: Nasarawa, Yobe, Cross River pay highest price for kerosene in March

    The director listed Gulani, Gujba, Damaturu, Tarmuwa, Geidam, Yunusari and Fika as communities in need of immediate interventions, saying although development partners such as UNICEF provided two boreholes, but was presently overstretched as population had increased.

    He said the state government was focused on awareness creation for hygiene promotion in camps to prevent an outbreak of diseases and overall health promotion, saying this was obvious with the monthly dislodging of from waste from the toilets.

    He said the Pompomari IDP camp was being completely monitored though deliberate provision of water and sanitation facilities, adding that the population was high and congested.

    “Initially, the population was over 5,000, the state government provided borehole before insurgency, but when insurgency was high, the facility became overstretched.

    “Now, two boreholes have been added and reticulated to the clinic, primary school, development partners also came to the aid of the state,” he said.

    The WASH in Emergency Group is working to see that Humanitarian responses, especially in the North East reach its target population.

     

  • Nasarawa, Yobe, Cross River pay highest price for kerosene in March

    The National Bureau of Statistics ( NBS ), says residents of Nasarawa, Yobe and Cross River, paid the highest price for kerosene in March.

    The NBS said this in its National Household Kerosene “Price Watch’’ for March, 2018 released in Abuja on Wednesday.

    The NBS report said that residents of Nasarawa paid an average price of N306.07 per litre for kerosene, Yobe paid N300.78 while Cross River residents paid N300.68 for the product.

    Meanwhile, the report noted that states with the lowest average price per litre of kerosene were Abia; N229.35; Delta; N227.77 and Borno; N225.13.

    The report said that average price per litre paid by consumers for kerosene decreased by -6.79 per cent month-on-month and -13.66 per cent year-on-year from N288.57 in February to N268.99 in March.

    Read Also: Yobe donates N200m for Army Barrack project

    Similarly, the report said that average price per gallon paid by consumers for the product decreased by -8.45 per cent month-on-month, and -19.57 per cent year-on-year from N1,030.33 in February to N943.27 in March.

    It, however, said that states with the highest average price per gallon of kerosene were Kebbi, N1,105.00; Benue, N1,096.67 ; and Jigawa, N1,061.90, respectively.

    It also noted that states with the lowest average price per gallon of kerosene were Ebonyi, N828.57; Delta, N821.54; and Rivers, N814.08.

    NAN

  • Yobe approves N671m for payment of gratuity

    Gov. Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe on Monday approved N671 million for payment of gratuity to 364 retired workers and others who died in service.

    The information is in a statement by Malam Abdullahi Bego, the Director-General of Press Affairs to the governor in Damaturu.

    Bego stated that the amount would cover gratuity of those who retired or died between August and December 2017.

    He noted that the state Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Gaidam in January this year approved over N1 billion for payment of gratuity to 631 workers who retired from service between January and July 2017.

    He added that workers who retired from service of the state government from January 2018 till date would wait for verification and processing of their documents before payment.

    “It is the commitment of Gov. Ibrahim Gaidam that Yobe Government will remain unwavering in its commitment to the welfare of workers in its employ” the statement noted.

    NAN

  • Video: Yobe to unveil 8,500-year-old canoe at exhibition

    The Yobe government on Wednesday said it would soon unveil the 8,500-year-old Dufana canoe, Africa’s oldest and world’s third oldest water craft, for public exhibition.

    Alhaji Mohammed Abare, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Information and Culture, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Damaturu.

    “The canoe, which was discovered in Dufana village, was jointly evacuated by the Department of Trans-Sahara Studies, University of Maiduguri, National Commission for Museum and Monuments and Goethe University, Germany.

    “Carbonated research on the canoe revealed that it was Africa’s oldest water craft and third oldest in the world,” he said.

    https://youtu.be/6-tOHUnpSrU

    The permanent secretary said the canoe had undergone various stages of conservation, and now in the final stage of treatment before unveiling it for public exhibition.

    He said that the canoe had rich potentialities for international tourism and academic research, with huge economic benefits to the state and country.

    The canoe, made from black African Mahogany, was measured eight metres in length, 0.5 metres in width and 5.5 metres in thickness.

    According to Abare, “One Malam Yau, a Fulani herdsman, while digging a well in 1987, discovered the canoe in Dufana village in Fune Local Government Area of Yobe.

    “Former president, Goodluck Jonathan, had designated the canoe a national monument in 2014,” Abare said. (NAN)