Anambra State: Life in detention for 88 days

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Read Time:7 Minute, 51 Second

Commercial activities at Old Market Road, Odoakp, Onitsha, Anambra State commenced like every other day on August 1, 2013 when, all of a sudden, some stern looking policemen arrived.

The policemen, in a commando-like manner, stormed Upper Class Hotel, located on number eight. The question on the lips of curious persons around was later answered, following the news of alleged discovery of human skulls and arms in one of the hotel rooms.

The alleged discovery led to the arrest of the owner of the hotel, Mr Bonaventure Mokwe, and some of his staff , who were whisked into the operatives waiting van which zoomed off , leaving a haze of confusion in the air.
Controversy trailed the arrest and detention of Mokwe and his staff at the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, an action that allegedly did not only violate the suspects rights but also described as not following due process. Anambra State government later joined the fray, directing the demolition of the hotel.

However, Mokwe was later granted bail by the court, but not after spending 88 days in police custody.
Describing his arrest and demolition of his hotel as a set up, the business man in the eye of the storm , during an interview with Sunday Vanguard, alleged that his ordeal could not have been unconnected with a motor park dispute between him and some Onitsha natives.

ORIGIN
Recalling the incident of August 1, 2013, Mokwe said, “ Prior to the day I was arrested and my hotel demolished on the directive of Anambra State governor , I was involved in a motor park dispute with some Onitsha natives.

“Within the period , I wrote the Obi of Onitsha three times asking him to intervene and call the natives to order but he remained understandably silent. When that failed, I wrote a petition to the Anambra State Commissioner of Police which he minuted to the Onitsha Area Commander who in turn assigned an Inspector to investigate. But these efforts ended as soon as they started”.

He narrated further: “When that failed again, I went to court and obtained an order which was served on the palace of Obi of Onitsha, the police and leaders of the Onitsha natives antagonising me. Soon after some bus drivers started loading in my park and all hell broke loose, as threats of all dimension started coming from the Onitsha natives which culminated in the planting of the exhibits in my hotel. The human skulls and magazines were parked in a sac and planted in the wardrobe at my hotel lodging room number 102.

“ I drove into my office around 7am that fateful day because I had a land transaction. Before I could settle down, my hotel was surrounded by the police numbering over 100. As I made my way towards my office entrance, some of them were already in the passage. I was taken into my office and shown a search warrant.

“ In the process, one police officer betrayed the whole adventure when he shouted at one of my staff to be shown room 102. It did not make sense to me then. The first thing I saw when the door of the room was opened was an unsealed traveling bag on the floor. Some polythene bags were inside the bag and two on the bed. Nothing was found in the toilet and under the bed. The police then opened the wardrobe of the room and brought out one single Bagco sac, in which were two rotten skulls, two A.K 47 riffles that looked unserviceable and two loaded magazines.

“The mock search exercise started and ended after five minutes or thereabouts at the door of room 102 . Incidentally the lodger locked the room and left with the key around 6.30am, following which the police showed up.
“The manager informed the police that the room was sold to one Mr John Obi, in the evening of 31st of July, 2013.

The receptionist brought the duplicate of the lodging receipt in addition to the hotel guest manifest and both reflected John Obi as the occupant at room 102. It is important to point out that the hotel guest manifest had earlier been submitted at the police station before the arrival of the policemen to the hotel. This has been the routine for some time now.

I was immediately handcuffed and taken outside the corridor of the hotel, where I was told to sit next to the exhibits while they took pictures. Soon after that, I, alongside my staff, was taken to the police Area Command Onitsha and paraded before the public and journalists.

CONFESSION
“We were subsequently taken to SARS Awkuzu, along with my wife who is a lawyer, and detained. At SARS, the identity of the person that lodged in my hotel room number 102 on the very day the police came searching was unmasked. Though he gave his name as John Obi, his true identity was that of a native of Umudie village. His picture was smuggled and shown to the receptionist who identified him as the person he gave the receipt of room 102 that fateful day. It was him who planted the exhibits in the hotel room wardrobe.

“I almost died in the first two to three days at SARS. Any confessional statement emanating from SARS Awkuzu is a function of an individual’s pain threshold. In effect, an innocent person can be a casualty of any sort. While informants are very important in police work, being able to know when a particular informant collects money to set-up another person’s rival as in this case of mine is also critical.

IDENTITY
“When the identity of the people that orchestrated my hotel set-up became known even by the general public, a petition was written by my lawyer to the Inspector-General of Police, listing their names. But the police sat on it because arresting them would have meant releasing me and that would have meant a state financial liability and embarrassment for the state government.

With the police under pressure from the media , most especially by NIPPRON, I, along with three of my staff, was arraigned in court on the 17th of October 2013 and a murder charge along with possession of human skulls and fire arms were heaped on us and we were subsequently remanded in prison till 4th of November 2014 when we were granted bail. I spent a total of two months and seventeen days at SARS Awkuzu.

ROTTEN SKULLS
“A week after I arrived from SARs, it became increasingly clear that the incident was a set-up. Matters were not helped by what occurred when the police first took me to the grave of one Mr Nwonye Akas, a native of Nkwuele Ezinaka Itite village, who died in 1972 when I was still running around naked, only for them to say I killed and buried the man at the place.

“What is my business with rotten skulls? The police has some questions to answer; why did they not make attempt to arrest the person that lodged in the room, despite the fact that guests manifesto was sent to them? If it was real, the person who stayed in the hotel room should have been apprehended. It would then be for him to reveal who gave him the thing because there is no way he could have slept in that room with all those things without knowing.

“Again, the true reason my hotel was speedily demolished within hours of my arrest by the state government without informing the police command is also in custody of my lawyers. All these will be made public when the need arises .

My hotel demolition had nothing to do with fighting crime, as it was sold to the general public. Till date, there is no complaint irrespective of police efforts in manufacturing one in their bid to cover up for the Anambra State government from its self-inflicted liability.

Details of how the murder charged was framed was blown in the prison including a tape recording of it.
“When I was bailed, a legal officer with Anambra State government begged my cousin to tell me to lie low until after the elections. I obeyed. So you can see that it’s not all about justice, it’s about what they can gain from it. They told me to lie low that after electioneering campaign, something would be done to address the issue, but till date nothing has been done.

JUSTICE
The state government should sit with my lawyer or appoint someone to sit with my lawyer and agree on how to pay for the damages. You don’t beat somebody and tell him not to cry. Secondly, this matter is impossible to wish away. No amount of prayer will wish it away. I must be paid everything. Everything I had was destroyed, including my Green Card, in that hotel building.

Those fabricated charges should be cancelled because they are mere damage control charges intended to fill in the blanks, they have no bearing on me because they were manufactured. You don’t charge one for possession when you didn’t see anything on him. Also , you don’t charge someone for murder when investigation has not been done.”

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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New Year delayed after Congress fails to reset date ceiling (humor)

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Read Time:2 Minute, 57 Second

Washington DC — America will have to spend an extra week in 2013, thanks to the latest congressional mishap. It seems that the House and Senate failed to reset what is known as “the date ceiling” before leaving on holiday recess,  an oversight that will bring time to a standstill in the United States.

 

House Speaker John Boehner (R – Ohio) immediately blamed Pres. Obama for the snafu. “They  force-feed us Obama Care, and suddenly both chambers of Congress have Alzheimer’s and forget to advance the country into the new year.  Has anyone seen my porridge?”

 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D – Nevada) disagreed, and pointed at finger at Tea Party Republicans. “All that tea has turned them into caffeine addicts. They never sleep, so no wonder they can’t keep track of time.”

 

Fortunately, the U.S. Constitution has provisions that are automatically imposed when the date ceiling is reached. The official timekeeper for the New York Knicks takes control of the calendar and activates a temporary mini-month called Novemblur.

 

“Novemblur is only seven days long and is designed to be forgettable,” official timekeeper Lloyd Blanche explains. “Seven days is plenty of time for Congress to do its duty and advance us into 2014.”

 

Trouble is, Congress can’t seem to agree on anything anymore and the resulting deadlock, according to Blanche, could “cause time to go cuckoo.”

 

Sen. Ted Cruz (R — Texas) accused his colleagues of overreacting. “I like the idea of stopping time," he said. “Maybe we can even go back in time, before Obama Care and Roe v. Wade. I know I’m going to use the extra time for reading. I read an entire book of the Bible every day.”

 

“Time is money,” countered the outgoing Chairman of the Fed, Benjamin Bernanke. “So when time stops, the buck stops, and people start doing Harry Truman jokes.  I can’t afford to waste time like that. I only need two more punches on my Quantitative Easing card to get a free trip to Vegas.”

 

Sen. John McCain (R — Arizona) blamed “dissident elements in the Middle East” for hijacking 2014. “It's time we settled this once and for all. You can’t let them walk away with a perfectly good year. What’ll they take next? A decade?  A century? 

 

“Imagine the wife asking: ‘Honey, do you remember where we put the next century?’  You’ve got to have an answer for that, or else you'll find yourself in Vietnam, playing dominoes. It’s a shame people still don’t understand why went to war in Vietnam. They  can't seem to grasp Eisenhower’s domino theory. Well thanks to what we did there, Vietnam now has some of the best domino players in the world.”

 

Meanwhile, the Library of Congress has printed a calendar page for Novemblur to help keep the nation up to date. It features “ Legislative Lovelies,” a photo spread of lawmakers modeling the latest lingerie.  “It costs five dollars,” said assistant librarian Victor Trance. “But it’s worth it to see Charlie Wrangle in a garter belt.”

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Yero: PDP Defectors Will Soon Regret

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Read Time:4 Minute, 12 Second
Governor Mukhtar Yero of Kaduna State yesterday said members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) would regret their actions.
 
Yero, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said this in Kaduna, while swearing-in his Special Adviser, Political Matters and two permanent secretaries.
The governor stressed that the defectors had made a “foolish mistake.”
 
According to him, the challenges in the PDP are not insurmountable but requires continued engagement of all stakeholders for it to be settled amicably.
“It is a foolish mistake to abandon what one has built in search of something uncertain elsewhere.
 
“Let me advise you, especially those holding political offices, to remain in one place and regard your position today as ordained by God.
“Tomorrow, we will all be forgotten when new people take over the affairs of leadership; that is part of life.
 
“So, do not allow yourselves to be lured or deceived into abandoning your party to join the opposition,'' the governor said.
 
Yero's advice followed the defection to the APC of prominent PDP members in the state, including two of its past state chairmen.
 
To the new permanent secretaries, the governor charged them to work effectively in line with the administration's resolve “to ensure equity, fairness and social justice in the state.''
 
In a related development, the governor has sworn-in Justice Tanimu Zailani as the substantive Chief Judge of the state.
 
Zailani succeeded Justice Rahila Cudjoe, who retired after 16 years of service.
He pledged to ensure an improved judicial system and sought for the support of the government and the people to meet the challenges ahead.
 
Meanwhile, a former National Legal Adviser of the PDP, Mr. Mark Jacob Nzamah,  has said the leadership of the party in Kaduna State should be held responsible if the party loses the state in the 2015 general election.
 
Nzamah, in a statement yesterday in Kaduna, decried the disunity among party members in the state which led to  the recent defection of a former state chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Yaro Makama, along with about 70 others  to APC.
 
According to him, the leadership of the PDP in the state should be held responsible for any collateral damage that befalls the party if caution is thrown to the wind and genuine issues of concern raised by party members and political observers are again ignored or labelled as “attention seekers.”
 
Nzama, a former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice during the administration of former Governor Ahmed Makarfi noted that available data and analysis showed that the PDP in the state was currently at its lowest rating since 1999, warning that unless things changed, the party may be heading for disaster in the state.
 
Just recently, a former chairman of the party in the state, Alhaji Yaro Makama, alongside over 70 other members of the party defected to the APC, alleging injustice and failure to carry party members along.
 
Nzamah, who expressed worry over the development, regretted that those shouldered with the responsibility of guiding the PDP boat through troubled times do not seem to care that the boat is being threatened by critical weather conditions.
He called for a change in the style of leadership in order to save the party from the impending danger ahead.
 
Nzamah noted further that “the traditional stronghold of the PDP, the Southern Kaduna is gradually but surely slipping away from the PDP, thanks to the shoddy, unintelligent conduct of the party leadership both at the state and the zonal levels in the last few years.
 
“Of course instead of listening to advice, they engage in childish gossips, name calling and persecution of anyone who speaks up, just as the trend is glaring in both Northern and Central Kaduna zones.
 
“The entire state is pregnant with feverish anger against the current administration in the state and as well our party. When you meet politicians, they complain of exclusion, you meet businessmen they complain of non patronage and overconcentration of business opportunities in the hands of a few favoured fronts of those in government, you meet the youths, they complain of failure to empower among others. This trend must be arrested if we want to sustain the fortunes of the party in the state.”
 
He added that it was imperative that party stalwarts reconsider their hard-line positions in view of the sensitivity attached to Kaduna state as the political capital and nerve centre of Northern Nigeria.
 
“This, we must guard jealously and use as a source of strength, integration, peaceful coexistence and development. However, we cannot as a state, boast of this if we are unable to effectively manage simple political discontent within our state and showcase very high political and administrative capacity,” he added.
 

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Protest as Soldier Beats Bus Driver to Death in Lagos

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Read Time:2 Minute, 35 Second
A soldier, identified as Private Ezinne Benjamin,  was yesterday accused of beating to death a commercial bus driver, Bashiru Adebayo, following  a minor squabble.
 
The suspect who is being detained at the 81 Division of the Nigerian Army,   Victoria Island,  Lagos, was arrested after an angry mob had stormed Dodan Barracks chanting war songs and threatening mayhem.
It was learnt that disagreement broke out between the soldier and the deceased driver after Benjamin had refused to pay his transport fares despite entreaties from the bus conductor and passengers.
Eyewitnesses said the soldier, who was not wearing uniform, was angered by the insistence of the driver that he had to pay up and in the heat of the ensuing altercation between them, he brought out his gun and hit the driver’s head with its butt.
In Lagos, military and paramilitary personnel always dodge paying transport fares whenever they board commercial buses, claiming they are staff.
But the deceased driver  was said to have challenged the soldier because he was not wearing his military uniform neither did he identify himself as a soldier.
An eyewitness who identified himself as Femi Ogunlade told THISDAY that the deceased, who was the driver of the commercial bus with registration No. LSG 451 XG, had demanded the  transport fare from the soldier, after he  had snubbed the conductor.
His persistent demand was said to have triggered off the soldier’s anger and the argument  between them soon degenerated into a scuffle after the driver had parked his bus at Obalende in a bid to collect  the fare.
In the heat of the arguments,  the soldier had hit the driver with the butt of his gun and when the latter slumped on the road, the soldier fled.
Attempts to revive the driver proved abortive  and he was later confirmed dead at the  Lagos Island Hospital, where he was rushed to for treatment.
His death angered some youths in the area who pursued the fleeing soldier and caught up with him close to Dodan Barracks.
They were about lynching him when  he was rescued and taken to the Lion Building Police Station before he was handed over to the military for an orderly room trial, which has already been set up.
A police source told THISDAY that it took the intervention of the Area Commander of Lion Building to restore normalcy in the area.
He said the mob, whose  members were from the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), had mobilised others, demanding that the soldier be handed over to them so that he could be lynched.
Meanwhile, three houses were yesterday gutted by an inferno at the Ijesha area of the state, destroying property worth millions of naira.
Confirming the incident, the Spokesperson, South-west Zone of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr. Ibrahim Farinloye, said although no life was lost, some of the residents sustained varying degrees of injuries.
The raging fire was finally put out by emergency responders, including the firemen.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Afenifere Warns against Coup Plot

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Read Time:3 Minute, 6 Second
A Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, has warned politicians against any  conduct or utterances  that could lead to the return of the military to politics.
 
The group, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, said it was compelled to issue the warning to the   political class and their military associates on the dangers of resorting to the military option to resolve the political crisis in the country.
 
"We are issuing this warning as we can no longer ignore the rumor that has been very thick in the air that some forces who want to abort the proposed national conference are scheming to exploit the challenges of our democracy to cause an unconstitutional change in the polity," Odumakin stated.
 
The warning also came against the backdrop of a letter which former President Olusegun Obasanjo wrote President Goodluck Jonathan on December 2 in which he accused him of sundry misdeeds, including encouraging corruption, promoting ethno-religious division in the country and persecution of political opponents.
 
Drawing an inference from a similar letter written to the late former Head of State, General Murtala Muhammed in 1976, Afenifere said: "All citizens of our country with a sense of history would have been able to draw a parallel between General Obasanjo's December 2 letter to President Goodluck Jonathan and a document circulated in January, 1976 entitled "Facts  to know about Murtala – a warning to the nation.
 
"General Muhammed was assassinated a month afterwards. Interestingly, General Obasanjo was prominent among those copied with the document.
 
"Also, in the days preceding the coup against the Alhaji Shehu Shagari government in 1983, General Obasanjo was very loud in criticising the government. Thirty years after that act of treason, Mr. Max Suollin in 'Soldiers of Fortune' has rightly captured what was happening as "coup baiting" with generous quotation of IBB's (General Ibrahim Babangida) confessions that those who staged the 1983 coup actually asked Obasanjo to come and lead the government, a request he turned down, while encouraging the putsch."
 
Odumakin quoted from the book, a question asked   Babangida that “It was also said that those of you who ousted Shagari actually wanted to bring back General Obasanjo as head of state in 1984. Is this true?”
 
According to him, Babangida replied, saying: “It is true. But to be very fair to General Obasanjo, he rejected the offer. He said no. He said it would destroy his integrity  that he handed over to Shagari and that it is not right for him to get involved. But he (Obasanjo) said he was not stopping us from going ahead with the plot.”
 
Describing Obasanjo's letters as "infamous", the group also noted that he issued another in the series of his letters against Babaginda military regime  in 1992, and that "the evil genius quickly ran from Abuja to Ota and followed up with reshuffles in the military high commands.
 
"The same IBB is the first person Obasanjo copied his letter. This is why we in Afenifere are not impressed with the sinister letter from the ever-manipulative and evil agenda setting general who has never shown any pure motive since he started his interventions in our national affairs,"  it added.
 
Afenifere said it would simply amount to foolhardiness or a lack of any sense of history for politicians to be enabling the generals whom it said "have not been known to act in the collective interest in their infamous careers."

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Lady Excretes Wraps of Narcotics On-Board Aircraft

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Read Time:2 Minute, 0 Second
A 32-year-old single lady, Chizoba Vivian Anya, is currently being quizzed by officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for allegedly excreting wraps of substance which tested positive for methamphetamine, on-board a Qatar Airline flight from Malaysia.
The suspect was said to have aroused suspicion from other passengers on-board the flight following her frequent visits to the toilet. On arrival at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos, three wraps of methamphetamine were found in her possession.
NDLEA commander at the Lagos Airport, Mr. Hamza Umar, said the suspect while under observation excreted two additional wraps of the same substance.
He said: “The suspect was found with three wraps which she excreted in the aircraft. While she was under observation at the Lagos airport, she excreted two additional wraps of drugs. The five wraps which tested positive for methamphetamine weighed 80 grammes.”
Preliminary investigation also revealed that the suspect left from Ghana where she ingested the drugs enroute to Malaysia. In Malaysia, she was denied entry and made to board another flight back to Nigeria. She started excreting the drugs at the airport in Malaysia.
The suspect, in her statement, said she was offered half a million naira to smuggle the drugs to Malaysia.
“I was promised the sum of half a million naira but my problem started when I had immigration problem in Malaysia. I was denied entry and made to return to Nigeria after two days. While in the aircraft, I excreted three wraps and two other wraps in the NDLEA office,” Vivian stated.
Vivian, who hails from Onitsha, said she just completed her Higher National Diploma (HND) in Business Administration at the Federal Polytechnic Oko, Anambra State: “I just completed my HND programme and I am from a very poor family. I wanted to use the money they promised me to assist my siblings by smuggling the drug to Malaysia.”
Chairman/Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade, in his reaction, warned against the get-rich-quick syndrome.
“Drug traffickers must avoid the get-rich-quick syndrome and understand that a good name is better than ill-gotten wealth that comes without peace of mind,” Giade stated.
The NDLEA boss also urged passengers to be vigilant and report suspicious passengers to authorities. The suspect will soon be charged to court.
 

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Uduaghan Explains Goal of Delta Beyond Oil Initiative

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Read Time:2 Minute, 44 Second
Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, has said his administration's Delta Beyond Oil policy is borne out of the need to save the state from over dependence on oil money.
 
He explained that the main objective of the policy was to ensure that the state economy was resuscitated and conducive environment put in place for investments to thrive and thereby provide employment for the people without relying on revenue accruing from the oil sector.
 
Uduaghan stated this while responding to his choice by three national dailies as '2013 Man of the Year' and '2013 Governor of the Year,' adding that emphasis was on agriculture, culture and tourism among others because of their income and employment generating capacity.
 
He said: "The ultimate goal of Delta Beyond Oil is to provide employment for our teeming population. Specifically we are concentrating on agriculture, culture, tourism, solid minerals to achieve our “Delta Beyond Oil."
 
The governor in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, (CPS) Mr. Sunny Ogefere, commended the management and editors of The Sun, Leadership and Nigerian Pilot Newspapers for the awards bestowed on him.
 
Uduaghan is joint winner of The Sun's 2013 Man of the Year Award. He is Leadership Newspaper's 2013 Governor of the Year. He is also awarded 2013 Man of the Year by the Nigerian Pilot Newspapers.
 
He commended the three newspapers for acknowledging the modest achievements of his administration.
The governor described the awards as a call to more work and greater service delivery and promised not to let the newspapers and people of the state down in the remaining years of his administration.
 
"I sincerely appreciate the decision of the management and editors of the three newspapers in choosing and bestowing the 2013 Governor and Man of the Year awards on me.
 
"My administration came into office in 2007 with a clear-cut three-point agenda of peace and security, human capital development and infrastructure development," he said.
 
"We have pursued these agenda with great zeal and determination to make Delta State a peaceful place, conducive for investment. Our human capital and infrastructure development agenda have also produced measurable results," the statement said.
 
The Sun in announcing its choice of Uduaghan as its 2013 joint Man of the Year, explained, “Uduaghan got the winning votes for envisioning Nigeria Beyond Oil and taking practical steps about it in Delta State."
 
Leadership Newspaper also explained, "For his vision of a state beyond oil – a vision beyond time and politics – and for building bridges of peace across one of Nigeria's most disparate communities, massive building and renewing infrastructure and placing the economy of Delta State on a solid footing, Dr. Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan is Leadership Governor of the Year 2013."
 
Nigerian Pilot Newspapers on its part noted that the choice of Uduaghan as its Man of the Year was informed by the governor's landmark achievements since assuming office in 2007.
The newspaper informed that Uduaghan emerged after "critical appraisal of the performance of all 36 state governors in virtually all areas of assessment."

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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NUPENG Insists on Strike over Bid to Sell Refineries

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Read Time:1 Minute, 45 Second
The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas workers (NUPENG) yesterday reiterated its preparedness to begin a nationwide strike in the New Year to protest the plan by the federal government to privatise the nation's four refineries.
 
NUPENG President, Igwe Achese,   in a statement dismissed reports that the union had suspended the strike, adding that the union will go ahead with the industrial action as planned unless government rescinds its decision on the privatisation of the refineries.
The union said it was aware of the January 7 meeting with the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu, but hoped that the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Maduekwe, will attend, as the issues involved are critical to her ministry.
 
The union restated its opposition to the bid  to privatise the refineries, which it said was not  in the best interest of the nation, stressing that it would mobilise its members to resist the sale  if the intervention meeting fails to resolve the issues raised by   unions in the oil and gas industry.
 
“NUPENG has not suspended the proposed strike coming up in the New Year. The union states that the prayer sessions are still ongoing in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its subsidiaries over governments plan to privatise the refineries by our members.   
 
“The union reiterates therefore that it has not suspended the proposed nationwide strike over government plans to privatise the four refineries located at Port Harcourt, 1& 2 Kaduna and Warri. The union states that the government plans to privatise the refineries are not in the best interest of the nation. NUPENG will therefore resist it, if all efforts at the talks fail.
 
“The refineries as we have  always reiterated need turn around  maintenance to make petroleum products available and not the rush – rush method of passing through the backdoor to attempt to sell them as scrap s to their (government officials') cronies, which NUPENG will resist,” the statement added.
 

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Nyako Congratulates Yobe over Successful Council Polls

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Read Time:3 Minute, 32 Second
Governor Murtala  Nyako of Adamawa State has congratulated the government and people of Yobe State for the successful conduct of the local government elections in the state last Saturday.
 
The congratulatory message was contained in a statement signed by the governor’s Director of Press and Public affair, Ahmed Sajoh, which was also made available to journalists yesterday in Yola.
 
Nyako revealed that the massive turn-out of voters and the peaceful manner the poll was conducted has proved sceptics about the possibility of conducting 2015 elections in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States totally wrong.
 
He enjoined the governor of Yobe State in calling on the political exiles in Abuja to stop misleading the Presidency, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies about the real situation in the states.
 
'They are advised to see reason and stop fighting the people of our states in the name politics (advancing their political interests).  Like Governor Ibrahim Geidam has said: ‘we are the ones on ground and we are the only ones capable of correctly interpreting the socio-political and security situations in our states'.
 
“Furthermore, the successful conduct of the local government elections in Yobe State has proved beyond any doubt that those flying the kite about non-conduct of elections in our states in 2015 are just playing out an evil agenda aimed at disenfranchising us due to the fear of the possibility of losing any free and fair election in the three states in the 2015.
 
“They should also know that the consequences of not conducting elections in the three states are grave for democracy and the polity,” Nyako said.
 
He also observed with concern the remarks made by the Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, on the security situation in the North-east region and the N2 billion proposed intervention fund by the federal government on the region.
The governor observed that throughout the duration of the phone-in programme by Maku on FRCN Network on December 28, he only spoke about security concerns and gains achieved in Borno and Yobe States.
 
Nyako said the Minister skipped Adamawa State during the discussions.
“This is further proof that the state of emergency imposed on Adamawa State is needless and indeed politically motivated.
 
'We in Adamawa State further reiterate our stand that the N2 billion intervention fund proposed for the six states of the North-east region by the presidency is grossly inadequate and insensitive. It is unfair and unjust in view of the amount spent as intervention in other regions in the country with far less devastating security challenges,” Nyako said.
 
The governor therefore joined other patriotic Nigerians to advise the presidency to display greater capacity to see Nigeria as one country with all the citizens having equal rights.
 
We Can’t Guarantee Your Safety at Vigil, Army Warns Adamawa Christians
The 23 Brigade of Nigerian Army in Yola, Adamawa State has advised the Christian community in the state to round off their end of year church services by 10p.m tomorrow as its members cannot guarantee their safety after that time.
 
According to an online news medium, Greenbarge Reporters, the Brigade's Public Relations Officer, Ja'aafaru Nuhu, in a statement today insisted that Christians going for end-of-year worship must observe the existing 11p.m. to 5a.m. curfew which is still in force in the state.
 
“The Headquarters of 23 Brigade wishes to bring to the notice of the general populace of Adamawa State that the imposition of curfew from 11p.m. to 5a.m. daily is still in force. While we all know the importance of night prayers, especially at the last day of the year, we need to consider the best interest of the general public," he said.
 
Nuhu pledged the commitment of security agencies in the state to the safety of life and property and urged the public to sustain its support and cooperation towards the goal.
The curfew has been in force in the state since the declaration of a state of emergency in May this year.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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ICPC to Intensify Seizure of Corrupt Public Servants’ Assets

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Read Time:1 Minute, 35 Second
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has vowed to intensify the seizure of assets of public servants and other Nigerians that are confirmed to have enriched themselves with public funds.
 
According to an online news medium, Greenbarge Reporters, the commission’s Chairman, Mr. Ekpo Nta, said yesterday in an interview in Abuja, that the commission was strengthening its Asset Tracing and Monitoring Unit to ensure that the commission’s power on assets’ seizure is exercised.
 
“To every investigation that we do, there is an element of assets tracing and monitoring because my attitude is that we cannot stop corruption if we do not seize the proceeds of crimes.
 
“Somebody takes money and builds a house, gets arrested and spends three months in jail or a fine in the alternative and goes back and enjoys the property.
“My new approach is that, since the money cannot be retrieved back, I can trace it to the house built with the money to ensure that the person has no right to enjoy the facility,” he said.
 
He said the commission had cut down investigation time, saying it was now insisting on doing more of surveillance before striking, so as to reduce time spent on trying to get answer from a suspect.
 
“With this approach, admission level to corrupt practices is higher because what we now do is to present to the suspect the evidence we have already discovered,” he said.
 
The ICPC boss said the commission had since the inception of the present administration ensured that matters involving economic and financial crimes were moved to the EFCC to avoid duplication of duties.
 
“Petitions that are basically administrative in nature, we refer them to Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) and the Public Complaints Commission (PCC),” he added.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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