News
Gov Fayemi Escapes Death As Police Shoot Convey
The Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi and members of All Progressives Congress (APC), on a campaign rally yesterday were attacked and tear-gassed by suspected Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) thugs and mobile policemen led by their commander, Selenkere Michael.
The policemen tear-gassed the governor and his convoy, as well as the cream of APC members who thronged the Oluyemi Kayode Stadium in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, for a sensitisation rally round the major streets of the town, shooting sporadically to disperse the crowd forcibly.
The attack resulted in the death of an APC member from ward 12 in Ado-Ekiti while several others were seriously injured.
The APC members, who were led by the interim Chairman of the party, Chief Jide Awe, had gathered at the Oluyemi Kayode Stadium in Ado-Ekiti, for a sensitisation rally ahead of the forthcoming elections in the state.
The hitherto peaceful procession turned bloody when mobile policemen led by their commander in the state, Selenkere Michael, an indigene of Bayelsa State, pounced on the APC members, tear-gassing and shooting at them.
One APC member, who was shot in the head by the O/C Mopol lost his life in the process while many sustained varying degrees of injuries.
Three campaign buses of the APC were also badly damaged.
The interim Chairman of the APC, Jide Awe, and two members of the National Assembly from the state, Senator Babafemi Ojudu and Hon. Oyetunde Ojo, who were part of the rally, tried to dialogue with the O/C Mopol, but he told them off, warning that he was acting on orders and would not hesitate to shoot at them.
The Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, arrived the scene where the rally had earlier been disrupted 45 minutes later to intervene, but was also tear-gassed and his convoy shot at by the mobile policemen.
The O/C Mopol, Selenkere Michael, was involved in an altercation with the governor, saying he has orders from above, and threatened that he could even arrest the governor.
For more than an hour, the mobile policemen shot in the direction of the governor’s convoy, while the O/C Mopol kept uttering obscenities, one of which was that President Jonathan is his brother and that he was protecting his interest.
The Police Commissioner, Mr. Felix Iyanna, surfaced over an hour later after he was reportedly intimated of the action of his O/C Mopol by the governor.
Apologising profusely, Mr. Iyanna denied knowledge of the action of the O/C Mopol.
“I am here to protect you,” said the police commissioner to the governor.
“You are here to protect me and your men were shooting at me. I am the Chief Security Officer of this state and your men were firing at me. You have killed someone now! You have killed someone! Whose interest are you protecting? Whose interest are you protecting?” asked the governor who could not hide his disdain and anger at the top of his voice.
Lending his voice, the senator representing Ekiti Central, Babafemi Ojudu, said the presidency was desperate to impose Fayose on Ekiti people.
“They want to impose Fayose on us. We will not allow this! We will fight back!” Ojudu warned.
The interim chairman of the APC, Chief Jide Awe and the Director-General of the Kayode Fayemi Campaign Organisation, Hon. Bimbo Daramola, later jointly addressed a press conference where both the Commissioner of Police, Felix Iyanna and the O/C Mopol, Selenkere Michael, were given 24 hours to leave the state, otherwise the people may be tempted to rise against them.
Awe said he, Ojudu and Oyetunde Ojo tried to no end to dialogue with the O/C Mopol whose eyes were bloodshot and was clearly out of control.
“He warned us that he was not ready to listen to us and that it was the order of Mr. President that we should disperse. We wanted to dialogue with him but he replied us with bullets. One of his bullets hit one of us and the person died immediately. Three of our vehicles were badly damaged.
“The governor came about 45 minutes later and got his own treatment. One of his security aides were forcefully arrested by the O/C Mopol, who struggled to snatch his gun from him. All efforts to reason with the O/C Mopol failed. He went ahead to tear-gas the governor who stood his ground.
“Even if the Mopol Commander has the order of the president, this is Ekiti. The governor called the commissioner of police who reluctantly came an hour later. We have been hearing this…The information at our disposal is that the June 21 election in Ekiti is not just going to be against the PDP, but against the police and the Nigerian Army.
“What we witnessed this morning has confirmed this. That is why we are calling on Nigerians to prevail on the president. He was here yesterday (Saturday). While leaving, he stationed some of his men here.
Awe said if the president wanted to go to war, he should go to Chibok to battle Boko Haram.
“When a good president visits, it is to commission people-oriented projects. That is not the case with President Jonathan. He was here yesterday (Saturday) to commission his men to kill Ekiti people. We advise him to go back to Chibok if he wants to wage war. If they are looking for a state to hijack, not Ekiti. If we are backed against the wall, we will bite.
“We use this medium to tell the police commissioner and the O/C Mopol who have been instructed to shoot Ekiti people and who have demonstrated that this morning to leave Ekiti State within 24 hours. The people’s army are greater than the police or the Nigerian Army. The nonchalant attitude of the commissioner is to say the least unfortunate. If we are going for election in 14 days’ time and we are witnessing this, it is unfortunate,” Awe said.
The Director-General of the Kayode Fayemi Campaign Organisation, Hon. Bimbo Daramola, recalled how the O/C Mopol had harassed three members of the APC who were arrested a couple of months ago in their cell.
Daramola said: “You would recall that I said that this same O/C Mopol, not only is he from Bayelsa, not only is he well-acquainted with Mr. President, he went into the cell to tell these people that he has a matching order to hunt us down. The experience of our people this morning has shown that there is a script. They even said they anticipated that we would come out this morning. We call on Mr. President to be indeed responsible. Leadership demands responsibility.
“We are used to adversity. Nobody should test our wills. Neither Selenkere nor President Jonathan has a stake in Ekiti.”
It would be recalled that Vice President Namadi Sambo at a PDP gathering in Abuja had said his party was going to the warfront in Ekiti and Osun states.
It was gathered that the Vice President had waited behind in Ado-Ekiti where he reportedly spent the night after the PDP rally on Saturday.
The Rivers State Chief judge, Justice Simeon Chibuzor Amadi has granted pardon to six inmates standing awaiting trial at the Port Harcourt maximum correctional center.
The six lucky inmates granted pardon on Tuesday by the state Chief Judge included Nwekeala Chizoba, Samuel Emmanuel, Aniete Kelvin, Ebube Fubara and Goddey Okpara who were on awaiting trial as murder suspects and have all spent between 10 years to seven years in the custody without a proper information filed against them in the court.
Justice Amadi during a special gaol delivery exercise last Tuesday at the Port Harcourt Maximum Correctional Centre opined that the special gaol delivery was part of activities lined up to commomerate the 2024/2025 legal year in the State and restated the commitment of the state judiciary in decongesting the correctional centre and ensuring that those inmates who are not supposed to be there are removed from the custody.
The state chief judge stressed the need for all stakeholders to work together to build a society that supports rehabilitation and gives a second chance to anyone or group of people who have fallen short of the expectation of the law and have been punished accordingly.
He stressed that the National Judicial Council(NJC) encourages judges to pay more attention to criminal matters to enable them to decongests the correctional facilities, noting that since his assumption into office, his administration has been able to reduce the number of inmates in Nigerian Correctional Centres and the Port Harcourt Correctional Centre in particular, to less than 2,000 as against the over 4,000 inmates previously in the faculty.
According to him, “as they release the deserving inmates, they affirm their commitment to justice, compassion and rule of law but that they must not forget the fundamental principles of justice delivery system which is truth and fairness, integrity and equality before the law.”
I encourage you all the released inmates to return to your families and become better citizens. You must not engage in action that will return you all back to prison. Let me say that while the judges show empathy to you all, it does not absolved individuals from being held accountable for actions against individuals, corporate organisations and state which the law frowns at, ”he stated
The Chief Judge thereafter stood down the exercise to enable the DPP to intervene to case files following the fact that majority of the persons listed to benefit from the exercise are facing murder charges and adjourned to a date that will come before December.
Earlier in his goodwill message, the outgoing state Comptroller of Nigerian Correctional Centre, Port Harcourt, Felix Lawrence, who was recently promoted to the rank of Assistant Controller General, commended the state judiciary led by Chief Judge, Justice Simeon Chibuzor Amadi for their continuous effort aimed at ensuring justice and decongesting the facilities.
Other activities lined up for the event included special church service at St Paul’s Cathedral , Anglican Communion, Rebisi Port Harcourt, inspection of guard of honour by the state Chief Judge mounted by officers of the Nigerian police and a special court session held at the ceremonial court hall.
By: AkujobiAmadi
The Director General of Rivers State Bureau on Public Procurement (RBoPP), Dr. Ine Briggs, has explained that the Sir Siminalayi Fubara administration plans to enforce transparency in governance through public procurement.
Speaking at a one-day Public Procurement Enlightenment workshop organised in collaboration with the State Local Government Service Commission for newly elected chairmen, vice chairmen, secretaries and leaders of legislative assemblies, Dr. Briggs said it is key for grassroot development.
She stated that the Sir. Fubara administration plans to reduce wastage and at same time infuse efficiency in public expenditure.
The RSoPP DG said the local government political office holders remain key drivers in the new vision hence the workshop is to arm them with knowledge on how to execute projects in tandem with needs of the people.
“ Your role in the prudent management of public resources is, therefore, not just administrative it’s the cornerstone of delivering the dividends of democracy. Every procurement decision you make must reflect a commitment to fairness, transparency and accountability” Dr. Briggs submitted.
One of the key goals of the administration she further reminded the participants was to use their offices to foster economic growth through public procurement.
She warned that the law establishing the agency empowers it to penalise defaulters, but that what is more important is voluntary compliance to the laws.
In addition to that, she said urged the local government council leaders that champion the practice and implementation of public procurement law.
On his part, Acting Chairman of Local Government Service Commission, Pastor GoodLife Ben Iduoku averred that the aim of the workshop is to arm key stakeholders in the local government system to generate new ideas, innovation and strategies in tandem with government policies and programmes.
The workshop dealt on various topics on procurement planning, methods, Understanding Bid Process, including types of Construction Contracts and law.
Some participants were awarded excellence and meritorious awards as part of the programme.
By: Kevin Nengia
The 19th anniversary of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS), Rivers State Chapter, recently ended in Port Harcourt in grand style, with participants from various schools including proprietors, the academia, civil society groups and top government functionaries charting the way forward for educational improvement.
The 19th NAPPS anniversary christened, ‘Innovation and Adaptation: Transforming Challenges Into Opportunities’ was held at Casoni Hotels, Port Harcourt.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the Rivers State Chapter of the association, Dr. Jaja Adafe Sunday expressed gratitude to the members and executives for their untiring efforts towards the achievements of the body.
He sought the intervention of government on the lingering crisis on the economy as it is affecting the running of schools.
He decried high cost of things including fuel and raw materials which has adversely affected the running of schools and payment of teachers.
Dr. Sunday hinted that the current economic situation in the nation is biting hard on the operations of schools, saying inflation, removal of fuel subsidy, fuel scarcity, poor electricity supply, tariffs and lack of government grants are some of the challenges faced by schools, and urged the members to brace up to the challenges, as it is the panacea to building a brighter future.
Guest speakers from the health sector and the academia thrilled the gathering on the essence of basic education which they said is the key to national development.
Former Dean of the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Professor Azuru and the Chief Medical Director of Meridian Hospitals, Dr. Odo Iyke were some notable guest speakers who delivered lectures at the occasion.
Some distinguished proprietors also got special recognitions and awards.
The 19th anniversary cake was cut by the Rivers State NAPPS Chairman with representatives of the state government assisting.