THE NATION THURSDAY, AUGUST 15, 2013
56
NEWS
T
Don’t drag judiciary into politics, says Rivers CJ
HE Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice Iche Ndu, has appealed to politicians to keep the judiciary out of the political crisis rocking the state. Ndu, who will be retiring on Monday, spoke when members of the judiciary press corps/crime reporters visited him at the High Court complex in Port Harcourt, the state capital yesterday. The CJ was reacting to the publication credited to the media adviser of the factional PDP Chairman Felix Obuah, Jerry Needam, on the bail granted to the embattled House leader, Chidi Lloyd. Nedam had, in the statement, accused Ndu of bias and influencing the admission to bail. It further stated that the state PDP had petitioned the National Judicial Council (NJC). Ndu, who spoke through the
From Rosemary Nwisi, Port Harcourt
Chief Registrar, Leonard Adoki, said: “We should not be drawn into politics. The judiciary is independent of the functions of the executive and the legislature. “Even if there is a crisis among the other arms of government, the judiciary is independent and not a part of it. The Chief Judge cannot take sides, he cannot be bias. “It is the duty of the CJ to assign the matter brought to him for that purpose to any judge. The judge is independent; he is master of his court, he cannot be influenced by any other judge and the powers of the judge presiding over a matter are equal to the power of the CJ in his own court.” Justice Daisy Wotube Okocha has been named as the CJ.
Freed kidnap victim hospitalised
O
NE of the kidnapped primary school teachers Mrs Patience Osadolor, who was released on Monday, has been hospitalised. Family sources said she was taken to the hospital because of the treatment meted out to her by the kidnappers. Mrs. Osadolor was abducted with two other teachers at Orhogbua Primary School in Ekenwan Village. They spent 14 days in captivity and were released after
From Osagie Otabor, Benin
a yet to be disclosed sum was paid as ransom. Another victim, Patience Okosheme, described their place of captivity as impenetrable. She said: “Where we were kept even the police and soldiers cannot get there. Those kidnappers can be used by the government in other areas. The government should give them the amnesty it promised them.”
Senator cautions Wike
A
•Vote of confidence in minister
LAWMAKER, Senator Wilson Ake, has cautioned the Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike, not to allow his political ambition to destabilise Rivers State. Ake, who represents Rivers West Senatorial District, spoke yesterday in Port Harcourt. The lawmaker said even though Wike has the right to contest for any political position, such should not be allowed to cause tension and destabilise the peace of the state. He said: “I am not against anybody showing interest in any position in whatever form. There is no law against it. We only have moral and political understanding by allowing people to restrict their interest. “The issue is that if you are showing any interest to be governor, you shouldn’t cause problems. “You shouldn’t make ordinary citizens, who are not politicians, to suffer.” The Chairman, Senate Committee on Labour and
From Precious Dikewoha, Port Harcourt
Employment, however, said the National Assembly was on recess, adding that when it résumés, it would take a position on the matter. A faction of the state Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has passed a vote of confidence in Wike. The party said it has watched his activities from 2011 when he was appointed Minister of State for Education and is satisfied with the manner he has continued to pilot the affairs of the party. In a statement by Jerry Needam, special adviser on Media to the State Chairman, Felix Obuah, PDP said Wike’s support has ensured the success and growth of the party, a record that cannot be faulted or challenged by anyone in the area. “It is in the light of this that the party appeals to President Goodluck Jonathan to trust and encourage him even with higher responsibilities in acknowledgement of his contributions to the Party and sustenance of our democracy.”
•The Recovery 1..at the event
Barge carrying stolen crude oil grounded •Six suspects arrested
T
HE mystery surrounding a vessel carrying stolen crude oil which reportedly sank on the Odioma waterways, Brass Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, was unravelled yesterday by the Central Naval Command (CNC). It was gathered from the CNC’s Forward Operation Base, FORMOSO, Brass Island, that the vessel ran aground, contrary to reports that it sank with the stolen crude oil. A naval patrol team was said to have first sighted the grounded vessel on sea surveillance. The vessel, a selfpropelled barge christened MV LILA, was said to be moving from Odioma to the St. Nicholas River, when it ran aground. It was learnt that the Commander, FORMOSO, Navy Captain Bala Idris, ordered the naval gunboat, NNS Bomadi, to impound and search the vessel. The search revealed that the barge was carrrying an unknown quantity of products suspected to be stolen crude oil. The operatives also found out that the crew
NOSDRA launches oil spill cleaning vessel
T
HE National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) has acquired a vessel to check the spread of oil spill and its effects. The boat was inaugurated in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital on Tuesday by the Minister of Environment, Hadiza Ibrahim Mailafia. The Director-General /Chief Executive of NOSDRA, Peter Idabor, said the “Nigerian National Oil Spill Rapid Response Vessel” (Recovery 1), would clean up oil spills and support operations on the waterways. Idabor said the locally-made Pollutant Catamaran (POLLCAT) has the capability to trace oil spill deep offshore up to 60 nautical miles. He said the acquisition was in response to the requirement of the National Oil Spill Contingency Plan (NOSCP), which requested for strategic prepositioning of oil spill response equipment and materials stockpiled by memFrom Mike Odiegwu, Yenagoa
abandoned it and fled into the community. But the flag Officer Commanding, CNC, Rear Admiral Sidi-Ali Usman, said the gunboat was ordered to lay ambush for the owners of the abandoned vessel. The strategy, according to him, paid off as a tugboat christened, MV St. Victoria, later emerged apparently to tow the grounded barge. “The tugboat was impounded about two nautical miles off St. Nicholas
From Rosemary Nwisi, Port Harcourt
bers, including Nigeria. Idabor said: “The POLLCAT is powered by two 3.55hp diesel engines with an oil recovery speed of six knots; an oil recovery rate of an astonishing 50 tonnes per hour when at full capacity. “It also has a 600kg, seven metres long deck crane, a boom deployment reel for containment of spilled oil, an oil transfer pump capacity of 90 cubic metres per hour in addition to on-board oil recovery tanks with total capacity of about 48 tonnes. “The Hull form is an asymmetric catamaran with a zero relative velocity(ZRV), mopping system suspended between the hulls. “The propylene mops rotate to suit the forwarded speed of the vessel, effectively sitting in the water and soaking up the oil spills.”
River. The arrest was effected by NNS BOMADI due to its suspicious presence within the vicinity,” he said. Usman said six suspects were arrested on the tugboat. “Somebody must have contracted the tugboat; it would have been a different thing if we were not able to find anybody. “We were not deceived, even with the abandonment. We quickly instructed that they would be within the area.” Usman added: “FOB FOR-
MOSO is making relentless efforts to ensure that the barge is salvaged. “This will prevent the likelihood of oil spillage and consequential damage to the environment. Similarly investigations into the source of the suspected stolen petroleum product in the barge have begun. “This account illustrates the determined effort of the Navy and the Central Naval Command to eliminate oil theft, illegal bunkering and other illegalities in the maritime environment.”
Ex-UNIBEN don docked for alleged bribery
A
FORMER Assistant Dean of the Faculty of Law in the University of Benin (UNIBEN), Okogeri Isu-Ochiora, has been arraigned before an Ekiadolor Magistrate’s Court for allegedly collecting N100,000 from a student to facilitate her transfer to another faculty. The offence was committed on December 31, last year, when the accused was a member of the Intra-Faculty Transfer Board. Isu- Ochiora was charged for fraud, an offence punishable under Section 98(b)(11) of the Criminal Code. A witness, Edoseghe Oghogho Idahosa, who is the Head of the University’s Intelligence Unit in the Security Department, told the court that the accused received the money from the student, who wanted to transfer from the
From Osagie Otabor, Benin
Faculty of Arts to the Faculty of Law. Led by the State Counsel, Kenneth Ugiagbe, Edoseghe said they went into action, following intelligent reports and asked the student to play along. He said: “I confronted the accused about the money allegedly given to him by the
T
student and ordered that his vehicle be searched. “He became shocked and dumfounded. I also cleared the way to enable him park his car at the security office but he sped off.” He said they pursued him with a motor bike to where the accused dropped the money in an exhaust pipe of an abandoned truck in a
petrol station inside the school and drove off. The witness said the accused was apprehended near the fire-service station on the campus and taken to the security post for interrogation and N17, 000 was recovered from him while the N100, 000 was recovered from where it was hidden. The case was adjourned till August 21.
Bayelsa: no anointed IYC candidates
HE Bayelsa State Government yesterday said it has no anointed candidates for the postponed elections into the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC). “Government wishes to reiterate that it has no interest in the politics of the IYC, neither is government interested in any aspirant. “All aspirants are Ijaw youths. Therefore, government wishes all of them the best in their aspirations to serve the Ijaw nation,” the Commissioner for Culture and Ijaw National Af-
From Mike Odiegwu, Yenagoa
fairs said in Yenagoa. The government also praised the intervention of the Ijaw National Affairs in the crisis, which led to the postponement of the elections. Tuodolor said such mediation would create a peaceful atmosphere for a free and fair election. But he warned aspirants not to play politics with Ijaw struggle by politicising the council.