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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R • JULY 24, 2016
NEWS
HONOURING AKEREDOLU L-R: APC governorship aspirant and celebrant, Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN; Ondo State Governor, Dr.
Olusegun Mimiko, and the celebrant’s wife, Mrs. Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, at the commemoration service to mark the 60th birthday of Akeredolu, at St. Andrews Anglican Church, Owo, Ondo State... weekend
TIME TO UNWIND L-R: Managing Director, Marcopolo Group of Companies, Chief Frank Okafor, and Chijioke Ojukwu at a child dedication party in Lagos...recently
Heed Our Demand for Self Determination, Avengers Urge FG
Okigwe Senatorial Rerun Marred by Low Turnout, Rain
Sylvester Idowu in Warri
The Okigwe senatorial zone of Imo State re-run election and that of the state House of Assembly in threelocalgovernmentsofthestate held yesterday witnessed voter apathy as well as heavy rain which marredthevotingprocess. In some of the polling units visited at Oru-Owere ward 1 and 2, Amaraku ward 1 and 2 in Isiala Mbano LGA, there were few number of voters who gathered to cast their votes. People stayed back at their homes against the earlier order by INEC as many went to market and farms. Also at the other polling units in other local government areas,
The militant group, Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), yesterday urged the Federal Government to heed to its demand of selfdetermination since everybody is tired of being in the entity called Nigeria. It said the ship called Nigeria was grounded now and appears President Muhammadu Buhari was so confused by telling lies on daily basis to the people. The group made its position known in a release signed by its Spokesperson, Mudoch Agbinibo, in reaction to the recent arrests of some of its suspected members by the Nigerian Navy in Warri. In the release titled “Stop Going After Soft Targets” it declared “The government should heed to our demand of selfdetermination. Mr. President, everybody is tired of this thing called Nigeria.
“The ship called Nigeria is grounded right now and you are so confused. You lied to your foreign allies, your citizens on daily basis. Mr. President, you even lie to yourself. Even if we are going to dialogue, it will be in the present (sic) of international community”, it added. On arrests of two of its members by the Nigerian Navy in Warri, the militant group lambasted the Commander of Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS Delta) Warri, Commodore Joseph Dzunve, saying he has lost his sense of professionalism. “How are those innocent boys connected to NDA? We don’t know Prince David and Felix Ebiador; they are not part of us. All NDA operatives are intact. No security operative has arrested any of our members. “What the Commanding officer NNS Delta Commodore is doing is to please his boss that he is working. Must he connect
innocent people to us? Very soon the general public will know the truth about Nigeria Military especially Nigeria Navy that specialises in illegal oil bunkering”, it added. The group warned the military to stop arresting innocent people in the name of looking for NDA operatives, noting that it was obvious that the Nigeria Navy was incapable of policing the Nigerian maritime space. It said further “Even the Chief Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral, Ibok-Ete Ibas, made it clear while briefing the Senate that Nigeria Navy is unequipped to match the Niger Delta Avengers. So how can well-trained NDA members bring themselves so low to be arrested by those criminal elements (Nigeria Navy)? “They should follow the path of honour and morality by telling their Commander in Chief the truth instead of arresting
innocent civilians and tagging them as NDA operatives. The days of wire and battery are over; we are far advanced in guerilla warfare.” The militant group warned that nobody should associate the ex-militant leader, Chief Government Ekpemupolo alias “Tompolo” with NDA, declaring that he is its enemy. “We are warning everybody for the last time stop associating Tompolo to us. He is our enemy as the Nigeria government, and those innocent boys paraded as NDA operatives are not part of us. “From intelligence gathered by NDA agency, there are other people sent out by Nigeria government to sabotage the genuine struggle of liberating the Niger Delta people. The government knows those people. The socalled saboteurs take part in pipeline bombing by using some members of defunct MEND.
House C’ttee Orders Release of Autopsy Details for UniPort Student Slain by Police Damilola Oyedele in Abuja
The House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions has ordered the Nigeria Police to release details of the autopsy report conducted on the slain undergraduate of the University of Port Harcourt, Mr. Peter Chibuzor Ofurum. Ofurum, a final year student of accountancy, was allegedly felled by police bullets on April
11, 2016, during the protests by students against the tuition fees hike by the university. His family petitioned the House of Representatives demanding justice for their slain son. The Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Uzoma NkemAbonta at a recent hearing also further directed the police to conclude its investigation and present the outcome at the next hearing date scheduled for
October. The lawyer to the Ofurum family, Mr. Amobi Nzelu, in the petition, explained that the students were involved in peaceful protest over the increment of fees, and the no fees, no exam policy of the university. He alleged that the protest remained a peaceful one until the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ndowa Lale invited the Assistant Commissioner on Police in charge of
operations for a private meeting in his office, and that in the later ensuing stampede, “the police shot and killed late Peter Chibuzor Ofurum from the back while trying to flee.” Nzelu added that the police was present from the beginning of the protest, and met calm before the meeting with the VC, and called for the suspension of the VC while investigations continue into the murder.
Air Force Embarks on Massive Post-service Housing Scheme for Officers • Launches 950-housing units pilot estate Senator Iroegbu in Abuja
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has launched a massive postservice housing scheme for its personnel, starting with a pilot estate for its non-commissioned officers in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, disclosed this yesterday during the inauguration of
the Standing Committee on Implementation of NAF Eagle State Project 1, Air Force Headquarters, Abuja. Abubakar stressed that the 950-housing unit pilot project, is one of the welfare initiatives being executed by the NAF to ensure that their personnel have a comfortable service and post-service life. “In order to alleviate the challenge of housing for its per-
sonnel, the NAF has embarked on numerous programmes and direct-impact projects that have transformed the lives of her personnel. Besides, the NAF has been at the heart of fundamental improvements in the quality of housing and its management,” he said. According to him, the NAF Eagle State Project 1 is one of the air force’s housing programmes targeted at the
Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) cadre. The CAS stated that they intend to expand the housing schemes to other parts of the country including Enugu, Kaduna and Lagos. He said: “The Estate, which will have all inclusive services and facilities, will serve as a template for other post housing schemes we have planned across the country.”
Amby Uneze in Owerri
there was the same situation as many voters felt less concerned about the election. Meanwhile the conduct of the election generally was peaceful as there was free movement of people from one end to the other, indicating that the exercise went normally. Speaking with newsmen, the PDP federal House of Representatives member for Okigwe/ Onuimo/Isiala Mbano federal constituency, Hon. Obinna Onwubuariri commended the security agencies and the general peaceful conductor of the election. He however said from the indication of voters, his party would carry the day.
Hon Nsirim Was a Rare Breed of Politician, Says Wike Anayo Okolie
Hon. Ovunda Nsirim was an uncommonpoliticianwhoexhibited the kind of party loyalty that is rare to find these days. Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State said this yesterday at Rumueme, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, in a funeral oration during the burial of the former member of the House of Representatives. A release by Wike’s special assistant on electronic media, Simeon Nwakaudu, said the governor advised politicians in the state and Nigeria, generally, to emulate the virtues of the late Nsirim, who represented Obio/ Apkor federal constituency in the House of Representatives from 1979 t- 1983. Wike said Nsirim believed in party supremacy and remained with the Peoples’ Democratic Partyingoodandbadtimes,until
his death recently at the age of 65. The governor counselled politicians to shun anti-party politics whenever they were not favoured by the collective decisions of a political party, saying such politics hinders political coherence and democratic maturity. He said respect for party supremacy was necessary for the deepening of democracy. “Ovunda Nsirim never played anti-party whether or not the decision of the party favoured him. He believed in party supremacy,” Wike said, adding, “Ovunda Nsirim was a good man. He deserves a good burial for his contributions to the state.” He called for unity among the people of Rumueme Kingdom, stressing that the death of Nsirim should serve as an opportunity for them to come together to support oneanotherandpromotethecollectiveinterestofthecommunity.
APC Loyalists Welcome Ribadu, Gundiri The former Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, and the governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Chief Murkus Gundiri, were yesterday received in a warm reception at the All Progressives Congress (APC) party secretariat in Adamawa State. The loyalists of the APC in the
state expressed joy yesterday at thereturnofthetwopoliticalwigs whose credibility is not questionable and stands them out from other politicians in the state. A loyalist at the party secretariat told THISDAY that the reasons why some party big-wigs were protesting their return to APC was because of the fear of 2019 general election seeing that the presence of these two politicians may be a political hindrance to some of them.