AljaziralPress

OKPANEM — Community in Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State overrun by the ravaging flood in parts of the state were said to be sleeping in the ceiling of their houses, in their words that ! the flood swept away two blood brothers recently at Okpanem. Their home land is under water.

The father of the two children who broke into tears during interview with aljaziralreporters the sad story of how he lost his two grown up children just in one day. That he is not even interested in whatever the government have do now , that, cannot bring the lives of his two children back, as he lament in teary eyes.

According to others affected ,” as we speak to you people now, majority of us slept ontop roofs and ceiling .”

The people of Okpanem Community close to ASABA are appealing to the state government and well meaning individuals to come to their aid as the ravaging flood has taken over their homes and their only means of livelihood , and their personal belongings .

The police in Kano have arrested over 129 suspects following a two-week raid on criminal hideouts in various parts of the city.

This was made known by the state Commissioner of Police, Ahmed IIiyasu, during a media briefing in Kano.

He explained that the arrests were made possible largely due to credible information made available to officers and men of the command by well-meaning residents of the state.

The police boss said the officers and men of the command working in collaboration with other sister security agencies under the Operation Puff Adder carried out the raids, which resulted in the arrest of seven armed robbery suspects, several fraudsters, impostors and other criminal elements.

He gave the names of the robbery suspects as Emmanuel Okeigbi, Fred Daniel, Idris Garba, Morris Milophly, Nazify Musa, Salisu Abdulsallam and Abel Charles, all of who were allegedly arrested with different types of weapons.

Illiyasu also said seven others were nabbed for parading themselves as personnel of the defunct National Guard.

He named the suspects as Mustapha Ibrahim, Chichi Chijindu, Saifullahi Mohammed, Murtala Ibrahim, Mustapha Abdullahi, Murtala Ahmed and Anas Abubakar.

According to him, 122 suspects were nabbed in operations carried out between June 7 and June 21, 2019.

Of this number, three persons were arrested for kidnapping at Falgore Forest, while 11 others were arrested for armed robbery. Seven others were arrested for illegal possession of 53 military and para-military belts.

The CP also revealed that his men impounded two bags containing police, army and customs officers’ uniforms, including 14 black berets, six jack knives, three rechargeable torch lights and eight pistol holders.

He said detectives from the command also arrested two Automated Teller Machine scammers at the Sharada Quarter.

According to him, ATM cards belonging to different persons, immigration service ID cards, a Honda Anaconda car and the sum of N247,000 were recovered from the suspects.

One person was also arrested for illegal possession of a pump action rifle and 15 rounds of live cartridges.

The police boss said over 80 hoodlums, commonly called Yan’dabba, were arrested and various weapons recovered from them during the period under review.

Also, one Tina Paul of the Badawa Quarter was arrested for allegedly selling and distributing Indian hemp at the Naibawa Quarter.

The CP assured members of the public that all the suspects would be charged to court as soon as investigations were concluded.

Ikwerre local government area of Rivers state is experiencing adequate security, freedom of movement in the day and at night as the people sleep with their two eyes closed, as the Ikwerre chief executive chairman, Hon. Samuel Anosike employed men of OSPAC to enhance security of lives and properties in Ikwerre local government area.Since the arrival of the men of OSPAC, insecurity is a thing of the past in the 13 communities of Ikwerre LGA.
Normalcy has so far returned to Ikwerre communities.Meanwhile, Newsline team led by it’s national director, comrd. Anayo Akubueze in his interview with the OSPAC security team at Elele yesterday, gathered that some men of underworld do not have a hiding place again in Ikwerre local government of Rivers state.Therefore, Newsline team encourage the Ikwerre chief executive chairman, Hon. Samuel Anosike to remain steadfast in his good work as God and men are in his support.

PORT-HARCOURT — As part of the Governor’s Efforts to promote good education within the state , Gov. Nyeson Wike has given Rivers state pupils free education In order to enhance and gives a better up bringing and qualitative Education to our children.

According to Newsline team Rivers state chapter led by it’s national director comrd. Anayo Akubueze, who paid unschedule courtesy visit to some primary schools with members of the Newsline team saw a great development in the River state Educational sector. Just as many parents sing praises of the working Governor as he removed suffering of paying school bills from their expenses.

Anayo who said the gesture of the governor, was meant to enable the Children have access to quality Education in rivers state , just as he said education is bedrock and foundation of every child, and these kind gesture from the state government will give sense of belonging to indigent mother’s, stressing that River state people’s are eternally grateful to the Gov. Wike .

The Newsline Director appeal to parents to make sure they make good use of this opportunity, that this is a rare opportunity, that it might come once in their life time and ask them to always look on to God who is the helper of the helpless and go hard on the children to be studious and shun all forms of anti-social behaviour that will result to dropout .

The Daura Emirate Social Media Forum (DESOMF) has organised a marathon prayer, session seeking divine intervention on the plight of Alhaji Musa Umar- Uba, the abducted District Head of the area.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the prayer session was held at the famous Muhammmadu Bashar primary school, Daura today (Sunday.)

Umar-Uba was kidnapped May 1, at his residence in Daura and since then no communication has been established between his captors and his family.

At the prayer session, the Chairman of the forum, Alhaji Abubakar Dantakai, described the abduction of the district head and one Abba Danbeza in Kano, recently, as saddening and unfortunate.

Dantakai said Danbeza was a staff of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and was abducted in kano while on his way from Lagos to Daura.

He said the community would intensify prayers to invoke divine intervention for the release of the two victims, in good health and mental stability.

“There is no communication between Danbeza family and his captors and it is 24 days today since when he was kidnapped,” he said

Alhaji Umar Umar, the immediate younger brother of the abducted district head of Daura said his brother had not established contact with his family.

He said the clarification became necessary, in view of the rumour being peddled in some sections of the media that his abducted brother had established contact with his family.

Umar said that right from the day he was abducted, about 54 days ago, no communication was established between the victim and any member of his family as earlier speculated by the media.

He, however, lauded security agencies for their unwavering commitment and determination to free all victims of abduction.

“I wish, on behalf of the family, to extend our sincere appreciation to the government and the people of the area for their concerned since when the tribulation started.

He specifically commended the organisers of the prayer for their determination toward seeing that the abducted district head is released through prayers and other helpful means.

Another community leader, Alhaji Yusuf, who addressed the audience on behalf of the people of the area, described the situation as frightening and unfortunate.

He said that the people would not relent in prayers to ensure the release of the district head and other victims of kidnapping.

The leader also assured that the people of the area would evolve precautionary measures to ensure their security.

Islamic clerics, students, traditional rulers, well wishers and the immediate and extended members of the family of the abducted district head attended the event.

The high points of the event were a complete recitation of the 60 portions of the Holy Quran and delivery of sermon on self and family security.

The Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Kano state chapter has praised its members over their neutral reportage on the ongoing tussle between Governor Abdullahi Ganduje and Emir of Kano Muhammad Sanusi II.

The union, in a communique issued at the end of its Saturday Congress held at the NUJ Press Centre, also called on the Kano state government to check the unregulated proliferation of Tricycles, popularly known as ‘‘Adaidaita Sahu’, a development that worsens the state’s traffic challenges.

Other resolutions raised by the communique jointly signed by the union’s chairman Comrade Abbas Ibrahim and Secretary Abba Murtala are as follows:

“The Congress stressed the need for the state government and the security outfits to re-strategize by taking more proactive measures in tackling security challenges.

“The congress called on the state government to consider the appointment of Professionals to head its media organizations.

“The union further called on the state government to expedite action in adequately funding Triumph publishing company for it to favourably compete with other newspapers in the country.

“The meeting then called on media organizations and the state government to embark on in-house training to journalists in order to catch up with the international best practices in journalism.

“The union commended Journalists operating in Kano for the role they have been playing on the tussle between Kano state government and Emirate Council, urging them to continue to remain neutral on the issue.

“The congress also expressed concern over the proliferation of tricycles in the state and urged government and relevant bodies to curb the situation once and for all.

“The meeting however, congratulated the quartet of Accountant General of the Federation, his Kano state counterpart, Secretary to the state government and head of civil service over their re-appointments and appointment respectively.

“It further felicitated with the Speaker, Kano State House of Assembly for his election to the elevated position.

“The congress concluded by sending similar eulogies to two of its members who were recently appointed as Acting Permanent Secretaries in Kano State Civil service,”

THE Supreme Court yesterday voided laws enacted by the states’ Houses of Assembly which allow governors to sack elected Chairmen of Local Governments and Councillors and replace them appointed administrators.

It has of recent become a tradition among governors to dissolve the Executive Councils of the states’ LGs and replace them with their appointees, who they call caretaker committees. In a unanimous judgement of five Justices of the Supreme Court described the practice as “executive recklessness”, which must not be allowed to persist.

The judgment by the five-man panel, led by Justice Olabode Rhodes-Vivour was on the appeal in relation to the dissolution of the 16 Local Government Executives in Ekiti State, during Kayode Fayemi’s tenure.

The appeal _marked:SC/120/2013_ was filed by the Ekiti State Government.

It had Prince Sanmi Olubunmo (Chairman of Ido Osi LG and Chairman of Association of Local Government’s of Nigeria – ALGON, Ekiti Chapter and 13 others as respondents.

Fayemi, (then) Minister of Mineral Resources reportedly announced the dissolution of the councils in a radio announcement on October 29, 2010, when the elected council officials still had up till December 19, 2011 to end their three-year tenure.

The Supreme Court, in faulting the law purportedly relied on by Fayemi, held that Section 23(b) of the Ekiti State Local Government Administration (Amendment) Law, 2001, which empowered the governor to dissolve local government councils, whose tenure was yet to expire, violated section 7(1) of the Constitution from which the state House of Assembly derived the power to enact the local government law. Justice Centus Nweze, in the lead judgment, said: “There can be no doubt, as argued by the appellants’ counsel, that the Ekiti State House of Assembly is empowered to make laws of Ekiti State.

“However, the snag here is that, in enacting section 23(b) of the Ekiti State Local Government Administration (Amendment) Law, 2001, which empowered the first appellant to bridge the tenure of office of the respondents, it overreached itself. “In other words, section 23(b) (supra) is violative of, and in conflict with section 7(1) of the Constitution (supra). “Hence, it is bound to suffer the fate of ll laws which are in conflict with the Constitution, section 1(3) thereof.”

The judge Said Section 7(1) of the Constitution seeks to guarantee “the system of local government by democratically-elected local government councils and conferred “sacrosanctity on the elections of such officials whose electoral mandates derived from the will of the people freely exercised through the democratic process”.

“The implication, therefore, is that section 23(b) of thethe Ekiti State Local Government Administration (Amendment) Law, 2001, which was not intended to ‘ensure the existence of’ such democratically-elected councils, but to snap their continued existence by their substitution with caretaker councils, was enacted in clear breach of the supreme provisions of section 7(1) of the Constitution.

“To that extent, it (section 23(b) supra) cannot co-habit with section 7(1) of the Constitution (supra) and must, in consequence, be invalidated.

“The reason is simple. By his oath of office, the governor swore to protect and not to supplant the Constitution.

“Hence, any action of his which has the capacity of undermining the same Constitution (as in the instant case where the first appellant, ‘Governor of Ekiti State and others’ dissolved the tenure of the respondents and replaced them with caretaker committees) is tantamount to executive recklessness which would not be condoned,” the judge said.

Justice Nweze said the the tenure of the local government councils could not be abridged without violating the supreme constitutional provisions.

“Simply put, therefore, the election of such officials into their offices and their tenure are clothed with constitutional force.

They cannot, therefore, be abridged without breaching the Constitution from which they derive their force. “The only permissible exception, where a state governor could truncate the lifespan of a local government council which evolved through the democratic process of elections, is ‘for overriding public interest’ in a period of emergency.”

He upheld the earlier decision of the Court of Appeal on the issue and adopted the orders made by the Court of Appeal on the case in its judgment delivered on January 23, 2013.

The Appeal Court had among others, ordered the Ekiti State Government to compute and pay all the allowances and salaries accruable to members of the dissolved councils between October 29, 2010 and December 19, 2011, both dates inclusive.

Justice Nweze directed the Attorney- General of Ekiti State to ensure that the orders of the lower court (Appeal Court) affirmed in his judgment, are complied with.

Nasarawa Governor: I’m Not In Charge of The State. Former Governor Tells Us What to Do.

“Even as a brand New Governor of Nasarawa State, I am not incharge of the affairs of the Government in the State.

Governor Sule added that Anybody that wants to be appointed should kindly go to 68 Mississippi Crescent Maitama, Abuja for recommendation from the immediate past Governor of Nasarawa State.
We are his boys and he is our leader, in fact we can not take any decision without consulting him as our oracle.

He was the person that made all the appointments so far including that of the SSG, so nobody should blame me for incompetency” – Governor Sule of Nasarawa State.

Dr Uche Diala

The United States President Donald Trump stated yesterday that he pulled the plug on plannned US strikes on Iranian targets in retaliation for Iran’s downing of an unmanned Drone reportedly ’10 minutes’ away, after he learnt the strike would cost 150,000 Iranian lives.

Some people believed that and are even praising him for being humane and all that. Some actually said he saved the world from a war? Really? A war that he is inadvertently provoking either deliberately or ignorantly. Never mind that the actual reality is that one of the first information that is put before the Commander in Chief in contemplating any war or military strike is the proportionality of the response, potential casualty count and possible consequences. How plausible then is that the American President did not have this full information before the Forces were prepped, guns loaded and ready to pull the trigger? That remains to be proven but this notion that America and its Military are the bad guys while Trump plays the good guy is erroneous and deceptive.

Beyond that, let me remind everyone that the current tension and stand off with Iran with the accompanying dangerous situation in the Strait of Hormuz was directly triggered by the United States nay Trump unilaterally pulling America out of the Iran Nuclear Deal or JCPA signed on July 2015 in Vienna Austria spearheaded by President Barrack Obama and other world leaders. A deal which the world painstakingly put together and which the World, including the UN acknowleged that Iran was keeping to. Trump pulled out of that deal simply because he vowed to roll back every achievement made by Barrack Obama without thinking of the consequences.

It was good that President Trump called off those strikes but I think more than that, he should re-calibrate and re-evalute his stance and understanding of how the world works. The world is so complex that the only way to make it work for everyone and maintain some level of peace and stability is cooperation amongst nations. That was the wisdom behind the formation of the United Nations. No nation in the world can really function or survive alone no matter how rich or powerful.

Iran on its part has not been a responsible global actor historically and it has a lot of bad influence especially around the Middle East but in this particular case of the Iran Nuclear deal, America appears to be agent provocateur as the world acknowledges that Iran had verifiably kept to the deal. The fact that the West has sided with Iran and not the US in this respect tells the entire story.

It must be pointed out clearly that a military conflict between Iran and the United States will have worldwide impact both militarily and economically that would be felt by nations far removed from and uninvolved in the conflict, including Nigeria which depends heavily on crude oil. With Iran proxies scattered all over the Middle East; Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, Houthis in Yemen, Iran-backed Shiite militias in Iraq and Syria as well as the Taliban in Afghanistan, a conflagration of global and historic proportions is brewing if reason does not prevail.

Some have spoken about the Military superiority of America over Iran. While that is very correct, a war with Iran would be messy and anything but conventional. With these proxies fully engaged in the war, with Houtis engaged with Saudi Arabia, Hezbollah and Hamas with Isreal and other theatres opened around the Middle East targeting American assets and personal across the region, the potential of thousands of missiles flying across the region and beyond and maybe even nuclear weapons with attendant collateral damage, the prospect is very real and scary. This happening at a time America in itself is deeply divided, the world fragmented and the UN weakened, all of which are largely traceable to the unstable and disruptive style of Trump’s leadership would be no tea party.

The instant global economic impact of such a conflict, starting with disruptions of oil production and supplies (because international oil transport routes would be closed) would unwittingly draw the world into such a conflagration. While the US may be territorially removed from the theatre of war and have billions of barrels of crude oil in reserve, the rest of the world is not that lucky.

I wish President Trump would have a rethink and return to the Iran Nuclear deal. Any misgivings he has about the deal could be addressed on a multi-lateral platform. That is a more reasonable and sustainable path to follow than this policy of “maximum pressure” on Iran. There’s no way the politicians in Iran would roll over simply because of the pressure because they have their own complex political environment to contend with. I actually feel that Trump is not a good student of history and world politics. Because if he were, he would have realised that the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani who is one of the moderate voices in Iran had to navigate a fine line while negotiating that Iran deal because any failure to somehow appease or at least carry the hardliners in Tehran along would alienate him, make a deal impossible and strengthen their hands. That was clearly understood by Barrack Obama. Sadly Trump’s actions seem to be strengthening those hardliners and giving the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) which answers directly to the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei an excuse to misbehave.

The West should ramp up its effort in finding a way to circumvent the Dollar and give Iran some leeway to alleviate the economic pressure and sanctions while working with the UN to de-escalate tensions and find a more enduring solution. Otherwise the world would be faced with a monumental crises. It is not an US-Iran problem. It is a brewing global crises that the world can ill afford now and everyone should be concerned.

T H E All Progressive Congress (APC), witness, One Mr. Adehor Ochuko Albert who bomber Agege that there was a court order. The Agege Versus Oboro Beyond the Elections and it was wowing. Ok, the truth was that I skimmed through, I didnt have the patience to read over 6,000 words and I am sure not many people did, perhaps they skimmed through like I did although I recognized the fact that there was a lot of pointers, facts, numbers that the Judge need to be aware of. Before I continue here is an excerpt from the piece.

Justice Toyin Adegoke of the Federal High Court, Asaba, Delta state in a ruling on 17th of October, 2018, ordered the National Chairman of the APC, Adams Oshiomhole, the APC, INEC, Prophet Jones Erue and the plaintiff, Chief Cyril Ogodo to maintain status quo and desist from submitting any list of candidates from Delta State from the two factions to INEC till the substantive suit filed was heard.

In total disobedience to a subsisting valid Court Order, the Prophet Jones Erue faction of the APC went ahead to submit list of candidates to INEC on 18th of October, 2018

It is likely going to be a PYRRHIC Victory for Barr . Evelyn Omovovwan Oboro Esq. The Delta Central Senatorial Chair election will not be decides through back Door system but by the quality of issues raised by Oboro and testify by the APC witness.

Many Delta Central people’s take is that more than 80% have already feel so disarpointed by Agege choice of Yoruba appointment , that Hon. Oboro will considered her own people first before outsider no matter the National politics played. They have pretty much made up their minds based largely on other considerations towards Oboro as their trusted Ally .

The tregedy that struck in the Courthouse on Monday last week is a missing Golden opportunity for Agege. I think they should mobilise for the inevitable.

So as not to waste your time, read the above infographic it will visually communicate some of those facts and numbers to you. Please kindly read and share.