TheNewsGuru

Tag: Abia State

  • Fire guts 156 shops in Aba

    Fire has gutted about 156 shops at the timber and furniture section of Nkwo Ngwa market in Aba South Local Government Area of Abia, leaving many families in grief for their losses.

    Okechukwu Lawrence, Chairman of the market traders’ association, told newsmen at the market on Sunday that he was informed about the incident through phone call around 7:00 pm on Saturday.

    Lawrence said he rushed to the scene immediately and he and the market’s taskforce members broke its gates to let in sympathisers to help quench the fire, using water from a borehole.

    “We tried our best before the Fire Service came in. We used water from our borehole to quench the fire.

    “But the hoodlums around later broke the borehole in their bid to steal our pump while the fire was raging.

    “That was how I saw it yesterday. The fire was too much and it gulped millions of Naira worth of goods and property.

    “We have some building material sellers in all these front shops. The second row of shops is occupied by furniture sellers and dealers in other things.

    “We recorded a very big loss here but there was no loss of life or injury,” he said.

    Lawrence debunked claims that his members attacked the fire service personnel who came to quench the fire.

    The chairman said that it was a group of hoodlums called Aroo Boys who attacked the fire service men.

    He said the Aroo Boys further entered the market, broke into shops, carried rice, stock fish, clothes and other property and left.

    He further said the fire could have been stopped with the help of the fire fighters before it destroyed up to 100 shops.

    According to him, this was hindered by the suspended Ozuomba road project of the State Government.

    He appealed to the government to come to the aid of the traders by fixing the road and attending to other needs in the market.

    The Abia Police Commissioner, Chris Ezeike who visited the scene Sunday morning, said he was there to access the incident and sympathise with the victims.

    Ezeike noted that the section of the market was full of inflammable materials.

    He however called for calm and peace, adding that the fire incident, which was said to have caused by a generating set, would be investigated immediately.

    Capt. Awa Udonsi (rtd.), Senior Special Adviser to Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu on Security, said he had been notified about the incident and would involve the concerned ministries in the matter.

    Udonsi said he would not take decisions for the governor but gave the assurance that government would “do the right thing” in the situation.

     

  • Abia Assembly confirms Justice Ogwe appointment

    The Abia House of Assembly, on Wednesday, confirmed the appointment of Justice Onuoha Ogwe, as the Chief Judge of Abia.

    The Assembly confirmed the appointment of Justice Ogwe’s appointment after the Speaker, Mr Chikwendu Kalu, conducted a voice vote, to which the lawmakers unanimously approved.

    The confirmation followed the letter by submitted by Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu, dated Oct. 22, asking the lawmakers to confirm Ogwe’s appointment.

    The Governor had inaugurated Justice Ogwe, as the Acting Chief Judge of Abia, in compliance with the recommendation by the National Judicial Council (CJN).

    His appointment followed the compulsory retirement of the former Chief Judge, Justice Theresa Uzokwe on March 14.

     

  • Fashola approves N133m compensation for 5 Abia communities

    Fashola approves N133m compensation for 5 Abia communities

    The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, has approved the payment of N133 million compensation to Abia communities for land acquired for the construction of a trailer park on Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway.

    The Federal Controller, Federal Ministry of Works, Mr Chukwudike Nwankwo, spoke in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria on Friday during the minister’s inspection of the rehabilitation work on the Okigwe end of the expressway.

    Nwankwo said the ministry would commence the disbursement of the fund to the five communities in Umunneochi Local Government Area where the land for the project is located.

    “The minister has given approval for the payment of compensation of about N133 million. It is a very large parcel of land involving about five communities

    “We will commence the disbursement soon and once we are through, the construction of the park will start.”

    Nwankwo further said the minister had directed the immediate evacuation of the trailers from the two sides of the dual carriageway to allow for free-flow of traffic.

    He said that the ministry would also fence off the cattle market from the expressway.

    The controller commended the minister for attracting additional budgetary allocation which had made progress of work on road rehabilitation projects nationwide possible.

    Heavy duty trucks, trailers and the cattle market had spilled into the dual carriageway and hampered smooth traffic flow.

    Earlier, Mr Fouad Sarraf, the Area Manager, SETRACO Nig. Ltd., the contractor, complained that work was stalled at Lokpanta due to the overflow of the cattle market into the road and the presence of heavy duty truck.

    Addressing newsmen at the end of the inspection your, Fashola expressed delight that the use of SUKUK fund had brought tremendous progress on the project.

    He said the ministry would apply for another intervention from SUKUK so that more money would be made available to the contractors to ensure the completion of the project before the next rainy season.

    He said more than 40 per cent of the job had been done by SETRACO and hoped that one side of the dual carriageway would be completed and opened for traffic before December.

     

  • Shell donates multi million naira science lab to Abia community

    Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited on Thursday inaugurated a multi-million naira integrated science laboratory it built, equipped and donated to Aggrey Memorial (Model) College, Arochukwu in Abia.

    Speaking at the inauguration, the Managing Director of the company, Mr. Bayo Ojulari, said that the project would promote educational excellence in the sciences.

    “It is also part of our larger educational support programmes to help Nigerian youths and support the government in the task of providing high quality educational facilities in public schools,” he said.

    Ojulari, who was represented by the company’s Manager, Business Opportunities, Mr Segun Owolabi, said that the modern science equipment and laboratory chemicals were sufficient to serve the school for a minimum of two years.

    He explained that the facility would promote teaching and learning of science subjects and provide a conducive learning environment to stimulate students’ interest.

    “Our hope is that this project will help in no small measure to prepare more Nigerian students for the anticipated technological take-off in the nation,” the Shell boss said.

    He listed some of the company’s contribution to the development of education in Nigeria to include the award of the Shell “Cradle-to-Career” scholarship for a six-year secondary education in top-rated schools in Nigeria to 104 primary school pupils in the country.

    Owolabi said that the programme, which was inaugurated in 2014, currently had 267 beneficiaries in different schools in Nigeria.

    The managing director said that the scholarship covered tuition, boarding, education and non-education supplies.

    He said that the company also had a scholarship for 100 university undergraduates in the country.

    He also said that the company had provided Information Communication Technology centres in different parts of the country to improve curriculum development and digitisation in Nigerian universities.

    Owolabi admonished the students of the college to make good use of the facilities.

    According to him, the possibilities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) world are endless.

    In his speech, the Commissioner for Education, Prof. Ikechi Mgboji, expressed gratitude to Shell for the gesture.

    The commissioner said that the company had further demonstrated its support toward the growth and development of the nation’s education sector.

    Mgboji, who was represented by the Director of Scholarships in the ministry, Mrs Christy Ibeji, said that the project would remain memorable to Abia government as well as staff and students of the college.

    He described the complex as a masterpiece and appealed to Shell to extend similar gesture to other public schools in the state.

    Also, the Principal of the college, Mr Peter Ugbuta, said that the laboratory would improve the teaching and learning of sciences in the college and the neighouring schools.

    Ugbuta however, stressed the need for adequate security within and around the college to protect the facility from activities of hoodlums.

    He said that the school needed perimeter fence and a security guard and appealed to the alumni association of the college and the state government for their assistance.

    The principal also said that some of the classroom blocks in the college were in a state of disrepair and needed urgent attention.

    A representative of the alumni association of the college, Mrs Grace Okaro, thanked the company for the project, describing it as a `timely intervention’ for which posterity would forever remember it.

    Okaro decried the deplorable condition of the school’s hitherto popular chapel, called the Abna Hall, and Independence Park, housing the tombs of the founder of the college and legendary educationist, Dr. Alvan Ikoku, and his wife, Goomsu.

    The body, therefore, appealed to the state government to return the hall and park to the school, saying that “without it our history will be incomplete.”

    News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the two facilities were removed from the college and ceded to its neighboruing Abia State College of Education, (Technical) Arochukwu.

    The two institutions had no clear demarcation.

    The alumni further accepted to take up the responsibility for security in the college and maintenence of the laboratory complex.

    A community leader, Mr Byron Irokanulo, who spoke on behalf of the community, expressed profound thanks to the company but underscored the need to enhance security in the school, especially during holidays.

     

  • B R E A K I N G: Okezie Ikpeazu wins at Supreme Court

    The Supreme Court, Friday morning, affirmed Okezie Ikpeazu as the Governor of Abia State.

    The case was filed by Uche Ogah who had accused Ikpeazu of allegedly submitting false tax information to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    Ikpeazu defeated Ogah in the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, primaries ahead of the 2015 gubernatorial election in the state.

    Justice Okon Abang of a Federal High Court in Abuja had on June 27, 2016 sacked Ikpeazu from office as governor of Abia State, after the court found him guilty of tax offences.

    Abang ordered Ikpeazu to vacate office for Ogah, who challenged Ikpeazu’s eligibility to contest the 2015 governorship election as the flag bearer of the PDP.

    Following the judgment and order for the immediate inauguration of Ogah as Abia governor, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, issued him with the Certificate of Return.

    But in another judgement in August, 2016, the Court of Appeal affirmed the election of Ikpeazu and quashed the judgment of Justice Abang.

    The Court of Appeal described the ruling by Justice Abang as a rape of democracy, and ordered Ikpeazu to retain his office.

    Subsequently, Ogah approached the Supreme Court where he prayed that the High Court judgement should be upheld.
    ‎In a judgement by the apex court, it faulted the judgement of the High Court, even as it awarded the sum of N250,000 against Ogah.

    Two out of the three-man panel of the Supreme Court struck out the appeal, thereby affirming the judgment of the appeal court.

    Mr Oga’s appeal was dismissed for lacking merit.

    The Chief Justice of Nigeria described the case as a storm in a teacup, which shouldn’t have been entertained in the first case.

    He warned politicians against trying to influence the judiciary, saying there was a security breach which will be investigated by the court.

    He wondered why some politicians would attempt to bribe court employees to know who is writing the judgment or what the judgment is.

    Meanwhile, in a reaction, Governor Ikpeazu, has dedicated his victory to the people of Abia state, who he said stood by him all through the period of litigations.

    In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Enyinnaya Appolos, Governor Ikpeazu stated that the victory is a re-affirmation of the mandate given to him by the people, and now twice confirmed by the Supreme Court.

    He stressed that only God will take glory for the victory, and commended the judiciary for standing firm on the side of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    Governor Ikpeazu wishes to call on all Abians to join hands with him to ensure accelerated growth and development of the state.

    According to him; “the time for politics is long over, and I have forgiven all those that were bent on distracting me. Let all well meaning Abians, including my opponents, come and join us to grow and develop our state without distractions as we ultimately have stakes in the growth and development of our state and people

    “Today, there is the work of Abia to do and history will judge us by how much of that work we do, not by how much politics we play. My doors are open to all, my ears are open to hear and my eyes are strong enough to read suggestions on how we can best deliver greater dividends to those who really matter: the great people of Abia State.”