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Tag: Cross Rivers

  • Labour Party officials defect to APC in C/River

    Labour Party officials defect to APC in C/River

    Mr. Simon Egboh, Labour Party Ward Chairman in Bunyia/Okubuchi Ward, Boki local government area, Cross River, has defected to the All Progressive Congress (APC).

    Egboh announced the defection on Monday in Boki local government area during the campaign tour of Mr. Hilary Bisong, a lawmaker representing Boki 2 in the Cross River House of Assembly.

    Bisong, a two-term member of the House, is seeking re-election for the third term under the APC platform.

    The Ward Chairman said he was defecting to the APC with his executive members and other supporters to support the re-election of the lawmaker.

    According to him, the lawmaker has done exceedingly well in his representation in the house, hence the need to support his third-term ambition.

    He explained that the lawmaker had done a lot in the area of education, facilitation of appointments, skills acquisition for youths, and COVID-19 palliatives among others.

    He, therefore, urged all Labour Party supporters in the area to come out en masse and vote for the lawmaker and the governorship candidate of the APC, Sen. Bassey Otu, on March 18.

    Speaking, the lawmaker thanked the LP ward executives in the area for defecting to APC and for endorsing his candidacy ahead of the polls.

    He assured them of effective representation and capacity building for the youths, adding that the empowerment of women and men would continue to be his top priority.

  • Cholera cases in Cross River, Taraba, others, unacceptable- NCDC

    Cholera cases in Cross River, Taraba, others, unacceptable- NCDC

    The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), on Wednesday, expressed concern over cholera cases in states, with Cross River and Taraba leading.

    Ms Jessica Akinrogbe, the Senior Emergency Response Officer, NCDC, made the centre’s position known at the monthly meeting of WASH in Emergency Working Group in Abuja.

    She said a total of 1,359 confirmed cases were reported from January 2022 till date.

    She added that no fewer than 31 deaths were recorded in 15 states, including Cross River, Taraba, Borno, Bayelsa, Adamawa, Kebbi, Rivers, Ondo and Lagos.

    She said “out of these states, Cross River and Taraba had the highest cases of 558 and 282 respectively.’’

    Akinrogbe said that the centre had deployed rapid response teams to the states to curtail the spread, adding that with the approaching rainy season, efforts must be geared toward preventing recurrence.

    She called on the states to step up their cholera preparedness and response plan and build capacities to manage emergencies.

    Mr Olu-Daniels Ibiyemi, the Deputy Director, WASH Response and Collaboration, Federal Ministry of Water Resources, said the Federal Government had started intervention activities in Kano and Katsina states.

    He said the two states were also part of the cholera hotspot sites, saying the ministry would continue to support states through advocacy and coordination and urged the states to take responsibility on preparedness and response plan.

    Ibiyemi said “it is not the duty of the Federal Government to provide water and sanitation facilities to states, but to give support through advocacy.’’

    The deputy director added that efforts were on to follow up states to finalise their cholera preparedness and response plan, saying this would help in mitigation efforts.

    The UNICEF Chief of WASH, Ms Jane Bevan, said states required clear coordination and response plans to manage emergency situations, “so that
    when emergencies happen, they can quickly see who needed to be contacted, what responses to be given in terms of clean water.

    “This also include actions to be taken to sensitise people on safe water use and hygiene behaviours to minimise spread of the outbreak’’.

    Bevan added that it was impressive to see that the Federal Government had taken responsibility of coordination with the establishment of WASH in emergency working group.

    Mr Rangaiya Kanaganathan, the Head of Department, WASH, Action Against Hunger, said the organisation had strengthened coordination with the National Cholera Technical Working Group.

    He said such coordination ensured the training of volunteers, health workers on cholera response in focal states of Borno, Yobe, Bauchi, Jigawa, Kano and Sokoto states.

    He added that “18 cholera kits were distributed to hotspot local government areas, while 5,813 households received water treatment chemicals.

    “A total of 107 persons (60 males and 47 females) were trained on hygiene and sanitation promotion, water quality monitoring, water schemes operation and maintenance, while 40 water points were chlorinated.’’

  • SAD! Two feared dead in Cross River communal fight

    SAD! Two feared dead in Cross River communal fight

    A combat broke out on Wednesday between the people of Ikot Offiong and Okoyong Akpap communities in the Odukpani Local Government Area of Cross River State.

    It was claimed that the people of Ikot Offiong stromed Okoyong Akpap and killed a man and a woman and proceeded to destroy houses and other property, a claim the police said they had not confirmed as of the time of filing this report.

    An indigene of Okoyong Akpap, said, “They (Ikot Offiong people) killed a man and a woman. They took the people of Akpap Okoyong unawares. They burnt down people’s houses. The Okoyong Akpap people have no idea what caused the fight.”

    The state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Irene Ugbo, confirmed the incident.

    She said, “The Commissioner of Police, Sikiru Akande, deployed men immediately we heard that information. It has not been confirmed yet if two victims were killed. No house was burnt.

    “For now, the place is calm. The police have restored calm. We are planning to meet with the two communities to have a peace talk.”

     

  • Ayade orders house-to-house search of looted items

    Ayade orders house-to-house search of looted items

    Cross River State governor Senator Ben Ayade has ordered security agencies in the state to search houses to recover looted items and take legitimate action to halt violence.

    Between Friday and Saturday last week, hoodlums and looters broke into over 35 government and private properties, looted several items and set some buildings ablaze.

    On Friday members of the public numbering over 15, 000 had broken into the Cross River State government uncompleted Fabrication Academy and carted away thousands of COVID-19 palliative meant for people of the state.

    Similarly the large crowd of persons trooped to the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) along Barracks road, the Ministry of Works warehouses at Ekrinim 2, broke the warehouses and also made away with relief materials. Calabar South Local Government headquarters at Anantigha was also vandalized and looted.

    Men, Women, some security personnel, young boys and girls were seen carting away hundreds of bags of rice, Indomie, salt, sugar, zinc and other items. Some people were heard shouting, “This is wickedness, it is our food let us pack it. Why did the government not give us since?”

    The governor had on Friday announced a 24 hour curfew in the state yet properties were looted and burnt down on Saturday and they include, INEC Municipal Zonal office at Marian Road, Walmart at Marian, Federal Psychiatric Hospital along Calabar road, Senator Gershom Bassey’s family home along White house burnt and his private house at Axari Iso (vandalised and looted), Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba’s house at Asari Iso vandalized, looted and burnt, Garment Factory at Goodluck Jonathan by-pass, Ayade’s filling station under construction, First Bank at Eight miles, Nigeria Ports Authourity at Harbour (vandalized and looted), Tinapa (vandlised and looted).

    The State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) in Cross River Newspaper Corporation (Chronicle) premises along Barracks road was looted and burnt on Friday night with some cars at the premises.

    Others are Fabrication Academy (vandalised and looted) where COVID-19 palliative were hoarded since April, Larfage (Unicef) trucks with cement at Atimbo (vandalised and looted), NLC office-vandalised, CTRA office (100 Marian traffic regulatory office)–vandalised, Department of Petroleum Resources—vandalised, Atakpa Police Station—burnt down, NDDC office–vandalised, Ministry of Works warehouse—burnt down, Cross River State Roll back Malaria centre—vandalised, Boulevard joint—vandalised, Access bank by Mayne Avenue vandalized, Lawrence Henshaw Memorial hospital (IDH) at Edgerly vandalized and looted, Akpabuyo Police station burnt and others.

    Ayade in a statement yesterday by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Christian Ita, said, “following the deployment of more soldiers to Calabar to help quell violence, Cross River Governor, Sir Ben Ayade has asked security agencies in the State to take legitimate actions to halt the arson and carnage witnessed in some parts of Calabar.

    “The governor also wants the security agents to carry out a house to house search for looted property and arrest everyone involved in the looting of both public and private property in the state” .

    Ayade said he understands the pains of the people and there was need to protect the collective commonwealth of the people which is currently under threat by some persons who are desperately trying to discredit the peaceful disposition of Cross Riverians.

    He urged the security agencies to “take legitimate actions to ensure that calm returns to the State especially as the Government was already working towards ensuring the demands of those who genuinely participated in the #EndSARS match are met”.

    The Governor called on Cross Riverians to rise up and defend their land from criminal elements bent on destroying the image of the State.

    The governor said the dusk to dusk curfew was still in place but this time around it is and “consequent upon this, everyone is advised to remain indoors as security agencies will not tolerate any non compliance”.

  • Ayade gives conditions to reinstate 2,500 delisted workers

    Ayade gives conditions to reinstate 2,500 delisted workers

    Cross River State Governor Ben Ayade has given the over 2,500 workers delisted from the state payroll the conditions they must meet to be reabsorb.

    The governor addressed the affected workers yesterday at the U. J. Eusene Stadium in Calabar, the state capital.

    He directed them to report for verification and regularisation.

    Ayade said the affected workers were hired without his knowledge, adding that “the state Civil Service Commission did the employment without recourse to me”.

    The governor listed some of the conditions the delisted workers need to meet to include the verification before reabsorption as fresh workers and without demands for any arrears.

    Asking the affected workers to put themselves in his shoes, he queried: “If you were the governor of the state and you suddenly discovered an additional 2,500 workers on your payroll that you did not authorise, that you did not know about, that nobody consulted you about, what will you do?”

    Ayade noted that if he was vindictive, he would have since sacked officials who smuggled the names of the delisted workers into the state’s payroll.

    “I am doing so on compassionate ground and not because the state is buoyant enough to accommodate you,” he told the affected workers.

     

  • CBN urges C’River Anchor Borrowers’ beneficiaries to pay back

    The Central of Nigeria (CBN) has asked rice farmers in Cross River State who benefited from the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme to pay back the loans they collected in order not to stall the programme in the state.

    The CBN said it was making the call for the loan repayment so that other rice farmers in the state who have not benefited from the programme can also benefit.

    However, the call from the CBN came amid claims by some rice farmers in the state that the loans allegedly given to them under the scheme was a farce, and can best be described as fraud.

    Making the appeal for the payment of the anchor borrowers’ loan, the branch Controller of the CBN in the state, Mr. Chuks Sokari, while speaking at the commencement of the state 2019 Wet Season Rice Farming, said: “My colleagues from banks, NEXIM (Nigeria Export Import Bank), and former president of Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RFAN) have emphasised the need for those who have benefited from the intervention by way of loans to repay. This is very important.

    “It is not an endless thing, so the CBN needs you to reciprocate by paying back at least a maximum of percent single digit interest on every loan that you took; so, we expect that if you do that, we will reach out to the others who have not benefited, and they are so many, and we want to bring them on board.

  • INEC confirms electoral materials hijack in 4 C/River councils

    INEC confirms electoral materials hijack in 4 C/River councils

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Cross River has confirmed the hijack of electoral materials in four local government areas of the state.

    The local government areas are: Abi, Bakassi, Obubra and Etung.

    The Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr Frankland Briyai, confirmed the development shortly after monitoring the voting process at some polling units in Calabar Municipality and Calabar South.

    He said that report of hijack at Yakurr Local Government Area of the state was yet to be confirmed, noting that the commission would record zero scores in all areas where materials were hijacked.

    “We have had cases of hijack of materials today. I got a call on hijack of materials in Abi, Bakassi, Obubra and Etung Local Government Areas.

    “In Yakurr Local Government Area, I got a call concerning hijack of materials but I am yet to confirm that.

    “I have said it before, if they deliberately refuse to make use of the card reader by hijacking electoral materials, the affected areas will score zero.

    “Every Cross Riverian and politician is aware of this.’’

    He, however, expressed satisfaction with high turnout of voters in some areas and applauded voters for their peaceful conduct during accreditation and voting.

    “The security agents were doing their work accordingly in all the areas we visited and I must commend them for that,’’ he said. (NAN)

  • Protesters storm PDP Headquarters, demand annulment of C’River governorship primaries

    Protesters storm PDP Headquarters, demand annulment of C’River governorship primaries

    …fault Ayade’s sole candidacy
    Protesters stormed the headquarters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in Abuja, on Thursday demanding the outright cancellation of the primary election held to choose the governorship candidate for Cross River State in the forthcoming 2019 general election.
    The protesters demanded that the primary election, which had Governor Ben Ayade of the state, as the sole candidate, be annulled as the second candidate who was cleared and issued a certificate of clearance to run for the primary election, Hon. Emmanuel Ibeshi, was curiously excluded from the exercise 24 hours to the election.
    Wielding several placards with inscriptions such as “Who sold PDP mandate to Ayade should step aside,” “Let the people choose their leader through transparent primaries,” “Don’t impose Ayade on Cross River State,” and “Give us Ibeshi or lose Cross River State,” among others, the protesters under the aegis of Cross River State PDP Support Group, in a protest letter addressed to the PDP National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, condemned the exclusion of Ibeshi from the primaries.
    In the letter, the group described the exclusion of Ibeshi from the primaries as an “unfortunate development”, which they said “has caused a lot of anxiety and disappointment amongst party members, supporters and electorate” in the state, who view the action as a return to “the culture of impunity and imposition,” being “undemocratic tendencies” they advised the party to move away from completely, as according to them:
    “This is capable of causing the party to lose a state it has held for 20 years of our current democracy. Whatever the consideration is it worth losing Cross River State? the group asked, in the letter.
    The group, in the letter signed by its coordinator, Comrade Ken Bassey, Publicity Secretary, Efiom Atoe and Secretary, Cletus Agbor respectively, called on the PDP National Working Committee to order a fresh primary election immediately to correct the “anomaly.”
    “We are calling on the NWC to urgently correct this anomaly by cancelling the recently conducted gubernatorial primaries in Cross River State and ordering a fresh inclusive primaries as was the case in the just concluded PDP presidential primaries in Port Harcourt.”
     
     

  • Rivers, Benue Massacres: Atiku condemns killings, says Nigeria’s diversity, its strength

    Former Vice President of Nigeria and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar has described as unacceptable the cycle of blood-letting that has led to the loss of precious lives across the country.

    Atiku Abubakar made the charge against the backdrop of recent killings in Rivers, Kaduna, Benue and other parts of the country including the Wednesday early morning suicide bombing attack, at Gamboru Mosque in Borno, barely three days into the New Year.

    The Waziri Adamawa, according to a statement by his media office in Abuja on Wednesday, said the killings in those states, and other senseless killings and reprisal blood-letting that has preceded them in the past across our country is ungodly, a throwback to the stone age, and a hindrance to the promotion of peace and unity in the country.

    Atiku Abubakar stressed that the diversity of Nigeria remains one of its strongest points, reminding leaders of all persuasion and at all levels to ensure that they promote the things that unite us rather than those that create divisions.

    “That the Almighty in His Wisdom made us a nation of different tongues and tribes; made us Africa’s most populous nation with more than 300 tribes is no accident. If well enhanced, our diversity should be our biggest strength.

    “There cannot be development when innocent lives are being lost in a seeming endless cycle of attacks and reprisals. While we should hold every life as precious, it is more painful that the victims of these attacks are women and youths – the demography that we depend upon to drive development.”

    Atiku Abubakar urged Nigerians to use the opportunity of the New Year to reflect on these needless killings and to resolve to live in peace and harmony.

    He prays for fortitude to the bereaved families.

  • Outrage as photos of C’River Deputy Gov, Esu holding umbrella for Gov Ayade floods social media

    There appears to be endless reactions on social media to a photo showing Cross River Deputy Governor, Prof. Ivara Esu, 70, holding umbrella for Governor Ben Ayade.

    In the photo, Ayade, 48, is seen discussing with a man while his deputy holds the umbrella even when it is not raining.

    Though the umbrella appears to cover both men, commentators on social media say the image shows an example of being powerful.

    They also argued Esu is many years older than the governor and that an aide of either men could have held the umbrella.

    Ivara Esu (OFR), a Professor of Soil Science, was the Vice Chancellor, University of Calabar, between January 2000 and August 2005.

    See reactions from social media below: