Metro

Commuters Stranded As 15 Edo Communities, CSOs, Barricade Benin-Lagos Road Over Herdsmen Attacks

Published

2 years ago

April 20, 2022

Fifteen communities in Edo State in collaboration with the Civil Society Organizations, on Wednesday, barricaded the Lagos-Benin express road in protest over herdsmen activities which have resulted to killings, destructions of farm produce and forceful evictions from their ancestral homes.

The communities, namely, Odiguetue, Ofintebe, Igolo, Okokuo, Abumwenre I and II, Obarenren, Uhiere, Uyimo I and II.

The protest which lasted for several hours, led to severe gridlock on that axis.

Speaking on behalf of the communities and for the civil rights groups, Barr. Osagie Obayuwana, said, they are worried about the looming crisis brewing in the various communities in the state, orchastrated by armed herdsmen noting that urgent steps need to be put in place to checkmating them before snowballing into full blown crises in the state.

“We want the whole world to know the experience of our people have been for quite some time now.

“We are zeroing it on Ovia North East communities. About 15 communities have been under siege for some years. Farmers have been prevented from going to their farms, another planting season is going away, they have been sentenced to hunger, farmers and their families and this has an implication for the larger society.

“It is one of the reasons the price of food is rising beyond the reach of even those in the middle class.

“So far, we have not seen a serious efforts to address this issue. Our people have gone to various offices both the legislative arms and the legislative arms even traditional quarters and nothing seems to be coming out.

“Right now, the matter is degenerating to such an extent that people are being driven out of their villages.

“We are concerned that what had been happening in Benue and Plateau States will be coming to the shore of Edo State now where armed herdsmen drive people from communities, change the names of the communities and start to occupy the houses, we don’t want that”, he said.

For the former Public Relations Officer of Edo State Civil Society Organizations (EDOCSO), Osazee Edigin, he said the level of insecurity in Edo communities have gone from bad to worse and thus decided to join their voice with them to call on the governments to come to their rescue.

“We are here to support these communities that have been ravaged and sacked by herdsmen. We have seen it as a high level of insecurity in the state, and we want the state government and law enforcement agencies to rescue them.

“We are here to amplify the voices of these locals so that the state government should intervene in this. If we don’t do it, we are going to have scarcity of food and more victims.

“We urged the government to rise to the occasion and protect lives and property.

“The primary purpose of government is to protect lives and property, and if they fail in that area, then they are giving room for anarchy, and we don’t pray it results in a state of lawlessness.

“The government should step in. When there is no peace in the land, life will not flourish, and the economy will go down”, Edigin said.

Lamenting the atrocities of the herdsmen, Prince Aik-Ikhuokhuo Uwaifo from Uhiere community, said in the past, herdsmen and the people in his community were living harmoniously together so much so that they were even asking them (herdsmen) to give them their cows urine to grow their fingers while they will in turn give them foods.

He said the story has changed adding that nowadays, the herders move into their farms kill, rape, maim, destroy their crops and forcefully evicting them from their community.

Another protester, Mrs. Rhoda Ogba from Odigi community, said cows don’t eat grass anymore, but yam, cassava and Coco yam maintaining that they are now hungry as they can no longer go to their farms because of fear of being killed.

She said the federal and the state governments should come to their rescue.

The Edo State Commissioner of Police CP Abutu Yaro, represented by the Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations, ACP, James Chu, while appealing to the protesters to be calmed, said the command share in their pains stressing that machineries have been put in place to curtail the excesses of armed herdsmen in the various communities in the state.

“The Commissioner of Police, we all know he is new, and he shares with you in this pain. We are all on the same page and all on the same reason to be here to talk to you.

“He has asked me to let you know that you know that he is a new person in Edo State. He has taken notes of all the incidence we have had in these various communities and other communities in Edo North.

“There are very critical strategies that are in place to ensure that the excesses of these men who are disturbing our villages are monitered and equally checked and stopped.

“I want to assure you that the police is not resting in this issue. I want to assure you that we are going to work in hands and gloves with the communities to ensure the essence of this gathering”, CP Yaro said.

Metro

Court Stops Rivers Govt From Withholding LG Allocations

Published

7 hours ago

April 26, 2024

Editor

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, stopped the Rivers State Government from withholding financial allocations of the 42 Local Government areas in the state, pending the determination of a suit that was brought before it.

The court, in a ruling Friday, ordered the local government Chairmen in the state and nine others, who had filed the suit to maintain status quo, pending the determination of the matter.

The ruling followed an ex-parte application in a suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/537/2024, argued by Mr. Aliyu Hussein, counsel to the plaintiffs.

Cited as plaintiffs in the matter are: Dr Chidi LLoyd, Chairman, Emohua Local Government, Hon Alwell Ihunda, Chairman, Port Harcourt Local Government, Dr Nwanosike Samuel, Ikwerre Local Government Area; Barrister George Ariolu, Chairman, Obio-Akpor Local Government; Dr Obbinna Anyawu, Chairman, Etchi Local Government Area; and Hon Chidorom Nwaiwu, Chairman, Omuma Local Government Area.

Others include Dr Hope Ikiriko, Chairman of Ahoada West Local Government Area; Barrister Benjamin Isreal Eke, Chairman of Ahoada East Local Government; and Dr Roland Sekibo, Chairman of Akuku-Toru LGA.

The presiding judge, Justice James Omotosho, stopped the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Police Commissioner in Rivers, Director General, State Security Service, SSS and its Director, who were cited as defendants in the matter, from withdrawing the security personnel of the LG Chairmen, pending the final resolution of their motion on notice.

Justice Omotosho held that the Rivers State Government should not frustrate or prevent the LG Chairmen from discharging their duties and rendering services to their respective councils till the determination of the suit.

The plaintiffs approached the court, praying for an order of interim injunction to restrain the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, Chairman, Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, Rivers State Government, Attorney General of Rivers and Commissioner for Finance, from withholding the revenue accrued to them.

They also sought an order from the court to restrain the IGP, the Commissioner of Police in Rivers, the SSS, its Director, and the AGF, from withdrawing the security personnel attached to them.

They equally prayed the court to prohibit the defendants from preventing the enforcement or implementation of the newly amended Rivers State Local Government Law N:5 of 2024 pending the determination of the motion.

In a 33-paragraph affidavit in support of the application deposed to by Dr Chidi LLoyd, Chairman of Emohua Local Government, the Chairmen claimed to have been duly elected in a democratically conducted election for a term of three years under the provisions of the Rivers State Local Government Law.

They asserted that they are autonomous and constitutionally recognised as one of the tiers of the government, adding that the Rivers State House of Assembly enacted the Rivers State Amended Law to guide their affairs and activities.

They claimed that the Rivers State Government, AG and Finance Commissioner, who are not happy with the amended law, have approached the IGP, CP, DG SSS and Director SSS, seeking the withdrawal of policing and other security services from them to frustrate the implementation of the amended law.

The Chairmen alleged that the Police Commissioner in the state, who has the responsibility to advise the IGP on the policing and security needs of Rivers State, is under substantial control of the Rivers State Government and would implement the directive of the state government.

They held that it would be impossible for them to carry out their respective functions and duties without the policing and security services of the IGP.

They prayed the court to restrain the defendants, especially the Rivers State Government, from taking the law into their hands.

In his ruling, Justice Omotoso ordered all parties in the suit to maintain the status quo pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice for an interlocutory injunction.

The judge warned that no party should take any step that would make the motion on notice nugatory.

“The plaintiffs are hereby ordered to serve the motion on notice seeking an interlocutory injunction on the defendants to enable them to have the opportunity to respond to the same.

“That this matter is adjourned to the 2nd day of May 2024 for the hearing of the motion on notice,” the court held.

PUNCH

Metro

Two Fake Police Inspectors Arrested In Edo

Published

8 hours ago

April 26, 2024

Editor

Men of the Edo State Police Command have paraded two fake police inspectors arrested in connection with illicit drugs valued at N20 million in the state.

The Commissioner of Police, Funsho Adegboye, who disclosed this to newsmen in Benin City, said they were among the five-man criminal gang specialized in dealing in illicit drugs.

He gave the names of the two fake police officers as Alex Akaeze, 39, and Kadiri Hassan, 45.

He also listed other members of the gang including Ovie Samuel, 46; Stanley Itota, 45; and Felix Oputi, 46.

Adegboye explained that the suspects were arrested by operatives of the Command’s Intelligence and Rapid Response Squad at a guest house operated by ome Samuel at No 5, Colobus Street, off Upper Mission Extension Road, Benin City.

He added that the illicit drug called ‘ice’ weighed 1,080 kilograms with a street value of N20 million.

He said that investigation was ongoing and that the suspects would soon be charged to court.

When interrogated, one of the suspects, Akaeze, said he was enlisted into the Police Force in 2009.

Akaeze, who insisted he is a Police Inspectorz added that he was transferred to Zamfara State from AIG Zone 2, Lagos State.

According to him: “I am an Inspector of Police. I was enlisted in 2009, I started in Ketu, and from there to SARS. I was transferred to Zamfara, but I did not go.

“I worked myself back to Zone 2, and from there I was transferred to Lagos State Command, from where we were later transferred to Alagbon in September last year, but we were yet to report for duty there.

“These two officers [Command operatives] are our colleagues, we worked together in IRT, I have their phone numbers and I called them before I came down from Lagos and I told them that I had an urgent arrest to make and wanted them to follow us and they agreed.

“Although I told them that I still serve at Alagbon, I didn’t tell them the truth that we have not reported for duty there. We were with them in their office yesterday and they led us to make the arrest. We were however surprised that they suddenly changed it for us and arrested us with the drug dealers” he said

On his part, Kadiri Hassan, who also insisted he is a Police Inspector, added that he joined the Police Force in 2008.

He also disclosed that he was yet to report to duty at Alagbon when he was transferred in February this year.

Ovie Samuel, who procured the hard drug, denied knowledge of the trade.

“The people called me and said that they needed ice and I called my brother in Delta State to bring it for them, only for them to reveal their real identities that they are policemen” he stated

Metro

JUST IN: Oyo LG Polls: Hoodlums Attack Electoral Officials, Snatch Ballot Papers [PHOTO]

Published

14 hours ago

April 26, 2024

Editor

Hoodlums suspected to be political thugs have reportedly snatched ballot papers meant to be used for local government elections in Kajola Local Government Area of Oyo state.

DAILY POST gathered that the ballot papers were hijacked by the hoodlums in the early hours of Friday.

The ballot papers are to be used in the local government election slated for Saturday.

The Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission, OYSIEC, is conducting the election in all the 33 local government areas in the state.

A source noted that the snatched ballot papers have been recovered from the suspects.

He added that about 14 suspects have been arrested.

The source who bagged not to be named, also revealed that the affected ballot papers have been taken back to Ibadan.

OYSIEC Chairman, Isiaka Olagunju, when contacted, confirmed the attack on electoral officials.

He, however, said that no ballot paper was snatched.

Olagunju, in a telephone conversation with DAILY POST on Friday, maintained that the Divisional Police Officer in the town has been mandated to arrest the suspects.

“That is not true. The fact is that there was an attack on our officials last night.

“Our officials were attacked at our office at Okeho. No ballot paper was snatched.

“In fact, the DPO of Okeho and other security agencies followed our EO to come back to Ibadan. They just went back to Okeho now. And we have directed the DPO of Okeho to arrest the suspects. That is what happened.”