Headline

Protest Rocks Workers Day In Edo As Pensioners Protest Non-payment Of Gratuities

Published

3 years ago

May 1, 2022

Marking of the yearly Workers’ Day popularly known as May Day was marred with protest in Edo State as

some pensioners who retired from Edo State civil service in 2012 protested the non-payment of their gratuities at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium venue of this year’s Workers Day.

This followed announcement of a new minimum wage of N40,000 for the state civil servants by governor of the state, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, just as he called on the Federal Government to declare an state of emergency on food security.

The pensioners who wore all black attires carried placards as they appealed to Obaseki to rescue them by paying them their gratuities.

One of them, Irene Aiguobarueghian said since their retirement, they have only been getting their monthly pay but yet to get their gratuity.

She said: “We have come here to come and beg the governor to please pay us. Since 2012, he has collected our money and he has not paid us; till now, he has not said anything about our gratuity, we are begging him to pay us. We have been receiving monthly pay but he has not said anything about our gratuity”

But Obaseki said to avoid such cases of pensioners being owed, his administration has keyed into the contributory pension scheme.

He said his administration has paid all pension arrears and would soon commence the next stage which is the various adjustments that have been made in the past.

He said: “We are not a government that runs away from responsibilities, we will look for a way out to clear all the gratuities. We have cleared all the pension arrears and we will now focus on all the adjustments. I have directed that all the harmonized amounts we have agreed upon, we will begin payment by May this year.

“The purchasing power of an average worker continues to decrease. I want to appeal to the federal government to declare a state of emergency on food security, if this is not done, we cannot predict what will happen next.

“For optimum performance of our workers, we have resolved to do an upward review of the salary of workers of Edo State so the Edo State government has now resolved to increase the minimum wage of Edo State civil servant to N40,000 per month”

Earlier in their speeches, the two workers’ unions, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) applauded the governor on the development of infrastructure in the state.

The Acting State Chairman of NLC, Comrade Odion Olaye called on the state government to equip members of the vigilante who have been providing security.

He also called for proper funding of the state owned tertiary institutions by reviewing the ratio 65%:35% subvention.

He further appealed to the state house of assembly to vote local government autonomy and autonomy to judicial workers in the on-going review of the 1999 constitution besides appealing for the reconstruction of dilapidated public schools where students still learn without chairs and roofs.

Headline

FULL LIST: Ghana Releases Identities Of Helicopter Crash Victims

Published

3 hours ago

August 7, 2025

Editor

The Ghanaian Government has released the names of individuals who died in Wednesday morning’s military helicopter crash.

The crash involved a Z-9 helicopter belonging to the Ghana Armed Forces, which lost contact during a flight from Accra, the capital, to Obuasi, a gold-mining town in the south, where the crew headed for an official engagement.

In a post via its official X handle on Wednesday, the Ghana Armed Forces said the victims comprise eight people.

The names and portfolios of the victims are listed below:

1. Edward Omane Boamah – Minister for Defence

2. ⁠Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed – Minister for Environment, Science and Technology

3. Muniru Mohammed – Acting deputy, National Security Coordinator and former Minister for Food and Agriculture

4. Samuel Sarpong – Vice- Chairman, National Democratic Congress

5. ⁠Samuel Aboagye – Former parliamentary candidate

6. Peter Baafemi Anala – ⁠Squadron leader

7. ⁠Manaen Twum Ampadu – Flying officer

8. ⁠Ernest Addo – Sergeant

Following the sad development, Ghanaian President John Mahama described the incident as a national tragedy and suspended activities upon receiving the news.

He also directed that flags fly at half-mast to honour the memory of the victims.

Headline

Bodies Of Helicopter Crash Victims Arrive In Accra

Published

3 hours ago

August 7, 2025

Editor

The Ghana Armed Forces on Wednesday confirmed the arrival in Accra of the remains of the victims of the Z-9 military helicopter crash, which claimed the lives of eight personnel.

It stated that the victims’ bodies were transported from the crash site aboard a Ghana Air Force Casa aircraft and received at the Air Force Base in Accra on August 6, 2025.

According to a statement issued by the Acting Director General, Public Relations, Ghana Navy, Captain Veronica Arhin, government officials, military personnel, and sympathisers led by the Chief of Staff at the Presidency, Julius Debrah, were present to receive the bodies.

The statement said the remains have since been deposited at the 37 Military Hospital for preservation and preparations for burial.

It noted that all eight bodies were recovered from the crash site located in the Sikaman area, near Adansi Akrofuom in Ghana’s Ashanti Region.

The Ghana Armed Forces extended its appreciation to the people of Sikaman and the security services for their support during the recovery operations.

“The Deputy Minister for Defence, Hon. Brogya Genfi, and the Military High Command extend their deepest condolences to the families in this difficult national tragedy,” the statement added.

Headline

Hiroshima Marks 80 Years As US-Russia Nuclear Tensions Rise

Published

15 hours ago

August 7, 2025

Editor

Japan marked 80 years since the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on Wednesday with a ceremony reminding the world of the horrors unleashed, as sabre-rattling between the United States and Russia keeps the nuclear “Doomsday Clock” close to midnight.

A silent prayer was held at 8:15 am (2315 GMT), the moment when US aircraft Enola Gay dropped “Little Boy” over the western Japanese city on August 6, 1945.

On a sweltering morning, hundreds of black-clad officials, students and survivors laid flowers at the memorial cenotaph, with the ruins of a domed building in the background, a stark reminder of the horrors that unfolded.

In a speech, Hiroshima mayor Kazumi Matsui warned of “an accelerating trend toward military buildup around the world”, against the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the chaos in the Middle East.

“These developments flagrantly disregard the lessons the international community should have learned from the tragedies of history,” he said.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said it was Japan’s mission “to take the lead… toward a world without nuclear weapons”.

The final death toll of the Hiroshima attack would hit around 140,000 people, killed not just by the colossal blast and the ball of fire, but also later by the radiation.

Three days after “Little Boy”, on August 9, another atomic bomb killed 74,000 people in Nagasaki. Imperial Japan surrendered on August 15, bringing an end to World War II.

Today, Hiroshima is a thriving metropolis of 1.2 million but the attacks live on in the memories of many.

On the eve of the ceremony, people began lining up to pay their respects to the victims in front of the cenotaph.

Before dawn on Wednesday, families who lost loved ones in the attack also came to pray.

Yoshie Yokoyama, 96, who arrived in a wheelchair with her grandson, told reporters that her parents and grandparents were bomb victims.

“My grandfather died soon after the bombing, while my father and mother both died after developing cancer. My parents-in-law also died, so my husband couldn’t see them again when he came back from battlefields after the war.

“People are still suffering,” she added.

Wednesday’s ceremony was set to include a record of around 120 countries and regions including, for the first time, Taiwanese and Palestinian representatives.

The United States — which has never formally apologised for the bombings — was represented by its ambassador to Japan. Russia and China were absent.

Nihon Hidankyo, the grassroots organisation that last year won the Nobel Peace Prize, is representing the dwindling number of survivors, known as hibakusha.

As of March, there were 99,130 hibakusha, according to the Japanese health ministry, with the average age of 86.

“I want foreign envoys to visit the peace memorial museum and understand what happened,” the group’s co-chair Toshiyuki Mimaki told local media ahead of the commemorations.

Pope Leo XIV said in a statement that “in our time of mounting global tensions and conflicts”, Hiroshima and Nagasaki remained “living reminders of the profound horrors wrought by nuclear weapons”.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that “the very weapons that brought such devastation to Hiroshima and Nagasaki are once again being treated as tools of coercion”.

– Younger generation –
The attacks remain the only time atomic bombs have been used in wartime.

Kunihiko Sakuma, 80, who survived the blasts as a baby, told AFP he was hopeful that there could eventually be a nuclear-free world.

“The younger generation is working hard for that end,” he said ahead of the ceremony.

But in January, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ “Doomsday Clock” shifted to 89 seconds to midnight, the closest in its 78-year history.

The clock symbolising humanity’s distance from destruction was last moved to 90 seconds to midnight over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Russia and the United States account for around 90 percent of the world’s over 12,000 warheads, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

SIPRI warned in June that “a dangerous new nuclear arms race is emerging at a time when arms control regimes are severely weakened,” with nearly all of the nine nuclear-armed states modernising their arsenals.

Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump said that he had ordered the deployment of two nuclear submarines following an online spat with former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev.