Thugs Beat-up Protesting Widows in Imo

By Val Okara

A group of thugs on Monday in Owerri, Imo state, unleashed terror on harmless protesting widows, leaving them with multiple injuries.

The widows numbering over 2000 under the aegis of Imo Widows Association (IWA) were drawn from the 27 local government areas of the state assembled at the Okigwe Road roundabout few meters to the Government House, Owerri at about 8.45am to protest some of the injustices meted to the Minister of State for Education, Professor Viola Onwuliri.

The protesting women alleged that a group of women suspected to be Imo State government agents last week in Owerri accused the Minister of killing her husband Prof. Celestine Onwuliri who died in a plane crash.
While the widows who were assembled peaceful with their placards, a group of young men suspected to be cultists emerged from nowhere hauling snatches of pure water on them before flogging them like a common criminal.

Some of the placards read, ‘’An injustice to a widow is an injustice to all. Governor Rochas Okorocha leave Prof. Viola Onwuliri alone. Onwuliri had assisted us a lot’’.
The angry mob who were physically supervised by the state Commissioner for Youths and Sports Mr Kenneth Emelu cornered the widows to Item Street which is the adjoining street of Wetheral Road where they (hoodlums) beat them up to stupor.

A camera man from the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), Mr. Eric Etuk who was covering the protest was beaten-up and his camera was taken away by the hoodlums. Etuk who was bleeding profusely said that all his personal effects were also taken away.
As the widows were running away for their dear lives some of them felt into the gutter sustaining various degree of injures.

Narrating their ordeal, the leader of the group (widow), Mrs Edith Anjiwo said that a group of young emerged from nowhere at the old Garden Park and started banging on their vehicles as well as ordering them to enter into their cars. ‘’We were in Owerri to let the government know that it is not good to disparage or maltreat any widow. The attack on us was uncalled for and unwarranted because we are harmless’’.

The state commissioner for Information and Strategy, Chief Chidi Ibe applauded the beating of NTA Cameraman saying that, he was hired by Prof. Onwuliri to cover the event.

It took the intervention of combined military, police and other security agencies led by commander 34 Brigade Obinze, Brigadier -General Lanre Bello to put the situation under control as some women who were mobilized by the state government started to be violent by attacking the widows.

Governor Rochas Okorocha addressing supporters on arrival from Abuja accused Prof. Onwuliri of sponsoring the crisis alleging some of the widows who were clothed in black came from Abia state and warned the Abia State Government to stop allowing her women to be recruited to cause crisis in Imo State.

Unpaid salary: Lawmakers may impeach Okorocha

By Chidi Nkwopara

OWERRI—Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Imo lawmakers may commence impeachment proceedings against Governor Rochas Okorocha next Thursday, if he fails to clear their outstanding salaries and allowances which he had allegedly withheld since 2011, among other grievances.

Vanguard had earlier reported that the lawmakers are particularly irked that despite spirited attempt to make Okorocha clear the bill, he had failed to do the needful.

A close aide of one of the lawmakers confirmed that before the current threat, the lawmakers had been having series of meetings on how to make Okorocha pay them their salary arrears, adding that the build up was concluded Friday, July 25, 2014.

The lawmakers are said to have vowed not to accept any payment which is not inform of cash, adding that “if the speaker stands in the way, he would be bulldozed along with the governor.”

When anxious journalists contacted the Senior Special Assistant, SSA, to the Governor on Media, Mr. Sam Onwuemeodo, he dismissed the allegation, saying Okorocha had a good relationship with members of the state assembly.

“There is no iota of truth that such a thing was in the offing. You can verify from the assembly members.
“The state government has a good working relationship with them and I don’t think anybody is plotting any impeachment. How can they impeach a governor who is performing. It’s not true my brother,” he said.

Reacting also, the House Committee Chairman on Information, Mr. Acho Ihim, dismissed the alleged impeachment plot, describing it as “baseless and malicious”.

Ihim, however, confirmed the disparity in the salary of the current lawmakers and the former ones, adding that “during the last administration of Chief Ikedi Ohakim, the House took a loan and it was deducted monthly from the salary of the lawmakers so when we came in, the Clerk of the House was changed and the new one who was ignorant of any such deductions, started paying with the records he met on ground.

“When it was discovered, we quickly wrote the governor who promised to reverse to the constitutional rate and he has started doing that.
“For instance, we were paid normal salary for the month of June. The governor is ready to pay, all he is asking for is a little time because the money is much. It is about N18 million per lawmaker,” Ihim explained.

By Chidi Nkwopara
OWERRI—Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Imo lawmakers may commence impeachment proceedings against Governor Rochas Okorocha next Thursday, if he fails to clear their outstanding salaries and allowances which he had allegedly withheld since 2011, among other grievances.
Vanguard had earlier reported that the lawmakers are particularly irked that despite spirited attempt to make Okorocha clear the bill, he had failed to do the needful.
A close aide of one of the lawmakers confirmed that before the current threat, the lawmakers had been having series of meetings on how to make Okorocha pay them their salary arrears, adding that the build up was concluded Friday, July 25, 2014.
The lawmakers are said to have vowed not to accept any payment which is not inform of cash, adding that “if the speaker stands in the way, he would be bulldozed along with the governor.”
When anxious journalists contacted the Senior Special Assistant, SSA, to the Governor on Media, Mr. Sam Onwuemeodo, he dismissed the allegation, saying Okorocha had a good relationship with members of the state assembly.
“There is no iota of truth that such a thing was in the offing. You can verify from the assembly members.
“The state government has a good working relationship with them and I don’t think anybody is plotting any impeachment. How can they impeach a governor who is performing. It’s not true my brother,” he said.
Reacting also, the House Committee Chairman on Information, Mr. Acho Ihim, dismissed the alleged impeachment plot, describing it as “baseless and malicious”.
Ihim, however, confirmed the disparity in the salary of the current lawmakers and the former ones, adding that “during the last administration of Chief Ikedi Ohakim, the House took a loan and it was deducted monthly from the salary of the lawmakers so when we came in, the Clerk of the House was changed and the new one who was ignorant of any such deductions, started paying with the records he met on ground.
“When it was discovered, we quickly wrote the governor who promised to reverse to the constitutional rate and he has started doing that.
“For instance, we were paid normal salary for the month of June. The governor is ready to pay, all he is asking for is a little time because the money is much. It is about N18 million per lawmaker,” Ihim explained.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/07/unpaid-salary-lawmakers-may-impeach-okorocha/#sthash.nimoWshq.dpuf

APC crisis in Abia deepens

 …Group insists on fresh congress

 As crisis in Abia State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) deepens, a faction known as Abia APC Integrity Group, has warned that the party would not make any meaningful inroad in the state except its earlier position for the conduct of fresh congresses that would usher in acceptable democratically elected executive, was adhered to.But one of the officials elected at the disputed congress, Chief Okey Nwagbara, said the call for a fresh congress in Abia was a disservice by those who did not want to accept defeat in good faith.

The integrity group, in a resolution made available to newsmen after its meeting in Aba, Abia State, predicted that APC would be doomed in the state if necessary actions were not taken to urgently dismantle the two parallel executives that were separately constituted without congresses by two chieftains of the party, including a former governorship aspirant.

The APC Integrity Group, which consists of prominent members of the legacy parties that laid foundation for the party stated that while it had openly advocated for, “a neutral and democratically elected executives at all levels expected to carry everyone along and ultimately drive APC towards taking over governance in Abia,” the other factions have, “at the detriment of the stability and growth of the party,” continued to parade non-existent state executives.
Members of the group said it was against this backdrop that they  reaffirmed their earlier stand for a fresh congress that would produce a neutral executive, which would carry everyone along and further drive the party to victory in Abia.

But, in his reaction, the APC vice chairman, Abia Central, Chief Okey Nwagbara berated those calling for a fresh congress saying it was unnecessary.
He said the state congress was held by a congress committee led by Mr. Sunday Akere, Osun State Commissioner for Information and Strategy and supervised by representatives of INEC, adding that those calling for fresh congress also participated.
He urged on the Integrity group members to join hands with the elected state executive to move the party forward.

Boko Haram is armed wing of APC says Fani Kayode

The Former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, on Monday alleged that the Boko Haram sect is the armed wing of the opposition party, All Progressives Congress, further accusing the Party’s leaders of being supportive of the sect’s actions, as it suits their purpose of discrediting the PDP led government.

“If you compare what’s happening in Nigeria to what happened in Ireland some years ago, you had Sinn Fein on the one hand and then you had the IRA on the other. The IRA was the armed wing of Sinn Fein and as far as I’m concerned, Boko Haram could well be described as the armed wing of the opposition, today.”

The former minister made this statement while addressing issues concerning the State of the Nation, on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, Sunrise Daily.

“It’s very clear to me when you look at all these things that Nigeria is a nation that is at war and we need to be able to do something about this and recognize that when we are at war, you don’t start fighting the government of the day.”

Fani-Kayode, who had been known to critise the Goodluck Jonathan administration until a recent reconciliation, called on citizens to support the government. “What you do is you try to join forces with all the relevant individuals to fight the insurgency, fight the militants and move the country forward”, he said.

He said that the failure of citizens to understand the situation may lead to a take-over of government by the militants, noting the bold advances of militants in Iraq, who are attempting to take over the nation’s capital, Baghdad. He maintained that “sooner or later, you will have such advances being made on Abuja by the Islamic fundamentalists and by Boko Haram”, if care was not taken.

He argued that the Boko Haram was simply after establishing an Islamic fundamentalist state and so it was clear that there could be no basis for negotiation.

“This war is not between Christians and Muslims”, he argued, adding that “It’s between those that believe in Islamic fundamentalist state or the creation of it and Islamic fundamentalists on one hand against the rest of us – that is, Christians and Muslims together and everybody else.”

The former Minister of Culture and Tourism went further to describe members of the sect and their supporters as beasts, who would sacrifice fellow Muslims as a result of their depravity.

“They will kill their own Muslim brothers and sisters, they will kill Christians, they will kill anybody to achieve their objectives and to have their way.”

Asked about the identity of Boko Haram supporters, Fani-Kayode said that there were “some people in this country that believe that it suits their purpose for Boko Haram to kill people in order to discredit the government, destabilize the country and bring the government down.”

He went further to point fingers at the opposition party; maintaining that some members have sympathies for Boko Haram. In defending his claims, he referred to statements credited to members of the opposition, concerning the possible outbreak of violence if the Presidency did not return to the North in 2015.

“That was in 2011, 3 years later, we’ve seen evidence of that. We’ve seen that unfolding in this country”, he said, alleging that threats of making Nigeria ungovernable by some APC elements make them obvious sympathisers.

“Look at the comments of somebody like General Buhari, who was once Head of State in this country.

“Just last year, he said that Boko Haram should be granted amnesty, that Boko Haram should be treated with kid gloves, that Boko Haram should be treated in the same way as the Niger Delta militants (that is to say they should be sent abroad, paid a monthly salary and so forth and that they should not be killed.”

Fani-Kayode noted that the opinion was out of place considering the fact that “they killed almost 15,000 of our citizens, at that point in time… This is not the sort of thing anybody of that stature ought to be saying.”

The former minister further noted that the former Head of State had openly attempted to spread Sharia to all States of the Federation before, and that his objective back then now “tallies with the objective of Boko Haram.”

Channels TV

Is Boko Haram heading for southern Nigeria?

Two days after Borno State governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, warned Nigerians not to think Boko Haram would be limited to the north, two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were found at Winners Chapel, Owerri, Imo State. In a speech at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, last week, Shettima had said: “If Boko Haram succeeds in overrunning the north-east as they seek, they will surely want to extend greater havoc to other parts of the north and if they over run the north, they would want to extend to the south.” But for the timely discovery and denotation of these devices, Nigerians would be talking about yet another mass murder at a Sunday service. It has happened before in Suleja, Jos, Kaduna, Kano and Madalla ─ all in northern Nigeria. Boko Haram always claimed responsibility for the attacks. Investigation is still going on over the Owerri incident, and it is not yet confirmed if the devices were planted by Boko Haram or by any other group, but initial suspicion will focus on the insurgents who normally seek civilian casualties. On Sunday night, there was yet another scare. Soldiers attached to 144 battalion of the Nigerian Army, Asa, Ukwa West LGA, Abia State, arrested nearly 500 persons, aged between 16 and 24, who were in a convoy of 33 buses heading for “nowhere”. Two of the buses sped off and escaped arrest, according to the commander of the battalion, Lt. Colonel Rasheed Omolori, who said the matter had been reported to the defence headquarters and investigations are now on. Again, this is mere suspicion as no evidence has yet been established to prove that they are members of Boko Haram, but for now they are treated as suspects. Going south?

But the question is now being asked openly: could it be that Boko Haram is finally heading for southern Nigeria after terrorising the north for five years, during which 12,000 persons have been killed? Despite rumours and scaremongering, Boko Haram has never launched any attack in the south. The closest it ever came was Kogi State, a northern state which shares boundary with five southern states: Edo, Ekiti, Ondo, Anambra and Enugu. On August 7, 2012, three men, armed with AK-47 assault rifles, stormed the Deeper Life Bible Church, Otite, near Okene, Kogi State, as a Bible study session was about to begin. One of the men switched off the generator while the other men opened fire on the congregation, killing 19 persons. There has been a series of social media-based reports of sightings of Boko Haram militants in Lagos, but none has been confirmed. Last year, there were reports that suspected militants had been arrested. The rumour mills often warned about plans to bomb the third mainland bridge and shopping malls. In May, the United States warned its citizens to avoid a five-star hotel in Ikeja, Lagos, because of a planned terrorist attack. Coming officially from the US government, the rumour was not treated lightly and the hotel has now erected barriers at its entrance and shut one of its gates as part of heightened security measures. Caution Following the Owerri incident, South-east governors, after holding a meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday, warned Boko Haram not to come to the area. “All I can assure you is that we are very alert in the south-east and we are watching what is going on. I can assure you that Boko Haram cannot come to the south-east,” Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State said after the meeting. Police authorities are trying to douse rumours ─ perhaps to avoid panic and paranoia in the south. Force PRO, CSP Frank Mba, said on Monday: “The media and the citizens should not be in a hurry to link the Owerri incident to a terror cell until the full identities of those behind it are known to security forces. “Until the motives are established, I think it will be pre-emptive for us to give it the toga of terrorism. It could be anything, for us in the security world, we live all options open, we are ready to test all hypotheses.” Can they? Will they? Beyond theories and analyses, however, Nigerians know very much that Boko Haram can strike anywhere they choose. They have attacked highly fortified military barracks and police headquarters, much less the highly vulnerable civilian targets. A security expert, who declined to be named because “it is not necessary”, told TheCable: “Boko Haram launches attacks primarily in two ways ─ through bombing and gun attacks, to put it in layman’s language. They bomb mainly in the cities and launch gun attacks in suburbs and less populated areas. “To carry out gun attacks, they usually operate from a base. They need isolated areas as bases. That is where they can retreat to after the attacks. This will be very difficult to do in the south because of its demographic pattern, but not impossible. Nevertheless, the general awareness of the threat of terror in the south can curtail gun attacks. “However, stopping a bombing campaign can be difficult. They can make IEDs from any location. And they do not need a large crowd for that to be effective. All they need are a few suicide bombers. They do not need an isolated area to make IEDs. “To answer your question more directly, therefore, yes, Boko Haram can strike in the south, but it would be mainly through bombing, not gun attacks. Bombers can strike anywhere.”

A senior intelligence source said although the security agencies are not leaving anything to chances, it is still unlikely that Boko Haram will strike in the south. “For now, they have only demonstrated interest in the north largely because they have sympathisers there. When we say the north, we also have to clarify that: they have never struck in Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Katsina and Kwara. So if you are talking about pattern of attacks so far, they are focused on parts of the north. “Nevertheless, it does not mean they cannot strike in the south just to make a point and create a general sense of insecurity. It remains a possibility, but we are not convinced yet that this is about to happen. The incidents in Owerri and Abia State will be thoroughly investigated. You don’t conclude Boko Haram is about to strike in the south without getting concrete proofs,” he said. What if? There yet remains a nightmare scenario ─ what if Boko Haram strikes in the south? What if Boko Haram was behind the attempt to bomb Winners Chapel in Owerri? What if the youths arrested in Abia State were actually Boko Haram militants on assignment? “Lebanon,” an Abia State government official said. “Nigeria will become Lebanon. Let’s just pray it won’t come to that. It will be to your tents O Israel.

The consequences are better imagined.” Lebanon, an Arab country, has been through a civil war fuelled mainly by religion. It is permanently divided along religious and sectarian lines, with frequent bombings and assassinations. Parliamentary positions are designed to accommodate Sunni and Shi’a Muslims, Orthodox and Maronite Christians, while seats are shared along religious lines. The nightmare scenario of a Boko Haram attack in the south is that there will be reprisals and counter-reprisals which will make the whole country ungovernable. The security agencies, already stretched, will be overwhelmed. A newspaper journalist in Owerri complained to TheCable last Sunday that the Imo State governor Rochas Okorocha has flooded the state with northerners since he joined the All Progressives Congress (APC). This, he said, has made the people very uncomfortable. “There is growing resentment against northerners here. They have virtually taken over the streets because Okorocha believes they are going to make him president in 2015. If there is a Boko Haram attack in this state, I fear for the reprisal. It won’t be pretty,” he said. Bloodshed is never pretty.

Two days after Borno State governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, warned Nigerians not to think Boko Haram would be limited to the north, two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were found at Winners Chapel, Owerri, Imo State. In a speech at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, last week, Shettima had said: “If Boko Haram succeeds in overrunning the north-east as they seek, they will surely want to extend greater havoc to other parts of the north and if they over run the north, they would want to extend to the south.” But for the timely discovery and denotation of these devices, Nigerians would be talking about yet another mass murder at a Sunday service. It has happened before in Suleja, Jos, Kaduna, Kano and Madalla ─ all in northern Nigeria. Boko Haram always claimed responsibility for the attacks. Investigation is still going on over the Owerri incident, and it is not yet confirmed if the devices were planted by Boko Haram or by any other group, but initial suspicion will focus on the insurgents who normally seek civilian casualties. On Sunday night, there was yet another scare. Soldiers attached to 144 battalion of the Nigerian Army, Asa, Ukwa West LGA, Abia State, arrested nearly 500 persons, aged between 16 and 24, who were in a convoy of 33 buses heading for “nowhere”. Two of the buses sped off and escaped arrest, according to the commander of the battalion, Lt. Colonel Rasheed Omolori, who said the matter had been reported to the defence headquarters and investigations are now on. Again, this is mere suspicion as no evidence has yet been established to prove that they are members of Boko Haram, but for now they are treated as suspects. Going south? But the question is now being asked openly: could it be that Boko Haram is finally heading for southern Nigeria after terrorising the north for five years, during which 12,000 persons have been killed? Despite rumours and scaremongering, Boko Haram has never launched any attack in the south. The closest it ever came was Kogi State, a northern state which shares boundary with five southern states: Edo, Ekiti, Ondo, Anambra and Enugu. On August 7, 2012, three men, armed with AK-47 assault rifles, stormed the Deeper Life Bible Church, Otite, near Okene, Kogi State, as a Bible study session was about to begin. One of the men switched off the generator while the other men opened fire on the congregation, killing 19 persons. There has been a series of social media-based reports of sightings of Boko Haram militants in Lagos, but none has been confirmed. Last year, there were reports that suspected militants had been arrested. The rumour mills often warned about plans to bomb the third mainland bridge and shopping malls. In May, the United States warned its citizens to avoid a five-star hotel in Ikeja, Lagos, because of a planned terrorist attack. Coming officially from the US government, the rumour was not treated lightly and the hotel has now erected barriers at its entrance and shut one of its gates as part of heightened security measures. Caution Following the Owerri incident, South-east governors, after holding a meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday, warned Boko Haram not to come to the area. “All I can assure you is that we are very alert in the south-east and we are watching what is going on. I can assure you that Boko Haram cannot come to the south-east,” Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State said after the meeting. Police authorities are trying to douse rumours ─ perhaps to avoid panic and paranoia in the south. Force PRO, CSP Frank Mba, said on Monday: “The media and the citizens should not be in a hurry to link the Owerri incident to a terror cell until the full identities of those behind it are known to security forces. “Until the motives are established, I think it will be pre-emptive for us to give it the toga of terrorism. It could be anything, for us in the security world, we live all options open, we are ready to test all hypotheses.” Can they? Will they? Beyond theories and analyses, however, Nigerians know very much that Boko Haram can strike anywhere they choose. They have attacked highly fortified military barracks and police headquarters, much less the highly vulnerable civilian targets. A security expert, who declined to be named because “it is not necessary”, told TheCable: “Boko Haram launches attacks primarily in two ways ─ through bombing and gun attacks, to put it in layman’s language. They bomb mainly in the cities and launch gun attacks in suburbs and less populated areas. “To carry out gun attacks, they usually operate from a base. They need isolated areas as bases. That is where they can retreat to after the attacks. This will be very difficult to do in the south because of its demographic pattern, but not impossible. Nevertheless, the general awareness of the threat of terror in the south can curtail gun attacks. “However, stopping a bombing campaign can be difficult. They can make IEDs from any location. And they do not need a large crowd for that to be effective. All they need are a few suicide bombers. They do not need an isolated area to make IEDs. “To answer your question more directly, therefore, yes, Boko Haram can strike in the south, but it would be mainly through bombing, not gun attacks. Bombers can strike anywhere.” A senior intelligence source said although the security agencies are not leaving anything to chances, it is still unlikely that Boko Haram will strike in the south. “For now, they have only demonstrated interest in the north largely because they have sympathisers there. When we say the north, we also have to clarify that: they have never struck in Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Katsina and Kwara. So if you are talking about pattern of attacks so far, they are focused on parts of the north. “Nevertheless, it does not mean they cannot strike in the south just to make a point and create a general sense of insecurity. It remains a possibility, but we are not convinced yet that this is about to happen. The incidents in Owerri and Abia State will be thoroughly investigated. You don’t conclude Boko Haram is about to strike in the south without getting concrete proofs,” he said. What if? There yet remains a nightmare scenario ─ what if Boko Haram strikes in the south? What if Boko Haram was behind the attempt to bomb Winners Chapel in Owerri? What if the youths arrested in Abia State were actually Boko Haram militants on assignment? “Lebanon,” an Abia State government official said. “Nigeria will become Lebanon. Let’s just pray it won’t come to that. It will be to your tents O Israel. The consequences are better imagined.” Lebanon, an Arab country, has been through a civil war fuelled mainly by religion. It is permanently divided along religious and sectarian lines, with frequent bombings and assassinations. Parliamentary positions are designed to accommodate Sunni and Shi’a Muslims, Orthodox and Maronite Christians, while seats are shared along religious lines. The nightmare scenario of a Boko Haram attack in the south is that there will be reprisals and counter-reprisals which will make the whole country ungovernable. The security agencies, already stretched, will be overwhelmed. A newspaper journalist in Owerri complained to TheCable last Sunday that the Imo State governor Rochas Okorocha has flooded the state with northerners since he joined the All Progressives Congress (APC). This, he said, has made the people very uncomfortable. “There is growing resentment against northerners here. They have virtually taken over the streets because Okorocha believes they are going to make him president in 2015. If there is a Boko Haram attack in this state, I fear for the reprisal. It won’t be pretty,” he said. Bloodshed is never pretty. Copyright 2014 The Cable. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.thecable.ng as the source

Read more at: http://www.thecable.ng/is-boko-haram-heading-for-southern-nigeria/ | TheCable

Army Arrest 486 Suspected Insurgents in Abia

486 suspect from 16years upward, moving in a convoy of 35 Hummer buses has been arrested by  Soldiers from the Asa Military Base of 14 Brigade, Ohafia Barracks, Abia State, Sunday including eight girls. The arrest was made same day bombs were uncovered and defused in a church in neighbouring Imo State. while two of the buses were said to have escaped arrest.

Report reaching us from our news desk has it that the suspected insurgents were said to be going to Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital in search of work.
terrorists

Cross section of Suspected Boko-haram Insurgence arrested between Aro-Ngwa and Imo gate along Enugu-Portharcort Express way in Abia state by the Nigerian Army attached to the state, insert are their (33) buses.

The suspects were arrested at about 2 am when their vehicles were intercepted by soldiers between Arungwa Junction on the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway and Imo Gate, the Abia State and Rivers State boundary.

According to Abia State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Eze Chikamnayo, who briefed journalists, yesterday at the military base in Asa, Ukwa West Local Government Area of the state, where they were being detained, the suspects are aged from 16 years upwards.

Chikamnayo who was accompanied during the briefing by the Commander in-charge of the battalion, Lt. Col. Rasheed Omolori, who also confirmed the arrest, said that the suspects allegedly came from Kano, Taraba and Jigawa states.

Lt. Col. Omolori, who however declined further comments on the arrest, said that a report had been forwarded to Army Headquarters, Abuja.

The commissioner, however, said that further investigation would assist in unraveling the true mission of the suspects but insisted that “the movement was suspicious”.

Chikamnayo commended the Army and other security agencies in the state for their vigilance and urged them not to relent.

Some of the vehicles which have been impounded by the Army authorities have the number plates: Jigawa RNG 98XA; Osun RLG 176XA; Kano AF 411 DAL; Lagos BDG 487 XK; Abuja EP 86 ABC and Bauchi ZAK 48 XA, among others.

Uche Igwe Lied Against Abia State

By Charles Ajunwa

A man who calls himself Uche Igwe had set out on a “regrettably long” journey from Port Harcourt to Aba and found himself trapped in traffic jam. According to him, the journey which would have lasted for less than an hour took him three hours! That doubtful personal experience was considered enough reason by the frustrated traveler to pour invectives on the hard working governor of Abia State, Chief T.A. Orji.

In an opinion article contemptuously entitled “The struggle to succeed failure in Abia State” published in two parts in The Punch editions of May 21 and 28, 2014, Igwe struggled very hard to denigrate the administration that has totally transformed Abia State in every sector.
Unfortunately for Igwe, he has ended up portraying himself as somebody who is not conscious of his environment. It was evident that he was on a journey to rubbish Abia by all means. Obviously he found himself in a difficult position executing the hatchet job he set out to do. Igwe cut a pitiful sight as he frantically searched for a foothold to launch his unwarranted attacks on the Abia Governor. Reading through the article one could see a confused mind rambling from the condition of Port Harcourt- Enugu federal highway and few roads in Aba to the succession race in Abia. In his own marking scheme for good governance, Igwe scored Abia Governor zero because half of Aba was in darkness when he allegedly entered the commercial city in the night of his journey. Is that enough reason to launch a ferocious diatribe on a governor whose performance is unprecedented in the history of Abia State?  Igwe should have let the readers know where he is presently residing in Nigeria and whether 24-hour uninterrupted power supply has been achieved in that area.
If he is from Abia or has a modicum of common sense, Igwe should know that Aba is only a component part of Abia State. The commercial city fondly called Enyimba by its residents has been receiving adequate attention from the administration of Chief T.A. Orji. In the last one year, no fewer than 18 roads have been constructed or rehabilitated in Aba alone in line with the ongoing urban renewal project of the present administration. Igwe was blinded by his mercenary pecuniary interest to observe that Aba residents cry of flood during the rains. It was a perennial occurrence before the coming of Ochendo but with the opening of the drainages and removal of illegal structures blocking the waterways, Enyimba residents have been spared the seasonal agony they used to experience during the rainy season.

In order to embellish his mindset Igwe stated that “a sudden heavy odour invaded our nostrils” on entering into Aba and that visitors to the commercial nerve centre were usually treated to such offensive odours as a sign of welcome. One wonders if Igwe was actually in Aba of the present time or he was talking of Aba under the past administration. If he actually meant the present day Aba then something must be wrong with his nostrils and I invite him to visit the ultra modern Abia Specialist Hospital and Diagnostic Centre at Umuahia or Aba. I assure Igwe that medical experts would examine him to find out what is wrong with his nasal cavity and sense of smell for him to perceive past odours as if in the present. Perhaps Igwe’s condition could provide an interesting subject for medical research.

It is rather a big insult for residents of Aba to remind them of the environmental condition of their city before Ochendo came to their rescue by giving them a cleaner city to behold. Governor Orji made good environmental cleanliness an integral part of his urban renewal programme for Aba. It was for this reason that the Abia State Environmental Protection Agency (ASEPA) was decentralized and a deputy general manager was appointed and put in charge of Aba. Since his appointment as DGM, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu and his team at Aba have been working round the clock to keep Enyimba City clean and residents are highly appreciative of Ochendo for their new healthy environment. No matter how wide the imagination of people like Igwe may run the refuse heaps of the past would not return to Aba. The garbage dump on the centre of the road would forever be confined to the satanic imagination of Uche Igwe. Aba has since moved on from its ugly past.
The transformation of Aba is an ongoing project.

There is no way the present administration can do it overnight given the competing demands and the limited resources available to government. There are other cities, urban and semi-urban areas in Aba yearning for attention as Ochendo moves to strike a balance on even development of the state. But even at that Aba has been accorded top priority because of its status as the industrial and commercial hub of Abia. Aba by every yardstick has evolved into a mega city over the years. And mega cities come with mega problems. The chief executive of Abia State is mindful of this and has been systematically tackling the mega problems of Aba. So contrary to Igwe’s warped opinion Aba has not been abandoned and will never be abandoned under the Ochendo administration.
If Aba is as bad as Igwe had strived to paint invariably he would have encountered one security issue or the other since according he entered the city at night under the cover of darkness. Yet he could not appreciate the fact that somebody made Aba very safe for him to engage in nocturnal rendezvous. He easily forgot or pretended not to know that the same Aba was blighted by a huge security challenge some few years back and it took the political will and sense of mission of His Excellency to extricate Enyimba city from the grip of kidnappers and other criminal elements. To Igwe that is failure. If Aba has decayed beyond redemption as he suggested how come that big firms are putting their money in Aba. Do investors go to places where there is no sanity?

The administration of Ochendo has made Aba very conducive to attract investors. For instance, the Nigerian Breweries Plc has invested N15 billion to expand its Aba plant. Another brewery giant, Guinness Nigeria Plc has bought over Dubic Breweries in Aba. Certainly if Aba is a failed city a multi-national like Guinness would not have increased its investment in Enyimba to take over the production of Dubic beer. Today, the Osisioms depot that was moribund for many years is functional because of the hard work of Ochendo. Many youths who would have taken to vices are gainfully employed in the depot where they earn a living and contributing meaningfully to the society.
From the second part of his mischievous article, it was so easy to locate the myopic view of Uche on issues bordering on governance and the delivery of quality services to the people. In his display of crass ignorance he claimed that the success of any administration is measured by the provision of independent power plant. What a shame! Does it make economic and political sense for Abia State government to dabble into building of independent power plant when there are two of such projects in Aba alone? The Ala Oji Independent Power Plant (IPP) is ready and waiting to roll out.
The private driven Geometric power plant at Osisioma in Aba is also waiting for inauguration. In all these, the Administration of Governor T.A. Orji has not only provided conducive environment for the take-off of these projects but also provided land and other incentives. Governor Orji constructed a virgin road leading to Geometric power plant as a mark of encouragement to the investors. This is because Ochendo loves Enyimba City and is desirous of making Aba an international industrial city. The Geometric power plant is a huge investment which has gulped over $460 million and has capacity to generate 141 megawatts of electricity.

The chairman of Geometric and former Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji, is upbeat about the positive impact the power plant would have on Aba and its residents.
He has already predicted that “the economy of Aba metropolis, which is the boundary of Umuahia and Aba to Imo River, will see a complete blossoming of industries – small, medium and large scale industries.”

People like Uche Igwe are doing a lot of harm to democratic governance by dishing out lies and blackmail to the unsuspecting public. What purpose does it serve him and his pay masters to insist that snow is black?  Igwe would have done himself a lot of good if he has a sense of history. He would have known that Governor Orji did not inherit any infrastructure when he took over the governance of Abia in May 2007. But that did not deter him as he embarked on total transformation of the state.

Abia was like building without any foundation. Governors had come and gone both military and democratically elected ones like the one dictating Igwe’s tune. But none of them had to wisdom to lay a solid foundation for the future growth of the state. Abia State Government House is a rented property while the state has no befitting secretariat to accommodate the ministries. The state capital, Umuahia was strangulated.
Uche Igwe did not write like somebody with sound knowledge of his subject matter: Abia. He has no idea what the recent history of Abia looked like. May be Igwe was in one of those tribal homelands in Afghanistan or was confined to the Soviet era labour camp in Siberia and lost touch with the outside world. If Igwe is sincere enough he should have known that Abia lacked the building blocks of development all these past years. But Governor Orji did not indulge in self pity. He did not engage in blame game. In fact, he does not even know how to play that self-defeatist game. Ochendo knows how to work. And he is working very hard to build a new Abia on a solid foundation for sustainable growth. He knows how to solve problems and how to overcome daunting challenge. That is why the deficits in infrastructure is receding at a fast pace. Today, the legacy projects of Governor T.A. Orji eloquently speak for his vision for his beloved state.

The people of Abia are happy because their governor has given them 710 health centres, two specialist hospitals with state of the art diagnostic centres, five completed and equipped 100-bed general hospitals at Ohafia, Arochukwu, Umuahia South, Osisioma and Ukwa West while eight others are under construction across the state. Governor Orji has built over 7, 000 stores in Umuahia modern Market at Ubani Ibeku and Industrial market at Ahiaeke Ndume are ultra modern markets to boost commerce. The newly built artisan market at Ohiya is booming. He is transforming the old primary and secondary schools to model schools, building roads across the state and set up an agency, the Abia State Road Maintenance Agency (ABROMA) to keep the existing road network in good shape all year round.  Does a state like Abia not deserve a befitting government house and an international conference centre? Ochendo rightly thinks so and building them for God’s own state. Two blocks of four storey magnificent secretariats have been completed and many of the ministries have already moved into the beautiful edifices. Both the legislature and the judiciary have witnessed tremendous infrastructural transformation. Several housing estates have sprung up under the Ochendo administration. Sadly, Uche Igwe’s antiquated mind has prevented him from appreciating the correlation between good working environment and high productivity. If he is moving with the time he won’t be castigating Governor Orji for building a new government house and a new secretariat.
Contrary to Uche Igwe’s diatribe Abia is a huge success in democratic governance. Ochendo has done so much that whoever would succeed him would definitely inherit a solid infrastructural base. The governor that would take over from Ochendo would have fewer burdens because the foundation has been laid for the person to build on. Governor Orji did not enjoy such luxury because his predecessor left nothing for him to build on. He started from the scratch and vowed he would not want his successor to encounter the same problem hence his tireless efforts to transform every facet of Abia economy.

Governor Orji would bequeath a peaceful state to his successor even though he inherited a state in rancor due to the divisive and nepotistic policy of the past administration.
Whoever would succeed Governor Orji on May 29, 2015 would inherit a well organized economy with enhanced internally generated revenue (IGR) profile and a workforce that is happy and highly motivated for optimum productivity. Ochendo has taken governance to a standard that is unprecedented in the history of Abia.

His score card is so impressive and intimidating that Abians are now fretting over the kind of person that would preside over their affairs after T.A. Orji. They don’t want their beloved God’s Own State to enter into reverse gear after the Ochendo acceleration. Good enough all the gubernatorial aspirants are conscious of this collective expectation and have been promising to sustain the good legacy of Ochendo.
Ajunwa is Chief Press Secretary to Abia State Governor

2015: Okorocha gives Imo people condition for re-election

Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, yesterday, took Imo people by surprise when he stated that if the people want him to stand for re-election next year, they must be ready to fund the proj­ect through free will do­nations.

Addressing hundreds of Imo citizens and par­ty loyalists, who had thronged the Internation­al Convention Centre, venue of his address on the achievements of his administration in three years, Okorocha said: “If you want me to contest for governorship elec­tion, one million of you must endorse me and contribute N100 each and those who want me to contest for president, two million must en­dorse me and pay N100 each as your free will donation for my politi­cal cause.”

SUN NEWS

Tinubu frowned at Orji Uzor Kalu's lack of political direction, warned him to stay away from APC.

Spirited attempts by the former Abia State Governor, Orji Uzor Kalu to join the APC have failed again because the APC Governors in the South West Region are not comfortable with Kalu whom they described as a spent force with a deceitful character.

It is reported that Kalu in the past few weeks has been visiting APC Governors in the South West to beg them to persuade Chief Tinubu to soft pedal on his hard stance on the issue of joining APC.

Kalu was also seen at the Oni of Ife palace with the same appeal for Tinubu to allow him an in road into APC. We gathered authoritatively that Kalu had begged some of the APC governors including Atiku to save him from the current situation as he has been rejected by PDP despite his attempt to gate crash into the ruling Party.

Kalu told some of his guests that paid him a visit recently that his situation is so pathetic due to the diminishing of his political relevance since he left office as a Governor.

The APC Governors told Kalu to go and revive PPA so as so prove himself as he claimed to be popular across the Country.

Tinubu is insisting that there is no space for Kalu in APC and that the Party cannot accommodate Atiku and at the same time accommodate the huge trouble that goes with Kalu. Meanwhile, the Governor of Ondo State, Olusegun Mimiko also frowned at Kalu's lack of political direction.

Breaking News...APC debunked Orji Uzor Kalu's claimed APC wooing attempt

APC has debunked claims by former Abia Governor, Orji Uzor kalu that the party is wooing him to join its fold. A credible source in the party hierarchy maintained that APC did not send Atiku to go and speak with kalu on any issue concerning the Party. Atiku and kalu he said may have met on their business interest.

APC insisted that it barred kalu from joining the Party earlier when Kalu approached Bola Tinubu.  Kalu is an expired politician who cannot add value but crisis he added. APC urged his faithful in Abia State to disregard such story coming from Kalu.

The Party urged kalu to rebuild his PPA since PDP has equally rejected him.

Our source noted that kalu is terrible, as he wants to use his meeting with Atiku to showcase falsehood, which is his style. APC has already warned kalu who it described as a political leper not to use its name to seek for relevance. 

It would be recalled that in his usual style Orji Uzor Kalu abused Atiku recently calling him all sorts of name a situation that forced Atiku to described kalu as a political imbecile.