News
‘Emergency Rule Alien To Adamawa’
A cell phone dealer at the Jimeta Shopping Complex, Yola, Mr Boda Kassim, on Saturday said that the state of emergency imposed on Adamawa was alien to the people of the state.
Kassim made the observation in Yola in an interview with newsmen.
He said the emergency and communications shutdown in the state had seriously affected cell phone dealers to the extent that some of them had stopped opening their shops.
He said that before the emergency, the traders used to receive a significant number of customers daily, but with the emergency and the communication shutdown, they found it difficult to sell a single cell phone in a day.
Mr Audu Zira of Zira Communications, a dealer of GSM recharge cards on Ahmadu Bello Way, Jimeta, said he had more than 2,000 customers across the state who usually purchased cards from him.
According to Zira, the communication shutdown has seriously affected their business.
Commenting on the importance of the emergency rule, he said: “initially I supported the emergency thinking that it will not last long as it was introduced based on security challenges.
“But now the situation has crippled our business and we have nothing to do because we learn that the emergency was imposed on the state by Mr President,” Zira said.
He also appealed to the authorities to look into the peoples’ needs and ease the situation.
However, Mr Augustine Mako in Numan Local Government Area, said the emergency should continue until the security situation was normal.
“I used to remember that sometimes back there was crisis and killings of innocent lives in Adamawa, even in churches and markets.
“And what is happening now in the state in respect of the state of emergency should still go on for the time being.”
According to him, if the security operatives feel that the challenges are over, they should go ahead and lift it.
Meanwhile, business and other activities are now in full gear in Damaturu, Yobe, two months after the declaration of emergency in the state.
The Federal Government had declared a state of emergency in Yobe, Borno and Adamawa states to contain the activities of Boko Haram terrorists.
A correspondent of the News agency of Nigeria (NAN), who went round the state capital on Friday and Saturday, reports that activities at the markets within the city were in top gear as traders and customer were fully engaged in selling and buying.
Similarly at the Central Motor Park along Potiskum Road, hundreds of passengers were seen boarding vehicles to various parts of the country.
Our correspondent also reports that popular bus transport companies from around the country have also resumed operations from the city.
Speaking to newsmen, the Chairman of the Bus Section of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, Alhaji Usman Saleh, said he was happy that the situation in the state was normalising.
“In recent days, we have been recording influx of passengers travelling to different parts of the country and we sometimes run short of vehicles to convey the passengers,’’ he said.
He said that his members were not facing any problem with the security agents deployed to the state, adding that there was a mutual and cordial relationship between them and the security.
Alhaji Usman said that the union understood that certain measures had to be taken to ensure that security of lives and property in the state and had been cooperating with the authorities to ensure smooth operations.
“Personally I am in total support of maintaining check-points on the streets as well as the withdrawal of GSM services in the state as this will help check the activities of the insurgents,’’ Saleh said.
Also traders and customers who spoke to newsmen yesterday at the market said that they were delighted with the remarkable improvement in the security situation in the state.
“We now operate fully and we do not entertain much fear of attack as we used to,’’ a tomato seller, who declined to give his name, said.
Similarly all the banks in the capital have fully resumed their operations as customers were seen in many banking halls transacting businesses.
Commenting on the security situation in the state, the Special Adviser on Information and Media, Alhaji Abdullahi Bego, thanked the Federal Government for the declaration of the emergency, which he said saw to the deployment of more soldiers to the state.
He said that the state government would continue to assist the security agents to ensure the success of their assignment.
Also speaking to newsmen, the Joint Task Force Commander in the state, Col. Ibrahim Ali, said that the task force was able to achieve relative stability in the state since the declaration of emergency.
He said that there was no major encounter with the insurgents since the declaration of the emergency.
He thanked the people of the state for assisting his team with useful information which had led to the arrest of many suspects.
Our correspondent reports, however, that the state is still on a dusk to dawn curfew to enable the security agents curtail the activities of the insurgents.
Meanwhile, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said it has embarked on the distribution of food items to people affected by the insurgency in the state.
The Agency’s Zonal Coordinator for North East Zone, Alhaji Muhammed Kanarr told newsmen in Damaturu that already it has distributed the relief materials in Damaturu, Potiskum, Bunu Yadi,Gaidam and Babban Gida towns, while distribution in Macina, Yunusari and Gashua will follow later.
Kanar said that item distributed included rice, millet, sorghum and beverages, adding that the distribution was targeted at women and children.
News
I’m Committed To Community Dev – Ajinwo
News
RSG Tasks Rural Dwellers On RAAMP …As Sensitization Team Visits Akulga, Degema, Three Others

Rivers State Head of Service, Dr (Mrs) Inyingi Brown, has called on rural communities in the State to embrace the Rural Access and Agricultural marketing project (RAAMP) with a view to improving their living conditions.
This follows the ongoing sensitization campaign by the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) visits to Degema, Abonnema, Afam headquarters of Degema, Akuku Toru and Oyigbo Etche and Omuma local government areas respectively.
Dr Brown who was represented by the Deputy Director, Special Duties in her office, Mrs Dein Akpanah, said RAAMP was initiated by the Federal Government and World Bank to economically empower rural dwellers.s
She said the World Bank understands the plights of rural farmers and traders in the State, and therefore came up with the programme to address them.
According to her, RAAMP will improve the conditions of farmers, traders and fishermen, and therefore, behoves on every rural communities in the State to embrace the programme.
The Head of Service also said the programme would support the youths to be gainfully employed while bridges and roads will be built to link farms and fishing settlements.
Also speaking, the State project coordinator, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the programme has the potential of creating millionaires among farmers and fishermen in the State.
Kpakol who was represented by Engr. Sam Tombari, said RAAMP would help farmers and fishermen to preserve their produce.
According to him, the project will build cold rooms and Silos for preservation of crops and fishes while access roads will also be created to link farmers and fishermen to the market.
He, however, warned them against any act that will lead to the suspension of the projects by the World Bank.
Kpakol particularly warned against acts such as kidnapping, marching ground, gender based violence and child labour, adding that such acts if they occur may lead to the cancellation of the project by the World Bank.
During the visit to Oyigbo local government area, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the team was there to let them know how they will benefit from the Raamp.
The coordinator who was personally at Oyigbo said the World Bank introduced the project to check food insecurity in the State.
He said already 19 states in Nigeria are already benefitting from the project and called on them to embrace the project.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the three local government areas have commended the World Bank for including their areas in the project.
They, however, complained over the incessant attacks by pirates on their waterways.
At Degema, King Agolia of Ke kingdom said land was a major problem in the kingdom.
King Agolia represented by High Chief Alpheus Damiebi said many indigenes of the kingdom are willing to go into farming but are handicapped by lack of land.
Also at Degema, the representative of the Omu Onyam Ekeim of Usokun Degema kingdom, Osoabo Isaac, said Degema has embraced the programme but needed more information on the implementation of the programme.
Similarly, while High Chief Precious Abadi advised that the project should not be narrowed to only crop farming, a community women leader, Mrs Orikinge Eremabo Otto, called for the construction of cold rooms in all fishing settlements in the area.
At Abonnema, Mr Diamond Kio linked the problem of the area to incessant piracy along waterways.
He also expressed fears over the possibility of the project being hijacked by politicians.
Also at Abonnema, a stakeholder, Ikiriko Kelvin, called on the World Bank to design an agricultural project that will suit the riverine environment, while at Oyigbo, HRH Eze Boniface Akawo expressed satisfaction with the project.
John Bibor
News
Senate Replaces Natasha As Committee Chairman

The political mudslinging between the Senate leadership and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan continued yesterday as the Senate named Senator Aniekan Bassey as the new Chairman of the Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the appointment during yesterday’s plenary, confirming Bassey’s replacement of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is currently on suspension.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was reassigned to the Diaspora and NGOs Committee in February after she was removed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Local Content during a minor reshuffle.
Bassey is the senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District.
Although no reason was given for her removal yesterday, the change is believed to be connected to her unresolved suspension.
In May, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court ordered her reinstatement and directed her to tender an apology to the Senate.
However, the Senate has insisted it has not received a certified true copy of the court judgment.
Akpoti-Uduaghan who represents Kogi Central, has yet to resume her legislative duties despite a recent court ruling that voided her suspension.
In a televised interview on Tuesday, Akpoti-Uduaghan said she was awaiting the Certified True Copy of the judgment before officially returning to plenary, citing legal advice and respect for institutional process.
Although the Federal High Court described her suspension as “excessive and unconstitutional”, a legal opinion dated July 5 and attributed to the Senate’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), argued that the ruling lacked any binding directive to enforce her reinstatement.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of only three female senators in the current assembly, said the continued delay in allowing her return was not only a denial of her mandate but also a blow to democratic representation.
“By keeping me out of the chambers, the Senate is not just silencing Kogi Central, it’s denying Nigerian women and children representation. We are only three female senators now, down from eight,” she said.
-
Sports3 days ago
Oyibu predicts success for Team Nigeria at Athletics Championships
-
News3 days ago
Presidency Faults US Visa Restrictions On Nigerians, Demands Fair Treatment
-
Politics3 days ago
PDP Still Formidable Ahead 2027 – Nat’l Youth Leader
-
Niger Delta3 days ago
Commissioner Explains Oborevwori’s Retirement Age Extentoon For Associate Profs
-
Politics3 days ago
Civic Duty, Not Politics Necessitated My Engagement With Abacha – Obi
-
Women3 days ago
What To Know About Fufu, Loi Loi
-
Sports3 days ago
Former Champion Seeks Title Defence At Para Table Tennis Tourney
-
Rivers3 days ago
Don Sues For Leadership Assessment Centre In IAUE