News
‘Rivers LGAs Under Military Siege’
Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Dr Austin Tam-George (middle), in a group photograph with members and staff of Treasure FM in Port Harcourt, on Wednesday.
Ahead of the re-run National Assembly and State House of Assembly elections in designated Constituencies in Rivers State, three Local Government Areas in the state are under politically motivated vicious attacks which have left in their trail, tales of deaths, blood, destruction and open intimidation.
These joint military/police invasions have taken place in three LGAS of the state, namely; Gokana, Asari-Toru and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni(ONELGA). One recurring decimal in these three deadly invasions is the fact that one Major Mustapha features in all of them. Major Mustapha , a Pro-APC military officer, was the Rivers State APC star witness during the hearing of election petitions in Abuja.
In Asari-Toru LGA on 6th January, 2016, Major Mustapha and his team of dare-devil soldiers and mobile policemen invaded the residences of the Caretaker Council Chairman, Ambassador Sobomabo Jackrich, destroying his homes and valuables before killing about five youths. They also abducted 50 youths and women who were taken to Port Harcourt.
The same scenario played out in Bua Yeghe in Gokana LGA where Major Mustapha and his illegal politically motivated squad attacked the home of Chief Solomon Ndigbara, a former Niger Delta agitator. They burnt his home, before abducting his wife and 70 other youths. The Major Mustapha illegal squad also attacked the home of Chief Ndigbara in Port Harcourt, damaging the facility.
On 13th January, 2016, the soldiers and mobile policemen were in ONELGA were they unleashed mayhem on lives and property. The residents of the area are still counting their losses.
It is imperative to point out that in these three LGAs where Major Mustapha and other illegal security operatives struck, they were accompanied by known APC political thugs and militants who acted as identity operatives. These APC agents who were embedded in these illegal operations were kitted with security uniforms. Despite these security costumes, they were identified by locals.
This level of political desperation is unknown to the nation’s democratic history. No authority had in the past handed security platforms to political thugs and associates to unleash untold-mayhem and deaths on law-abiding citizens.
But one thing is clear, this resort to intimidation and destruction will not improve the lacklustre fortune of Rivers APC. If anything, it has further depleted the party’s miserable five percent. The immediate past governor of Rivers State and leader of Rivers State APC, Mr Chibuike Amaechi squandered N3trillion that accrued to the state under his watch leaving the people impoverished and angry. That unconscionable act will not be forgotten simply because APC has authorised Major Mustapha to kill innocent people .
Those who sent Major Mustapha must be told that there is no APC in Rivers State. The party thrives on falsehood and mismanagement of resources. The Rivers people are enjoying good governance and first class performance under Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike. They have therefore committed themselves to the PDP.
Every well meaning Nigerian is invited to take note of this unprecedented violence being visited on innocent Rivers people by the military and the police under the ungodly guidance of the Rivers State APC. The National Human Rights Commission is also invited to play its role at this critical time. The affected local government areas have on their own conducted media tours of the invaded communities. The civil society is in the know of the illegal invasions of the unarmed communities.
Rivers State is PDP with Governor Wike as the people’s ordained leader with the magic wand of delivery being enjoyed by the state. No amount of military/Police intimidation can promote APC in the state.
The Nigeria Immigration Service has officially ended passport production at multiple centres, transitioning to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed this yesterday while inspecting Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja.
He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.
“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.
He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.
“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria.
“We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.
“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.
He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.
Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.
He said the centralised production system aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for better service delivery.
The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has disbursed N2.225 trillion as federation revenue for the month of August 2025, the highest ever allocation to the three tiers of government and other statutory recipients.
This marks the second consecutive month that FAAC disbursements have crossed the N2 trillion mark.
The revenue, shared at the August 2025 FAAC meeting in Abuja, was buoyed by increases in oil and gas royalty, value-added tax (VAT), and common external tariff (CET) levies, according to a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting.
Out of the N2.225 trillion total distributable revenue, FAAC said N1,478.593 trillion came from statutory revenue, N672.903 billion from VAT, N32.338 billion from the Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), and N41.284 billion from Exchange Difference.
The communiqué revealed that gross federation revenue for the month stood at N3.635 trillion. From this amount, N124.839 billion was deducted as cost of collection, while N1,285.845 trillion was set aside for transfers, interventions, refunds, and savings.
From the statutory revenue of N1.478 trillion, the Federal Government received N684.462 billion, State Governments received N347.168 billion, and Local Government Councils received N267.652 billion. A further N179.311 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) went to oil-producing states as derivation revenue.
From the distributable VAT revenue of N672.903 billion, the Federal Government received N100.935 billion, the states received N336.452 billion, while the local governments got N235.516 billion.
Of the N32.338 billion shared from EMTL, the Federal Government received N4.851 billion, the States received N16.169 billion, and the Local Governments received N11.318 billion.
From the N41.284 billion exchange difference, the Federal Government received N19.799 billion, the states received N10.042 billion, and the local governments received N7.742 billion, while N3.701 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) was shared to the oil-producing states as derivation.
The Governing Council of Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, Bori, has decried the inadequate power supply and poor state of infrastructural facilities and equipment at the institution.
The Council also appealed to the government, including Non-Governmental Organisations, agencies, as well as well-meaning Rivers people to intervene to restore and sustain the laudable gesture, dreams and aspirations of the founding fathers of the polytechnic.
The Chairman of the newly inaugurated Council, Professor Friday B. Sigalo, made this appeal during a tour of facilities at the Polytechnic, recently.
Accompanied by members of the team, Prof Sigalo emphasised the position of technology, technical and vocational education in sustainable development.
He noted that with the prospects on ground, and the programmes and activities undertaken in the polytechnic, there is no doubt that the institution would add values to the educational system in our society and foster the desired development, if the existing challenges are jointly tackled.
This was contained in a statement signed by Deputy Registrar, Public Relations, Kenpoly, Innocent Ogbonda-Nwanwu, and made available to The Tide in Port Harcourt.
The chairman who restated the intention of his team of technocrats to ensure that KenPoly enjoys desirable face-lift, said the Council would deliver on its core mandates, accordingly.
Earlier, the Rector, KenPoly Engr. Dr. Ledum S. Gwarah, commended the appointment of Professor Friday B. Sigalo as Chairman of the KenPoly Governing Council.
He described him and his team as seasoned technocrats and expressed confidence in their ability to succeed.
The Rector pledged the management’s support to the Council to ensure that KenPoly resumes its rightful place in the comity of polytechnics in the country.
Facilities visited by the Governing Council include KenPoly workshops, laboratories, skills acquisition centre, library, hostels and medical centre.
Chinedu Wosu
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