Nation
Pay N10m To Late UNIPORT Undergraduate’s Family, Senate Orders Police
The Senate has mandated the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) to pay N10million as compensation to the family of a final year student of the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Chinedu Obi, allegedly killed by its personnel.
This directive followed the consideration of a report of the Senate Committee on Ethics and Public petition presented at plenary, yesterday.
The Senate committee, at the close of its investigation on the petition filed by the late Obi’s family lawyer, Omemiroro Ogedegbe, found the police guilty of extra-judicial killing of the young man.
The lawmakers said the amount was to help to mitigate the pains of late Chinedu Obi’s demise.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, Senator Ayo Akinyelure, in his presentation, reported that the late Obi was arrested on July 19, 2019, after a disagreement with a phone seller, who accused him of assaulting her.
According to a petition to the Senate by Ogedegbe, the undergraduate met his untimely death at Otta where he visited his friend in a controversial circumstance in the custody of the police, who denied him access to his family and medicare.
According to the report, late Chinedu had issues with a phone seller at Otta, which led to his arrest.
Testifying before the Senate committee, Ogedegbe said the deceased did not resist arrest contrary to a claim by the police.
The Deputy Commissioner of Police, Ogbadu Aliyu, in his presentation, had claimed that the deceased was arrested, detained and later granted bail.
“That after his release, he went back to the woman and started beating her and even tried to throw her down from a story building,” he said.
The police boss said the deceased when rearrested became violent and tried to demobilise an officer, who shot him on his buttock instead of one his legs that he aimed.
But Ogedegbe, who countered the presentation, stated that the deceased was shot from behind in the right buttock, “which meant that it was not the officer he was alleged to be pursuing that turned round and shot him from behind.
“That all entreaties by the deceased who was in the pool of his own blood to speak to his father were rebuffed by the officers of the NPF who allowed him to die before taking him to Otta General Hospital.
“That the men of the police force lied as the deceased neither committed a capital offence, resisted arrest nor was he armed at the point of his arrest.”
But Senator Akinyelure, in the report, observed that the offence of assault alleged by the phone seller was not a capital offence and should not have led to the suspect being handcuffed.
“That the men of the NPF did not handle the matter professionally, and therefore, the force is culpable over the death of Obi.”
The Senate condemned the action of the police for the unprofessional manner it handled the civil matter between the phone seller and the late Obi.
The plenary, presided over by Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, urged the police to fish out the personnel who shot the late Obi to death for prosecution, according to the laws of the land.
By: Nneka Amaechi-Nnadi, Abuja
Nation
Gombe Opens Bid For Construction Of Three-Arm Zone Project
Gombe State Ministry of Works, Housing and Transportation has opened bids for the construction of three arms zone complexes within the Gombe Capital Special Development Zone which held at the Ministry’s conference hall.
Speaking while presiding over the bid opening proceedings, the Commissioner, Engr. . Usman Maijama’a Kallamu assured the bidders that the bid opening would be carried out using procurement process which is based on specific regulations that are credible, fair, and transparent.
The Commissioner, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Alh. Idris Yambiu Buba said that the Ministry will continue to align itself for optimal results in the implementation of government policies and projects in line with Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya’s commitment to bringing development to the State.
While assuring the bidders of a transparent process, the SSA to the Governor on Special Project, Arch. Yakubu Mamman thanked Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya for his foresight in infrastructural development of the State, adding that government is committed to ensuring that all bidders had an equal chance to participate and compete based on merit to maintain standards and specifications.
Nation
Gov Mbah Signs Bill To Establish Teaching Hospital In Enugu
Governor of Enugu State, Dr Peter Mbah, yesterday, signed the Enugu State University of Medical and Applied Sciences (SUMAS) Teaching Hospital Bill 2024 into Law, promising to expedite action to actualise the teaching hospital immediately to provide quality training and healthcare services in the Enugu North part of the State and the State in general.
Mbah, while commending the Enugu State House of Assembly for accelerating action on the processing and passage of the Executive Bill, said that establishing SUMAS Teaching Hospital was in line with his manifesto.
He said, “What we have done by signing into law the Enugu State University of Medical and Applied Sciences Teaching Hospital Bill is that we now have in place a legal framework to immediately begin to put in place all that is required to upgrade SUMAS to a teaching hospital. This is part of our campaign promises and we are committed to delivering on that expeditiously.
“We believe that the importance and significance of siting a teaching hospital in our Enugu North zone can never be lost on us. So, we are not going to spend any time in making sure that everything that is necessary and required to upgrade and get the teaching hospital operational is put in place. With this Law, we are going to redouble our commitment and our efforts to achieve that.”
He assured the Governing Council and the Management of SUMAS of his continued support, adding that his administration would equally be counting on their pedigree and contacts to bring the teaching hospital to fruition in record time.
“We are going to continue to support you and we are also going to continue to count on your experience, network, and profile in raising resources to actualize the project.
“This year alone, we are going to spend 33 per cent of our budget on education. This underscores the importance of education to this administration. So, be sure to come to us whenever there is a need. We are going to support you because we are interested in education and we are investing heavily in it,” he said.
On his part, the Speaker, Enugu State House of Assembly, Hon. Uchenna Ugwu, who also spoke at the Bill signing witnessed by the Chairman of SUMAS Governing Council, Msgr. Obiora Ike, and the Vice Chancellor, Prof. James Ogbonna, and top hierarchies of the institution, commended Governor Mbah’s speed and faithfulness in delivering on his campaign promises. He assured that the House of Assembly was ever ready to fast-track every executive bill that would impact positively on the state and its people.
“We promised we are going to support this administration by doing our job expeditiously to ensure that there is no delay in your delivery of democracy dividends to our people. Therefore, the SUMAS Teaching Hospital Bill received expedited hearing and today you have the signing of the bill into law,” he stated.
Nation
Ododo Applauds Security Agencies Over Rescue Of 43 Bus Passengers
Kogi State Governor, Ahmed Usman Ododo has applauded security agencies in the State for their efforts in the rescue of 43 bus passengers.
The Special Adviser on Media to the Governor, Ismaila Isah disclosed this in a statement yesterday.
The statement noted that the governor welcomed the news of the release of the abducted bus passengers in Okehi Local Government Area of the State and called for sustained collaboration between security agencies and local communities to improve intelligence gathering and prevent crime and criminality in all parts of the state.
Ododo commended the caretaker chairman of Okehi LGA, Mr Amoka Eneji, the Nigeria Police, Nigeria Professional Hunters, Ebira Local Hunters Group and other security agencies for their intervention, which led to the rescue of the passengers who were abducted outside the state.
“Governor Ododo also commends the response of security agencies to the robbery incidence in Felele area of Lokoja and called for more urgency in addressing cases of insecurity in any part of the state.
“The Governor reassured the people of the state that his administration will not relent in its efforts in deploying maximum resources to ensure that all communities in the state remain unsafe for criminal elements.”
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