News
Kerosene Explosion Leaves Four Dead, Three In Critical Condition
Four children of the same parents are now feared dead following a kerosene explosion in Azubuike Akani Street in Ozuoba axis, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State.
An eyewitness, Sylvia Amadi told The Tide, yesterday, that the incident happened, last Friday, after the mother of the four lit the stove, which immediately exploded and triggered fire which engulfed the building.
“I am a neighbour to the deceased family. I was in our house sleeping, last Friday night, and around 10pm, I heard my friend who came to my house calling me, Babe, Babe see somebody’s house burning. I stood up and saw the fire from afar, so, we ran down to the scene and joined others to try and quench the fire, but to no avail,” she claimed.
Similarly, three children from same family are now receiving home treatment from various degrees of burns suffered as a result of another kerosene explosion in Queens’ Town in Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area of Rivers State.
One of the relatives, Tamuno Iwowuna Uranta, said “One of our neighbours bought the condescend kerosene and emptied it into his house lamp. On lighting the match stick, the lantern exploded and fire engulfed the whole house.
“The three children that were left at home by their father, who is a fisherman, were affected. Although the children did not die, they are in critical condition.”
Uranta told The Tide that there was urgent need to save the lives of the three children as their father, who is a fisherman cannot afford medical bills needed for their treatment at a hospital.
Meanwhile, the Leader of the Niger Delta Peoples’ Volunteer Force, Asari Dokubo has blamed the Niger Delta youth for the adulteration of petroleum products through illegal refining and the continued environmental pollution of the region.
Dokubo, who was also a former president of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), in an interview with journalists, last Sunday, attributed the black sooth experienced recently in Port Harcourt and other parts of Rivers State, to activities of those he described as bad boys from Kalabari, Okrika, and Ogoniland.
“Go to our communities, we are talking of pollution. They say is one Chinese company that is doing black sooth, it is a lie, no Chinese company is doing any black sooth. It is our people, our Ogoni, Kalabari and Okrika people that are cooking crude oil. They are not afraid of the crime they are committing against the people.”
He lamented the activities of those involved in illegal refining of crude oil, adding that many of the youth do not understand that they are destroying their future.
“They are the people destroying the environment; they are the people running these wastes into our rivers, killing all marine lives. Go to Kalabari, the whole area is finished, in Bonny area, Adamatoru is finished, Ogoni area finished, Okrika area is finished.
“We are talking of Ogoni clean-up: the crime that Ogoni people who don’t want to work have committed is more than what Shell committed,” Asari argued.
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
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.