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Group Petitions Gov, RVHA Over Egbeda Cult Crisis …Police Intensify Search For Cultists
Egbeda Ronflict Resolution and Project Committee has petitioned the Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, the Speaker of Rivers State House of Assembly, Hon. Ikuinyi-Owaji Ibani and Emohua Local Government Chairman, Hon. Tom Aliezi over the wanton destruction of lives and property in the area.
The letter, dated August 30, 2018 and addressed to the above named political office holders, called for urgent attention to the simmering crisis in the community.
The letter also, among other things, demanded audience with the committee’s executive to find lasting solution to the cult supremacy battle in the community, which had claimed many lives in the area, and caused the destruction of properties worth millions of Naira.
The petition, which was signed by the Committees’ President, Comrade Chibuzor Ogbuji catalogued the plethora of woes which the community had suffered in recent times in the wake of renewed cult violence.
In a related development, thousands of Egbeda people have fled their homes following the upsurge of cult violence in the area.
A spokesman for the community and the Chairman of Egbeda Conflicts Resolution and Project Committee, Comrade Chibuzor Ogbuji criticized the Emohua Local Government Council for blatant complacency in the summering cult crisis in the community.
According to him, “When the chairman was contacted, he told the committee that he was not the chairman of Egbeda but Emohua Local Council”.
Ogbuji expressed regret that instead of Aliezi championing the restoration of peace in Egbeda, he elected to trade blames.
Responding to a question from The Tide, yesterday, the Emohua Local government Chairman, Hon. Tom Aliezi said the community was not ready for peace.
Aliezi noted that there was nothing the council could do in the circumstances.
The council chairman, who spoke in a phone chat, expressed hopelessness in the handling of the Egbeda crisis.
The group has not received any response yet from the authorities.
Meanwhile, the police in Rivers State say they have began a manhunt for suspected cultists who shot and killed leader of a rival group in Egbeda and Ubimini communities in Emuoha Local Government Area of the state.
Spokesman of the Rivers State Police Command, DSP Nnamdi Omoni disclosed this to The Tide in Port Harcourt, yesterday.
It would be recalled that the notorious cult leader identified as Mathias was killed, last weekend.
Omoni, while confirming the incident in a telephone interview, said investigations into the cause of the killing and those behind the incident have intensified.
“Yes, we (the police) are aware of the incident. Right now, we are still investigating the killing, and our men are combing the area; although no arrest has been made yet.
“We advise youths to steer clear of cultism and related vices capable of endangering their future,” the police image maker said.
Our reporter learnt that Mathias, believed to be the leader of Iceland cult group, was shot dead by a rival cult gang in the area in a battle of supremacy.
The slain dreaded cultist, who was an indigene of Ubimini, was killed when he went to assist his gang members in Egbeda to fight a rival cult group.
His death, according to a community source, has led many natives and non-indigenes to flee for fear of a reprisal attack.
The source, who gave his name as Nelson (surname withheld), said the community received news about the cult leader’s death with mixed feelings.
The Egbeda Community Development Committee Chairman, Ukwoha Omereji, corroborated the views of the police image maker that security personnel have been deployed to the community.
Omereji, therefore, called on residents of Egbeda community, who fled the area to return.
Chidi Enyie, John Bibor & Dennis Naku
Vice President Kashim Shettima has arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for an official State visit at the invitation of the Prime Minister, Dr. Abiy Ahmed.
Upon arrival yesterday, Shettima was received at the airport by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Dr. Gedion Timothewos, and other members of the Ethiopian and Nigerian diplomatic corps.
Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Communication, Stanley Nkwocha, revealed this in a statement he signed yesterday, titled: “VP Shettima arrives in Ethiopia for official state visit.”
During the visit, Vice President Shettima will participate in the official launch of Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Programme, a flagship environmental initiative.
The programme designed to combat deforestation, enhance biodiversity, and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change targets the planting of 20 billion tree seedlings over a four-year period.
In line with strengthening bilateral ties in agriculture and industrial development, the Vice President will also embark on a strategic tour of key industrial zones and integrated agricultural facilities across selected regions of Ethiopia.
News
RSG Tasks Farmers On N4bn Agric Loan ….As RAAMP Takes Sensitization Campaign To Four LGs In Rivers
The Rivers State Government has called on the people of the state especially farmers to access the ?4billion agricultural loans made available by the State and domiciled in the Bank of Industry.
This is as the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) of Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP), a World Bank project, took its sensitization campaign to Opobo/Nkoro, Andoni, Port Harcourt City and Obio/Akpor local government areas.
The campaign was aimed at enlightening community dwellers and other stakeholders in the various local government areas on the RAAMP project implementation and programme activities.
The Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Maurice Ogolo, said this at Opobo town, Ngo, Port Harcourt City and Rumuodumanya, headquarters of the four local government areas respectively, during the sensitization campaign.
Ogolo said apart from the ?4billion, the government has also made available fertilizers and other farm inputs to farmers in the various local government areas.
The Permanent Secretary who is the Chairman, State Steering Committee for the project, said RAAMP will construct roads that will connect farms to markets to enable farmers and fishermen sell their farms produce and fishes.
He also said rural roads would be constructed to farms and fishing settlements, and warned against any act that will lead to the cancellation of the projects in the four local government areas.
According to him, the World Bank and Federal Government which are the financiers of the programme will not condone such acts like kidnapping, marching ground and other acts inimical to the successful implementation of the projects in their respective areas.
At PHALGA, Ogolo asserted that the city will benefit in the areas of roads and bridge construction.
He noted that RAAMP was thriving in both the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; Lagos and other states in the country, stressing that the project should also be given the seriousness it deserves in Rivers State.
Speaking at Opobo town, the headquarters of Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area, the project coordinator, RAAMP, Mr.Joshua Kpakol, said the programme would reduce poverty in the state.
According to him, both fishermen and farmers will maximally benefit from the programme.
At Ngo which is the headquarters of Andoni Local Government Area, Kpakol said roads will be constructed to all remote fishing settlements.
He said Rivers State is lucky to be among the states implementing the project, and stressed the need for the people to embrace it.
Meanwhile, Kpakol said at PHALGA that RAAMP is a project that will transform the lives of farmers, traders and other stakeholders in the area.
He urged the stakeholders to spread the information to their various communities.
However, some of the stakeholders at Opobo town complained about the destruction of their farms by bulls allegedly owed by traditional rulers in the area, as well as incessant stealing of their canoes at waterfronts.
At Ngo, Archbishop Elkanah Hanson, founder of El-Shaddai Church, commended the World Bank and the Federal Government for bringing the projects to Andoni.
He stressed the need for the construction of roads to fishing settlements in the area.
Also, a former Commissioner for Agriculture in the state and Okan Ama of Ekede, HRH King Gad Harry, noted that storage facilities have become necessary for a successful agricultural programme.
Harry also stressed the need for the programme to be made sustainable.
In their separate speeches, the administrators of Andoni and Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Areas, pledged their readiness to support the programme.
At Port Harcourt City, the Administrator, Dr Arthur Kalagbor, represented by the Head of Local Government Administration, Port Harcourt City, Mr Clifford Paul, said the city would support the implementation of the programme in the area.
Also, the administrator of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Dr Clifford Ndu Walter, represented by Mr Michael Elenwo, pledged to support the programme in his local government area.
Among dignitaries at the Obio/Akpor stakeholders engagement is the chairman, Rivers State Traditional Rulers Council and paramount ruler of Apara Kingdom, HRM Eze Chike Wodo, amongst others.
John Bibor
President Bola Tinubu has ordered the commencement of personnel audit and skill gap analysis across all cadres of federal civil servants.
The president gave this directive in Abuja, yesterday, while speaking at the International Civil Service Conference, reaffirming his resolve to achieve efficiency and professional service delivery in the civil service.
“I have authorized the comprehensive personnel audit and skill gap analysis across the federal civil service to deepen capacity. I urge all responsible stakeholders to prioritize timely completion of this critical exercise, to begin implementing targeted reforms, to realize the full benefit of a more agile, competent and responsive civil service,” the president announced.
Tinubu further directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), to prioritise data integrity and sovereignty in national interest.
He called for the capture, protection and strategic publication of public sector data in line with the Nigeria Data Protection Act of 2023.
“We must let our data speak for us. We must publish verified data assets within Nigeria and share them internationally recognized as fruitful. This will allow global benchmarking organisation to track our progress in real time and help us strengthen our position on the world stage. This will preserve privacy and uphold data sovereignty,” Tinubu added.
President Tinubu hailed the federal civil service as the “engine” driving his Renewed Hope Agenda, and the vehicle for delivering sustainable national development.
He submitted that the roles of civil servants remain indispensable in modern governance, declaring that in the face of a fast-evolving digital and economic landscape, the civil service must remain agile, future-ready, and results-driven.
“This maiden conference is a bold step toward redefining governance in an era of rapid transformation. An innovative Civil Service ensures we meet today’s needs and overcome tomorrow’s challenges.
“It captures our collective ambition to reimagine and reposition the civil service. In today’s rapid, evolving world of technology, innovation remains critical in ensuring that the civil service is dynamic, digital” the President said.
Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack in her welcome address told the President that his presence and strong words of commendation at the conference has renewed the morale and mandate of public servants across the country.
Walson-Jack described Tinubu as the backbone of driving transformation in the Nigerian civil service, and noted that the takeaways from past study tours undertaken to understudy the civil service in Singapore, the UK and US under her leadership, is already yielding multiplier effects.
Walson-Jack assured Tinubu that her office, in collaboration with reform-minded stakeholders, will not relent in accelerating the implementation of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan, FCSSIP 25.
She affirmed that digitalisation, performance management, and continuous learning remain key pillars in strengthening accountability, transparency, and service delivery across MDAs.
Walson-Jack reaffirmed that the civil service is determined to exceed expectations by embedding a culture of innovation, ethical leadership, and citizen-centred governance in the heart of public administration.