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Alleged Murder: Summon NIMASA Chairman, Petitioner Urges Commission
A retired Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Mr Martins Agbana has urged the Rivers State Judicial Commission of Inquiry Investigating Alleged Acts of Violence, Torture, Brutality, Murder and Violation of Fundamental Human Rights of Citizens committed by officers, men and operatives of the Nigerian police sitting in Port Harcourt to summon the Chairman, Board of Directors, Nigerian Maritime Security and Safety Administration, Honourable Asita O. Asita, to come and explain his role in the alleged killing of an Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ad-hoc staff, late Mr Michael Abadume during the March 2019 governorship election in Akinima, Ahoada West Local Government Area of the state.
Agbana, who is currently the chief security officer (CSO), to the Ahoada West made the appeal when he appeared before the panel, last Monday, to give evidence, adding that inviting Honourable Asita to explain the circumstances leading to the alleged killing of the INEC ad-hoc state in the area was necessary to assuage the feelings of the people.
According to him, the police attached to the NIMASA boss during the said election, allegedly murdered the late INEC ad-hoc staff at about 3am at a collation centre in Akinima, the headquarters of the LGA.
He told the commission that a petition was sent to the Force Headquarters in Abuja and a signal sent to the State Criminal Investigating Department (SCID), adding that few arrests were made, arguing that leaving the principal actor to be moving freely in the society without any molestation amounted to injustice and abuse of due process.
“Soon, another election will be held again, and if nothing is done, people will assume they can kill again, and go scout free”, he stated.
Martins also informed the commission that efforts made to get justice in the matter went without success, saying that what the people in the area want was nothing but justice.
Ruling on the matter, the presiding Chairman of the commission, Justice Chukwunoye Uriri (rtd), after listening to the evidence given by the petitioner, adjourned the matter to December 30, 2020, for continuation.
Meanwhile, the people of Egwebe Asarama in Andoni Local Government Area of Rivers State have urged the state government to remedy the wanton destruction the community suffered in the hands of the police on March 7 this year.
The Paramount Ruler of the community, King Gabriel Ugbokikwani Ogbologwung, made the demand when he appeared before the commission of inquiry, last Monday, to give evidence, adding that the entire community was destroyed by armed police operatives on that faithful day.
He alleged that the armed police operatives executed the act on the orders of the chairman of the local government area because of a boundary dispute the Egwebe community and the council chairman’s community.
According to him, his people woke up on that black day at about 7am, and saw that the entire community invaded by armed police men, including unidentified hoodlums, who set houses, and cars ablaze.
“When we asked, the response was that they came looking for hoodlums on March 6 and 7.
“The wanton destruction was enormous. We cannot quantify the huge loss in terms of monetary value because it will run in millions of Naira. My palace was destroyed, my houses and my father’s building was destroyed. The whole Owo family household was razed completely”, he narrated.
The matter was later referred to the conference by the commission as the police claimed that they had no witness to call since no officer of the Nigerian Police Force was mentioned by the petitioner as accomplice in the purported crime.
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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