Niger Delta
Condemnations Trail Sowore Brother’s Death In Edo
Condemnations have continued to trail the killing by gunmen suspected to be kidnappers of Mr Olajide Sowore, the immediate younger brother of the presidential candidate of African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2019 general elections, Mr. Omoyele Sowore.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, joined other Nigerians on Saturday to condemn the killing of the Pharmacy student of Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo State.
News of Olajide’s death was broken by the elder Sowore on his Facebook account early Saturday as he revealed that Olajide was shot dead near Okada town in Edo State on his way from the university where he was studying Pharmacy.
He wrote: “My immediate younger brother, Olajide Sowore was today shot and killed near Okada in Edo State reportedly by herdsmen/kidnappers on his way from Igbinedion University in Edo State where he is studying Pharmacy.
“They snuffed out the life of yet another real human being! Rest in power, “Dr. Mamiye!” This act in itself will not delay their day of justice.
“I travelled widely with you and our father as a little kid. You were the most loved robust kid I ever first knew. You, Mr. Magnet, had no enemy!
“You, Mr. Sunshine Foundation, who made everyone happy. You, the boy who snuck out his older ones to parties, taking all the blames when our disciplinarian father found out.
“You, the guy who was an out-of-the-box thinker who decided school wasn’t for you and created your own genre of music and then turned around to go to school after you almost turned 50!
“You lived your life so that everyone could be alright but now assassinated by everything that’s not alright! Saddest day yet!”
Confirming the killing of Olajide on Saturday, the police in Edo State said the deceased was shot dead by gunmen in the early hours of Saturday.
The police added that five other persons were abducted in the process.
Spokesman of the Edo State Police Command, Bello Kontongs, was quoted as saying in a terse voice: “In addition to killing the younger Sowore, the suspected kidnappers made away with five unidentified persons.”
According to Kontongs, the body of the deceased was deposited at the Igbinedion University Teaching Hospital (IUTH).
“Good morning all. This is to confirm to you that suspected kidnappers at about 0645hrs along the Lagos-Benin Expressway by Isuwa kidnapped five unidentified persons.
“And in the process, they shot dead one, Sowore Felix Olajide, male, a Pharmacy student of Igbinedion University Okada.
“His remains have been deposited at IUTH (Igbinedion University Teaching Hospital) mortuary, Okada, while effort is ongoing to rescue the five kidnapped victims.
Meanwhile, Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo yesterday expressed their sympathy with friends, associates and family members of the deceased student in different condolence messages.
“I just received news of the reported killing of Mr Olajide Sowore, a student of Igbinedion University and the immediate younger brother of human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore.
“His death and, indeed, the killings and daily abductions of innocent citizens, saddens me.
“Every death diminishes our humanity. My sincere condolences to the Sowore family and his friends. May his soul rest in peace,” Atiku said.
Keyamo on his part commiserated with Omoyele Sowore, the publisher of Sahara Reporters, on the killing of his younger brother.
He said in a statement Saturday that it was sad that a young man like Olajide was cut down in his prime. He promised to join forces with other stakeholders to mount pressure on security agents to bring his killers to justice.
Keyamo said: “I read with deep sadness the reports on the senseless killing of your younger brother, Mr. Jide Sowore, a student of Pharmacy at Igbinedion University, Okada in Edo State, this morning.
“It is quite sad and regrettable that such a young man would be cut down in his prime by criminal elements.
“Myself and other compatriots would be pressurising the law enforcement agents to track down these killers without delay and bring them to justice.
Also reacting to Olajide’s death yesterday, the Minority Caucus of the House of Representatives condemned the killing in a statement signed by the House Minority Leader, Ndudi Elumelu.
The statements reads: “The gruesome killing of Olajide, a Pharmacy Student of Igbinedion University, Edo state, on his way from school, by suspected terrorists, is another sad commentary on the horrible security situation and utter hopelessness in our country under the current administration.
“Our caucus deplores the ceaseless killings and kidnapping of students and school children in various parts of the country as well as the failure of government to take decisive steps to halt the trend.”
The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) in a statement issued by its Director, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, also condemned the killing and urged the Edo State Police Command to find Olajide’s killers.
“What is the crime of this student? Why must our young brains be wasted in this manner? This is one killing too many. We call on the Edo Police Command to find his killers without delay.
“This kind of tragedy should not be happening around this time. We are not unaware of the travails of the victim’s senior brother in the hands of security agencies.
“It saddens our hearts to learn of this heart-breaking calamity around this time. The police must therefore go all out for Felix’s assailant”.
Dufugha, however, expressed resentment over what he described as stringent measures against assessing the State’s Students Loan Scheme, especially for the common citizens.
He made the observations while briefing journalists at the Earliest Ikoli Press Centre, Ekeki, in Yenagoa, the State capital.
“I commend the Governor for the relative peace in the state owing to his approach to the security of lives and properties in the State.
“For now, the police in Bayelsa State is using drones to monitor red flag areas that can cause security breaches and that has really encouraged the peace in the State.
“The security situation has improved and we commend the government for that. We cannot deny the fact that there is relative peace in the State”, he said.
On the State’s students loan, the publisher accused the scheme of having elitist posture due to its accessibility process.
He argued that it would be difficult for the ordinary Bayelsan to provide a Level-17 civil servant as guarantor to be able to benefit from the scheme, describing it as a systemic denial of the less privileged.
He noted that the loan was supposed to be a succour to indigent Bayelsa parents and students who could not assess education easily, noting that such persons should not be made to face cumbersome situations before assessing the financial instrument.
On road infrastructure, the Niger Delta Herald Publisher and Editor-in-chief praised the Diri’s administration on the work done on the three senatorial district roads and tasked the government to do more.
Dufugha, who described Bayelsa State as a wealthy State, asserted that the oil rich state needed to see more developmental strides comparative to its current financial status.
“Bayelsa is not a poor state in terms of public revenue. We’re an oil producing state. We receive federal allocations. We receive derivation revenue. We have access to enormous public resources.
“We receive interventions. Yet, after all these years, the ordinary citizen is still asking, what exactly are we getting for our money? Where are the industries? Where are the jobs? Where are the functional health institutions? Where is the agricultural transformation? Where is the human capital development? Where is the economic diversification?,” he argued.
He enjoined the government to redouble effort in the education and health subsectors, adding that it would pay the state a lot if there were centres for the treatment of critical health cases such as cancer and others in order to save lives and avoid capital flight.
The Publisher urged the Senator Diri-led government and the public not to misunderstand his message as hatred or personal issues with the Governor, but see it as a constitutional and professional duty to hold government accountable.
By: Ariwera Ibibo-Howells, Yenagoa
Deputy Governor of the State, Dr. Peter Akpe, stated this rexently when he received the Resident Anti-Corruption Commissioner of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) in ernment House, Yenagoa.
charge of Bayelsa and Rivers States, during a courtesy visit to Government House, Yenagoa.
Akpe said the general perception of those in politics has always been that of corruption, but noted that the position of the Douye Diri-led Prosperity Administration is non-tolerance for corruption.
Akpe, who frowned at the habit of writing unfounded petitions against individuals and groups, said the heap of petition files from Bayelsa State at the ICPC was several times higher than that from any other state in the country.
He reminded residents that writing unjustifiable petitions to anti-graft agencies is not only a bad culture, but also attracts jail penalty, and assured the ICPC of the state government’s support to improve public enlightenment.
“Our government is a government that believes in zero tolerance for corruption; that is why we are always open to interact with you and other anti-graft agencies.
“Usually, there is this issue of negative perception of politics and politicians. But it is not true that every politician is corrupt. We have a good number of people in politics that are not corrupt, and we believe that a good percentage of them are in this government.
“The issue of petitions at the ICPC: What we observed was that the heap of files from Bayelsa were 10 times higher than the ones from even Lagos, and 15 more times than the ones from Sokoto and other states.
“That is quite disturbing. More so, most of those petitions were ion, our people should also know that such frivolous petitions can land them in jail”, he saidfrivolous.
From a personal experience, I can tell you that most of the petitions are extremely frivolous. While we will never tolerate corruption, our people should also know that such frivolous petitions can land them in jail”, he said.
Earlier in her remarks, the ICPC Resident Anti-Corruption Commissioner in charge of Rivers and Bayelsa States, Dr. Ekere Usiere, highlighted the statutory mandate of the ICPC, stressing that its mission was to carry out sensitisation on the ills of corruption in the Nigerian society.
Usiere, who expressed concern at the volume of petitions currently before the ICPC emanating from communities in Bayelsa over the management of the PIA funds, expressed the commission’s desire to partner the Bayelsa State Ministry of Information to carry out sensitisation programmes.
The ICPC Resident Anti-Corruption Commissioner was accompanied on the visit by Assistant Chief Superintendent, Mr. Evans Peters; Principal Superintendent, Mr. Emmanuel Akpor; Assistant Superintendent, Mrs. Tamaraudoubra Ebebi; and the Administrative Officer, Mr. Frank Yileaziba.
By: Ariwera Ibibo-Howells, Yenagoa
The Director of Administration and Human Resources, Sir Kelechi Nwelue, gave the advice during a commission-wide staff interactive session with Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) and insurance companies at the NDDC headquarters in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
In a statement signed and issued by Seledi Thompson-Wakama
Director, Corporate Affairs, Nwelue said the programme, approved by the Managing Director of the commission, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, was organised to sensitise staff on pension schemes and provide them with the knowledge required to make informed decisions about their retirement savings.
He particularly urged newly recruited employees to acquaint themselves with the operations and responsibilities of various PFAs before choosing an administrator to manage their pension contributions.
According to him, pension contributions deducted from employees’ salaries, alongside employers’ contributions, constitute long-term savings designed to provide financial support after retirement.
He urged staff to carefully assess the information provided by the participating pension administrators and choose the option best suited to their long-term financial interests.
Nwelue stressed that employees were at liberty to select their preferred pension administrator, noting that the interactive session provided an opportunity for the various companies to explain their products, services and benefits.
Also speaking, a Director in the Directorate of Administration and Human Resources, Mr. James Fole, said the programme was aimed at deepening employees’ understanding of pension, insurance and other financial instruments that could improve their financial wellbeing during and after active service.
Fole warned that inadequate preparation for retirement could expose employees to financial hardship in their post-service years.
He said: “That is not what the Managing Director, Executive Management and the entire management want for our staff. We want to see a situation where retirees enjoy a reasonable level of comfort, knowing that the Commission has contributed to their future.”
He added that equipping employees with appropriate financial knowledge while they were still in active service remained critical to achieving a financially secure retirement.
Several pension and insurance companies participated in the interactive session.
-
News2 days agoRSG Targets Nine Million Residents in Mosquito Net Distribution Campaign
-
Oil & Energy2 days agoAiyedatiwa Signs New Electricity Bill
-
Maritime2 days agoMarine Minister Commends President Tinubu On NPERA Bill Assent
-
Oil & Energy2 days agoNLNG Commissions Research And Innovation Centre In RSU
-
News2 days agoKenPoly Holds Eight Convocations, August 29
-
News2 days agoRSG Begins Another Phase of Projects Commissioning Today
-
News2 days agoRMAFC Completes Revenue Sharing Review, Proposes New Pay
-
Maritime2 days agoNAGAFF Petitions IGP Over Alleged Maritime Police Harassment