News
Don’t Panic, LG Boss, Army, Police Assure Oyigbo Residents
Residents of Oyigbo Local Government Area, which has been infiltrated by criminal elements under the guise of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in Rivers State have been asked not to panic over military presence in the area.
The Chairman of Oyigbo LGA, Hon Gerald Oforji, made the appeal in a statement he personally signed, and made available to newsmen, yesterday.
Oforji also urged residents not to panic over military exercise going on in the area as it was aimed at recovery of stolen arms.
“People living and doing businesses in Oyigbo should strictly obey the 24hrs curfew imposed by Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike.
“Total compliance to the governor’s directive will ease the lifting of the curfew,” he stated.
Oforji’s appeal comes amidst reports of alleged ‘mass killings’ in Oyigbo by security agencies.
While the media space is totally blank of pictures and videos from Oyigbo, residents have been raising alarm on social media and local radio in Port Harcourt.
However, a resident of the area, Ndu Amaike said that the alleged killing started since Governor Wike’s declaration about the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in all parts of the state.
Amaike said the essence of the military action is extra-judicial, adding that, “I have personally lost two people that are close to me. The Army just shoots at will and bullet will just touch people.
“The soldiers mounted roadblocks on the major roads but we now hear that they are about to move into the streets. So, those that have gates have started to lock their gates. People are just scared really.”
Meanwhile, a group known as the Indigenous Youth Forum (IYF) has alleged that 33 people were missing, and 17 others, including women and children, were shot and wounded during a military operation in Oyigbo.
In a statement, spokesperson for IYF, Ebube Nwagbara, also alleged that the ongoing military operation in Oyigbo has claimed the lives of 28 Igbo sons and daughters in four days.
He said, “We are using this medium to draw the attention of well-meaning Nigerians and members of the international community to the ongoing massacre of Ndigbo in Rivers State by Nigerian soldiers”.
“According to our record so far, this war against Ndigbo in Rivers State has claimed the lives of 28 Igbo sons and daughters in four days, 33 people are missing and 17, including women and children, are shot and wounded”.
However, spokesman for the state Police Command, SP Nnamdi Omoni, while responding to claims by the group, said, “There is no such thing as massacre in Oyigbo.”
Similarly, the Nigerian Army has said that its ongoing operation in Oyigbo was not targeted at innocent persons but criminals who killed innocent citizens, including six soldiers and carted away their weapons.
This was made known by the Public Relations Officer of 6 Division of the Nigerian Army, Major Charles Ekeocha, while speaking on a live radio programme monitored by The Tide in Port Harcourt.
According to him, the Army operatives are doing stop-and-search to see if they could recover the rifles carted away by the so-called members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), saying that the soldiers were very professional in their engagement with the civilians.
He said that the locations the soldiers were clearing were possible hideouts for criminals and weapons, adding that if the Army failed to retrieve the weapons, the criminals could use them against innocent people.
It would be recalled that the proscribed IPOB under the guise of#EndSARS protests had killed four policemen and six soldiers while carting away weapons and setting police stations and vehicles on fire.
By: Susan Serekara-Nwikhana
News
I’m Committed To Community Dev – Ajinwo
News
RSG Tasks Rural Dwellers On RAAMP …As Sensitization Team Visits Akulga, Degema, Three Others

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
News
Senate Replaces Natasha As Committee Chairman

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.
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