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Bayelsa Urges Councils To Set Up Vigilante Teams
The Bayelsa State Government has directed local government councils to set up credible vigilante teams in every community in their areas to work closely with the police and other security agencies in the state.
The state deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo gave the directive at separate meetings with traditional rulers from Kolokuma/Opokuma and Yenagoa Local Government Areas in Government House, Yenagoa.
A statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the Deputy Governor on Media, Mr Doubara Atasi, said the expanded meeting had in attendance service commanders together with House of Assembly members, Commissioners and chairmen from the two local government areas.
The statement quoted the Deputy Governor as restating the present administration’s zero tolerance stance on cultism, banditry, kidnapping and other criminal activities in the state.
While assuring the councils of the state government’s assistance towards strengthening community-based vigilante groups in the fight against crime and criminality, Senator Ewhrudjakpo called on the police to properly profile members of such groups to check sabotage.
He said necessary modalities would be worked out with the councils to maintain the vigilantes across the eight local government areas in the state.
The deputy governor also said government had set in motion the machinery to revamp and relaunch its Operation Doo Akpo security outfit to fight crime and insecurity.
He called on the traditional rulers and other community leaders to cooperate with security agencies as well as start the implementation of government’s directive on profiling of visitors and nonindigenes in their communities.
”This meeting is to appraise the security situation in our communities and discuss how we can strengthen our security machinery. That is why all the service commanders including the Commissioner of Police are here.
“All hands must be on deck to build a safe and stable Bayelsa State. From this September, we want you to fully comply with the Bayelsa State Government’s directive to register all strangers coming into your communities.
“On our part as a government, we are ready and will continue to defend our zero tolerance towards cultism, armed robbery, kidnapping and other forms of crimes.
“The Governor and I never came into office aided by cultists and criminals. So we are ready to fight them with God and every other means at our disposal. They had better change or leave Bayelsa for elsewhere.
“The police and other security agencies should step up their game. Come every community including my own Ofoni Community to get rid of those criminal elements”, the Deputy Governor said.
In their separate remarks, the monarchs of Kolokuma and Opokuma Kingdoms, King Mozi Onya Agara and King Collins Aranka, commended the state government for giving traditional rulers a sense of belonging in the governance of the state.
King Aranka, however, decried the total absence of police presence in the entire Opokuma clan and requested the urgent establishment of a police post in the area.
Also speaking, the Amananaowei of Sabagreia Community, His Royal Highness, Sir Boukumo Orukari, appealed to government and the security agencies to establish a military checkpoint along the Igbedi Creek, which he identified as a notorious route for kidnapping.
On their part, the Ibenanaowei of Gbarain Kingdom, King Funpere Akah, and the Obenibe of Epie, King Malla Sasime, called for effective implementation of the state anti-cultism law to ensure the prosecution of arrested cultists.
While saluting the efforts of the various security agencies in the state, they however urged them to do more in policing the Yenagoa metropolis.
In their separate submissions, the service commanders including the State Commissioner of Police, CP Echeng Echeng, spelt out the dangers of harbouring criminals and urged the traditional rulers to always avail them with timely and actionable intelligence.
CP Echeng assured that a number of measures would be taken to streamline the operations of vigilante groups in the state in line with extant best practices in community policing.
Other service commanders who also spoke and gave their phone numbers to the traditional rulers include the Commander, Nigerian Army 16 Brigade, Brigadier General Olurotimi Awolo, the Commander, Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Soroh Yenagoa, Commodore Patrick Effah, Commander, Sector Two, Operation Delta Safe, Colonel Yahaya Ibrahim and the state Commandant, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Mr Kupi Bako.
By: Ariwera Ibibo-Howells,
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.