₦airaland Forum

The management of Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company Limited (IVM), one of Nigeria’s auto manufacturing outfits, has refuted claims on various sections of the media that the company shut-down and sacked workers.

This was contained in a statement the management of the company issued yesterday in reaction to the publications which purported that the plant had laid-off worker and shut down production over FOREX crises.

Explaining, however, that IVM, like many other manufacturers in the country, was experiencing low production occasioned by scarcity of FOREX to import vital components, the statement signed by the Public Relations and Media Assistant, Cornel Osigwe, assured that the auto maker was hopeful that the Federal Government would soon find a lasting solution to the challenge.

The management faulted part of the erroneous reports which specifically stated: “Nigeria’s major vehicle assembly plant, Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company Limited (IVM), has announced its decision to shut down production due to lack of foreign exchange to import vehicle components.”

The IVM spokesman described the reports as “a deviation from the interview (the Chairman of the Innoson Group), Dr. Innocent Chukwuma, granted to Reuters News Agency which was correctly published by them, but was totally distorted by the various news platforms.”

Highlighting what it said was the correct position, the statement added, “Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Co Ltd (@innosonmotors) has not shut down its manufacturing plant and is not planning to do so. In as much as the company is experiencing low production due to the inability to get the required volume of FOREX to source for its vehicle components outside Nigeria, it still has absolute faith in the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) ability to fix FOREX scarcity problems.

“Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Co Ltd has not laid off its staff due to the low activities in production. Rather, what Chief Chukwuma said was ‘I believe they (Federal Government) are doing something but if they can’t do anything, we will lay off some workers,

“Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Co Ltd believes in the Federal Government’s drive to boost the manufacturing sector and is aware that this presentFOREX scarce challenge is a phase that will soon pass”.

The Ekiti State Government, which passed a bill recently outlawing herdsmen grazing their cattle on the streets in the state. According to the bill which has been signed into law, any violator would be jailed for six-years. The Ekiti State House of Assembly penultimate

Thursday passed the Bill which aim is to regulate public grazing in the state. Before the bill became law, submissions of the report of the Joint Committees on Agriculture and Environment by, Mr. Ayodele Fajemilehin, to the Committee of the Whole House was considered and approved in plenary presided over by the Speaker of the House, Hon. Kola Oluwawole. According to the House, the law would now reduce the incessant clashes between the farmers and herdsmen in the state. It is now a crime for any cattle, sheep and goat to graze on undesignated lands in Ekiti State.

The new law tagged, “Prohibition of Cattle and Other Ruminants Grazing in Ekiti, 2016 Law”, however further stipulates that, “The Governor shall by an order designate land in each of 16 local government areas in the state in respect of which cattle or ruminants may be permitted to graze”. Accordingly, “no person shall cause or permit any cow, oxen, sheep as well as goat under his or her control to graze on any land in which the Governor has not designated as ranches”.

The law also forbids the movement of cattle by herdsmen and owners of goats in Ekiti State after 6.00pm”. It further contained sections which specified that: “No cattle or other rumi¬nants, shall by any means, move in the night; movement shall be between 7am and 6pm”.

Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose said that any herdsman caught grazing with arms or any weapon in Ekiti would now be charged with terrorism and be made to face the law accordingly. The signing of the law was read to the congregation of all traditional chiefs and rulers in Ekiti by Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Hon. Kolawole Oluwawole last Monday.

The chiefs were invited by the Governor for the meeting at the Osuntokun hall of the Government House in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State capital. According to Oluwawole, the state government was already working with local government officials to apportion land for grazing to all local government authorities in the state.

He also gave the highlights of the anti-grazing law as: “Grazing activities must be from 7am to 6pm on daily basis. The gov­ernment shall allot certain portion of land to each local governments for grazing. Anyone caught grazing on portions of land or any farmland not allotted by government shall be apprehended and made to face the law.

Any herdsman caught with firearms and any weapons whatsoever during grazing shall be charged with terrorism. Any cattle confiscated shall be taken to government cattle ranch at Erifun in Iworoko community. Any farm products destroyed by the activities of any caught herdsman shall be estimated by agri­cultural officer and the expenses of the estimate shall be borne by the culprit. Any herdsman who violates any of these rules shall be imprisoned for six months without option of fine”.

Governor Fayose who signed the bill into law before the congregation of all the traditional chiefs and rulers, said that the purpose of meeting with them was the importance of interfacing with the traditional chiefs on security issues in the state, development of the state, and anti-grazing law among others. He stated that he recognized the need for his government to work with the chiefs to give valuable information on activities of those who plunder state resources such as trees , farmlands and others.

Speaking about the anti-grazing law, he said: “My government took the bill to the House a

amuokuko:
So i am in number 5 now...
that is good oo..

i Will get to 50years where i will rapture into heaven without dying....

Benue State Command of the Department of State Services,DSS has Some Kidnappers who have been terrorizing Benue state. Six School children have been rescued, some were united with their parents while some are yet to identify their parents.

Addressing news men at the old banquet hall of Benue people’s house Makurdi, Governor Samuel Ortom reiterates that kidnappers and other criminals has no place in Benue. He call on the people of the state to remain resolute and assist the security agencies to curb more criminals in the State as his Government will continue to do his best to chase away criminals so as to pave way for investors come in.

Those paraded were Adejo Ogiri who is said to be the inn syndicate’s anchor man in Benue, Michael Uzochukwu Ezekiel, Afonne Edward Nwokocha, Henry Ndukwe and Ifeanyi Sunday Isaac.
kidnappers caught in benue2
One of the notorious kidnappers, Ogiri 35 have said to be a son of the first Och Idoma, Others paraded were Michael Uzochukwu Ezekiel, Afonne Edward Nwokocha, Henry Ndukwe and Ifeanyi Sunday Isaac.

Some of the children kidnapped by the gang included Emmanuel Ogochukwu Abedi, Favour Chijioke Oleka, James Ochoyama Adanu and Joseph Abode.

A judge sentenced a Georgia man to 40 years in prison Wednesday for throwing scalding water on a gay couple sleeping in an apartment, leaving them with severe burns that required surgery.

Jurors deliberated for about 90 minutes before finding Martin Blackwell, 48, guilty of eight counts of aggravated battery and two counts of aggravated assault in the February attack on Anthony Gooden and Marquez Tolbert.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Henry Newkirk said the evidence was overwhelming and that Blackwell had behaved in a soulless and malicious way. He noted that it “takes a long time” for a pot of water to boil.

“You had so many outs where the voice of reason could have taken over,” the judge told Blackwell, who had faced up to 80 years in prison.

Prosecutors said it was a vicious, premeditated attack. Tolbert testified that after pouring hot water on them, Blackwell grabbed him as he jumped and screamed in pain and told him: “Get out of my house with all that gay.”

Georgia doesn’t have a hate crime law. The FBI said in March that it had opened a hate crime investigation, but spokesman Kevin Rowson said Wednesday that the agency isn’t commenting on that probe.

Blackwell’s defense attorney acknowledged that he poured water on the pair, but asked jurors to find that it was reckless conduct.

“It’s not about hate. It’s about old-school culture, old-school thinking,” Monique Walker told the jury.

The defense didn’t call any witnesses and didn’t present any evidence. Blackwell, who remained stoic throughout the trial, did not take the stand. He showed no reaction when the verdict was read.

Blackwell was a long-distance truck driver and lived with his girlfriend, Kim Foster, at her sister’s apartment in College Park when he was in town. Gooden, who is Foster’s son, and Tolbert had been dating about a month and were sleeping at the apartment Feb. 12 after working an overnight shift when Blackwell dumped scalding water on them.

Blackwell’s attorney said her client felt the young men’s behavior was disrespectful and that there were certain things people sharing a house shouldn’t do.

Prosecutor Fani Willis scoffed at the idea.

“We’re not going back to when you get to treat people differently because of who they are,” she said in closing arguments.

Walker said Blackwell often made inappropriate comments to various members of the household — asking about their sex lives and calling them derogatory names — and throwing water on the pair was just an extension of that reckless behavior. He didn’t intend to hurt the young men, he just wanted to get them to stop their disrespectful behavior, she said.

The prosecutor said Blackwell’s actions were well thought out. He took the time to select the biggest pot in the house, filled it with water and waited for it to boil. That gave him plenty of time to think about what he was doing and the consequences, Willis said.

Gooden, 24, spent about a month in the hospital, two weeks of that in a medically induced coma, and Tolbert, 21, spent 10 days in the hospital. Both men suffered severe burns that required multiple surgeries and skin grafts.

They both testified Tuesday that they suffered great pain and were unable to perform even the most basic everyday tasks — eating, bathing and using the bathroom — without help when they got out of the hospital.

“I’m ecstatic. I think justice has been served,” Tolbert told reporters after the verdict. He was nervous before the trial, but once he testified about what had happened he felt a weight lift, he said.

Having gone through such an ordeal makes him realize that life is precious, Tolbert said, and he’s ready to move on and focus on going to school to study architecture with a minor in computer engineering. He and Gooden remain friends and check in on each other to see how the other is healing, he said.

Prosecutors asked jurors to find Blackwell guilty of aggravated battery for disfigurement and loss of use of body parts and guilty of aggrava

tobimillar:
And in a few years time, they walk free.....I won't be surprised if they are acquitted for want of evidence. And am sure, that's after settling the police. Something is terribly wrong with this country. People like this, need to die at the stake and televised live for all to watch to continually serve as a warning and deterrent to others. If the law is not working, then allow jungle justice to be entrenched in our Constitution (jk). Honestly I see no reason why this men should be alive after investigation has been concluded. Just look at the man they killed all for money