₦airaland Forum

A pressure group in Ekid nation under the aegis of Ikpaisong Akoiyak has vowed to demolish the Landmark Beach Resort, which it noted is being falsely labelled as Ibeno Beach.

The group argued that the beach is Eket Beach, located behind ExxonMobil Qua Iboe Terminal in Eket Local Government Area of the state, adding that some corrupt officials of government had chosen to call it Ibeno Beach.

The group’s spokesman, Prince Inuaekid, in a statement which was made available to our correspondent in Uyo on Tuesday, alleged that Eket people won the land against Ibeno in 1916, adding that the judgement was approved by the privy council court in London in 1918.

He wondered why the former Commissioner for Lands, Capt. Iniobong Ekong, (retd) decided to sit on appeal in a case finalized over 100 years ago by awarding the land to Ibeno who lost the case.

Inuaekid revealed that colonial records indicated that Ibeno people came to settle in Eket in the 18th Century as refugees and were given a place to settle by the Eket forebears, who gave them the name Ibeno.

He added that Ibeno is the European corruption of the Ibibio word ‘Ibono mi’ meaning ‘settle here.’

He emphasized that tenants cannot now turn around to become landlords over their landlords in the beach area that their forebears never gave to them.

He further revealed that after much tension in the area, in April 2023, the House of Assembly enacted a law creating a map for the state which was assented to by the then Governor Emmanuel Udom, which restored this land to the rightful Eket owners, but regretted that Governor Umo Eno, has yet to recognize or work with this lawful map.

He added, “In 2024 the Akwa Ibom Elders Council, whose membership comprises of all former governors and deputy governors from the state, all retired chief judges and retired justices of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal from the state, all retired Army Generals and equivalent in the Navy and Air Force from the state, all former federal ministers from the state etc, met and looked into the perennial quarrel between Eket and Ibeno over this same land, part of which is said to have been granted to Landmark by the state government.

“The Elders Council came to a finding and conclusion that the land belongs to Eket, not Ibeno. The council recommended to Governor Eno with a public presentation by former Governor Victor Attah, that for justice, equity and peace to reign, all illegal structures built by Ibeno trespassers on parts of this land called Akoiyak or Stubbs Creek forest, should be demolished by the state government.

“Yet for nearly two years now Governor Eno has refused to demolish those illegal structures. Instead, the government attempted to build a Government Health Centre, government farm and government school on this land for Ibeno Local Council.”

He stated that in reaction, Ikpaisong Akoiyak, began the demolition of all unwanted structures – both government and private – on the land, adding that “on 28 February 2024 more than 40 private homes, schools, guest houses and churches were demolished.

He said, “On November 14, 2024, Government Primary School, Government Health Centre and government farm which were all under construction were demolished by the group.

He stated that the group welcomes Landmark Leisure Resort into Eket beaches, but warned that the owners of the investment must consult and lease the land from Eket landowners and address the resort as located in the Eket Local Government Area, failure of which they will allow the construction of the resort to reach advanced stages, before bringing it down to its foundations.

Inuaekid wonders why the government acquired their land for Landmark without consulting Eket leadership as landowners, “only for us to read in the newspapers that our land is now called Ibeno beach and has been granted to investors called Landmark.”

He warned that no government or military might subdue the will of the people who are fighting for their rights, instead, they will escalate insecurity in the area.

kettykin:
A fascinating story, but let’s dig deeper. What truly triggered this coup? Wasn’t its original intention to free Awolowo from prison and install him as prime minister? If so, why has history been distorted to present only one side of the story?

As usual, the one sides story seeks but to scapegoat the igbos. No one talks about another group of igbos led by Aguiyi Ironsi and Odumegwu Ojukwu that stepped in to restore government.

In my view, not enough Nigerians appreciate this fact. Some in our country cannot forgive those who participated in the mutiny and though I do not share that sentiment or disposition, this is understandable.

Others believe that those young men (they were all in their 20s) did the right thing and claim that those killings were necessary and heroic. This is a sentiment which I not only despise but which I also find unacceptable and appalling. There is nothing heroic about rebellion and the cold-blooded murder of innocent and defenceless men and women.

The coup affected the country in an equally profound manner because the events of that night led to a counter-coup six months later. It was a devastating and disproportionate response.

Sadly after that came the horrendous pogroms and slaughter of the Igbo in the north which eventually led to the civil war in which millions of people died, including innocent children. This was also horrendous and deplorable.

Yet the bitter truth is that if the new head of state, General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, who himself happened to be Igbo, had done the right thing and actually prosecuted the ringleaders of the coup namely Major Kaduna Nzeogwu, Major Anufuro, Major Ademoyega, Major Timothy Onwuatuegwu, Captain Emmanuel Nwobosi, Captain Okafor, Captain Ben Gbulie and all the other young officers that planned and executed the mutiny of January 15th 1966 after it was crushed, there would have been no northern revenge coup six months later.

I have not added Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna (who was actually the leader of the coup) to the list because he could not have been locked up or prosecuted by General Aguiy-Ironsi simply because he ran away to Ghana immediately after the mutiny in Lagos failed and after he and his co-mutineers were routed by Lt. Col. Jack Yakubu Gowon and his gallant officers.

For some curious reason after the coup was successfully crushed, General Aguiyi-Ironsi just locked these young mutineers up and he refused to prosecute them. This bred suspicion from the ranks of the northern officers given the fact that Aguiyi-Ironsi himself was an Igbo.

The suspicion was that he had some level of sympathy for the mutineers and the fact that they did not kill him during the course of the mutiny only fuelled that suspicion.

The northern officers also felt deeply aggrieved about the wholesale slaughter of their key political figures that night.

In my view, that, together with Aguiyi-Ironsi’s insistence on promulgating the Unification Decree which abolished the federal system of government and sought to turn Nigeria into a unitary state, made the revenge coup of July 29, 1966 inevitable.

The revenge coup was planned and led by Major Murtala Ramat Mohammed (as he then was) and it was supported and executed by other young northern officers like Major TY Danjuma (as he then was), Major Martins Adamu and many others.

This is the coup that was to put Lt. Col. Jack Gowon (as he then was) in power and when they struck it was a very bloody and brutal affair.

The response of the northern officers to the mutiny and terrible killings that took place on the night of January 15, 1966 and to General Aguiyi-Ironsi’s apparent procrastination and reluctance to ensure that justice was served to the mutineers was not only devastating but also frightful.

Three hundred army officers of Igbo extraction who were perceived to be sympathetic to the January 15 mutineers were killed that night including the Head of State General Aguiyi-Ironsi and the military governor of the old Western Region who was hosting him, the courageous Colonel Adekunle Fajuyi. This was very sad and unfortunate.

What happened on the night of January 15, 1966 was indefensible, unjustifiable, unacceptable, unnecessary, unprovoked and utterly and completely barbaric.

I beg to differ with those who believe that there was anything good about such a mutinous bloodbath and this is especially so given the fact that it was carried out by a small handful of ungrateful, cowardly and treacherous men.

Blood calls for blood: when you shed blood, other people want to shed your own blood as well and sadly this is the way of the world. The minute the shedding of blood in the quest for power becomes the norm we are all diminished and dehumanised: and this applies to both the perpetrators and the victims.

The January 15 coup set off a cycle of events which had cataclysmic consequences for our country and which we are still reeling from today.
I repeat with greater detail, this included the Northern ‘Revenge’ coup of July 29, 1966 in which 300 Igbo officers and an Igbo Head of State (Gen. Aguyi-Ironsi) were killed, the pogroms in the north in which over 30,000 Igbo civilians were killed and a civil war in which a reported 3 million Igbos (including 1 million children) and hundreds of thousands of Nigerians were cut short.

What a tragedy!

Coups may have happened in other countries in Africa but that did not mean that it had to happen here. In any case, the amount of blood that was shed on the morning of January 15, 1966 and the number of innocent people that were killed was unacceptable.

It arrested our development as a people and our political evolution as a country. Had it not happened, our history would have been very different. May we never see such a thing again. Yet regardless of the pain of the past, I believe that we should do all we can to put these matters behind us.

We must not allow ourselves to become prisoners of history. Rather than being propelled by pain and bitterness and becoming victims of history, we must learn from it, be guided by it and move on.

We must learn to forgive, even if we do not forget and, equally importantly, we must first establish the truth about those ugly events and understand what actually transpired.

What happened that night traumatised the nation. None of us has been the same since. I can identify with that because I was a part of it, I witnessed it and I was a victim of it. Yet by God’s grace and divine providence, my father’s life was spared: not because he was special but simply by the grace of God.

Every day I think about those that were killed that night and I remember their families. We share a common bond and we are all partakers of an ugly and frightful history.

I tell myself: “Were it not for divine providence, my father would have also died and I would not have been what I am today, because he was the one who educated me and did everything for me.”

If nothing else I know there was a purpose for that. We must resolve among ourselves that never again will people be attacked in their homes, dragged out, abducted and shot like dogs in the middle of the night.

Never again will women, wives, children and the unborn be slaughtered in this way.
Never again shall we witness such barbarity and wickedness in our quest for power.
Never again must any Nigerian suffer such brutality and callousness.

May the souls of all those who were murdered on January 15, 1966 continue to rest in peace and may God make Nigeria great again.

In the early hours of the morning of January 15th 1966, a coup d’etat took place in Nigeria which resulted in the murder of a number of leading political figures and senior army officers.
This was the first coup in the history of our country and 98 percent of the officers that planned and led it were from a particular ethnic nationality in the country.

According to Max Siollun, a notable and respected historian whose primary source of information was the police report compiled by the Police’s Special Branch after the failure of the coup, during the course of the investigation and after the mutineers had been arrested and detained.

Names of the leaders of the mutiny were as follows:

*Major Emmanuel Arinze Ifeajuna,
*Major Chukwuemeka Kaduna Nzeogwu,
*Major Chris Anuforo,
*Major Tim Onwutuegwu,
*Major Chudi Sokei,
*Major Adewale Ademoyega,
*Major Don Okafor,
*Major John Obieno,
*Captain Ben Gbuli,
*Captain Emmanuel Nwobosi,
*Captain Chukwuka,
*…and Lt. Oguchi.

It is important to point out that I saw the Special Branch report myself and I can confirm Siollun’s findings. These were indeed the names of ALL the leaders of the January 15th 1966 mutiny and all other lists are FAKE.

The names of those that they murdered in cold blood or abducted were as follows:

*Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, the Prime Minister of Nigeria (murdered),
*Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto and the Premier of the Old Northern Region (murdered),
*Sir Kashim Ibrahim, the Shettima of Borno and the Governor of the Old Northern Region (abducted),
*Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola, the Aare Ana Kakanfo of Yorubaland and the Premier of the Old Western Region (murdered),
*Chief Remilekun Adetokunboh Fani-Kayode Q.C., the Balogun of Ife, the Deputy Premier of the Old Western Region and my beloved father (abducted),
*Chief Festus Samuel Okotie-Eboh, the Oguwa of the Itsekiris and the Minister of Finance of Nigeria (murdered),
*Brigadier Samuel Adesujo Ademulegun, Commander of the 1st Brigade, Nigerian Army (murdered),
*Brigadier Zakariya Maimalari, Commander of the 2nd Brigade, Nigerian Army (murdered),
*Colonel James Pam (murdered),
*Colonel Ralph Sodeinde (murdered),
*Colonel Arthur Unegbe (murdered),
*Colonel Kur Mohammed (murdered),
*Lt. Colonel Abogo Largema (murdered),
*Alhaja Hafsatu Bello, the wife of the Sardauna of Sokoto (murdered),
*Alhaji Zarumi, traditional bodyguard of the Sardauna of Sokoto (murdered),
*Lateefat Ademulegun, the wife of Brigadier Ademulegun who was 8 months pregnant at the time (murdered),
*Ahmed B. Musa (murdered),
*Ahmed Pategi (murdered),
*Sgt. Daramola Oyegoke (murdered),
*Police Constable Yohana Garkawa (murdered),
*Police Constable Musa Nimzo (murdered),
*Police Constable Akpan Anduka (murdered),
*Police Constable Hagai Lai (murdered),
*and Police Constable Philip Lewande (murdered).

In order to reflect the callousness of the mutineers, permit me to share under what circumstances some of their victims were murdered and abducted.

Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was abducted from his home, beaten, mocked, tortured, forced to drink alcohol, humiliated and murdered after which his body was dumped in a bush along the Lagos-Abeokuta road.

Sir Ahmadu Bello was killed in the sanctity of his own home with his wife Hafsatu and his loyal security assistant Zurumi.

Zurumi drew his sword to defend his principal whilst Hafsatu threw her body over her dear husband in an attempt to protect him from the bullets.

Chief S. L. Akintola was gunned down as he stepped out of his house in the presence of his family and Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh was beaten, brutalised, abducted from his home, maimed and murdered and his body was dumped in a bush.

Brigadier Zakariya Maimalari had held a cocktail party in his home the evening before which was attended by some of the young officers that went back to his house early the following morning and murdered him.

Brigadier Samuel Ademulegun was shot to death at home, in his bedroom and in his matrimonial bed along with his eight-month-pregnant wife Lateefat. Colonel Shodeinde was murdered in Ikoyi Hotel,

whilst Col. Pam was abducted from his home and murdered in a bush.

Most of the individuals that were killed that morning were subjected to a degree of humiliation, shame and torture that was so horrendous that I am constrained to decline from sharing them in this contribution.

The mutineers came to our home as well which at that time was the official residence of the Deputy Premier of the Old Western Region and which remains there till today. After storming our house and almost killing my brother, sister and me, they beat, brutalised and abducted my father Chief Remi Fani-Kayode.

What I witnessed that morning was traumatic and devastating and, of course, what the entire nation witnessed was horrific. It was a morning of carnage, barbarity and terror. Those events set in motion a cycle of carnage which changed our entire history and the consequences remain with us till this day.

It was a sad and terrible morning and one of blood and slaughter. My recollection of the events in our home is as follows;

At around 2am my mother, Adia Aduni Fani-Kayode, came into the bedroom which I shared with my older brother, Rotimi, and my younger sister Toyin. I was six years old at the time. The lights had been cut off by the mutineers so we were in complete darkness and all we could see and hear were the headlights from three or four large and heavy trucks with big loud engines.

The official residence of the deputy premier had a very long drive so it took the vehicles a while to reach us. We saw four sets of headlights and heard the engines of four lorries drive up the driveway.

The occupants of the lorries, who were uniformed men who carried torches, positioned themselves and prepared to storm our home whilst calling my father’s name and ordering him to come out. My father courageously went out to meet them after he had called us together, prayed for us and explained to us that since it was him they wanted he must go out there.

He explained that he would rather go out to meet them and, if necessary, meet his death than let them come into the house to shoot or harm us all. The minute he stepped out they brutalised him. I witnessed this. They beat him, tied him up and threw him into one of the lorries.

The first thing they said to him as he stepped out was “where are your thugs now Fani-Power?” My father’s response was typical of him, sharp and to the point. He said, “I don’t have thugs, only gentlemen.”

I think this annoyed them and made them brutalise him even more. They tied him up, threw him in the back of the lorry and then stormed the house. When they got into the house they ransacked every nook and cranny, shooting into the ceiling and wardrobes. They were very brutal and frightful and we were terrified.

My mother was screaming and crying from the balcony because all she could do was focus on her husband who was in the back of the truck downstairs. There is little doubt that she loved him more than life itself.

“Don’t kill him, don’t kill him!!” she kept screaming at them. I can still visualise this and hear her voice pleading, screaming and crying. I didn’t know where my brother or sister were at this point because the house was in total chaos.

I was just six years old and I was standing there in the middle of the passage upstairs in the house by my parents’ bedroom, surrounded by uniformed men who were ransacking the whole place and terrorising my family.

Then out of the blue something extraordinary happened. All of a sudden one of the soldiers came up to me, put his hand on my head and said: “Don’t worry, we won’t kill your father, stop crying.” He said this to me three times. After he said it the third time I looked in his eyes and I stopped crying.

This was because he gave me hope and he spoke with kindness and compassion. At that point, all the fear and trepidation left me.

With newfound confidence, I went rushing to my mother who was still screaming on the balcony and told her to stop crying because the soldier had promised that they would not kill my father and that everything would be okay.

I held on to the words of that soldier and that morning, despite all that was going on around me, I never cried again.

Four years ago when he was still alive I made contact with and spoke to Captain Nwobosi, the mutineer who led the team to our house and that led the Ibadan operation that night about these events.

He confirmed my recollection of what happened in our house saying that he remembered listening to my mother screaming and watching me cry. He claimed that he was the officer who had comforted me and assured me that my father would not be killed.

I have no way of confirming if it was really him but I have no reason to doubt his words. He later asked me to write the foreword of his book which sadly he never launched or released because he passed away a few months later.

The mutineers took my father away and as the lorry drove off my mother kept on wailing and crying and so was everyone else in the house except for me. From there they went to the home of Chief S.L. Akintola a great statesman and nationalist and a very dear uncle of mine.

My mother had phoned Akintola to inform him of what had happened in our home.

She was screaming down the phone asking where her husband had been taken and by this time she was quite hysterical. Chief Akintola tried to calm her down assuring her that all would be well. When they got to Akintola’s house he already knew that they were coming and he was prepared for them.

Instead of coming out to meet them, he had stationed some of his policemen inside the house and they started shooting. A gun battle ensued and consequently, the mutineers were delayed by at least one hour.

According to the Special Branch reports and the official statements of the mutineers who survived that night and who were involved in the operation, their plan had been to pick up my father and Chief Akintola from their homes in Ibadan, take them to Lagos, gather them together with the other political leaders that had been abducted and then execute them all together.

The difficulty they had was that Akintola resisted them and he and his policemen ended up wounding two of the soldiers that came to his home. One of the soldiers, whose name was apparently James, had his fingers blown off and the other had his ear blown off. After some time, Akintola’s ammunition ran out and the shooting stopped.

His policemen stood down and they surrendered. He came out waving a white handkerchief and the minute he stepped out, they just slaughtered him. My father witnessed Akintola’s cold-blooded murder in utter shock, disbelief and horror because he was tied up in the back of the lorry from where he could see everything that transpired.

The soldiers were apparently enraged by the fact that two of their men had been wounded and that Akintola resisted and delayed them. After they killed him, they moved on to Lagos with my father.

When they got there, they drove to the Officer’s Mess at Dodan Barracks in Ikoyi where they tied him up, sat him on the floor of a room, and placed him under close arrest by surrounding him with six very hostile and abusive soldiers.

Thankfully, about two hours later he was rescued, after a dramatic gun battle by loyalist troops led by one Lt. Tokida who stormed the room with his men and who was under the command of Captain Paul Tarfa (as he then was). They had been ordered to free my father by Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon who was still in control of the majority of troops in Dodan Barracks and who remained loyal to the federal government.

Bullets flew everywhere in the room during the gunfight that ensued whilst my father was tied up in the middle of the floor with no cover. All that yet not one bullet touched him!

This was clearly the Finger of God and once again divine providence as under normal circumstances few could have escaped or survived such an encounter without being killed either by direct fire or a stray bullet. For this, I give God the glory.

Meanwhil, three of the soldiers that had tied my father up and placed him under guard in that room were killed right before his eyes and two of Takoda’s troops who stormed the room to save him lost their lives in the encounter.

At this point, permit me to mention the fact that outside of my father, providence also smiled favourably upon and delivered Sir Kashim Ibrahim, the Shettima of Borno and the Governor of the Old Northern Region from death that morning.

He was abducted from his home in Kaduna by the mutineers but was later rescued by loyalist troops. When the mutineers took my father away, everyone in our home thought he had been killed.

The next morning a handful of policemen came and took us to the house of my mother’s first cousin, Justice Atanda Fatai-Williams, who was a judge of the Western Region at the time. He later became the Chief Justice of Nigeria.

From there we were taken to the home of Justice Adenekan Ademola, another high court judge at the time, who was a very close friend of my father and who later became a judge of the Court of Appeal.

At this point, the whole country had been thrown into confusion and no one knew what was going on. We heard lots of stories and did not know what to make of them anymore. There was chaos and confusion and the entire nation was gripped by fear.

Two days later, my father finally called us on the telephone and he told us that he was okay. When we heard his voice, I kept telling my mother “I told you, I told you.”

Justice Ademola and his dear wife who was my mother’s best friend, a Ghanaian lady by the name of Aunty Frances, were weeping with joy. My mother was also weeping as were my brother and sister and I just kept rejoicing because I knew that he would not be killed and I had told them all.

I believe that whoever that soldier was that promised me that my father would not be killed was used by God to convey a message to me that morning even in the midst of the mayhem and fear. I believe that God spoke through him that night.

Whoever he was, the man spoke with confidence and authority and this constrains me to believe that he was a commissioned officer or a man in authority. These mutineers who carried out this mutiny and coup were not alone: they got some backing from elements in the political class who identified with them.

Some have said that it was an Igbo coup whilst others have said that it was an UPGA (referring to the political alliance between the Action Group and the NCNC) coup but that is a story for another day.

Whatever anyone calls it or believes, two things are clear: the consequences of the action that those young officers took that night were far-reaching and the way and manner in which they killed their victims was deplorable and barbaric.

Such savagery had never been witnessed in our shores. There has never been another night like that and the results of that night have been devastating and profound.

In my view, not enough Nigerians appreciate this fact. Some in our country cannot forgive those who participated in the mutiny and though I do not share that sentiment or disposition, this is understandable.

Others believe that those young men (they were all in their 20s) did the right thing and claim that those killings were necessary and heroic. This is a sentiment which I not only despise but which I also find unacceptable and appalling. There is nothing heroic about rebellion and the cold-blooded murder of innocent and defenceless men and women.

The coup affected the country in an equally profound manner because the events of that night led to a counter-coup six months later. It was a devastating and disproportionate response.

Sadly after that came the horrendous pogroms and slaughter of the Igbo in the north which eventually led to the civil war in which millions of people died, including innocent children. This was also horrendous and deplorable.

Yet the bitter truth is that if the new head of state, General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, who himself happened to be Igbo, had done the right thing and actually prosecuted the ringleaders of the coup namely Major Kaduna Nzeogwu, Major Anufuro, Major Ademoyega, Major Timothy Onwuatuegwu, Captain Emmanuel Nwobosi, Captain Okafor, Captain Ben Gbulie and all the other young officers that planned and executed the mutiny of January 15th 1966 after it was crushed, there would have been no northern revenge coup six months later.

I have not added Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna (who was actually the leader of the coup) to the list because he could not have been locked up or prosecuted by General Aguiy-Ironsi simply because he ran away to Ghana immediately after the mutiny in Lagos failed and after he and his co-mutineers were routed by Lt. Col. Jack Yakubu Gowon and his gallant officers.

For some curious reason after the coup was successfully crushed, General Aguiyi-Ironsi just locked these young mutineers up and he refused to prosecute them. This bred suspicion from the ranks of the northern officers given the fact that Aguiyi-Ironsi himself was an Igbo.

The suspicion was that he had some level of sympathy for the mutineers and the fact that they did not kill him during the course of the mutiny only fuelled that suspicion.

The northern officers also felt deeply aggrieved about the wholesale slaughter of their key political figures that night.

These government officials are having a field day in Mamu Forest Reserve which has become a security threat to the people of the community and the state.

Obiogbolu urged the people of Ndiukwuenu to ensure that bandits, kidnappers and gunmen do not use their community as a place of abode as the governor would not tolerate that.

Tension is mounting in the sleepy community of Ndiukwuenu in Orumba North local government area of Anambra State following the destruction of crops, economic trees and farmlands by government officials at Mamu Forest Reserve to build a housing project.

Last week, people from the community protested at the Government House, Awka, pleading with Governor Chukwuma Soludo to intervene in the matter.

A visit to the community showed that over 500 palm trees, designer trees, as well a large expanse of cassava farms were destroyed.

President General of Ndiukwuenu Community, Geoffrey Ezechukwu Okoli, said some powerful people in the community were conniving with government officials and non-indigenes to deprive the people tof heir means of livelihood.

According to him, the palm trees and other economic trees which the state government spent so much to purchase are being destroyed by agents of government.

Okoli said: “Our people are not happy with the grave injustice being done to us by agents of the government who have forcefully taken over our land and handed same over to some people within and outside the Ozzu community in Ndiukwuenu.

“This singular action has caused a crisis in our community. Before the de-reservation and release of 20% compensatory plots by the government, Ozzu Ndiukwuenu was a peaceful community, but now the peace is eroded.

“These government officials are having a field day in Mamu Forest Reserve which has become a security threat to the people of the community and the state.

“The crises that ensued as a result of the de-reservation and the release of 20% compensatory plots to the community has been a protracted one with no end in sight.

“We therefore call on Governor Soludo to wade into this matter to forestall the devastating effect of the lingering crises.”


He urged the state government to:

*place an order stopping the people involved from further destruction, sales, excavation and parcelling of any portion of the Forest Reserve;

*set up a panel of inquiry to look into what is happening in Mamu Forest Reserve;

*give audience to the stakeholders of Ozuu Village-Ndiukwuenu and other interested groups; and

*arrest and prosecute those found culpable.
Speaking on the issue, the Political Adviser to the governor, Dr. Alex Obiogbolu said Governor Soludo will look into their matter.

Obiogbolu said: “We know you want to protect your God-given asset. The governor, as you know, does not condone illegality and I want to assure you that he will look into this matter dispassionately to find a lasting solution.”.

Obiogbolu urged the people of Ndiukwuenu to ensure that bandits, kidnappers and gunmen do not use their community as a place of abode as the governor would not tolerate that.

Following the arrest of ISWAP suspects during bomb-making training in Ilesa, over 100 foreigners who invaded Osun state in groups have been arrested.

The Nation learnt that the foreigners were arrested while entering the state by operatives of the Nigerian Immigration Service.

It was gathered that the foreigners did not have any valid travelling documents and lacked an explanation of their mission in the state.

A top security source disclosed: “I will not disclose the location of arrest for security reasons and not to raise apprehension in the community. They were arrested and the Osun State Government was informed.

“The state government was involved as they provided Immigration buses to convey them.”

When reached by phone, the spokesperson for the Nigerian Immigration Service, Osun State Command, Olu Moyosad, did not answer calls or respond to text messages.

Meanwhile, in an exclusive phone interview with The Nation, the Osun State Commisioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi confirmed arrest of 100 foreigners in the state.

He said: “100 foreigners were arrested weeks ago before the arrest of suspected members ISWAP in Ilesa. We are on top of security situation, our residents should not panic.”

According to him, the issue of security is not something that we can disclose fully. In Osun, we have always been proactive which led to the arrest of suspected terrorists in Ilesa.

“The governor including our Service Chiefs they are on top of security situations in the state. We are equally rejigging the Amotekun Security outfit to be more effective.”

He commended Oyo State Governor for raising the alarm of bandit invasion in Southwest,’noting that his Osun counterpart will always ensure that residents do not suffer any crisis.

“Following the alarm, we are leaving no stone unturned on security matters. Osun State remain the safest state in Nigeria because of the efforts of Mr Governor.”

helinues:
If Pdp can abandoned their own party house for decades, anything is abandonment

The Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) has expressed its appreciation to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his steadfast dedication to enhancing the welfare of pensioners nationwide.

In a statement issued by its National President, Comrade Godwin Abumisi, the union acknowledged the President’s efforts in implementing important measures aimed at easing the economic difficulties faced by retirees under the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS

The union pointed out two significant accomplishments of the administration: the recent approval of a 20% pension increase for DBS pensioners and the establishment of a minimum pension of ₦32,000. According to the NUP, these initiatives demonstrate President Tinubu’s “commitment to ensuring that pensioners are supported and their rights upheld and promoted.

The 20% pension increase, which is back dated to January 2024, has already been disbursed to many DBS pensioners, while the minimum pension of ₦32,000, approved in July 2024, has also reached numerous beneficiaries. Comrade Abumisi remarked, “This is the first time pensioners have received any pension increase without protests. We commend you, Mr. President.

The NUP also conveyed its gratitude to the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) and its new Executive Secretary, Tolulope Odunaiya, for facilitating the timely distribution of the pension increments. The union acknowledged Odunaiya’s commitment, stating,

“We are thankful for her assurance that the 20% pension increase will be disbursed before the end of December 2024 and for her diligent execution of President Tinubu’s policies regarding pensioners’ welfare.

”We appreciate her promise to ensure that the 20% pension increase is paid before the end of December 2024 and her strict implementation of President Tinubu’s policy direction on pensioners’ welfare.”

However, the union raised concerns over discrepancies in the payment process. Despite progress, not all pensioners have received their entitlements. “As of today, the 20% pension increment arrears have not been fully paid to all DBS pensioners. Furthermore, 70% of pensioners are yet to receive the ₦32,000 minimum pension,” the statement revealed.

The NUP called on PTAD to address these discrepancies promptly, urging the agency to review its records and rectify any errors in the payment process. “We demand that PTAD pay serious attention to ensuring no DBS pensioner is omitted or deprived of their rights in the name of system failure or man-made error in the payment processes,” the union emphasized.

Despite these challenges, the union remained optimistic about the administration’s commitment to pensioners. They reiterated their gratitude to President Tinubu, describing the reforms as a significant step forward.

“We are grateful for the 20% pension increase and the ₦32,000 pension award that is today a minimum pension,” the statement added.

The NUP emphasized the significance of these reforms in improving the quality of life for retirees, particularly during challenging economic times.

“The approval of these measures is a testament to the government’s understanding of the economic realities facing pensioners and its determination to provide relief,” the union noted.

As the administration continues its efforts to support pensioners, the NUP urged all stakeholders to work collaboratively to address the remaining issues. They expressed hope that ongoing reforms would ensure a brighter future for all retirees in Nigeria.

The union concluded with a heartfelt message to the President:

“We appreciate your love and commitment to pensioners. Your actions have given us hope, and we look forward to seeing all pensioners benefit from these life-changing reforms.”

mrvitalis:
Only a dull people would think those people who build houses in the village build it for economic gains

Lmaooo

Ojiofor:
IPOB can make Uche Okwukwu their national cordinator
This is the reason why he was avoided like lepper.

The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, on Saturday congratulated Uche Okwukwu on his emergence as President-General of the apex Igbo sociocultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo.

IPOB also charged Southeast governors and Ohanaeze’s Ime-obi against subverting the choice of the people due to selfish political interests.
Barrister Okwukwu, also from Rivers State, had earlier been announced as the new President-General by a faction of the organization.

However, the spokesman of IPOB, Emma Powerful, said Southeast governors have engaged in activities aimed at sabotaging the progress of Igbo nation.

According to Powerful: “The noble family and movement of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, led by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu hails the election of Barr. Uche Okwukwu as Ohanaeze Ndigbo President General.

“We equally call on the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the Governors and Ohanaeze IMEOBI not to subvert the clear choice of the people or subject it to usual selfish political interests.

“Not content with entrenching and directly benefiting from the insecurity ravaging parts of Igboland, South-East governors have once again demonstrated their utter disdain and disrespect of the wishes of the majority of Igbos worldwide by engaging in activities clearly designed to sabotage the progress of our race at this critical juncture in our history.

“If the reports making the rounds are confirmed that these governors, led by Hope Uzodinma has openly rejected the legitimate and popular choice of the people in the person of Barr. Uche Okwukwu then that chaos their masters have for long been seeking to infuse into the socio-cultural and political framework of Igboland would have materialised.

“These governors have overstepped the boundary of decency and have gone a step too far in their shameful effort to impose yet another politician on the people. If these governors fail to retrace their steps, IPOB will openly align with our religious leaders in deploying all of its might to ensure that none of them will ever be reelected nor occupy any position of influence in our land ever again.

“Vox populi vox Deu. The voice of the people is the voice of God. And our people in Rivers State have spoken resoundingly that Barr. Uche Okwukwu is their choice to lead the apex Igbo organisation in the world. No Jupiter will overturn that.”

kettykin:
Build your mansions in Lagos, Nigeria's former capital and commercial hub, and you face resistance from the Yorubas.

Build your mansions in Abuja, the federal capital, and suddenly the FCT Minister and bureaucrats become obstacles.

Build your mansions in Port Harcourt, the oil and gas powerhouse, and you encounter the Ikwerre—some battling identity crises. (Here, I refer not to the Igbo subgroup but to those who trace their roots to Edo.)

Invest your hard-earned money in real estate, and even your own people criticize you, calling it a waste, offering no better alternatives for wealth creation or security.

Do these critics know how many Igbo have lost their properties in Lagos and Abuja? How many dreams buried under bureaucracy, tribalism, or outright hostility? The Igbo are not "wasting" money; they are securing their future, tying resources into assets that will appreciate.

Keep your empty advice. If you're not offering solutions, you are part of the problem.

Nnamdipapa:
Nope, you are getting the wrong message. You can build a simple basic house in the village, not an imposing edifice. You see the difference?

Greenback:
If you ain't the old agbaya who never behaves his age,you would know that not everyone else is Igbo.
And again,you you ain't the old agbaya,you would also remember that it is the same you yorubas who always attack and accuse the Igbos of not doing things in their home, abi shebi it is you people who always call them "developers?"
So tell us,what are you saying now?!

mymadam:
💯

DaddyCoool:
He's right but prople don't live by logic, they live to impress. There was that man who built a gigantic skyscraper in a sparsely populated village!

Greenback:
Rubbish... rubbish post by a stopped op who's not tired of tribalism at his old agbaya age..

“I am Igbo, from the eastern part of the country,” he began, pointing out a cultural norm among the Igbos.
“Building a huge mansion in the village as a rich igbo man is a waste of time and a waste of money” – Popular Canada based doctor Dr Zo. pic.twitter.com/CLjEHmwHXD
— #OurFavOnlineDoc 🩺 🇬🇧 (@OurFavOnlineDoc) January 9, 2025