₦airaland Forum

Bayelsa State Government on Wednesday demolished a one-storey private building owned by Governor Seriake Dickson because it obstructed the Right-of-Way as well as intruding on the state Capital City Master Plan. .

The demolished building, which had been marked by the Capital City Development Authority on June 28, 2012, was situated along the Opolo/AIT Road, Yenagoa, the state capital.

The demolition, which began about 12.48 pm, was supervised by the Deputy Governor John Jonah; Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Mr. Lawrence Ehwrudjakpor; Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Markson Fefegha; Commissioner for State Capital City Development; and Mr. Konugha Zuwa.

Other structures affected by the demolition exercise included that of the Director General of the State Agency for the Control of AIDS, Dr. Temple Iluma.

Jonah told journalists that the location of the Governor’s house obstructed the Right-of-Way, hence there would be no compensation for him.

He said, “In line with the development control of the CCDA and urban renewal of the state, the government awarded contract for the dualisation of the road. Anyone who has built structures on the Right-of-Way should expect such buildings to be demolished.

“We have been talking about the master plan as well as some areas where we have to carry out urban renewal. For the master plan, we expect every builder to go and get clearance before he or she starts to build to see the extent that he can go outside the road.

“One of the houses we have found to have interfered with the plan of Yenagoa is this one-storey structure belonging to the Governor. On the advice of the CCDA that is concerned with development control of the state, the house was marked since last year for demolition. And you know we have awarded contract for the dualisation of the Opolo Road.”

However, some Yenagoa residents on Wednesday said the exercise was politically-motivated, notwithstanding that the governor’s house was affected.

The residents, who claimed that only a section of Dickson’s building was demolished, said the exercise was a strategy to enable the government to demolish buildings of perceived opponents without causing public outrage.

None of the complaining residents however agreed to be quoted.

In his comment, Ehwrudjakpor said the demolition had been on for some time and listed the affected areas to include Ovom, Igbogene, Imgbi, Diete_Spiff and Eradiri road expansion.

• As Awka diocese absolves APC candidate of assault
Shola Oyeyipo
A certain Mrs. Maryrose Ozoemena Nwadike, said to
be a younger sister to the candidate of the All
Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Chris Ngige, in
the Anambra State governorship election was said to have been debarred from practicing law in Maryland,
the United States for allegedly using her bank account
to launder money for one of her elder brothers,
presumed to be Chris. Nwadike was consequently debarred after a
Maryland Attorney Grievance Commission was said to
have found her guilty for using her escrow account to
launder vast sums of money for the said brother and
for lying to investigators and the judge when
questioned about it. In the highlight of the commission’s decision, it was
stated that the “Respondent claimed that $349,975
wired into her Attorney Trust Account on August 2005
came from (unspecified) personal injury cases and
form attorney’s fees and reimbursed expenses in
the Dr Ngige Election Tribunal Case(s) in Nigeria.” The documents of the long trial and investigation,
outlined a vast array of infringements and “four year
pattern of commingling funds which the Respondent
claimed she used in paying for her personal expenses
as intentional misappropriation.”
A rather shocking part of the revelation was an alleged disbursement of a staggering sum of $349,975
for bringing a homeless American to delay Ngige’s
stay in office. All this was said to have happened at the time the APC
candidate was busy selling himself off as the messiah
opposed to looting of the state’s treasury by the
godfathers and that he was suffering persecution for
his principled stand.
In a detailed rendering of the sleaze that Ngige allegedly orchestrated in office through his sister in
the US, one of the documents obtained from the courts
in Maryland, a copy of which was obtained by
THISDAY stated thus: “Respondent produced only copies of deposit slips
and customer receipts from 21 March 2003 through 7
June 2006, monthly bank statements from 1 August
2003 through 31 May 2006, and disbursed checks
from 25 April 2003 through 22 May 2006 related to the
trust account. Respondent never produced any requested billing statements, ledger cards, or
accounting of funds that she received, maintained,
and disbursed from her trust account during this
period. “Respondent claimed to have received several
deposits, totaling $110,493, in her attorney trust
account slated to be transferred to the Ngige
campaign, but she failed to provide an accounting
reflecting these deposits. The record shows that, on
29 August 2005, she deposited a $120,000 personal check for which Judge Dugan found she offered again
no logical or coherent accounting. “Respondent also transferred $50,000 into her
attorney trust account in September 2005, funds
which she claimed belonged to Ngige. From 2002 to
2006, Respondent disbursed from the account a total
of $134,312.85 prior to making deposits necessary to
fund those disbursements. When asked by Bar Counsel to explain several specific instances of this
practice, Respondent replied to each inquiry that each
premature disbursement was due to an
“administrative glitch.” A witness, Anthony Isama, testified that three suspect
debits on Respondent’s trust account paid to
American Express, totaling $7,820, and one check
issued from the account to “MBNA,” for $35,600,
were payments for credit card purchases Respondent
made for Ngige’s wife. Meanwhile, a further $50,000 cash withdrawal Respondent made from her
account on December 4, 2002 was never explained. In addition, Respondent’s refusal even to identify
forthrightly Christopher Ngige as her brother was
evasive, at best. Respondent stated disingenuously
that Ngige merely was “somebody’s name.”
Even though Ngige was not a client of the
Respondents, she asserted an attorney-client privilege and refused to explain her relationship to him. When
Isama testified that Ngige is Respondent’s brother,
Judge Dugan asked Respondent why she had engaged in
such “subterfuge.” Respondent kept mute.
However, there are speculations that Ngige might be
extradited to the US to answer questions arising from
the case. Meanwhile, the Awka Catholic Diocese, Anambra State
has denied that Ngige slapped one of the Revered
fathers in the diocese during the funeral ceremony of
the mother of Bishop Paulinus Ezeokafor, the
dioceses’ main Bishop of Awka. The event which
allegedly took place at Nanka, Orumba North council area of the state, the diocese said was a tissue of lies. The chancellor of the Catholic Diocese, Rev, Dr. Chudi
Akaenyi, said at a press conference held at the
conference hall of the Saint Patrick’s Catholic church
in Awka that during the burial of the Bishop’s
mother at Nanka on October 24, a lot of people were
there and that people of Ngige’s stature were arranged at the V.I.P section at the reception in the
Bishop’s compound. He said that a Reverend father, Evaristus Ezekwonna
was in charge of security and order and was at the
gate directing vehicles and or those allowed to go in.
When Ngige came with his retinue of aides and police
security, he was told that he would not go in with all
of them but a few to which he agreed. Long after Ngige had gone in, three policemen
standing at the gate, he explained, became unruly and
insisted they would go in to their principal they
escorted. Ngige, he said was called to come and
identify if they were among his other aides and
security personal asked to stay behind. “He came and said they were not with him and went
back to the VIP section. What we heard later was that
Ngige slapped a Reverend father. There is no iota of
truth in this whole thing and not even the rude
policemen slapped our Reverend father,” he said

Tragedy struck at Ogbor Ancient Kingdom in Aba
North Local Government Area of Abia state yesterday
as a yet to be identified revenue team pushed down
the traditional ruler of the community, His Royal
Highness, Eze Sylvanus Azu Egege. The revenue team comprising thugs and policemen
were on a drive in the community located at Ukaegbu
road, Aba where they allegedly went about
brutalizing women and youths while dragging them to
their bus. The monarch who was alerted to the situation by one
of his subjects came to scene and appealed to the
team not to use force on residents in the collection but
his appeal was said to have been rejected by a
member of the team who pushed him down. Lamenting the situation, Eze Egege condemned the
way the revenue agents have been going about the
issue of collection of revenue in the community. I was
alerted to the incident by one of my subjects who
complained that the revenue team came with thugs
and policemen, started beating up residents of the community and forcing them into a bus. When I went
there, I advised them not to use force on people, but
one of the thugs pushed me down. I have been
complaining about the conduct of these revenue
teams with their touts and policemen. Last time, can
you believe that a policeman shot a tear gas into a room because he suspected somebody was inside the
house? The tear gas almost killed a pregnant woman
who fainted but was later revived at the hospital. We
are not against the collection of revenue but they
should be civil in their approach. I went the Eziama Division and other neighboring
police Divisions but they denied sending any
policemen to accompany revenue agents.
Government should take a second look at the method
of collecting revenue. The incident was said to have angered youths of the
community who embarked on a protest march to
some offices of known revenue agents in the city,
destroying the property in the process. One of the revenue agents whose property was
destroyed, Chief Peter Wagbara said he is not in
charge of collection of revenue in the community and
wondered why the youths would invade his office
destroyed tables, chairs, receipts and looted and an
undisclosed amount of money. Wagbara who is the Managing Director of Panco
Agencies said he has reported the matter to the Aba
Area Command of the Nigeria police. Im a law abiding
citizen, I cant take the law into my hands. The matter
has been reported to the police. Im waiting for the
police to do their job.

Brenda Tucker, 21, was at her family-owned bar early
Sunday in Detroit, Mich. when she took a gun, walked
into a back room, and shot herself, Detroit News
reported. Her uncle, Eddie Falbo, said Tucker suffered from
depression. Attempts to stop her suicide failed. “She grabbed a gun, and I took it away from her
head,” Falbo said. “Others were talking to her. I
came out the door and heard, ‘pop.’ It was
terrible. There were about eight to 10 people in the
bar — everyone heard it.” An ambulance took her to the hospital, where she
was pronounced dead. As her brother, 20-year-old
Ricky Tucker, raced to the hospital to check on her, he
was struck by an SUV and killed, police told the Detroit
Free Press . Detroit police spokeswoman Kelly Miner said the
younger sibling crossed the center line when his car
collided with the SUV. The other driver suffered minor
injuries and was treated at the hospital. “It’s just one disaster after another for this poor
family,” said Regina Holman, the owner of the bar.
“I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like to bury
two children.” Sister Amandajo Holman said she talked to her
brother Ricky moments before he got in his car,
according to USA Today. “After the doctors finally told us Brenda was dead, I
called down to the bar to see about her cell phone,
and that’s when I was told Ricky had been in a car
accident,” she recalled. Holman left the hospital to go to the accident site, and
returned to the hospital where her mom was waiting. “She just called me and asked me where I was, and I
could tell in her voice that Ricky didn’t make it,”
Holman said. This incident now marks the third death in the family
in the past six months, Falbo said. The uncle said Ricky
Tucker fatally shot his step-father in self-defense. “The boy — the one who just died — killed his step-
dad. They were shooting back and forth, and he killed
him in self-defense,” Falbo said. “The police let him
right out of jail, because [his step-father] was shooting
at him. “Three people in one family killed in six months,”
Falbo said. “These kids’ mother is going through
hell.”

Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger state has
said that contrary to reports, he remains a
member of the G7 governors. Speaking when members of the civil service union
paid him a courtesy call at the government house in
Minna, Governor Aliyu explained that as a leader of
the G7 governors, he remains committed to the cause
of the aggrieved members of the Peoples Democratic
Party. He said the governors are still discussing with
President Goodluck Jonathan and can only take a
decision on their political future after the Discussion. It will be recalled that the Abubakar Baraje faction of
the PDP which the aggrieved G7 governors belong
was not favoured in the recent court ruling as it
recognized the Bamanga Tukur PDP Faction as the
legitimate PDP. The aggrieved G7 governors namely: Aliyu Wamakko,
Sule Lamido of Jigawa, Rivers state’s Rotimi
Amaechi, Aliyu Babangida of Niger state, Kwara state
governor, Abdulfatai Ahmed, Murtala Nyako of
Adamawa state and Rabiu Kwankwanso of Kano
state decided to take a stance with some key members of the party which include former vice
president Atiku Abubakar and former Kwara state
governor Senator Bukola Saraki and Olagunsoye
Oyinlola after they stormed out of the Special National
Congress held at Eagles Square, Abuja.

A self-proclaimed informant for the Directorate of State Security, Okon Ntiedo, has been arrested for swindling over 50 unemployed persons from Cross River and Akwa Ibom states of N3.5m, under the guise of securing federal appointments for them.

The 27-year-old suspect, who was arrested on Thursday at a drinking spot in the Afokang area of Calabar South, is currently being detained at the Mbukpa Police Station in Calabar.

Ntiedo had allegedly promised to secure employment for the victims at the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Immigration Service, National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency, Nigeria Prisons Service and other federal parastatals.

He was said to have collected between N100, 000 and N250, 000 from the victims under the pretence that it would be used to process their forms and lobby officials in the Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs.

When PUNCH Metro visited the police station on Monday, Ntiedo confessed that he had collected various sums of money from the victims but alleged that the total money collected was N2m and not N3.5m.

He said he had worked in collaboration with a medical officer in the Nigeria Air Force, who is based in Kaduna, and a personal assistant in the ministry of internal affairs (names withheld).

Ntiedo said he was willing to pay back the money to the victims, but added that other “partners” would have to bring what he had transferred to them through their accounts.

He also said he had worked as an informant for the SSS since 2007, although he did not have any official identity card from the directorate.

Ntiedo said, “I have been working for the SSS since 2007 as an informant and have been posted to various parts of the country to monitor one activity or the other.

“I have also worked with the other suspects and we have maintained constant interactions. We have been working together based on agreed percentage.”

An Akwa Ibom State indigene, who was a victim, said he was introduced to Ntiedo by the air force personnel.

The 40-year-old victim, who pleaded anonymity, said, “I have known the air force official for more than 10 years. I didn’t have any cause to doubt him when he introduced Ntiedo to me.

“We rallied round our communities, gathered our sons and daughters, who are unemployed and those who did not have good jobs. We took a loan with an expectation of getting the jobs.

“Ntiedo told us on the telephone that the appointment would be available by September but September came and passed, no sign of anything. We started investigations and discovered that the suspect was staying in Calabar, Cross River State.

“He was just sending text messages to us to pay in money into three accounts and we kept on paying. Our tellers are with us and we have given copies to the police.”

Another victim, who identified himself as Emmanuel, said, “Initially I paid N100, 000 to an account belonging to the younger brother of the air force personnel, but his younger brother (name withheld) later died.

“When the brother died, I called the air force man with the deceased’s phone and he (personnel) told me that he will take up the project personally but that I should call Ntiedo and pay an additional N75,000 which I did. Unfortunately, nothing was done about the employment.”

When contacted, the Cross River State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Hogan Bassey, confirmed the story, saying the suspect had been arrested.

He said, “The information is correct and there is no attempt to release Ntiedo from detention because investigations are continuing. When we are through, he will be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for further investigations. He is not an employee of the SSS; we have confirmed that. His so called residential address is still in doubt.”

Heliesha: r.i.p to d man.buh i fink they should be putting the 'viewers discretion adviced ' symbol b4 d football match.so dat pple wif heart condition can wait to hear d scores afta d match.even a young guy like me watching barca madrid wasnt easy ma heart was almost coming off my chest

AN unidentified Nigerian football fan has unfortunately died in the
United Arab Emirates (UAE) after suffering from a
heart attack and collapsing following the Golden
Eaglets’ recent 3-3 draw with Sweden in Al-Ain City. One Tuesday last week, the Golden Eaglets played
Sweden in a pulsating game in the ongoing U17 World
Cup that ended three goals apiece at the Kalifa Bin
Zayed Stadium. According to eye witness reports, the
fan died yesterday having suffering a cardiac arrest
after the game while in the bus conveying Nigerian fans back to Dubai from Al-Ain. A businessman based in the UAE, the fan was rushed
to Dubai hospital for treatment, where he had been
until he passed on in the early morning of yesterday.
A close friend of the deceased said that his remains
were still in the morgue of the hospital. Tomorrow, the Eaglets play Iran in the second round
of the competition also at the Al Ain City but it is not
yet clear if the team will wear black armbands in
honour of the fan. Nigerian fans have been among the
most vocal at the competition as the large community
in the UAE have turned out in numbers to support the team. Also in the Middle East today, Nigeria’s home-based
Super Eagles will play Jordan in a friendly game in
Amman in preparation for next year’s Championship
of African Nations (Chan) tournament due in South
Africa. Jordan requested the game as they prepare for
a World Cup play-off against Uruguay on the 13th and 20th on November. Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi said: “Jordan has been
together for a while and they play Uruguay in the
World Cup playoff. We are playing a very strong team
and it would be a difficult game. “It’s not easy, as some of our players are new and
it’s their first time, so I expect the early panic I have
seen from them. However, in all, I am impressed at
their fitness levels and we will continue to do our
best.” Nigeria is expected to open training camp for the Chan
tournament in December. In what will be Nigeria’s
first ever showing at the tournament, the Eagles have
been drawn against hosts South Africa, Mali and
Mozambique in the competition strictly for players
featuring in their local African leagues.