Another boat accident has claimed no fewer than eight persons along Oyoma river, near Oporoma, the headquarters of the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. The latest incident which occured on Wednesday came barely five days after a similar boat accident killed about six persons including a corps member travelling from Otuan and Ayama rivers in the same Southern Ijaw LGA. It was learnt that in the latest incident, a 75 horse-power engine boat rammed into another due to bad weather and poor visibility. Daily Trust gathered that the boat was conveying 12 passengers from Korokorosei to Ayama when it rammed into a local boat conveying food stuffs from Yenagoa to Ayama. It was said to be raining and the tarpaulin used to provide shield for the passengers was blown away and covered the boat driver’s face, making him to lose control and hit the local boat. Also, the passengers were said to be travelling without using life jackets. The state chairman of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), Ipigansi Ogoniba, who confirmed the Wednesday’s accident, said the union had banned any boat from loading without passengers wearing life jackets. He added that the boats would be handed over to the police. He said, “Yes, we have been at the scene of the accident. It occurred at Oyoma near Oporoma and eight people died. One of the boats, the local boat, stopped and the other one hit it.” The Police Public Relations Officer, Bayelsa State Command, Asinim Butswat, also confirmed the incident.

  The Senate and the Nigerian Bar Association have waded into the conflict between the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Tanko Muhammad, and Justices of the Supreme Court over issues bothering on welfare and working condition. President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, at the plenary on Wednesday, mandated the Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters to, as a matter of urgency, wade into the crisis. Lawan gave the directive moments before the Senate adjourned plenary, saying, “We may recall that there were some issues coming out of the judiciary. “We must have interest in what is happening in that arm of government. I believe that we owe it to Nigerians, to look into what is happening in that arm of government, with a view to bringing solutions to the problem that our judiciary in Nigeria faces.” He added, “So, I will urge our Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters to get involved with the CJN and judiciary generally – at this level with the Supreme Court – to find out what the real issues are and how the National Assembly can help.” Also, the NBA stated that there is an urgent need for fundamental reforms of the administration and governance of the judiciary. The association’s president, Olumide Akpata, stated this in a statement issued on Wednesday in reaction to a memo written by 14 Justices of the Supreme Court to the CJN, in which they alleged various improprieties and administrative inefficiencies and the subsequent response of the CJN. The NBA lamented that the situation has not only affected the judicial responsibilities of the Justices but also impacted on the justice administration process. While calling for the independence and financial autonomy of the judiciary, the NBA also noted that it is important that the judiciary must not only be, but should also be seen as being above board and transparent in the management and allocation of the resources currently available to it. The statement partly read, “The judiciary must entrench the principles of accountability and probity in the manner in which it expends allocated resources. While the fight for increased budgetary allocations for the Judiciary continues, it is important that the available resources be used for the welfare and wellbeing of our judicial officers, as well as for the improvement of the infrastructure and facilities required by our judges and justices to effectively discharge their duties. “There is a clear need for mechanisms to be put in place to ensure that the judiciary (with the Supreme Court leading the charge) is providing the necessary template to other arms of government on transparent procurement and budgeting. This will reduce the perception in some quarters that the Judiciary is not accountable to anyone and is also not self-regulating.” Akpata also noted that with the election season, and the humongous war chests that the politicians and political parties are amassing, the only way to insulate and make the judicial officers immune to the “temptations of being corrupted by these politicians is to assure them of decent working conditions and adequate compensation both in and out of service.” The NBA president also stated that the judges and Justices, on their part, have a duty to ensure that the honour and respect that is accorded the judiciary by the public “is not lost or dwindled, and that the public continues to hold the judiciary in the highest esteem.”

  The Commander of Amotekun Corps in ondo state, Adetunji Adeleye says a number of suspects have been arrested in connection to the June 5 St.Francis Catholic Church Attack in owo, Ondo state. Adeleye gave this revelation on Thursday while parading seventy one suspects for varying crimes ranging from kidnapping, Robbery and Cultism. The commander said the command also recovered some items and vehicles used by the suspects for the unfortunate incident. He said the corps is collaborating with other Security Agencies in profiling the suspects before they are arraigned in court. More details later… Source: Journalist101

  Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State on Wednesday said it had become difficult to pay salaries of Benue workers. Daily Trust reports that workers under the state employ have been complaining of being owed three months’ salaries. Ortom while answering questions from journalists in Makurdi, the state capital, on Wednesday, gave three reasons for the development. He blamed factors such as the rising cost of overheads, the inability of the NNPC to remit money to the federal accural and the state’s low internally generated revenue (IGR) as a result of insecurity. The governor said it had been difficult to coordinate the IGR due to the increasing insecurity challenge which had landed nearly two million of the state’s population in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps. “Even the federal government has been borrowing to pay salaries but states do not have powers to do so except with permission from the Federal Ministry of Finance’s Debt Management Office (DMO). It’s a big challenge because we are facing the economic realities,” Ortom said.