Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodimma on Tuesday reminded the leadership of Nigerian Union of Pensioners that those who are not receiving their pensions currently are “fraudulent salary earners, victims of irregular salaries, those involved in padded pensions, double salaries and workers with irregular employment history.” Uzodimma spoke when the leadership of Nigerian Labour Congress and Nigerian Union of Pensioners in Imo State paid a courtesy visit on him at the New Exco Chambers Government House on Tuesday, April 25, 2023. He assured the leadership of Labour and Pensioners in Imo State that the State Government has started working out the modalities for the payment of gratuities and Check-off dues of pensioners. Uzodinma also directed the Accountant General to start the payment of Check-off dues of pensioners, regretting that what had delayed the payment was because the activities of the pensioners have not been regular. He commended the Organized Labour for standing their ground not to be used to fight the government and as such, “saved the government the problem of spending resources in the wrong direction.” Uzodimma who acknowledged that the Civil Service is the brain box of the government said that “it will be better for the Unions to always work with the government to allow peace, progress and development of the workers and the Civil Service.” The governor urged the Head of Service, Barr. Raymond Ucheoma, to ensure that the processes to complete the promotion of the workers are done within seven days as the HOS suggested. Expressing gratitude to the Governor, the Chairman, Nigerian Labour Congress, Imo chapter, Pastor Philip Nwansi, promised on behalf of his team and the Labour in Imo State to cooperate with him so that Imo workers will get what is due to them. Source: Community Reporters

By Ibe Pascal The Imo State Police Command has commenced an orderly room trial of the police officers who were caught in a video flogging and assaulting two men in Owerri, Imo State on Thursday. Recall that after Crimefacts.news reported how some policemen assaulted two youths with cutlass at Uratta in Owerri on Thursday, the Imo State commissioner of police, Mohammed Barde has directed an orderly room trial on the erring officers on last Friday. The men include; 1. Inspector Amadi Sunday (The Team Leader) 2. Inspector Amajuo Charles 3. Sgt Noachian Chinese 4. Sgt Onwuka Emmanuel 5. Cpl Nzewuodo Goodness 6. Pc Emmanuel Chmezie. However, it was gathered that the assaulted youths hace been freed as Imo police continue Investigations. On Wednesday, the Imo police spokesperson, Henry Okoye, confirmed that full orderly room trial has began on the six erring officers. Okoye said that the outcome of the matter will be communicated to the public in due course. The police statement last Friday reads, “Upon diligent observation of this viral obscene video, the officers were identified to be a detachment of one of the Command’s Tactical teams comprising of six (6) Police Officers led by Inspector Sunday Amadi who unfortunately was seen in the video assaulting the two youths with a cutlass. “They have been defaulted for Discreditable/Unprofessional Conduct, Improper Dressing, Incivility to and Assaulting the two youths with a ‘Cutlass’ which is not one of Police accoutrement. Speaking further, “While investigation continues, The Commissioner of Police, CP Mohammed Ahmed Barde PSC(+) , who is a disciplinarian and defender of fundamental human right has ordered that prompt Orderly Room Trial should commence against the erring officers and that necessary disciplinary actions be taken if found guilty. “Members of the public are advised to remain calm as further development on the orderly room trial and disciplinary actions will be communicated back to them. BACKGROUND Crimefacts news had reported how some policemen in Imo State assaulted two youths with cutlass for refusing them access to their phones. The incident is coming about two days after the police arraigned an officer who allegedly killed a man in Delta State over his refusal to give N100 bribe. According to a video that has gone viral on social media, the armed police officers were filmed using a machete to smack two unidentified people in Imo State. In the 45 seconds clip, five officers are seen assaulting the two people in an open space while a sixth officer pulled out a machete from a parked SUV believed to be a police operational vehicle. The sixth officer is captured in the video, smacking the two people multiple times with the machete. “Which kind country be dis?” said a background voice in the video. “Omo, see as him dey cut-am with cutlass! Which kind nonsense be dis? “See wetin police dey do for Owerri”. A Twitter user who posted the video on 20 April on the microblogging site said the victims are students of the Imo State University who refused to allow the officers search their phone.

Wednesday 26 April 2023 Tinubu, NWC meet contestants over NASS leadership Sudan conflict: Evacuation begins today as FG releases N150m, hires 40 buses Kwara policeman detained for abandoning work dies in Kogi cell Woman bags 15 years jail term for drug trafficking ‘Adamawa Returning Officer Disappeared’, Binani’s Campaign Coordinator Defends Ari Money Laundering: EFCC To Commence Fresh Proceedings Against Fani-Kayode, Others SERAP, CJID Sue NBC, Others Over N5m Fine Imposed On Channels TV Ex-Presidential Candidate Asks Appeal Court To Stop Tinubu’s Inauguration EFCC Arraigns Ondo Speaker, Two Others Over Alleged Fraud Some Nigerians Hurt By Buhari Govt No Longer Alive, Says Afenifere Chibok Leader Awaits ‘Official Confirmation’ On Two Abducted Girls’ Escape PSC Approves Posting Of 12 CPs, Calls For Total Loyalty Polls: Peter Obi’s case threatened as LP factions fight dirty UTME: Candidates, parents decry system malfunction, technical glitches Nigeria spent $195m in 2021 to tackle piracy in Gulf of Guinea — Buhari MultiChoice to increase subscription rates — two weeks after StarTimes Malaria: Nigeria Faces $2.8bn Economic Burden – FG Visit a newspaper stand this morning, buy and read a copy for yourself…

  The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has rescheduled the ongoing Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination for candidates in 100 centres due to technical challenges experienced on Tuesday. JAMB Head of Public Affairs and Protocol, Fabian Benjamin, made the announcement in a statement on Tuesday night in Abuja. The PUNCH reports that 1.6 million candidates across over 700 are expected to take the examination. The statement reads: “Following the announcement, candidates, who for technical reasons could not take the examination, are to print a new examination notification early tomorrow morning, Wednesday, April 26, 2023, to know their new scheduled sessions. “It is to be noted that about 100 centres out of the 708 centres participating in the 2023 UTME exercise across the country, experienced technical challenges that prevented their allotted candidates from successfully taking their examination,” JAMB noted. Through the statement, the Board reiterated its determination to deploy world-class assessments in line with global best practices to deliver quality assessments and regretted any inconveniences experienced by candidates and their parents. The statement further explained that the series of challenges encountered was on account of some novel features deployed by the Board to safeguard the sanctity of the examination by checkmating all incidences of examination misconduct being perpetrated and perpetuated by vested interests. However, it assured of the commitment of its technical team working round the clock to ensure that Wednesday’s exercise was devoid of any hitches. The board further promised Nigerians that no candidate would be denied the right to take examinations, maintaining that, should any hiccup arise, such a candidate would be rescheduled to take the examination on the next available date and space.

  The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has disclosed that a trending video allegedly showing some of its officers operating in a minibus in Lagos State should be disregarded. The agency disclosed this on Tuesday via its Twitter handle, through its Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, with the caption “Trending video of NDLEA officers in a minibus is an old skit, not real.” Babafemi noted that “those in the video are not NDLEA officers.” He added that NDLEA had disclaimed the video on May 21, 2022. The statement read, “The Agency had in a well-publicized statement released on Saturday, May 21, 2022, stated that it had established, following a series of public enquiries, that the video with screenshot pictures attached to the statement is a skit produced by one Mathew C Eze who lives in the Lekki area of Lagos. “A year after, the video has returned to the social media space, a development that has led to several enquiries from concerned members of the public on the authenticity of the content of the video. “We will like to reiterate again that the confusion the controversial video has created in the minds of members of the public underscores the need for some social media content producers to show restraint, responsibility and decorum in how they misuse paraphernalia of law enforcement officers to avoid misconceptions and insinuations. “The Agency will also like to remind those fond of this kind of indiscretion, especially the misuse of its official jackets to mislead and create false impressions, that such has consequences.”

  A yet to be identified clergyman has been reportedly abducted at Nnobi Roundabout in Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra State. Eyewitnesses said the man who was driving Lexus FX 300 with plate number Anambra GDD 882 PW was heading towards the Awka-Etiti direction when the hoodlums stormed the place. It was gathered that the victim had stopped his car at the Nnobi Junction to buy some fruits when his cellular phone rang. According to an eyewitness, he was still answering the call and looking around for the caller when he was double-crossed by another car whose occupants were armed to the teeth. The assailants forcefully bundled the man into their jeep leaving the victim’s car on the road before driving off. The incident which occurred Monday night, April 25, 2023, at 8:35 pm disrupted the evening market and street trading along the road as the hoodlums shot sporadically into the air.   Nnobi Junction had become notorious for abductions, armed robbery, killings among other vices since 2021 when the IPOB declared Monday a ghost day popularly known as sit-at-home in the South East, Nigeria. The car was still standing on the road facing the Awka-Etiti axis of the notorious Nnobi Junction, Tuesday morning, the second time our correspondent went to the scene of the incident. The vehicle was later driven off the same Tuesday morning by security operatives believed to be policemen from the state police command. However, there were not any casualties but many people, including pregnant women, nursing mothers among others, were said to have sustained various degrees of injury as they ran helter-skelter in different directions to safety when the hoodlums began shooting. When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Anambra State Police Command, Ikenga Tochukwu said there was no report of the incident before him at press time, adding that he would spread the information. “Thank you for this information, but there is no report like that before me. I will escalate this information to our operatives in the area,” the PPRO said. The pictures above show the Lexus FX 300 belonging to the abductee.

  In preparation for the November 11th Governorship election in Imo State, the People’s Democratic Party Imo State chapter has announced Rt. Hon. Jones Onyereri, as the deputy governorship candidate of the opposition party. Onyereri up-until his nomination as the running mate to Distinguished Senator Samuel Anyanwu who’s the PDP National Secretary was a former member of House of Representatives and two time Orlu Senatorial candidate and aspirant respectively. This announcement was disclosed today by the Imo PDP State Chairman, Engr. Charles Ugwu at it’s party secretariat along Okigwe road in Owerri.

  The AKK project spans 614 kilometres with a 15km Abuja terminal gas station, four gas stations, 22 block valve stations, pigging stations among others. Through this facility, NNPC will transport 2 billion Standard Cubic Feet (scuf) of natural gas per day to three power plants in Abuja, Kaduna, Kano with 1,300 megawatts (MW) capacity; and to other gas-based industries and off-takers. Kyari said the project is being funded solely by NNPC, assuring that gas would begin to flow through it by the end of the third quarter. He said: “This project has not stopped for one day. We are continuing to fund it despite the fact that we do not have third party finance for this project. We have so far spent over $1.1 billion on this project from our cash flow. “We are a very different company today; we are a commercial company; we have intercompany loans within our company. This company can fund this project, so we do not need any support to fund this project, we will deliver this project. We don’t owe a dollar to our contractors and we pay all their invoices and we have over 30 sites that are active today in this project,” Kyari explained. The NNPC chief however noted some of the security challenges along the line route. “We have lost men and we are so sorry to their families. We continue to share their grief. But despite this, we’ve gotten massive support from our government security agencies.” Daily Trust reports that there were claims that the project had been abandoned because the contract was alledgedly inflated. However this claim could not be authenticated. What was clear during a visit by our correspondent was that construction work was ongoing. AKK project reaches 70%, gas to flow Q3 Speaking on the project status, the GCEO of NNPC said it has reached 70% with gas transportation possible by September through the pipeline. “We are delivering them in phases. 70% of all welding works have been completed. There are very many other components of this project. So, once we are able to complete the welding and put certain basic selection, we can actually flow gas into this line and other parts of the project will continue to be delivered. “What this means is that this line will flow 2 billion scuff of gas and what this means is that, we are delivering 2bn scuff of gas every day in this line, powering industries, powering power plants, creating gas-based industry and this is the ultimate objective. By the third quarter of this year, we will complete the entire welding of this work and we can actually energize this line by the third quarter of this year,” stated Kyari. Abuja power project begins soon The NNPC head revealed that one of the power projects, which will be in Abuja, will take off soon. He said: “Our plan is to have 1,300MW power plants in Kaduna, Abuja and Kano. We are phasing that so that we deliver them as quickly as possible. Very soon, we are going to commence the construction of the Abuja power plant in earnest and it is a cumulative thing and there is a partnership with core investors on this.” And speaking on the work at the Kaduna axis where security issues had worsened earlier, Kyari said, “There are 30 active sites on this line all the way to Kano.” The Project Manager, Oilserv Limited, Steve Nnorom, said the company is handling over 250 kilometres of section of the project from Ajaokuta with over 200km of the pipeline welding completed. At the Bravo site in Ahoko village, Nnorom said Oilserve has 15 welding sites to speed up the process while Daily Trust observed that freshly dug trenches at a section around Abaji area of FCT to earth some already welded pipes. Over 400km of line welding ready – Report According to an NNPC update report obtained yesterday, the $2.8bn (about N1.289 trillion) project initially agreed in 2018 was renegotiated by NNPC in 2019 dropping to $2.5bn (about N1.151trn) with $300 million (about N138bn) savings before the Federal Executive Council gave its final approval. The oil firm said it initiated financing discussions with the Bank of China to lead a consortium of Chinese banks in 2018. SINOSURE, the Chinese government insurance agency reviewed the project and advised the government to approve the funding. While that was ongoing, NNPC said it began pre-funding the project with the flag off of the construction by President Muhammadu Buhari on 30th June 2020. It said since the flag off, the project has continued with overall engineering design at 93.48% while procurement has reached 88% for the two segments. NNPC said 94% of the line pipes have been manufactured and 90% of them already delivered to Nigeria. “Construction activities on both segments are ongoing; we have completed 400km of the linear section/mainline welding, representing 68% of the Right of Way (RoW) from Ajaokuta in Kogi State to Kano,” it noted. Other ongoing activities include special constructions like Direct Pipe Installation (DPI) across the River Niger in Kogi State and other Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) across River Robo, Pai and Shika River in Zaria, Kaduna. The rest are the field joint coating, trenching and lowering, temporary cathodic protection with plans to pre-commission some sections.

  Afenifere, the Yoruba socio-political group, says Nigerians may be inclined to forgive President Muhammadu Buhari if he effects changes to alleviate suffering in the country before he hands over on May 29. On Friday, Buhari asked Nigerians to forgive him for any way he has hurt them. Reacting in a statement by Jare Ajayi, its publicity secretary, Afenifere said it would have been much better if the president had listened to pleas made to him over the years regarding “the unfriendly, if not retrogressive, steps his administration had being taken”. “The maxim has it that ‘to err is human, to forgive is divine.’ Without deceiving ourselves, the Nigerian government under the outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari certainly ‘hurt’ a lot of people (to use his own word),” the group said. “Some of them are even no longer alive. Some who are alive have wounds that can hardly ever heal. Both physical and psycho-social wounds. Because the Almighty created many humans to have large hearts, many whom the President had hurt may forgive him. “That is for those who are alive. But then, what about thousands who have died as a result of avoidable acts that can easily be traced to the government such as non-provision of security and welfare as clearly enshrined in the Constitution?” The group said many people might be inclined to forgive Buhari if, within the remaining 34 days he has left in office, he could effect “dramatic changes” in policies that are making life difficult for Nigerians. Afenifere advised Buhari to take decisive actions that will permanently halt insecurity in the country and ensure immediate payment of the eight-month salaries of university lecturers. The group said efforts should be made to ensure that those in IDP camps are resettled in their ancestral homes, and that “the stranglehold on the economy”, especially through unfriendly fiscal policies, be relaxed so that economic activities can quickly bounce back. Afenifere said these measures can be successfully implemented before May 29 “if President Buhari and his team really desire to do them”. ‘UPSURGE IN TERRORIST ACTIVITIES WORRYING’   Afenifere expressed concern about the upsurge in terrorist activities following the completion of the general election. The group said the series of attacks on defenceless people and the subversion of economic activities in various parts of the country “give us a lot of concern especially as we move towards the handing over of power on May 29, 2023 by the grace of God”. “Bandits now even have the effrontery to go and abduct people from their homes as happened to one Adebukola in Ondo State, to a former deputy governor of Nasarawa State, Prof Onje Gye-Wado, to the driver of the incumbent Nasarawa State deputy governor, to one Muhammadu Jibril in Ago Igbira, Osun State and to over 100 students of Federal Government College, Yauri, Kebbi State, who were abducted from their hostels – to mention a few,” the group said. Afenifere called on the authorities to ensure that the situation is quickly brought under control.

  As people try to get to safety following the ongoing crisis in Sudan, the Federal Government has expressed worry that Nigerian students in the war-torn country were trying to find their way to borders of Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia or Chad on their own. The government noted that while concerted efforts were being made to evacuate them, parents should advise their wards to remain calm and maintain constant communication with officials of the Nigerian embassy in Sudan for instructions and updates. The government’s position was contained in a joint statement by ministers of Foreign Affairs, and Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development signed by the permanent secretaries of the ministries. They expressed “concern over the dire humanitarian situation in Sudan and empathise with the entire civilian population in the country, including the Nigerian students, and other members of the Nigerian community caught up in the ongoing crisis between the Sudanese army and the Paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.” The statement, signed by Amb. Janet Olisa,Director Overseeing the Office of the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Dr. Nasir Sani-Gwarzo,Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development,read in full:”The Honourable Ministers, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development express concern over the dire humanitarian situation in Sudan and empathize with the entire civilian population in the country, including the Nigerian students, and other members of the Nigerian community caught up in the on-going crisis between the Sudanese Army and the Paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. “The Honourable Ministers note with concern that some of these students are trying to find their way to contiguous borders of either Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia or Chad on their own. ” In line with the directive of the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, the Humanitarian Sector comprising FMHADMSD, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI)) is working very closely with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Nigerian Missions in the countries bordering Sudan, as well as with other relevant stakeholders especially the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Federal Ministry of Health, the Nigerian Armed Forces, National Intelligence Agency (NIA), and International Humanitarian Organizations such as International Organization for Migration (IOM) to immediately evacuate these Students and other affected Nigerian citizens. “The Ministers, therefore, urge parents to advise their wards that while concerted efforts are being made to evacuate them, the students should endeavour to remain calm and maintain constant communication with officials of the Nigerian Embassy in Sudan for instructions and updates. ” They can reach the Embassy Officials on the following telephone numbers, +2348035866773, +249961956284, +2348063636862, +249961956274, +2349066663493. Furthermore, they are also advised to guard against undertaking the treacherous journey to the borders on their own, in view of the dangers involved. “On this note, the Honourable Ministers emphasise that concrete plans are underway, to deploy, very shortly, air transport to evacuate all stranded Nigerian citizens through the identified safe transit areas back home to Nigeria in safety and dignity.”