The Niger Delta Avengers on Thursday threatened that it will declare a Niger Delta Republic on October 1 should President Muhammadu Buhari fails to restructure the country.
It also said the group is praying for the Buhari-led federal government to discover oil in commercial quantity in the northern part of the country.
NDA had claimed responsibility for major attacks on oil facilities in the region in recent past vowing not to relent until the nation’s economy was completely crippled.
The group’s spokesman, Mudoch Agbinibo, stated this on Thursday in reaction to President Buhari’s order directing the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to increase tempo on oil exploration in the North-East.
It said that the discovery of oil in commercial quantity would make Nigerians appreciate what the people of the Niger Delta experienced in the hands of the Nigerian government.
NDA reemphasised that the country was in dare need of restructuring. It accused the present government of dividing the country through her ‘misdirected policies’.
The militants said, “Our prayer for Buhari and the Northern hypocrite (Northern Governors) is that oil should be found in commercial quantity in the North, so they can let the Niger Delta go.
“The Buhari Led government has failed Nigerians with their misdirected policies that has divided the country, as such nobody wants to be part of that failed state not even the Niger Delta.”
The statement added further, “The October 1st, declaration of independence is still sacrosanct, If the Nigerian government fails to retrace its step by restructuring this country.
“We want to warn the general public that those using NDA to defraud people days of reckoning is close.”
Despite the N3.87bn allocated to it in the 2016 Appropriation Act, lack of drugs and other essential medical items have crippled operations at the State House Medical Centre, The PUNCH has learnt.
The centre provides medical services to the President, Vice-President and their families, aides, members of staff of the State House and other entitled public servants.
It is also a training facility for house officers and other medical personnel.
Investigations by our correspondent showed that the centre located in Asokoro, a highbrow area of the Federal Capital Territory, is gradually becoming a shadow of its old self.
A cross-section of the centre’s patients told The PUNCH that patients were now being asked to go and buy drugs from outside as they were no longer available in the centre.
Most hit, it was further learnt, are patients with kidney problems who are currently undergoing dialysis in the facility.
Although, some of them are expected to be undergoing the dialysis at least twice a week, the centre’s management has been cancelling such exercise lately, therefore putting the lives of the patients at risk.
In some instances when they attend to them, the patients are made to come with some of the items the doctors will use for the exercise.
Our correspondent learnt that the centre’s management had resorted to sending text messages to patients on items they should bring for their treatment.
In one of such messages sent to a patient which is in The PUNCH’s possession, the management wrote, “Mr. XXX (names withheld), when u (sic) are coming for dialysis on Monday, buy IVF Normal Saline to be used for ur (sic) dialysis. The office doesn’t have it. Buy like four pieces.”
Normal Saline IVF solution is used in the treatment, control, prevention and improvement of conditions such as low sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium levels as well as blood and fluid loss.
It improves the patients’ condition by maintaining proper fluid balance and keeping the tissues hydrated.
Another patient who spoke with our correspondent said he had a crisis recently because the centre cancelled his routine dialysis.
He said the centre’s management cancelled the session because of non-availability of bloodline.
He showed our correspondent a message sent to him on the cancellation.
The message read, “Gudevening (sic), we can’t dialize (sic) you tomorrow because we don’t have bloodline. When it is available, I will get back to you. Pls (sic) dialyse (sic) somewhere else. Thanks.”
The patient said the first time the session was cancelled, he was referred to a private hospital in Garki where he paid N20,000.
He added that when he could not afford the cost the second time, he was directed to another hospital in Wuse.
“As a result of the stress I passed through, by the time I returned home, I was very weak. My health situation deteriorated midnight and my people rushed me to the hospital. I was discharged about three days after,” he said.
Many other patients who spoke with our correspondent said the medical centre could no longer boast of “ordinary malaria drugs.”
“The clinic does not even have ordinary paracetamol. Paracetamol was included in the list of drugs they asked me to go and buy recently. Before now, they were giving us drugs.” another patient said.
The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, did not pick his calls when our correspondent attempted to get his reaction on Tuesday.
He also did not respond to a text message sent to him on the issue.
The Permanent Secretary, State House, Alhaji Jalal Arabi, had while defending the State House’s budget before the Senate Committee on Federal Character and Inter-governmental Affairs, and members of the House of Representatives Committee on Special Duties disclosed that N3.2bn of the budget was earmarked for the upgrade of State House Clinic to a Centre of Excellence.
Arabi had said, “The budget for the State House Medical Centre included N3.219bn proposed for the completion of ongoing work as well as procurement of drugs and other medical equipment.
“The Medical Centre provides health care treatment for the President and Vice-President, their families as well as numerous civil servants working in the State House and across the Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government and of course, with due respect, including parliamentarians and members of the legislature in addition to other notable dignitaries.
“Interestingly, Mr. Chairman, on a lighter note, not only those that have been captured here attend (the Medical Centre) there are poor of the poorest that attend because we receive reference from Gwagwalada, Garki, Wuse hospitals.
“So, if they come, we attend to them and interestingly too at no fee at all, we don’t charge.
“The anticipated improvement of the Medical Centre will propel it to serve as a Centre of Excellence and also reduce medical tourism.
“May I also add that the State House Medical Centre, unlike other medical centres does not charge any fees for its services and hence does not generate any revenue for itself.
Nigeria's Ese Brume competes in the Women's Long Jump Qualifying Round during the athletics event at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on August 16, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / Adrian DENNIS
Nigeria’s quest for an Olympic medal continued on a woeful note in the early hours of Thursday after two of the country’s medal hopes, Ese Brume and Ejowvokoghene Oduduru, failed to soar at their separate events.
Brume, a track and field athlete who specialises in the long jump and holds the African junior record in the event, fell a distant fifth behind 30-year-old Tianna Bartoletta of the United State in the finals of the women’s long jump.
She could only muster a leap of 6.81m while Bartoletta won the event after jumping 7.17m.
Meanwhile, Ejowvokoghene Oduduru could not gather the speed and pace which took him to the semifinals of the 200m track event behind Usain Bolt after clocking 20.59sec, a notable time difference from the 20.34sec he ran in round one.
Gatlin out
American sprinter Justin Gatlin failed to qualify for the men’s 200m at the Olympics on Thursday.
Gatlin, who has served two doping bans, finished third in 20.13sec and missed out on one of the eight final berths for Fridays’s final.
In a bid to check the arbitrary increase in the pump price of kerosene, the Federal Government has placed an order for massive importation of the product, oil marketers have said.
According to them, the government has also ordered huge importation of Automated Gas Oil, popularly known as diesel. They further stated that with the increase in the supply of the United States dollars by the Central Bank of Nigeria, the price of Premium Motor Spirit, otherwise called petrol, will not be hiked as earlier anticipated.
Last week, oil marketers had told The PUNCH exclusively that the actual cost of petrol should be N151.87 per litre.
They said the calculation was based on the ex-depot price of the commodity and the scarcity of forex.
To avert the hike, the government had met with the marketers last week and it was learnt that the CBN might intervene.
Speaking in Abuja on Wednesday during the inauguration of the Eastern Zonal Executive of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, the association’s Chairman, Board of Trustees, Mr. Abubakar Usman, said marketers would start getting large volumes of kerosene and diesel as the government had ordered for increased importation of the commodities.
He said, “There is something that I am going to tell you that shall make you happy. Very soon, the products, DPK (Dual Purpose Kerosene) and the AGO, will be in circulation under the leadership of Chinedu Okoronkwo. Those that are not aware are aware now. Sooner or later, I cannot say today or tomorrow, but very soon, the AGO will arrive. The DPK will also arrive in the country.”
I told IPMAN members that the current scarcity of kerosene would soon be a thing of the past as the product would circulate sufficiently when delivered.
He noted that upon arrival, no member would be required to lobby or bribe to secure allocation.
Usman said, “And when it arrives, each and every one of us will get his allocation. You don’t have to come to Abuja to give bribe looking for allocation of two or three trucks. Just go to your depot manager, go to your zonal chairman and you will get it. You don’t have to waste time going to Lagos or Abuja for the product.”
When asked to state the price the product will be sold when it arrived, Okoronkwo said, “It will be lesser than what the NNPC retail outlets will be selling.”
On the possible increase in the pump price of the PMS, he said that the move by the CBN to increase marketers’ access to foreign exchange would lead to price stability, adding that the intervention would warrant an appreciation of the naira.
He said, “Right now, you are aware that some Bureau De-Change operators have qualified to get the forex. And very soon, there will be forex in the system where people can now leverage. And if we have enough forex, it means that the price at which people are getting it now will drop.
“This will impact in every other business. Very soon, the CBN will release dollar and that will make the naira to appreciate. For marketers, importers and manufacturers, everything will come alive again.
“The IPMAN will also leverage this window to ensure that our products come at prices that members of this country will enjoy.”
The Ebonyi Controller of Prisons, Mrs Adaobi Oputa, on Thursday confirmed that there was an attempted jail break at the Abakaliki Prison.
Oputa said that the situation had been brought under control.
She explained that the incident which occurred around 9. 30 a.m. on Thursday ensued when some inmates refused to comply with the early morning routine search of their cells.
She said, “Yes I can confirm that there was an incident at the Abakaliki prison this morning. This was as a result of some inmates refusing the routing search in their cells.
“But I can assure you that everything has been brought under control without any inmate escaping from the prison.”
She confirmed that some inmates tried to break one of the walls, adding that the situation was brought under control by the combined efforts of the armed squad of the prisons, the police and military personnel stationed at the prison.
The controller said that she had to call for reinforcement from the state police command to arrest the situation.
She said some inmates were injured in the process and were currently receiving treatment in the hospital.
She, however, denied that the riot was triggered by inmates protesting poor quality of food and welfare.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Ebonyi Police Command, ASP George Okafor, who also confirmed the development, however, said information at his disposal was still very sketchy.
“Yes, we got information about the riot but I cannot make any categorical statement yet on the incident because we have very little information concerning the incident,” Okafor said.
The Abakaliki prisons that was built by the British Colonial Government to accommodate 300 inmates presently houses no fewer than 1000 inmates.
Against the background of the criticisms that greeted one of his sermons at the yearly convention of the Redeem Christian Church of God, its General Overseer, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has said his messages are not for everybody.
The social media was awash a couple of weeks ago on the sermon of Adeboye to the youth members of the church at the Redemption Camp where the message bordered on the choice of marriage partners.
The widely circulated footage had shown Adeboye telling the men not to marry a woman who could not cook or pray for a minimum of an hour.
In the same video, he warned the spinsters not to marry a man who had no job or who could not show concrete evidence of his means of livelihood.
But the world renowned preacher on his Facebook page on Tuesday , in apparent reaction to the criticisms, said his messages were not for everybody.
Adeboye said, “My message are not for everybody. So, I plead with you, ask God to speak to you specifically.”
PDP convention venue, Port Harcourt. Photo: Nairaland.
Eniola Akinkuotu, Abuja
The Force headquarters said it has sealed off the Sharks Stadium in Port Harcourt, the venue of the national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party.
It was learnt that policemen stormed the venue of the convention around 4am on Wednesday.
The Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Donald Awunah, disclosed this during a programme on Channels Television titled, ‘Sunrise Daily’.
Awunah said the primary responsibility of the police was to protect life and prevent crisis. He added that due to the tension surrounding the convention and the conflicting court rulings, the police thought it best to seal off the venue.
He said, “The warring parties need to follow due process to end their crisis through the courts and as a law enforcement agency what do you do? You ensure that there is a superior court order. It is not about taking sides.
“If in the next one hour or two, we get another court order, we will take action. We are there for every Nigerian but when you are the first responder, you have to take action, you have to be proactive.”
Six suspected burglars have been arrested by the Lagos State Police Command in the Ikoyi area of the state.
Our correspondent learnt that the suspects were sharing their loot when they were arrested by police operatives.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the men, identified as Friday Eze, Stanley Ejiofor, Femi Miracle, Raphael Ijoha, Emmanuel Omojuwa and Daniel Thomas, were arrested by men of the Ikoyi Police Division on Tuesday, August 9.
The police said the gang, which was notorious for breaking into houses and stealing valuables, had other members who escaped arrest.
Our correspondent learnt that around 10pm, the gang members allegedly burgled some houses on Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, and drove away in a car to a junction in the area to share the loot.
A source said operatives, who were on patrol, observed the suspects sharing the stolen items in the car and arrested them.
He said, “They are notorious in the Ikoyi area for burglary. They don’t rob to avoid raising suspicion. They only wait for their target houses to be deserted before they strike.
“We were on a ‘stop-and-search’ in the area when we observed them sharing some goods inside a car around 10pm. When we arrested them and searched the car, we found four laptops, three purses, 13 mobile phones and four iPads. They confessed that they were returning from an operation. The six of them have been transferred to the Special Anti-Robery Squad, Ikeja.”
Speaking with PUNCH Metro, Eze, a father of two, said he went into burglary to make ends meet.
He said, “It was frustration that drove me into burglary. The situation was very critical for me and my family. I have a wife and two kids to cater to. I am not the gang leader. A friend brought all these men for the operation. We stole several laptops. I took two laptops and two iPads. I have gone for only two operations.
“I was formerly living in Lekki with my family. But when things became difficult, my in-laws took my wife and children to Ikorodu. I am the firstborn of my parents. My sisters have been sent out of school and I have to fund their studies.”
Another suspect, Thomas, said, “Friday (Eze) introduced me to the gang. We are friends. I do not rob; I only burgle houses. It was hard times that led me to this.”
The state Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, said the suspects would be charged to court at the end of investigation.
“Members of the public should continue to cooperate with the police in tackling crimes in Lagos State. The suspects will be arraigned in court at the end of investigation,” he said.
