Three Killed As Ebonyi APC Politicians Battle For Control Of Power.
At least three persons including a Police Inspector attached to the Tactical Squad have been confirmed killed in a gunfight that erupted at Ekoli Edda community in Afikpo South Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, over a superiority power tussle among two APC political gladiators from the area.
The Chairman of the ruling, All Progressive Congress, APC in the State, Stanley Okoro-Emegha and the immediate past Local Government Council chairman who is equally the party's Federal House of Representatives candidate, Eni Uduma Cjima are at the center of the fracas.
A source at the local community told africafirstnews.com that the incident which occurred on Monday as the world was celebrating the boxing day, was a shoot out between operatives of the State government controlled Ebubeagu security outfit attached to the Ebonyi State Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Stanley Okoro-Emegha, and some armed youths said to be loyalists to the immediate past Chairman of the Council Area who is also the Party's House of Representatives candidate in the 2023 general elections, Barrister Eni Uduma Chima.
Apart from the three dead persons, it is gathered the home of the APC boss was equally set ablaze.
The State Governor, Dave Umahi who visited the troubled community on Tuesday, was quoted as having ordered the Police to immediately arrest and prosecute the two political gladiators, Stanley Okoro-Emegha and Eni Uduma Chima.
Someone who was at the scene as bullets flew from different directions said the Ekoli Edda faceoff which finally burst out in an open gun shootout was the fall out of a long time political superiority contest between the two politicians of the same ruling APC in Ekoli Edda community.
Our Correspondent narrates that the immediate cause of the violence was a supposed December 24, 2022 youth election in the community which the APC State Chairman, Okoro-Emegha, reportedly kicked
Deputy Governor of Anambra State, Dr. Onyeka Ibezim Takes Over Traffic Control Along The Awka - Enugu Old Road, Dismantles Military Road Block Constituting Nightmare To Road Users.
The Service Of Songs Of Princess Rosaline Agbogho Emea Oji nee Udensi Ugorji, On Tuesday, 20th December, 2022 At The Presbyterian Church Of Nigeria, New Haven Parish, Okam's Drive, Power Line Ugbo Okonkwo, New Haven, Enugu.
Residents Scamper For Safety In Abakaliki As Gunmen Strike Ebonyi. [Watch video]
There was reported panic in several parts of Ebonyi State in the South Eastern region of Nigeria during the early hours of Monday as residents who had gone out for their daily activities scampered for safety over news that gunmen had invaded Abakaliki, the State capital.
Unconfirmed reports had put the casualty figure at four persons when suspected gunmen said to be enforcing a five-day sit-at-home ordered by a factional leader of the outlawed separatist agitation group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Simon Ekpa, allegedly struck at Ezzamgbo in Ohaukwu Local Government Area, some few kilometers away from the Abakaliki city centre.
A source had claimed of yet another attack in the early morning at a local market in Isieke, a community hosting one of the campuses of the Ebonyi State University, setting the market ablaze in order to scare away traders who they accused of disobeying the sit-at-home order.
Reports equally had it that another set of gunmen who rode on motorbikes invaded the Ahiaofuru market located on the outskirts of Abakaliki town, on the Abakaliki - Enugu highway where they disrupted businesses after attacking a provision shop and set some vehicles ablaze.
As the news spread in what a resident described as coordinated attacks by the suspected gunmen, residents of Abakaliki and visitors alike quickly rushed to shutdown businesses and civil servants closed offices, while motorists, tricycle and motorcycle operators withdrew from the roads, turning the city into a ghost town in just minutes.
Videos obtained online by africafirstnews.com showed people, presumably traders and buyers at the popular Rice Mill market in Abakaliki seen scampering for their safety, and another which location could be ascertained showed suspected gunmen boasting of their powers.
Both videos could not be independently verified by our reporter at the time of this report.
However, th
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Gunmen Attack Imo INEC Headquarters, 4 Persons Killed, 2 Arrested.
Operatives of the Imo State Police Command on Monday, foiled an early morning attack at the State headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Owerri and killed three of the suspected gunmen, although one officer was lost in the gunshot encounter.
A Source at the scene told africafirstnews.com that another policeman was critically injured, while two of the gunmen were captured by the Police, in the shootout that reportedly lasted for over an hour.
The Police spokesperson, Michael Abattam has confirmed the incident and revealed that five riffles, two vehicles, charms, locally made bombs, phones and money were recovered from the dead gunmen.
Abattam told Journalists at the premises of the Imo State Police Command headquarters, Owerri where the three dead bodies of the suspected gunmen and the two arrested ones were brought to, that the attackers struck at the INEC headquarters in Owerri, around 3am by throwing locally made bombs at the roof of the building but fortunately, it did not detonate, before the Police engaged and resisted them.
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PDP Presidential Candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar; His Running Mate, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa; State Governors and members of The PDP National Working Committee Arrive Eagles Square, Abuja For The Party's Presidential Campaign Rally In The FCT
Details Later....
Fire Guts Residential Building In Abakaliki.
Occupants of a one-storey residential building, located at Udensi Street in Abakaliki town, Ebonyi State capital are in deep pains after a fire outbreak gutted their entire household properties.
Although no casualty was recorded, the residents reportedly lost all their belongings to the inferno, as not even a household pin was salvaged.
Neighbours who spoke to africafirstnews.com said the fire outbreak was caused by a surge in the electricity supply to the area, which occurred at about noon when most of the occupants of the building had gone out.
Our Correspondent reports that tens of volunteers and sympathisers battled relentlessly to put out the fire, but the intensity of the raging fire coupled with poor supply of water, made it difficult for them to manually contain the inferno, until the arrival of professional fire fighters.
On lookers blamed the huge losses of household properties at the affected building on the late arrival and response of the State Fire Service, several hours after a distress call was made.
But, the Comptroller of the Ebonyi State Fire Service, Raphael Ibiam who was physically present at the scene of the fire incident, denied the allegations, insisting that his Agency was not to be blamed as they promptly mobilised and responded to the emergency. [Watch Video]
INEC Office Set Ablaze In Ebonyi State.
Reported by: Febechukwu
With less then three (3) months to Nigeria's general elections, the conduct of the exercise may be under serious threat in Ebonyi State, one of the five (5) States in the Southeastern region of the country where a separatist agitation group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) is largely operating.
Suspected hoodlums reportedly attacked the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Izzi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State and set ablaze both buildings and electoral materials.
A statement released by INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, said the fire incident occurred around 10.00 am when some unidentified persons set the entire building ablaze with several Permanent Voters' Cards (PVCs) and other items destroyed.
“Although no casualties resulted from the attack, the main building and all the movable and immovable items inside it were destroyed. These include 340 ballot boxes, 130 voting cubicles, 14 electric power generators, large water storage tanks, assorted office furniture and fixtures, and yet-to-be-determined quantities of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs)".
Sunday morning's incident has been confirmed by both the Council Chairman of the Area, Emenike Nwankpa, and the Police in the State.
But, neither of the authorities was able to give details of the attack at the time they were contacted.
The INEC located at Iboko, the headquarters of Izzi Council Area had been set on fire in 2016 by yet to be uncovered arsonists.
The latest incident comes on the day the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba had ordered all Commissioners of Police in charge of Police Commands to fortify all facilities of INEC ahead of the 2023 general elections.
The Ebonyi State incident is the third attack on INEC Local Government offices in less than three weeks, following similar attacks in Ogun and Osun St
Sea Of Heads As Atiku, PDP Takes Campaigns To Gombe.
The Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 Nigerian general elections, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has taken his campaign trail to the North East State of Gombe, in what political observers described as a massive show of political strength.
The former Vice President, together with his running mate, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State, and other top Party leaders stormed Gombe with an unprecedented crowd streaming out of the campaign ground to adjourning roads and streets in what turned out to be a political carnival.
Very significant at the Gombe PDP rally was the presence of a strong member of the G-5 PDP Governors group, who had served as the Director General of the Nyesom Wike's Presidential Campaign Council, Alhaji Ibrahim Dankwambo.
Dankwambo who is the immediate past Governor of Gombe State did not just attend yesterday's campaign rally of the Peoples Democratic Party's presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, but donated 20 buses for his campaigns in the State.
africafirstnews.com reports that there were cheers from the crowd as Dankwambo’s presence was announced at the venue of the rally, even though the former Governor did not speak much while at the podium, but he simply described Atiku Abubakar as the next President of Nigeria who will recover the country through Agriculture.
Is this the coming political revolution in Nigeria?
PDP G-5 Governors Meet In Enugu.
Four of the five G-5 Governors of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP opposed to the continued stay in office by the Party's National Chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu are meeting in Enugu this Friday night.
The Governors known as the Integrity group led by Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State arrived at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu and were received by their host, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.
The Governors at the Enugu meeting are, Wike of Rivers State, Samuel Ortom of Benue State and Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State, while Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State is said to have travelled to the United States.
The five Governors have boycotted all the campaign activities of the PDP Presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar until their demand of equity and justice in the running of the affairs of the major opposition party, is met.
Ebubeagu Kidnap, Torture Ebonyi PDP Chieftain Abia Onyike.
*It Was A Mistaken Identity - Commander
A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and major critic of the Governor Dave Umahi adminstration in Ebonyi State, Chief Abia Onyike, has come out to tell his story of how armed men who turned out to be operatives of Ebubeagu security outfit, forcefully hijacked and whisked him away, late Wednesday in Abakaliki, the State capital.
The former Commissioner for Information in the State told Journalists on Thursday afternoon that the incident happened at the Water Works area of the capital city at about 7:00pm as he was stepping out of a popular Pharmacy store where he had gone to pick some medications on Wednesday, November 9, 2022 as two heavily armed men grabbed him, shooting in the air to scare people around, and then got him into their Sienna Toyota vehicle.
Onyike, 62, alleged that he was then taken to the old Government House, opposite the Ebonyi State Police Command headquarters in Abakaliki, where he was severely beaten and treated inhumanly for over an hour before his release, apparently on the orders of the State Commissioner of Police.
The politician recalled how his Abakaliki home had been attacked and riddled with gun shot bullets earlier in the year by agents suspected to be operatives of Ebubeagu, accusing the State government of being behind his ordeals.
The Commander of Ebubeagu in the State, Friday Nnanna, in his reaction confirmed that Onyike was arrested not abducted by his men, but that he was promptly released as his case was that of a mistaken identity. He explained that the opposition politician was not tortured as he claimed.
Police authorities in Ebonyi State was yet to respond to enquiries at the time of filing this report.
The alleged kidnap and torture incident involving Chief Abia Onyike, another opposition politician in Ebonyi State is coming amidst renewed calls by members of the opposition parties and civil rights groups
Thugs Attack Atiku's Campaign Convoy in Maiduguri.
Reports from Maiduguri the Borno State capital has comfired earlier information that armed youths suspected to be political thugs have attacked the campaign convoy of the Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), and a former Nigerian Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
africafirstnews.com gathered that the convoy was proceeding to the Maiduguri township stadium venue of the PDP Presidential campaign rally after Alhaji Atiku had paid homage to the Shehu of Borno in his palace, before the thugs who were carrying flags of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, threw stones and other dangerous objects at the vehicles.
Videos showed the damaged windscreens and windows of several vehicles on the convoy, though it is unclear if there were any injuries or casualties at the time of filing this report.
The Police in Maiduguri is yet to react to the incident.
Borno State in the far North East region of Nigeria is controlled by the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) where the Party's Vice Presidential candidate for the 2023 elections, Ibrahim Shettima hails from.
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Tanzanian Passenger Plane Crashes Into Lake Victoria.
Reported by: Febechukwu
A Tanzanian passenger plane, Precision Air carrying 43 persons has crashed into Lake Victoria as it attempted to land in the lakeside town of Bukoba.
BBC reports that so far, 26 of the passengers have been rescued and sent to hospitals, while rescue workers and local fishermen on the scene continued to search for more survivors.
A witness at the Bank of the Lake said, the plane is almost completely submerged with only the brown and green tail fin above the water, surrounded by rescue workers and fishing boats.
Emergency workers are using ropes to try and pull the ATR 42-500 plane out of Lake Victoria, Africa's largest lake.
A top Regional Officer, Albert Chalamia is quoted as saying: "We want to see if the landing gear is stuck, so that we can ask for more technical assistance to push it out of the waters".
One end of the runway at Bukoba Airport lies right next to the shore.
The plane was flying from Tanzania's biggest city, Das es Salaam, to Bukoba via Mwanza when it reportedly encountered a storm and heavy rains.
Precision Air which was founded in 1993, is Tanzania's largest private airline and is partly owned by Kenya Airways, that operates both domestic and regional flights.
China Builds $6million Agric. Devt. Centre In Abuja
The Chinese Government has built a $6billion Agriculture Development Centre to support Nigerian farmers and expose them to global best practices in agriculture productions value chain.
Officials of the Chinese Mission in Nigeria note that the facility is expected to serve as a skills acquisition centre to help local farmers adopt new farming methods which will enable them plant and harvest products that can compete favourably in the international markets.
Though Nigeria as a country is richly blessed with fertile vast land and a large productive age population, but poor infrastructure, lack of funds, absence of modern storage and processing facilities, insecurity and climate change as well as wrong investment policies and programmes have remained set backs in attaining domestic food sufficiency and the standards required to market Nigeria's products at the international levels.
Now, China, an agrarian society which achieved food sufficiency in the 1970s has come to support Africa's most populous nation to revolutionize her agriculture sector, through initiatives that will make her produce competitive at the international market.
The project which was started in 2013 by the Chinese government is expected to help Nigeria adopt modern agriculture techniques to enable the country attain food sufficiency and increase foreign exchange earnings through export of produce.
The centre can boast of World class facilities that covers the entire agriculture value chain, ranging from mechanisation, quality of seedlings, use of technology to information and research in different areas and fields of agriculture businesses.
Nigerian Ministry of Agriculture officials who undertook a tour of the centre while praising the Chinese government for the quality and sophistication of facilities at the over $6million Agriculture Development Centre, however assured that the signature project will further strengthen the Nigeria-China re
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2023 CENSUS: NPC Holds Workshop In Ebonyi State.
The National Population Commission (NPC) is holding a two-day workshop for stakeholders in Nigeria's South Eastern State of Ebonyi, on the compendium of localities for the population and housing census scheduled to be conducted in April 2023.
The census body is making every necessary arrangements to ensure the success of the project two years after an earlier plan to conduct the exercise in 2021 was shelved due to what the government said was overwhelming security breaches in many parts of the country.
The NPC's Federal Commissioner representing Ebonyi State, Darlington Okereke explained to the audience that the compendium of localities in a census entails finalizing and presenting to the grassroots, the final list of localities for a census exercise.
Okereke pointed out that for the 2023 population and housing census, the data on all localities in the State have already been collected by the Commission through its field workers during the Enumeration Area Demarcation exercise.
He assures the participants that the data will be presented and released to the 13 Local Government Areas stakeholders at the workshop.
The last census exercise in Nigeria was conducted in 2006 and the country's population was put at 140.43 million with 71.3 million as males and 69.0 million females, but before then, a headcount was held all over Nigeria from 27th November to 2nd December, 1991, though the figures were disputed.
The 2023 national population and housing census exercise which will be the 5th since the country's independence in 1960, has over N190 billion approved budget and is expected to be the most detailed and scientific enumeration of Nigeria's population.
