Newspaper Review: Tension As Soldiers Comb Delta State In Search Of Militants
Nigerian national dailies of today, January 18, centered on the tension brewing in the Niger Delta region following the renewed hostilities by some militants in Delta state.
Vanguard reports that the Nigerian military on Sunday, January 17, stormed some Ijaw communities in Gbaramatu kingdom, Warri South-West local government area with gunboats in search of the militants, who carried out a three-day bombing of crude oil and gas pipelines in the state, from last Thursday.
The Joint Task Force Commander of Operation Pulo Shield in the Niger Delta, Major General Alani Okunola, who spoke with journalists, disclosed that the task force was closing in on the militants that blew up oil and gas pipelines belonging to the Nigeria Gas Company, Chevron Nigeria Limited and Nigeria National Petroleum Company, NNPC. He promised that JTF would fish out the culprits.
The chairman of Okpelama, an Ijaw town in Gbaramatu kingdom, Mr. Moses Yabrade, confirmed that that soldiers invaded his community in the midnight of Saturday, breaking houses but stressed that he did not know the purpose of their mission.
The Punch report that ex-militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo aka Tompolo, has written a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, alleging that chieftains of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Bayelsa and Delta states are responsible for the ongoing vandalization of crude oil and gas pipelines in the creeks of Delta state.
Tompolo in the letter alleged that a leader of the APC in the state and some young men from Warri South West local government area were bent on linking him to the vandalization of oil facilities in the Niger Delta region, “whereas they are the ones carrying out the act to smear my name.”
The ex-militant leader said: “they are doing this in connivance with an agent of Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) who is also a member of APC because I refused to buy property from him. The crux of this letter is to let you know them and to say that they are mischievous, desperate, and therefore, do not share the same vision and mission with you, as well as do not believe in good governance.”
Tompolo further alleged that a member of the APC in the state approached him shortly after he met with President Buhari, and asked him to plead on his behalf to be appointed as Special Adviser (SA) and Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, but he (Tompolo) refused.
The Guardian also reported that history was made on Sunday, January 17, when the newly crowned Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, visited the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, on the occasion of his 45th coronation anniversary.
Speaking at the thanksgiving service held at the Methodist Church, Apaara, Oyo state, to commemorate the anniversary, Oba Ogunwusi though uninvited emphasized that his agenda, is to unify all Yoruba sons and daughters all over the world.
Oba Ogunwusi. Who is the first Ooni to visit Oyo town since 1937, said: “I am here today, though not invited, but as the Arole Oduduwa, the onus is on me to felicitate with all sons and daughters wherever they are and to show my solidarity for them. I am ready to damn any consequences or insinuations from anywhere; my mission here is to preach peace among nations of Yoruba both home and abroad and I am ready to work with Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Olayiwola Adeyemi to project the unity and love which existed in days of our forefathers.”
Speaking earlier, Oba Olayiwola Adeyemi, expressed joy with the presence of the Ooni and all other Yoruba Obas. He maintained that if every monarch in Yoruba land unite, there will be tremendous progress in Nigeria.
“This special visit was done last in March 1937, that was the first time the kings in Yoruba land met in Oyo town and today history was made with the visit of Arole Oodua, Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II and I feel delighted to host you and to reassure you that I will be ready to work with you. I had a cordial relationship with Ooni Adesoji Aderemi and I did not want to relent my bound with any Ooni of Ife that assumed the post but everybody has his own little differences,” Oba Adeyemi said.
The Sun reports that there would be scarcity of kerosene in the country, and that the scarcity may force residents to use charcoal and firewood which experts say are harmful, besides having serious consequence on the environment.
Investigations show that the scarcity has worsened as no retail station in Lagos and Ogun states have the commodity. It was observed that the situation at the Apapa depot is worrisome as many marketers including NIPCO, Aiteo, Conoil, Forte Oil, Mobil, among others, cannot boast of a litre of kerosene in their storage tanks.
The development is believed to have been further compounded by the inability of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to issue import licences, on one hand and the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) to release import permit, on the other hand.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) will from tomorrow shut down operations of the Lagos State Government and its other agencies in protest against alleged N224 million debt.
The South-west Chairman of the union, Tokunbo Korodo, who made this known, said the union had already mobilized over 1,000 tankers to block the entrances of the state government secretariat at Alausa, Ikeja, as well as other offices belonging to the state.
He said the union had already informed the police about the protest expected to force the state government to pay its debt.
The Nation reports that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has queried the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Benjamin Dikki, over the alleged N1.45 billion legal and consultancy fees scandal rocking the agency.
The query was a reaction to a petition forwarded to the Office of the Vice President by a former director of the BPE, Ibrahim Muhammad Kashim.
The controversial contracts include a curious N950 million job for the liquidation of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) when the company had seized to exist and N500 million as consultancy fees to a government department.
Dikki is also expected to clarify the alleged payment of N27, 188, 232, 208: 20 billion as premium for group life and group personal accident insurance for former staff of the defunct PHCN. Another issue is the alleged diversion of N455, 266, 618; 23 meant for the payment of retirement benefits to entertainment allowance for the staff.
According to Kashim, the N950 million contract for the winding up of PHCN was unnecessary because PHCN was already a “shell” company. The BPP had earlier requested the EFCC to probe the payment scandal in a June 27, 2015 letter to the anti-graft agency.
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