NEWS
Diri Warns Troublemakers in Opu-Nembe
From Mike Tayese, Yenagoa
Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has warned those fomenting trouble and beating the drums of war in Opu-Nembe community in Nembe Local Government Area of the state to desist forthwith or face the wrath of the law.
Diri who spoke in Government House, Yenagoa, when members of the Nembe Se Congress paid him a courtesy visit, stated that government will not fold its arms and watch a few individuals disturb the peace of Nembe kingdom, particularly in Bassambiri community.
The governor in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Daniel Alabrah, expressed displeasure over the actions of a few unscrupulous elements fomenting trouble yet playing the victim.
He stated that the government will take appropriate action against anyone found wanting no matter how highly placed.
He stressed that without peace, development would elude the people of the area and that all hands ought to be on deck to ensure that peace prevailed in Bassambiri community.
Governor Diri lauded the Nembe Se Congress for their interest in the Nembe-Brass road, saying he is encouraged by the group’s partnership with the state government to ensure the project saw the light of day.
He urged other groups in the state to emulate the congress by showing interest in government projects, its activities and raising concerns in appropriate quarters rather than engaging in social media criticisms.
The state’s helmsman further stated that apart from the economic reasons, the government embarked on construction of the Nembe-Brass road to reduce travel time to communities in the area as well as costing the cost and risk of water transportation.
He frowned at those playing politics with the road project, saying since news broke about the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited taking over construction of the road, nothing had been done by the company or the federal government.
Responding to a request to upgrade facilities in schools in Nembe, the governor said the government was not leaving any stone unturned in its effort to transform the education sector.
He explained that the educational direction of the state was science and vocational education in order to empower the youths beyond paper certificates.
His words: “As a government, we will not sit down and watch anybody make Nembe-Bassambiri ungovernable.
“Let me say this with all sense of responsibility that those who have been playing politics with security in the area will be dealt with no matter how highly placed.
“Like every other project we have embarked upon, we will not abandon the Nembe-Brass road. The benefits of that road are enormous.
“I like to appreciate you for giving serious attention to the road project. We cannot play politics with it. We should move beyond playing politics with our development.
“Let me also that since the issue of NNPC coming to take over construction of the road came up, I have not seen any action from them.”
Earlier, president of the Nembe Se Congress, Dr. Ebiegberi Domo-Spiff, lauded Governor Diri for taking the bull by the horns to kick-start the Nembe-Brass road project.
He called on government to strictly monitor the project by appointing a consultant with the relevant expertise to ensure that it meets the specification and that it is completed within the timeframe.
Dr. Domo-Spiff also appealed to the government to provide ferry boats to ease water transportation in the Nembe and Brass axis as well as ensure strict compliance with maritime laws to improve safety on the waterways.
He equally requested for a campus of the Bayelsa Medical University in the area, to which the governor responded that he will look into the law establishing the institution to see if there was provision for a multi-campus structure.
NEWS
Customs Intercept Contraband Worth N510.92m in Two Conths
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Federal Operations Unit Zone C, says it intercepted contrabands with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N510.92 million between July 15th and September 15th, 2024.The zone covers the six states in the South-South geopolitical zone and the five states in the Southeast geopolitical zone.
This is contained in a statement signed by Jerry Attah, Public Relations Officer, NCS, Zone C, and made available to journalists on Wednesday. According to the statement, Comptroller Michael Ugbagu, NCS, Zone C, gave the statistics while showcasing the seized contraband to relevant regulatory agencies at the Government Warehouse in Edo.Ugbagu said that the zone also recovered the sum of N25.57 million from demand notices raised based on some infractions noticed, making a cumulative sum of N536.49 million recorded within the months under review.“The DPV was derived from our seized goods, which include 49,699 sachets of various brands of tramadol and 3,350 bottles of various cough syrups with codeine without an NAFDAC number.“1,015 sacks of dry donkey meat and skin, 75 jumbo bales of second-hand clothing, 463 cartons of foreign spaghetti, 269 pieces of used pneumatic tires, and 56 cartons of smuggled foreign tomato paste.“More worrisome is the interception of 49,699 sachets of various brands of tramadol and 3,350 bottles of various cough syrups with codeine without NAFDAC registration numbers.”He noted that the cough syrup with codeine and tramadol without NAFDAC registration numbers, if not intercepted, could have had adverse effects on youths.He added that the items were mostly intercepted along the Ewu-Okada/Benin expressways based on credible intelligence. (NAN)NEWS
APC Forum Decries Deplorable Condition of Federal Roads
The Forum of Stakeholders of the All Progressive Congress (APC) has decried the deplorable condition of some federal roads in Nigeria. Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, the North-Central Chairman of the forum, said this in an interaction with newsmen on Wednesday in Jos. Zazzaga described some of the federal roads as ”death traps”, particularly those within the north-central region.
He said that some of the deplorable roads in the region include Jos-Akwanga, Makurdi-Oturkpo-Otukpa, Makurdi-Ankpa, and Jos-Saminaka. Other roads that needed urgent attention, he said, included Suleja-Minna, Ejule-Otukpa, Ganawuri-Manchok, Lokoja-Abuja, Lapai-Agaie-Bida, Birnin-Gwari-Bokani-Mokwa, Minna-Zungeru-Tegina-Kontagora. ”Currently, the north-central region has the most deplorable roads and highways in the country. ”These deplorable roads have brought severe hardship on the people and lost lives and property through preventable road traffic crashes. ”We call on President Bola Tinubu to intervene and ensure the rehabilitation of these roads because good roads are vital enablers of development,” he said. The chairman also called on governors of states within the region to reconstruct the dilapidated roads and seek refunds from the federal government. ”Though these are largely federal roads, they are located within states, and the beneficiaries are the people of these states. ”So we call on state governments to reconstruct these roads and seek refunds from the federal government,” he added. (NANNEWS
Yuan Strengthens 7. 087 Against Dollar
The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, strengthened 160 pips to 7.087 against the dollar on Wednesday.This is according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.In China’s spot foreigners exchange market, the yuan is allowed to rise or fall by two per cent from the central parity rate each trading day.
The central parity rate of the yuan against the dollar is based on a weighted average of prices offered by market makers before the opening of the interbank market each business day. (Xinhua/NAN)
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