NEWS
Stakeholders decry public infrastructure vandalism in South-south
Some stakeholders in the South-South have decried the unabated vandalism of public infrastructure by unpatriotic elements in the region.
In separate interviews during a survey conducted by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), they lamented that government’s efforts to provide critical infrastructure for the people were being thwarted by criminal elements.
According to them, the infrastructure that were worst hit by vandalism included, power installations, telecommunication, oil and gas installations, roads and bridges fittings.
Mr Obeten Obeten, Head of Administration, Cross River Infrastructure Safety and Regulatory Agency, said valuable assets of the state were being destroyed on daily basis.
He particularly condemned theft of gully inlets, manhole covers and other flood containment infrastructure in Calabar and other cities.
To forestall the trend, Obeten said
the state government instituted a ban on the movement of scrap materials in the state to stop evacuation of the stolen items by vandals.
He, however, regretted that the law lacked enforcement by the relevant security authorities.
On the efforts by his agency, he said they established a synergy with the Cross River Water Board, the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company, (PHEDC) and telecom operators on protection of their assets.
“When we noticed any form of vandalism, we draw the attention of the agency or operator concerned.
‘’In areas where we cannot get the operator, we go in and salvage the situation within our means,” he said.
Obeten advocated community participation in projects building in order to instill in them a sense of ownership and willingness to protect the assets.
He also urged the government to implement laws protecting public property in order to curtail the rate of infrastructure vandalism.
Speaking in same vein, Supt. Solomon Eremi, of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, (NSCDC), said vandalism of telecommunications and power installations as well as road infrastructures was rampant in the region
Eremi the Public Relations Officer, NSCDC, Cross River command said in spite of inadequate staff strength, the command had tried to reduce the menace of vandalism.
He said some of the arrested culprits by their officers, always blamed the devil, unemployment and poverty as causes of their unpatriotic acts.
He appealed for more information from the public in order to niche activities of vandals and other criminal elements in the bud.
The NSDC image maker urged the government and philanthropists to assist the Command with patrol vehicles.
He called for recruitment and deployment of personnel to the command for more effective operations especially in remote places of the state.
Mr Henry Ekini, a lawyer and National Legal Adviser of Committee of Human Rights (CDHR) in Port Harcourt equally condemned the rampant vandalism of government facilities in the state.
He said, it was disturbing, the rate at which pipelines, telecommunications and power infrastructures were being vandalised and destroyed by hoodlums.
Ekini, specifically, condemned the incessant removal of manhole-covers and steel protectors from roads in Port-Harcourt.
“This anti-social behaviour is condemnable as it has over the years led to avoidable accidents, causing injuries and sometimes death of the victims,” he said.
Ekini listed; poverty, greed, drug use, high unemployment rate and poor security network among the reasons for the rising rate of vandalism in the state.
“Although, these factors are no justification to commit crime, the implication is that, if they are not addressed, more persons, particularly youths will take to crime,” he said
The lawyer suggested multi-dimensional approach including, more employment opportunities, improved access to education and community sensitisation to the dangers of vandalism as measures to curtail the menace.
He added deployment of technology, such as CCTV, drones and security control rooms on the streets to checkmate crime.
Ekini also urged the government to improve funding for maintenance agencies to preserve public facilities before they decay.
“Above all, residents have a huge role to play, as they must be vigilant and look out for suspicious behaviors around public property,” he said.
Mr Onayesemi Berida, Federal Controller of Works, Akwa Ibom, said that replacement of iron and steel components with concrete would protect some of the public infrastructure from vandals.
According to him, iron elements are always attractive and easily disposable by vandals, while concrete elements are not attractive and difficult to be taken away and sold.
The Jigawa State Emergency Management Agency (JISEMA) has distributed relief materials to the affected families of Majia tanker explosion, which occurred in Taura local government area of the state.
The items distributed by the agency on Saturday in Majia town include 25kg bags of rice, 25kg bags of millet, cartons of spaghetti, Maggi cube, seasoning, detergents, soap, semolina, gallons of vegetable oil and 110 rubber mats.
Dr Mairiga Haruna Mairiga, Executive Secretary of the agency, said the materials were donated by the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons, the National Emergency Management Agency, and JISEMA.
Mairiga said this after the distribution, that the items were distributed to the families of the 210 people affected by the tanker explosion.
Some of the beneficiaries who received the items, commended the Federal and State governments as well as wealthy individuals who assisted them since the incidence in October.
Mr Muhammad Habibu, father to a deceased victim, said the relief materials would assist them at a time that they lost a helper.
Another beneficiary, Mr Auwal Abdullahi, whose son is on admission at Rashid Shekoni hospital in Dutse, said the materials would reduce the hardship encountered due to the incident.
They commended JISEMA for coming to their aid and prayed to God to continue guiding the state Governor Umar Namadi, towards the right direction.(NAN)
The Veritas University, Abuja, on Saturday, graduated a total of 795 students in various disciplines from six facilities during its 13th Convocation ceremony
Report says that 716 of the graduands bagged first degrees while 79 graduated from the post graduate school.
56 if the first degree graduands came out with first class honours, 329 with second class upper division, 291 with second class lower division and 40 with third class.
The Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof.
Hyacinth Ichoku, said that the impact of the institution had reflected in its standard of education.Ichoku said the students had recorded outstanding breakthroughs by winning awards for the school and country both at the national and international levels.
”Our students have continued to shine in the last years. The Software Engineering Department of the institution won the African Global Engineering Competition.
”We have also won the Commonwealth debating championship as well as an AI competition involving 150 university,” he said.
He added that the institution had inaugurated its endowment fund with the aim to generate funds to address the infrastructural need of the university.
He also said that the institution had just completed the construction of two separate hostels, each to accommodate 500 students, while also expanding its digital hub that would facilitate international teaching and learning.
He said pledged that the institution was planning the construction of its faculty of engineering and innovation.
In a goodwill message, the Acting Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC), Chris Maiyaki, lauded the institution its achievements.
Maiyaki said that the milestone resulted from years of hardwork, resilience and commitment in inculcating academics and moral values for the educational advancement of the country.
The institution’s Pro-chancellor and Chairman of Governing Council, Dr Matthew Kukah, said that the country was at the crossroads as a result of numerous challenges the country is faced with.
Kukah said that with the emergence of a new terrorist group, there was need for the country to brace up to this challenge to avert future problems.
He charged the graduating students to deliver on the confidence reposed in them to help the country find a lasting solutions to some of the challenges.
Highlight of the event included award of prizes to the outstanding students in their various departments and faculties.
Prominent Nigerians also bagged the institution’s honorary doctorate degree award.
The honorees were the Asagba of Asaba Kingdom, Prof. Epiphany Azinge, and the Executive Secretary, Sahara Power Group, Kolawole Adesina.
Others are Archbishop Emeritus of Ibadan Archdiocese, Most Rev. Alaba Job and Archbishop Emeritus of Owerri Archdiocese, Most Rev. Anthony Obinna.(NAN)
The Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa, has hailed the outcome of investigation on the allegation of forced abortion leveled against the Nigerian military by the International Committee of the Red Cross ( ICRC) and Reuters.
Musa made this known in a statement by the Director Defence Information, Brig.
-Gen. Tukur Gusau, on Saturday in Abuja.Musa commended the Special Independent Investigative Panel on Human Rights Violations in Counter Insurgency in the North East for exonerating the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) from indictments regarding allegations on forceful abortions and other infractions in the sub-region.
He recalled that the report of the panel specifically stated that the allegations of systematic abortions, torture, rape and extra juducial killings levelled against the military were false.
The CDS commended the 7- man panel led by retired Justice Abdu Aboki for painstakingly carrying out a thorough job since its inauguration in March 2023 by the Nigerian Human Rights Commission.
He reaffirms the commitment of the armed forces to the defence of human rights and resolve to ensure that peace reigns in the country.
According to him, no amount of false accusations will distract the armed forces from exercising its constitutional mandate of protecting the territorial integrity of the nation. (NAN)
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