ABSUTH Road: Workers and residents beg government to save lives

June 15, 2017


By Ijendu Iheaka


Workers at the Abia State Teaching Hospital, (ABSUTH) in Aba have appealed to the state government to urgently rehabilitate Udeagbala –Umueze road leading to the hospital to save lives.

Some of the workers told our reporter in Aba on Thursday that the deplorable condition of the road was hampering quick response to emergency cases to and from the hospital.

Dr Obi Uchechukwu, Aba-based medical practitioner said that the road failed since 2013 and had posed serious danger to patients, workers and residents of the area.

“In its present condition, it will be very hard for vehicles conveying emergency cases to the hospital to access it on time before the victims die in traffic.

The doctor, therefore, pleaded with the state government to stop using palliative measures on the road but should reconstruct it in order to save lives of citizens.

“The government should fully rehabilitate the road because in times of emergency, like an accident, there is no way an ambulance can enter the hospital freely without hindrances,” he said.

A resident, Mrs Mercy Kalu said that the road had been reportedly awarded for rehabilitation regretting that since then, nothing had been done by the contractor.

She said that the strategic position of the road as the only route leading to the teaching hospital deserved urgent and proper attention to avoid unnecessary loss of lives.

Kalu advised government to ensure that drains were built on the road for its durability.

Mr Emmanuel Chidi, a staff of the hospital also joined in the call for the rehabilitation of the road saying that some workers were always late to work due to the bad road.

“We experience horrible traffic on the road and by the time one gets to the hospital, we are tired and worn out,” he said. 

Woman crushes three children to death in Church, send others to emergency ward

 
June 20,2017

By Ijendu Iheaka

An unnamed woman driving an SUV on Sunday killed three children inside the premises of the Hall of Harvest Parish of Redeemed Christian Church of God at No 103 Omuma road, Aba.

Our reporter observed that three other children involved in the mysterious accident were receiving medical care at the emergency ward of a hospital in the neighbourhood.

Pastor Joseph Ugboaja of the Hall of Harvest parish, Abia Provice 2, told our reporter that he was on a pulpit exchange programme in another parish church when he was informed of the accident.

Ugboaja said that he did not know exactly what happened but he was sure the claim that five children died in the accident was false.

“When I rushed to the scene, I learnt that a woman learning to drive and was not perfect yet had an SUV while going to Church that Sunday.

“On trying to negotiate the bend where the church is, she lost control of the vehicle and with the speed she was driving, plunged into the premises where children were sitting in Church and crushed three children to death.

“Three other children sustained injuries and are now in the hospital. One broke her arm and two were in critical conditions on Monday but today, they have become more stable although they are in pain”, he said.

Ugboaja said that the church had been in touch with the families of the dead children and those in the hospital stressing they have been doing the best they could to comfort them.

“There is no amount of words that can comfort them completely but our prayer is that God will comfort them and we pray that such a tragedy will not happen again to us”, he added.

Ugboaja said that two of the crushed children were buried on Sunday and Monday while one was still under police custody in the mortuary because the father of the child was not at home.

 On the issue of the building being a haunted house where its occupants have been dying yearly by fire accidents and other mysterious deaths, the pastor said the building’s status is left for God.

He said he would not speculate adding that although the Church was planning to move because of its size before the accident, it had been there since 2002 without any such occurrence. 

He said that with the present situation, the church authorities will assess the situation and know how to ensure the church moved out of the building.

A witness, Mr Chima Monday, said that the incident happened around 9 am and that the ash colour vehicle failed brake and crushed the three children to death on the spot.

He attributed the accident to bad roads and begged Abia state government to help rehabilitate Omuma road to reduce such fatal accidents.

When contacted for confirmation of the accident, the Abia State Police PRO, DSP Geoffery Ogbonna said that the accident happened on Sunday during Church service hours.

The Police spokesman further said he was told that only one child died in the accident adding that the woman who drove the vehicle has been taken into custody while investigations are ongoing.

Court dissolves 7-year-old marriage on grounds of suspicion, fighting

June 13, 2017

By Ijendu Iheaka

An Aba-la-Ohazu Customary Court in Aba South Local Government Area of Abia has dissolved the marriage between one Emeka Awujuo and his wife Chinyere on grounds of accusation of extra-marital affairs and fighting.

Emeka, the petitioner, told the court that his wife had caused him much agony and pain by calling him an outcast (Osu) and fighting him regularly since the fourth month after their marriage.

He said that they got married in March 2010 under the custom and tradition of Mkporo people in Orlu Local Government Area of Imo but that since the marriage he had never had peace of mind.

Emeka said he was so unfortunate that he never had a honeymoon even as his wife started causing trouble in the family and fighting him four months after the union was contracted.

He said that their inability to reconcile their differences resulted in Chinyere leaving him to go and live with her parents since March 2013, three years after coming together as husband and wife.

Emeka therefore prayed the court to dissolve their marriage for having broken down irretrievably and to grant him custody of the seven-year-old female child of the marriage.

In her cross petition, the respondent (Chinyere) asked the court to make orders granting her custody of the only child of the union.

She further asked to be paid N60,000 and N50,000 monthly for her upkeep and the child’s maintenance while insisting that Emeka must pay for the educational expenses of the child.

Chinyere, a petty trader, also prayed the court to allow her return only N6,000 as bride price on her head to Emeka through the court registry.

The respondent was represented by Uche Nneji as her counsel, while Emeka appeared without a legal representative.

In his ruling, the presiding Senior Magistrate Diamond Olewengwa said that the parties had consented to the dissolution of their union.

Olewengwa said that granting Chinyere custody of the tender child would be exposing the child to her mother’s prejudices against Emeka, her father whom she derogatorily referred to as an outcast.

The court held that to allow the daughter of an outcast live with a free-born would not be healthy for the child hence it granted Emeka custody of her daughter.

Olewengwa said that the marriage had broken down irretrievably as a result of incompatibility, irreconcilable differences and frequent disagreement.

He ordered Chinyere to return to Emeka the N6,000 bride price via the court registrar, and to revert to her maiden name while giving her access to visit her daughter during holidays.

Olewengwa also ordered Emeka to pay Chinyere a lump sum of N100,000 as alimony and another N50,000 to compensate for the severed union and compensatory fund for other inconveniences, respectively.

The Senior Magistrate said that parties were free from all existing encumbrance to marry any other persons of their choice and urged them to maintain the peace as they go their ways. 

Educationist charges stakeholders on ways to revive public school system

June 13, 2017 


By Ijendu Iheaka

 
Mr Rufus Emerenini, the Principal, Senior Secondary Section, Dority International School, Aba, says quality public school education can best be  revived through the collaboration of teachers, parents and government at all levels.
 
The principal made the suggestion in an interview with our reporter in Aba during the visit to the school by the 2015 Nigeria’s representative to the World Biology Olympiad, Master Henry Okoro.

Emerenini said that it was possible for the public schools in the country to produce quality, high-flying students, if parents, teachers and government would play their roles to give the best for the students.

He said that the poor standard of education in Nigeria’s public schools could be improved through government provision of the required facilities and paying quality salaries to staff promptly.

Emerenini stressed that key subjects such as English and Mathematics should have at least five teachers handling them in a school to enable them pay adequate attention to students individually at all classes.

The principal further called on government to use quality supervisors who would monitor how the teachers work to cover their syllabuses and schemes of work and students' performances.

Emerenini also said that the teachers should, however, work hard on students by giving extra coaching time to those lagging behind individually.

“The teachers should maintain closer ties with their students in order to monitor their efforts to ensure they cover the curriculum and even go beyond it.

“Hard work is the key to remarkable achievements,” he said.

The principal said that parents, as agents of socialization, should monitor their children’s performances regularly as well as encourage them when necessary.

Emerenini said that Dority International School had produced hundreds of quality students who had won awards and scholarships within Nigeria and overseas because it believed in hard work and collaborations.

He said that three students of the school qualified to represent Nigeria at the 2017 editions of the International Biology and Chemistry and Pan-African Mathematics Olympiads.

"Anthony Nwachukwu, will represent Nigeria in Biology Olympiad in the UK and Benjamin Chibueze will represent the country at the Chemistry Olympiad in Thailand.

"Margaret Chinwike will represent Nigeria at the 2017 edition of the Pan-African Mathematics Olympiad for girls in Morocco", he said.

Okoro, a former student of the Dority International School, is now on scholarship at  the American University of Nigeria (AUN) where he is a second year student studying Environmental Science and Bio-Medicine.

He represented Nigeria in Denmark in the 2015 Biology Olympiad as an SS2 student and is currently visiting the school to encourage the students.

Dority International School is a private nursery, primary and secondary school owned by an Aba-based African American entrepreneur, Mrs Zovannah Onuma.

Aba shoemakers caution Abia Government over Chinese investor

June 10, 2017


By Ijendu Iheaka


Shoemakers in Ariaria Market, Aba, have expressed concern that invitation of a Chinese investor may stifle local entrepreneurs.

The Abia State Government had in April 2017 announced that it had secured a loan of $1.5 billion for a Chinese entrepreneur to set up a shoe industry in Aba.

Some shoemakers in separate interviews with our reporter on Saturday in Aba, said the arrangement would not work in their favour, as they lacked the capacity to compete with the well established shoe manufacturing company.

Mr Ikedi Ohaeto, one of the local entrepreneurs, said it was not proper for Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu who is championing made-in-Aba products to shop for an investor from abroad.

He stressed that what the governor ought to do, is to empower local entrepreneurs to acquire machines.

“If the Chinese arrives with his machines and coupled with cheap labour, how can we compete with him producing with bare hands?

“I am not too sure that Aba shoemaking industry will survive long after the Chinese arrives to establish his shoe factory here.

“We need foreign investors but not in this way or this sector in Abia”, Ohaeto said.

Another shoemaker, Mr Chinbueze Onyeizu , said that the governor should change his mind on bringing the Chinese to Aba to produce shoes.

He said that rather than bring the Chinese, government should buy machines for them to boost their production, and give them time to repay the cost of the machines.

Onyeizu noted that the idea of bringing the Chinese investor in the area of shoe production with machines to compete with people producing with bare hands would be counter-productive for the Aba shoe industry.

Another shoemaker, Mr Ken Ora, also stressed the need for government’s intervention to enable them buy the machines.

He noted that the Umukalika Industrial City, that would house the Shoe, Finished Leather Products and Garment clusters, need to be adequately equipped with industrial machines.

Ora argued that for the industrial city to be without machines would be like sending a man to work without equipment.

“If the shoemakers that would be located at Umukalika do not have machines, how can they compete with the Chinese coming with machines and other advantages?

“Again, the machines we need cannot be purchased individually, because we do not have the funds to do that and so we look up to government to help us.

“If Abia Government can buy machines and recoup the money later , does it make business sense to bring in a Chinese competitor as that would make recouping the fund harder,” he queried.

Suspected kidnappers kill Police suspect in Abia

 
June 8, 2017 

By Ijendu Iheaka

The Abia State Police Command on Thursday said that hoodlums suspected to be kidnappers attacked a team of anti-kidnap policemen on April 5, 2017 and killed a suspect named Samuel Kalu alias “Obere”.

The Command’s Spokesman, DSP Geoffery Ogbonnaya disclosed this in a media release made available to newsmen in Aba.

He said the 24 yr-old Kalu who had earlier been arrested was leading a team of policemen to locate the gang’s hideout when suspected members of the kidnap gang shot at them and killed Kalu while injuring a policeman.

He said that the encounter which involved the anti-kidnap section of the State Criminal Investigation Department (D7) in Umuahia happened along Ukkpakiri / Ikot Ekpene road, Aba

Ogbonnaya said that Kalu was arrested on May 27, 2017 through a tip-off in Okai- Item area of Bende Local Government Area of Abia State.

He stated that Kalu before his death had confessed to killing two policemen at Orji Uzor Kalu Bridge in Aba two months ago and also killing one Chucks Mbaeri Okebata.

The PPRO said Okebata was Nigerian-born United States Army personnel from Mbieri, in Mbaitoli local government area of Imo State in 2016 during a Christmas holiday in Nigeria.

He further said that the suspect also confessed to be among the kidnap gang which killed 4 members of the Abia State Vigilante Services in Aba in April 2017.

Ogbonnaya said that the State’s Tactical Response Squad had been drafted to track the other members of the notorious kidnap gang now at large.

He urged members of the public to bring to the police or any other security agency information about the other gang members or on anybody with bullet wounds around them.

Woman arrested, 700 students under investigation for counterfeiting Abia Poly reciepts

June 1, 2017  

By Ijendu Iheaka

A woman who worked at a business centre near the Abia state Polytechnic has been arrested and charged to court for counterfeiting the school’s receipts.

The Abia State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Geoffrey Ogbonna told newsme in Aba on Thursday that the woman’s name was Caroline Augustine.

The Business centre, the Police said is owned by Mr Alwell Nwachukwu-Njoku, a lecturer at the Polytechnic.

Ogbonna said that Caroline was arrested by the school authorities and brought to the police stressing that she has been charged to court by the police in order to ensure her due prosecution. 

 The Acting Rector, Abia State Polytechnic, Prof Ezionye Eboh while briefing newsmen on the development on Thursday said that over 700 students obtained fake receipts from such unauthorised sources.

He said that the students numbering over 700 involved in the act were being investigated while the school has written to suspend the lecturer who owns the business centre suspected to be issuing the fake reciepts. 

Eboh said that the institution had no intention of letting the students go scot-free because unless they were punished to serve as deterrent, other students would not desist from such acts.

He said that when management which had made it compulsory for students to show their fee receipts before sitting for their exams discovered the counterfeiting, it suspended the first semester exams on 18, May, 2017.

The Professor of Management remarked that they asked students with fake receipts to go pay their fees if they wanted to sit for the exams before resumption of the exams on March 31.

He said that from March 18 to March 31, the school realised N43 million from students who faked the school’s receipts which would have been lost if they had not had the courage to act.

 Eboh who spoke also on the issue of re-assignment of 10 nurses out of 12 working in the school’s clinic, said their reassignment was an intervention from Governor Ikpeazu who counselled against sacking them.

“If it was not for the intervention of Governor Ikpeazu, we would have sacked them but he said they should be retained but re-assigned to places where their services would be needed”, Eboh said.

The Acting Rector said that the employment of such senior nurses in a large number was mind-boggling in a non-residential campus adding that they drew salaries as huge as that of a university professor.

He said that with the reassignment, the institution was saving N34 million per annum.

He stressed that with monies they have realized so far from plugging loopholes, they have paid five months salaries noting that the Polytechnic is only owing workers one month of 2016 salaries.