Man slumps, dies at bus stop in Aba

October 30, 2018

By Ijendu Iheaka

A tricycle operator on Tuesday slumped and died at about 7:48 a.m. close to a petrol station at Bata bus stop in Aba.

The man was simply identified as Ogbonna Uche through his tricycle documents which were perused by a policeman who spoke under anonymity.

The policeman said that Uche crossed the road holding on to his chest and shouting “my heart, my heart” before he slumped and died.

An eye-witness who gave his name as Mmeribe John told our reporter that the man crossed the road holding on to his chest.

“He was shouting, “my chest, my chest” as he was coming and we asked him what is the phone number of your wife and he said that his wife has no phone.

“That was the last word that came from him before he collapsed and died,” he said.

Mmeribe said that the man must have consumed a substance from a small bottle found in his shirt pocket which was suspected to be poisonous.

Another police officer at the scene who did not give his name sampled the substance using his fingers and said that the substance felt very hot on his fingers.

Another man who later arrived at the scene at about 9:55 am, and who identified himself as Okwubunka, confirmed that the dead driver is truly Ogbonna Uche.

He said that the late Uche was his brother and that they hailed from Okpulo-Umuobo in Osisioma local government area.

According to Okwubunka, the deceased “has been suffering from heart issues which is not natural but he has been managing it until now”.

The Abia State Police PRO, Geoffery Ogbonna, when contacted on telephone said that he was unaware of the the incident.

Provide safety nets for private sector workers, MAGIC FM Manager tells government

October 4, 2018

By Ijendu Iheaka

The Manager, News, of Magic FM radio station in Aba, Mr Bonny Onogwu has called for legislation to create safety nets for workers in the private sectors of the economy to cushion their sufferings.

Onogwu made this call in Aba on Thursday during a media briefing to mark the 5th anniversary of the pioneer private radio station in Aba.

He said although workers in his establishment do not face unnecessary sack threats or such other ill-treatments, the service conditions and treatments given to private business workers deserved to be reviewed.

According to Onogwu, the provision of such safety nets would not only improve the economic condition of the private sector workers but also increase their productivity in return.

” In the public sector, you have the normal line of action. But in the private sector, even the girl friend, wife, child of the owner can sack you.

“The owner can work in today and if he does not like you face he can say my friend get out. And the worker is gone.

“The NBC has not been able to look at that side so that the operatives (that is the workers) are not just treated anyhow.

“The private stations are also not allowed to unionize so they cannot be affiliated to Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) or Radio Television And Theatre Arts Workers Union of Nigeria (RATTAWU).

“They should have a situation where if you are ill-treated you will have a place where you have a recourse without going to the court of law as it obtains in the civil service”, he said.

Onogwu said that Magic FM station’s greatest challenge as a business concern was using power generating sets almost 24 hours a day instead of electricity from the national grid.

He said that if power could be provided for the operation of the station from the national grid, they could do more for the benefit of the people they are serving.

He noted that his station had through advocacy contributed so much to development of Abia and adjoining states whose governments receive feedback on the people’s needs and are prompted to action for their benefit.

He said that Magic FM has touched the lives of the citizens through provision of entertainment, education and informational services which give variety to the people’s needs and tells them the truth.

Onogwu said Magic FM 102.9, which is owned by Saturn Communications Limited, began operations on May 15, 2013 and has since then become the darling station of radio listeners.

He said the station’s audience coverage includes Abia, Ebonyi, Cross River, Rivers, Imo, Bayelsa, and Enugu states while also serving some parts of Nigeria’s neighbor, Cameroon

Why we lost to Raja Casablanca – Enyimba FC Coach

October 4, 2018

By Ijendu Iheaka

Enyimba FC of Aba Coach, Usman Abdullah, Wednesday night blamed his team’s 0-1 loss to visiting Raja Casablanca of Morocco in a continental encounter, on fatigue.

Abdullah said during a post-match press briefing held at the Enyimba International FC Stadium complex that his boys were engaged close to the encounter and never had any rest.

He said his team played five matches in ten days,which affected their performance and quality of play,having suffered exhaustion because of being on the road constantly.

“NFF should have protected us because we are the only team in Nigeria playing the African cup matches. Now they have seen what had happened.

“Going to Gombe is a two-day trip. We played a match on Sunday and left in the morning. We only arrived Gombe the next day, Tuesday, and on Wednesday, we played a game against one of the toughest clubs in Nigeria.

“On Saturday morning, we had to leave and on our arrival in Aba on Sunday, we had only one day left to train and to play.

“I think the NFF should have protected us and granted some privilege but they did not; we have learnt our lessons”, Abdullah said.

He said that his team had not lost hope of advancing in the game because the match in Aba was just the first leg of their encounter with Raja Casablanca.

He said his team would need to do a lot of work to win the second leg of the encounter, promising to prepare adequately.

“It is far from being over because this is the first part of the match and now we are familiar with our opponent.

“We played them without knowing them but having known them now, we would have to go to the drawing board and do some work”, he said.

Raja Casablanca Coach, Juan Carlos Garrido, said the match was tough but his team won, having studied Enyimba and known their pattern of play.

“We worked hard, knowing our opponent and our players played the match respecting the quality of Enyimba and their game.

”For us, the motivation was very high because they (players) knew the match demanded everything”, he said.

He said that although they won the first part of the match in Aba, they would still go home and prepare harder for the second leg.

Raja Casablanca’s Zakaria  Hadraf scored the only goal of the match at the 48th minute of play.

Enyimba missed a lot of opportunities to poor marksmanship, one of which was a spot kick wasted by  Sopuruchi Dimgba.