ABSUTH health workers resume strike

November 27, 2018


By Ijendu Iheaka


Health wworkers of Abia State University Teaching Hospital (ABSUTH), Aba, on Tuesday resumed their indefinite strike, locking the entrance to the hospital and depriving patients and other workers access to the complex.

The striking workers, who are demanding 10 months’ salary arrears owed them by the state government, would not also allow the Chief Medical Director, Prof. Chucks Kamalu’s car to enter.

The workers, dressed in black clothes, had placards bearing inscriptions like: “ABSUTH workers are hungry. But why”?, “ABSUTH workers can no longer pay school fees, bills, feed!’’

Others bore: “New employees have not been paid from May 2018 till date”, “Abia State Government has turned ABSUTH workers to beggars”, “How long shall we continue to cry for our salaries?’’.

Mr Sylvanus Inyama, the Branch Chairman, Medical and Health Workers Union, ABSUTH Chapter, said they had been going into and out of strike because they always believed government would keep to its promises.

He said that they were resuming the strike they suspended on June 8, again because the state government kept failing in its promises to pay them.

“By 6th June 2018 when the Joint Union went on strike, we were on strike.

“On the 8th of June 2018, the state government had intervened in the strike action and we came up with a resolution and a Memorandum of Understanding.

“We entered an agreement with government and they promised to be offsetting our salary arrears with two months payments, every month from June 2018.

“It is also written in the document that if the government failed to pay as promised the Union will not hesitate to resume the suspended strike.

“But since then government had not been able to meet up with the promise they made. They have not paid the two months for once as promised till date.

“What they now do is when we mount pressure, they will just throw in one month arrears, just like the last payment they made on Oct. 4, for January 2018 salary,” the union leader said.

Inyama said that they were protesting to remind the government that it had breached its agreement and that the workers were resuming the suspended strike.

He said that the protest at the gate of the institution would continue until next week when the hospital would close down completely with all patients in the wards sent home.

Mr Enyinnaya Ogbonna, a Health Workers Union member, while addressing the workers at the gate, called on Kamalu to appeal to the governor to pay them; stressing that their members are dying from hunger.

“We cannot continue to live this way. This gate is permanently locked until the government pays our salaries. We do not want one month payment again,” he said.

Ms Onyinyechi Akwara, a Medical Laboratory student, also told our reporter that it would be hard for them to take over tomorrow’s healthcare services from the current workers without proper training.

She said that the strike was affecting their studies adversely and begged government to urgently pay the workers to restore normalcy in the institution.

Mrs Blessing Ugochukwu, a new nursing mother who had triplets, said that the strike would affect the level of care given her and her babies by the doctors and nurses and even their discharge.

She said that she was not happy about the 10 months salary owed the workers and pleaded with the government to pay them to help her babies get proper care, be healthy and safe.

The nursing mother said she had not left the hospital because they have not been able to pay all that was required of her by the hospital.

She further said that the strike will have adverse effect on her and her babies if they were abandoned in the hospital. 

Osisioma Fire Victims: Abia Govt to award more scholarships to victims’ children

November 27, 2018


By Ijendu Iheaka


Chief John Okeiyi-Kalu, the Commissioner for Information in Abia, has said that more children whose parents died in the Osisioma Pipeline fire will be accommodated in the governor’s scholarship programme.

Okeiyi-Kalu disclosed this in an interview with our reporter in Aba on Tuesday.

The commissioner, who said four of such children had been awarded scholarships already, added that the governor had set up a committee to find the remote and immediate causes of the fire.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Oct. 12 announced an oil pipeline fire outbreak along the Osisioma axis near Aba Depot, Abia, in its System 2E pipeline network which killed many residents.

He said the committee was mandated to compile names of victims to enable the government to get a dependable record on the incident.

He gave the assurance that the N10 million donated by Alhaji Atiku, Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, would be shared to victims’ families within two weeks.

He said government was being careful with the sharing process so as to ensure that the money did not end up in wrong hands.

“The committee will also write a comprehensive report which would be handed over to the governor when they finish sitting.

“We do not want to run and do the wrong thing. It is not the way to go. Meanwhile we have awarded scholarship to four children of one of the men who died as a result of that disaster.

“We have offered free medical assistance to some of them who ran away, fearing arrest by police and I am happy they survived.

“I believe that in the next one or two weeks, the committee will complete its interim report and hand it over to the governor and we will ensure that everyone is compensated,’’ he said.

Okeiyi-Kalu advised all affected families to write to the governor through the committee. 

FRSC says 33 accidents, 26 deaths recorded so far in Abia in 2018

November 23, 2018


By Ijendu Iheaka


The Abia Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Commander Meshach Jatau, said on Friday that the state recorded 33 accidents between January and November 14, this year.

Jatau made the disclosure at the Aba Park, while speaking to drivers at a sensitization programme organized by the State Ministry of Transport, in conjunction with the FRSC, to mark its Safety Week.

He said out of the 33 accidents, 26 persons died while 257 were injured, hence the need to re-emphasise the importance of road safety.

“Accidents destroy lives and render families economically impotent, with some of their bread winners dead,’’ he said.

Jatau said that the number of road accidents in the state was high, stressing that there was the need to reduce it.

He said that deaths from accidents increased the number of out-of- school children, which also increased social vices, and charged the drivers to drive with their loved ones always in their minds.

In his remarks, the Abia Commissioner for Transport, Chief Kingsley Imaga, said that the state was working to ensure a zero accident record during the yuletide.

He charged drivers in Abia to be law-abiding, keep to their lanes and drive safely during the Christmas season, for the safety of all road users.

“The state is working to ensure it has a zero accident record by January 2019.

“Our appeal is to all drivers in the state to change their tyres, service their vehicles and avoid drinking before driving during this period,’’ he said.

The commissioner said that the sensitization programme was designed to enlighten new drivers and remind old ones of what they needed to know, to work and live beyond the Christmas season, without accidents.

He charged the drivers to imbibe the culture of discipline and driving with caution to be alive for their families, who would need them after the season.

“You cannot get all the money you need in your lifetime within this one month period. So avoid reckless driving and speeding to cover many trips if you must be alive to see the New Year,’’ he said.

The Director, Vehicle Inspection Office, Abia, Chief Okey Ekwonye, said drivers should ensure proper maintenance of their vehicles, for them to remain safe.

He urged them to consider their lives to be more important than the money they may save from “managing” bad vehicles, as the effect would be more damaging on them and their families.

The Assistant Chief Fire Officer for Aba, Okezie Uche, said that out of 105 fire incidents recorded so far in Abia in 2018, vehicles were involved in 20 of the cases.

He urged drivers to get at least a 6kg fire extinguisher, especially during this dry season, to be safe from sudden fire outbreaks from moving vehicles.

The Leader Joint Motor Unions in Aba, Chief Azubuike Asuzu, thanked them for the programme and urged the government to ensure drivers’ safety through doing what only governments can do.

He asked that they should be assisted to get and use new tyres, access genuine motor parts and lubricants, as well as fuels, as these help to keep the roads safe.

Asuzu pledged that all drivers who were not at the gathering would get the message. 

Community raises alarm over incessant harassment by suspected cultists

November 23, 2018


By Ijendu Iheaka

Aba-Ukwu Autonomous Community in Aba South local government area of Abia state on Friday, raised alarm over incessant harassment by a suspected cult group, Aroo Boys.

The traditional ruler of the community, Eze Monday Ugbo, who raised the alarm while speaking with our reporter in Aba on Friday, called on Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu to protect the community.

Ugbo said members of the group were going after women in his domain in order to rape them at the slightest opportunity.

“The menace has become unbearable to us and that is why we decided to cry out to the appropriate quarters to hear, and come to help us out.

“I am using this medium to appeal to Gov.Ikpeazu to direct whosoever needs to be directed to do the needful.

“For the security agencies, I know they have handicaps like inaccessible roads, yet we need to cry out for help.

“I want the Governor to direct the attention of the Aba Area Command of the Nigeria Police and the Divisional Police Officer (DPO),the Central Police station to come to our rescue, through  constant patrols.

“My area starts from Number 1, Port Harcourt road to Crystal Park Hotel junction, including both side of the road.

“It terminates at Nkwo Ngwa market where we have a common boundary with Etiti-Ohazu Autonomous Community,“ he said.

The traditional ruler said doing this would reduce the risk that the people faced, daily, in the hands of the boys who did all sort of things to them.

He said that the community security outfit lacked the wherewithal to curb the menace of the boys moving around with weapons. 

APGA to start reconstruction of burnt Nkwo Ngwa market soon

November 21, 2018

By Ijendu Iheaka 

Chief Chris Nkwonta, the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate for Abia South Senatorial Zone on Wednesday promised the party would rebuild Nkwo Ngwa market before 2019 elections commence.

Nkwonta disclosed this while speaking to reporters at the palace of Eze Ishmael Nnakwu of Etiti Ohazu Autonomous Community in Aba when he went to visit the burnt Nkwo Ngwa market.

He said that the party had already asked for the details of what was destroyed by the fire and what was needed to help the affected traders come out of their losses.

“To alleviate the sufferings of the traders, we are going to start reconstruction work at the market even before the commencement of the 2019 elections.

“As you are aware, our governorship candidate has directed Abraham Oba, (the Abia House of Assembly member representing Aba Central) to give him an estimate of what it will take to do some palliatives pending when we will come to power and rebuild it completely”, he said.

Nkwonta said the plight of the traders who lost goods worth millions of naira in156 shops razed to the ground was pitiable at this time of economic hardship.

He said that the huge losses caused by the fire which gutted the timber and furniture sections of the market could have been reduce if there were access roads to the market and Ngwa road area.

“It was a very unfortunate incident but matters were made worse because there was no access road to the place.

“If there was an access road, I am sure the extent of damage could have been considerably reduced.

“So we went to commiserate with them and assure them that APGA will do everything within our powers to reinstate them to where they were before the incident”, he said.

Nkwonta who said he lost to Abaribe in 2015 because PDP rigged the election noted that his chance of winning the seat in 2019 is brighter now.

He said that the phasing out of incident forms in 2019 elections which would reduce rigging with through it would make his victory over Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe easier.

Nkwonta said that APGA, is hopeful of victory in 2019 Abia state elections because since 2015, it had developed a blueprint for rebuilding Abia state through total reconstruction of Aba which is its business hub. 

In his response, the royal father, Eze Ishmael Nnakwu thanked them for coming to see him and prayed that God would give them the desire of their hearts.

He pleaded with the party to intervene and ensure that the people of the area would have their roads rehabilitated to ease the carting away of refuse in the area.

The royal father said that there had been an outbreak of scabies among their children for some time now because of the effect of the environment on their health and asked for assistance.

Police arrests 10 empowerment scammers in Aba for duping scores of residents

 November 18, 2018

  

By Ijendu Iheaka  

Abia State Police Commissioner, M r Chris Ezeike on Sunday said the Police has arrested 10 scammers connected with duping scores of Aba residents in the guise to empower them.

Hundreds of  Aba residents were duped in the past two weeks by scammers claiming to be running empowerment programmes which promised participants double the amount of money they give to the scheme.

Ezeike said that in the last two weeks the police in Aba had been inundated with reports of various groups who masquerade as empowerment groups but with the motive of duping people.

He said that following the report of the scam, he had set up a panel to gather complaints of the victims of the crime which was predominantly committed in Aba using the guise of empowerment schemes.

“They are making people pay huge sums of money with the hopes that in less than weeks, the interest will double and triple and of course many people have fallen prey to this suspected scam.

“As at Friday when I set up this panel, we were suspecting that over 1000 persons have been defrauded but the preliminary reports I received from the panel is even more worrisome.

“I think that number is just a sheer minimal. Ten suspects are in custody.

“We are working hard so that from tomorrow we should be dialoguing with part of the judiciary to ensure that if we need to have some funds warehoused on some accounts, we will do so.

“I wish to use this opportunity to alert people of Abia particularly Aba and its environments to be wary of unauthorized financial institutions and empowerment units they patronize.

“There is no free launch anywhere in the world”, Ezeike said.

He said that the police have discovered that the ten suspects arrested in connections with the empowerment scam tried their hands on money doubling which is a crime.

 He said that money-doubling metamorphoses into conspiracy, forgery, fraud, obtaining through false pretences, operation of illegal financial houses and outright stealing.

The Police commissioner therefore called on victims of the crime to meet the panel members at Area Commander’s office in Aba to document their experiences and enable the police know where they fall.

“If any security agent be it a policemen or a front tells you to pay so, so and so amount of money, so that so, so and so can be given toyou, ignore such persons because they are also conspirators in this large scale fraud that has befallen our people”, he warned.

Over 150 shops burnt at Nkwo Ngwa Market fire in Aba

November 18, 2018 

By Ijendu Iheaka

Fire Saturday night razed about 156 shops at the timber and furniture section of Nkwo Ngwa market in Aba South local government area leaving many families grieving for their losses.

Okechukwu Lawrence, chairman of the market traders association told newsmen at the market on Sunday that he got a phone call at about 7:00 pm on Saturday informing him of the fire prompting him to race to the scene.

He said he rushed to the market on getting the information where he and the market taskforce members broke its gates to take in sympathizers to help quench the fire using borehole water.

“We tried our best before the Fire Service came in. We used our borehole to get water to quench the fire but the hoodlums around here later broke the borehole in their bid to steal our pump while the fire was raging.

“That was how I saw it yesterday. The fire was too much and it gulped millions of Naira worth of goods and properties here.

“We have some building material sellers on all these front shops. The second row of shops is furniture sellers and other things.

“We recorded a very big loss here but there was no loss of life or injury”, he said.

He debunked claims that his members attacked the fire service personnel who came to quench the fire.

Lawrence said that it was a group of hoodlums called Aroo Boys who attacked the fire service men.

He said the Aroo Boys further entered the market, broke doors carried rice, stockfish, clothes and other people’s properties and left.

He said they could have stopped the fire with Fire Service help before it destroyed up to 100 shops but were hindered by Ozuomba road which the government suspended work on two years ago.

He appealed to the government to come to their aid, help them by fix the road and to attend to the needs bothering them in the market.  

The Abia State Police Commissioner, Chris Ezeike who visited the scene Sunday morning said he came on a visit to access and sympathize with the victims of the fire.

He noted that that zone of the market was full of materials easily susceptible to fire outbreaks.

Ezeike however called for calm and peace adding that the fire which was said to have been started by a generating set would be investigated immediately to find its cause.

  

Rtd Captain Awa Udonsi, Senior Special Adviser to Governor Okezie Ikpeazu on Security, said that the governor had been notified about the incident and would involve the concerned ministries.

Udonsi said he would not take decisions for the governor but assured that the government would “do the right thing” in the situation

Pregnant woman feared dead, three others critically injured in ghastly auto accident in Aba

November 13, 2018

By Ijendu Iheaka

 A pregnant women returning from the market in a tricycle was feared dead Tuesday afternoon following an auto accident that occurred by the abattoir on East road in Aba, Abia State.

Three other passengers of the tricycle who eye-witnesses said were also in critical condition were taken to New Era Hospital on Azikiwe road.

 A meat seller at the abattoir market who pleaded anonymity told our reporter that the tricycle driver packed by the road side to give a passenger change when the incident happened.

“Touts are not supposed to be allowed on the roads in Abia. Government should remove them from the roads. It is touts that caused this accident.

“They were struggling to take control of the steering wheel of this Van from the driver who was moving when they stopped him.

“When the Van driver disagreed with the touts on their demand for money from him, they began to drag the steering wheel with him.

“The Van driver’s attempt to running away from the touts to stop them from taking over his van, but eventually the van veered off the road and crushed the tricycle.

“A pregnant woman who was in the tricycle died on the spot while the driver has two of his legs crushed. No one knows if he would live.

“Two other passengers including the driver have been taken to a nearby hospital. This happened before me. No one told me. I saw it with my eyes.

“The pregnant woman was coming back from the market with food items he bought for preparing food for her family but on reaching here she met her end.

“You can see her bag and things she bought in the tricycle. This is very painful. Touts should leave people alone”, he said.

Another eye witness who gave his name as Emeka Ogbonna speaking to our reporter said if the touts had not struggled with the driver, the accident would not have happened.

He said that Aba people became enraged with the three touts and pursued them and caught one of the touts who was lying critically injured and bleeding on the road.

He also called on the state government to remove those touts from Abia roads adding that an accident that claimed three lives last week at Osisioma roundabout was also caused by touts.

One of the touts who allegedly caused the accident was beaten to a state of unconsciousness when our Correspondent got to the scene.

When contacted the Abia State Police PRO, DSP Geoffrey Ogbonna said he was unaware of the accident and surrounding incidences.

Abia govt vows to complete pending projects before 2019 elections

November 11, 2018

By Ijendu Iheaka

Abia state government has promised to complete the construction of Aba interchange, Ngwa and other road projects yet to be completed in the state  before the 2019 elections.  

John Okeiyi-Kalu, Abia state Commissioner for Information, made the promise on behalf of the government at the Aba Governor’s Lodge on Sunday.

Okeiyi-Kalu was speaking to All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) members decamping to People’s Democratic Party (PDP) from deputy governor’s home in Mkporo, Ohafia local government and the members of Abia Grassroots Movement (AGM).

He said that some hitches delaying commencement of work on Ngwa and Ohanku roads included a big drainage system needing fixing and pending NDDC contract on Ngwa and Ohanku roads respectively.

He said that Abia state government did not owe any worker in its 72 ministries and agencies which the state government is responsible for paying their salary.

The Commissioner said that the truth in Abia state was that only agencies which generate money and pay themselves like the state Polytechnic were being owed salaries by their management.

“If you find I have lied, I will resign my appointment. Nobody will win elections with lies in Abia state.

“You will do well to leave here with the truth because it is the truth that you know that you will use to convince others. And if you do not know the truth, you will vote on the basis of a lie.

“If you believe Ikpeazu has worked, vote for him but if you are not convinced, do what you like”, he said.

Speaking during the visit, the former Zonal Chairman of APGA for…., Chief Ojeabor Ude said they came to show solidarity with their son, Ude Okochukwu, the deputy governor.

He said they were using the opportunity to cross over to PDP from APGA in order to ensure their community worked to return their son, Okochukwu to the government house.

Ude said only his return with Ikpeazu under PDP would secure the position of Mkporo people in the government house which gives them an advantage to benefit from their son’s position.

The Chairman AGM, Chief Jerry Ohaegbulam said they came to tell the governor they were aligning with and supporting his 2019 bid because “he had done what his predecessors could not do”.

Ohaegbulam said his group would work with Ikpeazu to return him to office come 2019 but asked him to equip them to do what they have to do for him.

He and Ude begged Ikpeazu to clear Abia workers’ salary and pensioners’ arrears, complete projects pending across Abia and clear refuse on Uratta and other Aba roads to make his re-election easier.

“We will work with you but you should put your house in order. When you do what we asked you to do, you should go to sleep and leave the rest for us” they said.

In his response, the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Ikpeazu on Special Duties, Chief Erondu Erondu who represented him thanked the defecting APGA members and AGM members for their support to Ikpeazu.

He said he was a messenger for the governor and promised to send the messages of the two groups to the governor when he returns from the meeting that took him away from receiving them.

Cardiologist advises Nigerians to guard against sudden death

November 7, 2018

By Ijendu Iheaka


Dr Chidi Ubani-Ukoma, a Consultant Cardiologist with Abia State Ministry of Health, has advised Nigerians to visit hospital regularly for check-up and change their lifestyles to avoid sudden death.

Ubani-Ukoma gave the advice in Aba on Wednesday in an interview with our reporter.

The consultant was reacting to the rise in recorded sudden deaths in Abia and other parts of the country.

The cardiologist warned that the number of sudden deaths in Nigeria would likely increase unless Nigerians change their lifestyles, concept of food and visit hospitals early.

The expert said that hypertension and diabetes which trigger cardio-vascular and cerebro-vascular diseases and caused heart, brain and blood vessel dysfunction were key causes of sudden death.

According to the doctor, pulmonary embolism, the blocking of the vessel that supplies blood to the lungs by blood clots, also results in sudden death of a victim of such occurrence.

“The primary cause of heart disease in our environment is high blood pressure (HBP) and recently, the World Health Organisation (WHO) published a frightening statistics saying that one in three people would be known to have high blood pressure.

“A study in Nigeria by Ogar et al says the prevalence of HBP is closing in on 42 per cent that is, almost 50 per cent of the population.

He said those in the urban areas, especially, would be having high blood pressure issues in their life time.

“HBP can be prevented. If someone comes down with HBP, although it is not curable, it could be managed and controlled.

“The first thing to do is that the person’s lifestyle has to change.

“Life style changes should be adopted vigorously from the start, but if this does not work, then drug management should be applied,“ he said.

Ubani-Ukoma said people should be educated on the options on adopting good lifestyle changes and drug management to check their risks of sudden collapse and deaths.

He condemned the attitude of some Nigerians who patronised quacks and prayer houses before seeking medical help, adding that such behaviour increased their risk of dying from manageable diseases.

Ubani-Ukoma urged Nigerians to visit hospitals early when they see a symptom of any disease, especially heart disease which manifests through shortness of breath after a little physical activity which they tolerated earlier.

He said that fumes could harm the respiratory system, causing Chronic Obstructive Airway Diseases like Chronic Bronchitis, Bronchial Asthma and later attacking the heart which relates to the lungs in its function.

The cardiologist also warned people to desist from consumption of processed sugary foods and drinks to reduce the rising case of diabetes which he quoted a 2016 WHO study to have said had increased three time from 1980 to 2016.

Ubani-Ukoma further urged Nigerians “to rethink their concept of what they call food” adding that “food is not only yam, garri, rice and beans.’’

“Eating carbohydrate three times a day and taking to a sedentary lifestyle,always sitting in one’s car, office, house or tricycle is dangerous.

“To prevent these chronic diseases like hypertension, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, and even eye problems, people should begin to consume fruits, nuts, vegetables and whole grains', he said.