18022020

12 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2020
:Vanguard News :@vanguardnews :@vanguardnews NEWS HOTLINES: 08052867023, 08052867058
COURTESY VISIT: First Lady of Lagos State, Mrs. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu (Middle); Group Public Relations
and Event Manager, Dufil Prima Foods Plc, Mr Tope Ashiwaju (Left); National Coordinator, Indomie
Fan Club, Mrs Faith Joshua (Right) with members of the Indomie Fan Club, during the Indomie team
courtesy visit to the First Lady.
Bayelsa: Police extends curfew till Sunday
....As Bayelsans count losses over S’Court sacking of Lyon
By Samuel
Oyadongha
Y ENAGOA—BAYEL
SA State Police Command
has extended the
three days dusk to dawn
curfew imposed in the state
over weekend's violent protest
following the Supreme
Court judgment on Thursday.
The state Commissioner
of Police, Uche Anozie, yesterday
in Yenagoa, said the
extension was necessitated
by the prevailing situation
in the state.
His words, "On the other
hand, in the light of credible
intelligence available to
the command vis-a-vis the
prevailing security situation
in Bayelsa State, the
command has seemed it
necessary to review and extend
the curfew to February
23, 2020, with effect from
February 17, 2020, from
10p.m., to 6a.m.
"Members of the public
are advised to remain indoors
as security agencies
will put to arrest anyone
who violates the curfew and
such outlaws will be prosecuted.”
Residents count losses
Meanwhile, residents of
Yenagoa, Bayelsa State are
yet to get over the shock
after the Friday looting of
shops and invasion of residence
of some political bigwigs
by suspected hoodlums
after the declaration
of Governor Douye Diri of
the Peoples Democratic Party,
PDP, as the 4th democratically
elected governor
of Bayelsa State by the Supreme
Court.
The declaration by the
apex court, which nullified
the election of APC governor
elect, David Lyon few
hours to the inauguration
threw the entire state into
confusion, as suspected
thugs threw decorum to the
wind during the protest by
members of the APC and
went on looting spree.
The protesters mostly the
youths within the age
range of 12 and 45 years
took off from major Ekeki
park to the state owned
Broadcasting Corporation,
where no fewer than 15 cars
that belonged to the staff
and clients were vandalized.
The entire complex was
ransacked and stripped
bare in an orgy of violence
and looting that rocked the
capital city.
Some of the studio equipment
were destroyed, making
it difficult for the station
to broadcast to the outside
world for the better part of
the day.
According to an eyewitness,
Mr Davie Alaowei,
“The pillaging of the radio
station lasted some time
while security personnel at
the Ekeki police station did
little or nothing and
watched the looting and
destruction go on.”
The residence of the immediate
past and present
governors of the state, Mr
Seriake Dickson and Senator
Diri were not spared as
property worth millions of
naira were destroyed and
looted by the rampaging
hoodlums.
Agba Jalingo regains freedom after 174 days in
custody
CALABAR — PUB
LISHER of CrossRiverWatch,
Agba Jalingo, has
been released from custody
after spending about
five months in detention.
Jalingo had spent 174
days in detention. He was
granted bail by a high
court, but was freed yesterday.
It will be recalled that
Justice Sule Shuaibu, had
last week, set the bail bond
at N10 million with one
surety in like sum.
Justice Shuaibu took over
the case from Justice Simon
Amobeda, who recused
himself from the matter, following
condemnations that
trailed his refusal to grant
the journalist bail on three
occasions.
Justice Amobeda, was
also was caught in a leaked
audio saying the journalist’s
life was in the court’s
hands.
After the recording was
made public, Jalingo asked
the Chief Judge of the Federal
High Court to reassign
his case to another judge.
By Gabriel
Enogholase
BENIN—AS the All Pro
gressives Congress,
APC, continues to rue the
loss of the Bayelsa State
governorship election to
the Peoples Democratic Party,
PDP, party chieftains and
leaders in Edo State have
called on the Presidency
and the party's National
Executive Council, NEC, to
rein in the embattled National
Chairman of the
APC, Mr Adams Oshiomhole
to avert a repeat of the
sad development in Edo
State.
The party chieftains, who
spoke in separate interviews
in Benin City, Edo
State, said the bulk of the
Jalingo was first arraigned
on August 22, 2019
after he published a story
on how Governor Ben Ayade,
of Cross River State,
allegedly approved and
diverted N500 million
meant for the state’s microfinance
bank.
Following an outcry,
Ayade had denied involvement
in the trial of
Jalingo, but said the
Federal Government was
behind the journalist’s
case over his involvement
in the #RevolutionNow
protest led by
Omoyele Sowore.
Jalingo was charged
with conspiracy, terrorism,
treasonable felony
and an attempt to topple
the state government.
We don't want Zamfara, Bayelsa, others
experience — Edo APC chieftains
blame should fall on the
feet of Oshiomhole, whose
recklessness and choice of
personal preference over
established conventions
and regulations had
brought woes on the party.
Calling for the sack of
Oshiomhole by the APC
leadership to forestall a reoccurrence
of the avoidable
loss, the worried party
members specifically
warned that the APC may
lose Edo, like Zamfara, Rivers
and Bayelsa, if nothing
was urgently done to check
the excesses of the National
Chairman.
According to Prince Austin
Eweka, an APC Chieftain
in Edo South, "The
damage done by Oshiomhole
is incalculable. As in
Bayelsa, so it was in Taraba,
in Zamfara and in Rivers
because top officials of
the party subverted established
norms for personal
interest."
He said Oshiomhole was
manipulating the party's
National Working Committee,
NWC, to do the party
grave disservice.
Another party leader in
Edo Central, Theo Okoh
noted, "It is quite saddening
that our party, the APC
lost Bayelsa State to the
PDP. But if the truth must
be told, Oshiomhole as the
National Chairman of the
party is the architect of this
present predicament and
must be held accountable
for this failure.‘‘
Odinkalu raises the alarm, as
Rivers Court refuses him
copy of judgment
PORT HARCOURT —
Almost three weeks after
it delivered judgment
against a former Chairman
of the Governing Council
of the National Human
Rights Commission, Dr
Chidi Odinkalu in a libel
suit, Rivers State High
Court has refused to release
a copy of the judgment
to enable him file his
appeal.
Justice Augustina Kingsley-Chuku
of a Rivers State
High Court in Port Harcourt
had on January 27, 2020,
slammed a sum of
N250million as cost
against Odinkalu for allegedly
publishing defamatory
materials
against a former governor
of Rivers State, Dr.
Peter Odili.
However, on the February
7, 2020, Odinkalu's
counsel, Mr. I.C.Opi applied
for a copy of the
judgment to enable him
prepare an appeal on
behalf of his client.
At press time, the lawyer
said that the court refused
to give him a copy
of the judgment.
On February 17, Mr
Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika,
SAN, who had since
taken over as Odinkalu's
lead counsel wrote another
letter to the court
requesting for an authenticated
copy of the
judgement.
A copy of his letter obtained
by our correspondent
reads: "I now lead
a team of lawyers acting
for the defendants (Chidi
Odinkalu and Ayisha
Osori) in the suit in the
above caption which was
determined before his
Lordship, the Justice
Knigsley-Chuku.‘‘
NNPC, JV partners release
$360m for Ogoni clean up
By Michael Eboh
ABUJA — THE Nigeri
an National Petroleum
Corporation, NNPC, yesterday,
disclosed that together
with its Joint Venture,
JV, partners, Shell Petroleum
Development
Company, SPDC, Total Exploration
and Production of
Nigeria, TEPNG, and Nigerian
Agip Oil Company,
NAOC, it had disbursed
$360 million for the cleanup
of Ogoniland.
In a statement in Abuja,
NNPC explained that the
disbursement of the fund
followed the recommendations
of the United Nations
Environment Programme,
UNEP.
Group Managing Director
of NNPC, Mallam Mele
Kyari, who stated this at the
National Assembly, during
a presentation to the House
of Representatives Committee
on Environment and
Habitat, noted that funding
was not a challenge
to clean-up of Ogoniland.
Kyari, who was represented
by NNPC Chief
Operating Officer, Upstream,
Mr. Roland
Ewubare, stressed that
NNPC and its JV partners
were up to date in their
financial remittance to the
clean-up project fund
based on the UNEP,
framework.
He said, “Ogoni cleanup
is a massive issue and
NNPC and its JV partners
are ready to fund the
project as prescribed by
the UNEP report. We have
so far disbursed $360million
out of the $90million
recommended. The disbursement
was based on
the standards set which
required that we release
funds based on the implementation
parameters of
the clean-up exercise."
ALAT by Wema beautifies
Murtala Muhammed Airport
LAGOS — WEMA
Bank’s ALAT, Africa’s
first fully digital bank went
all out to excite travelers flying
out of Lagos with the
ALAT airport mural. The
ALAT mural sprang out of
an understanding of how
traveling evokes different
emotions in different people
– excitement, paranoia,
fear, anxiety, to list a few,
and the need for them to
hold on to the memories
that matter to them.
The ALAT brand has positioned
itself and been
known to be the brand that
no only offers Nigerians
convenient banking services
but that also supports
their lifestyle. In the word’s
the bank’s Chief Communications
Officer, Funmilayo
Falola, for ALAT and
Wema Bank, marketing is
more than just the direct
sale of a product or service,
it is about creating an experience
for the customer.
She stated that infusing
conversations and storytelling
into advertising and
marketing communications
was one of the strategies
the bank is applying to engage
existing customers
and gain new ones.