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Domestic violence on the increase – FIDA President says.

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Nkechi Uduma

The chairperson of International Federation of Women Lawyers, FIDA, Rivers state chapter, Barrister Anthonia Osadebe says the rate of domestic violence in Rivers state is on the increase.

Barr Osadebe stated this in an out of court interview today where they handled about 20 cases of domestic violence.

She said that the spousal abuse against the men ranged from physical abuse, sexual abuse and emotional trauma.

” We had over 20 cases of domestic violence against men on failure to provide for the family, abandoning everything for their spouses thereby causing them emotional trauma, we also had cases of sexual abuse and physical abuse.

” The funny thing is when these men who abuse their wives discover that the matter is getting serious, they would come for out of court settlement”

Bar. Anthonia Osadebe also listed some of their achievements so far in curbing domestic violence in the state.

“We have tried to tackle spousal abuse in different ways but the one we do mostly is through mediation.

” We counsel these victims which are mostly women, make them understand their rights and obligations, talk to the men also on ways they can settle their differences without getting physical or any form of abuse”

“On the other hand, if the man is stubborn, or does not want to comply, we report to the police and if nothing is done,we take it to court.”

She also mentioned some of their challenges in curbing cases of domestic violence.

“The challenges we are facing are mostly on the women. They refuse to speak out most times when they are abused because they don’t want to leave their homes so they rather prefer to manage the problems until it gets out of hand, then they run to us to seek for help.

“And when we take it up, most times these same women would come to us that they want to pull out because they don’t want to leave their husbands.

” They are never willing to follow the matter to the end to get a logical conclusion.”

She also urged women not to relent when they are in abusive marriages or relationship but that they should learn to speak out so that they can have peace of mind.

PHEDC : Eleme CTC Chairman to offset outstanding community bills.

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PHEDC bills payments

The Caretaker Committee Chairman of Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State, Mr. Godwin Abey-Ollo, has expressed his readiness to work with the management of the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company, PHEDC, on payment of outstanding debts owed by communities in the area.

The Council boss said this, as he also urged the Port Harcourt Disco to improve remarkably on their supply of electricity to the area.

Speaking at a meeting with Community Development Chairmen of the council and officials of PHEDC in Eleme, over the vandalization of nine transformers in the area, Abey-Ollo urged the company to quickly forward him the outstanding debts of each transformer in the area.

He said as community leaders, the CDCs are responsible for PHED’s and other public facilities in their domain, and also frowned on incessant harassment of electricity workers in the area.

According to him, “I know that a lot of us are dissatisfied with the level of power supply we get, but PHEDC must devise a way to provide us more power supply because criminals thrive better in the absence of light.

“I also want us to be more responsible for PHEDC facilities in our various communities. As leaders, there is some responsibility that is expected of you, you are to educate the community on the need to protect and defend public facilities in our neighborhood.”

Responding, the Corporate Communications Manager of PHEDC, Mr. John Onyi, said constant power supply was not possible because the company was only entitled to 6.5percent of what is generated nationwide, as generation fluctuates between 3000MW and 5000MW.

Onyi explained to the people of Eleme that in the energy value chain, customers were the fifth on the chain after the Nigerian Gas Company, generation companies, Transmission Company of Nigeria and the Distribution companies.

He lamented that the major challenges facing the company were nonpayment of bills by consumers, energy theft and vandalism of its facilities.

“Business thrives when customers use the service and pay for it, that’s our major challenge. It is the money that customers pay as bills that go back to the Gencos, TCN, and NGC through Nigerian Bulk Electricity, NBET, and we also use in improving on our network as well acquire and transformers.

“Eleme for instance, their bill for this month is about N39million for the energy distributed to them. We do not disconnect where bills are paid, we only disconnect when bills are not paid. If everybody pays, there will be no need for disconnection.

“Yes energy is not enough, we agree. But the little that is given is at a cost and it is not free. If you encourage us by paying your bills, PHEDC can even divert every energy at its disposal to this place.

2019:Atiku declares presidential intention.

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Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has officially declared his intention to run for president in 2019 on the Platform of the Peoples Democratic Party.

Mr Abubakar announced his candidacy in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital on Tuesday, four months after dumping the All Progressives Congress.

The former Vice President said his decision to make the announcement in Rivers State because is because he believes Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike represents what he represented in 1998/99 as the live wire of the PDP.

Mr Abubakar was in Rivers with the former Governor of Ogun State, Gbenga Daniel; Senator Abdul Ningi and some other party leaders.

Governor Wike, in reaction, described the former VP as a presidential candidate feared by the APC.

The governor, however, played down his own position in the PDP, insisting that all genuine members of the party are its live wire.

Three years and several legal battles after, the PDP was ousted from power at the federal level, its leaders believe it has what it takes to reclaim power in 2019.

According to Governor Wike, the PDP is not just interested in seizing power in 2019, it is out to rescue Nigeria from what he described as a period of maladministration.

The Governor called on other aspirants of the party to do nothing to jeopardise its chances in the 2019 general elections.

Mr Abubakar, who contested against President Muhammadu Buhari for the APC presidential ticket for the 2015 general elections, resigned from the APC in November 2017.

In his resignation letter, he accused the APC of embracing unconstitutionality and of failing to keep its promises to Nigeria.

On December 3, 2017, he announced his return to the PDP.

Following his return to the party, he participated in its national convention at which Uche Secondus was elected National Chairman of the party.

He has also held meetings with key figures in the PDP. In January, he visited Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose with whom he said he had a good relationship.

Jim Iyke opens up on relationship with Rita Dominic

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Nollywood bad boy actor, Jim Iyke and screen goddess, Rita Dominic have over the years been linked together on several occasions and the reason is not farfetched as the duo often played roles of lovers in movies back in the early 2000s. However, Jim Iyke has opened up on his relationship with Rita in an interview with Broadway TV. When asked why he didn’t get married to the actress, he said: “Rita and I met when I was just beginning to embrace fame, and the comforts that came with it. The laurels, the distraction, even the destruction. And Rita is not the kind of woman that hangs around a lot. We were very deep with each other. We still are great-friends though we don’t speak constantly. As a matter of fact, it may surprise you that we haven’t spoken to each other in over two years. But when we meet, we are cordial, and respectful. There is that deep rooted thing of a man or woman you shared something with”. I don’t think Rita at that time was looking at longevity, truthfully. Don’t forget, I was the kid with the crazy afro, ready to start a fight anywhere. My life was about having a good time and as many conquests as possible. So, who wants that kind of guy?” The ‘last flight to Abuja’ role interpreter further revealed that he has no intention of settling down with the award-winning actress, the reason being that they both work in the same industry and he wants a different experience in marriage. He also gave reasons for his last failed relationship. “I don’t think so, we come from the same circle, she knows too much of what I know and I think I know too much of what she knows. You need that opposite attraction to survive the kind of life I live now. I want to come in and hear about your day, I don’t want to repeat what I have done with you. I need to learn new things from you, I need you to teach me new tricks, and I need to, at least, pretend to be interested in what you are talking about in the evening. A dead giveaway is the fact that I do know what you are talking about, I can fathom and predict it and I can end it, I don’t want that kind of life. I want someone that is entirely different from my world, someone that can bring me to order. The amazing relationship I had before now didn’t work for special reasons and it is obviously because of that. I don’t want a drama queen, I just need a woman that will come to me with something different all the time, I don’t want a predictable life,” he quipped

 

 

EASTER CULTURAL DAY CELEBRATION IN SIX GEO-POLITICAL ZONES

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The holiday bells are beginning to ring and Pupils are getting set for an Easter vacation. The Pupils of Status International School enjoyed a rich cultural display during their Cultural Day/Easter Party with their parents all thrilling them to amazement and laughter.

Status International School Port-Harcourt on Saturday, the 24th day of March, 2018 brought together their Teachers, Parents and Pupils in celebration of the cultural heritage of Nigeria as a way of marking Easter( the celebration of the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ).

The event was lit with so much fun, traditional dances, plays, songs, foods and lots more. The six Geo-Political Zones in Nigeria were well represented as the parents, pupils and teachers were divided into the various zones to wit; South-East, South-West, South-South, North-Central, North-East and North-West.

According to the Proprietor of the School Mrs Nwankwo, the essence of the event was to make her pupils appreciate the beauty of indigenous languages and to showcase the rich cultural heritage of Nigeria, and also to educate her pupils on the need for a peaceful co-existence among us a nation.

This was seen in the play performed by the South-Western Group, which hinged on unity in diversity, love and respect among the various tribes in the nation.

Mr Morgan, a teacher in the school, admonished and encouraged parents to teach their children their native languages and also speak the native language to their children at home. He emphasized on its importance in the society.

According to one of the Parents U.D Nwankpa Esq, Parents should tell their children the history of where they are from. She noted that history is very important as it is the immutable bedrock upon which we stand.

According to her, ‘we have lost it in Nigeria, most children cannot speak in their native language, some do not even know where they hail from, while some are aware but have never been there in their entire life.’

The atmosphere was clouded with the colourful appearances of all in attendance. There were lots of food to eat, the parents presented foods like Ewedu, Omiogbe, Amala, Rice and Stew, Affang Soup, Edikaikong Soup, Rivers Sea Foods Soup, Ikwerre Native Soup and Dried Meat, Banga Soup and Starch, White Soup and Pounded Yam, Ugba, Abacha, Offe-Akwu, Mmanya-Ngwor, Offe-Owerri and Akpurakpu Mgbam etc. The foods were not left without an interesting food tasting segment and demonstration. The guests and all in attendance had so much to eat, drink and take home.

The Pupils, Teachers and Parents were all dressed in the attire of the different Geo-Political Zones in Nigeria, the National Anthem was sang in Igbo Language and prayers were offered in various languages as well. It was a huge cultural/ Easter celebration and the school marked it with grandiosity and in a luxurious style.

The guests were all thrilled by the performances of the parents who took out time to entertain their children and share in their activities.

SIX countries are considering boycotting the World Cup in response to Russian poisoning attack in Britain

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  1. The UK has announced its royals and ministers will not attend World Cup in Russia
  2. Iceland has followed suit in response to poisoning of Sergei Skripal in Salisbury
  3. Sweden, Denmark, Australia and Japan said to be considering similar moves
  4. The Polish President Andrzej Duda will not attend opening ceremony in Moscow
  5. It comes as the US said on Monday that it would expel 60 Russian diplomats

Six countries will either not send officials to the World Cup or are considering state boycotts of the tournament in response to the nerve agent attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury.

Britain announced in mid-March that its royals and ministers would stay away from FIFA’s showpiece event, set to take place between June 14 and July 15.

Iceland last night said it would follow suit while Sweden, Denmark, Australia and Japan are all understood to be considering similar snubs.

Polish President Andrzej Duda’s office said earlier this month that he will be skipping the opening ceremony in Moscow.

It comes as the US said on Monday it would expel 60 Russian diplomats, joining governments across Europe in punishing the Kremlin over the nerve agent attack on Skripal and his daughter on March 4.

In total, 100 Russian diplomats were being removed, the biggest Western expulsion of Russian diplomats since the height of the Cold War.

Australia expels two Russian diplomats it believes to be undeclared SPIES following the nerve agent poisoning of a former spy and his daughter in the UK

Former MI5 agent warns that Putin is ‘ten steps ahead’ and will ‘already have been putting things in place’ to hit back at worldwide response to Salisbury spy poisoning

Last night, Iceland announced it will stage a diplomatic boycott over the poisoning.

Its foreign ministry said in a statement: ‘Among the measures taken by Iceland is the temporary postponement of all high-level bilateral dialogue with the Russian authorities.

‘Consequently, Icelandic leaders will not attend the FIFA World Cup in Russia this summer,’ it said.

The Reykjavik government also exhorted Moscow to provide ‘clear answers’ over the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury on March 4.

‘The Salisbury attack constitutes a grave violation of international law and threatens security and peace in Europe,’ the statement said.

Australia’s Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said today that ‘the boycott of the World Cup is one of the further actions that could be taken in relation to this matter’.

The governing body for Australian football said that as far as it was concerned, the World Cup was going ahead as planned.

‘As things stand, all qualifying teams, including the England team, will be taking part in this FIFA event and that continues to be our intention,’ Football Federation Australia said in an emailed statement.

Earlier this month, Swedish foreign ministry spokesman Per Enerud told AFP ‘this is one of many ideas we are looking at’.

The Danish foreign ministry also told AFP that the punitive step was under discussion but that no final decision had been reached.

It comes as 16 European Union countries on Monday gave a large number of Russian envoys notice to leave their territory.

Russia has denied it was behind the attempted assassination, which left Skripal and his daughter gravely ill in perhaps the first nerve agent attack in Europe since World War II.

It warned that there would be a tit-for-tat response to those countries ‘pandering to British authorities’ without, Moscow claims, fully understanding what had happened.

But Western officials made it clear in announcing the expulsions that they share Britain’s assessment that only the Kremlin could have been behind the March 4 incident in Salisbury, England.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said Washington and its allies were acting ‘in response to Russia’s use of a military-grade chemical weapon on the soil of the United Kingdom.’

The strong language contrasted with Trump’s warm words of last week, when he overrode his advisors’ concerns and congratulated Putin on his election win.

Russia accuses US of ’emotional deafness’ after shopping mall blaze

Moscow has accused the US of ’emotional deafness’ in announcing a mass expulsion of diplomats as Russia mourns the loss of 64 people in a horrifying shopping mall blaze.

Washington said it would throw out 60 Russian diplomats, joining governments across Europe in punishing the Kremlin over an attack on former spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury on March 4.

But the Russian ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov has accused America of ‘callousness’ because it was timed as Russia mourned the loss of dozens of children and adults in the appalling Kemerovo shopping centre inferno.

‘We saw emotional deafness, indifference and callousness from official Washington,’ he said.

‘They just decided to make it more painful for us. Well, you can be happy now.

‘And this is happening in parallel with ordinary Americans sharing our grief and sending condolences.’

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NOAC donates ultra modern library to Ogoda community in Rivers .

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THE MANAGING DIRECTOR OF NOAC Mr. Massimo Insulla

As part of its corporate social responsibility, the Nigerian Agip Oil Company, NAOC, has commissioned an ultra-modern library and a civic center built by the company in Ogoda Community, Ahoada-West Local Government Area of Rivers State.

The oil firm and its Joint Venture Partners, NNPC/Oando, expressed optimism that the projects will further strengthen the already existing cordial relationship between the company and the community.

Speaking on behalf of the JV partners at the ceremony, the Managing Director of NAOC, Mr. Massimo Insulla, called on the people of Ogoda community to adopt dialogue as a tool for resolving conflicts whenever the need arises.

Insulla, represented at the event by the Manager, Stakeholders Management and Community Development, Mr. Dennis Masi, assured that the company would do all that was necessary to provide social amenities to the people of its host communities in order to uplift the people’s standard of living.

He added that the civic centre would boost social mobilization and communal relations in the community.

For his part, the Caretaker Committee Chairman, Ahoada-West Local Government Area, Mr. Frank Ogiri, commended NAOC and her JV Partners, for supporting the community with a state-of-the-art social amenity.

Ogiri charged members of the community to reciprocate the company’s gesture by continually maintaining peace as well as provide an enabling environment for the company’s operations.

Earlier, the Youth President of Ogoda Community, Mr. Abizu Agwenita, assured the company of the community’s commitment to safeguarding the assets of the company against vandalism.

Agwenita commended NAOC and her JV partners for providing basic amenities for the community such as road, electricity, classroom blocks and drainage systems, which he said has changed the face of the community.

What happened between Palm Sunday and Good Friday?

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One of the things anyone notices about the Gospels is that they each tell the story of Jesus’ Passion in their own way, and that it’s very difficult to square the chronologies.

There are various things that do appear to have happened, though, in whatever order they might have been.

1. The Sanhedrin (the Jewish Council) met and agreed to betray Jesus (Matthew 27: 3-5).

2. Jesus was anointed at Bethany (Matthew 26: 6-13, Mark 14: 3-9). What seems to be a version of this story appears in Luke’s Gospel in chapter 7, 36-50; in John, it happens before the Triumphal Entry (12:1-11) and Mary is named as the woman.

3. Jesus curses the fig tree, which withers and dies. It’s a symbolic parable of judgment (Matthew 21: 18-22, Mark 11: 12-14, 21).

4. Jesus cleanses the Temple (Matthew 21: 12-16, Mark 11: 15-19, Luke 19: 45-47). In John 2: 13-16 this happens at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry; some commentators think it may have happened twice, others that it’s the same story put in a different context.

5. Jesus debates with the Pharisees and Sadducees and teaches the crowds. Matthew has the parable of the wedding banquet and the parable of the tenants, for instance, the teaching about paying taxes to Caesar (22-23) and a section on the ‘signs of the end of the age’. Mark and Luke have the story of the widow’s mite (Luke 21: 1-4). John has a long section of teaching directed at the disciples (14-17).

6. Judas agrees to betray Jesus (Matthew 26: 14-16, Luke 22: 1-6); the Wednesday of Holy Week is sometimes called Spy Wednesday for this reason.

7. Jesus predicts his death (John 12: 20-36).

8. He shares a Last Supper with his disciples (Matthew 26: 17-30, Mark 14: 12-26, Luke 22, John 13.

9. He and his disciples go to the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26: 36-46, Mark 14: 32-52, Luke 22: 39-46, John 18: 1-11). In Luke’s and John’s Gospels the garden is not named. It’s there that Jesus is arrested.

All of these things appear in the different Gospels between Palm Sunday and Good Friday. We should be aware, though, that they didn’t have the same ideas about chronology as us: they were writing history, but of a particular type. So they would have thought it perfectly reasonable to shift things around a bit to make it fit the meaning of the story. What seems likely, though, is that Jesus was in the public eye and that there were confrontations with authority. On a purely human level, he must have known that the end was coming. For anyone else, that would paralyse them with fear. But Jesus continued his ministry, preaching, teaching and challenging, when he could have left the city and been safe at any time.

During this week we look forward to Good Friday, quite rightly. But the shadow of the cross was already darkening over Jesus – and he did not falter for a moment.

Archbishop of Canterbury offers to help end violence in Nigeria

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The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, yesterday repeated an offer to contribute towards any peace negotiations in Nigeria amid ongoing violence in some parts of the country.

Welby tweeted in January: ‘I am deeply saddened by the killings and displacements in #Nigeria. President @MBuhari and authorities are exhorted to act now to end this violence and begin mediated dialogue. I mourn with this great country and stand with them in prayer, #prayforthepeaceofNigeria.’

Since then, however, the violence has spread, and yesterday Welby raised the situation in the House of Lords.

He said: ‘I once again exhort president Muhammadu Buhari and other authorities, civil and religious, national and international, urgently to build a coalition to end this violence immediately.

‘In communications earlier this year with the Primate of All Nigeria, His Grace Nicholas Okoh, I offered to contribute towards such effort to the extent such might be useful. I repeat that offer again, knowing, however, that within Nigeria are all the skills needed for resolution of the suffering of the people.

‘My condolences go to those who have lost loved ones and property. I urge the authorities to seek for ways to ameliorate their sufferings and losses. I call on all people of goodwill to continue to pray for the peace of Nigeria.’

The Anglican Communion News Service (ACNS) noted that some 175,000 people have been displaced by fighting in Nigeria’s Benue State and are now living in refugee camps since the start of this year – including more than 80,000 children.

ACNS said that the root cause is a conflict between nomadic herdsmen who graze cattle over vast areas, and farmers who wish to cultivate land for crops.

Five people were killed over the weekend in clashes near the Agatu local government area, according to AFP.

Separately, the Council on Foreign Relations basedin New York reported that 63 people were killed in eight separate incidents in the week leading up to March 23.

In January, the House of Bishops of the Church of Nigeria called on the government ‘as a matter of urgency to address these ugly trends and ensure that the culprits are brought to justice’.

Eleme CDC accuse PHED of vandalizing nine transformers.

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Communities accuse PHEDC staff of vandalism

There was mild drama at the weekend as the Community Development Chairmen in Eleme Local Government of Rivers State, accused staff of the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company of masterminding the vandalism of nine transformers in the area.

Nine out of 62 numbers of 500KV electricity transformers in the area were utterly vandalised recently by hoodlums, with armored cables, feeder pillar units and other electrical equipment on the transformers worth millions, carted away.

The serial vandals, according to PHEDC, are in the habit of removing armoured cables, cannibalising feeder pillars, draining transformer oil and thereby throwing the affected communities including Aleto, Ebubu, Alesa, Eteo, and Alode communities into unnecessary darkness.

Speaking at a meeting between members of the Council and officials of PHEDC, the CDC of Eteo community in Eleme, Mr. Christian Nkewa pointed out that it was only people with good knowledge of electrical works that can vandalise a transformer.

Nkewa explained that a ladder with PHEDC in description suspected to belong to the Distribution company was found at the site of one of the vandalised transformers.

Also speaking, the CDC of Ebubu community in Eleme, Mr. Omumgwe Terry said vandalism occurs due to non-availability of power supply, as people tend to get angry when they have not had power supply for a long time.

Omumgwe argued that if there was power supply on the said transformers, nobody would have been able to touch the transformers.

He, however, charged the Disco to enumerate electricity consumers in each of the communities in order to eliminate shady dealings in the system.

According to him, “The prime suspects in this issue are PHEDC staff because only them understands the nitty-gritty of electricity.

“Then secondly, what was a PHEDC ladder doing at the site of one of the vandalised transformer? The answer is not far-fetched.

“Thirdly, what makes it possible for vandalism to thrive in the absence of power supply. It is easier for people to vandalise a transformer when they have noticed that there has not been power supply to the transformers for a long time because if there was power on it, vandalising it would not have been possible.”

Meanwhile, the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company has maintained that the company has zero tolerance for corruption.

The Corporate Communications Manager of the company, Mr. John Onyi, while reacting to the allegations that the company staff was behind the attacks on the transformers, said there was no truth in the allegations.

The company’s spokesman described the activities of the vandals as economic sabotage resulting in denying PHEDC’s customers the opportunity of enjoying efficient and quality service delivery.

Onyi also explained that crime was a thing of the mind and not because of the absence of power supply, and called on the people to protect its facilities in the area.

‎He called on the relevant authorities in the area to step up vigilance by accosting or reporting anybody with suspicious movement around PHED installations.

According to him, “It is not only our staff that have the technical knowledge of electrical works. Can we count how many universities in Nigeria are churning out graduates of electrical and electronics engineering annually into the system?

“What about the technicians who learnt the job of an electrician as trade, not to talk about those whose business is to reconnect customers illegally when such customers have been disconnected non-payment of bills.

“In California where power does not blink, crime is still going on there. So crime is a thing of the mind and not because there was power supply or not.

“‎We should all rise up against these few disgruntled persons before they stop our comfort,” Onyi said.

Source sweetcrude

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