Paul Okah

...Shop owners must relocate to new market- Govt Traders in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital, have lamented the sealing of their shops in some parts of the city by taskforce teams working for the state government. The traders, who were seen milling around their locked shops, while counting their losses in an interview with journalists, said they were not informed of the reason behind the action of the government; which they said came without a prior notice. According to the traders, the sealing of shops were carried out by members of the Ebonyi Neighbourhood Watch, who came in about six Hilux vans. They mentioned the affected areas to include: Gunning Road (near the Abakpa Main market, whose former occupants have relocated to the new international market), some parts of the popular Ogoja and Afikpo Roads, among other major streets where businesses had been thriving. Speaking to journalists, one of the traders, Mathew Okorie, who owns a super-market, said the acti...

A non governmental organisation, Sow a Smile Initiative (SASi), in partnership with the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), has distributed palliatives to more than 400 households in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. The palliatives consisting of packaged rice, beans, garri and facemasks, were distributed to FCT residents, including security officers, cleaners and low income earners at the Shippers Council Building, Wuse Zone 5 and residents of Jahi 2 community, through the Covenant Baptist Church, Jahi 2. Addressing participants at the event, the Executive Director of SASi, Mr Patrick Otoro, said that the intervention, tagged "Food on Tables", is to put smiles on faces of low income earners and vulnerable households without regard to race, religion, creed or gender, especially at this period of COVID-19 pandemic ravaging the globe. He said that SASi was founded just last month, with the first outing being the humanitarian outreach and that the NGO t...

The National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), in partnership with an NGO, The Skilled Women Initiative (TSWINI), has held an empowerment programme for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) women in Durumi camp, Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The empowerment programme held Monday, with the theme "face masks for IDPs by IDPs" had in attendance more than 100 IDPs, FCT residents, tailors, among others. Addressing participants at the event, the Federal Commissioner of NCFRMI, Senator Basheer Garba Mohammed, commended the IDPs women "for showing resilience in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic by putting their tailoring skills to use in protecting themselves, their communities and earning honest living by producing facemasks for sale". He pleaded for the general public to patronage the IDPs by buying the facemasks produced by them; in order for the IDPs to earn a living through the production of facemasks, even as h...

The Chief Media Aide to the Ebonyi State Commissioner for Project Monitoring and Evaluation, Chief Oluchukwu Ukie Ezeali (P. Noble), Hon. Ogbonnia Nwachi, has labelled as “ignorant, insensitivity and high level of wickedness” the assertion of many Nigerians that women are raped because of  “indecent dressing”, saying that there should never be any justification for rape. In a statement he signed and made available to Paulokahblog Sunday, Nwachi frowned at the rape cases recorded on daily basis and questioned whether seven-month old babies raped by their fathers and 85-year-old grandmothers raped by teenagers can be said to have dressed indecently. He said: “Why would any sane mind justify rape, when our female folks; be they infants, teenagers, adolescents, adults, even septuagenarians, octogenarians and nonagenarians are proven victims? In their desperation, I have read on social media some people condemning rape (which is commendable) and at the same time they condemn ...

The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, has labelled as “fake news” trending stories on social media about the employment of N-Power beneficiaries into the Federal Civil Service (FCS) by President Muhammadu Buhari. In a short statement signed by the Deputy Director Information, Rhoda Ishaku Iliya, and made available to Paulokahblog in Abuja Saturday, the Ministry said that any news about N-Power or its programmes will be communicated to the public through “appropriate channels”.  The statement reads: “The attention of the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development  has been drawn to the fake news trending on social media that President Muhammadu Buhari will on June 12 broadcast to the nation the absorption of N-Power Volunteers Batch A, into the Federal Civil Service. “The Ministry is hereby calling on the public to disregard the message and consider it as fake news. Any information on N-...

 A member of the House of Representatives, Rep. Ahmed Jaha (APC-Borno), has regretted the comments he made at the Thursday’s plenary, apologising to Nigerians, especially women. Jaha, at an interview with journalists on Saturday in Abuja, recalled his comments at the debate that women should cultivate a habit of proper dressing to avoid unnecessary harassment from men who could not control themselves.  The lawmaker, representing Chibok, Damboa, Gwoza Federal Constituency of Borno, said he regretted making such statement as it affected the sensitivity of women.  “I have made a mistake that has offended the sensibilities of fellow Nigerians and indeed, fellow human beings, particularly women who are our mothers, wives, sisters and daughters. “While I totally reaffirm my position that rapists should face death sentences, I regret the part that talks about the dressing of women. I deeply apologise for this position, because as some have rightly argued, my comments, co...

A woman in Diobu, Port Harcourt on Thursday stirred public intervention over excessive sex demands of her husband, a trader confined to his home by Rivers State Government’s COVID-19 market closure order. The couple had got into an open fight, attracting public attention, after the 42-year-old husband simply identified as Moses, bit her wife, Rose’s fingers she had employed in obstructing another move to her husband to satisfy his conjugal right. Moses reportedly told bemused neighbours that his wife has been denying him sex, angered that he has not been meeting his financial obligation to his family. Rose, who reportedly admitted the allegation, was quoted as saying, “Since the lockdown, I have not rested from my husband’s frequent sex demands on an empty stomach. “Even if the market where he sells is under lockdown, his mates are out there hustling, doing other things to feed their families, but my husband sits at home all day and wait for me to struggle and still demands s...

A South African real estate investment firm, Novare, said on Wednesday that tenants at its three shopping malls in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja and one in Lagos would not pay rent for four months. The firm also donated food items worth millions of Naira to the FCT to help residents cope with hardship caused by the Coronavirus pandemic. It said in a statement that this was a phased palliative intervention as part of its support for Nigeria in its anti-COVID-19 fight. Novare has three retail malls in the FCT and one in Lagos State. Each Mall, it said, accommodates over 60 tenants – including Shoprite and Game, making it 240 tenants, including over 600 direct employees and over 2,000 indirect employees (including suppliers of the goods and products sold therein).

Two men, Ifeanyichukwu Ogbonnia, 32, and Donatus Isu, 24, were on Tuesday remanded in a correctional facility by an Ebonyi State Magistrates’ Court sitting in Abakaliki for allegedly killing one Azubuike Inya, 46. The suspects and Inya hail from Amankwo village, Nkpoghoro community in the Afikpo North Local Government Area of the state. The killing was attributed to an intra-communal crisis involving the people of Amankwo and an indigene of the village, one Chief Donatus Ezeogo Aja. The police prosecutor, ASP Mathias Eze, said the accused committed the offence on Friday, May 22, 2020, by attacking the deceased with machetes until he died around 8.22pm. Ogbonnia and Isu were arraigned on two counts of murder and conspiracy. Eze told the court that the offences were punishable under sections 324 and 319 (1) of the Criminal Code, Cap. 33, Vol. 1, Laws of Ebonyi State of Nigeria, 2009. The charges read, “That you Ifeanyichukwu Ogbonnia, Donatus Isu and others now at large, o...

Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council (OYC), Worldwide Monday, said that the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu cannot be reopened without installation of Night landing facilities. The airport was shutdown late 2019 by the federal government in order to work on the runways, which was reportedly damaged. It was also gathered that since the airport was upgraded to international airport in 2010, a lot of upgrading is  needed to be done to qualify for new standard. But OYC, in a  statement signed and issued to journalists in Abakaliki by its President General, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, insisted that, from their investigations, the airport will remain a local one without Night Landing facilities. They noted that leaked picture of the airport by the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) was not for the reopening of the airfield, but for the necessary things to be put in place. The group commended President Muhammadu Buhari and southeast Governors for ensuring the air...

Monitors of N-Power are expected to receive payments for the months of March and April, 2020 within the next 72 hours, while the process of May is on-going. This was disclosed by the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, in a statement made available to  Paulokahblog   in Abuja Tuesday. In the statement signed by the Deputy Director Information, Rhoda Ishaku Iliya, the minister said all approvals have been made and processes for payment triggered. She stated that the delay for the payment was due to the change in government policy of migration from the Remita platform system to the GIFMIS system of payment, which requires offloading the beneficiaries into the new system before finally uploading, reviewing and final payment by the Social Investment Programme (SIP). The minister regretted any inconveniences caused by the delay towards the payment of the monitors of N-Power, who have proven their mant...

Mr. Boss Mustapha, the chairman, Presidential Task Force (PTF), on COVID-19, has said that the ban on religious gathering has been lifted based on guidelines and protocols agreed with state governments. Mustapha, who is also the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, said this at the PTF on COVID-19 daily briefing on Monday in Abuja. This is as the curfew from the current 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. had been shortened from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m., starting from Tuesday. According to Mustapha, the relaxation of the restriction on places of worship is based on guidelines issued by the PTF and Protocols agreed by State Governments. He, however, said bars, gyms, and nightclubs would remain closed. “After considering all factors mentioned above, the PTF submitted its recommendations and the President has approved them for implementation over the next four weeks, spanning June 2, to June 29, subject to review,” he said. He said that there would be an application of science and data to g...

Having successfully celebrated May 30th Biafra day, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, Sunday assured Biafrans and indeed the entire Igbo to be prepared  to welcome the sovereignty and independence of Biafra in no distance future. Kanu has been struggling for the actualization of Biafra sovereignty and has been accused by the Nigerian government of committing treasonable felony. He was arrested in October 14, 2015. Kanu has in series of his public discourse; spoke on the marginalization of Igbo, fingering the skewed appointments in President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. During his speeches, Kanu has always called Nigerian government all manner of names, capable of demeaning the integrity of the country. In view of the above, Kanu was arrested and charged to court, for felony. He later was bailed and instructed to: Kanu must not hold rallies. He must not grant interviews. He must not be in a crowd of more than 10 people. He mu...