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517 abandoned amnesty students beg Dokubo for assistance

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BY: Ikenna Oluka

About 517 Niger Delta students on scholarship at the University of Africa, Toru-Orua, Sagbama, Bayelsa State, have appealed to the Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Prof. Charles Dokubo, to come to their aid.

It was gathered that the students, who were enrolled in the university under the PAP’s scholarship scheme during the administration of the former Coordinator, Brig.-Gen. Paul Boroh, were abandoned by his successor.

The Spokesperson for the students, Justice Ebiks, who is a 100 level student of Agricultural Economics and Extension Services, told the Nation that they were all stranded at the university because the new leadership of PAP failed to take responsibility for their scholarship.

Ebiks, however, expressed optimism that if Dokubo, whom he described as a lover of education, would grant them audience, he would intervene in their plight and get them back to school.

He complained that security officials and other personnel in the Amnesty Office blocked all the efforts of the students to interact with the coordinator.

Ebiks explained that senior officials in the amnesty office only told them that they were illegally included in the scholarship scheme and improperly documented during the tenure of Boroh.

He said: “We have been abandoned despite the fact we have cultivated the zeal to be in school. We are all stranded and most of us are going through difficult times. We were all sent to the school in Bayelsa by the amnesty office but now people there are telling us that we were not properly documented.

“We have been making series of efforts to see the new coordinator to no avail. Some persons in the office don’t want us to see him because they believe that Dokubo being a lover and product of education knows the value of education in the Niger Delta and will graciously rectify whatever problems we have and get us back to school.

“We once sent a delegation to Abuja to see him. We contributed money and sent the delegation but on getting to Abuja they were left stranded. Security operatives and other officials in the amnesty office did not allow us to see him.

“The delegation proceeded to see our elder statesman Chief Edwin E.K Clark at his Abuja residence. As soon as he got to know about the situation he felt the plight and pain of the youths and quickly criticized the act of wickedness carried out by the office. He emphasized that Niger Delta is not as we expect it to be, because people now politicize the life and affairs of the youths in the region.

“When we got back to Bayelsa, we reported our plight to the state government through the commissioner for education. But after waiting in vain, we decided to make further efforts to see Professor Dokubo. During the election, we sent a four-man delegation to Abuja to see him but on getting there they were told the coordinator travelled to Abonema to partake in the elections.

“The delegation went to Abonema in Rivers State to see the coordinator in his compound. It was almost like a suicide mission because of the gun battle in the area when they got there. They waited for two days and later proceeded to the house of the coordinator. They were still not allowed by security officials to see him.

“Other officials of the amnesty programme took over the matter and ensured the delegation did not see the coordinator. They told us that were not properly documented. We are appealing to the coordinator to come to our aide.

“Right now we are frustrated but we don’t want to engage in violence. We only want to go to school. Even if they said we were not properly documented, we are not illegal Niger Deltans”

Source: The Nation

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IPOB Declares May 30th As Sit-at-home Day Across The Southern East States To Honour Biafran Fallen Heroes

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The Indigenous People of Biafra has declared May 30, 2024, as a sit-at-home day across the South-East to celebrate Biafran soldiers.

The pro-Biafran group said that day is set aside annually to celebrate the men and women who died in the Biafran war between 1967 and 1970 and beyond and even until now.

This was made known in a press statement by the group’s spokesman, Emma Powerful, on Thursday, adding that every Biafran in the South-East is expected to sit at home and reflect on the war.

He cautioned South-East residents to avoid loitering about on this day, adding that those who intend to travel to and fro Biafra land must do so before the evening of May 29.

The IPOB statement also directed that all the residents of “Biafra Land” are to stay indoors from 6 am to 6 pm on May 30, 2024.

He also called on christians and traditionalists to pray to Chukwu okike abiama for the fallen heroes, And also for the independence of Biafra from Nigeria.

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Anambra State Government Arrests Man For Marrying Off His Underage Daughter

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The Anambra State Government has arrested one Uzochukwu Okoli, for marrying off his underaged daughter.

Okoli was apprehended after his daughter reported to the State Ministry of Women and Social Welfare about the alleged ill-treatment being meted out to her by her father and the man he forced her to marry.

The daughter, Chioma Okoli, who is currently 16 years old, said after the death of her mother, her father took her and her sister out of Edo state and brought them to Anambra.

She alleged that she was first forced to live with a 70-plus-year-old man at the age of 14 but after some time, she ran back to her father’s house before he finally gave her out to a 34-year-old Chinedu Nweke as husband.

Chioma who was in the company of her sister, explained that life with Chinedu has been a living hell because he allegedly beats her and sometimes pees in her mouth.

She said this act made her run away with their 9-month-old baby. Her father, Uzochukwu Okoli, on the other hand, claimed her daughter is 18 years old and, at some point, said she is 20 years old.

After he was handcuffed, Mr Okoli threatened to deal with the daughters if he made it out of prison. He also urged Chioma and her sister to pray he dies in prison because he would make life more miserable for them.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare, Hon Ify Obinabo, has instructed that the case be charged to court so that the girl can get justice.

Both Mr Okoli and Chinedu Nweke were arrested and will be arraigned in court.

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Nigerians Seek Woman Who Spoke Out Eloquently Against Fuel Scarcity In Viral 1994 TV Clip

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April 30th 1994, 30 Years Ago, And Till Today Nothing Has Really Changed.

Netizens have gone in search of a beautiful and well-spoken woman who spoke out against fuel scarcity 30 Years Ago.

A user on X.com, Jackie, who identifies as #JWEZEE had shared the video yesterday with the caption, “On this day April 30 1994, same day same time, only difference 30years ago.

“Nigerians in long fuel queues lamenting, 30years later they are still lamenting. And In another 30years will still lament, why? Because patterns don’t lie.”

In the video, which has since gone viral, Nigerians were seen queuing to purchase fuel and lamenting their predicament as citizens waiting in long queues with their gallons to buy fuel.

The woman passionately addressed the unfairness of soldiers skipping queues to resell fuel, highlighting a longstanding problem.

She said in part, “You have the soldiers that come, they buy petrol, they put it in jerry cans they sell it right in front of these people, it’s ridiculous.

“They get the fuel themselves, why do they have to come here, they don’t join the queue, they just buy and they sell right in front of people, it’s ridiculous. Something has to happen.”

The 30-year-old video which recently surfaced coincides with the current fuel price hike across the country.

Here is the viral video from 30 years back.

Currently, the country is facing fuel scarcity and price hike, with fuel being sold at N900 per litre in some states. This has affected the price of goods in the nation.

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