Author: Preye Okah

Niger Delta Stakeholders have called on the International Oil Companies operating in the region planning to move to off-shore in the name of divestment to make sure that they clean up the mess (pollution) they left on the environment through oil and gas exploration before they divest. The people recently in Yenagoa, when a group known as Dataphyte, organised a stakeholders meeting to ascertain the level of damage done to the land and to the people as the oil companies move away from land to the sea. Mr. Warder Benjamin from Ikarama Community and President, Yenagoa Federated Youth Council, in…

CP Ikioye Orutugu, who was newly promoted to Commissioner of Police of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has promised to invest the same energy he has invested in the Nigeria Police Force work all these years in serving his country. CP Orutugu who is from Brass Local Government area of Bayelsa State assured that he will use the same passion he has put in the work all these years, to make sure that the Nigeria Police gets better. Speaking at the weekend in Yenagoa during a thanksgiving ceremony to commemorate his new position, CP Orutugu maintained that the same passion…

As the rains intensify in Bayelsa State and following the 2024 flood warning issued by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET), the State Government has directed the Directorate for Flood and Erosion Control to identify structures built on natural canals within the Yenagoa metropolis for possible demolition to check flooding. The government also directed the directorate to liaise with the local government and RDA chairmen to quickly establish more relief camps close to flood-prone communities to spare rural dwellers the trouble of moving to Yenagoa, the state capital. The Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, who frowned on the practice of building…

Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Company (AEEPCO), operator of the NNPC / Aiteo Joint Venture on OML 29 has resumed production after an oil leak at its Nembe swamp facility in OML 29 in Bayelsa State. Aiteo’s spokesman, Matthew Ndiana, said the programme of resumption of production would go on while continuing with other statutory spill management protocols. Ndiana said the spill had been noticed on Monday, June 17 during routine operations. “AEEPCO’s Oil Spill and Emergency Response Team was immediately activated and all production from OML 29 shut down. “This is a precautionary measure, while mobilizing additional resources to…

Chief Timipre Sylva, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the November 11, 2023 Bayelsa State Governorship Election and former Minister of State, Petroleum, has expressed dissatisfaction with the Bayelsa Governorship Election Tribunal judgment. Sylva in a statement signed by his Special Assistant on Media and Public Affairs, Julius Bokoru, said after meeting with elders and stakeholders of the party he had directed his legal team to immediately seek justice at the Court of Appeal. Before the judgment, Sylva had accused the tribunal of bias following several infractions observed by his lawyers during the hearing of the case.…

Mr. Festus Daumiebi, a Niger Delta Youth activist, has sued Nigerian Army, the Chief of Army Staff, the Chief of Defence Staff and the Attorney General of the Federation for infringing on his fundamental human rights when the army invaded Igbomotoru community in South Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State in March, 2024. Daumiebi is asking the court to award to him the sum of N20.4billion as punitive, exemplary and special damages against the defendants for infringing on his fundamental rights. The plaintiff, who was a candidate of the All Progressives’ Congress for the 2019 Bayelsa-Central Senatorial seat and…

In view of the prevailing high cost of food in the Niger Delta, the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Basin Development Authority, NDBDA, Prince Ebitimi Amgbare, has said that the agency would work with the Niger Delta University in Bayelsa State to create food security in the region. Amgbare disclosed this when the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Allen Agih, paid him a courtesy call at the agency’s headquarters in Port Harcourt. The vice-chancellor had said the university was prepared to make its experts available for the agency to use to find a way of creating food security in…

The National President of Ijaw National Congress (INC), Prof Benjamin Okaba, has warned against attempts to frustrate the government of Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State. Okaba, who gave the warning in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State when a delegation of Rivers Ijaw Peoples Congress (RIPC) led by Senator George Sekibo, visited him at Ijaw House, said Fubara was the undisputed Governor of Rivers State. He warned that the political crisis in the state could further degenerate if not properly handled, regretting that Ijaws were divided in the feud between the Rivers State Governor and his predecessor now Minister of the FCT,…

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has commenced the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise in Edo State to capture qualified voters that are not on the voters’ register against the forthcoming election in the state. The commission said the registration would last for 10 days commencing from May 27 to June 5, 2024. The National Electoral Commissioner in charge of Edo State, Prof. Rhoda Gumus, disclosed this on Thursday during a stakeholders’ meeting held at the commission’s head office in Benin. The National Commissioner whose speech was read by Dr. Anugum Onuoha, Edo State Residential Electoral Commissioner, said the exercise…

The Swedish government has resolved to return 39 pieces of Benin artifacts in her museum to the custody of Oba of Benin, Ewuara II. The Swedish Ambassador to Nigeria, Her Excellency Annika Hahn-Englund, conveyed the Swedish government’s decision when she paid a courtesy visit to Oba of Benin Palace in Benin City, Edo State. Ambassador Hahn-Englund informed the royal father that Sweden and Nigeria, which is Sweden’s second largest market in Sub-Sahara Africa, are trading partners in infrastructure, telecommunication, energy and other businesses that supported the economies significantly. The Swedish envoy, said, “I would like to mention that with cooperation,…