Author: Treasure Chisa Achor

Abuloma Community in Port Harcourt Local Government Area in Rivers State has banned gas retail outlets in the community following last Saturday’s gas explosion at Orazi, also in Port Harcourt where several people died and many others were admitted in hospital with severe 3-5 degree burns.In a memo to all residents, landlords and business owners in the area, Abuloma Community Development Committee said the ban on the retail outlets was to ensure the safety and well-being of all residents in Abuloma.”Landlords are hereby warned that they will be held liable for any breach of this prohibition. It is their responsibility…

A devastating gas explosion occurred on Saturday 4th of January 2025 at around Big Tree Junction, Orazi Port Harcourt leaving so many including children with severe five-degree burns and a five-year-old dead the next day.The fire spread into neighbouring shops. The explosion according to an eye witness started in a lockup shop where a man named Chidi was running a business of refilling gas, selling cylinders and welding cylinders.She said, “The explosion happened in the shop, the guy sells gas. He sells cylinders, he also welds inside. I don’t know how he does it but he fixes pot, cylinders and…

A former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Mr. Joseph Daudu (SAN), has risen to the defense of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, after radical lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN) accused the minister of trying to gain political favour from the judges by providing them with accommodation. Falana in a well publicized comment has said the recent provision of residential accommodation by Wike was unconstitutional and an affront on the judiciary. Daudu, who was addressing the Sixth Annual Criminal Law Review Conference in Abuja, dismissed claims by Falana that the houses could be perceived as an attempt…

The Pan-Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, has said that the development of the Niger Delta should be taken beyond just setting up interventionist agencies like the NDDG, PAP and others to actually empower the people of the region to take benefits from the huge endowments of hydrocarbons under their soil. The demand for the empowerment of the people of the Niger Delta formed part the communiqué of the one-day Special Assembly of the forum that held in Port Harcourt last Thursday. A key component of the communiqué said, “The Assembly applauded the initiative of the African oil producing nations to establish…

The Federal High Court in Abuja has thrown a wrench into the financial gears of the Rivers State government, issuing a stern order to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to put a temporary halt to the monthly financial allocations flowing to the state. Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, the presiding judge, made this decision on Wednesday, just days after Governor Siminalayi Fubara presented his 2024 budget proposal to the Rivers House of Assembly. The court deemed Governor Fubara’s actions – accepting and disbursing monthly allocations since January – as a blatant violation of the constitution, a document he solemnly swore to…

The air was tension soaked as voters trickled to their various units after the dramatic events that characterized the local government electoral process. Unsure of what would be the eventual outcome, voters dared the odds and went to their polling units to cast their votes. As a concerned citizen of Nigeria and indigene of Rivers State, I took the obligation to observe the process especially in view of the legal shenanigans and efforts by the members of the major political parties to stop the process. I arrived at Ward 1, Units 1 and 2, Oro-Abali at around 10:44 a.m. Voting…