Connect with us

Metro News

Gully erosion swallows houses Abia communities

Published

on

 

A gully erosion in communities in Bende Local Government Area of Abia State swallowed a two-storey building and a four-bedroom bungalow after a torrential rain that lasted for over 16 hours.

The two-storey building belonged to an indigene living outside the country, while the other belonged to another indigene residing in the state.

The affected communities are Amaewu, Umueze, Amamba, and Uzuakoli.

According to reports, the rainfall lasted from Friday 4pm to Saturday 7am.

The people of the area now live in fear over the gully erosion site which has defied all solutions even after several millions of Naira has been spent in tackling it.

According to the member representing Bende South constituency in Abia State House of Assembly, Hon. Emmanuel Chinedu Ndubuisi, the erosion site has resisted frantic efforts to bring it under control.

The lawmaker disclosed that the community has consistently made efforts to change the course of the gully site but to no avail, which also lead to the collapse of another four-bedroom bungalow.

READ  TWO VIDEOS: Watch Super Eagles celebrate after thrashing Sudan 3-1

He said, “I have reached out to the NEWMAP who came and gave their expert advice, a step that has been followed but the gully still persists”.

While stating that more buildings in the community are under threat, Hon. Ndubuisi hinted that the community has commenced a fresh palliative work following an advice by the NEWMAP team to mitigate the flood impact.

The NEWMAP advice he said is for them to “do a drainage down to the river so that more buildings will not be threatened, but I don’t know if the money available to the community now can do that.

“What we want to do now is to use sand bags to slow down the speed of the flood so that the devastation will reduce, which the engineers told us will reduce the devastation”.

Hon. Ndubuisi disclosed that the member representing Bende Federal Constituency, Rep. Benjamin Kalu and the Senator representing Abia North, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, are aware of the challenges of the people, adding “only the state government has intervened through NEWMAP”.

READ  Five, including four siblings die after eating suya in Abia

He also stated that efforts are ongoing to get other agencies of government for their intervention.

However when contacted, the senator representing Abia North, Orji Uzor Kalu, said that though their job at the red chamber is purely legislative, that he will send people to go and look at the site to enable him see how he can talk to federal authorities to come to the aide of the community.

The senator advised that such issues rests with the state government who receives monthly ecological funds.

Meanwhile, the member representing Bende Federal Constituency, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, said, “I have been there before to inspect the site. I have already presented the matter to the Ecological Fund Office for consideration.”

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Metro News

Emefiele ‘printed N684.5m notes with N18.9bn’, says EFCC in fresh charge

Published

on

By

CBN

 

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has filed a fresh charge against Godwin Emefiele, former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

 

In the four-count charge, the anti-graft agency accused Emefiele of approving the printing of N684,590,000 notes at the rate of N18.96 billion.

 

EFCC alleged that Emefiele broke the law with intent to harm the public during his implementation of the naira swap policy under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

 

The agency also accused the former CBN governor of unlawfully approving the withdrawal of N124.8 billion from the consolidated revenue fund of the federation.

 

Emefiele will be arraigned on these counts before Maryann Anenih, judge of a federal capital territory (FCT) high court, on April 30.

 

This would be the third criminal case pending against Emefiele.

 

On November 17, 2023, Emefiele was arraigned before Hamza Muazu, a judge of the federal capital territory (FCT) high court, on a six-count charge of procurement fraud, to which he pleaded not guilty.

 

Continue Reading

Metro News

Policeman kills corps member, injures LAUTECH graduate in Oyo

Published

on

By

 

One trigger-happy policeman, popularly known as Saheed SARS, allegedly shot a corps member, identified as Iyanda Damilola to death in Ogbomoso Local Government Area of Oyo State on Tuesday.

It was gathered that Saheed is an operative of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Oyo State Police Command.

Saheed is widely recognised by the students of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso for assaults, most especially “Yahoo boys”.

In 2020, he was heavily criticised on social media platforms after he reportedly posed with a white Mercedez Benz car he claimed to have bought.

 

The deceased’s brother, Iyanda Oluwafemi, a graduate of LAUTECH, said he sustained wounds from bullets shot by Saheed.

Oluwafemi, a graduate of Accounting and Management Sciences from the institution, said the deceased was his brother and that he had attended his convocation, after which they headed for an after-party the same day where he was shot dead by the trigger-happy cop.

READ  Newspapers Headlines Today: Wike insists on no deal with Atiku until Ayu resigns

According to him, the late Damilola was serving in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

He said, “Yesterday was our convocation, and we were at a lounge (name withheld) for a convocation party around 2am when we heard that some people were fighting outside. When we discovered that the place was getting rowdy, we stepped out only to see policemen dispersing the crowd and shooting directly at the people.

“I sustained bullet wounds, but my brother, who came for my convocation, was shot in the head. He was confirmed dead at the LAUTECH Teaching Hospital and was taken to the mortuary this morning.

 

“As I speak with you, I am at the clinic for my treatment. The wounds are deep, and I can not but seek justice for my innocent brother.”

Asked if he could recognise the policemen who came for the operation, Oluwafemi said he was sure of Saheed SARS because he led them to the place to disperse the crowd.

READ  Vessel with 300,000 litres of illegally refined diesel arrested in Rivers

“I saw him handling the gun; he was shooting with one hand until he shot my brother,” he added.

 

The state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Adewale Osifeso, said an investigation was ongoing on the matter and that updates would be provided accordingly.

 

“Investigation is ongoing. Updates would be provided accordingly, please,” he wrote in a text message.

 

 

Continue Reading

Metro News

10 dead as navy helicopters collide mid-air during training

Published

on

By

 

Two Malaysian military helicopters collided mid-air and crashed, killing all 10 crew members onboard.

The incident happed early Tuesday near the naval base in Lumut, some 200 kilometres north-west of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital city.

 

Mohamed Nordin, defence minister, said the aircraft — a maritime operations helicopter and a Fennec military chopper — were rehearsing for a parade celebrating the 90th anniversary of the Royal Malaysian Navy, due to be held on Saturday.

 

One of the helicopters which was said to be carrying seven crew members onboard crashed in a stadium, while the other which had three passengers spiralled down near a swimming pool.

 

Videos circulating on social media showed several helicopters flying in formation, when one of the choppers’ rotor clipped another before both aircraft crashed into the ground.

2 Helicopters with the Royal Malaysian Navy collided earlier today over the Town of Lumut during a Rehearsal for Annual Naval Parade resulting in the Death of all 10 of the Crewmembers; the Helicopters, a AgustaWestland AW139HOM (M503-3) and a AS550 Fennec (M502-6) both Crashed… pic.twitter.com/Z0IwdpMVbG

READ  Police commission promotes suspended EFCC boss Magu to AIG

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) April 23, 2024

Photos of the crash showed the completely destroyed remains of the aircraft.

 

Nordin said efforts are underway to verify the identities of the crew members killed, all of whom were below the age of 40.

 

Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysia’s prime minister, described the tragedy as “heart-wrenching” and “a great loss for the country”.

 

“Condolences to all the families of the victims and prayers for strength to face this calamity,” Ibrahim added.

 

The Royal Malaysian Navy said it would establish a committee to investigate the cause of the incident.

Continue Reading

Trending News