Herdsmen attacks: Prevail on your husband to act, Benue women tell Aisha Buhari

Women in Benue State have asked the wife of the president, Aisha Buhari, to rise up as mother to prevail on her husband to reshape the nation’s security architecture that would guarantee the safety of mothers and Children in their homes.

The women led by a former Commissioner in the state, Mrs. Rebecca Apedzan, said that they had decided to troop out in their numbers to mourn unarmed mothers and children killed by herdsmen.

Mrs. Apedzan stated that Benue women would not stop to cry until Buhari decided to do the needful by deploying adequate security in the state to avert further killings.

She condemned the killings  describing them as ethnic cleansing and called on president Muhammadu Buhari to rise to the occasion by bringing  it to an end.

”We have asked him to denounce his patronship of the miyetti Allah,” She stated.

She lauded the steps so far taken by governor Ortom assuring him that they will continue to pray and stand with state government.

The wife of Tor Sankara, Chief Mrs. Elizabath Shuluwa, called on Mrs Ortom to lead a delegation of Benue women to the wife of the president, Aisha Buhari, to speak to her husband to come to the aid of Benue women.

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I stand with these great mothers in my state.

Nigerian man from Benue, Vitalis Lanshima Sworn In As New District 21 Councilman in US.

District 21 has a new Metro Council representative, nearly a month after Councilman Dan Johnson was removed.
Vitalis Lanshima was sworn in at Thursday’s Metro Council meeting as Johnson’s replacement. Lanshima will serve out the rest of Johnson’s term, which runs through the end of 2018.
He is an adjunct professor at Bellarmine University who grew up in Nigeria and was a Paralympic athlete. His issues include economic development and creating safe neighborhoods, according to his website.
An emotional Lanshima addressed the Metro Council following the vote.
“I want to thank you for the confidence you’ve put in me,” he said. “I don’t take this responsibility lightly, not at all.”
The District 21 seat, and all odd-numbered Metro Council seats, are up for election next year. The next full term begins in January 2019.
Johnson vacated his seat in November following allegations of sexual harassment. He had served in public office since 1991, when he joined the Board of Alderman. He was elected to the Metro Council in 2002, and represented the areas in and around Southside, Beechmont and the airport.
The Council considered more than a dozen candidates for the open position. The annual salary for the position is $47,833.
Lanshima was electrocuted when he was 12, resulting in the amputation of both arms. He came to Louisville to attend Bellarmine University on scholarship as a paralympic track athlete.

Gov Ortom presents 2018 "Budget of Rural Transformation" to the assembly,

 

Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has presented a budget of N178, 377,811,608.00 billion to the state House of Assembly for the 2018 fiscal year.

The 2018 budget is about N5 billion lesser than the 2017 budget of N183,368,780,499.00 Governor Ortom presented to the House of Assembly last year.

Christened a Budget of Rural Transformation and Consolidation, the Governor noted that the budget was estimated based on the assumption that the revenue sharing formula would improve with respect to the Statutory Allocation and Value Added Tax (VAT) as well as continued institutional strengthening of internally generated revenue collection in the State in collaboration with the Local Government Councils.

Other assumptions, according to the governor include, "that there would be a total blockage of all leakages in internal revenue generation by MDAs and remitting of same into Government Treasury Single Account and there would be continuation of the financial management reforms embarked upon with the implementation of the Fiscal Sustainability Plan."

He also assumed that the political and economic climate of Nigeria and particularly of Benue State shall remain stable with herdsmen and farmers clashes as well as other communal clashes eliminated during fiscal year 2018 even as he hopes that the exchange rate of the naira ($305.00) and the benchmark of oil price ($45.00) as proposed by the Federal Government is attained and sustained.

Responding, Speaker of the Assembly, Terkimbi Ikyange assured the governor that the lawmakers would immediately commence work on the budget to ensure a speedy passage soon.

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House flooded ,several left homeless after heavy down pour in Makurdi. PHOTOS.

Several houses in Makurdi metropolis were on Sunday flooded following four hours of heavy down pour.

  The rain which started around 11:56 pm on Saturday and lasted till 4.08am Sunday morning has rendered many people homeless.  The worst hit areas are Zone 4, Atusa, Nyiman, some areas of Wadatta, Gana all in the capital city of Makurdi. 

 A residence of Nyima, Ms Jane Iorhember a mother of two told punch  correspondent that the surging water woke her up around 2.30 am only to discover that the outside of their house had been flooded. 

 According to her, ‘I did not know the actual time the rain started but I woke up when I felt something cold in my body only to discover that the mattress was already soaked, this was around 2.30am  “At this time there was no light so I put on my torch light and tiptoed to the living room where the whole area was flooded and when I peeped outside only to behold the whole compound already flooded and water was flowing into the living room”.  “I rushed and woke up my kids in case of any eventuality, we tried to pack some perishable items like electronics into one of the rooms until the rain subsided around 4 am. 

You can see that the water is gradually receding from the living room”, Jane said.  It was a similar experience for Mrs Kajo within Nyiman, the family of seven live in a thatched house, as at the time our correspondent visited the area, some of their property had been packed outside. 

 “You can see out property outside because the rooms are already flooded we will remain like this until the water recedes.”  A staff of the state house of assembly, Mr Tikili Simon who spoke to our correspondent at Zone 4 one of the affected areas called on the state government to open up drainage in the flooded areas. 

 He said that some of the flooded areas from Zone 4 to Atusa and Gana were mostly affected because of lack of drainage.  According to him, ‘if you move from here to Atusa and the FADAMA area in Nyima which links Gana down to rail track along Barracks road, they are not conducive because there are no drainages’.  “All these places like Gana and Atusa are developing areas within 16 Kilometer radius, so government should do something to make these places habitable”.

  The State Commissioner for Environment, Mr Joseph Ustev when contacted on phone described the situation ‘as terrible’ saying the major cause of the flood was blockage of drainages.  He said that the officials of the ministry were on tour monitoring the situation to report back to the state governor for urgent attention.   

Photo credit Affected persons who shared pictures on Facebook.

Police Deny Killing Benue Militia Leader, Ghana

Wanted militia leader Terwase Akwaza, popularly known as Ghana, has not been killed by the police, contrary to reports that he has met his doom, the Benue State Police Command said on Thursday.

The notorious militia leader was allegedly killed days back when a special police team stormed his group’s hideout along the Benue-Taraba border.

While a shootout occurred between the police and members of Akwaza’s gang, the elusive militia leader got away.

The Commissioner of Police in Benue State, Bashir Makama, told Channels Television that Akwaza escaped from the police team when his gang spotted the team and opened fire.

In the ensuing shootout, one Danladi Awudu who had set up a checkpoint to protect Akwaza was killed.

Afterwards, the police recovered more than 100 live ammunitions and weapons from the scene.

“Ghana is still alive and as I speak to you right now, there is an ongoing operation to capture him. I am supposed to be in Abuja, but because of this operation, I had to wait and monitor it,” the police commissioner said.

He added, “Three days ago. we almost got him when we recovered those weapons and the corpse of Danladi Awudu who opened fire on my men.”

The police declared Akwaza wanted in April this year and announced a N10m reward for information leading to his capture.

Although he has yet to be captured, the police believe they are closing in on him and have depleted the resources available to him as well as his camps.

The police have also focused on combing the Takum/Wukari axis of the Taraba and Benue boundary for his hideouts.

Speaking on the latest encounter with the militia leader, the police commissioner said, “This (latest) search was between the Benue and Taraba state boundary, particularly in Takum and Wukari where he took refuge, but the typical Ghana we know, mounted several guards.

“When we encountered the last guard who opened fire on my men, he fled the scene and we recovered a lot of his personal effects including his retroviral drugs which he could not even escape with, but we are not relenting and we will not allow criminals to take over this command.”

Source BenueNews.Com

Breaking News : Unknown gunmen assassinate Gov Ortom's Principal Special Assistant,Gov calls for arrest and prosecution of culprits.

Unknown gunmen Sunday morning shot and killed Benue State  Governor ,Samuel Ortom's Principal Special Assistant Dr Tavershima Adyorough.

According to Terver Akase, Chief Press Secretary to the governor,Dr Adyorough was shot and killed by gunmen who invaded his residence at about 12.30 this morning and also shot his wife who is on admission in hospital.

In the statement signed by the chief press secretary ,Governor Ortom described the killing as unacceptable and condemnable, requesting security agencies to swing into action immediately so as to arrest those responsible for the dastardly act.

Ortom called on security agents to arrest and prosecute the killers of his Principal Special Assistant on Knowledge Economy and Investments.

Gov Ortom  described late Dr Adyorough as a competent and dependable aide who delivered on assignments with dedication and honesty.

He also sympathized with the immediate family of the deceased, the government and people of the state on the loss and pledges that he would support security agencies in apprehending the culprits. 

He urged those with useful information that can lead to the arrest to make same available.

We need N40 billion to settle outstanding salaries ―Benue gov

GOVERNOR Samuel Ortom, has stated that he would need N40 billion to offset all the outstanding salaries of workers in the state.

Going by the current information, state civil servants are been owed five months’ salary and eight months’ salary arrears for local government workers.

Ortom disclosed this on Sunday at Taraku, Gwer local government area of the state opined that his administration would have put all the backlog of salaries behind it if he is able to recover the N107 billion looted from the state’s coffer.

The governor dismissed the insinuation making the round in the state that his administration is owing workers for ten months, saying, ‘we have been paying  workers in the state   at least once in two months,, so it is absolutely wrong  to say i have  not paid salaries for upwards of 10 months at a stretch.’

“My administration inherited a monthly wage bill of N8.2 billion including pensions and overheads without the minimum wage for primary school teachers, but we have been able to reduce this to N7.8 billion through various screening exercise.’

”I kept to the agreement  my administration had with labour leaders that as a result of insufficient funds, the federal allocation of two months would be combined to pay one month  salary for workers. It was the accumulation of the unpaid months that have given the wrong impression about my administration owing workers up to 10 months as being speculated by enemies of progress”.

The governor hinted  That one of the  indicted persons by Justice Elizabeth Kpojime Commission of Inquiry has refunded N370 million, he added that the N4.5 billion bond proceeds diverted have been recovered and would be channelled into the purpose for which it was meant for.

He said his government would continue to give priority to payment of workers following his declaration of a state of emergency on payment of salary.

 Tribune.