CITYFile 11 BUSINESSDAY: www.businessdayonline.com
Thursday 21 November 2012
Mob attacks monarch over alleged Julius Berger employment lORIS UMAR MOMOH
Ben in ths of OkpeUa community in EuW.o East Local Government Area In Edo Slnle lase wed:. went on nunpage. nndalising the paJace of their traditional ru&er- over the alleged sale of empkJymenl iklu. 0L:pelIa community is home to 6do Cemcnl Company which has naw been bought 0Y'el' by BUA Group IDlemarionaL It WiD g.alh~ that the youth in their thousands a!lacked the palace of the lJ'adidonal ruler of the community, yusuf Dirisu. me Okuotpdlagbe of Okpclla. The protesl wa5~. made wune as women also in their lbousands proIes:ted nude in major Sueel$ In Ihe community demanding the immediate and unconditional release of their dilldren thai wen! arrested ova- the iDddeoL II was gathered that about 30 J'O'uhs were arT"eSted while one person sustained gunshoI wound dwing alleged CK.hange of gunfin: with the Nlp!ria Police. The youlh were Aid 10 haYe aUqedIy let four vdlk:Ic5 ablaze. vandalised the palace, customary coun premises located within the palace among otben. Otyfl&e learnt mal manyofthe proc.csaed women WCIl! said 10 have used only plantain leaves to cover their body during the protest. 1bt women. Aid 10 have come mainly from lmekhu village. proteslee! 10 lhe police station kx:aled in the community and the palace where they were beatco and chased ~-ay by youths kJy;tlIO the palace. '"Women were in the front while armed youths were behind. lite women wa-e naked excepI (or dry plantain 1eavcI: they U5Cd 10 cover their breasts and waist region. lhe
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whole thing feU off when youths loyal 10 the palace aaned chasing them away; a S(IIUI'a: Slated.
Abdul Yclini Ahmed, one of the palace d1ic& and a personal assismnl 10 the tmdldonal ruler ollhe community. in an intervteW whh OtyFlk: said trouble started when the youth of the community called for IDe dlssoJution of-Coalition ofOkpclJa Youths: Ahmed added !hat the coalition _ rormed by the traditional coundl about six months ago when tulius Berger 1))C com·
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mern:ed the construction of a second cement plant for Bua group inlemalionaJ, now the producer of-Edo Cement: lie said the purpose of the body WlI5 to ~ as a}oll O1!3lion committee bel:ween the management of the company and the community fot job acation foc the youth. Ue added thai the commiltee has succeeded io providing jobs 10 OYer 300 youths olthecommunity. According to him. -on Monday we wen: here holdmg a meeting with Ihe compa-
nics in OlcpeUa which touched on ~mploy mcnL While the meeting ....'as going on, we got reports thatlheyouth ~-ere in the palace wanting 10 see the Roy1Il Majestic and be ordered that row or five of them should come In and see him since he was a In a meeting. ~Ybcn they came in. they complained to the monarch and the entire paIaoe dUefs thai they were neM comfonable with the activities and way the 'Coalition of OkpeUa Youths' openltes and they wanted h to be
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.-.rikpo n:.d in depb-atI6e CICIf'IdiIIon
Eko 2012: LASG paints houses near venues
Ud uagha n seeks statistics of flood affected fa rmers
'dcnlS oflhe UgOS State Property Oevclopment Corponllion (LSPDC) estate adjacent to the Teslim SlaCfium In SUruJere. lagos, have had their houses painted by lhe state goyemmenl. ahead of the 181:b National Spons Fcstfvul 1h~ News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) repons thai the Games, tagged 'Eko20IZ,' wiU bold from November 7:1 to Dca:mbct- 9. A check by NAN showed that houses on ~ opposite the LSDPC estate. such as Ogunmola. Wf!n! also similarly painted. The government is also painting and fumigating houses around the $ladium and the othe!" llenues for the festival. The YClUCS are:: the Uoivef"Sity or Lagos. A1oI.:a; the Vaba CoDege of Tecb:ooIogy and me Fedfial CoII~ of EdttCItiorl (Technical), Al.ob. liowew:r;. some of the residents haw: called on the govemmenlloeosuredfecliw: monitoring. to prevent the contracton: from doingd>oddyJobo. Iyabo 8a.Iogun. • pelty tmder. who resides at IUock 4 ollbe LSPOC housing estate. Aid: "Our houses an: now YaY beautiful
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and our environment Is fumigated; thanb to Eko20lZ': She s...kt sbc would lib: the Lagos seale government 10 continue 10 ho5a 1310 2fl1? r:w:ry year. so that the $late goyemnk<llt wou&d continue to keep their neighbourhood dean. Kemi Ajose. • housewife residing in Block 3 of the LSI'OC estale. Aid lhour:' painting of bu building bad yet to be 0 pleted, she was gtalcfllllO government 10. _ Ajose. ~ f:lpressed disgust with the paint'" who $he said had skipped bu buDding fortlle neIt1 block forrwo daysoow. Another reskIeol of BIod:: 3. AIo Obi, said the contraclor should be monitored by the prvernmeDtto ensure that be dcllva-s. r;ood job. lie said the uneven natwe of 500lC of the paintings.might derail the goyoemment's plan of having a unifonn oudook for the buildings during the Games. 0m0Iar.t Williams, a raident of Ogun. mob Slreet. told NAN that the bouse painling Rafted 00 Friday. She said that she was 19ppy with the de¥eIopmeot. wblcb was in lhespiritolEto20I2.
OW!J'Dor Emmanucl Uduaghan of Ddta Slate has directed Mis-san Ukllbcyin~ the state commissioner (or AgricuIlure and -um Resources. to come up with .sr.aLstics of those affected by 1M floods. TIle governor gave the directi~ on Monday night in Asaba al a meeting with J the Flood Funds Management Conullil · tee. poUticaJ appointees and lawmakers 10 review the siluaUon of the flood vic· rims in the various camps in the state. The governor urged the ministry 10 draw up a programme thai would properly resettle the f<lJ"lOCf$ in the coming farming season. by classifying tht.'I1l into various categories. ''You should take s tatistics of the farmers alfecced by Oood and provide highyiekling disease-n::sislant seedlings 10 enable them p lanl this season,- he said. He also asked the minislJ)' (0 come up with accurate figures of the victims and warned them against taking advantage of the situation to exploit the people. Earlier, Ukubeyinjc told the meeting that me Federnl ~enl had alIo-
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cated 49 truck-load of food containing various grains. gam and ca5S3\0l Oow to feed the Dood-displaced persons in the state. The commissioner also said that the affected fanners would be given plantmg malerials such as rice. beans. maize and sorghum seedlings and cass3n slcms 10 enable them imp~ food production. 1be News Agency of Nigeria repons that the Presidential Committee on Aood, chaired by Aliko Dangote. \isited the state's Dood victims· camp on Mon · day evening.. Dangote expressed the Federal Government's commitmcntlO assisI the vic· tims (0 make life more meaningful for them. lie gave an assurance thai the dona· tions rea:ivcd by the r-cderal GoYemmen! on behalf of the victims would not
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lie also re-aflinned the government's resolve In suppon the £armers wilh tmproved high-yickling seedlings to improve agricuJlwaI production in the
Oood·prone areas.