Governor Wike Imposes A 24-Hour Curfew In Parts Of Rumuokoro And Rumuodomaya

Rivers State governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has imposed a 24 hour total curfew for two weeks on the entire area around the Okoro-Nu-Odu flyover in Rumuokoro, due to upsurge of cult activities and related violence.

The governor has also warned that government will spare no efforts to deal appropriately with anyone who decides to disturb peace and security in the State with cult activities and associated violence and killings.

Governor Wike, in a state wide broadcast explained that decision to impose the curfew was taken after the State Security Council meeting on Sunday in Port Harcourt.

He explained that the Rivers State Government was seriously disturbed by the recent upsurge of cult activities and related violence and killings around the adjoining areas of the Okoro-Nu-Odu flyover in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area.

The governor stated that government has repeatedly warned misguided youths that engaging in cultism because of its abhorrent anti-social effect on society.

“As part of measures to tackle this menace therefore, Government has imposed a 24-hour total curfew for two weeks on the entire area along and around the Okoro-nodu flyover up to one-kilometer radius from Saint Emmanuel Anglican Church, Rumuokoro, extending to the Rumuodomaya Slaughter and Local Government daily market with effect from Monday 23rd November 2020.

“Consequently, no form of trading, human or vehicular movement is allowed within the afore-mentioned restricted areas until further notice. Only staff and vehicles belonging to Julius Berger Nigeria Limited are exempted from the curfew and associated restrictions on movement so that construction work on the Okoro-Nu-Odu flyover is not stalled.”

The governor directed security agencies are to enforce strict compliance with the curfew and arrest and summarily prosecute any person, trader or vehicle that may attempt to violate the curfew.

“Again, we wish to warn that community leaders that allow cultism and related activities to thrive unabated in their communities would be treated as collaborators to the resulting crimes and dealt with accordingly.

“We urge all citizens to be part of the efforts to curb cultism in the State by reporting any suspicious cult activity, including gatherings and initiations in or around their neighbourhoods to the security agencies for immediate action.”

Governor disclosed that the State government will construct the 7th flyover in Port Harcourt to traverse Ikokwu to Azikiwe Street.

He appealed to residents of Port Harcourt and Obio-Akpor Local Government Areas to bear with the State government for traffic challenges that they may encounter in connection with the ongoing construction of the Oro-Abali and other flyovers.

“As you know our promise to construct and five flyovers to ease the perennial traffic challenges and accelerate socio-economic development of the State is well on course. we delivered and commissioned the first of the initial five flyovers, (the Rebisi flyover) to the glory of God and the good of our State, while construction work on the rest has reached advanced levels of completion.

“Indeed, the Okoro-nu-do flyover is next on the line to be delivered and commissioned, latest, in the first quarter of 2021.

Two days ago, the State Executive Council approved the award of the contract for the constructing of the sixth flyover along the Oro-Abali (Kaduna street) intersection of Aba road to Julius Berger Nigeria Limited.”

KELVIN EBIRI
Special Assistant (Media) Rivers State Governor

#nairaland

Bella Hadid Vibes To Wizkid's 'Sweet One' Off 'Made In Lagos' Album 

American supermodel and ex-girlfriend of Canadian singer The Weeknd, was seen vibing to 'Sweet One' off Wizkid's 'Made In Lagos' album.

Made in Lagos is the fourth studio album by Nigerian singer Wizkid. It was released on October 30, 2020, and features guest appearances from British artists Skepta and Ella Mai, American R&B singer H.E.R., Jamaican artists Projexx and Damian Marley, and Nigerian artists Burna Boy, Tems, Tay Iwar, and Terri


#wizkid

Biden Chooses Antony Blinken As Secretary Of State 

President-elect Joe Biden is poised to nominate Antony Blinken to serve as secretary of state.

Incoming White House chief of staff Ron Klain said earlier Sunday that Biden intended to begin revealing members of his Cabinet Tuesday. 

Blinken is expected to be among the first nominations, people familiar with the matter said, with Biden intent on sending a signal that rebuilding America's alliances is one of his top priorities.

Bloomberg was first to report that Biden intends to name Blinken.

The president-elect is also expected to name Jake Sullivan, another close aide of his, as national security adviser, and Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a 35-year Foreign Service veteran, as his ambassador to the U.N.

Antony J. Blinken began his career at the State Department during the Clinton administration.
Antony J. Blinken began his career at the State Department during the Clinton administration.

#uselection

Police, Traffic Robbers In Supremacy Battle On Lagos Roads 

Since the end of #endsars protest, which turned violent, robbers have displayed a kind of courage by engaging in the supremacy battle with the Nigeria Police on Lagos roads.

P.M.EXPRESS investigation revealed that traffic robbers had taken over some roads and started robbing people with impunity having realised that the attacks on Nigeria Police really demoralized the officers.

However, it appears that the officers of the Lagos Police Command are gradually regaining their confidence and decided to bring back sanity to the State.

This followed the recent arrest of traffic robbers, who have been terrorizing residents in various locations in the State and had taken over some roads.
The Police Public Relations Officer, SP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said that Policemen attached to Morogbo and Victoria Island Divisions respectively, engaged and arrested some traffic armed robbers at various locations in the state. 

He said, “On November 17, 2020, the Policemen attached to Morogbo Division, while on patrol on Badagry Expressway, engaged a gang of traffic armed robbers in a gun duel where one of the gang members fell while others fled.
The gang had earlier shot and injured a Corporal attached to the Police Border Patrol team around the area and dispossessed him of his motorcycle.

“Items recovered from the gang included a locally-made gun with some live cartridges and the Police Corporal’s snatched motorcycle” Adejobi said.

#nairaland

Northern Group Backs 2023 Igbo Presidency, Charges Parties On Justice 

Ahead of the 2023 general elections, the Coalition of Northern Elders for Peace and Development has thrown its weight behind an Igbo presidency, insisting that the position should be zoned to the region.

The group explained that its position was borne out of the “need for all parts of the country to be fairly and equitably treated in the nation’s political affairs.”

Stating that the southeast had been marginalised in the scheme of things, the coalition, however, appealed to both the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the main opposition, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to field Igbo candidates come 2023.

On the other hand, the northerners appealed to other zones to back Ndigbo in their quest to produce Nigeria’s first citizen in the next political dispensation.

In a statement yesterday in Abuja by its National Coordinator, Zana Goni, and National Women Leader, Mario Bichi, the group insisted that southeast should produce the next president “to maintain the culture of the rotational presidency between the North and South, which has helped to douse the political tension in Nigeria.

“We, therefore, recommend that it should be continued for now for the good of the federation.”

The agitators noted that “since President Buhari is from the north, the right thing is that after his eight-year tenure, the next president should come from southern Nigeria. And since South West and South-South have occupied the office in the current dispensation, the South East is next in line in the spirit of the rotation principle, fairness, equity, and justice.

“This will bring an end to the manifest marginalisation of the South East. This will foster national unity and also bring to a close the bitterness of the Biafra civil war, which has lingered for 50 years since the end of hostilities and engender unity.”

They lauded leaders of southeast extraction for not taking cessation as an option despite the “inglorious activities of the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra, (IPO Mazi Nnamdi Kanu,” which the coalition accused of attempting to “destabilise Nigeria’s unity by hiding under the delayed Igbo presidency.”

#guardian

#timmystar