News
Group Tells Sylva to be Objective about Diri
Group Tells Sylva to be Objective about Diri
By: Michael Mike
The Bayelsa Mandate Group (BMG) has advised a former governor of the state, Chief Timipre Sylva, to be objective in his assessment of the administration of Governor Douye Diri, advising him not to allow partisan politics to becloud his sense of judgment.
The group, in a statement signed by its leader, Chief Nazuan Godfrey, asked Sylva, who is also the immediate past Minister of State, Petroleum, to act as a true statesman by acknowledging the giant strides of the Diri administration in the last four years instead of the baseless criticisms he has embarked upon.
According to Nazuan, what interests the people of Bayelsa, the only homogenous state in the country, is its development and the ability of the leaders to make life better for the citizens, this the group insisted is what Diri has been doing.
Taking a swipe at the performance of Sylva when he was the governor of the state and when he served as a minister, BMG noted that it was nothing to write home about when compared with the tenure of Governor Diri.
The group lamented that Sylva left Bayelsa underdeveloped and littered with abandoned projects.
“We are all witnesses to what happened in the recent past, during the Sylva era. The Glory Drive Road for which over N9 billion was earmarked, what came out of it? The Kolo Creek Electric Power Station switch gears project which was varied from an initial sum of N486 million to over N1 billion, only has an abandoned control room to show for it. What about the revocation of our prized jewel, OML46, otherwise called Atala Oil Field, who stole it through the back doors?
“For the records, we gathered that Sylva is talking about some gas turbines, when we all know who sold as scraps, the turbines bought by the late Melford Okilo. The Olympus Rolls Royce Gas Turbines were bought and installed by Okilo, while the other turbines were the Russian made Salut bought by the late Chief DSP Alamieyeseigha and the Rolls Royce RB211 bought by former President Goodluck Jonathan during his brief stay as governor of Bayelsa State. What happened to them?
“Let Sylva mention the year, model and capacity of the turbine he claimed to have bought that was sold by his successors,” the group stated.
They berated Sylva for obliterating a major legacy of Okilo by selling the power turbines for peanuts.
BMG also accused Sylva of inaugurating projects that were not completed and recalled how the late President Umaru Musa Yar’dua was invited to inaugurate an uncompleted plant with a stand by generator, adding that it was in fact the last official engagement of the late President.
Godfrey stated that Sylvia’s desperation and obsession to get back to Creek Haven with claims that Bayelsa is owing him four years of governance is misplaced and provocative.
“Goodluck Jonathan as a Governor of Bayelsa State procured the RB211 Rolls Royce Gas Turbine which was haphazardly installed under the Sylva’s administration. Due to lack of proper project management, that project suffered serious structural defects that was extremely difficult to salvage. Professional technical evaluation indicates that the contractors engaged had little or no background to execute such a project,” he said.
The group stated that the 500-bed hospital started by Chief DSP Alamieyeseigha at Imgbi Road was turned into a cash cow by officials of the Sylva administration under the guise of remodeling and Public, Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement.
“After wasting so much money, the project was abandoned with the excuse that it was too bogus to manage, so nothing was done.”
Godfrey said the group would dust its file and would make public its findings on some other misadventures of the Sylva administration.
“Under his watch as the immediate past Minister of State for Petroleum, over N750 billion was allocated for road construction nationwide for the NNPC, yet he couldn’t attract a single kilometre of road to Bayelsa, but wants to return as governor. Four years after initiating COVID-19 referral hospital with fanfare, the project remains an eyesore.
“All Sylva knows in politics is violence, bribing of security and electoral umpires which we are keenly watching. If anybody or group attempt to subvert the will of the people through intimidation, harassment and declaration of fake results as the Sylva group is planning like the Adamawa case they will know the true resilience of the Bayelsa people.”
Group Tells Sylva to be Objective about Diri
NDLEA intercepts cocaine in Saudi-bound religious books
By: Michael Mike
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted a shipment of cocaine concealed in 20 sets of religious books going to Saudi Arabia.
The spokesman of the anti-narcotics agency, Femi Babafemi in a statement on Sunday said the cocaine consignment consisting of 20 parcels with a total weight of 500 grammes and buried in the pages of the religious books was uncovered at a courier company in Lagos last Tuesday when NDLEA officers of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) were searching through export cargos going to Saudi Arabia at the logistics firm.
Babafemi said at another courier company same day, NDLEA officers intercepted five parcels of Loud, a strong strain of cannabis weighing 2.8 kilogrammes hidden in a carton coming from the United States of America.
In Kano, a 22-year-old alleged supplier of illicit substances to bandits, Muhammad Mohammed, has been arrested by NDLEA operatives on patrol along Bichi – Kano road while heading to Katsina with 277 ampoules of pentazocine injection tied to his thigh and private part with Sellotape.
He was intercepted on Sunday 13th April, while another suspect, Mohammed Abdulrahman Abdulaziz, 43, was nabbed same day at Research Rimin Kebe area of Nasarawa, Kano with 68 blocks of skunk, a strain of cannabis, weighing 30 kilogrammes.
He said not less than 557.2 kilogrammes of skunk, 5.6 kilogrammes of methamphetamine and 29.8 grammes of heroin were recovered from a house along Major General Isaiah Alllison Street, Opolo, Yenagoa, Bayelsa state where four suspects were arrested when NDLEA operatives raided the premises last Wednesday
Babafemi said the four suspects arrested during the raid include: Sarimiye Suwa, 46; Roland Prosper, 34; Sarimiye Tare, 45; and Fidelis Ugbesla, 46, while a total of 1,100 kilogrammes of skunk were recovered from a delivery van with the driver, Ismail Abdullahi arrested in Surulere area of Lagos last Thursday.
In Kaduna, NDLEA operatives last Friday raided the hideout of a suspect, Ike Ani, 30, in Zaria, where no fewer than 31,950 pills of tramadol 225mg and diazepam were recovered, and in Kebbi, along Bagudo road on the same day a vehicle loaded with bags of charcoal coming from Malabil, Benin Republic was intercepted, when the vehicle was search, 97 kilogrammes of skunk concealed in the sacks of charcoal was recovered.
. Three suspects: Abubakar Ibrahim, 50; Mustapha Aliyu, 32; and Bashar Lawali, 28, were arrested in connection with the seizure.
A 48-year-old Okafor Marcel was nabbed with 11.5 kilogrammes skunk at Abatete, Anambra state while NDLEA operatives in Osogbo, Osun state last Tuesday arrested Ajala Mercy, 27, with 43 litres of skushi, a mixture of black currant, cannabis and opioids recovered from her room at Dada estate, Halleluyah area of the state capital.
Babafemi said two cannabis farms in Egbeta forest, Ovia North East LGA, Edo state were raided by NDLEA operatives who destroyed 3,717.8625 kilogrammes of the psychoactive plant on 1.487145 hectares and recovered 136.5 kilogrammes of processed cannabis.
At the Tincan seaport in Lagos, a suspect Basorun Kayode, 40, who has been at large for two years was arrested by NDLEA officers in connection with the seizure of 107 kilogrammes Loud imported from Canada in 2023, while another suspect, Dauda Yakubu who distributes illicit drugs within the seaport community was arrested by a team of operatives last Monday.
The spokesman said the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) social advocacy activities by NDLEA commands equally continued across the country in the past week.
Meanwhile, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd) while commending the officers and men of DOGI, Kano, Lagos, Kaduna, Kebbi, Osun, Zone 13, Edo and Tin-can commands of the agency for the arrests and seizures of the past week, equally praised their counterparts in all the commands across the country for ensuring a fair balance between their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.
NDLEA intercepts cocaine in Saudi-bound religious books
Fire Guts Water Board IDP Camp in Monguno, Borno
By: Zagazola Makama
A devastating fire broke out at the Water Board IDP Camp in Monguno Local Government Area (LGA) on April 19, 2025, destroying approximately one hundred thatch and makeshift houses.
Eye witnesses said that the fire started at around 1040hrs and rapidly spread across the settlement, burning household items, foodstuffs, and other valuable properties to ashes.
The cause of the fire is yet to be determined, and the value of the property destroyed is still being assessed.
Humanitarian officials were immediately deployed to the scene to maintain crowd control and prevent looting, while firefighters, alongside camp residents, worked tirelessly to extinguish the flames.
Fortunately, no casualties or loss of life were reported.
Fire Guts Water Board IDP Camp in Monguno, Borno
Terrorists Snatch Vehicle in Monguno, Borno
By: Zagazola Makama
Armed assailants suspected to be members of ISWAP/Boko Haram attacked and snatched a vehicle in Monguno Local Government Area (LGA) on April 18, 2025, at about 1400hrs.
Saleh Haun, a resident of the Water Board IDP Camp in Monguno, reported that while he was at the Gumnari Bush Area in Monguno, four armed gunmen, riding on two motorcycles, accosted him.
The assailants, at gunpoint, seized his white Toyota Land Cruiser, before fleeing with the vehicle to an unknown location.
A Military Forward Operating Base (FOB) has been alerted, and efforts are underway to to track the assailant and recover the stolen vehicle.
Terrorists Snatch Vehicle in Monguno, Borno
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NDLEA intercepts cocaine in Saudi-bound religious books
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