News
Despite Court order, Kogi Council Chairman, Attah Igala demolish houses of residents
The Council Chairman claimed that the residents encroached on aviation land and that the demolition work was being carried out by aviation authority.
Residents of Ogwutelechi in Ugboluma Angwa Ayegba Community, Igala in Idah Local Government Area of Kogi State have again raised the alarm that the Council Chairman and his group, including the Attah Igala land, have continued to demolish their houses despite a court injunction.
Speaking with SaharaReporters, some of the residents and indigenes of Angwa Ayegba Community who sold the lands to the Ogwutelechi residents went to the Upper Area Court sitting in Idah and obtained an injunction on July 22 this year, preventing further demolition and other work on the disputed land until court determination.
However, the residents said that the Council Chairman, Abu Odoma and the Attah Igala, Alhaji Opaluwa Oguche, disobeyed the court order and went ahead with the demolition exercise while also building fences around them, denying them access to their houses and threatening to deal with them.
Recall that SaharaReporters reported that the Council Chairman claimed that the residents encroached on aviation land and that the demolition work was being carried out by aviation authority.
However, some of the indigenes of the community who said they were aware when the land was plotted confirmed that the aviation land was different and far from the one being demolished.
Speaking with SaharaReporters, one of the affected residents who simply gave his name as Johnson said, “The indigenes of the community who said that the state government liaised with them before advertising the land went to court and obtained court injunction that that the Local Government Chairman and the Atta Igala should stop the demolition and fencing work on the land but the Atta and his group are still doing the work, destroying people’s properties.
“They demolished a mosque. We are crying to Nigerians for help because we don’t want to add to what is currently going on in the country. Imagine a court gave an order and an individual refuses to obey the order and they are building fences around us. Our cars no longer have access to our houses. Our children don’t have access to go out because they are fencing us in.
“We don’t know what to do again. As I speak, the work is going on there and they are threatening to deal with us and that they will demolish the remaining houses.”
The Council Chairman had told SaharaReporters in a telephone conversation that he was not responsible for the demolition exercise and that there was nothing he could do about it.
But Johnson said that they had made several efforts to speak with the Attah Igala land but they were told that he did not want to speak with them.
SaharaReporters placed calls on the Attah’s phone number but they were not answered.
Following the disobedience to the court order, Johnson said, “We are calling on the federal government and the security agencies to intervene because if we should take laws into our hands and fight them, we all know what it will result to and that is why we are crying to the country for people who are in authority to call the chairman and the Attah to order.
“Where do they want us to go when they do not provide alternatives for us? Should we go and live in the forest and become bandits and train others on how to carry arms? God forbid. Nigeria is our country and we don’t want to contribute to the existing problems because it will be disastrous and that is why we are calling on the government, the Kogi State Commissioner of Police, the State CID to intervene because we don’t know their mission.
“We have called on the Attah but they told us that he doesn’t want to talk to us. We are also calling on the Kogi State Government to intervene.”
Senator representing Kogi East Senatorial District, Jibrin Isah Echocho, has congratulated Muslim faithful for the successful completion of this year Ramadan fast, urging them to celebrate the Sallah in love, and unity across our communities.
Echocho in a statement madeavailable to CAPITALPOST in Lokoja o Sunday, described the Ramadan period as stressful, but deserving, because it is the only period for spiritual reflection on abstinence from immorality, sincere sacrifice and supplications to Allah.
He added that, Ramadan symbolises Allah’s way of teaching humanity on virtuous living, where people keep away from all forms of comfort to appreciate what the less privileged experience and deprivation they suffers daily.
He task Muslims to extend the lessons of Ramadan to the way we live with our neighbours.
“Let’s seek peace at all times and promote unity of purpose in our society” the Lawmaker demanded.
“May the celebration brings sustainable peace to our homes, my district, Kogi State and Nigeria, he concluded.
The President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio has commended Senator Basheer Lado, for redefining the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Senate Matters, stating that, for the first time in a long while, the office is fully meeting its expectations.
Speaking during his visit to the office of the Special Adviser to the President on Senate Matters accompanied by distinguished senators, Akpabio described the visit as a significant step in strengthening Executive-Legislative relations.
He praised the Special Adviser and his team for maintaining the confidentiality of communications between the President and Senate, and also, ensuring a seamless flow of information. He further emphasized that the office is now more result-oriented.
Additionally, he acknowledged the office’s diligent efforts in tracking all Bills passed by the Senate and assented to by the President, underscoring its critical role in legislative efficiency.
Expressing his satisfaction, Akpabio noted that he and the Senate delegation were proud of the office’s achievements and looked forward to sustaining the existing cordial and productive relationship between the Executive and the Legislature throughout the administration.
In recognition of his exemplary leadership, Senator Lado presented an Award of Excellence to Senator Akpabio.
In his remarks, Senator Lado reaffirmed his commitment to fostering a harmonious working relationship between the Executive and the Legislature. He lauded Akpabio for his unwavering dedication to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda—defending it with clarity, articulating it with passion, and advancing it through legislative action.
Ahead of the 2025 political party Congresses, Plateau State Chapter of the Labour Party (LP) stakeholders has endorsed the defection of the candidate of the party in the 2023 general elections and the leader of Justice and Rebirth, Barr Gyang Zi SAN, to the All Progressive Congress (APC) with the view to key into the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
They made the call in a communique issued at the end of the enlarge meeting of the stakeholders from Plateau North senatorial zone at the residence of Barr. Gyang Zi in Rayfield Jos.
The communique which was jointly signed by Dr. Ayiki Sati Director General, Justice and Rebirth and
Barr. Samuel Galadima- 2024 Chairmanship candidate of Jos East LGA among others said the call became imperative on the sideline of the leadership tussle at the National Level which violates the core principles and values for the formation of the Party as an alternative for Nigeria for the protection, sustenance of democracy and Social Justice.
They regretted that the leadership tussle has also divided the party into factions leaving party loyalists and supporters in the state of despondency and confusion not knowing where they belong.
Our correspondent reports that the gathering included LP candidates from the 2023/2024 general elections, party executives, and support groups from the six local government areas of the Northern Senatorial District.
Besides, the focus of the discussions was centered on the state of the Labour Party at both national and state levels and the need for political realignment ahead of the 2025 party congresses and conventions.
The stakeholders further frowned at the structural weaknesses in LP and resolved to advise Barr Gyang Zi, to leave the party and join the APC while expressing confidence that the APC would provide him with a platform to advance good governance in the state .
The communique also emphasized the importance of political consultations, particularly with APC leaders at both state and national levels. It called for collaboration with Plateau State APC leaders, including Minister of Humanitarian Affairs Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda Goshwe, Sen. Simon Bako Lalong, Sen. Diket Plang, and other party officials.
According to the communique, supporters of Barr Gyang Zi also pledged to mobilize grassroots support for the APC, stating that their leader’s defection would strengthen the party in the state.
They urged the APC leadership to formally receive Gyang Zi and his supporters into the party, marking their official transition from the Labour Party.
Stakeholders also reiterated the need for inclusive governance, ensuring that youths, women, and less privileged individuals are sidelined in the democratic process and accordingly officially denounced their membership in the Labour Party, declaring their support for the APC.
They assured that all LP structures aligned with Gyang Zi would follow suit, shifting their loyalty to the ruling party in the state and at the National level.
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