Bees sting 83-year-old woman to death in Imo

An 83-year-old woman, Mrs. Nwanyiaro Orji of Nchoko Amiri in the Oru East LGA of Imo State has been stung to death by bees. Information reaching our News Desk say that on that fateful day, March 30, 2014, Mrs. Orji had gone to make use of a pit  latrine which was outside her house, when  all of a sudden, there was a loud sound, people around thought that a ripe pod of the bread fruit tree nearby had dropped. , Little did they know that it was the hive on top of the big bread fruit tree that fell. The angry bees began to fly around, stinging people including the deceased step-son who was in…

Catholic Clergy: Prophetic Gadfly And Bastion Of Political Sanity In Imo Politics

It is becoming self-evident that political sanity in Imo state has almost been single-handedly sustained by a small group in our society, the Catholic clergy, who have taken upon themselves the prophetic role of a gadfly. This fact is now being acknowledged even by those who would hitherto deny it for primordial denominational antagonism. A write-up such as this is not meant to be a hagiography, nor is it meant to fawn on any person or group, least of all, to proclaim them ‘infallible’ in all aspects. [As a matter of fact, the author has, on some occasions, taken a swipe on the Catholic clergy, pointing out ways they may not have been measuring up…

Owerri mechanics to relocate to Avu – Gov. Okorocha appeals for cooperation

Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State has advised mechanics operating in Owerri and environs to co-operate in the effort to relocate them to Avu Mechanic Cluster with an assurance that government intends to provide modern facilities, including a uniform specification for workshop buildings. The governor who spoke during an interactive meeting with mechanics at Ahiajoku Convention Centre stressed the need to sanitize the urban profile of the state capital with the relocation of mechanics and other artisans to a more conducive environment. Calling on the mechanics to embrace the good intentions of government by peacefully moving out of their present locations, including Orji and Nekede mechanic villages, Governor Okorocha assured that those who own workshop…

Ritualists behead church warden in Imo – Family tasks police to fish out killers

Fear reigns in the entire community of Ibiasoegbe, near Mgbidi, headquarters of Oru-East Local Government Area following the gruesome murder of a 66-year-old woman, Mrs. Josephine Okorie in her farm at about 9am on Monday, March 31. The attackers apparently laid ambush and matcheted the woman at the back of the neck. They were about collecting the decapitated head when they heard the voice of another woman, who was coming along the path.  They ran away, leaving the head and body. Mr. Monday Okorie, son of the deceased, said it was the woman, who raised the alarm which attracted other farmers.  Unfortunately the suspects had escaped.  He said that his mother was a warden at…

Land Use Policy And Development Control: A Look At Imo State Ministry Of Lands And Owerri Capital Development Authority

INTRODUCTION A Lot of complaints has been made by members of the public against the ministry of lands and particularly against the Owerri capital development Authority. However since the appointment of Hon Uche Nwosu, a lot of Checks and balances and or reforms has taken place and somehow public confidence has been restored gradually in the system as it tries to reform itself. For the first time however, Hon Uche Nwosu has made a professional Estate surveyor who is accessible and intellectually compliant, a Director of Lands. Also in the Department of Deeds, The government Certification and documentation of Title is in progress under an effective director. In OCDA unfortunately the rot continues but hopefully…

Governor Okorocha orders arrest of contractors for non-performance at Ehime-Mbano

Ehime Mbano people on March 26, 2014 cried out against neglect by contractors who they said collected colossal sums of money from the coffers of the state and local government but failed to execute projects duly awarded to them. Startling revelations were made as the state governor visited Ehime Mbano LGA on inspection of projects and evaluation. The Governor was worried that developmental projects geared towards providing dividends of democracy to the people at the grassroots were being aborted and sabotaged by various contactors who collected heavy sums of money but failed to execute projects. The State Governor who was visibly infuriated had to order security agents to arrest some of the defaulting contractors. According…

Imo State Declare state of emergency on health sector

-Medical and health workers union urges governor, calls for resumption of monthly sanitation  exercise Members of Imo state Chapter of Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria have cried out against the deplorable situation in the health sector in Imo State. The debilitating factors militating against the sector and conversely, the health of Imo people were brought bare on Friday, March 28, 2014 by Comrade Nzenwata Francis, Imo State Chairman of Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria. THE LEADER spoke with Comrade Nzenwata Francis at the State Headquarters of the Union during briefing on the 3rd annual Health Week which runs between 28th March to 5th April. According to him, the entire health sector…

Jubilation, tears as 83 New Royal Fathers receive Staff of office in Imo

The Governor of Imo State, Owelle Rochas Anayo Okorocha, handed over certificates of recognition and staff of office to 83 Ndi Eze at the conference hall of Government House on Monday, March 31, 2014. Protests from some aggrieved indigenes of 20 communities who displayed placards against their Eze-elects necessitated the non-presentation of certificates and staff of office.  While some communities were jubilating the success of their candidates, others were bemoaning the non-presentation of the staff of office. It used different strokes to different folks as some danced with ecstasy, with all manner of traditional dance groups, others could not play their drums as fate would have it.  In his address at the event, the Commissioner…

Nursing mothers go into hiding in Imo – As kidnappers target babies, shoot parents of victims

Families with new born babies in Imo State now live in fear, as the incidence of abduction of such babies and shooting of parents continues to rise. The latest incident was that of five-month-old Chidiogu, daughter of Mr. Kingsley Igwegbe and Mrs. Ugochi Igwegbu of Umuzike Orlu, who was snatched at gun point from her mother, as the woman was about to enter the family house.  They had shot Mrs. Igwegbe on the thigh.  Consequently, she is now lying critically ill at the Imo State University Teaching Hospital  IMSUTH Orlu while the whereabouts of the abducted baby remains unknown. It would be recalled that a similar incident took place at Durukwu Umuebele in Okporo Orlu…

Students’ Cohabitation, Church raises Alarm

It is simply unacceptable!  Male and female undergraduate students are living together and sharing rooms in privately owned University accommodations. Many observers say it is not a problem of shortage of hostels but perhaps a fast increasing sense of a permissive culture that is destroying the moral fabric of our society. Living on the same floor of the same building and using the same toilets and bathrooms surely stokes the embers of sexual immorality. Information that this ugly situation is occurring at different private accommodations built for Imo State University students and their peers in other tertiary institutions, has filtered into the ears of the church. His Grace, the Archbishop of Owerri, Most Rev. Anthony…

Excessive Urbanisation Of Owerri: Robbing Peter To Pay Paul

Suya is a Shish Kebab-like food consumed in West Africa, originally introduced by the Hausa people of northern Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria. It is highly popular and suya spots litter almost every major street junction in Nigeria. Since suya is made mainly with skewered beef, there is a popular saying in Nigeria which comes in the form of a rhetorical question: let us have more suya; is it nor from the flesh of the cow? In other words, more cows have to die for us to have more suya. The most abused decree in Nigeria is, most probably, the Nigerian Land Use Decree of 1978. Ironically, one of the justifications given for the Land Use…

2015: Shun imposition of candidates – Prof. Nnamdi Obiareri advises voters

A legal luminary, Prof. Nnamdi Obiareri has enjoined political power brokers in Imo State to allow democracy flourish by allowing the people choose who will best represent their interest. Prof. Nnamdi Obiareri gave this advice during a courtesy visit to political stakeholders at Umualumaku, Ehime Mbano L.G.A. of Imo state, March 14, 2014. He told our reporter that it is undemocratic, despicable, condemnable, unacceptable and against the tenets of the rule of law, African Charter on Human Rights and acceptable democratic practice when political leaders impose their preferred candidates on the people. The politician believed that the nascent democracy should be allowed to thrive when the majority of the people are allowed to choose among…

Student gives birth to triplets, Cries for help

Mrs. Judith Chukwu, a HND 1 student of Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Imo State who last week gave birth to set of triplets through normal delivery at EUNA Hospital, Faulks Road, Aba, Abia State, has cried out for help from good-spirited Nigerians. Narrating her ordeal to THE LEADER, the 27-year-old posited that her husband Chukwunyere Joachin Chukwu, a roadside technician, lacks the capacity and resources to effectively cater for the three young infants – all female. She therefore craves the indulgence of government, corporate, non-governmental, religious organizations and good-spirited individuals to assist in ameliorating her deplorable situation so that the new kids do not die or suffer malnutrition, she said. According to her, she had earlier…

Don’t give up in face of challenges – Priest charges Ladies of St. Mulumba as retreat ends

Christ’s faithful have been charged not to give up efforts to make a difference in a world full of evils, even when they are misunderstood, provided their conscience are clear. Fr. Raphael Nnaemeka Uzoekwe (CMF), gave the charge while preaching the homily at the closing Mass of a three-day retreat held for the Holy Rosary Sub-Council of Ladies of St. Mulumba (LSM) Owerri, from Friday, March 14 to Sunday, March 16, 2014 at the Claretian Institute of Philosophy, Maryland, Nekede. The homilist, who is also the Director of Retreats at the Institute, urged the women to be dynamic in reaching out to the grassroots, touching the lives of fellow Christians with what they had learnt…

David Mark’s Convoy Attacked by Gun Men in Imo

Senate President, David Mark last Thursday escaped death as his convoy was allegedly attacked by yet to be identified gunmen in Orlu, Imo State. According to a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Senate President, Paul Mumeh Friday night, the attack occurred in Orlu Senatorial Zone of the state. The incident happened when the Senate Present went to Nkwere, Imo state to attend the burial ceremony of late business mogul, Sir John Richard Anyaehie. Mark lamented that the attack happened a moment when a great philanthropist like Anyaehie was being buried, adding that it was not what should be expected in a senatorial district like Orlu. He described late Anyaehie as a truthful…

Fr. Ibole celebrates feast of St. Patrick with pupils of St. Michael’s Nur/Pri School Amakohia

Rev. Fr. Patrick Ibole and the pupils of St. Michael’s Nursery/Primary School Amakohia, Uratta, joined millions of Catholics worldwide to celebrate this year’s Feast of St. Patrick, March 17. The celebration started with a thanksgiving Mass presided over by Fr. Ibole. In his sermon, Fr. Ibole  who is also the Vicar-General of Owerri Archdiocese, traced the life and time of St. Patrick, how he was kidnapped at the age of 16, sold into slavery in Ireland and after six years of living the life of a shepherding slave, Patrick escaped and returned to Britian. However, he felt God calling him to be a priest; so, he set out to France where he studied for priesthood….

Enough of Hotels, Please! – Catholic Bishop tells Imo millionaires

The plethora of hotels that are literally springing up in every corner of our streets, especially in the main cities of Imo State – Owerri in particular have become disconcerting for many in the State. Worried by the increasing number of unemployed in Imo State, the Catholic Bishop of Orlu Diocese, Most Rev. Augustine Ukwuoma has appealed to Imo millionaires to have mercy on this army of unemployed youths and invest in manufacturing industry instead of hotels. Speaking during the funeral of an industrialist, Sir Godwin Okwara at St. Mary’s Catholic Church Amaifeke Orlu recently, Bishop Ukwuoma observed that hotels have taken grip of major cities in Imo State, while the state is bereft of…

ITC staff protest non-payment of salaries

Workers of Imo Transport Company Nigeria Ltd. (ITC) were at their company’s terminal, MCC Road Owerri, Monday, March 17, 2014, staged what they called a peaceful protest over non-payment of staff’s salaries by the state government.   The protest which paralyzed the entire transport activities of the company and rendered commuters stranded indicated that the lingering face-off between ITC and State Government has not been resolved. When THE LEADER visited the scene, Tuesday, March 18, the angry crowd were still on a blockade at the entrance gate of the company insisting with inscriptions on placards which read: Owelle Ndi Imo save our soul from Global Ginikana, My People! My People!! Owelle, are ITC not your…

Job creation, my priority – Says Capt Emma Ihenacho

One of those who regard the high level of unemployment in Imo State, as unacceptable and consequently vowed to make job creation his top priority, is Capt Emma Ihenacho, former Minister of Interior, now aspiring to become the next governor of the state, come 2015. The guber aspirant and former chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who recently left for the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to pursue his political ambition, while declaring his intention to newsmen in Owerri, Saturday, March 15, 2014, said that the society owed the youths the duty to get them usefully engaged to earn a living and raise their own families as soon as they graduate in their fields…

CGC Election: Okponakuma Executive Members returned unopposed - As Orlu was declared inconclusive

The Community Government Council Election held on March 8 in various communities in Imo state had it that some communities returned their former caretakers unopposed. In Okponakuma community Njaba L.G.A, Mr. Geoffrey Nnadozie was returned as the secretary, Lolo Francisca Mbadi Woman leader while Mr. Chidiebere Ifesinachi was the youth leader. In his speech the executive secretary Mr. Nnadozie pointed out that they have been in the office for the past one year, describing their return as one which is based on their antecedents and also due to their relentless effort in carrying out their oversight function, the people of the community having found them worthy returned them unopposed for them to continue with their…