The GbaramatuVoice was established in 2015 as a monthly tabloid published by the Gbaramatu Publishing Company Limited. It hit the newsstand first on August 2015. The newspaper’s sole objective is to bring to public glare what the management saw at the cradle of its formation as information gap and asymmetrical reportage of the activities and people of the Niger Delta.
By Enaibo Asiayei The Ijaw Youths Council Worldwide has warned that a second wave of militancy is looming in the Niger Delta region if the Federal Government fails to fully implement the Presidential Amnesty Programme. The council said the country would not survive a return to militancy by aggrieved youths in the region and wondered
Rivers state has reported 163 new cases of the novel coronavirus, even as 14 more persons were confirmed dead across the country. Rivers’ tally made it the second most-prolific virus state on Wednesday, just behind Lagos state, the country’s epicentre of the global pandemic. In an early-morning tweet on Thursday, the Nigeria Centre of Disease
By Ebi Perekeme The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has rolled out a talent hunt programme to discover and expose creative youths from the region to take advantage of the entertainment industry. Speaking during a meeting with some key actors in the creative industry at the Rivers State office of the NDDC in Port Harcourt,
By Our Correspondent Daily killings and kidnap in Bonny, Rivers State, have caused a huge uproar as citizens have risen in protest, claiming they have been condemned to uncertainty and death. Marauding sea pirates attacked two boats ferrying passengers to Bonny at about 8 pm on Tuesday, January 5, 2021, killing two – Macdonald Ibifubara
By Ebi Perekeme Explosion has rocked a church belonging to father of Rivers Governor, Nyesom Wike, in Port Harcourt, the state capital. It was learnt that hoodlums numbering about five sneaked into the Christian Universal Church International on 25 Azikiwe Street Mile, 3 Diobu, on Saturday night and detonated the explosives suspected to be dynamite.
Why ‘drunk’ Nigerian soldiers did not kill me, says VOA reporter arrested by soldiers in Oyigbo Grace Alheri Abdu, a Voice of America, Hausa Service, Producer who was arrested on Saturday by soldiers in Oyigbo Town, Oyigbo local government of Rivers State, has told The Neighbourhood she was grateful to God she returned alive to
By Our Correspondent Justice J.K Omotosho of the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State has convicted and sentenced six foreigners and a Nigerian to seven years imprisonment for oil theft. The foreigners are two Pakistanis: Mohammed Ejaz, Nasser Khan; two Ukranians: Oleksandr Nazarenko, Oleksandr Kashernvi; one Ghanaian: Romeo Annang, and one Indonesian:
By Our Correspondent Reports coming out from the ongoing military operation in Oyigbo, Oyigbo Local Government Area of Rivers State indicate that there may be serious humanitarian crisis due to lack of access to food, Medicare and other basic amenities for residents who have been shut in by the 24 hours curfew declared over the
By Ebi Perekeme Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike says his administration would unveil more legacy projects to Rivers people in the next few months. Amongst the projects set for inauguration are the Mother and Child Ultramodern Hospital, the Real Madrid Academy and the Rebisi Flyover Bridge. Governor Wike, who disclosed this last week to
By Joshua Williams Lecturers have resumed at Rivers State-owned universities, despite the current strike declared by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). The union had vowed to stay away from classrooms until the government addressed the challenges of infrastructural decay and funding in public universities. ASUU National President, Prof Biodun Ogunyemi, had threatened that
The Rivers State Executive Council has reviewed some COVID-19 protocols with particular emphasis on burials and weddings, imposing a fine of N100m to violators of the directives during such ceremonies. This is even as it approved reopening of schools in the state with effect from October 5, 2020. A statement, signed by the Commissioner for
By Ebi Perekeme The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, says that the ministry is committed to harmonizing the Niger Delta Regional Development Master Plan with the Niger Delta Action Plan to produce one regional road map for development in Nigeria’s oil-rich region. Akpabio, who spoke at the new Niger Delta Development Commission,
Govovernor Nyesom Wike of Rivers on Saturday said that the 258-bed capacity Mother and Child Hospital in Port Harcourt would be completed in record time. Wike gave the assurance when he led the State Executive Council members to inspect the facility and other ongoing projects in the city. The governor stated in a statement issued
By Ebi Perekeme The Ignatius Ajuru University of Education (IAUE) has suspended a lecturer, Dr. Rowland Igwe for allegedly impregnating a student of the institution. It was learnt that the university indicted the lecturer for allegedly intimidating and assaulting the lady before impregnating her. Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Ozo-Mekuri Ndimele confirmed the development
By Joshua Williams In a presentation in Abuja, at a webinar titled: ‘Nigerian Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, NOSDRA, Amendment Bill: Reducing environmental degradation through improved oil spill response,’ the NNRC also disclosed that the Niger Delta region is currently suffering from poor response to oil spill. Program Coordinator of the NNRC, Ms Tengi
Ijaw leaders have decried hard times and worsening conditions despite various interventions and existence of key associations claiming to champion their agitations. The leaders, who met in Port Harcourt under the auspices of Movement for the Survival of Izon Ethnic Nationality in the Niger Delta (MOSIEND), said they were worse of, because major pressure groups
By Ebi Perekeme Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has insisted that the Niger Delta region remains a safe haven for companies to conduct their businesses. This is coming even as he fingers multinational companies for using insecurity to justify their refusal to relocate their operational headquarters to the region. Wike made this known during a
By Erere Dara The Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, says it has re-introduced the N10 billion rice farming programme supported by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, into its 2020 budget to boost agriculture and create jobs for the youths in the Niger Delta region. Speaking after inspecting the multi-million-naira NDDC rice mill at Elele-Alimini,
Irate youths has shutdown Afam Power plant in Oyibo Local Government Area of Rivers state, forcing residents in the state into total darkness. The Acting Manager, Corporate Communications, Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company, PHEDC, Mrs Chioma Aninwe, disclosed this in a statement made available to GbaramatuVoice. She stated that the light out in parts of
James Oweikimi Useghan, 36-years-old governorship candidate of the Sustainable National Party (SNP) in Ondo State and former Senatorial candidate of Ondo South Senatorial district. In this interview with GbaramatuVoice, he speaks on the failures of governance, along with the challenges of the high cost of politics in Nigeria, his campaign and his expectation for the
Dina Jihad Khali and Chamseddine Waell Mohammed, two Lebanese men, have been arrested by officials of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS). According to the NCS, they were found to be in possession of $890,000 cash while at the Port Harcourt International Airport. The Lebanese nationals were apprehended while trying to board a flight to Lebanon.
By Ebi Perekeme Rivers State on Wednesday debunked insinuations it received the N78 billion refund from the Federal Government. Commissioner for Information and Communications Paulinus Nsirim said there was a difference between approval and release of funds. Nsirim, in a statement by his media aide, Soibi Max-Alalibo said: “As at today, the government is yet
By Ebi Perekeme Rivers State government has withdrawn from the selection of candidates for Federal Government’s 774,000 special project jobs. The Special Adviser to Governor Nyesom Wike on NDDC Matters, Erastus Awortu, announced this on Wednesday in a letter to the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo (SAN). He accused the Chairman
Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, has approved the dissolution of the State Taskforce on Illegal Street Trading and Motor Parks with immediate effect. Consequently, the Special Assistant to the Governor in charge of the Task Force, Mr. Bright Amaewhule has been relieved of his appointment. This was contained in a statement signed by
By Ebi Perekeme Ogoni oil producing communities in Rivers state on Wednesday declared that any oil firm desirous of resuming exploration in the area must come to terms with the people before enjoying freedom to operate whatever license secured from federal government. Barituka Loanyie, President, Ogoni Oil Producing Community Youth Forum (OOPCYF) said in Port
By Our Correspondent Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike of Rivers State has directed the removal of Joint Account Allocation Committee, JAAC, from banks that gave unauthorized loans to some local government chairmen in the state. The governor gave the directive while swearing in the substantive Chairman of the Asari-Toru Local Government Area at Government House, Port
The Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) Worldwide has identified the ongoing delay in the payment of students under the scholarship scheme of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) as a fresh threat to the fragile peace in the Niger Delta region. The new President of IYC, Peter Igbifa, who spoke in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on
’50 years counting, we’ve been denied opportunity to control our resources, environments’ A former presidential aspirant of Ijaw Youth Council, IYC, Worldwide, Mayor Ala Hart, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to address the ongoing agitations by the Niger Delta people to control their resource and protect their environment, stressing that, for over five decades
By Ebi Perekem The Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has invited President Muhammadu Buhari to commission the 29-kilometre Ogbia-Nembe Road in Bayelsa state. The road, built in conjunction with the Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, creates a land link to the ancient city of Nembe for the first time. The Commission’s Director of Corporate Affairs,
By Ebi Perekeme Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has signed into law the revised 2020 Appropriation Bill. This followed the presentation of the budget by the Majority Leader of the state House of Assembly, Hon. Martin Amaewhule, to him at the government House, Port Harcourt. Total figure of the revised budget for 2020 fiscal
By Ebi Perekeme Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has gifted judges in the state High Court 41 new sports utility vehicles (SUV). Presenting the vehicles in a brief ceremony at the High court premises Monday, Governor Wike said the gesture was meant to improve service delivery in the judiciary. He equally announced to them that
Unknown gunmen who abducted Nyieda Kpeenu in Nweol community, Gokana Local Government Area, Rivers State, have demanded N16m ransom for her ransom. Kpeenu, a 60-year-old woman, was on Wednesday, abducted from her residence in the Ogoni community at about 8pm. The gunmen shot sporadically into the air to scare residents in the area and took
By Ebi Perekeme Erastus Awortu, Special Adviser to Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State on Niger Delta Development Commission Matters, has dismissed insinuations that his principal has plans to control the NDDC. Awortu was reacting to claims in the social media that Wike asked a court of law to order the commission to seek the
Ahead of resumption of schools for exit classes, the Rivers State Governor, Barr. Nyeson Wike, has distributed COVID-19 protective kits to 257 public schools in the state. Wike, who distributed the items acquired by his government, said the move was in line with the guidelines for resumption of schools. The governor, who was represented by
The Rivers State Government said on Friday that seven girls had been rescued from a bar in Rumuokwurusi, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area where they were used as sex workers. The state Commissioner for Social Welfare and Rehabilitation, Mrs. Inime Aguma, who disclosed this while speaking with journalists in Port Harcourt, on the occasion of International
