By Friday Idachaba, Lokoja

Three middle-aged men have been arraigned before a Lokoja Chief Magistrate Court for allegedly impersonating Kogi State Internal Revenue Service staff and mounting road blocks on the Lokoja-Abuja highway for illegal revenue collection.

The trio of Abba Emmanuel, Umar Abubakar and Kingsley Dan’sebe were arraigned before Lokoja Chief Magistrate Court 1 on Wednesday charged with Criminal Conspiracy, Causing Obstruction of Public Highway and Extortion.

The suspects were alleged to have been arrested by the Vigilante Group of Lokoja Local Government area on Illegal Tax Activity.

The prosecuting Police Officer, Gabriel Otowu Esq. who is also the Officer-In-Charge, Legal matters (OC-Legal) at Kogi Police Command while reading the First Information Report (FIR).

Otowu told the court that on 13th November, the vigilante group of Lokoja LGA brought the suspects to the police having caught them impersonating the Kogi State Internal Revenue Services.

He said the suspects erected a roadblock on Lokoja-Abuja road for their illegal revenue collections operation adding that the offences ran contrary to various sections of the law.

The three accused persons however pleaded not guilty to the charges as they denied the allegations leveled against them.

Counsel to the defendants, Mu’azu Abbas urged the court to grant his clients to bail citing Section 36 (5) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 As Amended.

Citing relevant sections of Kogi Criminal Justice Law, Abbas said the offences were triable by the Magistrate Court,

He said that the accused had been in Police custody since November 13, 2024 and urged the court to consider the bail application.

“The defendants will furnish the court with reasonable and reliable sureties to prove they will be available for trial. The court in the overall interest of justice should approve the defendant to bail.”

The Prosecuting Police Officer did not oppose the bail application but urged the court to thread with caution and to “Judicially and Judiciously” look into the case before considering the bail application.

The Chief Magistrate, Abdullahi Musa Mopa, after considering the counsel’s application for bail and the response of the prosecution, granted bail to the three defendants,

Chief Magistrate Mopa said, “Without much ado, that on the circumstances of this application, the interest of justice tilt towards the applicant.

“I hereby grant the defendants bail in the sum of N400,000 and a surety each in like sum. The surety must have a traceable address in Lokoja, and must not be less than a level 14 officer either at the Federal or State parastatal.

Mopa subsequently adjourned the case to December 11, 2024, for further mention. (Ends)

In a significant move to enhance healthcare accessibility, Kogi State Governor Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo has approved the state government’s takeover of the Ogidi Cottage Hospital.
The announcement was conveyed by the Permanent Secretary of the Kogi State Ministry of Health, Mrs. Enehe Dorcas Omeneke, who affirmed the directive for the Ministry to assume full management of the facility.
The government, in the letter expressed appreciation to the community for its contributions to health care delivery to its people and those from neighbouring communities.

It also urged the community to sustain its commitment to improving healthcare delivery to its people.
The construction of the hospital began with a donation of the sum of N5,000,000 million to the community by an illustrious son of Ijumu.
As the community began to face daunting challenges in completing the structure, it approached the Kogi State Community and Social Development Agency which asked the community to pay a counterpart fund to which the agency added funds to complete the facility which was then commissioned by the governor of the state, Captain Idris Wada.

All the ultra modern medical equipment in the hospital were shipped free of charge from the United Kingdom by a non-governmental organisation, Ripples, founded and headed by a daughter of Ogidi, Ms Anne Toba.

The organisation later provided a surgical theatre and matching equipment to enable the facility to handle surgeries.

The hospital was at some point closed down following a dearth of manpower and financial resources to keep it going.

The Ogidi Development Union (ODU) then set up the Ogidi Health Team to raise funds and renovate the hospital ahead of its re-opening.

At an online fundraising event which attracted Ogidi indigenes from Africa, Europe, the United States of America, Canada and Asia, about N11 million was raised with which the structure was renovated and critical paramedical staff hired in addition to part time doctors who visited twice a week.

In his response to the government take over, His Royal Majesty, the Ologidi of Ogidi, Oba Rabiu Oladimeji Sule expressed his and the community’s appreciation to Governor Ododo for this timely intervention in the health of the people of Ogidi.

On his part, the President of the Ogidi Development Union, Mr. Raphael Kayode Eniolorunda said the people of Ogidi were indebted to Governor Ododo for his demonstrable love for the community.

***Gov Ododo applauds intervention

By Friday Idachaba, Lokoja.

The National Hydroelectric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (N-HYPPADEC) has trained 705 Kogi Youths in 10 vocational skills and registered their business outfits with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).

Managing Director of the Commission, Alhaji Abubakar Sadiq Yelwa disclosed this at the Flag-off for the distribution of start-up kits to graduates of N-HYPPADEC Youth Transformation Programme (YTP) in Kogi State.

The MD described the Commission’s intervention culminating in the distribution of start up Katsina as a milestone in N-HYPPADEC’s commitment to youth empowerment
and economic development in the power producing areas of
Nigeria.

Yelwa with traditional titles of Katukan Yauri, Abeneche Atta Igala and Garkuwa of Igu-Kingdom of described the N-HYPPADEC”s distribution of starter packs to the Youth as representing dreams, ambitions and the potential for economic independence

Describing it as a concrete step toward securing the future of youth especially, in these challenging times, he said, “In Kogi State, we have successfully trained 705 youths across 10 vital vocational areas.

The distribution includes 187 graduates in Computer Appreciation and another 187 in Fashion Design and Tailoring.

We have equipped 94 youth with skills in Poultry Farming and 85 in Catering and Culinary Services. The programme has also produced 61 trained Fish Farmers and 44 specialists in Bag and Shoe Making.

“Additionally, 18 graduates have mastered Hair Dressing, while 12 are now experts in Beads Making. We have 11 graduates in Cosmetology and six in Printing and Graphical Design”, he said.

Sen. George Akume, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), described the intervention as a welcome development and a step in the right direction towards emancipation of youths from the shackles of poverty

Sen. Akume, represented by a Director from the Office of the SGF, Mr Simeon Tyungu, said the intervention programme in in the six N-HYPPADEC states of Niger, Kebbi, Plateau, Benue, Kwara and Kogi.

He said that the programme was setting the tone towards empowering our teeming youths towards self-reliance and financial independence and urged the beneficiaries take maximum advantage of the scheme,

In his speech, the state Governor, Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo, the Chief Servant of commended N-HYPPADEC for the intervention and particularly for the stqrzer packs and registration of their businesses with the CAC.

He said that the intervention would not doubt, reduce unemployment, check crime rate among the youths and improve the economic growth of the state.

“As a government, we do not take this gesture for granted and we will implore the beneficiaries to make adequate use of these kits and equipment for personal growth and development.

“Let me assure you that the government of Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo is committed to the enhancement of the living standard of the people of the state, particularly, the teaming youths.

“…And our women, through the favourable policies and programmes, we shall work round the clock to ensure that we serve the people rightly without any iota of fear or favour.”

A member of the N-HYPPADEC board representing Kogi State, Alhaji Isa Ozi-Salami charged the beneficiaries to avail themselves of the opportunity offered by the Commission to escape the strangleholds of poverty.

There were goodwill messages from the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), Kogi chapter as well as the traditional rulers of the flood affected Local Governments represented by the Atta Igala HRM Matthew Alaji Opaluwa Oguche-Akpa. (Ends)