Journalists in Taraba boycott state govt. activities

The Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Taraba on Tuesday, resolved to boycott coverage of all Taraba  Government activities. The resolution was  signed by Mr. Charles Akpeji of Guardian Newspaper, Chairman of the Chapel’s Resolution Committee and made available to newsmen in Jalingo. The statement said that the chapel decried the action  by the state of deliberately sidelining its members  during major state functions. The statement also said that the chapel expressed outrage over the government’s failure to accredit its members for coverage of the  Taraba State International Investment Summit (TARAVEST), and the planned visit of President Bola Tinubu to the state. It described the action as a calculated attempt to gag the press, adding that the union unequivocally condemns what it labeled, a blatant disregard for press freedom and transparency. According to the statement, the chapel subsequently announced an immediate and indefinite boycott of all Taraba  government activities until the government changes it attitude. The statement also said that the union had passed a vote of no confidence on Hajia Zainab Usman,  Commissioner for Information and Re-orientation. “This follows a statement credited to her regarding the invitation of accredited journalists to  some pre- Taravest  events, where  members of the Correspondents’ Chapel were excluded. “We wish to  assure  all residents of  the  State of  our  unwavering commitment to our watchdog role. “Journalists will continue to report on issues affecting residents and will continue to hold the government accountable, regardless of the  deliberate  exclusion,” it stated. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that President Tinubu is  billed  to visit and inaugurate some projects in the state on Wednesday, May 21, 2025.

Human  trafficking: NAPTIP rescues 2 young boys  in A’Ibom 

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has rescued two young boys from Akwa Ibom. Nigerian Anchor checks reveal that the boys were trafficked to Taraba for labour exploitation. The Uyo Zonal Commander of NAPTIP, Mr. Emmanuel Awhen, disclosed this in Uyo on Monday. According to Awhen, the agency received a complaint about the disappearance of two boys, 16-year-old Abasifreke Okon and 17-year-old Precious Ene, who live with their parents in Uyo metropolis. Ene was accused of luring Okon away, leading to his mother, Mrs. Grace Ene, being reported to the Paramount Ruler of Uyo. The traditional ruler subsequently handed her over to NAPTIP for investigation. Through inquiries, it was discovered that a man identified as Christian Gombe had traveled to Uyo and persuaded the boys to work for him in Taraba without their parents’ consent. “Upon receiving the complaint, we immediately contacted our NAPTIP office in Taraba and alerted them about the incident,” Awhen said. READ ALSO: Africa at cross roads: power, progress and the AI revolution “The search for the boys began, and Gombe was contacted. Realising that NAPTIP was involved, he volunteered to return the boys immediately. “We received a call from the Paramount Ruler of Uyo about the case, and we sent our officers to bring the woman (Mrs Grace Ene) to our office. “She was detained, and we communicated with our Taraba office. In the process, we obtained the contact details of the man who trafficked the boys. “Our men in Taraba instructed him to take the boys to the NAPTIP office there, and upon hearing this, he immediately complied and returned them to us,” Awhen explained. Narrating their ordeal, Precious Ene said they met Christian Gombe at a BetNaija outlet along Nwaniba Road, where he offered them jobs in Taraba. “On Feb. 12, Gombe returned with tickets for us to travel to Taraba, where he promised we would work for him. “We arrived on Feb. 13, and he provided accommodation for us. We then started selling building materials for him,” Ene recounted. However, he added that they were not paid any money until they were returned to Uyo to reunite with their parents on March 14. READ ALSO: 25-year old man hangs self in Ogun Forest The boys expressed gratitude to NAPTIP for their rescue, stating that they were uncomfortable staying in Taraba. NAPTIP advises to parents Awhen urged parents and guardians to be cautious about individuals offering their children opportunities for a “better life,” warning that they could end up in child labour or prostitution. He also advised traffickers to desist from such acts, emphasising that both the state and country were cracking down on human trafficking. Awhen encouraged victims, parents, and the general public to reach out to NAPTIP for assistance through the following helplines: 08069539747, 08023574406, and 08035961835.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested former Taraba State Governor, Darius Ishaku, over allegations of N27 billion fraud.   Top sources within the commission confirmed that the former governor was arrested on Friday and was still in the anti-graft agency’s detention as of Friday evening.   One of the sources revealed that at least 15-count charges had been filed against Ishaku and he would be arraigned in court soon as evidence against him had been compiled.   Ishaku is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party and served as the governor of Taraba State from May 2015 to May 2023.   In May 2021, the anti-graft agency also arrested three officials who served under his government for allegedly involved in a N21 billion scam.   It was learnt that the state officials were a permanent secretary, a Director of Finance and Account and a cashier in the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.   It was gathered further that alleged stolen public funds under the Ishaku government were withdrawn from the state’s accounts through cheques in tranches of at least N10 million each.  

Taraba State and oppositions to Gov Kefas’ planned N206bn loan

I’m compelled to put up this rejoinder in a bid to the ongoing effort by the Executive Governor of Taraba State Dr. Agbu Kefas to access some loan to the tune of N206, 776,000,000, from the commercial banks. One concerned citizen of the State, Mallam Abdulluhi Umar has petitioned the Acting Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria Mr. Folashdun Shounbi not to grant the loan to the Taraba state government. At the same time, he also urged the Acting CBN Governor to immediately instruct the affected commercial banks to suspend any consideration of granting the requested loan facilities. The petitioner noted that he was worried and concerned because the loan facilities being sought by the state Government were characterized by the brazen violations of subsisting laws of Nigeria guiding the process of the loan application by the various tiers of Government. Mallam Umar cautioned the relevant agencies to investigate the loan process. Umar the petitioner writing through his Counsel, Parlance law office in Garki Abuja, in an 8 pages letter dated 9th August 2023, stated that he was bringing the information to the attention of the Acting CBN Governor for immediate investigation and to daunt all banks involved in the process. Copied in the petition were President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Senate President, the Speaker of House of Representative, the Federal Ministry of Finance, other agencies copied are the Ministry of Justice, the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit, EFCC Chairman and the NFIU, among others. The petitioner further alleged that the recent loan facilities requested by the state Government from the commercial banks was hasty, ill-conceived, a wasteful venture, that the loan is politically motivated to consolidate power of an embattled Governor, facing challenges to his petition in court, and an attempt by the Governor to put the State in a state of perpetual servitude of paying debts beyond its means and penury under the guise of embarking on purported developmental activities. Ironically, this is uncalled for, a laughable, pathetic and antagonist from the petitioner, that is an enemy of the state. He should know that this is a new administration that just came on board and needed to fulfill all the campaign promises to the state to enable the new Government progress and achieve its tremendous project within and outside the state.  It’s not business as usual, from the former regime. This Government is committed with a lot of projects to execute in many areas, before his 100 days in office and they include tourism, transportation, health, Agriculture and Education among others to be mentioned.  The loan facilities are needed to achieve some of the projects stipulated above to meet its goals and objectives.  The Governor, Dr. Agbu Kefas had on 2nd July 2023, written to the Taraba State House Assembly seeking approval to enable the state Government access loan facilities worth the sum of N206 billion only from four commercial banks he explained. The letter was read by the speaker of the house, Honorable John Kirito Bonzena, on the floor of the parliament and subsequently, it was promptly approved by the state house of assembly. The petitioner claimed the move is hasty and ill-advised. The four commercial banks involved in the loan application and their respective loan amounts are as follows; Zenith Bank Plc (83,300,000,000. only) UBA Plc (50,000,000,000. only) Fidelity Bank Plc (50,000,000,000. Only) Keystone Bank Plc (23, 000, 000, 000.  Only).  In addition, the Governor stated that the security for the loan facility from Zenith Bank Plc shall be deducted from the FAAC allocation to Taraba State. While that for the facility from UBA Plc shall be deducted from JAAC belonging to the Taraba State. Furthermore, he stressed that the security loan facility from Fidelity Bank Plc shall be deducted from VAT accruable to Taraba State and finally, the security for the facility from Keystone Bank shall be deducted from Taraba State Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) The Governor explained further, that the total rate of the facilities shall be 23% in total, comprising 18% interest and 5% administrative charges deductible upfront, and the tenor of the listed facilities is four (4) years only. Meanwhile the petitioner in his words questioned that the loan facilities and its unfavorable conditions were yet to be fully disclosed to the state house assembly by the ministry of Finance, Budget and planning. The petitioner stresses that the Governor has hotly contested the ongoing litigation at the Taraba Governorship election Tribunal that is yet to deliver its Judgment. Also, he said that the loan amount can be easily diverted to other projects unconnected with what the loan was meant for since the position of the current Government is shaky and may be set aside by the court, His concern was how would the Government repay the huge loans granted to the State? The petitioner is an attention seeker that want to be recognize in a public domain, I could see his frustration, haven’t lost woefully to the People Democratic Party (PDP) with a wild margin, the petitioner is looking for all means to antagonize the present government not to achieved his campaign promise to the good people of the state is a bad omen. Mallam Umar, the Governorship election petition in court is dead on arrival that has no merit, the curtain has been drawn a long time ago, the litigation is a baseless one, nothing good will come out of the petition. I would like to make clear that having litigations going on in a court of law has nothing to do with Governmental activities, Government is a continuing process, with or without the loan Taraba would progress beyond expectations. The Governor Kefas administration is determined to see Taraba state moving to the right direction in terms of development. He was working tirelessly inviting foreign investors to come and invest in Taraba, the God given state that has a lot of natural resources to compete with the rest of the world to showcase Taraba state around the globe. Dr. Agbu Kefas the Executive Governor of the