Oando Plc Favour Ifeoluwa & Akinola Ajibade Oando Plc says it has completed and won the bid for the operatorship of oil block KON 13 in Angola. The firm which recently acquired Eni of Italy’s oil assets in Nigeria, said that the award of the oil block located in Angola’s onshore Kwanza Basin followed a competitive bidding process by the country’s oil and gas sector regulator. It further said hat the asset in which it owns 45 per cent participating interest, has estimated prospective resources of 770 to 1,100 million barrels of oil. Oando is handling its operations relating to the asset through its upstream subsidiary, Oando Energy Resources (OER). “Oando Plc, Africa’s leading indigenous energy solutions provider listed on both the Nigerian Exchange Limited and Johannesburg Stock Exchange is pleased to announce that its upstream subsidiary, Oando Energy Resources (OER), has been awarded operatorship of Block KON 13 in Angola’s Onshore Kwanza Basin, following a...
By Favour Ifeoluwa & Akinola Ajibade
The Bayelsa Government has summoned the newly wedded four-year old bride and her 54 years her husband for questioning.
Both allegedly involved in a marriage in Akeddei community in Sagbama Local Government Area of the state. They got married on December 26th, a day after Christmas.
The government’s intervention is coming on the heels of media reports of a December 26 marriage between the ‘bride’ and a 54 years old.
In a statement made available to News Agency of Nigeria ( NAN) in Yenagoa on Saturday and jointly signed by Dr. Dise Ogbise-Goddy, Chairman, Gender Response Initiative Team (GRIT) Bayelsa and Mr Paniebi Jacob, Director, Child Development in the Ministry of Women Affairs, Children and Social Development, the government expressed displeasure at the incident, describing as too bad.
It expressed concern over the “illegal marriage” based on tradition and customs, saying that it was repugnant to natural justice, equity and good conscience.
According to the statement, the Ministry of Women, Children Affairs and Social Development and GRIT have acknowledged the receipt of a formal complaint from a child rights advocacy group, DO Foundation, on the controversial marriage.
Jacob, Ogbise-Goddy and the state Human Rights Commission, said the traditional ruler of Akeddei community honoured the government’s invitation and promised to produce the child, her parents, the groom, the youth leader and the chairman of the Community Development Committee (CDC).
The statement noted that the Bayelsa government did not support child marriage under any guise.
“That is why the state government did not hesitate to assent to the passage of the Bayelsa State Child Rights Law.
“We are taking steps to rescue the child from all the key actors in relation to this illegal ceremony that they tagged a ‘mere spiritual’ affair.
“The law is clear on issues of tradition and customs that are repugnant to natural justice, equity and good conscience and working with the Bayelsa State Police Command, we shall ensure incidents like this do not occur in the state again.
“On behalf of the governor of Bayelsa State, we express our gratitude to all the non-governmental organisations, including FIDA and DO Foundation, that have risen to the rescue of this innocent child.
“Bayelsa State is children-friendly and this case will be pursued to a logical conclusion.”
However, NAN learnt that the alleged marriage involving the man, simply identified as Elder Akpos, was at the instance of the girl’s parents.
According to a source, who pleaded anonymity for fear of penalty for desecrating traditions, the parents of the girl claim that the 54-year-old man was her husband in their previous life.
According to the community source, the girl claimed that the man was her husband who died mysteriously in their previous life.
The toddler has narrated that over the years, she has been moving from place to place, to be given birth to by different parents, searching for her former husband.
The source said: “The little bride said if she was not allowed to marry her husband, she would have no other business in Akeddei community, and that she was going to die peacefully and go her way.
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