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Reps Committee Seeks Collaboration to Enhance Specialised Healthcare
By Gloria Ikibah
The House of Representatives has called for partnerships to support the implementation of a Legislative Activity Framework aimed at improving specialised healthcare services across the country.
Chairman of the House Committee on Specialty Healthcare, Rep. Alex Egbona, made this appeal during a stakeholders’ roundtable in Abuja on Wednesday.
He highlighted key focus areas for collaboration, including mental and brain health, trauma care, and obstetric fistula treatment. Other priority areas include oral health, ear and eye care, blood transfusion and management, as well as anaemia treatment.
Additionally, Egbona emphwelsed the importance of advancing traditional, complementary, and alternative medicine, alongside innovations in specialised healthcare.
“In the course of our legislative duties and committee activities, we discovered some cross cutting challenges faced by all specialised healthcare providers and institutions in Nigeria.
“They include infrastructural decay, lack of requisite medical equipment, poor electric power source/ supply and poor / inadequate funding.
“The committee sadly notes that the specialised hospitals and healthcare centres serving the nation as referral hospitals on specialised health emergencies are the lowest funded in the health sector budgets.
“The Committee therefore invited you all here today as professionals and experts to review the Draft Legislative Activity Implementation Framework, make your observations, contributions, interventions and inputs on the document,” he said.
Rep. Egbona said that the expected outcome include improved legal and legislative framework for robust legal environment that enables the deployment of secure and efficient e-Health systems.
The reps said that enhanced digital healthcare access, increased adoption of digital health technologies to improve patient outcomes and access to care was expected.
“It seeks Improved Mental/brain Health Services for better allocation of resources to underserved areas and addressing gaps in service delivery.
“It also seeks increased awareness and reduced stigma for greater societal understanding of mental/brain health, leading to reduced stigma and better utilisation of mental/brain health,” he said.
In his remarks, Country Programme Manager of Christian Blind Mission (CBM), Mr. Michael Idah, called for greater attention to be given to the elderly and Persons With Disabilities (PWDs), emphasizing their frequent exclusion from essential services, particularly healthcare.
He stressed the need for stakeholders to ensure the sustainability of the framework, noting that this would prevent the need to restart efforts in the future.
Similarly, Rev. Fr. Sebastian Sani, who is the Executive Director of the Justice, Development, and Peace Commission (JDPC), an agency of the Catholic Church, expressed the commission’s support for the initiative. He reaffirmed the church’s commitment to caring for people with special needs, particularly the underprivileged in society.
“Currently, we have up to 100s of people with disability that as a church, we are paying for their health insurance.
“This gathering and meeting with stakeholders, will further encourage us to do more,” he said.
Sani called for the establishment of Specialty Healthcare Trust Fund that cooperate and private individuals will contribute to in support the sub sector.
The Deputy Chatman, FCT Association of Integrative Medicine Practitioners, Dr Jackie Ikeotuonye called for a regulatory council.
She said that regulation of alternative medicine especially traditionalist who inherit some form of skills from their mentors or parents was imperative.
Ikeotuonye said that there is need to regulate and determine dosage as people are made to drink all sort of concentrated mixtures.
“You see the way the world is moving now, there is need to put some regulations, especially like where a traditionalist is telling you go and pluck some leaves.
“What leave? What Quantity? Who is directing who? Of course, there is been a lot of abuse in that sector, people drinking all manner of our war with different things, killing their kidneys and all that.
“So this is timely, and we strongly believe that part of the outcome of this, what the committee is doing is to ensure that there is a council, which I we are told, is already on the President’s table, waiting for assets,” he said.
The committee gave stakeholders 10 days to further peruse the legislative activity implementation framework and submit memoranda for implementation.
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo has been confirmed as Governor by the Edo Petition Tribunal in Abuja.
He had earlier won on September 21, 2024 on the political cum electoral turf when he clinched the first prize.
He defeated Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, his closest competitor, who was banking on the power of incumbent PDP administration in the state to win.
Ighodalo and the PDP had filed their petition at the Tribunal challenging Okpebholo and APC’s victory at the poll.
But delivering its judgement in the petition on Wednesday, the Edo Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal ruled that PDP petition failed for lack of competent witnesses
The Tribunal said that the PDP petition challenging the outcome of the 2024 governorship election also failed, because of insufficient evidence to substantiate claims of electoral malpractice.
The petitioners had alleged that the failure to properly record electoral materials prior to the election had affected the results.
However, the Tribunal found that while documents were submitted, no witnesses were called to properly authenticate them, rendering the evidence inadmissible.
Of the 19 witnesses presented by the petitioners, 14 were ward and local government agents, while their star witness, who claimed to be a director of strategy, played no direct role in the conduct of the election.
The Tribunal noted that none of these witnesses provided testimony on the alleged failure of prior recording of electoral materials, deeming them incompetent to testify on the matter.
Furthermore, the Tribunal emphasized that for allegations of over-voting to be proven, petitioners must provide oral evidence, in line with the precedent set by the Supreme Court.
It stressed that it was bound to adhere strictly to the Supreme Court’s roadmap in adjudicating election disputes.
According to the statement, the arrests took place on Monday, March 31, 2025, following credible intelligence.
The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has said that its officers arrested 51 illegal migrants from Mali in New Nyanya, Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.
The NIS made this known in a statement issued on Wednesday by its Public Relations Officer, ACI A.S. Akinlabi.
According to the statement, the arrests took place on Monday, March 31, 2025, following credible intelligence.
A breakdown of the arrested migrants revealed that 11 were female, while 40 were male, with ages ranging between 16 and 19 years.
Akinlabi stated that preliminary investigations revealed that the arrested illegal migrants may have been victims of Trafficking in Persons (TIP) and Smuggling of Migrants (SOM), as they were found without valid travel documents or residence permits.
“Preliminary investigations conducted by the Service suggest that the migrants may have been victims of Trafficking in Persons (TIP) and Smuggling of Migrants (SOM), as they were found without valid travel documents or residence permits,” Akinlabi stated.
The statement further noted that the detained individuals have been taken into the custody of the Service for further profiling and investigation.
“The arrested individuals have been taken into the custody of the Service for further profiling and investigation to determine the circumstances of their migration and any potential involvement of trafficking or smuggling networks or syndicates,” Akinlabi added.
Akinlabi further stated that the NIS would determine the circumstances surrounding their migration and uncover any potential involvement of trafficking or smuggling syndicates.
The statement added, “The Nigeria Immigration Service remains committed to ensuring that Nigeria’s borders are protected against illegal migration while upholding the rights of migrants who comply with the country’s immigration laws.
“The Service continues to work closely with relevant authorities and stakeholders to combat smuggling of migrants and counter trafficking in persons effectively.
“The NIS reassures the general public of its unwavering commitment to National Security and Migration Management while encouraging citizens to report suspicious migration activities to the nearest NIS Commands and Formations.”
The remains of an engineer, Chigozie Udalu, have been exhumed from a shallow grave in Akwukwu-Igbo, the headquarters of Oshimili North Local Government Area in Delta State.
Recall that the engineer, who was contracted to construct offices in Akwukwu-Igbo, was murdered and buried in a shallow grave.
Though the incident occurred in December 2024, details only emerged recently after two suspects were arrested in connection with the crime.
Assailants Murder Construction Engineer In Delta State Community, Bury In Shallow Grave
A community source revealed that the suspects, identified as Tiv youths from Benue State, allegedly killed the engineer and concealed his body on a farm.
“Two Tiv boys from Benue State have been arrested in connection with the crime. They buried the engineer’s remains in a shallow grave on a farm,” the source stated.
The Delta State Police Command confirmed the incident, with spokesman Edafe Bright acknowledging that an investigation was ongoing.
“We are aware of the incident, and our men are working to ensure others involved are apprehended,” Bright revealed.
On Wednesday, the remains of the victim were exhumed by the police and the Delta State government.
A police source revealed that the arrested suspects alleged the engineer owed them money and often verbally abused them.
“They had also intended to steal cement from the site but perceived the engineer as an obstacle. On December 10, 2024, they planned to strike him with a 2×2 plank but assumed he was physically strong and might overpower them.
“On December 11, the Tiv boys put a rope around his neck from behind, causing strangulation. Upon his death, they buried him in a shallow grave on the farm,” the source explained.
“Following the murder, the suspects reportedly completed their contract at the site and stole the victim’s phone, making several attempts to transfer money via a mobile app.
“Additionally, the landlord of the construction site was accused of being involved in money rituals. In an attempt to clear his name, he was taken to shrines to swear an oath before the victim’s family.
“The landlord recounted his ordeal, stating that he nearly gave up on the case due to the challenges he faced with the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) in Asaba.
“However, a police officer suggested he visit Ekpan Divisional Police Officer (DPO), CSP Aliyu Shaba. The officer assured him that within 30 days, the truth would be uncovered.
“Upon arrival at Ekpan, the landlord briefed the DPO, who assembled his team and employed sophisticated investigative techniques, leading to the arrest of two suspects.
“One of the suspects later confessed to knowing the location where the engineer was buried,” the source said.
A young man was also arrested and transferred to the SCID for openly threatening the victim in the presence of the landlord, further highlighting the brutality of the crime.
Of the four individuals arrested, two are considered principal suspects. Meanwhile, a manhunt is ongoing for the remaining suspects who are still at large.
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