Author: The Nation

• Soludo sympathises with traders
• Delta church torched

By Emma Elekwa, Onitsha, and Elo Edremoda, Warri

A two-storey building in the popular Onitsha Main Market,in Anambra State was yesterday morning gutted by fire.

The fire which started around 4am, affected the building housing a police block, Onitsha North Local Government office, warehouses and shops.

The cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained, but The Nation gathered that furniture and other goods worth millions of naira were burnt because firefighters were late in coming.

A trader in the market who identified himself as David wondered how fire would raze a section of the market housing the office of the state fire service.

He said, “The fire started at the White House where lace materials are sold. The place was supposed to be a motor park with an emergency exit but people blocked it with illegal structures through the approval of some government agencies.

“Besides, firefighters couldn’t come to our rescue immediately even when they have their office on the premises with their truck stationed in front of the building when the fire started.”

Chairman of the market, Chief Innocent Ezeoha, who said he rushed to the scene following a tip-off, confirmed that goods worth millions of naira were destroyed by the inferno.

He said the fire would have spread to the entire market if not for intervention of men of fire services from Awka, Asaba, Delta State and good Samaritans who assisted in quenching it.

“The damage has been done to the police block, Onitsha North Local Government market office, warehouses, shops, and even fire service office was torched before the arrival of fire fighters from Awka and Asaba,” he added.

Contributing, market Secretary, Comrade Barth Obiorah, decried late arrival of fire fighters, saying it took about two hours before they arrived.

“As at the time of the inferno, a fire truck was parked in front of the building but it is not functioning. Even the building housing the office of the fire service was also affected.

State Fire Chief, Martin Agbili could not be reached at time of filing the report, but police spokesman Tochukwu Ikenga said the situation was being monitored.

“The details are still sketchy but situation is being monitored and firefighters and police are there. Other details shall be communicated,” he added.

The state governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, has commiserated with victims of the fire.

Soludo, represented by his Deputy, Onyekachi Ibezim described the inferno as unfortunate, urging the victims to take heart.

He said he was in the market to ascertain the extent of damage, assuring victims that government would look into the incident with a view to assisting them.

Responding, chairman of the market, Chief Innocent Ezeoha, attributed the fire to power surge which started from the first floor of the two-storey building.

He said, “The inferno started at about 4am, gutted a two-storey building housing the Onitsha Main Market Police block, Onitsha North Local Government market office, warehouses, shops and wares worth millions of naira.

“The wares, furniture and all that were in the facilities were burnt to ashes as a result of delay by fire fighters for rescue because they don’t have any truck in the market while the ones they have are grounded.

“But damage has already been done to the structures, including fire service office before rescue team came from fire service Awka and Asaba, Delta State.”

At Effurun in neighbouring Delta State, fire also broke out at a popular prophetic church, Mercy City Ministries, yesterday morning.

The fire reportedly destroyed the main auditorium called Partners Hall, of the church.

The dark smoke from the raging inferno was sighted by many residents and road users a long distance away from the church arena.

According to a Facebook live video by the general overseer, Prophet Jeremiah Fufeyin, no life was lost in the incident.

The prophet, however, stated that he had had a revelation of a fire incident around the church.

Noting that the fire may have occurred due to his “stubbornness” to God’s directive that he (Fufeyin) build him a church, he urged his followers across the world to remain calm, assuring that the church will be built again in no distant time.

The cause of the fire could not be ascertained as of press time.

A video of the affected building showed the roofs, television screens, chairs among other items burnt.

An Ikeja Chief Magistrate’s Court in Lagos yesterday ordered that a 36-year-old man, Roland Okajare, be remanded in a correctional centre for allegedly defiling his 18-year-old daughter.

The police charged Okajare with one count of defilement.

Magistrate, Mrs E. Kubeinje ordered that he should be remanded in Kirikiri Custodial Centre

Kubeinje referred the case file to the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecution for legal advice. She adjourned the case until April 12 for mention.

Earlier, the Prosecution Counsel, ASP Kehinde Ajayi told the court that Okajare committed the offence on Jan. 4, at his shop located at Ikotun Bus stop, Lagos.

The offence, she said, contravenes the provisions of Criminal Laws of Lagos State.

Federal High Courts in Lagos and Ogun states have sentenced six drug traffickers to a total of 156 years imprisonment.

Spokesman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Femi Babafemi, said yesterday that the Agency charged the suspects with drug dealing, transportation, and conspiracy to transport illicit substances.

The statement reads, “Worse hit is a 27-year-old drug dealer, Ahmed Abdulsabur who was arrested in 2022 by NDLEA operatives and prosecuted in charge number FHC/AB/20C/2022 at the Federal High Court, Abeokuta, presided over by Hon. Justice Joyce Obehi Abdulmalik. Delivering her judgment on the six counts charge brought against Ahmed, Justice Abdulmalik convicted and sentenced him to 10 years imprisonment on each count, bringing the total number of his in jail term to 60.

“In a similar ruling, Justice Abdulmalik also sentenced another dealer, Olumide Elegbede, 32, to 20 years jail term; 10 years for each of the two counts charge brought against him in charge number: FHC/AB/128C/2I. The judge ruled that the years of imprisonment in both cases will run concurrently. 

“At the Federal High Court in Lagos, where the quartet of: Okechukwu Umeh; Lanre Adebayo; Adigun Adeshina and Emmanuel Omijeh were arraigned on three counts in charge number FHC/L/87c/2023, the trial judge, Justice Akintayo Aluko on Thursday 16th March convicted and sentenced each of them to five years on count one; seven years each on counts two and three. This brings the total number of years for each of them to 19 years jail term and the four of them to 76 years imprisonment.

“While the judge ruled that the sentences should run concurrently, he also gave the four convicts the option of paying N20 million in lieu of the jail terms. This is in addition to granting the application by the NDLEA for the final forfeiture of a white colour Ford bus with registration number: PHC 315 ZT, used in conveying 532. 8 kilograms of Loud variant of cannabis on the day of their arrest, Sunday 22nd January 2023 along Lagos/ Ibadan expressway. The court also granted the final forfeiture of Three Million Naira (N3, 000, 000)

offered as bribe by the convicts to NDLEA officers.

“The drugs concealed with ‘take away’ food packs in 19 big cartons were seized in the white Ford bus heading to Port Harcourt, Rivers state along Lagos-Ibadan expressway at 2:35am on Sunday 22nd Jan. The convicts: Okechukwu Umen, 41; Lanre Adebayo Ismaila, 47; Adeshina Adigun Fatai, 50; and Emmanuel Omijeh, 42, were arrested in connection with the seizure and three million naira (N3,000,000) offered as bribe kept as part of the exhibits for their prosecution.”

Troops of Operation Hadin Kai have arrested one Ba’ana Bdiya, a “repentant Boko Haram fighter” over a bomb attack that led to the death of some soldiers.

Zagazola Makama, a counter-insurgency publication focused on the Lake Chad region, said the suspect, also known as ‘Manci’, gave out details on the movement of the troops to terrorists on March 16.

The publication said the intelligence shared by Manci led to the ambush of soldiers who were attacked with improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

Three soldiers were reported dead and four others injured on the outskirts of Banki town, Borno state, during the ambush.

“Ba’ana was among the thousands of Boko Haram who laid down their arms and were accepted back by the society after undergoing rehabilitation. But despite renouncing his membership of the terror group, he maintained close contact with his former colleagues,” the publication said.

Sources in the military told Zagazola Makama that Manci had earlier in February passed a similar intelligence to the Boko Haram fighters who successfully ambushed troops during fighting patrols at Ngauri.

The intelligence was said to have led to the killing of some soldiers.

“This is less than one week after two other ex-militant, Goni Farouq and Amir Zabu, (The executioner) who were top former Commanders of Boko Haram, were intercepted in a phone conversation, planning attacks against troops,” the military sources were quoted as saying.

“The real obstacle standing between the troops and the total and final obliteration of Boko Hama terrorists is the nefarious activities of the local network of informants.

“There are concerns that the continued release of repentant terrorists into society without proper deradicalisation could subvert the progress made so far in the war against insurgency.”

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday inaugurated the new Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and the National Counterterrorism Centre (NCTC) in Abuja.

It was part of his administration’s efforts to address security challenges across the country, especially terrorism and violent extremism.

Speaking at the inauguration of the two world-class facilities, the President said it would serve as a major legacy to provide the incoming administration with infrastructure to effectively coordinate national security and counterterrorism efforts.

The President also outlined significant milestones that his administration achieved in national security, including the gains in combating terrorism, armed banditry, kidnapping, separatist tendencies, crude oil theft, piracy as well as militancy in the Southsouth and cyber-security.

A statement in Abuja by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said President Buhari noted that his administration, since inception, had invested heavily in stabilising and enhancing security across the country.

On the threat of terrorism, which was named a major security challenge facing the country when he assumed office in 2015, the President said: “I can confidently state here today that we have achieved significant milestones in degrading the major threat and restoring normalcy to most of the hitherto securitised areas in the Northeast.

“These areas, previously occupied by terrorists, have been freed and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are voluntarily returning to their homes.

“This was largely achieved through the valiant efforts of our Armed Forces and other security agencies, in collaboration with our regional and international partners, but above all, the support and cooperation of the Nigerian citizens.”

Besides the degraded threat of terrorism in the Northeast, President Buhari also expressed delight that his administration had curbed the series of armed banditry and kidnapping cases in the Northwest and Northcentral.

He noted that such criminal acts surfaced following the decimation of Boko Haram in the Northeast and the implosion of Libya in the Maghreb.

On separatist upheavals, the President noted that agitators in the Southeast and the lesser threatening ones in the Southwest, who have been experiencing concerns of separatist tendencies, were being checkmated.

“Meanwhile, issues of crude oil theft, sea robbery, piracy and militancy in the Southsouth are equally being addressed.

“Most of these threats have transnational linkages thereby reinforcing the need for regional and international cooperation as critical enablers to enhance our national security,” he said.

On maritime security, President Buhari expressed delight that some key threats within Nigeria’s maritime environment, such as piracy, sea robbery, crude oil theft, as well as illegal unregulated and unreported fishing, were being effectively tackled.

A couple and one of their children have been burnt to death in a fire that razed their residence at the weekend in Aponmu, Akure South local government area.

A second child that was rescued is receiving treatment in hospital, it was said.

The mother of the deceased man, simply identified as Iforiti,  reportedly claimed responsibility for the fire that killed the family.

An eyewitness, Korede Michael, said he noticed fire at the house at about 2am and  had to break the window to rescue the victims.

He said, “The woman, her son, Victor Oloro; wife, Rachel; and children, Toluwani and Blessing, were all in the house when the woman set it on fire. She got some dry palm fronds and the little petrol her son kept in a gallon, spread it around the house and then set fire to it.”

“I was the first person to notice the fire and jumped into the house before other members of the community joined me in rescuing them. We got a vehicle immediately to transport them to the government hospital in Akure.

“When we got to Akure (UNIMED annex), the doctors and nurses rejected the patients, saying they could not take care of them due to the degree of the burns, and advised that we take them to the Federal Medical Center in Owo.

“Unfortunately, we lost the last child, who was just two and a half years old, immediately we got to Owo.

“On Sunday, the son and his wife gave up the ghost while the only child left is in a critical condition.

“The children could not send the aged woman out of the house when she started behaving strangely because it was built by her late husband”.

It was gathered that the suspect attempted suicide sometime in 2022 by jumping into a well but was rescued by sympathisers.

Witnesses said Iforiti confessed to have burnt her son and his family because they were starving her.

Police spokesperson Funmilayo Odunlami Omisanya confirmed the incident.

Also, an unidentified commercial driver has been found dead around Benin Garage in Akure, the Ondo State capital.

The driver was said to be a victim of ritualists as some of his vital organs were removed from his body.

Policemen from Obaile Police Division were at the scene to convey the body to a mortuary.  Omisanya said an investigation has begun.