The Nation Newspaper

Category: City Beats

  • Commuters stranded on Ikorodu-CMS BRT route

    the closure of the 1st BRT buses by Lagos Metropolitan Transport Authority (LAMATA) has started to take its toll on Lagos commuters, as hundreds of passengers were stranded on ever busy Ikorodu-CMS route

    LAMATA last Thursday closed the Ojota yard depot of the BRT operated by the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW).

    The closure, according to a statement signed by Commissioner for Transportation, Dr Dayo Mobereola was due to the inability of the operator to adhere to the laid down agreement

    But commuters yesterday lamented the shortage of buses on the routes which led to passengers scrambling to board the few available buses to island

    One of the passengers returning from New Year break lamented that he has been at the Ojota bus stop for hours without getting a bus.

    “It is survival of the fittest. You have to struggle with other passengers before you can get a space in the buses.  I hope government and the operator of the BRT will find lasting solution to the problems because the suffering masses”

    Another passenger, Mrs Ify James, lamented the closure of the BRT was uncalled for, as government did not make alternative provision to take care of fallout of the closure.

    “It is unfair on the part of the state government to take such an action without making provision for effect of the closure. Now people are suffering because of their action. lf Sunday could be rowdy like this, I don’t know how Monday will look like,” he said.

  • Abule-Egba traffic killing, say motorists

    •Govt: repair will end in April

    Some residents, motorists and commuters in Ile-Epo and Abule-Egba in Lagos have described the Lagos/Abeokuta Expressway gridlock as killing.

    The Nation investigation shows that motorists struggle for right of way without consideration for one another.

    A bus driver, Faruk Adesina, said before work began on bad portion of the road, it took him one hour to get to Oshodi, but now he spends three hours.

    A resident, Musa Yusuf, said: “ The traffic congestion at Abule-Egba is as a result of the ongoing construction at the Ile-Epo market, the state government should please see to the immediate completion of the road, as the road has not only contributed to the traffic situation but has also denied traders the opportunity to work for their daily bread. I also urge the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) to be less aggressive when apprehending traffic law offenders”.

    Another resident said: “The state government should build a pedestrian bridge at the Abule-Egba Junction, as it is always risky crossing the busy road. The T-junction, just where the traffic lights are needs to be expanded, the road is rough and too tight for all vehicles to squeeze through at ones, we need more roads and BRT lane”.

    A commuter, Fredrick Lawson, said the traffic snarl affects productivity.

    Besides, students and workers who close in the evening always get home late after a hectic day at work and school, he said.

    “It is so serious that Lagos is now popularly known for massive traffic lock downs,” he said.

    Reacting, Lagos State Government said Lagosians plying the road, especially around the Ile-Epo axis, would soon smile.

    Mr Yomi Oladapo, Head Public Affairs Unit, Lagos State Public Works Corporation (LSPWC), said the General Manager Ayotunde Sodeinde, has promised that the on-going construction of drainage alignment and the bad portion of the Ile-Epo axis of the expressway would be completed in April.

    Oladapo quoted Sodeinde as saying that the drainage work, with a stretch of about 840 metres, and the bad portion of the road, which is about 1000 metres, would soon be completed.

    The corporation, he said, had already reconstructed 750 metres of the drainage; the remaining 100 metres will be completed by January 24.

    The rehabilitation, which he said, began last October was put on hold until the six electric poles laid on the drainage alignment were relocated last December 31.

    The general manager, according to the statement, said the agency reconstructed the drainage system to a size of 1.2 metres, following which its massive rehabilitation began.

    This, he said, would enable the drainage system to contain the flow of flood water.

    He pleaded with traders in Ile-Epo Market to dispose their refuse in designated dump sites.

    According to him, those found defaulting would be handed over to the Ministry of Environment task force for sanction.

  • Plank sellers lay claim to Isopakodowo

    An overarching sign on the gate which reads Oshodi Resettlement Market welcomes all to the new place for the relocated Owonifari market traders.

    Initially named Isopakodowo market, it would have been an idyllic spot if it could accommodate all the traders, and there is no dispute over those entitled to the stores there.

    According to the Maintenance and Operations Manager, Olusola Adeniyi, the place had been ready for occupation since 2014.

    Adeniyi claimed that the market is equipped with about 600 shops with provisions for Kee klamps to accommodate more traders.

    He said it is fitted with adequate public convenience systems, adding that it has an efficient water system.

    “The roads in the market are tarred, and the lease rates are by all means affordable (even though he would not disclose it). There are also facility managers to regularly maintain the infrastructural provisions in the market regularly,” he said.

    He said government had been advising the traders to relocate for quite a while, but none of them came for the application forms.

    But Owonifari Traders Association Vice Chairman Matthew Ohas’ alleged that the plank traders of Isopakodowo market had laid claim to the market, saying it was built for them only.

    The traders also said yesterday that they rejected Isopakodowo because of its “structural defect.”

    Yesterday, The Nation observed that the market had been under lock since January 7, 2014 when former Governor Babatunde Fashola commissioned it.

    A registration notice at the security post reads: “This is to inform the general public/Owonifari electronic traders that all applicants of shops and Kee-Klamps at Isopakodowo electronic market (Oshodi Resettlement Market) should submit their registration forms with allocation letters, Lagos State Resident Registration Agency, LASRRA registration slip and two passport photograph.”

    Sources said Lagos State Public Works Corporation (LSPWC) officials were sighted rehabilitating the market floor yesterday.

    A resident of the community, Mr Mustapha Adekunle, said the market had never been opened for business since Fashola commissioned it, adding: “You can see that the entire market is dusty. The government had abandoned the market to rodent, to serve as their abode.”

    A security man confirmed that the market had been under lock since it was commissioned.

    He said: “The government commenced the renovation works on the market on Wednesday morning after demolishing Owonifari market. And as you can see, the officials of LSPWC are working.”

    A trader, Mukhtar Atoyibi, said as at Wednesday, the rent for a shop at The Arena was N180,000 per year, but by yesterday the price had risen to N300,000 “and light is not stable there.”

    “May be we will have to speak with authorities at the market because we don’t have that amount of money to rent a shop. Government did not think well about this issue before they did it. They don’t have mercy for the masses. At least if you want to displace people, you have to provide another place. Is this democracy?” he added.

    Another trader, Rasaq Adeyemi, said the government did not allocate Isopakodowo market to anyone, adding: “No one is interested in the market because of the incident that happened two years ago where people had sunk. Up till now, we haven’t heard anything from them. Do they want that to happen to us? I doubt if the foundation is strong because if it is, that incident shouldn’t have occurred.”

    Mrs. Halimah Dosu, who has been at Owonifari market for 20 years, said she wasn’t ready to go to the new market.

    She said since it was commissioned, no trader has used it, adding that she is scared to move there because of the incident that happened two years ago.

    “People lost their lives. They had families just like we do. If such thing occurs when we move in, what will be the fate of our families? Can the place accommodate us? This week has been bad for every one of us. Most of the traders here are landlords, few are tenants. Everyone is at a loss. We want another place not that market,” she added.

    The market, which has 64 Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) and 22 toilets, is expected to serve sawmillers and electronic dealers.

  • New market is ‘too small’, claim Oshodi traders

    New market is ‘too small’, claim Oshodi traders

    The Lagos State Government yesterday defended its relocation of Owonifari Market traders to Oshodi Resettlement Market, saying it acted in public interest.

    At a joint press briefing by the Ministries of Information and Strategy, the Environment, Physical Planning and Urban Development, Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, and the Office of Civic Engagement, the government said the new market has over 600 shops and hundreds of Kee Klamps. It said it subsidised payment by giving out shops for N5, 000 monthly.

    Commissioner for Information and Strategy Steve Ayorinde said the traders were notified before the market’s demolition, adding that their leaders were carried along before the exercise.

    Clearing the air on the January 5 demolition, Ayorinde said the market issue had been on for almost 10 years, with government trying to avoid friction with the traders.

    He claimed that the market leadership in the last three years, refused to move to the new market, which has over 600 shops apart from the Kee Klamps, bringing the number of people that it could conveniently accommodate to over a thousand all together.”

    Ayorinde said having been satisfied that government had provided a befitting alternative, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode through the Commissioner for Local Government and Community Affairs, Muslim Folami invited the market leadership last December 16, briefed them on his plans for Oshodi and the need to move the traders to Isopakodowo which had then been ready for a couple of years.

    The commissioner said: “A few of them expressed certain misgivings but largely they felt that if their interest would be accommodated within the Isopakodowo Market, that they were willing and ready to move and on our part, we said that the discussion should be ongoing particularly regarding how much they would pay for each store within that market.

    “After that, on Monday December 21, Governor Ambode went on a tour of that market area particularly at Isopakodowo in company with a few members of the Executive. Again, we met with the leadership of the market where it was eventually agreed based on the proposition by the leadership that what they were willing to pay for each shop at Isopakodowo was N5, 000.

    “There is nowhere in Lagos where you will agree to be paying N5, 000 per shop not to talk of the central Oshodi, but the Governor agreed with them and we said we were ready to concede after which we now formally served them with a quit notice through the office of the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development,” he said.

    Ayorinde denied that goods were destroyed during the demolition, adding:  “The intention of government certainly was not to destroy any goods and we did not destroy any goods because we believe that a good number of the traders, if not all, had moved because they were aware that they needed to move.

    “Government, I should say, will not be blackmailed because we had done everything humanly possible and you know that the hallmark of this government has been compassion. It is a compassionate government.

    “The intention was not to destroy the market or destroy properties or to make life inconvenient for them. We believe very strongly that Isopakodowo market is quite ideal; it’s a lot bigger store-per-store than where they had been removed now and the aim of government, as we stated earlier, is to ensure that that area of the market conforms with the type of image that we want Lagos to be, which is to return sanity to the place, to beautify the market, to construct a world class bus terminus around that place and to ensure that people who use that place on a daily basis – the commuters, traders, everybody enjoy what it means to go to a market in a mega city.

    “We also believe that the exercise will largely reduce the gridlock that is associated with that area and then the criminalities that were rampant in that Oshodi. What we have done is in the interest of the generality of Lagosians,” Ayorinde said.

    He added: “You will see from the reports that quite a good chunk of the traders acknowledged that they had been properly served and that they were ready to move which was why a good number of them, if not all, packed their things just before the end of last year.

    “Along the line, we got intelligence report that during the holidays there were a number of criminal activities going on in the market and that the place was harbouring criminals and a number of untoward activities which of course necessitated the need to move immediately to safeguard lives, to safeguard properties and to ensure that there was no breach of peace which was what led to the demolition.”

  • We used our baby to secure loan, says dad

    We used our baby to secure loan, says dad

    A man accused by his wife of abducting their five-month-old son has said they used the boy as collateral for a N400,000 loan.

    Okwuchukwu Ibekwe said he and his wife, Oluchi, agreed to use Chidera to secure the loan.

    The suspect, who is in police net for allegedly selling his son for N500,000 to a woman, Chinnelo, in Ihiala, Anambra State, said he needed money to start all over again after he was evicted from his shop at Ladipo, and his commercial bus was burnt.

    According to the 30-year-old suspect, his wife suggested that they use the baby to secure the loan, on ground that he would collect N250,000 and she, N150,000.

    Ibekwe said: “I was a mechanic until the building that housed my shop was sold and I was evicted. I was idle for some time, then someone gave me a bus which I used for transport but the bus was consumed by fire.

    “Things were very hard and I could not fend for my family. It was at the point of difficulty that my wife suggested that we should go and borrow money from one Chinnelo. She’s the one who knows Chinnelo and she brought her contact.

    “She suggested that we should give the baby to Chinnelo and collect money from her. We agreed that I will collect N25,000 so that I can travel, while N150, 000 will be paid into her account.

    “That was how I took our son and travelled and I collected my own money. But because her own was not paid early and we started quarrelling, I was surprised that while I was still in the village, a lawyer called me and I came to Lagos and was arrested.

    “I do not know what Chinnelo does, I don’t know if she sells children. I did not sell my son to her. We used him to borrow money and it was my wife’s idea. I do not know where my wife is, Chinnelo’s husband has been arrested and he told me that my wife’s N150,000 was paid.”

    But Lagos State Police chief Fatai Owowseni said he was arrested in Anambra State after his wife filed a complaint against him at the Iba Police Post.

    According to the police, the incident occurred last December 8, at 23, Shinaba Street, Agboroko, Iba Town, and the woman reported on December 11.

    Owoseni, who paraded the suspect, said his wife reported that Ibekwe sent her on an errand and by the time she returned, he had taken their son and fled.

    He said investigations were on to recover the woman at large with the baby.

    A police source said N200, 000 was recovered from the man, adding that his wife has denied her involvement in the deal.

  • 295 policemen killed last year, says Owoseni

    295 policemen killed last year, says Owoseni

    •Two suspected robbers killed,
    1,171 others arrested in 26 days

    No fewer than two hundred and ninety-five policemen were killed in active service in Lagos State last year, Police Commissioner Fatai Owoseni said yesterday.

    Briefing reporters on his command’s activities last year, Owoseni said two robbers were killed and 1,171 other suspects arrested between December 11 and last Tuesday.

    He said 16 arms, 40 ammunition, 24 vehicles and 1, 055 motorcycles were recovered.

    Of those arrested, Owoseni said 47 were suspected armed robbers, 14 suspected cultists and the 1,110 others nabbed during raids on criminals’ hideouts, adding that one of the major security challenge in the state was murder occasioned by cultism.

    He said 1,028 were charged to court, with 745 of them convicted. He added that 82 were discharged.

    Owoseni said 155 suspects were discharged by the court, adding that 128 are awaiting trial.

    He unveiled a new software application for smart phones, SmartPolice which works with Google map and enhances the report of distress calls by residents. It also ensures timely response by security agents.

    According to him, the software which can be downloaded from any of the smart phones’ stores will enhance interaction between the police and the public, and also monitor policemen’s response to distress calls.

    “Once the application has been downloaded, the phone user has two options to either sign up with his name and address or sign up anonymously. After registering, there is a red button on the app which the user is expected to press when in distress or around a crime scene. Once the button is touched, it will signal the control room and the nearest patrol team to the area will be there…,” he said.

    Owoseni said a female officer was promoted to Assistant Commissioner of Police; other officers were also promoted.

    “This gesture further demonstrates the priority given to the welfare of officers. I hope that it will boost the morale of the beneficiaries and also better their performance,” he said.

    Warning his men to shun vices that affect the police image, Owoseni recalled the killing of two siblings and their friend on December 26, by a policeman who shot himself, noting that he has been disciplined posthumously.

    He denied that the police are not paying attention to the bereaved families, stating the actions taken since the incident occurred.

     

     

  • How we deceive security agents, by suspected vandals

    How we deceive security agents, by suspected vandals

    Some suspected pipeline vandals yesterday spoke of the tricks they employ to beat law enforcement agents.

    “We forge Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) waybills, major oil marketers’ invoices and National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas workers (NUPENG) stickers to deceive security agents,” they said when they were paraded before reporters at the Force Headquarters Anex, Obalende, Lagos.

    They were arrested by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Taskforce on pipeline vandalism.

    Among the four paraded suspects are Ganiyu Oresanya, 38,  Mutiu Bello also known as Omo Oja, and one Damilare, who had fake copies of Oando, Conoil  and MRS’ invoices, and forged NNPC waybills with them.

    They were said to have been arrested at Ikorodu following intelligence report on their operations in Sagamu and Ikorodu.

    The suspects were said to have been caught on their way to Ondo State to sell products they siphoned from NNPC pipelines at Sagamu and Ikorodu.

    Oresanya said he was in charge of forging the documents, adding: “We make sure that we do the background work of covering our loading with fake NNPC documents and fake invoice from oil marketing companies so that we would not be caught.

    “I have been in the business for a long time. I am a printer and I print these documents myself. I did not know we would be caught because we are very careful in our jobs by backing the stolen products with all necessary documents.

    “I supply all the fake documents while Bello produces the tanker that comes to carry the product from the pipeline. Damilare is the one who loads the products. He is our boss,” he said.

    Bello, who claimed he was contracted to trans-load the petrol into another truck, said he did not know the products were stolen.

    He claimed that one Temidayo invited him, adding that he was offered N70, 000 for the job.

    “This is my first time and I was promised N70,000. It was one Temidayo who called me for the job. They didn’t tell me that it was stolen oil.

    “They said I was going to trans-load products from jerry cans at that area. They told me they are into Black Market but when I got there, I saw plenty jerrycans,” he claimed.

    Addressing reporters, the task force’s Sector Commander, Solomon Ubani, a Superintendent of Police (SP), said: “We have made breakthrough in the past few days. We have rejiged our intelligence for some time now and it is yielding results.

    “These hoodlums have continued to break our pipelines and sabotage the efforts of the Federal Government.

    “We reliably gathered that some vandals are planning to break pipeline at Sagamu, so we increased our intelligence and arrested one Mutiu Bello aka Omo Oja who helped us in arresting other members of the oil pipeline breakers cartel.”

    He warned pipeline vandals to desist from the act or face police wrath.

     

  • Policeman’s widow commits suicide

    Policeman’s widow commits suicide

    One month after losing her husband, the widow of a policeman, Mrs Philomena Asuquo, has committed suicide in Lagos.

    The incident occurred at the Police Barracks on Sagamu Road in Ikorodu on New Year’s Eve.

    The late Mrs Asuquo, whose late husband, Inspector Uwem Asuquo was yet to be buried, was said to have drunk sniper, an insecticide, out of frustration.

    According to her 19-year-old son, Shadrach, who rushed her to the Ikorodu General Hospital, she had been depressed since her husband died last November.

    He said he ran into his mother’s room, after perceiving an insecticide’s odour around the living room and found her writhing in pains.

    Shadrach told The Nation on telephone that he and his younger brother, Daniel had gone to their aunt’s place to help her clean her new apartment, adding that they found their mother watching television when they returned.

    He said she watched them go into the kitchen to take their food, adding that she later went into the kitchen to take her own food and went to her room.

    Shadrach said: “She has been depressed since my father died in police custody but she has never attempted suicide.

    “That day I and my brother went to my aunt’s place to help her wash the house because she was moving to their house in Ikorodu.

    “When we got back, she was sitting in the parlour watching television.

    “My brother and I went to the kitchen to take our food. After we had eaten, she went into the kitchen to take her food and went inside her room.

    “I went to the toilet; when I got back to the sitting room, I started perceiving the odour of the insecticide.

    “Then, I ran into her room and saw her on the floor holding her stomach. Immediately I took her to the hospital where she died.”

    The late Inspector Asuquo was attached to the Area ‘C’ Command in Surulere, Lagos Mainland.

    His older brother, Peter, said the family was awaiting police directives on his funeral, since he died in service.

    “My brother was serving at Orile before the incident that led to his detention. He was involved in accidental discharge; he fled but turned himself in two days later.

    “He was healthy and did not show any sign of sickness. But surprisingly, one of my brothers called me that day that I should leave whatever I was doing and come to the station.

    “By the time I got there, he has already been taken to a hospital and he was vomiting some things that I cannot explain.

    “He died that same day and the police conducted autopsy on him, which showed that he had hypertension and diabetes.

    “My brother was not dismissed because his second wife told us that they received alert for the payment of his November and December salaries.

    “I just want to beg the police to conclude all processes and pay his pension and other entitlements so that his children (three) as well as his aged father do not suffer unduly,” he said.

    When contacted, the state command’s Deputy Public Relations Officer, Aliyu Giwa confirmed Mrs Asuquo’s death.

    Giwa declined comment on the bereaved family’s welfare, saying that was an administrative matter.

    Police Commissioner Fatai Owoseni said the issue had not been brought to his notice, adding that there are laid down procedures for all cases.

    v

  • Four charged with burglary, rape

    Four charged with burglary, rape

    The police have accused four men of robbing a woman in her room in Agege, Lagos. The fourth member of the gang allegedly raped the woman.

    The defendants – Saheed Lawal (32); Ajanaku Wasiu (32); Tayo Inawole (27) and Musa Ismail (32) – were yesterday arraigned at an Ogba Magistrates’ Court on a four-count charge of burglary, stealing and rape.

    Prosecuting police Inspector Clifford Ogu said the defendants committed the offence around 2am last December 26 on Okunola Street, Oniwaya, Agege.

    He alleged that they broke into the room of one Blessing (surname withheld) and stole her BlackBerry, Techno and Nokia handsets, valued at N91,500.

    Ismail raped Blessing before they left, the prosecutor alleged.

    The defendants denied the charges.

    Magistrate T. Akanni granted them N200,000 bail with two sureties each in the like sum.

    She adjourned hearing till January 25.

     

  • I deal in drugs, septuagenarian tells court

    I deal in drugs, septuagenarian tells court

    •NDLEA arraigns four suspected traffickers

    A 72-year-old man, Samuel Akhigbe, yesterday pleaded guilty to unlawfully dealing in a banned narcotic drug.

    The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) arraigned him before Justice Saliu Saidu of the Federal High Court in Lagos.

    Prosecution counsel Jeremiah Aernan said Akhigbe dealt in 3.3 kilogrammes of cannabis sativa, a narcotic drug similar to cocaine, heroin and LSD, without lawful authority.

    He allegedly committed the offence last November 9 at 5, Command Road, Ipaja, thereby violating Section 11 (c) of the NDLEA Act, 2004.

    Akigbe, who said he suffers from tuberculosis, pleaded guilty.

    “I am guilty,” he pleaded, when the one-count charge was read to him.

    Aernan asked for a new date for review of facts of the case and sentencing.

    Justice Saidu adjourned till March 12.

    NDLEA also arraigned three men and a woman – Okwuma Michael, Juliet Gabriel, Kelechukwu Eletamuzor and James Nwajagu – for allegedly attempting to import and export banned narcotic drugs.

    Prosecution counsel Fingere Dinneys said Michael was arrested last October 27 during inward clearance of South African Airways flight from Brazil at the ‘E’ Arrival Hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Ikeja, Lagos.

    He allegedly imported 3.4 kilogrammes of cocaine without lawful authority. Michael pleaded not guilty.

    NDLEA said Gabriel was arrested on November 15 during inward clearance of Emirates Airline from Dubai at the ‘E’ Hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport.  She pleaded not guilty to importing 2.9 kilogrammes of cocaine.

    Eletamuzor was arrested last November 7 at Sahcol Warehouse, a Customs area at the same airport.

    The prosecutor, Ichakpa Oigoga, said he unlawfully exported one kilogramme of Ephedrine. The defendant pleaded not guilty.

    Nwajagu was nabbed last October 13 during inward clearance of Emirates Airline from Dubai at the ‘E’ Hall of the MMIA.

    He pleaded not guilty to unlawful importation of 3.240 kilogrammes of cocaine from Dubai.

    The offences attract a maximum penalty of life sentence.

    Justice Saidu granted the four bail in the following sums: Michael, N15 million; Gabriel, N12 million; Eletamuzor, N10 million; and Nwajagu, N15 million, with two sureties each.

    One of the sureties must be their relative with a landed property in Lagos, the other a public servant not below Grade Level 15.

    Justice Saidu said the prosecution and the registrar must be satisfied with the sureties, who, along with the defendants, must deposit their international passports with the court.

    He adjourned till March 7, 8 and 12 for trial.