The Nation Newspaper

Category: City Beats

  • Taking of hard drugs is suicidal, commissioner tells youths

    Taking of hard drugs is suicidal, commissioner tells youths

    Lagos State Commissioner for Youth and Social Development Princess Uzamat Akinbile-Yussuf has advised youths to shun hard drugs.

    She gave the advice yesterday at the maiden National Youth Summit on Drugs/Substance Abuse Prevention, held at Bible Guest House in Palm Grove, Lagos.

    Mrs Akinbile-Yussuf said: “Drug abuse and illicit trafficking are the primary reasons why many youths are incarcerated. By so doing, they become major perpetrators of crime as a result of mental disorders.

    “The increasing number of youths in prisons over the last few years is due to their involvement in drugs. As a matter of fact, majority of them were arrested and convicted, while many have drug abuse problems.

    “Your continuous involvement in drug abuse and illicit trafficking is like committing suicide, killing your family dream, destroying community and communal togetherness, and by extension, destroying your generation. The money from drug trafficking will not last but bring shame, disgrace and untimely death.”

    The commissioner said government had introduced some school activities to channel the energy of youths towards profitable ventures.

    “Our ministry has constructed youth centres and playgrounds across the state for various youth empowerment and recreational activities. We also collaborate with other ministries to promote information and education on the dangers inherent in the abuse and illicit trafficking of drugs,” she said.

    Mrs Akinbile-Yussuf solicited for community support to government‘s efforts to yield results.

    “Community support will help to prevent, treat, rehabilitate and accept those addicted to substances. This effort will boost war on drug trafficking as declared by the Federal Government using various agencies like the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) among others.”

  • Poverty pushed me into robbery, says suspect

    Poverty pushed me into robbery, says suspect

    A member of a three-man armed robbery gang has blamed his involvement in crime on poverty.

    The suspect, Ese Ebrorhie, also attributed his gang’s success to the use of ‘motorcycles’ for their get away from robbery scenes.

    The gang has been tormenting residents and motorists around Mile 2 and Apapa in Lagos.

    Ebrorhie was arrested by operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS).

    Two members of the gang escaped with a locally-made double barrel gun and a pistol.

    “I bought a fairly used motorcycle popularly known as okada which developed small problem and there was nobody to help me, so I joined the gang to raise funds to repair the okada,” Ebrorhie said, adding: “We operated around 5am and 6am and from 9pm. We rob only commercial buses by pretending to be passengers at bus stop around Mile 2 and Apapa.

    “Once inside the bus, the gang leader, Zubby, who is holding one of our guns, will hold the bus driver hostage while we begin to rob and dispossess every passenger of their belongings. After the operation, we disembark and mount our waiting bike moving beside the bus to escape.

    “I have gone on three operations with them. The first operation, I was given N8, 000. The second one, I was given N15,000. This is my third operation with the gang. Zubby is the one that collects and sells all the belongings we collect during operations. He is the one who shares the booty to everyone.”

    Ebrorhie said most of the victims mistook them for passengers.

    He claimed that he knew members of the gang as a car washer but didn’t know they were armed robbers then.

    “They invite me to operation whenever they wish. Sometimes, I can be in Berger for two days without seeing them,” he said.

    Police Public Relations Officer Kenneth Ofor, a Deputy Superintendent (DSP), said the suspect would be charged to court.

    He urged Lagosians to be security conscious during this Yuletide.

  • Two dead, six injured in road crashes

    Two dead, six injured in road crashes

    Two persons have been killed in a multiple accident on Sunday.

    Six others injured in other road crashes at the weekend.

    Two of the accidents happened at Church Bus Stop near Ijeshatedo Bus Stop, on the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway on Saturday. The third was at Ilasamaja Bus stop near a Police Station.

    Nobody died in the Saturday crash but three were injured, according to eyewitnesses.

    “Nobody died but three were injured. It (accident) happened at this spot (Church Bus Stop). Two vehicles hit each other,” said a witness in a security uniform.

    The Nation saw a man hit by a tyre that pulled off a mobile passenger bus (Danfo) near Ijeshatedo Bus Stop on Sunday.

    The man was about crossing the expressway when he was hit.

    Passengers immediately disembarked, yelling at the driver for speeding.

    A truck marked LEW 507 XA hit a Toyota Camry marked LND 650 CN and another car at Ilasamaja.

    According to a Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) official, the accident occurred around 4am.

    The truck, he said, hit two cars, killing two occupants in one of the cars.

    “We were called by the officers at the Police Station in Ilasamaja that an accident occurred and it had blocked vehicular movement along the expressway. On getting there, we saw a truck that had already crushed two cars. The damage was beyond repair,” he said.

    According to him, the owner of the car was not inside when the accident occurred.

    “Some people told us that the truck driver had hit someone at Anthony Bus Stop earlier on before killing two people at Ilasamaja. He ran away immediately the accident occurred,” he said.

    According to an eyewitness, the two cars stopped to help another accident victim when a truck driver rammed into them, killing two people instantly.

    The cars were pushed to the roadside; the truck was towed to LASTMA office in Oshodi.

  • 100 rendered homeless as fire razes shanty

    100 rendered homeless as fire razes shanty

    More than 100 persons were rendered homeless, following a fire that gutted makeshift buildings in Ijora, Lagos.

    There were no casualties in the fire that started around 10pm on Sunday night.

    A resident, Taye Rasheed, said nobody knew where the fire started from.

    “I was relaxing when I heard fire! fire!! fire!!!. It was so close that I couldn’t take anything out. The little money I have, I couldn’t pick anything. It was just last week I bought underwears for Christmas sales but now, there is nothing left. Everyone is claiming they are broke. If I go out to the streets to beg, people will say I am lazy. Only God knows,” she said.

    An expectant mother, Shola Owolabi, said all the baby items she bought and her goods were gone.

    The mother of three said she is her family breadwinner.

    She said: “Everything seems confusing in my life now. That we live here is not our wish. If someone can assist us with little income, we will be on our feet again. We have been managing all our lives. I just don’t know. I have never witnessed something like this before.”

    Another resident, simply called Wale, said the only thing he brought out was his O’level results and a pair of shoes.

    “I struggled to obtain my O’level results and it is what I have been using to work in factories. We all slept on the road while others are squatting with neighbours. We tried to put out the fire before fire service men got to the scene but there was no water. It is not really our wish that we live here. We are suffering,” he said.

     

  • Emir Sanusi for Badagry convention

    Emir Sanusi for Badagry convention

    The Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi (II), will lead eminent personalities to the third annual Muslim Professionals’ Convention at the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON), Topo, Badagry, Lagos. The four-day convention, with the theme: Unlocking the potentials of Islamic finance in Nigeria, is organised by the Guild of Muslim Professionals (GMP).

    According to GMP Administrative officer, Aameenah Yunus-Ali, Emir Sanusi’s keynote address will focus on encouraging Muslim professionals to champion the cause of Islamic Finance not for private or corporate development alone, but with the overall national development.

    The Kano monarch, she said, will join other facilitators, drawn from various financial institutions with expertise on the orthodox and Islamic financial system.

    She said: “The programme is not limited to Islamic finance alone as participants will enjoy sessions on health and wellness, marriage counseling and a host of fun trips and workshop as well.

    “With over 200 participants in mind based on previous attendance, our audience includes, but not limited to, young professionals in major industries. Veteran professionals and employers of labour will also be in attendance.”

    One of the facilitators, Mr Sulaiman AbdulKabir, said the convention is aimed at providing an ideal platform for relaxation and networking, learning and reflection on how to use professionalism to impact nation building.

    AbdulKabir said the forum will also provide first-hand information on the corporate world, finding new business contacts on all business opportunities and upgrading career strategies for the upcoming years.

  • Power outage paralyses activities in FESTAC Town

    Power outage paralyses activities in FESTAC Town

    Residents and business operators in FESTAC Town in Lagos yesterday lamented the epileptic power supply to the area by Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDP).

    They alleged that the poor supply had paralysed their domestic and commercial activities, adding that the situation had brought untold hardship to the community.

    A resident, Mrs Josephine Okoro, who manages a business centre, said the power outage coupled with scarcity of fuel had thrown her out of business.

    “We have been experiencing power outage in FESTAC town for more than two months. The most unfortunate thing is that EKEDP used to restore electricity supply in the middle of the night when it is of no use to my business. The scarcity of petrol has compounded the situation. I am always idle because I don’t have electricity to operate. Currently, I cannot afford two meals a day because EKEDP has rendered me jobless,” she said.

    Mr Jide Johnson, a resident of 23 Road, accused the power company of being insensitive to consumers’ complaints.

    Johnson said the bills the community receives every month are outrageous in spite of the outage.

    According to him, the poor supply had crippled their businesses, making artisans in the community to take to commercial motorcycling.

    EKEDP spokesman, Godwin Idemudia, said the company was doing everything possible to improve power supply in the town.

    Idemudia said the drop in the supply to some of the areas was as a result of the drop in the supply from the national grid and subsequent bulk energy load to the company, adding that the situation was beyond the company.

     

  • Acid: Ambode settles task force man’s bills

    Acid: Ambode settles task force man’s bills

    Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has paid the medical bills of an acid victim, Akude Silas.

    Silas, a para-military official attached to the Lagos State Task Force,  was attacked last week by hoodlums in a moving vehicle at Oshodi-Oke when they poured the acid on him. He was controlling traffic when the incident occured.

    Represented by Special Adviser on Environment, Babatunde Hunpe at the victim’s Ikorodu residence yesterday, the governor directed Commissioner for Health to immediately pick  his medical bills.

    The task force chairman, Olubukola Abe, a Superintendent of Police, said the governor’s gesture would go a long way to boost the morale of his officers.

    Silas said he was not deterred by what happened to him in the course of his duty, adding that the governor has demonstrated that  life of every member of the public is important to him.

  • LASURA to develop 100 slums

    The lagos State Urban Renewal Agency (LASURA) has said it will develop 100 slum settlements across the state.

    Its General Manager Lateef Sholebo, who regretted that the existence of slums has become worrisome, said a more pragmatic method is needed to develop the slums.

    The method, according to him, would include exploring the theory of urban growth boundary; tax increment financing; private public partnership; and mixed income development.

    Sholebo, a city planner of over 25 years’ experience in the United States (US), explained the principle of urban growth boundary, as being done in the western world. To him, the principle entails earmarking certain locations for physical development for the residents within a delineated boundary.

    The exercise, he said, is to attractive investors, making property in those areas to appreciate in value.

    “For example, if what is accruable to government in terms of revenue before the redevelopment exercise of an area is about N50milion, the redevelopment could raise the accruable revenue to about N150 million as revenue to the government. This means more money to redevelop another location and maintaining the infrastructure,” he added.

    Sholebo said the agency would ensure that its programme is community-driven.

    “We will develop a plan for each affected locations, give the plan to the community where the residents would discuss the plan and offer suggestions,” he said.

     

  • Rotary launches N20m project

    Rotary launches N20m project

    The Rotary Club of Ogudu GRA has earmarked N20 million for its community projects in the 2015/2016 Rotary year.

    Speaking at a fund raiser and installation as the 9th President, Mrs Fidel Ogwuazor said the amount was meant to make more significant impacts in the community.

    She said the club has identified reduction of maternal mortality, literacy and education, peace and conflict resolution, economic empowerment, water and sanitation as core projects for the year.

    Rotary chief Michael Olawale-Cole said Rotarians are not necessarily the richest people in the society but are only known for great sacrifices towards making the world a better place through the contribution of their resources.

    Olawale-Cole urged Nigerians to support Rotary humanitarian projects.

  • Rape victims deserve justice, says envoy

    Rape victims deserve justice, says envoy

    The Pakistani High Commissioner in Nigeria, Umar Farooq has urged appropriate authority to ensure rape victims get justice.

    Farooq spoke at a three-day workshop on importance of raising young female leaders.

    The programme was organised by Juliet Ume-Onyido, a Toronto-based poet and leadership coach in collaboration with Tara Uzra Dawood, President Dawood Global Foundation.

    The High Commissioner said instilling leadership qualities in young girls will aid societal development.

    “This will make a difference in the life of the people and a better living for the nation,” he said.

    The envoy decried violence on girls, saying “the girls deserve justice and freedom; that is their birthright. A well-nurtured girl child makes the society better.”

    Ume-Onyido urged rape victims to speak out, warning the society against stigmatisation.

    “Recently, we have heard no fewer than 500 cases of rape. We need people that are affected to open up and let their voices be heard. We want them to come together and share their stories.  I want a girl from Borno State to   share her story with a girl from Enugu State. In fact, they should be able to communicate across the world.  They should know that they are girls who will end up being mothers, create and nurtures the community that we want. That is the foundation we are laying here,” she said.