The Nation Newspaper

Category: City Beats

  • LASTMA official’s widow seeks refuge in church

    LASTMA official’s widow seeks refuge in church

    Still in agony over her husband’s death, Rashidat, widow of the late Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) official, Segun Shenuga, has sought refuge in church.

    The distraught woman has been in church since her husband was killed on the Third Mainland Bridge last Tuesday by a motorcyclist.

    At their Ipakodo, Ikorodu, Lagos home yesterday, the expectant mother lamented her fate, wondering what will become of her and her children.

    “What else will I do? Who will ever think of losing a loved one?” she asked, saying, the last thing she and her husband discussed was how he was going to pay their first child’s Junior Secondary School Examination fees.

    She said: “When I received a call from his office and they said they wanted to speak with my father because we live together, then I knew something was wrong. I wasn’t allowed to see him but I was assured he was responding to treatment. It is not easy to accept this. He has been riding the power bike since he joined LASTMA and he has never faced such accident before. I am a fashion designer and I know it can’t take care of our children. He has been the one taking care of our needs from day one.”

    The Shenuga’s brother, Olatunde, said he saw him last about a week to his death. His wish was to complete his house in Ibeshe next year, Olatunde said, adding: “I wish my brother spoke before his death. I wish he talked. I know he would have said something his family would have benefited from. We didn’t see his official phone and he has some confidential information there. I am pained because we were real close.”

    The widow’s father, Mr Steven Olanipekun, said he missed his son-in-law because he was in charge of his thrift collecting business.

    Olanipekun said: “The day he left home, he greeted me and said he was ready for work and I prayed for him. When I got the news, I rushed to the hospital and he was placed on oxygen. We kept praying because he was more than a son to me and I couldn’t afford to lose him. He gave up at exactly 4.50am last Tuesday without saying a word.

    “His death has really affected me. Even his children cry everyday. All their responsibilities will be on me and I can’t do everything. May God forgive him and grant his wife and children help.”

    Olanipekun thanked LASTMA for standing by the family.

    The late Shenuga was buried at his Ibeshe home. He is survived by his aged mother, siblings, widow and children.

  • Woman held for alleged currency trafficking

    Woman held for alleged currency trafficking

    •NDLEA finds $114,245, €2,020 cash on her

    National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) officilas have arrested a 52-year-old Nigerian woman of British extraction for alleged currency trafficking.

    The suspect, Sarah Olukoya, was arrested yesterday while trying to board a Virgin Atlantic flight to London at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport at Ikeja, Lagos.

    She was found with $114,245 and €2,020 cash inside 13 white envelopes in her luggage.

    Born to a Nigerian father and a Scottish mother, Olukoya had both Nigerian and British international passports.

    NDLEA Director of Assets and Financial Investigations (DAFI) Mrs Victoria Egbase said the suspect was arrested for alleged currency trafficking.

    “The suspect was found with $114,245 and €2,020 that were not declared in accordance with the law at the airport,” Egbase said.

    The suspect said she legitimately earned the money.

    She said: “I am an architect based in London. The money is part of rent paid to me by tenants in a property I inherited. It is also part of architectural and interior decoration work I did as well as loans from family members. I used to send money through the bank but the new regulation made me to carry cash. I intend to use the money to pay my children’s school fees and my medical bills”.

    Olukoya did not provide evidence to support her claim.

    This, according to NDLEA, suggests currency trafficking.

    Though NDLEA did not link the money to proceeds of narcotic trade, it said Olukoya’s refusal to declare it was an offence.

    Section 2 (5) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2012 as amended states: “Any person who falsely declares or fails to make a declaration to the Nigerian Customs Service pursuant to Section 12 of the Foreign Exchange (Monitoring and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, Cap. F34, LFN, 2004 is guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to forfeit the undeclared funds or negotiable instrument or to imprisonment to a term of not less than two years or both”.

  • Save us from police, residents urge lawmakers

    Save us from police, residents urge lawmakers

    THE police have been accused of harassing; intimidating and arresting some Lagos Island residents with the connivance of hoodlums.

    Scores of the residents stormed House of Assembly at Alausa, Ikeja, yesterday, protesting what they called the “unjustifiable action”.

    Executive Secretary of Concerned Citizens for True Justice Prince Adedamola Adele Shonibare, who led the protesters, said the problem started last year, when the All Progressives Congress (APC) Assistant Youth Leader on Lagos Island, Azzez Ashake was shot dead by some People’s Democratic Party (PDP) agents.

    “We reported the matter at the Central Police Station in Lagos. The principal suspect was arrested and was transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti. The Panti Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Gbenga Adeyanju, took over the matter and within a short time, the suspect was released despite the intervention of Oba Rilwan Akiolu of Lagos.

    “The hoodlums have been terrorising us for a long time. They have injured and maimed many people in the area.

    “About a month ago, we discovered that an officer in connivance with a woman started harassing, intimidating and persecuting innocent people to make an avenue for the gang to come back to the community.

    “The community did not banish anybody, but the offence they committed is driving them away. The moment they come back to the community, the law would take its course. Nobody will attack them, but they must be arrested by the police and prosecuted.

    “The police are harassing, intimidating and arresting innocent members of the community because the Area Commander knows that the law must take its course. In fact, the area commander invited me to his office on three occasions to plead that I should help him persuade the community to allow some people back to the community,” he said.

    Shonibare claimed that he met with the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Solomon Arase in Abuja, adding that the IG referred him to the Deputy Inspector of Police (DIG), Finance and Administration, who promised to look into the matter.

    He added that he met with the IGP again in Lagos last week, adding that the police chief promised to look into the matter.

    Shonibare claimed that some traditional chiefs do not want those arrested indiscriminately released.

    Another resident, Mrs Fausat Lawan, alleged that PDP agents were causing problem in the area, adding that they destroyed her properties, wounded her and abducted her son.

    “People should help me. They also injured my daughter-in-law and they have been making life difficult for us,” she said.

    Speaker Mudashiru Obasa assured the protesters that the issue would be addressed.

    “We have seen your petition, but don’t cause any trouble. We were not there when these things were happening, but we will take the necessary steps on the matter.

    “The government would not allow anybody to suffer. We will punish whoever is guilty, and the person would be dealt with based on the judgment of the court,” he said.

    The House, he said, would ensure the release of those unjustly arrested.

  • How to promote ethical rebirth, by Ambode

    How to promote ethical rebirth, by Ambode

    Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has urged residents to shun unethical practice in the interest of Lagos State’s socio-economic well-being.

    Ambode, represented by his Special Adviser on Civic Engagement, Mr Kehinde Joseph, spoke yesterday at a Forum/Health Screening organised by Iyalode of Lagos Chief Bintu-Fatima Tinubu.

    Its theme was: “Improving the ethical standard of the citizenry in Lagos State.”

    The governor said attitudinal change would aid the state’s development.

    According to him, the Office of Civic Engagement was created to engage people on attitudinal change and public civility to sustain peace and foster ethical rebirth.

    He said his administration would re-awaken good public conduct and moral rebirth.

    Ambode urged the people to spread the message and encourage public civility and good moral conduct.

    Iyalode Tinubu said she was motivated by the desire to see a better Nigeria.

    “The theme is aimed at curbing all sorts of illicit act from our society, such as, cultism, rape, examination malpractices, indecent dressing, prostitution, sexual harassment, drug abuse, insurgency, ritual killings, kidnappings, terrorism, just to mention a few,” she said.

    She urged the government to act on public complaints, saying: “It is important that ears are given to complaints because it is when people feel comfortable that their voices will be heard and problems rectified, they will speak out more. There must be follow- up so that these standards will be taken seriously,” she said.

    Former Deputy Governor Chief Sinatu Ojikutu blamed leaders for the society’s decay, saying: “When the head is rotten, the bottom cannot be good; as time went by, it became anything goes. The short cut to wealth syndrome is destroying the moral fabric of the society. Now, it doesn’t matter the way you make money as long as you have it. This breeds indecent act in the society.”

    She attributed youth restiveness and girls’ waywardness to parents’ indiscipline.

    “Mothers do not stay at home again to look after the children, leaving their responsibilities to housemaids who know nothing. Nobody corrects the kids when they exhibit immoral acts,” she said.

    A renowned industrialist, Chief Kessington Adebutu, said Lagos of today is different from that of yesteryear.

    “In our younger days, you moved freely in the day and at night without being harassed or robbed unlike today which is not safe. The youths of these days don’t want to crawl before walking; they are too much in haste,” he said.

    The Asoju Oba of Lagos urged government to create more jobs through vocational centres to keep youngsters off the road.

    Other speakers at the event were Deputy Governor Dr Idiat Adebule, represented by Education District VI Tutor-General/Permanent Secretary Mrs Amidat Anifowoshe; former Commissioner for Justice Alhaja Muyibat Wonu Folami and Dr David Aworawo of the University of Lagos.

     

  • Gridlock: Volunteers vow to curb traffic snarl

    Gridlock: Volunteers vow to curb traffic snarl

    Coordinator of the Lagos State Traffic Control Volunteers, Seyi Bamigbade has expressed his team’s readiness to reduce traffic snarl in Lagos metropolis.

    Bamigbade spoke yesterday after signing a memorandum of understanding with the management of Jekalo.com at Alausa Ikeja.

    He noted that as more people sign-up for the initiative and become traffic control volunteers, the perennial traffic congestion in the city will gradually disappear.

    He said in areas where many people have come up to registered as traffic controller, the effect has been very tremendous; even as he said more volunteers are still needed to further ease traffic gridlock in Lagos city.

    The coordinator informed that Jekalo.com will be partnering with volunteer groups in the area of technology by connecting road users to available rides in different localities across the state; adding that the platform will engender trust and safety of road users on the platform.

    Speaking on his company’s partnership with Road Traffic Volunteers, Managing Director of Jekalo.com, Mr Motooni Bolarinwa said his organisation works by encouraging ride owners to share a ride with one or two people on his route.

    “We make this happen by rewarding them with incentives such as Fuel voucher, Lekki Toll E-Tag Registration and Funding, Car Maintenance Services, Genuine Motor Third Party Insurance and more at half the price it would have normally cost using their Jekalo Credit contributed by co-riders.

    “We have discovered that our users are encouraged to drive less because of the convenience of joining someone else on days they don’t wish to drive and we wish to continue to encourage this trend alongside integration with the public transportation system like BRT”, he said.

    It would be recalled that few weeks ago, a socio-political organisation under the auspices of National Image launched an initiative tagged, “Lagos State Traffic Control Volunteers” to help check the menace of traffic gridlock in the metropolis.

    The initiative is meant to cover all the 20 Local Government Areas and 37 Local Council Development Areas of the state.

     

  • Ex-Traffic warden, others arrested for faking Tinubu, Owoseni, DSP

    Ex-Traffic warden, others arrested for faking Tinubu, Owoseni, DSP

    Four persons, including a former warden have been arrested for allegedly impersonating All Progressives Congress (APC) National Leader Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni and a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP).

    They are Lucky Adieze, 24, John Ogunnowo, 23, Obinna Collins, 21 and Afoke Adetolani, 58.

    Parading the suspects yesterday, Owoseni said their arrest followed tip-off from the public on how criminals were using the Facebook, a social media and police uniform to dupe people.

    Adieze who impersonated Tinubu said: “I am a hip hop musician and I opened a Facebook account with Tinubu’s picture to attract people. I think it was the person who gave me his account number that made police to find me and arrest me two weeks ago.”

    John Ogunnowo, 23 who gave Adieze his account number said: “I work in an health organization but when I lost my job, I was trying to look for money to enable me go back to school. I only gave him my bank account number not knowing that he had bad intention that will end up putting me in trouble.

    “When I went to the bank to collect money, I was told that my account was zero and in an attempt to know why, police arrested me.”

    Collins, who claimed to be National Diploma II Electrical Engineering Student said: “I opened a Facebook account using CP Owoseni because it is only way to attract victims. Once they see CP, they would believe everything I tell them and I would get the money I wanted. This particular woman, Mrs Ronke, a business woman is the only victim. I was chatting with her and she ended up paying N20, 000 into my account. I initially told her that I had boys whom I am training in higher institution and I have a foundation that is taking care of it.

    “Surprisingly Mrs Ronke told me to come and meet her at Conoil, Ikeja to collect something she wanted to give me as a hard working Commissioner of Police. I asked her whether she knew the size of my shoes and she said it does not matter that what she wanted was to have fun with me. She however insisted that she wanted me to collect the shoe and iPad as a remembrance of our love. She said she had been nursing the idea of having fun with me and that was what she wanted for her life.

    “Unfortunately for me, when I came to collect the golden shoe and the Ipad, I was arrested by the police.”

    Adetolani, a former traffic warden inspector known as yellow fever, impersonated DSP.

    He said: “I was dismissed because my colleague who stole a tyre from a parked exhibit vehicle in police station said that I planned it with him. I tried to defend myself but they insisted that we did it together and both of us were dismissed.

    “To help myself and my family, I decided to do something smart. I first bought this uniform and later bought the DSP rank and ID card and uniform for N15,000. I was dismissed from Surulere division in 1984. They framed me up and dismissed me.

    “I bought a bus for commercial purpose but my offence is that I hanged this uniform in my bus so that police, LASTMA, KAI, road safety and other law enforcement agents will not disturb me on the road. You can see that the name I used is my real name. I was stopped at Oshodi by police and I told them that I am a police DSP and they paid me my compliment but told me that they still wanted to investigate me.

    “It was that investigation and interrogation that gave me up. I tried to bribe them yet they refused and told me that police have changed and that it was no more business as usual. But one thing is clear; I did not rob with it. I only used it to get respect and easy passage whenever I meet law enforcement agents. Please tell police to forgive me, it is due to the hardship I was passing through after my dismissal.”

     

  • Lagos tasks residents on proper waste water management

    Lagos tasks residents on proper waste water management

    The Lagos State Government yesterday warned residents that anybody caught contravening the laws guiding disposal of waste water in the state would henceforth face wrath of the law.

    The Commissioner for the Environment, Dr Samuel Adejare, made this known at a sensitisation forum on waste water management in Agege area of the state.

    The forum had “Waste Management: Perfecting the Natural Resources” as its theme.

    Adejare noted that the negative attitude of the average Lagosian to waste water management posed a challenge to the implementation of the government’s development plan in the sector.

    He said government was determined to build on existing infrastructure to recycle waste water.

    According to him, the Lagos State Waste Water Masterplan which covers the years 2015 to 2040 has immediate, medium and long term intervention and strategies to address the challenges in the sector.

    In a lecture, Professor Ezekiel Longe of the University of Lagos, pointed out that 80 per cent of residents drew water from the underground water body which had been contaminated through years of waste water mismanagement.

    Longe, an expert in water resources, identified consumption of contaminated water as being responsible for the prevalence of diseases such as typhoid as well as dysentery, among Nigerians.

    He explained that prolonged consumption of such water might lead to organ damage and cancer.

     

  • Alleged forgery: EFCC arraigns lawyer, two Frenchmen

    Alleged forgery: EFCC arraigns lawyer, two Frenchmen

    A Nigerian lawyer, Ferdinand Egede and two French nationals, Gnahouse Sonrou Nazaire and Senoue ýModeste, were yesterday arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before a Lagos High Court sitting on a four-count charge of conspiracy, forgery and uttering.

    The EFCC prosecutor, Chikezie Udozie, told the court that the defendants committed the alleged offences in May 28, 2007.

    He said they conspired amongst themselves to forge Rana Prestige Industry Ltd’s Ordinary Resolution, which was purported to have been signed by one Madam Rasheedatu.

    The prosecutor also alleged that on November 22, 2005, ýthe defendants forged a Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) form 17 which was also allegedly signed by Rasheedatu.

    He added that on the same date the defendants uttered the forged document to the commission as genuine.

    The defendants denied all of the charges.

    After listening to the submission of the first and second defendants’ counsel, Rickey Tarfa SAN, Justice Adebiyi granted the Frenchmen bail in the sum of N500,000 each with two sureties each in the like sum.

    They were remanded in prison custody pending the perfection of their bail conditions.

    The third defendant, who represented himself, was granted bail on self recognition.

    The case was adjourned till February 5 and 11, 2016, for trial.

     

  • Govt pledges to stand by workers

    Victims of the Owode-Onirin scrap market fire will not be abandoned, the Lagos State Government said yesterday.

    Some of them are at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) in Ikeja.

    The government pledged its commitment to its workforce well-being, particularly in time of need so as to get the best out of them.

    A statement by Lagos State Fire Service Public Relations Officer Bola Ajao said the Ministry of Special Duties and Inter Governmental Relations Permanent Secretary Dr Ibironke Sodeinde made the pledge when she visited the victims on Friday.

    Sodeinde, accompanied by the Director Fire Service, Mr Rasak Fadipe said her visit was to assess the victims‘ conditions and their needs.

    She thanked LASUTH for its care, saying government’s decision to foot the victims’ bills showed its commitment to their well-being.

    Sodeinde said government was aware of fire fighters’ exposure to risks, adding:

    “Fire fighters are essential to public safety; they engage in putting out fires and pulling people from burning cars, buildings and other dangerous situations. To this end, government has insured them, improved their welfare package and expended a lot of tax payers’ money on equipping facilities to meet the mega city challenges so as to reduce their vulnerability to dangers,”Sodeinde explained.

    The 11 victims, among them fire fighters and traders, were rushed to the hospital following gas explosion at the market last Thursday.

    Fadipe described fire fighters as unsung heroes who sacrifice their lives to ensure that lives and properties are protected.

    He praised the residents and traders for their support during the incident, adding that their intervention and call for medical assistance saved many lives.

    Seven of the victims, he said, had been discharged, adding that the others, including two fire fighters – Olugbade Titus, 48 and squad leader Dare John, 58 – and two traders – Adewale Nureni, 56 and Kamal Jimoh, 33 – are in stable condition.

  • Ambode’s wife declares LTV Xmas fair open

    Lagos State Governor’s wife  Mrs Bolanle Ambode opened at the weekend the 31st Lagos State Television (LTV) Christmas funfair.

    Mrs Ambode expressed delight at the conduct of the yearly children fun and entertainment event.

    The yearly funfair programme attracts about 35,000 children since inception.

    She described the number as a measure of good capacity for planning and execution, on the part of the LTV management.

    She advised the management that the message of the Christmas season which centres on true love, forgiveness, kindness, peace and joy should not be forgotten as people go about seeking for fun and entertainment across the state.

    Calling for caution among the children when handling the swings and other entertainment equipment provided by LTV, Mrs Ambode urged other school children, parents, guardians and school owners to be part of the unlimited fun.

    “On the part of LTV, please ensure vigilance, good crowd control and tight security,” she said.

    Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Steve Ayorinde said that the theme of the 31stedition of the Christmas funfair is designed to extend frontiers of merrymaking in the festive season in spite of the economic realities in the country.

    The economic situation, according to the Commissioner, will not reduce the standard and quality of services offered by LTV.

    He said LTV Christmas Funfair has grown to become the clear leader and reference point today being a renowned platform for recreation and social interaction filling the void created by the sudden departure of famous Department Stores across the state that operated Christmas Grottos some decades ago.

    Ayorinde said the premises of LTV will become a one-stop fun centre for every member of the family for the next 30 days.

    “As the children visit the Grotto to see Santa Claus, parents could also do their shopping within the De Blue Roof while the whole family sits back and relax with thrilling music from top grade and upcoming musicians,” he said.