The Nation Newspaper

Category: City Beats

  • Police urged to tackle child abuse

    A former Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Mrs Adejoke Orelope–Adefulire has urged law-enforcement agencies to co-operate with residents of the state to bring the perpetrators of domestic and sexual violence acts to book.

    She spoke at a public lecture on child abuse prevention organized by the Centre for Rural Development and Community Transformation at the Yhelo House, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH).

    The programme tagged Preventing Child Abuse in Nigeria: My Role, Your Role brought together civil society experts, community grassroots initiatives, youth groups, lawyers and government agencies.

    According to her, the battle to reduce child abuse in Nigeria can be effectively won when parents, rape victims, and law-enforcement agencies work together to track down sexual offenders.

    She said: “We will allow rape which is unacceptable and intolerable in any sane society to fester when law enforcement agencies cover up sexual offenders or discriminate against rape victims, particularly minors”.

     

    Mrs Orelope-Adefulire lamented that that in many cases, sexual offenders are always close relatives which made it hard for victims to open up or pursue the case to a logical conclusion for others to learn.

    Speaking on the unwillingness of many parents to report cases of abuse when they occur, which she attributed to the fear of stigmatization of victim, she said “we will only encourage the perpetrators to continue in this evil act if we keep quiet”.

    She noted that in 2014, over 900 sexual and domestic violence were recorded in Lagos, which according to her poses a lot of challenges to all stakeholders to brace up in the discharge of their duty in the effort towards ridding our environment of sexual violence in any guise.

    Mrs Orelope-Adefulire was represented by Deputy Director, WAPA, Mrs. Adefunke Odutola.

  • Residents: we live in fear of ‘area boys’

    Residents: we live in fear of ‘area boys’

    Many live and trade in the neighbourhood because it is close to Onipanu bus-stop on Ikorodu Road. Now, they are contemplating moving out because of the fear of hoodlums. Kayode Street in Onipanu has lost its attraction to them.

    Shop owners claim that they are the easiest preys whenever hoodlums clash in the area and neighbouring streets, killing and maiming.

    The Nation gathered yesterday that not a few traders and tenants have relocated,  while those still there are living in fear.

    “Just about 10 days ago, around 8pm, I was attending to a customer when I heard gunshots as people ran for dear lives. Before I could demand to know what was happening, I saw four armed young men in my shop. Despite the fact that I was used to such an experience there, I was terrified to the marrow. ‘Where is our money?’ One of them hollered. They collected all the money I had made that day – about N180,000 – and left for other shops.

    “My passionate plea to them to have mercy on me because I’m a widow and retired teacher meant nothing to them. Their bloodshot eyes were threatening as the offensive odour of marijuana was all over them. I have suffered such attacks thrice in the past one year. Now, I am on the look-out for safer areas where I can enjoy some measure of peace,” said a woman who sells babies’ wares.

    A young male trader did not agree to speak with this reporter until he was assured that his name, business and address would not be mentioned.

    His reason: “Those boys are deadly. If they identify me, they will kill me or in the least, send me away from here after looting my shop again.”

    The trader, who said he could not quantify how much he lost to previous attacks, added: “The attack of last week did not catch me unawares as I got alerted on phone when they started their trouble from the Mushin Toll Gate. I wasted no time in packing my things. I had left my shop when they reached there. I was watching them from the Mobil Filling Station at the Ikorodu Road end of the street.

    “What baffles me is that they always have free reign whenever they swoop on us as there is usually no policeman to come to our rescue. We are in serious mess here. I just hope the police can appreciate the magnitude of our plight and do something about the matter. Nobody is safe here at nightfall – even during the day!”

    Another trader, who said she just came around to spend a few hours, told The Nation that she no longer opens her shop beyond 7pm for fear of such attacks.

    She added: “Just three days ago, a man was shot dead near us here by members of a rival group. He was left to bleed to death as no one wanted to be caught in the web of the crisis.”

  • Don advises Muslims on corruption

    The Chief Imam, Federal Polytechnic Ede, Osun State, Taofeek Abdulhammed, an engineer, has urged Muslims to join hands to eradicate corruption.

    He gave the advice during the 3rd Abass-Elegba Community Foundation Pre-Ramadan lecture at the Ijaye Housing Estate Muslim Association (IHEMA) Central Mosque at Agege in Lagos.

    Abdulhammed, who spoke on the theme: “Fight Against Corruption: The Islamic Perspective,” noted that the nation’s developmental process is being hindered by the magnitude of corruption in the country.

    He said: “Islam has taught us not to be unnecessarily greedy. It is out of greed that people become corrupt because they focus more on materialism. If we focus on Allah and His oneness, we will realise our mistakes. Muslims should be honest and must ensure to live above God.

    President of IHEMA, Mr. Bashir Braimah, who said individuals should eschew corruption in their personal lives to have positive effect on the society and the nation advised: “Muslims owe the duty to each other and Allah to be upright. The corruption in Nigeria today is too endemic. If we start as Muslims to comply with our oath of office, especially those who are in public offices who swore on oath with the Qur’an, things will change for the better. Also, even the new generation intends to go into power to steal and not to serve the country. As soon as we change our mindset to serve willingly, corruption may not be completely erased, but will be reduced with time.”

    IHEMA Chief Imam, Shafi Mumuney, said the programme was to make Muslims be on the alert for the next Ramadan to make them more dutiful to Allah. “In order to eradicate corruption, we have to believe totally in the submission of Allah. The fear of Allah is paramount in our lives,” he noted.

  • Editor loses dad

    Editor loses dad

    Pa James Omodara Otokiti, father of the News Editor of National Daily, Mr. Segun Otokiti, has passed on.

    Pa Otokiti died on May 29, after a brief illness. He was 80.

    He was a Supervisory Senior Pharmacy Technician with Ido/Osi Local Government in Ekiti State before he retired years ago.

    His Pharmacy career took him across many states in the South-West and Edo State.

    A Christian wake and lying-in-state will hold for him on July 16 at his 69, Ayetoro Street, Ijare, Ondo State home.

    He will be laid to rest on July 17 at his residence after a funeral service at St. Michael Anglican Church, Ayetoro Street, Ijare.

    Pa Otokiti is survived by wives, children, grandchildren, nephews, nieces and many other relations.

    Entertainment of guests follows immediately after burial at Anglican Grammar School’s open field in Ijare.

  • ‘I killed to avenge my cousin’s murder’

    ‘I killed to avenge my cousin’s murder’

    A detainee has told the police that he shot a fellow cultist dead to avenge the killing of his cousin.

    Matthew Ekomafe, 28, is being detained for allegedly killing a member of Eye cult, Shino Acheyi, over the death of his cousin, Dike Dik, a Political Science graduate of Delta State University in Abraka.

    Dike was killed in Lagos on his return from Abuja where he was doing his National Youth Service Corps.

    A source said the Eye cult members had been terrorising residents of Ijanikin in Lagos along the Badagry Expressway.

    Some of them, according to the source, were also on the police “wanted list” for murder, killing, maiming and looting.

    Following a tip-off, Lagos State Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) operatives swooped on the area and arrested Ekomafe in a hotel.

    The police discovered a gun in his bag, the source said.

    The police are on the trail of his gang members who he claimed, are cultists belonging to either Eye or Black Cat Fraternity.

    Ekomafe may be prosecuted for armed robbery and murder.

    The suspect said: “I am a member of Black Cat Fraternity. I had my Ordinary National Diploma in Marine Engineering in 2012. I am from Eku Village in Abraka Local Government Area of Delta State.

    “I don’t like Eye Fraternity because they rob and steal. One of them, Uche who happened to be my friend, robbed me of my phone and N3,000 cash on the road. This made me to join Black Cat through a friend called Charles.”

    Recalling how he was initiated, he said: “He (Charles) took me to a bush where they placed an axe on my head, cut my finger with razor blade and asked me to lick my blood. We were over 30 that were initiated that day.

    “We promised under oath that we would never rob, rape nor steal, but Eye members steal, rob and rape innocent women, claiming that having sex with a matured woman is not rape but merely having fun with them because they are not minors.”

    He added: “My trouble started when my cousin, Dike Dik, a Youth Corps member came to visit me and Eye people shot him dead. We were annoyed and we went and killed one of them in the Vespa area of Ijanikin. It was one of the guys from Igbesa Polytechnic, Ogun State, named Atigba, who gave me the locally made short gun which I used to kill the killer of my cousin. The Eye people later retaliated by killing two members of Black Cat at Church bus stop.

    “We later shot one of them, Godspower aka Power in retaliation. The casualties in Eye side now are two, while Black Cat has three casualties. The three Black Cat members they killed are Dike Dik, Tio and Destiny while the two the Black cats killed on the side of Eye are Shino and Seyi. They rushed the person I shot at the chest to hospital where he later died.

    On how he was arrested, he said: “I went to lodge in Ayala Hotel along Olorunshogo in the Ijanikin area. I was alone in my hotel room sleeping and somebody came and knocked. When I opened the door, policemen entered. When they searched my room, they found a gun under the bed. When I took them to the house of one of us named Orumo, he scaled the wall and escaped.”

  • Trader jailed 21 years for defiling girl, six

    Trader jailed 21 years for defiling girl, six

    An Ikeja High Court in Lagos yesterday sentenced a 27-year-old trader, Chidi Ibiam to 21 years imprisonment for defiling a six-year-old girl.

    Justice Sedoten Ogunsanya found Ibiam, who lives in the Baruwa Area of Ipaja, a Lagos suburb, guilty of defilement.

    “I have noted before me all the relevant facts of this case; the defendant is hereby found guilty of the crime of defilement and is sentenced to 21 years in prison,” Justice Ogunsanya said.

    During the trial, the prosecution led by Mr Adebayo Haroun, a state counsel, told the court that Ibiam committed the offence on December 15, 2012.

    Haroun said the convict was caught after the victim reported the assault to her mother.

    According to the prosecution, the convict is well known to the victim’s family as he is a neighbour and a church member.

    The convict denied the charge.

    The victim told the court that the defendant had unlawful carnal knowledge of her on 12 occasions in a shop and in a neighbour’s house.

    “He used to give me garri and money; then he would ask me to sit on his laps before he would start touching me,” she said.

    The victim referred to Ibiam’s genitals as “tom tom” throughout her testimony.

    In her judgment, Justice Ogunsanya urged parents to teach their children the right names of male and female genitals.

    Another prosecution witness, Dr Adefunke Adeoye of Orile-Agege General Hospital, told the court that when she examination on the victim, she found evidence of sexual assault and broken hymen.

    Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, states: “Any person who has unlawful sexual intercourse with a child is guilty of a felony and liable to imprisonment for life.’

  • Residents lament power outage

    Residents lament power outage

    Residents of Ije-Ododo in Ojo area of Lagos yesterday urged Ikeja Electric Distribution Company (IKEDC) to urgently restore power to the community.

    They claimed that the community was thrown into darkness following Monday’s pipeline explosion, which damaged many electricity poles.

    The explosion, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), followed illegal activities by suspected vandals at NNPC’s pipeline at Ije-Ododo.

    The Baale of Ije-Ododo, Alhaji Tajudeen Subair-Ododo, told NAN that the community has been thrown into darkness since explosion, adding that it used to experience such outage for several months whenever pipelines exploded.

    He, enjoined the electricity company to replace the affected poles.

    Mr Taofik Idowu, a teacher, said the outage had a terrible economic impact on the community, as business activities, adding: “This is not the first time that pipeline explosion has occurred here. Members of the community are the ones suffering for the outage.’’

    Mrs Chinyere Okorie, a frozen food seller, said the outage is affecting her business, noting: “The damage done by the pipeline explosion to electricity poles has started affecting my business. We were just thanking the electricity company because power was stable and this has happened now. After the last explosion, we suffered for three months. Only God knows when power supply will be restored in the community,” she said.

    Mr Pekun Adeyanju, Assistant General Manager, Public Affairs Division, Ikeja Electric, said the fire would soon begin repair of the poles.

    Adeyanju said the management was aware of the problem, adding that the company would soon swing into action to put things in order. He appealed to the community to bear with the company.

    Meanwhile, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said last night that the pipeline fire has been put out.

    Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, the NEMA spokesman in the South-West, said the rains and swampy nature of the land made it difficult for emergency officials to reach the site of the incident early.

    He said that platforms made of wooden planks were constructed to enable officials reach the site

    “But thank God, we have gotten to the fire point and with the assistance of emergency agencies, the fire has been put off,’’ he said.

    Farinloye said that pumping of petroleum products would resume immediately after the affected pipeline had been repaired.

  • Police warn commercial motorcyclists

    Police warn commercial motorcyclists

    The Lagos State Police Command restated yesterday its warning to commercial motorcycle operators not to ply prohibited routes, saying offenders would be arrested.

    Its Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Kenneth Nwosu, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the ban was still in force, adding that strict enforcement would continue.

    “The ban on Okada riding on expressways still stands; we know so many of the commercial motorcyclists will want to break the law and that is where enforcement comes in. Anyone of them we see plying the expressway will be arrested and made to face the wrath of the law,” Nwosu said.

    Some commercial motorcycles have suddenly resumed operation on Ikorodu Road, Lagos /Abeokuta Expressway and some other prohibited routes.

    The PPRO also reacted to reports of robberies by hoodlums riding motorcycles who forcefully dispossess pedestrians of their belongings.

    “Wherever incidents like this occur, reports should be made to the nearest police station so that we can intensify our surveillance on that route. People should not just keep quiet and assume that the police is aware of all the occurrences,” he said.

    Nwosu said people should not hesitate to provide police with information that would help in providing them with adequate security.

  • ‘Hand over new Oyingbo Market to traders’

    The women’s leader of the popular Oyingbo Market on Lagos Mainland, Alhaja Basirat Balogun, yesterday appealed to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to hand over the new market complex to traders.

    She told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the handing over was long overdue since the market was inaugurated in March.

    She lamented that ex-Governor Babatunde Fashola could not fulfil his promise to hand over the complex before leaving office.

    “Fashola delivered on his campaign promise to build the market and we are happy, but we do not know why he could not handover the market to us after it was commissioned. We complained to the Lagos State Ministry of Works and Infrastructure which promised that Governor Fashola was going to hand it over.

    “My market members have been asking questions on when they would move into the shops; some of them feel so disappointed. We want the new administration to officially hand the market over to us,” she said.

    The market leader, however, said that lack of adequate drainage channels around the entire market was causing flooding whenever it rained.

    She appealed to Ambode to construct drainage channels around the market to avert flooding.

    NAN, however, learnt that Fashola could not hand over the market before his exit because of incomplete documentation.

    The complex has 902 lock-up shops, 49 open offices and 134 toilets.

    Other facilities in the complex include 150-capacity car park, water, sewage and refuse treatment plants, fire safety gadgets, heavy duty generators and six gate houses, among others.

  • Court ends two-year-old marriage

    An Ojo Customary Court in Lagos yesterday dissolved the two-year-old marriage of Mr and Mrs Saliu Yekini for infidelity, excessive drinking, lack of care, constant fighting and threat to life.

    “Its president, Chief Joseph Ogunmola, ruled that the allegations of the petitioner, Saliu Yekini, 60, against his wife, Latifat, indicated that there was no more love in the union.

    Ogunmola said: “The court is not in doubt that the marriage between Saliu and Latifat Yekini has broken down irretrievably. The court hereby officially dissolves the marriage. The custody of a one-year-old baby girl from the marriage is hereby awarded to the respondent, under the supervision of the sister-in-law.

    “The petitioner is directed to pay N5,000 monthly to the respondent for feeding of the baby and should also take charge of medical and education needs of the child.

    “Any party, who is not pleased with any section of this judgement, should appeal within 30 days of the judgment.”

    Earlier, Latifat, 34, denied the allegations, saying her husband was trying to cover up his inability discharge his marital responsibilities.

    “My husband was only looking for a cover up to justify his irresponsibility, I am also fed up with the marriage and do support the divorce,” she said.