The Nation Newspaper

Category: City Beats

  • Ikeja Electric explains power outages

    Ikeja Electric explains power outages

    The management of Ikeja Electric (IE) has attributed the current rate of power interruption across its network to low power allocation from the National Grid.

    The company made the explanation in a statement signed by Mr Pekun Adeyanju, IE Assistant General Manager, Public Affairs, and issued in Lagos.

    It quoted Mr Abiodun Ajifowobaje, the Chief Executive Officer of IE , as saying that the average power allocation to the company was 350 mega watts (MW) as against minimum load demand of 1,250 MW.

    Ajifowobaje, according to the statement, explained that the huge shortfall had affected the operations of the company, as they had resorted to load-shedding.

    Ajifowobaje reassured electricity consumers in its jurisdiction that the company would ensure that the power allocation will be equitably distributed.

    He appealed for consumers’ understanding and promised that efforts had been stepped up to ensure repair of electrical faults.

    He decried the activities of consumers who connect electricity illegally into their premises without paying electricity bills.

    The IE chief said the activities of the vandals had impacted negatively on consumers’ billing system.

    “The energy allocated to an area is measured and people may be paying for the power being consumed by the energy thieves.

    “We have put a process in place to migrate individuals involved in this practice into our network.

    “However, we seek the cooperation of community leaders and consumers in our efforts to eradicate energy theft and ensure quality service delivery for all customers within the IE network,” he said.

  • Council inaugurates committees

    The Agege Local Government in Lagos State has inaugurated five committees to assist in making recommendations that would enhance the successful administration of the council.

    The committees with various terms of reference are to submit their recommendations this week. They are mandated to evaluate and audit non-pensionable staff and look into areas of revenue leakages and make recommendations on how to block them and improve the council’s revenue.

    A committee is to look into the different stages of ongoing projects and make recommendations for payment. It will also recommend priority projects.

    The fourth committee will look into the state of degradation of local government infrastructure and make recommendations on how to uplift them.

    The last committee is to draft a Mission and Vision Statement for the local government.

    Inaugurating the committees at the council secretariat, the Executive Secretary, Omofunmilewa Adejombo, a lawyer, said the primary purpose of setting up the committees is to advance the course of governance and move the council forward.

    He said it was a joint decision by all stakeholders in the council area and therefore, should not be seen as a means to witch-hunt anybody.

    Hon. Richard Osayinpeju, who chairs one of the committees, said the responsibility is a call to serve, particularly now when the allocation from the federal coffers is fast dwindling.

    He added that all local governments should start to look inwards on how generate funds to provide their people with amenities that will make life more meaningful.

    He enjoined members of the committees to work assiduously in their different capacities to ensure the success of the exercise.

  • Council chief closes market

    The Executive Secretary of Amuwo Odofin Local Government in Lagos State, Deaconess Modupe Ajibola-Ojodu, has ordered the closure of Amuwo Odofin Local Government Market Complex.

    The market got into the news following the allegation by the traders against one Alhaji Saheed Abiola who they accused of beating them whenever they went against his ‘so-called laid down rules’.

    Ajibola-Ojodu also immediately dissolved the existing executives of the market association.

    She called for the appointment of a caretaker committee to steer the leadership of the market pending when all the thorny issues raised by the two warring parties in the market would be resolved.

    The Women Leader of the market, Mrs Catherine Omotoyosi had alleged that Abiola, popularly known as ‘Zyad1’ usually engaged in illegal collection of levies from the marketers even when he was not a member of the executives.

    Abiola had debunked most of the accusations.

    Speaking at the reconciliation meeting yesterday at the Local Government headquarters in Lagos, Ajibola-Ojodu said that the market would remain shut until all the issues were settled.

    She warned the warring parties against flouting her orders, insisting that her administration would not tolerate breakdown of laws and orders within the market.

  • Suspected cable vandals arrested

    Suspected cable vandals arrested

    Three suspected electricity transformer cable thieves were arrested by community volunteers in Era Town, in the Oto-Awori Local Council Development Area of Lagos State at the weekend.

    The suspended vandals were apprehended in the early hours of the day before they could carry out their nefarious act.

    The suspects who gave their names as Henry Reuben, Eze Obiesi and Chika Okpara, were with industrial spanners, pliers and a push-truck with which they planned to loosen and cart away the power connecting cables.

    When quizzed, the leader of the gang, Obiesi, confessed that they were the same gang that vandalised and carted away the cables that connected one of the community’s transformers to the power grid a week earlier.

    Leader of the watchmen group, Mr Amodu Saminu, expressed satisfaction that they had got to the bottom of the cable theft in the community, adding that some of the youths earlier accused had been exonerated.

    Reuben said the cables stolen from one of the transformers were sold off at N5, 000 per metre, fetching about N300,000 for cables worth almost 700,000 at N10,500 per metre.

    “I was shared N40, 000 from a total booty of N130, 000,” he said.

  • ‘IGP orders probe of village invasion’

    RESIDENTS of Gerigbe Village in Ikorodu Local Government area of Lagos State have urged Acting Inspector-General of Police (IGP) to look into the invasion of their land by some policemen and hoodlums.

    Their appeal followed another attack on the community last Thursday night by some policemen from the Force Criminal Investigation Bureau (FCIB), Abuja.

    In a petition, the community is alleging that five residents were arrested and the home of High Chief Sanyaolu Aina was vandalised.

    A source said the police team claimed that it acted on orders from above, but the villagers are claiming that “the police deliberately led thugs, hoodlums and cultists to take over their land.”

    A landlord, Kayode Odunbitan, who is the Secretary of Gerigbe/Orelade royal family, alleged that the police team came with hoodlums, area boys and cult members about 10pm and sacked the village.

    Odunbitan said the police watched as hoodlums looted and raped women and “eventually took over the entire village.”

    He urged the IGP to ensure that the case is investigated and that those found wanting are brought to book.

    Meanwhile, following a petition by the Edem law firm, he alleged, the IGP has instructed his monitoring unit to investigate the matter.

    But High Chief Aina is claiming that despite the IGP’s orders, the attack on the village have not ceased.

    Strange people, he alleged, had been invading his home and his followers’ at odd hours, adding that suspected hired killers have also been trailing his vehicles.

  • ‘Save my child’s life’

    ‘Save my child’s life’

    A 50-year-old helpless father, Isiaka Yusuf, has cried out to kind-hearted Nigerians to assist him in rescuing his ailing son from imminent death.

    Yusuf visited the Lagos Headquarters of The Nation last Friday, seeking help for the five-and-a-half-year-old child, Kehinde Abdur-Raheem Yusuf, who needs N625,000 for a corrective surgery at the University College hospital (UCH), Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

    “I have been running to every direction without any hope and I don’t want this boy to die because he has suffered a lot. I can only look up to God through public-spirited Nigerians,” Yusuf, who resides on Kilometer 2, Iseyin Road, Moniya, Ibadan, said.

    Displaying the boy’s medical records, he added: “My son has an unusually big head – bigger than his entire body as a result of which he could not sit, walk or control his head. His ailment, known as hydrocephalus in medical parlance, started when he was just six months old. Then, he had malaria and a doctor passed a drip through his head. Two weeks after, his head started growing more than his entire body. Since then, we have taken him to about 10 different private, traditional and General Hospitals before we were then referred to the UCH in June 2011. At the UCH, he has undergone tests and now another surgery is being contemplated to save his life.”

    He said donations could be forwarded to a GTBank account, 0151945965, which was opened under the name: Abdur-Raheem Kehinde Yusuf. “My contact number is 08032854784,” he said.

  • Road gets facelift ten years after

    Oshodi-Isolo Local Government Area of Lagos has rehabilitated Adekunle Street in Oshodi which had suffered damage for about ten years.

    The Nation learnt that motorists, commercial motorcyclists otherwise known as Okada riders and residents go through hardship plying the road especially during the rainy season.

    The council’s Executive Secretary Adeola Dawood Olajobi said the gesture is to ease traffic in Oshodi.

    According to him, the road, which is an easy access to Mafoluku and Oshodi road through its link to Daodu Street, would no doubt ease traffic on major roads.

    Olajobi said vehicles would not be allowed to be parked or abandoned on the road.

    He warned those engaging in mechanical work along the road to desist.

    “More link roads,” he said, “would also be taken into consideration; though we were saddled with the responsibilities of midwifing the affairs of the council till there will be a substantive chairman.”

    “But by and large, the welfare of our people matters to us, hence our resolution to also distributed desks, benches and exercise books to all our pupils in the primary schools to enhance teaching and learning process,” he added.

  • Fuel tankers stall Apapa traffic

    Fuel tankers stall Apapa traffic

    A long column of cars. People trecking and sweating. Fuel tankers all over the place. This was the scene on Oshodi-Apapa Expressway in Lagos yesterday.

    Some motorists abandoned their cars to join the long walk.

    Hard hit were workers who had to get to work early. They alighted from buses to trek as the road was jamparked.

    According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the arteries through which motorists could manoeuvre were blocked, leaving passengers and drivers in agony.

    A trader, Mrs Blessing Eze, said the road congestion disrupted her plans for the day.

    Mrs. Eze said: “It is not good at all; thousands of Lagosians have resorted to trekking because the roads are blocked. Our driver took all alternative routes but met all blocked.

    “I disembarked from the vehicle which I boarded at Surulere and took to trekking to Lagos Island, which you know is a good distance’’.

    She said she spent about 90 minutes trekking from Surelere to Costain, stressing that she does not know when she would get to her shop.

    A graduate, Miss Victoria Mbamara, described the gridlock as bad and boring.

    “I started trekking from Surulere to Lagos, this is very bad. I do not know what could have caused this pain on all of us.

    “Our leaders should be proactive in arresting a situation like this that is capable to subjecting citizens to hardship. It’s bad,’’ Mbamara said.

    A businessman, Wale Ola, said: “This horrible traffic started yesterday; it is disheartening and highly discouraging’’.

    Another businessman, Christopher Ogucha, said: “This kind of traffic makes Lagos a boring place to live in.

    “I don’t know the cause, but the government should have proffered solutions; it is affecting us and our businesses,’’ Ogucha said.

    A civil servant, Mrs. Stella Obiora, described the traffic as terrible and painful.

    “It is terrible. If this is allowed to continue, wahala de niye, meaning trouble has come. It is quite bad and can earn one a query in the office,” Obiora said.

    Motorists are complaining about government’s inability to find a lasting solution to the problem.

    A motorist, who simply identified himself as Peter, said: “It’s a lot of stress to the good people of Lagos who left their homes to search for what to eat.

    “We have been trapped in this traffic and merry-go-round a lot without getting to our destination. It is quite painful that our leaders are not proactive.

    A driver, Sakiru Gbada said: “It is serious. I have spent about three hours on my way to Lagos Island.

    “The old woman I am taking to Lagos for medical examination is tired of the traffic situation.’’

    The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), say they are on top of the situation.

    FRSC Lagos Sector Commander, Hyginus Omeje said police, LASTMA and the Corps are cooperating to arrest the situation.

    “We have been working endlessly since we noticed the gridlock; we have tried to restrict all the tankers that trooped into Lagos to load fuel from all other states to one lane.

    “It has really been difficult because they are the ones causing the congestion and it is difficult to tow them, especially when they are loaded to avoid fire.

    “This is always the aftermath of the fuel scarcity as many tankers come to lift petroleum products from tank farms that do not have loading bay,’’ he said.

    According to Omeje, with the concentration of tank farms in Apapa, there should be checks on farms without loading bays before the issuance of certificates.

    He urged the Federal Government to open other tank farms in Ijebu-Ode (Ogun State) and Benin (Edo) as part of the solutions to the perennial Apapa gridlock. LASTMA General Manager, Babatunde Edu told NAN that his men worked all through the night to restrict the tankers to a single lane.

    “I have not had sleep since yesterday (Wednesday), I have been here working with my men to ensure that the problem is resolved and people can enter Lagos.

    “Tankers and other articulated vehicles entering or leaving Apapa should not lock down Lagos, they should obey traffic managers’ directive by restricting their operations to a single lane.

    “We are working assiduously to ensure Ikorodu road is gridlock-free, and that no tanker is allowed on Eko Bridge except on Oshodi/Mile 2 road,’’ he said.

    Edu blamed the gridlock on the bad roads along the axis, saying though the Federal Ministry of Works worked on a portion of the road the unfinished part was a problem.

    According to him, for such experience not to recur, the issues of infrastructure decay and lingering fuel scarcity have to be addressed.

    He urged motorists without business in Apapa to avoid the road.

  • ‘Armed robber’ held in Lagos church

    ‘Armed robber’ held in Lagos church

    AN attempt by a suspected armed robber to operate in a Lagos church has been foiled by the police.

    Kelvin Ajomagberin, 23, was arrested by operatives of the Lagos State Police Command after a gun was found inside his bag.

    Ajomagberin, who said his father was a pastor, went to a Celestial Church of Christ (CCC) located at Mafoluku, Oshodi on April 26, to consult the prophet ahead of an operation he was to execute same day. He, however, ended up in police net after the guards at the church found a ‘toy gun’ in his bag.

    He was said to have dropped the bag at the reception and proceeded to see the cleric for ‘spiritual cleansing’.

    Oblivious that the church’s security agents had discovered his bag where it was hidden and searched, the suspect initially denied ownership of the bag, but he later admitted.

    It dawned on Ajomagberin that he was in trouble when the church workers raised the alarm, which attracted other worshippers screaming: “Where is the armed robber?”

    The angry mob allegedly pounced on the suspect, who confessed to have robbed thrice and was in the church for a blessing before carrying out another operation.

    But for the intervention of security men from nearby Makinde Police Station, the suspect would have been lynched. He was subsequently handed over to the policemen, who transferred the matter to the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS).

    Upon interrogation at SARS, Ajomagberin disclosed that he had solely operated within Ajah, Ikorodu and Oshodi, adding that he was resident in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, but usually came to Lagos for operations.

     “My mother is late and my father is a pastor based in Spain. I usually work with bricklayers as a labourer and earn N1, 500 daily. I completed my secondary school education in 2009 in the State High School, Alimosho in Lagos. There was no money for me to get more education. It was the bricklayer I was working with that suggested that since bricklaying was no longer lucrative, we should look for other means of survival.

    “I left him and went to Ajah and later, Oshodi. I became stranded because I had no money. I slept in a shop behind Oshodi market. I knew the man who owns the shop. When I woke up one morning, I wanted to go and rob but my spirit told me to go and see the pastor for spiritual cleansing for a successful operation,” he said.

    The suspect added: “They finished service by 4pm and I went into the pastor’s consulting room. The security men there saw my bag and opened it. When they saw a gun, they started beating me. I could not see the pastor because I was told to come back the following day.

    “I had operated in three places before I was arrested. At Ajah, I got N3,500 and I also robbed a woman at Ikorodu where I got another N3,500. The third place was at a church in Oshodi. My visit to the CCC was the fourth time I would have robbed. I learnt how to attack people with a toy gun in Ghana. It was one Tope who taught me. I usually paid my tithes and offerings after each operation.”

  • NUPENG explains gridlock

    NUPENG explains gridlock

    The National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) yesterday appealed to Lagosians to bear with it over the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway gridlock. NUPENG’s South-West Chairman, Tokunbo Korodo told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that its members were not responsible for the problem.

    “Most of the tankers responsible for the traffic jam came from the north to load petroleum products in Lagos.

     “They were programmed to get the products here (Lagos), but when they got here most of the depots owned by Independent marketers refused to load the tankers.

    “The Independent marketers are aggrieved they were not carried along with the major marketers on the recent subsidy payment by the Federal Government.

    “Now that the tanker drivers are here, it is difficult to return to the north without the product because it will not make economic sense.

    “For them to go back to their stations (empty) is economic loss; so they will continue to wait till they get the products.

    “This is coupled with an early morning accident along Ikorodu Road.

    “The union is working with officials of Lagos State traffic unit to manage the situation,” he said.

    He said the gridlock would ease immediately majority of the tankers load and leave. Korodo said the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) should decentralize the loading of petroleum products to reduce traffic gridlock on Lagos roads.

    He said only three out of over 50 depots currently had petroleum products, adding that this was mainly responsible for the traffic jam.

    Korodo said the three depots were Capital Oil and Gas Tank Farm, Ibeto Oil and Gas Tank Farm and Integrated Oil and Gas Tank Farm, all in the Apapa.