The Nation Newspaper

Category: City Beats

  • Agencies partner on posters’ recycling to protect the environment

    Agencies partner on posters’ recycling to protect the environment

    The Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency (LASAA) and the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) are working on recycling waste generated from campaign posters to protect the environment.

    LASAA’s Managing Director George Noah told reporters at the weekend that the partnership would aid the agency, as it strives to rid the state of an estimated 1.5 million posters.

    Underlining some of the benefits of recycling the posters, Noah said: “Recycling paper waste conserves natural resources, saves energy, cuts greenhouse gas emissions and keeps landfill space, free for other forms of waste that can’t be recycled.”

    The waste to be recycled, he said, was generated by LASAA’s enforcement team.

    On the process of recycling paper waste, LAWMA said in a statement: “The bulk of paper collected from our landfills or recycling banks is sorted and graded at our Paper Bailing Section at Olusosun dumpsite in Ojota, Lagos and processed at Jebba Paper Mill.

    “At the mill, the paper is added to water and then turned into pulp. It is then screened, cleaned and de-inked through a number of processes until it is suitable for manufacturing new paper products.”

    Few weeks ago, LASAA started removing posters used during elections.

    Noah said over one million posters would be removed, adding: “We are also removing 358 illegal billboards of various types deployed in the state with Alimoso and Eti-Osa accounting for the highest”.

  • Sailor, 62, charged with alleged fraud

    A 62-year-old retiree, Bamidele King has been arraigned before an Ebute Meta Chief Magistrate’s Court in Lagos, for alleged fraud and stealing.

    The sexagenarian was alleged to have fraudulently obtained N750, 000 from six persons by impersonating an International Ship captain with Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron, Akwa Ibom State.

    The victims are Lawal Oladipo, Famoriti Colosse, Okoruga Uchenna, Princewill, Jeff Barnabas and Imonimion Sylvester.

    It was learnt that the defendant obtained N150, 000 each from his victims under the pretence of securing a job for them on the ship.

    The Nation learnt that the defendant, who claimed to be a Lagosian, impersonated nationals of Liberia, Ghana, Senegal and Trinidad and Tobago in the past.

    He was said to have conspired with one Muri, who is at large to file a fake Maritime document last July.

    The offence, according to the prosecutor, Constable Adeyemo Tunde who held brief for Elizabeth Ekuma, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) is punishable under Sections 409, 312, 374, 285 and 93 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State.

    The accused pleaded not guilty.

    Defence counsel Mr A. Eton pleaded for his client’s bail.

    Magistrate Nurudeen Layeni granted him N100, 000 bail with two sureties in the like sum.

    The matter has been adjourned till May 27.

  • Toy gun exposes suspected robber

    Toy gun exposes suspected robber

    A MAN is being held by the police for allegedly robbing residents of a Lagos Street with a toy gun.

    His accomplice was said to have escaped on discovering that the suspect was holding a toy gun when they were stopped by the police.

    Stanley Ifeanyi Okorie, 20, who is being detained by the Lagos State Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) was arrested after the operation along Badagry Expressway in the Satellite Town area.

    The police said tenants raised the alarm on the March 28 about 2.30am

    The alarm attracted a crowd that attempted to lynch the hoodlums, but they escaped.

    Luck ran out against them when they were stopped by operatives of Satellite Police Station for routine check.

    On realising that Stanley was holding a toy gun, his accomplice, Chijoke ran away. The police arrested Stanley on finding the ‘gun’ on him and transferred him to SARS for investigation.

    Yesterday, Stanley, who said he resides at 44, Orege Street, Dustbin bus stop in Ajegunle, said: “I completed my secondary school education in 2008. When my mother died, my father had stroke and died a month after. There was no money for me to continue with my studies and take care of my sisters – Nneka and Tochukwu – and my brother, Chinedu. When a woman from my town wanted to go to Lagos, I followed her to Iyana-Ipaja, where I met a friend, Chijioke, who lured me into armed robbery.”

    On the Badagry Expressway operation, he said: “Chijioke and I entered a house and found out that the man, his wife and children were sleeping. Chijioke told me to open the man’s door to enable us enter and operate. The moment I opened the door, the man rushed me, grabbed me and started punching me while the wife was shouting “ole, ole, ole” (thief, thief, thief). Her shout attracted neighbours who joined in beating me. I escaped but the Satellite police on patrol caught me and later transferred me to SARS.

    “I had operated four times before I was arrested. The first one was at Igando where we got N13,000 cash and handsets. The second operation was also at Igando where we got three Nokia phones and N15,000. The third was at Agbara where we got N25,000. The fourth was in Lekki where a woman went and withdrew money from the bank; we went after her and collected it. Chijioke did not tell me the amount.

    “We don’t use gun to kill. I use toy gun. After operations, I tie victims’ hands and legs to prevent them from pursuing us. We also tie their mouths to stop them from raising the alarm. Chijioke uses locally made gun to distract people who want to pursue us after operation.”

  • Children injured by monkey hospitalised, say police

    Three children injured by a monkey in Ilado, Ikorodu, Lagos, are in hospital, the Police said yesterday.

    They are: Funmilayo Gbadegeshin (8), and two siblings – Rhoda and Emmanuel Alombo.

    Eyewitnesses told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the monkey is owned by one Mrs Daniel, popularly known as “Iya Ibeji’.

    Mr Babatunde Oyesola, a resident, who said he witnessed the incident, said the monkey left the owner’s house and went into the Gbadegeshin’s home.

    It attacked Funmilayo in her home shortly after she returned from school.

    Oyebola said after Funmilayo was rushed to a nearby hospital, the monkey moved to the Alombos’ home and attacked Rhoda and Emmanuel, who had also just returned from school.

    He said on hearing the girls’ shout, neighbours felt she was being scolded by her older sister.

    “The incident happened at about 4.30 p.m. when the children had just returned from school.

    “I heard Funmilayo shouting and crying, so, I felt her sister was beating her for something she did, but when the cry did not stop, I decided to check what was happening myself.

    “When I got there, I saw blood all over the place and saw a monkey jumping out from the window but because of what I saw, I had to save the girl first.

    “We noticed that the vein on her right hand has been cut off and the blood was seriously rushing out of it,’’ he said.

    Oyesola added that while Funmilayo was being attended to in the hospital, other children who were attacked by the monkey too were rushed in.

    Another eyewitness, who pleaded anonymity, said the monkey had been attacking people in the area, adding that necessary precautions had not been taken by the owner.

    The victim’s father, Mr Mojeed Gbadegeshin, who was away when the incident occurred, said he was called from work that the monkey had attacked his daughter.

    “When I got to the hospital, I met a crowd and I was asked to go inside and see the state the monkey left my daughter.

    “Afterwards the owner of the monkey came without uttering a word of sympathy and she only left with the monkey,’’ he said.

    Gbadegeshin the case was reported at Igbogbo Barracks Police Division by neighbours.

    The police were said to have arrested the monkey and its owner.

    Lagos State Police Command’s spokesman, Kenneth Nwosu, a Deputy Superintendent (DSP) said the owner and the monkey were in custody.

    “One of the children was badly injured and the other two were mildly injured but they are currently being treated.

    “Also, necessary precautions will be taken to check such attacks by animals reared by people in communities.

    “Necessary tests will be carried out on the children to ensure that the monkey is a healthy animal and that the children are free from any form of disease,’’ he said.

  • Bus conductor stabs passenger over fares

    A bus conductor, Ademola Segun, who allegedly stabbed a passenger with a broken bottle was on Wednesday brought before a Badagry Chief Magistrate’s Court in Lagos.

    The 18-year-old accused is charged with assault.

    The prosecution said the accused stabbed Abraham Shedrack, a passenger, with a broken bottle following an argument over fares.

    Police Inspector Innocent Uko told the court that the accused committed the offence on March 6 at Ajido Bus Stop in Badagry.

    He said: “The accused stabbed the passenger on the stomach during an argument between them over the fare to pay. When the conductor asked the accused to pay his fare, the accused gave him a torn note which led to an argument between them.

    “In the process, the accused took a bottle and stabbed the passenger on his stomach. The passenger is still on admission at a private hospital in Badagry,” he said.

    Uko noted that the offence contravened Section 171 of the Criminal Law of Lagos.

    He pleaded not guilty.

    Defence counsel Bosipo Awuwu pleaded for his client’s bail on liberal terms.

    Magistrate Abioldun Etti granted the accused N100, 000 bail with a surety in the like sum.

    He said the surety must provide evidence of tax payment and adjourned to May 4.

  • One-Day Lagos governor wants roads rehabilitated

    The 15th One-Day Governor of Lagos State, Master Idowu Sonoiki, yesterday urged the government to rehabilitate the roads leading to his school.

    Sonoiki, an SS2 student of Ikotun Senior High School, won the 2015 Spelling Bee Competition in Lagos State to emerge One-Day Governor.

    He said the roads leading to his school in Igando-Ikotun Local Council Development Area was bad, and needed urgent attention.

    Sonoiki also pleaded with the government to construct additional classrooms in his school to ensure adequate accommodation for the students.

    “As a One-Day Governor, I will change everything that is bad in my state. I want the government to construct more classrooms, build a standard and well-equipped library and provide more furniture in the school,’’ he said.

    Sonoiki also urged the government to pay more attention to his council’s development area with regards to provision of adequate infrastructure.

    Sonoiki said he was thankful to God for emerging winner in the competition.

  • Student slumps, dies

    A student of the National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO) died on Wednesday after collapsing at the institute’s hostel in Lagos.

    An official of the institute told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the woman, simply identified as Tina, died while being taken to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH).

    The official, who pleaded anonymity, said Tina was a worker in the institute’s Abuja office.

    “Tina had been very ill and needed some financial assistance to get medical attention.

    “The management had granted her permission to go for treatment and had also promised her some financial assistance before she died,’’ the official said.

    According to the officer, the deceased, who hailed from the North, had been on medication for an undisclosed ailment.

    A top official of the institute, who also did not want to be identified, confirmed the student’s death.

    She said members of staff had concluded arrangements to take her body to mortuary.

    “LASUTH by its policy will not accept the corpse of a patient that did not die in the hospital.

    “This is a rude shock to us, it is quite painful,’’ the official said.

    NAN learnt that a cleaner died earlier this year while on duty.

  • We want them back alive, Chibok girls’ mothers say

    We want them back alive, Chibok girls’ mothers say

    TUESDAY’s rescue of 200 girls and 93 women by the military in Sambisa Forest buoyed their hope of being reunited with their daughters, who were abducted over a year ago by Boko Haram insurgents.

    On hearing the news, their faces lit up in smiles; but their joy was short-lived.

    When they learnt that the Chibok girls were not among the rescued, they were crestfallen.

    They became traumatised again and their blood pressure rose.

    Mrs Hanatu Dauda and Mary Musa appeared shattered when The Nation met with them in Lagos on Tuesday.

    They were in town for “urgent medical intervention” through Gabasawa Women & Children Initiatives (GWCI), a non-governmental organisation, assisted by Macedonia Initiative (MI), a global humanitarian body.

    Among other ailments, they had been battling with are anaemia and ulcer, our reporter learnt.

    But they have been getting succour from GWCI and MI since their ordeal began.

    “Since late in the evening yesterday (Tuesday) when the Army broke the news, (rescue of 200 girls and 93 women), they prayed till after 2am today (yesterday). Now, they both earnestly wish their children are among the lucky ones; this is why they have remained fervent in prayers,” said GWCI President, Mrs Doris Yaro.

    Mrs Musa, 45, whose 17-year-old daughter, Hauwa, was abducted with 275 others from the Government Girls Secondary School (Girls) in Chibok, Borno State on April 14, last year, expressed confidence that she would one day reunite with her.

    “When I got the news from the Army, it only reinforced the belief I have in God that one day, I would see my daughter again. I see her in my dreams very often. My daughter is industrious. She would encourage me on my farming business and always discuss how she would key into the system later to make me and her father proud of the promising child she is,” she said.

    Mrs Musa added: “We live in Mbalala where over 30 girls were kidnapped; transport costs N500 from there to Chibok. There are other towns including Mblabam, Sikakura, Leho, Gatamwawa, Kautikari, Ndnaga, Payesu, Payampu, Peyimi, Ngadarma, Kupubula, Jajal and Nglang. All were invaded, but people only talk about Chibok because it is the headquarters of the local government.”

    As she shook her head and fought tears, the reporter asked: “Why madam? Why?”

    She answered: “It is sad that one percent of the brutalisation meted out to us in the towns is not open to the public. For over one year now, were have seen hell. Our homes and farmlands were burnt; we sleep in the bush in fear with nothing to eat, added to the pains of losing our beloved children. For long now, my husband has been bedridden without any medical care. Is this life?”

    She praised Mrs Yaro for “immeasurable constant love and compassion”, saying beside that no other help had come their way. They have also not been invited to Abuja for any help, she added.

    “It is painful when you see fraudsters flooding Abuja to collect money on our behalf without reaching out to us at the end of the day. God is watching them. We had thought that the government and its agencies would have come up with palliatives like health facilities, food and such other things to give us relief. We have seen nothing except to hear that some people have been collecting things on our behalf in the name of “Bring back our girls” campaign. Now, I don’t even need anything from the government; all I need is to have my daughter alive,” she fumed.

    Despite her plight, Mrs Musa is still moved by the story of Mrs Dauda whose daughter, Saratu, is also in captivity. One of her sons was “callously shot” and another daughter was raped and put in the family way.

    Recalling her last moments with Saratu, Mrs Dauda said: “Even while the insurgency was raging, she would always urge me to pray for her to be successful in life. Her dream is to become an ‘accomplished fashion designer’ after her education; that is why she would always encourage me on my farming so that I could procure her a sewing machine. For over a year now, the dream has been cut short.

    “We have remained useless for that long. Hunger has been biting hard. My other children cannot go to school. No light, no water, it has been untold suffering on all fronts. All we do is cry everyday with no relief in sight. And bad enough, government has disappointed us as it has done nothing to give us hope. Apart from urging the government to find us our daughters, we are tired of empty talks without action.”

  • Advice for Muslims

    The Chief Imam, University of Lagos (UNILAG), Prof Murtala Bidmos has urged Muslims to be of good conduct and lead an exemplary life.

    He gave the advice during the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta Muslim Alumni Association (FUNAAMAA) 17th annual national convention at the LCCI building in Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos.

    Bidmos, who said the two values that Nigerians lack are education and unity which could be accessed through the study of the Qur’an, advised that “we must not fail to capture the essence of education in the gaunt of our religious practices. With education, we would understand our religion better and practise it well.”

    The two-day convention featured lectures, visit to Bab-Es-Salam Home and an interactive session.

    Chairman FUNAAMAA, Lagos chapter, Abdul’Lateef Iginla said it is a platform to extend Islamic brotherhood.

    FUNAAMAA National President Dr. Abdulrazaq Adebowale said the theme was an exposition of the divine order, worldview and ideology that allow all men, Muslims and non-Muslims, to interact to achieve sustainable harmony, peace and orderliness in this world.

  • We’re being terrorised by thugs, traders allege

    Some traders at the Amuwo Odofin Local Government Shopping Complex in Mile 2, Lagos, have called on the state government to rescue them from the market’s Babalaje, Alhaji Saheed Abiola.

    The traders alleged yesterday in Lagos that Abiola has been terrorising them with thugs.

    Alhaji Abass Yusuf, the Babaloja General of the market, said the traders could no longer open their shops for fear of being attacked by the thugs.

    Abiola, he claimed, is not a member of the market’s executive, but he has been going about claiming to be the Babalaje.

    According to him, anyone who challenges him is thoroughly flogged by his boys.

    Abiola, popularly known as “Zyid Ultimate”, Yusuf alleged usually orders his boys to flog even old men and women who challenge him.

    Mrs Catherine Omotoyosi, the women leader and Iyalaje of the market, claimed that Abiola sent his thugs to beat her up.

    Mrs. Omotoyosi said male traders have refused to join in the protest for fear of being beaten up by Abiola’s thugs.

    “We have reported this matter to the Festac Police Station and the Amuwo Odofin Local Government but nothing has being done. Abiola claims that the police and the council chairman cannot do anything to him because they are his friends and on his payroll,” she said.

    According to her, the market executive has asked Abiola to leave, but instead he sold shops to people between N200, 000 and N300, 000.

    Mrs Omotoyosi said they have petitioned the government and also reported the case to the Iyaloja General of Lagos, Mrs Folashade Tinubu-Ojo.

    She said Tinubu-Ojo promised to look into the case.

    But Abiola described the allegations as baseless, adding: “there is no iota of truth in them.”

    He said Yusuf and Mrs Omotoyosi were envious of him, claiming that he is the Babalaje of the market.

    “I am partially blind, I cannot see well. I can only see shadows of people, how then do you think I will be going about terrorising people with thugs. As the Babalaje of this market, my concern is to rebuild this market and move it forward in the way the Lagos government has been building model shops,” he said.

    He asked Mrs Omotoyosi to name those who assaulted her, saying: “She should know those who beat her up and cut off her electricity.”