The Nation Newspaper

Category: City Beats

  • Man held for forging FAAN appointment letter

    A man has been arrested for forging a Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) employment letter.

    He was apprehended by aviation security personnel yesterday and handed over to the airport police command, according to a statement by FAAN Corporate Communications General Manager Mr Yakubu Dati.

    Dati said the authority is becoming disturbed by the activities of those defrauding unsuspecting applicants by asking them to pay money into some bank accounts to influence their employment.

    The statement reads: “It has been brought to the notice of FAAN that some fraudulent individuals are demanding that applicants to the recently advertised vacant positions in FAAN pay money into some bank accounts to “influence” their employment into the Authority.

    “The Authority wishes to inform the public, especially applicants to the said vacant positions that the Authority does not demand money from any applicant to get employed. The current recruitment exercise is being done in the most transparent and orderly manner so we advise that nobody should pay any amount of money to any individual or company to get employed in the Authority.”

    He enjoined affected applicants to report to the Police, saying FAAN will not be liable for any fraudulent transaction in relation to the on-going recruitment.

    “This release became necessary following the arrest of one man by officers of our Aviation Security Service at the Murtala Muhammed Airport while he was handing over a forged letter of employment to an unsuspecting applicant. The suspect has been handed over to the police at the airport,” he said.

  • My husband is promiscous, woman tells court

    A middle-aged woman, Toyin Ayinde, has gone to an Agege Customary Court in Lagos, seeking the dissolution of her 20-year-old marriage. She is accusing her husband, Mudashiru, of being promiscuous.

    The petitioner, a businesswoman, said her husband sleeps with any woman.

    “When we got married, we didn’t have enough and we were contented with whatever we had but when we became comfortable, my husband began to womanise. He sleeps with anything. He lacks good taste,” she said.

    The mother of three, who are between ages five and 19, told the court that her husband keeps claiming that there is no wealthy man who doesn’t womanise.

    “To let you know how loose he is, five years ago, I was admitted to a hospital because our last child had jaundice after delivery. My husband, who is slack when it comes to women, had an affair with a nurse.

    “I once woke him up in the middle of the night to advise him. He cried and promised to stop the act. As I speak, there are no changes,” she said.

    Mrs Ayinde sad her husband’s relation sent her out of his house because she refused to sleep with him.

    “I refused to sleep with him because I could get infected if he continues to sleep around. Also, he wants to try all styles of sex with me which I strongly disagree. It’s been almost a year since I moved out of his house. His relations have been pleading with me to go back to him but they don’t know what I am facing. He is loose and I can’t cope anymore,” she added.

    Surprsingly, her husband, Mudashiru Jimoh, did not deny the allegations saying: “Everything she said is true. I support our marriage dissolution.”

    The court’s President, Pa Adekunle Williams, advised the couple to reconsider their positions and adjourned till April 9.

  • Grocer ‘kills’ man over N10 cigarette

    A 42-year-old grocer, Alli Mustapha, has appeared before the Ebute Meta Chief Magistrate’s Court in Lagos for ‘killing’ a customer, Idowu Maliki, over N10 cigarette.

    Maliki, it was learnt, bought the cigarette from Mustapha, a native of Ayuru in Niger State, but refused to pay.

    Trouble began when Mustapha stopped Maliki from entering his shop at Imope compound in Ikotun on the outskirts of Lagos to pick another item without paying the debt.

    A fight ensued and the deceased hit Mustapha with a wooden stood severally.

    After they were separated, the deceased was said to have picked up a bottle and insisted on continuing fighting.

    Mustapha told the court that he hit Maliki on the head with a stick in self-defence and the deceased collapsed.

    According to him, he tried to save Maliki life by pouring water on him. His efforts failed as Maliki was confirmed dead at  Igando General Hospital.

    The charge reads: “That you, Alli Mustapha on March 7 around 7:05pm at 5 Imope compound, Ikotun, Lagos, in the Lagos magisterial district did unlawfully kill one Idowu Maliki by hitting him with a stick on his head and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 221 of the Criminal Law of Lagos.”

    Prosecuting police Inspector Cousin Adams prayed the court to remand Mustapha in prison custody pending legal advice from the Office of Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) for 30 days in the first instance.

    Mustapha pleaded not guilty. His plea for bail was not taken.

    Magistrate F.J Adefioye ordered the defendant remanded for 30days in prison pending legal advice from DPP office.

    He adjourned till May 25.

  • Lagos blames NNPC for road neglect

    Lagos blames NNPC for road neglect

    Lagos State Government has blamed the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for the non-completion of the Ipaja road expansion.

    The wwork, it said, is being stalled by some at underground NNPC pipelines at Abesan Estate gate in Okunola, a Lagos suburb.

    Mosan-Okunola Local Council Development Area (LCDA) Executive Secretary, Princess Opeyemi Akindele told The Nation that Governor Babatunde Fashola has invited NNPC management to a meeting on how to handle the pipelines.

    The NNPC management has not honoured Fashola’s invitation.

    Commuters on Ipaja road face heavy traffic daily, with many wondering what has been delaying the completion of the job.

    Akindele said if NNPC had collaborated with the government, the road would have been completed long ago.

    “People are using it against us that we did nothing and the governor made me to understand that NNPC is the one not cooperating with the government,” she said.

    She urged the residents and commuters to prevail on NNPC to cooperate with the government to complete the road, noting: “If the contractor handling the project decided to dig the road, it can result to leaking of the fuel and fire outbreak. You and I know that the Governor is not interested in the death of people rather their safety is his priority,” she said.

    According to her, the essence of expanding the road is to ease traffic.

  • I can’t wait to start walking again, says reporter

    I can’t wait to start walking again, says reporter

    A reporter whose legs were crushed by a trailer last month is back on his feet – but on crutches.

    Rasheed Abubakar, who works with a soft sell journal, Encomium, was discharged from hospital on February 23, some 19 days after the accident.

    Lamented the charges at the Gbagada General Hospital, where was on admission, he said: “I paid for everything. It was awkward knowing I had to pay for accommodation for the weeks I spent at the hospital. So being discharged gladdens my heart because I was already tired of the vicinity and also, I was grateful my legs weren’t amputated.  I was told my check-up days will be once a week but on my first visit after I was discharged, it was changed to once a month because the doctor’s report revealed my legs are healing fast.”

    According to him, a nurse comes every Monday and Wednesday to dress the wounds. “I hired a physiotherapist from Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, Mushin, who comes thrice a week and collects N5000 after every therapy  because I don’t know how the crutches is used and I feel pains since I have not been able to lift my legs,” he said.

    His Physiotherapist, Mr Taiwo Alabi, said Abubakar, should be able to walk soon.

    “With the constant exercise he has been doing, his legs have greatly improved. There are no more swollen feet.  He has really made my job easy because he is trying his best possible to be on his feet again,” Alabi said.

    Abubakar said three weeks after he left the hospital, there have been positive changes.

    “I walk round my compound 10 times daily and within the house with my crutches. I can now do some things myself. I am overwhelmed because I can now feel my legs. I am hoping to be on my feet again without crutches. I am tired of been idle. I miss the streets; I miss my job,” he said.

    “Before the accident, I was looking forward to my book launch on May 3 which falls on World Media Day. I hope to be on my feet for the launch Insha Allah,” he added.

    On why people are signing autograph on the plastered left leg, he said: “I refuse to brood over what has happened, that is why I decided anyone who comes visiting will sign an autograph on the Plaster of Paris (POP) on my left leg for memoir.”

  • He wants to try all styles, woman tells court

    A middle-aged woman, Toyin Ayinde, has gone an Agege Customary Court in Lagos, seeking the dissolution of her 20-year-old marriage. She is accusing her husband, Mudashiru, of being promiscuous.

    The petitioner, a businesswoman, said her husband sleeps with any woman.

    “When we got married, we didn’t have enough and we were contented with whatever we had but when we became comfortable, my husband began to womanise. He sleeps with anything. He lacks good taste,” she said.

    The mother of three, who are between ages five and 19, told the court that her husband keeps claiming that there is no wealthy man who doesn’t womanise.

    “To let you know how loose he is, five years ago, I was admitted to a hospital because our last child had jaundice after delivery. My husband, who is slack when it comes to women, had an affair with a nurse.

    “I once woke him up in the middle of the night to advise him. He cried and promised to stop the act. As I speak, there are no changes,” she said.

    Mrs Ayinde sad her husband’s relation sent her out of his house because she refused to sleep with him.

    “I refused to sleep with him because I could get infected if he continues to sleep around. Also, he wants to try all styles of sex with me which I strongly disagree. It’s been almost a year since I moved out of his house. His relations have been pleading with me to go back to him but they don’t know what I am facing. He is loose and I can’t cope anymore,” she added.

    Surprsingly, her husband, Mudashiru Jimoh, did not deny the allegations saying: “Everything she said is true. I support our marriage dissolution.”

    The court’s President, Pa Adekunle Williams, advised the couple to reconsider their positions and adjourned till April 9.

  • ‘I remain Iyaloja of Iponri Market’

    DEOS Iponri Market in Surulere Local Government Area of Lagos State have a new Iyaloja? No, says the Iyaloja, Alhaja Mulikat Ajaga, who insisted yesterday that she is still in office.

    She was reacting to claims that she had been replaced with a new leader.

    Denying the claim at a press briefing at the market, Alhaja Ajaga said: “You only install a new market leader when the incumbent is no more alive.”

    She said she is still the Iyaloja, as she was crowned by the late Alhaja Abibatu Mogaji and given a certificate of authority.

    Alhaja Ajaga said: “It will be against tradition for anyone to try what they are saying. You will recall that the market was shut down in February last year, following a crisis, which was looked into, even before the death of Alhaja Mogaji.

    “Mama Mogaji waded into the crisis before she passed on. That was when some traders protested at the Lagos State House of Assembly. Mama kicked against the action and asked the market board, led by the present market leader, Mrs Folashade Tinubu-Ojo, to take over the matter.

    “The matter continued until she passed away and the new Iyaloja-General is handling it. She constituted a committee and told me I should step aside and allow the committee to coordinate things till peace is restored.

    “I stepped aside, as advised by Mrs Tinubu-Ojo, and allowed the committee to run. The arrangement was for them to work for three months, but three months passed, there was nothing, even eight months passed, there was nothing. There were provocations during this period, but I kept quiet.

    “I was in hospital last Wednesday when the traders called me on the phone that armed policemen had invaded the market and that some people were meeting and planning to remove me. I dismissed the information, because I know it’s not possible. But I thank God that I was not around. They thought I would cause crisis, so they brought police to arrest me.”

    She appealed to Oba Rilwan Akiolu of Lagos and the state government to intervene.

  • Three die in Lagos tanker fire

    Three die in Lagos tanker fire

    A FUEL tanker exploded in Ikorodu, Lagos, yesterday, killing three persons. But, the state fire service said one person died.

    Three vehicles, three cows and a 40 foot stationary cold room were burnt. An injured man was rushed to the nearby General Hospital.

    It was learnt that the tanker went up in flames after it lost control while trying to climb the steep hill on Beach Road.

    The victims were the tanker driver, a cobbler and a motorcyclist.

    Their remains have been deposited in a morgue.

    An eyewitness said the tanker had charged some of its content at a nearby filling station before the incident.

    Unable to climb the hill, the tanker rolled off the heavy duty truck, spilling its content into a nearby abattoir.

    The witness said: “Due to the early morning activities of slaughtering and burning of animals at the abattoir, there was a sudden explosion, with the fire spreading wildly. The tanker driver was roasted by the fire.

    “An unfortunate tricyclist who was on speed rode into the inferno, one other man who was at the abattoir to buy meat was also a victim.

    “The fire would have been prevented from wreaking more havoc if the firemen had arrived early. They got to the scene more than one hour after the fire started and this made angry bystanders to prevent them from doing their job.

    Director of the State Fire Service Rasaq Fadipe said firemen from Ikorodu were deployed to contain the fire. He urged motorists to abide by road safety guidelines and install functional fire fighting gadgets in their cars.

    The agency, he said, also fought a fire at the Naval Dockyard on Victoria Island, which gutted the administrative block, a wooden decking consisting of about 20 offices. Thirteen of the offices were razed.

    According to him, it took firemen from the navy and state agency about two hours to contain the fire.

    Fadipe said investigation into the causes of the fires were on.

  • Doctors’ strike: LASUTH, others still attending to patients

    Doctors’ strike: LASUTH, others still attending to patients

    Treatment of patients in Lagos hospitals did not stop as doctors’ strike entered its third day yesterday.

    When The Nation visited the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), our reporter saw patients being attended to by doctors, while some workers gathered in groups to discuss the strike.

    A patient, Mrs Seun Fashugba, said she was not aware doctors were on strike before heading to the hospital at 5:30am. She had an accident and was groaning in pain. “Thankfully, I was treated by a doctor and even booked future appointment,” she said.

    A Cardiothoracic Consultant, Dr Bode Falase, who attended to patients, said there was not need for hospitals to be shut down while doctors are on strike. He said consultants would be at work for emergency conditions till the strike would be called off.

    Commissioner for Health Dr Jide Idris said the government was already addressing the issue, urging the doctors to return to work. He told the aggrieved doctors to place professionalism above personal consideration, saying they must consider the people as the strike continues.

    But a medical practitioner, Dr Ore Falomo, described the doctors’ action as needless, urging them back to work.

    Falomo, who was in LASUTH yesterday, said: “When people work diligently, success is guaranteed and it will naturally come. Strike is a challenge we have to face and it is not something we can ignore. I am leaving LASUTH now to talk to the doctors to ensure we get something meaningful done to end the mess created by young doctors. Medical practice is a calling and not a business. I know the authority has not attended to many issues causing the strike, but doctors must exhaust all avenues before going on strike. Strike has never been a good option, because innocent patients suffer.”

    The Nation observed that most state-owned hospitals opened for operation but activities were not at the peak as they used to be when there was no strike. Patients have continued to access healthcare at the LASUTH, Gbagada General Hospital, Ifako-Ijaiye General Hospital and Igando General Hospital, among others.

    The Medical Guild chairman, Dr Biyi Kufo, said the government was frustrating the association’s plan to end the strike, noting that doctors were being asked to sign attendance register.

    He said: “Doctors are complying with the industrial action as directed by the body. But we observed that our members are being victimised through signing of attendance register and discrimination.

    “The government did not take these steps when the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) was on strike. Why should must they ask our members to sign a register when we go on strike to demand what is due to us? It is quite unfortunate that government resorted to cheap blackmail to make doctors return to work. We will resist this move.”

    Kufo said doctors would continue to attend to emergency cases, but added that strike would not be called off until their demands are met.

     

     

  • I sold 100 AK-47 rifles, says suspected robber

    I sold 100 AK-47 rifles, says suspected robber

    A suspected robber yesterday denied the police claim of selling over 200 AK-47 rifles to militants and robbers, putting the figure at 100.

    Andrew Moukwe and three others were paraded yesterday at the Command Headquarters in Ikeja by Lagos State Police Commissioner Kayode Aderanti.

    Aderanti told reporters that Moukwe confessed to have sold over 200 AK-47 rifles smuggled from Mali to robbers and militants in Anambra, Rivers, Bayelsa, Abia, Enugu and Lagos States.

    Others are Christopher Edwin, 42, Peter Onyeale, 37 and Okpara Reginald, 30.

    Four others, Edet Ekuno, 32, Sunday Samiga, 24, Hope Edet Okon, 27 and Unagbon Isaiah, 31, were paraded for alleged kidnapping and possessing two locally made pistols and 18 live cartridges.

    Briefing reporters before the suspects were paraded, the Commissioner of Police Aderanti said the suspected kidnappers were nabbed on March 7, at a hotel at Ojodu Berger, while they were planning to abduct a Lagos businessman.

    Aderanti said Moukwe led Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) operatives back to Onitsha in Anambra State where one Christopher Edwin was arrested and three AK47 rifles with serial numbers AB256591, VL420219 and AXA 17  recovered.

    The police chief added: “He further led SARS team to Rivers State were Peter Onyeale and Okpara Reginald were arrested and four English pistols, two Baretta pistols with serial numbers 148847 and 682404 as well as two Brownie pistols with serial numbers 42649 and 1137366 were all recovered.

    “Detectives have embarked on intensive combing in Bayelsa, Enugu and Abia states to fish out the remaining gang members who have gone underground after hearing of the arrest of Moukwe. Meanwhile efforts to arrest the remaining buyers and recover the arms continue,” the Commissioner said.

    But, Moukwe told reporters that he did not sell up to 200 AK-47, saying: “It is not true that I have sold up to 209 AK47.  I have sold about 100 AK47 rifles and I do not sell to armed robbers or militants.  I sell to people I know who also know that I sell weapons.

    “I usually buy from Ibadan. The people who supply it to me bring them to Onitsha when I call them on phone. I have a shop in the main market but there is nothing in the shop. When they come to buy, I usually ask them what they want to do with it. Some of them say they use it for inter – communal conflicts like those from Aguleri, others say they have oil and want to protect their oil.

    “I buy the weapons at N350, 000 and sell for N400, 000 each. I used the money to train my children and to buy two cars. I did not know it was illegal to trade in arms without license until recently.

    “When I knew, I went to confession and the priest told me to do penance and stop the illegal business. It was in the course of the penance that I was arrested and so, I took the police to the people I sold the weapons to.”

    “Samiga, one of the suspected kidnappers, said he was caught because the charm given to him by a herbalist in Cotonou, Benin Republic, failed.

    His fellow suspect, Ekuno (32), who could not stand without assistance, said he started kidnapping in 2010 in Akwa Ibom, where he made about N800, 000.

    The suspect, who claimed to be an engineering student of the Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic, said he was lured into kidnapping because he needed money to invest in his late father’s poultry business.

    In a related development, a re-arrested robbery suspect, Collins Ebong, yesterday promised to transform the economy if he survives his predicament.

    Ebong, who was arrested barely 24 hours after he was released from Ikoyi Prison where he had awaited trial for 10 months, was nabbed by the Police in the Ajah for allegedly robbing bank customers with a toy gun.

    Ebong, 26, was said to have ambushed customers at Zenith Bank, Ajah, last week with his conspirator identified as Wale (a.k.a. Walata) currently at large.

    While being paraded by Aderanti, the suspect asked reporters if he would be killed.

    “Will police kill me? See how CP is parading us.  If I am released, I will not rob again. If I survive I will transform Nigeria’s bad economy. I will tell youths to abhor crime because it does not pay,”