The Nation Newspaper

Category: City Beats

  • Residents praised over PVC

    A community leader at Ota in the Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State, Femi Ajayi, has praised residents for trooping out to collect the Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs), despite the inherent challenges.

    Ajayi, who was also once a leader of the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) in the state, made this remark in Ota while addressing youths in the community who thronged his office to lament their inability to collect the PVCs during the period earmarked for the exercise by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    He said their grievance showed that they were ready  to play their civic roles in the forthcoming 2015 elections.

    Ajayi, who condemned INEC for a shoddy job, pledged that nobody of voting age would be denied of his or her right to vote.

    The community leader, who was full of praises to the people for appreciating the importance of the exercise, said the people had expressed the fact that that they were adequately prepared to elect their choice representatives in the coming elections.

     

     

    He stressed that the good people of the area quite understood that one of the civic responsibilities of a responsible citizen is to vote during elections, hence their determination to collect the PVCs, knowing well that only its possession would qualify them for voting during the elections.

    He urged Nigerians to strive to ensure that they collect the PVCs, adding that those who were yet to register should do so to enable them to vote for candidates of their choice.

    The community leader urged residents that were yet to collect the cards INEC office in the Ado-Odo/Ota Council’s Secretariat.

     

  • Ex-CIBN chief, others honoured

    A former Chairman of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) in Oyo State and currently, the Chairman/Chief Executive, FFP Global Investment Resources Limited, Alhaji Abiola Alli has been honoured.

    He was honoured alongside six distinguished professionals by the Association of Professional Bodies of Nigeria (APBN), Oyo State branch.

    The award, which was in recognition of their excellent professional service in the state, took place at the Ibadan Civic Centre yesterday during the Investiture of the 4th Chairman of APBN, Gbenga Ilori and induction of its new executive council members in the state.

    Other award recipients are: Alhaji R.M Ajao, Vincent Agha , Joseph Okedele,  Folu Bademosi and Prince Oyebade Fatai.

     

     

    Alli said that the award would serve as motivation for him to continue to put in his best to the development of the society as a professional.

  • Judge orders doctor’s arrest for N1.2m ‘bribe’

    An Ikeja High Court in Lagos yesterday issued a bench warrant for the arrest of the Medical Director of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Owo, Ondo State, Dr Olufemi Omotoso.

    Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo issued the warrant following Omotoso’s alleged persistently refusal to come for his for arraignment over an alleged N1.2 million bribe.

    Omotoso’s co-defendant, Ayo Owoka, a lawyer, was in court.

    Justice Lawal-Akapo expressed dissatisfaction that the arraignment could not take place because of Omotoso’s absence.

    He ordered operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to arrest Omotoso and produce him in court on January 26.

    The EFCC charged the defendants to court for allegedly conspiring to offer a N1.2 million bribe to some of its officers on February 27.

    The defendants are facing a five-count charge of conspiracy, offering of gratification to a public officer and giving false information to a public officer.

    EFCC’s counsel Mr Babatunde Sonoiki said an EFCC team led by Mr Usman Zakari, was investigating a petition written against Omotoso for alleged fraud at the FMC.

    He said the money was offered to the team through Owoka to compromise investigation.

    Sonoiki also accused Omotoso of destroying his extra-judicial statement to the EFCC in order to evade prosecution.

    The offence, he said, contravened Section 64 (1) (a) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State of Nigeria 2011 and Section 39 (2) of the EFCC Act of 2004.

  • Synagogue: Coroner suspends Joshua’s appearance

    Synagogue: Coroner suspends Joshua’s appearance

    Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) founder, Prophet Temitope Joshua got a breather yesterday from the coroner investigating the September 12 collapse of a six-story guest house in the church.

    The coroner suspended its invitation of Joshua to testify pending the determination of his suit before Justice Lateefat Okunnu of an Ikeja High Court. In the suit, Joshua is claiming that the coroner is over-reaching itself by going outside its mandate.

    Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe issued witness summons on Joshua and others to testify on the circumstances surrounding the incident in which 115 people, mostly South Africans, died.

    The coroner summoned the witnesses under the powers conferred on it by the Lagos State Coroner’s System Law No.7 of 2007.

    Joshua, in the suit marked ID/188MJR/2014, is asking  for a judicial review of the coroner’s proceedings, which began on October 13.

    He wants the court to declare that his invitation as a witness is a breach of his right to fair hearing because no case has been established against him before the coroner.

    The coroner, Joshua claimed, had been extending his inquisitions into areas beyond its statutory purview.

    Last week, Komolafe dismissed a similar application filed by Joshua because it was an abuse of court process.

    But yesterday, the coroner, after listening to an oral application by Joshua’s lead counsel, Chief Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), suspended his appearance pending the determination of his suit at the high court.

    At the session, Deputy General Manager, Air Traffic Control, with the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA),  Mr Rafiq Olubukola Arogunjo confirmed that a Nigeria Air   Force aircraft was on a training mission in Ikotun, the Lagos suburb, where the church is sited, on September 12 when the building collapsed.

    Arogunjo, who said the aircraft flew directly over the collapsed building, noted that it  maintained the statutory 1000 feet flight distance in congested areas.

    According to him, the aircraft flew over Ikotun for about six times because of the high traffic of incoming aircraft into the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) at Ikeja, Lagos.

    Arogunjo insisted that on each of the six times that the aircraft navigated the area, it maintained a 2700 feet distance from the collapsed building.

    The aircraft with five crew members operated normally and maintained the minimum distance between a flying aircraft and the tallest building in an area, he said.

  • 2015: Vote credible leaders – Cleric

    2015: Vote credible leaders – Cleric

    The Spiritual Head and Chairman of the Cherubim and Seraphim (C/S) Movement Church worldwide, Most Rev. Prophet Samuel Abidoye, has urged Nigerians to vote for credible political aspirants and not political parties in the forth coming 2015 general elections.

    Prophet Abidoye, who made the call at a press briefing Lagos, at the weekend, is presently on visit to Lagos, to coronate members of the church as part of its doctrine to encourage and appreciate hardworking and dedicated members.

    Lamenting the current situation in Northern Nigeria, the cleric, whose Church Headquarters is situated in Kaduna state, decried the fact that Nigerians cannot freely reside in some parts of the country because the Federal Government can only boast of controlling a part while insurgent groups, control other parts.

    He said: “These people (Boko Haram) are harassing Nigeria as a whole. The people that Nigeria can conquer but perhaps do not want to conquer them. My worry is that politicians are not worried about what is happening in Nigeria.

    “They are worried about how to be elected again while the people they are supposed to govern are being taken away. We are not saying that they should not campaign, but they should try to take care of the situation at hand.”

    Speaking on corruption, the cleric observed that Nigerians have over prioritised money so much so that it has become an idol to many and in essence led them into corrupt practices.

    The Cleric commended the Nigerian media for the untiring effort in exposing corrupt leaders but noted that the media have more to do especially in sensitizing the populace during the current political season.

    “It is part of your job to tell politicians the truth, like I have said, we religious leaders may be restricted to certain locations but you people talk every moment to the politicians; they read your papers every morning.

    “Especially, your opinion and writing control part of their lives. So the media have more to do by not encouraging corruption and by reporting correctly,” he added.

    Speaking further on why Nigerians should know the truth, Prophet Abidoye said Nigerians need to know the truth because “we can only be free because we know the truth. We would be corrupt if we do not know the truth. It is a country where truth is encouraged that there would be no corrupt practice.”

    He advised Nigerians (Christians and Muslims alike) to participate in politics as a way to salvage governance in the country, “Muslims and Christians should come to terms and pray to God so that He could give us peace in Nigeria because we have Boko Haram in the North, kidnappers in the South and armed robbers in the middle,” he added

  • U.S. publishes CIA ‘torture’ report

    Details of the CIA’s “enhanced interrogation” techniques, considered by many to be torture, are set to be revealed in a long-awaited report.

    The Senate Intelligence Committee’s report is expected to find that such interrogations failed to yield life-saving information.

    The techniques were used on al-Qaeda terrorism suspects in the years following the 9/11 attacks on the US.

    Security was increased at US facilities around the world ahead of publication.

    Embassies and other sites were taking precautions amid “some indications” of “greater risk”, a White House spokesman said.

    The Senate committee’s report runs to more than 6,000 pages, drawing on huge quantities of evidence, but it remains classified and only a 480-page summary will be released.

    Zubaydah, al-Qaeda’s “travel agent”; Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, alleged mastermind of 2000 attack on USS Cole.

    Why is report released now? Head of the Senate Intelligence Committee Dianne Feinstein began investigation in 2009, but report’s publication was held up by negotiations with CIA over how much could be released.

    Last French hostage  freed in Mali

    The last French hostage to be held by Islamist militants has been freed after three years, French President Francois Hollande has announced.

    Serge Lazarevic was snatched in Mali in November 2011 along with fellow Frenchman Philippe Verdon.

    Militants from the Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) group killed Mr Verdon last year in retaliation for France’s intervention in Mali.

    Mr Hollande said there were no more French hostages waiting to be freed.

    Mr Lazarevic, he said, was in “relatively good health” despite the conditions of his captivity and was on his way to the neighbouring country of Niger from where he would return to France.

    AQIM kidnapped a number of Western hostages before the French military deployed its forces against the group in January 2013.

  • Malala to star in Nobel ceremony

    Malala to star in Nobel ceremony

    Malala Yousafzai picks up her Nobel Peace Prize today, but the youngest ever laureate already has an even more startling memento from her young life: the blood-soaked school uniform she wore when shot by the Taliban.

    The 17-year-old Pakistani known everywhere as Malala shares the peace prize with the Indian campaigner Kailash Satyarthi, 60, who has fought for 35 years to free thousands of children from virtual slave labour.

    Their pairing has the extra symbolism of linking neighbouring countries that have been in conflict for decades. After being named, Malala said she hoped both states’ prime ministers would attend the prize-giving ceremony in Oslo.

  • Amnesty: Israeli strikes on Gaza ‘war crimes’

    Israeli air strikes on four high-rise buildings in the final days of this summer’s conflict in Gaza amounted to war crimes, Amnesty International says.

    Evidence suggested the destruction was “carried out deliberately and with no military justification”, a new report by the human rights group found.

    It called for an independent and impartial investigation to be opened.

    Israel said the report made unfounded allegations and ignored Hamas’ use of the buildings for military purposes.

    In a statement, the Israeli embassy in London said Amnesty should be investigating the Palestinian rocket attacks on Israeli civilians instead.

    The 50-day conflict in Gaza between Israel and militant groups led by Hamas left at least 2,189 Palestinians dead, including more than 1,486 civilians, according to the UN, and 11,000 injured. On the Israeli side, 67 soldiers and six civilians were killed, with scores more wounded.

    During the last four days before a ceasefire came into effect, Israeli warplanes dropped large bombs on four buildings – the 12-storey Zafer 4 Tower, the 16-storey Italian Complex and the 13-storey al-Basha Tower in Gaza City, and the four-storey Municipal Commercial Centre in Rafah.

    Amnesty acknowledged that in all four cases no-one was killed because the Israeli military took measures to ensure residents left the building before they were destroyed – by telling some in telephone calls to evacuate, and also firing “knock-on-the-roof” warning missiles.

    But the group said scores of people from nearby buildings were injured and that hundreds were devastated to lose their homes, businesses and belongings.

    Amnesty said the Israeli authorities had provided no information as to why they destroyed the four buildings, other than the suggestion that one of the destroyed buildings housed a Hamas command centre and “facilities linked to Palestinian militants” in another.

    The strike on the Italian Complex – which contained about 50 flats – caused one side of the tower to collapse

    “Both the facts on the ground and statements made by Israeli military spokespeople at the time indicate that the attacks were a collective punishment against the people of Gaza and were designed to destroy their already precarious livelihoods.”

    The Israeli embassy in London criticised Amnesty’s report.

  • Man punished for ‘assaulting’ women

    Three unformed men punished yesterday a man accused of “always making attempts to kiss and rape unsuspecting women” in Oshodi, Lagos.

    As they pounced on him, the men kept asking: “Who are you? Where are you from? What are you doing with that woman?”

    The man’s plea for leniency was ignored.

    Some in the crowd, which gathered, hailed the “uniformed men for their action. They said the man had been “a terror” to women in the area.

    An another said: “People have been warning Eze to stop the nonsense but he just would not.”

    An onlooker said Eze was not normal person and did not deserve the beating, adding: “With the way they are dealing with him, who will be responsible should he die? It is bad. Eze may not be totally mad, but he is somehow invalid mentally.”

    “It is true the boy harasses women sometimes but he does not attempt kissing any of them. Three of them kicking and slapping him. I don’t think it is good,” he said.

  • Shock as banker dies

    Shock as banker dies

    What killed banker Emmanuel Ola Omojuwa, within few minutes? This is the question his family and friends have been asking since he died on Monday.

    The late Omojuwa went to bed hale and hearty on Sunday before waking up around 1.30am on Monday, complaining of body aches.

    The late banker, a senior official of First Bank Plc, was posted to a branch in Benin, the Edo State capital, about six months ago. Before his transfer, he was at the bank’s Ilupeju, Lagos branch.

    Daddy Todimu as he was fondly addressed, it was gathered, was looking forward to another pleasant re-union with his family and close allies in his Ofin, Ikorodu, Lagos home, during his leave.

    According to reports, his widow, Lande, had re-painted the house as a surprise Christmas gift to her husband.

    In his Akure, Ondo State  home town; his Lagos home and 9, Odogbolu Street, Palmgrove, Lagos, where he once lived, it’s been tales of woes from shocked relations, friends and other sympathisers.

    What manner of death is this? Why could death be this cruel to Jantar (the banker’s nickname)? Who did this to this good man – and by extension, to us? These are some of  the questions being asked since his death”

    When he woke up with the said “bodily difficulties,” the late Omojuwa alerted a neighbour whom he urged to accompany him to a nearby hospital.

    “He (Omojuwa) opted to drive himself but the neighbour insisted on driving him. Sadly, by the time they got to the hospital, he was dead,” said a source.

    The police, this reporter learnt, have since begun investigations into the case after depositing his corpse in a morgue. The deceased’s elder brother, Ayo Omojuwa, who has visited his Benin home with friends, said funeral arrangements would be unfolded after the police investigation.

    The late banker’s widow and children, are staying with relations in Lagos.

    A friend, Mr Kayode Odofin, described his death as “a monumental loss to us all.” His younger brother, Oladeji Omojuwa, an official of Skye Bank Plc, said yesterday: “I still can’t come to the reality of my brother’s death.”