The Nation Newspaper

Category: City Beats

  • Driver dies during sex

    A commercial bus driver has collapsed and died while having sex with his wife.

    Simply identified as Emmanuel, the deceased was said to be recovering from an illness before the incident.

    He was said to have ignored his widow’s pleas to avoid the act until he is well enough.

    The Nation gathered that Effiong, a mother of two, suddenly noticed that her husband was motionless during the affair.

    After calling his name severally without response, she pushed him off, and noticed that he was no longer breathing.

    Effiong was said to have informed the deceased’s younger brother, Akpan, of the development on phone. Akpan rushed down to see his brother’s body.

    A neighbour, Anayo Okechukwu, confirmed that the woman said she told her husband to rest because he was just recovering from an illness, but that he did not listen.

  • Church leaders pray for Nigeria

    Church leaders pray for Nigeria

    Armed with the conviction that only fervent prayer can purge the country of its myriads of problems, eminent men of God have are daily gathering to intercede for the beleaguered nation.

    The prayer, which is being hosted by activist pastor of the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), Odi Ajaye Zone, Ogba in Lagos, Dr Shola Ojo, began on Monday at 51, Shonola Street, Ogba.

    The sessions, with the theme, “God, save Nigeria,” will end on Sunday.

    Among the clerics are: Bishop Kayode Williams, Prophet Niyi Oni, Pastors Fatoke Aduralebo, Wale Afolabi and Joseph Adelakun of the Ayewa International Gospel Singers fame, among several others.

    The “power-packed prayer for Nigeria,” which kicks off 6 pm daily, started last Monday.

    Pastor Ojo told The Nation yesterday that the prayer involves all denominations because it is a divine concerted effort at getting the embattled nation out of the woods on all fronts.

    “As our dear nation continues to sink into an abyss daily before our very eyes, we should not fold our hands in sinful callousness. This prayer is a spiritual order and a divine mandate for us to raise our voices to God to rescue our nation from the precipice. Look into every aspect of our national life, it is a saga of troubles; there is tension across the land.

    The cleric said special prayer teams had been dispatched to all the state capitals across the country, adding: “It is a total war against the factors militating against the nation.”

  • Communities celebrate their ‘change agent’

    Communities celebrate their ‘change agent’

    Residents in the Odunsi, Arobadade, Kukoyi communities and their environs in the Bariga Local Council Development Area (LCDA) in Lagos, yesterday gathered to appreciate one of their own, Johnson Akintunde Ajiboye, an engineer, for his numerous humanitarian projects in the community.

    They urged him to contest for the Shomolu Constituency 2 seat in Lagos State House of Assembly on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the forth-coming general elections.

    They told reporters that Ajiboye, a.k.a JAACO had been touching their lives through educational, developmental and empowerment projects.

    The chairman of the residents’ association, Alhaji Kazeem Idris, listed some of the projects recently completed by Ajiboye as including purchase and distribution of 47 General Certificate in Education (GCE) forms to indigent youths and renovation of an abandoned borehole for the community.

     “The borehole had been down for over eight years. The water tanks and the machine were completely bad. While we were wondering how to get help for the community, Ajiboye replaced the tank, bought a new machine and completely renovated the water system; now we have safe water.”

    Idris said Ajiboye recently renovated schools, built modern toilet facilities for the staff and pupils of Adeife Shodeko Primary school, Odunsi Road, among others.

    Through his ‘Johnson Akintunde Ajiboye Empowerment Foundation’ which stated in 2011, Ajiboye, he added, had been putting smiles on the faces of market men and women in the area.

    The foundation’s coordinator, Mrs Esther Ojo, said over 200 people had so far benefited from Ajiboye’s soft loans aimed at empowering the poor.

    She said the loan of N100,000 is accessible without the stress and payment of collaterals at it obtains in banks.

  • Five killed in Lagos clashes

    Four persons were killed in Oto town, Lagos Mainland, on Tuesday during a hoodlums’ clash, The Nation gathered yesterday.

    A man was also reportedly killed following a reprisal attack on the community’s residents by hoodlums from Apapa Road.

    The hoodlums attacked the palace of the Oloto of Oto, Oba Ganiyu Odesanya, vandalising some vehicles.

    It was gathered that over 100 hoodlums who participated in the attack, also torched some houses.

    Two residents were hospitalised for gunshot wounds.

    Oba Odesanya said he was meeting with some of his colleagues in his palace when he heard gunshots.

    He said his palace was attacked and some vehicles vandalised by the hoodlums, adding that the attack had been going on for some time. “I am still in shock. I don’t know exactly what the hoodlums want,” the monarch said.

    He appealed to Governor Babatunde Fashola to come to the community’s aid by deploying a police task force to arrest the perpetrators and secure the lives of his subjects.

    The monarch said the community “is now living in fear as they don’t know when the hoodlums will strike again.”

    Deputy spokesperson of the police command, Lelma Kolle, an Assistant Superintendent (ASP), said four bodies with machete cuts were recovered.

    He said nine suspects had been arrested, adding that they were being interrogated.

    Kolle explained that about 4pm on Tuesday, the command received a distress call that there was a crisis in the area.

    He added: “A joint team of policemen from the Area Command, Iponri Police Station and the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) stormed the place. Our men were able to chase away the hoodlums and recovered four dead bodies with machete cuts all over them. Nine suspects were arrested”.

    Kolle said he could not confirm what kind of clash it was, adding that ongoing investigations would determine that.

  • Fire displaces 5000 Lagos slum residents

    Fire displaces 5000 Lagos slum residents

    •Also in two other locations

    THERE were wailing and gnashing of teeth when fire displaced no fewer than 5,000 residents of Oko Baba, a slum in Ebute Meta, Lagos Mainland.

    The Monday night inferno gutted over 1,500 shanties.

    The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) said the fire, which started about 9.30pm around Kadara/Coates Street, destroyed properties worth millions of naira.

    It was learnt that the fire which raged till about 2.37am yesterday, razed five bungalows constructed with sand concrete.

    Sources said the inferno, which spread to surrounding buildings and shanties, was caused by an exploded generator.

    The LASEMA boss, Femi Oke-Osayintolu, said it took the combined efforts of various stakeholders to arrest the situation early yesterday.

    “Over 1, 500 houses made up of shanties were razed by the inferno. Also over 5, 000 people were displaced. Saw Mill equipment worth millions of naira, which were completely burnt down, include Spindle, Saw Machine, Band Saw, Circular Saw and Generating machine,” he said.

    Fire fighters, who went to put out the fire, were allegedly molested by hoodlums, who also vandalised their truck.

    They were said to have descended on the fire men for coming late.

    The Director, State Fire Service, Rasaq Fadipe, said two trucks were on ground to fight the fire, adding that the vandalised truck was deployed to complement their efforts.

    He described the attack as unfortunate, saying:  “Hoodlums smashed the windscreen of the truck and also man-handled my men.”

    “People need to be careful of the way they handle electrical appliances and learn to quickly send alert if there is an emergency,” he added.

    Fire also razed down a three-bedroom flat in a two-storey building at 24, Ayoade Street, Bajulaye in Somolu, while homes at the popular Oju-Irin (rail line) in Mushin were also reduced to rubble.

    Victims counted their losses when our reporters visited the scenes yesterday.

    An Oko Baba resident, Mr. Sango Apena, who said the fire started at 9.30pm from market Street, explained: “I could not believe it was going to spread this much because we tried our best before the fire fighters arrived. A number of things were said to have caused the fire. I really don’t know. I can’t count my loss but I am glad there was no life lost.”

    A depressed Mrs Joy Bulagun, a Togolese, said:”There was no power supply, so people went to bed early. I jumped out of the house upon hearing people shouting fire! I was destabilised. I don’t know how my children and I will survive because we have no shelter now.”

    Another victim, Mr Luqman Badru, said: “The fire was intense. Our houses, valuables and other things have gone with the fire. It is not our wish that we live here. Government should come to our aid because we know the prohibitive cost of having an apartment in the city.”

    The Chairman, Lagos Mainland Local Government, Oladele Adekanye, expressed shock as he moved around sympathising with the victims. He also gave money to those who helped to put out the fire.

  • Transport body to launch own BRT

    Transport body to launch own BRT

    The Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) will launch its first Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) system in Abuja, Lagos, Edo, Anambra and Enugu states next month, its president, Musa Isiwele, said yesterday.TR

    He said the union had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with PAN Nigeria Limited in other to float the made-in-Nigeria vehicles next month.

    Isiwele spoke in Abuja when a group, the Aberuagba Fans Club, visited him.

    He said: “After signing the agreement between RTEAN and Nigerian Pan, possibly on September 1, we are going to release the first batch of vehicles to bring the price of transportation down in Nigeria.

    “We shall introduce BRT lines in Abuja, Lagos, Anambra, Edo and Enugu in the first batch. Our partners will bring the vehicles. We are trying to help our members, while providing job opportunities for Nigerians. We are going to be the off-taker of made-in-Nigeria vehicles.”

    The group’s National Chairman, Oladipo Musibau, said it would work to promote the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan for him to complete his Transformation Agenda.

  • Council chiefs collaborate for development

    The Chairman, Fagge Local Government in Kano State, Habeeb Saliu, visited yesterday his Ikeja counterpart, Wale Odunlami, to seek areas of mutual cooperation.

    Saliu thanked his host for the warm reception given him, explaining that the essence of his visit was to compare notes.

    He said his local government is the biggest in Kano State, with over two million people, adding that his council equally boasts a large concentration of Yoruba and Igbo.

    “I have come to upgrade our local government (Fagge) and learn one or two things from Ikeja Local Government, especially in the area of revenue generation and administration,” he added.

    Odunlami lauded the council chief for the visit and praised Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso for delivering all the local government areas in the last council election to the All Progressives Congress (APC)

    He said his council had raised its internally generated revenue from N50 million to N200milliom, adding that Saliu could send his revenue staff to his council for more training.

    Saliu, who promised to inject what he gained from the visit into running his council, added: “We always come to Lagos to see new things we can inculcate in our system.”

  • Church holds anniversary

    The Foundation of Mercy International Ministry, Lagos, will between August 25 and 31 celebrate its ninth anniversary and third convention.

    In a statement, its founder and host pastor, Kingsley Olawale, said the theme of the convention/anniversary is: “From Promise to Performance.”

    He said the six-day programme, which will feature marathon prayers and other services will  hold at 28, Shoroye Sowemimo Street, Odutola Estate, Dabira in Iyana Ipaja, a Lagos suburb.

    The popular cleric, who is famously known as ‘Baba Ori Oke Aanu, Erio Ekiti,

    Pastor Peter Ilesanmi, he said, would speak on the theme of the anniversary.

    Olawale assured that those with all forms of affliction would encounter divine power and deliverance.

    Pointing out that the programme is inter-denominational, he urged the populace to avail themselves of the opportunity to pray to God to strengthen them against the forces of darkness.

  • NCS chief loses mum

    NCS chief loses mum

    The President of Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), Prof. David Adewumi, has lost his mother, Madam Foluke Adewumi. He was 95.

    She died on July 22 when preparation for the NCS Conference 2014 in Enugu reached its peak. She has been buried in her Ajowa Akoko, Ondo State home according to Islamic rite.

     

  • Lawmaker donates motorised borehole

    Lawmaker donates motorised borehole

    esidents of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Estate in Odo Nla, a sprawling town in Ikorodu North Local Council Development Area (LCDA) in Lagos, were filled with joy when a water project was commissioned for their use last weekend.

    They showered praises on the lawmaker representing Lagos East Senatorial District, Gbenga Ashafa, who donated the motorised borehole.

    Excited youths in the community led the senator to the site, singing and dancing. They described the project as first of its kind in the area, praising Ashafa for responding to their yearning.

    The chairman of the estate’s Development Commission, Mr Adesesan Adekoya, said the community would forever remember the lawmaker for the borehole, noting that it would solve water crisis in the area.

    Adekoya, who noted that it was second project Ashafa would commission in the community, urged the senator to also empower their educated youths. He urged other lawmakers representing the area in the state and National Assembly to emulate Ashafa and deliver dividends of democracy to the electorate.

    Ashafa, who said providing potable water and improving access to it remained his cardinal agenda, stressed that he was committed to improving the welfare of communities in his district through the provision of vital facilities and social infrastructure.

    “The residents of Bola Tinubu Estate should know that a high sense of community participation in these social interventions is a prerequisite for sustainability. I urge them to ensure that the borehole is well-maintained to serve the greater number of the people,” he said.

    The lawmaker promised to site more welfare projects in the community, saying he would engage its youths in the contract for the projects. He asked for the list of jobless youths in the estate for immediate empowerment.

    Ashafa also sensitises the residents on hygiene and how to stop the spread of the deadly Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). He distributed packs of hand sanitisers to the residents, urging them to report strange illness to appropriate authorities.