The Nation Newspaper

Category: City Beats

  • Motorists bemoan ‘worsening’ robbery attacks

    Motorists bemoan ‘worsening’ robbery attacks

    Motorists are appealing to Lagos State Police chief Umar Manko to save them from incessant attacks by hoodlums in traffic gridlock.

    The commissioner, they said, should direct his men to be on foot patrol during heavy traffic to check hoodlums’ activities.

    “The commissioner has proved to be a disciplined officer who is ruthless when it comes to crime-fighting. Available records show that he has arrested notorious armed robbers, kidnappers, fraudsters and other criminals that have been terrorising us; but he must not sleep yet,” said motorist, Chief Muniru Alani. He added: “In the past few weeks, I have been attacked in traffic snarls by armed robbers. This is why the commissioner must do more. He has a lot of work to do.”

    Last Thursday, around 9 pm, over 15 armed men reportedly terrorised motorists around 1st Rainbow bus stop, inwards Mile 2 on the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway.

    The attack, according to eyewitnesses, was made possible by the bad spot on the route, where motorists slow down to avoid damaging their vehicles.

    The problem was worsened by the narrowing of the highway from that point because of the ongoing road construction; some heavy-duty vehicles blocked a major part.

    An eyewitness, Emma Nwachukwu, said: “When I noticed that the hoodlums were attacking and robbing motorists and even passengers of commercial vehicles, I slowed down because I was about 20 metres away from where they were operating. I quickly thought of what to do. And I was lucky to veer through the link road that leads to ABC Transport Company. That was how I escaped from the robbers. But about five vehicles were robbed in that incident.

    “The irony is that about 30 metres away from where this ugly incident occurred, there was a police patrol team looking for motorists to stop, demand particulars, and extort money from. There is also a police post opposite there; still, motorists drive in fear. The commissioner of Police and Area Commander in charge of the place should call their men to order and advise them on how to do these things right. They should not wait until someone is killed by these hoodlums in the traffic before they will swing into action.”

    Nwachukwu said it was not the first time he was witnessing such incident, adding that he had also fallen victim at Mile2.  “It is an incident that occurs every day and I believe that the moment the hoodlums know that the police are living up to their responsibility by arresting them, they would stay off the roads,” he added.

    Other motorists said the same incident often happened whenever there was traffic jam at the popular Toyota under bridge from Orile to Mile 2; between Contain Bridge and Orile/Alakija area along Mile 2/Badagry Expressway.

    At Toyota under bridge, just by the link road to Airport Road from Oshodi, two motorcycles belonging to the Rapid Response Squad of the state police command are always parked there with no policeman in sight, while robbers have a field day robbing motorists.

    Motorists going to Airport Road from Mile 2, it was gathered, are not spared, despite the presence of an Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC), not too far from a newspaper house.

    Similarly, whenever a vehicle breaks down in most part of the metropolis, hoodlums will appear from nowhere, pretend that they want to assist the driver and rob him.

    A victim told The Nation that he had a flat tyre along Apapa/Oshodi Expressway and before he knew what was happening, about 10 hoodlums rushed out from nowhere and offered to help him push the car off the road; but because he was with his driver, he rejected the offer.

    “The next thing they did was to start demanding money. They said I should give them N20,000 or they would vandalise the car. I pleaded with them and gave them N10,000 because I had my phones, laptop and tablet in the car. The hoodlums took the money and disappeared,” the victim said.

  • Driver accuses police, agency of extortion over ‘Lagos licence’

    Driver accuses police, agency of extortion over ‘Lagos licence’

    •‘We’re probing his allegation’

    An inter-state commercial bus driver has accused some policemen and officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA) of collecting N10,500 from him for not having a “Lagos State driver’s licence.”

    He claimed the incident occurred about 7am last Saturday around Cappa bus stop on the Lagos/Abeokuta Expressway.

    The driver’s 18-seater white Toyota commercial bus was heading for Benin, the Edo State capital, when he was allegedly arrested with his passengers.

    To operate in Lagos, commercial vehicle drivers are required to go through the drivers’ institute to obtain the driver permit.

    The owner will take the permit along with any other documents for the national driver’s licence.

    The driver, who simply identified himself as Chris, was arrested by the LASTMA officials led by a policeman identified simply as Friday with Force Number, 246623 and taken to Ilupeju Bypass where he was allegedly extorted.

    He said: “They demanded my Lagos State driver’s licence and I told them I did not have. I even told them that I had never heard about the existence of such, but they insisted, saying that if they should impound my bus and take it to their station, I would pay N100,000 before it would be released.

    “While the argument was going on, the passengers in my bus were complaining, advising me to settle them so that our journey to Edo State would not be delayed. I still did not want to comply but when the pressure from my passengers became so much, I had to negotiate with them and we finally agreed on N10,500.

    “It was the policeman that collected the money from me. I do not know when Lagos State introduced their own driver’s licence and which law says if a driver does not have it, he won’t ply Lagos roads. Governor Babatunde Fashola must address this issue”.

    LASTMA spokesperson, Bola Ajao said the allegation would be investigated, adding: “In LASTMA, we don’t condone indiscipline. We will act on this allegation.”

  • Why I embraced robbery, by suspect

    Why I embraced robbery, by suspect

    A 26-year-old man, Chekube Aja, is claiming that he took to armed robbery to avenge his loss to fraudsters.

    Aja told the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARs), Lagos Police Command in Ikeja that he lost N1.2 million to some fraudulent travel agents in South Africa, where he lived for two years.

    He said when he was trying to get his papers, someone offered to help him get a wife to facilitate his residence permit.

    “I paid the person N300,000, but at the end of the day, he ran away with my money; that was how I returned to Nigeria,” he said.

    Later, he moved to Brazil, where he lost N900,000 to fraudsters who promised to link him to drug barons so that he could become a carrier. The effort, he said, failed and he returned to Nigeria with nothing.

    The suspect said when his cloth business at Wuse Market in Abuja was not moving, he began to snatch cars which he sold to a buyer, who he simply identified as Chinedu, now at large.

    “I was snatching and selling small cars to him, but one day, I took a Golf car to him. He declined to pay, saying that he wanted me to upgrade and be snatching big cars. The Golf was worth N300,000, but he gave me a Baretta pistol instead. He said I should use it to dream big,” Aja said.

    After supplying Chinedu with six cars valued at N2million, he said he relocated to his Udi, Enugu State home town, to set up a liquor joint.

    He said early this year, his cousin, Sunday Okike (28), persuaded him to come to Lagos and make money with his pistol. But he declined, saying he could be caught.

    Aja said: “A week after Okike left the village, I came to Lagos and joined him in our first operation. A man was driving into his compound in Egbeda and we trailed him. We robbed him of N500,000 and shared it. I was involved in other operations; it was after the fifth operation that I was caught. We snatched an End of Discussion Honda car and as I was taking it out of Lagos to Abuja to deliver to Chinedu, I was arrested on the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway.

    Okike, who deals in carpets at 12, Orptal Street on LASU Road, Igando, a Lagos suburb, said he went into robbery to improve on his business.

    Okike lamented that after serving his boss for five years, he was settled with only N300,000. He said after he rented a shop, he had only N100,000 to invest in the business.

    The suspect, who is the only son of his aged mother, admitted that he was the person that brought the pistol to Lagos and took Aja to areas the rich and middle-class live.

    Detectives trailed the suspects following the victim’s distress call which was received by Commissioner of Police Umar Manko.

    Following Manko’s directive, the officer in charge of SARS, Abba Kyari, a Superintendent of Police (SP), arrested Aja with a Honda car marked KJA 321 AV.

    The suspect took the detectives to where they arrested Okike.

    “A Baretta pistol marked C97421Z, with 11 rounds of live ammunition and about six phone sets were recovered in a bag which he hid in the ceiling of his room,” the police said.

  • Worry over tankers’ indiscriminate parking at airport

    Stakeholders are worried over indiscriminate parking by fuel tanker drivers on the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Road, Ikeja, Lagos.

    They told reporters yesterday that despite repeated warnings, the drivers have continued to park along the road, thereby constituting security risks along the major gateway into the country.

    They urged the  government to ask the drivers to move to the place allocated to them and stop constituting nuisance along the road.

    The drivers’ continued action, they said, is affecting traffic movement, thus creating a gridlock that forced many passengers to miss their flights.

    The stakeholders added that the drivers’ action is affecting work on the Oshodi/Mafoluku and Airport Road.

    Three weeks ago, the Federal Government and the Lagos State Transportation Management Authority (LASTMA) asked tanker drivers to vacate major highways in the state.

    The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) in August 2013 relocated the drivers to a permanent site at the airport.

    But the drivers hide under the guise of taking fuel to airlines at the airport to park on the road. They threaten to go on strike whenever they are challenged.

    There are no fewer than 50 tankers belonging to different oil companies parked at the airport, leading to the Ajao Estate Road.

    Towards arresting the ugly trend, LASTMA said it would start impounding the trucks if the drivers failed to remove them.

    The step, LASTMA said, is to sanitise the road and improve security.

  • Two held for attempted N20m cable theft at railway yard

    Two men, Matthew Okonor and Ebuka Odede, have been arrested for allegedly attempting to steal the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) Locomotive Workshop at Ebute Metta, Lagos Mainland.

    The suspects are being detained at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) unit of the NRC Police Station, Ebute Metta; the cables are being kept as exhibits.

    Sources said they claimed the raid had been on for long and fingered two officers on their collaborators.

    A source said the suspects were caught over five times in the past, adding that they always bribed their way out of detention with about N3 million.

    These mentioned by the suspects are said to be at large.

    Two vehicles allegedly used by the suspects, a Pathfinder Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV), marked LSG 999 CN, and a Scana Container truck marked AP 426 XJ, are still on the NRC Police premises.

    The Managing Director, NRC, Prince Adeseyi Sijuwade, simply said: “Please check details with the police.”

    A senior officer, who confirmed the story, said: “Two suspects were arrested on Tuesday attempting to steal heavy-duty cables from the loco workshop at Ebute Metta. The men and the two vehicles, a Pathfinder and a Scana lorry that they used for the operation were arrested during the operation. The vehicles and the cables are still at our station,” he said.

  • Rotary gives out treated nets

    The Rotary Club of Ogba, Lagos State, has distributed insecticide-treated nets to women and children in the area.

    Over 70 beneficiaries trooped out to a health centre in the area, where the event was held.

    District Governor of the Rotary District 9110, Dr Dele Balogun, a medical practitioner, used the opportunity to educate the women on the benefits of the items, especially to prevent malaria in their households.

    Each net lasts as long as 10 years if well taken care of with different tips such as avoiding the use of detergent to wash it so that the chemicals don’t come off, he said.

    “For a day or two after opening, don’t use it until the harsh smell fades.  Even when there are holes in the net, mosquitoes cannot pass through,” Balogun warned.

    He also said the nets can be washed for as much as four times yearly and should not be hung outside like clothes, but left to sundry on a mat.

    Balogun added: “Malaria is the greatest killer of children and so, these nets are mandatory from the World Health Organisation (WHO). This is coming as a mark of our continuity of adoption to help as a club, with many other good things to come.”

  • Pitan’s gesture excites residents

    Beneficiaries of the ongoing Free Medical Treatment Initiative of a non-governmental organisation, Dr. Leke Pitan and Friends, are excited over the gesture.

    Residents of Apapa, Ajeromi-Ifelodun and Lagos Island Local Government areas got free medical examination; drugs and laboratory tests, including eye glasses and HIV/AIDS status checks when the mission visited during the week.

    At Apapa last Monday, top All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders, stakeholders and professionals led traders, artisans, students and other beneficiaries to the palace of Ojora of Ijora venue of the event.

    Aged men and women prayed for Pitan, who is seeking endorsement for the 2015 governorship election.

    A resident, Chief Adunni Lawal said: “I am not surprised. This is what Dr. Pitan has been renowned for. I had all my four children at his private clinic, Mayowa Hospital, on the Lagos Island. He is quite humane and people-friendly”.

    On Tuesday at the L.A. Primary School, Ago-Hausa, Ajegunle, Pitan was received by people who he counselled on the Ebola virus.

    He admonished the populace to embrace sustained hygienic living standards and ensure regular washing of their hands with cleansers as many times as possible throughout the day.

    A 53-year-old trader, Mrs. Omolara Mustapha, took the microphone from Pitan, burst into tears of joy and thanked him. She said but for God and Pitan, she might have died.

    She recalled how she was involved in an accident on Epe Express Road in 2006 with others, adding that Pitan alighted from his car, stabilised the 15 victims and moved them to the General Hospital, Lagos Island for free treatment.

    Pitan, she said, followed up on each of them on phone until they recovered.

    The exercise continues across the council areas with a tour of Agbowa and Epe tomorrow and on Sunday.

    The Leke Pitan Campaign Organisation’s spokesman, Mr. Oyetunji Oguntuase, said the mission is an exercise undertaken free of charge by friends and volunteers under the aegis of “Pitan and Friends”. It will end in Ikorodu by the middle of September.

  • Woman bedridden with kidney failure

    Woman bedridden with kidney failure

    Six  weeks ago, 27-year-old Aminat Hassan went for a surgery, which has now turned out to be the beginning of her problems.

    The mother of one requires N5.1million for a kidney transplant. Her husband, Idris, a carpenter, cannot afford the amount.

    The family is appealing to Nigerians to come to its aid as Mrs Hassan’s condition is worsening by the day.

    Trouble began for Mrs Hassan on June 27, when doctors at Better Life Hospital, at Abaranje in Ikotun, a Lagos suburb, discovered that the baby in her womb was dead.

    On June 28, she underwent a surgery, said her husband, adding: “We paid almost N200, 000 for the operation and blood procurement.”

    After the surgery, the woman enjoyed some relief, following which the family celebrated her survival. But the joy was short-lived as she soon had a greater problem to grapple with.

    “We soon noticed some unusual symptoms on her body. It started swelling as she could not urinate. We had to approach a physician who conducted elaborate tests on her. It was then that it was discovered that she was having kidney problem,” Hassan told The Nation.

    He added: “We were referred to the Gbagada General Hospital. Unfortunately, the hospital’s attendants said there was no bed space. We were again referred to the Maternity on Lagos Island. On getting there, no one attended to us due to the large crowd of patients. Then, someone suggested Good Tidings Hospital in Surulere and we rushed there. Immediately we got there, my wife was admitted into the Emergency Ward where she has since been.”

    To save her life, Hassan was charged N5.1 million for surgery and other medical needs.

    “I have been able to raise N800, 000 which I deposited in the hospital’s account. I don’t know where to turn to for help now. It is like the whole world is collapsing on me because my wife’s life is in danger. I am a poor carpenter; I plead with kind-hearted Nigerians to come to our aid to ensure that she does not die.

     “I cannot imagine losing my wife now. She has been very helpful and dutiful. Life without her at home has been very difficult. Even our four-year-old son misses her care and warmth. He always asks me for when his mother will return home. For two weeks now, he has not enjoyed good health. That is another problem that I am facing now besides raising the N5.1 million needed for a corrective surgery to give her the chance of living,” Hassan said.

    Hassan wept uncontrollably when The Nation visited the family’s Abaranje, Ikotun home yesterday. “I can’t but cry to God to help us out of this predicament. It is clearly beyond me. Based on some sympathisers’ suggestion, I have opened an account under the name, Hassan Idris Sulaiman with Ecobank. Its number is 4141173121. I just hope that God would send helpers to her because she needs to live well again,” he said.

  • Court remands driver for ‘killing’ girlfriend

    n Ebute Meta Magistrate’s Court in Lagos has remanded a driver, Raphael Effiong, in prison for allegedly killing his girlfriend.

    A Effiong, 28, was said to have killed Gift Sunday, 29, for allegedly refusing to marry him.

    Gift allegedly turned down his marriage proposal at a hotel in Ketu, Lagos.

    The prosecutor, Corporal Onaiwu Iyobosa, told the court that the crime was committed at 11.30 am on July 28 at Mayor Lodge Hotel at 10, Yusuf Oyero Street, Ketu.

    Iyobosa alleged that the defendant and the deceased met in 2013 when they started having an affair.

    “The defendant proposed to the deceased many times but she refused the proposal because the defendant is a difficult man. On that fateful day, he invited the deceased to the hotel. The deceased honoured the invitation and she brought food for him.

    “They checked in and a misunderstanding occurred between them because the deceased turned down his marriage proposal. He (Effiong) brought out scissors and stabbed the deceased on her armpit and breast.

    “The deceased screamed for help and was heard by guests in the hotel. The guests forcefully opened the door after the defendant refused to open it,” Iyobosa said.

    The woman, Iyobosa said, was rushed to a nearby hospital where she died the next day.

    The prosecutor said the offence contravened Section 221 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos, 2011.

    The defendant’s plea was not taken because the court lacks jurisdiction to hear murder cases.

    Magistrate E. J. Adefioye ordered that the defendant be remanded in Ikoyi prisons pending legal advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

    He adjourned the matter to September 22.

  • Truck pusher accused of stabbing neighbour

    Truck pusher accused of stabbing neighbour

    A 23-year-old truck pusher was arraigned yesterday before an Igbosere Magistrate’s Court in Lagos for allegedly stabbing his neighbour with a broken bottle.

    Tunde Olowu was brought before Magistrate L.Y. Balogun for assaulting Mutiu Hassan by stabbing him on the neck for disturbing him with loud music.

    Trouble started when Hassan allegedly refused to accede to the defendant’s plea to reduce the volume of his music set.

    The court heard that the incident occurred on August 3, at Itedo Waterside, behind MTN Project Fame Studio in Lekki.

    Prosecuting Inspector Raji Akeem told the court that the defendant attempted to escape after the offence, but was apprehended by neighbours who handed him over to the police.

    Akeem said the complainant was wounded in the neck, adding that the offence contravened Section 171 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos, 2011.

    The defendant pleaded guilty and was remanded in custody.

    Magistrate Balogun adjourned the case till August 13 for facts and sentence.